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14 (A)The blind and the lame[a] approached him in the temple area, and he cured them. 15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things[b] he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant 16 [c](B)and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; and have you never read the text, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and there he spent the night.

The Cursing of the Fig Tree.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. 21:14 The blind and the lame: according to 2 Sm 5:8 LXX the blind and the lame were forbidden to enter “the house of the Lord,” the temple. These are the last of Jesus’ healings in Matthew.
  2. 21:15 The wondrous things: the healings.
  3. 21:16 ‘Out of the mouths…praise’: cf. Ps 8:3 LXX.
  4. 21:18–22 In Mark the effect of Jesus’ cursing the fig tree is not immediate; see Mk 11:14, 20. By making it so, Matthew has heightened the miracle. Jesus’ act seems arbitrary and ill-tempered, but it is a prophetic action similar to those of Old Testament prophets that vividly symbolize some part of their preaching; see, e.g., Ez 12:1–20. It is a sign of the judgment that is to come upon the Israel that with all its apparent piety lacks the fruit of good deeds (Mt 3:10) and will soon bear the punishment of its fruitlessness (Mt 21:43). Some scholars propose that this story is the development in tradition of a parable of Jesus about the destiny of a fruitless tree, such as Lk 13:6–9. Jesus’ answer to the question of the amazed disciples (Mt 21:20) makes the miracle an example of the power of prayer made with unwavering faith (Mt 21:21–22).

14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.(A) 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,”(B) they were indignant.(C)

16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants
    you, Lord, have called forth your praise’[a]?”(D)

17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany,(E) where he spent the night.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:16 Psalm 8:2 (see Septuagint)