Matthew 7:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 7:14 tn See BDAG 1007 s.v. τίς for the translation of τί (ti) as an exclamation.
2. Matthew 7:14 sn Here the destination is specified as life. In several places Matthew uses “life” or “eternal life” in proximity with “the kingdom of heaven,” suggesting a close relationship between the two concepts (compare Matt 25:34 with v. 46; Matt 19:16, 17, 29 with vv. 23, 24). Matthew consistently portrays “eternal life” as something a person enters in the world to come, whereas the Gospel of John sees “eternal life” as beginning in the present and continuing into the future (cf. John 5:24).
3. Matthew 7:15 sn The identity of these false prophets is not specified, and this has led to a wide variety of suggested referents: the Pharisees, the Zealots, the Essenes (all roughly contemporaries of Jesus), later groups (representatives of Pauline Christianity, the Gnostics) or later individuals (Simon Magus mentioned in Acts 8:9-24, Bar Kokhba who led the Jewish revolt of A.D. 132-35), or the eschatological false prophets who will lead people astray in the end times (Matt 24:24). Of course, some of these suggestions assume a second century date for the composition (or redaction) of the Gospel of Matthew.
4. Matthew 7:15 sn Sheep’s clothing…voracious wolves. Jesus uses a metaphor here to point out that these false prophets appear to be one thing, but in reality they are something quite different and dangerous.
5. Matthew 7:16 tn Grk “They do not gather.” This has been simplified to the passive voice in the translation since the subject “they” is not specified further in the context.
6. Matthew 7:16 tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative answer. This is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question “are they?” at the end of the sentence.sn The statement illustrates the principle: That which cannot produce fruit does not produce fruit.