Matthew

a 14:1 — Herod the tetrarch (Ἡρῴδης ὁ τετραάρχης / Hērōdēs ho tetraarchēs) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: τετραάρχης tetraarchēs, literally “ruler of a fourth,” was a Roman title for a minor ruler below the rank of king. This is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great (2:1). Matthew calls him “tetrarch” here, his correct title, but “the king” in 14:9, as Mark does throughout (Mark 6:14), probably reflecting popular usage. ἀκοή akoē is a report or rumor.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Luke names Antipas as tetrarch of Galilee in the fifteenth year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1). Jesus calls him “that fox” (Luke 13:32), and Pilate sends Jesus to him during the trial (Luke 23:7–12). The church later prays about Herod and Pilate gathering against Jesus (Acts 4:27).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: On Herod the Great’s death in 4 B.C., Augustus divided his kingdom (see the note on 2:22). Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea until A.D. 39, building Sepphoris and his new capital Tiberias. He later asked the emperor Gaius for the title of king, at Herodias’s urging, and was instead deposed and exiled (Josephus, Antiquities 18.240–255).

b 14:2 — he has been raised from the dead (αὐτὸς ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν / autos ēgerthē apo tōn nekrōn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἠγέρθη ēgerthē, “has been raised,” is the verb used of Jesus’ resurrection (28:6). δυνάμεις dynameis are “powers,” here the miraculous powers people said were at work. ἐνεργοῦσιν energousin means “are at work, are active.” παῖς pais (here plural, “servants”) means the king’s attendants or courtiers.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Some people said Jesus was John the Baptist, others Elijah or Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14). Luke says Herod was perplexed and wanted to see Jesus (Luke 9:7–9). John himself had done no miracles (John 10:41), so Herod’s explanation shows how much guilt and fear shaped it.

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Many Jews believed in a bodily resurrection at the end of the age, but not that individuals returned in the meantime. Herod’s fear that John had come back, perhaps with greater powers, reveals a troubled conscience. Matthew tells the story of John’s death as a flashback (14:3–12) and lets the reader see the shadow it casts ahead toward Jesus’ own death and resurrection.

c 14:3 — Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Ἡρῳδιάδα τὴν γυναῖκα Φιλίππου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ / Hērōdiada tēn gynaika Philippou tou adelphou autou) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: Ἡρῳδιάς Hērōdias was a granddaughter of Herod the Great. κρατέω krateō means to seize, arrest. The name “Philip” is missing from Codex Bezae and some Old Latin manuscripts; NA28 includes it with nearly all manuscripts.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Mark gives the same account (Mark 6:17–29), and Luke mentions John’s rebuke of Herod “because of Herodias, his brother’s wife” (Luke 3:19–20). Marrying a brother’s wife while he was alive was forbidden (Leviticus 18:16; 20:21).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Josephus says Herodias was first married to a half brother of Antipas whom he calls simply “Herod,” a son of Herod the Great by Mariamne II, and that she left him for Antipas, who divorced the daughter of the Nabatean king Aretas to marry her (Antiquities 18.109–119, 136). Josephus says her daughter Salome later married Philip the tetrarch. Interpreters explain the difference in several ways: Herodias’s first husband may have been called Herod Philip (Herod the Great had more than one son named Herod), or the Gospel writers may have confused two of Herod’s sons. TWB records the question and translates the text as it stands.

Variant record: main text “the wife of his brother Philip (τὴν γυναῖκα Φιλίππου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, tēn gynaika Philippou tou adelphou autou)”; alternative “the wife of his brother (without “Philip”)”. Witnesses: NA28: main; Codex Sinaiticus: main; Codex Vaticanus: main; Codex Bezae: alternative; Majority Text: main; Textus Receptus: main. Decision: NA28 reading retained.

d 14:4 — It is not lawful for you to have her (οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἔχειν αὐτήν / ouk exestin soi echein autēn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἔξεστιν exestin, “it is lawful,” is the language of the Law, the same word used in the Sabbath dispute (12:2, 10). The imperfect ἔλεγεν elegen (“had been saying”) suggests John said it repeatedly.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The Law forbade taking a brother’s wife (Leviticus 18:16; 20:21). Prophets confronted kings before: Nathan told David, “You are the man” (2 Samuel 12:7), and Elijah confronted Ahab, whose wife Jezebel sought his life (1 Kings 19:2; 21:20). Jesus has identified John with Elijah (Matthew 11:14), and later says, “they did to him whatever they pleased” (Matthew 17:12).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Josephus gives a political reason for John’s execution: Antipas feared that John’s influence over the crowds might lead to an uprising (Antiquities 18.118). The Gospels give the moral reason: John condemned the king’s marriage. The two accounts fit together, since a prophet publicly condemning a ruler’s marriage was also a political threat. Matthew’s readers would see the pattern of Elijah, Ahab, and Jezebel repeated in John, Antipas, and Herodias.

e 14:6 — the daughter of Herodias danced (ὠρχήσατο ἡ θυγάτηρ τῆς Ἡρῳδιάδος / ōrchēsato hē thygatēr tēs Hērōdiados) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: γενέσια genesia means a birthday celebration. ὀρχέομαι orcheomai means to dance. ὅρκος horkos (14:7, 9) is an oath; Jesus has taught His disciples not to swear at all (5:34). πίναξ pinax (14:8) is a platter or large dish.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The only other birthday feast in the Bible is Pharaoh’s, at which he restored one servant and hanged another (Genesis 40:20–22). Mark adds Herod’s promise “up to half of my kingdom” (Mark 6:23), the words of King Ahasuerus to Esther (Esther 5:3, 6).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Josephus names the daughter of Herodias as Salome (Antiquities 18.136); the Gospels do not name her. Birthday banquets were a Greek and Roman custom that many Jews regarded as pagan. A rash oath sworn before guests put a ruler’s honor at stake: to break it publicly would shame him, so Antipas kept a wicked oath rather than lose face.

f 14:10 — had John beheaded in the prison (ἀπεκεφάλισεν τὸν Ἰωάννην ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ / apekephalisen ton Iōannēn en tē phylakē) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἀποκεφαλίζω apokephalizō means to behead. “He sent and had John beheaded” renders a Greek construction in which the one who orders an act is said to do it. πτῶμα ptōma (14:12) is a corpse.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: John’s disciples bury his body (14:12), as Joseph of Arimathea will bury Jesus’ body (Matthew 27:57–60). Jesus later laments Jerusalem, “the city that kills the prophets” (Matthew 23:37), and says, “So also the Son of Man will suffer at their hands” (Matthew 17:12). Hebrews remembers those who suffered “chains and imprisonment” (Hebrews 11:36).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Josephus says John was imprisoned and executed at Machaerus, Herod’s fortress-palace east of the Dead Sea (Antiquities 18.119). Excavations there have uncovered a palace with a courtyard large enough for a banquet. Josephus adds that many Jews saw Antipas’s later defeat by Aretas as God’s punishment for killing John.

g 14:13 — He withdrew … to a desolate place (ἀνεχώρησεν … εἰς ἔρημον τόπον / anechōrēsen … eis erēmon topon) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἀναχωρέω anachōreō, “withdraw,” is Matthew’s recurring verb for moving away from danger (see the note on 2:22). ἔρημος τόπος erēmos topos is an uninhabited, desolate place, the same word as “wilderness” (3:1; 4:1). σπλαγχνίζομαι splanchnizomai, “felt compassion” (14:14), repeats 9:36. Luke places the feeding near Bethsaida (Luke 9:10).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Jesus withdrew when John was arrested (Matthew 4:12) and when the Pharisees plotted (Matthew 12:15). In the wilderness God fed Israel with manna (Exodus 16), though Israel asked, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” (Psalm 78:19). The setting prepares for a new feeding in a desolate place.

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Jesus withdraws after hearing of John’s death, the second time John’s fate has moved Him away (4:12). Galilee was ruled by the same Antipas who had just killed John and now wondered about Jesus (14:1–2). For Matthew’s Jewish readers, a crowd fed in the wilderness by God’s chosen one would call up the exodus and the hope of a prophet like Moses.

h 14:19 — looking up to heaven He blessed, and breaking (ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐλόγησεν καὶ κλάσας / anablepsas eis ton ouranon eulogēsen kai klasas) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: Four verbs describe the meal: He took (λαβών labōn), blessed (εὐλόγησεν eulogēsen), broke (κλάσας klasas), and gave (ἔδωκεν edōken). The same four verbs return at the Last Supper (26:26). εὐλογέω eulogeō means to bless, here to speak the blessing to God over the food. ἀνακλίνω anaklinō (“recline”) is the posture of a banquet.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Elisha fed a hundred men with twenty loaves, and they ate and had some left, “according to the word of the Lord” (2 Kings 4:42–44). God gave Israel bread from heaven in the wilderness (Exodus 16:15). The Lord as shepherd makes His sheep lie down in green pastures (Psalm 23:2). In John, the crowd says, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: A Jewish host blessed God, not the food, at the start of a meal: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth” (Mishnah Berakhot 6:1). Matthew’s readers, who shared the Lord’s Supper, would recognize its pattern in this meal. Jewish hope also expected the Messiah to renew the gift of manna: “the treasury of manna will again descend from on high” (2 Baruch 29:8).

i 14:20 — twelve baskets full (δώδεκα κοφίνους πλήρεις / dōdeka kophinous plēreis) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: κόφινος kophinos is a wicker basket used for carrying provisions. In the feeding of the four thousand Matthew uses a different word, σπυρίς spyris, a larger basket (15:37). Jesus later reminds the disciples of both numbers and both kinds of basket (16:9–10). “Were satisfied” (ἐχορτάσθησαν echortasthēsan) is the verb of 5:6.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Twelve baskets match the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:2; 19:28). Ruth ate at Boaz’s table “and was satisfied, and she had some left over” (Ruth 2:14). Those who hunger for righteousness will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: The Roman satirist Juvenal mocks Jews in Rome for carrying a κόφινος kophinos (Latin cophinus) and hay (Satires 3.14; 6.542), which suggests the basket was associated with Jews. Leftover bread was gathered rather than wasted; Jewish custom treated bread with special respect. The abundance left over shows that the supply came from God, not from the five loaves.

j 14:21 — about five thousand men, besides women and children (ἄνδρες ὡσεὶ πεντακισχίλιοι χωρὶς γυναικῶν καὶ παιδίων / andres hōsei pentakischilioi chōris gynaikōn kai paidiōn) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἀνήρ anēr means a man, a male adult, unlike ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, “person.” Only Matthew adds “besides women and children” (χωρὶς γυναικῶν καὶ παιδίων chōris gynaikōn kai paidiōn), here and in 15:38. This is the only miracle, apart from the resurrection, recorded in all four Gospels.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: At the exodus Israel numbered “about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children” (Exodus 12:37), counted the same way. Censuses in Numbers count men of fighting age (Numbers 1:2–3). Mark and John give the same figure of five thousand men (Mark 6:44; John 6:10).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Counting only adult men was common in ancient records. With women and children the crowd could have been two or three times larger. Matthew’s note makes clear that women and children were present and fed, and the counting formula of the exodus links this meal in the wilderness with Israel’s first one.

k 14:24 — a long distance from the land (σταδίους πολλοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀπεῖχεν / stadious pollous apo tēs gēs apeichen) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: Literally “was many stadia away from the land.” A στάδιον stadion was a Greek measure of about 600 feet (185 meters). Because “many stadia” would mean little to most readers, TWB renders the phrase “a long distance” under its principle of restrained dynamic clarity, and records the unit here. John says the disciples had rowed “about twenty-five or thirty stadia,” about three or four miles (five or six kilometers) (John 6:19). βασανίζω basanizō, “battered,” is literally “tormented,” the word used of the paralyzed servant (8:6) and by the demons (8:29). NA28 reads “many stadia away from the land”; the Majority Text and Textus Receptus read “already in the middle of the sea,” as in Mark 6:47.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Mark says the boat was “in the middle of the sea” and Jesus “alone on the land” (Mark 6:47). The disciples have faced a storm on this sea before, with Jesus asleep in the boat (Matthew 8:23–27); this time He is absent.

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles (21 kilometers) long and 8 miles (13 kilometers) wide. A west wind against a boat heading east or northeast could hold rowers in place for hours. TWB follows NA28; the reading “in the middle of the sea” is best explained as scribes conforming Matthew to Mark.

Variant record: main text “was many stadia away from the land (σταδίους πολλοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀπεῖχεν, stadious pollous apo tēs gēs apeichen)”; alternative “was already in the middle of the sea (ἤδη μέσον τῆς θαλάσσης ἦν, ēdē meson tēs thalassēs ēn)”. Witnesses: NA28: main; Codex Vaticanus: main; Codex Sinaiticus: alternative; Majority Text: alternative; Textus Receptus: alternative. Decision: NA28 reading retained.

l 14:25 — walking on the sea (περιπατῶν ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν / peripatōn epi tēn thalassan) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: περιπατέω peripateō means to walk around. “The fourth watch of the night” was, by Roman reckoning, from about 3 to 6 in the morning; the Romans divided the night into four watches.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: Job says God alone “stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8); the Septuagint reads “walking on the sea as on dry ground.” “Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen” (Psalm 77:19). The Lord “makes a way in the sea” (Isaiah 43:16; compare 51:10), and “You trampled the sea with Your horses” (Habakkuk 3:15). After the storm the disciples asked, “What kind of man is this?” (Matthew 8:27).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: In Israel’s Scriptures, and in the wider ancient Near East, the sea was the image of chaos and hostile power, which only the Creator masters (see the notes on 8:24 and 8:26). To walk upon it was to tread down that power. In Job 9, the One who tramples the sea “passes by me, and I do not see Him” (Job 9:11), and Mark notes that Jesus “meant to pass by them” (Mark 6:48), echoing God passing by Moses and Elijah (Exodus 33:22; 1 Kings 19:11). Within the Divine Council worldview, Jesus does what Scripture reserves for God.

m 14:26 — It is a ghost! (φάντασμά ἐστιν / phantasma estin) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: φάντασμα phantasma is an apparition or ghost, something that appears but is not solid. The disciples cry out “in fear” (ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου apo tou phobou). The same word appears in the New Testament only in Mark’s parallel (Mark 6:49).

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: After the resurrection the disciples thought they saw “a spirit,” and Jesus said, “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:37–39). When Peter was released from prison, the believers said, “It is his angel” (Acts 12:15). Saul’s medium saw “a god coming up out of the earth” (1 Samuel 28:13).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Many people in the ancient world believed that the spirits of the dead, especially those who had drowned, could appear to the living, and that the sea at night was haunted. Wisdom of Solomon describes the Egyptians terrified in the darkness by “dismal phantoms” (Wisdom of Solomon 17:4). The disciples’ fear was the natural reaction of Galilean fishermen to a figure walking on the water at night.

n 14:27 — Take courage, I AM (θαρσεῖτε, ἐγώ εἰμι / tharseite, egō eimi) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: ἐγώ εἰμι egō eimi means literally “I am.” Most translations render it dynamically as “It is I” or “It’s me,” its sense as an ordinary self-identification. Under TWB’s formal priority, TWB keeps the literal “I AM” and sets it in capitals, preserving the covenant self-designation of God that the Septuagint expresses with the same words (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 43:10) and showing Jesus revealing Himself in the midst of the sea’s chaos. The capitals here mark the divine name, not an Old Testament quotation. θαρσεῖτε tharseite, a present imperative of θαρσέω tharseō, is rendered “Take courage,” clear modern English that avoids both the archaic “Be of good cheer” and overly casual wording; TWB uses the same rendering in 9:2 and 9:22.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: God revealed His name to Moses: “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14; Septuagint ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν egō eimi ho ōn). In Isaiah God says repeatedly “I am He” (ἐγώ εἰμι egō eimi): “that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He” (Isaiah 43:10), and “I, I am He who comforts you” (Isaiah 51:12; compare Deuteronomy 32:39). In John, Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and those who come to arrest Him fall back at the words (John 18:6).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Spoken by One walking on the sea, which Scripture says only God does (see the previous note), the words carry the weight of the divine name. Some interpreters read them here mainly as an ordinary self-identification that Matthew’s readers would hear more deeply after the resurrection; TWB’s rendering keeps the fuller sense visible in the text. The disciples’ response at the end of the scene, worship and the confession “Truly You are the Son of God” (14:33), shows that they recognized more than a familiar voice.

o 14:31 — why did you doubt? (εἰς τί ἐδίστασας / eis ti edistasas) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: διστάζω distazō, “to doubt,” literally means to stand in two ways, to waver. It occurs in the New Testament only here and in 28:17, where some disciples worship the risen Jesus “but some doubted.” “You of little faith” (ὀλιγόπιστε oligopiste) is singular, addressed to Peter (compare 6:30; 8:26). In 14:30 NA28 prints “strong” (ἰσχυρόν ischyron) in brackets because some early manuscripts lack it; TWB includes it.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: “He reached down from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters” (Psalm 18:16). “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck” (Psalm 69:1). James describes the doubter as “like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Peter’s cry “Lord, save me!” (κύριε, σῶσόν με kyrie, sōson me) is the cry of the psalms to God from the deep waters. Only Matthew records Peter walking on the water. For Matthew’s readers, Peter’s step of faith, his sinking, and Jesus’ rescue pictured the life of a disciple who looks away from Jesus to the wind.

p 14:33 — Truly You are the Son of God (ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς εἶ / alēthōs theou huios ei) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: This is the first time the disciples call Jesus “Son of God” in Matthew. “Worshiped” renders προσεκύνησαν prosekynēsan, as throughout Matthew (see the note on 2:2). The Greek lacks the article (“God’s Son”), but in context it is a confession, not a vague compliment.

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The devil had said “If You are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3, 6), and the demons called Him “Son of God” (8:29). Peter will confess, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), and the centurion at the cross, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). “He made the storm be still … and He brought them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:29–30), and the psalm calls on the rescued to thank the Lord.

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: In the Divine Council worldview, the heavenly beings are called “sons of God” (Job 1:6; Psalm 89:6), and Israel’s king was called God’s son (Psalm 2:7). The disciples’ confession comes after Jesus has done what only Israel’s God does, walking on the sea and calming the wind, and it is joined to worship. Mark reports instead that the disciples were astonished because their hearts were hardened (Mark 6:51–52); Matthew records their worship.

q 14:34 — Gennesaret (Γεννησαρέτ / Gennēsaret) ↩ back to text

Tier 1 — Lexical Anchor: Γεννησαρέτ Gennēsaret was a fertile plain on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Magdala; Luke calls the lake itself “the lake of Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1). “The tassel of His garment” (14:36) is the same phrase as 9:20; see the note there. διεσώθησαν diesōthēsan, “were made completely well,” is the verb “save” with a prefix that means “thoroughly.”

Tier 2 — Canonical Mesh: The woman with the flow of blood touched the tassel of Jesus’ garment and was made well (Matthew 9:20–22). The Law commanded tassels to remind Israel of God’s commandments (Numbers 15:38–40). Earlier, “they brought to Him all who were ill” (Matthew 4:24).

Tier 3 — Historical / Cosmological Horizon: Josephus praises the plain of Gennesar for its rich soil, mild climate, and many kinds of trees and fruit, watered by a spring called Capharnaum (Jewish War 3.516–521). The report about Jesus had spread so widely that people sought only to touch His garment. Matthew ends a chapter that began with a king’s murder and fear with crowds healed and a people whole.