translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: MAT

label: NET translator note

text: Grk “the book of the genealogy.” The noun βίβλος ( biblo" ), though it is without the article, is to be translated as definite due to Apollonius’ corollary and the normal use of anarthrous nouns in titles.


text: Grk “fathered.”


text: 700 pc it co). Although Asaph was a psalmist and Asa was a king, it is doubtful that the author mistook one for the other since other ancient documents have variant spellings on the king’s name (such as “Asab,” “Asanos,” and “Asaph”). Thus the spelling ᾿Ασάφ that is almost surely found in the original of Matt 1:7-8 has been translated as “Asa” in keeping with the more common spelling of the king’s name.


text: 33 pc it sa bo), and as such is most likely original, but this is a variant spelling of the name ᾿Αμών ( Amwn ). The translation uses the more well-known spelling “Amon” found in the Hebrew MT and the majority of LXX mss . See also the textual discussion of “Asa” versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8 ); the situation is similar.


text: Because of the difference between Greek style, which usually begins a sentence with a conjunction, and English style, which generally does not, the conjunction δέ ( de ) has not been translated here.


text: Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” sn The term χριστός ( cristos ) was originally an adjective (“anointed”), developing in LXX into a substantive (“an anointed one”), then developing still further into a technical generic term (“the anointed one”). In the intertestamental period it developed further into a technical term referring to the hoped-for anointed one, that is, a specific individual. In the NT the development starts there (technical-specific), is so used in the gospels, and then develops in Paul to mean virtually Jesus’ last name.


text: Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” sn See the note on Christ in 1:16 .


text: The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BDAG 970 s.v. συνέρχομαι 3).


text: Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.


text: Or “send her away.” sn In the Jewish context, “full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower ( m. Ketub. 1:2; m. Sota 1:5; m. Git. passim…)” (R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art , 21).


text: Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού ( idou ) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1 ).


text: Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG , 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation , 324-35.


text: Grk “you will call his name.”


text: Grk “they will call his name.”


text: Grk “is translated.”


text: See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20 . Here the translation “the angel of the Lord” is used because the Greek article ( ὁ , Jo ) which precedes ἄγγελος ( angelos ) is taken as an anaphoric article ( ExSyn 217-19) referring back to the angel mentioned in v. 20 .


text: Or “did not have sexual relations”; Grk “was not knowing her.” The verb “know” (in both Hebrew and Greek) is a frequent biblical euphemism for sexual relations. However, a translation like “did not have sexual relations with her” is too graphic in light of the popularity and wide use of Matthew’s infancy narrative. Thus the somewhat more subdued but still clear “did not have marital relations” was selected.


text: Grk “and he called his name Jesus.” The coordinate clause has been translated as a relative clause in English for stylistic reasons.