translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: MAT

label: NET translator note

text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .


text: Grk “in the days.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ἀνατολαί ( anatolai , a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ἀνατολή ( anatolh ) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BDAG 74 s.v. 1 : “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν , vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical…likew. vs. 9”).


text: Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς ( grammateu" ) as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.


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: Here καί ( kai ) has not been translated.


text: Grk “and behold the star.”


text: See the note on the word “rose” in 2:2 .


text: Grk “they rejoiced with very great joy.”


text: Grk “they fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b. α . ב has “ fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”


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.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20 .


text: The feminine singular genitive noun νυκτός ( nuktos , “night”) indicates the time during which the action of the main verb takes place ( ExSyn 124).


text: Or “soldiers.”


text: pc lat co).


text: Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.


text: Here δέ ( de ) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s instructions.


text: There is no expressed subject of the third person singular verb here; the pronoun “he” is implied. Instead of this pronoun the referent “Jesus” has been supplied in the text to clarify to whom this statement refers.


text: The Greek could be indirect discourse (as in the text), or direct discourse (“he will be called a Nazarene”). Judging by the difficulty of finding OT quotations (as implied in the plural “prophets”) to match the wording here, it appears that the author was using a current expression of scorn that conceptually (but not verbally) found its roots in the OT.