FOOTNOTES:

^a Or ‘injuries’ or ‘chronic conditions’

^b Traditionally, ‘apostles.’ The Greek term apostoloi refers to individuals who are purposefully sent out or assigned with a mission. It derives from apostellō, meaning "to send out," and conveys the sense of a task or responsibility being given with specific authority. This translation emphasizes the intent and relational aspect of being commissioned rather than institutional titles or hierarchy. The term thus reflects both the sending authority and the committed action of those sent.

^c Traditionally, ‘Simon’ which is just the Hebrew name Simeon filtered through Greek.

^d Traditionally: ‘James.’ The Greek is Iakob, which is the same as it uses for Jacob, son of Isaac and Jacob grandfather of Jesus. Jacob is the English name as it came through German, and James is the English name as it came through French. That way, it turned into two names in English, but it started as the same name in Hebrew and Greek.

^e The term "Zealots" as a formal political faction with organized resistance did not fully emerge until after Jesus' lifetime, particularly around the time of the Jewish-Roman War (66–70 CE). However, certain elements associated with the later Zealots, such as intense resistance to Roman occupation and a radical commitment to Jewish religious freedom, were already present during Jesus' time. During the early first century CE, anti-Roman sentiment was high, and several figures led revolts and advocated for Jewish independence. These movements shared many of the ideas that would later be associated with the Zealots, including a willingness to use violence to oppose foreign rule and a commitment to what they saw as the purity and autonomy of Israel under God's rule.

^f Non-English language translations don’t make a difference between ‘Judah’ (Hebrew origin) and ‘Judas’ (carrying over the Greek lettering for the Hebrew name.)

^g Traditionally, ‘Iscariot.’ It was likely not his name, however. It means ‘men of Kerioth’ which was a city of Moab that was condemned for its actions against Israel, and it was likely used as a label regarding his betrayal of Jesus. See Jeremiah 48:21-47 (especially verses 21-27).

^h The choice to translate apostellō as "commissioned" rather than "sent" reflects the Greek term's connotation of being formally appointed and entrusted with specific authority, as apostellō implies not only movement but an intentional mission with delegated responsibility.

ⁱ Traditionally, ‘Gentiles’

^j It doesn’t use the word ‘money’ or ‘coin’ but that’s what it’s talking about. The belts had hollow spaces that served as coin storage, like a wallet or purse. Francis of Assisi took this teaching seriously 1,100 years later and used a rope as a belt instead one with a coin pouch built into it so that it would be impossible to carry money.

^k Sodom and Gomorrah are not just referenced because they were understood to be bad. The topic itself is relevant. Messengers from the LORD arrived in a strange town to assess what the people were like there, and they sought hospitality so they could share God’s message. Other than Lot and his family—and Lot made some very concerning choices—no one responded by welcoming but instead with violence and domination, expressing desire to rape them. The difference for these hypothetical towns is that Sodom and Gomorrah had one family who was willing to welcome them and listen. Jesus is saying that these towns will be worse if no one at all is found who will welcome the disciples and listen to them.

^l The Greek word phronimos is frequently translated as "wise" or "prudent," particularly in contexts where it emphasizes discernment or practical wisdom. However, the term also carries connotations of thoughtful awareness and moral attentiveness. By translating it as "conscientious" here, the text underscores not only intellectual wisdom but also an ethical mindfulness—a quality that aligns well with Jesus' emphasis on actions rooted in compassionate integrity.

^m Literally, ‘unmixed.’ Other options could be ‘genuine,’ ‘pure,’ ‘open,’ ‘transparent,’ ‘authentic,’ ‘blameless.’ The idea is to be with integrity, not duplicitous, perhaps so as not to give any valid reasons for people to accuse them of misconduct or deception.

ⁿ The Greek is sanhedria (like the Sanhedrin) meaning any convened body of authorities to deliver a ruling or make decisions.

^o Literally, ‘synagogues’ which translates to ‘gathering places’

^p Traditionally, ‘Spirit.’ The Greek word pneuma can be translated into English as ‘breath,’ ‘spirit,’ and ‘wind.’ This is also true of Hebrew (ruach), Aramaic (rukha) and Latin (spiritus). The concepts of these things in the minds of Hebrew and Greek speakers were not nearly as distinct as they are in English. They are separate enough to use word play in John 3 in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, but the sense that the ‘spirit’ is the ‘breath of life’ within each living being must not be ignored in understanding how the scriptures, and how the air and sky (heavens) are used to describe where spiritual reality is present (in the wind). Whenever ‘Life-breath’ or ‘spirit’ referring to God’s spirit or the spirit within people that provides them with life, the reader would be aided to think of Genesis 2:7.

^q Or ‘among’

^r The phrase is literally, ‘because of my name.’ The concept of ‘name’ in scripture is more than the set of sounds or letters used to designate who is being discussed. It refers to their identity, character, and sometimes authority or cause which that person represents or leads. For instance, here, it could be loosely translated to mean something like “serve my identity, authority, and waying of being.”

^s Traditionally, ‘saved.’ This word can be translated a number of ways, with all of them about taking action to create or protect wellbeing. Options include, ‘liberated,’ ‘restored,’ ‘healed,’ ‘protected,’ ‘rescued,’ and others. Matthew’s thematic focus is on restoring the people to their calling to represent God and live with love and justice, bringing them back to those things from where they’ve wandered in other directions.

^t This is a promise of Jesus enacting the Heavenly Reign as Messiah per Daniel 7:13-14.

^u ‘Beelzebul’ is the Greek version of Baal-Zebub in 2 Kings 1:2-3, 6, 16. It literally means “Master of the house” which means Jesus is using word play by calling himself the ‘master of the house’ and then saying they’ll call him Beelzebul. Baal-Zebub was the god of Ekron, but likely not the name the residents of Ekron used. It seems to be a mocking term the Israelites used against Baal, which is why it made sense to use it as a derogatory name against Jesus if others believed him to be a false prophet.

^v The Greek word here is psuche, the root of the English ‘psyche’ and ‘psychology,’ and traditionally translated as ‘soul.’ A better single word might be ‘being.’ Like the Hebrew nephesh, it refers to the ‘living being’—a unity of body, breath, and life-force. Depending on context, other appropriate translations include ‘life’ and ‘self.’ In this case, it’s about preserving one’s life, or continuing to have a self or being.

^w Gehenna is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Ge Hinnom or “Hinnom Valley,” infamous as a site of infant sacrifice to the god Molech during ancient polytheistic practices. The Hinnom Valley later served as a burial place, and for a period, the Romans used it to cremate corpses. Although it may have also been a dumpsite due to its cursed reputation, no historical evidence confirms the common teaching that perpetual fires burned there to consume trash—this idea emerged around 1000 years after Jesus. Every mention of Gehenna in the New Testament carries the weight of warnings in Jeremiah about Hinnom Valley. Notable references include Jeremiah 7-9 (especially Jeremiah 7:30-34) and Jeremiah 19:1-13, where the valley symbolizes both Israel’s deviation from God’s teachings and the severe consequences for oppression and injustice. Failure to follow the teachings of the Torah led to destruction, exile, and disgrace: sacred places were lost, corpses left unattended, and the people suffered exile to Babylon. Jesus drew on this tradition, warning against oppressive practices and values of domination, exclusion, and violence, foretelling a similar judgment on Jerusalem, which was ultimately destroyed by Rome in AD 70—about 40 years later. Though later rabbinic teaching did apply Hinnom Valley metaphorically to describe a time of post-mortem punishment, it was thought to be limited to a year, with rest granted on the Sabbath. There is little evidence that Jesus envisioned anything akin to the modern concept of Hell, a notion that did not fully develop until centuries later and only assumed its current form with the influence of medieval European folklore.

^x The assarion (Latin: as) was a low-value Roman copper coin worth about one-sixteenth of a denarius, approximately four times the value of a quadrans. Used for minor purchases like small food items or animals, the assarion symbolized modest economic value. In today’s terms, assuming an 8-hour workday, an assarion would represent the equivalent of about 25-30 minutes of work at minimum wage.

^y The word aneu means ‘without’ or ‘apart.’ Adding the idea of ‘will,’ ‘knowledge,’ or ‘consent’ is traditional but not inherent in the word.

^z In Greek: phileo, usually translated as ‘love.’ However, at least four different Greek words can be translated as ‘love’ in English (with three appearing in the Christian Bible). The type of love in view is the affection and attachment of family and close friends.

^aa Part of the sentence of crucifixion was carrying one’s own cross to the site of execution.

^bb The Greek word here is psuche, the root of the English ‘psyche’ and ‘psychology,’ and traditionally translated as ‘soul.’ A better single word might be ‘being.’ Like the Hebrew nephesh, it refers to the ‘living being’—a unity of body, breath, and life-force. Depending on context, other appropriate translations include ‘life’ and ‘self.’ In this case, it’s about preserving one’s life, or continuing to have a self or being. This is the same word translated as ‘self’ in verse 28. These paragraphs seem to be contrasting different uses, with this use referring more to physical existence as a living being and the earlier being more about the quality of inner life, the character of being rather than the fact of it.

^cc Traditionally, ‘lose.’ More literally, it means ‘destroy’ or ‘ruin’ or ‘kill.’

^dd Literally, it’s ‘whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophets reward,’ and it’s not explicit whether the “in the name of a prophet” is modifying the welcoming or the first mention of ‘prophet.’ The distinction would be that A) the people are welcoming Jesus’ students because the welcomers are also claiming allegiance to Jesus or B) the people are welcoming Jesus’ students who are serving as prophets speaking on behalf of Jesus who is a prophet. The latter option seems to be more likely from the full context of the passage, which interestingly implies that the former option is caused by the latter since they in turn take up the vocation of prophet and are compensated as such.

^ee Traditionally, ‘reward.’ The language here is explicitly monetary, the term used for a worker’s payment that was earned from their work. It is not an unearned gift; it is explicitly the payment due for completing work, whether used literally about manual labor and money or figurately about effort required in the spiritual life and the earned compensation for that effort.