See in Reader
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General Information:
This is the beginning of a new part of the story where the writer tells of how Jesus responded to disciples of John the Baptist. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-newevent)
It came about that when
This phrase shifts the story from Jesus' teachings to what happened next. AT: "Then" or "After"
instructing
"teaching" or "commanding."
his twelve disciples
This refers to the twelve chosen apostles of Jesus. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-numbers)
in their cities
Here "their" refers to all the Jews in general.
Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here Matthew starts to tell a new part of the story.
when John heard in the prison about
"When John, who was in prison, heard about" or "When someone told John, who was in prison, about." Even though Matthew has not yet told the readers that King Herod put John the Baptist in jail, the original audience would have been familiar with the story and understood the implicit information here. Matthew will give more information later about John the Baptist, so it is probably best not to make it explicit here.
he sent a message by his disciples
John the Baptist sent his own disciples with a message to Jesus.
said to him
The pronoun "him" refers to Jesus.
Are you the one who is coming
"Are you the one whom we are expecting to come." This is another way to refer to the Messiah or Christ.
should we look for another
"should we be expecting someone else." The pronoun "we" refers to all Jews, not only John's disciples.