en_tn/mat/04/intro.md

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Matthew 04 General Notes

Structure and formatting

Some translations prefer to set apart quotations of the Old Testament. The ULB and many other English translations indent all the lines of verses 6, 10, 15 and 16, which are quotations from the Old Testament.

Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter

"The kingdom of heaven is near"

Scholars debate whether the "kingdom of heaven" was present at this time or still coming. English translations frequently use the phrase "at hand," but this can create difficulty in translating. Other versions use the phase "is coming near" and "has come near."

"If you are the Son of God"

In English, the reader can understand this statement in 4:6 as indicating that Satan does not know whether Jesus is the Son of God. Because Satan probably knows that Jesus is the Son of God, it should not be translated in this way. It can be translated as "because you are the Son of God." (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/satan and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sonofgod)

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