Mat 10:23-26 | RWP | e4.org | Till the Son of man be come ( εως ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου ). Moffatt puts it "before the Son of man arrives" as if Jesus referred to this special tour of Galilee. Jesus could overtake them. Possibly so, but it is by no means clear. Some refer it to the Transfiguration, others to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, others to the Second Coming. Some hold that Matthew has put the saying in the wrong context. Others bluntly say that Jesus was mistaken, a very serious charge to make in his instructions to these preachers. The use of εως with aorist subjunctive for a future event is a good Greek idiom.

‏ Matthew 10:23-26

Till the Son of man be come ( εως ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου ). Moffatt puts it "before the Son of man arrives" as if Jesus referred to this special tour of Galilee. Jesus could overtake them. Possibly so, but it is by no means clear. Some refer it to the Transfiguration, others to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, others to the Second Coming. Some hold that Matthew has put the saying in the wrong context. Others bluntly say that Jesus was mistaken, a very serious charge to make in his instructions to these preachers. The use of εως with aorist subjunctive for a future event is a good Greek idiom.

Beelzebub ( βεεζεβουλ according to B, βεελζεβουλ by most Greek MSS., βεελζεβουβ by many non-Greek MSS.). The etymology of the word is also unknown, whether "lord of a dwelling" with a pun on "the master of the house" ( οικοδεσποτην ) or "lord of flies" or "lord of dung" or "lord of idolatrous sacrifices." It is evidently a term of reproach. "An opprobrious epithet; exact form of the word and meaning of the name have given more trouble to commentators than it is all worth" (Bruce). See Mt 12:24.

Fear them not therefore ( μη ουν φοβηθητε αυτους ). Repeated in verses 28 and 31 ( μη φοβεισθε present middle imperative here in contrast with aorist passive subjunctive in the preceding prohibitions). Note also the accusative case with the aorist passive subjunctive, transitive though passive. See same construction in Lu 12:5. In Mt 10:28 the construction is with απο and the ablative, a translation Hebraism as in Lu 12:4 (Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N.T. in the Light of Historical Research, p. 577).