Matthew 14
Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 14
Matthew 14 is the fourteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. It continues the narrative about Jesus' ministry in Galilee and recounts the circumstances leading to the death of John the Baptist.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 36 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Papyrus 103 (~200; extant verses 3–5)
Codex Vaticanus (325–350)
Codex Sinaiticus (330–360)
Codex Bezae (~400)
Codex Washingtonianus (~400)
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450)
Codex Purpureus Rossanensis (6th century)
Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus (6th century; extant verses 1–5, 23–36)
Codex Sinopensis (6th century; extant verses 1–4, 13–20)
Structure
This chapter can be grouped (with cross references to parallel passages in the other gospels):
Matthew 14:1–12 = Death of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9)
Matthew 14:13–21 = Feeding the 5000 (Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–13)
Matthew 14:22–33 = Jesus' walk on water (Mark 6:45–52; John 6:16–21)
Matthew 14:34–36 = Jesus healing in the land of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53–56).
The reaction of Herod Antipas (14:1–12)
Herod Antipas (Herod the tetrarch) was the son of Herod who was king when Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1) and reigned over Galilee when Jesus performed his ministry in the area (cf. Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9; 3:19–20). His 'tender conscience over the reluctant execution of John the Baptist made him treating the report of Jesus' miracles with a 'bizarre idea' that Jesus was John who was risen from the dead.
Dale Allison notes the multiple parallels between the Passion of Jesus and the account of John the Baptist in this section.
Both are captured (14:3; 21:46), bound (14:3; 27:2) and 'suffer the shameful deaths of criminals'.
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