And behold: see comments on 1.20. Good News Translation has “Then,” New English Bible “At this,” and Jerusalem Bible “And at this.”

Scribes (Good News Translation “teachers of the Law”) are first mentioned in 2.4, then in 5.20; 7.29; 8.19.

Said to themselves may mean they were muttering, or speaking to each other in low voices that others would not be able to hear, or it may mean they were only thinking these things. In any case, “knowing their thoughts” in verse 4 indicates that Jesus knew what thoughts they had.

Blaspheming (so also Jerusalem Bible) is here equated with the claim to do something that is solely a divine prerogative, that is, acting in the name and with the authority of God. It is difficult to find an English term that conveys the idea the word has in this context. Here it means something like “This man is presuming on (or encroaching on, or usurping, or arrogating to himself) a divine privilege.” In this context there is no direct insult to God, nor does it mean that someone has spoken against God, but rather that someone has somehow invaded the rights and privileges God reserves for himself. The verb is translated “insulting God” by Barclay and “slandering God” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, but these are not good models to follow. The problem with using such constructions as “speaking blasphemy” (Good News Translation), “blasphemous talk” (New English Bible), and blaspheming is that they all contain a technical term which is fairly much limited to church vocabulary. The verb is used in this same sense in 26.65; but in 27.39 it is used in the context of the insults spoken against Jesus by the people who passed by as he was being crucified. Here the translation can be “He thinks he’s God! This is an insult to God!”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .