Matthew 16 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativecausecontentconditionaldashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The demand for a sign — the sign of Jonah 16:1–4

vv. 1–3 — the demand, and the weather-wise who cannot read the times

And the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming upparticipial — preposed circumstantial — the rival parties united against him; leans on ἐπηρώτησαν

testing him,participial — second preposed participle — the tempter's verb (4:1); hostile probing, not inquiry

asked himindependent — the demand — the scene's one mainline verb

to show them a sign from heaven.content — complementary infinitive — a direct divine attestation demanded, as if the healings were not signs

But he answered and said to them:independent — Semitic 'answering said' — the frame; here open vv. 2b–3, absent from א B and double-bracketed in NA28, printed as the data prints them

'When evening has come,participial — genitive absolute inside the quoted saying — forward-leaning on λέγετε

you say:content — customary present — the folk weather-rule quoted back at its keepers

'Fair weather,'content — verbless exclamation — the evening forecast

for the sky is fiery-red;cause — the γάρ-ground — red evening sky, fair morrow; πυρράζω, a rare verb

and in the morning:content — elliptical — λέγετε supplied; the dawn forecast follows

'Stormy today,'content — verbless exclamation — the morning forecast

for the sky is fiery-red and lowering.cause — the γάρ-ground — the same red sky, now sullen (στυγνάζων), reads storm

The face of the sky you know how to discern,content — μέν-arm — the skill conceded; fronted object

but the signs of the times you cannot?content — δέ-arm, διακρίνειν supplied — καιροί, the decisive seasons; the incapacity is moral, not intellectual

v. 4 — the sign of Jonah, and the departure

An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign,content — μοιχαλίς — covenant-adultery (Hosea; Ezek 16); the verdict repeated verbatim from 12:39

and no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.'content — divine passive — God withholds; the Jonah-sign is the three days and the rising (12:40)

And leaving them,participial — preposed aorist participle — the abandonment enacts the refusal (cf. Mark 8:13); leans on ἀπῆλθεν

he went away.independent — one word closes the scene — the sign-seekers left signless

The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 16:5–12

vv. 5–7 — one forgetfulness misreads another

And the disciples, coming to the other side,participial — preposed circumstantial — the crossing; leans on ἐπελάθοντο

had forgotten to bring bread.independent — the literal lack that triggers the misreading — ἄρτος, the scene's keyword

And Jesus said to them:independent — the speech-frame for the warning

'See to it and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'content — double imperative — ζύμη, pervasive corrupting influence (1 Cor 5:6); Matthew pairs the two parties of v. 1 where Mark has 'and of Herod'

But they began reasoning among themselves,independent — inceptive imperfect — the muttered calculation

saying:participial — speech-participle with recitative ὅτι

'We took no bread.'content — the literalist misreading — leaven heard as loaves

vv. 8–12 — the catechism of the two feedings

But Jesus, perceiving it,participial — preposed participle — he reads the whispered debate; leans on εἶπεν

said:independent — the frame for the rebuke-volley (vv. 8–11)

'Why are you reasoning among yourselves, you of little faith,content — ὀλιγόπιστοι — Matthew's signature address to disciples; the diagnosis is unbelief, not shortage

that you have no bread?content — the content of their reasoning quoted back — ἔχετε read (editions divide over ἐλάβετε)

Do you not yet understand,content — οὔπω — slowness, not final blindness

nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand,content — the first feeding recalled (14:17–21) — memory as the cure for anxiety

and how many baskets you took up?content — indirect question — κόφινοι, the stout wicker baskets, twelve at 14:20

Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?content — the second feeding (15:32–38) — σπυρίδες, hampers, seven of them; the two feedings keep their distinct words

How do you not understandcontent — the volley's last question — νοέω again

that I was not speaking to you about bread?content — ὅτι-content — the literal sense disavowed outright

But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'content — the warning of v. 6 repeated verbatim — said twice, it must be meant

Then they understoodindependent — τότε — the Matthean connective; συνίημι, the penny drops where Mark leaves the question hanging (Mark 8:21)

that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of loaves but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.content — the evangelist's own resolution — leaven = διδαχή; 'of the loaves' read (editions divide)

Peter's confession and the keys — Caesarea Philippi 16:13–20

vv. 13–16 — the two questions and the confession

Now Jesus, coming into the region of Caesarea Philippi,participial — preposed circumstantial — the pagan far north, the confession's unlikely site; leans on ἠρώτα

was asking his disciples, saying:independent — inceptive imperfect + pleonastic λέγων — the hinge question opens

'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?'content — the poll — τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου where Mark has 'me' (some witnesses add με)

And they said:independent — οἱ δέ — the article as pronoun; the answer-frame

'Some, John the Baptist,content — verbless answer — Herod's verdict (14:2) on popular lips

others, Elijah,content — Mal 4:5 — the forerunner expected before the Day

and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'content — Jeremiah — only Matthew names him (the rejected prophet of doom); all the answers true categories, one size too small

He says to them:independent — historic present — the question pressed home

'But you — who do you say that I am?'content — emphatic ὑμεῖς — the question turned on the Twelve; now με, not the third-person title

And Simon Peter, answering,participial — preposed participle — Peter as spokesman; leans on εἶπεν

said:independent — the confession-frame

'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'content — the confession — Matthew adds 'the Son of the living God' to Mark's bare Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός; τοῦ ζῶντος against Caesarea's dead gods

vv. 17–20 — the blessing, the rock, the keys, the silence

And Jesus, answering,participial — preposed participle — the confession answered with a blessing; leans on εἶπεν

said to him:independent — the frame for vv. 17–19, the beatitude-rock-keys saying found only in Matthew

'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah,content — the beatitude — Βαριωνᾶ, the Aramaic patronym, 'son of Jonah'

for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,cause — the ground of the blessing — ἀποκαλύπτω: revelation, not deduction (cf. 11:25–27)

but my Father who is in heaven.cause — elliptical counter-arm — ἀπεκάλυψεν supplied; the Father the true revealer

And I in turn say to you:content — κἀγώ — the Father revealed, now the Son bestows; declaration answering declaration

you are Peter,content — the naming — σὺ εἶ answers Peter's σὺ εἶ (v. 16)

and on this rock I will build my church,content — the Πέτρος/πέτρα wordplay — the rock read here as Peter-the-confessor, the classic crux (Peter, his confession, or Christ himself); ἐκκλησία, the word's first Gospel use (18:17)

and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.content — πύλαι ᾅδου — death's stronghold (Isa 38:10; Job 38:17); the church outlasts death itself

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,content — the keys — Isa 22:22, Eliakim the steward over the house; authority to admit and exclude

and whatever you bind on earthconditional — indefinite relative ὃ ἐάν as protasis (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on ἔσται

will have been bound in heaven,content — future-perfect periphrasis — heaven's ratifying (or antecedent) decision; binding/loosing, the halakhic forbid/permit

and whatever you loose on earthconditional — the counter-protasis — forward-leaning on ἔσται

will have been loosed in heaven.'content — the paired promise — extended to the whole community at 18:18

Then he charged the disciplesindependent — διεστείλατο read (editions divide over ἐπετίμησεν, as Mark 8:30) — the strict charge

to tell no onecontent — ἵνα of the charge's content — the messianic secret

that he is the Christ.content — the title guarded — it must wait for the cross to define it, and v. 21 begins that defining at once

The first passion prediction — Peter rebuked 16:21–23

From that time Jesus began to show his disciplesindependent — Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο — Matthew's structural formula (4:17): the Gospel turns toward Jerusalem; δεικνύειν, 'show,' not merely tell

that he must go away to Jerusalemcontent — δεῖ — the divine must; the first passion prediction (17:22–23 and 20:17–19 follow)

and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribescontent — the full Sanhedrin named as the sufferings' source

and be killed,content — the third infinitive of the chain — said without softening

and on the third day be raised.content — ἐγερθῆναι, divine passive — Matthew's 'third day' for Mark's 'after three days'; the member the hearers never seem to hear

And Peter, taking him aside,participial — preposed participle — the confessor turns corrector; leans on ἤρξατο

began to rebuke him,independent — ἐπιτιμᾶν — the rebuke-verb of demons and storms turned on the Master

saying:participial — the speech-participle — only Matthew quotes Peter's actual words

'Mercy on you, Lord!content — verbless idiom — ἵλεως (sc. εἴη ὁ θεός), 'God be gracious to you' = 'far be it from you'

This shall never happen to you.'content — οὐ μή + future — the strongest denial; Peter forbids the divine δεῖ

But he, turning,participial — preposed participle — the counter-rebuke; leans on εἶπεν

said to Peter:independent — the sharpest word in the Gospel follows

'Get behind me, Satan!content — ὀπίσω μου — back to the follower's place; the tempter's offer of a cross-less way heard again (4:8–10)

You are a stumbling-block to me,content — σκάνδαλον — only Matthew: the just-named rock become the stone one trips over

for you are not minding the things of God but the things of men.'cause — the ground — φρονεῖν, a whole set of mind; a cross-less Christ is man's thought, not God's

The cost of discipleship and the coming Son of Man 16:24–28

v. 24 — the terms of following

Then Jesus said to his disciples:independent — the speech-frame for the whole coda (vv. 24–28); Matthew addresses the disciples where Mark summons the crowd

'If anyone wants to come after me,conditional — protasis inside quoted speech — ὀπίσω μου, the phrase just spoken to Peter (v. 23); leans on the commands below

let him deny himselfcontent — ἀπαρνέομαι — disown the self; the verb of Peter's own denial to come (26:34–35, 75)

and take up his crosscontent — the condemned man's beam — laid on the disciple the moment the Master's death is announced

and follow me.content — present imperative — two decisive acts, then a continual following

vv. 25–28 — the γάρ-chain: paradox, ledger, judgment, promise

For whoever wants to save his lifeconditional — indefinite relative ὃς ἐάν as protasis (typed cnd) — the γάρ-chain begins; leans on ἀπολέσει

will lose it;content — the paradox, first arm — the grasped life forfeited

but whoever loses his life for my sakeconditional — the counter-protasis — ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, Christ himself the motive; leans on εὑρήσει

will find it.content — εὑρήσει — Matthew's 'find' for Mark's 'save'; the surrendered life discovered

For what will it profit a personcontent — the merchant's ledger opens — the second γάρ of the chain

if he gains the whole worldconditional — backward protasis, anchored — κερδαίνω, maximal gain

but forfeits his soul?conditional — the coordinate protasis — ζημιόω, the one fatal loss; ψυχή shading from 'life' to 'soul'

Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?content — ἀντάλλαγμα — no ransom-price exists (Ps 49:7–9)

For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels,content — the third γάρ — μέλλει, the parousia as the ledger's ground (Dan 7:13–14)

and then he will repay each according to his deeds.content — Ps 62:12 / Prov 24:12 — recompense κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν; the soul's price settled then

Truly I say to you,content — the ἀμήν-formula — solemn asseveration seals the discourse

there are some standing herecontent — the promise — τινες, some among the hearers themselves

who will certainly not taste deathrelative — οὐ μή + subjunctive, emphatic negation — 'taste death,' a Semitic idiom

until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.'conditional — temporal ἕως ἄν (typed cnd; no temporal key), anchored back on its verb — the crux: the transfiguration ('after six days,' 17:1), the resurrection, or the parousia; glossed, left open

Analysis. Matthew 16 is the Gospel's hinge told almost entirely in dialogue, and the layout shows a narrative spine of short purple clauses — asked, said, understood, charged, began — whose real weight hangs blue beneath the verbs of saying. The first scene turns on a demand refused: the weather-signs saying of vv. 2b–3 (a possible Western non-interpolation, absent from א B and double-bracketed in NA28, printed here as the chapter data prints it, the doubt flagged) descends through the quoted folk-forecasts — λέγετε, then the verbless εὐδία and σήμερον χειμών with their γάρ-grounds one step deeper — before the μέν/δέ verdict and the Jonah-refusal repeated from 12:39. The leaven dialogue (vv. 5–12) is a catechism: the disciples' whispered ἄρτους οὐκ ἐλάβομεν, the ὀλιγόπιστοι rebuke with its recalled numbers (five loaves, seven loaves, κόφινοι and σπυρίδες kept distinct), and the evangelist's own τότε συνῆκαν resolving the metaphor to διδαχή. At Caesarea Philippi (vv. 13–20) the two questions and Peter's confession stand as speech under their frames, and Matthew's additions to Mark hang in one blue stack under εἶπεν: the μακάριος beatitude with its ὅτι-ground on flesh-and-blood one step deeper, the Πέτρος/πέτρα wordplay (read here, with the run of the sentence, as Peter-the-confessor — the classic crux, named not dodged), the gates of Hades, and the keys with their paired ὃ-ἐάν protases leaning forward on future-perfect apodoses (ἔσται δεδεμένον, heaven's ratifying — or antecedent — decision, the periphrasis kept in the gloss). Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο (v. 21) is Matthew's structural formula turning the Gospel toward Jerusalem: the fourfold infinitive chain hangs under δεῖ, Peter's ἵλεώς σοι (a verbless mercy-idiom only Matthew quotes) under his λέγων, and the counter-rebuke makes the rock a σκάνδαλον with its ὅτι-ground beneath. The discipleship coda (vv. 24–28) is conditional architecture inside one quotation: the εἴ-τις and ὃς-ἐάν protases lean forward, anchorless, one deeper than their apodoses, over the deny-take-follow imperatives and the save-lose paradox; v. 26's backward ἐάν-protases hang anchored under ὠφεληθήσεται; the γάρ-chain grounds the whole in the coming Son of Man (v. 27), and the ἀμήν-promise of v. 28 descends four levels to its ἕως-ἄν clause — transfiguration (17:1 follows 'after six days'), resurrection, or parousia, the famous crux glossed but left open.