The passing years do not make it any plainer who actually wrote our Greek Matthew. Papias records, as quoted by Eusebius, that Matthew wrote the Logia of Jesus in Hebrew (Aramaic). Is our present Matthew a translation of the Aramaic Logia along with Mark and other sources as most modern scholars think? If so, was the writer the Apostle Matthew or some other disciple? There is at present no way to reach a clear decision in the light of the known facts. There is no real reason why the Apostle Matthew could not have written both the Aramaic Logia and our Greek Matthew, unless one is unwilling to believe that he would make use of Mark’s work on a par with his own. But Mark’s book rests primarily on the preaching of Simon Peter. Scholfield has recently (1927) published An Old Hebrew Text of St. Matthew’s Gospel. We know quite too little of the origin of the Synoptic Gospels to say dogmatically that the Apostle Matthew was not in any real sense the author.
If the book is genuine, as I believe, the date becomes a matter of interest. Here again there is nothing absolutely decisive save that it is later than the Gospel according to Mark which it apparently uses. If Mark is given an early date, between A.D. 50 to 60, then Matthew’s book may be between 60 and 70, though many would place it between 70 and 80. It is not certain whether Luke wrote after Matthew or not, though that is quite possible. There is no definite use of Matthew by Luke that has been shown. One guess is as good as another and each decides by his own predilections. My own guess is that A.D. 60 is as good as any.
In the Gospel itself we find Matthew the publican (
Matthew was in the habit of keeping accounts and it is
quite possible that he took notes of the sayings of Jesus as he
heard them. At any rate he gives much attention to the teachings
of Jesus as, for instance, the Sermon on the Mount in chapters
There are ten parables in Matthew not in the other Gospels: The Tares, the Hid Treasure, the Net, the Pearl of Great Price, the Unmerciful Servant, the Labourers in the Vineyard, the Two Sons, the Marriage of the King’s Son, the Ten Virgins, the Talents. The only miracles in Matthew alone are the Two Blind Men, the Coin in the Mouth of the Fish. But Matthew gives the narrative of the Birth of Jesus from the standpoint of Joseph while Luke tells that wonderful story from the standpoint of Mary. There are details of the Death and Resurrection given by Matthew alone.
The book follows the same general chronological plan as
that in Mark, but with various groups like the miracles in
The style is free from Hebraisms and has few individual peculiarities. The author is fond of the phrase the kingdom of heaven and pictures Jesus as the Son of man, but also as the Son of God. He sometimes abbreviates Mark’s statements and sometimes expands them to be more precise.
Plummer shows the broad general plan of both Mark and Matthew to be the same as follows:
Introduction to the Gospel:
Ministry in Galilee:
Ministry in the Neighborhood:
Journey through Perea to Jerusalem:
Last week in Jerusalem:
The Gospel of Matthew comes first in the New Testament, though it is not so in all the Greek manuscripts. Because of its position it is the book most widely read in the New Testament and has exerted the greatest influence on the world. The book deserves this influence though it is later in date than Mark, not so beautiful as Luke, nor so profound as John. Yet it is a wonderful book and gives a just and adequate portraiture of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The author probably wrote primarily to persuade Jews that Jesus is the fulfilment of their Messianic hopes as pictured in the Old Testament. It is thus a proper introduction to the New Testament story in comparison with the Old Testament prophecy.
The Textus Receptus has “The Holy Gospel according to Matthew” [to kata Matthaion hagion Euaggelion], though the Elzevirs omit “holy,” not agreeing here with Stephanus, Griesbach, and Scholz. Only minuscules (cursive Greek manuscripts) and all late have the adjective. Other minuscules and nine uncials including W (the Washington Codex of the fifth century), C of the fifth century (the palimpsest manuscript) and Delta of the ninth together with most Latin manuscripts have simply “Gospel according to Matthew” [Euaggelion kata Matthaion]. But Aleph and B the two oldest and best Greek uncials of the fourth century have only “According to Matthew” [Kata Maththaion] (note double th) and the Greek uncial D of the fifth or sixth century follows Aleph and B as do some of the earliest Old Latin manuscripts and the Curetonian Syriac. It is clear, therefore, that the earliest form of the title was simply “According to Matthew.” It may be doubted if Matthew (or the author, if not Matthew) had any title at all. The use of “according to” makes it plain that the meaning is not “the Gospel of Matthew,” but the Gospel as given by Matthew, [secundum Matthaeum], to distinguish the report by Matthew from that by Mark, by Luke, by John. Least of all is there any authority in the manuscripts for saying “Saint Matthew,” a Roman Catholic practice observed by some Protestants.
The word Gospel [Euaggelion] comes to mean good news in
Greek, though originally a reward for good tidings as in Homer’s
Odyssey XIV. 152 and in
1:1 The Book [biblos]. There is no article in the Greek, but
the following genitives make it definite. It is our word Bible
that is here used, the Book as Sir Walter Scott called it as he
lay dying. The usual word for book is a diminutive form
[biblion], a little book or roll such as we have in
Jesus Christ. Both words are used. The first is the name
[Iēsous] given by the angel to Mary (
The Son of David, the son of Abraham [huiou Daueid huiou
Abraam]. Matthew proposes to show that Jesus Christ is on the
human side the son of David, as the Messiah was to be, and the
son of Abraham, not merely a real Jew and the heir of the
promises, but the promise made to Abraham. So Matthew begins his
line with Abraham while Luke traces his line back to Adam. The
Hebrew and Aramaic often used the word son [bēn] for the
quality or character, but here the idea is descent. Christians
are called sons of God because Christ has bestowed this dignity
upon us (
1:2 Begat [egennēsen]. This word comes, like some of the
early chapters of Genesis, with regularity through verse 16,
until the birth of Jesus is reached when there is a sudden
change. The word itself does not always mean immediate parentage,
but merely direct descent. In
1:18 The birth of Jesus Christ [tou [Iēsou] Christou hē
genesis]. In the Greek Jesus Christ comes before birth as the
important matter after
Betrothed to Joseph [Mnēsteutheisēs tōi Iōsēph]. Matthew
proceeds to explain his statement in
Of the Holy Ghost [ek pneumatos hagiou]. The discovery
that Mary was pregnant was inevitable and it is plain that she had not
told Joseph. She “was found with child” [heurethē en gastri
echousa]. This way of putting it, the usual Greek idiom, plainly
shows that it was the discovery that shocked Joseph. He did not
as yet know what Matthew plainly asserts that the Holy Ghost, not
Joseph and not any man, was responsible for the pregnancy of
Mary. The problem of the Virgin Birth of Jesus has been a
disturbing fact to some through all the ages and is today to
those who do not believe in the pre-existence of Christ, the Son
of God, before his Incarnation on earth. This is the primal fact
about the Birth of Christ. The Incarnation of Christ is clearly
stated by Paul (
1:19 A Righteous Man [dikaios]. Or just, not benignant
or
merciful. The same adjective is used of Zacharias and Elizabeth
(
1:20 An angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream
[aggelos kuriou kat’ onar ephanē autōi]. This expression
[aggelos kuriou] is without the article in the New Testament
except when, as in
1:21 Thou shalt call his name Jesus [Kalesies to onoma autou
Iēsoun]. The rabbis named six whose names were given before
birth: “Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and the name of
the Messiah, whom may the Holy One, blessed be His name, bring in
our day.” The angel puts it up to Joseph as the putative father
to name the child. “Jesus is the same as Joshua, a contraction of
Jehoshuah (
1:22 That it may be fulfilled [hina plērōthēi]. Alford
says that “it is impossible to interpret [hina] in any other sense
than in order that.” That was the old notion, but modern
grammarians recognize the non-final use of this particle in the
Koinē and even the consecutive like the Latin ut. Some even
argue for a causal use. If the context called for result, one
need not hesitate to say so as in
1:23 They shall call [kalesousin]. Men, people, will call
his name Immanuel, God with us. “The interest of the evangelist, as
of all New Testament writers, in prophecy, was purely religious”
(Bruce). But surely the language of Isaiah has had marvellous
illustration in the Incarnation of Christ. This is Matthew’s
explanation of the meaning of Immanuel, a descriptive appellation
of Jesus Christ and more than a mere motto designation. God’s
help, Jesus=the Help of God, is thus seen. One day Jesus will say
to Philip: “He that has seen me has seen the Father” (
1:24 Took unto him his wife [parelaben tēn gunaika autou].
The angel had told him not to be afraid to “take to his side”
Mary his wife (
1:25 And knew her not [kai ouk eginōsken autēn]. Note the
imperfect tense, continuous or linear action. Joseph lived in
continence with Mary till the birth of Jesus. Matthew does not
say that Mary bore no other children than Jesus. “Her firstborn”
is not genuine here, but is a part of the text in
2:1 Now when Jesus was born [tou de Iēsou gennēthentos].
The
fact of the birth of Jesus is stated by the genitive absolute
construction (first aorist passive participle of the same verb
[gennaō] used twice already of the birth of Jesus,
In Bethlehem of Judea [en Bēthleem tēs Ioudaias]. There
was a Bethlehem in Galilee seven miles northwest of Nazareth (Josephus,
Antiquities XIX. 15). This Bethlehem (house of bread, the name
means) of Judah was the scene of Ruth’s life with Boaz (
In the days of Herod the King [en hēmerais Hērōidou tou
Basileōs]. This is the only date for the birth of Christ given
by Matthew. Luke gives a more precise date in his Gospel (
Wise men from the east [magoi apo anatolōn]. The etymology
of
[Magi] is quite uncertain. It may come from the same
Indo-European root as (megas) magnus, though some find it of
Babylonian origin. Herodotus speaks of a tribe of Magi among the
Medians. Among the Persians there was a priestly caste of Magi
like the Chaldeans in Babylon (
2:2 For we saw his star in the east [eidomen gar autou ton
astera en tēi anatolēi]. This does not mean that they saw the
star which was in the east. That would make them go east to
follow it instead of west from the east. The words “in the east”
are probably to be taken with “we saw” i.e. we were in the east
when we saw it, or still more probably “we saw his star at its
rising” or “when it rose” as Moffatt puts it. The singular form
here [tēi anatolēi] does sometimes mean “east” (
2:3 He was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him [etarachthē kai pāsa Ierosoluma met’ autou]. Those familiar with the story of Herod the Great in Josephus can well understand the meaning of these words. Herod in his rage over his family rivalries and jealousies put to death the two sons of Mariamne (Aristobulus and Alexander), Mariamne herself, and Antipater, another son and once his heir, besides the brother and mother of Mariamne (Aristobulus, Alexandra) and her grandfather John Hyrcanus. He had made will after will and was now in a fatal illness and fury over the question of the Magi. He showed his excitement and the whole city was upset because the people knew only too well what he could do when in a rage over the disturbance of his plans. “The foreigner and usurper feared a rival, and the tyrant feared the rival would be welcome” (Bruce). Herod was a hated Idumaean.
2:4 He inquired of them where the Christ should be born [epunthaneto par’ autōn pou ho Christos gennātai]. The prophetic present [gennātai] is given, the very words of Herod retained by Matthew’s report. The imperfect tense (epunthaneto) suggests that Herod inquired repeatedly, probably of one and another of the leaders gathered together, both Sadducees (chief priests) and Pharisees (scribes). McNeile doubts, like Holtzmann, if Herod actually called together all the Sanhedrin and probably “he could easily ask the question of a single scribe,” because he had begun his reign with a massacre of the Sanhedrin (Josephus, Ant. XIV. ix. 4). But that was thirty years ago and Herod was desperately in earnest to learn what the Jews really expected about the coming of “the Messiah.” Still Herod probably got together not the Sanhedrin since “elders” are not mentioned, but leaders among the chief priests and scribes, not a formal meeting but a free assembly for conference. He had evidently heard of this expected king and he would swallow plenty of pride to be able to compass the defeat of these hopes.
2:5 And they said unto him [hoi de eipan autōi]. Whether
the ecclesiastics had to search their scriptures or not, they give
the answer that is in accord with the common Jewish opinion that
the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem and of the seed of David
(
2:7 Then Herod privily called the wise men [tote Hērōidēs lathrai kalesas tous magous]. He had manifestly not told members of the Sanhedrin why he was concerned about the Messiah. So he conceals his motives to the Magi. And yet he “learned of them carefully” [ekribōsen], “learned exactly” or “accurately.” He was anxious to see if the Jewish prophecy of the birthplace of the Messiah agreed with the indications of the star to the Magi. He kept to himself his purpose. The time of the appearing star [ton chronon tou phainomenou asteros] is not “the time when the star appeared,” but the age of the star’s appearance.
2:8 Sent them to Bethlehem and said [pempsas autous eis Bēthleem eipen]. Simultaneous aorist participle, “sending said.” They were to “search out accurately” [exetasate akribōs] concerning the child. Then “bring me word, that I also may come and worship him.” The deceit of Herod seemed plausible enough and might have succeeded but for God’s intervention to protect His Son from the jealous rage of Herod.
2:9 Went before them [proēgen autous]. Imperfect tense,
kept
on in front of them, not as a guide to the town since they now
knew that, but to the place where the child was, the inn
according to
2:10 They rejoiced with exceeding great joy [echarēsan charan megalēn sphodra]. Second aorist passive indicative with cognate accusative. Their joy was due to the success of the search.
2:11 Opening their treasures [anoixantes tous thēsaurous
autōn]. Here “treasures” means “caskets” from the verb
[tithēmi], receptacle for valuables. In the ancient writers it
meant “treasury” as in
2:12 Warned in a dream [chrēmatisthentes kat’ onar]. The verb means to transact business [chrēmatizō] from [chrēma], and that from [chraomai], to use. Then to consult, to deliberate, to make answer as of magistrates or an oracle, to instruct, to admonish. In the Septuagint and the New Testament it occurs with the idea of being warned by God and also in the papyri (Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 122). Wycliff puts it here: “An answer taken in sleep.”
2:15 Until the death of Herod [heōs tēs teleutēs Hērōidou].
The Magi had been warned in a dream not to report to Herod and
now Joseph was warned in a dream to take Mary and the child along
[mellei zētein tou apolesai] gives a vivid picture of the
purpose of Herod in these three verbs). In Egypt Joseph was to
keep Mary and Jesus till the death of Herod the monster. Matthew
quotes
2:16 Slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem
[aneilen pantas tous paidas tous en Bēthleem]. The flight of
Joseph was justified, for Herod was violently enraged [ethumōthē
lian] that he had been mocked by the Magi, deluded in fact
[enepaichthē]. Vulgate illusus esset. Herod did not know, of
course, how old the child was, but he took no chances and
included all the little boys [tous paidas], masculine article)
in Bethlehem two years old and under, perhaps fifteen or twenty.
It is no surprise that Josephus makes no note of this small item
in Herod’s chamber of horrors. It was another fulfilment of the
prophecy in
2:20 For they are dead [tethnēkasin]. Only Herod had sought
to kill the young child, but it is a general statement of a
particular fact as is common with people who say: “They say.” The
idiom may be suggested by
2:22 Warned in a dream [chrēmatistheis kat’ onar]. He was already afraid to go to Judea because Archelaus was reigning (ruling, not technically king, [basileuei]. In a fret at last before his death Herod had changed his will again and put Archelaus, the worst of his living sons, in the place of Antipas. So Joseph went to Galilee. Matthew has had nothing about the previous dwelling of Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. We learn that from Luke who tells nothing of the flight into Egypt. The two narratives supplement one another and are in no sense contradictory.
2:23 Should be called a Nazarene [Nazōraios klēthēsetai].
Matthew says “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets” [dia tōn prophētōn]. It is the plural and no single
prophecy exists which says that the Messiah was to be called a
Nazarene. It may be that this term of contempt (
3:1 And in those days cometh John the Baptist [en de tais
hēmerais paraginetai Iōanēs ho Baptistēs]. Here the synoptic
narrative begins with the baptism of John (
Preaching in the wilderness of Judea [Kērussōn en tēi erēmōi tēs Ioudaias]. It was the rough region in the hills toward the Jordan and the Dead Sea. There were some people scattered over the barren cliffs. Here John came in close touch with the rocks, the trees, the goats, the sheep, and the shepherds, the snakes that slipped before the burning grass over the rocks. He was the Baptizer, but he was also the Preacher, heralding his message out in the barren hills at first where few people were, but soon his startling message drew crowds from far and near. Some preachers start with crowds and drive them away.
3:2 Repent [metanoeite]. Broadus used to say that this
is the
worst translation in the New Testament. The trouble is that the
English word “repent” means “to be sorry again” from the Latin
repoenitet (impersonal). John did not call on the people to be
sorry, but to change (think afterwards) their mental attitudes
[metanoeite] and conduct. The Vulgate has it “do penance” and
Wycliff has followed that. The Old Syriac has it better: “Turn
ye.” The French (Geneva) has it “Amendez vous.” This is John’s
great word (Bruce) and it has been hopelessly mistranslated. The
tragedy of it is that we have no one English word that reproduces
exactly the meaning and atmosphere of the Greek word. The Greek
has a word meaning to be sorry [metamelomai] which is exactly
our English word repent and it is used of Judas (
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand [ēggiken gar hē Basileia tōn ouranōn]. Note the position of the verb and the present perfect tense. It was a startling word that John thundered over the hills and it re-echoed throughout the land. The Old Testament prophets had said that it would come some day in God’s own time. John proclaims as the herald of the new day that it has come, has drawn near. How near he does not say, but he evidently means very near, so near that one could see the signs and the proof. The words “the kingdom of heaven” he does not explain. The other Gospels use “the kingdom of God” as Matthew does a few times, but he has “the kingdom of heaven” over thirty times. He means “the reign of God,” not the political or ecclesiastical organization which the Pharisees expected. His words would be understood differently by different groups as is always true of popular preachers. The current Jewish apocalypses had numerous eschatological ideas connected with the kingdom of heaven. It is not clear what sympathy John had with these eschatological features. He employs vivid language at times, but we do not have to confine John’s intellectual and theological horizon to that of the rabbis of his day. He has been an original student of the Old Testament in his wilderness environment without any necessary contact with the Essenes who dwelt there. His voice is a new one that strikes terror to the perfunctory theologians of the temple and of the synagogue. It is the fashion of some critics to deny to John any conception of the spiritual content of his words, a wholly gratuitous criticism.
For this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet
[houtos gar estin ho rhētheis dia Esaiou tou prophētou]. This
is Matthew’s way of interpreting the mission and message of the
Baptist. He quotes
3:4 Now John himself [autos de ho Iōanēs]. Matthew thus
introduces the man himself and draws a vivid sketch of his dress
(note [eichen], imperfect tense), his habit, and his food. Would
such an uncouth figure be welcome today in any pulpit in our
cities? In the wilderness it did not matter. It was probably a
matter of necessity with him, not an affectation, though it was
the garb of the original Elijah (
3:6 And they were baptized [kai ebaptizonto]. It is the imperfect tense to show the repetition of the act as the crowds from Judea and the surrounding country kept going out to him [exeporeueto], imperfect again, a regular stream of folks going forth. Moffatt takes it as causative middle, “got baptized,” which is possible. “The movement of course was gradual. It began on a small scale and steadily grew till it reached colossal proportions” (Bruce). It is a pity that baptism is now such a matter of controversy. Let Plummer, the great Church of England commentator on Matthew, speak here of John’s baptising these people who came in throngs: “It is his office to bind them to a new life, symbolized by immersion in water.” That is correct, symbolized, not caused or obtained. The word “river” is in the correct text, “river Jordan.” They came “confessing their sins” [exomologoumenoi], probably each one confessing just before he was baptized, “making open confession” (Weymouth). Note [ex]. It was a never to be forgotten scene here in the Jordan. John was calling a nation to a new life. They came from all over Judea and even from the other side of El Ghor (the Jordan Gorge), Perea. Mark adds that finally all Jerusalem came.
3:7 The Pharisees and Sadducees [tōn Pharisaiōn kai
Saddoukaiōn]. These two rival parties do not often unite in
common action, but do again in
3:8 Fruit worthy of repentance [Karpon axion tēs metanoias].
John demands proof from these men of the new life before he
administers baptism to them. “The fruit is not the change of
heart, but the acts which result from it” (McNeile). It was a
bold deed for John thus to challenge as unworthy the very ones
who posed as lights and leaders of the Jewish people. “Any one
can do [poiēsate, vide]
3:9 And think not to say within yourselves [kai mē doxēte legein en heautois]. John touched the tender spot, their ecclesiastical pride. They felt that the “merits of the fathers,” especially of Abraham, were enough for all Israelites. At once John made clear that, reformer as he was, a breach existed between him and the religious leaders of the time. Of these stones [ek tōn lithōn toutōn]. “Pointing, as he spoke to the pebbles on the beach of the Jordan” (Vincent).
3:10 Is the axe laid [hē axinē keitai]. This verb [keitai] is used as the perfect passive of [tithēmi]. But the idea really is, “the axe lies at [pros], before) the root of the trees.” It is there ready for business. The prophetic present occurs also with “is hewn down” and “cast.”
3:11 Mightier than I [ischuroteros mou]. Ablative after
the
comparative adjective. His baptism is water baptism, but the
Coming One “will baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire.” “Life in
the coming age is in the sphere of the Spirit. Spirit and fire
are coupled with one preposition as a double baptism” (McNeile).
Broadus takes “fire” in the sense of separation like the use of
the fan. As the humblest of servants John felt unworthy to take
off the sandals of the Coming One. About [bastazō] see on
3:12 Will burn up with unquenchable fire [katakausei puri
asbestōi]. Note perfective use of [kata]. The threshing floor,
the fan, the wheat, the garner, the chaff [achuron], chaff,
straw, stubble), the fire furnish a life-like picture. The “fire”
here is probably judgment by and at the coming of the Messiah
just as in
3:13 Then cometh Jesus [tote paraginetai ho Iēsous]. The same
historical present used in
3:14 Would have hindered [diekōluen]. Rather “tried to prevent” as Moffatt has it. It is the conative imperfect. The two men of destiny are face to face for the first time apparently. The Coming One stands before John and he recognizes him before the promised sign is given.
3:15 To fulfil all righteousness [plērōsai pāsan dikaiosunēn]. The explanation of Jesus satisfies John and he baptizes the Messiah though he has no sins to confess. It was proper [prepon] to do so else the Messiah would seem to hold aloof from the Forerunner. Thus the ministries of the two are linked together.
3:16 The Spirit of God descending as a dove [pneuma theou
katabainon hōsei peristeran]. It is not certain whether Matthew
means that the Spirit of God took the form of a dove or came upon
Jesus as a dove comes down. Either makes sense, but Luke (
3:17 A voice out of the heavens [phōnē ek tōn ouranōn].
This was the voice of the Father to the Son whom he identifies as His
Son, “my beloved Son.” Thus each person of the Trinity is
represented (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) at this formal entrance of
Jesus upon his Messianic ministry. John heard the voice, of
course, and saw the dove. It was a momentous occasion for John
and for Jesus and for the whole world. The words are similar to
4:1 To be tempted of the devil [peirasthēnai hupo tou
diabolou]. Matthew locates the temptation at a definite time,
“then” [tote] and place, “into the wilderness” [eis tēn
erēmon], the same general region where John was preaching. It is
not surprising that Jesus was tempted by the devil immediately
after his baptism which signified the formal entrance upon the
Messianic work. That is a common experience with ministers who
step out into the open for Christ. The difficulty here is that
Matthew says that “Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the
Spirit to be tempted by the devil.” Mark (
4:2 Had fasted [nēsteusas]. No perfunctory ceremonial fast,
but of communion with the Father in complete abstention from food
as in the case of Moses during forty days and forty nights (
4:3 If thou art the Son of God [ei huios ei tou theou].
More
exactly, “If thou art Son of God,” for there is no article with
“Son.” The devil is alluding to the words of the Father to Jesus
at the baptism: “This is my Son the Beloved.” He challenges this
address by a condition of the first class which assumes the
condition to be true and deftly calls on Jesus to exercise his
power as Son of God to appease his hunger and thus prove to
himself and all that he really is what the Father called him.
Become bread [artoi genōntai]. Literally, “that these stones
(round smooth stones which possibly the devil pointed to or even
picked up and held) become loaves” (each stone a loaf). It
was
all so simple, obvious, easy. It would satisfy the hunger of
Christ and was quite within his power. It is written
[gegraptai]. Perfect passive indicative, stands written and is
still in force. Each time Jesus quotes Deuteronomy to repel the
subtle temptation of the devil. Here it is
4:5 Then the devil taketh him [tote paralambanei auton ho
diabolos]. Matthew is very fond of this temporal adverb
[tote]. See already
4:6 Cast thyself down [bale seauton katō]. The appeal to
hurl
himself down into the abyss below would intensify the nervous
dread that most people feel at such a height. The devil urged
presumptuous reliance on God and quotes Scripture to support his
view (
4:7 Thou shall not tempt [ouk ekpeiraseis]. Jesus quotes
Deuteronomy again (
4:8 And showeth him [kai deiknusin autōi]. This wonderful
panorama had to be partially mental and imaginative, since the
devil caused to pass in review “all the kingdoms of the world and
the glory of them.” But this fact does not prove that all phases
of the temptations were subjective without any objective presence
of the devil. Both could be true. Here again we have the vivid
historical present [deiknusin]. The devil now has Christ upon a
very high mountain whether the traditional Quarantania or not. It
was from Nebo’s summit that Moses caught the vision of the land
of Canaan (
4:9 All these things will I give thee [tauta soi panta dōsō].
The devil claims the rule of the world, not merely of Palestine
or of the Roman Empire. “The kingdoms of the cosmos” (
4:10 Get thee hence, Satan [Hupage, Satanā]. The words
“behind me” [opisō mou] belong to
4:11 Then the devil leaveth him [tote aphiēsin auton ho
diabolos]. Note the use of “then” [tote] again and the
historical present. The movement is swift. “And behold” [kai
idou] as so often in Matthew carries on the life-like picture.
”Angels came (aorist tense [prosēlthon] punctiliar action)
and were ministering [diēkonoun], picturesque imperfect, linear
action) unto him.” The victory was won in spite of the fast of
forty days and the repeated onsets of the devil who had tried
every avenue of approach. The angels could cheer him in the
inevitable nervous and spiritual reaction from the strain of
conflict, and probably also with food as in the case of Elijah
(
4:12 Now when he heard [akousas de]. The reason for Christ’s
return to Galilee is given here to be that John had been
delivered up into prison. The Synoptic Gospels skip from the
temptation of Jesus to the Galilean ministry, a whole year. But
for
4:13 Dwelt in Capernaum [Katōikēsen eis Kapharnaoum]. He
went
first to Nazareth, his old home, but was rejected there (
4:16 Saw a great light [phōs eiden mega]. Matthew quotes
4:17 Began Jesus to preach [ērxato ho Iēsous kērussein].
In
Galilee. He had been preaching for over a year already elsewhere.
His message carries on the words of the Baptist about
“repentance” and the “kingdom of heaven” (
4:18 Casting a net into the sea [ballantas amphiblēstron eis
tēn thalassan]. The word here for net is a casting-net (compare
[amphiballō] in
4:19 Fishers of men [haleeis anthrōpōn]. Andrew and Simon
were fishers by trade. They had already become disciples of Jesus
(
4:21 Mending their nets [katartizontas ta diktua autōn].
These two brothers, James and John, were getting their nets ready
for use. The verb [katartizō] means to adjust, to articulate,
to mend if needed (
4:23 Went about in all Galilee [periēgen en holēi tēi Galilaiai]. Literally Jesus “was going around (imperfect) in all Galilee.” This is the first of the three tours of Galilee made by Jesus. This time he took the four fishermen whom he had just called to personal service. The second time he took the twelve. On the third he sent the twelve on ahead by twos and followed after them. He was teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom in the synagogues chiefly and on the roads and in the streets where Gentiles could hear. Healing all manner of diseases and all manner of sickness [therapeuōn pāsan noson kai pāsan malakian]. The occasional sickness is called [malakian], the chronic or serious disease [noson].
4:24 The report of him went forth into all Syria [apēlthen hē
akoē autou eis holēn tēn Syrian]. Rumour [akoē] carries
things almost like the wireless or radio. The Gentiles all over Syria to
the north heard of what was going on in Galilee. The result was
inevitable. Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over
Galilee and Syria. ”Those that were sick” [tous kakōs
echontas], literally “those who had it bad,” cases that the
doctors could not cure. ”Holden with divers diseases and
torments” [poikilais nosois kai basanois sunechomenous]. “Held
together” or “compressed” is the idea of the participle. The same
word is used by Jesus in
4:25 Great multitudes [ochloi polloi]. Note the plural, not just one crowd, but crowds and crowds. And from all parts of Palestine including Decapolis, the region of the Ten Greek Cities east of the Jordan. No political campaign was equal to this outpouring of the people to hear Jesus and to be healed by Jesus.
5:1 He went up into the mountain [anebē eis to oros].
Not “a”
mountain as the Authorized Version has it. The Greek article is
poorly handled in most English versions. We do not know what
mountain it was. It was the one there where Jesus and the crowds
were. “Delitzsch calls the Mount of Beatitudes the Sinai of the
New Testament” (Vincent). He apparently went up to get in closer
contact with the disciples, “seeing the multitudes.” Luke (
5:2 Taught them [edidasken]. Inchoative imperfect, began
to
teach. He sat down on the mountain side as the Jewish rabbis did
instead of standing. It was a most impressive scene as Jesus
opened his mouth wide and spoke loud enough for the great throng
to hear him. The newly chosen twelve apostles were there, “a
great number of disciples and a great number of the people” (
5:3 Blessed [makarioi]. The English word “blessed” is more
exactly represented by the Greek verbal [eulogētoi] as in
5:4 They that mourn [hoi penthountes]. This is another paradox. This verb “is most frequent in the LXX for mourning for the dead, and for the sorrows and sins of others” (McNeile). “There can be no comfort where there is no grief” (Bruce). Sorrow should make us look for the heart and hand of God and so find the comfort latent in the grief.
5:5 The meek [hoi praeis]. Wycliff has it “Blessed be mild
men.” The ancients used the word for outward conduct and towards
men. They did not rank it as a virtue anyhow. It was a mild
equanimity that was sometimes negative and sometimes positively
kind. But Jesus lifted the word to a nobility never attained
before. In fact, the Beatitudes assume a new heart, for the
natural man does not find in happiness the qualities mentioned
here by Christ. The English word “meek” has largely lost the fine
blend of spiritual poise and strength meant by the Master. He
calls himself “meek and lowly in heart” (
5:6 They that hunger and thirst after righteousness [hoi
peinōntes kai dipsōntes tēn dikaiosunēn]. Here Jesus turns one
of the elemental human instincts to spiritual use. There is in
all men hunger for food, for love, for God. It is passionate
hunger and thirst for goodness, for holiness. The word for
“filled” [chortasthēsontai] means to feed or to fatten cattle
from the word for fodder or grass like
5:7 Obtain mercy [eleēthēsontai] “Sal win pitie theirsels” (Braid Scots). “A self-acting law of the moral world” (Bruce).
5:8 Shall see God [ton theon opsontai]. Without holiness
no
man will see the Lord in heaven (
5:9 The peacemakers [hoi eirēnopoioi]. Not merely “peaceable
men” (Wycliff) but “makkers up o’ strife” (Braid Scots).
It is
hard enough to keep the peace. It is still more difficult to
bring peace where it is not. “The perfect peacemaker is the Son
of God (
5:10 That have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake [hoi dediōgmenoi heneken dikaiosunēs]. Posing as persecuted is a favourite stunt. The kingdom of heaven belongs only to those who suffer for the sake of goodness, not who are guilty of wrong.
5:11 Falsely, for my sake [pseudomenoi heneken emou]. Codex Bezae changes the order of these last Beatitudes, but that is immaterial. What does matter is that the bad things said of Christ’s followers shall be untrue and that they are slandered for Christ’s sake. Both things must be true before one can wear a martyr’s crown and receive the great reward [misthos] in heaven. No prize awaits one there who deserves all the evil said of him and done to him here.
5:13 Lost its savour [mōranthēi]. The verb is from [mōros]
(dull, sluggish, stupid, foolish) and means to play the fool, to
become foolish, of salt become tasteless, insipid (
5:15 Under the bushel [hupo ton modion]. Not a bushel. “The figure is taken from lowly cottage life. There was a projecting stone in the wall on which the lamp was set. The house consisted of a single room, so that the tiny light sufficed for all” (Bruce). It was not put under the bushel (the only one in the room) save to put it out or to hide it. The bushel was an earthenware grain measure. ”The stand” [tēn luchnian], not “candlestick.” It is “lamp-stand” in each of the twelve examples in the Bible. There was the one lamp-stand for the single room.
5:16 Even so [houtōs]. The adverb points backward to the lamp-stand. Thus men are to let their light shine, not to glorify themselves, but “your Father in heaven.” Light shines to see others by, not to call attention to itself.
5:17 I came not to destroy, but to fulfil [ouk ēlthon
katalusai alla plērōsai]. The verb “destroy” means to “loosen
down” as of a house or tent (
5:18 One jot or one tittle [iōta hen ē mia kerea]. “Not an iota, not a comma” (Moffatt), “not the smallest letter, not a particle” (Weymouth). The iota is the smallest Greek vowel, which Matthew here uses to represent the Hebrew yod (jot), the smallest Hebrew letter. “Tittle” is from the Latin titulus which came to mean the stroke above an abbreviated word, then any small mark. It is not certain here whether [kerea] means a little horn, the mere point which distinguishes some Hebrew letters from others or the “hook” letter Vav. Sometimes yod and vav were hardly distinguishable. “In Vay. R. 19 the guilt of altering one of them is pronounced so great that if it were done the world would be destroyed” (McNeile).
5:19 Shall do and teach [poiēsēi kai didaxēi]. Jesus puts
practice before preaching. The teacher must apply the doctrine to
himself before he is qualified to teach others. The scribes and
Pharisees were men who “say and do not” (
5:20 Shall exceed [perisseusēi pleion]. Overflow like a
river out of its banks and then Jesus adds “more” followed by an
unexpressed ablative [tēs dikaiosunēs], brachylogy. A daring
statement on Christ’s part that they had to be better than the
rabbis. They must excel the scribes, the small number of regular
teachers (
5:22 But I say unto you [egō de legō humin]. Jesus thus
assumes a tone of superiority over the Mosaic regulations and
proves it in each of the six examples. He goes further than the
Law into the very heart. ”Raca” [Raka] and ”Thou fool”
[Mōre]. The first is probably an Aramaic word meaning “Empty,”
a frequent word for contempt. The second word is Greek (dull,
stupid) and is a fair equivalent of “raca.” It is urged by some
that [mōre] is a Hebrew word, but Field (Otium Norvicense)
objects to that idea. ”Raca expresses contempt for a man’s
head=you stupid! Mōre expresses contempt for his heart and
character=you scoundrel” (Bruce). ”The hell of fire” [tēn
geennan tou puros], “the Gehenna of fire,” the genitive case
[tou puros] as the genus case describing Gehenna as marked by
fire. Gehenna is the Valley of Hinnom where the fire burned
continually. Here idolatrous Jews once offered their children to
Molech (
5:24 First be reconciled [prōton diallagēthi]. Second aorist passive imperative. Get reconciled (ingressive aorist, take the initiative). Only example of this compound in the New Testament where usually [katallassō] occurs. Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, p. 187, New Ed.) gives a papyrus example second century A.D. A prodigal son, Longinus, writes to his mother Nilus: “I beseech thee, mother, be reconciled [dialagēti] with me.” The boy is a poor speller, but with a broken heart he uses the identical form that Jesus does. “The verb denotes mutual concession after mutual hostility, an idea absent from [katallassō]” (Lightfoot). This because of [dia] (two, between two).
5:25 Agree with [isthi eunoōn]. A present periphrastic
active
imperative. The verb is from [eunoos] (friendly, kindly
disposed). “Mak up wi’ yere enemy” (Braid Scots). Compromise
is
better than prison where no principle is involved, but only
personal interest. It is so easy to see principle where pride is
involved. The officer [tōi hupēretēi]. This word means
“under
rower” on the ship with several ranks of rowers, the bottom rower
[hupo] under and [ēressō], to row), the galley-slave, then any
servant, the attendant in the synagogue (
5:26 The last farthing [ton eschaton kodrantēn]. A Latin
word, quadrans, 1/4 of an as [assarion] or two mites (
5:27 Thou shalt not commit adultery [ou moicheuseis]. These
quotations (
5:28 In his heart [en tēi kardiāi autou]. Not just the centre of the blood circulation though it means that. Not just the emotional part of man’s nature, but here the inner man including the intellect, the affections, the will. This word is exceedingly common in the New Testament and repays careful study always. It is from a root that means to quiver or palpitate. Jesus locates adultery in the eye and heart before the outward act. Wunsche (Beitrage) quotes two pertinent rabbinical sayings as translated by Bruce: “The eye and the heart are the two brokers of sin.” “Passions lodge only in him who sees.” Hence the peril of lewd pictures and plays to the pure.
5:29 Causeth thee to stumble [skandalizei se]. This is far better than the Authorized Version ”Offend thee.” Braid Scots has it rightly “ensnare ye.” It is not the notion of giving offence or provoking, but of setting a trap or snare for one. The substantive [skandalon], from [skandalēthron] means the stick in the trap that springs and closes the trap when the animal touches it. Pluck out the eye when it is a snare, cut off the hand, even the right hand. These vivid pictures are not to be taken literally, but powerfully plead for self-mastery. Bengel says: Non oculum, sed scandalizentem oculum. It is not mutilating of the body that Christ enjoins, but control of the body against sin. The man who plays with fire will get burnt. Modern surgery finely illustrates the teaching of Jesus. The tonsils, the teeth, the appendix, to go no further, if left diseased, will destroy the whole body. Cut them out in time and the life will be saved. Vincent notes that “the words scandal and slander are both derived from [skandalon]. And Wyc. renders, ‘if thy right eye slander thee.’” Certainly slander is a scandal and a stumbling-block, a trap, and a snare.
5:31 A writing of divorcement [apostasion], “a divorce
certificate” (Moffatt), “a written notice of divorce” (Weymouth).
The Greek is an abbreviation of [biblion apostasiou] (
5:32 Saving for the cause of fornication [parektos logou
porneias]. An unusual phrase that perhaps means “except for a
matter of unchastity.” “Except on the ground of unchastity”
(Weymouth), “except unfaithfulness” (Goodspeed), and
is
equivalent to [mē epi porneiāi] in
5:34 Swear not at all [mē omosai holōs]. More exactly “not
to
swear at all” (indirect command, and aorist infinitive).
Certainly Jesus does not prohibit oaths in a court of justice for
he himself answered Caiaphas on oath. Paul made solemn appeals to
God (
5:38 An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth [ophthalmon
anti ophthalmou kai odonta anti odontos]. Note [anti] with the
notion of exchange or substitution. The quotation is from
5:39 Resist not him that is evil [me antistēnai tōi ponērōi].
Here again it is the infinitive (second aorist active) in
indirect command. But is it “the evil man” or the “evil deed”?
The dative case is the same form for masculine and neuter.
Weymouth puts it “not to resist a (the) wicked man,” Moffatt “not
to resist an injury,” Goodspeed “not to resist injury.” The
examples will go with either view. Jesus protested when smitten
on the cheek (
5:40 Thy coat ... thy cloke also [ton chitōna sou kai to himation]. The “coat” is really a sort of shirt or undergarment and would be demanded at law. A robber would seize first the outer garment or cloke (one coat). If one loses the undergarment at law, the outer one goes also (the more valuable one).
5:41 Shall compel thee [aggareusei]. The Vulgate has
angariaverit. The word is of Persian origin and means public
couriers or mounted messengers [aggaroi] who were stationed by
the King of Persia at fixed localities, with horses ready for
use, to send royal messages from one to another. So if a man is
passing such a post-station, an official may rush out and compel
him to go back to another station to do an errand for the king.
This was called impressment into service. This very thing was
done to Simon of Cyrene who was thus compelled to carry the cross
of Christ (
5:42 Turn not thou away [mē apostraphēis]. Second aorist
passive subjunctive in prohibition. “This is one of the clearest
instances of the necessity of accepting the spirit and not the
letter of the Lord’s commands (see vv.
5:43 And hate thine enemy [kai misēseis]. This phrase is
not in
5:48 Perfect [teleioi]. The word comes from [telos], end, goal, limit. Here it is the goal set before us, the absolute standard of our Heavenly Father. The word is used also for relative perfection as of adults compared with children.
6:1 Take heed [prosechete]. The Greek idiom includes
“mind”
[noun] which is often expressed in ancient Greek and once in
the Septuagint (
6:2 Sound not a trumpet [mē salpisēis]. Is this literal
or
metaphorical? No actual instance of such conduct has been found
in the Jewish writings. McNeile suggests that it may refer to the
blowing of trumpets in the streets on the occasion of public
fasts. Vincent suggests the thirteen trumpet-shaped chests of the
temple treasury to receive contributions (
6:4 In secret [tōi kruptōi]. The Textus Receptus added
the words [en tōi phanerōi] (openly) here and in
6:5 In the synagogues and in the corners of the streets [en tais sunagōgais kai en tais gōniais tōn plateiōn]. These were the usual places of prayer (synagogues) and the street corners where crowds stopped for business or talk. If the hour of prayer overtook a Pharisee here, he would strike his attitude of prayer like a modern Moslem that men might see that he was pious.
6:6 Into thy closet [eis to tameion]. The word is a late syncopated form of [tamieion] from [tamias] (steward) and the root [tam-] from [temnō], to cut. So it is a store-house, a separate apartment, one’s private chamber, closet, or “den” where he can withdraw from the world and shut the world out and commune with God.
6:7 Use not vain repetitions [mē battalogēsēte]. Used of
stammerers who repeat the words, then mere babbling or
chattering, empty repetition. The etymology is uncertain, but it
is probably onomatopoetic like “babble.” The worshippers of Baal
on Mount Carmel (
6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye [houtōs oun
proseuchesthe humeis]. “You” expressed in contrast with “the
Gentiles.” It should be called “The Model Prayer” rather than
“The Lord’s Prayer.” “Thus” pray as he gives them a model. He
himself did not use it as a liturgy (cf.
Hallowed be thy name [hagiasthētō to onoma sou]. In the Greek
the verb comes first as in the petitions in
6:11 Our daily bread [ton arton hēmōn ton epiousion]. This
adjective “daily” [epiousion] coming after “Give us this day”
[dos hēmŒn sēmeron] has given expositors a great deal of
trouble. The effort has been made to derive it from [epi] and
[ōn] [ousa]. It clearly comes from [epi] and [iōn] [epi]
and
[eimi] like [tēi epiousēi] (“on the coming day,” “the next day,”
6:12 Our debts [ta opheilēmata hēmōn]. Luke (
6:13 And bring us not into temptation [kai mē eisenegkēis eis
peirasmon]. “Bring” or “lead” bothers many people. It seems to
present God as an active agent in subjecting us to temptation, a
thing specifically denied in
From the evil one [apo tou ponērou]. The ablative case in the Greek obscures the gender. We have no way of knowing whether it is [ho ponēros] (the evil one) or [to ponēron] (the evil thing). And if it is masculine and so [ho ponēros], it can either refer to the devil as the Evil One par excellence or the evil man whoever he may be who seeks to do us ill. The word [ponēros] has a curious history coming from [ponos] (toil) and [poneō] (to work). It reflects the idea either that work is bad or that this particular work is bad and so the bad idea drives out the good in work or toil, an example of human depravity surely.
The Doxology is placed in the margin of the Revised Version. It is wanting in the oldest and best Greek manuscripts. The earliest forms vary very much, some shorter, some longer than the one in the Authorized Version. The use of a doxology arose when this prayer began to be used as a liturgy to be recited or to be chanted in public worship. It was not an original part of the Model Prayer as given by Jesus.
6:14 Trespasses [paraptōmata]. This is no part of the Model
Prayer. The word “trespass” is literally “falling to one side,” a
lapse or deviation from truth or uprightness. The ancients
sometimes used it of intentional falling or attack upon one’s
enemy, but “slip” or “fault” (
6:16 Of a sad countenance [skuthrōpoi]. Only here and
6:18 In secret [en tōi kruphaiōi]. Here as in
6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures [mē thēsaurizete
humin thēsaurous]. Do not have this habit [mē] and the present
imperative). See on
Break through [diorussousin]. Literally “dig through.” Easy to do through the mud walls or sun-dried bricks. Today they can pierce steel safes that are no longer safe even if a foot thick. The Greeks called a burglar a “mud-digger” [toichoruchos].
6:20 Rust [brōsis]. Something that “eats” [bibrōskō] or “gnaws” or “corrodes.”
6:22 Single [haplous]. Used of a marriage contract when the
husband is to repay the dowry “pure and simple” [tēn phernēn
haplēn], if she is set free; but in case he does not do so
promptly, he is to add interest also (Moulton and Milligan’s
Vocabulary, etc.). There are various other instances of such
usage. Here and in
6:24 No man can serve two masters [oudeis dunatai dusi kuriois douleuein]. Many try it, but failure awaits them all. Men even try “to be slaves to God and mammon” [Theōi douleuein kai mamōnāi]. Mammon is a Chaldee, Syriac, and Punic word like Plutus for the money-god (or devil). The slave of mammon will obey mammon while pretending to obey God. The United States has had a terrible revelation of the power of the money-god in public life in the Sinclair-Fall-Teapot-Air-Dome-Oil case. When the guide is blind and leads the blind, both fall into the ditch. The man who cannot tell road from ditch sees falsely as Ruskin shows in Modern Painters. He will hold to one [henos anthexetai]. The word means to line up face to face [anti] with one man and so against the other.
6:25 Be not anxious for your life [mē merimnate tēi psuchēi h–mōn]. This is as good a translation as the Authorized Version was poor; “Take no thought for your life.” The old English word “thought” meant anxiety or worry as Shakespeare says:
“The native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.”
Vincent quotes Bacon (Henry VII): “Harris, an alderman of London,
was put in trouble and died with thought and anguish.” But words
change with time and now this passage is actually quoted
(Lightfoot) “as an objection to the moral teaching of the Sermon
on the Mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a
reckless neglect of the future.” We have narrowed the word to
mere planning without any notion of anxiety which is in the Greek
word. The verb [merimnaō] is from [meris, merizō], because care
or anxiety distracts and divides. It occurs in Christ’s rebuke to
Martha for her excessive solicitude about something to eat (
For your life [tēi psuchēi]. “Here [psuchēi] stands for the
life principle common to man and beast, which is embodied in the
[sōma]: the former needs food, the latter clothing” (McNeile).
[Psuchē] in the Synoptic Gospels occurs in three senses
(McNeile): either the life principle in the body as here and
which man may kill (
6:27 Unto his stature [epi tēn hēlikian autou]. The word [hēlikian] is used either of height (stature) or length of life (age). Either makes good sense here, though probably “stature” suits the context best. Certainly anxiety will not help either kind of growth, but rather hinder by auto-intoxication if nothing more. This is no plea for idleness, for even the birds are diligent and the flowers grow.
6:28 The lilies of the field [ta krina tou agrou]. The word may include other wild flowers besides lilies, blossoms like anemones, poppies, gladioli, irises (McNeile).
6:29 Was not arrayed [oude periebaleto]. Middle voice and so “did not clothe himself,” “did not put around himself.”
6:30 The grass of the field [ton chorton tou agrou]. The common grass of the field. This heightens the comparison.
6:33 First his kingdom [prōton tēn basileian]. This in answer to those who see in the Sermon on the Mount only ethical comments. Jesus in the Beatitudes drew the picture of the man with the new heart. Here he places the Kingdom of God and his righteousness before temporal blessings (food and clothing).
6:34 For the morrow [eis ten aurion]. The last resort of the anxious soul when all other fears are allayed. The ghost of tomorrow stalks out with all its hobgoblins of doubt and distrust.
7:1 Judge not [mē krinete]. The habit of censoriousness, sharp, unjust criticism. Our word critic is from this very word. It means to separate, distinguish, discriminate. That is necessary, but pre-judice (prejudgment) is unfair, captious criticism.
7:3 The mote [to karphos]. Not dust, but a piece of dried wood or chaff, splinter (Weymouth, Moffatt), speck (Goodspeed), a very small particle that may irritate. The beam [tēn dokon]. A log on which planks in the house rest (so papyri), joist, rafter, plank (Moffatt), pole sticking out grotesquely. Probably a current proverb quoted by Jesus like our people in glass houses throwing stones. Tholuck quotes an Arabic proverb: “How seest thou the splinter in thy brother’s eye, and seest not the cross-beam in thine eye?”
7:5 Shalt thou see clearly [diablepseis]. Only here and
7:6 That which is holy unto the dogs [to hagion tois kusin].
It is not clear to what “the holy” refers, to ear-rings or to
amulets, but that would not appeal to dogs. Trench (Sermon on the Mount, p. 136) says that the reference is to meat offered in
sacrifice that must not be flung to dogs: “It is not that the
dogs would not eat it, for it would be welcome to them; but that
it would be a profanation to give it to them, thus to make it a
skubalon,
7:9 Loaf—stone [arton—lithon]. Some stones look like
loaves
of bread. So the devil suggested that Jesus make loaves out of
stones (
7:10 Fish—serpent [ichthun—ophin]. Fish, common article of food, and water-snakes could easily be substituted. Anacoluthon in this sentence in the Greek.
7:11 How much more [posōi mallon]. Jesus is fond of the a fortiori argument.
7:12 That men should do unto you [hina poiōsin h–mŒn hoi
anthrōpoi]. Luke (
7:13 By the narrow gate [dia tēs stenēs pulēs]. The
Authorized Version “at the strait gate” misled those who did not
distinguish between “strait” and “straight.” The figure of the
Two Ways had a wide circulation in Jewish and Christian writings
(cf.
7:15 False prophets [tōn pseudoprophētōn]. There were false
prophets in the time of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus will
predict “false Messiahs and false prophets” (
7:16 By their fruits ye shall know them [apo tōn karpōn autōn epignōsesthe]. From their fruits you will recognize them.” The verb “know ” [ginōskō] has [epi] added, fully know. The illustrations from the trees and vines have many parallels in ancient writers.
7:20 See on
7:21 Not—but [ou—all’]. Sharp contrast between the mere talker and the doer of God’s will.
7:22 Did we not prophesy in thy name? [ou tōi sōi onomati
eprophēteusamen;]. The use of [ou] in the question expects the
affirmative answer. They claim to have prophesied (preached) in
Christ’s name and to have done many miracles. But Jesus will tear
off the sheepskin and lay bare the ravening wolf. “I never knew
you” [oudepote egnōn h–mās]. “I was never acquainted with you”
(experimental knowledge). Success, as the world counts it, is not
a criterion of one’s knowledge of Christ and relation to him. “I
will profess unto them” [homologēsō autois], the very word used
of profession of Christ before men (
7:24 And doeth them [kai poiei autous]. That is the point
in
the parable of the wise builder, “who digged and went deep, and
laid a foundation upon the rock” (
7:25 Was founded [tethemeliōto]. Past perfect indicative passive state of completion in the past. It had been built upon the rock and it stood. No augment.
7:26 And doeth them not [kai mē poiōn autous]. The foolish
builder put his house on the sands that could not hold in the
storm. One is reminded of the words of Jesus at the beginning of
the Sermon in
7:28 The multitudes were astonished [exeplēssonto hoi ochloi]. They listened spell-bound to the end and were left amazed. Note the imperfect tense, a buzz of astonishment. The verb means literally “were struck out of themselves.”
7:29 And not as their scribes [kai ouch hōs hoi grammateis autōn]. They had heard many sermons before from the regular rabbis in the synagogues. We have specimens of these discourses preserved in the Mishna and Gemara, the Jewish Talmud when both were completed, the driest, dullest collection of disjounted comments upon every conceivable problem in the history of mankind. The scribes quoted the rabbis before them and were afraid to express an idea without bolstering it up by some predecessor. Jesus spoke with the authority of truth, the reality and freshness of the morning light, and the power of God’s Spirit. This sermon which made such a profound impression ended with the tragedy of the fall of the house on the sand like the crash of a giant oak in the forest. There was no smoothing over the outcome.
8:2 If thou wilt [ean thelēis]. The leper knew that Jesus had the power to heal him. His doubt was about his willingness. “Men more easily believe in miraculous power than in miraculous love” (Bruce). This is a condition of the third class (undetermined, but with prospect of being determined), a hopeful doubt at any rate. Jesus accepted his challenge by “I will.” The command to “tell no one” was to suppress excitement and prevent hostility.
8:5 Unto him [autōi]. Dative in spite of the genitive
absolute [eiselthontos autou] as in
8:6 Grievously tormented [deinōs basanizomenos]. Participle
present passive from root [basanos] (see on
8:7 I will come and heal him [egō elthōn therapeusō auton].
Future indicative, not deliberative subjunctive in question
(McNeile). The word here for heal [therapeusō] means
first to
serve, give medical attention, then cure, restore to health. The
centurion uses the more definite word for healing [iathēsetai]
8:9 For I also am a man under authority [kai gar egō anthrōpos
hupo exousian]. “Also” is in the text, though the [kai] here may
mean “even,” even I in my subordinate position have soldiers
under me. As a military man he had learned obedience to his
superiors and so expected obedience to his commands, instant
obedience (aorist imperatives and aoristic present indicatives).
Hence his faith in Christ’s power over the illness of the boy
even without coming. Jesus had only to speak with a word (
8:10 So great faith [tosautēn pistin]. In a Roman centurion
and greater than in any of the Jews. In like manner Jesus
marvelled at the great faith of the Canaanitish woman (
8:11 Sit down [anaklithēsontai]. Recline at table on couches as Jews and Romans did. Hence Leonardo da Vinci’s famous picture of the Last Supper is an anachronism with all seated at table in modern style.
8:12 The sons of the kingdom [hoi huioi tēs basileias].
A
favourite Hebrew idiom like “son of hell” (
Into the outer darkness [eis to skotos to exōteron].
Comparative adjective like our “further out,” the darkness
outside the limits of the lighted palace, one of the figures for
hell or punishment (
8:14 Lying sick of a fever [biblēmenēn kai puressousan].
Two
participles, bedridden (perfect passive of [ballō] and burning
with fever (present active). How long the fever had had her we
have no means of knowing, possibly a sudden and severe attack
(
8:15 Touched her hand [hēpsato tēs cheiros autēs]. In loving sympathy as the Great Physician and like any good doctor today.
Ministered [diēkonei]. “Began to minister” (conative imperfect) at once to Jesus at table in gratitude and love.
8:16 When even was come [opsias genomenēs]. Genitive
absolute. A beautiful sunset scene at the close of the Sabbath
day (
8:17 Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases [autos
tas astheneias elaben kai tas nosous ebastasen]. A quotation
from
8:19 A scribe [heis grammateus]. One [heis] = “a,” indefinite
article. Already a disciple as shown by “another of the
disciples” [heteros tōn mathētōn] in
8:20 Holes [phōleous]. A lurking hole, burrow. Nests
[kataskēnōseis]. “Roosts, i.e. leafy, [skēnai] for settling at
night (tabernacula, habitacula), not nests” (McNeile).
In the
Septuagint it is used of God tabernacling in the Sanctuary. The
verb [kataskēnoō] is there used of birds (
The Son of man [tho huios tou anthrōpou]. This remarkable
expression, applied to himself by Jesus so often, appears here
for the first time. There is a considerable modern literature
devoted to it. “It means much for the Speaker, who has chosen it
deliberately, in connection with private reflections, at whose
nature we can only guess, by study of the many occasions on which
the name is used” (Bruce). Often it means the Representative Man.
It may sometimes stand for the Aramaic barnasha, the man, but
in most instances that idea will not suit. Jesus uses it as a
concealed Messianic title. It is possible that this scribe would
not understand the phrase at all. Bruce thinks that here Jesus
means “the unprivileged Man,” worse off than the foxes and the
birds. Jesus spoke Greek as well as Aramaic. It is inconceivable
that the Gospels should never call Jesus “the Son of man” and
always credit it to him as his own words if he did not so term
himself, about eighty times in all, thirty-three in Matthew.
Jesus in his early ministry, except at the very start in
8:21 And bury my father [kai thapsai ton patera mou]. The
first man was an enthusiast. This one is overcautious. It is by
no means certain that the father was dead. Tobit urged his son
Tobias to be sure to bury him: “Son, when I am dead, bury me”
(
8:22 Leave the dead to bury their own dead [aphes tous nekrous thapsai tous heautōn nekrous]. The spiritually dead are always on hand to bury the physically dead, if one’s real duty is with Jesus. Chrysostom says that, while it is a good deed to bury the dead, it is a better one to preach Christ.
8:24 But he was asleep [autos de ekatheuden]. Imperfect,
was
sleeping. Picturesque scene. The Sea of Galilee is 680 feet below
the Mediterranean Sea. These sudden squalls come down from the
summit of Hermon with terrific force [seismos megas] like an
earthquake. Mark (
8:25 Save, Lord; we perish [Kurie, sōson, apollumetha]. More exactly, “Lord, save us at once (aorist), we are perishing (present linear).”
8:27 Even the winds and the sea obey him [Kai hoi anēmoi kai hē thalassa autōi hupakouousin]. A nature miracle. Even a sudden drop in the wind would not at once calm the sea. “J. Weiss explains that by ‘an astonishing coincidence’ the storm happened to lull at the moment that Jesus spoke!” (McNeile). Some minds are easily satisfied by their own stupidities.
8:28 The country of the Gadarenes [ten chōran tōn Gadarēnōn].
This is the correct text in Matthew while in
8:29 Thou Son of God [huie tou theou]. The recognition
of
Jesus by the demons is surprising. The whole subject of
demonology is difficult. Some hold that it is merely the ancient
way of describing disease. But that does not explain the
situation here. Jesus is represented as treating the demons as
real existences separate from the human personality. Missionaries
in China today claim that they have seen demons cast out. The
devil knew Jesus clearly and it is not strange that Jesus was
recognized by the devil’s agents. They know that there is nothing
in common between them and the Son of God [hēmin kai soi],
ethical dative) and they fear torment “before the time” [pro
kairou]. Usually [ta daimonia] is the word in the New Testament
for demons, but in
8:32 Rushed down the steep [hōrmēsen kata tou krēmnou]. Down from the cliff (ablative case) into the sea. Constative aorist tense. The influence of mind on matter is now understood better than formerly, but we have the mastery of the mind of the Master on the minds of the maniacs, the power of Christ over the demons, over the herd of hogs. Difficulties in plenty exist for those who see only folk-lore and legend, but plain enough if we take Jesus to be really Lord and Saviour. The incidental destruction of the hogs need not trouble us when we are so familiar with nature’s tragedies which we cannot comprehend.
8:34 That he would depart [hopōs metabēi]. The whole city was excited over the destruction of the hogs and begged Jesus to leave, forgetful of the healing of the demoniacs in their concern over the loss of property. They cared more for hogs than for human souls, as often happens today.
9:1 His own city [tēn idian polin]. Capernaum (
9:2 They brought [prosepheron]. Imperfect, “were bringing,”
graphic picture made very vivid by the details in
9:3 This man blasphemeth [houtos blasphēmei]. See the sneer in “this fellow.” “The prophet always is a scandalous, irreverent blasphemer from the conventional point of view” (Bruce).
9:6 That ye may know [hina eidēte]. Jesus accepts the
challenge in the thoughts of the scribes and performs the miracle
of healing the paralytic, who so far only had his sins forgiven,
to prove his Messianic power on earth to forgive sins even as God
does. The word [exousia] may mean either power or authority. He
had both as a matter of fact. Note same word in
9:9 At the place of toll [epi to telōnion]. The tax-office
or
custom-house of Capernaum placed here to collect taxes from the
boats going across the lake outside of Herod’s territory or from
people going from Damascus to the coast, a regular caravan route.
”Called Matthew” [Maththaion legomenon] and in
9:10 Publicans and sinners [telōnai kai hamartōloi]. Often
coupled together in common scorn and in contrast with the
righteous [dikaioi] in
9:12 But they that are sick [alla hoi kakōs echontes]. Probably a current proverb about the physician. As a physician of body and soul Jesus was bound to come in close touch with the social outcasts.
9:13 But go ye and learn [poreuthentes de mathete]. With
biting sarcasm Jesus bids these preachers to learn the meaning of
9:14 The disciples of John [hoi mathētai Iōanou]. One is
surprised to find disciples of the Baptist in the role of critics
of Christ along with the Pharisees. But John was languishing in
prison and they perhaps were blaming Jesus for doing nothing
about it. At any rate John would not have gone to Levi’s feast on
one of the Jewish fast-days. “The strict asceticism of the
Baptist (
9:15 The sons of the bride-chamber [hoi huioi tou numphōnos].
It is a late Hebrew idiom for the wedding guests, “the friends of
the bridegroom and all the sons of the bride-chamber” (Tos. Berak. ii. 10). Cf.
9:16 Undressed cloth [rhakous agnaphou]. An unfulled, raw piece of woollen cloth that will shrink when wet and tear a bigger hole than ever. A worse rent [cheiron schisma]. Our word “schism.” The ”patch” [plērōma], filling up) thus does more harm than good.
9:17 Old wineskins [askous palaious]. Not glass ”bottles” but wineskins used as bottles as is true in Palestine yet, goatskins with the rough part inside. “Our word bottle originally carried the true meaning, being a bottle of leather. In Spanish bota means a leather bottle, a boot, and a butt. In Spain wine is still brought to market in pig-skins ” (Vincent). The new wine will ferment and crack the dried-up old skins. The wine is spilled [ekcheitai], poured out.
9:18 Is even now dead [arti eteleutēsen]. Aorist tense with
[arti] and so better, “just now died,” “just dead” (Moffatt).
Mark (
9:20 The border of his garment [tou kraspedou tou himatiou].
The hem or fringe of a garment, a tassel or tuft hanging from the
edge of the outer garment according to
9:23 The flute-players [tous aulētas]. The girl was just
dead, but already a crowd “making a tumult” [thoruboumenon]
with wild wailing and screaming had gathered in the outer court,
“brought together by various motives, sympathy, money, desire to
share in the meat and drink going at such a time” (Bruce).
Besides the several flute-players (voluntary or hired) there were
probably “some hired mourning women (
9:27 As Jesus passed by [paragonti Iēsou]. Associative
instrumental case with [ēkolouthēsan]. It was the supreme
opportunity of these two blind men. Note two demoniacs in
9:29 Touched their eyes [hēpsato tōn ophthalmōn]. The men
had
faith (
9:30 Were opened [ēneōichthēsan]. Triple augment (on [oi=ōi,
e] and then on preposition [an = ēn]. Strictly charged them
[enebrimēthē autois]. A difficult word, compound of [en] and
[brimaomai] (to be moved with anger). It is used of horses
snorting (Aeschylus, Theb. 461), of men fretting or being angry
(
9:32 A dumb man [kōphon]. Literally blunted in tongue as here
and so dumb, in ear as in
9:34 By the prince of the devils [en tōi archonti tōn
daimoniōn]. Demons, not devils. The codex Bezae omits this
verse, but it is probably genuine. The Pharisees are becoming
desperate and, unable to deny the reality of the miracles, they
seek to discredit them by trying to connect Jesus with the devil
himself, the prince of the demons. They will renew this charge
later (
9:35 And Jesus went about [kai periēgen ho Iēsous]. Imperfect tense descriptive of this third tour of all Galilee.
9:36 Were distressed and scattered [ēsan eskulmenoi kai
erimmenoi]. Periphrastic past perfect indicative passive. A sad
and pitiful state the crowds were in. Rent or mangled as if by
wild beasts. [Skullō] occurs in the papyri in sense of plunder,
concern, vexation. “Used here of the common people, it describes
their religious condition. They were harassed, importuned,
bewildered by those who should have taught them; hindered from
entering into the kingdom of heaven (
9:38 That he send forth labourers [hopōs ekbalēi ergatas]. Jesus turns from the figure of the shepherdless sheep to the harvest field ripe and ready for the reapers. The verb [ekballō] really means to drive out, to push out, to draw out with violence or without. Prayer is the remedy offered by Jesus in this crisis for a larger ministerial supply. How seldom do we hear prayers for more preachers. Sometimes God literally has to push or force a man into the ministry who resists his known duty.
10:1 His twelve disciples [tous dōdeka mathētas autou].
First
mention of the group of “learners” by Matthew and assumed as
already in existence (note the article) as they were (
Gave them authority [edōken autois exousian]. “Power”
(Moffatt, Goodspeed). One may be surprised that here only the
healing work is mentioned, though Luke (
10:2 The names of the twelve apostles [tōn dōdeka apostolōn ta
onomata]. This is the official name (missionaries) used here
by
Matthew for the first time. The names are given here, but Matthew
does not say that they were chosen at this time. Mark (
10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth [toutous tous dōdeka
apesteilen ho Iēsous]. The word “sent forth” [apesteilen]
is
the same root as “apostles.” The same word reappears in
10:6 The lost sheep [ta probata ta apolōlota]. The sheep, the lost ones. Mentioned here first by Matthew. Jesus uses it not in blame, but in pity (Bruce). Bengel notes that Jesus says “lost” more frequently than “led astray.” “If the Jewish nation could be brought to repentance the new age would dawn” (McNeile).
10:7 As ye go, preach [poreuomenoi kērussete]. Present
participle and present imperative. They were itinerant preachers
on a “preaching tour,” heralds [kērukes] proclaiming good news.
The summary message is the same as that of the Baptist (
10:9 Get you no gold [mē ktēsēsthe]. It is not, “Do not possess” or “own,” but “do not acquire” or “procure” for yourselves, indirect middle aorist subjunctive. Gold, silver, brass (copper) in a descending scale (nor even bronze). In your purses [eis tas zōnas h–mōn]. In your girdles or belts used for carrying money.
10:10 No wallet [mē pēran]. Better than “scrip.” It can
be
either a travelling or bread bag. Deissmann (Light from the
Ancient East, pp. 108f.) shows that it can mean the beggar’s
collecting bag as in an inscription on a monument at Kefr Hanar
in Syria: “While Christianity was still young the beggar priest
was making his rounds in the land of Syria on behalf of the
national goddess.” Deissmann also quotes a pun in the
Didaskalia=Const. Apost. 3, 6 about some itinerant widows who
said that they were not so much [chērai] (spouseless) as [pērai]
(pouchless). He cites also Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida III. iii. 145: “Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, wherein
he puts alms for oblivion.” For the labourer is worthy of his
food [axios gar ho ergatēs tēs trophēs autou]. The sermon is
worth the dinner, in other words. Luke in the charge to the
seventy (
10:13 If the house be worthy [ean ēi hē oikia axia]. Third class condition. What makes a house worthy? “It would naturally be readiness to receive the preachers and their message” (McNeile). Hospitality is one of the noblest graces and preachers receive their share of it. The apostles are not to be burdensome as guests.
10:14 Shake off the dust [ektinaxate ton koniorton]. Shake
out, a rather violent gesture of disfavour. The Jews had violent
prejudices against the smallest particles of Gentile dust, not as
a purveyor of disease of which they did not know, but because it
was regarded as the putrescence of death. If the apostles were
mistreated by a host or hostess, they were to be treated as if
they were Gentiles (cf.
10:15 More tolerable [anektoteron]. The papyri use this adjective of a convalescent. People in their vernacular today speak of feeling “tolerable.” The Galileans were having more privileges than Sodom and Gomorrah had.
10:16 As sheep in the midst of wolves [hōs probata en mesōi
lukōn]. The presence of wolves on every hand was a fact then and
now. Some of these very sheep (
10:17 Beware of men [prosechete apo tōn anthrōpōn]. Ablative
case with [apo]. Hold your mind [noun] understood) away from.
The article with [anthrōpōn] points back to [lukōn] (wolves) in
To councils [eis sunedria]. The local courts of justice
in
every Jewish town. The word is an old one from Herodotus on for
any deliberative body [concilium]. The same word is used for
the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. In their synagogues [en tois
sunagōgais autōn]. Here not merely as the place of assembly for
worship, but as an assembly of justice exercising discipline as
when the man born blind was cast out of the synagogue (
10:19 Be not anxious [mē merimnēsēte]. Ingressive aorist
subjunctive in prohibition. “Do not become anxious” (
10:22 Ye shall be hated [esesthe misoumenoi]. Periphrastic
future passive, linear action. It will go on through the ages.
For my name’s sake [dia to onoma mou]. In the O.T. as in
the
Targums and the Talmud “the name” as here stands for the person
(
10:23 Till the Son of man be come [heōs elthēi ho huios tou anthrōpou]. 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 [heōs] with aorist subjunctive for a future event is a good Greek idiom.
10:25 Beelzebub [beezeboul] according to B, [beelzeboul] by
most Greek MSS., [beelzeboub] 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”
[oikodespotēn] 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
10:26 Fear them not therefore [mē oun phobēthēte autous].
Repeated in
10:28 Destroy both soul and body in hell [kai psuchēn kai sōma
apolesai en geennēi]. Note “soul” here of the eternal spirit,
not just life in the body. “Destroy” here is not annihilation,
but eternal punishment in Gehenna (the real hell) for which see
on
10:29 Two sparrows [duo strouthia]. Diminutive of [strouthos]
and means any small bird, sparrows in particular. They are sold
today in the markets of Jerusalem and Jaffa. “For a farthing”
[assariou] is genitive of price. Only here and
10:31 Than many sparrows [pollōn strouthiōn]. Ablative case of comparison with [diapherete] (our differ).
10:32 Shall confess me [homologēsei en emoi]. An Aramaic
idiom, not Hebrew, see also
10:33 Shall deny me [arnēsētai me]. Aorist subjunctive here with [hostis], though future indicative [homologēsei] above. Note accusative here (case of extension), saying “no” to Christ, complete breach. This is a solemn law, not a mere social breach, this cleavage by Christ of the man who repudiates him, public and final.
10:34 I came not to send peace, but a sword [ouk ēlthon balein eirēnēn, alla machairan]. A bold and dramatic climax. The aorist infinitive means a sudden hurling of the sword where peace was expected. Christ does bring peace, not as the world gives, but it is not the force of compromise with evil, but of conquest over wrong, over Satan, the triumph of the cross. Meanwhile there will be inevitably division in families, in communities, in states. It is no namby-pamby sentimentalism that Christ preaches, no peace at any price. The Cross is Christ’s answer to the devil’s offer of compromise in world dominion. For Christ the kingdom of God is virile righteousness, not mere emotionalism.
10:35 Set at variance [dichasai]. Literally divide in two,
[dicha]. Jesus uses
10:38 Doth not take his cross [ou lambanei ton stauron autou]. The first mention of cross in Matthew. Criminals were crucified in Jerusalem. It was the custom for the condemned person to carry his own cross as Jesus did till Simon of Cyrene was impressed for that purpose. The Jews had become familiar with crucifixion since the days of Antiochus Epiphanes and one of the Maccabean rulers (Alexander Jannaeus) had crucified 800 Pharisees. It is not certain whether Jesus was thinking of his own coming crucifixion when he used this figure, though possible, perhaps probable. The disciples would hardly think of that outcome unless some of them had remarkable insight.
10:39 Shall lose it [apolesei autēn]. This paradox appears
in four forms according to Allen (I)
10:41 In the name of a prophet [eis onoma prophētou].
“Because he is a prophet” (Moffatt). In an Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 37
(A.D. 49) we find [onomati eleutherou] in virtue of being
free-born. “He that receiveth a prophet from no ulterior motive,
but simply qua prophet (ut prophetam, Jer.) would receive a
reward in the coming age equal to that of his guest” (McNeile).
The use of [eis] here is to be noted. In reality [eis] is simply
[en] with the same meaning. It is not proper to say that [eis]
has always to be translated “into.” Besides these examples of
[eis onoma] in
11:1 He departed thence to teach and preach [metebē ekeithen
tou didaskein kai kērussein]. In five instances (
11:2 John heard in the prison [ho de Iōanēs akousas en tōi
desmōtēriōi]. Probably (
11:3 He that cometh [ho erchomenos]. This phrase refers
to
the Messiah (
11:4 The things which ye do hear and see [ha akouete kai blepete]. This symbolical message was for John to interpret, not for them.
11:5 And the dead are raised up [kai nekroi egeirontai].
Like that of the son of the widow of Nain. Did he raise the dead also
on this occasion? “Tell John your story over again and remind him
of these prophetic texts,
11:6 Whosoever shall find none occasion of stumbling in me [hos an mē skandalisthēi en emoi]. Indefinite relative clause with first aorist passive subjunctive. This beatitude is a rebuke to John for his doubt even though in prison. Doubt is not a proof of superior intellect, scholarship, or piety. John was in the fog and that is the time not to make serious decisions. “In some way even the Baptist had found some occasion of stumbling in Jesus” (Plummer).
11:7 As these went their way [toutōn poreuomenōn]. Present
participle genitive absolute. The eulogy of Jesus was spoken as
the two disciples of John were going away. Is it a matter of
regret that they did not hear this wondrous praise of John that
they might cheer him with it? “It may almost be called the
funeral oration of the Baptist, for not long afterwards Herodias
compassed his death” (Plummer). A reed shaken by the wind
[kalamon hupo anemou saleuomenon]. Latin calamus. Used of the
reeds that grew in plenty in the Jordan Valley where John
preached, of a staff made of a reed (
11:9 And much more than a prophet [kai perissoteron
prophētou]. Ablative of comparison after [perissoteron] itself
comparative though meaning exceeding (surrounded by,
overflowing). John had all the great qualities of the true
prophet: “Vigorous moral conviction, integrity, strength of will,
fearless zeal for truth and righteousness” (Bruce). And then he
was the Forerunner of the Messiah (
11:11 He that is but little [ho mikroteros]. The Authorized
Version here has it better, “he that is least.” The article with
the comparative is a growing idiom in the vernacular Koinē for
the superlative as in the modern Greek it is the only idiom for
the superlative (Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N.T., p. 668).
The papyri and inscriptions show the same construction. The
paradox of Jesus has puzzled many. He surely means that John is
greater [meizōn] than all others in character, but that the
least in the kingdom of heaven surpasses him in privilege. John
is the end of one age, “until John” (
11:12 Suffereth violence [biazetai]. This verb occurs only
here and in
11:14 This is Elijah [autos estin Eleias]. Jesus here
endorses John as the promise of Malachi. The people understood
11:17 Children sitting in the market places [paidiois
kathēmenois en tais agorais]. This parable of the children
playing in the market place is given also in
11:19 Wisdom is justified by her works [edikaiōthē apo tōn
ergōn autēs]. A timeless aorist passive (Robertson, Grammar,
p. 836f.). The word “justified” means “set right” Luke (
11:20 Most of his mighty works [hai pleistai dunameis autou].
Literally, “His very many mighty works” if elative as usual in
the papyri (Moulton, Prolegomena, p. 79; Robertson, Grammar,
p. 670). But the usual superlative makes sense here as the
Canterbury translation has it. This word [dunamis] for miracle
presents the notion of power like our dynamite. The word
[teras] is wonder, portent, miraculum (miracle) as in
11:21 Chorazin [Chorazein]. Mentioned only here and in
11:25 At that season Jesus answered and said [en ekeinōi tōi
kairōi apokritheis eipen]. Spoke to his Father in audible voice.
The time and place we do not know. But here we catch a glimpse of
Jesus in one of his moods of worship. “It is usual to call this
golden utterance a prayer, but it is at once prayer, praise, and
self-communing in a devout spirit” (Bruce). Critics are disturbed
because this passage from the Logia of Jesus or Q of Synoptic
criticism (
11:26 Wellpleasing in thy sight [eudokia emprosthen sou]. “For such has been thy gracious will” (Weymouth).
11:27 All things have been delivered unto me of my Father
[panta moi paredothē hupo tou patros mou]. This sublime claim
is not to be whittled down or away by explanations. It is the
timeless aorist like [edothē] in
11:28 Come unto me [deute pros me].
11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn of me [arate ton zugon
mou eph’humas kai mathete ap’emou]. The rabbis used yoke for
school as many pupils find it now a yoke. The English word
“school” is Greek for leisure [scholē]. But Jesus offers
refreshment [anapausin] in his school and promises to make the
burden light, for he is a meek and humble teacher. Humility was
not a virtue among the ancients. It was ranked with servility.
Jesus has made a virtue of this vice. He has glorified this
attitude so that Paul urges it (
12:1 On the sabbath day through the cornfields [tois sabbasin
dia tōn sporimōn]. This paragraph begins exactly like
12:2 Thy disciples do [hoi mathētai sou poiousin]. These
critics are now watching a chance and they jump at this violation
of their Pharisaic rules for Sabbath observance. The disciples
were plucking the heads of wheat which to the Pharisees was
reaping and were rubbing them in their hands (
12:3 What David did [ti epoiēsen Daueid]. From the necessity
of hunger. The first defence made by Christ appeals to the
conduct of David (
12:6 One greater than the temple [tou hierou meizon]. Ablative of comparison, [tou hierou]. The Textus Receptus has [meizōn], but the neuter is correct. Literally, “something greater than the temple.” What is that? It may still be Christ, or it may be: “The work and His disciples were of more account than the temple” (Plummer). “If the temple was not subservient to Sabbath rules, how much less the Messiah!” (Allen).
12:7 The guiltless [tous anaitious]. So in
12:9 Lord of the Sabbath [kurios tou sabbatou]. This claim that he as the Son of Man is master of the Sabbath and so above the Pharisaic regulations angered them extremely. By the phrase “the Son of man” here Jesus involves the claim of Messiahship, but as the Representative Man he affirms his solidarity with mankind, “standing for the human interest” (Bruce) on this subject.
12:10 Is it lawful? [ei exestin]. The use of [ei] in direct
questions is really elliptical and seems an imitation of the
Hebrew (Robertson, Grammar, p. 916). See also
12:12 How much then is a man [posōi oun diapherei anthrōpos]. Another of Christ’s pregnant questions that goes to the roots of things, an a fortiori argument. “By how much does a human being differ from a sheep? That is the question which Christian civilization has not even yet adequately answered” (Bruce). The poor pettifogging Pharisees are left in the pit.
12:13 Stretch forth thy hand [ekteinon sou tēn cheira].
Probably the arm was not withered, though that is not certain.
But he did the impossible. “He stretched it forth,” straight, I
hope, towards the Pharisees who were watching Jesus (
12:14 Took counsel against him [sumboulion elabon kat’
autou]. An imitation of the Latin concilium capere and found
in papyri of the second century A.D. (Deissmann, Bible Studies,
p. 238.) This incident marks a crisis in the hatred of the
Pharisees toward Jesus. They bolted out of the synagogue and
actually conspired with their hated rivals, the Herodians, how to
put Jesus to death (
12:15 Perceiving [gnous]. Second aorist active participle of [ginōskō]. Jesus read their very thoughts. They were now plain to any one who saw their angry countenances.
12:17 That it might be fulfilled [hina plērōthēi]. The
final
use of [hina] and the sub-final just before (
12:18 My beloved [ho agapētos mou]. This phrase reminds
one of
12:20 A bruised reed [kalamon suntetrimmenon]. Perfect
passive participle of [suntribō]. A crushed reed he will not
break. The curious augment in [kateaxei] (future active
indicative) is to be noted. The copyists kept the augment where
it did not belong in this verb (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1212)
even in Plato. “Smoking flax” [linon tuphomenon]. The wick of a
lamp, smoking and flickering and going out. Only here in N.T.
Flax in
12:23 Is this the Son of David? [mēti houtos estin ho huios Daueid?]. The form of the question expects the answer “no,” but they put it so because of the Pharisaic hostility towards Jesus. The multitudes “were amazed” or “stood out of themselves” [existanto], imperfect tense, vividly portraying the situation. They were almost beside themselves with excitement.
12:24 The Pharisees [hoi de Pharisaioi]. Already (
12:25 Knowing their thoughts [eidōs de tas enthumēseis
autōn]. What they were revolving in their minds. They now find
out what a powerful opponent Jesus is. By parables, by a series
of conditions (first class), by sarcasm, by rhetorical question,
by merciless logic, he lays bare their hollow insincerity and the
futility of their arguments. Satan does not cast out Satan. Note
timeless aorist passive [emeristhē] in
12:30 He that is not with me [ho mē ōn met’ emou]. With these solemn words Jesus draws the line of cleavage between himself and his enemies then and now. Jesus still has his enemies who hate him and all noble words and deeds because they sting what conscience they have into fury. But we may have our choice. We either gather with [sunagōn] Christ or scatter [skorpizei] to the four winds. Christ is the magnet of the ages. He draws or drives away. “Satan is the arch-waster, Christ the collector, Saviour” (Bruce).
12:31 But the blasphemy against the Spirit [hē de tou
pneumatos blasphēmia]. Objective genitive. This is the
unpardonable sin. In
12:34 Ye offspring of vipers [gennēmata echidnōn]. These
same
terrible words the Baptist had used to the Pharisees and
Sadducees who came to his baptism (
12:36 Every idle word [pan rhēma argon]. An ineffective,
useless word [a] privative and [ergon]. A word that does no
good and so is pernicious like pernicious anaemia. It is a solemn
thought. Jesus who knows our very thoughts (
12:38 A sign from thee [apo sou sēmeion]. One wonders at the audacity of scribes and Pharisees who accused Jesus of being in league with Satan and thus casting out demons who can turn round and blandly ask for a “sign from thee.” As if the other miracles were not signs! “The demand was impudent, hypocritical, insulting” (Bruce).
12:39 An evil and adulterous generation [genea ponēra kai
moichalis]. They had broken the marriage tie which bound them to
Jehovah (Plummer). See
12:40 The whale [tou kētous]. Sea-monster, huge fish. In
12:41 In the judgment [en tēi krisei]. Except here and
in the
next verse Matthew has “day of judgment” [hēmera kriseōs] as in
12:44 Into my house [eis ton oikon mou]. So the demon describes the man in whom he had dwelt. “The demon is ironically represented as implying that he left his victim voluntarily, as a man leaves his house to go for a walk” (McNeile). “Worse than the first” is a proverb.
12:46 His mother and his brothers [hē mētēr kai hoi adelphoi
autou]. Brothers of Jesus, younger sons of Joseph and Mary. The
charge of the Pharisees that Jesus was in league with Satan was
not believed by the disciples of Jesus, but some of his friends
did think that he was beside himself (
12:47 Aleph, B, L, Old Syriac, omit this verse as do Westcott and
Hort. It is genuine in
12:49 Behold my mother and my brothers [idou hē mētēr mou kai
hoi adelphoi mou]. A dramatic wave of the hand towards his
disciples (learners) accompanied these words. Jesus loved his
mother and brothers, but they were not to interfere in his
Messianic work. The real spiritual family of Jesus included all
who follow him. But it was hard for Mary to go back to Nazareth
and leave Jesus with the excited throng so great that he was not
even stopping to eat (
13:1 On that day [en tēi hēmerai ekeinēi]. So this group of parables is placed by Matthew on the same day as the blasphemous accusation and the visit of the mother of Jesus. It is called “the Busy Day,” not because it was the only one, but simply that so much is told of this day that it serves as a specimen of many others filled to the full with stress and strain. Sat by the seaside [ekathēto para tēn thalassan]. The accusative case need give no difficulty. Jesus came out of the stuffy house and took his seat [ekathēto], imperfect) along the shore with the crowds stretched up and down, a picturesque scene.
13:2 And all the multitude stood on the beach [kai pas ho ochlos epi ton aigialon histēkei]. Past perfect tense of [histēmi] with imperfect sense, had taken a stand and so stood. Note accusative also with [epi] upon the beach where the waves break one after the other [aigialos] is from [hals], sea, and [agnumi], to break, or from [aissō], to rush). Jesus had to get into a boat and sit down in that because of the crush of the crowd.
13:3 Many things in parables [polla en parabolais]. It was
not the first time that Jesus had used parables, but the first
time that he had spoken so many and some of such length. He will
use a great many in the future as in
Behold, the sower went forth [idou ēlthen ho speirōn]. Matthew is very fond of this exclamation [idou]. It is “the sower,” not “a sower.” Jesus expects one to see the man as he stepped forth to begin scattering with his hand. The parables of Jesus are vivid word pictures. To understand them one must see them, with the eyes of Jesus if he can. Christ drew his parables from familiar objects.
13:4 As he sowed [en tōi speirein auton]. Literally, “in the sowing as to him,” a neat Greek idiom unlike our English temporal conjunction. Locative case with the articular present infinitive. By the wayside [para tēn hodon]. People will make paths along the edge of a ploughed field or even across it where the seed lies upon the beaten track. Devoured [katephagen]. “Ate down.” We say, “ate up.” Second aorist active indicative of [katesthiō] (defective verb).
13:5 The rocky places [ta petrōdē]. In that limestone country ledges of rock often jut out with thin layers of soil upon the layers of rock. Straightway they sprang up [eutheōs exaneteilen]. “Shot up at once” (Moffatt). Double compound [ex], out of the ground, [ana], up). Ingressive aorist of [exanatellō].
13:6 The sun was risen [hēliou anateilantos]. Genitive absolute. “The sun having sprung up” also, same verb except the absence of [ex] [anatellō, exanatellō].
13:7 The thorns grew up [anebēsan hai akanthai]. Not “sprang
up” as in
13:8 Yielded fruit [edidou karpon]. Change to imperfect
tense
of [didōmi], to give, for it was continuous fruit-bearing. Some
a hundredfold [ho men hekaton]. Variety, but fruit. This is
the only kind that is worth while. The hundredfold is not an
exaggeration (cf.
13:9 He that hath ears let him hear [ho echōn ōta akouetō],
So also in
13:10 Why speakest thou unto them in parables? [dia ti en parabolais laleis autois]. Already the disciples are puzzled over the meaning of this parable and the reason for giving them to the people. So they “came up” closer to Jesus and asked him. Jesus was used to questions and surpassed all teachers in his replies.
13:11 To know the mysteries [gnōnai ta mustēria]. Second
aorist active infinitive of [ginōskō]. The word [mustērion] is
from [mustēs], one initiated, and that from [mueō] [muō], to
close or shut (Latin, mutus). The mystery-religions of the east
had all sorts of secrets and signs as secret societies do today.
But those initiated knew them. So the disciples have been
initiated into the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Paul will
use it freely of the mystery once hidden, but now revealed, now
made known in Christ (
13:13 Because seeing [hoti blepontes]. In the parallel
passages in
13:14 Is fulfilled [anaplēroutai]. Aoristic present passive
indicative. Here Jesus points out the fulfilment and not with
Matthew’s usual formula [hina] or [hopōs plōrēthēi to rhēthen]
(see
13:15 Is waxed gross [epachunthē]. Aorist passive tense.
From
[pachus], thick, fat, stout. Made callous or dull — even fatty
degeneration of the heart. Dull of hearing [tois ōsin bareōs
ēkousan]. Another aorist. Literally, “They heard (or hear)
heavily with their ears.” The hard of hearing are usually
sensitive. Their eyes they have closed [tous ophthalmous autōn
ekammusan]. The epic and vernacular verb [kammuō] is from
[katamuō] (to shut down). We say shut up of the mouth, but the
eyes really shut down. The Hebrew verb in
13:16 Blessed are your eyes [humōn de makarioi hoi
ophthalmoi]. A beatitude for the disciples in contrast with the
Pharisees. Note position of “Happy” here also as in the
Beatitudes in
13:18 Hear then ye the parable [humeis oun akousate tēn
parabolēn]. Jesus has given in
13:19 When anyone heareth [pantos akouontos]. Genitive absolute and present participle, “while everyone is listening and not comprehending” [mē sunientos], “not putting together” or “not grasping.” Perhaps at that very moment Jesus observed a puzzled look on some faces.
Cometh the evil one and snatcheth away [erchetai ho ponēros kai harpazei]. The birds pick up the seeds while the sower sows. The devil is busy with his job of snatching or seizing like a bandit or rogue the word of the kingdom before it has time even to sprout. How quickly after the sermon the impression is gone. “This is he” [houtos estin]. Matthew, like Mark, speaks of the people who hear the words as the seed itself. That creates some confusion in this condensed form of what Jesus actually said, but the real point is clear. The seed sown in his heart [to esparmenon en tēi kardiāi autou], perfect passive participle of [speirō], to sow) and “the man sown by the wayside” [ho para tēn hodon spareis], aorist passive participle, along the wayside) are identified. The seed in the heart is not of itself responsible, but the man who lets the devil snatch it away.
13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself [ouk echei de rhizan en
heautōi]. Cf.
Tribulation [thlipseōs]. From [thlibō], to press, to oppress,
to squeeze (cf.
13:22 Choke the word [sunpnigei ton logon]. We had
[apepnixan] (choked off) in
13:23 Verily beareth fruit [dē karpophorei]. Who in reality
[dē] does bear fruit (cf.
13:24 Set he before them [parethēken]. So again in
13:25 While men slept [en tōi katheudein tous anthrōpous].
Same use of the articular present infinitive with [en] and the
accusative as in
13:26 Then appeared also [tote ephanē kai]. The darnel became plain [ephanē], second aorist passive, effective aorist of [phainō] to show) by harvest.
13:29 Ye root up the wheat with them [ekrizōsēte hama autois
ton siton]. Literally, “root out.” Easy to do with the roots of
wheat and darnel intermingled in the field. So [sullegontes] is
not “gather up,” but “gather together,” here and
13:30 My barn [tēn apothēkēn mou]. See already
13:31 Is like [homoia estin]. Adjective for comparison
with
associative instrumental as in
13:32 A tree [dendron]. “Not in nature, but in size” (Bruce). “An excusable exaggeration in popular discourse.”
13:33 Is like unto leaven [homoia estin zumēi]. In its
pervasive power. Curiously enough some people deny that Jesus
here likens the expanding power of the Kingdom of heaven to
leaven, because, they say, leaven is the symbol of corruption.
But the language of Jesus is not to be explained away by such
exegetical jugglery. The devil is called like a lion by Peter
(
13:35 I will utter [ereuxomai]. To cast forth like a river,
to gurgle, to disgorge, the passion of a prophet. From
13:36 Explain unto us [diasaphēson hēmin]. Also in
13:38 The field is the world [ho de agros estin ho kosmos].
The article with both “field” and “world” in Greek means that
subject and predicate are coextensive and so interchangeable. It
is extremely important to understand that both the good seed and
the darnel (tares) are sown in the world, not in the Kingdom, not
in the church. The separation comes at the consummation of the
age [sunteleia aiōnos],
13:41 Out of his kingdom [ek tēs basileias autou]. Out
from
the midst of the kingdom, because in every city the good and the
bad are scattered and mixed together. Cf. [ek mesou tōn dikaiōn]
in
13:43 Shine forth [eklampsousin]. Shine out as the sun
comes
from behind a cloud (Vincent) and drive away the darkness after
the separation has come (cf.
13:44 And hid [kai ekrupsen]. Not necessarily bad morality. “He may have hid it to prevent it being stolen, or to prevent himself from being anticipated in buying a field” (Plummer). But if it was a piece of sharp practice, that is not the point of the parable. That is, the enormous wealth of the Kingdom for which any sacrifice, all that one has, is not too great a price to pay.
13:46 He went and sold [apelthōn pepraken]. Rather eagerly and vividly told thus, “He has gone off and sold.” The present perfect indicative, the dramatic perfect of vivid picture. Then he bought it. Present perfect, imperfect, aorist tenses together for lively action. [Emporōi] is a merchant, one who goes in and out, travels like a drummer.
13:47 A net [sagēnēi]. Drag-net. Latin, sagena, English, seine. The ends were stretched out and drawn together. Only example of the word in the N.T. Just as the field is the world, so the drag-net catches all the fish that are in the sea. The separation comes afterwards. Vincent pertinently quotes Homer’s Odyssey (xxii. 384-389) where the slain suitors in the halls of Ulysses are likened to fishes on the shore caught by nets with myriad meshes.
13:48 Vessels [aggē]. Here only in the N.T. In
13:52 Made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven [matheteutheis
tēi basileiāi tōn ouranōn]. First aorist passive participle. The
verb is transitive in
13:54 Is not this the carpenter’s son? [ouch houtos estin ho tou tektōnos huios?]. The well-known, the leading, or even for a time the only carpenter in Nazareth till Jesus took the place of Joseph as the carpenter. What the people of Nazareth could not comprehend was how one with the origin and environment of Jesus here in Nazareth could possess the wisdom which he appeared to have in his teaching [edidasken]. That has often puzzled people how a boy whom they knew could become the man he apparently is after leaving them. They knew Joseph, Mary, the brothers (four of them named) and sisters (names not given). Jesus passed here as the son of Joseph and these were younger brothers and sisters (half brothers and sisters technically).
13:57 And they were offended in him [kai eskandalizonto en autōi]. Graphic imperfect passive. Literally, “They stumbled at him,” “They were repelled by him” (Moffatt), “They turned against him” (Weymouth). It was unpardonable for Jesus not to be commonplace like themselves. Not without honour [ouk estin atimos]. This is a proverb found in Jewish, Greek, and Roman writers. Seen also in the Logia of Jesus (Oxyr. Papyri i. 3).
13:58 Mighty works [dunameis]. Powers. The “disbelief” [apistian] of the townspeople blocked the will and the power of Jesus to work cures.
14:1 Herod the tetrarch [Hērōidēs tetraarchēs]. Herod
Antipas
ruler of Galilee and Perea, one-fourth of the dominion of Herod
the Great. The report concerning Jesus [tēn akouēn Iēsou].
See on
14:2 His servants [tois paisin autou]. Literally “boys,” but here the courtiers, not the menials of the palace. Work in him [energousin]. Cf. our “energize.” “The powers of the invisible world, vast and vague in the king’s imagination” (Bruce). John wrought no miracles, but one redivivus might be under the control of the unseen powers. So Herod argued. A guilty conscience quickened his fears. Possibly he could see again the head of John on a charger. “The King has the Baptist on the brain” (Bruce). Cf. Josephus (War, I. xxx. 7) for the story that the ghosts of Alexander and Aristobulus haunted the palace of Herod the Great. There were many conjectures about Jesus as a result of this tour of Galilee and Herod Antipas feared this one.
14:3 For the sake of Herodias [dia Hērōidiada]. The death
of
John had taken place some time before. The Greek aorists here
[edēsen, apetheto] are not used for past perfects. The Greek
aorist simply narrates the event without drawing distinctions in
past time. This Herodias was the unlawful wife of Herod Antipas.
She was herself a descendant of Herod the Great and had married
Herod Philip of Rome, not Philip the Tetrarch. She had divorced
him in order to marry Herod Antipas after he had divorced his
wife, the daughter of Aretas King of Arabia. It was a nasty mess
equal to any of our modern divorces. Her first husband was still
alive and marriage with a sister-in-law was forbidden to Jews
(
14:4 For John said unto him [elegen gar Iōanēs autōi]. Possibly the Pharisees may have put Herod up to inveigling John to Machaerus on one of his visits there to express an opinion concerning his marriage to Herodias (Broadus) and the imperfect tense [elegen] probably means that John said it repeatedly. It was a blunt and brave thing that John said. It cost him his head, but it is better to have a head like John’s and lose it than to have an ordinary head and keep it. Herod Antipas was a politician and curbed his resentment toward John by his fear of the people who still held [eichon], imperfect tense) him as a prophet.
14:6 When Herod’s birthday came [genesiois genomenois tou
Hērōidou]. Locative of time (cf.
14:7 Promised with an oath [meta horkou hōmologēsen].
Literally, “confessed with an oath.” For this verb in the sense
of promise, see
14:8 Put forward [probibastheisa]. See
14:9 Grieved [lupētheis]. Not to hurt, for in
14:10 Beheaded John [apekephalisen Iōanēn]. That is, he had John beheaded, a causative active tense of a late verb [apokephalizō]. Took his head off.
14:11 She brought it to her mother [ēnegken tēi mētri autēs]. A gruesome picture as Herodias with fiendish delight witnesses the triumph of her implacable hatred of John for daring to reprove her for her marriage with Herod Antipas. A woman scorned is a veritable demon, a literal she-devil when she wills to be. Kipling’s “female of the species” again. Legends actually picture Salome as in love with John, sensual lust, of which there is no proof.
14:12 And they went and told Jesus [kai elthontes apēggeilan
tōi Iēsou]. As was meet after they had given his body decent
burial. It was a shock to the Master who alone knew how great
John really was. The fate of John was a prophecy of what was
before Jesus. According to
14:13 In a boat [en ploiōi] “on foot” [pezēi], some MSS. [pezōi]. Contrast between the lake and the land route.
14:14 Their sick [tous arrōstous autōn]. “Without strength” [rhōnnumi] and [a] privative). [Esplagchnisthē] is a deponent passive. The verb gives the oriental idea of the bowels [splagchna] as the seat of compassion.
14:15 When even was come [opsias genomenēs]. Genitive
absolute. Not sunset about 6 P.M. as in
14:16 Give ye them to eat [dote autois h–meis phagein]. The emphasis is on [h–meis] in contrast (note position) with their “send away” [apoluson]. It is the urgent aorist of instant action [dote]. It was an astounding command. The disciples were to learn that “no situation appears to Him desperate, no crisis unmanageable” (Bruce).
14:17 And they say unto him [hoi de legousin autōi]. The disciples, like us today, are quick with reasons for their inability to perform the task imposed by Jesus.
14:18 And he said [ho de eipen]. Here is the contrast between the helpless doubt of the disciples and the confident courage of Jesus. He used “the five loaves and two fishes” which they had mentioned as a reason for doing nothing. “Bring them hither unto me.” They had overlooked the power of Jesus in this emergency.
14:19 To sit down on the grass [anaklithēnai epi tou
chortou]. “Recline,” of course, the word means, first aorist
passive infinitive. A beautiful picture in the afternoon sun on
the grass on the mountain side that sloped westward. The orderly
arrangement (Mark) made it easy to count them and to feed them.
Jesus stood where all could see him “break” [klasas] the thin
Jewish cakes of bread and give to the disciples and they to the
multitudes. This is a nature miracle that some men find it hard
to believe, but it is recorded by all four Gospels and the only
one told by all four. It was impossible for the crowds to
misunderstand and to be deceived. If Jesus is in reality Lord of
the universe as John tells us (
14:20 Were filled [echortasthēsan]. Effective aorist passive
indicative of [chortazō]. See
14:21 Beside women and children [chōris gunaikōn kai paidiōn]. Perhaps on this occasion there were not so many as usual because of the rush of the crowd around the head of the lake. Matthew adds this item and does not mean that the women and children were not fed, but simply that “the eaters” [hoi esthiontes] included five thousand men [andres] besides the women and children.
14:22 Constrained [ēnagkasen]. Literally, “compelled” or
“forced.” See this word also in
14:23 Into the mountain [eis to oros]. After the dismissal of the crowd Jesus went up alone into the mountain on the eastern side of the lake to pray as he often did go to the mountains to pray. If ever he needed the Father’s sympathy, it was now. The masses were wild with enthusiasm and the disciples wholly misunderstood him. The Father alone could offer help now.
14:24 Distressed [basanizomenon]. Like a man with demons
(
14:25 Walking upon the sea [peripatōn epi tēn thalassan].
Another nature miracle. Some scholars actually explain it all
away by urging that Jesus was only walking along the beach and
not on the water, an impossible theory unless Matthew’s account
is legendary. Matthew uses the accusative (extension) with [epi]
in
14:26 They were troubled [etarachthēsan]. Much stronger than that. They were literally “terrified” as they saw Jesus walking on the sea. An apparition [phantasma], or “ghost,” or “spectre” from [phantazō] and that from [phainō]. They cried out “from fear” [apo tou phobou] as any one would have done. “A little touch of sailor superstition” (Bruce).
14:28 Upon the waters [epi ta hudata]. The impulsiveness of Peter appears as usual. Matthew alone gives this Peter episode.
14:30 Seeing the wind [blepōn ton anemon]. Cf.
14:31 Didst thou doubt? [edistasas?]. Only here and
14:32 Ceased [ekopasen]. From [kopos], toil. The wind grew
weary or tired, exhausted itself in the presence of its Master
(cf.
14:33 Worshipped him [prosekunēsan autōi]. And Jesus accepted
it. They were growing in appreciation of the person and power of
Christ from the attitude in
14:34 Gennesaret [Gennēsaret]. A rich plain four miles long
and two broad. The first visit of Jesus apparently with the usual
excitement at the cures. People were eager to touch the hem of
Christ’s mantle like the woman in
15:1 From Jerusalem [apo Ierosolumōn]. Jerusalem is the
headquarters of the conspiracy against Jesus with the Pharisees
as the leaders in it. Already we have seen the Herodians
combining with the Pharisees in the purpose to put Jesus to death
(
15:2 The tradition of the elders [tēn paradosin tōn
presbuterōn]. This was the oral law, handed down by the elders
of the past in ex cathedra fashion and later codified in the
Mishna. Handwashing before meals is not a requirement of the Old
Testament. It is, we know, a good thing for sanitary reasons, but
the rabbis made it a mark of righteousness for others at any
rate. This item was magnified at great length in the oral
teaching. The washing [niptontai], middle voice, note) of the
hands called for minute regulations. It was commanded to wash the
hands before meals, it was one’s duty to do it after eating. The
more rigorous did it between the courses. The hands must be
immersed. Then the water itself must be “clean” and the cups or
pots used must be ceremonially “clean.” Vessels were kept full of
clean water ready for use (
15:3 Ye also [kai h–meis]. Jesus admits that the disciples had transgressed the rabbinical traditions. Jesus treats it as a matter of no great importance in itself save as they had put the tradition of the elders in the place of the commandment of God. When the two clashed, as was often the case, the rabbis transgress the commandment of God “because of your tradition” [dia tēn paradosin h–mōn]. The accusative with [dia] means that, not “by means of.” Tradition is not good or bad in itself. It is merely what is handed on from one to another. Custom tended to make these traditions binding like law. The Talmud is a monument of their struggle with tradition. There could be no compromise on this subject and Jesus accepts the issue. He stands for real righteousness and spiritual freedom, not for bondage to mere ceremonialism and tradition. The rabbis placed tradition (the oral law) above the law of God.
15:5 But ye say [h–meis de legete]. In sharp contrast to
the
command of God. Jesus had quoted the fifth commandment (
15:6 Ye have made void the word of God [ekurōsate ton logon
tou theou]. It was a stinging indictment that laid bare the
hollow pretence of their quibbles about handwashing. [Kuros]
means force or authority, [akuros] is without authority, null and
void. It is a late verb, [akuroō] but in the LXX,
15:7 Well did Isaiah prophesy of you [kalōs eprophēteusen peri
h–mōn Esaias]. There is sarcasm in this pointed application of
Isaiah’s words (
15:11 This defileth the man [touto koinoi ton anthrōpon].
This word is from [koinos] which is used in two senses, either
what is “common” to all and general like the Koinē Greek, or
what is unclean and “common” either ceremonially or in reality.
The ceremonial “commonness” disturbed Peter on the housetop in
Joppa (
15:12 Were offended [eskandalisthēsan]. First aorist passive.
“Were caused to stumble,” “have taken offence” (Moffatt), “have
turned against you” (Weymouth), “were shocked” (Goodspeed),
“War ill-pleased” (Braid Scots). They took umbrage at the public
rebuke and at such a scorpion sting in it all. It cut to the
quick because it was true. It showed in the glowering
countenances of the Pharisees so plainly that the disciples were
uneasy. See on
15:14 They are blind guides [tuphloi eisin hodēgoi]. Graphic picture. Once in Cincinnati a blind man introduced me to his blind friend. He said that he was showing him the city. Jesus is not afraid of the Pharisees. Let them alone to do their worst. Blind leaders and blind victims will land in the ditch. A proverbial expression in the O.T.
15:15 Declare unto us the parable [phrason h–min tēn
parabolēn]. Explain the parable (pithy saying) in
15:16 Are ye also even yet without understanding? [Akmēn kai h–meis asunetoi este]. [Akmēn] is an adverbial accusative (classic [aichmē], point (of a weapon)= [akmēn chronou] at this point of time, just now= [eti]. It occurs in papyri and inscriptions, though condemned by the old grammarians. “In spite of all my teaching, are ye also like the Pharisees without spiritual insight and grasp?” One must never forget that the disciples lived in a Pharisaic environment. Their religious world-outlook was Pharisaic. They were lacking in spiritual intelligence or sense, “totally ignorant” (Moffatt).
15:17 Perceive ye not? [ou noeite]. Christ expects us to make use of our [nous], intellect, not for pride, but for insight. The mind does not work infallibly, but we should use it for its God-given purpose. Intellectual laziness or flabbiness is no credit to a devout soul.
15:18 Out of the mouth [ek tou stomatos]. Spoken words come out of the heart and so are a true index of character. By “heart” [kardias] Jesus means not just the emotional nature, but the entire man, the inward life of “evil thoughts” [dialogismoi ponēroi] that issue in words and deeds. “These defile the man,” not “eating with unwashed hands.” The captious quibblings of the Pharisees, for instance, had come out of evil hearts.
15:22 A Canaanitish woman [gunē Chananaia]. The Phoenicians were descended from the Canaanites, the original inhabitants of Palestine. They were of Semitic race, therefore, though pagan. Have pity on me [eleēson me]. She made her daughter’s case her own, “badly demonized.”
15:23 For she crieth after us [hoti krazei opisthen hēmōn]. The disciples greatly disliked this form of public attention, a strange woman crying after them. They disliked a sensation. Did they wish the woman sent away with her daughter healed or unhealed?
15:24 I was not sent [ouk apestalēn]. Second aorist passive indicative of [apostellō]. Jesus takes a new turn with this woman in Phoenicia. He makes a test case of her request. In a way she represented the problem of the Gentile world. He calls the Jews “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” in spite of the conduct of the Pharisees.
15:27 Even the dogs [kai ta kunaria]. She took no offence at the implication of being a Gentile dog. The rather she with quick wit took Christ’s very word for little dogs [kunaria] and deftly turned it to her own advantage, for the little dogs eat of the crumbs [psichiōn], little morsels, diminutive again) that fall from the table of their masters [kuriōn], the children.
15:28 As thou wilt [hōs theleis]. Her great faith and her keen rejoinder won her case.
15:29 And sat there [ekathēto ekei]. “Was sitting there” on the mountain side near the sea of Galilee, possibly to rest and to enjoy the view or more likely to teach.
15:30 And they cast them down at his feet [kai eripsan autous para tous podas autou]. A very strong word, flung them down, “not carelessly, but in haste, because so many were coming on the same errand” (Vincent). It was a great day for “they glorified the God of Israel.”
15:32 Three days [hēmerai treis]. A parenthetic nominative
(Robertson, Grammar, p. 460). What to eat [ti phagōsin].
Indirect question with the deliberative subjunctive retained. In
the feeding of the five thousand Jesus took compassion on the
people and healed their sick (
15:33 And the disciples say to him [kai legousin autōi hoi
mathētai]. It seems strange that they should so soon have
forgotten the feeding of the five thousand (
15:34 A few small fishes [oliga ichthudia], diminutive again).
15:35 On the ground [epi tēn gēn]. No mention of “grass”
as in
15:36 Gave thanks [eucharistēsas]. In
15:39 The borders of Magadan [eis ta horia Magadan]. On the
eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and so in Galilee again. Mark
terms it Dalmanutha (
16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees [hoi Pharisaioi kai
Saddoukaioi]. The first time that we have this combination of
the two parties who disliked each other exceedingly. Hate makes
strange bedfellows. They hated Jesus more than they did each
other. Their hostility has not decreased during the absence of
Jesus, but rather increased. Tempting him [peirazontes].
Their motive was bad. A sign from heaven [sēmeion ek tou
ouranou]. The scribes and Pharisees had already asked for a sign
(
16:2 Fair weather [eudia]. An old poetic word from [eu]
and
[Zeus] as the ruler of the air and giver of fair weather. So men
today say “when the sky is red at sunset.” It occurs on the
Rosetta Stone and in a fourth century A.D. Oxyr. papyrus for
“calm weather” that made it impossible to sail the boat. Aleph
and B and some other MSS. omit
16:3 Lowring [stugnazōn]. A sky covered with clouds. Used
also of a gloomy countenance as of the rich young ruler in
16:4 Same words in
16:5 Came [elthontes]. Probably= “went” as in
16:7 They reasoned [dielogizonto]. It was pathetic, the
almost jejune inability of the disciples to understand the
parabolic warning against “the leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees” (
16:8 Jesus asks four pungent questions about the intellectual
dulness, refers to the feeding of the five thousand and uses the
word [kophinous] (
16:12 Then understood they [tote sunēkan]. First aorist active indicative of [suniēmi], to grasp, to comprehend. They saw the point after this elaborate rebuke and explanation that by “leaven” Jesus meant “teaching.”
16:13 Caesarea Philippi [Kaisarias tēs Philippou]. Up on a spur of Mt. Hermon under the rule of Herod Philip. He asked [ērōtā]. Began to question, inchoative imperfect tense. He was giving them a test or examination. The first was for the opinion of men about the Son of Man.
16:14 And they said [hoi de eipan]. They were ready to
respond for they knew that popular opinion was divided on that
point (
16:15 But who say ye that I am? [h–meis de tina me legete einai?]. This is what matters and what Jesus wanted to hear. Note emphatic position of h–meis, “But you, who say ye that I am?”
16:16 Peter is the spokesman now: “Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God” [Su ei ho Christos ho huios tou theou tou
zōntos]. It was a noble confession, but not a new claim by
Jesus. Peter had made it before (
16:17 Blessed art thou [makarios ei]. A beatitude for Peter. Jesus accepts the confession as true. Thereby Jesus on this solemn occasion solemnly claims to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God, his deity in other words. The disciples express positive conviction in the Messiahship or Christhood of Jesus as opposed to the divided opinions of the populace. “The terms in which Jesus speaks of Peter are characteristic—warm, generous, unstinted. The style is not that of an ecclesiastical editor laying the foundation for church power, and prelatic pretentions, but of a noble-minded Master eulogizing in impassioned terms a loyal disciple” (Bruce). The Father had helped Peter get this spiritual insight into the Master’s Person and Work.
16:18 And I also say unto thee [k’agō de soi legō]. “The
emphasis is not on ‘Thou art Peter’ over against ‘Thou art the
Christ,’ but on [Kagō]: ‘The Father hath revealed to thee one
truth, and I also tell you another” (McNeile). Jesus calls Peter
here by the name that he had said he would have (
I will build my church [oikodomēsō mou tēn ekklēsian].
It is the figure of a building and he uses the word [ekklēsian] which
occurs in the New Testament usually of a local organization, but
sometimes in a more general sense. What is the sense here in
which Jesus uses it? The word originally meant “assembly” (
The gates of Hades [pulai hāidou] shall not prevail against
it [ou katischusousin autēs]. Each word here creates
difficulty. Hades is technically the unseen world, the Hebrew
Sheol, the land of the departed, that is death. Paul uses
[thanate] in
16:19 The Keys of the kingdom [tas kleidas tēs basileias].
Here again we have the figure of a building with keys to open
from the outside. The question is raised at once if Jesus does
not here mean the same thing by “kingdom” that he did by “church”
in
16:20 That they should tell no man [hina mēdeni eipōsin]. Why? For the very reason that he had himself avoided this claim in public. He was the Messiah [ho Christos], but the people would inevitably take it in a political sense. Jesus was plainly profoundly moved by Peter’s great confession on behalf of the disciples. He was grateful and confident of the final outcome. But he foresaw peril to all. Peter had confessed him as the Messiah and on this rock of faith thus confessed he would build his church or kingdom. They will all have and use the keys to this greatest of all buildings, but for the present they must be silent.
16:21 From that time began [apo tote ērxato]. It was a
suitable time for the disclosure of the greatest secret of his
death. It is now just a little over six months before the cross.
They must know it now to be ready then. The great confession of
Peter made this seem an appropriate time. He will repeat the
warnings (
16:22 Peter took him [proslabomenos auton ho Petros]. Middle
voice, “taking to himself,” aside and apart, “as if by a right of
his own. He acted with greater familiarity after the token of
acknowledgment had been given. Jesus, however, reduces him to his
level” (Bengel). “Peter here appears in a new character; a minute
ago speaking under inspiration from heaven, now under inspiration
from the opposite quarter” (Bruce). Syriac Sinaitic for
16:23 But he turned [ho de strapheis]. Second aorist passive
participle, quick ingressive action, away from Peter in
revulsion, and toward the other disciples (
16:24 Take up his cross [aratō ton stauron autou]. Pick
up at
once, aorist tense. This same saying in
16:25 Save his life [tēn psuchēn autou sōsai]. Paradoxical play on word “life” or “soul,” using it in two senses. So about “saving” and “losing” [apolesei].
16:26 Gain [kerdēsēi] and profit [zēmiōthēi].
Both aorist
subjunctives (one active, the other passive) and so punctiliar
action, condition of third class, undetermined, but with prospect
of determination. Just a supposed case. The verb for “forfeit”
occurs in the sense of being fined or mulcted of money. So the
papyri and inscriptions. Exchange [antallagma]. As an
exchange, accusative in apposition with [ti]. The soul has no
market price, though the devil thinks so. “A man must give,
surrender, his life, and nothing less to God; no [antallagma] is
possible” (McNeile). This word [antallagma] occurs twice in the
Wisdom of Sirach: “There is no exchange for a faithful friend”
(
16:28 Some of them that stand here [tines tōn hode hestōtōn]. A crux interpretum in reality. Does Jesus refer to the Transfiguration, the Resurrection of Jesus, the great Day of Pentecost, the Destruction of Jerusalem, the Second Coming and Judgment? We do not know, only that Jesus was certain of his final victory which would be typified and symbolized in various ways. The apocalyptic eschatological symbolism employed by Jesus here does not dominate his teaching. He used it at times to picture the triumph of the kingdom, not to set forth the full teaching about it. The kingdom of God was already in the hearts of men. There would be climaxes and consummations.
17:1 After six days [meth’ hēmerās hex]. This could
be on the sixth day, but as Luke (
17:2 He was transfigured before them [metemorphōthē emprosthen
autōn]. The word is the same as the metamorphoses (cf. Ovid)
of pagan mythology. Luke does not use it. The idea is change
[meta-] of form [morphē]. It really presents the
essence of a thing as separate from the [schēma] (fashion), the outward
accident. So in
17:3 There appeared [ōphthē]. Singular aorist passive verb
with Moses (to be understood also with Elijah), but the
participle [sunlalountes] is plural agreeing with both.
“Sufficient objectivity is guaranteed by the vision being enjoyed
by all three” (Bruce). The Jewish apocalypses reveal popular
expectations that Moses and Elijah would reappear. Both had
mystery connected with their deaths. One represented law, the
other prophecy, while Jesus represented the gospel (grace). They
spoke of his decease (
17:4 And Peter answered [apokritheis de ho Petros]. “Peter
to
the front again, but not greatly to his credit” (Bruce). It is
not clear what Peter means by his saying: “It is good for us to
be here” [kalon estin hēmās hōde einai]. Luke (
17:5 Overshadowed [epeskiasen]. They were up in cloud-land
that swept round and over them. See this verb used of Mary (
17:7 And touched them [kai hapsamenos autōn]. Tenderness in their time of fear.
17:8 Lifting up their eyes [eparantes tous ophthalmous autōn]. After the reassuring touch of Jesus and his words of cheer. Jesus only [Iēsoun monon]. Moses and Elijah were gone in the bright cloud.
17:9 Until [heōs hou]. This conjunction is common with
the
subjunctive for a future event as his Resurrection [egerthēi]
was. Again (
17:10 Elijah must first come [Eleian dei elthein prōton].
So
this piece of theology concerned them more than anything else.
They had just seen Elijah, but Jesus the Messiah had come before
Elijah. The scribes used
17:12 Elijah is come already [Eleias ēdē ēlthen]. Thus
Jesus
identifies John the Baptist with the promise in Malachi, though
not the real Elijah in person which John denied (
17:13 Then understood [tote sunēkan]. One of the three k aorists. It was plain enough even for them. John was Elijah in spirit and had prepared the way for the Messiah.
17:15 Epileptic [selēniazetai]. Literally, “moonstruck,”
“lunatic.” The symptoms of epilepsy were supposed to be
aggravated by the changes of the moon (cf.
17:17 Perverse [diestrammenē]. Distorted, twisted in two, corrupt. Perfect passive participle of [diastrephō].
17:20 Little faith [oligopistian]. A good translation. It was
less than “a grain of mustard seed” [kokkon sinapeōs]. See
17:23 And they were exceeding sorry [kai elupēthēsan sphodra]. So they at last understood that he was talking about his death and resurrection.
17:24 They that received the half-shekel [hoi ta didrachma lambanontes]. This temple tax amounted to an Attic drachma or the Jewish half-shekel, about one-third of a dollar. Every Jewish man twenty years of age and over was expected to pay it for the maintenance of the temple. But it was not a compulsory tax like that collected by the publicans for the government. “The tax was like a voluntary church-rate; no one could be compelled to pay” (Plummer). The same Greek word occurs in two Egyptian papyri of the first century A.D. for the receipt for the tax for the temple of Suchus (Milligan and Moulton’s Vocabulary). This tax for the Jerusalem temple was due in the month Adar (our March) and it was now nearly six months overdue. But Jesus and the Twelve had been out of Galilee most of this time. Hence the question of the tax-collectors. The payment had to be made in the Jewish coin, half-shekel. Hence the money-changers did a thriving business in charging a small premium for the Jewish coin, amounting to some forty-five thousand dollars a year, it is estimated. It is significant that they approached Peter rather than Jesus, perhaps not wishing to embarrass “Your Teacher,” “a roundabout hint that the tax was overdue” (Bruce). Evidently Jesus had been in the habit of paying it (Peter’s).
17:25 Jesus spake first to him [proephthasen auton ho Iēsous
legōn]. Here only in the N.T. One example in a papyrus B.C. 161
(Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary). The old idiomatic use of
[phthanō] with the participle survives in this example of
[prophthanō] in
17:26 The sons [hoi huioi]. Christ, of course, and the disciples also in contrast with the Jews. Thus a reply to Peter’s prompt “Yes.” Logically [arage] free from the temple tax, but practically not as he proceeds to show.
17:27 Lest we cause them to stumble [hina mē skandalisōmen
autous]. He does not wish to create the impression that he and
the disciples despise the temple and its worship. Aorist tense
(punctiliar single act) here, though some MSS. have present
subjunctive (linear). “A hook” [agkistron]. The only
example in
the N.T. of fishing with a hook. From an unused verb [agkizō], to
angle, and that from [agkos], a curve (so also [agkalē] the inner
curve of the arm,
18:1 Who then is greatest [tis ara meizōn estin]. The [ara]
seems to point back to the tax-collection incident when Jesus had
claimed exemption for them all as “sons” of the Father. But it
was not a new dispute, for jealousy had been growing in their
hearts. The wonderful words of Jesus to Peter on Mount Hermon
(
18:2 Called to him [proskalesamenos]. Indirect middle voice
aorist participle. It may even be Peter’s “little child”
[paidion] as it was probably in Peter’s house (
18:3 Except ye turn and become [ean mē straphēte kai genēsthe]. Third-class condition, undetermined but with prospect of determination. [Straphēte] is second aorist passive subjunctive and [genēsthe] second aorist middle subjunctive. They were headed in the wrong direction with their selfish ambition. “His tone at this time is markedly severe, as much as when He denounces the Pharisaism in the bud He had to deal with” (Bruce). The strong double negative [ou mē eiselthēte] means that they will otherwise not get into the kingdom of heaven at all, let alone have big places in it.
18:4 This little child [to paidion touto]. This saying
about
humbling oneself Jesus repeated a number of times as for instance
in
18:5 In my name [epi tōi onomati mou]. For “one such little
child” [any believer in Christ] Luke (
18:6 These little ones [tōn mikrōn toutōn]. In the same sense as “one such little one” above. The child is the type of believers. A great millstone [mulos onikos], literally, “a millstone turned by an ass.” The upper millstone was turned by an ass [onos]. There were no examples of the adjective [onikos] (turned by an ass) outside the N.T. until the papyri revealed several for loads requiring an ass to carry them, stones requiring an ass to move them, etc. Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, p. 81) notes it also in papyri examples about the sale of an ass and tax for an ass’s burden of goods. The depth of the sea [tōi pelagei tēs thalassēs]. “The sea of the sea.” [Pelagos] probably from [plēsso], to beat, and so the beating, splashing waves of the sea. “Far out into the open sea, a vivid substitute for [eis tēn thalassan]” (McNeile).
18:7 Through whom [di’ ou]. Jesus recognizes the
inevitableness of stumbling-blocks, traps, hindrances, the world
being as it is, but he does not absolve the man who sets the trap
(cf.
18:8 In
18:10 Despise [kataphronēsēte]. Literally, “think down
on,”
with the assumption of superiority. Their angels [hoi aggeloi
autōn]. The Jews believed that each nation had a guardian angel
(
18:12 Leave the ninety and nine [aphēsei ta enenēkonta ennea
epi ta orē kai poreutheis zētei to planōmenon?]. This is the
text of Westcott and Hort after BL, etc. This text means: “Will
he not leave the ninety and nine upon the mountains and going
does he not seek (change to present tense) the wandering one?” On
the high pastures where the sheep graze at will one has wandered
afield. See this parable later in
18:14 The will of your Father [thelēma emprosthen]. Observe
that Westcott and Hort read [mou] here rather than [h–mōn] after
B Sahidic Coptic. Either makes good sense, though “your” carries
on the picture of God’s care for “each one of these little ones”
[hen tōn mikrōn toutōn] among God’s children. The use of
[emprosthen] with [thelēma] is a Hebraism like [emprosthen sou]
in
18:15 If thy brother sin against thee [ean hamartēsēi adelphos sou]. Literally, commit a sin (ingressive aorist subjunctive of [hamartanō]. Aleph B Sahidic do not have “against thee” [eis se]. Shew him his fault [elegxon]. Such private reproof is hard to do, but it is the way of Christ. Thou hast gained [ekerdēsas]. Aorist active indicative of [kerdainō] in conclusion of a third-class condition, a sort of timeless aorist, a blessed achievement already made.
18:16 Take with thee [paralabe meta sou]. Take alone [para] with [meta] thee.
18:17 Refuse to hear [parakousēi]. Like
18:18 Shall be bound in heaven [estai dedemena en ouranōi].
Future passive periphrastic perfect indicative as in “shall be
loosed” [estai lelumena]. In
18:19 Shall agree [sumphōnēsōsin]. Our word “symphony” is this very root. It is no longer looked at as a concord of voices, a chorus in harmony, though that would be very appropriate in a church meeting rather than the rasping discord sometimes heard even between two brethren or sisters. Of my Father [para tou patros mou]. From the side of, “by my Father.”
18:20 There am I [ekei eimi]. This blessed promise implies
that those gathered together are really disciples with the spirit
of Christ as well as “in his name” [eis to emon onoma]. One of
the Oxyrhynchus Sayings of Our Lord is: “Wherever there are
(two) they are not without God, and wherever there is one alone I
say I am with him.” Also this: “Raise the stone and there thou
shalt find me, cleave the wood and there am I.” See
18:21 Until seven times? [heōs heptakis?] Peter thought that
he was generous as the Jewish rule was three times (
18:22 Until seventy times seven [heōs hebdomēkontakis hepta].
It is not clear whether this idiom means seventy-seven or as the
Revised Version has it (490 times). If [heptakis] were written it
would clearly be 490 times. The same ambiguity is seen in
18:23 Make a reckoning [sunārai logon]. Seen also in
18:24 Ten thousand talents [muriōn talantōn]. A talent was 6,000 denarii or about a thousand dollars or 240 pounds. Ten thousand times this is about ten or twelve million dollars, an enormous sum for that period. We live today in the age of national debts of billions of dollars or even of pounds sterling. The imperial taxes of Judea, Idumea, and Samaria for one year were only 600 talents while Galilee and Perea paid 200 (Josephus, Ant. xi. 4). But oriental kings were free in the use of money and in making debts like the native kings of India today.
18:25 Had not wherewith to pay [mē echontos autou apodounai].
There is no “wherewith” in the Greek. This idiom is seen in
18:27 The debt [to danion]. The loan. Common in the papyri for a loan. The interest had increased the debt enormously. “This heavy oriental usury is of the scenery of the parable” (McNeile).
18:28 A hundred pence [hekaton dēnaria]. A denarius was worth about eight and a half pence. The hundred denarii here were equal to some “fifty shillings” (Bruce), “about 4 pounds” (McNeile), “twenty pounds” (Moffatt), “twenty dollars” (Goodspeed), “100 shillings” (Weymouth) . These are various efforts to represent in modern language the small amount of this debt compared with the big one. Took him by the throat [epnigen]. “Held him by the throat” (Allen). It is imperfect, probably inchoative, “began to choke or throttle him.” The Roman law allowed this indignity. Vincent quotes Livy (iv. 53) who tells how the necks were twisted (collum torsisset) and how Cicero (Pro Cluentio, xxi.) says: “Lead him to the judgment seat with twisted neck (collo obtorto).” What thou owest [ei ti opheileis]. Literally, “if thou owest anything,” however little. He did not even know how much it was, only that he owed him something. “The ‘if’ is simply the expression of a pitiless logic” (Meyer).
18:30 And he would not [ho de ouk ēthelen]. Imperfect tense of persistent refusal. Till he should pay [heōs apodōi]. This futuristic aorist subjunctive is the rule with [heōs] for a future goal. He was to stay in prison till he should pay. “He acts on the instinct of a base nature, and also doubtless in accordance with long habits of harsh tyrannical behaviour towards men in his power” (Bruce). On imprisonment for debt among the Greeks and Romans see Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, pp. 270,330.
18:31 Told [diesaphēsan]. Made wholly clear to their own lord. That is the usual result in the long run. There is a limit to what people will put up with.
18:33 Shouldst thou not? [ouk edei se?] “Was it not necessary?” The king fits the cap on this wicked slave that he put on the poor debtor.
18:34 The tormentors [tois basanistais]. Not to prison
simply, but to terrible punishment. The papyri give various
instances of the verb [basanizō], to torture, used of slaves and
others. “Livy (ii. 23) pictures an old centurion complaining that
he was taken by his creditor, not into servitude, but to a
workhouse and torture, and showing his back scarred with fresh
wounds” (Vincent). Till he should pay all [heōs [hou] apodōi
pan]. Just as in
18:35 From your hearts [apo tōn kardiōn h–mōn]. No sham or
lip pardon, and as often as needed. This is Christ’s full reply
to Peter’s question in
19:1 He departed [metēren]. Literally, to lift up, change
something to another place. Transitive in the LXX and in a
Cilician rock inscription. Intransitive in
19:3 Pharisees tempting him [Pharisaioi peirazontes auton].
They “could not ask a question of Jesus without sinister motives”
(Bruce). See
19:5 Shall cleave [kollēthēsetai]. First future passive, “shall be glued to,” the verb means. The twain shall become one flesh [esontai hoi duo eis sarka mian]. This use of [eis] after [eimi] is an imitation of the Hebrew, though a few examples occur in the older Greek and in the papyri. The frequency of it is due to the Hebrew and here the LXX is a direct translation of the Hebrew idiom.
19:6 What therefore God hath joined together [ho oun ho theos
sunezeuxen]. Note “what,” not “whom.” The marriage relation God
has made. “The creation of sex, and the high doctrine as to the
cohesion it produces between man and woman, laid down in Gen.,
interdict separation” (Bruce). The word for “joined together”
means “yoked together,” a common verb for marriage in ancient
Greek. It is the timeless aorist indicative [sunezeuxen], true
always. Bill [biblion]. A little [biblos] (see on
19:8 For your hardness of heart [pros tēn sklērokardian h–mōn]. The word is apparently one of the few Biblical words (LXX and the N.T.). It is a heart dried up [sklēros], hard and tough. But from the beginning it hath not been so [ap’ archēs de ouk gegonen houtōs]. The present perfect active of [ginomai] to emphasize the permanence of the divine ideal. “The original ordinance has never been abrogated nor superseded, but continues in force” (Vincent). “How small the Pharisaic disputants must have felt in presence of such holy teaching, which soars above the partisan view of controversialists into the serene region of ideal, universal, eternal truth” (Bruce).
19:9 Except for fornication [parektos logou porneias].
This
is the marginal reading in Westcott and Hort which also adds
“maketh her an adulteress” [poiei autēn moicheuthēnai] and also
these words: “and he that marrieth her when she is put away
committeth adultery” [kai ho apolelumenēn gamēsas moichatai].
There seems to be a certain amount of assimilation in various
manuscripts between this verse and the words in
19:10 The disciples say unto him [legousin autōi hoi
mathētai]. “Christ’s doctrine on marriage not only separated Him
[toto caelo] from Pharisaic opinions of all shades, but was too
high even for the Twelve” (Bruce). The case [hē aitia].
The
word may refer to the use in
19:11 But they to whom it is given [all’ hois dedotai]. A
neat Greek idiom, dative case of relation and perfect passive
indicative. The same idea is repeated at the close of
19:13 Rebuked them [epetimēsen autois]. No doubt people did often crowd around Jesus for a touch of his hand and his blessing. The disciples probably felt that they were doing Jesus a kindness. How little they understood children and Jesus. It is a tragedy to make children feel that they are in the way at home and at church. These men were the twelve apostles and yet had no vision of Christ’s love for little children. The new child world of today is due directly to Jesus.
19:14 Suffer [aphete]. “Leave them alone.” Second aorist
active imperative. Forbid them not [mē kōluete]. “Stop
hindering them.” The idiom of [mē] with the present imperative
means just that. Of such [tōn toioutōn]. The childlike
as in
19:16 What good thing [ti agathon]. Mark (
19:17 Concerning that which is good [peri tou agathou].
He had asked Jesus in
19:20 What lack I yet? [ti eti husterō?] Here is a psychological paradox. He claims to have kept all these commandments and yet he was not satisfied. He had an uneasy conscience and Jesus called him to something that he did not have. He thought of goodness as quantitative (a series of acts) and not qualitative (of the nature of God). Did his question reveal proud complacency or pathetic despair? A bit of both most likely.
19:21 If thou wouldest be perfect [ei theleis teleios einai].
Condition of the first class, determined as fulfilled. Jesus
assumes that the young man really desires to be perfect (a big
adjective that, perfect as God is the goal,
19:22 Went away sorrowful [apēlthen lupoumenos]. “Went away grieved.” He felt that Jesus had asked too much of him. He worshipped money more than God when put to the test. Does Jesus demand this same test of every one? Not unless he is in the grip of money. Different persons are in the power of different sins. One sin is enough to keep one away from Christ.
19:23 It is hard [duskolōs]. With difficulty. Adverb from [duskolos], hard to find food, fastidious, faultfinding, then difficult.
19:24 It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye
[eukopōteron estin kamēlon dia trēmatos rhaphidos eiselthein].
Jesus, of course, means by this comparison, whether an eastern
proverb or not, to express the impossible. The efforts to explain
it away are jejune like a ship’s cable, [kamilon] or [rhaphis] as
a narrow gorge or gate of entrance for camels which recognized
stooping, etc. All these are hopeless, for Jesus pointedly calls
the thing “impossible” (
19:25 Were astonished [exeplēssonto]. Imperfect descriptive of their blank amazement. They were literally “struck out.”
19:26 Looking on them [emblepsas]. Jesus saw their amazement.
19:27 What then shall we have? [ti ara estai hēmin?] A pathetic question of hopeless lack of comprehension.
19:28 In the regeneration [en tēi palingenesiāi]. The new birth of the world is to be fulfilled when Jesus sits on his throne of glory. This word was used by the Stoics and the Pythagoreans. It is common also in the mystery religions (Angus, Mystery Religions and Christianity, pp. 95ff.). It is in the papyri also. We must put no fantastic ideas into the mouth of Jesus. But he did look for the final consummation of his kingdom. What is meant by the disciples also sitting on twelve thrones is not clear.
19:29 A hundredfold [hekatonplasiona]. But Westcott and Hort read [pollaplasiona], manifold. Eternal life is the real reward.
19:30 The last first and the first last [hoi eschatoi prōtoi kai hoi prōtoi eschatoi]. This paradoxical enigma is probably in the nature of a rebuke to Peter and refers to ranks in the kingdom. There are many other possible applications. The following parable illustrates it.
20:1 For [gar]. The parable of the house illustrates the
aphorism in
Early in the morning [hama prōi]. A classic idiom. [Hama] as an “improper” preposition is common in the papyri. [Prōi] is just an adverb in the locative. At the same time with early dawn, break of day, country fashion for starting to work. To hire [misthōsasthai]. The middle voice aorist tense, to hire for oneself.
20:2 For a penny a day [ek dēnariou tēn hēmeran]. See on
20:3 Standing in the marketplace idle [hestōtas agorāi argous]. The market place was the place where men and masters met for bargaining. At Hamadan in Persia, Morier in Second Journey through Persia, as cited by Trench in his Parables, says: “We observed every morning, before the sun rose, that a numerous band of peasants were collected, with spades in their hands, waiting to be hired for the day to work in the surrounding fields.”
20:4 Whatsoever is right [ho ean ēi dikaion]. “Is fair” (Allen), not anything he pleased, but a just proportionate wage. Indefinite relative with subjunctive [ean=an].
20:6 All the day idle [holēn tēn hēmeran argoi]. Extent of time (accusative) again. [Argoi] is [a] privative and [ergon], work, no work. The problem of the unemployed.
20:10 Every man a penny [ana dēnarion kai autoi]. Literally, “themselves also a denarius apiece” (distributive use of [ana]. Bruce asks if this householder was a humorist when he began to pay off the last first and paid each one a denarius according to agreement. False hopes had been raised in those who came first who got only what they had agreed to receive.
20:11 They murmured [egogguzon]. Onomatopoetic word, the meaning suiting the sound. Our words murmur and grumble are similar. Probably here inchoative imperfect, began to grumble. It occurs in old Ionic and in the papyri.
20:12 Equal unto us [isous autous hēmin]. Associative
instrumental case [hēmin] after [isous]. It was a regular protest
against the supposed injustice of the householder. The burden of
the day and the scorching wind [to baros tēs hēmeras kai ton
kausōna]. These last “did” work for one hour. Apparently they
worked as hard as any while at it. A whole day’s work on the part
of these sweat-stained men who had stood also the sirocco, the
hot, dry, dust-laden east wind that blasted the grain in
Pharaoh’s dream (
20:13 To one of them [heni autōn]. Evidently the spokesman
of
the group. “Friend” [hetaire]. Comrade. So a kindly reply to
this man in place of an address to the whole gang.
20:14 Take up [aron]. First aorist active imperative of [airō]. Pick up, as if he had saucily refused to take it from the table or had contemptuously thrown the denarius on the ground. If the first had been paid first and sent away, there would probably have been no murmuring, but “the murmuring is needed to bring out the lesson” (Plummer). The [dēnarius] was the common wage of a day labourer at that time. What I will [ho thelō]. This is the point of the parable, the will of the householder. With mine own [en tois emois]. In the sphere of my own affairs. There is in the Koinē an extension of the instrumental use of [en].
20:15 Is thine eye evil? [ho ophthalmos sou ponēros estin?]
See on
20:16 The last first and the first last [hoi eschātoi prōtoi
kai hoi prōtoi eschatoi]. The adjectives change places as
compared with
20:17 Apart [kat’ idian]. This is the prediction in Matthew
of the cross (
20:19 And to crucify [kai staurōsai]. The very word now. The details fall on deaf ears, even the point of the resurrection on the third day.
20:20 Then [tote]. Surely an inopportune time for such
a
request just after the pointed prediction of Christ’s
crucifixion. Perhaps their minds had been preoccupied with the
words of Jesus (
20:22 Ye know not what ye ask [ouk oidate ti aiteisthe]. How often that is true. [Aiteisthe] is indirect middle voice, “ask for yourselves,” “a selfish request.” We are able [dunametha]. Amazing proof of their ignorance and self-confidence. Ambition had blinded their eyes. They had not caught the martyr spirit.
20:23 Ye shall drink [piesthe]. Future middle from [pinō].
Christ’s cup was martyrdom. James was the first of the Twelve to
meet the martyr’s death (
20:24 Moved with indignation [ēganaktēsan]. A strong word for angry resentment. In the papyri. The ten felt that James and John had taken advantage of their relation to Jesus.
20:25 Called them unto him [proskalesamenos autous]. Indirect middle again, calling to him.
20:26 Would become great [hos an thelēi megas genesthai].
Jesus does not condemn the desire to become great. It is a
laudable ambition. There are “great ones” [megaloi] among
Christians as among pagans, but they do not “lord it over” one
another [katakurieuousin], a LXX word and very expressive, or
“play the tyrant” [katexousiazousin], another suggestive word.
Your minister [h–mōn diakonos]. This word may come from
[dia]
and [konis] (dust), to raise a dust by one’s hurry, and so to
minister. It is a general word for servant and is used in a
variety of ways including the technical sense of our “deacon” in
20:28 A ransom for many [lutron anti pollōn]. The Son of
man
is the outstanding illustration of this principle of
self-abnegation in direct contrast to the self-seeking of James
and John. The word translated “ransom” is the one commonly
employed in the papyri as the price paid for a slave who is then
set free by the one who bought him, the purchase money for
manumitting slaves. See examples in Moulton and Milligan’s
Vocabulary and Deissmann’s Light from the Ancient East, pp.
328f. There is the notion of exchange also in the use of [anti].
Jesus gave his own life as the price of freedom for the slaves of
sin. There are those who refuse to admit that Jesus held this
notion of a substitutionary death because the word in the N.T.
occurs only here and the corresponding passage in
20:29 From Jericho [apo Iereichō]. So
20:30 That Jesus was passing by [hoti Iēsous paragei]. These men “were sitting by the wayside” [kathēmenoi para ten hodon] at their regular stand. They heard the crowd yelling that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by [paragei], present indicative of direct discourse retained in the indirect). It was their one opportunity, now or never. They had heard of what he had done for other blind men. They hail him as “the son of David” (the Messiah). It is just one of many such incidents when Jesus stood still and opened their eyes, so many that even the multitude was impatient with the cries of these poor men that their eyes be opened [anoigōsin], second aorist passive subjunctive).
20:34 Touched their eyes [hēpsato tōn ommatōn]. A synonym
for
[ophthalmōn] in
21:1 Unto Bethphage [eis Bethphagē]. An indeclinable
Aramaic
name here only in O.T. or N.T. (
21:2 Into the village that is over against you [eis tēn kōmēn tēn katenanti h–mōn]. Another use of [eis]. If it means “into” as translated, it could be Bethany right across the valley and this is probably the idea. And a colt with her [kai pōlon met’ autēs]. The young of any animal. Here to come with the mother and the more readily so.
21:3 The Lord [ho kurios]. It is not clear how the word
would
be understood here by those who heard the message though it is
plain that Jesus applies it to himself. The word is from [kuros],
power or authority. In the LXX it is common in a variety of uses
which appear in the N.T. as master of the slave (
21:4 By the prophet [dia tou prophētou]. The first line
is from
21:5 The daughter of Zion [tēi thugatri Siōn]. Jerusalem
as in
21:7 And he sat thereon [kai epekathisen epanō autōn],
Mark
(
21:8 The most part of the multitude [ho pleistos ochlos].
See
21:9 That went before him and that followed [hoi proagontes
auton kai hoi akolouthountes]. Note the two groups with two
articles and the present tense (linear action) and the imperfect
[ekrazon] “were crying” as they went. Hosanna to the Son of
David [Hosanna tōi huiōi Daueid]. They were now proclaiming
Jesus as the Messiah and he let them do it. “Hosanna” means
“Save, we pray thee.” They repeat words from the Hallel (
21:10 Was stirred [eseisthē]. Shaken as by an earthquake. “Even Jerusalem frozen with religious formalism and socially undemonstrative, was stirred with popular enthusiasm as by a mighty wind or by an earthquake” (Bruce).
21:12 Cast out [exebalen]. Drove out, assumed authority
over
“the temple of God” (probably correct text with [tou theou],
though only example of the phrase). John (
21:13 A den of robbers [spēlaion lēistōn]. By charging exorbitant prices.
21:15 The children [tous paidas]. Masculine and probably boys who had caught the enthusiasm of the crowd.
21:16 Hearest thou [akoueis]. In a rage at the desecration of the temple by the shouts of the boys they try to shame Jesus, as responsible for it.
Thou hast perfected [katērtisō]. The quotation is from
21:17 To Bethany [eis Bēthanian]. House of depression or misery, the Hebrew means. But the home of Martha and Mary and Lazarus there was a house of solace and comfort to Jesus during this week of destiny. He lodged there [ēulisthē ekei] whether at the Bethany home or out in the open air. It was a time of crisis for all.
21:18 He hungered [epeinasen]. Ingressive aorist indicative, became hungry, felt hungry (Moffatt). Possibly Jesus spent the night out of doors and so had no breakfast.
21:19 A fig tree [sukēn mian]. “A single fig tree” (Margin of
Rev. Version). But [heis] was often used = [tis] or like our
indefinite article. See
21:21 Doubt not [mē diakrithēte]. First aorist passive
subjunctive, second-class condition. To be divided in mind, to
waver, to doubt, the opposite of “faith” [pistin], trust,
confidence. What is done to the fig tree [to tēs sukēs].
The
Greek means “the matter of the fig tree,” as if a slight matter
in comparison with this mountain [tōi orei toutōi]. Removing
a mountain is a bigger task than blighting a fig tree. “The
cursing of the fig-tree has always been regarded as of symbolic
import, the tree being in Christ’s mind an emblem of the Jewish
people, with a great show of religion and no fruit of real
godliness. This hypothesis is very credible” (Bruce). Plummer
follows Zahn in referring it to the Holy City. Certainly “this
mountain” is a parable and one already reported in
21:22 Believing [pisteuontes]. This is the point of the parable of the mountain, “faith in the efficacy of prayer” (Plummer).
21:24 One question [logon hena]. Literally “one word” or “a word.” The answer to Christ’s word will give the answer to their query. The only human ecclesiastical authority that Jesus had came from John.
21:25 The baptism of John [to baptisma to Iōanou]. This represents his relation to Jesus who was baptized by him. At once the ecclesiastical leaders find themselves in a dilemma created by their challenge of Christ. They reasoned with themselves [dielogizonto]. Picturesque imperfect tense describing their hopeless quandary.
21:29 I will not [ou thelō]. So many old manuscripts, though
the Vatican manuscript (B) has the order of the two sons
reversed. Logically the “I, sir” [egō, kurie] suits better for
the second son (
21:31 Go before you [proagousin]. “In front of you” (Weymouth). The publicans and harlots march ahead of the ecclesiastics into the kingdom of heaven. It is a powerful indictment of the complacency of the Jewish theological leaders.
21:32 In the way of righteousness [en hodōi dikaiosunēs].
In the path of righteousness. Compare the two ways in
21:33 A hedge [phragmon]. Or fence as a protection against
wild beasts. Digged a winepress [ōruxen lēnon]. Out of
the
solid rock to hold the grapes and wine as they were crushed. Such
wine-vats are to be seen today in Palestine. Built a tower
[ōikodomēsen purgon]. This for the vinedressers and watchmen
(
21:34 His servants [tous doulous autou]. These slaves are distinguished from the husbandmen [geōrgoi], workers of the soil) or workers of the vineyard who had leased it from the householder before he went away. The conduct of the husbandmen towards the householder’s slaves portrays the behaviour of the Jewish people and the religious leaders in particular towards the prophets and now towards Christ. The treatment of God’s prophets by the Jews pointedly illustrates this parable.
21:35 They will reverence my son [entrapēsontai ton huion mou]. Second future passive from [entrepō], to turn at, but used transitively here as though active or middle. It is the picture of turning with respect when one worthy of it appears.
21:38 Take his inheritance [schōmen tēn klēronomian autou]. Ingressive aorist active subjunctive (hortatory, volitive) of [echō]. Let us get his inheritance.
21:41 He will miserably destroy those miserable men [kakous kakōs apolesei autous]. The paronomasia or assonance is very clear. A common idiom in literary Greek. “He will put the wretches to a wretched death” (Weymouth). Which [hoitines]. Who, which very ones of a different character.
21:42 The stone which [lithon hon]. Inverse attraction
of the
antecedent into the case of the relative. The builders rejected
[apedokimasan hoi oikodomountes]. From
21:43 Shall be taken away from you [arthēsetai aph’ h–mōn]. Future passive indicative of [airō]. It was the death-knell of the Jewish nation with their hopes of political and religious world leadership.
21:44 Shall be broken to pieces [sunthlasthēsetai]. Some ancient manuscripts do not have this verse. But it graphically pictures the fate of the man who rejects Christ. The verb means to shatter. We are familiar with an automobile that dashes against a stone wall, a tree, or a train and the ruin that follows. Will scatter him as dust [likmēsei]. The verb was used of winnowing out the chaff and then of grinding to powder. This is the fate of him on whom this Rejected Stone falls.
21:45 Perceived [egnōsan]. Ingressive second aorist active of [ginōskō]. There was no mistaking the meaning of these parables. The dullest could see the point.
21:46 Took him [eichon]. Descriptive imperfect of [echō], to hold. This fear of the people was all that stayed the hands of the rabbis on this occasion. Murderous rage was in their hearts towards Jesus. People do not always grasp the application of sermons to themselves.
22:1 Again in parables [palin en parabolais]. Matthew
has
already given two on this occasion (The Two Sons, The Wicked
Husbandmen). He alone gives this Parable of the Marriage Feast of
the King’s Son. It is somewhat similar to that of The Supper in
22:2 A marriage feast [gamous]. The plural, as here
(
22:3 To call them that were bidden [kalesai tous
keklēmenous]. “Perhaps an unconscious play on the words, lost in
both A.V. and Rev., to call the called” (Vincent). It was
a
Jewish custom to invite a second time the already invited (
22:4 My dinner [to ariston mou]. It is breakfast, not dinner.
In
22:5 Made light of it [amelēsantes]. Literally, neglecting, not caring for. They may even have ridiculed the invitation, but the verb does not say so. However, to neglect an invitation to a wedding feast is a gross discourtesy. One to his own farm [hos men eis ton idion agron] or field, another to his merchandise [hos de epi tēn emporian autou] only example in the N.T., from [emporos], merchant, one who travels for traffic [emporeuomai], a drummer.
22:7 Armies [strateumata]. Bands of soldiers, not grand armies.
22:9 The partings of the highways [tas diexodous tōn hodōn]. Vulgate, exitus viarum. [Diodoi] are cross-streets, while [diexodoi] (double compound) seem to be main streets leading out of the city where also side-streets may branch off, “by-ways.”
22:10 The wedding [ho gamos]. But Westcott and Hort rightly
read here [ho numphōn], marriage dining hall. The same word in
22:12 Not having a wedding-garment [mē echōn enduma gamou]. [Mē] is in the Koinē the usual negative with participles unless special emphasis on the negative is desired as in [ouk endedumenon]. There is a subtle distinction between [mē] and [ou] like our subjective and objective notions. Some hold that the wedding-garment here is a portion of a lost parable separate from that of the Wedding Feast, but there is no evidence for that idea. Wunsche does report a parable by a rabbi of a king who set no time for his feast and the guests arrived, some properly dressed waiting at the door; others in their working clothes did not wait, but went off to work and, when the summons suddenly came, they had no time to dress properly and were made to stand and watch while the others partook of the feast.
22:13 Was speechless [epsimōthē]. Was muzzled, dumb from
confusion and embarrassment. It is used of the ox (
22:14 For many are called, but few chosen [polloi gar eisin klētoi oligoi de eklektoi]. This crisp saying of Christ occurs in various connections. He evidently repeated many of his sayings many times as every teacher does. There is a distinction between the called [klētoi] and the chosen [eklektoi] called out from the called.
22:15 Went [poreuthentes]. So-called deponent passive and
redundant use of the verb as in
22:16 Their disciples [tous mathētas autōn]. Students,
pupils, of the Pharisees as in
22:19 Tribute money [to nomisma tou kēnsou]. [Kēnsos], Latin census, was a capitation tax or head-money, tributum capitis, for which silver denaria were struck, with the figure of Caesar and a superscription, e.g. “Tiberiou Kaisaros” (McNeile). [Nomisma] is the Latin numisma and occurs here only in the N.T., is common in the old Greek, from [nomizō] sanctioned by law or custom.
22:20 This image and superscription [hē eikōn hautē kai hē epigraphē]. Probably a Roman coin because of the image (picture) on it. The earlier Herods avoided this practice because of Jewish prejudice, but the Tetrarch Philip introduced it on Jewish coins and he was followed by Herod Agrippa I. This coin was pretty certainly stamped in Rome with the image and name of Tiberius Caesar on it.
22:21 Render [apodote]. “Give back” to Caesar what is already Caesar’s.
22:24 Shall marry [epigambreusei]. The Sadducees were “aiming
at amusement rather than deadly mischief” (Bruce). It was
probably an old conundrum that they had used to the discomfiture
of the Pharisees. This passage is quoted from
22:33 They were astonished [exeplēssonto]. Descriptive imperfect passive showing the continued amazement of the crowds. They were struck out (literally).
22:34 He had put the Sadducees to silence [ephimōsen tous
Saddoukaious]. Muzzled the Sadducees. The Pharisees could not
restrain their glee though they were joining with the Sadducees
in trying to entrap Jesus. Gathered themselves together
[sunēchthēsan epi to auto]. First aorist passive, were gathered
together. [Epi to auto] explains more fully [sun-]. See also
22:36 The great commandment in the law [entolē megalē en tōi
nomōi]. The positive adjective is sometimes as high in rank as
the superlative. See [megas] in
22:42 The Christ [tou Christou]. The Messiah, of course,
not
Christ as a proper name of Jesus. Jesus here assumes that
23:2 Sit on Moses’ seat [epi tēs Mōuseōs kathedras ekathisan]. The gnomic or timeless aorist tense, [ekathisan], not the aorist “for” the perfect. The “seat of Moses” is a brief form for the chair of the professor whose function it is to interpret Moses. “The heirs of Moses’ authority by an unbroken tradition can deliver ex cathedra pronouncements on his teaching” (McNeile).
23:3 For they say and do not [legousin kai ou poiousin]. “As teachers they have their place, but beware of following their example” (Bruce). So Jesus said: “Do not ye after their works ” [mē poieite]. Do not practice their practices. They are only preachers. Jesus does not here disapprove any of their teachings as he does elsewhere. The point made here is that they are only teachers (or preachers) and do not practice what they teach as God sees it.
23:4 With their finger [tōi daktulōi autōn]. A picturesque proverb. They are taskmasters, not burden-bearers, not sympathetic helpers.
23:5 To be seen of men [pros to theathēnai tois anthrōpois].
See
23:6 The chief place at feasts [tēn prōtoklisian en tois
deipnois]. Literally, the first reclining place on the divan at
the meal. The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Jews differed in their
customs, but all cared for the post of honour at formal functions
as is true of us today. Hostesses often solve the point by
putting the name of each guest at the table. At the last passover
meal the apostles had an ugly snarl over this very point of
precedence (
23:7 Salutations [aspasmous]. The ordinary courtiers were coveted because in public. They had an itch for notice. There are occasionally today ministers who resent it if they are not called upon to take part in the services at church. They feel that their ministerial dignity has not been recognized.
23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi [humeis de mē klēthēte
Rabbei]. An apparent aside to the disciples. Note the emphatic
position of [humeis]. Some even regard
23:9 Call no man your father [patera mē kalesēte h–mōn].
Jesus meant the full sense of this noble word for our heavenly
Father. “Abba was not commonly a mode of address to a living
person, but a title of honour for Rabbis and great men of the
past” (McNeile). In Gethsemane Jesus said: “Abba, Father” (
23:10 Masters [kathēgētai]. This word occurs here only
in the
N.T. It is found in the papyri for teacher (Latin, doctor). It
is the modern Greek word for professor. “While [didaskalos]
represents [Rab], [kathēgētes] stands for the more honourable
[Rabban, -bōn]” (McNeile). Dalman (Words of Jesus, p. 340)
suggests that the same Aramaic word may be translated by either
[didaskalos] or [kathēgētes]. The Christ [ho Christos].
The use of these words here by Jesus like “Jesus Christ” in his
Prayer (
23:12 Exalt himself [hupsōsei heauton]. Somewhat like
23:13 Hypocrites [hupokritai]. This terrible word of Jesus
appears first from him in the Sermon on the Mount (
23:15 Twofold more a son of hell than yourselves [huion
geennēs diploteron h–mōn]. It is a convert to Pharisaism rather
than Judaism that is meant by “one proselyte” [hena
prosēluton], from [proserchomai], newcomers, aliens. There were
two kinds of proselytes: of the gate (not actual Jews, but
God-fearers and well-wishers of Judaism, like Cornelius), of
righteousness who received circumcision and became actual Jews.
But a very small per cent of the latter became Pharisees. There
was a Hellenistic Jewish literature (Philo, Sibylline Oracles,
etc.) designed to attract Gentiles to Judaism. But the Pharisaic
missionary zeal (compass, [periagēte], go around) was a
comparative failure. And success was even worse, Jesus says with
pitiless plainness. The “son of Gehenna” means one fitted for and
so destined for Gehenna. “The more converted the more perverted”
(H.J. Holtzmann). The Pharisees claimed to be in a special sense
sons of the kingdom (
23:16 Ye blind guides [hodēgoi tuphloi]. Note omission of
“Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” with this third woe. In
23:17 Ye fools [mōroi]. In
23:23 Ye tithe [apodekatoute]. The tithe had to be paid
upon
“all the increase of thy seed” (
23:24 Strain out the gnat [diulizontes ton kōnōpa]. By
filtering through [dia], not the “straining at” in swallowing
so crudely suggested by the misprint in the A.V. Swallow the
camel [tēn de kamēlon katapinontes]. Gulping or drinking down
the camel. An oriental hyperbole like that in
23:25 From extortion and excess [ex harpagēs kai akrasias].
A much more serious accusation. These punctilious observers of the
external ceremonies did not hesitate at robbery [harpages] and
graft [akrasias], lack of control. A modern picture of
wickedness in high places both civil and ecclesiastical where the
moral elements in life are ruthlessly trodden under foot. Of
course, the idea is for both the outside [ektos] and the inside
[entos] of the cup and the platter (fine side dish).
But the inside is the more important. Note the change to singular in
23:27 Whited sepulchre [taphois kekoniamenois]. The perfect
passive participle is from [koniaō] and that from [konia], dust
or lime. Whitened with powdered lime dust, the sepulchres of the
poor in the fields or the roadside. Not the rock-hewn tombs of
the well-to-do. These were whitewashed a month before the
passover that travellers might see them and so avoid being
defiled by touching them (
23:29 The tombs of the prophets [tous taphous tōn prophētōn].
Cf.
23:32 Fill ye up [plērōsate]. The keenest irony in this command has been softened in some MSS. to the future indicative [plērōsete]. “Fill up the measure of your fathers; crown their misdeeds by killing the prophet God has sent to you. Do at last what has long been in your hearts. The hour is come” (Bruce).
23:33 Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers [opheis gennēmata
echidnōn]. These blistering words come as a climax and remind
one of the Baptist (
23:35 Zachariah son of Barachiah [Zachariou huiou Barachiou].
Broadus gives well the various alternatives in understanding and
explaining the presence of “son of Barachiah” here which is not
in
23:37 How often would I have gathered [posakis ēthelēsa episunagein]. More exactly, how often did I long to gather to myself (double compound infinitive). The same verb [episunagei] is used of the hen with the compound preposition [hupokatō]. Everyone has seen the hen quickly get together the chicks under her wings in the time of danger. These words naturally suggest previous visits to Jerusalem made plain by John’s Gospel.
24:1 Went out from the temple [exelthōn apo tou hierou].
All
the discourses since
24:2 One stone upon another [lithos epi lithon]. Stone upon stone. A startling prediction showing that the gloomy current of the thoughts of Jesus were not changed by their words of admiration for the temple.
24:3 As he sat [kathēmenou]. Genitive absolute. Picture
of Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives looking down on Jerusalem
and the temple which he had just left. After the climb up the
mountain four of the disciples (Peter, James, John, Andrew) come
to Jesus with the problem raised by his solemn words. They ask
these questions about the destruction of Jerusalem and the
temple, his own second coming [parousia], presence, common in
the papyri for the visit of the emperor), and the end of the
world. Did they think that they were all to take place
simultaneously? There is no way to answer. At any rate Jesus
treats all three in this great eschatological discourse, the most
difficult problem in the Synoptic Gospels. Many theories are
advanced that impugn the knowledge of Jesus or of the writers or
of both. It is sufficient for our purpose to think of Jesus as
using the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem which did
happen in that generation in A.D. 70, as also a symbol of his own
second coming and of the end of the world [sunteleias tou
aiōnos] or consummation of the age. In a painting the artist by
skilful perspective may give on the same surface the inside of a
room, the fields outside the window, and the sky far beyond.
Certainly in this discourse Jesus blends in apocalyptic language
the background of his death on the cross, the coming destruction
of Jerusalem, his own second coming and the end of the world. He
now touches one, now the other. It is not easy for us to separate
clearly the various items. It is enough if we get the picture as
a whole as it is here drawn with its lessons of warning to be
ready for his coming and the end. The destruction of Jerusalem
came as he foretold. There are some who would date the Synoptic
Gospels after A.D. 70 in order to avoid the predictive element
involved in the earlier date. But that is to limit the
fore-knowledge of Jesus to a merely human basis. The word
[parousia] occurs in this chapter alone (
24:4 Lead you astray [h–mās planēsēi]. This warning runs
all through the discourse. It is amazing how successful deceivers
have been through the ages with their eschatological programs.
The word in the passive appears in
24:5 In my name [epi tōi onomati mou]. They will arrogate to themselves false claims of Messiahship in (on the basis of) the name of Christ himself. Josephus (Wars VI, 54) gives there false Christs as one of the reasons for the explosion against Rome that led to the city’s destruction. Each new hero was welcomed by the masses including Barcochba. “I am the Messiah,” each would say. Forty odd years ago two men in Illinois claimed to be Messiah, each with followers (Schlatter, Schweinfurth). In more recent years Mrs. Annie Besant has introduced a theosophical Messiah and Mrs. Eddy made claims about herself on a par with those of Jesus.
24:6 See that ye be not troubled [horate mē throeisthe].
Asyndeton here with these two imperatives as
24:8 The beginning of travail [archē odinōn]. The word
means
birth-pangs and the Jews used the very phrase for the sufferings
of the Messiah which were to come before the coming of the
Messiah (Book of Jubilees, 23:18; Apoc. of
24:9 Ye shall be hated [esesthe misoumenoi]. Periphrastic
future passive to emphasize the continuous process of the linear
action. For tribulation [thlipsin] see
24:11 False prophets [pseudoprophētai]. Jesus had warned
against them in the Sermon on the Mount (
24:12 Shall wax cold [psugēsetai]. Second future passive indicative from [psuchō]. To breathe cool by blowing, to grow cold, “spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind” (Vincent). The love of many [hē agapē tōn pollōn]. Love of the brotherhood gives way to mutual hatred and suspicion.
24:14 Shall be preached [keruchthēsetai]. Heralded in all the inhabited world. [En holēi tēi oikoumenēi] supply [gēi]. It is not here said that all will be saved nor must this language be given too literal and detailed an application to every individual.
24:15 The abomination of desolation [to bdelugma tēs
eremōseōs]. An allusion to
Let him that readeth understand [ho anaginoskōn noeitō].
This
parenthesis occurs also in
24:16 Flee unto the mountains [pheugetōsan eis ta orē]. The mountains east of the Jordan. Eusebius (H.E. iii,5,3) says that the Christians actually fled to Pella at the foot of the mountains about seventeen miles south of the Sea of Galilee. They remembered the warning of Jesus and fled for safety.
24:17 On the housetop [epi tou dōmatos]. They could escape from roof to roof and so escape, “the road of the roofs,” as the rabbis called it. There was need for haste.
24:18 In the field [en tōi agrōi]. The peasant worked in his time and left his mantle at home then as now.
24:20 In winter nor on a sabbath [cheimōnos], genitive of
time, [mēde sabbatōi], locative of time). In winter because of
the rough weather. On a sabbath because some would hesitate to
make such a journey on the sabbath. Josephus in his Wars gives
the best illustration of the horrors foretold by Jesus in
24:22 Had been shortened [ekolobōthēsan]. From [kolobos],
lopped, mutilated, as the hands, the feet. It is a second-class
condition, determined as unfulfilled. It is a prophetic figure,
the future regarded as past. For the elect’s sake [dia tous
eklektous]. See
24:23 Lo, here is the Christ, or here [idou hōde ho Christos ē
hōde]. The false prophets (
24:24 Great signs and wonders [sēmeia megala kai terata].
Two of the three words so often used in the N.T. about the works
[erga] of Jesus, the other being [dunameis] (powers).
They often occur together of the same work (
24:26 In the wilderness [en tēi erēmōi]. Like Simon son of Gioras (Josephus, War, IV ,9, 5, & 7). In the inner chambers [en tois tameiois]. Like John of Giscala (Josephus, War, V,6,1). False Messiahs act the role of the Great Unseen and Unknown.
24:27 As seen [phainetai]. Visible in contrast to the
invisibility of the false Messiahs. Cf.
24:28 Carcase [ptōma]. As in
24:29 Immediately [eutheōs]. This word, common in Mark’s
Gospel as [euthus], gives trouble if one stresses the time
element. The problem is how much time intervenes between “the
tribulation of those days” and the vivid symbolism of
24:30 The sign of the Son of Man in heaven [to sēmeion tou
huiou tou anthrōpou en ouranōi]. Many theories have been
suggested like the cross in the sky, etc. Bruce sees a reference
to
24:31 With a great sound of a trumpet [meta salpiggos phōnēs
megalēs]. Some MSS. omit [phōnēs] “sound.” The trumpet
was the signal employed to call the hosts of Israel to march as to war
and is common in prophetic imagery (
24:32 Putteth forth its leaves [ta phulla ekphuēi]. Present active subjunctive according to Westcott and Hort. If accented [ekphuēi] (last syllable), it is second aorist passive subjunctive (Erasmus).
24:34 This generation [hē genea hautē]. The problem is
whether Jesus is here referring to the destruction of Jerusalem
or to the second coming and end of the world. If to the
destruction of Jerusalem, there was a literal fulfilment. In the
Old Testament a generation was reckoned as forty years. This is
the natural way to take
24:36 Not even the Son [oude ho huios]. Probably genuine,
though absent in some ancient MSS. The idea is really involved in
the words “but the Father only” [ei mē ho patēr monos]. It is
equally clear that in this verse Jesus has in mind the time of
his second coming. He had plainly stated in
24:37 The days of Noah [hai hēmerai tou Nōe]. Jesus had
used
this same imagery before to the Pharisees (
24:38 Were eating [ēsan trōgontes]. Periphrastic imperfect. The verb means to chew raw vegetables or fruits like nuts or almonds.
24:41 At the mill [en tōi mulōi]. So Westcott and Hort
and
not [mulōni] (millhouse) Textus Receptus. The millstone and then
hand-mill which was turned by two women [alēthousai] as in
24:42 Watch therefore [grēgōreite oun]. A late present
imperative from the second perfect [egrēgora] from [egeirō]. Keep
awake, be on the watch “therefore” because of the uncertainty of
the time of the second coming. Jesus gives a half dozen parables
to enforce the point of this exhortation (the Porter, the Master
of the House, the Faithful Servant and the Evil Servants, the Ten
Virgins, the Talents, the Sheep and the Goats). Matthew does not
give the Parable of the Porter (
24:43 In what watch [poiāi phulakēi]. As in
24:44 That ye think not [hēi ou dokeite hōrāi]. It is useless
to set the day and hour for Christ’s coming. It is folly to
neglect it. This figure of the thief will be used also by Paul
concerning the unexpectedness of Christ’s second coming (
24:48 My lord tarrieth [chronizei mou ho kurios]. That
is the temptation and to give way to indulge in fleshly appetites or to
pride of superior intellect. Within a generation scoffers will be
asking where is the promise of the coming of Christ (
25:1 Ten virgins [deka parthenois]. No special point
in the
number ten. The scene is apparently centered round the house of
the bride to which the bridegroom is coming for the wedding
festivities. But Plummer places the scene near the house of the
bridegroom who has gone to bring the bride home. It is not
pertinent to the point of the parable to settle it. Lamps
[lampadas]. Probably torches with a wooden staff and a dish on
top in which was placed a piece of rope or cloth dipped in oil or
pitch. But sometimes [lampas] has the meaning of oil lamp
[luchnos] as in
25:3 Took no oil with them [ouk elabon meth’ heautōn elaion]. Probably none at all, not realizing their lack of oil till they lit the torches on the arrival of the bridegroom and his party.
25:4 In their vessels [en tois aggeiois]. Here alone in
the N.T., through [aggē] in
25:5 They all slumbered and slept [enustaxan pāsai kai ekatheudon]. They dropped off to sleep, nodded (ingressive aorist) and then went on sleeping (imperfect, linear action), a vivid picture drawn by the difference in the two tenses. Many a preacher has seen this happen while he is preaching.
25:6 There is a cry [kraugē gegonen]. A cry has come. Dramatic use of the present perfect (second perfect active) indicative, not the perfect for the aorist. It is not [estin], but [gegonen] which emphasizes the sudden outcry which has rent the air. The very memory of it is preserved by this tense with all the bustle and confusion, the rushing to the oil-venders. Come ye forth to meet him [exerchesthe eis apantēsin]. Or, Go out for meeting him, dependent on whether the cry comes from outside the house or inside the house where they were sleeping because of the delay. It was a ceremonial salutation neatly expressed by the Greek phrase.
25:7 Trimmed [ekosmēsan]. Put in order, made ready. The wicks were trimmed, the lights being out while they slept, fresh oil put in the dish, and lit again. A marriage ceremony in India is described by Ward (View of the Hindoos) in Trench’s Parables: “After waiting two or three hours, at length near midnight it was announced, as in the very words of Scripture, ‘Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.’”
25:8 Are going out [sbennuntai]. Present middle indicative of linear action, not punctiliar or aoristic. When the five foolish virgins lit their lamps, they discovered the lack of oil. The sputtering, flickering, smoking wicks were a sad revelation. “And perhaps we are to understand that there is something in the coincidence of the lamps going out just as the Bridegroom arrived. Mere outward religion is found to have no illuminating power” (Plummer).
25:9 Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you [mēpote ou mē arkesei hēmŒn kai humŒn]. There is an elliptical construction here that is not easy of explanation. Some MSS. Aleph A L Z have [ouk] instead of [ou mē]. But even so [mē pote] has to be explained either by supplying an imperative like [ginesthō] or by a verb of fearing like [phoboumetha] (this most likely). Either [ouk] or [ou mē] would be proper with the futuristic subjunctive [arkesei] (Moulton, Prolegomena, p. 192; Robertson, Grammar, pp. 1161,1174). “We are afraid that there is no possibility of there being enough for us both.” This is a denial of oil by the wise virgins because there was not enough for both. “It was necessary to show that the foolish virgins could not have the consequences of their folly averted at the last moment” (Plummer). It is a courteous reply, but it is decisive. The compound Greek negatives are very expressive, [mēpote—ou mē].
25:10 And while they went away [aperchomenōn de autōn]. Present middle participle, genitive absolute, while they were going away, descriptive linear action. Picture of their inevitable folly. Was shut [ekleisthē]. Effective aorist passive indicative, shut to stay shut.
25:11 Afterward [husteron]. And find the door shut in their faces. Lord, Lord, open to us [Kurie, Kurie, anoixon hēmin]. They appeal to the bridegroom who is now master whether he is at the bride’s house or his own.
25:12 I know you not [ouk oida humās]. Hence there was no reason for special or unusual favours to be granted them. They must abide the consequences of their own negligence.
25:13 Watch therefore [grēgoreite oun]. This is the refrain with all the parables. Lack of foresight is inexcusable. Ignorance of the time of the second coming is not an excuse for neglect, but a reason for readiness. Every preacher goes up against this trait in human nature, putting off till another time what should be done today.
25:14 Going into another country [apodēmōn]. About to go
away from one’s people [dēmos], on the point of going abroad. This
word in ancient use in this sense. There is an ellipse here that
has to be supplied, It is as when or The kingdom of heaven is
as when. This Parable of the Talents is quite similar to the
Parable of the Pounds in
25:15 To one [hōi men, hōi de, hōi de]. Demonstrative [hos],
not the relative. Neat Greek idiom. According to his several
ability [kata tēn idian dunamin]. According to his own
ability. Each had all that he was capable of handling. The use
that one makes of his opportunities is the measure of his
capacity for more. One talent represented a considerable amount
of money at that time when a [denarius] was a day’s wage. See on
25:16 Straightway [eutheōs]. Beginning of verse 16, not
the end of
25:19 Maketh a reckoning [sunairei logon]. As in
25:21 The joy of thy lord [tēn charin tou kuriou sou].
The word [chara] or joy may refer to the feast on the master’s
return. So in
25:24 That had received the one talent [ho to talenton
eilēphōs]. Note the perfect active participle to emphasize the
fact that he still had it. In
25:26 Thou wicked and slothful servant [ponēre doule kai
oknēre]. From [ponos] (work, annoyance, disturbance, evil)
and
[okneō] (to be slow, “poky,” slothful). Westcott and Hort make a
question out of this reply to the end of
25:27 Thou oughtest therefore [edsi se oun]. His very words
of excuse convict him. It was a necessity [edei] that he did
not see. The bankers [tois trapezeitais]. The benchers,
money-changers, brokers, who exchanged money for a fee and who
paid interest on money. Word common in late Greek. I should have
received back [egō ekomisamēn an]. Conclusion of a condition
of the second class (determined as unfulfilled). The condition is
not expressed, but it is implied. “If you had done that.” With
interest [sun tokōi]. Not with “usury” in the sense of
extortion or oppression. Usury only means “use” in itself. The
word is from [tiktō], to bring forth. Compound interest at six
per cent doubles the principal every twenty years. It is amazing
how rapidly that piles up if one carries it on for centuries and
millenniums. “In the early Roman Empire legal interest was eight
per cent, but in usurious transactions it was lent at twelve,
twenty-four, and even forty-eight” (Vincent). Such practices
exist today in our cities. The Mosaic law did not allow interest
in dealings between Hebrews, but only with strangers (
25:30 The unprofitable [ton achreion]. Useless [a] privative and [chreios], useful) and so unprofitable, injurious. Doing nothing is doing harm.
25:32 All the nations (panta ta ethnē). Not just Gentiles,
but
Jews also. Christians and non-Christians. This program for the
general judgment has been challenged by some scholars who regard
it as a composition by the evangelist to exalt Christ. But why
should not Christ say this if he is the Son of Man and the Son of
God and realized it? A “reduced” Christ has trouble with all the
Gospels, not merely with the Fourth Gospel, and no less with Q
and Mark than with Matthew and Luke. This is a majestic picture
with which to close the series of parables about readiness for
the second coming. Here is the program when he does come. “I am
aware that doubt is thrown on this passage by some critics. But
the doubt is most wanton. Where is the second brain that could
have invented anything so original and so sublime as vv.
25:34 From the foundation of the world [apo katabolēs
kosmou]. The eternal purpose of the Father for his elect in all
the nations. The Son of Man in
25:36 Clothed me [periebalete me]. Second aorist middle indicative, cast something around me. Visited me [epeskepsasthe me]. Looked after, came to see. Our “visit” is from Latin viso, video. Cf. our English “go to see.”
25:40 Ye did it unto me [emoi epoiēsate]. Dative of personal interest. Christ identifies himself with the needy and the suffering. This conduct is proof of possession of love for Christ and likeness to him.
25:42 No meat [ouk edōkate moi phagein]. You did not give
me anything to eat. The repetition of the negative [ou] in
25:46 Eternal punishment [kolasin aiōnion]. The word [kolasin] comes from [kolazō], to mutilate or prune. Hence those who cling to the larger hope use this phrase to mean age-long pruning that ultimately leads to salvation of the goats, as disciplinary rather than penal. There is such a distinction as Aristotle pointed out between [mōria] (vengeance) and [kolasis]. But the same adjective [aiōnios] is used with [kolasin] and [zōēn]. If by etymology we limit the scope of [kolasin], we may likewise have only age-long [zōēn]. There is not the slightest indication in the words of Jesus here that the punishment is not coeval with the life. We can leave all this to the King himself who is the Judge. The difficulty to one’s mind about conditional chastisement is to think how a life of sin in hell can be changed into a life of love and obedience. The word [aiōnios] (from [aiōn], age, [aevum, aei] means either without beginning or without end or both. It comes as near to the idea of eternal as the Greek can put it in one word. It is a difficult idea to put into language. Sometimes we have “ages of ages” [aiōnes tōn aiōnōn].
26:2 Cometh [ginetai]. Futuristic use of the present
middle
indicative. This was probably our Tuesday evening (beginning of
Jewish Wednesday). The passover began on our Thursday evening
(beginning of Jewish Friday). After two days [meta
duo hēmeras] is just the familiar popular mode of speech. The
passover came technically on the second day from this time. Is
delivered up [paradidotai]. Another instance of the futuristic
present passive indicative. The same form occurs in
26:3 Then were gathered together the chief priests and elders of
the people [Tote sunēchthēsan hoi archiereis kai hoi
presbuteroi tou laou]. A meeting of the Sanhedrin as these two
groups indicate (cf.
26:4 They took counsel together [sunebouleusanto]. Aorist
middle indicative, indicating their puzzled state of mind. They
have had no trouble in finding Jesus (
26:5 A tumult [thorubos]. They feared the uprising in behalf of Jesus and were arguing that the matter must be postponed till after the feast was over when the crowds had scattered. Then they could catch him “by craft” [dolōi] as they would trap a wild beast.
26:6 In the house of Simon the leper [en oikiāi Simōnos tou
leprou]. Evidently a man who had been healed of his leprosy by
Jesus who gave the feast in honour of Jesus. All sorts of
fantastic theories have arisen about it. Some even identify this
Simon with the one in
26:7 An alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment
[alabastron murou barutimou]. The flask was of alabaster, a
carbonate of lime or sulphate of lime, white or yellow stone,
named alabaster from the town in Egypt where it was chiefly
found. It was used for a phial employed for precious ointments in
ancient writers, inscriptions and papyri just as we speak of a
glass for the vessel made of glass. It had a cylindrical form at
the top, as a rule, like a closed rosebud (Pliny). Matthew does
not say what the ointment [murou] was, only saying that it was
“exceeding precious” [barutimou], of weighty value, selling at
a great price. Here only in the N.T. “An alabaster of nard
[murou] was a present for a king” (Bruce). It was
one of five
presents sent by Cambyses to the King of Ethiopia (Herodotus,
iii. 20). She poured it upon his head [katecheen epi tēs
kephalēs autou]. So Mark (
26:8 This waste [hē apōleia hautē]. Dead loss [apōleia]
they considered it, nothing but sentimental aroma. It was a cruel
shock to Mary of Bethany to hear this comment. Matthew does not
tell as John does (
26:10 Why trouble ye the woman? [ti kopous parechete tēi gunaiki?] A phrase not common in Greek writers, though two examples occur in the papyri for giving trouble. [Kopos] is from [koptō], to beat, smite, cut. It is a beating, trouble, and often work, toil. Jesus champions Mary’s act with this striking phrase. It is so hard for some people to allow others liberty for their own personalities to express themselves. It is easy to raise small objections to what we do not like and do not understand. A good work upon me [ergon kalon eis eme]. A beautiful deed upon Jesus himself.
26:12 To prepare me for burial [pros to entaphiasai me].
Mary alone had understood what Jesus had repeatedly said about his
approaching death. The disciples were so wrapped up in their own
notions of a political kingdom that they failed utterly to
sympathize with Jesus as he faced the cross. But Mary with the
woman’s fine intuitions did begin to understand and this was her
way of expressing her high emotions and loyalty. The word here is
the same used in
26:15 What are ye willing to give me? [ti thelete moi
dounai?] This “brings out the chaffering aspect of the
transaction” (Vincent). “Mary and Judas extreme opposites: she
freely spending in love, he willing to sell his Master for money”
(Bruce). And her act of love provoked Judas to his despicable
deed, this rebuke of Jesus added to all the rest. And I will
deliver him unto you [kagō h–min paradōsō auton]. The use of
[kai] with a co-ordinate clause is a colloquialism (common in the
Koinē as in the Hebrew use of wav. “A colloquialism or a
Hebraism, the traitor mean in style as in spirit” (Bruce). The
use of [egō] seems to mean “I though one of his disciples will
hand him over to you if you give me enough.” They weighed unto
him [hoi de estēsan auto]. They placed the money in the
balances or scales. “Coined money was in use, but the shekels may
have been weighed out in antique fashion by men careful to do an
iniquitous thing in the most orthodox way” (Bruce). It is not
known whether the Sanhedrin had offered a reward for the arrest
of Jesus or not. Thirty pieces of silver [triakonta arguria].
A reference to
26:16 Sought opportunity [ezētei eukarian]. A good chance. Note imperfect tense. Judas went at his business and stuck to it.
26:17 To eat the passover [phagein to pascha]. There were
two feasts rolled into one, the passover feast and the feast of
unleavened bread. Either name was employed. Here the passover
meal is meant, though in
26:18 To such a man [pros ton deina]. The only instance
in the N.T. of this old Attic idiom. The papyri show it for “Mr. X”
and the modern Greek keeps it. Jesus may have indicated the man’s
name. Mark (
26:20 He was sitting at meat [anekeito]. He was reclining,
lying back on the left side on the couch with the right hand
free. Jesus and the Twelve all reclined. The paschal lamb had to
be eaten up entirely (
26:21 One of you [heis ex humōn]. This was a bolt from the blue for all except Judas and he was startled to know that Jesus understood his treacherous bargain.
26:22 Is it I, Lord? [mēti egō eimi, Kurie;]. The negative
expects the answer No and was natural for all save Judas. But he
had to bluff it out by the same form of question (
26:23 He that dipped [ho embapsas]. They all dipped their
hands, having no knives, forks, or spoons. The aorist participle
with the article simply means that the betrayer is the one who
dips his hand in the dish [en tōi trubliōi] or platter with the
broth of nuts and raisins and figs into which the bread was
dipped before eating. It is plain that Judas was not recognized
by the rest as indicated by what Jesus has said. This language
means that one of those who had eaten bread with him had violated
the rights of hospitality by betraying him. The Arabs today are
punctilious on this point. Eating one’s bread ties your hands and
compels friendship. But Judas knew full well as is shown in
26:24 Good were it for that man [kalon ēn autōi]. Conclusion
of second-class condition even though [an] is not expressed. It
is not needed with verbs of obligation and necessity. There are
some today who seek to palliate the crime of Judas. But Jesus
here pronounces his terrible doom. And Judas heard it and went on
with his hellish bargain with the Sanhedrin. Apparently Judas
went out at this stage (
26:26 And blessed and brake it [eulogēsas eklasen]. Special
“Grace” in the middle of the passover meal, “as they were
eating,” for the institution of the Supper. Jesus broke one of
the passover wafers or cakes that each might have a piece, not as
a symbol of the breaking of his body as the Textus Receptus has
it in
26:28 The Covenant [tēs diathēkēs]. The adjective [kainēs]
in Textus Receptus is not genuine. The covenant is an agreement or
contract between two [dia, duo, thēke], from [tithēmi]. It is
used also for will (Latin, testamentum) which becomes operative
at death (
26:29 When I drink it new with you [hotan auto pinō meth’ humōn kaimon]. This language rather implies that Jesus himself partook of the bread and the wine, though it is not distinctly stated. In the Messianic banquet it is not necessary to suppose that Jesus means the language literally, “the fruit of the vine.” Deissmann (Bible Studies, pp. 109f.) gives an instance of [genēma] used of the vine in a papyrus 230 B.C. The language here employed does not make it obligatory to employ wine rather than pure grape juice if one wishes the other.
26:30 Sang a hymn [humnēsantes]. The Hallel, part of
26:33 I will never be offended [egō oudepote
skandalisthēsomai]. “Made to stumble,” not “offended.” Volitive
future passive indicative. Peter ignored the prophecy of the
resurrection of Jesus and the promised meeting in Galilee (
26:35 Even if I must die with thee [k…n deēi me sun soi apothanein]. Third-class condition. A noble speech and meant well. His boast of loyalty is made still stronger by [ou mē se aparnēsomai]. The other disciples were undoubtedly embarrassed by Peter’s boast and lightheartedly joined in the same profession of fidelity.
26:36 Gethsemane [Gethsēmanei]. The word means oil-press
in the Hebrew, or olive vat. The place [chōrion] was an enclosed
plot or estate, “garden,” or orchard [kēpos]. It is called
villa in the Vulgate according to
26:37 He took with him [paralabōn]. Taking along, by his
side
[para-], as a mark of special favour and privilege, instead of
leaving this inner circle of three (Peter, James, and John) with
the other eight. The eight would serve as a sort of outer guard
to watch by the gate of the garden for the coming of Judas while
the three would be able to share the agony of soul already upon
Jesus so as at least to give him some human sympathy which he
craved as he sought help from the Father in prayer. These three
had been with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and now they
are with him in this supreme crisis. The grief of Christ was now
severe. The word for sore troubled [adēmonein] is of doubtful
etymology. There is an adjective [adēmos] equal to [apodēmos]
meaning “not at home,” “away from home,” like the German
unheimisch, unheimlich. But whatever the etymology, the notion
of intense discomfort is plain. The word [adēmonein] occurs in
P.Oxy. II, 298,456 of the first century A.D. where it means
“excessively concerned.” See
26:38 Watch with me [grēgoreite met’ emou]. This late present from the perfect [egrēgora] means to keep awake and not go to sleep. The hour was late and the strain had been severe, but Jesus pleaded for a bit of human sympathy as he wrestled with his Father. It did not seem too much to ask. He had put his sorrow in strong language, “even unto death” [heōs thanatou] that ought to have alarmed them.
26:39 He went forward a little [proelthōn mikron]. As if
he
could not fight the battle in their immediate presence. He was on
his face, not on his knees (McNeile). This cup [to
potērion
touto]. The figure can mean only the approaching death. Jesus
had used it of his coming death when James and John came to him
with their ambitious request, “the cup which I am about to drink”
(
26:40 What [houtōs]. The Greek adverb is not interrogation
or
exclamatory [ti], but only “so” or “thus.” There is a tone of sad
disappointment at the discovery that they were asleep after the
earnest plea that they keep awake (
26:41 Watch and pray [grēgoreite kai proseuchesthe]. Jesus
repeats the command of
26:43 For their eyes were heavy [ēsan gar autōn hoi ophthalmoi
bebarēmenoi]. Past perfect passive indicative periphrastic.
Their eyes had been weighted down with sleep and still were as
they had been on the Mount of Transfiguration (
26:45 Sleep on now and take your rest [katheudete loipon kai anapauesthe]. This makes it “mournful irony” (Plummer) or reproachful concession: “Ye may sleep and rest indefinitely so far as I am concerned; I need no longer your watchful interest” (Bruce). It may be a sad query as Goodspeed: “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?” So Moffatt. This use of [loipon] for now or henceforth is common in the papyri. The hour is at hand [ēggiken hē hōra]. Time for action has now come. They have missed their chance for sympathy with Jesus. He has now won the victory without their aid. “The Master’s time of weakness is past; He is prepared to face the worst” (Bruce). Is betrayed [paradidotai]. Futuristic present or inchoative present, the first act in the betrayal is at hand. Jesus had foreseen his “hour” for long and now he faces it bravely.
26:46 He is at hand [ēggiken]. The same verb and tense
used
of the hour above, present perfect active of [eggizō], to draw
near, the very form used by John the Baptist of the coming of the
kingdom of heaven (
26:47 While he yet spake [eti autou lalountos]. It was
an
electric moment as Jesus faced Judas with his horde of helpers as
if he turned to meet an army. Let us go [agōmen], Jesus
had
said. And here he is. The eight at the gate seemed to have given
no notice. Judas is described here as “one of the twelve” [heis
tōn dōdeka] in all three Synoptic Gospels (
26:48 Gave them a sign [edōken autois sēmeion]. Probably
just before he reached the place, though Mark (
26:50 Do that for which thou art come [eph’ ho parei]. Moffatt and Goodspeed take it: “Do your errand.” There has been a deal of trouble over this phrase. Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, pp. 125 to 131) has proven conclusively that it is a question, [eph’ ho] in late Greek having the interrogative sense of [epi ti] (Robertson, Grammar, p. 725). The use of [eph’ ho] for “why here” occurs on a Syrian tablet of the first century A.D. 50 that it “was current coin in the language of the people” (Deissmann). Most of the early translations (Old Latin, Old Syriac) took it as a question. So the Vulgate has ad quid venisti. In this instance the Authorized Version is correct against the Revised. Jesus exposes the pretence of Judas and shows that he does not believe in his paraded affection (Bruce).
26:51 One of them that were with Jesus [heis tōn meta Iēsou].
Like the other Synoptics Matthew conceals the name of Peter,
probably for prudential reasons as he was still living before
A.D. 68. John writing at the end of the century mentions Peter’s
name (
26:52 Put up again thy sword [apostrepson tēn machairan sou].
Turn back thy sword into its place. It was a stern rebuke for
Peter who had misunderstood the teaching of Jesus in
26:53 Even now [arti]. Just now, at this very moment.
Legions [legiōnas]. A Latin word. Roman soldiers in large
numbers were in Palestine later in A.D. 66, but they were in
Caesarea and in the tower of Antonia in Jerusalem. A full Roman
legion had 6,100 foot and 726 horse in the time of Augustus. But
Jesus sees more than twelve legions at his command (one for each
apostle) and shows his undaunted courage in this crisis. One
should recall the story of Elisha at Dothan (
26:54 Must be [dei]. Jesus sees clearly his destiny now that he has won the victory in Gethsemane.
26:55 As against a robber [hōs epi lēistēn]. As a robber, not as a thief, but a robber hiding from justice. He will be crucified between two robbers and on the very cross planned for their leader, Barabbas. They have come with no warrant for any crime, but with an armed force to seize Jesus as if a highway robber. Jesus reminds them that he used to sit (imperfect, [ekathezomēn] in the temple and teach. But he sees God’s purpose in it all for the prophets had foretold his “cup.” The desertion of Jesus by the disciples followed this rebuke of the effort of Peter. Jesus had surrendered. So they fled.
26:58 To see the end [idein to telos]. Peter rallied from the panic and followed afar off [makrothen], “more courageous than the rest and yet not courageous enough” (Bruce). John the Beloved Disciple went on into the room where Jesus was. The rest remained outside, but Peter “sat with the officers” to see and hear and hoping to escape notice.
26:59 Sought false witness against Jesus [ezētoun pseudomarturian]. Imperfect tense, kept on seeking. Judges have no right to be prosecutors and least of all to seek after false witness and even to offer bribes to get it.
26:60 They found it not [kai ouch heuron]. They found false witnesses in plenty, but not the false witness that would stand any sort of test.
26:61 I am able to destroy the temple of God [dunamai
katalusai ton naon tou theou]. What he had said (
26:63 Held his peace [esiōpa]. Kept silent, imperfect tense. Jesus refused to answer the bluster of Caiaphas. I adjure thee by the living God [exorkizō se kata tou theou tou zōntos]. So Caiaphas put Jesus on oath in order to make him incriminate himself, a thing unlawful in Jewish jurisprudence. He had failed to secure any accusation against Jesus that would stand at all. But Jesus did not refuse to answer under solemn oath, clearly showing that he was not thinking of oaths in courts of justice when he prohibited profanity. The charge that Caiaphas makes is that Jesus claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. To refuse to answer would be tantamount to a denial. So Jesus answered knowing full well the use that would be made of his confession and claim.
26:64 Thou hast said [su eipas]. This is a Greek affirmative
reply. Mark (
26:65 He hath spoken blasphemy [eblasphēmēsen]. There was no need of witnesses now, for Jesus had incriminated himself by claiming under oath to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Now it would not be blasphemy for the real Messiah to make such a claim, but it was intolerable to admit that Jesus could be the Messiah of Jewish hope. At the beginning of Christ’s ministry he occasionally used the word Messiah of himself, but he soon ceased, for it was plain that it would create trouble. The people would take it in the sense of a political revolutionist who would throw off the Roman yoke. If he declined that role, the Pharisees would have none of him for that was the kind of a Messiah that they desired. But the hour has now come. At the Triumphal Entry Jesus let the Galilean crowds hail him as Messiah, knowing what the effect would be. Now the hour has struck. He has made his claim and has defied the High Priest.
26:66 He is worthy of death [enochos thanatou estin]. Held
in
the bonds of death [en, echō] as actually guilty with the
genitive [thanatou]. The dative expresses liability as in
26:68 Thou Christ [Christe]. With definite sneer at his
claims under oath in
26:69 Thou also [kai su]. Peter had gone within [esō]
the palace (
26:70 I know not what thou sayest [ouk oida ti legeis]. It was an affectation of extreme ignorance (Bruce) that deceived no one. It was an easy and ancient dodge and easy subterfuge. Dalman (Words of Jesus, 80f.) suggests that Peter used the Galilean Aramaean word for know instead of the Judean Aramaean word which betrayed at once his Galilean residence.
26:71 Into the porch [eis ton pulōna]. But Peter was not safe out here, for another maid recognized him and spoke of him as “this fellow” [houtos] with a gesture to those out there.
26:72 With an oath [meta horkou]. This time Peter added an oath, probably a former habit so common to the Jews at that time, and denied acquaintance with Jesus. He even refers to Jesus as “the man” [ton anthrōpon], an expression that could convey contempt, “the fellow.”
26:73 They that stood by [hoi hestōtes]. The talk about
Peter
continued. Luke (
26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear [tote ērxato katathematizein kai omnuein]. He repeated his denial with the addition of profanity to prove that he was telling the truth instead of the lie that they all knew. His repeated denials gave him away still more, for he could not pronounce the Judean gutterals. He called down on himself [katathematizein] imprecations in his desperate irritation and loss of self-control at his exposure. The cock crew [alektōn ephōnēsen]. No article in the Greek, just “a cock crew” at that juncture, “straightway” [euthus]. But it startled Peter.
26:75 Peter remembered [emnēsthē ho Petros]. A small thing,
but magna circumstantia (Bengel). In a flash of lightning
rapidity he recalled the words of Jesus a few hours before (
27:1 Now when morning was come [prōias de genomenēs].
Genitive absolute. After dawn came the Sanhedrin held a formal
meeting to condemn Jesus and so ratify the illegal trial during
the night (
27:2 Delivered him up to Pilate the governor [paredōkan
Peilatōi tōi hēgemoni]. What they had done was all a form and a
farce. Pilate had the power of death, but they had greatly
enjoyed the condemnation and the buffeting of Jesus now in their
power bound as a condemned criminal. He was no longer the master
of assemblies in the temple, able to make the Sanhedrin cower
before him. He had been bound in the garden and was bound before
Annas (
27:3 Repented himself [metamelētheis]. Probably Judas saw
Jesus led away to Pilate and thus knew that the condemnation had
taken place. This verb (first aorist passive participle of
[metamelomai] really means to be sorry afterwards like the
English word repent from the Latin repoenitet, to have pain
again or afterwards. See the same verb [metamelētheis] in
27:4 See thou to it [su opsēi]. Judas made a belated confession of his sin in betraying innocent blood to the Sanhedrin, but not to God, nor to Jesus. The Sanhedrin ignore the innocent or righteous blood [haima athōion] or [dikaion] and tell Judas to look after his own guilt himself. They ignore also their own guilt in the matter. The use of [su opsēi] as a volitive future, an equivalent of the imperative, is commoner in Latin (tu videris) than in Greek, though the Koinē shows it also. The sentiment is that of Cain (Grotius, Bruce).
27:5 Hanged himself [apēgxato]. Direct middle. His act was sudden after he hurled the money into the sanctuary [eis ton naon], the sacred enclosure where the priests were. The motives of Judas in the betrayal were mixed as is usually the case with criminals. The money cut a small figure with him save as an expression of contempt as the current price of a slave.
27:6 Into the treasury [eis ton korbanān]. Josephus (War
II. 9,4) uses this very word for the sacred treasury. Korban is
Aramaic for gift [dōron] as is plain in
27:7 The potter’s field [tou agrou tou kerameōs]. Grotius
suggests that it was a small field where potter’s clay was
obtained, like a brickyard (Broadus). Otherwise we do not know
why the name exists. In
27:8 The field of blood [agros haimatos]. This name was
attached to it because it was the price of blood and that is not
inconsistent with
27:9 By Jeremiah the prophet [dia Ieremiou]. This quotation
comes mainly from
27:11 Now Jesus stood before the governor [ho de Iēsous
estathē emprosthen tou hēgemonos]. Here is one of the dramatic
episodes of history. Jesus stood face to face with the Roman
governor. The verb [estathē], not [estē] (second aorist active),
is first aorist passive and can mean “was placed” there, but he
stood, not sat. The term [hēgemōn] (from [hēgeomai], to lead) was
technically a legatus Caesaris, an officer of the Emperor, more
exactly procurator, ruler under the Emperor of a less important
province than propraetor (as over Syria). The senatorial
provinces like Achaia were governed by proconsuls. Pilate
represented Roman law. Art thou the King of the Jews? [Su ei
ho basileus tōn Ioudaiōn;]. This is what really mattered.
Matthew does not give the charges made by the Sanhedrin (
27:14 And he gave him no answer, not even to one word [kai ouk
apekrithē autōi pros oude hen rhēma]. Jesus refused to answer
the charges of the Jews (
27:17 Barabbas or Jesus which is called Christ? [Barabbān ē
Iēsoun ton legomenon Christon;]. Pilate was catching at straws
or seeking any loophole to escape condemning a harmless lunatic
or exponent of a superstitious cult such as he deemed Jesus to
be, certainly in no political sense a rival of Caesar. The Jews
interpreted “Christ” for Pilate to be a claim to be King of the
Jews in opposition to Caesar, “a most unprincipled proceeding”
(Bruce). So he bethought him of the time-honoured custom at the
passover of releasing to the people “a prisoner whom they wished”
[desmion hon ēthelon]. No parallel case has been found, but
Josephus mentions the custom (Ant. xx. 9,3). Barabbas was for
some reason a popular hero, a notable [episēmon], if not
notorious, prisoner, leader of an insurrection or revolution (
27:18 For envy [dia phthonon]. Pilate was dense about many things, but he knew that the Jewish leaders were jealous of the power of Jesus with the people. He may have heard of the events of the Triumphal Entry and the Temple Teaching. The envy, of course, came primarily from the leaders.
27:19 His wife [hē gunē autou]. Poor Pilate was getting more entangled every moment as he hesitated to set Jesus free whom he knew to be free of any crime against Caesar. Just at the moment when he was trying to enlist the people in behalf of Jesus against the schemes of the Jewish leaders, his wife sent a message about her dream concerning Jesus. She calls Jesus “that righteous man” [tōi dikaiōi ekeinōi] and her psychical sufferings increased Pilate’s superstitious fears. Tradition names her Procla and even calls her a Christian which is not probable. But it was enough to unnerve the weak Pilate as he sat on the judgment-seat [epi tou bēmatos] up over the pavement.
27:20 Persuaded [epeisan]. The chief priests (Sadducees) and elders (Pharisees) saw the peril of the situation and took no chances. While Pilate wavered in pressing the question, they used all their arts to get the people to “ask for themselves” [aitēsōntai], indirect middle ingressive aorist subjunctive) and to choose Barabbas and not Jesus.
27:22 What then shall I do unto Jesus which is called Christ? [ti oun poiēsō Iēsoun ton legomenon Christon;]. They had asked for Barabbas under the tutelage of the Sanhedrin, but Pilate pressed home the problem of Jesus with the dim hope that they might ask for Jesus also. But they had learned their lesson. Some of the very people who shouted “Hosannah” on the Sunday morning of the Triumphal Entry now shout Let him be crucified [staurōthētō]. The tide has now turned against Jesus, the hero of Sunday, now the condemned criminal of Friday. Such is popular favour. But all the while Pilate is shirking his own fearful responsibility and trying to hide his own weakness and injustice behind popular clamour and prejudice.
27:23 Why, what evil hath he done? [ti gar kakon epoiēsen]. This was a feeble protest by a flickering conscience. Pilate descended to that level of arguing with the mob now inflamed with passion for the blood of Jesus, a veritable lynching fiasco. But this exhibition of weakness made the mob fear refusal by Pilate to proceed. So they “kept crying exceedingly” [perissōs ekrazon], imperfect tense of repeated action and vehemently) their demand for the crucifixion of Jesus. It was like a gladiatorial show with all thumbs turned down.
27:24 Washed his hands [apenipsato tas cheiras]. As a last
resort since the hubbub [thorubos] increased because of his
vacillation. The verb [aponiptō] means to wash off and the middle
voice means that he washed off his hands for himself as a common
symbol of cleanliness and added his pious claim with a slap at
them. I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man (or
{this blood}); see ye to it. [Athōios eimi apo tou
haimatos
tou dikaiou toutou] or [tou haimatos toutou] as some manuscripts
have it, [humeis opsesthe].) The Jews used this symbol (
27:25 His blood be upon us and upon our children [to haima autou kai epi ta tekna hēmōn]. These solemn words do show a consciousness that the Jewish people recognized their guilt and were even proud of it. But Pilate could not wash away his own guilt that easily. The water did not wash away the blood of Jesus from his hands any more than Lady Macbeth could wash away the blood-stains from her lily-white hands. One legend tells that in storms on Mt. Pilatus in Switzerland his ghost comes out and still washes his hands in the storm-clouds. There was guilt enough for Judas, for Caiaphas and for all the Sanhedrin both Sadducees and Pharisees, for the Jewish people as a whole [pas ho laos], and for Pilate. At bottom the sins of all of us nailed Jesus to the Cross. This language is no excuse for race hatred today, but it helps explain the sensitiveness between Jew and Christians on this subject. And Jews today approach the subject of the Cross with a certain amount of prejudice.
27:26 Scourged [phragellōsas]. The Latin verb flagellare. Pilate apparently lost interest in Jesus when he discovered that he had no friends in the crowd. The religious leaders had been eager to get Jesus condemned before many of the Galilean crowd friendly to Jesus came into the city. They had apparently succeeded. The scourging before the crucifixion was a brutal Roman custom. The scourging was part of the capital punishment. Deissmann (Light from the Ancient East, p. 269) quotes a Florentine papyrus of the year 85 A.D. wherein G. Septimius Vegetus, governor of Egypt, says of a certain Phibion: “Thou hadst been worthy of scourging ... but I will give thee to the people.”
27:27 Into the palace [eis to praitōrion]. In Rome the
praetorium was the camp of the praetorian (from praetor) guard of
soldiers (
27:28 A scarlet robe [chlamuda kokkinēn]. A kind of short
cloak worn by soldiers, military officers, magistrates, kings,
emperors (
27:29 A crown of thorns [stephanon ex akanthōn]. They wove
a
crown out of thorns which would grow even in the palace grounds.
It is immaterial whether they were young and tender thorn bushes,
as probable in the spring, or hard bushes with sharp prongs. The
soldiers would not care, for they were after ridicule and mockery
even if it caused pain. It was more like a victor’s garland
[stephanon] than a royal diadem [diadēma], but it
served the purpose. So with the reed [kalamon], a stalk of common cane
grass which served as sceptre. The soldiers were familiar with
the Ave Caesar and copy it in their mockery of Jesus: Hail,
King of the Jews [chaire, Basileu tōn Ioudaiōn]. The soldiers
added the insults used by the Sanhedrin (
27:32 Compelled [ēggareusan]. This word of Persian origin
was used in
27:33 Golgotha [Golgotha]. Chaldaic or Aramaic Gulgatha, Hebrew Gulgoleth, place of a skull-shaped mount, not place of skulls. Latin Vulgate Calvariae locus, hence our Calvary. Tyndale misunderstood it as a place of dead men’s skulls. Calvary or Golgotha is not the traditional place of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, but a place outside of the city, probably what is now called Gordon’s Calvary, a hill north of the city wall which from the Mount of Olives looks like a skull, the rock-hewn tombs resembling eyes in one of which Jesus may have been buried.
27:34 Wine mingled with gall [oinon meta cholēs memigmenon].
Late MSS. read vinegar [oxos] instead of wine and Mark
(
27:36 Watched him there [etēroun auton ekei]. Imperfect tense descriptive of the task to prevent the possibility of rescue or removal of the body. These rough Roman soldiers casting lots over the garments of Christ give a picture of comedy at the foot of the Cross, the tragedy of the ages.
27:37 His accusation [tēn aitian autou]. The title [titlos],
27:38 Robbers [lēistai]. Not thieves [kleptai]
as in
Authorized Version. See
27:39 Wagging their heads [kinountes tas kephalas autōn]. Probably in mock commiseration. “Jews again appear on the scene, with a malice like that shewn in the trial before the Sanhedrin” (McNeile). “To us it may seem incredible that even his worst enemies could be guilty of anything so brutal as to hurl taunts at one suffering the agonies of crucifixion” (Bruce). These passers-by [paratēroumenoi] look on Jesus as one now down and out. They jeer at the fallen foe.
27:40 If thou art the Son of God [ei huios ei tou theou].
More exactly, “If thou art a son of God,” the very language of
the devil to Jesus (
27:41 The chief priests mocking [hoi archiereis empaizontes].
The Sanhedrin in fact, for “the scribes and elders” are included.
The word for mocking [empaizontes, en,] and [paizō], from
[pais], child) means acting like silly children who love to guy
one another. These grave and reverend seniors had already given
vent to their glee at the condemnation of Jesus by themselves
(
27:42 He saved others; himself he cannot save [allous esōsen;
heauton ou dunatai sōsai]. The sarcasm is true, though they do
not know its full significance. If he had saved himself now, he
could not have saved any one. The paradox is precisely the
philosophy of life proclaimed by Jesus himself (
27:43 Let him deliver him now [rhusasthō nun]. They add
the
word “now” to
27:44 The robbers also [kai hoi lēistai]. Probably “even the robbers” (Weymouth) who felt a momentary superiority to Jesus thus maligned by all. So the inchoative imperfect [ōneidizon] means “began to reproach him.”
27:45 From the sixth hour [apo hektēs hōras]. Curiously
enough McNeile takes this to mean the trial before Pilate (
27:46 My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? [Thee mou,
thee mou, hina ti me egkatelipes;]. Matthew first transliterates
the Aramaic, according to the Vatican manuscript (B), the words
used by Jesus: Elōi, elōi, lema sabachthanei; Some of the MSS.
give the transliteration of these words from
27:48 Gave him to drink [epotizen]. Imperfect of conative
action, offered him a drink of vinegar on the sponge on a reed.
Others interrupted this kindly man, but Jesus did taste this mild
stimulant (
27:49 Whether Elijah cometh to save him [ei erchetai Eleias
sōsōn auton]. The excuse had a pious sound as they misunderstood
the words of Jesus in his outcry of soul anguish. We have here
one of the rare instances [sōsōn] of the future participle to
express purpose in the N.T. though a common Greek idiom. Some
ancient MSS. add here what is genuine in
27:50 Yielded up his spirit [aphēken to pneuma]. The loud
cry may have been
27:51 Was rent [eschisthē]. Both Mark (
27:52 The tombs were opened [ta mnēmeia aneōichthēsan].
First
aorist passive indicative (double augment). The splitting of the
rocks by the earthquake and the opening of tombs can be due to
the earthquake. But the raising of the bodies of the dead after
the resurrection of Jesus which appeared to many in the holy city
puzzles many today who admit the actual bodily resurrection of
Jesus. Some would brand all these portents as legends since they
appear in Matthew alone. Others would say that “after his
resurrection” should read “after their resurrection,” but that
would make it conflict with Paul’s description of Christ as the
first fruits of them that sleep (
27:54 Truly this was the Son of God [alēthōs theou huios ēn
houtos]. There is no article with God or Son in the Greek so
that it means “God’s Son,” either “the Son of God” or “a Son of
God.” There is no way to tell. Evidently the centurion
[hekatontarchos] here, ruler of a hundred, Latin word
kenturiōn in
27:55 Many women [gunaikes pollai]. We have come to expect
the women from Galilee to be faithful, last at the Cross and
first at the tomb. Luke (
27:57 And when even was come [opsias de genomenēs]. It
was
the Preparation [paraskeuē], the day before the sabbath (
27:63 Sir, we remember [kurie, emnesthēmen]. This was the
next day, on our Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, the day after the
Preparation (
27:64 The last error [hē eschatē planē]. The last delusion, imposture (Weymouth), fraud (Moffatt). Latin error is used in both senses, from errare, to go astray. The first fraud was belief in the Messiahship of Jesus, the second belief in his resurrection.
27:65 Make it as sure as you can [asphalisasthe hōs oidate]. “Make it secure for yourselves (ingressive aorist middle) as you know how.” Have a guard [echete koustōdian], present imperative, a guard of Roman soldiers, not mere temple police. The Latin term koustōdia occurs in an Oxyrhynchus papyrus of A.D. 22. “The curt permission to the Jews whom he despised is suitable in the mouth of the Roman official” (McNeile).
27:66 Sealing the stone, the guard being with them
[sphragisantēs ton lithon meta tēs koustōdias]. Probably by a
cord stretched across the stone and sealed at each end as in
28:1 Now late on the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week [opse de sabbatōn, tēi epiphōskousēi eis
mian sabbatōn]. This careful chronological statement according
to Jewish days clearly means that before the sabbath was over,
that is before six P.M., this visit by the women was made “to see
the sepulchre” [theorēsai ton taphon]. They had seen the place
of burial on Friday afternoon (
28:2 There was a great earthquake [seismos egeneto megas].
Clearly not the earthquake of
28:3 Appearance [eidea]. Here only in the N.T. Compare [morphē] and [schēma].
28:4 The watchers did quake [eseisthēsan hoi tērountes]. And no wonder that they became as dead men and fled before the women came.
28:5 Unto the women [tais gunaixin]. According to John,
Mary Magdalene had left to go and tell Peter and John of the supposed
grave robbery (
28:6 Risen from the dead [ēgerthē apo tōn nekrōn]. Jesus
the
Risen. This is the heart of the testimony of the angel to the
women. It is what Paul wishes Timothy never to forget (
28:7 He goeth before you into Galilee [proagei humas eis tēn
Galilaian]. Jesus did appear to the disciples in Galilee on two
notable occasions (by the beloved lake,
28:8 With fear and great joy [meta phobou kai charas
megalēs]. A touch of life was this as the excited women ran
quickly [tachu edramon] as they had been told “to bring his
disciples word” [apaggeilai tois mathētais autou]. They had the
greatest piece of news that it was possible to have. Mark calls
it fear and ecstasy. Anything seemed possible now. Mark even says
that at first they told no one anything for they were afraid (
28:9 Jesus met them [Iēsous hupēntēsen autais]. Came suddenly
face to face [antaō, hupo] with them as they brooded over the
message of the angel and the fact of the empty tomb (associative
instrumental, [autais]. Cf.
28:10 Fear not [mē phobeisthe]. They were still afraid
for
joy and embarrassment. Jesus calms their excitement by the
repetition of the charge from the angel for the disciples to meet
him in Galilee. There is no special mention of Peter (“and
Peter”) as in
28:11 Told unto the chief priests [apēggeilan tois archiereusin]. These Roman soldiers had been placed at the disposal of the Sanhedrin. They were probably afraid also to report to Pilate and tell him what had happened. They apparently told a truthful account as far as they understood it. But were the Sanhedrin convinced of the resurrection of Jesus?
28:12 They gave large money [arguria hikana edōkan]. The use of the plural for pieces of silver [arguria] is common. The papyri have many instances of [hikana] for considerable (from [hikanō], to reach to, attain to). These pious Sanhedrists knew full well the power of bribes. They make a contract with the Roman soldiers to tell a lie about the resurrection of Jesus as they paid Judas money to betray him. They show not the slightest tendency to be convinced by the facts though one had risen from the dead.
28:13 Stole him away while we slept [eklepsan auton hēmōn koimōmenōn]. Genitive absolute. An Irish bull on the face of it. If they were asleep they would not know anything about it.
28:14 We will persuade him, and rid you of care [hēmeis peisomen kai humas amerimnous poiēsomen]. They would try money also on Pilate and assume all responsibility. Hence the soldiers have no anxiety [amerimnous], alpha privative and [merimnaō], to be anxious). They lived up to their bargain and this lie lives on through the ages. Justin (Dial. 108) accuses the Jews of spreading the charge. Bengel: Quam laboriosum bellum mendacii contra veritatem. It was spread about [diephēmisthē] diligently by the Jews to excuse their disbelief in the Messiahship of Jesus.
28:17 But some doubted [hoi de edistasan]. From [dis]
(in
two, divided in mind). Cf.
28:18 All authority [pāsa exousia]. Jesus came close to
them [proselthōn] and made this astounding claim. He spoke as one
already in heaven with a world-wide outlook and with the
resources of heaven at his command. His authority or power in his
earthly life had been great (
28:19 All the nations [panta ta ethnē]. Not just the Jews
scattered among the Gentiles, but the Gentiles themselves in
every land. And not by making Jews of them, though this point is
not made plain here. It will take time for the disciples to grow
into this Magna Charta of the missionary propaganda. But here
is the world program of the Risen Christ and it should not be
forgotten by those who seek to foreshorten it all by saying that
Jesus expected his second coming to be very soon, even within the
lifetime of those who heard. He did promise to come, but he has
never named the date. Meanwhile we are to be ready for his coming
at any time and to look for it joyfully. But we are to leave that
to the Father and push on the campaign for world conquest. This
program includes making disciples or learners [mathēteusate]
such as they were themselves. That means evangelism in the
fullest sense and not merely revival meetings. Baptism in [eis],
not into) the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
in the name of the Trinity. Objection is raised to this language
in the mouth of Jesus as too theological and as not a genuine
part of the Gospel of Matthew for the same reason. See
28:20 Teaching them [didaskontes autous]. Christians have been slow to realize the full value of what we now call religious education. The work of teaching belongs to the home, to the church (sermon, Sunday school, young people’s work, prayer-meeting, study classes, mission classes), to the school (not mixing of church and state, but moral instruction if not the reading of the Bible), good books which should be in every home, reading of the Bible itself. Some react too far and actually put education in the place of conversion or regeneration. That is to miss the mark. But teaching is part, a weighty part, of the work of Christians.
I am with you [egō meta humōn]. This is the amazing and blessed promise. He is to be with the disciples when he is gone, with all the disciples, with all knowledge, with all power, with them all the days (all sorts of days, weakness, sorrows, joy, power), till the consummation of the age [heōs tēs sunteleias tou aiōnos]. That goal is in the future and unknown to the disciples. This blessed hope is not designed as a sedative to an inactive mind and complacent conscience, but an incentive to the fullest endeavor to press on to the farthest limits of the world that all the nations may know Christ and the power of his Risen Life. So Matthew’s Gospel closes in a blaze of glory. Christ is conqueror in prospect and in fact. Christian history from that eventful experience on the Mountain in Galilee has been the fulfilment of that promise in as far as we allow God’s power to work in us for the winning of the world to Christ, the Risen, all powerful Redeemer, who is with his people all the time. Jesus employs the prophetic present here [eimi], I am). He is with us all the days till he comes in glory.
Genesis
1:11 3:1 4:10 4:24 15:9-18 26:12 29:21 29:22 31:40 34:9 38:8 41:6
Exodus
4:19 9:31 11:5 12:4 12:22 12:43 13:1-10 13:11-16 20 20:12 20:16 20:18 21:24 21:32 22:3 22:31 24:8 34:28
Leviticus
11:4 11:20 11:23 11:42 18:16 19:18 24:15 24:20 25:39 25:47 27:30
Numbers
Deuteronomy
5 6:4-9 6:13 6:16 6:16 8:3 11:13-21 14:22 18:26 19:21 21:6 22:23 22:23 23:2 23:18 23:19 23:20 24:1 24:1 25:5 25:5 25:6 30:19 34:1-3
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Esther
Job
Psalms
1 2:7 8:3 9:13 15:5 18:5 18:20 19:2 21 22:1 22:6 22:8 22:8 22:36 26:6 31:5 37:11 41:12 45:12 58:5 69:11 69:19 73:13 73:27 78:2 89 89:5 89:6 89:22 89:39 89:49 89:52 91:11 103:12 107:18 109:1 109:4 110 115 118:22 118:26 148:1
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
1:8 6:9 6:10 7:14 9:1 22:4 24:20 27:13 29:10 29:13 31:3 35:5 38:10 40:3 42:1-4 44:18 47:1 53:2 53:3 53:4 53:4 55:7 57:3 60:3 61:1 62:5 62:11 65:12
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
1:4 2:48 6:17 7:13 7:13 7:13 9:27 10:13 10:20 11:30 11:31 12:1 12:3 12:11
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Jonah
Micah
Zechariah
9:9 11:12 11:13 11:13 13:7 17:4
Malachi
Matthew
1:1 1:1 1:1 1:2 1:2-6 1:2-16 1:2-17 1:3 1:5 1:5 1:6 1:6-11 1:11 1:12 1:12-16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:17 1:17 1:18-25 1:18-25 1:20 1:20 1:21 1:22 1:24 2:1 2:7 2:11 2:15 2:18 2:23 3:1 3:1 3:1-4:11 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:7 3:8 3:9 3:11 3:11 3:12 3:13 3:17 3:17 3:17 4:1 4:1 4:3 4:3 4:3 4:5 4:7 4:8 4:10 4:12 4:12 4:12-13:58 4:13 4:14-17 4:16 4:17 4:20 4:21 4:21 4:23 4:24 4:24 4:24 4:24 5 5:1-7:29 5:3-11 5:6 5:10 5:11 5:13-16 5:17 5:19 5:19 5:21 5:21 5:21-48 5:22 5:22 5:22 5:27 5:29 5:29 5:29 5:29-30 5:30 5:31 5:31 5:32 5:33 5:33-37 5:38 5:39 5:41 5:41 5:42 5:43 5:46 5:48 6:1 6:1-18 6:2 6:4 6:5 6:5 6:6 6:6 6:10 6:11 6:13 6:14 6:16 6:20 6:20 6:22-24 6:24 6:24 6:25 6:25 6:26 6:26-30 6:31 6:31 6:31 7:3 7:3-5 7:5 7:13 7:13 7:14 7:14 7:14 7:15 7:15 7:16 7:16-20 7:17-19 7:17-19 7:24 7:24-27 7:28 7:28 7:29 8 8 8:1 8:1-34 8:8 8:10 8:12 8:12 8:13 8:14 8:16 8:17 8:17 8:21 8:25 8:27 8:28 8:29 8:31 8:34 9:1-38 9:8 9:9 9:9 9:13 9:13 9:13 9:15 9:16 9:20 9:20 9:20 9:24 9:28 9:32-34 9:38 9:38 10:3 10:3 10:6 10:7 10:15 10:16 10:16 10:20 10:24 10:25 10:28 10:28 10:28 10:31 10:32 10:33 10:38 10:39 10:39 10:40 10:41 10:41 10:41 10:41 10:43 11:1 11:1 11:1 11:2 11:5 11:12 11:12 11:14 11:15 11:16 11:16 11:18 11:20 11:20 11:21 11:22 11:23 11:24 11:25 11:25 11:25 11:25-30 11:27 11:27 11:28-30 11:28-30 11:29 12:2 12:5 12:6 12:7 12:14 12:14 12:14 12:16 12:17-21 12:22 12:24 12:24 12:25 12:26 12:28 12:28 12:29 12:32 12:32 12:33 12:34 12:34 12:36 12:37 12:38 12:38 12:38 12:39 12:40 12:41 12:41 12:45 12:48 13 13:1 13:1 13:3-8 13:4 13:5 13:7 13:9-17 13:13 13:13 13:14 13:18 13:18-23 13:21 13:25 13:28 13:30 13:31 13:31 13:34 13:34 13:39 13:43 13:44 13:45 13:47 13:47 13:48 13:49 13:52 13:52 13:53 13:53 13:53 14:1 14:1 14:1-18:35 14:5 14:11 14:12 14:13 14:13-21 14:14 14:19 14:19 14:20 14:22 14:23 14:25 14:25 14:26 14:31 15:1-20 15:7 15:11 15:11 15:14 15:14 15:15 15:28 15:37 16:1 16:1 16:2 16:2 16:3 16:6 16:6 16:9 16:10 16:11 16:16 16:16 16:17 16:17-19 16:18 16:18 16:18 16:18 16:19 16:21 16:21 16:21 16:22 16:23 16:24 16:25 16:25 16:26 16:27 17:2 17:5 17:12 17:15 17:20 17:20 17:20 17:22 17:22 17:24 17:25 18:1 18:1 18:2-6 18:3 18:4 18:4 18:8 18:9 18:9 18:9 18:10 18:12 18:14 18:15 18:17 18:18 18:21 18:23 18:23 18:23 18:24 18:28 18:28 18:30 18:30 18:30 18:31 19:1 19:1-20:34 19:3 19:3 19:9 19:12 19:16 19:16 19:24 19:24 19:26 19:28 19:28 19:28 19:29 19:29 19:30 19:30 19:36 20:8 20:17 20:17-19 20:19 20:20-28 20:21 20:22 20:26 20:27 20:30 21:1-28:8 21:4 21:9 21:15 21:19 21:20 21:21 21:23 21:23 21:23 21:29 21:30 21:30 21:31 21:32 22:2 22:2 22:3 22:4 22:8 22:9 22:14 22:16 22:18 22:37 23 23 23:1-39 23:3 23:3 23:8-10 23:12 23:13 23:13 23:13 23:13 23:14 23:15 23:15 23:23 23:24 23:25 23:26 23:27 23:29 23:31 23:33 24 24:1-6 24:1-25:46 24:3 24:11 24:21 24:24 24:24 24:27 24:29 24:29 24:31 24:33 24:34 24:34 24:37 24:39 24:50 25 25:1 25:4 25:15 25:17 25:19 25:20 25:23 25:26 25:30 25:31 25:31-46 25:35-40 25:41 25:42 25:42-45 25:43 25:46 26:1 26:2 26:6 26:9 26:17 26:19 26:20 26:24 26:25 26:25 26:32 26:34 26:34 26:35 26:36 26:38 26:38 26:44 26:47 26:49 26:55 26:58 26:58 26:63 26:64 26:67 26:67 26:69 27:3 27:3 27:3 27:7 27:10 27:12 27:21 27:22 27:26 27:29 27:31 27:31 27:32 27:35 27:38 27:45 27:49 27:50 27:50 27:51 27:54 27:60 27:61 27:62 28:6 28:9 28:16-20 28:17 28:18 28:19 28:19
Mark
1:1-13 1:2 1:2 1:12 1:14-6:13 1:16 1:21 1:30 1:32 1:32 1:33 1:43 2:1 2:1-4 2:4 2:9 2:10 2:11 2:14 2:14 2:18 3:2 3:4 3:6 3:6 3:6 3:13 3:13-19 3:14 3:20 3:21 3:22 3:23 3:30 3:32 4:11 4:12 4:21 4:26-29 4:33 4:37 4:39 5:1 5:2 5:12 5:15 5:23 5:36 6:6-13 6:7 6:14-9:50 6:21 6:30 6:39 6:45 6:48 7:1-23 7:11 7:11 7:25 8:10 8:13 8:15 8:23 8:25 8:31 8:32 8:33 8:35 9:10 9:33 9:33 9:47 9:50 10:1-52 10:17 10:22 10:32 10:34 10:45 10:46 10:46 11:1 11:1-16:8 11:7 11:9 11:13 11:14 11:14 11:20 11:28 12:28 12:40 12:42 13:14 13:35-37 14:1 14:3 14:3 14:5 14:12 14:13 14:17 14:30 14:33 14:36 14:43 14:44 14:59 14:62 14:72 15:1 15:7 15:17 15:23 15:25 15:33 15:37 15:38 15:39 15:40 15:42 15:47 16:1 16:7 16:9 16:12
Luke
1:2 1:6 1:19 1:35 1:42 1:46 1:47 1:68 1:78 2:1-3 2:1-7 2:2 2:7 2:7 2:11 2:11 2:14 2:25 2:38 3:1 3:1 3:22 3:23-38 4:5 4:7 4:13 4:16-31 4:17 4:20 4:23 4:33 5:17 5:19 5:21 5:26 5:27 5:27 5:36-39 6:1 6:11 6:11 6:12 6:12-16 6:17 6:17 6:31 6:39 6:40 6:42 6:48 7 7 7 7:2 7:18 7:19 7:31 7:35 7:36 7:38 7:42 8:10 8:10 8:16 8:20 8:23 8:26 8:33 8:42 8:45 9:1-6 9:2 9:11 9:16 9:24 9:25 9:28 9:31 9:32 9:33 9:47 9:48 10:1 10:3 10:7 10:13 10:14 10:21-24 10:29 10:41 11:2-4 11:3 11:4 11:34 11:39-44 11:48-52 11:51 11:52 12:1-18:43 12:4 12:5 12:6 12:8 12:50 12:54-56 13:11 13:16 13:17 13:35 14:12 14:14 14:16-23 14:23 15:2 15:4-7 15:20 15:20 16:8 16:15 16:16 16:16 16:16 16:20 16:22 16:23 16:25 17:1 17:6 17:11 17:26-30 17:33 17:36 17:37 18:12 18:25 18:35 18:35 19:11-28 19:21 19:29 19:35 19:38 20:47 21:2 21:20 21:36 22:7 22:10 22:14 22:24 22:24 22:31 22:38 22:38 22:40 22:47 22:52 22:59 22:61 22:66-71 23:2 23:23 23:44 23:45 23:45 23:46 23:47 23:48 23:49 23:54 23:54 23:55 23:56 24:17
John
1:1 1:1-18 1:11 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:19-3:36 1:21 1:21 1:26 1:35-42 1:41 1:42 1:46 2:6-8 2:14 2:18 2:19 2:20 2:29 3:16 3:16 4:1 4:1-54 4:42 4:48 5:36 6:1-71 6:9 6:15 6:35 6:69 6:70 7:27 7:31 7:42 7:52 9:35 9:36 9:41 10:6 10:11 11:33 11:33 11:54 11:57 12:1 12:2 12:3 12:4 12:14 12:25 12:27 12:38 13:1 13:2-11 13:17 13:21 13:27 13:31 14 14:1-17:26 14:9 14:31 15 16:25 16:29 17 17:3 17:5 18:1 18:3 18:3 18:10 18:10 18:11 18:12 18:14 18:22 18:24 18:28 18:28 18:28-32 18:36 19:14 19:19 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:27 19:28 19:30 19:30 19:30 19:31 19:33 19:34 19:34 19:39-41 19:40 20:1 20:17 20:23 20:29 21 21:12 21:15 21:16 21:25 24:11 31:42
Acts
1:13 1:18 1:18 1:19 1:22 2 2:19 2:22 2:24 2:24 2:27 2:31 2:31 2:47 3:1 4:30 5:15 5:21 5:23 5:37 5:41 5:41 7:17 8:3 8:9 8:11 9:16 10:14 10:36 10:37-43 10:48 11:26 12:2 13:5 13:6 13:6 13:8 13:27 15:26 16:12 16:12 16:26 17:17 18:6 19:33 19:34 19:39 20:8 20:37 21:16-22 21:28 23:3 23:35 25:16 27:17 28:8 28:9
Romans
4:4 5:7 5:14 7:25 8:14 8:22 8:35 9:22 9:26 12:2 12:2 12:20 13:7 16:25 16:25 16:26
1 Corinthians
2:2 2:7 3:5 7:31 7:32 10:13 10:20 11:24 12:25 14:16 15:6 15:20 15:31 15:55
2 Corinthians
3:18 5:1 5:21 7:8 7:8 7:9 7:9 8:9 11:13 11:13-15 12:12
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
1:1 1:13 1:23 2:3 2:5-11 2:6 2:7 2:12 2:20 2:26 2:30 3:16 4:12
Colossians
1:15-19 1:15-20 2:3 2:7 2:15 119
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Hebrews
1:14 2:4 4:8 6:6 6:13 7:21 7:22 8 8:8 9:9 9:13 9:15-17 9:15-17 10:37 11:19 12:14 13:20 20:28
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
3 John
Revelation
1:1 1:7 1:12 1:18 1:20 2:20 3:7 5:5 7:17 9:20 9:20 11:1 11:15 13:13 14:13 16:13 17:4 21:13 21:24
Tobit
Wisdom of Solomon
Baruch
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
3 Maccabees
Sirach