00350
00351
 \\One greater than the temple\\ (\\tou hierou meizon\\). Ablative of
 comparison, \\tou hierou\\. The Textus Receptus has \\meizn\\, 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).

00352
 \\The guiltless\\ (\\tous anaitious\\). So in verse
 # 5
 Common in ancient Greek. No real ground against, it means \\an\\ +
 \\aitios\\. Jesus quotes
 # Ho 6:6
 here as he did in
 # Mt 9:13
 A pertinent prophecy that had escaped the notice of the sticklers
 for ceremonial literalness and the letter of the law.

00353
00354
 \\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.

00355
 \\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
 # Mt 19:3
 It is not translated in English.

00356
00357
 \\How much then is a man\\ (\\posi oun diapherei anthrpos\\). 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.

00358
 \\Stretch forth thy hand\\ (\\ekteinon sou tn 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
 # Mr 3:2

00359
 \\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
 # Mr 3:6; Mt 12:14; Lu 6:11
 By "destroy" (\\apolessin\\) they meant "kill."

00360
 \\Perceiving\\ (\\gnous\\). Second aorist active participle of \\ginsk\\.
 Jesus read their very thoughts. They were now plain to any one
 who saw their angry countenances.

00361
00362
 \\That it might be fulfilled\\ (\\hina plrthi\\). The final use of
 \\hina\\ and the sub-final just before (verse
 # 16
 The passage quoted is
 # Isa 42:1-4
 "a very free reproduction of the Hebrew with occasional side
 glances at the Septuagint" (Bruce), possibly from an Aramaic
 collection of _Testimonia_ (McNeile). Matthew applies the
 prophecy about Cyrus to Christ.

00363
 \\My beloved\\ (\\ho agaptos mou\\). This phrase reminds one of
 # Mt 3:17
 (the Father's words at Christ's baptism).

00364
00365
 \\A bruised reed\\ (\\kalamon suntetrimmenon\\). Perfect passive
 participle of \\suntrib\\. 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
 # Ex 9:31
 Vivid images that picture Jesus in the same strain as his own
 great words in
 # Mt 11:28-30

00366
00367
00368
 \\Is this the Son of David?\\ (\\mti 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.

00369
 \\The Pharisees\\ (\\hoi de Pharisaioi\\). Already
 # Mt 9:32-34
 we have had in Matthew the charge that Jesus is in league with
 the prince of demons, though the incident may be later than this
 one.
 See note on "Mt 10:25"
  about "Beelzebub." The Pharisees feel that the excited condition
 of the crowds and the manifest disposition to believe that Jesus
 is the Messiah (the Son of David) demand strenuous action on
 their part. They cannot deny the fact of the miracles for the
 blind and dumb men both saw and spoke
 # 12:22
 So in desperation they suggest that Jesus works by the power of
 Beelzebub the prince of the demons.

00370
 \\Knowing their thoughts\\ (\\eids de tas enthumseis autn\\). 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 \\emeristh\\ in
 # 26
 \\ephthasen\\ in
 # 28
 (simple sense of arriving as in
 # Php 3:16
 from \\phthan\\). Christ is engaged in deathless conflict with Satan
 the strong man
 # 29
 "Goods" (\\skeu\\) means house-gear, house furniture, or equipment
 as in
 # Lu 17:36
 and
 # Ac 27:17
 the tackling of the ship.

00371
00372
00373
00374
00375
 \\He that is not with me\\ (\\ho m n 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 (\\sunagn\\) 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).

00376
 \\But the blasphemy against the Spirit\\ (\\h de tou pneumatos\\
 \\blasphmia\\). Objective genitive. This is the unpardonable sin. In
 # 32
 we have \\kata tou pneumatos tou hagiou\\ to make it plainer. What is
 the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? These Pharisees had
 already committed it. They had attributed the works of the Holy
 Spirit by whose power Jesus wrought his miracles
 # 12:28
 to the devil. That sin was without excuse and would not be
 forgiven in their age or in the coming one
 # 12:32
 People often ask if they can commit the unpardonable sin.
 Probably some do who ridicule the manifest work of God's Spirit
 in men's lives and attribute the Spirit's work to the devil.

00377
00378
00379
 \\Ye offspring of vipers\\ (\\gennmata echidnn\\). These same terrible
 words the Baptist had used to the Pharisees and Sadducees who
 came to his baptism
 # Mt 3:7
 But these Pharisees had deliberately made their choice and had
 taken Satan's side. The charge against Jesus of being in league
 with Satan reveals the evil heart within. The heart "spurts out"
 (\\ekballei\\) good or evil according to the supply (treasure,
 \\thsaurou\\) within. Verse
 # 33
 is like
 # Mt 7:17-19
 Jesus often repeated his crisp pungent sayings as every teacher
 does.

00380
00381
 \\Every idle word\\ (\\pan rhma 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
 # 12:25
 insists that our words reveal our thoughts and form a just basis
 for the interpretation of character
 # 12:37
 Here we have judgment by words as in
 # 25:31-46
 where Jesus presents judgment by deeds. Both are real tests of
 actual character. Homer spoke of "winged words" (\\pteroenta epea\\).
 And by the radio our words can be heard all round the earth. Who
 knows where they stop?

00382
00383
 \\A sign from thee\\ (\\apo sou smeion\\). 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).

00384
 \\An evil and adulterous generation\\ (\\genea ponra kai moichalis\\).
 They had broken the marriage tie which bound them to Jehovah
 (Plummer). See
 # Ps 73:27; Isa 57:3; 62:5; Eze 23:27; Jas 4:4; Re 2:20
 What is "the sign of Jonah?"

00385
 \\The whale\\ (\\tou ktous\\). Sea-monster, huge fish. In
 # Jon 2:1
 the LXX has \\ktei megali\\. "Three days and three nights" may
 simply mean three days in popular speech. Jesus rose "on the
 third day"
 # Mt 16:21
 not "on the fourth day." It is just a fuller form for "after
 three days"
 # Mr 8:31; 10:34

00386
 \\In the judgment\\ (\\en ti krisei\\). Except here and in the next
 verse Matthew has "day of judgment" (\\hmera krises\\) as in
 # 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:36
 Luke
 # Lu 10:14
 has \\en ti krisei\\. \\They repented at the preaching of Jonah\\
 (\\metenoson eis to krugma Ina\\). Note this use of \\eis\\ just like
 \\en\\. Note also \\pleion\\ (neuter), not \\plein\\ (masc.). See the
 same idiom in
 # 12:6
 and
 # 12:48
 Jesus is something greater than the temple, than Jonah, than
 Solomon. "You will continue to disbelieve in spite of all I can
 say or do, and at last you will put me to death. But I will rise
 again, a sign for your confusion, if not for your conversion"
 (Bruce).

00387
00388
00389
 \\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.

00390
00391
 \\His mother and his brothers\\ (\\h mtr 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
 # Mr 3:21
 because of the excitement and strain. It was natural for Mary to
 want to take him home for rest and refreshment. So the mother and
 brothers are pictured standing outside the house (or the crowd).
 They send a messenger to Jesus.

00392
 Aleph, B, L, Old Syriac, omit this verse as do Westcott and Hort.
 It is genuine in
 # Mr 3:32; Lu 8:20
 It was probably copied into Matthew from Mark or Luke.

00393
00394
 \\Behold my mother and my brothers\\ (\\idou h mtr 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
 # Mr 3:20

00395
00396
 \\On that day\\ (\\en ti hmerai ekeini\\). 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\\ (\\ekathto para tn thalassan\\). The accusative case need
 give no difficulty. Jesus came out of the stuffy house and took
 his seat (\\ekathto\\, imperfect) along the shore with the crowds
 stretched up and down, a picturesque scene.

00397
 \\And all the multitude stood on the beach\\ (\\kai pas ho ochlos epi\\
 \\ton aigialon histkei\\). Past perfect tense of \\histmi\\ 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 \\aiss\\, to rush). Jesus had to get into a boat and sit down
 in that because of the crush of the crowd.

00398
 \\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 Luke 12 to 18 and Matt. 24 and 25.
 The parables already mentioned in Matthew include the salt and
 the light
 # 5:13-16
 the birds and the lilies
 # 6:26-30
 the splinter and the beam in the eye
 # 7:3-5
 the two gates
 # 7:13
 the wolves in sheep's clothing
 # 7:15
 the good and bad trees
 # 7:17-19
 the wise and foolish builders
 # 7:24-27
 the garment and the wineskins
 # 9:16
 the children in the market places
 # 11:16
 It is not certain how many he spoke on this occasion. Matthew
 mentions eight in this chapter (the Sower, the Tares, the Mustard
 Seed, the Leaven, the Hid Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price, the
 Net, the Householder). Mark adds the Parable of the Lamp
 # Mr 4:21; Lu 8:16
 the Parable of the Seed Growing of Itself
 # Mr 4:26-29
 making ten of which we know. But both Mark
 # Mr 4:33
 and Matthew
 # 13:34
 imply that there were many others. "Without a parable spake he
 nothing unto them"
 # Mt 13:34
 on this occasion, we may suppose. The word parable (\\parabol\\ from
 \\paraball\\, to place alongside for measurement or comparison like
 a yardstick) is an objective illustration for spiritual or moral
 truth. The word is employed in a variety of ways (a) as for
 sententious sayings or proverbs
 # Mt 15:15; Mr 3:23; Lu 4:23; 5:36-39; 6:39
 for a figure or type
 # Heb. 9:9; 11:19
 (b) a comparison in the form of a narrative, the common use in
 the Synoptic Gospels like the Sower; (c) "A narrative
 illustration not involving a comparison" (Broadus), like the Rich
 Fool, the Good Samaritan, etc. "The oriental genius for
 picturesque speech found expression in a multitude of such
 utterances" (McNeile). There are parables in the Old Testament,
 in the Talmud, in sermons in all ages. But no one has spoken such
 parables as these of Jesus. They hold the mirror up to nature
 and, as all illustrations should do, throw light on the truth
 presented. The fable puts things as they are not in nature,
 Aesop's Fables, for instance. The parable may not be actual fact,
 but it could be so. It is harmony with the nature of the case.
 The allegory (\\allgoria\\) is a speaking parable that is
 self-explanatory all along like Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_.
 All allegories are parables, but not all parables are allegories.
 The Prodigal Son is an allegory, as is the story of the Vine and
 Branches
 # Joh 15
 John does not use the word parable, but only \\paroimia\\, a saying
 by the way
 # Joh 10:6; 16:25,29
 As a rule the parables of Jesus illustrate one main point and the
 details are more or less incidental, though sometimes Jesus
 himself explains these. When he does not do so, we should be slow
 to interpret the minor details. Much heresy has come from
 fantastic interpretations of the parables. In the case of the
 Parable of the Sower
 # 13:3-8
 we have also the careful exposition of the story by Jesus
 # 18-23
 as well as the reason for the use of parables on this occasion by
 Jesus
 # 9-17

 \\Behold, the sower went forth\\ (\\idou lthen ho speirn\\). 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.

00399
 \\As he sowed\\ (\\en ti 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 tn 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 \\katesthi\\
 (defective verb).
