00650
 \\For a penny a day\\ (\\ek dnariou tn hmeran\\).
 See note on "Mt 18:28"
 "Penny" is not adequate, "shilling" Moffatt has it. The \\ek\\ with
 the ablative represents the agreement (\\sunphnsas\\) with the
 workmen (\\ergatn\\). "The day" the Greek has it, an accusative of
 extent of time.

00651
 \\Standing in the marketplace idle\\ (\\hesttas agori 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."

00652
 \\Whatsoever is right\\ (\\ho ean i dikaion\\). "Is fair" (Allen), not
 anything he pleased, but a just proportionate wage. Indefinite
 relative with subjunctive \\ean=an\\.

00653
00654
 \\All the day idle\\ (\\holn tn hmeran argoi\\). Extent of time
 (accusative) again. \\Argoi\\ is \\a\\ privative and \\ergon\\, work, no
 work. The problem of the unemployed.

00655
00656
00657
00658
 \\Every man a penny\\ (\\ana dnarion 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.

00659
 \\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.

00660
 \\Equal unto us\\ (\\isous autous hmin\\). Associative instrumental case
 \\hmin\\ 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 ts hmeras kai ton kausna\\). 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
 # Ge 41:6
 that withered Jonah's gourd
 # Jon 4:8
 that blighted the vine in Ezekiel's parable
 # Eze 17:10
 They seemed to have a good case.

00661
 \\To one of them\\ (\\heni autn\\). 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.
 # Ge 31:40; Job 27:21; Ho 13:15
 The word survives in modern Greek.

00662
 \\Take up\\ (\\aron\\). First aorist active imperative of \\air\\. 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 \\dnarius\\ was the common wage of a day
 labourer at that time. \\What I will\\ (\\ho thel\\). 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
 _Koin_ an extension of the instrumental use of \\en\\.

00663
 \\Is thine eye evil?\\ (\\ho ophthalmos sou ponros estin?\\)
 See note on "Mt 6:22"
 ... through verse 24
  about the evil eye and the good eye. The complainer had a
 grudging eye while the householder has a liberal or generous eye.
 See
 # Ro 5:7
 for a distinction between \\dikaios\\ and \\agathos\\.

00664
 \\The last first and the first last\\ (\\hoi eschtoi prtoi kai hoi\\
 \\prtoi eschatoi\\). The adjectives change places as compared with
 # 19:30
 The point is the same, though this order suits the parable
 better. After all one's work does not rest wholly on the amount
 of time spent on it. "Even so hath Rabbi Bun bar Chija in
 twenty-eight years wrought more than many studious scholars in a
 hundred years" (Jer. _Berak._ ii. 5c).

00665
 \\Apart\\ (\\kat' idian\\). This is the prediction in Matthew of the
 cross
 # 16:21; 17:22; 20:17
 "Aside by themselves" (Moffatt). The verb is \\parelaben\\. Jesus is
 having his inward struggle
 # Mr 10:32
 and makes one more effort to get the Twelve to understand him.

00666
00667
 \\And to crucify\\ (\\kai staursai\\). The very word now. The details
 fall on deaf ears, even the point of the resurrection on the
 third day.

00668
 \\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
 # 19:28
 about their sitting on twelve thrones taking them in a literal
 sense. The mother of James and John, probably Salome, possibly a
 sister of the Master's mother
 # Joh 19:25
 apparently prompted her two sons because of the family
 relationship and now speaks for them. \\Asking a certain thing\\
 (\\aitousa ti\\). "Asking something," "plotting perhaps when their
 Master was predicting" (Bruce). The "something" put forward as a
 small matter was simply the choice of the two chief thrones
 promised by Jesus
 # 19:28

00669
00670
 \\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.

00671
 \\Ye shall drink\\ (\\piesthe\\). Future middle from \\pin\\. Christ's cup
 was martyrdom. James was the first of the Twelve to meet the
 martyr's death
 # Ac 12:2
 and John the last if reports are true about him. How little they
 knew what they were saying.

00672
 \\Moved with indignation\\ (\\ganaktsan\\). A strong word for angry
 resentment. In the papyri. The ten felt that James and John had
 taken advantage of their relation to Jesus.

00673
 \\Called them unto him\\ (\\proskalesamenos autous\\). Indirect middle
 again, calling to him.

00674
 \\Would become great\\ (\\hos an theli 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\\ (\\hmn 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
 # Php. 1:1
 But it more frequently is applied to ministers of the Gospel
 # 1Co 3:5
 The way to be "first" (\\prtos\\), says Jesus, is to be your
 "servant" (\\doulos\\), "bond-servant" (verse
 # 27
 This is a complete reversal of popular opinion then and now.

00675
00676
 \\A ransom for many\\ (\\lutron anti polln\\). 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
 # Mr 10:45
 But that is an easy way to get rid of passages that contradict
 one's theological opinions. Jesus here rises to the full
 consciousness of the significance of his death for men.

00677
 \\From Jericho\\ (\\apo Iereich\\). So
 # Mr 10:46
 But Luke
 # Lu 18:35
 places the incident as they were drawing near to Jericho (\\eis\\
 \\Iereich\\). It is probable that Mark and Matthew refer to the old
 Jericho, the ruins of which have been discovered, while Luke
 alludes to the new Roman Jericho. The two blind men were
 apparently between the two towns. Mark
 # Mr 10:46
 and Luke
 # Lu 18:35
 mention only one blind man, Bartimaeus (Mark). In Kentucky there
 are two towns about a half mile apart both called Pleasureville
 (one Old Pleasureville, the other New Pleasureville).

00678
 \\That Jesus was passing by\\ (\\hoti Isous paragei\\). These men "were
 sitting by the wayside" (\\kathmenoi 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 (\\anoigsin\\, second aorist passive subjunctive).

00679
00680
00681
00682
 \\Touched their eyes\\ (\\hpsato tn ommatn\\). A synonym for
 \\ophthalmn\\ in
 # Mr 8:23
 and here alone in the N.T. In the LXX and a common poetic word
 (Euripides) and occurs in the papyri. In modern Greek \\matia mou\\
 (abbreviation) means "light of my eye," "my darling." The verb
 \\haptomai\\ is very common in the Synoptic Gospels. The touch of
 Christ's hand would sooth the eyes as they were healed.

00683
 \\Unto Bethphage\\ (\\eis Bethphag\\). An indeclinable Aramaic name here
 only in O.T. or N.T.
 # Mr 11:1; Lu 19:29
 It means "house of unripe young figs." It apparently lay on the
 eastern slope of Olivet or at the foot of the mountain, a little
 further from Jerusalem than Bethany. Both Mark and Luke speak of
 Christ's coming "unto Bethphage and Bethany" as if Bethphage was
 reached first. It is apparently larger than Bethany. \\Unto the\\
 \\Mount of Olives\\ (\\eis to oros tn Elain\\). Matthew has thus three
 instances of \\eis\\ with Jerusalem, Mount of Olives. Mark and Luke
 use \\pros\\ with Mount of Olives, the Mount of Olive trees (\\elain\\
 from \\elaia\\, olive tree), the mountain covered with olive trees.

00684
 \\Into the village that is over against you\\ (\\eis tn kmn tn\\
 \\katenanti hmn\\). 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 plon met' auts\\).
 The young of any animal. Here to come with the mother and the
 more readily so.

00685
 \\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
 # Mt 10:24
 of the harvest
 # 9:38
 of the vineyard
 # 20:8
 of the emperor
 # Ac 13:27
 of God
 # Mt 11:20; 11:25
 and often of Jesus as the Messiah
 # Ac 10:36
 Note
 # Mt 8:25
 This is the only time in Matthew where the words \\ho kurios\\ are
 applied to Jesus except the doubtful passage in
 # 28:6
 A similar usage is shown by Moulton and Milligan's _Vocabulary_
 and Deissmann's _Light from the Ancient East_. Particularly in
 Egypt it was applied to "the Lord Serapis" and Ptolemy and
 Cleopatra are called "the lords, the most great gods" (\\hoi kurioi\\
 \\theoi megistoi\\). Even Herod the Great and Herod Agrippa I are
 addressed as "Lord King." In the west the Roman emperors are not
 so termed till the time of Domitian. But the Christians boldly
 claimed the word for Christ as Jesus is here represented as using
 it with reference to himself. It seems as if already the
 disciples were calling Jesus "Lord" and that he accepted the
 appellative and used it as here.

00686
 \\By the prophet\\ (\\dia tou prophtou\\). The first line is from
 # Isa 62:11
 the rest from
 # Zec 9:9
 John
 # Joh 12:14
 makes it clear that Jesus did not quote the passage himself. In
 Matthew it is not so plain, but probably it is his own comment
 about the incident. It is not Christ's intention to fulfil the
 prophecy, simply that his conduct did fulfil it.

00687
 \\The daughter of Zion\\ (\\ti thugatri Sin\\). Jerusalem as in
 # Isa 22:4
 (daughter of my people). So Babylon
 # Isa 47:1
 daughter of Tyre for Tyre
 # Ps 45:12
 \\Riding\\ (\\epibebks\\). Perfect active participle of \\epibain\\,
 "having gone upon." \\And upon a colt the foal of an ass\\ (\\kai epi\\
 \\plon huion hupozugiou\\). These words give trouble if \\kai\\ is here
 taken to mean "and." Fritzsche argues that Jesus rode alternately
 upon each animal, a possible, but needless interpretation. In the
 Hebrew it means by common Hebrew parallelism "upon an ass, even
 upon a colt." That is obviously the meaning here in Matthew. The
 use of \\hupozugiou\\ (a beast of burden, under a yoke) for ass is
 common in the LXX and in the papyri (Deissmann, _Bible Studies_
 p. 161).

00688
00689
 \\And he sat thereon\\ (\\kai epekathisen epan autn\\), Mark
 # Mr 11:7
 and Luke
 # Lu 19:35
 show that Jesus rode the colt. Matthew does not contradict that,
 referring to the garments (\\ta himatia\\) put on the colt by "them"
 (\\autn\\). not to the two asses. The construction is somewhat
 loose, but intelligible. The garments thrown on the animals were
 the outer garments (\\himatia\\), Jesus "took his seat" (\\epekathisen\\,
 ingressive aorist active) upon the garments.

00690
 \\The most part of the multitude\\ (\\ho pleistos ochlos\\). See
 # 11:20
 for this same idiom, article with superlative, a true superlative
 (Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 670). \\In the way\\ (\\en ti hodi\\). This
 the most of the crowd did. The disciples put their garments on
 the asses. Note change of tenses (constative aorist \\estrsan\\,
 descriptive imperfects \\ekopton kai estrnnuon\\ showing the growing
 enthusiasm of the crowd). When the colt had passed over their
 garments, they would pick the garments up and spread them again
 before.

00691
 \\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 ti\\
 \\huii 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_
 # Ps 148:1
 and one recalls the song of the angelic host when Jesus was born
 # Lu 2:14
 "Hosanna in the highest" (heaven) as well as here on earth.

00692
 \\Was stirred\\ (\\eseisth\\). 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).

00693
00694
 \\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
 # Joh 2:14
 has a similar incident at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
 It is not impossible that he should repeat it at the close after
 three years with the same abuses in existence again. It is
 amazing how short a time the work of reformers lasts. The traffic
 went on in the court of the Gentiles and to a certain extent was
 necessary. Here the tables of \\the money-changers\\ (\\tn\\
 \\kollubistn\\, from \\kollubos\\, a small coin) were overturned.
 See note on "Mt 17:24"
  for the need of the change for the temple tax. The doves were
 the poor man's offering.

00695
 \\A den of robbers\\ (\\splaion listn\\). By charging exorbitant
 prices.

00696
00697
 \\The children\\ (\\tous paidas\\). Masculine and probably boys who had
 caught the enthusiasm of the crowd.

00698
 \\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\\ (\\katrtis\\). The quotation is from
 # Ps 8:3
 (LXX text). See
 # 4:21
 where the same verb is used for mending nets. Here it is the
 timeless aorist middle indicative with the perfective use of
 \\kata-\\. It was a stinging rebuke.

00699
 \\To Bethany\\ (\\eis Bthanian\\). 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\\ (\\ulisth ekei\\) whether at the Bethany
 home or out in the open air. It was a time of crisis for all.
