00700
 \\He hungered\\ (\\epeinasen\\). Ingressive aorist indicative, became
 hungry, felt hungry (Moffatt). Possibly Jesus spent the night out
 of doors and so had no breakfast.

00701
 \\A fig tree\\ (\\sukn mian\\). "A single fig tree" (Margin of Rev.
 Version). But \\heis\\ was often used = \\tis\\ or like our indefinite
 article. See
 # Mt 8:10; 26:69
 The Greek has strictly no indefinite article as the Latin has no
 definite article. \\Let there be no fruit from thee henceforward\\
 \\for ever\\ (\\ou mketi sou karpos gentai eis ton aina\\). Strictly
 speaking this is a prediction, not a prohibition or wish as in
 # Mr 11:14
 (optative \\phagoi\\). "On you no fruit shall ever grow again"
 (Weymouth). The double negative \\ou m\\ with the aorist subjunctive
 (or future indicative) is the strongest kind of negative
 prediction. It sometimes amounts to a prohibition like \\ou\\ and the
 future indicative (Robertson, _Grammar_, pp. 926f.). The early
 figs start in spring before the leaves and develop after the
 leaves. The main fig crop was early autumn
 # Mr 11:14
 There should have been figs on the tree with the crop of leaves.
 It was a vivid object lesson. Matthew does not distinguish
 between the two mornings as Mark does
 # Mr 11:13,20
 but says "immediately" (\\parachrma\\) twice
 # 21:19,20
 This word is really \\para to chrma\\ like our "on the spot"
 (Thayer). It occurs in the papyri in monetary transactions for
 immediate cash payment.

00702
00703
 \\Doubt not\\ (\\m diakrithte\\). 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 ts suks\\). The Greek means "the
 matter of the fig tree," as if a slight matter in comparison with
 \\this mountain\\ (\\ti orei touti\\). 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
 # Mt 17:20
 (cf. sycamine tree in
 # Lk 17:6
 Cf.
 # Zec 17:4

00704
 \\Believing\\ (\\pisteuontes\\). This is the point of the parable of the
 mountain, "faith in the efficacy of prayer" (Plummer).

00705
00706
 \\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.

00707
 \\The baptism of John\\ (\\to baptisma to Ianou\\). 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.

00708
00709
00710
00711
 \\I will not\\ (\\ou thel\\). So many old manuscripts, though the
 Vatican manuscript (B) has the order of the two sons reversed.
 Logically the "I, sir" (\\eg, kurie\\) suits better for the second
 son (verse
 # 30
 with a reference to the blunt refusal of the first. So also the
 manuscripts differ in verse
 # 31
 between the first (\\ho prtos\\) and the last (\\ho husteros\\ or
 \\eschatos\\). But the one who actually did the will of the father is
 the one who \\repented and went\\ (\\metameltheis aplthen\\). This word
 really means "repent," to be sorry afterwards, and must be
 sharply distinguished from the word \\metanoe\\ used 34 times in the
 N.T. as in
 # Mt 3:2
 and \\metanoia\\ used 24 times as in
 # Mt 3:8
 The verb \\metamelomai\\ occurs in the N.T. only five times
 # Mt 21:29,32; 27:3; 2Co 7:8; Heb 7:21
 from
 # Ps 109:4
 Paul distinguishes sharply between mere sorrow and the act
 "repentance" which he calls \\metanoian\\
 # 2Co 7:9
 In the case of Judas
 # Mt 27:3
 it was mere remorse. Here the boy got sorry for his stubborn
 refusal to obey his father and went and obeyed. Godly sorrow
 leads to repentance (\\metanoian\\), but mere sorrow is not
 repentance.

00712
00713
 \\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.

00714
 \\In the way of righteousness\\ (\\en hodi dikaiosuns\\). In the path
 of righteousness. Compare the two ways in
 # Mt 7:13,14
 and "the way of God"
 # 22:16

00715
 \\A hedge\\ (\\phragmon\\). Or fence as a protection against wild beasts.
 \\Digged a winepress\\ (\\ruxen lnon\\). 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\\ (\\ikodomsen purgon\\).
 This for the vinedressers and watchmen
 # 2Ch 26:10
 Utmost care was thus taken. Note "a booth in a vineyard"
 # Isa 1:8
 See also
 # Isa 24:20; Job 27:18
 Let it out (\\exedeto, exedoto\\ the usual form). For hire, the terms
 not being given. The lease allowed three forms, money-rent, a
 proportion of the crop, or a definite amount of the produce
 whether it was a good or bad year. Probably the last form is that
 contemplated here.

00716
 \\His servants\\ (\\tous doulous autou\\). These slaves are distinguished
 from \\the husbandmen\\ (\\gergoi\\, 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.

00717
 \\They will reverence my son\\ (\\entrapsontai ton huion mou\\). Second
 future passive from \\entrep\\, 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.

00718
00719
00720
 \\Take his inheritance\\ (\\schmen tn klronomian autou\\). Ingressive
 aorist active subjunctive (hortatory, volitive) of \\ech\\. Let us
 get his inheritance.

00721
00722
00723
 \\He will miserably destroy those miserable men\\ (\\kakous kaks\\
 \\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.

00724
 \\The stone which\\ (\\lithon hon\\). Inverse attraction of the
 antecedent into the case of the relative. \\The builders rejected\\
 (\\apedokimasan hoi oikodomountes\\). From
 # Ps 118:22
 A most telling quotation. These experts in building God's temple
 had rejected the corner-stone chosen by God for his own house.
 But God has the last word and sets aside the building experts and
 puts his Son as the Head of the corner. It was a withering
 indictment.

00725
 \\Shall be taken away from you\\ (\\arthsetai aph' hmn\\). Future
 passive indicative of \\air\\. It was the death-knell of the Jewish
 nation with their hopes of political and religious world
 leadership.

00726
 \\Shall be broken to pieces\\ (\\sunthlasthsetai\\). 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\\ (\\likmsei\\). 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.

00727
 \\Perceived\\ (\\egnsan\\). Ingressive second aorist active of \\ginsk\\.
 There was no mistaking the meaning of these parables. The dullest
 could see the point.

00728
 \\Took him\\ (\\eichon\\). Descriptive imperfect of \\ech\\, 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.

00729
 \\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
 # Lu 14:16-23
 given on another occasion. Hence some scholars consider this
 merely Matthew's version of the Lucan parable in the wrong place
 because of Matthew's habit of grouping the sayings of Jesus. But
 that is a gratuitous indictment of Matthew's report which
 definitely locates the parable here by \\palin\\. Some regard it as
 not spoken by Jesus at all, but an effort on the part of the
 writer to cover the sin and fate of the Jews, the calling of the
 Gentiles, and God's demand for righteousness. But here again it
 is like Jesus and suits the present occasion.

00730
 \\A marriage feast\\ (\\gamous\\). The plural, as here
 # 2,3,4,9
 is very common in the papyri for the wedding festivities (the
 several acts of feasting) which lasted for days, seven in
 # Jud 14:17
 The very phrase here, \\gamous poiein\\, occurs in the Doric of Thera
 about B.C. 200. The singular \\gamos\\ is common in the papyri for
 the wedding contract, but Field (_Notes_, p. 16) sees no
 difference between the singular here in
 # 22:8
 and the plural (see also
 # Ge 29:22; Es 9:22
 Macc. 10:58).

00731
 \\To call them that were bidden\\ (\\kalesai tous keklmenous\\).
 "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
 # Es 5:8; 6:14
 The prophets of old had given God's invitation to the Jewish
 people. Now the Baptist and Jesus had given the second invitation
 that the feast was ready. \\And they would not come\\ (\\kai ouk\\
 \\thelon elthein\\). This negative imperfect characterizes the
 stubborn refusal of the Jewish leaders to accept Jesus as God's
 Son
 # Joh 1:11
 This is "The Hebrew Tragedy" (Conder).

00732
 \\My dinner\\ (\\to ariston mou\\). It is breakfast, not dinner. In
 # Lu 14:12
 both \\ariston\\ (breakfast) and \\deipnon\\ (dinner) are used. This noon
 or midday meal, like the French breakfast at noon, was sometimes
 called \\deipnon mesmbrinon\\ (midday dinner or luncheon). The
 regular dinner (\\deipnon\\) came in the evening. The confusion arose
 from applying \\ariston\\ to the early morning meal and then to the
 noon meal (some not eating an earlier meal). In
 # Joh 21:12,15
 \\arista\\ is used of the early morning meal, "Break your fast"
 (\\aristsate\\). When \\ariston\\ was applied to luncheon, like the
 Latin _prandium_, \\akratisma\\ was the term for the early breakfast.
 \\My fatlings\\ (\\ta sitista\\). Verbal from \\sitiz\\, to feed with wheat
 or other grain, to fatten. Fed-up or fatted animals.

00733
 \\Made light of it\\ (\\amelsantes\\). 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\\
 \\tn emporian autou\\) only example in the N.T., from \\emporos\\,
 merchant, one who travels for traffic (\\emporeuomai\\), a drummer.

00734
00735
 \\Armies\\ (\\strateumata\\). Bands of soldiers, not grand armies.

00736
00737
 \\The partings of the highways\\ (\\tas diexodous tn hodn\\). 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."

00738
 \\The wedding\\ (\\ho gamos\\). But Westcott and Hort rightly read here
 \\ho numphn\\, marriage dining hall. The same word in
 # 9:15
 means the bridechamber.

00739
00740
 \\Not having a wedding-garment\\ (\\m echn enduma gamou\\). \\M\\ is in
 the _Koin_ the usual negative with participles unless special
 emphasis on the negative is desired as in \\ouk endedumenon\\. There
 is a subtle distinction between \\m\\ 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.

00741
 \\Was speechless\\ (\\epsimth\\). Was muzzled, dumb from confusion and
 embarrassment. It is used of the ox
 # 1Ti 5:18
 \\The outer darkness\\ (\\to skotos to exteron\\). See
 # Mt 8:12
 All the blacker from the standpoint of the brilliantly lighted
 banquet hall. \\There shall be\\ (\\ekei estai\\). Out there in the outer
 darkness.

00742
 \\For many are called, but few chosen\\ (\\polloi gar eisin kltoi\\
 \\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 (\\kltoi\\) and the chosen (\\eklektoi\\) called out from the
 called.

00743
 \\Went\\ (\\poreuthentes\\). So-called deponent passive and redundant use
 of the verb as in
 # 9:13
 : "Go and learn." \\Took counsel\\ (\\sumboulion elabon\\). Like the
 Latin _consilium capere_ as in
 # 12:14
 \\Ensnare in his talk\\ (\\pagideussin en logi\\). From \\pagis\\, a snare
 or trap. Here only in the N.T. In the LXX
 # 1Ki 28:9; Ec 9:12
 Test. of Twelve Patriarchs, _Joseph_ 7:1). Vivid picture of the
 effort to trip Jesus in his speech like a bird or wild beast.

00744
 \\Their disciples\\ (\\tous mathtas autn\\). Students, pupils, of the
 Pharisees as in
 # Mr 2:18
 There were two Pharisaic theological seminaries in Jerusalem
 (Hillel, Shammai). \\The Herodians\\ (\\tn Heridiann\\). Not members
 of Herod's family or Herod's soldiers, but partisans or followers
 of Herod. The form in \\-ianos\\ is a Latin termination like that in
 \\Christianos\\
 # Ac 11:26
 Mentioned also in
 # Mr 3:6
 combining with the Pharisees against Jesus. \\The person of men\\
 (\\prospon anthrpn\\). Literally, face of men. Paying regard to
 appearance is the sin of partiality condemned by James
 # Jas 2:1,9
 when \\prospolmpsia, prospolmptein\\ are used, in imitation of
 the Hebrew idiom. This suave flattery to Jesus implied "that
 Jesus was a reckless simpleton" (Bruce).

00745
00746
00747
 \\Tribute money\\ (\\to nomisma tou knsou\\). \\Knsos\\, 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 \\nomiz\\ sanctioned by law or custom.

00748
 \\This image and superscription\\ (\\h eikn haut kai h epigraph\\).
 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.

00749
 \\Render\\ (\\apodote\\). "Give back" to Caesar what is already Caesar's.
