King James Version
Matthew 12
50 verses with commentary
Lord of the Sabbath
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
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KJV Study Commentary
Conflict arises on Sabbath: 'At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat' (εν εκεινω τω καιρω επορευθη ο Ιησους τοις σαββασιν δια των σποριμων οι δε μαθηται αυτου επεινασαν και ηρξαντο τιλλειν σταχυας και εσθιειν). 'Sabbath' (σαββασιν) was day of rest (Exodus 20:8-11). 'Corn' (σποριμων) is grain fie...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**XII.**
(1) **At that time.**—St. Luke (Luke 6:1) defines the time more specifically as “the second first sabbath.” The question, what is meant by that term, will be discussed in the Notes on that passage. The facts of the case place it clearly between the Passover and the Feast of Pentecost, between the beginning of the barley and the end of the wheat harvest. The position which the narrative oc...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
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KJV Study Commentary
Pharisees accuse: 'Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day' (ιδου οι μαθηται σου ποιουσιν ο ουκ εξεστιν ποιειν εν σαββατω). They charge Jesus with tolerating Sabbath violation. 'Not lawful' (ουκ εξεστιν) refers to their tradition, not Torah. Mosaic law didn't prohibit what the disciples did; Pharisaic tradition did. This reveals legalism's method: elevate human...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **When the Pharisees saw it.**—In the position in which the narrative stands in the other two Gospels, the Pharisees would appear as belonging to the company that had come down from Jerusalem to watch and accuse the new Teacher (Luke 5:17). He claimed the power to forgive sins, He ate and drank with publicans and sinners. Now they found that He was teaching men to dishonour the Sabbath, as He ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus appeals to Scripture: 'Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him' (ουκ ανεγνωτε τι εποιησεν Δαυιδ οτε επεινασεν και οι μετ αυτου). 'Have ye not read' (ουκ ανεγνωτε) is rhetorical rebuke—of course they've read it; they're Scripture scholars. Jesus references 1 Samuel 21:1-6 where David, fleeing Saul, ate showbread reserved for priests (Leviticus 24:5...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Have ye not read** . . .?—The question was an appeal to the Pharisees on the ground where they thought themselves strongest. For them it was an argument *à fortiori.* Would they accuse David of sacrilege and Sabbath-breaking because he, in a case of urgent need, set at nought the two-fold law of ordinances? If they shrank from that, was it not inconsistent to condemn the disciples of Jesus f...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread , which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
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KJV Study Commentary
'How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?' Jesus references 1 Samuel 21:1-6 where David, fleeing Saul, ate consecrated bread normally reserved for priests (Leviticus 24:5-9). Jesus's argument is multi-layered: (1) David's human need superseded ceremonial restriction—preservi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **How he entered into the house of God.**—Strictly speaking, it was in the tabernacle at Nob, where Ahimelech (possibly assisted by Abiathar, Mark 2:26) was ministering as high priest (1Samuel 21:6). The shewbread, or “bread of oblation,” consisted of twelve loaves, in two rows of six each, which were offered every Sabbath day (Exodus 25:30; Exodus 40:23; Leviticus 24:5-9), the loaves of the p...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
20. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
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KJV Study Commentary
'Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?' Jesus's second argument appeals to ongoing temple practice: priests work on the sabbath—offering sacrifices (Numbers 28:9-10), changing showbread, trimming lamps—technically violating the sabbath rest command, yet they're 'blameless' (ἀναίτιοί/anaitioi, guiltless). The a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **The priests in the temple profane the sabbath.**—The work of the priests, as described, *e.g.,* in Numbers 28:9, viz., slaying victims, placing the shewbread, involved an amount of labour which, in work of any other kind, would have broken the Sabbath rest; yet no one blamed the priests, for they were serving in the Temple of Jehovah.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. Woe unto thee, Chorazin!--**not elsewhere mentioned, but it must have lain near Capernaum.
**woe unto thee, Bethsaida--**"fishing-house," a fishing station--on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, and to the north of Capernaum; the birthplace of three of the apostles--the brothers Andrew and Peter, and Philip. These two cities appear to be singled out to denote the whole region in which...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
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KJV Study Commentary
'But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.' This statement is breathtaking in its implications. The temple was Judaism's central institution—the location of God's special presence, the site of sacrifice and worship, the heart of Israel's religious life. Yet Jesus claims to be 'greater than the temple' (μεῖζόν/meizon). He doesn't merely say He's important; He says He su...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **In this place is one greater than the temple.**—Better, *Here is something greater than the Temple.* The Greek adjective is neuter in the better MSS., and the word “here” we may think of as accompanied (like the “destroy this temple” of John 2:19) by a gesture which interpreted the words. The passage thus referred to furnishes obviously the true explanation of our Lord’s assertion of His gre...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you--**more endurable.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
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KJV Study Commentary
'But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.' Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, indicting the Pharisees' inverted priorities. God desires 'mercy' (ἔλεος/eleos)—compassion, covenant love, caring for people—more than 'sacrifice' (θυσίαν/thysian)—religious ritual and ceremonial observance. This doesn't mean God despises sacrifice; He i...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.**—Yet a third argument follows from the Old Testament (Hosea 6:6). The teachers or interpreters of the Law had failed to catch the meaning of the simplest utterances of the prophets. “Mercy and not sacrifice,” moral and not positive duties, these made up the true life of religion, and were alone acceptable to God. It was because they had inverted the rig...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. And thou, Capernaum--**(See on Mt 4:13).
**which art exalted unto heaven--**Not even of Chorazin and Bethsaida is this said. For since at Capernaum Jesus had His stated abode during the whole period of His public life which He spent in Galilee, it was the most favored spot upon earth, the most exalted in privilege.
**shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus declares 'For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day'—a stunning claim to divine authority. The title 'Son of man' (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου/ho huios tou anthrōpou) comes from Daniel 7:13-14, referring to the messianic figure who receives everlasting dominion. By claiming lordship over the sabbath, Jesus asserts authority over an institution God Himself established (Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **For the Son** **of** **man.**—The words contain the ground for the authoritative judgment of the previous verse. They assert that this also came within the limits of His jurisdiction as the Messiah, just as the power to forgive sins had been claimed by Him under the same title. In both instances, however, the choice of the title is significant. What is done is done by Him as the representati...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee--**"It has been indeed," says Dr. Stanley, "more tolerable, in one sense, in the day of its earthly judgment, for the land of Sodom than for Capernaum; for the name, and perhaps even the remains of Sodom are still to be found on the shores of the Dead Sea; while that of Capernaum h...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 12
Chapter Outline
Jesus defends his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath day.(1-8)
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the sabbath.(9-13)
The malice of the Pharisees.(14-21)
Jesus heals a demoniac.(22-30)
Blasphemy of the Pharisees.(31-32)
Evil words proceed from an evil heart.(33-37)
The scribes and Pharisees reproved for seeking a sign.(38-45)...
Read full commentary →A Man with a Withered Hand
And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
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KJV Study Commentary
'And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue.' Following the sabbath controversy with Pharisees (v.1-8), Jesus deliberately went 'into their synagogue'—notably called 'their' (αὐτῶν/autōn), suggesting distance or even hostility. Synagogues were local worship and teaching centers throughout Israel. Jesus regularly taught in synagogues during His ministry (Matthew 4:23, Luke 4:16),...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **He went into their synagogue**—*i.e.,* that of the Pharisees whom He had just reproved, probably, therefore, the synagogue of Capernaum. The narratives in St. Matthew and St. Mark convey the impression that it was on the same Sabbath. St. Luke, however, as if he had made more careful inquiry, states definitely that it was on another, and this the others do not directly contradict.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. At that time Jesus answered and said--**We are not to understand by this, that the previous discourse had been concluded, and that this is a record only of something said about the same period. For the connection is most close, and the word "answered"--which, when there is no one to answer, refers to something just before said, or rising in the mind of the speaker in consequence of something...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and sel...
Read full commentary →And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
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KJV Study Commentary
'And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.' The scene sets up conflict: a man needing healing encounters Jesus in the synagogue while hostile Pharisees watch. The man's 'withered hand' (ξηρὰν χεῖρα/xēran cheira) was paralyzed or atrophied—not life-threatening but significantly debilita...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **There was a man which had his hand withered.**—Two facts are implied: (1.) That the Pharisees expected our Lord to heal the man thus afflicted. They knew that commonly the mere sight of suffering of this kind called out His sympathy, and that the sympathy passed into act. (2.) That they had resolved, ii He did so heal, to make it the ground of a definite accusation before the local tribunal...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good--**the emphatic and chosen term for expressing any object of divine complacency; whether Christ Himself (see on Mt 3:17), or God's gracious eternal arrangements (see on Php 2:13).
**in thy sight--**This is just a sublime echo of the foregoing words; as if Jesus, when He uttered them, had paused to reflect on it, and as if the glory of it--not so much ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and sel...
Read full commentary →And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
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KJV Study Commentary
'And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?' Jesus answers the Pharisees' trap question (v.10) with practical reasoning they cannot deny. He appeals to their own practice: if even one sheep (valuable property) falls into a pit on sabbath, would they not rescue it? Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11, 12) **Will he not lay hold on it?**—As the reasoning takes the form of an *argumentum ad hominem,* it is clear that the act was regarded as a lawful one, even by the more rigid scribes. The Talmud discusses the question, but does not decide it. Some casuists solved the problem by a compromise. The sheep was not to be pulled out of the pit till the Sabbath was over, but in the meantime it was ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father--**He does not say, They are revealed--as to one who knew them not, and was an entire stranger to them save as they were discovered to Him--but, They are "delivered over," or "committed," to Me of My Father; meaning the whole administration of the kingdom of grace. So in Joh 3:35, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His han...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and sel...
Read full commentary →How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
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KJV Study Commentary
'How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.' Jesus concludes His argument with unanswerable logic: if saving sheep is permissible, saving humans is certainly lawful. The question 'How much then is a man better than a sheep?' (πόσῳ οὖν διαφέρει ἄνθρωπος προβάτου/posō oun diapherei anthrōpos probatou) emphasizes human value—humanity is qualitat...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest--**Incomparable, ravishing sounds these--if ever such were heard in this weary, groaning world! What gentleness, what sweetness is there in the very style of the invitation--"Hither to Me"; and in the words, "All ye that toil and are burdened," the universal wretchedness of man is depicted, on both its sides--the ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and sel...
Read full commentary →Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus commands 'Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.' This healing demonstrates Christ's divine power and compassion triumphing over legalistic opposition. The command to 'stretch forth' (ἔκτεινον/ekteinon) required faith—the man had to obey before seeing results. His obedience brought instant, complete healing: 'restored whole' (ἀποκατ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Then saith he to the man.**—St. Mark, with his usual vividness, adds the look and gesture and feeling which accompanied the words, “looking round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts.”
**It was restored whole**—*i.e.,* as the tense implies, in the act of stretching the hand forth. The man’s ready obedience to the command, which if he had not believed in th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. Take my yoke upon you--**the yoke of subjection to Jesus.
**and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls--**As Christ's willingness to empty Himself to the uttermost of His Father's requirements was the spring of ineffable repose to His own Spirit, so in the same track does He invite all to follow Him, with the assurance of the same experience.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief, teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing good: and these must be done from love and charity, with humility and sel...
Read full commentary →Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. held: or, took counsel
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KJV Study Commentary
'Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.' The Pharisees' response to Jesus's merciful sabbath healing is murderous plot. The verse exposes the depth of their spiritual darkness: confronted with compassionate miracle demonstrating Christ's divine authority, they don't worship but conspire to kill. The phrase 'held a council' (συμβούλιον ἐλάβον/symbou...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Held a council against him.**—If, as seems probable, these Pharisees included those who had come from Jerusalem, the deliberation was of more importance in its bearing on our Lord’s future work than if it had been a mere meeting of the local members of the party. It is significant that St. Mark adds (Mark 3:6) that they called the Herodians into their counsels. These latter have not yet bee...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light--**Matchless paradox, even among the paradoxically couched maxims in which our Lord delights! That rest which the soul experiences when once safe under Christ's wing makes all yokes easy, all burdens light.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →God's Chosen Servant
But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
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KJV Study Commentary
'But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all.' Jesus's response to murderous plot is strategic withdrawal—not cowardice but wisdom. He 'knew it' (γνοὺς/gnous)—whether through human intelligence or divine omniscience, He discerned the danger. His withdrawal demonstrates that faithfulness doesn't require recklessness. There's app...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **He withdrew himself from thence.**—The coalition of the two dominant parties led to a temporary retirement from Capernaum as the usual scene of His labours. In this matter He was setting forth in act, as an example, the rule which He had previously given as a precept (Matthew 10:23).
**He healed them all**—*i.e.,* all that had need of healing, and fulfilled its conditions.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →And charged them that they should not make him known:
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KJV Study Commentary
'And charged them that they should not make him known.' Despite healing multitudes, Jesus commands silence about His identity and works—repeated throughout Matthew (8:4, 9:30, 12:16, 16:20, 17:9). The verb 'charged' (ἐπετίμησεν/epetimēsen) means strongly warned, ordered strictly. Why silence? Multiple reasons: (1) Avoid premature political confrontation—crowds wanted political messiah; Jesus's kin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **And charged them that they should not make him known.**—In other cases that have come before us we have seen reason to connect this command with the spiritual discipline which was best for those who had been healed. Here the generalised character of the command leads us to look for another explanation. The hour of final conflict and suffering had not yet come, and Jesus would not hasten it....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 12 Mt 12:1-8. Plucking Corn Ears on the Sabbath Day. ( = Mr 2:23-28; Lu 6:1-5).
**The season of the year when this occurred is determined by the event itself. Ripe corn ears are found in the fields only just before harvest. The barley harvest seems clearly intended here, at the close of our March and beginning of our April. It coincided with the Passover season, as the wheat harvest with ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
Matthew states 'That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying.' This introduces quotation from Isaiah 42:1-4. Matthew frequently demonstrates Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy—his Gospel contains over 60 Old Testament citations. The formula 'that it might be fulfilled' (ἵνα πληρωθῇ/hina plērōthē) indicates divine purpose: Jesus's actions weren't accidental but fulfi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **That it might be fulfilled.**—The quotation of Isaiah 42:1 (not from the LXX., but in a free translation from the Hebrew) in reference to this reserve and reticence, and therefore in a sense which seems to us to fall far short of its full meaning, shows how deep an impression it had made on the mind of the Evangelist in connection with our Lord’s conduct. One who united thus the attributes ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day--**The act itself was expressly permitted (De 23:25). But as being "servile work," which was prohibited on the sabbath day, it was regarded as sinful.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.' Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1, identifying Jesus as God's chosen Servant. 'Behold' (ἰδοὺ/idou) commands attention—something significant. 'My servant' (ὁ παῖς μου/ho pais mou) indicates both servanthood and sonship. 'Whom I have chosen' (ὃν ᾑρ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Behold my servant.**—The mysterious “servant of the Lord,” who is the central figure of the last part of Isaiah’s prophecies, appears sometimes as the representative of Israel’s righteousness, sometimes of its sins, now as one who bore his witness as a prophet and messenger of God, now as standing apart from all others in solitary greatness, or yet more solitary suffering. In each of these ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. But he said unto them, Have ye not read--**or, as Mark (Mr 2:25) has it, "Have ye never read."
**what David did when he was an hungered, and they that were with him--**(1Sa 21:1-6)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
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KJV Study Commentary
'He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.' Quoting Isaiah 42:2, Matthew describes Messiah's character: not contentious ('strive'—ἐρίσει/erisei), not loud ('cry'—κραυγάσει/kraugasei), not self-promoting (voice not heard in streets). This contrasts sharply with expectations of political messiah arriving with military force and public spectacle. Jesus's minis...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **He shall not strive, nor cry.**—The words point to the pervading calmness which had impressed itself upon the mind of the Evangelist, and which stood out in marked contrast to the wrangling of Jewish scribes, the violence of Roman officers, yet more, it may be, to that of false prophets and leaders of revolt, such as Judas of Galilee had been. St. Matthew had probably known something of eac...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?--**No example could be more apposite than this. The man after God's own heart, of whom the Jews ever boasted, when suffering in God's cause and straitened for provisions, asked and obtained from the high priest what, according to...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
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KJV Study Commentary
'A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.' Isaiah 42:3 describes Messiah's gentleness with the weak. 'Bruised reed' (κάλαμον συντετριμμένον/kalamon syntettrimmenon) pictures damaged plant—bent, cracked, seemingly useless. 'Smoking flax' (λίνον τυφόμενον/linon typhomenon) describes barely-lit wick—producing smoke, barely flam...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **A bruised reed shall he not break.**—The prophet’s words described a character of extremest gentleness. The “bruised reed” is the type of one broken by the weight of sorrow, or care, or sin. Such a one men in general disregard or trample on. The Christ did not so act, but sought rather to bind up and strengthen. The “smoking flax” is the wick of the lamp which has ceased to burn clearly, an...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath--**by doing "servile work."
**and are blameless?--**The double offerings required on the sabbath day (Nu 28:9) could not be presented, and the new-baked showbread (Le 24:5; 1Ch 9:32) could not be prepared and presented every sabbath morning, without a good deal of servile work on the p...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
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KJV Study Commentary
'And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.' Isaiah 42:4 concludes: Gentiles will trust in Messiah's name. The word 'trust' (ἐλπιοῦσιν/elpiousin) means hope, have confidence in. The prophecy predicted gospel's universal extent—not just Jews but Gentiles included in salvation. This was radical: first-century Judaism generally viewed Gentiles as excluded from covenant blessings unless they became Jew...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.**—Better, *shall hope.* The Hebrew gives “in his law,” but St. Matthew follows the LXX.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple--**or rather, according to the reading which is best supported, "something greater." The argument stands thus: "The ordinary rules for the observance of the sabbath give way before the requirements of the temple; but there are rights here before which the temple itself must give way." Thus indirectly, but not the less decid...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls...
Read full commentary →Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.' Matthew introduces another dramatic healing: man with triple affliction—demon-possessed, blind, and mute. The comprehensiveness of disability demonstrates both demonic power to destroy and Christ's power to restore completely. Jesus 'healed him' (ἐθεράπευ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) The narrative that follows is again a stumbling-block in the way of harmonists. St. Luke (Luke 11:14) places it after the feeding of the five thousand; St. Mark (Mark 3:22) immediately after the mission of the Twelve. A like narrative has met us in Matthew 9:32, and it is probable enough that the charge was repeated as often as the occasion presented itself, and as often answered in identical...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice--**(Ho 6:6; Mi 6:6-8, &c.). See on Mt 9:13.
**ye would not have condemned the guiltless--**that is, Had ye understood the great principle of all religion, which the Scripture everywhere recognizes--that ceremonial observances must give way before moral duties, and particularly the necessities of nature--ye would...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
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KJV Study Commentary
'And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?' The crowd's response to Jesus's healing was amazement (ἐξίσταντο/existanto, astonished, beside themselves) and messianic speculation. The question 'Is not this the son of David?' (Μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς Δαυίδ/Mēti houtos estin ho huios Dauid) expects negative answer grammatically but expresses genuine wondering: Could this ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Is not this the son of David?**—The people use (as the blind man had done in Matthew 9:27) the most popular of all the synonyms of the Christ.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day--**In what sense now is the Son of man Lord of the sabbath day? Not surely to abolish it--that surely were a strange lordship, especially just after saying that it was made or instituted for MAN--but to own it, to interpret it, to preside over it, and to ennoble it, by merging it in the "Lord's Day" (Re 1:10), breathing into it an air of libe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Beelzebub: Gr. Beelzebul
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KJV Study Commentary
'But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.' The Pharisees' response contrasts starkly with the crowds': rather than considering messianic identity, they attributed Jesus's power to 'Beelzebub' (Βεελζεβοὺλ/Beelzeboul), prince of demons (Satan). The word 'fellow' (οὗτος/houtos) is dismissive—refusing to name Jesus res...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Beelzebub the prince of the devils.**—(See Notes on Matthew 9:34; Matthew 10:25.) The words appear to have been whispered by the Pharisees among the people. They were not addressed to Jesus. The charge is significant as showing that the Pharisees admitted the reality of the work of healing which they had witnessed, and were driven to explain it by assuming demoniacal agency.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. And when he was departed thence--**but "on another sabbath" (Lu 6:6).
**he went into their synagogue--**"and taught." He had now, no doubt, arrived in Galilee; but this, it would appear, did not occur at Capernaum, for after it was over, He "withdrew Himelf," it is said "to the sea" (Mr 3:7), whereas Capernaum was at the sea.
**And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered--**d...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
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KJV Study Commentary
Jesus responds to Pharisees' absurd accusation with logic: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.' This principle—internal division destroys—is universally recognized. Kingdoms torn by civil war collapse; cities divided cannot function; families at odds disintegrate. The Greek 'divided against itself' (μερισθε...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Jesus knew their thoughts.**—The Searcher of Hearts saw the meaning of the whispers and the looks of real or affected horror, and now enters on a full answer to the charge. Of all the accusations brought against Him this was the one that caused the greatest Pain, and drew forth the most indignant answer. He had restored peace and joy, freedom of reason and will to those who had lost them, h...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
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KJV Study Commentary
'And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?' Jesus applies the division principle specifically to Pharisees' accusation. If Satan casts out Satan—if demons expel demons—then Satan's kingdom is internally divided and cannot stand. The rhetorical question expects obvious answer: it can't. The argument is airtight. Reformed theology observes that evi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **If Satan cast out Satan.**—In the Greek the name has the article in both places, as pointing to the one great adversary. It is not that one Satan casts out another, but that he, on the assumption of the Pharisees, casts out himself. Satan is not personally identified with the demon, the deaf or dumb spirit, that had possessed the man, but the language implies that where evil enters into the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
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KJV Study Commentary
'And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.' Jesus's second argument: Jewish exorcists—'your children' (οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν/hoi huioi hymōn), meaning disciples or followers—also performed exorcisms. If Jesus casts out demons by Satan's power, what power do they use? Same logic applies to them. The Pharisees' response would be: our e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **By whom do your children cast them out**?—The “children” of the Pharisees are their disciples, and in this case, such as practised exorcism, like the sons of Sceva in Acts 19:13. The belief in demoniacal possession had as its natural accompaniment the claim on the part of those who could control the disordered reason of the possessed person of power to cast out the demon. We need not assume...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. How much then is a man better than a sheep?--**Resistless appeal! "A **righteous man regardeth the life of his beast" (Pr 12:10), and would instinctively rescue it from death or suffering on the sabbath day; how much more his nobler fellow man! But the reasoning, as given in the other two Gospels, is singularly striking: "But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.</strong> This verse is Jesus' powerful response to the Pharisees' blasphemous accusation that He cast out demons by Beelzebub's power (v. 24). The Greek construction <em>ei de</em> (εἰ δέ, "but if") introduces a conditional argument: if the premise is true (which Jesus asserts it is), then the conclusi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **By the Spirit of** **God.**—In Luke 11:20 we have as an equivalent phrase, “the finger of God.” So in Old Testament language the fulness of the prophet’s inspiration was expressed in the words, “the hand of the Lord was strong upon me” (Ezekiel 3:14). The second hymn in the Ordination Service reproduces the symbolism in the words addressed to the Holy Spirit—
“In faithful hearts thou writ’s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth--**the power to obey going forth with the word of command.
**and it was restored whole, like as the other--**The poor man, having faith in this wonderful Healer--which no doubt the whole scene would singularly help to strengthen--disregarded the proud and venomous Pharisees, and thus gloriously put them to shame.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.' Jesus's third argument uses parable: to plunder strong man's house, you must first bind him. The 'strong man' (ἰσχυρὸς/ischyros) represents Satan; his 'house' is his kingdom; his 'goods' (σκεύη/skeuē) are demon-possessed people. Jesus's exorcisms are 's...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **How can one enter into a strong man’s house.**—The parable implied in the question appears in a fuller form in Luke 11:21-22. Here it will be enough to note that the “strong man” is Satan. The “house” is the region which is subject to him—*i.e.,* either the world at large, or the spirits of individual men; the “goods” or “instruments*”* (comp. the “armour” of Luke 11:22) are the demons or s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him--**This is the first explicit mention of their murderous designs against our Lord. Luke (Lu 6:11) says, "they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus." But their doubt was not, whether to get rid of Him, but how to compass it. Mark (Mr 3:6), as usual, is more de...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
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KJV Study Commentary
'He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.' Jesus draws sharp line: neutrality is impossible. 'Not with me' equals 'against me'—there's no middle ground. Reformed theology emphasizes this: everyone is either for Christ or against Him; serving God or serving idols; gathering (building kingdom) or scattering (opposing it). The language is agricultural...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **He that is not with me is against me.**—The words seem at first at variance with the answer to the sons of Zebedee, when they reported that they had seen one casting out devils in the name of Christ, and had forbidden him “because he followed not” with them. Then they heard,” Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50); and those words have naturally been the watchw...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence--**whither, our Evangelist says not; but Mark (Mr 3:7) says "it was to the sea"--to some distance, no doubt, from the scene of the miracle, the madness, and the plotting just recorded.
**and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all--**Mark gives the following interesting details: "A great multitude from Galilee followed H...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-30**
A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace; sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting out devi...
Read full commentary →Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.' Jesus pronounces solemn warning introducing unpardonable sin. First the comfort: 'All manner of sin and blasphemy' (πᾶσα ἁμαρτία καὶ βλασφημία/pasa hamartia kai blasphēmia) can be forgiven—no sin is too great for Christ's atonement. Murder...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.**—Better, *against the Spirit,* the word “Holy” not being found in any MSS. of authority. The question, What is the nature of the terrible sin thus excluded from forgiveness? has, naturally enough, largely occupied the thoughts of men. What, we ask, is this blasphemy against the Holy Ghost? (1.) The context at least helps us to understand something of i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. And charged them--**the healed.
**that they should not make him known--**(See on Mt 8:4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-32**
Here is a gracious assurance of the pardon of all sin upon gospel terms. Christ herein has set an example to the sons of men, to be ready to forgive words spoken against them. But humble and conscientious believers, at times are tempted to think they have committed the unpardonable sin, while those who have come the nearest to it, seldom have any fear about it. We may be sure ...
Read full commentary →And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
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KJV Study Commentary
'And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.' Jesus distinguishes between forgivable and unforgivable blasphemy. Speaking 'against the Son of man' (κατὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου/kata tou huiou tou anthrōpou) can be forgiven—even rejectin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Neither in this world, neither in the world to come.**—The distinction was hardly the same for our Lord’s Jewish listeners as it has come to be with us. For them “this world”—better, perhaps, *this age*—was the time before the coming of the Christ; “the age to come” was that which was to follow it. (Comp. Hebrews 6:5, Luke 18:30.) Our Lord thus stood on the boundary-line of the two ages, th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying--**(Is 42:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 31-32**
Here is a gracious assurance of the pardon of all sin upon gospel terms. Christ herein has set an example to the sons of men, to be ready to forgive words spoken against them. But humble and conscientious believers, at times are tempted to think they have committed the unpardonable sin, while those who have come the nearest to it, seldom have any fear about it. We may be sure ...
Read full commentary →A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.' Jesus shifts from blasphemy teaching to principle: tree and fruit must match. You can't have good tree producing bad fruit or vice versa. The verb 'make' (ποιήσατε/poiēsate) means 'declare, consider, judge'—Jesus commands consistent judgment. If fruit is good (...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Either make the tree good.**—Like most proverbs and parables, the words present different phases, and admit of various applications. As spoken to men of neutral, half-hearted character, they might seem a call, not without a touch of indignant rebuke, to consistency. “At least be thorough; lot principles and actions harmonise. Do not think you can produce the fruit of good works from the tre...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 33-37**
Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man h...
Read full commentary →O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
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KJV Study Commentary
'O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' Jesus addresses Pharisees harshly: 'generation of vipers' (γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν/gennēmata echidnōn, offspring of snakes)—John Baptist's same epithet (Matthew 3:7). The rhetorical question: 'how can ye, being evil, speak good things?' expects answer: you can't. Evil nature pro...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **O generation of vipers.**—Better, as in Matthew 3:7, *brood of vipers.* Here the law which had been pressed in its logical bearing in the preceding verse, is brought in to explain the bitter and evil words of the Pharisees. As long as they were what they were, nothing else was to be looked for. Nothing but the serpent’s hiss could come from the brood of vipers, nothing but bitter words from...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. He shall not strive nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 33-37**
Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man h...
Read full commentary →A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
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KJV Study Commentary
'A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.' Jesus elaborates the heart/speech connection using treasure imagery. The heart is treasury; speech is what's withdrawn. 'Good man' (ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος/agathos anthrōpos) with 'good treasure' (ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ/agathou thēsaurou) produces good output. 'Evil ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **A good man out of the good treasure.**—A whole parable is wrapt up in this last word. Every thought and desire of a man is added to the ever accumulating store of such desires or thoughts in the inner chamber of his heart, and thence passes out into word or deed. In the ideal division of the context, which excludes neutrality, the treasure is either simply good or simply evil. Practically, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory--**"unto truth," says the Hebrew original, and the Septuagint also. But our Evangelist merely seizes the spirit, instead of the letter of the prediction in this point. The grandeur and completeness of Messiah's victories would prove, it seems, not more wonderful than the unobtrus...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 33-37**
Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man h...
Read full commentary →But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
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KJV Study Commentary
'But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.' Jesus's sobering warning: 'every idle word' (πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργόν/pan rhēma argon)—careless, useless, unprofitable words—requires accounting on 'day of judgment' (ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως/hēmera kriseōs). Reformed theology sees this demonstrating: (1) God's comprehensive knowledge—He hears every...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) **Every idle word that men shall speak.**—The teaching, though general in form, still looks back to the hard, bitter words of the Pharisees which had been the starting-point of the discourse. Our Lord does not speak, as we might have expected, of “every evil word,” but of “every idle—i.e., useless and purposeless—word,” the random utterances which, as being more spontaneous, betray character ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust--**Part of His present audience were Gentiles--from Tyre and Sidon--first-fruits of the great Gentile harvest contemplated in the prophecy.
Mt 12:22-37. A Blind and Dumb Demoniac Healed and Reply to the Malignant Explanation Put upon It. ( = Mr 3:20-30; Lu 11:14-23).
**The precise time of this section is uncertain. Judging from the statements with w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 33-37**
Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man h...
Read full commentary →For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
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KJV Study Commentary
'For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.' Jesus concludes His teaching on speech with sobering principle: words determine judgment outcome. 'Justified' (δικαιωθήσῃ/dikaiōthēsē) means declared righteous; 'condemned' (καταδικασθήσῃ/katadikasthēsē) means judged guilty. Speech reveals heart (v.34-35), and heart determines destiny. Reformed theology clarifies...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37) **By thy words thou shalt be justified.**—Stripped of the after-thoughts which have gathered round it in the later controversies of theologians, the word “justified” means, as its position here shows, the opposite of “condemned,” the being “acquitted” either on a special charge or on a general trial of character. In this sense we are able to understand (without entering into the labyrinth of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil--**"a demonized person."
blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 33-37**
Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man h...
Read full commentary →The Sign of Jonah
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.' Despite witnessing countless miracles, scribes and Pharisees demand 'a sign' (σημεῖον/sēmeion)—validating miracle. The word 'Master' (Διδάσκαλε/Didaskale, teacher) feigns respect while hearts remain hostile. Reformed theology recognizes this pattern: unbelief demands more evidence while reje...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(38) **Master, we would see a sign from thee.**—The order varies slightly from that in St. Luke, in which the demand for a sign follows on the parable of the unclean spirit returning to his house. In both, however, the sequence of thought appears the same. The tone of authority, as of one who is the judge of all men, leads to the challenge—“Give us a sign by which you may convince us that you have...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?--**The form of the interrogative requires this to be rendered, "Is this the Son of David?" And as questions put in this form (in Greek) suppose doubt, and expect rather a negative answer, the meaning is, "Can it possibly be?"--the people thus indicating their secret impression that this must be He; yet saving themselves ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
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KJV Study Commentary
'But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.' Jesus refuses their demand, calling them 'evil and adulterous generation' (γενεὰ πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλίς/genea ponēra kai moichalis). The phrase 'adulterous' metaphorically describes spiritual unfaithfulness—Israel was God's bride (Hos...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(39) **An evil and adulterous generation.**—The true relation between Israel and Jehovah had been represented by the prophets as that of the wife to her husband (Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16, 23; Hosea 1, 2). The adulterous generation was therefore one that was unfaithful to its Lord—demanding a sign, instead of finding sufficient proofs of faithfulness and love in what He had already done.
**There shal...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. But when the Pharisees heard it--**Mark (Mr 3:22) says, "the scribes which came down from Jerusalem"; so that this had been a hostile party of the ecclesiastics, who had come all the way from Jerusalem to collect materials for a charge against Him. (See on Mt 12:14).
**they said, This fellow--**an expression of contempt.
**doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub--**rather, "Beelzebul"...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
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KJV Study Commentary
'For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.' Jesus identifies Jonah's sign: as Jonah spent three days/nights in great fish (Jonah 1:17), Jesus will spend three days/nights 'in the heart of the earth' (ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς/en tē kardia tēs gēs)—tomb, death, burial. This is prophecy of death and...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(40) **As Jonas was three days and three nights.**—To understand the words rightly, we have to remember the prominence which our Lord gives to the history of Jonah, and to the repentance of the men of Nineveh, in this and in the parallel passage of Luke 11:29, and in answer to another demand for a sign in Matthew 16:4. In the other passages “the sign of the prophet Jonas” appears with a vague myst...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. And Jesus knew their thoughts--**"called them" (Mr 3:23).
**and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand--**"house," that is, "household"
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment</strong> (οἱ ἄνδρες Νινευῖται, hoi andres Nineuītai)—Jesus invokes the pagan sailors who repented at Jonah's reluctant preaching (Jonah 3). The verb <em>metanoeō</em> (μετανοέω, 'they repented') means fundamental reorientation, not mere regret.<br><br><strong>A greater than Jonas is here</strong> (πλεῖον Ἰωνᾶ ὧδε, pleion Iōna hōde)—The Greek <em>pl...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(41) **The men of Nineveh shall rise . . .**—The reasoning is parallel with that of the references to Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah in Matthew 11:21-24, but with this difference, that there the reference was to what might have been, here to what actually had been. The repentance of the heathen, and their search after wisdom, with far poorer opportunities, would put to shame the slowness and u...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?--**The argument here is irresistible. "No organized society can stand--whether kingdom, city, or household--when turned against itself; such intestine war is suicidal: But the works I do are destructive of Satan's kingdom: That I should be in league with Satan, therefore, is incredible and absurd."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The queen of the south</strong> (βασίλισσα νότου, basilissa notou)—The Queen of Sheba traveled over 1,200 miles to hear Solomon's wisdom (1 Kings 10). Jesus emphasizes her extraordinary effort: <strong>from the uttermost parts of the earth</strong> (ἐκ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς, ek tōn peratōn tēs gēs), literally 'from the ends/extremities of the earth.'<br><br><strong>A greater than Solomon is ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(42) **The queen of the south.**—Literally, *a queen of the south,* as before, *men of Nineveh,* the Greek having no article. Rhetorically, the absence of the article is in this case more emphatic than its presence.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children--**"your sons," meaning here the "disciples" or pupils of the Pharisees, who were so termed after the familiar language of the Old Testament in speaking of the sons of the prophets (1Ki 20:35; 2Ki 2:3, &c.). Our Lord here seems to admit that such works were wrought by them; in which case the Pharisees stood self-condemned, a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →The Return of an Unclean Spirit
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>When the unclean spirit is gone out</strong> (τὸ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα ἐξέλθῃ, to akatharton pneuma exelthē)—Jesus transitions from condemning unbelief to warning against mere reformation without regeneration. The <em>akatharton pneuma</em> ('unclean spirit') represents demonic possession, but the parable applies to any spiritual cleansing without filling by God's Spirit.<br><br><strong>Walketh...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(43) **When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man.**—The parable comes in abruptly, possibly because here, as elsewhere, we have a part and not the whole of a discourse, striking passages noted and put together, now in this order, now in that, while the links that joined them are missing. The inner connection of thought is, however, clear enough. How was it, it might be asked, that Israel had su...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God--**In Luke (Lu 11:20) it is, "with (or 'by') the finger of God." This latter expression is just a figurative way of representing the power of God, while the former tells us the living Personal Agent was made use of by the Lord Jesus in every exercise of that power.
**then--**"no doubt" (Lu 11:20).
**the kingdom of God is come unto you--**rath...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will return into my house</strong> (ἐπιστρέψω εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου, epistrepsō eis ton oikon mou)—The demon claims ownership: 'my house.' Without Christ's possession, we remain the devil's property. <strong>Empty, swept, and garnished</strong> (σχολάζοντα σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον, scholazonta sesarōmenon kai kekosmēmenon) describes moral reformation's fatal flaw.<br><br><em>Scholazō</em...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(44) **Empty, swept, and garnished.**—The words have a two-fold symbolism, as representing (1) the state of the possessed man, and (2) that of the nation of which he is made the type. The latter belongs to the interpretation of the parable as a whole. The former portrays the state of the man who has been delivered from the wildness of frenzy, but has been left to the routine of common life and con...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house--**or rather, "the strong man's house."
and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Seven other spirits more wicked</strong> (ἑπτὰ ἕτερα πνεύματα πονηρότερα, hepta hetera pneumata ponērotera)—Seven represents completeness in Scripture; the final state features comprehensive, intensified evil. <em>Ponērotera</em> is the comparative of <em>ponēros</em> ('wicked'), meaning 'more malicious, more actively harmful.'<br><br><strong>The last state of that man is worse than the fi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(45) **Seven other spirits more wicked than himself.**—The number seven, as in the case of Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2), represents a greater intensity of possession, showing itself in more violent paroxysms of frenzy, and with less hope of restoration.
In applying the parable to the religious life of the Jewish people, we have to ask, (1) What answers to the first possession and the expul...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad--**On this important parable, in connection with the corresponding one (Mt 12:43-45), see on Lu 11:21-26.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 38-45**
Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was...
Read full commentary →Jesus' Mother and Brothers
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>His mother and his brethren stood without</strong> (ἡ μήτηρ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ εἱστήκεισαν ἔξω, hē mētēr kai hoi adelphoi autou heistēkeisan exō)—Mary and Jesus's half-brothers (James, Joses, Simon, Judas—Matthew 13:55) arrived, standing 'outside' (ἔξω, exō). John 7:5 explicitly states 'his brethren did not believe in him' until after the resurrection.<br><br>Mark 3:21 provides crucial c...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(46) **His mother and his brethren.**—Who were these “brethren of the Lord?” The question is one which we cannot answer with any approximation to certainty. The facts in the Gospel records are scanty. In what we gather from the Fathers we find not so much traditions as conjectures based upon assumptions. The facts, such as they are, are these: (1.) The Greek word translated “brother” is a word whi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men--**The word "blasphemy" properly signifies "detraction," or "slander." In the New Testament it is applied, as it is here, to vituperation directed against God as well as against men; and in this sense it is to be understood as an aggravated form of sin. Well, says our Lord, all sin--whether in its ordinary o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 46-50**
Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that ...
Read full commentary →Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee</strong> (ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ἔξω ἑστήκασιν ζητοῦντές σοι λαλῆσαι, hē mētēr sou kai hoi adelphoi sou exō hestēkasin zētountes soi lalēsai)—The verb <em>zēteō</em> (ζητέω, 'seeking/desiring') suggests persistent effort, not casual interest.<br><br>The messenger assumed biological family took precedence, but Je...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**32. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come--**In Mark the language is awfully strong, "hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation" (Mr 3:20)--or rather, according to what appears to be the preferable though ve...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 46-50**
Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that ...
Read full commentary →But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?</strong> (Τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ἀδελφοί μου; Tis estin hē mētēr mou kai tines eisin hoi adelphoi mou?)—Jesus's rhetorical questions aren't rejection but redefinition. He doesn't dishonor Mary or deny biological family but elevates spiritual kinship above it.<br><br>This challenges the Jewish assumption that Abrahamic descent gua...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
33. Either make the tree good, &c.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 46-50**
Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that ...
Read full commentary →And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He stretched forth his hand toward his disciples</strong> (ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ, ekteinas tēn cheira autou epi tous mathētas autou)—The gesture is deliberate and dramatic: <em>ekteinō</em> (ἐκτείνω) means 'to stretch out fully,' the same verb used of Jesus stretching out his hands on the cross. This isn't casual pointing but an intentional, authoritative declarat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(49) **Behold my mother and my brethren.**—The words assert in its strongest form the truth which we all acknowledge, that though natural relationships involve duties which may not be neglected, spiritual relationships, the sense of brotherhood in a great cause, of devotion to the same Master, are above them, and that when the two clash (as in the case supposed in Matthew 10:37), the latter must o...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**34. O generation of vipers--**(See on Mt 3:7).
**how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh--**a principle obvious enough, yet of deepest significance and vast application. In Lu 6:45 we find it uttered as part of the discourse delivered after the choice of the apostles.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 46-50**
Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that ...
Read full commentary →For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Whosoever shall do the will of my Father</strong> (ὅστις ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου, hostis an poiēsē to thelēma tou patros mou)—<em>Hostis</em> (ὅστις) is an inclusive relative pronoun: 'whoever, anyone who,' obliterating ethnic and social barriers. <em>Poieō</em> (ποιέω, 'to do') is present active subjunctive, emphasizing continual, characteristic action, not one-time obedience.<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(50) **Whosoever shall do the will.**—This is, then, what Christ recognises as the ground of a spiritual relationship. Not outward, but inward fellowship; not the mere fact of baptism, but that which baptism signifies; that doing the will of God, which is the essence of holiness—this is that which makes the disciple as dear to the heart of Christ as was the mother whom He loved so truly.
**Sister,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**35. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things--**or, "putteth forth good things":
**and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things--**or "putteth forth evil things." The word "putteth" indicates the spontaneity of what comes from the heart; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaketh. We have here a new applicat...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 46-50**
Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day, forgetting that ...
Read full commentary →