Matthew · Chapter 13

V. 1. Mark 4:1; Luke 8:4.

Verse 1. The same day] Our Lord scarcely ever appears to take any rest: he is incessant in his labours, and instant in season and out of season; and in this he has left all his successors in the ministry an example, that they should follow his steps: for he who wishes to save souls will find few opportunities to rest. As Satan is going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, the messenger of God should imitate his diligence, that he may counteract his work. The gospels are journals of our Lord’s life.

Went Jesus out of the house] This was the house of Peter. See Matthew 17:24.

Sat by the sea side.] The sea of Galilee, on the borders of which the city of Capernaum was situated.

Verses 1, 2. The same day — On which Jesus delivered the discourse, and performed the miracles recorded in the preceding chapter, being unwearied and incessant in the blessed work in which he was engaged, he went out of the house, into which he had retired for a while, and sat by the sea-side — Namely, the sea of Galilee, or lake of Gennesareth, that he might give the people an opportunity of resorting unto him, and being instructed by his blessed doctrine. And great multitudes were gathered unto him — The calumnies of the Pharisees not having had the effect intended. On the contrary, the crowd was now become so great, that neither the house, nor the court before it, could contain the people. So that, for the conveniency of being better heard, and less incommoded by them, he went into a ship, and sat — A small vessel on the lake, which, it seems, constantly waited upon him while he was on the coast. See Mark 3:9. Here, being conveniently seated, at a little distance from the shore, on which the whole multitude stood, and which probably might be somewhat circular and declining, he could be both easily seen and heard.

§ 49. — THE SEVEN PARABLES, 1-52.

As Matthew has in chapters eight and nine exhibited our Lord as a performer of mighty works, namely, ten miracles, so now he here presents him as a parabolist. SEVEN PARABLES — FOUR at the sea side, and THREE indoors — are grouped together.

1. The same day — The day of the transaction of the last chapter. He delivered the parables of this discourse, at evening took the boat and left; and exhausted by the overwhelming labours of the day, he sunk to slumbers, which were disturbed by the storm, which he stilled by miracle. Went Jesus out of the house — He had been invited to the house of a Pharisee, where he had much discourse. But very probably he went to his own house, from which he departed to the seashore, as here described, sat by the sea side first, probably, with his disciples; but the multitudes soon gathered around him and them. As appears by Mark 4:1, with the notes, he was obliged to enter into the prepared boat and sit in the boat in the sea.

Jesus… sat — While he sat, we find by the next verse that the multitude stood. It was customary in our Saviour’s day for the teacher to sit and the disciple to stand. Rabbi Gamaliel was probably the first who by arrangement took an elevated seat, and allowed his pupils to sit upon seats lower than his own platform. So Saul of Tarsus was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. By the sea side — Of Lake Gennesaret. In regard to the beach of Lake Gennesaret consult our note on Matthew 4:13. Stanley says: “The lake is almost completely surrounded by mountains; but those mountains never come down into the water, but always have a beach of greater or less extent along the water’s edge. It is on this smooth margin ‘beside the Lake Gennesaret’ that we must imagine Jesus ‘standing,’ then stepping into one of the two boats, and bidding Peter launch out into the deep. Luke 5:1, 2, 4. From the boat, that lay close by for the purpose, he addressed them his teaching in parables, and they stood on the beach.”

V. 2. He went into the vessel-Which constantly waited upon him, while he was on the sea coast.

Verse 2. Into a ship] to ploion, THE vessel or boat. Mr. Wakefield supposes (which is very likely) that a particular vessel is uniformly specified, which seems to have been kept on the lake for the use of Christ and his apostles: it probably belonged to some of the fishermen, (see Matthew 4:22,) who, he thinks, occasionally, at least, followed their former occupation. See John 21:3.

The thought of pious Quesnel on this verse should not be neglected. We see here a representation of the Church, which consists of the people united to their pastors. These, being more exposed to violent tossings and storms, are, as it were, in a ship, while those continue at ease on the shore.

Verses 1, 2. The same day — On which Jesus delivered the discourse, and performed the miracles recorded in the preceding chapter, being unwearied and incessant in the blessed work in which he was engaged, he went out of the house, into which he had retired for a while, and sat by the sea-side — Namely, the sea of Galilee, or lake of Gennesareth, that he might give the people an opportunity of resorting unto him, and being instructed by his blessed doctrine. And great multitudes were gathered unto him — The calumnies of the Pharisees not having had the effect intended. On the contrary, the crowd was now become so great, that neither the house, nor the court before it, could contain the people. So that, for the conveniency of being better heard, and less incommoded by them, he went into a ship, and sat — A small vessel on the lake, which, it seems, constantly waited upon him while he was on the coast. See Mark 3:9. Here, being conveniently seated, at a little distance from the shore, on which the whole multitude stood, and which probably might be somewhat circular and declining, he could be both easily seen and heard.

Verse 2. He went into a ship. A small vessel or boat, probably belonging to one of the disciples, several of whom were fishermen.

2. Stood on the shore — Our Lord’s pulpit was a ship; his Church the broad beach; and his congregation the standing multitude. It was an outdoor scene, beautiful for the thought to dwell upon. It may have been a quiet day in autumn, when the husbandman upon the distant hills was seen scattering the seed, from which our Lord drew his discourse.

CHAPTER 13. Verse 2. And sat. — It was the custom in the Jewish schools for the rabbi or doctor to sit and teach. Our Lord uniformly took the character of a public teacher, and SAT while delivering his longer discourses.

V. 3. In parables-The word is here taken in its proper sense, for apt similes or comparisons. This way of speaking, extremely common in the eastern countries, drew and fixed the attention of many, and occasioned the truths delivered to sink the deeper into humble and serious hearers. At the same time, by an awful mixture of justice and mercy, it hid them from the proud and careless.

In this chapter our Lord delivers seven parables; directing the four former (as being of general concern) to all the people; the three latter to his disciples.

Behold the sower-How exquisitely proper is this parable to be an introduction to all the rest! In this our Lord answers a very obvious and a very important question. The same sower, Christ, and the same preachers sent by him, always sow the same seed: why has it not always the same effect? He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!

Verse 3. He spake many things unto them in parables] Parable, from para, near, and ballw, I cast, or put. A comparison or similitude, in which one thing is compared with another, especially spiritual things with natural, by which means these spiritual things are better understood, and make a deeper impression on an attentive mind. Or, a parable is a representation of any matter accommodated, in the way of similitude, to the real subject, in order to delineate it with the greater force and perspicuity. See more on this subject at the conclusion of this chapter. No scheme, says Dr. Lightfoot, of Jewish rhetoric was more familiarly used than that of parables; which, perhaps, creeping in from thence among the heathens, ended in fables.

It is said in the tract Sotah, chap. 9. “From the time that Rabbi Meri died, those that spake in parables ceased.” Not that this figure of rhetoric perished in the nation from that time; but because he surpassed all others in these flowers, as the gloss there from the tract Sanhedrin speaks. “A third part of his discourses was tradition; a third part allegory; and a third part parable.” The Jewish books every where abound with these figures, the nation inclining by a kind of natural genius to this kind of rhetoric. Their very religion might be called parabolical, folded up within the covering of ceremonies; and their oratory in their sermons was like to it. But is it not indeed a wonder, that they who were so much given to and delighted in parables, and so dexterous in unfolding them, should stick in the outward shell of ceremonies, and should not have brought out the parabolical and spiritual sense of them? Our Saviour, who always spoke with the common people, uses the same kind of speech, and very often the same preface which they used, To what is it likened? See Lightfoot in loco. Though we find the basis of many of our Lord’s parables in the Jewish writings, yet not one of them comes through his hands without being astonishingly improved. In this respect also, Surely never man spoke like this man. Under the parable of the sower, our Lord intimates, 1. That of all the multitudes then attending his ministry, few would bring forth fruit to perfection. And 2. That this would be a general case in preaching the Gospel among men.

Verse 3. And he spake many things unto them — “Delivered many doctrines of the highest importance, wisely making choice of such for the subject of his sermons, when he had the greatest number of hearers, because on those occasions there was a probability of doing the most good by them.” In parables — The word parable sometimes signifies a sublime discourse, elevated beyond the common forms of speech, as Numbers 23:7, and 24:15; Job 27:1, and 29:1, where see the notes: sometimes a mere proverb, or adage, such as those mentioned Luke 4:23, Physician, heal thyself; and 6:39, Can the blind lead the blind? in both which places the word parabolh, parable, is used in the original, and in the former place is rendered proverb in our translation. Sometimes the word means an apologue, or fable, as Ezekiel 17:2, where also see the note. But here, and generally in the gospels, the word is to be understood, according to its Greek etymology, as signifying a similitude or comparison, namely, taken from the ordinary affairs of men, and used to illustrate the things of God. As this is the first time the term occurs in this history, and as we shall frequently meet with it hereafter, it may not be improper to make the following general observations, applicable, more or less, to all our Lord’s parables. 1st. It is not necessary to a parable that the matter contained, or things related in it, should be true in fact. For parables are not spoken to inform us in matters of fact, but in some spiritual truths, to which they bear some proportion. This we see in Jotham’s parable of the trees going to choose themselves a king, Judges 9:7-15. 2d. It is not necessary that all the actions of men, mentioned in a parable, should be morally just and good. The actions of the unjust steward, Luke 16:1-8, were not so. 3dly. For the right understanding of a parable, our great care must be to attend to the main scope of it; or to what our Lord had chiefly in view, and designed to teach by it. 4th. This may be learned, either from his general or more particular explication of it; or from what hath been termed the pro-parabola, or preface to the parable; or the epi-parabola, or conclusion of it. 5th. It is not to be expected that all the particular actions or things represented in a parable, should be answered by something in the explication. Lastly, Though the scope of the parable be the main thing we are to attend to, yet it may collaterally inform us in several other things also. This way of teaching, extremely common in the eastern countries, and much used by our Lord, was particularly calculated to draw and fix the attention of mankind; to excite the inquiry of such as were well disposed, and to lead them to a serious examination and diligent searching after the truth veiled under such emblems; to teach, in a manner the most natural, beautiful, and instructive, by common and familiar objects, the most divine and important doctrines, and give clearer ideas of them than could have been otherwise attained; to cause divine truths to make a more deep and lasting impression on men’s minds, and to be better remembered. Our Lord’s parables were particularly adapted to produce this last-mentioned effect, being generally taken from those objects about which his hearers were daily employed, or which daily came under their observation. Add to this, he taught by parables, that he might convey in a manner the least offensive some very ungrateful and unpalatable truths, such as the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles. It must be observed, also, as we learn from verses 11-15, that, by an awful mixture of justice and mercy, our Lord intended hereby to throw a veil over some of the mysteries of his kingdom, and to conceal from the proud and careless those truths which, if they understood, he foresaw they would only abuse to their greater condemnation.

In this chapter our Lord delivers seven parables, directing the four former, as being of general concern, to all the people; the three latter, to his disciples. He begins with the parable of a sower who cast his seed on four different kinds of ground, only one of which brought forth fruit, not because of any difference in the seed wherewith the others were sown, or any defect in the cultivation of them, but because of other reasons specified in the parable. And these were designed to represent four classes of hearers of the word of God, only one of which bears fruit to his glory; not because a different doctrine is declared to the others, or less labour bestowed upon them, but because of the hinderances of fruitfulness spoken of in the explanation of the parable. How exquisitely proper was this parable to be an introduction to all the rest! inasmuch as in it our Lord shows us why, when the same sower, he himself, or any messenger of his, always sows the same seed, it does not always produce the same effect.

Ver. 3. He spake many things to them in parables. On the mount our Saviour unfolded the grace of his kingdom, and rescued the purity and perfection of the law from the glosses of rabbinical traditions. Here, making a pulpit of the ship, he varied his method, and spake in parables after the manner frequently resorted to in the east. This mode of instruction interested attention; the hearer would pry into the mystery, and seek to open the latent treasure. To our Saviour the method was highly advantageous; he constructed his parables into prophecies, and disguised events from the public eye, which were not proper to be plainly disclosed till after his resurrection. To the church parabolic instruction is advantageous a thousand ways. Husbandry, merchandise, domestic economy, and all the fruitfulness of fields and trees are aptly converted into preachers; yea, heaven and earth reflect the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in a thousand forms, and every moment reminds us of what we should never forget.

Behold, a sower went forth to sow. The scene of this parable is properly a sort of town-field, containing roads to the lots of land. In so ample a space of ground there would be both stony ground, and thorny places. The sower is Christ, surrounded in the open field by ministers of all ages; and the seed is the word of the kingdom, scattered with a liberal hand. The hearers are divided into four classes.

First, those who hear the gospel and understand it not, because they do not give heed to it. They attend for recreation, or from habit; they hear with wandering eyes, and with a hard unfeeling heart. Satan, ever watchful to devour, as the birds which follow the husbandman, by vain and worldly thoughts, picks away what is sown in the heart. This hearer, by suffering a thousand follies to occupy his heart, forfeits his salvation. Next the stony ground hearers are charmed with the theory of the gospel, with the accomplishments of the preacher, and the exterior lustre of religion; with the historic subject of the scriptures, while the promises of eternal life afford them pleasure and hope. But their hearts are unploughed; and when persecution happens, they do not know the persecuted; or when religious scandals fall out, instead of weeping for the sinner, they are wrathful and bitter; or when solicited for some support for ministers, they make a thousand excuses, and suffer the christian temper to wither as corn on a rocky soil.

Thirdly, the thorny ground hearer goes farther, and gives for a time the fairest hopes of conversion. But his repentance being imperfect, the thorns being only stubbed instead of being eradicated, the old propensities of a worldly mind spring from their deep roots, and choke the wheat. From these three classes of abortive hearers we learn two grand lessons. One is, that genuine religion begins by a broken and a contrite heart for sin. The ground must be broken up, and cleared of all the stones and thorns which frustrate the most hopeful prospects of grace. Next, piety must be the prevailing propensity of the heart; and so much so, that earthly pursuits must be regarded as mere circumstances in our pilgrimage, compared with our salvation. Ignorance, carelessness, and covetousness will utterly confound a man in the harvest day, while he who received the gospel into a good and honest heart brings forth fruit to perfection. He cultivates grace with care, he mortifies the body with the strictest temperance, and cherishes every divine affection till all his soul is adorned, like the harvest field, with the fruits of righteousness by faith.

3. Our Lord did not condescend, like the fable writers of modern times, as well as of the heathen world, to form parables for the illustration of principles of mere earthly morality. He never forgets that his theme is eternity, and his object the soul of man. Nor does he ever violate the laws of nature, by any speaking beasts or birds, or any monstrous fabrications of fancy. His parables are all true in the general. They are things which often happen. They are in the ordinary course of nature.

Verse 3. In parables. — “Parable,” says Bishop Lowth, “is that kind of allegory which consists of a continued narration of a fictitious or accommodated event, applied to the illustration of some important truth.” This species of instruction has indeed been found so convenient a mode of exhorting or dissuading, of praising or reproving, that few people have been wholly strangers to parables. In oriental nations they have always been held in great estimation, and they abound greatly in almost all Jewish writings. Parables are expressed by the Hebrew word lvm; in Greek by ainoi, allegories or apologues; and in Latin by fabellæ, or fables. The Hebrew lvm, however, comprehends not only those more extended narratives we call parables, illustrative comparisons of moral and religious subjects with those of common life, but all highly figurative speech, and sententious sayings. Thus paroimiai, or proverbs, and gnwmai, or maxims, are included under it; and in the same latitude is the word parable used in the New Testament. Dr. Campbell judiciously distinguishes between the parable, taken in its stricter sense, and the apologue. In the former, “the action must be feasible, at least possible. Jotham’s fable of the trees choosing a king is properly an apologue; because, literally understood, the thing is impossible. There is also a difference between parable and allegory. In allegory, every one of the principal words has, through the whole, two meanings, the literal and the figurative. Whatsoever is advanced should be pertinent, understood either way. It is not so in parable, where the scope is chiefly regarded, and not the words taken severally. That there be a resemblance in the principal incidents, is all that is required. Smaller matters are considered only as a sort of drapery,” and ornament. It is not essential that the relation itself should be true history. It may be wholly imagery, though with a natural conformity to the events of real life, and the customs and opinions of the age. “Although,” says Dr. Townson, “our Lord followed the example of other eastern teachers in the use of parables, he did it with a moderation and dignity becoming his character. He never introduces beasts of the field, or trees of the forest, debating and conversing together with the reason and faculties of men; nor does he bring forward emblematical persons, influencing their counsels and actions. All is built upon nature and life, and the reality of things, and composed of circumstances which every one perceived might probably happen. Once only, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the scene is laid beyond this visible world.”

The beauty and perfection of our Lord’s parables have been the subject of universal admiration. Even infidels have acknowledged their literary excellence, and the Jewish writers have often imitated them, through clumsily. The manner in which these parables of our Lord sink in passing through the hands of rabbinical writers affords indeed a strong presumption that he was eminently a teacher sent from God. — They are in every respect more than human. Certainly none of the evangelists who wrote his history, and recorded his discourses, could be the author of these exquisite productions, so fit in their selection of circumstances, expressed with so much brevity and perspicuity, and pointed with so much force to illustrate and apply the truth intended; all of which required a mental power, a universal knowledge, a mastery of the great truths discoursed upon, a calm and piercing wisdom, which they did not possess; and as for the wisest men among the Jews who have attempted that species of composition, the inferiority of composition as well as sentiment is at once discovered by the comparison. On the use of parables by our Lord, it ought also to be observed that, beside their fitness to awaken attention, and to give life and vigour to instruction, in his hands they were frequently employed for other important reasons. In many cases their meaning required either close study, or explanation from himself; and thus the sincerity of those who professed to be inquiring after truth was put to the test. In others our Lord shrouded those subjects in parables, and dark sayings, which could not be fully unveiled till he had completed his work on earth. — They were either of a nature too sacred for his malicious enemies fully to know, or such as his disciples were not yet prepared fully to comprehend; or they depended for their entire illustration upon the events of his death and resurrection. When they were remembered by his disciples after these events had thrown back their light upon his whole character, conduct, and discourses, they evidently afforded the strongest confirmation to their faith, they do to ours; because we see one design running through the whole course of the mysterious conduct of our Lord while on earth, and one uniform body of doctrine, which he came into the world to teach, and to seal by his death.

V. 4. And while he sowed, some seeds fell by the highway side, and the birds came and devoured them-It is observable, that our Lord points out the grand hinderances of our bearing fruit, in the same order as they occur. The first danger is, that the birds will devour the seed. If it escape this, there is then another danger, namely, lest it be scorched, and wither away. It is long after this that the thorns spring up and choke the good seed. A vast majority of those who hear the word of God, receive the seed as by the highway side. Of those who do not lose it by the birds, yet many receive it as on stony places. Many of them who receive it in a better soil, yet suffer the thorns to grow up, and choke it: so that few even of these endure to the end, and bear fruit unto perfection: yet in all these cases, it is not the will of God that hinders, but their own voluntary perverseness. V 8. Good ground-Soft, not like that by the highway side; deep, not like the stony ground; purged, not full of thorns.

Verse 4. Some seeds fell by the way side] The hard beaten path, where no plough had broken up the ground.

Verses 4-9. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side — By the side of a beaten path which lay through the ground he was sowing. This wayside being neither broken up by the plough nor hedged in, the seed that fell here lay uncovered, and was partly trodden down, and partly devoured by the fowls, Luke 8:5, so that no fruit could be expected. Some fell upon stony places, epi ta petrwdh, upon rocky places. Luke says, epi thn petran, upon the rock; where they had not much earth — Either above them to retard their springing, or under them to nourish their roots; and forthwith, euqewv, speedily, they sprung up, and looked very promising. And when the sun was up, and shone hot upon them, that is, upon the tender blades, they were scorched by the warmth of his beams, and because they had no root — No room for taking root in so shallow a bed of earth, and lacked moisture, (so Luke,) they withered away and perished. Observe, if they had had sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and had not lacked moisture, the heat of the sun, however great, would not have caused them to wither, but rather would have promoted their growth. And some fell among thorns — Under the word thorns is included brambles, thistles, and every other kind of weed which is apt to spring up among corn, and to prevent its growth and fruitfulness. Weeds, of whatever kind, do not usually appear immediately when the corn is sown, nor perhaps till long after. The corn takes root, springs up, and perhaps even covers the ground, and bids fair for a plentiful crop, before they make their appearance: but as they are the natural product of the soil, they thrive better and grow faster than the corn, and soon overtop it. And, if they be suffered to remain, they absorb the moisture, and exhaust the fertilizing virtue of the ground; they also shade the corn from the kindly influences of the sun and rain, and so choke it that it has not room to expand itself. It therefore gradually declines, and at last dies away, and renders the husbandman’s labour, and the seed sown, fruitless. But other, the rest of the seed, fell into good ground, soft and ploughed up, not hard, unbroken, and trodden down, like a way-side; not a rocky place, but a deep soil; not a bed of thorns, brambles, and weeds, but ground purged of all such obstructions to fertility; and brought forth fruit — Being deeply rooted and nourished, it grew, and increased so as not only to produce an ear, but full and ripe corn in the ear, and that in rich abundance; some of it thirty times as much as the seed sown, some sixty, and some even a hundred times as much. Who hath ears to hear, let him — A proverbial expression used by our Lord, when he spake of things of very great importance, and which deserved peculiar attention. Such were the things now declared; they merited, and will merit, the most serious consideration of all who would not be forgetful or unfruitful hearers of the word of God, but would bring forth fruit worthy of their privileges.

4. The sacred parable was a wonderful vehicle of truth to serve three distinct purposes, namely: to reveal, to conceal, and to perpetuate. It revealed the sacred truth by the striking power of analogy and illustration. It concealed the truth from him who had not by proper sympathy or previous instruction the true key to its hidden meaning. To such a one it was a riddle or a tale. And so our Lord could give to his disciples in this method the deepest secrets of his kingdom for ages, while the caviller, who would have abused the truth, heard without understanding. See verse 11. But the truth thus embodied in narrative was, as it were, materialized, and made fit for perpetuation. It had a form and body to it, by which it could be preserved in tangible shape for future ages.

These considerations will serve to show the great wisdom of our Lord in enshrining so much of doctrinal truth in vehicles at once so attractive and so imperishable.

FIRST PARABLE — The Sower, 3-23.

That this parable of the sower was the first of our Lord’s parables is probable from several reasons. It was so new a mode of instruction that the disciples, in verse tenth, inquired why he used it, and the reason that he gave them was, that truth might be revealed to them and hidden from others.

3. Behold — The animated introduction gives plausibility to the view that our Lord pointed to some distant sower in sight scattering his seed. A sower went forth — The sower is the preacher, the seed is the word of truth, the soil is the receptive attention of the people. Went forth — That is, the preacher does not wait for the people to come to him. How truly our Lord drew his images from the scenery around him, Dr. Thomson thus illustrates:

“Behold a sower went forth to sow. There is a nice and close adherence to actual life in this form of expression. The expression implies that the sower, in the days of our Saviour, lived in a hamlet, or village, as all these farmers now do; that he did not sow near his own house or in a garden fenced or walled. Now here we have the whole within a dozen rods of us. Our horses are actually trampling down some seeds which have fallen by this wayside, and larks and sparrows are busy picking them up. That man with his mattock is digging up places where the rock is too near the surface for the plough, and much that is sown there will wither away, because it has no deepness of earth. And not a few seeds have fallen among this bellan, and will be effectually choked by these most tangled of thorn bushes. But a large portion after all falls into really good ground, and four months hence will exhibit every variety of crop, up to the richest and heaviest that ever rejoices the heart even of an American farmer.”

Sceptical writers have maintained that the soil of Palestine is so poor as to contradict the character for fertility ascribed to it in the Old Testament. Their error may be shown from the following considerations: 1. No such superiority of soil over other lands of the earth is ascribed to Palestine in Scripture as these objectors imagine. Thus the strongest Scripture phrase, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” is but a picturesque declaration that herds and bees should be an abundant natural product, which is eminently the fact. 2. Every land, even fertile Sicily has its barren spots. 3. Ages of oppression and total neglect have produced barrenness where most luxuriant harvests might have been gathered. With due culture the plains of Esdraelon might be made the granary of the East. 4. The very rocks of Palestine, being of limestone, are easily crumbled, and are thereby made a source of fertility. The hills afford terraces for the vines which under proper culture would cover them. The rich olive flourishes best in this rocky soil.

4. Fell by the wayside — Dropped in the hard path and so lay on the surface, a ready food for birds. “The ordinary roads or paths in the East lead often along the edge of the fields, which are unenclosed. Hence, as the sower scatters his seed, some of it is liable to fall beyond the ploughed portion, on the hard, beaten ground which forms the wayside.” — Prof. Hackett.

Devoured them up — In the old English, the phrase “devoured them up” was intensive and energetic.

Verse 4. By the wayside, and the fowls came, &c. — The wayside is the beaten foot-path, which lay through the corn field. — Buckingham, in his Travels in Palestine, has the following passage, which is here worthy of remark: “We ascended an elevated plain where husbandmen were sowing, and some thousands of starlings covered the ground, as the wild pigeons do in Egypt, laying a heavy contribution on the grain thrown into the furrows, which are not covered by harrowing as in Europe.” The grain on the wayside would be still more exposed to these depredations. St. Luke adds, as to the seed which fell on the wayside, that it was “trodden down.”

Verse 5. Stony places] Where there was a thin surface of earth, and a rock at the bottom.

Verses 4-9. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side — By the side of a beaten path which lay through the ground he was sowing. This wayside being neither broken up by the plough nor hedged in, the seed that fell here lay uncovered, and was partly trodden down, and partly devoured by the fowls, Luke 8:5, so that no fruit could be expected. Some fell upon stony places, epi ta petrwdh, upon rocky places. Luke says, epi thn petran, upon the rock; where they had not much earth — Either above them to retard their springing, or under them to nourish their roots; and forthwith, euqewv, speedily, they sprung up, and looked very promising. And when the sun was up, and shone hot upon them, that is, upon the tender blades, they were scorched by the warmth of his beams, and because they had no root — No room for taking root in so shallow a bed of earth, and lacked moisture, (so Luke,) they withered away and perished. Observe, if they had had sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and had not lacked moisture, the heat of the sun, however great, would not have caused them to wither, but rather would have promoted their growth. And some fell among thorns — Under the word thorns is included brambles, thistles, and every other kind of weed which is apt to spring up among corn, and to prevent its growth and fruitfulness. Weeds, of whatever kind, do not usually appear immediately when the corn is sown, nor perhaps till long after. The corn takes root, springs up, and perhaps even covers the ground, and bids fair for a plentiful crop, before they make their appearance: but as they are the natural product of the soil, they thrive better and grow faster than the corn, and soon overtop it. And, if they be suffered to remain, they absorb the moisture, and exhaust the fertilizing virtue of the ground; they also shade the corn from the kindly influences of the sun and rain, and so choke it that it has not room to expand itself. It therefore gradually declines, and at last dies away, and renders the husbandman’s labour, and the seed sown, fruitless. But other, the rest of the seed, fell into good ground, soft and ploughed up, not hard, unbroken, and trodden down, like a way-side; not a rocky place, but a deep soil; not a bed of thorns, brambles, and weeds, but ground purged of all such obstructions to fertility; and brought forth fruit — Being deeply rooted and nourished, it grew, and increased so as not only to produce an ear, but full and ripe corn in the ear, and that in rich abundance; some of it thirty times as much as the seed sown, some sixty, and some even a hundred times as much. Who hath ears to hear, let him — A proverbial expression used by our Lord, when he spake of things of very great importance, and which deserved peculiar attention. Such were the things now declared; they merited, and will merit, the most serious consideration of all who would not be forgetful or unfruitful hearers of the word of God, but would bring forth fruit worthy of their privileges.

5. Stony places — Rocky places. These were not spots infested with numerous stones, but thin layers of soil over a surface of rock. Stanley vividly describes “the long sheets of bare rock laid like flagstones side by side along the soil.” He quotes Keith as saying: “The rounded and rocky hills of Judea swell out in empty, unattractive, and even repulsive barrenness.” Sprung up — There being no chance for a root to penetrate downwards, the sap struck up and produced a sudden but feeble stock. During the rainy season in Palestine this is a rapid process.

Verses 5, 6. Upon stony places. — The meaning is, upon that part of the field where the rock beneath was covered with only a thin stratum of earth; where, by reason of the warmth, the seed sprung up too soon, and for want of root, and the nourishment afforded by the deeper earth, it withered away. Epictetus has a similar allusion, though not illustrative of the doctrine of the text: “When the very early heats come on, the husbandmen are anxious lest the seed should shoot out too soon, and then presently be nipped by the cold. So thou, O man! take care not to aspire to glory before thy time: you will be killed with the cold, nay, you are already dead at the root, though there be a little flourishing appearance above ground. We must ripen according to nature’s rule and order.”

Verses 4-9. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side — By the side of a beaten path which lay through the ground he was sowing. This wayside being neither broken up by the plough nor hedged in, the seed that fell here lay uncovered, and was partly trodden down, and partly devoured by the fowls, Luke 8:5, so that no fruit could be expected. Some fell upon stony places, epi ta petrwdh, upon rocky places. Luke says, epi thn petran, upon the rock; where they had not much earth — Either above them to retard their springing, or under them to nourish their roots; and forthwith, euqewv, speedily, they sprung up, and looked very promising. And when the sun was up, and shone hot upon them, that is, upon the tender blades, they were scorched by the warmth of his beams, and because they had no root — No room for taking root in so shallow a bed of earth, and lacked moisture, (so Luke,) they withered away and perished. Observe, if they had had sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and had not lacked moisture, the heat of the sun, however great, would not have caused them to wither, but rather would have promoted their growth. And some fell among thorns — Under the word thorns is included brambles, thistles, and every other kind of weed which is apt to spring up among corn, and to prevent its growth and fruitfulness. Weeds, of whatever kind, do not usually appear immediately when the corn is sown, nor perhaps till long after. The corn takes root, springs up, and perhaps even covers the ground, and bids fair for a plentiful crop, before they make their appearance: but as they are the natural product of the soil, they thrive better and grow faster than the corn, and soon overtop it. And, if they be suffered to remain, they absorb the moisture, and exhaust the fertilizing virtue of the ground; they also shade the corn from the kindly influences of the sun and rain, and so choke it that it has not room to expand itself. It therefore gradually declines, and at last dies away, and renders the husbandman’s labour, and the seed sown, fruitless. But other, the rest of the seed, fell into good ground, soft and ploughed up, not hard, unbroken, and trodden down, like a way-side; not a rocky place, but a deep soil; not a bed of thorns, brambles, and weeds, but ground purged of all such obstructions to fertility; and brought forth fruit — Being deeply rooted and nourished, it grew, and increased so as not only to produce an ear, but full and ripe corn in the ear, and that in rich abundance; some of it thirty times as much as the seed sown, some sixty, and some even a hundred times as much. Who hath ears to hear, let him — A proverbial expression used by our Lord, when he spake of things of very great importance, and which deserved peculiar attention. Such were the things now declared; they merited, and will merit, the most serious consideration of all who would not be forgetful or unfruitful hearers of the word of God, but would bring forth fruit worthy of their privileges.

6. Sun was up — The hot Oriental sun would soon wither the rapid and tender stock.

Verses 5, 6. Upon stony places. — The meaning is, upon that part of the field where the rock beneath was covered with only a thin stratum of earth; where, by reason of the warmth, the seed sprung up too soon, and for want of root, and the nourishment afforded by the deeper earth, it withered away. Epictetus has a similar allusion, though not illustrative of the doctrine of the text: “When the very early heats come on, the husbandmen are anxious lest the seed should shoot out too soon, and then presently be nipped by the cold. So thou, O man! take care not to aspire to glory before thy time: you will be killed with the cold, nay, you are already dead at the root, though there be a little flourishing appearance above ground. We must ripen according to nature’s rule and order.”

Verse 7. Among thorns] Where the earth was ploughed up, but the brambles and weeds had not been cleared away.

Verses 4-9. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side — By the side of a beaten path which lay through the ground he was sowing. This wayside being neither broken up by the plough nor hedged in, the seed that fell here lay uncovered, and was partly trodden down, and partly devoured by the fowls, Luke 8:5, so that no fruit could be expected. Some fell upon stony places, epi ta petrwdh, upon rocky places. Luke says, epi thn petran, upon the rock; where they had not much earth — Either above them to retard their springing, or under them to nourish their roots; and forthwith, euqewv, speedily, they sprung up, and looked very promising. And when the sun was up, and shone hot upon them, that is, upon the tender blades, they were scorched by the warmth of his beams, and because they had no root — No room for taking root in so shallow a bed of earth, and lacked moisture, (so Luke,) they withered away and perished. Observe, if they had had sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and had not lacked moisture, the heat of the sun, however great, would not have caused them to wither, but rather would have promoted their growth. And some fell among thorns — Under the word thorns is included brambles, thistles, and every other kind of weed which is apt to spring up among corn, and to prevent its growth and fruitfulness. Weeds, of whatever kind, do not usually appear immediately when the corn is sown, nor perhaps till long after. The corn takes root, springs up, and perhaps even covers the ground, and bids fair for a plentiful crop, before they make their appearance: but as they are the natural product of the soil, they thrive better and grow faster than the corn, and soon overtop it. And, if they be suffered to remain, they absorb the moisture, and exhaust the fertilizing virtue of the ground; they also shade the corn from the kindly influences of the sun and rain, and so choke it that it has not room to expand itself. It therefore gradually declines, and at last dies away, and renders the husbandman’s labour, and the seed sown, fruitless. But other, the rest of the seed, fell into good ground, soft and ploughed up, not hard, unbroken, and trodden down, like a way-side; not a rocky place, but a deep soil; not a bed of thorns, brambles, and weeds, but ground purged of all such obstructions to fertility; and brought forth fruit — Being deeply rooted and nourished, it grew, and increased so as not only to produce an ear, but full and ripe corn in the ear, and that in rich abundance; some of it thirty times as much as the seed sown, some sixty, and some even a hundred times as much. Who hath ears to hear, let him — A proverbial expression used by our Lord, when he spake of things of very great importance, and which deserved peculiar attention. Such were the things now declared; they merited, and will merit, the most serious consideration of all who would not be forgetful or unfruitful hearers of the word of God, but would bring forth fruit worthy of their privileges.

7. Some fell among thorns — Briers and brambles in hot countries have a quick and plentiful overgrowth. They crowd and choke every other form of vegetation.

“Every one who has been in Palestine must have been struck with the number of thorny shrubs and plants that abound there. The traveller finds them in his path, go where he may. Many of them are small, but some grow as high as a man’s head. The Rabbinical writers say that there are no less than twenty-two words in the Hebrew Bible denoting thorny and prickly plants. The prevalence of such shrubs, say agriculturists, shows a luxuriant soil. If proper care be not taken they soon get the upper hand, and spread in every direction. ‘I went by the field of the slothful; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof.’ Proverbs 24:30-31.” — Prof. Hackett.

Verse 7. Thorns. — Under this word are comprehended briers, weeds, and every other worthless plant which infests neglected fields, and chokes the growth of the grain.

Verse 8. Good ground] Where the earth was deep, the field well ploughed, and the brambles and weeds all removed. See more on Matthew 13:18, &c., and see on Luke 8:15. Some a hundred-fold.] For the elucidation of this text, I beg leave to introduce the following experiment. In 1816 I sowed, for a third crop, a field with oats, at Millbrook, in Lancashire; the grains weighed, on an average, 3/4 of a grain each. One grain produced three stalks with three ears: the largest had 68 grains in it, the second 26, and the third 25. Whole number of grains 119, which together weighed — 82 grs The root separately, after washing and drying, weighed — 13 1/2 The stalks and remaining leaves (for many had perished in the wet season) — 630 1/2

Weight of the whole produce of one grain of oats — 726 grs. which was 725 times and one quarter more than the original weight. The power of grain to multiply itself, even in the same year, is a subject as much of curiosity and astonishment as of importance and general utility. For the farther elucidation of this text, I shall give the following example from a practice in agriculture, or rural economy, which is termed filtering. On the 2nd of June, 1766, Mr. C. Miller, of Cambridge, sowed some grains of the common, red wheat; and on the 8th of August a single plant was taken up, and separated into 18 parts, and each planted separately: these plants having pushed out several side shoots, about the middle of September some of them were taken up and divided; and the rest between that time and October. This second division produced 67 plants. These plants remained through the winter, and another division of them, made between the middle of March and the 12th of April, produced 500 plants. They were divided no farther, but permitted to remain in the field. These plants were in general stronger than any of the wheat in the field. Some of them produced upwards of 100 ears from a single root and many of the ears measured seven inches in length, and contained between sixty and seventy grains. The whole number of ears produced from the single plant was 21,109, which yielded three pecks and three-quarters of clear corn, weighing 47lbs. 7oz., and, from a calculation made by counting the grains in an ounce, the whole number of grains was about 576,840. Mr. Miller thinks that, had he made a second division in the spring, the number of plants would have amounted to 2000. Who can help admiring the wisdom and providence of God in this single grain of corn! He has, in some sort, impressed on it an idea of his own infinity; and an idea which, like the subject to which it refers, confounds our imagination and reason. How infinitely great is God, even in his minor works.

Verses 4-9. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side — By the side of a beaten path which lay through the ground he was sowing. This wayside being neither broken up by the plough nor hedged in, the seed that fell here lay uncovered, and was partly trodden down, and partly devoured by the fowls, Luke 8:5, so that no fruit could be expected. Some fell upon stony places, epi ta petrwdh, upon rocky places. Luke says, epi thn petran, upon the rock; where they had not much earth — Either above them to retard their springing, or under them to nourish their roots; and forthwith, euqewv, speedily, they sprung up, and looked very promising. And when the sun was up, and shone hot upon them, that is, upon the tender blades, they were scorched by the warmth of his beams, and because they had no root — No room for taking root in so shallow a bed of earth, and lacked moisture, (so Luke,) they withered away and perished. Observe, if they had had sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and had not lacked moisture, the heat of the sun, however great, would not have caused them to wither, but rather would have promoted their growth. And some fell among thorns — Under the word thorns is included brambles, thistles, and every other kind of weed which is apt to spring up among corn, and to prevent its growth and fruitfulness. Weeds, of whatever kind, do not usually appear immediately when the corn is sown, nor perhaps till long after. The corn takes root, springs up, and perhaps even covers the ground, and bids fair for a plentiful crop, before they make their appearance: but as they are the natural product of the soil, they thrive better and grow faster than the corn, and soon overtop it. And, if they be suffered to remain, they absorb the moisture, and exhaust the fertilizing virtue of the ground; they also shade the corn from the kindly influences of the sun and rain, and so choke it that it has not room to expand itself. It therefore gradually declines, and at last dies away, and renders the husbandman’s labour, and the seed sown, fruitless. But other, the rest of the seed, fell into good ground, soft and ploughed up, not hard, unbroken, and trodden down, like a way-side; not a rocky place, but a deep soil; not a bed of thorns, brambles, and weeds, but ground purged of all such obstructions to fertility; and brought forth fruit — Being deeply rooted and nourished, it grew, and increased so as not only to produce an ear, but full and ripe corn in the ear, and that in rich abundance; some of it thirty times as much as the seed sown, some sixty, and some even a hundred times as much. Who hath ears to hear, let him — A proverbial expression used by our Lord, when he spake of things of very great importance, and which deserved peculiar attention. Such were the things now declared; they merited, and will merit, the most serious consideration of all who would not be forgetful or unfruitful hearers of the word of God, but would bring forth fruit worthy of their privileges.

§ 49. — THE SEVEN PARABLES, 1-52.

As Matthew has in chapters eight and nine exhibited our Lord as a performer of mighty works, namely, ten miracles, so now he here presents him as a parabolist. SEVEN PARABLES — FOUR at the sea side, and THREE indoors — are grouped together.

1. The same day — The day of the transaction of the last chapter. He delivered the parables of this discourse, at evening took the boat and left; and exhausted by the overwhelming labours of the day, he sunk to slumbers, which were disturbed by the storm, which he stilled by miracle. Went Jesus out of the house — He had been invited to the house of a Pharisee, where he had much discourse. But very probably he went to his own house, from which he departed to the seashore, as here described, sat by the sea side first, probably, with his disciples; but the multitudes soon gathered around him and them. As appears by Mark 4:1, with the notes, he was obliged to enter into the prepared boat and sit in the boat in the sea.

Jesus… sat — While he sat, we find by the next verse that the multitude stood. It was customary in our Saviour’s day for the teacher to sit and the disciple to stand. Rabbi Gamaliel was probably the first who by arrangement took an elevated seat, and allowed his pupils to sit upon seats lower than his own platform. So Saul of Tarsus was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. By the sea side — Of Lake Gennesaret. In regard to the beach of Lake Gennesaret consult our note on Matthew 4:13. Stanley says: “The lake is almost completely surrounded by mountains; but those mountains never come down into the water, but always have a beach of greater or less extent along the water’s edge. It is on this smooth margin ‘beside the Lake Gennesaret’ that we must imagine Jesus ‘standing,’ then stepping into one of the two boats, and bidding Peter launch out into the deep. Luke 5:1, 2, 4. From the boat, that lay close by for the purpose, he addressed them his teaching in parables, and they stood on the beach.”

Verse 8. Some a hundred-fold, &c. — The ground which yielded these returns was good and deep, and kept free from weeds; but not equally rich; yet, in all, the produce was abundantly remunerative. A hundred-fold increase was probably not the usual return on the best soils of Palestine, fruitful as it was; but still sufficiently common to justify the terms of the parable. Thus Isaac sowed in the land of the Philistines, “and received in that same year a hundred-fold,” Genesis 26:12. Pliny states that Sicily and Egypt easily produced a hundred-fold; and that from Africa four hundred stalks were sent to Augustus, raised from one grain, and three hundred and sixty to Nero.

Verse 9. Who hath ears to hear, &c.] Let every person who feels the necessity of being instructed in the things which concern his soul’s welfare pay attention to what is spoken, and he shall become wise unto salvation.

Verses 4-9. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side — By the side of a beaten path which lay through the ground he was sowing. This wayside being neither broken up by the plough nor hedged in, the seed that fell here lay uncovered, and was partly trodden down, and partly devoured by the fowls, Luke 8:5, so that no fruit could be expected. Some fell upon stony places, epi ta petrwdh, upon rocky places. Luke says, epi thn petran, upon the rock; where they had not much earth — Either above them to retard their springing, or under them to nourish their roots; and forthwith, euqewv, speedily, they sprung up, and looked very promising. And when the sun was up, and shone hot upon them, that is, upon the tender blades, they were scorched by the warmth of his beams, and because they had no root — No room for taking root in so shallow a bed of earth, and lacked moisture, (so Luke,) they withered away and perished. Observe, if they had had sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and had not lacked moisture, the heat of the sun, however great, would not have caused them to wither, but rather would have promoted their growth. And some fell among thorns — Under the word thorns is included brambles, thistles, and every other kind of weed which is apt to spring up among corn, and to prevent its growth and fruitfulness. Weeds, of whatever kind, do not usually appear immediately when the corn is sown, nor perhaps till long after. The corn takes root, springs up, and perhaps even covers the ground, and bids fair for a plentiful crop, before they make their appearance: but as they are the natural product of the soil, they thrive better and grow faster than the corn, and soon overtop it. And, if they be suffered to remain, they absorb the moisture, and exhaust the fertilizing virtue of the ground; they also shade the corn from the kindly influences of the sun and rain, and so choke it that it has not room to expand itself. It therefore gradually declines, and at last dies away, and renders the husbandman’s labour, and the seed sown, fruitless. But other, the rest of the seed, fell into good ground, soft and ploughed up, not hard, unbroken, and trodden down, like a way-side; not a rocky place, but a deep soil; not a bed of thorns, brambles, and weeds, but ground purged of all such obstructions to fertility; and brought forth fruit — Being deeply rooted and nourished, it grew, and increased so as not only to produce an ear, but full and ripe corn in the ear, and that in rich abundance; some of it thirty times as much as the seed sown, some sixty, and some even a hundred times as much. Who hath ears to hear, let him — A proverbial expression used by our Lord, when he spake of things of very great importance, and which deserved peculiar attention. Such were the things now declared; they merited, and will merit, the most serious consideration of all who would not be forgetful or unfruitful hearers of the word of God, but would bring forth fruit worthy of their privileges.

Ver. 9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. This is a just and happy turn of thought, calling back the mind to review the truths just presented by the speaker. John, in the revelation, often follows this form of speech at the close of a sentence. In the Voluspa, the most ancient of northern poems, we find the like recal at the close of several stanzas. Bitith enn etha hvath. Say, ye warrior gods, — “Conceive ye this?” Moses laments that the Lord had not given the people an ear to hear, though they had known his works. Deuteronomy 29:4.

9. Ears to hear — Who hath faculties, let him remember that he is responsible for their use. Whoever has powers of attention, let him now exert them; lessons most important for him to hear will now be presented.

Verses 10-12. The disciples — Mark says, oi peri auton sun toiv dwdeka, those that were about him, with the twelve, that is, not only the apostles, but such other well-disposed persons as generally attended on Christ’s ministry, and were desirous of learning of him; came to him, namely, when the assembly was broke up, and Christ had delivered many other parables afterward mentioned; for they came when he was alone, Mark 4:10, and said, Why speakest thou to them in parables? — Although not only the Jewish doctors, but all the wise men of the East taught by parables, yet because this way of teaching had in it somewhat of obscurity, and the doctrine contained under the veil of these allegories was not so easy to be apprehended as if it had been exhibited plainly and openly, without such a cover, therefore the disciples inquire why he used this more obscure, and to many unintelligible, mode of teaching. He said, Because it is given to you — Who have forsaken all to follow me, whose minds are divested of prejudice, and open to receive the truth in the love of it; to know, experimentally and practically, as well as to understand, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven — That is, the more deep and spiritual matters relating to the Messiah’s kingdom, especially such as respect inward and vital religion. For the truths here alluded to, and explained in the interpretation of this parable, are as far from being mysteries, in the common acceptation of the word, that is, doctrines incomprehensible, as any thing in the world can be. But to them — Who have not been prevailed upon to forsake any thing in order to follow me, and who are obstinate to such a degree that they will not hear any thing contrary to their prejudices and passions, it is not given: For whosoever hath — That is, improves what he has, uses the grace and blessings imparted according to the design of the Giver, to him shall be given — More and more, in proportion to that improvement. But whosoever hath not — Improves it not, from him shall be taken even what he hath — Here is the grand rule of God’s dealing with the children of men: a rule, fixed as the pillars of heaven. This is the key to all his providential dispensations, as will appear to men and angels in that day.

Ver. 10. Why speakest thou to them in parables. In Professor George Campbell’s new translation of the four gospels, the answer reads thus, “Because it is your privilege, and not theirs, to know the secrets of the reign of heaven. For to him that hath, more shall be given, and he shall abound; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken. For this reason I speak to them in parables; because they seeing, see not; and hearing, hear not, nor regard; inasmuch as this prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in them. Ye may indeed listen, but will not understand; ye may look, but will not perceive. For this people’s understanding is stupified, their ears are deafened, and their eyes they have closed; lest seeing with their eyes, hearing with their ears, and apprehending with their minds, they should repent, and I should reclaim them.” This version is correct, and it coincides with the LXX, as quoted by St. Paul in Acts 28:25, 26. It proves that the ear must be gained by similies before the mind can be attracted by sublimer truths, just as we prepare children by fables to relish the beauties of enlightened discourse.

10. Why speakest thou… in parables — It was (evidently from this question) a new form of our Lord’s teaching. Why was it now so plentifully adopted as to furnish seven in a single discourse? Unto them — That is, to the people. This included no doubt the cavillers who had abused his more literal teaching.

Verses 10-13. Why speakest thou to them in parables? &c. — This is the first instance, recorded by St. Matthew, of Christ’s speaking in such parables as required explanation, and of his reserving that to his disciples in private. Many parables, either of the longer or shorter kind, he had already spoken in the presence of the multitudes, the meaning of which being sufficiently obvious, the disciples did not feel it necessary to make farther inquiries of him in private as to their purport. Here, however, they plainly perceived that he did not intend fully to explain himself indiscriminately to his hearers; which led them to ask the reason of this new practice. Connecting this circumstance with what he had a little before said of the rapidity with which that “generation,” the body of the people who had attended on his ministry, had been becoming of a worse disposition, more opposed to his doctrine, and more at enmity with his person and work, we see the force of the reason he assigns for not speaking to them so clearly as formerly, on subjects for which they had less reverence, and which only provoked in many the enmity of the carnal heart. To the disciples therefore it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, those doctrines which had been kept secret from former ages, but which Christ was now appointed to reveal; but to the others it was not given. Why? Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, nor understand. They had seen the greatest miracles, yet, as though they had not seen them, remained unmoved and unconvinced; and they had heard the doctrines of Christ, and were as though they had not heard them, — they had not only paid no attention to understand them fully, but, as far as they knew them, they had rejected them; their case therefore had become hopeless, and they were now by a righteous decision, grounded upon a principle of the moral government of God, deprived of the advantages they had abused, at least in part, and preparatory to their total dereliction. That principle is laid down in verse 12, For whosoever hath, HATH PROFITABLY, implying a previous use of what had been imparted, to him shall be given, and he shall have greater abundance of instruction, illumination, and grace. This was the case with the disciples: having improved their opportunities of attending on Christ’s ministry, with humbleness of mind, and sincerity, they were finally led “into all truth,” and made partakers of the full salvation of the Gospel. But whosoever hath not, in the sense of profitably improving what had been communicated, from him shall be taken away even that he hath; that which was imparted for his edification and salvation: he shall be utterly deprived of those means and opportunities of salvation which he has neglected and slighted. This was accomplished in the unbelieving Jews, whose means of illumination, through his teaching, Christ now began to diminish, and from which they were at length entirely shut out. Thus they became a standing warning to all in future time to whom the offers of salvation by Christ should be sent; for whoever despises or neglects such advantages, shall either finally see them withdrawn, or be suffered to sink into an obdurate and blinded state of mind which shall render them all inefficacious.

V. 11. To you, who have, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven-The deep things which flesh and blood cannot reveal, pertaining to the inward, present kingdom of heaven. But to them who have not, it is not given-Therefore speak I in parables, that ye may understand, while they do not understand.

Verse 11. It is given unto you to know the mysteries, &c.] By mysteries, here, we may understand not only things concerning the scheme of salvation, which had not yet been revealed; but also the prophetic declarations concerning the future state of the Christian Church, expressed in the ensuing parables. It is not given to them to know the purport and design of these things-they are gross of heart, earthly and sensual, and do not improve the light they have received: but to you it is given, because I have appointed you not only to be the first preachers of my Gospel to sinners, but also the persons who shall transmit accounts of all these things to posterity. The knowledge of these mysteries, in the first instance, can be given only to a few; but when these faithfully write and publish what they have heard and seen, unto the world, then the science of salvation is revealed and addressed to all. From Matthew 13:17, we learn, that many prophets and righteous men had desired to see and hear these things, but had not that privilege-to them it was not given; not because God designed to exclude them from salvation, but because HE who knew all things knew, either that they were not proper persons, or that that was not the proper time: for the choice of the PERSONS by whom, and the choice of the TIME in which it is most proper to reveal Divine things, must ever rest with the all-wise God.

Verses 10-12. The disciples — Mark says, oi peri auton sun toiv dwdeka, those that were about him, with the twelve, that is, not only the apostles, but such other well-disposed persons as generally attended on Christ’s ministry, and were desirous of learning of him; came to him, namely, when the assembly was broke up, and Christ had delivered many other parables afterward mentioned; for they came when he was alone, Mark 4:10, and said, Why speakest thou to them in parables? — Although not only the Jewish doctors, but all the wise men of the East taught by parables, yet because this way of teaching had in it somewhat of obscurity, and the doctrine contained under the veil of these allegories was not so easy to be apprehended as if it had been exhibited plainly and openly, without such a cover, therefore the disciples inquire why he used this more obscure, and to many unintelligible, mode of teaching. He said, Because it is given to you — Who have forsaken all to follow me, whose minds are divested of prejudice, and open to receive the truth in the love of it; to know, experimentally and practically, as well as to understand, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven — That is, the more deep and spiritual matters relating to the Messiah’s kingdom, especially such as respect inward and vital religion. For the truths here alluded to, and explained in the interpretation of this parable, are as far from being mysteries, in the common acceptation of the word, that is, doctrines incomprehensible, as any thing in the world can be. But to them — Who have not been prevailed upon to forsake any thing in order to follow me, and who are obstinate to such a degree that they will not hear any thing contrary to their prejudices and passions, it is not given: For whosoever hath — That is, improves what he has, uses the grace and blessings imparted according to the design of the Giver, to him shall be given — More and more, in proportion to that improvement. But whosoever hath not — Improves it not, from him shall be taken even what he hath — Here is the grand rule of God’s dealing with the children of men: a rule, fixed as the pillars of heaven. This is the key to all his providential dispensations, as will appear to men and angels in that day.

Ver. 11. But to them it is not given. Christ, says Chrysostom, speaks thus, not as though he designed to introduce the doctrine of fate and necessity, but to show that wicked men are the cause of their own evils, and that the knowledge of divine mysteries is the gift of God.

11. Given unto you to know the mysteries — Mysteries to others but plain truths to you, because I furnish you the key. The parabolic form veils the truth from them, but unveils the truth to you. See introductory note of the chapter. The kingdom of heaven — It is to be noted that these seven parables all have for their subject the kingdom of God: its planting principles, developments, and final victory.

Verses 10-13. Why speakest thou to them in parables? &c. — This is the first instance, recorded by St. Matthew, of Christ’s speaking in such parables as required explanation, and of his reserving that to his disciples in private. Many parables, either of the longer or shorter kind, he had already spoken in the presence of the multitudes, the meaning of which being sufficiently obvious, the disciples did not feel it necessary to make farther inquiries of him in private as to their purport. Here, however, they plainly perceived that he did not intend fully to explain himself indiscriminately to his hearers; which led them to ask the reason of this new practice. Connecting this circumstance with what he had a little before said of the rapidity with which that “generation,” the body of the people who had attended on his ministry, had been becoming of a worse disposition, more opposed to his doctrine, and more at enmity with his person and work, we see the force of the reason he assigns for not speaking to them so clearly as formerly, on subjects for which they had less reverence, and which only provoked in many the enmity of the carnal heart. To the disciples therefore it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, those doctrines which had been kept secret from former ages, but which Christ was now appointed to reveal; but to the others it was not given. Why? Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, nor understand. They had seen the greatest miracles, yet, as though they had not seen them, remained unmoved and unconvinced; and they had heard the doctrines of Christ, and were as though they had not heard them, — they had not only paid no attention to understand them fully, but, as far as they knew them, they had rejected them; their case therefore had become hopeless, and they were now by a righteous decision, grounded upon a principle of the moral government of God, deprived of the advantages they had abused, at least in part, and preparatory to their total dereliction. That principle is laid down in verse 12, For whosoever hath, HATH PROFITABLY, implying a previous use of what had been imparted, to him shall be given, and he shall have greater abundance of instruction, illumination, and grace. This was the case with the disciples: having improved their opportunities of attending on Christ’s ministry, with humbleness of mind, and sincerity, they were finally led “into all truth,” and made partakers of the full salvation of the Gospel. But whosoever hath not, in the sense of profitably improving what had been communicated, from him shall be taken away even that he hath; that which was imparted for his edification and salvation: he shall be utterly deprived of those means and opportunities of salvation which he has neglected and slighted. This was accomplished in the unbelieving Jews, whose means of illumination, through his teaching, Christ now began to diminish, and from which they were at length entirely shut out. Thus they became a standing warning to all in future time to whom the offers of salvation by Christ should be sent; for whoever despises or neglects such advantages, shall either finally see them withdrawn, or be suffered to sink into an obdurate and blinded state of mind which shall render them all inefficacious.

V. 12. Whosoever hath-That is, improves what he hath, uses the grace given according to the design of the giver;

to him shall be given-More and more, in proportion to that improvement. But whosoever hath not-Improves it not,

from him shall be taken even what he hath-Here is the grand rule of God's dealing with the children of men: a rule fixed as the pillars of heaven. This is the key to all his providential dispensations; as will appear to men and angels in that day. Matthew 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26.

Verse 12. Whosoever hath, to him shall be given] This is an allusion to a common custom in all countries: he who possesses much or is rich, to such a person, presents are ordinarily given.

Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.] That is, the poor man: he that has little may be easily made a prey of, and so lose his little. This is a proper sense of the word ecein in sacred and profane writers. In 1 Corinthians 11:22, touv mh econtav, those who have not, means simply THE POOR: and Aristophanes uses touv exontav, those that have, for the RICH or OPULENT. See a variety of pertinent examples in Kypke on Luke 8:18. There is one example in Juvenal, Sat. iii. l. 208, 209, that expresses the whole of our Lords meaning, and is a beautiful illustration of this apparently difficult passage. NIL habuit Codrus: quis enim negat? et tamen illud Perdidit infelix TOTUM NIL.

“‘Tis true, poor Codrus NOTHING had to boast,

And yet poor Codrus ALL that NOTHING lost.”

Dryden.

Now what was this NOTHING which, the poet said, Codrus had and lost? The five preceding lines tell you.

Lectus erat Codro Procula minor, urceoli sex,

Ornamentum abaci; necnon et parvulus infra

Cantharus, et recubans sub eodem marmore Chiron;

Jamque vetus Græcos servabat cista libellos,

Et divina Opici rodebant carmina mures.

He had one small bed, six little pitchers, the ornament of a side-board; a small jug or tankard, the image of a centaur, and an old chest with some Greek books in it, on which the mice had already begun to make depredations. And all this he lost; probably by continuing, in spite of his destiny, to be a poet. So those who devote not the light and power which God has given them to the purposes for which he has granted these gifts, from them shall be taken away these unemployed or prostituted blessings. This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, which our Lord here uses to inform his disciples, that he who does not improve the first operations of grace, howsoever small, is in danger of losing not only all the possible product, but even the principal; for God delights to heap benefits on those who properly improve them. See Clarke’s note on “Luke 8:18”.

Verses 10-12. The disciples — Mark says, oi peri auton sun toiv dwdeka, those that were about him, with the twelve, that is, not only the apostles, but such other well-disposed persons as generally attended on Christ’s ministry, and were desirous of learning of him; came to him, namely, when the assembly was broke up, and Christ had delivered many other parables afterward mentioned; for they came when he was alone, Mark 4:10, and said, Why speakest thou to them in parables? — Although not only the Jewish doctors, but all the wise men of the East taught by parables, yet because this way of teaching had in it somewhat of obscurity, and the doctrine contained under the veil of these allegories was not so easy to be apprehended as if it had been exhibited plainly and openly, without such a cover, therefore the disciples inquire why he used this more obscure, and to many unintelligible, mode of teaching. He said, Because it is given to you — Who have forsaken all to follow me, whose minds are divested of prejudice, and open to receive the truth in the love of it; to know, experimentally and practically, as well as to understand, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven — That is, the more deep and spiritual matters relating to the Messiah’s kingdom, especially such as respect inward and vital religion. For the truths here alluded to, and explained in the interpretation of this parable, are as far from being mysteries, in the common acceptation of the word, that is, doctrines incomprehensible, as any thing in the world can be. But to them — Who have not been prevailed upon to forsake any thing in order to follow me, and who are obstinate to such a degree that they will not hear any thing contrary to their prejudices and passions, it is not given: For whosoever hath — That is, improves what he has, uses the grace and blessings imparted according to the design of the Giver, to him shall be given — More and more, in proportion to that improvement. But whosoever hath not — Improves it not, from him shall be taken even what he hath — Here is the grand rule of God’s dealing with the children of men: a rule, fixed as the pillars of heaven. This is the key to all his providential dispensations, as will appear to men and angels in that day.

12. Whosoever hath — That is, hath a willing and receptive disposition and purpose. Shall be given — Namely, the truth which he is willing to receive. Hath not — Hath not the receptivity. That he hath — The disciples had a receptive disposition, and so there was given to them the lesson and its explanation, the parable and its doctrine. The Jewish cavillers had not the receptive willingness, and so even that which they had was taken from them, namely, the opportunity of learning. It was either withheld, or wrapped in unexpressed enigmas. Abuse of privileges justly produces their withdrawment.

It is curiously true of any parable that to him that hath, namely, the key, to him shall be given, namely, the meaning. And the whole Gospel is a parable to him whose heart has not the key.

Verses 10-13. Why speakest thou to them in parables? &c. — This is the first instance, recorded by St. Matthew, of Christ’s speaking in such parables as required explanation, and of his reserving that to his disciples in private. Many parables, either of the longer or shorter kind, he had already spoken in the presence of the multitudes, the meaning of which being sufficiently obvious, the disciples did not feel it necessary to make farther inquiries of him in private as to their purport. Here, however, they plainly perceived that he did not intend fully to explain himself indiscriminately to his hearers; which led them to ask the reason of this new practice. Connecting this circumstance with what he had a little before said of the rapidity with which that “generation,” the body of the people who had attended on his ministry, had been becoming of a worse disposition, more opposed to his doctrine, and more at enmity with his person and work, we see the force of the reason he assigns for not speaking to them so clearly as formerly, on subjects for which they had less reverence, and which only provoked in many the enmity of the carnal heart. To the disciples therefore it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, those doctrines which had been kept secret from former ages, but which Christ was now appointed to reveal; but to the others it was not given. Why? Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, nor understand. They had seen the greatest miracles, yet, as though they had not seen them, remained unmoved and unconvinced; and they had heard the doctrines of Christ, and were as though they had not heard them, — they had not only paid no attention to understand them fully, but, as far as they knew them, they had rejected them; their case therefore had become hopeless, and they were now by a righteous decision, grounded upon a principle of the moral government of God, deprived of the advantages they had abused, at least in part, and preparatory to their total dereliction. That principle is laid down in verse 12, For whosoever hath, HATH PROFITABLY, implying a previous use of what had been imparted, to him shall be given, and he shall have greater abundance of instruction, illumination, and grace. This was the case with the disciples: having improved their opportunities of attending on Christ’s ministry, with humbleness of mind, and sincerity, they were finally led “into all truth,” and made partakers of the full salvation of the Gospel. But whosoever hath not, in the sense of profitably improving what had been communicated, from him shall be taken away even that he hath; that which was imparted for his edification and salvation: he shall be utterly deprived of those means and opportunities of salvation which he has neglected and slighted. This was accomplished in the unbelieving Jews, whose means of illumination, through his teaching, Christ now began to diminish, and from which they were at length entirely shut out. Thus they became a standing warning to all in future time to whom the offers of salvation by Christ should be sent; for whoever despises or neglects such advantages, shall either finally see them withdrawn, or be suffered to sink into an obdurate and blinded state of mind which shall render them all inefficacious.

V. 13. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see not-In pursuance of this general rule, I do not give more knowledge to this people, be. cause they use not that which they have already: having all the means of seeing, hearing, and understanding, they use none of them: they do not effectually see, or hear, or understand any thing.

Verse 13. Therefore speak I to them in parables] On this account, viz. to lead them into a proper knowledge of God. I speak to them in parables, natural representations of spiritual truths, that they may be allured to inquire, and to find out the spirit, which is hidden under the letter; because, seeing the miracles which I have wrought, they see not, i.e. the end for which I have wrought them; and hearing my doctrines, they hear not, so as to profit by what is spoken; neither do they understand, oude suniousi, they do not lay their hearts to it. Is not this obviously our Lord’s meaning? Who can suppose that he would employ his time in speaking enigmatically to them, on purpose that they might not understand what was spoken? Could the God of truth and sincerity act thus? If he had designed to act otherwise, he might have saved his time and labour, and not spoken at all, which would have answered the same end, viz. to leave them in gross ignorance.

Verses 13-15. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not — In pursuance of this general rule, I do not give more knowledge to this people, because they use not that which they have already: having all the means of seeing, hearing, and understanding, they use none of them; they do not effectually see, or hear, or understand any thing. For instance, seeing my miracles, which are incontestable proofs of my divine mission, they are not convinced thereby that I am their long-expected Messiah: and hearing my discourses, they are not instructed by what they hear in the design of my coming, and the nature of my kingdom. Neither do they understand — My doctrine. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias — Which indeed was principally intended of the men of this generation. See note on Isaiah 6:9, 10. Which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand — Or rather, as the words are more properly rendered, ye will hear, but in nowise understand; that is, ye will surely hear; opportunities of hearing, all possible means of instruction, will be given you; yet they will profit you nothing. For this people’s heart is waxed gross — Epacunqh, is waxed fat, is sensual, stupid, and insensible. And their ears are dull of hearing — Barewv hkousan, they hear heavily, or with heavy ears, like persons half asleep. And their eyes they have closed — Namely, against the light. Observe, they themselves have done it, not God. In other words, They have benumbed or shut up all their spiritual senses, lest at any time they should see with their eyes — That light of divine knowledge which would put them to pain; and should hear with their ears — Those sacred truths which would convince them of sin; and should understand with their heart — Their real condition of guilt and depravity; and should be converted — Effectually turned to God in true repentance, living faith, and new obedience; and I should heal them — Of their spiritual diseases. They are unwilling to understand the things of God, and afraid, not desirous, that he should heal their souls, and save them from their sins.

13. Therefore — In order to take from them that which they have, namely, the means of understanding my doctrines merely to abuse them. In parables — Which will cover from their knowledge truths which will do them no good, but with which they will do harm. Because they seeing see not — Because that when the parable conceals the real meaning they see and hear the narrative, but perceive not the doctrine it embodies.

Verses 10-13. Why speakest thou to them in parables? &c. — This is the first instance, recorded by St. Matthew, of Christ’s speaking in such parables as required explanation, and of his reserving that to his disciples in private. Many parables, either of the longer or shorter kind, he had already spoken in the presence of the multitudes, the meaning of which being sufficiently obvious, the disciples did not feel it necessary to make farther inquiries of him in private as to their purport. Here, however, they plainly perceived that he did not intend fully to explain himself indiscriminately to his hearers; which led them to ask the reason of this new practice. Connecting this circumstance with what he had a little before said of the rapidity with which that “generation,” the body of the people who had attended on his ministry, had been becoming of a worse disposition, more opposed to his doctrine, and more at enmity with his person and work, we see the force of the reason he assigns for not speaking to them so clearly as formerly, on subjects for which they had less reverence, and which only provoked in many the enmity of the carnal heart. To the disciples therefore it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, those doctrines which had been kept secret from former ages, but which Christ was now appointed to reveal; but to the others it was not given. Why? Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, nor understand. They had seen the greatest miracles, yet, as though they had not seen them, remained unmoved and unconvinced; and they had heard the doctrines of Christ, and were as though they had not heard them, — they had not only paid no attention to understand them fully, but, as far as they knew them, they had rejected them; their case therefore had become hopeless, and they were now by a righteous decision, grounded upon a principle of the moral government of God, deprived of the advantages they had abused, at least in part, and preparatory to their total dereliction. That principle is laid down in verse 12, For whosoever hath, HATH PROFITABLY, implying a previous use of what had been imparted, to him shall be given, and he shall have greater abundance of instruction, illumination, and grace. This was the case with the disciples: having improved their opportunities of attending on Christ’s ministry, with humbleness of mind, and sincerity, they were finally led “into all truth,” and made partakers of the full salvation of the Gospel. But whosoever hath not, in the sense of profitably improving what had been communicated, from him shall be taken away even that he hath; that which was imparted for his edification and salvation: he shall be utterly deprived of those means and opportunities of salvation which he has neglected and slighted. This was accomplished in the unbelieving Jews, whose means of illumination, through his teaching, Christ now began to diminish, and from which they were at length entirely shut out. Thus they became a standing warning to all in future time to whom the offers of salvation by Christ should be sent; for whoever despises or neglects such advantages, shall either finally see them withdrawn, or be suffered to sink into an obdurate and blinded state of mind which shall render them all inefficacious.

V. 14. Hearing ye will hear, but in nowise understand-That is, Ye will surely hear. All possible means will be given you: yet they will profit you nothing; because your heart is sensual, stupid, and insensible; your spiritual senses are shut up; yea, you have closed your eyes against the light; as being unwilling to understand the things of God, and afraid, not desirous that he should heal you. Isaiah 6:9; John 12:40; Acts 28:26.

Verse 14. In them is fulfilled] anaplhroutai, Is AGAIN fulfilled: this proper meaning of the Greek word has been generally overlooked. The evangelist means, that as these words were fulfilled in the Jews, in the time of the Prophet Isaiah, so they are now again fulfilled in these their posterity, who exactly copy their fathers example. These awful words may be again fulfilled in us, if we take not warning by the things which these disobedient people have suffered.

By hearing ye shall hear] Jesus Christ shall be sent to you, his miracles ye shall fully see, and his doctrines ye shall distinctly hear; but God will not force you to receive the salvation which is offered.

Verses 13-15. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not — In pursuance of this general rule, I do not give more knowledge to this people, because they use not that which they have already: having all the means of seeing, hearing, and understanding, they use none of them; they do not effectually see, or hear, or understand any thing. For instance, seeing my miracles, which are incontestable proofs of my divine mission, they are not convinced thereby that I am their long-expected Messiah: and hearing my discourses, they are not instructed by what they hear in the design of my coming, and the nature of my kingdom. Neither do they understand — My doctrine. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias — Which indeed was principally intended of the men of this generation. See note on Isaiah 6:9, 10. Which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand — Or rather, as the words are more properly rendered, ye will hear, but in nowise understand; that is, ye will surely hear; opportunities of hearing, all possible means of instruction, will be given you; yet they will profit you nothing. For this people’s heart is waxed gross — Epacunqh, is waxed fat, is sensual, stupid, and insensible. And their ears are dull of hearing — Barewv hkousan, they hear heavily, or with heavy ears, like persons half asleep. And their eyes they have closed — Namely, against the light. Observe, they themselves have done it, not God. In other words, They have benumbed or shut up all their spiritual senses, lest at any time they should see with their eyes — That light of divine knowledge which would put them to pain; and should hear with their ears — Those sacred truths which would convince them of sin; and should understand with their heart — Their real condition of guilt and depravity; and should be converted — Effectually turned to God in true repentance, living faith, and new obedience; and I should heal them — Of their spiritual diseases. They are unwilling to understand the things of God, and afraid, not desirous, that he should heal their souls, and save them from their sins.

14. Esaias. (Isaiah 6:9-10.) Is fulfilled — It was a genetic description of character fulfilled equally truly by the Jew of the days of Isaiah, and the Jew of the days of Jesus. By the faculty of hearing ye shall hear the parable, but shall not understand its truth. Shall see the narrative of the parable, but shall not perceive its hidden doctrine.

Verses 14, 15. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias. — This prophecy is in Isaiah 6:9, 10. This quotation of St. Matthew nearly agrees with the Septuagint and with the Hebrew in sense, although the imperative verbs in the original are taken by the evangelists as indicatives. In thus following the Greek translation they show how the Hebrew mode of speaking, “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes,” was understood by the Jews; that they express not what the prophet would do himself, but what he would be the innocent occasion of being done; not what God designed to do or to be done, but what he, by virtue of his prescience, knew that the people would do themselves upon hearing the prophet’s message. The words were not only so understood by the translators of the Septuagint, and the evangelists; but also by the Chaldee paraphrast, and since by D. Kimchi and other Jewish commentators. As to the slight variation between the evangelists and the LXX., it may not only be again observed that the copies they used were in a more perfect state than the present; but also that as this version had only human authority, they did not servilely follow it. They had evidently in many of their quotations the Hebrew text before them, and often, probably, rendered that into the Greek of their own gospels, with more respect to the sense than to a literal translation. The words of Isaiah have been represented by many as having no other relation to the case of the Jews of our Lord’s time, than as expressing a strong resemblance between their character and those of the people to whom Isaiah was sent. The formula by which St. Matthew introduces it, is indeed less strong than in some instances already noticed; yet no argument can be built upon that, since it is one which declares a direct accomplishment of Isaiah’s words in the event. The compound verb anaplhrow, may not indeed, as some have thought, signify that these words were again fulfilled in the days of Christ, and may be allowed to have no more force than the verb in its simple form; but that our Lord refers to Isaiah’s words as a prediction accomplished in the Jews of his own age, as well as in those of the age of the prophet, rests upon stronger ground than verbal criticism. It is one of that class of prophecies which relate to a twofold event. It referred, first, to the obduracy of the Jews in rejecting God’s messages by his prophets until they were overtaken by the Divine judgments, so that “the cities should be wasted without inhabitant,” &c., an event which certainly followed in the desolation of the country by the army of Babylon. But to the same quotation used by St. Matthew, St. John adds, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him,” that is, of Christ; a sufficient proof that the inspired evangelists considered the prediction as referring ultimately and in the highest sense to the perverse conduct of the Jews, after the manifestation of the Messiah, which again issued in the destruction of their cities, and “the removing of men far away,” and a “great forsaking in the midst of the land,” according to the prediction. That it is a prophecy, uttered when the prophet had a view of “the glory of Christ,” we have the express testimony of the evangelists; and if so, it could only be a prophecy of the Messiah’s rejection by the Jews, and their subsequent punishment as a nation. By hearing ye shall hear. — Akoh akousete. This has been thought a Hebraism, and that the repetition forms a strong affirmation, — “Ye shall certainly hear,” &c. But it is a proverb not confined to the Jews. So Demosthenes: To thv paroimiav, orwntav mh oran, kai akouontav mh akouein, “As the proverb, Seeing not to see, and hearing not to hear.” Their heart is waxed gross, &c. — A gross or fat heart is a metaphor taken for that stupidity and sloth which is the result of sensual indulgence. To this is added, Their ears hear heavily, and they have closed their eyes. Here we have a most graphic illustration of a fat, sensual, besotted man, oppressed with gluttony and riot; who, scarcely half awake, is made to hear sounds which rouse not his heavy hearing, and listlessly to open his eyes upon some object, and drowsily again to close them; so that no thorough impression is made upon his understanding, and he has no perception of what he is reluctantly roused to behold, and understands not the sounds he hears; only that he is provoked at being disturbed. That state of indolent inattention, and carnal aversion to the spiritual doctrines of Christ, exhibited by a people besotted by their prejudices and their sins, is thus in a most striking manner portrayed.

Should be converted, and I should heal them. — Should turn to God, and obtain salvation; for conversion is in the New Testament used generally in the sense of an effectual turning of the will and affections to God, so as to SEEK him, which is the more common phrase of the Old Testament. To be HEALED expresses the moral restoration of the soul to the favour and image of God; a figure common in all languages. Thus in Mark this clause is expressed paraphrastically: “And their sins should be forgiven them.”

Verse 15. Heart is waxed gross] epacunqh, is become fat-inattentive stupid, insensible. They hear heavily with their ears-are half asleep while the salvation of God is preached unto them.

Their eyes they have closed] Totally and obstinately resisted the truth of God, and shut their eyes against the light.

Lest-they should see, &c.] Lest they should see their lost estate, and be obliged to turn unto God, and seek his salvation. His state is truly deplorable who is sick unto death, and yet is afraid of being cured. The fault is here totally in the people, and not at all in that God whose name is Mercy and whose nature is love.

Verses 13-15. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not — In pursuance of this general rule, I do not give more knowledge to this people, because they use not that which they have already: having all the means of seeing, hearing, and understanding, they use none of them; they do not effectually see, or hear, or understand any thing. For instance, seeing my miracles, which are incontestable proofs of my divine mission, they are not convinced thereby that I am their long-expected Messiah: and hearing my discourses, they are not instructed by what they hear in the design of my coming, and the nature of my kingdom. Neither do they understand — My doctrine. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias — Which indeed was principally intended of the men of this generation. See note on Isaiah 6:9, 10. Which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand — Or rather, as the words are more properly rendered, ye will hear, but in nowise understand; that is, ye will surely hear; opportunities of hearing, all possible means of instruction, will be given you; yet they will profit you nothing. For this people’s heart is waxed gross — Epacunqh, is waxed fat, is sensual, stupid, and insensible. And their ears are dull of hearing — Barewv hkousan, they hear heavily, or with heavy ears, like persons half asleep. And their eyes they have closed — Namely, against the light. Observe, they themselves have done it, not God. In other words, They have benumbed or shut up all their spiritual senses, lest at any time they should see with their eyes — That light of divine knowledge which would put them to pain; and should hear with their ears — Those sacred truths which would convince them of sin; and should understand with their heart — Their real condition of guilt and depravity; and should be converted — Effectually turned to God in true repentance, living faith, and new obedience; and I should heal them — Of their spiritual diseases. They are unwilling to understand the things of God, and afraid, not desirous, that he should heal their souls, and save them from their sins.

15. For this people’s heart is waxed gross — The reason is now given why those withholdings of truth are inflicted. The minds of the people had grown too gross to receive it. For instance, had the parable of the mustard seed been explained to the Pharisees as indicating that the Gospel would yet fill the earth, it would only have excited their additional hostility, and hastened their purpose of accusing him as intending to subvert the existing government. As their purpose had become too fixed, and their hearts too hard to enter into the spirit and plan of the kingdom of God, its teachings must remain mysteries to them. Dull of hearing — That is, of hearing what was most deeply essential to their good. Their eyes they have closed — It is they who have done it. Their blindness is wilful. They close their own eyes to the beauty of the Gospel, and therefore its real principles must be kept from them. I should heal them — As I would gladly do, if they would but allow it to be done.

It is the law of God’s spiritual kingdom, that resistance to truth hardens the heart. To brace their minds against the truth and to defend themselves in opposition to it, they arm themselves with countless falsehoods. Their minds thereby get into that state that it benefits them not; nay, even damages and condemns them. It may be then even a mercy to withhold it from them. They may use it to evil purposes, and it may bring them into greater sin. Or they may have so insulted it that they have by their own heinous guilt rendered themselves, like the damned in hell, unworthy of it.

Verses 14, 15. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias. — This prophecy is in Isaiah 6:9, 10. This quotation of St. Matthew nearly agrees with the Septuagint and with the Hebrew in sense, although the imperative verbs in the original are taken by the evangelists as indicatives. In thus following the Greek translation they show how the Hebrew mode of speaking, “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes,” was understood by the Jews; that they express not what the prophet would do himself, but what he would be the innocent occasion of being done; not what God designed to do or to be done, but what he, by virtue of his prescience, knew that the people would do themselves upon hearing the prophet’s message. The words were not only so understood by the translators of the Septuagint, and the evangelists; but also by the Chaldee paraphrast, and since by D. Kimchi and other Jewish commentators. As to the slight variation between the evangelists and the LXX., it may not only be again observed that the copies they used were in a more perfect state than the present; but also that as this version had only human authority, they did not servilely follow it. They had evidently in many of their quotations the Hebrew text before them, and often, probably, rendered that into the Greek of their own gospels, with more respect to the sense than to a literal translation. The words of Isaiah have been represented by many as having no other relation to the case of the Jews of our Lord’s time, than as expressing a strong resemblance between their character and those of the people to whom Isaiah was sent. The formula by which St. Matthew introduces it, is indeed less strong than in some instances already noticed; yet no argument can be built upon that, since it is one which declares a direct accomplishment of Isaiah’s words in the event. The compound verb anaplhrow, may not indeed, as some have thought, signify that these words were again fulfilled in the days of Christ, and may be allowed to have no more force than the verb in its simple form; but that our Lord refers to Isaiah’s words as a prediction accomplished in the Jews of his own age, as well as in those of the age of the prophet, rests upon stronger ground than verbal criticism. It is one of that class of prophecies which relate to a twofold event. It referred, first, to the obduracy of the Jews in rejecting God’s messages by his prophets until they were overtaken by the Divine judgments, so that “the cities should be wasted without inhabitant,” &c., an event which certainly followed in the desolation of the country by the army of Babylon. But to the same quotation used by St. Matthew, St. John adds, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him,” that is, of Christ; a sufficient proof that the inspired evangelists considered the prediction as referring ultimately and in the highest sense to the perverse conduct of the Jews, after the manifestation of the Messiah, which again issued in the destruction of their cities, and “the removing of men far away,” and a “great forsaking in the midst of the land,” according to the prediction. That it is a prophecy, uttered when the prophet had a view of “the glory of Christ,” we have the express testimony of the evangelists; and if so, it could only be a prophecy of the Messiah’s rejection by the Jews, and their subsequent punishment as a nation. By hearing ye shall hear. — Akoh akousete. This has been thought a Hebraism, and that the repetition forms a strong affirmation, — “Ye shall certainly hear,” &c. But it is a proverb not confined to the Jews. So Demosthenes: To thv paroimiav, orwntav mh oran, kai akouontav mh akouein, “As the proverb, Seeing not to see, and hearing not to hear.” Their heart is waxed gross, &c. — A gross or fat heart is a metaphor taken for that stupidity and sloth which is the result of sensual indulgence. To this is added, Their ears hear heavily, and they have closed their eyes. Here we have a most graphic illustration of a fat, sensual, besotted man, oppressed with gluttony and riot; who, scarcely half awake, is made to hear sounds which rouse not his heavy hearing, and listlessly to open his eyes upon some object, and drowsily again to close them; so that no thorough impression is made upon his understanding, and he has no perception of what he is reluctantly roused to behold, and understands not the sounds he hears; only that he is provoked at being disturbed. That state of indolent inattention, and carnal aversion to the spiritual doctrines of Christ, exhibited by a people besotted by their prejudices and their sins, is thus in a most striking manner portrayed.

Should be converted, and I should heal them. — Should turn to God, and obtain salvation; for conversion is in the New Testament used generally in the sense of an effectual turning of the will and affections to God, so as to SEEK him, which is the more common phrase of the Old Testament. To be HEALED expresses the moral restoration of the soul to the favour and image of God; a figure common in all languages. Thus in Mark this clause is expressed paraphrastically: “And their sins should be forgiven them.”

V. 16. But blessed are your eyes-For you both see and understand. You know how to prize the light which is given you. Luke 10:23.

Verse 16. But blessed are your eyes] Ye improve the light which God has given you; and you receive an increase of heavenly wisdom by every miracle and by every sermon.

Verses 16, 17. But blessed are your eyes, &c. — For you both see and hear, and understand. You have not only greater opportunities of instruction than others, but you both know how to prize, and are concerned to improve them. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets — Who prophesied of the coming of the Messiah; and righteous men — To whom God familiarly showed himself, and made known his will, as he did to Abraham and the patriarchs; and many kings, Luke 10:24; from whose seed the Messiah was to spring, and whose kingdoms and persons were types of him and his kingdom, have desired to see — Before their eyes, those things which ye thus see, and have not seen them, they only seeing them afar off in the promises made to them concerning these days. See Hebrews 11:13; and 1 Peter 1:11, 12.

Ver. 16, 17. Blessed are your eyes, for they see. The fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ, is the unsearchable riches of his glory. The eyes of our understanding being enlightened, we know what is the hope of our calling. We receive adoption and glory, we sit in heavenly places in Christ, and are admitted to the visions of God in the plan of our redemption. We behold with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image. In a word, the gospel gives us admission to the full scale of benedictions, reaching from earth to heaven, and from the blessings on the holy patriarchs, who longed to see the day of Christ, till the final blessing of the Father, which gives us admission to his everlasting kingdom.

16. Blessed are your eyes — You have loved the teacher and accepted the truth. They see — Your blessed eyes see not only the outside shell of truth, but the inner kernel. They hear — Not only the literal narrative of the parable, but its secret meaning. And that hidden meaning is the very substance of divine wisdom. It reveals the truths of the Messiah’s kingdom of grace on earth and of glory in heaven. It opens the truths of the Old Testament to the mind, and explains the mysteries dimly seen by the ancient prophets.

Verse 16. But blessed are your eyes, &c. — That is, HAPPY are you, because your eyes see, and your ears hear: your eyes and your ears, your attention and understanding, being rightly employed, are become the means of your true and eternal happiness.

Verse 17. Many prophets and righteous men] These lived by and died in the faith of the promised Messiah: the fulness of the time was not then come for his manifestation in the flesh. See also on Matthew 13:11.

Verses 16, 17. But blessed are your eyes, &c. — For you both see and hear, and understand. You have not only greater opportunities of instruction than others, but you both know how to prize, and are concerned to improve them. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets — Who prophesied of the coming of the Messiah; and righteous men — To whom God familiarly showed himself, and made known his will, as he did to Abraham and the patriarchs; and many kings, Luke 10:24; from whose seed the Messiah was to spring, and whose kingdoms and persons were types of him and his kingdom, have desired to see — Before their eyes, those things which ye thus see, and have not seen them, they only seeing them afar off in the promises made to them concerning these days. See Hebrews 11:13; and 1 Peter 1:11, 12.

Ver. 16, 17. Blessed are your eyes, for they see. The fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ, is the unsearchable riches of his glory. The eyes of our understanding being enlightened, we know what is the hope of our calling. We receive adoption and glory, we sit in heavenly places in Christ, and are admitted to the visions of God in the plan of our redemption. We behold with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image. In a word, the gospel gives us admission to the full scale of benedictions, reaching from earth to heaven, and from the blessings on the holy patriarchs, who longed to see the day of Christ, till the final blessing of the Father, which gives us admission to his everlasting kingdom.

17. Many prophets and righteous men — The times of the Messiah, his character and kingdom, were all a matter of most profound interest to the Old Testament saints. All these were now being revealed to the humble and obedient apostles of our Lord. the men of old saw them only by faith in types, shadows, and dim intimations; the Jews rejected, but the simple disciples received them in blessed faith.

Verse 17. Many prophets and righteous men, &c. — St. Luke says, “Prophets and kings,” because many of these righteous men were of elevated rank, as Abraham, Melchizedek, Moses, David, and Solomon. The words, however, include all the ancient saints, who earnestly desired to see Messiah, to hear his words, to receive that fulness of grace which they knew he was appointed to convey, to understand more clearly those evangelical mysteries which were hidden under the veil of symbolical prophecies and types, and to witness the establishment of his kingdom. “These all died in the faith” that the great promise would be fulfilled, but were not permitted to witness it. “Prophets,” says Maimonides, “have wished for the days of Messiah; and excellent men have eagerly expected them.” See note on Luke 10:24.

Verses 18, 19. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower — A parable which our Lord judged to be so important that he introduced it with a double demand of attention, Hearken, behold; Mark 4:3; and concluded it with a third, and still more solemn demand thereof, who hath ears to hear, let him hear; and here, proceeding to the explanation of it, he calls for attention the fourth time. And the reason of this is evident: the parable sets before us, in a summary point of view, all the grand hinderances of our bearing fruit, and that in the same order in which they occur. The first danger is, lest the birds should devour the seed, or it should be trodden down. If it escape this, there is then another danger, namely, lest it be scorched, and wither away. It is long after this that the thorns spring up and choke the good seed. A vast number of those who hear the word of God, receive the seed as by the way-side. Of those who do not lose it by the birds, yet many receive it as on stony places. Many of them who receive it on a better soil, yet suffer the thorns to grow up and choke it: so that few even of these endure to the end, and bear fruit unto perfection: yet in all these cases, it is not the will of God that hinders, but their own voluntary perverseness. When any one heareth, &c. — The parable, it must be observed, only concerns the hearers of the gospel. As to those who decline, or neglect to hear it, their portion is frequently given them elsewhere, and their danger and misery declared with sufficient clearness; the word of the kingdom — Namely, of the kingdom of Christ, generally termed in the gospels, the kingdom of God, or of heaven: the word which describes the nature, and shows the excellency and necessity of the kingdom of grace, preparatory to that of glory, and points out the way leading thereto. See notes on Romans 14:17; and Mark 1:15. This is the good seed, which every sower sent by Jesus Christ will be careful to sow. Not the chaff of metaphysical speculations, of human traditions, and empty notions, nor the light corn of mere moral doctrines, much less the tares of superstitious injunctions, or of enthusiastical, or Pharisaic, or antinomian delusions; but the solid and well-bodied grain of the essential truths of the gospel of Christ. And understandeth it not — For the truths that are not understood, how often soever they are heard, are in this parable fitly compared to the seed which lies uncovered on the surface of the ground, exposed to be instantly picked up by the fowls of heaven. But why is not the word of the kingdom understood? Either, 1st, because, while delivered, it is not attended to; or, 2d, because it is not heard in a spirit of prayer for divine illumination, without which divine things are not understood, Luke 24:45; 1 Corinthians 2:11, 14. But the Greek expression, mh sunientov, may with equal propriety be rendered considereth it not. Considering or meditating upon the word heard, is like harrowing in and covering up the seed sown on the ploughed ground; in consequence whereof, and not otherwise, imbibing moisture from the earth, it vegetates and springs up. When the word is not thus understood and considered, then cometh the wicked one; Satan cometh immediately; (so Mark;) either inwardly filling the mind with thoughts of other things, and exciting earthly and carnal desires and dispositions in the heart; or by his agents, such as all they are that introduce other subjects when people should be considering what they have heard. And catcheth away that which was sown in his heart — Which was intended deeply to impress and sink into it; and to remain, not only in the understanding and memory, but also in the affections, as a seed of true piety and virtue. And now the seed, the truths heard, being taken away, with the good impressions produced thereby, no fruit is to be looked for. It is justly observed here by Dr. Whitby, that this industry of Satan to snatch the word out of our hearts, as it discovers his enmity against the gospel, so doth it highly commend the excellency and efficacy of it: for were it not of great importance to preserve it there, he would not be so industrious to snatch it thence. And were it not, when there, a powerful instrument to work within us that faith which purifies the heart, why doth he do this lest we should believe? See Luke 8:12. This is he that receiveth seed by the way-side — And a great proportion of most congregations are of this description.

18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower — It was important for the disciples and for us, that the first and some others of the parables should be explained, in order to furnish the key, not only to them but to other parables.

The parable of the sower divides the hearers of the Gospel into four classes. 1. The mere unintelligent hearer, who hears but receives not. 2. The shallow hearer, whose emotions are superficially touched, but whose heart is still hard. 3. The hearer whose heart is fully right, but is at last conquered by outer temptation. 4. The persevering and fruitful receiver of the word. Of the four classes, alas! only one can be saved.

V. 19. When any one heareth the word, and considereth it not-The first and most general cause of unfruitfulness.

The wicked one cometh-Either inwardly; filling the mind with thoughts of other things; or by his agent. Such are all they that introduce other subjects, when men should be considering what they have heard.

Verse 19. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom] Viz. the preaching of the Gospel of Christ.

And understandeth it not] mh sunientov, perhaps more properly, regardeth it not, does not lay his heart to it.

The wicked one] o ponhrov, from ponov, labour, toil, he who distresses and torments the soul. Mark, Mark 4:15, calls him o satanav, the adversary or opposer, because he resists men in all their purposes of amendment, and, to the utmost of his power opposes, in order to frustrate, the influences of Divine grace upon the heart. In the parallel place in Luke, Luke 8:12, he is called o diabolov, the devil, from diaballein, to shoot, or dart through. In allusion to this meaning of the name, St. Paul, Ephesians 6:16, speaks of the fiery DARTS of the wicked one. It is worthy of remark, that the three evangelists should use each a different appellative of this mortal enemy of mankind; probably to show that the devil, with all his powers and properties, opposes every thing that tends to the salvation of the soul.

Catcheth away] Makes the utmost haste to pick up the good seed, lest it should take root in the heart.

A careless inattentive hearer is compared to the way side-his heart is an open road, where evil affections, and foolish and hurtful desires, continually pass and repass, without either notice or restraint. “A heart where Satan has” (as one terms it) “ingress, egress, regress, and progress: in a word, the devil’s thoroughfare.”

Verses 18, 19. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower — A parable which our Lord judged to be so important that he introduced it with a double demand of attention, Hearken, behold; Mark 4:3; and concluded it with a third, and still more solemn demand thereof, who hath ears to hear, let him hear; and here, proceeding to the explanation of it, he calls for attention the fourth time. And the reason of this is evident: the parable sets before us, in a summary point of view, all the grand hinderances of our bearing fruit, and that in the same order in which they occur. The first danger is, lest the birds should devour the seed, or it should be trodden down. If it escape this, there is then another danger, namely, lest it be scorched, and wither away. It is long after this that the thorns spring up and choke the good seed. A vast number of those who hear the word of God, receive the seed as by the way-side. Of those who do not lose it by the birds, yet many receive it as on stony places. Many of them who receive it on a better soil, yet suffer the thorns to grow up and choke it: so that few even of these endure to the end, and bear fruit unto perfection: yet in all these cases, it is not the will of God that hinders, but their own voluntary perverseness. When any one heareth, &c. — The parable, it must be observed, only concerns the hearers of the gospel. As to those who decline, or neglect to hear it, their portion is frequently given them elsewhere, and their danger and misery declared with sufficient clearness; the word of the kingdom — Namely, of the kingdom of Christ, generally termed in the gospels, the kingdom of God, or of heaven: the word which describes the nature, and shows the excellency and necessity of the kingdom of grace, preparatory to that of glory, and points out the way leading thereto. See notes on Romans 14:17; and Mark 1:15. This is the good seed, which every sower sent by Jesus Christ will be careful to sow. Not the chaff of metaphysical speculations, of human traditions, and empty notions, nor the light corn of mere moral doctrines, much less the tares of superstitious injunctions, or of enthusiastical, or Pharisaic, or antinomian delusions; but the solid and well-bodied grain of the essential truths of the gospel of Christ. And understandeth it not — For the truths that are not understood, how often soever they are heard, are in this parable fitly compared to the seed which lies uncovered on the surface of the ground, exposed to be instantly picked up by the fowls of heaven. But why is not the word of the kingdom understood? Either, 1st, because, while delivered, it is not attended to; or, 2d, because it is not heard in a spirit of prayer for divine illumination, without which divine things are not understood, Luke 24:45; 1 Corinthians 2:11, 14. But the Greek expression, mh sunientov, may with equal propriety be rendered considereth it not. Considering or meditating upon the word heard, is like harrowing in and covering up the seed sown on the ploughed ground; in consequence whereof, and not otherwise, imbibing moisture from the earth, it vegetates and springs up. When the word is not thus understood and considered, then cometh the wicked one; Satan cometh immediately; (so Mark;) either inwardly filling the mind with thoughts of other things, and exciting earthly and carnal desires and dispositions in the heart; or by his agents, such as all they are that introduce other subjects when people should be considering what they have heard. And catcheth away that which was sown in his heart — Which was intended deeply to impress and sink into it; and to remain, not only in the understanding and memory, but also in the affections, as a seed of true piety and virtue. And now the seed, the truths heard, being taken away, with the good impressions produced thereby, no fruit is to be looked for. It is justly observed here by Dr. Whitby, that this industry of Satan to snatch the word out of our hearts, as it discovers his enmity against the gospel, so doth it highly commend the excellency and efficacy of it: for were it not of great importance to preserve it there, he would not be so industrious to snatch it thence. And were it not, when there, a powerful instrument to work within us that faith which purifies the heart, why doth he do this lest we should believe? See Luke 8:12. This is he that receiveth seed by the way-side — And a great proportion of most congregations are of this description.

19. Heareth… and understandeth it not — So the Jewish outsider heard the parable, but it was a mere tale to him. He penetrated not the interior meaning and power. And it is wonderful how little the careless hearer of the Gospel in a Christian land, who attends church, as a form, from Sabbath to Sabbath, really understands the Gospel. When he afterwards becomes convicted of sin, the simplest truths have to be repeated and explained, which he has heard with his ear a hundred times. The truth has indeed fallen upon his ear like seed on the solid surface of a beaten path; it has lain ready for the devil to carry off and leave not a trace behind.

Verse 19. And understandeth it not. — Sunihmi properly signifies “to consider, think, lay to heart.”

The wicked one. — St. Mark says, “Satan cometh immediately,” and catcheth away that which was sown. Here the promptitude of the enemy, — he cometh IMMEDIATELY, and his hastily SEIZING and GATHERING UP the seed, forcibly express the malignant industry of Satan, and his eagerness to turn away the attention of men from the salutary truths they hear, lest they should make an effectual impression, and, like seed, strike root in the soil of the conscience and affections. He is well aware how fatal to his dominion over the soul a careful and serious consideration of the import of the word of God must prove, and therefore sets himself at once to prevent it. Our own prejudices, levity, sloth, or the distractions produced by outward things, have this tendency; but upon all these, as instruments, the busy hand of the destroyer of souls is always laid to give them an efficacy for evil which they would otherwise not possess.

This is he which received, &c. — The phrase in the Greek is elliptical; and outov esti seems to denote this is the character signified by the seed sown by the wayside.

V. 20. The seed sown on stony places, therefore sprang up soon, because it did not sink deep, Matthew 13:5.

He receiveth it with joy-Perhaps with transport, with ecstacy: struck with the beauty of truth, and drawn by the preventing grace of God.

Verse 20. But he that received the seed into stony places-is he] That is, is a fit emblem of that man who, hearing the Gospel, is affected with its beauty and excellency, and immediately receiveth it with joy-is glad to hear what God has done to make man happy.

Verses 20, 21. He that received the seed into stony, rather, rocky, places — Where the bed of earth was very shallow, is he that heareth the word — Hears it with attention, and in a spirit of prayer, sincerely desiring that the eyes of his understanding may be opened; nay, and understands what he hears, and even seriously considers it afterward. For he is said, Luke 8:13, to believe for a while, and here to receive it with joy; being struck, doubtless, with the beauty of the truth, and drawn by the preventing grace of God. Yet hath he not root in himself — No deep work of grace in his soul; no real change in the ground of his heart. He is not truly regenerated and made a new creature in Christ. The consequence is, he only endureth for a while — Continues to profess an attachment to the truth, as long as the truth is held in esteem, and proceeds on, apparently, in the way of the kingdom, while the way is smooth, and no stumbling-block, or difficulty, occurs therein. But when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word — When the truth and its professors are exposed to reproach and infamy, and the disciples of Jesus are called to drink of his cup of suffering, by and by, Greek euquv, immediately, he is offended, skandalizetai, he is stumbled. He finds a thousand pretences for leaving so narrow and rugged a way. Luke has it, en kairw peirasmou afistantai, In time of temptation, or trial, they fall off, namely, as blossoms from the trees, through a frost in the spring. It has been observed above, that the warmth of the sun’s beams will rather promote than hinder the growth of the corn, if it hath sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and sufficient moisture; in like manner, if a deep work of grace be wrought in a man’s heart, and he be really born from above, tribulation, persecution, and other trials and temptations will be so far from destroying his piety, or even obstructing the growth of grace in his soul, that they will rather promote it, and though not joyous but grievous while they continue, yet will afterward yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness, to those that are exercised thereby; and will tend to perfect their faith and patience, and other graces, and prepare them for heaven, as hot weather before the harvest ripens the corn, when full in the ear, for the sickle.

20. Stony places — Rocky surfaces covered with thin soil. There is many a soul with a surface soft and yielding, but a nature truly hard at bottom. In such the shallow emotions are quickly stirred, but their deeper nature remains untouched. The Jews were full of a joyous excitement at John’s first preaching the Messiah. But it was a superficial arousement; the heart was not truly converted. When the Messiah’s true nature was disclosed, they soon showed that the subsoil was unchanged rock. Such prove apparent apostates; but they are not really such. They never had the reality to apostatize from.

Verses 20, 21. Anon with joy, &c. — He receives it euquv, immediately, or forthwith, with joy, delighted with its novelty, and, through susceptibility of mind, feeling its force, beauty, and truth. Yet hath he not root in himself; no deep conviction of his sinfulness and danger; no proper conception of the sacrifices which truth must cost him, and of that entire renunciation of the world which he is called to make in order to his becoming a true disciple; no strong principle of decision, no such abiding consciousness of his own weakness as to lead him to earnest prayer for Divine help, and to constant vigilance. He endureth therefore for a while; he maintains his profession of discipleship; but when suffering for the truth comes, he shows how superficial is his love to Christ and his cause, and he is offended; difficulties and persecutions make him repent his choice, and, like a man in a rough and rocky path, he stumbles, and falls, and hastens to leave a path charged with such obstructions and discouragements.

V. 21. Yet hath he not root in himself-No deep work of grace: no change in the ground of his heart. Nay, he has no deep conviction; and without this, good desires soon wither away.

He is offended-He finds a thousand plausible pretences for leaving so narrow and rugged a way.

Verse 21. Yet hath he not root in himself] His soul is not deeply convinced of its guilt and depravity; the fallow ground is not properly ploughed up, nor the rock broken. When persecution, &c., ariseth, which he did not expect, he is soon stumbled-seeks some pretext to abandon both the doctrine and followers of Christ. Having not felt his own sore, and the plague of his heart, he has not properly discovered that this salvation is the only remedy for his soul: thus he has no motive in his heart strong enough to counteract the outward scandal of the cross; so he endureth only for the time in which there is no difficulty to encounter, no cross to bear.

Verses 20, 21. He that received the seed into stony, rather, rocky, places — Where the bed of earth was very shallow, is he that heareth the word — Hears it with attention, and in a spirit of prayer, sincerely desiring that the eyes of his understanding may be opened; nay, and understands what he hears, and even seriously considers it afterward. For he is said, Luke 8:13, to believe for a while, and here to receive it with joy; being struck, doubtless, with the beauty of the truth, and drawn by the preventing grace of God. Yet hath he not root in himself — No deep work of grace in his soul; no real change in the ground of his heart. He is not truly regenerated and made a new creature in Christ. The consequence is, he only endureth for a while — Continues to profess an attachment to the truth, as long as the truth is held in esteem, and proceeds on, apparently, in the way of the kingdom, while the way is smooth, and no stumbling-block, or difficulty, occurs therein. But when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word — When the truth and its professors are exposed to reproach and infamy, and the disciples of Jesus are called to drink of his cup of suffering, by and by, Greek euquv, immediately, he is offended, skandalizetai, he is stumbled. He finds a thousand pretences for leaving so narrow and rugged a way. Luke has it, en kairw peirasmou afistantai, In time of temptation, or trial, they fall off, namely, as blossoms from the trees, through a frost in the spring. It has been observed above, that the warmth of the sun’s beams will rather promote than hinder the growth of the corn, if it hath sufficient depth of earth, wherein to take root, and sufficient moisture; in like manner, if a deep work of grace be wrought in a man’s heart, and he be really born from above, tribulation, persecution, and other trials and temptations will be so far from destroying his piety, or even obstructing the growth of grace in his soul, that they will rather promote it, and though not joyous but grievous while they continue, yet will afterward yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness, to those that are exercised thereby; and will tend to perfect their faith and patience, and other graces, and prepare them for heaven, as hot weather before the harvest ripens the corn, when full in the ear, for the sickle.

21. Not root… dureth for a while — His religion is without root, and so is only the surface-stirring of natural emotions. When the momentary cause or occasion disappears, he loses both the feeling and the appearance. So the convert who, in a revival, acts upon mere outside excitement, is among the first to be missing when the special movement is past. Tribulation or persecution — If a superficial professor does not drop off from mere cessation of excitement, a little trouble, a little opposition or contempt of the world, brushes him off. There may be much lukewarmness and much inconsistency in the Church, but perhaps less permanent hypocrisy than many suppose. Offended — Ensnared and led into evil.

Verses 20, 21. Anon with joy, &c. — He receives it euquv, immediately, or forthwith, with joy, delighted with its novelty, and, through susceptibility of mind, feeling its force, beauty, and truth. Yet hath he not root in himself; no deep conviction of his sinfulness and danger; no proper conception of the sacrifices which truth must cost him, and of that entire renunciation of the world which he is called to make in order to his becoming a true disciple; no strong principle of decision, no such abiding consciousness of his own weakness as to lead him to earnest prayer for Divine help, and to constant vigilance. He endureth therefore for a while; he maintains his profession of discipleship; but when suffering for the truth comes, he shows how superficial is his love to Christ and his cause, and he is offended; difficulties and persecutions make him repent his choice, and, like a man in a rough and rocky path, he stumbles, and falls, and hastens to leave a path charged with such obstructions and discouragements.

V. 22. He that received the seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word and considereth it-In spite of Satan and his agents: yea, hath root in himself is deeply convinced, and in a great measure inwardly changed; so that he will not draw back, even

when tribulation or persecution ariseth. And yet even in him, together with the good seed, the thorns spring up, Matthew 13:7. (perhaps unperceived at first) till they gradually choke it, destroy all its life and power, and it becometh unfruitful.

Cares are thorns to the poor: wealth to the rich; the desire of other things to all.

The deceitfulness of riches-Deceitful indeed! for they smile, and betray: kiss, and smite into hell. They put out the eyes, harden the heart, steal away all the life of God; fill the soul with pride, anger, love of the world; make men enemies to the whole cross of Christ! And all the while are eagerly desired, and vehemently pursued, even by those who believe there is a God!

Verse 22. He also that received seed among the thorns] In land ploughed, but not properly cleared and seeded. Is he- represents that person who heareth the word, but the cares, rather the anxiety, h merimna, the whole system of anxious carking cares. Lexicographers derive the word merimna from merizein ton noun, dividing, or distracting the mind. Thus a poet,

Tot me impediunt curæ quæ meum animum diverse trahunt.

“So many cares hinder me which draw my mind different ways.” Terence.

The deceitfulness of riches] Which promise peace and pleasure, but can never give them.

Choke the word] Or, together choke the word, sumpnigei meaning, either that these grow up together with the word, overtop, and choke it; or that these united together, viz. carking worldly cares, with the delusive hopes and promises of riches, cause the man to abandon the great concerns of his soul, and seek, in their place, what he shall eat, drink, and wherewithal he shall be clothed. Dreadful stupidity of man, thus to barter spiritual for temporal good-a heavenly inheritance for an earthly portion! The seed of the kingdom can never produce much fruit in any heart, till the thorns and thistles of vicious affections and impure desires be plucked up by the roots and burned. The Persic translator renders it [Persic] asle kalme-ra khube kund, chokes the root of the word: for it appears the seed had taken root, and that these cares, &c., choked it in the root, before even the blade could show itself.

Verse 22. He that received seed among thorns is he that heareth the word — And proceeds further in the way of duty than either of those mentioned in the former instances. In spite of Satan and his agents, the person here intended considers, marks, learns, and inwardly digests what he hears. Yea, he has root in himself. The word sinks into his mind and heart. He is deeply humbled under a sense of his sinfulness and guilt, and brought to experience repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is even inwardly changed, so that he does not draw back even when tribulation and persecution ariseth. And yet, even in him, together with the good seed, the thorns, &c., spring up, (perhaps unperceived at first, at least neglected and not rooted up,) till they gradually choke it, destroy all its life and power, and it becometh unfruitful. To thorns among corn our Lord here compares the cares of the world, namely, anxious cares, which most beset the poor, but not them only; for persons in the middling ranks of life, and even the rich, are often no little harassed by them, and greatly obstructed in their Christian progress. By thorns also our Lord intends the deceitfulness of riches; deceitful indeed! for they promise much, but perform little; offer themselves to many, but give themselves to few; and to those few bring care and perplexity, rather than satisfaction and comfort. They promise to abide with us through life, if not to preserve our name in everlasting remembrance: but, alas! frequently take themselves wings and fly away. They engage our dependance, and we lean on them as though they were the staff of life; but quickly find, by sad experience, they are but “a broken reed at best, and oft a spear,” piercing us through with many sorrows. Like Judas, whom they corrupted, “they kiss and betray, they smile and smite into hell. They put out the eyes, harden the heart, steal away all the life of God, fill the soul with pride, anger, and love to the world, and make men enemies to self-denial and the whole cross of Christ.” — Wesley. Luke also mentions the pleasures of life as another weed, choking and rendering unfruitful the good seed. To which pleasures deceitful riches minister, and are a great temptation, putting it into men’s power to gratify their carnal desires and unruly appetites and passions in every excess to which Satan or their own hearts prompt them. But not only are such gross indulgences as these here included in the hurtful pleasures which are represented as choking the good seed, but all the fashionable amusements and gratifications of sense and fancy in which mankind, and especially the young of both sexes, are prone to seek their happiness. There is yet another weed, which too frequently prevents the fruitfulness of the incorruptible seed, and all improvement, if not even perseverance in true piety, and that is, desires after other things, mentioned in the parallel passage by Mark. This equally annoys high and low, rich and poor, young and old; and if not eradicated or suppressed is equally destructive to the life of God in all. God himself is all-sufficient to satisfy the most enlarged desires of all his intelligent creatures. There is enough in him to make them completely happy. All our desire therefore should be unto him, or, at least, nothing should be esteemed, desired, delighted in, or pursued, but in perfect subordination to him and his love: and when this is not the case, but the desire of our heart is turned toward other objects, our intercourse with God is of necessity interrupted, and the influences of his Spirit withheld from us; the consequence of which is, we lose all union with him, and become twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Now when all these, who receive the seed as among thorns, who begin in the Spirit, but end in the flesh; run well for a time, but are afterward hindered; are also, as well as the two preceding classes, excepted, alas! how few yet remain to be compared to the good ground, mentioned in the next verse!

22. Among thorns — This is a sad case. The seed is good, the soil is good, the growth is genuine, internally everything is right. But while all is going well within, there are difficulties without, which in time prove fatal. What are those enemies to salvation without? They are the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Adversities and prosperities may both be enemies to our soul. Some become soured by trouble, and their time is so engrossed, that they have no heart, no room for the service of God. Others become wealthy and proud; too fine and too fashionable to be pious. Becometh unfruitful — There once was fruit. But, alas! fruit and blossom, leaf and stock become choked and disappear. This is genuine apostacy. It is the loss of real life and fruitfulness once existing. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall; and let no false theology induce him to think most presumptously, “once in grace always in grace.”

Verse 22. Seed among thorns, &c. — This represents a character of a higher class than either of the former. The seed takes root; and that, too, where there is depth of earth. The persons intended, therefore, have root in themselves; a true faith in Christ; and such love to him and to his truth, that they are not charged with shrinking from “the tribulation and persecution which may arise because of the word.” They fall by slow degrees, and by an enemy more subtle in its approaches than persecution, — by the cares of the world, its distracting anxieties, and the deceitfulness of riches. These awaken the craving spirit, which longs to possess wealth, either to spend in luxury, or to hoard for security, and so choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful; for in a mind so intent upon earthly things, so anxious to escape the measure of affliction which Divine providence may in its wisdom appoint, and to attain a degree of prosperity and distinction which it may in the exercise of the same wisdom and goodness design to withhold, the vitality of every gracious principle must be languid; faith, hope, and spirituality all rapidly lose their vigour and influence; prayer becomes distracted and formal; intercourse with God, which can only be maintained by a calm, watchful, and subjected spirit, is lost; and moral dearth is the necessary result. The deceitfulness of riches, apath tou ploutou, is a strongly admonitory phrase; for it indicates not merely that riches promise more satisfaction than they give, or, after tempting men to an ardent pursuit, they suddenly elude their grasp, and so in either case deceive; but that the worldly spirit approaches those who have been truly brought for a time under the influence of religion, in various seductive and delusive forms, which throw them off their guard. A prudent provision for the future, so as to banish care, and not increase it, is one; the increase of our ability to be liberal, another; the additional influence which may be acquired and employed in favour of the cause of Christ, the greater leisure which may be commanded thereby to employ in works of piety and usefulness, with various other plausible suggestions, are apt to disarm the mind, and open the way to strike a fatal blow at the spiritual habits which may have been acquired by kindling the keen desire of gain. How many have been deluded here! They have surrendered themselves to the ardent pursuit of wealth, and have in some instances attained it; but sordid cares have increased, not diminished; the appetite has become more voracious with that by which it has been fed; and liberality and sacrifices of time for the public good have become more stinted and grudging. Other and new temptations have come in: hence St. Luke adds to the deceitfulness of riches, “the pleasures of this life,” to which riches so often prompt as they afford the means of gratification; “and the lust of other things,” desires after honour, distinction, show, and the praise of men. Thus men are deluded into sin, and truly prove that the growth of the good seed has been choked in them by THORNS and BRIERS, by WEEDS and POISONS. “Worldly cares,” says an old writer, “are fitly compared to thorns; for as they choke the word, so they wound our souls; neither can the word grow through, nor the heart rest upon them.” If God in his providence make a man rich, let him rather tremble than rejoice; for then indeed he will have need to pray that he may prove a faithful steward.

V. 23. Some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty-That is, in various proportions; some abundantly more than others.

Verse 23. Good ground] That which had depth of mould, was well ploughed, and well weeded.

Is he that heareth] Who diligently attends the ministry of the word. And understandeth it] Lays the subject to heart, deeply weighing its nature, design, and importance.

Which also beareth fruit] His fruitfulness being an almost necessary consequence of his thus laying the Divine message to heart. Let it be observed, that to hear, to understand, and to bring forth fruit, are the three grand evidences of a genuine believer. He who does not hear the word of wisdom cannot understand what makes for his peace; and he who does not understand what the Gospel requires him to be and to perform, cannot bring forth fruit; and he who is not fruitful, very fruitful, cannot be a disciple of Christ-see John 15:8; and he who is not Christ’s disciple cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

From the different portions of fruit produced by the good ground, a hundred, sixty, and thirty, we may learn that all sound believers are not equally fruitful; all hear, understand, and bring forth fruit, but not in the same degrees-occasioned, partly, by their situation and circumstances not allowing them such extensive opportunities of receiving and doing good; and, partly, by lack of mental capacity-for every mind is not equally improvable.

Let it be farther observed that the unfruitfulness of the different lands was not owing to bad seed or an unskilful sower-the same sower sows the same seed in all, and with the same gracious design-but it is unfruitful in many because they are careless, inattentive, and worldly-minded. But is not the ground naturally bad in every heart? Undoubtedly. And can any but God make it good? None. But it is your business, when you hear of the justice and mercy of God, to implore him to work in you that which is pleasing in his sight. No man shall be condemned because he did not change his own heart, but because he did not cry to God to change it, who gave him his Holy Spirit for this very purpose, and which he, by his worldly-mindedness and impiety, quenched. Whoso hath ears to hear let him hear: and may the Lord save the reader from an impenitent and unfruitful heart!

Verse 23. He that received seed into the good ground — Described in note on verse eight, is he that heareth the word and understandeth, or, considereth it — Herein he differs from the first class of hearers: he understands what he hears, and makes it the matter of his serious and frequent meditation. And he differs from those of the second class; for, according to Luke, he keeps, or, retains it, as katecei signifies. Notwithstanding the opposition or persecution he meets with, he holds fast what he has received, namely, both the word of truth itself, and the change it was instrumental in producing in him. So that he not only endureth for a while, but to the end. He is also distinguished from those of the third class: for he receives and retains the truth in an honest and good heart, Luke 8:15; a heart, not honest and good by nature, but made such by grace; a new heart given him by God, and a new spirit put within him. Ezekiel 36:26. Therefore he is not like the ground overrun with thorns, and other weeds, which was dishonest, so to speak; eluding the tiller’s toil, and deceiving the husbandman’s expectations. Which also beareth fruit — Namely, the fruits of the Spirit, internal and external, holy tempers, words, and works, repentance toward God, and fruits meet for repentance, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and the proper fruits of faith, godliness and righteousness, piety and virtue, in all their branches: some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty — That is, in various proportions, some abundantly more than others, the situations and circumstances in which some are placed by the providence of God affording them far greater opportunities for receiving and doing good than fall to the lot of others, and the abilities and capacities for usefulness in some far exceeding those of others.

23. Received… heareth… understandeth… beareth fruit — Here is the believer, the fruit bearer, the perseverer. Good ground — But is the ground of any human heart good antecedent to regeneration? Some say not; and on this ground some creeds affirm that regeneration must even precede justifying or saving faith. But certainly no man is regenerated, that is, born again, unless he is first forgiven. To be born again is to be made a child of God; and to be a child of God is impossible until after a man is forgiven. That is, regeneration is consequent upon forgiveness or justification. And yet it is true that the ground of the human heart is never spiritually good by nature. It may be good in the sense that, having voluntarily complied with the influence of the Holy Spirit it has become ready to receive the offered word, and so is relatively good. That Spirit precedes the word and prepares the consenting heart. The good soil, therefore, for receiving the word may be called a sort of amalgam, or uniting of the Holy Spirit and the consenting will. When these combine, the word may be fully received and accepted; the man yields his full faith, and pardon, justification, regeneration, sanctification, fruit-bearing, and, upon perseverance, eternal life ensue. Happy are those eyes and those ears and those hearts that receive all this.

Hundredfold — The soil of Palestine could produce at this rate, but not ordinarily. To produce a hundred from one is a rich increase; but how rich the increase of every Christian who converts a hundred sinners! SECOND PARABLE — The Wheat and Tares, 24-30.

This parable explains the entire structure of the system of probation under the Christian dispensation, or perhaps through all time. As the former parable describes the planting of the dispensation, so this describes its struggle with evil in the world until the judgment day. It is not so much a parable of the Church as of the world and the Church under the Messiah; for the field is the world. While probation lasts, wickedness is permitted to develop itself. There is to be no organic destruction of wicked men by God or angels; there must be no persecuting them to destruction by the servants of God; they must be allowed to live and work their destiny. Nor will they be forcibly changed or irresistibly regenerated in their nature. To do either of these things would violate the very fundamental principles of probation. But at the end of the world the final separation of good and evil will take place, by the command of Christ, and the execution thereof by angels. The parable is therefore a brief, simple moral history of the world.

Verse 23. Good ground. — Not only deep earth, prepared for the seed by the ploughing, but kept free from weeds by diligent and watchful labour. Understandeth it. — So considers it and meditates upon it; maintains in his mind so deep and lively a conviction of his excellence and supreme importance, as to apply it to practical ends, both in the regulation of his heart and conduct. Hence in St. Luke it is, “And keeps it in an honest and good heart;” a heart rendered so by the grace of God communicated through previous religious advantages, — as the word of God contained in the Jewish Scriptures, or the preaching of John the Baptist, — and maintained and perfected by the word of Christ, KEPT within it. And bring forth fruit with patience; with persevering resistance to all temptations, to a strong and unyielding endurance.

Some a hundredfold, &c. — All are fruitful; but some, from the enjoyment of superior opportunities, and furnished also with stronger natural capacities, and placed in circumstances to call forth the visible expression and activity of their inward principles of faith, love, and zeal, bring forth a hundred-fold. This parable appears to have been specially intended for the instruction and admonition of Christ’s disciples. It explained to them the reason why so many of his hearers, who had given hopeful symptoms of incipient piety in the commencement of his ministry, had degenerated into indifference or opposition; and it was a solemn caution to those who still continued in the profession of discipleship and followed him. The next parable prepared them for that mixed state of his own visible Church which was to be more fully displayed in future times.

V. 24. He proposed another parable-in which he farther explains the case of unfruitful hearers.

The kingdom of heaven (as has been observed before) sometimes signifies eternal glory: sometimes the way to it, inward religion; sometimes, as here, the Gospel dispensation: the phrase is likewise used for a person or thing relating to any one of those: so in this place it means, Christ preaching the Gospel, who

is like a man sowing good seed-The expression, is like, both here and in several other places, only means, that the thing spoken of may be illustrated by the following similitude.

Who sowed good seed in his field-God sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church.

Verse 24. The kingdom of heaven] God’s method of managing the affairs of the world, and the concerns of his Church.

Is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field] In general, the world may be termed the field of God; and in particular, those who profess to believe in God through Christ are his field or farm; among whom God sows nothing but the pure unadulterated word of his truth.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

Ver. 24. The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. Associate with the parable of the sower is that of the tares. It is designed to comfort the church when grieved at the degeneracy of principle and practice in her members. But what are the tares? Answer zizania, a Syriac word of doubtful import. Lightfoot says it means bad wheat. A latin author says it means lolium, that is a weed called ray, darnel, cockle, or tares. No matter; the spiritual import is explained by our Lord to mean bad members in the true church, whose hearts are inclined to error, heresy or vice. We may say of many professors as a Roman does of the corn; “The wheat and the barley are changed into lolium.” Oh my soul, do not slumber, nor suffer the enemy to sow erroneous principles in thy heart, which shall lead to burning in the issue. But why must we let them grow to the harvest? Must we not root out error and heretics, or wicked professors from the church? In all cases which are clear, we must not eat with drunkards, fornicators, and covetous men. They must be expelled till reformed, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. But cases which to man are doubtful, we must leave to the Lord of the harvest, for if we hearken to slander, we may root out the precious wheat with the worthless tares. But let the tares know, that though spared of man, their punishment shall be greater when condemned of the Lord. The man that spares his sins will be burned with unquenchable fire.

24. The kingdom of heaven — The system of human probation or the divine government. Likened unto a man — Not likened to the man alone, but to this whole parabolic transaction which begins with the man. The man represents the Divine Ruler of the universe. Sowed good seed — This properly goes back to the period of the Creation, when God planted man pure upon the field of the world.

Verse 24. A man which sowed good seed in his field. — The sower, as we are taught by our Lord’s own explanation of this parable, is the Son of man, disseminating truth by his own ministry, and through that of his servants, whose strength and success are derived from him. The good seed are the children of the kingdom; those who in truth receive his whole doctrine, and come under his spiritual rule: a brief but clear description of real Christians.

The field is the world. — This evidently means the Church in the world, the Christian Church, which was shortly to be extended into all nations of the whole civilized world. This Church, in truth, wherever it is planted, only consists of “children of the kingdom;” but Satan has always introduced others of an opposite character within its visible pale.

V. 25. But while men slept-They ought to have watched: the Lord of the field sleepeth not.

His enemy came and sowed darnel-This is very like wheat, and commonly grows among wheat rather than among other grain: but tares or vetches are of the pulse kind, and bear no resemblance to wheat.

Verse 25. But while men slept] When the professors were lukewarm, and the pastors indolent, his enemy came and sowed tares, zizania degenerate, or bastard wheat. The righteous and the wicked are often mingled in the visible Church. Every Christian society, how pure soever its principles may be, has its bastard wheat-those who bear a resemblance to the good, but whose hearts are not right with God. He who sows this bastard wheat among God’s people is here styled God’s enemy; and he may be considered also as a sower of them who permits them to be sown and to spring up through his negligence. Wo to the indolent pastors, who permit the souls under their care to be corrupted by error and sin! This word does not, I believe, occur in any of the Greek classics, nor in Dioscorides; but it may be seen in the Geoponica, or Greek writers Deuteronomy Revelation Rustica: see the edition by Niclas, vol. i. lib. ii. c. 43, where to zizanion is said to be the same which the Greeks call aira; and Florentinus, the author, says, to zizanion, to legomenon aira, fqeirei vov siton, artoiv de mignumenh, skotoi touv esqiontav. “Zizanion, which is called aira, darnel, injures the wheat; and, mixed in the bread, causes dimness of the eyes to those who eat of it.” And the author might have added vertigo also. But this does not seem to be the grain to which our Lord alludes.

The word zizania, zizania, which is here translated tares, and which should rather be translated bastard or degenerate wheat, is a Chaldee word; and its meaning must be sought in the rabbinical writers. In a treatise in the Mishna called Kelayim, which treats expressly on different kinds of seeds, the word זונים zunim, or זונין zunin, is used for bastard or degenerated wheat; that which was wholly a right seed in the beginning, but afterwards became degenerate-the ear not being so large, nor the grains in such quantity, as formerly, nor the corn so good in quality. In <19E413>Psalm 144:13, the words זנ la מזנ mizzan al zen, are translated all manner of store; but they properly signify, from species to species: might not the Chaldee word זונין zunin, and the Greek word zizania, zizania, come from the psalmist’s זנזן zanzan, which might have signified a mixture of grain of any kind, and be here used to point out the mixing bastard or degenerate wheat among good seed wheat? The Persic translator renders it [Persic] telkh daneh, bitter grain; but it seems to signify merely degenerate wheat. This interpretation throws much light on the scope and design of the whole passage. Christ seems to refer, first, to the origin of evil. God sowed good seed in his field; made man in his own image and likeness: but the enemy, the devil, (Matthew 13:30,) corrupted this good seed, and caused it to degenerate. Secondly, he seems to refer to the state of the Jewish people: God had sowed them, at first, wholly a right seed, but now they were become utterly degenerate, and about to be plucked up and destroyed by the Roman armies, which were the angels or messengers of God’s justice, whom he had commissioned to sweep these rebellious people from the face of the land. Thirdly, he seems to refer also to the state in which the world shall be found, when he comes to judge it. The righteous and the wicked shall be permitted to grow together, till God comes to make a full and final separation.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

Ver. 25. While men slept, his enemy, diabolus, came and sowed tares. The grand enemy struggles hard to keep the world for his own, by idolatry, by arianism, by the titular idolatries and tyranny of Rome; to which we must add, the overflowing of wickedness in the christian world. The institutions of piety decay, and the best of charitable endowments are partially plundered. It is the same in doctrine; when men have once embraced an error, we cannot root it out; they will obstinately defend it, even at the expense of every other christian doctrine. What an argument for vigilance in the husbandman!

25. While men slept — While the providence of God and human affairs were going quietly on, his enemy, the devil, sowed tares. The devil is here said to sow wicked men, just as the wicked are called children of the devil, not because he creates or procreates them, but because their moral nature as sinners was brought about by his agency. As men, God is their father; as sinners, they are the children of the devil.

“The tare abounds all over the East, and is a great nuisance to the farmer. It resembles the American cheat, but the head does not droop like cheat, nor does it branch out like oats. The grain, also, is smaller, and is arranged along the upper part of the stalk, which stands perfectly erect. The taste is bitter, and when eaten separately, or even when diffused in ordinary bread, it causes dizziness, and often acts as a violent emetic. Barn-door fowls also become dizzy from eating it. In short, it is a strong soporific poison, and must be carefully winnowed, and picked out of the wheat, grain by grain, before grinding, or the flour is not healthy.” — Dr. Thomson.

Verse 25. But while men slept, &c. — The enemy, says our Lord, is the devil, the father not only of all openly profane persons, but of all false professors of Christ’s religion. The men represent the ministers and members of Churches, whose want of due attention to the cultivation of a decided piety, and the upholding of a godly discipline, greatly increased an evil, the corruption of the Church, which even vigilance could not wholly have prevented. This we may collect from the case of Judas, who was a tare sown among the true disciples even in the time of our Lord. Still, had not great lukewarmness prevailed, and a disposition to rest in the outward exercises of religion; and had that tone of spirituality continued which marked the Church immediately after the day of pentecost, and fixed the attention of all wholly upon the religion of the heart, and subordinated all forms and circumstances to that alone; the field would have been well guarded by the servants against the enemy, and little encouragement would have been found in such a state of the Church for false or even superficial professors to have connected themselves with it. The kind of plant called zizania, by us translated “tares,” has been disputed. That the zizania did not at all resemble our tare or vetch, which is a useful plant, is evident from their being gathered at the harvest and burned. The word is not mentioned in any other part of Scripture, nor in any ancient Greek writer; but a similar word זוגים is found in Jewish writings, and is described to be a degenerate and worthless kind of weed, bearing, however, a strong resemblance to corn. Others take it to be the darnel, “lolium temulentum,” which is called zuvan by the Arabs. Travellers state that “in some parts of Syria the plant is drawn up by the hand in the time of harvest along with the wheat, and is then gathered out, and bound up in separate bundles.” In this parable our Lord alludes to the same circumstance. These worthless plants sprung up among the grain; they were suffered to grow up with it; and in the time of reaping they were separated by hand, bound up in bundles, and burned as fuel.

V. 26. When the blade was sprung up, then appeared the darnel-It was not discerned before: it seldom appears, as soon as the good seed is sown: all at first appears to be peace, and love, and joy.

Verse 26. When the blade was sprung up-then appeared the tares also.] Satan has a shoot of iniquity for every shoot of grace; and, when God revives his work, Satan revives his also. No marvel, therefore, if we find scandals arising suddenly to discredit a work of grace, where God has begun to pour out his Spirit.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

§ 49. — THE SEVEN PARABLES, 1-52.

As Matthew has in chapters eight and nine exhibited our Lord as a performer of mighty works, namely, ten miracles, so now he here presents him as a parabolist. SEVEN PARABLES — FOUR at the sea side, and THREE indoors — are grouped together.

1. The same day — The day of the transaction of the last chapter. He delivered the parables of this discourse, at evening took the boat and left; and exhausted by the overwhelming labours of the day, he sunk to slumbers, which were disturbed by the storm, which he stilled by miracle. Went Jesus out of the house — He had been invited to the house of a Pharisee, where he had much discourse. But very probably he went to his own house, from which he departed to the seashore, as here described, sat by the sea side first, probably, with his disciples; but the multitudes soon gathered around him and them. As appears by Mark 4:1, with the notes, he was obliged to enter into the prepared boat and sit in the boat in the sea.

Jesus… sat — While he sat, we find by the next verse that the multitude stood. It was customary in our Saviour’s day for the teacher to sit and the disciple to stand. Rabbi Gamaliel was probably the first who by arrangement took an elevated seat, and allowed his pupils to sit upon seats lower than his own platform. So Saul of Tarsus was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. By the sea side — Of Lake Gennesaret. In regard to the beach of Lake Gennesaret consult our note on Matthew 4:13. Stanley says: “The lake is almost completely surrounded by mountains; but those mountains never come down into the water, but always have a beach of greater or less extent along the water’s edge. It is on this smooth margin ‘beside the Lake Gennesaret’ that we must imagine Jesus ‘standing,’ then stepping into one of the two boats, and bidding Peter launch out into the deep. Luke 5:1, 2, 4. From the boat, that lay close by for the purpose, he addressed them his teaching in parables, and they stood on the beach.”

Verse 26. But when the blade was sprung up, &c. — In the first stage of vegetation the difference was not so marked as to awaken attention among the unsuspecting and somewhat inattentive servants; but when the fruit of each appeared, it was so opposite in character that it could no longer pass unnoticed.

V. 27. Didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it darnel?-Not from the parent of good. Even the heathen could say, "No evil can from thee proceed:

'Tis only suffer'd, not decreed:

As darkness is not from the sun,

Nor mount the shades, till he is gone."

Verse 27. So the servants-said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow] A faithful and vigilant minister of Christ fails not to discover the evil, to lament it, and to address himself to God by prayer, in order to find out the cause of it, and to receive from him proper information how to behave on the occasion.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

27. Servants of the householder — Some understand by the servants here the ministers and guardians of the Church. But the field is not the Church, but the world, or the divine government or kingdom. These servants do not stand for any class of persons. But the false notion that the wicked should be destroyed from the earth is introduced by simply putting it dramatically into the mouths of the servants of the householder. That the servants do not represent any particular class of persons is shown by the fact that they are unmentioned in our Lord’s explanation of the parable which follows.

Verse 27. The householder. — The master of the family; the proprietor of the field.

V. 28. He said, An enemy hath done this-A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil: but he implanted no evil in the human soul:

An enemy (with man's concurrence) hath done this.

Darnel, in the Church, is properly outside Christians, such as have the form of godliness, without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel, as thistles and brambles: these ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with them.

Verse 28. An enemy hath done this] It is the interest of Satan to introduce hypocrites and wicked persons into religious societies, in order to discredit the work of God, and to favour his own designs. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?] A zeal which is rash and precipitate is as much to be feared as the total lack of strict discipline.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

Ver. 28. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? Shall we root them out of the field? No; for lolium has a resemblance to wheat. You may root out the good; and time must be allowed to the wicked for repentance. You cannot root out the wicked without hurting the righteous; the too sudden destruction would make many widows, fill the world with orphans, and throw the poor out of bread, by stopping the course of trade. Let the incorrigible fill up their measure, and in due time the angels shall gather together the tares, and burn them with unquenchable fire.

28. Wilt thou… we go and gather them up — Ought not the wicked to be destroyed from the face of the earth? Why are they permitted to exist? Does it not almost make atheists of us to see how God permits them to live and prosper? No; for the permission is for them to live to develope; and so God will not eradicate them out of the earth, and good men must not expect to be able to persecute them to destruction.

Eastern farmers maintain that tares are degenerate wheat, affirming that a field is frequently sown with wheat and the seed comes up tares. Dr. Thomson explains this singular fact thus:

“I suppose that several separate causes conspire to bring about the result. First, very wet weather in winter drowns and kills wheat, while it is the most favourable of all weather for tares. In a good season the wheat overgrows and chokes the tares, but in a wet one the reverse is true. The farmers all admit this, but still they ask, Whence the seed of the tares? we sowed ‘good seed.’ To this it may be answered: The tare is a very light grain, easily blown about by the wind; that a thousand little birds are ever carrying and dropping it over the fields; that myriads of ants are dragging it in all directions; that moles, and mice, and goats, and sheep, and nearly every other animal, are aiding in this work of dispersion; that much of the tares shell out in handling the grain in the field; that a large part of them is thrown out by the wind at the threshing-floor, which is always in the open country; that the heavy rains, which often deluge the country in autumn, carry down to the lower levels this outcast zowan (tares) and sow them there; and these are precisely the spots where the transmutation is said to occur. It is my belief that in these and in similar ways the tares are actually sown, without the intervention of an enemy, and their presence is accounted for without having recourse to this incredible doctrine of transmutation.”

Root up also the wheat — Commentators sometimes understand by this that we are forbidden to persecute heretics in the Church, for we may be mistaken in men’s characters and put innocent men to death. Now, first, this is a poor reason against persecution. Second, it is not the Church but the world which is symbolized by the field. Third, by this mode of interpretation the servants are both men and a part of the wheat at the same moment. And, fourth, the reason supposed is not the reason expressed in the text. The reason in the text is not that they might mistake wheat for tares, and so pull it up. It is that, in the violence of the work, both would be pulled up, and the field be destroyed. The destruction of probationary sinners would be the destruction of the probationary system. It is no doubt true that the tares when first springing up strongly resemble the wheat, so as to be easily mistaken for it; but not after a little growth. Dr. Thomson expresses the real point, when he says: “Very commonly the roots of the two are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them without plucking up both. Both, therefore, must be left to grow together until the time of harvest.”

Verses 28, 29. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest, &c. — The chief point of difficulty in this parable lies in this question of the servants, and the answer of the master. Some make a distinction between thorns, briers, and obvious weeds, which they say ought to be extirpated, and the plant here mentioned; which, on account of its similarity to the wheat, so that it could not be plucked up without danger, ought to be treated with greater tenderness; but it is clear that, when the servants made their complaint to the master, the similarity had passed away, and each plant, the wheat and the zizanion, having attained more mature growth, was known by its fruit. Others think that we are cautioned against pushing discipline in Churches too far, lest by mistake the good wheat should be rooted up also; but this affords no reason at all why the plants which could be easily distinguished by their very fruit, should be suffered to remain growing together; and would afford an argument, not against too rigid a discipline, but against discipline of every kind. That this could not be the intention of our Lord, we have decided proof in the conduct of his apostles as to the moral regulation of Churches, and in those disciplinary directions they have left in their epistles. St. Paul commanded the Corinthians, by his apostolical authority, to “put away” an immoral person, and strongly reproved them for their supineness in the case. Christians are prohibited from “eating” with such characters; that is, from receiving the Lord’s Supper in their company; by which they refused all communion with them. A heretic, after suitable admonition, is to be “rejected;” and St. John forbids those to whom he writes “to receive” false teachers, or to bid them “God speed.” All these are obvious instances of separation from the fellowship of saints. It is clear, therefore, that we must seek another solution. Our Lord is to be understood as prohibiting all civil coercion, and every species of persecution, on religious grounds; all infliction of punishment upon men by his servants, his ministers, which should be a rooting up of the tares, and thus doing the work of the harvest before the time of harvest, a work reserved to Christ alone. The parable must therefore be understood as not referring at all to questions of Church DISCIPLINE. The seeds of evil, early sown in the Church, sprung up at length into innumerable heresies and immoralities, and that under the Christian name; and so long as the civil power was arrayed against Christianity, the only defence of the purer portion of the Church was its own legitimate ecclesiastical power to reprove and to separate offenders from its communion; though this began to be done even at an early period, too often in a spirit which indicated that if greater power had been at command, it would have been unmercifully used. A new state of things arose when the civil power lent itself to obey the call of ecclesiastics, to give greater force to these excommunications by the infliction of pains, penalties, and finally death; and it is a remarkable fact, and one to which our Lord in this parable may be supposed particularly to refer, that for so long a period of time even those ministers who were best entitled to be called the servants of the master of the field were the advocates of civil coercion in matters of religion, and asserted the right of the magistrate to employ the sword to punish offenders against the doctrines and the rules of their respective Churches; a principle which has indeed been renounced, though even still but partially, in comparatively modern times. For many ages almost all ministers, good or bad, advocated the violent rooting up of the tares by the arm of power, regardless of the lesson taught them in this parable; and if any thing more than its own internal evidence were necessary to convince us of the profound wisdom of this lesson, the proof which history has afforded of the utter unfitness of weak and passionate man to wield the rod of the Almighty, for ever establishes it. “Lest ye root up with them the wheat also,” says our Saviour; and the fact has been, that, with few exceptions, religious persecution, in all its degrees, has in all ages been more fatal to the wheat than to the tares; and that in an immense number of cases, under the pretence of destroying the tares, the wheat alone has been the object of this blind and perverted violence. The proud persecuting spirit is wholly of Satan; and when he impels his agents into the field to root up and destroy, he will generally take care of the plants of his own sowing; or if he sacrifice a few of them, it will be with the design to give a colour to a coercive and political process, by which, in the final result, the good grain shall chiefly suffer. Every Church of Christ has the right, nay, the duty is imposed upon it, of separating from its communion all who hold fundamental error, or lead an unholy life, after due admonition, and with tender charity; but to separate men from the Church in order to punish them, — the work of Christ at the harvest, which is the end of the world, and his work alone, — is a matter which, though often dictated by a forward and blind zeal, is here wholly prohibited. Grotius has showed that Augustine, Chrysostom, and Jerome applied the forbearance recommended in this parable to heretics. Augustine concluded from it that no punishments should be inflicted upon them; and though the Donatists made him so far accede as to allow of those punishments which admitted of time for repentance, he continued often to interpose to avert sentences of death. Constantine, in his first edicts, gave all Christians the liberty of worshipping God according to their conscience; but he afterward imposed penalties, chiefly pecuniary fines, on those who separated from the dominant Church. The succeeding emperors were more or less strict in this respect, as it suited their temporal interests; but all were averse to capital punishments. Thus the bishops in Gaul, who put the Priscillianists to death, were censured and excommunicated; and the council in the east was condemned, which burned Bogomilus, Arius, Mecedonius, Nestorius, and Eutyches suffered nothing beyond banishment. The Arian emperors, and the kings of that sect in Africa, appear to have been the first who embrued their hands in the blood of their opponents. Thus gradually did the caution of this merciful parable lose its influence over the minds of professing Christians; and the barbarities of futures times, induced by the “accursed ungodliness of zeal,” have infixed the foulest blot upon the history of our religion.

Verse 29. But he said, Nay] God judges quite otherwise than men of this mixture of good and evil in the world; he knows the good which he intends to produce from it, and how far his patience towards the wicked should extend, in order to their conversion, or the farther sanctification of the righteous. Men often persecute a true Christian, while they intend only to prosecute an impious person. “A zeal for the extirpation of heretics and wicked men,” said a pious Papist, “not regulated by these words of our blessed Saviour, allows no time for the one to grow strong in goodness, or to the other to forsake their evil courses. They are of a spirit very opposite to his, who care not if they root up the wheat, provided they can but gather up the tares.” The zeal which leads persons to persecute others for religious opinions is not less a seed of the devil than a bad opinion itself is.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

§ 49. — THE SEVEN PARABLES, 1-52.

As Matthew has in chapters eight and nine exhibited our Lord as a performer of mighty works, namely, ten miracles, so now he here presents him as a parabolist. SEVEN PARABLES — FOUR at the sea side, and THREE indoors — are grouped together.

1. The same day — The day of the transaction of the last chapter. He delivered the parables of this discourse, at evening took the boat and left; and exhausted by the overwhelming labours of the day, he sunk to slumbers, which were disturbed by the storm, which he stilled by miracle. Went Jesus out of the house — He had been invited to the house of a Pharisee, where he had much discourse. But very probably he went to his own house, from which he departed to the seashore, as here described, sat by the sea side first, probably, with his disciples; but the multitudes soon gathered around him and them. As appears by Mark 4:1, with the notes, he was obliged to enter into the prepared boat and sit in the boat in the sea.

Jesus… sat — While he sat, we find by the next verse that the multitude stood. It was customary in our Saviour’s day for the teacher to sit and the disciple to stand. Rabbi Gamaliel was probably the first who by arrangement took an elevated seat, and allowed his pupils to sit upon seats lower than his own platform. So Saul of Tarsus was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. By the sea side — Of Lake Gennesaret. In regard to the beach of Lake Gennesaret consult our note on Matthew 4:13. Stanley says: “The lake is almost completely surrounded by mountains; but those mountains never come down into the water, but always have a beach of greater or less extent along the water’s edge. It is on this smooth margin ‘beside the Lake Gennesaret’ that we must imagine Jesus ‘standing,’ then stepping into one of the two boats, and bidding Peter launch out into the deep. Luke 5:1, 2, 4. From the boat, that lay close by for the purpose, he addressed them his teaching in parables, and they stood on the beach.”

Verses 28, 29. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest, &c. — The chief point of difficulty in this parable lies in this question of the servants, and the answer of the master. Some make a distinction between thorns, briers, and obvious weeds, which they say ought to be extirpated, and the plant here mentioned; which, on account of its similarity to the wheat, so that it could not be plucked up without danger, ought to be treated with greater tenderness; but it is clear that, when the servants made their complaint to the master, the similarity had passed away, and each plant, the wheat and the zizanion, having attained more mature growth, was known by its fruit. Others think that we are cautioned against pushing discipline in Churches too far, lest by mistake the good wheat should be rooted up also; but this affords no reason at all why the plants which could be easily distinguished by their very fruit, should be suffered to remain growing together; and would afford an argument, not against too rigid a discipline, but against discipline of every kind. That this could not be the intention of our Lord, we have decided proof in the conduct of his apostles as to the moral regulation of Churches, and in those disciplinary directions they have left in their epistles. St. Paul commanded the Corinthians, by his apostolical authority, to “put away” an immoral person, and strongly reproved them for their supineness in the case. Christians are prohibited from “eating” with such characters; that is, from receiving the Lord’s Supper in their company; by which they refused all communion with them. A heretic, after suitable admonition, is to be “rejected;” and St. John forbids those to whom he writes “to receive” false teachers, or to bid them “God speed.” All these are obvious instances of separation from the fellowship of saints. It is clear, therefore, that we must seek another solution. Our Lord is to be understood as prohibiting all civil coercion, and every species of persecution, on religious grounds; all infliction of punishment upon men by his servants, his ministers, which should be a rooting up of the tares, and thus doing the work of the harvest before the time of harvest, a work reserved to Christ alone. The parable must therefore be understood as not referring at all to questions of Church DISCIPLINE. The seeds of evil, early sown in the Church, sprung up at length into innumerable heresies and immoralities, and that under the Christian name; and so long as the civil power was arrayed against Christianity, the only defence of the purer portion of the Church was its own legitimate ecclesiastical power to reprove and to separate offenders from its communion; though this began to be done even at an early period, too often in a spirit which indicated that if greater power had been at command, it would have been unmercifully used. A new state of things arose when the civil power lent itself to obey the call of ecclesiastics, to give greater force to these excommunications by the infliction of pains, penalties, and finally death; and it is a remarkable fact, and one to which our Lord in this parable may be supposed particularly to refer, that for so long a period of time even those ministers who were best entitled to be called the servants of the master of the field were the advocates of civil coercion in matters of religion, and asserted the right of the magistrate to employ the sword to punish offenders against the doctrines and the rules of their respective Churches; a principle which has indeed been renounced, though even still but partially, in comparatively modern times. For many ages almost all ministers, good or bad, advocated the violent rooting up of the tares by the arm of power, regardless of the lesson taught them in this parable; and if any thing more than its own internal evidence were necessary to convince us of the profound wisdom of this lesson, the proof which history has afforded of the utter unfitness of weak and passionate man to wield the rod of the Almighty, for ever establishes it. “Lest ye root up with them the wheat also,” says our Saviour; and the fact has been, that, with few exceptions, religious persecution, in all its degrees, has in all ages been more fatal to the wheat than to the tares; and that in an immense number of cases, under the pretence of destroying the tares, the wheat alone has been the object of this blind and perverted violence. The proud persecuting spirit is wholly of Satan; and when he impels his agents into the field to root up and destroy, he will generally take care of the plants of his own sowing; or if he sacrifice a few of them, it will be with the design to give a colour to a coercive and political process, by which, in the final result, the good grain shall chiefly suffer. Every Church of Christ has the right, nay, the duty is imposed upon it, of separating from its communion all who hold fundamental error, or lead an unholy life, after due admonition, and with tender charity; but to separate men from the Church in order to punish them, — the work of Christ at the harvest, which is the end of the world, and his work alone, — is a matter which, though often dictated by a forward and blind zeal, is here wholly prohibited. Grotius has showed that Augustine, Chrysostom, and Jerome applied the forbearance recommended in this parable to heretics. Augustine concluded from it that no punishments should be inflicted upon them; and though the Donatists made him so far accede as to allow of those punishments which admitted of time for repentance, he continued often to interpose to avert sentences of death. Constantine, in his first edicts, gave all Christians the liberty of worshipping God according to their conscience; but he afterward imposed penalties, chiefly pecuniary fines, on those who separated from the dominant Church. The succeeding emperors were more or less strict in this respect, as it suited their temporal interests; but all were averse to capital punishments. Thus the bishops in Gaul, who put the Priscillianists to death, were censured and excommunicated; and the council in the east was condemned, which burned Bogomilus, Arius, Mecedonius, Nestorius, and Eutyches suffered nothing beyond banishment. The Arian emperors, and the kings of that sect in Africa, appear to have been the first who embrued their hands in the blood of their opponents. Thus gradually did the caution of this merciful parable lose its influence over the minds of professing Christians; and the barbarities of futures times, induced by the “accursed ungodliness of zeal,” have infixed the foulest blot upon the history of our religion.

Verse 30. Let both grow together] Though every minister of God should separate from the Church of Christ every incorrigible sinner, yet he should proceed no farther: the man is not to be persecuted in his body or goods, because he is not sound in the faith-GOD tolerates him; so should men. False doctrines are against God-he alone is the judge and punisher of them-man has no right to interfere in this matter. They who burnt Vanini for atheism usurped the seat of judgment, and thus proved themselves to be not less a diabolical seed than the person they thus, without God’s leave, hurried into eternity. MARY, Queen of England, of execrable memory, and the inquisitorial tormentors she employed, were all of this diabolical sowing. See more on this parable at Matthew 13:37, &c.

Verses 24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them — In which he further explains the case of unfruitful hearers, and shows that persons of various characters would profess to receive the gospel, and be accounted members of the Christian Church; but that there should be a final separation between them in the other world, however they might be blended together in this. The kingdom of heaven — This expression, as has been observed before, sometimes signifies the gospel dispensation, sometimes true religion under the gospel; sometimes the Church of Christ, and that as well in its militant as in its triumphant state. The phrase is also often used for a person or thing relating to any of those. Here the meaning seems to be, that Christ, preaching the gospel, may be likened to a man sowing good seed, &c. Or, that the state of things in the gospel Church may be illustrated in the following manner. Which sowed good seed in his field — God formed our first parents upright, and sowed nothing but good in his whole creation. And Christ sowed only the good seed of truth in his Church, and planted it with such as were truly righteous. But while men slept — Who were set to watch, namely, magistrates and ministers, the servants of the husbandman. Observe, reader, Satan hath a power to persuade, allure, seduce; but not to force. If the servants of Christ watched, and did their duty, there would be much less open wickedness in the world, and less secret sin in the Church than there is. His enemy came and sowed tares — Rather darnel, as it seems zizania ought to be rendered. “It appears,” says Dr. Campbell, “from the parable itself, 1st, That this weed was not only hurtful to the corn, but otherwise of no value, and therefore to be severed and burnt. 2dly, That it resembled corn, especially wheat, since it was only when the wheat was putting forth the ear that these weeds were discovered. Now neither of these characters will suit the tare, which is excellent food for cattle, and sometimes cultivated for their use; and which, being a species of vetch, is distinguished from corn, from the moment it appears above ground. Therefore, as it cannot be the tare that is meant, it is highly probable that it is the darnel, in Latin lolium, namely, that species called by botanists temulentum, which grows among corn, not the lolium perenne, commonly called ray, and corruptly rye grass, which grows in meadows. For, 1st, This appears to have been the Latin word by which the Greek was wont to be interpreted. 2dly, It agrees to the characters above mentioned. It is a noxious weed; for when the seed of it happens to be mingled and ground with the corn, the bread made of this mixture always occasions sickness and giddiness in those who eat it; and the straw has the same effect upon the cattle. It is from this quality, and the appearance of drunkenness which it produces, that it has the specific name given it by botanists. And probably for the same reason it is called by Virgil, infelix lolium. It has also a resemblance to wheat sufficient to justify all that relates to this in the parable.” “The only English translation,” adds the doctor, “in which I have found the word darnel, is Mr. Wesley’s.” When the blade was sprung up, &c., then appeared the tares, rather, the darnel, also — It was not discerned before, but now could easily be distinguished. So the servants of the householder — Or, of the proprietor of the estate, as oikodespothv seems to signify here: came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? — That is, good seed only; the seed of pure wheat, without any corrupt mixture? whence then hath it darnel? — He said, An enemy hath done this — A plain answer to the great question concerning the origin of evil. God made men (as he did angels) intelligent creatures, and consequently free either to choose good or evil; but he implanted no evil in the human soul. An enemy (with man’s concurrence) hath done this. Darnel in the Church is properly hypocrites, or mere outside Christians, such as have only the form of godliness without the power. Open sinners, such as have neither the form nor the power, are not so properly darnel as thistles and brambles, which ought to be rooted up without delay, and not suffered in the Christian community. Whereas, should fallible men attempt to gather up the darnel, they would often root up the wheat with it.

Ver. 30. Let both grow together till the harvest. The church cannot expel members, except for immorality. God only can search the heart, and try the reins. Grotius refers us here to a similar case in the jewish Bereschit Rabba, a book to which few have access. The Latin critics copy the reference; it gets rid of a knotty question. Of Jezebel, a christian prophetess, and of the zizania family, it is said, I gave her space to repent, for the longsuffering of God is salvation. Revelation 2:21. God takes the hard cases in the church, which lie beyond the reach of discipline, into his own hands. Others give the words another turn: Est quidem hæc valde molesta conditio quod reprobis oneratur ecclesia usque ad finem mundi.

30. Let both grow together until the harvest — Let the probationary state remain until the judgment day. Then shall the final separation of the good and the evil take place. The evil shall be sent to hell, and the righteous to heaven. Gather ye… first the tares… gather the wheat — Upon the same gathering both tares and wheat are sent each to their own place. We remark here:

1. We have here a very clear contradiction of the millenarian theory that there are two resurrections, one of the righteous, another of the wicked, a thousand years apart.

2. We have also a very express condemnation of the doctrine that God will first destroy the wicked, and allow the saints to reign on earth a thousand years before the final judgment. The wicked and the righteous will both continue undestroyed during the time of probation. This belongs to the very nature of the probation.

3. Nor does this parable contradict the doctrine that men will be generally converted for ages before the judgment. It is destruction, not conversion, that the parable intends to deny. Men will be permitted to be wicked even in the millennium. They will be of the same depraved nature as now. Only the main mass will be saints by conversion and sanctification.

4. Let us from this parable understand the divine government, and never wonder at the sparing or even the prosperity of the wicked. This is the season of probation, but the day of judgment will show a different state of things. Verily there is a just God over all. THIRD PARABLE — The Mustard Seed, 31-32.

Verse 30. The reapers. — These, says our Lord, are the angels, not men having infirmity, pride, passion, prejudice, selfishness, but perfectly pure and holy spirits, and yet these act under the direction of the Son of man, who appears in his glory, is PRESENT at the final separation, which, being thus performed under his own eye, secures even angels from mistake. These are to gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, — all those errors and evils which have been as stumbling blocks to unbelievers, and made “the name of Christ to be blasphemed among the Gentiles,” especially all teachers of these false and torturing doctrines, — and them which do iniquity, under whatever guise or pretence; so that from this time of separation, so awful in its results to those who have unworthily borne the name of Christ, the universal Church of true believers shall be free from spot, and shall shine forth like the sun in the unsullied light of truth and holiness, in the kingdom of their Father. Verses 41-43.

V. 31. He proposed to them another parable-The former parables relate chiefly to unfruitful hearers; these that follow, to those who bear good fruit.

The kingdom of heaven-Both the Gospel dispensation, and the inward kingdom. Mark 4:30; Luke 13:18.

Verse 31. The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed] This parable is a representation of the progress of the Gospel in the world; and of the growth of grace in the soul. That grace which leads the soul to the fulness of glory may begin, and often does, in a single good desire-a wish to escape hell, or a desire to enjoy God in heaven.

Verses 31, 32. Another parable put he forth — The two former parables relate chiefly to unfruitful hearers: the two that follow, to those who bear good fruit. The kingdom of heaven — Both the gospel dispensation in the world, and the kingdom of grace in the souls of true believers, especially the former; is like to a grain of mustard-seed — Small and contemptible in its beginning. Which is indeed the least of all seeds — “That is, of all those seeds with which the people of Judea were then acquainted. Our Lord’s words are to be interpreted by popular use. And we learn from this gospel, Matthew 17:20, that like a grain of mustard-seed was become proverbial for expressing a small quantity.” But when it is grown, it becometh a tree — The term tree is applied by botanists to plants of the larger kind, which grow to the magnitude of shrubs, and for that reason are termed plantæ arborescentes: and “that there was a species of the sinapi, [mustard seed,] or, at least, what the Orientals comprehended under that name, which rose to the size of a tree, appears from some quotations brought by Lightfoot and Buxtorf from the writings of the rabbles, men who will not be suspected of partiality when their testimony happens to favour the writers of the New Testament.” “The Talmud mentions a mustard-tree so large that a man might with ease sit in it; and another, one of whose branches covered a tent. And it is certain we shall be much mistaken if we judge of vegetables or animals, in the eastern and southern countries, merely by what those of the same species are among us.” — Doddridge. Thus, from small beginnings, will the Christian doctrine spread in the world, and the life of Christ, or true religion, in the soul.

Ver. 31. The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed. The work of God, whether of grace in the heart, or of truth in the earth, is small in its commencement, but great in the issue. When the poor fishermen left their nets, they had no idea of filling celestial thrones, and of judging the world. But, however despicable the christians might appear, their little tree became so great that the gentile nations came to lodge in its branches.

31. Another parable — The parable of the mustard seed is a sort of supplement to the parable of the tares and wheat. It supplies what that had omitted, namely, the fact that while the wicked would not be destroyed, yet the kingdom of God should be progressive and triumphant on the earth. Though there should be no millennium by the destruction of the wicked, yet there may be one by the growth of the cause of righteousness. The kingdom of heaven is in this parable, as in the last, the divine administration, and the field is again the world. The Church is here not the wheat, but the mustard seed, sown by the same divine hand as the wheat. If it was discouraging to the disciples to learn that the wicked would not be destroyed, yet it was cheering to know that righteousness, however small its beginning, would triumph on the earth.

Like to a grain of mustard seed — The plant here spoken of was probably the “Khardal” or Turkish mustard, (botanically the Salvadora Persica,) which from a very small seed grows to a tree with a wooden fibre, and to such a size that it can be climbed by a man; and so it truly becometh a tree. It produces numerous branches and leaves, among which birds may and do take shelter, and build their nests. Such is the statement of Dr. Royle, Art. Sinapi, Kitto’s Encyc. Prof. Hackett, after long and doubtful search, found on the plains of Akka, on the way to Carmel, a little forest of mustard trees which he thus interestingly describes: “It was then in blossom, full grown, in some cases six, seven, and nine feet high, with a stem or trunk an inch or more in thickness, throwing out branches on every side. I was now satisfied in part. I felt that such a plant might well be called a tree, and, in comparison with the seed producing it, a great tree. But still the branches, or stems of the branches, were not very large, or, apparently, very strong. Can the birds, I said to myself, rest upon them? Are they not too slight and flexible? Will they not bend or break beneath the superadded weight? At that very instant, as I stood and revolved the thought, lo! one of the fowls of heaven stopped in its flight through the air, alighted down on one of the branches, which hardly moved beneath the shock, and then began, perched there before my eyes, to warble forth a strain of the richest music. All my doubts were now charmed away. I was delighted at the incident. It seemed to me at the moment as if I enjoyed enough to repay me for all the trouble of the whole journey.”

Verse 31. A grain of mustard seed, &c. — The intention of this parable is to set forth the large increase of the kingdom of Christ from small beginnings: it is another of those prophetic parables which have been, beyond all question, illustriously accomplished; and it is still receiving a not less striking fulfilment in the spread of Christianity into heathen countries to this day. The seed is said to be the least of all seeds, and to become a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make their nests in its branches. “This will not appear strange,” says Sir Thomas Brown, “if we recollect that the mustard seed, though it be not simply and in itself the smallest of all seeds, yet may be very well believed to be the smallest of such as are apt to grow into a ligneous substance, and become a kind of tree.” Scheuchzer describes a species of mustard which grows several feet in height. Of this arborescent vegetable he gives a print; and Linnæus mentions a species whose branches were ligneous. “I have seen plants of mustard,” says Mr. Scott, “in the deep rich soil of some low lands in Lincolnshire, larger than most shrubs, and almost like a small tree. Probably in eastern countries, it is the largest plant from the smallest seed that has yet been noticed.” But whatever might be the species intended by our Lord, it is clear from the fact that he was accustomed to take his illustrations from familiar objects, that he spoke of a plant which was remarkable among his hearers for the smallness of its seeds, and which yet attained so large a growth as to afford shelter for the birds of the air. Hence, “as a grain of mustard” was a proverbial expression among the Jews for smallness; and in the rabbinical writings the mustard plant is mentioned as a tree growing to a size and strength that a man might ascend into it. The comparatives, mikroteron and meizon, are used for superlatives.

The object of this parable was not only to place on record a prophecy the accomplishment of which should be an evidence of the truth of our Lord’s mission, but also to afford encouragement to his disciples in their great work of planting the Gospel. However small and discouraging the commencement of their work in any place might be, they planted a seed which contained within itself the capacity of large and wonderful increase. So it has proved in every land, and in every heart, where it has been in truth received and diligently cultivated.

V. 32. The least-That is, one of the least: a way of speaking extremely common among the Jews.

It becometh a tree-In those countries it grows exceeding large and high. So will the Christian doctrine spread in the world, and the life of Christ in the soul.

Verse 32. Which indeed is the least of all seeds] That is, of all those seeds which produce plants, whose stems and branches, according to the saying of the botanists, are apt dendrizein, arborescere, to grow into a ligneous or woody substance.

Becometh a tree] That is, it is not only the largest of plants which are produced from such small seeds, but partakes, in its substance, the close woody texture, especially in warm climates, where we are informed it grows to an almost incredible size. The Jerusalem Talmud, tract Peah. fol. 20, says, “There was a stalk of mustard in Sichin, from which sprang out three boughs; one of which, being broken off, served to cover the tent of a potter, and produced three cabes of mustard seed. Rabbi Simeon ben Chalapha said, A stalk of mustard seed was in my field, into which I was want to climb, as men are wont to climb into a fig tree.” See Lightfoot and Schoettgen. This may appear to be extravagant; and it is probable that, in the case of the three cabes of seed, there is considerable exaggeration; but, if it had not been usual for this plant to grow to a very large size, such relations as these would not have appeared even in the Talmud; and the parable of our Lord sufficiently attests the fact. Some soils being more luxuriant than others, and the climate much warmer, raise the same plant to a size and perfection far beyond what a poorer soil, or a colder climate, can possibly do. Herodotus says, he has seen wheat and barley in the country about Babylon which carried a blade full four fingers-breadth: and that the millet and sesamum grew to an incredible size. I have myself seen a field of common cabbages, in one of the Norman isles, each of which was from seven to nine feet in height; and one in the garden of a friend, which grew beside an apple-tree, though the latitude of the place is only about 48 deg. 13 min. north, was fifteen feet high, the stem of which is yet remaining, (September, 1798.) These facts, and several others which might be added, confirm fully the possibility of what our Lord says of the mustard-tree, however incredible such things may appear to those who are acquainted only with the productions of northern regions and cold climates.

Verses 31, 32. Another parable put he forth — The two former parables relate chiefly to unfruitful hearers: the two that follow, to those who bear good fruit. The kingdom of heaven — Both the gospel dispensation in the world, and the kingdom of grace in the souls of true believers, especially the former; is like to a grain of mustard-seed — Small and contemptible in its beginning. Which is indeed the least of all seeds — “That is, of all those seeds with which the people of Judea were then acquainted. Our Lord’s words are to be interpreted by popular use. And we learn from this gospel, Matthew 17:20, that like a grain of mustard-seed was become proverbial for expressing a small quantity.” But when it is grown, it becometh a tree — The term tree is applied by botanists to plants of the larger kind, which grow to the magnitude of shrubs, and for that reason are termed plantæ arborescentes: and “that there was a species of the sinapi, [mustard seed,] or, at least, what the Orientals comprehended under that name, which rose to the size of a tree, appears from some quotations brought by Lightfoot and Buxtorf from the writings of the rabbles, men who will not be suspected of partiality when their testimony happens to favour the writers of the New Testament.” “The Talmud mentions a mustard-tree so large that a man might with ease sit in it; and another, one of whose branches covered a tent. And it is certain we shall be much mistaken if we judge of vegetables or animals, in the eastern and southern countries, merely by what those of the same species are among us.” — Doddridge. Thus, from small beginnings, will the Christian doctrine spread in the world, and the life of Christ, or true religion, in the soul.

32. Least of all seeds — The point of the parable is to exhibit the contrast between the smallness of the Gospel beginnings and the greatness of the result. The mustard was the least of seeds that produced the genuine tree. Greatest among herbs — Though a tree in size, it was a herb by proper classification. Birds of the air — This is added to complete the image of a goodly tree; but it is also a sweet illustration of the character of the Church, as a refuge and a protection for the souls that resort to her shadow. See Ezekiel 17:23: “Under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing.”

This parabolic image of the growth of the kingdom of Christ is beautifully parallel to many passages in the Old Testament, where the rise and expansion of kingdoms are compared to the growth of a stately tree. (Daniel 4:10-12; Ezekiel 31:3-9.) It is also strongly accordant with the image in Daniel 2:34, 35, of the kingdom of God, which at first was a small stone, but finally became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. And this last image describes the growth of the kingdom, as being completely universal, more explicitly even than our Lord’s simile here of the mustard spreading its branches.

FOURTH PARABLE. — The Leaven in the Meal, 33.

V. 33. Three measures-This was the quantity which they usually baked at once:

till the whole was leavened-Thus will the Gospel leaven the world and grace the Christian. Luke 13:20.

Verse 33. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven] On the nature and effects of leaven, see the note on Exodus 12:8. As the property of leaven is to change, or assimulate to its own nature, the meal or dough with which it is mixed, so the property of the grace of Christ is to change the whole soul into its own likeness; and God intends that this principle should continue in the soul till all is leavened-till the whole bear the image of the heavenly, as it before bore the image of the earthly. Both these parables are prophetic, and were intended to show, principally, how, from very small beginnings, the Gospel of Christ should pervade all the nations of the world, and fill them with righteousness and true holiness.

Verse 33. Another parable spake he unto them — With a view still further to illustrate the progress of the gospel in the world, and of true religion in the soul. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman hid — That is, covered up; in three measures of meal — Which seems to have been the quantity that they usually baked at once; till the whole was leavened — For although the leaven seemed lost for a while in the mass of dough, it secretly wrought through it by a speedy though almost insensible fermentation. Thus shall the gospel spread in the world, and divine grace in the souls of men, influencing and assimilating their spirit and conduct.

Ver. 33. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven. Leaven is used in the north of England. It is dough preserved in a cup, with water enough to keep it moist from baking to baking; and turning extremely sour, it ferments the dough instead of yeast or barm; and the taste it communicates to bread is by no means unpleasant to those who are used to it. In like manner the grace of God changes the heart into the holy nature and image of God, until it finally expels all the old leaven of malice and wickedness.

33. The kingdom of heaven — The divine dispensation of the Gospel. In this parable the woman is the symbol of the divine agency, the meal is the human heart, the leaven is the Gospel. As leaven diffuses itself through the meal until the whole lump is leavened, so the grace of God and the power of the Gospel are a diffusive power, which impregnates the whole heart and transforms its character. As the parable of the mustard tree describes the external, so this parable describes the internal prevalence of the Gospel power. It describes the internal influence not upon the individual alone, but upon the masses of humanity. Three measures of meal — A measure was the third part of an ephah, and these three were the usual quantity for a baking. Genesis 18:6; Judges 6:19; 1 Samuel 1:24. Whole was leavened — The grace of God in the heart, when properly received and cultivated, assimilates the whole character to its blessed nature.

Verse 33. Like leaven. — The former parable was designed to illustrate the public and visible growth of Christ’s religion; this, its secret and powerful operation in the soul of man, and in the moral state of society. Its influence is invisible, often slow; but it exerts a secret activity, conveying its own properties progressively, until, like the measures of meal, the whole mass is leavened. This must become matter of personal experience, that no principle of action, no affection of the soul, no temper, no thought, word or action shall escape that influence of the Gospel, the effect of which, when not wilfully counteracted, is to assimilate every thing to its own charity and purity. In the world the process, from the vastness of the mass, will be slow; and yet, what reflecting mind can fail to remark with joy, that, wherever the great truths of our Divine religion are fully and faithfully preached, how certainly, and often indeed rapidly, do great moral changes in the state of society follow? — a higher standard of judging as to right and wrong, a stricter regard to justice, a corrected state of morals, a more liberal benevolence, kindlier feelings, manliness of intellect, and an ameliorated state of the social affections. Let this encourage the exertions of the disciples of Christ. The elements of these mighty changes are not often brought into the calculations of the philosopher or the statesman; but they are silently placed amid the thoughts and consciences of men, and exert there a growing influence. Far off may be the desirable consummation; but the leaven is silently at work; and the vast mass of the human race shall be ultimately brought under its influence. Three measures of meal. — The saton, or measure, was about a peek and a half, English; and three measures were probably the quantity usually leavened at one time for domestic use.

V. 34. Without a parable spake he not unto them-That is, not at that time; at other times he did.

Verse 34. All these things spoke Jesus-in parables] Christ descends from Divine mysteries to parables, in order to excite us to raise our minds, from and through natural things, to the great God, and the operations of his grace and Spirit. Divine things cannot be taught to man but through the medium of earthly things. If God should speak to us in that language which is peculiar to heaven, clothing those ideas which angelic minds form, how little should we comprehend of the things thus described! How great is our privilege in being thus taught! Heavenly things, in the parables of Christ, assume to themselves a body, and thus render themselves palpable.

Verses 34, 35. All these things spake Jesus in parables — Mark has it, With many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to bear it. That is, he preached the doctrines of the gospel in these and many other parables of a like nature, according as his hearers were able to receive them. And without a parable spake he not unto them — That is, not at this time; at other times he did. That it might be fulfilled — That is, whereby was fulfilled; that which was spoken by the prophet — Namely, by Asaph, Psalms 78:2Psalm 78:2, whose words the evangelist here quotes, and accommodates to Jesus. See notes on Matthew 2:15, 17.

34. All these things — All these principles or truths. Without a parable spake he not — There was no principle introduced which he did not illustrate by this newly commenced form of teaching.

V. 35. Psalms 78:2Psalm 78:2.

Verse 35. By the prophet] As the quotation is taken from Psalms 78:2Psalm 78:2, which is attributed to Asaph, he must be the prophet who is meant in the text; and, indeed, he is expressly called a prophet, 1 Chronicles 25:2. Several MSS. have hsaiou, Isaiah; but this is a manifest error. Jerome supposes that Asaph was first in the text, and that some ignorant transcriber, not knowing who this Asaph was, inserted the word Isaiah; and thus, by attempting to remove an imaginary error, made a real one.

Verses 34, 35. All these things spake Jesus in parables — Mark has it, With many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to bear it. That is, he preached the doctrines of the gospel in these and many other parables of a like nature, according as his hearers were able to receive them. And without a parable spake he not unto them — That is, not at this time; at other times he did. That it might be fulfilled — That is, whereby was fulfilled; that which was spoken by the prophet — Namely, by Asaph, Psalms 78:2Psalm 78:2, whose words the evangelist here quotes, and accommodates to Jesus. See notes on Matthew 2:15, 17.

35. Might be fulfilled… by the prophet — Psalm 78. That psalm is ascribed to Asaph, but the sentiment here expressed was fulfilled or exemplified by this mode of our Lord’s teachings. Kept secret — Or unrevealed by God. From the foundation of the world — That is, from the commencement of the creation, or the beginning of sublunary time.

Verse 35. That it might be fulfilled, &c. — This quotation is from Psalms 78:2Psalm 78:2; an inspired ode, which is attributed to Asaph, who is called, 2 Chronicles 29:30, “Asaph the seer,” or prophet. The subject of this psalm is the history of God’s dealings with the Jews, until he raised up David to be their shepherd; and as this history is that of a typical people and a typical king, it looks forward to the Christian dispensation, and to Christ the King of his Church, appointed as the great Shepherd to feed and rule it. To the future state of that Church, through its varied history, until Christ the true David should fully establish his dominion in the world, the preceding parables, spoken by our Lord, also manifestly refer; and as Asaph spoke of the same subjects under these types, so Christ under the veil of parables. Asaph was in this respect himself a type of Christ: each uttered his parables and enigmatical sayings, and revealed things kept secret from ancient times. In this respect also Christ answered to the typical Asaph; and as the latter was appointed by the Spirit of inspiration to be Messiah’s type AS A TEACHER, so his shadowy ministry was directly FULFILLED in Christ when he uttered his parables on the same subjects; but with more obvious reference to his own Church and future glorious reign. Here then is another instance, to explain which the theory of accommodation has been called in, but which, when examined, directly refutes it. What Asaph calls “a parable,” and “dark savings,” could have no application to the psalm, which, literally taken, is no more than a plain historical narrative, unless he considered himself as speaking of Messiah and his kingdom under the typical veil of the Jewish nation, and its most illustrious sovereign, and as speaking also in Messiah’s person. This consideration alone sufficiently determines the prophetic character of the psalm referred to by the evangelist, and that there was a real fulfilment of a pre-indication of the character of our Lord’s teaching in that of Asaph. The quotation of St. Matthew a little varies both from the Hebrew and the Septuagint, but perfectly agrees in sense.

Verse 36. Jesus-went into the house: and his disciples came] Circumstances of this kind should not pass unnoticed: they are instructive and important. Those who attend only to the public preaching of the Gospel of God are not likely to understand fully the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. To understand clearly the purport of the Divine message, a man must come to God by frequent, fervent, secret prayer. It is thus that the word of God sinks into the heart, is watered, and brings forth much fruit.

Declare (frason, explain) unto us the parable of the tares of the field.] To what has already been spoken on this parable, the following general exposition may be deemed a necessary appendage:- I. What is the cause of EVIL in the world?

1. We must allow that God, who is infinite in holiness, purity, and goodness, could not have done it. Nothing can produce what is not in itself. This is a maxim which every man subscribes to: God then could not have produced sin, forasmuch as his nature is infinite goodness and holiness. He made man at first in his own image, a transcript of his own purity: and, since sin entered into the world, He has done every thing consistent with his own perfections, and the freedom of the human mind, to drive it out, and to make and keep man holy.

2. After a thousand volumes are written on the origin of evil, we shall just know as much of it as Christ has told us here-An enemy hath done it, and this enemy is the devil, Matthew 13:39.

1. This enemy is represented as a deceitful enemy: a friend in appearance, soliciting to sin, by pleasure, honour, riches, &c.

2. A vigilant enemy. While men sleep he watches, Matthew 13:25.

3. A hidden or secret enemy. After having sown his seed, he disappears, Matthew 13:25. Did he appear as himself, few would receive solicitations to sin; but he is seldom discovered in evil thoughts, unholy desires, flattering discourses, bad books, &c.

II. Why was evil permitted to enter into the world?

1. There are doubtless sufficient reasons in the Divine Mind for its permission; which, connected with his infinite essence, and extending to eternity, are not only unfathomable by us, but also, from their nature, incommunicable to men.

2. But it may be justly said, that hereby many attributes of the Divine Nature become manifest, which otherwise could not have been known; such as mercy, compassion, long-suffering, &c. All of which endear the Deity to men, and perfect the felicity of those who are saved. III. But why does he suffer this mixture of the good and bad seed now?

1. Because of the necessary dependence of one part of the creation on the other. Were the wicked all rooted up, society must fail-the earth be nearly desolated-noxious things greatly multiplied-and the small remnant of the godly, not being able to stand against the onsets of wild beasts, &c., must soon be extirpated; and then adieu to the economy of grace!

2. Did not the wicked exist, there would be no room for the exercise of many of the graces of the Spirit, on which our spiritual perfection greatly depends.

3. Nor could the grace of God be so manifest in supporting and saving the righteous; and consequently could not have that honour which now it justly claims.

4. Were not this evil tolerated, how could the wicked be converted? The bastard wheat, by being transplanted to a better soil, may become good wheat; so sinners may be engrafted in Christ, and become sons of God through faith in his name; for the longsuffering of God leads multitudes to repentance.

IV. Observe the end of the present state of things:

1. The wicked shall be punished, and the righteous rewarded. The wicked are termed bastard-wheat-the children of the wicked one, Matthew 13:38, the very seed of the serpent.

Observe the place in which the wicked shall be punished,-a FURNACE. The instrument of this punishment, FIRE. This is an allusion to the punishment inflicted only on those supposed to be the very worst of criminals. See Daniel 3:6. They were cast into a burning fiery furnace. The effect of it, DESPAIR; weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13:42.

2. Observe the character and state of the righteous:

1. They are the children of the kingdom, a seed of God’s sowing, Matthew 13:38.

2. As to their persons, they shall be like the sun.

3. The place of their felicity shall be the kingdom of heaven: and,

4. The object of it, GOD In the relation of FATHER, Matthew 13:43. This is a reference to Daniel 12:2, 3.

Some learned men are of opinion that the whole of this parable refers to the Jewish state and people; and that the words sunteleia tou aiwnov, which are commonly translated the end of the world, should be rendered the end of the age, viz. the end of the Jewish polity. That the words have this meaning in other places there can be no doubt; and this may be their primary meaning here; but there are other matters in the parable which agree far better with the consummation of all things than with the end of the Jewish dispensation and polity. See on Mark 4:29.

Verses 36-39. Then Jesus sent the multitude away — The evening probably drawing on, for the people had now been long collected together: and went — From the vessel where he had been preaching; into the house — Probably a friend’s house, that he might refresh himself a little: and his disciples came, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares — They say nothing of the two other parables, because, probably, they understood them; or, perhaps, this parable affected them more than either of the others, in regard of its dreadful conclusion. Jesus readily granted their request, pleased, doubtless, that they were desirous of understanding every part of his doctrine. He answered, He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man — Christ sowed the good seed of truth by preaching the gospel, and thereby, through the influences of his Spirit, forming and raising up real Christians, with whom to plant his church. The field is the world — To enlighten and save the world is the great end for which the gospel is preached, and out of it believers are gathered. Or rather, as appears from the parable itself, the church in the world is meant by the field. The good seed are the children of the kingdom — That is, the children of God, the righteous. But the tares [or darnel] are the children of the wicked one — How much soever they may have of the form of godliness, and however unblameable they may appear in their outward conduct, not being justified by grace, nor renewed in the spirit of their minds, but still in a state of guilt and depravity, they are not the genuine children of God, but those of the wicked one. “The good seed,” says Baxter, “as sown, is the gospel; but as springing up in fruit, it is the faithful, who are properly the members of the Church of Christ. The tares, as sown, are evil doctrines and temptations; but as sprung up in fruit, are the children of the devil, who is the father of wickedness, and that enemy of God and man who sowed them.” The harvest is the end of the world — Even the day of final judgment and retribution; the reapers are the angels — Who shall be employed in the services of that day, and especially in gathering together the saints, and separating them from the rest of mankind, in order to their eternal salvation, and in executing the sentence of condemnation passed on the ungodly.

36. Went into the house — After dismissing his sea shore congregation he returned to his usual residence in Capernaum. Declare — Explain or solve. Thus was it given to the disciples to know these mysteries of the planting, the development, the growth, the prevalence, and the final issue of the Gospel kingdom. The unbelieving opponents of our Lord would have reviled, denied, perverted, and abused this; and so, being unfit to receive them, these saving mysteries were forever hidden from their eyes. Thus were these things most justly hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes. And this was not because God had arbitrarily excluded them from salvation, but because they do most freely exclude themselves. They all might, like the disciples, have received the truth and been redeemed by the blessed Saviour.

Verses 36-39. Then Jesus sent the multitude away — The evening probably drawing on, for the people had now been long collected together: and went — From the vessel where he had been preaching; into the house — Probably a friend’s house, that he might refresh himself a little: and his disciples came, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares — They say nothing of the two other parables, because, probably, they understood them; or, perhaps, this parable affected them more than either of the others, in regard of its dreadful conclusion. Jesus readily granted their request, pleased, doubtless, that they were desirous of understanding every part of his doctrine. He answered, He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man — Christ sowed the good seed of truth by preaching the gospel, and thereby, through the influences of his Spirit, forming and raising up real Christians, with whom to plant his church. The field is the world — To enlighten and save the world is the great end for which the gospel is preached, and out of it believers are gathered. Or rather, as appears from the parable itself, the church in the world is meant by the field. The good seed are the children of the kingdom — That is, the children of God, the righteous. But the tares [or darnel] are the children of the wicked one — How much soever they may have of the form of godliness, and however unblameable they may appear in their outward conduct, not being justified by grace, nor renewed in the spirit of their minds, but still in a state of guilt and depravity, they are not the genuine children of God, but those of the wicked one. “The good seed,” says Baxter, “as sown, is the gospel; but as springing up in fruit, it is the faithful, who are properly the members of the Church of Christ. The tares, as sown, are evil doctrines and temptations; but as sprung up in fruit, are the children of the devil, who is the father of wickedness, and that enemy of God and man who sowed them.” The harvest is the end of the world — Even the day of final judgment and retribution; the reapers are the angels — Who shall be employed in the services of that day, and especially in gathering together the saints, and separating them from the rest of mankind, in order to their eternal salvation, and in executing the sentence of condemnation passed on the ungodly.

SOLUTION OF THE PARABLE OF THE TARES AND THE WHEAT, 37-43.

37. He that soweth… the Son of man — The sower is the redeemer the field is not the Church, but the world; the good seed are the Christians; the tares are the wicked, their sower is Satan. At the end of the world the angels shall gather out the harvest of wicked men to cast them into the blaze of retribution.

V. 38. The good seed are the children of the kingdom-That is, the children of God, the righteous.

Verses 36-39. Then Jesus sent the multitude away — The evening probably drawing on, for the people had now been long collected together: and went — From the vessel where he had been preaching; into the house — Probably a friend’s house, that he might refresh himself a little: and his disciples came, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares — They say nothing of the two other parables, because, probably, they understood them; or, perhaps, this parable affected them more than either of the others, in regard of its dreadful conclusion. Jesus readily granted their request, pleased, doubtless, that they were desirous of understanding every part of his doctrine. He answered, He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man — Christ sowed the good seed of truth by preaching the gospel, and thereby, through the influences of his Spirit, forming and raising up real Christians, with whom to plant his church. The field is the world — To enlighten and save the world is the great end for which the gospel is preached, and out of it believers are gathered. Or rather, as appears from the parable itself, the church in the world is meant by the field. The good seed are the children of the kingdom — That is, the children of God, the righteous. But the tares [or darnel] are the children of the wicked one — How much soever they may have of the form of godliness, and however unblameable they may appear in their outward conduct, not being justified by grace, nor renewed in the spirit of their minds, but still in a state of guilt and depravity, they are not the genuine children of God, but those of the wicked one. “The good seed,” says Baxter, “as sown, is the gospel; but as springing up in fruit, it is the faithful, who are properly the members of the Church of Christ. The tares, as sown, are evil doctrines and temptations; but as sprung up in fruit, are the children of the devil, who is the father of wickedness, and that enemy of God and man who sowed them.” The harvest is the end of the world — Even the day of final judgment and retribution; the reapers are the angels — Who shall be employed in the services of that day, and especially in gathering together the saints, and separating them from the rest of mankind, in order to their eternal salvation, and in executing the sentence of condemnation passed on the ungodly.

SOLUTION OF THE PARABLE OF THE TARES AND THE WHEAT, 37-43.

37. He that soweth… the Son of man — The sower is the redeemer the field is not the Church, but the world; the good seed are the Christians; the tares are the wicked, their sower is Satan. At the end of the world the angels shall gather out the harvest of wicked men to cast them into the blaze of retribution.

Verses 36-39. Then Jesus sent the multitude away — The evening probably drawing on, for the people had now been long collected together: and went — From the vessel where he had been preaching; into the house — Probably a friend’s house, that he might refresh himself a little: and his disciples came, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares — They say nothing of the two other parables, because, probably, they understood them; or, perhaps, this parable affected them more than either of the others, in regard of its dreadful conclusion. Jesus readily granted their request, pleased, doubtless, that they were desirous of understanding every part of his doctrine. He answered, He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man — Christ sowed the good seed of truth by preaching the gospel, and thereby, through the influences of his Spirit, forming and raising up real Christians, with whom to plant his church. The field is the world — To enlighten and save the world is the great end for which the gospel is preached, and out of it believers are gathered. Or rather, as appears from the parable itself, the church in the world is meant by the field. The good seed are the children of the kingdom — That is, the children of God, the righteous. But the tares [or darnel] are the children of the wicked one — How much soever they may have of the form of godliness, and however unblameable they may appear in their outward conduct, not being justified by grace, nor renewed in the spirit of their minds, but still in a state of guilt and depravity, they are not the genuine children of God, but those of the wicked one. “The good seed,” says Baxter, “as sown, is the gospel; but as springing up in fruit, it is the faithful, who are properly the members of the Church of Christ. The tares, as sown, are evil doctrines and temptations; but as sprung up in fruit, are the children of the devil, who is the father of wickedness, and that enemy of God and man who sowed them.” The harvest is the end of the world — Even the day of final judgment and retribution; the reapers are the angels — Who shall be employed in the services of that day, and especially in gathering together the saints, and separating them from the rest of mankind, in order to their eternal salvation, and in executing the sentence of condemnation passed on the ungodly.

SOLUTION OF THE PARABLE OF THE TARES AND THE WHEAT, 37-43.

37. He that soweth… the Son of man — The sower is the redeemer the field is not the Church, but the world; the good seed are the Christians; the tares are the wicked, their sower is Satan. At the end of the world the angels shall gather out the harvest of wicked men to cast them into the blaze of retribution.

Verses 40-43. As the tares are gathered — At the command of the owner of the field; and burnt in the fire — So totally destroyed as never to revive and flourish again; so shall it be at the end of the world — With regard to the finally impenitent: their destruction, not their annihilation, shall be complete and eternal; without any hope or possibility of a restoration. See note on Matthew 3:12. The Son of man shall send forth his angels — Who shall all attend him on that solemn occasion, Matthew 25:31. What a high idea does our Lord here give us of himself; representing the holy angels as his attendants, who shall wait on him at the last day, and at his order assemble the whole world before him! And they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend — Whatever had grieved the children of God, or been an obstruction to them in their Christian course; whatever things or persons had hindered the good seed which Christ had sown from taking root or bearing fruit. The Greek, panta ta skandala, is, all the scandals, or, stumbling-blocks. And them which do iniquity — Who shall now be perfectly and eternally separated from the righteous, and excluded from Christ’s kingdom. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire — These blessed spirits, as the executioners of the divine vengeance, shall cast them into the unquenchable fire of hell. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth — The most extreme torment, attended with the height of anguish, rage, and despair; a despair aggravated by all the privileges they once enjoyed, and the vain hope which, as professors of the true religion, they once entertained. Therefore they shall not be annihilated, nor their misery alleviated by any expectation of being ever restored or delivered from their sufferings. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun — “Being freed from all the humbling circumstances which attend mortality, they shall shine like the sun in the firmament for brightness and beauty and shall find no diminution of their splendour by age. A noble image this to represent the glory and happiness of the righteous with God their Father.” Who hath ears to hear, let him hear — “This exclamation intimates, that truths of greater importance and solemnity cannot be uttered than those which respect the final misery of the wicked, and the inconceivable happiness of the righteous, and that all who have the faculty of reason, ought therefore to regard them with becoming attention.” — Macknight.

40. End of this world — The end of probationary time. While that lasts the good and evil mingle together. Then comes the world of retribution, in which the good and evil are parted into separate states of reward.

V. 41. They shall gather all things that offend-Whatever had hindered or grieved the children of God; whatever things or persons had hindered the good seed which Christ had sown from taking root or bearing fruit. The Greek word is, All scandals.

Verses 40-43. As the tares are gathered — At the command of the owner of the field; and burnt in the fire — So totally destroyed as never to revive and flourish again; so shall it be at the end of the world — With regard to the finally impenitent: their destruction, not their annihilation, shall be complete and eternal; without any hope or possibility of a restoration. See note on Matthew 3:12. The Son of man shall send forth his angels — Who shall all attend him on that solemn occasion, Matthew 25:31. What a high idea does our Lord here give us of himself; representing the holy angels as his attendants, who shall wait on him at the last day, and at his order assemble the whole world before him! And they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend — Whatever had grieved the children of God, or been an obstruction to them in their Christian course; whatever things or persons had hindered the good seed which Christ had sown from taking root or bearing fruit. The Greek, panta ta skandala, is, all the scandals, or, stumbling-blocks. And them which do iniquity — Who shall now be perfectly and eternally separated from the righteous, and excluded from Christ’s kingdom. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire — These blessed spirits, as the executioners of the divine vengeance, shall cast them into the unquenchable fire of hell. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth — The most extreme torment, attended with the height of anguish, rage, and despair; a despair aggravated by all the privileges they once enjoyed, and the vain hope which, as professors of the true religion, they once entertained. Therefore they shall not be annihilated, nor their misery alleviated by any expectation of being ever restored or delivered from their sufferings. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun — “Being freed from all the humbling circumstances which attend mortality, they shall shine like the sun in the firmament for brightness and beauty and shall find no diminution of their splendour by age. A noble image this to represent the glory and happiness of the righteous with God their Father.” Who hath ears to hear, let him hear — “This exclamation intimates, that truths of greater importance and solemnity cannot be uttered than those which respect the final misery of the wicked, and the inconceivable happiness of the righteous, and that all who have the faculty of reason, ought therefore to regard them with becoming attention.” — Macknight.

41. All things that offend — All evil things and all that seduce to evil. Them which do iniquity — Evil persons.

Verses 40-43. As the tares are gathered — At the command of the owner of the field; and burnt in the fire — So totally destroyed as never to revive and flourish again; so shall it be at the end of the world — With regard to the finally impenitent: their destruction, not their annihilation, shall be complete and eternal; without any hope or possibility of a restoration. See note on Matthew 3:12. The Son of man shall send forth his angels — Who shall all attend him on that solemn occasion, Matthew 25:31. What a high idea does our Lord here give us of himself; representing the holy angels as his attendants, who shall wait on him at the last day, and at his order assemble the whole world before him! And they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend — Whatever had grieved the children of God, or been an obstruction to them in their Christian course; whatever things or persons had hindered the good seed which Christ had sown from taking root or bearing fruit. The Greek, panta ta skandala, is, all the scandals, or, stumbling-blocks. And them which do iniquity — Who shall now be perfectly and eternally separated from the righteous, and excluded from Christ’s kingdom. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire — These blessed spirits, as the executioners of the divine vengeance, shall cast them into the unquenchable fire of hell. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth — The most extreme torment, attended with the height of anguish, rage, and despair; a despair aggravated by all the privileges they once enjoyed, and the vain hope which, as professors of the true religion, they once entertained. Therefore they shall not be annihilated, nor their misery alleviated by any expectation of being ever restored or delivered from their sufferings. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun — “Being freed from all the humbling circumstances which attend mortality, they shall shine like the sun in the firmament for brightness and beauty and shall find no diminution of their splendour by age. A noble image this to represent the glory and happiness of the righteous with God their Father.” Who hath ears to hear, let him hear — “This exclamation intimates, that truths of greater importance and solemnity cannot be uttered than those which respect the final misery of the wicked, and the inconceivable happiness of the righteous, and that all who have the faculty of reason, ought therefore to regard them with becoming attention.” — Macknight.

42. Furnace of fire — Fire is the most usual form under which penal retribution is described in the New Testament. The fires of the valley of Hinnom were to the Jews the emblem of future, penalty. Hence the burning flame is the ordinary symbol of hell. And if there be not in the world of retribution a real material fire, yet what fire is to the body that the element of hell will doubtless be to the soul and to the immortal resurrection body.

Verses 40-43. As the tares are gathered — At the command of the owner of the field; and burnt in the fire — So totally destroyed as never to revive and flourish again; so shall it be at the end of the world — With regard to the finally impenitent: their destruction, not their annihilation, shall be complete and eternal; without any hope or possibility of a restoration. See note on Matthew 3:12. The Son of man shall send forth his angels — Who shall all attend him on that solemn occasion, Matthew 25:31. What a high idea does our Lord here give us of himself; representing the holy angels as his attendants, who shall wait on him at the last day, and at his order assemble the whole world before him! And they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend — Whatever had grieved the children of God, or been an obstruction to them in their Christian course; whatever things or persons had hindered the good seed which Christ had sown from taking root or bearing fruit. The Greek, panta ta skandala, is, all the scandals, or, stumbling-blocks. And them which do iniquity — Who shall now be perfectly and eternally separated from the righteous, and excluded from Christ’s kingdom. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire — These blessed spirits, as the executioners of the divine vengeance, shall cast them into the unquenchable fire of hell. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth — The most extreme torment, attended with the height of anguish, rage, and despair; a despair aggravated by all the privileges they once enjoyed, and the vain hope which, as professors of the true religion, they once entertained. Therefore they shall not be annihilated, nor their misery alleviated by any expectation of being ever restored or delivered from their sufferings. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun — “Being freed from all the humbling circumstances which attend mortality, they shall shine like the sun in the firmament for brightness and beauty and shall find no diminution of their splendour by age. A noble image this to represent the glory and happiness of the righteous with God their Father.” Who hath ears to hear, let him hear — “This exclamation intimates, that truths of greater importance and solemnity cannot be uttered than those which respect the final misery of the wicked, and the inconceivable happiness of the righteous, and that all who have the faculty of reason, ought therefore to regard them with becoming attention.” — Macknight.

Ver. 43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. No longer overshadowed and obscured by the tares, they shall shine forth in godlike knowledge, in the beauties of holiness, in degrees of bodily lustre, by reflecting the glory of Christ. Ages, successions, and infinities of saints shall shine as celestial constellations in the heavenly kingdom; and all this exterior glory shall only be the emanations of that glory which dwells in their hearts.

43. Righteous… as the sun — A most resplendent image of the glorified saints in heaven. The Greek verb is very expressive — shine out — as if during their sojourn in this world they were obscured by a cloud. Heaven is the firmament in which every luminary is a sun.

FIFTH PARABLE. — The Hid Treasure, 44.

V. 44. The three following parables are proposed, not to the multitude, but peculiarly to the apostles: the two former of them relate to those who receive the Gospel; the third, both to those who receive, and those who preach it.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hid in a field-The kingdom of God within us is a treasure indeed, but a treasure hid from the world, and from the most wise and prudent in it. He that finds this treasure, (perhaps when he thought it far from him,) hides it deep in his heart, and gives up all other happiness for it.

Verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field] qhsaurw kekrummenw, to a hidden treasure. We are not to imagine that the treasure here mentioned, and to which the Gospel salvation is likened, means a pot or chest of money hidden in the field, but rather a gold or silver mine, which he who found out could not get at, or work, without turning up the field, and for this purpose he bought it. Mr. Wakefield’s observation is very just: “There is no sense in the purchase of a field for a pot of money, which he might have carried away with him very readily, and as honestly, too, as by overreaching the owner by an unjust purchase.” He hideth-i.e. he kept secret, told the discovery to no person, till he had bought the field. From this view of the subject, the translation of this verse, given above, will appear proper-a hidden treasture, when applied to a rich mine, is more proper than a treasure hid, which applies better to a pot of money deposited there, which I suppose was our translators’ opinion; and kept secret, or concealed, will apply better to the subject of his discovery till he made the purchase, than hideth, for which there could be no occasion, when the pot was already hidden, and the place known only to himself.

Our Lord’s meaning seems to be this:-

The kingdom of heaven-the salvation provided by the Gospel-is like a treasure-something of inestimable worth-hidden in a field; it is a rich mine, the veins of which run in all directions in the sacred Scriptures; therefore, the field must be dug up, the records of salvation diligently and carefully turned over, and searched. Which, when a man hath found-when a sinner is convinced that the promise of life eternal is to him, he kept secret-pondered the matter deeply in his heart; he examines the preciousness of the treasure, and counts the cost of purchase; for joy thereof-finding that this salvation is just what his needy soul requires, and what will make him presently and eternally happy, went and sold all that he had-renounces his sins, abandons his evil companions, and relinquishes all hope of salvation through his own righteousness; and purchased that field-not merely bought the book for the sake of the salvation it described, but, by the blood of the covenant, buys gold tried in the fire, white raiment, &c.; in a word, pardon and purity, which he receives from God for the sake of Jesus. We should consider the salvation of God, 1. As our only treasure, and value it above all the riches in the world. 2. Search for it in the Scriptures, till we fully understand its worth and excellence. 3. Deeply ponder it in the secret of our souls. 4. Part with all we have in order to get it. 5. Place our whole joy and felicity in it; and 6. Be always convinced that it must be bought, and that no price is accepted for it but the blood of the covenant; the sufferings and death of our only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Verse 44. Again — The three following parables were proposed, not to the multitude, but peculiarly to the apostles: the two former of them relate to those who receive the gospel; the third, both to those who receive, and those who preach it. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field — The kingdom of God, to be set up in the hearts of men, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, or the salvation of the gospel, is a treasure indeed, but a treasure which, though contained in the field of the Scriptures, is hid from the carnal part of mankind, even from the most wise and prudent of them. Many who frequently traverse this field are not aware that it contains such a treasure. But when a man, in consequence of having the eyes of his understanding opened, has discovered it, he hideth it in his heart — makes, at first, his discovery the matter of his serious meditation in private, rather than the subject of his conversation in public; or uses the greatest care and caution, and is more intent on securing the treasure to himself, than on telling to others what a discovery he has made: and for joy thereof — Through joy arising from the prospect of being speedily enriched; goeth and selleth all that he hath — Gives up all other happiness; parts with every object that has engaged, or would engage, his affection; renounces every desire, care, and pursuit, every interest and pleasure that he sees to be incompatible with his enjoyment of the salvation he seeks, or would prevent his obtaining it; and buyeth that field — Makes himself acquainted with, and embraces by faith the truth as it is in Jesus, the glad tidings announced thereby, and revealed in the Scriptures, and with the field obtains the treasure: for this law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes him free from the law of sin and death, Romans 8:2.

Ver. 44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field. Christ in the glory of his person, Christ in the hidden treasures of his wisdom, and Christ in the riches of his grace is the treasure hid in the field. And though figuratively we are said to purchase that field, the word implies only the boundless esteem we entertain for Christ and his grace, for all the substance of our house could not purchase his favour. A man properly acquainted with his worth will barter every sinful honour, or pleasure, or gain, to obtain the true riches which are found in Christ. The same may be said of the pearl of great price: the parables are much the same in design. Every merchant aiming at a fortune should be reminded that there is in heaven a better and more enduring substance.

44. Again — The following three parables were not spoken, like the previous ones, to the multitude by the sea side, but privately to the disciples in the house. They mainly illustrate the same subject, and affirm the same views as the previous parables. The kingdom of God, as bringing an invaluable Gospel, and as implying a time of probation, is set forth in brief similes. Treasure hid in a field — Divine truth is a treasure from its value; it is hid because men’s eyes are apt to be morally blind to its reality. But the true seeker of it is ready to give everything for it. And as the former parables were delivered to the multitudes, and then explained to the disciples alone, there may be an allusion to the fact that the deeper instructions of Christ are reserved from the incapable multitude and delivered to his disciples.

“It is not difficult to account for this hid treasure. This country has always been subject to revolutions, invasions, and calamities of various kinds, and hence a feeling of insecurity hovers over the land like a dismal spectre. The government robs, and so do the nobility and clergy; Arabs rush in from the desert and plunder; warriors and conquerors from every part of the world sweep over the land, carrying everything away that falls into their hands. Then there are and always have been intestine commotions and wars, such as laid Lebanon in ruins in 1841, and again in 1845. At such times multitudes bury their gold and jewels, and in many cases the owner is killed, and no one knows where the treasure was concealed. Then again this country has ever been subject to earthquakes, which bury everything beneath her ruined cities. On the first day of 1837, Safed was thus dashed to the ground in a moment, house upon house down the steep mountain side, and many entire families were cut off. Some were known to have money, and it was a shocking spectacle to see hardened wretches prowling about under the ruins, amid putrifying carcasses, in search of these treasures.” — Dr. Thomson.

It is thus because the state of society is insecure, and no safe public depositories exist, that money is often hid by the owner in the earth. By the Jewish law, and partly by Roman law, the owner of the ground was owner of its concealed treasure. In the parable the finder uses his knowledge of the fact to guide himself in the bargain, as men use professional knowledge for their own profit. He pays the owner all the field is worth to his ignorance. Was the purchaser bound or not to inform the owner of the fact of the concealed treasure?

The finder purchases not the treasure alone, but the field that holds the treasure. So good men embrace not naked truth alone, but the Bible and the Church, which possess that truth. He who loves religion loves the unity, peace, and prosperity of the Church of God, with her blessed Gospel, her divine law, and her sanctifying ordinances. The following incident from Dr. Thomson forcibly illustrates this parable: “About three years ago some workmen, digging over the ground of this garden on our left, found several copper pots, which contained a large quantity of ancient gold coin. The poor fellows concealed the discovery with the greatest care; but they were wild with excitement, and besides, there were too many of them to keep such a secret. The governor of the city heard of it, apprehended all who had not fled, and compelled them to disgorge. He recovered two of the pots, placed them beside him, and required them to refill them with coin. In this way he obtained between two and three thousand; but it is certain that there remain hundreds, if not thousands, which he could not get. The French consul told me that the whole number was over eight thousand. They are all coins of Alexander and his father Philip, of the most pure gold, each one worth a little more than an English sovereign. As there is no mixture of coins later than Alexander, the deposit must have been made during his reign, or immediately after. I suspect it was royal treasure, which one of Alexander’s officers concealed when he heard of his unexpected death in Babylon, intending to appropriate it to himself; but being apprehended, slain, or driven away by some of the revolutions which followed that event, the coin remained where he had hid it.” SIXTH PARABLE. — The Goodly Pearl, 45, 46.

As the former parable illustrates the hidden character of divine truth, so this illustrates its unsurpassed beauty and value. The pearl is the Gospel. The merchant is the true inquirer. As for that pearl he gives all he has, so the Gospel has that excellence that we wisely surrender all to obtain it.

Verse 44. He hideth, &c. — Replaces it in its former state of concealment; and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field, by which, according to Jewish notions, he would acquire a right to the treasure: at least in the Mishna it is laid down, “that whoever buys any thing of his neighbour, if money be found in the article bought it belongs to the purchaser.” On the exact morality of the case, the parable determines nothing; its object being simply to show that when men are brought to set a proper value upon the great treasure of salvation, they will make all the sacrifices which Christ requires of them, though it be to “leave all, and follow him,” in order to attain it.

V. 45. The kingdom of heaven-That is, one who earnestly seeks for it: in Matthew 13:47 it means, the Gospel preached, which is like a net gathering of every kind: just so the Gospel, wherever it is preached, gathers at first both good and bad, who are for a season full of approbation and warm with good desires. But Christian discipline, and strong, close exhortation, begin that separation in this world, which shall be accomplished by the angels of God in the world to come.

Verse 45. A merchant man, seeking goodly pearls] A story very like this is found in the Talmudical tract Shabbath: “Joseph, who sanctified the Sabbath, had a very rich neighbour; the Chaldeans said, All the riches of this man shall come to Joseph, who sanctifies the Sabbath. To prevent this, the rich man went and sold all that he had, and bought a pearl, and went aboard of a ship; but the wind carried the pearl away, it fell into the sea, and was swallowed by a fish. This fish was caught, and the day before the Sabbath it was brought into the market, and they proclaimed, Who wishes to buy this fish? The people said, Carry it to Joseph, the sanctifier of the Sabbath, who is accustomed to buy things of great value. They carried it to him, and he bought it, and when he cut it up he found the pearl, and sold it for thirteen pounds weight of golden denarii!” From some tradition of this kind, our Lord might have borrowed the simile in this parable. The meaning of this parable is the same with the other; and both were spoken to impress more forcibly this great truth on the souls of the people:-eternal salvation from sin and its consequences is the supreme good of man, should be sought after above all things, and prized beyond all that God has made. Those merchants who compass sea and land for temporal gain, condemn the slothfulness of the majority of those called Christians, who, though they confess that this salvation is the most certain and the most excellent of all treasures, yet seek worldly possessions in preference to it! Alas, for him who expects to find any thing more amiable than God, more worthy to fill his heart, and more capable of making him happy!

Verses 45, 46. Again, the kingdom of heaven — That is, one that earnestly seeks for it; is like unto a merchant-man, who goes about from one city or country to another, seeking goodly, or beautiful pearls, or jewels. Thus the sacred writers often compare and prefer wisdom, or true religion, to costly jewels. See Job 28:15-19; Proverbs 3:15; 8:11. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price — Of an exceeding great value, sold all that he had and bought it — As well knowing he would be a great gainer though he should part with all he possessed for it. Titus the truly enlightened believer freely and readily gives up, not only all sin, but all that is in the world, which he is called to part with, that he may receive the kingdom of God into his heart, and may be made a partaker of the blessings of the gospel. “He,” says Baxter, “that findeth not by faith enough in the love of God and heavenly glory, and in Christ the way thereto, to make him consent sincerely and practically to sell or part with all the world, rather than lose it, is not capable of a just title to it, nor shall obtain it.”

Ver. 45. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls. Kalouv, fair, beautiful, and brilliant pearls: all other gems are understood to be comprised in these researches. The pearl-oysters in old age sometimes secrete in their heads a large and brilliant pearl of great value. And if merchants will go to India, and men in dangerous seas will drag for oysters, it is but a small requisition that we should sacrifice hurtful desires to purchase a kingdom without money and without price.

45. A merchantman seeking goodly pearls — The Oriental profession of the travelling jeweller still exists. He deals in precious stones and pearls. He may find one which, if bought with all his present stock, may make his fortune by being sold at an exorbitant price to some extravagant prince for a crown jewel.

The pearl is selected as a beautiful image of divine truth. It strikes the eye of the beholder with admiration for its loveliness and value. The pearl is a white, hard, smooth, shining piece of substance, usually rather globular, found in a shell fish of the oyster kind. Its shell is called mother of pearl. The pearl is found in the Persian seas, and in many parts of the ocean which washes the shores of Arabia, and the continent and isles of Asia. It is brought up from the marine depths by professional divers. Pearls are of different sizes and colours. Some have been found more than an inch in length, the larger ones approaching the figure of a pear. They are valued according to their size, their roundness, and their purity or lustre. The Orientals have been more attracted by the beauty of the pearl even than the brilliancy of the diamond. A string of the largest pearls, both in extreme antiquity and at the present day, is an indispensable part of the decoration of an Eastern monarch. References to the pearl occur in different parts of the Scripture. Matthew 7:6; 1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 17:4. In Revelation 21:21, the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem were “twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl.”

Seeking goodly pearls — There are large masses of mankind who are like the swine, to whose taste the goodly pearl is not to be compared with their husks. This man is one whom husks will not satisfy; he looks for pearls.

Verses 45, 46. Goodly pearls. — This parable appears not to differ in import from the preceding: only the variation in the metaphor serves to impress us the more deeply with the unrivalled value of the blessings of the Gospel, and the necessity of taking every means to secure a personal interest in them. In the one they are compared to a treasure, generally; in the other to a pearl of great price, of the highest value, polutimov margarithv. Pearls were favourite stones in the east, and estimated at a high value; and the adjacent coasts of the Red Sea made this article of traffic familiar to the Jews. Their value, like that of other precious stones, rose with their size, perfectness, and beauty. This was the GOODLIEST among goodly pearls, and of such value as well to repay the man who should sell his whole estate to purchase it. The moral is obvious. Possessed of what this pearl represents, every man is beyond calculation wealthy; and without it the most opulent are poor indeed!

Verses 45, 46. Again, the kingdom of heaven — That is, one that earnestly seeks for it; is like unto a merchant-man, who goes about from one city or country to another, seeking goodly, or beautiful pearls, or jewels. Thus the sacred writers often compare and prefer wisdom, or true religion, to costly jewels. See Job 28:15-19; Proverbs 3:15; 8:11. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price — Of an exceeding great value, sold all that he had and bought it — As well knowing he would be a great gainer though he should part with all he possessed for it. Titus the truly enlightened believer freely and readily gives up, not only all sin, but all that is in the world, which he is called to part with, that he may receive the kingdom of God into his heart, and may be made a partaker of the blessings of the gospel. “He,” says Baxter, “that findeth not by faith enough in the love of God and heavenly glory, and in Christ the way thereto, to make him consent sincerely and practically to sell or part with all the world, rather than lose it, is not capable of a just title to it, nor shall obtain it.”

46. Sold all — For if religion be worth anything, it is worth everything. If it require a man on conversion to make restitution of thousands of dollars, he obtains salvation cheaply. Bought it — The grace of God is not indeed bought with money. The faith of the heart is what alone procures it. But when that faith is in the heart, the heart delights to give for the Gospel To obtain that faith often requires large sacrifices, especially of the fruits and enjoyments of sin. These sacrifices the man who knows the value of the goodly pearl will joyfully make.

SEVENTH PARABLE — The Fish Net, 47-49.

The net is the Gospel dispensation. The fish are the members of the Church; the fishermen are the divine agencies. The good fish are the true; the bad, the false professors of Christianity.

Verses 45, 46. Goodly pearls. — This parable appears not to differ in import from the preceding: only the variation in the metaphor serves to impress us the more deeply with the unrivalled value of the blessings of the Gospel, and the necessity of taking every means to secure a personal interest in them. In the one they are compared to a treasure, generally; in the other to a pearl of great price, of the highest value, polutimov margarithv. Pearls were favourite stones in the east, and estimated at a high value; and the adjacent coasts of the Red Sea made this article of traffic familiar to the Jews. Their value, like that of other precious stones, rose with their size, perfectness, and beauty. This was the GOODLIEST among goodly pearls, and of such value as well to repay the man who should sell his whole estate to purchase it. The moral is obvious. Possessed of what this pearl represents, every man is beyond calculation wealthy; and without it the most opulent are poor indeed!

Verse 47. Is like unto a net] A drag-net. This is the proper meaning of saghnh, which the Latins translate verriculum, a sweep net; Quod in aquam jacitur ad pisces comprehendendos; imprimis, cujus usus est extrahendis iis a fundo. MARTINIUS. “Which is cast into the water to catch fish, and the particular use of which is to drag them up from the bottom.” As this is dragged along it keeps gathering all in its way, both good and bad, small and great; and, when it is brought to the shore, those which are proper for use are preserved, and those which are not are either destroyed or thrown back into the water.

By the net may be understood the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom, which keeps drawing men into the profession of Christianity, and into the fellowship of the visible Church of Christ. By the sea may be represented that abyss of sin, error, ignorance, and wickedness in which men live, and out of which they are drawn, by the truth and Spirit of God, who cordially close in with the offers of salvation made to them in the preaching of the Gospel.

By drawing to shore, may be represented the consummation of all things, see Matthew 13:49, when a proper distinction shall be made between those who served God, and those who served him not; for many shall doubtless be found who shall bear the name without the nature of Christ. By picking out the good, and throwing away the bad, Matthew 13:48, is meant that separation which God shall make between false and true professors, casting the former into hell, and bringing the latter to heaven. Instead of ta kala the good, the Cod. Bezæ, and five copies of the old Antehieronymian, or Itala version, read ta kallista, the best, the very best. Every reader would naturally hope that this is not the true reading, or that it is not to be understood literally, as it seems to intimate that only the very best shall be at last saved.

It is probable that this parable also refers, in its primary meaning, to the Jewish state, and that, when Christ should come to judge and destroy them by the Roman power, the genuine followers of Christ only should escape, and the rest be overwhelmed by the general destruction. See Matthew 24:30, &c.

Verses 47-50. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, &c. — The gospel preached to the world may be compared to a net cast into the sea, and gathering fishes of all kinds. For by the preaching of it congregations are gathered, and a visible church is formed, and both good and bad men are brought to profess themselves members of it, and are mingled together in such a manner, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a proper distinction between them: Christian discipline, however, and strong, close exhortation, in all well-regulated churches, or properly-constituted Christian societies, begin that separation in this world which shall be accomplished by the angels of God in the world to come. “This parable will appear peculiarly proper, if we consider that it was spoken to fishermen, who had been called from their employments, with a promise that they should catch men, Matthew 4:19. It differs from the parable of the tares in its extent, representing the gathering of wicked men in general into the visible church along with the good, by means of the preaching of the gospel, together with the final judgment and state of the wicked; whereas the parable of the tares represents the introduction and punishment of hypocrites in particular.” — Macknight.

Ver. 47. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net cast into the sea. Here is instruction for ministers. The laborious fisherman keeps his net in good repair, he nightly encounters the dangers of the deep, he casts his net in the most likely places, but in uncertainty whether he shall succeed. He casts his net amid the clouds and storms, and waves of life; and the fish he encloses are not always of good quality. So it is with the faithful ministers of Christ.

47. Net — The drag net, which sweeps the bottom of the fish pool. It is extended far into the sea, corked at the upper edge and loaded at the bottom, so as to intercept the fishes at the entire depth. The ends are then brought together so as to encompass them, and the whole are drawn in. Every kind — Men of every rank, class, nation, and colour obtain places in the comprehension of the Gospel.

Verse 47. A net cast into the sea, &c. — The import of this parable is similar to that of the wheat and tares, though somewhat more general in its application. Its allusion to the occupation of those of the apostles who were fishermen would render it the more striking to them, though it is obvious to all. The large nets of the fishermen enclose both bad and good kinds of fish when used in waters where fish of these opposite qualities abound; and the separation of the noxious from the edible species followed immediately upon bringing the produce of the nets to shore, which represents, says our Lord, what will take place at the end of the world. — Then the angels shall come forth; angels, as in the parable of the tares, not men; and for the same reason, — and sever the wicked from the just. See note on verse 30. — Thus, though by the ministration of Christ’s servants a visible mixed Church only is formed, this will not remain its permanent character. In eternity the separation will be complete and final. On all these parables it may be remarked that the leading parts only are intended to be significant, the rest belonging to the ornament or filling up of the narrative; and he who endeavours to bring forced and far fetched meanings out of parables will generally mistake a perverted ingenuity for the intention and mind of God. This ought to operate as a sufficient caution; and an illustration or two of this absurd manner of treating parables will show that caution is not unnecessary. One eminent commentator has thus interpreted the parable of the leaven: “By the woman who leavened the meal is meant the wisdom of God; by the leaven, the doctrine of the Gospel; by the three measures of meal, the three faculties of the soul, reason, anger, and concupiscence, which three faculties are made conformable to the doctrine of the Gospel by the wisdom of God!” And a modern expositor is not greatly inferior to the foregoing; who, in his remarks on the parable of the casting of the net into the sea, compares the Gospel to a net, “for its meanness in the esteem of men, and being of no account in the eyes of the world; and yet, like a net, it is a piece of curious workmanship, in which the manifold wisdom of God is displayed,” &c. Both these examples are taken from the works of grave and learned men!

Verses 47-50. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, &c. — The gospel preached to the world may be compared to a net cast into the sea, and gathering fishes of all kinds. For by the preaching of it congregations are gathered, and a visible church is formed, and both good and bad men are brought to profess themselves members of it, and are mingled together in such a manner, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a proper distinction between them: Christian discipline, however, and strong, close exhortation, in all well-regulated churches, or properly-constituted Christian societies, begin that separation in this world which shall be accomplished by the angels of God in the world to come. “This parable will appear peculiarly proper, if we consider that it was spoken to fishermen, who had been called from their employments, with a promise that they should catch men, Matthew 4:19. It differs from the parable of the tares in its extent, representing the gathering of wicked men in general into the visible church along with the good, by means of the preaching of the gospel, together with the final judgment and state of the wicked; whereas the parable of the tares represents the introduction and punishment of hypocrites in particular.” — Macknight.

48. Full — When the work of the Church on earth is completed, the Church, like a net of fishes, is drawn to the presence of its Lord, and the reckoning takes place. It will then be seen that in the apparent or visible Church, consisting of all professors, there is a real or invisible Church, consisting of all who are truly regenerate. The Church while on earth perpetually struggles to be pure; but, in her imperfect and militant state, a part of her trial is the existence of false professors whom she is unable to purify or to expel. Bad — The unpalatable or refuse part.

Verses 47-50. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, &c. — The gospel preached to the world may be compared to a net cast into the sea, and gathering fishes of all kinds. For by the preaching of it congregations are gathered, and a visible church is formed, and both good and bad men are brought to profess themselves members of it, and are mingled together in such a manner, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a proper distinction between them: Christian discipline, however, and strong, close exhortation, in all well-regulated churches, or properly-constituted Christian societies, begin that separation in this world which shall be accomplished by the angels of God in the world to come. “This parable will appear peculiarly proper, if we consider that it was spoken to fishermen, who had been called from their employments, with a promise that they should catch men, Matthew 4:19. It differs from the parable of the tares in its extent, representing the gathering of wicked men in general into the visible church along with the good, by means of the preaching of the gospel, together with the final judgment and state of the wicked; whereas the parable of the tares represents the introduction and punishment of hypocrites in particular.” — Macknight.

49. End of the world The judgment is the end of the world. It is the close of the mixed condition of things where good men and bad exist together in a state of trial. Each class undergoes the divine scrutiny and goes to his own place.

Angels — The angels seem to be represented by the fisherman, who both casts the Gospel net and separates the fish when drawn ashore. The fishermen, therefore, represent the messengers of God, human or superhuman; that is, his ministers on earth, and his angels at judgment. These are indeed the angels of the Church below and the Church above. Sever the wicked from among the just — Terrible and yet glorious day! The Church shall then become pure. The kingdom of heaven will then become heaven itself. The kingdom of grace shall have closed, and the kingdom of glory shall have begun, never to close.

Verse 50. Into the furnace of fire] See the note on Matthew 8:12.

Verses 47-50. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, &c. — The gospel preached to the world may be compared to a net cast into the sea, and gathering fishes of all kinds. For by the preaching of it congregations are gathered, and a visible church is formed, and both good and bad men are brought to profess themselves members of it, and are mingled together in such a manner, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a proper distinction between them: Christian discipline, however, and strong, close exhortation, in all well-regulated churches, or properly-constituted Christian societies, begin that separation in this world which shall be accomplished by the angels of God in the world to come. “This parable will appear peculiarly proper, if we consider that it was spoken to fishermen, who had been called from their employments, with a promise that they should catch men, Matthew 4:19. It differs from the parable of the tares in its extent, representing the gathering of wicked men in general into the visible church along with the good, by means of the preaching of the gospel, together with the final judgment and state of the wicked; whereas the parable of the tares represents the introduction and punishment of hypocrites in particular.” — Macknight.

§ 49. — THE SEVEN PARABLES, 1-52.

As Matthew has in chapters eight and nine exhibited our Lord as a performer of mighty works, namely, ten miracles, so now he here presents him as a parabolist. SEVEN PARABLES — FOUR at the sea side, and THREE indoors — are grouped together.

1. The same day — The day of the transaction of the last chapter. He delivered the parables of this discourse, at evening took the boat and left; and exhausted by the overwhelming labours of the day, he sunk to slumbers, which were disturbed by the storm, which he stilled by miracle. Went Jesus out of the house — He had been invited to the house of a Pharisee, where he had much discourse. But very probably he went to his own house, from which he departed to the seashore, as here described, sat by the sea side first, probably, with his disciples; but the multitudes soon gathered around him and them. As appears by Mark 4:1, with the notes, he was obliged to enter into the prepared boat and sit in the boat in the sea.

Jesus… sat — While he sat, we find by the next verse that the multitude stood. It was customary in our Saviour’s day for the teacher to sit and the disciple to stand. Rabbi Gamaliel was probably the first who by arrangement took an elevated seat, and allowed his pupils to sit upon seats lower than his own platform. So Saul of Tarsus was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. By the sea side — Of Lake Gennesaret. In regard to the beach of Lake Gennesaret consult our note on Matthew 4:13. Stanley says: “The lake is almost completely surrounded by mountains; but those mountains never come down into the water, but always have a beach of greater or less extent along the water’s edge. It is on this smooth margin ‘beside the Lake Gennesaret’ that we must imagine Jesus ‘standing,’ then stepping into one of the two boats, and bidding Peter launch out into the deep. Luke 5:1, 2, 4. From the boat, that lay close by for the purpose, he addressed them his teaching in parables, and they stood on the beach.”

Verse 50. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire. — This is an allusion to the eastern punishment of burning alive; while the wailing and gnashing of teeth, not merely before they are cast in, but while there, ekei, seems to indicate the continuance of their existence in a state of misery.

Verse 51. Have ye understood all these things?] Divine truths must not be lightly passed over.-Our Lord’s question here shows them to be matters of the utmost weight and importance; and that they should be considered again and again, till they be thoroughly understood.

Verses 51, 52. Jesus saith, Have ye understood all these things? — As well those parables of which I have given you no particular explication, as those that I have explained? Thus a conscientious teacher will sedulously inquire concerning the profiting of his hearers. They say unto him, Yea, Lord — We have understood them. Then saith he, Every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven — That is, every duly-prepared preacher of the gospel, is like unto a man that is a householder, &c. — Has a treasure of divine knowledge, out of which he is able to bring forth all sorts of instructions. By this similitude our Lord showed his disciples the use they were to make of the knowledge they had acquired, whether from the old revelation that had been made to them by the prophets, or from the new one of which Jesus was the author and dispenser. As if he had said, As the wise master of a family, who possesses plenty of all sorts of provisions, brings them forth as the occasions of his family require, just so every able minister of the gospel, out of the stores of his knowledge, must bring forth instructions suitable to the necessities of his hearers. The word treasure signifies any collection of things whatsoever, and the places where such collections are kept.

51. Jesus saith — The master has wisely taught his pupils, and wisely he now ascertains how well they have learned. A parable, unless its solution be understood, is but a petty story. Understood — Understood not merely the narrative as a tale, but its second and deeper meaning. Yea, Lord — They said they did, and they believed they did, and no doubt they did dimly understand him. But these parables foretold the destinies of the kingdom of God through coming ages, and dimly do we even yet comprehend the future, however well predicted.

V. 52. Every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven-That is, every duly prepared preacher of the Gospel has a treasure of Divine knowledge, out of which he is able to bring forth all sorts of instructions. The word treasure signifies any collection of things whatsoever, and the places where such collections are kept.

Verse 52. Every scribe] Minister of Christ: who is instructed-taught of God; in the kingdom of heaven-in the mysteries of the Gospel of Christ: out of his treasury-his granary or store-house; things new and old-a Jewish phrase for great plenty. A small degree of knowledge is not sufficient for a preacher of the Gospel. The sacred writings should be his treasure, and he should properly understand them. His knowledge does not consist in being furnished with a great variety of human learning, (though of this he should acquire as much as he can;) but his knowledge consists in being well instructed in the things concerning the kingdom of heaven, and the art of conducting men thither. Again, it is not enough for a man to have these advantages in possession: he must bring them forth, and distribute them abroad. A good pastor will not, like a miser, keep these things to himself to please his fancy; nor, like a merchant, traffic with them, to enrich himself; but, like a bountiful father or householder, distribute them with a liberal through judicious hand, for the comfort and support of the whole heavenly family.

A preacher whose mind is well stored with Divine truths, and who has a sound judgment, will suit his discourses to the circumstances and states of his hearers. He who preaches the same sermon to every congregation, gives the fullest proof that, however well he may speak, he is not a scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven. Some have thought that old and new things here, which imply the produce of the past and the produce of the present year, may also refer to the old and new covenants-a proper knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, and of the doctrines of Christ as contained in the New. No man can properly understand the Old Testament but through the medium of the New, nor can the New be so forcibly or successfully applied to the conscience of a sinner as through the medium of the Old. The law is still a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ-by it is the knowledge of sin, and, without it, there can be no conviction- where it ends, the Gospel begins, as by the Gospel alone is salvation from sin. See the whole of the comment on the Pentateuch.

Verses 51, 52. Jesus saith, Have ye understood all these things? — As well those parables of which I have given you no particular explication, as those that I have explained? Thus a conscientious teacher will sedulously inquire concerning the profiting of his hearers. They say unto him, Yea, Lord — We have understood them. Then saith he, Every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven — That is, every duly-prepared preacher of the gospel, is like unto a man that is a householder, &c. — Has a treasure of divine knowledge, out of which he is able to bring forth all sorts of instructions. By this similitude our Lord showed his disciples the use they were to make of the knowledge they had acquired, whether from the old revelation that had been made to them by the prophets, or from the new one of which Jesus was the author and dispenser. As if he had said, As the wise master of a family, who possesses plenty of all sorts of provisions, brings them forth as the occasions of his family require, just so every able minister of the gospel, out of the stores of his knowledge, must bring forth instructions suitable to the necessities of his hearers. The word treasure signifies any collection of things whatsoever, and the places where such collections are kept.

52. A householder — A master of a family. Bringeth forth — As a provider for the family. The most suitable emblem of the Christian scribe or minister, who provides food for his spiritual family, the Church. Treasure — His store, cellar, or granary. Things — Provisions. New and old — The products of both the old year and the new. So the minister should be able to repeat and reimpress the good old truths, which the people have heard a thousand times, varied with truths they never heard before. And the same truth may be both old and new; old, because often heard; but new, from the fresh form or colouring with which it is invested, or the new evidence or impressiveness with which it is received by the mind.

There is a natural and sort of historical advancement in the seven parables. First. The sower commences, as it were, the Church, by sowing his seed among the various moral classes of our race. Second. The struggle between good and evil, to be permanent to the final separation. Third. The moral triumph of the good, even in this state of mixture and struggle. Fourth. The parallel progress and triumph of good in the individual heart. Fifth. The value of the Gospel treasure, even in its obscured and hidden state. Sixth. The worthiness of the Gospel pearl above all price. Seventh. The final deliverance of the true Church from impure membership.

Verse 52. Every scribe which is instructed, &c. — The scribes, as before stated, were distinguished by their skill in the Jewish laws and religion, and were thus qualified for their profession as public teachers. Our Lord, by giving the appellation SCRIBES to those to whom he had exclusively addressed several of the foregoing parables, and favoured them in private with the interpretation of others, intimated that he was training them up, and specially qualifying them, to fulfil the office of public teachers of his religion to the world; and thus urged upon them the duty of paying the most careful attention to his doctrine. Instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, signifies made thoroughly acquainted with the doctrines, evidences, and practical ends of the Gospel; which can only be attained by diligent attention, personal experience of its truth and power, and earnest prayer for Divine illumination. Such a qualified teacher is compared to a householder, or master of a family, who has laid up in his treasury or store-house those fruits of the earth, and other provision necessary for their daily use, which, according to Jewish manners, it was requisite for him daily to dispense to the whole family.

Things new and old. — A phrase which denotes great abundance, and is used in reference to the laying up of the produce of the new year with that of the old, that the supply might never fail. Thus it is promised, Leviticus 26:9, 10: “For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new;” that is, to make room for it. So Maimonides: “Behold, in it are all sorts of fruits, new and old.” That under this allusion ministers are taught to administer the doctrines both of the LAW and the GOSPEL, the OLD covenant and the NEW, as some commentators will have it, is probably a mere conceit, considered as an exposition of our Lord’s meaning, though an important part of every minister’s duty. But our Lord manifestly intended to inculcate that those who teach others should possess a FULNESS of knowledge themselves on the great subjects of their ministry; that they, also, like the householder, should be always gathering in NEW FRUITS TO THE OLD; that the storehouse of their minds should never be scanty; and that the same discrimination is necessary to a minister as to a house-holder, in providing and bringing forth the food which is suitable to the ages and circumstances of the family. The NEW things do not, however, mean NOVELTIES in kind; but, as the fruits laid up in the storehouse of the householder were fruits of the same kind, reaped from the same fields, or gathered from the same trees, so the new things which “a scribe well instructed” is to collect and distribute, are new impressions and views of the same truths, and a stronger perception of their application to the varied cases of men. These are given to him as the result of recent meditation and earnest prayer, and possess a freshness and a power which render their ministration influential upon himself and others. The truths which form the true food of the soul are few in their general principles, but infinitely deep and rich; and all successful and well directed ministerial study brings them forth into clearer light, beauty, and acceptableness, and thus combines the old with the new, or the acknowledged principles of the word of God with their developement into all the particulars of faith, consolation, counsel, and duty.

V. 53. He departed thence-He crossed the lake from Capernaum: and came once more into his own country-Nazareth: but with no better success than he had had there before.

Verses 53-55. When Jesus had finished these parables — Namely, those last mentioned, delivered in the house, which he added to the others spoken before in public; he departed thence, (see Mark 6:1,) and came once more into his own country — Namely, Nazareth: but with no better success than he had had there before: for though he preached in their synagogue with such wisdom and eloquence that they were astonished, and also performed some miracles, yet the Nazarenes were not disposed to believe on him, taking offence at the poverty and meanness of his family and relations. They said, therefore, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? — Whence? certainly from above, for you yourselves acknowledge that they are too extraordinary to be ascribed to a poor uneducated man. Is not this the carpenter’s son? — In Mark it is, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? — Although the word, o tektwn, rendered carpenter, may mean one that works either in wood, iron, or stone, yet it is probable that a carpenter, properly so called, is here intended. Accordingly Justin Martyr tells us that Jesus, before he entered on his public ministry, was employed in this occupation: and the ancient Christians were all of the same opinion. The Jewish canons required that all parents should teach their children some trade; and, probably, the poverty of the family engaged Christ, while he was at home with Joseph, to work at his. What an additional proof is this of the humiliation of the blessed Redeemer for our sakes! The four persons here mentioned and termed the brethren of Christ, it appears, were his cousins, the sons of his mother’s sister, the wife of Cleophas, or Alpheus. By James is meant James the Less, whom St. Paul calls the Lord’s brother, Galatians 1:19. Joses, or Joseph, (for the name is the same,) is the only son of the virgin’s sister, who never was an apostle. Simon is the same who is called the Canaanite, or Zelotes, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. And Judas, or Jude, is the author of the epistle that goes under that name: wherein he is styled the brother of James.

§ 55. — JESUS REVISITS NAZARETH AND IS AGAIN REJECTED THERE, 53-58.

53. Had finished these parables — Being SEVEN in number; FOUR to the people at the sea side, and THREE to the disciples at his own residence, all illustrating the principles of the divine probationary kingdom or government of God. He departed thence — He left Capernaum.

V. 54. Whence hath HE-Many texts are not understood, for want of knowing the proper emphasis; and others are utterly misunderstood, by placing the emphasis wrong. To prevent this in some measure, the emphatical words are here printed in capital letters. Mark 6:1; Luke 4:16, 22.

Verse 54. And when he was come into his own country] Probably Nazareth, where his parents lived, and where he had continued till his thirtieth year, though it appears he had a lodging in Peter’s house at Capernaum.

They were astonished] It appears, hence, that our blessed Lord had lived in obscurity all the time above specified; for his countrymen appear not to have heard his doctrines, nor seen his miracles, until now. It is a melancholy truth, that those who should know Christ best are often the most ignorant of himself, the doctrines of his word, and the operations of his Spirit.

Verses 53-55. When Jesus had finished these parables — Namely, those last mentioned, delivered in the house, which he added to the others spoken before in public; he departed thence, (see Mark 6:1,) and came once more into his own country — Namely, Nazareth: but with no better success than he had had there before: for though he preached in their synagogue with such wisdom and eloquence that they were astonished, and also performed some miracles, yet the Nazarenes were not disposed to believe on him, taking offence at the poverty and meanness of his family and relations. They said, therefore, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? — Whence? certainly from above, for you yourselves acknowledge that they are too extraordinary to be ascribed to a poor uneducated man. Is not this the carpenter’s son? — In Mark it is, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? — Although the word, o tektwn, rendered carpenter, may mean one that works either in wood, iron, or stone, yet it is probable that a carpenter, properly so called, is here intended. Accordingly Justin Martyr tells us that Jesus, before he entered on his public ministry, was employed in this occupation: and the ancient Christians were all of the same opinion. The Jewish canons required that all parents should teach their children some trade; and, probably, the poverty of the family engaged Christ, while he was at home with Joseph, to work at his. What an additional proof is this of the humiliation of the blessed Redeemer for our sakes! The four persons here mentioned and termed the brethren of Christ, it appears, were his cousins, the sons of his mother’s sister, the wife of Cleophas, or Alpheus. By James is meant James the Less, whom St. Paul calls the Lord’s brother, Galatians 1:19. Joses, or Joseph, (for the name is the same,) is the only son of the virgin’s sister, who never was an apostle. Simon is the same who is called the Canaanite, or Zelotes, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. And Judas, or Jude, is the author of the epistle that goes under that name: wherein he is styled the brother of James.

54. Into his own country — To Nazareth, the home of his childhood; in distinction from Capernaum, the residence of his manhood.

Verse 54. Into his own country. — To Nazareth, where he had been brought up; which is so called in opposition to Capernaum, which was the place of his usual abode.

V. 55. The carpenter's son-The Greek, word means, one that works either in wood, iron, or stone.

His brethren-Our kinsmen. They were the sons of Mary, sister to the virgin, and wife of Cleophas or Alpheus.

James-Styled by St. Paul also, the Lord's brother, Galatians 1:19. Simon-Surnamed the Canaanite.

Verse 55. Is not this the carpenter’s son?] Seven copies of the old Itala have, Is not this the son of JOSEPH the carpenter? But it is likely our Lord, during the thirty years of his abode at Nazareth, wrought at the same trade with Joseph; and perhaps this is what is intended, Luke 2:51. He went down with them (his parents) to Nazareth, and was SUBJECT unto them. An honest trade is no discredit to any man. He who spends his time in idleness is fit for any business in which the devil chooses to employ him. Is not his mother-Mary, and his brethren, James, &c.] This insulting question seems to intimate that our Lord’s family was a very obscure one; and that they were of small repute among their neighbours, except for their piety.

It is possible that brethren and sisters may mean here near relations, as the words are used among the Hebrews in this latitude of meaning; but I confess it does not appear to me likely. Why should the children of another family be brought in here to share a reproach which it is evident was designed for Joseph the carpenter, Mary his wife, Jesus their son, and their other children? Prejudice apart, would not any person of plain common sense suppose, from this account, that these were the children of Joseph and Mary, and the brothers and sisters of our Lord, according to the flesh? It seems odd that this should be doubted; but, through an unaccountable prejudice, Papists and Protestants are determined to maintain as a doctrine, that on which the Scriptures are totally silent, viz. the perpetual virginity of the mother of our Lord. See Matthew 1:25.

Verses 53-55. When Jesus had finished these parables — Namely, those last mentioned, delivered in the house, which he added to the others spoken before in public; he departed thence, (see Mark 6:1,) and came once more into his own country — Namely, Nazareth: but with no better success than he had had there before: for though he preached in their synagogue with such wisdom and eloquence that they were astonished, and also performed some miracles, yet the Nazarenes were not disposed to believe on him, taking offence at the poverty and meanness of his family and relations. They said, therefore, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? — Whence? certainly from above, for you yourselves acknowledge that they are too extraordinary to be ascribed to a poor uneducated man. Is not this the carpenter’s son? — In Mark it is, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? — Although the word, o tektwn, rendered carpenter, may mean one that works either in wood, iron, or stone, yet it is probable that a carpenter, properly so called, is here intended. Accordingly Justin Martyr tells us that Jesus, before he entered on his public ministry, was employed in this occupation: and the ancient Christians were all of the same opinion. The Jewish canons required that all parents should teach their children some trade; and, probably, the poverty of the family engaged Christ, while he was at home with Joseph, to work at his. What an additional proof is this of the humiliation of the blessed Redeemer for our sakes! The four persons here mentioned and termed the brethren of Christ, it appears, were his cousins, the sons of his mother’s sister, the wife of Cleophas, or Alpheus. By James is meant James the Less, whom St. Paul calls the Lord’s brother, Galatians 1:19. Joses, or Joseph, (for the name is the same,) is the only son of the virgin’s sister, who never was an apostle. Simon is the same who is called the Canaanite, or Zelotes, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. And Judas, or Jude, is the author of the epistle that goes under that name: wherein he is styled the brother of James.

55. Is not this the carpenter’s son? — Most conclusive question! It is probable that many of them had seen our Saviour, in his youth, labouring at the occupation of his father. Thus had he honoured and sanctified the labourer’s calling, and shown that the secular duties rightly performed are a true service and acceptable to God. And if Christianity shows our Saviour as a carpenter, and his apostles as fishermen, how ought they to be ashamed of their mean pride who scorn the useful avocations of the labourer! Well would it be for society if there were less of extravagance and effeminate pride, and if Christians would adopt the maxim of the ancient Jews, that every man, however high his rank or intellectual his profession, should learn the mastery of some manual trade. And his brethren — In regard to the brothers of our Lord, and the supposed perpetual virginity of the blessed mother, we may make the following remarks:

1. The supposed perpetuity is contradicted by the obvious, though not the necessary meaning of Matthew 1:25. See note on the passage. 2. It is plain that while there were three if not four cousins of our Lord in the number of his disciples, his brothers remained at Nazareth, not even believing upon him. 3. When his mother and brothers came from Nazareth, (Matthew 12:46-50) probably to induce him to retire from his ministry, his brothers and his cousins must have belonged to different parties. 4. Alford says that the phrase “brethren of the Lord” occurs ten times in the New Testament, and they are never called cousins. It is incredible, therefore, that they should have been other than literal brothers. 5. This presumption is increased by the fact that these brothers are mentioned in connection and in company with his sisters and his mother, all of whom collectively are called his “house” or family. If the mother was a literal mother, the sisters must have been literal sisters, and the brethren literal brothers. 6. Our Lord speaks of his house or family as a place wherein, as a prophet, he has no honour. But if this house consisted of cousins, and three or four of these cousins were his own disciples, who in addition to his mother believed upon him, how was he unhonoured in his own house? Against this mass of reasoning there are two counter-arguments which admit of easy replies: 1. It appears that the cousins of Jesus, the sons of Mary, sister of the blessed mother, were named James, Joses, and Jude. It appears also that the brothers of Jesus were also named James, Joses, Jude, and Simon. Hence it is inferred that they were the same, and that the so-called brothers were only cousins. But we reply, although it may be singular that three or four couples of cousins should bear the same names, it was by no means improbable. It is quite credible that two sisters, themselves of the same name, should purposely give correspondent names to three of their children.

2. The second counter-argument is derived from the fact that our Lord committed the keeping of his mother not to these brethren, but to the apostle John. How could he thus prefer an unrelated friend above a brother? For the same reason, we reply, that he could choose disciples from strangers rather than from his own house. He did not choose his beloved disciple from among his cousins who were his disciples. His brothers of his own house did not believe, did not honour him. He dealt in sharp words with them. John 7:7. They were not found among his believers until after the resurrection. It cannot be wonderful then that these brethren should be set aside in comparison with the beloved disciple. Upon the whole, we think it a clear case that the brethren of our Lord, so-called, were not cousins, but literal half brothers. The idea, therefore, that Mary was at once a wife and a nun, is an ecclesiastical tradition unsupported by Scripture, and is the offspring of the false notion of the superior sanctity of celibacy.

Verse 55. Is not this the carpenter’s son? — The word here translated carpenter, tektwn, signifies a worker in iron, stone, or wood, that is, an artificer; but when used alone, without an adjective, in Scripture, it uniformly signifies a carpenter. Early tradition assigns this trade to Joseph; and as it was the constant rule among the Jews of all ranks to teach their sons some trade, our Lord might learn that of his reputed father. This, however, is by no means certain; for, as both Joseph and Mary knew him to be the promised Messiah, from the revelations of the angel and his extraordinary birth, this might not be required from him, though he was “subject” to them during his infancy and youth. It may, however, be fairly collected from the manner in which this question was put, and from the other references made by the people of Nazareth to his family, that they were in a lowly condition. He taught in the synagogues of this city; the people acknowledged, even with astonishment, the depth of his wisdom, and the might of his works; and yet, because he was the son of a carpenter, and his brethren and sisters were inhabitants of the place, so that they well enough knew that he had never had the advantages of education under any of their celebrated doctors, and intimated, by their reference to the humble circumstances of the family, that they could not afford that expense, they were offended in him; that is, they fell over the stumbling block of his humble condition and connections, and refused to acknowledge him to be the Messiah. The rational conclusion would have been, that, since he had not received from men the wisdom which astonished them, he must have received it from above; but how strong are the prejudices by which “an evil heart of unbelief” seals up the judgment! With respect to the brethren and sisters of our Lord here spoken of, opinions are divided, whether they were the sons of Joseph by a former wife, or by Mary, or whether they were the children of a brother or sister or Joseph or of Mary. The question is, however, unimportant, and cannot be fully settled. They appear to have formed one family, and to have dwelt together. See the note on chap. 12:46.

Verses 56, 57. Whence then hath this man all these things? — “This, like many other things that have since been objected against the gospel of Christ, is as much the language of stupidity as of infidelity; for the meanness of Christ’s education was a demonstration that his teaching in so excellent a manner must be the effect of some extraordinary and divine influence on his mind.” — Doddridge. And they were offended in him — Or scandalized at him, by reason of his mean original and humble circumstances in the world, and therefore would not believe that he was the Messiah. Jesus said, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country — Or, as Dr. Doddridge renders the clause, A prophet is nowhere less esteemed than in his own country. “This is plainly the sense of the words, (though our translation is more literal,) for a prophet may, and often is affronted at a distance from home, as Christ himself found by frequent experience.” The expression is proverbial, signifying, “that those who possess extraordinary endowments are nowhere in less request than among their relations and acquaintance. The reason is, superior merit never fails to be envied, and envy commonly turns the knowledge it has of persons some way or other to their disadvantage.” — Macknight.

§ 55. — JESUS REVISITS NAZARETH AND IS AGAIN REJECTED THERE, 53-58.

53. Had finished these parables — Being SEVEN in number; FOUR to the people at the sea side, and THREE to the disciples at his own residence, all illustrating the principles of the divine probationary kingdom or government of God. He departed thence — He left Capernaum.

V. 57. They were offended at him-They looked on him as a mean, ignoble man, not worthy to be regarded. John 4:44; Luke 7:23.

Verse 57. And they were offended in him.] They took offence at him, eskandalizonto en autw, making the meanness of his family the reason why they would not receive him as a prophet, though they were astonished at his wisdom, and at his miracles, Matthew 13:54. So their pride and their envy were the causes of their destruction.

A prophet is not without honour] This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, generally true, but not without some exceptions. The apparent meanness of our Lord was one pretence why they rejected him; and yet, God manifested in the flesh, humbling himself to the condition of a servant, and to the death of the cross, is the only foundation for the salvation of a lost world. Perhaps our Lord means, by prophet, in this place, himself alone, as if he had said, My ministry is more generally reputed, and my doctrine better received, in any other part of the land than in my own country, among my own relatives; because, knowing the obscurity of my birth, they can scarcely suppose that I have these things from heaven.

Verses 56, 57. Whence then hath this man all these things? — “This, like many other things that have since been objected against the gospel of Christ, is as much the language of stupidity as of infidelity; for the meanness of Christ’s education was a demonstration that his teaching in so excellent a manner must be the effect of some extraordinary and divine influence on his mind.” — Doddridge. And they were offended in him — Or scandalized at him, by reason of his mean original and humble circumstances in the world, and therefore would not believe that he was the Messiah. Jesus said, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country — Or, as Dr. Doddridge renders the clause, A prophet is nowhere less esteemed than in his own country. “This is plainly the sense of the words, (though our translation is more literal,) for a prophet may, and often is affronted at a distance from home, as Christ himself found by frequent experience.” The expression is proverbial, signifying, “that those who possess extraordinary endowments are nowhere in less request than among their relations and acquaintance. The reason is, superior merit never fails to be envied, and envy commonly turns the knowledge it has of persons some way or other to their disadvantage.” — Macknight.

57. Offended in him — They were stumbled at this apparent superiority in one they would have to be no better than themselves. A stupid pride blinded their hearts.

Verse 57. A prophet is not without honour, &c. — That is, he is usually more honoured by strangers than by his immediate connections, who are apt to be moved by envy at the distinction put upon him. Besides, the latter, if reproved by him in the faithful exercise of his ministry, are most apt to be offended, and are most ready to object to him any circumstances of meanness which may be connected with his family and rank in life.

V. 58. He wrought not many mighty works, because of their unbelief-And the reason why many mighty works are not wrought now, is not, that the faith is not every where planted; but, that unbelief every where prevails.

Verse 58. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief] dunameiv, miracles. So the word is used, Matthew 7:22; 11:20; Acts 19:11; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Galatians 3:5; Hebrews 2:4. The Septuagint translates la twalpn niphleoth el, the miraculous works of God, by dunamin kuriou.

Unbelief and contempt drive Christ out of the heart, as they did out of his own country. Faith seems to put the almighty power of God into the hands of men; whereas unbelief appears, to tie up even the hands of the Almighty. A man, generally speaking, can do but little good among his relatives, because it is difficult for them to look with the eyes of faith upon one whom they have been accustomed to behold with the eyes of the flesh.-QUESNEL.

A DISSERTATION ON THE NATURE AND USE OF

PARABOLICAL WRITINGS.

See Ancillary Writings

ST. MATTHEW

Verse 58. And he did not, (Mark says, he could not do,) many mighty works, because of their unbelief — On which words it has been justly observed, that they are not to be understood so strictly as if the power of Christ was here disarmed; but only, that as they brought but few sick people to him for a cure, he did not judge it proper to obtrude his miracles upon them. On the same principle it is, that faith, in some cases, though not in all, is made the condition of receiving a cure. And Christ saw it proper to make it so here, as well he might, considering what they must undoubtedly have heard of him from other places, and what they had confessed themselves but just before, of mighty works being wrought by his hands; which shows, indeed, that their unbelief did not so much consist in a doubt of his miraculous power, as of his divine mission, which, to any unprejudiced person’s mind, that power so abundantly proved. “The reasons,” says Mr. Wesley, “why many mighty works are not wrought now, is not, that the faith is every where planted; but that unbelief everywhere prevails.”

58. Did not many… works — It would be a waste of divine power to perform miracles that would be disregarded and condemned by anticipation. Besides, it is probable that they abstained from affording him any opportunity for performing miracles of power and mercy, such as alone lay within the bounds of our Lord’s mission. So that both morally and physically they rendered the performance of mighty works a thing out of the question. The evangelist Mark says strongly, “he could there do no mighty work;” because of course he could not do a useless and unsuitable deed. So man’s faithlessness may bind the Lord’s arm from performing miracles of mercy. A faithless Church restrains the convicting and converting Spirit. Unbelief defeats omnipotence. The same evangelist, Mark, vividly represents the woman with the issue of blood drawing the miraculous virtue forth from Jesus by the touch of her finger, put forth in faith. So that as faith divinely compels the virtue forth, so unbelief compels the virtue back into the Lord’s person.

Verse 58. And he did not many mighty works. — The mighty works, therefore, at which these Nazarites are said, in verse 54, to have been astonished, were works of which they had heard, and not those they had witnessed. St. Mark says, “He could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk, and healed them.” The reason assigned is, because of their unbelief; which is not to be understood as though their unbelief limited his power, or that he did no mighty works except among those who fully acknowledged him to be the Messiah, which is contrary to the fact; but that the general and entire unbelief of the inhabitants of Nazareth, their utter contempt of his claims, influenced both the sick themselves, who, with few exceptions, had no desire to make application to him, and also their friends, who had no inclination even to make trial of his power, and therefore did not bring them out to him that he might relieve them. The few sick folk who were actually brought to him he healed “by laying his hands upon them.”