KJV: He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
YLT: And he answering said to them that -- 'To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given,
Darby: And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given;
ASV: And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
| Ὁ | - |
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Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| ἀποκριθεὶς | answering |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Passive, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ἀποκρίνομαι Sense: to give an answer to a question proposed, to answer. |
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| εἶπεν | He said |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: λέγω Sense: to speak, say. |
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| ‹αὐτοῖς› | to them |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
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| Ὅτι | Because |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: ὅτι Sense: that, because, since. |
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| Ὑμῖν | to you |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural Root: σύ Sense: you. |
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| δέδοται | it has been granted |
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Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: διδῶ Sense: to give. |
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| γνῶναι | to know |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active Root: γινώσκω Sense: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel. |
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| μυστήρια | mysteries |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural Root: μυστήριον Sense: hidden thing, secret, mystery. |
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| τῆς | of the |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| βασιλείας | kingdom |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: βασιλεία Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule. |
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| τῶν | of the |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| οὐρανῶν | heavens |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural Root: οὐρανός Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. |
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| ἐκείνοις | to them |
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Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Dative Masculine Plural Root: ἐκεῖνος Sense: he, she it, etc. |
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| δὲ | however |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: δέ Sense: but, moreover, and, etc. |
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Greek Commentary for Matthew 13:11
Second aorist active infinitive of γινωσκω ginōskō The word μυστηριον mustērion is from μυστης mustēs one initiated, and that from μυεω mueō The mystery-religions of the east had all sorts of secrets and signs as secret societies do today. But those initiated knew them. So the disciples have been initiated into the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Paul will use it freely of the mystery once hidden, but now revealed, now made known in Christ (Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:7, etc.). In Philemon 4:12 Paul says: “I have learned the secret or been initiated” So Jesus here explains that his parables are open to the disciples, but shut to the Pharisees with their hostile minds. In the Gospels μυστηριον mustērion is used only here and in the parallel passages (Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10). [source]
From μύω , to close or shut. In classical Greek, applied to certain religious celebrations to which persons were admitted by formal initiation, and the precise character of which is unknown. Some suppose them to have been revelations of religious secrets; others of secret politico-religious doctrines; others, again, scenic representations of mythical legends. In this latter sense the term was used in the Middle Ages of miracle-plays - rude dramas representing scenes from scripture and from the apocryphal gospels. Such plays are still enacted among the Basque mountaineers. (See Vincent, “In the Shadow of the Pyrenees.”) A mystery does not denote an unknowable thing, but one which is withdrawn from knowledge or manifestation, and which cannot be known without special manifestation of it. Hence appropriate to the things of the kingdom of heaven, which could be known only by revelation. Paul (Philemon 4:12) says, “I am instructed ( μεμύημαι )-DIVIDER- both to be full and to be hungry,” etc. But Rev. gives more correctly the force of instructed, by rendering I have learned the secret: the verb being μυέω (from the same root as μυστήρια )to initiate into the mysteries. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 13:11
Jesus has given in Matthew 13:13 one reason for his use of parables, the condemnation which the Pharisees have brought on themselves by their spiritual dulness: “Therefore I speak to them in parables” He can go on preaching the mysteries of the kingdom without their comprehending what he is saying, but he is anxious that the disciples really get personal knowledge (γνωναι gnōnai Matthew 13:11) of these same mysteries. So he explains in detail what he means to teach by the Parable of the Sower. He appeals to them (note position of μεις hūmeis) to listen as he explains. [source]
From παρά , beside, and βάλλω , to throw. A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. Hence its radical idea is comparison. Sir John Cheke renders biword, and the same idea is conveyed by the German Beispiela pattern or example; beibeside, and the old high German speldiscourse or narration. The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison:1.Of brief sayings, having an oracular or proverbial character. Thus Peter (Matthew 15:15), referring to the words “If the blind lead the blind,” etc., says, “declare unto us thisparable. ” Compare Luke 6:39. So of the patched garment (Luke 5:36), and the guest who assumes the highest place at the feast (Luke 14:7, Luke 14:11). Compare, also, Matthew 24:39; Mark 13:28.2.Of a proverb. The word for proverb ( παροιμία ) has the same idea at the root as parable. It is παρά , beside, οἶμος , a way or road. Either a trite, wayside saying (Trench), or a path by the side of the high road (Godet). See Luke 4:23; 1 Samuel 24:13. 3.Of a song or poem, in which an example is set up by way of comparison. See Micah 2:4; Habakkuk 2:6. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- 4.Of a word or discourse which is enigmatical or obscure until the meaning is developed by application or comparison. It occurs along with the words αἴνιγμα , enigma, and πρόβλημα , a problem, something put forth or proposed ( πρό , in front βάλλω , to throw ). See Psalm 49:4 (Sept. 48:4); Psalm 78:2 (Sept. 77:2); Proverbs 1:6, where we have παραβολὴν , parable; σκοτεινὸν λόγον , dark saying; and αἰνίγματα , enigmas. Used also of the sayings of Balaam (Numbers 23:7, Numbers 23:18; Numbers 24:3, Numbers 24:15).In this sense Christ uses parables symbolically to expound the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as utterances which conceal from one class what they reveal to another (Matthew 13:11-17), and in which familiar facts of the earthly life are used figuratively to expound truths of the higher life. The un-spiritual do not link these facts of the natural life with those of the supernatural, which are not discerned by them (1 Corinthians 2:14), and therefore they need an interpreter of the relation between the two. Such symbols assume the existence of a law common to the natural and spiritual worlds under which the symbol and the thing symbolized alike work; so that the one does not merely resemble the other superficially, but stands in actual coherence and harmony with it. Christ formulates such a law in connection with the parables of the Talents and the Sower. “To him that hath shall be given. From him that hath not shall be taken away.” That is a law of morals and religion, as of business and agriculture. One must have in order to make. Interest requires capital. Fruit requires not only seed but soil. Spiritual fruitfulness requires an honest and good heart. Similarly, the law of growth as set forth in the parable of the Mustard Seed, is a law common to nature and to the kingdom of God. The great forces in both kingdoms are germinal, enwrapped in small seeds which unfold from within by an inherent power of growth.5. A parable is also an example or type; furnishing a model or a warning; as the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the Publican. The element of comparison enters here as between the particular incident imagined or recounted, and all cases of a similar kind.The term parable, however, as employed in ordinary Christian phraseology, is limited to those utterances of Christ which are marked by a complete figurative history or narrative. It is thus defined by Goebel (“Parables of Jesus”). “A narrative moving within the sphere of physical or human life, not professing to describe an event which actually took place, but expressly imagined for the purpose of representing, in pictorial figure, a truth belonging to the sphere of religion, and therefore referring to the relation of man or mankind to God.” In form the New Testament parables resemble the fable. The distinction between them does not turn on the respective use of rational and irrational beings speaking and acting. There are fables where the actors are human. Nor does the fable always deal with the impossible, since there are fables in which an animal, for instance, does nothing contrary to its nature. The distinction lies in the religious character of the New Testament parable as contrasted with the secular character of the fable. While the parable exhibits the relations of man to God, the fable teaches lessons of worldly policy or natural morality and utility. “The parable is predominantly symbolic; the fable, for the most part, typical, and therefore presents its teaching only in the form of example, for which reason it chooses animals by preference, not as symbolic, but as typical figures; never symbolic in the sense in which the parable mostly is, because the higher invisible world, of which the parable sees and exhibits the symbol in the visible world of nature and man, lies far from it. Hence the parable can never work with fantastic figures like speaking animals, trees,” etc. (Goebel, condensed). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The parable differs from the allegory in that there is in the latter “an interpenetration of the thing signified and the thing signifying; the qualities and properties of the first being attributed to the last,” and the two being thus blended instead of being kept distinct and parallel. See, for example, the allegory of the Vine and the Branches (John 15) where Christ at once identifies himself with the figure' “I am the true vine.” Thus the allegory, unlike the parable, carries its own interpretation with it. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Parable and proverb are often used interchangeably in the;New Testament; the fundamental conception being, as we have seen, the same in both, the same Hebrew word representing both, and both being enigmatical. They differ rather in extent than in essence; the parable being a proverb expanded and carried into detail, and being necessarily figurative, which the proverb is not; though the range of the proverb is wider, since the parable expands only one particular case of a proverb. (See Trench, “Notes on the Parables,” Introd.) [source]
See notes on Matthew 13:11 for word mustērion Here (Mark 4:11; Matthew 13:11; Luke 8:10) alone in the Gospels, but in Paul 21 times and in the Revelation 4 times. It is frequent in Daniel and O.T. Apocrypha. Matthew and Luke use it here in the plural. Matthew and Luke add the word to know (μυστηριον gnōnai), but Mark‘s presentation covers a wider range than growing knowledge, the permanent possession of the mystery even before they understand it. The secret is no longer hidden from the initiated. Discipleship means initiation into the secret of God‘s kingdom and it will come gradually to these men. [source]
The two latter words are peculiar to Mark. The phrase means those outside of our circle. Its sense is always determined by the contrast to it. Thus, 1 Corinthians 5:12, 1 Corinthians 5:13, it is non-Christians in contrast with me. Colossians 4:5, Christians contrasted with people of the world. Compare 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 3:7. Matthew (Matthew 13:11), with less precision, uses simply ἐκείνοις (to them), the pronoun of remote reference. Luke 8:10, τοῖς λοιποῖς (to the rest )i1. [source]
See for this word on Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11. Part of the mystery here explained is how so many people who have the opportunity to enter the kingdom fail to do so because of manifest unfitness. [source]
See on Matthew 13:11. [source]
In the Septuagint only in Daniel. See Daniel 2:18, Daniel 2:19, Daniel 2:27, Daniel 2:28, Daniel 2:30, of the king's secret. It occurs frequently in the apocryphal books, mostly of secrets of state, or plans kept by a king in his own mind. This meaning illustrates the use of the word in passages like Matthew 13:11, “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” - secret purposes or counsels which God intends to carry into effect in His kingdom. So here; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26, Colossians 1:27; Colossians 2:2; Colossians 4:3; Revelation 10:7. In Justin Martyr (second century) it is commonly used in connection with σύμβολον symbol τύπος type παραβολή parableand so is evidently closely related in meaning to these words. Compare Revelation 1:20; Revelation 17:7, This meaning may possibly throw light on Ephesians 5:32. In early ecclesiastical Latin μυστήριον was rendered by sacramentum, which in classical Latin means the military oath. The explanation of the word sacrament, which is so often founded on this etymology, is therefore mistaken, since the meaning of sacrament belongs to μυστήριον and not to sacramentum in the classical sense. In Ephesians 3:3-6, Paul uses the word as here, of the admission of the Gentiles. [source]
Not in the pagan sense of an esoteric doctrine for the initiated (from μυεω mueō to blink, to wink), unknown secrets (2 Thessalonians 2:7), or like the mystery religions of the time, but the revealed will of God now made known to all (1 Corinthians 2:1, 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 4:1) which includes Gentiles also (Romans 16:25; Colossians 1:26.; Ephesians 3:3.) and so far superior to man‘s wisdom (Colossians 2:2; Colossians 4:13; Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 5:32; Ephesians 6:19; Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11). Paul has covered every point of difficulty concerning the failure of the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah and has shown how God has overruled it for the blessing of the Gentiles with a ray of hope still held out for the Jews. “In early ecclesiastical Latin μυστηριον mustērion was rendered by sacramentum, which in classical Latin means the military oath. The explanation of the word sacrament, which is so often founded on this etymology, is therefore mistaken, since the meaning of sacrament belongs to μυστηριον mustērion and not to sacramentum in the classical sense” (Vincent). [source]
Connect with we speak. See on Matthew 13:11; see on Romans 11:25. The in ( ἐν ) has a kind of instrumental force: by means of a mystery; i.e., by delivering a doctrine hidden from the human understanding and revealed to us by God. [source]
See on Romans 11:25. The kindred word μεμύημαι Ihave been initiated (A.V., instructed ) occurs Philemon 4:12, in the sense drawn from the technical use of the term, denoting the induction into pagan mysteries. Ignatius addresses the Ephesians as “fellow-initiates ( συμμύσται ), or students of the mysteries, with Paul” (Ephesians, 12). In the New Testament the word implies something which, while it may be obscure in its nature, or kept hidden in the past, is now revealed. Hence used very commonly with words denoting revelation or knowledge. So, “to know the mysteries,” Matthew 13:11; “revelation of the mystery,” Romans 16:25; made known, Ephesians 3:3, etc. In Colossians and Ephesians it is used, with a single exception, of the admission of the Gentiles to gospel privileges. Compare Romans 16:25, Romans 16:26. [source]
See note on 1 Corinthians 2:7 for this interesting word from μυστης mustēs (initiate), from μυεω mueō to wink, to blink. The Gnostics talked much of “mysteries.” Paul takes their very word (already in common use, Matthew 13:11) and uses it for the gospel. [source]
Better, of lawlessness. The phrase is unique in N.T. and olxx. Mystery is found in various combinations, as mystery of the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 13:11: of God, 1 Corinthians 2:1: of his will, Ephesians 1:9: of Christ, Ephesians 3:4: of the gospel, Ephesians 6:19: of faith, 1 Timothy 3:9: of godliness, 1 Timothy 3:16: of the seven stars Revelation 1:20: of the woman, Revelation 17:7. A mystery does not lie in the obscurity of a thing, but in its secrecy. It is not in the thing, but envelops it. Applied to a truth, it signifies a truth once hidden but now revealed or to be revealed; a truth which without special revelation would be unknown. It is almost universally found in connection with words signifying publication or revelation. See on Matthew 13:11. The mystery of lawlessness is the mass of lawlessness yet hidden, but which is to reveal itself in the person and power of Antichrist. The position of the word is emphatic, emphasizing the concealed character of the evil power. [source]
See on Matthew 13:11. [source]
See on Matthew 13:11. Depending in construction upon the verb write, and in apposition with the things which thou sawest. [source]
On the word μυστηριον mustērion see note on Matthew 13:11; and note on 2 Thessalonians 2:7; and note on Colossians 1:26. Here it means the inner meaning (the secret symbol) of a symbolic vision (Swete) as in Revelation 10:7; Revelation 13:18; Revelation 17:7, Revelation 17:9; Daniel 2:47. Probably the accusative absolute (Charles), “as for the mystery” (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 490, 1130), as in Romans 8:3. This item is picked out of the previous vision (Revelation 1:16) as needing explanation at once and as affording a clue to what follows (Revelation 2:1, Revelation 2:5). [source]