KJV: And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
YLT: and in his sowing, some indeed fell by the way, and the fowls did come and devour them,
Darby: and as he sowed, some grains fell along the way, and the birds came and devoured them;
ASV: and as he sowed, some'seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them:
| τῷ | - |
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Parse: Article, Dative Neuter Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| σπείρειν | sowing |
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Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active Root: ἐπισπείρω Sense: to sow, scatter, seed. |
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| αὐτὸν | of him |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
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| ἃ | some |
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Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Nominative Neuter Plural Root: ὅς Sense: who, which, what, that. |
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| μὲν | indeed |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: μέν Sense: truly, certainly, surely, indeed. |
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| ἔπεσεν | fell |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: πίπτω Sense: to descend from a higher place to a lower. |
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| παρὰ | along |
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Parse: Preposition Root: παρά Sense: from, of at, by, besides, near. |
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| ὁδόν | road |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: ὁδός Sense: properly. |
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| ἐλθόντα | having come |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Neuter Plural Root: ἔρχομαι Sense: to come. |
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| πετεινὰ | birds |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Plural Root: πετεινόν Sense: flying, winged. |
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| κατέφαγεν | devoured |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: κατεσθίω Sense: to consume by eating, to eat up, devour. |
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Greek Commentary for Matthew 13:4
Literally, “in the sowing as to him,” a neat Greek idiom unlike our English temporal conjunction. Locative case with the articular present infinitive. [source]
People will make paths along the edge of a ploughed field or even across it where the seed lies upon the beaten track. Devoured (κατεπαγεν katephagen). “Ate down.” We say, “ate up.” Second aorist active indicative of κατεστιω katesthiō (defective verb). [source]
“Ate down.” We say, “ate up.” Second aorist active indicative of κατεστιω katesthiō (defective verb). [source]
Dean Stanley, approaching the plain of Gennesareth, says: “A slight recess in the hillside, close upon the plain, disclosed at once, in detail and with a conjunction which I remember nowhere else in Palestine, every feature of the great parable. There was the undulating cornfield descending to the water's edge. There was the trodden pathway running through the midst of it, with no fence or hedge to prevent the seed from falling here and there on either side of it or upon it; itself hard with the constant tramp of horse and mule and human feet. There was the 'good' rich soil which distinguishes the whole of that plain and its neighborhood from the bare hills elsewhere descending into the lake, and which, where there is no interruption, produces one vast mass of corn. There was the rocky ground of the hillside protruding here and there through the cornfields, as elsewhere through the grassy slopes. There were the large bushes of thorn - the nabkthat kind of which tradition says that the crown of thorns was woven - springing up, like the fruit-trees of the more inland parts, in the very midst of the waving wheat” (“Sinai and Palestine”). [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 13:4
From ἀμφὶ , around, and Βάλλω , to throw. Hence the casting -net, which, being east over the shoulder, spreads into a circle ( ἀμφὶ ). The word is sometimes used by classical Greek writers to denote a garment which encompasses the wearer. In Matthew 4:20, the word net again occurs, but representing a different Greek word ( δίκτυον ) which is the general name for all kinds of nets, whether for taking fish or fowl. Still another word occurs at Matthew 13:47, σαγήνη , the draw- net. See farther on that passage. [source]
Throughly (retained by Rev.) obsolete form of thoroughly, is the force of the preposition διά (through )In that preposition lies the picture of the farmer beginning at one side of the floor, and working through to the other, cleansing as he goes. The whole metaphor represents the Messiah as separating the evil from the good, according to the tests of his kingdom and Gospel, receiving the worthy into his kingdom and consigning the unworthy to destruction (compare Matthew 13:30, Matthew 13:39-43, Matthew 13:48-50). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Lit., If thou owest anything. Not that the creditor is uncertain about the fact of the debt, though some uncertainty about the exact amount may be implied. This would agree with found, in the sense of coming upon accidentally. Compare Matthew 13:44. He came suddenly upon him and recognized him as a debtor, though not certain as to the amount of his debt. Meyer remarks, “The if is simply the expression of a pitiless logic. If thou owest anything (as thou dost) pay!” The word pay ( ἀπόδος ) is emphatic in position. [source]
(ο εχων ωτα ακουετω ho echōn ōta akouetō), So also in Matthew 11:15 and Matthew 13:43. It is comforting to teachers and preachers to observe that even Jesus had to exhort people to listen and to understand his sayings, especially his parables. They will bear the closest thought and are often enigmatical. [source]
Same use of the articular present infinitive with εν en and the accusative as in Matthew 13:4. [source]
Adjective for comparison with associative instrumental as in Matthew 13:13, Matthew 13:44, Matthew 13:45, Matthew 13:47, Matthew 13:52. [source]
Out from the midst of the kingdom, because in every city the good and the bad are scattered and mixed together. Cf. εκ μεσου των δικαιων ek mesou tōn dikaiōn in Matthew 13:49 “from the midst of the righteous.” What this means is that, just as the wheat and the darnel are mixed together in the field till the separation at harvest, so the evil are mixed with the good in the world (the field). Jesus does not mean to say that these “stumbling-blocks” (τα σκανδαλα ta skandala) are actually in the Kingdom of heaven and really members of the Kingdom. They are simply mixed in the field with the wheat and God leaves them in the world till the separation comes. Their destiny is “the furnace of fire” (την καμινον του πυρος tēn kaminon tou puros). [source]
Here alone in the N.T., through αγγη aggē in Matthew 13:48. Extra supply in these receptacles besides the oil in the dish on top of the staff. [source]
The word here for net is a casting-net (compare αμπιβαλλω amphiballō in Mark 1:16, casting on both sides). The net was thrown over the shoulder and spread into a circle In Matthew 4:20 and Matthew 4:21 another word occurs for nets (δικτυα diktua), a word used for nets of any kind. The large drag-net (σαγηνη sagēnē) appears in Matthew 13:47. [source]
See on Matthew 13:4. [source]
The plural, addressed to the whole of the boat's crew. Originally, to slacken or loosen, as a bowstring or the reins of horses; hence to let sink as a net. Also of unbarring a door. Metaphorically, to be indulgent, to pardon. The word occurs in the New Testament seven times, and five of these in Luke. He uses it of letting down Paul in a basket at Damascus (Acts 9:25); of striking a ship's sails, and of letting down a boat into the sea (Acts 27:17, Acts 27:30). Matthew, Mark, and John use βάλλω , or ἀμφιβάλλω , for casting a net (Matthew 4:18; Matthew 13:47; Mark 1:16; John 21:6), which appears also in the compound noun for a casting-net ( ἀμφίβληστρον , see on Matthew 4:18). The word used by Luke was in common use in medical writings, to denote relaxation of the limbs; loosening of bandages; abatement of sickness; letting herbs down into a vessel to be steeped. [source]
From the Hebrew sakwhat is knotted together; net-shaped; coarsely woven. It was made of goats' or camels' hair (Revelation 6:12), and was a material similar to that upon which Paul wrought in tent-making. The same word in Hebrew is used to describe a grain-sack, and this coarse material of which it is made (Genesis 42:25; Joshua 9:4). So the Greek σαγή means a pack or baggage. The same root, according to some etymologists, appears in σαγήνη , a drag-net (see Matthew 13:47), and σάγος , Latin sagum, a coarse, soldier's cloak. It was employed for the rough garments for mourners (Esther 4:1; 1 Kings 21:27), in which latter passage the sackcloth is put next the flesh in token of extreme sorrow. Compare 2 Kings 6:30; Job 16:15.Ashes ( σποδῷ )As a sign of mourning. Defiling one's self with dead things, as ashes or dirt, as a sign of sorrow, was common among the Orientals and Greeks. Thus Homer describes Achilles on hearing of the death of Patroclus:“Grasping in both handsThe ashes of the hearth, he showered them o'er His head, and soiled with them his noble face.”Iliad, xviii., 28.And Priam, mourning for Hector:“In the midst the aged manSat with a cloak wrapped round him, and much dust Strewn on his head and neck, which, when he rolled Upon the earth, he gathered with his hands.”Iliad, xxiv., 162-5.See 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2; 2 Samuel 13:19; Job 2:12; Revelation 18:19. In Judith 4:14,15, in the mourning over the ravages of the Assyrians, the priests minister at the altar, girded with sackcloth, and with ashes on their mitres. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, describing a funeral at Thebes, says: “Men, women, and children, with the body exposed above the waist, throw dust on their heads, or cover their faces with mud” (“Modern Egypt and Thebes”). Stifling with ashes was a Persian mode of punishment. Compare Apocrypha, 2 Maccabees 13:5-7. Herodotus relates that Nitocris, an Egyptian queen, after having drowned the murderers of her brother, threw herself into an apartment full of ashes, in order to escape the vengeance of their friends. [source]
Matthew has kingdom of heaven, or of the heavens ( τῶν οὐρανῶν )a phrase used by him only, and most frequently employed by Christ himself to describe the kingdom; though Matthew also uses, less frequently, kingdom of God. The two are substantially equivalent terms, though the pre-eminent title was kingdom of God, since it was expected to be fully realized in the Messianic era, when God should take upon himself the kingdom by a visible representative. Compare Isaiah 40:9, “Behold your God. ” The phrase kingdom of Heaven was common in the Rabbinical writings, and had a double signification: the historical kingdom and the spiritual and moral kingdom. They very often understood by it divine worship; adoration of God; the sum of religious duties; but also the Messianic kingdom. The kingdom of God is, essentially, the absolute dominion of God in the universe, both in a physical and a spiritual sense. It is “an organic commonwealth which has the principle of its existence in the will of God” (Tholuck). It was foreshadowed in the Jewish theocracy. The idea of the kingdom advanced toward clearer definition from Jacob's prophecy of the Prince out of Judah (Genesis 49:10), through David's prophecy of the everlasting kingdom and the king of righteousness and peace (Daniel 7:14-27; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 2:44). In this sense it was apprehended by John the Baptist. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The ideal kingdom is to be realized in the absolute rule of the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are made and consist (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-20), whose life of perfect obedience to God and whose sacrificial offering of love upon the cross reveal to men their true relation to God, and whose spirit works to bring them into this relation. The ultimate idea of the kingdom is that of “a redeemed humanity, with its divinely revealed destiny manifesting itself in a religious communion, or the Church; asocial communion, or the state; and an aesthetic communion, expressing itself in forms of knowledge and art.”-DIVIDER- This kingdom is both present (Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 16:19; Luke 11:20; Luke 16:16; Luke 17:21; see, also, the parables of the Sower, the Tares, the Leaven, and the Drag-net; and compare the expression “theirs, or yours, is the kingdom,” Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20) and future (Daniel 7:27; Matthew 13:43; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 26:29; Mark 9:47; 2 Peter 1:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Revelation 20:1-15 sq.). As a present kingdom it is incomplete and in process of development. It is expanding in society like the grain of mustard seed (Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:32); working toward the pervasion of society like the leaven in the lump (Matthew 13:33). God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and the Gospel of Christ is the great instrument in that process (2 Corinthians 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:20). The kingdom develops from within outward under the power of its essential divine energy and law of growth, which insures its progress and final triumph against all obstacles. Similarly, its work in reconciling and subjecting the world to God begins at the fountain-head of man's life, by implanting in his heart its own divine potency, and thus giving a divine impulse and direction to the whole man, rather than by moulding him from without by a moral code. The law is written in his heart. In like manner the State and the Church are shaped, not by external pressure, like the Roman empire and the Roxnish hierarchy, but by the evolution of holy character in men. The kingdom of God in its present development is not identical with the Church. It is a larger movement which includes the Church. The Church is identified with the kingdom to the degree in which it is under the power of the spirit of Christ. “As the Old Testament kingdom of God was perfected and completed when it ceased to be external, and became internal by being enthroned in the heart, so, on the other hand, the perfection of the New Testament kingdom will consist in its complete incarnation and externalization; that is, when it shall attain an outward manifestation, adequately expressing, exactly corresponding to its internal principle” (Tholuck). The consummation is described in Revelation 21,22. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Impersonal plural. This saying about salt is another of Christ‘s repeated sayings (Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50). Another repeated saying is the one here about having ears to hear (Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35, Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:43). [source]
See on Matthew 4:18; see on Matthew 13:47. [source]
See on Luke 6:22. Notice the titles successively applied to our Lord in this chapter: the greater Successor of the Baptist, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel. These were all given by others. The title Son of man He applies to Himself. In John's Gospel, as in the Synoptists, this phrase is used only by Christ in speaking of Himself; and elsewhere only in Acts 7:56, where the name is applied to Him by Stephen. It occurs less frequently in John than in the Synoptists, being found in Matthew thirty times, in Mark thirteen, and in John twelve. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Jesus' use of the term here is explained in two ways. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- I. That He borrows the title from the Old Testament to designate Himself either: (a ) as a prophet, as in Ezekiel 2:1-3; Ezekiel 3:1, etc.; or (b ) as the Messiah, as prefigured in Daniel 7:13. This prophecy of Daniel had obtained such wide currency that the Messiah was called Anani, or the man of the clouds. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- (a.) This is untenable, because in Ezekiel, as everywhere in the Old Testament, the phrase Son of man, or Sons of men, is used to describe man under his human limitations, as weak, fallible, and incompetent by himself to be a divine agent. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- (b.) The allusion to Daniel's prophecy is admitted; but Jesus does not mean to say, “I am the Messiah who is prefigured by Daniel.” A political meaning attached in popular conception to the term Messiah; and it is noticeable throughout John's Gospel that Jesus carefully avoids using that term before the people, but expresses the thing itself by circumlocution, in order to avoid the complication which the popular understanding would have introduced into his work. See John 8:24, John 8:25; John 10:24, John 10:25. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Moreover, the phrase Son of man was not generally applied to the Messiah. On the contrary, John 5:27and John 12:34show that it was set off against that term. Compare Matthew 16:13, Matthew 16:15. Son of God is the Messianic title, which, with one exception, appears in confessions (John 1:34, John 1:49; John 11:27; John 20:31). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In Daniel the reference is exclusively to the final stage of human affairs. The point is the final establishment of the divine kingdom. Moreover, Daniel does not say “the Son of man,” but “one like a Son of man.” Compare Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14, where also the article is omitted. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- II. The second, and correct explanation is that the phrase Son of man is the expression of Christ's self-consciousness as being related to humanity as a whole: denoting His real participation in human nature, and designating Himself as the representative man. It thus corresponds with the passage in Daniel, where the earthly kingdoms are represented by beasts, but the divine kingdom by a Son of man. Hence, too, the word ἄνθρωπος is purposely used (see on a man, John 1:30, and compare John 8:40). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- While the human element was thus emphasized in the phrase, the consciousness of Jesus, as thus expressed, did not exclude His divine nature and claims, but rather regarded these through the medium of His humanity. He showed Himself divine in being thus profoundly human. Hence two aspects of the phrase appear in John, as in the Synoptists. The one regards His earthly life and work, and involves His being despised; His accommodation to the conditions of human life; the partial veiling of His divine nature; the loving character of His mission; His liability to misinterpretation; and His outlook upon a consummation of agony. On the other hand, He is possessed of supreme authority; He is about His Father's work; He reveals glimpses of His divine nature through His humanity; His presence and mission entail serious responsibility upon those to whom He appeals; and He foresees a consummation of glory no less than of agony. See Matthew 8:20; Matthew 11:19; Matthew 12:8, Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:37; Matthew 16:13; Matthew 20:18; Matthew 26:64; Mark 8:31, Mark 8:38; Mark 14:21; Luke 9:26, Luke 9:58; Luke 12:8; Luke 17:22; Luke 19:10; Luke 22:69. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The other aspect is related to the future. He has visions of another life of glory and dominion; though present in the flesh, His coming is still future, and will be followed by a judgment which is committed to Him, and by the final glory of His redeemed in His heavenly kingdom. See Matthew 10:23; Matthew 13:40sqq.; Matthew 16:27sqq.; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 24:27, Matthew 24:37, Matthew 24:44; Matthew 25:31sqq.; Mark 13:26; Luke 6:22; Luke 17:24, Luke 17:30; Luke 18:8; Luke 21:27. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
First aorist passive indicative of πιπρασκω pipraskō old verb to sell (Matthew 13:46). For three hundred pence Genitive of price. Same item in Mark 14:5, while in Matthew 26:9 it is simply “for much” But all three have “given to the poor” First aorist passive indicative of διδωμι didōmi with dative case πτωχοις ptōchois (note absence of the article, poor people), real beggars, mendicants (Matthew 19:21; Luke 14:13). But only John singles out Judas as the one who made the protest against this waste of money while Mark says that “some” had indignation and Matthew has it that “the disciples” had indignation. Clearly Judas was the spokesman for the group who chimed in and agreed with his protest. The amount here spent by Mary (ten guineas) would equal a day labourer‘s wages for a year (Dods). [source]
Timeless or gnomic use of the first aorist passive indicative of βαλλω ballō as the conclusion of a third-class condition (see also John 15:4, John 15:7 for the same condition, only constative aorist subjunctive μεινητε meinēte and μεινηι meinēi in John 15:7). The apostles are thus vividly warned against presumption. Jesus as the vine will fulfill his part of the relation as long as the branches keep in vital union with him. As a branch And is withered Another timeless first aorist passive indicative, this time of χηραινω xērainō same timeless use in James 1:11 of grass, old and common verb. They gather Plural though subject not expressed, the servants of the vine-dresser gather up the broken off branches. Are burned Present passive singular of καιω kaiō to burn, because κληματα klēmata (branches) is neuter plural. See this vivid picture also in Matthew 13:41, Matthew 13:49. [source]
Characterizing the preceding phrase more precisely: definitely separated from the rest of mankind. Compare Galatians 1:15, and “chosen vessel,” Acts 9:15. The verb means “to mark off ( ἀπό ) from others by a boundary ( ὅρος ).” It is used of the final separation of the righteous from the wicked (Matthew 13:49; Matthew 25:32); of the separation of the disciples from the world (Luke 6:22); and of the setting apart of apostles to special functions (Acts 13:2). Gospel is an exception to the almost invariable usage, in being without the article (compare Revelation 14:6); since Paul considers the Gospel rather as to its quality - good news from God - than as the definite proclamation of Jesus Christ as a Savior. The defining elements are added subsequently in Romans 1:3, Romans 1:4. Not the preaching of the Gospel, but; the message itself is meant. For Gospel, see on superscription of Matthew. [source]
“Fleshen” as in 1 Corinthians 3:1 which see, more emphatic even than σαρκικος sarkikos a creature of flesh.” Sold under sin (πεπραμενος υπο την αμαρτιαν pepramenos hupo tēn hamartian). Perfect passive participle of πιπρασκω pipraskō old verb, to sell. See note on Matthew 13:46 and note on Acts 2:45, state of completion. Sin has closed the mortgage and owns its slave. [source]
Perfect passive participle of πιπρασκω pipraskō old verb, to sell. See note on Matthew 13:46 and note on Acts 2:45, state of completion. Sin has closed the mortgage and owns its slave. [source]
Adverb in sense of τυποι tupoi in 1 Corinthians 10:6. Only instance of the adverb except in ecclesiastical writers after this time, but adjective τυπικος tupikos occurs in a late papyrus. For our admonition (προς νουτεσιαν ημων pros nouthesian hēmōn). Objective genitive (ημων hēmōn) again. Νουτεσια Nouthesia is late word from νουτετεω noutheteō (see note on Acts 20:31; note on 1 Thessalonians 5:12 and note on 1 Thessalonians 5:14) for earlier νουτετησις nouthetēsis and νουτετια nouthetia The ends of the ages have come Cf. Hebrews 9:26 η συντελεια των αιωνων hē sunteleia tōn aiōnōn the consummation of the ages (also Matthew 13:40). The plural seems to point out how one stage succeeds another in the drama of human history. Κατηντηκεν Katēntēken is perfect active indicative of κατανταω katantaō late verb, to come down to (see note on Acts 16:1). Does Paul refer to the second coming of Christ as in 1 Corinthians 7:26 ? In a sense the ends of the ages like a curtain have come down to all of us. [source]
Cf. Hebrews 9:26 η συντελεια των αιωνων hē sunteleia tōn aiōnōn the consummation of the ages (also Matthew 13:40). The plural seems to point out how one stage succeeds another in the drama of human history. Κατηντηκεν Katēntēken is perfect active indicative of κατανταω katantaō late verb, to come down to (see note on Acts 16:1). Does Paul refer to the second coming of Christ as in 1 Corinthians 7:26 ? In a sense the ends of the ages like a curtain have come down to all of us. [source]
No verb γινεται ginetai in the Greek. Supply “at his coming,” the end or consummation of the age or world (Matthew 13:39, Matthew 13:49; 1 Peter 4:7), When he shall deliver up Present active subjunctive (not optative) of παραδιδωμι paradidōmi with οταν hotan whenever, and so quite indefinite and uncertain as to time. Present subjunctive rather than aorist παραδωι paradōi because it pictures a future proceeding. [source]
Rotten, putrid, like fruit (Matthew 7:17.), fish (Matthew 13:48), here the opposite of αγατος agathos (good). [source]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. “The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.”-DIVIDER- In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER- Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]
The phrase N.T.o Ἑπουράνιος heavenlyonly here in Pastorals. Mostly in Paul and Hebrews. Heavenly kingdom, here the future, glorified life, as 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Luke 13:29. In the same sense, kingdom of Christ and of God, Ephesians 5:5; kingdom of their Father, Matthew 13:43; my Father's kingdom, Matthew 26:29; kingdom prepared for you, Matthew 25:34; eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 2 Peter 1:11. [source]
Another future (active of ποιεω poieō). “We will do a year there.”And trade (και εμπορευσομετα kai emporeusometha). Future middle of εμπορευομαι emporeuomai (εν πορευομαι enεμπορος poreuomai to go in), old verb from και κερδησομεν emporos (a merchant or trader, a drummer, one going in and getting the trade, Matthew 13:45), a vivid picture of the Jewish merchants of the time.And get gain Future (Ionic form) active of κερδος kerdainō old verb from kerdos (gain, Philemon 1:21), as in Matthew 16:26. [source]
Future middle of εμπορευομαι emporeuomai (εν πορευομαι enεμπορος poreuomai to go in), old verb from και κερδησομεν emporos (a merchant or trader, a drummer, one going in and getting the trade, Matthew 13:45), a vivid picture of the Jewish merchants of the time. [source]
Correct text (Aleph B), not και kai (and).Into this city (εις τηνδε την πολιν eis tēnde tēn polin). Old demonstrative οδε hode rare in N.T. (Luke 10:39) save in neuter plural ταδε tade (these things Acts 21:11). One would point out the city on the map (Mayor) as he made the proposal (we will go, πορευσομετα poreusometha).And spend a year there Another future (active of ποιεω poieō). “We will do a year there.”And trade (και εμπορευσομετα kai emporeusometha). Future middle of εμπορευομαι emporeuomai (εν πορευομαι enεμπορος poreuomai to go in), old verb from και κερδησομεν emporos (a merchant or trader, a drummer, one going in and getting the trade, Matthew 13:45), a vivid picture of the Jewish merchants of the time.And get gain Future (Ionic form) active of κερδος kerdainō old verb from kerdos (gain, Philemon 1:21), as in Matthew 16:26. [source]
Rev., more accurately, doeth also lawlessness. Compare Matthew 13:41, and the phrase οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν yethat work iniquity (Matthew 7:23). [source]
See note on Matthew 13:41; and note on Matthew 16:23 for this interesting word. It is a stumbling block or trap either in the way of others (its usual sense), as in Matthew 18:7, or in one‘s own way, as is true of προσκοπτω proskoptō in John 11:9 and in 1 John 2:11 here. But, as Westcott argues, John may very well have the usual meaning here and the other in 1 John 2:11. [source]
Compare Genesis 19:28; Exodus 19:18; Matthew 13:42, Matthew 13:50. [source]
Compare Isaiah 4:1; Matthew 13:44, Matthew 13:46. Those who think themselves rich, and yet have just been called beggars by the Lord, are advised by Him to buy. The irony, however, covers a sincere and gracious invitation. The goods of Christ are freely given, yet they have their price - renunciation of self and of the world. [source]
Old word, in N.T. also Revelation 9:2; Matthew 13:42, Matthew 13:50. [source]
First aorist passive indicative of τεριζω therizō Both prophetic aorists again. Christ puts in the sickle as he wills with his own agents (Matthew 9:37.; Matthew 13:39, Matthew 13:41). [source]
Old word for one on a journey for trade (from εν πορος enεμποριον poros), like drummers, in N.T. only Matthew 13:45; Revelation 18:3, Revelation 18:11, Revelation 18:15, Revelation 18:23. Like εμπορευομαι emporion (John 2:16) and επλουτησαν emporeuomai (James 4:13). [source]
See Revelation 12:7 for Michael and angels warring with the dragon, and also Matthew 26:53 for the angels at Christ‘s call, not to say Hebrews 1:6., Hebrews 1:14; Matthew 13:41; and Revelation 5:11. [source]
An individualizing note calling on each of the hearers (Revelation 1:3) to listen (Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:28; Revelation 3:3, Revelation 3:6, Revelation 3:13, Revelation 3:22) and a reminiscence of the words of Jesus in the Synoptics (Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:43; Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23; Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35), but not in John‘s Gospel. [source]
These gate towers (πυλωνες pulōnes) were mentioned in Revelation 21:12. Each of these (cf. Isaiah 54:12) is a pearl, one of the commonest of jewels (Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:46; 1 Timothy 2:9). [source]
Perfect passive participle of πυροω puroō old verb, to set on fire, to glow, as in Ephesians 6:16; Revelation 3:18. The feminine gender shows that η χαλκολιβανος hē chalkolibanos is referred to with της χαλκολιβανου tēs chalkolibanou understood, for it does not agree in case with the associative-instrumental χαλκολιβανωι chalkolibanōi just before. Some would call it a slip for πεπυρομενωι pepuromenōi as Aleph, and some cursives have it (taking χαλκολιβανωι chalkolibanōi to be neuter, not feminine). But P Q read πεπυρωμενοι pepurōmenoi (masculine plural), a correction, making it agree in number and gender with ποδες podes (feet).In a furnace (εν καμινωι en kaminōi). Old word, in N.T. also Revelation 9:2; Matthew 13:42, Matthew 13:50.As the voice of many waters So the voice of God in the Hebrew (not the lxx) of Ezekiel 43:2. Repeated in Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6. [source]
Perfect active third personal of πιπτω piptō for usual πεπτωκασι peptōkasi Some MSS. read πεπωκαν pepōkan (have drunk), from πινω pinō like the metaphor in Revelation 14:8, Revelation 14:10; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 17:2. See Revelation 17:2 for the same charge about the kings of the earth.The merchants of the earth (οι εμποροι της γης hoi emporoi tēs gēs). Old word for one on a journey for trade (from εν πορος enεμποριον poros), like drummers, in N.T. only Matthew 13:45; Revelation 18:3, Revelation 18:11, Revelation 18:15, Revelation 18:23. Like εμπορευομαι emporion (John 2:16) and επλουτησαν emporeuomai (James 4:13).Waxed rich First ingressive aorist active indicative of του στρηνους αυτης plouteō to be rich (cf. Revelation 3:17). Here alone in the N.T. do we catch a glimpse of the vast traffic between east and west that made Rome rich.Of her wantonness (στρηνιαω tou strēnous autēs). Late word for arrogance, luxury, here alone in N.T. See strēniaō in Revelation 18:7, Revelation 18:9, to live wantonly. [source]