KJV: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
YLT: and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang forth, through not having depth of earth,
Darby: and others fell upon the rocky places where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up out of the ground because of not having any depth of earth,
ASV: and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth:
| Ἄλλα | Other |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Plural Root: ἄλλος Sense: another, other. |
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| δὲ | now |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: δέ Sense: but, moreover, and, etc. |
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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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| ἐπὶ | upon |
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Parse: Preposition Root: ἐπί Sense: upon, on, at, by, before. |
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| πετρώδη | rocky places |
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Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Plural Root: πετρώδης Sense: rocky, stony. |
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| ὅπου | where |
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Parse: Adverb Root: ὅπου Sense: where, whereas. |
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| εἶχεν | it had |
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Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἔχω Sense: to have, i.e. to hold. |
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| γῆν | soil |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: γῆ Sense: arable land. |
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| πολλήν | much |
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Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: πολύς Sense: many, much, large. |
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| εὐθέως | immediately |
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Parse: Adverb Root: εὐθέως Sense: straightway, immediately, forthwith. |
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| ἐξανέτειλεν | it sprang up |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἐκβλαστάνω Sense: to make spring up, cause to shoot forth. |
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| διὰ | through |
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Parse: Preposition Root: διά Sense: through. |
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| τὸ | - |
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Parse: Article, Accusative Neuter Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| βάθος | depth |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular Root: βάθος Sense: depth, height. |
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| γῆς | of soil |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: γῆ Sense: arable land. |
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Greek Commentary for Matthew 13:5
In that limestone country ledges of rock often jut out with thin layers of soil upon the layers of rock. [source]
“Shot up at once” (Moffatt). Double compound Ingressive aorist of εχανατελλω exanatellō f0). [source]
Not ground covered with loose stones, but a hard, rocky surface, covered with a thin layer of soil. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 13:5
In five instances (Matthew 7:28; Matthew 11:1; Matthew 13:53; Matthew 19:1; Matthew 26:1) after great discourses by Jesus “the transition to what follows is made with the formula, ‹And it came to pass when Jesus had ended‘”(McNeile). This is a wrong chapter division, for Matthew 11:1 belongs with the preceding section. [source]
Not “sprang up” as in Matthew 13:5, for a different verb occurs meaning “came up” out of the ground, the seeds of the thorns being already in the soil, “upon the thorns” (επι τας ακαντας epi tas akanthas) rather than “among the thorns.” But the thorns got a quick start as weeds somehow do and “choked them” (απεπνιχαν αυτα apepnixan auta effective aorist of αποπνιγω apopnigō), “choked them off” literally. Luke (Luke 8:33) uses it of the hogs in the water. Who has not seen vegetables and flowers and corn made yellow by thorns and weeds till they sicken and die? [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]
Literally, to lift up, change something to another place. Transitive in the lxx and in a Cilician rock inscription. Intransitive in Matthew 13:53 and here, the only N.T. instances. Absence of οτι hoti or και kai after και εγενετο kai egeneto one of the clear Hebraisms in the N.T. (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 1042f.). This verse is a sort of formula in Matthew at the close of important groups of λογια logia as in Matthew 7:28; Matthew 11:1; Matthew 13:53. [source]
Wyc. has worship. Compare his rendering of Matthew 6:2, “That they be worshipped of men;” Matthew 13:57, “A prophet is not without worship but in his own country;” and especially John 12:26, “If any man serve me, my Father shall worship him.” [source]
Once before the people of Nazareth had driven Jesus out of the city (Luke 4:16-31). Soon they will do it again on his return there (Mark 6:1-6; Matthew 13:54-58). Here in Decapolis pagan influence was strong and the owners of the hogs cared more for the loss of their property than for the healing of the wild demoniac. In the clash between business and spiritual welfare business came first with them as often today. All three Gospels tell of the request for Jesus to leave. They feared the power of Jesus and wanted no further interference with their business affairs. [source]
So Matthew 13:54. There is no real reason for identifying this visit to Nazareth with that recorded in Luke 4:26-31 at the beginning of the Galilean Ministry. He was rejected both times, but it is not incongruous that Jesus should give Nazareth a second chance. It was only natural for Jesus to visit his mother, brothers, and sisters again. Neither Mark nor Matthew mention Nazareth here by name, but it is plain that by πατριδα patrida the region of Nazareth is meant. He had not lived in Bethlehem since his birth. [source]
Matthew 13:55 calls him “the carpenter‘s son” He was both. Evidently since Joseph‘s death he had carried on the business and was “the carpenter” of Nazareth. The word τεκτων tektōn comes from τεκειν τικτω tekein τεχνη tiktō to beget, create, like τεκτων technē (craft, art). It is a very old word, from Homer down. It was originally applied to the worker in wood or builder with wood like our carpenter. Then it was used of any artisan or craftsman in metal, or in stone as well as in wood and even of sculpture. It is certain that Jesus worked in wood. Justin Martyr speaks of ploughs, yokes, et cetera, made by Jesus. He may also have worked in stone and may even have helped build some of the stone synagogues in Galilee like that in Capernaum. But in Nazareth the people knew him, his family (no mention of Joseph), and his trade and discounted all that they now saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. This word carpenter “throws the only flash which falls on the continuous tenor of the first thirty years from infancy to manhood, of the life of Christ” (Farrar). That is an exaggeration for we have Luke 2:41-50 and “as his custom was” (Luke 4:16), to go no further. But we are grateful for Mark‘s realistic use of και εσκανδαλιζοντο εν αυτωι tektōn here. [source]
So exactly Matthew 13:56, were made to stumble in him, trapped like game by the πετρα σκανδαλου skandalon because they could not explain him, having been so recently one of them. “The Nazarenes found their stumbling block in the person or circumstances of Jesus. He became - προπητης petra skandalou (1 Peter 2:7, 1 Peter 2:8; Romans 9:33) to those who disbelieved” (Swete). Both Mark and Matthew 13:57, which see, preserve the retort of Jesus with the quotation of the current proverb about a prophet‘s lack of honour in his own country. John 4:44 quoted it from Jesus on his return to Galilee long before this. It is to be noted that Jesus here makes a definite claim to being a prophet They stumble at Jesus today as the townspeople of Nazareth did.In his own house (en tēi oikiāi autou). Also in Matthew 13:57. This was the saddest part of it all, that his own brothers in his own home disbelieved his Messianic claims (John 7:5). This puzzle was the greatest of all. [source]
, trapped like game by the πετρα σκανδαλου skandalon because they could not explain him, having been so recently one of them. “The Nazarenes found their stumbling block in the person or circumstances of Jesus. He became - προπητης petra skandalou (1 Peter 2:7, 1 Peter 2:8; Romans 9:33) to those who disbelieved” (Swete). Both Mark and Matthew 13:57, which see, preserve the retort of Jesus with the quotation of the current proverb about a prophet‘s lack of honour in his own country. John 4:44 quoted it from Jesus on his return to Galilee long before this. It is to be noted that Jesus here makes a definite claim to being a prophet They stumble at Jesus today as the townspeople of Nazareth did.In his own house (en tēi oikiāi autou). Also in Matthew 13:57. This was the saddest part of it all, that his own brothers in his own home disbelieved his Messianic claims (John 7:5). This puzzle was the greatest of all. [source]
Also in Matthew 13:57. This was the saddest part of it all, that his own brothers in his own home disbelieved his Messianic claims (John 7:5). This puzzle was the greatest of all. [source]
After all this rebuke and explanation. The greatest of all teachers had the greatest of all classes, but he struck a snag here. Matthew 16:12 gives the result: “Then they understood how that he bade them not beware of the loaves of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They had once said that they understood the parables of Jesus (Matthew 13:51). But that was a long time ago. The teacher must have patience if his pupils are to understand. [source]
Periphrastic imperfect passive. He continued subject unto them, this wondrous boy who really knew more than parents and rabbis, this gentle, obedient, affectionate boy. The next eighteen years at Nazareth (Luke 3:23) he remained growing into manhood and becoming the carpenter of Nazareth (Mark 6:3) in succession to Joseph (Matthew 13:55) who is mentioned here for the last time. Who can tell the wistful days when Jesus waited at Nazareth for the Father to call him to his Messianic task? [source]
Past perfect passive periphrastic indicative, a state of completion in past time, from τρεπω trephō a common Greek verb. This visit is before that recorded in Mark 6:1-6; Matthew 13:54-58 which was just before the third tour of Galilee. Here Jesus comes back after a year of public ministry elsewhere and with a wide reputation (Luke 4:15). Luke may have in mind Luke 2:51, but for some time now Nazareth had not been his home and that fact may be implied by the past perfect tense. [source]
Also in Luke 1:13. The interjection of these words here by Luke may indicate a break in his address, though there is no other indication of an interval here. Perhaps they only serve to introduce solemnly the new proverb like the words Verily I say unto you This proverb about the prophet having no honour in his own country Jesus had already applied to himself according to John 4:44. Both Mark 6:4 and Matthew 13:57 give it in a slightly altered form on the last visit of Jesus to Nazareth. The devil had tempted Jesus to make a display of his power to the people by letting them see him floating down from the pinnacle of the temple (Luke 4:9-11). [source]
Imperfect active also, perhaps inchoative also. They began to marvel as he proceeded with his address. This verb is an old one and common in the Gospels for the attitude of the people towards Jesus.At the words of grace (επι τοις λογοις της χαριτος epi tois logois tēs charitos). See note on Luke 1:30; and the note on Luke 2:52 for this wonderful word charis so full of meaning and so often in the N.T. The genitive case (case of genus or kind) here means that the words that came out of the mouth of Jesus in a steady stream (present tense, ekporeuomenois) were marked by fascination and charm. They were “winning words” as the context makes plain, though they were also “gracious” in the Pauline sense of “grace.” There is no necessary antithesis in the ideas of graceful and gracious in these words of Jesus.Is not this Joseph‘s son? Witness and wonder gave way to bewilderment as they began to explain to themselves the situation. The use of εκπορευομενοις ouchi intensive form of Ουχι υιος εστιν Ιωσηπ ουτοσ ouk in a question expects the answer “yes.” Jesus passed in Nazareth as the son of Joseph as Luke presents him in Luke 3:23. He does not stop here to correct this misconception because the truth has been already amply presented in Luke 1:28-38; Luke 2:49. This popular conception of Jesus as the son of Joseph appears also in John 1:45. The puzzle of the people was due to their previous knowledge of Jesus as the carpenter (Mark 6:3; the carpenter‘s son, Matthew 13:55). For him now to appear as the Messiah in Nazareth where he had lived and laboured as the carpenter was a phenomenon impossible to credit on sober reflection. So the mood of wonder and praise quickly turned with whispers and nods and even scowls to doubt and hostility, a rapid and radical transformation of emotion in the audience. [source]
Mark 4:5 “the rocky ground” (επι το πετρωδες epi to petrōdes), Matthew 13:5 “the rocky places. [source]
Witness and wonder gave way to bewilderment as they began to explain to themselves the situation. The use of εκπορευομενοις ouchi intensive form of Ουχι υιος εστιν Ιωσηπ ουτοσ ouk in a question expects the answer “yes.” Jesus passed in Nazareth as the son of Joseph as Luke presents him in Luke 3:23. He does not stop here to correct this misconception because the truth has been already amply presented in Luke 1:28-38; Luke 2:49. This popular conception of Jesus as the son of Joseph appears also in John 1:45. The puzzle of the people was due to their previous knowledge of Jesus as the carpenter (Mark 6:3; the carpenter‘s son, Matthew 13:55). For him now to appear as the Messiah in Nazareth where he had lived and laboured as the carpenter was a phenomenon impossible to credit on sober reflection. So the mood of wonder and praise quickly turned with whispers and nods and even scowls to doubt and hostility, a rapid and radical transformation of emotion in the audience. [source]
The compound pronoun ὅστις , which, is used explicatively, according to a familiar New Testament usage, instead of the simple relative. The sense is, seeing that he is dead. The compound relative properly indicates the class or kind to which an object belongs. Art thou greater than Abraham, who is himself one of the dead? So Colossians 3:5. “Mortify covetousness, seeing it is ( ἥτις ἐστὶν ) idolatry.” See on Matthew 13:52; see on Matthew 21:41; see on Mark 12:18; see on Luke 12:1; see on Acts 7:53; see on Acts 10:41; see on 1 Peter 2:11. [source]
For assigns the reason why Jesus went into Galilee. By His own country, Judaea seems to be meant, though almost the same phrase, His country, is used by the three Synoptists of Nazareth in Galilee. John's Gospel, however, deals with the Judaean rather than with the Galilean ministry of Jesus, and the phrase, His own country, is appropriate to Judaea as “the true home and fatherland of the prophets, the land which contained the city of Messiah's birth, the city associated with Him alike in ancient prophecy and in popular expectation.” Hence, at Jerusalem, the people said, “Hath not the Scriptures said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was” (John 7:42)? In John 4:1-3it is stated that Jesus left Judaea because of a controversy excited by the Pharisees, whom John always marks as the leaders of the opposition to Jesus. Further, we are told that at Jerusalem, though many believed on His name, yet Jesus did not trust them (John 2:23, John 2:24). According to this explanation, γὰρ , for is used in its natural and most obvious sense as assigning the reason for Christ's departure into Galilee. The proverb is naturally suggested by the reference to Galilee, where Jesus had used it at Nazareth (see Matthew 13:57). The ὅτε οὖν whenthen (then indicating logical sequence and not time) of John 4:45follows naturally upon the citation of the proverb, signifying a correspondence between the character of His reception in Galilee and the motive of His going thither. Finally, if we understand by His own country, Nazareth, we are compelled to explain γὰρ , for, from John 4:46; Jesus went to Cana (north of Nazareth) without passing through His native place, for the reason mentioned. This seems forced and arbitrary. [source]
Literally, “be out of;” a characteristic expression of John. See John 3:31; John 4:22; John 7:17, John 7:22; John 8:23; John 15:19; John 18:36, John 18:38, etc. It means more than to come out of: rather to come out of as that which is of; to be identified with something so as to come forth bearing its impress, moral or otherwise. See especially John 3:31: “He that is of the earth is of the earth;” i.e., partakes of its quality. Compare Christ's words to Nicodemus (John 3:6), and 1 Corinthians 15:47. In the Greek order, out of Nazareth stands first in the sentence as expressing the prominent thought in Nathanael's mind, surprise that Jesus should have come from Nazareth, a poor village, even the name of which does not occur in the Old Testament. Contrary to the popular explanation, there is no evidence that Nazareth was worse than other places, beyond the fact of the violence offered to Jesus by its people (Luke 4:28, Luke 4:29), and their obstinate unbelief in Him (Matthew 13:58; Mark 6:6). It was a proverb, however, that no prophet was to come from Galilee (John 7:52). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Anglo-Saxon vers., mid Gode. Wyc., at God. With ( πρός ) does not convey the full meaning, that there is no single English word which will give it better. The preposition πρός , which, with the accusative case, denotes motion towards, or direction, is also often used in the New Testament in the sense of with; and that not merely as being near or beside, but as a living union and communion; implying the active notion of intercourse. Thus: “Are not his sisters here with us ” ( πρὸς ἡμᾶς ), i.e., in social relations with us (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:56). “How long shall I be with you ” ( πρὸς ὑμᾶς , Mark 9:16). “I sat daily with you ” (Matthew 26:55). “To be present with the Lord ” ( πρὸς τὸν Κύριον , 2 Corinthians 5:8). “Abide and winter with you ” (1 Corinthians 16:6). “The eternal life which was with the Father ” ( πρὸς τὸν πατέρα , 1 John 1:2). Thus John's statement is that the divine Word not only abode with the Father from all eternity, but was in the living, active relation of communion with Him. [source]
Logos. This expression is the keynote and theme of the entire gospel. Λόγος is from the root λεγ , appearing in λέγω , the primitive meaning of which is to lay: then, to pick out, gather, pick up: hence to gather or put words together, and so, to speak. Hence λόγος is, first of all, a collecting or collection both of things in the mind, and of words by which they are expressed. It therefore signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself, the Latin oratio and ratio: compare the Italian ragionare, “to think” and “to speak.” As signifying the outward form it is never used in the merely grammatical sense, as simply the name of a thing or act ( ἔπος, ὄνομα, ῥῆμα ), but means a word as the thing referred to: the material, not the formal part: a word as embodying a conception or idea. See, for instance, Matthew 22:46; 1 Corinthians 14:9, 1 Corinthians 14:19. Hence it signifies a saying, of God, or of man (Matthew 19:21, Matthew 19:22; Mark 5:35, Mark 5:36): a decree, a precept (Romans 9:28; Mark 7:13). The ten commandments are called in the Septuagint, οἱ δέκα λόγοι , “the ten words ” (Exodus 34:28), and hence the familiar term decalogue. It is further used of discourse: either of the act of speaking (Acts 14:12), of skill and practice in speaking (Acts 18:15; 2 Timothy 4:15), specifically the doctrine of salvation through Christ (Matthew 13:20-23; Philemon 1:14); of narrative, both the relation and the thing related (Acts 1:1; John 21:23; Mark 1:45); of matter under discussion, an affair, a case in law (Acts 15:6; Acts 19:38). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- As signifying the inward thought, it denotes the faculty of thinking and reasoning (Hebrews 4:12); regard or consideration (Acts 20:24); reckoning, account (Philemon 4:15, Philemon 4:17; Hebrews 4:13); cause or reason (Acts 10:29). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- John uses the word in a peculiar sense, here, and in John 1:14; and, in this sense, in these two passages only. The nearest approach to it is in Revelation 19:13, where the conqueror is called the Word of God; and it is recalled in the phrases Word of Life, and the Life was manifested (1 John 1:1, 1 John 1:2). Compare Hebrews 4:12. It was a familiar and current theological term when John wrote, and therefore he uses it without explanation. Old Testament Usage of the TermThe word here points directly to Psalm href="/desk/?q=ps+33:6&sr=1">Psalm 33:6). The idea of God, who is in his own nature hidden, revealing himself in creation, is the root of the Logos-idea, in contrast with all materialistic or pantheistic conceptions of creation. This idea develops itself in the Old Testament on three lines. (1) The Word, as embodying the divine will, is personified in Hebrew poetry. Consequently divine attributes are predicated of it as being the continuous revelation of God in law and prophecy (Psalm 3:4; Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 119:105). The Word is a healer in Psalm 107:20; a messenger in Psalm 147:15; the agent of the divine decrees in Isaiah 55:11. (2) The personified wisdom (Job 28:12sq.; Job 28). Even Death, which unlocks so many secrets, and the underworld, know it only as a rumor (Job href="/desk/?q=job+28:22&sr=1">Job 28:22). It is only God who knows its way and its place (Job 28:23). He made the world, made the winds and the waters, made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder (Job 28:25, Job 28:26). He who possessed wisdom in the beginning of his way, before His works of old, before the earth with its depths and springs and mountains, with whom was wisdom as one brought up with Him (Proverbs 8:26-31), declared it. “It became, as it were, objective, so that He beheld it” (Job 28:27) and embodied it in His creative work. This personification, therefore, is based on the thought that wisdom is not shut up at rest in God, but is active and manifest in the world. “She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors” (Proverbs 8:2, Proverbs 8:3). She builds a palace and prepares a banquet, and issues a general invitation to the simple and to him that wanteth understanding (Proverbs 9:1-6). It is viewed as the one guide to salvation, comprehending all revelations of God, and as an attribute embracing and combining all His other attributes. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- (3) The Angel of Jehovah. The messenger of God who serves as His agent in the world of sense, and is sometimes distinguished from Jehovah and sometimes identical with him (Genesis 16:7-13; Genesis 32:24-28; Hosea 12:4, Hosea 12:5; Exodus 23:20, Exodus 23:21; Malachi 3:1). Apocryphal UsageIn the Apocryphal writings this mediative element is more distinctly apprehended, but with a tendency to pantheism. In the Wisdom of Solomon (at least 100 b.c.), where wisdom seems to be viewed as another name for the whole divine nature, while nowhere connected with the Messiah, it is described as a being of light, proceeding essentially from God; a true image of God, co-occupant of the divine throne; a real and independent principle, revealing God in the world and mediating between it and Him, after having created it as his organ - in association with a spirit which is called μονογενές , only begotten (7:22). “She is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty; therefore can no defiled thing fall into her. For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness” (see chapter 7, throughout). Again: “Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily, and sweetly doth she order all things. In that she is conversant with God, she magnifieth her nobility: yea, the Lord of all things Himself loved her. For she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and a lover of His works. Moreover, by the means of her I shall obtain immortality, and leave behind me an everlasting memorial to them that come after me” (chapter 9). In 16:12, it is said, “Thy word, O Lord, healeth all things” (compare Psalm 107:20); and in 18:15,16, “Thine almighty word leaped from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction, and brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and, standing up, filled all things with death; and it touched the heaven, but it stood upon the earth.” See also Wisdom of Sirach, chapters 1,24, and Genesis href="/desk/?q=ge+39:21&sr=1">Genesis 39:21, they paraphrase, “The Memra was with Joseph in prison.” In Psalm 110:1-7Jehovah addresses the first verse to the Memra. The Memra is the angel that destroyed the first-born of Egypt, and it was the Memra that led the Israelites in the cloudy pillar. Usage in the Judaeo-Alexandrine PhilosophyFrom the time of Ptolemy I: (323-285 b.c.), there were Jews in great numbers in Egypt. Philo (a.d. 50) estimates them at a million in his time. Alexandria was their headquarters. They had their own senate and magistrates, and possessed the same privileges as the Greeks. The Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (b.c. 280-150) was the beginning of a literary movement among them, the key-note of which was the reconciliation of Western culture and Judaism, the establishment of a connection between the Old Testament faith and the Greek philosophy. Hence they interpreted the facts of sacred history allegorically, and made them symbols of certain speculative principles, alleging that the Greek philosophers had borrowed their wisdom from Moses. Aristobulus (about 150 b.c.) asserted the existence of a previous and much older translation of the law, and dedicated to Ptolemy VI an allegorical exposition of the Pentateuch, in which he tried to show that the doctrines of the Peripatetic or Aristotelian school were derived from the Old Testament. Most of the schools of Greek philosophy were represented among the Alexandrian Jews, but the favorite one was the Platonic. The effort at reconciliation culminated in Philo, a contemporary of Christ. Philo was intimately acquainted with the Platonic philosophy, and made it the fundamental feature of his own doctrines, while availing himself likewise of ideas belonging to the Peripatetic and Stoic schools. Unable to discern the difference in the points of view from which these different doctrines severally proceeded, he jumbled together not merely discordant doctrines of the Greek schools, but also those of the East, regarding the wisdom of the Greeks as having originated in the legislation and writings of Moses. He gathered together from East and West every element that could help to shape his conception of a vicegerent of God, “a mediator between the eternal and the ephemeral. His Logos reflects light from countless facets.” According to Philo, God is the absolute Being. He calls God “that which is:” “the One and the All.” God alone exists for himself, without multiplicity and without mixture. No name can properly be ascribed to Him: He simply is. Hence, in His nature, He is unknowable. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Outside of God there exists eternal matter, without form and void, and essentially evil; but the perfect Being could not come into direct contact with the senseless and corruptible; so that the world could not have been created by His direct agency. Hence the doctrine of a mediating principle between God and matter - the divine Reason, the Logos in whom are comprised all the ideas of finite things, and who created the sensible world by causing these ideas to penetrate into matter. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The absolute God is surrounded by his powers ( δυνάμεις ) as a king by his servants. These powers are, in Platonic language, ideas; in Jewish, angels; but all are essentially one, and their unity, as they exist in God, as they emanate from him, as they are disseminated in the world, is expressed by Logos Hence the Logos appears under a twofold aspect: (1) As the immanent reason of God, containing within itself the world-ideal, which, while not outwardly existing, is like the immanent reason in man. This is styled Λόγος ἐνδιάθετος , i.e., the Logos conceived and residing in the mind. This was the aspect emphasized by the Alexandrians, and which tended to the recognition of a twofold personality in the divine essence. (2) As the outspoken word, proceeding from God and manifest in the world. This, when it has issued from God in creating the world, is the Λόγος προφορικός , i.e., the Logos uttered, even as in man the spoken word is the manifestation of thought. This aspect prevailed in Palestine, where the Word appears like the angel of the Pentateuch, as the medium of the outward communication of God with men, and tends toward the recognition of a divine person subordinate to God. Under the former aspect, the Logos is, really, one with God's hidden being: the latter comprehends all the workings and revelations of God in the world; affords from itself the ideas and energies by which the world was framed and is upheld; and, filling all things with divine light and life, rules them in wisdom, love, and righteousness. It is the beginning of creation, not inaugurated, like God, nor made, like the world; but the eldest son of the eternal Father (the world being the younger); God's image; the mediator between God and the world; the highest angel; the second God. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Philo's conception of the Logos, therefore, is: the sum-total and free exercise of the divine energies; so that God, so far as he reveals himself, is called Logos; while the Logos, so far as he reveals God, is called God. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- John's doctrine and terms are colored by these preceding influences. During his residence at Ephesus he must have become familiar with the forms and terms of the Alexandrian theology. Nor is it improbable that he used the term Logos with an intent to facilitate the passage from the current theories of his time to the pure gospel which he proclaimed. “To those Hellenists and Hellenistic Jews, on the one hand, who were vainly philosophizing on the relations of the finite and infinite; to those investigators of the letter of the Scriptures, on the other, who speculated about the theocratic revelations, John said, by giving this name Logos to Jesus: 'The unknown Mediator between God and the world, the knowledge of whom you are striving after, we have seen, heard, and touched. Your philosophical speculations and your scriptural subtleties will never raise you to Him. Believe as we do in Jesus, and you will possess in Him that divine Revealer who engages your thoughts'” (Godet). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- But John's doctrine is not Philo's, and does not depend upon it. The differences between the two are pronounced. Though both use the term Logos, they use it with utterly different meanings. In John it signifies word, as in Holy Scripture generally; in Philo, reason; and that so distinctly that when Philo wishes to give it the meaning of word, he adds to it by way of explanation, the term ῥῆμα , word. The nature of the being described by Logos is conceived by each in an entirely different spirit. John's Logos is a person, with a consciousness of personal distinction; Philo's is impersonal. His notion is indeterminate and fluctuating, shaped by the influence which happens to be operating at the time. Under the influence of Jewish documents he styles the Logos an “archangel;” under the influence of Plato, “the Idea of Ideas;” of the Stoics, “the impersonal Reason.” It is doubtful whether Philo ever meant to represent the Logos formally as a person. All the titles he gives it may be explained by supposing it to mean the ideal world on which the actual is modeled. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In Philo, moreover, the function of the Logos is confined to the creation and preservation of the universe. He does not identify or connect him with the Messiah. His doctrine was, to a great degree, a philosophical substitute for Messianic hopes. He may have conceived of the Word as acting through the Messiah, but not as one with him. He is a universal principle. In John the Messiah is the Logos himself, uniting himself with humanity, and clothing himself with a body in order to save the world. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The two notions differ as to origin. The impersonal God of Philo cannot pass to the finite creation without contamination of his divine essence. Hence an inferior agent must be interposed. John's God, on the other hand, is personal, and a loving personality. He is a Father (John 1:18); His essence is love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16). He is in direct relation with the world which He desires to save, and the Logos is He Himself, manifest in the flesh. According to Philo, the Logos is not coexistent with the eternal God. Eternal matter is before him in time. According to John, the Logos is essentially with the Father from all eternity (John 1:2), and it is He who creates all things, matter included (John 1:3). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Philo misses the moral energy of the Hebrew religion as expressed in its emphasis upon the holiness of Jehovah, and therefore fails to perceive the necessity of a divine teacher and Savior. He forgets the wide distinction between God and the world, and declares that, were the universe to end, God would die of loneliness and inactivity. The Meaning of Logos in JohnAs Logos has the double meaning of thought and speech, so Christ is related to God as the word to the idea, the word being not merely a name for the idea, but the idea itself expressed. The thought is the inward word (Dr. Schaff compares the Hebrew expression “I speak in my heart” for “I think”). The Logos of John is the real, personal God (John 1:1), the Word, who was originally before the creation with God. and was God, one in essence and nature, yet personally distinct (John 1:1, John 1:18); the revealer and interpreter of the hidden being of God; the reflection and visible image of God, and the organ of all His manifestations to the world. Compare Hebrews 1:3. He made all things, proceeding personally from God for the accomplishment of the act of creation (Hebrews 1:3), and became man in the person of Jesus Christ, accomplishing the redemption of the world. Compare Philemon 2:6. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The following is from William Austin, “Meditation for Christmas Day,” cited by Ford on John:-DIVIDER- “The name Word is most excellently given to our Savior; for it expresses His nature in one, more than in any others. Therefore St. John, when he names the Person in the Trinity (1 John 5:7), chooses rather to call Him Word than Son; for word is a phrase more communicable than son. Son hath only reference to the Father that begot Him; but word may refer to him that conceives it; to him that speaks it; to that which is spoken by it; to the voice that it is clad in; and to the effects it raises in him that hears it. So Christ, as He is the Word, not only refers to His Father that begot Him, and from whom He comes forth, but to all the creatures that were made by Him; to the flesh that He took to clothe Him; and to the doctrine He brought and taught, and, which lives yet in the hearts of all them that obediently do hear it. He it is that is this Word; and any other, prophet or preacher, he is but a voice (Luke 3:4). Word is an inward conception of the mind; and voice is but a sign of intention. St. John was but a sign, a voice; not worthy to untie the shoe-latchet of this Word. Christ is the inner conception 'in the bosom of His Father;' and that is properly the Word. And yet the Word is the intention uttered forth, as well as conceived within; for Christ was no less the Word in the womb of the Virgin, or in the cradle of the manger, or on the altar of the cross, than he was in the beginning, 'in the bosom of his Father.' For as the intention departs not from the mind when the word is uttered, so Christ, proceeding from the Father by eternal generation, and after here by birth and incarnation, remains still in Him and with Him in essence; as the intention, which is conceived and born in the mind, remains still with it and in it, though the word be spoken. He is therefore rightly called the Word, both by His coming from, and yet remaining still in, the Father.”And the WordA repetition of the great subject, with solemn emphasis.Was with God ( ἦν πὸς τὸν Θεὸν )Anglo-Saxon vers., mid Gode. Wyc., at God. With ( πρός ) does not convey the full meaning, that there is no single English word which will give it better. The preposition πρός , which, with the accusative case, denotes motion towards, or direction, is also often used in the New Testament in the sense of with; and that not merely as being near or beside, but as a living union and communion; implying the active notion of intercourse. Thus: “Are not his sisters here with us ” ( πρὸς ἡμᾶς ), i.e., in social relations with us (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:56). “How long shall I be with you ” ( πρὸς ὑμᾶς , Mark 9:16). “I sat daily with you ” (Matthew 26:55). “To be present with the Lord ” ( πρὸς τὸν Κύριον , 2 Corinthians 5:8). “Abide and winter with you ” (1 Corinthians 16:6). “The eternal life which was with the Father ” ( πρὸς τὸν πατέρα , 1 John 1:2). Thus John's statement is that the divine Word not only abode with the Father from all eternity, but was in the living, active relation of communion with Him.And the Word was God ( καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος )In the Greek order, and God was the Word, which is followed by Anglo-Saxon, Wyc., and Tynd. But θεὸς , God, is the predicate and not the subject of the proposition. The subject must be the Word; for John is not trying to show who is God, but who is the Word. Notice that Θεὸς is without the article, which could not have been omitted if he had meant to designate the word as God; because, in that event, Θεὸς would have been ambiguous; perhaps a God. Moreover, if he had said God was the Word, he would have contradicted his previous statement by which he had distinguished (hypostatically) God from the word, and λόγος (Logos) would, further, have signified only an attribute of God. The predicate is emphatically placed in the proposition before the subject, because of the progress of the thought; this being the third and highest statement respecting the Word - the climax of the two preceding propositions. The word God, used attributively, maintains the personal distinction between God and the Word, but makes the unity of essence and nature to follow the distinction of person, and ascribes to the Word all the attributes of the divine essence. “There is something majestic in the way in which the description of the Logos, in the three brief but great propositions of John 1:1, is unfolded with increasing fullness” (Meyer). [source]
Literally, “For not even were his brothers believing on him.” Imperfect tense of πιστευω pisteuō with sad picture of the persistent refusal of the brothers of Jesus to believe in his Messianic assumptions, after the two rejections in Capernaum (Luke 4:16-31; Mark 6:1-6; Matthew 13:54-58), and also after the blasphemous accusation of being in league with Beelzebub when the mother and brothers came to take Jesus home (Mark 3:31-35; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21). The brothers here are sarcastic. [source]
Neuter plural, “unto his own things,” the very idiom used in John 19:27 when the Beloved Disciple took the mother of Jesus “to his own home.” The world was “the own home” of the Logos who had made it. See also John 16:32; Acts 21:6. They that were his own In the narrower sense, “his intimates,” “his own family,” “his own friends” as in John 13:1. Jesus later said that a prophet is not without honour save in his own country (Mark 6:4; John 4:44), and the town of Nazareth where he lived rejected him (Luke 4:28.; Matthew 13:58). Probably here οι ιδιοι hoi idioi means the Jewish people, the chosen people to whom Christ was sent first (Matthew 15:24), but in a wider sense the whole world is included in οι ιδιοι hoi idioi Conder‘s The Hebrew Tragedy emphasizes the pathos of the situation that the house of Israel refused to welcome the Messiah when he did come, like a larger and sadder Enoch Arden experience. Received him not Second aorist active indicative of παραλαμβανω paralambanō old verb to take to one‘s side, common verb to welcome, the very verb used by Jesus in John 14:3 of the welcome to his Father‘s house. Cf. κατελαβεν katelaben in John 1:5. Israel slew the Heir (Hebrews 1:2) when he came, like the wicked husbandmen (Luke 20:14). [source]
John‘s explanation of the conduct of Jesus by quoting a proverb often used by Jesus (Mark 6:4; Matthew 13:57; Luke 4:24 in reference to Nazareth), but not necessarily used by Jesus on this occasion. A similar proverb has been found in Plutarch, Pliny, Seneca. A prophet hath no honour in his own country What is meant by πατριδι patridi In the Synoptics (Luke 4:24; Mark 6:4; Matthew 13:57) the reference is to Nazareth where he was twice rejected. But what has John in mind in quoting it here? He probably knew the quotations in the Synoptics. Does John refer to Judea by “his own country”? If so, the application hardly fits for he had already explained that Jesus was leaving Judea because he was too popular there (John 4:1-3). If he means Galilee, he immediately mentions the cordial welcome accorded Jesus there (John 4:45). But even so this is probably John‘s meaning for he is speaking of the motive of Jesus in going into Galilee where he had not yet laboured and where he apparently had no such fame as in Judea and now in Samaria. [source]
More correctly, made disciples of, as Rev. See on Matthew 13:52. [source]
Paul does not shirk his share in the work at Corinth with all the sad outcome there. He absolves Apollos from responsibility for the divisions. He denies that he himself is to blame. In doing so he has to praise himself because the Judaizers who fomented the trouble at Corinth had directly blamed Paul. It is not always wise for a preacher to defend himself against attack, but it is sometimes necessary. Factions in the church were now a fact and Paul went to the bottom of the matter. God gave Paul the grace to do what he did. This is the only New Testament example of the old and common word αρχιτεκτων architektōn our architect. Τεκτων Tektōn is from τικτω tiktō to beget, and means a begetter, then a worker in wood or stone, a carpenter or mason (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Αρχι Archi̇ is an old inseparable prefix like αρχαγγελος archaggelos (archangel), αρχεπισχοπος archepiscopos (archbishop), αρχιερευς archiereus (chiefpriest). Αρχιτεκτων Architektōn occurs in the papyri and inscriptions in an even wider sense than our use of architect, sometimes of the chief engineers. But Paul means to claim primacy as pastor of the church in Corinth as is true of every pastor who is the architect of the whole church life and work. All the workmen “As a wise architect I laid a foundation” Much depends on the wisdom of the architect in laying the foundation. This is the technical phrase (Luke 6:48; Luke 14:29), a cognate accusative for τεμελιον themelion The substantive τεμελιον themelion is from the same root τε the as ετηκα ethēka We cannot neatly reproduce the idiom in English. “I placed a placing” does only moderately well. Paul refers directly to the events described by Luke in Acts 18:1-18. The aorist ετηκα ethēka is the correct text, not the perfect τετεικα tetheika [source]
The steward or house manager Hence the under-rower They were entrusted with the knowledge of some of God‘s secrets though the disciples were not such apt pupils as they claimed to be (Matthew 13:51; Matthew 16:8-12). As stewards Paul and other ministers are entrusted with the mysteries (see note on 1 Corinthians 2:7 for this word) of God and are expected to teach them. “The church is the οικος oikos (1 Timothy 3:15), God the οικοδεσποτης oikodespotēs (Matthew 13:52), the members the οικειοι oikeioi (Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19)” (Lightfoot). Paul had a vivid sense of the dignity of this stewardship The ministry is more than a mere profession or trade. It is a calling from God for stewardship. [source]
The Old Testament. Palaios (ancient) in contrast to της παλαιας διατηκης kainos (fresh, 2 Corinthians 3:6). See note on Matthew 13:52. The same veil (Παλαιος to auto kalumma). Not that identical veil, but one that has the same effect, that blinds their eyes to the light in Christ. This is the tragedy of modern Judaism. Unlifted Present passive participle of το αυτο καλυμμα anakaluptō old verb, to draw back the veil, to unveil. Is done away (μη ανακαλυπτομενον katargeitai). Same verb as in 2 Corinthians 3:7, 2 Corinthians 3:11. [source]
Πρὸς combines with the sense of direction that of active relation with. Comp. Matthew 13:56; Mark 9:16; John 1:1; Acts 3:25; Acts 28:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; Hebrews 9:20. Frequently in Class. of all kinds of personal intercourse. See Hom. Od. xiv. 331; xix. 288; Thucyd. ii. 59; iv. 15; vii. 82; Hdt. i. 61. Ὁικεῖοι ofthe household, rare in N.T. See Ephesians 2:19; 1 Timothy 5:8. Quite often in lxx of kinsmen. It is unnecessary to introduce the idea of a household here, as A.V., since the word acquired the general sense of pertaining or belonging to. Thus οἰκεῖοι φιλοσοφίας or γεωγραφίας belongingto philosophy or geography, philosophers, geographers. So here, belonging to the faith, believers. [source]
Here Paul brings in another metaphor (mixes his metaphors as he often does), that of the old life of sin regarded as “the ancient man” of sin already crucified (Romans 6:6) and dropped now once and for all as a mode of life (aorist tense). See same figure in Ephesians 4:22. Παλαιος Palaios is ancient in contrast with νεος neos (young, new) as in Matthew 9:17 or καινος kainos (fresh, unused) as in Matthew 13:52. [source]
First aorist middle participle (causal sense of the circumstantial participle) of the double compound verb απεκδυομαι apekduomai for which see note on Colossians 2:15. The απο apo has the perfective sense (wholly), “having stripped clean off.” The same metaphor as αποτεστε apothesthe in Colossians 3:8. The old man (τον παλαιον αντρωπον ton palaion anthrōpon). Here Paul brings in another metaphor (mixes his metaphors as he often does), that of the old life of sin regarded as “the ancient man” of sin already crucified (Romans 6:6) and dropped now once and for all as a mode of life (aorist tense). See same figure in Ephesians 4:22. Παλαιος Palaios is ancient in contrast with νεος neos (young, new) as in Matthew 9:17 or καινος kainos (fresh, unused) as in Matthew 13:52. With his doings Practice must square with profession. [source]
The preposition combines with the sense of direction that of relation and intercourse. Comp. Matthew 13:56; Mark 9:16; John 1:1; Acts 3:25; Colossians 4:5; Hebrews 9:20. [source]
Prohibition with μη mē and present passive imperative of παραπερω parapherō old verb to lead along (Judges 1:12), to carry past (Mark 14:36), to lead astray as here. By divers and strange teachings For ποικιλος poikilos (many coloured) see Hebrews 2:4. Χενος Xenos for guest we have had in Hebrews 11:13, but here as adjective meaning unheard of (1 Peter 4:12) as in older Greek also. The new is not always wrong any more than the old is always right (Matthew 13:52). But the air was already full of new and strange teachings that fascinated many by their very novelty. The warning here is always needed. Cf. Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Timothy 3:16. That the heart be established by grace Present passive infinitive of βεβαιοω bebaioō (from βαινω bainō) to make stable with the instrumental case χαριτι chariti (by grace) and the accusative of general reference How true it is that in the atmosphere of so many windy theories only the heart is stable that has an experience of God‘s grace in Christ. That occupied themselves “That walked” in the ritualistic Jewish rules about meats. Were not profited First aorist passive indicative of ωπελεω ōpheleō to help. Mere Jewish ceremonialism and ritualism failed to build up the spiritual life. It was sheer folly to give up Christ for Pharisaism or for Moses. [source]
First aorist active indicative of ατιμαζω atimazō old verb from ατιμος atimos dishonoured (Matthew 13:57). In the act of partiality pictured in James 2:3. [source]
Rev., Judas. One of the brethren of Jesus; not the brother of James the Apostle, the son of Alphaeus, but of James the superintendent of the church at Jerusalem. He is named among the brethren of the Lord. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3. [source]
Compare Genesis 19:28; Exodus 19:18; Matthew 13:42, Matthew 13:50. [source]
The compound relative describes a class. See on Matthew 13:52; see on Matthew 21:41; see on Mark 12:18. [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]
Old word, in N.T. also Revelation 9:2; Matthew 13:42, Matthew 13:50. [source]