Matthew's Gospel heralds the Kingdom. We are allowed to see and listen to the forerunner, whose voice again awoke the hearts of men with prophetic utterance after a silence of four hundred years. He leaps into the arena with the suddenness of Elijah.
His message was twofold-the need for repentance and the announcement of the nearness of the Kingdom; it thrilled his generation with a strange wonder and interest. All of the southern part of the country seemed to empty itself into the Jordan valley. Yes, if a man is not a reed shaken by the wind, not effeminate in court dress, not a copy but an original, who speaks what he sees and knows of God, men will come to Him in every age.
To us also John the Baptist must come, if we shall properly appreciate the Redeemer. We must expose ourselves to the fire, the ax, the winnowing-fan, that we may learn what we really are and come, like Paul, to reckon our own righteousness as loss, if only we may win Christ and be found in Him. [source]
Chapter Summary: Matthew 3
1John preaches: his office, life, and baptism 7He reprimands the Pharisees, 13and baptizes Jesus in Jordan
Greek Commentary for Matthew 3:2
Repent [μετανοειτε] Broadus used to say that this is the worst translation in the New Testament. The trouble is that the English word “repent” means “to be sorry again” from the Latin repoenitet (impersonal). John did not call on the people to be sorry, but to change (think afterwards) their mental attitudes John was a new prophet with the call of the old prophets: “Turn ye” (Joel 2:12; Isaiah 55:7; Ezekiel 33:11,Ezekiel 33:15). [source]
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand [ηγγικεν γαρ η ασιλεια των ουρανων] Note the position of the verb and the present perfect tense. It was a startling word that John thundered over the hills and it re-echoed throughout the land. The Old Testament prophets had said that it would come some day in God‘s own time. John proclaims as the herald of the new day that it has come, has drawn near. How near he does not say, but he evidently means very near, so near that one could see the signs and the proof. The words “the kingdom of heaven” he does not explain. The other Gospels use “the kingdom of God” as Matthew does a few times, but he has “the kingdom of heaven” over thirty times. He means “the reign of God,” not the political or ecclesiastical organization which the Pharisees expected. His words would be understood differently by different groups as is always true of popular preachers. The current Jewish apocalypses had numerous eschatological ideas connected with the kingdom of heaven. It is not clear what sympathy John had with these eschatological features. He employs vivid language at times, but we do not have to confine John‘s intellectual and theological horizon to that of the rabbis of his day. He has been an original student of the Old Testament in his wilderness environment without any necessary contact with the Essenes who dwelt there. His voice is a new one that strikes terror to the perfunctory theologians of the temple and of the synagogue. It is the fashion of some critics to deny to John any conception of the spiritual content of his words, a wholly gratuitous criticism.For this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet (ουτος γαρ εστιν ο ρητεις δια Εσαιου του προπητου houtos gar estin ho rhētheis dia Esaiou tou prophētou). This is Matthew‘s way of interpreting the mission and message of the Baptist. He quotes Isaiah 40:3 where “the prophet refers to the return of Israel from the exile, accompanied by their God” (McNeile). He applies it to the work of John as “a voice crying in the wilderness” for the people to make ready the way of the Lord who is now near. He was only a voice, but what a voice he was. He can be heard yet across the centuries. [source]
For this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet [ουτος γαρ εστιν ο ρητεις δια Εσαιου του προπητου] This is Matthew‘s way of interpreting the mission and message of the Baptist. He quotes Isaiah 40:3 where “the prophet refers to the return of Israel from the exile, accompanied by their God” (McNeile). He applies it to the work of John as “a voice crying in the wilderness” for the people to make ready the way of the Lord who is now near. He was only a voice, but what a voice he was. He can be heard yet across the centuries. [source]
Repent [μετανοεῖτε] A word compounded of the preposition μετά , after, with; and the verb νοέω , to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after. Μετάνοια (repentance ) is therefore, primarily, an after-thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage. Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.” Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word. Paul distinguishes between sorrow ( λύπη ) and repentance ( μετάνοια )and puts the one as the outcome of the other. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance ” (2 Corinthians 7:10). [source]
The kingdom of heaven [] Lit., the kingdom of the heavens ( ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν )An expression peculiar to Matthew. The more usual one is the kingdom of God. It is a kingdom of heaven because its origin, its end, its king, the character and destiny of its subjects, its laws, institutions, and privileges - all are heavenly. In the teaching of Christ and in the apostolic writings the kingdom of the Messiah is the actual consummation of the prophetic idea of the rule of God, without any national limitation, so that participation therein rests only on faith in Jesus Christ, and on the moral renewal which is conditioned by the same. It is the combination of all rights of Christian citizenship in this world, and eternal blessedness in the next. All its senses are only different sides of the same great idea - the subjection of all things to God in Christ. [source]
Voice [] John's personality is thrown into shadow behind Christ. “What would be the duty of a merely human teacher of the highest moral aim, entrusted with a great spiritual mission and lesson for the benefit of mankind? The example of St. John Baptist is an answer to this iniquity. Such a teacher would represent himself as a mere 'voice,' crying aloud in the moral wilderness around him, and anxious, beyond aught else, to shroud his own insignificant person beneath the majesty of his message” (Liddoll, “Our Lord's Divinity”). [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 3:2
Matthew 21:29Repented [μεταμεληθεὶς] This is a different word from that in Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; μετανοεῖτε , Repent ye. Though it is fairly claimed that the word here implies all that is implied in the other word, the New Testament writers evidently recognize a distinction, since the noun which corresponds to the verb in this passage ( μεταμέλεια ) is not used at all in the New Testament, and the verb itself only five times; and, in every case except the two in this passage (see Matthew 21:32), with a meaning quite foreign to repentance in the ordinary gospel sense. Thus it is used of Judas, when he brought back the thirty pieces (Matthew 27:3); of Paul's not regretting his letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:8); and of God (Hebrews 7:21). On the other hand, μετανοέω , repent, used by John and Jesus in their summons to repentance (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17), occurs thirty-four times, and the noun μετάνοια , repentance (Matthew 3:8,Matthew 3:11), twenty-four times, and in every case with reference to that change of heart and life wrought by the Spirit of God, to which remission of sins and salvation are promised. It is not impossible, therefore, that the word in this passage may have been intended to carry a different shade of meaning, now lost to us. Μεταμέλομαι , as its etymology indicates ( μετά , after, and μέλω , to be an object of care), implies an after-care, as contrasted with the change of mind denoted by μετάνοια . Not sorrow for moral obliquity and sin against God, but annoyance at the consequences of an act or course of acts, and chagrin at not having known better. “It may be simply what our fathers were wont to call hadiwist (had-I-wist, or known better, I should have acted otherwise)” (Trench). Μεταμέλεια refers chiefly to single acts; μετάνοια denotes the repentance which affects the whole life. Hence the latter is often found in the imperative: Repent ye (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19); the former never. Paul's recognition of the distinction (2 Corinthians 7:10) is noteworthy. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance ( μετάνοιαν ) unto salvation,” a salvation or repentance “which bringeth no regret on thinking of it afterwards” ( ἀμεταμέλητον )There is no occasion for one ever to think better of either his repentance or the salvation in which it issued. [source]
Matthew 26:46He is at hand [ηγγικεν] The same verb and tense used of the hour above, present perfect active of εγγιζω eggizō to draw near, the very form used by John the Baptist of the coming of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 3:2). Whether Jesus heard the approach of the betrayer with the crowd around him or saw the lights or just felt the proximity of the traitor before he was there (J. Weiss), we do not know and it matters little. The scene is pictured as it happened with lifelike power. [source]
Matthew 4:17Began Jesus to preach [ηρχατο ο Ιησους κηρυσσειν] In Galilee. He had been preaching for over a year already elsewhere. His message carries on the words of the Baptist about “repentance” and the “kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 3:2) being at hand. The same word for “preaching” (κηρυσσειν kērussein) from κηρυχ kērux herald, is used of Jesus as of John. Both proclaimed the good news of the kingdom. Jesus is more usually described as the Teacher, (ο διδασκαλος ho didaskalos) who taught (εδιδασκεν edidasken) the people. He was both herald and teacher as every preacher should be. [source]
Matthew 21:29I will not [ου τελω] So many old manuscripts, though the Vatican manuscript (B) has the order of the two sons reversed. Logically the “I, sir” But the one who actually did the will of the father is the one who repented and went This word really means “repent,” to be sorry afterwards, and must be sharply distinguished from the word μετανοια metanoeō used 34 times in the N.T. as in Matthew 3:2 and μεταμελομαι metanoia used 24 times as in Matthew 3:8. The verb μετανοιαν metamelomai occurs in the N.T. only five times (Matthew 21:29,Matthew 21:32; Matthew 27:3; 2 Corinthians 7:8; Hebrews 7:21 from Psalm 109:4). Paul distinguishes sharply between mere sorrow and the act “repentance” which he calls μετανοιαν metanoian (2 Corinthians 7:9). In the case of Judas (Matthew 27:3) it was mere remorse. Here the boy got sorry for his stubborn refusal to obey his father and went and obeyed. Godly sorrow leads to repentance (metanoian), but mere sorrow is not repentance. [source]
Mark 1:4Preached the baptism of repentance [κηρυσσων βαπτισμα μετανοιας] Heralded a repentance kind of baptism (genitive case, genus case), a baptism marked by repentance. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of repent, an exceedingly poor rendering of John‘s great word metanoias He called upon the Jews to change their minds and to turn from their sins, “confessing their sins” See note on Matthew 3:6. The public confessions produced a profound impression as they would now.Unto remission of sins (μετανοιας eis aphesin hamartiōn). This is a difficult phrase to translate accurately. Certainly John did not mean that the baptism was the means of obtaining the forgiveness of their sins or necessary to the remission of sins. The trouble lies in the use of εχομολογουμενοι τας αμαρτιας αυτων eis which sometimes is used when purpose is expressed, but sometimes when there is no such idea as in Matthew 10:41 and Matthew 12:41. Probably “with reference to” is as good a translation here as is possible. The baptism was on the basis of the repentance and confession of sin and, as Paul later explained (Romans 6:4), was a picture of the death to sin and resurrection to new life in Christ. This symbol was already in use by the Jews for proselytes who became Jews. John is treating the Jewish nation as pagans who need to repent, to confess their sins, and to come back to the kingdom of God. The baptism in the Jordan was the objective challenge to the people. [source]
Mark 6:12Preached that men should repent [εκηρυχαν ινα μετανοωσιν] Constative aorist (εκηρυχαν ekēruxan), summary description. This was the message of the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) and of Jesus (Mark 1:15). [source]
Luke 3:8Repentance [τῆς μετανοίας] Note the article: the repentance which you profess in coming to my baptism. Rev., in margin, “your repentance.” See on Matthew 3:2. [source]
Luke 10:9Is come nigh unto you [ηγγικεν επ υμας] Perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō as in Matthew 3:2 of the Baptist and Mark 1:15 of Jesus. Note επ υμας eph' humās here. [source]
Luke 21:8The time is at hand [ο καιρος ηγγικεν] Just as John the Baptist did of the kingdom (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus also (Mark 1:15).Go ye not after them (μη πορευτητε οπισω αυτων mē poreuthēte opisō autōn). First aorist passive subjunctive with μη mē A needed warning today with all the false cries in the religious world. [source]
Luke 6:20Ye poor [οι πτωχοι] The poor, but “yours” Matthew 5:3 has “the kingdom of heaven” which occurs alone in Matthew though he also has the one here in Luke with no practical difference. The rabbis usually said “the kingdom of heaven.” They used it of the political Messianic kingdom when Judaism of the Pharisaic sort would triumph over the world. The idea of Jesus is in the sharpest contrast to that conception here and always. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of the meaning of the word “kingdom.” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him. The kingdom parables expand and enlarge upon various phases of this inward life and growth. [source]
Luke 6:20The poor [] , but “yours” Matthew 5:3 has “the kingdom of heaven” which occurs alone in Matthew though he also has the one here in Luke with no practical difference. The rabbis usually said “the kingdom of heaven.” They used it of the political Messianic kingdom when Judaism of the Pharisaic sort would triumph over the world. The idea of Jesus is in the sharpest contrast to that conception here and always. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of the meaning of the word “kingdom.” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him. The kingdom parables expand and enlarge upon various phases of this inward life and growth. [source]
Luke 6:20The kingdom of God [η βασιλεια του τεου] Matthew 5:3 has “the kingdom of heaven” which occurs alone in Matthew though he also has the one here in Luke with no practical difference. The rabbis usually said “the kingdom of heaven.” They used it of the political Messianic kingdom when Judaism of the Pharisaic sort would triumph over the world. The idea of Jesus is in the sharpest contrast to that conception here and always. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of the meaning of the word “kingdom.” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him. The kingdom parables expand and enlarge upon various phases of this inward life and growth. [source]
Romans 14:17The kingdom of God [] See on Luke 6:20, and compare Matthew 3:2. “The heavenly sphere of life in which God's word and Spirit govern, and whose organ on earth is the Church” (Lange). Not the future, messianic kingdom. [source]
Hebrews 12:28Receiving a kingdom [βασιλείαν παραλαμβάνοντες] The participle gives no note of time, but simply indicates the fact that Christians as such receive. The compounded preposition παρὰ adds to the idea of receiving that of transmission or communication. They receive from God. See Daniel 7:18. Βασιλεία in the sense of the kingdom of Christ, in this epistle only here and Hebrews 1:8(citn.). See on Matthew 3:2; see on Luke 6:20. [source]
James 4:8Draw nigh to God [εγγισατε τωι τεωι] First aorist active imperative of εγγιζω eggizō late verb from εγγυς eggus (near) as in Matthew 3:2. With dative case again of personal relation. The priests in the sanctuary drew nigh to God (Exodus 19:22), as we should now. [source]
James 5:8Stablish [στηριχατε] First aorist active imperative of στηριζω stērizō old verb, (from στηριγχ stērigx a support) to make stable, as in Luke 22:32; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.Is at hand (ηγγικεν ēggiken). Present perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō common verb, to draw near (from εγγυς eggus), in James 4:8, for drawing near. Same form used by John in his preaching (Matthew 3:2). In 1 Peter 4:7 the same word appears to have an eschatological sense as apparently here. How “near” or “nigh” did James mean? Clearly, it could only be a hope, for Jesus had distinctly said that no one knew when he would return. [source]
James 5:8Is at hand [ηγγικεν] Present perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō common verb, to draw near (from εγγυς eggus), in James 4:8, for drawing near. Same form used by John in his preaching (Matthew 3:2). In 1 Peter 4:7 the same word appears to have an eschatological sense as apparently here. How “near” or “nigh” did James mean? Clearly, it could only be a hope, for Jesus had distinctly said that no one knew when he would return. [source]
1 Peter 4:7But the end of all things is at hand [παντων δε το τελος ηγγικεν] Perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō to draw near, common late verb (from εγγυς eggus), same form used by the Baptist of the Messiah‘s arrival (Matthew 3:2) and by James in James 5:8 (of the second coming). How near Peter does not say, but he urges readiness (1 Peter 1:5.; 1 Peter 4:6) as Jesus did (Mark 14:38) and Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:6), though it is drawing nearer all the time (Romans 12:11), but not at once (2 Thessalonians 2:2). [source]
Revelation 9:20Repented not of the works [οὔτε μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων] Lit., “out of the works.” The preposition ἐκ outof with repent, denotes a moral change involving an abandonment of evil works. See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 21:29. [source]
Greek Commentary for Matthew 3:2
Broadus used to say that this is the worst translation in the New Testament. The trouble is that the English word “repent” means “to be sorry again” from the Latin repoenitet (impersonal). John did not call on the people to be sorry, but to change (think afterwards) their mental attitudes John was a new prophet with the call of the old prophets: “Turn ye” (Joel 2:12; Isaiah 55:7; Ezekiel 33:11, Ezekiel 33:15). [source]
Note the position of the verb and the present perfect tense. It was a startling word that John thundered over the hills and it re-echoed throughout the land. The Old Testament prophets had said that it would come some day in God‘s own time. John proclaims as the herald of the new day that it has come, has drawn near. How near he does not say, but he evidently means very near, so near that one could see the signs and the proof. The words “the kingdom of heaven” he does not explain. The other Gospels use “the kingdom of God” as Matthew does a few times, but he has “the kingdom of heaven” over thirty times. He means “the reign of God,” not the political or ecclesiastical organization which the Pharisees expected. His words would be understood differently by different groups as is always true of popular preachers. The current Jewish apocalypses had numerous eschatological ideas connected with the kingdom of heaven. It is not clear what sympathy John had with these eschatological features. He employs vivid language at times, but we do not have to confine John‘s intellectual and theological horizon to that of the rabbis of his day. He has been an original student of the Old Testament in his wilderness environment without any necessary contact with the Essenes who dwelt there. His voice is a new one that strikes terror to the perfunctory theologians of the temple and of the synagogue. It is the fashion of some critics to deny to John any conception of the spiritual content of his words, a wholly gratuitous criticism.For this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet (ουτος γαρ εστιν ο ρητεις δια Εσαιου του προπητου houtos gar estin ho rhētheis dia Esaiou tou prophētou). This is Matthew‘s way of interpreting the mission and message of the Baptist. He quotes Isaiah 40:3 where “the prophet refers to the return of Israel from the exile, accompanied by their God” (McNeile). He applies it to the work of John as “a voice crying in the wilderness” for the people to make ready the way of the Lord who is now near. He was only a voice, but what a voice he was. He can be heard yet across the centuries. [source]
This is Matthew‘s way of interpreting the mission and message of the Baptist. He quotes Isaiah 40:3 where “the prophet refers to the return of Israel from the exile, accompanied by their God” (McNeile). He applies it to the work of John as “a voice crying in the wilderness” for the people to make ready the way of the Lord who is now near. He was only a voice, but what a voice he was. He can be heard yet across the centuries. [source]
A word compounded of the preposition μετά , after, with; and the verb νοέω , to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after. Μετάνοια (repentance ) is therefore, primarily, an after-thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage. Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as “Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice.” Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word. Paul distinguishes between sorrow ( λύπη ) and repentance ( μετάνοια )and puts the one as the outcome of the other. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance ” (2 Corinthians 7:10). [source]
Lit., the kingdom of the heavens ( ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν )An expression peculiar to Matthew. The more usual one is the kingdom of God. It is a kingdom of heaven because its origin, its end, its king, the character and destiny of its subjects, its laws, institutions, and privileges - all are heavenly. In the teaching of Christ and in the apostolic writings the kingdom of the Messiah is the actual consummation of the prophetic idea of the rule of God, without any national limitation, so that participation therein rests only on faith in Jesus Christ, and on the moral renewal which is conditioned by the same. It is the combination of all rights of Christian citizenship in this world, and eternal blessedness in the next. All its senses are only different sides of the same great idea - the subjection of all things to God in Christ. [source]
John's personality is thrown into shadow behind Christ. “What would be the duty of a merely human teacher of the highest moral aim, entrusted with a great spiritual mission and lesson for the benefit of mankind? The example of St. John Baptist is an answer to this iniquity. Such a teacher would represent himself as a mere 'voice,' crying aloud in the moral wilderness around him, and anxious, beyond aught else, to shroud his own insignificant person beneath the majesty of his message” (Liddoll, “Our Lord's Divinity”). [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 3:2
This is a different word from that in Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; μετανοεῖτε , Repent ye. Though it is fairly claimed that the word here implies all that is implied in the other word, the New Testament writers evidently recognize a distinction, since the noun which corresponds to the verb in this passage ( μεταμέλεια ) is not used at all in the New Testament, and the verb itself only five times; and, in every case except the two in this passage (see Matthew 21:32), with a meaning quite foreign to repentance in the ordinary gospel sense. Thus it is used of Judas, when he brought back the thirty pieces (Matthew 27:3); of Paul's not regretting his letter to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:8); and of God (Hebrews 7:21). On the other hand, μετανοέω , repent, used by John and Jesus in their summons to repentance (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17), occurs thirty-four times, and the noun μετάνοια , repentance (Matthew 3:8, Matthew 3:11), twenty-four times, and in every case with reference to that change of heart and life wrought by the Spirit of God, to which remission of sins and salvation are promised. It is not impossible, therefore, that the word in this passage may have been intended to carry a different shade of meaning, now lost to us. Μεταμέλομαι , as its etymology indicates ( μετά , after, and μέλω , to be an object of care), implies an after-care, as contrasted with the change of mind denoted by μετάνοια . Not sorrow for moral obliquity and sin against God, but annoyance at the consequences of an act or course of acts, and chagrin at not having known better. “It may be simply what our fathers were wont to call hadiwist (had-I-wist, or known better, I should have acted otherwise)” (Trench). Μεταμέλεια refers chiefly to single acts; μετάνοια denotes the repentance which affects the whole life. Hence the latter is often found in the imperative: Repent ye (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19); the former never. Paul's recognition of the distinction (2 Corinthians 7:10) is noteworthy. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance ( μετάνοιαν ) unto salvation,” a salvation or repentance “which bringeth no regret on thinking of it afterwards” ( ἀμεταμέλητον )There is no occasion for one ever to think better of either his repentance or the salvation in which it issued. [source]
The same verb and tense used of the hour above, present perfect active of εγγιζω eggizō to draw near, the very form used by John the Baptist of the coming of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 3:2). Whether Jesus heard the approach of the betrayer with the crowd around him or saw the lights or just felt the proximity of the traitor before he was there (J. Weiss), we do not know and it matters little. The scene is pictured as it happened with lifelike power. [source]
In Galilee. He had been preaching for over a year already elsewhere. His message carries on the words of the Baptist about “repentance” and the “kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 3:2) being at hand. The same word for “preaching” (κηρυσσειν kērussein) from κηρυχ kērux herald, is used of Jesus as of John. Both proclaimed the good news of the kingdom. Jesus is more usually described as the Teacher, (ο διδασκαλος ho didaskalos) who taught (εδιδασκεν edidasken) the people. He was both herald and teacher as every preacher should be. [source]
So many old manuscripts, though the Vatican manuscript (B) has the order of the two sons reversed. Logically the “I, sir” But the one who actually did the will of the father is the one who repented and went This word really means “repent,” to be sorry afterwards, and must be sharply distinguished from the word μετανοια metanoeō used 34 times in the N.T. as in Matthew 3:2 and μεταμελομαι metanoia used 24 times as in Matthew 3:8. The verb μετανοιαν metamelomai occurs in the N.T. only five times (Matthew 21:29, Matthew 21:32; Matthew 27:3; 2 Corinthians 7:8; Hebrews 7:21 from Psalm 109:4). Paul distinguishes sharply between mere sorrow and the act “repentance” which he calls μετανοιαν metanoian (2 Corinthians 7:9). In the case of Judas (Matthew 27:3) it was mere remorse. Here the boy got sorry for his stubborn refusal to obey his father and went and obeyed. Godly sorrow leads to repentance (metanoian), but mere sorrow is not repentance. [source]
See on Matthew 3:2; and Matthew 21:29. Mark adds, and believe in the Gospel. [source]
Heralded a repentance kind of baptism (genitive case, genus case), a baptism marked by repentance. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of repent, an exceedingly poor rendering of John‘s great word metanoias He called upon the Jews to change their minds and to turn from their sins, “confessing their sins” See note on Matthew 3:6. The public confessions produced a profound impression as they would now.Unto remission of sins (μετανοιας eis aphesin hamartiōn). This is a difficult phrase to translate accurately. Certainly John did not mean that the baptism was the means of obtaining the forgiveness of their sins or necessary to the remission of sins. The trouble lies in the use of εχομολογουμενοι τας αμαρτιας αυτων eis which sometimes is used when purpose is expressed, but sometimes when there is no such idea as in Matthew 10:41 and Matthew 12:41. Probably “with reference to” is as good a translation here as is possible. The baptism was on the basis of the repentance and confession of sin and, as Paul later explained (Romans 6:4), was a picture of the death to sin and resurrection to new life in Christ. This symbol was already in use by the Jews for proselytes who became Jews. John is treating the Jewish nation as pagans who need to repent, to confess their sins, and to come back to the kingdom of God. The baptism in the Jordan was the objective challenge to the people. [source]
Constative aorist (εκηρυχαν ekēruxan), summary description. This was the message of the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) and of Jesus (Mark 1:15). [source]
Note the article: the repentance which you profess in coming to my baptism. Rev., in margin, “your repentance.” See on Matthew 3:2. [source]
See on sa40" translation="">Matthew 3:2.sa40 [source]
Perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō as in Matthew 3:2 of the Baptist and Mark 1:15 of Jesus. Note επ υμας eph' humās here. [source]
Just as John the Baptist did of the kingdom (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus also (Mark 1:15).Go ye not after them (μη πορευτητε οπισω αυτων mē poreuthēte opisō autōn). First aorist passive subjunctive with μη mē A needed warning today with all the false cries in the religious world. [source]
The regular formula for quotation, perfect passive indicative of γραπω graphō the prophet The same phrase in Mark 1:2 (correct text) and Matthew 3:3. Mark, as we have seen, adds a quotation from Malachi 3:1 and Luke gives Isaiah 40:4 and Isaiah 40:5 of Isa. 40 not in Matthew or Mark (Luke 3:5, Luke 3:6). See note on Matthew 3:2; note on Mark 1:3 for discussion of Luke 3:4. [source]
The poor, but “yours” Matthew 5:3 has “the kingdom of heaven” which occurs alone in Matthew though he also has the one here in Luke with no practical difference. The rabbis usually said “the kingdom of heaven.” They used it of the political Messianic kingdom when Judaism of the Pharisaic sort would triumph over the world. The idea of Jesus is in the sharpest contrast to that conception here and always. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of the meaning of the word “kingdom.” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him. The kingdom parables expand and enlarge upon various phases of this inward life and growth. [source]
, but “yours” Matthew 5:3 has “the kingdom of heaven” which occurs alone in Matthew though he also has the one here in Luke with no practical difference. The rabbis usually said “the kingdom of heaven.” They used it of the political Messianic kingdom when Judaism of the Pharisaic sort would triumph over the world. The idea of Jesus is in the sharpest contrast to that conception here and always. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of the meaning of the word “kingdom.” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him. The kingdom parables expand and enlarge upon various phases of this inward life and growth. [source]
Matthew 5:3 has “the kingdom of heaven” which occurs alone in Matthew though he also has the one here in Luke with no practical difference. The rabbis usually said “the kingdom of heaven.” They used it of the political Messianic kingdom when Judaism of the Pharisaic sort would triumph over the world. The idea of Jesus is in the sharpest contrast to that conception here and always. See note on Matthew 3:2 for discussion of the meaning of the word “kingdom.” It is the favourite word of Jesus for the rule of God in the heart here and now. It is both present and future and will reach a glorious consummation. Some of the sayings of Christ have apocalyptic and eschatological figures, but the heart of the matter is here in the spiritual reality of the reign of God in the hearts of those who serve him. The kingdom parables expand and enlarge upon various phases of this inward life and growth. [source]
See on Matthew 3:2; and James 5:15; and Luke 3:3. [source]
See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 21:29. [source]
See on Luke 6:20, and compare Matthew 3:2. “The heavenly sphere of life in which God's word and Spirit govern, and whose organ on earth is the Church” (Lange). Not the future, messianic kingdom. [source]
See on the kindred verb repent, Matthew 3:2, and compare note on Matthew 21:29. Repentance is different from regret of 2 Corinthians 7:8, indicating a moral change, as is shown by the next clause. [source]
Only here in Pastorals. See on repent Matthew 3:2. [source]
The participle gives no note of time, but simply indicates the fact that Christians as such receive. The compounded preposition παρὰ adds to the idea of receiving that of transmission or communication. They receive from God. See Daniel 7:18. Βασιλεία in the sense of the kingdom of Christ, in this epistle only here and Hebrews 1:8(citn.). See on Matthew 3:2; see on Luke 6:20. [source]
First aorist active imperative of εγγιζω eggizō late verb from εγγυς eggus (near) as in Matthew 3:2. With dative case again of personal relation. The priests in the sanctuary drew nigh to God (Exodus 19:22), as we should now. [source]
First aorist active imperative of στηριζω stērizō old verb, (from στηριγχ stērigx a support) to make stable, as in Luke 22:32; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.Is at hand (ηγγικεν ēggiken). Present perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō common verb, to draw near (from εγγυς eggus), in James 4:8, for drawing near. Same form used by John in his preaching (Matthew 3:2). In 1 Peter 4:7 the same word appears to have an eschatological sense as apparently here. How “near” or “nigh” did James mean? Clearly, it could only be a hope, for Jesus had distinctly said that no one knew when he would return. [source]
Present perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō common verb, to draw near (from εγγυς eggus), in James 4:8, for drawing near. Same form used by John in his preaching (Matthew 3:2). In 1 Peter 4:7 the same word appears to have an eschatological sense as apparently here. How “near” or “nigh” did James mean? Clearly, it could only be a hope, for Jesus had distinctly said that no one knew when he would return. [source]
Lit., has come near. The word constantly used of the coming of Christ and his kingdom. See Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9; Hebrews 10:25. [source]
Perfect active indicative of εγγιζω eggizō to draw near, common late verb (from εγγυς eggus), same form used by the Baptist of the Messiah‘s arrival (Matthew 3:2) and by James in James 5:8 (of the second coming). How near Peter does not say, but he urges readiness (1 Peter 1:5.; 1 Peter 4:6) as Jesus did (Mark 14:38) and Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:6), though it is drawing nearer all the time (Romans 12:11), but not at once (2 Thessalonians 2:2). [source]
Lit., “out of the works.” The preposition ἐκ outof with repent, denotes a moral change involving an abandonment of evil works. See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 21:29. [source]
See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 20:29. [source]
See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 21:29. [source]
See on Matthew 3:2; see on Matthew 21:29. [source]