For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:
for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–15 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given,…
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Ver. 12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given] sc. If he have it for practice, not else, Zec 11:17. Men, to the hearing of the word, must bring with them the loan and advantage of former doctrine communicated to them, if they mean to do any good of it. And then, as Manoah believed (before the angel vanished in the sacrifice) and sought no such sign to confirm him, yet had it; so God will heap favours upon them, and every former shall be a pledge of a future. God gives grace for grace, that is, say some, where he finds one grace he gives another.
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From him shall be taken away even that he hath] That he seems to have, saith St Luke, for indeed all that he hath is but a seeming, a semblance, he walketh in a vain show, he hath only the varnish of virtue, which God shall wash off with rivers of brimstone. Albeit hypocrites are commonly detected even in this life: how else should their names rot, as every wicked man’s must?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–14 Neither Mark nor Luke hath this, but it directly…
Neither Mark nor Luke hath this, but it directly followeth from what they have, which also followeth here; only here it is plainly asserted concerning these hearers, and given as a reason why our Lord spake to them in parables. We shall in the explication of the following words inquire in what sense it is said, This people seeing, saw not, and hearing, heard not.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv12–13 That is, whosoever improves the measures of grace received,…
That is, whosoever improves the measures of grace received, shall obtain farther measures and degrees of it: But from him that doth not improve what he has already received, shall be taken away that which to himself or others he seemed to have, his common gifts and moral endowments.
Learn, That where there are beginnings of true grace, and a right and wise improvement of it, God will make rich additions or more grace to the present stock which we have received.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–15 Therefore speak I to them in parables,.... Because it…
Therefore speak I to them in parables,.... Because it was the will and pleasure of his Father to give the knowledge of divine mysteries to some, and not to others; and because even the outward good things they had, being wrongly used or abused by them, would be taken away from them:
and because they seeing, see not: they saw Christ with their bodily eyes, but not with an eye of faith; they saw the miracles he did, but did not discern, at least did not acknowledge the evidence of them, proving him to be the true Messiah.
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And hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand: they heard externally, but not internally; they heard the sound of Christ's voice, but did not understand his words, even when he spake in the plainest and most intelligible manner; nor were they concerned to know the meaning of them: wherefore he spoke to them in this abstruse and parabolical way, that they might be what they really were, seers and not seers, hearers and not hearers, at least not understanding ones; and that what he said might remain sealed and hidden to them, as the things contained in the sealed book were to the Jews of old; the reason of which was, as a writer of their's (k) says, and which agrees with our Lord's reason and conduct here, , "because they were in parable and riddle".
(k) Abarbinel in Isa. 29. 11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Whosoever hath - That is, improves what he hath,…
Whosoever hath - That is, improves what he hath, uses the grace given according to the design of the giver; to him shall be given - More and more, in proportion to that improvement. But whosoever hath not - Improves it not, from him shall be taken even what he hath - Here is the grand rule of God's dealing with the children of men: a rule fixed as the pillars of heaven. This is the key to all his providential dispensations; as will appear to men and angels in that day. Matt. xxv, 29; Mark iv, 25; Luke viii, 18; xix, 26.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12–15 Verse 12. Whosoever hath, to him shall be given]…
Verse 12. Whosoever hath, to him shall be given] This is an allusion to a common custom in all countries: he who possesses much or is rich, to such a person, presents are ordinarily given.
Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.] That is, the poor man: he that has little may be easily made a prey of, and so lose his little. This is a proper sense of the word εχειν in sacred and profane writers. In 1Co 11:22, τους μη εχοντας, those who have not, means simply THE POOR: and Aristophanes uses τους εξοντας, those that have, for the RICH or OPULENT. See a variety of pertinent examples in Kypke on Lu 8:18. There is one example in Juvenal, Sat. iii. l. 208, 209, that expresses the whole of our Lords meaning, and is a beautiful illustration of this apparently difficult passage.
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NIL habuit Codrus: quis enim negat? et tamen illud Perdidit infelix TOTUM NIL.
"'Tis true, poor Codrus NOTHING had to boast,
And yet poor Codrus ALL that NOTHING lost."
Dryden.
Now what was this NOTHING which, the poet said, Codrus had and lost? The five preceding lines tell you.
Lectus erat Codro Procula minor, urceoli sex,
Ornamentum abaci; necnon et parvulus infra
Cantharus, et recubans sub eodem marmore Chiron;
Jamque vetus Graecos servabat cista libellos,
Et divina Opici rodebant carmina mures.
He had one small bed, six little pitchers, the ornament of a side-board; a small jug or tankard, the image of a centaur, and an old chest with some Greek books in it, on which the mice had already begun to make depredations. And all this he lost; probably by continuing, in spite of his destiny, to be a poet. So those who devote not the light and power which God has given them to the purposes for which he has granted these gifts, from them shall be taken away these unemployed or prostituted blessings. This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, which our Lord here uses to inform his disciples, that he who does not improve the first operations of grace, howsoever small, is in danger of losing not only all the possible product, but even the principal; for God delights to heap benefits on those who properly improve them. See Clarke on Lu 8:18.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v13 Mat 13:13-15. Therefore speak I to them in parables,…
Mat 13:13-15. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not — In pursuance of this general rule, I do not give more knowledge to this people, because they use not that which they have already: having all the means of seeing, hearing, and understanding, they use none of them; they do not effectually see, or hear, or understand any thing. For instance, seeing my miracles, which are incontestable proofs of my divine mission, they are not convinced thereby that I am their long-expected Messiah: and hearing my discourses, they are not instructed by what they hear in the design of my coming, and the nature of my kingdom. Neither do they understand — My doctrine. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias — Which indeed was principally intended of the men of this generation. See note on Isa 6:9-10. Which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand — Or rather, as the words are more properly rendered, ye will hear, but in nowise understand; that is, ye will surely hear; opportunities of hearing, all possible means of instruction, will be given you; yet they will profit you nothing. For this people’s heart is waxed gross — Επαχυνθη, is waxed fat, is sensual, stupid, and insensible. And their ears are dull of hearing — Βαρεως ηκουσαν, they hear heavily, or with heavy ears, like persons half asleep. And their eyes they have closed — Namely, against the light. Observe, they themselves have done it, not God. In other words, They have benumbed or shut up all their spiritual senses, lest at any time they should see with their eyes — That light of divine knowledge which would put them to pain; and should hear with their ears — Those sacred truths which would convince them of sin; and should understand with their heart — Their real condition of guilt and depravity; and should be converted — Effectually turned to God in true repentance, living faith, and new obedience; and I should heal them — Of their spiritual diseases. They are unwilling to understand the things of God, and afraid, not desirous, that he should heal their souls, and save them from their sins.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 15 But he that hath not, from him shall be…
But he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. We read again, (Matthew xxv. 29.) That also which he thinketh he hath. One passage helps to expound another: so that each of these texts, with a little reflection, will be found true; and such a truth, as ought to be a subject of fear and apprehension to all that are negligent and indolent in the service of God. For, as St. Augustine observes, they who have received graces and favours from God, and have not made good use and profited by them, they may be said not to have them, although they are not yet take from them. And why? but because they make no more use of them, than if they had them not. See the parables of the talents, Matthew xxv, and Luke xix. (Witham) --- He that hath, to him shall be given the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But such as are incredulous, and resist my words, like the Pharisees and other Jews, so far from being enriched with the spiritual gifts in my kingdom, shall even be deprived of the benefits they now possess. Thus the Jews were deprived of their temple, priesthood, kingdom, and even the true worship of God. (St. Jerome) --- They rejected Jesus Christ, the fountain and corner-stone of virtue; all therefore they had acquired, or possessed, shall be taken from them, and given to the apostles. (Idem.) --- Whoever has a desire of complying with the divine precepts, that desire shall not only be increased, but all other virtues shall be added unto him; but if he be devoid of this desire, the virtues he already possesses, or seems to possess, shall be taken from him, not that God will deprive him of these without cause, but he will render himself unworthy of them. (St. John Chrysostom)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv12–14 For whosoever hath--that is, keeps; as a thing which…
For whosoever hath--that is, keeps; as a thing which he values.
to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance--He will be rewarded by an increase of what he so much prizes.
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but whosoever hath not--who lets this go or lie unused, as a thing on which he sets no value.
from him shall be taken away even that he hath--or as it is in Luke (Luk 8:18), "what he seemeth to have," or, thinketh he hath. This is a principle of immense importance, and, like other weighty sayings, appears to have been uttered by our Lord on more than one occasion, and in different connections. (See on Mat 25:9). As a great ethical principle, we see it in operation everywhere, under the general law of habit; in virtue of which moral principles become stronger by exercise, while by disuse, or the exercise of their contraries, they wax weaker, and at length expire. The same principle reigns in the intellectual world, and even in the animal--if not in the vegetable also--as the facts of physiology sufficiently prove. Here, however, it is viewed as a divine ordination, as a judicial retribution in continual operation under the divine administration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12–15 12. Whosoever hath — That is, hath a willing…
12. Whosoever hath — That is, hath a willing and receptive disposition and purpose. Shall be given — Namely, the truth which he is willing to receive. Hath not — Hath not the receptivity. That he hath — The disciples had a receptive disposition, and so there was given to them the lesson and its explanation, the parable and its doctrine. The Jewish cavillers had not the receptive willingness, and so even that which they had was taken from them, namely, the opportunity of learning. It was either withheld, or wrapped in unexpressed enigmas. Abuse of privileges justly produces their withdrawment.
It is curiously true of any parable that to him that hath, namely, the key, to him shall be given, namely, the meaning. And the whole Gospel is a parable to him whose heart has not the key.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15 12. Cp. ch. Mat_25:29.
12. Cp. ch. Mat_25:29.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–15 (12) Whosoever hath, to him shall be given.—The words…
(12) Whosoever hath, to him shall be given.—The words have the ring of a proverb applicable, in its literal meaning, to the conditions of worldly prosperity. There fortune smiles on the fortunate, and nothing succeeds like success. Something like that law, our Lord tells His disciples, is to be found in the conditions of spiritual growth in wisdom. They had some elements of that wisdom, and therefore, using their knowledge rightly, could pass on to more. The people, including even scribes and Pharisees, were as those that had few or none, and not using even the little that they had, were in danger of losing even that. The faithless Jew was sinking down to the level of a superstitious heathen. The proverb accordingly teaches the same lesson as that which we afterwards find developed in the parables of the Talents and the Pounds.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12–15 Matthew only in this context, but found in the…
Matthew only in this context, but found in the parallel passages shortly after the explanation of this parable Mar_4:25; Luk_8:18. The same saying is found in Mat_25:29 (the talents) and Luk_19:26 (the pounds). For. The reason of God"s action spoken of in the preceding verse. It is based on the following principle. Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. The last phrase (Matthew only) is probably dub to a reminiscence of the form in which the saying was uttered at a much later period in our Lord"s ministry, where it arises naturally out of the parable. (Mat_25:29) But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
A paradox. What he already possesses, if it is so small as to be not worth speaking of, shall be lost to him. Luke"s "thinketh he hath" calls attention to the superficial character of the man"s mind. The unfit ground loses the seed it receives (cf. the remarks at the beginning of this chapter).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v13 Because seeing they see not; and hearing they hear…
Mat_13:13
Because seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not.
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Insensibility to the truth
Christ here touches upon a common fact of our human nature-spiritual insensibility-that state in which spiritual things pass before a man; and instead of being beautiful and blessed realities, they are meaningless to him. There is nothing strange or fanciful in this representation. We understand how a man may be face to face with anything, and yet not perceive it, through the appropriate faculty in him being beclouded or dormant. Men are coming into contact with nature, art, charity, and yet are insensible to them. Not that God decrees arbitrarily that a certain few shall be blessed with the power of vision and receptivity, and others deprived of it. It is not imposed upon men, but is the result of certain lines of conduct.
I. What are some of the steps by which this gross insensitive state is reached.
1. It is induced by all kinds of depravity. It is one of the penalties of wrong-doing that the moral nature is made unresponsive to spiritual things.
2. It grows on a man through the mastery of worldly pursuits-of business, home, social, and political life.
3. The habit of cherishing doubt is another circumstance which tends to weaken spiritual vision and understanding. Caution must not degenerate into procrastination.
II. Formal endorsement of the christian verities is one thing, living realization of them is another.
III. He who opened the understanding of his disciples is with us now to do the same for us. Lord, that I might receive my sight. (T. Hammond.)
Scientific insensibility
There is a huge boulder stone close by a mans cottage on the moor. He has been familiar with that stone from the early days of childhood. He has passed it a thousand times. He has climbed over it when a boy, and rested in the shadow of it when hot and tired with the toil of manhood. It was there in his fathers time before him. And yet he has never seen that stone. Ask him the composition of it. Ask him the geological history of it and he cannot tell. But a geologist passes that way, and at a glance he sees what the cottager has never caught a glimpse of. To him the stone tells stories of ages long anterior to Adam; he hears in imagination the wash of primaeval waters and the mighty crash of volcanic upheavals; to the one man the rock reveals no secrets; to the other it is a scroll written within and without. There is a man, cold, guileful as a serpent, who is full of an insatiable hoarding propensity. The one object of his life is to amass wealth. He will allow himself no luxury, no recreation, but toils and saves with hungry, greedy avarice unremittingly. His eye glitters like lightning, and his busy brain is for ever concocting plans for lucrative investment. The money-fever burns like a fire in his heart. The one ruling motto of his sordid life is get-get gold. Now such a man hears of a philanthropist, who has parcelled out his fortune for certain needy classes of the community. And the whole thing is an enigma, a puzzle to him. He cannot understand how any one can have any pleasure n giving away anything. It is more blessed to give than to receive, is a saying which he simply cannot and will not believe. And he calls the philanthropist a fool, an idiot, a madman. He has no vision for the duty and blessedness of generosity, His whole nature rises up in antagonism to it and he thrusts the idea of benevolence mockingly away from him. (T. Hammond.)
Worldliness causes insensibility
Their sympathy and force gradually get concentrated around one object in life: around trade, or art, or science, or legislation; and what lies outside of that they do not see, or hear, or understand. In this way the higher or heavenward side of mens natures is often stifled and dimmed. It is hindered from coming role play until, by and by, it becomes crystallized, fixed in its state of inaction and torpor. We are exceeding delicate and critical beings to keep in order. On the one hand, religiousness is apt to overshadow our lawful worldly activity-and that leads to asceticism, a morbid love of seclusion. On the other hand, our worldly activity is apt to overshadow and blight the religious side of our nature-and that leads to moral insensibility. It is exceedingly difficult to preserve a true balance. (T. Hammond.)
Sin causes moral insensibility
The evil thing in which you have indulged is not like a wave which lifts a ship for a moment, and then passes on leaving everything-as it was before. Far from that! It has entered as a poison into your spiritual nature-it has become an actual blighting force in your character. You are essentially a different man: the measure of your religions capacity is so much less than it was. Let any one yield to selfishness, to falsehood, to cynical ill-humour, to lust, and darker anti darker every day the chambers of the imp, or man become: feebler and feebler the energies for all heavenly belief and obedience; more and more earthly the tastes and inclinations; narrower and more circumscribed the horizon of life; deeper and more profound the loss of the soul. This is one of the most solemn aspects of sin. (T. Hammond.)
Intellectual conception not spiritual reglization
There are many whose creed is accurate enough, who subscribe intellectually to all the essentials of the Christian faith, but to whom, after all, they are no more than words-mere words. As a person may sit down before a piano, possessing a capital knowledge of the technicalities of music, and able to touch skilfully, and yet never enter into the spirit of the piece he is playing, so you may sit down before the Word of God, sweep your fingers over its glorious keys, and yet never bring forth one strain of its sweet Divine harmony. Ignorance and familiarity are two things, seemingly very unlike each other, and yet they are often yoked together. It is not uncommon to find a man who has filled up stores of information in his memory. History, science, biography, have been laboriously studied through fen; toilsome years. But his knowledge is not digested; it lies in his mind like pieces of rock ill water, undissolved. Ask him the date of a battle, and he will tell you. But ask him to expound, unfold in a living manner, any event of history, and be cannot. He is not a learned man-simply a stuffed one. What he carries, with him is nothing better than a collection of fossilized lore. And the gospel may be known in such a way that it does not vitalize and respire)-on. It may lie outside of you, be no more to you than light to a blind man or sweet sounds to a deaf man, or poetry to an unpoetic man. (T. Hammond.)
Hearing, they bear not
I. Why this ignorance and lack of apprehension?
1. Bias, prejudice. So the Jews, because our Lord did not come in the character they anticipated, rejected Him. Our faith, to be strong and healthy, must rest on conviction.
2. Inattention.
3. Love of the world. Mans mind is often preoccupied, and so, like the seed which fell amongst thorns, the word sown is choked.
4. Pride of heart. It is right for every man to sift Christian evidence, but he must do so with humility-there must be a teachable disposition.
II. Danger of continuing thus ignorant.
1. The longer we continue in sin, the more inveterate will become our habits of sin.
2. To resist light adds to our guilt. The privileges of a Christian land, a Christian home, and a Christian training, bring with them corresponding obligations (Luk_12:47-48).
3. Sometimes brings as its punishment judicial blindness and hardness of heart.
4. Neglected opportunities will aggravate future woe-Son, remember.
III. How may this ignorance be overcome?
1. By the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Tis He who knows the deep things of fled, and He alone who can teach them.
2. Labour to know the mind of God-Search the Scriptures.
3. Sanctify the Sabbath-not simply a day of physical rest, but of spiritual labour.
4. Do not stifle the voice of conscience.
5. Look up to Christ as your all in all. (Essex Remembrancer.)
Moral impotence no excuse for irreligion
I. that moral impotence is no excuse for irreligion. Examine the true character of their inability, and hence discover the equity of their condemnation. They were incompetent for the holy service of religion; they were in effect blind, deaf, insensible.
1. Their spiritual incompetency did not arise from the absence of sufficient information as to the nature and extent of their sacred obligations. The obligations of man are in proportion to the means he might possess for acquiring a knowledge of duty. The responsibilities of the Jews were great. In the gospel no plea is left for ignorance.
2. It could not be ascribed to any natural incapacity. They had eyes, though they saw not; not by the want, but abuse of these capacities. The Jews rejected Christ in spite of clear evidence.
3. The inability was moral. It was their own, in contempt of entreaty, from the bias of their own will.
4. The effective restoration is effected by moral influence. The true cause of mans inability to believe in Christ, is love of sin. How can the spirit wedded to the earth soar as on an eagles wing to heaven? This view of moral impotence does not do away with responsibility; is no excuse for irreligion; not a misfortune, but rebellion; a depraved nature no excuse. The day will come when all excuses for moral impotence will fail. (A. Tidman.)
The guilt and doom of impenitent hearers
The presages and symptoms of the approach of the tremendous judgment-the judgment of having the ministry of the gospel continued, not as the means of salvation, but as the occasion of more aggravated sin and punishment.
1. The abuse or neglect of the ministry of the gospel in time past.
2. Incorrigible obstinacy under chastisements.
3. Growing insensibility or hardness of heart.
4. Repeated violences to the motions of the Holy Spirit, and convictions of conscience, or obstinate sinning against knowledge.
5. The withdrawing of Divine influences.
6. And, as the consequence of all, a general decay of religion. (President Daries.)
The effects of Gods communications
Correspond to the willingness or wilfulness of men.
I. Divine truth elicits human dispositions.
II. Divine truths repelled because of dislike.
III. Divine truth cannot be rejected without injury. (M. Braithwaite.)
I. Christs parables-Roused inquiry: Rendered subjects familiar; Removed prejudice, Convinced of wickedness; Impressed subjects on the mind.
II. Their superiority over all others. Others were cold and dry-His were interesting. Others were trifling-His were important. Others founded on improbable and impossible subjects-Christs were founded on common scenes and familiar things. (Bishop Portens.)
Mat_13:13; Mat_13:17
But blessed are your eyes, for they see.
I. The two classes of persons here mentioned. Prophets-inspired men. Righteous men-saints. Every prophet was not a righteous man. To be a righteous man is more desirable than to be a prophet. Grace is a higher endowment than inspiration or genius.
II. These two classes of persons eagerly anticipated the Christian dispensation, Various dispensations-one religion, as one ocean. Every degree of experimental knowledge of the true religion awakens a desire for additional information. It satisfies, yet it stimulates. Moses, etc. The Divine revelation of the true religion has been progressive. The desires of the great and good are not always gratified according to their intensity. They must submit to the will of God.
III. Our privileges are far superior to those of these two classes of persons.
1. We should be grateful.
2. We should cherish a sense of responsibility.
3. We should strive to outstrip in attainment those whom we surpass in privilege. (Various.)
Divine illumination
I. To whom these words were addressed.
1. They were not addressed indiscriminately to the people.
2. They were addressed to His chosen disciples.
3. The same distinction must be observed when these words are applied to ourselves.
II. The spiritual import of these words when thus applied.
1. What the faithful disciples saw-the Lords Christ.
2. How it was the disciples saw those things in Him.
3. Unspeakably blessed are they who thus see. Are you in possession of these privileges? what do you know of them?
(1) Do you know that you are destitute of them?
(2) Do you humbly hope that light has visited your soul, but lament how dim it is? (F. Close. M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv12–14 12. Whosoever hath. Those who have been made some…
12. Whosoever hath. Those who have been made some spiritual progress will go on, and have greater knowledge. Whosoever hath not. No desire for spiritual knowledge. Such shall become spiritually dwarfed, and lose even their capacity for spiritual things; a truth constantly illustrated. Whoever uses his opportunities will grow; whoever abuses them will lose them.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 15 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues to explain to his disciples why he teaches in parables.
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General Information:
In verse 14, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah to show that the people's failure to understand Jesus' teaching is a fulfillment of prophecy.
to them ... they
All occurrences of "them" and "they" refer to the people in the crowd.
Though they are seeing, they do not see; and though they are hearing, they do not hear, or understand.
Jesus uses this parallelism to tell and emphasize to the disciples that the crowd refuses to understand God's truth. (See: Parallelism)
Though they are seeing
Possible meanings are 1) this refers to them seeing what Jesus does. AT: "Though they see what I do" or 2) this refers to their ability to see. AT: "Though they are able to see"
they do not see
Here "see" represents understanding. AT: "they do not understand" (See: Metaphor)
though they are hearing
Possible meanings are 1) this refers to them hearing what Jesus teaches. AT: "Though they hear what I say" or 2) this refers to their ability to hear. AT: "Though they are able to hear"
they do not hear
Here "hear" represents listening well. AT: "they do not listen well" or "they do not pay attention" (See: Metaphor)
To them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, that which says
This can be stated in active form. AT: "They are fulfilling what God said long ago through the prophet Isaiah"
While hearing you will hear, but you will in no way understand; while seeing you will see, but you will in no way perceive
This begins a quote from the prophet Isaiah about the unbelieving people of Isaiah's day. Jesus uses this quote to describe the very crowd that was listening to him. These statements are again parallel and emphasize that the people refused to understand God's truth. (See: Parallelism)
While hearing you will hear, but you will in no way understand
"You will hear things, but you will not understand them." You can make explicit what the people will hear. AT: "You will hear what God says through the prophets, but you will not understand its true meaning" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
while seeing you will see, but you will in no way perceive
You can make explicit what the people will see. AT: "you will see what God does through the prophets, but you will not understand it" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
parable
understand
prophet
Isaiah
fulfill
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13–14 13:13 Jesus told parables, and those who believed understood…
13:13 Jesus told parables, and those who believed understood while those who had rejected Jesus found that his parables intensified their unbelief. • they don’t really see . . . listen or understand: They lacked the faith that perceives the truth (13:19, 23) and acts upon it (Mark 8:18; John 12:40; see also Jer 5:21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.