“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
Parallel Translations
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“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
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But blessed are youre eyes for they se: and youre eares for they heare.
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But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your eares, for they heare.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Matthew 13:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 10:23-24 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
- Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
- Matthew 16:17 Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
- John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
- Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Luke 2:29-30 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation,
- Matthew 5:3-11 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The condition of the Church under and since Christ,…
The condition of the Church under and since Christ, is better than it was in the time of the Fathers under the Law.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see:…
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Ver. 16. But blessed are your eyes, &c.] Demaratus of Corinth was wont to say, that those Grecians lost a great part of the comfort of their lives, that had not seen great Alexander sitting on Darius’s throne. St Austin wished but to have seen three sights, Romam in flore, Paulum in ore, Christum in corpore, Rome in the flourish, Paul in the pulpit, Christ in the flesh.
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And your ears, for they hear] The turtle’s voice, the joyful sound, the lively oracles, the precious promises of the word, therefore called "the word" by a specialty, because our ears should listen after no other word but that. Origen chides his hearers for nothing so much as for this, that they came so seldom to hear God’s word; and that when they came, they heard it so carelessly, recte iudicans, saith Erasmus, hinc esse praecipuum pietatis profectum ant defectum, as one that well knew that men’s growth in grace is according to their heed in hearing.
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 Luke repeateth this passage, Luk 10:23, but not as…
Luke repeateth this passage, Luk 10:23, but not as annexed to this parable.
Blessed are your eyes; the eyes of your bodies and of your minds. With the eyes of your bodies you have seen the promised Messias, come in the flesh; and you have seen the works which I have done, confirming me to be the Messiah: and with the eyes of your minds you have understood and believed.
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For many prophets and righteous men (Luke adds, kings)
have desired to see those things which ye see, &c. From the very first giving out of the promise of Christ to Adam, upon the fall, Gen 3:15, there was in believers an expectation of the Messiah, who being so great a good, so infinite a blessing to mankind, they could not but have a desire (if God had so pleased) to have seen him. But we are told that Abraham saw Christ’s day and rejoiced. And Simeon’s and Anna’s expectation of him, mentioned Luk 2:34-38, lets us know that other pious souls had such desires. Our Saviour blesseth his disciples, that they had seen with the eyes of their bodies, what others had only seen afar off by the eyes of their minds, Heb 11:13.
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 Here our Saviour pronounces such of his disciples and…
Here our Saviour pronounces such of his disciples and followers blessed, who received the truths of the gospel so far as they were already taught them: he assures them that they shall receive farther light and fuller measures of spiritual illumination: Blessed are your eyes, for they see.
Learn, That such as have received the least measures of spiritual knowledge and saving illumination, and do improve it, are in a happy and blessed condition; for as they are capable of further measures of divine knowledge, so shall they be partakers of them.
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 For verily I say unto you,.... This is added…
For verily I say unto you,.... This is added for the further confirmation of what is before said, concerning the happiness of the disciples, in seeing and hearing what they did:
that many prophets, and righteous men; Luke says, Luk 10:24 "kings"
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have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. To see Christ in the flesh, and have a clearer insight into the knowledge of the mysteries of grace, were things very desirable to men of the highest class in church and state, and of the best characters, such as Abraham, Joh 8:56. Jacob, Gen 49:18. David, Psa 14:7. Solomon, and the church in his time, Sol 8:1. Isaiah, and the saints with him, Isa 25:9 with many others. These indeed had a sight of Christ, but a very distant one; they saw him afar off in the promises and prophecies of him; and not very clearly, but through dark types and cloudy sacrifices; whereas the disciples saw him in person, heard him preach, took in the evidence of his miracles, and felt the power of his doctrines, and spiritually and savingly understood them. A way of speaking, somewhat like this, stands in the Talmud (p);
"Many have watched to expound in Mercavah (the beginning of Ezekiel's prophecy), , "and have not seen it all their days".''
(p) T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 24. 2.
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 But blessed are your eyes - For you both…
But blessed are your eyes - For you both see and understand. You know how to prize the light which is given you. Luke x, 23.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. But blessed are your eyes] Ye improve…
Verse 16. But blessed are your eyes] Ye improve the light which God has given you; and you receive an increase of heavenly wisdom by every miracle and by every sermon.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 13:16-17. But blessed are your eyes, &c. —…
Mat 13:16-17. But blessed are your eyes, &c. — For you both see and hear, and understand. You have not only greater opportunities of instruction than others, but you both know how to prize, and are concerned to improve them. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets — Who prophesied of the coming of the Messiah; and righteous men — To whom God familiarly showed himself, and made known his will, as he did to Abraham and the patriarchs; and many kings, Luk 10:24; from whose seed the Messiah was to spring, and whose kingdoms and persons were types of him and his kingdom, have desired to see — Before their eyes, those things which ye thus see, and have not seen them, they only seeing them afar off in the promises made to them concerning these days. See Heb 11:13; and 1Pe 1:11-12.
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 But blessed are your eyes. As the eyes of…
But blessed are your eyes. As the eyes of such as see and will not believe are miserable, so, he says, blessed are your eyes; you see my miracles, you hear my heavenly doctrines, &c. (St. Thomas Aquinas) --- Had we not read in a preceding part, that Christ exhorted his auditors to search after the knowledge of his words, we might perhaps have thought that Jesus here spoke of corporal eyes and ears; but the eyes here mentioned, seem to me to be those which can discern the mysteries of Christ. (St. Jerome in St. Thomas Aquinas)
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 But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and…
But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your cars, for they hear--that is, "Happy ye, whose eyes and ears, voluntarily and gladly opened, are drinking in the light divine."
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 16. Blessed are your eyes — You have loved…
16. Blessed are your eyes — You have loved the teacher and accepted the truth. They see — Your blessed eyes see not only the outside shell of truth, but the inner kernel. They hear — Not only the literal narrative of the parable, but its secret meaning. And that hidden meaning is the very substance of divine wisdom. It reveals the truths of the Messiah’s kingdom of grace on earth and of glory in heaven. It opens the truths of the Old Testament to the mind, and explains the mysteries dimly seen by the ancient prophets.
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 16. blessed are your eyes] The disciples have discernment…
16. blessed are your eyes] The disciples have discernment to understand the explanation which would be thrown away on the uninstructed multitude.
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 (16) Blessed are your eyes.—The words are spoken to…
(16) Blessed are your eyes.—The words are spoken to the small company of disciples in the boat. They were not as the multitude. They might see but dimly, and be slow of heart to understand, but, at least, they had eyes that looked for light, and ears that were open to the divine voice.
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 Vers. 16, 17. Parallel passage: Luk_10:23, Luk_10:24, after the…
Vers. 16, 17. Parallel passage: Luk_10:23, Luk_10:24, after the return of the seventy, and immediately following our Mat_11:25, Mat_11:27. The verses stand there, that is to say, in close connexion with the other great utterance contrasting God"s revelation of spiritual things to some and his hiding them from others. Possibly he spoke the verses only once (cf. the repetitions in the Prophets), but, in view of the frequency with which Christ"s utterances are placed out of their original connexion, the assumption should be the other way. If he really only spoke them once, we cannot be sure which the occasion was, but the possibility that they do not properly belong here is increased by the doubt whether also ver. 12 was originally spoken now.
But blessed (Mat_5:3, note) are your eyes. Christ now returns to emphasize ver. 11 a. For they see (oti blepousin). This may refer to the disciples being able to see spiritual truths before God"s special grace given them by way of reward to this effect, but this hardly suits the context from the phrase, "it is given" (ver. 12). It is, therefore, better to understand the verse to refer to their seeing and hearing things by virtue of grace given in reward for earlier faithfulness. Edersheim ("Life," 1:594) gives a striking illustration of the thought of this verse from the "Pesiqta" (edit. Buber, p. 149).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The blessedness of Christ’s followers:
The blessedness of Christ’s followers:
v. 16. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
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v. 17. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
The full and true happiness is that of having eyes and ears opened by the benign mercy of Jesus. Not only were the outward members of the disciples’ bodies blessed for being witnesses of the fulfillment of the Old Testament, of seeing Him and being in constant, intimate communion with Him, to whom the whole ancient covenant pointed forward, whom the prophets and the righteous people from Eve and Jacob to Malachi and Simeon had longed to behold, but the eyes of their understanding were enlightened by His power. They knew Jesus as their Savior, and were happy in this knowledge.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus finishes explaining to his disciples why he teaches with parables.
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But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear
Both of these statements mean the same thing. Jesus is emphasizing that they have pleased God because they have believed what Jesus has said and done. (See: Parallelism)
But blessed are your eyes, for they see
Here "eyes" refers to the whole person. AT: "You are blessed because your eyes are able to see" (See: Synecdoche)
your ... you
All occurrences of these words are plural and refer to the disciples. (See: Forms of You)
your ears, for they hear
Here "ears" refer to the whole person. You can also make clear the understood information. AT: "you are blessed because your ears are able to hear" (See: Synecdoche and Ellipsis)
Truly I say to you
"I tell you the truth." This adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.
the things that you see
You can make explicit what they have seen. AT: "the things you have seen me do" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
the things that you hear
You can make explicit what they have heard. AT: "the things you have heard me say" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
bless
amen
prophet
righteous
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 13:16-17 Jesus brought into reality what the prophets and…
13:16-17 Jesus brought into reality what the prophets and Old Testament saints desired to see and hear, that is, the fulfillment of Old Testament promises (see Isa 52:15; John 8:56; 1 Pet 1:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.