for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv42–45 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave…
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Ver. 42. For I was an hungred, &c.] Ill works are the just causes of damnation, as being perfectly evil. But good works can be no such causes of salvation, because due debts to God, and at the best imperfect.
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.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v42 Observe here, 1. How Christ lays the charge of…
Observe here, 1. How Christ lays the charge of the wicked’s damnation upon themselves alone, Ye gave me no meat, ye took me not in: man, and man alone, is the cause of his own destruction and damnation.
Observe, 2. The kind of sin charged on the wicked at the great day.
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Consider it, 1. In general, it is a sin of omission.
Whence learn, That sins of omission are certainly damning as well as sins of commission, or want of love to Christ and his members.
Learn thence, That one reigning sin, one prevailing corruption, is enough to damn a person, because it deprives a man of the grace of the gospel, and excludes him from all the benefit of the promises.
Note lastly, If such as do not give to Christ in his members shall be miserable at the great day, what will the condition of them be that take from them, who strip and starve them, who persecute and hate them, who imprison or banish them? If the uncharitable shall scarcely be saved, yea, shall certainly be damned, where shall the unmerciful and cruel appear?
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 vv42–45 I was a stranger, and ye took me not…
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in,.... Did not take the poor members of Christ into their houses, and take care of them in their families, when they were obliged to flee from their places of abode, or wandered about preaching the Gospel; and who must have perished in the streets, if others, that bore the Christian name; had not been more compassionate than they:
naked, and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison, and ye visited me not: their conduct, behaviour, and character, are just the reverse of the righteous, and therefore it is no wonder that their sentence is different.
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 v44 Then will they answer - So the endeavour to…
Then will they answer - So the endeavour to justify themselves, will remain with the wicked even to that day!
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv42–44 Verse 42. I was an hungered, and ye gave…
Verse 42. I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat] I put it in your power to do good, and ye would not. A variety of occasions offered themselves to you, but ye neglected them all, so that my blessings in your hands, not being improved, according to my order, became a curse to you.
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 v44 Mat 25:44-46. Then shall they answer, Lord, when saw…
Mat 25:44-46. Then shall they answer, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, &c. — So their endeavour to justify themselves will remain with the wicked even to that day! Perhaps, however, it may not be intended here to signify that the wicked shall make this answer in words: it is probably, rather, to be considered as the language of their hearts, which Christ perceiving, shall reply to as in the next verse. Multitudes will, no doubt, remember that they had often heard what reply will be made to such a plea: God grant that none who read it here may be in the number of those to whom it will be made! These shall go away into everlasting punishment — So the word κολασιν properly signifies, and not destruction, or annihilation, as some would understand it; and the righteous into life eternal — Either, therefore, the punishment is strictly eternal, or the reward is not; the very same expression in the original being applied to the former as to the latter. It appears, that the Judge will speak first to the righteous in the audience of the wicked; and then to the wicked, who shall go away into everlasting fire in the sight of the righteous. Thus the damned shall have no view of the everlasting life, but the righteous will see the punishment of the ungodly. It is not only particularly observable here, 1st, that the punishment lasts as long as the reward: but, 2d, that this punishment is so far from ceasing at the end of the world, that it does not begin till then. To conclude, the issue of the judgment, as it is represented in this paragraph, is awful beyond description. If the meaning of this last short sentence were fully understood and duly considered, what an impression would it make upon the minds of men! Everlasting punishment! Eternal life! What is there that is not comprehended in these words? And how miserable are they who dare to venture their souls on the supposition that the important word αιωνιος, which is the same in both places, signifies a limited duration in either!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v45 Inasmuch as ye did it not ... - By…
Inasmuch as ye did it not ... - By not doing good to the “followers” of Christ, they showed that they had no real love to Him. By not doing good to the poor and needy, to the stranger and the prisoner, they showed that they had not his spirit, and were not like him, and were unfit for his kingdom. Let it be observed here that the public ground of their condemnation is the neglect of duty, or because “they did it not.” We are not to suppose that they will not also be condemned for their open and positive sins. See Rom 2:9; Eph 5:5; Col 3:5-6; 1Co 6:9-10; Rev 21:8; Psa 9:17. But their neglect of doing good to him and his people may be the “public” reason of condemning them:
Because he wished to give pre-eminence to those virtues, to excite his followers to do them. People should be punished for neglect as well as for positive sin. Sin is a violation of the law, or refusing to do what God commands. Nothing better shows the true state of the heart than the proper performance of those duties, and the true character can be as well tested by neglecting them as by open crimes.
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If it is asked how the pagan who never heard of the name of Christ can be justly condemned in this manner, it may be answered:
1.That Christ acknowledges all the poor, and needy, and strangers of every land, as his brethren. See Mat 25:40.
2.That by neglecting the duties of charity they show that they have not his spirit are not like him.
3.That these duties are clearly made known by conscience and by the light of nature, as well as by revelation, and people may therefore be condemned for the neglect of them.
4.That they are not condemned for not believing in Christ, of whom they have not heard, but for a wrong spirit, neglect of duty, open crime; for being unlike Christ, and therefore unfit for heaven.
One of the least of these - These on my right hand. My brethren. Those who are saved.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v42 Gave me not. Jesus Christ chargeth them not here…
Gave me not. Jesus Christ chargeth them not here with a want of faith, but with a want of good works. They certainly believed, but they attended not to good works; as if a dead faith, i.e. a faith not working by charity, could bring them to heaven. (St. Augustine, de fide oper. chap. xv. and ad Dulcit. q. 2. ad 4.) --- Jesus Christ suffers his members to want, in mercy to them, and to afford others an opportunity of shewing their love for him, and of redeeming their sins by alms-deeds, as was said to the king of the Chaldeans, peccata tua eleemosynis redime. (Daniel iv.)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv44–45 44. They also answer him — Such is the…
44. They also answer him — Such is the answer that wicked men’s hearts are now prepared to give him. Jesus puts it into their mouths here to show of how little worth it is in the trying time. What wicked man now believes he is deserving everlasting fire? What great hurt has he done? How cruel it is, and impossible to believe, that the everlasting company of the devil and his angels is a fit destiny for him? Christ shows in the answer what is his view of the solemn matter.
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 v45 45. Inasmuch as ye did it not] Men will…
45. Inasmuch as ye did it not] Men will be judged not only for evil done, but for good left undone.
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 v44 (44) When saw we thee . . .?—There is,…
(44) When saw we thee . . .?—There is, as before, an unconsciousness of the greatness of the things that had been done for good or evil. Men thought that they were only neglecting their fellow men, and were, it may be, thinking that they had wronged no man. It is significant that the sins here are, all of them, sins of omission. As in the case of the parable of the Talents, the opportunities (here those that are common to all men, as there those that attached to some office or ministry in the Church) have simply not been used.
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 vv42, 44, 45 Vers. 42, 43. The Lord gives the ground of…
Vers. 42, 43. The Lord gives the ground of the sentence, which proceeds on the same terms as the former one. The crimes for which these souls are punished are those of omission and negligence; they failed to per form the most elementary duties of charity and brotherly love which conscience and natural religion enjoin; they had lived utterly selfish and unprofitable lives. If sins of omission are thus punished, we may infer that positive transgressions shall meet with still heavier retribution.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv42, 44, 45 42, 43. For I was an hungered, etc. The…
42, 43. For I was an hungered, etc. The reasons of this awful fate are given. The judgment of the wicked is pronounced, not for what they have done, but what they neglected to do.
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 v44 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus finishes telling his disciples how he will judge people when he returns at the end time.
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General Information:
This is the end of the part of the story that began in Matthew 23:1, where Jesus teaches about salvation and the final judgment.
they will also answer
"those on his left will also answer"
for one of the least of these
"for any of the least important ones of my people"
you did not do for me
"I consider that you did not do it for me" or "I was really the one whom you did not help"
These will go away into eternal punishment
"The King will send these to a place where they will receive punishment that never ends"
but the righteous into eternal life
The understood information can be made clear. AT: "but the King will send the righteous to the place where they will live forever with God" (See: Ellipsis)
the righteous
This nominative adjective can be stated as an adjective. AT: "the righteous people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
translationWords
lord
servant
amen
eternity
punish
righteous
life
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.