Luke 20:1-8
Luke 20:1-8. SUDDEN QUESTION OF THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 20:1-8. SUDDEN QUESTION OF THE PRIESTS AND SCRIBES... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ�, אBCD, La[341] W.H[342] The reading in A, Ti[343] &c. is ἱερεῖς. [341] La. Lachmann. [342] W.H. Westcott and Hort. [343] Ti. Tischendorf. 1. ἘΝ ΜΙΑ͂Ι ΤΩ͂Ν ἩΜΕΡΩ͂Ν. ‘_On one of the days_.’ Ἐκείνων is omitted in אBDLQ. By careful comparison of the Evangelists we find that after the Triumphal Entr... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΊΑΙ ἘΞΟΥΣΊΑΙ. ‘By what kind of authority.’ The implication is ‘you are only called a Rabbi by courtesy;’ you are not a ‘pupil of the wise;’ you are not a priest, or a scribe, or a political functionary. Yet you usurp functions which rather belong to Caiaphas, or the President of the Sanhedrin, or... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΌΓΟΝ. ‘A question.’ The divine _readiness_ and (if we may be allowed the expression) _presence of mind_ of Jesus was most conspicuously shewn on this perilous day and the next day. ΚΑῚ ΕἼΠΑΤΈ ΜΟΙ. We see from St Mark (Mark 11:30) that this emphatic expression came _after_ His question—as though to... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΞ�. Not “of men” as in A. V[348] but ‘from men.’ This was equivalent to the question—with which surely the teachers of Israel should _at once_ have been provided with an answer—was the Baptist a prophet or a seducer? If they could not answer this question they were obviously _incompetent to decide_... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΥΝΕΛΟΓΊΣΑΝΤΟ ΠΡῸΣ ἙΑΥΤΟΎΣ. The aorist implies that they at once went aside to discuss together what answer they should give. This deliberation rendered their confession of ignorance more glaring and more fatal to their claims. ἑαυτούς, _themselves_, should in logical strictness be ἀλλήλους, _one an... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΑΛΙΘΆΣΕΙ. The word is a strong compound—used here only—‘will stone us to death.’ Herod had been daunted by the same dread, Matthew 14:5; Jos. _Antt._ XVIII. 5, § 2. It illustrates the furious bursts of fanaticism to which the Jews were liable (John 8:59; John 10:31, &c.). ΠΕΠΕΙΣΜΈΝΟΣ. ‘Firmly co... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜῊ ΕἸΔΈΝΑΙ. ‘That they did not know.’ The “_could not tell_” of the A. V[349] is inaccurately introduced by way of antithesis to the next verse. A wise answer in cases of real uncertainty, as the Hebrew proverb taught—“_Learn to say I do not know_;” but a base answer when they _had_ an opinion but d... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ΔῈ ἘΓῺ ΛΈΓΩ ὙΜΙ͂Ν. If they were incompetent to decide as to the authority of the Prophet who had saluted Jesus as the Messiah, they were obviously incompetent to decide as to _His_ authority.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡῸΣ ΤῸΝ ΛΑΌΝ. But still in the hearing of the priests and scribes who had only withdrawn a little into the background (Luke 20:19; Matthew 21:32; Matthew 21:45). St Luke here omits the Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32), in which, as in this Parable, the hidden meaning—applicable in the fir... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΏΣΟΥΣΙΝ, אABL, La[344] Ti[345] &c. δῶσιν is probably a grammatical emendation. [344] La. Lachmann. [345] Ti. Tischendorf. 10. ΔΟΥ͂ΛΟΝ. The various ‘servants’ are the Judges, the better Priests, and the Prophets. ἽΝΑ … ΔΏΣΟΥΣΙΝ. This construction—ἵνα with the future indicative in a final clause—w... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΣΈΘΕΤΟ … ΠΈΜΨΑΙ. Jeremiah 44:4. Literally “_And he added to send another_”—a Hebraism, Luke 19:11; Acts 12:3; Genesis 4:2. ἈΤΙΜΆΣΑΝΤΕΣ. There is a gradation in their impious audacity. In St Matthew (Matthew 21:35) it is (1) beat, (2) killed, (3) stoned. In St Mark (Mark 12:3-5) it is (1) beat, an... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΞΈΒΑΛΟΝ. On this treatment of God’s messengers see on Luke 13:33-34 and Nehemiah 3:26; 1 Kings 22:24-27; 2 Chronicles 24:19-22; Acts 7:52; 1 Thessalonians 2:15; Hebrews 11:36-37, where the same charge is reiterated.... [ Continue Reading ]
13. The ἰδόντες at the end of the verse is omitted by אBCD, _Edd._ 13. ΤΊ ΠΟΙΉΣΩ; Genesis 1:26; Genesis 6:7. ΠΈΜΨΩ ΤῸΝ ΥἹΌΝ ΜΟΥ ΤῸΝ�. Who “took on Him the form of a servant.” Our Lord’s teaching respecting His own divine dignity advanced in distinctness as the end was approaching. ἼΣΩΣ. ‘_Perhaps... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΕΥ͂ΤΕ, Rec[346] A poetic adverb which occurs nowhere in the N.T. [346] Rec. The Textus Receptus. 14. ΔΙΕΛΟΓΊΖΟΝΤΟ. ‘_They held a consultation_.’ Godet sees in the word a reflection upon the συνελογίσαντο of the Sanhedrin in Luke 20:5. ἽΝΑ ἩΜΩ͂Ν ΓΈΝΗΤΑΙ Ἡ ΚΛΗΡΟΝΟΜΊΑ. “His Son, whom He hath appoin... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΚΒΑΛΌΝΤΕΣ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ἜΞΩ ΤΟΥ͂�. This may involve an allusion to Christ “without the gate,” Hebrews 13:12-13; John 19:17. The prophecy was meant if possible at the last hour to prevent the guilt of its own fulfilment (2 Kings 8:12-13).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΛΕΎΣΕΤΑΙ ΚΑῚ�. In Matthew 21:41 this is the answer of the people themselves to our Lord’s question. ΔΏΣΕΙ ΤῸΝ�. “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles,” Acts 13:46. ΜῊ ΓΈΝΟΙΤΟ. ‘_Might it not be_!’ Heb. _Chalîlah_. In this utterance we hear the groan of the Jewish people when the truth that they were indeed... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΜΒΛΈΨΑΣ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΙ͂Σ. ‘Looking fixedly on them,’ to add solemnity to His reference to their own Scriptures. ΤῸ ΓΕΓΡΑΜΜΈΝΟΝ. He here refers them to the very Psalm from which the Hosanna of the multitude had been taken. ΛΊΘΟΝ ὋΝ�. This is a quotation from Psalms 118:22; comp. Isaiah 28:16. The stone is... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΕΣῺΝ ἘΠ' ἘΚΕΙ͂ΝΟΝ ΤῸΝ ΛΊΘΟΝ. As the Jews did from the first, 1 Corinthians 1:23. See Isaiah 8:14-15. ΣΥΝΘΛΑΣΘΉΣΕΤΑΙ. ‘_Shall be sorely bruised_.’ The verb is poetic. ἊΝ ΠΈΣΗ. As it did on the finally impenitent Jews after Christ’s Ascension. ΛΙΚΜΉΣΕΙ ΑΥ̓ΤΌΝ. ‘_It shall winnow him_’ (Jeremiah 31:1... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΙ͂Σ ΚΑῚ ΟἹ�. So ABL, _Edd._ 19. ΠΡῸΣ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΎΣ. This decidedly shews the _primary_ sense of the Parable. As yet they hardly realized its wider significance. So when the priests and rulers saw that Jeremiah spoke against them, “Come,” said they, “and let us devise devices against Jeremiah …... [ Continue Reading ]
ὭΣΤΕ, אBCDL. Some MSS. have εἰς τὸ, which St Luke does not seem to use. 20. ΚΑῚ ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΉΣΑΝΤΕΣ. For the word used see Luke 6:7; Luke 14:1; Luke 17:20. The incident now related took place on the Tuesday in Passion-week—the Day of Temptations, or insidious questions—the last and greatest day of the p... [ Continue Reading ]
QUESTION ABOUT THE TRIBUTE MONEY... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΔΆΣΚΑΛΕ, ΟἼΔΑΜΕΝ. There is something in this fawning malice, and treacherous flattery, almost as repulsive as the kiss of Judas. It shews that these men knew well ὑποκρίνεσθαι. ΚΑῚ ΟΥ̓ ΛΑΜΒΆΝΕΙΣ ΠΡΌΣΩΠΟΝ. Galatians 2:6. Πρόσωπον, ‘a mask’; it is as though they would imply that Jesus was not only a... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΞΕΣΤΙΝ ἩΜΑ͂Σ ΚΑΊΣΑΡΙ ΦΌΡΟΝ ΔΟΥ͂ΝΑΙ Ἢ ΟΥ̓́; The question was devised with so superlative a craft that it seemed impossible for our Lord to escape. If He said ‘It is lawful,’ the _Pharisees_ hoped at once to undermine His popularity with the multitude. If He said ‘It is _not_ lawful’ (Deuteronomy 17:... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ ΔῈ ἜΔΕΙΞΑΝ ΚΑῚ ΕἾΠΕΝ is added by אBL, La[347] In this and many other instances the text has been modified by the scribes, in an unimportant manner, from the parallels. [347] La. Lachmann. 24. ΔΕΊΞΑΤΈ ΜΟΙ ΔΗΝΆΡΙΟΝ. A denarius. See on Luke 7:41. We see from Mark 12:15-16 that they were obliged to... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΌΔΟΤΕ. ‘_Pay as their due_.’ ΤᾺ ΚΑΊΣΑΡΟΣ ΚΑΊΣΑΡΙ. St Paul very clearly enforces the same duty in Romans 13:6-7. The ‘tribute’ in Matthew 17:24 was quite different; it was the Temple didrachma. ΤᾺ ΤΟΥ͂ ΘΕΟΥ͂ ΤΩ͂Ι ΘΕΩ͂Ι. To Caesar you owe what he demands in _his own_ coinage; to the Temple the tri... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΑΥΜΆΣΑΝΤΕΣ. Comp. Luke 2:47. They thought that escape was impossible for Him; and yet He instantly shatters their deeply-laid plot to pieces by shewing that they—Pharisees and Herodians alike—_had decided the question already_ (according to their own rule “He whose coin is current is king of the la... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΙΝΕΣ ΤΩ͂Ν ΣΑΔΔΟΥΚΑΊΩΝ. Matthew 3:7. On the Sadducees see the Excursus on Jewish Sects. They were undeterred by the discomfiture of the Pharisees and Herodians, and perhaps their plot had been so arranged as coincidently to humiliate our Lord, if they could, by a difficult question, and so to shake... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOMFITURE OF THE SADDUCEES... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΩΫΣΗ͂Σ ἜΓΡΑΨΕΝ ἩΜΙ͂Ν. The law of levirate marriage. Deuteronomy 23:4. See on Luke 3:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἙΠΤᾺ ΟΥ̓͂Ν Κ.Τ.Λ. In Matthew 22:25 it runs “there were _with us_,” as though they were alluding to an actual case.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ Ὁ ΔΕΎΤΕΡΟΣ. This question about the husband of the “Sevenfold widow” was one of the materialistic objections to the Resurrection, which as an insipid ‘difficulty’ had often been discussed in Jewish Schools. It was excessively commonplace, and even if Jesus had given the answer which contented th... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΗ͂Ι ΟΥ̓͂Ν�. The forcible order of BL is “_the woman, therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become of the seven_?”... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ ΥἹΟῚ ΤΟΥ͂ ΑἸΩ͂ΝΟΣ ΤΟΎΤΟΥ, i.e. all who live in the present dispensation. In Luke 16:8 the sense is more special. Here, as often elsewhere, the word rendered ‘world’ is αἰών, which properly means ‘age.’ It is not the κόσμος or material Universe, but the Universe regarded subjectively, i.e. the Tim... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΑΞΙΩΘΈΝΤΕΣ. Comp. Luke 21:36; Revelation 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:5. _Sane magna dignatio_. Bengel. ΑἸΩ͂ΝΟΣ ἘΚΕΊΝΟΥ ΤΥΧΕΙ͂Ν. Literally, “_to attain to that world-age_,” i.e. the genuine inheritors of the future aeon beyond the grave, Luke 14:14; Philippians 3:11. The answer of Jesus is not only ful... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓́ΤΕ ΓΆΡ. This is the better reading; _neque enim_, ‘for neither,’ &c. “There shall be no more death,” Revelation 21:4. “The dead shall be raised _incorruptible_,” 1 Corinthians 15:52. ἸΣΆΓΓΕΛΟΙ. Like the angels in being immortal, but superior to them in privileges (Hebrews 1:4; Hebrews 2:5-8; 1 J... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΓΕΊΡΟΝΤΑΙ. Literally, “_are being raised_”—the present of eternal certainty. ΚΑῚ ΜΩΫΣΗ͂Σ. The argument is _à fortiori_, as though our Lord would say “the Prophets prove it abundantly, but I will not quote them. You quote Moses to throw doubt on the Resurrection; but _even Moses_, &c.” ἘΜΉΝΥΣΕΝ. ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
ΝΕΚΡΩ͂Ν�. ‘Of dead beings, but of living beings.’ Here, as always, in interpreting the Old Test, our Lord pierces to the heart of the spiritual meaning. The Pharisees had endeavoured to draw proofs of immortality from the Law, i.e. from Numbers 15:31. In later times they borrowed this proof from Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΙΝΕΣ ΤΩ͂Ν ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΈΩΝ. Even the Pharisees could not fail to see the luminous wisdom and spiritual depth of our Lord’s reply, and while _all_ of them would rejoice at this confutation of their opponents, some of them would have the candour to express their approval. Truth will always offend some, but... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ΚΈΤΙ … ἘΤΌΛΜΩΝ. The total collapse of their stratagems enhanced our Lord’s peril, by shewing how impossible it was for these rich and learned “pupils of the wise” to pose themselves as superiors to Christ in wisdom and knowledge. Assumed contempt was deepened into real hatred.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΌΝ. ‘The Christ.’ See John 7:42; Psalms 132:11; Jeremiah 23:5; Micah 5:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SCRIBES, SADDUCEES, AND PHARISEES REDUCED TO A CONFESSION OF IGNORANCE... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΒΊΒΛΩΙ ΨΑΛΜΩ͂Ν. Psalms 110:1. The Jews regarded it as a Messianic Psalm, and in Luke 20:3 the LXX[352] renders, “From the womb, _before the morning star_, did I beget thee.” [352] LXX. Septuagint. Ὁ ΚΎΡΙΟΣ ΤΩ͂Ι ΚΥΡΊΩΙ ΜΟΥ. In the Hebrew it is “Jehovah said to my Lord” (_Adonai_). ἘΚ ΔΕΞΙΩ͂Ν ΜΟ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠΟΠΌΔΙΟΝ ΤΩ͂Ν ΠΟΔΩ͂Ν ΣΟΥ. “He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet,” 1 Corinthians 15:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΩ͂Σ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂ ΥἹΌΣ ἘΣΤΙΝ; To a Jew it was inconceivable that a father, or ancestor, should call his son “Lord.” The only possible solution—that the Messiah was only “made of the seed of David _after the flesh_” (Romans 1:3) was one which they had never chosen to accept. They, like the Ebionites, expe... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΟΝΤΟΣ … ΠΑΝΤῸΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ΛΑΟΥ͂. ‘While all the people were listening.’ Here followed the final rupture of Jesus with the authorities—political, social, and religious—of His nation. They had now made their own condemnation inevitable, and had justly provoked that great Denunciation (Matthew 23) on whi... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΕΛΌΝΤΩΝ. In classical Greek this would rather have been expressed by φιλούντων, but in Hellenistic Greek θέλειν τι = _delectarire_, Winer, p. 587. ΠΕΡΙΠΑΤΕΙ͂Ν ἘΝ ΣΤΟΛΑΙ͂Σ. With special conspicuousness of fringes, Numbers 15:38-40. “The supreme tribunal,” said R. Nachman, “will duly punish _hypocri... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΕΣΘΊΟΥΣΙΝ Κ.Τ.Λ. Josephus tells us that the Pharisees had absolute sway in the women’s apartments, Jos. _Antt._ XVIII. 2, § 4. We know from mediæval history how common is the crime of these religious _haeredipetae_. ΠΡΟΦΆΣΕΙ. ‘In pretence.’ Their hypocrisy was so notorious that even the Talmud r... [ Continue Reading ]