Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 4:25

ὃς γὰρ ἔχει. Another proverb-like utterance which is used with different applications (Matthew 13:12; Matthew 25:29; Luke 19:26). We have a parallel saying, which holds good of spiritual progress, as well as of worldly advancement, “Nothing succeeds like success.” The γάρ introduces a reason for the previous statement about measure for measure.

ὃς οὐκ ἔχει. Christ often utters startling sayings which arrest attention and make people think; e.g. that self-seeking is self-destruction, that the dead must be left to bury their own dead, that those who mourn are blessed, etc. The Beatitudes are paradoxes; they tell us that blessedness begins where man deems that misery begins. And how can a man be deprived of that which he does not possess? The answer is that something is taken from him, which he never used, and therefore never really possessed: or that something is taken, because he does not possess something else. To some extent he can grasp and appreciate the truth; but he has no desire to increase this power, and he has no desire to learn more of the truth. At last he loses the power of grasping and appreciating it. Darwin’s losing the power of appreciating music and poetry illustrates the principle. Cf. Juv. iii. 208,

Nil habuit Codrus, quis enim negat? et tamen illud
Perdidit infelix totum nihil.

Lk. lessens the paradox by substituting δοκεῖ ἔχειν for ἔχει.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 4:25

Old Testament

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