Matthew 11:19

The change from τέκνων to ἔργων is not certain, it is however supported by אB*, by Jerome’s testimony, and by some Versions.

19. For this adversative use of καί, see note ch. Matthew 1:19.

δικαιοῦν. Lit. ‘to make right,’ of a person to do him justice, give him what he deserves, either punishment (Thuc. III. 40. Herod. I. 100), or (later) acquittal: here, ‘was acquitted of folly.’ The aorist marks the result, or is the aorist of a customary act—a meaning expressed by the present tense in English.

ἡ σοφία is ‘divine wisdom,’ God regarded as the All-wise. The conception of a personified Wisdom is a growth of later Jewish thought, bringing with it many beautiful associations of Jewish literature, and hallowed by the use of the word in this sense by Christ.

ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων. See critical notes, supra. ἀπό, which strictly marks result, is used of the instrument and of the agent in later Greek. Here the sense is: ‘the results justify the plan or method of divine providence.’

If the reading of the textus receptus be taken, τέκνα τῆς σοφίας = ‘the divinely wise.’ The spiritual recognise the wisdom of God, both in the austerity of John and in the loving mercy of Jesus, who condescends to eat with publicans and sinners.