CHAPTER 25.
THREE ESCHATOLOGICAL PARABLES.
These parables (especially the first and third) are appropriately
introduced by Mt. at this place, whether actually uttered in immediate
connection with the Olivet discourse, or during the Passion week, or
otherwise. In his reproduction of the book of Logi... [ Continue Reading ]
τότε, then, connecting what follows in the evangelist's mind with
the time referred to in the previous parable, _i.e._, with the
_Parusia_. δέκα παρθένοις : _ten_ virgins, not as the
usual number as to that no information is available but as one coming
readily to the mind of a Jew, as we might in a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Parable of the Ten Virgins_, in Mt. only.... [ Continue Reading ]
πέντε μωραὶ, πέντε φρόνιμοι : equal numbers of
both, not intended to represent the proportion in the spiritual
sphere; foolish, wise, not bad and good, but imprudent and prudent,
thoughtless and thoughtful. Even the “foolish” might be very
attractive, lovable girls; perhaps might have been the favou... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔλαιον : the statement about the foolish, indicating the nature
or proof of their folly, is that they took their lamps but did not
take oil. None? or only not a supply sufficient for an emergency
possible delay? Goebel (_Die Parabeln Jesu_) decides for the former
view. His idea of the whole situatio... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν τοῖς ἀγγείοις : the wise took oil _in the
vessels_, _i.e._, in vessels, with an extra supply, distinct from the
cups at the top of the torches containing oil.... [ Continue Reading ]
χρονίζοντος τ. ν.: no reason given for delay, a
possibility in natural life, _the_ point on which the spiritual
lesson, “be ready,” hinges. ἐνύσταζαν, they nodded,
aorist, because a transient state; ἐκάθευδον, and remained
for some time in slumber, imperfect, because the state continuous.
Carr (Camb... [ Continue Reading ]
ἰδοὺ ὁ νυμφίος : at length at midnight a cry is raised
by some one _not_ asleep _lo! the bridegroom_; laconic, rousing, heard
by all sleepers. ἐξέρχεσθε εἰς ἀπάντησιν, go
forth to meeting: no words that can be dispensed with here either. Go
forth whence? from the bride's house (Goebel); from some in... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκόσμησαν, trimmed, or proceeded to trim, for which the
imperfect would have been more suitable. In the case of the five
foolish it was an action attempted rather than performed, begun rather
than completed.... [ Continue Reading ]
σβέννυνται, are _going_ out, as in R.V [135]
[135] Revised Version.... [ Continue Reading ]
μήποτε, lest, implying, and giving a reason for, an unexpressed
declinature. Kypke renders, _perhaps, fortasse_, citing examples from
classics, also Loesner, giving examples from Philo. Elsner suggests
that ὁρᾶτε or βλέπετε is understood before μήποτε.
Schott, putting a comma after ὑμῖν, and omittin... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπερχομένων, etc. The foolish took the advice and went to
buy, and _in so doing acted in character_; foolish in that as in not
having a good supply of oil. _They should have gone on without oil_,
the great matter being to be in time. By reckoning this as a point in
their folly we bring the foolish v... [ Continue Reading ]
κύριε, κύριε, etc., master, master, open to us; a last,
urgent, desperate appeal, knocking having preceded (Luke 13:25)
without result. The fear that they are not going to be admitted has
seized their hearts.... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς, I do not know you; in the natural sphere
not a judicial penalty for arriving too late, but an inference from
the late arrival that those without cannot belong to the bridal party.
The solemn tone, however (ἀμὴν λ. ὑ.), shows that the
spiritual here invades the natural. Pricaeus refers... [ Continue Reading ]
he moral, γρηγορεῖτε, watch; not directed against sleep
(Matthew 25:5) but against lack of forethought. The reference of the
parable to the _Parusia_, according to Weiss (Meyer), is imposed upon
it by the evangelist.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὥσπερ : suggests a comparison between the parabolic history and
the course of things in the kingdom, but the apodosis carrying out the
comparison is omitted. γὰρ implies that the point of comparison is
in the view of the evangelist the same as in the preceding parable.
ἀποδημῶν, about to go abroad.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Parable of the Talents_ (_cf._ Luke 19:11-28), according to Weiss
(Mt.-Ev., 535) and Wendt (L. J., i., 145) not a _Parusia_ -parable
originally, but spoken at some other time, and inculcating, like the
parable of the unjust steward, skill and fidelity in the use of
earthly goods.... [ Continue Reading ]
πέντε, δύο, ἕν : the number of talents given in each case
corresponded to the master's judgment of the capacity (δύναμιν)
of each man. All were supposed to be trustworthy and more or less
capable. Even one talent represented a considerable sum, especially
for that period when a _denarius_ was a day'... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰργάσατο ἐν αὐτοῖς, traded in or with them, used
in classics also in this sense but without any preposition before the
dative of the material. ἄλλα πέντε, other five, which speaks
to a considerable period in the ordinary course of trade.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὡσαύτως, in like manner; that absolutely the same proportion
between capital and gain should be maintained in the two cases was not
likely but possible, and the supposition is convenient for the
application.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὤρυξεν γῆν, dug up the earth, and hid the silver of his
master. Not dishonest the master had not misjudged as to that but
indolent, unenterprising, timid. What he did was often done for
safety. The master might have done it himself, but he wanted increase
as well as safety. In Lk.'s parable the same... [ Continue Reading ]
πολὺν χρόνον : the master returns after _a long time_, an
important expression in a parable relating to the _Parusia_, as
implying long delay. συναίρει λόγον, maketh a reckoning,
as in Matthew 18:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 25:19-23.... [ Continue Reading ]
he first servant gives his report: bringing five and five, he presents
them to his master, and says: ἴδε, as if inviting him to satisfy
himself by counting.... [ Continue Reading ]
εὖ, well done! excellent! = εὖγε in classics, which is the
approved reading in Luke 19:17. Meyer takes it as an adverb,
qualifying πιστός, but standing in so emphatic a position at the
head of the sentence and so far from the word it is supposed to
qualify it inevitably has the force of an interject... [ Continue Reading ]
raise and recompense awarded to the second servant in identical terms:
reward the same in recognition of equal devotion and fidelity with
unequal ability a just law of the Kingdom of God, the second law
bearing on “Work and Wages” there. For the first, _vide_ on
Matthew 20:1-16. Euthymius remarks ἴσ... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰληφώς, the perfect participle, instead of λαβὼν in
Matthew 25:20, because the one fact as to him is that he is the man
who has _received_ a talent of which he has made no _use_. (So Weiss
in Meyer.) ἔγνων σε ὅτι, for ἔγνων ὅτι συ, by
attraction. σκληρὸς, “hard”: grasping, ungenerous, taking
all to... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 25:24-30.... [ Continue Reading ]
φοβηθεὶς, etc., fearing: loss of the talent by trade; he
thought the one thing to make sure of in the case of such a master,
was that what he had got might be _safe_. ἐν τῇ γῇ : the
primitive bank of security. _Vide_ Matthew 13:44. ἴδε ἔχεις
τὸ σόν, see you have what belongs to you; no idea that the... [ Continue Reading ]
πονηρὲ (_vide_ on Matthew 6:23), wicked” is too general a
meaning: mean-spirited or grudging would suit the connection better.
πονηρὸς is the fitting reply to σκληρὸς, and the
opposite of ἀγαθὸς. You call me hard, I call you a churl: with
no heart for your work, unlike your fellow-servant who put hi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔδει, etc., you ought in that case to have cast my silver to the
money-changers, or bankers. That could have been done without trouble
or risk, and with profit to the master. ἐγὼ, apparently intended
to be emphatic, suggesting a distribution of offices between servant
and master = yours to put it in... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄρατε, etc., take the one talent from the man who made _no_ use
of it; and give it to the man who will make _most_ use of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
eneral principle on which the direction rests pointing to a law of
life, hard but inexorable.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀχρεῖον, useless. Palairet renders _injuriosum_; Kypke,
_improbum_. Being useless, he was both injurious and unjust. The
useless man does wrong all round, and there is no place for him either
in this world or in the Kingdom of God. His place is in the outer
darkness.
Difference of opinion prevails... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Judgment programme_. Much diversity of opinion has prevailed in
reference to this remarkable passage; as to the subjects of the
judgment, and the authenticity of this judgment programme as a
professed _logion_ of Jesus. Are the judged all mankind, Christian and
non-Christian, or Christians only... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅταν δὲ, the description following recalls Matthew 24:30, to
which the ὅταν seems to refer.... [ Continue Reading ]
πάντα τὰ ἔθνη naturally suggests the heathen peoples as
distinct from Jews, though the latter may be included, notwithstanding
the fact that in one respect their judgment day had already come
(Matthew 24:15-22). ἀφοριεῖ : first a process of separation
as in the interpretation of the parable of the t... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ στήσει, etc., the bare placing of the parties already
judges, the good on the right, the evil on the left; sheep, emblems of
the former; goats, of the latter. Why? No profit from goats, much from
sheep; from their wool, milk, lambs, says Chrys., Hom. lxxix. Lust and
evil odour secure for the goa... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, my Father's
blessed ones, the participle being in effect a substantive.
κληρονομήσατε, etc.: this clause Weiss regards as a proof
that the parable originally referred to disciples, as for them only
could the kingdom be said to be prepared from the foundation of the
wor... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπείνασα, ἐδίψησα, ξένος ἤμην : hungry,
thirsty, a stranger. The claims created by these situations are
universally recognised though often neglected; to respond to them is a
duty of “common humanity”. συνηγάγετέ με, ye received
me (into your house) (_cf._ Judges 19:18, οὐκ ἔστιν
ἀνὴρ συνάγων με εἰς... [ Continue Reading ]
γυμνὸς, ἠσθένησα, ἐν φυλακῇ : deeper degrees
of misery demanding higher degrees of charity; naked = ill clad,
relief more costly than in case of hunger or thirsty sick, calling for
sympathy prompting to visits of succour or consolation; in prison, a
situation at once discreditable and repulsive, dem... [ Continue Reading ]
κύριε : not necessarily spoken by disciples supposed to know or
believe in Jesus (Weiss). The title fits the judicial dignity of the
person addressed by whomsoever used. In disclaiming the praise
accorded, those who call the Judge κύριος virtually deny
personal acquaintance with Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐφʼ ὅσον, n so far as = καθʼ ὅσον (Hebrews 7:20),
used of time in Matthew 9:15. ἑνὶ … ἐλαχίστων, the
Judge's brethren spoken of as a body apart, not _subjects_, but rather
_instruments_, of judgment. This makes for the non-Christian position
of the judged. The brethren are the Christian poor and nee... [ Continue Reading ]
κατηραμένοι, cursed, not _the_ cursed (οἱ wanting), and
without τοῦ πατρός μου. God has no cursed ones. εἰς
τὸ πῦρ, etc., the eternal fire is represented as prepared not
for the condemned men, but for the devil and his angels. Wendt
brackets the clause κατηραμένοι … ἀγγέλοις
αὐτοῦ to suggest that as... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 25:42-43, imply negative all the statements contained in
Matthew 25:35-36.... [ Continue Reading ]
repeats in summary form the reply of the δίκαιοι, _utatis
mutandis_, rapidly enumerating the states of need, and disclaiming,
with reference to all, neglect of service, οὐ
διηκονήσαμέν σοι; Matthew 25:45 repeats Matthew 25:40
with the omission of τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου and the addition
of οὐκ before ἐποιήσ... [ Continue Reading ]
κόλασιν, here and in 1 John 4:18 (ὁ φόβος κόλασιν
ἔχει), from κολάζω = mutilation or pruning, hence
suggestive of corrective rather than of vindictive punishment as its
tropical meaning. The use of this term in this place is one of the
exegetical grounds rested on by those who advocate the “larger
h... [ Continue Reading ]