Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Matthew Capítulo 7

Matthew 7:3. And why beholdest thou— Τι βλεπεις . "Why dost thou observe, or take notice of?" For the original word βλεπεις here signifies not only to be acquainted with other people's faults, but to pry into them, with a design to censure and reprove them. Eye here, as in ch. Mat 5:29 and Mat 6:22 signifies the intention, which is the usual subject of rash censures; because actions are self-evident, and not so liable to misconstruction, as the intention wherewith they are performed. This latter is not apparent, and therefore leaves room for that rash judgment which our Lord had just before prohibited. The word which we render mote signifies a splinter or shiver of wood; in Latin festuca, whence the English fescue (see Johnson's Dictionary). This, and the beam as its opposite, were proverbially used by the Jews to denote small infirmities and gross faults; each of which proportionably obstruct the moral discernment. See Stockius on the word δοκος, Heylin, and Horace, Sat, 3: lib. 1: Matthew 7:26.

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Matthew 7:4. Let me pull out the mote, &c.— Hold still, and I will take the mote out of thine eye. This seems to be the exact meaning of the words Αφες εκβαλω in the original, which, translated thus literally, elegantly intimates, how ready men are to shrink from reproof. The simile here used implies, that it is as absurd for a bad man to set up for a reprover of others, as it would be for one who is almost blind himself to pretend to perform operations on other men's eyes. How wilt thou say, means, "How wilt thou have the confidence to say?" See Doddridge, and Beausobre and Lenfant.

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Matthew 7:5. Thou hypocrite— As by the eye we judge of things relating to the body, so by the understanding we judge of things pertaining to the soul. You may therefore lay this down as fixed and certain, that the more grace and holiness you yourself possess, the better will you be able to judge of your brother's faults; and the better qualified, both in point of skill and authority, to reclaim him through the grace of God. Your judgment of his character and actions will be so much the more charitable, and for that reason so much the more just. Your rebuke will be so much the more mild, prudent, and winning, and your authority to press the necessity of regeneration and reformation upon him so much the more weighty. It is hypocrisy to pretend a zeal for others, if we have not first had it for ourselves. True zeal is uniform, and, in dependence on divine grace, begins within to remove the beam from our own eye; which is its proper and peculiar work, and a necessary qualification for reforming others. Yet even when it is so qualified, it must still proceed with a prudent caution, as our Lord instructs us in the next verse.

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Matthew 7:6. Give not that which is holy, &c.— Lest these trample,—and those turn again and tear you. There is a similar maxim to this in the Talmudical writings: "Do not cast pearls before swine;" to which is added, by way of explanation, "Do not offer wisdom to one who knows not the price of it." This was one reason why our Saviour taught in parables. Compare Acts 13:45-46.

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Matthew 7:7. Ask, &c.— There is often a latent connection in the discourses of our Lord, which obviates difficulties and answers doubts that may arise from what has been said; as here, when he had taught how they who take upon them to instruct others ought to be qualified, and had cautioned them who were so qualified not to prostitute the precious truths of religion to such as were not in a condition to profit by them;—a doubt might justly arise in their minds, how they should be able to discern who were proper or not proper subjects of admonition; and to answer this, he subjoins what immediately follows: Ask, and it shall be given you. When the case is dubious, and the monitor himself so far purified by grace as to have no beam in his own eye, there will be no danger of enthusiasm, if, after lifting up his heart to the Father of lights, he in simplicity does what he believes tobe the will of God. See Heylin. But, though this be the immediate connection of the words, they may be understood in a more general sense, as referring to all mankind; teaching us, that God always grants our requests, provided we ask in faith, and pray for what is agreeable to his will. See 1Jn 5:14 and compare John 9:31. See Calmet.

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Matthew 7:9. Or what man, &c.— Is there any man among you? Blackwall. And indeed what one man is there among you? Doddridge; who observes upon this verse, "Young preachers I hope will remark, how much life and force it adds to these discourses of our Lord, that they are directed so closely through the whole of them, as an immediate address to his hearers; and are not loose and general harangues in the manner of those essays which have of late grown so fashionable in pulpits. If any are become too polite to learn true oratory from Christ, I wish they would at least learn it from Demosthenes, who, I doubt not, would have admired the elegance of this sermon."

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Matthew 7:11. If ye then, being evil— The words Τις εξ υμων, which of you, in the 9th verse, are well explained by this: "If," says our Lord, "you, imperfect and evil as you are, and some of you perhaps tenacious, froward, and unkind, readily give good gifts to your children when they cry for them; how much rather will the great God, who is perfect in goodness, and unbounded in loving-kindness, bestow blessings on his children, who endeavour to resemble him in his perfections, and for that end ask the assistance of his Holy Spirit?" for by good things are meant the true goods, Luk 11:13 the gifts of the Holy Ghost; whatever in general is proper and necessary for them, and will prove to them a real good.

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Matthew 7:12. Therefore, all things, &c.— The Ουν , Therefore, is by no means a mere expletive in this passage, for there is a force in the connection beyond what has been generally observed. Because our Saviour was referring his hearers, observes Macknight, to what passed within themselves, he took occasionto engraft upon those feelings one of the noblest, plainest pieces of morality, which Doddridge thus connects with the preceding verses: "Being animated, therefore, by his goodness, study to express your gratitude for it, byyour integrity and kindness to your fellow-creatures; and take it as a most sacred rule, All things, &c. Treat men in every instance just as you would think it reasonable to be treated by them, if you were in their circumstances, and they in yours; for this is in effect the summary and abstract of all the humane and social virtues recommended in the moral precepts of the law and the prophets, and it was one of the greatest ends of both to bring men to this humane [divine] and equitable temper: I say one of the greatest, that this may be reconciled with our Lord's declaring the love of God to be the first and great commandment, ch. Matthew 22:37-38. And it is indeed a most absurd and fatal error to imagine, that the regulation of social life is the only end of religion." We may just observe, that this precept, which includes in it the rules of equity, justice, and even of charity, was familiar to the Jews, and one of theirmaxims. See Tob 4:15. And a similar precept has been delivered by several heathens writers; many quotations from whom the reader will find by referring to Grotius and Wetstein on the place. Thus far proceeds the doctrinal part of the sermon: the exhortation to practise it begins at the next verse. See Bengelius. The reader will find in Bishop Atterbury and Dr. Evans's Discourses the sense, reasonableness, and use of this golden law illustrated in a manner which deserves the most attentive perusal.

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Matthew 7:15. Beware of false prophets— The connection here is remarkable, says Dr. Heylin. One characteristic of false prophets, that is, false preachers, is, that they widen the narrow way. It is their prophesying, their teaching the broad way, rather than their walking in it themselves, which is here chiefly spoken of. All those are false prophets who preach any other way than that which our Lord has marked out. A wolf in sheep's clothing is grown into a proverb, for a minister or pastor who makes a great profession of religion, yet cannot dissemble so well as not to be discovered by attentive observation; which was just the character of the Pharisees in our Saviour's days. See ch. Matthew 23:23-28. Luke 11:39-42.

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Matthew 7:21. Not everyone that saith, &c.— That is, "Among those who acknowledge me for the Messiah, none but such as do the will of God shall be admitted into his kingdom:" not a bare profession of religion, but a conscientious performance of the duties of it, as the fruits of living faith in him, will stand the test in the great day of account. Here the kingdom of heaven must signify that of glory above. Compare ch. Matthew 8:11. Luk 13:28 and Olearius on the text.

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Matthew 7:22. In that day— That is, the day of judgment so called by way of eminence. Instead of devils, Dr. Heylin reads daemons; for as an evil spirit is called by two different names in the original; namely διαβολος, where it is spoken of as the tempter or accuser of mankind, and διαμων, where bodily possessions are spoken of, it would be proper to render the first by devil, and the second by daemon. There certainly is a material difference, though we can give no satisfactory account of it. Have we not prophesied, in this place, means preached; and indeed they are often synonymous terms in the New Testament. Bad men, on some occasions, have, in the wisdom of Providence, been commissioned by God to signify his pleasure, and have been furnished with powers to prove their commission; witness Judas Iscariot, who was admitted into the college of apostles by our Lord himself. Prophesying and preaching, ejecting of devils, and other miracles are mentioned, to shew that no gift, endowment, or accomplishment whatsoever, without faith and holiness, will avail with God;—a caution very proper at all times, and particularly in those days, when the gifts of the Spirit were to be bestowed in such plenty on those who made profession of Christianity. See Macknight and Calmet.

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Matthew 7:23. I never knew you— To know frequently signifies, in Scripture, to acknowledge or approve. The meaning is, "Though I called you to be my servants, and you professed yourselves such, I never knew you to be such, nor approved of you. I knew indeed that ye were the slaves of other masters,—mammon, your own belly, and ambition; therefore, as your lives have been contrary both to my precepts and your own profession, I will have nothing to do with you." There is an incomparable dignity in this whole passage. The poor despised Jesus not only calls God his Father, but speaks as the eternal Judge, before whom men should plead and beg for their lives, dreading banishment from him as their final destruction. See Doddridge and Chemnitz.

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