圣经注释书

CHAPTER 7

Matthew 7:2. μετρηθ.] In opposition to decisive testimony, Elz. has ἀντιμετρηθ., from Luke 6:38.

Matthew 7:4. For ἀπό, Lachm. Tisch. 8 read ἐκ, found only in B א, Curss. With ἐκβάλω and Matthew 7:5 before them, the copyists involuntarily wrote the ἐκ.

Matthew 7:6. Lachm. and Tisch. have the future καταπατήσουσιν, according to B C L X, 33. With such important testimony in its favour, it is to be preferred to the generally received aor. conj.

Matthew 7:9. The omission of ἐστιν in B* L, Curss. and several versions (Lachm.: ἤ τις), as well as the reading ὃν αἰτήσει which follows (Lachm. Tisch. 8), is meant to help out the construction.

Matthew 7:10. καὶ ἐὰν ἰχθὺν αἰτήσῃ] Lachm. Tisch. 8 : ἢ καὶ ἰχθὺν αἰτήσει, as in B C א, Curss. Verss., after Luke 11:11.

Matthew 7:13. ἡ πύλη] is deleted by Lachm. and bracketed by Tisch. 8, but only, however, after א Codd. of the It. and Fathers (Clem. Or. Cypr. Hilar. Lucif.). From its resemblance to πλατεῖα immediately preceding, this word was very liable to be omitted. The authority for its omission in Matthew 7:14 is decidedly weaker (א being in this case against it). Here also it is bracketed by Lachm. and Tisch. 8.

Matthew 7:14. τί] Elz. and Tisch., with a decided preponderance of testimony against them, prefer ὅτι, which owed its origin to ὅτι πλατεῖα, etc., Matthew 7:13, the meaning of τί not being understood.

Matthew 7:16. σταφυλήν] Schulz, Lachm. Tisch. 8 have σταφυλάς, according to B א and several Curss. and Verss. The plural originated in consequence of συλλέγ. and σῦκα.

Matthew 7:18. Tisch. 8. has ἐνεγκεῖν for ποιεῖν in both instances, against decisive testimony. After πᾶν Lachm. has οὖν in brackets (C** L Z, Curss. Verss.). An interpolation for the sake of connection, rendered in Brix. by enim, and in Germ. 2 by autem.

Matthew 7:21. After ἐν (Lachm. Tisch. 8 : ἐν τοῖς, according to B Z א) οὐρανοῖς, Fritzsche, following Bengel, inserts οὗτος εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βας. τῶν οὐρανῶν, but on far too slender authority. A supplementary gloss.

Matthew 7:24. ὁμοιώσω αὐτόν] B Z א, Curss. Verss. and several Fathers have ὁμοιωθήσεται. Derived from Matthew 7:26 for the sake of the nominat. πᾶς. Adopted by Lachm. and Tisch. 8.

Matthew 7:28. συνετέλεσεν] Lach. Tisch. read ἐτέλεσεν, according to B C Z? Γ א, Curss. Or. Chrys. But how easily might the syllable συν drop out between OTE ETE! especially as συντελεῖν occurs nowhere else in Matth.

Matthew 7:29. Lachm. inserts αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι after γραμματεῖς, on authorities of unequal value. The evidence is stronger in favour of αὐτῶν, which, moreover, is confirmed by א. Tisch. has adopted merely αὐτῶν after γραμματεῖς, in which, however, he is right; because, whilst there was no reason for adding αὐτῶν, the omission of it was natural in itself, and suggested by Mark 1:22.

Jesus warns (1) against judging, Matthew 7:1-6; urges (2) to prayer, Matthew 7:7-11; then (3) prepares for the transition, Matthew 7:12, to the exhortation to enter the Messianic kingdom through the strait gate, Matthew 7:13-14; warns (4) against false prophets, Matthew 7:15-23; and concludes with the powerful passage regarding the wise and the foolish man, Matthew 7:24-27.

Matthew 7:1. Without any intermediate connection, the discourse passes on to a new subject. Comp. Matthew 5:17, Matthew 6:1.

μὴ κρίνετε] κρίνειν means nothing more than to judge, and the context alone will decide when it is used in the sense of a condemnatory judgment, as in Romans 2:1; Romans 14:4; Galatians 5:10; Hebrews 10:30 (frequently in John). In this respect it resembles the Heb. שָׁפַט. But in this instance it is proved by Matthew 7:2 and Matthew 7:3-5 that κρίνειν is not to be explained as synonymous with κατακρίνειν (in answer to Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, Kuinoel, and Olshausen). Nor is this required, but, on the contrary, plainly forbidden, by Luke 6:37, for there the difference between κρίνειν and καταδικάζειν is of the nature of a climax, the latter being the result of the former. Accordingly, the correct interpretation is this: Do not sit in judgment upon others; do not set yourselves up as judges of their faults (Matthew 7:3), meaning thereby an officious and self-righteous behaviour (the opposite of that prescribed in Galatians 6:1-5), that ye may not become obnoxious to judgment, i.e. that ye may not be subjected to the divine, the Messianic, judgment; that instead of obtaining mercy and the forgiveness of your sins in that judgment, you may not draw down upon yourselves that judicial sentence (which, according to Matthew 5:7, Matthew 6:15, is averted by cherishing a forgiving spirit). To refer κριθῆτε to our being judged by others (Erasmus, Calvin, Kuinoel, Fritzsche), and not, with Chrysostom, to the future judgment, is wrong; because Matthew 7:2, if referred to the Nemesis of the existing order of things, would not be altogether true; and further, because, throughout His address, Jesus treats the idea of retribution from the Messianic point of view (Matthew 5:1-12; Matthew 5:19-20; Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:25; Matthew 5:29 f., Matthew 6:1; Matthew 6:4; Matthew 6:6; Matthew 6:14 f., 18, 20, 33, Matthew 7:13; Matthew 7:19; Matthew 7:21; Matthew 7:23-24 ff.). Of course it is unnecessary to say that, in forbidding judging, Christ is not speaking “de ministeriis vel officiis divinitus ordinatis, sed de judiciis, quae fiunt extra seu praeter vocationes et gubernationes divinas,” Melanchthon. Nor does He forbid the moral judging of others in general, which is inseparable from truth and love, and is at the same time a necessary element in the duty of brotherly νουθετεῖν. “Canis pro cane et porcus pro porco est habendus,” Bengel.

Matthew 7:2. Ἐν] Instrumental repetition of the same thought: Sota, ed. Wagenseil, p. 52. Comp. Schoettgen, p. 78. The second ἐν is also instrumental, by means of, and μέτρον is to be understood as a measure of capacity (Luke 6:38).

Matthew 7:3. Κάρφος, a minute fragment of twig, wood, or straw, which, in entering the eye (see Wetstein), becomes the figurative representation of a slight moral fault; δοκός, again, is the figure by which a heinous[425] fault is denoted. Comp. Lightfoot, p. 307; Buxtorf, Lex Talm. p. 2080. Tholuck prefers to find the point of comparison in the pain caused by the splinter or beam in the eye. This is inadmissible, for otherwise it could not be said, in reference to the beam in the eye, οὐ κατανοεῖς, i.e. thou perceivest not, art not aware. It is the magnitude of his own moral defects that the self-righteous man fails to discover. The brother, as in Matthew 5:22. Notice, further, the arrangement of words so appropriate to the sense in the second clause.

[425] The view of Theophylact, Baumgarten-Crusius, and several others, that the beam in a man’s own eye is calculated to make him conscious of his incapacity for recognising the faults of others, is foreign to the context. Luther correctly observes: “That He may the more earnestly warn us, He takes a rough simile, and paints the thing before our eyes, pronouncing some such opinion as this,—that every one who judges his neighbour has a huge beam in his eye, while he who is judged has only a tiny chip, (and) that he is ten times more deserving of judgment and condemnation for having condemned others.”

Matthew 7:4-5. Or how will it be morally possible for thee to say, and so on. The πῶς, like τί (cur), Matthew 7:3, expresses what is morally absurd. “Est enim proprium stultitiae, aliorum vitia cernere, oblivisci suorum,” Cic. Tusc. iii. 30. 73.

καὶ ἰδοὺ, κ.τ.λ.] The more emphatic from there being no ἐστι; and lo, the beam in thine eye!

ἐκβάλω] Conjunct. hortatory, and in the present instance, in the sense of calling upon oneself (used also in the singular, see Kühner, II. 1, p. 185; Nägelsbach on Iliad, p. 404, ed. 3; Bornemann, in d. Sächs. Stud. 1846, p. 30).

ὑποκριτά] Hypocrite, who pretendest to be free from faults. The attribute is here taken from his demeanour as seen from its objective side, while the subjective side, which here presents itself as hypocrisy, is the conceit of self-delusion.

διαβλέψεις] neither imperative nor permissive (thou mayest see), but future. The result of self-amendment will be the earnest effort to help others to amendment Observe the compound (correlative of the simple verb, Matthew 7:3) intenta acie spectabis. Comp. Plat. Phaed. p. 86 D; Arist. de Som. 3; Plut. Mor. p. 36 E.

Matthew 7:6. The endeavour to correct the faults of others must be confined within its proper limits, and not allowed to become a casting of holy things to the dogs. As is usual, however, in the case of apophthegms, this progress in the thought is not expressed by a particle (ἀλλά). To abandon the idea of connection (Maldonatus, de Wette, Tholuck), or to suppose (Kuinoel, Neander, Bleek; Weiss doubtful) that Matthew 7:6-11, at least Matthew 7:6, do not belong to this passage, is scarcely warranted.

τὸ ἅγιον] the holy, not the holy flesh, בְּשַׂר קֹדֶשׁ, Jeremiah 11:15, Haggai 2:12, the flesh of sacrifices (v. d. Hardt, Paulus, Tholuck), which, besides, would require to be more precisely designated, otherwise there would be just as much reason to suppose that the holy bread, לחם קדש (1 Samuel 21:5), or any other meat-offering (Leviticus 22:2), was meant. Christ has in view the holy in general, figuratively designating in the first clause only the persons, and then, in the second, the holy thing. What is meant by this, as also by τοὺς μαργαρίτας immediately after, is the holy, because divine evangelic, truth by which men are converted, and which, by τοὺς μαργαρ. ὑμῶν, is described as something of the highest value, as the precious jewel which is entrusted to the disciples as its possessors. For Arabian applications of this simile, comp. Gesenius in Rosenm. Rep. I. p. 128.

Dogs and swine, these impure and thoroughly despised animals, represent those men who are hardened and altogether incapable of receiving evangelic truth, and to whom the holy is utterly foreign and distasteful. The parallelism ought to have precluded the explanation that by both animals two different classes of men are intended (the snappish, as in Acts 13:46; the filthy livers, Grotius).

μήποτε καταπ., κ.τ.λ., καὶ στραφέντες, κ.τ.λ.] applies to the swine, who are to be conceived of as wild animals, as may be seen from αὐτούς and the whole similitude, so that, as the warning proceeds, the figure of the dogs passes out of view, though, as matter of course, it admits of a corresponding application (Pricaeus, Maldonatus, Tholuck). But this is no reason why the words should be referred to both classes of animals, nor why the trampling should be assigned to the swine and στράφ. ῥήξ. to the dogs (Theophylact, Hammond, Calovius, Wolf, Kuinoel). For the future καταπ. (see the critical remarks), comp. note on Mark 14:2; Matthew 13:15.

ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτ.] instrumental.

στραφέντες] not: having changed to an attitude of open hostility (Chrysostom, Euth. Zigabenus), or to savagery (Loesner), but manifestly, having turned round upon you from the pearls, which they have mistaken for food, and which, in their rage, they have trampled under their feet; the meaning of which is, lest such men profane divine truth (by blasphemy, mockery, calumny), and vent upon you their malicious feeling toward the gospel. In how many ways must the apostles have experienced this in their own case; for, their preaching being addressed to all, they would naturally, as a rule, have to see its effect on those who heard it before they could know who were “dogs and swine,” so as then to entice them no further with the offer of what is holy, but to shake off the dust, and so on. But the men here in view were to be found among Jews and Gentiles. It is foreign to the present passage (not so Matthew 15:26) to suppose that only the Gentiles as such are referred to (Köstlin, Hilgenfeld).

Matthew 7:7-9. The new passage concerning prayer begins, without any trace of connection with what goes before. Comp. note on Matthew 7:1. It is otherwise in Luke 11:9, which, however, does not affect Matthew’s originality (in answer to Holtzmann, Weiss, Weizsäcker), nor does it warrant the opinion that some connecting terms have been omitted. Influenced by a later tradition, Luke has given the sayings in a connection of his own, and one that, so far as can be discovered, has no claim to be preferred to that of Matthew.

αἰτεῖτε, ζητεῖτε, κρούετε] Climax depicting the rising of the prayer into intense fervour, that “he may thereby urge us all the more powerfully to prayer” (Luther).

Matthew 7:8. The obvious limitation to this promise is sufficiently indicated by ἀγαθά in Matthew 7:11 (1 John 5:14), just as the childlike, therefore believing, disposition of the petitioner is presupposed[426] in Matthew 7:9-11.

Matthew 7:9. ἤ] or, if that were not the case, then, in the analogous human relation must, and so on.

τίς ἐστιν … μὴ λίθον ἐπιδ. αὐτῷ] Dropping of the interrogative construction with which the sentence had begun, and transition to another. A similar change in Luke 11:11. See Fritzsche, Conject. p. 34 ff.; Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 243 f. [E. T. 284]. This irregularity is occasioned by the intervening clause, quem si filius poposcerit panem. The sentence is so constructed that it should have run thus: ἢ τίς ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν ἐὰν αἰτήσῃ (i.e. ὅς, ἐὰν αὐτὸν αἰτήσῃ, see Kühner, II. 2, p. 913), ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον, λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ (without μή); but after the relative clause the construction with μή supersedes that at the beginning of the sentence.

μὴ λίθον ἐπιδ. αὐτῷ] surely he will not give him a stone? With regard to the things compared, notice the resemblance between the piece of bread and a stone, and between a fish and a serpent; and on the other hand, the contrast with regard to the persons: ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, and ὁ πατὴρ ὑμ. ὁ ἐν τ. οὐρανοῖς.

[426] The specific determination of prayer that will certainly be heard, as prayer offered in the name of Jesus (John 14-16), was reserved for a further stage of development. Comp. on Matthew 6:13, note 1. It is not the divine relation to men in general (Baur), but to His own believing ones, that Jesus has in view. Comp. Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 67 f., ed. 2.

Matthew 7:11. Πονηροὶ ὄντες] although ye, as compared with God, are morally evil.[427] Comp. Matthew 19:17. Even Kuinoel has given up the false rendering, niggardly (in conformity with Proverbs 23:6; Sir 14:5).

οἴδατε διδόναι] not soletis dare (Maldonatus, Wetstein, Kuinoel), but ye know, understand, how to give (1 Timothy 3:5, and see note on Php 4:12), not as referring, however, to the disposition (de Wette, Fritzsche), which in so doing is rather presupposed, but appropriately pointing to the thoughtful nature of paternal love, which, in spite of the πονηρία, understands how to render possible the giving of good gifts to children.

δόματα ἀγαθά] wholesome gifts, in contrast to the stone and the serpent. For the second ἀγαθά, Luke 11:13 has πνεῦμα ἅγιον—a later substitution of the particular for the general. For the inference a minori ad majus, comp. Isaiah 49:15.

[427] Chrysostom appropriately says: ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγεν οὐ διαβάλλων τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν, οὐδὲ κακίζων τὸ γένος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῆς ἀγαθότητος τῆς αὐτοῦ (of God) τὴν φιλοστοργίαν τὴν πατρικὴν πονηρίαν καλῶν. It is not original sin, but the historical manifestation of the sin of all men, which is spoken of, of which, however, original sin is the internal, natural root. Comp. Matthew 15:19; John 3:6.