圣经注释书

Matthew 4:11. τότε ἀφίησιν: then, when the peremptory ὕπαγε had been spoken. Nothing was to be made of one who would not do evil that good might come.—καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι. The angels were ministering to Him, with food, presumably, in the view of the evangelist. It might be taken in a wider sense, as signifying that angels ministered constantly to one who had decidedly chosen the path of obedience in preference to that of self-pleasing.

Matthew 4:12-25. Beginnings of the Galilean ministry (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:14-15). In a few rapid strokes the evangelist describes the opening of the Messianic work of Jesus in Galilee. He has in view the great Sermon on the Mount, and the group of wonderful deeds he means thereafter to report, and he gives first a summary description of Christ’s varied activities by way of introduction.

Matthew 4:12-13. ἀκούσας δὲ … Γαλιλαίαν: note of time. Jesus returned to Galilee on hearing that John was delivered up, i.e., in the providence of God, into the hands of his enemies. Further particulars as to this are given in chapter 14. Christ’s ministry in Galilee began when the Baptist’s came to an end; how long after the baptism and temptation not indicated. Weiss (Meyer) thinks that in the view of the evangelist it was immediately after, and that the reference to John’s imprisonment is meant simply to explain the choice of Galilee as the sphere of labour.

Matthew 4:13. Ναζαρέτ. Jesus naturally went to Nazareth first, but He did not tarry there.—κατῴκησεν εἰς Καπερναοὺμ, He went to settle (as in Matthew 2:23) in Capernaum. This migration to Capernaum is not formally noted in the other Gospels, but Capernaum appears in all the synoptists as the main centre of Christ’s Galilean ministry.—τὴν παραθαλασσίαν, etc.: sufficiently defined by these words, “on the sea (of Galilee), on the confines of Zebulun and Naphthali”. Well known then, now of doubtful situation, being no longer in existence. Tel Hûm and Khan Minyeh compete for the honour of the site. The evangelist describes the position not to satisfy the curiosity of geographers, but to pave the way for another prophetic reference.

Matthew 4:14-16. Jesus chose Capernaum as best suited for His work. There He was in the heart of the world, in a busy town, and near others, on the shore of a sea that was full of fish, and on a great international highway. But the evangelist finds in the choice a fulfilment of prophecy—ἵνα πληρωθῇ. The oracle is reproduced from Isaiah 8:22; Isaiah 9:1, freely following the original with glances at the Sept[16] The style is very laconic: land of Zebulun and land of Naphthali, way of the sea (ὁδὸν absolute accusative for דֶּרֶךְ = versus, vide Winer, § 23), Galilee of the Gentiles, a place where races mix, a border population. The clause preceding, “beyond Jordan,” is not omitted, because it is viewed as a reference to Peraea, also a scene of Christ’s ministry.

[16] Septuagint.

Matthew 4:16. ἐν σκοτίᾳ: the darkness referred to, in the view of the evangelist, is possibly that caused by the imprisonment of the Baptist (Fritzsche). The consolation comes in the form of a greater light, φῶς μέγα, great, even the greatest. The thought is emphasised by repetition and by enhanced description of the benighted situation of those on whom the light arises: “in the very home and shadow of death”; highly graphic and poetic, not applicable, however, to the land of Galilee more than to other parts of the land; descriptive of misery rather than of sin.

Matthew 4:17. ἀπὸ τότε … κηρύσσειν. After settling in Capernaum Jesus began to preach. The phrase ἀπὸ τότε offends in two ways, first as redundant, being implied in ἤρξατο (De Wette); next as not classic, being one of the degeneracies of the κοινή. Phrynichus forbids ἐκ τότε, and instructs to say rather ἐξ ἐκείνου (Lobeck’s ed., p. 45).—κηρύσσειν, the same word as in describing the ministry of the Baptist (Matthew 3:1). And the message is the same—Μετανοεῖτε, etc. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The same in word but not in thought, as will appear soon. It may seem as if the evangelist meant to represent Jesus as simply taking up and continuing the arrested ministry of the Baptist. So He was in form and to outward appearance, but not in spirit. From the very first, as has been seen even in connection with the baptism, there was a deep-seated difference between the two preachers. Even Euthy. Zig. understood this, monk though he was. Repent, he says, with John meant “in so far as ye have erred” = amendment; with Jesus, “from the old to the new” (ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν καινήν) =a change from within. For the evangelist this was the absolute beginning of Christ’s ministry. He knows nothing of an earlier activity.

Matthew 4:18-22. Call of four disciples. The preceding very general statement is followed by a more specific narrative relating to a very important department of Christ’s work, the gathering of disciples. Disciples are referred to in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1), therefore it is meet that it be shown how Jesus came by them. Here we have simply a sample, a hint at a process always going on, and which had probably advanced a considerable way before the sermon was delivered.—περιπατῶν δὲ: δὲ simply introduces a new topic, the time is indefinite. One day when Jesus was walking along the seashore He saw two men, brothers, names given, by occupation fishers, the main industry of the locality, that tropical sea (800 feet below level of Mediterranean) abounding in fish. He saw them, may have seen them before, and they Him, and thought them likely men, and He said to them, Matthew 4:19 : Δεῦτε … ἀνθρώπων. From the most critical point of view a genuine saying of Jesus; the first distinctively individual word of the Galilean ministry as recorded by Matthew and Mark. Full of significance as a self-revelation of the speaker. Authoritative yet genial, indicating a poetic idealistic temperament and a tendency to figurative speech; betraying the rudiments of a plan for winning men by select men. Δεῦτε plural form of δεῦρο = δεῦρʼ ἵτε, δεῦρο. being an adverb of place with the force of command, a verb of commanding being understood: here! after me; imperial yet kindly, used again in Matthew 11:28 with reference to the labouring and heavy-laden. δεῦτε and ἁλιεῖς (= sea-people) are samples of old poetic words revived and introduced into prose by later Greek writers.

Matthew 4:20. he effect was immediate: εὐθέως ἀφέντες. This seems surprising, and we naturally postulate previous knowledge in explanation. But all indications point to the uniquely impressive personality of Jesus. John felt it; the audience in the synagogue of Capernaum felt it on the first appearance of Jesus there (Mark 1:27); the four fishermen felt it.—δίκτυα: ἀμφίβληστρον in Matthew 4:18. In Matthew 13:47 occurs a third word for a net, σαγήνη; δίκτυον (from δικεῖν, to throw) is the general name; ἀμφίβληστρον (ἀμφιβάλλω), anything cast around, e.g., a garment, more specifically a net thrown with the hand; σαγήνη, a sweep-net carried out in a boat, then drawn in from the land (vide Trench, Synonyms of N. T., § 64).