Matthew 21

Matthew 21:1

1. εἰςΒηθφαγὴεἰςτὸὄροςτῶνἐλαιῶν. ‘Unto Bethphage and Bethany at the mount of Olives’ (Mark). ‘Nigh to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called the mount of Olives’ (Luke). Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem, at the S.E. base of the mount of Olives. Of Bethphage (‘place of green or winter figs’) no remains have been discovered, and its exact position is unknown. It was probably west of Bethany, and so near to Jerusalem as to be reckoned part of the Holy City. See Godet on St Luke 19:28. Some have inferred from the order in which Bethphage and Bethany are named that Bethphage was east of Bethany.

Matthew 21:2

2. ὄνονδεδεμένηνκαὶπῶλονμετʼ αὐτῆς. ‘A colt tied whereon never man sat’ (Mark and Luke). St Matthew notes the close correspondence with the words of the prophecy; see Matthew 21:5.

Oriental travellers describe the high estimation in which the ass is held in the East. The variety of Hebrew names for these animals indicates the many uses to which they are put. The prophecy from Zechariah quoted Matthew 21:4 contains three distinct Hebrew words for an ‘ass.’ ‘Sitting upon an ass (chamôr, from a root meaning red) and a colt (ayir, ‘a young male ass’) the foal (lit. ‘the son’) of an ass (athôn = ‘a she-ass,’ from a root meaning ‘slow’).’ ‘His lot varies as does the lot of those he serves. The rich man’s ass is a lordly beast. In size he is far ahead of anything of his kind we see here at home. His coat is as smooth and glossy as a horse’s … His livery is shiny black, satiny white or sleek mouse colour. I never saw one of the dingy red of his Poitou brethren.’ Zincke’s Egypt.

Matthew 21:3

3. The account leads to the inference that the owner of the ass was an adherent of Jesus who had perhaps not yet declared himself. The number of such secret followers was perhaps very large.

Matthew 21:4

4. γέγονεν. ‘Is come to pass:’ the Evangelist speaks of an event still recent. Bp. Lightfoot points out (On a Fresh Revision of the N.T. p. 91) that for γέγονεν of the earlier and contemporary evangelist we find ἐγένετο in a similar expression in the later fourth Gospel.

ἵναπληρωθῇ. See note ch. Matthew 1:22.

Matthew 21:5

5. εἴπατετῇθυγατρὶΣιών. The quotation is partly from Zechariah, partly from Isaiah. The first clause, εἴπατετῇθυγατρὶΣιών, is the LXX. rendering of Isa 62:11. The remainder is an abbreviated citation from Zechariah 9:9, where the LXX. version is: [χαῖρεσφόδρα, θύγατερΣιών, κήρυσσε, θύγατερἹερουσαλήμ] ἰδού, ὁβασιλεὺςἔρχεταίσοι [δίκαιοςκαὶσώζωναὐτὸς] πρᾳῢςκαὶἐπιβεβηκὼςἐπὶὑποζύγιονκαὶπῶλοννέαν. The words in brackets, omitted in the citation, occur in the Hebrew text as well as in the LXX. In the last clause, where St Matthew differs from the LXX., he agrees with the Hebrew text.

It is a proof of St Matthew’s feeling for poetical form that the parallelism does not suffer in the shortened form of quotation. The word σώζων which occurs in Zechariah, and ὁσωτὴρ which follows the words quoted from Isaiah, omitted here but suggested by the quotation, would recall ‘hosanna’ and the name Jesus (σωτήρ). See below.

πραΰς. Cp. ch. Matthew 11:29 and 2 Corinthians 10:1, παρακαλῶὑμᾶςδιὰτῆςπρᾳΰτητοςκαὶἐπιεικείαςτοῦΧριστοῦ.

Matthew 21:7

7. τὰἱμάτια. Their upper garments, the abbas of modern Arabs. Cp. with this the throne extemporised for Jehu, 2 Kings 9:13.

Matthew 21:8

8. ὁπλεῖστοςὄχλος, the greater part of the crowd.

ἔστρωσανἑαυτῶντὰἱμάτια. Instances are recorded of similar acts of respect shewn to Rabbis by their disciples. See Schöttgen, ad loc.

Matthew 21:9

9. Ὡσαννά. Hebr. ‘hoshiah-na,’ ‘save now,’ ‘save I pray.’ Na is a particle of entreaty added to imperatives. They are the first words of Psa 118:25, ‘Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity,’ a verse which was sung in solemn procession round the altar at the feast of Tabernacles and on other occasions. As they sang these words it was the custom to carry young branches of palm, and the boughs of myrtle and willow, which were brandished or shaken at intervals. (See Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. ad loc.)

τῷυἱῷΔ. Dative of general reference. The ‘Salvation’ is in some way connected with the Son of David as the cause or instrument of it. See Clyde’s Greek Synt. § 15.

The multitude recognise the Messiah in Jesus and address to Him the strains and observe the ritual of their most joyous festival. The shouts of ‘hosanna’ must have been significant in another way to the disciples. The verb is from the same root and had nearly the same sound as the name Jesus. See note Matthew 21:5.

The thought of ‘salvation’ is so closely connected with the feast of Tabernacles, that to this day the name ‘hosanna’ is given to the bundles of branches, to the prayers at the feast, and to the feast itself. See Wetstein ad loc., and cp. Revelation 7:9-10.

St Luke paraphrases the expression for his Gentile readers, ‘glory in the highest.’

εὐλογημένοςὁἐρχόμενοςἐνὀνόματικυρίου. ‘According to the accents the rendering would be, “Blessed in the name of the Lord be he that cometh.” Dean Perowne on Psalms 118:26. ‘He that cometh’ (Habba) was a recognised Messianic title. St Mark adds ‘Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ St Luke has ‘Blessed be the king that cometh,’ &c., and mentions that the multitude ‘began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.’ St John reports the words thus, ‘Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ These shouts of triumph—which were the ‘gospel’ or heralding of the King—must have sounded across the valley of Kedron up to the precincts and porches of the Temple.

‘Bethany stands in a shallow hollow scooped out of the shoulder of the hill. The path follows this till the descent begins at a turn where the first view of the Temple is caught. First appeared the castles and walls of the city of David; and immediately afterwards the glittering roof of the Temple and the gorgeous royal arcade of Herod with its long range of battlements overhanging the southern edge of Moriah.’—Tristram’s Topography of Holy Land.

The entry into Jerusalem must not be regarded as an isolated fact. It was a culminating outburst of feeling. It is clear that the expectation of the kingdom was raised to the highest pitch. The prostration of Salome at the feet of the Prince; the request of her sons; the dispute among the ten; the gathering crowds; the cry of Bartimæus; the triumphal entry, are all signs of this feeling.

For us the Royal Entry is a figure, a parable through external sights and sounds of the true and inner secret kingdom of God.

Matthew 21:10

10. From two passages of Josephus (B. J. II. 14. 3 and VI. 9. 3) it appears that 2,900,000, or even a greater number, were present at the passover, numbers encamping in the vicinity of the holy city. We may picture the narrow streets of Jerusalem thronged with eager inquisitive crowds demanding, with Oriental vivacity, in many tongues and dialects, ‘Who is this?’

ἐσείσθη, was ‘convulsed’ or ‘stirred’ as by an earthquake, or by a violent wind.

(Monday, Nisan 10.)

The events of this day extend to Matthew 21:23 of this Chapter.

Matthew 21:12

12. ἐξέβαλενκ.τ.λ. It is probable that a look of divine authority, the enthusiasm of His Galilæan followers, and the consciousness of wrongdoing on the part of the traders, rather than any special exercise of miraculous power, effected this triumph of Jesus in His Father’s House.

ἀγοράζονταςἐντῷἱερῷ. The traffic consisted in the sale of oxen and sheep, and such requisites for sacrifice as wine, salt, and oil. The merchandise took place in the Court of the Gentiles.

κολλυβιστής, ‘a money changer,’ for the classical ἀργυραμοιβός, from κόλλυβος, a small coin (Aristoph. Pax, 1200) taken as a fee, hence later ‘rate of exchange.’ Cp. Cic. in Verr. Act II. 3. 78, ‘Ex omni pecunia … deductiones fieri solebant: primum pro spectatione et collybo.’ Κόλλυβος, Hebr. kolbon, is said to be a Phœnician word, which spread with their trade, just as the Genoese or Venetian merchants brought the word agio into general use.

τὰςπεριστεράς. The definite article here and in the parallel passage (Mark 11:15) ‘indicates the pen of a narrator, who was accustomed to the sight of the doves which might be purchased within the sacred precincts by worshippers’. [Bp Lightfoot, On a Fresh Revision of the N.T. p. 109.

Matthew 21:13

13. γέγραπται. See note, ch. Matthew 2:5.

ὁοἶκοςκ.τ.λ. The passage is quoted from Isaiah 56:7, but, with the omission of the words πᾶσιντοῖςἔθνεσιν, these are included in the quotation by St Mark but not by St Luke. The context in Isaiah treats of the admission of the Gentiles: ‘Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him’ (Matthew 21:8).

ποιεῖτεσπήλαιονλῃστῶν, ‘are making it a cave of robbers or bandits,’ cp. Jeremiah 7:11, ‘Is this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes?’ Thus two separate passages of the O.T. are combined in a contrasted or parallel form. The context of these words is strikingly suggestive: ‘If ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings … and shed not innocent blood in this place … then will I cause you to dwell in this place in the land that I gave to your fathers for ever and ever.’ The caves of Palestine had always been refuges for the lawless, and in the reign of Herod the Great the robbers dwelling in caves had rebelled against him and resisted his power, Jos. Ant. I. 12. Possibly this thought may be present here: ‘Ye have made my house a stronghold of rebels against God and the Messiah, when it ought to be a garrison of loyal subjects.’ Also the disputes of the traffickers resembled the wrangling of bandits in their caves. Comp. σπήλ. λῃστῶν with the less severe οἶκονἐμπορίου of the first ‘cleansing’ (John 2:16).

Matthew 21:15

15. οἱἀρχιερεῖς. (1) The high-priest, (2) those who had served that office, (3) the priests who were members of the high-priest’s family, and (4) perhaps, the heads of the twenty-four priestly courses. See note ch. Matthew 26:3.

τοὺςπαῖδαςτοὺςκράζοντας. Children were taught at an early age to join in the temple services. These caught the familiar feast-day strain from the Galilæan pilgrims, and unconscious of all that their words meant, saluted Jesus.

Matthew 21:16

16. ἐκστόματοςνηπίωνκ.τ.λ. The LXX. version is followed, the rendering of the Hebrew is: ‘out of (or by) the mouths of children and sucklings hast thou founded strength’. Psalms 8:2. The ruling thought of the opening verses is the glory of God set forth in His works. The ‘scarcely articulate’ cry of an infant proves, like the heaven and the stars, the power and providence of God. On all these God builds a stronghold against His adversaries, i.e. convinces them of His might. So also the children in the temple attest the truth of God. See Dean Perowne and Speaker’s Commentary on the passage quoted.

Matthew 21:17

17. Βηθανίαν. ‘House of dates,’ or, according to Caspari, ‘Place of shops, or merchant tents,’ on the S.E. of the Mount of Olives, see note Matthew 21:9. Here Jesus lodged with Lazarus and his sisters.

Matthew 21:18

18. ἐπείνασεν, late for ἐπείνησεν, the contraction of αε into α instead of η in πεινάω, διψάω and χράω against the Attic rule appears rarely in the later authors, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Plutarch, &c.

Matthew 21:19

19. συκῆνμίαν. Probably a single fig-tree, standing alone, and so conspicuous. εἷς is, however, used in Alexandrine Greek for τις, cp. ch. Matthew 8:19, εἷςγραμματεύς, and Matthew 18:24, εἷςὀφειλέτηςμυρίωνταλάντων, and in Hebrew the numeral ‘one’ is constantly no more than the indefinite article ‘a’.

ἐπὶτῆςὁδοῦ. Either (1) on the road as ch. Matthew 10:27, ἐπὶτῶνδωμάτων, or (2) hanging over the road.

εἰμὴφύλλαμόνον. The fig-tree loses its leaves in the winter: indeed it looks particularly bare with its white naked branches. Schöttgen, however, states ad loc., that the Rabbis compared the fig-tree to the law because at every season fruit may be gathered from it; and one species (see Shaw’s Travels, p. 370, and Land and Book, 23) if favoured by the season and in a good position, puts forth fruit and leaves in the very early spring, the fruit appearing before the leaves. This is the ‘hasty fruit before the summer’ (Isaiah 28:4), ‘the figs that are first ripe’ (Jeremiah 24:2); ‘the first ripe in the fig-tree at her first time’ (Hosea 9:10). It was doubtless a fig-tree of this kind that Jesus observed, and seeing the leaves expected to find fruit thereon. At the time of the Passover the first leaf-buds would scarcely have appeared on the common fig-tree, while this year’s ripe fruit would not be found till four months later.

The teaching of the incident depends on this circumstance (comp. Luke 13:6-9). The early fig-tree, conspicuous among its leafless brethren, seemed alone to make a show of fruit and to invite inspection. So Israel, alone among the nations of the world, held forth a promise. From Israel alone could fruit be expected; but none was found, and their harvest-time was past. Therefore Israel perished as a nation, while the Gentile races, barren hitherto, but now on the verge of their spring-time, were ready to burst into blossom and bear fruit.

ἐξηράνθη. From St Mark we gather that the disciples observed the effect of the curse on the day after it was pronounced by Jesus.

Matthew 21:20

20. ἐθαύμασαν. It was rather the power and wonder of the act than the deeper significance of it that moved the disciples. The miracle was to them an ‘act of power’ (δύναμις), or a ‘wonder’ (τέρας), rather than a ‘sign’ (σημεῖον). Yet Jesus follows the turn their thoughts take, and teaches that prayer and faith will remove mountains of difficulty, see ch. Matthew 17:20.

Matthew 21:21

21. διακριθῆτε. Passive form with meaning of middle voice; cp. ἀπεκρίθην. διακρίνειν, (1) lit. ‘to separate:’ (2) ‘to discern’ or ‘discriminate.’ See ch. Matthew 16:3, when it is used of discerning the face of the sky, and Acts 15:9, οὐδὲνδιέκρινενμεταξὺἡμῶντεκαὶαὐτῶν. (3) In a judicial sense ‘to decide,’ and in middle to ‘get a question decided at law,’ ‘to litigate.’ (4) Hence generally ‘to dispute,’ διεκρίνοντοπρὸςαὐτὸνοἱἐκπεριτομῆς, Acts 11:2. (5) Thus ‘to dispute or question with oneself,’ ‘to doubt,’ as here and Romans 4:20, εἰςδὲτὴνἐπαγγελίαντοῦΘεοῦοὐδιεκρίθητῇἀπιστίᾳ; cp. Acts 10:20, where the context illustrates this passage. The last usage is not classical.

Matthew 21:23

23. ἐνποίᾳἐξουσίᾳταῦταποιεῖς; καὶτίςσοιἔδωκεντὴνἐξουσίανταύτην; The second question is not a mere repetition of the first Jesus is asked (1) what kind of authority He possesses—human or divine? (2) By whose agency this authority was bestowed? No one had a right to teach unless ‘authority’ had been conferred upon him by the scribes.

Matthew 21:24

24. ἐρωτήσωὑμᾶςκἀγὼλόγονἕνα. This form of argument was usual. The question of the Elders was really an attack. Jesus meets that attack by a counter-question which presented equal difficulties in three ways—whether they said from heaven or of men, or left it unanswered. To say from heaven was equivalent to acknowledging Jesus as Christ, to say from men was to incur the hostility of the people, to be silent was to resign their pretensions as spiritual chiefs of the nation.

Matthew 21:26

26. διὰτίοὐκἐπιστεύσατεαὐτῷ; A clear proof (1) that the priests had kept aloof from John though he was of the priestly caste; and (2) that John pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. For πιστεύειναὐτῷ, cp. Dem. Phil. II. 6, οἱθαῤῥοῦντεςκαὶπεπιστευκότεςαὐτῷ, ‘Those who have no fears and believe Philip.’ See note ch. Matthew 18:6.

Matthew 21:27

27. Note the sincerity of the οὐλέγω in contrast with the evasion of οὐκοἴδαμεν.

Matthew 21:28

28. τέκναδύο, representing the sinners who first refused to do God’s will, but repented at the preaching of John; and the Pharisees who, having ‘the righteousness which is of the law’ (Philippians 3:9), professed to do God’s will but did it not. Both are sons. God still cares for both. The Pharisees may follow the sinners into the kingdom of God (Matthew 21:31). Paul was still a Pharisee; Nicodemus the Pharisee was still a secret follower of Christ.

Matthew 21:29

29. μεταμεληθείς, ‘having changed his mind,’ felt regret but not repentance or metanoia, a deeper and more lasting feeling: see ch. Matthew 3:2.

According to a well-supported reading (see Crit. Notes) the cases of the two sons are reversed. The first agrees but goes not, the second refuses but afterwards works in the vineyard. The variation is interesting, because it points to an interpretation by which the two sons represent Jew and Gentile.

Matthew 21:30

30. ἐγὼκύριε. Observe the alacrity and politeness of this answer compared with the blunt οὐθέλω of the first: ἐγὼ draws attention to the contrast.

Matthew 21:31

31. προάγουσιν. Are (now) going before you.

Matthew 21:32

32. Ἰωάννης. The mention of John points to the connection between this parable and the preceding incident.

ἐνὁδῷδικαιοσύνης. A Hebrew expression. Cp. τὴνὁδὸντοῦθεοῦ, ch. Matthew 22:16; ὁδὸνσωτηρίας, Acts 16:17. The Christian doctrine was called in a special sense ἡὁδός (Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23).

ἰδόντες, viz. that the publicans and the harlots believed him.

οὐμετεμελήθητε. Did not even change your minds, much less repented in the deeper sense; see above, Matthew 21:29.

τοῦπιστεῦσαι. For this consecutive formula see note ch. Matthew 2:13.

Matthew 21:33

33. ἐφύτευσενἀμπελῶνα. Cp. the parable in Isaiah 5:1-7, where the description is very similar to this. See also Psalms 80:8-16; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:1-6. The vine was adopted as a national emblem on the Maccabean coins.

φραγμὸναὐτῷπεριέθηκεν, defended it with a stone wall or with a fence of prickly pears. St Luke makes no mention of the separating hedge. Israel was separated throughout her history politically, and even physically, by the natural position of Palestine.

ὤρυξενἐναὐτῷληνόν. The winepress was often dug or hewn out of the limestone rock in Palestine. There were two receptacles or vats. The upper one was strictly the press or ληνός (Matthew), the lower one the winevat or ὑπολήνιον (Mark) into which the expressed juice of the grape passed. The two vats are mentioned together only in Joe 3:13, ‘The press (gath) is full, the vats (yekabim) overflow’ (quoted in Bibl. Dict., see art. ‘Winepress’).

πύργον. Probably a wooden booth raised on a high platform, in which a watcher was stationed to guard the grapes.

Neither the winepress nor the tower seems to have any special significance in the interpretation of the parable.

ἐξέδοτοαὐτὸνγεωργοῖς. This kind of tenancy prevails in many parts of Europe. It is known as the metayer system, the arrangement being that the occupier of the land should pay to the landlord a portion—originally half—of the produce. The system existed in England for about sixty years at the end of the fourteenth century. Before the Revolution of 1790 nearly the whole of the land of France was rented by metayers. At the time of our Lord’s ministry it was customary for the Romans to restore conquered lands on condition of receiving a moiety of the produce. Fawcett’s Manual of Political Economy, p. 223; Rogers’ Political Economy, p. 168.

ἀπεδήμησεν. Left his home.

Matthew 21:35

35. ὃνμὲνἔδειραν, ὃνδὲἀπέκτειναν, κ.τ.λ. See ch. Matthew 23:35.

δέρειν, (1) ‘to flay,’ (2) then, from the effect of scourging, ‘to beat.’ In the second sense it is classical only in the comic poets; cp. Vulgar English ‘to hide.’ In Acts 16:22 the Prætors bid the lictors ‘scourge’ (ῥαβδίζειν) Paul, who, referring to the outrage, says: δεἱραντεςἡμᾶςδημοαιᾳ (Matthew 21:37). λιθοβολεῖν, in LXX. for classical λεύειν.

Matthew 21:37

37. ἐντραπήσονται. Non-classical future. ἐντρέπειν, (1) ‘to turn,’ (2) then ‘turn a person,’ cause him to avert his gaze through shame, fear, respect, &c., (3) so ‘to put to shame:’ οὐκἐντρέπωνὑμᾶςγράφωταῦτα, 1 Corinthians 4:14. εἰςτοσοῦτονἐνέτρεψαντὴνσύγκλητονβουλήν, Ælian, V. H. 3. 17. And in passive, ἵναὁἐξἐναντίαςἐντραπῇ, Titus 2:8, ‘that the adversary be put to shame;’ (4) in middle voice, ‘to let oneself be turned or influenced’ by a person or thing, through some feeling of awe, reverence and the like; (α) with a genitive denoting the source of the action or feeling (Donaldson’s Greek Grammar, 448), τίβαιὸνοὕτωςἐντρέπειτῆςσυμμάχου, Soph. Aj. 90; (β) or later with an accusative denoting the object of reverence or concern, as here and Luke 18:2, τὸνθεὸνμὴφοβούμενοςκαὶἄνθρωπονμὴἐντρεπόμενος.

Matthew 21:38

38. σχῶμεντὴνκληρ., ‘seize on his inheritance,’ ἔχειν being used in the technical sense which the English ‘seize’ also bears: cp. ἒχωντεκαὶκεκτημένος, Antig. 1265. Thomas Lawrence (1568–1583) suggested as a translation of this passage, ‘take possession or seisin upon his inheritance.’ (Moulton’s History of the English Bible.)

Matthew 21:39

39. ἐξέβαλονἔξωτοῦἀμπελῶνος. Words that recall the crucifixion of Jesus outside the city of Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:41

41. λέγουσιναὐτῷ. An interruption from the listening crowd, which marks the intense interest with which these parables were heard. The indignation of the bystanders is aroused as if it were a tale of actual life.

κακοὺςκακῶςἀπολέσει. Cp. εἰμὴφράσειςγὰρἀπόσʼ ἀλῶκακὸνκακῶς, Aristoph. Plut. 65. A frequent formula in the classics.

Matthew 21:42

42. ἐνταῖςγραφαῖς. Psalms 118:22 (Matthew 21:25-26 of the same psalm are quoted above, Matthew 21:9, where see note); the psalm ‘was probably composed for the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the completion of the Second Temple’ (Nehemiah 8:13-18). (Dean Perowne.) The original reference was to a stone used in the erection of the second Temple. The ‘corner stone’ is the Jewish nation rejected at first, afterwards restored from captivity. Christ transfers this image to His Church, formed of Jew and Gentile alike (see Meyer), which, though despised at first, was destined to succeed to the spiritual supremacy of Israel.

In Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6, Christ Himself is the head-corner-stone; but the two applications are not inconsistent, for Christ was the Representative first of the Jewish Nation (ch. Matthew 4:15, Matthew 2:1-11 (3)), then of the Church. Cp. also Isaiah 28:16, ‘I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.’

λίθον. A stone rather than the stone. The builders probably rejected many stones.

κεφαλὴνγωνίας. The stone that connects the two walls at the top and supports the roof.

αὕτη. Either (1) agreeing with κεφαλή, or (2) a Hebraism. In Hebrew there is no neuter form, and it is possible that αὕτη of the LXX. may be due to the influence of Hebrew grammar. This corruption is found in some passages of the LXX., Psalms 26:4, μίανᾐτησάμηνπαρὰΚυρίου, ταύτηνἐκζητήσωτοῦκατοικεῖνκ.τ.λ., where the Vulgate has ‘unam petii a domino hanc requiram.’ See Maldonatus ad loc.

Matthew 21:43

43. διὰτοῦτο. Because of this rejection.

Matthew 21:44

44. ὁπεσὼνἐπὶτὸνλίθονκ.τ.λ. Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr., sees here a reference to the custom of stoning: ‘the place of stoning was twice as high as a man. From the top of this one of the witnesses, striking him on his loins, fells him to the ground: if he died of this, well; if not, another witness threw a stone upon his heart.’ The second process was inevitably fatal.

But it is perhaps better to refer the image to an earthenware vessel (1) falling to the ground when it would be shattered, or (2) crushed by a stone when it would be bruised into atoms.

συνθλασθήσεται. A late classical word, in N.T. here and Luke 20:18 (the parallel passage). The simple verb θλάω is Epic (Homer and Hesiod) and Alexandrine (Theocritus).

λικμήσειλικμᾶν. (1) ‘to winnow,’ Hom. Il. 21:499, ὡςδʼ ἄνεμοςἄχναςφορέειἱερὰςκατʼ ἀλωάς, | ἀνδρῶνλικμώντων. (2) ‘To cause to disappear’ like chaff, so ‘to destroy utterly,’ ἀναλήψεταιδὲαὐτὸνκαύσωνκαὶἀπελεύσεταικαὶλικμήσειαὐτὸνἐκτοῦτόπουαὐτοῦ, Job 27:21. Cp. Daniel 2:44, where the rendering in Theodotion’s version is λεπτυνεῖκαὶλικμήσειπάσαςτὰςβασιλείας, in the LXX. πατάξεικαὶἀφανίσειτὰςβασιλείαςταύτας. λικμήσει therefore = ἀφανίσει. The translation of the A.V., ‘grind to powder,’ which probably is due to conteret of the Vulgate, cannot be justified. The Vulgate rendering may be due to a confusion between the nearly simultaneous processes of threshing and winnowing. ‘Conterere’ is very applicable to the former process. See a good description in ‘Conder’s Tent Work in Palestine, II. 259.

The meaning as applied to Christ appears to be: Those to whom Jesus is a ‘rock of offence’ (1 Peter 2:8; Isaiah 8:14) in the days of his humiliation shall have great sorrow: but to incur his wrath when He comes to judge the earth will be utter destruction.

Matthew 21:46

46. ζητοῦντεςαὐτὸνκρατῆσαι. The Sanhedrin aimed at two things: (1) to seize Jesus quickly, for the Passover (during which no hostile measures could be taken) was close at hand; and because Jesus might be expected to quit Jerusalem after the feast. (2) To seize Him apart from the people; for the Galilæans would suffer no one to lay hands on their King and Prophet, Treachery alone enabled the Jews to secure their end.