26. Tore, then) Where the good grows, there the evil becomes at length more apparent.
27. Kvpii. Lord) The name of the Son of Man ; see vcr. 37. — vfotv, K.T.X., whence f etc.) The servants did not know who had done it, or when. — £/£av/a, zizans) Zizans have a greater resem blance to wheat than thistles and thorns have ; the toleration therefore of the former, does not involve as a consequence that of the latter. They oft en not only pass themselves off for wheat, but also attempt to root out the wheat as if it were zizans.
29. oD, no) The zeal of the godly against the zizans is not blamed, but yet it is reduced to order. — a,u,a) at the same time. — rbv ffTrov, the wheat) which you might mistake for zizans.
30. Sucaugai/toOa/, grow together) Growth in good and evil takes place simultaneously, sometimes in the case of individuals, and generally in that of men taken collectively ; and the further that ages proceed, the more conspicuous do they both become. — iv r& xaipti, x.r.X., in the time) Then it will at length be the right time to do so. — vpurov, first) that the godly may behold the punishment of the ungodly ; the ungodly not see the glory of the godly. Thus in cli. xxv., though the Judge addresses the righteous first, yet afterwards in the last verse the ungodly are banished into eternal fire before [the godly are admitted into heaven]. — deff/.i,as, bundles) As from sra^bs (a standing place, station, etc.) comes erd&tw (a carpenter's rule, etc.), and from Xvpa (physical or moral filth, etc.) comes X-j(a>j (outrage, etc.), so from 8eafj.b$ (a band or bond) are derived btepu (a bond), and Sio/tj) (a bundle) ; see Eustathius. They will have no choice : those of like kind will be joined together. — xarax »£<;«/, to burn utterly) They will be burned, and that utterly. — de, but) Then the separation will have been effected. — away ay in, collect) and bring.
31."Ai/Sp«Tog, a man) The similitude is here taken from a man, as in ver. 33, from a woman ; cf. Luke xv. 4, 8.
32. "o, which) sc. seed: for xo'xxog (grain) is masculine. — pixporepov, the least) i.e. not absolutely, but in the proportion which the seed bears to the plant. It was a well-known kind of seed, used proverbially; see ch. xvii. 20. — <r<irep-
van or sieve. We are also informed that, in other parts of Syria, the plant is drawn up by hand, in time of harvest, along with the wheat, and is then gathered out, and bound up in separate bundles." — (I. B.)