8—13.
ἐλθόντες συνανέκειντο τῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ.
151
11. καὶ
ἰδόντες of Φαρισαῖοι εἶπον 1 τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, “ Διατί μετὰ τῶν
τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει ὁ διδάσκαλος ὑμῶν; "Ingots? ἀκούσας εἶπεν adtois,® “Od χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες 13. πορευθέντες δὲ μάθετε τί | ἐστιν, οὗ γὰρ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους,
ἰατροῦ, ἀλλ᾽ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες. ἐπ Ἔλεον θέλω, καὶ οὐ θυσίαν :᾿
GAN ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς µετάνοιαν.͵ ὅ
1 ελεγον NBCL (Tisch., W-H.). 2 KBD omit Inoous (Tisch., W-H.).
> 88BCD omit αντοις (Tisch., W.H.). 4 SSBCD have ελεος.
δεις µετανοιαν is wanting in NBDAZ. tion.
this section is the main thing, and the feast an accompanying incident, a fare- well feast of Matthew’s in which Jesus passively partook. The truth, probably, is that the call was a preliminary to the feast, the first step in the working out of aplan. Jesus aims at a mission among the reprobated classes, and His first step is the call of Matthew to discipleship, and His second the gathering together, through him, of a large number of these classes to a social entertainment; the place of meeting being, possibly, not a private house, whether Christ’s or Mat- thew’s, but a public hall. If Matthew’s house or Simon’s (in which Jesus pro- bably had His home, vide Mark) was large enough to have a quadrangular court, the gathering might be there, where, according to Faber, Archdologie der Hebrder, p. 408, meetings of various sorts were held. In any case it was a great affair—scores, possibly hundreds, present, too large for a room in a house, a conventicle meeting, so to speak; a meeting with such people in the Syna- gogue not being possible. For further remarks vide on Mark.—reh@vat καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ: publicans naturally, if Mat- thew was the host, but why apap.? He was a respectable man; are the apap. simply the τελῶναι as viewed from the outside, so named in anticipation of the Pharisaic description of the party? If Jesus was the inviter, they might be a distinct class, and worse, very real sin- ners, for His aim was a mission among the social Pariahs.
Ver. 11. iSdvres ot Pap. Here wasa god chance for the critics, really a scandalous affair !—rois μαθηταῖς, They spoke to the disciples, possibly, as Euthy.
12. Ὁ δὲ
1 Mk. ix. 10 Lk. viii. 9. Acts x. 17 (=means).
m again in Ch. xii. 7 fr. Hosea vi. 7.
ειπον in D al.
ελεον is a gram. cor.
It is a clear case of harmonising assimila-
Vide on Lk. v. 32 for its effect on the sense.
Zig. suggests, to alienate them from the Master, possibly lacking courage to attack Him face to face.
Ver. 12. 6 δὲ a. εἶπεν: to whom? Were the fault-finders present to hear? —ov xpetav, etc.: something similar can be cited from classic authors, vide in- stances in Grotius, Elsner, and Wetstein. The originality lies in the application = the physician goes where he is needed, therefore, I am here among the people you contemptuously designate publicans and sinners. The first instalment, this, of Christ’s noble apology for associating with the reprobates—a great word. Ver. 13. πορευθέντες µάθετε: acommon expression among the Rabbis, but they never sent men to learn the particular lesson that God prefers mercy to sacri- fice.—kai ov, does not imply that sacri- fice is of no account.—éXeos (ἔλεον in T. R., a correction by the scribes), accusa- tive neuter. Masculine nouns of 2nd de- clension are often neuter 3rd in N. T. and Ῥερί.---ἦλθον: Jesus speaks as one having a τηϊρεῖοη.---ἅμαρτωλούς: and it is to the sinful, in pursuance of the principle em- bodied in the prophetic oracle—a mission of mercy. The words ἰσχύοντες, ver. 12, and δικαίους, ver. 13, naturally sug- gest the Pharisees as the class meant. Weiss, always nervously afraid ofallegor- ising in connection with parabolic utter- ances, protests, contending that it is indifferent to the sense of the parable whether there be any ‘whole’ or righteous. But the point is blunted if there be no allusion. καλέσαι here has the sense of calling to a feast.