196
λαλεῖς αὐτοῖς;
11. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, “Ὅτι ὑμῖν
δέδοται γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἐκείνοις δὲ
οὐ δέδοται.
a n 12. ὅστις γὰρ ἔχει, δοθήσεται αὐτῷ καὶ περισσευθή- σεται΄ ὅστις δὲ οὐκ ἔχει, καὶ ὃ ἔχει, ἀρθήσεται dm αὐτοῦ.
10.
h Gal. vi. α. διὰ τοῦτο ἐν παραβολαῖς αὐτοῖς λαλῶ, ὅτι βλέποντες οὗ βλέπουσι,
Phil. ii. 30.
iActsxxviil. καὶ ἀκούοντες οὐκ ἀκούουσιν, οὐδὲ συνιοῦσι.
27,
..
14. καὶ ἀναπληροῦται
jActsxxviii. ἐπ᾽ } αὐτοῖς ἡ προφητεία Ἡσαΐου, ἡ λέγουσα, “᾿Ακοῇ ἀκούσετε, καὶ
27. k Acts XXViii.
Lk. xxii. ,
οὐ μὴ συνῆτε: καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. 1 Mk. iv. 12.' ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου,
τα,
καὶ τοῖς dct { βαρέως
32. Acts ἤκουσαν, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν * ἐκάμμυσαν: µήποτε ἴδωσι τοῖς
ili. 19; XXVIM. 27 (absol. = reform).
ὀφθαλμοῖς, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσι, καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσι, καὶ | ἐπιστρέψωσι, καὶ ἰάσωμαι 3
αὐτούς. 16. Ὑμῶν δὲ µακάριοι of
1 88BC omit επι, which may have been added by the grammarians to make the
const. clearer. ? tawopat in most uncials.
and both doubtless in the minds of the disciples. A more serious difficulty arises in connection with Christ’s answer to their question, which seems to say that He adopted the parabolic method in order to hide the truths of the kingdom from unspiritual minds. Nothing is more certain than that Jesus neither did nor could adopt any such policy, and if the evangelists ascribed it to Him, then we should have no alternative but to agree with those who, like Holtzmann (H. C.) and Jilicher (Die Gletchnissreden Fesu, pp. 131, 149, vide also his Einleitung in das Ν. Τ., p. 228), main- tain that the evangelists have mistaken His meaning, reading intention in the light of result. It is much better to impute a mistake to them than an in- human purpose to Christ.
Ver. 11. τὰ puvorypia: the word, as here used, might suggest the idea of a mysterious esoteric doctrine concerning the Kingdom of God to be taught only to a privileged inner circle. But the term in the N. T. means truths once hidden now revealed, made generally known, and in their own nature perfectly in- telligible. So, e.g., in Eph. iii. 9, Col. i. 26. Jesus desired to make the truths of the kingdom of God known to all; by parables if they could not be understood otherwise. His aim was to enlighten, not to mystify.—Ver. 12. This moral apothegm is here given only in Matt. It contains a great truth, whether spoken or not on this occasion. For the con- struction, vide at x. 14.--περισσευθή- σεται: again in Mt. xxv. 29, where
Reading of T.R. in XA,
the saying is repeated. This use of the passive in a neuter sense belongs to late Greek.—Ver. 13. διὰ τοῦτο ὅτι. Mark and Luke have tva, the former assigning a reason, the latter ascribing a purpose. In Matt. Jesus says: I speak in parables because seeing they do not see, etc. ; which ought naturally to mean: they are dull of apprehension, therefore I do my best to enlighten them.—Vvy. 14, 15. The prophetic citation, given as such by Matthew only, may be due to him, though put into the mouth of Jesus. It is con- ceivable, however, that Jesus might use Isaiah’s words in Isaiah’s spirit, i.e., ironically, expressing the bitter feeling of one conscious that his best efforts to teach his countrymen would often end in failure, and in his bitterness repre- senting himself as sent to stop ears and blind eyes. Such utterances are not to be taken as deliberate dogmatic teach- ing. If, as some allege, the evangelists so took them, they failed to understand the mind of the Master. The quotation exactly follows the Sept. The verb καμμύω (ver. 15, ἐκάμμνυσαν) is con- demned by Phryn. as barbarous, the, right word being xatapvew.—Vv. 16, 17. In Mk. (iv. 13) Jesus reproaches the disciples for their ignorance; here He congratulates them on their faculty of seeing and hearing (spiritually).—tpov: in emphatic position, suggesting contrast between disciples and the multitude.—