Vv. 54-59. A final word to the crowd (cf. Mt. xvi. 2 Ε., v. 25 f.).—rots ὄχλοις : in Mt. Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees, in reply to their demand for a sign, which gives a more definite occasion. But the words might quite appropriately have been addressed to the people at large. The weather-skill ascribed to the audience is such as any one might possess, and all Jews needed
48--59.
563
54: Ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ τοῖς ὄχλοις, ““Oray ἴδητε τὴν 1 νεφέλην ἀνατέλ- λουσαν ἀπὸ " δυσμῶν, εὐθέως Aéyere,® Ὄμβρος ἔρχεται: καὶ γίνεται d here only in N.T
οὕτω.
γίνεται.
a 55. καὶ ὅταν νότον πνέοντα, λέγετε, Ὅτι καύσων ἔσται: καὶ 56. ὑποκριταί, τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
in Ν.Τ.
οἴδατε δοκιµάζειν ~ τὸν δὲ καιρὸν τοῦτον πῶς οὗ δοκιμάζετε"; 57. τί
δὲ καὶ ἀφ ἑαυτῶν οὐ κρίνετε τὸ δίκαιον ;
58. ὡς γὰρ ὑπάγεις μετὰ
τοῦ ἀντιδίκου σου ἐπ᾽ ἄρχοντα, ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ δὸς ἐργασίαν ἀπηλλάχθαι ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ: µήποτε κατασύρῃ σε πρὸς τὸν κριτήν, καὶ ὁ κριτής σε
παραδῷ ὁ τῷ “πράκτορι, καὶ ὁ πράκτωρ σε βάλλῃ ὃ eis φυλακήν. ο here only , a bigs: 2A 26 WAC Va | A in Ν.Τ. 59- λέγω σοι, οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃς ἐκεῖθεν, ἕως οὗ ὃ καὶ τὸ ἔσχατον λεπτὸν
ἀποθῷῶς.”
1 Omit την NABLXA 1, 33, 69 ai. 2 em in NBL 64. 3 ort after λεγετε in ΜΑ ΒΙ,, etc.
4 For Soxupafere (ADA al.) BLT verss. have ουκ οιδατε δοκιµαζειν (W.H.).
5 rapadwoe in SBD minusc. (L = T.R.).
βαλλη. 6 Omit ov NBL τ Orig.
the warning. The precise circumstances in which this logion was spoken are un- certain.—émi δυσμῶν, in the west, the region of the setting sun, and of the Mediterranean. A cloud rising up from that quarter meant, of course, rain (1 Kings xviii. 44, 45).—Ver. 55. καύσων, the sirocco, a hot wind from the desert, blighting vegetation (Jas. i. 11), equally a matter of course.—Ver. 56. ὑποκριταί seems too strong a term to apply to the people, and more appropriate to a Pharisaic or professional audience (Mt. xvi. 3). Raphel, after Erasmus Schmidt, translates harioli, weather prophets, citing a passage from Lucian in support of this sense. This is certainly one meaning of the word (vide Passow), but, as Hahn remarks, the usage of the N.T. does not support it here.—Ver. 57. aq’ ἑαυτῶν, from or of yourselves (sua sponte, Palairet); without needing any one to tell you the right; implying that the persons addressed were destitute of the average moral insight (¢f. Lk. xxi. 30).— Ver. 58. ὥς yap: introducing a legal scene from natural life to illustrate a similar situation in the moral world. It is implied that if they had the necessary moral discernment they would see that a judgment day was at hand, and under- stand that the duty of the hour was to come to terms with their adversary by timely repentance. That is hew they would all act if it were an ordinary case
The same authorities have βαλει for
of debtor and creditor.—8és ἐργασίαν (phrase here only): usually interpreted give diligence, give thine endeavour =da operam,aLatinism. Theophylact renders it: give interest (of the sum owed); Hofmann, offer work, labour, in place of money.—katacvpy (here only in Ν.Τ.), lest he drag thee to the judge, stronger than Mt.’s παραδῷ (v. 25), realistic and not exaggerated.—r@ πράκτορι, the man whose business it was to collect the debts after the judge had decreed pay- ment, or to put the debtor in prison till the debt was paid. Kypke defines πράκτορες: “exactores qui mulctas violatorum legum a judice irrogatas exigunt,” citing an instance of its use from Demosthenes.—Ver. 59. λεπτὸν, the half of a κοδράντης (Mt.’s word), making the necessity of full payment in order to release from prison still more emphatic.
CuapTeR XIII. JuDGMENT To CoME. This chapter continues the sombre judicial strain of xii. 54-59. Beginning with a general reference to the impend- ing doom of Israel, as foreshadowed by a reported tragedy which had befallen certain individuals, it ends with a specific prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem similar to that which closes the great anti-Pharisaic discourse in Mt. xxiii. The dramatic effect of the prediction there is entirely lost in Lk.’s narrative, which in subsequent chapters continues