πορείαν ποιούµενος εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.Ι «Κύριε, εἰ ὀλίγοι οἱ σωζόμενοι ;”
23. εἶπε δέ τις αὐτῷ, Ὅ δὲ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς,
24. ᾿Αγωνίζεσθε εἰσελθεῖν διὰ τῆς στενῆς πύλης Σ' ὅτι πολλοί,
λέγω ὑμῖν, ζητήσουσιν εἰσελθεῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἰσχύσουσιν.
25. "Ad οὗ
ἂν ἐγερθῇ ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης, καὶ ἀποκλείσῃ τὴν θύραν, καὶ ἄρξησθε ἔξω ἑστάναι καὶ κρούειν τὴν θύραν, λέγοντες, Κύριε, Κύριε, ἄνοιδον ἡμῖν: καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ἐρεῖ ὑμῖν, Οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς, πόθεν ἐστέ' 26. τότε ἄρξεσθε * λέγειν, ᾿Εφάγομεν ἐνώπιόν σου καὶ ἐπίομεν, καὶ ἐν ταῖς
1 Ἱεροσολυμα in δΡΙ».
2 @upas in ΒΓΕΙ, 1, 131 Orig.
8 Omit second κυρ. NBL 157 Lat. and Egypt. verss. 4B has αρξεσθε (Tisch., W.H., text), but ΓΙ. Τ and many more have αρξησθε
(W.H. marg.).
Vv. 23-24. εἰ dd. of σωζ.: εἰ intro- duces a direct question as in Mt. xii. το and Lk. xxii. 49: are those who are being saved few ὃ---πρὸς αὐτούς, to them, not to the questioner merely but to all present, as the reply was of general concern.—Ver. 24. ἀγωνίζεσθε εἰς.: stronger than Mt.’s εἰσέλθετε, suggest- ing the idea of a struggle or prize-fight (τ Cor. ix. 25) in which only a few can win, so virtually answering the question in the affirmative—8ia τ. σ. θύρας, through the narrow door (πύλης, gate, in Mt.) : no interpretation of the door here any more thanin Mt. But the connec- tion suggests repentance (vv. 23, 25). The Kingdom of Heaven is here conceived of as a Πομβε.-- πολλοί: the idea is that many shall desire admission and shall not obtain it. The reason in the parable is the narrowness of the door, making it impossible for so many to get in in a short time. All are in earnest; no stress is to be laid on ζητήσουσιν, shall seek, as if it meant something less than ἀγωνίζεσθε (Godet). All strive, but success is for the strongest who can push the weaker aside. So in the parable. In the interpretation the one point to be insisted on is: be in dead earnest.
Vv. 25-27. Here begins a new parable and a new sentence, though some (Beza, Lachmann, W. and H.) connect with what goes before, putting a comma after ἰσχύσουσιν. Against this is net only the change from the third person to the second (ἄρξησθε), but the fact that the cause of exclusion is different: not the narrowness of the door, but coming too late. The case put now is that of the master of a house who is giving an entertainment, He
waits for a certain time to receive his guests. At length, deeming that all are, or ought to be, present, he rises and shuts the door, after which no one can be admitted. Some, however, come later, knock at the door, and are refused ad- mission. The moral of this parable is distinct ; of the former parable it was: be in earnest ; of this it is: be not too late.—éordvat καὶ κρούειν: both verbs depend on ἄρξησθε: ye begin to stand without and to knock. Some take ἑστάναι as = a participle, but it is better to take it as denoting a first stage in the action of those arriving late. At first they expect that the door will be opened soon as a matter of course, and that they have nothing to do but to stepin. By- and-by they find it will be necessary to knock, and finally, being refused ad-. mission even when the door is opened, they are fain to plead (ver. 26).--καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς: the καὶ here has the force of then. The sense would have been clearer had it been omitted. Here properly begins the apodosis of the sentence and the close of the parable proper = then he answering will say: I do not know γοι.--πόθεν ἐστέ: these added words rather weaken than strengthen the laconic οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς of Mt. xxv. 12 = you must be strangers, not of those invited.—Ver. 26. This verse is viewed by many as the apodosis of a long sentence beginning with ad’ ot (ver. 25), and the emotional character of the passage, in which parable and moral are blended, goes far to justify them. But it is better on the whole to find here a new φίατῖ.--ἐνώπιόν σον, before thee, either, as thy guests or hosts (Capernaum feast, dinners in the houses of Pharisees), i.e., with thee; or. under thine eye—in-