PRELIMINARY REMARKS _The parables of Jesus_.—The word “parable” has in the New Testament, in its application to the discourses of Jesus, a considerably wider meaning than the one in which we speak of the parables of the Lord in the current phraseology of the church. The designation παραβολή, from πα... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ PRELIMINARY REMARKS _The parables of Jesus_.—The word “parable” has in the New Testament, in its application to the discourses of Jesus, a considerably wider meaning than the one in which we speak of the parables of the Lord in the current phraseology of the church. The designation... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 13:19. WHICH RECEIVED SEED.—_That was sown (R_. V.). A change in the figure quite common among Orientals. It should have been: This is he in whose case the seed was sown by the wayside (_Meyer_). But there is a deeper meaning in this change. The loss of the seed becomes in... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 13:24_ The seeds of error.—The explanation of the last parable is, in part, the explanation of this. It teaches us, _e.g_. what is meant in this parable by sowing the seed, viz. the dissemination of truth. In the same general way, therefore, it enables us... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 13:31. MUSTARD SEED.—It is disputed whether the allusion is to the _Sinapis_ or common mustard plant, or to the _Salvadora Persica_ of European botanists. Dean Plumptre suggests that the name was probably used widely for any plant that had the pungent flavour of mustard. Dr.... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 13:35. FULFILLED.—The quotation illustrates, much in the same way as those in Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:17, St. Matthew’s peculiar way of dealing with the prophetic language of the Old Testament. He found the word “parable” at the opening of a psalm (Psalms 78:2). The psalm i... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 13:47. NET.—The reference is to the large drag-net or _seine_, [σαγήνη—hence _sagena_ (Vulgate) and English _sean_ or _seine_]. One end of the _seine_ is held on the shore, the other is hauled off by a boat and then returned to the land (_Carr_). Matthew 13:52. INSTRUCTED... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 13:54. HIS OWN COUNTRY.—The district of Nazareth. Matthew 13:55. THE CARPENTER’S SON (see Mark 6:3).—Joseph was an _artificer_, for the word “carpenter” must not be interpreted in its narrowed modern import. The word “carpenter” originally meant “cart-maker.” But the term e... [ Continue Reading ]