50. αὐτός μου ἀδελφὸς καὶ ἀδελφή] The general import of these words cannot be mistaken: but the force of them is very much weakened by the erroneous expositions of the Holy Catholic Church. The disciples of Jesus were strangers in blood to himself all, except James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were his first cousins. But at the same time he had brothers and sisters, children of his own mother. Nevertheless, he witholds the title of brother and sister from them, and gives it to the disciples who believed on him. And why? The reason is given by John, vii. 5 His brethren did not believe in him. Thus Jesus says, that a disciple who believes on him, although stranger in blood, is nearer and dearer to Himself than his own mother's son who does not believe on him. ὡς ἀνὴρ ὅστις τρόποισι συντακῇ, θυραῖος ὢν, μυρίων κρείσσων ὁμαίμων ἀνδρὶ κεκτῆσθαι φίλος. Fur. Or. 795. XIII. 1. ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ] i. e. The day of the preceding discourse, in which he had given the sign of the prophet Jonah. He afterwards delivered the following parables, and then, on the evening of the same day, sailed across the lake of Gennesareth, and gave other signs of the prophet Jonah. See c. viii. 23, and note. 3. év Tapaßoλaîs] This is the first occurrence of the word Tapaẞoλn in Matthew, although the parables which follow are not the first of his narration. Jesus had already delivered other parables, e.g. those of the Wise Man and the Fool, c. vii. 24, and 26, and that of the Children in the market place, c. xi. 16, and others: see c. ix. 15, &c. The meaning in N. T. of the word Taрaßoλn, is somewhat mystified by one or two modern expositors, very reverend indeed, but who know nothing of Greek, and who taint every thing that they touch. The marvel is that such men will not let alone a matter which they do not understand. Пapaßon in N. T. always means a comparison, or similitude, or illustration by way of comparison; and this meaning is found in the earliest Greek. For maрaßáλλew means to put one thing beside another, and it was so used in seamanship, e. g. wòπ, пaρaßaλoû. Ar. Ran. 180. παραβαλοῦ τῷ κωπίῳ. 269. τοὺς δελφίνας μετεωρίζου καὶ τὴν ἄκατον παραβάλλου. Εq. 762. παρεβάλομεν εἰς Σάμον Acts xx. 15. Metaphorically, it means to put one thing beside another for the purpose of comparison, or contrast: and in this sense it is used by Homer: αὔτικ ̓ ἐπειρᾶτο Κρονίδης ερεθίζεμεν Ηρην, Δ. 5. Athenaeus, 30 F. Αρχίλοχος τὸν Νάξιον τῷ νέκταρι παραβάλλει. Much like this is Mark iv. 31, ἐν ποίᾳ παραβολῇ παραβάλωμεν avrýv; The antient Scripture abounds in illustrations by way of similitudes: a like usage is adopted in N. T. and is commonly called Tapaßon. And the parable of N. T. is commonly introduced by some such expression as ὁμοία ἐστίν, or ὁμοιώσω, οι òμownσeral, words which are essential to the parable, and which may always be understood, if they are not expressed. Aristotle, Rhet. ii. 20, draws a distinction, which is more subtle than sound, between the Tapaẞoλn and the λóyos or fable, and he gives samples of each : but the λóyos of Aristotle is the rapaẞoλn of N. T. which is also the Taрaßoλn of Homer. The Iliad abounds in parables, which we commonly call Similes: Eustathius calls them aрaßoλás p. 133, 1. 52, 3, &c. Ed. Basil. ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων] This, the first parable of the seven which are here given, is explained at length by Jesus himself. It may be seen by his explanation that the parable is in fact a prophecy, or anticipated history, of the progress of the Christian dispensation. The like must be understood of all the parables which follow. It is important to bear this in mind, and to use the keys with which Jesus has supplied us, in order to arrive at a right interpretation of the parables which he has not explained. 4. ἦλθε τὰ πετεινά] Nothing can be more easy or more natural than this illustration. The birds are the worst enemy of the farmer. They watch the operation of the sower, pounce upon the seed as soon as it has fallen from his hand, and carry it off. Thus birds are called σπερμολόγοι, and σπερματολόγοι, by the Greek Poets: e.g. Ar. Av. 578. τότε χρὴ στρουθῶν νέφος ἀρθὲν, καὶ σπερμολόγων, ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν τὸ σπέρμ' αὐτῶν ἀνακάψαι. Epicharmus Athen. 398. D. τέτραγάς τε σπερματολόγους, κἀγλαὸς συκαλλίδας. Then as the birds are the worst enemy of the sower, they are aptly chosen to represent Satan, the constant enemy upon earth of Jesus Christ. The Birds appear again in the parable of the Mustard seed. 11. rà μvorηpia] i.e. the secret things, which belong to JEHOVAH, Deut. xxix. 29, and which he revealed to whom he would: admitting some, and excluding others, Mat. xi. 25. This word is of frequent occurrence in N. T. The same word, and with a like meaning, occurs in earlier Greek: e.g. Δήμητερ ἡ θρέψασα τὴν ἐμὴν φρένα, εἶναί με τῶν σῶν ἄξιον μυστηρίων. Ar. Ran. 886. μúew means to shut, as we shut the eyes and mouth: hence μυστήριον means a secret, which is shut to all except τοῖς μεμνημévois· μveîv, derived from μúeiv, means to shut into, and meta phorically to initiate, or include, in mysteries which are shut to the rest of the world, roîs eέw Mark iv. 11. 12. δοθήσεται καὶ περισσευθήσεται] i. e. to those who have found out some knowledge of God, and desire to know more, God will give according to their desire, and liberally: those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, will be satisfied therewith. Mat. v. 6. - Kai & exe] This sentence, which might seem paradoxical, is explained by Luke viii. 18, kai ô dokei exew that which he thinks he hath and the meaning of the whole is, that those who pretend to be religious, but who really know nothing about the matter, will find themselves utterly mistaken when the day of reckoning comes. There are many evdожроnтaι who say Lord, Lord, but whom Jesus never knew. Mat. vii. 21. Those who would find the knowledge of God, must seek it as silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures. Prov. ii. 4, 5. The work of the miner is no light labour. 19. TаVтòs ȧKOVOVTOS] i. e. in the case of every one that heareth, or, in every instance of one that heareth, &c. It is remarkable that the Birds are nowhere named in the interpretation of this parable but the act of the Birds is explained by reference, to be the act of Satan. The Birds appear again in the third parable. The meaning of this, the first parable, is explained to be, to represent the varied success which would attend the first preaching of the Gospel, according to the different natures of those who received it, and before any collateral influences were at work. 20. ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη σπαρείς - γενομένης θλίψεως — εὐθὺς Okavdadigera] These words seem to involve a mystical allusion, which can only be seen in the original Greek, to the apostle Peter, and his shameful denial of his Master. No words could more accurately describe what Peter did. 24. σπείραντι καλὸν σπέρμα] This, which is the reading of Tischendorf, seems better than σTeiρovтt, which is the common reading. The difference is important. The weeds were not sown simultaneously with the good seed, but after a long interval in fact, some centuries after the death of Jesus Christ. The good seed was sown in the daytime: the weeds in the night, while mankind were asleep. The καλὸν σπέρμα of v. 24, is called otros in v. 25, which is a most important note of identity: as will soon appear. 25. ἐν τῷ καθεύδειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους] i. e. while mankind were asleep. This is a very remarkable expression, and a lively note of time. It is in fact an ominous allusion to the darkness of the Middle Ages between antient and modern learning. During several centuries after the overthrow of the Roman Empire, the mass of mankind in Western Europe were in the heavy sleep of ignorance and intellectual torpor: few could read or write : book to the people. took advantage of it. books were scarce and dear: and the Bible was like a sealed Here was an opening for Satan, and he Employing numerous evdорo¶ńτas, he succeeded in engrafting monstrous doctrines upon the written Word of God. Thus weeds were sown in the midst of the wheat. 25. ἐπέσπειρε ζιζάνια] ἐπέσπειρε is the reading of B and other MSS, and is adopted by Tischendorf. Zicávia is in E. V. rendered tares: but this, as an English word, is extremely objectionable; for tares are not utterly worthless: they are not thrown into the fire on the contrary, they are bought and sold, and given for food to cattle. 26. tóte ¿pávŋ kai тà Čišávia] After the revival of learning, men began to look into the matter, and then it was seen that the Holy Catholic Church which had declared herself to be infallible, and had enforced that doctrine by putting to death all who dared to call it in question, was in fact a mere mass of corruption: truth and falsehood being so mixed up and blended together, that it was beyond the power of man to separate them as is foreshewn in v. 29. 27. TOû oikodeσTÓTOυ] He is explained by what follows, to be the Sower of v. 24. This is a remarkable instance of the verbal accuracy of N. T. Jesus, when he sowed the wheat, was av@pwTos, v. 24: but when the weeds appeared, he had resumed his glory: he is now no longer ἄνθρωπος, but οἰκοδεσπότης, i.ε. JEHOVAH. His oikos are those who worship him in Spirit and in truth. The sequel of this prophecy has not yet had its fulfilment upon earth: but perhaps the end is not far off. 29. ἐκριζώσητε ἅμα αὐτοῖς τὸν σῖτον] This expression is like Γ. 458, Ελένην καὶ κτήμαθ ̓ ἅμ ̓ αὐτῇ Εκδοτε ̇ where ἅμα governs the noun which follows it. 30. συλλέξατε πρῶτον τὰ ζιζάνια] The manner in which this prophecy will be fulfilled, is involved in mystery, and cannot be explained before the event: but the word рŵтоν indicates that the judgment of punishment will come first; and the rewards to the righteous, afterwards. 31. ἄλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκε] Nothing can be easier than the word TapeOnKev. It does not imply that there is any riddle or enigma in the parable, as some very reverend expositors of the present day would teach us: on the contrary, it is a homely expression borrowed from the ordinary service of the table. Пlapadeivaι means to set food on the table: e.g. Ar. Ach. 85. παρετίθει δ ̓ ἡμῖν ὅλους Ἐκ κριβάνου βοῦς. Luke x. 8. ἐσθίετε τὰ παρατιθέμενα ὑμῖν. Id. xi. 6. οὐκ ἔχω ὃ παραθήσω αὐτῷ. By a very easy metaphor, the same word is said of anything that is offered by way of intellectual exercise or recreation. So Telekleides borrows another common word from the table, and applies it to intellectual entertainment: Athen. 268. C. Pors. Adv. 89. λεκανίσκαισιν δ ̓ ἀνάπαιστα παρῆν ἡδυσματίοις κατάπαστα. He had just before used the same word aрny, of ordinary food: ζώμου δ ̓ ἔρρει παρὰ τὰς κλίνας ποταμὸς κρέα θέρμα κυλίνδων· and then he facetiously adds that in addition to other delicacies of the table, Anapaests were dished up and offered to all. 31. κόκκῳ σινάπεως, ὃν λαβὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔσπειρεν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ avroû] We have not the explanation by Jesus, of this parable: but he has supplied us with a key to the meaning of it. This, like the two preceding, is a Parable of a Sower: and therefore, by parity of reason, the Sower, the seed, and the field in which he sows, must be the same in this Parable, as in those. Accordingly, the Sower is Jesus Christ himself: the seed is the Word of God: and the field is the World. Then as the mustard seed, originally small, grew up into a tree with long arms, so the Gospel of Jesus Christ, from small beginnings, would grow out into a large body of professing Christians, with extensive ramifications all over the world. Was this all for good? We shall see. 32. ὥστε ἐλθεῖν τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατασκηνοῦν ἐν τοῖς Kλádois avтoû] The fowls of the air, or Birds, are explained by Jesus Christ himself in the first Parable, to be the emissaries of Satan therefore, by analogy, the same symbol must have the same interpretation here. And the symbol is easy, natural, and appropriate for nothing can be farther from the wish of the Sower, than to have a colony of Birds established in his field, or garden. They come for no good: their business is to defeat the operations of the Sower, and to eat up the seed, and its fruit. The Spanish farmer will have no trees upon his land: for he says that the Trees harbour the Birds, and the Birds destroy the corn. Accordingly the meaning of the Parable appears to be, that the Gospel would grow out of small beginnings into numerous large bodies, or branches, of nominal Christians, and that Satan and his Angels would dwell among them. This is the last of the three Parables in which Jesus has represented himself in the character of a Sower: therefore, as the Sower is the same throughout, and there was but one sowing by him, the three prophecies must be understood to commence simultaneously, and to represent under different emblems, the history of the same event, the Propagation of the Gospel. Then it may be observed that in each of the first two Parables, the results are a mixture of good and evil : Jesus had done his work, and Satan does his some of the good seed bore fruit, other part was wasted and choked, and weeds grew up with the corn. But in the third Parable, the mystery of iniquity has begun to work, and the result is unmixed evil: Satan has established himself I |