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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Matthew 5:41 - 5:41
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Shall compel thee to go (ἀγγαρεύσει)
This word throws the whole injunction into a picture which is entirely lost to the English reader. A man is travelling, and about to pass a post-station, where horses and messengers are kept in order to forward royal missives as quickly as possible. An official rushes out, seizes him, and forces him to go back and carry a letter to the next station, perhaps to the great detriment of his business. The word is of Persian origin, and denotes the impressment into service, which officials were empowered to make of any available persons or beasts on the great lines of road where the royal mails were carried by relays of riders.