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Mat_12:15. He healed them all.—By healing their sick, He restored the people generally. Living connection between the healthy and the diseased.
Mat_12:16. And charged them.—This does not refer to their keeping the place of His residence secret, but to the duty of reserve in publishing His deeds and dignity as the Messiah. He was desirous of arresting for a time an open rupture between His carnal followers and His enemies.
Mat_12:17. In order that ( ἵíá ) it might be fulfilled, Isa_42:1.—Freely quoted from the original Hebrew. The expression, òֶáֶã éְäåִֹä , servant of Jehovah, in the second portion of the prophecies of Isaiah, must refer to the Messiah. As the idea of a personal Messiah had been clearly expressed in the first portion of these prophecies, the hermeneutical rule here applies, that a biblical doctrine can never pass from a definite to a more indefinite form. The interpretation of the Sept., applying the term to Jacob and Israel, only shows the peculiar Alexandrian tendencies of the translators. Possibly they may have been misled by the expression in Isa_8:14, although even there the terms, Jacob and Israel, should be taken in an ideal rather than a literal sense. The Chaldee Paraphrast and Kimchi apply the passage to the Messiah (comp. Isa_11:1 sqq.). The prophecy reads as follows: “Behold My servant, whom I establish (place firmly); Mine Elect, in whom My soul delighteth: I have put My Spirit upon Him; judgment to the nations (Gentiles) shall He bring. He shall not cry, nor be loud (lift up the voice, strain) and He shall not cause His voice to be heard outside (in the street, outside the camp). A bruised reed shall He not break, and the dimly-burning flax shall He not quench: according to truth (unto truth) shall He manifest (bring forth, complete) judgment. He shall not keep back (being wearied) nor (prematurely) break through ( øָöַõ , transitive), till He have planted judgment on the earth: and the isles (the uttermost ends of the earth) shall wait for His law.”—This prophecy, then, is a verbal prediction in the strictest sense.
Mat_12:18. Judgment.—Decisive final judgment, Joh_3:36.—To the Gentiles.—The multitudes which follow the Lord, in disregard of the condemnation of the Pharisees, were an emblem of the Gentiles. [Alford: “In these words the majesty of His future glory as the Judge is contrasted with the meekness to be spoken of: ‘And yet He shall not bruise.’ ”—P. S.]
Mat_12:20. A bruised reed and smoking flax.—An emblem of the people bowed and broken under the load of traditionalism. The poor people (or, in general, the poor in spirit, are not to inherit death, despair, and perdition in judgment, but) are to receive from the Lord, both spiritually and physically, a new life.
Till He send forth judgment unto victory [ ἐêâÜëῃ åἰò íῖêïò ôὴí êñßóéí , exire jusserit, cause it to issue in victory, so that no further conflict will remain].—An abbreviation and paraphrase of Isa_42:3 ( ìֶàֱîֶú , etc.) and 4 ( òַøÎéָùִׁéí , etc.). The judgment is to be transformed into a victory of truth, or into an absolute victory. This was implied in the expressions used by the prophet, but is brought out more distinctly in the text of the Evangelist. The word ἐêâÜëῃ (comp. Mat_9:38) indicates great power, overcoming all resistance.
Mat_12:21. In His name.—In the original, ìְúåֹøָúåֹ . The Sept. renders it as in Matthew, substituting name for law. The name of the Messiah implies the principle, the summary of His doctrine. Meyer: “The Gentiles will trust, on the ground of what His name as the Messiah implies.” This view is supported by the use of the dative, ôῷὀíüìáôé .
2. On this occasion, the peculiar manner in which Jesus was to administer His kingly office appeared more clearly than ever before. He might now have manifested Himself as Judge, broken the bruised reed and quenched the smoking flax. But instead of that, He retired, and adopted a more private mode of working, in anticipation of His full and final sufferings. Accordingly, the Evangelist most aptly applies the prediction of Isaiah to this period of retirement; because, while characteristic of the activity of Jesus generally, it referred specially to this year of persecution.
3. Christ fled for His enemies, while He retired from them. His was not the flight of fear. He always addressed Himself only to those who were susceptible—i. e., to those who labored and were heavy laden—not to judge, but to save them.—The time for His final sufferings had not yet come; there was still ample room for active work, although of a more private character. On this ground He now retired, and dwelt chiefly with the poor people, among whom also He displayed the greatest number of His miraculous deliverances.
Starke:—Quesnel: It is good sometimes to remain concealed with Christ, whether it be from humility or from necessity.—Jesus Christ above all the Servant of God, and alone worthy to serve Him.—Oh, how lovable is meekness in the servants of Christ! He who loves strife and debate cannot be His.—Zeisius: Christ in the form of a servant, Php_2:7-8.—Let our courage never fail, truth must prevail.—Christ the hope, not only of Israel, but of the Gentiles.
Gossner:—It is characteristic of the Lord that He quietly proceeded on His way and accomplished His work without noise and commotion. Many seem to do a great deal and yet accomplish nothing.—If we hold a smoking flax to the fire, it is easily kindled again.
Heubner:—Where there is even a germ of good, there is still hope.—The bruised reed: a soul bowed down under a sense of sin.—Smoking flax: a soul in which a spark of the Divine life is still left.
Footnotes:
Mat_12:15.—[ Ἰçó . ãíïὺò ἀíå÷þò ͅ çóåí : “Jesus knowing” it, i.e. (as Lange inserts in the text in small type), that they sought to destroy His life, “withdrew Himself.”—P. S.]
Mat_12:15.—Lachmann, on the authority of Cod. B. and the Latin Vulgate, omits ὅ÷ëïé . The omission was probably exegetical, to avoid the appearance of exaggeration in what follows. [Cod. Sinait. sustains Lachmann and, like the Vatican Cod., in Mai’s and in Buttmann’s edition, reads simply ðïëëïß .—P. S.]
Mat_12:17.—[This is the proper transl. of ἵíá (or ὅðùò ) ðëçñùèῇ . Not: and thus was fulfilled, as Webster and Wilkinson in loc. explain, which is superficial and ungrammatical. ̔ Ἴíá is not to be taken ἐêâáôéêῶò , but ôåëéêῶò ; it signifies not simply the result, but the divine purpose and aim. Comp. Meyer on Mat_1:23, and Lange in the Exeg. note on Mat_12:17—P. S.]
Mat_12:18.—The Lord (as also the Sept. in the passage alluded to, Isa_42:1) uses the word ὁðáῖò ìïõ , not the more usual ὁäïῦëïò ìïõ , for the Hebrew òַáãּé , a significant change, which Dr. Lange overlooks, as he translates: mein Knecht. See Exeg. note on Mat_12:17, etc.—P. S.]
Mat_12:21.—[Text. rec.: ἐí ôῷ ὀíüìáôé . But Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, Wordsworth, etc., omit ἐí , on the best critical authorities. Meyer: “ ἐí is an addition, as also ἐðß in Euseb. and some minuscule MSS.” This is the only case in the N. T. where ἐëðéæåéí is constructed with the simple dative, although it is good Greek (comp. Thucyd iii. 97) and signifies the cause and object of hope. Elsewhere, as in the LXX, the verb is constructed with ἐí , åἱò , or ἐðß .—P. S.]
[Dr. Wordsworth calls this quotation, Mat_12:17-21, a remarkable specimen of the manner in which the Holy Spirit, speaking by the evangelists, deals with the prophecies of the Old Test. in order to interpret them. “ Éíá (or ὅðùò ) ðëçñùèῇ ôὸ äçèåí , is the form used by the evangelists when this process of divine exposition is performed. It is the title of an evangelical targum or paraphrase. For the Hebrew òַáְãִּé , my servant, the Lord does not say ὁäïῦëïò ìïõ , my servant (as the Septuagint usually translates, though not in this passage), but ὁðáῖò ìïõ , which admits of a double sense, servant and son (comp. Act_3:13; Act_3:26; Act_4:27; Act_4:30), and suggests the union of the obedience of the servant and the dearness of the son in the person of Christ. In a similar way Wordsworth explains the other modifications of the words of the prophecy here quoted.—P. S.]
[A proverbial expression for. “He will not crush the contrite heart, nor extinguish the slightest spark of repentant feeling in the sinner.” Alford.—P. S.]
[The LXX renders: ἐðὶ ôῷ ὀíüìáôé , Matthew, according to the true reading: ôῷ ὀíüìáôé , without preposition. Both followed another Hebrew reading: ìִùְîåֹ for ìְúåֹøֶúåֹ .—P. S.]