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Mat_11:18-19. Μήτε ἐσθίων μήτε πίνων ] hyperbolical; ἡ μὲν Ἰωάννου δίαιτα δυσπρόσιτος καὶ τραχεῖα , Euth. Zigabenus. Comp. Mat_3:4; Luk_1:15; Dan_10:3. In contrast to the liberal principles of Jesus, who ate and drank without imposing upon Himself Nazarite abstinences (like John) or regular fastings (Mat_9:14), or without declining (like the Pharisees) to go to entertainments provided by those in a different rank of life from His own.
δαιμόνιον ἔχει ] which, through perverting His judgment, leads Him into those ascetic eccentricities; comp. Joh_10:20.
φαγός ] glutton, is a word belonging to a very late period. See Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 434; on the accent, Lipsius, gramm. Unters. p. 28.
καὶ ἐδικαιώθη ἡ σοφία ἀπὸ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς ] not a continuation of the words of the Jews, in which case ἐδικαιώθη would have to be taken ironically (in answer to Bornemann), but the closing observation of Jesus in reference to the perverse manner in which His own claims and those of John had been treated by the Jews; and justified (i.e. shown to be the true wisdom) has been the wisdom (the divine wisdom which has been displayed in John and me) on the part of her children, i.e. on the part of those who reverence and obey her (Sir_4:11), who, through their having embraced her and followed her guidance, have proved how unwarranted are those judgments of the profanum vulgus; comp. Luk_7:29. The (actual) confirmation has come to wisdom from those devoted to her ( ἀπό , comp. on Act_2:22; Hermann, ad Soph. El. 65; Kühner, ad Xen. Anab. vi. 5. 18; not ὑπό ). Those disciples of wisdom are the same who in Mat_11:12 are said βιάζειν τὴν βασιλείαν ; but the καί which introduces the passage “cum vi pronuntiandum est, ut saepe in sententiis oppositionem continentibus, ubi frustra fuere, qui καίτοι requirerent,” Stallbaum, ad Plat. Apol. p. 29 B. Such a use of καί occurs with special frequency in John. Wolf, ad Lept. p. 238; Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 147. This view is in the main that of (though in some cases the τέκνα τῆς σοφίας has been too much limited by being understood as referring merely to the disciples of Jesus) Jerome (“ego, qui sum Dei virtus et sapientia Dei, juste fecisse ab apostolis meis filiis comprobatus sum”), Münster, Beza, Vatablus, Calovius, Hammond, Jansen, Fritzsche, Olshausen, de Wette, Ebrard, Bleek, Lange, Hofmann, Keim, Weiss. Yet many, while also retaining the meaning given above, take the aorist, though without any warrant from the text, or any example of it in the New Testament, in the sense of cherishing (see Kühner, II. 1, p. 139; Fritzsche, ad Rom. I. p. 305), as Kuinoel (“sapientia non nisi a sapientiae cultoribus et amicis probatur et laudatur, reliqui homines eam rident,” etc.). Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Castalio understand the words as expressing the thought that the wisdom manifested in Jesus has nothing to answer for with regard to the Jews (similarly Weizsäcker); a view to which it may be objected—first, that δικαιοῦσθαι ἀπό τινος cannot be taken in the sense of to be free from the guilt of any one ( δικ . ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τινός ; comp. Sir_26:29; Rom_6:7); and secondly, that the Jews, unless something in the context should specially suggest or lead to it, cannot straightway be spoken of as the children of wisdom. The latter objection is equally applicable to the explanation of Schneckenburger: and so wisdom (which is supposed to mean God’s care for His people; comp. also Euth. Zigabenus and Grotius) has been treated cavalierly (has been arrogantly condemned) by her own children, which, moreover, is precluded by the fact that δικαιοῦσθαι is never used in this sense in the New Testament. Oppenrieder, p. 441 f., likewise understands the children of wisdom to refer to the Jews, inasmuch, that is, as they were subjected to the discipline of divine wisdom. The doings of σοφία were demonstrated to be righteous by the conduct of the Jews; that is to say, they had desired, instead of John, a divine messenger of a less ascetic character (and him the divine wisdom sent them in the person of Christ); while, on the other hand, instead of Christ, with His freer manner of life, they desired one more rigorously disposed (and this wish the divine wisdom had gratified by giving them the Baptist). So far Schneckenburger. But this conduct of the Jews was capricious and wilful, and was ill calculated to display the justice of the divine dealings, which it could have done only if it had been supposed to proceed from a feeling of real moral need, for which, however, in Mat_11:16-19, Jesus shows Himself by no means inclined to give them credit. Besides, one is at a loss to see, even if this view were adopted, how the Jews with their foolish and obstinate behaviour should come to be called τέκνα τῆς σοφίας . According to Ewald (Gesch. Chr. p. 432), Jesus means to say that it is just her wrong-headed children (who quarrel with her) that do most to justify the divine wisdom by their not knowing, with all their wisdom, what they would really like. But this view, again, which necessitates an antiphrastic interpretation of the τέκνα τῆς σοφίας , finds no support in the text, besides involving accessory thoughts to which there is no allusion. Similarly Calvin even understood the words to refer to the Jews who thought themselves so wise; before whom, however, wisdom is supposed to assert her dignity and authority through the medium of her genuine children.