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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadHeinrich Meyer Commentary - Matthew 13:41 - 13:41
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Mat_13:41. Αὐτοῦ … αὐτοῦ ] they are His to serve Him whenever He chooses to command; “majestas filii hominis,” Bengel; comp. note on Mat_8:20.
συλλέξουσιν ἐκ ] pregnant expression, equivalent to: colligent et secernent ex.
ἐκ τῆς βασιλ . αὐτοῦ ] for the judgment will take place as soon as the earth has undergone that process of renovation (Mat_24:29 f.; 2Pe_3:13) which is to transform it into the scene of the Messiah’s kingdom. Moreover, the separation about which Jesus here speaks is a separation of persons—of the good on the one hand, from the bad on the other, which, again, is the only means of likewise effecting a separation between good and bad things. Comp. Mat_24:31. Jesus distinguishes only between σκάνδαλα and δίκαιοι , without recognising any intermediate classes of men (Mat_25:32 f.), a view which subsequently found its explanation in the doctrine of faith and of justification by faith. The question as to whether or not there are various degrees of felicity for the righteous, as of punishment for the wicked, is one upon which the present passage does not touch.
σκάνδαλα ] stumbling-blocks, i.e. men who, through their unbelief and sin, may put temptation in the way of others. Comp. Mat_16:23. Euth. Zigabenus is correct, so far as the substantial meaning is concerned, when he observes: σκάνδαλα καὶ ποιοῦντες τὴν ἀνομίαν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ὀνομάζει . For this abstract way of designating individuals by means of the characteristic feature in their character, see Kühner, II. 1, p. 10 f. The ἀνομία is immorality, as in Mat_7:23, Mat_23:28, Mat_24:12.