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Mat_13:44 ff. Πάλιν ὁμοία ] introduces a second illustration of the kingdom of the Messiah, by way of continuing that instruction of the disciples which began with Mat_13:36.
ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ ] in the field; the article being generic. For cases of treasure—trove mentioned by Greek and Roman writers, consult Wetstein.
ὃν εὑρὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔκρυψε ] which some man found and hid (again in the field), so as not to be compelled to give it up to the owner of the field, but in the hope of buying the latter, and of then being able legitimately to claim the treasure as having been found on his own property. It is mentioned by Bava Mezia f. 28, 2, that, in circumstances precisely similar, R. Emi purchased a hired field in which he had found treasure: “ut pleno jure thesaurum possideret omnemque litium occasionem praecideret.” Paulus, exeg. Handb. II. p. 187, observes correctly: “That it was not necessary, either for the purposes of the parable or for the point to be illustrated, that Jesus should take into consideration the ethical questions involved in such cases.” Fritzsche says: “quem alibi, credo, repertum nonnemo illuc defoderit.” But the most natural way is to regard εὑρών as the correlative to κεκρυμμένῳ ; while, again, the behaviour here supposed would have been a proceeding as singular in its character as it would have been clearly dishonest toward the owner of the field.
ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτοῦ ] ἀπό marks the causal relation (Mat_14:26; Luk_24:41; Act_12:14; Kühner, II. 1, p. 366 f.), and αὐτοῦ is not the genitive of the object (over the treasure: Vulgate, Erasmus, Luther, Beza, Calvin, Maldonatus, Jansen, Bengel, Kuinoel, Fritzsche), but, as the ordinary usage demands, the genitive of the subject: on account of his joy, without its being necessary in consequence to read αὑτοῦ , but αὐτοῦ , as looking at the matter from the standpoint of the speaker. The object is to indicate the peculiar joy with which his lucky find inspires him.
ὑπάγει κ . τ . λ .] Present: the picture becoming more and more animated. The idea embodied in the parable is to this effect: the Messianic kingdom, as being the most valuable of all possessions, can become ours only on condition that we are prepared joyfully to surrender for its sake every other earthly treasure. It is still the same idea that is presented in Mat_13:45-46, with, however, this characteristic difference, that in this case the finding of the Messiah’s kingdom is preceded by a seeking after blessedness generally; whereas, in the former case, it was discovered without being sought for, therefore without any previous effort having been put forth.
ζητοῦντι ] with the view of purchasing such goodly pearls from the owners of them (comp. Mat_7:6; Pro_3:15; Pro_8:19, and see Schoettgen).
ἕνα ] one, the only one of real worth; according to the idea contained in the parable, there exists only one such.
πέπρακε ] the perfect alternating with the aorist ( ἠγόρασεν ); the former looking back from the standpoint of the speaker to the finished act (everything has been sold by the merchant), the latter simply continuing the narrative (and he bought). Kühner, II. 1, p. 144 f.