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Mat_20:28. Ὥσπερ ] “summum exemplum,” Bengel. Comp. Php_2:5; Rom_15:3; Polyc. Phil. 5: ὃς ἐγένετο διάκονος πάντων . Observe here the consciousness, which Jesus had from the very first, that to sacrifice himself was His great divine mission. Comp. Dorner, sündlose Vollk. Jesu, p. 44 ff.
διακονηθῆναι ] to be waited upon, as grandees are.
καὶ δοῦναι ] intensive; adding on the highest act, the culminating point in the διακονῆσαι ; but δοῦναι is made choice of, because the ψυχή (the soul, as the principle of the life of the body) is conceived of as λύτρον (a ransom); for, through the shedding of the blood (Mat_26:28; Eph_1:7), it becomes the τιμή of the redemption, 1Co_6:20; 1Co_7:23. Comp. note on Joh_10:11.
ἀντὶ πολλῶν ] ἀντί denotes substitution. That which is given as a ransom takes the place (is given instead) of those who are to be set free in consideration thereof. The λύτρον (Plat. Legg. xi. p. 919 A, Rep. p. 393 D, Thuc. vi. 5. 4) is an ἀντίλυτρον (1Ti_2:6), ἀντάλλαγμα (Mat_16:26). Whether ἀντὶ πολλῶν should be joined to λύτρον , which is the simpler course, or connected with δοῦναι , is a matter of perfect indifference (in answer to Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 1, p. 300) so far as the meaning of ἀντί is concerned. In any case, that meaning is strictly and specifically defined by λύτρον ( áÌÉôÆø ),[6] according to which ἈΝΤΊ can only be understood in the sense of substitution in the act of which the ransom is presented as an equivalent to secure the deliverance of those on whose behalf it is paid,—a view which is only confirmed by the fact that in other parts of the New Testament this ransom is usually spoken of as an expiatory sacrifice, Mat_26:28; Joh_1:29; 1Jn_4:10; Rom_3:25; Isa_53:10; 1Pe_1:18 f., 1Pe_3:18. That which they are redeemed from is the eternal ἈΠΏΛΕΙΑ , in which, as having the wrath of God abiding upon them (Joh_3:36), they would remain imprisoned (Joh_3:16; Gal_3:13; 2Co_5:21; 1Pe_2:24; Col_1:14; Col_2:13 f.) as in a state of hopeless bondage (Heb_2:15), unless the guilt of their sins were expiated.
ΠΟΛΛῶΝ ] The vicarious death of Jesus may be described as having taken place for all (Rom_5:18; 1Ti_2:6; 1Jn_2:2), or for many (so also Mat_26:28; Heb_9:28), according as we regard it as an objective fact (that fact being: Jesus has given His life a ransom for all men), or look at it in relation to the subjective appropriation of its results on the part of individuals (which happens only in the case of believers). So in the present case, where, accordingly, πολλῶν is to be understood as meaning all who believe now and will believe hereafter (Joh_17:20).
[6] Ritschl, in the Jahrb. f. D. Theol. 1863, p. 222 ff., defines λύτρον as meaning something given by way of equivalent in order to avert death; this, however, is not sufficient, for, throughout the Sept. also, in which ëôø is rendered by λύτρον (Exo_21:30; Exo_30:12; Num_35:31 f.; Pro_6:35; Pro_13:8), pretium redemtionis is found to be the specific meaning given to the word, although the connection may sometimes admit ex adjuncto the additional idea of something given for the purpose of averting death. The Sept. likewise adheres to the same meaning in cases where other expressions are rendered by λύτρον , such as âÌÀàËìÌÈä (Lev_25:24; Lev_25:51), äÇôÌÀãËéÄí (Num_3:51), ôÌÄãÀæå (Exo_21:30), îÀçÄéø (Isa_45:13). Ritschl interprets our present passage as follows: “I am come to give away my life to God in sacrifice, that I may become the substitute of those who could never hope to succeed in finding, either for themselves or others, any adequate ransom as a means of securing their exemption from death; but the substitute only of those who, through faith and self-denying devotion to my person, fulfil the condition on which alone the ransom furnished by me can procure the hoped for exemption,” p. 238.