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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 11:12 - 11:12
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12. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν κ.τ.λ. Another point shewing the greatness of John, and also the beginning of the Kingdom: it was from the time of John’s preaching that men began to press into the kingdom, and the earnest won their way in. For the preaching of John was the epoch to which all prophecy tended.
βιάζεται. Is forced, broken into, as a ship enters a harbour by breaking the boom stretched across the harbour’s mouth. Cp. βιάσασθαι τὸν ἐκπλοῦν (Thuc. VII. 72) of the Athenian fleet forcing its way out of the harbour at Syracuse. John’s preaching was the signal for men to press into the kingdom—to adopt eagerly the new rule and life heralded by John and set forth by Christ.
καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν. The invaders, those who force their way in—the eager and enthusiastic followers of Christ seize the kingdom—win it as a prize of war.
βιασταί. Here only in N.T. one other instance of its occurrence is quoted (Philo, de Agricultura, p. 314, A.D. 40). Cp. the Pindaric βιατάς.