Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 13:13 - 13:13
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
13. διὰ τοῦτο … ὅτι. Jesus teaches in parables, because, as it is, the people do not understand, &c., i.e. (1) either He teaches them in the simplest and most attractive form so as by degrees to lead them on to deeper knowledge, or (2) He teaches in parables because it is not fitting that divine truths should be at once patent to the unreflective and indifferent multitude.
In the parallel passages a final clause takes the place of the causal sentence: Mar 4:11, ἐκείνοις δὲ τοῖς ἔξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὰ πάντα γίνεται ἵνα βλέποντες βλέπωσιν κ.τ.λ. Luk 8:10, τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς ἐν παραβολαῖς ἵνα βλέποντες βλέπωσιν κ.τ.λ. The final particle ἵνα denotes intention or aim. But in regard to God’s dealing, all results are intended results, and the usual distinction between consecutive and final clauses is lost. The result of teaching by parables was that the careless and indifferent did not understand, it was the intention of God; in other words it is a spiritual law that those only who have πίστις shall learn. The form and thought of the original Hebrew corresponds with this view.