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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 22:16 - 22:16
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16. τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτῶν μετὰ τῶν Ἡρωδ. An unnatural coalition, for the Pharisees represented the patriotic resistance to all foreign power; whereas the Herodians, as their name implies, supported the Herodian dynasty, and, as the context shews, acquiesced in the Roman rule. With the form of the name cp. Cassiani, Sertoriani, the partisans of Cassius, Sertorius; so also Christiani. The Herodians are not named except in the first two Gospels; nor does Josephus include them in his account of Jewish sects. They were probably numerically insignificant, and may indeed have consisted merely of a few renegade Jews, who belonged to Herod’s court. See ch. Mat 11:8.
οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀληθὴς εἶ. Nothing could exceed the insidious hypocrisy of this attack on Jesus. His enemies approach Him as a teacher whom they trust.
οὐ γὰρ βλέπεις εἰς πρόσωπον, i.e. ‘Thou art not moved by external appearance; neither wealth, power, nor prestige will influence thy decision.’ In the parallel passage St Luke has οὐ λαμβάνεις πρόσωπον, a rendering of a Hebrew expression meaning literally ‘to raise the face,’ or ‘to accept the face.’ So in O.T., in a good sense, ‘to receive kindly;’ in N.T., always in a bad sense, ‘to look on the outside of things,’ external condition, or ‘to shew partiality.’