Mat 23:16-17, 26, Luk 4:18, Joh 9:39, 12:40, Rom 11:7 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 16. Whosoever shall swear , etc. . The temple . . It is nothing . It amounts to nothing. It is not binding. The gold of the temple . Either the golden vessels in the temple, the candlestick, etc., or the gold with which the doors and other parts of the temple were covered; or the gold in the treasury. This, it seems, they considered far more sacred than any other part of the temple, but it is not known why. He is a debtor . He is bound to keep his oath. He is guilty if he violates it. (d) "ye blind guides"

Matthew 23:16-17

Verse 16. Whosoever shall swear, etc. Mt 5:33-37.

The temple. Mt 21:12.

It is nothing. It amounts to nothing. It is not binding.

The gold of the temple. Either the golden vessels in the temple, the candlestick, etc., or the gold with which the doors and other parts of the temple were covered; or the gold in the treasury. This, it seems, they considered far more sacred than any other part of the temple, but it is not known why.

He is a debtor. He is bound to keep his oath. He is guilty if he violates it.

(d) "ye blind guides" Mt 15:14 Verse 17. The temple that sanctifieth the gold. To sanctify is to make holy. The gold had no holiness but what it derived from the temple. If in any other place, it would be no more holy than any other gold. It was foolish, then, to suppose that that was more holy than the temple from which it received all the sanctity which it possessed.

(e) "ye fools and blind" Psa 94:8

Matthew 23:26

Verse 26. Cleanse first, etc. Let them be filled with the fruits of honest industry, and then the outside and the inside will be really clean. By this allusion to the cup and platter, he taught them that it was necessary to cleanse the heart first, that the external conduct might be really pure and holy.

Luke 4:18

Verse 18. The Spirit (m) of the Lord is upon me. Or, I speak by divine appointment. I am divinely inspired to speak. There can be no doubt that the passage in Isaiah had a principal reference to the Messiah. Our Saviour directly applies it to himself, and it is not easily applicable to any other prophet. Its first application might have been to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon; but the language of prophecy is often applicable to two similar events, and the secondary event is often the most important. In this case the prophet uses most striking poetic images to depict the return from Babylon, but the same images also describe the appropriate work of the Son of God.

Hath anointed me. Anciently kings and prophets and the high-priest were set apart to their work by anointing with oil, 1Kgs 19:15,16; Ex 29:7; 1Sam 9:16, &c. This oil or ointment was made of various substances, and it was forbidden to imitate it, Ex 30:34-38. Hence those who were set apart to the work of God as king, prophet, or priest, were called the Lord's anointed, 1Sam 16:6; Ps 84:9, Isa 45:1. Hence the Son of God is called the Messiah, a Hebrew word signifying the Anointed, or the Christ, a Greek word signifying the same thing. And by his being anointed is not meant that he was literally anointed, for he was never set apart in that manner, but that God had set him apart for this work; that he had constituted or appointed him to be the prophet, priest, and king of his people. Mt 1:1.

To preach the gospel to the poor. The English word gospel is derived from two words--God or good, and spell, an old Saxon word meaning history, relation, narration, word, or speech, and the word therefore means a good communication or message. This corresponds exactly with the meaning of the Greek word -- a good or joyful message--glad tidings. By the poor are meant all those who are destitute of the comforts of this life, and who therefore may be more readily disposed to seek treasures in heaven; all those who are sensible of their sins, or are poor in spirit (Mt 5:3); and all the miserable and the afflicted, Isa 58:7. Our Saviour gave it as one proof that he was the Messiah, or was from God, that he preached to the poor, Mt 11:5. The Pharisees and Sadducees despised the poor; ancient philosophers neglected them; but the gospel seeks to bless them--to give comfort where it is felt to be needed, and where it will be received with gratitude. Riches fill the mind with pride, with self-complacency, and with a feeling that the gospel is not needed. The poor feel their need of some sources of comfort that the world cannot give, and accordingly our Saviour met with his greatest success among the poor; and there also, since, the gospel has shed its richest blessings and its purest joys. It is also one proof that the gospel is true. If it had been of men, it would have sought the rich and mighty; but it pours contempt on all human greatness, and seeks, like God, to do good to those whom the world overlooks or despises. 1Cor 1:26.

To heal the brokenhearted. To console those who are deeply afflicted, or whose hearts are broken by external calamities or by a sense of their sinfulness.

Deliverance to the captives. This is a figure originally applicable to those who were in captivity in Babylon. They were miserable. To grant deliverance to them and restore them to their country -- to grant deliverance to those who are in prison and restore them to their families--to give liberty to the slave and restore him to freedom, was to confer the highest benefit and impart the richest favour. In this manner the gospel imparts favour. It does not, indeed, literally open the doors of prisons, but it releases the mind captive under sin; it gives comfort to the prisoner, and it will finally open all prison doors and break off all the chains of slavery, and, by preventing crime, prevent also the sufferings that are the consequence of crime.

Sight to the blind. This was often literally fulfilled, Mt 1:5; Jn 9:11; Mt 9:30, &c.

To set at liberty them that are bruised. The word bruised, here, evidently has the same general signification as broken- hearted or the contrite. It means those who are pressed down by great calamity, or whose hearts are pressed or bruised by the consciousness of sin. To set them at liberty is the same as to free them from this pressure, or to give them consolation.

(m) Isa 61:1 (n) "heal" 2Chr 34:27, Ps 34:18, 51:17, 147:3, Isa 57:15 (o) "recovering" Ps 146:8, Is 29:18

John 9:39

Verse 39. For judgment. The word judgment, here, has been by some understood in the sense of condemnation-- "The effect of my coming is to condemn the world." But this meaning does not agree with those places where Jesus says that he came not to condemn the world, Jn 3:17, 12:47, 5:45. To judge is to express an opinion in a judicial manner, and also to express any sentiment about any person or thing, Jn 7:24, 5:30, Lk 8:43. The meaning here may be thus expressed: "I came to declare the condition of men; to show them

their duty and danger. My coming will have this effect,

that some will be reformed and saved, and some more

deeply condemned."

That they, &c. The Saviour does not affirm that this was the design of his coming, but that such would be the effect or result. He came to declare the truth, and the effect would be, &c. Similar instances of expression frequently occur. Comp. Mt 11:25, 10:34: "I came not to send peace, but a sword "--that is, such will be the effect of my coming.

That they which see not. Jesus took this illustration, as he commonly did, from the case before him; but it is evident that he meant it to be taken in a spiritual sense. He refers to those who are blind and ignorant by sin; whose minds have been darkened, but who are desirous of seeing.

Might see. Might discern the path of truth, of duty, and of salvation, Jn 10:9.

They which see. They who suppose they see; who are proud, self-confident, and despisers of the truth. Such were evidently the Pharisees.

Might be made blind. Such would be the effect of his preaching.

It would exasperate them, and their pride and opposition to him would confirm them more and more in their erroneous views. This is always the effect of truth. Where it does not soften it hardens the heart; where it does not convert, it sinks into deeper blindness and condemnation.

(a) "For judgment" Jn 5:22,27, 12:47 (b) "they which see not" 1Pet 2:9 (c) "they which see" Mt 13:13, Jn 3:19

John 12:40

Verse 40. He hath blinded their eyes. The expression in Isaiah is, "Go, make the heart of this people fat, and shut their eyes." That is, go and proclaim truth to them--truth that will result in blinding their eyes. Go and proclaim the law and the will of God, and the effect will be, owing to the hardness of their heart, that their eyes will be blinded and their hearts hardened. As God knew that this would be the result--as it was to be the effect of the message, his commanding Isaiah to go and proclaim it was the same in effect, or in the result, as if he had commanded him to blind their eyes and harden their hearts. It is this effect or result to which the evangelist refers in this place. He states that God did it--that is, he did it in the manner mentioned in Isaiah, for we are limited to that in our interpretation of the passage. In that case it is clear that the mode specified is not a direct agency on the part of God in blinding the mind--which we cannot reconcile with any just notions of the divine character--but in suffering the truth to produce a regular effect on sinful minds, without putting forth any positive supernatural influence to prevent it. The effect of truth on such minds is to irritate, to enrage, and to harden, unless counteracted by the grace of God. See Rom 7:8,9,11; 2Cor 2:15, 16. And as God knew this, and, knowing it, still sent the message, and suffered it to produce the regular effect, the evangelist says "he hath blinded their minds," thus retaining the substance of the passage in Isaiah without quoting the precise language; but in proclaiming the truth there was nothing wrong on the part of God or of Isaiah, nor is there any indication that God was unwilling that they should believe and be saved.

That they should not see, &c. This does not mean that it was the design of God that they should not be converted, but that it was the effect of their rejecting the message.

Mt 13:14, Mt 13:15.

(r) "hath blinded" Isa 6:9,10

Romans 11:7

Verse 7. What then? What is the proper conclusion from this argument?

Israel hath not obtained. That is, the Jews as a people have not obtained that which they sought. They sought the favour of God by their own merit; and as it was impossible to obtain it in that manner, they have, as a people, failed of obtaining his favour at all, and will be rejected.

That which he seeketh for. To wit, salvation by their own obedience to the law.

The election hath. The purpose of choosing, on the part of God, has obtained, or secured, that which the seeking on the part of the Jews could not secure. Or the abstract here may be put for the concrete, and the word "election" may mean the same as the elect. The elect, the reserved, the chosen part of the people, have obtained the favour of God.

Hath obtained it. That is, the favour or mercy of God.

The rest. The great mass of the people who remained in unbelief, and had rejected the Messiah.

Were blinded. The word in the original means, also, were hardened, (επωρωθησαν). It comes from a word which signifies, properly, to become hard, as bones do which are broken and are then united; or as the joints sometimes do when they become callous or stiff. "It was probably applied also to the formation of a hard substance in the eye, a, cataract; and then means the same as to be blinded. Hence, applied to the mind, it means that which is hard, obdurate, insensible, stupid. Thus it is applied to the Jews, and means that they were blind and obstinate. See Mk 6:52, "Their heart was hardened." Rom 8:17, Jn 12:40. The word does not occur in any other place in the New Testament. This verse affirms simply, that "the rest were hardened," but it does not affirm anything about the mode by which it was done. In regard to "the election," it is affirmed that it was of God, Rom 11:4. Of the remainder, the fact of their blindness is simply mentioned, without affirming anything of the cause. See Rom 11:8.

(h) "Israel hath not obtained" Rom 9:31 (1) "blinded" or, "hardened".