1As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it.2Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord weigheth the hearts.3To do mercy and judgment, pleaseth the Lord more than victims.4Haughtiness of the eyes is the enlarging of the heart: the lamp of the wicked is sin.5The thoughts of the industrious always bring forth abundance: but every sluggard is always in want.6He that gathereth treasures by a lying tongue, is vain and foolish, and shall stumble upon the snares of death.10The soul of the wicked desireth evil, he will not have pity on his neighbour.11When a pestilent man is punished, the little one will be wiser: and if he follow the wise, he will receive knowledge.12The just considereth seriously the house of the wicked, that he may withdraw the wicked from evil.13He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard.
1Just as with the dividing of the waters, so also is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord. He shall bend it whichever way he wills.2Every way of a man seems right to himself. But the Lord weighs hearts.3To do mercy and judgment is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifices.4To lift up the eyes is to enlarge the heart. The lamp of the impious is sin.5The intentions of the robust continually bring forth abundance. But all the lazy are continually in need.6Whoever gathers treasures by a lying tongue is vain and heartless. And he will stumble into the snares of death.10The soul of the impious desires evil; he will not take pity on his neighbor.11When the pestilent is punished, a little one will become wiser. And if he pursues what is wise, he will receive knowledge.12The just thinks carefully about the house of the impious, so that he may draw the impious away from evil.13Whoever blocks his ears to the outcry of the poor shall also cry out himself, and he will not be heeded.
1The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.2Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.3To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.4An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.5The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.6The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.10The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.11When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.12The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
1As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it.2Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord weigheth the hearts.3To do mercy and judgment, pleaseth the Lord more than victims.4Haughtiness of the eyes is the enlarging of the heart: the lamp of the wicked is sin.5The thoughts of the industrious always bring forth abundance: but every sluggard is always in want.6He that gathereth treasures by a lying tongue, is vain and foolish, and shall stumble upon the snares of death.10The soul of the wicked desireth evil, he will not have pity on his neighbour.11When a pestilent man is punished, the little one will be wiser: and if he follow the wise, he will receive knowledge.12The just considereth seriously the house of the wicked, that he may withdraw the wicked from evil.13He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard.
1Just as with the dividing of the waters, so also is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord. He shall bend it whichever way he wills.2Every way of a man seems right to himself. But the Lord weighs hearts.3To do mercy and judgment is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifices.4To lift up the eyes is to enlarge the heart. The lamp of the impious is sin.5The intentions of the robust continually bring forth abundance. But all the lazy are continually in need.6Whoever gathers treasures by a lying tongue is vain and heartless. And he will stumble into the snares of death.10The soul of the impious desires evil; he will not take pity on his neighbor.11When the pestilent is punished, a little one will become wiser. And if he pursues what is wise, he will receive knowledge.12The just thinks carefully about the house of the impious, so that he may draw the impious away from evil.13Whoever blocks his ears to the outcry of the poor shall also cry out himself, and he will not be heeded.
1The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.2Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.3To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.4An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.5The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.6The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.10The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.11When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.12The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Make me to understand the way of thy justifications: and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works.30I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not forgotten.34Give me understanding, and I will search thy law; and I will keep it with my whole heart.35Lead me into the path of thy commandments; for this same I have desired.44So shall I always keep thy law, for ever and ever.
1Alleluia. Blessed are the immaculate in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Instruct me in the way of your justifications, and I will be trained in your wonders.30I have chosen the way of truth. I have not forgotten your judgments.34Give me understanding, and I will examine your law. And I will keep it with my whole heart.35Lead me according to the path of your commandments, for I have desired this.44And I will always keep your law, in this age and forever and ever.
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.30I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.34Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.35Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.44So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Make me to understand the way of thy justifications: and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works.30I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not forgotten.34Give me understanding, and I will search thy law; and I will keep it with my whole heart.35Lead me into the path of thy commandments; for this same I have desired.44So shall I always keep thy law, for ever and ever.
1Alleluia. Blessed are the immaculate in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Instruct me in the way of your justifications, and I will be trained in your wonders.30I have chosen the way of truth. I have not forgotten your judgments.34Give me understanding, and I will examine your law. And I will keep it with my whole heart.35Lead me according to the path of your commandments, for I have desired this.44And I will always keep your law, in this age and forever and ever.
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.30I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.34Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.35Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.44So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
The longest psalm in the psalter is also the most heavily engineered, and the engineering is the point. Worthington counts fourteen different names for the law of God — way, testimony, justification, judgment and the rest — turning up in every verse but one, the hundred and twenty-second (Muis). Eight verses are assigned to each of the twenty-two Hebrew letters, and Hilary explains the alphabetical scheme as a mnemonic: it is built so that we may learn it from infancy. Jerome pressed further and read the letter-names themselves as a sentence, beginning aleph, "the doctrine," and beth, "of the house," and running on through "a good beginning," "the hand of discipline," "everlasting help," down to "the signs" — chaining them to show that the Scriptures bring us to the knowledge of the Church and of Christ. Haydock concedes that the proud may deride the ingenuity, and answers that the sacred writers evidently found use in the form even where we cannot see the advantage.
Augustine begins where the psalm begins, with an offer nobody refuses and a condition everybody does. As much as to say, he writes on v. 1, I know what thou wishest, thou art seeking bliss: if then thou wouldest be blessed, be undefiled — the former all desire, the latter they fear, and yet without it what all wish cannot be attained. Undefiled where, except in the way, and in what way except the law of the Lord? Haydock's notes leave the referent open: Worthington takes "the way" of this life, Augustine of the law, Ambrose of Christ himself. The strain arrives at v. 27, where the "wondrous works" are, on Augustine's reading, the higher commandments — so wondrous that human weakness is believed incapable of them by everyone who has not tried. The psalmist's own boast at v. 30, "I have chosen the way of truth," is immediately hedged by the Apostle's rule that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy; and by v. 35 the hedge has become the prayer: my desire is powerless, unless Thou Thyself makest me to go where I desire. The way is narrow, Augustine adds, and cannot be run except by a heart that has been widened. Worthington supplies the counterweight rather than the contradiction — free will concurs with grace, and the psalmist presupposes that some can and do keep the law; Du Hamel reads the psalm as overturning the Protestant account of justification.
What the psalm never does is choose between the asking and the doing. Verse 34 puts both in one breath — give me understanding, and I will search thy law — and Haydock draws the operative rule from it: we must observe what we know, in order to receive greater lights. That is the reverse of the usual modern order, in which understanding is treated as information owed in advance, the obstacle imagined as insufficient data and obedience deferred until the case is closed. Here comprehension is downstream of keeping, and the request for it is a request to be moved, not briefed. Verse 44 sets the term: "always" is not to be shrunk to "as long as we live here," Augustine insists, since what is kept is love, and love is the fulfilling of the law; Berthier notes that the Hebrew reads "and after," the sanction of the law standing when this world has ended, and refers the phrase to the Church. The image to take away is the one in v. 35 — a narrow path, and a heart stretched wide enough to run down it.
19And his mother and brethren came unto him: and they could not come at him for the crowd.20And it was told him: Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.21Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God and do it.
19Then his mother and brothers came to him; but they were not able to go to him because of the crowd.20And it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”21And in response, he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
19Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.20And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.21And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
19And his mother and brethren came unto him: and they could not come at him for the crowd.20And it was told him: Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.21Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God and do it.
19Then his mother and brothers came to him; but they were not able to go to him because of the crowd.20And it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”21And in response, he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
19Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.20And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.21And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Three verses, and the pressure falls on one word. Bristow's note is the plain one: in the scriptural idiom cousins are called brethren, and Haydock rules out both alternatives — not sons of the Virgin, as Helvidius wickedly taught, nor sons of Joseph by an earlier wife, since Jerome writes in the Contra Helvidium that Joseph too observed virginity. Theophylact says the same, and prefers "kinsfolk." But Titus of Bostra notices that the word is doing double duty here. Nobody is by nature the brother of the Saviour, since He is the Only-begotten; He became our brother by grace, making us partakers of His flesh and His blood, so that He who is God by nature is our brother by gift. Two kinds of brotherhood are therefore standing in the room, one of them outside the door, and the answer in v. 21 turns on which is being claimed. The physical detail carries it: they could not come at Him for the crowd, and so they stand without.
Chrysostom reconstructs the moment without softening it. The whole people were standing by and hanging on His mouth, the teaching already begun, and the message asks Him to leave it; Titus supposes the relatives expected exactly that, since out of respect for His mother's name He would surely dismiss the crowd. Ambrose sees a teacher submitting first to what he is about to enjoin, since it is His own precept that whoever has not left father and mother is not worthy of the Son of God — and Ambrose is emphatic that this is no denial of filial duty, for "he that knows not his father and mother shall die the death" is also His sentence. He knows Himself more bound to His Father's mysteries than to His mother's feelings; the parents are not harshly rejected, the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Nor is she disowned, whatever the heretics who catch eagerly at the speech may say, since she is acknowledged from the cross. Chrysostom's version is sharpest: the saying does not reprove her, it greatly assists her, for He would not have raised her to such a height if she were always to expect honour from Him as a son and never to consider Him as her Lord. Theophylact then names the criterion in the only terms it can be named: they who hear the word of God and do it are called His mother, because daily, in act or word, they bring Him forth in their inmost hearts.
Theophylact preserves a second reading of the scene, harder and closer to the modern ear. Some, he says, took the message as a taunt from men who mocked Christ's teaching and raised His relatives in order to expose His obscure birth — to which the answer is that meanness of birth harms nobody, and a man of low birth who hears the word of God is reckoned a kinsman. Both errors in that exchange are still available. One is religion as inherited standing, where the family or the culture is understood to have done the believing already; the other is its mirror, religion as material heard. Theophylact closes that exit himself: hearing alone saves no one but rather condemns, which is why the clause runs and do it. Ambrose adds the spatial reading — he ought not to stand without who is seeking Christ — and Theophylact applies it to those who guard the letter from outside and would sooner compel Christ to come out and teach them earthly things than go in and learn spiritual ones. The scene is a crowded house with the door open and the teaching audible from the step. Nobody in it was born inside.
1As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it.2Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord weigheth the hearts.3To do mercy and judgment, pleaseth the Lord more than victims.4Haughtiness of the eyes is the enlarging of the heart: the lamp of the wicked is sin.5The thoughts of the industrious always bring forth abundance: but every sluggard is always in want.6He that gathereth treasures by a lying tongue, is vain and foolish, and shall stumble upon the snares of death.10The soul of the wicked desireth evil, he will not have pity on his neighbour.11When a pestilent man is punished, the little one will be wiser: and if he follow the wise, he will receive knowledge.12The just considereth seriously the house of the wicked, that he may withdraw the wicked from evil.13He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard.
1Just as with the dividing of the waters, so also is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord. He shall bend it whichever way he wills.2Every way of a man seems right to himself. But the Lord weighs hearts.3To do mercy and judgment is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifices.4To lift up the eyes is to enlarge the heart. The lamp of the impious is sin.5The intentions of the robust continually bring forth abundance. But all the lazy are continually in need.6Whoever gathers treasures by a lying tongue is vain and heartless. And he will stumble into the snares of death.10The soul of the impious desires evil; he will not take pity on his neighbor.11When the pestilent is punished, a little one will become wiser. And if he pursues what is wise, he will receive knowledge.12The just thinks carefully about the house of the impious, so that he may draw the impious away from evil.13Whoever blocks his ears to the outcry of the poor shall also cry out himself, and he will not be heeded.
1The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.2Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.3To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.4An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.5The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.6The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.10The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.11When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.12The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Verse 4 is a small textual wreck. The Douay has "the lamp of the wicked is sin"; the Protestant versions have "the ploughing of the wicked is sin"; and Haydock prints the Hebrew behind both — "the haughtiness of the eyes, and the enlarging of the heart, are the labour of the wicked; yea, sin" — noting that the word he renders labour is "tillage" in Montanus and "thought" in Pagnin. He allows that the Septuagint and Vulgate may equally mean "sin is the lamp and exultation of the wicked." Whether the proud man's pride is the field he ploughs, the thought he thinks or the lamp he reads by, Calmet's summary covers every version: those things are his employment, and they are his sin. The chapter has a second such reversal at v. 5, where the Douay's "sluggard" translates a Hebrew word meaning the hasty man — ironically styled, Haydock explains, because he wants his desires accomplished without labouring and will never stick to work. Laziness here is not slowness. It is impatience, and it is fatal to advancement.
The opening verse sets the terms for the rest. Calmet is careful to insist that the heart is free and may resist grace or embrace virtue, and stacks up the texts where God pleads rather than compels — Isaias, Jeremias, Josue. Menochius then takes the image seriously: God knows how to turn even a king's heart, preserving that liberty, with the same ease as a gardener brings the streams of water to his plants. The comparison does the theological work, because a channel does not push water; it offers it the only downhill there is. What follows is a series of self-assessments overturned from outside. Every way of a man seems right to himself (v. 2), and the Lord weighs the hearts; mercy and judgment please Him more than victims (v. 3), where the Septuagint reads "justice and truth" and Menochius sends the reader to Osee vi; and the wicked man's settled desire for evil leaves him, in Symmachus's rendering of v. 10, with no idea of friendship at all — the Septuagint pushes it further, that no man shall treat him with mercy.
That last is not a curse pronounced on him but a description of the position he has built, and v. 13 restates it as an anatomy: the man who stops his ear against the cry of the poor will cry himself and not be heard. The two verses on the wise man's use of other people's downfall are where the passage bites hardest now. When a pestilent man is punished the little one grows wiser (v. 11) — the effects, Haydock notes, of chastisement and of good company. Then v. 12: the just man considers seriously the house of the wicked, and Haydock reads the purpose as rescue, that he may try every expedient to withdraw him from evil, though he records that the Septuagint has "he despises" and Symmachus "throws down." The modern habit sides with the variants. Watching a collapse has become a form of entertainment with a moral alibi attached, and the alibi is precisely what Proverbs withholds: the sluggard's haste, the wicked man's friendlessness, the liar's treasure that stumbles on the snares of death are all set down as things to be studied by someone who intends to reach into the house. God turns a king's heart the way water is led to a plant. Nobody is led anywhere by an audience.
1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Make me to understand the way of thy justifications: and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works.30I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not forgotten.34Give me understanding, and I will search thy law; and I will keep it with my whole heart.35Lead me into the path of thy commandments; for this same I have desired.44So shall I always keep thy law, for ever and ever.
1Alleluia. Blessed are the immaculate in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Instruct me in the way of your justifications, and I will be trained in your wonders.30I have chosen the way of truth. I have not forgotten your judgments.34Give me understanding, and I will examine your law. And I will keep it with my whole heart.35Lead me according to the path of your commandments, for I have desired this.44And I will always keep your law, in this age and forever and ever.
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.27Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.30I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.34Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.35Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.44So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
The longest psalm in the psalter is also the most heavily engineered, and the engineering is the point. Worthington counts fourteen different names for the law of God — way, testimony, justification, judgment and the rest — turning up in every verse but one, the hundred and twenty-second (Muis). Eight verses are assigned to each of the twenty-two Hebrew letters, and Hilary explains the alphabetical scheme as a mnemonic: it is built so that we may learn it from infancy. Jerome pressed further and read the letter-names themselves as a sentence, beginning aleph, "the doctrine," and beth, "of the house," and running on through "a good beginning," "the hand of discipline," "everlasting help," down to "the signs" — chaining them to show that the Scriptures bring us to the knowledge of the Church and of Christ. Haydock concedes that the proud may deride the ingenuity, and answers that the sacred writers evidently found use in the form even where we cannot see the advantage.
Augustine begins where the psalm begins, with an offer nobody refuses and a condition everybody does. As much as to say, he writes on v. 1, I know what thou wishest, thou art seeking bliss: if then thou wouldest be blessed, be undefiled — the former all desire, the latter they fear, and yet without it what all wish cannot be attained. Undefiled where, except in the way, and in what way except the law of the Lord? Haydock's notes leave the referent open: Worthington takes "the way" of this life, Augustine of the law, Ambrose of Christ himself. The strain arrives at v. 27, where the "wondrous works" are, on Augustine's reading, the higher commandments — so wondrous that human weakness is believed incapable of them by everyone who has not tried. The psalmist's own boast at v. 30, "I have chosen the way of truth," is immediately hedged by the Apostle's rule that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy; and by v. 35 the hedge has become the prayer: my desire is powerless, unless Thou Thyself makest me to go where I desire. The way is narrow, Augustine adds, and cannot be run except by a heart that has been widened. Worthington supplies the counterweight rather than the contradiction — free will concurs with grace, and the psalmist presupposes that some can and do keep the law; Du Hamel reads the psalm as overturning the Protestant account of justification.
What the psalm never does is choose between the asking and the doing. Verse 34 puts both in one breath — give me understanding, and I will search thy law — and Haydock draws the operative rule from it: we must observe what we know, in order to receive greater lights. That is the reverse of the usual modern order, in which understanding is treated as information owed in advance, the obstacle imagined as insufficient data and obedience deferred until the case is closed. Here comprehension is downstream of keeping, and the request for it is a request to be moved, not briefed. Verse 44 sets the term: "always" is not to be shrunk to "as long as we live here," Augustine insists, since what is kept is love, and love is the fulfilling of the law; Berthier notes that the Hebrew reads "and after," the sanction of the law standing when this world has ended, and refers the phrase to the Church. The image to take away is the one in v. 35 — a narrow path, and a heart stretched wide enough to run down it.
19And his mother and brethren came unto him: and they could not come at him for the crowd.20And it was told him: Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.21Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God and do it.
19Then his mother and brothers came to him; but they were not able to go to him because of the crowd.20And it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”21And in response, he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
19Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.20And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.21And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Three verses, and the pressure falls on one word. Bristow's note is the plain one: in the scriptural idiom cousins are called brethren, and Haydock rules out both alternatives — not sons of the Virgin, as Helvidius wickedly taught, nor sons of Joseph by an earlier wife, since Jerome writes in the Contra Helvidium that Joseph too observed virginity. Theophylact says the same, and prefers "kinsfolk." But Titus of Bostra notices that the word is doing double duty here. Nobody is by nature the brother of the Saviour, since He is the Only-begotten; He became our brother by grace, making us partakers of His flesh and His blood, so that He who is God by nature is our brother by gift. Two kinds of brotherhood are therefore standing in the room, one of them outside the door, and the answer in v. 21 turns on which is being claimed. The physical detail carries it: they could not come at Him for the crowd, and so they stand without.
Chrysostom reconstructs the moment without softening it. The whole people were standing by and hanging on His mouth, the teaching already begun, and the message asks Him to leave it; Titus supposes the relatives expected exactly that, since out of respect for His mother's name He would surely dismiss the crowd. Ambrose sees a teacher submitting first to what he is about to enjoin, since it is His own precept that whoever has not left father and mother is not worthy of the Son of God — and Ambrose is emphatic that this is no denial of filial duty, for "he that knows not his father and mother shall die the death" is also His sentence. He knows Himself more bound to His Father's mysteries than to His mother's feelings; the parents are not harshly rejected, the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Nor is she disowned, whatever the heretics who catch eagerly at the speech may say, since she is acknowledged from the cross. Chrysostom's version is sharpest: the saying does not reprove her, it greatly assists her, for He would not have raised her to such a height if she were always to expect honour from Him as a son and never to consider Him as her Lord. Theophylact then names the criterion in the only terms it can be named: they who hear the word of God and do it are called His mother, because daily, in act or word, they bring Him forth in their inmost hearts.
Theophylact preserves a second reading of the scene, harder and closer to the modern ear. Some, he says, took the message as a taunt from men who mocked Christ's teaching and raised His relatives in order to expose His obscure birth — to which the answer is that meanness of birth harms nobody, and a man of low birth who hears the word of God is reckoned a kinsman. Both errors in that exchange are still available. One is religion as inherited standing, where the family or the culture is understood to have done the believing already; the other is its mirror, religion as material heard. Theophylact closes that exit himself: hearing alone saves no one but rather condemns, which is why the clause runs and do it. Ambrose adds the spatial reading — he ought not to stand without who is seeking Christ — and Theophylact applies it to those who guard the letter from outside and would sooner compel Christ to come out and teach them earthly things than go in and learn spiritual ones. The scene is a crowded house with the door open and the teaching audible from the step. Nobody in it was born inside.
The complete public-domain commentary this reading's note draws from, unabridged. Every claim in the note traces to a passage here.
It. Though it be free, and may resist grace or embrace virtue, Isaias xlv. 22., Jeremias iii. 14., and vii. 3., and Josue xxiv. 23. (Calmet) --- Yet God knows how to turn the heart even of a king, so as to preserve his liberty, with the same ease as a gardener brings the streams of water to his plants. (Menochius)
Mercy. Septuagint, "justice and truth." (Haydock) See Osee vi. 6. (Menochius)
Heart. Or when it is proud, it causes the eyes to appear so too. (Calmet) --- Lamp. Protestants, "ploughing of the wicked is sin." When it is done with a bad motive, out of pride. Hebrew, "the haughtiness of the eyes, and the enlarging of the heart, are the labour ("tillage," Montanus; "thought," Pagnin) of the wicked; yea, sin." (Haydock) --- Those things are their employment, and their sin. (Calmet) --- Septuagint and Vulgate may also mean, "sin is the lamp and exultation of the wicked." (Haydock)
Sluggard. Hebrew, "hasty man," as the slothful is ironically styled. He would see his desires accomplished without labouring; and will never stick to work. This levity is most injurious to his advancement.
Death. Their injustice shall be punished.
Neighbour. Symmachus, "he has no idea of friendship." Septuagint, "he shall not be treated with mercy by any man." (Haydock)
Knowledge. These are the effects of chastisements and good company.
Evil. He tries every expedient to save him. --- That. Septuagint, "he despises." Symmachus, "throws down."
1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord , as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.
3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
5 The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.
6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
10 The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.
11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
12 The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.
13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Pr 21:1-31 .
1. rivers-- irrigating channels ( Psa 1:3 ), whose course was easily turned (compare De 11:10 ). God disposes even kings as He pleases ( Pr 16:9 ; Psa 33:15 ).
2. (Compare Pr 14:2 ; 16:2-25 ).
3. (Compare Psa 50:7-15 ; Is 1:11 , 17 ).
4. high look-- (Compare Margin; Psa 131:1 ).
proud heart-- or, "heart of breadth," one that is swollen (compare Psa 101:5 ).
ploughing-- better "lamp," a frequent figure for prosperity ( Pr 20:20 ); hence joy or delight.
5. The contrast is between steady industry and rashness (compare Pr 19:2 ).
6. The getting-- or, "what is obtained" (compare Job 7:2 ; Jr 22:13 , Hebrew).
vanity ... to and fro-- as fleeting as chaff or stubble in the wind (compare Pr 20:17-21 ; Psa 62:10 ). Such gettings are unsatisfactory.
them ... death-- act as if they did ( Pr 8:36 ; 17:19 ).
10. So strongly does he desire to do evil ( Psa 10:3 ; Ec 8:11 ), that he will not even spare his friend if in his way.
11. (Compare Pr 19:25 ). That which the simple learn by the terrors of punishment, the wise learn by teaching.
12. (Compare Psa 37:35-38; 73:17, 20).
house-- family or interests.
overthroweth-- either supply "God" (compare Pr 10:24 ), or the word is used impersonally.
13. The principles of retribution, often taught (compare Psa 18:26 ; Mt 7:1-12 ).
Aleph.
1. From its commencement, dearly beloved, doth this great Psalm exhort us unto bliss, which there is no one who desireth not....And therefore this is the lesson which he teacheth, who saith, "Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord" (ver. 1). As much as to say, I know what thou wishest, thou art seeking bliss: if then thou wouldest be blessed, be undefiled. For the former all desire, the latter fear: yet without it what all wish cannot be attained. But where will any one be undefiled, save in the way? In what way, save in the law of the Lord?...
2. Listen now to what he addeth: "Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and seek Him with their whole heart"
(ver. 27); or, as some copies have it, "instruct me;" which is expressed more closely from the Greek, "Make me to understand the way of Thy righteousnesses; so shall I be exercised in Thy wondrous things." These higher commandments, which he desireth to understand by edification, he calleth the wondrous things of God. There are then some righteousnesses of God so wondrous, that human weakness may be believed incapable of fulfilling them by those who have not tried. Whence the Psalmist, struggling and wearied with the difficulty of obeying them, saith, "My soul hath slumbered for very heaviness: O stablish Thou me with Thy word!"
(ver. 29). And since the law of works hath entered in, that sin might abound; he addeth, "And pity me according to Thy law." By what law, save by the law of faith? Hear the Apostle: "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works. Nay: but by the law of faith." This is the law of faith, whereby we believe and pray that it may be granted us through grace; that we may effect that which we cannot fulfil through ourselves; that we may not, ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to stablish our own, fail to submit ourselves unto the righteousness of God.
30. But after he had said, "And pity me according to Thy law;" he mentioneth some of those blessings which he hath already obtained, that he may ask others that he hath not yet gained. For he saith, "I have chosen the way of truth: and Thy judgments I have not forgotten" (ver. 30). "I have stuck unto Thy testimonies: O Lord, confound me not" (ver. 31): may I persevere in striving toward the point whereunto I am running: may I arrive whither I am running! So then "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." He next saith, "I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou hast widened my heart"
(ver. 34). For when each man hath searched the law, and searched its deep things, in which its whole meaning doth consist; he ought indeed to love God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind; and his neighbour as himself. "For on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." This he seemeth to have promised, when he said, "Yea, I shall keep it with my whole heart."
35. But since he hath no power to do even this, save he be aided by Him who commandeth him to do what He commandeth, "Make me," he addeth, "to go in the path of Thy commandments, for therein is my desire" (ver. 35). My desire is powerless, unless Thou Thyself makest me to go where I desire. And this is surely the very path, that is, the path of God's commandments, which he had already said that he had run, when his heart was enlarged by the Lord. And this he calleth a "path," because "the way is narrow which leadeth unto life;" and since it is narrow, we cannot run therein save with a heart enlarged....
36. He next saith, "Incline mine heart unto Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness"
(ver. 44): that is, if Thou wilt not take the word of Thy truth out of my mouth. "Yea, unto age, and age of age:" he showeth what he meant by "alway." For sometimes by "alway" is meant, as long as we live here; but this is not, "unto age, and age of age." For it is better thus translated than as some copies have, "to eternity, and to age of age," since they could not say, and to eternity of eternity. That law therefore should be understood, of which the Apostle saith, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." For this will be kept by the saints, from whose mouth the word of truth is not taken, that is, by the Church of Christ Herself, not only during this world, that is, until this world is ended; but for another also which is styled, "world without end." ...
46. "And I walked at liberty: for I sought Thy precepts" (ver. 45)...."And I walked at liberty." Here the copulative conjunction, "and," is not used as a connecting particle; for he doth not say, and I will walk, as he had said, "and I will keep Thy commandments for ever and ever:" or if this latter verse be in the optative mood, and may I keep Thy law; he doth not add, And may I walk at liberty, as if he had desired and prayed for both of these things; but he saith, "And I walked at liberty." If this conjunction were not used here, and if the sentence were introduced free from any such connection with what preceded, "I walked at liberty," the reader would never be induced by anything unusual in the mode of speech to think he should seek for some hidden sense. Doubtless, then, he wished what he hath not said to be understood, that is, that his prayers had been heard; and he then added what he had become: as if he were to say, When I prayed for these things, Thou heardest me, "And I walked at liberty;" and so with the remaining expressions which he hath added to the same purpose.
47. ...Whence after he had said, "And I walked at liberty," he subjoined the reason, "For I sought out Thy commandments." Some copies have not "commandments" but "testimonies:" but we find "commandments" in most, and especially in the Greek; and who would hesitate rather to believe this tongue, as prior to our own, and that from which these Psalms have been rendered into Latin? If then we wish to know how he sought out these commandments, or how they ought to be sought out, let us consider what our good Master, who both taught and gave them, saith: "Ask, and it shall be given you." And a little lower, "If ye then," He saith, "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him." Where He evidently showeth, that the words He had spoken, seek, ask, knock, belong only to earnestness in asking, that is, in praying. Moreover, another Evangelist saith not, He will give good things to them that ask Him; which may be understood in many ways, either as earthly or spiritual blessings; but has excluded other interpretations, and very carefully expressed what our Lord wished us to pray earnestly and instantly for, in these words: "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." ...
48. "I spoke of Thy testimonies also," he saith, "before kings, and I was not ashamed"
Alleluia. There is no title in Hebrew. But (Haydock) this psalm contains the praises of the Lord, and of his holy law, under fourteen different names, (Worthington) of way, testimony, &c., repeated in every verse, except the 122d, (Muis) with surprising variety, so as to avoid tautology, and to give a most perfect system of moral doctrine. It is written according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet, (Haydock) that we may learn it from our infancy. (St. Hilary) --- Eight verses begin with each of the twenty-two letters. St. Jerome (ad Paulam Urb. & Proem. in Lam.) moralizes on the signification of these letters, which he renders, 1. Aleph, &c., "the doctrine---2. of the house; 3. the plenitude, 4. of the tables (or holy scripture)---5. This 6. and 7. this 8. of life---9. a good 10. beginning---11. the hand 12. of discipline (or the heart)---13. from them 14. everlasting 15. help---16. the fountain (or eye) 17. of the mouth 18. of justice---19. the calling 20. of the head 21. of teeth 22. the signs." By thus connecting the letters, he forms sentences to shew that the holy Scriptures bring us to the knowledge of the Church, and of Christ, &c. See Worthington. Thus every thing serves to excite the devotion of the saints, though the proud may deride their ingenuity. The sacred writers have certainly found some pleasure and utility in writing so frequently in the alphabetical order, though we may not perceive the advantages of it. (Haydock) --- David is supposed to have written this psalm for the instruction of Solomon in his youth, (Berthier) though others believe that he composed it while he himself was young, and persecuted by Saul. (Muis; Bossuet, &c.) --- It seems very probable, that David wrote it for the consolation of the captives. (Calmet) (Daniel ix. 2.) --- Origen and Ven. Bede refer it to those times; though it seems in reality to appertain to all who desire to live piously, (Haydock) and it is only a conjecture that any other but David was the author, to whom it is generally attributed. Its excellency cannot be denied, and the Church has adopted it for her daily office, dividing it into eleven psalms. (Berthier) --- St. Augustine has written thirty-two, and St. Ambrose twenty-two sermons on the contents; and St. Basil observes, that David has here composed in one psalm the sum of all that he has written in the rest. Among other points of morality and doctrine, we may remark, that the psalmist insists on the necessity of God's grace, and the co-operation of free will, (Worthington) and overturns the Protestant system of justification. (Du Hamel) --- The Israelites might recite this psalm on their journey, three times a-year, to the temple, as the fifteen gradual canticles which follow, were to be sung on the steps leading to the house of God. (Bellarmine) (Menochius) --- Lord. Such only are happy here, (Worthington) or hereafter. (Haydock) --- All aim at happiness, but only the virtuous take the proper means to attain it. (St. Augustine) --- The way may here designate this life, (Worthington) or the law, (St. Augustine) or Jesus Christ, John xiv. 6. (St. Ambrose) The psalmist evidently presupposes, that some can and do keep the law. (Worthington)
Heart. Enable me to keep and to understand thy law, ver. 1, 2. (Worthington) --- We must observe what we know, that we may receive greater lights. (Haydock)
Desired. Free-will concurs with grace. (Worthington)
Ever. Hebrew, "and after." The sanction of the law will remain after this world is at an end. These expressions relate to the Church. (Berthier)
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord . 2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. 3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. 27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. 31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Lord , put me not to shame. 32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
Observe, I. That those who will make anything to purpose of their religion must first make it their serious and deliberate choice; so David did: I have chosen the way of truth. Note, 1. The way of serious godliness is the way of truth; the principles it is founded on are principles of eternal truth, and it is the only true way to happiness. 2. We must choose to walk in this way, not because we know no other way, but because we know no better; nay we know no other safe and good way. Let us choose that way for our way, which we will walk in, though it be narrow.
II. That those who have chosen the way of truth must have a constant regard to the word of God as the rule of their walking: Thy judgments have I laid before me, as he who learns to write lays his copy before him, that he may write according to it, as the workman lays his model and platform before him, that he may do his work exactly. As we must have the word in our heart by an habitual conformity to it, so we must have it in our eye by an actual regard to it upon all occasions, that we may walk accurately and by rule.
III. That those who make religion their choice and rule are likely to adhere to it faithfully: " I have stuck to thy testimonies with unchanged affection and an unshaken resolution, stuck to them at all times, through all trials. I have chosen them, and therefore I have stuck to them." Note, The choosing Christian is likely to be the steady Christian; while those that are Christians by chance tack about if the wind turn.
IV. That those who stick to the word of God may in faith expect and pray for acceptance with God; for David means this when he begs, " Lord, put me not to shame; that is, never leave me to do that by which I shall shame myself, and do thou not reject my services, which will put me to the greatest confusion."
33 Teach me, O Lord , the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Here, I. David prays earnestly that God himself would be his teacher; he had prophets, and wise men, and priests, about him, and was himself well instructed in the law of God, yet he begs to be taught of God, as knowing that none teaches like him, Job xxxvi. 22 . Observe here, 1. What he desires to be taught, not the notions or language of God's statutes, but the way of them—"the way of applying them to myself and governing myself by them; teach me the way of my duty which thy statutes prescribe, and in every doubtful case let me know what thou wouldst have me to do, let me hear the word behind me, saying, This is the way, walk in it " Isa. xxx. 21 . 2. How he desires to be taught, in such a way as no man could teach him: Lord, give me understanding. As the God of nature, he has given us intellectual powers and faculties; but here we are taught to pray that, as the God of grace, he would give us understanding to use those powers and faculties about the great things which belong to our peace, which, through the corruption of nature, we are averse to: Give me understanding, an enlightened understanding; for it is as good to have no understanding at all as not to have it sanctified. Nor will the spirit of revelation in the word answer the end unless we have the spirit of wisdom in the heart. This is that which we are indebted to Christ for; for the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, 1 John v. 20 .
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. 36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
He had before prayed to God to enlighten his understanding, that he might know his duty, and not mistake concerning it; here he prays to God to bow his will, and quicken the active powers of his soul, that he might do his duty; for it is God that works in us both to will and to do, as well as to understand, what is good, Phil. ii. 13 . Both the good head and the good heart are from the good grace of God, and both are necessary to every good work. Observe here,
I. The grace he prays for. 1. That God would make him able to do his duty: " Make me to go; strengthen me for every good work." Since we are not sufficient of ourselves, our dependence must be upon the grace of God, for from him all our sufficiency is. God puts his Spirit within us, and so causes us to walk in his statutes ( Ezek. xxxvi. 27 ), and this is that which David here begs. 2. That God would make him willing to do it, and would, by his grace, subdue the aversion he naturally had to it: " Incline my heart to thy testimonies, to those things which thy testimonies prescribe; not only make me willing to do my duty, as that which I must do and therefore am concerned to make the best of, but make me desirous to do my duty as that which is agreeable to the new nature and really advantageous to me." Duty is then done with delight when the heart is inclined to it: it is God's grace that inclines us, and the more backward we find ourselves to it the more earnest we must be for that grace.
II. The sin he prays against, and that is covetousness: " Incline my heart to keep thy testimonies, and restrain and mortify the inclination there is in me to covetousness. " That is a sin which stands opposed to all God's testimonies; for the love of money is such a sin as is the root of much sin, of all sin. Those therefore that would have the love of God rooted in them must get the love of the world rooted out of them; for the friendship of the world is enmity with God. See in what way God deals with men, not by compulsion, but he draws with the cords of a man, working in them an inclination to that which is good and an aversion to that which is evil.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. 44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
ALEPH. ( Psa 119:1-8 ).
1. undefiled-- literally, "complete," perfect, or sincere (compare Psa 37:37 ).
in-- or, "of"
the way-- course of life.
walk-- act
in the law-- according to it (compare Lu 1:6 ).
law-- from a word meaning "to teach," is a term of rather general purport, denoting the instruction of God's Word.
25-27. Submitting ourselves in depression to God, He will revive us by His promises, and lead us to declare His mercy to others.
28-32. In order to adhere to His word, we must seek deliverance from temptations to sin as well as from despondency.
enlarge-- or, "expand"
my heart-- with gracious affections.
HE. ( Psa 119:33-40 ).
33-38. To encourage us in prayer for divine aid in adhering to His truth, we are permitted to believe that by His help we shall succeed.
the way of thy statutes-- that is, the way or manner of life prescribed by them. The help we hope to obtain by prayer is to be the basis on which our resolutions should rest.
41-44. The sentiment more fully carried out. God's mercies and salvation, as revealed in His Word, provide hope of forgiveness for the past and security in a righteous course for the future.
CHAPTER 8
Ver. 15.Which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it. The Council of Basle observes that for the right hearing of the word of God there is required,
1. A place fitted to receive it, i.e. an honest and good heart.
2. A proper disposition, to "keep" the word when heard; and
3. That best return, fruit brought forth with patience.
A heart is honest and good, says Lyranus, because of the faith which illumines it, and good (optimum) in a higher sense because of grace working in it; or, as others hold, it is "bonum" because disciplined and exercised in virtue, and "optimum" because of inward peace and consolation. Again, it is "bonum" because purified from sin, and "optimum" because conformed to the will of God (Albertus Magnus); or "bonum" in discerning the truth, and "optimum" in its desire of that which is right (Bonaventura); or, according to S. Augustine on Ps. vii., "bonum" on account of the love it bears its neighbour and itself, "optimum" on account of its exceeding love for God.
Hence we may take the Greek, καλη̃ καί α̉γαθη̃, to mean the same as the Vulgate "bono et optimo," for the copula καί, or "et," signifies gradation and increase. They, therefore, who keep the word of God in an honest and good heart bring forth fruit in proportion: good fruit if the heart is good, better if the heart is better, and the best fruit if the heart is perfect, i.e. thirty fold, sixty fold, or one hundred fold. S. Matt. xiii. 8. And it does not follow of necessity, as Toletus holds, that these words apply to different persons, for the heart of a believer may grow in grace, until at last it is "optimum," perfect in sight of God.
With patience, ὲν ύπομονη̃, i.e. in the endurance of labour, disappointment, and sorrow in the plowing, seeding, and harrowing of the soul, and in the long expectation of harvest.
Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.20. And it was told him by certain which said, Your mother and your brethren stand without, desiring to see you.21. And he answered and said to them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Our Lord had left His kinsfolk according to the flesh, and was occupied in His Father’s teaching. But when they began to feel His absence, they came to Him, as it is said, Then came to him his mother and his brethren. When you hear of our Lord’s brethren you must include also the notions of piety and grace. For no one in regard of His divine nature is the brother of the Savior, (for He is the Only-begotten,) but He has, by the grace of piety, made us partakers in His flesh and His blood, and He who is by nature God has become our brother.
But those who are said to be our Lord’s brethren according to the flesh, you must not imagine to be the children of the blessed Mary, the mother of God, as Helvidius thinks, nor the children of Joseph by another wife, as some say, but rather believe to be their kinsfolk.
His brethren thought that when He heard of their presence He would send away the people, from respect to His mother’s name, and from His affection towards her, as it follows, And it was told him, Your mother and your brethren stand without.
Think what it was, when the whole people stood by, and were hanging upon His mouth, (for His teaching had already begun,) to withdraw Him away from them. Our Lord accordingly answers as it were rebuking them, as it follows, And he answered and said to them, My mother and my brethren are they which hear the word of God, and do it, etc.
The moral teacher who gives himself an example to others, when about to enjoin upon others, that he who has not left father and mother, is not worthy of the Son of God, first submits Himself to this precept, not that He denies the claims of filial piety, (for it is His own sentence, He that knows not his father and mother shall die the death,) but because He knows that He is more bound to obey His Father’s mysteries than the feelings of His mother. Nor however are His parents harshly rejected, but the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Therefore in this place He does not disown His mother, (as some heretics say, eagerly catching at His speech,) since she is also acknowledged from the cross; but the law of heavenly ordinances is preferred to earthly affection.
They then who hear the word of God and do it, are called the mother of our Lord, because they daily in their actions or words bring Him forth as it were in their inmost hearts; they also are His brethren where they do the will of His Father, Who is in heaven.
But some take this to mean that certain men, hating Christ’s teaching, and mocking at Him for His doctrine, said, Your mother and your brethren stand without wishing to see you; as if thereby to show His meanness of birth. And He therefore knowing their hearts gave them this answer, that meanness of birth harms not, but if a man, though of low birth, hear the word of God, He reckons him as His kinsman. Because however hearing only saves no one, but rather condemns, He adds, and does it; for it becomes us both to hear and to do. But by the word of God He means His own teaching. for all the words which He Himself spoke were from His Father.
In a mystical sense he ought not to stand without who was seeking Christ. Hence also that saying, Come to him, and be enlightened. For if they stand without, not even parents themselves are acknowledged; and perhaps for our example they are not. How are we acknowledged by Him if we stand without? That meaning also is not unreasonable, because by the figure of parents He points to the Jews of whom Christ was born, and thought the Church to be preferred to the synagogue.
For they cannot enter within when He is teaching whose words they refuse to understand spiritually. But the multitude went before and entered into the house, because when the Jews rejected Christ the Gentiles flocked to Him. But those who stand without, wishing to see Christ, are they, who not seeking a spiritual sense in the law, have placed themselves without to guard the letter of it, and as it were rather compel Christ to go out, to teach them earthly things, than consent to enter in themselves to learn spiritual things.
These brethren were not the sons of the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, as Helvidius wickedly taught; nor yet the sons of Joseph, by another wife; for, as St. Jerome writeth, not only Mary, but Joseph also, observed virginity. (Contra Helvidium, chap. ix. et ibidem, chap. viii.) --- In the scriptural idiom, cousins are called brethren. (Bristow)
There is no tie of affinity and friendship so proper, and so becoming man, as that made by faith in Christ, and strengthened by charity. (Tirinus)
4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit a hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. 16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. 18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. 19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. 20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. 21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
The former paragraph began with an account of Christ's industry in preaching ( v. 1 ); this begins with an account of the people's industry in hearing, v. 4 . He went into every city, to preach; so they, one would think, should have contented themselves to hear him when he came to their own city (we know those that would); but there were those here that came to him out of every city, would not stay till he came to them, nor think that they had enough when he left them, but met him when he was coming towards them, and followed him when he was going from them. Nor did he excuse himself from going to the cities with this, that there were some from the cities that came to him; for, though there were, yet the most had not zeal enough to bring them to him, and therefore such is his wonderful condescension that he will go to them; for he is found of those that sought him not, Isa. lxv. 1 .
Here was, it seems, a vast concourse, much people were gathered together, abundance of fish to cast their net among; and he was as ready and willing to teach as they were to be taught. Now in these verses we have,
I. Necessary and excellent rules and cautions for hearing the word, in the parable of the sower and the explanation and application of it, all which we had twice before more largely. When Christ had put forth this parable, 1. The disciples were inquisitive concerning the meaning of it, v. 9 . They asked him, What might this parable be? Note, We should covet earnestly to know the true in tent, and full ex tent, of the word we hear, that we may be neither mistaken nor defective in our knowledge. 2. Christ made them sensible of what great advantage it was to them that they had opportunity of acquainting themselves with the mystery and meaning of his word, which others had not: Unto you it is given, v. 10 . Note, Those who would receive instruction from Christ must know and consider what a privilege it is to be instructed by him, what a distinguishing privilege to be led into the light, such a light, when others are left in darkness, such a darkness. Happy are we, and for ever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a parable to others, with which they are only amused, is a plain truth to us, by which we are enlightened and governed, and into the mould of which we are delivered.
Now from the parable itself, and the explication of it, observe,
(1.) The heart of man is as soil to the seed of God's word; it is capable of receiving it, and bringing forth the fruits of it; but, unless that seed be sown in it, it will bring forth nothing valuable. Or care therefore must be to bring the seed and the soil together. To what purpose have we the seed in the scripture, if it be not sown? And to what purpose have we the soil in our own hearts, if it be not sown with that seed?
(2.) The success of the seeding is very much according to the nature and temper of the soil, and as that is, or is not, disposed to receive the seed. The word of God is to us, as we are, a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.
(3.) The devil is a subtle and spiteful enemy, that makes it his business to hinder our profiting by the word of God. He takes the word out of the hearts of careless hearers, lest they should believe and be saved, v. 12 . This is added here to teach us, [1.] That we cannot be saved unless we believe. The word of the gospel will not be a saving word to us, unless it be mixed with faith. [2.] That therefore the devil does all he can to keep us from believing, to make us not believe the word when we read and hear it; or, if we heed it for the present, to make us forget it again, and let it slip ( Heb. ii. 1 ); or, if we remember it, to create prejudices in our minds against it, or divert our minds from it to something else; and all is lest we should believe and be saved, lest we should believe and rejoice, while he believes and trembles.
(4.) Where the word of God is heard carelessly there is commonly a contempt put upon it too. It is added here in the parable that the seed which fell by the way-side was trodden down, v. 5 . They that wilfully shut their ears against the word do in effect trample it under their feet; they despise the commandment of the Lord.
(5.) Those on whom the word makes some impressions, but they are not deep and durable ones, will show their hypocrisy in a time of trial; as the seed sown upon the rock, where it gains no root, v. 13 . These for awhile believe a little while; their profession promises something, but in time of temptation they fall away from their good beginnings. Whether the temptation arises from the smiles or the frowns, of the world, they are easily overcome by it.
(6.) The pleasures of this life are as dangerous and mischievous thorns to choke the good seed of the word as any other. This is added here ( v. 14 ), which was not in the other evangelists. Those that are not entangled in the cares of this life, nor inveigled with the deceitfulness of riches, but boast that they are dead to them, may yet be kept from heaven by an affected indolence, and the love of ease and pleasure. The delights of sense may ruin the soul, even lawful delights, indulged, and too much delighted in.
(7.) It is not enough that the fruit be brought forth, but it must be brought to perfection, it must be fully ripened. If it be not, it is as if there was no fruit at all brought forth; for that which in Matthew and Mark is said to be unfruitful is the same that here is said to bring forth none to perfection. For factum non dicitur quod non perseverat — perseverance is necessary to the perfection of a work.
(8.) The good ground, which brings forth good fruit, is an honest and good heart, well disposed to receive instruction and commandment ( v. 15 ); a heart free from sinful pollutions, and firmly fixed for God and duty, an upright heart, a tender heart, and a heart that trembles at the word, is an honest and good heart, which, having heard the word, understands it (so it is in Matthew), receives it (so it is in Mark), and keeps it (so it is here), as the soil not only receives, but keeps, the seed; and the stomach not only receives, but keeps, the food or physic.
(9.) Where the word is well kept there is fruit brought forth with patience. This also is added here. There must be both bearing patience and waiting patience; patience to suffer the tribulation and persecution which may arise because of the word; patience to continue to the end in well-doing.
(10.) In consideration of all this, we ought to take heed how we hear ( v. 18 ); take heed of those things that will hinder our profiting by the word we hear, watch over our hearts in hearing, and take heed lest they betray us; take heed lest we hear carelessly and slightly, lest, upon any account, we entertain prejudice against the word we hear; and take heed to the frame of our spirits after we have heard the word, lest we lose what we have gained.
II. Needful instructions given to those that are appointed to preach the word, and to those also that have heard it. 1. Those that have received the gift must minister the same. Ministers that have the dispensing of the gospel committed to them, people that have profited by the word and are thereby qualified to profit others, must look upon themselves as lighted candles: ministers must in solemn authoritative preaching, and people in brotherly familiar discourse, diffuse their light, for a candle must not be covered with a vessel nor put under a bed, v. 16 . Ministers and Christians are to be lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. Their light must shine before men; they must not only be good, but do good. 2. We must expect that what is now done in secret, and from unseen springs, will shortly be manifested and made known, v. 17 . What is committed to you in secret should be made manifest by you; for your Master did not give you talents to be buried, but to be traded with. Let that which is now hid be made known; for, if it be not manifested by you, it will be manifested against you, will be produced in evidence of your treachery. 3. The gifts we have will either be continued to us, or taken from us, according as we do, or do not, make use of them for the glory of God and the edification of our brethren: Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, v. 18 . He that hath gifts, and does good with them, shall have more; he that buries his talent shall lose it. From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath, so it is in Mark; that which he seemeth to have, so it is in Luke. Note, The grace that is lost was but seeming grace, was never true. Men do but seem to have what they do not use, and shows of religion will be lost and forfeited. They went out from us, because they were not of us, 1 John ii. 19 . Let us see to it that we have grace in sincerity, the root of the matter found in us; that is a good part which shall never be taken away from those that have it.
Verse 4 is a small textual wreck. The Douay has "the lamp of the wicked is sin"; the Protestant versions have "the ploughing of the wicked is sin"; and Haydock prints the Hebrew behind both — "the haughtiness of the eyes, and the enlarging of the heart, are the labour of the wicked; yea, sin" — noting that the word he renders labour is "tillage" in Montanus and "thought" in Pagnin. He allows that the Septuagint and Vulgate may equally mean "sin is the lamp and exultation of the wicked." Whether the proud man's pride is the field he ploughs, the thought he thinks or the lamp he reads by, Calmet's summary covers every version: those things are his employment, and they are his sin. The chapter has a second such reversal at v. 5, where the Douay's "sluggard" translates a Hebrew word meaning the hasty man — ironically styled, Haydock explains, because he wants his desires accomplished without labouring and will never stick to work. Laziness here is not slowness. It is impatience, and it is fatal to advancement.
The opening verse sets the terms for the rest. Calmet is careful to insist that the heart is free and may resist grace or embrace virtue, and stacks up the texts where God pleads rather than compels — Isaias, Jeremias, Josue. Menochius then takes the image seriously: God knows how to turn even a king's heart, preserving that liberty, with the same ease as a gardener brings the streams of water to his plants. The comparison does the theological work, because a channel does not push water; it offers it the only downhill there is. What follows is a series of self-assessments overturned from outside. Every way of a man seems right to himself (v. 2), and the Lord weighs the hearts; mercy and judgment please Him more than victims (v. 3), where the Septuagint reads "justice and truth" and Menochius sends the reader to Osee vi; and the wicked man's settled desire for evil leaves him, in Symmachus's rendering of v. 10, with no idea of friendship at all — the Septuagint pushes it further, that no man shall treat him with mercy.
That last is not a curse pronounced on him but a description of the position he has built, and v. 13 restates it as an anatomy: the man who stops his ear against the cry of the poor will cry himself and not be heard. The two verses on the wise man's use of other people's downfall are where the passage bites hardest now. When a pestilent man is punished the little one grows wiser (v. 11) — the effects, Haydock notes, of chastisement and of good company. Then v. 12: the just man considers seriously the house of the wicked, and Haydock reads the purpose as rescue, that he may try every expedient to withdraw him from evil, though he records that the Septuagint has "he despises" and Symmachus "throws down." The modern habit sides with the variants. Watching a collapse has become a form of entertainment with a moral alibi attached, and the alibi is precisely what Proverbs withholds: the sluggard's haste, the wicked man's friendlessness, the liar's treasure that stumbles on the snares of death are all set down as things to be studied by someone who intends to reach into the house. God turns a king's heart the way water is led to a plant. Nobody is led anywhere by an audience.