Bible Commentaries
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament
Luke 20
Luke 20:1. [ διδάακοντος, as He taught) He walked about, taught, and preached the Gospel in the temple, as in what was altogether His own house.—V. g.]— σὺν τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις, with the elders) These do not recur in Luke 20:19.
Luke 20:6. καταλιθάσει, will stone) It was not the province of the people to stone the priests and scribes when rejecting a prophet, however true a one he might be: but often even the perverse zeal of the multitude is by accident subservient to a good cause.
Luke 20:9. ἤρξατο, He began) After that the scribes had given Him new cause for speaking.— λαὸν, the people) who needed to be fortified against the cavilling objections of the chief priests; [as also who needed to be fortified against the impending offence of His cross.—V. g.]— χρόνους ἱκανοὺς, during long periods of time) after the people’s entrance into the land of Canaan; [from which event down to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans was a period of more than 1500 years.—V. g.]
Luke 20:10. ἐν καιρῷ, at the proper season) viz. of the fruits.— δείραντες, having beaten) An ascending climax: having beaten, here; having beaten and insulted [“entreated shamefully”], in Luke 20:11; and having wounded, in Luke 20:12. Such as is exhibited also in ἐξαπέστειλαν, they sent away, in both Luke 20:10-11, and ἐξέβαλον, they cast out, in Luke 20:12.
Luke 20:13. ἴσως) ἴσως occurs once in the New Testament, and once in the LXX. for אך, 1 Samuel 25:21. It denotes, humanly speaking, an opinion, conjecture, or hope, which might reasonably be entertained (as also profane authors employ ἴσως for per chance, it may be that); in the present case there is signified the altogether wise frankness (sincerity) of the Divine goodness.
Luke 20:14. λέγοντες, saying) The Scripture in weighty and true language expresses (portrays) the actual and real mind of men, which they themselves often do not think to be so bad as it is. Comp. Luke 20:16 [They said, “God forbid”]. God, who estimates things by the truth, and men, who habitually flatter themselves, weigh sins in very different scales.— ἀποκτείνωμεν, let us kill) Ch. Luke 19:47.
Luke 20:16. ΄ὴ γένοιτο) So the LXX. render the Hebrew חלילה. They mean to say this, Far be it from us, God forbid, that we should kill the heir. Comp. the following verse, and John 12:34.214 [Frequently it happens that men refuse to acknowledge as in them that degree of wickedness which God upbraids them with.—V. g.]
Luke 20:17. ἐμβλέψας, having looked stedfastly upon them) in order to whet (stimulate) the attention of their minds respecting their own selves. The accent or tone, the gesture, and the expression of countenance, often render the force of the words more expressive.— γεγραμμένον, which is written) See Matthew 21:42, note.
Luke 20:18. ἐκεῖνον) that great stone, of which the prediction had been given long ago in the Psalm.
Luke 20:19. ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρα, in the same hour) The hatred against Him increasing in violence. Comp. ch. Luke 19:47.— καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν) καὶ, but [and yet], they feared.— γὰρ, for) Refer this, for, to ἐζήτησαν, “they sought to lay hands on Him.”— πρὸς αὐτοὺς, in reference to themselves) against themselves.
Luke 20:20. [ δικαίους εἶναι, to be just men) As if they were asking the question under distress of mind on a point of conscience. He who has a concern for conscience on the point, in actual fact carries away with him a clear reply.—V. g.]— λόγου) The same case follows the verb in Luke 20:26, ῥήματος.215— τῇ ἀρχῇ) to the power of the Jewish rulers, and afterwards to Pilate.
[27. ἀντιλέγοντες, who deny) The truth is the most ancient: error is a new and upstart contradiction raised against it; although from time to time those in error esteem their own opinion to be even the more ancient.—V. g.]
[28. The reading ἐξαναστήσει is to be preferred. Very often after a Subjunctive comes an Indicative. See the LXX., Deuteronomy 20:5, μὴ ἀποθάνη ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ ἓτερος ἐγκαινιεῖ αὐτήν.—Not. Crit.216]
Luke 20:34. οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, the children of this world) who are subject to the law of mortality; not even all the pious being excepted, [who are not now as yet such as they shall be.—V. g.] The antithesis is, the children of God ( υἱοὶ— θεοῦ), in Luke 20:36.
Luke 20:35. καταξιωθέντες, who are accounted worthy) Truly a great dignity conferred. So ch. Luke 21:36 [ ἴνα καταξιωθῆτε, “that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things—and to stand before the Son of man”].— τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐκείνου, καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, that world, and the resurrection) Therefore even before the resurrection an entrance is given into that world.— ἐκ νεκρῶν, out from the dead) All shall rise again; but the godly shall rise again out from among the ungodly.217 As to these latter, there is not preached and declared the resurrection, but a more profound death of the soul conjoined with the body. So Acts 4:2.218
Luke 20:36. οὔτε, neither) They have a body so perfect, that they are subject neither to the law of marriage nor to death, which gave occasion to the succession of brothers in the having to wife the one woman. That shall be a state more firm and lasting than the Adamic state.— ἰσάγγελοι γὰρ, for they are like [equal to] the angels) An Ætiology (see Append. on this figure), assigning the reason why there shall then be no marriages.— υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, sons of God) Equally as are the angels.— τῆς ἀναστάσεως) of the resurrection, which comprehends under it immortality. An antithesis to die ( ἀποθανεῖν), and an instance of the figure Ploce.219— ὄντες) Resolve this into, inasmuch as they are.
Luke 20:37. καὶ ΄ωσῆς) Not merely the rest of the prophets, but even Moses.— λέγει, calleth) In writing out the words of God, speaking concerning Himself.
Luke 20:38. πάντες, all) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all of whom God is the God, but who are dead to men. To men they are dead; whereas to Him, αὐτῷ, viz. God, they live.— γὰρ, for) This is the very kind of conclusion in which the particle therefore (inferential) might have been expected. But instead of it, for is put down, as in Romans 3:28.220 The for is used in this sense: Argumentation has been employed [proof has been adduced]: ‘for’ this was the point of the truth which needed to be demonstrated.— αὐτῷ, to Him) To God, not to mortals. Moreover, they so live to God, as to enjoy God. [1 Peter 4:6].— ζῶσιν) all live, viz. with the soul: and so they shall live with soul and body. The whole time of the soul being separated from the body is, as it were, a moment in relation to the union which was originally intended, and which is destined to last for ever: also in relation to God, to whom things future are not in the least remote, nay, are most present and immediate: Romans 4:17 [“God—calleth those things which be not as though they were”].
Luke 20:39. καλῶς εἶπας, Thou hast well said) On this ground also, as well as on others, the truth should be freely spoken, because, though (when) it offends some, it however is approved of by others.
Luke 20:42. ἐν βίβλῳ ψαλμῶν, in the book of the Psalms) Therefore at that time already, and long before, the Psalms were read in a collected form, constituting one complete body or work.
[45. παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ, all the people) To give public warning against dangerous men, is a duty in the highest degree necessary to be discharged.—V. g.]
[46. θελόντων, who wish) Often a thing, not bad in itself, is vitiated by the wish and intent with which it is done.—V. g.]
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