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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Luke 6 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/luke/6.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/luke/6.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/luke/6-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../luke/">Luke</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../luke/5.htm" title="Luke 5">◄</a> Luke 6 <a href="../luke/7.htm" title="Luke 7">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-1.htm">Luke 6:1</a></div><div class="verse">And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing <i>them</i> in <i>their</i> hands.</div>VI.</span><p>(1) <span class= "bld">On the second sabbath after the first.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">the second-first Sabbath.</span> There is nothing like the phrase in any other author, and its meaning is therefore to a great extent conjectural. Its employment by St. Luke may be noted as indicating his wish to be accurate as an historian. He sought to gather, as far as he could, definite dates; and hearing, in the course of his inquiries, of this, as fixing the time of what followed, inserted it in his record.<p>It may be noted that the facts of the case fix limits on either side. The corn was ripe enough to be rubbed in the hands, and yield its grain. It had not yet been gathered. It could not therefore be much earlier than the Passover, when the barley harvest began, and not much later than the Pentecost, when the wheat was ripe. If it preceded, as it appears to have done (see <a href="/luke/9-12.htm" title="And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said to him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.">Luke 9:12</a>), the feeding of the Five Thousand, it must have been before the Passover (<a href="/john/6-4.htm" title="And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.">John 6:4</a>). The conjectures, such as they are, are as follows:—<p>(1.) The <span class= "ital">first</span> Sabbath of the <span class= "ital">second</span> month of the year, taking Nisan (in which the Passover occurred) as the first month.<p>(2.) The <span class= "ital">first</span> Sabbath after the <span class= "ital">second</span> day of the Passover, that day being itself kept as a supplementary feast.<p>(3.) The <span class= "ital">first</span> Sabbath in the <span class= "ital">second</span> year of the sabbatic cycle of seven years.<p>(4.) As the Jewish year had two beginnings, one (the civil) reckoning from the month Tisri (including part of September and October); the other (the ecclesiastical) from Nisan, it has been supposed that the first Sabbath in Tisri was called <span class= "ital">first-first,</span> the first in Nisan <span class= "ital">second-first.</span><p>(5.) The Sabbath in the Pentecostal week, the <span class= "ital">second chief</span> or <span class= "ital">first</span> Sabbath, as that in the Passover week was the first.<p>(6.) The day after the new moon, when, through some accident, its appearance had not been reported to the Sanhedrin in time for the sacrifice connected with it. In such a case the second day was kept as the monthly feast, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> received the honours of the first, and so might come to be known technically as the <span class= "ital">second-first.</span> If it coincided, as often it must have done, with the actual Sabbath, such a day might naturally be called a <span class= "ital">second-first Sabbath.</span><p>In the total dearth of information it is impossible to speak decisively in favour of any one of these views. The last has the merit of at least suggesting the way in which St. Luke may have become acquainted with so peculiar a term. We know from Jewish writers in the Mishna that the new-moon feast was determined by the personal observation of watchmen appointed by the Sanhedrin, and not by astronomical calculation, and it was when they failed to observe or report it in time that the rule stated above came into play. We know from <a href="/colossians/2-16.htm" title=" Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:">Colossians 2:16</a>, that the observance of that feast had risen into a new prominence in the ritual of a sect which there is every reason to identify with that of the Essenes. (See Note on <a href="/colossians/2-16.htm" title=" Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:">Colossians 2:16</a>.) Among those whom St. Luke seems to have known at Antioch we find the name of Manaen, or Menahem, the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch (<a href="/acts/13-1.htm" title="Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.">Acts 13:1</a>), presumably, as many commentators have suggested, the son or grandson of Menahem, an Essene prophet, who had predicted the future sovereignty of Herod the Great. (See <span class= "ital">Introduction.</span>) In this way, accordingly, if such a technical nomenclature were in use, as it was likely to be among the Essenes, St. Luke was likely to hear it. We may add further, that Manaen, from his position, was likely to have been brought into contact with the Baptist; that he could scarcely fail to have been impressed with a life which was so entirely moulded, outwardly at least, on the Essene type; and must have passed through the teaching of John to that of Christ. We find this incident following in immediate sequence upon one in which the disciples of John were prominent (<a href="/luke/5-33.htm" title="And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but your eat and drink?">Luke 5:33</a>). May we not think therefore, with some reason, of Manaen having been among them, and of his having supplied St. Luke with the technical term that fixed the very day of the journey through the corn-fields? Combining this view with the fact that if this were a new-moon Sabbath it must have been the beginning of the moon of Nisan, possibly coinciding with an actual Sabbath, we have the interesting fact that the lesson for the first Sabbath in that month, in the modern Jewish calendar, is from 1 Samuel 21, and so contained the history of the shewbread to which our Lord refers. This coincidence, corresponding with what we find in the synagogue discourses of <a href="/luke/4-17.htm" title="And there was delivered to him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,">Luke 4:17</a>, and of <a href="/acts/13-15.htm" title="And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, You men and brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.">Acts 13:15</a> (where see Note), is another confirmation of the view now maintained.<p>It remains to add that one group of MSS. of high authority omit the perplexing word, and that some critics hold it to have grown out of an original “on the first Sabbath,” as contrasted with the “other Sabbath” of <a href="/luke/6-6.htm" title="And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.">Luke 6:6</a>; and suppose that an ignorant scribe corrected this in the margin to “second,” and that one still more ignorant combined the two readings. These arbitrary conjectures are, however, eminently unscholarly; and the very difficulty presented by the word must, on all usual laws of textual criticism, be admitted as an argument for its genuineness.<p><span class= "bld">He went through the corn-fields.</span>—See for the narrative that follows Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/12-1.htm" title="At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.">Matthew 12:1-8</a>, <a href="/context/mark/2-23.htm" title="And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.">Mark 2:23-28</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Plucked the ears of corn, and did eat.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">were plucking, and were eating.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-6.htm">Luke 6:6</a></div><div class="verse">And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">It came to pass also on another sabbath.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/12-9.htm" title="And when he was departed there, he went into their synagogue:">Matthew 12:9-14</a>; <a href="/context/mark/3-1.htm" title="And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.">Mark 3:1-6</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Whose right hand was withered.</span>—St. Luke alone specifies which hand it was that was affected.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-7.htm">Luke 6:7</a></div><div class="verse">And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">The scribes and Pharisees watched him.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">were watching.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-8.htm">Luke 6:8</a></div><div class="verse">But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Rise up, and stand forth in the midst.</span>—Here again, and throughout what follows, we have another example of a narrative in which St. Mark and St. Luke agree much more closely than either agrees with St. Matthew.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-10.htm">Luke 6:10</a></div><div class="verse">And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">And looking round about upon them.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/mark/3-4.htm" title="And he said to them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.">Mark 3:4</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-11.htm">Luke 6:11</a></div><div class="verse">And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">They were filled with madness.</span>—The expression is peculiar to St. Luke’s report.<p><span class= "bld">Communed one with another.</span>—It seems singular that Luke, who in other respects seems to have had so many points of contact with people connected with the Herods (see <span class= "ital">Introduction</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> should have omitted the fact which St. Mark records, that it was with the Herodians that the Pharisees took counsel. Possibly, however, his very acquaintance with the men so named may have made him reluctant to give a special prominence to the part they had taken against the Christ. St. Mark, it will be remembered, says that they “took counsel” (or, <span class= "ital">held a council</span>) that they might destroy Him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-12.htm">Luke 6:12</a></div><div class="verse">And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">He went out into a mountain to pray.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">into the mountain,</span> or, <span class= "ital">the hill-country.</span> The stress laid on the prayers of Jesus is again characteristic of St. Luke.<p><span class= "bld">Continued all night in prayer to God.</span>—The original, at least, admits of another rendering. The word translated “prayer” (<span class= "ital">proseuchè</span>) had come to be applied to the place dedicated to prayer—the chapel or oratory by the river-side, or on the mountain-side, where there was a running stream available for ablutions, to which devout Jews could retire for their devotions. Such a <span class= "ital">proseuchè</span> there seems to have been at Philippi (<a href="/acts/16-13.htm" title="And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke to the women which resorted thither.">Acts 16:13</a>). Another is named at Halicarnassus. Such, the language of Roman poets (<span class= "ital">in quâ te quœro proseuchâ,</span> Juvenal, <span class= "ital">Sat.</span> iii. 296) shows us, there were at Rome. The fact mentioned by Josephus that there was one near Tiberias (<span class= "ital">Life,</span> c. 54) shows that they were not unknown in Galilee. The precise combination of words—literally, <span class= "ital">in the prayer of God</span>—is not found elsewhere for prayer as offered to God.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-13.htm">Luke 6:13</a></div><div class="verse">And when it was day, he called <i>unto him</i> his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;</div>(13) <span class= "bld">And when it was day.</span>—In the place which he assigns to the choice of the Twelve, St. Luke agrees more closely with St. Mark than with St. Matthew, who makes it precede the narratives of the disciples plucking the ears of corn, and the healing of the withered hand, which here it follows. A precisely-harmonised arrangement seems here impossible, and is, happily, unimportant. We must be content to admit the possibility, whether accidental or intentional, of one or other of the Gospels, possibly of all three, arranging facts in some other order than that of chronological sequence. The point to which St. Luke’s record was obviously intended to give prominence is that the choice of the Twelve came as the result of the night of prayer, just as the prominent thought in St. Matthew (<a href="/matthew/9-36.htm" title="But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.">Matthew 9:36</a>) is that it grew out of our Lord’s compassion for the multitude that were as sheep without a shepherd.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-14.htm">Luke 6:14</a></div><div class="verse">Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,</div>(14-16) <span class= "bld">Simon, (whom he also named Peter).</span>—For the list of the Twelve Apostles see Notes on <a href="/matthew/10-2.htm" title="Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;">Matthew 10:2</a>.<p>The only special points in St. Luke’s list are (1) that he gives Simon Zelotes, obviously as a translation, for Simon the Cananite, or Cananæan, of the other two lists, and gives <span class= "ital">James’s Judas,</span> leaving it uncertain whether he means that the latter was son or brother of the former. His use of the same formula in the genealogy of Luke 3 is in favour of the former relationship.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-17.htm">Luke 6:17</a></div><div class="verse">And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;</div>(17) <span class= "bld">And he came down with them, and stood in the plain.</span>—We are again confronted with harmonistic difficulties. In St. Matthew (Matthew 10) the mission of the Twelve is followed by a full discourse on their Apostolic work and its perils. Here it is followed by a discourse which has so many points of resemblance with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, 7, that many have supposed it to be identical. It is a partial explanation of the difficulty that St. Mark and St. Luke distinguish the choice of the Twelve from their mission, the latter meeting us in <a href="/luke/9-1.htm" title="Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.">Luke 9:1</a>, <a href="/mark/6-7.htm" title="And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;">Mark 6:7</a>, and that in a form which implies the previous existence of the Twelve as a distinct body; but we still have to face the fact that events which St. Mark and St. Luke place even before the choice, St. Matthew places after the mission. (See Note on <a href="/luke/6-13.htm" title="And when it was day, he called to him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;">Luke 6:13</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Stood in the plain.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">on a plain,</span> or <span class= "ital">on a level place.</span> The Greek has no article.<p><span class= "bld">A great multitude of people.</span>—The description that follows has many points of resemblance both with that in <a href="/context/mark/3-7.htm" title="But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,">Mark 3:7-12</a>, and with that in <a href="/matthew/4-24.htm" title="And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.">Matthew 4:24</a>, immediately before the Sermon on the Mount. It is probable enough that each separate report of any of our Lord’s great discourses dwelt upon the multitudes who were present to hear them.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-19.htm">Luke 6:19</a></div><div class="verse">And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed <i>them</i> all.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">There went virtue out of him.</span>—The use of the term “virtue” (or <span class= "ital">power</span>) in this technical sense is peculiar to St. Luke, and may be noted as characteristic of the medical Evangelist. (Comp. <span class= "ital">Introduction.</span>)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-20.htm">Luke 6:20</a></div><div class="verse">And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed <i>be ye</i> poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.</div>(20) <span class= "bld">Blessed be ye poor . . .</span>—See Notes on <a href="/matthew/5-1.htm" title="And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came to him:">Matthew 5:1</a>. The conclusion there arrived at—that the two discourses differ so widely, both in their substance and in their position in the Gospel narrative, that it is a less violent hypothesis to infer that they were spoken at different times than to assume that the two Evangelists inserted or omitted, as they thought fit, in reporting the same discourse—will be taken here as the basis of interpretation. It was quite after our Lord’s method of teaching that He should thus reproduce, with more or less variation, what He had taught before. The English, “Blessed be ye poor,” is ambiguous, as leaving it uncertain whether the words are the declaration of a fact or the utterance of a prayer. Better, <span class= "ital">Blessed are ye poor.</span> We note at once the absence of the qualifying words of St. Matthew’s “poor <span class= "ital">in spirit.”</span> Assume the identity of the two discourses, and then we have to think of St. Luke or his informant as omitting words, and those singularly important words, which our Lord had spoken; and this, it is obvious, presents a far greater difficulty than the thought that our Lord varied the aspects of the truths which He presented, now affirming the blessedness of the “poor in spirit,” now that of those who were literally “poor,” as having less to hinder them from the attainment of the higher poverty. See Notes on <a href="/matthew/5-3.htm" title="Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.">Matthew 5:3</a>. It seems to have been St. Luke’s special aim to collect as much as he could of our Lord’s teaching as to the danger of riches. (See <span class= "ital">Introduction.</span>)<p>Note the substitution of the “kingdom of God” for the “kingdom of heaven” in St. Matthew.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-21.htm">Luke 6:21</a></div><div class="verse">Blessed <i>are ye</i> that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed <i>are ye</i> that weep now: for ye shall laugh.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">Blessed are ye that hunger now.</span>—In the second beatitude, as in the first, we note the absence of the words that seem to give the blessing on those that “hunger and thirst after righteousness” its specially spiritual character. The law implied is obviously the same as before. Fulness of bread, a life abounding in comforts and luxuries, like that of the Rich Man in the parable of <a href="/luke/16-19.htm" title="There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:">Luke 16:19</a>, tends to dull the edge of appetite for higher things. Those who know what the hunger of the body is, can understand better, and are more likely to feel, the hunger of the soul.<p><span class= "bld">Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.</span>—The clause is remarkable as being (with its counterpart in <a href="/luke/6-25.htm" title="Woe to you that are full! for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep.">Luke 6:25</a>) the only instance in the New Testament of the use of “laughter” as the symbol of spiritual joy. In <a href="/james/4-9.htm" title="Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.">James 4:9</a> it comes in as representing worldly gladness; but the Greek word was too much associated with the lower forms of mirth to find ready acceptance. It is probable that the Aramaic word which our Lord used, like the mirth or laughter which entered into the name of Isaac (<a href="/genesis/21-6.htm" title="And Sarah said, God has made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.">Genesis 21:6</a>), had a somewhat higher meaning. Hebrew laughter was a somewhat graver thing than that of Greek or Roman. It had had no comedy to degrade it.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-22.htm">Luke 6:22</a></div><div class="verse">Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you <i>from their company</i>, and shall reproach <i>you</i>, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">Blessed are ye.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/5-10.htm" title="Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.">Matthew 5:10-12</a>. The clause “when they shall separate you from their company” is peculiar to St. Luke, and refers to the excommunication or exclusion from the synagogue, and therefore from social fellowship, of which we read in <a href="/john/16-2.htm" title="They shall put you out of the synagogues: yes, the time comes, that whoever kills you will think that he does God service.">John 16:2</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-23.htm">Luke 6:23</a></div><div class="verse">Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward <i>is</i> great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">Leap for joy.</span>—The word is peculiar to St. Luke in the New Testament, and occurs elsewhere only in <a href="/luke/1-41.htm" title="And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:">Luke 1:41</a>; <a href="/luke/1-44.htm" title="For, see, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.">Luke 1:44</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-24.htm">Luke 6:24</a></div><div class="verse">But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">But woe unto you that are rich!</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">woe for you,</span> the tone being, as sometimes (though, as Matthew 23 shows, not uniformly) with this expression, one of pity rather than denunciation. (Comp. <a href="/matthew/23-13.htm" title="But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in.">Matthew 23:13</a>; <a href="/mark/13-17.htm" title="But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!">Mark 13:17</a>; <a href="/luke/21-23.htm" title="But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath on this people.">Luke 21:23</a>.) We enter here on what is a distinct feature of the Sermon on the Plain—the woes that, as it were, balance the beatitudes. It obviously lay in St. Luke’s purpose, as a physician of the soul, to treasure up and record all our Lord’s warnings against the perilous temptations that wealth brings with it. The truth thus stated in its naked awfulness is reproduced afterwards in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (<a href="/luke/16-19.htm" title="There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:">Luke 16:19</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Ye have received your consolation.</span>—Better, simply, <span class= "ital">ye have your consolation</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> all that you understand or care for, all, therefore, that you can have. The thought appears again in the words of Abraham, “Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things” (<a href="/luke/16-25.htm" title="But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented.">Luke 16:25</a>). The verb is the same as in “they have their reward,” in <a href="/matthew/6-2.htm" title="Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.">Matthew 6:2</a>; <a href="/matthew/6-5.htm" title="And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.">Matthew 6:5</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-25.htm">Luke 6:25</a></div><div class="verse">Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">Woe unto you that are full!</span>—The fulness is, as the context shows, that of the satiety of over-indulgence. The word is closely connected with that <span class= "ital">fulness</span> (rather than “satisfying”) of the flesh of which St. Paul speaks in <a href="/colossians/2-23.htm" title=" Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.">Colossians 2:23</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Woe unto you that laugh now!</span>—We note here, as so often elsewhere, an echo of our Lord’s teaching, in that of James the brother of the Lord. He, too, presents the same contrast, “Let your laughter be turned to mourning” (<a href="/james/4-9.htm" title="Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.">James 4:9</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-26.htm">Luke 6:26</a></div><div class="verse">Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.</div>(26) <span class= "bld">So did their fathers to the false prophets.</span>—The words are of very wide application, but it is probable that there is a special reference in them to the time of Hezekiah and the later kings of Judah. (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/30-10.htm" title="Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits:">Isaiah 30:10</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/5-31.htm" title="The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end thereof?">Jeremiah 5:31</a>.) They open a wide question as to the worth of praise as a test of human conduct, and tend to a conclusion quite the reverse of that implied in the maxim, <span class= "ital">Vox populi, vox Dei.</span> Truth, in matters which, like religion or politics, impinge on men’s interests or prejudices, is often, if not always, on the side of the minority, sometimes even on that of one who is as an <span class= "ital">Athanasius contra mundum.</span> On the other hand, praise (<a href="/philippians/4-8.htm" title="Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.">Philippians 4:8</a>) and good repute (<a href="/1_timothy/3-7.htm" title="Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.">1Timothy 3:7</a>) have their value as the witnesses borne by the moral sense of men, when not deadened or perverted to the beauty of holiness, the <span class= "ital">testimonium. animœ naturaliter Christianœ</span> to the moral excellence of the followers of Christ.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-27.htm">Luke 6:27</a></div><div class="verse">But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,</div>(27, 28) <span class= "bld">Love your enemies.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/matthew/5-44.htm" title="But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;">Matthew 5:44</a>. It should be noted that the great command of the gospel is set forth in the Sermon on the Plain in its width and universality, without being formally contrasted with the Pharisaic gloss, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy,” as in the Sermon on the Mount.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-29.htm">Luke 6:29</a></div><div class="verse">And unto him that smiteth thee on the <i>one</i> cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not <i>to take thy</i> coat also.</div>(29) <span class= "bld">And unto him that smiteth thee . . .</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/5-39.htm" title="But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.">Matthew 5:39-40</a>.<p><span class= "bld">And him that taketh away thy cloke.</span>—St. Luke’s report of the maxim points to direct violence, St. Matthew’s to legal process. It is noticeable also that St. Luke inverts the order of the “cloke” and the “coat.” <span class= "ital">“</span>If he takes the upper garment, give him the under one also.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-30.htm">Luke 6:30</a></div><div class="verse">Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask <i>them</i> not again.</div>(30) <span class= "bld">Give to every man that asketh of thee.</span>—See Note on <a href="/matthew/5-42.htm" title="Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not you away.">Matthew 5:42</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-31.htm">Luke 6:31</a></div><div class="verse">And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.</div>(31) <span class= "bld">As ye would that men should do to you . . .</span>—See Note on <a href="/matthew/7-12.htm" title="Therefore all things whatever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.">Matthew 7:12</a>. The very different arrangement of the precepts in the two discourses is obviously an argument against their identity.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-32.htm">Luke 6:32</a></div><div class="verse">For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.</div>(32) <span class= "bld">For if ye love them which love you.</span>—See Note on <a href="/matthew/5-46.htm" title="For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same?">Matthew 5:46</a>, and note St. Luke’s use, as writing for Gentiles, of the wider term “sinners,” instead of the more specific “publicans,” which pointed the maxim, perhaps, for those who originally heard it, and certainly for St. Matthew’s Jewish readers. There is also a slight variation in the form of the closing questions—St. Luke’s “what <span class= "ital">thank</span> have ye” pointing to the expectation of gratitude in return for good offices, St. Matthew’s “what <span class= "ital">reward”</span> to a more concrete and solid payment.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-33.htm">Luke 6:33</a></div><div class="verse">And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.</div>(33) <span class= "bld">If ye do good to them . . .</span>—Actual deeds of kindness take the place in St. Luke which in St. Matthew is occupied by the salutations which were but the outward signs of kindness.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-34.htm">Luke 6:34</a></div><div class="verse">And if ye lend <i>to them</i> of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.</div>(34) I<span class= "bld">f ye lend to them . . .</span>—This special illustration of the law of unselfish kindness is in this collocation peculiar to St. Luke; but it is implied in the precept of <a href="/matthew/5-42.htm" title="Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not you away.">Matthew 5:42</a>.<p><span class= "bld">To receive as much again.</span>—It is noticeable, as implying that the precepts were given in the first instance to Jewish hearers, that receiving interest on the loan is not contemplated at all. (See Note on <a href="/matthew/5-42.htm" title="Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not you away.">Matthew 5:42</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-35.htm">Luke 6:35</a></div><div class="verse">But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and <i>to</i> the evil.</div>(35) <span class= "bld">Love ye your enemies.</span>—The tense of the Greek verb may be noted as implying a perpetual abiding rule of action.<p><span class= "bld">Hoping for nothing again.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">in nothing losing hope.</span> It is possible that the Greek verb may have the sense given in the text, but its uniform signification in the LXX. (as in <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/22-21.htm" title="Though thou drewest a sword at thy friend, yet despair not: for there may be a returning to favour.">Ecclesiasticus 22:21-24</a>; <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/27-21.htm" title="As for a wound, it may be bound up; and after reviling there may be reconcilement: but he that betrayeth secrets is without hope.">Ecclesiasticus 27:21</a>), which must be allowed great weight in interpreting a writer like St. Luke, is that of “giving up hope,” <span class= "ital">despairing.</span> And this gives, it is obvious, a meaning not less admirable than that of the received version, “Give and lend according to the law of Christ, and do not let the absence of immediate profit make you lose heart and hope.” There is a “great reward.” The last words at least remind us of the promise made to Abraham, and may be interpreted by it. God Himself is our “exceeding great reward” (<a href="/genesis/15-1.htm" title="After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward.">Genesis 15:1</a>). One or two MSS. give a masculine instead of a neuter pronoun after the verb, and in that case the verb must be taken as transitive. We have accordingly to choose between <span class= "ital">in nothing despairing,</span> or <span class= "ital">driving no man to despair.</span> On the whole, the former seems preferable. So taken, we may compare it with St. Paul’s description of “charity” or “love,” as “hoping all things” (<a href="/1_corinthians/13-7.htm" title="Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.">1Corinthians 13:7</a>), and his counsel, “Be not weary in well doing” (<a href="/galatians/6-9.htm" title="And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.">Galatians 6:9</a>).<p><span class= "bld">The children of the Highest.</span>—Better, for the sake of uniformity with the other passages where the word occurs, <span class= "ital">sons of the Most High.</span> The passage is noticeable as the only instance in which our Lord Himself applies this name to the Father.<p><span class= "bld">He is kind.</span>—The generalised word takes the place of the more specific reference to the rain and sunshine as God’s gifts to all, in <a href="/matthew/5-45.htm" title="That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.">Matthew 5:45</a>. The word rendered “kind” is applied to God in the Greek version of <a href="/psalms/34-8.htm" title="O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.">Psalm 34:8</a>, quoted in <a href="/1_peter/2-3.htm" title="If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.">1Peter 2:3</a>, and is there rendered “gracious.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-36.htm">Luke 6:36</a></div><div class="verse">Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.</div>(36) <span class= "bld">Be ye therefore merciful.</span>—The form of the sentence is the same as that of <a href="/matthew/5-48.htm" title="Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.">Matthew 5:48</a>, but “merciful” takes the place of “perfect,” as being the noblest of the divine attributes, in which all others reach their completeness. The well-known passage in Shakespeare on the “quality of mercy,” is, perhaps, the best comment on this verse (<span class= "ital">Merchant of Venice,</span> iv. 1).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-37.htm">Luke 6:37</a></div><div class="verse">Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:</div>(37) <span class= "bld">Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.</span>—See Note on <a href="/matthew/7-1.htm" title="Judge not, that you be not judged.">Matthew 7:1</a>. In St. Luke’s report there is something like a climax. “Seek not to judge at all. If you must judge, be not eager <span class= "ital">to</span> condemn.”<p><span class= "bld">Forgive.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">set free, release,</span> or <span class= "ital">acquit;</span> the word expressing a quasi-judicial act rather than the forgiveness of a private wrong.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-38.htm">Luke 6:38</a></div><div class="verse">Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.</div>(38) <span class= "bld">Good measure, pressed down.</span>—The imagery clearly points to a measure of grain, so pressed and shaken that it could hold no more.<p><span class= "bld">Into your bosom.</span>—The large fold of an Eastern dress over the chest, often used as a pocket.<p><span class= "bld">With the same measure that ye mete.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/matthew/7-2.htm" title="For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.">Matthew 7:2</a>, <a href="/mark/4-24.htm" title="And he said to them, Take heed what you hear: with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you: and to you that hear shall more be given.">Mark 4:24</a>, for the varied applications of the proverb.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-39.htm">Luke 6:39</a></div><div class="verse">And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?</div>(39) <span class= "bld">And he spake a parable unto them.</span>—The verse is noticeable (1) as causing a break in the discourse which has no parallel in the Sermon on the Mount; (2) as giving an example of the wider sense of the word “parable,” as applicable to any proverbial saying that involved a similitude. On the proverb itself, quoted in a very different context, see Note on <a href="/matthew/15-14.htm" title="Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.">Matthew 15:14</a>. Here its application is clear enough. The man who judges and condemns another is as the blind leader of the blind. Assuming St. Paul to have known the Sermon on the Plain, we may trace an echo of the words in the “guide of the blind” of <a href="/romans/2-19.htm" title="And are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,">Romans 2:19</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-40.htm">Luke 6:40</a></div><div class="verse">The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.</div>(40) <span class= "bld">The disciple is not above his master.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/matthew/10-24.htm" title="The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.">Matthew 10:24</a>, <a href="/john/15-20.htm" title="Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.">John 15:20</a>. Here the application of the proverb is obviously very different. The connection of thought is somewhat obscure, and we may not unreasonably believe that some links have been omitted. As it is, however, we can infer something from what precedes and follows. We are still in that section of the discourse which warns the disciples against taking on themselves the office of a judge. They were in this to follow the example of their Master. He, in His work on earth, taught, but did not judge (<a href="/context/john/8-11.htm" title="She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.">John 8:11-15</a>; <a href="/john/12-47.htm" title="And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.">John 12:47</a>; perhaps, also, <a href="/luke/12-14.htm" title="And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?">Luke 12:14</a>). Were they above their Master that they should do what He had refrained from doing?<p><span class= "bld">Every one that is perfect.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">every one that is perfected.</span> The marginal rendering, “Every one shall be perfected,” is hardly tenable grammatically The implied thought is that the disciple or scholar who has been perfected by the education through which his Master has led him, will be like the Master in character and temper, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> in this special application of the maxim, will abstain from needless, or hasty, or uncharitable judgment.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-41.htm">Luke 6:41</a></div><div class="verse">And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?</div>(41) <span class= "bld">And why beholdest thou</span> . .?—See Notes on <a href="/matthew/7-4.htm" title="Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye?">Matthew 7:4</a>. The two reports of the proverb agree almost verbally, as if its repetition had impressed it deeply on the minds of the hearers.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-43.htm">Luke 6:43</a></div><div class="verse">For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.</div>(43-46) <span class= "bld">For a good tree bringeth not forth . . .</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/7-16.htm" title="You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?">Matthew 7:16-21</a>. Here again, judging by what we find in St. Matthew, there may have been missing links; but even without them the conjunction “for” does not lose its force. The good tree of a Christ-like life cannot bring forth the “corrupt fruit” (better, perhaps, <span class= "ital">rotten</span> fruit) of censorious judgment; the <span class= "ital">rotten</span> tree of hypocrisy cannot bring forth the “good fruit “of the power to reform and purify the lives of others. The tree of life (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the wisdom of perfect holiness, comp. <a href="/proverbs/3-18.htm" title="She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and happy is every one that retains her.">Proverbs 3:18</a>; <a href="/proverbs/11-30.htm" title="The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise.">Proverbs 11:30</a>), whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (<a href="/revelation/22-2.htm" title="In the middle of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.">Revelation 22:2</a>), is of quite another character than that.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-44.htm">Luke 6:44</a></div><div class="verse">For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.</div>(44) <span class= "bld">Of thorns men do not gather figs.</span>—The form of the illustration differs slightly from that in St. Matthew, where the thorns are connected with grapes, and the figs with thistles. The word for “bramble bush” is the same as that used in <a href="/luke/20-37.htm" title="Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.">Luke 20:37</a>, and in the LXX. version of <a href="/context/exodus/3-2.htm" title="And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.">Exodus 3:2-4</a>, and <a href="/deuteronomy/33-16.htm" title="And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelled in the bush: let the blessing come on the head of Joseph, and on the top of the head of him that was separated from his brothers.">Deuteronomy 33:16</a>, for the burning “bush” on Sinai. We may note further the use of a different Greek word (that specially connected, as in <a href="/context/revelation/14-18.htm" title="And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.">Revelation 14:18-19</a>, with the gathering of the vintage) for the second “gather” in St. Luke’s report.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-45.htm">Luke 6:45</a></div><div class="verse">A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.</div>(45) <span class= "bld">A good man out of the good treasure.</span>—See Note on <a href="/matthew/12-35.htm" title="A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.">Matthew 12:35</a>. There the words are spoken in immediate connection with the judgment which the Pharisees had passed on our Lord as casting out devils by Beelzebub, and follow on a reproduction of the similitude of the tree and its fruit. The sequence of thought in that passage helps us to trace a like sequence here. Out of the “good treasure of his heart” the good man would bring forth, not harsh or hasty judgment, but kindness, gentleness, compassion; out of the “evil treasure” the man who was evil, the hypocrite who judged others by himself, would bring forth bitterness, and harsh surmises, and uncharitable condemnation.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-46.htm">Luke 6:46</a></div><div class="verse">And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?</div>(46) <span class= "bld">And why call ye me, Lord, Lord.</span>—The teaching is the same in substance, though not <span class= "ital">in</span> form.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-47.htm">Luke 6:47</a></div><div class="verse">Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:</div>(47-49) <span class= "bld">Whosoever cometh to me</span> .—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/7-24.htm" title="Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house on a rock:">Matthew 7:24-27</a>. Here again the all but verbal reproduction of the parable shows the impression which its repetition had left on the minds of men. The variations, however, are not without significance. St. Luke alone reports that the wise man “digged deep” (better, <span class= "ital">digged, and made it deep</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> and so brings out the toil and labour which attends the laying the foundation. It is not a passing emotion of assurance, a momentary act of faith, but involves a process that goes deep through the surface strata of the life, till it finds a foundation in a purified and strengthened will, or, <span class= "ital">to</span> anticipate St. Paul’s teaching, in the “new man” within us, which is one with the presence of Christ as “the hope of glory” (<a href="/ephesians/4-24.htm" title="And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.">Ephesians 4:24</a>; <a href="/colossians/1-27.htm" title=" To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:">Colossians 1:27</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-48.htm">Luke 6:48</a></div><div class="verse">He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.</div>(48) <span class= "bld">When the flood arose.</span>—Here we have some-what less fulness of detail than in St. Matthew’s mention of “the rain” and the “wind,” as well as the rivers or streams. The word rendered “flood” referred primarily to the “sea,” but had been transferred to the movement of any large body of water.<p><span class= "bld">And could not shake it.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">and had no power to shake it.</span> Somewhat stronger than the form in St. Matthew, which simply states the result, “it fell not.” Here the result of the “digging deep” to the rock-foundation was that the house was not even “shaken.”<p><span class= "bld">For it was founded upon a rock.</span>—The better MSS. give, <span class= "ital">because it had been well built,</span> the verse having apparently been altered in later MSS. to bring it into agreement with St. Matthew.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/luke/6-49.htm">Luke 6:49</a></div><div class="verse">But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.</div>(49) <span class= "bld">He that heareth, and doeth not.</span>—More specific than St. Matthew in adding “without a foundation,” somewhat less so in giving “on the earth” instead of “on the sand.”<p><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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