45 `The good man out of the good treasure of his heart doth bring forth that which `is' good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart doth bring forth that which `is' evil; for out of the abounding of the heart doth his mouth speak.
`Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak. The good man out of the good treasure of the heart doth put forth the good things, and the evil man out of the evil treasure doth put forth evil things. `And I say to you, that every idle word that men may speak, they shall give for it a reckoning in a day of judgment; for from thy words thou shalt be declared righteous, and from thy words thou shalt be declared unrighteous.'
so also the tongue is a little member, and doth boast greatly; lo, a little fire how much wood it doth kindle! and the tongue `is' a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body, and is setting on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by the gehenna. For every nature, both of beasts and of fowls, both of creeping things and things of the sea, is subdued, and hath been subdued, by the human nature, and the tongue no one of men is able to subdue, `it is' an unruly evil, full of deadly poison,
The tongue of the righteous `is' chosen silver, The heart of the wicked -- as a little thing. The lips of the righteous delight many, And fools for lack of heart die.
The mouth of the righteous uttereth wisdom, And his tongue speaketh judgment. The law of his God `is' his heart, His steps do not slide.
And if he came to see -- vanity he speaketh, His heart gathereth iniquity to itself, He goeth out -- at the street he speaketh. All hating me whisper together against me, Against me they devise evil to me:
Vanity they speak each with his neighbour, Lip of flattery! With heart and heart they speak. Jehovah doth cut off all lips of flattery, A tongue speaking great things, Who said, `By our tongue we do mightily: Our lips `are' our own; who `is' lord over us?'
Who doth give me in a wilderness A lodging-place of travellers? And I leave my people, and go from them, For all of them `are' adulterers, An assembly of treacherous ones. And they bend their tongue, their bow `is' a lie, And not for stedfastness have they been mighty in the land, For from evil unto evil they have gone forth, And Me they have not known, An affirmation of Jehovah! Each of his friend -- beware ye, And on any brother, do not trust, For every brother doth utterly supplant, For every friend slanderously doth walk, And each at his friend they mock, And truth they do not speak, They taught their tongue to speak falsehood, To commit iniquity they have laboured.
saying, `Give also to me this authority, that on whomsoever I may lay the hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.' And Peter said unto him, `Thy silver with thee -- may it be to destruction! because the gift of God thou didst think to possess through money; thou hast neither part nor lot in this thing, for thy heart is not right before God; reform, therefore, from this thy wickedness, and beseech God, if then the purpose of thy heart may be forgiven thee, for in the gall of bitterness, and bond of unrighteousness, I perceive thee being.'
To do Thy pleasure, my God, I have delighted, And Thy law `is' within my heart. I have proclaimed tidings of righteousness In the great assembly, lo, my lips I restrain not, O Jehovah, Thou hast known. Thy righteousness I have not concealed In the midst of my heart, Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation I have told, I have not hidden Thy kindness and Thy truth, To the great assembly.
because `it is' God who said, Out of darkness light `is' to shine, who did shine in our hearts, for the enlightening of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us;
Incline thine ear, and hear words of the wise, And thy heart set to my knowledge, For they are pleasant when thou dost keep them in thy heart, They are prepared together for thy lips.
My mouth recounteth Thy righteousness, All the day Thy salvation, For I have not known the numbers. I come in the might of the Lord Jehovah, I mention Thy righteousness -- Thine only. God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, And hitherto I declare Thy wonders. And also unto old age and grey hairs, O God, forsake me not, Till I declare Thy strength to a generation, To every one that cometh Thy might.
Who sharpened as a sword their tongue, They directed their arrow -- a bitter word. To shoot in secret places the perfect, Suddenly they shoot him, and fear not. They strengthen for themselves an evil thing, They recount of the hiding of snares, They have said, `Who doth look at it?' They search out perverse things, `We perfected a searching search,' And the inward part of man, and the heart `are' deep. And God doth shoot them `with' an arrow, Sudden have been their wounds, And they cause him to stumble, Against them `is' their own tongue, Every looker on them fleeth away.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 6
Commentary on Luke 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
Lu 6:1-5. Plucking Corn-ears on the Sabbath.
(See on Mt 12:1-8 and Mr 2:23-28.)
1. second sabbath after the first—an obscure expression, occurring here only, generally understood to mean, the first sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the opinion itself quite free from difficulty.
5. Lord also—rather "even" (as in Mt 12:8).
of the sabbath—as naked a claim to all the authority of Him who gave the law at Mount Sinai as could possibly be made; that is, "I have said enough to vindicate the men ye carp at on My account: but in this place is the Lord of the law, and they have His sanction." (See Mr 2:28.)
Lu 6:6-11. Withered Hand Healed.
(See on Mt 12:9-15 and Mr 3:1-7.)
7. watched whether, &c.—In Matthew (Mt 12:9) this is put as an ensnaring question of theirs to our Lord, who accordingly speaks to the state of their hearts (Lu 6:9), just as if they had spoken it out.
9. good, or … evil, save … or destroy—By this novel way of putting His case, our Lord teaches the great ethical principle, that to neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the guilt of doing evil; and by this law He bound His own spirit. (See Mr 3:4.)
11. filled with madness—The word denotes senseless rage at the confusion to which our Lord had put them, both by word and deed.
what … do to Jesus—not so much whether to get rid of Him, but how to compass it. (See on Mt 3:6.)
Lu 6:12-49. The Twelve Apostles Chosen—Gathering Multitudes—Glorious Healing.
12, 13. went out—probably from Capernaum.
all night in prayer … and when … day, he called, &c.—The work with which the next day began shows what had been the burden of this night's devotions. As He directed His disciples to pray for "laborers" just before sending themselves forth (see on Mt 9:37; Mt 10:1), so here we find the Lord Himself in prolonged communion with His Father in preparation for the solemn appointment of those men who were to give birth to His Church, and from whom the world in all time was to take a new mould. How instructive is this!
13-16. (See on Mt 10:2-4.)
17. in the plain—by some rendered "on a level place," that is, a piece of high tableland, by which they understand the same thing, as "on the mountain," where our Lord delivered the sermon recorded by Matthew (Mt 5:1), of which they take this following discourse of Luke to be but an abridged form. But as the sense given in our version is the more accurate, so there are weighty reasons for considering the discourses different. This one contains little more than a fourth of the other; it has woes of its own, as well as the beatitudes common to both; but above all, that of Matthew was plainly delivered a good while before, while this was spoken after the choice of the twelve; and as we know that our Lord delivered some of His weightiest sayings more than once, there is no difficulty in supposing this to be one of His more extended repetitions; nor could anything be more worthy of it.
19. healed—kept healing, denoting successive acts of mercy till it went over "all" that needed. There is something unusually grand and pictorial in this touch of description.
20, 21. In the Sermon on the Mount the benediction is pronounced upon the "poor in spirit" and those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Mt 5:3, 6). Here it is simply on the "poor" and the "hungry now." In this form of the discourse, then, our Lord seems to have had in view "the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love Him," as these very beatitudes are paraphrased by James (Jas 2:5).
21. laugh—How charming is the liveliness of this word, to express what in Matthew is called being "comforted!"
22. separate you—whether from their Church, by excommunication, or from their society; both hard to flesh and blood.
for the Son of man's sake—Compare Mt 5:11, "for My sake"; and immediately before, "for righteousness' sake" (Lu 6:10). Christ thus binds up the cause of righteousness in the world with the reception of Himself.
23. leap for joy—a livelier word than "be exceeding glad" of "exult" (Mt 5:12).
24, 25. rich … full … laugh—who have all their good things and joyous feelings here and now, in perishable objects.
received your consolation—(see on Lu 16:25).
shall hunger—their inward craving strong as ever, but the materials of satisfaction forever gone.
26. all … speak well of you—alluding to the court paid to the false prophets of old (Mic 2:11). For the principle of this woe, and its proper limits, see Joh 15:19.
27-36. (See on Mt 5:44-48; Mt 7:12; and Mt 14:12-14.)
37, 38. See on Mt 7:1, 2; but this is much fuller and more graphic.
39. Can the blind, &c.—not in the Sermon on the Mount, but recorded by Matthew in another and very striking connection (Mt 15:14).
40. The disciple, &c.—that is, "The disciple aims to come up to his master, and he thinks himself complete when he does so: if you then be blind leaders of the blind, the perfection of one's training under you will only land him the more certainly in one common ruin with yourselves."
41-49. (See on Mt 7:3-5, Mt 7:16-27.)