And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.
32. whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost ] To speak against the Holy Ghost is to speak against the clear voice of the Holy Ghost within the heart wilful sin against knowledge. Jesus, who saw the heart, knew that the Pharisees were insincere in the charge which they brought against Him. They were attributing to Satan what they knew to be the work of God. Their former attacks against the Son of man had excuse; for instance, they might have differed conscientiously on the question of Sabbath observance, now they have no excuse.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 32. Neither in this world, neither in the world to come.] Though I follow the common translation, yet I am fully satisfied the meaning of the words is, neither in this dispensation, (viz. the Jewish,) nor in that which is to come, viz. the Christian. olam ha-ba, the world to come, is a constant phrase for the times of the Messiah in the Jewish writers. See below. The sin here spoken of by our Lord ranks high in the catalogue of presumptuous sins, for which there was no forgiveness under the Mosaic dispensation. See Nu 15:30; Nu 15:31; Nu 35:31; Le 20:10; 1Sa 2:25. When our Lord says that such a sin hath no forgiveness, is he not to be understood as meaning that the crime shall be punished under the Christian dispensation as it was under the Jewish, viz. by the destruction of the body? And is not this the same mentioned 1Jo 1:7, called there the sin unto death; i.e. a sin that was to be punished by the death of the body, while mercy might be extended to the soul? The punishment for presumptuous sins, under the Jewish law, to which our Lord evidently alludes, certainly did not extend to the damnation of the soul, though the body was destroyed: therefore I think that, though there was no such forgiveness to be extended to this crime as to absolve the man from the punishment of temporal death, yet, on repentance, mercy might be extended to the soul; and every sin may be repented of under the Gospel dispensation.
Dr. Lightfoot has sufficiently vindicated this passage from all false interpretation. “They that endeavour hence to prove the remission of some sins after death, seem little to understand to what Christ had respect when he spake these words. Weigh well this common and, most known doctrine of the Jewish schools, and judge.
“He that transgresses an affirmative precept, if he presently repent, is not moved until the Lord pardon him; and of such it is said, Be ye converted, O back sliding children! and I will heal your backslidings. He that transgresses a negative precept, and repents, his repentance suspends judgment, and the day of expiation expiates him; as it is said, This day shall all your uncleannesses be expiated to you. He that transgresses to cutting off (by the stroke of God) or to death by the Sanhedrin, and repents, repentance and the day of expiation do suspend judgment, and the strokes that are laid upon him wipe off sin, as it is said, And I will visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with scourges. But he by whom the name of God is profaned (or blasphemed) repentance is of no avail to him to suspend judgment, nor the day of expiation to expiate it, nor scourges (or corrections inflicted) to wipe it off, but all suspend judgment, and death wipes it off. Thus the Babylonian Gemara writes; but the Jerusalem thus: Repentance and the day of expiation expiate as to the third part, and corrections as to the third part, and death wipes it off, as it is said, And your iniquities shall not be expiated to you until ye die: behold, we learn that death wipes off. Note this, which Christ contradicts, concerning blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. It shall not be forgiven, saith he, neither in this world, nor in the world to come; that is, neither before death, nor, as you dream, by death. Jerus. Sanhed. fol. 37. and Bab. Yoma, fol. 86.
“In the world to come. – I. Some phrases were received into common use, by which, in common speech, they opposed the heresy of the Sadducces, who denied immortality, Of that sort were olam ha-ba, , The world to come. gan aden, , paradise: gei hinnom, , hell, c.
“At the end of all the prayers in the temple (as we observed before) they said ad olam, for ever. But when the heretics (i.e. the Sadducees) brake in, and said there was NO AGE but one, then it was appointed to be said for ever and ever. min ha-olam, vead ha-olam. Bab. Beracoth, fol. 54. This distinction of olam hazeh, this world, and of olam ha-ba, the world to come, you may find almost in every page of the rabbins.
“The Lord recompense thee a good reward for this thy good work in this world, and let thy reward be perfected in the world to come. Targum on Ruth.
“It (that is, the history of the creation and of the Bible) therefore begins with the letter beth, (in the word bereshith,) because two worlds were created, this world and a world to come. Baal Turim.
“The world to come hints two things especially, (of which see Rambam, in Sanhed. cap. ii. Chelek.) I. The times of the Messiah: ‘Be mindful of the day wherein thou camest out of Egypt, all the days of thy life: the wise men say, by the days of thy life is intimated this world: by all the days of thy life, the days of the Messiah are superinduced.’ In this sense the apostle seems to speak, He 2:5; He 6:5. II. The state after death: thus Rab. Tancum, The world to come, is when a man has departed out of this world.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
32. And whosoever speaketh a wordagainst the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoeverspeaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him,neither in this world, neither in the world to comeIn Mark thelanguage is awfully strong, “hath never forgiveness, but is indanger of eternal damnation” (Mr3:20)or rather, according to what appears to be the preferablethough very unusual reading, “in danger of eternal guilt”aguilt which he will underlie for ever. Mark has the importantaddition (Mr 3:30), “Becausethey said, He hath an unclean spirit.” (See on Mt10:25). What, then, is this sin against the Holy Ghosttheunpardonable sin? One thing is clear: Its unpardonableness cannotarise from anything in the nature of sin itself; for that would be anaked contradiction to the emphatic declaration of Mt12:31, that all manner of sin is pardonable. And what is this butthe fundamental truth of the Gospel? (See Act 13:38;Act 13:39; Rom 3:22;Rom 3:24; 1Jn 1:7,c.). Then, again when it is said (Mt12:32), that to speak against or blaspheme the Son of man ispardonable, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is notpardonable, it is not to be conceived that this arises from anygreater sanctity in the one blessed Person than the other. Theseremarks so narrow the question that the true sense of our Lord’swords seem to disclose themselves at once. It is a contrast betweenslandering “the Son of man” in His veiled condition andunfinished workwhich might be done “ignorantly, inunbelief” (1Ti 1:13), andslandering the same blessed Person after the blaze of glory which theHoly Ghost was soon to throw around His claims, and in the fullknowledge of all that. This would be to slander Him with eyes open,or to do it “presumptuously.” To blaspheme Christ in theformer conditionwhen even the apostles stumbled at manythingsleft them still open to conviction on fuller light: but toblaspheme Him in the latter condition would be to hate the light theclearer it became, and resolutely to shut it out which, of course,precludes salvation. (See on Heb10:26-29). The Pharisees had not as yet done this; but incharging Jesus with being in league with hell they were displayingbeforehand a malignant determination to shut their eyes to allevidence, and so, bordering upon, and in spiritcommitting, the unpardonable sin.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And whosoever speaketh a word against the son of man,…. By whom is meant, not any man, as Grotius thought, but the Lord Jesus Christ, so often called “the son of man”, on account of his human nature, in which he appeared in great meanness and obscurity. Now many might, through ignorance of him, thinking him to be a mere man, and taking up with common fame, speak evil of him, deny him to be the Messiah, reproach him for the meanness of his parentage and education, and for the freedom of his conversation with publicans and sinners; and do many things contrary to his name, as Saul, whilst a Pharisee did, and thought he ought to do; and yet be afterwards convinced of their mistakes, and be brought to a sense and acknowledgment of them, and obtain pardoning grace and mercy, as Saul did, though a blasphemer; and who is an instance of what is here promised,
it shall be forgiven him through the grace of God, the blood and mediation of Christ, under the application of the blessed Spirit.
But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, in the sense before declared,
it shall not be forgiven him: not because the Holy Ghost is greater than Christ; or for want of efficacy in the blood of Christ; or because God cannot pardon it; but because such persons wilfully, maliciously, and obstinately oppose the Spirit of God, without whom there can be no application of pardon made; and remain in hardness of heart, are given up to a reprobate mind, and die in impenitence and unbelief, and so there is no forgiveness for them,
neither in this world, nor in the world to come; that is; they shall never be forgiven, see Mr 3:29. The distinction here used, does not refer to a common one among the Jews, of the Jewish state and the times of the Messiah; but to the present state of life, and that which will be after, or upon death: and it does not suppose there may be forgiveness of other sins, though not of this, in the other world; but strikes at a notion the Jews had, that there are some sins, which repentance and the day of atonement expiate in this life; but there are others, which repentance and the day of atonement do not expiate; and these a man’s death expiates, or makes atonement for a. The form of confession used by sick persons is the following b;
“I confess before thee, O Lord our God, and the God of our fathers, that my cure is in thy hands, and my death is in thy hands; if it be thy good pleasure, heal me with a perfect healing: but if I die, , “let my death be for the pardon”, forgiveness, and atonement of all the sins, iniquities, and transgressions, which I have sinned, acted perversely in, and transgressed before thee; and give me my portion in paradise, and justify me “in the world to come”, which is hidden for the righteous.”
But the sin against the Holy Ghost is such, as is not forgiven, neither before, nor at, nor after death, nor by it: all sins that are forgiven, are forgiven in this world, and that perfectly and at once; and all that are forgiven in this world, there will be a manifestation and declaration of the pardon of them in another; but such sins as are not forgiven here, there will be no declaration of the pardon of them hereafter. In short, the sense is, that the sin against the Holy Ghost never has forgiveness; it is not pardoned now, and consequently there will be no declaration of the pardon of it hereafter. The Jews use the phrase in the same sense c; a certain sick man said to his son,
“give me water, and such certain food; but if not, I will not “forgive thee, neither in this world, nor in the world to come”.”
That is, I will never forgive thee.
a T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 86. 1. b Seder Tephillot, fol. 333. 2. Ed. Basil. Vid. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 60. 1. c Sepher Chasidim: num. 234.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Holy Spirit [ ] . The Spirit – the holy. These words define more clearly the blasphemy against the Spirit, ver. 31.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man,” (kai hor ean lipe logon kata tou huiou tou anthropou) “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man,” in a downing, derogatory manner.
2) “It shall be forgiven him:” (apothesetai auto) “it will be forgiven to him,” as Paul did, as Peter did in denying the Lord, even with an- oath, and as Thomas did, each of whom found forgiveness and restoration to God’s favor, Mat 26:72; Joh 20:24-25; Luk 22:32.
3) “But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost,” (hos d’ an eipe kata tou pneumatos tou hagiou) “Yet the one who speaks against the Holy Spirit,” the “blasphemy type,” in impenitence, not knowing when the Spirit calls for a final time, the limited time” of Heb 4:7; Pro 29:1.
4) “It shall not be forgiven him,” (ouk aphethesetai auto) “it will not be forgiven to him,” when suddenly that “last conscious call” of the Holy Spirit says “today,” 2Co 6:2; Heb 3:7; Rev 22:17; Isa 55:6-7.
5) “Neither in this world,” (oute en touto aioni) “Neither in this age,” the Gentile age.
6) “Neither in the world to come.” (oute en to mellonti) “Nor in the one that is coming,” the age (eternal age) that is to follow; For it is appointed unto all once to die, after this the judgment, Heb 9:27. While the spirit woos, reproves, convicts, calls to repentance, one may be saved; But when one says “no” to God’s call through the Spirit, he never knows when it may be the final “no,” the blasphemy against His call, today! Such is the danger! Pro 1:22-30; Pro 27:1; Pro 29:1; Heb 4:7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
32. Neither in the present life What these words mean, Mark briefly explains by saying, that those who have spoken against the Spirit are exposed to eternal judgment Every day we ask from God the forgiveness of sins, and every day he reconciles us to Him; and, finally, at death, he takes away all our sins, and declares that he is gracious to us. The fruit of this mercy will appear at the last day. The meaning therefore is: — “There is no reason to expect that those who shall have blasphemed against the Spirit will obtain pardon in this life, or will be acquitted in the last judgment.”
With regard to the inference drawn by the Papists, that the sins of men are forgiven after death, there is no difficulty in refuting their slander. First, they act foolishly in torturing the expression, future life, to mean an intermediate period, while any one may perceive that it denotes “the last judgment.” But it is likewise a proof of their dishonesty; for the objection which they sophistically urge is inconsistent with their own doctrine. Who knows not their distinction, that sins are freely pardoned in respect of guilt, but that punishment and satisfaction are demanded? This is an acknowledgment, that there is no hope of salvation to any one whose guilt is not pardoned before death. To the dead, therefore, there remains no forgiveness, except as regards punishment; and surely they will not venture to deny that the subject of this discourse is guilt. Let them now go and light their fire of purgatory with these cold materials, if ice can kindle a flame. (133)
(133) “ Voire s’i1 est possible de tant souffler la glace, qu’on la face flamber;” — “that is, if it be possible to blow upon the ice in such a manner as to produce a flame.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(32) Neither in this world, neither in the world to come.The distinction was hardly the same for our Lords Jewish listeners as it has come to be with us. For them this worldbetter, perhaps, this agewas the time before the coming of the Christ; the age to come was that which was to follow it. (Comp. Heb. 6:5, Luk. 18:30.) Our Lord thus stood on the boundary-line of the two ages, that of the Law and the Prophets, and that of the Kingdom of Heaven, and He declares that while all personal outrages to Himself as the Son of Man, i.e., the Christ, are capable of forgiveness, this enmity against goodness, as good, shuts it out in both. Practically, however, the order of things since the first coming of the Christ has been one of slow and continuous growth, not of rapid and complete change. There has been no age to come such as the Jew dreamt of, and we still wait for its manifestation, and think of ourselves as still living in this world, in this age, and of the world to come as lying in the far future, or, for each individual soul, beyond the grave. Our Lords words, it may be noted, clearly imply that some sins wait for their full forgiveness, the entirely cancelling of the past, till the time of that age to come which shall witness the great and final Advent. Does this imply that repentance, and therefore pardon, may come in the state that follows death? We know not, and ask questions that we cannot answer, but the words at least check the harsh dogmatic answer in the negative. If one sin only is thus excluded from forgiveness in that coming age, other sins cannot stand on the same level, and the darkness behind the veil is lit up with at least a gleam of hope.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
32. Against the Son Olshausen has called special attention to the gradations of aggravation implied in the blasphemy successively against the Father and the Son and the Spirit. But perhaps in detail he has hardly so developed it as to bring out the true point.
Let it be remarked, that when sin is committed against the Father or the Son, neither is ever viewed as withdrawing himself from the sinner during the day of his probation. God, the Father, as Creator and Providence, still continues his mercies; and the atonement of God the Son is never probationarily withdrawn. But the Spirit does become grieved, and does become vexed and depart.
God the Father is contemplated as the original back-ground, so to speak, of Deity; God the Son is Deity manifest in the redemptive plan and dispensation; God the Holy Spirit is Deity, specially in his sanctifying personality, going forth as a Spirit of purity, making his trials to win and assimilate man to his own pure nature. As a pure Spirit, he is also represented as a tender and a sensitive Spirit. He is easily vexed and grieved and made to depart. On this point let us remark:
1 . To grieve, to vex, or to resist the Holy Spirit does not of itself amount to this blaspheming the Holy Spirit. For all these, as matter of fact, are done, and yet the sinners do repent and be saved. And from this fact has perhaps arisen the real difficulty which commentators have found in this passage.
2 . Nor is this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit the same as becoming hardened against impression, or becoming hopeless by continuance in sin, or as “sinning away the day of grace.” It is plainly, however long the preparation, one heinous act; so heinous in itself as that the Spirit becomes, therefor, the sinner’s enemy. Isa 63:10.
3 . Not every reproach, nay, not every word or expression truly in itself blasphemous toward the Holy Spirit, not even with blasphemous intention, really reaches its aim; that is, really is accepted by the Holy Spirit as blasphemy against itself. Experience shows that such words are repented of, and, though perhaps not often, forgiven. Even a dignified human spirit will frequently refuse to impute to persons the full insult they intend. The mind of the Spirit itself is most pure, wise, and sovereign judge when the insult offered to itself shall be held as blasphemy against itself. Just as many a man of high and sensitive honour will not be insulted by certain characters, either from their insignificance, or their irresponsibility, or their ignorance, so the Holy Spirit will not always accept of intended insult offered to itself as this blasphemy against itself.
4 . When the Holy Spirit does so think right to accept and feel the full force of a blasphemy offered in thought, word, or deed against itself, then does it resent the insult with a justice that knows no mercy. It makes not the decision capriciously or arbitrarily, but with perfect measurement of the actual guilt; and then with absolute finality it abandons the sinner, never to return. The man is left in a hardness that will never relent. He will live doubtless in a state of moveless indifference until his departure to his own place. This results from the very fact of his being abandoned. The atonement, though not withdrawn, will never avail, and the Spirit of holiness is his perfect and pure “enemy.” That relation is as immortal as the nature of both.
Whosoever speaketh against A softer phrase is here used than blasphemeth. Nakedly taken, it would imply that every uttered word derogatory to the Holy Spirit is unpardonable. The phrase to speak against, must, however, be interpreted by the previous phrase blasphemy against. Or else we may make a difference between blasphemy or reproachful words uttered in regard to the Holy Ghost, and blasphemy or evil speaking against the Holy Ghost; meaning by the latter phrase that blasphemy which the Holy Ghost does, in his infinite wisdom and justice, interpret and accept against itself. Of the sin against the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is the sole Judge. It behooves blasphemous men to beware. The unfrequency with which such men ever come to God is sad proof that they do sin beyond all pardon. But it may be remarked, that inasmuch as the withdrawal of the Spirit will ever result in complete indifference, the very fear of a penitent man, that he has committed it, is full demonstration that he has not so done.
A sin unto death is spoken of by Saint John, for which no prayer is to be offered. That the sin mentioned by Saint John, is the same as our Lord here describes is evident from this, that our Lord declares that all other sins are pardonable; whereas the sin described by John is unpardonable. The same may perhaps be said of the sin of apostacy described by the apostle in the sixth chapter of Hebrews. It appears that there is but one unpardonable sin, and all these are it. Neither in this to come Neither in time nor in eternity. Mar 3:24, expresses it: “Hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” It is difficult to say in what words the eternity of retribution could be more unequivocally expressed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And whoever will speak a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.”
Jesus then takes the extremest of sins as a comparison, blasphemy against the One sent from God, the Son of Man. Though He is great beyond measure, yet blasphemy against Him can be forgiven, for men may have difficulty with the concept, or in appreciating Him, because of the dullness of their understanding. But continually speaking against the Holy Spirit and His work openly manifested and brought home to men and women, and resisting it, is something which can so harden someone that one day it will become impossible for their heart ever to soften again. For that is not difficult to understand. That is openly manifested before their eyes.
We can compare here what happened to Pharaoh in Exodus. First Pharaoh hardened his own heart in the face of the mighty works of God. Then he continued to harden his own heart, and he did it in the face of such incontrovertible evidence that he himself admitted that he was wrong. And then he continued doing it. And each time he had the opportunity to repent. But one day he had reached a position where repentance was impossible, for every act of God had resulted in his heart hardening more, until he could repent no longer. In a sense it was now God Who was hardening his heart by continually challenging him. He was now so hardened that repentance had become impossible.
‘Neither in this world (or age), or in that which is to come.’ What we do and are in this world, or in this age, will affect what we are for eternity. Every one of us is at this moment shaping our eternal destiny. And how we respond to God and His Holy Spirit now will therefore shape our eternal destiny in the world and age to come.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 12:32 . . .] against the Son of man , such as Daniel promised that the Messiah should be. In this case also (comp. on Mat 9:6 , Mat 8:20 ) this select expression indicates the majesty of the Messiah in His human manifestation, in contrast to the hostile terms with which it has been assailed. Grotius and Fritzsche erroneously understand it as in contrast to man in general.
] For if the hostile expressions are directed only against the person of the Messiah as such, not against the Holy Spirit who may be recognised in that person, even without our ascribing to it a Messianic character, it is possible that fuller knowledge, change, of disposition, faith, may be created by the Spirit’s own influence, whereupon the man will be forgiven. Comp. Luk 23:34 .
is the period previous to the coming of the Messiah, , as Jesus understood it: the time before the second coming. , the period that succeeds the coming of the Messiah, , as Jesus understood it: the time that follows the second coming. Bertholdt, Christol. p. 38; Koppe, Exc. 1, ad Ep. ad Eph. p. 289 ff.
] where it would be granted in the shape of acquittal in the judgment, combined with the eternal consequences of such acquittal (everlasting felicity). The threatening of a very different fate that is to say, the thought of endless punishment must not be in any way softened down (Chrysostom, de Wette). Schmid, bibl. Theol. I. p. 358 (comp. Olshausen and Stirm in the Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theol. 1861, p. 300), is quite mistaken in thinking that the period referred to is that between death and judgment, which, in fact, does not belong to the at all.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Ver. 32. And whosoever speaketh a word, &c. ] As Peter did through infirmity, Paul through ignorance; those poor souls whom he haled to prison, and for fear of death compelled them to blaspheme Christ, Act 26:11 . Tertullian reports the like of Claudius Herminianus, a persecuter in Cappadocia, quod tormentu quosdam a proposito suo excidere fecerat, that for spite that his own wife was turned Christian, he forced many, by tormenting them, to reneague Christ. Pliny writes also to Trajan, the emperor, that where he was governor there came to his hands a book, containing the names of many that for fear of death professed themselves to be no Christians. And when, saith he, they had at my command called upon the gods, offered incense to the emperor’s image, and cursed Christ (which those that are Christians indeed will never be drawn to do), I thought good to dismiss them. a
But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost ] Not his person or essence (for many Sabellian, Eunomian, Macedonian heretics did so of old, and repenting found mercy), but his grace and special operation, by the which God comes nearer to man than he is in nature or person. This sin is against the immediate effects, work, and office of the Holy Ghost, against that shining light kindled by God’s Spirit in man’s soul, and that sweetness and comfort felt in Christ, that taste of the good word of God, and of the powers of the world to come,Heb 6:4-6Heb 6:4-6 .
It shall not be forgiven him, &c. ] And why? Not because it is greater than God’s mercy, or Christ’s merits; but first by a just judgment of God upon such sinners, for their hateful unthankfulness in despising his Spirit; whence follows an impossibility of repentance, Heb 6:6 , and so of remission, Luk 13:3 . Secondly, such a desperate fury invadeth these men, that they maliciously resist and repudiate the price of repentance, Act 5:31 , and the matter of remission, 1Jn 1:7 , viz. the precious blood of Jesus Christ, whereby if they might have mercy, yet they would not, but continue raving and raging against both medicine and physician, to their unavoidable ruth and ruin. How bold therefore is Bellarmine, who interpreteth this text of the difficulty and rarity only of remission, and not of an utter impossibility.
a Cum, praeunte me, Deos appellarent et imagini tuae, thure ac vino supplicarent, praeterea maledicerent Christo, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 12:32 . o serious a statement needs to be carefully guarded against misapprehension; therefore Jesus adds an explanatory declaration. . . . . Jesus distinguishes between a word against the Son of Man and a word against the Holy Ghost. The reference in the former is to Himself, presumably, though Mark at the corresponding place has “the sons of men,” and no special mention of a particular son of man. Christ gives the Pharisees to understand that the gravamen of their offence is not that they have spoken evil of Him. Jesus had no exceptional sensitiveness as to personal offences. Nor did He mean to suggest that offences of the kind against Him were more serious or less easily pardonable than such offences against other men, say, the prophets or the Baptist. Many interpreters, indeed, think otherwise, and represent blasphemy against the Son of Man as the higher limit of the forgiveable. A grave mistake, I humbly think. Jesus was as liable to honest misunderstanding as other good men, in some respects more liable than any, because of the exceptional originality of His character and conduct. All new things are liable to be misunderstood and decried, and the best for a while to be treated as the worst. Jesus knew this, and allowed for it. Men might therefore honestly misunderstand Him, and be in no danger of the sin against the Holy Ghost ( e.g. , Saul of Tarsus). On the other hand, men might dishonestly calumniate any ordinary good man, and be very near the unpardonable sin. It is not the man that makes the difference, but the source of the blasphemy. If the source be ignorance, misconception, ill-informed prejudice, blasphemy against the Son of Man will be equally pardonable with other sins. If the source be malice, rooted dislike of the good, selfish preference of wrong, because of the advantage it brings, to the right which the good seek to establish, then the sin is not against the man but against the cause, and the Divine Spirit who inspires him, and though the agent be but a humble, imperfect man, the sinner is perilously near the unpardonable point. Jesus wished the Pharisees to understand that, in His judgment, that was their position. , analyse the negation of pardon, conceived as affecting both worlds, into its parts for sake of emphasis ( vide on Mat 5:34-36 ). Dogmatic inferences, based on the double negation, to possible pardon after death, are precarious. Lightfoot (Hor. Heb.) explains the double negation by reference to the Jewish legal doctrine that, in contrast to other sins, profaning the name of God could be expiated only by death, unpardonable in this life. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, says Jesus, in conscious antithesis, pardonable neither here nor there: “neque ante mortem, neque per mortem”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the Holy Ghost = the Spirit, the Holy [Spirit], emph. App-101.
world = age, age-time, or dispensation. Greek. aion. App-129. It must refer to one age-time in contradistinction to another, called “the coming age”. Compare Heb 1:2 and see note on Heb 11:3.
the world to come = [the age] about to be. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 12:32.[574] , the Son of Man) This expression is used in accordance with our Lords condition as it appeared to men, inasmuch as He was then conversing with them on an equal footing, see Php 2:7, as He is described in ch. Mat 11:19; cf. also Gnomon on ch. Mat 16:13. It is not therefore easy, in these times, to say anything against the Son of Man: it is more easy to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.[575]–, …, neither-neither, etc.) i.e., he shall in both drain to the dregs the most sure and most grievous punishment. See Chrysostom on this passage.
[574] , and whosoever) The words immediately preceding are hereby further explained and illustrated.-V. g.
[575] Therefore their words were directed against the Son of man, when they spake insultingly concerning Him on account of His connection with Nazareth, on account of His lowly bearing and conversation, etc.; but it was against the Holy Spirit that those words of theirs were directed, whereby they brought allegations against His miracles, which were performed by the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit, and ascribed them to the powers of darkness. It was at that time especially, when Christ was sojourning in the midst of them, that men were able to incur the guilt of both kinds of sinful speeches. But what is the present state of those who, in our time, bring criminations against the good operations of the Holy Spirit in His instruments? Christians, no doubt, for their part have the Spirit, and besides His presence, are not without their own blemishes. If, then, any one brings charges against some Christian, perhaps he in a great degree sees only the blemishes of that Christian, and so in a less degree observes the good that is in him; and, therefore, he does not blaspheme against the Spirit in others, however grievously he sins in other respects. Christ Jesus, being endued with the Spirit beyond ail measure, had no foreign element at all intermixed; therefore the blasphemies with which He was assailed, were much more enormous sins.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
whosoever: Mat 11:19, Mat 13:55, Luk 7:34, Luk 23:34, Joh 7:12, Joh 7:52, Act 3:14, Act 3:15, Act 3:19, Act 26:9-11, 1Ti 1:13, 1Ti 1:15
but: Joh 7:39, Heb 6:4-6, Heb 10:26-29
it shall not: Job 36:13, Mar 3:29, Luk 16:23-26
Reciprocal: Num 15:30 – doeth ought Mat 16:13 – I the Mar 3:28 – General Luk 12:10 – General Luk 22:65 – blasphemously Heb 10:29 – and hath Jam 3:6 – a world 1Jo 5:16 – There
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Mat 12:32
In Gods view, words are always treated as the index of the heart. Thus they will be the chief evidences in the day of judgment. The speaking, or blaspheming against the Holy Ghost, is therefore the sign of a very rancorous and very violent spirit of dislike in the heart against Him.
We have in the Bible four separate sins against the Holy Ghost, laid out in a certain order and progression.
I. Grieving.There is grieving the Holy Ghost. This occurs when you allow something in your heart and life, which impedes and weakens the Spirits inward work. Then He is grieved. A blessed word! which so shows you how He loves usfor no one is ever grieved with us, who does not love us!
II. Resisting.Next, in the downward course, comes resisting the Holy Ghost. And that is when, with great resolution, you set yourself positively to act contrary to the known and declared will and precepts of the Spirit.
III. Quenching.From this, it is an easy step to the otherto quench Him; when, being vexed and annoyed at influences which restrain you, or by voices which condemn you within, you endeavour to put it out, as by water put on fire.
IV. The unpardonable sin.But there is a fourth stage, when the mind, through a long course of sin, proceeds to such a violent dislike and abhorrence of the Spirit of God, that all infidel thoughts and horrid imaginations come into the mind. They are entertained; they are indulged; they become habitual. They begin to be spoken of more and more shamelessly with the lips. God is outraged and profaned. The mind is full of obscene and diabolical suggestions. It flings out contempt against the very truth which once it professed. The very being of the Holy Ghost is maligned. The man obstructs and withstands the Kingdom of Christ everywhere. He braves His power. He would crush, as far as he can, the name of Christ. And that is the unpardonable sin. This sin against the Holy Ghost is a general state of mind, induced by long and sinful resistance to the calls and convictions of God.
Why is that sin unpardonable? Could not the blood of Christ cleanse it? Could not the blood of Christ cleanse any sin? Yes,to the penitent. But here lies the misery and the horror of that state, that it is a state that cannot repent. It cannot make one move towards God.
The Rev. C. J. Vaughan.
Illustration
(1) The often misunderstood expression it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, etc., is a direct application of a Jewish phrase, in allusion to a Jewish error, and will not bear the inferences so often extorted from it. Our Lord used the phrase to imply that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven; neither before death, nor, as you vainly dream, by means of death.
(2) This sin can never be pardoned because good itself has become the food and fuel of its wickedness. The sin is rather indomitable than unpardonable: it has become part of the sinners personality; it is incurable, an eternal sin. No penitent has ever yet been rejected for this guilt, for no penitent has ever been thus guilty. And this being so, here is the strongest possible encouragement for all who desire mercy.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2:32
Sometimes persons will attempt to formulate a description of some very wicked actions. They may think they have an unanswerable argument when they tell of the vicious things that have been said about Christ, and state that such conduct as that must be the “unpardonable sin” if there ever was any. Yet our present verse is directly against that because it specifically says that speaking against the Son of man “shall be forgiven.” It should be noted that the Scriptures in no place calls this the “unpardonable” sin. We do not know that it would be impossible for God to pardon this sin, but we are told plainly in these two verses that it shall not be forgiven. Neither in this world, neither in the world to come. The original word for world is AION and one meaning of it is age. When Jesus spoke this passage the Jewish age was in force, and the Christian age was to come. The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would not be forgiven under either dispensation. This sin will be described in detail at Mar 3:30. To say that the world to come means the life in heaven would im0ly that some sins will be forgiven at that time which we know is not true. All sin, whether pardonable or not will have o have been forgiven before the judgment day for any person to enter into that life. At that time the status of every intelligent being will be as described in Rev 22:11.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
[It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.] They that endeavour hence to prove the remission of some sins after death, seem little to understand to what Christ had respect when he spake these words. Weigh well this common and most known doctrine of the Jewish schools, and judge:
“He that transgresses an affirmative precept, if he presently repent, is not moved until the Lord pardon him. And of such it is said, ‘Be ye converted, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.’ He that transgresses a negative precept and repents, his repentance suspends judgment, and the day of expiation expiates him; as it is said, ‘This day shall all your uncleannesses be expiated to you.’ He that transgressed to cutting off [by the stroke of God;] or to death by the Sanhedrim, and repents, repentance, and the day of expiation do suspend judgment, and the strokes that are laid upon him wipe off sin; as it is said, ‘And I will visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with scourges.’ But he by whom the name of God is profaned [or blasphemed], repentance is of no avail to him to suspend judgment, nor the day of expiation to expiate it, nor scourges [or corrections inflicted] to wipe it off, but all suspend judgment, and death wipes it off.” Thus the Babylonian Gemara writes: but the Jerusalem thus; “Repentance and the day of expiation expiate as to the third part, and corrections as to the third part, and death wipes it off: as it is said, and your iniquities shall not be expiated to you until ye die. Behold, we learn that death wipes off.” Note this, which Christ contradicts, concerning blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; “It shall not be forgiven, (saith he,) neither in this world, nor in the world to come”; that is, neither before death, nor, as you dream, by death.
[In the world to come.] I. Some phrases were received into common use, by which in common speech they opposed the heresy of the Sadducees, who denied immortality. Of that sort were the world to come: paradise: hell; etc.
“At the end of all the prayers in the Temple” (as we observed before) “they said for ever. But when the heretics brake in and said, ‘There was no age but one,’ it was appointed to be said, for ever and ever.”
This distinction of this world; and of the world to come; you may find almost in every page of the Rabbins.
“The Lord recompense thee a good reward for this thy good word in this world; and let thy reward be perfected in the world to come.”
“It [that is, the history of the creation and of the Bible] begins therefore with the letter Beth [in the word Bereshith], because two worlds were created, this world and a world to come.”
II. The world to come; hints two things especially (of which see Rambam): 1. The times of the Messias: “Be mindful of the day wherein thou camest out of Egypt, all the days of thy life. The wise men say, By ‘the days of thy life,’ is intimated ‘this world’: by ‘all the days of thy life,’ the days of the Messias are superinduced.” In sense the apostle seems to speak, Heb 2:5 and Heb 6:5. 2. The state after death, The world to come is, when a man is departed out of this world.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 12:32. Whosoever speaketh a word, i.e., in passing, not as the result of a determined state of hostility, against the Son of man, against Christ in the form of a servant, through ignorance of His real glory, it shall be forgiven him. Even this great sin can be pardoned.
But whosoever speaketh. The form indicates determined speaking, in the presence of light.
Against the Holy Ghost. Not the Divine nature of Christ, but the third Person of the Trinity, as the Agent working in the hearts of men, without whom neither forgiveness nor holiness is possible.
Neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. World, i.e.., on or age; the present one before the final coming of Christ, the future one dating from that event, and lasting forever. The Jewish nation divided the two by the first coming of the Messiah. The meaning is: shall NEVER be forgiven. Views of this sin: 1. A particular sin, that of deliberately, persistently, and maliciously, in the presence of proper evidence, attributing the works of Christ (whether of physical healing or spiritual deliverance) to diabolical agency, instead of acknowledging the Holy Spirit as the Agent. (Comp. Mar 3:20-35.) The accusation of the Pharisees, in this instance, may have been such a sin. It is very different from ordinary and usual opposition to God and Christ, and also from grieving or resisting the Holy Ghost It cannot be a mere denial of the Divinity of Christ. Those who fear that they have committed the unpardonable sin, give good evidence that they have not done so. 2. A state of determined, wilful opposition, in the presence of light, to the power of the Holy Spirit, virtually a moral suicide, a killing of the conscience, so that the human spirit is absolutely insusceptible to the influences of the Holy Spirit. Mat 12:33-35 favor this view, as also the correct reading in Mar 3:29 : guilty of eternal sin. The outward manifestation of such a state will be the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost It is uncertain whether such a state is possible in this world, and we should beware of imputing it to any, but the impossibility of forgiveness is quite evident. The inference from this view is, that all sin must either be repented of and forgiven, or culminate (here and hereafter) in the unpardoned and unpardonable state. 3. Many evangelical German expositors think that the clause contains a hint of forgiveness in another world, i.e., that all sins will be forgiven, except those which terminate in this sin here or hereafter. This avoids a difficulty in regard to the future state of those to whom Christ has not been offered (infants, heathen, etc.), but neither this passage, nor the other difficult ones (1Pe 3:19; Mat 4:6), gives sufficient ground for announcing it as taught in the word of God. It is at best only an inference based on a doubtful interpretation of the first clause of Mat 12:31, and the last clause of Mat 12:32. The Scriptures are wisely silent on the whole question.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 12:32. Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man In any other respect, it shall be forgiven him Upon his true repentance: But whosoever speaketh, namely, in this manner, against the Holy Ghost and most unreasonably ascribes his extraordinary and beneficent operations to the grand enemy of God and man, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come The original words, , , may be rendered, neither in this age, or dispensation, (namely, the Jewish,) nor in the age, or dispensation, to come, namely, the Christian. Thus the clause is understood by Macknight, who considers it as importing, that no expiation was provided for the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, either under the Jewish or Christian dispensations. But it seems rather to have been a mere proverbial expression among the Jews, for a thing that would never be done. Accordingly, in the parallel passage in Mark, we read, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of, or rather, is liable to, eternal damnation. It is well known, that the Papists argue from this passage, for the remission of some sins in purgatory, after this life is ended, which are not remitted by God here. But the Scripture, says Whitby, knows only two times for the remission of sins: one here upon earth, Mar 9:6, to the penitent and believing; and the other at the day of judgment, when the great Judge shall pronounce the sentence of absolution to all his faithful servants; Christ, therefore, here signifies, that this blasphemy shall neither obtain forgiveness now, nor at the great day of final accounts: that is, shall never be forgiven. It may be proper to observe here, that as no one call be pardoned for any sins but through Christ, and in consequence of faith in him, as the Son of God and Saviour of the world; and as none can believe in him as such that supposes he wrought his miracles by the aid of the devil; and as his miracles, united with his holy life, were the chief proofs of his divine mission; therefore, those who attributed them to Satan, were of course thereby precluded from believing on him, and of consequence from obtaining pardon. Mr. Baxters paraphrase on the passage is to nearly the same purpose thus: All other sin and blasphemy against me, as I appear in my human nature, hath some excuse, and may be cured, and so pardoned: but seeing the great works of the Holy Ghost done by me, and to be done by my disciples, in miracles and sanctification, are the greatest evidences that God will give the world to convince them of the truth of my gospel; he that is convinced of the fact, that all these miracles and this holiness is wrought, and yet will deny it to be Gods attestation, and blasphemously insist that it is the work of the devil; this man rejects the greatest evidences, and shall have no greater, and so his infidelity is incurable, and aggravated with blasphemy and obstinacy, and will never be repented of, nor forgiven.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 32
Against the Son of man; against Jesus, considered as the Son of man. Such were the circumstances of his lowly birth and humble condition, that the ordinary worldliness and sin of the human heart might be sufficient to blind men to his claims; and consequently, the rejection of them, at that time, was not an unpardonable sin. But maledictions against the Holy Ghost, that is, against the divine power by which these miracles were performed, (Matthew 12:28,) implied an altogether extraordinary guilt. It was a direct, deliberate, and wilful opposition to the counsels and authority of God.–Neither in this world nor in that which is to come; a phrase plainly intended to express, in the strongest possible manner, the idea of eternal and hopeless ruin.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: {6} but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.
(6) Of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.