Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 19:11
But he said unto them, All [men] cannot receive this saying, save [they] to whom it is given.
11. this saying ] viz. that it is not good to marry.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All men cannot receive this saying – The minds of people are not prepared for this. This saying evidently means what the disciples had just said that it was good for a man not to marry. It might be good in certain circumstances – in times of persecution and trial, or for the sake of laboring in the cause of religion without the care and burden of a family. It might be good for many to live, as some of the apostles did, without marriage, but it was not given to all people, 1Co 7:1, 1Co 7:7,1Co 7:9. To be married, or unmarried, might be lawful, according to circumstances, 1Co 7:26.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. All – cannot receive this saying] A very wise answer, and well suited to the present circumstances of the disciples. Neither of the states is condemned. If thou marry, thou dost well-this is according to the order, will, and commandment of God. But if thou do not marry, (because of the present necessity, persecution, worldly embarrassments, or bodily infirmity,) thou dost better. See 1Co 7:25.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Saviour, knowing the sinful custom and practice of the Jewish nation now for many years, and giving some allowance for that, and his disciples infirmities; so he doth not answer them severely, as what they said might deserve, but reproves them gently. What he saith amounts to thus much: You do not consider what you say.
All men, without sinning against God, cannot abstain from marriage. An ability to live chastely without the use of marriage is a peculiar gift of God, and your saying hath no place in persons to whom God hath not given that gift, for it is better to marry than to burn. There are some whom God by nature hath made unfit for marriage. There are others whom men (wickedly) make unfit for it, that they may gratify their own jealousy. (Thus several courtiers were made eunuchs, and so entrusted with the care of princes wives and concubines). And there are some who have made themselves eunuchs, not castrating themselves, (that is wickedness), but abstaining from marriage, and yet living chastely, (having mortified their lusts, and brought under their body), that they might be less encumbered with the cares of the world, and be more free for the work of the ministry, or be able more to give up themselves to a holy life and spiritual conversation. But God, who by his ordinance of marriage designed to people and continue the world, hath given to persons different tempers and constitutions; so as possibly the most of men and women cannot without making use of marriage govern their lusts. As to these, marriage is not a matter of choice and deliberation, and they may and ought to use it as an appointment of God, for the ends for which he hath instituted it. If there be any who can receive this saying, who can without marriage bridle his lust, and so live in a solute and single state as not to sin against God by any extravagance of lusts, and impure desires and affections, and desire, and shall do so, that he may be more spiritual, and serve God with less distraction, and be a more fit instrument to promote the kingdom of God in the world, let him do it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. But he said unto them, All mencannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is giventhatis, “That the unmarried state is better, is a saying not foreveryone, and indeed only for such as it is divinely intended for.”But who are these? they would naturally ask; and this our Lordproceeds to tell them in three particulars.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But he said unto them,…. With respect to the inference or conclusion, the disciples formed from what he had asserted:
all men cannot receive this saying; of their’s, that it is not good to marry, but it is more proper and expedient to live a single life! every man, as the Syriac version renders it, is not , “sufficient”, or “fit”, for this thing; everyone has not the gift of continency, and indeed very few; and therefore it is expedient for such to marry; for what the disciples said, though it might be true in part, yet not in the whole; and though the saying might be proper and pertinent enough to some persons, yet not to all, and indeed to none,
save they to whom it is given; to receive such a saying, to live unmarried with content, having the gift of chastity; for this is not of nature, but of grace: it is the gift of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But they to whom it is given (‘ ). A neat Greek idiom, dative case of relation and perfect passive indicative. The same idea is repeated at the close of verse 12. It is a voluntary renunciation of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. “Jesus recognizes the severity of the demand as going beyond the capacity of all but a select number.” It was a direct appeal to the spiritual intelligence of the disciples not to misconceive his meaning as certainly the monastic orders have done.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
11. All are not capable of receiving this saying. By this he means, that the choice is not placed in our hands, as if we were to deliberate on a matter submitted to us. If any man thinks it advantageous for him to want a wife, and, without making any inquiry, lays upon himself an obligation to celibacy, (606) he is widely mistaken. God, who has declared it to be good that a man should have a woman to be his helper, will punish the contempt of his own appointment; for mortals take too much on themselves, when they endeavor to exempt themselves from the heavenly calling. But Christ proves that it is not free to all to make what choice they please, because the gift of continence is a special gift; for when he says that all are not capable of receiving it, but those to whom it is given, he plainly shows that it was not given to all. And this reproves the pride of those who do not hesitate to claim for themselves what Christ so manifestly refuses to them.
(606) “ S’il s’astreigne a n’estre point marie;” — “if he bind himself not to be married.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) All men cannot receive this saying.As the words stand, this saying might refer either to the rule which our Lord had laid down on the subject of divorce, or to the comment of the disciples on that rule. What follows, however, determines the reference to the latter. Looking at marriage from a simply selfish point of view, and therefore with an entirely inadequate estimate of its duties on the one hand, and on the other of the temptations incident to the unmarried life when chosen on such grounds, they had come rashly to the conclusion that, if our Lords rule held good, it was not good, not expedient, to marry. He declares that judgment to be false. There were but few who were capable of acting safely on that conclusion. For those who were not so capable, and the next verse tells us who they were, marriage, with all its risks, was the truer, healthier, safer state. Alike in its brighter or sadder sides, in seeming success or seeming failure, it brought to men the discipline they needed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Receive this saying Namely, the saying that it is not good to marry under so strict a law. The marriage law is both a divine and a natural institute. It was founded by God at the creation, and it is secured by the very elements of man’s nature. If there be any exception to the universality of the matrimonial necessity and duty, it is with a rare few. Given Given by natural constitution, by misfortune, or by specially divine duty and qualification.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.” ’
Jesus replied, “Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.” There has been much dispute as to whether ‘this saying’ refers to the disciples’ saying in Mat 19:10, “if the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry,” or whether it refers to Jesus’ earlier sayings about the permanence of marriage on the basis of the creation ordinance.
It would not, however be in accordance with Jesus normal method to compromise on straight teaching and He never elsewhere suggests that the clear teaching of Scripture need not be followed. Indeed He stresses that it must be followed, and in Mat 5:18 He speaks with disapproval of those who compromise on the teaching of the Law. Had He said not all ‘will receive it’ that might have been possible in line with Mat 5:18. But He would not have agreed that they were ‘unable to receive it’. So there can really be no doubt that He would have seen all who heard Him as able to receive His teaching, especially as it was taken directly from Scripture. Furthermore on the basis of His reason for teaching in parables He would not have taught it openly if He had thought that they were unable to receive it.
On the other hand, as Matthew’s intention in citing these words is in order to lead in to what follows that would seem to solve the problem, for the application of these words must surely be determined on the basis of the ensuing argument, simply because it was these words that led into that argument. Thus on that basis ‘this saying’ must be referring to the expediency or otherwise of not marrying. The idea is that Jesus will now point out that rather than what the disciples have said being a clinching argument against what He has stated, (His silence as to the matter indicating that it was nothing of the kind as subsequent generations of disciples would demonstrate), it does rather certainly hold within it a certain degree of truth, and that is that marriage is not always expedient, and that it is no longer to be seen as the be all and end all of life (indeed one day it will disappear – Mat 22:30). This is the new truth that has been ‘given to them’ (compare Mat 13:11), as demonstrated by what they have said. For the idea that a man did not need to marry, and that not doing so might be expedient for him, was almost as revolutionary an idea as the previous one.
For to most Jews marriage was seen as a God-given duty as well as a privilege. Thus Jesus was taking the one case introduced by the Pharisees, the permanence or otherwise of marriage, and possibly their argument against it, which they considered clinching because marriage was the duty of all men, and demonstrating that it did indeed justify some men in not marrying, and that the disciples had therefore rightly gathered from it a truth given to them by God. He is saying that they are right in suggesting that sometimes, contrary to popular thought, it is not expedient to marry, and that that is therefore a truth that has been ‘given’ to them (it is as important as that!). And He then give three examples where it would not be expedient, one brought about by nature (or by ‘Heaven’), one brought about by men, and one brought about by the requirements of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.
Note Jesus’ stress on the fact that all men cannot receive this saying, but only those to whom it is ‘given’, that is, those under the Kingly Rule of Heaven. The Pharisees and the Jews in general thought that such a statement was self-evidently wrong. Thus the fact that His disciples now see it as a possibility indicates that God has ‘given’ them understanding as to its truth. He is pointing out to His disciples that while for many celibacy is not an option (Paul put it this way, ‘it is better to marry than to burn with unrelieved desires’ – 1Co 7:9), for others it is actually a requirement for the sake of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. It had been true for John the Baptist. It was true for Him. In the future it would be true for many. A man who marries does not fall short of the glory of God (1Co 7:28; 1Co 7:36 with Rom 3:23), but neither does a man who does not marry (this was the new idea). It is simply that the former will have extra cares loaded on him which may hinder his service for God. On the other hand men must remember that not to marry might result in thoughts and behaviour that rendered their service to God void. Many who have embraced celibacy have sinned grievously against God and men, and have brought disgrace on the name of Christ. And even worse sometimes there are those who cover up their sins and allow them to continue for the sake of appearances, which makes them guilty of all their sins and more. Thus while each must choose to marry or not to marry according to what God reveals to him as his duty, and either is an open option, everything needs to be taken into consideration. Better the ‘burdens’ brought about through marriage, than sinful failure caused by not being married. Each must therefore decide before God what he can cope with.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 19:11-12 . The disciples have just said: . But to this saying must be referred, not to the statement concerning the indissoluble nature of marriage , as though Jesus meant to say that this was to be insisted on only in the case of those who had been endowed with the donum continentiae (Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 2, p. 410 f.); which would be to contradict His argument in favour of non-dissolution taken from the objective nature of marriage, no less than His absolute declaration in Mat 5:32 , as well as to render nugatory, for all practical purposes, the primitive moral law of non-dissolution, by making it dependent on a subjective condition. Besides, the illustration of the eunuchs is only applicable to continence generally , not to a mere abstaining from the sin of adultery . No. Jesus wishes to furnish His disciples with the necessary explanation regarding their , and for this end He by no means questions their , but simply observes that: it is a proposition which all do not accept, i.e . which all cannot see their way to adopt as a maxim, but only such as God has endowed with special moral capabilities . Then, in Mat 19:12 , He explains who are meant by the , namely, such as have become eunuchs ; by these, however, He does not understand literal eunuchs, whether born such or made such by men, but those who, for the sake of the Messiah’s kingdom, have made themselves such so far as their moral dispositions are concerned, i.e . who have suppressed all sexual desire as effectually as though they were actual eunuchs, in order that they might devote themselves entirely to the (approaching) Messianic kingdom as their highest interest and aim (to labour in promoting it, comp. 1Co 7:32 ; 1Co 7:34 ). Finally, He further recommends this ethical self-castration, this “voluntary chastity” (Luther), when He exclaims: Whosoever is able to accept (to adopt) it (that which I have just stated), let him accept it! Chrysostom well observes: He says this, , . Comp. 1Co 7:1 f. The , Mat 19:11 f., means simply to receive , and to be understood as referring to a spiritual reception, a receiving in the heart (2Co 7:2 ); and those endowed with the power so to receive it have, in consequence of such endowment, not only the inclination to be continent, but at the same time the moral force of will necessary to give effect to it, while those who are not so endowed “aut nolunt, aut non implent quod volunt,” Augustine. The more common interpretation, praestare posse (“negat autem Jesus, te, nisi divinitus concessis viribus tam insigni abstinentiae, qua a matrimonio abhorreas, parem esse,” Fritzsche), might be traced to the rendering capere , but it is precluded by the fact that the object of the verb is a ( a saying ). Others take it in the sense of: to understand , with reference, therefore, to the power of apprehension on the part of the intellect (Maldonatus, Calovius, Strauss, Bretschneider, Baumgarten-Crusius, Ewald; similarly Bengel, de Wette, Bleek, who, however, arbitrarily take . . as pointing forward to Mat 19:12 ). So Plut. Cat. min. 64; Ael. V. H . iii. 9; Phocyl. 86: ; Philo, de mundo Matthew 1151: . But the difficulty with respect to what the disciples have said, and what Jesus says in Mat 19:12 , is not connected with the apprehension of its meaning, but with its ethical appropriation, which, moreover, Jesus does not absolutely demand , but leaves it, as is also done by Paul, 1 Corinthians 7., to each man’s ability , and that according as he happens to be endowed with the gift of continence as a donum singulare . Consequently, the celibate of the clerical order , as such, acts in direct opposition to this utterance of the Master, especially as the cannot be acted on by any one with the certainty of its lasting . Comp. Apol. Conf. A ., p. 240 f.: “non placet Christo immunda continentia .” As showing how voluntary celibacy was by no means universal, and was exceptional even among the apostles themselves, see 1Co 9:5 .
The metaphorical use of to denote entire absence from sexual indulgence, likewise occurs in Sohar Ex . f. 37, c. 135; Levit . f. 34, c. 136 b; Schoettgen, p. 159.
It is well known that from a misunderstanding of the meaning of this passage Origen was led to castrate himself. On the correctness of this tradition (in answer to Schnitzer and Bauer), see Engelhardt in the Stud. u. Krit . 1838, p. 157; Redepenning, Origenes , I. p. 444 ff.
That Jesus was not here contemplating any Essenian abstinence (Strauss, Gfrrer, Philo , II. p. 310 f., Hilgenfeld), is already manifest from the high estimate in which marriage is always held by Him, and from His regard for children. The celibacy which a certain class of Essenes observed was founded on the fact that they regarded marriage as impure .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
Ver. 11. All men cannot receive this saying ] Nor may we simply pray for the gift of continence, but with submission, since it is not simply necessary to salvation, but only of expedience: inasmuch as he that can keep himself unmarried, hath little else to care for but how he may please the Lord, and attend upon his work without distraction, sitting close at it (as the Greek word signifies) and not taken off by other business. a An instance whereof was clearly to be seen in George Prince of Anhault, whose family is said to have been ecclesia, academia, curia, a church, a university, and a court; whose sanctity and chastity in the single estate to his dying day was such, that Melancthon publicly delivered it of him, that he was the man, that of any then alive, might most certainly expect the promised reward of eternal life. b But this is not every man’s happiness; and where it is, the pride of virginity is no less foul a sin than impurity, saith Augustine. And Paphnutius, a single man, and a confessor in the primitive Church, said that the marriage bed undefiled was true chastity. c Those Popish votaries, that boasted so much of the gift of continence in themselves, and exacted it of others, have (for a punishment of their arrogance and violence) been often given up to notorious filthiness, as the Cardinal of Cremona, after his stout replying in the Council of London against priests’ marriage, was shamefully taken, the night following, with a notable whore. Lanfrancus, Archbishop of Canterbury, a great enemy to priests’ marriage, for all his gay show of monkish virginity and single life, had a son called Paulus Monachus Cadoneusis, whom he so gladly preferred to be Abbot of St Alban’s. Dr Weston (Prolocutor in the Disputation at Oxford against Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, who also passed sentence upon them, inveighing against Cranmer, for that he had been sometime a married man), was not long after taken in adultery, and for the same was by Cardinal Pole put from his spiritual livings.
Save they to whom it is given ] Maldonatus the Jesuit saith, it is given to any one that is but willing to have it, and asketh it of God; and that, because marriage is given to all that are willing to it. But this Isa 1:1-31 . False, for our Saviour excepts eunuchs. 2. Inconsequent, because the gift of marriage proceeds from a principle of nature, but continence from a special indulgence, 1Co 7:7 ; which they that have not are required to marry for a remedy. And yet Papists most injuriously forbid some to marry at any time, as their clergy, all at some times; and that, not as a precept of convenience, but necessity and holiness.
a 1Co 7:35 . , .
b Ex Bucholcero Melancthonis auditore hoc habeo. Scultet.
c Congressum cum legitima uxore castitatem esse dicebat. Hist. lib. i. cap. 11.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11, 12. ] , this saying of yours , viz. . The in Mat 19:12 shews that the sense is carried on: see ch. Mat 1:18 .
Our Lord mentions the three exceptions , the . 1. Those who from natural incapacity, or if not that, inaptitude, have no tendencies towards marriage: 2. Those who by actual physical deprivation, or compulsion from men, are prevented from marrying: 3. Those who in order to do the work of God more effectually (as e.g. Paul), abstain from marriage, see 1Co 7:26 . The and in the two first cases are to be taken both literally and figuratively in the latter, figuratively only. It is to be observed that our Lord does not here utter a word from which any superiority can be attributed to the state of celibacy: the imperative in the last clause being not a command but a permission, as in Rev 22:17 . His estimate for us of the expediency of celibacy, as a general question, is to be gathered from the parable of the talents, where He visits with severe blame the burying of the talent for its safer custody. The remark is Neander’s, and the more valuable, as he himself lived and died unmarried. See his Leben Jesu, edn. 4, p. 584.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 19:11 . . Jesus catches up the remark of the disciples, and attaches to it a deeper sense than they thought of. Their idea was that marriage was not worth having if a man must put up with all the faults and caprices of a woman, without possibility of escape, except by gross misconduct. He thinks of the celibate state as in certain cases desirable or preferable, irrespective of the drawbacks of married life, and taking it even at the best. thus will mean: what you have said, the suggestion that the unmarried condition is preferable. = capere , receive, intellectually and morally, for in such a case the two are inseparable. No man can understand as a matter of theory the preferableness of celibacy under certain circumstances, unless he be capable morally of appreciating the force of the circumstances. : this phrase points chiefly to the moral capacity. It is not a question of intelligence, nor of a merely natural power of continence, but of attaining to such a spiritual state that the reasons for remaining free from married ties shall prevail over all forces urging on to marriage. Jesus lifts the whole subject up out of the low region of mere personal taste, pleasure, or convenience, into the high region of the Kingdom of God and its claims.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
All men cannot = not (as in Mat 19:4) all men can.
is = has been.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11, 12.] , this saying of yours, viz. . The in Mat 19:12 shews that the sense is carried on: see ch. Mat 1:18.
Our Lord mentions the three exceptions, the . 1. Those who from natural incapacity, or if not that, inaptitude, have no tendencies towards marriage: 2. Those who by actual physical deprivation, or compulsion from men, are prevented from marrying: 3. Those who in order to do the work of God more effectually (as e.g. Paul), abstain from marriage, see 1Co 7:26. The and in the two first cases are to be taken both literally and figuratively in the latter, figuratively only. It is to be observed that our Lord does not here utter a word from which any superiority can be attributed to the state of celibacy: the imperative in the last clause being not a command but a permission, as in Rev 22:17. His estimate for us of the expediency of celibacy, as a general question, is to be gathered from the parable of the talents, where He visits with severe blame the burying of the talent for its safer custody. The remark is Neanders, and the more valuable, as he himself lived and died unmarried. See his Leben Jesu, edn. 4, p. 584.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 19:11. , …, But He said unto them, etc.) To that universal, but less well-founded reason for not contracting matrimony, grounded on the inconvenience which the disciples inferred must arise from its indissolubility, our Lord opposes the legitimate, particular, and only good reason, viz. the being an eunuch,-i.e. the being exempted by any exceptional cause from the universal law of contracting matrimony.- , not all) Our Lord opposes these words to the universal proposition of His disciples (sc. , i.e. it is not expedient to marry), and they are equivalent to none.-Cf. Rom 3:9, , not at all [English version, No, in no wise.] The important exception is added.- , save those to whom it is given.-, this) This pronoun refers also to what follows. Cf. the Epiphonema,[861] in Mat 19:12, sc. , …, He that is able, etc.; and , for, is added at the commencement of the same verse.[862]
[861] EPIPHONEMA is an exclamation subjoined to the narration, or demonstration of an important subject. See Gnomon on Rom 1:15 in VOC . It is a rhetorical term employed by Quinctilian. See in Append., explanation of Technical terms.-(I. B.)
[862] As in Mat 1:18, where Tischend. and Rec. Text have , etc. (Lachm. omits with BZ Vulg., Iren., etc.): the , as here, beginning the Discussion (Tractatio) which answers to the Statement of Subject (Propositio or Thesis) immediately preceding.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 7:2, 1Co 7:7, 1Co 7:9, 1Co 7:17, 1Co 7:35
Reciprocal: 1Co 7:5 – that Satan
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9:11
That was too strong a saying for more than one reason, and Jesus replied that not all men could receive or adopt this saying, meaning the words in italics in the preceding verse. Jesus meant that it would not be a good thing for men generally to adopt that rule of life, and that only certain men could safely refrain from entering the marriage relation and he proceeded to describe them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 19:11. All men cannot receive, or, not all can receive, this saying. This high ideal can be understood and put into practice only by those who get illumination and power from God. As a rule, the less Christianity, the lower the ideal of marriage, the more numerous the sins against this state.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if our Lord had said, “You my disciples do not consider what you say. All men without sinning against God cannot abstain from marriage, but those only to whom God had given the gift of continency, and grace of chastity. Some indeed by nature, or natural impotency are unfit for marriage. Others wickedly are made unfit by castration; others by religious mortification, bring under their bodies that being free from the incumbrances that attend a marriage state, they may give up themselves the better to the exercises of a holy life.”
Learn, 1. That Almighty God has given us diverse persons, different tempers, and constitutions: some can subdue their impure desires and affections without the remedy of marriage, others cannot.
2. That continency or ability to live chastely, without the use of marriage, is the special gift of God; not common to all, but bestowed only upon some. A gift it is, worthy of our fervent prayers, worthy of our best endeavours.
3. That a vow of chastity is not in our power; to quench a natural affection requires a supernatural gift. All have not received it: that is, all men cannot live single, and abstain from matrimony.
From whence it follows, That men and women are not by monastical vows to be obliged to live a single life, which some cannot perform without sin.
Note farther, When Christ says, that some have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake: the meaning is, That some have abstained from matrimony that they might be more expedite in preaching the gospel, if ministers; or more prompt, fit and ready to regard only the things of the Lord, if private Christians.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 11
Receive this saying; live in a state of celibacy.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
19:11 {3} But he said unto them, All [men] cannot {k} receive this saying, save [they] to whom it is given.
(3) The gift of celibacy is peculiar, and therefore no man can set a law to himself of perpetual celibacy.
(k) Receive and admit, as by translation we say, that a straight and narrow place is not able to receive many things.