Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 20:30
And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, [thou] son of David.
Verse 30. Two blind men] Mr 10:46, and Lu 18:35, mention only one blind man, Bartimeus. Probably he was mentioned by the other evangelists, as being a person well known before and after his cure. Blindness of heart is a disorder of which, men seldom complain, or from which they desire to be delivered; and it is one property of this blindness, to keep the person from perceiving it, and to persuade him that his sight is good.
Sitting by the way side] In the likeliest place to receive alms, because of the multitudes going and coming between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Cried out] In the midst of judgments God remembers mercy. Though God had deprived them, for wise reasons, of their eyes, he left them the use of their speech. It is never so ill with us, but it might be much worse: let us, therefore, be submissive and thankful.
Have mercy on us] Hearing that Jesus passed by, and not knowing whether they should ever again have so good an opportunity of addressing him, they are determined to call, and call earnestly. They ask for mercy, conscious that they deserve nothing, and they ask with faith-Son of David, acknowledging him as the promised Messiah.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And behold, two blind men,…. Mark and Luke make mention but of one; which is no contradiction to Matthew; for they neither of them say that there was but one. A greater difficulty occurs in Luke’s account; for whereas Matthew and Mark both agree, that it was when Jesus came out of Jericho, that this cure was wrought, Luke says it was “when he came nigh unto it”; which some reconcile by observing, that that phrase may be rendered, “while he was near Jericho”; and so only signifies his distance from it, and not motion to it; but this will not solve the difficulty, because we after read of his entrance into it, and passing through it. Some therefore have thought, that Christ met with, and cured one blind man before he entered the city, and another when he came out of it and that Matthew has put the history of both together: but to me it seems, that there were three blind men cured; one before he went into Jericho, which Luke only relates, and two as he came out of Jericho, which Matthew here speaks of; and one of which, according to Mark, was by name Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus; for so Bartimaeus signifies. Tima, or Timaeus, was a name in use among the Jews: we often read of R. Judah , Ben Tima k, the son of Tima, or Timaeus. Origen l thinks, he had his name from the Greek word , which signifies “honour”; and so , “Time”, with the Jews, is used for honour and profit m. This man’s father might have been a very honourable and useful man, though the son was fallen into poverty and distress, through blindness; for which reason he may be mentioned, as being a person well known to the Jews.
Sitting by the wayside; Mark says, “begging”, where such were wont to sit, in order to ask alms of persons, as they passed by;
when they heard that Jesus passed by; who, upon perceiving that there was an unusual concourse of people, might ask the reason of it, when it was told them that Jesus of Nazareth was coming that way: or, without asking, they might hear the people speak of him; and inasmuch as they had heard many things concerning him, and the miracles he wrought, applied to him for help, and
cried out, saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David: in which may be observed the titles of honour they give him, which declare their faith in him; calling him Lord, expressing their sense of his deity, dominion, and power; and “Son of David”, thereby owning and professing him to be the Messiah, that being a common name of him, well known among the Jews; [See comments on Mt 1:1], the petition they make is, that he would “have mercy on them”, who, through blindness, were in a poor, helpless, and miserable condition; and this was made with great vehemency: they “cried” out aloud, that he might hear them, and take pity on them; being eagerly desirous of having their sight, and firmly believing that he was able to restore it to them.
k T. Hieros. Nazir, fol. 52. 1. Erubin, fol. 19. 4. T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 84. 1. Bava Metzig, fol. 94. 1. Massech. Semachot, c. 9. Juchasin, fol. 159. 2. l Comment. in Matt. vol. 1. p. 428. Ed. Huet. m Targum in Esth. iii. 8. & v. 13. T. Hicros. Peah, fol. 15. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That Jesus was passing by ( ). These men “were sitting by the wayside” ( ) at their regular stand. They heard the crowd yelling that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by (, present indicative of direct discourse retained in the indirect). It was their one opportunity, now or never. They had heard of what he had done for other blind men. They hail him as “the son of David” (the Messiah). It is just one of many such incidents when Jesus stood still and opened their eyes, so many that even the multitude was impatient with the cries of these poor men that their eyes be opened (, second aorist passive subjunctive).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
That Jesus passed by [ ] . The oti is equivalent to quotation marks. They heard the crowd cry Jesus is passing!
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
30. Have mercy on me, O Lord. I stated, a little ago, that there was at first but one who cried out, but the other was induced by a similar necessity to join him. They confer on Christ no ordinary honor, when they request him to have mercy, and relieve them; for they must have been convinced that he had in his power the assistance or remedy which they needed. But their faith is still more clearly exhibited by their acknowledgment of him as Messiah, to whom we know that the Jews gave this designation, Son of David They therefore apply to Christ, not only as some Prophet, but as that person whom God had promised to be the only Author of salvation. The cry proved the ardor of the desire; for, though they knew that what they said exposed them to the hatred of many, who were highly displeased with the honor done to Christ, their fear was overcome by the ardor of desire, so that they did not refrain, on this account, from raising their voice aloud.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(30) Behold, two blind men sitting.Two difficulties present themselves on comparing this narrative with the accounts of the same or a similar event in St. Mark and St. Luke. (1.) The former agrees with St. Matthew as to time and place, but speaks of one blind man only, and gives his name as Bartimseus, the son of Timaeus. (2.) The latter speaks of one only, and fixes the time of the miracle at our Lords entry into Jericho. The probable explanation of (1) is, that of the two men, the one whom St. Mark names was the more conspicuous and better known, and of (2), that St. Luke, visiting the scene and having the spot pointed out to him outside the gates of the city, was left to conjecture, or was misinformed, as to the work having been done when our Lord drew nigh unto it. The fact that St. Luke alone records the incident connected with Zacchus (Luk. 19:1-10) indicates either that he had been on the spot as an inquirer, or had sought for local sources of information. The assumption that he recorded a different miracle from St. Matthew and St. Mark is possible, but hardly probable, and certainly needless, except on a very rigid and a priori theory of inspiration. It is possible, again, that St. Lukes local inquiries may have made his narrative more accurate than the recollection on which St. Matthews and St. Marks rested.
O Lord, thou son of David.The blind men probably echoed the whispered murmurs of the crowd that was sweeping by, or, in any case, used (as did the woman of Canaan, Mat. 15:22) the most popular and widely diffused of the names of the Messiah. They were beggars, and they appealed to the pity of the King.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. Behold, two blind men Mark mentions but one, and tells us his name. He was Bartimeus; and the very fact that he so names him seems to indicate that he was a well-known person at the time. As his was the case of special interest, whose cure Mark wishes to narrate, so he omits to state that another man was healed at the same time. It is very possible that Mark was not informed of that fact. Inspiration does not imply omniscience. One inspired writer may be more fully informed than another. Both may be perfectly true, so far as they go. But the naturalness of the picture of the two blind men, sitting by the road side, leaves but little doubt that Matthew, who was a disciple, (as Mark was not,) wrote as an eye-witness of the miracle. Heard Of course they could only learn the fact from hearing and not from sight. That Jesus passed by The “prophet of Galilee,” the raiser of Lazarus from the dead, the teacher and miracle worker of Perea, is not unknown by fame to these poor men. To the sufferers throughout the land that name would have a special interest. Its report would have a rapid circulation among the sons and daughters of affliction. They would somehow know more about him, and have more inclination for faith in him, than anybody else. Son of David Modern commentators have much difficulty with the genealogy of our Saviour in the first chapter of Matthew, by which he is shown to be the son of David; but these two blind men have not. They confess his pedigree. They believe that the true descendant of the ancient king of Israel is now approaching, and that he is the promised one for whom Israel is looking.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David.” ’
There would be many blind men begging outside Jericho, and these were but two of them, for this was a favourite spot for beggars at Passover time. One of these blind men mentioned here may well have been the one mentioned by Mark. But it should cause no surprise that there was more than one, for even beggars get lonely, and Matthew’s constant indication of companions for needy people whom they met (which would be perfectly natural) suggests an eyewitness, and possibly one with a deep awareness of what it meant to be left to oneself. Jericho at Passover time, being on the Jerusalem Road for those who came from Peraea, would be a prime begging site, and those who were begging there would tend to seek companionship.
Luke describes the healing of a blind man in similar circumstances prior to reaching Jericho. This may have been because there were in fact two Jerichos, old Jericho and new Jericho, and he was thinking of the modern one. Leaving behind the old Jericho would be especially significant to Matthew, for it was from Jericho that the conquest fanned out after the Exodus. Or alternately it may have been a different blind man, for with the beggars gathered on the Jericho Road there would no doubt be many healings that day. Jesus never refused any who called on Him.
‘They heard that Jesus was passing by.’ No doubt they had become aware of the huge cavalcade and had asked what was causing it. They had probably long hoped that they would come across Jesus. And now that time had come! So they cried out persistently, as those who would not be denied, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David.” ’ It was a deferential request, probably made to someone whom they knew was descended from Solomon, the son of David. Solomon was famed for his cures, and rumour had it that this prophet had some of his powers (compare how the title Son of David is regularly used in connection with the demon possessed and the blind – Mat 9:27; Mat 12:23; Mat 15:22 and here). It was probably this rather than its Messianic significance that they mainly had in mind (as with the Canaanite woman). Son of David was, however, also a Messianic title and is found as such in the Psalms of Solomon. Thus their thoughts may have included both, for Passover was the week when the title of the coming Son of David was one everyone’s lips, and Matthew almost certainly sees it as preparing for His welcome into Jerusalem. That is why he reminds us that the words were repeated more than once.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 20:30. And behold, two blind men St. Mark and St. Luke speak only of one blind man who was cured near Jericho. St. Augustin is of opinion, that one of these was more remarkable than the other, being the son of Timeus, who seems to have been a person of some distinction; and that, having fallen into poverty and blindness, he was forced to beg for his bread. He thinks this a good reason for his being mentioned particularly by one of the Evangelists. It may be added, that he might himselfbe remarkable by the extraordinary earnestness with which he cried. See Aug. de Consen. Evang. lib. 2.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
Ver. 30. When they heard that Jesus passed by ] Happy it was for them that, though blind, yet they were not deaf. For as death came in by the ear, so doth life. “Hear, and your soul shall live,” Isa 55:3 ; a heavy ear is a singular judgment, Isa 6:11 ; a hearing ear a special favour, Pro 20:12 . When God struck Zacharias,Luk 1:22Luk 1:22 , he made him dumb, but not deaf. When God struck Saul, he made him blind but not deaf. When God struck Mephibosheth, he made him lame, but not deaf. There is a deaf devil, Mar 9:25 , and a deaf adder, Psa 58:4 , and a deaf man, that yet want for no ears, Isa 43:8 . But “he that heareth instruction is in the way of life,” saith Solomon. These two blind beggars had heard of Christ by the hearing of the ear, but that satisfied them not, unless their eyes also might see him, Job 42:5 . They waylay therefore the Lord of light, who gives them upon their suit, both sight and light, irradiates both organ and object, cures them of their both outward and inward blindness at once.
Thou Son of David ] They knew and acknowledged Christ to be the true Messiah. Few such knowing blind beggars today. They are commonly more blind in mind than body, loose and lawless vagrants; such as are neither of any church nor commonwealth; but as the baser sort of people in Swethland, who do always break the sabbath, saying, that it is only for gentlemen to sanctify it; or rather as the poor Brazilians, who are said to be sine rege, lege, fide, without any government, law, or religion.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30, 31. ] The multitude appear to have silenced them, lest they should be wearisome and annoying to our Lord; not because they called Him the Son of David, for the multitudes could have no reason for repressing this cry, seeing that they themselves (being probably for the most part the same persons who entered Jerusalem with Jesus) raised it very soon after: see ch. Mat 21:9 . I have before noticed (on ch. Mat 9:27 ) the singular occurrence of these words, ‘Son of David,’ in the three narratives of healing the blind in this Gospel.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 20:30 . , etc. Luke explains that the blind man learnt that Jesus was passing in answer to inquiry suggested by the noise of a crowd. He knew who Jesus was: the fame of Jesus the Nazarene (Mk. and Lk.), the great Healer, had reached his ear. .: popular Messianic title (Mat 9:27 , Mat 15:22 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
two blind men. There are no “discrepancies” between this account and those of Mar 10:46 and Luk 18:35. They describe three miracles on four blind men: one on approaching Jericho; one on leaving; two after He had left. See App-152.
Sitting. Not “begging”, as in Luk 18:35.
by = beside. Greek. para. App-104. The others were at each gate.
passed by = is passing by.
mercy = pity.
Lord. App-98.
Son of David. Therefore Israelites, having a claim on Him as such. The fifth of nine occurrences of this title in Matthew. See note on Mat 1:1, and App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
30, 31.] The multitude appear to have silenced them, lest they should be wearisome and annoying to our Lord; not because they called Him the Son of David,-for the multitudes could have no reason for repressing this cry, seeing that they themselves (being probably for the most part the same persons who entered Jerusalem with Jesus) raised it very soon after: see ch. Mat 21:9. I have before noticed (on ch. Mat 9:27) the singular occurrence of these words, Son of David, in the three narratives of healing the blind in this Gospel.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 20:30. , two) St Mark (Mar 10:46) mentions only one, Bartimaeus, the most distinguished[897] as St Matthew in the next chapter mentions both the ass and the colt, St Mark only the colt which was actually employed by our Lord; as St Luke (Luk 24:4) the two angels who appeared, St Matthew and St Mark, the one who spoke.
[897] The same one is meant also in Luk 18:35, that Evangelist having had occasion to transpose the order of the narration, owing to the fact that one of the two blind men made acquaintance with the Divine Physician on the way, when Jesus was entering Jericho. In the meantime, whilst the Saviour was dining or rather passing the night with Zaccheus, the other of the two blind men, whom Matthew adds to the former one, joined Bartimaeus.-Harm., pp. 434, 435.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
two blind men
A discrepancy has been imagined between this account and those in Mar 10:46; Luk 18:35. Matthew and Mark obviously refer to a work of healing as Jesus departed from Jericho. Bartimaeus, the active one of the two, the one who cried, “Jesus, thou Son of David,” is specifically mentioned by Mark. Of the other one of the “two,” we know nothing. The healing described by Luk 18:35 occurred before Jesus entered Jericho. As to the form of appeal, “Son of David” (cf); Mat 9:27; Mat 15:22; Mat 21:9. Jesus must have been so addressed constantly. The narratives therefore supplement, but in no way contradict each other.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
two: Mat 9:27-31, Mat 12:22, Mat 21:14, Psa 146:8, Isa 29:18, Isa 35:5, Isa 35:6, Isa 42:16, Isa 42:18, Isa 59:10, Isa 61:1, Isa 61:2, Mar 10:46, Luk 4:18, Luk 7:21, Joh 9:1-12
Have: Mat 12:23, Mat 15:22, Mat 21:9, Mat 22:42, Act 2:30, Rom 1:3, Rom 1:4
Reciprocal: Mar 10:47 – thou Luk 17:13 – have Luk 18:35 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:30
For the significance of .on of David see comments at Mat 15:22.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 20:30. Two blind men. Mark and Luke mention but one (blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus), probably a well-known person, and hence especially mentioned.
Lord, have mercy on us, thou Son of David, the better supported order.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Probably the blind men were begging (cf. Mar 10:46). Mark mentioned just one beggar, probably the more prominent of the two. Matthew may have mentioned both to provide two witnesses for his original Jewish readers. They cried out to Jesus for help appealing to Him as the Son of David for mercy (cf. Mat 9:27; Mat 21:9). This title expressed their belief that Jesus was the Messiah. [Note: Morison, p. 365.] They wanted Jesus to heal them (Mat 20:33).