Their eyes were holden – This expression is used merely to denote that they did not know who he was. It does not appear that there was anything supernatural or miraculous in it, or that God used any power to blind them. It may easily be accounted for without any such supposition; for,

1. Jesus appeared in another form Mar 16:12 – that is, different from his usual appearance.
2. They were not expecting to see him – indeed, they did not suppose that he was alive, and it required the strongest evidence to convince them that he was really risen from the dead.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 16. Their eyes were holden] It does not appear that there was any thing supernatural here, for the reason why these persons (who were not apostles, see Lu 24:33) did not recollect our Lord is given by Mark, Mr 16:12, who says that Christ appeared to them in another form.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

God by his providence restrained their eyes, that though they saw a man, yet they could not discern who he was. We may learn from hence that the form or figure of Christs body after his resurrection was not changed. His body had the same dimensions, the same quantity, colour, and figure, and was in itself a proper object for human eyes; for otherwise there had been no need for their eyes to be held. From hence also we may learn the influence which God hath upon all our members and senses, and how much we depend upon God for a daily power to exercise our natural faculties. Our Lord had no mind that these two disciples should at first discern who he was, that he might draw out their following discourses, and from them take occasion to prove from Scripture the certainty of his resurrection. From this text we may gather, how hard the Lutherans are put to it to maintain the real presence of the body of Christ, wherever the sacrament of the Lords supper is administered; for this they must maintain, that although the body of Christ after his resurrection was the same that was crucified, and so obvious to sense, yet he had not only a power to make it insensible and invisible, which we grant, but that he hath also a power to multiply it, and make it in one and the same instant to be in so many places as his supper is administered in; and also that he willeth it at the same time to be imperceptible by any human senses in all those places: for it is apparent from hence, that it was not at all times imperceptible; it might at this time have been seen, had not the disciples eyes been held, that they could not know him.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

But their eyes were holden, c] The Ethiopic version adds, “and were covered” and the Arabic version renders it, “now he had veiled their eyes”, ascribing it to Christ; and the Persic version renders it, “and the eyes of the disciples were shut”: to me it seems, that their eyes: were held downwards; or they kept looking upon the ground as they walked, which was a posture suitable to their melancholy spirits; and there might be a peculiar influence of divine power and providence, so disposing them, that they did not look up to Christ their new fellow traveller, who walked on with them: and this was so ordered, that they should not know him; that so they might not be surprised at once, as they would have been, had they looked at him, and discerned who he was; and that they might converse the more freely with him; and that he might convince them of their stupidity and unbelief, by proper arguments.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Were holden that they should not know him ( ). Imperfect passive of , continued being held, with the ablative case of the articular infinitive, “from recognizing him,” from knowing him fully (–, ingressive aorist of ). The is a redundant negative after the negative idea in .

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1)“But their eyes were holden,” (hoi de ophthalmoi auton ekratouta tou) “Then their eyes were held, restrained, or dimmed, blurred, Joh 20:14; Joh 21:4; 2Ki 6:18; 2Ki 6:20; Mar 16:12.

2) “That they should not know him.” (me epigonai auton) “So that they were not able to recognize him,” as Jesus, the Son of God, their Lord or Master. Even as the fishing disciples did not know Him on a later occasion, at first, Joh 21:4; 2Co 3:18. A certain change in His physical appearance had also occurred so that He was not instantly recognized, again, Mat 28:17; Mar 16:12; Joh 20:14, says he appeared In “another form.” In this instance, it could have been supernatural grief, on their part.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

16. But their eyes were restrained. The Evangelist expressly states this, lest any one should think that the aspect of Christ’s body was changed, and that the features of his countenance were different from what they had formerly been. (314) For though Christ remained like himself, he was not recognized, because the eyes of beholders were held; and this takes away all suspicion of a phantom or false imagination. But hence we learn how great is the weakness of all our senses, since neither eyes nor ears discharge their office, unless so far as power is incessantly communicated to them from heaven. Our members do indeed possess their natural properties; but to make us more fully sensible that they are held by us at the will of another, God retains in his own hand the use of them, so that we ought ever to reckon it to be one of his daily favors, that our ears hear and our eyes see; for if he does not every hour quicken our senses, all their power will immediately give way. I readily acknowledge that our senses are not frequently held in the same manner as happened at that time, so as to make so gross a mistake about an object presented to us; but by a single example God shows that it is in his power to direct the faculties which he has. bestowed, so as to assure us that nature is subject to his will. Now if the bodily eyes, to which peculiarly belongs the power of seeing, are held, whenever it pleases the Lord, so as not to perceive the objects presented to them, our understandings would possess no greater acuteness, even though their original condition remained unimpaired; but no in this wretched corruption, after having been deprived of their light, they are liable to innumerable deceptions, and are sunk into such gross stupidity, that they can do nothing but commit mistakes, as happens to us incessantly. The proper discrimination between truth and falsehood, therefore, does not arise from the sagacity of our own mind, but comes to us from the Spirit of wisdom. But it is chiefly in the contemplation of heavenly things that our stupidity is discovered; for not only do we imagine false appearances to be true, but we turn the clear light into darkness.

(314) “ Et qu’il y eut autres traits de visage qu’auparavant.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

16. Their eyes were holden Restrained. Mark says that Jesus appeared to them in another form. It is thereby a nice question, whether the change was in the form of Jesus or in the eyes of the disciples. Some say both; making a superfluous amount of miracle. If their eyes were influenced, of course, optically speaking, Jesus would appear in another form; or the change of form may have holden their eyes.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘But their eyes were held that they should not know him.’

The two, however, did not recognise Him. We should note that this was not the only occasion when there was an indication of non-recognition (see Mat 28:17; Joh 20:14; Joh 21:4). This would suggest that there was something about Him in His resurrection body that looked different so that recognition did not happen immediately. And for similar indications of a divine hand being involved in preventing understanding compare Luk 9:45; Luk 18:34. It is often argued by sceptical people that such a situation could not have happened. But there are in fact a number of factors to be taken into account here, quite apart from that of God’s ability to prevent them from recognising Him if He wanted to.

Firstly if they lived near Jerusalem then they would only see Jesus when He came up for the feasts. They would thus not know Him awfully well physically. It is one thing to see a preacher at arm’s length, it is quite another to have daily contact with him. And it is quite possible that these two had not spent much time in close proximity with Him so as to know about His special characteristics. In such cases when a well known person is out of context people very often do not recognise them, even though in context they would recognise them instantly.

Secondly, Jesus might well have been wearing different clothes from those in which they were used to seeing Him. A complete change in style of clothing can render someone a stranger for a while, even if we know them well. It would help to explain why they did not recognise Him immediately.

Thirdly, the very last person that they had been expecting to meet was Jesus. Indeed they knew that they could not possibly meet Him. So even if they saw a resemblance to Him in this man, while it might have seemed intriguing, it would not necessarily have brought recognition. They would have dismissed such an idea as impossible. This would especially be so as He gave absolutely no hint of recognising them, and spoke as though He did not know what they were talking about, which would be partly what made the non-recognition continue. Whatever likenesses there were they would dismiss. So if they did notice a likeness they would no doubt have pushed it to the back of their minds and considered it just a coincidence, a little disturbing perhaps, but not unusual. For they knew that it could not be Jesus. Most people have their doubles, and beards can look very much like one another, and be very deceptive, especially if they are trimmed in the same way and if the head is covered. Furthermore Jesus may here have been deliberately much better groomed than He was when He was ‘on the road’ or living in camp. He may have looked a very different person, even from that point of view.

Fourthly we must remember that at the time they were in a grief stricken state and probably not taking too much notice of what was around them. They were totally absorbed in their own conversation and would probably not have given Him close scrutiny. In such a state people can be very unobservant. And if Jesus did not want to be known He could have spoken in a different voice and different accent from the one He had normally used.

Fifthly, Jesus in His resurrection body would certainly have looked different from the man who had been preaching in the Temple a few days previously, and certainly as they would have expected to see Him now. They would quite reasonably have anticipated that if Jesus were to appear it would be as a hopeless cripple, not as this stranger who had been athletic enough to catch up with them and bore no marks of any disability. It is true that the Apostles did later recognise Him, but they had known Him intimately, and the circumstances of His appearance would have aided their recognition. And even then He had pointed to His hands and feet in order to make clear to them Who He was.

Sixthly, while it is true that it was early light, and He might have been standing in the sun, we must remember that Mary Magdalene , who knew Him well, did not recognise Him at first, until He called her name (Joh 20:14).

I remember when moving into my present house that by coincidence a friend of my daughter’s was living next door. She introduced me to her husband. He was the spitting image of Les Dennis, a well know British TV comedian. But I knew that he was not Les Dennis. Thus the thought of him being Les Dennis never crossed my mind, at least for a time. The point was that the situation proved that he was not Les Dennis, whatever his looks might have suggested to the contrary. But one day he had had his hair cut to a similar style to Les Dennis and he looked so much like him when he came out of his door that I had to say to him, ‘You are not Les Dennis, are you?’ For a second I really was not sure whether Les Dennis had come to visit them.

So taking all these factors into consideration the failure of these two to recognise Jesus is not really as surprising as it first appears, and that is especially so given that it was God’s intention that they should not recognise Him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 24:16. But their eyes were holden, St. Mark says that our Saviour appeared to the two disciples in another form, Mar 16:12. St. Luke, that their eyes were holden: who does not see that both evangelists, meant to express the same thing? If Jesus appeared in another form, their eyes of course were holden that they should not know him: all that the historians meant to intimate is, that there was an impediment which prevented their knowing him. That this might happen either in a natural way or a supernatural way, may be proved in a manner agreeable to reason and true philosophy; and such aswill correspond exactly with the expressions of both the evangelists. To state the case in a natural way; two men meet an acquaintance whom they thought dead; they converse with him for some time, without suspecting who he is; the very persuasion they were under that he was dead, contributing greatly to their not knowing him: besides, he appeared in a habit and form different from what he used when they conversed with him; the tone of his voice might be altered; he appeared to them on a journey, and walking with them side by side, in which situation no one of the company has a full view of another: moreover, their thoughts were so swallowed up in the depth of their grief, that as they took little notice of any thing without them, so they might not narrowly examine his features: and where then was the impossibility of their not knowing him? Yet as the words may be taken so as to signify some supernatural restraint, doubtless, there might have been some particular agency from above, either to divert their minds from looking steadfastly upon him, or so to affect their memories, as to render them incapable of recollecting who he was. Compare Gen 21:19. Num 22:31 and 2Ki 6:17-18.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

Ver. 16. But their eyes were held ] Ut ulcus suum discipuli detegerent, ac pharmacum susciperent, saith Theophylact. That they may tell their own disease and receive healing.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Luk 24:16 . , their eyes were held , from recognising Him (here only in this sense). Instances of the use of the verb in this sense in reference to the bodily organs are given by Kypke. It is not necessary, with Meyer, to suppose any special Divine action or purpose to prevent knowledge of Jesus.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

not. Greek. me. App-105.

know = recognize. Greek epiginosko. App-132.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Luk 24:16. , were holden) The antithesis is in Luk 24:31, , their eyes were opened.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Luk 24:31, 2Ki 6:18-20, Mar 16:12, Joh 20:14, Joh 21:4

Reciprocal: Gen 21:19 – General Gen 42:8 – but they knew Num 22:31 – opened 2Ki 6:19 – I will bring

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Luk 24:16. But their eyes were holden, etc. He Himself prevented their knowing Him; and this was His purpose of love; He would conceal only to reveal more fully. Thus he could best explain to them the meaning of His own death; immediate recognition would have filled them with a tumult of joy, fear, and doubt. Natural causes probably aided in preventing the recognition. Comp. Mar 16:12 (in another form). A quiet, vigorous, dignified traveller, such as He appeared to be, would not be readily recognized as the One so lately languid in death on the cross. We often fail to recognize Christ when He is nearest to us; if He holds our eyes, as He sometimes does, it is to bless us more; if we hold our own eyes, then we are in danger of never recognizing Him at all.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

24:16 {c} But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

(c) Were held back and stayed, God no doubt appointing this to be so: and therefore his body was not invisible, but rather their eyes were dimmed.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes



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