Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, 30th July 2023

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
13:31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;

13:32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

13:33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;

13:46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind;

13:48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.

13:49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous

13:50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13:51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.”

13:52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

31 Ἄλλην παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν κόκκῳ σινάπεως, ὃν λαβὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔσπειρεν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ·

32 ὃ μικρότερον μέν ἐστι πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων, ὅταν δὲ αὐξηθῇ, μεῖζον πάντων τῶν λαχάνων ἐστὶ καὶ γίνεται δένδρον, ὥστε ἐλθεῖν τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατασκηνοῦν ἐν τοῖς κλάδοις αὐτοῦ.

33 Ἄλλην παραβολὴν ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς· ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ζύμῃ, ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ ἐνέκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία, ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον.

44 Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν θησαυρῷ κεκρυμμένῳ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, ὃν εὑρὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔκρυψε, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτοῦ ὑπάγει καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἔχει πωλεῖ καὶ ἀγοράζει τὸν ἀγρὸν ἐκεῖνον.

45 Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι καλοὺς μαργαρίτας·

46 ὃς εὑρὼν ἕνα πολύτιμον μαργαρίτην ἀπελθὼν πέπρακε πάντα ὅσα εἶχε καὶ ἠγόρασεν αὐτόν.

47 Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν σαγήνῃ βληθείσῃ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ ἐκ παντὸς γένους συναγαγούσῃ·

48 ἥν, ὅτε ἐπληρώθη, ἀναβιβάσαντες αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τὀν αἰγιαλὸν καὶ καθίσαντες συνέλεξαν τὰ καλὰ εἰς ἀγγεῖα, τὰ δὲ σαπρὰ ἔξω ἔβαλον.

49 οὕτως ἔσται ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ἐξελεύσονται οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ ἀφοριοῦσι τοὺς πονηροὺς ἐκ μέσου τῶν δικαίων,

50 καὶ βαλοῦσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν κάμινον τοῦ πυρός· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων.

51 Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· συνήκατε ταῦτα πάντα; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, ναί, Κύριε.

52 Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· διὰ τοῦτο πᾶς γραμματεὺς μαθητευθεὶς εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδεσπότῃ, ὅστις ἐκβάλλει ἐκ τοῦ θησαυροῦ αὐτοῦ καινὰ καὶ παλαιά.

Comments

Another series of ‘comparisons’ (παραβολαί), nearly all of which move from small, improbable beginnings and culminate in a wondrous discovery of something of great value. Hence these comparisons, which are similes signalled by the adj.  ὅμοιος/ ὁμοία (‘like, resembling’), are examples of a climax/ κλιμακωτόν. The gradation is conveyed formulaically by the opening phrase ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν + dat. of thing or person + a relative clause introduced by the acc. rel. pron. ὃν/ ἣν + a temporal participle in the aorist (λαβὼν/ λαβοῦσα, etc.). The relative clauses contain a mini-narrative that has a ‘happy end’ (up to v. 46). At vv. 48 and 52 ff. the relative clauses have a happy end but also strike a minatory note. Aristotle would say that these ‘comparisons’ are fabricated from plausible real-life situations (e.g. farming, baking, pearl-fishing, etc.) and thereby serve as tools of persuasion (see my comments of last week).

[31] παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς: as in last week’s parable (see my comments); παρέθηκεν (< παρατίθημι),  ‘he set before them’, a phrase that can also refer to offering a meal. Jesus is giving his disciples ‘food for thought’—and cognition, hence his pointed question, συνήκατε ταῦτα πάντα; (v. 51), ‘Have you understood all this?’

[32] ὃ μικρότερον μέν ἐστι πάντων τῶν σπερμάτων, ὅταν δὲ αὐξηθῇ, μεῖζον πάντων τῶν λαχάνων ἐστὶ καὶ γίνεται δένδρον: this verse nicely illustrates the progression from small to large to largest that underlies much of the pericope. μικρότερον and μεῖζον (‘smallest’ and ‘largest’) are really comparative degree adjs, but in koine the comparative also served as superlative. The imagery of graduated growth climaxes with γίνεται δένδρον, ‘it becomes a TREE’.

κατασκηνοῦν: consecutive inf. (i.e. denoting an expected result or consequence) < κατασκηνῶ (όω), ‘I encamp’ (cl. Gr.). But in koine Gr. the vb means ‘I dwell’ (presumably in a make-shift (cf. σκηνή, ‘tent’) structure or a chance location). So the birds settle and dwell in the branches of the bushy tree they alight upon, suggesting a cozy permanence.

[33] ἐνέκρυψεν: < ἐγκρύπτω, a cmpd vb, ‘ hide in’ (cf. Engl. en-crypt).

 ὅλον: the adj. refers to the noun ἄλευρον, ‘wheat-meal’.  ὅλος/η/ ον = ‘whole, entire, complete in all its parts’ (LSJ). So the leaven (ζύμη) is diffused and assimilated throughout the flour, a thoroughgoing process suggested by the phrase ἐζυμώθη ὅλον.

 [44] θησαυρῷ κεκρυμμένῳ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, ὃν εὑρὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔκρυψε: ‘conceal within ’ occurred in v.33; now κρύπτω, ‘I conceal’ occurs in the pass. part. κεκρυμμένῳ and the active aor. ἔκρυψε. θησαυρός recurs in v. 52 below; cf. Engl. thesaurus.

[47] σαγήνῃ: σαγήνη = ‘ a large dragnet for fishing’ (LSJ); < σάττω, ‘I fill quite full, stuff’ (LSJ).  In keeping with its etymology, the dragnet when pulled up is loaded with fish (cf. v. 48, ὅτε ἐπληρώθη). 

[48] τὰ δὲ σαπρὰ: σαπρός in cl. Gr. refers esp. to pickled fish that have become ‘rancid’ (LSJ)’. The general cl. Gr. meaning, which is the meaning here, is ‘rotten, putrid’. Stench emanates from the end of this verse.

[49] Ἐξελεύσονται οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ ἀφοριοῦσι τοὺς πονηροὺς: Ἐξελεύσονται, fut. < ἐξέρχομαι, ‘Ι come out of, from’. Perhaps the meaning here is simply ‘they will come’, but a 2^nd c. AD usage listed in LSJ may suggest that the angels ‘will be commissioned to carry out a (court) sentence’.

ἀφοριοῦσι  < ἀφορίζω, ‘Ι separate’ (cl. Gr.); for πονηροὺς see last week’s comments. In later Gr. the vb means ‘I excommunicate’.

[50] ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων: see last week’s comments.

[52] διὰ τοῦτο: asseverative, ‘truly’, ‘well, then’.