For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
12. Cp. ch. Mat 25:29.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. Whosoever hath, to him shall be given] This is an allusion to a common custom in all countries: he who possesses much or is rich, to such a person, presents are ordinarily given.
Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.] That is, the poor man: he that has little may be easily made a prey of, and so lose his little. This is a proper sense of the word in sacred and profane writers. In 1Co 11:22, , those who have not, means simply THE POOR: and Aristophanes uses , those that have, for the RICH or OPULENT. See a variety of pertinent examples in Kypke on Lu 8:18. There is one example in Juvenal, Sat. iii. l. 208, 209, that expresses the whole of our Lords meaning, and is a beautiful illustration of this apparently difficult passage.
NIL habuit Codrus: quis enim negat? et tamen illud Perdidit infelix TOTUM NIL.
“‘Tis true, poor Codrus NOTHING had to boast,
And yet poor Codrus ALL that NOTHING lost.”
Dryden.
Now what was this NOTHING which, the poet said, Codrus had and lost? The five preceding lines tell you.
Lectus erat Codro Procula minor, urceoli sex,
Ornamentum abaci; necnon et parvulus infra
Cantharus, et recubans sub eodem marmore Chiron;
Jamque vetus Graecos servabat cista libellos,
Et divina Opici rodebant carmina mures.
He had one small bed, six little pitchers, the ornament of a side-board; a small jug or tankard, the image of a centaur, and an old chest with some Greek books in it, on which the mice had already begun to make depredations. And all this he lost; probably by continuing, in spite of his destiny, to be a poet. So those who devote not the light and power which God has given them to the purposes for which he has granted these gifts, from them shall be taken away these unemployed or prostituted blessings. This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, which our Lord here uses to inform his disciples, that he who does not improve the first operations of grace, howsoever small, is in danger of losing not only all the possible product, but even the principal; for God delights to heap benefits on those who properly improve them. See Clarke on Lu 8:18.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
12. For whosoever haththatis, keeps; as a thing which he values.
to him shall be given, and heshall have more abundanceHe will be rewarded by an increase ofwhat he so much prizes.
but whosoever hath notwholets this go or lie unused, as a thing on which he sets no value.
from him shall be taken awayeven that he hathor as it is in Luke (Lu8:18), “what he seemeth to have,” or, thinketh he hath.This is a principle of immense importance, and, like other weightysayings, appears to have been uttered by our Lord on more than oneoccasion, and in different connections. (See on Mt25:9). As a great ethical principle, we see it in operationeverywhere, under the general law of habit; in virtue of whichmoral principles become stronger by exercise, while by disuse, or theexercise of their contraries, they wax weaker, and at length expire.The same principle reigns in the intellectual world, and even in theanimalif not in the vegetable alsoas the facts of physiologysufficiently prove. Here, however, it is viewed as a divineordination, as a judicial retribution in continual operation underthe divine administration.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given,…. Whoever has the true grace of God implanted in him, has a saving knowledge of Christ, and a spiritual acquaintance with the doctrines of the Gospel, shall have more grace given him; he shall grow in the knowledge of Christ, and the Spirit of truth shall lead him into all truth:
and he shall have more abundance: of grace, light, knowledge, and experience: all grace shall be made to abound towards him; he shall be filled with all the fulness of God, and shall arrive to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; and his light shall shine more and more unto the perfect day.
But whosoever hath not: the truth of grace, nor a spiritual knowledge of Christ, nor any experience of the doctrines of the Gospel,
from him shall be taken away, even that he hath, or “that which he seemed to have”, as Luke expresses it; for everything besides true grace is a mere show, and has no solidity in it; as natural parts, human learning, and a form of knowledge and of truth in the law, the national church state of the Jews, with all the outward privileges appertaining thereunto, all which may be here meant; and even speculative notions of the Gospel, the external gifts of the Spirit, the means of grace, the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and the ministry of it, which in process of time were wholly taken from these people.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given,” (hostigar echei dothesetai) “Because the one having, holding, or possessing, it will be given to him.” This appears to be a pledge of our Lord to grant further authority and responsibility to His church when He was gone.
2) “And he shall have more abundance,” (kai perisseuthesetal) “And he will have abundance,” all or more than is necessary. This pledge perhaps alluded to His granting the Holy Spirit empowerment, further spiritual gifts, and the Great Commission, before He ascended to heaven, Joh 20:20; Mr 16:15,17-20; Mat 28:18-20.
3) “But whosoever hath not,” (hostis de ouk echei) “Then the one who has not,” apparently referring to those formal, ceremonial, self-righteous Jews who had no inner change of heart and could not enter into the “kingdom of heaven,” on the basis of their trust in legalism, while rejecting Jesus Christ, Joh 1:11; Mat 5:20; Rom 10:1-3.
4) “From him shall be taken away even that he hath.” (kai ho echei arthesetai ap’ autou) “Even what he has or holds will be taken from him,” referring to the administration of the forms and ceremonies of Moses’ Law on which the masses of the Jews were vainly leaning, Luk 16:16; Luk 24:44-45; Luk 8:18; Mr 4:24,25.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. For whosoever hath, it shall be given to him. Christ pursues the subject which I have just mentioned; for he reminds his disciples how kindly God acts towards them, that they may more highly prize his grace, and may acknowledge themselves to be under deeper obligations to his kindness. The same words he afterwards repeats, but in a different sense, (Mat 25:29😉 for on that occasion the discourse relates to the lawful use of gifts. (183) But here he simply teaches, that more is given to the apostles than to the generality of men, because the heavenly Father is pleased to display in perfection his kindness towards them.
He does not forsake the work of his own hand, (Psa 138:8.)
Those whom he has once begun to form are continually polished more and more, till they are at length brought to the highest perfection. The multiplied favors which are continually flowing from him to us, and the joyful progress which we make, spring from God’s contemplation of his own liberality, which prompts him to an uninterrupted course of bounty. And as his riches are inexhaustible, (184) so he is never wearied with enriching his children. Whenever he advances us to a higher degree, let us remember that every increase of the favors which we daily receive from him flows from this source, that it is his purpose to complete the work, of our salvation already commenced. On the other hand, Christ declares that the reprobate are continually proceeding from bad to worse, till, at length exhausted, they waste away in their own poverty.
And he that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him. This may appear to be a harsh expression; but instead of saying, that what the ungodly have not is taken from them, Luke softens the harshness and removes the ambiguity by a slight change of the words: and whosoever hath not, even that which he thinketh that he hath shall be taken from him. And indeed it frequently happens, that the reprobate are endued with eminent gifts, and appear to resemble the children of God: but there is nothing of real value about them; for their mind is destitute of piety, and has only the glitter of an empty show. Matthew is therefore justified in saying that they have nothing; for what they have is of no value in the sight of God, and has no permanency within. Equally appropriate is the statement of Luke, that the gifts, with which they have been endued, are corrupted by them, so that they shine only in the eyes of men, but have nothing more than splendor and empty display. Hence, also let us learn to aim at progress throughout our whole life; for God grants to us the taste of his heavenly doctrine on the express condition, that we feed on it abundantly from day to day, till we come to be fully satiated with it.
The manner in which Mark introduces this sentence has some appearance of confusion. Consider, says our Lord, what you hear; and then, if they make due progress, he holds out the expectation of more plentiful grace: it shall be added to you that hear Lastly, follows the clause which agrees with the words of Matthew, but is inserted in the middle of a sentence which I expounded under the seventh chapter of Matthew; (185) for it is not probable that they are here placed in their proper order. The Evangelists, as we have remarked on former occasions, were not very exact in arranging Christ’s discourses, but frequently throw together a variety of sayings uttered by him. Luke mixes this sentence with other discourses of Christ spoken at different times, and likewise points out a different purpose for which Christ used these words. It was that they might be attentive to his doctrine, and not permit the seed of life to pass away unimproved, which ought to be cordially received, and take root in their minds. “Beware,” he says, “lest what has been given be taken away from you, if it yield no fruit.”
(183) “ Car la le propos sera touchant le droict et legitime usage des dons de Dieu;” — “for there the discourse will relate to the right and lawful use of the gifts of God.”
(184) “ Et comme ses richesses sont infinies, et ne se peuvent espuiser;”— “and as his riches are infinite, and cannot be exhausted.”
(185) Harmony, volume 1 p. 345.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Whosoever hath, to him shall be given.The words have the ring of a proverb applicable, in its literal meaning, to the conditions of worldly prosperity. There fortune smiles on the fortunate, and nothing succeeds like success. Something like that law, our Lord tells His disciples, is to be found in the conditions of spiritual growth in wisdom. They had some elements of that wisdom, and therefore, using their knowledge rightly, could pass on to more. The people, including even scribes and Pharisees, were as those that had few or none, and not using even the little that they had, were in danger of losing even that. The faithless Jew was sinking down to the level of a superstitious heathen. The proverb accordingly teaches the same lesson as that which we afterwards find developed in the parables of the Talents and the Pounds.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Whosoever hath That is, hath a willing and receptive disposition and purpose. Shall be given Namely, the truth which he is willing to receive. Hath not Hath not the receptivity. That he hath The disciples had a receptive disposition, and so there was given to them the lesson and its explanation, the parable and its doctrine. The Jewish cavillers had not the receptive willingness, and so even that which they had was taken from them, namely, the opportunity of learning. It was either withheld, or wrapped in unexpressed enigmas. Abuse of privileges justly produces their withdrawment.
It is curiously true of any parable that to him that hath, namely, the key, to him shall be given, namely, the meaning. And the whole Gospel is a parable to him whose heart has not the key.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever has not, from him will be taken away even what he has.”
So those who have already received the truth, and have repented and have come under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, will continue to receive more and more truth, because they are open to it. He who ‘has’, to him will be given, and he will be given more and more. But those whose hearts have not responded will receive nothing apart from what they receive in the form of parables, to interpret as they will, which will, unless their hearts are enlightened and they respond, eventually fade away, so that they are left with nothing because they have not truly received it and are really not interested. The fault will not be with God, it will be with them. But at least they will not be ‘Gospel-hardened’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 13:12 . Proverbial saying derived from the experience of ordinary life (Mat 25:29 ): The wealthy man will become still richer even to superabundance; while the poor man, again, will lose the little that still remains to him; see Wetstein. In this instance the saying is used with reference to spiritual possessions, and is applied thus: With the knowledge you have already acquired, you are ever penetrating more deeply and fully into the things of God’s kingdom; the multitude, on the other hand, would lose altogether the little capacity it has for understanding divine truth, unless I were to assist its weak powers of apprehension by parabolic illustrations . The contrast between the two cases in question is not to be regarded as consisting in uti and non uti (Grotius), being willing and not being willing (Schegg).
For the passive , to be in possession of a superabundance , see on Luk 15:17 .
is the nominative absolute, as in Mat 7:24 , Mat 10:14 . and , in the sense of rich and poor , is likewise very common in classical authors, Ast, ad Plat. Legg . V. p. 172; Bornemann, ad Xen. Anab . vi. 6. 38.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Ver. 12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given ] sc. If he have it for practice, not else, Zec 11:17 . Men, to the hearing of the word, must bring with them the loan and advantage of former doctrine communicated to them, if they mean to do any good of it. And then, as Manoah believed (before the angel vanished in the sacrifice) and sought no such sign to confirm him, yet had it; so God will heap favours upon them, and every former shall be a pledge of a future. God gives grace for grace, that is, say some, where he finds one grace he gives another.
From him shall be taken away even that he hath ] That he seems to have, saith St Luke, for indeed all that he hath is but a seeming, a semblance, he walketh in a vain show, he hath only the varnish of virtue, which God shall wash off with rivers of brimstone. Albeit hypocrites are commonly detected even in this life: how else should their names rot, as every wicked man’s must?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. ] In this saying of the Lord is summed up the double force the revealing and concealing properties of the parable. By it, he who hath , he who not only hears with the ear, but understands with the heart, has more given to him; and it is for this main purpose undoubtedly that the Lord spoke parables: to be to His Church revelations of the truth and mysteries of His Kingdom. But His present purpose in speaking them, as further explained below, was the quality possessed by them, and declared in the latter part of this verse, of hiding their meaning from the hard-hearted and sensual. By them, he who hath not , in whom there is no spark of spiritual desire nor meetness to receive the engrafted word, has taken from him even that which he hath (“ seemeth to have ,” Luke); even the poor confused notions of heavenly doctrine which a sensual and careless life allow him, are further bewildered and darkened by this simple teaching, into the depths of which he cannot penetrate so far as even to ascertain that they exist. No practical comment on the latter part of this saying can be more striking, than that which is furnished to our day by the study of the German rationalistic (and, I may add, some of our English harmonistic) Commentators; while at the same time we may rejoice to see the approximate fulfilment of the former in such commentaries as those of Olshausen, Neander, Stier, and Trench. In ch. Mat 25:29 , the fuller meaning of this saying, as applied not only to hearing, but to the whole spiritual life, is brought out by our Lord.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 13:12 . his moral apothegm is here given only in Matt. It contains a great truth, whether spoken or not on this occasion. For the construction, vide at Mat 10:14 . : again in Mat 25:29 , where the saying is repeated. This use of the passive in a neuter sense belongs to late Greek.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
whosoever. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus). whosoever hath, &c. Figure of speech Paroemia. Compare Mat 25:29.
have more abundance = be made to abound.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] In this saying of the Lord is summed up the double force-the revealing and concealing properties of the parable. By it, he who hath,-he who not only hears with the ear, but understands with the heart, has more given to him; and it is for this main purpose undoubtedly that the Lord spoke parables: to be to His Church revelations of the truth and mysteries of His Kingdom. But His present purpose in speaking them, as further explained below, was the quality possessed by them, and declared in the latter part of this verse, of hiding their meaning from the hard-hearted and sensual. By them, he who hath not, in whom there is no spark of spiritual desire nor meetness to receive the engrafted word, has taken from him even that which he hath (seemeth to have, Luke); even the poor confused notions of heavenly doctrine which a sensual and careless life allow him, are further bewildered and darkened by this simple teaching, into the depths of which he cannot penetrate so far as even to ascertain that they exist. No practical comment on the latter part of this saying can be more striking, than that which is furnished to our day by the study of the German rationalistic (and, I may add, some of our English harmonistic) Commentators; while at the same time we may rejoice to see the approximate fulfilment of the former in such commentaries as those of Olshausen, Neander, Stier, and Trench. In ch. Mat 25:29, the fuller meaning of this saying, as applied not only to hearing, but to the whole spiritual life, is brought out by our Lord.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 13:12. , hath) to have, signifies to be rich. He who hath rejoices in this as his distinguishing criterion, viz. that he is one that hath, and becomes day by day more sure of perseverance.-, he shall be rendered more abundant[604]) and shall surpass his former self.[605]- , whosoever hath not) The conjunction (because), in Mat 13:13, refers to this, and (lest at any time), in Mat 13:15, to (shall be taken away).- , even that which he hath) shall be taken away.-, shall be taken away) Even though he hear, yet he shall not hear; and that which he hath heard shall at length (undoubtedly after the judgment) be so taken away from him, that he shall be as if he had never heard anything. The damned shall be tortured with ignorance, and the thirst for knowledge.
[604] E. V. Shall have more abundance.-(I. B.)
[605] This is the case in things temporal, and much more so in things spiritual.-B. G. V.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
For whosoever: Mat 25:29, Mar 4:24, Mar 4:25, Luk 8:18, Luk 9:26, Luk 19:24-26, Joh 15:2-5
from: Mat 21:43, Isa 5:4-7, Mar 12:9, Luk 10:42, Luk 12:20, Luk 12:21, Luk 16:2, Luk 16:25, Rev 2:5, Rev 3:15, Rev 3:16
Reciprocal: Job 8:7 – thy beginning Psa 25:14 – secret Pro 8:9 – General Pro 9:9 – General Pro 14:6 – knowledge Eze 34:11 – search Hos 14:9 – wise Mat 13:18 – General Mar 4:11 – Unto you Mar 8:25 – and saw Luk 8:10 – Unto Luk 11:36 – the whole Luk 19:26 – That unto Joh 1:16 – and grace Joh 1:50 – thou shalt Joh 8:32 – ye shall Joh 9:37 – Thou Jam 1:17 – good
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3:12
Jesus had told the disciples that it was not given to the multitudes to know the mysteries of the kingdom, and in this verse he begins to tell them why. We would think it impossible to take from a man something that he hath not, hence we must look for some figurative or accommodative use of this language. A useful illustration of the subject is in Joh 15:2. Every branch had been given an opportunity to bear increase but it did not do so. Hence the branch itself was to be removed from the vine. The multitudes had been given the words of Moses and the prophets, yet they refused to see in them the beauties of the kingdom of heaven in predicted form. Now it was certainly just to keep them still in the dark as to those beauties (mysteries) until such time as the whole world would have a full description of the system in detail.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 13:12. Mark and Luke put this verse after the exposition of the parable of the sower.
For whosoever hath. Applied more generally in chap. Mat 25:29. A rule of Gods dealings with men, holding good even in the lower forms of creation; here to be applied to knowledge of spiritual things. The phrase: from him shall be taken away that which he hath, points to a seeming or supposed knowledge. This twofold result is not arbitrary, but a necessary development, akin to what we perceive in every form of growth. To the disciples, with a desire for spiritual knowledge, an interpretation was given, and their knowledge grew through the outward and inward revelation; the people, without this desire, did not hear the interpretation, consequently they had less and less spiritual apprehension of the truth they possessed as Jews, since they got further away from Christ who alone fulfilled and explained that truth.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, whosoever improves the measures of grace received, shall obtain farther measures and degrees of it: But from him that doth not improve what he has already received, shall be taken away that which to himself or others he seemed to have, his common gifts and moral endowments.
Learn, That where there are beginnings of true grace, and a right and wise improvement of it, God will make rich additions or more grace to the present stock which we have received.