the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative plural masculine
devour
κατεσθίοντεςkatesthiontes
G2719
to eat down · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
widows’
χηρῶνchērōn
G5503
a widow (as lacking a husband) · noun — genitive plural feminine
houses
οἰκίαςoikias
G3614
properly · noun — accusative plural feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
for a pretence
προφάσειprophasei
G4392
an outward showing · noun — dative singular feminine
make
προσευχόμενοι,proseuchomenoi
G4336
to pray to God · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative plural masculine
long
μακρὰmakra
G3117
long (in place (distant) or time (neuter plural)) · adjective — accusative plural neuter
prayers
προσεύχομαιproseúchomai
G4336
to pray to God
these
οὗτοιhoutoi
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative plural masculine
shall receive
λήμψονταιlēmpsontai
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
greater
περισσόςperissós
G4053
superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality)
damnation
κρίμα.¶krima
G2917
a decision (the function or the effect · noun — accusative singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 20:47 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neit…
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Ezekiel 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken…
Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Micah 3:1-4 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
Luke 12:47-48 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes…
2 Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 12:35-40
Here, I. Christ shows the people how weak and defective the scribes were in their preaching, and how unable to solve the difficulties that occurred in the scriptures of the Old Testament, which they undertook to expound. Of this he gives an instance, which is not so fully related here as it was in Matthew. Christ was teaching in the temple: many things he said, which were not written; but notice is taken of this, because it will stir us up to enquire concerning Christ, and to enquire of him; for none can have the right knowledge of him but from himself; it is not to be had from the scribes, for they will soon be run aground.
1. They told the people that the Messiah was to be the Son of David…
Beware of the scribes - See on Mat 23:1 (note), etc.
John Gill on Mark 12:40
Which devour widows' houses,.... See Gill on Matthew 23:14.
John Calvin on Mark 12:40
Mark 12:40
Matthew 23:13-15
Mark 12:40
Luke 11:52
13. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you do not enter yourselves, and do not permit those who come to enter. 14. And woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows' houses, and that under the disguise of a long prayer; therefore you will be the more severely punished. 15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make [93] one proselyte; and when he is made, [94] you make him twice as much the child of hell as yourselves.
40. Who devour widows' houses, and that under the disguise of a longprayer. These shall…
The teachers of religious law broke the second command by failing to love their neighbors, as was seen in their cheating widows of their property. They clearly were cheating the most vulnerable and needy people despite God’s concern for widows (Deut 14:29; Pss 68:5; 146:9; Isa 1:17; Jer 7:6; 49:11) and his condemnation of those who mistreat them (Isa 1:23; Ezek 22:7; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5). The scribes wore a hypocritical cloak of false piety (see Matt 6:5-6; Luke 18:11-12). • they will be more severely punished: In the final judgment (Mark 9:42-48; see Luke 14:11).
The Church Fathers
(ubi sup.) But they do not only seek for praise from men, but also for gain. Wherefore there follows, Which devour widows' houses, under the pretence of long prayers. For there are men who pretending to be just hesitate not to receive money from persons who are troubled in conscience, as though they would be their advocates in the judgment. A hand stretched out to the poor is always an accompaniment to prayer, but these men pass the night in prayer, that they may take away money from the poor.
Those who devour widows' houses under the pretense of long prayers will receive a harsher judgment. He did not merely say, "They will receive judgment," but added "harsher," to insinuate that those who stand praying in corners to be seen by people deserve condemnation. And those who engage in such practices more extensively, as though they were more religious, not only seeking praise from people but also money, are to be punished with a severer judgment. For there are those who, pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, do not hesitate to take money from anyone of humble means and troubled by the awareness of their sins, as though they will act as their advocates in judgment. And while the outstretched hands of the poor typically bring aid through prayers, these individuals, mainly for the purpose of taking money from the poor, spend the night in prayer. To such individuals the curse of Judas fittingly applies: "When he is judged, let him come out condemned, and let his prayer become sin" (Psalm 108). When he is judged, he comes out condemned, and he takes his prayer into sin, as he, now held in high regard by humans, then finds himself not only incapable of interceding for others but also insufficient in his own merits before the divine judgment. In fact, he will bear the punishment for the very prayers by which he deceived human judgment.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Prayer · .Of scribes — .Of scribes
Satire · Of Jesus against hypocrites — Of Jesus against hypocrites
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
