Matthew 13:35 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 13:35
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
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
Psalms 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all t…
Romans 16:25-26 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the my…
1 Peter 1:20-21 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for…
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 13:24-43
In these verses, we have, I. Another reason given why Christ preached by parables, Mat 13:34, Mat 13:35. All these things he spoke in parables, because the time was not yet come for the more clear and plain discoveries of the mysteries of the kingdom. Christ, to keep the people attending and expecting, preached in parables, and without a parable spake he not unto them; namely, at this time and in this sermon. Note, Christ tries all ways and methods to do good to the souls of men, and to make impressions upon them; if men will not be instructed and influenced by plain preaching, he will try them with parables; and the reason here given is, That the scripture might be fulfilled. The passage he…
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying-- (Psa 78:2, nearly as in the Septuagint).
I will open my mouth in parables, &c.--Though the Psalm seems to contain only a summary of Israelitish history, the Psalmist himself calls it "a parable," and "dark sayings from of old"--as containing, underneath the history, truths for all time, not fully brought to light till the Gospel day.
John Gill on Matthew 13:35
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,.... Not Isaiah, as some copies in the times of Jerom read, but Asaph, who is called Asaph the seer, 2 Chronicles 29:30 which is all one as a prophet; vision is one sort of prophecy (d); and there was such a thing as prophesying with harps, psalteries and cymbals, as well as in other ways, and with which Asaph and his sons are said to prophesy, 1 Chronicles 25:1 so that he is very rightly called a prophet by the evangelist, who is cited, saying, Psalm 78:2.
I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world: which Psalm, though a history of the dealings of God with the…
At times our Savior spoke the Word to the apostles by means of mysterious sayings. For prophecy says of him: "He will open his mouth in parables, and will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world." … The efficacy of the Word itself, being strong and powerful, gradually draws into itself secretly and invisibly everyone who receives it.
(Verse 35) So that what was said through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world. This testimony is taken from the seventy-seventh psalm (Verse 2). It is read in some codices, and a diligent reader may perhaps find the same thing in the place where we have put it, and the Vulgate edition has: So that what was said through the prophet might be fulfilled, written there, through the prophet Isaiah, saying. Because it was not found in Isaiah, I believe it was later removed by prudent men. But it seems to me that it was originally written like this: 'What is written by the prophet Asaph, saying. The seventy-seventh psalm, from which this testimony is taken, is inscribed with the title of Asaph the prophet.' And the first scribe did not understand Asaph, and thought it was a mistake of the scribe, and corrected it to the more obvious name of Isaiah. It must be known, therefore, that in the psalms and hymns and songs of God, not only David, but also the others whose names are written, are to be called prophets: namely, Asaph and Idithun, and Heman the Ezrahite, and Ethan, and the sons of Korah, and the rest whom the Scripture mentions. And that which is said in the person of the Lord: I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world, must be carefully considered and found to describe in a more detailed manner the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and all the signs that are contained in the story of Exodus. From this we understand that all those things that are written should be understood in a parabolic manner: not only to sound out the obvious letter, but also the hidden mysteries; for this is what the Savior promises, opening his mouth in parables, and revealing secrets from the foundation of the world.
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
Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Fishing, the art of — Was prosecuted with great industry in the waters of Palestine. It was from the fishing-nets that Jesus called his disciples (Mark 1:16-20), and it was in a fishing-boat he rebuked the winds and the…
Foundation · Figuratively applied to: The world — Figuratively applied to: The world
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).
Matthew 13:31-35
Matthew 13:31-35
Mark 4:26-34
Luke 13:18-22
31. He delivered another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and sowed in his field: 32. Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown up, it is the largest among herbs, [220] and becometh a tree, so that the fowls of heaven come and make their nests among its branches. 33. He spake another parable to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid among three measures of meal, till the whole was leavenened. 34. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes, and without a parable he spoke nothing to them. 35. That it might…
Even Jesus’ manner of teaching fulfilled Old Testament predictions. Psalm 78:2-3 speaks of passing down the history of God’s revelation to children of the next generation. Jesus’ revelation is the climax of that history (Matt 13:10-17; 1 Cor 2:7).
