Matthew 18:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 18:19
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
to ask (in genitive case) · verb — aorist middle subjunctive, 3rd person plural
it shall be done
γενήσεταιgenēsetai
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
for them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
of
παρὰpara
G3844
properly · preposition
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
Father
πατρόςpatros
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
which is
τῆςtēs
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — genitive singular feminine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
heaven
οὐρανοῖς.ouranois
G3772
the sky · noun — dative plural masculine
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
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
1 John 5:14-16 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
John 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Matthew 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
James 5:14-16 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 18:1–end
As there never was a greater pattern of humility, so there never was a greater preacher of it, than Christ; he took all occasions to command it, to commend it, to his disciples and followers.
I. The occasion of this discourse concerning humility was an unbecoming contest among the disciples for precedency; they came to him, saying, among themselves (for they were ashamed to ask him, Mar 9:34), Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? They mean not, who by character (then the question had been good, that they might know what graces and duties to excel in), but who by name. They had heard much, and preached much, of the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the Messiah, his church in this wor…
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
John Gill on Matthew 18:19
Again, I say unto you,.... As the words in the former verse seem to regard the whole body of the disciples, whose decisions in cases brought before them, declaring them just or unjust, are determinate and unalterable; these seem to respect the one or two, that should join the offended person in the reproof of the offender, and are spoken for their encouragement; who might think proper either to premise, or follow their engaging in such a work with prayer:
that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask; both in the case before mentioned, and in any other thing: whether it be for themselves or others; to assist them in the ministry of the word, and give succ…
Matthew 18:15-20
Matthew 18:15-20
Luke 17:3
15. But if thy brother hath sinned against thee, go and reprove him between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16. But if he shall not hear thee, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be confirmed: and if he shall not hear them, tell the church. 17. And if he shall not hear the church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican. 18. Verily, I say to thee, What things soever you shall bind on earth [549] shall be bound also in heaven; and what things soever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven. 19. Again, I say to you, That if two of…
The Church Fathers
(vid. Origen. in loc.) We may also understand this spiritually; where our spirit, soul, and body are in agreement, and have not within them conflicting wills, they shall obtain from My Father every thing they shall ask; for none can doubt that that demand is good, where the body wills the same thing as the spirit.
And this also is the reason why our prayers are not granted, because we do not agree together in all things upon earth, neither in doctrine, nor in conversation. For as in music, unless the voices are in time there is no pleasure to the hearer, so in the Church, unless they are united God is not pleased therein, nor does He hear their words. Or, In whatever the two testaments are in agreement, for this every prayer is found acceptable to God.
How important a place the unanimity and harmony of brothers hold with God! We can know from this very fact that the Lord has clearly said that when two or three pray in unanimity, the Father grants everything from heaven. For with God nothing is more pleasing than brotherly peace, nothing better than unanimity and harmony, according to what is written: "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. And again: "There is great peace among those who love your name, and there is no stumbling block for them." And in another place: "The God who makes us live in harmony in the house." So Isaiah also testified: "Lord," he said, "our God, give us peace. For you have given us everything." That this harmony of brothers is pleasing to God, the Holy Spirit declared through Solomon, saying, "There are three things which are pleasing to God and men: harmony of brothers, love of one's neighbors and the union of man and woman." So quite rightly the Lord in this passage testifies that when two or three come together on earth, whatever they ask for, all is granted by the Father.
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
Prayer, Public · Christ: Promises answers to — Christ: Promises answers to
Prayer, Social And Family · Promise of answers to — Promise of answers to
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).
