properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
unto
μαθηταῖςmathētais
G3101
a learner · noun — dative plural masculine
his
αὐτοῦ·autou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
disciples
μαθητήςmathētḗs
G3101
a learner
The harvest
θερισμὸςtherismos
G2326
reaping · noun — nominative singular masculine
truly
μὲνmen
G3303
properly · particle
plenteous
πολύς,polus
G4183
(singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many · adjective — nominative singular masculine
but
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
the labourers
ἐργάταιergatai
G2040
a toiler · noun — nominative plural masculine
few
ὀλίγοι·oligoi
G3641
puny (in extent · adjective — nominative 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
Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would…
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
John 4:35-36 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they…
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
Psalms 68:11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 9:35–end
Here is, I. A conclusion of the foregoing account of Christ's preaching and miracles (Mat 9:35); He went about all the cities teaching and healing. This is the same we had before, Mat 4:23. There it ushers in the more particular record of Christ's preaching (ch. 5, 6 and 7) and of his cures (ch. 8 and 9), and here it is elegantly repeated in the close of these instances, as the quod erat demonstrandum - the point to be proved; as if the evangelist should say, "Now I hope I have made it out, by an induction of particulars, that Christ preached and healed; for you have had the heads of his sermons, and some few instances of his cures, which were wrought to confirm his doctrine: and these were…
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous--His eye doubtless rested immediately on the Jewish field, but this he saw widening into the vast field of "the world" (Mat 13:38), teeming with souls having to be gathered to Him.
but the labourers--men divinely qualified and called to gather them in.
John Gill on Matthew 9:37
Then saith he unto his disciples,.... His heart being drawn out, and filled with pity to these poor people, upon observing the miserable and sad condition they were in; he turns himself to his disciples, whom he was about to call, and send forth in a more public manner to preach the Gospel, of which we read in the following chapter; and in order to quicken them to this service, and engage their hearts in it, says unto them,
the harvest truly is plenteous; meaning the large number of God's elect, which were in these cities, towns, and villages, and in other places: not that these were maturely prepared by anything in themselves, or done by them, for the grace of God; and much less ripe for t…
Matthew 9:35-38
Matthew 9:35-38
35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. 36. And when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion towards them, because they were destitute and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd. 37. Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest is indeed abundant, but the laborers are few. 38. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, to send forth laborers into his harvest.
Matthew 9:35. And Jesus went about This statement is made by way of anticipating an objection, and is intended to inform us that the whole min…
The Church Fathers
The great harvest denotes the multitude of the people; the few labourers, the want of instructors.
When the preachers were sent, let us hear what he says: "The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into his harvest." For the great harvest the laborers are few, which we cannot speak of without heavy grief, because even if there are those who hear good things, there are none to speak them. Behold, the world is full of priests, yet in God's harvest a worker is found very rarely, because we have indeed taken up the priestly office, but we do not fulfill the work of the office.
(Verse 37, 38.) Indeed, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. The abundant harvest signifies the multitude of people, while the few laborers represent a shortage of workers. And it is commanded to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. These are the laborers whom the Psalmist speaks of, saying: Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. Going forth, they went and wept, carrying their seeds. But when they come, they will come with joy, carrying their sheaves (Psalm 126:7-8). And to speak more plainly, the abundant harvest is the entire crowd of believers. However, the workers are few, like the apostles and those who imitate them and are sent to the harvest.
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
Custom — A tax imposed by the Romans. The tax-gatherers were termed publicans (q.v.), who had their stations at the gates of cities, and in the public highways, and at the place set apart for that purpose,…
Harvest — The season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest…
Agriculture · General references — General references
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Persons engaged in, called: Labourers — Persons engaged in, called: Labourers
Harvest, The · Persons engaged in: Called labourers — Persons engaged in: Called labourers
Ministers · Necessity for — Necessity for
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).
Harvest refers to the multitudes (see also 13:24-30, 36-43; Mark 4:26-29; John 4:35-38; Rev 14:15-20). • the Lord who is in charge of the harvest: All ministries are ultimately under God’s call (see Matt 23:8-10, 13), so Jesus urges his disciples to pray for God himself to call more workers.
