1151 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you,.... This is said by Christ, to encourage to prayer, and importunity in it; that if any one asks of God, in the name of Christ, and in faith, whether it be bread for the body, or food for the soul; or any blessing whatever, whether temporal or spiritual, it shall be given; not according to their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For every one that asketh receiveth,.... Some indeed ask and receive not, because they ask amiss, James 4:3 who either apply to a wrong person, or ask in a wrong manner, or from wrong principles, or with wrong ends in view: but when a man is right in the object of prayer, and in the matter and manner of prayer, and in the end he proposes to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,.... Our Lord illustrates and confirms what he had said before by an instance common among men: the relation between a father and a son is natural, and it is very near; and it is usual for a son, when hungry, and at the proper times of meals, to ask bread of his father: and when he does, will...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion.... Of which there are three sorts; some are terrestrial, or land scorpions, scorpions of the earth, a kind of serpents, very venomous and mischievous, to whom the wicked Jews are compared, Ezekiel 2:6 and the locusts in Revelation 9:3 others are airy, or flying scorpions, a sort of fowl; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children,.... [See comments on Matthew 7:11]. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? instead of the Holy Spirit here, the Vulgate Latin version reads, "good Spirit", and so two copies of Beza's; and the Ethiopic version, "the good gift of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he was casting out a devil,.... At a certain time, either the same that is recorded in Matthew 9:32 or in Matthew 12:22 for both of them were attended with the same effect upon the people, and with the same calumny of the Pharisees, mentioned here: and it was dumb. The Ethiopic version reads, "deaf and dumb"; that is, the devil, which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But some of them said,.... The Pharisees, Matthew 9:34 Matthew 12:24 who could not bear that he should be thought to be the Messiah, and therefore put an ill construction on the miracle: he casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of devils; in several copies he is called Beelzebul, and in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions; which last adds...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And others tempting him,.... Others of the Scribes and Pharisees, or Sadducees: sought of him a sign from heaven; [See comments on Matthew 12:38], [See comments on Matthew 16:1].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he knowing their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient, said unto them; the following parables, as they are called in Mr 3:23 or proverbial expressions, very pertinent to the purpose, and sufficient to set aside the base calumnies of the Pharisees: every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; in process of time, division will...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?.... This is the accommodation of the above parables, or proverbial sentences; suggesting, that Satan must be against himself, if what the Pharisees said was true; and consequently, his kingdom and government, could not long subsist: because ye say that I cast out devils...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils,.... Which is what the Pharisees charged him with; in the Greek copies, and so in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions it is read, "by Beelzebul", and so in the preceding verses; [See comments on Matthew 10:25] By whom do your sons cast them out? by whose help? or in whose name? for the Jews pretended to cast out...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if I with the, finger of God,.... The power of God, referring to Exodus 8:19 and so the Cabalistic Jews (r) explain it, "the finger is one of the five in the hand, and is that finger which works by the power of Elohim;'' it is the same with the Spirit of God; [See comments on Matthew 12:28] which is often called the hand of the Lord, Ezekiel...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When a strong man armed,.... By the strong man, is meant the devil; [See comments on Matthew 12:29] and who may be said to be "armed", both with his own temptations, which are as fiery darts, and which are thrown by him thick and fast, suddenly and swiftly, privily, and with great art and cunning, and with great strength, and are very injurious;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But when a stronger than he,.... By whom is meant Christ, who is the mighty God, the Almighty; and appears to be so, in the creation of all things, in upholding them by the word of his power, in the government of the world, and the works of providence, in the redemption of his people from sin, Satan, and the law, and in the conversion of them, by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He that is not with me, is against me,.... Our Lord does not mean one, that was not personally with him; for there might be some, and doubtless were many, who were not in person with him, and yet were not against him, but friends to him, and to his interest; nor one that was not a professed disciple of his, or not a follower of him, and his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,.... That is, the devil, who is in, and works in the children of disobedience, whether under a profession of religion or not; whose hearts are unclean like himself, wherefore there he delights to dwell; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "the evil demon": who may be said to go out of a man in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. In Matthew it is also said to be "empty"; and so it is read here in the Arabic version; and in the Ethiopic version, "empty of men": but rather the sense is, that he found it empty of all goodness, notwithstanding all the sweeping and garnish of an outward reformation. The Persic version...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits,.... Or "demons", as the Ethiopic version, whom he took to him as his consorts and companions, as the same version calls them. More wicked than himself; for it seems there are degrees of wickedness among the devils, as well as among men: and they enter and dwell there; the unclean spirit, and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass as he spoke these things,.... That is, as Christ spoke, or "had finished these sayings", as the Persic version expresses it, before related, in vindication of himself and his miracles, from the blasphemy of the Scribes and Pharisees to their entire confusion, and had delivered the above parable concerning the unclean spirit,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he said,.... Christ said "to the woman", Persic version reads, as correcting her, though not denying it, nor reproving her for it, but improving upon it: yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it; intimating, that though his mother was happy in bearing and suckling such a son, yet it was a far greater happiness to hear...