Matthew 12:19

Mat 12:19. Φωνὴν αὐτοῦ, His voice) sc. from the house. This example of the lowliness and meekness of Jesus aptly precedes the manifestation of His severity in Mat 12:34; thus also He wept when about to enter Jerusalem, and then expelled them that bought and sold from the temple.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_12:19-20. Contrast to the conduct of the Jewish teachers. He will not wrangle nor cry (Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 337), and so on.

The bruised reed and smoking wick represent those who are spiritually miserable and helpless (Mat_11:5), whom Christ does not reduce to utter hoplessness and despair, but (Mat_11:28) to whom He rather gives comfort, and whose moral life He revives and strengthens. And seeing that Mat_12:17 refers to Mat_12:16, they cannot be taken to represent the sick, whom Jesus heals (Hengstenberg). For those figures, comp. Isa_36:6; Isa_58:6; Isa_43:17.

ἕως ἂν ἐκβάλῃ κ.τ.λ.] until He shall have led forth to victory the judgment announced by Him, i.e. until He shall have finally accomplished it at the last day. For with this holding of the assize is associated the subjection to it of every hostile power. The final holding of it is the victory of the judgment.

In ἐκβάλῃ, forced out, is implied the idea of violent effort, overcoming the resistance offered. The words, however, do not correspond to the לֶאֱמֶת יוֹעִיא מִשְׁפָּט, Isa_42:3, but to the עַד־יָשִׂים בָּאָרֶץ מִשְׁפָּט, Mat_12:4, as is evident from ἕως, and from the words καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι, etc., which follow. But this is a very free quotation made from memory, with which, however, the expression in Mat_12:3 (יוציא) is at the same time blended.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall not strive nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. He shall not strive, nor cry] The spirit of Christ is not a spirit of contention, murmuring, clamour, or litigiousness. He who loves these does not belong to him. Christ therefore fulfilled a prophecy by withdrawing from this place, on account of the rage of the Pharisees.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) He shall not strive, nor cry.—The words point to the pervading calmness which had impressed itself upon the mind of the Evangelist, and which stood out in marked contrast to the wrangling of Jewish scribes, the violence of Roman officers, yet more, it may be, to that of false prophets and leaders of revolt, such as Judas of Galilee had been. St. Matthew had probably known something of each of those types of character, and felt how different that of the Christ was from all of them.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19, 20. These verses describe the gentleness and forbearance of Christ. He makes no resistance or loud proclamation like an earthly prince. The bruised reed and the feebly-burning wick may be referred to the failing lives which Jesus restores and the sparks of faith which He revives.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But when the Pharisees heard it,.... Very probably not the same that went out, and held a council against Christ to destroy him, Mat 12:14 but others that were come from Judea and Jerusalem, and were with him in the house, and saw the miracle: these, when they heard what the people said, and how ready they were to believe, and own Jesus to be the Messiah, in order to prevent it, being filled with envy and malice,

they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. They could not deny the miracle, or that it was one; but to deprive him of the glory of it, and even reproach him for it, and to bring him into contempt with the people, they not only speak of him in a scornful manner, "this" sorry man, "this" vile fellow; but ascribe the miracle he wrought to familiarity with the devil, to diabolical influence and skill in magic art: they pretended he was in confederacy with Satan, and was carrying on his interest: and therefore, that he might gain credit and reputation, the prince of devils suffered the inferior ones to remove at his word: and of these their ancestors, the Jews have learnt to fix this vile imputation, and blasphemous piece of slander upon Christ; who, they say (o), brought enchantments, or witchcrafts, out of Egypt, in the cuttings of his flesh, whereby he performed the things he did. Concerning Beelzebub; see Gill on Mat 10:25 here called "the prince of devils"; it being a prevailing notion among the Jews, that there is one devil who is the head of all the rest, and who is by them sometimes called Asmodeus: they say (p), when Solomon sinned against the Lord, he sent to him , "Asmodeus the king of the devils", and drove him from his throne, and so elsewhere (q): and sometimes Samael, who is styled (r) Samael the prince, , "the king of devils"; and the angel Samael, the wicked, , "the head of all the Satans", or devils (s): and we often read (t) of , "the prince of hell"; by whom the same is meant, as here, by Beelzebub; for if anyone devil is more wicked, odious, and execrable than the rest, the chief of them may be thought to be so; for which reason he is here mentioned.

(o) T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 13. 4. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 104. 2. (p) Targum in Eccl. i. 12. (q) T. Bab. Pesach, fol. 110. 1. Gittin, fol. 68. 1. & Raziel, fol. 41. 2. (r) Zohar in Deut. fol. 120. 3. (s) Debarim Rabba, fol. 245. 3. (t) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 52. 1. Imre Binah in Zohar in Gen. fol. 22. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

Ver. 19. He shall not strive] To bear away the bell from others.

Nor cry] "Nor lift up his voice," saith the prophet, as loth to lie hidden, and therefore making an "O yes," as desirous of vain glory and popular applause. Laudes nec curat nec quaerit humanas. He despiseth it as a little stinking breath, or the slavering of men’s lips which he disdains to suck in.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall not contend. These words do not occur in the prophet, but are added by St. Matthew to express more fully the sense, because he offered himself up to the will of his heavenly Father, and delivered himself into the hands of those who persecuted him. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Nor cry out; because, like a lamb, in the hands of the shearer, he opened not his mouth.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

These words declare the meekness, and gentleness, and modesty of our blessed Saviour. His meekness, that he should not do his work in any passion or roughness, nor carry on his kingdom with any strife or violence. Therefore when the Pharisees took counsel against him, he made no opposition, but peaceably withdrew, until the time came when he was to be delivered; and then he as meekly yielded up himself, rebuking Peter for but drawing a sword for him, and healing his ear which he had wounded. His not crying, nor lifting up his voice, or suffering his voice to be heard in the streets, might either signify his meekness, not crying out to stir up any sedition; or not setting a trumpet to his mouth, when he had wrought a miracle, that people might take notice of it; instead of it he charged the persons healed not to publish it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. He shall not strive — Here the peaceful character of the Saviour is set in beautiful contrast with the greatness of his deeds. Though he rule the nations with his law, he shall be peaceful and noiseless. His victories shall be the victories of peace. The rulers of Christendom have sometimes spread Christianity by the sword; but that was in express contradiction both to the personal character of Christ and to the precepts and principles of his Gospel. Strive — To strive is to fight. Our Lord at this time retreated from publicity to avoid all contest or strife. Nor cry — He shall raise no battle cry. Voice in the streets — Rallying his partisans to the riot and the sedition.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall not strive, nor cry. In Isaiah the clause is, "He shall not cry aloud nor lift up his voice (a alw qxy al);" and so the LXX But "strive" would represent one very frequent connotation of "cry aloud" and its synonyms, for in Eastern lands disputants use their voice much more loudly than we do. This close connexion between the two ideas is seen also in the Syriac Version of Isaiah,. where "lift up his voice" is translated narib , a word meaning primarily "he shall strive," and only secondarily "he shall lift up his voice." It is possible, but not probable, that Matthew"s "strive" is taken directly from narib, adopting its primary and commoner meaning, and transposed. Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A slight paraphrase of the original, "nor cause his voice to he heard in the street," perhaps due to different vocalization of the Hebrew.

The power that may be in silent farces.

This passage from Isaiah is given to show that one most characteristic feature of our Lord"s ministry was anticipated in prophecy. He avoided publicity; he shrank from contentions; he would not thrust himself into danger; he was absolutely content to do a quiet work, by personal influence, daily teachings, and kindly deeds of helpfulness, and of "heavenly, Divine charity." Silent forces are the mightiest. Silent light does more than bursting lightning; silent gravitation does more than rumbling earthquake. A thought, a truth, may work in men"s minds as the frost works in the cliffs that guard "the inviolate sea;" and presently the results are found, as the cliffs fall on to the shores. But faith in the power of silent forces is not usual with men, more especially in the spheres of religion. We are always wanting something that can be reported in the newspapers, and bring round upon us the praise of men for our energy and activity. The quiet-souled, who are content to do good work, and to keep on doing it, leaving it with God to appraise work, and reckon results, and reward workers, can always make their appeal to Christ, who got away from crowds whenever he could, who shrank from public excitement, and laid on the altar of the Father"s service simply good, patient, quiet work. This subject may be effectively illustrated in relation to the following things:

1. The silent force of sanctified personal character.

2. The silent force of unconscious influence.

3. The silent force of ever-ready and ever-cheerful helpfulness.

4. The silent force of cultured self-denial.

5. The silent force of full convictions of truth.

The man of strong faith never needs to use strong assertion. Quietness is his strength. There is need for the noisy forces; and God is properly called by the poet "Lord of the strong things and the gentle." But our faith in the manifestly strong things, needs no buttressing. Our faith in the seemingly weak things needs much buttressing. Jesus neither "strives nor cries," but he puts forces into the world which will work, as the leaven works, until they have secured the world"s redemption. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall not strive, nor clamour; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets - That is, he shall not be contentious, noisy, or ostentatious: but gentle, quiet, and lowly. We may observe each word rises above the other, expressing a still higher degree of humility and gentleness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

19. He shall not strive nor cry. He shall be modest, retiring, and not a brazen, noisy declaimer.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Matthew continues to quote the prophet Isaiah.

neither will anyone hear his voice

Here people not hearing his voice represents him not speaking loudly. AT: "he will not speak loudly" (See: Metonymy)

his ... He

All occurrences of these words refer to God's chosen servant.

in the streets

This is an idiom that means "publicly." AT: "in the cities and towns" (See: Idiom)

He will not break any bruised reed; he will not quench any smoking flax

Both of these statements mean the same thing. They are metaphors emphasizing that God's servant will be gentle and kind. Both "bruised reed" and "smoking flax" represent weak and hurting people. If the metaphor is confusing, you could translate the literal meaning. AT: "He will be kind to weak people, and he will be gentle to those who are hurting" (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)

bruised reed

"damaged plant"

he will not quench any smoking flax

"he will not put out any smoking flax" or "he will not stop any smoking flax from burning"

smoking flax

This refers to a lamp wick after the flame has gone out and when it is only smoking.

flax, until

This can be translated with a new sentence: "flax. This is what he will do until"

he leads justice to victory

Leading someone to victory represents causing him to be victorious. Causing justice to be victorious represents making things right that had been wrong. AT: "he makes everything right" (See: Abstract Nouns)

in his name

Here "name" refers to the whole person. AT: "in him" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

voice

reed

judge

Gentile

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

19, 20. These verses describe the gentleness and forbearance of Christ. He makes no resistance or loud proclamation like an earthly prince. The bruised reed and the feebly-burning wick may be referred to the failing lives which Jesus restores and the sparks of faith which He revives.

19. ἐρίσει. Here, only in N.T., it may be noted that in this citation there are three ἅπαξ λεγόμενα in N.T. αἱρετίζειν—ἐρίζειν—τύφομαι, none of which occur in the LXX. version of the prophecy; the fut. κατεάξει is extremely rare, and the construction of ἐλπίζειν is found here only in N.T. The divergence from the LXX. points to an independent version, and the divergence from St Matthew’s vocabulary points to some translator other than the Evangelist.

ἀκούσει. Late for middle form ἀκούσεται.

ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις. ‘In the open spaces’ of the city. Jesus had retired to the desert.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.