Matthew 7:26

Mat 7:26. Ὁ ἀκούων, he that heareth) He who neither hears nor does, clearly does not build at all.—ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον, on the sand) which frequently looks like the rock, but is not of the same consistence.

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

Mat 7:26-27 . μωρῷ , Jesus seems here to offend against His own teaching, Mat 5:22 , but He speaks not in passion or contempt, but in deep sadness, and with humane intent to prevent such folly. Wherein lay the second builder’s folly? Not in deliberately selecting a bad foundation, but in taking no thought of foundation; in beginning to build at haphazard and anywhere; on loose sand ( ἄμμος ) near the bed of a mountain torrent. His fault was not an error in judgment, but inconsiderateness. It is not, as is commonly supposed, a question of two foundations, but of looking to, and neglecting to look to, the foundation. In the natural sphere no man in his senses commits such a mistake. But utterly improbable cases have to be supposed in parables to illustrate human folly in religion.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine--in the attitude of discipleship.

and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand--denoting a loose foundation--that of an empty profession and mere external services.

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 26. And every one that heareth - and doeth them not] Was there ever a stricter system of morality delivered by God to man, than in this sermon? He who reads or hears it, and does not look to God to conform his soul and life to it, and notwithstanding is hoping to enter into the kingdom of heaven, is like the fool who built his house on the sand. When the rain, the rivers, and the winds come, his building must fall, and his soul be crushed into the nethermost pit by its ruins. Talking about Christ, his righteousness, merits, and atonement, while the person is not conformed to his word and spirit, is no other than solemn self-deception.

Let it be observed, that it is not the man who hears or believes these sayings of Christ, whose building shall stand, when the earth and its works are burnt up; but the man who DOES them.

Many suppose that the law of Moses is abolished, merely because it is too strict, and impossible to be observed; and that the Gospel was brought in to liberate us from its obligations; but let all such know, that in the whole of the old covenant nothing can be found so exceedingly strict and holy as this sermon, which Christ lays down as the rule by which we are to walk. "Then, the fulfilling of these precepts is the purchase of glory." No, it is the WAY only to that glory which has already been purchased by the blood of the Lamb. To him that believes, all things are possible.

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

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

Ver. 26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, &c.] Which is the greater number of hearers, for most men hear to hear, and not to practise, {a} Some hear merely of form, or for fashion’ sake, or to save the penalty of the statute, or to find some recipe to procure a sleep, or to still the clamours of their consciences, or to make amends and purchase dispensation for some beloved lust, as Herod; or expecting from the preacher some choice novelty, as Mat 3:8, some deep point, Mat 12:37, or dainty expressions, as Eze 33:32. Or they hear and jeer, Act 17:32; hear and carp, as Doeg; hear and resist the Holy Ghost, Act 7:51. Or at least are no whit wrought upon, whether we pipe or lament to ThemMt 11:17. Or if they hear and admire, as those, Mat 22:22; yet they amend nothing, or but for a season, as the stony ground, Mat 13:20-21; they are hearers of forgetfulness (ακροαται επιλησμονης), Jas 1:25; like hour glasses, they are no sooner full, but running out again; like nets or sieves, they retain only the chaff or weeds, let go the pure water and good grain. The word runs through them, as water through a riven vessel (that is the apostle’s metaphor, Heb 2:1, μηποτε παραρυωμεν), or as that which is written upon moist paper, as others will have it. A general cause of our not practising what we hear is, that we put this spiritual treasure into broken bags, this precious liquor into leaking vessels. Whereas our souls should be as the ark, and our memories as the pot of manna, to retain what we have received, that we may have it ready for practice, as Saul had his cruse and his spear at his head, and David his scrip and stones ready by his side. A heavy ear is a singular judgment, Isa 6:10; but a slow heart and a heavy hand, to conceive and do what we hear, paves a way to remediless misery; besides the fool to boot which the judge here putteth upon him.

Shall be likened unto a foolish man] And he is a fool indeed whom Christ calleth fool. Conscionable hearers are counted good men (God wot), but simple, silly, and of no parts. But "wisdom is justified of her children." To walk precisely, is to walk wisely, Eph 5:15. And he that heareth and guideth his feet in the way, is wise, Pro 23:19. And, "Who is a wise man among you, and endued with knowledge? Let him show out of a good conversation his works," &c., Jas 3:13. All others are fools, because they fail in the main point of their salvation: they are troubled about many things, but neglect the one thing necessary; they trifle out their precious opportunities, and in hearing or other services they do worse than lose their labour, for they commit sin and heap up wrath. Their house will down, as the spider’s house doth, and all their building, ploughing, planting, sailing, come to nothing.

Which built his house upon the sand] Wherefore it soon sinks and shatters, as having not the loose earth thrown up first, by the practice of mortification and self-denial. Men should first sit down, and cast what it would cost them to build the tower of godliness, or e’er they leap into profession. They should put their hearts often to those grand questions of abnegation. Can I (as all must that will be Christ’s disciples) deny myself in all my selves (for a man hath many selves within himself, and must utterly and absolutely deny them all), take up my daily cross (for omnis Christianus crucianus, every Christian is a Crucian or cross bearer, saith Luther; the rain will fall, the floods flow, the winds blow, and beat upon his building, he shall have many trials and temptations that looks towards heaven, troubles without, terrors within, his back burden of both), and follow Christ through thick and thin, by doing and suffering his whole will? Many will follow Christ in such duties as suit with their humours, and no farther, as the rusty hand of a dial; they will break the hedge of his law, to shun a piece of foul way: they follow Christ, as the dog follows his master, till he come by a carrion, and then he turns him up. Orpah made a fair proffer of going along with Naomi, but when she had better considered it, she turned again. Lot’s wife set fair out of Sodom, but looked back. So do many forward hearers set their hands to God’s plough, but (loth to plough up the fallow ground of their hearts, and to lay a good foundation in humiliation) they start aside like broken bows, and steal away like cowardly soldiers (υποστειληται), Heb 10:38, and so judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, and unfit for God’s kingdom, Luk 9:62. For the foolish shall not stand in his sight, he hateth all the workers of iniquity, Psa 5:5. Caleb was not discouraged by the giants, therefore he had Hebron given him, the place of the giants, when the spies and murmurers were never suffered to enter; no more shall they that hold not out to the death obtain the crown of life.

{a} Panaetios apud Scythiam esse ferunt tam diffasa aurium magnitudine, ut omne corus ex eis contegant. Isidore xi. 3.

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.

Nothing can be more foolish than to raise an edifice on sand: it carries punishment with it, causing indeed abundance of labour, but yielding neither reward nor repose. The slaves of malice, luxury, and voluptuousness, labour in the pursuit of their desires, yet not only receive no reward, but, on the contrary, the greatest punishment. They sow in the flesh, from the flesh they shall reap corruption. (Galatians vi.) (St. John Chrysostom, hom. xxv.)

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).

There are and will be others, that, as foolish builders, run up a house in haste, without looking to the goodness of the foundation, and happen to build it upon loose ground. So they flatter themselves with the hopes of the house in the heavens not made with hands, 2Co 5:1, without looking to the bottom and foundation of these hopes, whether they be such as Christ hath warranted or not; but either build their hopes upon God’s infinite mercy, or the sufficiency of Christ’s merits, or their own works, hearing the word of God, and performing some other duties of religion, never regarding to live to the obedience of the will of God. And the same event will be to these men as to such foolish builders; their building may stand a while, but when a day of visitation, or death, or sharp afflictions or temptation, comes, then their house, their hopes, all fail and perish in a moment, because they had no good foundation, Job 8:13,14; Job 11:20; 27:8; Pro 11:7.

And great was the fall of it: their misery and calamity shall be the greater, by how much their hopes have been the stronger, the disappointment of their expectation adding to their misery.

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

Vers. 26, 27. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it. In the Plain of Sharon the clay seems to have been so interior that not only were the jars made of it often worthless, but the bricks could offer so little resistance to the weather that the houses were hardly safe. Hence a special prayer was offered by the high priest on the Day of Atonement that the Lord would grant that their houses might not become their tombs (Talm. Jeremiah, "Yoma," 5:2 Schwab, p. 218; cf. Neubauer, "Geograph.," p. 48). In the parable, however, it is not the structure, but the foundation, that is wrong. The sand may refer, as Stanley suggests ("Sinai and Palestine," ch. 13. p. 430), to one locality, in which case it is probably "the long sandy strip of land which bounds the eastern plain of Acre, and through which the Kishon flows into the sea;" or, as would seem more probable, to the sand which would naturally be found on the edges of such a torrent as is here described. Beat upon; smote upon (Revised Version). In ver. 25 the thought is more of the swoop of the tempest (prosepesan); here, of its impact on the house (prosekoqan). It is possible that there is here less indication of force necessary for the destruction. "It needed only the first blow, and the house fell" (Weiss, "Matthaus-ev."). And great was the fall of it. Our Lord"s solemn verdict of the utter ruin awaiting him who does not put his assent into action. The clause conveys an impression even stronger than ver. 23. There the positive worker of lawlessness is banished from Christ"s presence; here, on the mere non-worker of Divine messages received is pronounced ruin and (for such, at least, seems suggested) that irremediable.

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

26. Heareth these sayings … and doeth them not. The hearer who obeys not is likened to the foolish man who built his house on the sand. Every one knows how transitory and shifting is a sandy foundation. Whole towns on the Missouri or lower Mississippi have been undermined and gone into the vortex because they were built upon the sand. So will fall the disobedient.

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:

This is the end of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which began in Matthew 5:3.

like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand

Jesus continues the simile from the previous verse. He compares those who do not obey his words to foolish house-builders. Only a fool would build a house on a sandy place where rain, floods, and wind can sweep the sand away. (See: Simile)

fell

Use the general word in your language that describes what happens when a house falls down.

its destruction was complete

The rain, floods, and wind completely destroyed the house.

translationWords

word

obey

fool

flood

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

26. And every one who heareth these My sayings, and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.] Lk. has: “But he who heard and did not, is like to a man who built a house upon the soil without a foundation.”

(L)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.