Matthew 12:20

A bruised reed (kalamon suntetrimmenon). Perfect passive participle of suntribw. A crushed reed he will not break. The curious augment in kateaxei (future active indicative) is to be noted. The copyists kept the augment where it did not belong in this verb (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1212) even in Plato. "Smoking flax" (linon tupomenon). The wick of a lamp, smoking and flickering and going out. Only here in N.T. Flax in Exodus 9:31 . Vivid images that picture Jesus in the same strain as his own great words in Matthew 11:28-30 .