Matthew 13:12

12 for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

Matthew 13:12 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 13:12

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given
Whoever has the true grace of God implanted in him, has a saving knowledge of Christ, and a spiritual acquaintance with the doctrines of the Gospel, shall have more grace given him; he shall grow in the knowledge of Christ, and the Spirit of truth shall lead him into all truth:

and he shall have more abundance:
of grace, light, knowledge, and experience: all grace shall be made to abound towards him; he shall be filled with all the fulness of God, and shall arrive to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; and his light shall shine more and more unto the perfect day.

But whosoever hath not:
the truth of grace, nor a spiritual knowledge of Christ, nor any experience of the doctrines of the Gospel,

from him shall be taken away, even that he hath,
or "that which he seemed to have", as Luke expresses it; for everything besides true grace is a mere show, and has no solidity in it; as natural parts, human learning, and a form of knowledge and of truth in the law, the national church state of the Jews, with all the outward privileges appertaining thereunto, all which may be here meant; and even speculative notions of the Gospel, the external gifts of the Spirit, the means of grace, the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and the ministry of it, which in process of time were wholly taken from these people.

Matthew 13:12 In-Context

10 And the disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables?
11 And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given;
12 for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13 For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand;
14 and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see;

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hostis: as ch. 7.24.
  • [b]. As to the good thing given. It is abstract; the object is not to day what is given, but the manner of God's dealing. What is given is caused to be in abundance. We may say, also, 'he shall be in abundance,' a word used of the thing and of the person possessing it
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.