Matthew 19:11

11 And he said to them, All cannot receive this word, but those to whom it has been given;

Matthew 19:11 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 19:11

But he said unto them
With respect to the inference or conclusion, the disciples formed from what he had asserted:

all men cannot receive this saying;
of their's, that it is not good to marry, but it is more proper and expedient to live a single life! every man, as the Syriac version renders it, is not (hl qpo) , "sufficient", or "fit", for this thing; everyone has not the gift of continency, and indeed very few; and therefore it is expedient for such to marry; for what the disciples said, though it might be true in part, yet not in the whole; and though the saying might be proper and pertinent enough to some persons, yet not to all, and indeed to none,

save they to whom it is given;
to receive such a saying, to live unmarried with content, having the gift of chastity; for this is not of nature, but of grace: it is the gift of God.

Matthew 19:11 In-Context

9 But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, not for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery; and he who marries one put away commits adultery.

10 His disciples say to him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.

11 And he said to them, All cannot receive this word, but those to whom it has been given;

12 for there are eunuchs which have been born thus from [their] mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs who have made eunuchs of themselves for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it].

13 Then there were brought to him little children that he might lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them.