Matthew 13:35

35 He did this to make come true what the prophet had said, ¹ "I will use parables when I speak to them; I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world."

Matthew 13:35 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 13:35

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
&c.] Not Isaiah, as some copies in the times of Jerom read, but Asaph, who is called Asaph the seer, ( 2 Chronicles 29:30 ) which is all one as a prophet; vision is one sort of prophecy ^F4; and there was such a thing as prophesying with harps, psalteries and cymbals, as well as in other ways, and with which Asaph and his sons are said to prophesy, ( 1 Chronicles 25:1-3 ) so that he is very rightly called a prophet by the evangelist, who is cited, as

saying,
( Psalms 78:2 )

I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have
been kept secret from the foundation of the world:
which Psalm, though a history of the dealings of God with the people of Israel, and of the many deliverances wrought for them, yet as the ^F5 Jewish writers observe, contain many things in it, expressed in a parabolical and enigmatical way; such as God's furnishing a table in the wilderness, kindling a fire against Jacob, opening the doors of heaven, giving the corn of heaven, and angels' food, and delivering his strength into captivity; and besides, the very historical facts recorded of the people of Israel, were types of things future under the Gospel dispensation: now as Asaph, by divine inspiration, delivered these parables and dark sayings, so Christ expressed the Gospel, and the mysteries of it, in a parabolical way, which were hid in God, and under the shadows of the law; and so were kept secret from the beginning of the world, and from the multitude, though now made known to the apostles, and by them to others, according to the will of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 R. David Kimchi, Shorash. rad. (hzx) .
F5 Aben Ezra & Kirachi in loc.

Matthew 13:35 In-Context

33 Jesus told them still another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises."

34 Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable.

35 He did this to make come true what the prophet had said, "I will use parables when I speak to them; I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world."

36 When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, "Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means."

37 Jesus answered, "The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man;

Cross References

• 1. 13.35Psalms 78.2.