Matthew 13:12

12 For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.

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 Then the talmidim came and asked Yeshua, "Why are you speaking to them in parables?"
11 He answered, "Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them.
12 For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.
13 Here is why I speak to them in parables: they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.
14 That is, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Yesha`yahu which says, `You will keep on hearing but never understand, and keep on seeing but never perceive,
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.