Matthew 8:19

19 And a scribe approached [and] said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!"

Matthew 8:19 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 8:19

And a certain Scribe came
"As they went in the way", ( Luke 9:57 ) to go to the sea side, in order to take shipping, and pass to the other shore;

and said unto him, Master, or Rabbi, I will follow thee
whithersoever thou goest.
One would have thought, that this man desired in good earnest to be a disciple of Christ, were it not for Christ's answer to him, who knew his heart: from whence it appears, that he, seeing the miracles which Christ wrought, and observing the fame of him among the people, began to think that he would be generally received as the Messiah; and by joining himself to him, promised himself much ease, honour, and wealth. These seem to be the motives, which prevailed upon him to take so sudden and hasty a step; for he did not wait to be called to follow Christ, as the other disciples were, but offers himself to be one; that is, to be one of his intimates, one of his apostles; and besides, he rashly promises to do that, which he knew nothing of, and which in some cases is impossible to be done.

Matthew 8:19 In-Context

17 in order that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said, "He himself took away our sicknesses, and carried away our diseases."

18 Now [when] Jesus saw many crowds around him, he gave orders to depart to the other side.

19 And a scribe approached [and] said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!"

20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky [have] nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

21 And another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("approached") has been translated as a finite verb