Mateus 12
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 12
Spurgeon - We incidentally learn from this story that our Lord and his disciples were poor, and that he who fed the multitudes did not use his miraculous power to feed his own followers, but left them till they did what poor men are forced to do to supply a little stay for their stomachs. Related Resources on Sabbath: American Church Dictionary Sabbath American Tract Society Sabbath Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Sabbath Baker Evangelical Dictionary Sabbath Charles Buck Dictionary Sabbath Easton's Bible Dictionary Sabbath Day's Journey Sabbath Fausset Bible Dictionary Sabbath Holman Bible Dictionary Sabbath Sabbath Day's Journey Second Sabbath Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Sabbath Day's Journey Sabbath Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Sabbath Sabbath Sabbath Day's Journey Smith Bible Dictionary Sabbath Vines' Expository Dictionary Sabbath Wilson's Bible Types Sabbath Watson's Theological Dictionary Sabbath Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia Sabbath and Feasts International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Sabbath McClintock - Sabbath Sabbath - Multiple Dictionaries, Naves and ISBE What is the Sabbath day? from "Got Questions?" How is Jesus our Sabbath Rest? How can we enter into God’s rest? Rest in the Bible - a detailed discussion Does God require Sabbath-keeping of Christians? What day is the Sabbath, Saturday or Sunday? Do Christians have to obey the Old Testament law? What does it mean to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy? Norman Geisler - MATTHEW 12:1–5—Did Jesus’ disciples break the Jewish Sabbath law? PROBLEM: Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). Yet Jesus’ disciples deliberately and knowingly picked grain on the Sabbath, thus arousing the ire of the Pharisees by doing “what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:2). SOLUTION: Jesus kept the OT law perfectly (see Mt 5:17–18). By eating grain on the Sabbath when hungry, Jesus’ disciples did not break God’s law. However, it did violate the Pharisees’ law. Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees for adding their “traditions” (cf. Matt. 5:43 and 15:6) to God’s laws. Deeds of mercy and necessity were permitted on the OT Sabbath. Jesus’ disciples were not harvesting bushels full of grain on the Sabbath. They were merely eating handfuls of it as they passed through the field, which was permitted by OT law (see Deut. 23:25). Further, as Jesus noted on this occasion, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). He also pointed out that “the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8). In short, the Sabbath law was not the highest law, for there were “weightier matters” (cf. Matt. 23:23), such as justice and mercy. Jesus, as the Messiah and the Son of God, was not the servant of the Sabbath—He was Lord of it. He made it! And He could (and later did) change it, if He so desired (see comments on Matt. 5:17–18). (When Critics Ask) m. Šabbat 7.2 This passage from the Mishnah, if at all representative of the kinds of prohibitions in Jesus’ day, reveals the strictness with which the commandment “to keep the Sabbath holy” was understood. A. The generative categories of acts of labor [prohibited on the Sabbath] are forty less one: B. (1) he who sews, (2) ploughs, (3) reaps, (4) binds sheaves, (5) threshes, (6) winnows, (7) selects [fit from unfit produce or crops], (8) grinds, (9) sifts, (10) kneads, (11) bakes; C. (12) who shears wool, (13) washes it, (14) beats it, (15) dyes it; D. (16) spins, (17) weaves, E. (18) makes two loops, (19) weaves two threads, (20) separates two threads; F. (21) ties, (22) unties, G. (23) sews two stitches, (24) tears in order to sew two stitches; H. (25) he who traps a deer, (26) slaughters it, (27) flays it, (28) salts it, (29) curds its hide, (30) scrapes it, and (31) cuts it up; I. (32) he who writes two letters, (33) erases two letters in order to write two letters; J. (34) he who builds, (35) tears down; K. (36) he who puts out a fire, (37) kindles a fire; L. (38) he who hits with a hammer; (39) he who transports an object from one domain to another— M. lo, these are the forty generative acts of labor less one. THOUGHT: The Pharisees as usual were "splitting hairs." Stated another way the Pharisees were straining out gnats and swallowing camels as Jesus accused them of in Mt 23:24 declaring "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Jesus was saying that the Pharisees picked out the smallest and least points to focus on (which in fact were not even God's commandments but men's additions - see the "addition" in "B.(1)" above), while completely ignoring the most important matters, like compassion (they could care less that Jesus' disciples were hungry!). Jesus uses hyperbole imagining someone about to take a drink of water from a cup, noticing that there is a tiny gnat (pix) in it, and straining the water to remove the gnat and then drinks the water, never noticing that there was a camel floating in the cup (so to speak of course!) Jesus makes the point rather dramatically that the religious leaders were focusing on lesser matters written by fallen men, while completely ignoring the more important matters of the holy God! Isn't that what our flesh is so prone to do! We all have a bit of "Pharisee" in us from time to time. Lord, deliver us by Your Spirit and the Law of the LORD which is perfect reviving our souls. In Jesus Name. Amen (Ps 19:7+). Matthew 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” NET Matthew 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath." GNT Matthew 12:2 οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Ἰδοὺ οἱ μαθηταί σου ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν σαββάτῳ. NLT Matthew 12:2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath." KJV Matthew 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. ESV Matthew 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." NIV Matthew 12:2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." ASV Matthew 12:2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath. CSB Matthew 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" NKJ Matthew 12:2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" NRS Matthew 12:2 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath." YLT Matthew 12:2 and the Pharisees having seen, said to him, 'Lo, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath.' Look (behold): Mt 12:10 Ex 20:9-11 23:12 31:15-17 35:2 Nu 15:32-36 Isa 58:13 Mk 3:2-5 Lu 6:6-11 13:10-17 23:56 Joh 5:9-11,16,17 7:21-24 Joh 9:14-16 Matthew 12 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel Passages: Mark 2:23-28 Luke 6:1-5, Matthew 12:1-8 Mark 2:24+ The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” Luke 6:2+ But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” PHARISEES POUNCE ON PLUCKERS OF PRODUCE One could subtitle this passage something like "legal nitpickers begin to pick on the pickers." But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him - See their hostile attitude toward Jesus in Mt 9:11+, Mt 9:34+. Their hatred of Jesus is growing and festering in their evil hearts and will soon bear the rotten fruit of a desire to murder Him (Mt 12:14)! These legalistic hairsplitting Pharisees were filled with envy and were always lurking and looking, looking for Jesus to make a "slip up," which would not be difficult because little did they know that Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath had come wage war against the "traditional" religion that was so highly esteemed by the Pharisees and so highly displeasing in the eyes of Jehovah! As the prophet Samuel told David's father Jesse, God does not look at the external appearance (the Pharisees were peerless perfectionists! cf Mt 5:20+), but God looks at the heart. (1 Sa 16:7). That has always been God's way, for when He takes the measure of a man, He does not put a tape measure (so to speak) around his head to see how much he knows (the Pharisee were the "knowers" par excellence), but He puts it around His heart to see how much He obeys (not legalistically but from the heart). As David wrote "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." (Ps 51:17+) God's "standards" have not changed! Pharisees (5330)(pharisaios) is transliterated from Hebrew parash (06567 - to separate) which is from an Aramaic word peras (06537) ("Peres" in Da 5:28-note), signifying to separate, owing to a different manner of life from that of the general public. After the resettling of the Jewish people in Judea on their return from the Babylonian captivity, there were two religious groups among them. One party contented themselves with following only what was written in the Law of Moses. These were called Zadikim, the (so-called) "righteous one." The other group added the constitutions and traditions of the elders, as well as other rigorous observances, to the Law and voluntarily complied with them. They were called Chasidim or the pious, who beyond the legal requirements of ritual and ethical Jewish observance in daily life. From the Zadikim the sects of the Sadducees and Karaites were derived. From the Chasidim were derived the Pharisees and the Essenes. In 1 Macc 2:42RSV, among the persons who joined Mattathias against Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), about 167 b.c., are named the Asideans (Asidaíoi), who are described as voluntarily devoted to the law. The Asideans are mentioned also in 1 Macc 7:13RSV; 2 Macc14:6RSV. In the time of our Lord, the Pharisees were the separatists of their day, as well as the principal sect among the Jews. The Pharisees considered themselves much holier than the common people (Lk 18:11, 12+). They wore special garments to distinguish themselves from others (See Edersheim's description). PRINCIPLE TENETS OF PHARISEES: In opposition to the Sadducees, the Pharisees maintained the existence of angels and spirits and the doctrine of the resurrection (Acts 23:8+), which the Sadducees denied (Mt 22:23; Mk 12:18; Lu 20:27+). The Pharisees made everything dependent upon God and fate (see Josephus, The Jewish Wars, ii.8.14 - scroll down). However, they did not deny the role of the human will in affecting events (see Josephus, Antiquities, xviii.1.3). They prided themselves on their ZEAL FOR TRADITION: The Pharisees distinguished themselves with their zeal for the traditions of the elders, which they erroneously taught was derived from the same fountain as the written Word itself (LIKE SOME RELIGIONS DO TODAY PLACING PRONOUNCEMENTS OF MERE MEN ON THE SAME PEDESTAL AS PROCLAMATIONS OF THE HOLY GOD!), claiming both to have been delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai (Mt 15:1-6; Mk 7:3-5). See also paradosis (3862), tradition, and éntalma (1778), a religious precept versus entole (1785), commandment. (See more detailed notes from William Barclay) Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology has an excellent summary of Pharisees. Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew - Matt. 3:7; Matt. 5:20; Matt. 9:11; Matt. 9:14; Matt. 9:34; Matt. 12:2; Matt. 12:14; Matt. 12:24; Matt. 12:38; Matt. 15:1; Matt. 15:12; Matt. 16:1; Matt. 16:6; Matt. 16:11; Matt. 16:12; Matt. 19:3; Matt. 21:45; Matt. 22:15; Matt. 22:34; Matt. 22:41; Matt. 23:2; Matt. 23:13; Matt. 23:14; Matt. 23:15; Matt. 23:23; Matt. 23:25; Matt. 23:26; Matt. 23:27; Matt. 23:29; Matt. 27:62; Look, Your disciples (mathetes - learners) do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath - Look is a the verb idou which is a command in the aorist imperative and in this context has a touch of rebuke! Pay attention Jesus! Here these upstarts are commanding to Jesus to "Look" as if He is not already fully aware! Not (ou) signifies absolute negation. There was absolutely no room in the heart of the Pharisees for making an exception if someone was starving! The legalists had made their own rules many of which were utterly ridiculous but all of which made keeping them a great burden. It is fascinating that men's rules were far more difficult and detailed than God's rules! See MacArthur's description (below) of some of their outlandish rules! If the Pharisees' were alive today, their theme song would likely be Tevye's "Tradition" in Fiddler on the Roof, a good song but a bad practice. In effect the Pharisees were accusing Jesus' disciples of reaping (picking the grain, one of 39 kinds of work forbidden on the Sabbath), threshing (rubbing the husks together to separate the chaff from the grain), and winnowing (throwing the husks away), and thus preparing food! Is this not absurd? Is it not absurd how far legalism will go when it veers from what is stated clearly in the Word of God? In fact what the disciples were doing was permitted by the Law, for Moses stated only one Sabbath restriction and that was that one could not fill a vessel or use a harvesting implement! "When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain." (Dt. 23:24-25) Think for a moment of what it must have been like to be a Jew ever in the watchful eyes of the Pharisees who served as "legalistic police!" For law-keeping Jews, there was a frantic need to know a mountain of traditional regulations concerning it and a constant dread lest some minor infraction of an unknown rule might bring divine disfavour on their heads. They had even prescribed the amount that could be plucked and eaten on the Sabbath and it need be no larger than the size of a dried fig, hardly enough to satisfy ones hunger but large enough to convict a sabbath-breaker should they gather more than a fig-sized portion! This was a law of the rabbis, not a law of Moses, the law of God. God cared for men and had made allowance for hungry travelers (Dt 23:25), but the Pharisees could care less!
Mateus 12
Spurgeon adds that "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine underlining of an especially striking or important text. It says in effect "Listen up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!" Here Jesus is saying to pay attention as He points out the gross, inexcusable indifference of the legalistic person when there is a person in need. And a man was there whose hand was withered (cf OT example 1 Ki 13:1-6 where a withered hand was temporary divine judgment) - Some think this man was a "plant" (contrivance) orchestrated by the sinister, surreptitious Pharisees who knew Jesus liked to show compassion by healing illness of various kinds. While this is a possibility, it is conjecture. What is not conjecture is that God "set it up" in His providence that there would be a Sabbath day collision between His Son and the religious legalists. Nothing happened by accident in Jesus' life and the same is true of your life dear child of God. God is in control and still on the throne of the universe even in a world that appears to be rapidly spinning out of control morally and ethically! (See The Providence of God ) Withered was a word used of plants that were shriveled, shrunken and dried up because of lack of moisture and/or nutrients and in the same way this man's hand was atrophied from disuse (see disuse atrophy), muscles having been reduced to bare strings of tissue, skin wrinkled by the shrinking of the underlying tissues. This was clearly a long-standing problem and not a life-threatening emergency, which is significant as even the rabbis had made provision for healing in cases which were life-threatening. Jesus is about to miraculously reverse this process with His spoken word (cf effect of His Word in Heb 11:3+, Col 1:16+)! Matthew does not record what is described by both Mark and Luke, the fact that the Pharisees were watching Jesus (Mk 3:2+, Lk 6:6+). This was not a casual watching but intensive observance, sinister scrutiny if you will! These self-proclaimed "protectors" or guardians of the Sabbath were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath. Withered (dry) (3583)(xeraino from xeros = dry) means to become dry, to dry up and figuratively describes the whole body of a demon possessed boy that became stiffened and rigid (Mk 9.18). In Mark 3:1 it describes a limb which is shriveled, withered and has become useless. As plants are killed by drought, so the human body is damaged by certain harmful things. 15x in NT - Matt. 13:6; Matt. 21:19; Matt. 21:20; Mk. 3:1; Mk. 4:6; Mk. 5:29; Mk. 9:18; Mk. 11:20; Mk. 11:21; Lk. 8:6; Jn. 15:6; Jas. 1:11; 1 Pet. 1:24; Rev. 14:15; Rev. 16:12 And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”–so that they might accuse Him - Leon
Mateus 12
Spurgeon adds "“Whatever fault the devils have, they are not at strife with each other; that fault is reserved for the servants of a better Master.” In Luke 11:19+ (MacArthur thinks this was a different occasion but others think it is a parallel to Mark and Matthew) Jesus added one other piece of logic not found in the different events recorded by Mark and Matthew (which parallel each other) - "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges." Here Jesus is saying that He was aware of so-called Jewish exorcists.Were His accusing accuse them also? Matthew 12:27 “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. NET Matthew 12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. GNT Matthew 12:27 καὶ εἰ ἐγὼ ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν ἐν τίνι ἐκβάλλουσιν; διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὶ κριταὶ ἔσονται ὑμῶν. NLT Matthew 12:27 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. KJV Matthew 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. ESV Matthew 12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. NIV Matthew 12:27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ASV Matthew 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. CSB Matthew 12:27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. NKJ Matthew 12:27 "And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. NRS Matthew 12:27 If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. YLT Matthew 12:27 'And if I, by Beelzeboul, do cast out the demons, your sons -- by whom do they cast out? because of this they -- they shall be your judges. NAB Matthew 12:27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. NJB Matthew 12:27 And if it is through Beelzebul that I drive devils out, through whom do your own experts drive them out? They shall be your judges, then. GWN Matthew 12:27 If I force demons out of people with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That's why they will be your judges. BBE Matthew 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub send evil spirits out of men, by whom do your sons send them out? So let them be your judges. Beelzebul: Mt 12:24 by whom: Mk 9:38,39 Lu 9:49,50 Lk 11:19 Ac 19:13-16 they: Mt 12:41,42 Lu 19:22 Ro 3:19 Matthew 12 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Parallel Passage: Luke 11:19+ “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. If I by Beelzebul cast out demons - The "IF" here is a second class condition which is considered as an unreal case. Jesus did not cast out demons by the ruler of the demons! That would be absurd. Broadus - Condescending, as he did with reference to the Sabbath (Mt 12:3 f.), to present the argument in a variety of ways, our Lord here gives it a new and startling turn, being what logicians call argumentum ad hominem, an appeal to their own case. (Matthew 12 Commentary) By whom do your sons cast them out? - Here Jesus takes the offensive! Jesus is addressing His opponents, and so the most natural understanding of your sons would be a reference to Jews (unbelieving Jews) who practiced (or attempted to practice) exorcism (some postulate this refers to disciples - see more detailed discussion of this issue in comments on Lk 11:19). On one hand Jesus seems to imply that the so-called Jewish exorcists were successful at making others think that they had truly cast out demons. In fact in Mt 7:22+ Jesus affirms " “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’" (Acts He does not deny). On the other hand Acts 19:13-15+ describes unsuccessful Jewish exorcists who ironically were even attempting to use Jesus' Name to cast out demons (see also the seven sons of Sceva)! Jesus' point is that if He was possessed and/or empowered by Satan to cast out demons then what about the source of power for the Jewish exorcists (whether they were successful or not)?
Mateus 12
Spurgeon - "I believe I have committed the unpardonable sin," someone says. My dear brother, I believe you have not. I want you to call one thing to remembrance, and that is that the unpardonable sin is a sin which is unto death. Now a sin which is unto death means a sin which brings death on the conscience. The man who commits it never has any conscience afterwards; he is dead there. Now, you have some feeling. You have enough life to wish to be saved from sin. You have enough life to long to be washed in the precious blood of Jesus. You have not committed the unpardonable sin. Therefore, have hope. D. L. Moody told the story of an aged minister who believed he had committed the unpardonable sin. After much inner turmoil, he gave in to what he mistakenly thought to be God's will—for him to be lost. Then something within him whispered, “Suppose there is a hell for you, what would you, with your disposition, do there?' The quick answer was, “I would set up a prayer meeting.” With those words came the light of God to show the absurdity of his fears. The very fact that he feared he had committed this sin, plus his deep concern, proved he had not.) Stuart Weber - The essence of the "unforgivable sin" is a refusal to accept forgiveness from Christ in the face of evidence that Jesus is the Christ. The unforgivable sin is deliberately and knowingly attributing the works of the Holy Spirit in the Messiah-Christ to Satan. The unrepentant person actually condemns himself, and God only confirms what that person has already determined. It also follows that the unforgivable sin exists only for the person who maintains his refusal of God's forgiveness throughout his lifetime. If at any time he changes his mind and desires forgiveness, Jesus' warning no longer applies to him. The sin that can actually never be forgiven is the consistent, lifelong refusal to bow to the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin and to accept the forgiveness that Christ offers. These religious leaders, like so many people today, refused to take an open-minded look at the evidence regarding Jesus as Messiah. They refused an honest consideration of the Christ and insisted on their own works-righteousness to justify them before God. In his confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus was able to discern the hardened hearts of his opponents. He knew they would persist in their disbelief for life. Thus, he announced that they were guilty of the unforgivable sin. Under Mosaic Law, blasphemy incurred a death sentence (Lev. 24:10-23). (Holman New Testament Commentary – Matthew) Craig Blomberg - This is not the only place in the New Testament in which an unforgivable sin appears (cf. Heb 6:4–6; 1 John 5:16). Christians have often tried to identify this sin with such things as murder, adultery, or divorce; and individual believers have often wondered if they have committed such a sin. Even if all the details are unclear, we should observe that in this text only Jesus’ enemies are in any danger—those who have never professed any allegiance to him and, at least in the pages of Scripture, never do. Instead, they intensify their opposition to the point of crucifying him. Probably blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is nothing more or less than the unrelenting rejection of his advances. Jesus’ teaching thus parallels Acts 4:12. If one rejects the Spirit of God in Jesus, there is no one else in all the cosmos who can provide salvation. But we dare never label anyone as having committed this sin. Only God knows human hearts, and we would often make the wrong guess. Moreover, professing believers who fear they have committed the unforgivable sin demonstrate a concern for their spiritual welfare which by definition proves they have not committed it. (NAC-Mt) R C H
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Spurgeon reminds us that "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine underlining of an especially striking or important text. It says in effect "Listen up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!" Zodhiates writes that idou is a "demonstrative particle. “Lo and behold!”, serving to call attention to something external or exterior to oneself; usually used at the beginning of a clause or only with kai (and), before it, but sometimes in the mid. of a clause before words which are to be particularly noted (Mt 23:34; Lk 13:16; Acts 2:7). (The Complete Word Study Dictionary) Repented (3340) (metanoeo from meta = with, among + noeo = to think, exercise the mind <> from nous = mind - see study = metanoia) means to have another mind. Metanoeo means to change one's mind in respect to sin, God, and self. To turn to God and from sin (Luke 15:7 = "one sinner who repents", cf 1Th 1:9+). It is not an intellectual decision but a change of mind that issues in a change of behavior. This change of mind may, especially in the case of Christians who have fallen into sin, be preceded by sorrow (2Cor 7:8, 9, 10, 11); but sorrow for sin, though it may cause repentance, is not repentance. Generation (1074) genea gives us our English genealogy) literally refers to those descended from a common ancestor and in this sense refers to a race, a clan or descendants. Generation, offspring, family, race, kind. Gingrich - clan, race, kind Lk 16:8. Generation, contemporaries Mt 12:41f; 17:17; Mk 9:19; 13:30; Lk 21:32; Hb 3:10. Age, period of time Mt 1:17; Lk 1:48, 50; Col 1:26. Jesus indicted “this generation,” in other words, His “contemporaries,” as “evil, adulterous, unbelieving, and perverse” (e.g., Matthew 11:16; 12:39–45; 17:17 with parallels; cf. Luke 11:29; Acts 2:40). In NT Gr. geneá literally means space of time, circle of time, which only in a derived sense signifies the meaning of a time, a race; then generally in the sense of affinity of communion based upon the sameness of stock Genea - 37v - generation(32), generations(10), kind(1).Matt. 1:17; Matt. 11:16; Matt. 12:39; Matt. 12:41; Matt. 12:42; Matt. 12:45; Matt. 16:4; Matt. 17:17; Matt. 23:36; Matt. 24:34; Mk. 8:12; Mk. 8:38; Mk. 9:19; Mk. 13:30; Lk. 1:48; Lk. 1:50; Lk. 7:31; Lk. 9:41; Lk. 11:29; Lk. 11:30; Lk. 11:31; Lk. 11:32; Lk. 11:50; Lk. 11:51; Lk. 16:8; Lk. 17:25; Lk. 21:32; Acts 2:40; Acts 8:33; Acts 13:36; Acts 14:16; Acts 15:21; Eph. 3:5; Eph. 3:21; Phil. 2:15; Col. 1:26; Heb. 3:10 Related Resources: Why was Jonah angry that the Ninevites repented (Jonah 4:1-2)? | GotQuestions.org What is the significance of the city of Nineveh in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org When and how was Nineveh destroyed? | GotQuestions.org Why did God judge Nineveh so harshly in the book of Nahum? | GotQuestions.org Why did Jonah try to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh? | GotQuestions.org Steven