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Matthew 10:39

The Pulpit Commentary on Matthew 10:39

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Besides and parallel passages (vide supra), cf. also and even . Observe that in our chapter , arc equivalent to , ; verses 38, 39 to , ; to .

A comparison of the various passages leads to the inference that the original occasion of , 38 was that of , , and the original occasion of verse 39 was that of .

Thus our passage is a compendium, and is either a modification by our Lord of an earlier thought, or, more probably, another "setting" of the utterance in place of something that corresponded to it.

, on the other hand, may be a modification by our Lord, or an insertion made in the process of the composition of the Gospel. He that findeth; found; ὁεὑρών: but unnecessarily, the statement is timeless, and the inherent thought of completion is contained also in our present tense.

Findeth; after expenditure of trouble, and so with parallel passages, "wish to save," and , "seek to gain." Observe also the idea of acquiring for personal use common both to εὑρίσκειν and περιποιεῖσθαι (Luke).

The phrase, "find the soul," occurs only here (twice) and ; of. . His life (, note). As the full develop-merit of personality in true independence and energy is the aim and the promise for hereafter, so its shrinking and weakening by sin ends in loss of moral independence and mental worth.

Shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He shall acquire that personality of Iris with all its inherent germs of power fully developed. In Talm. Bab., 'Tamid,' 32a, Alexander the Great asks "the elders of the south" ten questions, among them," What shall a man do that he may live?"

They answer, "Let him put himself to death." "What shall a man do that he may die?" "Let him make himself alive." But though there is so much verbal similarity, it may be doubted whether Rashi is not right in explaining the passage as a merely worldly wise warning against provoking the envy of others by pride and ostentation.

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