Matthew 13:45
in Matthew 13Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
KJV
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
⋯
This verse in Matthew 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verseon Matthew 13:45-46
(Verse 45, 46.) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. Upon finding one exceedingly precious pearl, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. In other words, the same thing as was said above. The good pearls that the merchant seeks are the Law and the Prophets. Listen, Marcion; listen, Manichaeus: the good pearls are the Law and the Prophets, and the knowledge of the Old Testament.
This site's exposition
seeking goodly pearls
on Matthew 13:45-46
A merchant man, seeking goodly pearls differs from the treasure parable in one telling detail, a man actively searching rather than one who stumbles upon a find, and having found one pearl of great price he sold all that he had and bought it. The bench reads the pair together as covering both approaches to the kingdom, the one who finds it without looking and the one who has searched every market for it, both paying the identical price of everything they own.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The kingdom of heaven - That is, one who earnestly seeks for it: in verse 47 it means, the Gospel preached, which is like a net gathering of every kind: just so the Gospel, wherever it is preached, gathers at first both good and bad, who are for a season full of approbation and warm with good desires.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman - The meaning is, that the proper seeking for salvation, or the proper conduct in reference to religion, is like the conduct of a “merchantman.” In his searches he found one pearl of great value, and sold all his possessions to obtain it. So, says the Saviour, people seeking for happiness and finding the gospel - the pearl of great price - should be willing to sacrifice all other things for this. Pearls are precious stones found in the shells of oysters, chiefly in the East Indies.
on Matthew 13:44-50
The parables of the “treasure hidden in a field” and the “merchant man seeking goodly pearls,” appear intended to convey one the same lesson. They vary, no doubt, in one striking particular: the “treasure” was found of one who does not seem to have sought it; the “pearl” was found of one who was actually seeking pearls. But the conduct of the finders, in both cases, was precisely alike: both “sold all” to make the thing found their own property; and it is exactly at this point that the instruction of both parables agrees.
on Matthew 13:45-46
A MERCHANT endeavors to trade so as to make a profit. Whether he deals in pearls or in grain, he does not hope to obtain riches by labor. He leaves that to those who eat their bread in the sweat of their face. He tries to get his by the sweat of his brain. He is dependent not so much upon labor as upon knowledge, upon skill, upon the advantage which superior acquaintance with the article which he deals in gives him. Now, this merchant is, at the very commencement, in some measure, a picture of the seeker after Christ.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Πάλιν | palin | Again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| ὁμοία | homoia | like | G3664 → | 45 times |
| ἐστὶν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| βασιλεία | basileia | kingdom | G932 → | 162 times |
| τῶν | ton | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οὐρανῶν | ouranon | heavens | G3772 → | 272 times |
| ἀνθρώπῳ | anthropo | to a man | G444 → | 549 times |
| ἐμπόρῳ | emporo | a merchant | G1713 → | |
| ζητοῦντι | zetounti | seeking | G2212 → | 117 times |
| καλοὺς | kalous | fine | G2570 → | 101 times |
| μαργαρίτας. | margaritas | pearls. | G3135 → | 9 times |
ΠάλινAgain
palinG3825 →139 times
ὁμοίαlike
homoiaG3664 →45 times
ἐστὶνis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
βασιλείαkingdom
basileiaG932 →162 times
τῶνof the
tonG3588 →19766 times
οὐρανῶνheavens
ouranonG3772 →272 times
ἀνθρώπῳto a man
anthropoG444 →549 times
ἐμπόρῳa merchant
emporoG1713 →
ζητοῦντιseeking
zetountiG2212 →117 times
καλοὺςfine
kalousG2570 →101 times
μαργαρίτας.pearls.
margaritasG3135 →9 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
it leads to
- Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Mark 8:36–37
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
- Luke 9:25
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?
- Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- Psalms 49:7–8
No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
- Job 27:8
Through
Matthew 13:24Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
it leads to
- Matthew 25:1
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
- Matthew 13:47
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
- Matthew 20:1
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
- Matthew 25:1
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1424: “A Great Bargain” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.