Matthew 22:6
in Matthew 22The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the rest laid hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.
KJV
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
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This verse in Matthew 22
Commentary
15 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the remnant ... - That is, a part made light of it; treated it with silent contempt, and coolly went about their business. The others were not satisfied with that, but showed positive malignity. Some sinners seem to be well satisfied by merely neglecting religion; others proceed against it with open violence and bitter malice. Entreated them spitefully - Used harsh and opprobrious words. Reviled and abused them. This was done because they hated and despised the king.
This site's exposition
my oxen and my fatlings are killed
on Matthew 22:4-6
My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready, describes a feast already spread, nothing left for the invited but to come, and still they made light of it, one to his farm, another to his merchandise, ordinary business preferred over a king's own son. The remnant's answer goes further than indifference, they entreated the servants spitefully and slew them, echoing the wicked husbandmen's treatment of the prophets one chapter earlier. The bench reads the doubled scene, one parable of a vineyard and one of a wedding, both ending in murdered messengers, as Jesus naming the same rejection twice so no hearer could mistake his meaning for a single unfortunate case.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
(de Cons. Ev. ii. 71.) This parable is related only by Matthew. Luke gives one like it, but it is not the same, as the order shows.
(Verse 6) And they went away, some to their own village, and others to their business. The rest held his servants, and treating them with contempt, they killed them. Among those who do not accept the truth of the Gospel, there is much diversity. For those who were occupied with other matters and did not want to come are guilty of a lesser crime than those who, despite the invitation of the host, turned their affection into cruelty and mistreated or killed the king's servants.
Or, by the business of a farm, He denotes the Jewish populace, whom the delights of this world separated from-Christ; by the excuse of merchandize, the Priests and other ministers of the Temple, who, coming to the service of the Law and the Temple through greediness of gain, have been shut out of the faith by covetousness. Of these He said not, 'They were filled with envy,' but They made light of it. For they who through hate and spite crucified Christ, are they who were filled with envy; but they who being entangled in business did not believe on Him, are not said to have been filled with envy, but to have made light of it. The Lord is silent respecting His own death, because He had spoken of it in the foregoing parable, but He shows forth the death of His disciples, whom after His ascension the Jews put to death, stoning Stephen and executing James the son of Alphæus, for which things Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. And it is to be observed, that anger is attributed to God figuratively and not properly; He is then said to be angry when He punishes.
(Hom. lxix.) Forasmuch as He had said, And it shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, He now proceeds to show what nation that is.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 69 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
And to me they seem moreover to make use of these excuses, putting forward these things as cloke for their negligence. And not this only is the grievous thing, that they came not, but also that which is a far more violent and furious act, to have even beaten them that came, and to have used them despitefully, and to have slain them; this is worse than the former. For those others came, demanding produce and fruits, and were slain; but these, bidding them to the marriage of Him that had been slain by them, and these again are murdered. What is equal to this madness? This Paul also was laying to their charge, when he said, "Who both killed the Lord, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us." Moreover, that they may not say, "He is an adversary of God, and therefore we do not come," hear what they say who are bidding them; that it is the father who is making the marriage, and that it is He who is bidding them.
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
This parable, too, like that of the vineyard, alludes to the disobedience of the Jews. But as that one indicates Christ's death, so this one indicates the nuptial joy, that is, the resurrection. But this parable also shows them to be worse transgressors than the …
For when one person is intent on earthly labor and another is given over to the activities of this world, each refuses to consider the mystery of the Lord's incarnation and to live according to it—as if going off to a farm or to business, he declines to come to the king's wedding. And very often, what is more serious, some people not only reject the grace of him who calls but even persecute it. Hence it is added: "But the rest seized his servants, and after treating them with contempt, killed them."
Nay often, which is worse, some who are called not only reject the grace, but become persecutors, And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them despitefully, and slew them.
There follows, and the rest laid hands on his servants, i.e., the apostles, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death, because they killed many from both the Old and New Testaments. Hence below, 23:34: I send to you wise men and scribes, and …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the remnant took his servants,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully--insulted them. and slew them--These are two different classes of unbelievers: the one simply indifferent; the other absolutely hostile--the one, contemptuous scorners; the other, bitter persecutors.
The parable related in these verses is one of very wide signification. In its first application it unquestionably points to the Jews. But we may not confine it to them. It contains heart-searching lessons for all among whom the Gospel is preached: it is a spiritual picture which speaks to us this day, if we have an ear to hear. The remark of a learned divine is wise and true: “Parables are like many-sided precious stones, cut so as to cast luster in more than one direction.”
The parable related in these verses is one of very wide signification. In its first application it unquestionably points to the Jews. But we may not confine it to them. It contains heart-searching lessons for all among whom the Gospel is preached: it is a spiritual picture which speaks to us this day, if we have an ear to hear. The remark of a learned divine is wise and true: “Parables are like many-sided precious stones, cut so as to cast luster in more than one direction.” Let us observe in the first place that the salvation of the Gospel is compared to a marriage feast. The Lord Jesus tells us that a certain king “made a marriage for his son.” There is in the Gospel a complete provision for all the wants of man’s soul: there is a supply of everything that can be required to relieve spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst. Pardon, peace with God, lively hope in this world, glory in the world to come are set before us in rich abundance. It is “a feast of fat things.” All this provision is owing to the love of the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. He offers to take us into union with himself, to restore us to the family of God as dear children, to clothe us with his own righteousness, to give us a place in his kingdom, and to present us faultless before his Father’s throne at the last day. The Gospel, in short, is an offer of food to the hungry, of joy to the mourner, of a home to the outcast, of a loving friend to the lost. It is glad tidings. God offers, through his dear Son, to be at one with sinful man. Let us not forget this. “Herein is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” ( 1 John 4:10 ). Let us observe in the second place, that the invitations of the Gospel are wide, full, broad and unlimited.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| λοιποὶ | loipoi | the rest | G3062 → | 39 times |
| κρατήσαντες | kratesantes | having laid hold of | G2902 → | 47 times |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δούλους | doulous | servants | G1401 → | 129 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὕβρισαν | hubrisan | mistreated | G5195 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀπέκτειναν. | apekteinan | killed [them]. | G615 → | 74 times |
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
λοιποὶthe rest
loipoiG3062 →39 times
κρατήσαντεςhaving laid hold of
kratesantesG2902 →47 times
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
δούλουςservants
doulousG1401 →129 times
αὐτοῦof him
autouG846 →5565 times
ὕβρισανmistreated
hubrisanG5195 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀπέκτειναν.killed [them].
apekteinanG615 →74 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Acts 8:1And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
it leads to
- Daniel 3:16–18
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
- Acts 22:20
And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
- Acts 5:40
At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.
- Acts 5:33
When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.
- Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Daniel 3:16–18
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 38; Gregory the Dialogist, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 69; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.