“They could not
Reply
To this.”
καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν ἀνταποκριθῆναι πρὸς ταῦτα.
Luke uniquely showed that this response of Jesus shut them up. The lawyers and Pharisees could not reply or respond to this saying of Jesus (καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν ἀνταποκριθῆναι πρὸς ταῦτα). Thus, Luke ended this conversation with the Pharisees about this cured dropsy man. How do you end a conversation?
“While the foolish ones
Went to buy the oil,
The bridegroom came.
Those wise ones,
Who were ready,
Went with him
Into the wedding banquet.
The door was shut.”
ἀπερχομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἀγοράσαι ἦλθεν ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ αἱ ἕτοιμοι εἰσῆλθον μετ’ αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ ἐκλείσθη ἡ θύρα.
This parable story is unique to Matthew. Jesus continued with this story of the 10 bridesmaids. While the foolish bridesmaids departed to buy some oil (ἀπερχομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἀγοράσαι), the bridegroom came (ἦλθεν ὁ νυμφίος). Those 5 wise bridesmaids, who were ready with their lamps, went with the bridegroom (καὶ αἱ ἕτοιμοι εἰσῆλθον μετ’ αὐτοῦ). They probably had a procession to the wedding banquet (εἰς τοὺς γάμους). When they got there, the door was shut (καὶ ἐκλείσθη ἡ θύρα). The 5 foolish bridesmaids went in the middle of the night to find some oil for their lamps. Meanwhile the bridegroom, the Son of Man or Jesus, came and had his procession to the wedding banquet. The closed door meant that no one else could come in.
“But Daniel laughed.
He restrained the king
From going in.
He said.
‘Look at the floor!
Notice
Whose footsteps these are!’
The king said.
‘I see the footsteps
Of men,
Of women,
Of children.’”
Daniel laughed. He kept the king from going into the temple. He told the king to notice the footsteps on the floor among the scattered ashes. The king then said that these footsteps appeared to be that of men, women, and children. How could they have gotten in, if the door was shut and sealed?
“Now there were seventy priests
Of Bel,
Besides their wives,
With their children.
The king went
With Daniel
Into the temple
Of Bel.
The priests Of Bel said.
‘See!
We are going outside.
You!
Yourself!
O king!
Set out the food!
Prepare the wine!
Shut the door!
Seal it with your signet!
When you return
In the morning,
If you do not find
That Bel has eaten it all,
We will die.
Otherwise,
Daniel will die.
He is telling lies
About us.’
They were unconcerned,
Because beneath the table,
They had made
A hidden entrance,
Through which
They used to go in regularly.
They would consume
The provisions.”
There were 70 priests of Bel, with their wives and children. The king went with Daniel into the Bel temple. The priests then said to them that they were going outside. They wanted the king to set out the food and the wine. Then he should shut and seal the door with his signet. If the next morning he returned, and the god Bel had not eaten the provisions, they should be killed. However, if the god Bel had eaten the food, then Daniel, who had lied against them, should be killed. They were unconcerned, because beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance. They used this secret passageway to regularly consume the provisions set out for the idol god Bel.
“Susanna said
To her maids.
‘Bring me olive oil!
Bring me ointments!
Shut the garden doors
So that I can bathe!’
They did
As she told them.
They shut the doors
Of the garden.
They went out
By the side doors
To bring
What they had been commanded.
They did not see
The elders,
Because they were hidden.”
Susanna told her two maids to get her some olive oil and other ointments. She wanted them to shut the garden doors. Thus, they went out by the side door into the house. They were doing what she had asked them to do. However, these maids did not see the elder judges, because they were hidden in the garden.
“Then Daniel said
To the king.
‘O king!
Live forever!
My God
Sent his angel.
He shut
The lions’ mouths.
Thus,
They would not hurt me,
Because I was found blameless
Before him.
Also,
I was found blameless
Before you,
O king!
I have done no wrong.’”
Daniel responded to the king with the familiar salutation that the king was to live forever. He explained to the king that God’s angel had come to him and shut the mouths of these lions. Thus, they were unable to hurt him. He was found blameless before God, just as he was blameless before the king. He wanted the king to know that he had not done anything wrong.
“Thus says Yahweh God!
‘The gate
Of the inner court
That faces east
Shall remain closed
On the six working days.
But on the Sabbath day,
It shall be opened.
On the day
Of the new moon,
It shall be opened.’”
Yahweh God spoke about the eastern gate. This eastern gate of the inner court was to remain shut at all times. There were 2 exceptions, the Sabbath and the feast of the new moon. Thus, it would be opened on these occasions, 64 times a year, 52 for the Sabbath days and 12 for the new moons.
“‘Before she was in labor,
She gave birth.
Before her pain came upon her,
She delivered a son.
Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor
She delivered her children.
Shall I open the womb?
Shall I not deliver?’
Says Yahweh.
‘Shall I,
The one who delivers,
Shut the womb?’
Says your God.”
The birth or rebirth of Jerusalem will be miraculous. It will be like a woman who gives birth to a son before she has labor pains. Has anyone heard or seen such a thing? Can a country or nation come into existence in a moment? Yet Zion will deliver her children. Who would open her womb? Who would try to shut her womb? Yahweh, the great deliverer, will not shut the womb, but deliver Jerusalem and Israel in a new birth.
“See!
My servant shall prosper.
He shall be exalted.
He shall be lifted up.
He shall be very high.
There were many
Who were astonished at him.
His appearance was so marred,
Beyond human semblance.
His form was beyond
That of mortals.
Thus he shall startle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths
Because of him.
What had not been told them,
They shall see.
What they have not heard,
They shall contemplate.”
Now Second Isaiah has the 4th chant of the suffering servant. Here there is a painful description of this servant of Yahweh, who is going to prosper, be exalted, and be lifted up very high. Many people were astonished at his marred figure that was beyond human semblance. He hardly looked human, so that he startled many nations. Kings shut their mouths. They suddenly saw things that they did not know about. They contemplated things that they had not heard. Was this an individual or the country of Israel? Obviously the text is not clear, except to say that he or Israel was badly disfigured, but that he or they would prosper anyway.
“They do not know anything.
They do not comprehend.
Their eyes are shut.
Thus they cannot see.
Their minds are shut.
Thus they cannot understand.
No one considers this.
No one has knowledge.
No one has discernment to say.
‘I burned half of it in the fire.
I also baked bread on its coals.
I roasted meat.
I have eaten meat.
Shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’
He feeds on ashes.
A deluded mind has led him astray.
He cannot save himself.
He cannot say.
‘Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?’”
Second Isaiah explains the moral of this tale of the idol carpenter maker. These idol makers do not know or understand what they are doing. Their eyes and minds are shut, so that they cannot see or understand. These carpenters do not consider that they used part of their precious wood to make a fire to keep them warm and cook on. They then made their abominable wooden idol out of the rest of this wood. Do they not realize that they are bowing down to a block of wood? They have deluded minds. They have been led astray. They eat ashes. They do not understand that what they have made with their right hand is a fraud.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 