Matthew 9:11 - Exposition

And when the Pharisees. Mentioned thus far only in Matthew 3:7 and Matthew 5:20 . This is, therefore, the first time that Matthew speaks of them as coming into direct contact with Jesus. Although Mark (cf. Luke) says that the objection was raised by those among the Pharisees who were also scribes ( οἱγραμματεῖς τῶν φαρισαίων ), yet the difference of expression from that in verse 3 must not be overlooked. There the fact that they were scribes, accustomed to weigh the statements of the Law about blasphemy, etc., was prominent in the mind of the narrator; here it is rather the fact that they were Pharisees, men who by their very name professed to hold aloof from those who neglected the Law. Saw it . They could freely come into the court of the house, and when there could both see and hear what was passing in the rooms that opened into it. They said; ἔλεγον : dieebaat (Vulgate); "were saying." Their eager talk is brought vividly before us. Unto his disciples. Probably these were nearer to the Pharisees than Jesus himself was, or perhaps the Pharisees thought it easier to attack Jesus through them. On the naturalness of this remark in the mouth of Pharisees, vide Schurer, II . 2. p. 25. Why eateth your Master ( διδάσκαλος ); Teacher is preferable, for both Pharisees and disciples realized that even Jesus' actions were intended to instruct his followers. But the reason for this action ( why , cf. also verse 14) they did not understand. It is possible that the order of the Greek points to irony on the part of the Pharisees. The man who presumes to be called Teacher , and whom the disciples accept as such, sets at defiance the primary rules of right and wrong. Professor Marshall explains the variants "teacher" (here) and "drink" (parallel passages) by the original Aramaic word for "drink" ( אור ) having been written here with the peculiar spelling of the Samaritan Targum ( אבר ). With ( the , Revised Version) publicans and sinners? Who form but one class ( τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ) . (For the thought, cf. Matthew 11:19 ; Luke 15:2 ; also Psalms 101:5 [ LXX .])