Parables, Parable of the Weeds, Explanation
Matthew 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
At that time, the law-abiding are going to shine out just like the sun in that realm of that father of theirs. The one having ears must hear!
The word translated as "righteous" means "law-abiding" so in the in opposition to "lawless" translated as "iniquity" in the verse before last, (Matthew 13:41). We cannot see this opposition because the words are translated in more moralistic terms than the Greek. Notice it is not the "children of the kindom here. In Matthew 13:38, Jesus defines the good seeds as children of the kingdom, but not all of them are equal. In Matthew 8:12 he says that the children of the kingdom will be cast into the outer darkness. So this in not a prophecy about what will happen to children of the kingdom, Some are law-abiding.
They may not be worthless, but among them, some stand out within that realm. Remember, light is Christ'sn metaphor for knowledge. Knowledge of people's character is hidden in the temporary world, but visible in the currently hidden permanent world.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "righteous" primarily means "law-abiding," which is the needed sense to connect to an earlier verse.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "father" is not shown in the English translation.
- WF - Wrong Form - The "hath" is not an active verb but a participle, "having."
- OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "to hear" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "righteous" primarily means "law-abiding," which is the needed sense to connect to an earlier verse.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "father" is not shown in the English translation.
- WF - Wrong Form - The "hath" is not an active verb but a participle, "having."
- WN - Wrong Number- The word "them" is translated as plural but the Greek verb is singular.
Then -- The Greek word for "then" means "at this time" or "then." With the subjective negative, the sense is "not when."
shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
righteous - (CW) The term translated as "righteous" means "those who observe the laws," "well-balanced," and "right and fitting."
shine - "Shine forth" is from a verb that manes "to shine or beam forth," "to be distinguished," and "flash forth." This word is only used once by Jesus and its root, meaning "shine," is only used three times and is the basis of our word "lamp."
forth - This is from the prefix of the previous verb that means "out of" and "from."
as - The word translated as "as" means "like," "just as," "so far as," and "as much as."
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
sun - The Greek word for "sun," also means "life," "day," and "sunshine." It is also the root for the Greek word from "fisherman," which actually means "sunners" for bring fish from the darkness to the sun.
in - -- The word translated as "in" means "in," "within," "with," "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
kingdom - The word translated as "kingdom" can be the realm, region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This word "of" comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession.
their -- The word translated as "their" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. This pronoun follows the noun so "of theirs."
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
Father. " - Father's" is the common word that Christ uses to address his own father, though it can mean any male ancestor.
Who - -- The word translated as "who" is the Greek definite article, which when not preceding a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
hath - (WF) The word translated as "hath" if from a verb that means "to possess" or "to keep." It is in the form of a noun acting as the sentence subject, "the one possessing."
ears -- The term translated as "ears" means "ear," things resembling a handle and is a metaphor for understanding. The word for "ears" is the object of the sentence.
to hear, -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "to hear" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.
let -- This "let" is the helping verb used to translate the Greek form of the third-person command. In English all commands are in the second-person. This form is used as something like our word "must."
him -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
hear. -- "Hear" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear" and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding. It also means "to listen" and "to understand."
Then -- The Greek word for "then" means "at this time" or "then." With the subjective negative, the sense is "not when."
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
righteous - (CW) The term translated as "righteous" means "those who observe the laws," "well-balanced," and "right and fitting."
will -- This helping verb "will" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
shine - "Shine forth" is from a verb that manes "to shine or beam forth," "to be distinguished," and "flash forth." This word is only used once by Jesus and its root, meaning "shine," is only used three times and is the basis of our word "lamp."
like - The word translated as "as" means "like," "just as," "so far as," and "as much as."
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
sun - The Greek word for "sun," also means "life," "day," and "sunshine." It is also the root for the Greek word from "fisherman," which actually means "sunners" for bring fish from the darkness to the sun.
in - -- The word translated as "in" means "in," "within," "with," "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
kingdom - The word translated as "kingdom" can be the realm, region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This word "of" comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession.
their -- The word translated as "their" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. This pronoun follows the noun so "of theirs."
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
Father. " - Father's" is the common word that Christ uses to address his own father, though it can mean any male ancestor.
Whoever - -- The word translated as "who" is the Greek definite article, which when not preceding a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
has - (WF) The word translated as "has" if from a verb that means "to possess" or "to keep." It is in the form of a noun acting as the sentence subject, "the one possessing."
ears -- The term translated as "ears" means "ear," things resembling a handle and is a metaphor for understanding. The word for "ears" is the object of the sentence.
let -- This "let" is the helping verb used to translate the Greek form of the third-person command. In English all commands are in the second-person. This form is used as something like our word "must."
them -- (WN) This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
hear. -- "Hear" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear" and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding. It also means "to listen" and "to understand."
Τότε (adv) "Then" is from tote, which means "at that time" and "then."
“οἱ (article pl masc nom) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
δίκαιοι (adj pl masc nom) "The righteous" is dikaios which means "observant of rules," "observant of customs," "well-ordered," "civilized," and "observant of duty." Later it means "well-balanced," "impartial," and "just. ""
ἐκλάμψουσιν” [1 verse] (verb 3rd pl fut ind act) "Shall shine forth" is eklampo, which means to "shine or beam forth," of sound, "be clearly heard," "burst forth violently," "to be distinguished," and "flash forth."
ὡς (adv) "As" is from hos, an adverb which means to "thus," "as," "how," "when," "where," "like," "just as," "so far as," "as much as can be," "that," "in order that," "nearly (with numbers)," and "know that."
ὁ (article sg neut dat) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
ἥλιος "The sun" is from helios, which means the "sun," "life," "day," "sunshine," "the sun's heat," "brightness," and the sun-god.
ἐν (prep) "In" is from en, which means "in," "on," "at," "by," "among," "within," "surrounded by," "in one's hands," "in one's power," and "with." -- The word translated as "in" also means "within," "with," or "among."
τῇ (article sg fem dat) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
βασιλείᾳ (noun sg fem dat) "The kingdom" is from basileia, which means "kingdom," "dominion," "hereditary monarchy," "kingly office," (passive) "being ruled by a king," and "reign."
τοῦ (article sg masc gen) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
πατρὸς (noun sg masc gen) "The Father" is from pater, which means "father," "grandfather," "author," "parent," and "forefathers."
αὐτῶν. (adj pl masc/fem gen) "Their" is from autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him," "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord."
Ὁ (article, sg masc nhaving om) "Who" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one."
ἔχων (part sg pres act masc nom) "Hath" is from echo, which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to bear," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do." --
ὦτα (noun pl neut acc) "Ears" is from ous, which means "ear" and things that resemble an ear, such as a handle on pitchers, cups, etc.
ἀκουέτω. (verb 3rd sg pres imperat act) "Let him hear" is from akouo, which means "hear of," "hear tell of," "what one actually hears," "know by hearsay," "listen to," "give ear to," "hear and understand," and "understand."
The word translated as "shine forth" also means "to be distinguished
The Master smiled his approval and nodded.
“So that is the fate of the lawless, but what happens to the law-abiding at the time,” asked Flat Nose.
“At that time, the law-abiding are going to shine out,”explained the Master, indicating the sun streaming through a window, “just like the sun in that realm of that Father of theirs.”
“I like the sound of that,” said Johnny Boy
“The one having ears must hear,” the Master said, cheerfully repeating a comment he hard made before about Johnny Boy’s big ears.
His students laughed.