Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus answered and said,
I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes.
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Other translations
New International Version
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
New Living Translation
At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.
English Standard Version
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
Berean Study Bible
At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Berean Literal Bible
At that time, Jesus answering said, “I fully consent to You, Father, Lord of the heaven and the earth, that You did hide these things from the wise and learned, and did reveal them to little children.
New King James Version
At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.
New American Standard Bible
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants.
NASB 1995
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
NASB 1977
At that time Jesus answered and said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes.
Amplified Bible
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose].
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Answered and said
The phrase is more or less a Hebraism, implying that the words rose out of some unrecorded occasion.
Luke connects them (Luke 10:17-24) with the return of the Seventy; but as their mission is not recorded by Matthew, it seems reasonable to connect them, as here recorded, with the return of the Twelve, and their report of their work (Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10).
Their presence, it may be noted, is implied in the narrative with which the next chapter opens. The words, however, were probably repeated as analogous occasions called for them.
At that time Jesus answered, &c. does not always imply that something had been spoken, to which an answer is now made. It often means no more than the speaking in reference to some action or circumstance preceding.
The following words Christ speaks in reference to the case of the cities above mentioned.
I thank thee
Literally, I confess unto Thee i.e., “acknowledge (with praise and thanksgiving).”
The abruptness with which the words come in points to the fragmentary character of the record which Matthew incorporates with his Gospel.
The context in Luke implies a reference to the truths of the kingdom which the disciples had proclaimed, and makes special mention of the joy which thus expressed itself.
The two grounds of that joy are inseparably linked together.
So “I thank thee” is, I acknowledge and joyfully adore the justice and mercy of thy dispensations.
The original word, εξομολογοῦμαί (Exomologoumai)
▪︎ sometimes denotes to confess sins,
▪︎ sometimes to acknowledge favours,
▪︎ and sometimes also to adore or celebrate.
It is chiefly in the last of these senses that the word is to be here understood.
Because thou hast hid
That is because thou hast suffered these things to be hid from men, who are in other respects wise and prudent, while thou hast discovered them to those of the weakest understanding, to them who are only wise to God-ward.
We have the same idiom, Romans 6:17, God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed, &c.
The thanks are not given for their having been formerly the servants of sin, but for their being then obedient.
“It seems they were but a few, and those generally the lower sort of people, who embraced Christ’s doctrine, and co-operated with him in erecting his kingdom; nor was his religion soon to meet with a better reception in the other countries where it was to be preached; circumstances which, in the eyes of common wisdom, were melancholy and mortifying.
But our Lord foresaw that, by the direction of God, these very circumstances would become the noblest demonstrations of his personal dignity, the clearest proofs of the excellence of his religion, and the most stupendous instances of his power, who, by such weak instruments, established his dominion in every part of the habitable world, against the policy, the power, and the malice of devils and men combined to oppose it.
Our Lord, therefore, properly made the rejection of the gospel by the great men of the nation, and the reception of it by persons in lower stations, the matter of a special thanksgiving, both now and afterward in Judea (Luke 10:21).
the wise and prudent
The “wise and prudent” (comp. the union of the same words in 1 Corinthians 1:19) were the scribes and Pharisees, wise in their conceit, seeking men’s praise rather than truth as truth, and therefore shut out from the knowledge that requires above all things sincerity of purpose.
The babes
The “babes” were the disciples who had received the kingdom in the spirit of a little child, child-like, and sometimes even childish, in their thoughts of it, but who, being in earnest and simple-hearted, were brought under the training which was to make them as true scribes for the kingdom of heaven.
He, their Lord, taught them as they were able to bear it, giving (to use Paul’s familiar image) the milk that belonged to babes (1 Corinthians 3:2); but beyond His personal teaching there were the flashes of intuition by which (as, conspicuously, in the case of Peter’s confession (Matthew 16:17) new truths were suddenly disclosed to them, or old truths seen with increasing clearness.
Babes, νηπίοις (nēpiois), in Scripture language, are persons whose faculties are not improved by learning, but who, to that sagacity and understanding which is purely natural, join the dispositions of modesty, sincerity, humility, docility, and all the other engaging qualities that are to be found in children. This is plain from Matthew 18:3.
Babes, therefore, stand in opposition,
▪︎ not to men of sound judgment and reason,
▪︎ but to proud politicians and men of learning, who are so full of themselves that they disdain to receive instruction from others, and who make all their abilities subservient to their advancement in this world.
Greek
At ☆ Ἐν (En) ☆ Preposition ☆ In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; ‘in, ‘ at, on, by, etc.
That ☆ ἐκείνῳ (ekeinō) ☆ Demonstrative Pronoun – Dative Masculine Singular ☆ That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed.
Time ☆ καιρῷ (kairō) ☆ Noun – Dative Masculine Singular ☆ Fitting season, season, opportunity, occasion, time. Of uncertain affinity; an occasion, i.e. Set or proper time.
Jesus ☆ Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) ☆ Noun – Nominative Masculine Singular ☆ Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.
Declared ☆ εἶπεν (eipen) ☆ Verb – Aorist Indicative Active – 3rd Person Singular ☆ Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.
I praise ☆ Ἐξομολογοῦμαί (Exomologoumai) ☆ Verb – Present Indicative Middle – 1st Person Singular ☆ From ek and homologeo; to acknowledge or agree fully.
You ☆ σοι (soi) ☆ Personal / Possessive Pronoun – Dative 2nd Person Singular ☆ You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.
Father ☆ Πάτερ (Pater) ☆ Noun – Vocative Masculine Singular ☆ Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a ‘father’.
Lord ☆ Κύριε (Kyrie) ☆ Noun – Vocative Masculine Singular ☆ Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.
Of heaven ☆ οὐρανοῦ (ouranou) ☆ Noun – Genitive Masculine Singular ☆ Perhaps from the same as oros; the sky; by extension, heaven; by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel.
And ☆ καὶ (kai) ☆ Conjunction ☆ And, even, also, namely.
Earth ☆ γῆς (gēs) ☆ Noun – Genitive Feminine Singular ☆ Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.
Because ☆ ὅτι (hoti) ☆ Conjunction ☆ Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.
You have hidden ☆ ἔκρυψας (ekrypsas) ☆ Verb – Aorist Indicative Active – 2nd Person Singular ☆ To hide, conceal, lay up. A primary verb; to conceal.
These things ☆ ταῦτα (tauta) ☆ Demonstrative Pronoun – Accusative Neuter Plural ☆ This; he, she, it.
From ☆ ἀπὸ (apo) ☆ Preposition ☆ From, away from. A primary particle; ‘off, ‘ i.e. Away, in various senses.
[the] wise ☆ σοφῶν (sophōn) ☆ Adjective – Genitive Masculine Plural ☆ Wise, learned, cultivated, skilled, clever. Akin to saphes; wise.
And ☆ καὶ (kai) ☆ Conjunction ☆ And, even, also, namely.
Learned ☆ συνετῶν (synetōn) ☆ Adjective – Genitive Masculine Plural ☆ Intelligent, prudent, wise, understanding, discerning. From suniemi; mentally put together, i.e. Sagacious.
And ☆ καὶ (kai) ☆ Conjunction ☆ And, even, also, namely.
Revealed ☆ ἀπεκάλυψας (apekalypsas) ☆ Verb – Aorist Indicative Active – 2nd Person Singular ☆ To uncover, bring to light, reveal. From apo and kalupto; to take off the cover, i.e. Disclose.
Them ☆ αὐτὰ (auta) ☆ Personal / Possessive Pronoun – Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Plural ☆ He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.
To little children ☆ νηπίοις (nēpiois) ☆ Adjective – Dative Masculine Plural ☆ From an obsolete particle ne- and epos; not speaking, i.e. An infant; figuratively, a simple-minded person, an immature Christian.
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