The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Matthew11:1–6

John’s Inquiry

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Matthew 11:1–6 — John’s Inquiry. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1

After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai egeneto hote ho Iēsous etelesen diatassōn autou dōdeka tois mathētais metebē ekeithen tou didaskein kai kēryssein en autōn tais polesin

Word by word21 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAfterG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegeneto. . .G1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
γίνομαι: to come to be, to happen The aorist middle standing at the head of the sentence is Matthew's formal closing bracket on a discourse. Because the same construction closes the Sermon (7:28), the parables (13:53), the discourse on the church (19:1) and the eschatological discourse (26:1), Pulpit reads the five occurrences as the skeleton of the Gospel. The English "After" is accurate and invisible; the Greek is a seam you can hear.
ὅτεhote. . .G3753
√ ὅτε — at which (thing) too, iAdverb
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐτέλεσενetelesenhad finishedG5055
√ τελέω — to end, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
τελέω: to bring to an end, to complete Not merely "stopped speaking" but brought to its appointed end. The aorist closes the mission charge of chapter 10 as a finished thing, and the very next scene tests it: the herald who prepared the way is in a cell while the King goes on heralding.
διατάσσωνdiatassōninstructingG1299
√ διατάσσω — to arrange thoroughly, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
διατάσσω: to arrange thoroughly, to give orders A military and administrative verb. Gill itemises the content: "where they should go, what they should say, how they should behave, and what treatment they should meet with." The present participle holds the ordering open across the whole of chapter 10; the aorist etelesen shuts it.
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
δώδεκαdōdekatwelveG1427
√ δώδεκα — two and ten, iAdjectiveDative Masculine Plural
δώδεκα: twelve The number is not incidental arithmetic. Twelve men sent to the towns of Israel is Israel reconstituted around Jesus, which is why the very next verse asks whether the one sending them is himself the Coming One.
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
μαθηταῖςmathētaisdisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounDative Masculine Plural
μετέβηmetebēHe went onG3327
√ μεταβαίνω — to change placeVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
μεταβαίνω: to change place, to pass over A rare verb (11 verses) that Matthew pairs with ekeithen as a movement formula (12:9; 15:29). Ellicott concedes that where he departed from "St. Matthew does not tell us," and Pulpit answers the same question with "Whence? We have no knowledge." The Evangelist records the motion and withholds the map.
ἐκεῖθενekeithenfrom thereG1564
√ ἐκεῖθεν — thenceAdverb
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
διδάσκεινdidaskeinto teachG1321
√ διδάσκω — to teach (in the same broad application)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
διδάσκω: to teach Paired here with kēryssein in two present infinitives of purpose: the going is for the sake of the teaching. Poole uses this verse against those "that under value preaching, as the least part of the ministerial work."
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κηρύσσεινkērysseinpreachG2784
√ κηρύσσω — to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
κηρύσσω: to herald, to proclaim as a public crier The herald's verb. It matters that after commissioning twelve heralds Jesus does not retire behind them: JFB observes that the circuit was "perhaps, a set of visits paid to certain places, either not reached at all before," and Poole that "our Saviour think it enough to send others in his stead, as his curates, he went himself." The sender is also the sent.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ταῖςtaisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
πόλεσινpolesincitiesG4172
√ πόλις — a town (properly, with walls, of greater or less size)NounDative Feminine Plural
πόλις: a walled town "Their cities" is grammatically open. Geneva takes it of "the disciples' cities, that is to say, in Galilee, where many of them were born"; Ellicott judges "it is probable that it was used here vaguely for the cities of Galilee in general"; Pulpit hears in "their" a distancing reference "to the Jews generally." That last reading, if right, plants the seed of the woes on Chorazin and Bethsaida later in this chapter.
2

Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent his disciples

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ho Iōannēs akousas en tō desmōtēriō ta erga tou Christou pempsas dia autou tōn mathētōn

Word by word16 · parsed
δὲdeMeanwhileG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸωάννηςIōannēsJohnG2491
√ Ἰωάννης — Joannes (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀκούσαςakousasheardG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἀκούω: to hear The verb that governs the whole unit. John hears of the works (v. 2); the messengers are told to report what they hear (v. 4); the deaf hear (v. 5). The trial of the herald is conducted entirely through report, not sight, which is exactly why the answer is a list of things heard and seen.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
δεσμωτηρίῳdesmōtēriōprisonG1201
√ δεσμωτήριον — a place of bondage, iNounDative Neuter Singular
δεσμωτήριον: a place of bondage A rare noun, four verses in the New Testament. Gill places him "in the prison of Machaerus; being put there by Herod, for his reproving him for taking Herodias, his brother Philip's wife." Ellicott notes the confinement was not yet severe: "His disciples came and went freely." The cell is loose enough to send messengers from and tight enough to break a prophet's patience.
τὰta[about] theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ἔργαergaworksG2041
√ ἔργον — toil (as an effort or occupation)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
ἔργα: works, deeds wrought The plural "works" is Matthew's summary of chapters 8 and 9, and it is what John is offered again in verse 5. Pulpit sharpens the irony that this word creates: "Yet of all the works that the Christ now did there was none to set his kinsman and herald free." The evidence is real and it is not the evidence John wanted.
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΧριστοῦChristouChristG5547
√ Χριστός — anointed, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Χριστός: anointed one With the article, the official title rather than a name. Pulpit allows either that "the title may be merely due to the evangelist's narrative, or may represent the actual terms in which the message was brought to John." Either way the narrator has answered the question of verse 3 before the question is asked: the works John hears about are the works of the Christ.
πέμψαςpempsas[and] he sentG3992
√ πέμπω — to dispatch (from the subjective view or point of departure, whereas (as a stronger form of ) refers rather to the objective point or terminus ad quem, and G4724 (στέλλω) denotes properly, the orderly motion involved), especially on a temporary errandVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
διὰdiaG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
διά: through, by means of A preposition carrying a textual decision. Pulpit notes the Hebrew equivalent, "'Sent by' is the equivalent of the Hebrew שלח ביד (Exodus 4:13; 1 Samuel 16:20; 1 Kings 2:25)," idiom for sending a word in someone's hand. The disciples are the hand; the question is John's.
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
μαθητῶνmathētōndisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounGenitive Masculine Plural
μαθητής: a learner, disciple The same noun as verse 1, and the two groups are set against each other: the Twelve have just been ordered out to preach the kingdom, John's disciples are sent in to ask whether the King has come.
3

to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

eipen autō ei Sy ho erchomenos ē prosdokōmen heteron

Word by word9 · parsed
εἶπενeipento askG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτῷautōHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
αὐτός: him The dative marks a question addressed to Jesus himself; Pulpit takes this, with the answer sent back to John in verse 4, as evidence "the cause of the question lying ultimately, not with his disciples, but with himself."
εἶeiAreG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Singular
εἰμί: to be The verb stands before the emphatic pronoun, so the sentence opens as a challenge put directly to a person. Everything in the answer will turn on refusing to answer this verb with a bare yes: Jesus gives works instead of a predicate.
ΣὺSyYouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Singular
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἐρχόμενοςerchomenos[One who] was to comeG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἔρχομαι: to come The substantival participle is a recognised messianic title. Its provenance is genuinely disputed among the commentators: Ellicott sends it to "Psalm 40:7; Psalm 118:26; Malachi 3:1"; Pulpit says it "was probably derived from Psalm 118:26, and would become the more known from the LXX. of Habakkuk 2:3 (comp. Hebrews 10:37), and perhaps also from a directly Messianic interpretation of Genesis 49:10"; Gill argues for Habakkuk 2:3 outright. The title is certain; its single source text is not.
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
προσδοκῶμενprosdokōmenshould we look forG4328
√ προσδοκάω — to anticipate (in thought, hope or fear)VerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Plural
προσδοκάω: to anticipate in hope or fear A present indicative in the first person plural: "are we going on expecting?" The tense makes the question a report of an ongoing state, which is why Cambridge can call it "not doubt, but faith wavering." A man who has stopped expecting does not send messengers.
ἕτερονheteronsomeone elseG2087
√ ἕτερος — (an-, the) other or differentAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
ἕτερος: other, of a different kind The single most consequential word in the verse. Read as ἕτερος the question is not whether someone else is coming but whether the real Messiah will look different from this one, and that is exactly the difficulty the beatitude of verse 6 answers.
4

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ho Iēsous apokritheis eipen autois Poreuthentes apangeilate Iōannē ha akouete kai blepete

Word by word13 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheisrepliedG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκρίνομαι: to give a considered answer The aorist passive participle with eipen is standard Gospel idiom, but here the content is unusual: the answer to "are you the Coming One" contains no first person claim at all until the last word of verse 6. Barnes: "Jesus referred them for an answer to these miracles."
εἶπενeipen. . .G2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautois. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΠορευθέντεςPoreuthentesGo [back]G4198
√ πορεύομαι — to traverse, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀπαγγείλατεapangeilate[and] reportG518
√ ἀπαγγέλλω — to announceVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ἀπαγγέλλω: to announce from a source A herald's verb given to the herald's own disciples. John sent a question by means of them; Jesus sends them back carrying an announcement, which makes the men who came to test the Messiah into the first bearers of his credentials.
ἸωάννῃIōannēto JohnG2491
√ Ἰωάννης — Joannes (iNounDative Masculine Singular
ἃhawhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Plural
ὅς: what, the things which The neuter plural relative keeps the answer open ended: not a defined list of proofs but whatever is happening in front of them.
ἀκούετεakoueteyou hearG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
ἀκούω: to hear First in the pair here, reversed in Luke. Hearing comes first because John himself has only heard (v. 2), and because the climax of the list in verse 5 is a thing heard rather than seen: good news preached to the poor.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
βλέπετεblepeteseeG991
√ βλέπω — to look at (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
βλέπω: to look at The eyewitness half of the evidence. Ellicott, citing Luke 7:21, notes that "in that same hour Jesus cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits," and "they were therefore to carry back their report as eyewitnesses."
5

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

typhloi anablepousin kai chōloi peripatousin leproi katharizontai kai kōphoi akouousin kai nekroi egeirontai kai euangelizontai ptōchoi

Word by word16 · parsed
τυφλοὶtyphloi[The] blindG5185
√ τυφλός — opaque (as if smoky), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
τυφλός: blind Ellicott observes that nothing in the list is news: "At least one instance of each class of miracle has already been recorded by St. Matthew, the blind (Matthew 9:27), the lame (Matthew 9:6), the leper (Matthew 8:2), the dead (Matthew 9:25)." What John needs "was, not the knowledge of fresh facts, but a different way of looking at those he already knew."
ἀναβλέπουσινanablepousinreceive sightG308
√ ἀναβλέπω — to look upVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἀναβλέπω: to look up, to recover sight The list opens where Isaiah 61:1 LXX opens. Pulpit notes that "our Lord reverses the order of the expressions, taking the restoration of sight to the blind as the commencement of a series of physical miracles, and thus making spiritual work the climax." The order of the answer is itself an argument about what the kingdom is.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
χωλοὶchōloi[the] lameG5560
√ χωλός — "halt", iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
περιπατοῦσινperipatousinwalkG4043
√ περιπατέω — to tread all around, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
λεπροὶleproi[the] lepersG3015
√ λεπρός — scaly, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
καθαρίζονταιkatharizontaiare cleansedG2511
√ καθαρίζω — to cleanse (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
καθαρίζω: to cleanse Present passive. The vocabulary is cultic, not medical: the leper is not healed but declared clean, restored to the assembly. The rare pairing of katharizō with lepros (9 verses in the NT) ties this line directly to Matthew 8:2-3 and to the commission of Matthew 10:8, where the Twelve are ordered to do exactly this.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κωφοὶkōphoi[the] deafG2974
√ κωφός — blunted, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἀκούουσινakouousinhearG191
√ ἀκούω — to hear (in various senses)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
νεκροὶnekroi[the] deadG3498
√ νεκρός — dead (literally or figurativelyAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἐγείρονταιegeirontaiare raisedG1453
√ ἐγείρω — to waken (transitively or intransitively), iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
ἐγείρω: to waken Poole is careful here: "We read not that these disciples saw any dead person raised while they were with Christ, but it appeareth from Luke 7:18 that the report of such a miracle was the occasion of their coming to Christ." Pulpit cites Bengel to the same effect, "Quod novissime factum erat juveni Nainitico." The freshest evidence is the one nearest to John's own coming death.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εὐαγγελίζονταιeuangelizontaithe good news is preachedG2097
√ εὐαγγελίζω — to announce good news ("evangelize") especially the gospelVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
εὐαγγελίζω: to announce good news The verb from which "gospel" comes, placed at the climax over five miracles of the body. Barnes: "It adds to the force of this testimony that the 'poor' have always been overlooked by Pharisees and philosophers." Cambridge sets it against ordinary royal practice: "In earthly kingdoms envoys are sent to the rich and great." The final credential of the Messiah is who he bothers to speak to.
πτωχοὶptōchoi[to the] poorG4434
√ πτωχός — akin to G4422 (πτοέω) and the alternate of G4098 (πίπτω))AdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
πτωχός: the destitute, the beggar Gill records the range of ancient reading: the poor as the preachers ("poor fishermen"), the poor as the hearers, or "such as were poor in spirit." Poole allows all three. Whichever is meant, the word reaches back to the first Beatitude, and Pulpit notes that Matthew 5:3-5 alludes to the same passage of Isaiah.
6

Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai makarios estin hos skandalisthē ean mē en emoi

Word by word9 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μακάριόςmakariosBlessedG3107
√ μακάριος — supremely blestAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
μακάριος: supremely blessed A ninth beatitude, spoken outside the Sermon and into a prison. Pulpit notes the structural point: "here also Christ adds a Beatitude," and links its content to James 1:12, endurance under trial. The blessing is not on those who never doubted but on those who are not finally tripped.
ἐστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
εἰμί: is A present declaration, not a future promise: the blessedness is pronounced now, over a man still in a cell.
ὃςhosthe [one who]G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
σκανδαλισθῇskandalisthēdoes not fall awayG4624
√ σκανδαλίζω — to entrap, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
σκανδαλίζω: to trip by a snare The aorist subjunctive passive holds the whole reply's edge. Gill catalogues what actually tripped people: "his parentage and birth ... his education ... his mean appearance in his public ministry ... his company and audience being the poorer sort." Cambridge names the specific trap for John's generation: "Some had thought only of an avenging and triumphant Christ." The offence is not that Jesus does too little but that he does the wrong kind of much.
ἐὰνean. . .G1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
μή: not The negative that makes the beatitude conditional rather than a bare comfort.
ἐνenon account ofG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἐμοίemoiMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Singular
ἐγώ: I, me The first and only first person word in the entire answer. Jesus refuses to say "I am he" in verse 3 and says "in me" here instead; the claim is made at last, and made as the thing over which a man may fall.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The seam and the circuit — 11:1

⚙ The unit begins with a hinge the English translation cannot show. ἐγένετο ὅτε ἐτέλεσεν is Matthew's formal close to a discourse, and Pulpit lists all five occurrences (7:28; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1) with the judgment that "in all five cases it marks the end of important speeches." What follows the seam is motion: μετέβη ἐκεῖθεν, he changed place from there. Neither Ellicott nor Pulpit will say from where; Ellicott admits "St. Matthew does not tell us," and Pulpit answers "Whence? We have no knowledge." JFB, weighing the informality of the phrasing, doubts this was a fourth full circuit and suggests instead "a set of visits paid to certain places, either not reached at all before." Poole draws the ministerial point that Jesus does not delegate and retire: he sent twelve heralds and then went heralding himself. Geneva reads "their cities" of Galilee, "where many of them were born"; Pulpit hears a colder "their," referring to the Jews generally, the same distancing that will harden into the woes later in this chapter.

ii. The herald in the place of bonds — 11:2-11:3

⚙ Two rare or weighted words carry verses 2 and 3. δεσμωτήριον (G1201, four verses in the New Testament) is a place of bondage, and Gill and Cambridge both name it Machaerus. τοῦ Χριστοῦ carries the article, which Pulpit insists is "not the proper name, but the official title," and from that article he draws the cruelty of the situation: "Yet of all the works that the Christ now did there was none to set his kinsman and herald free." Whether the doubt is John's is the oldest dispute on the passage, and the brief preserves both sides intact. Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit place it in John: Ellicott says "the question comes from him; the answer is sent to him," and Cambridge calls it "not doubt, but faith wavering." Benson, following Doddridge, and Poole and Gill place it in the disciples, Poole arguing that John sent them "that they might be satisfied from their own sight of the works of Christ." Henry declines to choose and reports both. Barnes concedes plainly: "It is not certainly known why John sent to Jesus." Gill preserves a third, from Lightfoot, that John, expecting a temporal kingdom, "wonders that he himself was not delivered out of prison." The Greek does not settle it, though the textual reading διὰ rather than δύο, which Cambridge reports on the best manuscript authority, tilts the emphasis, as Pulpit says, toward "the inquiry coming from John himself."

iii. An answer made of works, and the clause left unquoted — 11:4-11:6

⚙ Jesus never says yes. Pulpit: "He makes no verbal self-defence, but appeals to the effects of his work." The list in verse 5 is Isaiah's vocabulary. Pulpit demonstrates the dependence at the level of the Greek: "the words are taken from the LXX. (εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοις ... τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν)." Poole, Gill, Benson and Cambridge all cite Isaiah 35:5-6 and 61:1, Poole adding the decisive logic, that "the fulfilling of these promises argued that the Messias was come, and no other was to be looked for." Two features of the list are deliberate. First, Pulpit notes the reordering: sight comes first so that preaching to the poor comes last, "thus making spiritual work the climax." Ellicott agrees that this is "the last and greatest" sign. Second, and sharper, Pulpit observes what is not quoted: "He does not quote Isaiah's phrase, 'liberty to the captives.'" The one clause of Isaiah 61:1 that a prisoner would have wanted is the one clause omitted, and the context would have supplied it to John's mind anyway. Then the beatitude, and Ellicott catches its tact exactly: the warning "was given in the form of a beatitude which it was still open to him to claim and make his own." Barnes translates its force: "Happy is he to whom I shall not prove a stumbling-block." Gill lists the actual stumbling stones, from the poverty of the parents to the company of publicans and sinners. Cambridge names John's: "Some had thought only of an avenging and triumphant Christ."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. The question of verse 3 is usually read as a question about identity, and the answer is then read as proof of identity. But the emphatic ἕτερον (another of a different kind, as against Luke's ἄλλον on the messengers' lips, a difference Pulpit marks) suggests the question was about method, not person. John does not ask whether someone else exists; he asks whether the Messiah will act otherwise than this. And Jesus answers in kind. He does not recite his conception, his baptism or the voice from heaven, all of which John already had. He recites what is happening in the street, in the present tense, and he leaves out the one line of Isaiah 61 that would have addressed the prisoner's own case. If that omission is deliberate, and Pulpit's reading of it is at least plausible, then the answer says something the sourced commentators mostly circle without stating: the credential of the Messiah is not that he ends every captivity now, but that where he is, blindness, leprosy, deafness, death and destitution are each given back the thing they lost. John's chain is not among them, and Jesus does not pretend otherwise. The beatitude that follows is therefore not a consolation prize; it is the actual answer, and it is addressed to a man who will die in that cell. Blessedness is defined here not as getting the kingdom one expected but as not being tripped by the one that came. We hold this reading loosely: Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit support the premise that the question is John's own, while Poole, Gill and Benson deny it, and if they are right, the beatitude aims past John at his disciples and our reading softens accordingly.

The Messiah's credentials are read out to a man they will not release, and the last of them is a blessing on not being tripped. (This line is the tool's fallible synthesis, not Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same errand, told twice structural / thematic: confirmed

Luke 7:18-23 records this episode, and the whole of the surrounding discourse: Barnes notes that the chapter "to the Matthew 11:19, is found, with no material variation, in Luke 7:18-35," and JFB refers the entire passage to his notes on Luke. Luke adds what Matthew omits, that at that very hour Jesus "cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits" (cited by Ellicott, Barnes, Benson and Poole alike), which is why Matthew's present tenses in v. 4 mean what Pulpit says they mean. Two real differences survive: Luke has δύο (two disciples) where Matthew's best text has διά (by means of), and Luke 7:20 has ἄλλον where Matthew has ἕτερον. Pulpit thinks the first may point to a written common source.

Luke 7:22

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G191 ἀκούω (in 398 vv), G2491 Ἰωάννης (in 132 vv), G611 ἀποκρίνομαι (in 231 vv). All three are high frequency, so the Verifier's computed basis does not by itself earn a verbal tier, even though the two passages narrate the same episode in closely similar words; tiered down deliberately.

δεσμωτήριον: the four prisons of the New Testament verbal / quotation: confirmed

The word Matthew uses for John's cell is not the common φυλακή but δεσμωτήριον, a place of bondage, and it occurs in only four verses in the New Testament. The other three are all in Acts, and in every one of them the prison fails to hold: the apostles are found teaching in the temple while the officers report the prison "shut with all safety" (Acts 5:21, 23), and at Philippi the earthquake opens every door (Acts 16:26). Matthew's single use is the one that does not open. Gill places it at Machaerus; Ellicott notes the confinement was loose enough that "his disciples came and went freely," which is how the question in v. 3 reached Jesus at all.

Acts 5:21 · Acts 5:23 · Acts 16:26

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G1201 δεσμωτήριον, rare at only 4 verses in the NT (this verse plus the three refs); a genuine verbal link, not a quotation, and the contrast drawn between them is ⚙ synthesis.

The commission and the credentials: the same list verbal / quotation: confirmed

The chapter that just ended sent the Twelve out with an order: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead" (Matthew 10:8). The chapter that begins here answers John's question by reading back the same inventory as evidence. Gill and Ellicott both anchor each item in a miracle Matthew has already narrated: the leper of Matthew 8:2-3, the paralytic of Matthew 9:2-6, the blind men of Matthew 9:27-30, the ruler's daughter of Matthew 9:25. Poole raises the obvious objection, that the apostles did the same works, and answers it in his own terms: the disciples did them "as his disciples, by his power and authority," using a form like Peter's "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6). Barnes puts it the same way: "Prophets had done it by the power of God. Jesus, therefore, performed the works which none but the Messiah could do."

Matthew 10:8 · Matthew 8:2

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3015 λεπρός (in 9 vv) and G2511 καθαρίζω (in 30 vv), plus G1453 ἐγείρω (in 138 vv), for Matthew 10:8; the same rare λεπρός/καθαρίζω pairing links Matthew 8:2. λεπρός at 9 verses is rare enough to carry a verbal link; both refs are within Matthew, so no cross-Testament claim is involved.

"When God shall come and save you": Isaiah under the answer structural / thematic: confirmed

Every list item in v. 5 comes from Isaiah. Poole states the argument in full: "it was prophesied by Isaiah, Isaiah 35:4-6, that when God should come to save them, the eyes of the blind should be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as an hart ... and Isaiah 61:1, that the Messiah should preach good tidings to the meek." Benson, Gill, Barnes and Cambridge all cite the same two passages; Cambridge notes that Isaiah 35 "describes the work of God, who 'will come and save you.'" Pulpit adds the philological detail that the Greek of v. 5 follows the Septuagint of Isaiah 61:1 (εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοις ... τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν) rather than the Masoretic text, and that Jesus reorders the clauses and drops "liberty to the captives."

Isaiah 35:5-6 · Isaiah 61:1

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek Matthew to Hebrew Isaiah), so no shared Strong's number can be computed and no verbal tier is available here; the link is recorded by Poole, Benson, Gill, Barnes, Cambridge and Pulpit, with Pulpit noting that the Greek wording follows the LXX of Isaiah 61:1. Tiered structural on the Verifier's terms even though the commentators call it fulfilment.

Where "the Coming One" comes from flagged: verify source

The title ὁ ἐρχόμενος is agreed by every commentator to be messianic shorthand. Its source text is not agreed. Ellicott sends it to "Psalm 40:7; Psalm 118:26; Malachi 3:1"; Pulpit judges it "probably derived from Psalm 118:26," made familiar by the Septuagint of Habakkuk 2:3 (with Hebrews 10:37), "and perhaps also from a directly Messianic interpretation of Genesis 49:10"; Gill argues for Habakkuk 2:3 as the specific reference, reading it "for he that cometh, or is to come, shall come"; Barnes simply lists the Messianic expectation broadly (Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 9:1-6; 11:1-5; 35:4-6; 53; Daniel 9:24-27). Poole is content to say the title "lets us know the full expectation the Jews generally had at that time of a Messias coming." We record the dispute rather than settle it.

Psalm 118:26 · Habakkuk 2:3 · Malachi 3:1

basis: Provenance genuinely contested among the sourced commentators (Ellicott, Pulpit, Gill and Barnes each name a different primary text), and the link is cross-Testament, so no shared Strong's basis exists. Flagged rather than tiered.

μετέβη ἐκεῖθεν: Matthew's travel seam structural / thematic: confirmed

The verb μεταβαίνω (to change place) with ἐκεῖθεν is a Matthean formula, recurring at Matthew 12:9 and Matthew 15:29, each time to move Jesus from one arena of conflict or teaching to the next. Its appearance here immediately after the mission charge is why Ellicott and Pulpit both refuse to name the location: the formula records the motion, not the map. Pulpit adds that it is "hardly by accident" that the distancing "their" recurs with this formula, and cross-references Matthew 12:9.

Matthew 12:9 · Matthew 15:29

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3327 μεταβαίνω (in 11 vv) and G1564 ἐκεῖθεν (in 27 vv). μεταβαίνω is uncommon, but the link is a repeated narrative formula within one Gospel rather than a quotation, so it is tiered structural.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Coming One who does not come as expected ancient/widely-held

⚙ The title John uses, ὁ ἐρχόμενος, is a present participle: in every generation, as Cambridge puts it, "the prophet said 'He cometh.'" The whole force of the episode is that the participle has become an indicative and the herald cannot tell. Jesus does not correct the title; he corrects the expectation attached to it. Ellicott reads John's state as the ancient pattern of the prophet whose hope has outrun the event, comparing Jeremiah 20:7; Pulpit compares Elijah at Horeb, "whose plans seemed to have failed and his boldness to have done no good" (1 Kings 19:13-14), and says that "to both the answer implied that success was assured to quiet spiritual work." That the Christ answers a question about his identity with a description of his effects, and never with a title, is the reading recorded by Barnes, Pulpit, Gill and Poole alike.

Matthew 11:3 · 1 Kings 19:13-14 · Jeremiah 20:7

"God will come and save you": the works as the sign of the LORD's own arrival ancient/widely-held

⚙ Isaiah 35 does not promise a deputy. Cambridge states the premise exactly: the passage "describes the work of God, who 'will come and save you.'" Poole builds the argument on it: when those particular signs appear, "the fulfilling of these promises argued that the Messias was come, and no other was to be looked for." Barnes presses the further point that Jesus does these works "in his own name and by his own power," where "Prophets had done it by the power of God." So the answer sent back to the prison is not only that the Messiah has come, but that the works Isaiah assigned to the arriving God are being done by the one standing in front of the messengers, on his own authority. Gill notes the last item is the one Isaiah 61:1 assigns to the Anointed himself, which Luke 4:18-21 has Jesus claim aloud.

Isaiah 35:4-6 · Isaiah 61:1 · Luke 4:18-21

The clause he did not read novel

⚙ Isaiah 61:1 promises good news to the poor and liberty to the captives. Jesus quotes the first to a captive and leaves out the second. Pulpit records the omission and reads its purpose as pastoral redirection, that Jesus "desired to call John's attention away from the more political part of Messiah's work to that which alone forms the basis of permanent political improvement, the restoration of the individual." The further step is ours and is offered as fallible: the omission is not evasion but the shape of the cross written early. The Christ who will not open Machaerus is the Christ who will not come down from the tree, and the blessing pronounced in v. 6 on the one not tripped by him is the same blessing that will be needed at Golgotha. John, who said "He must increase, but I must decrease," is the first person asked to take the Messiah on those terms, and he is given a beatitude rather than a release.

Isaiah 61:1 · Matthew 11:6 · Matthew 27:42

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. Text. Verse 2 carries a real variant: the best manuscript authority reads διὰ ("by means of his disciples"), reported by Cambridge and adopted by Pulpit and the Revised Version, against δύο ("two of his disciples") in the Received Text and genuine at Luke 7:19. Benson, Gill, Geneva and Poole all write from the older reading, so their phrasing reflects it; their exegetical points do not depend on it. Verse 3: Matthew has ἕτερον where Luke 7:20 has ἄλλον, though Pulpit notes Westcott and Hort's margin reads ἕτερον there too. Verse 4: there is no Greek word behind the King James "again" in "shew John again," as Ellicott states.

What is disputed. Whether the question in v. 3 arises from John himself or from his disciples is unsettled and always has been. Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit say John; Benson (following Doddridge), Poole, Gill and Geneva say the disciples; Henry reports both without choosing; Barnes says plainly "It is not certainly known why John sent to Jesus." Gill preserves a third option from Lightfoot, that John expected a temporal kingdom and grew impatient at not being released. Our sola-reading assumes the first, and we have said where it weakens if the second is right. The source text behind the title "the Coming One" is likewise contested and is flagged, not tiered. In v. 5, the voice of εὐαγγελίζονται ("the poor have the gospel preached" or "the poor preach the gospel") is ambiguous in the Greek; Poole and Gill set out both, and we have not resolved it.

Sources and limits. The commentary is public domain and dated: Geneva 1599, Poole 1685, Henry 1706, Gill 1746-63, Benson 1810s, Barnes 1834, JFB 1871, Ellicott 1878, Cambridge and Pulpit 1880s. JFB's note on this passage is largely a cross-reference to his own comments on Mark 6 and Luke 7, so his one substantive remark in this unit is the note at 11:1 on the nature of the circuit, and that is all we have taken from him. Poole's entries for 11:2, 11:4 and 11:5 are cross-references to his note at 11:3 and 11:6, so his substantive comment on the whole unit sits in two entries. Two long entries (JFB at 11:1 and Poole at 11:6) were capped in the brief; nothing we have quoted comes from the capped remainder. Every thread basis is the Verifier's computed shared-lexeme output, reproduced in each badge; the Isaiah and "Coming One" links are cross-Testament and therefore carry no computed lexeme basis at all, which is stated in those badges. All ⚙ material, including the third Christ reading and the sola-reading, is fallible synthesis and is marked as such.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)