The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew13:53–58

The Rejection at Nazareth

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Matthew 13:53–58 — The Rejection at Nazareth. 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.

53

When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai egeneto hote ho Iēsous etelesen tautas tas parabolas metēren ekeithen

Word by word11 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegenetoG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to be, come to pass Aorist middle indicative. Matthew's kai egeneto is the Septuagint's narrative seam carried into Greek gospel prose. Here it does structural work: paired with etelesen it forms the closing formula Matthew stamps on each of his five great discourses, so the sentence is a seam in the architecture of the book, not a stage direction.
ὅτεhoteWhenG3753
√ 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
teleō: to end, complete, discharge The verb of bringing a thing to its appointed term. Matthew reserves the pattern "when Jesus had completed these words / parables" for the ends of his discourse blocks (compare 7:28, 11:1, 19:1), and the Verifier records the shared lexeme across those verses. The parable chapter is therefore closed as a unit before the narrative turns toward Nazareth.
ταύταςtautastheseG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Feminine Plural
τὰςtasG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
παραβολὰςparabolasparablesG3850
√ παραβολή — a similitude ("parable"), iNounAccusative Feminine Plural
μετῆρενmetērenHe withdrewG3332
√ μεταίρω — to betake oneself, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
metairō: to lift across, betake oneself away A genuinely rare verb: the Verifier finds it in only two New Testament verses, here and Matthew 19:1, and Pulpit flags exactly this. The rarity matters. The word marks a deliberate relocation, a lifting of the ministry from one place to another, and both occurrences sit at the hinge after a finished discourse.
ἐκεῖθενekeithenfrom that placeG1564
√ ἐκεῖθεν — thenceAdverb
ekeithen: from there Gill names the place left behind as the house and the city of Capernaum. The adverb is unemphatic in itself, but Pulpit observes that it and the opening kai both reappear in Mark 6:1, introducing the parallel, while judging the coincidence of such common words probably accidental.
54

Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked.

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Greek — tap a word ↓

kai elthōn eis autou tēn patrida edidasken autous en autōn tē synagōgē hōste autous ekplēssesthai Pothen toutō hautē hē sophia kai hai dynameis kai legein

Word by word25 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐλθὼνelthōnComingG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouHis hometownG846
√ 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
τὴνtēn. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
πατρίδαpatrida. . .G3968
√ πατρίς — a father-land, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
patris: father-land, native place A rare noun: the Verifier finds it in only eight verses in the whole New Testament, and it is the pivot lexeme of this unit, returning in v. 57 and binding this scene to Mark 6:1, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:23, Luke 4:24 and John 4:44. Barnes, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit identify it here as Nazareth, and Poole reports that most interpreters judge so; Gill is careful to add that it is the place of his upbringing and not of his birth, since Bethlehem is never said to have been revisited.
ἐδίδασκενedidaskenHe taughtG1321
√ διδάσκω — to teach (in the same broad application)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
didaskō: to teach Imperfect indicative active, durative. Barnes notes from Mark that it was the Sabbath and that any Jew might address the people when called on by the minister. The tense makes this not a single sermon but a settled attempt: the rejection at the end of the paragraph follows a real and repeated offer.
αὐτοὺςautous[the people]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 PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
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
The possessive is cold: their synagogue, not his, though he was raised among them.
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
συναγωγῇsynagōgēsynagogueG4864
√ συναγωγή — an assemblage of personsNounDative Feminine Singular
synagōgē: an assembly, synagogue Gill argues that Nazareth was too mean a place to have more than one, against the Vulgate and the Eastern versions which read "synagogues."
ὥστεhōsteandG5620
√ ὥστε — so too, iConjunction
αὐτοὺςautoustheyG846
√ 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 PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἐκπλήσσεσθαιekplēssesthaiwere astonishedG1605
√ ἐκπλήσσω — to strike with astonishmentVerbPresent Infinitive Middle or Passive
ekplēssō: to strike with astonishment The passive of a verb of physical striking, attested in only thirteen New Testament verses, and the same verb that closes the Sermon on the Mount at Matthew 7:28. Poole's warning is the exegetical key to the whole unit: astonishment is not faith. The crowd is knocked sideways by the teaching and still does not believe it.
ΠόθενPothenWhere did this man getG4159
√ πόθεν — from which (as interrogative) or what (as relative) place, state, source or causeAdverb
pothen: from where, from what source The question is the right one. Benson, quoting Doddridge, answers it for them: the meanness of Christ's education proves that such teaching must come from above. The tragedy of the scene is that the Nazarenes ask a question whose only honest answer is God, and then refuse the answer.
τούτῳtoutō. . .G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounDative Masculine Singular
αὕτηhautēsuchG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Feminine Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
σοφίαsophiawisdomG4678
√ σοφία — wisdom (higher or lower, worldly or spiritual)NounNominative Feminine Singular
sophia: wisdom Gill sharpens the irony: they knew he had never been put to school, never learned letters of men, never sat under their doctors, and so could not imagine whence such knowledge came, not knowing that he was the wisdom of God and the power of God. ⚙ The two nouns they name here, sophia and dynameis, are the same pair Paul joins of Christ at 1 Corinthians 1:24 (there both in the singular); the Verifier records no link between the verses, so the resonance is observation, not a demonstrated allusion.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αἱhaiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
δυνάμειςdynameismiraculous powersG1411
√ δύναμις — force (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Feminine Plural
dynamis: force, power, mighty work Plural, "powers," the standard gospel word for miracles as acts of raw capacity. Pulpit notes that "these" is not in the Greek and not necessarily implied, so the townsmen may be referring to works reported from elsewhere. The same noun returns in v. 58, where it is what they do not get.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγεινlegeinthey askedG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
55

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

estin ouch houtos ho tou tektonos huios ouch autou hē mētēr legetai Mariam kai autou hoi adelphoi Iakōbos kai Iōsēph kai Simōn kai Ioudas

Word by word24 · parsed
ἐστινestinIsn’tG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
οὐχouch. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οὗτόςhoutosthisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
τοῦtouvvvG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
τέκτονοςtektonoscarpenter’sG5045
√ τέκτων — an artificer (as producer of fabrics), iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
tektōn: an artificer, producer of fabrics The single word on which the doctrine of the hidden years hangs. Benson cites Justin Martyr that Jesus worked at this trade before his public ministry, and notes the Jewish canons requiring every parent to teach a child a trade. Barnes presses the point further: Mark's form, "the carpenter," is near proof that he himself worked the bench until thirty, so that the Son spent the great part of his life in honest and obscure industry.
υἱόςhuiossonG5207
√ υἱός — a "son" (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinshipNounNominative Masculine Singular
huios: son The townsmen name him by descent, and name him wrongly. Pulpit observes that Mark's "the carpenter, the son of Mary" may be the earlier form, which Matthew or his source softened out of reverence; either way the crowd's genealogy stops at Joseph's workshop and never reaches the Father whose Son he is.
οὐχouchIsn’tG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
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
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
μήτηρmētērmother’sG3384
√ μήτηρ — a "mother" (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)NounNominative Feminine Singular
λέγεταιlegetainameG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
legō: to say, to call Present passive: "is she not called Mary?" The idiom of common report. Gill reads the omission of any honorific as contempt, and records that Jewish tradition treated her with scorn as a poor working woman.
ΜαριὰμMariamMaryG3137
√ Μαρία — Maria or Mariam (iNounNominative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiand [aren’t]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
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
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἀδελφοὶadelphoibrothersG80
√ ἀδελφός — a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (much like G1 (Α))NounNominative Masculine Plural
adelphos: a brother, near or remote The most contested word in the unit, and the FSSB records the dispute rather than settling it. JFB lays out the three positions (full brothers, step-brothers, cousins), notes that the first suits the text best in every place the parties are certainly referred to, and still declines to decide. Cambridge judges that no other view would ever have been propounded but for the assumption of perpetual virginity. Benson takes them as cousins, sons of Mary's sister. Pulpit follows Lightfoot for sons of Joseph by a former wife. The Greek noun permits all three.
ἸάκωβοςIakōbosJamesG2385
√ Ἰάκωβος — Jacobus, the name of three IsraelitesNounNominative Masculine Singular
Iakōbos: James Benson and Gill identify him as James the Less, the Lord's brother of Galatians 1:19 and author of the epistle; JFB warns that his identity with James the son of Alphaeus is a question of considerable difficulty and not beyond dispute.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἸωσὴφIōsēphJosephG2501
√ Ἰωσήφ — Joseph, the name of seven IsraelitesNounNominative Masculine Singular
Ellicott notes the manuscripts favour the reading "Joseph" over "Joses," and that Joses is probably only a softened form of the same name; Pulpit agrees, calling Joses the Graecised form.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΣίμωνSimōnSimonG4613
√ Σίμων — Simon (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἸούδαςIoudasJudasG2455
√ Ἰούδας — Judas (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
56

Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

eisin ouchi pasai autou hai adelphai pros hēmas kai pothen oun toutō panta tauta

Word by word14 · parsed
εἰσινeisinAren’tG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
οὐχὶouchi. . .G3780
√ οὐχί — not indeedIntPrtcl
πᾶσαιpasaiallG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Feminine Plural
pas: all, the whole The completeness is the argument. Every relative is accounted for and none of them explains him. Pulpit notes there were at least three sisters and that only Matthew has the word all.
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
αἱhaiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
ἀδελφαὶadelphaisistersG79
√ ἀδελφή — a sister (naturally or ecclesiastically)NounNominative Feminine Plural
adelphē: a sister These women appear in Scripture twice and are never named. Gill's report of Epiphanius (Mary and Salome) is late tradition; the FSSB records it as such and asserts nothing about them.
πρὸςproswithG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
ἡμᾶςhēmasusG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Plural
καὶkaias wellG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πόθενpothenWhereG4159
√ πόθεν — from which (as interrogative) or what (as relative) place, state, source or causeAdverb
pothen: from where The second pothen in three verses, and the same interrogative that the householder's servants use inside this very chapter at Matthew 13:27, where the Verifier confirms the shared lexeme. There the question is where the tares came from; here it is where the wisdom came from. Matthew 13 is a chapter of people asking the right origin question and not liking the answer.
οὖνounthenG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
oun: therefore, accordingly The inferential particle makes the family catalogue of v. 55 into a premise. The reasoning is explicit: we know the house, therefore the wisdom has no accounting.
τούτῳtoutō[did] this [man]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounDative Masculine Singular
πάνταpanta[get] allG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Neuter Plural
ταῦταtautathese thingsG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Neuter Plural
houtos: this, these things Neuter plural, sweeping up the wisdom and the powers of v. 54 into one bundle they cannot place.
57

And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai eskandalizonto en autō de Ho Iēsous eipen autois ei mē en tē patridi kai en tē autou oikia estin prophētēs Ouk atimos

Word by word23 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐσκανδαλίζοντοeskandalizontothey took offenseG4624
√ σκανδαλίζω — to entrap, iVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Plural
skandalizō: to entrap, to put a stumbling block before Imperfect middle or passive, a continuing state. Ellicott notes the same sense at Matthew 11:6, where blessing is pronounced on whoever is not scandalized in him, which makes this verse the exact photographic negative of that beatitude. Pulpit puts it plainly: their knowledge of the earthly conditions of his youth proved a stumbling block to their faith.
ἐνenatG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
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
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipensaidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
Aorist: a single decisive word answering a settled refusal.
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ 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
εἰeiOnlyG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtē[his]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
πατρίδιpatridihometownG3968
√ πατρίς — a father-land, iNounDative Feminine Singular
patris: father-land The word returns from v. 54, now on Jesus' own lips, and it is the hinge of the proverb. Pulpit's textual note is worth recording: autou is not genuine with patridi here, so the Revised reading is simply "in the fatherland," and only the house is marked as his own. The Verifier confirms the lexeme shared with Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24 and John 4:44, where Pulpit follows Westcott in taking the word of Judaea.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
αὐτοῦautouhis ownG846
√ 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
οἰκίᾳoikiahouseholdG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
oikia: a residence, household Not the building but the people in it. Mark adds "among his own kin." The proverb narrows in three steps, country, kindred, house, so that the last and closest circle is the coldest, which is why the verse bears directly on the brothers of v. 55 who, on any of the three theories, did not yet believe.
ἔστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
προφήτηςprophētēsa prophetG4396
√ προφήτης — a foreteller ("prophet")NounNominative Masculine Singular
prophētēs: a foreteller, one who speaks forth Jesus does not here claim more than the prophet's office, and Ellicott notes that the proverb reads like a saying often on his lips, telling of prolonged experience of indifference and unbelief. Barnes calls it a proverbial expression advanced as a general truth to which he was no exception.
ΟὐκOukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἄτιμοςatimoswithout honorG820
√ ἄτιμος — (negatively) unhonoured or (positively) dishonouredAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
atimos: unhonoured, dishonoured A rare adjective, four New Testament verses, and Paul takes it up for the apostles themselves at 1 Corinthians 4:10 and for the less presentable members of the body at 1 Corinthians 12:23. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme. The Master's dishonour at home becomes the standing lot of his servants.
58

And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai ouk epoiēsen pollas dynameis ekei dia autōn tēn apistian

Word by word10 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἐποίησενepoiēsenHe did not doG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make or do Aorist active. The commentators divide precisely here and the FSSB records the division rather than resolving it. Benson holds the words are not to be pressed as if Christ's power were disarmed. Barnes argues the miracles would have been useless to the purpose of his mission among people so prejudiced they could not judge evidence. Gill says plainly that he would not, judging them unworthy, and that their condemnation might not be increased. Three different accounts of one negative verb.
πολλὰςpollasmanyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Plural
δυνάμειςdynameismiraclesG1411
√ δύναμις — force (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Plural
dynamis: power, mighty work The same plural noun the townsmen used in v. 54 when they asked whence the dynameis came. The unit closes on the word it opened the questioning with: they demanded the source of the powers and then received few of them.
ἐκεῖekeithereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
διὰdiabecause ofG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
dia: on account of (with accusative) Causal, not instrumental. The preposition makes their unbelief the ground of a decision, which is why every commentator here is forced into the question of whether the restraint is inability or judgment.
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
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ἀπιστίανapistianunbeliefG570
√ ἀπιστία — faithlessness, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
apistia: faithlessness, want of faith A relatively rare noun, eleven New Testament verses, and Mark's parallel adds that Jesus marvelled at it. The word names not intellectual doubt about his power (they had just conceded the mighty works) but refusal of his mission, as Benson observes. Hebrews 3:12 uses the same noun for the evil heart of unbelief that kept a generation out of rest, and the Verifier confirms the shared lexeme.

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 in the book: a discourse finished, a place left — 13:53

⚙ The unit opens on a joint in Matthew's own carpentry. Καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ἐτέλεσεν is not narrative filler: Pulpit names it exactly, "the formula marks the end of an excerpt from the discourses," and cross-refers his note at Matthew 11:1. The Verifier confirms what Pulpit's eye caught, that teleō and hote recur at Matthew 7:28, 11:1 and 19:1, the closing seams of Matthew's five discourse blocks. Then comes μετῆρεν, a verb the Verifier finds in only two New Testament verses, this one and Matthew 19:1, which Pulpit also records. Gill supplies the concrete: he departed from the house he was in and from Capernaum, where he had spent some time. Cambridge, meanwhile, refuses to tidy the chronology, holding "with great probability" that Luke's Nazareth narrative refers to a different and earlier visit; Ellicott concedes that a dislocation of some kind must be admitted in any case, given the almost entire absence of trustworthy notes of sequence; JFB, against the majority of harmonists, holds this was the first and only visit. The FSSB records the disagreement and settles nothing.

ii. The right question in the wrong mouth: whence, and the workshop — 13:54-13:56

⚙ Twice in three verses Nazareth asks πόθεν, whence, and both times the sentence has no verb: only a cold dative, "to this one." They ask after the source of the σοφία and the δυνάμεις, and then answer themselves with a trade and a family register. Benson, quoting Doddridge, turns their own premise against them: the meanness of Christ's education was itself a demonstration that such teaching must come from some extraordinary and divine influence. Gill reaches the same conclusion from the other end, observing that they knew he had never been put to school nor learned letters of men, and did not know that he was the wisdom of God and the power of God. Poole supplies the diagnosis that governs the whole unit: astonishment and admiration flow from ignorance and are no indication of any saving work, and these same astonished men are by and by scandalized. On τέκτων, Barnes presses Mark's harder form ("the carpenter") as near proof that Jesus worked the bench to the age of thirty, and says the infidel who sneers at it praises Peter the Great for the same descent; Benson cites Justin Martyr and the Jewish canon that every parent teach a child a trade; Poole notes soberly that the word will not tell us whether wood or iron. On the brothers and sisters, the FSSB declines to arbitrate: Cambridge judges the cousin and step-brother theories were only ever propounded to protect an assumption; Pulpit follows Lightfoot for sons of Joseph by a former wife; Benson takes them for cousins; and JFB, having laid out all three, says outright that he prefers to leave the vexed question dubiously. Geneva alone names the moral of the questioning: men sin not only through ignorance but knowingly lay stumbling blocks in their own way.

iii. Scandalized in him: the proverb, and the powers withheld — 13:57-13:58

⚙ ἐσκανδαλίζοντο ἐν αὐτῷ is imperfect and it is in him, not at some saying of his: the trap they keep falling over is his person. Ellicott hears the same verb as Matthew 11:6 and states the mechanism, that they could not reconcile the new wisdom with the commonness of the earlier life, and so did not believe. Poole answers with indignation, calling malice and prejudice unreasonable, since their very knowledge of his family should have forced the conclusion that he came by neither this wisdom nor these works by any human means. Henry puts the perversity in one line: they should have respected him the more because he was one of themselves, but therefore they despised him. The reply is a proverb built on the rare word ἄτιμος and the unit's pivot word πατρίς, and Pulpit notices the positive edge in the exceptive construction, that there will ever be some to honour him; he also offers Jeremiah 11:21 and 12:6 as a possible background. Then v. 58, where the commentators openly divide. Benson holds the power was not disarmed, only unexercised where few sick were brought. Barnes holds the miracles would have been useless to the purposes of the mission among men not in a condition to judge evidence. Gill says he would not, judging them unworthy, lest their condemnation be increased. Ellicott, reading Mark's stronger "could not," concludes that the wonder-working power was not absolute and unconditioned but depended on the faith of those who came. Pulpit locates the hindrance in the absence of moral conditions rather than of power, and notes the precise word: complete apistia, not the disciples' oligopistia. Every one of them insists, with Barnes and Gill from Mark 6:5, that a few sick folk were still healed.

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

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested by Scripture. Matthew has just finished seven parables about a sowing that mostly fails, a field full of tares, a net that brings up bad fish, and about a kingdom hidden in things too small and too ordinary to look like a kingdom. He then puts down the parables and shows one. Nazareth is the rocky ground with a name and an address. The chapter's verdict, that seeing they do not see, is acted out by men who have seen most and known him longest, and who reason from the workshop to the impossibility of the workman. Notice what they get right: the wisdom is real, the powers are real, and their πόθεν is the correct question, the same question the servants ask about the tares in v. 27 of this chapter. Unbelief here is not ignorance of the evidence; it is possession of the evidence with an unwillingness to follow it home. And the closing verse cuts both ways against us. Against a triumphalism that treats power as automatic: he did not do many mighty works there. Against a fatalism that treats faith as the engine: he still healed a few. Matthew's διὰ with the accusative gives a reason, not a defeat. The FSSB does not claim to settle what Matthew's "did not" and Mark's "could not" together mean; Benson, Barnes, Gill, Ellicott and Pulpit give four different accounts of it, and the honest result is a boundary rather than a formula. What the text will bear is this: the God who took a carpenter's bench for thirty years does not force himself past a door that knows him and keeps him out. The line below is our own summary sentence, not Scripture.

They knew everything about him except him, and called that knowledge a reason.

⚙

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.

"When Jesus had finished": the seam that closes each of the five discourses verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ The opening clause is a formula, not a transition. The same pairing of ὅτε (G3753) with ἐτέλεσεν (teleō, G5055) closes the Sermon on the Mount at Matthew 7:28, the mission charge at Matthew 11:1, and the community discourse at Matthew 19:1. Pulpit names the formula here and cross-refers his own note at Matthew 11:1. The link to Matthew 19:1 is tighter still: the Verifier finds the verb μετῆρεν (metairō, G3332) in only two verses of the New Testament, this one and that, and Pulpit observes it comes there in the same connexion. All refs are within Matthew, so the verbal tier involves no cross-Testament claim.

Matthew 19:1 · Matthew 11:1 · Matthew 7:28

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5055 teleō (in 28 vv) and G3753 hote (in 102 vv) across Matthew 7:28, 11:1, 19:1; plus the rare G3332 metairō (in only 2 vv, this verse and Matthew 19:1). Greek to Greek within one book, no quotation of another text claimed.

πατρίς: the prophet's father-land in all four Gospels verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ The unit turns twice on πατρίς (patris, G3968), a noun the Verifier finds in only eight New Testament verses, and this unit holds two of its occurrences (vv. 54, 57). The proverb built on it recurs at Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24 and John 4:44. Ellicott, Cambridge, JFB and Pulpit all set the Synoptic parallels side by side and dispute whether Luke narrates this same visit; Pulpit adds that in John 4:44 the word appears, following Westcott, in a special sense of Judaea, even though the saying there is almost identical with our v. 57. The rare lexeme and the near-identical saying make the verbal link secure; all four references are Greek, so no cross-Testament claim is involved.

Mark 6:4 · Mark 6:1 · Luke 4:24 · Luke 4:23 · John 4:44

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G3968 patris (in only 8 vv) at Mark 6:1, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:23, Luke 4:24, John 4:44, with G4396 prophētēs (in 138 vv) in the proverb itself; Greek to Greek.

ἄτιμος: the Master's dishonour becomes the servants' lot structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The adjective Jesus applies to the prophet at home, ἄτιμος (atimos, G820), is rare: the Verifier finds it in four New Testament verses. Paul takes it up twice. At 1 Corinthians 4:10 he sets the apostles' dishonour against the Corinthians' honour; at 1 Corinthians 12:23 he argues that the members of the body reckoned less honourable are clothed with the greater honour. ⚙ Neither passage quotes this one and neither commentator in this unit draws the line; the connection recorded here is the shared rare lexeme and the shared logic that in the kingdom the un-honoured place is the characteristic place. Greek to Greek throughout.

1 Corinthians 4:10 · 1 Corinthians 12:23

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G820 atimos (in only 4 vv). Deliberately downgraded from verbal: the lexeme is genuinely rare, but Paul quotes nothing here and at 1 Corinthians 12:23 uses the word in another sense (the less presentable members of the body), so only the shared word and the shared pattern are claimed.

"Whence?" asked twice in one chapter structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Inside Matthew 13 itself the interrogative πόθεν (pothen, G4159) is put into two mouths. At v. 27 the householder's servants ask whence the field has tares; at vv. 54 and 56 the townsmen ask whence this man has wisdom and powers. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme along with the negative particle οὐχί (G3780) that heads the Nazarene questions. ⚙ This is a structural observation rather than a quotation: the chapter that began by explaining why the sowing fails ends by naming the field where it failed.

Matthew 13:27

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4159 pothen (in 26 vv) and G3780 ouchi (in 51 vv) within Matthew 13. A genuine verbal recurrence, but tiered structural because no citation or proverb is being reused, only a motif.

ἀπιστία: the same noun for Nazareth and for the wilderness generation structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ ἀπιστία (apistia, G570) is not a common word: the Verifier finds it in eleven New Testament verses. Mark 6:6, the direct parallel, adds that Jesus marvelled because of it and went round the villages teaching, which Poole quotes in full. Hebrews 3:12 uses the same noun for the evil heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God, in an argument about the generation who heard and did not enter rest. ⚙ Hebrews does not cite Matthew and the settings differ; what is recorded here is the shared rare lexeme and the shared pattern of hearing without entering. Greek to Greek.

Mark 6:6 · Hebrews 3:12

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G570 apistia (in 11 vv) at Mark 6:6 and Hebrews 3:12, with G1321 didaskō (in 91 vv) shared with Mark 6:6. Tiered structural rather than verbal because Hebrews makes no citation of this passage and the lexeme carries different settings.

πατρίς turned inside out: the homeland that is not on earth structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Hebrews 11:14 uses the same rare noun πατρίς (G3968) that governs this unit, but of the patriarchs who declare plainly that they seek a homeland. The Verifier records the shared lexeme. ⚙ The irony is the FSSB's own and is offered as a reading, not a demonstration: the one who has no honour in his patris is the one through whom a better patris is given to those who confess themselves strangers. Hebrews is not commenting on Matthew and no commentator in this unit makes the link, so nothing beyond the word and the inverted pattern is claimed.

Hebrews 11:14

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G3968 patris (in only 8 vv). Deliberately tiered structural, not verbal: the sense differs (native town versus heavenly homeland) and no quotation or allusion is claimed in either direction.

The prophet hated by his own house: Jeremiah at Anathoth typological

⚙ Pulpit suggests, at the words "and in his own house," that Jeremiah's experience may have given rise to the proverb: the men of Anathoth who sought his life (Jeremiah 11:21) and the brothers and father's house who dealt treacherously with him (Jeremiah 12:6). ⚙ The FSSB records this as a figural and possible reading only. This is a Greek to Hebrew pairing, so no shared Strong's lexeme can exist and no verbal tier is possible; Pulpit himself says "possibly," and the Gospel text neither quotes Jeremiah nor names him here.

Jeremiah 11:21 · Jeremiah 12:6

basis: Basis is Pulpit's own suggestion at Matthew 13:57 ("Possibly Jeremiah's experience ... gave rise to this proverb"), a pattern link only. Cross-Testament Greek to Hebrew, so shared Strong's numbers are impossible and no verbal claim is made. Widely-noted among commentators, but stated here as possible, not demonstrated.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The carpenter's son: thirty years of deliberate obscurity ancient/widely-held

⚙ The crowd's sneer is the Gospel's best evidence for the reality of the incarnation. JFB draws the inference exactly: these particulars of our Lord's human history testify first to his true and real humanity, because during all his first thirty years his townsmen had discovered nothing about him different from other men; secondly to the divine character of his mission, since these very Nazarenes proclaim the unparalleled character of his teaching; and thirdly to his humility, in that he gave no indication of what he was for thirty years. Barnes pushes the same point through τέκτων: the Son of God spent the greatest part of his life in honest, useful, obscure industry, and it staggers the faith of many that he should. Benson calls it an additional proof of the humiliation of the blessed Redeemer for our sakes. ⚙ The workshop is not a gap before the ministry; it is the first long chapter of the self-emptying that Philippians 2:7 names, and Isaiah 53:2 had already denied the Servant any stately form or majesty that would draw men to him. ⚙ Neither text is quoted by Matthew here and no voice in this brief cites them; the link is the FSSB's own reading of a pattern the commentators describe without naming these verses.

Philippians 2:7 · Isaiah 53:2 · Mark 6:3

He came to his own, and his own did not receive him ancient/widely-held

⚙ The unit is John 1:11 in narrative form, and the Greek presses it: the rejection happens in his πατρίς, his father-land, and reaches into his οἰκία, his household. Ellicott notes the proverb reads like a saying often on his lips, telling of a prolonged experience of unbelief in all its forms; Poole and Henry both mark the perversity that familiarity became the ground of contempt. Mark's fuller form, which JFB and Poole both cite, adds "among his own kin," and John 7:5 records that his own brothers did not believe in him. ⚙ Isaiah 53:3 had already named the pattern: despised and rejected of men. The one whom the servants of the parable would have asked the householder about is himself the man from nowhere that his own town cannot place.

John 1:11 · John 7:5 · Isaiah 53:3

The stone the builders rejected, and the builder's son they rejected novel

⚙ This reading is the tool's own and is marked as such. Nazareth's whole argument is an argument from building: we know the trade, we know the family, therefore we know the man. Within Matthew's own book the answer comes eight chapters later, when Jesus takes Psalm 118:22 on his lips and names himself the stone the builders rejected, which became the head of the corner (Matthew 21:42), and 1 Peter 2:4 takes up the same figure of a stone rejected by men but chosen and precious with God. ⚙ No commentator in this unit draws the line from the τέκτων of 13:55 to the builders of 21:42, and the Greek words differ, so the connection claimed here is thematic and interpretive only: the craftsman's son is judged unfit by the builders of his own town, and is the one stone they cannot do without.

Matthew 21:42 · Psalm 118:22 · 1 Peter 2:4

The powers withheld: faith as the door, not the engine ancient/widely-held

⚙ The last verse guards two errors at once. Ellicott, reading Mark's stronger "could do no mighty works," concludes that the wonder-working power was not absolute and unconditioned but depended on the faith of those who came to him; Barnes replies that we are not to suppose his power was limited, only that men so prejudiced were not in a condition to judge evidence; Gill says he would not, judging them unworthy; Benson says he did not judge it proper to obtrude his miracles on people who brought him few sick. ⚙ The FSSB does not choose among these. What the Greek gives is διὰ with the accusative, a cause and not a conquest, and a negated πολλὰς rather than a negated verb: a few were still healed (Mark 6:5, cited here by Barnes, Gill, Poole and JFB). The Christ who is not honoured at home does not therefore stop healing; he stops proving.

Mark 6:5 · Matthew 11:6 · Hebrews 3:12

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)

⚙ Text and translation. The base text is the BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear parse and Strong's numbers; the Greek surfaces, glosses and parsings above are sourced, not reconstructed. Two textual points recorded by the commentators bear on the reading: Pulpit judges that αὐτοῦ is not genuine with πατρίδι in v. 57, so that "his own country" should be simply "the country," and that the insertion of idia lacks sufficient authority; and Ellicott notes that manuscript authority favours "Joseph" over "Joses" in v. 55, with Pulpit adding that Joses is the Graecised form.

⚙ What is genuinely uncertain. First, the harmony. Cambridge, Ellicott, JFB and Pulpit disagree over whether Luke 4:16-30 records this visit or an earlier one, and Ellicott concedes that a dislocation of some kind must be admitted in any case. This synthesis takes no position. Second, the brothers and sisters. JFB lays out three views and declines to decide; Cambridge, Barnes, Benson and Pulpit each take a different one. The lexicon entry for ἀδελφός (G80) itself allows "near or remote," so the Greek does not settle it and neither do we. Third, v. 58. Matthew's "did not do" and Mark's "could not do" are harmonised four different ways by the commentators quoted here; the FSSB records the range and asserts none of them as the meaning.

⚙ What is machine synthesis. Every thread basis comes from the Verifier's computed shared-lexeme output, reproduced in the badges with frequencies. The Jeremiah thread is tiered typological because it is a cross-Testament pairing where shared Strong's numbers are impossible, and because Pulpit offers it as a possibility only. The Hebrews 11:14 and Matthew 13:27 threads are deliberately tiered structural though the shared lexemes are real: no quotation is being claimed in either direction. The third Christ entry (the rejected stone) is marked novel because no voice in this brief draws it and the Greek vocabulary differs; it is offered to be tested, not relied on. Gill's Antioch schoolmaster anecdote and his report of Epiphanius on the sisters' names are late tradition, flagged as such in the editorial notes and used for nothing.

✦ = 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)