The Fallible Study Bible

The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Matthew21:28–32

The Parable of the Two Sons

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

Matthew 21:28–32 — The Parable of the Two Sons. 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.

28

But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ti hymin dokei anthrōpos eichen dyo tekna kai proselthōn tō prōtō eipen Teknon hypage ergazou sēmeron en tō ampelōni

Word by word20 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΤίTiwhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Neuter Singular
ὑμῖνhymin[do] youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
δοκεῖdokeithinkG1380
√ δοκέω — compare the base of G1166 (δεικνύω)) of the same meaningVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
dokeō: to seem, to be of opinion The impersonal construction turns the chief priests and elders into a jury. They have just refused to answer Jesus about John's baptism (the immediate context Ellicott and Benson both name), so Jesus stops asking them about John and asks them about a vineyard, where they cannot see themselves in the dock. Poole compares the tactic to Nathan before David at 2 Samuel 12: the verdict is extracted before the defendant is identified.
ἄνθρωποςanthrōpos[There was] a manG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
εἶχενeichenwho hadG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
τέκναteknasonsG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
teknon: a child, as produced Two children, not two servants. Ellicott presses exactly this: both of those called to work are children, which grants the openly irreligious a real filial standing and denies the respectable any standing above it. Gill grounds the sonship in national adoption (Romans 9:4), which publicans held as truly as Pharisees did. The parable's whole force depends on the two being brothers, not a son and a hireling.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
προσελθὼνproselthōnHe wentG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
τῷtōto theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
πρώτῳprōtōfirst [one]G4413
√ πρῶτος — foremost (in time, place, order or importance)AdjectiveDative Neuter Singular
εἶπενeipen[and] saidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ΤέκνονTeknonSonG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounVocative Neuter Singular
teknon: child (vocative) The vocative is the softest word in the sentence and it opens the command. Whatever the sons do with the call, the call itself comes as a father's address, not a master's order. Benson reads the first son as those who neither professed nor promised anything good, and yet this is how they are spoken to.
ὕπαγεhypagegoG5217
√ ὑπάγω — to lead (oneself) under, iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
hypagō: to lead oneself under, to go away Present imperative: the motion is away from the father and out to the field. The same root reappears nowhere else in the unit, but its opposite does: the verb of actual departure in verses 29 and 30 is ἀπέρχομαι, and the whole parable is settled by which son performs it.
ἐργάζουergazou[and] workG2038
√ ἐργάζομαι — to toil (as a task, occupation, etcVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Singular
ergazomai: to toil, as a task or occupation Present imperative middle: keep working, be at labour. JFB draws the theology straight from the verb, that true religion is a practical thing. Gill fills in what the working is: to hear the word, believe the Messiah, receive his ordinances. Nothing in the command asks for an answer; it asks for a day's work.
σήμερονsēmerontodayG4594
√ σήμερον — on the (iAdverb
sēmeron: today One adverb, and it carries the deadline. Pulpit hears Psalm 95:7 and 8 behind it, and Gill notes that the hour comes when no one can work. The second son's failure is not a decision against the vineyard but a today that never arrives.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ἀμπελῶνιampelōnivineyardG290
√ ἀμπελών — a vineyardNounDative Masculine Singular
ampelōn: a vineyard The standing figure for Israel under God's care (Isaiah 5:1 to 7; Psalm 80:8 to 16), and the setting of the parable Jesus tells immediately after this one (Matthew 21:33 and following). Gill reads the vineyard here as the kingdom, the gospel church state now being opened; Pulpit reads it as the Church. Either way, Jesus is standing in the temple courts telling the temple authorities that the vineyard is hiring and they are not in it.
29

‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

thelō de Ho apokritheis eipen Ou de hysteron metamelētheis apēlthen

Word by word10 · parsed
θέλωthelōI will notG2309
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
thelō: to determine, as an active option from subjective impulse The son denies having the thelēma that verse 31 will ask about: he says “I do not will,” and is then the one who does the father's will. The wordplay is exact in Greek (G2309 here, G2307 at 21:31) and is lost in every smooth English rendering. Gill reads the refusal as the native voice of the unregenerate will and asks where free will has gone; Pulpit hears a man selfishly wrapped in his own pleasures. Neither reading softens the fact that this is the son who ends up in the vineyard.
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheishe repliedG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
Greek idiom, participle plus finite verb; the passive form of ἀποκρίνομαι carries no special weight here.
εἶπενeipenG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ΟὐOuvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
The bare negative stands first in the Greek, before the verb it governs.
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὕστερονhysteronlaterG5305
√ ὕστερον — more lately, iAdverb
hysteron: more lately, afterward A relatively uncommon adverb (11 verses) that Matthew uses for the decisive delayed moment: the tenant parable's “last of all” son (21:37), the virgins who came “afterward” to a shut door (25:11). Here it is the interval in which grace arrives; in verse 32 the same adverb marks an interval in which nothing happened.
μεταμεληθεὶςmetamelētheishe changed his mindG3338
√ μεταμέλλομαι — to care afterwards, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
metamellomai: to care afterwards, to regret One of only five occurrences in the New Testament, and the company it keeps is sobering: Judas is seized by this same verb at Matthew 27:3 and hangs himself; Paul uses it of his own second thoughts about a letter (2 Corinthians 7:8); Hebrews 7:21 uses it of the God who will not change his mind. Ellicott therefore calls it the first stage of repentance, which may pass on into the higher or, as with Judas, end only in remorse and despair. The word is deliberately weaker than μετανοέω, and the son is still commended, because what the father asked for was the field, not a feeling.
ἀπῆλθενapēlthen[and] wentG565
√ ἀπέρχομαι — to go off (iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
aperchomai: to go off, to depart The narrative spends no words on the going. Henry's summary is that the daring rebel is brought to repentance and becomes the Lord's servant, and Gill catalogues at length what an evangelical repentance involves; the text itself records only that the man left and worked. That reticence is the parable's argument.
30

Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Proselthōn tō deuterō eipen hōsautōs Egō kyrie de Ho apokritheis eipen kai ouk apēlthen

Word by word15 · parsed
δὲdeThenG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΠροσελθὼνProselthōn[the man] wentG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
τῷtōto theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
δευτέρῳdeuterōsecond [son]G1208
√ δεύτερος — (ordinal) second (in time, place, or rankAdjectiveDative Masculine Singular
deuteros: second, in time, place or rank An ordinal, nothing more, and yet the manuscript tradition fought over it: several witnesses invert the sons' answers so that it is the second son who repents and goes. Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all record the variant, and Pulpit notes that Christ's own reply in verse 31 supports the received order.
εἶπενeipen[and] told [him]G2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὡσαύτωςhōsautōsthe same thingG5615
√ ὡσαύτως — as thus, iAdverb
hōsautōs: as thus, in like manner One call, two hearings. The adverb quietly removes every excuse that might be built on circumstance.
ἘγώEgōI [will]G1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 1st Person Singular
egō: I Greek does not need this pronoun with a verb, and here there is no verb for it to stand with. What is left is bare self-assertion in the vocabulary of obedience. JFB hears in it the temple prayer of Luke 18:11, and Pulpit sets the courteous answer against the brother's blunt refusal. The text gives the respectable son the first person and the first word, and gives the other son the vineyard.
κύριεkyriesirG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounVocative Masculine Singular
kyrios: supreme in authority, lord A son calls his father κύριε, which is deference of a formal, almost liturgical kind. The unit is spoken in the temple to men whose office was to say precisely this word well. Matthew has already reported the judgment that falls on it: not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” enters the kingdom, but the one who does the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21), which is the same test, in the same vocabulary, that verse 31 now applies.
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheishe saidG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipenG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiButG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
Plain coordination; the Greek does not mark the contrast that English translations supply.
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἀπῆλθενapēlthenhe did not goG565
√ ἀπέρχομαι — to go off (iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
aperchomai: to go off, to depart The identical verb that closed verse 29, now negated. The two verses are built as a single sentence with one word changed, so that the parable's grammar is its argument: obedience is a verb of motion, and only one brother has it. JFB observes that this son never afterward repented and refused to go, because there was no intention to go in the first place.
31

Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Tis ek tōn dyo epoiēsen to thelēma tou patros Ho prōtos Legousin ho Iēsous Legei autois Amēn legō hymin hoti hoi telōnai kai hai pornai proagousin eis tēn basileian tou Theou hymas

Word by word32 · parsed
ΤίςTisWhichG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐκekofG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
τῶνtōntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
ἐποίησενepoiēsendidG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make or do The aorist asks after a completed act. Barnes notes that their answer was correct, and that it is strange they did not perceive it condemned themselves; the reason they could not perceive it is that the question is about doing, and they had built an identity out of saying. Poole puts it plainly: the father's will was not that the son give him a cap and a knee.
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
θέλημαthelēmawillG2307
√ θέλημα — a determination (properly, the thing), iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
thelēma: a determination, the thing willed The pivot of the unit and the pivot of Matthew's ethics: at 7:21 the one who enters is the one who does the θέλημα of the Father, at 12:50 the one who does it is Jesus' brother and sister and mother, and at 26:42 Jesus himself prays that the Father's θέλημα be done. The parable's question is therefore the Gospel's question, and Gethsemane is where it is finally answered.
τοῦtouof [his]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
πατρόςpatrosfatherG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounGenitive Masculine Singular
ὉHoTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
πρῶτοςprōtosfirstG4413
√ πρῶτος — foremost (in time, place, order or importance)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
prōtos: foremost in time, place, order or importance They say “the first,” meaning the first son chronologically, and the word also means the foremost in rank. Given that the sentence about to fall on them has the tax collectors going in front, their own one word answer is more ironic than they know. Several manuscripts reverse the sons' answers, which would make this read “the second”; Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all record the variant.
ΛέγουσινLegousinthey answeredG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ΛέγειLegeisaidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
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
ἈμὴνAmēnTrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
amēn: firm, truly The untranslated Hebrew of assent, used by Jesus not to affirm someone else's word but his own. It marks the seam in the unit: the parable ends, the application begins, and the judges become the judged.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
τελῶναιtelōnaitax collectorsG5057
√ τελώνης — a tax-farmer, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
telōnēs: a tax-farmer, a collector of revenue Not merely disreputable but nationally hated as collaborators; Poole notes they were very odious to the Jews. Ellicott cannot help associating the general plural with the particular publican who became an apostle (Matthew 9:9) and with Zacchaeus (Luke 19:2 to 10). Matthew, who alone preserves this parable, had been one.
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
πόρναιpornaiprostitutesG4204
√ πόρνη — a strumpetNounNominative Feminine Plural
pornē: a harlot A rare noun (12 verses). Where else it appears matters: Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 both name Rahab “the harlot” as the pattern of a faith that acted, and James makes her the case study for a faith proved by works, which is the exact logic of this parable. Poole notes only that harlots are great sinners; the canon is more interested in what one of them did.
προάγουσινproagousinare enteringG4254
√ προάγω — to lead forward (magisterially)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
proagō: to lead forward, magisterially A present tense, and a verb with an object: they are not simply arriving first, they are out in front of you on the road. Ellicott and Pulpit both take this as leaving the door open, so that the despised have merely taken the place of honour ahead. Geneva refuses that comfort and says the word is improperly taken here, since none of the Pharisees in fact followed Christ. The ⚙ reading below sides with Ellicott on the grammar and with Geneva on the outcome. The same verb, in Matthew's own mouth, is what the risen Christ does at 26:32 and 28:7: he goes before them into Galilee.
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
βασιλείανbasileiankingdomG932
√ βασιλεία — properly, royalty, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
basileia: royalty, kingdom Matthew's usual phrase is the kingdom of the heavens; this is one of his comparatively few uses of the kingdom of God, and it falls in the application rather than in the parable. Gill takes the vineyard of verse 28 to be this same kingdom in its present gospel form, so that the two images close on each other: to be sent into the vineyard and to enter the kingdom are one summons.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouof GodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ὑμᾶςhymasbefore youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
32

For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar Iōannēs ēlthen pros hymas en hodō dikaiosynēs kai ouk episteusate autō de hoi telōnai kai hai pornai episteusan autō de oude hysteron idontes hymeis metemelēthēte tou pisteusai autō

Word by word29 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἸωάννηςIōannēsJohnG2491
√ Ἰωάννης — Joannes (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἦλθενēlthencameG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
Aorist of ἔρχομαι; the plain verb of John's arrival, answering the question about John's authority that the rulers had refused to answer.
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ὁδῷhodō[the] wayG3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounDative Feminine Singular
hodos: a road, a way A Hebraism for a manner of life, as Geneva and Cambridge both note, and one that the early church took over as its own name: “the Way” at Acts 9:2, 19:9 and 19:23. Pulpit adds the sharpest turn available, that John preached Christ, who is himself the Way (John 14:6). So the path the rulers professed to honour arrived in person and they declined it.
δικαιοσύνηςdikaiosynēsof righteousnessG1343
√ δικαιοσύνη — equity (of character or act)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
dikaiosynē: equity, of character or act Ellicott argues the term is half technical here, naming the righteousness the Pharisees themselves recognised, the almsgiving, fasting and prayer of Matthew 6:1, all conspicuous in the Baptist's life. If that is right, the indictment is not that John's righteousness was foreign to them but that it was exactly the thing they claimed, walking toward them on the road, and they still did not believe him. JFB compares Noah, the preacher of righteousness of 2 Peter 2:5.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἐπιστεύσατεepisteusateyou did not believeG4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
pisteuō: to have faith in, upon, or with respect to The aorist of a settled historical failure. JFB is careful and honest about its shape: they did not reject John outright, they were willing for a season to rejoice in his light (John 5:35), but they would not receive his testimony to Jesus. Pulpit adds Luke 7:30, that the Pharisees and lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, not having been baptized of him.
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
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
τελῶναιtelōnaitax collectorsG5057
√ τελώνης — a tax-farmer, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
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
πόρναιpornaiprostitutesG4204
√ πόρνη — a strumpetNounNominative Feminine Plural
ἐπίστευσανepisteusan[did]G4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
αὐτῷautō. . .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 Singular
δὲdeAndG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
οὐδὲoude[even]G3761
√ οὐδέ — not however, iAdverb
oude: not however, not even Two syllables that carry the verdict. The first son was credited with the weaker kind of change of mind; these men did not reach even that. Ellicott and Cambridge both insist on the force of the word, and it is the strongest philological evidence in the unit that the parable was aimed at the men standing in front of Jesus.
ὕστερονhysteronafterG5305
√ ὕστερον — more lately, iAdverb
ἰδόντεςidontesyou saw thisG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
horaō: to see, by extension to attend to Aorist participle: they saw it happen. Benson presses that they could not deny an amazing change had been wrought in notorious characters, which was itself proof of John's mission; JFB says they should have been provoked to jealousy and instead watched people flocking to the Saviour, unmoved. Evidence was not what they lacked.
ὑμεῖςhymeisyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Plural
μετεμελήθητεmetemelēthētedid not repentG3338
√ μεταμέλλομαι — to care afterwards, iVerbAorist Indicative Passive2nd Person Plural
metamellomai: to care afterwards, to regret The rare verb (five occurrences) returns as a second person plural aorist passive, so that the hearers are measured by the yardstick they themselves approved one verse earlier. The passive form matters: in verse 29 something worked regret in a man who had refused; here the same working found no purchase. Matthew's other use of the word, at 27:3, shows how little it guarantees, since Judas was seized by it and died.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
πιστεῦσαιpisteusai[and] believeG4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
pisteuō: to believe (articular infinitive) Faith stands here as the end that regret was meant to serve. Pulpit puts it simply, that the end and result of repentance would be to believe in John's mission; Gill takes the object to be the testimony John left behind concerning the Messiah. The grammar keeps the two inseparable and in order.
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

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 question that makes the judges into defendants — 21:28

⚙ The parable opens on an impersonal verb, δοκεῖ, and the whole trap is in that grammar: not “what is your opinion” but “how does this case seem to you.” Benson sets it in its immediate context, that the rulers had evaded a direct answer about the baptism of John and acknowledged their ignorance, so Jesus now asks them about their own conduct instead. Poole compares the method to Nathan's before David at 2 Samuel 12, brought so that they might, being convicted, condemn themselves; Pulpit says the formula makes the hearers themselves the judges; Barnes says it is designed so that they might be self-convicted. Three independent commentators, one reading, and the Greek supports it.

Then the terms of the case. The two are τέκνα, children, and Ellicott will not let that pass: both of those called to work are sons and not hired labourers, which means there is a recognition of Pharisees and publicans alike as, in a sense, children of God. Cambridge says the same and adds that God still cares for both. Gill grounds the shared sonship in the national adoption of Romans 9:4, to which publicans and sinners had an equal right. Benson reads the pair as two sorts of persons, some who prove better than they promise and some who promise better than they prove. The command itself is two bare present imperatives with no connective, ὕπαγε ἐργάζου; Pulpit counts them and draws the conclusion, immediate obedience is required, hearing Psalm 95:7 and 8 behind the single word “today.” JFB takes the theology straight out of the verb: true religion is a practical thing.

ii. Two answers and one pair of feet — 21:29 to 21:30

⚙ The two verses are built as one sentence with a single word changed. Verse 29 ends ἀπῆλθεν, he went off. Verse 30 ends οὐκ ἀπῆλθεν, he did not go off. Everything between is speech. The first son's refusal is Οὐ θέλω, a statement about his own will; JFB, citing Trench, notes the rudeness and the total absence of any attempt to excuse it, and Pulpit calls the answer rude, curt and disrespectful. Gill hears in it the native voice of the unregenerate and asks where man's free will has gone, which is his dogmatic framework rather than the text's claim, and is marked as such in his voice note.

What changes the man is named with care. Ellicott's philological observation is the load-bearing fact of this unit: the Greek word is not the same as that of Matthew 3:2, and expresses rather the regretful change of purpose than entire transformation of character, so that it may pass on into the higher stage or, as with Judas at Matthew 27:3, end only in remorse and despair. Cambridge agrees and would render it “changed his mind.” The parable commends this man anyway, because the father asked for a day in the field, not a grade of contrition.

The second son's answer has no verb at all. The Greek is Ἐγώ κύριε, “I, sir,” and Gill's collation is the best note in the tradition on it: the word “go” is not in the generality of the Greek copies, though Beza found it in his most ancient copy and it stands in the Arabic, Persic and Munster's Hebrew. JFB hears in the emphatic pronoun the self-righteous complacency of Luke 18:11 and, quoting Stier, calls this falseness more abominable to God than any “I will not”; Ellicott hears the tone of outward respect set against the elder son's rude refusal, eminently characteristic of the surface religion of the Pharisees. ⚙ Note what the Greek does not do: it joins the promise and the failure with plain καί, not “but.” No contrast is marked. The two simply sit there together, which is how such a life feels from inside.

iii. The verdict they pronounce on themselves — 21:31

⚙ The question is τίς ἐποίησεν τὸ θέλημα, who did the father's will, and the noun θέλημα is built from the very verb the first son denied. He said “I do not will,” and he is the one who did the will. Pulpit observes that they answered without hesitation, as any unprejudiced person would have decided; Barnes says the answer was correct, and that it is strange they did not perceive that it condemned themselves. ⚙ They could not perceive it because the question was about doing, and their whole standing was built on saying. Poole names the same thing without mercy: it is the least part of God's will that men should give him good words and be a little ceremonious toward him.

Then the sentence. προάγουσιν ὑμᾶς is a present tense with an object, and the commentators divide over it. Ellicott says it literally means “lead the way into,” and finds the choice of word significant as implying there was still time for scribes and Pharisees to follow in the rear; Pulpit renders “are preceding you” and says Christ does not cut off all hope that the Pharisees might follow. Geneva grants the grammar and denies the outcome: they hurry to the kingdom while you go slowly, and “go into” is improperly taken here because none of them followed Christ. JFB simply reads the two sons back onto the two parties, publicans and harlots as the son who refused and then went, chief priests and elders as the son who said “I go, sir.” Pulpit adds the observation that should govern any pulpit use of this text: the Lord has no censure for those who were once disobedient and afterwards repented; the rebuke falls on the professors and the self-righteous.

iv. A way of righteousness, walked past — 21:32

⚙ The application closes the circle by reusing the parable's own rare verb against the hearers. μετεμελήθητε in verse 32 is μεταμεληθεὶς from verse 29, now second person plural, and Ellicott points out that the words are repeated from the parable and sharpen its application: in relation to John, the scribes were like the first son in his defiant refusal and unlike him in his subsequent repentance. The οὐδὲ is the knife. Ellicott: better, did not even repent afterwards. Cambridge: did not even change your minds, much less repent in the deeper sense. They failed at the lesser thing their own verdict had just approved.

The phrase ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης is anarthrous and Hebraic. Cambridge calls it a Hebrew expression and lines it up with “the way of God” at Matthew 22:16 and the church's own name, “the Way,” at Acts 19:9 and 23; Geneva glosses it as living uprightly, of good and honest behaviour, since the Hebrews use “way” for life and manners; Ellicott thinks it half technical, naming the righteousness the Pharisees themselves recognised in Matthew 6:1, almsgiving and fasting and prayer, all conspicuous in the Baptist. JFB is careful about how the refusal worked: they did not reject him outright, they were willing for a season to rejoice in his light (John 5:35), but they would not receive his testimony to Jesus. And they had the evidence. Benson says they could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in persons of the most abandoned characters; JFB says that instead of being provoked to jealousy they saw them flocking to the Saviour and getting to heaven, unmoved. Poole draws the order of grace out of the last clause: although evangelical repentance is the fruit of faith, the repentance that lies in a previous sense of sin and a resolution to leave sinful courses goes before it.

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

⚙ Fallible, offered to be tested. This parable is not about two kinds of people; it is about the distance between a sentence and a day's work, and it is aimed at men who had just refused to answer a question about John. Read the Greek and the argument is almost mechanical. Both sons get the identical call, ὡσαύτως. Both answer. One verb decides everything, ἀπῆλθεν, and the second verse repeats the first with that verb negated. Nothing in the account weighs the quality of either speech. The father wanted the vineyard worked today.

Two things follow, and the second is uncomfortable. First, the commended son is commended on thin grounds. His change is named with μεταμέλομαι, which Ellicott rightly distinguishes from μετανοέω and which Matthew uses again of Judas at 27:3. So this text cannot be made to teach that a deep conversion preceded his obedience, and it does not need to. What it establishes is narrower and harder: the father's will was done, by a man whose stated will was against it. Whoever wants a doctrine of the will out of this parable, as Gill does, will have to get it from elsewhere; the parable only reports feet in a field.

Second, the sentence in verse 31 is grammatically hopeful and historically not. προάγουσιν does mean “are going in front of you,” and Ellicott and Pulpit are right that the road is therefore still open and the rear of the procession is not a closed place. Geneva is right too, and says the harder thing: none of them followed. ⚙ Holding both is the honest posture. An open door is not the same as an entrance, and a text that leaves the door open is still describing men who stood outside it and watched tax collectors go by. That is why the οὐδὲ of verse 32 is the last word of the unit and not the προάγουσιν of verse 31.

The application the church usually makes, and should keep making, is the one Pulpit states: this passage has no censure for the formerly disobedient. It has censure for the respectable, in the temple, on the right side of every question, who have said “I, sir” and meant the saying to count. ⚙ The frightening thing about the second son is that he is not lying when he speaks. He means it at the moment he says it. He simply never goes.

The father did not ask for an answer. He asked for a day. (⚙ 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 five regrets: one rare verb, from Judas to the God who does not change his mind verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ μεταμέλομαι (G3338) occurs in only five New Testament verses, and this unit holds two of them (21:29, 21:32). Ellicott makes the connection explicitly: the word here is not that of Matthew 3:2, and it may pass on into the higher stage of repentance or, as with Judas at Matthew 27:3, where the same word is used, end only in remorse and despair. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme. So Matthew uses one verb for the son who regretted and worked and for the disciple who regretted and hanged himself; the verb by itself settles nothing, and the difference between the two men is what happened next.

Matthew 27:3

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3338 μεταμέλλομαι, a rare word present in only 5 verses of the New Testament; both refs are in Matthew, and Ellicott names Matthew 27:3 by chapter and verse as the same word

The same word at the other end of the scale: Paul's second thoughts and God's oath that has none verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ The remaining occurrences of μεταμέλομαι mark out the word's whole range. At 2 Corinthians 7:8 Paul uses it of his own regret over a letter, a purely human change of mind. At Hebrews 7:21 the same verb is negated of God, who swore and will not change his mind about his priest. Set beside Matthew 21:29 the contrast is instructive: the verb describes exactly the kind of instability that makes a creature's word unreliable, which is why the parable refuses to judge either son by his word. The Verifier gives both bases as the shared rare lexeme; no quotation is claimed between these passages.

2 Corinthians 7:8 · Hebrews 7:21

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3338 μεταμέλλομαι (in 5 vv), a genuine verbal link across three New Testament books; the tier records vocabulary, not citation, since neither passage quotes the other

Rahab the harlot, who was justified by what she did structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ πόρνη (G4204) is uncommon, standing in twelve verses, and two of them name the same woman: Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 both call Rahab “the harlot,” and James makes her the proof that faith is shown by works, setting her beside Abraham as one who was justified by what she did. Matthew 21:31 puts πόρναι in front of the men whose profession was doing. The Verifier records the shared lexeme (James 2:25 also shares G3598 ὁδός). ⚙ We decline a verbal tier here: the link is a shared uncommon noun inside a shared argument about doing rather than saying, not a quotation, and the tier is set accordingly.

James 2:25 · Hebrews 11:31

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4204 πόρνη (in 12 vv) and, with James 2:25, G3598 ὁδός (in 99 vv); an uncommon shared noun within a shared doing-versus-saying argument, deliberately not tiered verbal because no passage quotes another

Matthew's “afterward”: the interval that decides the case structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ ὕστερον (G5305) is a relatively uncommon adverb, standing in eleven verses, and Matthew is fond of it at the hinges of judgment. Here it is the interval in which a refusing son changes (21:29) and the interval in which the rulers did not (21:32). At 21:37, in the very next parable, it is “last of all” that the owner sends his son. At 25:11 it is “afterward” that the other virgins arrive at a door already shut. The Verifier lists all three as candidates on this lexeme. ⚙ Read together they say that the parables of this week turn on what a person does with the time after the first answer.

Matthew 21:37 · Matthew 25:11

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G5305 ὕστερον (in 11 vv) across Matthew 21:29, 21:32, 21:37 and 25:11; a real verbal contact used here to trace a motif, so tiered structural rather than verbal since nothing is quoted

The vineyard you are sent into structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Neither son is told what the vineyard is, because the hearers already knew. Isaiah 5:1 to 7 is the song of the vineyard the LORD planted and looked to for fruit; Psalm 80:8 to 16 is the vine brought out of Egypt whose hedges are broken down. Jesus tells this parable in the temple courts and then immediately tells another one about a vineyard and its tenants (Matthew 21:33 and following), which does quote Isaiah's imagery openly. Gill reads the vineyard here as the kingdom in its present gospel form; Pulpit reads it as the Church; Barnes says to work in the vineyard represents the work God requires of man. ⚙ No formula quotation appears in this unit's text, and the link cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers at all, since these passages are Hebrew and Matthew is Greek.

Isaiah 5:1-7 · Psalm 80:8-16

basis: Cross-Testament, Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and none is claimed; the basis is the standing vineyard figure for Israel under God's cultivation, recorded here as shared imagery and not as citation

“All that the LORD has said we will do”: Israel's answer and Israel's feet structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The second son's answer has a long pedigree in Israel's own mouth. At Exodus 24:3 and again at 24:7 the people answer with one voice that everything the LORD has spoken they will do. At Deuteronomy 5:27 to 29 they promise to hear and obey, and the LORD answers with a wish that their heart were so inclined. Samuel tells Saul that obeying is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), and Ezekiel is told that his hearers will sit and listen to his words like a lovely song and not do them (Ezekiel 33:31 and 32). ⚙ The parable does not cite any of these; it reproduces their shape exactly, and it puts the ancient answer in the mouth of the son who stayed home. Matthew has already given the same test in the same vocabulary of will and doing at 7:21.

Exodus 24:3 · Exodus 24:7 · Deuteronomy 5:27-29 · 1 Samuel 15:22 · Ezekiel 33:31-32

basis: Cross-Testament, Hebrew to Greek, so shared Strong's numbers are unavailable and none is claimed; basis is the recurring covenant pattern of a spoken promise of obedience not matched by performance, a pattern the parable reproduces without quoting

The wicked man who turns, and the city that believed a preacher structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ The first son's story is the story the prophets keep telling. Ezekiel 18:21 to 32 and 33:11 to 16 both insist that the wicked man who turns from his wickedness shall live, that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and that none of the sins he has committed shall be remembered against him. Jonah 3:5 to 10 shows it happening on the largest possible scale: the people of Nineveh believed a preacher and turned, and God relented. ⚙ Matthew 21:32 is the same event on a smaller stage, with John in the role of the preacher and tax collectors and harlots in the role of Nineveh, and with the difference that the respectable audience in Jerusalem did not turn. Henry's summary catches the pattern without naming the prophets: the daring rebel is brought to repentance and becomes the Lord's servant, while the formalist grows hardened.

Ezekiel 18:21-32 · Ezekiel 33:11-16 · Jonah 3:5-10

basis: Cross-Testament, Hebrew to Greek, so no shared lexeme basis is possible; basis is the prophetic pattern of the manifestly wicked turning and living while the settled refusal of the confident goes unchanged, which Matthew 21:32 narrates rather than cites

“The way of righteousness” before it was a Christian name structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Cambridge calls ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης a Hebrew expression, and Geneva explains why: the Hebrews use “way” for life and manners. The phrase has Hebrew ancestors. Wisdom walks in the way of righteousness at Proverbs 8:20; in the way of righteousness is life at Proverbs 12:28; the shepherd leads in paths of righteousness at Psalm 23:3. On the other side of the canon, 2 Peter 2:21 uses almost this exact Greek phrase of the way of righteousness that some knew and then turned from, which is precisely the charge in Matthew 21:32, and Pulpit cites that verse here. ⚙ The Hebrew links cannot be verbal, and we do not tier the 2 Peter contact verbal either, since the Verifier offered no basis for it and we have not had it checked.

Proverbs 8:20 · Proverbs 12:28 · Psalm 23:3 · 2 Peter 2:21

basis: Mixed Hebrew and Greek refs, so no shared Strong's basis is claimed; the Hebrew idiom of a way of righteousness meaning a manner of life is recorded by Cambridge and Geneva, and the 2 Peter 2:21 contact is cited by Pulpit but was not among the Verifier's computed candidates, so it is tiered structural

The two sons as Jew and Gentile: a reading that depends on a variant flagged: verify source

⚙ A long tradition takes the two sons figurally as Jew and Gentile rather than as two parties within Israel. Cambridge notes that according to a well-supported reading the cases of the two sons are reversed, the first agreeing and not going, the second refusing and then working, and says the variation is interesting because it points to an interpretation by which the two sons represent Jew and Gentile. Pulpit reports that many expositors hold it, grants that it is allowable and coincides with the letter of the parable, and then rejects it, because it does not satisfy the context and fails to answer to Christ's intention. Gill rejects it outright, on the ground that the Gentiles were not called first. Read this way the parable rhymes with Romans 9:30 and 31, where Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained it, and with Romans 11:11. ⚙ The reading is widely held and ancient in its instincts, but its basis is contested twice over: it leans on a disputed manuscript order and it is rejected by the expositors closest to the context. We therefore flag it rather than tier it, and we do not build on it anywhere else in this unit.

Romans 9:30-31 · Romans 11:11

basis: Contested basis, flagged rather than tiered: the figural Jew and Gentile reading is recorded by Cambridge and reported by Pulpit as held by many expositors, but Cambridge ties it to the reversed manuscript order of the sons' answers, and Pulpit and Gill both reject it on contextual grounds. No shared lexeme is claimed with the Romans refs, and no Verifier candidate supports the pairing

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Son who said “not my will” and then went ancient/widely-held

⚙ The parable ends on a question, which of the two did the θέλημα of the father, and Matthew answers it five chapters later in a garden. At 26:39 and 26:42 the same noun and the same grammar return: not as I will but as you will, your θέλημα be done. Hebrews 10:7 puts the Psalm in the Son's mouth as he comes into the world, “I have come to do your will, O God,” and Hebrews 10:9 repeats it. John 4:34 has him call the Father's will his food. ⚙ So the vineyard's real answer is not either son. The first son did the will after refusing it; the second refused it after promising. Only one Son in Matthew is asked for a day's work in the dark and gives it with the will fully engaged, and the standard the parable sets at 21:31 is the standard he alone meets. The reading is the ordinary apostolic one, worked in Hebrews itself, and Matthew 7:21 and 12:50 show the same evangelist holding doing-the-Father's-will as the mark of belonging to Jesus.

Matthew 26:39 · Matthew 26:42 · Hebrews 10:7 · John 4:34 · Matthew 7:21

The One who leads the way in front novel

⚙ Ellicott insists that προάγουσιν literally means to lead the way into, and that the word leaves room for the scribes to follow in the rear; Pulpit renders it “are preceding you.” The same verb belongs to Christ in Matthew's own resurrection narrative: at 26:32 he says that after he is raised he will go before them into Galilee, and at 28:7 the angel repeats it, he goes before you into Galilee. ⚙ Put the two uses together and the shape of grace in this Gospel appears. Tax collectors and harlots go in front of the respectable into the kingdom, and Christ goes in front of everyone, including the disciples who had just scattered. The procession has a head, and the front of it is not a place anyone earned. This particular pairing of 21:31 with 26:32 and 28:7 is our own observation and none of the ten commentators in this unit makes it, so it is marked novel.

Matthew 26:32 · Matthew 28:7

John's road, and the Way it ran to ancient/widely-held

⚙ John came ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης, and Pulpit takes the step the phrase invites: John preached Christ, who is himself the Way (John 14:6). Cambridge notes that the Christian doctrine came to be called “the way” in a special sense (Acts 19:9 and 23), and Geneva reads the phrase as uprightness of life. ⚙ The indictment of verse 32 is therefore christological, not merely moral. The rulers were not asked to admire an ascetic; they were asked to believe a witness, and JFB is exact about where the refusal fell: they were willing for a season to rejoice in his light (John 5:35), but they would not receive his testimony to Jesus. What the tax collectors did with John's road was walk it to its end, which is why 21:31 can say they are already on the way in.

John 14:6 · John 5:35 · John 1:29

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. The largest textual question in the passage is the order of the sons' answers. Ellicott reports that in many manuscripts the answers of the two sons are inverted, so that it is the “second,” not the first, who is said in verse 31 to have done the will of his Father; Cambridge calls the reversed order a well-supported reading; Pulpit says Westcott and Hort adopt it while relying on no very weighty authority, argues that Christ's own reply supports the received text, and refers the reader to Tischendorf. Our literal renderings follow the order of the interlinear supplied in the brief, which is the received order. Nothing in the ⚙ layer depends on the variant except the Jew and Gentile thread, which is flagged as depending on it.

A missing word and a supplied one. Verse 28 in this interlinear reads “the vineyard,” with no possessive; Ellicott, JFB, Barnes, Gill and Geneva all quote the verse as “my vineyard” from the text of their day, so their headwords and ours differ slightly. At verse 30 the Greek is only Ἐγώ κύριε, “I, sir,” with no verb; Gill collates the evidence and concludes the word “go” is absent from the generality of the Greek copies, present in Beza's most ancient copy and in the Arabic, Persic and Munster's Hebrew, absent from the Syriac and Ethiopic. Every English “I go, sir” is therefore a supplement, and the ⚙ notes treat it as one.

Sources. Matthew Henry's entry is a single block covering 21:28 to 32, so the same paragraph stands as his comment on all five verses; Barnes' entry is likewise one block repeated at each verse; Matthew Poole's annotations on verses 28 through 31 consist only of a pointer, “See Poole on Matthew 21:32,” so his verse 32 entry is his whole treatment. Benson's entry likewise runs across 21:28 to 32. Readers should not take the repetition as five independent judgments. Geneva's entries for verses 28 to 30 reproduce the verse text with no gloss; only verses 31 and 32 carry the Reformers' marginal notes (p) and (q). Two Gill entries and one Poole entry were capped in the brief and were not expanded, so a small amount of their wording was unavailable to us; nothing quoted or attributed here comes from the capped portions.

What is uncertain. Whether προάγουσιν in verse 31 leaves the door genuinely open is a real disagreement in the sources (Ellicott and Pulpit say yes, Geneva says the expression is improperly taken since none followed), and the sola reading holds both rather than resolving it. Whether ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης is half technical Pharisaic vocabulary, as Ellicott proposes, or simply the Hebrew idiom for a manner of life, as Cambridge and Geneva say, is not settled by the grammar. The thread contact with 2 Peter 2:21 was not among the Verifier's computed candidates and has not been machine checked, which is why it is tiered structural and said so in the basis. No Old Testament formula quotation appears in this unit's text, and every Old Testament contact listed in the threads is therefore recorded as pattern or imagery, never as citation and never as a verbal link.

✦ = 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)