Mat 19:8 Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

The interesting word here is what is translated as "it was not so." This term, gignomai (see below) indicates that a marriage is part of a plan, something that is to come into being. The sense is that marriage is the part of a plan, part of the role we play on earth.

Alternative version: Moses because of the hardness of your hearts allowed you to free your wives: but from the beginning it was not what was to come into being.

"Hardness of hearts" is from sklêrokardia, which means literally "hardness of the heart."

"Suffered" is from epitrepô, which means "entrust," "allow," and "approve."

"Put away" is from apoluô, which means "to loose from," "to set free," and ""to discharge." Interestingly, in another context the word means "to destroy utterly," "to lose," and "to perish." It is the same word used to describe freeing someone from a debt (as in the last chapter).

"It was" is from gignomai (ginomai), which means "to become," "to come into being," "to be produced," and "to be."

Mat 19:6 herefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

The implication of the original Greek is that a man and woman are "yoked" together for a purpose, that they have work to do together. This work, raising the next generation, can only be done by uniting complementary opposites. The point is clear. A man and a woman are not two people. Together they form a simple unit. They are two halves of the same thing. A man and a woman together are not a "couple" as we would say in English, but "only one," a single unit of a different thing.

"Joined together" is from zeugnumi , which means "yoke," "harness," "bond fast," "join together," and "pair."


"Put asunder" is from chôrizô, which means "separate," "divide," and "exclude."

Mat 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

This is a great example of a verse that explains how Christ uses certain words symbolically to express a unique, "time free," view of reality.

Here, Christ uses the term "flesh" to symbolize the key relationships between people. He does this consistently. In this verse, Christ describes the progression of our key relationships: from the physical flesh of our parents to the union of flesh with our spouses.

Notice here that Christ shifts the meaning of words from what they are to what they create. Using another example, his symbol from the physical body is "bread," which is eaten and turned becomes the physical body. This shift continues here. His symbol for relationships between people is the physical body, the flesh, which is created by the bread.

This shift is "time free" because Christ works it both ways through a cycle: flesh creates relationships and relationships create more flesh. Bread creates the physical body and the body creates more bread through work. Thus our relationships with other people become part of us and the product of our work is also part of us through time. Our existence is extended over time through the people we touch and the products we create and, in turn, our existences is made possible over time through the people who touch us and the products that they create.

Understanding this continuity is the key to understanding Christ's words.

"Cause" is from heneka, which means "on the account of," "because of," and "for the sake of."

"Leave" is from kataleipô, which means "to be left," "left behind," "forsake," "abandon," "leave," and "remaining."

"Cleave" is from proskollaô, which means "to glue to or on," and "to be stuck to."

"Twain" is from duo, which means "two."

"One" is from mia, which means "only one."

"Flesh" is sarx, which means "flesh," "the body," and "meat."

Mat 19:4 Have you not read, that he who made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,

This is the introduction to a long lesson on the sexes. This lesson starts with the "first principles," that are easily recognized, that humanity comes in two contrasting forms.


Alternative: Do you not recognize that that which is brought into existence from the source is made masculine and feminine,

"Read" is from anagignôskô, which "know well," "recognize," and "know again." When applied to written characters, it means "read."

"Made" is from poieô, which has two general meanings of "make" and "do." In the sense of "make" it means "produce," "bring into existence," "bring about," and "cause." In the sense of "do," it means "to act" and "to be effective."

"Beginning" is from archê, which means "beginning," "origin," "foundation," "source," "first place," "power," and "first principles."
"Man" is from arren (arrhen), which means "male," "the male sex," and "the masculine gender." It also means "coarse" and "tough," which adds a little perspective to the idea.

"Female" is from thêlus, which means "female," "the female sex," and "belonging to women." It also means "soft," "gentle," "tender," and "delicate."

Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Here, even though Christ is saying that we are being judged, he offers a non-judgmental view of people's mistakes. As we so often see, he does not categorize others errors as evil. He considers them blunders, missteps. We have seen this again and again in the original Greek. The world translated as "evil" really means "worthless." The word translated as "sin" means mistake. Here, the word translated as "trespass" means simply "slip."

"Trespasses" is a paraptôma, which means "false step," "blunder," and "slip." Only in the NT is is defined as "trespass." This is interesting because "trespass" is the way "debt" is often defined in the translation of the Lord's Prayer.

Mat 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

In Christ's sybolism, emotions define human relationships. Our relationships are forged by the emotions our actions create in others. People cannot see into our soul, they can only know how we make them feel. We forge our relationships with others one feeling at a time. These real relationships are very different from "legal" relationships.

In the verse before last, it was the feelings of the fellow servants. Here, it is the feelings of the king.

However, Christ is always inferring that God has feeling as well. Does this really describe God? On a biological level, we are taught that our feelings come from chemicals in the bloodstream, but do our feelings arise from a deeper level of reality? My sense is that our feelings arise from our lack of knowledge of the future. Since we cannot know, we judge by our feelings. But God knows the future. God cannot see birth and death the same way as we do trapped in time.

"Wroth" is from orgizo, which means "to be made angry," "to be provoked to anger," and "to be irritated."

"Tormentors" is from basanistês, which means "examiner," "questioner," and "torturer." There is an inference here that the worthless servant must have more to hide.

Mat 18:33 Shouldn't you also have had compassion on your fellowservant, even as I had pity on you?

Remember, this long story illustrates the nature of the "kingdom of heaven," that is, "the universal rule." In its oldest form, the idea is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Here, the king express that rule directly.

"Compassion" and "pity" are the same word here, eleeô, which means "to have pity on," and "to show mercy to." It is from the Greek eleos, which means "mercy," "pity," and "compassion."

Mat 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you desired me to:

Again Christ reminds us that all that the source of life asks in return for all we have received is recognition, to be called upon.

Alternative version: O you worthless servant, I let go you all your bonds because you called upon me:

"Wicked" is poneros, which means "worthless."

"Forgive" is from aphiêmi, "to send forth," "to discharge," "to let fall," "to give up," "to hand over," "to leave alone," "to pass by," and "to loose."

"Desired" is from parakaleô, which means "call in," "summon," "address", "demand," and "beseech." It means literally "call closer."

Mat 18:31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

Christ is teaching us that people understand us and see through us. They judge our actions by a larger context that we can see ourselves. What has been done here is legal, but it is still not right.

"Saw" is from eido, which means "to see," "to examine," and "to know." It is more seeing in the mind's eye.

"Done" in both occurences is from gignomai (ginomai), which means "to become," "to come into being," "to be produced," and "to be."

"Sorry" is from lupeô, which means "to grieve," "to vex," "to cause grief," and "to pain."

"Told" is from diasapheô, which means "to make clear" and "to show plainly."

Mat 18:30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt.

A debt is a bond, which is an obligation, a loss of freedom. An unresolved debt leads to a greater loss of freedom. For most of human history, this meant prison. Not paying a debt was exactly the same crime as stealing.

Christ uses financial transactions to illustrate social interactions among people because financial transactions are the purest form of such interaction. However, he was the first to suggest that giving people, even those indebted to you, greater freedom rather than less was best course. Christ was less concerned with deterence and more concerned with general productivity. Personally, I have never understood how people in debtor's prison were able to resolve their debts.

"Went" is from aperchomai, which means "go away" and "depart from." It can mean to depart from one place and arrive at another.

"Prison" is from phulakê, a form of phulax, which means a "watcher," "guard," "chain," "keeper," and "a place where people are watched." The phulakê form is found only in the NT where it is clearly used to mean prison.

"Pay" is from is from apodidômi, which means literally, "give back" or "give up," and also means "restore," "return," "yeild," "give account," and "sell."

"Debt" is from opheilô, which means "to owe," "to have to pay," and "to account for."

Mat 18:29 And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.


Very like Mat 18:26 where the service fell down before the master, there is a small but important difference. In the first verse, the servant fell down and "worshipped" his lord. The word "worshipped" is from proskuneô, which means "make obeisance," "fall down and worship," and specifically means to prostrate yourself before authority, as we would use the Chinese term, "kowtow."

In this verse, the fellow servant falls down and "besought" his fellow servant. The term translated as "besought" is parakaleô, which means "call in," "summon," "address", "demand," and "beseech." It means literally "call closer." In the beatitudes, this is the term that is translated as "comfort," as in, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comfortable," but that is the only place that it is translated that way.

In this difference of a single word, Christ recognizes a difference in the relationship between God and a person and people's relationships with each other. We can only worship God at a distance, but we can try to get closer to one another.

"Have patience" is from makrothumeô, which means "to be long-suffering," "to persevere," and "to bear patiently."

"Pay" is from is from apodidômi, which means literally, "give back" or "give up," and also means "restore," "return," "yeild," "give account," and "sell."

Mat 18:28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took [him] by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe.

In this part of the story, the servant (slave) become the master, "controlling" his debtor. Again, we are following the Lord's Prayer, seeing what happens when we are given freedom, but we do not allow others freedom.

Thinking about this verse in the night, I realized that there is another translation possible for the Lord's Prayer, which renders the kingdom of heaven as the realm of knowledge. Remember, this parable is one of the many defining the kingdom of heaven. As the realm of knowledge, the kingdom of heaven it the tiny seed that grows, the net that captures bad and good fish (ideas) and castes away the bad, the yeast that works its way all the way through the bread. This is important because "bread" is a key symbol in Christ's system. It is the bread that become flesh. On one level, the body that become relationships, but on another, the information that becomes the body.

This parable equates money with knowledge. This works perfectly because all of Christ's other parables and symbols put money into the mental realm.

Using this definition, Christ is saying that we get our knowledge from God, and this a debt that we can never repay. He frees us from this debt because our freedom is necessary to pursue knowledge. Our knowlege gives us power and control over others. However we must give others the freedom from our power and knowledge so that they are also free to pursue the kingdom.


"Owed" and "owest" is from opheilô, which means "to owe," "to have to pay," and "to account for."

"Laid hands on" is from krateô, which means "rule," "hold sway," "conquer," "prevail," "lay hold of," "secure," "control," and "command."

"Took him by the throat" is from pnigô, which means "to choke,""to strangle," and "to drown."

Mat 18:27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Of course, God always forgives us our debts. This is why Christ tells us that we must forgive others.

"Was moved with compassion" is from splanchnizomai (splagchnizomai), which means to "to feel great compassion." It is a New Testament word. It is from splanchnon which means ones insides, intestines.

"Loosed" is from apoluô, which means "to loose from," "to set free," and ""to discharge." Interestingly, in another context the word means "to destroy utterly," "to lose," and "to perish."

"Forgave" is from aphiêmi, which means "to send forth," "to launch," "to send away," "to put away," "to get rid of," "to set free," and "to be released from." It means literally "to go from." It is interesting that this word gets translated as "forgiven." It is Christ's first word in the Gospel Mat 3:15) when he tells John to "suffer" baptizing him. It is often translated as "to leave" or "to let" in the Gospels.

Mat 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.

Are the promises we make to God more important to us or to God? The difference between God and any earthly king is that God has perfect knowledge of the future. When we make promises, we don't know if we will keep them or not, but God does. We make promises to God not to change his mind but to change our own.

"Worshipped" is from proskuneô, which means "make obeisance," "fall down and worship," and specifically means to prostrate yourself before authority, as we would use the Chinese term, "kowtow."

"Have patience" is from makrothumeô, which means "to be long-suffering," "to persevere," and "to bear patiently."

"Pay" is from is from apodidômi, which means literally, "give back" or "give up," and also means "restore," "return," "yeild," "give account," and "sell."