Rejected for themselves (ηθετησαν εις εαυτους). The first aorist active of αθετεω first seen in LXX and Polybius. Occurs in the pa…

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected, etc. It appears from Matthew 3:7 that some of the Pharisees came to John to be baptized; but still…

Rejected the counsel of God against themselves.—The English is unhappily ambiguous, admitting the construction that the counsel wh…

And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rej…

St. John Chrysostom: Having declared the praises of John, he next exposes the great fault of the Pharisees and lawyers, who re…

Attention now turns to the contrast between the response of the people (cf. comment on 1:17) and of their hostile leaders to John and Jesus. The ta…

Despised the counsel of God within themselves. The counsel of God is mentioned respectfully, as contrasted with the wicked pride of the sc…

But the Pharisees and lawyers
Or Scribes, as the Syriac and Persic versions read; for the Scribes and lawyers were t…

To His miracles in the kingdom of nature, Christ adds this one in the kingdom of grace: To the poor the gospel is preached. This clearly p…