Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 21
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Luke 21
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Luke 21
"And he looked up, and saw the rich men that were casting their gifts into the treasury." — Luke 21:1 (ASV)
And saw the rich men casting their gifts.—See Notes on Mark 12:41-44. This may, perhaps, be thought of as one of the incidents which St. Luke derived from verbal communication with his brother-evangelist. (See Introduction.)
"And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites." — Luke 21:2 (ASV)
A certain poor widow.—St. Luke’s word for “poor” differs from St. Mark’s, and seems to have been carefully chosen to express the fact that the widow, though “needy,” and compelled to work for her scanty maintenance, yet was not a “beggar,” as the more common word for “poor” suggested. It is not found elsewhere in the New Testament.
"And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all:" — Luke 21:3 (ASV)
Of a truth.—Saint Luke’s use (according to the better manuscripts) of the Greek for “truly,” instead of Saint Mark’s “Amen” (so in the Greek), may, perhaps, be noted as characteristic.
"for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts; but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had." — Luke 21:4 (ASV)
For all these have . . . cast.—Better, all these cast . . ., and so in the next clause.
Unto the offerings of God.—The better manuscripts omit the last two words. “Offerings,” literally, gifts.
"And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." — Luke 21:5-6 (ASV)
And as some spoke of the temple.—See Notes on Matthew 24:1-2; Mark 13:1–2, where the “some” are identified with the disciples.
Fine stones.—These were probably so called, either as being sculptured, or as being of marble, or porphyry, or other of the more precious materials used in building.
Gifts.—Saint Luke uses the more strictly classical word for “offerings,” according to some of the best manuscripts, in the very same form as the Anathĕma (1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Corinthians 16:12), which elsewhere in the New Testament is confined to the idea of that which is set apart, not for a blessing, but a curse. The fact that he is the only writer to use it in its good sense is characteristic of his Gentile and classical training. Other manuscripts, however, give the more usual term, Anathçma, as if it had been found necessary to distinguish the form of the word according to its uses.
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