Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew Mark and Luke John Calvin
Matthew 19:10-12
Matthew 19:10-12
Matthew 19:10-12
10. His disciples say to him, If such be the case of the man with his wife, 1208 it is not expedient to enter into marriage. 11. Who said to them, 1209 All are not capable of receiving this saying, but those to whom it is given. 12. For there are eunuchs, who were so born from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs, who have been made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs, who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who can receive it, 1210 let him receive it.
10. His disciples say to him. As if it were a hard condition for husbands to be so bound to their wives, that, so long as they remain chaste, they are compelled to endure every thing rather than leave them, the disciples, roused by this answer of Christ, reply, that it is better to want wives than to submit to a knot of this kind. 1211 But why do they not, on the other hand, consider how hard is the bondage of wives, 1212 but because, devoted to themselves and their own convenience, they are driven by the feeling of the flesh to disregard others, and to think only of what is advantageous for themselves? Meanwhile, it is a display of base ingratitude that, from the dread or dislike of a single inconvenience, they reject a wonderful gift of God. It is better, according to them, to avoid marriage than to bind one's self by the bond of living always together. 1213 But if God has ordained marriage for the general advantage of mankind, though it may be attended by some things that are disagreeable, it is not on that account to be despised. Let us therefore learn not to be delicate and saucy, but to use with reverence the gifts of God, even if there be something in them that does not please us. Above all, let us guard against this wickedness in reference to holy marriage; for, in consequence of its being attended
1208"Avec sa femme." 1209"Il leur dit;" — "he said to them." 1210"Qui peut comprendre ceci;" — "he who can receive this." 1211"Que de se mettre en une telle necessite et suiection;" — "than to place one's self under such restraint and subjection."
1212"La servitude que les femmes ont a porter;" — "the bondage of which wives have to endure."
1213"De vivre tousiours avec une femme;" — "of living always with one wife."