Matthew 11:26 - Exposition

Even so ; yea (Revised Version); ναί . A renewed acceptance of the immediately preceding facts. Father . In Matthew 11:25 , πάτερ : here, ὁπατήρ . There the term referred more directly to God as his own Father; here to him as Father of all, notwithstanding the methods he used. For. Giving the reason of Christ's acceptance. That would make this clause closely dependent on the preceding. But this seems unnatural. So ; i.e. in this double method. It seemed good ( it was well-pleasing , Revised Version) in thy sight ( εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ); literally, it was good pleasure before thee— an Aramaism equivalent to "it was thy will" (compare the Targum of 13:23 ; 1 Samuel 12:22 [ וי מדק אוער ]; see also Matthew 18:14 ). The phrase implies, not merely that it seemed good to God, but that, in a sense, it was his pleasure. For the workings out of the laws of truth must give pleasure to the God of truth. (On the aorist ἐγένετο , see Matthew 11:25 , note.)