Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, Christ sets before the Scribes the parable of the vinedressers, who killed the son of their lord (who was the master of the vineyard) and arrogated the vineyard to themselves. Second, verse 13, when the Herodians ask whether it is lawful for the Jews to pay tribute to Caesar, He replies: Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Third, verse 18, He proves the resurrection to the Sadducees. Fourth, verse 28, He teaches that the greatest commandment is to love God with the whole heart. Fifth, verse 35, He asks how David calls Christ his son Lord. Sixth, verse 38, He warns them to avoid the pride and avarice of the Scribes. Finally, verse 41, He teaches that the widow who gave two mites to the temple gave more than the rest.
Vulgate Text: Mark 12:1-44
1. And He began to speak to them in parables: A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a vat, and built a tower, and let it out to farmers, and went away on a journey. 2. And at the proper time he sent a servant to the farmers, to receive from the farmers of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. They seized him and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. And again he sent to them another servant; and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5. And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others: beating some and killing others. 6. Still therefore having one most beloved son, he sent him to them last, saying: They will reverence my son. 7. But the tenants said to one another: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. 8. And seizing him, they killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9. What then will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. 10. Have you not read this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner: 11. By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? 12. And they sought to seize Him, and feared the crowd, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. And leaving Him, they went away. 13. And they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch Him in His word. 14. And coming, they said to Him: Teacher, we know that You are truthful, and care for no one: for You do not regard the face of men, but teach the way of God in truth: is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or shall we not give it? 15. But He, knowing their craftiness, said to them: Why do you tempt Me? Bring Me a denarius, that I may see it. 16. And they brought it to Him. And He said to them: Whose is this image and inscription? They said to Him: Caesar's. 17. Then Jesus answered and said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at Him. 18. And there came to Him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and they questioned Him, saying: 19. Teacher, Moses wrote to us, that if anyone's brother should die, and leave a wife, and leave no children, his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed for his brother. 20. There were therefore seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died without leaving seed. 21. And the second took her, and died, and neither did he leave seed. And the third likewise; 22. and the seven took her likewise, and did not leave seed. Last of all the woman also died. 23. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife of these shall she be? for the seven had her as wife. 24. And Jesus answering said to them: Are you not therefore mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? 25. For when they shall rise from the dead, they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven. 26. But concerning the dead that they rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You therefore err greatly. 28. And one of the Scribes approached, who had heard them disputing, and seeing that He had answered them well, asked Him which was the first commandment of all. 29. And Jesus answered him: That the first commandment of all is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God: 30. and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. 31. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. 32. And the Scribe said to Him: Well, Master, You have spoken in truth, for there is one God, and there is no other besides Him. 33. And to love Him with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with the whole strength; and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34. And when Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no one dared any more to question Him. 35. And Jesus, answering, said teaching in the temple: How do the Scribes say that Christ is the son of David? 36. For David himself says in the Holy Spirit: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool. 37. David himself therefore calls Him Lord, and whence is He his son? And a great multitude heard Him gladly. 38. And He said to them in His teaching: Beware of the Scribes, who wish to walk in long robes and to be greeted in the market, 39. and to have the first seats in the synagogues, and the chief places at suppers; 40. who devour the houses of widows under the pretense of long prayer: these shall receive a more grievous judgment. 41. And Jesus sitting opposite the treasury, was watching how the crowd was casting brass into the treasury, and many rich people were casting in much. 42. But when one poor widow had come, she put in two mites, which is a farthing, 43. and calling His disciples, He said to them: Amen I say to you, that this poor widow has put in more than all those who put into the treasury. 44. For all put in out of what was abundant to them: but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, even her whole living.
Verse 1: He Planted a Vineyard
1. HE PLANTED A VINEYARD. — The Greek, ἐφύτευσε, that is, he planted, as the interpreter renders at Matthew 21:33. "To pastinate" (plant by digging holes) is properly applied to vines, and is the same as digging the ground of the vineyard, that vines may be set in. Hence "to repastinate" vines is the same as digging them up again when they become barren. Columella in book III, chapter XIII gives the method of pastinating.
AND DUG A VAT, — a pit, into which the new wine pressed from grapes in the winepress flows down. Hence the Greek is ὑπολήνιον, that is, sub-wine-press; for ληνός is the wine-press. Hence the Arabic translates: and he dug a winepress in it; and so has Matthew, 21:33, where by "winepress" is signified not only the press by which the grapes are pressed to extract the liquor, but also the vessel itself, or the pit placed under the press, in which the pressed liquor is received: for this is properly said to be dug out, or, as Isaiah 5:1 has it, hewn out.
Verse 14: Is It Lawful to Pay Tribute to Caesar, or Shall We Not Give?
14. IS IT LAWFUL TO PAY TRIBUTE TO CAESAR, OR SHALL WE NOT GIVE? — That is, do you advise us not to give? They ask in this way, to accuse Him more gravely, that He was not only one who consented or permitted the tribute denied to Caesar, but even one who counseled it. The Greek and Syriac have: is it lawful to give census to Caesar, or not? shall we give, or shall we not give? that is, ought we to give or not to give? The Arabic: teach us whether it is lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or shall we not give?
Verse 33: And to Love One's Neighbor as Oneself, Is Greater Than All Burnt Offerings
33. AND TO LOVE ONE'S NEIGHBOR AS ONESELF, IS GREATER THAN ALL BURNT OFFERINGS, — that is, holocausts, in which the whole victim was burned to God, and sacrificed by fire. This is what God says: "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than holocausts," Hosea 6:6. See the comments there. Tacitly this young man, assenting to the opinion of Christ, rebukes the Scribes, who preferred sacrifices that turned to their own gain above mercy and love of neighbor, and therefore commanded sons to say to their needy parents "corban," that is, an offering, as if to say: The thing to be given to you, O father, I have vowed and offered to God, therefore it must be given to Him, not to you, Matthew 15:6.
Verse 34: You Are Not Far From the Kingdom of God
34. YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD. — You are not far from the way of salvation: for by love of God and neighbor one goes to heaven. Again, you are not far from My Church, through which, militant here, one goes to the triumphant one in heaven. But faith is still lacking to you, that you should believe in Me as the Messiah and Savior of the world, and obey My precepts, that you may become a Christian; and if you wish to be perfect, leaving all things, follow Me, as the Apostles did. Therefore saying, "You are not far, He showed him still distant," that he might strive for what is before, "and studiously inquire into those things which were still lacking to him," says Victor of Antioch.
Verse 38: To Walk in Long Robes
38. TO WALK IN LONG ROBES. — The stola was an elegant, polished garment reaching to the heels: whence the Scribes used it for display. "Do not," says Victor of Antioch, "emulate them, nor with your eyes cast on their outward appearance proclaim them happy and fortunate. All these are suitable instruments of a certain proud ostentation, and snares for human praise, by which they carry off the reward of a useless honor among men."
Verse 40: Who Devour the Houses of Widows
40. WHO DEVOUR (Greek κατεσθίοντες, that is, who plainly and utterly consume and guzzle up) THE HOUSES OF WIDOWS, — both by the sumptuous banquets which they demand from them, and still more by the gifts and wealth which they extort from them through avarice, on the pretext of making prayer for them. "When therefore," says Bede, "a hand stretched out to a poor man is wont to help one's prayers: these men, in order to take a coin from the poor, pass the night in prayer."
THESE SHALL RECEIVE A MORE GRIEVOUS JUDGMENT. — As if to say: Upon these Scribes shall fall God's more severe sentence on the day of judgment, and heavier condemnation, both because by their pretense of uprightness they tend toward wickedness, and clothed in God's garments they fight for the devil: "For feigned sanctity is a double iniquity," says Saint Chrysostom, homily 74 on Matthew; and because the Scribes peddled their avarice as piety, and painted it with the color of religion, as the Author of the Imperfect Work says on chapter XXIII of Matthew, verse 6.
Verse 41: How the Crowd Was Casting Brass
41. HOW THE CROWD WAS CASTING BRASS, — that is, any kind of money, whether brass, or gold, or silver; for since the first money was of brass, hence all money was thereafter called brass, even if it be of gold or silver.
INTO THE TREASURY. — It was a chest into which gifts were cast by the people, and kept for the uses of the temple, and for feeding the priests and the poor: for gaza in Persian means riches; φυλάττειν means to guard. Hence also the portico in which they were kept is called by the same name. Whence John 8:20: "These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple." So Bede.
Verse 42: One Poor Widow Put In Two Mites, Which Is a Farthing
42. ONE POOR WIDOW PUT IN TWO MITES, WHICH IS A FARTHING. — Not as if one mite were a farthing, as Euthymius maintains, relying on Matthew 5:26; but that two mites were one farthing, as is clearly said here. The farthing was the fourth part of a small as, that is, of a baiocco; for ten small asses, namely ten baiocchi, made a denarius, that is, a Spanish real, or Italian julius: the farthing therefore was one quatrinus with 1/4, for 5 quatrini make a baiocco, and consequently the mite was half a quatrinus with 1/8 of a quatrinus. In Flemish a farthing was what the common people there call een negemanneken, of which accordingly the half was one mite, commonly een myte with 1/2; which is the smallest and most trifling price of an obol. See what is said at Matthew 5:26.
Less correctly Bede takes the farthing as the fourth part of a shekel, that is, one julius or real; for the shekel weighed four julii.
Verse 43: This Poor Widow Put In More Than All
43. THIS POOR WIDOW PUT IN MORE THAN ALL. — For although in itself and other things being equal, the greater and better alms or offering is that which gives and offers more; nevertheless per accidens, if other things are not equal, the greater alms and offering is that which is given or offered with greater affection of charity and religion, or piety, for God weighs not so much the gift as the affection of the giver. Again, that is greater, not which is in itself of greater value and price, but which is greater and more difficult with respect to the giver: therefore this widow giving a farthing gave more than all, because she gave all that she had, though necessary for her own life; she would have given more if she had had more, trusting in the Lord, that He would in turn be more liberal to one liberal to Him, and would thereafter provide for her need, according to that saying: "Give God an egg, that you may receive a sheep"; but the others gave superfluous things, in which they abounded, as Christ here says; for, as Titus of Bostra says on Luke 21:3: "With such magnanimity and devotion she offered two obols, that is, all that she had, as if she held her own life as nothing." Paul gives the cause a priori, 2 Corinthians 8:12, saying: "For if the will is prompt, it is accepted according to what one has, not according to what one does not have." And Victor of Antioch here: "For God," he says, "does not so much consider the greatness of the gifts as He weighs the eagerness and greatness of the soul." And Bede: "Not the substance of those offering, but their conscience does He weigh; nor does He consider how much is in the sacrifice, but out of how much it is brought forth."
For, as Saint Thomas says, II II part, Question XXXII, article 4, reply to 3, because the widow gave more according to her proportion, from this is weighed in her a greater affection of charity. Ambrose judged the same, book II of Offices, chapter XXX, saying: "The two coins of that widow He preferred to the gifts of the rich, because she contributed all that she had; but they contributed a small part out of their abundance." Whence he infers: "Affection therefore makes the contribution rich or poor, and sets a price upon things." He held the same in the book On Widows, before the middle, saying: "A coin from a little is more abundant than a treasure from a very great sum, because not how much is given, but how much remains, is reckoned." Whence he concludes below: "Therefore not what you spurn in disdain, but how much you contribute with devotion, is to be esteemed."