Matthew 13:12-14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
12 (A)To anyone who has, more will be given[a] and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 [b](B)This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ 14 (C)Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
‘You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Footnotes
- 13:12 In the New Testament use of this axiom of practical “wisdom” (see Mt 25:29; Mk 4:25; Lk 8:18; 19:26), the reference transcends the original level. God gives further understanding to one who accepts the revealed mystery; from the one who does not, he will take it away (note the “theological passive,” more will be given, what he has will be taken away).
- 13:13 Because ‘they look…or understand’: Matthew softens his Marcan source, which states that Jesus speaks in parables so that the crowds may not understand (Mk 4:12), and makes such speaking a punishment given because they have not accepted his previous clear teaching. However, his citation of Is 6:9–10 in Mt 13:14 supports the harsher Marcan view.
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