The Meaning of Matthew 13:51 Explained

Matthew 13:51

KJV: Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

YLT: Jesus saith to them, 'Did ye understand all these?' They say to him, 'Yes, sir.'

Darby: Jesus says to them, Have ye understood all these things? They say to him, Yea, Lord.

ASV: Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Jesus  saith  unto them,  Have ye understood  all  these  things?  They say  unto him,  Yea,  Lord. 

What does Matthew 13:51 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus" question here marks the conclusion to His explanation of the miracles that the disciples" question in Matthew 13:36 requested. "All these things" probably refers to everything that Jesus had said to the disciples. The disciples claimed to understand what Jesus had said, and presumably they did understand at least superficially (cf. Matthew 15:16).
"Matthew contains a total of seven parables, the first and longest of which has to do with Jesus" parabolic method. The rest of the parables have to do with the kingdom of heaven. Every one of the six stresses the hiddenness of the kingdom. It is like treasure hidden in a field, like yeast hidden in dough, like good seed hidden in soil. But we have become bottom-line conscious in the institutional Church and in parachurch organizations. We cannot raise money to support our ministries unless we can quote statistics concerning how successful we are. We have to be able to measure results. We want to evaluate the harvest day after day after day so that we can use the information in our fund-raising endeavors. And we forget that the real impact of the Church of Jesus Christ in the world is immeasurable. We will only know what it is at the harvest, which is the end of the age." [1]

Context Summary

Matthew 13:51-58 - How Unbelief Hinders
God's truth is always new and always old. It is as fresh as the morning breeze for each coming generation. But however stated, the fundamental facts are invariable. Let us store our minds and hearts with holy and helpful thoughts, so as to deal them out as the occasions serve.
Compare Matthew 13:53 with Luke 4:16-30. The question His townspeople put is stated a little differently in Mark 6:3. Till He left home, at the age of thirty, for His baptism, our Lord evidently worked with His hands. Perhaps the full wonder of His nature was not realized even by Himself. But surely none can despise manual toil when the Son of man wrought at the bench, making, according to the old tradition, implements of husbandry.
Sons and daughters were born to Joseph and Mary, whose names are here given. Alas, that we do not see the glory in common, familiar people and circumstances! Never forget that the absence of expectant faith does more to limit the progress of the gospel than the lack of funds! [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 13

1  The parable of the sower and the seed;
18  the explanation of it
24  The parable of the weeds;
31  of the mustard seed;
33  of the leaven;
36  explanation of the parable of the weeds
44  The parable of the hidden treasure;
45  of the pearl;
47  of the drag net cast into the sea
53  Jesus is a prophet without honor in his own country

What do the individual words in Matthew 13:51 mean?

Have you understood these things all They say to Him Yes
Συνήκατε ταῦτα πάντα Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ Ναί

Συνήκατε  Have  you  understood 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: συνίημι 
Sense: to set or bring together.
ταῦτα  these  things 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
Λέγουσιν  They  say 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
αὐτῷ  to  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
Ναί  Yes 
Parse: Particle
Root: ναί  
Sense: yea, verily, truly, assuredly, even so.