The Meaning of Matthew 19:14 Explained

Matthew 19:14

KJV: But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

YLT: But Jesus said, 'Suffer the children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the reign of the heavens;'

Darby: But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of the heavens is of such:

ASV: But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for to such belongeth the kingdom of heaven.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  Jesus  said,  Suffer  little children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to come  unto  me:  for  of such  is  the kingdom  of heaven. 

What does Matthew 19:14 Mean?

Study Notes

kingdom

Context Summary

Matthew 19:13-22 - How To Enter The Kingdom
Youth, with all its fervor and impetuosity, is very beautiful in itself and very dear to Christ. Here youth was combined with station, wealth, and noble character. It is not necessary that all should sell their goods, and distribute the proceeds. It is a harder task to retain wealth and administer it for God. But it was necessary that the Master should prove to this young man that he was not fulfilling the Commandments quite so perfectly as he had supposed.
How few would wed Poverty today if they had to choose! Yet great riches must lie hidden beneath her rustic dress. Christ chose her as His companion during His human life, and St. Francis of Assisi said that he took her for his bride. In Matthew the beatitude is phrased: "Blessed are the poor in spirit," but in Luke it stands: "Blessed be ye poor." See James 2:5. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 19

1  Jesus heals the sick;
3  answers the Pharisees concerning divorce;
10  shows when marriage is necessary;
13  receives the little children;
16  instructs the young man how to attain eternal life;
20  and how to be perfect;
23  tells his disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God;
27  and promises reward to those who forsake all to follow him

Greek Commentary for Matthew 19:14

Suffer [απετε]
“Leave them alone.” Second aorist active imperative. [source]
Forbid them not [μη κωλυετε]
“Stop hindering them.” The idiom of μη — mē with the present imperative means just that.Of such (των τοιουτων — tōn toioutōn). The childlike as in Matthew 18:3. [source]
Of such [των τοιουτων]
The childlike as in Matthew 18:3. [source]
Suffer [ἄφετε]
Lit., leave alone. Compare Mark 14:6; Mark 15:36; Luke 13:8. Sir J. Cheke: Let these children alone. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 19:14

Luke 18:16 Suffer []
See on Matthew 19:14. Only Mark notes the taking in his arms.sa40 [source]
Luke 18:16 Called [προσεκαλεσατο]
Indirect middle aorist indicative, called the children with their parents to himself and then rebuked the disciples for their rebuke of the parents. The language of Jesus is precisely that of Mark 10:14 which see, and nearly that of Matthew 19:14 which see note also. The plea of Jesus that children be allowed to come to him is one that many parents need to heed. It is a tragedy to think of parents “forbidding” their children or of preachers doing the same or of both being stumbling-blocks to children. [source]
John 4:3 He left [ἀφῆκε]
The verb means literally to send away, dismiss. It is used of forgiving offenses (Matthew 6:14, note; James 5:15, note); of yielding up (Matthew 27:50, note); of letting alone (Matthew 19:14, note); of allowing or permitting (Luke 6:12, note). Its employment here is peculiar. Compare John 16:28, of Christ's leaving the world. [source]
John 12:7 Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this [ἄφες αὐτήν εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ]
This passage presents great difficulty. According to the reading just given, the meaning is that Mary had kept the ointment, perhaps out of the store provided for Lazarus' burial, against the day of Christ's preparation for the tomb. The word ἐνταφιασμοῦ is wrongly rendered burial. It means the preparation for burial, the laying out, or embalmment. It is explained by John 19:40, as the binding in linen cloths with spices, “as the manner of the Jews is ἐνταφιάζειν toprepare for burial,” not to bury. It is the Latin pollingere, to wash and prepare a corpse for the funeral pile. Hence the name of the servant to whom this duty was committed was pollinctor. He was a slave of the libitinarius, or furnishing undertaker. Mary, then, has kept the ointment in order to embalm Jesus with it on this day, as though He were already dead. This is the sense of the Synoptists. Matthew (Matthew 26:12) says, she did it with reference to my preparation for burial. Mark, she anticipated to anoint. The reading of the Received Text is, however, disputed. The best textual critics agree that the perfect, τετήρηκεν , she hath kept, was substituted for the original reading τηρήσῃ , the aorist, she may keep, or may have kept, by some one who was trying to bring the text into harmony with Mark 14:8; not understanding how she could keep for His burial that which she poured out now. Some, however, urge the exact contrary, namely, that the perfect is the original reading, and that the aorist is a correction by critics who were occupied with the notion that no man is embalmed before his death, or who failed to see how the ointment could have been kept already, as it might naturally be supposed to have been just purchased. (So Godet and Field.)-DIVIDER-
According to the corrected reading, ἵνα , in order that, is inserted after ἄφες αὐτὴν , let her alone, or suffer her; τετήρηκεν , hath kept, is changed to τηρήσῃ , may keep, and the whole is rendered, suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying. So Rev. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
But it is difficult to see why Christ should desire to have kept for His embalmment what had already been poured out upon Him. Some, as Meyer, assume that only a part of the ointment was poured out, and refer αὐτό , it, to the part remaining. “Let her alone, that she may not give away to the poor this ointment, of which she has just used a portion for the anointing of my feet, but preserve it for the day of my embalmming.” Canon Westcott inclines to this view of the use of only a part. But the inference from the synoptic narratives can be only that the whole contents of the flask were used, and the mention of the pound by John, and the charge of waste are to the same effect. There is nothing whatever to warrant a contrary supposition. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Others explain, suffer her to have kept it, or suffer that she may have kept it. So Westcott, who says: “The idiom by which a speaker throws himself into the past, and regards what is done as still a purpose, is common to all languages.”-DIVIDER-
Others, again, retain the meaning let her alone, and render ἵνα , in order that, with an ellipsis, thus: “Let her alone: (she hath not sold her treasure) in order that she might keep it,” etc. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The old rendering, as A.V., is the simplest, and gives a perfectly intelligible and consistent sense. If, however, this must be rejected, it seems, on the whole, best to adopt the marginal reading of the Rev., with the elliptical ἵνα : let her alone: it was that she might keep it. This preserves the prohibitory force of ἄφες αὐτήν , which is implied in Matthew 26:10, and is unquestionable in Mark 14:6. Compare Matthew 15:14; Matthew 19:14; Matthew 27:49. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Note that the promise of the future repute of this act (Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9) is omitted by the only Evangelist who records Mary's name in connection with it. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

Acts 10:47 That these should not be baptized [του μη βαπτιστηναι τουτους]
Ablative case of the articular first aorist passive infinitive of βαπτιζω — baptizō with the redundant negative after the verb of hindering The redundant negative after the verb of hindering is not necessary though often used in ancient Greek and in the Koiné{[28928]}š (papyri). Without it see note on Matthew 19:14 and note on Acts 8:36, and with it see note on Luke 4:42, note on Luke 24:16; and note on Acts 14:18. Cf. Robertson, Grammar, pp. 1061, 1094, 1171. The triple negatives here are a bit confusing to the modern mind Literally, Can any one cut off the water from the being baptized as to these? Meyer: “The water is in this animated language conceived as the element offering itself for the baptism.” As well as we (ως και ημεις — hōs kai hēmeis). The argument was conclusive. God had spoken. Note the query of the eunuch to Philip (Acts 8:36). [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 19:14 mean?

- And Jesus said Permit the little children and not do forbid them to come to Me of the for such kind is the kingdom of the heavens
δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν Ἄφετε τὰ παιδία καὶ μὴ κωλύετε αὐτὰ ἐλθεῖν πρός με τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐστὶν βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν

  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Ἰησοῦς  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
εἶπεν  said 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
Ἄφετε  Permit 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀφίημι 
Sense: to send away.
παιδία  little  children 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: παιδίον  
Sense: a young child, a little boy, a little girl.
κωλύετε  do  forbid 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: κωλύω  
Sense: to hinder, prevent forbid.
ἐλθεῖν  to  come 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
με  Me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
τῶν  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
τοιούτων  such  kind 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: τοιοῦτος  
Sense: such as this, of this kind or sort.
βασιλεία  kingdom 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: βασιλεία  
Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule.
τῶν  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
οὐρανῶν  heavens 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: οὐρανός  
Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it.