(58) When thou goest with thine adversary. . . .--Better, with all the MSS., For as thou goest. . . . The conjunction would seem to have been omitted by the translators because they did not see the sequence of thought implied in it. There is, indeed, something at first strangely abrupt in this reproduction of what had appeared in the Sermon on the Mount as part of our Lord's teaching as to the true meaning of the command "Thou shalt not kill." (See Note on Matthew 5:25.) There the words are spoken at once of earthly adversaries and magistrates and of the great Judge of all. Is it so in this place also? Is this the "just judgment" to which Luke 12:57 referred, in contrast with the prevailing bitterness and hardness of men in the quarrels brought on chiefly by their greed of gain? The answer to the question is found in accepting, as before, both the literal meaning and that of which it becomes a parable, with, perhaps, a greater stress than before on the spiritual aspect of the words. Our Lord is speaking to the people; there has been no immediate reference, as before, to the Sixth Commandment. His teaching has taken a wider range, and the old words, as it were, come back, with every point of the parable brought into full clearness. The "adversary" is the Law that accuses them (John 5:45); the judge is none other than the Judge of all the earth; and then all follows in due order as before.

Verses 58, 59. - When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite. And then the Master passed into one of those parable illustrations with which his hearers were now familiar, and which in a homely way taught the crowd the same grave truth which he had been dwelling upon - the impending terrible judgment which was coming on the people. The lesson, "be reconciled to God while it is yet time," is, of course, applicable to all lives, precarious and hanging seemingly on a thread as they all are, but it was especially spoken to that generation in view of the awful ruin which he knew was so soon to fall on every Jewish home. The genera] meaning of the parable illustration was obvious; no hearer could fail to understand the Lord's meaning. It is before arriving at the judgment-seat that you must be reconciled, with the one who accuses you, otherwise it will be too late, and nothing would remain for the guilty accused but the eternal prison-house. At that moment, when the Master was speaking, individual or nation might have turned to the Lord and lived. There was no time, however, for hesitation. The sands in the hour-glass, which marked the duration of God's longsuffering with Israel, were just running out. Theologians in different ages and of varied schools have made much of the concluding sentence (ver. 59). Roman Catholic divines see in it a strong argument in favor of the doctrine of purgatory, arguing that after death condemnation would be followed by liberation, when a certain payment had been made by the guilty soul; strange ways of paying this debt by means of others we know have been devised by the school of divines who teach this doctrine of purgatory. But the Lord's words here are terribly plain, and utterly exclude any payment of the debt of the soul by others. The Master emphatically says, "till thou hast paid the very last mite." The advocate who pleads for universal redemption, and shrinks from a punishment to the duration of which he can see no term, thinks that in the words, "till thou hast paid," he can discern the germ at least of eternal hope. But the impenetrable veil which hangs between us and the endless hereafter prevents us, surely, from even suggesting that any suffering which the soul may endure in the unseen world will ever pay "the very last mite," and so lead to pardon and peace.

12:54-59 Christ would have the people to be as wise in the concerns of their souls as they are in outward affairs. Let them hasten to obtain peace with God before it is too late. If any man has found that God has set himself against him concerning his sins, let him apply to him as God in Christ reconciling the world to himself. While we are alive, we are in the way, and now is our time.When thou goest with thine adversary,.... The creditor, as the Persic version, and who is the prosecutor, that has commenced a suit of law against another, in order to obtain his right: for Christ is here speaking of a bad man, that will not pay his just debts, so that his creditor is obliged to prosecute him, and have him to the

magistrate; ruler, or prince; the Nasi, or prince of the sanhedrim, who sat as judge there: as thou art in the way; going along with the creditor, or prosecutor, to the court of judicature;

give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him. The Persic version renders it, "give him the money"; and the Arabic version, "give what thou owest"; and the Syriac version, "give the gain"; or pay the interest, about which the dispute is, and so escape out of his hands; lest when the matter is brought into court, sentence should be given, to pay both interest and principal, with all costs and charges; or however, make up matters with him, satisfy him in some way or other, before things are brought to an extremity:

lest he hale thee to the judge; the same that is called the magistrate, or prince before, that sits chief upon the bench, hears and tries causes, and passes sentence:

and the judge deliver thee to the officer: who upon hearing the matter in difference, and giving the cause against the defendant, and for the prosecutor, delivers the debtor into the hands of a proper officer, in order to commit him to prison: the word rendered "officer", signifies an exactor of debts, or fines, and was one that obliged such as were cast, to do what the judge appointed to be done: in the Septuagint on Isaiah 3:12 it answers to an "oppressor"; and such men were wont to use rigour, to bring persons to the payment of their debts, or fines:

and the officer cast thee into prison; which he had power to do, when committed into his hands by the judge, in case the sentence pronounced was not immediately complied with; See Gill on Matthew 5:25.