Matthew 12:21

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(21) And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.—Better, shall hope. The Hebrew gives “in his law,” but St. Matthew follows the LXX.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:14-21 The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence commit our souls to so kind and faithful a Friend. Far from breaking, he will strengthen the bruised reed; far from quenching the smoking flax, or wick nearly out, he will rather blow it up into a flame. Let us lay aside contentious and angry debates; let us receive one another as Christ receives us. And while encouraged by the gracious kindness of our Lord, we should pray that his Spirit may rest upon us, and make us able to copy his example.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And in his name ... - The Hebrew in Isaiah is, "And the isles shall wait for his law." The idea is, however, the same.

The "isles" denote the Gentiles, or a part of the Gentiles - those out of Judea. The meaning is, that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, and that they should receive it. See the notes at Isaiah 41:1 for an explanation of the word "islands," as it is used in the Bible.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

21. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust—Part of His present audience were Gentiles—from Tyre and Sidon—first-fruits of the great Gentile harvest contemplated in the prophecy.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This makes some think, that the bringing of judgment unto victory refers to the final destruction of the Jews by the Romans, after which the Gentiles came more universally to receive the gospel. Though Christ be meek and gentle with men a long time, while there is any hope of their reformation, yet he will not be so meek and patient always. Neither was he so with the Jews. But the falling of them proved the rising of the Gentiles. Christ is beholden to no people for bearing the name of his church; if the Jews fail in their duty, they shall be cast off, and in his name shall the Gentiles trust. God is able of stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Isaiah saith, the isles shall wait for his law; his law, both of faith and holiness, shall be acceptable to the Gentiles. The term law here seemeth to expound that phrase, Matthew 12:18, he shall show judgment to the Gentiles, that is, right things, he shall give them his law.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. The former part of the text is omitted, "he shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth"; but is inserted in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; and which some understand of the bruised reed, and smoking flax, and others of Christ; the latter sense is to be preferred. The passage, here cited, is somewhat different in Isaiah: for there it is, "and the isles shall wait for his law"; but the difference, at least, in sense, is not so great as it may appear at first sight: for, as Grotius observes, does not always signify "islands", but nations, and countries, that are upon the continent, Genesis 10:5 and so might be rightly rendered here, the Gentiles, or "nations"; and by "the name" of Christ is meant his Gospel: see Acts 9:15 which Isaiah calls his "law": that is, his doctrine, the doctrine of righteousness, life, and salvation by him, which is the ground and foundation of hope, and trust in him; and they that wait for it, may be truly said to hope, or trust in it. This began to have its accomplishment in the Idumeans, Tyrians, and Sidonians, now attending on the ministry of Christ; and has had a greater accomplishment since: the Gospel having been preached in the Gentile world, both upon the main land, and in the isles afar off; whereby multitudes have been brought to hope, and believe in Christ, as their Saviour and Redeemer.

Geneva Study Bible

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Matthew 12:21. Τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ] In Hebrew, לְתוֹרָתוֹ; LXX., ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόμ. αὐτοῦ. Matthew and the LXX. had a different reading before them (לִשְׁמוֹ). This is the only passage in the New Testament in which ἐλπίζω is used with the dative (elsewhere and in the LXX. with ἐν, εἰς, or ἐπί); it is proved, however, to be good Greek from the fact of its occurring in Thuc. iii. 97. 2, and it is meant to indicate the object on which, as its cause, the hope (of salvation) is resting. On the ground of His name, i.e. on account (Krüger’s note on Thucydides, as above) of that which the name Messiah imports, the Gentiles will cherish hope.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

21. in his name] The original Hebrew has “in his law.”

shall … trust] Rather, shall hope.

Bengel's Gnomen

Matthew 12:21. Καὶ, κ.τ.λ., and, etc.) Jerome ad. Algasium, in the passage cited above, refers to these words those of Isaiah. He shall shine, and shall not be broken, until He establish judgment on the earth: so that, says he, the light of His preaching shall at length shine forth in the world, and [He] be consumed and overcome by the devices of no one, until He establish judgment on the earth, and that be fulfilled which was written, Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth.—ὀνόματι, name) In the Hebrew the word is תורה, law. The whole Gospel is a discourse on the name of Christ.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 21. - And in his Name shall the Gentiles trust; hope (Revised Version). The evangelist thus completes the parallelism with the end of the first stanza (ver. 18) However Jews treat Messiah, Gentiles shall place their hope in his Name, which, in fact, sums up for man all that can be known of God (Matthew 6:9, note). In his Name. So even the LXX. But the Hebrew, "in his Law." Ὀνόματι is possibly due to a confusion with νόμῳ, but is more probably merely a paraphrase bringing out more clearly the fact that the Christian religion is emphatically trust in a Person. The Gentiles; rather, Gentiles, as such. This paraphrase for "isles" in the original is also found in the LXX. (For the whole verse, cf. Matthew 28:19, an utterance never lost sight of by the evangelist.) Matthew 12:21