Matthew 13:12

Whosoever hath, to him shall be given - This is an allusion to a common custom in all countries: he who possesses much or is rich, to such a person, presents are ordinarily given.

Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath - That is, the poor man: he that has little may be easily made a prey of, and so lose his little. This is a proper sense of the word εχειν in sacred and profane writers. In 1 Corinthians 11:22, τους μη εχοντας, those who have not, means simply The Poor: and Aristophanes uses τους εχοντας, those that have, for the Rich or Opulent. See a variety of pertinent examples in Kypke on Luke 8:18. There is one example in Juvenal, Sat. iii. l. 208, 209, that expresses the whole of our Lords meaning, and is a beautiful illustration of this apparently difficult passage.

Nil habuit Codrus: quis enim negat?

et tamen illud Perdidit infelix Totum Nil.

"'Tis true, poor Codrus Nothing had to boast,

And yet poor Codrus All that Nothing lost."

Dryden

Now what was this Nothing which, the poet said, Codrus had and lost? The five preceding lines tell you.

Lectus erat Codro Procula minor, urceoli sex,

Ornamentum abaci; necnon et parvulus infra

Cantharus, et recubans sub eodem marmore Chiron;

Jamque vetus Graecos servabat cista libellos,

Et divina Opici rodebant carmina mures

He had one small bed, six little pitchers, the ornament of a side-board; a small jug or tankard, the image of a centaur, and an old chest with some Greek books in it, on which the mice had already begun to make depredations. And all this he lost; probably by continuing, in spite of his destiny, to be a poet. So those who devote not the light and power which God has given them to the purposes for which he has granted these gifts, from them shall be taken away these unemployed or prostituted blessings. This seems to have been a proverbial mode of speech, which our Lord here uses to inform his disciples, that he who does not improve the first operations of grace, howsoever small, is in danger of losing not only all the possible product, but even the principal; for God delights to heap benefits on those who properly improve them. See the note on Luke 8:18.

Whosoever hath ... - This is a proverbial method of speaking.

It means that a man who improves what light, grace, and opportunities he has, shall have them increased. From him that improves them not, it is proper that they should be taken away. The Jews had many opportunities of learning the truth, and some light still lingered among them; but they were gross and sensual, and misimproved them, and it was a just judgment that they should be deprived of them. Superior knowledge was given to the disciples of Christ: they improved it, however slowly, and the promise was that it should be greatly increased.

13:12 Whosoever hath - That is, improves what he hath, uses the grace given according to the design of the giver; to him shall be given - More and more, in proportion to that improvement. But whosoeverhath not - Improves it not, from him shall be taken even what he hath - Here is the grand rule of God's dealing with the children of men: a rule fixed as the pillars of heaven. This is the key to all his providential dispensations; as will appear to men and angels in that day. Matthew 25:29 ; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26.