What is meant by “violence” and “the violent”?

Explanation:

In a sense, our understanding of Matthew 11:12 hinges on one verb. In Greek, verbs come in different voices. There is the active, middle, and passive voice. When a verb is in the active voice, this means the main subject of the clause is the one who performs the action of the verb. If the verb is in the middle voice, the subject is involved in the action, but the specific way in which the subject is involved must be detected from the context. If a verb is in the passive voice, the subject of the clause receives the action of the verb. In Matthew 11:12 Jesus says, From the time of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence [βιάζεται], and the violent take it by force. The verb in question is in the present tense, and is in either the middle or passive voice; such voices are identical in form in the present tense. In such cases, context will normally be the guide as to which voice is actually being used. If the verb is in the middle voice, this means that the kingdom of heaven is the one doing the action. In other words, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing. If the verb is in the passive voice, this means the action is happening to the kingdom of heaven. This would render the translation, The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. Clearly these interpretations are quite different, so which is it?

The context suggests that the verb is in the middle voice, which means that the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing.⁴ Matthew 11:12 is situated in the context of Matthew 11:2–15. John the Baptist is in prison and sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Christ. Jesus responds by pointing out that the blind receive sight, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached (Matthew 11:4–6). He then explains to the crowd that John the Baptist was more than a prophet; in fact, he prepared the way for Jesus (Matthew 11:9–10). He then says that no one born of women is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of heaven will be greater, and that from the time of John, the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing. So what does all of this tell us? John asked whether Jesus is the Christ, Jesus explains how the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and how John was a great prophet who prepared the way. Thus, from the time of John the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing.⁵

Counterargument:

The problem here is how this interpretation characterizes the kingdom of heaven. In English it makes sense to say that the kingdom of heaven advanced forcefully. The notion is that the kingdom is spreading and making great inroads. The problem is that the Greek verb βιάζω does not carry such a friendly connotation.⁶ More often than not, when the verb is used in ancient Greek literature, it is used in the unfavourable sense of attack or forcible constraint.⁷ Remember here that the middle voice means that the subject is involved in the action and the agent of the action. This means that the kingdom of heaven is a force of constraint that forcibly constrains people. When we think of the kingdom of heaven, we normally think of entering it through regeneration by the Holy Spirit, not forcible constraint.⁸ In fact, the only other time the verb is used in the New Testament is Luke 16:16. There the verb is in the middle voice and is taken negatively. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is preached and everyone βιάζεται (forces) his way in.

Response to counterargument:

Just because a verb is often taken in a negative sense does not mean that it is always in a negative sense. There are various ways to understand the meaning of βιάζω, including, to go after something with enthusiasm.⁹ This could be the sense that Jesus has in mind here. The kingdom of heaven breaks into the world with enthusiasm and energy.¹⁰

The fact is, the context surrounding the verb is our best indicator of what the verb means, and in this case the context suggests we take the verb in a positive sense.

Explanation:

We have seen in argument a) that based on the context, it makes sense to take βιάζεται in the middle voice such that the kingdom of heaven advanced forcefully. The literary context also helps us make sense of the second clause of Matthew 11:12, where Jesus says, καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν, which the ESV renders as, And the violent take it by force. What does it mean that the kingdom of heaven advances and the violent take it by force? Looking at the context, we see that this discussion was raised because John the Baptist sent his disciples from prison to find out if Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 11:2–3). John expected that when the ministry of the Christ came, the kingdom would sweep away all opposition. It had not, and John found himself in prison, wondering if Jesus was the Messiah.¹¹ In Matthew 11:12b Jesus explains that although the kingdom advances, it still faces violence and opposition. This includes the opposition of Herod who had John put in prison, and the attacks by the Jewish leaders, which were intensifying.¹² Still, although the followers of Christ will suffer for the gospel, all who are heavy laden will receive rest, for Christ’s yoke is light (Matthew 11:28–29).

Counterargument:

Jesus is not addressing John’s disciples when he says that the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. The text says that John’s disciples went away in Matthew 11:7, and that Jesus began to address the crowd. Thus, Jesus is not reassuring John that, although the kingdom is advancing, violent men oppose it such that John was put in prison, because if John’s disciples left, John would never get that message.

Response to counterargument:

It is true that John’s disciples leave the scene in Matthew 11:7, but this does not mean that Jesus does not use the moment to address why John is in prison. Matthew 11:7 says that Jesus spoke to the crowd concerning John. John was an important prophet at the time and well known. Once Jesus told John’s disciples that Jesus’ ministry offered much evidence that Jesus was the Christ, the crowd might have wondered how this could be so if John was in prison. Thus, Jesus explains how the kingdom has been forcefully advancing since the time of John, but it also faces violent opposition.

Possible weaknesses:

The one potential problem with this view is that Matthew has placed the verb βιάζω (to force) right next to the noun βιαστής (violent person). It is true that βιάζω can have a positive meaning, as in, to go after something with enthusiasm. Still, there is no place where βιαστής is used in a positive sense. Thus, by using two terms from the same stem βια-, Matthew seems to link these words so that one informs the other. Since βιαστής can only be taken in a negative sense, this means it is more likely that βιάζω (to force) should be taken in a negative sense. Still, it is not a rule that when an author uses two words with the same stem, they must mean something similar, so this weakness is not insurmountable.

Explanation:

In order to understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 11:12 we need to look at the Greek text. Jesus says, From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence [βιάζεται], and violent people take it by force [βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν]. Our first concern is to understand the verb βιάζεται, from the verb βιάζω. The verb is in either the middle or the passive voice. In Greek, the voice of a verb can alter the verb's meaning, so our first step is to identify whether βιάζεται is in the middle or the passive voice. If it is in the middle voice, then we should take it that the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing. If it is in the passive voice, then the kingdom of heaven is being forced. In other words, the kingdom of heaven is facing pressure, or being acted on forcefully, as in, violently. So which of these two options should we take?

There are two reasons to take βιάζεται (to force) in the passive voice, which means that force is being applied to the kingdom of heaven. We will explore the first reason in this argument in the second in the argument below. The reason we should take the verb in the passive is because of the subordinate clause that follows it. In the subordinate clause we find the noun βιαστής and the verb ἁρπάζω (to seize). The noun βιαστής is used to refer to a violent person. Added to this, the verb ἁρπάζω means. Oftentimes the verb ἁρπάζω is used in a negative sense, such as to steal. Give that the subject of the verb is the violent person (βιαστής), we can be fairly certain that the verb ἁρπάζω means to seize in a negative sense.¹⁹

So, given the fact that the subordinate clause is about violent men who seize the kingdom, we can see that it is best to take βιάζεται in the passive voice.²⁰ The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men seize it.

Counterargument:

While it is true that βιαστής combined with the verb ἁρπάζω (to seize) suggests that the subordinate clause has to do with violent men taking the kingdom. Still, this does not mean that βιάζεται must be taken in the passive voice. In fact, if we are to take βιάζεται in the passive voice it would make the subordinate clause anticlimactic, and therefore redundant.²¹ Why would Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence, and violent men take the kingdom of heaven?

Explanation:

A further argument in favour of seeing βιάζεται in the passive voice is that Matthew uses the literary device of parallelism.²² Parallelism is when an author uses two words that are slightly different to convey the same meaning. In this case Matthew uses the verb βιάζω (to force) and the noun βιαστής (“violent person). Both verbs have the same stem, βια-.²³ Since it is clear that the subordinate clause is used in the negative sense of violent men seizing the kingdom, we should take it that Matthew wants us to take βιάζεται negatively as well.²⁴ This rules out taking the verb in the middle voice. So we must take it in the passive voice such that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence.

Counterargument:

This view assumes that Matthew uses the literary device of parallelism. The fact is, it is just as likely that Matthew deploys a literary device called an antanaclasis.²⁵ An antanaclasis is when an author finishes and begins a new clause with the same word, except that the word at the beginning of the second clause has the opposite meaning. If Matthew deploys an antanaclasis, we could render Matthew 11:12 as, The kingdom of heaven advances forcefully, and violent men seize it. In fact, if we take it that Matthew deploys an antanaclasis, there emerges a certain balance and poetry in the statement.²⁶ The kingdom of heaven advances forcefully and is opposed by an opposite force.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument gives us no reason to think that Matthew does not deploy parallelism in Matthew 11:12. It only points out that there are other literary options available to Matthew that would render the meaning differently. Still, just because there are other options does not mean we should take them.

Possible weaknesses:

There is much to say for this view except that it is difficult to square with the literary context of Matthew 11:11–15. This view turns on how one takes the grammar, and if one only tries to understand the grammar in light of Matthew 11:12, there is no problem. At the same time, this view does not fit in nicely with the context that surrounds it.