Chapter LXIII.—Of the Little Children on Whom He Laid His Hands; Of the Rich Man to Whom He Said, “Sell All that Thou Hast;” Of the Vineyard in Which the Labourers Were Hired at Different Hours; And of the Question as to the Absence of Any Discrepancy Between Matthew and the Other Two Evangelists on These Subjects.

123. Matthew proceeds thus: “Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray; and the disciples rebuked them;” and so on, down to where we read, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”619    Matt. xix. 13-xx. 16. Mark has followed the same order here as Matthew.620    Mark x. 13–31. But Matthew is the only one who introduces the section relating to the labourers who were hired for the vineyard. Luke, on the other hand, first mentions what He said to those who were asking each other who should be the greatest, and next subjoins at once the passage concerning the man whom they had seen casting out devils, although he did not follow Him; then he parts company with the other two at the point where he tells us how He stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem;621    Luke ix. 46–51. and after the interposition of a number of subjects,622    [Compare note on § 120.—R.] he joins them again in giving the story of the rich man, to whom the word is addressed, “Sell all that thou hast,”623    Luke xviii. 18–30. which individual’s case is related here by the other two evangelists, but still in the succession which is followed by all the narratives alike. For in the passage referred to in Luke, that writer does not fail to bring in the story of the little children, just as the other two do immediately before the mention of the rich man. With regard, then, to the accounts which are given us of this rich person, who asks what good thing he should do in order to obtain eternal life, there may appear to be some discrepancy between them, because the words were, according to Matthew, “Why askest thou me about the good?” while according to the others they were, “Why callest thou me good?” The sentence, “Why askest thou me about the good?” may then be referred more particularly to what was expressed by the man when he put the question, “What good thing shall I do?” For there we have both the name “good” applied to Christ, and the question put. 624    The Latin version is followed here. In Matt. xix. 17, where the English version gives, “Why callest thou me good?” the Vulgate has, Quid me interrogas de bono? [The Revised Version text agrees with the Vulgate (in Matthew), following the most ancient Greek mss. But the same authorities read “Master” instead of “good Master,” differing from the Vulgate. Augustin accepts the latter reading.—R.] But the address “Good Master” does not of itself convey the question. Accordingly, the best method of disposing of it is to understand both these sentences to have been uttered, “Why callest thou me good?” and, “Why askest thou me about the good?”

CAPUT LXIII. De parvulis quibus manus imposuit, de divite cui dixit, Vende omnia tua; de vinea quo conducti sunt operarii per horas diversas, quemadmodum Matthaeus duobus aliis non repugnet.

123. Sequitur Matthaeus: Tunc oblati sunt ei parvuli, ut manus eis imponeret, et oraret: discipuli autem increpabant eos, et caetera, usque ad illud ubi ait, Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci autem electi (Matth. XIX, 13; XX, 16). Hunc cum Matthaeo Marcus ordinem tenuit (Marc. X, 13-31), sed de conductis operariis ad vineam solus Matthaeus interponit. Lucas autem cum commemorasset illud quod eis dixit quaerentibus inter se quisnam major esset, adjunxit de illo quem viderant ejicientem daemonia, cum eum non sequeretur: inde jam digreditur ab istis duobus, ubi ait eum firmasse faciem suam ut iret in Jerusalem (Luc. IX, 46-51); ac post multa interposita occurrit eis rursus ad commemorandum istum divitem cui dicitur, Vende omnia quae habes (Id. XVIII, 18 30); quem nunc isti commemorant ex ordine quo pariter eunt. Nam ibi etiam Lucas de istis parvulis, antequam divitis faciat mentionem, quemadmodum et isti, non praetermittit. De illo ergo divite qui quaerit, quid boni faciat ut vitam aeternam consequatur, potest videri distare aliquid quod secundum Matthaeum dicitur, Quid me interrogas de bono? secundum illos autem, Quid me dicis bonum? Nam, 1137 Quid me interrogas de bono? ad illud magis referri potest, quod ait ille quaerens, Quid boni faciam? Ibi enim et bonum nominavit, et interrogatio est: Magister autem bone, nondum est interrogatio. Commodissime ergo intelligitur utrumque dictum, Quid dicis me bonum; et, interrogas me de bono?