The Violent Take it by Force
Study of Mathew 11:12
By Craig Stellpflug

Timeframe of Mathew 11:12

Mathew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. KJV

The timeframe denoted by Jesus in Mathew 11:12 is “from the days of John the Baptist until now”. That is a relatively short time from the birth or even the conception of John the Baptist until this point in Jesus’ ministry some 30 years later. Jesus qualifies this time frame further in Mathew 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Before this new point in time, there was the witness of the law and the prophets for four hundred years that foretold of the coming Messiah. This is now superceded by a more powerful witness of John the Baptist proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah. This makes John the Baptist’s ministry an extremely powerful and special time in history.

The context of Mathew 11:1-19 is John the Baptist and his ministry. John, while he was in prison, had sent his disciples to ask whether Jesus was the Messiah or whether there was another coming after him. This is an incredible statement in the word of God concerning John the Baptist! After prophesying about Jesus, baptizing him, witnessing miracles and hearing about other works that Jesus did, John came back to doubt the revelation of God and his own life’s work and purposes of God. 

Jesus further said in verse 14 (to paraphrase) “had the nation of Israel repented, John the Baptist would have been reckoned as Elijah the prophet.” However, the fact remains that the nation of Israel did not repent with the coming of John the Baptist or the earthly ministry of the son of God and instead of repenting they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ.

…and the violent take it by force.

Mathew 11:12… the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

This whole verse of scripture stands out in contrast among the context of Mathew Chapter 11 as a radical statement that suggests violence upon violence. This cannot mean the violence of God, Jesus or of John the Baptist toward any man or group because the timing of this scripture is limited to John the Baptist’s ministry where Jesus would not even “quench a smoldering candlewick” during his ministry on earth. Isaiah 42:3 <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=29&chapter=42&verse=3&version=31&context=verse> A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…NIV Therefore this scripture cannot be taken literally and understood as translated in the King James Version. Whenever we find apparent contradictions and cannot find meaning in a scripture of the Bible we need to expend effort to research and ferret out the true meaning of this verse.

As with any treasure or precious jewels, in order to uncover the true riches of this verse one must dig diligently as in the depths of the earth. All the basic needs of the believer today are on the surface of the Word of God to be gleaned with ease and enjoyed with savor as life sustaining meats and grains. But even as the earth yields its food easily to the human, the gold and silver must be worked for and dug out of the depths of the earth and carefully refined. So it is with the precious Word of God. The precious gems and golden nuggets in the word are hidden below the surface of the Bible translations and must be sought and sifted and refined with care.

There is a figure of speech involved in this scripture called Idioma. Here we have Hebrew scholars using Greek words in a translation where the Hebrew meaning is imposed over the Greek translation. Therefore, the words we have are Greek words but the thoughts and meanings are Hebrew, thus we have Idioma, “the peculiar use of words and phrases”. Because of this, there is no real parallel usage of this Mathew 11:12 phrase in critical Greek texts or profane Greek literature other than Luke 16:16 which we will cover in a minute.

In this particular case of the Hebrew idioma, the language of the translation is crude as opposed to classical. For instance, in French the word ‘pawnshop’ is literally ‘mont de piété’ or ‘mountain of piety’ and ‘pawnbroker’ is ‘commissionaire de piété’ or ‘commissioner of piety’. There is no literal translation from the French to the English that would make good sense to the English speaker. The French words in this case are classical and the English words are crude making this a French idiom.

In the Mathew 11:12 study we have here, the Greek word biazomai which is translated “suffers violence” when the Hebrew translators really meant, ‘the kingdom of God presses itself on the notice of men’.1  The only other place in the Bible where this word biazomai is used is in the gospel of Luke where the translators rendered the word “presseth”   Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth into it. KJV

The Greek word for violent in “The violent take it by force” is biastes or the forceful ones. This Greek word biastes is directly related to the Greek word biazomai used earlier in the same verse. The root of these two Greek words is the Greek word biazo which comes from the primary Greek word bios or “life’s force and existence”. The rendering of bios into biazo means to “bring by into existence might or force”. Thus biastes are “the ones who bring something into existence by might or force”.

According to the Hebrew idioma, the kingdom of heaven “suffering violence” could be better translated “presses itself upon the notice of men” and “the violent take it by force” can be more accurately rendered that “the mighty force themselves upon it”.

Scripture buildup

Even Jesus’ apostles did not understand what was happening with Jesus and with the kingdom of heaven. Some of them were wondering about political positions in the following days as Jesus set up the kingdom and who would sit on the right hand and the left hand of Jesus in his kingdom. They presumed that Jesus would take over at any moment and reclaim Israel’s lost power from the heathen nations to which they were in bondage. Using scripture build-up we see that some people knew that Jesus was the Messiah and yet went about to compel the hand of God and of Jesus the Christ by manipulating the circumstances at hand. To name a few, there was Judas Iscariot (one of Jesus’ apostles), and also Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who were Judean leaders.

Judas of Iscariot knew that Jesus was to be the king of kings and did not appreciate the fact that Jesus did not act in a kingly manner, wasted precious ointment, and hung around with publicans and sinners. Judas wanted Jesus to call out the heavenly host to defend both himself, Jesus, and Israel from the oppression of the Greeks and to restore the Kingdom of Israel as prophesied in the Old Testament. Judas took it as his personal mission to provoke the coming battle that would establish Jesus as Lord over all the nations. (Judas was ignorant of the purposes of God and the following age of Grace even though this age of Grace was prophesied in the law and the prophets I Peter 1:11-12, Isaiah 28:11-12.)

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were also men on the ruling body of the Sanhedrin. In order to legally crucify the Lord Jesus according to Judean law, there had to be a majority of condemning votes and a minimum of one dissenting vote to eliminate the possibility of a biased jury. Without one dissenting vote there would be an automatic acquittal! The Sanhedrin was all but unanimous in its convictions against Jesus and without either Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus’ dissenting vote, they could not crucify Jesus. Joseph and Nicodemus knew full well that voting for Jesus as innocent would condemn Jesus to the death penalty. If Joseph and Nicodemus had voted guilty along with everyone else on the Sanhedrin, Jesus would have been set free.2 Joseph of Arimathea had to choose if they would vote and condemn Jesus to death by voting for his innocence or relieve the innocent Jesus from the charges by voting for his guilt and overthrowing the whole proceedings.

Joseph was also convinced that in three days and three nights God would raise up his son Jesus from the dead. This is why Joseph took the body of Jesus down from the cross and only wrapped him in a sheet instead of performing the ritual spices and wrappings that others came and performed later. Joseph was faced with the choice of condemning Jesus to death with his vote and forcing the situation as he did.

Can you take the kingdom of heaven by force?

Back to the subject of the kingdom of God suffering violence, let me ask you this. Do you think for one minute that the race is to the swift or the battle to the strong? Can the kingdom of God be brought about by might of force? Can mans’ will determine the kingdom of heaven’s timing and force man into the kingdom of heaven? Ecclesiastes 9:11…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise…

There is the Hebrew inscription of Xanthus the Lycean found in East Attica that denotes the requirements of healing divinity when approaching the sanctuary of Men of Tyrannos. “If any forces himself in, his offering is not acceptable.”1

When Judas saw that the Lord Jesus did not bring legions of angels into battle for Jesus’ sake but rather gave up his life and died upon the cross, he was first choked with grief and later killed himself. Judas, the thief, tried to force the kingdom of heaven with his own devices and for his own purposes of reigning with Jesus in the everlasting kingdom. Joseph of Arimathea on the other hand had real expectations of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and acted out of obedience to God to allow the kingdom of heaven to “press itself forward on the notice of man.”

Conclusion

(Expanded, literal translation according to usage)
Mathew 11:12 Before now the law and the prophets told of the coming of the kingdom of heaven, but since the coming of John the Baptist, (and by John the Baptist’s witness), the kingdom of heaven has (overtly and succinctly) made itself know to all men that it is at hand. Those religious and political leaders of today who possess power and influence, (along with others who presume to have certain power), are attempting to force themselves into the kingdom of heaven and even control the entrance of other men into the kingdom of heaven by inserting their own doctrines and thinking into the holy scriptures.

Using this expanded translation will help to obtain a better understanding of the scripture verse of Mathew 11:12. This verse now fits with the immediate context of Mathew 11 along with all the remote context of all the scriptures concerning the kingdom of God.

1.Figures of Speech used in the Bible, EW Bullinger page 856
2.Jesus Christ our Passover, VP Wierwille, page 157
3.Deissmann Bib. Stud., page 258