But that on the good ground are they, who in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it. The Council of Basle observes that for the right hearing of the word of God there is required,
1. A place fitted to receive it, i.e. an honest and good heart.
2. A proper disposition, to "keep" the word when heard; and
3. That best return, fruit brought forth with patience.
A heart is honest and good, says Lyranus, because of the faith which illumines it, and good (optimum) in a higher sense because of grace working in it; or, as others hold, it is "bonum" because disciplined and exercised in virtue, and "optimum" because of inward peace and consolation. Again, it is "bonum" because purified from sin, and "optimum" because conformed to the will of God (Albertus Magnus); or "bonum" in discerning the truth, and "optimum" in its desire of that which is right (Bonaventura); or, according to S. Augustine on Ps. vii, "bonum" on account of the love it bears its neighbour and itself, "optimum" on account of its exceeding love for God.
Hence we may take the Greek, ךבכח̃ ךב ב̉דבטח̃, to mean the same as the Vulgate "bono et optimo," for the copula ךב, or "et," signifies gradation and increase. They, therefore, who keep the word of God in an honest and good heart bring forth fruit in proportion: good fruit if the heart is good, better if the heart is better, and the best fruit if the heart is perfect, i.e. thirty fold, sixty fold, or one hundred fold. S. Matt. xiii8. And it does not follow of necessity, as Toletus holds, that these words apply to different persons, for the heart of a believer may grow in grace, until at last it is "optimum," perfect in sight of God.
With patience, ×•Ì€× â€Ž× ×Ÿ×œ×Ÿ×ח̃, i.e. in the endurance of labour, disappointment, and sorrow in the plowing, seeding, and harrowing of the soul, and in the long expectation of harvest.
