Help with Matthew 16:19

[TugOwar]

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Could someone explain to me (through Scripture) what the terms "Bind" and "Loose" mean in this context?

Many thanks and God Bless.

 

[mythbuster]

Compare also with Matthew18:18 where the same language is used. To bind is to condemn and to loose is to forgive.

 

[@@Paul@@]

Could someone explain to me (through Scripture) what the terms "Bind" and "Loose" mean in this context?

Many thanks and God Bless.

"Now the terms "bind" and "loose" are Hebrew/Aramaic idiomatic expressions meaning to "permit" or "prohibit" in a court of religious law"​

Now, lets look at the verse:

Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.​

The keys given to Peter have something to do with the ability to "bind and loose". If one is given keys to something, what would you use them for? Opening and closing doors maybe? Kinda has the same sense of "permiting and prohibiting"...

Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?​

Again, the verse in Job gives us a hit to the above meaning. Peter was given the "keys" with those keys he could open or close / permit or prohibit things pertaining to the kindgom of heaven.

 

[TugOwar]

Ok Paul, Acts 15 seems to illustrate this in action...

We can see how Peter and the others understood Jesus' teaching on binding and loosing by examining their actions as recorded in the Book of Acts. Acts 15 records a dispute that arose about the behavior of Gentiles who were recently becoming part of the church. Their customs were far different from the Jews, who then made up most of the church. Should the new Gentile converts be required to be circumcised and to keep other requirements of the Law of Moses? After "much debate" (Acts 15:7), Peter stood up and asked, "...why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?" (Verse 10). After James agrees with Peter, quoting Scripture as proof, they reached the decision that the Gentiles should abstain from idols, fornication, and what is strangled. No further burden was to be placed upon the Gentile Christians. The apostles herein exercised the power of binding and loosing, as given by Jesus.

Agree or disagree?

 

[geecee]

I may be able to help,
I remember reading about this a while ago. Please forgive my comments as I don't have my bible with me at the moment at work.
I believe this may refer to sins being forgiven through preaching the gospel i.e. people believing the message and repenting etc. The other side is people retaining (binding) their sins through not believing/trusting etc. when the gospel is preached.
There is another similar? scripture in the bible - "Whosesoever sins you remit (send away) they are remitted...whosesoever sins you retain, they are retained...?" (please forgive my words here, as I am trying to remember to scripture, sorry I can't remember the place where this is spoken in the N.T.
In summary, through Peter and other preaching the gospel (Christ's command) to them, people's sins would be bound (kept?) or loosed (released) i.e. their sins would be forgiven, and others would not believe and theirs sins would not be forgiven etc.
(Does that help in any way - I hope I may have helped).
All the best.

 

[@@Paul@@]

Ok Paul, Acts 15 seems to illustrate this in action...



Agree or disagree?

In a sense i would disagree,,, since it was James who actually gave the ordinances not Peter... As i read Peter's comments, He didn't feel the need to place ANY burden on the gentiles.

Peter's use of the Keys (to open and close) can be found in chapter 10.

Peter was not given power over people,,, he was given "keys". Which is symbolic for opening and closing something, IE. allowing or prohibiting... The events in Acts 15 are neither, they were commanding.

The Gentiles were already "permitted" in...

 

[@@Paul@@]

One more thing... I tend to think the symbolism of the "keys" was more like someone giving me the keys to their house... I'm not going to let people in without permission first.

Which is why i tend to agree with the "literal translations".

Mat 16:19 And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you may loose on the earth shall be, having been loosed in Heaven.​

Peter opened the door to the Gentiles only AFTER he was given permission to do so.... Having been opened to the gentiles in heaven, Peter was then able to open the door on earth...

 

[TugOwar]

so could there be any modern day application for this?

 

[@@Paul@@]

so could there be any modern day application for this?

I would have to say not today.

Our message is not "the kingdom of the heavens is at hand" it's "the good news, of the grace of God".

Eph 3:5-8 KJV
(5) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
(6) That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
(7) Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
(8) Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;​

Paul was made a minister of "the good news, of the grace of God". He called this "His gospel"... All the doors, which were to be opened at that time, were opened; those that were shut were shut.

If I were to make some "spiritual application" to this I would say we all have the "keys" to open the door to invite people out of the darkness AND into the light. Sad to say, some of us also close the door by not witnessing...

The door of salvation has been opened to everyone equally; it's up to us to walk the blind through it.

 

[KnightOfChrist]

To address the original question:

"(LITV) And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you may loose on the earth shall be, having been loosed in Heaven.

(CEV) I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don't allow.

(KJV) And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Also:

"Mat_16:19

And I will give unto thee ... - A key is an instrument for opening a door.

He that is in possession of it has the power of access, and has a general care of a house. Hence, in the Bible, a key is used as a symbol of superintendence an emblem of power and authority. See the Isa_22:22 note; Rev_1:18; Rev_3:7 notes. The kingdom of heaven here means, doubtless, the church on earth. See the notes at Mat_3:2. When the Saviour says, therefore, he will give to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, he means that he will make him the instrument of opening the door of faith to the world the first to preach the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. This was done, Acts 2:14-36; 10. The “power of the keys” was given, on this occasion, to Peter alone, solely for this reason; the power of “binding and loosing” on earth was given to the other apostles with him. See Mat_18:18. The only pre-eminence, then, that Peter had was the honor of first opening the doors of the gospel to the world.
Whatsoever thou shalt bind ... - The phrase “to bind” and “to loose” was often used by the Jews. It meant to prohibit and to permit. To bind a thing was to forbid it; to loose it, to allow it to be done. Thus, they said about gathering wood on the Sabbath day, “The school of Shammei binds it” - i. e., forbids it; “the school of Hillel looses it” - i. e., allows it. When Jesus gave this power to the apostles, he meant that whatsoever they forbade in the church should have divine authority; whatever they permitted, or commanded, should also have divine authority - that is, should be bound or loosed in heaven, or meet the approbation of God. They were to be guided infallibly in the organization of the church:
1. by the teaching of Christ, and,
2. by the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
This does not refer to persons, but to things - “whatsoever,” not whosoever. It refers to rites and ceremonies in the church. Such of the Jewish customs as they should forbid were to be forbidden, and such as they thought proper to permit were to be allowed. Such rites as they should appoint in the church were to have the force of divine authority. Accordingly, they commanded the Gentile converts to “abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood” Act_15:20; and, in general, they organized the church, and directed what was to be observed and what was to be avoided. The rules laid down by them in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, in connection with the teachings of the Saviour as recorded in the evangelists, constitute the only law binding on Christians in regard to the order of the church, and the rites and ceremonies to be observed in it." -Barnes commentary (e-sword)

 

[@@Paul@@]

The kingdom of heaven here means, doubtless, the church on earth.

Why would God, promise Abraham>Isaac>Jacob & David, a literal kindgom in which Christ Himself would sit on David's throne only to mean a spiritual kingdom of a secret "church age".

There are way too many promises made to Israel (and prophesies about Israel) which have not been fulfilled yet for this to be true...

You must first prove that the promised kingdom to Israel is actually the church of today.

 

[inhimitrust]

Why would God, promise Abraham>Isaac>Jacob & David, a literal kindgom in which Christ Himself would sit on David's throne only to mean a spiritual kingdom of a secret "church age".

There are way too many promises made to Israel (and prophesies about Israel) which have not been fulfilled yet for this to be true...

You must first prove that the promised kingdom to Israel is actually the church of today.

You are looking at physical "Israel" instead of spiritual "Jacob". There were 12 tribes called "hebrews". After the split of Solomon, there were 2 nations: House of Israel (10 northern tribes) and the House of Judah(2 southern tribes, jews only). When the bible mentions "gathering" for all 4 corners, that was implying the pouring out of His Holy Spirit, where anyone from anywhere in the world could worship Him. I believe book of revelation is the destruction of Jerusalem, and the bringing together of all the tribes/mixed with gentiles under one King, God. Jesus Christ simply represented the Holy Spirit in the flesh. God and Christ are not of this "world", so we don't look at the physical, but the spiritual, which is how the bible has to be read. To me it is complete from genesis to revelation, and it is the most devine God inspired book in the world. God bless.

 

[@@Paul@@]

You are looking at physical "Israel" instead of spiritual "Jacob". There were 12 tribes called "hebrews". After the split of Solomon, there were 2 nations: House of Israel (10 northern tribes) and the House of Judah(2 southern tribes, jews only). When the bible mentions "gathering" for all 4 corners, that was implying the pouring out of His Holy Spirit, where anyone from anywhere in the world could worship Him. I believe book of revelation is the destruction of Jerusalem, and the bringing together of all the tribes/mixed with gentiles under one King, God. Jesus Christ simply represented the Holy Spirit in the flesh. God and Christ are not of this "world", so we don't look at the physical, but the spiritual, which is how the bible has to be read. To me it is complete from genesis to revelation, and it is the most devine God inspired book in the world. God bless.

As i study, I clearly see that God is not finished with the nation of Israel (all 12 tribes).

I just can't see how an almightly God would make promises to a literal nation only to be fulfilled "spiritualy". God could have just as easly spoke to the entire word and said "leave thy home" but he spoke to ONE person,, abraham. To call make a Holy Nation, a nation of priests... Everything else promises to Israel was fulfilled LITERALY, i see no reason to assume there restoration would not be literal. Which is what the book of Revelation is about.

(Mat 19:28 KJV) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Luk 22:30 KJV) That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Act 26:7 KJV) Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
(Jam 1:1 KJV) James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(Rev 7:4 KJV) And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
(Rev 21:12 KJV) And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:​

Now take the "pouring out of the Holy Spirit".

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:​

The "your" is refering to who he was talking to.

Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:​

Those that dwelled in Jerusalem were explained in the verses above..

Act 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.​

God is not done with Israel in my book, He has something truely great in store for them, as He also does with us...

my 2c.

 

[Mimi]

Read Marc 18:18 and 23:13 as well. Maybe it helps you more with it.