06/16/2026
In Matthew 19:29 we read,
ἀφῆκεν/aphēken
Which means in the PA: ἀφίημι/aphiémi:
Gloss
to forgive, pardon, remit, cancel; to leave, abandon; to allow, permit, tolerate
Definition
to send away, dismiss, suffer to depart; to emit, send forth;, τὴν φωνήν, the voice, to cry out, utter an exclamation, Mk. 15:37; τὸ πνεῦμα, the spirit, to expire, Mt. 27:50; to omit, pass over or by; to let alone, care not for, Mt. 15:14; 23:23; Heb. 6:1; to permit, suffer, let, forbid not; to give up, yield, resign, Mt. 5:40; to remit, forgive, pardon; to relax, suffer to become less intense, Rev. 2:4; to leave, depart from; to desert, forsake; to leave remaining or alone; to leave behind, sc. at one's death, Mk. 12:19, 20, 21, 22; Jn. 14:27
In our text it is written in the ἀφῆκεν/aphēken aor act ind 3 sg.
Aorist Active Indicative 3rd Person Singular
Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left (aphēken | ἀφῆκεν | aor act ind 3 sg) houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name’s sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
This is broken down as
Aorist (aor): Refers to a tense that captures an action as a simple, punctiliar occurrence without emphasizing its duration.
Active (act): Means the subject of the sentence is performing the action.
Indicative (ind): Signifies a statement of actual fact (as opposed to a command or a possibility).
3rd Person Singular (3 sg): Indicates that the subject is "he," "she," or "it" (e.g., "he spoke" or "it happened").
I've heard many who have read this and literally done exactly that... But perhaps we should get a little better understanding into what Master is actually saying here before we make a plan of exodus!!
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life" -Yeshua now broadens the promise to include not only the Twelve but all who have become His true disciples. Note the chiasmus:
v. 27 – “we have left all”
v. 27 – “and followed You”
v. 28 – “those who have followed Me”
v. 29 – “all who have left…”
We may note the chiastic structure in the list of those things which are forsaken in order to follow Yeshua. The outer pair (houses/lands) are impersonal, which sandwich three pairs which are personal.
houses
brother
sister
father
mother
wife
children
lands
Yeshua promises that those who have forsaken all will “receive many times as much.” The Greek literally says “will receive an hundredfold”
(ἑκατονταπλασίονα*), insuring us that Yeshua intended His words be taken in a representative sense, for no one can have one hundred mothers. “Hundredfold” appears
to be a Semitic idiom of “overabundance” (cf. 2Sam 24:3; 1Chron 21:3). His point is that even when that which is most valuable to us is left in order to follow Him, the reward will be far greater than we could ever imagine. Indeed, the reward is nothing less than eternal life, and the conjunction kaiv (kai,“and”) may in the case be understood as epexegetic, meaning “even” or “that is” – “…will receive many times as much, that is, will inherit eternal life.”
What does it mean to “leave brother, sister, father, mother, wife, and children?” Leaving houses and land offers no difficulty, but family relationships are given a high priority in the Tanach as well as in the Apostolic Scriptures.
In this very chapter of Matthew, the high priority of marriage and children is emphasized. We must understand, then, that when Yeshua speaks of leaving these relationships, He is not talking about abandoning our family members when they desparately need us, or by leaving them that we would transgress the Torah which requires us to honor our parents and to care for our wives and children. That Matthew uses the Greek τέκνα (tekna, “children”) rather than paidiva (paidia, “infants,” cf. vv. 13–14) may emphasize this, for leaving infants could have very negative results.
But even more, the concept of “leaving” should be reconsidered. It may not be entirely spacial, as, say, a father living apart from his family. If we hearken back to the story of the Rich Young Ruler, the issue is that of priority. God will
never call us to serve Him in a way that requires us to disobey or neglect the commandments He has given regarding our family responsibilities.
But He may well call us to a service which, in our own mind, would be impossible to fulfill while also caring for our family. The question is whether we will trust Him for what seems impossible, or if we will decline to follow Him because we cannot see a way to do both. It may well mean, then, that “leaving” these possessions and relationships should be understood to mean “leaving them in His hands.” The issue is one of priority: we must put Him first, and trust Him to supply what we envision to be impossible. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33)."-TH
