απο 575 PREP δε 1161 CONJ των 3588 T-GPF ημερων 2250 N-GPF ιωαννου 2491 N-GSM του 3588 T-GSM βαπτιστου 910 N-GSM εως 2193 CONJ αρτι 737 ADV η 3588 T-NSF βασιλεια 932 N-NSF των 3588 T-GPM ουρανων 3772 N-GPM βιαζεται 971 5743 V-PPI-3S και 2532 CONJ βιασται 973 N-NPM αρπαζουσιν 726 5719 V-PAI-3P αυτην 846 P-ASF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
12. Suffereth violence (biazetai). Lit., is forced, overpowered, taken by storm. Christ thus graphically portrays the intense excitement which followed John's ministry; the eager waiting, striving, and struggling of the multitude for the promised king.The violent take it by force (biastai arpazousin authn). This was proved by the multitudes who followed Christ and thronged the doors where he was, and would have taken him by force (the same word) and made him a king (John vi. 15). The word take by force means literally to snatch away, carry off. It is often used in the classics of plundering. Meyer renders, Those who use violent efforts, drag it to themselves. So Tynd., They that make violence pull it into them. Christ speaks of believers. They seize upon the kingdom and make it their own. The Rev., men of violence, is too strong, since it describes a class of habitually and characteristically violent men; whereas the violence in this case is the result of a special and exceptional impulse. The passage recalls the old Greek proverb quoted by Plato against the Sophists, who had corrupted the Athenian youth by promising the easy attainment of wisdom: Good things are hard. Dante has seized the idea:
Regnum coelorum (the kingdom of heaven) suffereth violence
From fervent love, and from that living hope That overcometh the divine volition; Not in the guise that man o'ercometh man, But conquers it because it will be conquered, And conquered, conquers by benignity." Parad., xx., 94-99.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
11:12 {Suffereth violence} (biazetai). this verb occurs only here and in #Lu 16:16 in the N.T. It seems to be middle in Luke and Deissmann (_Bible Studies_, p. 258) quotes an inscription "where biazomai is without doubt reflexive and absolute" as in #Lu 16:16. But there are numerous papyri examples where it is passive (Moulton and Milligan, _Vocabulary_, etc.) so that "there seems little that promises decisive help for the difficult logion of #Mt 11:12; Lu 16:16." So qen in #Mt 11:12 the form can be either middle or passive and either makes sense, though a different sense. The passive idea is that the kingdom is forced, is stormed, is taken by men of violence like "men of violence take it by force" (biastai harpazousin autn) or seize it like a conquered city. The middle voice may mean "experiences violence" or "forces its way" like a rushing mighty wind (so Zahn holds). These difficult words of Jesus mean that the preaching of John "had led to a violent and impetuous thronging to gather round Jesus and his disciples" (Hort, _Judaistic Christianity_, p. 26).
