For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.

For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.

For verily I say to you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear.

For I solemnly tell you that many Prophets and holy men have longed to see the sights you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the words you hear, and have not heard them.

For truly, I say to you that prophets and upright men had a desire to see the things which you see, and saw them not; and to have knowledge of the words which have come to your ears, and they had it not.

Amen I say to you, certainly, that many of the prophets and the just desired to see what you see, and yet they did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and yet they did not hear it.

for I tell you that many prophets and good people have longed for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never saw them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, yet never heard them.

Many prophets and righteous men - They wished to see the times of the Messiah.
They looked to it as a time when the hopes of the world would be fulfilled, and when the righteous would be happy, John 8:56. "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." Compare also 1-Peter 1:10-12; Hebrews 11:13. So Isaiah and the prophets looked forward to the coming of the Messiah as the consummation of their wishes and the end of the prophecies, Revelation 19:10. The object always dearest to the hearts of all righteous people is to witness the coming and advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Compare Revelation 22:20.

Many prophets and righteous men - These lived by and died in the faith of the promised Messiah: the fullness of the time was not then come for his manifestation in the flesh. See also on Matthew 13:11 (note).

For verily I say unto you,.... This is added for the further confirmation of what is before said, concerning the happiness of the disciples, in seeing and hearing what they did:
that many prophets, and righteous men; Luke says, Luke 10:24 "kings"
have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. To see Christ in the flesh, and have a clearer insight into the knowledge of the mysteries of grace, were things very desirable to men of the highest class in church and state, and of the best characters, such as Abraham, John 8:56. Jacob, Genesis 49:18. David, Psalm 14:7. Solomon, and the church in his time, Song 8:1. Isaiah, and the saints with him, Isaiah 25:9 with many others. These indeed had a sight of Christ, but a very distant one; they saw him afar off in the promises and prophecies of him; and not very clearly, but through dark types and cloudy sacrifices; whereas the disciples saw him in person, heard him preach, took in the evidence of his miracles, and felt the power of his doctrines, and spiritually and savingly understood them. A way of speaking, somewhat like this, stands in the Talmud (p);
"Many have watched to expound in Mercavah (the beginning of Ezekiel's prophecy), , "and have not seen it all their days".''
(p) T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 24. 2.

For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired--rather, "coveted."
to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them--Not only were the disciples blessed above the blinded just spoken of, but favored above the most honored and the best that lived under the old economy, who had but glimpses of the things of the new kingdom, just sufficient to kindle in them desires not to be fulfilled to any in their day. In Luke 10:23-24, where the same saying is repeated on the return of the Seventy--the words, instead of "many prophets and righteous men," are "many prophets and kings"; for several of the Old Testament saints were kings.
Second and Seventh Parables or First Pair:
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES, and THE GOOD AND BAD FISH (Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:47-50).
The subject of both these parables--which teach the same truth, with a slight diversity of aspect--is: THE MIXED CHARACTER OF THE KINGDOM IN ITS PRESENT STATE, AND THE FINAL ABSOLUTE SEPARATION OF THE TWO CLASSES.
The Tares and the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43).

Desired to see the things which ye see. The prophets and righteous had longed for the coming of Christ. His disciples enjoyed it.