{A bruised reed} (kalamon suntetrimmenon). Perfect
passive participle of suntrib(935c). A crushed reed he will not
break. The curious augment in kateaxei (future active
indicative) is to be noted. The copyists kept the augment where
it did not belong in this verb (Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 1212)
even in Plato. "Smoking flax" (linon tuphomenon). The wick of a
lamp, smoking and flickering and going out. Only here in N.T.
Flax in  Ex 9:31 . Vivid images that picture Jesus in the same
strain as his own great words in  Mt 11:28-30 .