JESUS PREACHES THE GOSPEL, PROBABLY UNACCOMPANIED BY THE TWELVE 1. ΚΑῚ ἘΓΈΝΕΤΟ. A translation of a Hebrew transitional formula; the verb which follows (1) is sometimes connected with καί, as ch. Matthew 9:10, καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῦ� … καὶ ἰδού, (2) sometimes, as here, has no connecting particle; (3) some... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙᾺ for δύο of _textus receptus_ on the highest evidence. 2. ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΡΊΩΙ. At Machærus. See note, ch. Matthew 14:3. ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ, which were not the works which John might have expected from a Messiah, in whose hand was the separating fan, and at whose coming the axe was laid at the root of the... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING JOHN THE BAPTIST His message to Jesus 2–6. His position as a Prophet 7–14. His relation to Jesus and to his contemporaries 15–19. St Luke 7:18-35... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ἘΡΧΌΜΕΝΟΣ. Hebr. _Habba_, one of the designations of the Messiah; in every age the prophet said ‘He cometh.’ See note ch. Matthew 1:18. ἝΤΕΡΟΝ, another—a different Messiah, whose ‘works’ shall not be those of love and healing. προσδοκῶμεν, probably conjunctive, ‘are we to expect.’ It is often dis... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 61:1. The first passage describes the work of God, who ‘_will come_ and save you.’ ΠΤΩΧΟῚ ΕΥ̓ΑΓΓΕΛΊΖΟΝΤΑΙ. In earthly kingdoms envoys are sent to the rich and great. Compare the thought implied in the disciple’s words, ‘Who then can be saved?’ If it is difficult for the ri... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΜΑΚΆΡΙΟΣ, Κ.Τ.Λ. Blessed are all who see that these works of mine are truly the works of the Messiah. Some had thought only of an avenging and triumphant Christ. ΜΑΚΆΡΙΟΣ. A term that denotes spiritual insight and advance in the true life. ΣΚΑΝΔΑΛΙΣΘΗ͂Ι. See note, ch. Matthew 5:29. In this pas... [ Continue Reading ]
Some editors place the interrogative after ἔρημον, but the correction seems harsh and unnecessary. ΚΆΛΑΜΟΝ ὙΠῸ�. If the first suggestion (Matthew 11:3) be adopted, the words have a corroborative force. It was no waverer that ye went out to see—his message was clear, his faith was strong _then_. Ot... [ Continue Reading ]
The position of John as a prophet. The message of the Baptist must have made a deep and a mournful impression on the bystanders. It may have caused some of them to lose their faith in Christ or in John, and to ask, like John, whether this was indeed the Christ. Jesus restores their belief in John by... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΜΑΛΑΚΟΙ͂Σ ἨΜΦΙΕΣΜΈΝΟΝ. Prof. Plumptre (Smith’s _Bib. Dic._ I. 1166) suggests that there may be a historical allusion in these words. A certain Menahem, who had been a colleague of the great teacher Hillel, ‘was tempted by the growing power of Herod, and with a large number of his followers entere... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΕΡΙΣΣΌΤΕΡΟΝ ΠΡΟΦΉΤΟΥ. Other prophets foresaw the Messiah, the Baptist beheld Him, and ushered in His kingdom: he was the herald of the king. Further, John was himself the subject of prophecy. ΠΕΡΙΣΣΌΤΕΡΟΝ, late for πλέον. As περισσὸς has in itself a comparative force, the form περισσότερον is due... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΈΓΡΑΠΤΑΙ. See note ch. Matthew 2:5. ἸΔΟῪ ἘΓῺ�.Τ.Λ. Malachi 3:1. The quotation is nearly a literal translation of the Hebrew, except that for the second person, ἔμπροσθέν σου, the Hebrew has the first person, ‘before me.’ The same change is made in the parallel passage Luke 7:27, and where the word... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΔῈ ΜΙΚΡΌΤΕΡΟΣ. He that is less, either (1) than John or (2) than others. Those who are in the kingdom, who are brought nearer to God and have clearer spiritual knowledge of God, have higher privileges than the greatest of those who lived before the time of Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠῸ ΔῈ ΤΩ͂Ν ἩΜΕΡΩ͂Ν Κ.Τ.Λ. Another point shewing the greatness of John, and also the beginning of the Kingdom: it was from the time of John’s preaching that men began to press into the kingdom, and the earnest won their way in. For the preaching of John was the epoch to which all prophecy tended. Β... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΆΡ gives the reason why the wonderful growth of the kingdom should be witnessed _now_.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸ ΘΈΛΕΤΕ ΔΈΞΑΣΘΑΙ. ‘The present unhappy circumstances in which John was placed seemed inconsistent with such a view of his mission’ (Meyer).... [ Continue Reading ]
The _textus receptus_ here has καὶ προσφωνοῦσι τοῖς ἑταὶροις αὐτῶν καὶ λέγουσιν. The authority for the correction is decisive. 16. ὉΜΟΊΑ ἘΣΤῚΝ ΠΑΙΔΊΟΙΣ Κ.Τ.Λ. If the grammatical form of the comparison be closely pressed, the interpretation must be that the children who complain of the others are th... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΉΤΕ ἘΣΘΊΩΝ ΜΉΤΕ ΠΊΝΩΝ. μήτε not οὔτε, because it is not only that a matter of fact is stated, but the view which was taken of John’s conduct. Demosthenes was reproached for being a water drinker, ὡς ἐγὼ μὲν ὕδωρ πίνων εἰκότως δύστροπος καὶ δύσκολός εἰμί τις ἄνθρωπος. _Phil._ II. 30.... [ Continue Reading ]
The change from τέκνων to ἔργων is not certain, it is however supported by אB*, by Jerome’s testimony, and by some Versions. 19. For this adversative use of καί, see note ch. Matthew 1:19. ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ͂Ν. Lit. ‘to make right,’ of a person to do him justice, give him what he deserves, either punishment... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CITIES THAT REPENTED NOT St Luke 10:13-15, where the words form part of the charge to the seventy disciples. It is instructive to compare the connection suggested by the two evangelists. In St Matthew the link is the rejection of Christ by the Jews—then by these favoured cities; in St Luke, the... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΟΡΑΖΕΊΝ is identified with Kerazeh, two and a half miles N. of Tell Hum. The ruins here are extensive and interesting; among them a synagogue built of hard black basalt and houses with walls still six feet high. _Recovery of Jerusalem_, p. 347. ΒΗΘΣΑΪΔΆΝ (House of Fish), either on the Western shor... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΛΉΝ. Connected probably with πλέον, πλεῖν. So ‘more than,’ ‘moreover,’ ‘further’ (Curtius, _Grk. Etym._; Ellicott, Philippians 1:18; Winer, p. 552); or with πέλας, ‘besides,’ ‘apart from this,’ ‘only’ (Hartung, Lightfoot, Philippians 3:16). (1) The rendering ‘moreover’ would suit this passage. (2)... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the correction is partly a question of punctuation. The received text has καί συ, Καπερναούμ, ἡ ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὑψωθεῖσα, ἕως ᾅδου καταβιβασθήσῃ. The best editors give the reading of this text: but there is some authority for ἣ ὑψώθης in place of μὴ ὑψωθήσῃ. The earliest MSS. afford little gui... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΟΚΡΙΘΕΊΣ. This use of ἀποκριθείς, ‘answering,’ where no question precedes, is a Hebraism. ἘΞΟΜΟΛΟΓΟΥ͂ΜΑΙ. Strictly, ‘to speak forth, ‘confess,’ τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ch. Matthew 3:6; cp. Philippians 2:11, then to ‘utter aloud’ praise or thanks, as here and Romans 14:11 (quoted from Isaiah 14:23), ὅτι ἐμο... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REVELATION TO ‘BABES’ St Luke 10:21-22, where the words are spoken on the return of the Seventy. The close connection between this section and that which follows has been pointed out by Dean Perowne (_Expositor_, Vol. VIII.). In this section two divine moral laws are set forth: (1) The revelat... [ Continue Reading ]
ΝΑῚ Ὁ ΠΑΤΉΡ. ‘Yea, Father (I thank thee), that,’ &c. Not as in A.V., ‘Even so, Father, for,’ &c. For the nominative in place of vocative cp. Soph. _El._ 634, ἔπαιρε δὴ σὺ θύμαθʼ ἡ παροῦσά μοι. ΕΥ̓ΔΟΚΊΑ. ‘Pleasure,’ in the sense of resolve or determination (see note, ch. Matthew 3:17). The divine p... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΕΔΌΘΗ. Strictly, ‘_were_ delivered.’ The A.V. translates the aorist by a present in this passage, by a perfect definite the similar expression, ch. Matthew 28:18, ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. It is not always easy to determine the force of the aorist in the N.T. (1) In classi... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΕΥ͂ΤΕ ΠΡΌΣ ΜΕ. Jesus does not give rest to all the heavy laden, but to those of them who shew their want of relief by coming to Him. For δεῦτε see note ch. Matthew 4:19. ΚΟΠΙΩ͂ΝΤΕΣ ΚΑῚ ΠΕΦΟΡΤΙΣΜΈΝΟΙ. Answering through parallelism to the last line of the stanza—ὁ γὰρ ζυγὸς κ.τ.λ. The figure is from... [ Continue Reading ]
REST FOR THE HEAVY LADEN These words of Jesus are preserved by St Matthew only. The connecting thought is, those alone shall know who desire to learn, those alone shall have rest who feel their burden. The babes are those who feel ignorant, the laden those who feel oppressed.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΆΘΕΤΕ�ʼ ἘΜΟΥ͂. i.e. ‘become my disciples;’ an idea also conveyed by the word ζυγός, which was used commonly among the Jews for the yoke of instruction. Stier quotes from the Mishna, ‘Take upon you the yoke of the holy kingdom.’ Men of Belial = ‘Men without the yoke,’ ‘the uninstructed.’ ὍΤΙ ΠΡΑΫ́... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΦΟΡΤΊΟΝ ΜΟΥ ἘΛΑΦΡΌΝ ἘΣΤΙΝ. Contrast with this the burden of the Pharisees, ch. Matthew 23:4, φορτία βαρέα [καὶ δυσβάστακτα].... [ Continue Reading ]