Matthew 17:1-13
THE TRANSFIGURATION Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TRANSFIGURATION Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΘʼ ἩΜΈΡΑΣ ἝΞ. Within a week of Peter’s confession. St Luke has ‘about an eight days after,’ according to the common Jewish reckoning, by which each part of a day is counted as a day. The note of time cannot be without a purpose. The link is intentional between the announcement of the Passion and t... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΤΕΜΟΡΦΏΘΗ. ‘Was transformed.’ Here was a change (μετά) of μορφή, ‘the abiding form,’ ‘the manner of existence.’ μεταμορφοῦσθαι ‘involves an inwardness of change, a change not external, not of accidents, but of essence.’ Trench, _N.T. Syn._ Part II. p. 87. μετασχηματίζειν denotes change of external... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΩΫΣΗ͂Σ ΚΑῚ ἩΛΊΑΣ (Elijah). The representatives of the Law and the Prophets. The whole history of the Jewish Church is brought in one glance, as it were, before the Apostles’ eyes in its due relation to Christ. St Luke names the subject of converse: they ‘spake of his decease which he should accompl... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΙΉΣΩ (אBC*), for ποιήσωμεν, which is supported by all the later uncials—the more ancient evidence rightly prevails. 4. ΠΟΙΉΣΩ. So in the best MSS., ‘let _me_ make.’ The transition to the singular is in keeping with Peter’s temperament; _he_ would like to make the tabernacles.—Meyer. By σκηναὶ are... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΕΤΕ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂ for αὐτοῦ� on the authority of אBD. 5. ΟὟΤΌΣ ἘΣΤΙΝ Ὁ ΥἹῸΣ Κ.Τ.Λ. Words that recall the baptism of Jesus; ch. Matthew 3:17, where see note. For the tense of εὐδόκησα, cp. παρεδόθη, ch. Matthew 11:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸΝ ἸΗΣΟΥ͂Ν ΜΌΝΟΝ. Christ, who came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets, is left alone. To His voice alone the Church will listen.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΚ for ἀπὸ on decisive evidence; ἐκ from out the mountain, from the heart of it—a less usual expression than ἀπό. 9. ΤῸ ὍΡΑΜΑ. ‘The thing seen,’ not a ‘vision’ (A.V.) in the sense of a dream: it is equivalent to ἃ εἶδον (Mark), ἅ ἑώρακαν (Luke).... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΩ͂ΤΟΝ, inserted to help the sense, appears in the majority of later uncials, not in אBD. 10. ΟΥ̓͂Ν. Elijah had appeared to the chosen three Apostles. It seemed to them that this was a fulfilment of Malachi’s prophecy and the necessary condition of the Messiah’s Advent as explained by the Scribes.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἩΛΊΑΣ ἜΡΧΕΤΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. ‘Elijah cometh and will restore all things,’ not _will_ come _first_ (A.V.). Our Lord’s words point to a fulfilment of Malachi 4:5, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ�, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν Κυρίου τὴν μεγάλην καὶ ἐπιφανῆ ὃς�, καὶ καρδίαν�. Note the concise form of the Lord’s expression; it is not s... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓Κ ἘΠΈΓΝΩΣΑΝ, ‘did not recognise.’ ἐπὶ denotes ‘further,’ hence ‘clear’ recognition. ἘΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι ΠΟΙΕΙ͂Ν. In classical Greek ποιεῖν would be followed by two accusatives. ἐν αὐτῷ in him as the sphere or field of their action. ΜΈΛΛΕΙ ΠΆΣΧΕΙΝ, is destined to suffer, such is to be his experience also... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΛΘΌΝΤΩΝ ΠΡῸΣ ΤῸΝ ὌΧΛΟΝ. Some will recall Raphael’s great picture of the Transfiguration, in which the contrast is powerfully portrayed between the scene on the mount, calm, bright, and heavenly, and the scene below of suffering, human passions, and failure.... [ Continue Reading ]
A LUNATIC CHILD IS CURED Mark 9:14-29, where the scene and the symptoms of the disease are described with great particularity. Luke 9:37-42.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΕΛΗΝΙΆΖΕΤΑΙ. This is the only special instance of cure in the case of a lunatic. They are mentioned as a class, ch. Matthew 4:24. The word literally means ‘affected by changes of the moon.’ On the thought underlying the word, that there is an access of mania at the time of lunar changes, see Belche... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὦ ΓΕΝΕᾺ ἌΠΙΣΤΟΣ ΚΑῚ ΔΙΕΣΤΡΑΜΜΈΝΗ, addressed to the scribes and the multitude thronging round, as representing the whole nation. The disciples, if not specially addressed, are by no means excluded from the rebuke. For this moral sense of διαστρέφω cp. Luke 23:2, τοῦτον εὕρομεν διαστρέφοντα τὸ ἔθνος,... [ Continue Reading ]
ὈΛΙΓΟΠΙΣΤΊΑΝ for ἀπιστίαν, the term of gentler blame has the earliest evidence in its favour. 20. ἘΡΕΙ͂ΤΕ ΤΩ͂Ι ὌΡΕΙ ΤΟΎΤΩΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. Such expressions are characteristic of the vivid imagery of Eastern speech generally. To ‘remove mountains’ is to make difficulties vanish. The Jews used to say of an em... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the received text has: τοῦτο δὲ τὸ γένος οὐκ ἐκπορεύεται εἰ μὴ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ νηστείᾳ. The words are undisputed in the parallel passage, Mark 9:29, with the exception of καὶ νηστείᾳ omitted by Tischendorf without decisive evidence. Here the omission is supported by אB* 33 and some important ve... [ Continue Reading ]
22, 23. THE SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PASSION Mark 9:31; Luke 9:44 Both St Mark and St Luke add that the disciples ‘understood not this saying.’ It was difficult for them to abandon cherished hopes of an earthly kingdom, and ‘might not Jesus be speaking in parables of a figurative death and resur... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS PAYS THE HALF SHEKEL OF THE SANCTUARY Peculiar to St Matthew. ΤᾺ ΔΊΔΡΑΧΜΑ. This was not a tribute levied by Cæsar or by Herod, but the half-shekel (Exodus 30:13) paid annually by every Jew into the Temple treasury. The ‘sacred tax’ was collected from Jews in all parts of the world. Josephus... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣΕΛΘΌΝΤΑ, the reading of א*. There is much variation in the MSS. ὅτε ἦλθεν is well supported, but looks like an explanation of the participle. 25. ΠΡΟΈΦΘΑΣΕΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΌΝ. ‘Anticipated him’ by answering his thoughts. ΤΈΛΗ Ἢ ΚΗ͂ΝΣΟΝ. Taxes (1) indirect and (2) direct; on (1) things and on (2) persons.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΠΌΝΤΟΣ ΔῈ (אBCL) for λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Πέτρος, not supported by the later uncials. 26. ἘΛΕΎΘΕΡΟΊ ΕἸΣΙΝ ΟἹ ΥἹΟΊ, ‘the sons are exempt from tribute.’ The deduction is, ‘Shall he whom thou hast rightly named the Son of God pay tribute to the Temple of his Father?’ The Romans called their sons free (_libe... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΤΑΤΗ͂ΡΑ (ἵστημι, ‘to weigh’), ‘a stater’; a Greek silver coin equivalent to the Hebrew shekel, or to four drachmæ in Greek money, hence sometimes called τετράδραχμος. ‘In paying the temple-tax it is necessary that every one should have half a shekel to pay for himself. Therefore when he comes to th... [ Continue Reading ]