_For the kingdom of heaven_, &c. The manner in which the following parable is here introduced, (and it is the same in the original,) evidently shows that it was spoken in illustration of the sentence with which the preceding chapter concludes, and from which, therefore, it ought not to have been dis... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day_ “A _denarius_, or Roman penny, in value about seven and one half pence sterling, which it seems was the usual price of a day's service among the Jews, as Tacitus tells us it was among the Romans, (_Annal., Matthew 1:17_.) It is therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
_Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour_ At noon, and three in the afternoon; _and did likewise_ Sent others to work on the same general promise of giving them as much as they could reasonably expect. Thus many of the Jews were brought into the Christian Church, the Lord's vineyard, by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And about the eleventh hour_ About five in the afternoon; _he went and found others standing idle_ Others are hired into the vineyard in old age, when the day of life is almost wholly spent, and there is but one hour of the twelve remaining. “None are hired at the _twelfth hour:_ when life is done,... [ Continue Reading ]
_When even was come_ Then, as usual, the day-labourers are called and paid. Faithful labourers shall receive a portion of their reward when they die. It is deferred till then, that they may exercise patience in waiting for it; but no longer. As soon as Paul, that faithful labourer, departs, he is _w... [ Continue Reading ]
_They that were hired about the eleventh hour_ Either the Gentiles, who were called long after the Jews into the vineyard, the Church of Christ; or those in every age who did not hear, or at least understand and obey, the gospel call, till their day of life was drawing to a period. Some circumstance... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the first came, they supposed that they should have received more The first_, here seems to mean the Jews, who always supposed that they should, in every thing, be preferred before the Gentiles, and were provoked to jealousy by the admission of the Gentiles into the gospel church, and to the f... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he answered one of them_ Who spoke in the name of the rest; _Friend, I do thee no wrong_ It is most apparent that I do not, in any degree, injure thee or any of thy companions. _Didst thou not agree with me for a penny?_ Didst thou not consent to obey the gospel, to enter the vineyard of the go... [ Continue Reading ]
_So the last shall be first, and the first last_ The Gentiles last called, and last in advantages and privileges, not having been favoured in that respect as the Jews were, and despised and looked down upon with contempt by the Jews; _shall be first_ Shall more readily, and in far greater numbers, e... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus took the twelve disciples apart in the way_ See note on Mark 10:32. _And said, The Son of man shall be betrayed_, &c. This is the sixth time that Jesus foretold his own sufferings; see John 2:19; John 2:21; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:12; Matthew 17:22; Luke 17:25; and the fifth time that he fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children_ Instigated, it seems, by them. See Mark 10:35. _With her sons_ James and John; _worshipping him_ That is, falling down before him; _and desiring a certain thing of him_, &c. Considering what he had just been speaking, was ever any thing more unseas... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the ten heard it_ It is likely they overheard the conversation; _they were moved with indignation_ Being not only equally desirous, but in their opinion equally deserving of the principal posts, they took it exceedingly amiss that Zebedee's sons should have been so arrogant, and, it seems,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as they departed from Jericho As he went out of Jericho with his disciples:_ (Mark,) _behold two blind men_ Mark and Luke mention only one of them, _blind Bartimeus_, who, it seems, was far the more eminent of the two, and spoke for both. These blind men, hearing the multitude pass by, asked wh... [ Continue Reading ]