_THE PHARISEES FIND FAULT WITH THE DISCIPLES, FOR EATING WITH UNWASHEN HANDS. THEY BREAK THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD BY THE TRADITION OF MEN. MEAT DEFILETH NOT THE MAN. HE HEALETH THE SYROPHENICIAN WOMAN'S DAUGHTER OF AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT, AND ONE THAT WAS DEAF AND STAMMERED IN HIS SPEECH._ _Anno Domini 3... [ Continue Reading ]
EXCEPT THEY WASH THEIR HANDS OFT,— Some render it, _up to the wrist._ 'Εαν μη πυγμη νιψωνται. Theophylact translates it, _up to their elbows;_ affirming that the word πυγμη denotes the _whole of the arm,_ from the bending to the ends of the fingers: but this sense of the word is altogether unusual:... [ Continue Reading ]
TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES, &C.— _Teaching doctrines which are human injunctions._ The words seem to allude to Isaiah 29:13. The word Διδασκαλια, in general, signifies any lesson; and the purpose to which our Lord here applies it, plainly shews that it must refer to ritual injunctions. See Doddridge.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HOLD— Κρατειτε; _ye retain—ye adhere to._ See Heylin.... [ Continue Reading ]
FULL WELL YE REJECT— _Full well ye make of no effect._ The word Καλως, rendered _full well,_ might be rendered _fairly, entirely._ Dr. Heylin renders the clause, _Ye do mighty well indeed to reject,_ &c. The words _your own,_ at the end of the verse, are emphatical, distinguishing the commandments o... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS CORBAN,— _"You assert, that any one may say to his father or mother,—Let that be Corban; that is to say,_ let it be reckoned as a devoted thing, or be considered as _a gift,_ dedicated to the altar,—_by which thou mightest_ otherwise _receive advantage from me; and he shall_ then be free from... [ Continue Reading ]
HEARKEN UNTO ME, &C.— That is, "Let every one of you hearken to what I say, and attentively consider it, that ye may understand." See Mark 7:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEFTS, &C.— _Thefts, avarice, malice, fraud, lasciviousness, envy, slander, pride, vanity:_ Mark 7:23. _All these vices,_ &c. The word 'Αφροσυνη, which our bible translation renders _foolishness,_ stands directly opposed to Σωφροσυνη, or _sobriety of thought_ and _discourse;_ and therefore particul... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT JESUS SAID UNTO HER, &C.— But Jesus, for the trial of her faith, seemed to reject and disdainher, saying, Pray stay, let the children of God's family (his visible church,) be first satisfied with the blessings that I am come to bestow: for as it would be thought very improper and unnatural, that... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAD AN IMPEDIMENT IN HIS SPEECH:— Μογιλαλον. He was not absolutely _dumb,_ but stammered to such a degree, that few understood his speech, Mark 7:35. However, the circumstance of his being able to speak in any manner, shews that his deafness was not natural, but accidental. He had heard formerly... [ Continue Reading ]
_MARK 7:34_. A_ND LOOKING UP TO HEAVEN,_— Our Lord did this, that the deaf man, whom he could not instruct by language, might consider whence all benefits proceed. After this, _he sighed._ Perhaps the circumstances mentioned in the former note, or some others unknown to us, made this man a peculiar... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CHARGED THEM, &C.— See on Matthew 8:4. Dr. Stanhope, in the 3rd vol. of his Comment. on the Epistles and Gospels, p. 397 assigns the following reasons for our Saviour's forbidding the publication of his miracles. 1. To avoid, as much as was possible, the envy and opposition of the Pharisees.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH DONE ALL THINGS WELL— Καλως,— in a most amiable and graceful manner, as well as to the utmost perfection. They were struck with his sympathetic tenderness for the afflicted, and admired his modesty in concealing the cure, and hiding it under the veil of second causes. Happy would it be, if a... [ Continue Reading ]