V. (1-11) AND IT CAME TO PASS... — See Notes on Matthew 4:18. The narrative here has so many points in common with that in St. Matthew and St. Mark (Mark 1:16) that it has been supposed by most commentators to be a different report of the same facts. It is supposed to be all but incredible that the... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO SHIPS. — Better, _boats,_ or _little ships,_ the Greek word being a diminutive, as in John 6:23. The narrative implies that they were the boats respectively of Jonas, the father of Peter and Andrew, and of Zebedee. WASHING THEIR NETS. — There is a slight, but noticeable variation here, from the... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ENTERED INTO ONE OF THE SHIPS. — Our Lord would seem to have chosen this mode of teaching not unfrequently.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET DOWN YOUR NETS. — It is, perhaps, a slight indication that the narrative of St. Luke does not give the same event as the other Gospels, that they use a different word for “net,” and one that has, technically, quite a distinct meaning. St. Luke’s word, however, is generic, and may therefore inclu... [ Continue Reading ]
MASTER, WE HAVE TOILED ALL THE NIGHT. — The word translated Master (_epistates_) is not the same as that (_didaskalos,_ teacher) in the other Gospels, and often in this also, and is peculiar to St. Luke. It implies a less distinct recognition of our Lord’s character as a teacher or Rabbi, and was mo... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR NET BRAKE. — Better, _their nets were breaking,_ the tense being the imperfect.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR PARTNERS, WHICH WERE IN THE OTHER SHIP. — These are named in Luke 5:10 as “James, and John, the sons of Zebedee.”... [ Continue Reading ]
DEPART FROM ME; FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN. — We must remember that both before and on that very day Peter had listened to our Lord’s teaching in all its deep and piercing power, and that thus what we have learnt to call “conviction of sin” may well have been begun in him. Then came the miracle, with the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE WAS ASTONISHED. — More literally, _for astonishment seized him. _... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WERE PARTNERS WITH SIMON. — The Greek word is not the same as that in Luke 5:7; that expressing that they were sharers in the work, this a more general partnership in business, as in Philemon 1:17. THOU SHALT CATCH MEN. — This is St. Luke’s equivalent for the “I will make you fishers of men”... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY FORSOOK ALL... — This is obviously the strong point in favour of the identity of the facts related by the three Evangelists, but it admits of being explained, as above, by supposing a temporary return (such as we find after the Resurrection in John 21:1) to their former calling.... [ Continue Reading ]
(12-16) A MAN FULL OF LEPROSY. — See Notes on Matthew 8:2. The precise description is peculiar to, and characteristic of, St. Luke, as is also the man’s “falling on his face.” The latter is interesting as explaining the more general “worshipping” of St. Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO MUCH THE MORE. — The statement agrees with St. Mark, St. Matthew closing his account with the command given to the leper. Both the verbs, “went” and “came together,” are in the tense that implies continuous action.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WITHDREW HIMSELF INTO THE WILDERNESS. — Literally, _into the wildernesses,_ agreeing with St. Mark’s “in desert places,” now in one part, now in another, of the unenclosed, uncultivated country. The addition that he “was praying” there is peculiar to St. Luke, who, throughout his Gospel, lays str... [ Continue Reading ]
(17-26) IT CAME TO PASS... — See Notes on Matthew 9:1. PHARISEES AND DOCTORS OF THE LAW. — The description of the crowd of listeners is peculiar to St. Luke. The fact that many of the doctors of the law had come from Jerusalem is obviously important in its connection with St. John’s account (John 2... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WAS TAKEN WITH A PALSY. — Literally _paralysed,_ or _palsy-stricken,_ a somewhat more technical, and therefore characteristic word than the “sick of the palsy” in the other Gospels.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH HIS COUCH. — The Greek word is the diminutive of the word translated “bed” in Luke 5:18, and is used, apparently, as St. Mark uses the Latin _grabatum,_ to show how it was that the process described was possible.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JESUS PERCEIVED THEIR THOUGHTS. — Better, _their reasonings,_ the Greek noun being formed from the verb used in Luke 5:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
GLORIFYING GOD. — The fact that the man himself did this as well as the by-standers is peculiar to St. Luke.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GLORIFIED GOD. — Noticeable as common to all the three reports. The precise expression, _“_We have seen strange things to-day” (literally, _things beyond expectation_)_,_ is peculiar to St. Luke.... [ Continue Reading ]
(27-32) A PUBLICAN, NAMED LEVI. — See Notes on Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:14. St. Luke’s agreement with St. Mark is again a noticeable fact.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOLLOWED HIM. — Not then only, but continually, the verb being in the imperfect tense.... [ Continue Reading ]
A GREAT FEAST. — The fact stated agrees with St. Mark, but the precise phrase is peculiar to St. Luke. The noun means literally a _reception,_ and agrees, curiously enough, with the most modern use of that word. OF PUBLICANS AND OF OTHERS. — It is, perhaps, characteristic of St. Luke as a Gentile t... [ Continue Reading ]
MURMURED. — Better, _were murmuring._ In reporting what was said by others, St. Luke naturally gives the word “sinners” as it was actually spoken.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT ARE WHOLE. — Better, _they that are in health._ Note, as once more characteristic of the “physician,” the use of this term instead of “they that are strong,” the strict meaning of the Greek word used in the other two Gospels. (See _Introduction._)... [ Continue Reading ]
I CAME NOT. — Strictly, _I have not come._ BUT SINNERS TO REPENTANCE. — In the best MSS. the last word is added by St. Luke only. One MS. (the Sinaitic) has the remarkable various-reading “the ungodly” for “sinners,” as if from a recollection of Romans 5:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
(33-39) WHY DO THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN FAST? — See Notes on Matthew 9:14; Mark 2:18. St. Luke is less definite than the other two in stating who the questioners were. It is only from St. Mark that we learn that they included the two classes to whom the question referred.... [ Continue Reading ]
CAN YE MAKE ...? — The question is somewhat stronger in form than the simple, “Can the children of the bride-chamber fast?” in the other reports.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SPAKE ALSO A PARABLE UNTO THEM. — The illustration that follows is common to all three reports, but St. Luke only describes it as a parable, the others apparently confining that term to something that took the form of an actual narrative. NO MAN PUTTETH. — The better MSS. give, _No man havin... [ Continue Reading ]
ELSE. — Better, as before, _if otherwise._ THE BOTTLES SHALL PERISH. — Better, _will_ perish, there being no reason for any difference between the two verbs.... [ Continue Reading ]
NO MAN ALSO HAVING DRUNK OLD WINE. — This addition is peculiar to St. Luke, and calls accordingly for distinct notice. The interpretation of the imagery is not far to seek. The old wine is the principle — in spiritual things, the religion — that animated the man’s former life. In relation to those i... [ Continue Reading ]