AND HE SAID UNTO THEM,.... Both to his disciples, and the multitude, VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THERE BE SOME OF THEM THAT STAND HERE; that were then living, and upon the spot, WHICH SHALL NOT TASTE OF DEATH, or die, TILL THEY HAVE SEEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME WITH POWER. When Jesus was declared both... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER SIX DAYS,.... Six days after this discourse with his disciples, in their way to Caesarea Philippi, and after they were come into those parts: JESUS TAKETH WITH HIM PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN; favourite disciples, and a sufficient number, to be witnesses of his transfiguration: AND LEADETH TH... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS RAIMENT BECAME SHINING,.... With the rays of glory and brightness which darted from his body through his clothes, and made them as bright as the light of the sun at noon day: and EXCEEDING WHITE AS SNOW; than which nothing is whiter; SO AS NO FULLER ON EARTH CAN WHITE THEM. The Syriac vers... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE APPEARED UNTO THEM ELIAS WITH MOSES,.... Or Moses and Elias, as all the Oriental versions read, as in Mt. 17:3, Matthew 17:3: AND THEY WERE TALKING WITH JESUS; concerning his decease, and what he was to do and suffer at Jerusalem, and of which he himself had lately talked with his discip... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PETER ANSWERED AND SAID TO JESUS,.... He addressed himself to him, as being more familiar with him; as also because he was the principal person: wherefore he says, MASTER, IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE: the company and conversation were exceeding agreeable to him and his fellow disciples; and th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE WIST NOT WHAT TO SAY,.... He did not know what he should say, or what was proper to be said by him, at such a time, in such circumstances, and before such persons; FOR THEY WERE SORE AFRAID. The Persic version reads, "he was": and so the Latin translation of the Syriac, though that itself is... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WAS A CLOUD THAT OVERSHADOWED THEM,.... Jesus, Moses, and Elias, and also the disciples; who, according to Luke, entered into it, and so were covered by it. AND A VOICE CAME OUT THE CLOUD, SAYING, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, HEAR HIM. This was the voice of God the Father, bearing a testimony... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SUDDENLY, WHEN THEY HAD LOOKED ROUND ABOUT,.... Upon hearing the voice, to see if they could observe any other object, by whom it was pronounced, and whether the same they had seen continued: THEY SAW NO MAN ANY MORE; neither Moses, nor Elias, not at that time, nor ever after; SAVE JESUS ONLY... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS THEY CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN,.... Christ and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John, whom he led up thither: HE CHARGED THEM THAT THEY SHOULD TELL NO MAN WHAT THINGS THEY HAD SEEN; on the mount, as the transfiguration of himself, the persons of Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY KEPT THAT SAYING WITH THEMSELVES,.... "They retained it in their own mind", as the Persic version renders it; "they kept [it] close", as Luke says, Luke 9:36, among themselves, and acquainted no man with it: and which refers either to the whole of Christ's charge, relating to the vision on... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY ASKED HIM, SAYING,.... Being put in mind of it, by seeing Elias on the mount, or else by what Christ had said concerning his resurrection, or both: WHY SAY THE SCRIBES, the Vulgate Latin adds, "and Pharisees", THAT ELIAS MUST FIRST COME? before the Messiah comes, or before the setting up... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE ANSWERED, AND TOLD THEM,.... Allowing that their observation was right, and that this was the sense of the Scribes, and that there was something of truth in it, when rightly understood: ELIAS VERILY COMETH FIRST, AND RESTORETH ALL THINGS: Matthew 17:11; AND HOW IT IS WRITTEN OF THE SON OF... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT ELIAS IS INDEED COME,.... Meaning John the Baptist, who in prophecy is designed by him. AND THEY HAVE DONE UNTO HIM WHATSOEVER THEY LISTED; Matthew 17:12; which words should be read in a parenthesis, as they are in the Vulgate Latin version; for what follows, as IT IS WRI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE CAME TO HIS DISCIPLES,.... The other nine, who were left at the bottom of the mountain, and were waiting for him: HE SAW A GREAT MULTITUDE ABOUT THEM: there was a multitude that followed him from Bethsaida hither; and which, very likely, was greatly increased upon Christ's arrival in th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STRAIGHTWAY ALL THE PEOPLE, WHEN THEY BEHELD HIM,.... As soon as ever they saw him, to many of whom, especially those that followed him out of Galilee, he was personally known. WERE GREATLY AMAZED; either that he should come at that juncture, to assist and relieve his disciples, when the Scribe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE ASKED THE SCRIBES,.... The Vulgate Latin renders it, "he asked them"; and the Ethiopic version, he said unto them; meaning either that he asked the disciples when he came to them, or else the people that ran to salute him; but the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read, "the Scribes"; seein... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ONE OF THE MULTITUDE ANSWERED AND SAID,.... The Scribes made no reply, being afraid to engage with him, whom they had often found too hard for them; and the disciples, if they were spoken to, were silent, through shame, because they had not succeeded in the cure of the person brought to them, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHERESOEVER HE TAKETH HIM,.... The spirit, or devil, whether it be near fire, or water, whatsoever danger, or dangerous place: HE TEARETH HIM; or throws him into it, or dashes him against it; or inwardly racks, tortures, and convulses him: AND HE FOAMETH; at the mouth, like one that is mad: A... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ANSWERETH HIM,.... The father of the child, and who is included in the reproof afterwards given, for his unbelief, and taking part with the Scribes against his disciples; though the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "them"; meaning not his disciples, but the Scribes and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY BROUGHT HIM UNTO HIM,.... The father of the child, and those that were with him, brought the child to Jesus, into his presence, before him: AND WHEN HE SAW HIM, that is, either when Jesus saw the child, or the child saw Jesus; or the evil spirit in him, and by him which were all at once:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE ASKED HIS FATHER,.... As he lay rolling about in this miserable condition, that the length and stubbornness of his disorder might be known, and so the cure the more remarkable, and appear the more expressive of his divine power and goodness: HOW LONG IS IT AGO SINCE THIS CAME UNTO HIM? since... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OFTTIMES IT HATH CAST HIM INTO THE FIRE,.... When he has been near it; so that one part or other of his body has been scorched, or burnt, and his life in danger: AND INTO THE WATERS TO DESTROY HIM: when he has been near any brook, or river, it has thrown him into it, in order to drown him, as i... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, IF THOU CANST BELIEVE,.... As the man put an "if" on the power of Christ, Christ puts an "if" on the faith of the man; and tacitly suggests, that power was not wanting in himself, but faith in him; and should that cure not be performed, it would not be owing to any inability in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STRAIGHTWAY THE FATHER OF THE CHILD CRIED OUT,.... As soon as ever he found it was put upon his faith, and that the issue of things would be according to that, he expressed himself with much vehemency, being in great distress; partly with indignation at his unbelief, and partly through fear of m... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JESUS SAW THAT THE PEOPLE CAME RUNNING TOGETHER,.... לותיה, "to him", as the Syriac version adds, and so the Persic; upon hearing the vehement cry of the father of the child, and the earnest solicitations he made, expecting that something would be done: HE REBUKED THE FOUL SPIRIT; that brough... [ Continue Reading ]
AND [THE SPIRIT] CRIED, AND RENT HIM SORE,.... We rightly supply, "the spirit", as do the Syriac and Persic versions, "the demon"; for it was he, and not the child, that cried, and made an hideous noise, at his ejection; being filled with wrath and rage, that he must be obliged to quit the possessio... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT JESUS TOOK HIM BY THE HAND,.... "Took hold of the hand of the child", as the Persic version renders it; AND LIFTED HIM UP; from the ground, on which he was cast by the spirit; AND HE AROSE: this is omitted in the Syriac and Arabic versions, though in one edition of the latter, according to De... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE WAS COME INTO THE HOUSE,.... Perhaps into the man's house whose child he had healed, or into some other in these parts, for the sake both of retirement and refreshment: HIS DISCIPLES ASKED HIM PRIVATELY, WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? The nine disciples, who were particularly concerned... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM,.... Matthew, besides the following reason, assigns another, as given by our Lord, why they could not cast out the foul spirit, which was their unbelief; of which they were guilty in some sort, as well as the Jews, and the father of the child; but Mark omits it, and only relate... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY DEPARTED THENCE,.... From the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, from that part of the country where the mountain was, on which Christ was transfigured, and at the foot of which the above miracle was wrought. This is to be understood of Christ and his twelve disciples, though the Syriac, Arabic,... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES, AND SAID UNTO THEM,.... What he had some little time before suggested to them; see Mark 8:31. THE SON OF MAN IS DELIVERED INTO THE HANDS OF MEN: in one of Beza's copies it is read, "sinful men", as in Luke 24:7 and so the Persic version reads here, and adds rebellious.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT THAT SAYING,.... Meaning either the whole of what he had said, concerning his delivery, death, and resurrection: and which then must be interpreted with some limitation; for they must understand the sense of his words, which were clear and express; especially concerning his d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CAME TO CAPERNAUM,.... Where he met with the collectors of the tribute money, and paid it to them, as related by Matthew, Matthew 17:24, though Mark takes no notice of it. The Vulgate Latin and the Syriac versions, read in the plural number, "they came"; Christ and his twelve apostles; and wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY HELD THEIR PEACE,.... Fearing a reprimand, for their vanity and affectation of worldly grandeur: FOR BY THE WAY THEY HAD DISPUTED AMONG THEMSELVES, WHO [SHOULD BE] THE GREATEST; that is, who should be advanced to the highest post, and have the greatest place of authority, honour, and digni... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAT DOWN,.... As their master, as one having authority; and in order to examine into this matter, and pass judgment upon it: AND CALLED THE TWELVE; all the disciples, who though they might not be all engaged in this dispute, nor equally criminal, yet were all, possessed of the same notion; a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE TOOK A CHILD,.... Which was in the house, and which he called unto him, and set by him, as the other evangelists observe: AND SET HIM IN THE MIDST OF THEM; his disciples, that all might see and learn from this instance; AND WHEN HE HAD TAKEN HIM IN HIS ARMS; and embraced him, to show his gr... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER SHALL RECEIVE ONE OF SUCH CHILDREN,.... That is, any believer, who is like to such a child for humility, meekness, and lowliness of mind; and so the Syriac version renders it, טליא איך הנא, "one like to this child": and so the Arabic and Persic versions; for it cannot be thought that Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JOHN ANSWERED HIM, SAYING,.... Taking notice of what Christ just now said, and observing how well pleasing it was to him, to receive in a meek and humble manner, the least believer in his name; and reflecting upon an action, in which he and some of his fellow disciples were concerned, and which... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT JESUS SAID, FORBID HIM NOT,.... Neither him, nor any other they should hereafter meet with, who might be casting out devils in his name, giving this as a reason for it; FOR THERE IS NO MAN WHICH SHALL DO A MIRACLE IN MY NAME; or "miracles", as the Syriac version, as to cast out devils, or heal... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE THAT IS NOT AGAINST US, IS ON OUR PART. Many copies read, "he that is not against you, is for you"; as this man; he was not against either Christ, or his disciples; he was doing the same work, promoting the same interest, and destroying the kingdom of Satan: and therefore, though he did not f... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL GIVE YOU A CUP OF WATER TO DRINK,.... Not only one that does a miracle in the name of Christ, but he that shows the least respect, or does the least kindness to any one of his; Matthew 10:42; is to be reckoned a friend, and is so accounted by Christ; and will be sooner or later t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHOSOEVER SHALL OFFEND ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES THAT BELIEVE IN ME,.... Whosoever shall do the, least injury to the meanest person that believes in Christ, who are mean both in their own eyes, and the eyes of others; for Christ is not speaking of little children in age, who are neither capable o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THY HAND OFFEND THEE, CUT IT OFF,.... I have observed on Matthew 5:30 that by the Jewish canons, cutting off of the hand was ordered in some cases there mentioned; which, though literally enjoined, must not be understood, as though the Jewish sanhedrim had a power of inflicting such a punishm... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE THEIR WORM DIETH NOT, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. The passage referred to, is in Isaiah 66:24, and as there, the words are spoken of such, as transgressed against the Lord; so here, of such as offended any of Christ's little ones, or were offended by an hand, a foot, or eye, and retained the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THY FOOT OFFEND THEE, CUT IT OFF,.... Such who are that to men, as the foot is to the body, the support of them through whom they have their maintenance and subsistence; and yet these, if they are a means of causing them to stumble and tail, or of leading out of the ways of Christ, and off fr... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE THEIR WORM DIETH NOT, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. The Persic version renders it, "because from thence there can be no deliverance": which is rather an interpretation of these figurative expressions, and is a good one; since they design the eternity of hell torments, as well as point at the a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THINE EYE OFFEND THEE, PLUCK IT OUT,.... Than which, nothing is dearer to man, it being very tender, and exceeding useful: this metaphor the Lord sometimes makes use of, to show how dear his people are unto him, and what a tender concern he has for them, Deuteronomy 32:10. And here it may des... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE THEIR WORM DIETH NOT, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. This is repeated again, not only to assure the truth of the thing, but to raise the attention of the mind unto it, and fix an awful impression upon it: the Persic version renders it, "from whence thou shall never find redemption": there is no... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVERY ONE SHALL BE SALTED WITH FIRE,.... That is every one of those that transgress the law of God, offend any that, believe in Christ, retain their sins, and sinful companions; every one of them that are cast into hell, where the worm of conscience is always gnawing, and the fire of divine wrat... [ Continue Reading ]
SALT IS GOOD,.... To make meat savoury, and keep flesh from corrupting; and so is the grace of God, to season men's hearts, make their discourse savoury, and preserve them from the corruption of sin: and so men made partakers of the grace of God; they are good and useful to others, both by their wor... [ Continue Reading ]