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THE EVANGELISTS
THE MISHNA:
ILLUSTKATIOXS OF THE FOUR GOSPELS,
DRAWX FROM
JEWISH TRADITIONS.
REV. THOMAS ROBINSON.
LONDON : JAMES MSBET AND CO., 2.1, BERNERS STREET.
MDCCCLIX.
JOHN CniLDS AND SON, PRINTERS.
PREFACE.
The Mishna is that collection of Jewish Traditions made by Rabbi Judah, surnaraed the Holy, in order to preserve them from perishing during the dispersion of his country- men. " He collected," says Basnage, quoting from Ganz, " all the decrees, the statutes, the words of the Sages ; all the ordinances of the Sanhedrin, which had been made under the ministry of the prophets, or by the men of the great synagogue." Various dates are assigned to the completion of this work, from a. d. 141 to a. d. 230.' It is this which with the Gemara, or commentaries forming the completion of the work, constitutes the Talmuds, that of Jerusalem having been composed about the year 300, and that of Babylon, usually spokon of as the Talmud, not earlier than the be- ginning of the sixth century.
Although much has been already accomplished in the same field, especially by Lightfoot and Schoetgen, the author trusts that his attempts still further to illustrate the word
' Dr M'Caul, in his account of the Rabbinic Authorities prefixed to Prideaux's Connection, ascribes a. d. 219 as the period when the Mishna was completed by the disciples of Rabbi Judah. Lightfoot mentions 190, or 230, as the date of its completion.
IV PIIEFACE.
of God from the statements and pKraseology of that ancient work, will prove, especially to the general reader, not alto- gether fruitless or uninteresting. Should the present volume meet with acceptance, it is the writer's intention, d. v., to follow it up with another, containing similar illustrations on the remainino- books of the New Testament.
Morpeth, August 2nd, 1S58.
THE EYA^CtELISTS
THE MISHNA
MATTHEW.
CHAPTEE I.
Yer. 17. — So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteeji generations ; and from Dacid until the carrying awaij into Babylon are fourteen generations ; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
The Jews appear to have been in the habit of marking the agreement in the number of generations that occurred be- tween successive epochs. The following is an example from the Mishna. " From Adam to Noah were ten generations, to show how great longsuffering is with God ; for all these generations provoked him to anger, and went on, until he brought upon them the waters of the Deluge. From Noah to Abraham were ten generations, to show how great longsuf- fering is before him ; for all these generations provoked him to anger, and went on, until Abraham our father came and received the reward of them all." '
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2 MATTHEW I.
MattheWj being not only a Jew himself, but composing his Gospel, as is generally believed, with a more immediate re- ference to his own countrymen, draws their attention, by this Jewish mode of reckoning, to the birth of Jesus as an event of deep importance in their national history, — taking rank with, or rather affording the climax to, the most memorable eras in their existence as a people. In Abraham the nation received its origin ; in David, fourteen generations after, it attained its highest prosperity ; as many generations more, and in the removal to Babylon it was plunged for its sins into the lowest depth of national degradation ; other fourteen srenerations, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem. At a time when, judging from the past, it might have been expected that the God of Israel would appear in some remarkable pro- vidence, either for purposes of mercy or of judgment to the na- tion, and when, from the sure word of prophecy, all were in expectation of a promised deliverer,' He came forth who claimed to be the Ruler of Israel, the Messiah sent by God.
The time, indeed, when, at the close of a tliird series of fourteen generations, the nation was bleeding under the ty-
Ahhoth V. 2. The following, which Schoetgeu has also adduced, is an example from the book of Zohar. " From Abraham to Solomon were fifteen gener- ations, and then the moon was in her full (the nation was in her greatest prosperity) ; from Solomon to Zedekiah were fifteen generations, and then the moon was eclipsed, and Zedekiah's eyes were put out." Liber Zohar Hestilutus, Synopsis, Titulus xiv.
' After representing the miseries to which the Jews were reduced under the latter part of Herod's usurpation, Dr Jost observes, — " A lofty hope bloomed to the Jews. A mighty King out of the stock of Judah, when once the time of his advent should arrive, was to terminate their sufferings, to alter the destinies of humanity, to found a single kingdom of God upon earth, to unite all men, and to establish an eternal peace." Geschichie der Israeliten, II. iv. cap. 15. It wUl be remembered that Josephus ascribes, in part at least, the obstinacy of the rebellion against the Romans to the belief of a prediction contained in the Scriptures {^pr^a^ioq ifKpifioXoQ iv toIq !<poif ivpfQiiQ ypafifxaaiv), that one from their o\vn coimtry should at that time take the government of the world (ap?a riic oiKovnivrjo). Jewish War, V. V. sect. 4.
MATTHEW I. 6
rannical yoke of a foreign usurper and sighing for deliver- ance ; when the influence of those misguided and misguiding teachers, who made void God's law by their traditions, was attaining its greatest height ; when the people were scandal- ized and bewildered by the dissensions of the two great schools into which those teachers were divided, and whose animosities proceeded at times even to blood ; ^ and finally, when the flood of iniquity which soon after deluged the na- tion and ripened it for the judgments of Heaven, was already rising higher and higher, — such was indeed a fitting period for the appearance of Him who was to be Israel's consolation and redemption, the Shiloh to whom the gathering of the people was to be, " a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel." -
To the objection that while from Abraham to David inclu-
' "This contentiop of the Scholars," says Lightfoot, "gre^r so very high even m the master's time, that it is recorded that the Scholars of Sham- mai affronted and banded against Hillel himself, in the Temple court. Jerus. ill Jom. Tobh. fol. 61, col. 3. And the quarrellings of these schools were so bitter, that, as the same Talmud relateth, it came to effusion of blood and murdering one another. Shabb. fol. 3, col. 3. ' These are some of the traditions that were made or settled in the chamber of Hanauiah the son of Ezekia, the son of Baron. The persorLS were numbered, and the scholars of Shammai were more than the scholars of Hillel. That day was a grievous day to Israel, as was the day of the making of the golden calf. The scholars of Shammai stood below and slew the scholars of Hillel. Harmon!/ of the New Te:^tament, Fart I. Sect. viii.
* " Herode," says Basnage, " usurpateuj comme eus (the Asmonteans), raonta sur le trone, et se joua de la souveraine sacrificature, qui devint le partage de ceux qui plioient le plus aveuglement sous sa volonte. Le schisme de Samarie, le plus long et le plus opiniatre qu'on ait jamais vu, subsistoit encore sous le regne d'Herode, avec la meme violence, que s'il n'avait fait que comraencer. Quatre ou cinq sectes differentes, renferme'es dans un meme Temple, s'entre-dechiroient. L'une sapoit les fondatious de la Religion, en niant I'imraortalite des ames, et la resurrection des corps. L'autre preferoit ses vertus a la misericorde de Dieu, et se rendoit, par cette fierte, indigne de la grace. Une troisieme, entetce de mortifications, et d'austerites, couroit aprcs des ombres, pendant qu'elle abandonnoit le corps de la veritable devotion. Que de sources de corruption et de maux ! Uistoire des Juifs, liv. I. chap. i.
B 2
4 MATTHEW I.
sive there are reckoned exactly fourteen generationa^nd from David exclusive to Jechonlas inclusive there are again ex- actly fourteen, from Jechonias exclusive to Jesus inclusive there appear only thirteen, — various answers may be given. Doddridge avails himself of the fact that, as the margin states, sniae copies have Jakim, or Jehoiakim, inserted be- tween Jfsnas^ and Jechonias, which corresponds with the his- tory. It is unnecessary, however, to have recourse either to this, or to the fact proved by Lightfoot, that the Jews fre- quently regarded as identical both numbers and things which bore only a close resemblance.' It is enough to reply that Matthew, who doubtless presents the genealogy as it appear- ed in the public registers,- found, in whatever way he may have reckoned, that of the generations recorded there were three distinctly marked classes of fourteen members each. Some, as Kuinoel, Olshausen, and others, suppose that the Evangelist placed David and Josiah both at the close of one series and at the beginning of another, and ended the list with Joseph. Professor Wieseler inclines to the opinion that when Jechonias is mentioned the second time, he appears as the representative of the carrying away to Babylon, which is regarded as a component member in the series, and that he is therefore reckoned twice.' Others, however, view the Je- chonias in the 12th verse as a different person from the Jecho- nias in the 11th, the latter, called in the Hebrew Jehoiakim, or Joakim, being the father, and the former, in Hebrew Je- hoiachin, Jechoniah, or Coniah, the son, both being some- times called in Greek by the same name.'*
' Horcc Heb. et Tal. in loco.
* Josephus, in his Autobiography, states that he gives his ancestry as he found it in the public records, — d>c iv toIq SinioffiaiQ SsXroi^ avayiypafi- fxivijv ivpov. {Life, sec. i.)
^ Journal of Sacred Literature, April, 1S4S. — Chrysostom also understood the carrying away to be reckoned as a generation, — 'moi yap tvravSa SoKti Kal TQV yfiovov tt\q ai'x/ic^wffiac iv rdXn yiviaQ Ti9evai. In Matt. Horn. iv.
*■ Sloc/cius, in Non. Test, in loc. This was Jerome's view. " Sciamus igitur Jechoniam priorem ipsura esse quern et Joakim : secundum, autem, filium, non pattern ; quorum prior per k et m, sequens per ck et n scribitur;
MATTHEW I, 0
As to the omission of names in the genealogical list, Jahn has observed that it was common with the Jews, as it is with the Arabs, to omit generations in compendious genealogies, and refers to Ruth iv. 20 — 26, and Ezra vii. 1 — 5, as exam- ples. This omission appears to have taken place more espe- cially in the case of persons whose actions rendered their names unworthy of remembrance, or who were at the same time the children of such. Of the three omitted, Ahaziah is said by Josephus to have been worse than his father Joram, who wallced in the ways of the house of Ahab ; Joash, his successor, caused Zechariah the prophet to be slain ; and Ama- ziah, who succeeded him, worshipped the gods of the Edom- ites whom he had overcome ; while each of them died an untimely death. " I, the Lord, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." " The seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned." '
quod scriptorum vitio et longitudine temporum apud Grcecos Latiaosque confusum est." {In Matt, in loco.) Bishop Kidder adopts this view, and confirms it by the follo\ving considerations : — 1st. Jehoiakim, and not Jehoia- chia, appears in the record as having brethren, viz. Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, both of them kings as well as himself. 2nd. Jehoiakim, and not Jehoiachin, was the son, properly so called, of Josias. 3rd. Jehoiakim died three months before the carrying to Babylon, while Jehoiachin is said to have begot Salathiel after that event. 4th. The LXX. frequently renders both names by the same word (Ia»a«(y). 5th. Josephus makes no diiference in the termination of the names (calling the father Iwaci^oc, and the son Icudxi/xoc). 6th. The author of the Apocryphal books of Esdras makes no diiference between the two names. {Demo7ist ration of the Messiah, Part II. chap. II.)
' The unworthy conduct of individuals in high station was publicly stigmatized by the Jews in more ways than one. It is said in the Mishna, — " The priestly order of Bilgah always divided their share of the shew- bread on the south side of the Temple court ; their slaughter ring was fastened down, and the window of their chamber blocked up." Succah v. 8. De Sola and Raphall add the following note : — " The order Bilgah was the fifteenth. Each order had an iron ring of its own, to which the head of the animal was fastened, so as to slaughter it with greater ease. Each order also had a chamber or store-room of its own. The order Bilgah was deprived of these, and otherwise stigmatized, through an occurrence that
6 MATTHEW I.
Yer. 18. Noic the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise : TVhen as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she teas found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Amonw the Jews, a woman became a man's wife by be- trothment (prnp Kiddushin), which, when according to due form, was a legally binding, though private, contract. The espoused parties however did not cohabit as man and wife until the marriage bond was duly completed, which was usually not for some considerable time after. The period which the law allowed _ to a virgin between espousals and marriage was twelve months ; if at the end of that period the marriage did not take place, the husband became respon- sible for her maintenance. She remained however under her father's authority xintil the celebration of the marriage, or until he had placed her under the authority of her husband. " They allow a virgin," says the Mishna, " twelve months from the time the husband proposed marriage to her, to pro- vide herself with an outfit. Should the appointed time come, and they are not married, she is to be maintained out of his property." ^ *' A female is always under the authority of her father until she is placed under the authority of her husband by marriage (or under the nuptial canopy). If the father however has surrendered her to her husband's emissaries, she is under the authority of her husband." " For further remarks on this subject, see note on Luke ii. 4, 5.
took place during the persecution under Antioclias. Mii-iam, a daughter of BOgah, renounced her faith, and married a Syro-Grecian chieftain. When the Greeks took possession of the temple, she struck the altar with her shoe, exclaiming, ' Thou insatiable she-wolf, how much longer art thou to consume the wealth of Israel, and canst not help them in their hour of need.' This conduct was imputed to the bad example she must have seen in her father's house ; and a stigma was cast on the whole order, which was degraded as related in the text."
I Cheiknbhoth, v. 2.
* I6id. iv. 5. The betrothment usually took place at the house of th.e
MATTHEW I.
Ver. 19. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not icilUng to make her a public example, was minded to put her aicaij privily.
In the case of the espoused bride appearing to have acted criminally before the marriage took place, the husband might prefer an accusation against her before the Beth-Din, or judi- cial Court of the place. " Should the bridegroom," says the Mishna, "have to complain of non-virginity (on the part of the bride), he presents himself early (the next morning) be- fore the Beth-Din." ^ The espoused bride might, before the marriage took place, be thus divorced, or put away. *' The damsel," says the Mishna, speaking of the case of seduction, " who has been betrothed and dicorced, &c." ■ This divorce the husbanjd might of course effect privately, instead of bring- ing the case of his betrothed before the public tribunal and exposing her to open disgrace. This is what Joseph thought of doing.
bride's father, where a repast was provided, called the betrothment-meal. " He," says the Mishna, " who in Judcpa has partaken of the betrothment- meal in his father-in-law's house without any witness present, cannot pre- fer an accusation of non-virginity." {Chethubhoth, i. 5.) The Jews still observe similar practices. Speaking of betrothmenfc, Mr Mill, in his 'British Jews,' says, — "After appointing a certain day and hour, the par- ties and their parents, with a number of invited friends, meet in the house fixed upon, when a qualified person draws up the Kenas (Djp), or deed of penalty. This is read to the whole company. A certain sum is named as forfeited to the other party, should either of the young couple fail to per- form the agreement. A cup is then broken as a sign that the agreement ia made. A feast is generally prepared on the occasion, according to the abilities of the parties. This takes place before the marriage, six or twelve months, or more, as the case may be." (p. 25.) ' Chethubhoth, i. 1. 2 Ibul. iii. 3.
CHAPTER IT.
Ver. 23. And he came and die elt in a city called Nazareth; that it might he fuljllled tvhich teas spoken hy the prophets, He shall he called a Nazarene.
As the words which the Evangelist here alleges as a quot- ation from the prophets, are not found in any part of the Old Testament Scriptures, it is the prevailing opinion of inter- preters that the reference is not so much to any one passage in particular, as to the general testimony of the prophets resrardins: the Messiah, — a conclusion which seems warranted by the fact that the prophecy is alleged as spoken not by one but several — " by the prophets." ^ Nor is such a mode of alleging Scripture without examples among the ancient Rab- bles. The following saying of Rabban Gamaliel, the son of Rabbi Judah the Prince, is recorded in the Mishna. "All who employ themselves about the congregation's interests, should do so for the sake of God ; for the merit of their ancestors shall be for th^ir advantage, and their righteousness endureth for ever ; and as for you, I will bring upon you a
' This was Jerome's opinion. " Si fixum de scripturis posuisset exem- plum, nunquam diceret, quod dictum est per prophetas, sed simpliciter, quod dictum est per prophetam : nunc autem pluraliter prophetas vocans, ostendit se non verba de scripturis sumpsisse, sed sensum." Chrysostom, and after him Theophylact, were inclined to regard the passage' as having been either lost or expunged from the Old Testament Scriptures. It has also been thrown out as a thing not improbable, that, as the Evangelist does not say "written" but "spoken by the prophets," the prediction, like some other matters, may have been known only as a tradition. Hengstenberg however thinks that the Evangelist had one passage chiefly in view,— that in Isaiah xi. 1, — though taking in, at the same time, all those other passages which have a similar meaning. Chri&tology of the Old Testament, on Matt. ii. 23.
MATTHEW II. y
great reward, as if ye had done [what was commanded]." ' Here the last clause obviously appears as a quotation, not however in the precise language of Scripture, — for such a passage is nowhere to be found, — but as expressing what in the Rabbi's opinion might be gathered from its general teaching.
As to how the Evangelists understood the prediction, and in what way it received its fulfilment from the residence of Jesus in Nazareth, various views have been entertained. These views have chiefly depended upon the way in which the name of the town has been read, whether as spelt in Hebrew with a Tsade ('£) or a Zain (;). If the former, the prophecy will be viewed in connection with such passages as Isaiah xi. 1, in which the Messiah is promised as the Branch or sprout ("^'jiZ netser). If the latter, the reference will appear to be to those scriptures that exhibit Him, whether by type or otherwise, as the Separated One {"y'z riazir). As Nazareth, probably from its meanness and insignificance, is not mentioned in the Old Testament, we are left to ascertain its proper name either from its Greek form, or from other circumstances. The Greek form (Na^aptV, Nazaref) is doubt- less in favour of the latter view, the Greek zeta (<■) being generally employed in the New Testament as the equivalent of the Hebrew Zain (r), while Tsade {■;£) is commonly ex- pressed by the Greek sigma (o-). Other circumstances how- ever tend rather to the former conclusion. These are, Jirst, that the Syriac version, made at a very early period, reads the name with a Tsadt; (!.?- J NotseratK) ; secondly, Hebrew authors, from an early period of the Christian era, have always written the word and its derivatives in like manner ; ^
Pirke Ahhoth ii. 1.—\ \=Lr\''^^''J lVs3 rOTT^ * The name, expressive of contempt, by which the Lord Jesus is fre- quently designated in Rabbinical writings, is, — as if literallj to fulfil the words in the Evangelist, — Ha-Notseri l^'yI^'2^) " The Nazarene," and his
10 MATTHEW II.
thirdly, Jerome states that learned Hebrews in his time thought that the quotation in Matthew was taken from Isaiah xi. 1. '
In either case the designation given to Jesus from his resi- dence in Nazareth, might properly be said to be in fulfilment of prophetic declarations. On the one hand, the appellation given to him as an inhabitant of the separate and remote city,- marked him out as the Lord's righteous servant, separate from sinners, and holy unto God while rejected by men ; and as the great Antitype, first of " him who was separated from his brethren," whether as more excellent than they, or as rejected and sold by them ; then of Samson, who was to be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and who was bound by his brethren and delivered into the hands of the Philistines,-'' — and, finally, of all those who, according to the law of Moses, consecrated themselves by the Nazaritic Yow to be holy to the Lord.-* On the other hand, as an in-
foUowers, Ha-Xotserini (^"lilDrT), " The Nazarenes." Thus a comment ou Is. lii. 13, &c., ■written about the end of the fourteenth century, commences
with—* ^-*-*i:n ^37 n^insrr itr-;^2i jnn '^bzb crr-r :i''-!ri:n r;^-: ]SD
" Here the Xazarenes open their mouth without measure, and expound the section of the Nazarene^ {Lipman, Nizachon, p. 129.)
' His words are : — " lUud quod in EvangeUo Matthsei omnes quierunt ecclesiastici, et non inveniunt, ubi scriptum sit, — 'Quoniam Nazarseus vocabitur,' — eruditi Hebraeorum de hoc loco assumptum putant." Comm. in Esaiam si.
' Nazareth has been described as "lying in a deep concealed hollow place on the top of a hill, and removed from all public thoroughfares." Journal of Sac. Lit., July, 1850.
^ Samson, who, according to the Greek version, was to be a Nazir {liiat,\^, or Nazirctics i^ai^iipaloq), was regarded by the ancient Jews as a type of the Messiah, as appears from the Targum of Jonathan (so-called) on Gen. xlix. IS, — " Not for the salvation of Gideon do I look, nor for the salvation of Samson do I hope ; for the salvation which they wrought was but for an hour : but for thy salvation do I wait and hope." It is added in a gloss, — " Por the salvation of Messiah, the Son of David, who shall save the children of Israel, and for the great salvation of my soul."
♦ Jerome says on the passage : — " Nazarseus sanctus interpretatur. Sanctum autem Dominum futurum, omnia scriptura commemorat."
MATTHEW IT. 11
habitant of the city of "low bushes," a weak twig in com- parison with its neighbours, Jesus the JN'azarene was signal- ized as not only the promised Branch, but as, in his be- ginnings, the lowly sprout, the tender plant, the root out of a dry ground.'
But without attaching any other meaning to the appel- lation " Nazarene " than simply that of " an inhabitant of Nazareth," the designation has been justly thought suflBcient to warrant the language of the Evangelist. Nazareth was a place of so little consideration that its name is found neither in the Old Testament nor in the pages of Josephus ; and of so low a character, that the question could be asked. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? The term " Nazarene " has long been used as expressive of scorn and contempt, both by Jews and Mahomedans.- The ^lessiah, like many of his
' Hengsteuberg {Christ ologij) thinks the place received its name from the smallness of its size, — a weak twig in contrast with a stately tree ; and that it might be the more likely to do so from the people having had the symbol before their eyes in the low bushes which covered the chalk-kills in the environs ; Nazareth, when compared with other cities, being just what these bushes were when compared with the stately trees which adorned other parts of the country. — Jerome, following the LXX., renders"i!^2 («(?/'5(?r) in Is. xi. 1, by " flos," a flower, but says that Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, translated it a sproici, " to show that long after the Babylonish captivity, when none of the family of David was possessing the glory of the ancient kingdom, Mary should arise as it were from the stump, and from Mary, Christ." That Father, however, would identify the word with Nazarene. " In eo loco," he says in his Epistle to Pammachius, " ubi nos legimus atque transtulimus, — Esiet virga de radice Jesse, et flos de radice ejus ascendet, — in Hebraeo, juxta linguae Lllius idioma ita scriptum est, — Exiet virga de radice Jesse, et Nazarseus de radice ejus crescet." And in his commentary on the passage in Matthew, he adds after what was quoted in a precediug note, — " Possumus et aliter dicere, quod etiam eisdem verbis juxta Hebraicam veritatem in Esaia scriptum sit, — Exiet virga de radice Jesse, et Nazaraus de radice ejus conscendet."
* Michaelis' Introduction to the Neio Testament, Part I. ch. v. sect. v. This author was of opinion, both from the xise of the term and from its supposed etymology, that '' Nazarene " conveyed the meaning of impostor, or a man of infamous character. This however appears to rest on too slight a foundation.
12 MATTHEW II.
types, and more especially David, was to be at the first "despised and rejected of men," "a. reproach of men and despised of the people " (Is. liii., Ps. xxii). Jesus was not only thus scorned and despised, but the very place appointed in the providence of God for his residence, has afforded a constant occasion of contempt ; so that his enemies, while scornfully designating him " the Nazarene," have been un- consciously verifying the predictions concerning him, and thus supplying an additional evidence of his being the Christ of God. — " Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.^'
CHAPTER III.
Yer. 4. And his meat was locusts and wild honey.
It is well known that some species of locusts were anciently used by the Jews, as they still are in the East, as an article of food. In the rules laid down in the Mishna respecting the prohibition of boiling flesh in milk (Exod. xxiii. 19, xxxvii. 26 ; Deut. xiv. 21), the following passage occurs : — " It is forbidden to boil any kind of flesh in milk, except that of locusts and fish ; neither may any flesh be brought to the table with cheese, except that of locusts and fish. Any one who vows that he will not eat flesh, is allowed to eat that of locusts and fish." '' In prescribing the particular form of blessing to be used in connection with the various kinds of food, the Mishna also says : — " For things which do not de- rive their immediate growth from the ground, say, — ' who gave being to all things,' &c. ; for vinegar, unripe fruit which has dropt off the tree, and locusts, say also, — * who gave being to all things.' " ■
Yer. 6. And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing
their sins.
A species of baptism, bathing or washing with water, was practised by the Jews in connection with circumcision, the
KhoUn viii. 1.— tD^'mm ^T^ "W'^D. ima IWIU ]a "The species here particularly alluded to," observe De Sola and Raphall on this passage, "is the cucuUated or hooded species, and is called ' Locusta minor flavicans, chagab edulis,' i. e. the lesser yellowish locust, or edible chagah. — (Scheuchzer, Physica Sacra.) "
^ Berachoth vii. 3. Some Jewish Doctors held that all the species were clean which had four feet, four wings, and four leaping legs, and whose wings covered the greatest part of their body. Cholin iii. 7.
14 MATTHEW III.
token of admission into the Abrahamic covenant. It is said to have been one of the three things by which a heathen was made a member of the Jewish church, — circumcision, bap- tism, and sacrifice.^ The same rite however was performed even in the case of infants. " They wash the infant," says the Mishna, "as well before the circumcision as after it."" According to Rabbi Eleazar, the infant was to be bathed on the third day after the circumcision." The ceremonies at the Feast of Tabernacles seem to intimate that the Jews regarded water as an emblem, not only of the cleansing operation of the Holy Spirit, but of doctrinal truth, especially that new doctrine which was to be introduced by the Messiah.* — "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the ivasJung of water, by the word" (Eph. V. 25, 26.)
Yer. 7. But when he sato many of the Tharisees and Sad- ducees come to his haptisni, he said unto them, 0 genera- tion of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ?
It is well known that the Pharisees and Sadducees consti- tuted the two principal sects among the Jews, the former de- riving their name from a Hebrew word which signifies " to separate " (:ir~i£ parash), the latter so called from Sadoc, the name of their founder. The Pharisees were by far the most numerous, including most of the Kabbies and religious peo-
' Lightfoot and Schoetgen, in loco. The latter shows baptism to have been held indispensable.
Shahhath sss.. 3.
* Ihid. and ix. 3.
* While the priest was pouring' out on the altar the water brought from Siloam, which was said to be emblematic of the Holy Ghost, the people sang from Isaiah xii., " With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation," — which is interpreted in. the Chaldee Targum of Jonathan, — " With joy shall ye receive a new doctrine from the elect of the righteous." See note on John vii. 37.
MATTHEW III. 15
pie, and, at a certain period in their history, distinguished into various classes.^ The Sadducees, comparatively few in number and loose in principle, stood highest in worldly po- sition. Besides other points of doctrine, these two sects dif- fered on the subject of tradition and the canon of Scripture. The Sadducees rejected the oral law and the decisions of the Elders, which the Pharisees so highly exalted. With the traditions, they are thought also to have rejected, or at least to have doubted, the Divine authority of all the books of Scripture except the five books of Moses,' while the Pharisees accepted the whole. The following passages in the Mishna, in which these conflicting sects are named, will serve to bring out some of their points of difference. " The Sadducees said, * We object to you, Pharisees, because you say Sacred Scrip- tures make the hands unclean, but the books of Hameram (profane or infidel books) do not make the hands unclean.' Rabban Jochanan ben Zachai replied, 'And have we nothing else to object to the Pharisees but this ? They also assert that the bones of an ass are clean, but the bones of Jochanan the high priest are unclean.' " ^ " The Sadducees said, * We object to you, Pharisees, because ye declare the stream [which flows when water is poured from a clean vessel into an un- clean one] to be clean.' The Pharisees replied, ' We blame you, Sadducees, that ye declare a stream of water which flows from a burial-ground to be clean.' " ^ "A Galilean Sad- ducee said, * T object to you, Pharisees, that you insert the name of the sovereign in the same document (or bill of di- vorce) with Moses.' The Pharisees replied, * We object to thee, Galilean Sadducee, that ye write the name of the sove-
' Lighffoot and Schoetgen, in loco.
• This however may be doubted, as they seem to have appealed both to the Prophets and Hagiographa for confirmation of their views respecting the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead. Manasseh hen Israel, Be Eea. Mor. lib. I. cap. vi. and vii.
' Yadhaim iv. 6. Their declaring them to render the hands unclean •was to procure for them greater veneration.
* Ibid. 7.
16 MATTHEW III.
reign with the Holy Name in the same page ; and not only that, but ye write the sovereign first, as it is said, And Pha- raoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should hearken to his voice to let Israel go ? '" ^
Yer. 9. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father : for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
The tendency of the Jews to glory in their descent from Abraham is well known. It was a saying of Rabbi xlkibhah, that " the poorest in Israel were to be considered as the sons of nobles who have been reduced from affluence, because they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." ' As chil- dren of Abraham it was that, according to the Mishna, ** Every Israelite was to have a portion in the world to come, except such as deny the resurrection of the dead, and the di- vine origin of the law," &c.' The same connection with Abraham was viewed as constituting them the children of God and the objects of his love. "Israel is beloved," says the Mishna, " because they are called children of God. In this has the greatest love been manifested to them, that they have been called God's children ; as it is said. Ye are the children of the Lord your God."^ Nor was it a small privilege to be a descendant of Abraham, an Israel- ite, even after the flesh. It was no slight distinction that theirs were the fathers, and the covenants, and the promises.
' Tadhaim 8. The letter of divorce has the year of the sovereign's reign inserted, and closes with the formula, " According to the law of Moses and of Israel." This, which was by the decision of the Elders, the Sad- ducees objected to as an insult to Moses. The Pharisees' answer supposes the books of Moses to be especially those wliich the Sa'dducees received.
Babha Kamah viii. 6.—: npy"'T pni"' CmzS ">::: C^HC,' CmOD^n ' SanJiedrin xi. 1.
* cn / rvjT\i m^n' nsn cip^sb D-'^n is^prii' bs-^ffi"* ]^n"'2n : DD^nbs mmb nns cd^ -ics:::; mpab D"'22 iK-ip:3c:7
Pirke Ahhoth iii. 14.
MATl'HEW I IT. 1(
Doubtless, as a nation, they were and still are beloved for the fathers' sakes ; for " the gifts and calling' of God are without repentance." But the privilege brought with it also its re- sponsibility. As children of Abraham they were under so much greater obligation to possess Abraham's faith. Their danger was in resting in the privilege, and neglecting the responsibility. Their highest distinction was, that from among them the Messiah was to spring. But what if, when that Messiah appeared, he was rejected, as Moses had at first been by their fathers ? Salvation was of the Jews : but what if that salvation was put away through unbelief, as their fathers at first, through the same evil principle, '^ despised the pleasant land," and " in their hearts went back again to Egypt " ?
Ver. 17. Afid lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am icell pleased.
This is the first of three occasions on which we read of a voice from heaven being heard in connection with the Sa- viour's ministry. The Jews were wont to speak of a Bath- ^0^ (S")p ni), or ''daughter of voice," which they regarded as a kind of oracle, or intimation of the Divine will variously conveyed. It was represented as taking the place of the Holy Spirit, which was one of the five things said to be wanting in the second temple.' Sometimes it was supposed to be a preternatural voice actually heard in the air. At other times it was merely something which superstition construed into a sign or intimation from heaven. Sometimes it was a fictitious utterance of some weighty truth or Scripture testi- mony. The following, belonging to the last-mentioned class, is not unworthy of attention. " Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said, Every day doth the Bath-kol go forth from Mount Horeb, crying and saying, Woe unto men because of their contempt
' These were, the ark with the mercy -seat and cherubim, the fire from heaven, the Shechinah, the Holy Spirit, and the Urim and Thummim.
c
18 MATTHEW in.
of the law."^ Soon may the time come when the ears of Israel, as well as of the Gentiles, shall be opened to attend to that true voice from heaven which declared, " This is my be- loved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye hira." That was the true Bath-kol, of which Israel still sings at the Feast of Tabernacles,— "It is the voice of the Bath-kol shouting from Zion, and proclaiming freedom to the whole world ; and I will declare the glad tidings. It is the voice of compassion pressing on the seed, for they [in hearkening and obeying the voice] will be deemed innocent as infants in the womb of their mothers ; and I will declare the glad tidings. It is the voice of pardon granted through the merit [not] of Re- becca, who was sick — [but of God's own beloved Son made flesh, who suffered for sins, the Just One in the room of the unjust] ; and I will declare the glad tidings." ' Woe is unto the world, indeed, to the Jew and to the Gentile, for their contempt not only of the law, but still more of the Gospel !
> 3-nn ^rro ns"V bip nz ci^i cr b^z ^ib ]n v^u:rv n"« : rmn ha rm^ hvn nv^db tnb •>!« n-^msT nn^m
Firke Abhoth vi. 2.
"The ancient Urim and Thummim," says Dr Jost, "and every other oracle, disappeared from the people. A weak superstition now took its place. Attention was often paid to a Bath-kol, that is, the daughter or echo of a voice. It consisted in a kind of sign, or voice of divination {ahnungdimme), though originally it signified only an echo." Geschichle der IsraelUen, vol. L, book II., xviii.
* See Mill's British Jews, Part II. chap. vi.
CHAPTER lY.
Ver. 5. Then the devil taJceth him into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.
The porch of the temple extended like a wing (rrrepvytoi', a wing or pinnacle) twenty cubits on each side beyond the breadth of the house. The Mishna states that the temple was a hundred cubits in height, and that the highest part was that to which was given the name of the crow-killer (2~ny rhyz cholch 'orebh), rising a cubit above the battlement, and consisting, according to Josephus, of sharp plates or spikes {6pi\ovq) for the purpose of keeping off the birds. According to Rabbi Judah, however, the battlement itself was the highest part of the building.' On some part of this battlement that surmounted the lofty porch or front part of the temple, the Saviour is thought by many to have been placed.^
^ Middoth iv. 6. * Some, however, as Kiiiaoel, Stockius, and others, think that it was rather on the roof of one of the porticoes, especially that on the south, or the royal portico, which overlooked a valley of so great depth that, according to Josephas, it was sufficient to alTect a person with dizziness in looking down into it. {Ant. xv. 5.) The original, however (ro TTTtpvyLov, "the wing," or "little wing"), seems hardly capable of such an application. The Syriac renders the word by \.2uS chenplui, " the
wing," and Jerome, by pinnaculicm, or . " the little wing." Olshausen merely says, — " YlrtQv-^iov = ^^3, a wing of the temple, in the shape of a tower, with a flat roof." The chamber of hewn stone (H"'?:!), in which the Sanhedrim held their sittings, and which, rising, it is said, like a great palace, extended beyond the wall of the court of the Israelites, has also been con- jectured to be the place intended. {Siockius.)
c 2
20 >[ATTHEW IV.
Yer. 24, And they hrouglit unto him all sick people, that tcere taken with dicers diseases and torments, and those which xcere possessed with devils, and those which loere lunatic, and those that had the palsy ; and he healed them.
Demoniacal possession is thus alluded to in the Mishna, " If Gentiles or an evil spirit shall cause a man to go out (beyond the Sabbath-limit), he must not (when recovering his own free agency) move farther (on the Sabbath) than four cubits. If they bring him back, it is as if he had not gone out (be- yond the limit)." ' Here a case is supposed in which an indi- vidual may be driven from place to place by an evil spirit, without any concurrence of his own will, similar to that mentioned in Luke viii. 29, — " He was driven by the devil into the wilderness."
Eruhhin ir. 1.— .S'-*^ Sb ibSD Jospphus employs the word oat^ovi^o/itvof, "possessed with a devil or demon, " in the same sense, Antiq. viii. 5. He speaks, it will be remem- bered, of having seen one of his own countrymen, named Eleazar, casting out those demons ; nor does there appear any reason to doubt his veracity or trustworthiness in this instance. The New Testament supposes that there were cases in which others than Christ and his disciples were instrumental in effecting such expulsions, though he alone commanded the departure of the spirits on his own authority. The cases of demoniacal possession appear quite distinct from those of epilepsy, melancholy, or insanity, arising from physical causes. The opinion of Josephus, however, that demons are the spirits of wicked men, is destitute of any warrant from the word of God. Rather we may believe them to be those " angels that kept not their first estate, and who are reserved in chains luider darkness to the judgment of the great day;" but who are for wise purposes allowed a temporary liberty, constituting "the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual wickednesses, or wicked spirits, in high places," against whom the believer, panoplied in the armour of God, is called daily to contend.
CHAPTER y.
Yer. 1. And when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth, and taught them.
In the Saviour's time, it was the practice among the Jews for the public instructor to sit, while the hearers stood. It is said in the Mishna, '•' After the death of Rabban Gamaliel, the honour of the law ceased," ' This is explained in the Talmud as follows : " Our masters say, From the days of Moses unto Rabban Gamaliel, there were no students of the law who did not stand. After Rabban Gamaliel died, sickness came upon the world, and there have been those who learn the law sitting. "Whence it is said, ' After Rabban Gamaliel died, the honour of the law ceased.' "
The expression " he opened his mouth " seems to indicate the Saviour as now occuppng the place of a public teacher, as well as the weighty truths which he uttered. This, but more especially the equivalent and abbreviated phrase, " he opened" {T\r\'^ p<^thakh) , is of constant occurrence in the book Zohar,^ where the expression " he began" (''HX'::? shari) is also used in the same sense.' — " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher sent from God." — " Grace is poured into thy lips."
' Soiak X. 15. — n-inn "n:::^ bi:2 ]p7n bs^'ba: pi nn^^^^ — in
Rabbinical writings, "sitting" is frequently mentioned as the posture of the teacher. For example:— "ICSI in'-nia n\n'' n\mb" "'b"T IL^'n Cp • "lin — " K. Simeon rose and offered his prayer : he sat down in the midstr of them and said, &c." Zohar, Idra Rabba, i. 9.
- For example : — PPQID L^'n nHD "T3 — " when R. Simeon opened his mouth, &c." Ibid. i. 23.— '"^"^b HY^'i^ HV ICSI U:'n nhi:— "R. Simeon opened [lii3 mouth] and said, ' It is time to be doing for the Lord, &c.' " Ibid. I 11. =» Ibid. xiii. 327.
22 MATTHEAV y.
Yer. 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the king- dom of heaven.
Some of the Rabbies could recommend humility of spirit. " Be of a humble spirit," occurs more thaa once in the Mishna.' Jesus however taught icith authority, and not as the scribes. Truly humble souls there even then were, and Jesus pronounces them blessed by assuring them of the kingdom of heaven.
"The kingdom of heaven" (ZDV^::^ mr^!2 malcicth sha- maim) had already become a common expression among the Jews. It was connected by the Rabbies with the recitation of the Shema\ or section of the Law, " Hear, O Israel, &c.," Deut. vi. 3, which was viewed as the badge of its subjects. " Rabban Gamaliel said the Shema' on the first night of his nuptials. His disciples said to him, Rabbi, hast thou not taught us that a bridegroom is exempted from saying the Shema' on the first night of his nuptials ? He answered them, I will not listen to you to withhold my subjection from the kingdom of heaven even for a single instant." ^ Jesus, how- ever, connects the kingdom of heaven with a lowly spirit. It ■was well said by Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, the author of Zohar, " All depends on a man's spirit." ^
To pronounce certain characters "blessed," if we may judge from Zohar, was not unusual with the Jewish teachers. For example : — " Blessed are ye righteous, for to you are revealed the deepest secrets of the Law which were not re- vealed to the holy ones above." *
Yer. 5. Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the
earth. The expression " inherit the earth," borrowed from the Old Testament (see Psalm xxxvii. 11, 29), was employed by the
1 Firke Abkoth iv. 4, 10. — mi b-:tt7 >^•^^ ' Berachoth ii. 5.
3 Ura Rabba i. 20. — Winbo s^^bn smnn
* "ibans sbi Sii-'^-iis'T ]n-n >n ]ijb ^b3insi s^^^"'■:^; ivis ]"^s2t
' . ^ ' " 'ibid'.i. 26.— c^Drby S^LZ^^^pb
MATl-HEW V. 23
Rabbies, when speaking of the state of blessedness to be en- joyed by the righteous after the resurrection. They connect- ed this inheritance with the fact of a man's being an Israelite, and possessing some degree of personal obedience to the law. *' Whosoever shall do even one commandment shall obtain good ; his days shall be prolonged, and he shall inherit the earth," — or, as modern Jews translate the words, — "shall hereafter inherit felicity, in the land of eternal bliss." ^ Jesus, on the contrary, connects the inheritance with the dispo- sition which alone qualifies a man for the enjoyment of it, and which accepts it, not as the reward of personal obedience, but as the gift of God's free grace. And yet it may be safely granted, that " whosoever shall do," — or, as it is otherwise translated, — "shall duly observe" — one of the commandments, shall inherit the earth." But who is the man ? The com- mandment is " exceeding broad," and the due obedience to any, must, at the same time, be obedience to the two great ones, of which the others are only modifications. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might : " and, *' thou shalt love thy neigh- bour as thyself." (Deut. vi. 5 ; Lev. xix. 18.)
If '/■' . ^er. 9. Blessed are the peacemaJcers : for they shall be called the children of God. ' -
To " make peace between man and man " is mentioned in the Mishna, as one of the things of which " a man enjoys the fruit in this world, and for which he has the reward of the resurrection in the world to come." ^
1 : \ns nw bm:T va"» ib ]^3^-saT ib ]^a^i2a nns msa tvd^^ b^
Kiddushim i. 10.
2 "h na'''^p ppm mu cbirzi irrm-fD b^is ctsc? Dnai lbs 7^n D"ib::7 nsnm c^Tcn mVa:n cst 2S na^D szn cbirb
t TT'^nb CIS — Peak i, 1. The author of Zohar in Like rnaoner e-xtola the excellence of those who love peace. Synopsis, Titr III.
24 MATTHEW V.
Yer. 13. Ye are the salt of the earth.
The allusion is probably to the salt employed in connection with the sacrifices. No sacrifice was to be without it. (Lev. ii. 13.) Hence the Mishna speaks of one of the chambers in the temple court, as the salt- chamber.^ This salt, which ap- pears to have been brought from the Dead Sea,' and, as Schoetgen observes, to have been nothing else than the bitu- men found there, might lose its savour, whether taste or smell, and then be sprinkled on the ascent to the altar, to be trodden under the feet of the priests. " They may strew salt on the ascent to the altar [on the Sabbath], that they [the priests on duty] may not slip down."^ How the disciples of Jesus were to be the salt of the earth, will appear from the words of the apostle, — " Because of the ^race that is given to me of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that the offering up (oblation or sacrifice, Trpo'T<popa) of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." " Let your speech be with grace, seasoned with salt."
Yer. 14. Ye are the light of the world.
Yer. 15. Let your light so shine lefore men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.
" Formerly," says the Mishna, " fires were lighted on the tops of the mountains [to announce the appearance of the new moon, that the Jews might everywhere prepare for the solemnities of the occasion.] " * The disciples of Jesus were
' Middoth T. 2— nbarr n^cb
2 n"'2TD nbo melakh Sodomith, salt of Sodora.
' Erubhin x. 13.— ip'^brp sbc:; V^cn c?2D ''22 ^37 nbn X'?^^-
* Rosh Hashshanah ii. 2. /
MATTHEW V.
25
to be like those lights ou the mountain-tops, shining far and wide, announcing to perishing men, both by their lips and by their lives, the appearance of " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." "With the Gospel in their hearts and in their hands, they were to be the world's true guides and benefactors, guiding their feet into the way of peace.'
Yer. 19. JVJwsoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall he called the least in the kingdom of heaven : hut ichosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall he called great in the kingdom of heaven.
The Jews were in the habit of making a distinction in the commandments, between such as they called light, and others which they characterized as weighty. Thus it is said in the Mishna : — " Be equally attentive to the light and to the weighty commandments." ■ Again : — " Run to the light as well as to the weighty commandment." ^ The Saviour, viewing the law given by Moses in its whole extent, recog- nized this distinction, though differing entirely from the Rabbies as to what constituted the lighter, and what the weightier commandments. "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pha- risees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin ; and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matt, sxiii. 23.)
^ The Jemsh Rabbies, as appears from Rom. ii. 19, professed to be " a light of them whicli are in darkness." Schoetgen has observed that one of the titles which the disciples of Rabbi Jochanan bea Zaccai gave to their dying and sorrowful master, was "the light of the world" (.C7ir "0 Net 'olam).
2 pirice Abhoth ii. 1. — t mcn^D rbp mi*aa -i\Tr "^im ' Hid. iv. 2. — : rmz:n23 nbp nr^'ab v"i ^i^
26 MAITHE'W V.
"While the Jewish commonwealth stood, the appointed tithe was to be carefully paid ; and "he who was unfaithful in that which was least, would be unfaithful also in much." Or by " these least commandments " the Saviour may have intended those moral precepts to which the previous part of his dis- course had reference, which the Jewish teachers regarded as of least account, but which were in reality the greatest.
Yer. 20. For I say unto you, That except your rigliteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The term "Scribe" ("i^ic sopher=YpanidaTevQ) is employed in the Mishna to denote two different classes of persons. For the most part it is applied to the teachers and expounders of the law. For example : — " The words of the law are not to be judged from the words of the Scribes, nor the words of the Scribes from the words of the law ; nor yet the words of the Scribes from other words of the Scribes." ' The term is also applied to the clerks of the Sanhedrim. ^ " The Sanhedrim," says the Mishna, " was like the half of a circular thrashing- floor, in order that the members might see each other. There were also two Scribes who stood before them, one on the right hand and the other on the left, to record the votes Not guilty and Guilty, respectively. ... If the judges erred in any matter, the two Scribes put them right." ^ The Scribes were therefore men well versed in the law, and especially in the traditions, as those whose office it was to expound the former to the people, and to explain the latter as occasion required.
> rmn '•-ma cn^iD ■•-lai nVi mciD n^ia rmn ^-m ]''ji."|'«
■ Tadhaim iii. 2. C^DTD 'H^ID C'n^'O "•"m sbl
••-isi pOim^T bsctra TTsi ^^c-^n -tttn ]rT:Db i^imy p^^in t^^etd Xn^z-^n ^^j^^in p^dtd ^ja? -13-n iitd cs . . . i^^^-^ncn ^ati ^''^toh
SanhedriH iv. 3 ; v. 5. — t CnTTTS
MATTHEW V. 27
Yer. 21. Ye have heard that it was said by them f margin, to them J of old time, Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall he in danger of the judgment.
The expression " to hear " was used among the Jews as equivalent to receiving as a tradition. Thus we read in the Mishna : " There were three houses of judgment at Jerusa- lem ; one, which, met at the gate of the mountain of the House ; another, which met at the gate of the court ; and a third, which met in the chamber of hewn stone. People came first (i. e. in the case of a dispute among the teachers of the law) to that which met at the gate of the mountain of the house, and he (the teacher) said, I have decided so, and my associates so, — I have taught so, and my associates so. If they (the members of that court) have heard (received by tradition) what tlie true doctrine is, they tell them ; but if not, they go together to the judge sitting at the gate of the court, and he (the teacher) says the same words. If thcg have heard, they tell them ; but if not, they all go together to the great house of judgment that met in the chamber of hewn stone." '
It wiU be observed that when the Saviour uses the expres- sion "ye have heard," or words to that effect, he is dealing rather with the traditions and glosses of the elders than with the statements of the written word. Thus in the passage be- fore us, while the written law itself declares, " Thou shalt not kill," it is the oral law, or decision of the ancients, that pro- nounces " "Whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment." The tradition was, as Lightfoot has observed on the passage, that the person who killed another with his own hand was amenable to the civil courts ; but if he did it by means of another party, or in an indirect manner, he was merely to be left to the judgment of heaven. As the Jews
' Sanhedrin x. 2. Plence the expression so often prefixed to a tradition about to be adduced — N2n tana, " a tradition," or " we have learned."
28 MATTHEW V.
appear at that time to have distinguished between the judg- ment of men {C2lii "'^■"r '^^'"'^ adham) and the judgment of God (cD'^Ci' ^TT '^'■^^ Shamaim), it may be uncertain to which the Saviour here referred, or whether he did not refer to both.'
Ver. 22. But I say unto you, That wJwsoever is angry with his brother icithout a cause shall be in danger of the judgment : and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council : but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire- It has been thought by some that the allusion here is to the three different courts of justice among the Jews, — that of Three members, which was established wherever there were a hundred and twenty Jews livin? together, and which took cognizance only of minor offences ; that of Twenty-three, which judged also in capital cases ; ^ and the Supreme Coun- cil of Seventy-one, which sat at Jerusalem, and which alone decided in cases of the highest nature, as that of a false pro- phet, a criminal high priest, an idolatrous city, or a guilty tribe.' In the opinion of Lightfoot, however, it is only in the
• Lightfoot seems to understand the reference to be to both judgments, - while Schoetgen appears to consider only that of heaven intended, regard- ing the Saviour's meaning to be that instead of the lax discipline of the elders, which, from a sinful timidity, left actual murderers merely to the judgment of God, causeless anger, and injurious expressions against an- other, rendered a man amenable to that judgment, while actual murder ought to be punished by the magistrate. Calvin and others, on the contrary, think the Saviour intended to reprove the Jewish teachers who made a breach of the sixth commandment only an affair for the magistrate, while in reality that command was broken by words and feelings, as well as acts.
* Sanhedrin i. 4.— I ^dh^D^ CriC'V^ m:^^^ ^3^1 [^'>21]
Ibid. i. 5.— : nriNT nri72*L:7 bw in
Dr Townsend thinks that by the "judgment " and "council" the Jewish tribunals are intended, but that as these were now deprived of the power of life and death, the Saviour indicated only temporal punishment as the
MAITHEW V. 29
second of the terms used by the Saviour, "the council" ((Tvviopioy, the Sanhedrim), whether of the Twenty-three or Seventy-one, that reference is made to a civil court ; and by the " judgment " is intended the judgment of heaven. Doubtless the Saviour intends by the offences here specified, different forms in which the sixth commandment may be broken ; and by the different degrees of liability mentioned, only so many modifications of the one punishment to which the breach of the moral law renders us subject in the sight of God, — a punishment more plainly indicated in the end of the sentence. Causeless anger is incipient murder, — murder in the heart, and often leading to murder in the act ("in their anger they slew a man," Gen. xlix. 6). — "Raca" (s'p"'"! reka, or in the Syriac \S) > raJca) has been shown to be an expres- sion of scorn and contempt, as if the life of the party ad- dressed were of little worth (" then thy brother should seem vile unto thee," Deut. xxv. 3). — "Thou fool" (/"wpe = ^-)j nabhal, a wicked, abandoned person), used in the sense which the Saviour indicates, and in which the contemptuous Phari- sees appear to have used it in regard to the common people, seemed to consign a brother to perdition (" this people who know not the law are cursed," John viii. 49). The Jews as- signed temporal punishments to those who addressed another by contemptuous and degrading epithets.' The Saviour
award of the sins here specified, that of the last-mentioned one being some degraded employment, like that of conveying the filth and offal to the valley of Hinnom {e!^ ti)v yeiwav rov TTi/poi;). But this is surely far from the Sa- viour's meaning.
' The author of Zohar speaks more than once of the punishment awarded to those who address a neighboiu: by a base name, or use an insulting and reproachful tongue. {Synopsis, Tit. xxi.) Both Lightfoot and Schoetgen quote the following from the Talmud : " He who calls his neighbour ' slave,' shall be excommunicated ; he who calls him ' baatard,' shall be beaten with forty stripes ; if he calls him wicked, he may be tried for his life," or, ac- cording to another interpretation, "he shall be brought into misery and want." In Zohar, however, the man who curses his neighbour is declared to be thrust down into hell (Vir maledicus in Gehennam detruditur). He also observes that a mau who is angry (or gives way to his anger) is equal
30 MATTHEW V.
however, who sees in these feelings and expressions the es- sence of murder, and that which gives to murder its highest criminality (" for in the image of God made he man," Gen, ix. 6; James iii. 9), assigns to them nothing less than what is indeed the righteous desert of all sin — eternal death.
That bv "hell-fire" (^ ytevya tov irvpog, the gehenna of fire) the Saviour intends the place of torment is evident, not only from the expression being plainly employed in this and no other sense in other parts of the IS'ew Testament, but also from its being thus and only thus used by the Jews of that and the subsequent period. Thus we read in the Mishna : — " The disciples of Balaam, the wicked one. shall be made to inherit Gehinnom, and to go down into the pit of corruption." ' And again : — " The stout in face shall go into Gehinnom.'''' • The Targuras of Jonathan (so called) and of Jerusalem, at Gen. iii. 24, say, — " He hath prepared Gehinnom for the wicked;" while the latter adds, — "He hath prepared in it sparks of fire and burning coals for the wicked, in order to execute vengeance upon them in the world to come." It was a saying of the wise men,— '^' Heretics, apostates, traitors, Epicureans, those who separate themselves from the congre- gation, who have been accustomed to strike fear into the land of the living, &c., go down into Gehinnom, and are there tormented for ever, as it is said. Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched (Isaiah Ixvi. 24)." '
to an idolater, because the evil spirit dwells in him; and that he who re- viles aaother to his face is as if he shed his blood. (Tit. x.)
' : nrr^ -';s::b ]n-!Ti czirpa crjnr i7*Lrnn cybz b:r TT'nbn
Firke Abhoth v. 19.
* Ibid. V. 20. — \ XZ^TVI C'^ID T37 — Of the flaming sword placed along with the cherubim at the entrance of Eden, it was said by the Rabbins, — l:C'Li7J:n Cl.-rai a^ro it— "That is, Gehinnom and the place of judgment." — Manasseh ben Israel, De Creatlone, Prob. xix.
^ Pocock, Porta Mosis, Not. Misc. cap. vi. It is well known that the punishment awaiting the soul that continues in its moral defilement, un- washed in the atoning blood of Christ, derives the name "Gehenna of fire," or hell-fire, from the valley of Hinnom, on the south of Jerusalem, where
MATTHEW V. 31
Yer. 23. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememherest that thy brother hath aught against thee ; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy may ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift-
Perhaps reference is here made to the gift of first-fruits, which, in accordance with Deut. xsiii. 3, &c., the Israelites were to bring to the temple at Jerusalem. The manner in which the first-fruits were presented is thus described in the Mishna. "Those who lived near to Jerusalem brought figs and grapes ; those at a distance brought dried figs and raisins. An ox went before them with gilded horns and an olive-jjarland upon its head. A pipe was played before them till they approached Jerusalem. "WTien they drew near to the city, they 3ent forward those who should arrange the first-fruits. The captains, inspectors, and treasurers of the temple, then came out to meet them, according to the honour due to the company ; while all the workmen who were at Jerusalem presented themselves before them, and saluted them with — Our brethren of such or such a place, you are welcome ! The pipe was played before them till they reached the moun- tain of the House ; and when they arrived there, though it were even King Agrippa, the offerer took up the basket on his shoulder, and went forward till he came to the court. The Levites then sung, " I will extol thee, 0 Lord, because
fires were kept continually baming for the purpose of consuming the filth and offal conveyed into it, and also where in a previous age children were inhumanly sacrificed to Moloch, —
" Moloch, horrid king, besmear'd with blood Of human sacrifice and parents' tears ; Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd through fire To his "Trim idol, — made his grove The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence, And black Gehenna call'd, the type of hell."
32 MATTHEW V.
thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my enemies to
triumph over me." The young pigeons on the top of the
basket formed the burnt-offerings ; and what was in their
hand thev o-ave to the priest. While the basket was still on
his shoulder, he rehearsed from — "I testify this day to the
Lord thv God" — to the end of the whole section. Rabbi
Jehuda says that he did so only as far as — "A Syrian ready
to perish was my father." When he came to this, he let
down the basket from off his shoulder, and held his lips (in
silence), while the priest put his hands under his, and raised
it up, repeating from — " A Syrian ready to perish was my
father," till he finished the section. He then put it down
at the side of the altar, and worshipped, and departed." ^
Viewed in the light of this interesting ceremony, how strik-
ino- is the Saviour's direction in the text ! Even in the midst o
of that festive S2ene, when already in the temple court, and about to present his offering, the individual who remembers an unforgiven or at least unacknowledged wrong done to a fellow-man. Is to stop at once ; and instead of offering his gift and worshipping, he is to leave it there before the altar, and go immediately to seek reconciliation with his offended brother. "I will have mercy," saith God, "and not sacri- fice." "I hate robbery for burnt-offering."
The Jews beKeved that even the day of atonement did not expiate offences against a brother until the offender had sought reconciliation. "The transgressions which a man commits against God, the day of atonement expiates ; but the transgressions which he commits against his neighbour, it only expiates when he has satisfied that neighbour,"^ Besides making compensation, the offender was to ask for- giveness of the offended party, and to use his utmost endea- vour to obtain it. "Although he make compensation to him,
' Biccurim iii. 3 — 6.
» CIS X'^iD m-i^3!7 • -13373 DmD3n CT Cpab QTS ^327 nTr'227 Yoma \-iii. 9.— t TT3n AS HTT'tt^ IV 133a C'n-E3n DT f^ l^^n"?
IIATTIIEW V. 33
yet is he not reconciled to him till he has sought his for- giveness." '
Yer. 31. It hath been said, Whosoever will put aicay his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.
The extent to which divorcement was practised among the Jews at the time when the Saviour uttered these words, appears from the numerous and minute regulations on the subject contained in the Mishna. The writing itself was called a Get {'C}), though in the' Old Testament, sepher cherithuth (jirini "ISu)? or "book of cutting off." "The essential substance of a Get," says the Mishna, " are the following words : ' Thou art herewith permitted to be mar- ried to any man.' Kabbi Jehudah saith the following is the essential part : ' Thou hast herewith of me a writing of separation, a letter of divorce, and a document of dismissal, that thou mayest go and be married to any man thou mayest like.' " - The document required to be duly written, attested by competent witnesses, and delivered to the wife. " "V^Tien a person dates a Get by a foreign reign, or according to the chronology of the ^ledian or Greek monarchies (or such as no longer exist), or so many years since the building of the Temple, or since the destruction of the Temple ; or when West is written when it should be East, or the contrary ; she who, upon the strength of such a Get, had been remar- ried, must be separated from both husbands." ^ The document always required to conclude with the formula — "According to the law of Moses and of Israel." It was to be written ex- pressly for the woman who was to be divorced, and to be delivered to herself. " Every Get which is not expressly written for the woman about to be divorced is void." * " When a husband throws a Get to his wife, when she is in
Babha Kama viii. 7.
- Gitthi ix. 3. 3 jiifi^ viii. 5. * IbU. iii. 1.
D
I
34 MATTHE"\V V.
her own house or in the court she lives in, she is thereby divorced. If he threw it within her house or court, even if it lies near her on her bed, she is not divorced thereby ; but if he threw it within her lap or her work-basket, she is di- vorced. If he says, Take this bond ; or if finding a document fastened to his person, she reads it, and finds it to be a Get addressed to her ; such a Get is void, while he does not ex- pressly say, Here is thy Get of divorce. If he put it into her hands while she is asleep, and on waking she reads it and finds it to be a Get addressed to her, it is void until the hus- band says to her, Here is thy Get.'" ' The following will show how the permission given in the law of Moses was abused. " If a husband says to his wife, Here is your Get on condition that you give me two hundred pence (pr zooz = denarii), she is divorced from the moment she accepts the Get, and is bound to pay the amount. If he said, On con- dition that you give me (the same) within thirty days, and she consented and paid it within the stipulated period, she is divorced, but not otherwise. Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel re- lates that at Sidon a husband once said to his wife. Here is your Get, on condition that you give me my robe, and she lost it ; and the sages decided that the Get was still valid if she paid him a sum equal to its value." - Many of the laws and regulations relating to divorce were doubtless intended to restrain the practice by placing delays and obstructions in the way of the parties. This is especially apparent in the case of what was called a ''bald Get^^ (mp 'Cl)y which shows at the same time the readiness with which even the priests took advantage of the permission. "What is a bald Get?" asks the Mishna. " One which has more folds than sub- scribing witnesses.'" Of this the following explanation is given. It is mentioned, in Treatise Baba Kama, that the priests were often in the habit of divorcing their wives in sudden fits of passion, and repented soon after, when, as
» GittU viii. 1, 2. = Ibid. vii. 5. ^ Ibid. viii. 10.
MATTHEW V. 35
priests, it was unlawful for them to take them back. The sages, therefore, instituted this kind of Get, for the purpose of delaying the divorce, and to facilitate a reconciliation between the parties. For much time was spent in the pre- paration of the said Get, as, after the writing of one or two lines, it was ordered to be folded and sewn, so that there were many folds, to each of which the signature of at least one witness was to be affixed at the back. When any fold appeared without such a signature, it was called a bald Get, and was void in consequence ; because it is supposed that the folds were originally made to correspond with the number of subscribing witnesses, and that the husband told every one of them to sign it, with which apparently one or more of them did not comply.'
\ er, 34. But I say unto you, Sicear not at all ; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great KingJ Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, S^'c.
The following extracts will show how prevalent among the Jews was the practice of talcing oaths. " If any one shall say, I swear that I will not drink, and shall drink various drinks, he is bound only in regard to one of them. If he say, I swear that I will drink neither wine, nor oil, nor honey (or date-syrup), and yet drink, he is bound in regard to each." - Again : — " If any one shall say, I take an oath that I will give to sucli a one, or, that I will not give ; that I have given, or, that I have not given ; that I will sleep, or, that I will not sleep ; that I have slept, or, that I have not slept ; that I will throw a stone into the sea, or, that I will not throw it ; that I have thrown a stone, or, that I have not thrown it ; Rabbi Ishmael saith, he is bound only in regard to what is future." "^ The Jews were accustomed to
' De Sola and Uuphall, in loco. • SyhhioUi iii. 3. •' Ihid. iii. 5.
36 MATTHEW V.
swear and adjure by heaven and earth, in which case the parties were not considered bound by the oath or adjuration. " If any shall say, I adjure you, I charge you, I bind you ; behold, they are bound. But if he say, I adjure you by heaven and earth ; behold, they arc free."^ — They also swore bv the head. " If a person is bound to another by an oath, and he says to him. Vow to me by the life of thine head ; Rabbi Meir says, he can retract, but the sages deny that he can do so."^
Ver. 40. If any man will sue thee at the laio, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. It would appear from notices in the Mishna that litigation was far from being uncommon among the Jews. (See on Luke xii. bS.) "W"e read there of appraisements made by order of the Beth Din, or judicial court, in case the debtor's real property was to be assigned to his creditors.^ These courts sat twice a week, on the ^londays and Thursdays, and always in the morning. " In towns," says the Mishna, "the Beth Din sits twice a week, on the second and on the fifth day. — He (the plaintifi") presents himself early before the Beth Din."^ — The coat (x'^'^^^pl '^Pi khaluk) was the inner garment ; the cloak (IfLariov^^jy^y^ talith), the outer one.
Ver. 41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go
with him twain.
The word here rendered " compel " (ayyepevaet) denotes that forced service which eastern governments exacted from the subjects. It extended both to person and property. Reference is thus made to it in the Mishna. "If a person hire an ass, and it become blind, or be made an aggeria (pressed into the public service), he shall say to the owner, Behold, thou hast that which is thine." ^
' Shebhuoth iv. 13. ' Sanhedrin, iii. 1.
' Moedh Kalan iii. 3. * Chethubhoth i. 1.
Babha Metsia vi. 3.
MATTHEW V. 37
Yer. 46. For if ye love them ichich love you, xchat reward have ye 9 do not even the publicans the same?
The " publicans " Cp^2*- )nochesin^=rz\uivm, persons em- ployed by those who farmed the public taxes, or the proper puhlicani yio collect these taxes for them') are always spoken of in the ^Mishna, as elsewhere, as men of bad character, extort- ing from the subjects as much as they could with a view to their own benefit. For example: — ''Men are not to ex- change money (for sacred purposes) nor give alms out of the publicans' chest." " The reason alleged is, — "because it is the fruit of extortion." '"' If publicans take away a person's ass, — if robbers plunder a man of his garment, &c." ^ Mat- thew the publican, in writing the above words of his Divine Master, could not fail to remember that Master's grace. "I^or thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor. vi. 10, 11.
^ Jahn, Archceoloffia, § 242.
■ Bahha Kama x. 1. — I^^ZIl^^n Pn\n*: sb ]^::-12 ]*S
=> Ibid. X. 2. — 'i:t rrn r.s i^mr: -h-ci
CHAPTER YI.
Yer. 1. Take heed that ye do notjjour alms before men to he seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.
For ''alms" the margin has " righteousness," according to some ancient Greek copies, ■^hich have ciKaio(rvvr]y, " right- eousness," instead of k\tT]noavvr]v, "alms." The use of the former term would be agreeable to the idiom of the Jew- ish language at that period, when " alms " were always de- noted by a word that properly signifies " righteousness " (rrpm tsedhahah). Thus in the Mishna we read, " ^Neither do they give alms, c&c," literally, "righteousness" {TJpll)- ' This use of the word was probably taken from such passages as Psal. cxii. 9 ; Dan. iv. 27, &c. Certain it is that alms- giving: was regarded as most meritorious in the :iight of God. It was that by which many among the Jews, like some among ourselves, thought to work out their own righteousness, in- stead of submitting to the righteousness of God. " He who pities the poor," says the author of Zohar, " procures peace to the church of Israel, and accumulates blessings in high places." " He who satisfies the soul of the poor, God shall satisfy his soul again, even when he departs out of this world." " It is true, indeed, that kindness to the poor, though far from procuring a man's acceptance with God, will, when the heart is already renewed, and the person accepted in Christ, receive its gracious reward as a work of faith and an act of love.
' Babha Kama x. 1. * Sy/tojms, Tit. iii.
MATTHEW VI. 39
Yer. 2. Therefore ichen thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may hare glory of men.
The practice to wliicli allusion is here made has not been clearly ascertained. A trumpet was kept in every synagogue, and was sounded on various occasions ; but it does not appear to have been used on the giving of alms. A passage has in- deed been quoted by Lightfoot from the Jerusalem Talmud which seems to indicate something resembling such a prac- tice. *' The collectors of alms do not proclaim (i'tH^- mac- rizin, publish as by a herald) on a feast day as they proclaim on a work day." To this practice the author of Zohar may allude in the following passage, in which, if he does not, like our Lord in the text, altogether discountenance such proclamations, he seems to attach greater merit to acts of charity when performed without them. "He who pities the poor and bestows his money in alms, even on the Sabbaths and feast days (when no proclamation is made), the holy and blessed God repays him double, as if he lent to the Lord." ' It is certain that trumpets were sounded at a certain stage in a public fast, as if to call the attention of the Divine Being to what was done. " If these days pass, and still prayer is not heard, the Great Sanhedrim appoint other seven days in addition, so that there may be thirteen days fasting to the church. Behold, these are much greater than the former; for during these days they sound the trumpet, and shut up the shops." -'
It is certain that many of the Pharisees (are there not such among those who call themselves Christians ?) aimed at obtaining a name for piety by the so-called good works they performed, and doubtless almsgiving among the rest. " What is the right way," asks the Mishna, " which a man should
' Synop.us, Tit. iii. ' Ta'anith i. 6.
40 MATTHEW VI.
choose for himself? Whatsoever is an honour to him that practises it, and procures honour to him from men." ' " A bridegroom who wishes to recite the slieina' on the first night of his marriage, may do so. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel saith, No one who wishes to acquire renorni (for piety) may do so." '
An exception proves a rule. A silent treasury is spoken of as being in the temple for the benefit of the poor children of good men, into which religious people are said to have contributed their alms silenthj, and, as it were, in secret. '
Ver. 4. That thine alms may he in secret : and thy Father which seeth iyi secret himself shall reward thee openly. The Saviour may have alluded to the "silent alms-room," mentioned in the last note. He connects the secret virtue with the open reward. The following saving of one of the Rabbies connects in like manner the secret sin with the open punishment. " Rabbi Jochanan ben Berokah saith. Whoso- ever profanetli the name of God in secret, vengeance shall be inflicted upon him openly." *
"Ver. 5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not he as the hypocrites are : for they love to pray standing in the syna- gogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may he seen of men.
The synagogues, as places for public prayer, were probably open daily at certain hours, as they still are, for devotional purposes.' There those who wished to acquire fame for su- perior piety would doubtless love to be found rather than at
Pirk-e Abhoth u. 8.— : □ISH p lb H^SDm ' Berachoth ii. 8. * Lightfoot, HorcB Eeb. et Tal. in loco.
' * _ : "»ib:n iDaa ^v-^^z -inon a^'aw cc; bbnnn ba
Pir/^e Abhoth iv. 4.
* After the destruction of the temple, public prayer in the synagogue was regarded as a substitute for the morning and evening sacrifices. Zohar, Synopsis, Tit. ii.
MATTHEW VI. 41
home in their closet.^ — The ordinary posture of devotion in the S}-nagogue was standing, though at a later period, at least during certain portions of the prayers, the worshippers both sat and knelt.- Standing is the posture recognised in the Mishna. " 3Ien are not to stand up and pray except with profound humility." -^
The " corners of the streets " (ril^^p keranoth) were the ordinary places of concourse, especially with idlers or persons who had nothing to do. In Psalm Ixix. 13 ('"' They that sit in the gate speak against me "), the Targum adds by way of explanation — " in the place of the corner (xr2"ip nu ^(-'^^^ karnatha) ;" and Ximchi, commenting on Psalm i. 1, — " sitteth not in the seat of the scorners," says, " This applies to the idlers who sit in the corners of the streets (m^lp ^^•r-)-" The Pharisees, who aimed at obtaining the praise of men, loved to pray in those places where there were many to witness their devotion. For this purpose they probably con- trived to be there when the hour for morning or evening prayer arrived. " A man," says the Mishna, " must daily say the eighteen prayers. ... If he is riding on an ass, he must dismount ; if he cannot dismount, he must turn his face to the Holy of holies." •* The Pharisee would be conspicuous enough in his devotions ; for the rule was, that prayer must be offered with a loud voice, and with the eyes Lifted up to heaven."* — On certain occasions the congregation prayed in the street, as a mark of greater earnestness. At a certain stage in a public fast, the ark containing the law was taken into the
' Great merit is attached by the author of Zohar to a man's being among the first ten who are present at the daily prayer in the synagogue. A man \ras less sure of acceptance if he prayed alone than Avhen he united ■with the church. Neither were persons to go into the field to pray, but to have a synagogue erected for that purpose. Zohar, Synopsis, Tit. ii.
* According to the book Zohar, the Iraidah, or eighteen prayers, were to be offered standing ; those from "Who createth the light, &c." to the eighteen, sitting ; and the confession (We confess that thou art the Lord our God, &c.) kneeling. Ibid.
• Berachoth v. 4. * It/id. iv. 3, 5. ' Zo/iar, Synopsis, Tit. ii.
42 MATTHEW VI.
street, and prayer made beside it.' " We have shouted in the synagogue/' said they, " as in a secret place, and we have not been heard ; and now we have humbled ourselves in a public place, even in the street of the city." The Pharisees might choose, therefore, at times to pray in the street, as a mark of greater humiliation and earnestness.
Ver. 7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do : for they think that they shall he heard for their much speaking.
The expression, " use not vain repetitions " [y-i] [3ar-oXo- yl]ar]-t, do not idly multiply words of the same meaning), would seem to point at a practice not altogether confined to the heathen. The author of the Mishna writes, — " Men are not to stand up and pray, except with profound humility. The pious men of ancient days used to pause a full hour be- fore they began to pray, in order to direct their minds to God." - This would appear to indicate the existence, even in his day, of a want of reverence and heedful attention in the utterance of prayer. The author of Zohar inveighs against those who babble or talk idly in the synagogue, and are in- attentive in prayer.^ He observes that the utterance of un- necessary words, if unrepented of, hinders the acceptance of the petitions. *
Ver. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father which art in heaven.
There were eighteen prayers which the Jews were re- quired to repeat daily. When any one however was unable
I _ 'T:n ^rj hu? nznn^b TTi\in ]\s^-jia tj^d nrzvn -iiD
Ta'anith ii. 1. ' Berachoth v. 1.
* Synopsis, Tit. ii. 9. " De pceiia iLlius qui garrit in synagoga, quod Deus a7ertat ! " More than once a serious admonitioa is given that men utter their prayers with attention. " Prayer requires attentive thoughts, a -willing purpose of the spirit, and a distinct utterance of the words. "
* Ibid.
MATTHEW VI. 43
to do this, a summary of them was considered, by some at at least, to be sufficient. " Eabban Gamaliel saith, A man must daily say the eighteen prayers. Rabbi Joshua saith, A summary of them is enough. R. Akibha saith, If a man's prayer is fluent in his mouth, he says the eighteen ; if not, a summary of them." ^ What the Lord Jesus here taught his disciples was probably intended as a summary of what we ought to pray for, as well as a model for our prayers. Lightfoot supposes this form to have been intended for public use, while that in Luke xi. 2, from the omission of the dos- ology, was given on another occasion for the use of indi- viduals in private.
The expression, " Our Father who art in heaven" (LD\^'j*n::; 1j''1N)) frequently occurs in the wTitings of the Rabbles, though it does not appear to have been the general mode employed in addressing the Divine Being. TLo following passage in the Mishna, in which it occurs, will be read with interest. "Rabbi Phinehas ben Jair saith, Since the temple was laid waste, the wise men and the sons of nobles are ashamed and cover their head, and liberal men are waxed poor, and violent men and calumniators prevail ; neither is there any one to explain the mysteries of the law, nor to in- vestigate its meaning, nor to ask questions. On whom then are we to lean ? On our Father who is in heaven." ' And it were well did Israel lean in truth on Him who said to their fathers, " Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, jVIy Father, thou art the guide of my youth ?" But- it is vain to lean upon God while rejecting Him through whose atouinf^ death alone sinners can enjoy His favour. There is One
' ^2-1 . TTiDv n:icti7 CIS bb^na m^ "bsn "ims bs^ba^ p-i
Berachoth iv. 3.— t u"^ ^ra \sb CS"1 H"^ bb^H"" r22
■ "^321 c-nn ^u^a n"n mn^7a -ia\s ■n^s"' p oraD '•m
'h^v1^ 27rT ^b272 mam rrcjra ^Ji'^s ibibi:T cirjo ism ^nin
by irciTrb i:b ^a br bsia? ]^st K7p2n rsT ^mi ]>st ywh
Solah X. 13.— : CZ^aC-'2C7 13^2S
44 MATTHEW Vr.
concerning whom He has said, " Kiss ye the Son, lest he be anory, and ye perish from the way, when his anger is kindled but a little ; blessed are all they that put their trust in Him" (Psal. ii. 12.) Israel ought to know that this is spoken con- cerning the Messiah, as their fathers acknowledged.' What, then, if that Messiah has come, and if what was foretold by the prophet, Israel has fulfilled by rejecting him ; as it is said, " Why did the heathen rage, and the people (even Israel) imagine a vain thing ? The kings of the earth set them- selves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and asrainst his Anointed." One there was who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was shown to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. Him, even Jesus of Nazareth, your fathers, 0 Israel, have crucified, and you yourselves have hitherto rejected him. Hence the heat of this great anger. Hence you have had to complain, — " Since the day that the House of the Sanctuary was destroyed, there hath been a wall of iron between Israel and their Father in heaven." - Hearken then, 0 still beloved for the sake of
' E. David Kimclii interprets these words of the psahn as we do, and adds : "There are those who explain this psalm of Gog and Magog, and of Messiah, that is, King Messiah ; and thus our fathers of blessed memory interpreted it. And if it is so expounded, the sense will be very clear." E,. Solomon Jarchi, in like manner, though wishing to expound the psalm only of David, yet acknowledges, — " Our fathers explained its mystical meaning of King Messiah." R. Jonathan said, "There are three to whom it has been said ' Ask,' and these are Solomon, Ahaz, and Eang Messiah. — King Messiah, because it is written, ' Ask of me, &c.' " Bereshith Rabba, about A. D. 300. " Our masters have delivered to us that the blessed God said to Messiah, the Son of David, who is soon to be revealed in our days, — ' Ask of me, &c.' — because it is said, ' I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me. Thou art my Son ; tliis day have I begotten thee.' " Talmud Succah V. apud Relandi Arialecia Eabbmica ; see also Pococl-ii Porta Mo- sis, Not. Misc. cap. viii.
- * crpr^sb bhr-i:;^ ^i bn2 n^in t\^^2 ^irpin n^2 3-^n::; ara
Talmud, Berachoth, p. 32.— : C^^U^r^— To the same effect is the follow- ing : : ]3 rcsTsi n^Vi SD^m-.: sp mrj^i yjrzz pnynD sp ps
— " We macerate ourselves and cry continually, but there is none that careth for us."
JIATTHEW VI. 45
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobs — bearken to tbe voice that still in this psalm addresses you. " Kiss the Son," lest his anger continue, and ye perish from the way. Embrace the Messiah who has been sent, God's only-begotten Son. Then will you be able to lean in truth and with acceptance on your Father who is in heaven ; for he has pronounced concerning his Son, " Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him."
Yer. 9. Halloiocd be thy name.
Yer. 10. TJuf kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
These three petitions form the substance of a prayer used by the Jews on the first day of the year, and entitled Mal- chioth (j~iV2''-)> or the tests and prayers concerning the kingdom. " The order of the prayers for that day," says the Mishna, "is the following: — Abhoth (n"12»v)» Gchhuroth rimv;), and Kcdhiishath Ha-shem {'C2'CT1 r\'^"\l^) are then said, with which the Malchioth (pv^Vc) is combined." ^ The Kedhushath Ha-shem is literally " the hallowing of the name." The prayer of the kingdom proceeds as follows : — " Wherefore we wait for thee, 0 Lord our God, that we may soon behold the beauty of thy strength; that thou mayest cause the dung-gods to pass from the earth, and that the idols may be utterly cut off ; that thou mayest order the world in the kingdom of the Almighty, and that all the sons of flesh may call upon thy name ; that all the wicked of the earth may turn to thee ; that all the inhabitants of the world may discern and know, that to thee every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear before thee, 0 Lord our God: let them bow and fall down, and give honour to thy glorious name ; let all of them receive the yoke of thy kingdom ; and speedily reign thou over them for ever and ever." Alas, that Israel should pray for the kingdom, and reject the King ! Speedily make them thy willing people, 0 Lord !
' Rosh Haslishanah I v. 5.
4G MATTHEW VI.
Yer. 13. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The Malchiotli (nv^^'!:), just referred to, terminates in a similar manner: — "For thine is the kingdom; and thou shalt reign in glory, for ever and ever ; as it is written in the law, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever."
The response of the people to prayers offered in the temple was, *' Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever." ' Instead of this, the response in the syna- gogue was simply "Amen." "It happened in the times of Rabbi Halaphta, and Rabbi Hanina, son of Teradion, that a minister went up to the ark and finished the whole of the prayer without any of the congregation answering Amen." ^ Lightfoot concludes, from this response having been con- stantly used in the synagogue, and seldom in private devo- tion, that the Saviour gave this form of prayer for public use. In the form given in Luke, this response, as well as the dox- oloo-y, is wanting, the object there contemplated being, it is supposed, to guide the devotion of individuals in private.
Yer. 16. Moreover when ye fast, he not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance : for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. — But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and tcash thy face ; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father xohich is in secret.
It was the practice among the Jews during a public fast, when the supplicated boon was long withheld, to assume a sorrowful and dejected appearance. " When these (days of
* TuHanith ii. 5. Great value appears to have been attached to the use of this response by the congregation in the synagogue. According to the author of Zohar, to him who utters it at the end of every prayer, the celes- tial gates are opened, and at death he enters into the kingdom above. He who fails to use it has these gates barred against him. S>/nopsis, Tit. ii.
MATTHEW VI. 4<
fasting) have also passed without their prayers having been favourably ans^vered, they abstain from engaging in joyful transactions ; from building and planting ; from betrothing, marrvin?, and jyivinf? mutual salutations : like men who are under the displeasure of the Almighty." '
They also "disfigured their faces " with ashes. " What is the order of these (last seven) fast days ? They bring the ark that contains the rolls of the law into the street of the city ; ashes are strewed on the heads of the prince and of the president of the court of justice, and every individual puts ashes on his own head." -
At a certain period of the fast they were also forbid- den to ''anoint the head " or to " wash the face." " ^Yhen these (days of fasting) have passed, and prayer not yet heard, the Court, or Beth Din, appoint three days more of fasting for the church, during which it will be lawful to eat and drink on the nights preceding them ; but on which it is forbidden to work, to wash and to anoint the person, to wear leathern shoes, or to enjoy the marriage bed. The baths also are then closed." ^ The Pharisees, therefore, who wished to appear deeply humbled before God, would assume those outward expressions of concern which were only resorted to in the advanced stages of a public fast. — It will be observed that the Saviour does not discourage religious fasting, but the out- ward show of it.
' i^sr^sn nr^*L:::2T i^m '\n^^ s^lZths f •i^rc^ ^y2z s^i i^s r237
Ta'anith i. 7. cip^b ]^-:iT:n . Tt'irb nis ]"2 L:ib:r nVs-w'^i "j^sr^':i:i
* n:s ,^^im:i -i^y \w rmimb nmn ]"'s>in!3 t:^2 nrivn -itd
ins hz^ pi n^z 2.s k-v^zt s'*:m irvnzT n2\"in ^Z2 bi; nb-D
Ibid. ii. 1.— : iw-s-a ]m2 insT
3 bi7 nrns nr:rn &:^ p^Tu ri n^2 xr^z sbi ibs r^y
nr3)2i rn^rrm nrsbr::: cnrsT cr Tii^^^s i\mc:i i^b^^s • nm^rn
Ibid. i. 6. n't^nn tt?''Gt:7i'-m \nzzn nVysm
Fasting was deemed by the Jews to possess great merit. It was to be esteemed, accordiug to the author of Zohar, of greater value thau sacrifice. In it a man was as if he laid his own fat and blood upon the altar. The weakening of the body was the strengthening of the soul. St/nopsis, Tit. iv.
48 MATTHEW VI.
Ver. 22. The light of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye he single, thy whole body shall be full of light ; but if thine eye be evil, thy lohole body shall be full of darkness.
The " eye " was used by the Jews as an emblem not only of the understanding but the disposition. The expression "a good or beautiful eye" {p,ij^ X'V '^^'^ yaphah) was em- ployed to denote a liberal disposition ; while the opposite, niggardliness or covetousness, was expressed by an " evil eye" (r7>/n p>? ^(^in rd'ah). " A good eye," says the Mishna, *' gives the fortieth part (of the first-fruits, or heave-offerings of the thrashing-floor, for the maintenance of the priests) ; an evil eye gives the sixtieth." ^ The same dispositions are indicated in the Old Testament by the terms " good " and " evil eye." See Prov. xxii. 9 ; xxiii. 6. The New Testament phrase, an "evil eye," both here and in Mark vi. 22, was no doubt intended to denote a covetous, worldly, or selfish dis- position ; while the opposite one, a " single eye/' was used to express an unselfish spirit, — a mind detached from the love of money and the things of a present world. Hence the connection of this with the foregoing verses, — " Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, &g. ; " and also with the succeeding ones, "No man can serve two mastersj &c."
Yer. 26. Behold the fowls of the air : for they soio not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not rmich better than they ?
It seems to have been the Lord's object in these words, not merely to teach his people in general, to dismiss anxious cares about temporal support, as both unnecessary and un- becoming in them as children of God ; but more particularly
* Terumah iv. 3. The author of Zohar says that nothing is to be sought from him who gives with an " evil eye ;" and that a man who hears of his neighbour's possessions is to bless him with a "good eje." Si/noj>sis, Tit. •vii. ii.
MATTHEW VI. 49
to assure tKose whom he called to preach the Gospel, that they need be under no concern as to their worldly maintenance, though no longer able to provide as formerly for their own sup- port. The beautiful and impressive manner in which our Lord conveys this lesson may be compared with the following say- ing of Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar : — " Hast thou ever seen a beast or a bird that followed a trade ? and yet they are fed without toil. But these were only created to minister to me, while I was created to minister to my Maker. "Was it not right then that I should be supported without toil ? But I have marred my work, and forfeited my support." ^
' sb*^' i^rr-^n":: rm • m:s2is ~nV ^""^r* rpri rrn yfi'^tz n\s-i i:.''S • ;:i- i-TS r^r-b \n.s~!2D "^zsi ''2'yi'^trb sbs is~"2: sb sbm "ir!?n : ^rzi"^ AS \-',nr,-i "^'^^r^ ^"ismrrt:; sbs • '^t^'z sb:r :rr-:nscr' y^i
Kidhushin ir. 14.
CHAPTEE YII.
Ver. 1. Judge net, that ye he not judged.
Eabui Hillel had a similar saying: "Judge not thy neigh- bour until thou come into his place." ' Both the Saviour and the Rabbi teach that we are to refrain from passing a rash and harsh judgment upon others ; the latter, because we have not been in their circumstances; the former, as we would not wish to have a severe judgment passed upon us, neither by God nor man.
Yer. 2. For icith xohat judgment ge judge, ye shall he judged: and with what mcasitre ye mete, it shall he measured to you again.
It is related of the same Rabbi mentioned in the last note, that seeing a human skull floating down a river, he said, "Because thou didst destroy others, they have destroyed thee ; and afterwards those who destroyed thee shall them- selves also be destroyed." - While a suspected adulteress was undergoing her trial, it was said to her, " "With what mea- sure a man metes, it shall be measured to him a^ain."' Such sentiments were probably familiar, though exercising but little influence on the heart and conduct. It has been well observed by Vinet, — " The glory of the Gospel consists less in announcing a new morality than in giving power to practise the old."
' Pirke Abhoth ii. -i.— j lapob ^J-^ITW 137 T^^ H^^ V^^ ^^1
2 Ibid. — : -jrits"' "j"'2"'l:q r\'o^ -p?: t^s n^-LCSi by
MATTIIE"\V VII. 51
Ver. 6. Gice not that toJiich is hohj unto the dogs, neither cast Tje your pearls hcfore sicinc, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend gou.
The '' doo' " was re2:arded bv the Jews as the emblem of a shameless and irreverent person. Among the signs of the age which precedes the days of Messiah, according to Rabbi Eliezer, is this, — " The face of that generation is as the face of a dog ; the son shall not reverence his father.'" From the character which so generally belonged to the Gentiles, this term came to be applied by the Jews as a synonym for an uncircumcised person.- It is in its moral sense, however, that the Saviour employs it here. The sentiment resembles that of Solomon, — "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee." ProG. 15. 8. The deep things of the law, its secret and sublime mysteries, were spoken of by the Jewish Rabbies as " pearls," and were only to be communicated by those ac- quainted with them to serious and intelligent disciples.' Christ's servants were indeed to preach the Gospel to every creature, but they were first to make disciples, and then to teach them to observe all things whatsoever he had com- manded them. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.
Yer. 22. Many ivill say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have ice not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy nayne have cast out devils 9 and in thy name done many wonder- ful works 7
To say or do a thing in the name of an individual appears to have been a common expression among the Jews to denote
' Sotah'vs.. 15.— :t2S!3 E^rnj-izi irs ]::n nb::n •'2-:d -inn "':d
- Schoetgeu has the following from Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 29. "Whosoever eats with an idolater is as if he ate with a dog. For who is a dog ? He who is not circumcised. So also is an idolater who is not circomcised." Kor. Heb. et Tal. in Rer. xxii. 15.
' " It is the custom of those skilled in the law, and who know its secrets, to utter their pearls to their disciples under a very hidden sense." Zofiar, S^^nopdf, Tit. i. ; Mamonicht, Mor. Nehh. Par. I. cap. Ixxi.
E 2
52 MATTHEW VII,
that what was said or done was on that individuaV s authority. For example : — " Rabbi Jehudah said, in the name of Rabbi Elea^ar, In all places where there is a public congregation, individuals are exempt from using the additional prayer." ' The same expression, however, or with a slight variation, was also employed to denote a thing done on account or for the sake of the person or thing named. Thus the author of Zohar speaks of the difference between the reward of him who de- votes himself to the study of the divine law in the name (or for the sake, rrCti^^) of the law itself, and of him who does it on some other account.^ In the text the expression is em- ployed in the former sense, — meaning " on thy authority." It occurs in the latter sense in such passages as, — "Who- soever shall receive one such little child in my name re- ceiveth me."
Yer. 24 — 27, Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock : and the rain descended, and the foods came, and the winds hleio, and beat upon that house , and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand : and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell : and great teas the fall of it.
A simile, somewhat resembling this of the Saviour, is found among the sayings of Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah, who lived after the destruction of the temple. " Every one whose knowledge is greater than his works, to what is he like ? To a tree whose branches are many, but its roots are few. . And the wind comes, and it uproots and overturns it, and lays it prostrate ; as it is said, * And he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shaU not see when good cometh, but
' Bentchoth iv. 7. " Zohar, Si/nopm, Tit, i.
MATTHEW VII. 53
shall dvrell in dry places in the wilderness, in a salt land not inhabited.' But every one whose works are greater than his knowledge, to what is he like ? To a tree whose branches are few and its roots are many. Against it, though all the winds in the world come and blow, they do not move it out of its place; as it is said, 'And he shall be like a tree planted near the waters, and which sendeth forth its roots by the river ; and it shall not see when heat coraeth ; and its leaf shall be green ; and it shall not be careful in the year of drought, nor cease from bearing fruit.' "^
' Firke Abhoth iii. 17.
CHAPTER VIII.
Ver. 2, 3. And, behold, there came a leper and tcorshijyped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
The wretched condition of the leper, and the evidence of the Saviour's Divine character in cleansing him by his touch, will appear from the following extracts. " If a leper enter a house, all the vessels and furniture in it are unclean, even up to the rafters. Rabbi Simeon saith. Up to four cubits they are immediately made unclean." ^ " If he enter a synagogue, they make a space for him ten cubits high and four cubits broad. He must be the first to enter, and the last to depart." "_ "Lepers pollute by their contact both man and vessel. . . . The leper exceeds (in communicating legal defilement) the woman with an issue : for he defiles by his very entrance."'
Ver. 4. And Jesus saith uyito him, See thou tell no man ; hut go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
The law respecting the cleansing of the leper is found in Leviticus, chap. xiv. The Mishna mentions one or two par- ticulars connected with the ceremony as practised by the Jews of our Saviour's time, which, though not prescribed in
-121S rmrp "ai • "j\<ni: T^a cbj mas !7n-'»s -w ims ^ira::? "m
Nega'iiii xiii. 11.— I^n npbin ^I'D T\nW CS
» \v cni::: rr^wv nmn irr^nn ib Q^a^i:? noDsn n^dh d::3
Ibid. xiii. U'.— :]rnN S'JTT ^I^TST D233 mCS Vli-^S ZLWH
* sa::a sine r-^rja nrr ]a nbrab : r:^^ cbDi dts rsat:a
C/ielim 1 1, 2.—: ns"3:2
MATTHEW VIII. 55
the law, are not without significance. " How do they cleanse the leper ? The priest brings a new phial of earthenware, and puts into it a quarter of a log of running water, and brings two free birds. One of these he kills over the earthen vessel and runnini? water. He then digs and buries it in the presence of the leper. He next takes cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet ; and rolling it in strings, he ties with them the extremities of the wings and the tail of the second bird. He then dips and sprinkles the back of the leper's hand seven times ; some say, his forehead. And besides, he sprinkled the outside of the lintel of his house. Then he goes away to release the living bird. He neither turns its face to the sea, nor to the city, nor to the wilderness ; for it is said, ' And he shall send away the living bird without the city into the open field.* " ^ The burying of the slain bird in the presence of the leper cannot fail to strike one's attention. T7as not this part of the ceremony fulfilled in the antitype, when Jesus, who had cleansed the lepers with his touch, and in whom, according to Pilate's declaration, no fault could be found at all, was, after being put to death by the chief priests and elders, buried in Joseph's grave, in the presence doubtless of some of those very persons whom, according to the admission of his very enemies, he had saved ? And was not this burying of the slain bird (a thing hardly necessary in itself) designed in the providence of God to remind the Jews that, according to Isaiah's prophecy, the Messiah who was to be cut off, but not for himself, was also to be buried, having " his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death ? " {Isaiah liii. 9.)-
The followinff is the account of the other ceremonies con- nected with the cleansing of the leper. " He then goes to
' Nega'm xir. 1, 2.
* It mav be remarked that Isaiah xi. 10 (" his rest shall be glorious") was also understood by Jewish commentators, as Abarbanel, to refer to the Messiah's burial. So also Jerome understood it, — "Erit sepulchrum ejus •gloriosum." "See Kidder s Demonstration of the Messiah, Part I. chap. vii.
56 MATTHEW Vlir.
the trespass-offering, and lays both his hands upon it and slays it. Two priests receive the blood, the one in a vessel, the other in his hand. He who receives it in the vessel goes and sprinkles it on the altar ; while he who receives it in. his hand goes to the leper. The leper bathes himself in the leper's chamber, and then goes and stands at the gate of Nicanor. The priest than takes some of a log of oil, and pours it into the hollow of his companion's hand, or his own. He then dips his finger in it, and sprinkles it seven times to- wards the Holy of holies. He then goes to the leper ; and where he first sprinkled the blood, there he puts the oil ; as it is said, On the place of the blood of the trespass -offering ?"
Yer. 12. But the children of the kingdom' shall he cast out into outer darkness : there shall he weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It was common with the Jews to speak of persons as the children of a place or thing. For example: — " Let thy house be open toward the street ; and let the poor be the children of thy house." ' By " children of the house " Rabbi Josi seems to have meant constant and familiar guests ; though in Gen. XV. 3, the same expression is properly rendered in the English version, those " born in my house." The " children of the kingdom " seem to be those who either in virtue of their parents' membership, or their own reception of the church's initiatory rite, have a place in the visible kingdom of God, and participate in its privileges. Such were the Jews, " to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." It is true that for many centuries, as a nation, they have through unbelief and rejection of their Messiah been deprived of the privileges of the kingdom, while
' FiriicAbhoth i. 5'.— i^^a ^32 c^^^y vn^T nnrb m.i-: in^a ^rp
MATTHEW VIII. 0/
millions, in their state of judicial rejection, have individually perished. But let the Gentiles who have entered into their privileges remember the words addressed to them by an in- spired apostle : " If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the good- ness and severity of God : on them that fell, severity ; but to- ward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness : other- wise thoic also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not in unbehef, shall be graffed in : for God is able to graff' them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree ; liow much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits ; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved." Horn. xi. 21, &c.
By " the kingdom" the Jews who heard the Saviour would understand the church - state which had been established among them.i The adoption of the Jewish faith and religion was accordingly called a '' taking the yoke of the kingdom." - That kingdom, however, was only to be fully developed and manifested in the days of the Messiah, Then every form of wisdom, even the most profound, was to be communicated even to children.' A further development of the kingdom has already taken place by the appearance of the Son of God in the flesh; its full and complete manifestation, however, doubtless awaits the time when he shall come " the second
1 The author of Zohar speaks of the church or congregation of Israel as that manifestation of the Deity which is called " the kingdom," and to which is referred the operation of the Holy Spirit. Sj/nopsis, Tit. i.
"^ Berachoth ii. 2, 5.
^ " About the times of the Messiah," says the book of Zohar, " all the forms of wisdom, even the most profound, shall be manifested even to children." Synopsis, Tit. i.
58 MATl'HEW VIII.
time, without sin, unto salvation," — the time of "his ap- pearing and his kingdom," — when " the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."
The state of those who shall be righteously excluded from the fully manifested kingdom of heaven, or, in other words, from the kingdom of glory, is represented by the Saviour ac- cording to the mode of speaking familiar to the Jews. Speak- ing of Bela, the son of Beor, who reigned in Edom, the author of Zohar says, — "We have received by tradition that this denotes a decree of the most severe judgment, on account of which thousands of thousands shall be bound together for weeping and wailing." ^
Ver. 22. But Jesus said, Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.
By the " dead " who are first mentioned we are, of course, to understand those who are morally or spiritually dead, — persons who are as yet without a new " life unto righteous- ness." The Jews were wont to regard the heathen in this light. " One who has just parted from the uncircumcised," says the Mishna, "is to be considered as one who has just parted from the grave." -_ It was also a very common saying with the Rabbles, — "The wicked, even while alive, are called dead ; and the righteous, even in their death, are called living."'
Ver. 30. And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
The Jews were forbidden by the decrees of the elders to feed swine. " Nor shall any Israelite feed swine in any
• rr^^nni ps^pni s^^pn K3^i mia sirr s:Si-i • m^n ]n ^\o.
Zohar, Bra Rahba, xzvi. — nb^^T H^zn "'"'Sa ^''Dbs ^l^H ^''-ll^pna ' Pesackiin viii. S.
Maimonides, in Sanhedrin. — □"^Tl C'ST^p
MATTHEW VIII. 59
place." ' Maimonides observes on the passage, tliat the law of Moses prohibited the eating of swine's flesh, and it was unlawful to feed any animals which were forbidden as food, except it were for labour or carriage, for neither of which purposes were swine employed.^
From the locality in which these swine were found, it is not improbable that they were the property of some Gentile resident. For anv one, however, to feed swine within the precincts of the land of Israel was a daring act. The person who did so doubtless acted on the principle of making money by any means,' heedless of the temptations to which he might be exposing others, or the violence he might be offer- ing to the religious feelings of the community. If the owner were a Jew, the case was, of course, so much the worse.
\ Babha Kama vii. 7.— * Cpa hz^ tZn^'Tn \vr^ir bi:- sbl ' The Babylonian Talmud, however, gives another reason. When, in the civil war between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, Jerusalem, then in the hands of Hyrcanus's party, was besieged by Aristobulus, the inhabitants, on the failure of lambs for the daily sacriiice, agreed with a party outside the walls to supply them with the requisite animals, for which the price was let down in a box. It was suggested, however, by a Greek, that the city- would not be taken so long as lambs were offered in the daily sacrifice, and that a pig should be sent up instead. This traly Grecian suggestion was at once adopted ; but on the pig, when raised half-way up, fi.'dng its hoofs in the wall, an earthquake shook the land to the extent of four hundred para- sangs. Upon this the Jews on the wall exclaimed, Cursed be the man who shall feed swine. ^ This even a heathen could hold up to contempt : — " Rem facias ; rem. Si possis, recte ; si non, quocuuque modo rem." " You must make a fortune ; a fortune by fair means, if you can ; if not, by any means make a fortune." Horace, Ep. I. i.
CHAPTER IX.
Yer. 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down icith him and his disciples.
Free access to 'the apartment where a company were at dinner was allowed to strangers who might desire convers- ation or instruction. "Let thj house be open towards the street, and let the poor be the children of thy house." ^ See note at Luke vii. 37. The term " sinners " was doubtless in- tended simply to indicate the common people who were not Pharisees. These were generally regarded by the latter as careless in observing the laws of Moses. "The common people," it was avowed, "are not pious."- "This people," said the Pharisees, " which know not the law, are cursed." For publicans, see note at Matt. v. 46.
Ver. 11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Wliy eateth your Master with publicans and sinners ?
Pharisees could not eat with either of these classes, as, from the understood neglect of the latter in regard to ceremonial purity, they would have been in danger of contracting defile- ment, and as the tithes and heave might not have been duly separated from the articles prepared for the repast. " Were his hands clean, and two unclean loaves before him, should he be in doubt whether he touched them or not, &c."'
< Firie Ahhoth i. 5. ^ jj^-^^ -^ 5.— TDR V^H D27 sb
^ Yadhaim ii. 4.
MATTHEW IX. 61
" When a person enters a city where he knows no one, let him say, T\'ho here is faithful ? Who here pays tithes ?" '
Christ, in eating with publicans and common people, was censured as indifferent to these laws.
Ver. 17. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles : else the bottles break, and the icine runneth out, and the bottles perish : but they put neio icine into neiu bottles, and both are preserved.
The Jews, like eastern nations still, made bottles of the skins of animals, which when old were liable to be split by the fermenting wine. The Mishna thus alludes to such bottles: — "When a person removes the skin of a domestic or wild animal, whether clean or unclean, large or small, in order to cover himself therewith, pollution is contracted and communicated when as much skin is removed as can be taken hold of; and if it is to maJce a bottle of skin, pollution is contracted until the skin over the breast is removed." -
The new doctrine which the Saviour introduced, and which the Jews looked for, was not to be incorporated with old ob- servances. The new exhilarating views of the Gospel must have a new heart to entertain them, and a new life to ac- company them. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."
Ver. 23. And when Jesus came into the ruler'' s house, and saio the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place : for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth.
The practice of hiring minstrels and mourners on the oc- casion of a death in the family was universal among the Jews. " Even the poorest man in Israel should not have less
' —^wsiz ]s:d ^72 ]ns3 ]SD "'13 "i^^s UD CIS "T'^r: irsi "l"'3?b D23n
Denai iv. 6. * Cholin ix. 3.
62 MAITHEW IX.
than two mourning pipes, and one mourning woman (afc his wife's death)." ^ " During the intermediate days (of Passover and Tabernacles) the mourning women may wail, but not clap their hands. — On the festivals of the new moon, the Dedi- cation, and Purim, they may wail and clap their hands^ but not sing funeral dirges ; but when the corpse is interred, they must neither wail nor sing. What is meant by wailing? When all of them join in one chorus. What is meant by the dirge (or lamentation) ? When one recites and the others repeat after her ; as it is said. Teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour, lamentation." "
Bartenoras, in his commentary on the Mishna, observes that the hired mourners excited the grief of others by ex- claiming. Come and weep with me, all ye who are bitter in spirit.
Ver. 37. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, hut the labourers are few ; pray ye there- fore the Lord of the harvest, that he xoill send forth labourers into his harvest.
The Saviour speaks of the work of preparing men for heaven, by communicating to them the knowledge of himself, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Eabbies em- ployed similar language in reference to the study of the law. For example : " The day is short ; the work is plenteous, and the labourers are slothful ; the reward is great, and the Master of the house is urgent." ^ The Rabbies were ac- customed also to speak of God as the Lord of a person's work
Kethubhoth iv. 4.
^ MoedhKatan iii. 8, 9. — "T2T mn^I^tt sb bruS m:!?!2 *ma2 C:^tt73
Pirke Abhoth ii. 15.— tpmi rT'Sn So the author of Zohar speaks of students of the law as " reapers of the holy field" (S^7np \bpn ni'na) ; and says, "the reapers of the field are few." Idra Babba, i. xxxix.
MATTHEW IX. 6 3
(nii^biin by 2 Ba\d hammelachah) . " Faithful," said tlie same Rabbi Tarplion, " is the Lord of thy work, who will render thee the reward of thy labour."' It was the saying of another, — " Consider in whose sight thou labourest ; for faithful is the Lord of thy work." -
The Lord of the harvest thrust forth labourers into that work, the most important to a dying world in which a man can be engaged !
> — -rnbirs ^rir -jb ri^^^^'o Tnrsba b-'2 j-^in psri
Firke Alhoth ii. 16.
* Ibid. ii. 14.— inrsba brz sin ^cwt bcr nns ^a ^s-rb 27n
CHAPTER X.
Yer. '5. These ticehe Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the icay of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.
It is well known that the Jews regarded the Samaritans with great jealousy, viewing them as occupving a middle place between Israelites and heathens. " The response Amen/' says the Mishna, "is to be made when an Israelite gives thanks after meat ; but is not to be made after a Samaritan, unless the whole of the grace has been heard," i. e. lest there should be anything idolatrous uttered in it.' A Samaritan might be allowed to make a third in a party entitled to use the invita- tion to give thanks {\\72i) ^t the meal, while an idolater could not.- Such was the place he held.^ As " a minister of the circumcision," therefore, " for the truth of God, to fulfil the
I — m-:2.r\ bD rci:?"':^ ir -r--n \~n:n nns ]!:s i^ir^ psi
Berachoth viii. 8.
- Ibid. viii. 1.
' " The Samaritans," says Dr Jost, " almost constituted a separate peo- ple. Originally, at the time of the dissolution of the kingdom of Israel, heathens, they were first converted to the religion of Moses, though not to Judaism, at the time of Alexander of ifacedon. They received the sacred books, copied 'hem in the Samaritan characters, and translated them into their own dialect as the Jews did into the Chaldaic. They received, however, no traditional doctrine. Only they observed the written law with great exactness. Even the use of a separate temple on Mount Gerizim they grounded on a precept of the holy books which they have supplied, but which is not found in our Scriptures." Geschichte d^r Israeliten, vol. i. p. 65.
MATTHEW X. Go
promises made unto the fathers," Jesus charged his disciples to go not into the way of the Gentiles, and to enter into no Samaritan city.
Yer. 8. Freely ye have received, freely glee.
According to Rabbinical doctrine, monev miffht be receiv- ed for teaching the simple text of Scripture, but not for teaching the traditions of the elders G~n^S"T halachoth), the mystic sense of Scripture (c'l'I/!^ midrash), and the explana- tions of the sages (nn;]rT haggadoth)} This rule they ground- ed on Deut. iv. 14, " The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you ; " which they understood thus, — " What I teach you freely, freely teach you others." Thus were the disciples of Jesus to act in regard to the gifts he bestowed on them for carrying forward the object of his gracious mission into this world. Freely they had received, and freely they were to give ; employing the powers intrusted to them for the bene- fit of others, without regard to remuneration, though encour- aged at the same time to expect temporal support from those by whom their message of peace should be embraced.
Yer. 9. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither tivo coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves : for the icorlcman is worthy of his meat.
With the Jews, whose journeys were mostly accomplished on foot, the articles here enumerated, especially a staff, a scrip or bag, and a purse or girdle (^wvt?) with money enfold- ed, to which the more pious added a copy of the law, were the usual accompaniments of their travels. Hence the pro- hibition in the Mishna, — " No man is to go on the mountain of the Temple with his staff, his shoes, or his purse (or girdle), nor yet mth dust-covered feet," ^ — as one just come from a
' Nedhnriin iv. 3. * Berurhoth ix. 5.
G() MATTHEW X.
journev. The following incident, narrated in the Mishna, affords an example. It happened once that when a family of Levites went to Zoar, the city of palms, one of them fell ill on the road, and was taken to an inn. Yy^hen they returned, they asked the hostess, Where is our companion ? she re- plied. He died, and I have had him buried. The statement was believed, and permission given to the widow to re-marry, inasmuch as the hostess produced to them the staff of the deceased, his scrip, and the roll of the law which he carried with him.^ That Jesus literally sent his disciples on their preaching tours without purse or scrip, appears from the question which he put to them on the night before his death. " When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lack- ed ye anything?" And they said, " Nothing." That a literal obedience to the direction, however, was not intended by the Saviour to be always given, seems implied in what followed, — " Then said he unto them. But now, he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise his scrip." (Luke xxii. 35, 36.) 2
To understand the direction here given in regard to shoes, especially when compared with Mark vi. 9, where the dis- ciples are commanded to be "shod with sandals," it is ne- cessary to remember the distinction which both Lightfoot and Schoetgen have pointed out between the Jewish shoes (vttoIti-
^ Tebhavioth xvi. 7. Hence also the message of 'Rabban Gamaliel to R. Joshua, — " I order you to appear before me on the day of Atonement, ac- cording to your computation, with your staff and your (purse of) money in your hand." Rosk Hashskanah ii. 9. Staves were not only carried by tra- vellers for support, hut for defence. " Persons (bringing tidings of the new moon on the Sabbath), afraid of being way -laid by robbers, may take staves with them." Ibid. i. 9. Hence staves (pajSoovg) instead of stqf would seem the correct expression.
' The writer remembers with gratitude, when placed on one occasion in circumstances very similar to those referred to above, the inexpressible sweetness and comfort with which the Saviour's question and its reply were suggested to his mind, — When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything ? And they said, Nothing !
MATTHEW X. 67
fiaTa=. ^n«« minJxJud) and sandals ((Taj'ca\ta= ^-\i'^ sandal). The latter were of harder and coarser material, the soles being sometimes even of wood, with only the strap or upper part of leather. Jahn observes that, except in the case of the poor, the sandal was in common use, so that, unless in a time of mourning, a sedate person never went barefooted.' It would appear that sandals were worn by the religious among the Jews, though even these were to be put off at a certain stage in a public fast. " When the seventeenth day of Mar- chesvan has come, and no rain has fallen, private individuals begin to keep a fast of three days. They are at liberty to eat and drink during the preceding night, to work, to wash and anoint themselves, and to icear sandals (}>']IZT\ rh^V'—"^ id)hin\lath has-sandal), &c. When the beginning of the month. Kislev has arrived, and still no rain has fallen, the Beth Din (court of justice) appoint three days' fasting to the Church, during which they may eat and drink on the preceding nights, and are permitted to work, to wash and anoint themselves, and to icear sandals, &c. But if these have passed and prayer is not heard, the Beth Din appoint three more days of fast- ing to the Church, during which they may eat and drink on the nights preceding them, but on which they may neither work, nor wash, nor anoint themselves, nor wear sandals, &c."2
Yer. 11. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, i?iquire who in it is worthy ; and there abide till ye go thence.
The religious Jews were required to make similar inquiries when travelling, though with a different object. In order to avoid unconsciously transgressing the laws relating to tithes
' Archceologia, sec. 123.
' Ta'anith i. 4 — 6. Li those places where we have translated the origia- al by " sandab," this being indeed the Hebrew word itself in Romam cha- racters, De Sola and Raphall have "[leathern] shoes." It is evidently, however, the coarser and more common kind that is intended.
68 MATTHEW X.
and heave-offeriugs, by purchasing any article of food from which the prescribed portion had not been duly separated, they were to inquire, on entering a place in which all were strangers to them, who there were that might be depended on for observing the law. " TThen a person enters a city in which everybody is a stranger to him, let him inquire, Who here is faithful ? "Who in this place pays the tithes ? If a man sav to him, I am faithful, he is not so. But if he say such or such a person is to be depended upon, behold that person is faithful." '
Thus in making inquiry for serious and well-disposed per- sons, the disciples were only doing what was commonly done by the Pharisees, though for a different purpose. It was im- portant, in order to their stay in a place, to ascertain on their entrance, who were likely to receive the message and enter- tain the messenger.
Ver. IT. But heioare of men : for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their syna- gogues.
Scourging was a penalty annexed by the Jewish law to various offences, and was inflicted in cases of excommunica- tion. Awarded by the Beth Din or council,- the sentence was executed by the officers of the synagogue. The number of stripes according to the law of Moses was not to exceed forty, on which account the Jews made the number actually
' Demai iv. 6. • ■
' For the different councils existing among the Jews at and subsequent to the time when these words were spoken, see note on Matt. v. 22. Jahn is of opinion that the councils referred to in John xvi. 2, and consequent- ly in the passage before us, were those of twenty-three members, which he re'^ards aa merely synagogue-tribunals, taking cognizance only of religious offences, and iniictmg no other penalty than that of the scourge. Light- foot, however, has shown from the Talmud that this penalty was inflicted by the court of Threr, which existed in "connection with every synagogue, and constituted the Ecclesiastical tribunal. Horce Ileb. et Tal. in loco.
MATTHEW X. GO
only thirty-nine. " How many stripes are given ? Forty save one ; as it is said (Deut. xxv. 2, 3), ' to the number of forty,' meaning that next to forty." ' As the scourge was a kind of church-penalty, inflicted as a part of ecclesiastical dis- cipline, it was likely the disciples of Jesus would be frequently subjected to it. Paul states that he had received it five times when he wrote his second letter to the Corinthians. The mode of inflicting the punishment is thus described in the Mishna. " How is the person scourged ? Both his hands are bound to a pillar. The minister of the synagogue takes hold of his clothes, — no matter whether he tear them or not, — and uncovers his breast. A stone is put behind him, on which the minister stands with a twice-doubled thong of leather in his hand. The person is not beaten standing nor sitting, but bending forward ; as it is said, ' The judge shall cause him to fall down.' The person who scourges, smites with one hand with all his might. The reader at the same time reads — ' If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law, &c., then the Lord will make thy plagues and the plagues of thy seed wonderful, &c.' He then turns to the beginning of the lesson (Deut. xxvi. 9), — ' 'i'herefore ye shall keep the words of the covenant, &c. ; ' and finishes with — 'For He is merciful, and will pardon iniquity, &c. ; ' and then he returns to the beginning of the lesson. If the person die under the hand of the scourger, the latter is guiltless ; but if he add one stripe above the appointed number he is banished." -
' Maccoih iii. 10, &c. • Ibid.
CHAPTER XI.
Yer. 5. The blvid receive their sight, and the lame loalk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
That the poor were to be special objects of regard in the days of Messiah, and that the true elevation of their condi- tion was to constitute one of the signs of his times, had been intimated in more than one prophetic testimony.' See Psal. Ixxii. ; Isa. xsix. 19, and Ixi. 2 ; from which last passage the words in the text are evidently borrowed. This regard to the poor characterized the ministry of Jesus ; and how strong- ly his treatment of them contrasted with that of the Phari- sees, will appear from the following decisions. " If a religious man's wife employ one of the common people to grind in her house, if the grinding is finished, the house 'is unclean ; if not, it is only unclean as far as she can reach her hand." ^ The poor woman polluted the house by her presence and her touch. " If a (religious) man employs one of the common people to keep his house, when he sees those who go in and out, and eat and drink, — only the open earthen vessels are unclean, &c. ; if not, all is unclean together." ^ The man's
^ D. Kimchi, in his comment on Joel ii. 28, 29, observes that even on the straagers who should stand and feed Israel's flocks, and on the sons of the aliea who should be their husbandmen and vinedressers, the spirit of knowledge and of understanding should be poured out in the days of the Messiah.
» npsD 'nrx^i iin2 nDmi: \nyn c:; n'Ji\sb nn^in'iT' nnn n2?s
Taharoth vii. 4. — TW nH^_!Drul7Db nbl^"- "■ Ihid. vii. .3.
MATTHEW Xr. 71
touch had polluted the open vessels, and the entrance of some unknown person, more polluted than he, may have defiled all. The statement that " the poor have the Gospel preached to them," or, more literally, " the poor are visited with glad tidings " (-Tojy^ol tvay-/e.\i:^ovraL), may be compared and con- trasted with what is said by the author of Zohar, — " Who- ever is occupied with the study of the law, to him the Holy and Blessed One announces glad tidings." ' What Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai claims for the devout students of the law, Jesus made to be the privilege of the poor, concerning whom those very students would have said, "This people that know not the law are cursed." True, .Jesus found them under the curse in common with their superiors in knowledge, but on many of them he left a heavenly and enduring blessing, and but for their unbelief, would have done so with all. He found them in darkness, but he gave them light.
Yer. 29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of mc ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest to your souls.
The expression "taking the yoke " was in common use among the Jews as an equivalent for yielding subjection. The repeating of the Shema' ("Hear, 0 Israel," &c., Deut. vi. 4, &c.) was said to be the " taking the yoke of the king- dom of heaven ;" while that of Deut. xi. 13 — 21, and Num- bers XV. 37 — 41, was ''taking the yoke of the commandments." The study and observance of the law was in like manner called " the yoke of the law." " Eabbi Joshua ben Korkha saith. Why does the Shema' go before the section, 'And it shall come to pass, &c.' ? Why, but because a person first takes upon him the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, and afterwards assumes the yoke of the commandments." ^ " Rabbi
' Sjnopsis, Tit. i.
72 MATTHEW XI.
Nekhonia ben Hakkanah saith, He that taketh on him the yoke of the law is released from the yoke of the kingdom (the cares of government), and from the way of the earth (the ordinary means of procuring subsistence) ; but whoever rejects the yoke of the law hath both the yoke of the king- dom and the yoke of the way of the earth laid upon him." ' This is that yoke of the law of which Peter said that neither they nor their fathers had been able to bear it; a yoke sufficiently bur- densome even as it came from the hands of Moses, — imposed for important purposes " till the times of reformation," but consisting in a great measure of tedious and troublesome ob- servances, though rendered greatly more oppressive by the traditions of the elders.- How different the yoke of Messiah, — the lowly Jesus ! He imposes only the royal law of Kber- ty, the law of love as exemplified in his own perfect life, — im- parting both strength and motives for its observance, cover- ing our short-comings with his atoning blood, and procuring acceptance for us and our imperfect service by his own spot- less obedience.
— msa bir vVj ^zp ]2^-.ni<^ nhnn c?2:r m^ba biy rVj
Berachoth ii. 2.
bi37 rbr r:m: 7T-?^r\ brj- ^1tl^ picrr "m 7-s i^i bin ni^ba
Firhe Abhoth iii. 5. — : T'S "pi Sin m^ba * The la^ys relating' to the Sabbath-rest may be taken as an example. "The word IIT^^ erub" say the Jewish Translators of the Treatise /£rK(i- hin, " signifies comniixtare ; and is used here to express the means through which the extreme rigour of the Rabbinical enactment of m:2u,'' (the Sab- bath-rest) may in some degree be alleviated ; inasmuch as by these means places are combined together, which othenvise would be distinct and separ- ate, so that without erub it would be unlawful to carry anything from one to another. And the distance which (without erub) it is unlawful to ex- ceed, becomes enlarged : and thus, by this commixture, or combination of places, an extension of immunities or privileges is obtained." De Sola and Eaphull, nr^u^a Qlishiiaioth) Introduction to Treatise 5V«4i;z.— That which generally distinguished the decisions of Hillel and those of Shammai from each other, Avas that the former were rather characterized for their lenity, the latter for their severity. {Zohar, Synojjsis, Tit. i. ; Jost, Geschichte der Israeliten, vol. i. p. 156.
CHAPTER XII.
Ver. 5, 6. Or have ye not read in the laic, hoio on the Sahhath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless 9 But I say unto you, That in this place is one yr eater than the temple.
The Saviour, as was meet, refers the Pharisees to the "writ- ten word, and not to their traditions, — Have ye not read 9 The work in the temple alluded to was that connected v/ith the daily sacrifice, &c. The traditions of the elders added many frivolous and minute details. " In the temple, the lower hinge of a cupboard door may be refitted, but not in the country (i. e, any other place than the temple). — They (the priests) may replace a plaster on a wound in the Temple, but not in the country : to put it on for the first time is pro- hibited in both cases. They (the Levites) may tie a musical string in the temple, but not in the country : to attach a new string is in both places unlawful. — They may strew salt on the ascent to the altar, that they may not slip down ; also draw water from the well Gola and from the larsre well, with the rolling wheel, on the Sabbath, and from the cold well (all within the precincts of the temple) on festivals." ' — It is admitted by Rabbi Simeon that what the sages permitted was only the individual's own right, and could only become unlawful through their own enactments relative to the Sab- bath-rest.-
' 'Embhin z. 12—11.
* Ibid. X. 15. It is said in general, — "The same things that were done on week dajs were also lawfully done on the Sabbath, except that the priests used thereon to wash the court which was against the compact of
<4 MATTHKW XII.
There were other things besides the temple which, ac- cording to the decisions of the elders, rendered the violation of the Sabbath-rest allowable. " A man may remove four or five kupahs of straw or grain, to make room for guests, or to enable disciples to obtain instruction in the law ; but not an entire store." " Bundles of straw, bundles of stalks, and bun- dles of reeds, if intended as fodder for cattle, may be moved; but not otherwise." "If a woman is to be delivered on the Sabbath, the midwife must be called in to her from one place to another. The Sabbath may be violated for her sake." " Whatever is necessary for circumcision may be done on the Sabbath." " They may do all that is needful to a corpse on the Sabbath, anoint and wash it, provided they do not strain its limbs." " For the new moons of two months, the wit- nesses may profane the Sabbath : — and during the existence of the temple it was lawful to do so in any month, on ac- count of the regulation of the offerings (on the feast of the new moon) in their proper day." " "Whenever they must be a day and a night on the road, it will be lawful to profane the Sabbath to travel thereon to give their evidence as to the ap- pearance of the new moon."
Yer. 20. A bruised reed shall he not hreaJc, and smoMng jiax shall he not quench, till he send forth Judgment unto victory.
Flax was the material of which the Jews usually made their lamp- wicks. It was always to be used in the Sabbath lamps. " With what species of wick may the lamps be lighted on the Sabbath ? and with what may they not ? Not with the moss of cedars, nor undressed flax, nor floss-silk, &c." (materials, with which the wick was apparently made
the sages." De Sola and Raphall add in a note, that the priests did this against the consent of the sages, because no other work but that strictly necessary for the sacrifices was allowed to be done in the temple on the Sabbath. Pesachim v. 8.
MATTHEW XII. iO
on other Jays of the week). — " Nothing which grows from the wood of a tree is proper to light with but flax." ' Though the lamp-wick present only smoke, Jesus will not quench the spark, but kindle it by his Spirit into a flame. Where there exists in the heart the least genuine contrition and breathing after God, He who himself created it there will not discour- age or abandon it, but on the contrary send forth judgment — God's gracious work in the soul — unto victory.^ He will make good his character, — "meek and lowly in heart," — " meek and having salvation."
Yer. 32. Ajid ichosoever speaJceth a word against the Son of man, it shall he forgiven him : hut ichosoever speaJceth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not he forgiven him, nei- ther i?i this world, neither in the world to come.
The Lord Jesus seems to teach in these awfully mysterious words, that to revile himself may be forgiven, because it may be followed by repentance and faith ; but that to revile his works, which are the Holy Spirit's testimony to his Messiah- ship, when these works are clearly shown and apprehended as such, excludes from forgiveness, because it leaves the soul shut up in impenitence and unbelief.^
' Shahbath ii. 1, 3.
- This prophecy has always been understood to apply to the ifessiah. Maimonides understands the verse that follows the text — " He shall not faU, &c." — as teaching that Messiah shall die. Commentary on the Mishm, Sanhedriii xi. 1.
3 According to Augustine, the person in question is shut out from for- giveness, because he keeps from communion with the Church, where the Holy Spirit imparts it. " He who shall be an enemy to this gift (the for- giveness of sins through the Holy Spirit in the Church), so as not to seek it by repentance, but opposes it by impenitence, his sin is unpardonable : not any sin whatever, but the contempt of and opposition to the remission of sin itself. And thus the word is spoken against the Holy Spirit when the person never comes from his state of dispersion to the congregation {cum ex dispersion ad congregationem nimqiiam venitur) which receives the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins." In, Evang. sec. Malt. Serm. xi.
76 MATTHEW XII.
I The aolemn. expression, " neither in this world, neither in j the world to come," we may, with some of the early Chris- ' tian writers, regard as indicating, that while some sins are visited in this world and not in that which is to come, and : some in that though not in this, the sin against the Holy ;' Ghost would be visited, as it was in the case of the Jews, both j in this world and the next. The Jewish Rabbies taught that la person sufiFering death for his crimes might, on confession / .'■ 1 of his guilt, secure eternal happiness in the world to come. L " When the criminal was ten cubits from the place of execu-
Jerome understands the sin to be either that of ascribing the Saviour's works to Beelzebub, or that of the person who, being unable to deny that the works are the works of God, maliciously calumniates them, and ascribes both Christ and the works of the Holy Spirit to the prince of the devils, — "Eadem stimulutus invidia calumniatur, et Christum denique verbum et opera Spiritus Sancti dicit esse Beelzebub." Comm. in loco. Chrysostom, and after him Theophylact, consider the Saviour's meaning to be, that as the sin of reviling the works of Christ, which were manifestly the works of the Holy Spirit, was a sin against that Divine Person committed against knowledge, it could not without repentance be forgiven. — " Et yap Kai t\it Xeyerj ayvosTi/, oh Si'ittov <cf.KHvo ayvonn, kuI on to oaifiovag ttcfiuWetv Kai idaiiQ iiriTiXilv tou ' Ayiov TlpdjiaroQ torif tpyov." Chrys. " Non enim rationabilera causam habuit, ut calumniaretur." Theopk. Calvin views the unpardonable nature of this sin to consist in its being a malicious opposi- tion to the grace and power of the Spirit clearly and indisputably manifested. — " Quia, patefacta Dei virtute, quicunque recalcitrant, e.xcusabiles noa sunt ignorantiae proetestu. — Nunc tenemus probro afficere Spiritum Dei qui destinata nialitia ejus gratiam et virtutem oppugnant : neque id modo, sed tale sacrHegium non committi nisi duni habitantem in nobis Spiritum scientes extinguere conamur." According to Olshausen, this sin can only be committed by those possessing a high degree of moral development and spiritual knowledge, and is a closing of the heart by such, from love of sin, against the Holy Spirit's light. "If tke higher revelations of the Divine nature of Christ also be firmly rejected ; if the moral development be in- creased to t'ue degree of capability to receive the Holy Ghost, and if man from impurity close his heart to the Light thereof, forgiveness and redemp- tion become impossible, inasmuch as the internal susceptibilibj of being moved by that which is holy dies away entirely." He rightly adds — " Who- soever grieves himself with the notion that he may have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit, proves already, by his grief and self-accusation, that he has not done so." Comm. in loco. . -
MATTHEW XII. ' '
tion, he was exhorted to make confession ; for such is the y-
manner of all who are put to death, to make confession ; for ,\ ,_ whoso confesseth his guilt, to him there shall be a portion in ,,--- the world to come. For so we find in the section relating to Achan, that .Joshua said to hira, " My Son, give glory to the Lord, and confess, &c." And whence do we know that he makes atonement by confession ? Because it is said, " And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us ? the Lord shall trouble thee this day." (As if he had said), " This day thou art troubled, but thou shalt not be so in the world to come," ' It has already been noticed that the Rabbinical doctrine was, that every Israelite has a portion in the world to come, ex- cept such as denied the resurrection of the dead, those who say the law is not from heaven, and an Epicuroean or infidel." '^ Christ says, those also will be excluded, whether Israelites or Gentiles, who speak a word against the Holy Ghost, by whom he cast out devils and performed his other miraculous works.^ >
Yer. 50. Whosoever shall do the icill of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.
Jesus, in describing the character referred to, employs an expression which appears to have been familiar to the Jews. There is a beautiful saying of Judah ben Tema in which it occurs. " Be bold as a leopard, swift as an eagle, active as a roe, and strono- as a lion, to do the will of thy Father which
' Sanhedrin vi. 2.-021 NZH cbl^b p^H lb D^ 7T^^^^•n ^2'0
^ cbrjb c^p^TJ abD -YrJ^ ^'^ • snn z^rjh pbn cnb ^^^ tk-lT^ bD rrm-n n^N-^n r« "^a^^n • snn zbrSi pbn =nb rs::? ibsT ' v^s r^-^''
Sanhedrin xi. L - 031 Din^-^=:S1 Z^C^'H p T^H r^l ' Vorst (De Hebraismis) views the expression "neither, &c." Uke the Jew- ish phrase (i^nn cbl^n sbT nrn cbr^^Z Sb), and as equivalent to never. i Accordinglv Mark, who wrote less with reference to Jews than Gentiles, has the simple expression, "Hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of - - J]/< eternal damnatiun." ' -^^
78 MATTHEW XII.
is in Leaven." ' One there has been, and only one, who was from his childhood to his death without deviation and with- out defect ; one who at twelve years of age could say, " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? " who when hungry, thirsty, and fatigued, could testify, " My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work ; " and who, in obedience to his Father's will, allowed himself, on account of that very obedience, to be put to a cruel and ignominious death. God was emphatically and peculiarly his Father, and all who endeavour, like him, to do his Father's will, he regards as his brother and sister and mother.
' I'^zw y\'r^ mr:;b ""-sd ^12:1 ^z'jd v~t 'wi^ \a "1223 rj ^m
Firlce Abhoth t. 20. — t iZ^Tl^Z^
CPIAPTER XIII.
Ver. 12. For lohosoever hath, to him shall he given, and he shall have more abundance : but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken aicaij even that he hath.
The Lord appears here to teach that any spiritual gift intrusted to us will, if improved, be increased, but if other- wise, will be removed. Something similar to this was taught by the Rabbles. " Be swift to obey the lighter as well as the weightier commandments, and flee from transgression ; for one commandment raises up another, and one transgression raises up another : for the reward of a commandment (obey- ed) is a commandment, and the reward of transgression is transgression." ' " He who learns in order that he may teach others, has enouo-h 2:iven him both for learniuGr and teaching ; and he who learns that he may practise what he has learned, has enough given, him both for learning and teaching, for observing and practising."^
Ver. 24. — Another parahle put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man xchich sowed good seed in his field.
The expression "kingdom of heaven " appears to have been in common use among the Jewish Eabbies. It has been
: m'^ni? 7^r^^zl] -lU^Ln nrjra miTs -ira'^7 • rrr^si? rrmn rrr'nrT maa
— Tirke Abhoth iv. 2.
Ibid. iv. 5.— :m::7rbi -r^wh -rabbi -n^bb 11^2 rp^rrn m^rrb mi^
80 MATTHKW Xlir.
already observed that the daily recitation of the Shema' , or section of the law beginning with " Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord," was said to be " assuming the yoke of the kingdom of heaven." See note on chap. xi. ver. 29. It has also been observed that the Jews appear to have under- stood by that kingdom the church-state which had been established among them, or the nation of Israel viewed as the church of God. See note, ch. viii. ver. 12. To this kingdom, or church, the author of Zohar, who regards it, according to the Cabbalistic doctrine of which he was a chief promoter, as identical with the lowest emanation or manifestation of the Divine Being, called " the kingdom," ascribes various deno- minations according to its operations.' Thus in one case it is called a Rose or Lily, in another a Fruit-tree, &c. In like manner the Lord Jesus, in this chapter and elsewhere, ex- hibits the kingdom of heaven, or the visible church, in vari- ous aspects and under various figures,
Ver. 25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed
tares. The Greek word here rendered " tares " i^ C'4'"vta, zizania, and is no doubt what the Jews called zunim (□"'Jir)> gener- ally understood to be darnel?' Zunim, was allowed to be sown along with wheat, as not standing to it in the relation of different kinds of seed. '' Wheat and zunim" says the Mishna, "are not in the relation of Kilaim, or different kinds, to each other."' The Jewish commentators Barte- noras and Maimonides regard zunim as having been origin-
' Zohar, Synopsis, Tit. i. " Ecclesia Israelitica (seu Gradus ille Divini- tatis, qui Regnutn dicitur, et ad quem refertur Spiritus Saactus) denomina- tiones accipit secundum operationes suas; si enim dominium habet in herbas, vocatur Rosa ; si in arbores, Arbor fructifera dicitur." In that " kingdom" God is said to take the name of King ("jb^S ITTd: S'^p rnDTnin). Zohar Restilictus, Pars III., Tract I., cap. i.
* Some, however, believe it to be some species of vicia (vetch), •while others consider it a kind of ervum (tare) : all agree that it is non-edible. De Sola et Raphall, Note on Kilaim, \. 1.
» Kilaim i. 1.— : n72 HT c^s^D ]rs \^y\'\rx} c^*L:nn
MATTHEW XIII. 81
ally wheat ; the former observing, that before the Flood, when all flesh had corrupted their way, the earth also caused its fruits to become adulterate or degenerate, so that when wheat was sown, it produced zunim, or darnel. Maimonides remarks that zzinim is so called, because, like a harlot (,1:1 ? Zonah), it departs from the right way. This view of zizania, here called "tares," as adulterate or degenerate wheat, if then entertained, renders its place in the parable peculiarly appropriate, indicating that corrupt mixture which the arch- enemy should introduce into the visible Church, and the great apostasy or falling away which he should eflfect in it ; when multitudes of its professed members, retaining the form of godliness, should deny its power, — having a name to live while spiritually dead, — as adulterers and adulteresses, courting the friendship of a world h'ing in wickedness, — lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
Ver. 30. Let both grow together until the harcest.
As the " tares," zizania or zunim, were not in the rela- tion to each other of kilaim, or different kinds, they might continue to ffrow alonsr with the wheat. Had thev been otherwise, they must either have been rooted up as the serv- ants proposed, or the whole field ploughed up. " If a man have sown his field with wheat, and then changes bis mind, and determines to sow it with barley (a different kind of grain), he must tarry till the first sown seed has germinated ; then he must plough up the field before he may sow the fresh seed : if the wheat has sprung up, he must not say, I will first sow the barley, and then plough up ray field ; but he must plough it up first, and then sow." ^ So in the Church of Christ, the difference in many instances between the merely nominal and the real Christian being discernible only to the eye of God, that very circumstance which would render the eradi- cation of the former so dangerous to the latter, is also that
* Kilaim ii. 3.
82 MATTHEW Xiri. '
which permits their remaining in outward communion with them, till death or the day of judgment introduce the sickle.
Ver. 31. Another parable pat he forth unto them, saying, The hingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, ichich a man took, and soiced in his field : which indeed is the least of all seeds : hut when it is groion, it is the great- est among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
The distinction between a herb and a tree, on which the present parable seems to turn, was rendered familiar to the Jews from the regulations by which the Rabbles sought to give effect to the prohibition of the law of Moses regarding the minsrlinof of seeds. Thus we read in the Mishna : — " Trees must not be grafted on trees of a different kind ; nor one kind of shrub [plant or herb] on another kind of shrub ; nor yet trees on shrubs, nor shrubs on trees. E. Jehudah permits the grafting of shrubs on trees. Shrubs must not be planted on a sycamore-bush ; rue must not be grafted on white cassia, because that would be a shrub (or herb) on a tree ; a vine-branch must not be sunk into a melon-bed, to instil its juices therein, because that is a tree on a plant ; pumpkin seed must not be set among mallow in order to be preserved, as that is herb in herb." '
*' Mustard" (<T<Va7rt, sinapi ; ^T~in khardel) is frequently mentioned in the Mishna. It is spoken of as a cultivated herb in the following passages: — "Radishes and rape, mus- tard and nipplewort, although similar, are nevertheless dif- ferent kinds of seed." " Mustard or wild saffron must not be sown adjoining a corn-field ; but they may be sown adjoining a meadow, or a field that lies fallow, or one newly ploughed up." " If there be one or two squares in a corn-field (for other kinds of seed), a man may sow mustard-seed in them ; but if there are three adjoining each other, he must not sow mus-
' Kilaim i. 7, 8.
MATl'HEW XII r. " 83
tard-seed on them, as the plot of ground would seem to be a mustard-field." " All kinds of field-seeds must not be sown in a garden bed ; but all kinds of herbs (or garden-seed) may be sown in it. Mustard and small peas are field-seeds." *
Besides the herb thus named, however, which is a species of the common mustard-plant, and which is described as growing to the height of several feet,^ — there appears to be also in Palestine a tree known by the same name, and, from its possessing similar properties, used everywhere as a sub- stitute for the former ; a tree which is represented as being laro-e enough for a man to stand under on horseback, and in which the birds of the air do actually make their abode. This is believed to be the Salcadora Persica, known by the name of Kharjal in Northern India ; and is probably the Khardal of which the Talmuds speak as a tree into which a person might climb as into a fig-tree, and which was suflfi- cient to cover the shed of a potter.
Did the Saviour intend, by the herb becoming a tree, to in- timate in this parable, not only the great and extraordinary increase of the visible Church from the smallest beginnings ; but also, as some have thought, the change that should take place in its character, appearance, and circumstances ; when from being, as at the commencement of its history, spiritual, lowly, and despised like its Head, it should, especially after becoming the adopted religion of the Empire, be character- ized by worldliness of spirit, and attain to an amount of worldly exaltation, at once extraordinary, unexpected, and un- natural ; in consequence of which it should receive within its pale multitudes who should attach themselves to the Church, without ever taking shelter in Christ ?
' Chilaini i. 5 ; ii. S, 9 ; iii. 2.
2 "We met with the raustard-plaat growing wild as high as ouv horses' heads." Captains Irhy and Manrjles. See an interesting article on the sub- ject by Professor Royle/in the Journal of Sacred Literature, April, 1849.
G 2
84 MATTHEW XIII.
Ver. 34. All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables ; and without a parable spake he not unto them.
The Jews, in common with other eastern nations, adopted, to a great extent, the parabolic mode of expressing their ideas and conveying instruction. It is said in the Mishna, that " from the time that Rabbi Meir died, those who taught by parables ceased." ' This Rabbi, who lived after the destruc- tion of the temple, is said to have divided his instructions into three parts, of which one consisted of parables. Two ob- jects are said by a Jewish writer to be effected by the use of parables ; — the one, that others are enabl'=>d thereby to obtain a clearer conception of the subject treated ; the other, that the attention of the hearers is awakened, and their diligence exercised in reference to it. Our Lord had another object in employing this mode of conveying instruction. "While it served to make the truth more plain and striking to those who were disposed with meekness to receive the teachings of divine wisdom, it abandoned to their ignorance those who for unbelief and rejection of the truth were to be judicially blinded. ** Therefore speak I to them in parables ; because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand."
Ver. 39. The harvest is the end of the world.
The expression " the end of the world," here, as well as in ver. 40 and 49, and chap, xxviii. 20, is, literally, the end of the age or dispensation, having no reference to the destruc- tion of the globe. The phrase was a familiar one among the Jews, Thus in the Mishna, in reference to the exchange of animals for sacrifice, it is said, " The young of the peace- offerings, and those which they are exchanged for ; their young, and the young of their young, even to the end of the > Sotah be. 15.— : t^'hwn ^bcTKl lbt32 T^ST: ^2n rOTKi
MATTHEW Xlir. 85
world ; behold they are as the peace-offerings themselves." ' "We have already remarked that the phrase "this world and that which is to come " was also a familiar one. By " this world" was understood this present age, dispensation, or state of things, which was to have an end. By "that which is to come " was meant the age which was to succeed the former, being introduced by the Messiah's advent and the resurrec- tion from the dead.
1 Temurah iii. 1, 2, 5.— : Cbirn =11D 17
CHAPTER XIV.
Ver. 19. And he commcmded the midtitude to sit down 0)i the grass, and took the Jive loaces, and the tico fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
So necessary did the elders justly esteem it to acknowledge the Author of their mercies, and give him thanks when par- taking of his bounty, that those who were discharged from the obligation of reciting the Shema^ and from using phylac- teries, namely, women, slaves, and minors, were yet bound to use a blessing at meals. " They are bound to give attention to prayer, to the Mezuzah (portions of the Scripture to be attached to the door-posts), and to the blessing at meals.'" It is to be lamented, however, that the Jews spoiled this as almost everything else by their formality. They had par- ticular forms of blessing for different kinds of food and for different occasions. For the fruit of trees in general they said, " Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, King of the world, who created the fruit of the tree." The vine formed a special case. For wine the form of blessing was, " Blessed art thou, &c., who created the fruit of the vine." For the produce of the field in general they said, " Blessed art thou, &c., who Greatest the fruit of the earth." For bread, on account of the excellence of the gift, as in the case of wine, there was a special form. Then it was, " Blessed art thou, &c., who pro- ducest bread out of the earth." ^
1 Bffradoth iii. 3.— ]i^Tn nr^nzi rr\yvyr\ rh'^ro. i^s^^m •-• Ibid. vi. 1.
MATTHEW XIV. 87
If several persons sat down separately to eat, each one was to repeat the blessing for himself ; but if they sat at the same table, one was to do so for them all.' Thanks were also re- turned after the meal was over. If three had eaten together, they were bound to join in the Zimmun (pui)^ the preparation or invitation to unite in thanksgiving.- If three formed the party, he who pronounced the blessing said, " Let us bless Him of whose gifts we have eaten." If there were three be- sides himself, he said, "Bless ye Him, &c." If ten formed the party, he said, " Let us bless our God of whose gifts we have eaten ; " if there were ten exclusive of himself, he said, " Bless ye our God, &c." If there were exactly one hundred forming the company, the form of the invitation was, "Let us bless the Lord our God, iS:c. ;" if a hundred besides himself, " Bless ye the Lord our God, &c." If there were a thousand, the form was, " Let us bless the Lord our God, the God of Israel, &c. ; " if a thousand besides himself, "Bless ye the Lord our God, the God of Israel, &c.""'
The meal at which the Lord "looked up to heaven and blessed," consisted of fish and bread. In this case, according to Jewish custom, one blessing sufficed for both. " If salted food be set before a man, and bread with it, the blessing is
' The rest of the party added their response. " The response ' Amen ' must be made when an Israelite pronounces a blessing." " In the same maimer as he pronounces the preparatory invocation Q1-' Zimmicn) those who sit at tlie table make the responses ; saying, Blessed be the Lord, &c." (or whatever may be the form of the Zimmun in that particuhr case). Bera- choth vii. 3; viii. S.
* Some of the Kabbies objected to the varying of the form of that in- vitation ; but the rule was as given above. " Rabbi Jose the Galilaean saith. The invitation onght to be according to the number of persons assembled ; for it is said, Bless yc God in the congregations, &c. (Ps. kviii. 26). R. Akibha saith, How do we find it at the synagogue ? Whether there be many or few, the minister says, Bless ye the Lord." " ^Yhether there be ten or ten myriads eating together, the form of the invocation is the same." Ibid. The Jews still observe these forms. See Mill's British Jeics, p. 58.
' Berachoth vii. 1, 3.
88 MAITHEW XIV.
said on the salted food, which answers for the bread, as that is only an accessary."' At other times, as at the Last Supper, ■when there were bread and wine, a separate blessing ac- companied each. The general rule was, " whenever any principal article of food is partaken of with an accessary to it, the blessing is said on the principal article, which answers for the accessary." ■
With more or less of the form then prevailing, Jesus pre- sented to his Father the substance of the blessing, the cheer- ful thanksgiving of the grateful and obedient heart. '
Ver. 20. TJictj did all eat, and were filled : and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. Ver. 21. And they that had eaten icere about five thousand men, besides women and children.
The Jews made it a rule to sweep the place where a meal had been eaten, immediately after it was finished and before thanks were returned to God. " The school of Shammai say, that after a meal the room must be swept out first, and the hands be washed afterwards ; whereas the school of Hillel say, the hands are to be washed first, and then the room is to be swept." * These traditions of the elders the Saviour might not care to observe ; but for important purposes he ordered his disciples to " gather up the fragments that nothing be lost."
The distinguishing of the men from the women and children who had eaten, was natural to a Jew, and was probably done from Jewish custom. When the number of persons who had
> Berachoth vi. 7. * Ibid.
' The author of Zohar remarks that the blessiug for food was to be uttered with cheerfulness and joj, and with the head covered. Synopsis, Tit. vii. " Thej did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God." {Acts n. 46, 47.)
* Berachoth viii. 4. In the book of Zohar it is particularly said that the crumbs or fragments are not to be neglected or wasted ; and many penalties arc threatened against those who do so. Sj/nopsis, Tit. i. vii.
MATTHEW XIV, 89
partaken of a meal was counted in order to pronounce the invitation to give thanks, neither women nor children were included. " TTomen, slaves, and children cannot be included in the number required for the Zlmmiin, or preparation for thanksgiving."' Hence probably we have here the number of the men given, but not of the women and children.
' Berachoth vii. 2.
CHxlPTER XY.
Ver, 1. Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees, ichich were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands ichcn they eat bread.
The " traditions of the elders " constitute tlie oral law ((12 b^iyXj min torah shebba'al pe, " the law delivered by- mouth"), which the Pharisees exalted to at least an equal authority with the written law {yr\11 TT\'\T\ torah hictabh). They consist, for the most part, of laws said to have been given by the Most High to Closes while upon the mount, and to have been orally communicated by him to Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to the seventy elders, and to all the congre- gation, and from them to have been transmitted in the same manner from one generation to another, until, to preserve them from passing into oblivion after the destruction of the temple and the dispersion of the people, they were collected, to a considerable extent, by Rabbi J udah the Holy, and com- mitted to writing in what is called the Mishna.' The tra-
^ Maimonides distinguishes the "traditions of the elders" into five classes : first, such as are indicated in the text, or may by reasoning be de- duced from it, and about which there is no controversy; second, those which are said to be Constitutions of Moses from Sinai, but which have no such ground or indication in the text as to be reasoned out from it — and which are also received without controversy; third, those whose authority rests on the opinion of the majority of the sages; fourth, those enactments which have been made at various periods by prophets or sages, as a fence or protection to the law, and about some of which a difference of opinion exists ; and fifth, those rites and customs (C-rC72T m;~n) instituted not only by Moses, Joshua, and Ezra, but also by individual sages or elders, and
MATTHEW XV. 91
ditions are thus referred to in the Mishna itself. " Moses received the law from Mount Sinai, and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the pro- phets ; and the prophets delivered it to the men of the Great Synagogue." ' The manner in which those traditions were regarded will appear also from the following passage. "When Rabbi Jose ben Dormiskith came to R. Eleazar at Lydda, the latter inquired of him, What had ye new in the Beth Midrash (College) to-day? R. Jose replied, They divided and decided, that Ammon and Moab mast pay tithe for the poor in the Sabbatical year. R. Eleazar wept and exclaimed, ' The seei'et of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant ; ' go and tell them, Ye need not fear on account of your decision ; for I have it as a tradition from the mouth of Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai, who heard it from his teacher, who also heard it from his teacher, even up to the decision of Moses from Sinai, that Ammon and Moab pay tithes to the poor during the Sabbatical year."^
The "elders" mentioned in the text may either be the per- sons who were said to have received the traditions from Joshua, and to have delivered them to the prophets, or those who are said to have received them from Ezra and the men of the Great Synagogue, and to have transmitted them through the successive heads of the Sanhedrim or schools of learning to that present time.^
by the sages collectively, and wkich are by no means to be transgressed by any Israelite. Preface to the Seder Zera'im, or first part of tlie Mishna.
I c^:-n Q^zprb y'^i'irpi r'^rrb rnoaT ^j^on min b^)"} tt^12 pirke Ahhoth i. 1. — : nbiinn hd^d ^wi^ r\Ton S'S"^2dt c^s^zib
- Tadhaini iv. 3. De Sola and Raphall add the following note : — "Some explain that R. Eleazar wept for joy, because they had adopted the right decision ; others will have it that he wept for grief, because they had for- gotten and put to the vote an "*rm TTsIT^ 'n.'^7\ (or Constitution of Moses from Sinai)."- See also 3///r>- British Jews, Part iii. ch. v. p. 305.
^ According to Maimonides the men, of the Great Synagogue were Haggui, Zachariah, Malachi, Daniel, Hauaniah, Mishael, Azariah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Mordecai, Zerubbabel, and others, to the number of a hundred
92 MATTHE"\V XV.
There can be no doubt that various details, not mentioned in the written word, in connection with the laws there con- tained, were taught and practised at an early period, and handed down from one generation to another. The error was in making enactments contrary both to the spirit and letter of the written law, and in giving to those or any other merely hu- man decisions the authority which belongs to the Word of God.
The regulations for purifying the hands from uncleanness rest entirely on the authority of tradition, as no commandment of the written law is quoted or adduced in their support by the Mishna. The rule is, that in order to eat common bread, or bread not consecrated, the hands must undergo ablution up to the wrist with water not less in quantity than the quarter of a log; and in order to eat heave or consecrated food — that used by the priests and their household, the hands, in ad- dition to this first ablution, must undergo another, though not absolutely requiring the same quantity of water. " A quarter of a log of water is poured on the hands of one, also on those of two persons ; half a log on three or four ; a whole log and upwards on five, ten, or even a hundred." ' " The hands become clean or unclean up to the wrist." ^
aud twenty. He says of Rabbi Judah, the compiler of the Misnna, that he recorded the traditions ■which he had received from his father Simeon, and he from his father Gamaliel, he from his father Simeon, he from his father Gamaliel (the elder), he from his father Simeon, he from his father Hillel, he from his teachers Shemaiah and Abtalioa, they from Judah the son of Tabbai and Simeon the son of Shetach, they from Joshua the son of Perakhiah and Nathan the Arbelite, they from Jose the son of Joezer and Jose the son of Jochanan, they from Aaitigonus of Soco, he from Simeon the Just, he from Ezra (being the last surviving member of the Great Synagogue), Ezra from Baruch the son of Neriah his teacher, Baruch from Jeremiah, and Jeremiah from the prophets, who had received them from one another, up to the time of the elders who had received from Joshua what had been delivered to him by Moses. Pre/, to 'Zera'im.
' Yadhaim i. 1. This treatise of the Mishna deals expressly with the subject : hence its name, D*'T' Tadham, " the hands." — The log or lug, it may be mentioned, is equal to five eggs, so that a quarter of a log would be equal to the contents of an egg and a quarter more. ■ Ibid. ii. 3.
MATTHEW XV. 93
Yer. 6. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect through your tradition.
The followinff is a similar instance of the fifth command- inent in particular being opposed and set aside by Rabbinical tradition. " If the son has been made pious through the in- strumentality of his teacher, the teacher takes precedency of the father in every place ; for both he and his father are bound to honour his teacher." ' The Jewish commentators understand by the teacher in question the Rabbi from whom the son has received the greater part of his knowledge ; and explain the meaning of the passage by saying, that if both the father and the teacher are in captivity, the son is bound to redeem the father first ; if both are in need of support, the teacher is first to receive the son's assistance ; if both are bending under a burden, the teacher is first to be relieved.
The " gift " mentioned here, is a gift to the temple, called, in Mark vii. 11, corhan, or ofiering. See the note on that passage.
1 ^:i:3 cnp brn nsn ns tzinp n^n n-n ^:i:b ]::n n^r czs
Chenthoth vi. 9. — : I^T TI223 T- ^n TZSl ^TW
CHxlPTER XVL
Yer. 15. He [Jesus'] saith unto them, But tchom say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- jona : for flesh and hlood hath not revealed this unto thee, hut my Father which is in heaven.
"Bar" ("12) was the term commonly used in Syriac and Chaldaic (the dialect spoken by the Saviour), for the Hebrew "Ben" (p), both denoting "a son." Hence in John xxi. 15, instead of " Simon Bar-jona," we have '^ Simon son of Jonas." So in the Mishna, we meet with "Eleazar bar Za- dok." ^ — It would appear from the book Zohar, that the Jew- ish teachers were in the habit of proposing questions to their disciples and associates, and, on these giving an appropriate reply, expressing their approbation in language somewhat similar to that which is here employed by the Saviour. Thus when an approved answer had been given by Rabbi Eleazar to a question proposed in the meeting by Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, the latter thus expressed himself, — " Blessed art thou, my son, of the Ancient of days ; mayest thou find the favour of his forehead in the time of need." - The doctrine of the special revelation of divine things is also not unfrequently recognized in the same book. Thus a voice is represented as addressing Rabbi Simeon and his associates : " Blessed art thou, R. Simeon, and blessed is thy portion, and. the portion of thy companions who are with thee ; for to you
' Pesakhini s. 3.
Idra Rabbu viii. 97. — t TTh
MATTHEW XVI. 95
has been revealed that which has not been revealed to the whole host above." ' This had reference simply to some strained and mystical illustrations of the Divine attributes and the creation of man, the offspring of Rabbi Simeon's own fancy, communicated by him to his associates. How dif- ferent the revelation vouchsafed to Simon Bar-jona and to every true believer in Jesus ! — a revelation with which the nation in general will at length be favoured, when the veil which is now upon their hearts shall be removed by the Spirit of grace and supplication poured upon them, and when with contrition of soul they shall make Simon's blessed confession, — "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"! The Lord hasten it in its time !
Yer. 18. And I saij also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will huild my Church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
What Jesus here asserts concerning his Church was to be the evidence of the truth of Peter's declaration regarding: his Messiahship, as it was also to be the result of it. It was a saying of the man who was at that very time the president of the Sanhedrim, and the highest authority among the Jews in questions of religion and law, Rabban Gamaliel the elder, " If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought : but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." Acts v. 38, 39. To the same effect was the saying of Rabbi Jochanan Hassandelai, — "Every church which is for God will go on to be established, and that which is not for God will not stand."- The gates of hell were to pour forth all its forces with the view of overthrowing the Church which Jesus was to
Idra Rabha xlv. 1141. — .sb^^bl sVn 73^ ^briiHS sbl rTO ]1Db ^b^HS
' c<c*^ L^ih 'HT^m D"^^pi"inb nsiD a'^r^ffi- cii^b s\i'Li7 tvdi'd bD
Tirke Ahhoth iv. 11. — : □''^-Tnnb TCID T'S
96 MATTHEW XVI.
establish on the testimony of Peter, that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God ; but they were not to prevail ao-ainst it. That Church has gone on to be established. It continues to stand and to extend. It is therefore both of God and for God ; and the testimony on which it is founded is true, — That Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, is " the Christ, the Son of the living God."
This declaration of Jesus regarding his Church was very naturally made upon Peter's confession of his "being the Christ" or Anointed, and " the Son of God ;" inasmuch as the establishment of the Church under the Messiah is predicted in immediate connection with the declaration of his being the Son of God, in the principal passage of the Old Testament where that Divine Sonship is asserted, and to which Peter, under the illumination of the Holy Ghost, probably alluded in his confession of Jesus. That passage is in the second Psalm, where we read — " Yet have I set my King on my holy hill of Zion" — (or, as it stands in the Greek Version, "But I have been appointed by him King upon Zion, his holy hiU"'). "I wiU declare the decree {Sept. 'declaring the decree of the Lord ') : The Lord hath said to me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will eive thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them '/ith a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
1 Eyw ik KOTcaraOrjv fSactXtv; vir aiirov irrl Sto/v opoc to ayiov avrov,
!iayykX\(j)v rb n-pooray/ia 'Kvp'iou. It has been shown under chap. vii. ver. 9, that the ancient Jews understood this psalm of the Messiah. We may here add that Mairaonides applies the -words, "Thou art my Son," to the Messiah, and understands them as indicating his nearness to the Creator. Enumerat- ing the things for which the days of the Messiah were to be desired, he adds,
nnS "^32 ^ J^ ^ 'V.jV cT" ^.J^J " and his nearness (or relation- ship) to his Creator, as he said to him, Thou art my Son." Pre/, ad Perek Chelek. The Messiah then was to be the Son of God, according to the acknowledgment of the Jews themselves ; and Peter vftvs, enlightened by
MAITHE'VV XVI. 97
\ er. 19. And I will give unto thee the keijs of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall he hound in heaven : and xohatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall he loosed in heaven.
The terras" bound " ("i")CN '^'S?^;*) and "loosed" i^TC.'L patur) were in constant use among the Jewish E-abbies in the sense of forbidding , and allowing or discharging from obligation. Thus we read in the Mishna : — "It happened that Rabban Gamaliel said the Shema' on the first night of nis nuptials. His disciples said to him, Hast thou not taught us, 0 Eabbi, that a bridegroom is loosed {ycZ'^ patur) from saying the Shema' on the first night of his nuptials ? " " He bathed on the first night of his wife's death. His disciples said to him, Rabbi, hast thou not taught us, that a mourner is forbidden ClICN' (isicr, 'bound') to bathe on the first night?" '
the Holy Ghost to recognize iu Jesus of Xazareth that Messiah. That the Messiah was the Son of God in an infinitely higher sense than as one chosen by God to be king and anointed by the Holy Ghost, as Kiinchi sup- poses, is manifest from the fact that men are directed, in the words that follow, to place that confidence in him which is only to be placed in God himself. " Kiss ye the Son, lest he be angry and ye perish from the way ; if once his anger be kindled for a Little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him." That such trust was to be placed in the Messiah is only what is elsewhere confessedly taught, as in Isaiah slii. 4, " The isles shall wait for his law " (^bn*'"' D''*S irnin Vl), or as in the Greek version, " In his name shall the Gentiles trust" {ItcI ry bvofiari avrov tdvij tXTriovmv). But "cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." (Jer. xvii. 5.) The Messiah, therefore, was to be the Son of God as a par- taker of the Divine essence, — God manifest in the flesh, — the Child bom and Son given, while yet "the mighty God and everlasting Yather " (-nr'^.S -^,1112 bS). IsaiaA ix. 5.
' Berachoth ii. 5, 6. The verb "ITITT hittir, "he loosed" is also constantly used in the sense of permitting. Thus in the form of absolution pronounced in the Synagogue on the day of Atonement, it is said, " ,With the cognizance of the omnipresent One, and of the Church, we declare it permitted (]''~^"^Q mattirin, ' loose,' or * permit ') to pray with transgressors." Btixtorf, Sj/ii. Jnd. cap. xxi. ; Mill's British Jeics, Part II. chap. vi. Hence the binding
H
98 MATTHEW XVI.
Tlie'authority conveyed by the Lord Jesus on this occasion to Peter, and afterwards to the other apostles and to the Church in general (see chap, xviii. 18, and John xx. 23), appears to have been that of declaring what was forbidden, and what was allowed, in the Christian dispensation ; or, in other words, who might, and who might not, be admitted and retained as members of the Christian Church.^ The assembly at Jerusalem (Acts xv.) seems to afford an exemplification of this authority. Circumcision was declared not to be binding on converts from heathenism. Here they loosed. Such con- verts, however, were, for special reasons, to abstain from meats offered to idols, &c. Here they hound. " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater hicrden than these necessary things." So when the Apostle, speaking of the incestuous member of the Church at Corinth, thus writes to that Church — " In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. v. 4, 5) ; he hinds, as did also the Church, when, according to his in-
and loosing may be viewed as comiected with excommunicating and ab- solving. The latter, according to the Mishna, might be done by the Sages or Wise Men. "An excommunicated person, whom the Sages have ab- solved, may wash his clothes on the middle days of the feast." Moedh Katan iii. 2.
' It is said that when the tkle of Rabbi was conferred upon an indi- vidual, among other ceremonies there was delivered to him a key, as the symbol of the authority now conferred upon him, of teaching to others the knowledge which he had himself been taught. Jenninrfs Jewish Aniiquities, Book I. chap. vii. It is also a saying frequently met with m Rabbinical writings, — "There are three keys in the hand of the Holy and Blessed One, •which are not intrusted to any deputy; namely, — that of birth, that of rain, and that of the resurrection of the dead." So while the Lord Jesus gave authority to his servants to declare what might and what might not be done by the members of his Church, and who might or might not be such, he himself declares,—" I have the keys of hell (the invisible world) and of death." (Rev. i. 18.)
MATTHEW XVI, 99
junction, they " put away the wicked person." TVlien, again, in his Second Epistle, the Apostle writes, " Sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted of many, so that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him ; " he looses, and directs the Church to loose also. "That which," says Olshausen, " is through Peter bestowed on the apostles, was again through the apostles conferred on the whole Church, as is obvious from the real nature of its inner being-, accordinor to which it follows, that the existing representatives of the Church (i. e. the really regenerate) exercise the powers grant- ed by the Lord to that Church ; not, however, in any way which they may themselves think proper ; but according to the intimations of that same Spirit, whom to know and to obey is essential for the believers." '
' Olshausen, in loco. The same distinguished commentator observes, — " The Lord of this temple (the Church) names Peter as its guardian ; he re- ceives the key of it with full authority to use it, and consequently to grant a^imission or to shut out."
CHAPTER XVII.
Ver. 10. How then say the Scribes that Elias must first
come ?
Eeference was frequently made by tlie Jewish. Rabbles to the coming of Eliaa. It was a common saying in regard to any doubtful matter, — "Leave it till Elias come." ' — The coming of Elias was associated in the minds and teaching of the Rabbies with the resurrection of the dead and the advent of the Messiah. " The Holy Spirit brings us to the resur- rection of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead comes upon the appearance of Elias of blessed memory." - The disciples would seem to have understood the Saviour when speaking of his own resurrection, as if he were only referring to the resurrection in general, which they had heard from the Scribes was not to take place till the appearance of Elias.
» imbs Sn'^C TJ nno ^in^-SheMm il. 5 ; Babha Metsia iii. 4.
* ^-'j S2 c=l^^;2^ n^nn\ D\'-ion n^'^nn ""Tb nw^ra tt-npn nm
: ^tli^ miib m^T irnbs "'T — Sotah k. 15. The ancient Rabbies taught that Eliaa would first appear and announce the approaching resurrection of the dead, a little before the advent of the Messiah. They applied to him the prophecy of Nahum and Isaiah, " Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace " (Nah. i. 15 ; Isa. Iii. 7) ; understanding by the " good tidings " the blessedness which was to ensue upon the resurrection of the dead. Munasseh ben Israel, De Res. Mor. lib. I. c. ii., lib. II. c. iii., lib. III. c. vii.
MATTHEW XVII. 101
Yer. 11. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Ellas truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, hut have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Like- tcise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he sjmke unto them of John the Baptist.
The Eabbies differed as to the special objects for which Elias would reappear before the resurrection. The tradition, according to Eabbi Joshua, was that he would remove those who had wrongfully entered, and restore those who had been wrongfully removed from the congregation of Israel. Ac- cording to another, he was to introduce, but not remove. Another maintains that he was to settle differences. The majority, however, believed, as is mentioned in the preceding note, that he would come to establish peace on the earth.'
The Saviour teaches that the object of the coming of Elias was to "restore all things" (dToccira(rr?/(T£i Travra); referring doubtless to the prophecy in Malachi, — " He shall turn "- the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," {Sept. " and the heart of a man to his neighbour"). The angel Gabriel intimated, before his birth, in what sense John the Baptist was to be Elias, — " He shall go before him (the Lord) in the spirit and poicer of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just " (Luke i. 17). As the full restoring or " restitution" of all things (a-^oKaTacrratnQ TTuyzuy) is reserved for the second coming of the Lord (Acts iii. 19 — 21), and as " the great and dreadful day of the Lord" is yet future, it may be doubted whether the mission of John the Baptist exhausted the prediction regarding Elias, and whether that prediction does not await its full accomplish- ment in connection with the Lord's second appearing.
' 'HJhioth ■vm. 7- ' Heb. H^w'TII Sept. aTroicaradrZ/ffti, — the
same word which is used in the passage under consideration.
102 MATiliKW XVll.
Ver. 25. When he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon ? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute ? of their own children, or of strangers ? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Tlien are the children free.
The " tribute " here referred to was the half-shekel levied for the service of the temple, and which, according to the Eabbies, every Israelite was bound to pav, though living upon alms, or obliged to beg or sell his garment for the money.
Eabbi Simeon claimed for the Jews in general a certain privilege which belonged only to the children of kings, on the ground that all the Israelites were such.' The thought in the text is similar. It is as if the Lord had said, — The children of kings are exempted from the tribute which is levied for the purposes of government. I am the Son of God, the Great King for whose service this tribute is col- lected, and ye, my disciples, are my brethren. I may there- fore claim exemption for myself and you. But that we may not create a prejudice against my person and doctrine, or afford my enemies an. occasion of misrepresenting me, al- though we are destitute of money, I will pay the tribute.
^ " Princes may anoint their wounds (on the Sabbath) with oil of roses, as they are in the habit of so anointing themselves on week-days. Rabbi Simeon saith, AU the Israelites are the cMldren of king3"(n:n C^^ba ^32 bs-^?^ ^3). Shabbath xiv. 4.
CHAPTER XYIII.
Ver. 17. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church.
The term "churcli" or "congregation" ('T!2''Ii tsihhor, riC-2 cheneseth, r7*w-- chinseyah,=ii:K\rifrLa, ecclesia) was in constant use among the Jews. It was applied by them both to the whole body of God's people, and to any portion of them living in the same place, and meeting together for public worship. It was a saying of Rabban Gamaliel, — " Let those who employ themselves about the Church, do so for the sake of God." ' His predecessor Hillel had said, — " Separate not from the Church ; neither trust in thyself (that thou art safe) till the day of thy death." ^ — It may be remarked that ten male persons were considered necessary to constitute a church or congregation in any particular place ; and of these ten, three formed the ruling body, or the rulers of the synagogue (apxtcvvaywyot). ^ The practice of referring a dispute to the Church when other attempts at obtaining a settlement failed, appears to have been common among the Jews. ** If a dis- pute is to be settled," says Buxtorf, " he who cannot obtain his right from his adversary, steps forward in the synagogue at evening prayers, and goes to the prayer-book from which the minister reads the service, and after shutting it, stril^es it
1 — : c^c'iir tz'dh crrcy c:v"^37 vm -i-d'jh or c^)-Dii?n '^dt
Pirke Abhoth ii. 2.
Care, however, must be takea that what we cleave to is indeed the Church of God, and not something else under that name and profession. ^ Lightfoot, Horae Heb. et Tal, on Matt. iv. 23.
104 MATl'HEW XVIII.
with his hand, suyiug, ix^^ ^IN (^^"' chelao), ' I shut it ; ' as if he said, I put a bar upon the prayers till my adversary be- comes reconciled to me. The prayers are then suspended until satisfaction is made. The congregation in such a case often return home without the service being finished, and may continue without public prayers for some days." ' In like manner, on the day previous to the Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, disputes that have failed in being amicably settled are brought before the Church by the party desirous of reconciliation. In this case, however, it is the party who has committed the offence that does so, while the Saviour directs the injured person to adopt the same means. " The offending party goes and asks forgiveness of the person he has wronged. If the latter refuse that forgiveness, which, as he hopes to be himself forgiven by God, he ought spontaneously to grant, the offender takes three others with him, and begs him again to be reconciled. If this fails, he takes ten persons (forming a congregation), and repeats his request. If still the injured person withhold his forgiveness, the offender is held justified and free from anything that might otherwise stand in the way of his obtaining forgiveness from God." ^
The Saviour directs the injured person to endeavour to bring the offender to a sense of his fault, not so much for his own benefit as for that of the offending brother, who, till he acknowledge his offence, is lying under sin. " If he shall hear thee, thou \id.^i gained thy brother." " On his account do it," says Augustine, " that you may gain him. If in doing it you gain him, he ^^^ perished if you had not done it."^
Ver. 17. But if lie neglect to hear the Church, let him he unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. AVith an idolater, or " heathen man," a Jew was not to eat, though he might exchange with him the usual salutations.*
' De S\])i(ignga Juduica, cap. viii.
- Ibid. cap. XX. See also Mill's Brilish Jexcs, Part ii. chap. vi.
' In Erioirj. sue. Matt. Scrm. xvi. * Gitlia v. 9.
MATTHEW XVIII. 105
If three were pi-esent at a meal, and one of these were an idolater, the zimmun, or invitation to give thanks, was not to be said.' According to the author of Zohar, no intercourse was to be held with the person who neglected the study of the divine law;- and an Israelite who ate and drank with those of another nation, was refractory and rebellious in the sight of Grod.^ In like manner, with one who refused to come to a reconciliation with an offended party and to listen to the Church's counsel to that effect, no intercourse was to be kept up, though the usual civilities of life might still be observed.*
Ver. 20. For ivhere two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
It has already been remarked that, while ten male persons were sufficient to constitute a regular churcli or congregation among the Jews, three of these formed its court or ruling body. It is probable that to these s}-nagogue-tribunals the Saviour here alludes, or, rather, to courts constituted in his own Church upon their model. Two or three disciples, meet- ing together by his authority and on his account, were to constitute a spiritual court, in which he himself would be pre- sent by his Spirit, to guide and sanction their decisions.'^ The
' Berachoth vii. 1. - Si/nopsis, Tit. i. ' Ibid. Tit. vii.
* The Saviour "admonished," says Calvin on the passage, "that the same order should be observed in his Church ■which had formerly been in- stituted under the law. — Because heathens and Publicans were then held in the greatest detestation by the Jews, he compares to such persons those impure and incorrigible men who yield obedience to no admonitions. Christ would not certainly command the heathen (or Gentiles, WviKbo), of whom his Church was afterwards to be composed, to avoid themselves ; nor is there now any reason why the faithful should shun tax-gatherers [Publi- can'u). But that he might be the more easily understood by the ignorant, he borrowed a form of speaking from the prevailing custom of the nation. The meaning is that we ought to have no intercourse {nihil negotii) with the despisers of the Church, until they repent."
' "Ubi tres," says Tertullian, "ecclesia est, licet laici," — "where three arc it Ls a church, though they be of the laity." De Exkodalione Casfitalis.
106 MATl-HEW XVIII.
promise, however, may apply to two or three assembled to- gether for prayer in his name, or in the character of his dis- ciples. " "Where there are ten persons," says Rabbi Halaphtah, " who sit and exercise themselves in the Law, the Shechinah (or Divine Presence) dwells among them, as it is said, ' God standeth in the congregation of the gods' (ten composing a congregation). — And whence does it appear that the same take place if only three are present ? Because it is said, ' He will judge in the midst of the gods.' And whence if there be but two ? Because it is said, * Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, &c.' And whence if there be but one ? Because it is said, ' Wherever I record my name I will come and bless you.' " ' It will be observed that the Saviour here claims the divine attribute of omnipresence, and ascribes that to himself which the Jews were wont to predi- cate of the Shechinah or Divine Majesty.
Ver. 25. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to he sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Traffic in slaves was carried on among the Jews as among other nations at that period. Speaking of the intermediate days in any of the great festivals, the Mishna says,- — " People do not then buy houses, nor slaves, nor cattle, unless they are required for the feast, or xmless the seller, not having sufficient to eat, may be under the necessity of disposing of them." ^ By the law of Moses, the Jews might purchase slaves, or bondmen and bondwomen, of the heathen; but they could only hold their own countrymen as hired servants, and even them they were obliged to release in the year of jubilee. (Lev. XXV. 39, &c.) Whether, in the case before us, the family thus sold would be regarded as slaves or as hired
' Plrke Abhoth iii. 6.
= -pii'b IS lyian -p^^^ «^^^ rronm d^-d3? qto D^npib r«
Moedh Katan ii. 4. — :h)::S"' PK "lb ^^27 iD^an
MATTHEW XVIII. 107
servants, would depend, first, on whether they were Israelites or heathens ; and secondly, on what country they were sold into, whether the land of Israel or a country not subject to the law of ^Moses. " "When a person sold his slave to a non- Israelite, or to be carried to a foreign country, the slave must be manumitted " (the Israelite master must re-purchase the slave, and give him his liberty, as the sale was illegal).' The case was different when an Israelite sold himself to a Gentile. *' When a person seUs himself and his children as slaves to a non-IsraeKte, he is not to be ransomed, but his children are to be ransomed after his death." ^
' GUil/i iv. 6. ' Bid. iv. 9.
CHAPTER XIX.
Yer. 3. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause ?
The disposition which, the Jews manifested to put awav their wives for the most trifling reasons will appear from the following extracts. " The school of Shammai said, A man shall not put away his wife unless he has found some uncleanness in her ; as it is said, Because he hath found in her some matter of uncleanness (-i;i r\T^J ^ervath dahhar, — reading it 'uncleanness of behaviour/ and noting particularly the word mi27 'uncleanness'). The school of Hillel said, He may put her away, if she have spoiled his food ; because it is said. If he have found in her ~irn r\T^J (disjoining the words, and reading it ' uncleanness, or anything else '). Rabbi Akibhah said, A man may put away his wife, if he have found one more beauti- ful than she ; for it is said, If she find no favour in his eyes."^ "A person who has divorced his wife on account of an evil report, may not take her back; nor when he has divorced her on account of a vow."- "When a person divorces his wife because she is barren, he may not take her back, accord- ing to Jehudah ; but the sages allow it." ^ " Should a hus- band say to his wife. Here is your biU of divorce, on condition that you wait on my father, or suckle my child, &c.— Should he say to her, Here is your bill of divorce, if I do not return within thirty days, &c." ^
It will be observed from the first of these extracts that the grounds on which a man may divorce his wife constituted one
' GUtiii ix 10. ■ Ibid. iv. 7. ' Ibid. iv. 8. < Ibid. vii. G, 7.
MA1THE^V XIX. 109
of the subjects of dispute between the two famous Rabbinical schools that were still flourishing during the Saviour's min- istry, those of Hillel and Shammai. The decisions of the former, which were srenerally, as in this case, the more in- dulgent, enjoyed the greater popularity, and were usually adopted.' Hence the insnaring question of the Pharisees. They seem to have thought that Jesus must either pronounce in favour of one or the other of these schools, and so either support a lav morality, or become less popular. Jesus, in- stead of doing either, leads them back to the original in- stitution of marriage, and shows that the bond was intended by God to be indissoluble, and that divorce was only a per- mission under the Mosaic law, for which they should rather be humbled, than, as they were wont to do, make it the sub- ject of triumph as a mark of the Divine regard to their nation.
1 -''Both schools," says Dr Jost, "continued their mutual opposition through several generations, and formed parties among their visitors. The voice of a Bath-Kol decided for the school of Hillel without rejecting that of Shammai as heretical. The modern Jews regulate their opinions, for the most part, according to the former." Geschichte tier Israeliten, vol. i. p. 157. "Till the divine voice (Bath-Kol) came forth, it was lawful for any one to practise according to the weighty or light things of the school of Shammai, or according to the weighty or light things of the school of HUlel. There came forth a divine voice at Jabneh and said, The words of the one and of the other are the words of the living God, but the certain determination of the tiling is according to the school of Hillel ; and who- soever transgresseth against the words of the school of Hillel deserveth death." Jer. Tal. Berackoth f. 3, c 2. (Lightfoot, Harmony of the New Testament, sec. vui.)
CHAPTER XX.
Yer. 2. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
The "penny," or denarius (S77vdpioe=T^ zooz, equivalent to about 7|c?. •mth us), would, according to the relative value of money, be an adequate remuneration for a labouring man's day's work. Sometimes labourers were hired for their victuals. " It once happened that Rabbi Jochanan ben Matthias said to his son, Go out and hire labourers for us. He went out and agreed with them for their victuals. But when he returned, his father said to him, My son, if thou shouldst provide for them according to the preparation of Solomon in his time, it should not suffice to meet thy engagement with them ; for they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." '
The kingdom of heaven, or the Church on earth viewed as preparatory to the heavenly state and including both the Jewish and Christian dispensations, is here compared to a vineyard. We find the author of Zohar employing the same comparison in regard to the study of the law. " Those who are merely about the skirts of the vineyard do not consider, and know not where is the place of beauty."-
Ver. 21. And he said ttnto her, Wliat wilt thou ? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
The allusion in this request of the mother of Zebedee's children seems to be to the appearance presented by the
' — nai pr\y\V2 cnb prsi -jbn • 1^^3712 i^b^ '^■2W^ ^"z
Babha Metsia vii. 1.
2 rraD -inw s"in ]sb ]^37-i^ sbi psaTS sb sa-iD "bian irc'^ST
Idra Rabba, sec i. 2.— t msn
MATTHEW XX. Ill
Sanhedrim, wlio sat in the form of a semicircle, the pre- sident or prince occupying the middle seat, with the two leading persons, the Father of the Council (ft r?^ ns Abh beth dui) and the Sage (cm Khacham) sitting, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.^
Ver. 26. Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your
minister.
By a " minister " {^LaKovog) we are here to understand, an attendant or waiter {^in^ shammdsh) , such as waited upon a party at dinner, and sometimes formed one of the party himself. " If the waiter (or attendant) has partaken of their meal, a quantity of the size of an olive (so that he can be in- cluded in the party of three), or if a Samaritan makes up the party, the invitation to unite in thanksgiving is said."^
1 Sunhedrin iv. 3.
2 Berackoih viL 1. " He ■who wishes to rule in the Church," says Origen in his homily on the passage, " ought to become the servant of all, that he may, "with the humility of a servant, attend upon all in those things which pertain to salvaticn : and this the divine admonition teaches as. But we, either not understanding the divine will contained in the Scriptures, or despising the injimction of Christ, are such that we seem to exceed the haughtiness of the wicked princes of the world; and not only seek prece- dency Hke kings, but show ourselves terrible and difficult of access, espe- cially to the poor, &c." How soon had the Church forgot the instructions of its Lord! Origen wrote scarcely two hundred years after Christ.
CHAPTER XXI.
Ver. 7. And [they] brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
Among the Jews, an ass appears to liave been the only animal used by the common people in riding. In the rules regarding the daily prayers to be observed by persons tra- velling, the Mishna speaks only of that animal. " If a man is riding on an ass (at the time of prayer), he must dismount : if he cannot dismount, he must turn his face towards the Holy of Holies ; and if he cannot turn his face, he is to direct his mind to that most holy place." '
The Jews have very generally understood the prophecy of Zechariah mentioned in the context as relating to the Mes- siah ; and some of their writers have spoken particularly of the ass on which he was to ride. ^ A difficulty, however^ was felt in reconciling this sign of lowliness with the prophetic declarations of his majesty and glory.' They knew not that
» Berackoth iv. 5, 6. In like manner it is said, — "A person who has seen the new moon, but is unable to go (to give evidence), must be brought mounted on an ass." Rosh Hashanah i. 9.
2 Zohar Restilutus, Sjn. Tit. xi. See also GiWs Prophecies respedinc/ the Messiah, chap. ix.
3 It is said in the Talmud, — ^17 p 3:ianrP n >Kni:D37S n -ICS1
^v n3Tn ""^y ^''n^i • \-th tt?:s -laD n^ck? "'iir cr nsi -zlTq ^m man b37 22Tn ""^r irt jsb • s'*:::^? ^:::-'j C2V irt • men — "Rabbi
Alexander said that R. Joshuah ben Levi compared the Scripture, — ' Be- hold, one like unto the Sou of man came with the clouds of heaven,' — with that other Scripture, — ' Meek (or lowly), and sitting upon an ass.' If they are pious. He will come with the clouds of heaven; but if not pious, — lowly and riding on aa ass." Sanhedri/i xi. 33 ; apud Relandi Analecta JRabbinica.
MATTHEW XXI. 113
it was necessary for Messiah to suffer before entering into his glory, that a state of humiliation, as the Sin-bearer, was to precede his glorious -appearing as a Judge.
Ver. 8. Others cut down branches from the frees, and strawed them in the waxj.
This was probably suggested by what was done by the Jews at the most joyous of all their festivals, the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the more likely, as the triumphant language which the people now employed in regard to Jesus bore a close resemblance to that which was used on those festive occasions. Speaking of that Feast, the compiler of the Mishna has the following words : — " And when do thev wave the branches? At the words, 'Give thanks to the Lord,' at the beginning and end of the (118th) Psalm ; and at the words, — ' Save now, I beseech thee ' (^'3" ny'^cirr hosWanna, contracted into ' hosanna ')." ^ Again : " How was the pre- cept to take willow branches observed ? There was a place below Jerusalem called Motsa (s'^id) : thither the people went down, and gathered large branches from the willows that grew there : these they brought and placed at the side of the altar, with their tips bending over its summit. "While this was done, a blast, a long note, and a blast, were blown. Each day they went round the altar once, saying, Save now, I beseech thee, 0 Lord : 0 Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity (s: nn^ib^n "^ S:S S3 n27''ann "• S:S anna Jehovah, hoshi'anna, anna Jehovah, hatslikhamia) ^ "^ On consulting
' mrr s:s2T ?^^D^ rhnn rvrrh inn^ • y^vivi'D vn ]D^m mrr jsrsn pis cims '■t^w n^2T bbn ry^^i ^'^■^i Nrnr^^nrr
Succoth iii. 9. — t siTin^bsn * Ibid. iv. 5. The ancient Jews appear to have understood this Psalm of the Messiah. The Saviour applies " The stone which the builders re- jected, &c.," to himself. Schoetgen quotes Jarchi on" Mic. v. 2, and Abarbanel on Zee. iv. 10, as applying it to the Messiah. The former
I
114 MATTHEW XXI.
the Psalm from which these expressions are taken, it will be seen that it furnished another part of the people's acclama- tions on this occasion. It is there said, "Blessed is he that Cometh in the name of the Lord." That Psalm, as well as the Feast of Tabernacles, was now, in part at least, receiving its fulfilment, while the "Word made flesh was dwelling, or rather tabernacling (io-ojj'wo-e) ■ among men, — even he who came in the name of the Lord to save us. It will receive its full accomplishment when he shaU come " the second time, with- out sin (not bearing sin), unto salvation;" and when "the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and he will dwell among them, and be their God."
Yer. 12. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and over- threxo the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.
It is said, " On the fifteenth day of Adar, they sat at the tables in the various cities ; but on the twenty-fifth, in the temple." ^ According to the Talmud these persons sat in the temple with thirteen chests before them, one of which re- ceived the half-shekel due for the present year ; another* that for the past year ; a third, the money paid for doves, &c. Half-shekels were supplied for other money on the payment of a premium or discount. This charge for accommodating the people with half-shekels to pay the annual contribution for the ofierings of the temple was called kalbon (pbp, whence the name KoWvfiitTTai, kollybistce, money-changers), and became a regular source of gain. " Brothers who, after sharing the inheritance from their parents, have entered into partner- however, in his comment on the passage, applies it to Israel (TTTTK? 027 ma~><n fS bca?). it is plain, however, that the Jews have regarded the Psalm as Messianic, that the people anciently understood it so, and that on the present occasion thej applied it to Jesus as the Messiah, " the son of David." ' Sfiekalim i. 3.
MATTHEW XXI. 115
ship, are not bound to pay the tithe of cattle while they are liable to the Jcalbon, but whilst they are liable to the payment of cattle-tithe, they are not subject to the kalbon." ^ It was by the exaction of this Jcalbon, as well as the gainful traffic carried on in the temple-court in the animals required for sacrifice, and presided over by certain officers of the temple (see note, Luke xxii. 52), that the house of God was con- verted into a den of thieves.
Yer. 15. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David ; they were sore displeased.
Children were accustomed, at the Feast of Tabernacles, to shake the palm-branch and to join the grown-up people in the ceremony. " A minor (a child under thirteen years of age), who understands how to shake the loolabh, is bound to per- form that duty." ^ Hence we find the children on this joy- ous occasion taking up the acclamations of the multitude, and crying, as at the feast, Hosanna ; only now, — partly from hearing others, and partly, no doubt, through the special illumination of Him who hides these things from the wise and prudent and reveals them unto babes, and who was expected in the days of the Messiah to pour out of his Spirit even upon children, — they ascribe their Hosanna to Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah.
Children of Levite families were sometimes employed in the temple, as in other things, so also in singing with the Levites. " No little boy enters the court (of Israel) or comes to the
I Cholin i. 7.
* Succoth iii. 15. Schoetgen shows from the Talmud that children were accustomed to repeat the Hosanna at the Feast of Tabernacles, and that those who met them were to answer them in the same joyous language. Instead of this, the chief priests and scribes, from their dislike to Jesus,, were angry with the children.
I 2
116 MATTHEW XXT.
service, except while the Levltes are standing and singing ; neither do they play on the nabla or on the harp ; but sing in order to add sweetness to the music." ^
Yer. 19. And when he saio a Jig-tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, hut leaves onhj, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the Jig-tree withered away.
In connection with the question as to the lawfulness of sowing under the branches of a tree over which vines are trained, it is asked in the Mishna, — " What is meant by the expression * a wild tree ' (|T1D iVs Han serdk) ?" The answer is, — " All trees which are not fruit-bearing. Rabbi Meir saith. Excepting only the olive and the fig-tree, all trees are called wild trees. E. Jose saith, All trees with which it is not usual to plant entire fields (or orchards), are called wild trees."" The fig-tree was not in itself an Han serdk (jro iVs), or wild tree ; but here was one which at a time when figs might be expected upon it, the time of gathering the fruit (jcaipoQ (TVKuv, time of figs) having not yet come (Mark xi. 13), presented only leaves ;— emblem of the barren and degenerate Church, whether Jewish or Gentile, " which is nigh unto cursing." " I had planted thee a nohle vine, wholly a right seed ; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ? " Jer. ii. 21.
' ^Erachia ii. 6.
' Chiluim vi. 5. Schoetgen shows from the Rabbies that ripe fruit might be found on the fig-tree all through the year. Lightfoot thinks that the tree in question was one of the species called mSD~l2 or HW H'CO., which ripen their fruit only in two or three years ; and that the expression of Mark, " for the time of figs was not yet," — indicates why the Saviour's c-c- pectation was drawn to this tree in particular, the present not being the ordinary time of gathering figs, while this tree, from its being covered with foliage, showed that it belonged to the particular species mentioned, and therefore ought to have some of the second or third year's fruit still upon it. '■ ' . .
MATTHEW XXI. 117
Ver. 25. The baptism of John, whence was it 9 from heaven, or of men ?
The Jews were in the habit of using' the term "heaven " for the Divine Being. " Let the fear of God (literally, ' the fear of heaven') be upon you." \
" Baptism " appears to have been connected with doctrine, from the habit of regarding both the Holy Spirit and the truth which proceeds from him, under the figure of water. "I will sprinkle clean water upon you." " I will pour out my Spirit upon you." "My doctrine shall drop as the rain." Hence the water drawn from Siloam, and poured out upon the altar at the Feast of Tabernacles, was viewed as at once the emblem of the Holy Ghost and the new doctrine to be introduced by the Messiah. On this account, doubtless, John came " bap- tizing with water."
Yer. 33. Hear another parable : There was a certain house- holder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a luine-press iji it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country : and lohen the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
The Jews had two ways of renting land for cultivation ; the one, by the payment of a stipulated sum of money ; the other, by rendering to the owner a certain portion of the pro- duce. In the former case, the farmer was called a shocher (~irru7) ; in the latter, o.' khocher (inn). The engagement in the text was of the latter kind, and the husbandmen were khocherim. The part of the produce rendered might be a half, a third, or a fourth of the whole, according to the stipulation.' — TThere God establishes a church-state among a people, and bestows church-privileges upon them, he expects a return in kind. He bestows grace, and he expects the
' Pirke Abhoth i. Z. — WZ-^V U'HW S^IQ NTT * Peak v. 5.
118 MATTHEW XXI.
fruits of holiness. He imparts more or less of his Spirit, and he looks for the fruits of the Spirit accordingly. " Receive not the grace of God in vain."
A hedge might either be a fence (of stones, canes, &c.) or a trench. " What is a fence ?" asks the Miahna. "A hedge ten hands high, or a trench ten hands deep and four wide." ' " Should a trench ten hands deep and four wide traverse the vineyard, R. Eliezer ben Jacob saith, If it be open from one end of the vineyard to the other, it must be considered as running between two vineyards, and may be sown in ; but if not, it must be considered as a wine-press.'
Ver. 44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken : hut on xchomsoever it shall fall, it icill grind him to powder.
The allusion seems to be to the manner in which Jewish criminals were stoned (see note on Acts vii. 59). The indi- vidual was first made to fall from an elevation upon a large stone laid there for the purpose. If he was not killed by the fall, the stone was taken up and cast upon him.' So with the Stone which the builders rejected. Appointed to be a sure foundation for sinners to build their hopes upon, and now made the headstone of the comer, — the bond of union to the entire Church of God, — Jesus of Nazareth, once crucified, but now risen and exalted, becomes, like Jerusalem, a burdensome stone to all who continue to reject him. " All that burden themselves with it shall' be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." (Zech. xii. 3.) " Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled even for a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." (Ps. ii. 12.)
-,. ' Chilaim iv. 3, 4. ' Ihid. v. 3. ' Sankedrin vi. 3, 4.
CHAPTER XXII.
Yer. 23. The same day came to him the Saddiicees, which sat/ that there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no childreii, his "brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his hr other.
The Sadducees, it has been already observed (note, Matt. iii. 7), probably derived their name from one Sadoc, a dis- ciple of Antigonus of Socho. Antigonus, who is said to have received the oral law from Simeon the Just, the last of the Great Sanhedrim, taught his disciples that God was to be served from love rather than from the hope of reward. " Be not like servants," said he, " who serve their master for the sake of the wages they receive ; but be like those who serve without any regard to wages ; and let the fear of God be upon you." ^ This excellent sentiment, if not a little too refined, — as we are certainly not forbidden to have respect to the recompense of the reward, but the contrary, — was so far perverted by two of his disciples, Sadoc and Baithos, that they afterwards taught that there existed no future state at all (see Acts xxiii. 8). It was this denial of the future existence of the soul that led to the denial of the resurrection of the body. As, from the composite nature of man, the former involves the latter, the Lord Jesus shows from the Books of Moses, to which the Sadducees attached peculiar authority, that the patriarchs still live, and that consequently there must be a resurrection from the dead.
Firke Abhoth i. 3. — t C^^bl?
120 MATTHEW XXII,
Ver. 28. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she he of the seven ? for they all had her.
The law of the Levirate, as it is usually termed, oblio-In^ a man to marrv his brother's widow, should he have died childless, is contained in Deut. xxv. 5 — 11. This law is called by the Jews the Yebhoom {^^T), and has an entire treatise devoted to it in the lEishna. The objection to the doctrine of the resurrection which the Sadducees founded upon this practice of Yebhoom, indicates the carnal nature of the views entertained by the Pharisees on that subject.'
^ Manasseh ben Israel, who, in his Treatise on the E.esuiTection,'endea- vours to prove from reason, Scripture, and the authority of the ancient Jews, that the righteous after that event shall perforin corporeal functions and enjoy corporeal pleasures, acknowledges the force of the objection grounded on the practice of Yebhoom ; observing that, -while on the view of Moses Gerundensis, viz. that the resurrection-state will afford no place for carnal and corporeal action, the objection disappears, yet the difficulty may per- haps be otherwise met on the supposition that, according to Zohar, souls were originally created in pairs, and that thus one man can only have one true, proper, and divinely-appointed wife, others being only married as the effect of sin and the result of human counsel (licet quis cum diversis et variis sese connubio jungat, una tamen vera et propria ejus est conjux; eaque cuique dabitur in resurrectione mortuorum). He wonders that Abarbanel and other masters have not discussed the question. The Prophet like unto Moses settled it long ago.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Yer. 2. The Scribes oid the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat : all therefore xohatsoexer they hid you observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after their ivories : for they say, and do not.
There was usually in connection with, a synagogue a school or college (Km^^n rvz beth ham-midrash) , in which, religious questions were discussed, and expositions of the law delivered, bv the Scribes and such of the Pharisees as occu- pied the place of Pabbi or teacher. " P. Xehooniah. ben Hakanah used to pronounce a short prayer when he entered the Beth Hammidrash (college), and again when he left it. They asked him. What occasion is there for this prayer? He an- swered, TThen I enter, I pray that no offence may arise on my account (that I may not cause any one to stumble) ; and when I go out, I give tbanks for ray lot (that I occupy the place of a student and teacher of the law)." ' The principal college was that which met at Jerusalem in the chamber of hewn stone [ryu gazith), and was afterwards transferred to Jabneh, or Jamnia. There the principal doctors and masters of the traditions assembled, and from their decisions there was no appeal. — Even the most eminent of these Pabbies, however, sometimes " said and did not." "Pabban Gamaliel bathed on the first night of his wife's death. His disciples said to him, Pabbi, hast thou not taught us that a mourner is not to bathe on the first night ? He answered, I am not like other men : I am sick, "When his slave Tabi died, he received visits of condolence. His disciples said to him, Rabbi, hast
1 BcrarJiotk iv. 1.
122 MATTHEW XXIII.
thou not taught us that visits of condolence are not to be re- ceived for slaves ? He answered them, My slave Tabi was not like other slaves : he was pious." '
Yer. 4. For they hind heavy burdens and grievous to he borne, and lay them on men's shoidders ; but they them- selves loill not move them with one of their fingers.
That the Rabbies by their decisions imposed heavy burdens upon the people appears throughout the Mishna, and is indeed acknowledged by themselves. This was very specially the case with the school of Shammai. Thus it is said, " In three things Rabban Gamaliel decides in aggravation (or making the burden heavy) like the school of Shammai : viz. It is forbidden to cover or place the pots of victuals in a hot place on the eve of the festival ; also on the Sabbath, &c. He decided in alleviation (lightening the burden) in respect to the three following things, &c."^ Hence the mention of "the weighty and light things of the school of Shammai, and the weighty and light things of the school of Hillel." — In regard to their not moving the burdens themselves, it is not clear whether their not bearing them, or not helping others to bear them, is intended. The former seems more natural. " They say and do not." Such, with a ^qvj exceptions, seems to have been the character of the great mass of Jewish teachers at that period.^
Yer. 5. But all their works they do for to be seen of men : they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments.
The use of phylacteries (l^bsn tephillin) seems to have occupied, in our Saviour's time, as it does still, an important
' Berachoth ii. 6, 7. * Tom Tohh ii. 6.
' Lightfoot quotes a passage from the Jerusalem Talmud in which a cunning wicked man (CTn37 27ttn) is said to be one of the things that destroy the world, such a person being understood by some Gemarists to be "one who prescribes light things for himself, and heavy ones for others."
MATTHEW XXIII. 123
place in the religioa of the Jews. It is founded on a mis- conception of the command given in Ex. xiii. 9, and Deut. vi. S, — " Thou shalt bind them (the commandments) for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eves." Takin? the words in their literal meaning, the Jews wrote certain portions of the law in Hebrew on four slips of parchment, which they enclosed in a leathern case, and wore at certain times on their forehead and their left hand, to which they attached them by leathern strings. In the phy- lactery for the head,' which was to form a cube, they made four compartments, into each of which they put a separate slip. Those for the hand had but one cavity, and were of an oblong figure. The passages which were written on the slips were Ex. xiii. 1 — 10; also 11 — 16; Deut. vi. 4 — 9; and xi. 13 — 21. In the phylactery for the hand,- the texts might either be written on four different slips, or on a single oblong one, in four columns. The phylacteries were to be worn only in the day-time ; because the command, as it stands in the Hebrew, is, " from days to days ; " and only on week-days ; because they were to be used for "a sign," which the Sabbath is of itself. ""Women, slaves, and children below thirteen years of age," as well as " those who had a corpse in the house, were exempt from the use of phylacteries."^ As the phylacteries are worn with the professed view of keeping the wearer in remembrance of the divine commands, they should properly be worn aU the day ; but as this would be inconvenient, the Rabbies have ordered them to be used only at the time of morning prayers, which commonly last about an hour and a half, or, with the most strict Jews, three hours or more. Many modern Jews, however, with the view of separating themselves from the world, and enjoying, as they suppose, close communion with God in their studies, wear their phylacteries from morning to evening.* The phylactery
' ITSn btt7 ]"'b^2n * T bty ^b'^Sn ^ Bemcholh iii. 1, 3. .
* MargolioutKs MocUrti, Judaism Investigated; chap. iii.
124 MATTHEW XXIIT.
for the hand is put on first, the wearer placing it on his left arm opposite the heart, and securing it there by winding the thong seven times round the arm, while he repeats the following blessing, — "Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us with thy pre- cepts and commanded us to wear phylacteries." The phy- lactery for the head is then taken and secured by the thon'> exactly in the centre between the eyes, while the follo^ano- blessing is said, — "Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us with thy command- ments, and hast given us the commandment of the phy- lacteries.— Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever. — And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercy. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." Every time the wearer says, "I will betroth thee " — he winds the end of the thong three times round the middle finger of his left hand.^ The use of phylacteries has been considered of such importance that it has been styled by the modem Jews one of the three " Fundamental principles of Judaism." ^ In Zohar, rewards are attached to the use, and punishment threatened to the neglect, of them.' Kimchi, in his commentary on the Psalms, says that " whoever observes the precept regarding Tephillin (or phylacteries), the Scripture imputes it to him as if he meditated on the law of God day and ni?ht." * It is acknow- ledged, however, that their use is rather to be derived from the oral than from the written law.' The Caraite Jews, who
' MargolioulV s Modern Judaism Intestigated, chap. iii. See also Mill's British Jews, Part I. chap. i. ; and Buxlorf, De Sy?i. Jud. cap. iv.
' Murgoliouth's Mod. Jud. chap. i. ^ Sgnojisis, Tit. ii. * Psalm i.
' "The law," says Manasseh ben Israel, "commands that phylacteries ('J'^Vcn Tephillin) be put between the eyes and tied on the hands for a sign. Bat it does not explain what phylacteries properly are, nor what the word Totaphoth (mCtOltO 'frontlets') signifies. And because all can by
MATTHEW XXIII. 125
reject tradition, never used them. The manner of using them, among the Rabbinical Jews, appears not to be uniform. As used at present, they are not mentioned either by Josephus, nor by Joseph ben Gorron. I^o notice is taken of them in the Prophets or the Apocrypha. Those worn in. the time of Jerome appear to have been quite different from those in modern use.'
The word here rendered " borders " [k-paa-xEca, craspeda), should rather have been translated " fringes," being intended to denote the "fringes" (n"':;"'- tsitsith) spoken of in Numbers XV. 38, where their use is enjoined on the Israelites, in order to remind them of their obligation to keep all God's com- mandments. They were to be made of blue, and worn on the four corners of their garment. At a later period, the Jews made a special garment for the purpose of attaching fringes to it, which they commonly call Talith (n"*b:3 "a garment"), or Arba canphoth (m~jD r^^S " four corners "). It is gener- ally made of white wool, in the form of a shawl or scarf, about three feet long and one wide for an adult, with an opening in the centre by which it is put over the head, so that one part of it falls upon the breast and the other upon the back. The fringes must be made of white lamb's wool, each being composed of eight threads about a quarter of a yard long, one of these being wound so many times round the rest and made into five knots. The lesser Talith just described (llirp n^b*^ Talith katon) must be put on immediately after awaking in the morning, while the following blessing is repeated, — " Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by thy precepts, and hast given to us
no means agree upon sucb a matter, we must listen to the Mishna and oral law." Conciliator, quoted by Margoliouth, ut supra.
' " Hoc PhariscEi, male interpretantes, scribunt in membranis decalogum Mosi, id est, decern verba legis : complicantes ea et ligantes in froute, et quasi coronam capiti facientes : ut semper ante oculos moverentur : quod usque hodie Indi et Persae et Babylonii faciunt ; et qui hoc habuerit, quasi religiosus in populis judicatur." Comment, in MattAcsum, in loco.
126 MATTHEW XXIII.
the precept of fringes." This, which is sometimes made in the form of a waistcoat, and used as an inner garment, is worn constantly. The great Talith (Vii: n^'bc: Talith GadhoV) is worn above the clothes, and only during prayers. It is to be put upon the head, and kept there from the commence- ment of morning prayers to the end, though some, as in Eng- land, wear it carelessly over their shoulders as a scarf. The Caraite Jews make their Talith and fringes in a different manner and of different materials from the Eabbinists, and wear them only at morning prayer. The Jews in Poland, Russia, and Jerusalem, are said to have their Talith Katon made very long, and so that the fringes are presented to view from under their clothes. To wear Ion? fringes is esteemed a mark of superior piety.' The precept enjoining their use is considered one of the fundamental principles of Judaism ; and great benefits are believed to flow from it.^ Jesus, as a Jew, made imder the law, doubtless wore the frino-es on his arar- ment in conformity with the precept, and in token of his complete obedience.^ Ee put on righteousness as a garment, that he might have such a garment wherewith to clothe the sinner, according to his title, "The Lord our Righteousness." Too often, however, they were worn by his countrymen for religious display.
' Margoliouth, Mod. Jud. chap. vii. — ix.
^ "He who is not clothed in a fringed garment," says the author of Zohar, " in this world, is clothed in filthj garments in the world to come." "He who goes forth from his house, clad in a fringed garment, and furnished with phylacteries, is accompanied to the synagogue by two angels ; the evil angel departs from his gate ; and with those two he fol- lows the steps of the divine glory, and hears the benedictions which they pronounce upon him." Si/nopsis, Tit. ii.
' This wa5 no doubt the reason why the diseased sought to touch the " hem (icprtffTrtJoi', ' fringe ') of his garment."
MATTHEW XXIII. 127
Yer, 7. [ They love] greetings in the markets, and to he called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
A sa}^ng of Babbi Zadok would seem, to corroborate this cbarge against the Pharisaical Jews. " Do not make the crown (i. e. do not assume the profession of superior piety or knowledge of the law as a Eabbi) in order to aggrandize thy- self by it." ' " Rabbi " began to be used in the Saviour's time, as the ordinary title of Jewish teachers and learned men, and of course indicated superior devotedness to the study and observ- ance of the law. The title of Rabban implied a still higher degree, and was only given to some of the more eminent doctors, as Gamaliel. The title of Rabbi was greatly affected by the Pharisees, and, at least in a later period, bestowed by authority and with considerable ceremony.-
' Pirke Abhothiy. 5. — m bllinb mt:37 tL'^'H 'tS So in Siplire, quoted bj Maimonides on San si. 1. — "Lest thou shouldst say, I learn the law that I may be rich, that I may be called Rabbi."
^ The author of Zohar attributes great merit to the person who has at- tained to the degree of master or Rabbi, and who teaches accordmg to the traditions ; bnt threatens with punishment the man who has not obtained that degree and vet teaches. Si/nopsis, Tit. i. Lightfoot observes that at the time of the Saviour's appearance on earth, the titles of Rabban and Rabbi commenced, Rabban Simeon the son of Hillel being the first presi- dent of the Sanhedrim that bore a title. The bestowment of the title of Rabbi, accordmg to Godwin, was as follows. The person was first a learner, scholar or disciple (l"'!3bn Talniidh). After acquiring a certain proficiency, he was by imposition of hands (mD"'CD semichuth) made a fellow or companion of the Rabbles <^:in khahhh). Afterwards, when con- sidered worthy to teach, he received the degree of Rabbi. {Moses and Aaron, Book I. chap, vii.) Placed on an elevated chair, there were delivered to him a key and a writing tablet, the hands of certain delegates of the San- hedrin were placed on his head, and his title as a Rabbi was proclaimed. This imposition of hands might, however, be dispensed with. Jennings' Jewish Antiquities, Book I. chap. vii.
128 MATTHEW XXI ir.
Yer. 9. And call no man xj our father upon the earth : for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
" Father " was another title given to Jewish teachers. Hence the name of one of the subdivisions of the Mishna, mzs ''p".^ Pirke Abhoth, " chapters of the fathers," as con- taining the sayings of many of the Rabbinical doctors. Thus also we meet with " Abba Saul," or " Father Saul," " Abba Goryom," "Abba Guryah," &c.'
Ver. 13. But icoe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- crites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
The " kingdom of heaven " was that New Testament Church, of which Jesus Christ was constituted King and Head, and of which it is said in Acts ii. 47, " The Lord add- ed to the Church daily such as should be (or rather such as were) saved" (o-w^o^tVouc). The Scribes and Pharisees held not only the key of instruction but of discipline. Persons confessing Jesus to be the Messiah they cast out of the Syna- gogue. They enforced the injunction of Hillel — " Separate not from the Church."^ To follow Jesus, which was really to enter the kingdom of heaven, they considered such a separ- ation.
' The Kabbies required an equal reverence to be paid to tbem by their scholars or disciples as was paid to God. The book of Zohar contains a saying of the sages to this eflect : — " Every one ought to fear his master (Rabbi or teacher) as God himself: hence none is to pray behind his master's back, as this would indicate that be has not so much reverence for his master as he has for God." Si/nopsis, Tit. ii.
2 Pirke Abhoth ii. 4. — "TC^ITT p ^TT^irn bs
MATTHEW XXIII. 129
Ver. 14. IVoe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widoics^ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer : therefore ye shall receive the greater dam- nation.
It was a saying of Rabbi Zadok, — . " Do not make the cro^\Ti (i. e. do not assume the title of a Rabbi or a religious person) as a hatchet to dig with," — that is — as a means of obtaining a living.' Hence we may infer that such sinister purposes were by no means unfrequent. Schoetgen shows, from the Jerusalem Talmud, that the Pharisees were known to consult with children, on the decease of a father, how to deprive the widow of the property left by her husband. The "plague" or "stroke" of the Pharisees (';"'cn~''-: ro,'^) would seem to have been a familiar expression.^
Those who wished to make a greater show of devotion would make long prayer, partly by going through the whole of the eighteen daily prayers called Amidah (m^'^v), while others might only use a summary of them ; and partly by remaining so much longer than others in the synagogue both before and after the daily service. " The men of ancient days," says the Mishna, " used to pause a full hour before they began to pray, in order to direct their minds to the Deity." '
' Pirh Ahhoth iv. 5. — m -^y^LVb CTTp S^T — To dig with a hatchet may sound strange to English ears ; but the practice appears to be quite common in the East. Dr Bonar, in his " Desert of Sinai," says — " The ground was first broken up with an axe or hatchet," p. 293. And again — "We came upon a ploughed field, where there was a man with an axe cleaving the baked soil," p. 309.
* JIor(S Heb. et Tal. in loco.
* Berachoth v. 1. In Zohar a reward is held out to the person who dwells long upon the last letter in the word IHH [ekhadh, "one") while re- citing the Shema', "Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Si/nopsis, Tit. ii. From the same source it is easy to see how the Scribes and Pharisees might, under the garb of sanctity and devotion, "devour
K
130 MATTHEW XXIII.
Yer. 15. TVoe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and xchen he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yoursehes.
It is criven as one of the sayings of the men of the Great Svnao-oo-ue. who are said to have received the oral law from the prophets — " Make many disciples." ' Obedience to this injunction would lead to an endeavour to make proselytes amono* the heathen. The Rabbies, however, were not to teach a proselyte the law unless he were holy and practised the commandments.- The proselyte, therefore, must either have become a thorough Pharisee, or be left in ignorance. Rabbi Akibhah, one of the most famous of the Rabbinists, and the principal supporter of the notorious Barcocheba, who gave himself out for the Messiah, was a proselyte.
Yer. 16. Woe unto you, ye hlind guides, which say. Who- soever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing ; hut who- soever shall stcear hy the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
In the Mishna we have an example of a Rabbi swearing by the temple. '* By this house (the temple) her hand was
widows' houses," by turning to their own advantage such statements as the following: — "To those who give stipend to the teachers of the Law, the Holy Blessed One imputes it as if they made those teachers." " He who gives alms, and is otherwise of service to those who study the Law, merits riches both in this world and the next." "Whoever does not honour the Law and those who study in it, is the first to be judged at the Feast of the New Year." " Who give abundantly to the students of the Law, their reward comes upon their own head."
1 Pirke Ahhoth i. 1. — D'^^l CTnbn Tl^n^m — The Roman Satiiist has thus recorded the zeal of the Jews in making proselytes : —
Multo plures sumus, ac veluti te
Judsei cogemus in banc concedere turbam. " In point of numbers we do far exceed you ; And, like the Jews, we '11 force you to fall in And join our company." Hor. Sat. T. iv.
* Zohar, Synopsis, Tit. i.
MATTHEW XXni. 131
not removed from my hand, from the time the heathen entered Jerusalem, until they departed from it." ' It has been already noticed that certain oaths were not considered binding. (See note on Matt. v. 34.)
Yer. 19. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifeth the gift ?
The law declared — " Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy" — i. e. sanctified or set apart to a sacred use (Ex. xxix. 37). The Mishna, however, says, — ''The altar sancti- fies what is suitable to it. " - The general opinion was that blood, and the wine used for drink offerings, might be re- moved from the altar, as not sanctified by it ; though Rabban Gamaliel maintained that nothing laid on it might be with- drawn.
" The altar sanctifieth the gift." In the person of the Son of God, the altar of his Divine nature so sanctified the offer- ing up of his soul and body to God as a sacrifice for sin, as both to make a full atonement, and present a sweet smelling savour ; while our imperfect services, offered to God through him, and our persons united to him by faith, are sanctified and accepted also. — " Behold, 0 God, our shield ; and look on the face of thine Anointed."
Ver. 23. Woe tcnto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and czimmin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, Judgment, mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have done, and not to leave . the other undone.
The decision of the elders was— "Whatsoever is eaten, and is preserved, and has its increase from the ground, is subject
> Ckethuhhoth ii. 9.— "T2T iTTT wb HTn pmn y^^^U p nnDT H 1CN ' Zebhakhim ix. 1. — lb ^ISHH nH a7ipn rOKH
k2
132 ' MATTHEW XXIIl.
to tithes."^ Besides such produce, there were articles the tithing of which was doubtful, and for which only a second tithe and a small heave-offering were appointed by the San- hedrim.- From the Mishna it appears that the common people were negligent in the payment of tithes and heave- offerings (see note on Matt. x. 11). The Pharisees, professing to be exact observers of the law, not only paid tithe for all that was tithable, but even for what was doubtful, or only tithable by the decision of the elders. — The distinction be- tween the weightier and liiyhter matters of the law has been noticed at chap. v. 19. The Saviour teaches that moral duties constituted the weightier matters, while the Scribes and Pharisees, in general, gave precedency either to the mere study of the law, or to the practice of minute prescriptions and external forms. *' These are things," says the Mishna, " for which a man is rewarded both in this world and the next, — honouring his parents, showing mercy, making peace between man and man ; and the study of the law is equal to them all." '
Yer. 24. Ye hlin-d guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
The reference here is to the practice of filtering wine. It is known that the expression, " strain a/," was intended to be "strain out," and originally was thus printed. How the Eabbies strained out the gnat, both in what they taught and
' — nrt2737an I'^'^n V"»sn ]a rbiTn tiect bris Nirnr- bs
Mdasaroth i. 1.
* Hence the Treatise in the Mishna called Demai, or things doubtful. Godwin observes, from Moses Kotsensis, that a hundred and thirty years before our Saviour's appearance on earth, corruption so prevailed among the Jews, that the payment of tithes was very generally neglected ; and that hence the Sanhedrim, in the days of John Hyrcanus, both appointed more faithful overseers over the tithes, and instituted the laws relatmg to things doubtful, as mentioned above. Moses and Aaron, Book vi. oh. iii.
» Teah i. 1. — QbiD "D^D rrr\r\ Trabm
MATTHEW XXIII. 133
what they did, may be seen, as in other things, so in their rules regarding the Sabbath. On this very subject of filtering wine, "Rabbi Eliezer saith, People may hang a wine-strainer (over a vessel) on the festival, and (after it has been pre- viously suspended) they may pour wine into it on the Sab- bath. But the sages say, They may neither spread a wine- strainer on the festival, nor pour wine into it on the Sabbath; but they may pour into it on the festival after it has been previously spread. They may pour water on lees to render them thinner ; and also strain wine through a cloth or an Egyptian hamper ; and pass an eg^ through a mustard- strainer. They may also mix honey-wine on the Sabbath. R. Jehudah saith. They may mix it on the Sabbath in a goblet ; on the festival, in a basin (a larger quantity) ; and, in the intermediate days of a festival, in a cask."' Thus they "strained out the ^nat." And, in connection with the same subject of the Sabbath, is not the following an example of swallowing a camel ? " If a building tumble down, and it be doubtful if any person be buried beneath the ruins or not ; if it be doubtful whether he be dead or alive ; or [if it be doubtful] whether it be a Gentile or an Israelite, — the ruins may be removed from above him on the Sabbath,"- implying that, were there no doubt that the person beneath the ruins were a Gentile^ he must be suffered to remain and perish.
Yer. 27. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are like unto tchited septdchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
The Jews were careful to keep the tombs whitewashed in order that they might be so distinguished that persons might not contract uncleanness by coming in contact with them.
' Shabbath xx. 1, 2. * Yomah viii. 7.
134 MATTHEW XXIII.
"On the fifteenth day of Adar — they whitewash the tombs." ' Striking picture of a foul heart under a fair profession !
Ver. 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and toise men, a7id scribes : and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, ^c.
" "Wise men " and " scribes " were terms by which those who were versed in the law were frequently designated by the Jews. Thus the city where R. Jose ben Kisma dwelt is called by him ''a city of wise men and scribes."^ — ""VYhen Jesus ascended up on high, he gave gifts unto men ; and he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangel- ists; and some, pastors and teachers." (Eph. iv. 8 — 11.)
Ver. 38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
The " house " was the term by which the Jews very com- monly designated the temple. " The mountain of the house " (iT'^n "in Har hab-baith) was the name given to the whole of the sacred enclosure.^ The Jews, in speaking of the de- struction of the temple, use the very terms in which the Saviour here declares that event as about to take place. " From the day that the house of the sanctuary was made desolate " is a frequent expression in the writings of the Rab-
« Shekalim i. 1. — nn^pn AS ]"^2'''^";;ai — That the picture here pre- sented was true of a vast proportion, of the Scribes and Pharisees seems to have been acknowledged by the Jews themselves. Schoetgen has adduced the following passages from the Rabbins : — " There are ten portions of hypocrisy in the world ; nine are in Jerusalem, and the tenth is in all the rest of the world " {Midrash Esther, sec. i. foL 101. 4). "Be not afraid of Pharisees, nor of non-Pharisees; but be afraid of the painted ones, who are like Pharisees, but their deeds are the deeds of Zimri, and yet they hope for the reward of Phinehas " {Soia, fol. 222). "They (the Pharisees who walked with their heads bent down, and thus frequently struck them against a wall, — hence called ''CjTJ lypD) — did not do this for the glory of God, but that they might deceive men." Anich, fol. 127. 4.
» nnsTD hw^ c^n::n bw 3 Middotk ii. 1.
MATTHEW XXIII. 135
bins. " Since the house of the sanctuary was made desolate, the pious men and the sons of nobles are ashamed." ' — Rabbi Simeon, in Zohar, says that Elias foretold to R. Chija, that Jerusalem and all the schools of the sages would be made de- solate.- This is a fiction. But Jesus of Nazareth openly fore- told to the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves that such an event would soon befal their city and temple for their re- jection of their King and Saviour. Israel is still, alas ! in un- belief, and their house still lies desolate. But they shall yet say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." The Lord hasten it in his time !
1 Sotah X. 15.— "i:i *^2-\^72n H^l 2^nC73
The author of Zohar observes that " Jerusalem was not made desolate till they neglected the law;" and says elsewhere, that the place where the ungodly dwell is called " desolated " (STTI). Si/nopsis, Tit. i. Josephus says that the temple, from the wickedness and mutual slaughter committed in it, had ceased to be a place of God {Qiov x^9°^)> before Titus ordered his soldiers to level it with the ground. Jewish JFar, V. L 3 ; VII. i. 1.
* S^nojpsis, Tit. i.
CHAPTER XXIY.
Yer. 20. But pratj ye that your Jlight may not he in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.
The ground of this admonition in respect to the Sabbath, was the obli oration under which the Jews felt themselves not to travel on that day beyond a certain limit. The greatest distance to which the Kabbinical regulations allowed a man to go from his domicile on the day of rest, was 2000 cubits or paces. He who wished to go further was obliged to deposit food for two meals in some particular place before the coming in of the Sabbath ; by doing which he was, in law, entitled to have that particular place considered as his domicile, so that he might then go 2000 paces beyond it. The food which was thus deposited was called 'erubh {^.T-v), or commixture, because employed so to combine places and limits as to render that lawful on the Sabbath which would not otherwise be so. A case such as that to which the Saviour here refers is sup- posed in a passage of the Mishna, and which may serve for illustration. " A man may deposit his 'erubh upon conditions, and say, If the Gentiles (an invading array) come from the east, my 'erubh shall stand good for the west ; if they come from the west, my 'erubh shall stand good for the east ; if they shall come from both quarters, my 'erubh is towards the place whither I shall wish to go." ' By this method a person could escape to a greater distance from danger without in- fringing the regulations regarding the Sabbath rest. It is from this rule that we meet with the expression, ** A Sabbath-day's
' 'Ertibhui iii. 5.
MATTHEW XXIV. 137
journey;" the distance of 2000 cubits having been fixed upon, from the supposition that it was just so far from the ark that the tents of the IsraeKtes were pitched during their abode in the wilderness, so that on the Sabbath they had only that distance to travel in order to be present at the tabernacle-worship. See Joshua iii. 4.
As the direction in the text was addressed to the disciples, it is to be inferred that the Sabbath, as a day of rest, was to be of permanent obligation in the Christian Church ; and that while even necessary journeys were to be deprecated as an evil if extending beyond a certain moderate limit, — all unnecessary travelling on that day, as a thing foreign to its spirit and object, was to be avoided as much under the New as under the Old Testament dispensation. They were to pray that the time of their flisrht mio'ht be such that "neither reli- gion nor the roughness of the road and the shortness of the days might impede or delay their haste;"' that they might avoid " transgression of the law if they endeavoured to flee and imminent death if they remained." -
Ver. 41. Tico loomen sliall he grinding at the mill ; the one shall he taken, and the other left.
" These are the works," says the Mishna, " which a woman is bound to do for her husband. She must grind corn, and bake, &c. If she brought him one bondwoman (or the value of one as her dowry) she need not grind, &c." ' Two women were accustomed to grind together at the hand-mill. " If there are two women (of the common people grinding to- gether in the house of a Pharisee), the house is rendered un- clean between them ; for the one grinds and the other sup- plies with corn." * Of two women thus working together at
' Calvin, in loco. * Jerome.
3 _"i:n n2m!3 rhvzb n^^s^v nisiin^r mrsba iVs
Chetlmhhoth v. 5.
* nnsT n:m-;3 nnsa: nx:u n^^n -jr ]^m i^ i^z ^^rw rT\
Taharoth vii. \. — : P^i^^T^
138 MATTHEW XXIV.
the mill, when the time for the predicted destruction of the city should arrive, one, being a Christian and taking ad- vantage of the Saviour's warning, should, by a kind Provi- dence, effect her escape, while the other should remain and perish ; and when that still more solemn event should come, of which the other was the foreshadowing, — the second and glorious appearance of the Lord, — the one should be caught up into the clouds to meet him in the air, while the other, found in impenitence and unbelief, should be left to perish in the judgment of that day.
CHAPTER XXV.
Yer. 32, And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.
In the Mishna it is said, "At the new year all that come into the world pass before Him (namely, God) as sheep " (that is, to be judged for the works of the previous year).' It would seem that at the time of our Saviour, or not long after, it was the doctrine of the Jewish teachers that at four periods in the year the world is judged, — the Passover, Pentecost, the new year, and the feast of Tabernacles. At the new year the destiny of each individual is still supposed to be fixed for the ensuing year according as his good or bad actions have preponderated, tinless the sentence is modified by his repentance during the period that intervenes between new year's day and the day of Atonement. — In the text it would seem that the Saviour refers more especially to the judgment of those nations to whom the Gospel has been preached.
Bosk Hicskihanah i. 2.
140 MA'ITHEW XXV.
Yer. 35. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I loas thirsty, and ye gave me drijik : I teas a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me : I teas sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
According to the Jewish teachers, " showing mercy " was one of those things of which men reap the fruit both in this world and in that which is to come.' This virtue, according
' na^"*- p-m nrn n^rji ]rrm-:>iD b^is ciwc' cz^^zi i^s ^>2 abui' Ps^m c^irn r\'hiiv\ czst 2n nz^^ • szn cbirb -h
; Cbl^ 'VZ'Z mn imbm T\^irh ClS — Teak i. l. The favour with, which God regards those who show kindness to the poor, and the reward which awaits them, as well the opposite conduct and its conse- quences, are frequently set forth in the book Zohar. "When Divine judg- ments are raging in the world, the Holy and Blessed One sends a certain gift to the man whom he loves, namely, a poor person whom he may assist and benefit ; which, if he does, God marks him with a sign of benignity ; and when judgment comes upon the world, the destroying angel beholds the sign, and forbears, to touch him." " Angelic princes receive a charge over those who visit and instruct the poor, and who comfort the needy and the afflicted." " To him who pities the poor and gives them of his sub- stance, God will repay double." " He who refreshes not the soul of the poor in this world, the Holy and Blessed One will not refresh his soul in the world to come." Synopsis, Tit. iii. That kindness, however, which Jesus will reward in the day of his appearing, is that which is shown to his disciples as such. Christ regards it as done to himself. "Moselekatse, placing his left hand on my shoulder, and his right on his breast, addressed me in the following language : * Machobane, I call you such because you have been my father. — You never saw me before, but you love me more than my own people. You fed me when I was hungi-y ; you clothed me when I was naked ; you carried me in your bosom ; aud,' — raising my right arm with his, added, — 'that arm shielded me from my enemies.' On my replying, I was unconscious of having done him any such services, he instantly pointed to the two ambassadors, who were sitting at my feet, saying, ' These are great men ; 'Umbate is ray right hand. "When I sent them from my presence to see the land of the white men, I sent my ears, my eyes, my mouth ; what they heard I heard, what they saw I saw, and what they said, it was Moselekatse who said it. Tou fed them and clothed them, and when they were to be slain, you were their shield. Ton did it unto
MATTHEW XXV. 141
to Maimonides, is twofold ; embracing the services which one man may render to another with his property, as giving alms, redeeming captives, &c., as well as those which he can only perform in his own person, such as visiting the sick, comforting the mourners, &c. Jesus includes both these ways of showing kindness, and at the same time teaches that the service rendered in love to the humblest individual as a be- liever in him, he will regard as rendered to himself.
me. Yoa did it unto Moselekatse, the son of Machobane." {Jlofai's Missionary Labours in. Southern Africa.) A similar scene ■will be presented on the day of the Lord's appearing.
CHAPTER XXYI.
Yer. 4. And [they'] consulted that they might take Jesus by suhtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there he an uproar among the people.
The Jews held it unlawful to do anything on the principal day of any of the great festivals, which could not be lawfully done on the Sabbath, except the preparation of food. " There is no difference," says the Mishna, "between the feast day and the Sabbath, save in the preparation of food," * which was prohibited on the latter. From the unlawfulness of the deed, therefore, as well as from the popularity of Jesus, the priests and elders might fear that his apprehension on the feast day would excite a tumult. Their fear of the people was a greater restraint than the sanctity of the feast. The time of the feast, however, was the appointed season for the execu- tion at least of that class of criminals to which, in their esti- mation, Jesus belonged. " They do not put him to death by the council which is in his own city, nor by that at Jabneh (that is, by the Great Sanhedrim while sitting at Jabneh, which at that period they were wont to do, except at the feast) ; but they bring him up to the Great Council sitting at Jerusalem ; and they keep him to the feast, and put him to death then ; as it is said, ' And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.'"^ From this doubtless
' ; mbs t£?23 b3is sbs nzwh ma cn^ i^n ]^s
Betsah V. 2; Megillak i. 5. — " Admmistering justice" is specially mentioned aa one of the optional things prohibited on a Festival. Beisah, ut sup. ' Sanhedrin i. 5.
MATTHEW XXVr. 148
arose the haste to have Jesus apprehended and condemned at this time, in order that he might be put to death during the approaching feast.
Ver. 17, Now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, JV7ie)'e wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover ?
"In the night of the fourteenth day [of the month Nisan]/' says the Mishna, " they search for leaven by the light of a lamp." ' Alas ! how easy to be scrupulously exact about the sign, and yet entirely overlook the thing signified. The priests and elders were contriving the death of an innocent person, — even of their own Messiah, — at the very time that they were searching their houses, with lighted lamp, for the least particle of material leaven !
Free accommodation was always given at Jerusalem to those who came to tlie great Festivals. The Jews had a saying that "no one ever complained to his jieighbour, The place is too strait for me to lodge in at Jerusalem." And yet the number attending the feasts was immense. Josephus mentions that the number of victims slain at the Passover, shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, was 256,500, while there were not less than ten legally clean persons to one lamb.' — An individual mig-ht obtain a lamb for himself and company by purchasing it on the eve of the Passover. Hence the following regulation in regard to the Sabbath, — " If the eve of the Passover falls on the Sabbath, a man leaves his garment with the vendor, takes his paschal lamb, and settles his account after the holy day." •''
Ver. 19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them/ and they made ready the Passover.
It was not necessary that the head of the family should personally attend to the paschal sacrifice and other pre-
' Fesachim i. 1. * Jewish War, VI. ix. 4. ' Skabbath xxiii. 1.
144 MATTHEW XXVI.
parations. Domestics appear to have been more frequently employed in doing so. " If a person order his servant (or slave) to go and slaughter for him the paschal sacrifice, &c." ' " "When a company have lost their paschal sacrifice, and say to some one. Go, seek and slaughter it for us ; and he went, found, and slaughtered it, whilst the company had also slaughtered one, &c." ^ Jesus and his disciples constituted one company ; and he, as the Master, directed some of them (Peter and John) to attend to the purchase and slaughtering of the lamb, and other necessary preparations.
Yer. 20. Noio when the even was come, he sat down with the
twelve.
" On the eve of the Passover," says the Mishna, " it is not lawful for any individual to eat from about the time of the afternoon sacrifice (nrT:2 Minhha) till after dark ; even the meanest in Israel shall not eat until they have sat down," or, according to the Jewish translators, " have arranged them- selves in proper order at ease round the table." ^ The posture indicated by the word here rendered "sat down" (23"') is that of reclining rather than sitting (jIvekCito). The Jews were careful as to the posture in which they partook of the paschal meal, all reclining on their left arm, — the usual posture at feasts, — and thus expressing the liberty into which they had been brought, and the rank to which they had been raised, when the Lord delivered them out of Egypt.
The Passover sacrifice was slaughtered immediately after the afternoon daily offering, roasted when it became dark, and eaten immediately afterwards. " The daily ofiering was slaughtered half an hour after the eighth hour (half-past two with us), and sacrificed (on the altar) half an hour after the ninth hour ; but on the day before the Passover, whether
' Pesachim viii. 2. * Ibid. ix. 9.
Ibid. V. 1. — : no^tt? IV b^s^ wb bs^czr^a?
MATTHEW XXVI. 145
that happened to be on a week-day or Sabbath, it was slaught- ered half aa hour after the seventh hour, and sacrificed half an hour after the eighth hour. When the day before Pass- over happened on a Friday, it was slaughtered half an hour after the sixth hour, sacrificed half an hour after the seventh hour, and the Passover sacrifice after it." ^ " When it became dark, they went out (from the temple) to roast their paschal sacrifices." -
Ver. 23. He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
The following is the account given in the Mishna of the manner of eating the Passover. ''When the first cup (of wine) has been poured out, the blessing of the festival must be said before that on the wine is said, according to the school of Shammai ; though, according to that of Hillel, the blessing on the wine is to be said first. Herbs and vegetables (i'-n|"n\~r hai-yerakoth ^) are then brought : the lettuce is dipped and part of it eaten, until the time of eating the bread ; then the unleavened cakes (ni*]2 matsah) are placed before the master of the house, as also lettuce, sauce (noinn kharoseth ■*), and two kinds of cooked food (>b"'^73in "^"iW shena tahhshili) ; the
' Pesakhia v. 1. ' Ibid. v. 10.
^ " The obligation of eating bitter herbs on the Passover may be dis- charged mth lettuce, wild endive, and garden endive {p2'^m which some consider to be the green tops of the horse-radish), kharkhabhinah (n3"^2rnn a kind of nettle), and bitter coriander (or, according to some, wUd lettuce), either fresh or in a dried state, but not if pickled, boiled, or cooked in any way." Ibid. ii. 6.
* This is a rabcturs composed of dates, raisins, and other fruit, with vinegar, to commemorate the clay and mortar in which the Israelites laboured while in Egypt. The ancients were accustomed always to dip their food in something of this kind. Be Sola and Baphall, Misiiaioth, note on the passage. "When the master of the house dipped the bitter herbs he said the blessing, "Blessed is he who crealeth the fruit of the ground;" and after eating of it himself, gave it to the rest of the company present.
L
146 MATTHEW XXVI.
sauce is not commanded, though R. Eleazar bar Zadok says it is obligatory. During the time of the Sanctuary (or Temple) the body of the Paschal lamb was now set before him. A second cup of wine is then poured out, and the son then in- quires of the father (the meaning of the ceremony), and when the son's mental faculties are insufficient, the father is bound to instruct him in the following manner : ' Wherefore is this night distinguished from all other nights ? Because on all other nights we may eat either leavened or unleavened bread, but on this night only unleavened ; on all other nights we may eat any kind of herbs, but on this night it must be bitter herbs; on other nights we may eat meat, either roasted, boiled, or cooked in different ways, but on this night we may eat roasted meat only ; on all other nights we dip what we eat once, but on this night twice.' And according to the child's comprehension, his father is thus bound to teach him : he shall first inform him of the dishonour (en- dured in Egj'pt), and conclude with the reading of the favourable and laudatory passages ; he shall explain the pas- sage, A Syrian ready to perish was my father (or, as the Jews understand it, 'Laban the Syrian had nearly caused my father to perish'), to the end of the section (Deut. xxvi. 5). — It is therefore incumbent on every person, in all ages, that he should consider as though he had personally gone forth from Egypt, as it is said, 'And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying. This is done because of that which the Lord did for me in Egypt' (Ex. xii. 27). "V7e are therefore in duty bound to thank, praise, adore, glorify, extol, honour, bless, exalt, and reverence Him, who brought all these miracles for our ancestors and for us ; for he brought us forth from bondage into freedom ; he changed our sorrow into joy, and our mourning into a feast ; he brought us out of dark- ness into great light, and out of servitude into redemption. Let us. therefore say in his presence. Hallelujah (or, let ua sing the Hallel, which commenced with the 113th Psalra and
MATTHEW XX vr. 147
ended with the 118th). How far is the Hallel then to be said ? According: to the school of Shammai, unto ' He maketh the barren woman, &c.' (the end of Psalm cxiii.) ; but the school of Hillel say, unto 'The flinty rock into a pool of ■water' (the end of Psalm cxiv.) ; and they close with a blessing for redemption. Eabbi Tarphon says, This is the form, — ' Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, Xing of the Uni- verse, who hast redeemed us and our ancestors from Egypt,' — without any further closing blessing. R. Akibhah says (it is also), — 'Thus mayest thou, 0 Lord our God, and the God of our ancestors, bring us to the peaceable enjoyment of other solemn feasts and sacred seasons which approach us, that we may rejoice in the rebuilding of thy city, and exult in thy service, that we may there eat of the Passover and other sacrifices, &c.,' unto 'Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who hast redeemed Israel.' A third cup of wine is then poured out and the blessing after meals is said. After pouring out the fourth cup, he shall finish the Hallel and say the blessing on the songs of praise (-i^^-'n n:~!2 ' The breath of all living, &c.,' and 'All thy works praise thee, 0 Lord, &c.'). '"
Either of the two occasions referred to above on which the food was dipped, may have been that at which the Saviour intimated that one of his disciples should betray him.
Yer. 26. And as ihcy were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said. Take, eat; this is my body.
This was probably after the second cup of wine, at all events after the first, and most likely at that part of the pro- ceedings in which the master of the house recounted the de- liverance which God had wrought for Israel. The expression " This is my body " was probably suggested by the lamb which lay upon the table and was now about to be eaten, and
' Pesakhim x. 2—7. I 1
148 MATTHEW XXVr.
of which the Mishna expressly says, not — " They bring in the paschal lamb," but — "They bring in the bochj of the paschal lamb" (rC2 Vtt? ICi: gupho shel Pesakh)} As the " body" of the lamb now before them had been suspended by the iron hooks on the pillars in the temple court while por- tions of it were offered upon the altar/ and as it had been roasted on the wooden spit of a pomegranate tree ; so was his body to be suspended by nails to the cross on Calvary, and scorched by the fire of the divine anger as an offering for the sins of many.^ The bread thus consecrated as the symbol of his body was of course part of the unleavened cakes iipon the table. The unleavened bread was eaten between the second and third cup of wine at the same time with the lamb, al- though in modern times a part of it is reserved to be eaten between the third and fourth cup. After the second cup is filled, and the explanation of the feast given in reply to the inquiry made, the master takes hold of a cake in the dish, and shows it to the company as a memorial of their freedom, saying, " These unleavened cakes, wherefore do we eat them ? Because there was not sufficient time, &c." When the com- pany have drunk the'wine, the master breaks a piece off a whole and unbroken cake, and gives to each at the table, say- ing the blessing abeady mentioned, and adding, " Blessed
' FesaJchim x. .3.
■ Ibid. V. 9, 10. " Iron hooks were affixed to the walls and pillars, on which the sacrifice was suspended, and its skin taken off." " When it had been opened, and the pieces removed which were to he sacrificed on the altar, they were placed on a large dish, and offered with incense on the altar."
3 Ibid.Vn. 1. "A spit made of the wood of the pomegranate tree is taken, and put in at the mouth of the lamb, and brought out again at the vent." "That lamb," says Justin Martyr, "commanded to be roasted whole, was a symbol of the cross by which Christ was to suffer. Tor while roasting, it was put into the figure of a cross ; for the upright part of the spit was passed from the lowest part of the body up through to the head ; while another part was placed across at the back, to which the fore-feet (;^s7jiff hands) of the lamb were suspended." Dial, am Trypk.
MATTHEW XXVI. 149
art thou, 0 Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us to eat unleavened cakes." The meal being over, but before the third cup is filled and the thanksgiving said, he takes the half of the cake which he had put aside, and gives to each a piece of it.^
Yer. 27. A?id he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; fo^; this is my hlood of the new testament, ivhich is shed for many for the remission of sins.
This cup is said, in Luke xxii. 20, to have been taken "after supper." It was the third cup poured out after the meal was over, in connection with which the bless- ing or thanksgiving after meat was said. It is probable that it was this cup which the Lord now consecrated as the symbol of the New Covenant which was about to be ratified by his blood. Nothing is said in the Mishna as to what was done between the blessing after meat which accompanied the pouring out of the third cup and the filling of the fourth. In modern times at least, " all are now in profound silence, expecting the prophet Elijah to make his appearance as the harbinger of Messiah, and, consequently, as a sign of their restoration." ^ The doors are opened as if to welcome his visit, while two passages of Scripture (Ps. Ixxix. 6, 7, and
' mil's British Jews, Part 11. chap. vi. " In the middle of the table stands a large dish, covered with a napkin ; on the napkin is laid a large Passover cake, marked with three notches, called Israelite. This being covered with a napkin, a second cake is laid, with two notches, called Lecite. This again being covered with a napkin, a third cake is laid upon it, having only one notch, called Cohen, and is abo covered with a napkin. There is another cake at hand, which is called Saphec (p2D), or doubtful, which is to be used instead of either of the other three that should by chance be broken."
* British Jacs, ut supra.
150 MATTHEW XXVr.
Lam. iii. 66) are repeated with reference to the oppressors of Israel. It was now, probably, that the Lord said, " This is ray blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Israel here prayed for the days of the Messiah — "i:-r sin pmn rT'^T^rr mc'^b — "the Merciful One bless us in the days of the Messiah."^ Those days have already come, and Israel refuses to acknowledge them.
Ver. 30. And when they had sung an hymn, they xoent out into'the Mount of Olives.
The Greek word {yiiv^aavrto) might as correctly have been rendered, " "When they had sung the hymn, or hymns." What the Lord and his disciples now sang was doubtless the Hallel already mentioned, perhaps the latter part of it, as it seems to have been sung in two divisions, the former con- sisting either of the 113th Psalm, or of that and the following one, and the latter, of the remainder of the Psalms to the 117th, with perhaps the doxology, or "blessing of the song."-
' Minhagim, fol. 19.
- Pesakhim, as above. The Hallel was concluded, according to the Mishna, after the pouring out of the fourth cup. In modern times it appears that it is sometimes not commenced till then, and that it consists of the following Psalms, 115, 116, 117, 118, 136. {MiWs British Jews.) Ac- cording to Minhagim, the passage "Pour out thy fury, &c." is repeated after the master of the house takes the fourth cup into his hand, and is followed by the 115th Psalm; after which the company sing, "0 give thanks to the Lord, &c.," and then the doxology. The mode of celebrating the Passover appears not to be precisely the same in all countries. The last true Passover was celebrated when Jesus and his disciples sung the Hallel as mentioned above. The Messiah had come, and the true Paschal lamb was about to be offered up. Soon after this, aU Paschal sacrifices ceased.
MATTHEW XXVT. 151
Jesus thus wont cheerfully forth to the place whei-e he knew he was to meet \vith those who should deliver hira into the hands of his enemies to be put to death. The true Lamb must now be slain, and eternal redemption obtained for countless myriads.
Yer. 40. A?irl he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, Wliat, could ye not icatch with me one hour ?
As it was dark before they sat down, it would probably be late before the Lord and his disciples left the room. In the Jilishna the case is supposed of some, and even the whole, of those who composed a Passover company being overtaken with sleep even while at the table.^ The disciples, however, as Luke informs us, were now sleeping "from sorrow." Their beloved Master was that very night to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies by one of themselves, and then to be put to death. There was joy that night in every Paschal company but one, and that one was that which consisted of the Lord of glory and his disciples. Already it was true what he had foretold them at the table, " Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shaK rejoice."
Yer. 45. The hour is at hand, and the Son of man is be- trayed into the hands of sinners.
The Jews used the word " hour" as equivalent to time, and denoting the period or opportunity for anything to be done. Thus in the Mishna we read : — " There is no man who has not his hour," — " All women have their hour."' The present was the hour appointed in the councO. of Heaven for the Mes-
' " If any of the company fall asleep during the meal, they may eat of the Paschal sacrifice afterwards ; but when the whole company have fallen asleep, they may not again eat of it. Kabbi Jose says, They may eat of it again if they are only drowsy." Fesakhim x. 8. , ' Pirke Ahhoth iv. 3 ; 'Edkioth i. 1. — ]ni?^7 r'T D^'J7:n ^3
152 MATTHEW XXVI.
siah's death, at the hands of his unwitting but yet guilty- countrymen. "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." (Acts ii. 23.)
Ver. 49. And forthxoith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master ; and kissed him.
This seems to have been the usual manner in which dis- ciples accosted and saluted their Eabbies after a period of absence. Thus when E,abban Gamaliel summoned R. Joshua to Jamnia it is said that on the arrival of the latter, " Eabban. Gamaliel arose and kissed him on his forehead, savin o-, Enter in peace, my master and disciple ! My master, in knowledge; and my disciple, as thou hast obeyed my injunction." ' Thus the Traitor still professed to be the loving disciple.
Ver. 63. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou he the Christ, the Son of God.
There was something similar to this in what the Jews called " the oath of testimony " (mil^n n!?12-' shehhu'ath ha'edhuth). " If," says the Mishna, "a person shall say to two individuals, Come and bear testimony for me ; and they shall say, We have no testimony to bear ; if he say, I adjure you; and they say, Amen ; behold, they are bound." " The name and attributes of God were frequently employed in this adjuration. " If," again says the Mishna, *' he shall say, I adjure you by Aleph, — by the Almighty, by Sabaoth, by tbe Gracious and Merciful, by the Longsuffering, by the Compassionate, or by any of the Divine titles ; behold, they are bound." ^ The Lord Jesus acknowledged this obligation ;
' Rosh Hashshanah ii. 9. ^ Shebhu'oth iv. 3.
' mn ccN -pi^ ^rn) p^nn msn'jn nc^n ''"n tt'2 nbi pj^wn Ibid. V. 13. — : i^n'i^n ibw nn ^•'^i^^n bD2i ion
MATTHEW XXVI. 153
and in order, as always, so now also, to give honour to the Divine name, he opens his mouth and bears testimony that he is the Christ, the Son of the li\ing God.'
Ver. 65. Tlien the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy ; lohat further need have we of witnesses ? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. Tlliat think ye ? They ansicered and said. He is guilty of death.
In the Sanhedrim, if the depositions of the witnesses agreed, the president, or, in the supreme court, the high priest, who, in matters purely religious, often acted as such, proceeded to take the mind of the judges. If the accused was voted inno- cent, he was absolved at once; if otherwise, the sentence was deferred till the following day. The judges were to abstain from wine, and in part from food, during the whole of the day, and to confer in pairs on the case before them. Assem- bling the next morning in council, those who had voted not guilty had first an opportunity of stating whether they con- tinued in the same mind, though they were not allowed to give a contrary vote. Those who had voted guilty might, however, change their vote to not guilty. ^
The members of the Sanhedrim, in their haste to destroy Jesus, appear to have violated their own law in more respects than one ; inasmuch as, first, it was held unlawful to judge
' The prophecy of Daniel, which Jesus, in reply to the high priest, applied to himself, has always been understood by the Jews to belong to the Messiah, and, as it would seem, to intimate his Divine nature as " the Son of God." E- Saadias Gaon, commenting on the words, " One like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven," says, "This is Messiah our Righteousness ; " and on the words — " There was given him power, &c.," he observes — "Because he (the Ancient of Days) was to give him power and a kingdom ; as it is written, ' I have anointed my King ' " (Ps. ii. 6, — this being the Psalm in which the Divine Sonship of the Messiah is so ex- pressly stated). Relandi Analecia Rahbinica.
' Sanhedrin v. 4.
154 Matthew xxvi.
in capital cases during night ; and second, the sentence of death was not to be passed or executed on the day of the trial.' But " from oppression and judgment " was the Mes- siah to be taken away.^ — Blasphemy, the charge on which the Saviour was condemned, was, with the Jews, a capital of- fence. Among those who, according to the Mishna, were to be p\it to death by stoning was " the blasphemer." ^ He in whose mouth was no guile, was to be "numbered with the transgressors." ^
Yer. 67, Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him ; and others smote him with the palms of their hands.
These were among the highest indignities that could be offered. For striking with the fist, the' Jewish law sentenced the offender to a fine of four denarii, to be paid to the in- jured party ; though, according to some, it was a mina, or twenty-five shekels. For striking with the palm of the hand, the fine was two hundred denarii ; and for spitting in an- other's face, four hundred. The compensation, however, was to be according to the rank of the injured person.'' For these accumulated insults and injuries offered to the Son of God, there was to be no compensation whatever. " He was despised, and we esteemed him not." Truly were the pro- phetic words of the Psalmist fulfilled in him, — "I am a
' Jalm observes — " Talmudici, Sanhedrin iv., interdicunt ne judicia capitis uoctu agantur, et etiam prohibent, ne una eademque die examen in- stituatur, sententia feratur, et executioni mandetur ; atque Jubent, ut exe- cutio saltern in sequentem diem differatur ; quae omnia in tumultuario de Jesu judicio ueglecta fuerunt." Archceologia, sec. 246.
* Isaiah liii. 8. English version — "From prison and from judgment;" R. David Kimchi — "From oppression, and from the sentence which the judges passed upon the prisoners."
» Sanhedrin vii. 4. — ^i:m . . . pbpD^n ]n I^N « Isaiah liii. 12.
* Babha Kamah viii. 6.-11122 ^sb b^H
MATTHEW XXVI. 155
worm, and no man ; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." '
Ver. 74. And immediately the cock creio.
" They were not allowed to feed cocks in Jerusalem," says the Mishna, " on account of the holy things." - The reason of this regulation is said to have been, that cocks, by scratch- ing in the ground, might bring up a worm, or part of one, and so defile the holy things which were to be eaten in Jerusalem. The law, however, might not have been made at the time in question ; or, if so, a cock might easUy be
' Isaiah liii. 3 ; Psalm xxii. 6. Gladly do I here quote the sentiments of two distinguished modem Jews. "It has been said, and with some i commendations on what was called my liberality, that I did not in this dis- course, on its first delivery, term Jesus of Nazareth an impostor. — I have never considered him such ... He sincerely believed in his mission ! he courted no one, flattered no one ; in his political denunciations he was pointed and severe, in his religion calm and subdued. These are not characteristics of an impostor." (J/. IT. Noah.) " If you are desirous of j knowing the opinion of a Jew, ay, of a teacher in Israel, respecting the proceedings against, and the condemnation of, the martyr from Nazareth, I do not hesitate to tell you, that I do not by any means feel bound to identify myself or my brethren in faith, with those proceedings, or to uphold | that condemnation ... I, as a Jew, do say, that it appears to me, Jesus be- I came the victim of fanaticism combined with jealoasy and lust of power in Jewish hierarchs . . . And whUe I, and the Jews of the present day, protest against being identified with the zealots who were concerned in the pro- ceedings agamst Jesus of Nazareth, we are far from revUmg his character or deriding his precepts, which are indeed, for the most part, the precepts j of Moses and the prophets." {Dr Rajihael.) Mill^s British Jews, Part II. chap. X.
In Zohar, the cock is said to crow about midnight, at which time the pious
were to rise and meditate in the law. Synopsis, Tit. i. The second crowing, '
further on in the momim?, is that which is referred to in the text. "The /
. . . /
cock shall not crow twice, till thou shalt deny me thrice." This was what ;
was especially called " the cock-crowing." " Watch ye therefore, for ye '
know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or
at the cockcrowing, or in the morning." Mark xiii. 35.
156 MATTHEW XXVI.
heard bv Peter, though, it might be outside the walls of the citr. It has also been suggested that cocks might be kept by the Romau garrison ; and that, though it was forbidden to feed them in Jerusalem, yet not to bring them there for sale or for use.' The Mishna itself, however, states that the crowing of the cock was the signal for certain things being done in the temple. During the feast 'of Tabernacles, it is said, — "When the cock crew, the priests blew with their trumpets a blast, a long note, and a blast." "•
1 Schoetgen, Horae Heb. et Tal.
' Succah T. 4. — 'i:i r:^'^^ i!;nm r:\:r\ nnn sip
CHAPTER XXYII.
Yer. 1. Whe7i the morning icas come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
It is deeply interesting to observe the remarkable resem- blance which, in manj particulars is found between the cir- cumstances attending the death of Jesus, and those connected with the offering up of the lamb of the daily sacrifice. One of these points of resemblance is presented in the verse before us. After the lamb had been kept up four days, and had been examined on the previous evening and found without blemish, it was brought forth in the morning as soon as it was light, in order to be put to death. " The president said to the other priests, Go out and see if it is time to slay the lamb. If it was, the observer said, There are bright streaks of light. He was asked. Do they extend as far as Hebron ? and he answered. Yes. The president then said. Go, and bring the lamb from the lamb-chamber." ' In Hke manner, on the fourth day after Jesus had come to Jerusalem to be offered up as " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," when the morning was come, at the very time when it would be said to the priests by the president in the temple, Go, and bring the lamb for the daily sacrifice, — the chief priests and elders take counsel against him to put him to death.
^ Tamidh iii. 2, 3. The momiruj, it will be remembered, was the time in which the Jewish Sanhedrim sat. " Tempus, quo causae in foro agebantur, erat matutiaum." Jahn, Archceol. sec. 2i6.
loS MATTHEW XXVII.
Ver. 2. And lohen they had hound him, they led him away to Pontius Pilate the goveryior.
Here is a second point of resemblance. The lamb of the daily sacrifice, before being laid on the altar, was hound. "' Those priests whose lot it was to attend to the pieces (with the view of laving them on the altar), took hold of the lamb and bound it, not forelegs and hindlegs together, but a fore- leo- with a hinder one." ^ So when Jesus was about to be laid on the altar, he was first bound bv the chief priests and elders.
Another point of analogy meets us in this verse. The lamb of the daily sacrifice^ previous to its being slain, was to undergo a second examination in the morning, in addition to that of the previous evening. "Although," says the Mishna, " [the lamb] had been examined the evening before, they examined it again with the light of candles."- Thus we find Jesus, the true lamb, also undergoing a second examination, in the morning. This examination may either be regarded as that undergone a second time before the Sanhedrim, which, though not mentioned here, is related in Luke xxii. 66—71 ; or as that before Pontius Pilate, to whose judgment- seat he was now to be led.
Ver. 24. Wlien Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, hut that rather a tumult was made, he tooh icater, and washed his hands he/ore the multitude, saying, I am inno- cent of the hlood of this just person : see ye to it. Then answered all the people and said. His hlood he on us, and on our children.
When the body of a murdered person was found in the land of Israel, the author of the murder being unknown, the
1 Tamidh iv. 1. — iHis rTm wbs rh-(in i-TS rn-r^2 rn sb
2 _mpi2.srT -iisb ims ]*^i":2!d m272.'2 iiTcr: ^-nm "^d bi? ?is
Ibid. iii. 4.
MATTHEW XXVII. 159
elders of the nearest city were to kill a calf, and, in the place where it was killed, were to wash their hands in water, pro- testing,— "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither our eyes seen it. Be merciful, 0 Lord, to thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to thy people of Israel's charge" (Deut. xxi. 1 — 8), — as if to intimate, says the Mishna, that " he did not come to us and was sent away without food ; neither did we see him and send him away without a convov." ^ Micrht not this act of Pilate, then, have su^srested to the Sanhedrim that a judicial murder was about to be perpetrated, and that the guilt of that murder would lie at their door ? That guilt, indeed, they voluntarily, and in express terms, took upon themselves and their chil- dren. iN'ot the Sanhedrim only, but "all the people," doubt- less urged on by their priests and rulers, answered, — " His blood be on us, and on our children ! " And how terribly have the words been fulfilled ! Not to speak of the un- paralleled miseries endured in connection with the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, when sufficient wood for crosses was not found for the number to be crucified, — what has been the experience of unhappy Israel since ? " Since the temple was made desolate, the sasres and the sons of nobles have been ashamed and covered their heads." ^ " Since the day that the house of the sanctuary was made desolate, there has been a wall of iron between Israel and their Father in heaven." " TVe macerate ourselves, and cry continually, but there is
I rmb Nb2 im:n:m imrs-i sbi iirs sbs "imr^r^ST Tsn^b S2 \w
Sotak is. 6. Josephus says that so many were crucified during the siege (five hundred daily) that room failed for crosses, and crosses for the bodies (Jtd TO TrXrjQoQ X'^P"- " sfEXtiVtro Tolg crravpo'g Kal ffravpal to'iq (Tu'iftaai). Jewish TFar, V. xi. 1. He adds that the soldiers mocked the crucified (aXXov dXXy axwciTt Trpo; xXfi^^v). Eleven hundred thousand are said by the same historian to have perished during the siege, and ninety-seven thousand to have been made captives, the latter being sold for a mere trifle on account of their number and the fewness of the buyers {War, "VI. viii. 2 ; \x. 3). Never city, says he, suffered such miseries, and never race of men was so wicked (viii. 5 ; xiii. 6, 7). ' Sofah x. 15.
IGO MATTHEW XXVII.
none that regardeth us." ' 0 Israel, acknowledge the true reason why such a state of things has existed. Remember what your rulers and people did when they crucified .Jesus of Nazareth. It is acknowledged by some of your most eminent Rabbles - that Jesus was no impostor, that the precepts which he tauo-ht were for the most part those of Moses and the pro- phets, and that he " became the victim of fanaticism com- bined with jealousy and lust of power." Even were this aU, the death of Jesus were a crime, committed as it was by rulers and people combined, serious enough to draw down the divine vengeance on the nation, and to call for deep repent- ance on the part of their posterity. But what if Jesus, be- sides this, were the true Messiah and " the Son of God ? " He declared himself to be so, and his followers, throughout the world, have received him, trusted in him, and worshipped him as such. Either, therefore, Jesus was the Messiah, or he was a mere pretender and deceiver as the Sanhedrim asserted, and his religion is false and idolatrous, grounded on an enormous falsehood, and characterized, as its distinctive feature, by religious worship rendered to a mere man, who is regarded as the only Saviour of the human race.' But you acknowledge that " the doctrines taught in his name have been the means of reclaiming the most important portion of the civilized world from gross idolatry, and of making the revealed word of God known to nations of whose very existence the men who sentenced him were probably ignor- ant ; " * — that you see around you, in Protestant nations at
1 orrsb hir.iD'' T^n bna nain Hyiz^^ wi^izn jT^ :r.rv7 era —in n:ti'm n^bi W2^m2 sp mr-T2i ]2U)^2 ]'>-i3:i'a sp ps.D^j:^?;^;
Talmud, Berachoth.
' See note under Matt. xxvi. 67.
' The worship of images and pictures, praying to the Yii-gin Mary and the saints (so called), &c., is no part of the Christian religion. Originally these had no place in it ; and a great part of Christendom protests against them as monstrous corruptions.
* Dr Ra-phael, m his lectures on the Post-biblical history of the Jews,
MATTHEW XXVII. 161
least, "abundant evidences of the happiness, good faith, mild government, and liberal feelings which spring from his religion ; " ' that the Christian religion " teaches brotherly love, mercy, charity, benevolence, and all those nobler senti- ments which make men what the Creator of all mankind in- tended them to be ; " ' that a true Christian missionary is to be viewed as " the genuine benefactor of humanity ; " ^ and that Christians have eflfected great good " amongst the bulk of mankind by their energetic endeavours to root out idol- atry," and "have had the especial assistance of the Almighty, by which they have been enabled to extend their influence all round the globe ; and instil into the minds of vast numbers of the human race a belief in the existence of a Divine Being, and of a future state." * One of yourselves has acknowledged that " that religion which is calculated to make mankind great and happy cannot be a false one." ^ But either the Christian religion must be a false one, based on a delusion and a lie, or Jesus, whom your fathers crucified, is the true Messiah. May His blood, imprecated by them upon themselves and you, their children, be speedily removed from their posterity by repentance and faith in His name ; and be graciously applied, as it will be, in its atoning efficacy, for the removal of their guilt !
Yer. 28. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet
rohe.
To strip a person of his garment ^ was accounted by the Jews one of the highest indis-nities that could be offered. The offender was liable to a fine of four hundred denarii, or
quoted, as are the following citations, in Mill's British Jews, Part II. chap. X.
1 M. 31. Noah, " Jews, Judaea, and Christianity."
- Jewish Chronicle, Sept. 5, 1851. ' Tiid. July 30, 1852.
* Ibid. March 25, 1853. " M. M. Noah, ut supra.
• « Babha Kama viu. 6. — IH^btt n^Zirn
M
162 MATTHEW XXVII.
a hundred shekels, a sum equal to nearly £13 of our money, or rather, from the relative value of the precious metals, about £50, — the same penalty that was inflicted for spitting in the face. This indignity was also to be endured by the Son of God, when " made a curse for us."
Yer. 31. And after that they had mocked Mm, therj took the robe off from him, and put his otcn raiment on him, and led him aioay to crucify him.
The condemned person was led for execution to a place at some distance from the court, in order, as was said, that the judges might not appear forward to put any one to death, and that, between the passing of the sentence and its exe- cution, opportunity might be afforded for the individual's innocence to be proved either by himself or any other party. " The judgment being completed, they led the criminal forth to be stoned. The place of execution was without the place of judgment ; as it is said, ' Bring forth the blasphemer.' " ^
Yer. 35. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among them, and tipon my vesture did they cast lots.
" They crucified him." Crucifixion, it is well known, was a Roman, not a Jewish, mode of putting criminals to death. With the Jews the various modes of execution were, — stoning (rh^\:D sekilah), burning (n^^-'W seriphah), beheading, or kill- ing ^vith the sword (ain harog), and strangling (pDH khanok). For this last, however, the Targum on Ruth substitutes " hanging on a tree " (sCp rcb^ tselibhath kisa). According to R. Eliezer, all who were stoned were afterwards to be hung upon a tree ; but the wise men decided that this was
Sanltedrin vi. 1.— tbbpnn AS S'JIH "1C.S2a7 fl
MATTHEW XXVII. 163
only to be done in the case of a blasphemer or idolater. The Talmud says expressly they did not hang up men while alive, " as is done by the kingdoms/' that is, more especially, the Romans. Had the Jews not been at that time in subjection to a foreign power, Jesus would have been stoned to death, and then hung upon a tree as one condemned for blasphemy. But how then should the Scripture have been fulfilled, "They pierced my hands and my feet ? " '
Another point of resemblance between the death of Jesus and the offering up of the daily sacrifice may be here noticed. " They pierced," says the Mishna, " the middle of the knee- joint, and hung it up by it."^ The lamb was both to be pierced and suspended. At the very time that Jesus, with his hands pierced by the nails, was hanging suspended by them upon the cross, the lamb of the daily sacrifice was being pierced and hung up by iron hooks on a pillar in the temple court, previous to its being consumed on the altar. How much was there to bring the Baptist's testimony to the re- membrance of the spectators, — "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world !"
"They parted his garments." The criminal who was to be stoned to death was to be stripped of his clothes within
1 Fs. xiii. 17. — ^bim ^T "-SS— Not only do the LXX. show that they had read 1"!S2, by rendering the word iLgvlav, " they digged," but even the Masorites have intimated that it ought to be so read. They say also that ^~1S3 occurs in two significations O^IC'^v "'"ITIS), of which one, viz. in Is. xxxviii. 13, is undoubtedly "as a lion," while that in Ps. xxii. 17 must necessarily be something else. Yet in the face of these things, both Kimchi and Jarchi adhere to the present reading, and render the word "as a lion." It is true, however, that the Targum reads and translates in the same manner (S^'S T^), supplying the word T-HD, " they bite." Pocock {Poria Pilosis, N'ot. Misc. cap. iv.) thinks that the Targumist rather gave Pwil^ as the translation of ^~>0, adding the rest from the similarity in sound, and as descriptive of the treatment indicated. He conjectures also that '^'^^ may stand for the plural tr~:S^, as there are not wanting exam- ples of the plural terminating in ^ instead of C.
2 Tamidh iv. 2. — t "D 7^h^^] "Cl^n!: "P^nn 12pi2
M 2
164 MATTHEW XXVII.
four cubits of the place of execution. "A male person," says the Mishna, "is stoned naked." ^ The only covering given was a piece of cloth in the form of an apron. This accounts for both the Saviour's upper garment, or TaHth (n^'bt:), and his under vesture, or Khaluk ("ibn), being in the hands of the soldiers. Here, again, we find an analogy between the type and the antitype. The lamb, as it hung upon the hooks, was stripped of its entire skin, while the parts of the body were divided among the officiating priests, as had been pre- viously determined by lot, to be laid by them upon the altar. " The priest took off the skin. He came down till he reached the breast, and then he cut off the head, and gave it to him to whom it pertained by lot. He then cut off the legs, and gave them to the priest to whom they fell by lot. And thus ended the flaying." * Thus in the minutest circumstances connected with the Saviour's death, we behold not only the accomplishment of a prophecy, but the correspondence to a type.
Ver, 37. And \they'\ set up over his head his accusation written, " Tins is Jesus the King of the Jews."
The person who had been condemned to die "went forth," says the Mishna, " preceded by a public crier, who said, * Such a one (mentioning his name), son of such a one, goes to be stoned for having committed such and such a crime, and such and such two persons are the witnesses ; whoever knows him to be innocent, let him come forward and give inform- ation.' " ^ Hence we may see the reason why the Jews ob-
' Sanhedrin vi. 3. — ^TT^V \ci D^SH
2 r\s -ji-Yi mrh ^^yn 7Jin\ v^it2 sine; iv ttt ^^a^:2 rrrr ]nn n:;TU7 "^nb ]2rci^ cv^^n ns "jinn iz n^xa ^cb vjivi w^n
Tamidh iv. 2. — : ^^tTDnn iTS pn^a
^ by bpD^b s'iT ^:ib2 p >DibQ tt7\s r^ab s!n^ n^Di bpo^b kht N2^ m2T lb irr!"^ ^nba • riv ^^ibsi ^3ibDT n^^ibD m^nr n^yc:?
Sanhedrin vi. 1. — vby "rab^l
MATTHEW XXVII. 165
jected to the title which. Pilate wrote, to be affixed, according to Roman custom, to the cross. "Write not," said they, "This is the King of the Jews, but that he said, I am the King of the Jews." They wished the title to proclaim his crime ; Pilate made it to declare him innoceut. They wished it to in- timate a criminal assumption ; Pilate made it to assert a fact. Yes, 0 Israel still beloved, Jesus was and is your King. This you will one day see and acknowledge. You rejected him as your King, unconsciously fulfilling your own Scriptures. For this you have been rejected by God, and have been "many days without a king and without a prince, and without a sacrifice." But the same Scriptures of truth that foretold your sin, and your dispersion as the consequence of it, have predicted also your repentance and restoration. Through the grace and mercy of God, whose gifts and calling are without repentance, you shall yet return, and seek the Lord your God and David your King, even David's Son and antitype, whom your fathers ignorantly crucified. Receiving Jesus as your Saviour and your King, and reconciled to God through that very blood which your fathers shed, you shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. The Lord hasten it in his time !
M A E K.
CHAPTER I.
Ver. 32. And at eve7i, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that tcere pos- sessed with devils. And all the city loas gathered together at the door.
The expression "at even," or ''when tiie evening was come " (diii'ac Ik yEvojiivrio), indicates, as we gather from the context, that the Sabbath was now over. The Jews, it is well known, reckoned their Sabbath, as they still do, from sun-set to sun-set, or from evening to evening. The Sabbath was separated from common time, especially at its close, by a religious ceremony, if not in the Saviour's time, at least not long after, as the practice is referred to in the Mishna in terms that indicate it to have been of long continuance. This formal marking off of sacred time was called Habdallah (nb"Cn "division"). It is thus referred to : — "The school of Shammai say the blessings (at the close of the Sabbath) in the following order, — Over the light, the food, the spices, and the Habdallah ; while that of Hillel say. Over the light, the spices, the food, and the Habdallah. According to the school of Shammai, the form of blessing on the light is, " Who created the light of fire ; " but according to that of HiUel, it is, " Creator of the lights of fire." ' Again : — ' Berachoth yiii. 5.
MARK I.
167
" When a festival happens on the eve of the Sabbath, the cornet is sounded, but the Habdallah is not said. If it hap- pen on the dav after the Sabbath, the Habdallah is said, but the cornet is not sounded. What is the form of the Habdallah (on such an occasion) ? [Blessed art thou, &c.] who makest a distinction between holv and holv. But according to Eabbi Dosa it is. Who makest a distinction between the greater and less degrrees of holiness." ' It was after the Sabbath had been
^ For the sake of the poor, the Sabbath, accordiug to Baxtorf, may be separated by the officiating minister at the close of the synagogue service {SijH. Jiicl. cap. xi.). Ordinarily, however, it is done by the heads of families at theii" own horc-es. A wax candle havmg been lighted, the master of the house, with a glass of wine in his right hand, and a box of spices in his left, says with a loud voice, — ^2 ITCS sbl n"L:ZS 'Hi'^^'^ '^S S_:n
••::-• T : • - v : - : t • • • :- t: t t : •: . t
: np^T ]TbbT nnrbV mis mn^n c^i^n'^b : rho rp;;^ ^nbs ^b
T • T : T : • : t t : t • : - t •.• - - •■ •.- t
... T - • : •• T T V V •• v: T : t - t
— " Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust and not be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song ; He also is become my sal- vation. And ye shall draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation. Salvation belongeth to the Lord ; thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. To the Jews there was light, and gladness, and rejoicing, and honour. (With your leave, my teachers and masters.) Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the vine." After sprinkling a little of the \vine on the table, and taking the spices into his right hand,
he says, — 1 2^:3^2 "^ra s-^12 cb'im "Tibn ^D^rrbs '^"' nns Tpna
• T : •• • •• T T V V •• :-. t: t - t
— "Blessed art thou. Sec, who createst the different kinds of spices." Taking the wine again into his right hand, and discerning by the light of the candle that the uaUs on his left hand are whiter than the fingers, he
says, — : bsn "'-lisa n-)12 cb'rjn Tjba ^"ribs >'• nns Tfna —
■• T •• : •• T T V V ■• :'. t: t - t
"Blessed art thou, <S:c., who createst the lights of fire." Doing the same •with the other fingers, and then again taking the wine into his right hand,
he says, — r^ ^binb HIS ^^^ Vinb dnp ]>2 b^^rr"? "^"^ '^"^ >'• nns riTs. nb:7sn ■^a'^ nddb ^Tz^n ur 1^1^ c'^^vb bsnb"
t: t - T V T - - •• : •.•••: • • : - • • " t •• t : •
: binb dip f Z b'^'^ZSn — " Blessed art thou, &c., who dividest
168 MARK I.
lawfully concluded, that the multitudes flocked with their afflicted relatives and friends to Jesus.
between the holy and the profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, and between the seventh day and the six working days ; blessed art thoa, 0 Lord, who dividest between the holy and the profane." He then drinks a little of the wine himself, and hands it to the others to do the same. The Sabbath is thus formally closed, and secular avocations are resumed. Minhagim, fol. 3. Mill's British Jews, Part II. chap. iv.
CHAPTER II.
Yer. 26. How he went into the house of God in the days of AhiatJtar the high priest, and did eat the sheichread, which is not lawful to eat hut for the priests, and gave also to them ichich tvere with him.
A DIFFICULTY IS found here in the fact that not Abiathar, but his father Ahimelech, or Abimelech, was high priest when the event referred to took place. To obviate this difficulty various explanations have been offered. Kuinoel, Stock, and others, think that both father and son were called by both names, as they appear from the historical books to have been so. Compare 2 Sam viii. IT ; 1 Chron. xviii. 16, and xxiv. 3, with 1 Chron. xv. 11 ; 2 Sam. xv. 29, 35. Others, as Doddridge, read the words^ ''Abiathar, who was afterwards high priest ; " and suppose that Abiathar might be present, and that his father might act in the matter by his advice. Michaelis/ however, has suggested perhaps an equally pro- bable solution, in the fact that passages of Scripture were fre- quently referred to by the Rabbies under the name of the person or thing who bears a prominent part in the section. To the examples which he has given the following from the Mishna may be added. "Whosoever confesseth his guilt, shall have a portion in the world to come ; for so we find in Achan (]-r2, that is, in the section about Achan), that Joshua said to him. My son, give glory to the Lord, &c." ^
' Introduction to (he New Testament, Part, I. chap. iv. sec. 5. ' Sanhedrin vi. 2.
170 MARK II.
Thus £-1 'A/3ta0ap might in this place be read, " in the section relating to Abiathar." In this case, however, these words would require to be taken in connection with ovci-rcore ayiyvoirs, "have ye never read," as in the chap. xii. 26. See note on Luke xs. 37.
CHAPTER YI.
Yer. 3. Is not this the carpenter 9
There seems to have been no reason why the Jews should have taken offence at the Saviour's having followed the oc- cupation of a carpenter, unless it was that the hardness of the labour and the constancy of his application to his business as a means of obtainins' a livelihood for himself and his probably widowed mother, — a part of his amazing con- descension on our account, — seemed to them incompatible with the dignity of the Messiah, or his mission as a great Prophet and Teacher. The Jewish Eabbies in general re- commended the exercise of an honest trade in connection with the study of the law, and frequently exemplified the connection in their own persons. "P. Meir saith, A person should always have his son taught a light and respectable business, and pray for success to Him to whom belong all riches and poverty." ' The Saviour's, if not a light, was an honest and useful employment.^ Abba Saul was a vintner.
Yer. 9. But he shod icith sandals ; and not put on two coats.
In Matthew x. 10 (a parallel passage), the disciples are forbidden to take " shoes." It is there remarked that sandals
1 Kedhtshim 17. 14. It is true that in the same place R. Nehorai says, " I leave every business, and have my son only taught the Holy Law." Tliis, however, seems rather to have been an exception.
' Justin Martyr, following tradition, says that the Saviour, while work- ing as a carpenter, was employed in making ploughs and yokes for oxen {a^oTpa Kal ^vyd), " teaching by these both the symbols of righteousness and an industrious life." Dial, am Tr^ph. Pars Sec. p. 333 (London).
172 MARK VI.
were of coarser materials than shoes ; the soles of the former being sometimes even of wood, to which the upper part, of strong leather, was attached by nails ; the latter being made of soft leather, and sometimes even of felt or of cloth. The former was the article in common use. The distinction is sometimes noticed in the Mishna. " If a person carries anything in his shoe, or in his sandal [on the Sabbath], he is absolved." ^ " A man is not to go out with iron-bound sandals [on the Sabbath]."- "It is not lawful to send [on the festival] sandals with iron nails, or unsewed [unfinished] shoes," ^ If the KhaliUah {rrz''\n, the ceremony of drawing off the shoe) is performed with a shoe [made of soft and thin leather] it is valid, but not if with a shoe made of felt or of cloth.* The Khalitsah is also valid when performed with a sandal which has a leather strap at the heel, but not if it is not furnished with such a strap. If it is tied under the knee [in the usual way], it is valid, but not if it is tied above the knee.
The Saviour's disciples were to go on their mission, shod with the coarse and common sandal, but not with the soft and more luxurious shoe. They were to go in the spirit of humility and self-denial.
" Not put on two coats." The common dress of the Jews consisted of an upper garment (rrb^ Talith, luanov, the modern hi/ke of the Arabs), and an under one (pibn KJialuk, XLTwv). Only one of the latter was worn by the common people, though two were used by the wealthier class. Thus while in the Mishna all except certain specified classes are forbidden to wash their garments on the middle days of a festival,-^ the Gemarists in the Talmud allow those to do so who have but one coat (plbn Khaliik). Hence the Baptist's direction — " He that hath two coats (x'T^J'ac, under-garments, khaluJcs), let him give to him that hath none, or to a poor
> Shabbath x. 3. "■ Ibid. vi. 2. ' Tom Tobh i. 10.
* Tebhamolh xii. 2. * Moedh Katon iii. 2.
MARK vr. 170
nmr, " whose clothes are torn, so that his arms and leo-s appear, or, as others explain the term, one whose legs and arms are quite bare." It is the taking two of these under- garments (x^-tLvag) which the Saviour here forbids his dis- ciples— not the taking an upper and an under one.
Yer. 13. And the>/ anointed xclth oil many that were sick, and healed them.
The practice of anointing with oil, as a remedial measure in cases of sickness, was quite common among the Jews, Speaking of what might not be done on the Sabbath, the Mishna says, " He who has pains in his loins, must not rub them with wine or vinegar ; but he may anoint them with oil [because more common], except with rose- oil. Princes may [on the Sabbath] anoint their wounds with the oil of roses, as they are in the habit of so anointing themselves on week days." '^ It seems probable, however, that the disciples did not anoint the sick wdth oil on this occasion on account of any benefit to be medicinally derived from the application.^ The cure they imparted was intended to be miraculous, and, as well as casting out devils, to authenticate their mission and procure acceptance for their message. Their anointing with oil served rather as an external sign of the Divine power now to be put forth for the patient's cure, as when Christ himself put his fingers into the ears of the man with the im- pediment in his speech, and spat, and touched his tongue.
^ Megillah iv. 6. De Sola and Raphall's Trauslation.
» Shabbath xiv. 3. — ]^rn nS SIH ID b^S
^ Kuinoel and others are of a diiferent opinion. "Recte, opinor, plures iu- terpretes oleum h. 1. memoratum esse contendont tauquam medicumentum, quo Apostoli morbos curassent." He adds, however, — "Alii contra h. 1. de miraculosa sanatiom cogitant, notantque, undionenque niam fuisse nonnisi symbolicam, qua sig;nificaretur, cum oleo effundi veluti in iEgrotum rectam valetudinem, adjuvante et moderante ita Deo. Hanc autein actionem sym- bolicam suscepisse Apostolos, ut certi eventiis expectatio atque admiralio ex- citaretur."
174 MARK VT.
The case of the elders anointing with oil in the name of the Lord, as in James v. 14, appears to haye been quite different. There the application is to be regarded as the ordinary means of cure, to be employed in connection with the prayer of faith, for the restoration of the patient to health.
CHAPTER VII.
Yer. 3. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
The importance which, tlie Jews attached to the washing of their hands before partaking of food may be inferred from the fact that in the Mishna a whole treatise, called Yad- haim, or The Hands, is devoted to that subject. Maimonides, in the preface to his Commentary on that Tract, observes that there is both the washing (nVi:3 netilah) and the bathing (nV:::!2 tehhilah) of hands. The icashing, which might be performed with a quarter of a log of water, poured in any way upon the hands, was required previous to par- taking of common food : the hathing, which could only be performed in water collected in a laver to the quantity of forty sata,^ was required previous to partaking of the sacri- fices. The Mishna says, " They loash the hands for common food, and for the tithes and heave-offerings ; and for the holy things and the sin-offering, they bathe. If the hands are unclean, the body is so." ^
Where the text reads "oft," the margin gives "diligently, with the fist," and, according to Theophylact, ''up to the elbow." The Greek Trv/ny, pugme, however, should pro- bably be rendered " up to the wrist." " The hands," says the Mishna, ''receive both pollution and purification up to
* A Satam or Seah is said to have contained twenty-four logs, and a log, five, or, according to some, six eggs.
2 ^^V^L^n tt7ipbT 'ntzT■^b^ -:D3?nbT 'xhrb cn^b c^'bt:i3
Khaghigah ii. 5. — 1Di: TSa^ ]''T \Sn:2^ lZS nSlin^T
176 MARK VII.
the wrist." ' Maimonides also states that both the washing and the bathing of the hands must be up to the wrist. " In order to eat bread baked of cholin (non -consecrated food, used bv any man) the hands must undergo ablution up to the wrist." ■
Yer. 4. And many other things there he, xchich they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables.
The frequency of these washings among the Jews arose from the susceptibility of the various articles in use to con- tract ceremonial defilement. The laws which imparted such susceptibility had been given by Moses^ though these were refined upon and multiplied by the elders to a most burden- some extent. According to Maimonides, some things speci- fied in the law conveyed uncleanness only in one case ; others in more. Reptiles, for example, convey defilement only by direct contact. The dead body of a man, on the other hand, conveys it in nine ways, namely, — by the touch of it, or of any quantity of it equal to an olive ; by the burial of it ; by the man who has been defiled by it ; by all who touch that man ; by the vessels which have touched the body ; by the man who has touched any of those vessels ; by the vessels which have touched those other vessels ; and by the tent in which the body lies, such at least as is made of skin, cloth, or sackcloth of hair. Besides those cases which the Rabbis called '* fathers of defilement ' according to the law," there were others which they called " fathers of defilement accord- ing to the decrees of the wise men." These were arranged under six heads, namely, — a dead man, an issue, a men-
' Yadhaim ii. 3. - De Sola and Euphall, Introduction to Yadhaim.
3 m^tcn ^ " the parent stock, or generator of uncleanness ; what- ever contains the principle of uncleanness in itself, and does not derive it from any other object ; but communicates it to whatever comes in contact therewith." Ibid.
MARK VII. 177
struous woman, a woman after childbirth, idolatry, and any- dead body. For example, idolatry is said to communicate defilement in four ways, namely, — by the idol itself, which defiles like the touch of a reptile ; by the idolatrous worship, so that a man who introduces his head and half his body into an idol's temple, and a vessel which has been half introduced into it, becomes unclean as by a reptile's touch ; the idolatrous oflfering ; and the wine of the libation to an idol.
The vessels which contracted defilement were those of cloth, sackcloth, earthenware, leather, bone, glass, metal, and wood, which last included those of rushes, reeds, and bark. All these might be purified by washing, except those of earthenware, which were to be broken. — The word which in the text is rendered " tables " should rather be rendered as it is in the margin, " beds or couches ; " sitting, lying, or reclin- ing, being specified by the Rabbles as among the ways in which uncleanness was communicated by a person with an issue, a menstruous woman, a woman after childbirth, and a leper.
The person who was rendered unclean by any of the "fathers of defilement" was said to be unclean in the first degree ; those whom he touched, in the second ; those whom they touched, in the third; and those whom these again touched, in the fourth. In regard to these different degrees the Mishna states, — " The first, in regard to Cholin (or things common), is unclean and makes unclean ; the second is illegal, but does not make unclean. The first and second, in regard to Heave (jVTT.n Terumah, consecrated food, such as that used by the priests and their household), are unclean and make unclean. The third is illegal, but does not make unclean. The first, second, and third, in respect to holy things, are unclean and make unclean. The fourth is illegal, but does not make unclean." ^ Maimonides here observes,^ that when it is said of anything that it is illegal (blD2 pasuT)
' Taharotk ii. Preface to the Treatise Taharoth.
178 MARK VII.
the meaning is, that it is unclean itself, but does not make others unclean ; and that thus it is said of him who eats or drinks what is unclean, " His body is unclean " ('^rvti nbD2: made impure, reprobate, unfit for fellowship with what is holy).i
The laws relating to ceremonial uncleanness and its re- moval, even as given by !Moses, were sufficiently burdensome; although, for the time they were to continue in force, they served the important purpose of keeping up the remembrance of the necessity of a higher than ceremonial cleansing, — the purifying of the heart and conscience from the guilt and pol- lution of sin, by the blood and Spirit of Him who was to come.
Yer. 11. But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corhan, that is to say, a gift, by ichatsoever thou mightest be prof ted by me ; he shall be free.
The Jews called that Corban (p'i~), or "an offering," which was devoted, either really or nominally, to the service of the temple. " If a person," says the Mishna, " finds a vessel with Corban inscribed on it, Rabbi Judah says, If it be of earthenware it is common, but the contents of it are Corban (sacred) ; but if it be of brass, the vessel is Corban, and the contents are profane." ^ An expression not unlike that in the text occurs in the following passage : " Whosoever shall say, It is Corban, — a burnt- offering, a meat-offering, a sin-offer- ing, a thank-offering, or a peace-offering, whatsoever I might
' Hence the passages — "Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con- science, and oar bodies -washed with pure water ; " and, — " their mind and conscience is defiled — to every good work reprobate." Seb. \. 22 ; Titus i. 15, 16.
2 Din V^7 rrn cm icts rmm n -pr^p rby 1^^\^y\ ^ba sin^^rr nai ii-2-yj sin ronn \w mn csi • in-p ^'z^r\^2^ nrn ]^bin sin
Maasher Sheni iv. 10. — : T^IH ^■2^rCSJ
MARK vir. 179
eat with thee (or give for thy support), he is bound." ' In like manner, a son, saying in regard to what he should give for the support of an aged or infirm parent, It is Corban, was bound to keep his vow, and was freed from the obligation of giving that support. Thus the decision of the elders was made to supersede the command of God.
CHAPTER XI.
Yer. 16. Ayid icould not suffer that any man shoidd carry any vessel through the temple.
It would seem from the Mishna, as well as from the Gospels, that due reverence was not always paid by the Jews to the courts of the Lord's house. The foUowinsr regulations were deemed necessary on the subject. " No man is to be- have in an irreverent manner when near the eastern gate of the temple, for it is in the direction of the Holy of Holies. No man is to go on the mountain of the house with his staff, his shoes, or his purse, nor yet with dust-covered feet ; he is not to make it a thoroughfare; much less is he permitted to spit on it." ^
1 lb bris ^is::? c^ab^ rmn as-l^h nn^a rhn i;y^p -^msn
Nedhanm i. 4. — .* TIOS * Beraclioth ix. 5.
jf 2
CHAPTER XII.
Ver. 41. And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury.
Different treasuries are mentioned in connection with the temple. In the court of the women stood thirteen alms- chests, which appear to have given the name of " the trea- sury " (^ya(^o(pv\a.Kiov, gazophylaJcion) to that court, or at least to that part of it in which they stood. The law of the elders, as mentioned in the last note, was, that " no man was to go on the mountain of the temple with his stick, his shoes, or his purse or girdle of money." ' People might, however, and generally did, take money, probably in their hand or in their bosom, as an offering for the service of the Lord. Lightfoot quotes the gloss upon that passage in the Talmud which says, " They gave there the Meahs (certain pieces of money) " — " Each could put into those little alms-chests according to his pleasure, as much or as Kttle as he liked : namely, into the chest that was for gold, as much gold as the weight of a grain of barley ; and into the chest for frankincense as much frankincense as the weight of a grain of barley. But if any one said. Behold, I vow wood (for the altar), he might not offer less than two blocks, a cubit in length and of proportionate thickness. If he said, I vow frankincense, he was not to offer less than a handful (that is, a sum of money able to buy so much)." -
1 Berachotk ix. 5. * Horce Heb. et Tal. in loco.
MARK XII. ISl
As it is said that none but kings were allowed to sit in the court of Israel,' and as Jesus was not yet acknowledged by the nation in that character, it is probable that where he now sat was in the court of the Gentiles.
Yer. 44. But she of her waiit did cast in all that she had, even all he?' licing.
Among the Jews the poor were provided for in various ways. By the law of Moses they had a right, every third year after the Sabbatical one, to the second tithe, which in other years was taken to Jerusalem to be shared with the priests and Levites. (Deut. xiv. 18.) This was then called the poor man's tithe.- They had a right also to the produce of the corner of a field or vineyard, and to the handful left in reaping or gathering in the corn. One Treatise of the Mishna (rii^D Peah, "corner") is taken up with laws relating to the corner of the field to be left for the poor (Lev. xxiii. 22, and Deut. xxiv. 19), and generally such laws as relate to the rights of the poor on the soil of the Holy Land. Besides this legal provision, however, the poor received their dividend of the daily and weekly alms collected by officers appointed for that purpose. " Whoever has provision for two meals," says the Mishna, "shall not receive from the TamJchui (^TV2r\, the dish in which the daily alms were collected) ; and whoever has pro- vision for fourteen meals (or for a week), shall not receive from the Cuphah (riiiV, the box in which the weekly collec- tion was made)." ^ It is probable, therefore, that what this poor widow contributed for the service of the Lord's house was the whole of what she had for that day's support, " even all her living." She would thus have to wait till the next
' Lightfooi, Temple.
* Godwin's Moses and Aaron, Book YI. chap. iii.
Peah viii. 7. — n^Vrr p bllO"' sb nTn^D m2717
182 MARK XII.
poor's distribution was made, before she could have anything to eat.
1 The author of Zohar frequently speaks of the devotion of the poor, aud the ready acceptance given to their prayers. " There are three kinds of prayers : the praver of Moses, to whom none of the prophets was like ; the prayer of David, to whom none was like among the kings ; and the prayer of the poor, which excels all the rest." "The Holy and Blessed One re- ceives the prayer of the poor before all others." Synojisis, Tit. ii.
CHAPTER XIII.
Yer. 1. And as he icent out of the temple, one of his discAples saith unto him, 3Iaster, see what manner of stones and U'hat buildings are here !
It is probable tb.at reference was more especially made to that part of the temple called Solomon's Porch. Josephus, speaking of it, says that it rested on the edge of a deep valley, that the waUs of it were four hundred cubits high, and that it was built of squared stones perfectly white, each twenty cubits long and six cubits deep (ru oe v\poQ U).^ From the Mount of Olives, to which the Saviour and his disciples had now gone, this porch would be distinctly in view. The temple itself would also to a great extent be visible. The Mishna states that " the walls were all lofty, except the eastern one ; because the priest who burnt the red heifer, stood on the top of the Mount of Olives, and, with eyes fixed in that direction, looked towards the gate of the Sanctuary while sprinkling- the blood." -
" "What buildinss are here ! " " The Mountain of the
* Antiquities 5X. 8. He also states that stones were used in the building- forty cubits in size. War, V. v. 1.
inn-i^ nNT;T inrnsi nnccn -in c:7s-^zi mrj rr^zn r^ pc^^nn Middoth ii. 4. — : mn r\'^'^'\T^ rsT^'i b:;\-T hxj
Josephus says that the walls in the lowest part were built up to the height of tliree hundred cubits, and in some places more. War, V. v. 1.
184 MARK XIII.
House," ' says the Mishna, " was five hundred cubits square.' Its greatest space was towards the south ; the next to it was that towards the east ; the next, that towards the north ; while the least space was on the side towards the west. The place where the space was greatest was that which was most in use (containing Solomon's Porch, and the court of the women, and through which was the general passage to the court of the Israelites and of the Priests). Before or in front of this space, on the east, was a wall or balustrade ten hand- breadths high.^ Before that, again, was the space called KJiel, or profane, ten cubits broad. There were twelve steps there (Josephus says fourteen), each half a cubit high, and the same in breadth. The court of the women (to which these steps conducted) was a hundred and thirty- five cubits in length and as much in breadth. There were four chambers in the corners of this court, each forty cubits square. That in the south-east was the chamber of the Nazarites, where they boiled their peace-offerings and polled their hair. That in the north-east was the wood-chamber, where the priests who had any blemish examined the wood previous to its being laid on the altar. The chamber in the north-west was for the use of the lepers who presented themselves to the priests. That in the south-west was called '^ the house of oQ," because,
' This temple, which stood in ouj Saviour's time, though rebuilt by Herod, was yet regarded as one and the same with that erected after the Captivity. . " II tacha," says Basnage, speaking of Herod, " de gagner I'affection des Juifs, et de leur persuader qu'U avait beaucoup de zele pour la religion, en rebatissant le Temple, plus grand et plus superbe qu'il n'etait. Cependant, comme il se servit des memes materiaux, et qu'il con- serva quelques pieces de I'ancien edifice, on ne laisse pas de confondre ce Temple avec celui de Zorobabel ; et les Juifs memes ne comptent que deux maisons." . Hist, de Juifs, I. ii.
2 Josephus says that the whole compass of the porticoes, including the castle of Antonia, was six stadia or furlongs. War, V. v. 2.
» ITP soreg. Josephus calls it a stone eiiclomre {Spv(paKTOi \i9tvoc), and says it was three cubits high, and of very beautiful workmanship. It was here that the pillars stood with their Greek and Latin inscriptions, forbid- ding the Gentiles to proceed further. JFar, V. v. 2.
MARK Xlll. 185
according to Aba Saul, it was the store-room for the oil and the wine. This court was at first open, but it was afterwards surrounded with a gallery that the women might look on from above without mixing with the men below.' Fifteen steps of a semicircular form led from it to the court of Israel. On these steps, corresponding to the fifteen Psalms of Degrees, the Levites stood while performing the temple- music. There were chambers under this court opening into the court of the women, in which the Levites kept their musical instruments. The court was a hundred and thirty- five cubits long by eleven broad. The court of the priests, which was next to it, was of the same dimensions, and two cubits and a half higher." - " The temple itself, properly so called (bz^'nrr Ha-hechal), was a hundred cubits long by a hundred broad and as many in height."^
Yer. 35. IVatch ye therefore : for ye hiorc not ichen the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midniglit, or at the cochcroicing, or in the morning : lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
The Saviour may have had reference in these words to what is said of the president of the temple. " Whoever wished to cleanse the altar, rose early and bathed himself
' The same historiau says that the court of the womeu was walled off from the rest, on the ground of religioa (ttooc QprjTKetav), and that the women entered it by gates of their o^ti. TFar, V. v. 2.
' Middoth ii. 1, &c.
^ Ibid. iv. 6. Josephus says that the Sanctuary or Temple, which was entered by twelve steps, was a hundred cubits high, and as many broad in front, but that behind it was forty cubits narrower, the porch extending twenty cubits on both sides, like shoulders (cia-zsp cL/ioi). Jf^ar, V. v. 4. Though the porch was a hundred cubits high, the Holy and Most Holy place were only sixty. Dr Jost observes that the use to which the upper storey above these was put has not been recorded, and was probably a secret of the high priests. — The whole Sanctuary consisted of the Porch, the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, and the Treasure-chambers. Geschichle der hraeliteti, vol. i. p. 26, 27.
186 MARK XIII.
before the president of the temple came. At what hour did he come ? Not always at the same hour. Sometimes he came at cockcrowing, or a little before or after. Whea he came, he knocked and they opened to him." ^ Christ, the Master of the house and President of the true temple, shaU also come at an hour when the servants are not aware. *' Blessed are those servants who, when he cometh and knocketh, shall open to him immediately."
' n::^ Nb'^ iv b^.rc'] C2'^2!u rnrzin ns ornb rrj:)n sin-ii? >n Tamidh i. 2. — I "b inn2 cm cn^bj? -2in
CHAPTER XIV.
Ver. 3. And beinrj in Bethanij in the house of Simon the le_per, as he sat at meat, there came a icoman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very inecious ; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
It is thought by some that it was only the wax, with which the alabaster box or vase was sealed, that was broken. It may be questioned, however, whether this is all that is in- tended by the original (ffwrpi-^Pacra') ; and whether the vase itself was not broken, — " fracto alabastro," as the Latin Yul- gate has it. "What this female disciple — probably ]Mary of Bethany or Mary Magdalene — now did, was done as a tribute of grateful affection to her Lord and Saviour, whose approaching death she apprehended. Might not the vase be broken for the greater honour of him to whom the whole was offered, just as the Jews, when offering their first-fruits to the Lord, were wont, in token of their gratitude and joy, to leave in the temple the baskets in which they were brought ? " The rich brought their first-fruits in baskets of silver and of gold, and the poor brought theirs in baskets of wicker- work. Both the baskets and the first-fniits were given to the priests." '
' c^^zrm • nnT b::;! ^d:d bw mnbpn cn>-i22 C'S^r.^ cn'>:r2:n
Bicacrm iii. 8. — : C^DHSb ]^3n^3
188 MARK XIV.
Ver. 12. And the first day of unleavened hread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover ?
The paschal lamb, here called the Passover, was killed im- mediately after the offering up of the daily sacrifice in the afternoon. " The daily offering was slaughtered half an hour after the eighth hour, and sacrificed (on the altar) half an hour after the ninth hour ; but on the day before Passover (the day at the close of which the paschal lamb was to be eaten), whether that happened to be on a week-day or a Sabbath, it was slaughtered half an hour after the seventh hour, and sacrificed half an hour after the eighth hour (i. e. half after two, p. m.). When the day before Passover happened on Friday, it was slaughtered half an hour after the sixth hour, and sacrificed half an hour after the seventh hour. The Passover sacrifice was after it." * The slaughter- ing of the paschal lamb, 'therefore, commenced on the day be- fore the Saviour's crucifixion, at half-past two in the after- noon.^ The order of procedure, according to the Mishna, was as follows : — " The Passover sacrifice was slaughtered for
three successive bands or divisions of people The first
division entered, until the court of the temple was filled ; the doors of the court were then closed, and the trumpets sounded. The priests then placed themselves in double rows, holding each a bowl of silver or gold in his hand, namely, one row held silver bowls, and another gold ones, but not mixed. . . .' The Israelite slaughtered, and the priest received the blood and gave it to another priest, who passed it on to others, each receiving a full bowl and returning an empty one ; the priest nearest to the altar poured it out in one jet at the
' Pesachin v. 1.
* Josephus makes the time from three till five o'clock (airo iwarrjc i^pag
(lixpi ivCtKarrjg). War, VI. Ix. 3.
MARK XIV. 189
altar's base Iron hooks were affixed to the walls and
pillars, on which the sacrifice was suspended and its skin taken off; those who could not find a place to do it in this manner, used thin smooth pieces of wood, provided there for the purpose, on which the sacrifice was suspended between the shoulders of two persons and the skin was taken off. .... "When it had been opened, and the pieces removed which were to be sacrificed on the altar, they were placed on a large dish, and offered with incense on the altar The first di- vision then went out and the second entered ; when that went out, the third entered ; even as the first, so did the second and third divisions. The Hallel was also recited. If they finished it, they began again ; they might even say it for the third time, though this never happened." '
Ver. 21. The So7i of man indeed goetJi, as it is icritten of him : hut xooe to that man hy whom the Son of man is betrayed! good icere it for that man if he had never been born.
The Saviour here employs a form of expression common among the Jewish teachers. " Whosoever attends to (or pries into) the four following things, it were as good for him if he had never come into the world, — what is above, what is beneath, what is before, and what is behind. And whosoever is not careful as to the glory of his Creator, it were good for
' Pesachiin, v. 5 — 10. Rabbi Jehudali says in the same place, "It never happened that the third division read as far as the beginning of the 116th Psalm, because they were but few in number." And yet the entire number of offerers must have been immense. Josephus, in order to give an idea of the number of persons that must have perished in Jerusalem during the siege which overtook the people while congregated from all parts to keep the Passover, observes that the victims slain for the occasion usually amounted to about 256,500, and that these were slain, not for individuals, but for companies {(pparpia), consisting of not less than ten legally clean per- sons, and sometimes as many as twenty. War, VI. ix. 3.
190 • MARK XIV.
him that he had never come into the world." ' A solemn truth, both for Jews and Gentiles. God has connected his glory with his word. " Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." " In God will I praise his word." To be careful as to the Creator's glory we are bound humbly, reverently, and diligently to study that word, to believe it, hold it fast, and act upon it. If, then, " the word spoken by [means of] angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience (under Moses' law) received a just recompense of reward ; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great sal- vation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost ? "
TCD hv en sbc? b^T • iircsb rrci c^sb na n'L:ab rrc nVjr^b
Khagiga ii. 1. — : cbll^b S2 sV^ lb ^IWl I2ip So the author of Zohar says — " "Whoever does not go in and out (attend fuUv upon instruction) it were good for him that he had never been created." Idra Zv.ta, sec. x. 400 ; Rahba, sec. xxxix. 919.
LUKE.
CHxlPTER I.
Yer. 8. And it came to pass, that while he executed thepriesfs office hefore God in the order of his course.
The priests had been divided by David into t'^-enty-four courses. During the second temple, the same number still continued under the name of tcatches (dIIlZ'^'D Tnishmaroth). Each course or watch attended at the temple for a week in rotation, except at any of the three great festivals, when the. attendance of the whole was required. ** Three times in the year," says the Mishna, " all the watches or courses shared alike in the offerings of the festivals and in the shewbread. . . . The course whose resrular time of service occurred in the festivals, offered the daily sacrifice, vows, and free-^vill offer- ings, and the rest of the offerings of the congregation, and offered every sacrifice (not belonging to the festival)." ' The institution of the orders is thus stated. " The elder prophets instituted twenty-four mishmaroth or courses ; each course had a station ("[,^^0 ma'aynadh), consisting of priests, Levites, and Israelites, to attend at Jerusalem. When it came to fhe turn of each course to go up, the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem, and the Israelites, who belonged to that course,
1 "Da;::; nc'L:?^ • • • rms nr^^^n b^ rn ttjdz c-^i-^d db^^Di n^l":ttT -TD^i* m:n-^p -is*^t nvr\y) ani: ^n^an n^iTa sin 27i2p
Stfccahv. i. — '.hzn ns
192 LUKE I.
assembled in the synagogues of their cities to read the history of the creation." '
Ver. 9. According to the custom of the priesfs office, Ms lot teas to hum incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
Each part of the daily service in the temple was distributed among the officiating priests by lot. " When the captain or president of the temple came in the morning to the priests in the fire-charaber, he knocked, and on receiving admittance said, Let those who have washed cast lots for the cleansing of the altar. He on whom the lot fell, discharged that part of the service."- This was the first lot. The second was for slaughtering the lamb, sprinkling the blood, removing the ashes, trimming the lamps, &c. The third lot was for burning the incense. The manner in which the lots were drawn is said to have been as follows : — The priests stood round the president in a circle ; and he, fixing upon a certain number, began to count it from the priest whose cap he took off, and he at whom the number terminated was the person to attend to the service in question.
According to the Mishna,' the priest who was to burn in- cense took a golden bowl or charger, in the middle of which was a covered golden censer heaped full of frankincense ;
Ta'aniih iv. 2.
* Tamidh i. 2 ; Yoma ii. 3, i.
3 biia npnnb rrai ?]3m Pirn ns bi^i: n\-r rr^rt^pa rvzvco ^a rm:::p mrm sba yT\ra. -ivn, -urn • X'-zt) rd^^ ^""^rytz nnr bi:? ■nrsncD. n::Tc ''a : ibrnba vby rrn nbisit^o ^-^qdt ib mn ^yD'2^ "jb'^n crbrcn nw rD2i noTcn xa^ nbn ?]Drn nnrm b:23 32 by c^bnnn hn thi* . . . . nrrr ba; -pnb p^2?T -n^ nnm ib^m rmropn 7^^2v^ ^n : ni*''1 mnn:z7m rrnrran ^biun ]Trra reran iTDi-u m-ipb IN "nmsb ii-it^t ?irn Tina -yzn nw bi^i^-rrn "^^12^271 rvn sb : s'jtt itq Vnnn .... v^cra ib "om: iDinb TamidA v. 4, 5 ; vi. 2, 3. — .* Tt^pn lb ims rniaanK? 13? "i^rspa
LUKE I. 193
while another, who assisted him, took a silver censer, and with it brought from the brazen, altar some of the burning coals, which he spread upon, the golden altar. The former then took the censer from the charger, which he gave to his companion ; and as soon as the president of the temple gave the signal, he sprinkled the incense, worshipped, and de- parted.'
Ver. 10. And the whole multitude of the people iccre praying icithout at the time of incense.
After the president of the temple had given the signal for the priest to burn the Incense, the Mishna informs us that " the people withdrew." - Those who were in the court of the priests might withdraw to that of the Israelites or of the women ; and those in the space between the porch and the altar, viz. the priests, removed to a place lower down in that court. Thus standing without, the people remained in silent prayer. — He who intercedes in the heavenly places must be alone in his intercession. It is the privilege of others to pray, but it must be without, down In this world. " There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Ver. 17. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Eli as, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disohedient to the loisdom of the just ; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
It has been already observed how general was, and still is, the belief among the Jews that Ellas was to come as the fore- runner of the Messiah. The general opinion was that he was to come to make peace. " Rabbi Joshua said, I received from Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai, who heard it from his master, and he from his, as a constitution of Moses from
' Tamidh v. 4, 5 ; vi. 2, 3. * Ibid. vi. 3.— 1^t:pm C^n l^nD
0
194 LUKE I.
Mount Sinai, that Elias does not come to pronounce clean and unclean, or to put away and to bring in ; but to put away those who had been brought in (to the congregation) by force, and to bring in those who had been put away by force. Eabbi Jehudah saith, To bring in, but not to put away. JRabbi Simeon saith, To compose divisions. And the Sages say, Not to put away nor to bring in ; but to make peace in the world : as it is said, Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, &c." ' Though John the Baptist was not Elias, he yet came in the spirit and power of that prophet ; and this of itself afforded the Jews a powerful argument that Jesus, for whom he professed that he was_ sent to prepare the way, was indeed the Messiah.
Ver. 21. A?id the jjeojyle waited for Zacharias, and marvel- led that he tarried so long in the temple.
For a priest to be officiating within the temple was be- lieved, and that justly, to be not without danger. Hence we are told that when the high priest went into the Holy of
' 'Edhioth viii. 7. The Jews, according to Justin Martyr, appear to have believed that Elias was to anoint the Messiah. To Trypho's objection that Elias had not yet come, Jostin properly replies, " Our Lord, in his doctrine, taught that this very thing should take place, saying that Elias should also come. And we know that this shall be when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come in glory from heaven ; of whose first appearance also a herald went before, even the Spirit of God which had been in Elias, being in John, a prophet of your nation, and the last that there has been." [Dial, cum Tryph.) The testimony of Josephus regarding the Baptist is well known, — aya96v dvSpa, Kai tovq lovSaiov^ KiXivovra, aptrjjv tiraaKOvvraQ, Kal ry Trpbg dX\T)~ Xouf SiKaioavvg Kai irpbg rbv Qtbv fitfff,3£i'y ^pw/iEj/ovc, ^avTiay.(^ avvikvai, — "a good man, and one who exhorted the Jews, in the exercise of virtue and the practice of righteousness to one another and piety towards God, to re- pair to his baptism." [Antiq. XVIII. vi. 2.). Maimonides ascribes to Jesus what was true of John, when he says that "Jesus the Nazarite, the founder of the Christian reUgion, came into the world to pave the way for the Royal Messiah whom we expect to appear." {MiWs Bciiish Jews, p. 249.) This was precisely what John the Baptist was to do.
LUKE I.
195
Holies on the Day of Atonement, he was anxiously waited for by his friends till he returned, and that on his doing so, he testified his joy by receiving- thera to an entertainment which he had provided at his house. " He prepared a feast for his friends/' says the Mishna, " in the hour that he came forth in peace from the Holy place." ^
• — t:n|-n ]r2 ^ihir^ sii^'lT n:;w'z rzmsb n'tri:? n^n 2r^ cvt
Youia vii. i.
0 2
CHAPTER II.
Yer. 4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Xazai'eth, into Juclcea, unto the city of David, which is Bethlehem ; (because he icas of the house and lineage of David:) to he taxed tvith 3Iary his espoused wife, being great with child.
The "espousing" among the Jews, though, only a matter between the parties themselves, yet rendered them truly man and wife, although they might not live together till some time afterwards, and although the marriage was only con- summated when the contract relative to the dowry was duly settled. In the Mishna a distinct Treatise (r^'1"^P Kedhu- shin, "the Betrothing") is taken up with this subject, con- taining the laws relative to the acquisition of a woman as a wife. It is called r^"^"^P Kedhushin, or Kiddushin, from K^ip Kiddesh, which signifies " to consecrate or set apart;" since by that act a woman was " set apart " for her husband. It begins by stating that "A wife is acquired in three ways, and may recover her liberty again in two (divorce or death). She is acquired by money, by marriage, or through carnal connection." ' " According to Beth Shamraai, the sum of money for the purpose must not be less than a denarius or its value ; but, according to Beth HiUel, a prutah or its value is
' "That is," say the Translators, "when he savs, — Behold, thou art wedded to me with this cormectiou, &c. Although such a marriage is a legal one, and cannot be dissolved, except by a Get (bill of divorce) or the death of the parties, yet the man who thus marries is, as a transgressor against morality and decency, punishable by the tribunal with the infliction of mT:^ r\2r: or 'stripes for rebellion.'"
LUKE II.
19"
sufficient." ' The form of the betrothing or espousing was — " Behold, thou art betrothed or wedded unto me, with, &c., or on condition that, &c." The marriage contract, which is necessary to the consummation of the marriage, is termed Cheth.ibhah {p1^^:2 " a writing or document"), and has also a Treatise in the Mishna devoted to it and kindred matters under that name. " It is invariably drawn up," say the English Translators, " according to a set form, in the Chal- dee (Aramaic) language. The jointure settled on the wife by virtue of the marriage contract is called her Ketuhah (or Chetlmhhah, nz^^d), and in all cases amounts to a fixed and standing sum, which remains of the same amount whether the parties are rich or poor, though by special covenant it may be enlarged." " If the person espoused is a virgin," says the Mishna, " her Chethubhah is two hundred denarii ; if a widow, it is a maneh." - " She is always under the authority of her father, until she is placed under the authority of her husband [by marriage] ; (or until she is placed under the nuptial canopy or Kliupah r^'^r) .'" ^ If, before the parties come together, she is found pregnant, and is asked by whom, her testimony, according to Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Eleazar, is to be received.-* — In the present case, Joseph was not left to depend upon the mere testimony of Mary. An angelic communication removed his fear. (Matt. i. 20.)
' KedhusJim i. 1. A denarius ("Ij"^!) is calculated to te equal to ninety grains of pure silver, and a prutali (HciT^C) to half a grain.
^ Chethubhotk i. 2. A maneh is a hundred denarii.
=» Ibid. iv. 5. "Commentators are divided," observe De Sola and Raphall, " in opinion as to what is here understood by the word Chupali (ni:n). According to Rambam (Maimonides), it denotes a bower of roses and myrtles, into which the bridegroom conducts his bride [after she has been surrendered to him by her father], and where they are left alone. According to Rabbenu Nissim, however, it is not necessary that they should be left alone ; but the wife becomes subject to the husband's authority as soon as she enters his abode, to be there married to him."
* Ibid. i. 9. The case supposed is that in which the answer has referencQ to a priest.
198 LUKE IT.
Joseph and Mary were both of the royal house and lineage of David ; and their repairing to Bethlehem for enrolment proves they were able to demonstrate their genealogy. This was no more than what the Jews in general were, at that period, able to do. Those who were not so, are spoken of as a class by themselves, which does not appear to have been large. " Ten kinds of families," says the Mishna, " went up from Babylon : priests ; Levites ; Israelites ; profaned ; pro- selytes ; freedmen ; bastards ; Nethinira ; those of unknoicn lineage ; and foundlings." ^ — Joseph is represented in Mat- thew as naturally descended from David by his son and suc- cessor, Solomon (chap. i. 7, &c.) ; while in the genealogy given by Luke (chap, iii.), where Mary's ancestry is more properly exhibited, his connection with David, as that ac- quired by his marriage, is traced through Nathan, another of his sons.- It is remarkable, therefore, that in the book Zohar, the Messiah should be distinctly said to be descended from David by Nathan.'
Bethlehem, made the birth-place of Jesus by a remarkable providence, was known to be the place where, according to the prophet (Mic. v. 2), the Messiah was to be born.* The con-
1 Kedhushin iv. 1. The only other of whom we read as being " of the house and lineage of David," besides Joseph and Mary, and their immediate connections, is the great Hillel, who was living at the time of the Saviour's birth, and was the father of Eabban Simeon, and grandfather of Eabban Gamaliel, the preceptor of Paul.
^ The connection, however, as shown by Luke, may be rather that of Jesus than of Joseph, — " Being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, of Heli, (S:c. [vibq 'lwai)(p, rov 'U\t), that is, really the son (or grandson) of Heli, his mother's father. See Gen. xxxvi. 2, compared with ver. 24, 25.
' " Messiah is Menachem, the son of Ammiel, the son of Hephzibah, the wife of Nathan the son of David." Synopsis, Tit. xi.
* "And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, &c." Jarchi's comment on this pas- sage is, — " From thee shall come forth to me Messiah the Son of David ; of whom it is said. The Stone which the builders rejected, &c." {Schoetgen on Matt. xxi. 42.) In connection with Bethlehem as the place of Messiah's birth the following Rabbinical account, taken from Reland's Analecta Rab- binica, and quoted from the Jerusalem Talmud by Lightfoot in his Harmony,
\
LUKE IT. 199
nection of Joseph and Marv with. Nazareth, which led to Galilee being the Saviour's early home and sphere of labour, was no less remarkable. " Galilee of the Gentiles " was to be distinguished by the Messiah's labours (Isaiah ls. 2) ; and it is admitted in the book Zohar, that in Galilee the Messiah was to be manifested.^
Yer. 25. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon ; and the same man was just and devout, xvaiting for the consolation of Israel : and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
This good man is thought by some to have been Rabban Simeon, the son of Hillel and father of Gamaliel. It is pos-
sec. ix., is not uninteresting, as not only shovring that Messiah was expected to be bora in Bethlehem, but affording, as Lightfoot observes, "a clear con- fession of Christ's being already come, and of the poverty of his mother." " It happened that while a person was ploughing, one of his oxen began to low. An Arab passing by, asked him, 'Who art thou?' He answered, 'I am a Jew.' 'Loose thy ox and thy yoke,' said he. 'Why?' asked the other. 'Because,' said the Arab, ' the Temple of the Jews is made deso- late.' ' Whence knowest thou this ? ' he asked. ' I know it,' said the other, * from the lowing of thy ox.' While they were conversing together, the ox lowed a second time. ' Bind thy ox,' said the Arab, ' and bind thy yoke ; for the Redeemer of the Jews is born.' 'And what is his name?' asked the Jew. ' Menahem,' he replied. ' And what is his father's name ? ' ' Hezekiah.' ' And where do they dwell ? ' 'In Birath Arba of Bethlehem- Juda.' The Jew then sold his oxen and his yoke, and, as a dealer in infants' swaddling clothes, travelled from city to city, till he came thither. All the villagers there came to buy of him, except her who was the mother of the child. 'Why dost thou not buy infants' swaddling-clothes ?' said he. ' Be- cause hard is my child's lot,' she replied. ' Vfhj ? ' said he. ' Because, on his account (or with him) the Temple was laid waste.' ' We trust in the Lord,' he replied, ' that as with him it was destroyed, so with him it shall be rebuilt.' He said, moreover, ' Take some of these swaddling-clothes for thy child, and after some days I will come to thy house and receive the payment.' She took them, and departed. After some days he said, ' I will go and see what the chdd is doing.' ' Did I not tell thee,' said she, ' that his lot was a hard one ? and such a fate has followed him ; for from that hour the winds came, and the whirlwinds carried him up, and departed, &c.' " ' Sj/tiopsis, Tit. xi.
200 LUKE II.
sible ; for R. Siineoa by no means figures among the Jewish doctors like either his father or his son as a promoter of Eabbinism.
"The consolation of Israel" indicates the Messiah, who was expected under that character. Hence the name ascribed to him by the Rabbins, — Menahem, or Comforter. See foot- notes at ver. 4. " Menahem is his name," said R. Jodan in the name of R. Ebo, " because it is said, ' A comforter is far from me,' Lam. i. 2." '
Yer. 42. And token he was ticehe years old, they tcent up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.
The rule respecting those who were to go up to Jerusalem at the three great festivals is thus given in the Mishna. " All were bound to appear except those who were deaf, or insane, minors, eunuchs, women, slaves, the lame, the blind, the sick, the aged, and whoever was not able to go on his feet." - On the question who was a minor, the schools of Hillel and Shammai were divided. The former maintained that they were such as were unable to go up from Jerusalem to the mountain on which the temple stood, while holding by their father's hand. The latter applied the term to the child who was un- able to sit on his father's shoulders, and so to ascend the mount. Jesus was now of suf&cient age to go up to Jerusa- lem "according to the custom of the feast ; " and having been made under the law and engaging to fulfil all righteousness, he hastens to obey the requirement, and to present himself in his Father's house.
' Relandi Anal. Rabb. (p. 63. Institutio Rabbinismi).
]pTm nbinm saiom nrnn cn^m::;^ m^s::' d^i2371 cr::7:i Khagigah i. i. — '^^y^J. nbisi biD^ irsci? ^ai
LUKE II. 201
Yer. 46. And it came to pass, that after three darjs they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and ashing them questions.
" There were three Beth-Dins or Houses of Judgment," says the Mishna, referring to .Jerusalem. "One sat at the gate of the Mountain of the House ; another at the gate of the court ; and the third, in the chamber of hewn stone. People (in a disputed case) came first to that which sat in the gate of the Mountain of the House ; and the teacher said, ' I explain thus, and my associates thus;' or, ' I have taught thus, and my associates thus.' If they have received (a tra- dition on the subject) they tell them ; if not, they go to those at the gate of the court. The teacher says the same to them, — ' I explain, &c.' If they have received a tradition, they tell them ; if not, they go to the Great Beth-Din in the chamber of hewn stone." ' Whether it was in any of these assemblies, or in the synagogue which appears to have been in one of the courts of the temple (see note, Luke iv, 16) that Jesus was found sitting, must remain uncertain. It was pro- bably the latter, as every synagogue had also attached to it, or was itself used as, a school (^,'"^12 3Iidrash) for religious instruction and discussion. In these assemblies questions were frequently proposed by the hearers. Hence the lament of Rabbi Phinehas after the destruction of the temple, " There is no one to explain, or to search, or to ask questions." ^ Ga- maliel, Simeon his father, or even Hillel, who survived till about the Saviour's twelfth year, may have been among those doctors.
Yer. 47. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers.
Children, it appears, were frequently present at the in- structions and discussions in the Midrashes, and parents were
' Sanhedrin x. 2.
* Sotah X. 15.— ^TiT ]^S1 q-^a fSI Iinn f^
202 LUKE IT.
recommended to take them thither. They took, however, no part in the proceedings, and were merely hearers. Hence the wonder in reference to Jesus, who was not yet, according to Jewish law, a Bar-mitsvah {rrri^ 12), or one arrived at the a^e at which he was held accountable for his deeds, and, as a member of the congregation, might be called to read pub- licly in the synagogue.^ A rule in regard to the instruction of youth, such as that which Judah ben Tema states in the Mishna, was probably even then not altogether unknown among the Rabbles, — " At five years of age, a child is put to the text of Scripture ; at ten, to the Mishna or traditions ; at thirteen, to the commandments (as then he became a Bar- mitsvah, or son of the commandment)."^ Jesus, however, had only learned the traditions to see their contrariety in many instances to the written word, and to observe how far what the Rabbles taught for doctrines was but the command- ments of men. His delight had been from early childbood in " the law of the Lord," and in that law had he meditated " day and night ;" so that he could even now say, " I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation."
' See Buxtorf, Synagoga Jiidaica, cap. iii., and Mill's British Jews, Part I. chap. i.
« p nriab ma;!? ^^ p • n:27nb -12717 ]2 • s^fTab cr:K7 ^rmn ]n Tirhe Abhoth v. 21. — tHsnb TT^^^ ruy::^ ]2 T)*3bnb -1t:737 vjiin
The book Zohar assigiis a high reward to those who teach their children the Holy Law. " He who takes his son morning and evening to the house of a Rabbi, is as if he had twice received the law on Mount Sinai." aS^- nopsis, Tit. i.
CHAPTER III.
Yer. 2. Annas and Cai'ajjhas being the high priests.
Although, strictly speaking, only one person could hold the office of high priest at the same time, yet others might and did possess the title along with him, A priest was usually appointed to act as Sagan, or vice-high priest, who, in case anything occurred to incapacitate the actual high priest for officiating on the Day of Atonement, acted in the mean time as his substitute. " There is no difference," says the Mishna, " between the officiating (or actual) high priest and the priest who has acted as his substitute, except in the bullock offered on the Day of Atonement, and the tenth of the ephah of flour (which the former alone might offer) ." ' Caiaphas, or, as he is called by Josephus, "Joseph who is also Caiaphas,"^ was at this time the actual high priest ; and Annas, who was his father-in-law, might be his sagan or substitute. Besides, those who had been high priests stiU retained the title, though not the office.^ Annas had been high priest, and on that account also might be associated with Caiaphas under that title.*
^ Megillah i. 9. ^ Dr Jost calls him " Joseph son of Caiaphas."
' Thus Josephus calls Ananias, son of Nebedreus, high priest, though Jesus, son of Damnceus, was then actually so.
* Jost, following Josephus, sajs, — " Hannan (Annas), son of Seth, gave place to Ismael, son of Phabus (a. d. 15) ; he to Eleazar, son of the same Hannan; a year after, he had to make room for Simon, son of Camitli ; and after another year, the latter ceded the dignity to Joseph, son of Caiaphas" (or, according to Josephus, " who is also Caiaphas "). Geschichte der Israeliten, vol. i. p. 293.
204 LUKE III.
Yer. 3. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
The Jews acknowledged that without repentance there was no remission. The doctrine of the Rabbis was, that for certain offences the sin-offering and the trespass -offering made atonement ; that for sins in general, expiation was made bv death and by the day of atonement with repentance ; that for light transgressions, repentance of itself procured foro-iveness ; and that for grave offences, repentance sus- pended the punishment till the day of atonement arrived and expiated them.' The object of John the Baptist's preaching was not merely to bring the Jews to repentance, but, in so doing, to prepare them for the reception of the true atoning Sacrifice, through whose shed blood remission was to be pro- vided. With the call to repentance was associated the testi- mony to Jesus, " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." Glad tidings ought this to be, not only to us who are Gentiles, but to you also, beloved brethren of the house of Israel. Whatever might be the value of the Day of Atonement to your fathers, to you no such day exists. Since the temple was destroyed, you have been " without a sacrifice ; " but without a sacrifice there is no Day of Atone- ment. That which constituted the tenth day of the month such a day, was more especially the two goats, the one of which was slain as an offering to the Lord, while the other was sent away into the wilderness, after the sins of Israel had by Divine appointment been confessed over it and laid upon its head. This goat was typical of Him who truly bears and takes away sin through the sacrifice of Himself. The fowl which you kill in connection with what you call Yom Kippur (m::D CV or Day of Atonement) can serve no purpose but to remind you that the wages of sin is death. As a religious
' Toma viii. 8.
LUKE in. 20o
rite, God may well ask, "Who hath required this at your hands ? As a substitute for your souls, it is utterly worth- less. It is true what Mairaonides says,' that the sins of one man cannot be transferred from his own shoulders to those of another; and still less to an animal of human selection. But the sins, not of one man only, but of the whole world, can be transferred to one who is not merely man but God in man's nature, — a true man and yet as truly God, — as said the Lord by Zechariah, " Awake, 0 sword, ag;ainst my Shepherd ; against the man that is my fellow (\"T'a;7 ~yzi) ; smite the Shepherd." (Zech. xiii. 7.) It must be a true man who is to be a substitute for man, and not a fowl bearing the same name ; " but it must also be one who is infinitely more. Such is Jesus, the once crucified but now risen and ascended Saviour.
Ver- 23. And Jesus himself hetjan to he about thirty years of aye, heiny (as teas supposed) the son of Joseph, which teas the son of Hell.
The word "about" {wctt, "as if," "as it were," = r) has in such a connection the force of "almost." Thus in the Mishna, Eabbi Eleazar says, — "Verily lam as a man of seventy years," ^ — or, as it is explained, "almost a man of seventy."
It seems now to be very generally considered that Luke here gives the genealogy of Mary, while. Matthew exhibits that of Joseph. The Rabbins would appear to speak of Mary as the daughter of Pleli,* who was also probably called Joachim, the name which Christian tradition has given to
' Moreh Nehhochim, Pars III. cap. xlvi.
- ~12!1 is the Hebrew for a cock as well as a ma)i : heuce uo doubt the selection of that animal for the Day of Atonement.
^ Berachoth i. 5.
* Lightfoot, who thinks that it is not Joseph, but Jesus, who is here said to be the son of Heli, adduces a passage from the Jerusalem Talmud iu which he supposes the mother of the Saviour is thus spoken of.
20G LL'KE III.
the Virgin's father. Both Joseph and Mary were thus lineally descended from Salathiel and Zerobabel, who pro- bably themselves descended in a direct line from David through Solomon, the former being called by Luke the son of Neri, a descendant of Nathan, from his having married a daughter of Neri, who may have left no male issue.' Joseph is supposed to have descended from Zerobabel by Abiud his eldest son, and Mary by Rhesa, his youngest. The objection against Joseph's being called the son of Heli, merely because he was his son-in-law, is removed, it is thought, by the sup- position that Mary was an heiress, which would at the same time account for her marrying into the same tribe according to the law of Moses, and also for her repairing in person with Joseph to Bethlehem. The objection also disappears if we read the passage as intimating that Jesus, and not Joseph, was the son of Heli.^
^ This, which is the opinion of Dr Barret and is adopted by Dr A. Clarke, meets the difficulty which Calvin felt in supposing Mary's genealogy to be given by Luke, that Christ would thus appear not to be descended from Solomon, which he thinks is absolutely necessary. Calvin preferred, with the ancients, to regard both genealogies as those of Joseph, the one legal and the other natural, Mary's being either implied in Joseph's, or other- wise well known. Early Christian writers understood Jacob and HeU to be brothers by different fathers, Matthan and Melchi, the former a de- scendant of Solomon, the latter of Nathan, and that on Heli dying without issue, Jacob married his widow, according to the law of Moses in such cases, and begat Joseph, wlio was thus legallij the son of Heli, thougli naturalhj the son of Jacob. Calvin, however, thinks that the genealogy in Matthew is the legal one, and that Joseph is traced back to Solomon on account of the regal succession, raf.her than from natural birth, the succes- sion in Solomon's line havLng somewhere terminated, and passed to the descendants of Nathan. See Dr Townsend's New Testament on the pas- sage.
* Raphelius, whom Dr Clarke follows, proposes to read the passage thus, — (Iv (wc ivo/iiZsro yloc 'iwirr}^) tov 'hXi — "being (while reputed the son of Joseph) the (real) son (or grandson) of Heli, &c."
CHxlPTER lY.
Ver. 16. A?id he came to Nazareth, 2vhere he had been brour/ht up : and, as his custom teas, he icent into the synagogue on the sahhath day, and stood up for to read : and there was delicered unto him the hook of the prophet Esaias.
Spe.ikixg of what was done by the high priest on. the Day of Atonement, probably in the synagogue within the enclosure of the Temple, the Mishna says : — " The minister of the congregation (roi2r\ ]Tn Khazan haccheneseth) took the book of the law, and gave it to the ruler of .the synagogue (nD:rrr wTS*-; Rosh haccheneseth), who again gave it to the Sagan (or vice-high priest, p:r), by whom it was given to the high priest himself. The high priest then stood up, and took the book and read, "After the death, &c." (Lev. xvi.), and, " Also on the tenth day, &c. (Lev. xxiii. 27)." ' In the syna- gogue it was the duty of the Sheliakh tsibhor (or angel of the Church, -112''" rrb*^') to read the Haphtorah, or appointed portion in the prophets ; and, in the absence of such an officer, any other person might be called upon by the president or ruler of the synagogue to do so. It would appear that on this occasion, Jesus, as a person well known at Nazareth and already distinguished as a religious teacher, had been invited by the president to perform this duty. The person who read the Haphtorah might or might not confine his reading to that portion, and might also give his interpretation of the passage. Perhaps it was so ordered in the providence of God,
• Yoma vii. 1.— "i:") nD32n '^s"^b i:m2T rmn "icd b::i: rozzn ]Tn
208 LUKE IV.
that the Haphtorah for that Sabbath was the passage which most fully sets forth the mission and the office of the ^lessiah on which Jesus had now publicly entered.
Ver. 20. And he closed the hook, and he gate it again to the minister, and sat down.
In the passage of the Mishna last quoted, it is in like manner said of the high priest, after reading the prescribed portion of the law^ — " He then rolled up the book, and put it into his bosom." ' So Jesus, after finishing the portion, closed the book, or, rather, rolled up the scroll containing the pro- phecies of Isaiah which had been given him to read, and re- turned it, according to the custom of the synagogue, to the Khazan or minister, to be replaced in the ark or chest,
' Toma vii. 1. — i)Trn T\^l^^ mm "zz Vti:!
CHAPTER V.
Ver. 39. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new : for he saith, The old is better.
By the "old wine" the Saviour may have intended the sweetness and excellence of evangelical doctrine and experi- ence, as contrasted with the austerities both of John and the Pharisees, — with the spirit and life of the legal dispensation. Whoever has tasted the former, will not readily abandon it for the latter, any more than he will do so for the pleasures of sin or the vanities of the world.' The Rabbies spoke of good wholesome instruction, such as might be obtained from men of age and experience, under the figure of "old wine." " He who learns from aged men, to what is he like ? To him who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine." ^ In like manner,
1 Many indeed understand the Saviour as still speaking of the New Testament spirit under the figure of new wine. So Theophylact, Dod- dridge, Stock, Olshausen, &c. Others, however, as Calvin and Kuinoel, take the opposite view. " Unde enim fit," says Calvin, &c. "Whence it happens that wLae, which does not change its flavour, is not equally pleas- ant to the palate of all, but that use and custom form the taste. Hence it follows that the method which Christ adopts with his disciples is not to be the less esteemed because it possesses less pomp and splendour : as old wine, though it does not froth and ferment like the new, (musteo fervore non ita despumat), is not less sweet or salutaiy to the body."
2 mbr^'2 c:^n:r b^isb ntyn Nin rrab c^prn ]n -rcibm
Pirke Ahhoth iv. 20. — . P^ T' HH^Di Wine was considered old when it had been kept a year ; very old, when kept two or three. — t □"'ZK? K7b^7 ^TTZ ]K;TS2T l|":n:rS '^tTQ ]Cn " It was old when of the past year's vintage ; and very old, when of three years' standing." Babha Bithra vi. 3.
p
210 LUKE VI.
the Instruction received from young and inexperienced per- sons is compared to new wine. " He who learns from young men, to what is he like ? To him who eats unripe grapes, and drinks wine from his wine-fat (quite new)." The same Rabbi says, "Consider not the cup (the age of the teacher), but what is in it. Sometimes a new cup is full of old wine ; and some- times there is an old cup with not even new wine in it."
CHAPTER YI.
Yer. 1. And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he loent through the corn-fields ; and his dis- ciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
The Saviour and his disciples were probably at this time on their way to the synagogue. The morning service was attended before any food was taken, and was usually extended to about twelve o'clock (the sixth hour), beyond which it was held improper, on account of the Sabbath being called a De- light, to prolong their fast.^ Matthew, after narrating what appears to be the same incident, observes that Jesus then " departed thence, and entered into their synagogue." The place from which they had proceeded, and where perhaps they had lodged, may have been at a little distance from the town, not more, however, than a Sabbath day's journey, or about three quarters of a mile. — Different opinions have been formed as to the meaning of the expression " the second Sab- bath after the first" (Sfurcporrpw-w). The time of the year appears to have been between the feast of Passover, when the first sheaf was reaped, and that of Pentecost, when the
' Buxiorf, Syn. Jud., cap. xi. ; MiWs British Jews, Part II. chap. iV.
LUKE VI. 211
bread of the first-fruits was offered before the Lord. We are probably, therefore, to understand by " the second Sabbath after the first," the first Sahhath after the second day of the feast of the Passover. On that second day the sheaf of the first-fruits Tvas to be reaped and waved before the Lord ; and from it seven Sabbaths were to be counted to the feast of Pentecost, when the new meat-offering of the first-fruits was to be presented. Thus the first of those seven Sabbaths would be called "the first after the second day," or in Greek, Itv-tpoTTODTov, dexiteroproton, which is the word here rendered " the second Sabbath after the first." The Sadducees, who rejected the traditions of the elders, maintained that the sheaf of the first-fruits was to be reaped and waved on the day after the. Sabbath in the Passover week; understanding by the Sahhath in Lev. xxiii. 12, the iveekly Sabbath ; while the Pharisees held it as a tradition, that it was not the weekly Sabbath that was there intended, but the Passover it- self, and that the sheaf of first-fruits was therefore to be pre- sented on the morrow after the first day of that feast, whether that day fell upon a weekly Sabbath or not.' — The Jewish Rabbis, in their usual way of dealing with the law, reckoned thirty-nine principal kinds of work (ahhoth malachoth'^), which were forbidden on the Sabbath. Among these were, sowing, reaping, gathering, threshing, winnowing, and cleans- ing.^ Under two or three of these heads would the Phari- sees endeavour to bring the disciples in guilty of profaning the Sabbath.
Yer. 45. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart hringeth forth that which is good ; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart hringeth forth that xohich is evil : for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaheth.
That the hej^rt must be right before our actions or our words can be so was taught by one of the Jewish masters in
» Memchoth x. 3. ^ nirsb?:: milS literally, "fathers of works."
^ Shabbath vii. 2. p 2
212 LUKE VI.
the follou-ing manner. " He (Eabbi Jochanan) said to his disciples, Go and consider what is that right way to which a man ought to cleave. Rabbi Eliezer said, It is a good eye (bountifulness or liberality). Rabbi Joshua said, It is to be a <Tood companion. Rabbi Jose said. It is to be a good neigh- bour. Rabbi Simeon said, It is to provide for the future. Rabbi Eleazar said. It is a good heart. He (Jochanan) said to them, I perceive the words of Eleazar the son of Aruch from yours (or, to be better than yours) ; for your words are contained in his (that is, when the heart is good, the rest will follow). Again he said to them, Go and consider what is that evil way from which a man ought to keep himself. Rabbi Eliezer said. It is an evil eye (covetousness or avarice). Rabbi Joshua said, It is to be a bad companion.. Rabbi Jose said, It is to be a bad neighbour. Rabbi Simeon said, It is to borrow and not to pay. Rabbi Eleazar said, It is an evil heart. He (Jochanan) said to them, I perceive the words of Eleazar ben Aruch from your words ; for yours are all con- tained in his." '
1 Pirke Abhoih ii. 9.
CHAPTER VII.
Yer. 12. Now iclien he came nigh to the gate of the citij, he- hold, there icas a dead man carried out, the onhj son of his mother, and she was a ividow : and much people of the city teas with her.
BuKiAL grounds, among the Jews, -were always situated outside the town or city. " Carcases, sepulchres, and tan- neries," says the Mishna, "are removed fifty cubits from the city." ' The regulation was doubtless made in order to avoid ceremonial uncleanness.
The presence of this poor bereaved widow at the funeral of her son, and the multitude of people who attended with her on the occasion, were both in accordance with Jewish custom. The people were there for the purpose of affording consolation to the bereaved. This they were wont to do by stopping at times on their way both, to and from the grave, and forming themselves into one or more circles around the mourner, or into rows through which he passed, when they addressed him or her in the language of condolence. In the regulations laid down in the Mishna in regard to the recitation of the Shema' and the daily prayers, it is said, — " Those who carry the bier [at a funeral], those who relieve them, and those who relieve the relief, — such, as go before the bier, and such as go after it (their services being required for the bier), are all exempt from saying the Shema'. But those whose services are not thus required are bound to say it. Both are alike exempt
Bahha Bilhra ii. 9. — : HaS Q^C'^'^h
214 LUKE VII.
from the prayers. When they have buried the dead and re- turn, if they have time to begin and end any section of the Shema' before they reach the rows (or files formed for the mourners to receive the customary condolence), they are to beo-in : if otherwise, they are not. Of those who stand in the rows the inner ones are exempt from the Shema', but the outer ones are bound to say it." ^ On the way to the grave, at least in later times, the corpse was set down at intervals, and expressions of condolence addressed to the mourners, or even a funeral oration delivered. These ceremonies, however, required that at least ten persons should be present. " "Wlien there are not ten persons present at a burial," says the Mishna, " the customary sittings and stoppages with the corpse may not take place, nor may the blessing for mourners be said, nor the forms of condolence used." -
Opportunity was thus afforded, in the providence of God, that the Saviour's miracle in restoring this young man to life might be performed, not in a corner, but in the presence of a considerable number of persons.
Yer. 3T. And, behold, a icoman in the city, ichich was a sinner, xohen she kneio that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought' a7i alabaster box of ointment.
This woman would have access to the Pharisee's house from the custom which seems to have prevailed among the Jews, of rich and professedly pious people making their houses open to the poor, especially during the time of meals. " Let thy house be open to the street," was the saying of R. Jose ben Jochanan of Jerusalem ; " and let the poor be the children of thy house." ^ The practice appears still to linger in the East. "I noticed," says Dr Bonar, "that while we were at dinner [in Cairo], several persons came in and seated themselves on the divan behind us, — no one seeming to think
' Berachoth iii. 1, 2. ' MegiUah iv. 3.
' Pirice Abhoth i. 5.—: ^H^n "'Dn n^"*:!; vrn nrmb mns -]n^2 ^n^
LUKE VII. 215
them intruders .... These visitors, who had come into the room where we were dining-, sat quietly till dinner was ended, and then entered into conversation with us." '
It appears to have been quite customary among the Jews to introduce perfumes in connection with their principal meal. " The blessing is also said for the perfume," says the Mishna, "although it be not brought in till after the meal."- As it appears that perfumes were only introduced when dinner was over, it is probable that the woman waited till the meal was ended, and that then the deeply interesting incident re- lated in the following verses took place.
^ Journey through the Desert, p. J:3. See also Buxtorf, Syii. Jud., cap. vii. ; and Zohar, Sjnopsts, Tit. iii. and viii. • Berachofh vi. G.
CHAPTER X.
Ver. 4. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes : and salute no man by the loay.
In regard to " purse " and " scrip," see note under Matt. X. 9. In reference to shoes consult the same note, and also that under Mark vi. 9. In times of great anxiety and con- cern in the state, as when a public fast was observed on ac- count of long-continued drought, mutual salutations were prohibited. " If these days pass," says the Mishna, " and prayer is not heard, they abstain from buying and selling, from building and planting, from marr}'ing and giving in marriage, and from saluting one another." ' The disciples, in the prosecution of their evangelistic work/were to comport themselves as men deeply concerned. They had a business on hand which pertained to the eternal weal or woe of their fellow-men. — It is also ordered in the Mishna in regard to persons engaged in their devotions, "Though the king should then salute them, let them not return the salutation." - The disciples were to be as intent upon their mission as persons en^aafed in an act of devotion. — The same command being given by the prophet to Gehazi (2 Kings iv. 29), suggests that needless expenditure of time was to be avoided ; an in- junction rendered necessary, as Jahn remarks,^ from the practice prevalent, at least among the Arabs, of repeating the salutation again and again, with its accompanying inquiries, thanksgivings, and prayers. These disciples were to prepare
' Ta'anith i. 7. • "^ Berachoth r. 1.
' ArchcBologia, § 173. An example of this is mentioued by Dr Bonar in his Desert of Sinai, p. 111.
LUKE X. 217
the people, in the several places to which they were sent, for a believing reception of their Saviour whose stay among them would be short. The King's business required haste.
Yer. 16. He that heareth yoii heareth me ; and he that de- spiseth you despiseth me; and he that dcspheth me de- spiseth him that sent me.
It was a saying of Rabbi Eleazar ben Sharamua, "Let the honour of your disciple be as dear to you as your own." '
The Saviour's words may indicate two things : first, how dear to himself he would hold the persons of his faithful messengers, considering the respect or contempt that might be shown to them as shown to himself ; and, secondly, that the reception which should be given to their message, he would regard as given to himself whose ambassadors they were ; just as the reception given to him will be viewed as given to God himself who sent him.
Yer. 24. JFor I tell you, that many jyrophets and kings have desired to see those things lohich ye see, and have not see)i them; and to hear those things xohich ye hear, and have not heard them.
Maimonides, in his commentary on the Mishna, remarks, that "prophets and holy men have vehemently desired the days of the Messiah, because of the meeting together of righteous men, good morals, wisdom, the righteousness of the King (that is, Messiah himself), his great loiowledge and nearness to his Creator, according to Ps. ii. 7, and a zealous obedience rendered without constraint to all the Mosaic law." '^ The days of the Messiah came, though his own nation re- ceived him not. It was not so much, however, what should be in the days of the Messiah, as the Messiah himself, and his own gracious words and works, that the prophets and
' Pirke Abhoth iv. 12. - On Sanliedr'ui xi. 1.
218 LUKE X.
holy men of old desired to witness. All indeed that the Rabbi enumerates, as expected to take place in the days of the Mes- siah, has in part resulted already from the coming of Jesus ; and all shall be fully realized, the last particilar perhaps ex- cepted, when he shall come the second time, and shall create those new heavens and that new earth " wherein dwelleth righteousness."
Ver. 29. Bat he, willing to Justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour ?
A non-Israelite, whether a Gentile or Samaritan, was not reo-arded bv the Jewish Rabbies as included under the term "neighbour." The law had said, — " If one man's ox hurt an- other's that he die, then they shall sell the live ox, and di- vide the money of it ; and the dead ox also they shall di- vide : or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead shall be his own." But the elders decreed, — " If the ox of an Israelite push that of a heathen, the owner is free (from the obligation of making compensation). But if the ox of a heathen push that of an Israelite, whether it be perfectly harmless, or one that has been known to push, he shall make good the entire loss." ' An Israelite was permitted to remove, on the Sabbath, the ruins that had fallen upon another Israelite ; but he was not to remove them if it was known that the person was a heathen.- The heathen were thus excluded from the class of "neighbours." It would seem that not even all Israelites
1 rssD CT'Dr \u:^ • 'iy::r: ct'di? \w -mh n:zz^ \^\n'' \w -n:r — : cbir pt: cbjr^ lyia ]^2t en ^^2 'rs'^c,^^ ^.w -rah
Babha Kama iv. 3.
^ Tomah i. 7. In Antch, quoted by Lightfoot, it is expressly said that all the Gentiles (HIQIS umoth, nations, peoples) are excepted when the word neighbour is used. Maimonides says the same of a resident .stranger
LUKE X. 219
were included in that term. Bv the traditions of the elders, acts of service were only permitted to be rendered up to a certain point by a religious person to one of the common people, and that permission was only granted for the sake of peace. " One woman may lend to another who is suspected (not to observe properly the laws) of the Sabbatical year, a flour-sieve, a winnow, a handraill, and a stove ; but she may not assist her to grind. The wife of a religious person (~i2n khabher, a fellow or associate) may lend to the vrife of one of the common people a flour-sieve or a winnow, and may assist her to winnow, to grind, or to sift ; but as soon as water is poured upon the flour, she may not further assist her, for those who transgress the law (as all the common people were supposed to do) are not to be aided in their transgressions. All these permissions have been granted for the sake of peace only." ^ Thus whether even the Jewish common people (7~srr C:7 'Am ha-arets, people of the land or of the earth) were to be regarded by the religious as their "neighbour" would seem to be doubtful.'
Yer. 31. And hij chance there came doicn a certain jtriest that way : and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
The priest and the Levite would probably be both return- ing from Jerusalem, after their week of ministration in the
' Git tin. V. 9.
* In the book ZoLir, the line of distinction between the Khabher p— H) ■?\-ho studied and observed the law (always including the traditions), and the common people, is very broad. " The disciples of the Sages are called Adara (man) and Israel. Bat the common people are neither called Adam (man) nor Israel, but slaves sold to the Israelites ; because they are in a condition not different from that of brute beasts." " The soul (aniraa) of a disciple of the Sages is called a Sabbath, and a festival, and an excellent spirit : but the soul (psyche) of a plebeian and an ignorant person is called a brute." {Si/nopsis, i.) The term Khabher p^fT), a "fellow," might easily come to be regarded as indicating an answer to the question, Who is my neighbour ?
220 LUKE X.
temple, to their own home at Jericho, where a great number of them had their abode. " When it came to the turn of each course or watch to go up (from their cities to the temple), the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem." ' Travellers de- scribe the road from Jerusalem to Jericho as a continuous descent, and as still infested with robbers.^ That the priests were by no means superior to the people in charity and virtue appears from various hints given in the Mishna.^ Lightfoot asks, Did the priest pass by on the other side to avoid un- cleanness by the touch of a dead man, or because he was a Gentile, whom, though even at the point of death, he had learnt from his Rabbies not to attend to ? He thinks, how- ever, that it was from mere want of charity. They who could divorce their wives in fits of passion, and commit adultery with espoused virgins, as the Mishna intimates, could easily exhibit the heartless and selfish conduct in the test.
Yer. 34. And he went to hhn, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and xcine, and set him on his own heast, and brought him to an in?i, and took care of him.
Oil and wine were both used medicinally in Palestine as external applications. " He who has pains in his loins, must not (on the Sabbath) rub them with wine or vinegar ; he may, however, anoint them with oil, except the oil of roses : princes may anoint their wounds with the oil of roses on that day because they use it on week-days." * It has been already noticed that journeys were either performed on foot or on asses. " He who (on the Sabbath-eve, or the sunset of Fri- day) is overtaken by the dusk on the road must give his
' Ta'anith iv. 2. In the Jerusalem Talmud, quoted by Lightfoot, it is said that twenty-four thousand composed the watch at Jerusalem, and that the half of a watch was from Jericho.
* See Dr Bonar's Land of Promise, p. 305.
' Chethubhoth i. 8, 9 ; Gittbi nil. 10, with De Sola and Raphall's note.
* Shabbath xiv. 4.
LUKE X. 221
purse to a heathen ; and if there be heathen with him, he must put it on the ass." ^ The inns were usually kept by heathen, or Gentiles. '^ A company of Levites happened to be journeying to Zoar, the city of Palms," when one of them fell sick on the road, and was taken to an inn. When they returned and asked for their companion, she replied that he died, and she had had him buried. Permission was therefore given to the wife of the deceased to re-marry. The Sages said, Shall not then the testimony of a woman of priestly family be equally admissible with that of a (heathen) hostess of an inn ? " '
Yer. -39. And she had a sister called Mary, ichich also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his icord.
Persons listening to religious instructors in private were accustomed to sit at their feet. " Let thy house," says Jose ben Joezer in the Mishna, " be a place of meeting for the wise men ; and bedust thyself with the dust of their feet, and
' Shabbath s,xiv. 1.
2 This was the Scripture epithet of Jericho itself. The Zoar here raen- tioued could hardly be that at the extreme south of the Dead Sea. The old maps of Palestiae place Zoar at the north of that lake, which, as Lightfoot observes, must either be an error, or there must have been two places of that name. Probably there was a Zoar not far from Jericho ; in which case the road by which these Levites were traveUing might be the very same as that referred to in the text.
' Tehhamoth xvi. 7. — The early commentators loved to find Jesus in the Good Samaritan. The wayfaring man was our Humanity, passing from Jerusalem, a life of peace, to Jericho, one of passion. The thieves were devils. The priests were the law, and the Levites the prophets, who both failed to recover the fallen race. The oU and wine were the doctrine of the word, both soothing and stringent ; or they were the Lord's human and Divine natures, by both of which he saves us. The beast was his own body, to which he unites us. The inn was the Church; and the two pence, the two Testaments, Old and New, which, when he ascended, he left to apostles, pastors and teachers, who, faithfully expounding these and adding their own diligence and labour in attending to souls, shall be rewarded by the Lord at his second commg. {Theophi/laci, in loco.)
222 LUKE X.
driak in their words with thirst."^ To this private instruction Paul may refer when he speaks of himself as " brought up at the feet of Gamaliel." According to Goodwin,- however, the words mio-ht be also applied to the instruction received in the Midrash, or public school. There the Eabbi occupied an ele- vated chair; his associates, or Khabherim (C"i2n), recHned on lower benches ; while the scholars sat on the ground at the teacher's feet.
Ver. 41. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Ilartha, thou art careful and troubled about many things : but one thing is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part, xohich shall not be taken aioay from her.
The Eabbies, with less reason, spoke in a similar way of the study of the law. " Be but little in business," was the saying of Eabbi Meir; "and employ thyself in the law. — If thou neglect the law, thou shalt have many idlers with thee ; but if thou labour in the law. He has a great reward to give thee." ^ " These are the things of which a man eats the fruit in this world, and has a part appointed him in the world to come, — to honour father and mother; to show kindness; to make peace between man and man : and the study of the law is equal to them all."* The part that Mary chose, — to
Tirke Abhoth i. 4. — : C:rP"T27 HW t-^"^^ T^r\^X2
* Moses and Aaron, Book I. chap. vii.
3 -jb ^ ^^'X^T\ ]a nbi:2 czs .mna piD!?T pDy2 1227x2a ^in .1^ in^b raru -12^7 ib ti7> mm nbny est -p^^ Tr:r\u "dh^^
Pirke Abhoth iv. 10.
* Peak i. 1. — This use of the term "part" or "portion" {\^n, i;hn khulak, khalak, or khelek, = fitpic), which is derived from the Old Testa- ment (see especially Ps. xvi.), -was exceedingly common among the Rabbies. In Zohar, the epithet blessed, happy, or good (rW3T zachaah), is frequently attached to it. " Happy is his part, who knows and considers these words, and does not err therein." " Happy shall be my part with them in the world to come." Idra Hubba, sec. xlv.
LUKE XT. 223
sit at the feet of the Great Teacher and hear his words, — was indeed equal and superior to every other. It was not, how- ever, such a part as withdraws us from social and relative duties ; but one which prepares us for, and conducts us to, the riG:ht and seasonable discharsre of them.
CHAPTER XL
Ter. 1. Aitd it came to pass, that, as he ivas j^raying in a cei-tain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach tis to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
It has already been observed (see note, Matt. vi. 9) that, according to some of the Rabbles, the 'Atnidah, or daily prayers, called also from their number, Shemonah ^esrah {rr.Z^V ^2^*2Z^), or " eighteen," were only required to be said in fuU by those who could repeat them fluently ; while for others, the scope or summary of them was sufficient. Rabban Gamaliel, moreover, taught that the angel or minister of the congregation, by reciting the prayers in the synagogue, re- leased the people from their obligation to repeat them.' Hence it would appear that many of the Jews were unable to
^ Ros/i Hashhanah iv. 9. — These eighteen prayers are said to have been composed by the men of the Great Synagogue with Ezra at their head. Another was composed by Samuel the Less, at the close of the first century, on account of the great numbers who had abandoned Judaism for Christianity, and was added to the eighteen by the authority of Rabban Gamaliel, president of the Sanhedrim. These nineteen prayers, with several others, are still in daily use in the synagogues, with probably some alter- ations adapted to the circumstances of the times. Buxtorf, Sjii. Jud , cap. V. ; Mill's Bnlish Jeicn, Part II. ch. ii.
224 LUKE XL
repeat the prayers in daily use, and thus lived without any regular exercise of private prayer. Such would be the case with many of the common people, or ^^sn IIZV [am ha-arets). As the forms were long, and consisted more of benedictions and ascriptions of praise than of direct supplication for per- sonal benefits, the disciples of Jesus as well as of John, after being awakened to spiritual concern and quickened to an in- ward life, probably felt the need of instruction as to the way of addressing their supplications to God, and desiderated a form shorter than that in use by the Pharisees, and more adapted to the exigencies of their condition. John had given his disciples instruction on this subject ; and hence they, as well as the Pharisees, are said to " fast and to make prayers." Jesus also had done the same when addressing the multitude in his sermon on the mount ; and now, when the disciples had seen him engaged himself, according to his custom, in private devotion, they take occasion to ask him for more particular instruction in relation to the same exercise. The prayer which the Lord, in compliance with the request preferred, in- dited for their direction and use, contrasts with those which the Pharisees were in the habit of offering, not less in its per- tinence and point than in its conciseness and brevity. It appears to be, with the addition of one or two new topics^ a condensation of the daily prayers of the synagogue.
Yer. 2. And he said unto them, WTien ye pray, say, Our Father lohich art in heaven, Hallowed he thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will he done, as in heaven, so in earth.
It has been already remarked at Matt. v. 9, that the ex- pression " Our Father who art in heaven " (cxru^ri^c i:''2S ahhinu shehhashshamaim) was in frequent use among the Jews. One part of the synagogue prayers is — " Our Father who art in heaven_, have pity upon us for thy name's sake,
LUKE XI. 225
&c." In the 'Amidah (nT'^v) or Eighteen prayers, the simple expression, " 0 our Father," occurs thrice.
" Hallowed be thy name." One of the Eighteen prayers or benedictions is — "Thou art holy, and holy is thy name ; and the saints praise thee daily. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, holy God." ^ — " Thy kingdom come." In the same 'Amidah are the prayers for the kingdom as follows : — " Oh restore our judges as aforetime, and our counsellors as at the beginning: remove from us sorrow and sighing. 0 Lord, reign thou alone over us in kindness and mercy, and justify us in judg- ment. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord the King, who lovest righteousness and justice." And again : " Oh be mercifully pleased to return to Jerusalem thy city: and dwell therein as thou hast promised. Oh rebuild it shortly, even in our days, a structure of everlasting fame ; and speedily establish the throne of David thereon. — Oh cause the offspring of thy ser- vant David speedily to flourish, and let his horn be exalted in thy salvation ; for we daily hope for thy salvation. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who causest the horn of salvation to bud." For all this the Saviour substitutes the comprehensive and forcible petition — " Thy kingdom come ! " — " Thy will be done, &c." The fifth of the Eighteen Benedictions is — " Re- turn us, 0 our Father, to the observance of thy law ; and draw us near, 0 our King, to thy service ; and convert us to thee by perfect repentance. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who vouchsafest repentance."
■ 1 I give the translation as in Mill's British Jews. There is a slight variation in the prayer-book of the Sephardim Jews. In Prideaux's trans- lation the above prayer runs thus — " Thou art holy, and thy name is holy, and thy saints do praise thee every day. Selah. Tor a great King and au holy art thou, 0 God. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord God most holy." {Co/i,- neclion, vol. i. p. 360. London : 184:5.)
226 LUKE XI.
Yer. 3. Give us claij hy day {margin, for the day) our daily bread.
In the Mishna reference is more than oace made to the third prayer in the 'Amidah, in which God is acknowledged as both sustaining the living and reanimating the dead, — " Causing the wind to blow, and the rain to descend — sustain- ing, by thy benevolence, the living ; and by thine abundant mercies animating the dead." ' The petitions of which the Saviour gives the above simple and beautiful compend, are in the ninth of the Eighteen Benedictions. " 0 Lord our God, bless this year for us, as also every species of its fruiis for our benefit ; and bestow dew and rain for a blessing upon the face of the earth. Oh satisfy us with thy goodness, and bless this year as other good and fruitful years. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who blessest the years."
Yer. 4. And forgive us our sins ; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into tempta- tion ; hut deliver us from evil.
The prayer for forgiveness contained in the 'Amidah (the sixth of the Eighteen) is in these terms : — " Forgive us, we beseech thee, 0 our Father, for we have sinned ; pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed ; for thou art ready to pardon and to forgive. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who art gracious and ready to pardon." The reader will observe that there is no declaration here, as in the form which the Saviour has given, of forgiveness of others on the part of the peti- tioner. The duty, however, of connecting a corresponding practice with their prayers, was made on special occasions the subject of admonition. During the seven last fast-days on account of continued drought, when the ark was brought out of the s}Tiagogue into the street, and the people assembled to
> BcracJioth v. 2 ; Tuanitk i. 1, 2. — C'^Tf Tnim ID^rT n^Ul'a
LUKE XI.
221
pray -with ashes strewn upon their heads, the following di- rection is given in the Mishna, — " The eldest among them shall then address them in heart - moving terms : My brethren, consider that it is not written in respect to the Mnevites, that God regarded their having wrapped them- selves in sackcloth, and considered their fast-days ; but that ' God saw their acts, and that they had turned from their evil ways ' (Jon. in. 10) ; and the teaching of the prophets also is, ' Eend your hearts, and not your garments ' (Joel ii. 13)." ' It were well if Jews practically remembered this ad- monition in connection with their prayers, and that Gentiles, when they pray, — " Forgive us our trespasses," — added with the heart, as they do with the lips, — "As we forgive them that trespass against us."
" Deliver us from evil." The seventh of the Eighteen Benedictions, mentioned in the Mishna as the first in which the interpolations of the additional part on account of the fast are introduced,- is in the following terms : — "Oh look upon our afflictions, we beseech thee, and plead our cause ; and re- deem us speedily, for the sake of thy name ; for thou art a mighty Redeemer. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, who redeemest Israel." That which follows it is similar :—" Heal us, 0 Lord, and we shall be healed ; save us, and we shall be saved ; for thou art our praise.^ Oh grant us a perfect cure for all our wounds; for thou art an omnipotent King — a merciful and faithful Physician. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who healest the diseases of thy people Israel " In two other prayers, not contained in the 'Amidah, the petitioner begs to be delivered
1 Taanith ii. 1. To the same effect the author of Zohar says :— "He who would pray for the foi-giveness of his sins, ought first to take heed to pat away his sin itself." According to the same Rabbi, there are four orderings necessary in prayer ; the first is the ordering of the man himself,— the last is that of his prayers. {Si/nopsis, Tit. ii.) - Taanith u. 4.
^ "For this Dr'Prideaux has " Bring unto us sound health, and a perfect remedy for all our infirmities, and for all our griefs, and for all our wounds."
Q 2
228 LUKE XI.
from sins, from evil men, from wicked spirits, and from every evil.^ In the place of all these the Saviour gives the short and comprehensive petition — " Deliver us from evil.-
Yer 2T. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womh that hare thee, and the paps which thou hast slicked.
It was said of Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, in commend- ation of his excellent character and attainments, " Blessed is she that bare him." ^ The mother was not only considered happy in having such a son, but also as entitled to a share in his praise, for the manner in which she had instructed and trained him in his youth. Perhaps both these ideas, but more especially the former, gave rise to the exclamation of this woman, while she listened to the wisdom of Him who spake as never man spake.
Ver. 51. From the hlood of Abel unto the hlood of Zacharias, which perished hetioeen the altar and the temple : verily I say unto yo-u, It shall be required of this genei'ation.
The space between the brazen altar and the temple, or, as it is elsewhere expressed, "between the porch and the altar," was considered next in holiness to the sanctuary itself, that is, to the Holy place, and therefore more holy than all the other ground that surrounded the Hous.e. It was said to equal, in some respects, the Holy place itself in sanctity ; for example, in this, that the priests withdrew from thence during the time of incense. The expression, " between the porch and the altar/' is applied to it in the Mishna in con-
' JBttxtorf, Si/n. Jud., cap. v.
2 'Atto Toii -rrovTjpov, which may either he read " from evil," or " from the evil one."
' Pir/^ Ahhoth ii. S. — ini^T ^TiTS
LUKE XT.
229
nection with that part of the temple service.' — It is generally understood that the Zucharias here mentioned is the same whose murder in the court of the temple is recorded in 2 Chron. xxiv. 20;- though some have conjectured that it is the prophet whose writings form part of the Canon, and who is called expressly the son of Berechiah, but of whose death nothing is related ; others, that it is the father of the Bap- tist ; ^ and others, that it is that Zecharias the son of Baruch, who, as Josephus relates, was afterwards condemned on false charges, and murdered by the Zealots in the midst of the temple-court.^
' Tamidh v. 5. — rCTl^bl CzblSn ^2 — Also 'Enihhiii x. 15, where it is eonaected witli the sanctuary aud the porch in respect to holiness.
' He is there called the son of Jehoiada, while this Zacharias is called by Matthew the son of Barachias. The same person, however, had frequently two names. Jerome, indeed, mentions that in the Hebrew Gospel of Mat- thew, Jehoiada occurs instead of Barachias, — " In Evangelio quo utuntur Nazareni, pro filio Barachiaj, filium Joiadse reperimus scriptum."
' Theophylact founds this opinion on an unlikely tradition, that the father of the Baptist was killed by the Jews, because he put Mary among the virgins after she had brought forth Jesus.
* War, IV. vi. 1.
CHAPTER XII.
Ver. 47. And that servant, ichick knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
The folio wins: was the rule in reo'ard to the ^azarite who broke his vow. " If a Nazarite drink wine all the day, he is guilty of but one charge. If people, however, say to him, Do not drink, do not drink, and still he drinks, he is guilty of a fresh offence for every time he is admonished." ^ Guilt and consequent punishment accumulate with the frequency of unheeded admonition. " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light."
Besides the regular punishment of the forty stripes save one, there were also what were called the " stripes for rebellion " (mTiQ rc^ maccoth meradhoth) . To these the Saviour's words may have an allusion.
' lb r:::s nriN sbs -y^n i2^s crn bo )>^2 nm^ rvnw nn: — :nns nrw bo br n^^n nr?a Nim nn::'n bs unrn bs
Maccoth iii. 7, 8. A similar rule 'n-as laid down ia regard to the Sabbath. " He who has forgotten, the principle of the Sabbath, and has done many kinds of work on many Sabbath-days, is bound to bring but one sin-offerinff. He who laiows the principle of the Sabbath, but [mistaking the day] has done many kinds of work on many Sabbath-days, is bound to bring a separate sin-offering for each of the Sabbaths. He who kiiows that it is Sabbath, and yet has done many kinds of work on many Sabbath-days, is bound to bring a separate sin-offering for everi/ principal kind of work he has done." {Shabbath vii. 1.)
LUKE xir. 231.
Yer. 53. TVhen thou rjoest with thine adccrsary to the ma- gistrate, as thou art in th.e way, gice diligence that thou mag est he ddicered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the Judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.
The '' magistrate" {apy^ovTo) hero spoken of is probably one of tlie Court of Three, established in connection with every regular congregation, who took cognizance of minor offences and judged in pecuniary cases, such, as tkat of debt. The "judge " {i:^ir^q) is probably one of the higher courts, or San- hedrim,— that of the Twenty-three or Seventy-one, — who de- cided in cases of a more serious nature,' and to whom, as Lightfoot has shown, the plaintiff, if he pleased, might take the defendant. The Mishna relates some cases of the nature supposed in the text, in connection with two rigorous magis- trates in Jerusalem, Admon and Hanan ben Abishalom, show- ing that litigation was by no means rare, whether in making demands or resisting them.- — In regard to prisons, we read, as has been already noticed, of a demoniac supposed to be taken and left in one by the evil spirit who possesses bim,^ We also read of men discharged from prison as among those
' Sunhedn>i i. 3 — 5.
* Chethubhoth xiii. 1 — 9. One maa suss his neiglibour for certain jars of oil, and the defendant admits that he owes him for the oil-jars, but de- nies o^ng for the oil. Another takes upon him to maintain a man's wife while her husband is beyond seas, and then on his return sues him for the money which he expended upon her. A third sues another for debt, while the defendant produces a deed of sale dated subsequent to the bond, by which the plaintiff conveyed to him a field, and denies the debt, on the ground that the plaintiff might have recovered his due when he sold him the field. Two persons sue each other for debt, of whom the holder of the last-dated bond denies that of the other, on the ground that had he been in his debt he would not have borrowed of him.
^ 'Erubki7i iv. 1. The name "iHI! sohar, is said to be given on account of its roimd cup-like figure, having an opening in the upper part for the admission of light. Sckindler's Pcntaglollon, sub voc3.
232 LUKE XT I.
who were permitted to wash their clothes on the middle days of the feasts.'
While the Saviour, according- to the letter of the passage, exhorts men to avoid litigation, and even as a matter of pru- dence to seek a timely agreement with one who threatens to sue them at the law, some have thought, not without reason, that the words may be understood parabolically.- There is an adversary to whom we have each incurred an enormous debt which we never can pay, — God's violated law.^ That law threatens to arraign the sinner before the bar of a righteous God. In one way, and in one alone, can an agreement be effected, — by the suretyship of the God-man provided for that very purpose by Him who is as just as he is gracious, and as gracious as he is just. The present is the only time for making that Surety our own, by a hearty acceptance of, and confidence in, his righteousness and death ; — in other words, by receiving and resting on Him as our Substitute and Saviour, who was made a sin-offering for us, " that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Cor. v. 21.)
' Moedh Katan iii. 1.
' The author of Zohar employs the same figure, — " The days are few, and the creditor is urgent." Idra Rabha, sect. i.
^ The Fathers rather regarded Satan as the adversary. Theophjlad.
CHAPTER XTII.
Yer. 14. And the ruler of the synagogue answered icilh in- dignatioji, iecauso that Jesus had healed on the Sahbath- daij, and said unto the people, There are six days in lohich. men ought to icorh : in tliem therefore come and he healed, and not on the Sabbath-day.
The ruler of the synagogue was probably the president of the Court of Three who had the charge of all matters con- nected with religion and the worship of God in each syna- gogue. Such an officer is spoken of in the Mishna under the name nr^rn uiNi Mash hacchenheth, " head of the congrega- tion or synagogue." '
The Elders and Rabbles carried their rules relating to the Sabbath-rest so far as to forbid the application of healing re- medies on that day, except when life was endangered, or when such remedies were employed as food and drink, or as ordinary applications. " It is not lawful," says the Mishna, "to eat Greek hyssop on the Sabbath, because it is not food for the healthy; but people may eat wild rosemary, and drink Abhubh
' Toma vii. 1. The governing officers of the Synagogue in modern times are — first, the Pamassim (C'D^'ii:) or "Wardens, of whom there are generally three, but sometimes two, one always acting as the president of the Syna- gogue without whom nothing of importance can take place ; second, the Gobah (n212) or Treasurer, who manages the financial afi'airs of the Syna- gogue and attends to the building or other premises belonging to the con- gregation ; third, the Gohai Tseddkah (J^jyTZ ^S— !I) or Overseer for the poor, whose ofSce, however, is sometimes united with the preceding ; fourth, Tobhi Ha-tr p'^pn ^•D^^ or Elders, literally, " Good men of the City," who act as assistants to the preceding honorary officers Mill's British Jews, Part II. chap. ii.
234 LUKE XIII.
roe ; they may eat of any kind of food as medicine, and drink any kind of beverag-e, except water of Dchalim and Coos Ik- karim, as these are only for the jaundice ; but they may drink the water of Dekalini for thirst, and may anoint themselves with the oil of Ikkarim, but not as a remedy. He who has the tooth-ache may not rinse his teeth with vinegar, but he may wash them as usual' (dipping something in vinegar and rubbing them), and if he is cured, he is cured. He who has pain in his loins must not rub them with wine or vinegar ; but he may anoint them with oil, except oil of roses." ^ "Eabbi Matthias ben Harash said. If a person has a sore throat, it is permitted him to put drugs into his mouth on the Sabbath, because the disease may endanger his life, and whatsoever threatens to endanger life supersedes the observ- ance of the Sabbath." - " To put t\i.Qjirst plaster on a wound, whether in the Temple or elsewhere, is prohibited on the Sabbath." ^ Thus we see at once the excessive rigour of the Rabbinical enactments and the allowance of evasions for its mitiaration, the tendencv of which must have been to foster equivocation and guile.
^ Shabhath xiv. 3, 4. '^ Tomah Tiii. 6.
^ 'Enibhin x. 15. We may add the following, — " Thev must not take an emetic, or stretch the limbs of an infant, or put back a rupture." {Skah- hath xxii. 6.) It is also said, "TThoever preserves a thmg, either as seed or for a sample, or as a medicine, and carries out any quantity of it on the Sabbath, is guilty." (Ibid, xi.) The thirty-nine principal occupations, under one or other of which all proliibited works were ranked, are these : — Sowing, ploughing, mowing, binding sheaves, thrashing, winnowing, sift- ing corn, grinding, sifting meal, kneading, baking, shearing sheep, wash- ing wool, carding, dyeiug, spinning, warping, shooting two threads, weav- ing two threads, cutting and tying two threads, tying, untying, sewing two stitches, tearing thread with intent to sew two stitches, catching game, slaughtering it, skinning it, curing a hide, singeing a hide, tanning, cutting up a skin, writing two letters of the alphabet, erasing with intent to write two such letters, building, pulling down, putting out fire, kindling fire, hammering, carrying (from one kind of space to another). Ibid. vii. 2,
LUKE XIII. 2o'5
Tcr. 15. The Lord then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite I doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him aicay to xcaterinrj ?
About this the Pharisees and Rabbinical doctors made no difficulty. The only point was to consider what was necessary for the safe guidance of the animal, and what was to be con- sidered as a burden. " Wherewith may a man let an animal go out ? And wherewith may he not ? The camel may go. out with its halter, and the she- camel with a nose-ring ; the Libyan ass with bridle and bit ; the horse with its collar ; all animals that wear a collar may go out with it and be led by it. The ass goes out with its rug, . . . [but] not with its rug that had not been fastened on (before the Sabbath), nor with a bell, though muffled, . . . nor with a strap to its legs. . . , ]N"or must a cow go out with a strap between her horns." '
Yer. 16. And ought not this xcoman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, la, these eighteen years, he loosed from this bond on the Sabbath-day ?
The Saviour's calling the poor woman " a daughter of Abraham " was calculated to silence and put to shame this hypocritical caviller, since the Pharisees all boasted of their dignity as children of Abraham. See note on Matt. iii. 9. But it was also a rebuke to his pride ; for while the Pha- risees gloried in their descent from Abraham, they, in their self-righteous conceit, disdained and despised the common people, the Am ha-arets {^"^sn 237), " people of the land, or earth," as they contemptuously called them, as if they only had been the children of Abraham.
' Shubhath V. 1, 2.
236 LUKE XIII.
Yer. 23. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that he sated? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many, I say unto you, loill seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
According to the Jewish teachers, so far at least as their own countrymen were concerned, the gate to eternal life was far from being strait. Thev taught that " every Israelite shall have a part in the world to come," with certain exceptions thus specified in the Mishna : — " These are the Israelites that shall have no part in the world to come, — he who says there is no resurrection of the dead ; he who denies that the law (oral as well as written) is from heaven ; and the Epicurcean (or, generally, he who disbelieves the articles of the Jewish faith)." ' The Saviour taught very differently from this ; and hence. the question in the text, " Lord, are there few that be saved ?" The nation, with a few exceptions, seemed to be either Pharisees, whom the Saviour condemned ; or Sadducees, who denied a hereafter ; or the careless and ignorant multi- tude, who, according to the Pharisees, were " accursed," and " not pious,"
Ver. 32. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to- morroxo, and the third day I shall be perfected.
The Spirit of God, by the mouth of Zephaniah, had pre- viously called Jerusalem's princes " roaring Kons," and her judges ^'evening wolves." {Zeph. iii. 3.) It was quite com- mon with the inspired writers, and with the Jewish teachers in general, to characterize individuals and classes of men by the name of some inferior animal which in their habits or disposition they resembled. " "Whosoever," says Rabbi Meir,
Sanhedrin \l 1 .— t DTT^,TDS1 H^IZUJ-H
LUKE XIII. 237
" can prepare the 'erubh (for extending the Sabbath-distance), and does not prepare it, is an ass [and] a camel," — incapable, as we may understand the words, of knowing and taking ad- vantage of his opportunities.' The phrase, however, seems to have been proverbial, and is susceptible of another mean- ing, as will be seen in the note.
"Ver. 33. Nevertheless I jnust icalJc to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following : for it cannot he that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
It was at Jerusalem that the court, whicK alone could judge in the case of one who claimed to be a prophet, held its sittings. " The case of a tribe," says the Mishna, " of a false prophet, and of the high priest, was decided by the Court of Seventy-one." - It was only at Jerusalem, too, that a rebellious judge or elder could be put to death. " They do not put; him to death by the council which is in his own city, nor by that which sits at Jabneh ; but they bring him up to the Great Council which is at Jerusalem." ^ The same rule obtained in the case of a false prophet. If the Court of Seventy-two was sitting at the time at Jabneh, that court must remove to Jerusalem before tbe accused could be ad- judged to death. Jerusalem thus obtained the bad pre- eminence of putting to death. God's true prophets, and among them the Son of God himself.
' 'Embhin iv. 10. Tlie EngKsh translators, De Sola and Raphall, by supplying certain words, give another meaning, which is difficult to under- stand,— " is [like at once driving] an ass [and leading] a camel." The literal rendering is intelligible. The author of Zohar compares the student of the law to an ass, because he cares not for his own honour. {S^n. Tit. i.) The same Rabbi makes the congregation of Israel like a lion or a leopard, which only fall down or crouch, in order to seize upon their prey. {Ibid. Tit. xiv.) Schoetgen quotes a Rabbinical gloss en Isa. iii. 4, " Children shall reign over them," — that is, " foxes that are the children of foxes " pi: "• /37r! ''bm), with Hottiuger's interpretation,— " persons with the cunning of a child and the wickedness of a man " (ingenio puerili sed nequitia virili).
2 Sanhedrin i. 4. ' Ibid. x. 5.
CHAPTEB, XIY.
Ver. 1. A?id it came to pass, as he loent into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat hread on the Sahbath-da)j, that they watched him.
The fact of this Pharisee inviting the Saviour to partake of his hospitality on the Sabhath-day, seems to have been con- nected with the belief which probably even then prevailed among the Jews, that for the greater honour of that day the table was then to be spread with greater care and costliness than usual. On this day, according to the Mishna, three meals were to be taken, while on other days the practice was to take only two. "How much food," it is asked, "is necessary to constitute an 'erubh for the combination of limits, so as to extend the distance that may be traversed on the Sabbath ? " The answer is, — " Food for two meals for each who unites in it, for working-day meals, but not for Sabbath meals. Such is the sentence of Rabbi Meir ; but R. Jehu- dah saith, For Sabbath meals, but not for work-day meals. Both, however, intend to render the observance more easy." ' The principal Sabbath meal, according to Josephus, was taken at the sixth hour, or twelve o'clock (ccttj u>oa), after returning from the service in the synagogue.- According to
' 'ErubJiin viii. 2. De Sola and Raphall add the following note. " Each of them considers his quaatum as the less : R. Meir, because the food for . working-dajs is coarse, of which no more is taken than just to satisfy nature ; H. Jehudah, because on the Sabbath three meals are taken, so that the quantity for each meal is smaller than on other days." See Buxtorf, Si/n. Jud. cap. X., and MilCs British Jews, Part II. chap. iv.
' Life, sec. 54.
LUKE XIV. 239
Zohar, not only were men not to spare expense in furnishing their Sabbath table, but they were on that day more especially to exercise hospitality, and to invite to their board their indi- gent brethren.' A man was not to rejoice on the Sabbath alone, and without the poor. " On the day of the Sabbath all doors are opened, and benevolence and rest are everywhere found." - — Notwithstanding their rigid observance of the day, the Jews aimed, according to the words of the prophet (Isa. Iviii. 1-3), at making ''the Sabbath a delight." It is only to be regretted that that delight came to be much more of a carnal than a spiritual nature.
Yer. 3. And Jesus answering spake unto the laicyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabhath-day 9 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and lethim go ; and answered them, saying, JVhich of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sahhath-day 9
These Pharisees and lawyers, or law-expounders, could not maintain that it was )iot lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day, although, on another occasion, the ruler of the synagogue, iu his indignation against Jesus, told the people there were six days for working, and on them they ought to come and be healed. They knew that it was lawful to heal, even according to their own Rabbinical laws, provided, either that the case was an urgent one, or that the cure occasioned no fatigue. " They may anoint and rub the stomach with the hands, but not so as to get fatigued." ^ They knew that in the Saviour's cures there was no fatiguing operation, and that the cases were such as to any, except the man who had
" No flesh in his obdurate heart,"
would seem strongly to call for relief.
With reference to the case of the ox or ass here supposed
' S/j-wpsis, Tit. viii. - Ihtd. ' ShubLath xxii. G.
240 LUKE XIV.
bv the Saviour, though the Mishna speaks of such falling into a pit or well (in hur^=^(ppicio), it contains no rule as to what was to be done in the event of this taking place on the Sab- bath. A rule is laid down in the Talmud ' to the effect that the animal was to be fed, but not taken out till after the Sabbath, if the pit were dry ; and if the bottom were covered with water, or meat could not be given to it, straw was to be put under it so as to prevent it from drowning, and if it could effect its egress, it might do so. But, as has been observed by Stock, this is probably a Talmudic fiction ; inasmuch as, first, Jesus would not so confidently have appealed to his ad- versaries had the opposite been true ; secondly, those adversa- ries would doubtless have contradicted him ; and thirdly, the Talmud of Jerusalem was not compiled till nearly two hundred years after the Mishna which contains no such rule. TVe may add that the appeal of Christ was never challenged till after the Talmud appeared, which it doubtless would have been before had there been any foundation for doing so. It was, moreover, a received principle among the Jews that " the possessions of Israel were to be tenderly dealt with."^ In the Mishna it is said, " A man may not deliver of its young an animal that calves on the festival ; but he may otherwise support (or assist) it."'''
* Referred to by Buxtorf, Sijnagoga Judaica, cap. xi. Lightfoot also quotes Maimoaides oa the Tract Shahbath to the same effect.
^ Lightfoot, HorcR Heb. et Tal. on Matt. xii. 11.
' Shabbath xviii. 3. It is also said, — " If a firstborn animal faR into a pit or hole on the festival, Rabbi Jehudah says, An expert person must go dovra, and see whether it had an (incurable and permanent) injury ; if it had, it may be drawn up and killed ; but if not, it may not be killed. Rabbi Simeon says, If the defect or injury had not been known to exist previous to the festival and to be of a permanent nature, the animal cannot be con- sidered as prepared for the feast." Torn Tobh iii. 4. " This treats of a first- born animal," say De Sola and Raphall, "which had some bodily injury, but which had not yet been shown to expert persons to decide whether the injury was permanent and incurable, in which case it was not consecrated, and miffht be used."
LUKE XIV. 241
Ver. 13. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the hlind.
Exhortations similar to this of the Saviour, though not likely to be followed by the Pharisees, who despised the com- mon people as both ignorant and careless of the laws of Moses, and who shunned all contact with them as unclean, were not altogether unknown to the Rabbies. It was a saying of R. Jose ben Jochanan, already quoted, — " Let thy house be open toward the street, and let the poor be the chil- dren of thy house." ' This precept of the Jerusalem Rabbi, however, only extended to a free access and a hearty welcome to our house being given to the poor, or at most to an encour- agement to come. The Lord's direction goes further, — it is to invite them ; and not only at ordinary times, but to :i feast.
Yer. 14. And thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recoyn- pense thee : but thou, shalt be recompensed at the resurrec- tion of the just.
The thirteenth and concluding article of the Jewish creed, as given by Maimonides, is, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead. "These are the Israelites," says the Mishna, " who shall have no part in the world to come, — he who says there is no resurrection of the dead, &c." ^ This resurrection, however, was not believed to be a general one, but, in the first instance at least, a resurrection of the just. Hence it is said in the Mishna, "The Holy Spirit brings us
' Pirh Ahhoth i. 5. lu the book Zohar it is frequently stated that the poor ought to be invited to our table, and that no festivity ought to be en- joyed without their being made pai'takers of it. Rewards are promised to the observance of this practice, and punishments threatened against the neglecters of it. Syn. Tit. iii. vii. According to the Talmud, the Jew ought to wait for the entrance of the poor before he quits the table. Bnx- torf, Si/n. Jud., cap. vii.
* Sunhedrin xi. 1.
242 LUKE XIV.
to the resurrection of the dead." ' Maimonides expressly says that the resurrection is the privilege of the just, and quotes a passage from the treatise called Bereshith Rabba, in which it is stated, " The right to the rain belongs both to the godly and the ungodly ; but the resurrection of the dead is only for the just." 2 He observes further, though differing in this from many of his countrymen, that the resurrection consists in this, that good men, being freed from corporeal impediments and defects, as the necessity of eating and drinking, and such like, are admitted into everlasting possession of the highest joy in the vision of God ; while the greatest punishment is that destruction which the law threatens, namely, that the sold of the wicked man shall not live.
While the New Testament expressly teaches that " there shall be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust," the passage before us would seem to intimate that the resurrec- tion of the just will, in point of time, be distinct from that of the unjust, being followed by it after some considerable inter- val. Hence it is frequently spoken of as " the resurrection from" or from among "the dead." That the one shall pre- cede the other is generally acknowledged ; the only question is as to the length of the interval. It may also be remarked that "the resurrection from the dead " is spoken of by the Saviour, as being, along with ** that world," the peculiar privilege only of some. " They that shall be accounted wor- thy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage." Luke xx. 35.
' Sotah X. 15.— c\-icn rr-'7\r\ ^-\h r^i^ *^'i-n rrr^
2 This has beea a debated point amon^ the Jewish Rabbies. The general conclusion seems to be that all, as well the ungodly a? the godly, ■will, at one time or other, experience a resurrection of the body. That this was the belief of the ancient Pharisees there can be no doubt. Ma- nassek hen Israel, De Res. yiort. II. viii. ix.
LUKE XIV, 24i
Ver. 16. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and hade many : and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were hidden, Come ; for all thinys are now ready.
It was not unusual for the Jewish teachers, in imitation of the prophets, to represent the felicities of the world to come under the figure of a banquet. " Ail things are prepared for the banquet," — was the saying of a distinguished Rabbi.' " Come," said an infinitely greater than he, " for all things are now ready."
» nnr^b )\:^r\'^ hzn—Plrke Ahhoth ill. 16. Rabbinicnl writers speak of a great banquet which Messiah will prepare on the destruction of his and Israel's enemies, and in which Leviathan is to form a conspicuous part. ITie author of Zohar represents this as only a figurative exhibition of the future blessedness, for the allurement of the unenlightened. He observes, — what is worthy of attention, and is in accordance ^Tith the Sa- viour's parable, — that the righteous enjoy in this world a certain foretaste of the world to come. Synopsis, Tit. xi.
R 2
CHAPTER XV.
Ver. 18. / icill arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.
The term " heaven " was frequently used by the Jews in place ol'God. " Let the fear of heaven be upon you/' — was the saying of one of the Rabbies.'
The text recognises the distinction which the Jews made between sins committed against God and those committed aarainst man. The former, according to the Sa^es, were ex- piated by the day of atonement ; while the latter were only expiated then, if the offender had first sought, by all com- petent means, to be reconciled to the party whom he had wronged.- If the offended party were dead, the offender was to take ten men with him, and proceed to the grave of the deceased, where he was to say, " I have sinned against the God of Israel and against , in this sin which I have com- mitted." Thus the prodigal confessed that in what he had done he had sinned both against the God of heaven and his father.
Yer. 24. For this my son teas dead, and is alive again.
It was usual with the Jews to speak of three classes as dead, even while alive in this world. These were, — first, the heathen : " One who has just left the uncircumcised," say the school of Hillel, "must be considered as one that
' Pirke Abhoth ii. 2 ; iv. 12. * Yor.iah viii. 9.
LUKE XV. 245
has just parted from tlie grave," ' — he was dead, but is alive again. Second, the ungodly : " The righteous," say the Rabbins, "even when they are dead, still live ; and the wicked, even while they live, are dead." - Third, the poor and wretched : that the poor is to be counted as a dead man, is one of the sentiments of the book Zohar.'' Life was under- stood to be not so much existence in the body, as a happy existence in the knowledge, fear, and favour of God. Hence the ungodly dead were said not to be raised to life, because their resurrection is only a resurrection to eternal woe, — called by the Chaklee Paraphrast, as well as by the apostle in the Eevelation, — "the second death." The prodigal might be said to have been dead and become alive again, both as he had been restored from a state of wretchedness and want to one of comfort and enjo}'ment in his father's house, and, more especially, as he had returned from the paths of vice to those of purity and peace.
' Pesackim viii. 8. - !Maimonides, 3Ioreh yebhochim, i. 42.
^ Sj/iojjs-is, Tit. iv. In the same book conversioQ is spoken of as life.
CHAPTER XYI.
Yer. 3. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do ? for my lord taJceth aioay from me the stewardship : I cannot dig ; to bey I a7n ashamed.
To " diy " seems to have been used by the Jews as an ex- pression equivalent to earning a licelihood. Thus it is said in the Mishna, " Make not the study of the law a hatchet to dig with ;" ^ that is, to gain a livelihood by it.
Yer. 22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
The state of blessedness into which the spirits of the godly enter at death is here, as elsewhere, represented under the figure of a banquet. Thus, as has been already observed, the Jews were wont to speak of it. *' AU things," says the Mishna, " are prepared for the feast." ^ To be in Abraham's bosom was to be near to Abraham at the heavenly banquet. " Many," said the Saviour, "shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down (recline as at a feast) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God." It was also believed by the Jews that, at death, angels convey the spirit of a godly man to heaven. " In the hour of a righteous man's departure from this world," says the Jerusa- lem Talmud, " three companies of ministering angels go forth to meet him. The first say to him, Enter into peace ; the second, He who walketh in his uprightness ; and the third,
' Fir&e Abhoth iv. 5. ' Ibid. iii. IG.— mirob \^ra(2 ^DH
LUKE XVII, 247
He shall enter into peace, they shall rest on their beds." ' Hence it was poetically said by one of the Rabbles, in the way of eulogium upon Judah the Holy, the compiler of the Mishna, that at his death angels and righteous men laid hold of the holy ark (his spirit), and that the angels over- came, and so carried it away. Of the same Rabbi Judah, it is said in the Babylonian Talmud, that after his departure he sat in Abraham's bosom.- How comforting to know, upon the authority of the Faithful and true Witness, that this is the privilege of the poorest believer in Jesus !
CHAPTER XVII.
Yer. 22. And he said unto the disciples, The days will come^ when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
" The days of the Son of man," equivalent to the days of the Messiah, are doubtless the time of his personal presence. The brideo-room was to be taken awav, and the children of the bride-chamber — his disciples who are here addressed — were in those days to fast and mourn. He was to suffer many things, and be rejected of that generation, before the days of the Son of man should come (ver. 25). In the intervening period, his disciples were to follow in his steps of suffering. He here points them, as Olshausen observes, " to that dark hour which had yet to overtake them before the inward germ of the kingdom of God, already existing, could reach its out-
' Lightfoot, in loco.
' ISid.—The author of Zohar says that God himself goes forth to meet the righteous at their death ; and that Abraham and Isaac do not do so until they see God and Jacob, and then they also prepare to meet them. Sj/noptsis, Tit. xj.
248 LUKE XVII.
ward manifestation, and before the revelation of divine things, in their glory, could be effected by the Son of man. The iiery trials through which the true disciples had to pass, would make theru long for the days of the bridegroom's presence and the forth-putting of his glorious power."
The expression, " the days of the Messiah," seems not to have been unusual among the Jews. Maimonides, in his commentary on the Mishna,\ explains the phrase as meaning the times of the monarchy that shall be restored to Israel, when the Israelites shall return to their own land, and exer- cise a righteous sovereigntv over the nations of the world. He states it as his opinion also, that in the days of the Mes- siah there will be both rich and poor, powerful and weak, but that the means of life will be much more easily procured • than at present, a small amount of labour yielding a plenti- ful return. He quotes Isaiah Ixi. 5, to show that sowing and reaping will still be carried on ; and from Isa. xlii. 4, he con- cludes, along with the Jews in general, that the Messiah will die and be succeeded by his son, grandson, &,c. ; that his kingdom will continue for a long period and in a glorious con- dition, during which righteousness shall flourish in the earth, and the days of men's life shall be greatly prolonged.
Here, alas ! we may see how the veil is on the heart of Israel in the reading of the Old Testament. They see not that Messiah was first to suffer and then to enter into his glory. Yes, dear brethren of the house of Israel, the Messiah was to die, but only before he should sit down on the throne of his kingdom. It was afier pouring out his soul unto death, in order to make intercession for the transgressors, that he was to have a portion divided to him with the great (Isa. liii. 12). He died in his humiliation, as was necessary, in order to make atonement ; but in his kingdom, life is
' Sanhcdrin xi. 1 ; Porta MosLs, p. 158. The Jews had a saying, There is no difference bet-ween this age and the days of the Messiah, except only the subjugation of the kingdoms, —
LUKE xvir. 249
giv^ea to him, as David declares in the twenty-first Psalm, " even length of days for ever and ever." He has died already, having, as it was written of him, " made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich, in his death." E-aised again from the dead, according to the sixteenth Psalm, he has gone and returned to his place, as he had said by the prophet Hosea, until Israel shall acknowledge their ofi'ence and seek his face. Then shall he come again in his kingdom and glory, to reign over a renovated earth, " wherein dwelleth righteousness."
"^'er. 24. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part tinder heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven ; so shall also the Son of man he in his day.
It has been generally thought that the Saviour here com- pares his appearance to lightning properly so called, and that the reference is to its swiftness and suddenness, as well as its conspicuousness and universality. The word in the original (doToaTT?/) has doubtless this signification in ordinary Greek writers ; but Schoetgen has suggested that its use in this pas- sage may be a Kabbinism, and that it may denote not light- ning, but the bright streaks or coruscations of morning-light, both being expressed in Eabbinical writings by the same word.' In this case it is not so much the suddenness and swiftness of the Saviour's appearing that is intended, — still less, as Kuinoel supposes, its momentary continuance and in- conspicuousness, — as the universality of its manifestation.^
> Thus we read in the Mishna : " The president said to the priests, Go out and see if it is the time for slaughtering (the lamb). If it was, the priest said. There are bright streaks C'"^""^-)- According to Matthias ben Samuel, he said, It illumines all the face of the East." {TamidJi iii. 2.)
* Jerome, on Matthew xxiv. 27, seems to exclude the idea of swiftness or suddenness, though his application of the passage betrays too much the eager chiurchraan. "Do not believe that the Son of man is either in the desert of the heathen, or in the secret chainbers of the heretics ; but
250
LUKE XVII.
The word being thus understood, the Saviour and his ad- vent are spoken of here as they are in other parts of Scripture. " The day-spring (avaroX))) from on high hath visited us." " Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings." " Arise, shine ; for thy light is come ; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." To these may be added the prophecy of Zechariah, to which the words of the Baptist's father may have had reference, "Behold the man whose name is (rR2!; tsemakh), the Branch," as we render the word, but as it is in the Greek and other ancient versions, "the Day-spring," or rising Sun [dva-oXi)) .^ The Saviour's second advent, then, shall not so much resemble the lightning's momentary flash, as the all-pervading and abiding li?ht of the risino; sun burstino' forth from the east.-
that his faith shines from the east area to the west in the catholic churches. This also is to be said, that the Saviour's second advent is to be shown, not as the former one, in humiliation, hut in glorj. Joolish is it to seek in a small or secret place him who is the light of the world." He afterwards adds, — " All the multitude of believers ought to hasten to him whose light- ning [fulf/ur) goes forth from the east even to the west." Calvin, who ad- heres to the idea of lightning, applies the words to the Saviour's mani- festation, or that of his kingdom, in the preaching of the Gospel. " Not by mere human industry could it have happened, that the light of the Gospel, like lightning, as soon as it shone forth, penetrated from one quarter of the world to the opposite." Kuinoel applies the words to the speedy destruction of Jerusalem ; but most commentators to the Lord's second advent — his "glorious appearing," — " the brightness of his coming."
■ The Vulgate has "Oriens," and the Syriac ^aJJ, both denoting "the rising sun." The Targura of Jonathan paraphrases the passage thus, — " Behold the Man, Messiah is his name, who is to be revealed and magni- fied, and shall buHd the temple of the Lord." Bllliotheca Bihlica, on Lev. xvi. 14.
- Schleusner gives fulgor, splendor (brightness), as the meaning of aarpairri, as well os/ulgiir (lightning), and refers to Luke xi.^"»4]^where we render the word "bright shinin?." V___- — --^
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LUKE XVII.
251
Ver. 27, 28. They did eat, they drank, they married icices, they icere given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the jlood came, and destroyed them all. Liketcise also as it loas i7i the days of Lot ; they did eat, they drank, they hought, they sold, they planted, they builded.
When Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven, men will be found engaged, as on the previous occasions here referred to, in their ordinary emplojonents. These employments were usually expressed by the Jews in language similar to that here used by the Saviour. Thus at a certain period of the public fast on account of long-continued drought, the people "abstained," says the Mishna, "from selling and buying, building and planting, betrothing and marrying." '
' — "i^sir:::! r-1""'^- Hi'^'t:::::! 1^:2:2 '^^^^ sr::^ cz^'t^irii^
Ta'anith i. 7.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Yer. 8. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he Jind faith on the earth 7
Probably the Lord meant here to intimate that, at the time of his second appearing, faith in his coming as the Aveno-er of his elect, would hardly be found in the elect themselves. "When the bridegroom tarried, all the virgins, wise as well as foolish, slumbered and slept. He may also have intimated how rare a thing genuine trust in God would be at that period. Olshausen, after remarking that the elect, " down to the time when the Son of man shall be revealed in glory (according to chap. vii. 22, &c.), appear exposed to the assaults of sin on the part of the kingdom of darkness, but shall be delivered with a strong arm ,by the Lord at his appointed time," further observes, that from chap. xvii. 26, 28, and Matt. xxiv. 22, it would appear that the Saviour by the doubt expressed in the text, " meant to set forth in the most impressive way the necessity of earnest prayer, inas- much as the number of the elect, in comparison of those who perish, as in the case of Noah's and Lot's contemporaries, would be very small, and even this small number would re- quire special divine support to render them victorious." '
' Coraraentary, in loco. Theophylact thinks that faith is mentioaed here in connection with prayer, because it is its only foundation and basis. Calvin understands the Lord's question as intimating that the abounding iniquity and oppression would be the result of men's want of faith in God to put an end to it. " Men are deprived of the heavenly aid in which they neither know nor wish to place confidence." He believes also that Christ here intimates that men would be unbelieving from his ascension into heaven until his return ; and that if he did not speedily appear, the cause
LUKE XVIII. 253
This almost entire want of faith and godliness at the period referred to might also be gathered from the Old Testament prophecies. It is certain that some of the Jewish Rabbies taught that at the time of Messiah's appearing, true religion should almost have vanished from the earth. " On the eve of Messiah's advent," says Rabbi Eliezer in the Mishna, " shamelessness shall abound .... The kingdom will be turned to heretical opinions, and no check will be given to them. Synagogues will be converted into brothels. Galilee shall be laid waste, and -Judcea shall be made desolate ; and the men of the country shall go round from city to city, and shall receive no kindness. The wisdom of the scribes shall be abhorred, and they that fear sin shall be despised, and the truth shall be in great obscurity." ^
Yer. 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus xoith himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, ex- tortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
In the Pharisee's prayer, if such it may be called, we dis- cern that spirit of self- righteousness and self-complacency, which so generally characterized the class. It is said in the Mishna, that Rabbi Xechonia ben Hakanah, when asked what formed the subject of the prayer which he was observed to offer every time he entered and departed from the Midrash, replied, — "When I enter, I pray that no occasion of stum- bling may be given by me (in expounding the law) ; and when I depart I give thanks for my lot."'"- AYhen the Rabbi "gave thanks for his lot," it is said to have been in the following terms : — " I thank thee, 0 Lord my God, that thou hast cast my lot among the men of the synagogue, and not
of the dehv would be with themselves, in not looking to him, — a state of things which he bewails aa even then existing, when, " notwithstanding all the evils with which the world was oppressed, hardly in a few was the least spark of faith to be found."
' Sotah X. 15. - Berachotk iv. 2.
254 LUKE XVIII,
among those who sit in the highways; that I rise early and they rise eariy, but I, that I may attend to the law, they, that they may attend to trifles ; that I work and they work, I re- ceiving reward, they none ; that I run and they run, I to eternal life, they to the pit of perdition." We should have admired the thankfulness of this Pharisee, had it been con- nected with humility. "God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace to the humble."
Ver. 12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that
I possess.
Mondays and Thursdays were observed among the Jews as days of public worship, in which special portions of the Law were read in the synagogue. " Three men," says the Mishna, " are called to read the Law in the synagogue on jVIondays and Thursdays." ^ These days are called "days of assembly;" - and on them also the courts of justice held their sittings. The stationary men are said to have fasted four days during the week of their official duty, these days commencing with the Monday and ending with the Thursday.' There can be little doubt but these were the two days on which the Pharisee in the text, in his self-righteous zeal, was accustomed to fast.
It has already been mentioned that besides those produc- tions which were clearly subject to tithes, there were others which were said to be doubtful, and which, instead of a tenth, were only liable to the payment of a hundredth. This zealous Pharisee, however, paid a full tithe out of all his possessions, — thus, in his desire to acquire a righteousness of his own, doing even more, according to his view, than duty required him.
« Me^llla/i iv. 1. - Ibid. i. 1, 2.
3 Ta'aniih iv. 3. The constitution relative to these two days as days of synagogue-worship and reading of the Law, is among the ten which are ascribed to Ezra. Buxtorf, Syn. Jud., cap. ix.
LUKE XVIII. 255
Yer. 13. And the puhlican, standing afar off, iconld not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
The court farthest removed from the Sanctuary or House, was that of the Gentiles ; while next to the court of the priests was that of the Israelites, and next to that, the court of the women. It is probable that this penitent publican took his place in the court assigned for the Gentiles and un- clean persons, and thus stood " afar off" both from the Holy place and also from the Pharisee, who would, in his self- conceit, think that he might very properly be as near to the Sanctuary as he could lawfully go, whether that was in the court of Israel, which Lightfoot questions, or only in the court of the women.' If so, the Pharisee had probably ob- served the publican as he passed through the court of the Gentiles, and had had his attention drawn to him by his un- usual appearance and demeanour. Had he possessed any of the mind of Him whom he professed to worship, — the God who delighteth in mercy, and hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live, — he would hav'e rejoiced to see this poor publican smiting on his breast and praying ! He had forgot- ten, too, what the people were reminded of at certain seasons, that in order truly to fast, " the teaching of the prophets was, Rend your heart, and not your garments." - This is what divine grace was now enabling this poor publican to do.
1 It would seem that the people prayed either at the eastern gate of the temple or in the court of the Gentiles. " This was not our custom " (said the Sages, referring to some who, in a synagogue, had responded — " Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever," instead of the usual "Amen"), — "except at the eastern gate of the temple, and the moun- tain of the House (the court of the Gentiles)," — that is, when prayer was offered in the temple. Taanith ii. 5. ^ Ihid. i. 7.
256 LUKE XVIII.
" Would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven." To lift up the eyes to heaven is mentioned by the author of Zohar as one of those things which constitute the proper posture in prayer.' The Jews, it would seem, ordinarily did so. The publican, however, under a deep sense of his sin and unworthiness, forbare even to look up in his prayer. It was said that in time of a public fast, when prayer seemed not to be answered, the Jews were to be "as men under the dis- pleasure of the Almighty." - This man felt himself to be so.
Yer. 14. / tel! you, this man icent doion to his house Jus H- Jied rather than the other : for every one that exalteth himself shall he ahased ; and he that humhleth himself shall be exalted.
The term "justified" appears here, as in other places, to have the sense of "accepted." The publican was accepted both in his person and his prayers, while the Pharisee was neither. " God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace (or showeth favour) to the humble." Like Abel, the conscience- stricken publican would highly appreciate the blood of atone- ment ; the self-righteous Pharisee, like Cain, would despise it. It was therefore a righteous thing with God, on account of that blood which was yet to be shed, but has now been so, to justify the one, while he rejected the other.^
1 He indeed also mentions " the eyes cast do^^ni," as tlie fitting posture of prayer. — According to Zohar there are three kinds of prayer -vrith dif- ferent degrees of efficacy, — speaking, when the voice is low and almost silent ; crying, when the voice is elevated ; and weeping, which exceeds all the rest. Synapsis, Tit. ii. * Tu'a)iith i. 7.
' The author of Zohar mentions four tilings as tending to insure accept- ance to a man's prayer : first, that he be godly ; second, that he be poor and afflicted (like this publican) ; third, that he be a servant (assuming, like him also, a humble, waiting attitude before God) ; and fourth, that he give himself up to the sanctifying of God's name. According to the same book, "everything depends on conversion and prayers, especially when prayer is mingled with tears." True, but without faith in God's testimony and promise, the former is impossible and the latter vain.
LL'KE XVIIT. 257
During a public fast, the additional prayers inserted among the eighteen daily ones were all in order that God would listen favourably to their petitions. The first was, " ^lay He who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah, answer you, and listen to your cry this day." The second was, 'Olay He who answered our fathers at the Ked Sea, answer you, and hearken this day to your cry." Another was, " May He who answered Jonah in the bowels of the fish, answer you, and listen favourably to your cry this day."^
Ver. 29. And he said u7ito them, Verihj I say unto you. There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the Jcingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting .
There were certain things which the Rabbles were wont to say would secure the doer of them a reward both in this world and in that which is to come. Such were honouring father and mother, showing mercy, making peace, and study- ing the law of God.- According to Jesns Christ, '' the faithful and true Witness," such double blessedness belongs to him who truly forsakes all for the advancement of the kingdom of God.
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." The same authority rightly states, according to the text before us, — "When a man covers his sins and confesses them not before God, the gates of conversion are not opened to him. Synopsis, Tit. ii. iv. "Whoso humbles himself, him the Holy and Blessed One exalts." Ihid. Tit. x. ' Ta'anith ii. 4. ' Teah i. 1.
CH.1PTER XIX.
Yer. 8. And Zacchcstis stood, and said unto the Lord ; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I gice to the poor ; and if L hate taheii amjthiyig from any man hy false accusation, L restore him fourfold.
It has been already obseryed on Mark xii. 44, that the Jewish poor Tvere, to a considerable extent, supported by the voluntary contributions of their brethren. It was a doctrine of the Rabbies that, while there was no limit fixed as to what one man might do for another in the way oi personal service, in the matter oi giving, the obligation extended only to Jrfifth part of his property.' The intended bestowment, therefore, on the part of this penitent publican, of the half of his goods to the poor, is all the more striking, as an example of the effect of God's pardoning love in opening and enlarging the heart towards our fellow-creatures.^
' Peak i. 1, -with ilaimonides' comment. It would seem from Lightfoot that property obtained illegally was to be distributed to the poor. The ad- ditional offer, however, of a fourfold reparation to any whom he had wrong- ed, would, when performed, allow little room for the operation of this rule in regard to the rest of ZacchsEus's property ; so that there was not only justice but benevolence in the proposal, even on the supposition of part of his goods having been unlawfully obtained.
'^ " The words of Zacchceus express Jirsi the feeling of thankfulness for the mercy which had been shown him, and ?texi, the feeling of penitence and the acknowledgment that he was bound, as much as possible, to make re- paration for his sins." Olshaiisen, in loco. " Zacchaeus not only was pre- pared to make satisfaction if he had taken anything by fraud, but shares his lawful patrimony with the poor, — showing himself turned from a wolf not only into a sheep, but into a shepherd." Calvin.
r.UKE XTX.
259
The word here rendered "taken by false accusation," and in chap. iii. 14, " accuse falsely," is rather to be taken in the sense in which it is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament, — that of oppression, injustice, wrong.' That the publicans, or revenue-collectors, practised oppression and in- justice in the discharge of their office was shown from the Mishna at Matt. v. 46. Supposing Zacchccus thus to have defrauded any of his neighbours of their property, the Jewish law required him only to pay the value, as he had himself voluntarily confessed the fraud. The law of Moses required, indeed, that an ox or sheep, stolen, and slaughtered or sold, should be repaid, the ox with five, and the sheep with four ; and that any theft found still in the hand of the criminal should be restored double. But where the fraud was volun- tarily confessed, according to the decision of the elders, the fine was remitted. " He," says the Mishna, " who voluntarily declares, I have stolen, slaughtered, and sold, such a person's cattle, must pay the value, in consequence of his own con- fession, but he is not held bound to pay the double, the four- fold, or the fivefold compensation." ^
Ver. 9. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for somiich as he also is a son of Abraham.
That the Pharisees greatly prided themselves on their being the sons of Abraham, has been already shown from the Mishna. See note on Matt. iii. 9. The words of Jesus, there-
• 'E(TVKo<^ivTriaa; Syriac, l\'^:»<^gel:etk, "have taken away by violence or fraud." The Seventy use this word in rendei-ing the Hebrew pti727 'asluik, which we translate " oppress," in Ps. cxix. 122 ; Prov. xiv. 13, &c. The Svriac renders the same Greek word in the other place in the New
Testament where it occurs (Luke iii. li) by Ja.^^ ashak, ^Q-Q-AJi]. p lo thesliekoon, "do not wrong or defraud." The Mishna uses the word "tt^l? oihnk in the same sense,—" a theft, or when one has wronged or defrauded his neighbour "— *in^!337 ptC!7 ^S \^7:i—Babha Kama ix. 7.
* Chethubhoth iii. 9.
s 2
260 LUKE XIX.
fore, might serve to show these cavillers the unreasonableness of their murmurs on account of his going to be a guest with one who, though a wanderer from the paths of righteousness, was yet a son of Abraham as well as themselves. He was, however, a son of Abraham in a truer and more important sense than that in which these Pharisees themselves were. They were such merely in a carnal, he in a spiritual, sense. They had the blood of Abraham in their veins ; he, along with this, had the faith of Abraham in his heart. Abraham believed God with reference to the Seed when promised, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Zacchoeus believed in that Seed when present, and was, therefore, a true son of Abraham, and justified in like manner. To him, despised as he was by his carnal brethren, did the words of the Lord by the prophet belong, " But thou, Israel, art my servant ; Jacob, whom I have chosen ; the seed of Abraham my friend ; — Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men ' of Israel ; I will help thee, saith the Lord, even thy Eedeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah xli. 8, 14.
' In the Septuagint the word is 'OXiyocrrof , " very few ; " -while the Vul- gate gives "mortui," "dead ones." The true sons of Abraham are not only ;few in number, and, like the First-bom of the brethren, desjiised as a "worm ;" but they are also in themselves weak, and even dead as to any good, tUl they are quickened by Him who is the Resurrection and the Life.
CHAPTER XX.
Yer. 1. And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the Gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, and spake unto him, saying, Tell tis, by xchat authority doest thou these things ?
These parties, in making this demand, were perhaps ful- filling a commission given them by the Sanhedrim to that effect. They at least acted in the knowledge of the fact that it was part of the duty of that court to examine the claim which any one laid to the character of a prophet. " The case of a tribe, of a false prophet, and of a high priest, is decided by the court of seventy-one." ' They knew, moreover, that Jesus had not received the sanction and credentials of the Sanhedrim as a prophet. Hence their present attack.
Ver. 18. Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall he broken ; but on ichomsoever it shall fall, it will grind htm to powder.
The reference here is doubtless to the manner in which criminals were stoned to death. The ordinary place of exe- cution, according to the Mishna,^ was a scaffold outside the city, double the height of a man, near to which was laid a lar^e stone. One of the witnesses first thrust the individual down from the scaffold, in order that he might fall upon the stone. If, when he fell upon it, he was not kiUed at once, the
' Saiihedriti i. 5. - Ihid. vi. 3.
262 LUKE XX.
other witness then took up the stone and threw it upon his chest. It was only when this also failed to despatch him that the rest of the people present took part in the execution. A proffered and rejected Saviour will prove a stone on which the despiser falling will assuredly be broken ; but which, falling on him, unless he repent, will grind him to powder.
Yer. 35. But they which shall he accounted worthy to ohtam that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are gicen in marriage.
By " that world " the Lord here meant what the Jews ■were wont to speak of as " the world to come," ' or that state of blessedness which was to succeed the resurrection from the dead. The Rabbles taught that all the Israelites shall have a part in that world, except, as was observed in a former note, such as either denied the resurrection of the dead, said that the law was not from heaven, disbelieved the articles of the Jewish faith, or denied the traditions.- Alas ! they ex- clude themselves as well as do the Gentiles, in rejecting Him who, after being made lower than the angels for the suffering of death, was crowned with glory and honour, and had that world put in subjection under him as its King.
" The resurrection from the dead " is emphatic, being Kter- ally, " the resurrection which is from the dead," or " that one from the dead," and seems to imply, as was formerly noticed, that it is distinct from another which is to follow, leaving dead ones behind. It is spoken of by the Saviour as, along with "that world," the peculiar lot of those who are ."worthy," being what is elsewhere called " the resurrection of the just."
' N^rr dbirn ha-olam habba. • Sanhedrin xi. 1.
LUKE XX. 263
Yer. 36. Neither can they die amj more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
The Jews appear to have used the same expression, " chil- dren of the resurrection," ^ to designate those Israelites who should rise from the dead to enjoy their portion in the world to come. By " the resurrection," or " the resurrection of the dead," was always understood, as in these words of the Saviour, the resurrection of the just. Who the true children of the resurrection are, was declared by that Prophet whom God raised up like unto Moses, when he said, " This is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life ; and I will raise him up at the last day. Whoso (by faith) eateth. my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day." John vi. 40, 54.
Ver. 37. No^o that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the hush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
As it was not Moses, but God himself, who at the busb called the Lord the God of Abraham, &c., the phrase "at the bush" {kill TTjQ fta-ov), as Michaelis has suggested, is probably to be regarded as a Eabbinism,and to be read " in the bush ; " meaning, in the section relating to the bush. It has been already shown (see Mark ii. 26) that in Eabbinical authors, and in the Mishna itself, references are made to the section in which a quotation is found, by naming it from the person or thing that appears prominently in it. " So we find it," says the Mishna, " in Achan," - — that is, in the section relat- ing to Achan.
' i'^a"'"')": ''J2 bene kerjama, which, however, nmy also be read, " children of the covenaut." Babha Kama iv. 6. 3 Sanhedrin vi. 2. — ]D27n 13^173 pa?
CHAPTER XXI.
Ver. 2. And he saio also a certain poor widow casting in thither tico mites.
A MITE (XfTrrot- rrm"i2 priitah) was the smallest coin in circulation among the Jews. This is said in the Mishna to be " the eighth part of an Italian asser." ' The asserwas equal to four quadrantes or farthings ; and hence, in another Evan- gelist, this poor widow is said to have cast in "two mites, which make a farthing." The value of the mite, or prutah, is said to have been half a grain of pure silver ; while that of the denarius ("T3''T dinar), or penny, was ninety such grains. Two assers, or sixteen mites, made a pondion (]Ti:is), two pondions, a silver meah (nrsi), and six meahs, a denarius, . dinar, or zooz. Schoetgen quotes a passage from the Talmud, which states that a single mite or prutah was not received into the offering chest ; so that in giving two, this poor woman gave the lowest sum that could be received, — but that was her all.
' Kiddushin i. 1.
CHAPTER XXII.
Ver. 17. And he took the cup and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves.
This was not the cup which the Lord gave in instituting the supper, and which is mentioned at ver. 20 ; but the first cup which was drunk in the celebration of the Passover. ""When the first cup has been poured out," says the Mishna, " the blessing for the feast must be said, before that for the wine So the school of Shammai : though, according to that of Hillel, the blessing for the wine is said first." ^ The rule, according to the Mishna, was, that not less than four cups of wine were to be drunk in the celebration of the Pas- chal supper, even though these should have had to be given out of the poor's fund.- The wine, however, might be, and generally was, diluted with water.^
Yer. 27. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth 9 is not he that sitteth at meat? hut I am among you as he that serveth.
The presence of a person who attended in the room as servant or waiter to the Saviour and his disciples, might sug- gest the gracious comparison here made. It appears to have been usual at the Passover meal for an individual to perform such services as pouring out the wine, mixing it, &c. Either a person belonging to another Paschal company must have
^ Pesakhim x. 2. * Ibid. x. 1.
' Ibid. vii. 13. Sec the following note.
266 LUKE XXII.
attended, or, what is probable, the Lord himself, in his in- finite condescension, performed these menial offices. " When two companies," says the Mishna, " eat their paschal sacrifice in one room, each turning their faces in a different direction while eating it, and the warming-pot (for diluting the wine) is in the middle between the two companies, the waiter must not eat while he waits on the other company to pour out wine for them (as no one was allowed to eat with two separate companies)." ^ Such, perhaps, even literally, was Jesus the Son of God to the poor sons of men.
Yer. 44. And being in an agony, he prayed the more earn- estly ; and his sweat was as it xoere great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The lamb of the daily sacrifice, while yet warm, was dis- membered and cut in pieces, previous to its being laid on the altar to be consumed.- Might not this part of the type re- ceive its fulfilment in the mysterious agony and bloody sweat of the true Lamb of God, undergone by him previously to his being oSered up upon the cross and consumed, as our Surety, by the fire of Jehovah's holy indignation ? The iron even then entered into his soul, yet he drew not back. It appears from Matthew xxvii. 39 — 44, that the only words which the Saviour's agony allowed him to articulate in his prayer, were — " 0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me : nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt ; " — or, " If this cup may not pass from me except I drink it, thy will be done." ^
* Pesachim. vii. 13. The waiter is here called tI7^Ci7 shammash,i\iQ same, as to the letters, -with the Hebrew word for sun (lL772Ji7 shemesh) ; both being derived from the same root, W72.\D " to serve." The sun in the heavens is God's servant and man's. Such is Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness; and such are all who by grace possess his Spirit. «
' Tamidh iv. 3.
• The author of the book Zohar observes, that by no other utterances is grief and anguish of soul more expressed than when, from anxiety of heart, the individual is able only to cry, Our Father I Synopsis, Tit. i.
LUKE XXII, 267
Yer. 52. Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which xoere come to him. Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords arid staves ?
The chief priests were probably those of the sacerdotal order who were also members of the Sanhedrim, whether they were the chiefs of the twenty-four courses or the heads of the houses of the fathers (mzLS \"1Z botte abhoth^), or otherwise. The "elders" were also, doubtless, members of the Sanhedrim, though not of the priestly order. In regard to the captains of the temple here mentioned, it appears that, besides the captain who commanded the temple-guard, spoken of in the Mishna as " the man of the mountain of the house," there were fourteen captains or presidents, who directed so many different departments of the temple-service. These were, the president of the daily sacrifice, with the title of Memonah ; the president of the singers ; the officer who had charge of the musical instruments ; the president of the lot that assigned to each priest on duty his service for the day ; the president of the offerings that consisted of turtle-doves or young pigeons ; the president who gave tickets for the drink-offerings ; an- other who dispensed the meat-offerings, drink-offerings, &c. ; the chief physician of the priests ; the officer who, with the title of " the digger of wells," had charge of the water at Je- rusalem for the supply of those who came to the feasts ; the president of the shew-bread ; the president of the incense ; the president of the weavers who prepared the curtains for the temple ; the officer who had charge of the priests' gar- ments ; and another who attended to the gates of the temple,, and directed when they were to be opened or shut.
' Each course was subdivided into seven of these, each )2S 7^2 officiat- ing one day in the week in regular turn. Those on duty the ilishna calls " ministering priests." Ta'anith ii. 2, 3.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Ver. 26. And as they led him axcaij, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country ; and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
It is probably intended that Simon was merely coming from some other place into the city, perhaps to the temple- worship ; any place other than the temple being denominated, according to the Mishna, " the country." ' The portion of the cross which was laid first upon the Lord himself, and then in part upon Simon, was, as Doddridge observes, the cross beam called furca, on which the arms were to be ex- tended, and which those who were to be crucified were com- pelled to bear, whence they were called furciferi, or furca- bearers. The expression " after Jesus " {o-iadev) should rather have been " behind Jesus," as the word is rendered in chap. viii. 44, and elsewhere. Jesus had borne the heavy beam alone as long as he was able ; until, when he appear- ed to sink under the load, — emblem of the sinner's curse which he bore, — one end of it was laid upon this African Jew, probably as one suspected of attachment to the Nazarene.
Ver. 27. And there folloioed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
This company, doubtless, formed an exception to Jerusa- lem's guilty inhabitants, — an election of grace. Still, the
' For example, — "A plaster may, on the Sabbath, be replaced ou a wound in the temple, but not in llie coiiiUry." 'Erubhin \. 13.
LUKE XXIII, 269
wailing on the part of the women over Jesus, who might now be regarded as one dead, was probably in accordance with the practice of the country in the case of a death or burial. Women, generally hired for the purpose, then wailed aloud, clapped their hands, and sang funeral dirges." ^ Here we may believe it was done from love and genuine sympathizing sorrow. Doubtless they believed that they were bewailing the unjust death of a righteous man, if not also of the Son of God.
Ver. 3-i. Then said Jesus, Father, forgice them ; for they know not what they do.
It is said in the Mishna that when the man-slayer was urging his way with all speed to the nearest city of refuge, two persons, of a religious character, were appointed to inter- cede on his behalf with the avenger of blood. " They joined to him two disciples of the law, that the avenger of blood might not kill him by the way, and that they might speak to him with that object." - These two persons are said to have pleaded with the avenger in such terms as these, — "Do not deal with him as with a murderer ; he did it unwittingly." How like to this was the intercession of Jesus for his enemies ! His Father might justly have avenged not only his broken law but his slaughtered Son. That Son himself, however, stays his arm with — " Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do." They were indeed his betrayers and murderers ; but they did it ignorantly, as did also their rulers. The sin therefore, great as it was, admitted of forgiveness. Saul of Tarsus, who persecuted Jesus to the death in the per- son of his followers, obtained mercy, because he did it ignor- antly in unbelief. Is it not in virtue of that intercession of
' Moedh Kaian iii. 8, 9. According to Zohar, a special blessing belongs to those who moam over the righteous at their death.
' T^H ■nil"'"! ~n"n ^2TTv thw rmnn ^Tabn "la? ib X'■^u^^
— Maccoth ii. 5.
270 LUKE ,XXIII.
Jesus, not only that multitudes of individual Jews have, like Saul, repented and found mercy, but that Israel still exists as a people, scattered and peeled indeed on account of their sin, but yet dwelling alone, and not numbered with the nations ? And is it not in virtue of the same intercession, that the Spirit of grace and of supplications shall at length be poured upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they shall look on him whom they pierced and mourn for him, and that in the day of their mourning they shall have their guilt washed away in the fountain opened to them for sin and for uncleanness ? The two disciples might or might not prevail with the avenger of blood, so as to avert the threatened stroke : — Jesus never intercedes in vain.
Yer. 43. And^ Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou he with me in Paradise.
The term " Paradise" (rcapaonaoQ) simply denotes a pleasant garden, orchard, or park. The corresponding Hebrew or rather Persian word (DT'S pardes), which occurs only thrice in the Old Testament, is translated twice an " orchard" (Song iv. 13; Eccles. ii. 5), and once a "forest " (Neh. ii. 8). In its religious sense, it is equivalent to the expression ]137 p gan ^edhen, " garden of Eden or pleasure," — then, as still, in common use among the Jews, and probably that employed by cur Lord in addressing the dying malefactor. Both terms, but especially the latter, were used by the Pabbies to desig- nate the abode of the righteous after death. "Modesty," says the Mishna, " shall be assigned to the garden of Eden, or Paradise." ' In 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4, the apostle would seem to
> ]TJ pb Cr:D nur)n—Plri-e Ahhoth V. 20. Paradise is also said to be allotted " to the disciples of Abraham." In the Targuras of Jonathan (so called) and Jerasalem on Gen. iii. 24, it is said that " Paradise Q"T271 STDIl ginta de-Eden, or gan Eden) is prepared for the righteous, that they may eat and be nourished by the fruit of the tree of life." It is sometimes spoken of by the Rabbins in connection with the resurrection-state, but
LUKE XXIII. 271
place "Paradise " in " the third heaven," if he does not make it identical with it It appears also to be the same which is spoken of in Rev. ii. 7, as the " Paradise of God," in the midst of which is the tree of life for the victors in the spiritual war- fare. The term evidently points to the restoration of that state of purity and bliss which man originally enjoyed, but from which he by transgression fell, — unspeakably enhanced, however, by the precious fact, that it has been recovered by the blood and righteousness of God's incarnate Son. — The malefactor, in his dying prayer, seems only to have looked forward to a future period when Jesus should reappear, in power and glory, as the world's and Israel's King. Jesus assures him of blessedness that very day. It was given to " this last," as well as to the great apostle who had borne the burden and heat of the day, to depart and be at once with Christ.
more generally as the abode of the disembodied spirits of the righteous in the m!:ir:n Cbli; 'olam hanneskamotk, or "world of souls," as distin- guished from the S^H C AV 'olam habba, or " world to come." It is also spoken of under the names 11123 SD2 chme cabhodh, or " throne of glory," under which the souls of the righteous are said to repose, and to enjoy the splendour of the Shekinah or Divine Majesty. Other terms by which the same state of blessedness is designated, are, TV /V 'aliyah, or " the banquet- ing chamber;" rhl!f2 bwi7 nZ^'CC"* yeshibhah shel ma'alah, or "the upper assembly;" C^TTTT TT^ltseror ha-khah/m, or "the bundle of life." Pocock, Not. Misc. in Porta Mosis, cap. vi. ; Manasseh ben Israel, De Creat. prob. xvii. The modern Jews thus refer to Paradise in the prayer which, with- out the least warrant from Scripture, children repeat at certain seasons every year for their deceased parents, — " May his (or her) soul enjoy eternal life, with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, and the rest of the righteous males and females that are in Pa- radise." The Kaddish\i?,t\i (t^'^'Tp), or prayer for the dead, has no refer- ence to the departed soul. Mill's British Jews, Part I. chap. i.
272 LUKE XXIII.
Ver. 44. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth (marg. land) until the ninth hour.
It would seem that it was about the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon, when the Saviour of men expired. It was about the same time that the lamb of the daily sacri- fice was slaughtered and offered upon the altar. " The daily- offering was slaughtered half an hour after the eighth hour, and sacrificed half an hour after the ninth hour." ' The type and the antitype were thus suffering and expiring together.
' Pesakhim v. 1. The book Zohar represents the aftemooE prayers, cor- responding with the !Minchah or afternoon sacrifice in the temple, as espe- cially solemn and important. What is abo remarkable is, that the same Kabbinical authority states, what may or may not be true, that both Moses, Joseph, and David, died aU at the ninth hour. It was probably meet that the very hour of the day in which the incarnate Creator and Redeemer of the world expired, and completed his great atoning work, should in some way be distinguished.
CHAPTER XXIY.
Ver. 50. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, lohile he Messed them, he teas parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
As Jesus is said in, the first chapter of the Acts to have ascended from a part of the Mount of Olives about a Sabbath day's journey from the city, we are apparently to understand by "Bethany," in this place, the district so called, rather than the town itself, which was twice as far distant. It was to the Mount of Olives, which commenced at about five fur- longs, or two-thirds of a Sabbath day's journey, from Jerusa- lem, that the red heifer was taken to be slain and burnt, after which the priest stood with his face towards the temple and sprinkled the blood.' On a spot not far from that very place, but probably near to Bethany and out of sight of Jeru- salem, Jesus, who Was both priest and victim, stood, and from thence entered himself into the temple not made with hands, to purify with his own blood the heavenly places, and to render them righteously accessible to sinners. In lifting up his hands and blessing his disciples, he acted in the character not only of the Father and Friend, but the High Priest of His Church. One part of the priestly function under the law was to bless the people. This was done with uplifted hands. " How," it is asked in the Mishna, " is the blessing of the priests pronounced? In a province they pronounce the three parts separately ; but in the temple, together. In
—Midd^th i. 3.
T
274 LTJKE XXIV.
the temple they pronounce the Divine name as it is written ; but in a province, only its substitute. In a province the priests lift their hands as high as the shoulders ; but in the temple they lift them above their heads, except the high priest, who Kfts them no higher than the mitre." ^
It was after the sacrifice was offered on the Day of Atone- ment, and the blood sprinkled in the Holy of holies, that the high priest, coming out of the temple, stood and blessed the people. So Jesus, after offering up himself on the cross and then appearing before his Father into whose hands he had commended his spirit, came forth, and before his final de- parture, with uplifted hands, bestowed upon the representa- tives of his Church that benediction in which all his people will continue to share till he shall come again.
* Soiah vii. 6.
JOHN.
CHAPTER I.
Yer. 14. And the Word loas made Jtesh, and dwelt among us.
The Evangelist would seem here to exhibit Jesus, or ''the Wordj" as the Shechinah of whom the Jewish Rabbies were wont to speak. The Shechinah was the Divine presence which, under the symbol of a bright cloud, abode in the tabernacle and first temple. The Shechinah was also said to dwell, though without any symbolical manifestation, wher- ever persons were assembled for the study of the law.* In the second temple, the light which symbolized the divine presence was wanting. The prophet Haggai, however, had said that the glory of the latter house was to be greater than that of the former one. In what then did that greater glory consist ? Not certainly in external grandeur. " The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts." The chief glory of the former house was the Shechinah that dwelt between the cherubim. The greater glory of the latter one must be something greater than that. What that glory was is indicated, if not in the promise, "The Desire of all nations shall
' Pirke Abhotk iii. 6. — r2TVy'2 Tl'TW Hi^ZD T 2
276 JOHN I.
come," ' yet at least in the words that follow, "and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts ;" and again, "in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." That glory was imparted to the latter house and these pro- raises were fulfilled, when, seventy years before that house for the people's rejection of the glory was laid in ashes, the " Word " was made flesh and dwelt among us ; — when the Messiah, Jehovah our righteousness, veiling the brightness of the Divine glory in a tabernacle of flesh, that by his chastise- ment we might have peace and by his stripes we might be healed, was wont to tread those too often desecrated courts, filling them with glory and speaking peace to the people.
The term by which the Son of God is here designated, " the "Word " (Aoyoc, Logos, = s^*:''a memra), seems to have been in use at that period among the Jews as a Divine title. Thus in the Chaldee Targum or Paraphrase of Onkelos, com- posed about the time of our Saviour's appearance on earth, as well as that ascribed to Jonathan, but composed considerably afterwards, the passage in Gen. iii. 8, " they heard the voice of the Lord God walking, &c.," reads, " they heard the voice of the Word of the Lord God, &c."- The same title is fre-
' The phrase Cmn 73 m^in Ichemdaih col haggoim, rendered in our versioa " the desire of all nations," has generally been referred to Christ, as if read, " the desired of all nations ;" — desideratus cunctu gentlbus, as the Vulgate lias it. This view of the expression, however, may be objected to on the ground, first, that m^n khemdath does not mean so much the thing desired, as the quality for which it is desired ; second, that the verb " shall come " (ISil) is in the plural, and can only be properly construed with a noun in the singular when it is a noun of multitude ; third, the Greek version renders the noun, ra UXtKra, "the choice things." Hence some understand the phrase as referring to the good things of the nations, — all that is excellent among them ; and as intimating that the converted, heathen should come with all their choicest gifts into the visible kingdom of God, of which the temple was then the seat. See an Article in the British and Foreign Evangelical Review for June, 1855, entitled, A New Translation of Haggai, &c.
2 C^nbs "'■'1 S-iQ''n bp n*' — Philo, an Alexandi-ian Jew who lived about the same period, frequently speaks of the Word (Aoyoc, I^ffos), and
JOHN I.
277
quently introduced elsewhere, and more especially in th.e later Targums.
Ver. 48. JVheyi thou wast under the Jig-tree, I saio thee.
The shade of a tree was often chosen, as it still is in the East, for the purpose of meditation, private devotion, or social intercourse. Eabbi Hjrcanus is mentioned in the Mishna as giving instruction to his disciples under a tree.' — Knowing himself to be unseen by every eye but God's, this true son of Israel, like his progenitor at Peniel, had been wrestling in spirit with the Angel of the Covenant ; and now, by the inward revelation of the Father, he is made to recognise that very Angel in the Person who stands before him, presenting to the eye indeed a humble exterior as when of old he appeared to patriarchs and judges, but e\dncing un- mistakeably to his heart and conscience that He is the Son of God and the King of Israel. Soon may every Israelite after the flesh be made also an Israelite indeed ; and, with the veil removed from their hearts, beholding in Jesus of Nazareth their own Messiah, may they, like Nathanael, hail Him as the Son of God, their King !
calls him " the second God " {£ivTt(,oq Gjoc), the " Son of God," the " Divine Word," &c. See Bryant's Philo Judceua. The title, as designating the Creator and Governor of the world, had also been used by ancient philo- sophers and poets. 1 Tebhamoth xii. 6.
CHAPTER II.
Ver. 1. And the third day there teas a marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was there : and both Jesus ivas called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
By the " marriage " (yafsog) is probably to be understood, not so much the marriage ceremony itself, as the entertain- ment and festivity which succeeded, and wbich usually lasted seven days. The season was one of social rejoicing and con- viviality. The Mishna speaks of musical instruments being brought for a marriage as a usual practice.' Espousals were prohibited during any of the three great annual festivals, that the joy attending them might not interfere with the general rejoicing of the sacred Feast.- — Thus, in its external mode, the ministry of the Saviour, from its very commence- ment, took a different character from that of the Baptist.' " Good will towards men " was to be seen inscribed on the whole of his ministry and conduct.
Ver. 4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, tohat have I to do with thee 9 mine hour is not yet come.
A person's " hour " has been already noticed as a familiar expression among the Jews, indicating the appointed time in
• Badha ^Sletzia vi. l. — T^'h C^Vbm ]^-12^-'^2 S^^nb
' Moedk Katan i. 7. — The marriage-bond itself was completed by the
nuptial canopy and the sigTiing of the regular marriage-contract.
» " The first disciples of Christ," Olshausen remarks, " were all originally
disciples of the Baptist. His manner of life — rigid penitential austerity,
and solitary abode in the desert — naturally appeared to them the only one
that was right."
JOHN II. 279
wLich anything is to be done.' The adversaries of Jesus, both human and Satanic, had their " hour " assigned in the counsels of eternity for willingly, and ■ therefore wickedly, accomplishing that death which was to bring life to millions. Jesus also had his " hour " appointed for commencing his public work, for every miracle which he performed, and finally for lavins* down his life. "He himself knew his hour" for doing those works, which were also the works of the Father who dwelt in Him ; and with that hour even his mother was not to interfere.
Yer. 6. And there icere set there six xvaterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews.
The great quantity of water constantly required by the Jews for the purpose of ceremonial purification, both as to their persons and utensils, will appear from consulting the note on Mark vii. 3, 4. "Waterpots of stone were in common use. " From all kinds of vessels," says the Mishna, " they may pour water on the hands, even from vessels made of cow-dung, or vessels of stone, or of earth." - The measure here called a " firkin " (/je^prjrric) is generally supposed to be the Hebrew Bath (ra), containing seven and a half English gallons. From the frequent scarcity of water in Palestine, it was desirable and even necessary to have convenience for the retention of a large quantity of that liquid.^
I Thus — ]nru7 "l^n nrcrzn b^ — "All women have their hour." Edhhih i. 1.
' Tadhaim i. 2. — It may be added, as further showing the quantity of ■water required for purification, that, according to De Sola and Raphall, for eating heave or consecrated food, a second ablution of the hands was ne- cessary ; while, according to Maimonides, the same was required when the hands had contracted uncleanness ; as in that case the water of the first ablution had itself become unclean, and a second was necessary to purify from its contact.
' Theophylact, in loco.
280 JOHN II.
Yer. 9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the xoater that was made wine, and knew not whence it xoas : (but the servants luhich drew the water kneio /) the goternor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith imto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine ; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse : but thou hast kept the good loine until noio.
" Good wine " was, of course, that which wa3 mellowed by age. " He who learns from aged men," asks the Mishna, " to what is he like ? To him who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine." ^ " That which is worse," was that of more recent preparation. " He who learns from young men, to what is he like ? To him who eats unripe grapes, and drinks wine fresh from his wine-fat." ^ As the new wine was the most intoxi- cating, the better the article was, the less it might be sup- posed to possess that power. But even otherwise, there ap- pears no reason to suppose that the wine which the Saviour's power and beneficence thus miraculously produced, — when " the water saw its Grod and blushed," — must necessarily have possessed that quality.' Whether or not, the superior cha- racter of the wine with which the Saviour supplied the latter part of the feast, may naturally be regarded as symbolically representing that richer dispensation of the Spirit which Jesus came himself to introduce in the last times.'* " In
' Pirlce Abkoth iv. 20. "• Ibid.
^ Unless this quality sliould be considered essential to wine, and to have been originally imparted to it by the same Divine person who now, only in an extraordinary instead of the ordinary manner, produced it, and who made all things " very good." Augustine seems to have thought so. Alle- gorizing the miracle, he says — " Read all the prophetical books ; so long as Christ is not understood, what will you find so tasteless and insipid ? Understand Chrid there, and not only what you read has a flavour, but even inebriates." Exposition on John's Gospel, in loco.
♦ So the earHer expositors viewed it. "You may understand by the whie" says Theopliylact, who generally presents only the views of his pre-
JOHN III. 281
hoKnesd," say the Rabbins, — and the saying holds true dis- pensationally as well as individually, — " they cause to ascend, and not to descend."
CHAPTER III.
Ver. 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man he horn of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Jdngdom of God.
The expression "born of water and of the Spirit" would seem to have reference to the blessings promised in Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, where sprinkling with "clean water" is con- nected with the bestowment of a new heart and the Holy Spirit. The necessity of spiritual cleansing in order to have any part in the kingdom of God, was indicated not only by the frequent ablutions of the Jews previous to their partici- pation in holy things, but also by those of the priests before entering the temple. " No one," says the Mishna, "entered the court of the temple to perform any service, even though he were clean, until he had washed. Five times did the high priest wash his whole body, and ten times his hands and feet, on the Day of Atonement." ^ In the case of an infant, too, washing with water was practised, though merely on human
decessors, " the Evangelic doctrine, and by the water all that vrent before it." "We should rather have contrasted the Saviour's wine with that -which had been previously used. "He ■who judges spiritually, " he adds, "will find that the best wine was kept by the Bridegroom, Christ, to be drunk afterwards." " Like the account of the purification of the temple imme- diately following," says Olshausen, "and the miracle wrought upon the fig-tree, this miracle has predominantly a symbolical aspect ; and, when regarded as a significant act, is acknowledged to be both intelligible, and ui harmony with the general procedure of Christ." Comm. in loco. ' Yoma ui. 3.
282 JOHN m.
authority, in connection -mth circumcision ; indicating, along with that divine institution, the necessity of an inward spiritual change even from our birth. "The infant," says the Mishna, " is washed both before and after circumcision (on the Sabbath), the water being poured on with the hand."' This same washing, it has been already observed, accompanied circumcision in the case of a Gentile admitted into the Jewish church. The proselyte was then said to become " a new crea- ture," or as one "alive from the dead."^ — The Saviour, by connecting " the Spirit " with " water," indicates the nature of the change whose necessity he is declaring, and at the same time the Divine Person by whom it is effected. The second birth of the proselyte, with which Nicodemus was familiar, was merely a change of outward relation, while the moral character and inward man of the heart were often left untouched. Of a spiritual regeneration — the creation of a new and holy nature, equally necessary to Jew and Gentile — he had no conception. The difficulty with him was, to con- ceive how he or any Jew could be born again, as they were already understood to be members of the family and kingdom of God. A kind of second birth might be necessary for the uncircumcised heathen ; but for a Jew or Jewish proselyte to be born again would seem to require that he should " enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born." These were considered to be " holy " already ; and their children to be born " in holiness/' and " under the Holy Covenant." ^ Thus baptismal regeneration is simply the old Jewish idea introduced into the Christian church.
* Shabbath six. 3.
* Pesakhim viii. S. Hence one who was converted was bound, according to tlie book Zohar, to change his name, place, and works. Tit. iv.
» Tebhamoth xi. 2.
JOHN III. 283
Yer. 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent i?i the xoilder- ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that who- soever helieveth in him shoidd not perish, hut have etei'nal life.
The Je^sh. Eabbies regarded the act of the Israelites in looking to the serpent of brass as symbolical indeed, but merely expressive of their obedience to God. "Was it pos- sible," says the Mishna, "for the serpent to kill or make alive ? No ; but the case is, that when the Israelites look upward for help, and subject their inclination to the will of their Father in heaven, they are healed ; but when they do not, they perish."^ This is true; but the veil which was on the heart of these masters in Israel prevented them from dis- cerning, in the serpent of brass suspended on the pole, the symbol of that wondrous provision made by a gracious and a righteous God, in the substitution of His beloved Son, for the salvation of dying souls. They forget, too, that the first command of God must be, to " believe on Him whom He hath sent." Soon may the Spirit of grace and supplication lead the nation to look on Him whom they have pierced, and obtain healing throuo^h his wounds !
Yer. 29, He that hath the hride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and hear eth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom'' s voice : this vvj joy therefore is fulfilled.
Among the Jews it was customary both for the bride and bridegroom to have a special "friend," to whom pertained various duties in reference to the parties, both before and after, as well as at, the marriage. The " friend of the bride-
sib E^T D^SD"^na rn c^?:^zo ^rmsb cnb as ]>i::-^^'aT rihv?2
Ro-ih Kashhanah iii. S. — C^Tl^J^: m
284 JOHN III.
groom," or shoshehhin {X''Z':s^':D) , as he was called, was era- ployed, among other things, in carrying messages from the bridegroom to the bride previous to the marriage, and in ministering to the joy of that occasion. The reference to this practice, as has been shown by Lightfoot and Schoetgen, is frequent in Rabbinical writers. The following passage from the ^Mishna may also refer to one of the duties of these paranymphs, — that of conducting the bride from her father's house to that of the bridegroom, when it might be incon- venient for the latter to go himself. " The bride is always under the authority of her father until she is placed under the authority of her husband by marriage (or the nuptial canopy). If her father has surrendered her to the emissaries of her husband, she is under the authority of her husband. If her father has gone with the husband's emissaries, or her father's emissaries have gone with the husband's emissaries, she is still under the father's authority. If the father's emissaries have surrendered her to the husband's emissaries, she is thenceforth under the authority of her husband." ' — Thus the Baptist, and after him every faithful minister of Christ, performs the dignified office of paranymph to the heavenlv Bridegroom, bearing his messages to the Bride, — the souls whom he is to unite to himself, — conducting them to him by their testimony and teaching, and finally presenting them to him in the day of his glorious appearing. " I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Cor. xi. 2.
' Chethubhoth'vr.h.
CHAPTER lY.
Ver. 9. TJien saith the woman of Samaria unto him, Hoto is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria ? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
The Jews regarded the Samaritans in general as little better than heathens. According to Maimonides, there were some who were viewed as superior to idolaters, but still in- ferior to Israelites.' "With these, some degree of intercourse might be maintained, but none with the rest. According to the Mishna, as observed in a previous note, if a Samaritan made one of a party of three, the Zimmun (";"1?2T), or preparatory benediction before thanksgiving after meals, might be said, but not, if an idolater made up the party." Again, it was
' Commentary on Berachoth. The account which Maimonides gives of the Samaritans is, that they were the captives whom Sennacherib brought from Cuthaa to inhabit the cities of Samaria; and that in process of time they received the law in its literal sense, and very carefully observed its pre- cepts, so that they came to obtain credit with the Israelites for believing in the law of God and abandoning idolatry, till the wise men made inquiry concerning the worship on Mount Gerizim, and discovered that they wor- shipped the image of a dove ; after which they accounted them idolaters. This report about the dove must either be viewed as a fiction, or have had its foundation in some superstitious observance connected with the Scrip- ture account of the creation, in which it is said that " the Spirit of God moved (n-:ma brooded — " dove-like sat'st brooding ") upon the face of the waters."
2 Berachoth vii. 1. According to this, the Samaritan would seem to oc- cupy a place somewhere intermediate between an Israelite and an idolater. The Jew, according to Juvenal, would hardly have given a draught of water to a thirsty Samaritan, —
286 JOHN IV.
enacted that " the response ' Amen ' must be made when an Israelite pronounces a blessing (at meals), but was not to be made after a Samaritan, unless the whole of the blessing has been heard," ' — lest, as Bartenoras observes in his comment on the passage, there should be something of the idolatrous worship of Gerizim in the thanks which he offered. The jealousy and ill-will that prevailed between the two nations is indicated in the fact noticed in the Mishna, that "fires were lighted on the tops of the mountains (to announce the appearance of the new moon)," tiU " the Samaritans led the nation into error," — by their lighting these firebrands or beacons on the mountains at wrong times, to mock and mis- lead the Jews.'^
Ver. 14. But whosoever drinJceth of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the ivater that I shall give him shall he in him a well of water springing up into ever- lasting life.
Rabbi ilelr observes of the man who gives himself with a hearty affection to the study of the law, — " He is made as a
Nou monstrare vias, eaJem nisi sacra colenti ;
Quoesitum ad foutem solos deducere verpos. " Not to show the way except to their co-religionists, and to conduct the circumcised alone to the sought-for fountain." (Sat. xiv. 103.) This, how- ever, was noi what Moses had delivered.
» : n2-^zn hj vt2u:^u: iv T'onn >n^2^ ins pH ^2137 ]\-^*)
— Berachoth viii. 8.
* Rosh Kashshamh ii. 2, with De Sola and Raphall's note. What Jo- sephus relates may readily account for this feeling. According to that historian, the temple on Mount Gerizim had been built by Sanballat, the Samaritan governor, with the permission of Alexander the Great, to gratify his son-in-law Manasseh, whom he made its high priest in opposition to his brother Jaddua who was high priest at Jerusalem, at the same time in- ducing numbers of delinquent Jews to withdraw to Samaria and join in the rival worship. During the invasion of Judtea by Antiochus Epiphanes, the Samaritans, in order to conciliate his favour, dedicated their temple to Jupiter Hellenicus. After standing two hundred years, it was at last destroyed by John Hyrcanus, the Jewish general and high priest. Anti- quities, XL viii. ; XIII. ix.
JOHN IV,
287
well which never ceases to spring up, and as a river which becomes stronger and stronger." • What R. Meir ascribes to the study of the law, — and ascribes truly, if, according to David's prayer, the eyes are opened to behold the wondrous things which that law contains, — Jesus imparts by the in- dwelling of his Holy Spirit. The effects of this study the Rabbi thus goes on to describe : — " The individual loves both God and man, and gives joy to both. The study of the law clothes him with humility and reverence ; and prepares him for be- coming righteous and godly, upright and faithful. It with- draws him from sin, and brings him to the attainment of purity. Men receive from him counsel and sound wisdom, understanding and might ; as it is said, ' Counsel is mine and sound wisdom ; I am understanding, and I have might.' There are given to him a kingdom and dominion and the investigation of judgment. To him the secrets of the law are revealed." Had the Rabbi read without a veil the pas- sage which he here quotes from the book of Proverbs, he would have perceived that the speaker is a Person who was with God before ever creation had its commencement, who " was as one brought up with him," " was daily his delight," "rejoicing continually before him;" and whose de- lights were prospectively "with the sons of men." He would have recognised in that Divine "Wisdom, Him who in the ful- ness of time clothed himself in the garments of human nature, and appeared on earth as the woman's seed who was to bruise the serpent's head ; — the same who said to the woman at the well, " The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
Yer. 20. Our fathers loorshipped in this mountain ; and ye
say, that in Jerusalem is the place where vien ought to
worship.
The worship here intended was doubtless that hy sacrijices, as the worship by prayer and praise might be presented to
1 Pirke Ahhoth vi. 1.— ^ibim "imnccT iH^DT ^Dy=:i ^T^^ T^nz w^-:
288 JOHN IV.
God anywhere^ provided that the face, or at least the mind, was directed to the Holy of holies at Jerusalem. " If a man rides on an ass," says the Mishna, " he must dismount (in order to pray) : if he cannot dismount, he turns his face towards the Holy of holies ; and if he cannot turn his face, he is to direct his mind to that most holy place. If he is seated in a ship, or in a cart, or in a waggon (or on a raft), he directs his mind to the Holy of holies." ' But sacrifices, through which as types of the great Atonement both the persons and the prayers which were presented elsewhere were supposed to meet with acceptance, could only be ofiered up at Jerusalem. " The holiness of Shiloh," says the Mishna, " had a period in which it became lawful (to offer sacrifices elsewhere) ; but the holiness of Jerusalem has no such period." ^ Hence, ever since the destruction of their city and temple the Jews have been " without a sacrifice " (Hos. iii. 4) ; and, so long as they refuse Him whom the sacrifices under the law foreshadowed and who had been offered up upon Calvary forty years before the temple was destroyed, they have nothing that can procure acceptance with God either for their persons or their prayers. Awful and affecting condition !
' Berachoth iv. 5, 6. * Megillah i. 11.
CH.iPTER V.
Yer. 10. The Jeics therefore said unto him that was cured. It is the Sabbath day : it is not lavjful for thee to carry thy bed.
According to the Mishna at least, it would have been un- lawful for this poor man even to go out of his house with his bed on the Sabbath day. " The chair (or couch) and crutches (of a paralytic, for example) may become unclean from pres- sure : he must not ijo out with them on the Sabbath, nor enter the outer court of the temple with them." ^ The act of carrying his couch, in which he was now detected, was regarded as a clear violation of the Sabbath. It belonged, according to the Rabbies, to the thirty-ninth and last of the principal occupations, or " fathers of work " (nrs ^n m::S abhoth malachah), prohibited on the Sabbath, namely, the carrying or conveying from one reshuth or space into another.'
' Shahbath vi. S.
2 Ibid. vii. 2. To understand this rule of the elders, it is necessary to remember that all space was divided by them into four classes:— First, public or common property (C'^IH riTJl'n reslmth ha-rabbim), as a high- way, a market-place, any street not less than sixteen cubits wide, uncovered and open at top and bottom, &c. ; second, private property (Tn\"T rwr\ reshuth hayyakhidh), any place surrounded by a wall or a ditch ten hauds wide and four deep, the ditch itself, a city encompassed by walls with gates which are closed at night, &c. ; third, carmelilh (n^bmD), that which does not belong to either of the other two, either lying entirely open, or enclosed on three sides only ; fourth, a free place (mt:;2 Cipn makom patur), one which is more than three hands deep or high, but not more than four hands square in width, such as a column or small cavity, &c. ^ This last was not subject to any legal enactments. Moreover, the carrying or con- veying from one reshuth to another was not considered as constituting a
u
290 JOHN V.
God himself, indeed, by the prophet Jeremiah, had expressly indicated his disapprobation of all unnecessary carrying of burdens on the Sabbath day, as a violation of its sacred rest (Jer. svii. 21). The enactments of the elders were opposed to this expression of the mind of God, inasmuch as they limited the carrying of burdens to their conveyance from one kind of space to another, while all such conveyance they pro- hibited, whether necessary or unnecessary. The act of this man was justifiable, both as it was necessary to have his couch taken home from the side of the pool where he had been lying, and, more especially, as it was done in obedience to one who showed, by the miracle he had wrought, that he was Lord of the Sabbath and had a right to command.
Yer. 28, 29. Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and theij that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
The resurrection both of the godly and ungodly is here distinctly taught. Though the Jewish teachers generally spoke of the resurrection as peculiarly belonging to the right- eous, they seem also to have taught that at some period or other the bodies of the wicked themselves should be restored to life. Rabbi Eleazar of Capernaum thus speaks in the Mishna ; — " They who are born are to die ; and they who die are to live again ; and they who live again are to be judged : that it may be fully known that he is God, the Former, the Creator, who understands "and judges, the Witness, the Ac- cuser, who is ready to judge. Blessed is he ; that ^vith him is no iniquity, no forgetfulness, no acceptance of persons, and no taking of bribes ; for everything is his. And know that
complete or perfect action, unless the same person who took a thing from the place it had occupied deposited it in another. Le Sola and RaphalCs riV-J27Q, Iniroduciion to Treatise Shabbath. • ..
JOHN V. 291
everything shall be according to the account rendered. Let not thy evil genius persuade thee that the grave will serve thee for a place of refuge. For without thy consent thou wast formed ; without thy consent thou wast born ; without thy consent thou livest ; without thy consent thou must die ; and without thy consent thou shalt come to judgment, and render an account before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is he." ' What the Rabbi here ascribes to God, Jesus declares to belong to himself, both in his own right as the Son of God, and by delegation as the Son of man. " As the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth them ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father ; — and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."
Ver. 46. I^or had ye believed Moses, ye xcoidd have helieced me : for he wrote of me.
Commenting on the tradition in the Mishna- respecting the object of Elijah's mission, as having been handed down from Moses, Maimonides observes, that '" Moses wrote of the coming of the Messiah," and gives Deut. xxs. 4, &c., as an example. Surely, with at least as great propriety, he might have referred to Deut. xviii. 15, &c., " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken ;" or, to Gen. xlix. 10, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come." ^
' Tirke Abhoth iv. 22.
» 'EdJiioth viii. ^.—^Tv:b^ sr^'sb S2 ^^ivh^ T^tD ^2^DX3 roab r[::hr[
' This prophecy, indeed, Maimonides, in his comment on the passage, makes to refer not to Messiah, but to the confirming of the kingdom to Rehoboam in Shiloh previous to the revolt of the ten tribes ; -while Lipman in his ITitsakhon, doubtless from a similar motive, applies it to the leadership of Israel continuing in the tribe of Judah till Samuel appointed
u 2
CHAPTER VI.
Ver. 7. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyxcorth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
The Mishna, speaking of tiie manner of combining places "by means of the ^eruhh, gives it as a saying of Rabbi Jochanan ben Berokah, that for the purpose of such combination, " a loaf of the value of a puadion, when the price of four saahs of flour is one selah, is sufficient;" adding, that "Rabbi Simeon saith, Two-thirds of a loaf, such as go three to the kab of flour, is enough," ' As a pundion is the twelfth part of a dinar (denarius, or Roman penny) and the forty-eighth of a selah (one selah being four dinars) ; and as a saah of flour is equal to six kabs or quarts ; a loaf of the first size mentioned would be equal to a pint of flour. Two hundred pennyworth of bread, at such a rate, would be twenty-four hundred loaves of a pint of flour each. — Lightfoot suggests that " two hundred pennyworth " is specially named by Philip, from the fact that the sum of two ^hundred pence, dinars, or zuzim, was a common one in Jewish transactions. For example, two hundred pence (dinars or zuzim) were fixed by law as a virgin's dowry.- "If," says the Mishna,
them a king in Shiloh of the tribe of Benjamin. But all the three Targums show in what light the ancient Jews understood the passage. Onkelos reads it — " Until Messiah come, forJiis is the kingdom" (Sn^Ci7Q Tl'*''! 137 HmD^n N''n n"^VTT) ; Jonathan (so called)—" Until the time that King Messiah, his descendant, comes ; " and the Targum of Jerusalem — " Until ihe time that King Messiah comes, for his is the kingdom." Jarchi, in his commentary, adopts the interpretation of Onkelos.
' 'Erubhin viii. 2. » Chethubhoth i. 2. • -
JOHN VI. 293
" a husband says to his wife, Here is your bill of divorce, on condition that you give me two hundred pence," &c.^ Again : " Should a man say to a woman, Behold, thou art wedded to me on condition that I give thee two hundred pence."
Yer. 3'2, 33. Jesi^s said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave yoii not that bread from heaven ; hut my Father giccth you the true hread from heaven. For the bread of God is he ichich cometh down from heaven, and giveth life U7ito the luorld.
The manna is mentioned in the Mishna as one of the things which are said to have been created towards the close of the first six days, but not manifested until a future period, when they were destined to come into existence.^ Lightfoot and Schoetgen have both produced the Eabbinical tradition, that the first Goel or Redeemer (viz. Moses) caused manna to descend for the Israelites, and the last Redeemer (the Mes- siah) shall do the same. The Messiah himself seems to have been conceived of by the Jewish teachers under the figure of bread. Hence the saying of Rabbi Hillel (not the Great Hillel), that "Israel shall have no more Messiah, since they ate him (imbrs achaluhu) in the time of Hezekiah." By this expression, however, was simply meant, the enjoyment of the outward prosperity and happiness which the Messiah was supposed to bring, or, as it is expressed in connection with the saying just mentioned, " Israel shall eat the years of the Messiah." ^ Of the spiritual and blessed life which
» GitSin vii. 7. ^ Eiddushin ill. 2. ^ Pirke Abhoth v. 6.
« rPirr^ ^ys '•'brST bs^'ar I'^Tny. The whole passage is quoted from the Talmud by Lightfoot, but is more fully treated of by Pocock in the ^Miscellaneous Notes appended to his Porta Mosis, chap. vi. The oc- casion of R. Hillel's remark is thus related in the Talmud. " R. Eliezcr saith, The days in (or after) which Israel shall have the Messiah are forty years ; as it is said, Porty years will he be grieved with the people. K. Eleazar ben Azariah saith. Seventy years ; as it is said, And Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one King. Who is that"
294 JOHN VII.
Messiah was to give, by the sacrifice of himself as an atoue- ment for sin and by the soul feeding on him in faith, they seem to have had no conception.'
CHAPTER YII.
Ver. 15. And the Jews marvelled, saying, Hoiu knoiceth this man letters, having never learned?
The "letters" (ypupfiara) were of course the sacred learn- ing known and cultivated among the Jews. Jesus had not " learned," that is, had not pursued that learning under any of the Rabbies, or in any of the colleges or schools. Men were ordinarily required to be disciples and associates of Rabbies before they could acquire such knowledge as to
single King ? King Messiah. Rabbi saitli, Two or three ages ; as it is said. And before the moon, for an age of ages. R. Hillel saith, Israel shall not have a Messiah, since they hare already eaten (enjoyed) hira in the time of Hezekiah. Pardon me, Master Hillel, said R. Joseph ; When did Heze- kiah live ? Under the first temple. But Zechariah, the son of Iddo, pro- phesied of the Messiah under the second temple ; saying, Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion, &c." In another place the saying of HUlel is thus refer- red to : "Israel shall eat the years of Messiah. R. Joseph replied, That is certain; but who shall eat them ? HLllek and Billek (judges of Sodom, according to Lightfoot ; or all men, as Pocock understands the words) shall eat them, except R. Hillel, who saith, Israel shall hare no Messiah, because they have already eaten (enjoyed) him in the time of Hezekiah." According to some, R. Hlillel only meant that Israel was not to enjoy that temporal prosperity under Messiah wliich was so generally looked for, as th^t prosperity had already been enjoyed under Hezekiah.
' Philo the Jew speaks indeed of the Word or Son of God as "the Bread and Food which God gave for the soul {dprog Kal rpo^ij rjv tSuict 6 6f6c ry ipi/xy)- But Philo was probably indebted for the sentiment to Christ himself, or at least to his apostles, whom he no doubt had both seen and heard.
JOHN VII.
295
qualify them to be Rabbles themselves. Hence the sayings of the Sages, — " Let thy house be the place of meeting for the wise ; and be thou dusted with the dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst." " 3Iake not the crown (the study of the law with a view to become a E,abbi) in order to make thyself great." "One who learns from aged men, to what is he like? One who eats ripe grapes and drinks old wine."^ Low and degraded Xazareth was not likely to possess either Rabbies or colleges ; neither did Jesus attend the famous schools at Jerusalem or elsewhere. It was not necessary, nor would it greatly have profited him if he had. His Father's word had been his "meditation all the day;" and now, sent forth upon his public ministry, the Father gave not '•' his Spirit by measure " to him.
Yer. 2.2. Moses therefore gave unto yoti circumcision ; {not because it is of Moses, hut of the fathers ;) and ye on the Sabbath day circmncise a man.
The precept enjoining circumcision was held by the Jewish doctors to be one of so great importance that it took prece- dency of the Sabbath itself; that is, if the eighth day, on which it was necessary for the child to be circumcised, fell upon a Sabbath, the circumcision was still to take place, and everything to be done which was necessary to it, though otherwise unlawful on that day. " All that is requisite to circumcision supersedes the Sabbath. "Wood may be cut, saith Rabbi Eleazar, to be burnt into coal, to forge an iron instrument (to circumcise with). Rabbi Akibha laid down the rule, Whatever work (in connection with the rite) it is possible to do on the eve of the Sabbath, does not supersede
^ "2^0 one," says the book Zohar, "ougbt to give new expositions of the Law unless he has learned them from some great tree (or doctor)." A say- ing of the Sages is also quoted to the effect that many were slain because a certain disciple taught the people before ho had obtained a teacher's de- gree. Synopsis, Tit. i.
296 JOHN VII.
the due observance of the Sabbath ; but whatever work it is not possible to do on the Sabbath eve, does supersede the ob- servance of the Sabbath. "Whatever is requisite for circum- cision is to be done on the Sabbath," ^ The circumcision, however, might be deferred in certain cases beyond the eighth day. " An infant," says the Mishna, " may be circumcised on the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and even twelfth day ; but not sooner, nor later. How ? In the ordinary way (on the eio-hth day) ; if born near twilight, it is circumcised on the ninth ; if near twilight on the eve of the Sabbath, on the tenth ; if in this case a festival succeeds the Sabbath, on the eleventh ; and if two new year's days succeed it, on the twelfth. Should the infant be ill, it must not be circumcised till it is quite recovered." -
Ver. 37. In the last day, that (jreat day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come tmto me, and drink.
The feast of Tabernacles here alluded to began on the fif- teenth day of Tisri, the first month of the ecclesiastical and seventh of the civil year, corresponding with our September, and consequently five days after the great day of Atonement, which was on the tenth of the same month. It continued seven days, to which an eighth was added as a day of holy convocation. Though properly a distinct festival of itself, this eighth day was considered the last and also the great day of the feast, notwithstanding that on that day only one bul- lock was sacrificed, while on each of the previous days there were several. This festival was called the " Feast of Taber- nacles " from the Israelites being required, during the time it lasted, to live in tabernacles, booths, or bowers, prepared for the purpose, in memory of their ancestors having had to dweU
' Shabbath%ym.Z] xix. 1, ^. — TUW PS nmi hVo ' Ibid. xix. 5.
JOHN VII. 297
in tents during their forty years' sojourn in the wilderness. As it was held after the crops had been gathered in and the vin- tage was over, it was also called the " Feast of Ingathering," a name, however, which rather belonged to the eighth day as a distinct festival.
The Feast of Tabernacles was the most joyous of all the Jewish festivals, and was on that account called by way of eminence, " the feast " (2n kJiag). For its celebration, the Jews were to take " boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brooks." (Lev, sxiii. 40.) By the " boughs (or rather "fruit") of goodly trees " they understood the citron, and provided branches which still had fruit on them. The carrying of these various branches in the hand came to form a prominent part of the festival. The citron branch or fruit was carried in the left hand by itself, while in the right were the palm, myrtle, and willow branches, generally bound together, and forming what was called the Lulahh (^blb). Willow branches were also carried separately for the purpose of surrounding the altar with them. " The Lulabh and the willow," says the Mishna, "continue to be used six and (sometimes) seven days ; the Hallel and joyous repasts, eight days ; the booths and the pouring out of water, seven days ; and the music five and (sometimes) six days." '
During the continuance of the feast, the people sung the 113th and five following psalms, to which, it is said, was added the following doxology : — " All thy works praise thee, 0 Lord our God ; and thy saints, the righteous persons who do thy will, and thy people the house of Israel, all of them with singing, do praise, bless, worship, and magnify thy holy name ; for it is good to praise thee, and to sing to thy name is pleasant. And from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord the Xing, who art to be praised with acts of worship." These six psalms, which were
' Succah iv. 1.
298 joici VII.
to be sung or recited on each of the eight days, constituted the Hallel. If an individual could not repeat them, himself he was to get another to do so for him. " If the Hallel be read to a man by a bondman, or a woman, or a minor, he must repeat after them what they read ; but it is a disgrace to him. If a grown-up person read it to him, he only responds Hallelujah." '
Each of the seven days of the feast was a day of joy ; but the additional eighth one, "the last day of the feast," was still more so. "The singing and rejoicing," says the Mishna, " continue eight days. Why ? To teach that a man is bound to sino- praise, to rejoice, and to honour the last day of the feast like all the rest of the days. The booths continue seven days. How ? "When the owner ceases from eating there, he does not take down his booth, but only brings out the vessels from the time of the evening sacrifice and onwards, on ac- count of the honour of the last day of the feast." - On each of the seven days they surrounded the altar with the willow branch once, saying, "Save now, I pray thee, 0 Lord; 0 Lord, I beseech thee, send prosperity ; " but on the last day they did this seven times, on which account that day was called " the great Hosannah," ^ or, as in the text, " the great day of the feast."
One verv prominent part of the celebration of this festival in the time of the Saviour, and to which the words in the text seem to have reference, was that called " the drawing of water." So great was the joy attending this part of it, that the Mishna gives it as a saying of the Sages, — "Whoever has not seen the rejoicing at the drawing of water, has not seen rejoicing in all his life." The ceremony is thus described. " A golden pitcher containing three logs was filled at the fountain of Shiloah, and was brought through the water-gate of the temple, while the Levites sounded with their trumpets
> Succah iii. 10. ' Ibid. iv. 8.
' S::-) S:K:in hoshanna rahba.
JOHN VII. 299
a blast, a long note, and a blast. The priest who bore the water then went up bj the ascent of the altar, and turned to the left. There were there two silver bowls .... The one to the west was for water, and the other to th.e east for wine. Thev poured out the water, according to Rabbi Judah, a log on each of the eight days." ^ It was when the water was thus brought and poured out on the altar that the rejoicing commenced, continuing through a considerable part if not the whole of the night. " At the expiration of the first holy day of the festival they descended into the women's court, where great preparations were made. Four golden candlesticks were there with four golden basins to each. .... There was not a court in Jerusalem that was not illuminated by the lii^hts of the water-drawing*. Pious and distinguished men danced before the people with lighted flambeaux in their hands, and sang hymns and songs of praise before them, while the Levites accompanied them with harps, psalteries, cymbals, and numberless musical instruments. On the fifteen steps which led down from the court of Israel into the women's court, corresponding to the fifteen songs of degrees, stood the Le\'ites with their musical instruments, and sang. At the upper gate which leads down from the court of the Israelites to the court of the women, stood two priests with trumpets in their hands. "WTien the cock crew they blew a blast, a long note, and a blast. When they came to the tenth, step they did the same ; and again when they came to the court. They went forward blowing, till they came to the east gate. They then turned their faces to the west, and said, Our fathers who were in this place turned their backs to the temple and their faces to the east, and worshipped the sun toward the east ; but as for us, our eyes are to the Lord." ^ It was at the first blast of the priests' trumpets on the top of the steps that the water was drawn from Shiloah. This
• Sxiccah. iv. 9. * Ihid. v. 1—4.
300 JOHN- vir.
festivity of the music and the water-drawing continued five and sometimes six days, as the water which was poured on the Sabbath was drawn before its commencement.
The ceremony of the water-drawing the Jews professed to have received from Haggai and Zechariah ; and con- sidered it as referred to in the words of Isaiah, " With joy shall ve draw water out of the wells of salvation." The water used on that occasion was viewed as symbolical of the Holy Ghost ; and it is said that while drawing it, the people were wont to declare that they drew from Shiloah that Divine Person, as they expected Him to fall upon them while thus eno-ao-ed.' While the priest was pouring out the water upon the altar, the words of Isaiah already mentioned are said to have been sung by the people ; and it is worthy of remark that the Chaldee paraphrase of the passage, which the Jews living in Judasa at that time were accustomed to hear as the explanation of them, runs thus, — ''With joy shall ye receive a new doctrine from the elect of the just;" on which Mai- raonides observes,- that Jonathan explained the " water " as denoting the wisdom or doctrine that was to come in the days referred to, namely, those of the Messiah.
When it is considered that all this was going on when the Lord uttered the words of the text, and had been doing so for several previous days, their reference will be clearly seen and their force perhaps more deeply felt : — " If any man thirst, let hira come to me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said. Out of his belly shall flow living water." "This he spake," adds the Evangelist, "of the Holy Ghost, which they that believe on him should receive." It is as if the Saviour had said, — " That fountain of Shiloah,
• Lightfoot quotes the following from the Talmud : — " It is called the ' place of drawing,' because it is written, * With joy shall ye draw water/ &c. Why do they call it the place of drawing? Because they draw from thence the Holy Spirit."
* Moreh Nebhochim, Part I. chap. xxi.
JOHN VII. 301
which is by interpretation, ' sent,' and to which with so much joy you have gone and drawn water, is but the emblem, as you intimate in your songs, of the source of salvation and the Holy Ghost. It shadows forth the Messiah, the sent of the Father, in whose days a new doctrine was to be received. That Messiah is come. I am He. If any of you truly de- sires that salvation and the gift of the Holy Ghost of which you speak, let him come to me and receive my words." ^
There can be little doubt that the Feast of Tabernacles had a typical reference to what is yet to come. As the Passover with its slain lamb not only commemorated the redemption of Israel from Egypt, but pointed forward to the death of the Great Atoning Sacrifice and the redemption of his Church thereby ; and as the Feast of Pentecost or First- fruits with its new meat-offering, while commemorating the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, prefigured both the first ingathering of New Testament believers by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and the going forth of the New Law, — the Gospel of the grace of God, — from Mount Zion ; so the Feast of Tabernacles would seem intended to adumbrate the joy that shall attend the final ingathering of all the elect, and the time of spiritual prosperity and blessedness that shall follow it, when the Church's wilderness-period is past and the kingdom of God has come, and when the great voice out of heaven shall be heard proclaiming, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God ; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
' Lightfoot and Schoetgen quote the traditioa that "the first Redeemer (viz. Moses) made water spring up ; and the last Redeemer (the Messiah) shall do the same." That last and great Redeemer now stood before the people. In him the words of Hillel, spoken in connection with this very festival, had their verification — "When I am here, all is here." Zohar, Synopsis, Tit. ix.
302 JOHX VII.
Ver, 49. But this people who Jcnoweth not the law are cursed.
The aspect in which the Pharisees viewed the common people has been already noticed under Luke xviii. 11. It may here be added, that in consequence of the supposed ig- norance of the lower classes in regard to the requirements of the law, they were always suspected by the Pharisees of un- cleanness from neglect of them, and were shunned by the latter on that account. Hence the name of the sect itself, — Pharisee ' simply denoting a separatist, or one who withdraws from the common herd. Their practices are thus referred to in the Mishna. " He who takes upon himself to be a religious person (or Pharisee), does not sell to the common people either moist articles or dry ; and he does not receive of them what is moist (lest he should contract uncleanness by it, moist arti- cles especially communicating it) ; he does not lodge while on a journey with any of the common people, nor does he re- ceive any of them in their journey, or touch their clothes." ^
The views which the Pharisees entertained of the common people are further seen in the following perversion of Scrip- ture by Rabbi Simeon ben Akashia. " The old men among the common people have their knowledge taken away from them ; as it is said, ' He removeth speech from the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the ancient.' But it is otherwise with those old men who have studied the law (that is, the Pharisees, these old men being contrasted with those of the common people who were not supposed to know the law) ; but when they become old, their knowledge remains in them ; as it is said, ' Wisdom is in old men, and with length of days is understanding.' " ' Bartenoras, in his commentary on the Mishna, observes that the last-quoted text applies to
1 SiZnD Pharisee, from STlD, to withdraw or separate.
* Demai ii. 3. The author of Ante defines a Pharisee as one who separ- ates himself from all uncleanness, from unclean meats, and from the com- mon people who are not careful in their food." Pocock, Not. Miscel. p. 351.
^ Kanim iii. 6.
JOHN VIII.
303
the disciples of the wise men, siuce " the commou people have no knowledge." It is expressly said in the Mishna, — " The common people are not pious." ' Did the Pharisees not know that while they were thus treating and speaking of the com- mon people, they were exemplifying to the letter the character of those whom Jehovah declares by the prophet Isaiah to be a smoke in his nose, a fire that burneth all the day, — " which say, Stand by thyself; come not near to me, for I am hoKer than thou ? "
CHAPTER VIII.
Yer. 3. The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman tahen in adultery ; and when they had set her iri the midst, they say unto him, Master, Moses in the laic commanded us that such shoidd be stoned : but what sayest thou 9
The manner in which cases of adultery were dealt with by the Jewish doctors in the time of the Saviour, affords another example of their making void the law of God' through their traditions. The law in such cases awarded the penalty of death ; the tradition of the elders, however, decreed, — " If the- woman suspected of adultery acknowledges her guilt, she shall forfeit her dowry and depart." I
The object of the Scribes and Pharisees in submitting this case to Jesus for his judgment, was to compel him either to decide with the ordinary teachers against the written law, or to confirm the Mosaic enactment and endanger not only his popularity but his life. The wisdom of Jesus evaded each' horn of the dilemma. Eeminding them by his action, as'
^ Pirke Abhoth ii. 5.— TCn V'^^ 027 sb . ^ . . . ;
* Sot ah i. 5.— ns!.'vi rcx^z mm:£7 ^:s nsaa m^^ cn
304 JOHN viir.
Lightfoot supposes, of the mode of trial which the law pre- scribed for a suspected adulteress,' and availing himself of the prevalent belief that the trial by the bitter waters lost its efficacy when the husband or accuser was guilty of the same offence, he brought guilt home to their own consciences while he pronounced, " He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her." Their immediate gradual dis- persion remarkably corresponds with what is acknowledged by the Rabbles themselves, that for forty years previous to the destruction of the temple, owing to the prevalence of adultery among the men, the trial of the suspected adulteress by the bitter waters had been discontinued. ^
Yer. 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world : he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, hut shall have the light of life.
"WTiether we consider these words as spoken by Jesus on the day after the Feast of Tabernacles, as the text in its present state intimates ; or whether with Olshausen, who views the passage from chapter vii. 53 to chapter viii. 11 as not having originally occupied its present place, we regard them as the commencement of another discourse de- livered on the last day of the Feast ; in either case the Saviour may be supposed to allude to what was done in connection with the Festival in the court of the women, — " the treasury " (yalo(pv\a.Kiov) , where this discourse was uttered. The custom is thus described in the Mishna. " At the close of the first day of the feast they went down to the court of the women and made there a great preparation. There were two golden
» Numbers v. 17 — 23. The priest who conducted the trial stooped to take np some of the dust from the floor to mingle with the bitter waters : Christ also stooped. The priest wrote the curses in a book : Christ wrote on the ground. The priest, according to the Rabbins, first pronounced the curses, then gave the woman the water to drink, and then pronounced the curses again : Christ wrote, then convicted the Scribes, and then wrote again.
* Lightfootj in loro.
JOHN VITI.
305
candlesticks, with four golden bowls on the top of them, and four ladders to each ; and there were four youths of the flower of the priesthood with vessels of oil in their hand, containing a hundred and twenty logs, which they poured into each bowl. They made strips of the worn-out drawers and girdles of the priests and lighted the lamps. There was not a court in Je- rusalem but was illuminated with the light of the place of the drawing [of water]. Pious and eminent men danced be- fore the people with torches of light in their hands." ^ Though only the first day of the feast is mentioned here, yet, as 01s- hausen 'observes, it is probable that as the drawing of the water took place every working' day during the feast, the il- lumination was repeated ; or, at all events, it is sufficient that the candlesticks remained in the court. Either, therefore, before the liofhtine of these colossal chandeliers and the re- joicing which followed, or after all these festivities were over, the Lord Jesus seems now to draw the people's attention to himself by alluding to this illumination, as he had done be- fore to the drawing of water. " I am the Light of the world, — sent to illuminate not Jerusalem or Judcea only, but all the nations upon earth. He that followeth after me, as you, in your joyous procession, have been following the bearers of torches from night to night, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life, — a light which shall not only en- able him to guide his steps with safety, but shall fill him with a joy of which that of this festival is but a shadow, — a joy which is spiritual, heavenly, and everlasting."
sm btt? c^biZD 27n""ST ca7 rn nrrr b^7 ^\T\^•sl^ Vii: ]i|Tn ^m m'^ns ^rTT'-:!^ cnb"" yn-^n insT ~rni^ b^b mnbiD :i72-isi ^ia7sn3 brb ih'"^^ '{Tv^s yh c^-iU727i nsr; b^? "^cxd \w did crPTm rn ]i"CT ]''27"'|-:2!2 )rra ]rr3"'"':2rR:T c:n3 .^:2Q \sb32 : b^roT bcD : n3Ni27n rrn msa rrrsa ro^s::? c>btt?Ti^:; isn mrr sbi i^pb-ra y^^i^ -ITS \m mpinsr: cm^Db n?ip-ia th tw^^ ^*i':si c^Tcn
— Succah V. 2 — i.
306 JOHN VIII.
Ver. 20. TJiese words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple : and no man laid hands on him ; for his hour was not yet come.
It has been already observed that in the court of the women were the chests into which the Israelites put their free-wiU offerings for the service of the Temple. Hence the name ya^o^vKaKiov (gazophylaeium) , or, according to Josephus, ra yaiio(pv\a.Kia,^ was given either to the whole of that court, or to that part of it in which these chests stood. It is in this court that a synagogue is said to have been, in which Jesus may have taught. On the present occasion, however, he was probably in the open court, or beneath one of its piazzas or porticoes.
" For his hour was not yet come." "We are told that not a hand was to be laid on the lamb appointed for the daily sacrifice till the precise time arrived for its immolation. " The president of the temple said to the priests, ' Go out and see if the time for the slaughter has arrived.' If it had ar- rived, the observer said, 'There are bright streaks.' Mat- thia ben Samuel saith. He said, * It illumines the face of the whole East.' 'As far as Hebron?' it was asked; and he answered, ' Yea.' " ^ So not a hand could be laid on the Lamb of God till the hour appointed for his death in the counsels of eternity had fully arrived. Till then, the prayer of the Beloved, the servant of the Lord, was answered, " Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me." (Psal. xxxvi. 11, see title.)
' " The porticoes tetween the gates, carried from the wall inwai'ds, be- fore the treasury {irp6 rHJv yaJ^o(pv\aKiojv, before the treasuries, meaning perhaps the offering-chests), were supported on very beautiful and stately pillars." Jewish War, V. v. 2.
» 3r2n cs rTi-i^ncTn -pi v^iu cn Ts-n "kj ny^nrin cnb -rs
Tamidh iii. 3. — I p "MIS Sim XTSHD. KimC
JOHN vni. 307
Yer. 32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. — Yer. 36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall he free indeed.
According to Rabbi Akibha, " even the poorest in Israel were to be viewed as the sons of nobles (or free- men), who hare been reduced in circumstances ; because they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." ' According to another, " No one was to be accounted a son of nobles (or a free-man), but he who exercises himself in the study of the law." ■ In opposition to these views, Jesus taught the people that they were not free merely by being carnally descended from the patriarchs, nor yet by addicting themselves merely to the study of the law, especially in the sense in which the Rabbles understood the phrase ; but that they were free, in the true sense of the word,^ through the knowledge of that truth which he came to communicate ; and that it was not Moses or Abraham, who were but servants themselves, that could make them free, but the Son of God, whom the works which he wrought plainly evinced him to be,
Yer. 41. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornica- tion ; we have one Father, even God.
The Jews prided themselves on being called the children of God. " Israel is beloved," says the Mishna, " because they
• TT.^ti? ^nin •'D^ en ibsD mis i^sti bsntc'^ic? nr''3y ib'^cs
BabJia Kama viii. 6.— ; '2'^:P^ "rc^ H-H^N ^32 CrTC7 D-PD23a - Pirke Jbhoth vi. 2. — rDFO. iTCl>*.r >a sbs ]^-^in -p. "fb ]^Stt7 ^ It has thus been sung by the Christian poet : — " A liberty which persecution, fraud. Oppression, prisons, have no power to bind ; Which whoso tastes can be enslaved no more. 'Tis liberty of heart derived from heaven. Bought with His blood who gave it to mankind, — A clear escape from tyrannizing lust, . And full immunity from penal woe." X 2
308 JOHN viir.
are called 'the children of God.' The greatest love has been manifested to them in this, that they have been called God's children ; as it is said, ' Ye are the children of the Lord your God.' " ' It is true, indeed, that to Israel pertained ** the adoption," and that they are still '* beloved," even in their un- belief and dispersion, " for the fathers' sakes." But indi- viduals among them never were nor will be accepted with God simply on account of that adoption or national love. As in the Christian church so among Israel after the flesh, two existincr classes are described in the word of God, — the one, " who tremble at the word of the Lord," and are " hated and cast out by their brethren for his name's sake," — the other, who hate and cast them out, saying the while, " Let the Lord be glorified." (Isaiah Ixvi. 5.)
Ver. 59. Then took they up stones to cast at him : hut Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
The wrath of the people had been rising in intensity as Jesus uttered one precious but humbling truth after another ; till, on his plainly declaring his eternal Godhead, it burst forth in this murderous act of fury. Their hatred against his person and his preaching made them willing to regard him as a blasphemer ; and knowing themselves secure against any animadversion on the part of their rulers, they take the law into their own hands. It was not unusual for similar scenes to be witnessed within the precincts of the House of Prayer. The Mishna mentions the case of a priest who, while performing his official duties at the Feast of Tabernacles, was pelted to death by the people for appearing to slight the traditions of the elders. " It once happened that a priest (charged with pouring out the water on the altar) poured the
1 D"ib nrTD m^T " nnn- i2T|-ab en isnpjD htriw^ ps^'Dn
Pirke Ahhotk iii. 14.
JOHN IX. 309
water ou his feet ; and all the people pelted him to death with their citrons." ' Undoubtedly they would now in the same manner have stoned Jesus to death had he not — which to him was easy — escaped out of their hands.
CHAPTER IX.
Yer. 2. And his disciples ashed him, saying, Master, xclio did sin, this man, or his parents, that he ivas born blind ?
The Jews were accustomed to regard serious afflictions and other painful dispensations of Divine providence as visitations for some special sin. Thus it is said in the Mishna, — " For three transgressions women die in childbirth : because they are not careful of their separation at proper periods, of conse- crating the first cake of the dough, and of lighting the Sabbath lamp." - The sins of parents, too, were thought frequently to entail suffering and disease upon their offspring. " He who vitiates the holy covenant," says the author of Zohar, "vitiates himself; and his children born from thence are vitiated, both above and beneath (spiritually and physically, or in respect to both worlds)." ^ As the result of a specified sin, the children, begotten at the time of its commission, are said to be entered by an evil spirit and to become epileptic. Lierhtfoot has shown from Rabbinical authorities that the
1 Succah iv. 9. De Sola and Raphall add, m a note, that he was a Sad- ducee, and, as such, rejected the authority of tradition. Josephus some- where mentions a similar use of the citrons on another occasion.
2 m-i^nr irsc? by • 'jnTb ni'K:^ n^rv^ c^k73 nrs'^ d^/^ hv
Shabbath ii. 6.— :~i3n npVfnm nVmi rrcn
It is said in the book Zohar, that a man walking in an evil way has certain external blemishes or marks affixed to him as the result, which are only re- moved by'repentance. Sjnojisi.t, Tit. iv. * Ibid. Tit. vi.
310 JOHN IX.
Jews entertained the notion of a capability of wrong-doing, arising from an evil disposition, existing even in the unborn child and involving a certain degree of responsibility. From these notions, doubtless, arose the question of the disciples in the text. Not that all afflictions were regarded as indications of , the Divine displeasure. There were also what are called by Rabbinical writers the chastisements of love {hu? 7"'"T'D'» mrTN),' and of which the apostle writes at large in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xii. Of these was the saying of the ancient Jews, — "Whosoever has passed forty days without chastisements, has received his world ; " and none were be- lieved to be without them " except the wicked man who is destined to Gehinnom (hell), who receives his world here, and is preserved by God in order to have all his pleasure done for him in this world." - An awful portion truly ! " Son, re- member that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, and likewise also Lazarus evil things : but now he is com- forted and thou art tormented."
Yer. 21. But by what means he noiv seeth, ice Jcnoio not ; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not : he is of age ; ash him : he shall speak for himself.
A person's being of age was a thing necessarily often re- ferred to among the Jews ; as according to the decisions of the elders there were many definite duties and privileges which from that period belonged to him, but in which up to that time he had no share. Hence the frequent classification in the Mishna, of " women, slaves, and minors." The time accordingly, at which a person became of age, was definitely fixed, being in the case of a male, his thirteenth year.' He then became what is called a Bar-mitscah (m!^ ~in), or son of
* The author of Zohar, speaking of the spots or blemishes referred to in a previous note, observes that the person has these as the marks of sin, and that they do not receive the name of "the chastisement of love."
* Pocock, Porfa Mosis, Not. Misc. cap. vi.
3 Pirie Abhoth v. 21. — nV-'ob TTWV tt-'btt? p .
JOHN X. 311
the commandment ; and was now regarded as responsible for his own conduct and a regular member of the congregation/
Ver. 34. They ansicered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether horn in sins, and dost thou teach us ? And they cast him out.
The Pharisees spoke to this man as one of the common people, who, it was plainly alleged by the Rabbies, were not pious.- Their casting him out of the synagogue simply for saying that if Jesus were not of God he could do nothing, was a flagrant instance of what is spoken of in the ^lishna as " putting away by violence."^ Of those removed from the con- gregation by force (>T~TZ rrpnT^rT), whom, according to the tradition, Elias at his coming was to restore, this man was certainly one.
CHAPTER X.
Yer. 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth uj) some other icay, the same is a thief and a robber.
Sheepfolds were constructed in the neighbourhood of towns and villages, for putting up the flocks at night during
^ The la-w is still observed among the Jews. " For some time previous," says Mr Afill, " the lad is instructed in the formalities of Bar Mitsvah, and the duties incumbent upon him for the future." British Jews, Part I. ch. i.
- Birke Abhoth ii. 5.
^ 'Edhioth viii. 7. The Jews are said to have had three sorts or degrees of excommunication :— first, the separation of the offender, for thirty days, from the synagogue and from Jewish society, even from his own wife and servants, to the distance oifour cubits, the period being doubled and trebled in the absence of repentance ; second, the exclusion from aU communion with Jews whatever, even to the purchase of victuals ; third, the entire ex- clusion from Jewish society, and abandonment of the individual to the judgment of God. The first kind was called Niddui CHJ), and might be
312 JOH^• X.
the winter months. The Mishna supposes the case of persons taken outside a city by Gentiles or an evil spirit, and placed in a sheepfold.' After the Passover, in the month Nisan or April, the flocks were usually taken to the wilderness till about the month of November. At the time when the Saviour delivered this precious discourse, which was in the month of December, the folds would be occupied by the flocks, and therefore the more likely to give occasion to the parable.
Ver. 11. I am the good shepherd : the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, xohose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and feeth ; and the icolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
According to Abba Goryom, speaking in the name of Abba Gurya, the calling of a shepherd was not one to which a father should put his son, on account of the manner in which it was usually followed. *' A person should not bring up his children to be ass or camel-drivers, barbers, mariners, shepherds, — for these are not honest callings." - The English translators add in a note, that those who followed them were suspected of pilfering the property of others in the fields, roads, and other unfrequented places, where their business led them ; and also of not keeping faithfully their agreement with their employers. These observations would apply to the " hireling, whose own the sheep are not," and therefore so far agree with what the Saviour says of such in the test. They were selfish, and therefore unfaithful. He compares
pronounced privately ; tlie second, Khereni (CnH), and might be only pro- nounced in a congregation of ten persons ; and the last or great excommu. nication, Shammatha (nrK2Ci7), which, as some think, denotes "the Lord (Ci^n) cometh," and is thus equivalent to Maranatha. — Jahn, Archteologia, §258.
' 'Eruhhin, iv. 1. — -ir7D3 "IS "^12 imYi: — This must have been at a time when the fold was unoccupied and the door left open. Jesu^ speaks of the fold with the sheep in it and the door shut. * Gittin iv. 14.
JOHN X. 313
himself, on the other hand, to the good shepherd, who putteth forth his oxon sheep. — One of the Treatises of Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, the reputed author of Zohar, is entitled, " The Faithful Shepherd" (si^dTTS K'ln Ra'ya Mehimna), Moses being understood under that designation. Schoetgen also quotes a passage from Zohar and Yalkut Rubeni, in which it is said by Eabbi Chija the elder — " We have not found a shepherd who delivered up his life for the flock as Moses did ; as it is written. Blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book." Moses was indeed a faithful shepherd, and willing to lay down his life for the sheep ; but as such he was only a type of that great and good shepherd, " the man who was Jeho- vah's fellow," who was not only willing, but did actually lay down his Kfe for the sheep, in a sense and in a manner in which Moses, himself a mere sinful man, never could have done.
Yer. 22. And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it loas winter.
The festival here mentioned is called in the Mishna Kha- nuchah {nZMU), that is. Dedication, or, rather. Purification. It is spoken of as taking place in the month Chislev, which embraces part of our November and December. " For six different months were messengers sent out (from Jerusalem to other places, to announce the day fixed upon by the San- hedrin as that of the last new moon) ; for Nisan, on account of the Passover ; for Ab, on account of the fast ; for Elul, on account of the feast of new year ; for Tisri, on account of the regulation of the festivals (the Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles, as the Sanhedrin might have made the pre- ceding month intercalary) ; for Chislev, on account of the Feast of Dedication, &c." ' The festival commenced on the
' Rosh Hashanah i. 3. — HDIIH ^2Cn 1^02 ^37 — The feast is still observed bj the Jews. Oa the first night, a candle, called the light of Khanuchah or Dedication, is lighted, on the second two, and so on, one being added on each of the eight days of the feast. When the candle is placed in the candlestick near the ark, the follou-ing three blessings arc said on the
314 joh:x X.
twenty-fifth day of the month, and continued eight days. Its institution, as well as its name, was derived from the restor- ino- and purifying of the temple by Judas Maccabteus, exactly three years after it had been defiled and desolated by Antiochus Epiphanes. According to Josephus the festival was celebrated in his time under the name of Lights ((pwra); on account of the unexpected deliverance, as he supposes, which had then dawned on the Jews.' It was during the festivities of that joyous season that Jesus uttered the memor- able words, — " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me ; and I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand,"
first nlAt, — rnr2i2^ •■Qtr^p ^27S dhrjn Tiba ^^rrbs >^ nnw "ifna
° T : • : •• : • .• -: t t 'v v • •.•: t: t - ' t
T T V V •••.-: T : T - T T -: V •• • : - : t • :
^:TTbs "'"^ nr]^^ tj^^ : n-'m ]ct2 cnrr ^^=^2 ^^-^'■csb c^32 rwvw
t^i. •• •- t: t - T V - - : • •■ T • T- ■• -:• • • t t -.-
: n-rn prb ^s^irr] ^n^pi ^"rmccr nVirn "^^ — " Blessed art
V - - : - T • - : T : • : t:'. :• :■ r T v v
thou, 0 Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast commanded us to light the lamp of Dedication. Blessed art thou, &c., who hast wrought miracles for our fathers in those days and at this time. Blessed art thou, &c., who hast preserved us alive, and raised us up, and brought us to this season." After lighting the candle, the blessing called ibbfT rmnzn ("These lights praise"), is re- peated ; and the hymn is sung, commencing with — ''H'SllD'^ ~n!J "CWTZ {" The fortress and the rock of my salvation "). Minhagim, fol. 50. See also MiW-s British Jews, Part II. chap. vi.
' Antiquities XII. vii. 6, 7. The previous note shows how prominent a place liijhts occupied in the celebration of this festival. A miracle, said to have been wrought in connection with the restoring of the temple, may have some relation to this festive Ulumination. " On its being reopened, the oil used for the golden candlestick which was to bum continually be- fore the Lord, was found to be very deficient, there being scarcely enough for one day ; and it would require eight days to prepare a further supply. In this dilemma the Almighty miraculously blessed the oO, so that the small portion which they had, actually burnt eight days and nights, when a fresh supply was procured. In commemoration of this remarkable event was this feast and its light ordered to be kept for eight days." Bntish Jews, ut sup.
CHAPTER XI.
Ver. 19. And ma7iy of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother .
It was the custom among the Jews for a number of persons to assemble at the house of the deceased for several days after the burial, in order to comfort the mourning relatives. In the case of a parent or a spouse, a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, there were seven days of deep mourning, and thirty days of mourning besides. Hence the decision in the Mishna, — " He who buried his dead relative three days be- fore the commencement of the festival is freed from the seven (days of deep mourning) ; if he buried his dead eight days before the festival, he is freed from the thirty (days of mourning)."' It was during those seven days of deep mourn- ing that the greatest number of persons visited the mourn- ers ; and it was during these that Jesus came and comforted the weeping sisters, by restoring their dead brother to life in the presence of the condoling visitors. A sufficient number were thus present both to give notoriety to the miracle and to vouch, as eyewitnesses, for its reality.
Yer. 38. Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grace. It loas a cave, and a stone lag upon it.
Caves were frequently used by the Jews for burial. The Mishna gives the rules for their preparation. *' The person makes the interior of the cave four cubits by six, and opens in the midst of it eight receptacles, three on each side, and
^ Moedh Katiui iii. 5.
316 JOHN XI.
two in front." ' How true a mourner now approached this cave in which the dead body of Lazarus lay ! What sympa- thy ! What grief for sin and its effects !
Ver. 51. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesns should die for that nation ; and not for that nation only, but that also he shotdd gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
Schoetgen has produced several passages from Rabbinical authors to the effect that the prophets in general were ignor- ant of the predictions which they uttered.- As to the indi- vidual who pronounced the prophecy referred to in the text, it may be observed that the high priest was the person through whom, in the time of the first temple, inquiry was to be made by Urim and Thummira. " In these," says the Mishna, after enumerating the eight parts of the high priest's dress, " they inquired by Urim and Thummim." ^ It was therefore considered by the Jews that the high priest must be a prophet ; as, according to Maimonides, it was held to be
1 nz^'^■a uyirh nmci ^^^^^ br mcs rnns mv^ bir- nn.i rroni? Babha Bithra vi. 8. — i]!:^^^ c\ian ^s^Q ^dhw^ ]S2a w\w X'zyn
■ Horae Heb. et Talm. in loco.
3 Yoma vii. 7. — CTT^im CniS2 ]^Vs:r3 iVsi:— The manner in which, according to the Rabbies, the divine response was given by the Urim and Thummim, was as follows. The high priest, having put on the breastplate, turned his face towards the ark, while the inquirer, who required to be some official person, the king, the Sanhedrim, or such like, stood behind him, aud asked in a low voice the question on which he desired information. Such of the letters engraven on the precious stones in the breastplate as composed the answer, then shone out with a peculiar lustre, while the Holy Spirit, coming upon the high priest, enabled him to put these letters together so as to form the words intended. As all the letters of the alpha- bet are not found in the names of the twelve tribes, the Rabbies say that those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as the words, " tribes of Je- shurun," were also engraven on the breastplate. This account of tlie matter, however, is extremely doubtful.
JOHN xr. 317
a principle, that the inquiry by "Urim and Thummim could only be made by one who spoke by the Holy Ghost, and in whom the Deity dwelt. Although in the second temple both the Urim and Thummim and the Holy Ghost were confess- edly wanting, a portion of the prophetic spirit may yet have been allowed, for wise purposes, to linger in connection with the high priesthood, even to the Saviour's time; and that divinely instituted though then greatly desecrated office may have been employed on the present occasion to bear unwitting testimony to the necessity of that death which was about to rend the veil, and to open the way into the Holiest of all. It may be remarked that Josephus makes John Hyrcanus to have been distinguished for three things which he received from God, — the sovereignty of the nation, the honour of the high priesthood, and the gift of prophecy.^ In connection with the high priest's unwitting avowal of the necessity of Christ's death, and the Evangelist's explanation of that necessity, — " that he might gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad," — it is worth while to notice that, according to Abarbanel, the reason for which the priest, while standing on the Mount of Olives, sprinkled the blood of the red heifer with his face towards the eastern gate of the temple, was, that he might call to mind the object of the animal's death, namely, to bring back those who were separated from the camp of the Divine pre- sence, so that they might lawfully approach it again. ^ It is the privilege of God's Israel to know that death and the shedding of blood have prevailed to restore guilty and polluted men to the favour and fellowship of Jehovah ; but a death infinitely more precious than that of a dumb animal, which could only serve for the time as an instructive type. May Israel after the flesh soon be made to know it too !
1 Aidiquiiies XII. X. 7. The historian gives two supposed instances of his having exercised that gift.
On Lev. xix. — . v^s ni^nnb
CHAPTER XII.
Ver. 29. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered.
It has been already observed (see note ]Matt. iii. 17) tbat the Jews were accustomed to speak of a supposed occasional communication from heaven under the term Bath-Kol. This term may either be rendered "daughterof voice," or "daughter of thunder." If, as is probable, this expression was known in the Saviour's time, it is not unlikely that the people who heard the Divine voice alluded to in the text, referred to it when they observed that " it thundered." That they were sensible of an articulate voice in the sound which they heard in the air, appears from some of them remarking that an angel spoke, as weU as from the words of Jesus, " This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes." Whatever might be the Bath-Kol of which the Eabbies speak, this was another and a third utterance of the true voice from heaven bearing testimony to him whom God had sent.
CHAPTER XIV.
Yer. 2. In my Father^ s house are many mansions : if it xcere not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Perhaps the reference in these most precious and consola- tory words is to the temple, which Jesus elsewhere calls his Father's house (John ii. 16), and which the apostle speaks of as a figure of the heavenly places (Heb. is. 11, 24). Besides the various chambers in the courts of the temple already mentioned, there were several smaller ones in the sanctuary itself, on each side of the Holy and Most Holy place. Accord- ing to the Mishna there were thirty-eight of these apart- ments.^ There were such chambers also in Solomon's temple. (1 Kings vi. 5.) As the temple was a divinely constituted figure of heaven, these chambers might be made to point to the " many mansions " in that heavenly sanctuary where in the midst of adoring saints and seraphim Jehovah displays his glory. The Saviour's words — "if it were not so I would have told you " — would seem to imply that the existence of many mansions in heaven was not a new idea to the disciples, but one already commonly entertained, and now confirmed by Jesus with the additional assurance that in those mansions he was going to prepare a place for all his friends and fol- lowers. A passage quoted from a Rabbinical work by Light- foot ^ would seem to corroborate this. *' There are seven
' Middoth iv. 3. — Ctt? VH C^Sn TO^IiD C>t27bt:7T
' HorcB Heb. et Talm. in Luc. xxiii. 43. Reference to this distinction of allotments in the heavenly places is frequently made in the book Zohar. According to that authority, there are seven palaces, and in one or other of
320 JOHN XIV.
classes of just men," says the writer, commenting on Psalm Ixviii. 5, " who see the face of God, sit in the house of God, ascend into the mountain of God, &c. ; and each class has its own .appropriate habitation in Gan-Eden (or Paradise)." It is further added that these seven classes of heaven's righteous inhabitants shine with different degrees of splendour; as the brightness of the firmament (Dan. xii. 3), the sun (Matt. xiii. 43), the moon, the firmament, the stars, lightnings, lilies, and lamps. Perhaps to this various distribution of glory in the several mansions of the Father's house, founded on the different degrees of grace bestowed and the different number of talents improved, the apostle refers when he says, — " There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." (1 Cor. xv. 41.)
Yer. 16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall gice you another Comforter , that he may ahide with you for ever.
The word here rendered "Comforter" (Ilapa/cX/jroc, Paracle- tos) is, in a Hebrew form, used in the Mishna, rather, as it would seem, to denote an Advocate, or one who speaks on another's behalf. " Pabbi Eleazar ben Jacob said, He that fulfils one commandment, procures for himself one paraclete (l3'^bp";C, the word here rendered " Comforter ") ; and he who
these, rewards are bestowed on those who keep the commandments, to one more, and to another less. In Paradise there are separate places for those who have been distinguished for their observance of particular precepts, as in hell for different classes of transgressors. Separate chambers are pre- pared for infants, little children, young men, and fathers. Habitations are there for the souls of proselytes, as well as certain mansions for the pious among the Gentiles, and for those princes who have rendered services to Israel. {Synopsis, Tit. xi.) Such statements are doubtless more fanciful than true ] but it was not without meaning that the Lord said, " In my Father's house are many mansions."
JOHN XIV,
321
commits one transgression, procures to himself one accuser." ^ The Jewish, commentators understand by the term •c^bp~:2 paraklit, either a messenger of good tidings, or one who speaks for another to a person in authority. Jesus himself was a Paraclete or Comforter in both these senses. In the latter, he is spoken of in 1 John ii. 1, — " If any man sin, we have an Advocate (napa^-Xr/rov) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." We know how he was a Comforter or Para- clete in the ybrmer sense, as "one that bringeth good tid- ings." In both senses also, was the Holy Spirit to be to the Church a Paraclete or Comforter. As an "Advocate," he " maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God, — with groanings that cannot be uttered " (Eom. viii. 26, 27). It is, however, not so much to speak in andybr the saints to the Father, as to speak from the Father to the saints, that he is here promised by the Saviour. The Holy Ghost, like the Son, is the Messenger of good tidings ; inas- much as he is sent to communicate to the Church the things of Christ, to convey the messages which he receives from him, to guide them into aU truth, and to show them things to come. (John xvi. 13, 14.)
1 t2>b|T^D lb TMX^ nns mi'a rrcnyn -ms nip3?^ ]2 itr^bN n PirkeAbhoth iv. 11.— : ifTN '\^T^•n lb TOP nns nrnr -;2irm ins
CHAPTER XY.
Yer. 1. / am the true vine, and my Father is the hus- bandman.
It is not improbable tbat the Saviour here makes aUusion to the golden vine which hung, or rather was spread, on the door in the porch of the temple, formed of free- will offerings in the shape of a leaf, a grape, or a cluster ; each of these last, according to Josephus, being the length of a man.^ "A golden vine," savs the Mishna, " was placed over the en- trance of the temple .... "Whoever gave, as a free-will offer- ing, a leaf, or a grape, or a cluster, it was brought and hung upon it." " This vine was regarded by the Jews as a figure of
' Jewish War, Book V. chap. t. sec. 4.
9 sirTC7 >a b3 'br)\T ba' innc b37 n-rair nr:'n itts hw ]r:
Middoth iii. 8. — : rc rrbim s"':!:^ bi^a-s is -i"':-': is rhv 2iDna
It will be seen from Olshausen, that "Rosenmiiller has suggested the same inteqDretatioa of the choice of this metaphor of the Sa-viour's. Olshausea himself, who speaks of this view as peculiar, hesitates in adopting it, on the ground that Jesus must, in that case, be supposed to utter the word.s in the temple. The golden vine however, must have been, in itself and in its symbolical import, a thing so familiar to the Jews that we need not suppose it to have been visible at the time the allusion was made. Besides, it is perhaps not quite certain when or where the words were uttered. Jesus, it would seem, had just concluded one of his addresses, and had pro- posed to his disciples to depart from the place where they were (ch. xiv. 31). Lightfoot, believing that the events narrated in ch. xiii. were not those ■which took place in the upper room at Jerusalem, thinks that the discourse in ch. xiv. was delivered in Bethany previous to the Lord and his disciples setting out for the city in order to keep the Passover. On this supposition, the discourse in ch. xv. may have been delivered by the way, and the allusion made to the vine as the temple, with its stately porch and con-
JOHN XV. 323
the people of Israel, the Church of God, the vine which the Lord "brought out of Eg}-pt " (Psalm Ixxx. 8), and planted "on a fruitful hill" (Isaiah v. 2). Jesus intended, perhaps, in the passage before us, to transfer what was said of that vine to himself and his believing Church, he being the root and stem, and believers the branches. He is the true Yine ; the Church exists as a vine only in him and in virtue of its union with him by regeneration and faith. This precious truth he had previously indicated, when, addressing himself to backsliding Israel, he had said by the prophet Hosea, '' From me is thy fruit found." (Eos. xiv. 8.)
stantly open door, burst upon the view. It will be observed that the Evangelist John entirely omits the institution of the Eucharist, which 01s- hausen thinks took place at the close of ch. xiii., but Lightfoot, not till the end of ch. xiv. Might it not be at a still more advanced part of those dis- courses, which, as the farewell sayings of the Master, precious and me-mor- able, the beloved disciple presents in an uninteiTupted and connected form ?
CHAPTER XYII.
Ver. 19. Foi' their sakes I sanctify mijself, that they also might he sanctified through the truth.
The Lord here refers to his being voluntarily set apart, both as sacrifice and priest, for the salvation of his people. Sanctifying , or setting apart to a sacred object, was a com- mon occurrence in connection with the temple-worship. The lamb of the daily sacrifice was thus set apart (see note on Matt, xxvii. 1). Priests, besides their consecration as such, were occasionally sanctified or set apart, for a time, for some special service. " Seven days before the burning of the red heifer," says the Mishna, "the priest who was to perform the service separated himself from his own house, to a cham- ber on the east side of the sanctuary, called the House of Stone, and was sprinkled each day with the blood of all the sin-ofierings." ^ So it is said of the high priest, that he " se- parated himself from his own house " seven days before the day of Atonement, in order to be prepared for the solemn service before him.' In like manner, in order to ofier him- self up as a sacrifice and sin-offering to God for the restora- tion of guilty men to his favour, Jesus the Son of God se- parated himself for a time from his own house on high and took up his abode in this cold and unfeeling world, to be con- secrated by his sufferings and sprinkled with his own infinitely precious blood. (Heb. ii. 10; v. 7 — 9.)
Parah ill. 1.— Ctt? riT^ mS'^^H b^Q 2 Yoma i. 1. — "l.TSS blin ]n2 l^tl^nDQ
CHAPTEE XVIII.
Yer. 1. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the hrook Cedron, where ivas a garden.
It has been already observed 'that the blood of tbe red heifer was sprinkled by a priest standing on Mount Olivet with his face towards the temple. According to the Mishna, the heifer and the priest who was to burn it, along with those who were to assist him in the service, went forth by the east gate of the temple over the brook Cedron.' In exact cor- respondence with the type, Jesus, as the time of his death draws near, goes forth over the same brook to the foot of the same mount, there to sprinkle the ground with his bloody sweat, that guilty men might be reconciled to God. It is also worthy of notice, that the blood of the sacrifices is said to have flowed down through subterraneous channels into the brook. At the very time, therefore, that the blood of Jesus, in his mysterious agony in the garden, was falling in great drops to the ground, the blood of the daily sacrifice and of the many paschal lambs that had been slain that day, might be flo\ving into the brook hard by ; so that the blood of the type and of the Antitype might almost be said to have min- gled that m"ght ; the one darkening the brook with its purple hue, the other staining the turf not far from its side.
• -inb v^"-**)' rn27DZ3 h2^ msT men nw ^p-wu ]nD 'uw
Middoth i. 3. — : nntt7Qn
'T
//
326 JOHN XVIII.
Yer. 13. And led him away to Anyias first ; for he teas father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
It is 'said in Luke iii. 2, that at the time when John com- menced his ministry, both Annas and Caiaphas were high priests ; the meaning probably being, that Annas was Sagan or Yice-high priest, while Caiaphas held the priesthood itself. Besides performing certain duties in connection with the high priest on the day of Atonement, as noticed at Luke iv. 17, the Sagan was to be ready to occupy the place of the high priest on that occasion, in case any unforeseen occurrence should prevent his presence.^ This may account for the Jews taking Jesus first to Annas, the elder of the two ; while the fact that the Sagan is said to have been also the Memonah (^:^a1!2) , or .president of the temple, whose duties required him to be in the temple at an early hour (see on Mark xiii. 35), may account for his not being afterwards mentioned in con- nection with the proceedings.
Yer. 28. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of Judgment : and it was early ; and they themselces went not into the judgment hall, lest they should he defiled ; hut that they might eat the passover.
One of the Treatises of the Mishna is called Khagigah {UTIU), or the Feast, and contains laws relating to the sacri- fices or peace-ofierings which were presented in the course of any of the great festivals. Of these the offerers, being cere- monially clean, were to partake with joy ; from which circum- stance they received the name of " peace-offerings of joy " {rinCO ^rh^ shelom^ simkhah). In the case of the Passover, these were especially presented on the day immediately after the paschal lamb had been eaten. These offerings, as well as the lamb itself, was called the Passover (nos pesakh = -naaya,
' Toma i. 1.
JOHN xviii. 327
pascha). Thus, in Deut. xvi. 2, it is said, " Thou shalt there- fore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herein It is thought by many that this Kha- gigah, and not the paschal lamb, which they had eaten the night before,' is here called the Passover. Hv-pocrites could
' To some it has appeared doubtful whether the Saviour and his disciples had celebrated the regular Passover the night before, and whether that was the night on which the Jews in general kept it. The verse under considera- tion, with one or two other passages in the same Evangelist, has mainly con- tributed to this doubt. The opinion that Christ kept the Passover, but on the day before that on which the Jews in general did, has been maintained by many eminent expositors and critics, both on the continent and in this country. The arguments on both sides may be seen in Kuiuoel and Townsend, who adopt this view, and less fully in Olshausen, who inclines to the opposite opinion. Lightfoot, who strenuously maintains that the Saviour and his disciples kept the Passover at the same time ^vith the rest of the Jews, mentions what seems to be a strong argument in favour of this view, that had it been the paschal supper which the Jews were stiU. to eat, the fear of defilmg themselves by entering into the judgment-hall (a Gentile habita- tion) could have had no place, inasmuch as the washing of their clothes at even would have sufficed for their purification so as to allow of their sitting down to the paschaJ feast ; but that such would not have been the case in reference to the sacrifices that succeeded the eating of the lamb, inasmuch as the washing of the clothes during the intermediate days of the festival was prohibited to all except certain specified classes. The decision in the Mishna is — " The following may wash their garments on the Moedh (the middle days of the Festival) : — he who arrives from beyond seas, or returns from captivity, or has been discharged from prison, and an excommunicated person whom the Sages have absolved ; also, he who had consulted a Sage, and by him had been absolved. . . . Men and women who have had a running issue ; women after their courses or lying-in; aU. who from a state of unclean- ness are restored to cleanness, are permitted to wash their garments ; but all other persons are forbidden to do so." Moedh Katan iii. 3. It has been also observed, that the expression " the Passover" (r6 -xaoxa) must be regarded as extending not merely to the repast of the paschal lamb on the evening (the beginning) of the 15 th of Nisan, but to the repasts of the offer- ings of oxen and sheep on the same day, Moses having instituted the Pass- over proper, not as a festive evening, but aa a feast dai/, part of which was only past when the Saviour's trial was going on : and further, that the ex- pression •■' eat the Passover " ((pdyutai rb irdaxa) may be viewed as equiva- lent to keeping it, Trotav, to " keep," being used in Matthew xxvi. 18, as identical with *ayfTj/, to "eat;' in Mark xiv. 14 and Luke xxii. 11 ; just as
328 joHx XIX.
prepare to eat these sacrifices of joy while seeking to imbrue their hands in the blood of an innocent person — vea, of the Son of God himself. Heart, deceitful above all things, as well as desperately wicked !
CHAPTER XIX.
Ver. 14. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour : and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King I
It has been doubted whether by the " preparation of the Passover" (irapa(7«ur) tov tidayn) we are to understand the preparation-time for the Passover, or, the preparation-time for the Sabbath on the Passover-day, or in the Passover-week. It is true that there was a preparation-time for the Passover, which, in Judoea at least, also commenced about the sixth hour, or noon-day. "^It was customary," says the Mishna, " in the land of Judah, to work till noon on the day preced- ing the Passover ; but in Galilee they did not work at all on that day." " In places where it is customary to work till noon on the day before the Passover, work may be done ; but not in places where it is not so." ^ But it is maintained, on the other hand, that as the preparation- time for the Sabbath is evidently intended in the other two places in this chapter where the expression " the preparation " occurs, and as that
to " eat the feast " (Tyicn HS brS) in 2 Chron. xsx. 22 is plainly identi- cal with " keeping " it ; so that the reference in the text might be to other duties connected mth the feast than merely partaking of the paschal lamb. See an able Article on tliia subject in the Journal of Sacred Literature, July, 1850.
• wb V^biii nr^n -rr a^ncD ^mrn nssbn ]^t?i3: rn rmrr^
n,Tr bD X^'S^ rn—Pesac/im iv. 1, 5.— It is also said by Rabbi Meir,
JOHN XIX.
329
term is explained in the parallel passage in Mark by " the day before the Sabbath "; (rootra/S/Sarov), or, as some copies read it, "for the Sabbath" {^poc ffa/B/Sarov),— so the meaning of the phrase in the text is, the preparation for the Sabbath made on the Passover-day or in the Passover-week. The reason of the preparation for the Sabbath being thus charac- terized by the Evangelist is supposed to be, that, as the Sab- bath in the Passover- week, and especially when falling, as now it is understood to have done, on the 16th of Nisan, and being both coincident with the feast of the omer and following a high festival-day, was itself a high Sabbath-day ; the pre- paration-time for it must therefore have possessed a peculiarly sacred character, and consequently rendered it all the more necessary that the proceedings against Jesus should be brought to a speedy termination. That preparation-time would doubt- less commence not later than that for the Passover feast, namely, about the sixth hour ; ' inasmuch as the Sabbath ex- ceeded in sanctity all the other festivals except the Day of Atonement ; and it was held as a principle that " there is no diflference between the Sabbath and the other festivals, except the preparation of food," - — which was permitted on the latter, but not on the former.
" Every occupation which had been commenced prior to the 14th of Nisan may be finished on that day, but no new work may be commenced, although it can be finished thereon." Idid. iv. 6.
' It is true that Josephus, in the decree of Augustus (Jni. XVI. vi. 2), makes the time of preparation for the Sabbath to be from the ninlk hour, instead of the sixth (dTro aipag hdrrig) ; but this, as coming from a Eoman emperor, who may have considered the deduction of three hours from pub- lic business sufficient for Sabbath preparation, cannot be regarded as de- ciding what was the actual custom even for ordinary Sabbaths, still less for " an high Sabbath-day."
' In order, however, to prevent cooking on the festival for the following working days, the Rabbins prohibited it even for the Sabbath immediately following. '"When the festival takes place on Friday," says the Mishna, " it is unlawful to prepare thereon, on purpose, any food for the Sabbath, but for the festival alone ; and whatever remains, remains for the Sabbath ; and a person ought to prepare on the day before the festival some article
3;i0 JOHN XIX.
Ver. 2S. After this, Jssus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might he fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar : and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
The scripture which was thus accomplished was Psal. Isix. 21, — " In. my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." But •while a prediction was thus fulfilled, another circumstance connected with the offering up of the lamb of the daily sacri- fice received its realization in the Antitype. Strange as it may seem, the lamb, before it was slaughtered, had some liquid given it to drink. " They gave drink," says the Mish- na, " to the daily sacrifice in a golden cup." ' The Jewish commentators say that this was done in order that the skin raio-ht be the more easily taken off. But God in his provi- dence might thus only be rendering the resemblance between the type and the Antitype more close and striking, in order to point out Jesus as " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."
Yer. 33. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he icas dead already, they brake not his legs. — 'V er. 36. For these things icero done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A hone of him shall not he broken.
"While the Saviour was thus pointed out as the Antitype of the paschal lamb, in regard to which this injunction was originally given, he was also indicated to be the Lamb fore- shadowed by the daily sacrifice. It is said in regard to the lamb of the daily offering, — *' He (the priest who took off the skin) did not break its leg." " This the priest in the temple
of food oa account of the Sabbath, and cook (additionally on the festival) with reference to it." Tom Tobh i. 2.
' Tamidh iii. 4.— riiTT \w 01^2 l^Snn AS Ip^TH
= Ibid. iv. 2.— b^in ns in n^i::; rvu sb
JOHN x:x.
331
•was avoiding in that very hour in which the soldiers were breaking the legs of the malefactors bat passing by Jesus who was suspended between them ; while the very same thing had been done the day before by the people in regard to the paschal lamb. The law then in force in regard to the latter was, — "Whoever breaks any bones of the clean Passover lamb incurs the penalty of forty stripes." ^
Yer. 34. But one of the soldiers loith a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came thereout blood and ivater. — Yer. 37. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him lohom they pierced.
Another remarkable circumstance stated in the Mishna, in connection with the offering up of the daily sacrifice, is, that after the skin had been taken off, the priest "pierced the heart (of the lamb), and made its blood to come forth." - The
1 Pesakhim rii. 11. It is also remarkable that while, according to the !Mishiia, " the'boues, nerves, and other remaining parts must be burned on the 16th, if that should be a Sabbath," ^'hich there is reason to believe it \ras on this occasion, " they must be burned on the 17th." {Hid. 10.) Thus while the bones, &c., of the paschal lamb were resting, so to speak, over the Sabbath, the body of Jesus was resting in the tomb.
2 Tamidh iv. 2.-121 HW iS^'Jim nbn HS *J-^p 'c^CCn PuS p-^'2 In the prediction here referred to, the Jews seem, from the time of the Saviour's appearance, to have read T'pl dakanc, " they pierced," as the Evangelist did and as we now do, and not lip"! rakadhu, as seems to have been done by the Greek translators, who have rendered the word Karwp- XVTavTo, " they mocked." The Rabbies, however, have sadly stumbled in their application of the prophecy. The Talmudists applied it, as the Evan- gelist does, to the Messiah ; but, unable to see how the Messiah, who was to be their deliverer and king, was himself to be pierced, they had recourse to the fiction of two Messiahs, one, the son ;of David, who was to reign, the other, the son of Joseph or Ephraim, who was to precede him and to fall in the conflict with the last enemies of Israel. To the latter and to his death they applied this part of the prophecy ; thus showing that its Mes- sianic application was the ancient one, though they were willingly ignorant of the truth, that it behoved the Messiah first to suffer, and then to enter into his glory. More recently, as if to evade the argument afforded by the
332 JOHN XIX.
soldier with his spear did on Golgotha to the slain Antitype precisely what, about the same period, the priest on Moriah was with his knife doing to the slaughtered type !
prophecy in favour of Jesus, many of the Kabbies have applied it to Israel. Thus Jarchi and Lipman apply it to the Israelites who are to fall in the final conflicts of the nation ; while Manasseh ben Israel leaves it undecided •which of the two applications it ought to receive, though evidently inclin- ing to the more recent one. So unwilling is man to receive God's Saviour, Soon may the veil be removed from the heart of Israel, and the prophecy be fulfilled in its utmost extent ; when the Spirit of grace and supplications shall be poured upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they shall look upon him whom they pierced ; and when, seeing in him the true Messiah, wounded for their transgressions, they shall mourn in godly sorrow on account of him !
THE END.
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