# commentaries

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Christ [&#967; &#961; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. Properly an adjective, not a noun, and meaning anointed (criw, to anoint). It is a translation of the Hebrew Messiah, the king and spiritual ruler from David's race, promised under that name in the Old Testament (<a href='B:230 2:2'>Psa 2:2</a>; <a href='B:340 9:25'>Dan 9:25</a>; <a href='B:340 9:26'>Dan 9:26</a> ). Hence Andrew says to Simon, "We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, Christ (<a href='B:500 1:41'>Joh 1:41</a>; compare <a href='B:510 4:27'>Act 4:27</a>; <a href='B:510 10:38'>Act 10:38</a>; <a href='B:510 19:28'>Act 19:28</a> ). To us "Christ" has become a proper name, and is therefore written without the definite article; but, in the body of the gospel narratives, since the identity of Jesus with the promised Messiah is still in question with the people, the article is habitually used, and the name should therefore be translated" the Christ. "After the resurrection, when the recognition of Jesus as Messiah has become general, we find the word beginning to be used as a proper name, with or without the article. In this passage it omits the article, because it occurs in the heading of the chapter, and expresses the evangelist's own faith in Jesus as the Messiah.<p/>Anointing was applied to kings (<a href='B:90 9:16'>1Sa 9:16</a>; <a href='B:90 10:1'>1Sa 10:1</a> ), to prophets (<a href='B:110 19:16'>1Ki 19:16</a> ), and to priests (<a href='B:20 29:29'>Exo 29:29</a>; <a href='B:20 40:15'>Exo 40:15</a>; <a href='B:30 16:32'>Lev 16:32</a> ) at their inauguration. "The Lord's anointed" was a common title of the king (<a href='B:90 12:3'>1Sa 12:3</a>; <a href='B:90 12:5'>1Sa 12:5</a>; <a href='B:100 1:14'>2Sa 1:14</a>; <a href='B:100 1:16'>2Sa 1:16</a> ). Prophets are called "Messiahs," or anointed one (<a href='B:130 16:22'>1Ch 16:22</a>; <a href='B:230 105:15'>Psa 105:15</a> ). Cyrus is also called "the Lord's Anointed," because called to the throne to deliver the Jews out of captivity (<a href='B:290 45:1'>Isa 45:1</a> ). Hence the word "Christ" was representative of our Lord, who united in himself the offices of king, prophet, and priest.<p/>It is interesting to see how anointing attaches to our Lord in other and minor particulars. Anointing was an act of hospitality and a sign of festivity and cheerfulness. Jesus was anointed by the woman when a guest in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and rebuked his host for omitting this mark of respect toward him (<a href='B:490 7:35'>Luk 7:35</a>; <a href='B:490 7:46'>Luk 7:46</a> ). In the Epistle to the Hebrews (i. 8, 9), the words of the Messianic psalm (xlv. 7) are applied to Jesus, "God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."<p/>Anointing was practiced upon the sick (<a href='B:480 6:13'>Mar 6:13</a>; <a href='B:490 10:34'>Luk 10:34</a>; <a href='B:660 5:14'>Jas 5:14</a> ). Jesus, "the Great Physician," is described by Isaiah (<a href='B:290 61:1'>Isa 61:1</a>; <a href='B:290 61:2'>Isa 61:2</a>; compare <a href='B:490 4:18'>Luk 4:18</a> ) as anointed by God to bind up the broken - hearted, and to give the mournful the oil of joy for mourning. He himself anointed the eyes of the blind man (<a href='B:500 9:6'>Joh 9:6</a>; <a href='B:500 9:11'>Joh 9:11</a> ); and the twelve, in his name, "anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them" (<a href='B:480 6:13'>Mar 6:13</a> ).<p/>Anointing was practiced upon the dead. Of her who brake the alabaster upon his head at Bethany, Jesus said, "She hath anointed my body aforehand for the burying" (<a href='B:480 14:8'>Mar 14:8</a>; see, also, <a href='B:490 23:56'>Luk 23:56</a> ).<p/>The Son [&#965; &#953; &#959; &#962;]. The word teknon (child) is often used interchangeably with uiJov (son), but is never applied to Christ. (For teknon, see on <a href='B:690 3:1'>1Jn 3:1</a>.) While in teknon there is commonly implied the passive or dependent relation of the children to the parents, uiJov fixes the thought on the person himself rather than on the dependence upon his parents. It suggests individuality rather than descent; or, if descent, mainly to bring out the fact that the son was worthy of his parent. Hence the word marks the filial relation as carrying with it privilege, dignity, and freedom, and is, therefore, the only appropriate term to express Christ's sonship. (See <a href='B:500 1:18'>Joh 1:18</a>; <a href='B:500 3:16'>Joh 3:16</a>; <a href='B:520 8:29'>Rom 8:29</a>; <a href='B:580 1:13'>Col 1:13</a>; <a href='B:580 1:15'>Col 1:15</a>.) Through Christ the dignity of sons is bestowed on believers, so that the same word is appropriate to Christians, sons of God. (See <a href='B:520 8:14'>Rom 8:14</a>; <a href='B:520 9:26'>Rom 9:26</a>; <a href='B:550 3:26'>Gal 3:26</a>; <a href='B:550 4:5'>Gal 4:5</a>; <a href='B:550 4:6'>Gal 4:6</a>; <a href='B:550 4:7'>Gal 4:7</a>.)


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David the king [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#948; &#945; &#965; &#949; &#953; &#948; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#946; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#945;, "the David, the king "]. Both words are thus emphasized : the David from whom Christ, if he were the Messiah, must have descended; the king with whom the Messiah's genealogy entered upon the kingly dignity. In this genealogy, where the generations are divided symmetrically into three sets of fourteen, the evangelist seems to connect the last of each set with a critical epoch in the history of Israel : the first reaching from the origin of the race to the commencement of the monarchy (" David the king "); the second, from the commencement of the monarchy to the captivity of Babylon; the third and last, from the captivity to the coming of" the Christ. " The same emphatic or demonstrative use of the article occurs with the name of Joseph (ver. 16), marking his peculiar relation to Jesus as the husband of Mary : the Joseph, the husband of Mary.


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Espoused [&#956; &#957; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#951; &#962; : Rev., betrothed; Tyn., maryed]. The narrative implies a distinction between betrothal and marriage. From the moment of her betrothal a woman was treated as if actually married. The union could be dissolved only by regular divorce. Breach of faithfulness was regarded as adultery, and was punishable with death (<a href='B:50 22:23'>Deu 22:23</a>; <a href='B:50 22:24'>Deu 22:24</a> ), and the woman's property became virtually that of her betrothed, unless he had expressly renounced it; but, even in that case, he was her natural heir.


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Not willing [&#956; &#951; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#957;] - was minded [&#949; &#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#951;]. These two words, describing the working of Joseph's mind, and evidently intended to express different phases of thought, open the question of their distinctive meanings in the New Testament, where they frequently occur [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; much oftener than &#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#953;], and where the rendering, in so many cases by the same words, furnishes no clue to the distinction. The original words are often used synonymously in cases where no distinction is emphasized; but their use in other cases reveals a radical and recognized difference. An interchange is inadmissable when the greater force of the expression requires qelein. For instance, boulesqai would be entirely inappropriate at <a href='B:470 8:3'>Mat 8:3</a>, "I will, be thou cleansed;" or at <a href='B:520 7:15'>Rom 7:15</a>.<p/>The distinction, which is abundantly illustrated in Homer, is substantially maintained by the classical writers throughout, and in the New Testament.<p/>Qelein is the stronger word, and expresses a purpose or determination or decree, the execution of which is, or is believed to be, in the power of him who wills. Boulesqai expresses wish, inclination, or disposition, whether one desires to do a thing himself or wants some one else to do it. Qelein, therefore, denotes the active resolution, the will urging on to action. Boulesqai is to have a mind, to desire, sometimes a little stronger, running into the sense of purpose. Qelein indicates the impulse of the will; boulesqai, its tendency. Boulesqai can always be rendered by qelein, but qelein cannot always be expressed by boulesqai.<p/>Thus, Agamemnon says, "I would not [&#959; &#965; &#954; &#949; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#959; &#957;] receive the ransom for the maid (i. e., I refused to receive), because I greatly desire [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#953;] to have her at home" (Homer, "Il.," 1 112). So Demosthenes : "It is fitting that you should be willing [&#949; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#957;] to listen to those who wish [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#969; &#957;] to advise" (" Olynth., "1 1). That is to say, It is in your power to determine whether or not you will listen to those who desire to advise you, but who power to do so depends on your consent. Again :" If the gods will it [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#963; &#953;] and you wish it [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#952; &#949;] "(Demosth.," Olynth., " 2 20). 1<p/>In the New Testament, as observed above, though the words are often interchanged, the same distinction is recognized. Thus, <a href='B:470 2:18'>Mat 2:18</a>, "Rachael would not [&#951; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949;] be comforted;" obstinately and positively refused. Joseph, having the right and power under the (assumed) circumstances to make Mary a public example, resolved [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#957;] to spare her this exposure. Then the question arose - What should he do? On this he thought, and, having thought [&#949; &#957; &#952; &#965; &#956; &#951; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#962;], his mind inclined (tendency), he was minded [&#949; &#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#951;] to put her away secretly.<p/>Some instances of the interchanged use of the two words are the following : <a href='B:480 14:15'>Mar 14:15</a>, "Pilate willing" [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]; compare <a href='B:490 23:20'>Luk 23:20</a>, "Pilate willing" [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#957;]. <a href='B:510 27:43'>Act 27:43</a>, "The centurion willing" [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]; <a href='B:470 27:17'>Mat 27:17</a>, "Whom will ye that I release" [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#964; &#949;]; so ver. 21. <a href='B:500 18:39'>Joh 18:39</a>, "Will ye that I release" [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#949; &#963; &#952; &#949;]; <a href='B:470 14:5'>Mat 14:5</a>, "When he would have put him to death" [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#957;]. <a href='B:480 6:48'>Mar 6:48</a>, "He would have passed by them" [&#951; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949;]; <a href='B:510 19:30'>Act 19:30</a>, "Paul would have entered" [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965;]. <a href='B:510 18:27'>Act 18:27</a>, "He was disposed to pass" [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965;]. <a href='B:630 3:8'>Tit 3:8</a>, "I will that thou affirm" [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#953;]. <a href='B:480 6:25'>Mar 6:25</a>, "I will that though give me" [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969;], etc., etc.<p/>In the New Testament qelw occurs in the following senses :<p/>1. A decree or determination of the will.<p/>(a) Of God (<a href='B:470 12:7'>Mat 12:7</a>; <a href='B:520 9:16'>Rom 9:16</a>; <a href='B:520 9:18'>Rom 9:18</a>; <a href='B:510 18:21'>Act 18:21</a>; <a href='B:530 4:19'>1Co 4:19</a>; <a href='B:530 12:18'>1Co 12:18</a>; <a href='B:530 14:38'>1Co 14:38</a> ).<p/>(b) Of Christ (<a href='B:470 8:3'>Mat 8:3</a>; <a href='B:500 17:24'>Joh 17:24</a>; <a href='B:500 5:21'>Joh 5:21</a>; <a href='B:500 21:22'>Joh 21:22</a> ).<p/>(c) Of men (<a href='B:510 25:9'>Act 25:9</a> ). Festus, having the power to gratify the Jews, and determining to do so, says to Paul, who has the right to decide, "Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem ?" <a href='B:500 6:67'>Joh 6:67</a>, Others of the disciples had decided to leave Jesus. Christ said to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" Is that your determination? <a href='B:500 7:17'>Joh 7:17</a>, I any man sets his will, is determined to do God's will. <a href='B:500 8:44'>Joh 8:44</a>, The lusts of your father your will is set to do. <a href='B:510 24:6'>Act 24:6</a>.<p/>2. A wish or desire. Very many of the passages, however, which are cited under this head (as by Grimm) may fairly be interpreted as implying something stronger than a wish; notably <a href='B:480 14:36'>Mar 14:36</a>, of Christ in Gethsemane. Our Lord would hardly have used what thou wilt in so feeble a sense as that of a desire or wish on God's part. <a href='B:480 10:43'>Mar 10:43</a>, "Whosoever will be great," expresses more than the desire for greatness. It is the purpose of the life. <a href='B:470 27:15'>Mat 27:15</a>, It was given to the Jews to decide what prisoner should be released. <a href='B:490 1:62'>Luk 1:62</a>, The name of the infant John was referred to Zacharias' decision. <a href='B:500 17:24'>Joh 17:24</a>, Surely Christ does more than desire that those whom the Father has given him shall be with him. <a href='B:490 9:54'>Luk 9:54</a>, It is for Jesus to command fire upon the Samaritan villages if he so wills. (See, also, <a href='B:500 14:7'>Joh 14:7</a>; <a href='B:530 4:21'>1Co 4:21</a>; <a href='B:470 16:25'>Mat 16:25</a>; <a href='B:470 19:17'>Mat 19:17</a>; <a href='B:500 21:22'>Joh 21:22</a>; <a href='B:470 13:28'>Mat 13:28</a>; <a href='B:470 17:12'>Mat 17:12</a>.) In the sense of wish or desire may fairly be cited <a href='B:540 11:12'>2Co 11:12</a>; <a href='B:470 12:38'>Mat 12:38</a>; <a href='B:490 8:20'>Luk 8:20</a>; <a href='B:490 23:8'>Luk 23:8</a>; <a href='B:500 12:21'>Joh 12:21</a>; <a href='B:550 4:20'>Gal 4:20</a>; <a href='B:470 7:12'>Mat 7:12</a>; <a href='B:480 10:35'>Mar 10:35</a>.<p/>3. A liking (<a href='B:480 12:38'>Mar 12:38</a>; <a href='B:490 20:46'>Luk 20:46</a>; <a href='B:470 27:43'>Mat 27:43</a> ). (See note there.)<p/>Boulomai occurs in the following senses :<p/>1. Inclination or disposition (<a href='B:510 18:27'>Act 18:27</a>; <a href='B:510 19:30'>Act 19:30</a>; <a href='B:510 25:22'>Act 25:22</a>; <a href='B:510 28:18'>Act 28:18</a>; <a href='B:540 1:15'>2Co 1:15</a> ).<p/>2. Stronger, with the idea of purpose (<a href='B:610 6:9'>1Ti 6:9</a>; <a href='B:660 1:18'>Jas 1:18</a>; <a href='B:660 3:4'>Jas 3:4</a>; <a href='B:530 12:11'>1Co 12:11</a>; <a href='B:650 6:17'>Heb 6:17</a> ).<p/>In most, if not all of these cases, we might expect qelein; but this use of boulomai there is an implied emphasis on the element of free choice or self - determination, which imparts to the desire or inclination a decretory force. This element is in the human will by gift and consent. In the divine will it is inherent. At this point the Homeric usage may be compared in its occasional employment of boulomai to express determination, but only with reference to the gods, in whom to wish is to will. Thus, "Whether Apollo will [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;] ward off the plague" (" Il., "1 67)." Apollo willed [&#946; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#949; &#964; &#959;] victory to the Trojans "(Il.," 7 21).<p/>To make a public example [&#948; &#949; &#953; &#947; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#953;]. The word is kindred to deiknumi, to exhibit, display, point out. Here, therefore, to expose Mary to public shame (Wyc., publish her; Tyn., defame her). The word occurs in <a href='B:580 2:15'>Col 2:15</a>, of the victorious Savior displaying the vanquished powers of evil as a general displays his trophies or captives in a triumphal procession. "He made a show of them openly." A compound of the same word [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#948; &#949; &#953; &#947; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#969;] appears in <a href='B:650 6:6'>Heb 6:6</a>, "They crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."


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Shalt call. Thus committing the office of a father to Joseph. The naming of the unborn Messiah would accord with popular notions. The Rabbis had a saying concerning the six whose names were given before their birth : "Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and the name of the Messiah, whom may the Holy One, blessed by His name, bring quickly in our days."<p/>Jesus [&#953; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#957;]. The Greek form of a Hebrew name, which had been born by two illustrious individuals in former periods of the Jewish history - Joshua, the successor of Moses, and Jeshua, the high - priest, who with Zerubbabel took so active a part in the re - establishment of the civil and religious polity of the Jews on their return from Babylon. Its original and full form is Jehoshua, becoming by contraction Joshua or Jeshua. Joshua, the son of Nun, the successor of Moses, was originally name Hoshea (saving), which was altered by Moses into Jehoshua (Jehovah [&#959; &#965; &#961;] Salvation) (<a href='B:40 13:16'>Num 13:16</a> ). The meaning of the name, therefore, finds expression in the title Savior, applied to our Lord (<a href='B:490 1:47'>Luk 1:47</a>; <a href='B:490 2:11'>Luk 2:11</a>; <a href='B:500 4:42'>Joh 4:42</a> ).<p/>Joshua, the son of Nun, is a type of Christ in his office of captain and deliverer of his people, in the military aspect of his saving work (<a href='B:730 19:11-16'>Rev 19:11-16</a> ). As God's revelation to Moses was in the character of a law - giver, his revelation to Joshua was in that of the Lord of Hosts (<a href='B:60 5:13'>Jos 5:13</a>; <a href='B:60 5:14'>Jos 5:14</a> ). Under Joshua the enemies of Israel were conquered, and the people established in the Promised Land. So Jesus leads his people in the fight with sin and temptation. He is the leader of the faith which overcomes the world (<a href='B:650 12:2'>Heb 12:2</a> ). Following him, we enter into rest.<p/>The priestly office of Jesus is foreshadowed in the high - priest Jeshua, who appears in the vision of Zechariah (ch. 3; compare <a href='B:150 2:2'>Ezr 2:2</a> ) in court before God, under accusation of Satan, and clad in filthy garments. Jeshua stands not only for himself, but as the representative of sinning and suffering Israel. Satan is defeated. The Lord rebukes him, and declares that he will redeem and restore this erring people; and in token thereof he commands that the accused priest be clad in clean robes and crowned with the priestly mitre.<p/>Thus in this priestly Jeshua we have a type of our "Great High - Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and in all points tempted and tried like as we are;" confronting Satan in the wilderness; trying conclusions with him upon the victims of his malice - the sick, the sinful, and the demon - ridden. His royal robes are left behind. He counts not "equality with God a thing to be grasped at," but "empties himself," taking the "form of a servant," humbling himself and becoming "obedient even unto death" (<a href='B:570 2:6'>Phi 2:6</a>; <a href='B:570 2:7'>Phi 2:7</a>, Rev.). He assumes the stained garments of our humanity. He who "knew no sin" is "made to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (<a href='B:540 5:21'>2Co 5:21</a> ). He is at once priest and victim. He pleads for sinful man before God's throne. He will redeem him. He will rebuke the malice and cast down the power of Satan. He will behold him "as lightning fall from heaven" (<a href='B:490 10:18'>Luk 10:18</a> ). He will raise and save and purify men of weak natures, rebellious wills, and furious passions - cowardly braggarts and deniers like Peter, persecutors like Saul of Tarsus, charred brands - and make them witnesses of his grace and preachers of his love and power. His kingdom shall be a kingdom of priests, and the song of his redeemed church shall be, "unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his own blood, and made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen" (<a href='B:730 1:5'>Rev 1:5</a>; <a href='B:730 1:6'>Rev 1:6</a>, in Rev.).<p/>It is no mere fancy which sees a suggestion and a foreshadowing of the prophetic work of Jesus in the economy of salvation, in a third name closely akin to the former. Hoshea, which we know in our English Bible as Hosea, was the original name of Joshua (compare <a href='B:520 9:25'>Rom 9:25</a>, Rev.) and means saving. He is, in a peculiar sense, the prophet of grace and salvation, placing his hope in God's personal coming as the refuge and strength of humanity; in the purification of human life by its contact with the divine. The great truth which he has to teach is the love of Jehovah to Israel as expressed in the relation of husband, an idea which pervades his prophecy, and which is generated by his own sad domestic experience. He foreshadows Jesus in his pointed warnings against sin, his repeated offers of divine mercy, and his patient, forbearing love, as manifested in his dealing with an unfaithful and dissolute wife, whose soul he succeeded in rescuing from sin and death (Hos. i - iii). So long as he lived, he was one continual, living prophecy of the tenderness of God toward sinners; a picture of God's live for us when alien from him, and with nothing in us to love. The faithfulness of the prophetic teacher thus blends in Hosea, as in our Lord, with the compassion and sympathy and sacrifice of the priest.<p/>He [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. Emphatic; and so rightly in Rev., "For it is He that shall save his people."<p/>Their sins [&#945; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#969; &#957;]. Akin to aJmartanw, to miss a mark; as a warrior who throws his spear and fails to strike his adversary, or as a traveler who missed his way. 2 In this word, therefore, one of a large group which represent sin under different phases, sin is conceived as a failing and missing the true end and scope of our lives, which is God.


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Through the prophet [&#948; &#953; &#945;]. So the Rev. rightly, instead of by. In quotations from the Old Testament, the writers habitually use the preposition dia (through to denote the instrumentality through which God works or speaks, while they reserve uJpo (by) to express the primary agency of God himself. So here the prophecy in ver. 23 was spoken by the Lord, but was communicated to men through his prophet.


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The virgin [&#951; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Note the demonstrative force of the article, pointing to a particular person. Not, some virgin or other.<p/>They shall call [&#954; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. In ver. 21, it is thou shalt call. The original of Isaiah (vii. 14) has she shall call; but Matthew generalized the singular into the plural, and quotes the prophecy in a form suited to its larger and final fulfilment : men shall call his name Immanuel, as they shall come to the practical knowledge that God will indeed dwell with men upon the earth.<p/>Immanuel (Hebrew, God is with us). To protect and save. A comment is furnished by <a href='B:290 8:10'>Isa 8:10</a>, "Devise a device, but it shall come to naught; speak a word, but it shall not stand, for with us is God." Some suppose Isaiah embodied the purport of his message in the names of his children : Mahershalal - hash - baz (speed - prey), a warning of the coming of the fierce Assyrians; Shear - Jashub (a remnant shall return), a reminder of God's mercy to Israel in captivity, and Immanuel (God is with us), a promise of God's presence and succor. However this may be, the promise of the name is fulfilled in Jesus (compare "Lo, I am with you always," <a href='B:470 28:20'>Mat 28:20</a> ) by his helpful and saving presence with his people in their sorrow, their conflict with sin, and their struggle with death.


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The or his sleep [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#965; &#960; &#957; &#959; &#965;]. The force of the definite article; the sleep in which he had the vision. So Rev., "Arose from his sleep."


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Bethlehem. Hebrew, House of Bread, probably from its fertility. The birthplace of him who calls himself the Bread of Life (<a href='B:500 6:35'>Joh 6:35</a> ), and identified with the history of his human ancestry through Ruth, who was here married to Boaz, and was the ancestress of David (i. 5, 6), and through David himself, who was born there, and anointed king by Samuel (compare <a href='B:490 2:11'>Luk 2:11</a>, city of David).<p/>Wise men, or Magi [&#956; &#945; &#947; &#959; &#953;]. Wycliffe renders kings. A priestly caste among the Persians and Medes, which occupied itself principally with the secrets of nature, astrology, and medicine. Daniel became president of such an order in Babylon (<a href='B:340 2:48'>Dan 2:48</a> ). The word became transferred, without distinction of country, to all who had devoted themselves to those sciences, which were, however, frequently accompanied with the practice of magic and jugglery; and, under the form magician, it has come to be naturalized in many of the languages of Europe. Many absurd traditions and guessed respecting these visitors to our Lord's cradle have found their way into popular belief and into Christian art. They were said to be kings, and three in number; they were said to be representatives of the three families of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and therefore one of them is pictured as an Ethiopian; their names are given as Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior, and their three skulls, said to have been discovered in the twelfth century by Bishop Reinald of Cologne, are exhibited in a priceless casket in the great cathedral of that city.


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The east [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#955; &#951;]. Literally, the rising. Some commentators prefer to render at its rising, or when it rose. In <a href='B:490 1:78'>Luk 1:78</a>, the word is translated dayspring, or dawn. The kindred verb occurs in <a href='B:470 4:16'>Mat 4:16</a>, "light did spring up" [&#945; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#957;].


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All the chief priests. We should expect only one chief priest to be mentioned; but the office had become a lucrative one, and frequently changed hands. A rabbit is quoted as saying that the first temple, which stood about four hundred and ten years, had only eighteen high - priests from first to last; while the second temple, which stood four hundred and twenty years, had more than three hundred high - priests. The reference here is not to a meeting of the Sanhedrim, since the elders, who are not mentioned, belonged to this; but to an extraordinary convocation of all the high - priests and learned men. Besides the high - priest in actual office, there might be others who had been this predecessors, and who continued to bear the name, and in part the dignity. It may possibly have included the heads of the twenty - four courses of priests.


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Land of Judah. To distinguish it from Bethlehem in the territory of Zebulon.<p/>Shall be shepherd of [&#960; &#959; &#953; &#956; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#953;], from poimhn, a shepherd. So Rev., rightly, instead of shall rule. The word involves the whole office of the shepherd - guiding, guarding, folding, as well as feeding. Hence appropriate and often applied to the guides and guardians of others. Homer calls kings "the shepherds of the people." To David the people said, "The Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed (as a shepherd) my people Israel" (<a href='B:100 5:2'>2Sa 5:2</a>, compare <a href='B:230 78:70-72'>Psa 78:70-72</a> ). God is often called a shepherd (<a href='B:10 48:15'>Gen 48:15</a>; <a href='B:230 23:1'>Psa 23:1</a>; <a href='B:230 77:20'>Psa 77:20</a>; <a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>; <a href='B:290 40:11'>Isa 40:11</a>; <a href='B:330 34:11-31'>Eze 34:11-31</a> ). Jesus calls himself the good shepherd (<a href='B:500 10:11'>Joh 10:11</a> ). Peter, who is bidden by Jesus to shepherd his sheep (<a href='B:500 21:16'>Joh 21:16</a>, poimaine, Rev., tend), calls him the Shepherd of Souls (<a href='B:670 2:25'>1Pe 2:25</a> ), and the Chief Shepherd (<a href='B:670 5:4'>1Pe 5:4</a> ); and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (xiii. 20), he is styled the great Shepherd of the sheep. In <a href='B:730 2:27'>Rev 2:27</a>, rule is literally to shepherd (compare <a href='B:730 19:15'>Rev 19:15</a> ); but Christ will shepherd his enemies, not with the pastoral crook, but with a sceptre of iron. Finally, Jesus will perpetuate this name and office in heaven among his redeemed ones, for "the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall be their shepherd (<a href='B:730 7:17'>Rev 7:17</a>, Rev.). In this verse the word governor is in harmony with the idea of shepherding, since the word hJgoumenov originally means one who goes before, or leads the way, and suggests Christ's words about the good shepherd in <a href='B:500 10:3'>Joh 10:3</a>; <a href='B:500 10:4'>Joh 10:4</a>." He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.... He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him. "<p/>Inquired diligently [&#951; &#954; &#961; &#953; &#946; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. Better learned accurately. The verb is formed from akrov, at the point or end. The idea is, therefore, he ascertained to the last point; denoting the exactness of the information rather than the diligence of the search for it. Compare ver. 8, " Search out carefully [&#945; &#954; &#961; &#953; &#946; &#969; &#962;]. So the Rev. for diligently.<p/>What time the star appeared [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#967; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#966; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., the time of the appearing star. Herod asks, "How long does the star make itself visible since its rising in the East? rather than" At what time did it appear? "


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Being warned [&#967; &#961; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. The verb means to give a response to one who asks or consults : hence, in the passive, as here, to receive an answer. The word therefore implies that the wise men had sought counsel of God; and so Wycliffe, "And answer taken in sleep."


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The children [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#960; &#945; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#962;]. Male children, as is indicated by the masculine form of the article, and so Rev.


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The prophets. Note the plural, as indicating not any one prediction in particular, but a summary of the import of several prophetic statements, such as <a href='B:230 22:6'>Psa 22:6</a>; <a href='B:230 22:8'>Psa 22:8</a>; <a href='B:230 69:11'>Psa 69:11</a>; <a href='B:230 69:19'>Psa 69:19</a>; <a href='B:290 53:2'>Isa 53:2</a>; <a href='B:290 53:3'>Isa 53:3</a>; <a href='B:290 53:4'>Isa 53:4</a>.<p/>A Nazarene. A term of contempt (compare <a href='B:500 1:46'>Joh 1:46</a>, and <a href='B:500 7:52'>Joh 7:52</a> ). The very name of Nazareth suggested insignificance. In Hebrew it meant sprout or shoot. The name is prophetically given to the Messiah (<a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a> ). In <a href='B:290 10:33'>Isa 10:33</a>; <a href='B:290 10:34'>Isa 10:34</a>, the fate of Assyria is described under the figure of the felling of a cedar - forest. The figure of the tree is continued at the opening of ch. 11 concerning the Jewish state. The cedar throws out no fresh suckers, but the oak is a tree "in which, after the felling, a stock remaineth" (<a href='B:290 6:13'>Isa 6:13</a>; compare <a href='B:220 14:9'>Job 14:9</a> ). There is a future then for Israel, represented by the oak. "There shall come forth a shoot from the stock of Jesse, and a twig from his roots shall bear fruit." As David sprang from the humble family of Jesse, so the Messiah, the second David, shall arise out of great humiliation. The fact that Jesus grew up at Nazareth was sufficient reason for his being despised. He was not a lofty branch on the summit of a stately tree; not a recognized and honored son of the royal house of David, now fallen, but an insignificant sprout from the roots of Jesse; a Nazarene, of an upstart sprout - town.


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In those days. The phrase is indefinite, but always points back to a preceding date; in this case to the date of the settlement of the family at Nazareth. "In those days," i e., some time during the nearly thirty years since that settlement.<p/>John. Hebrew, meaning God has dealt graciously. Compare the German Gotthold.<p/>Came [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#947; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., cometh. The verb is used in what is called the historical present, giving vividness to the narrative, as Carlyle (" French Revolution ") : "But now also the National Deputies from all ends of France are in Paris with their commissions." " In those days appears John the Baptist. "<p/>Preaching [&#954; &#951; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#969; &#957;]. See on <a href='B:680 2:5'>2Pe 2:5</a>.<p/>Wilderness [&#964; &#951; &#949; &#961; &#951; &#956; &#969;]. Not suggesting absolute barrenness but unappropriated territory affording free range for shepherds and their flocks. Hepworth Dixon (" The Holy Land ") says, "Even in the wilderness nature is not so stern as man. Here and there, in clefts and basins, and on the hillsides, grade on grade, you observe a patch of corn, a clump of olives, a single palm."


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Repent [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#949; &#953; &#964; &#949;]. A word compounded of the preposition meta, after, with; and the verb noew, to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after. Metanoia (repentance) is therefore, primarily, an after - thought, different from the former thought; then, a change of mind which issues in regret and in change of conduct. These latter ideas, however, have been imported into the word by scriptural usage, and do not lie in it etymologically nor by primary usage. Repentance, then, has been rightly defined as "Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as begets a like virtuous change in the life and practice." Sorrow is not, as is popularly conceived, the primary nor the prominent notion of the word. Paul distinguishes between sorrow [&#955; &#965; &#960; &#951;] and repentance [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#945;], and puts the one as the outcome of the other. "Godly sorrow worketh repentance" (<a href='B:540 7:10'>2Co 7:10</a> ).<p/>The kingdom of heaven. Lit., the kingdom of the heavens [&#951; &#946; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#961; &#945; &#957; &#969; &#957;]. An expression peculiar to Matthew. The more usual one is the kingdom of God. It is a kingdom of heaven because its origin, its end, its king, the character and destiny of its subjects, its laws, institutions, and privileges - all are heavenly. In the teaching of Christ and in the apostolic writings the kingdom of the Messiah is the actual consummation of the prophetic idea of the rule of God, without any national limitation, so that participation therein rests only on faith in Jesus Christ, and on the moral renewal which is conditioned by the same. It is the combination of all rights of Christian citizenship in this world, and eternal blessedness in the next. All its senses are only different sides of the same great idea - the subjection of all things to God in Christ.<p/>Voice. John's personality is thrown into shadow behind Christ. "What would be the duty of a merely human teacher of the highest moral aim, entrusted with a great spiritual mission and lesson for the benefit of mankind ? The example of St. John Baptist is an answer to this inquiry. Such a teacher would represent himself as a mere 'voice, ' crying aloud in the moral wilderness around him, and anxious, beyond aught else, to shroud his own significant person beneath the majesty of his message" (Liddon, " Our Lord's Divinity ").


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Were baptized [&#949; &#946; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959;]. See on <a href='B:480 7:4'>Mar 7:4</a>. Confessing their sins [&#949; &#958; &#959; &#956; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#962; &#945; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#945; &#962; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. The words imply :<p/>1. That confession was connected with baptism. They were baptized while in the act of confessing.<p/>2. An open confession, not a private one to John (ejx, compare <a href='B:510 19:18'>Act 19:18</a>; <a href='B:660 5:16'>Jas 5:16</a> ).<p/>3. An individual confession; possibly a specific one. (See <a href='B:490 3:10-15'>Luk 3:10-15</a>.)


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Is laid [&#954; &#949; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Not, is applied, as "She layeth her hands to the spindle" (<a href='B:240 31:19'>Pro 31:19</a> ), but is lying.<p/>Is hewn down and cast. The present tense is graphic, denoting what is to happen at once and certainly.


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To bear. Compare to unloose, <a href='B:480 1:7'>Mar 1:7</a>. John puts himself in the position of the meanest of servants. To bear the sandals of their masters, that is, to bring and take them away, as well as to fasten or to take them off, was, among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, the business of slaves of the lowest rank.


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Fan, floor (Wyc. has corn - floor). The picture is of a farmer at his threshing - floor, the area of hard - beaten earth on which the sheaves are spread and the grain trodden out by animals. His fan, that is his winnowing - shovel or fork, is in his hand, and with it he throws up the mingled wheat and chaff against the wind in order to separate the grain. 3<p/>Throughly cleanse [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#952; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#949; &#953;]. Throughly (retained by Rev.) obsolete form of thoroughly, is the force of the preposition dia (through). In that preposition lies the picture of the farmer beginning at one side of the floor, and working through to the other, cleansing as he goes.<p/>The whole metaphor represents the Messiah as separating the evil from the good, according to the tests of his kingdom and Gospel, receiving the worthy into his kingdom and consigning the unworthy to destruction (compare <a href='B:470 13:30'>Mat 13:30</a>; <a href='B:470 39:30'>39-43</a>; <a href='B:470 48:30'>48-50</a>).


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Forbad [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#954; &#969; &#955; &#965; &#949; &#957;]. The A. V., following Wyc. and Tynd., misses the meaning of the verb. As in so many instances, it overlooks the force of the imperfect tense, which expresses past action, either in progress or in process of conception, in the agent's mind. John did not forbid Jesus, but had it in mind to prevent him : was for hindering him. Hence Rev., properly, would have hindered him. Again, the preposition [&#948; &#953; &#945;] intensifies the verb, and represents strong feeling on John's part. He was moved to strenuous protest against Jesus ' baptism by him.


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As a dove [&#969; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#960; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#957;]. In the form of a dove, and not, as some interpret, referring merely to the manner of the descent - swiftly and gently as a dove (compare <a href='B:490 3:22'>Luk 3:22</a> " In a bodily form, as a dove "). The dove was an ancient symbol of purity and innocence, adopted by our Lord in <a href='B:470 10:16'>Mat 10:16</a>. It was the only bird allowed to be offered in sacrifice by the Levitical law. In Christian art it is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and that in his Old Testament manifestations as well as in those of the New Testament. From a very early date the dove brooding over the waters was the type of the opening words of Genesis. An odd fresco on the choir - walls of the Cathedral of Monreale, near Palermo, represents a waste of waters, and Christ above, leaning forward from the circle of heaven with extended arms. From beneath him issues the divine ray along which the dove is descending upon the waters. So Milton :<p/>"Thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread Dove - like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss And mad 'st it pregnant."<p/>In art, the double - headed dove is the peculiar attribute of the prophet Elisha. A window in Lincoln College, Oxford, represents him with the double - headed dove perched upon his shoulder. The symbol is explained by Elisha's prayer that a double portion of Elijah's spirit might rest upon him.<p/>It has been asserted that, among the Jews, the Holy Spirit was presented under the symbol of a dove, and a passage is cited from the Talmud : "The Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters like a dove." Dr. Edersheim (" Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah ") vigorously contradicts this, and says that the passage treats of the supposed distance between the upper and lower waters, which was only three finger - breadths. This is proved by <a href='B:10 1:2'>Gen 1:2</a>, where the Spirit of God is said to brood over the face of the waters, "just as a dove broodeth over her young without touching them." " Thus the comparison is not between the Spirit and the dove, but between the closeness with which a dove broods over her young without touching them, and the supposed proximity of the Spirit to the lower waters without touching them. "He goes on to say that the dove was not the symbol of the Holy Spirit, but of Israel." If, therefore, rabbinic illustration of the descent of the Holy Spirit with the visible appearance of a dove must be sought for, it would lie in the acknowledgment of Jesus as the ideal typical Israelite, the representative of his people. "


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The Devil [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#948; &#953; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#965;]. The word means calumniator, slanderer. It is sometimes applied to men, as to Judas (<a href='B:500 6:70'>Joh 6:70</a> ); in <a href='B:610 3:11'>1Ti 3:11</a> (slanderers); and in <a href='B:620 3:3'>2Ti 3:3</a>, and <a href='B:630 2:3'>Tit 2:3</a> (false accusers). In such cases never with the article. The Devil, Satan, the God of this world [&#959; &#948; &#953; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#962;], is always with the article and never plural. This should be distinguished from another word, also wrongly rendered devil in the A. V. - daimwn, and its more common neuter form diamonion, both of which should be translated demon, meaning the unclean spirits which possessed men, and were cast out by Christ and his apostles. The Rev., unfortunately, and against the protest of the American revisers, retains devil for both words, except in <a href='B:510 17:18'>Act 17:18</a>, where it renders as A. V. gods.<p/>The Son of God. By its position in the sentence Son is emphatic. "If thou standest to God in the relation of Son."<p/>Bread [&#945; &#961; &#964; &#959; &#953;]. Lit., loaves or cakes. So Wyc., loaves. These stones were perhaps those "silicious accretions," which assume the exact shape of little loaves of bread, and which were represented in legend as the petrified fruits of the cities of the plain. By a similar fancy certain crystallizations on Mount Carmel and near Bethlehem are called "Elijah's melons," and the "Virgin Mary's peas;" and the black and white stones found along the shores of the Lake of Galilee have been transformed into traces of the tears of Jacob in search of Joseph. The very appearance of these stones, like the bread for which the faint body hungered, may have added force to the temptation. This resemblance may have been present to Christ's mind in his words at <a href='B:470 7:9'>Mat 7:9</a>.


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It is written [&#947; &#949; &#947; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The perfect tense. "It has been written, and stands written." The first recorded words of Jesus after his entrance upon his ministry are an assertion of the authority of scripture, and that though he had the fulness of the Spirit. When addressing man, our Lord seldom quoted scripture, but said I say unto you. In answer to Satan he says, It is written.


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Taketh [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#956; &#946; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#953;]. The preposition para (with, by the side of), implies taketh along with himself, or conducteth. It is the same word which all three evangelists use of Lord's taking his chosen apostles to the Mount of Transfiguration (<a href='B:470 17:1'>Mat 17:1</a>; <a href='B:480 9:2'>Mar 9:2</a>; <a href='B:490 9:28'>Luk 9:28</a> ).<p/>The holy city. Matthew alone calls Jerusalem by this name, in accordance with the general intent of his gospel to connect the old economy with the new.<p/>Pinnacle of the temple [&#964; &#959; &#960; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#965; &#947; &#953; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#953; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#965;]. Pinnacle, from the Latin pinnaculum, a diminutive of pinna or penna (a wing), is a literal translation of pterugion, which is also a diminutive (a little wing or winglet). Nothing in the word compels us to infer that Christ was placed on the top of a tower or spire, which is the popular meaning of pinnacle. The word may be used in the familiar English sense of the wing of a building. Herod's temple had two wings, the northern and southern, of which the southern was the higher and grander; that being the direction in which the chief enlargement of the temple area made by Herod was practicable. That enlargement, according to Josephus, was effected by building up walls of solid masonry from the valley below. At the extremity of the southern side of the area, was erected the "royal portico," a magnificent colonnade, consisting of a nave and two aisles, running across the entire space from the eastern to the western wall. Josephus further says, that "while the valley of itself was very deep, and its bottom could scarcely be seen when one looked down from above, the additional vastly high elevation of the portico was placed on that height, insomuch that, if any one looked down from the summit of the roof, combining the two altitudes in one stretch of vision, he would be giddy, while his sight could not reach to such an immense depth." This, in comparison with the northern wing, was so emphatically the wing of the temple as to explain the use of the article here, as a well - known locality. The scene of the temptation may have been (for the whole matter is mainly one of conjecture) the roof of his portico, at the southeastern angle, where it joined Solomon's Porch, and from which the view into the Kedron valley beneath was to the depth of four hundred and fifty feet.<p/>The word temple (iJeron, lit., sacred place) signifies the whole compass of the sacred inclosure, with its porticos, courts, and other subordinate buildings; and should be carefully distinguished from the other word, naov, also rendered temple, which means the temple itself - the "Holy Place" and the "Holy of Holies." When we read, for instance, of Christ teaching in the temple [&#953; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#957;] we must refer it to one of the temple - porches. So it is from the iJeron, the court of the Gentiles, that Christ expels the money - changers and cattle - merchants. In <a href='B:470 27:51'>Mat 27:51</a>, it is the veil of the naov which is rent; the veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies. In the account of Zacharias entering into the temple of the Lord to burn incense (<a href='B:490 1:9'>Luk 1:9</a> ), the word is naov, the holy place in which the altar of incense stood. The people were "without," in the fore - courts. In <a href='B:500 2:21'>Joh 2:21</a>, the temple of his body, iJeronwould be obviously inappropriate.


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In their hands [&#949; &#960; &#953;]. On their hands (so Rev.) is more correct, and gives a different picture from the A. V. in : lifted on their hands, as on a litter or platform.


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Again [&#960; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#957;]. Emphatic, meaning on the other hand, with reference to Satan's it is written (ver. 6); as if he had said, "the promise which you quote most be explained by another passage of scripture." Archbishop Trech aptly remarks, "In that 'It is written again' of Christ, lies a great lesson, quite independent of that particular scripture which, on this occasion, he quotes, or of the use to which he turns it. There lies in it the secret of our safety and defence against all distorted use of isolated passages in holy scripture. Only as we enter into the unity of scripture, as it balances, completes, and explains itself, are we warned against error and delusion, excess or defect on this side or the other. Thus the retort, 'It is written again, ' must be of continual application; for indeed what very often are heresies but one - sided, exaggerated truths, truths rent away indeed from the body and complex of the truth, without the balance of the counter - truth, which should have kept them in their due place, co - ordinated with other truths or subordinated to them; and so, because all such checks are wanting, not truth any more, but error."


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Was cast into prison [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#948; &#959; &#952; &#951;]. The verb means, first, to give, or hand over to another. So, to surrender a city or a person, often with the accompanying notion of treachery. The Rev., therefore, rightly renders, was delivered up.


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The people which sat [&#959; &#954; &#945; &#952; &#955; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]; Wyc., dwelt. The article with the participle (lit., the people, the one sitting) signifying something characteristic or habitual : the people whose characteristic it was to sit in darkness. This thought is emphasized by repetition in a stronger form; sitting in the region and shadow of Death. Death is personified. This land, whose inhabitants are spiritually dead, belongs to Death as the realm of his government.


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To preach [&#954; &#951; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. Originally, to dischard the duty of a herald [&#954; &#951; &#961; &#965; &#958;]; hence to cry out, proclaim (see on <a href='B:680 2:5'>2Pe 2:5</a> ). The standing expression in the New Testament for the proclamation of the Gospel; but confined to the primary announcement of the message and facts of salvation, and not including continuous instruction in the contents and connections of the message, which is expressed by didaskein (to teach). (Both words are used in <a href='B:470 4:23'>Mat 4:23</a>; <a href='B:470 9:35'>Mat 9:35</a>; <a href='B:470 11:1'>Mat 11:1</a> ).


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The sea [&#964; &#951; &#957; &#952; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#963; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. The small lake of Gennesaret, only thirteen miles long and six wide in its broadest part, is called the sea, by the same kind of popular usage by which Swiss and German lakes are called See; as the Konigsee, the Trauensee. So, also, in Holland we have the Zuyder Zee. The Latin mare (the sea) likewise becomes meer in Holland, and is used of a lake, as Haarlemmer Meer; and in England, mere, as appears in Windermere, Grasmere, etc.<p/>A net [&#945; &#956; &#966; &#953; &#946; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. From ajmfi, around, and ballw, to throw. Hence the casting - net, which, being cast over the shoulder, spreads into a circle [&#945; &#956; &#966; &#953;]. The word is sometimes used by classical Greek writers to denote a garment which encompasses the wearer. In ver. 20, the word net again occurs, but representing a different Greek word [&#948; &#953; &#954; &#964; &#965; &#959; &#957;] which is the general name for all kinds of nets, whether for taking fish or fowl. Still another word occurs at <a href='B:470 13:47'>Mat 13:47</a>, saghnh, the draw - net. See farther on that passage.


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Mending [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#962;]. Not necessarily repairing; the word means to adjust, to "put to rights." It may mean here preparing the nets for the next fishing.<p/>23, 24. Sickness, Disease, Torments, Taken, Lunatic. The description of the ailments to which our Lord's power was applied gains in vividness by study of the words in detail. In ver. 23, the Rev. rightly transposes sickness and disease; for nosov (A. V., sickness) carries the notion of something severe, dangerous, and even violent (compare the Latin noceo, to hurt, to which the root is akin). Homer always represents nosov as the visitation of an angry deity. Hence used of the plague which Apollo sent upon the Greeks (" Iliad, "1 10). So Sophocles (" Antigone," 421) calls a whirlwind qeian noson (a divine visitation). Disease is, therefore, the more correct rendering as expressing something stronger than sickness or debility. Sickness, however, suits the other word, malakian. The kindred adjective, malakov, means soft, as a couch or newly - ploughed furrow, and thus easily runs into our invidious moral sense of softness, namely, effeminacy or cowardice, and into the physical sense of weakness, sickness. Hence the word emphasizes the idea of debility rather than of violet suffering or danger.<p/>In ver. 24 we have, first, a general expression for ailments of all kinds : all that were sick (lit., all who had themselves in evil case; pantav touv kakwv econtav). Then the idea of suffering is emphasized in the word taken [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#949; &#958; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962;], which means literally held - together or compressed; and so the Rev. holden is an improvement on taken, in which the A. V. has followed Wyc. and Tyn. The word is used of the multitude thronging Christ (<a href='B:490 8:45'>Luk 8:45</a> ). Compare, also, "how I am straitened (<a href='B:490 12:50'>Luk 12:50</a> ); and I am in a strait (<a href='B:570 1:23'>Phi 1:23</a> ). Then follow the specific forms of suffering, the list headed again by the inclusive word nosoiv, diseases, and the kai following having the force of and particularly. Note the word torments [&#946; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. basanovoriginally meant the" Lydian stone, "or touchstone, on which pure gold, when rubbed, leaves a peculiar mark. Hence, naturally, a test; then a test or trial by torture." Most words, "says Professor Campbell (" On the Language of Sophocles ")" have been originally metaphors, and metaphors are continually falling into the rank of words, "used by the writer as mere vehicles of expression without any sense of the picturesque or metaphorical element at their core. Thus the idea of a test gradually passes entirely out of basanov, leaving merely the idea of suffering or torture. This is peculiarly noticeable in the use of this word and its derivatives throughout the New Testament; for although suffering as a test is a familiar New Testament truth, these words invariably express simply torment or pain. Wycliffe renders," They offered to him all men having evil, taken with divers sorrows and torments; "and Tyndale," All sick people that were taken with divers diseases and gripings. " Lunatic, or moon - struck, [&#963; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#957; &#953; &#945; &#950; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962;], is rendered by Rev. epileptic, with reference to the real or supposed influence of the changes of the moon upon the victims of epilepsy.


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A mountain [&#964; &#959; &#959; &#961; &#959; &#962;]. The Rev. recognized the force of the definite article, and renders "the mountain," that particular mountain in the place where Jesus saw the multitudes. The mountain itself cannot be identified. Delitzsch calls the Mount of Beatitudes "The Sinai of the New Testament."<p/>When he was set [&#954; &#945; &#952; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#962;], following Tyndale. Rev., more literally, when he had sat down (compare Wyc., when he had set). After the manner of the rabbis, he seated himself ere he began to teach.


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Taught [&#949; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#957;]. The imperfect signifies began to teach.


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Blessed [&#956; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#953;]. As this word and its cognates occur at least fifty - five times in the New Testament, it is important to understand its history, which is interesting because it is one of those numerous words which exhibit the influence of Christian association and usage in enlarging and dignifying their meaning. It is commonly rendered blessed, both in the A. V. and Rev., and that rendering might properly be given it in every instance.<p/>Its root is supposed to be a word meaning great, and its earlier meaning appears to be limited to outward prosperity; so that it is used at times as synonymous with rich. It scarcely varies from this meaning in its frequent applications to the Grecian gods, since the popular Greek ideal of divine blessedness was not essentially moral. The gods were blessed because of their power and dignity, not because of their holiness. "In general," says Mr. Gladstone (" Homer and the Homeric Age ") "the chief note of deity with Homer is emancipation from the restraints of moral law. Though the Homeric gods have not yet ceased to be the vindicators of morality upon earth, they have personally ceased to observe its rules, either for or among themselves. As compared with men, in conduct they are generally characterized by superior force and intellect, but by inferior morality."<p/>In its peculiar application to the dead, there is indicated the despair of earthly happiness underlying the thought of even the cheerful and mercurial Greek. Hence the word was used as synonymous with dead. Only the dead could be called truly blessed. Thus Sophocles (" Oedipus Tyrannus ") :<p/>"From hence the lesson learn ye To reckon no man happy till ye witness The closing day; until he pass the border Which severs life from death, unscathed by sorrow."<p/>And again (" Oedipus at Colonus ") :<p/>"Happiest beyond compare, Never to taste of life : Happiest in order next, Being born, with quickest speed Thither again to turn From whence we came."<p/>Nevertheless, even in its pagan use, the word was not altogether without a moral background. The Greeks recognized a prosperity which waited on the observance of the laws of natural morality, and an avenging Fate which pursued and punished their violation. This conception appears often in the works of the tragedians; for instance, in the "Oedipus Tyrannus" of Sophocles, where the main motive is the judgment which waits upon even unwitting violations of natural ties. Still, this prosperity is external, consisting either in wealth, or power, or exemption from calamity.<p/>With the philosophers a moral element comes definitely into the word. The conception rises from outward propriety to inward correctness as the essence of happiness. But in all of them, from Socrates onward, virtue depends primarily upon knowledge; so that to be happy is, first of all, to know. It is thus apparent that the Greek philosophy had no conception of sin in the Bible sense. As virtue depended on knowledge, sin was the outcome of ignorance, and virtue and its consequent happiness were therefore the prerogative of the few and the learned.<p/>The biblical use of the word lifted it into the region of the spiritual, as distinguished from the merely intellectual, and besides, intrusted to it alone the task of representing this higher conception. The pagan word for happiness (eujdaimonia, under the protection of a good genius or daemon) nowhere occurs in the New Testament nor in the Scriptures, having fallen into disrepute because the word daemon, which originally meant a deity, good or evil, had acquired among the Jews the bad sense which we attach to demon. Happiness, or better, blessedness, was therefore represented both in the Old and in the New Testament by this word makariov. In the Old Testament the idea involves more of outward prosperity than in the New Testament, yet it almost universally occurs in connections which emphasize, as its principal element, a sense of God's approval founded in righteousness which rests ultimately on love to God.<p/>Thus the word passed up into the higher region of Christian thought, and was stamped with the gospel signet, and laden with all the rich significance of gospel blessedness. It now takes on a group of ideas strange to the best pagan morality, and contradictory of its fundamental positions. Shaking itself loose from all thoughts of outward good, it becomes the express symbol of a happiness identified with pure character. Behind it lies the clear cognition of sin as the fountain - head of all misery, and of holiness as the final and effectual cure for every woe. For knowledge as the basis of virtue, and therefore of happiness, it substitutes faith and love. For the aristocracy of the learned virtuous, it introduces the truth of the Fatherhood of God and the corollary of the family of believers. While the pagan word carries the isolation of the virtuous and the contraction of human sympathy, the Gospel pushes these out with an ideal of a world - wide sympathy and of a happiness realized in ministry. The vague outlines of an abstract good vanish from it, and give place to the pure heart's vision of God, and its personal communion with the Father in heaven. Where it told of the Stoic's self - sufficiency, it now tells of the Christian's poverty of spirit and meekness. Where it hinted at the Stoic's self - repression and strangling of emotion, it now throbs with a holy sensitiveness, and with a monition to rejoice with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep. From the pagan word the flavor of immortality is absent. No vision of abiding rest imparts patience and courage amid the bitterness and struggle of life; no menace of the destiny of evil imposes a check on human lusts. The Christian word blessed is full of the light of heaven. It sternly throws away from itself every hint of the Stoic's asserted right of suicide as a refuge from human ills, and emphasizes something which thrives on trial and persecution, which glories in tribulation, which not only endures but conquers to world, and expects its crown in heaven.<p/>The poor [&#959; &#953; &#960; &#964; &#969; &#967; &#959; &#953;]. Three words expression poverty are found in the New Testament. Two of them, penhv and penicrov, are kindred terms, the latter being merely a poetic form of the other, and neither of these occurs more than once (<a href='B:490 21:2'>Luk 21:2</a>; <a href='B:540 9:9'>2Co 9:9</a> ). The word used in this verse is therefore the current word for poor, occurring thirty - four times, and covering every gradation of want; so that it is evident that the New Testament writers did not recognize any nice distinctions of meaning which called for the use of other terms. Luke, for instance (xxi. 2, 3), calls the widow who bestowed her two mites both penicran and ptwch. Nevertheless, there is a distinction, recognized by both classical and eccleciastical writers. While oJ penhv is one of narrow means, one who "earns a scanty pittance," ptwcov is allied to the verb ptwssein, to crouch or cringe, and therefore conveys the idea of utter destitution, which abjectly solicits and lives by alms. Hence it is applied to Lazarus (<a href='B:490 16:20'>Luk 16:20</a>; <a href='B:490 16:22'>Luk 16:22</a> ), and rendered beggar. Thus distinguished, it is very graphic and appropriate here, as denoting the utter spiritual destitution, the consciousness of which precedes the entrance into the kingdom of God, and which cannot be relieved by one's own efforts, but only by the free mercy of God. (See on <a href='B:540 6:10'>2Co 6:10</a>; <a href='B:540 8:9'>2Co 8:9</a>.)


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They that mourn [&#960; &#949; &#957; &#952; &#959; &#965; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. Signifying grief manifested; too deep for concealment. Hence it is often joined with klaiein, to weep audibly (<a href='B:480 16:10'>Mar 16:10</a>; <a href='B:660 4:9'>Jas 4:9</a> ).<p/>Shall be comforted. See on <a href='B:500 14:16'>Joh 14:16</a>.


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The meek [&#959; &#953; &#960; &#961; &#945; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Another word which, though never used in a bad sense, Christianity has lifted to a higher plane, and made the symbol of a higher good. Its primary meaning is mild, gentle. It was applied to inanimate things, as light, wind, sound, sickness. It was used of a horse; gentle.<p/>As a human attribute, Aristotle defines it as the mean between stubborn anger and that negativeness of character which is incapable of even righteous indignation : according to which it is tantamount to equanimity. Plato opposes it to fierceness or cruelty, and uses it of humanity to the condemned; but also of the conciliatory demeanor of a demagogue seeking popularity and power. Pindar applies it to a king, mild or kind to the citizens, and Herodotus uses it as opposed to anger.<p/>These pre - Christian meanings of the word exhibit two general characteristics.<p/>1. They express outward conduct merely.<p/>2. They contemplate relations to men only. The Christian word, on the contrary, describes an inward quality, and that as related primarily to God.<p/>The equanimity, mildness, kindness, represented by the classical word, are founded in self - control or in natural disposition. The Christian meekness is based on humility, which is not a natural quality but an outgrowth of a renewed nature. To the pagan the word often implied condescension, to the Christian it implies submission. The Christian quality, in its manifestation, reveals all that was best in the heathen virtue - mildness, gentleness, equanimity - but these manifestations toward men are emphasized as outgrowths of a spiritual relation to God. The mildness or kindness of Plato or Pindar imply no sense of inferiority in those who exhibit them; sometimes the contrary. Plato's demagogue is kindly from self - interest and as a means to tyranny. Pindar's king is condescendingly kind. The meekness of the Christian springs from a sense of the inferiority of the creature to the Creator, and especially of the sinful creature to the holy God. While, therefore, the pagan quality is redolent of self - assertion, the Christian quality carries the flavor of self - abasement. As toward God, therefore, meekness accepts his dealings without murmur or resistance as absolutely good and wise. As toward man, it accepts opposition, insult, and provocation, as God's permitted ministers of a chastening demanded by the infirmity and corruption of sin; while, under this sense of his own sinfulness, the meek bears patiently "the contradiction of sinners against himself," forgiving and restoring the erring in a spirit of meekness, considering himself, lest he also be tempted (see <a href='B:550 6:1-5'>Gal 6:1-5</a> ). The ideas of forgiveness and restoration nowhere attach to the classical word. They belong exclusively to Christian meekness, which thus shows itself allied to love. As ascribed by our Lord to himself, see on <a href='B:470 11:29'>Mat 11:29</a>. Wyc. renders "Blessed be mild men."


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Shall be filled [&#967; &#959; &#961; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. A very strong and graphic word, originally applied to the feeding and fattening of animals in a stall. In <a href='B:730 19:21'>Rev 19:21</a>, it is used of the filling of the birds with the flesh of God's enemies. Also of the multitudes fed with the loaves and fishes (<a href='B:470 14:20'>Mat 14:20</a>; <a href='B:480 8:8'>Mar 8:8</a>; <a href='B:490 9:17'>Luk 9:17</a> ). It is manifestly appropriate here as expressing the complete satisfaction of spiritual hunger and thirst. Hence Wycliffe's rendering, fulfilled, is strictly true to the original.


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The peacemakers [&#959; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#951; &#957; &#959; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#959; &#953;]. Should be held to its literal meaning, peace - makers; not as Wyc., peaceable men. The founders and promoters or peace are meant; who not only keep the peace, but seek to bring men into harmony with each other. Tynd. renders, the maintainers of peace.


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Have lost his savor [&#956; &#969; &#961; &#945; &#957; &#952; &#951;]. The kindred noun [&#956; &#969; &#961; &#959; &#962;] means dull, sluggish; applied to the mind, stupid or silly; applied to the taste, insipid, flat. The verb here used of salt, to become insipid, also means to play the fool. Our Lord refers here to the familiar fact of salt losing its pungency and becoming useless. Dr. Thompson (" The Land and the Book ") cites the following case : "A merchant of Sidon, having farmed of the government the revenue from the importation of salt, brought over a great quantity from the marshes of Cyprus - enough, in fact, to supply the whole province for many years. This he had transferred to the mountains, to cheat the government out of some small percentage of duty. Sixty - five houses were rented and filled with salt. Such houses have merely earthen floors, and the salt next the ground was in a few years entirely spoiled. I saw large quantities of it literally thrown into the road to be trodden under foot of men and beasts. It was 'good for nothing. '"


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A bushel [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#956; &#959; &#948; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., rightly, "the bushel;" since the definite article is designed to indicate a familiar object - the grain - measure which is found in every house.<p/>A candlestick [&#964; &#951; &#957; &#955; &#965; &#967; &#957; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Rev., the stand. Also a part of the furniture of every house, and commonly but one in the house : hence the article. The word, which occurs four times in the Gospels and eight times elsewhere, means, in every case, not a candlestick, but a lamp - stand. In <a href='B:650 9:2'>Heb 9:2</a>, the golden "candlestick" of the tabernacle is called lucnia; but in the description of this article (<a href='B:20 25:31'>Exo 25:31</a>; <a href='B:20 25:39'>Exo 25:39</a> ), we read, "Thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof;" and in <a href='B:450 4:2'>Zec 4:2</a>, where the imagery is drawn from the sanctuary, we have a "candlestick" with a bowl on the top of it, "and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes (for the oil) to the lamps which are upon the top thereof."


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So shine [&#959; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#962;]. Often misconceived, as if the meaning were "Let your light shine in such a way that men may see," etc. Standing at the beginning of the sentence, it points back to the illustration just used. "So," even as that lamp just mentioned, let your light shine. Wycliffe has apparently caught this correct sense : So shine your light before men.


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To destroy [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#955; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., to loosen down, dissolve; Wyc., undo.


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Jot, tittle [&#953; &#969; &#964; &#945;, &#954; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#953; &#945;]. Jot is for jod, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Tittle is the little bend or point which serves to distinguish certain Hebrew letters of similar appearance. Jewish tradition mentions the letter jod as being irremovable; adding that, if all men in the world were gathered to abolish the least letter in the law, they would not succeed. The guilt of changing those little hooks which distinguish between certain Hebrew letters is declared to be so great that, if such a thing were done, the world would be destroyed.


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Hell - fire [&#964; &#951; &#957; &#947; &#949; &#949; &#957; &#957; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#960; &#965; &#961; &#959; &#962;]. Rev., more accurately, the hell of fire. The word Gehenna, rendered hell, occurs outside of the Gospels only at <a href='B:660 3:6'>Jas 3:6</a>. It is the Greek representative of the Hebrew Ge - Hinnom, or Valley of Hinnom, a deep, narrow glen to the south of Jerusalem, where, after the introduction of the worship of the fire - gods by Ahaz, the idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to Molech. Josiah formally desecrated it, "that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech" (<a href='B:120 23:10'>2Ki 23:10</a> ). After this it became the common refuse - place of the city, into which the bodies of criminals, carcasses of animals, and all sorts of filth were cast. From its depth and narrowness, and its fire and ascending smoke, it became the symbol of the place of the future punishment of the wicked. So Milton :<p/>"The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence And black Gehenna called, the type of hell."<p/>As fire was the characteristic of the place, it was called the Gehenna of fire. It should be carefully distinguished from Hades [&#945; &#948; &#951; &#962;], which is never used for the place of punishment, but for the place of departed spirits, without reference to their moral condition. This distinction, ignored by the A. V., is made in the Rev.


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Agree with [&#953; &#963; &#952; &#953; &#949; &#965; &#957; &#959; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., be well - minded towards; inclined to satisfy by paying or compromising. Wyc., Be thou consenting to.<p/>Officer [&#965; &#960; &#951; &#961; &#949; &#964; &#951;]. Denoting a subordinate official, as a herald or an orderly, and in this sense applied to Mark as the "minister" or attendant of Paul and Barnabas (<a href='B:510 13:5'>Act 13:5</a> ). It furnishes an interesting instance of the expansion of a word from a limited and special meaning into a more general one; and also of the influence of the Gospel in lifting words into higher and purer associations. Formed with the verb ejressw, to row, it originally signified a rower, as distinguished from a soldier, in a war - galley. This word for a galley - slave comes at last, in the hands of Luke and Paul, to stand for the noblest of all offices, that of a minister of the Lord Jesus (<a href='B:490 1:2'>Luk 1:2</a>; <a href='B:510 26:16'>Act 26:16</a>; <a href='B:530 4:1'>1Co 4:1</a> ).


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Offend [&#963; &#954; &#945; &#957; &#948; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#950; &#949; &#953;]. The word offend carries to the English reader the sense of giving offense, provoking. Hence the Rev., by restoring the picture in the word, restores its true meaning, causeth to stumble. The kindred noun is skandalon, a later form of skandalhqron, the stick in a trap on which the bait is place, and which springs up and shuts the trap at the touch of an animal. Hence, generally, a snare, a stumbling - block. Christ's meaning here is : "If your eye or your hand serve as an obstacle or trap to ensnare or make you fall in your moral walk." How the eye might do this may be seen in the previous verse. Bengel observes : "He who, when his eye proves a stumbling - block, takes care not to see, does in reality blind himself." The words scandal and slander are both derived from skandalon; and Wyc. renders, "If thy right eye slander thee." Compare Aeschylus, "Choephori," 301, 372.


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Coat, cloke [&#967; &#953; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#945;, &#953; &#965; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. The former, the shirt - like under - garment or tunic; the latter, the mantle, or ampler over - garment, which served as a covering for the night, and therefore was forbidden by the Levitical law to be retained in pledge over night (<a href='B:20 22:26'>Exo 22:26</a>; <a href='B:20 22:27'>Exo 22:27</a> ). To yield up this without resistance therefore implies a higher degree of concession.


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Shall compel thee to go [&#945; &#947; &#947; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. This word throws the whole injunction into a picture which is entirely lost to the English reader. A man is travelling, and about to pass a post - station, where horses and messengers are kept in order to forward royal missives as quickly as possible. An official rushes out, seizes him, and forces him to go back and carry a letter to the next station, perhaps to the great detriment of his business. The word is of Persian origin, and denotes the impressment into service, which officials were empowered to make of any available persons or beasts on the great lines of road where the royal mails were carried by relays of riders.


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Borrow [&#948; &#945; &#957; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#945; &#953;]. Properly, to borrow at interest.


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Neighbor [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. Another word to which the Gospel has imparted a broader and deeper sense. Literally it means the one near (so the Eng., neighbor = nigh - bor), indicating a mere outward nearness, proximity. Thus a neighbor might be an enemy. Socrates (Plato, "Republic," 2 373) shows how two adjoining states might come to want each a piece of its neighbor's [&#964; &#969; &#957; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#953; &#959; &#957;] land, so that there would arise war between them; and again (Plato, "Theaetetus," 174) he says that a philosopher is wholly unacquainted with his next - door neighbor, and does not know whether he is a man or an animal. The Old Testament expands the meaning to cover national or tribal fellowship, and that is the sense in our Lord's quotation here. The Christian sense is expounded by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan (<a href='B:490 10:29'>Luk 10:29</a> sqq.), as including the whole brotherhood of man, and as founded in love for man, as man, everywhere.


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Of your Father [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945;]. The A. V. implies the source of the reward; but the preposition means with, by the side of; so that the true sense is, reserved for you and awaiting you by the side of your Father. Rev., rightly, with.


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Sound a trumpet [&#963; &#945; &#955; &#960; &#953; &#963; &#951; &#962;]. There seems to be no trace of any such custom on the part of almsgivers, so that the expression must be taken as a figurative one for making a display. It is just possible that the figure may have been suggested by the "trumpets" of the temple treasury - thirteen trumpet - shaped chests to receive the contributions of worshippers. (See on <a href='B:490 21:2'>Luk 21:2</a>.)<p/>Have their reward (ajpecousin). The preposition ajpo indicates receipt in full. Rev. renders they have received, so that there is nothing more to receive. So Wyc., They have received their need.


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Closet [&#964; &#945; &#956; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. See on <a href='B:490 12:3'>Luk 12:3</a>.


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Use vain repetitions [&#946; &#945; &#964; &#964; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#951; &#963; &#951; &#964; &#949;]. A word formed in imitation of the sound, battalogein : properly, to stammer; then to babble or prate, to repeat the same formula many times, as the worshippers of Baal and of Diana of Ephesus (<a href='B:110 18:26'>1Ki 18:26</a>; <a href='B:510 19:34'>Act 19:34</a> ) and the Romanists with their paternosters and aves.


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Debts [&#959; &#966; &#949; &#953; &#955; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#945;]. So rightly, A. V., and Rev. (compare <a href='B:490 11:4'>Luk 11:4</a> ). Sin is pictured as a debt, and the sinner as a debtor (compare <a href='B:470 18:28'>Mat 18:28</a>; <a href='B:470 18:30'>Mat 18:30</a> ). Accordingly the word represents sin both as a wrong and as requiring satisfaction. In contrast with the prayer, "Forgive us our debts," Tholuck (" Sermon on the Mount ") quotes the prayer of Apollonius of Tyana, "O ye gods, give me the things which are owing to me."<p/>Forgive [&#945; &#966; &#951; &#954; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., to send away, or dismiss. The Rev. rightly gives the force of the past tense, we have forgiven; since Christ assumes that he who prays for the remission of his own debts has already forgiven those indebted to him. 4


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Temptation [&#960; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#945; &#963; &#956; &#959; &#957;]. It is a mistake to define this word as only solicitation to evil. It means trial of any kind, without reference to its moral quality. Thus, <a href='B:10 22:1'>Gen 22:1</a> (Sept.), "God did tempt Abraham;" " This he said to prove him "(<a href='B:500 6:6'>Joh 6:6</a> ); Paul and Timothy assayed to go to Bithynia (<a href='B:510 16:7'>Act 16:7</a> );" Examine yourselves "(<a href='B:540 13:5'>2Co 13:5</a> ). Here, generally of all situations and circumstances which furnish an occasion for sin. We cannot pray God not to tempt us to sin," for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man " (<a href='B:660 1:13'>Jas 1:13</a> ).


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Trespasses [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#969; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#945;]. The Lord here uses another word for sins, and still another [&#945; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#945; &#962;] appears in Luke's version of the prayer, though he also says, "every one that is indebted to us." There is no difficulty in supposing that Christ, contemplating sins in general, should represent them by different terms expressive of different aspects of wrong - doing (see on <a href='B:470 1:21'>Mat 1:21</a> ). This word is derived from parapiptw, to fall or thrown one's self beside. Thus it has a sense somewhat akin to aJmartia, of going beside a mark, missing. In classical Greek the verb is often used of intentional falling, as of throwing one's self upon an enemy; and this is the prevailing sense in biblical Greek, indicating reckless and wilful sin (see <a href='B:130 5:25'>1Ch 5:25</a>; <a href='B:130 10:13'>1Ch 10:13</a>; <a href='B:140 26:18'>2Ch 26:18</a>; <a href='B:140 29:6'>2Ch 29:6</a>; <a href='B:140 29:19'>2Ch 29:19</a>; <a href='B:330 14:13'>Eze 14:13</a>; <a href='B:330 28:26'>Eze 28:26</a> ). It does not, therefore, imply palliation or excuse. It is a conscious violation of right, involving guilt, and occurs therefore, in connection with the mention of forgiveness (<a href='B:520 4:25'>Rom 4:25</a>; <a href='B:520 5:16'>Rom 5:16</a>; <a href='B:580 2:13'>Col 2:13</a>; <a href='B:560 2:1'>Eph 2:1</a>; <a href='B:560 2:5'>Eph 2:5</a> ). Unlike parabasiv (transgression), which contemplates merely the objective violation of law, it carries the thought of sin as affecting the sinner, and hence is found associated with expressions which indicate the consequences and the remedy of sin (<a href='B:520 4:25'>Rom 4:25</a>; <a href='B:520 5:15'>Rom 5:15</a>; <a href='B:520 5:17'>Rom 5:17</a>; <a href='B:560 2:1'>Eph 2:1</a> ).


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Ye fast [&#957; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#965; &#951; &#964; &#949;]. Observe the force of the present tense as indicating action in progress : Whenever ye may be fasting.<p/>Of a sad countenance [&#959; &#954; &#965; &#952; &#961; &#969; &#960; &#959; &#953;]. An uncommon word in the New Testament, occuring only here and at <a href='B:490 24:17'>Luk 24:17</a>. Trench (" Studies in the Gospels ") explains it by the older sense of the English dreary, as expressing the downcast look of settled grief, pain, or displeasure. In classical Greek it also signifies sullenness and affected gravity. Luther renders, Look not sour.<p/>Disfigure [&#945; &#966; &#945; &#957; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. The idea is rather conceal than disfigure. There is a play upon this word and fanwsin (they may appear) which is untranslatable into English : they conceal or mask their true visage that they may appear unto men. The allusion is to the outward signs of humiliation which often accompanied fasting, such as being unwashed and unshaven and unanointed. "Avoid," says Christ, "the squalor of the unwashed face and of the unkempt hair and beard, and the rather anoint thy head and wash thy face, so as to appear [&#966; &#945; &#957; &#951; &#962;] not unto men, but unto God as fasting." Wycliffe's rendering is peculiar : They put their faces out of kindly terms.


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Lay not up treasures [&#956; &#951; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#950; &#949; &#964; &#949;]. Lit., treasure not treasures. So Wyc., Do not treasure to you treasures. The beautiful legend of St. Thomas and Gondoforus is told by Mrs. Jameson (" Sacred and Legendary Art ") : "When St. Thomas was at Caesarea, our Lord appeared to him and said, 'The king of the Indies, Gondoforus, hath sent his provost, Abanes, to seek for workmen well versed in the science of architecture, who shall build for him a palace finer than that of the Emperor of Rome. Behold, now I will send thee to him. ' And Thomas went, and Gondoforus commanded him to build for him a magnificent palace, and gave him much gold and silver for the purpose. The king went into a distant country and was absent for two years; and St. Thomas, meanwhile instead of building a palace, distributed all the treasures among the poor and sick; and when the king returned he was full or wrath, and he commanded that St. Thomas should be seized and cast into prison, and he meditated for him a horrible death. Meantime the brother of the king died, and the king resolved to erect for him a most magnificent tomb; but the dead man, after that the had been dead four days, suddenly arose and sat upright, and said to the king, 'The man whom thou wouldst torture is a servant of God; behold I have been in Paradise, and the angels showed to me a wondrous palace of gold and silver and precious stones; and they said, 'This is the palace that Thomas, the architect, hath built for thy brother, King Gondoforus. ' And when the king heard these words, he ran to the prison, and delivered the apostle; and Thomas said to him, 'Knowest thou not that those who would possess heavenly things have little care for the things of this earth ? There are in heaven rich palaces without number, which were prepared from the beginning of the world for those who would purchase the possession through faith and charity. Thy riches, O king, may prepare the way for three to such a palace, but they cannot follow thee thither. '"<p/>Rust [&#946; &#961; &#969; &#963; &#953; &#962;]. That which eats; from the verb bibrwskw, to eat. Compare corrode, from the Latin rodo, to gnaw.<p/>Doth corrupt [&#945; &#966; &#945; &#957; &#953; &#950; &#949; &#953;]. Rev., consume. The same word which is used above of the hypocrites concealing their faces. The rust consumes, and therefore causes to disappear. So Wyc., destroyeth.<p/>Break through [&#948; &#953; &#959; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. Lit., dig through, as a thief might easily penetrate the wall of a common oriental house of mud or clay. The Greek name for a burglar is toicwrucov, a wall - digger. Compare <a href='B:220 24:16'>Job 24:16</a>, "In the dark they dig through houses." Also <a href='B:330 12:5'>Eze 12:5</a>. Wyc., Thieves delve out.


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Single [&#945; &#960; &#955; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. The picture underlying this adjective is that of a piece of cloth or other material, neatly folded once, and without a variety of complicated folds. Hence the idea of simplicity or singleness (compare simplicity from the Latin simplex; semel, once; plicare, to fold). So, in a moral sense, artless, plain, pure. Here sound, as opposed to evil or diseased. Possibly with reference to the double - mindedness and indecision condemned in ver. 24.<p/>Full of light [&#966; &#969; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. Bengel says, "As if it were all eye."


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In thee - darkness. Seneca, in one of his letters, tells of an idiot slave in his house, who had suddenly become blind. "Now, incredible as the story seems, it is really true that she is unconscious of her blindness, and consequently begs her attendant to go elsewhere because the house is dark. But you may be sure that this, at which we laugh in her, happens to us all; no one understands that he is a avaricious or covetous. The blind seek for a guide; we wander about without a guide."<p/>"Seeing falsely is worse than blindness. A man who is too dim - sighted to discern the road from the ditch, may feel which is which; but if the ditch appears manifestly to him to be the road, and the road to be the ditch, what shall become of him? False seeing is unseeing, on the negative side of blindness" (Ruskin, " Modern Painters ").


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The other [&#949; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. Implying distinction in quality rather than numerical distinction [&#945; &#955; &#955; &#959; &#962;]. For example, " whoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other [&#964; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#955; &#955; &#951; &#957;]; i e., the other one of the two (<a href='B:470 5:39'>Mat 5:39</a> ). At Pentecost, the disciples began to speak with other [&#949; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#953; &#962;] tongues; i e., different from their native tongues. Here the word gives the idea of two master of distinct or opposite character and interests, like God and Mammon.<p/>Hold to [&#945; &#957; &#952; &#949; &#958; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The preposition ajnti, against, indicates holding to the one master as against the other. He who is for God must be against Mammon.


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Take no thought [&#956; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#956; &#957; &#945; &#964; &#949;]. The cognate noun is merimna, care, which was formerly derived from meriv, a part; merixw, to divide; and was explained accordingly as a dividing care, distracting the heart from the true object of life. This has been abandoned, however, and the word is placed in a group which carries the common notion of earnest thoughtfulness. It may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily. See, for example, "careth for the things of the Lord" (<a href='B:530 7:32'>1Co 7:32</a> ). "That the members should have the same care one for another" (<a href='B:530 12:25'>1Co 12:25</a> ). "Who will care for your state ?" (<a href='B:570 2:20'>Phi 2:20</a> ). In all these the sense of worry would be entirely out of place. In other cases that idea is prominent, as, "the care of this world," which chokes the good seed (<a href='B:470 13:22'>Mat 13:22</a>, compare <a href='B:490 8:14'>Luk 8:14</a> ). Of Martha; "Thou are careful" (<a href='B:490 10:41'>Luk 10:41</a> ). Take thought, in this passage, was a truthful rendering when the A. V. was made, since thought was then used as equivalent to anxiety or solicitude. So Shakespeare (" Hamlet ") :<p/>"The native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."<p/>And Bacon (Henry vii) : "Hawis, an alderman of London, was put in trouble, and died with thought and anguish." Somers' "Tracts" (in Queen Elizabeth's reign) : "Queen Catherine Parr died rather of thought."<p/>The word has entirely lost this meaning. Bishop Lightfoot (" On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament ") says : "I have heard of a political economist alleging this passage as an objection to the moral teaching of the sermon on the mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future." It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here, and therefore Rev. rightly translates be not anxious. This phase of the word is forcibly brought out in <a href='B:670 5:7'>1Pe 5:7</a>, where the A. V. ignores the distinction between the two kinds of care. "Casting all your care (merimnan, Rev., anxiety) upon Him, for He careth [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#953;] for you," with a fatherly, tender, and provident care. "


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Beholdest [&#946; &#955; &#949; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Staring at from without, as one who does not see clearly.<p/>Considerest [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. A stronger word, apprehendest from within, what is already there.<p/>Mote [&#954; &#945; &#961; &#966; &#959; &#962;]. A. V. and Rev. The word mote, however, suggests dust; whereas the figure is that of a minute chip or splinter, of the same material with the beam. Wyc. renders festu, with the explanation, a little mote. In explaining the passage it is well to remember that the obstruction to sight is of the same material in both cases. The man with a great beam in his eye, who therefore can see nothing accurately, proposes to remove the little splinter from his brother's eye, a delicate operation, requiring clear sight. The figure of a splinter to represent something painful or annoying is a common oriental one. Tholuck (" Sermon on the Mount ") quotes from the Arabic several passages in point, and one which is literally our Lord's saying : "How seest thou the splinter in thy brother's eye, and seest not the cross - beam in thine eye ?"<p/>Beam [&#948; &#959; &#954; &#959; &#957;]. A log, joist, rafter; indicating a great fault.


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See clearly [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#946; &#955; &#949; &#968; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. The preposition dia, through, giving the sense of thoroughness. Compare the simple verb blepeiv (beholdest), ver. 3. With the beam in thine eye thou starest at thy brother's little failing. Pull out the beam; then thou shalt see clearly, not only the fault itself, but how to help thy brother get rid of it.<p/>To cast out [&#949; &#954; &#946; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. The Lord's words assume that the object of scrutiny is not only nor mainly detection, but correction. Hence thou shalt see clearly, not the mote, but to cast out the mote.


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That which is holy [&#964; &#959; &#945; &#947; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. The holy thing, as of something commonly recognized as sacred. The reference is to the meat offered in sacrifice. The picture is that of a priest throwing a piece of flesh from the altar of burnt - offering to one of the numerous dogs which infest the streets of Eastern cities.<p/>Pearls before swine [&#956; &#945; &#961; &#947; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#962; &#949; &#956; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#967; &#959; &#953; &#961; &#969; &#957;]. Another picture of a rich man wantonly throwing handfuls of small pearls to swine. Swine in Palestine were at best but half - tamed, the hog being an unclean animal. The wild boar haunts the Jordan valley to this day. Small pearls, called by jewellers seed - pearls, would resemble the pease or maize on which the swine feed. They would rush upon them when scattered, and, discovering the cheat, would trample upon them and turn their tusks upon the man who scattered them.<p/>Turn [&#963; &#964; &#961; &#945; &#966; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. The Rev. properly omits again. The word graphically pictures the quick, sharp turn of the boar.<p/>Rend [&#961; &#951; &#958; &#969; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. Lit., break; and well chosen to express the peculiar character of the wound made by the boar's tusk, which is not a cut, but a long tear or rip.


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Bread, a stone [&#945; &#961; &#964; &#959; &#957;, &#955; &#953; &#952; &#959; &#957;]. Rev. for bread reads loaf, which is better. On the resemblance of certain stones to cakes of bread, see on <a href='B:470 4:3'>Mat 4:3</a>.


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Strait gate [&#963; &#964; &#949; &#957; &#951; &#962; &#960; &#965; &#955; &#951; &#962;]. Rev., narrow. A remarkable parallel to this passage occurs in the "Pinax" or "Tablet" of Cebes, a writer contemporary with Socrates. In this, human life, with its dangers and temptations, is symbolically represented as on a tablet. The passage is as follows : "Seest thou not, then, a little door, and a way before the door, which is not much crowded, but very few travel it? This is the way which leadeth into true culture."<p/>Leadeth [&#945; &#960; &#945; &#947; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#945;]. Lit., leadeth away, from death, or, perhaps, from the broad road. Note that the gate is not at the end, but at the beginning of the road.


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Ye shall know [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#957; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#963; &#952; &#949;]. The compound verb indicates full knowledge. Character is satisfactorily tested by its fruits.


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Have we not [&#959; &#965;]. That form of the negative is used which expects an affirmative answer. It therefore pictures both the self - conceit and the self - deception of these persons. "Surely we have prophesied," etc.


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Profess [&#959; &#956; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#951; &#963; &#969;]. The word which is used elsewhere of open confession of Christ before men (<a href='B:470 10:32'>Mat 10:32</a>; <a href='B:520 10:9'>Rom 10:9</a> ); of John's public declaration that he was not the Christ (<a href='B:500 1:20'>Joh 1:20</a> ); of Herod's promise to Salome in the presence of his guests (<a href='B:470 14:7'>Mat 14:7</a> ). Hence, therefore, of Christ's open, public declaration as Judge of the world. "There is great authority in this saying," remarks Bengel.<p/>24 sqq. I will liken him, etc. The picture is not of two men deliberately selecting foundations, but it contrasts one who carefully chooses and prepares his foundation with one who builds at hap - hazard. This is more strongly brought out by Luke (vi. 48) : "Who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock" (Rev.). Kitto (" Pictorial Bible ") says : "At this very day the mode of building in Christ's own town of Nazareth suggest the source of this image. Dr. Robinson was entertained in the house of a Greek Arab. The house had just been built, and was not yet finished. In order to lay the foundations he had dug down to the solid rock, as is usual throughout the country here, to the depth of thirty feet, and then built up arches." The abrupt style of ver. 25 pictures the sudden coming of the storm which sweeps away the house on the sand :<p/>"Descended the rain, and came the floods, and blew the winds."


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Great was the fall of it. The conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. "Thus," remarks Bengel, "it is not necessary for every sermon to end with consolation."


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Were astonished [&#949; &#958; &#949; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959;]. From ejk, out of, and plhssw, to strike. Often to drive one out of his senses by a sudden shock, and therefore here of amazement. They were astounded. We have a similar expression, though not so strong : "I was struck with this or that remarkable thing."


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He taught [&#951; &#957; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#969; &#957;]. He was teaching. This union of the verb and participle emphasized the idea of duration or habit more than the simple tense.


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Tormented [&#946; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. See on torments, <a href='B:470 4:24'>Mat 4:24</a>.


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Heal [&#952; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#969;]. So A. V. and Rev. The word, however, originally means to attend, and to treat medically. The centurion uses another and stronger word, shall be healed [&#953; &#945; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Luke, who as a physician is precise in the use of medical terms, uses both words in one verse (ix. 11). Jesus healed [&#953; &#945; &#964; &#959;] all who had need of treatment [&#952; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#962;]. Still, Luke himself does not always observe the distinction. See on <a href='B:490 5:15'>Luk 5:15</a>.


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Also [&#954; &#945; &#953;]. Omitted in A. V., but very important. "I also am a man under authority," as well as thou. (Tynd., I also myself). The centurion compares the Lord's position with his own. Christ had authority over disease. The centurion also was in authority over soldiers. As the centurion had only to say to a soldier "Go!" and he went, so Christ had only to say to disease "Go!" and it would obey him.


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Shall sit down [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#954; &#955; &#953; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., recline. The picture is that of a banquet. Jews as well as Romans reclined at table on couches.


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The outer [&#964; &#959; &#949; &#958; &#969; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. The Greek order of words is very forcible. " They shall be cast forth into the darkness, the outer (darkness). The picture is of an illuminated banqueting chamber, outside of which is the thick darkness of night.


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Was healed [&#953; &#945; &#952; &#951;]. Note that the stronger word of the centurion (ver. 8) is used here. Where Christ tends, he heals.


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Sick of a fever [&#960; &#965; &#961; &#949; &#963; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. Derived from pur, fire. Our word fever comes through the German feuer.


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Bare [&#949; &#946; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. This translation is correct. The word does not mean "he took away," but "he bore," as a burden laid upon him. This passage is the corner - stone of the faith - cure theory, which claims that the atonement of Christ includes provision for bodily no less than for spiritual healing, and therefore insists on translating "took away." Matthew may be presumed to have understood the sense of the passage he was citing from Isaiah, and he could have used no word more inadequate to express his meaning, if that meaning had been that Christ took away infirmities.


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Holes [&#966; &#969; &#955; &#949; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Wyc. has ditches, with burrows in explanation.<p/>Nests [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#951; &#957; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Only here and in the parallel, <a href='B:490 9:58'>Luk 9:58</a>. Nests is too limited. The word, derived from skhnh, a tent, has the more general meaning of shelter or habitation. In classical Greek it is used of an encampment. The nest is not to the bird what the hole is to the fox, a permanent dwelling - place, since the bird frequents the nest only during incubation. The Rev. retains nests, but puts lodging - places in the margin.


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Tempest [&#963; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#956; &#959; &#962;]. Lit., shaking. Used of an earthquake. The narrative indicates a sudden storm. Dr. Thomson (" Land and Book ") says : "Such winds are not only violent, but they come down suddenly, and often when the sky is perfectly clear.... To understand the causes of these sudden and violent tempests we must remember that the lake lies low - six hundred and eighty feet below the sea; that the mountainous plateau of the Jaulan rises to a considerable height, spreading backward to the wilds of the Hauran, and upward to snowy Hermon; that the water - courses have worn or washed out profound ravines and wild gorges, converging to the head of this lake; and that these act like great funnels to drawn down the cold winds from the mountains."


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The tombs [&#956; &#957; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#953; &#969; &#957;]. Chambers excavated in the mountain, which would afford a shelter to the demoniac. Chandler (" Travels in Asia Minor ") describes tombs with two square rooms, the lower containing the ashes, while the upper, the friends performed funeral rites, and poured libations through a hole in the floor. Dr. Thomson (" Land and Book ") thus describes the rock - cut tombs in the region between Tyre and Sidon : "They are nearly all of the same form, having a small chamber in front, and a door leading from that into the tomb, which is about six feet square, with niches on three sides for the dead." A propensity to take up the abode in the tombs is mentioned by ancient physicians as a characteristic of mad - men. The Levitical uncleanness of the tombs would insure the wretches the solitude which they sought. Trench (" Notes on the Miracles ") cites the following incident from Warburton (" The Crescent and the Cross ") : "On descending from these heights I found myself in a cemetery whose sculptured turbans showed me that the neighboring village was Moslem. The silence of night was not broken by fierce yells and howling, which I discovered proceeded from a naked maniac who was fighting with some wild dogs for a bone. The moment he perceived me he left his canine comrades, and bounding along with rapid strides, seized my horse's bridle, and almost forced him backward over the cliff."<p/>Fierce [&#967; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#960; &#959; &#953;]. Originally, difficult, hard. Hence hard to manage; intractable.


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A steep place [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#954; &#961; &#951; &#956; &#957; &#959; &#965;]. Much better the steep (Rev.). Not an overhanding precipice, but a steep, almost perpendicular declivity, between the base of which and the water was a narrow margin of ground, in which there was not room for the swine to recover from their headlong rush. Dr. Thomson (" Land and Book ") says : "Farther south the plain becomes so broad that the herd might have recovered and recoiled from the lake." The article localizes the steep as in the vicinity of the pasture.


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Receipt of custom [&#964; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#957; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., place of toll. Wyc., tollbooth, toll - booth, or toll - cabin, which is an excellent word, though obsolete. Sitting at, is, literally sitting on : the elevated platform or bench which was the principal feature of the toll - office, as in modern custom - bazaars, being put for the whole establishment. This customs - office was a Capernaum, the landing - place for the many ships which traversed the lake or coasted from town to town; and this not only for those who had business in Capernaum, but for those who would there strike the great road of eastern commerce from Damascus to the harbors of the West. Cicero, in his oration on the Consular Provinces, accuses Gabinius, the pro - consul of Syria, of relieving the Syrians and Jews of some of their legitimate taxes, and of ordering the small building to be taken down, which the publicans had erected at the approaches to bridges, or at the termination of roads, or in the harbors, for the convenience of their slaves and collectors.


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New [&#945; &#947; &#957; &#945; &#966; &#959; &#965;]. From aj, not, and gnaptw, to card or comb wool; hence to dress or full cloth. Therefore Rev. renders more correctly undressed cloth, which would shrink when wet, and tear loose from the old piece. Wyc. renders rude. Jesus thus pictures the combination of the old forms of piety peculiar to John and his disciples with the new religious life emanating from himself, as the patching of an old garment with a piece of unfulled cloth, which would stretch and tear loose from the old fabric and make a worse rent than before.


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Bottles [&#945; &#963; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Rev., rightly, wine - skins, though our word bottle originally carried the true meaning, being a bottle of leather. In Spanish, bota means leather bottle, a boot, and a butt. In Spain wine is still brought to market in pig - skins. In the East, goat - skins are commonly used, with the rough side inward. When old, they break under the fermentation of the wine.


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Is even now dead [&#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#965; &#964; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. The literal force of the aorist tense is more graphic. Just now died.


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Hem [&#954; &#961; &#945; &#963; &#960; &#949; &#948; &#959; &#965;]. Rev., border. The fringe worn on the border of the outer garment, according to the command in <a href='B:40 14:38'>Num 14:38</a>. Dr. Edersheim (" Life and Times of Jesus ") says that, according to tradition, each of the white fringes was to consist of eight threads, one of them wound round the others; first seven times, with a double knot; then eight times with a double knot; then eleven times with a double knot; and, lastly, thirteen times. The Hebrew characters representing these numbers formed the words Jehovah One.


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Minstrels [&#945; &#965; &#955; &#951; &#964; &#945; &#962;]. More correctly, as Rev., flute - players, hired or volunteering as mourners.<p/>Making a noise [&#952; &#959; &#961; &#965; &#946; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., tumult. Representing the loud screaming and wailing by the women. It is the word used in <a href='B:510 17:5'>Act 17:5</a> : "Set the city in an uproar."


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Dumb [&#954; &#969; &#966; &#959; &#957;]. The word is also used of deafness (<a href='B:470 11:5'>Mat 11:5</a>; <a href='B:480 7:32'>Mar 7:32</a>; <a href='B:490 7:22'>Luk 7:22</a> ). It means dull or blunted. Thus Homer applies it to the earth; the dull, senseless earth (" Iliad, "24 25). Also to a blunted dart (" Iliad," 11 390). The classical writers use it of speech, hearing, sight, and mental perception. In the New Testament, only of hearing and speech, the meaning in each case being determined by the context.


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Fainted [&#951; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#963; &#954; &#965; &#955; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953;]. Rev., better, were distressed. Note the verb with the participle, denoting their habitual condition. The word originally means to flay, rend, or mangle. Aeschylus uses it of the tearing of dead bodies by fish (" Persae, " 577). As appropriate to the figure of sheep, it might be rendered here fleeced. Wyc., they were travailed.<p/>Scattered [&#949; &#961; &#961; &#953; &#956; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953;]. So A. V. and Rev. The word is the perfect participle passive of rJiptw, to throw or cast, and means thrown down, prostrated. So Wyc., lying. It is not the dispersion one from another, but their prostration in themselves that is meant. They have cast themselves down for very weariness.


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Send forth [&#949; &#954; &#946; &#945; &#955; &#951;]. So A. V. and Rev. But the word is stronger : thrust out, force them out, as from urgent necessity.


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The disciples [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#956; &#945; &#952; &#951; &#964; &#945; &#962;]. The or his, referring to them as already chosen, though he nowhere relates their choosing. See <a href='B:480 3:14'>Mar 3:14</a>; <a href='B:490 6:13'>Luk 6:13</a>.


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Apostles [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#955; &#969; &#957;]. Compare disciples, ver. 1. Apostles is the official term, used here for the first time. They were merely learners (disciples, maqhtai), until Christ gave them authority. From ajpostellw, to send away. An apostle is one sent forth. Compare <a href='B:500 13:16'>Joh 13:16</a> and Rev., one that is sent. Cremer (" Biblico - Theological Lexicon ") suggests that it was the rare occurrence of the word in profane Greek that made it all the more appropriate as the distinctive appellation of the twelve. Compare <a href='B:490 6:13'>Luk 6:13</a>; <a href='B:510 1:2'>Act 1:2</a>. Also, <a href='B:500 17:18'>Joh 17:18</a>, I have sent. The word is once used of Christ (<a href='B:650 3:1'>Heb 3:1</a> ), and in a very general sense to denote any one sent (<a href='B:540 8:23'>2Co 8:23</a>; <a href='B:570 2:25'>Phi 2:25</a> ).


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The Canaanite [&#959; &#954; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#953; &#959; &#962;]. Rev., Cananaean. The word has nothing to do with Canaan. In <a href='B:490 6:15'>Luk 6:15</a>; <a href='B:510 1:13'>Act 1:13</a>, the same apostle is called Zelotes, Both terms indicate his connection with the Galilaean Zealot party, a sect which stood for the recovery of Jewish freedom and the maintenance of distinctive Jewish institutions. From the Hebrew kanna, zealous; compare the Chaldee kanan, by which this sect was denoted.


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Judas Iscariot [&#959; &#953; &#963; &#954; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#969; &#964; &#951; &#962;]. The article distinguishes him from others of the name of Judas (compare <a href='B:500 14:22'>Joh 14:22</a> ). Iscariot is usually explained as a compound, meaning the man of Kerioth, with reference to his native town, which is given in Joshua (xv. 25) as one of the uttermost cities of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward.<p/>In the four catalogues of the apostles (here; <a href='B:480 3:16'>Mar 3:16</a>; <a href='B:490 6:14'>Luk 6:14</a>; <a href='B:510 1:13'>Act 1:13</a> ) Simon Peter always stands first. Here expressly; "first Simon." Notice that Matthew names them in pairs, and compare <a href='B:480 6:7'>Mar 6:7</a>, "sent them forth two and two." The arrangement of the different lists varies; but throughout, Peter is the leader of the first four, Philip of the second, and James, son of Alphaeus, of the third.


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The lost sheep [&#964; &#945; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#946; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#945; &#960; &#959; &#955; &#969; &#955; &#959; &#964; &#945;]. The Greek order throws the emphasis on lost; the sheep, the lost ones. Bengel observes that Jesus says lost oftener than led astray. Compare <a href='B:470 18:12'>Mat 18:12</a>; <a href='B:470 18:14'>Mat 18:14</a>.


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Brass [&#967; &#945; &#955; &#954; &#959; &#957;]. Properly copper. A descending climax. Copper would be as unnecessary as gold.


text:
Staves [&#961; &#945; &#946; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. But the proper reading is staff, [&#961; &#945; &#946; &#948; &#959; &#957;].<p/>The workman is worthy, etc. Ver. 11, There abide, etc. "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," a tract discovered in 1873 in the library of the monastery of the Most Holy Sepulchre at Constantinople, by Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, is assigned to the date of 120 A. D., and by some scholars is placed as early as 100 A. D. It is addressed to Gentile Christians, and is designed to give them practical instruction in the Christian life, according to the teachings of the twelve apostles and of the Lord himself. In the eleventh chapter we read as follows : "And every apostle who cometh to you, let him be received as the Lord; but he shall not remain except for one day; if, however, there be need, then the next day; but if he remain three days, he is a false prophet. But when the apostle departeth, let him take nothing except bread enough till he lodge again, but is he ask money, he is a false prophet." And again (ch. 13) : "Likewise a true teacher, he also is worthy like the workman, of his support. Every first - fruit, then, of the products of wine - press and threshing - floor, of oxen and sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets, for they are your high - priests.... If thou makest a baking of bread, take the first of it and give according to the commandment. In like manner, when thou openest a jar of wine or oil, take the first of it and give to the prophets; and of money and clothing, and every possession, take the first, as may seem right to thee, and give according to the commandment."


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When ye come into [&#949; &#953; &#963; &#949; &#961; &#967; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953;]. The Greek indicates more distinctly the simultaneousness of the entrance and the salutation : as ye are entering. Rev., as ye enter. So of the departure, as ye are going forth (ejxercomenoi, ver. 14).


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Shake off [&#949; &#954; &#964; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#958; &#945; &#964; &#949;]. "The very dust of a heathen country was unclean, and it defiled by contact. It was regarded like a grave, or like the putrescence of death. If a spot of heathen dust had touched an offering, it must at once be burnt. More than that, if by mischance any heathen dust had been brought into Palestine, it did not and could not mingle with that of 'the land, ' but remained to the end what it had been - unclean, defiled and defiling everything to which it adhered." The apostles, therefore, were not only to leave the house or city which should refuse to receive the, "but it was to be considered and treated as if it were heathen, just as in the similar case mentioned in <a href='B:470 18:17'>Mat 18:17</a>. All contact with such must be avoided, all trace of it shaken off" (Edersheim, " Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ "). The symbolic act indicated that the apostles and their Lord regarded them not only as unclean, but as entirely responsible for their uncleanness. See <a href='B:510 18:6'>Act 18:6</a>.


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I send you forth [&#949; &#947; &#969; &#945; &#960; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#955; &#955; &#969;]. Cognate to the word ajpostolov (apostle). The I is emphatic : "It is I that send you forth."<p/>Wise [&#966; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#953;]. So A. V. and Rev. Denoting prudence with regard to their own safety. Wyc., wary.<p/>Harmless [&#945; &#954; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#953; &#959; &#953;]. Lit., unmixed, unadulterated. Used of wine without water, and of metal without alloy. Hence guileless. So Luther, without falsity. Compare <a href='B:520 16:19'>Rom 16:19</a>; <a href='B:570 2:15'>Phi 2:15</a>. They were to imitate the serpent's wariness, but not his wiliness. "The presence of the wolves demands they ye be wary; the fact that ye are my apostles (compare" I send you ") demands that ye be guileless " (Dr. Morison on Matthew).


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Of men [&#964; &#969; &#957; &#945; &#957; &#952; &#961; &#969; &#960; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., "the men," already alluded to under the term wolves.


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Take no thought [&#956; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#956; &#957; &#951; &#963; &#951; &#964; &#949;]. Rev., Be not anxious. See on 6 25.<p/>In that hour [&#949; &#957; &#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#951; &#969; &#961; &#945;]. Very precise. "In that selfsame hour." Bengel remarks : "Even though not before. Many feel most strongly their spiritual power when the hour comes to impart it to others."


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Beelzebub [&#946; &#949; &#949; &#955; &#950; &#949; &#946; &#959; &#965; &#955;, &#946; &#949; &#949; &#955; &#950; &#949; &#946; &#965; &#955;]. There is a coarse witticism in the application of the word to Christ. Jesus calls himself "the Master of the house," and the Jews apply to him the corresponding title of the Devil, Heb., Beelzebul, Master of dwelling. (The phrase reappears in German, where the Devil is sometimes called Herr vom Haus. See Goethe, "Faust," sc. 21). Dr. Edersheim's explanation, though ingenious, seems far - fetched. He says that szebuhl, in Rabbinic language, means, not any ordinary dwelling, but specifically the temple; so that Beelzebul would be Master of the Temple, an expression having reference to the claims of Jesus on his first purification of the temple. He then conceives a play between this word and Beelzibbul, meaning Lord of idolatrous sacrifice, and says : "The Lord of the temple was to them the chief of idolatrous worship; the representative of God, that of the worst of demons. Beelzebul was Beelzibbul. What, then, might his household expect at their hands ?" (" Life and Times of Jesus ").


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Preach [&#954; &#951; &#961; &#965; &#958; &#945; &#964; &#949;]. Better Rev., proclaim. See on <a href='B:470 4:17'>Mat 4:17</a>.


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Sparrows [&#963; &#964; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#952; &#953; &#945;]. The word is a diminutive, little sparrows, and carries with it a touch of tenderness. At the present day, in the markets of Jerusalem and Jaffa, long strings of little birds, sparrows and larks, are offered for sale, trussed on long wooden skewers. Edersheim things that Jesus may have had reference to the two sparrows which, according to the Rabbins, were used in the ceremonial of purification from leprosy (<a href='B:30 14:49-54'>Lev 14:49-54</a> ).<p/>Shall not fall. A Rabbinic legend relates how a certain Rabbi had been for thirteen years hiding from his persecutors in a cave, where he was miraculously fed; when he observed that when the bird - catcher laid his snare, the bird escaped or was caught, according as a voice from heaven proclaimed "Mercy" or "Destruction." Arguing that if even a sparrow cannot be caught without heaven's bidding, how much more safe was the life of a son of man, he came forth.


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Confess me [&#959; &#956; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#956; &#959; &#953;]. A peculiar but very significant expression. Lit., "Confess in me." The idea is that of confessing Christ out of a state of oneness with him. "Abide in me, and being in me, confess me." It implies indentification of the confessor with the confessed, and thus takes confession out of the category of mere formal or verbal acknowledgment. "Not every one that saith unto me 'Lord! Lord!' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." The true confessor of Christ is one whose faith rests in him. Observe that this gives great force to the corresponding clause, in which Christ places himself in a similar relation with those whom he confesses. "I will confess in him." It shall be as if I spoke abiding in him. "I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me" (<a href='B:500 17:23'>Joh 17:23</a> ).


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To send [&#946; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. Lit., to throw or cast. By this word the expectancy of the disciples is dramatically pictured, as if he represented them as eagerly looking up for peace as something to be flung down upon the earth from heaven. Dr. Morison gives the picture thus : "All are on tiptoe of expectation. What is it that is about to happen? Is it the reign of peace that is just about to be inaugurated and consummated? Is there henceforth to be only unity and amity? As they must and debate, lo! a sword is flung into the midst."


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Set at variance [&#948; &#953; &#967; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., part asunder. Wyc., to depart = part.<p/>Daughter - in - law [&#957; &#965; &#956; &#966; &#951; &#957;]. So. A. V. and Rev.; but the full force is lost in this rendering. The word means bride, and though sometimes used in classical Greek of any married woman, it carries a notion of comparative youth. Thus in Homer, "Odyssey," 4 743, the aged nurse, Euryclea, addresses Penelope (certainly not a bride) as numfa filh (dear bride), of course as a term of affection or petting. Compare "Iliad," 3 130, where Iris addressed Helen in the same way. The radical and bitter character of the division brought into households by the Gospel is shown by the fact of its affecting domestic relations in their very freshness. They newly - married wife shall be set at variance with her mother - in - law. Wycliffe's rendering is peculiar : And the son's wife against the wife's or husband's mother.


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His cross [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#965; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965;]. This was no Jewish proverb, crucifixion not being a Jewish punishment; so that Jesus uses the phrase anticipatively, in view of the death which he himself was to die. This was one of those sayings described in <a href='B:500 12:16'>Joh 12:16</a>, which the disciples understood not at the first, but the meaning of which was revealed in the light of later events. The figure itself was borrowed from the practice which compelled criminals to bear their own cross to the place of execution. His cross : his own. All are not alike. There are different crosses for different disciples. The English proverb runs : "Every cross hath its inscription" - the name of him for whom it is shaped.


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Findeth [&#949; &#965; &#961; &#969; &#957;]. The word is really a past participle, found. Our Lord looked back in thought to each man's past, and forward to its appropriate consummation in the future. Similarly, he who lost [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#955; &#949; &#963; &#945; &#962;]. Plato seems to have foreshadowed this wonderful thought. "O my friend! I want you to see that the noble and the good may possibly be something different from saving and being saved, and that he who is truly a man ought not to care about living a certain time : he knows, as women say, that we must all die, and therefore he is not fond of life; he leaves all that with God, and considers in what way he can best spend his appointed term" (" Gorgias, " 512). Still more to the point, Euripides :<p/>"Who knows if life be not death, and death life ?"


text:
Commanding [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#963; &#969; &#957;]. The preposition dia has a distributive force : giving to each his appropriate charge.<p/>Their cities [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. The towns of those to whom he came - the Galilaeans. Compare <a href='B:470 4:23'>Mat 4:23</a>.


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Two of his disciples [&#948; &#965; &#959;]. But the correct reading is dia, by. He sent by his disciples. So Rev.


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Be offended [&#963; &#954; &#945; &#957; &#948; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#951;]. See on ch. <a href='B:470 5:29'>Mat 5:29</a>. Rev., shall find none occasion of stumbling. Compare Wyc., shall not be slandered.


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As they departed [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#948; &#949; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#969; &#957;]. Rev., more literal and better, as these went their way; or while they, John's disciples, were departing : thus giving the simultaneousness of Jesus ' words with the act of departure.<p/>To see [&#952; &#949; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., to behold. qeasqai, like qewrein, expresses the calm, continuous contemplation of an object which remains before the spectator. Compare <a href='B:500 1:14'>Joh 1:14</a>. Another verb is used in Christ's repetition of the question, vv. 8, 9; iJudein in the ordinary sense of seeing. The more earnest expression suits the first question.


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Suffereth violence [&#946; &#953; &#945; &#950; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., is forced, overpowered, taken by storm. Christ thus graphically portrays the intense excitement which followed John's ministry; the eager waiting, striving, and struggling of the multitude for the promised king.<p/>The violent take it by force [&#946; &#953; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#961; &#960; &#945; &#950; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#951; &#957;]. This was proved by the multitudes who followed Christ and thronged the doors where he was, and would have taken him by force (the same word) and made him a king (<a href='B:500 6:15'>Joh 6:15</a> ). The word take by force means literally to snatch away, carry off. It is often used in the classics of plundering. Meyer renders, Those who use violent efforts, drag it to themselves. So Tynd., They that make violence pull it into them. Christ speaks of believers. They seize upon the kingdom and make it their own. The Rev., men of violence, is too strong, since it describes a class of habitually and characteristically violent men; whereas the violence in this case is the result of a special and exceptional impulse. The passage recalls the old Greek proverb quoted by Plato against the Sophists, who had corrupted the Athenian youth by promising the easy attainment of wisdom : Good things are hard. Dante has seized the idea :<p/>Regnum coelorum (the kingdom of heaven) suffereth violence<p/>From fervent love, and from that living hope That overcometh the divine volition; Not in the guise that man o'ercometh man, But conquers it because it will be conquered, And conquered, conquers by benignity. " Parad., 20, 94 - 99.


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If ye will [&#949; &#953; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#964; &#949;]. More correctly, Rev., If ye are willing or disposed. For there would naturally be an unwillingness to receive the statement about John's high place, in view of John's imprisonment.


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Children [&#960; &#945; &#953; &#948; &#953; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. Diminutive, little children. The Rev. Donald Fraser gives the picture simply and vividly : "He pictured a group of little children playing at make - believe marriages and funerals. First they acted a marriage procession; some of them piping as on instruments of music, while the rest were expected to leap and dance. In a perverse mood, however, these last did not respond, but stood still and looked discontented. So the little pipers changed their game and proposed a funeral. They began to imitate the loud wailing of eastern mourners. But again they were thwarted, for their companions refused to chime in with the mournful cry and to beat their breasts.... So the disappointed children complained : 'We piped unto you and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn. Nothing pleases you. If you don't want to dance, why don't you mourn ?... It is plain that you are in bad humor, and determined not to be pleased'" (" Metaphors in the Gospels "). The issue is between the Jews (this generation) and the children of wisdom, <a href='B:470 5:9'>Mat 5:9</a>.<p/>Market - places [&#945; &#947; &#959; &#961; &#945; &#953; &#962;]. From ajgeirw, to assemble. Wyc., renders cheepynge; compare cheapside, the place for buying and selling; for the word cheap had originally no reference to small price, but meant simply barter or price. The primary conception in the Greek word has nothing to do with buying and selling. Agora is an assembly; then the place of assembly. The idea of a place of trade comes in afterward, and naturally, since trade plants itself where people habitually gather. Hence the Roman Forum was devoted, not only to popular and judicial assemblies, but to commercial purposes, especially of bankers. The idea of trade gradually becomes the dominant one in the word. In Eastern cities the markets are held in bazaars and streets, rather than in squares. In these public places the children would be found playing. Compare <a href='B:450 8:5'>Zec 8:5</a>.


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Mourn [&#949; &#954; &#959; &#968; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#949;]. Lit., beat or strike (the beast), as in oriental funeral lamentations.


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Mighty works [&#948; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. The supernatural works of Christ and his apostles are denoted by six different words in the New Testament, exhibiting these works under different aspects and from different points of view. These will be considered in detail as they occur. Generally, a miracle may be regarded :<p/>1. As a portent or prodigy [&#964; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#962;]; as <a href='B:510 7:36'>Act 7:36</a>, of the wonders shown by Moses in Egypt.<p/>2. As a sign [&#963; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#953; &#959; &#957;], pointing to something beyond itself, a mark of the power or grace of the doer or of his connection with the supernatural world. So <a href='B:470 12:38'>Mat 12:38</a>.<p/>3. As an exhibition of God's glory [&#949; &#957; &#948; &#959; &#958; &#959; &#957;], <a href='B:490 13:17'>Luk 13:17</a>; glorious things.<p/>4. As a strange thing [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#948; &#959; &#958; &#959; &#957;], <a href='B:490 5:26'>Luk 5:26</a>.<p/>5. As a wonderful thing (qaumasion), <a href='B:470 21:15'>Mat 21:15</a>.<p/>6. As a power [&#948; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#956; &#953; &#962;]; so here : a mighty work.


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But [&#960; &#955; &#951; &#957;]. Better Rev., howbeit, or as Wyc., nevertheless. Chorazin and Bethsaida did not repent; therefore a woe lies against them; nevertheless they shall be more excusable than you who have been seen the mighty woks which were not done among them.


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Answered. In reply to something which is not stated.<p/>I thank [&#949; &#958; &#959; &#956; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#945; &#953;]. Compare <a href='B:470 3:6'>Mat 3:6</a>, of confessing sins. Lit., I confess. I recognize the justice and wisdom of thy doings. But with the dative, as here (soi, to thee), it means to praise, with an undercurrent of acknowledgment; to confess only in later Greek, and with an accusative of the object. Rev. gives praise in the margin here, and at <a href='B:520 14:11'>Rom 14:11</a>. Tynd., I praise.<p/>Prudent [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. Rev., understanding; Wyc., wary. From the verb sunihmi, to bring together, and denoting that peculiarity of mind which brings the simple features of an object into a whole. Hence comprehension, insight. Compare on <a href='B:480 12:33'>Mar 12:33</a>, understanding [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#949; &#963; &#949; &#969; &#962;]. Wise [&#963; &#959; &#966; &#969; &#957;] and understanding are often joined, as here. The general distinction is between productive and reflective wisdom, but the distinction is not always recognized by the writer.


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Are delivered [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#948; &#959; &#952; &#951;]. More lit., were delivered, as of a single act at a given time, as in this case, where the Son was sent forth by the Father, and clothed with authority. Compare <a href='B:470 28:18'>Mat 28:18</a>.<p/>Knoweth [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#953; &#957; &#969; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#953;]. The compound indicating full knowledge. Other behold only in part, "through a glass, darkly."


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Labor and are heavy - laden [&#954; &#959; &#960; &#953; &#969; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#960; &#949; &#966; &#959; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#963; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953;]. The first an active, the second a passive participle, exhibiting the active and passive sides of human misery.<p/>Give rest [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#960; &#945; &#965; &#963; &#969;]. Originally to make to cease; Tynd., ease; Wyc., refresh. The radical conception is that of relief.


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Yoke [&#950; &#965; &#947; &#959; &#957;]. " These words, as recorded by St. Matthew, the Evangelist of the Jews, must have sunk the deeper into the hearts of Christ's Jewish hearers, that they came in their own old, familiar form of speech, yet with such contrast of spirit. One of the most common figurative expressions of the time was that of the yoke for submission to an occupation or obligation. Very instructive for the understanding of the figure is this paraphrase of <a href='B:260 1:10'>Son 1:10</a> : 'How beautiful is their neck for bearing the yoke of thy statutes; and is shall be upon them like the yoke on the neck of the ox that plougheth in the field and provideth food for himself and his master. '<p/>"The public worship of the ancient synagogue commenced with a benediction, followed by the shema (Hear, O Israel) or creed, composed of three passages of scripture : <a href='B:50 6:4-9'>Deu 6:4-9</a>; <a href='B:50 11:13-21'>Deu 11:13-21</a>; <a href='B:40 14:37-41'>Num 14:37-41</a>. The section <a href='B:50 6:4-9'>Deu 6:4-9</a>, was said to precede <a href='B:50 11:13-21'>Deu 11:13-21</a>, so that we might take upon ourselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, and only after that the yoke of the commandments. The Savior's words must have had a special significance to those who remembered this lesson; and they would now understand how, by coming to the Savior, they would first take on them the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, and then that of the commandments, finding this yoke easy and the burden light" (Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus," and " Jewish Social Life ").<p/>Meek [&#960; &#961; &#945; &#965;]. See on <a href='B:470 5:5'>Mat 5:5</a>.<p/>Lowly [&#964; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. The word has a history. In the classics it is used commonly in a bad and degrading sense, of meanness of condition, lowness of rank, and cringing abjectness and baseness of character. Still, even in classical Greek, this is not its universal usage. It is occasionally employed in a way which foreshadows its higher sense. Plato, for instance, says, "To that law (of God) he would be happy who holds fast, and follows it in all humility and order; but he who is lifted up with pride, or money, or honor, or beauty, who has a soul hot with folly, and youth, and insolence, and thinks that he has no need of a guide or ruler, but is able himself to be the guide of others, he, I say, is left deserted by God" (" Laws, "716). And Aristotle says :" He who is worthy of small things, and deems himself so, is wise "(" Nich. Ethics," 4 3). At best, however, the classical conception is only modesty, absence of assumption. It is an element of wisdom and in no way opposed to self - righteousness (see Aristotle above). The word for the Christian virtue of humility [&#964; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#966; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#965; &#957; &#951;], was not used before the Christian era, and is distinctly an outgrowth of the Gospel. This virtue is based upon a correct estimate of our actual littleness, and is linked with a sense of sinfulness. True greatness is holiness. We are little because sinful. Compare <a href='B:490 18:14'>Luk 18:14</a>. It is asked how, in this view of the case, the word can be applied to himself by the sinless Lord ? "The answer is," says Archbishop Trench, "that for the sinner humility involves the confession of sin, inasmuch as it involves the confession of his true condition; while yet for the unfallen creature the grace itself as truly exists, involving for such the acknowledgment, not of sinfulness, which would be untrue, but of creatureliness, of absolute dependence, of having nothing, but receiving all things from God. And thus the grace of humility belongs to the highest angel before the throne, being as he is a creature, yea, even to the Lord of Glory himself. In his human nature he must be the pattern of all humility, of all creaturely dependence; and it is only as a man that Christ thus claims to be lowly; his human life was a constant living on the fulness of his Father's love; he evermore, as man, took the place which beseemed the creature in the presence of its Creator" (" Synonyms, "p. 145). The Christian virtue regards man not only with reference to God, but to his fellow - man. In lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself (<a href='B:570 2:3'>Phi 2:3</a>, Rev.). But this is contrary to the Greek conception of justice or righteousness, which was simply" his own to each one. " It is noteworthy that neither the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, nor the New Testament recognize the ignoble classical sense of the word.<p/>Ye shall find [&#949; &#965; &#961; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#964; &#949;]. Compare I will give you and ye shall find. The rest of Christ is twofold - given and found. It is given in pardon and reconciliation. It is found under the yoke and the burden; in the development of Christian experience, as more and more the "strain passes over" from self to Christ. "No other teacher, since the world began, has ever associated learn with rest. 'Learn of me, ' says the philosopher, 'and you shall find restlessness. ' 'Learn of me, ' says Christ, 'and you shall find rest '" (Drummond, " Natural Law in the Spiritual World ").


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Easy [&#967; &#961; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. Not a satisfactory rendering. Christ's yoke is not easy in the ordinary sense of that word. The word means originally, good, serviceable. The kindred noun, crhstothv, occurring only in Paul's writings, is rendered kindness in <a href='B:540 6:6'>2Co 6:6</a>; <a href='B:630 3:4'>Tit 3:4</a>; <a href='B:550 5:22'>Gal 5:22</a>; <a href='B:560 2:7'>Eph 2:7</a> (Rev.), and goodness, <a href='B:520 2:4'>Rom 2:4</a> (Rev.). At <a href='B:490 5:39'>Luk 5:39</a>, it is used of old wine, where the true reading, instead of better, is good [&#967; &#961; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#962;], mellowed with age. Plato (" Republic, "424) applies the word to education." Good nurture and education [&#964; &#961; &#959; &#966; &#951; &#947; &#945; &#961; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#960; &#945; &#953; &#948; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#962; &#967; &#961; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#951;] implant good [&#945; &#947; &#945; &#952; &#945; &#962;] constitutions; and these good [&#967; &#961; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#953;] constitutions improve more and more; "thus evidently using crhstov and ajgaqov as synonymous. The three meanings combine in the word, though it is impossible to find an English word which combines them all. Christ's yoke is wholesome, serviceable, kindly." Christ's yoke is like feathers to a bird; not loads, but helps to motion " (Jeremy Taylor).


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Time [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#961; &#969;]. Rev., season. The word implies a particular time; as related to some event, a convenient, appropriate time; absolutely, a particular point of time, or a particular season, like spring or winter.<p/>Corn [&#963; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#957;]. From speirw, to sow. Properly, as Rev., corn - fields.


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What is not lawful. "On any ordinary day this would have been lawful; but on the Sabbath it involved, according to the Rabbinic statutes, at least two sins, viz., plucking the ears, which was reaping, and rubbing them in their hands (<a href='B:490 6:1'>Luk 6:1</a> ), which was sifting, grinding, or fanning. The Talmud says : 'In case a woman rolls wheat to remove the husks, it is considered as sifting; if she rubs the heads of wheat, it is regarded as threshing; if she cleans off the side - adherencies, it is sifting out fruit; if she bruises the ears, it is grinding; if she throws them up in her hand, it is winnowing'" (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus ").


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One greater [&#956; &#949; &#953; &#950; &#969; &#957;]. The correct reading makes the adjective neuter, so that the right rendering is something greater (Rev., in margin). The reference is, of course, to Christ himself (compare vv. 41, 42, where the neuter pleion, more (so Rev., in margin), is used in the same way). Compare, also, <a href='B:500 2:19'>Joh 2:19</a>, where Christ speaks of his own body as a temple. The indefiniteness of the neuter gives a more solemn and impressive sense.


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Is it lawful ? [&#949; &#953; &#949; &#958; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#957;]. The eij can hardly be rendered into English. It gives an indeterminate, hesitating character to the question : I would like to know if, etc.


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Flax. The Hebrew is, literally, a dimly burning wick he shall not quench (<a href='B:290 42:3'>Isa 42:3</a> ). The quotation stops at the end of the third verse in the prophecy; but the succeeding verse is beautifully suggestive as describing the Servant of Jehovah by the same figures in which he pictures his suffering ones - a wick and a reed. "He shall not burn dimly, neither shall his spirit be crushed." He himself, partaking of the nature of our frail humanity, is both a lamp and a reed, humble, but not to be broken, and the "light of the world." Compare the beautiful passage in Dante, where Cato directs Virgil to wash away the stains of the nether world from Dante's face, and to prepare him for the ascent of the purgatorial mount by girding him with a rush, the emblem of humility :<p/>"Go, then, and see thou gird this one about With a smooth rush, and that thou wash his face, So that thou cleanse away all stain therefrom. For 'twere not fitting that the eye o'ercast By any mist should go before the first Angel, who is of those of Paradise. This little island, round about its base, Below there, yonder, where the billow beats it, Doth rushes bear upon its washy ooze. No other plant that putteth forth the leaf, Or that doth indurate, can there have life, Because it yieldeth not unto the shocks. There he begirt me as the other pleased; O marvellous! for even as he culled The humble plant, such it sprang up again Suddenly there where he uprooted it."<p/>Purg., 1, 94 - 105, 133 - 137.


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He is divided [&#949; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#951;]. Lit., "he was divided." If he is casting himself out, there must have been a previous division.


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Is come unto you [&#949; &#966; &#952; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#966; &#965; &#956; &#945; &#962;]. The verb is used in the simple sense to arrive at (<a href='B:540 10:14'>2Co 10:14</a>; <a href='B:570 3:16'>Phi 3:16</a> ), and sometimes to anticipate (<a href='B:590 4:15'>1Th 4:15</a> ). Here with a suggestion of the latter sense, which is also conveyed by the Rev., "come upon." It has come upon you before you expected it.


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Of a strong man [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#953; &#963; &#967; &#965; &#961; &#959; &#965;]. Rev. rightly gives the force of the article, the strong man. Christ is not citing a general illustration, but is pointing to a specific enemy - Satan. How can I despoil Satan without first having conquered him?<p/>Goods [&#963; &#954; &#949; &#965; &#951;]. The word originally means a vessel, and so mostly in the New Testament. See <a href='B:480 11:16'>Mar 11:16</a>; <a href='B:500 19:29'>Joh 19:29</a>. But also the entire equipment of a house, collectively : chattels, house - gear. Compare <a href='B:490 17:31'>Luk 17:31</a>; <a href='B:510 27:17'>Act 27:17</a>, of the gear or tackling of the ship. Rev., lowered the gear.


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The Holy Spirit [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#960; &#957; &#949; &#965; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#945; &#947; &#953; &#959; &#965;]. The Spirit - the holy. These words define more clearly the blasphemy against the Spirit, ver. 31.


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Bringeth forth [&#949; &#954; &#946; &#945; &#955; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. But the translation is feeble. The word means to throw or fling out. The good or evil things come forth out of the treasure of the heart (34). "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." The issues of the heart are thrown out, as if under pressure of the abundance within.


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Idle [&#945; &#961; &#947; &#959; &#957;]. A good rendering. The word is compounded of aj, not, and ergon, work. An idle word is a non - working word; and inoperative word. It has no legitimate work, no office, no business, but is morally useless and unprofitable.


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Adulterous [&#956; &#959; &#953; &#967; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#962;]. A very strong and graphic expression, founded upon the familiary Hebrew representation of the relation of God's people to him under the figure of marriage. See <a href='B:230 73:27'>Psa 73:27</a>; <a href='B:290 57:3'>Isa 57:3</a> sqq.; <a href='B:290 61:5'>Isa 61:5</a>; <a href='B:330 23:27'>Eze 23:27</a>. Hence idolatry and intercourse with Gentiles were described as adultery; and so here, of moral unfaithfulness to God. Compare <a href='B:660 4:4'>Jas 4:4</a>; <a href='B:730 2:20'>Rev 2:20</a> sqq. Thus Dante :<p/>"Where Michael wrought Vengeance upon the proud adultery." Inf., 7, 12.


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The whale [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#954; &#951; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. A general term for a sea - monster.


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Shall rise up [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., stand up. Come forward as witnessed. Compare <a href='B:220 16:9'>Job 16:9</a>, Sept.; <a href='B:480 14:57'>Mar 14:57</a>. There is no reference to rising from the dead. Similarly shall rise up, ver. 42. Compare <a href='B:470 11:11'>Mat 11:11</a>; <a href='B:470 24:11'>Mat 24:11</a>.<p/>A greater [&#960; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. Lit., something more. See on ver. 6.


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Disciples [&#956; &#945; &#952; &#951; &#964; &#945; &#962;]. Not the apostles only, but all who followed him in the character of learners. The Anglo - Saxon renders learning knights.


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Shore [&#945; &#953; &#947; &#953; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., beach, that over which the sea [&#945; &#955; &#962;] rushes [&#945; &#953; &#963; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. The word for shore, ajkth, on which the sea breaks [&#945; &#947; &#957; &#965; &#956; &#953;], is never used in the New Testament. Wyc., brink.


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Parables [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#962;]. From para, beside, and ballw, to throw. A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. Hence its radical idea is comparison. Sir John Cheke renders biword, and the same idea is conveyed by the German Beispiel, a pattern or example; bei, beside, and the old high German spel, discourse or narration.<p/>The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison :<p/>1. Of brief sayings, having an oracular or proverbial character. Thus Peter (<a href='B:470 14:15'>Mat 14:15</a> ), referring to the words "If the blind lead the blind," etc., says, "declare unto us this parable." Compare <a href='B:490 6:39'>Luk 6:39</a>. So of the patched garment (<a href='B:490 5:36'>Luk 5:36</a> ), and the guest who assumes the highest place at the feast (<a href='B:490 14:7'>Luk 14:7</a>; <a href='B:490 14:11'>Luk 14:11</a> ). Compare, also, <a href='B:470 24:32'>Mat 24:32</a>; <a href='B:480 13:28'>Mar 13:28</a>.<p/>2. Of a proverb. The word for proverb [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#959; &#953; &#956; &#953; &#945;] has the same idea at the root as parable. It is para, beside, oimov, a way or road. Either a trite, wayside saying (Trench), or a path by the side of the high road (Godet). See <a href='B:490 4:23'>Luk 4:23</a>; <a href='B:90 24:13'>1Sa 24:13</a>.<p/>3. Of a song or poem, in which an example is set up by way of comparison. See <a href='B:400 2:4'>Mic 2:4</a>; <a href='B:420 2:6'>Hab 2:6</a>.<p/>4. Of a word or discourse which is enigmatical or obscure until the meaning is developed by application or comparison. It occurs along with the words ainigma, enigma, and problhma, a problem, something put forth or proposed (pro, in front, ballw, to throw). See <a href='B:230 49'>Psa 49:0</a>. (Sept. 48) 4; 78 (Sept. 77) 2; <a href='B:240 1:6'>Pro 1:6</a>, where we have parabolhn, parable; skoteinon logon, dark saying; aijnigmata, enigmas. Used also of the saying of Balaam (<a href='B:40 23:7'>Num 23:7</a>; <a href='B:40 23:18'>Num 23:18</a>; <a href='B:40 24:3'>Num 24:3</a>; <a href='B:40 24:15'>Num 24:15</a> ).<p/>In this sense Christ uses parables symbolically to expound the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as utterances which conceal from one class what they reveal to another (<a href='B:470 13:11-17'>Mat 13:11-17</a> ), and in which familiar facts of the earthly life are used figuratively to expound truths of the higher life. The unspiritual do not link these facts of the natural life with those of the supernatural, which are not discerned by them (<a href='B:530 2:14'>1Co 2:14</a> ), and therefore they need an interpreter of the relation between the two. Such symbols assume the existence of a law common to the natural and spiritual worlds under which the symbol and the thing symbolized alike work; so that the one does not merely resemble the other superficially, but stands in actual coherence and harmony with it. Christ formulates such a law in connection with the parables of the Talents and the Sower. "To him that hath shall be given. From him that hath not shall be taken away." That is a law of morals and religion, as of business and agriculture. One must have in order to make. Interest requires capital. Fruit requires not only seed but soil. Similarly, the law of growth as set forth in the parable of the Mustard Seed, is a law common to nature and to the kingdom of God. The great forces in both kingdoms are germinal, enwrapped in small seeds which unfold from within by an inherent power of growth.<p/>5. A parable is also an example or type; furnishing a model or a warning; as the Good Samaritan, the Rich Fool, the Pharisee and the Publican. The element of comparison enters here as between the particular incident imagined or recounted, and all cases of a similar kind.<p/>The term parable, however, as employed in ordinary Christian phraseology, is limited to those utterances of Christ which are marked by a complete figurative history or narrative. It is thus defined by Goebel (" Parables of Jesus "). "A narrative moving within the sphere of physical or human life, not professing to describe an event which actually took place, but expressly imagined for the purpose of representing, in pictorial figure, a truth belonging to the sphere of religion, and therefore referring to the relation of man or mankind to God."<p/>In form the New Testament parables resemble the fable. The distinction between them does not turn on the respective use of rational and irrational beings speaking and acting. There are fables where the actors are human. Nor does the fable always deal with the impossible, since there are fables in which an animal, for instance, does nothing contrary to its nature. The distinction lies in the religious character of the New Testament parable as contrasted with the secular character of the fable. While the parable exhibits the relations of man to God, the fable teaches lessons of worldly policy or natural morality and utility. "The parable is predominantly symbolic; the fable, for the most part, typical, and therefore presents its teaching only in the form of example, for which reason it chooses animals by preference, not as symbolic, but as typical figures; never symbolic in the sense in which the parable mostly is, because the higher invisible world, of which the parable sees and exhibits the symbol in the visible world of nature and man, lies far from it. Hence the parable can never work with fantastic figures like speaking animals, trees," etc. (Goebel, condensed).<p/>The parable differs from the allegory in that there is in the latter "an interpenetration of the thing signified and the thing signifying; the qualities and properties of the first being attributed to the last," and the two being this blended instead of being kept distinct and parallel. See, for example, the allegory of the Vine and the Branches (<a href='B:500 15'>Joh 15:0</a> ) where Christ at once identifies himself with the figure : "I am the true vine." Thus the allegory, unlike the parable, carries its own interpretation with it.<p/>Parable and proverb are often used interchangeably in the New Testament; the fundamental conception being, as we have seen, the same in both, the same Hebrew word representing both, and both being engimatical. They differ rather in extent than in essence; the parable being a proverb expanded and carried into detail, and being necessarily figurative, which the proverb is not; though the range of the proverb is wider, since the parable expands only one particular case of a proverb. (See Trench, "Notes on the Parables," Introd.) 
<a href='B:470 13:3'>Mat 13:3</a><p/>A sower [&#959; &#963; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#969; &#957;]. Rev., the sower. Generic, as representing a class.<p/>To sow [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. "According to Jewish authorities, there was twofold sowing, as the seed was either cast by the hand or by means of cattle. In the latter case, a sack with holes was filled with corn and laid on the back of the animal, so that, as it moved onward, the seed was thickly scattered" (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus ").


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By the wayside. Dean Stanley, approaching the plain of Gennesareth, says : "A slight recess in the hillside, close upon the plain, disclosed at once, in detail and with a conjunction which I remember nowhere else in Palestine, every feature of the great parable. There was the undulating cornfield descending to the water's edge. There was the trodden pathway running through the midst of it, with no fence or hedge to prevent the seed from falling here and there on either side of it or upon it; itself hard with the constant tramp of horse and mule and human feet. There was the 'good' rich soil which distinguishes the whole of that plain and its neighborhood from the bare hills elsewhere descending into the lake, and which, where there is no interruption, produces one vast mass of corn. There was the rocky ground of the hillside protruding here and there through the cornfields, as elsewhere through the grassy slopes. There were the large bushes of thorn - the nabk, that kind of which tradition says that the crown of thorns was woven - springing up, like the fruit - trees of the more inland parts, in the very midst of the waving wheat" (" Sinai and Palestine ").


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Stony places. Not ground covered with loose stones, but a hard, rocky surface, covered with a thin layer of soil.


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Sprang up. The seed, therefore, fell, not among standing thorns, but among those beneath the surface, ready to spring up.<p/>Trench (" Parables ") cites a striking parallel from Ovid, describing the obstacles to the growth of the grain :<p/>"Now the too ardent sun, now furious showers, With baleful stars and bitter winds combine The crop to ravage; while the greedy fowl Snatch the strown seeds; and grass with stubborn roots, And thorn and darnel plague the ripening grain."<p/>Metamorposes, 5, 486.


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A hundred - fold. Mentioned as something extraordinary. Compare <a href='B:10 26:12'>Gen 26:12</a>. Herodotus (i. 93) says of Babylonia, "In grain it is so fruitful as to yield commonly two - hundred - fold; and when the production is the greatest, even three - hundred - fold."


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Mysteries [&#956; &#965; &#963; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#953; &#945;]. From muw, to close or shut. In classical Greek, applied to certain religious celebrations to which persons were admitted by formal initiation, and the precise character of which is unknown. Some suppose them to have been revelations of religious secrets; others of secret politico - religious doctrines; others, again, scenic representations of mythical legends. In this latter sense the term was used in the Middle Ages of miracle - plays - rude drams representing scenes from scripture and from the apocryphal gospels. Such plays are still enacted among the Basque mountaineers. (See Vincent, " In the Shadow of the Pyrenees. ")<p/>A mystery does not denote an unknowable thing, but one which is withdrawn from knowledge or manifestation, and which cannot be known without special manifestation of it. Hence appropriate to the things of the kingdom of heaven, which could be known only by revelation. Paul (<a href='B:570 4:12'>Phi 4:12</a> ) says, "I am instructed [&#956; &#949; &#956; &#965; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#953;] both to be full and to be hungry," etc. But Rev. gives more correctly the force of instructed, by rendering I have learned the secret : the verb being muew (from the same root as musthria) to initiate into the mysteries.


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Is fulfilled [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rather of something in progress : is being fulfilled or in process of fulfilment.


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Is waxed gross [&#949; &#960; &#945; &#967; &#965; &#957; &#952; &#951;]. Lit., was made fat. Wyc., enfatted.<p/>Are dull of hearing [&#964; &#959; &#953; &#962; &#969; &#963; &#953; &#957; &#946; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#969; &#962; &#951; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. Lit., They heard heavily with their ears.<p/>They have closed [&#949; &#954; &#945; &#956; &#956; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#957;], kata, down, muw, to close, as in musthria above. Our idiom shuts up the eyes. The Greek shuts them down. The Hebrew, in <a href='B:290 6:10'>Isa 6:10</a>, is besmear. This insensibility is described as a punishment. Compare <a href='B:290 29:10'>Isa 29:10</a>; <a href='B:290 44:18'>Isa 44:18</a>; in both of which the closing of the eyes is described as a judgment of God. Sealing up the eyes was an oriental punishment. Cheyne (" Isaiah ") cites the case of a son of the Great Mogul, who has his eyes sealed up three years by his father as a punishment. Dante pictures the envious, on the second cornice of Purgatory, with their eyes sewed up :<p/>"For all their lids an iron wire transpierces, And sews them up, as to a sparhawk wild Is done, because it will not quiet stay." Purg., 13 70 - 72.<p/>Be converted [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#949; &#968; &#969; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. Rev., turn again; ejpi, to or toward, strefw, to turn; with the idea of their turning from their evil toward God.


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When any one heareth. The rendering would be made even more graphic by preserving the continuous force of the present tense, as exhibiting action in progress, and the simultaneousness of Satan's work with that of the gospel instructor. " While any one is hearing, the evil one is coming and snatching away, just as the birds do not wait for the sower to be out of the way, but are at work while he is sowing.<p/>He which received seed [&#959; &#963; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Lit., and much better, Rev., He that was sown; identifying the seed of the figure with the man signified.


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Dureth for a while [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#961; &#959; &#962; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#957;]. Rev., endureth. Lit., is temporary : thus bringing out the quality of the hearer. He is a creature of circumstances, changing as they change. Wyc., is temporal, with explanation, lasteth but a little time.<p/>For [&#948; &#949;]. Rev. better, and, for the following clause does not give a reason for the temporariness, but adds something to the description of the hearer.<p/>Tribulation [&#952; &#955; &#953; &#968; &#949; &#969; &#962;]. qlibw, to press or squeeze. Tribulation is perhaps as accurate a rendering as is possible, being derived from tribulum, the threshing - roller of the Romans. In both the idea of pressure is dominant, though qliyiv does not convey the idea of separation (as of corn from husk) which is implied in tribulatio. Trench cites, in illustration of qliyiv, pressure, the provision of the old English law, by which those who wilfully refused to plead had heavy weights placed on their breasts, and so were pressed and crushed to death (" Synonyms of the New Testament ").


text:
Understandeth [&#963; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. See on 11 25, prudent. The three evangelists give three characteristics of the good hearer. Matthew, he understandeth the word; Mark, he receiveth it; Luke, he keepeth it.


text:
Put he forth [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#952; &#951; &#954; &#949; &#957;]. But this would be rather the translation of proballw, from which problhma, a problem, is derived, while the word here used means rather to set before or offer. Often used of meals, to serve up. Hence, better, Rev., set he before them. See on <a href='B:490 9:16'>Luk 9:16</a>.


text:
Sowed [&#949; &#960; &#949; &#963; &#960; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#949; &#957;]. The preposition ejpi, upon, indicates sowing over what was previously sown. Rev., "sowed also."


text:
Leaven [&#950; &#965; &#956; &#951;]. Wyc., sour dough, as German Sauerteig. From zew, to boil or seethe, as in fermentation. The English leaven is from the Latin levare, to raise, and appears in the French levain.


text:
I will utter [&#949; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#958; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#953;]. The verb, in which the sound corresponds to the sense [&#949; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#958; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#953;], means originally to belch, to disgorge. Homer uses it of the sea surging against the shore (" Iliad, "17 265). Pindar of the eruption of Aetna (" Pyth.," 1 40). There seems to lie in the word a sense of full, impassioned utterance, as of a prophet.<p/>From the foundation [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#951; &#962;]. "It is assumed by the Psalmist (<a href='B:230 78:2'>Psa 78:2</a> ) that there was a hidden meaning in God's ancient dealings with his people. A typical, archetypical, and prefigurative element ran through the whole. The history of the dealings is one long Old Testament parable. Things long kept secret, and that were hidden indeed in the depths of the divine mind from before the foundation of the world, were involved in these dealings. And hence the evangelist wisely sees, in the parabolic teaching of our Lord, a real culmination of the older parabolic teaching of the Psalmist. The culmination was divinely intended, and hence the expression that it might be fulfilled" (Morison on Matthew).


text:
Shine forth [&#949; &#954; &#955; &#945; &#956; &#968; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. The compound verb with ejk, forth, is designedly used to express a dissipating of darkness which has hidden : a bursting into light. The righteous shall shine forth as the sun from behind a cloud. The mixture of evil with good in the world obscures the good, and veils the true glory of righteous character. Compare <a href='B:340 12:3'>Dan 12:3</a>.


text:
Net [&#963; &#945; &#947; &#951; &#957; &#951;]. See on <a href='B:470 4:18'>Mat 4:18</a>. The only occurrence of the word in the New Testament. A long draw - net, the ends of which are carried out and drawn together. Through the transcription of the word into the Latin sagena comes seine. From the fact of its making a great sweep, the Greeks formed a verb from it, saghneuw, to surround and take with a drag - net. Thus Herodotus (iii. 149) says : "The Persians netted Samos." And again (iv. 31), "Whenever they became master of an island, the barbarians, in every single instance, netted the inhabitants. Now, the mode in which they practice this netting if the following : Men join hands, so as to firm a line across from the north coast to the south, and then march through the island from end to end, and hunt out the inhabitants." Compare <a href='B:290 19:8'>Isa 19:8</a> : "Those who spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish." Also <a href='B:420 1:15-17'>Hab 1:15-17</a>, where the Chaldaean conquests are described under this figure.<p/>Gathered of every kind. Compare the graphic passage in Homer (" Odyssey, ", 22 384 - 389) of the slain suitors in the halls of Ulysses.<p/>"He saw that all had fallen in blood and dust, Many as fishes on the shelving beach, Drawn from the hoary deep by those who tend The nets with myriad meshes. Poured abroad Upon the sand, while panting to return To the salt sea, they lie till the hot sun Takes their life from them."


text:
Which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. Instructed maqhteuqeiv. Rev., who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom, etc. The kingdom of heaven is personified. The disciples of Christ are disciples of that kingdom of which he is the representative.<p/>Which [&#959; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#962;]. The pronoun marks the householder as belonging to a class and exhibiting the characteristic of the class : a householder - one of those who bring forth, etc.<p/>Bringeth forth [&#949; &#954; &#946; &#945; &#955; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. Lit., flingeth forth. See on 12 35. Indicating his zeal in communicating instruction and the fulness out of which he speaks.


text:
Tetrarch. A ruler of a fourth part. Archelaus had obtained two - fourths of his father's dominions, and Antipas (this Herod) and Philip each one - fourth.<p/>The fame [&#945; &#954; &#959; &#951; &#957;]. Better as Rev., report. Lit., hearing.


text:
Put him in prison [&#949; &#957; &#966; &#965; &#955; &#945; &#954; &#951; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#952; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. Lit., "put him away or aside" [&#945; &#960; &#959;]. This prison was the fortress of Machaerus on the east side of the Dead Sea, almost on a line with Bethlehem, above the gorge which divided the Mountains of Abarim from the range of Pisgah. Perched on an isolated cliff at the end of a narrow ridge, encompassed with deep ravines, was the citadel. At the other end of this ridge Herod built a great wall, with towers two hundred feet high at the corners; and within this inclosure, a magnificent palace, with colonnades, baths, cisterns, arsenals - every provision, in short, for luxury and for defence against siege. The windows commanded a wide and grand prospect, including the Dead Sea, the course of the Jordan, and Jerusalem. In the detached citadel, probably in one of the underground dungeons, remains of which may still be seen, was the prison of John. "We return through what we regard as the ruins of the magnificent castle - palace of Herod, to the highest and strongest part of the defences - the eastern keep or the citadel, on the steep slope, one hundred and fifty yards up. The foundation of the walls all around, to the height of a yard or two above the ground, are still standing. As we clamber over them to examine the interior, we notice how small this keep is : exactly one hundred yards in diameter. There are scarcely any remains of it left. A well of great depth, and a deep, cemented cistern, with the vaulting of the roof still complete, and - of most terrible interest to us - two dungeons, one of them deep down, its sides scarcely broken in, 'with small holes still visible in the masonry where staples of wood and iron had once been fixed!' As we look down into its hot darkness, we shudder in realizing that this terrible keep had, for nigh ten months, been the prison of that son of the free wilderness, the bold herald of the coming kingdom, the humble, earnest, self - denying John the Baptist" (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus ").


text:
Birthday [&#947; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#963; &#953; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. Though some explain it as the anniversary of Herod's accession. The custom of celebrating birthdays by festivities was not approved by the strict Jews; but it is claimed that the Herodian princes adopted the custom. The Roman satirist, Persius, alludes to a festival known as "Herod's Day," and pictures a banquet on that occasion.<p/>"But when Come Herod's day, and on the steaming panes The ranged lamps, festooned with violets, pour The unctuous cloud, while the broad tunny - tail Sprawled o'er the red dish swims, and snowy jars Swell with the wine." Sat. 5 180 - 183.<p/>Before [&#949; &#957; &#964; &#969; &#956; &#949; &#963; &#969;]. Rev., in the midst. Wyc., leaped in the middle.


text:
He promised [&#969; &#956; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., confessed; conveying the idea of acknowledging the obligation of his oath. Salome had degraded herself to perform the part of an almeh or common dancer, and could claim her reward.


text:
Being before instructed [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#946; &#953; &#946; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#945;]. Wyc., monestid, with warned in explanation. Both wrong. Rev., rightly, being put forward. Compare <a href='B:510 19:33'>Act 19:33</a>, where the right meaning is, they pushed Alexander forward out of the crowd; and not as A. V., drew out. The correct rendering slightly relieves Salome of the charge of wanton cruelty, and throws it wholly upon Herodias.<p/>Here [&#969; &#948; &#949;]. She demanded it on the spot, before Herod should have had time to reflect and relent; the more so, as she knew his respect for John (compare was sorry, ver. 9). The circumstances seem to point to Machaerus itself as the scene of the banquet; so that the deed could be quickly done, and the head of the Baptist delivered while the feast was still in progress.<p/>In a charger [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#960; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#954; &#953;]. The Revisers cannot be defended in their retention of this thoroughly obsolete word. A charge is originally a burden; and a charger something loaded. Hence, a dish. Wyc., dish. Tynd., platter.


text:
The oath's sake [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#959; &#961; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. But the A. V. puts the apostrophe in the wrong place. The word is plural, and the Rev. rightly renders for the sake of his oaths. It is implied that Herod in his mad excitement had confirmed his promise with repeated oaths.


text:
To the damsel [&#964; &#969; &#954; &#959; &#961; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#969;]. Diminutive, the little girl. Luther gives magdlein, little maid.


text:
On foot [&#960; &#949; &#950; &#951;]. Rev., by land in margin, which is better; for the contrast is between Jesus ' journey by ship and that of the multitude by land.


text:
Desert [&#949; &#961; &#951; &#956; &#959; &#962;]. In the Greek order standing first as emphatic. The dominant thought of the disciples is remoteness from supplies of food. The first meaning of the word is solitary; from which develops the idea of void, bereft, barren.<p/>Both meanings may well be included here. Note the two points of emphasis. The disciples say, Barren is the place. Christ answers, No need have they to go away.<p/>Give [&#948; &#959; &#964; &#949;]. The disciples had said, "Send them away to buy for themselves." Christ replies, Give ye.


text:
Brake. As the Jewish loaves were thin cakes, a thumb's breadth in thickness, and more easily broken than cut.


text:
Were filled [&#949; &#967; &#959; &#961; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. See on <a href='B:470 5:6'>Mat 5:6</a>.<p/>Baskets [&#954; &#959; &#966; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Wyc., coffins, a transcription of the Greek word. Juvenal, the Roman satirist, describes the grove of Numa, near the Capenian gate of Rome, as being "let out to the Jews, whose furniture is a basket [&#967; &#959; &#960; &#951; &#953; &#957; &#965; &#963;] and some hay" (for a bed), "Sat." 3 14. These were small hand - baskets, specially provided for the Jews to carry levitically clean food while travelling in Samaria or other heathen districts. The word for basket used in relating the feeding of the four thousand (<a href='B:470 14:37'>Mat 14:37</a> ) is spuriv, a large provision - basket or hamper, of the kind used for letting Paul down over the wall at Damascus (<a href='B:510 9:25'>Act 9:25</a> ). In <a href='B:470 16:9'>Mat 16:9</a>; <a href='B:470 16:10'>Mat 16:10</a>, Christ, in alluding to the two miracles, observes the distinctive term in each narrative; using kofinouv in the case of the five thousand, and spuridav in the other. Burgon (" Letters from Rome ") gives a drawing of a wicker basket used by the masons in the cathedral at Sorrento, and called coffano. He adds, "Who can doubt that the basket of the gospel narrative was of the shape here represented, and that the denomination of this basket exclusively has lingered in a Greek colony, where the Jews (who once carried the cophinus as a personal equipment) formerly lived in great numbers?"


text:
Tossed [&#946; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., better, distressed. See on <a href='B:470 4:24'>Mat 4:24</a>.


text:
A spirit [&#966; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#956; &#945;]. Of which our word phantasm is a transcription. Rev., rather stiffly, apparition. Wyc., phantom.


text:
To go to [&#949; &#955; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#962;]. But some of the best texts read kai hlqen prov, and went toward.


text:
He was afraid. "Although," says Bengel, "a fisherman and a good swimmer" (<a href='B:500 21:7'>Joh 21:7</a> ).


text:
Ceased [&#949; &#954; &#959; &#960; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. A beautiful word. Lit., grew weary; sank away like one who is weary.


text:
Were made perfectly whole [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#963; &#969; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. The preposition dia, through or thorough, indicates complete restoration.<p/>The Rev. omits perfectly, because whole, in itself, implies completeness.


text:
Transgress [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#946; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. Lit., to step on one side.


text:
Wash not their hands. Washing before meals was along regarded as a commandment; washing after meals only as a duty. By and by the more rigorous actually washed between the courses, although this was declared to be purely voluntary. The distinctive designation for washing after meals was the lifting of the hands; while for washing before meat a term was used which meant, literally, to rub. If "holy," i e., sacrificial food was to be partaken of, a complete immersion of the hands, and not a mere "uplifting" was prescribed. As the purifications were so frequent, and care had to be taken that the water had not been used for other purposes, or something fallen into it that might discolor or defile it, large vessels or jars were generally kept for the purpose (see <a href='B:500 2:6'>Joh 2:6</a> ). It was the practice to draw water out of these with a kind of ladle or bucket - very often of glass - which must hold at least one and a half egg - shells (compare draw out now, <a href='B:500 2:8'>Joh 2:8</a> ). The water was poured on both hands, which must be free of anything covering them, such as gravel, mortar, etc. The hands were lifted up so as to make the water run to the wrist, in order to insure that the whole hand was washed, and that the water polluted by the hand did not again run down the fingers. Similarly, each hand was rubbed with the other (the fist,) provided the hand that rubbed had been affused; otherwise, the rubbing might be done against the head, or even against a wall. But there was one point on which special stress was laid. In the "first affusion," which was all that originally was required when the hands were not levitically "defiled," the water had to run down to the wrist. If the water remained short of the wrist, the hands were not clean. See on <a href='B:480 7:3'>Mar 7:3</a> (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus ").


text:
Also [&#954; &#945; &#953;]. The significance of this little word must not be overlooked. Christ admits that the disciples had transgressed a human injunction, but adds, "Ye also transgress, and in a much greater way." " Whether the disciples transgress or not, you are the greatest transgressors "(Bengel). The one question is met with the other in the same style. Luther says," He places one wedge against the other, and therewith drives the first back. "


text:
Die the death [&#952; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#964; &#969; &#964; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#965; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#969;]. The Hebrew idiom is, he shall certainly be executed. The Greek is, lit., let him come to his end by death.


text:
It is a gift [&#948; &#969; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., given to God. The picture is that of a churlish son evading the duty of assisting his needy parents by uttering the formula, Corban, it is a gift to God. "Whatever that me be by which you might be helped by me, is not mine to give. It is vowed to God." The man, however, was not bound in that case to give his gift to the temple - treasury, while he was bound not to help his parent; because the phrase did not necessarily dedicate the gift to the temple. By a quibble it was regarded as something like Corban, as if it were laid on the altar and put entirely out of reach. It was expressly stated that such a vow was binding, even if what was vowed involved a breach on the law.


text:
Have made of none effect [&#951; &#954; &#965; &#961; &#969; &#963; &#945; &#964; &#949;]. Rev., made void; aj, not, kurov, authority. Ye have deprived it of its authority.


text:
Out of the heart. Compare Plato. "For all good and evil, whether in the body or in human nature, originates, as he declared, in the soul, and overflows from thence, as from the head into the eyes; and therefore, if the head and body are to be well, you must begin by curing the soul. That is the first thing" (" Charmides, " 157).<p/>Thoughts [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#953; &#963; &#956; &#959; &#953;]. Lit., reasonings (compare <a href='B:480 9:33'>Mar 9:33</a>, Rev.), or disputings (<a href='B:570 2:14'>Phi 2:14</a> ), like the captious questioning of the Pharisees about washing hands.


text:
Out of the same coasts [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#959; &#961; &#953; &#969; &#957; &#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., as Rev., from those borders; i e., she crossed from Phoenicia into Galilee.<p/>Cried [&#949; &#954; &#961; &#945; &#965; &#947; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. With a loud, importunate cry : from behind. Compare after, ver. 23. Making her daughter's misery her own.<p/>Grievously vexed with a devil [&#954; &#945; &#954; &#969; &#962; &#948; &#945; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#950; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., is badly demonized. Sir J. Cheke, very evil devilled.


text:
Send her away. With here request granted; for, as Bengel exquisitely remarks, "Thus Christ was accustomed to send away."


text:
Children's [&#964; &#969; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#954; &#957; &#969; &#957;]. Bengel observes that while Christ spoke severely to the Jews, he spoke honorably of them to those without. Compare <a href='B:500 4:22'>Joh 4:22</a>.<p/>Dogs [&#954; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. Diminutive : little dogs. In ver. 27, Wyc. renders the little whelps, and Tynd., in both verses, whelps. The picture is of a family meal, with the pet house - dogs running round the table.<p/>Their masters. The children are the masters of the little dogs. Compare <a href='B:480 7:28'>Mar 7:28</a>, "the children's crumbs."


text:
Cast them down [&#949; &#961; &#961; &#953; &#968; &#945; &#957;]. Very graphic. Lit., flung them down; not carelessly, but in haste, because so many were coming on the same errand.


text:
I will not [&#959; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#969;]. The A. V. might easily be mistaken for the simple future of the verb send. But two verbs are used : the verb I will expressing Jesus ' feeling or disposition. The Greek order is, and to send them away fasting I am not willing. Therefore Rev. is better : I would not. Faint (ejkluqwsin). Lit., be unstrung or relaxed.


text:
Little fishes [&#953; &#967; &#952; &#965; &#948; &#953; &#945;]. Diminutive. The disciples make their provision seem as small as possible. In ver. 36 the diminutive is not used.


text:
On the ground [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#951; &#957; &#947; &#951; &#957;]. Compare <a href='B:480 8:6'>Mar 8:6</a>. On the occasion of feeding the five thousand, the multitude sat down on the grass [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#967; &#959; &#961; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962;], <a href='B:470 14:19'>Mat 14:19</a>. It was then the month of flowers. Compare <a href='B:480 6:39'>Mar 6:39</a>, the green grass, and <a href='B:500 6:10'>Joh 6:10</a>, much grass. On the present occasion, several weeks later, the grass would be burnt up, so that they would sit on the ground.<p/>Gave thanks. According to the Jewish ordinance, the head of the house was to speak the blessing only if he himself shared in the meal; yet if they who sat down to it were not merely guests, but his children or his household, then he might speak it, even if he himself did not partake.


text:
Baskets [&#963; &#960; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#962;]. See on <a href='B:470 14:20'>Mat 14:20</a>.


text:
Fair weather [&#949; &#965; &#948; &#953; &#945;]. Colloquial. Looking at the evening sky, a may says to his neighbor, "Fine weather :" and in the morning (ver. 3), "Storm today" [&#963; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#967; &#949; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#957;].


text:
Lowering [&#963; &#964; &#965; &#947; &#957; &#945; &#950; &#969; &#957;]. The verb means to have a gloomy look. Dr. Morison compares the Scotch gloaming or glooming. Cranmer, the sky is glooming red. The word is used only here and at <a href='B:480 10:22'>Mar 10:22</a>, of the young ruler, turning from Christ with his face overshadowed with gloom. A. V., he was sad. Rev., his countenance fell.<p/>9, 10. Note the accurate employment of the two words for basket. See on 14 20.


text:
Thou art the Christ. Compare on 1 1. Note the emphatic and definite force of the article in Peter's confession, and also the emphatic position of the pronoun (su, thou) : "Thou art the anointed, the Son of the God, the living."


text:
Blessed [&#956; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#962;]. See on ch. <a href='B:470 5:3'>Mat 5:3</a>.


text:
Thou art Peter [&#959; &#965; &#949; &#953; &#960; &#949; &#964; &#961; &#959; &#962;]. Christ responds to Peter's emphatic thou with another, equally emphatic. Peter says, "Thou art the Christ." Christ replies, "Thou art Peter." Petrov (Peter) is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (<a href='B:500 1:42'>Joh 1:42</a> ) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent, Cephas. In this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector (" Iliad, "7 270), or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone (" Iliad," 16 734).<p/>On this rock [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#951; &#964; &#951; &#960; &#949; &#964; &#961; &#945;]. The word is feminine, and mean a rock, as distinguished from a stone or a fragment of rock (petrov, above).<p/>Used of a ledge of rocks or a rocky peak. In Homer (" Odyssey, "9 243), the rock [&#960; &#949; &#964; &#961; &#951; &#957;] which Polyphemus places at the door of his cavern, is a mass which two - and - twenty wagons could not remove; and the rock which he hurled at the retreating ships of Ulysses, created by its fall a wave in the sea which drove the ships back toward the land (" Odyssey," 9 484). The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, but to Peter himself, in a sense defined by his previous confession, and as enlightened by the "Father in Heaven."<p/>The reference of petra to Christ is forced and unnatural. The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect : "On this rock will I build." Again, Christ is the great foundation, the "chief corner - stone," but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ's church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (<a href='B:670 2:4'>1Pe 2:4</a> ), calls Christ a living stone, and, in ver. 5, addresses the church as living stones. In <a href='B:730 21:14'>Rev 21:14</a>, the names of the twelve apostles appear in the twelve foundation - stones of the heavenly city; and in <a href='B:560 2:20'>Eph 2:20</a>, it is said, "Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (i. e., laid by the apostles and prophets), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner - stone."<p/>Equally untenable is the explanation which refers petra to Simon's confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact, since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors - living men. "The word petra," says Edersheim, "was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language. According to the Rabbins, when God was about to build his world, he could not rear it on the generation of Enos, nor on that of the flood, who brought destruction upon the world; but when he beheld that Abraham would arise in the future, he said : 'Behold, I have found a rock to build on it, and to found the world, ' whence, also, Abraham is called a rock, as it is said : 'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn. ' The parallel between Abraham and Peter might be carried even further. If, from a misunderstanding of the Lord's promise to Peter, later Christian legend represented the apostle as sitting at the gate of heaven, Jewish legend represents Abraham as sitting at the gate of Gehenna, so as to prevent all who had the seal of circumcision from falling into its abyss" (" Life and Times of Jesus ").<p/>The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church, to the Jewish portion of which he was a foundation - stone. See <a href='B:510 1:15'>Act 1:15</a>; <a href='B:510 2:14'>Act 2:14</a>; <a href='B:510 2:37'>Act 2:37</a>; <a href='B:510 3:13'>Act 3:13</a>; <a href='B:510 4:8'>Act 4:8</a>; <a href='B:510 5:15'>Act 5:15</a>; <a href='B:510 5:29'>Act 5:29</a>; <a href='B:510 9:34'>Act 9:34</a>; <a href='B:510 9:40'>Act 9:40</a>; <a href='B:510 10:25'>Act 10:25</a>; <a href='B:510 10:26'>Act 10:26</a>; <a href='B:550 1:18'>Gal 1:18</a>.<p/>Church [&#949; &#954; &#954; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#957;], ejk, out, kalew, to call or summon. This is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, <a href='B:510 19:39'>Act 19:39</a>. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (<a href='B:110 8:65'>1Ki 8:65</a> ), or for the community of Israel collectively, regarded as a congregation (<a href='B:10 28:3'>Gen 28:3</a> ), where assembly is given for multitude in margin. In New Testament, of the congregation of Israel (<a href='B:510 7:38'>Act 7:38</a> ); but for this there is more commonly employed sunagwgh, of which synagogue is a transcription; sun, together, agw, to bring (<a href='B:510 13:43'>Act 13:43</a> ). In Christ's words to Peter the word ejkklhsia acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ejkklhsia, without being confounded with the sunagwgh, the Jewish community. See <a href='B:510 5:11'>Act 5:11</a>; <a href='B:510 8:1'>Act 8:1</a>; <a href='B:510 12:1'>Act 12:1</a>; <a href='B:510 14:23'>Act 14:23</a>; <a href='B:510 14:27'>Act 14:27</a>, etc. Nevertheless sunagwgh is applied to a Christian assembly in <a href='B:660 2:2'>Jas 2:2</a>, while ejpisunagwgh (gathering or assembling together) is found in <a href='B:600 2:1'>2Th 2:1</a>; <a href='B:650 10:25'>Heb 10:25</a>. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ejkklhsia implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (<a href='B:520 16:5'>Rom 16:5</a> ); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc.<p/>Gates of hell [&#960; &#965; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#948; &#959; &#965;]. Rev., Hades. Hades was originally the name of the God who presided over the realm of the dead - Pluto or Dis. Hence the phrase, house of Hades. It is derived from aj, not, and iJudein, to see; and signifies, therefore, the invisible land, the realm of shadow. It is the place to which all who depart this life descend, without reference to their moral character.<p/>By this word the Septuagint translated the Hebrew Sheol, which has a similar general meaning. The classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked. In these particulars it corresponds substantially with Sheol; both the godly and the wicked being represented as gathered into the latter. See <a href='B:10 42:38'>Gen 42:38</a>; <a href='B:230 9:17'>Psa 9:17</a>; <a href='B:230 139:8'>Psa 139:8</a>; <a href='B:290 14:9'>Isa 14:9</a>; <a href='B:290 57:2'>Isa 57:2</a>; <a href='B:330 32:27'>Eze 32:27</a>; <a href='B:350 13:14'>Hos 13:14</a>. Hades and Sheol were alike conceived as a definite place, lower than the world. The passage of both good and bad into it was regarded as a descent. The Hebrew conception is that of a place of darkness; a cheerless home of a dull, joyless, shadowy life. See Psalms <a href='B:230 6:5'>Psa 6:5</a>; <a href='B:230 94:17'>Psa 94:17</a>; <a href='B:230 115:17'>Psa 115:17</a>; <a href='B:230 88:5'>Psa 88:5</a>; <a href='B:230 88:6'>Psa 88:6</a>; <a href='B:230 88:10'>Psa 88:10</a>; <a href='B:220 10:21'>Job 10:21</a>; <a href='B:220 3:17-19'>Job 3:17-19</a>; <a href='B:220 14:10'>Job 14:10</a>; <a href='B:220 14:11'>Job 14:11</a>; <a href='B:250 4:5'>Ecc 4:5</a>. Vagueness is its characteristic. In this the Hebrew's faith appears bare in contrast with that of the Greek and Roman. The pagan poets gave the popular mind definite pictures of Tartarus and Elysium; of Styx and Acheron; of happy plains where dead heroes held high discourse, and of black abysses where offenders underwent strange and ingenious tortures.<p/>There was, indeed, this difference between the Hebrew and the Pagan conceptions; that to the Pagan, Hades was the final home of its tenants, while Sheol was a temporary condition. Hence the patriarchs are described (<a href='B:650 11:16'>Heb 11:16</a> ) as looking for a better, heavenly country; and the martyrs as enduring in hope of "a better resurrection." Prophecy declared that the dead should arise and sing, when Sheol itself should be destroyed and its inmates brought forth, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and contempt (<a href='B:290 26:19'>Isa 26:19</a>; <a href='B:350 13:14'>Hos 13:14</a>; <a href='B:340 12:2'>Dan 12:2</a> ). Paul represents this promise as made to the fathers by God, and as the hope of his countrymen (<a href='B:510 26:7'>Act 26:7</a> ). God was the God of the dead as well of the living; present in the dark chambers of Sheol as well as in heaven (<a href='B:230 139:8'>Psa 139:8</a>; <a href='B:230 16:10'>Psa 16:10</a> ). This is the underlying thought of that most touching and pathetic utterance of Job (xiv. 13 - 15), in which he breathes the wish that God would him with loving care in Hades, as a place of temporary concealment, where he will wait patiently, standing like a sentinel at his post, awaiting the divine voice calling him to a new and happier life. This, too, is the thought of the familiar and much - disputed passage, <a href='B:220 19:23-27'>Job 19:23-27</a>. His Redeemer, vindicator, avenger, shall arise after he shall have passed through the shadowy realm of Sheol. "A judgment in Hades, in which the judge will show himself his friend, in which all the tangled skein of his life will be unravelled by wise and kindly hands, and the insoluble problem of his strange and self - contradicting experience will at last be solved - this is what Job still looks for on that happy day when he shall see God for himself, and find his Goel (vindicator) in that Almighty Deliverer" (Cox, " Commentary on the Book of Job ").<p/>In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead. It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners (so Cremer, "Biblico - Theological Lexicon "). The words about Capernaum (<a href='B:470 11:23'>Mat 11:23</a> ), which it is surprising to find Cremer citing in support of this position, are merely a rhetorical expression of a fall from the height of earthly glory to the deepest degradation, and have no more bearing upon the moral character of Hades than the words of Zophar (<a href='B:220 11:7'>Job 11:7</a>; <a href='B:220 11:8'>Job 11:8</a> ) about the perfection of the Almighty." It is high as heaven - deeper than Sheol. "Hades is indeed coupled with Death (<a href='B:730 1:18'>Rev 1:18</a>; <a href='B:730 6:8'>Rev 6:8</a>; <a href='B:730 20:13'>Rev 20:13</a>; <a href='B:730 20:14'>Rev 20:14</a> ), but the association is natural, and indeed inevitable, apart from all moral distinctions. Death would naturally be followed by Hades in any case. In <a href='B:730 20:13'>Rev 20:13</a>; <a href='B:730 20:14'>Rev 20:14</a>, the general judgment is predicted, and not only Death and Hades, but the sea give up their dead, and only those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (ver. 15). The rich man was in Hades (<a href='B:490 16:23'>Luk 16:23</a> ), and in torments, but Lazarus was also in Hades," in Abraham's bosom. "The details of this story" evidently represent the views current at the time among the Jews. According to them, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life were the abode of the blessed.... We read that the righteous in Eden see the wicked in Gehenna and rejoice; and similarly, that the wicked in Gehenna see the righteous sitting beatified in Eden, and their souls are troubled (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus "). Christ also was in Hades (<a href='B:510 2:27'>Act 2:27</a>; <a href='B:510 2:31'>Act 2:31</a> ). Moreover, the word geenna, hell, (see on <a href='B:470 5:22'>Mat 5:22</a> ), is specially used to denote the place of future punishment.<p/>Hades, then, in the New Testament, is a broad and general conception, with an idea of locality bound up with it. It is the condition following death, which is blessed or the contrary, according to the moral character of the dead, and is therefore divided into different realms, represented by Paradise or Abraham's bosom, and Gehenna.<p/>The expression Gates of Hades is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom. Hades is contemplated as a mighty city, with formidable, frowning portals. Some expositors introduce also the idea of the councils of the Satanic powers, with reference to the Eastern custom of holding such deliberations in the gates of cities. Compare the expression Sublime Porte, applied to the Ottoman court. The idea of a building is maintained in both members of the comparison. The kingdom or city of Hades confronts and assaults the church which Christ will build upon the rock. See <a href='B:220 38:17'>Job 38:17</a>; <a href='B:230 9:13'>Psa 9:13</a>; <a href='B:230 107:18'>Psa 107:18</a>; <a href='B:290 38:10'>Isa 38:10</a>.


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Keys [&#954; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#962;]. The similitude corresponding to build. The church or kingdom is conceived as a house, of which Peter is to be the steward, bearing the keys. "Even as he had been the first to utter the confession of the church, so was he also privileged to be the first to open its hitherto closed gates to the Gentiles, when God made choice of him, that, through his mouth, the Gentiles should first hear the words of the Gospel, and at his bidding first be baptized" (Edersheim, " Life and Times of Jesus ").<p/>Bind - loose [&#948; &#951; &#963; &#951; &#962; &#955; &#965; &#963; &#951; &#962;]. In a sense common among the Jews, of forbidding or allowing. No other terms were in more constant use in Rabbinic canon - law than those of binding and loosing. They represented the legislative and judicial powers of the Rabbinic office. These powers Christ now transferred, and that not in their pretension, but in their reality, to this apostles; the first, here, to Peter, as their representative, the second, after his resurrection, to the church (<a href='B:500 20:23'>Joh 20:23</a>, Edersheim). "This legislative authority conferred upon Peter can only wear an offensive aspect when it is conceived of as possessing an arbitrary character, and as being in no way determined by the ethical influences of the Holy Spirit, and when it is regarded as being of an absolute nature, as independent of any connection with the rest of the apostles. Since the power of binding and loosing, which is here conferred upon Peter, is ascribed (<a href='B:470 18:18'>Mat 18:18</a> ) to the apostles generally, the power conferred upon the former is set in its proper light, and shown to be of necessity a power of a collegiate nature, so that Peter is not to be regarded as exclusively endowed with it, either in whole or in part, but is simply to be looked upon as first among his equals" (Meyer on <a href='B:470 16:19'>Mat 16:19</a>; <a href='B:470 18:18'>Mat 18:18</a> ).


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From that time began [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#959; &#964; &#949; &#951; &#961; &#958; &#945; &#964; &#959;]. He had not shown it to them before.<p/>Must [&#948; &#949; &#953;]. It was necessary in fulfilment of the divine purpose. See <a href='B:470 26:54'>Mat 26:54</a>; <a href='B:650 8:3'>Heb 8:3</a>; <a href='B:490 24:26'>Luk 24:26</a>.<p/>Suffer. This first announcement mentions this passion and death generally; the second (xvii. 22, 23), adds his betrayal into the hands of sinners; the third (xx. 17 - 19), at length expresses his stripes, cross, etc. Elders and chief priests and scribes. A circumstantial way of designating the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the Jewish nation.


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Took [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#955; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Not, took him by the hand, but took him apart to speak with him privately. Meyer renders, correctly, after he had taken him to himself. "As if," says Bengel, "by a right of his own. He acted with greater familiarity after the token of acknowledgment had been given. Jesus, however, reduces him to his level."<p/>Began. For Jesus did not suffer him to continue.<p/>Be it far from thee [&#953; &#955; &#949; &#969; &#962; &#963; &#959; &#953;]. Rev., in margin, God have mercy on thee. In classical usage, of the gods as propitious, gracious toward men, in consideration of their prayers and sacrifices. The meaning here is, may God be gracious to thee.<p/>Shall not be [&#959; &#965; &#956; &#951; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The double negative is very forcible : "Shall in no case be." Rev. renders it by never.


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Turned [&#963; &#964; &#961; &#945; &#966; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Not toward Peter, but away from him.<p/>Get thee behind me. See <a href='B:470 4:10'>Mat 4:10</a>.<p/>Offense [&#963; &#954; &#945; &#957; &#948; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., better, stumbling - block. See on 5 29. Not, thou art offensive, but thou art in my way. Dr. Morison, "Thou art not, as before, a noble block, lying in its right position as a massive foundation - stone. On the contrary, thou art like a stone quite out of its proper place, and lying right across the road in which I must go - lying as a stone of stumbling."<p/>Savorest not [&#959; &#965; &#966; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Rev., better, mindest not. Thy thoughts and intents are not of God, but of men. Savorest follows the Vulgate sapis, from sapere, which means 1st, to have a taste or flavor of : 2nd, to have sense or discernment. Hence used here as the rendering of fronein, to be minded. Thus Wyc., <a href='B:530 13:11'>1Co 13:11</a>, "When I was a child I savored [&#949; &#966; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#957;] as a child." The idea is, strictly, to partake of the quality or nature of.


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Gain - lose [&#954; &#949; &#961; &#948; &#951; &#963; &#951; &#950; &#951; &#956; &#953; &#969; &#952; &#951;]. Note that both words are in the past (aorist) tense : " if he may have gained or lost. The Lord looks back to the details of each life as the factors of the final sum of gain or loss. For lose, Rev. gives forfeit. The verb in the active voice means to cause loss or damage. Often in the classics, of fining or mulcting in a sum of money. Compare <a href='B:540 7:9'>2Co 7:9</a>.<p/>Soul [&#968; &#965; &#967; &#951; &#957;]. Rev., life, with soul in margin. This will be specially considered in the discussion of the psychological terms in the Epistles.<p/>In exchange [&#945; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#955; &#955; &#945; &#947; &#956; &#945;]. Lit., as an exchange.


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Taketh [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#956; &#946; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#953;]. Rev. gives the force of the preposition para, taketh with him.<p/>Apart [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#948; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Not said of the mountain, as isolated, but of the disciples; so that they might be alone with him. Compare <a href='B:480 9:2'>Mar 9:2</a>, apart by themselves (kat ijdian monouv : lit., apart alone).


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He was transfigured [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#956; &#959; &#961; &#966; &#969; &#952; &#951;], meta, denoting change or transfer, and morfh, form. This latter word denotes the form regarded as the distinctive nature and character of the object, and is distinguished from schma, the changeable, outward fashion : in a man, for instance, his gestures, clothes, words, acts. The morfh partakes of the essence of a thing; the schma is an accident which may change, leaving the form unaffected. Compare <a href='B:480 16:12'>Mar 16:12</a>; Christ "appeared in another form" [&#956; &#959; &#961; &#966; &#951;], and <a href='B:530 7:31'>1Co 7:31</a> : "the fashion [&#963; &#967; &#951; &#956; &#945;] of the word passeth away." The distinction passes into the verbs compounded with these two nouns. Thus, <a href='B:520 12:2'>Rom 12:2</a>, "Be not conformed to this world," is suschmatizesqe; i e., be not fashioned according to the fleeting fashion of this world. So Rev., fashioned. See, also, <a href='B:540 11:13'>2Co 11:13</a>; <a href='B:540 11:14'>2Co 11:14</a>; <a href='B:540 11:15'>2Co 11:15</a>, where the changes described are changes in outward semblance. False apostles appeared in the outward fashion of apostles of Christ; Satan takes on the outward appearance of an angel. All these changes are in the accidents of the life, and do not touch its inner, essential quality. On the other hand, a change in the inner life is described as a change of morfh, never of schma. Hence, <a href='B:520 12:2'>Rom 12:2</a>, " Be ye transformed [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#956; &#959; &#961; &#966; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#952; &#949;]; the change taking place by the reviewing of the mind. Compare <a href='B:520 8:29'>Rom 8:29</a>; <a href='B:540 3:18'>2Co 3:18</a>; <a href='B:570 3:21'>Phi 3:21</a>; and see, further, on <a href='B:570 2:6'>Phi 2:6</a>; <a href='B:570 2:7'>Phi 2:7</a>.<p/>Why, then, it may be asked, is a compound of morfh employed in this description of the transfigured Savior, since the change described is a change in his outward appearance ? It may be answered, because a compound of schma, expressing merely a change in the aspect of Christ's person and garments, would not express the deeper truth of the case, which is, that the visible change gets its real character and meaning from that which is essential in our Lord - his divine nature. A foreshadowing or prophecy of his true form - his distinctive character - comes out in his transfiguration. He passes over into a form identified, so far as revealed, with the divine quality of his being, and prophetic of his revelation "as he is" (<a href='B:690 3:2'>1Jn 3:2</a> ), in the glory which he had with the Father before the world was (<a href='B:500 17:5'>Joh 17:5</a> ). In truth, there is a deep and pregnant hint in the use of this word, which easily escapes observation, and which defies accurate definition. The profound and overwhelming impression upon the three disciples was due to something besides the shining of Christ's face and garments, and the presence of Moses and Elijah; and was deeper and subtler than the effect of all these combined. There was a fact and a power in that vision which mere radiance and the appearance of the patriarchs could not wholly convey : a revelation of Deity breaking out in that glorified face and form, which appealed to something deeper than sense, and confirmed the words from heaven : This is my beloved Son.<p/>The same truth is illustrated in the use of morfh in <a href='B:480 16:12'>Mar 16:12</a>, where it is said that Jesus appeared in a different form [&#949; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#956; &#959; &#961; &#966; &#951;] after his resurrection. The accidents of figure, face, pierced hands and feet, were the same; but an indefinable change had passed upon him, the characteristic of which was that it prefigured his passing into the condition peculiar and appropriate to his essential spiritual and divine being.


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Let us make [&#960; &#959; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#969; &#956; &#949; &#957;]. But the best texts read, poihsw, I will make, which is more characteristic of Peter. He would erect the booths himself.<p/>Three tabernacles [&#963; &#954; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#962;]. Tents or booths, out of the brushwood lying near. Peter realized that it was night, and was for preparing shelters into which the heavenly visitants might retire after their interview.


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Cometh. Elijah cometh first. An abstract statement expressing the fact that Elijah's coming precedes in time the coming of the Messiah. It is a point of Jewish chronology; just as a teacher of history might say to his pupils, "The Saxons and Danes precede the Normans in England." Elijah had already come in the person of John the Baptist.


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Is lunatic [&#963; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#957; &#953; &#945; &#950; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., epileptic. The A. V. preserves the etymology of the word (selhnh, the moon), but lunatic conveys to us the idea of demented; while the Rev. epileptic gives the true character of the disease, yet does not tell us the fact contained in the Greek word, that epilepsy was supposed to be affected by the changes of the moon. See on <a href='B:470 4:24'>Mat 4:24</a>.


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Perverse [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#945; &#956; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#951;]. Wyc., wayward. Tynd., crooked; dia, throughout; strefw, to twist. Warped.


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Unbelief [&#945; &#960; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. But the better reading is ojligopistian, littleness of faith. Hence Rev., Because of your little faith.


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They that received tribute - money [&#959; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#961; &#945; &#967; &#956; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#956; &#946; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. Rev., They that received the half - shekel. Every male Israelite of age, including proselytes and manumitted Jews, was expected to pay annually for the temple - service a half - shekel or didrachm, about thirty - five cents. This must be paid in the ancient money of Israel, the regular half - shekel of the treasury; and the money - changers, therefore, were in demand to change the current into the temple coin, which they did at a rate of discount fixed by law, between four and five cents on every half - shekel. The annual revenue to the money - changers from this source has been estimated at nearly forty - five thousand dollars; a very large sum in a country where a laborer received less than twenty cents for a day's work, and where the good Samaritan left about thirty - three cents at the inn for the keeping of the wounded man. Jesus attacked a very powerful interest when he overthrew the tables of the money - changers.


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Yes [&#957; &#945; &#953;]. Indicating that Jesus had paid the tax on former occasions.<p/>Prevented [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#949; &#966; &#952; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. Rev., rather awkwardly, but following Tynd., Spake first to him. Prevent, in its older sense, to anticipate, get before, was a correct translation. Compare Shakspeare :<p/>"So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery."<p/>Hamlet, 2 1.<p/>Out of this grew the secondary meaning, to hinder. By getting before another, one hinders him from accomplishing his purpose. This meaning has supplanted the other. Wyc. renders came before him. The meaning is that Jesus did not wait for Peter to tell him of the demand of the collectors. He anticipated him in speaking about it.<p/>Custom or tribute [&#964; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#951; &#954; &#951; &#957; &#963; &#959; &#957;]. Rev. gives toll for custom. Toll is duty upon goods; tribute, tax upon individuals. Khnsov, tribute, is merely a transcription of the Latin census, which means, first, a registration with a view to taxation, and then the tax itself.<p/>Strangers [&#945; &#955; &#955; &#959; &#964; &#961; &#953; &#969; &#957;]. Not foreigners, but others than those of their own families; their subjects. In other words, Does a king tax his own children or his subjects?


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Hook [&#945; &#947; &#954; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. The only mention in the New Testament of fishing with a hook. A single fish is wanted.<p/>A piece of money [&#963; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#945;]. The A. V. is very inadequate, because Christ names a definite sum, the stater, which is a literal transcription of the Greek word, and represents two didrachmas, or a shekel. Hence Rev., a shekel.


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The Rev. inserts then after who, thus restoring the Greek ara, which the A. V. overlooks. Who then? Who, as things stand. Since one of our number has been doubly honored in being called "the rock," and in being appointed to take part in a special miracle, who then is greatest?


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Be converted [&#963; &#964; &#961; &#945; &#966; &#951; &#964; &#949;]. The word converted has acquired a conventional religious sense which is fundamentally truthful, but the essential quality of which will be more apparent if we render literally, as Rev., except ye turn. The picture is that of turning round in a road and facing the other way.<p/>Shall not enter [&#959; &#965; &#956; &#951; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#951; &#964; &#949;]. But the double negative is very forcible, and is given in Rev. in noise. So far from being greatest in the kingdom of heaven, ye shall not so much as enter.


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As this little child. Not, as this little child humbles himself, but, shall make himself humble as this little child is lowly; shall willingly become by spiritual process what the child is by nature.


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In my name [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#969; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., upon my name; on the ground of, or on account of; for my sake.


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A millstone [&#956; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#962; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#954; &#959; &#962;]. Two kinds of millstones were in use; the one turned by hand, the other, and larger, by an ass [&#959; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Here Jesus says an ass - millstone; or, as Rev., a great millstone; Wyc., millstone of asses.


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Leave upon the mountains. The text here is disputed. Both A. V. and Rev. follow a text which reads : "Doth he not, leaving the ninety and nine, go into the mountains ?" Rather join leave with on the mountains, and read, "Will he not leave the ninety and nine upon (ejpi, scattered over) the mountains, and go," etc. This also corresponds with ajfhsei, leaving, letting out, or letting loose.


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If so be [&#949; &#945; &#957; &#947; &#949; &#957; &#951; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. If it should so come to pass. God's grace is not irresistible.


text:
The will of your Father [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#949; &#956; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#960; &#945; &#964; &#961; &#959; &#962; &#965; &#956; &#969; &#957;]. Though some read my Father [&#956; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., There is not a will before your (my) Father. So Wyc., It is not will before your Father. Meyer paraphrases, There is not before the face of God and determination having as its object that one of these, etc.


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Go [&#965; &#960; &#945; &#947; &#949;]. Do not wait for him to come to you.<p/>Tell him his fault [&#949; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#958; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., shew him. The verb means, first, to test, try, search out; therefore, to cross - examine with a view of convincing or refuting; thence to rebuke or chide. The Rev. shew is better than tell, which implies merely naming the fault; whereas the injunction is, go and prove to him how he has erred. Wyc., reprove, with snub as explanation.


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In the mouth [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. Better Rev., "at/the mouth," or on the testimony of.


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Shall agree [&#963; &#965; &#956; &#966; &#969; &#957; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. From sun, together, and fwnh, sound or voice. Transcribed in our word symphony. It has so far lost its distinctive character as a concord of voices as to be used for agreement in the deeper and more inward sense.<p/>Concerning anything that they shall ask [&#960; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#960; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#962; &#960; &#961; &#945; &#947; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#962; &#959; &#965; &#949; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#953; &#964; &#951; &#962; &#969; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The literal rendering is, if any thing, stronger : Everything, whatever it be, for which they may have asked. Wyc., Shall consent of everything whatever they shall ask. Tynd., Shall agree in any manner thing whatsoever they shall desire. The word pragma, thing, is used like the Latin res; a matter, affair, business, with the meaning at bottom of something to be done, since it is cognate to the verb prassw, to do. Shall be done, however, is genhsetai, it shall come to pass.


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In my name [&#949; &#953; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#949; &#956; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#945;]. Lit., "into my name." When two or three are drawn together into Christ as the common center of their desire and faith.


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Seventy times seven [&#949; &#946; &#948; &#959; &#956; &#951; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#954; &#953; &#962; &#949; &#960; &#964; &#945;]. 5 It was a settled rule of Rabbinism that forgiveness should not be extended more than three times. Even so, the practice was terribly different. The Talmud relates, without blame, the conduct of a rabbi who would not forgive a very small slight of his dignity, though asked by the offender for thirteen successive years, and that on the day of atonement; the reason being that the offended rabbi had learned by a dream that his offending brother would attain the highest dignity; whereupon he feigned himself irreconcilable, to force the other to migrate from Palestine to Babylon, where, unenvied by him, he might occupy the chief place (Edersheim). It must, therefore, have seemed to Peter a stretch of charity to extend forgiveness from three to seven times. Christ is not specifying a number of times greater than the limit of seven. He means that there is to be no limit. "Forgiveness is qualitative, not quantitative."


text:
A certain king [&#945; &#957; &#952; &#961; &#969; &#960; &#969; &#946; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. Lit., a man, a king. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a human king.<p/>Take account of his servants [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#953; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#959; &#957; &#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#969; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965;]. The rendering of the A. V. is loose and inadequate, and might be taken to mean to reckon the number of his servants. The verb sunarai is compounded of sun, with, and airw, to take up, and means literally to take up together, i e., cast up, as an account. The A. V. also overlooks the force of meta, with. Therefore, Rev., better, make a reckoning with his servants.


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Which owed him [&#959; &#966; &#949; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#964; &#951; &#962;]. Lit., a debtor of ten thousand talents. Ten thousand talents. An enormous sum; about twelve millions of dollars.


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To be sold. According to the law of Moses : <a href='B:20 22:3'>Exo 22:3</a>; <a href='B:30 25:39'>Lev 25:39</a>; <a href='B:30 25:47'>Lev 25:47</a>.


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Found. Either went in search of him, as he himself had been sought out by his Lord, or came upon him accidentally in the street.<p/>A hundred pence [&#949; &#954; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#948; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#945;]. Less than a millionth part of his own debt.<p/>Took him by the throat [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#960; &#957; &#953; &#947; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., throttled. Wyc., strangled. Compare were choked, <a href='B:480 5:13'>Mar 5:13</a>. Creditors often dragged their debtors before the judge, as the Roman law allowed them to do, holding them by the throat. Thus Livy (iv. 53), relates how, a difficulty having arisen between the consul Valerius and one Menenius, the tribunes put an end to the contest, and the consul ordered into prison (collum torsisset, twisted the neck) the few who appealed. And Cicero (" Pro Cluentio, " 21) :<p/>"Lead him to the judgment - seat with twisted neck [&#967; &#959; &#955; &#955; &#959; &#959; &#946; &#964; &#959; &#961; &#964; &#959;]." Compare Cicero, "In 100 Verrem," 4 10.<p/>What thou owest [&#949; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#959; &#966; &#949; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Lit., If thou owest anything. Not that the creditor is uncertain about the fact of the debt, though some uncertainty about the exact amount may be implied. This would agree with found, in the sense of coming upon accidentally. Compare <a href='B:470 13:44'>Mat 13:44</a>. He came suddenly upon him and recognized him as a debtor, though not certain as to the amount of his debt. Meyer remarks, "The if is simply the expression of a pitiless logic. If thou owest anything (as thou dost) pay!" The word pay [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#948; &#959; &#962;] is emphatic in position.


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Besought [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#954; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. The imperfect has the force of earnestly besought.


text:
Went [&#945; &#960; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#969; &#957;]. Lit. went away : dragging the other with him to judgment.


text:
Told [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#963; &#945; &#966; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. More than merely narrated. The verb is from dia, throughout, and safe w, to explain. They explained the circumstances throughout.<p/>Their Lord [&#964; &#969; &#954; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#969; &#949; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., "their own Lord;" as befitted their position, and as a mark of their confidence in him.


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To the tormentors [&#946; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#953; &#962;]. Livy pictures an old centurion complaining that he was taken by his creditor, not into servitude, but to a workhouse and torture, and showing his back scarred with fresh wounds (ii. 23).


text:
Coasts [&#959; &#961; &#953; &#945;]. Better Rev., borders; though it is easy to see how the translation coasts arose, coast being derived from the Latin costa, a side, and hence a border generally, though now applied to the sea - side only.


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Tempting. See on <a href='B:470 6:13'>Mat 6:13</a>.<p/>For every cause. The temptation turned upon the dispute dividing the two great Rabbinical schools, the one of which (that of Hillel) held that a man might divorce his wife for any reason which rendered her distasteful to him; and the other (that of Shammai) that divorce was allowable only in case of unchastity. The querists would be anxious to know which side Jesus espoused.


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Shall cleave [&#954; &#959; &#955; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., shall be glued.<p/>Shall be one flesh [&#949; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#962; &#963; &#945; &#961; &#954; &#945; &#956; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Lit., "into one flesh;" Wyc., two in one flesh.


text:
What [&#959;]. Not those. Christ is contemplating, not the individuals, but the unity which God cemented; and so Wyc., that thing that God enjoined; i e., knit together. The aorist tense (denoting the occurrence of an event at some past time, considered as a momentary act) seems to refer to the original ordinance of God at the creation (ver. 4).


text:
Writing [&#946; &#953; &#946; &#955; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., bill. The word is a diminutive of biblov, which originally means the inner bark of the papyrus, used for writing, then a book or roll of this bark; hence a paper, bill.


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Because of [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#962;]. Rev., for : having regard to.<p/>It was not so [&#959; &#965; &#947; &#949; &#947; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#962;]. The A. V. is commonly understood to mean, it was not so in the beginning. But that is not Christ's meaning. The verb is in the perfect tense (denoting the continuance of past action or its results down to the present). He means : Notwithstanding Moses ' permission, the case has not been so from the beginning until now. The original ordinance has never been abrogated nor superseded, but continues in force.


text:
Except for fornication [&#956; &#951; &#949; &#960; &#953; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#945;]. Lit., not on account of fornication.


text:
The case [&#945; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#945;]. Not the relation of the man to his wife, nor the circumstances, the state of the case. Aijtia refers to cause (ver. 3), and the meaning is, if the matter stands thus with reference to the cause which the man must have for putting away his wife.


text:
Suffer [&#945; &#966; &#949; &#964; &#949;]. Lit., leave alone. Compare <a href='B:480 14:6'>Mar 14:6</a>; <a href='B:480 14:36'>Mar 14:36</a>; <a href='B:490 13:8'>Luk 13:8</a>. Sir J. Cheke : Let these children alone.


text:
Why callest thou me good? [&#964; &#953; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#949; &#953; &#962; &#945; &#947; &#945; &#952; &#959; &#957;]. But the true reading is, ti me ejrwtav peri tou ajgaqou; Why askest thou me concerning the good?<p/>There is none good but one, that is God [&#959; &#965; &#948; &#949; &#953; &#962; &#945; &#947; &#945; &#952; &#959; &#962; &#949; &#953; &#965; &#951; &#949; &#953; &#962; &#959; &#952; &#949; &#959; &#962;]. But the reading is, ei=v ejstin oJ ajgaqov, One there is who is good. The saying of Christ appears especially appropriate in the light of the Rabbinic apothegm, "There is nothing else that is good but the law."


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Camel - through a needle's eye [&#954; &#945; &#956; &#951; &#955; &#959; &#957; &#948; &#953; &#945; &#964; &#961; &#965; &#960; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#962; &#961; &#945; &#966; &#953; &#948; &#959; &#962;]. See on <a href='B:480 10:25'>Mar 10:25</a>; <a href='B:490 18:25'>Luk 18:25</a>. Compare the Jewish proverb, that a man did not even in his dreams see an elephant pass through the eye of a needle. The reason why the camel was substituted for the elephant was because the proverb was from the Babylonian Talmud, and in Babylon the elephant was common, while in Palestine it was unknown. The Koran has the same figure : "The impious shall find the gates of heaven shut; nor shall he enter there till a camel shall pass through the eye of a needle." Bochart, in his history of the animals of scripture, cites a Talmudic passage : "A needle's eye is not too narrow for two friends, nor is the world wide enough for two enemies." The allusion is not to be explained by reference to a narrow gate called a needle's eye.


text:
This [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#959;]. Not the salvation of rich men, but salvation in general. It is in answer to the question, who can be saved ? Man cannot save himself nor his fellow. God only can save him.


text:
Have followed. "Peter had said together the words we have left, we have followed. Jesus replies to them separately; for the latter was peculiar to the apostles, the former common to them with others" (Bengel).<p/>In the regeneration. The final restitution of all things. To be construed with ye shall sit.<p/>Shall sit [&#954; &#945; &#952; &#953; &#963; &#951;]. Or shall have taken his seat, which brings out more vividly the solemn inauguration of Christ's judgment.


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Every one [&#960; &#945; &#962;]. Compare <a href='B:620 4:8'>2Ti 4:8</a>, "to all them that love his appearing." " Not only apostles, nor ought Peter to have inquired only concerning them " (Bengel). The promise hitherto restricted to the apostles now becomes general.<p/>A hundred - fold [&#949; &#954; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#960; &#955; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#959; &#957; &#945;]. But many very high authorities read pollaplasiona, manifold. So Rev. in margin. Compare <a href='B:480 10:30'>Mar 10:30</a>, where there is added "houses and brethren," etc. Also the Arabic proverb : "Purchase the next world with this; so shalt thou win both."


text:
For [&#947; &#945; &#961;]. Explaining and confirming <a href='B:470 19:30'>Mat 19:30</a>.<p/>Early in the morning [&#945; &#956; &#945; &#960; &#961; &#969; &#953;]. Along with the dawn. "Here (at Hamadan, in Persia), we observed every morning, before the sun rose, that a numerous band of peasants were collected, with spades in their hands, waiting to be hired for the day to work in the surrounding fields. This custom struck me as a most happy illustration of our Savior's parable, particularly when, passing by the same place late in the day, we found others standing idle, and remembered the words, 'Why stand ye here all the day idle?' as most applicable to their situation; for on putting the very same question to them, they answered us, 'Because no man hath hired us. '" (Morier, "Second Journey through Persia," cited by Trench, " Parables. ")


text:
For a penny [&#949; &#954; &#948; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#965;]. A denarius, the chief silver coin of the Romans at this time, and of the value of about seventeen cents. We must remember to reckon according to the rate of wages in that day. A denarius was regarded as good pay for a day's work. It was the pay of a Roman soldier in Christ's time. In almost every case where the word occurs in the New Testament it is connected with the idea of a liberal or large amount. Compare <a href='B:470 18:28'>Mat 18:28</a>; <a href='B:480 6:37'>Mar 6:37</a>; <a href='B:490 7:41'>Luk 7:41</a>; <a href='B:500 12:5'>Joh 12:5</a>.<p/>For a penny is, literally, out of or on the strength of a penny; the payment being that on the strength of which the agreement was made. The agreement arose out of the demand on the one hand and the promise on the other.


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Every man a penny [&#964; &#959; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#948; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. Lit., the sum amounting in each case to a penny; or a penny apiece. Ana is distributive. Wyc., each one by himself a penny.


text:
Heat [&#954; &#945; &#965; &#963; &#969; &#957; &#945;]. Rev., the scorching heat. The word is from kaiw, to burn. It refers to the dry, scorching heat born by the east wind. Compare <a href='B:220 27:21'>Job 27:21</a>; <a href='B:350 13:15'>Hos 13:15</a>. The wind blows from the Arabian desert, parching, dry, exciting the blood, and causing restlessness and sleeplessness. It seldom brings storms, but when it does, they are doubly destructive. During harvest the corn cannot be winnowed if the east wind blows, for it would carry away both chaff and corn. In Pharaoh's dream (<a href='B:10 41:6'>Gen 41:6</a> ) the ears are blasted by it : Jonah's gourd is withered by it (<a href='B:390 4:8'>Jon 4:8</a> ), and the vine in Ezekiel's parable of the Babylonian captivity is blighted by it (<a href='B:330 17:10'>Eze 17:10</a> ).


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One. Representing the whole body.<p/>Friend [&#949; &#964; &#945; &#953; &#961; &#949;]. Lit., companion, comrade.


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Take [&#945; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. Lit., as Rev., take up, as if the money had been laid down for him on a table or counter.<p/>I will give [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#969; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#953;]. But, as in other cases in the A. V., this may be mistaken for the simple future of the verb; whereas there are two verbs. Therefore, Rev., rightly, It is my will to give. See on <a href='B:470 14:32'>Mat 14:32</a>.


text:
Grant [&#949; &#953; &#960; &#949;]. Lit., speak; i e., with authority. Compare "command these stones," <a href='B:470 4:3'>Mat 4:3</a>; "bid you," <a href='B:470 23:3'>Mat 23:3</a>. Rev., command.


text:
Will be great [&#952; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#953;]. See on ver. 14. Rev. would be.<p/>Minister [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Servant, ver. 27 [&#948; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#962;]. Doulov, perhaps from dew, to bind, is the bondman, representing the permanent relation of servitude. Diakonov, probably from the same root as diwkw, to pursue, represents a servant, not in his relation, but in his activity. The term covers both slaves and hired servants. The attendants at the feast at Cana (<a href='B:500 2:5'>Joh 2:5</a> ) are called diakonoi. In the epistles diakonov is often used specifically for a minister of the Gospel (<a href='B:530 3:5'>1Co 3:5</a>; <a href='B:540 3:6'>2Co 3:6</a>; <a href='B:560 3:7'>Eph 3:7</a> ). The word deacon is, moreover, almost a transcription of it (<a href='B:570 1:1'>Phi 1:1</a>; <a href='B:610 3:8'>1Ti 3:8</a>; <a href='B:610 3:12'>1Ti 3:12</a> ). It is applied to Phoebe (<a href='B:520 16:1'>Rom 16:1</a> ).


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A ransom for many. Compare Sophocles, "Oed. Col.," 488.<p/>"For one soul working in the strength of love Is mightier than ten thousand to atone."


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That Jesus passed by [&#959; &#964; &#953; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#947; &#949; &#953;]. The oti is equivalent to quotation marks. They heard the crowd cry Jesus is passing!


text:
The Lord [&#959; &#954; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#962;]. From kurov, supreme power, authority. Hence kuriov, one having authority, Lord, owner, ruler. In classical Greek, used of the gods, and in inscriptions applied to different gods, as Hermes, Zeus, etc.; also of the head of the family, who is Lord, [&#954; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#962;] of the wife and children (<a href='B:90 1:8'>1Sa 1:8</a>, Sept.); while to the slaves he is despothv. In the Pauline writings, however, the master of slaves is called both despothv (<a href='B:610 6:1'>1Ti 6:1</a>; <a href='B:610 6:2'>1Ti 6:2</a>; <a href='B:630 2:9'>Tit 2:9</a>; <a href='B:670 2:18'>1Pe 2:18</a> ), and kuriov (<a href='B:560 6:9'>Eph 6:9</a>; <a href='B:580 4:1'>Col 4:1</a> ).<p/>In the Septuagint it is used by Sarah of her husband (<a href='B:10 18:12'>Gen 18:12</a>; compare <a href='B:670 3:6'>1Pe 3:6</a> ). Joseph is called Lord of the country (<a href='B:10 42:33'>Gen 42:33</a> ), and is addressed by his brethren as my Lord (xlii. 10). It is applied to God (<a href='B:10 18:27'>Gen 18:27</a>; <a href='B:20 4:10'>Exo 4:10</a> ). In the New Testament it is a name for God (<a href='B:470 1:20'>Mat 1:20</a>; <a href='B:470 1:22'>Mat 1:22</a>; <a href='B:470 1:24'>Mat 1:24</a>; <a href='B:470 2:15'>Mat 2:15</a>; <a href='B:510 11:16'>Act 11:16</a>; <a href='B:510 12:11'>Act 12:11</a>; <a href='B:510 12:17'>Act 12:17</a>; <a href='B:730 1:8'>Rev 1:8</a> ). As applied to Christ, it does not express his divine nature and power. These are indicated by some accompanying word or phrase, as my God (<a href='B:500 20:28'>Joh 20:28</a> ); of all (<a href='B:510 10:36'>Act 10:36</a> ); to the glory of God the Father (<a href='B:570 2:11'>Phi 2:11</a> ); of glory (<a href='B:530 2:8'>1Co 2:8</a> ); so that, as a title of Christ, Lord is used in the sense of Master or Ruler, or in address, Sir (<a href='B:470 22:43'>Mat 22:43</a>; <a href='B:470 22:45'>Mat 22:45</a>; <a href='B:490 2:11'>Luk 2:11</a>; <a href='B:490 6:46'>Luk 6:46</a>; <a href='B:500 13:13'>Joh 13:13</a>; <a href='B:500 13:14'>Joh 13:14</a>; <a href='B:530 8:6'>1Co 8:6</a> ). O kuriov, the Lord, is used of Christ by Matthew only once (xxi. 3) until after the resurrection (xxviii. 6). In the other gospels and in the Acts it occurs far oftener. Nevertheless, in the progress of Christian thought in the New Testament, the meaning develops toward a specific designation of the divine Savior, as may be seen in the phrases Jesus Christ our Lord, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Jesus our Lord.


text:
Daughter of Sion. Jerusalem. Compare daughter of Babylon for the city of Babylon (<a href='B:230 137:8'>Psa 137:8</a>; <a href='B:290 47:1'>Isa 47:1</a> ); daughter of Tyre for the city or people of Tyre (<a href='B:230 45:12'>Psa 45:12</a> ); daughter of my people (<a href='B:290 22:4'>Isa 22:4</a> ).<p/>Sitting [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#946; &#949; &#946; &#951; &#954; &#969; &#962;]. Lit., having gone upon, or mounted. Rev., riding.<p/>Foal of an ass [&#965; &#953; &#959; &#957; &#965; &#960; &#959; &#950; &#965; &#947; &#953; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., son of a beast - of - burden. Upozugion, from uJpo, beneath, zugov, a yoke. Wyc., son of a beast - under - yoke. The phrase emphasized the humble state of Jesus. He is mounted, not on a stately charger with embroidered and jewelled housings, nor even on an ass for the saddle, the Eastern ass being often of great beauty and spirit, and in demand for this purpose. He rides on a common beast - of - burden, furnished with the everyday garments of his disciples.<p/>Garments [&#953; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#945;]. Outer garments. See on <a href='B:470 5:40'>Mat 5:40</a>.


text:
Set him thereon. But the preferable reading is ejpekaqisen, he took his seat upon.<p/>A very great multitude [&#959; &#960; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#962; &#959; &#967; &#955; &#959; &#962;]. The A. V. is wrong. The reference is not to the size, but to the proportionate part of the multitude which followed him. Hence Rev., correctly, The most part of the multitude.<p/>Their garments [&#949; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., "their own garments." The disciples spread their garments on the beasts; the multitude strewed their own garments in the way. Dr. Edward Robinson, cited by Dr. Morison, speaking of the inhabitants of Bethlehem who had participated in the rebellion of 1834, says : "At that time, when some of the inhabitants were already imprisoned, and all were in deep distress, Mr. Farrar, then English consul at Damascus, was on a visit to Jerusalem, and had rode out with Mr. Nicolayson to Solomon's Pools. On their return, as they rose the ascent to enter Bethlehem, hundreds of people, male and female, met them, imploring the consul to interfere in their behalf, and afford them his protection; and all at once, by a sort of simultaneous movement, they spread their garments in the way before the horses."<p/>The variation of tenses is not preserved in the English versions. Spread their garments, aorist tense, denoting one definite act. Cut down, spread in the way, imperfects, denoting continued action. As Jesus advanced, they kept cutting branches and spreading them, and the multitude kept crying.


text:
Was moved [&#949; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#951;]. Moved is hardly strong enough. It is shaken as by an earthquake. Rev., stirred. As Morison happily observes, "a profounder ground - swell of feeling."


text:
The money - changers [&#954; &#959; &#955; &#955; &#965; &#946; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. From kollubov, the rate of exchange. These changers sat in the temple, in the court of the Gentiles, to change the foreign coins of pilgrims into the shekel of the sanctuary for payment of the annual tribute. See on <a href='B:470 17:24'>Mat 17:24</a>.


text:
Thieves [&#955; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. Rev., correctly, robbers. See on <a href='B:470 26:55'>Mat 26:55</a>; <a href='B:490 10:30'>Luk 10:30</a>.


text:
Say [&#955; &#949; &#947; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. The Rev. is more graphic, are saying. While the songs and shouts are rising, the priests turn angrily to Christ with the question, "Hearest thou what these are saying?"<p/>Thou has perfected [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#963; &#969;]. The same word as at <a href='B:470 4:21'>Mat 4:21</a>, where it is used of adjusting or mending nets. Its secondary meaning is to furnish completely, equip; hence to perfect. Thou has provided the perfection of praise. The quotation from <a href='B:230 8:2'>Psa 8:2</a>, follows the Septuagint, and not the Hebrew, which is, "Thou hast founded strength."


text:
A fig - tree [&#963; &#965; &#954; &#951; &#957; &#956; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Lit., one single fig - tree. Rev., in margin.<p/>Presently [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#967; &#961; &#951; &#956; &#945;]. Presently, in popular speech, has acquired something of a future force. I will do such a thing presently means, I will do it, not immediately, but soon. The rendering here was correct in the older English sense of instantly. So constantly in Shakspeare :<p/>" PROSPERO. Go, bring the rabble,<p/>O'er whom I gave thee pow'r, here, to this place.<p/>ARIEL. Presently?<p/>PROS. Ay, with a twink.


text:
Before you can say 'come, ' and 'go, ' And breathe twice; and cry 'so so; ' Each one tripping on his toe Will be here. "<p/>Tempest, 4 1.<p/>Compare ver. 20. "How did the fig - tree immediately wither away?" Rev.


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Repented [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. This is a different word from that in <a href='B:470 3:2'>Mat 3:2</a>; <a href='B:470 4:17'>Mat 4:17</a>; metanoeite, Repent ye. Though it is fairly claimed that the word here implies all that is implied in the other word, the New Testament writers evidently recognize a distinction, since the noun which corresponds to the verb in this passage [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#945;] is not used at all in the New Testament, and the verb itself only five times; and, in every case except the two in this passage (see ver. 32), with a meaning quite foreign to repentance in the ordinary gospel sense. Thus it is used of Judas, when he brought back the thirty pieces (<a href='B:470 27:3'>Mat 27:3</a> ); of Paul's not regretting his letter to the Corinthians (<a href='B:540 7:8'>2Co 7:8</a> ); and of God (<a href='B:650 7:21'>Heb 7:21</a> ). On the other hand, metanoew, repent, used by John and Jesus in their summons to repentance (<a href='B:470 3:2'>Mat 3:2</a>; <a href='B:470 4:17'>Mat 4:17</a> ), occurs thirty - four times, and the noun metanoia, repentance (<a href='B:470 3:8'>Mat 3:8</a>; <a href='B:470 3:11'>Mat 3:11</a> ), twenty - four times, and in every case with reference to that change of heart and life wrought by the Spirit of God, to which remission of sins and salvation are promised. It is not impossible, therefore, that the word in this passage may have been intended to carry a different shade of meaning, now lost to us. Metamelomai, as its etymology indicates (meta, after, and melw, to be an object of care), implies an after - care, as contrasted with the change of mind denoted by metanoia. Not sorrow for moral obliquity and sin against God, but annoyance at the consequences of an act or course of acts, and chagrin at not having known better. "It may be simply what our fathers were wont to call hadiwist (had - I - wist, or know better, I should have acted otherwise)" (Trench). Metameleia refers chiefly to single acts; metanoia denotes the repentance which affects the whole life. Hence the latter is often found in the imperative : Repent ye (<a href='B:470 3:2'>Mat 3:2</a>; iv.; 17; <a href='B:510 2:38'>Act 2:38</a>; <a href='B:510 3:19'>Act 3:19</a> ); the former never. Paul's recognition of the distinction (<a href='B:540 7:10'>2Co 7:10</a> ) is noteworthy. "Godly sorrow worketh repentance [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#945; &#957;] unto salvation," a salvation or repentance "which bringeth no regret on thinking of it afterwards" [&#945; &#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. There is no occasion for one ever to think better of either his repentance or the salvation in which it issued.


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Hedged it round about [&#966; &#961; &#945; &#947; &#956; &#959; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#960; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#949; &#952; &#951; &#954; &#949; &#957;]. Rev., more literally, set a hedge about it; possibly of the thorny wild aloe, common in the East.<p/>Digged a wine - press [&#969; &#961; &#965; &#958; &#949; &#957; &#955; &#951; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. In <a href='B:290 5:1'>Isa 5:1</a>; <a href='B:290 5:1'>Isa 5:1</a>, which this parable at once recalls, the Hebrew word rendered by the Septuagint and here digged, is hewed out, i e., from the solid rock. "Above the road on our left are the outlines of a wine - fat, one of the most complete and best preserved in the country. Here is the upper basin where the grapes were trodden and pressed. A narrow channel cut in the rock conveyed the juice into the lower basin, where it was allowed to settle; from there it was drawn off into a third and smaller basin. There is no mistaking the purpose for which those basin were excavated in the solid rock" (Thomson, " Land and Book ").<p/>A tower [&#960; &#965; &#961; &#947; &#959; &#957;]. For watchmen. Stanley (" Sinai and Palestine ") describes the ruins of vineyards in Judea as enclosures of loose stones, with the square gray tower at the corner of each. Allusions to these watching - places, temporary and permanent, are frequent in Scripture. Thus, "a booth in a vineyard" (<a href='B:290 1:8'>Isa 1:8</a> ). "The earth moveth to and fro like a hammock" (so Cheyne on Isaiah; A. V., cottage; Rev., hut), a vineyard - watchman's deserted hammock tossed to and fro by the storm (<a href='B:290 24:20'>Isa 24:20</a> ). So Job speaks of a booth which the keeper of a vineyard runneth up (xxvii. 18), a hut made of sticks and hung with mats, erected only for the harvest season on the field or vineyard, for the watchman who spreads his rude bed upon its high platform, and mounts guard against the robber and the beast. In Spain, where, especially in the South, the Orient has left its mark, not only upon architecture but also upon agricultural implements and methods, Archbishop Trench says that he has observed similar temporary structures erected for watchmen in the vineyards. The tower alluded to in this passage would seem to have been of a more permanent character (see Stanley above), and some have thought that it was intended not only for watching, but as a storehouse for the wine and a lodging for the workmen.<p/>Let it out [&#949; &#958; &#949; &#948; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. "There were three modes of dealing with land. According to one of these, the laborers employed received a certain portion of the fruits, say a third or a fourth of the produce. The other two modes were, either that the tenant paid a money - rent to the proprietor, or else that he agreed to give the owner a definite amount of the produce, whether the harvest had been good or bad. Such leases were given by the year or for life; sometimes the lease was even hereditary, passing from father to son. There can scarcely be a doubt that it is the latter kind of lease which is referred to in the parable : the lessees being bound to give the owner a certain amount of fruits in their season" (Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus "). Compare ver. 34, and <a href='B:480 12:2'>Mar 12:2</a>," that he might receive of the fruits " [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#954; &#945; &#961; &#960; &#969; &#957;].


text:
They will reverence [&#949; &#957; &#964; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The verb literally means to turn toward; hence to give heed to, pay respect to.


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He will miserably destroy those wicked men [&#954; &#945; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#954; &#945; &#954; &#969; &#962; &#945; &#960; &#959; &#955; &#949; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. There is a play upon the words which the A. V. missed and the Rev. preserves by rendering "miserably destroy those miserable men." So the Rheims version : "The naughty men will he bring to naught." Tynd., "He will evil destroy those evil persons." The order of the Greek words is also striking : Miserable men, miserably he will destroy them.<p/>Which [&#959; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#962;]. The compound Greek pronoun marks the character of the new husbandmen more distinctly than the simple which; husbandmen of such a character that, or belonging to that class of honest men who will give him his due.


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Shall be broken [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#952; &#955; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The verb is stronger : broken to pieces; so Rev.<p/>Grind him to powder [&#955; &#953; &#954; &#956; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. But the A. V. misses the picture in the word, which is that of the winnowing - fan that separates the grain from the chaff. Literally it is, will winnow him. Rev., scatter him as dust.


text:
Made a marriage [&#949; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. But the phrase refers to the marriage - feast, rather than to the marriage - ceremony. In <a href='B:190 9:22'>Est 9:22</a>, the word is used of feasting without any reference to a marriage. Rev., a marriage - feast.


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To call them that were bidden [&#954; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#963; &#945; &#953; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#954; &#949; &#954; &#955; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Perhaps an unconscious play on the words, lost in both A. V. and Rev., to call the called. This was according to the Oriental custom of sending a messenger, after the invitations have been issued, to notify the invited guests that the entertainment is prepared. Thus Esther invites Haman to a banquet on the morrow, and, at the actual time, the chamberlain comes to bring him to the feast (<a href='B:190 5:8'>Est 5:8</a>; <a href='B:190 6:14'>Est 6:14</a> ).


text:
Dinner [&#945; &#961; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. Not the principal meal of the day, but a noon - breakfast; luncheon.<p/>Fatlings [&#963; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#945;]. From sitov, corn, grain, or food generally. Properly animals especially fed up or fatted for a feast.


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Made light of it [&#945; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. Not in the sense of jeering. They simply gave it no heed.<p/>His farm [&#953; &#948; &#953; &#959; &#957; &#945; &#947; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., his own farm; bringing out the contrast between his selfish interest and the respect due to his king. Compare <a href='B:140 30:10'>2Ch 30:10</a>.


text:
Armies [&#963; &#964; &#961; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#965; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#945;]. Not in our grand sense of armies, but troops, soldiers. Compare <a href='B:490 23:11'>Luk 23:11</a>, where the word is rendered men of war; Rev., soldiers.


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Highways [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#958; &#959; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Literally, the word means a way out through; passage, outlet, thoroughfare. The idea of crossings grows out of the junction of the smaller cross - ways with the trunk roads.


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Was furnished [&#949; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#952; &#951;]. The Greek is stronger; was filled : so Rev.


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To see [&#952; &#949; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., somewhat stiffly, behold; but the idea is correct, as the verb denotes careful seeing, looking intently, inspection. See on <a href='B:470 11:7'>Mat 11:7</a>.


text:
Not having [&#956; &#951; &#949; &#967; &#969; &#957;]. It is hardly possible to convey the subtle sense of the negative particle [&#956; &#951;] to the English reader. A different word for not [&#959; &#965; &#954;] is used in the preceding verse, expressing an outward, objective fact which attracted the king's notice. The man had not [&#959; &#965; &#954;] a wedding garment. When the king addresses the guest, he is thinking not so much of the outward token of disrespect, as of the guest's mental attitude toward the proprieties of the occasion. It is as if he had said, "What were you thinking of, where was your respect for me and for my guests, when you allowed yourself to come hither not [&#956; &#951;] having the proper garment, as you knew you ought to have?" It implies, as Dr. Morison observes, that the man was conscious of the omission when he entered, and was intentionally guilty of the neglect. This distinction between the two negative particles rests on the law of the Greek language, according to which ouj and its compounds stand where something is to be denied as a matter of fact, and mh and its compounds when something is to be denied as a matter of thought.<p/>He was speechless [&#949; &#966; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#952; &#951;]. Lit., he was muzzled or gagged. It is used of muzzling the ox (<a href='B:610 5:18'>1Ti 5:18</a> ), and is addressed by Christ to the demon (<a href='B:480 1:25'>Mar 1:25</a> ), and to the raging sea (<a href='B:480 4:39'>Mar 4:39</a> ). Peter uses it of putting the ignorant and foolish to silence (<a href='B:670 2:15'>1Pe 2:15</a> ).<p/>The outer darkness. See on <a href='B:470 8:12'>Mat 8:12</a>.


text:
Entangle [&#960; &#945; &#947; &#953; &#948; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#969; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. From pagiv, a trap or snare. Better, therefore, Rev., ensnare.


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Tribute - money [&#957; &#959; &#956; &#953; &#963; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#954; &#951; &#957; &#963; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., the current coin of tribute, which was paid not in Jewish but in Roman money. See on ch. <a href='B:470 17:25'>Mat 17:25</a>, tribute.<p/>A penny. See on <a href='B:470 20:2'>Mat 20:2</a>.


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Image and superscription [&#949; &#953; &#954; &#969; &#957; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#949; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#961; &#945; &#966; &#951;]. Images on coins were not approved by the Jews. Out of respect to this prejudice none of the earlier Herods had his own image impressed on them. Herod Agrippa 1, who murdered James and imprisoned Peter, introduced the practice. The coin shown to Christ must either have been struck in Rome, or else was one of the Tetrarch Philip, who was the first to introduce the image of Caesar on strictly Jewish coins.


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Shall marry [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#945; &#956; &#946; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. From gambrov, a word used in classical Greek to denote any one connected by marriage : a brother - in - law, father - in - law, even a bridegroom. The word is appropriate here because it refers to marriage between marriage - relatives.


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Put to silence [&#949; &#966; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. There is a kind of grim humor in the use of this word : he had muzzled the Sadducees. Compare ver. 12.


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Which is the great commandment [&#960; &#959; &#953; &#945; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#955; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#951;]. The A. V. and Rev. alike miss the point of this question, which is : which kind of command is great in the law ? That is, what kind of a commandment must it be to constitute it a great one? Not, which commandment is greatest as compared with the others? The scribes declared that there were 248 affirmative precepts, as many as the members of the human body; and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year; the total being 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue. Of these they called some light and some heavy. Some thought that the law about the fringes on the garments was the greatest; some that the omission of washings was as bad as homicide; some that the third commandment was the greatest. It was in view of this kind of distinction that the scribe asked the question; not as desiring a declaration as to which commandment was greatest, but as wanting to know the principle upon which a commandment was to be regarded as a great commandment.


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Moses ' seat [&#954; &#945; &#952; &#949; &#948; &#961; &#945; &#962;]. Or chair, as Wyc., in allusion to the practice of teachers sitting.


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To be seen [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#952; &#949; &#945; &#952; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#953;]. See <a href='B:470 6:1'>Mat 6:1</a>, where the same word occurs. The scribes and Pharisees deport themselves with a view to being contemplated as actors in a theatre; so that men may fix their gaze upon them admiringly.<p/>Phylacteries - Borders of their garments [&#966; &#965; &#955; &#945; &#954; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#961; &#945; &#963; &#960; &#949; &#948; &#945;]. Phylacteries, called by the Rabbis tephillin, prayer - fillets, were worn on the left arm, toward the heart, and on the forehead. They were capsules containing on parchment these four passages of Scripture : <a href='B:20 13:1-10'>Exo 13:1-10</a>; <a href='B:20 13:11-16'>Exo 13:11-16</a>; <a href='B:50 6:4-9'>Deu 6:4-9</a>; <a href='B:50 11:13-21'>Deu 11:13-21</a>. That for the head was to consist of a box with four compartments, each containing a slip of parchment inscribed with one of the four passages. Each of these slips was to be tied up with well - washed hair from a calf's tail; lest, if tied with wool or thread, any fungoid growth should ever pollute them. The phylactery of the arm was to contain a single slip, with the same our passages written in four columns of seven lines each. The black leather straps by which they were fastened were wound seven times round the arm and three times round the hand. They were reverenced by the Rabbis as highly as the scriptures, and, like them, might be rescued from the flames on a Sabbath. They profanely imagined that God wore the tephillin.<p/>The Greek word transcribed phylacteries in our version is from fulassw, to watch or guard. It means originally a guarded post, a fort; then, generally, a safeguard or preservative, and therefore an amulet. Sir J. Cheke renders guards. They were treated as such by the Rabbis. It is said, for instance, that the courtiers of a certain king, intending to kill a Rabbi, were deterred by seeing that the straps of his phylacteries shone like bands of fire. It was also said that they prevented all hostile demons from injuring any Israelite. See on <a href='B:470 9:20'>Mat 9:20</a>, for borders.


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The uppermost rooms [&#960; &#961; &#969; &#964; &#959; &#954; &#955; &#953; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Rev., more correctly, the chief place, the foremost couch or uppermost place on the divan.


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Rabbi. My master. In addressing Jesus, didaskalov (teacher) answers to Rabbi. Compare <a href='B:500 1:39'>Joh 1:39</a>; <a href='B:490 2:46'>Luk 2:46</a>.


text:
Father [&#960; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#945;]. Aimed at those who courted the title Abba, or Father. Compare the title Papa - Pope.


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Hypocrites [&#965; &#960; &#959; &#954; &#961; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. From uJpokrinw, to separate gradually; so of separating the truth from a mass of falsehood, and thence to subject to inquiry, and, as a result of this, to expound or interpret what is elicited. Then, to reply to inquiry, and so to answer on the state, to speak in dialogue, to act. From this the transition is easy to assuming, feigning, playing a part. The hypocrite is, therefore, etymologically, an actor.<p/>Against [&#949; &#956; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#952; &#949; &#957;]. Very graphic. The preposition means before, or in the face of. They shut the door in men's faces.


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He is guilty [&#959; &#966; &#949; &#953; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. In the rendering of this word the A. V. seems to have been shaped by the earlier and now obsolete sense of guilt, which was probably a fine or payment. Compare Anglo - Saxon gyld, a recompense, and German geld, money. There is a hint of this sense in Shakspeare, Henry Xiv (Second Part), <a href='B:510 4'>Act 4:0</a> Sc. 4<p/>"England shall double gild his treble guilt,"<p/>where the play upon the words hovers between the sense of bedeck and recompense. Wyc. renders oweth, and Tynd., he is debtor. Rev., he is a debtor.


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Ye Tithe [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#948; &#949; &#954; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#949;]. ajpo, from, dekatow, to take a tenth. Tithe is tenth; also in older English, tethe, as tethe hest, the tenth commandment. A tething was a district containing ten families.<p/>Mint [&#951; &#948; &#965; &#959; &#963; &#956; &#959; &#957;]. hJduv, sweet, ojsmh, smell. A favorite plant in the East, with which the floors of dwelling and synagogues were sometimes strewn.<p/>Anise - Cummin [&#945; &#957; &#951; &#952; &#959; &#957; &#954; &#965; &#956; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. Rev. renders anise, dill in margin. Used as condiments. The tithe of these plants would be very small; but to exact it would indicate scrupulous conscientiousness. The Talmud tells of the ass of a certain Rabbi which had been so well trained as to refuse corn of which the tithes had not been taken.<p/>Faith [&#960; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#957;]. Rather faithfulness, as in <a href='B:520 3:3'>Rom 3:3</a>, Rev. <a href='B:550 5:22'>Gal 5:22</a>, Rev.


text:
Strain at [&#948; &#953; &#965; &#955; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. dia, thoroughly or through, and uJlizw, to filter or strain. Strain at is an old misprint perpetuated. Hence the Rev. correctly, as Tynd., strain out. Insects were ceremonially unclean (<a href='B:30 11:20'>Lev 11:20</a>; <a href='B:30 11:23'>Lev 11:23</a>; <a href='B:30 11:41'>Lev 11:41</a>; <a href='B:30 11:42'>Lev 11:42</a> ), so that the Jews strained their wine in order not to swallow any unclean animal. Moreover, there were certain insects which bred in wine. Aristotle uses the word gnat [&#954; &#969; &#957; &#969; &#960; &#945;] of a worm or larva found in the sediment of sour wine. "In a ride from Tangier to Tetuan I observed that a Moorish soldier who accompanied me, when he drank, always unfolded the end of his turban and placed it over the mouth of this bota, drinking through the mulin to strain out the gnats, whose larvae swarm in the water of that country" (cited by Trench, " On the Authorized Version ").<p/>Swallow [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#960; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. The rendering is feeble. It is drink down [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945;]; gulp. Note that the camel was also unclean (<a href='B:30 11:4'>Lev 11:4</a> ).


text:
Platter [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#959; &#968; &#953; &#948; &#959; &#962;]. para, beside, oyon, meat. A side - dish, with the accompanying sense of something dainty; later, as here, the dish itself as distinguished from its contents.<p/>Excess [&#945; &#954; &#961; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#962;]. aj, not, kratov, power. Hence conduct which shows a want of power over one's self : incontinence or intemperance..


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Whited sepulchres [&#964; &#945; &#966; &#959; &#953; &#962; &#954; &#949; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. Not the rock - tombs, belonging mostly to the rich, but the graves covered with plastered structures. In general, cemeteries were outside of cities; but any dead body found in the field was to be buried on the spot where it had been discovered. A pilgrim to the Passover, for instance, might easily come upon such a grave in his journey, and contract uncleanness by the contact (<a href='B:40 19:16'>Num 19:16</a> ). It was therefore ordered that all sepulchres should be whitewashed a month before Passover, in order to make them conspicuous, so that travelers might avoid ceremonial defilement. The fact that this general whitewashing was going on at the time when Jesus administered this rebuke to the Pharisees gave point to the comparison. The word kekoniamenoiv (whitened, from koniv, dust) carries the idea of whitening with a powder, as powdered lime.


text:
Tombs of the prophets. By this name are called four monuments at the base of the Mount of Olives, in the valley of Jehosaphat; called at present the tombs of Zechariah, Absalom, Jehosaphat, and St. James. Two of them are monoliths cut out of the solid rock; the others are merely excavations, with ornamental portals. "They appear," says Dr. Thomson, "to be quite extensive, consisting of winding or semicircular galleries, passing under the mountain more than a hundred feet from east to west, and terminating in a rotunda about eighty feet from the entrance. There is no authority for the name which they commonly bear." Possibly they were in sight of our Lord when he spoke, and were pointed to by him. The reference would be all the more telling, if, as has been conjectured, the Pharisees were engaged in constructing the tombs of Zechariah and Absalom at the time that the Lord addressed them, and that the chambered sepulchres of James and Jehosaphat, lying between those two, were the sepulchres which they were garnishing at their entrances.


text:
Temple [&#957; &#945; &#959; &#965;]. Rev., rightly, sanctuary. See on <a href='B:470 4:5'>Mat 4:5</a>. Zechariah was slain between the temple proper and the altar of burnt - offering, in the priests ' court.


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Hen [&#959; &#961; &#957; &#953; &#962;]. Generic : bird or fowl; but hen is used generically of the mother - bird of all species.


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Went out and departed from the temple [&#949; &#958; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#969; &#957; &#945; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#953; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#949; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. Rev., better : Went out from the temple and was going on his way. The temple, iJerou, not naou : the whole of the buildings connected with the temple, all of which, including the naov, or sanctuary, and the porches and courts, constituted the iJeron. See on <a href='B:470 4:5'>Mat 4:5</a>.


text:
Coming [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#962;]. Originally, presence, from pareinai, to be present. In this sense <a href='B:570 2:12'>Phi 2:12</a>; <a href='B:540 10:10'>2Co 10:10</a>. Also arrival, as in <a href='B:530 16:17'>1Co 16:17</a>; <a href='B:540 7:6'>2Co 7:6</a>; <a href='B:540 7:7'>2Co 7:7</a>; <a href='B:600 2:9'>2Th 2:9</a>; <a href='B:680 3:12'>2Pe 3:12</a>. Of the second coming of Christ : <a href='B:660 5:8'>Jas 5:8</a>; <a href='B:690 2:28'>1Jn 2:28</a>; <a href='B:680 3:4'>2Pe 3:4</a>; <a href='B:590 4:15'>1Th 4:15</a>.<p/>Of the world [&#945; &#953; &#969; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Rather the existing, current age. They do not ask the signs of the Messiah's coming at the end of all time, to judge the world.


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In my name [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#969; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., on my name, i e., on the strength of; resting their claims on the name Messiah.


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Shall abound [&#960; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#965; &#957; &#952; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., shall be multiplied. See <a href='B:510 6:1'>Act 6:1</a>; <a href='B:510 6:7'>Act 6:7</a>; <a href='B:510 7:17'>Act 7:17</a>; <a href='B:510 9:31'>Act 9:31</a>; <a href='B:650 6:14'>Heb 6:14</a>.<p/>Of many [&#964; &#969; &#957; &#960; &#959; &#955; &#955; &#969; &#957;]. The A. V. in omitting the definite article, misses the force of Christ's saying. It is not the love of many people only that shall be chilled, but of the many, the majority, the great body. Wax cold [&#968; &#965; &#947; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The verb means originally to breathe or blow; and the picture is that of spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind.


text:
World [&#964; &#951; &#959; &#953; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#951;]. Lit., the inhabited. The whole inhabitable globe. Rev., in margin, inhabited earth.


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Abomination of desolation [&#946; &#948; &#949; &#955; &#965; &#947; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#951; &#962; &#949; &#961; &#951; &#956; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#969; &#962;]. The cognate verb, bdelussomai, means to feel a nausea or loathing for food : hence used of disgust generally. In a moral sense it denotes an object of moral or religious repugnance. See <a href='B:140 14:8'>2Ch 14:8</a>; <a href='B:300 13:27'>Jer 13:27</a>; <a href='B:330 11:21'>Eze 11:21</a>; <a href='B:340 9:27'>Dan 9:27</a>; <a href='B:340 11:31'>Dan 11:31</a>. It is used as equivalent to idol in <a href='B:110 11:17'>1Ki 11:17</a>; <a href='B:50 7:26'>Deu 7:26</a>; <a href='B:120 23:13'>2Ki 23:13</a>. It denotes anything in which estrangement from God manifests itself; as the eating of unclean beasts, <a href='B:30 11:11'>Lev 11:11</a>; <a href='B:50 14:3'>Deu 14:3</a>; and, generally, all forms of heathenism. This moral sense must be emphasized in the New Testament used of the word. Compare <a href='B:490 16:15'>Luk 16:15</a>; <a href='B:730 17:4'>Rev 17:4</a>; <a href='B:730 17:5'>Rev 17:5</a>; <a href='B:730 21:27'>Rev 21:27</a>. It does not denote mere physical or aesthethic disgust. The reference here is probably to the occupation of the temple precincts by the idolatrous Romans under Titus, with their standards and ensigns. Josephus says that, after the burning of the temple the Romans brought their ensigns and set them over against the eastern gate, and there they offered sacrifices to them, and declared Titus, with acclamations, to be emperor.


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Him which is on the house - top [&#959; &#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#948; &#969; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. From roof to roof there might be a regular communication, called by the Rabbis "the road of the roofs." Thus a person could make his escape passing from roof to roof, till, at the last house, he would descend the stairs on the outside of the house, but within the exterior court. The urgency of the flight is enhanced by the fact that the stairs lead into this court. "Though you must pass by the very door of your room, do not enter to take anything out. Escape for your life."


text:
Should be shortened [&#949; &#954; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#946; &#969; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. Rev., had been shortened. A very picturesque word. The verb is, literally, to dock, to cut off, leaving a stump, as a limb. Wyc., abridged. As a fact, various causes did combine to shorten the siege. Herod Agrippa was stopped in his work of strengthening the walls by orders from the emperor; the Jews, absorbed in their party strifes, had totally neglected preparations to stand a siege; the magazines of corn and provisions were burnt before the arrival of Titus. Titus arrived suddenly, and the Jews voluntarily abandoned parts of the fortification. Titus himself confessed that God was against the Jews, since otherwise neither his armies nor his engines would have availed against their defences.


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Signs and wonders [&#963; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#964; &#945;]. See on <a href='B:470 11:20'>Mat 11:20</a>. The two words often joined in the New Testament. See <a href='B:500 4:48'>Joh 4:48</a>; <a href='B:510 2:22'>Act 2:22</a>; <a href='B:510 4:30'>Act 4:30</a>; <a href='B:540 12:12'>2Co 12:12</a>. The words do not denote different classes of supernatural manifestations, but these manifestations regarded from different points of view. The same miracle may be a mighty work, or a glorious work, regarded with reference to its power and grandeur; or a sign of the doer's supernatural power; or a wonder, as it appeals to the spectator. Terav (derivation uncertain) is a miracle regarded as a portent or prodigy, awakening amazement. It most nearly corresponds, therefore, to the etymological sense of the word miracle (Lat., miraculum, a wonderful thing, from mirari, to wonder).


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In the desert - Secret chambers. Rev., wilderness - inner chambers. Both retired places, indicating that the false Messiahs will avoid public scrutiny.


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Shineth [&#966; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., better, is seen. The coming of the Lord will be a plain, unmistakable fact, like the lightning which lightens both ends of the heaven at once, and is seen of all. It will not be connected with some particular place, but will manifest itself and be recognized over the whole world. Compare <a href='B:730 1:7'>Rev 1:7</a> : "Every eye shall see him."


text:
Carcase [&#960; &#964; &#969; &#956; &#945;]. From piptw, to fall. Originally a fall, and thence a fallen body; a corpse. Compare Lat. cadaver, from cado, to fall. See <a href='B:480 6:29'>Mar 6:29</a>; <a href='B:730 11:8'>Rev 11:8</a>. On the saying itself, compare <a href='B:220 39:30'>Job 39:30</a>.<p/>Eagles [&#945; &#949; &#964; &#959; &#953;]. Rev. puts vultures in margin. The griffon vulture is meant, which surpasses the eagle in size and power. Aristotle notes how this bird scents its prey from afar, and congregates in the wake of an army. In the Russian war vast numbers were collected in the Crimea, and remained until the end of the campaign in the neighborhood of the camp, although previously scarcely know in the country.


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Mourn [&#954; &#959; &#968; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Stronger : beat their breasts in anguish.


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With a great sound of a trumpet [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#955; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#947; &#959; &#962; &#966; &#969; &#957; &#951; &#962; &#956; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#951; &#962;]. Some read with a great trumpet. The blowing of trumpets was anciently the signal for the host of Israel on their march through the desert. I summoned to war, and proclaimed public festivals, and marked the beginnings of months; <a href='B:40 10:1-10'>Num 10:1-10</a>; <a href='B:230 81:3'>Psa 81:3</a>. Hence the symbolism of the New Testament. Jehovah's people shall be summoned before their king by sound of trumpet. Compare the proclamation of Christ as king at the trumpet of the seventh angel, <a href='B:730 11:15'>Rev 11:15</a>.


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A parable [&#964; &#951; &#957; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#951; &#957;]. More strictly, the parable which she has to teach. Rightly, therefore, Rev., her parable.<p/>Branch [&#954; &#955; &#945; &#948; &#959; &#962;]. From klaw, to break. Hence a young slip or shoot, such as is broken off for grafting. Such were the "branches" which were cut down and strewed in the Lord's path by the multitudes (<a href='B:470 21:8'>Mat 21:8</a> ).


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Shall be taken - left. Both verbs are in the present tense, which makes the saying more lively. One is taken and one if left. So Rev.


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The mill [&#964; &#969; &#956; &#965; &#955; &#969;]. The ordinary hand - mill with a handle fixed near the edge of the upper stone, which is turned by two women.


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What hour. Later texts, however, read hJmera, day. poia hJmera, in what kind of day, whether a near or a remote one. Similarly ver 43 ejn poia fulakh, in what kind of a watch, whether a night or a morning watch.


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Would come [&#949; &#961; &#967; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., was coming. But the present is graphically thrown in as in vv. 40, 41 is coming or cometh.<p/>Broken up [&#948; &#953; &#959; &#961; &#965; &#947; &#951; &#957; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., broken through. See on <a href='B:470 6:19'>Mat 6:19</a>. Wyc., undermined.


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In due season [&#949; &#962; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#961; &#969;]. At the regular hours which his Lord observes when at home; and not delaying because he thinks that his Lord delayeth his coming (ver. 48), but doing his duty in its appointed time.


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Lamps [&#955; &#945; &#956; &#960; &#945; &#948; &#945; &#962;]. Lit., torches. Probably a short, wooden stem held in the hand, with a dish at the top, in which was a piece of cloth dipped in oil or pitch.


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They that were foolish [&#945; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#962; &#956; &#969; &#961; &#945; &#953;]. Read aiJ gar mwrai, for the foolish. The for justifies the epithet foolish in the preceding verse.


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Slumbered and slept [&#949; &#957; &#965; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#958; &#945; &#957; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#949; &#954; &#945; &#952; &#949; &#965; &#948; &#959; &#957;]. Slumbered is, literally, nodded. Note the variation of tense. Nodded is aorist, denoting a transient act, the initial stage of slumber. They dropped their heads. Slept is imperfect, of continuous slumber.


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There was a cry made [&#954; &#961; &#945; &#965; &#947; &#951; &#947; &#949; &#947; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#957;]. Rev., there is a cry. The verb is in the perfect tense, representing the past event as perpetuated in the present result, and hence is rendered by the English present. A great and decisive change was the result of the cry. No more sleeping, waiting, or silence. There is a cry, and behold the awaking, the bustle, the trimming of lamps and the running to the oil - vendors.<p/>To meet him [&#949; &#953; &#962; &#945; &#960; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#951; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. The translation can hardly convey the meaning of the Greek phrase, which implies a custom or familiar ceremony. Come forth unto meeting.


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Then all those virgins arose [&#964; &#959; &#964; &#949; &#951; &#947; &#949; &#961; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#960; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#953; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#953;]. The Greek order is expressive. Then arose all the virgins, those former ones. Those [&#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#953;] a pronoun of remoter reference, and emphatic by its position at the end of the sentence.<p/>Trimmed [&#949; &#954; &#959; &#963; &#956; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. From kosmov, order, and meaning to put in order or arrange. Tynd., prepared. Trench (" Parables ") quotes from Ward (" View of the Hindoos "), describing a marriage ceremony in India :<p/>"After waiting two or three hours, at length near midnight it was announced, was in the very words of Scripture, 'Behold the bridegroom cometh; go yet out to meet him. ' All the person employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their hands to fill up their stations in the procession. Some of them had lost their lights, and were unprepared, but it was then too late to seek them, and the cavalcade moved forward."<p/>Their lamps [&#949; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., "their own lamps;" emphasizing the personal preparation in contrast with the foolish, who depended for supply on their fellows.


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Are gone out [&#963; &#946; &#949; &#957; &#957; &#965; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The A. V. misses the graphic force of the continuous present, denoting something in progress. They see the flame waning and flickering, and cry, Our lamps are going out! So Rev.


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Not so, lest, etc. [&#956; &#951; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#949; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#951; &#945; &#961; &#954; &#949; &#963; &#951;]. The Greek does not give the blunt negative of the A. V. It is a more courteous form of refusal, making the reason for refusing to supply the place of the negative. Give us of your oil, say the foolish. The wise reply, Lest perchance there be not by any means [&#959; &#965; &#956; &#951;, &#964; &#951; &#949; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#946; &#955; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#962; &#949;] enough. The Rev. gives it very happily. Per adventure there will not be enough, etc.


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And while they went [&#945; &#960; &#949; &#961; &#967; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#969; &#957;]. A present participle, and very graphic : while they are going away.<p/>They that were ready [&#945; &#953; &#949; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#953;]. Lit., the ready or prepared ones.<p/>To the marriage [&#947; &#945; &#956; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Marriage - feast, as <a href='B:470 22:2'>Mat 22:2</a>; <a href='B:470 22:3'>Mat 22:3</a>; <a href='B:470 22:4'>Mat 22:4</a>; and so Rev.


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Lord, Lord. Applying directly to the bridegroom, whose will was supreme, not that he had arrived at the bride's residence.


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Travelling [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#948; &#951; &#956; &#969; &#957;]. The sense is more nearly about to travel, like our going abroad.


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Several ability [&#953; &#948; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Lit., his own or peculiar capacity for business.


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Straightway [&#949; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#969; &#962;]. Connected with the beginning of this verse, instead of with the end of ver 14 Straightway he that had received, etc., indicating promptness on the servant's part.<p/>Traded with them [&#951; &#961; &#947; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#949; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. Lit., wrought with them. The virgins wait, the servants work.<p/>Made [&#949; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. Not made them, as A. V. The word is used in our sense of make money. Wyc. and Tynd., won. Geneva, gained. Some read ejkerdhsen, gained, as in ver. 17.


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Hard [&#963; &#954; &#955; &#951; &#961; &#959; &#962;]. Stronger than the austere [&#945; &#965; &#963; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#959; &#962;] of <a href='B:490 19:21'>Luk 19:21</a> (see there), which is sometimes used in a good sense, as this never is. It is an epithet given to a surface which is at once dry and hard.<p/>Strawed [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#963; &#954; &#959; &#961; &#960; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#962;]. Rev., didst scatter. Not referring to the sowing of seed, for that would be saying the same thing twice. The scattering refers to the winnowing of the loosened sheaves spread out upon the threshing - floor. "The word," as Trench observes "could scarcely be applied to the measured and orderly scattering of the sower's seed. It is rather the dispersing, making to fly in every direction." Hence used of the pursuit of a routed enemy (<a href='B:490 1:51'>Luk 1:51</a> ); of the prodigal scattering his good; making the money fly, as we say (<a href='B:490 14:13'>Luk 14:13</a> ); of the wolf scattering the sheep (<a href='B:470 26:31'>Mat 26:31</a> ). Wyc., spread abroad.


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That is thine [&#964; &#959; &#963; &#959; &#957;]. The Greek is more concise, and is better given by Rev., Lo, thou hast thine own.


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Slothful. With no more trouble than he expended in digging, he might have gone to the exchangers. The verse should be read interrogatively, Didst thou indeed know this of me? Thou shouldst then have acted with the promptness and care which one observes in dealing with a hard master. To omit the interrogation is to make the Lord admit that he was a hard master.


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Put [&#946; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. Lit., throw or fling down, as one would throw a bag of coin upon the exchanger's table.<p/>Exchangers [&#964; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#950; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#953; &#962;]. Taking their name from the table or counter at which they sat [&#964; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#950; &#945;]. The Jewish bankers bore precisely the same name.<p/>Usury [&#964; &#959; &#954; &#969;]. A very graphic word, meaning first childbirth, and then offspring. Hence of interest, which is the product or offspring of capital. Originally it was only what was paid for the use of money; hence usury; but it became synonymous with extortionate interest. Rev., better, with interest. The Jewish law distinguished between interest and increase. In Rome very high interest seems to have been charged in early times. Practically usury was unlimited. It soon became the custom to charge monthly interest at one per cent a month. During the early empire legal interest stood at eight per cent, but in usurious transactions it was lent at twelve, twenty - four, and even forty - eight. The Jewish bankers of Palestine and elsewhere were engaged in the same undertakings. The law of Moses denounced usury in the transactions of Hebrews with Hebrews, but permitted it in dealing with strangers (<a href='B:50 23:19'>Deu 23:19</a>; <a href='B:50 23:20'>Deu 23:20</a>; <a href='B:230 14:5'>Psa 14:5</a> ).


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All the nations [&#960; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#949; &#952; &#957; &#951;]. The whole human race; though the word is generally employed in the New Testament to denote Gentiles as distinguished from Jews.<p/>Separate them [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Masculine, while the word nations is neuter. Nations are regarded as gathered collectively; but in contemplating the act of separation the Lord regards the individuals.<p/>The sheep from the goats (or kids, so Rev. in margin). "The bald division of men into sheep and goats is, in one sense, so easy as not to be worth performing; and in another sense it is so hard as only to be possible for something with supernatural insight" (John Morley, " Voltaire "). Goats are an appropriate figure, because the goat was regarded as a comparatively worthless animal. Hence the point of the elder son's complaint in the parable of the Prodigal : Not so much as a kid (<a href='B:490 14:29'>Luk 14:29</a> ). The diminutive [&#949; &#961; &#953; &#966; &#953; &#945;] expresses contempt.


text:
Goats [&#949; &#961; &#953; &#966; &#953; &#945;]. Diminutive. Lit., kidlings. The sheep and goats are represented as having previously pastured together. Compare the parables of the Tares and the Net.<p/>On the right [&#949; &#954; &#948; &#949; &#958; &#953; &#969; &#957;]. Lit., from the right side or parts. The picture to the Greek reader is that of a row, beginning at the judge's right hand.


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Ye took me in [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#951; &#947; &#945; &#947; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#956; &#949;]. Tynd., I was harbourless and ye lodged me. The preposition sun implies along with. Ye took me with you into the household circle.


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Visited [&#949; &#960; &#949; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#968; &#945; &#963; &#952; &#949;]. Lit., Ye looked upon. 6 Our word visit is from the Latin viso, to look steadfastly at, and thence to visit. We retain the original thought in the popular phrases to see one, and to look in upon one.


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The least. The word in the Greek order is emphatic : One of these my brethren, the least. So Rev., even these least.


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Is betrayed [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#959; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The present tense expresses here something which, though future, is as good as present, because already determined, or because it must ensue in virtue of an unalterable law. Thus the passover is [&#947; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;] : it must come round at the fixed season. The Son of Man is betrayed according to the divine decree. Compare ver. 24.


text:
Palace [&#945; &#965; &#955; &#951; &#957;]. But the word never means palace in the New Testament. It is the court, the open court or hall, forming the center of an oriental building, and often used as a meeting - place. Rev., court. Wyc., hall.


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An alabaster box [&#945; &#955; &#945; &#946; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., cruse; flask in margin. Lit., an alabaster, just as we call a drinking - vessel made of glass a glass. Luther renders glass. It was a kind of cruet, having a cylindrical form at the top. Pliny compares these vessels to a closed rosebud, and says that ointments are best preserved in them.


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To what purpose is this waste? Wyc., Where to this loss? Tynd., What needed this waste? See on <a href='B:500 12:3'>Joh 12:3</a>.


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When Jesus understood it [&#947; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#948; &#949; &#959; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. The A. V. implies that some time elapsed before Jesus was aware of the disciples ' complaint. But the statement is that Jesus perceived it at once. Rev., rightly, Jesus perceiving it.<p/>Good work [&#954; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#957;]. Lit., beautiful, but in a moral sense : an excellent, morally beautiful deed.


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What will ye give? [&#964; &#953; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#956; &#959; &#953; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#953; ?] Rather, What are ye willing to give me? It brings out the chaffering aspect of the transaction. So Rev.<p/>They covenanted with him for [&#949; &#963; &#964; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969;]. But the meaning is, they weighed unto him; or, very literally, they placed for him (in the balance). Although coined shekels were in circulation, weighing appears to have been practiced, especially when considerable sums were paid out of the temple - treasury.<p/>Thirty pieces of silver [&#964; &#961; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#945; &#961; &#947; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#945;]. Matthew refers to <a href='B:450 11:12'>Zec 11:12</a>. These pieces were shekels of the sanctuary, of standard weight, and therefore heavier than the ordinary shekel. See on <a href='B:470 17:24'>Mat 17:24</a>. Reckoning the Jerusalem shekel at seventy - two cents, the sum would be twenty - one dollars and sixty cents. This was the price which, by the Mosaic law, a man was condemned to pay if his ox should gore a servant (<a href='B:20 21:32'>Exo 21:32</a> ). Our Lord, the sacrifice for men, was paid for out of the temple - money, destined for the purchase of sacrifices. He who "took on him the firm of a servant" was sold at the legal price of a slave.


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Such a man [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#948; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#945;]. The indefiniteness is the Evangelist 's, not our Lord 's. He, doubtless, described the person and where to find him.


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He sat down [&#945; &#957; &#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#964; &#959;]. But this rendering missed the force of the imperfect tense, which denotes something in progress. The Evangelist says he was sitting or reclining, introducing us to something which has been going on for some time.


text:
Began to say [&#951; &#961; &#958; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#959;]. Denoting the commencement of a series of questions; one after the other (every one) saying, Is it I?<p/>Is it I? [&#956; &#951; &#964; &#953; &#949; &#947; &#969; &#949; &#953; &#956; &#953;]. The form of the negative expects a negative answer. "Surely I am not the one."


text:
The dish [&#964; &#961; &#965; &#946; &#955; &#953; &#969;]. Wyc., platter. A dish containing a broth made with nuts, raisins, dates, figs, etc., into which pieces of bread were dipped.


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Which betrayed [&#959; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. The article with the participle has the force of an epithet : The betrayer.


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Testament [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#952; &#951; &#954; &#951; &#962;]. From diatiqhmi, to distribute; dispose of. Hence of the disposition of one's property. On the idea of disposing or arranging is based that of settlement or agreement, and thence of a covenant. The Hebrew word of which this is a translation is primarily covenant, from a verb meaning to cut. Hence the phrase, to make a covenant, in connection with dividing the victims slain in ratification of covenants (<a href='B:10 14:9-18'>Gen 14:9-18</a> ). Covenant is the general Old Testament sense of the word (<a href='B:110 20:34'>1Ki 20:34</a>; <a href='B:290 28:15'>Isa 28:15</a>; <a href='B:90 18:3'>1Sa 18:3</a> ); and so in the New Testament. Compare <a href='B:480 14:24'>Mar 14:24</a>; <a href='B:490 1:72'>Luk 1:72</a>; <a href='B:490 22:20'>Luk 22:20</a>; <a href='B:510 3:25'>Act 3:25</a>; <a href='B:510 7:8'>Act 7:8</a>. Bishop Lightfoot, on <a href='B:550 3:15'>Gal 3:15</a>, observes that the word is never found in the New Testament in any other sense that that of covenant, with the exception of <a href='B:650 9:15-17'>Heb 9:15-17</a>, where it is testament. We cannot admit this exception, since we regard that passage as one of the best illustrations of the sense of covenant. See on <a href='B:650 9:15-17'>Heb 9:15-17</a>. Render here as Rev., covenant.<p/>Is shed [&#949; &#954; &#967; &#965; &#957; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. The present participle, is being shed. Christ's thought goes forward to the consummation.


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New [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. Another adjective, neon, is employed to denote new wine in the sense of freshly - made (<a href='B:470 9:17'>Mat 9:17</a>; <a href='B:480 2:22'>Mar 2:22</a>; <a href='B:490 5:37'>Luk 5:37</a>; <a href='B:490 5:38'>Luk 5:38</a>; <a href='B:490 5:39'>Luk 5:39</a> ). The difference is between newness regarded in point of time or of quality. The young, for instance, who have lately sprung up, are neoi or newteroi (<a href='B:490 14:12'>Luk 14:12</a>; <a href='B:490 14:13'>Luk 14:13</a> ). The new garment (<a href='B:490 5:36'>Luk 5:36</a> ) is contrasted as to quality with a worn and threadbare one. Hence kainou. So a new heaven (<a href='B:680 3:13'>2Pe 3:13</a> ) is kainov, contrasted with that which shows signs of dissolution. The tomb in which the body of Jesus was laid was kainon (<a href='B:470 27:60'>Mat 27:60</a> ); in which no other body had lain, making it ceremonially unclean; not recently hewn. Trench (" Synonyms ") cites a passage from Polybius, relating a stratagem by which a town was nearly taken, and saying "we are still new [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#953;] and young [&#962; &#949; &#959; &#953;] in regard of such deceits." Here kainoi expresses the inexperience of the men; neoi, their youth. Still, the distinction cannot be pressed in all cases. Thus, <a href='B:530 5:7'>1Co 5:7</a>, "Purge out the old leaven that ye may be a new neon lump;" and <a href='B:580 3:10'>Col 3:10</a>, "Put on the new [&#957; &#949; &#959; &#957;] man," plainly carry the sense of quality. In our Lord's expression, "drink it new," the idea of quality is dominant. All the elements of festivity in the heavenly kingdom will be of a new and higher quality. In the New Testament, besides the two cases just cited, neov is applied to wine, to the young, and once to a covenant.


text:
Sung a hymn. Very probably the second part of the Jewish Hallel or Hallelujah, embracing <a href='B:230 115:116'>Psa 115:116</a>; <a href='B:230 115:117'>Psa 115:117</a>; <a href='B:230 115:118'>Psa 115:118</a>.<p/>They went out. In the original institution of the Passover it was enjoined that no one should go out of his house until morning (<a href='B:20 12:22'>Exo 12:22</a> ). Evidently this had ceased to be regarded as obligatory.


text:
I will go before you. The thought links itself with what Christ had just said about the shepherd and the sheep. Compare <a href='B:500 10:4'>Joh 10:4</a>. I will go before you, as a shepherd before his flock.


text:
Before the cock crow. A little more graphic if the article is omitted, as in the Greek. Before a single cock shall be heard, early in the night, thou shalt deny me. Dr. Thomson (" Land and Book ") says that the barn - door fowls "swarm round every door, share in the food of their possessors, are at home among the children in every room, roost overhead at night, and with their ceaseless crowing are the town - clock and the morning - bell to call up sleepers at early dawn."


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Though I should die [&#954; &#945; &#957; &#948; &#949; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#945; &#960; &#959; &#952; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. The A. V. misses the force of deh : "Though it should be necessary for me to die." Wyc., "If it shall behove me to die." Rev., excellently, "Even if I must die."


text:
Gethsemane. Meaning oil - press. Beyond the brook Kedron, and distant about three - quarters of a mile from the walls of Jerusalem. Dean Stanley says of the olive - trees there : "In spite of all the doubts that can be raised against their antiquity, the eight aged olive - trees, if only by their manifest difference from all others on the mountain, have always struck the most indifferent observers. They will remain, so long as their already protracted life is spared, the most venerable of their race on the surface of the earth. Their gnarled trunks and scanty foilage will always be regarded as the most affecting of the sacred memorials in or about Jerusalem; the most nearly approaching to the everlasting hills themselves in the force with which they carry us back to the events of the gospel history" (" Sinai and Palestine ").


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What! It is hardly possible to convey the exact force of the Greek outwv, thus or so. The idea is, "are ye thus unable, or so utterly unable to watch?"


text:
One of the twelve. Repeated in all three evangelists, in the narratives both of the betrayal and of the arrest. By the time Matthew's Gospel was written, the phrase had become a stereotyped designation of the traitor, like he that betrayed him.<p/>A great multitude. The Sanhedrin had neither soldiery nor a regularly - armed band at command. In <a href='B:500 18:3'>Joh 18:3</a>, Judas receives a cohort of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. Part of the band would consist of this regularly - armed cohort, and the rest of a crowd armed with cudgels, and embracing some of the servants of conspicuous men in the Sanhedrin.


text:
Kissed him [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#966; &#953; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. The compound verb has the force of an emphatic, ostentatious salute. Meyer says embraced and kissed. The same word is used of the tender caressing of the Lord's feet by the woman in the Pharisee's house (<a href='B:490 7:38'>Luk 7:38</a> ), of the father's embrace of the returned prodigal (<a href='B:490 14:20'>Luk 14:20</a> ), and of the farewell of the Ephesian elders to Paul (<a href='B:510 20:37'>Act 20:37</a> ).


text:
Wherefore art thou come? [&#949; &#966; &#959; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#953;]. The interrogation of the A. V. is wrong. The expression is elliptical and condensed. Literally it is, that for which thou art here; and the mind is to supply do or be about. The Lord spurns the traitor's embrace, and says, in effect, "Enough of this hypocritical fawning. Do what you are here to do." So Rev., Do that for which thou art come.


text:
The servant [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#955; &#959; &#957;]. The article marks the special servant; the body - servant.<p/>Ear [&#969; &#964; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. A diminutive in form but not in sense; according to a Greek popular usage which expressed parts of the body by diminutives; as rJinia, the nostrils; ojmmation, the eye; sarkion, the body. Peter aimed his blow at the servant's head, but missed.


text:
Twelve legions of angels. Compare the story of Elisha at Dothan (<a href='B:120 6:17'>2Ki 6:17</a> ).


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A thief [&#955; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#951; &#957;]. Better Rev., a robber. See <a href='B:500 10:1'>Joh 10:1</a>; <a href='B:500 10:8'>Joh 10:8</a>; and <a href='B:490 23:39-43'>Luk 23:39-43</a>. It is more than a petty stealer; rather one with associates, who would require an armed band to apprehend him. Hence the propriety of the reference to swords and staves.<p/>I sat [&#949; &#954; &#945; &#952; &#949; &#950; &#959; &#956; &#951; &#957;]. The imperfect tense, denoting something habitual. I was accustomed to sit.


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I adjure thee. I call upon thee to swear. The high - priest put Christ upon oath.<p/>That [&#953; &#957; &#945;]. In order that; signifying the design with which he adjured the Lord.


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Thou hast said. An affirmation. You have spoken the truth. What thou hast asked me is the fact. Compare ver. 25. Nevertheless [&#960; &#955; &#951; &#957;]. However. Apart from my affirmation, you shall see for yourself.


text:
Guilty of death [&#949; &#957; &#959; &#967; &#959; &#962; &#952; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#965;]. Rev., worthy of death. See on <a href='B:470 23:18'>Mat 23:18</a>. ejn, in, ecw, to hold. The idea is, literally, holden of death; in bonds to death.


text:
Buffet [&#949; &#954; &#959; &#955; &#945; &#966; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. With the fist.<p/>Smote with the palms of their hands. All expressed by one word, ejrapisan, from rJapiv, a rod, and meaning to smite with rods, not with the palms. The same word is employed <a href='B:470 5:39'>Mat 5:39</a>. It came to mean generally to strike.


text:
A damsel [&#956; &#953; &#945; &#960; &#945; &#953; &#948; &#953; &#963; &#954; &#947; &#951;]. Lit., one damsel, because the writer has in mind a second one (ver. 71).


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To curse [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#952; &#949; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. A new development of profanity. Hitherto he had merely sworn. Now he adds imprecation; invoking curses on himself if the case be not as he says.


text:
Repented himself [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. See on <a href='B:470 21:29'>Mat 21:29</a>.<p/>What is that to us? They ignore the question of Christ's innocence. As to Judas ' sin or conscience, that is his matter. Thou wilt see to that.


text:
In the temple. But the best reading is eijv ton naon, into the sanctuary. He cast the pieces over the barrier of the enclosure which surrounded the sanctuary, or temple proper, and within which only the priests were allowed, and therefore into the sanctuary.


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It is not lawful. In such cases the Jewish law provided that the money was to be restored to the donor; and if he insisted on giving it, that he should be induced to spend it for something for the public weal. This explains the apparent discrepancy between Matthew's account and that in the book of Acts (i. 18). By a fiction of the law the money was still considered to be Judas ', and to have been applied by him to the purchase of the potter's field.<p/>Scarlet [&#954; &#959; &#954; &#954; &#953; &#957; &#951; &#957;]. From kokkov, cochineal, which grew in several parts of Greece. Garments of this color would seem to have been rare among the orientals. Herodotus relates that the admiration of Darius, then an officer in the army, was excited by the scarlet cloak of a Samian exile, who, on his offering to purchase it, presented it to him, and was afterward richly rewarded when Darius came to the throne (iii. 139).


text:
Robe [&#967; &#955; &#945; &#956; &#965; &#948; &#945;]. The short military cloak which kings and emperors as well as soldiers wore.


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Compelled to go [&#951; &#947; &#947; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. See on <a href='B:470 5:41'>Mat 5:41</a>. Rev., has impressed in margin.


text:
Golgotha. An Aramaic word, Gulgoltha, = the Hebrew, Gulgoleth, and translated skull in <a href='B:720 1:9'>Jud 1:9</a> :53; <a href='B:120 9:35'>2Ki 9:35</a>. The word Calvary comes through the Latin calvaria, meaning skull, and used in the Vulgate. The New Testament narrative does not mention a mount or hill. The place was probably a rounded elevation. The meaning is not, as Tynd., a place of dead men's skulls, but simply skull.


text:
Wine [&#959; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. The older texts read oxov, vinegar. The compound of wine and gall was intended as a stupefying draught.


text:
Watched [&#949; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#957;]. Or, to give the force of the imperfect tense, kept watch. This was to prevent the infliction of wanton cruelties, and also to prevent what sometimes happened, the taking down and restoring of the victim.


text:
Accusation [&#945; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Lit., cause, and so rendered by Wyc. Tynd., cause of his death. The word accusation is compounded with the Latin causa, a cause. It is the cause of his condemnation and suffering.


text:
Thieves [&#955; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Rev., robbers. See on <a href='B:470 26:55'>Mat 26:55</a>.


text:
If he will have him [&#949; &#953; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. Rev., correctly, If he desireth him : i e., If he likes him. Compare Ps. xviii. (Sept. 17) 19; because he delighted in me [&#951; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#956; &#949;], Ps. xli. (Sept. 40) 11 [&#964; &#949; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#951; &#954; &#945; &#962; &#956; &#949;].


text:
Ninth hour. "Early on Friday afternoon the new course of priests, of Levites, and of the 'stationary men' who were to be the representatives of all Israel, arrived Jerusalem, and having prepared themselves for the festive season went up to the temple. The approach of the Sabbath, and then its actual commencement, were announced by threefold blasts from the priests ' trumpets. The first three blasts were blown when one - third of the evening - sacrifice service was over, or about the ninth hour; that it, about 3 P. M. on Friday" (Edersheim, " The Temple ").


text:
Vinegar [&#959; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Sour wine; the posca or ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers.<p/>Gave him to drink [&#949; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#949; &#957;]. The imperfect tense implies was in the act of giving, or about to give. At this point the Jews standing near interposed, saying Let be [&#945; &#966; &#949; &#962;]! "Stop! Do not give him the drink. Let us see if Elijah will come to his aid."


text:
Yielded up the ghost [&#945; &#966; &#951; &#954; &#949; &#964; &#959; &#960; &#957; &#949; &#965; &#956; &#945;]. Lit., dismissed his spirit. Rev., yielded up his spirit. The fact that the evangelists, in describing our Lord's death, do not use the neuter verb, eqanen, he died, but he breathed out his life (ejxepneuse, <a href='B:480 14:37'>Mar 14:37</a> ), he gave up his spirit (paredwke to pneuma, <a href='B:500 19:30'>Joh 19:30</a> ), seems to imply a voluntary yielding up of his life. Compare <a href='B:500 10:18'>Joh 10:18</a>. Augustine says, "He gave up his life because he willed it, when he willed it, and as he willed it."


text:
The veil of the temple. According to the Rabbis this was a handbreadth in thickness, and woven of seventy - two twisted plaits, each plait consisting of twenty - four threads. It was sixty feet long and thirty wide. Two of them were made every year, and according to the exaggerated language of the time it needed three hundred priests to manipulate it. This veil was the one which covered the entrance to the holy of holies, and not, as has been asserted, the veil which hung before the main entrance to the sanctuary. The holy of holies contained only a large stone, on which the high - priest sprinkled the blood on the day of atonement, occupying the place where the ark with the mercy - seat had stood.


text:
The Son of God. But there is no article. The words must not be construed as a recognition of Christ's divine sonship. They were uttered by a pagan soldier in his own sense of a demigod or hero. Yet they may have taken color from the fact that the soldiers had heard from the chief priests and others that Christ had claimed to be God's son.


text:
Which had followed [&#945; &#953; &#964; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#962;]. Denoting a class : who were of the body of women that had followed him.


text:
Magdalene [&#951; &#956; &#945; &#947; &#948; &#945; &#955; &#951; &#957; &#951;]. Neither Mary of Bethany (<a href='B:470 26:6-13'>Mat 26:6-13</a> ) nor the woman who had been a sinner (<a href='B:490 7:37-48'>Luk 7:37-48</a> ). The word denotes merely her town : She of Magdala.


text:
When even was come. The Hebrews reckoned two evenings, an earlier and a later. The former began midway between noon and sunset, or at three o'clock in the afternoon. The latter began at sunset, six o'clock. The reference here is to the earlier evening, though the time may have been well on toward the beginning of the later. The preparations had to be hurried because the Sabbath would begin at sunset.


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New tomb [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#969;]. See on <a href='B:470 26:29'>Mat 26:29</a>. Not newly hewn, but fresh, undefiled by anybody.<p/>A great stone. Though in the Jews ' sepulchres in general there were doors hung on hinges, the grooves and perforations for which may still be seen. Joseph's tomb may have been differently constructed, or else was in an unfinished state.


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We remember [&#949; &#956; &#957; &#951; &#963; &#952; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., we remembered : i e., it occurred to us : we have just remembered, and have come to tell you before it shall be too late.<p/>That deceiver [&#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#962; &#959; &#960; &#955; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. The pronoun that is very picturesque; being used of distant objects, and therefore here as pointing to one who is out of the way and far removed. Planov, deceiver, is akin to planaw, to wander; and hence a vagabond imposter.


text:
Error [&#960; &#955; &#945; &#957; &#951;]. Not, as many render, deceit or imposture, referring to planov above; but error on the people's part. The last error, namely, the false impression that he has risen from the dead, will be worse than the first error - the impression made by his impostures that he was the Messiah.


text:
Ye have [&#949; &#967; &#949; &#964; &#949;]. Or, as some render, imperatively : Have a guard! Rev., in margin, take.


text:
Sealing the stone and setting a watch [&#963; &#966; &#961; &#945; &#947; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#955; &#953; &#952; &#959; &#957;, &#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#951; &#962; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#964; &#969; &#948; &#953; &#945; &#962;]. Lit., having sealed the stone with the watch. Rev., Sealing the stone, the guard being with them. This is rather awkward, but the rendering rightly corrects the A. V. The idea is that they sealed the stone in the presence of the guard, and then left them to keep watch. It would be important that the guard should witness the sealing. The sealing was performed by stretching a cord across the stone and fastening it to the rock at either end by means of sealing clay. Or, if the stone at the door happened to be fastened with a cross beam, this latter was sealed to the rock.


text:
Countenance [&#949; &#953; &#948; &#949; &#945;]. Rev., more correctly, appearance. The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It does not refer to the face alone, but to the general aspect. Wyc., looking.<p/>As lightning. In effulgence. Each evangelist's account of the resurrection emphasizes different particulars. Matthew alone notes the outward glory, the earthquake, the agency of the angel, and the impotence of the military and priestly power to crush the new faith. He only notices the adoration of the risen Lord before his ascension, and traces to its origin the calumny current among the Jews to this day.


text:
He goeth before you [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#945; &#947; &#949; &#953;]. He is in the act of going. See on <a href='B:470 26:32'>Mat 26:32</a>.


text:
Large money [&#945; &#961; &#947; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#945; &#953; &#954; &#945; &#957; &#945;]. Lit., sufficient money. Enough to bribe them to invent a lie.


text:
We will persuade [&#960; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957;]. i e., satisfy or appease. Compare <a href='B:550 1:10'>Gal 1:10</a>. "Do I conciliate men or God ?"<p/>Secure you [&#965; &#956; &#945; &#962; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#956; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., make you without care. The word secure, however, is, etymologically, a correct rendering. It is from the Latin se = sine, without, and cura, care. It has passed into the popular meaning to make safe. Compare <a href='B:530 7:32'>1Co 7:32</a>. "I would have you to be free from cares" (Rev.).


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Worshipped [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#949; &#954; &#965; &#957; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. As in ver. 9. Prostrated themselves. The first time that the disciples are described as doing so.


text:
Came to. Verse 17 evidently describes the impression made by seeing him at a distance. Possibly from feeling of modesty they had not ventured close to him. Jesus now approaches and addressed them.<p/>Spake - saying [&#949; &#955; &#945; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#969; &#957;]. Two different words are here used to express speech, with a nice distinction which can hardly be conveyed without paraphrase. The verb lalein is used of speaking, in contrast with or as a breaking of silence, voluntary or imposed. Thus the dumb man, after he was healed, spake [&#949; &#955; &#945; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]; and Zacharias, when his tongue was loosed, began to speak [&#949; &#955; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. In the use of the word the writer contemplates the fact rather than the substance of speech. Hence it is used of God (<a href='B:650 1:1'>Heb 1:1</a> ), the point being, not what God said, but the fact that he spake to men. On the contrary, legein refers to the matter of speech. The verb originally means to pick out, and hence to use words selected as appropriate expressions of thought, and to put such words together in orderly discourse. Here, then, we have Jesus first breaking silence [&#949; &#955; &#945; &#955; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;], and then discoursing [&#955; &#949; &#947; &#969; &#957;].<p/>Power [&#949; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#945;]. Better, authority, as Rev.<p/>Is given [&#949; &#948; &#959; &#952; &#951;]. Lit., was given, by the divine decree.


text:
Teach [&#956; &#945; &#952; &#951; &#964; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#964; &#949;]. Rev., rightly, make disciples of.<p/>In the name [&#949; &#953; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#945;]. Rev., correctly, "into the name." Baptizing into the name has a twofold meaning.<p/>1. Unto, denoting object or purpose, as eijv metanoian, unto repentance (<a href='B:470 3:11'>Mat 3:11</a> ); eijv afesin aJmartiwn, for the remission of sins (<a href='B:510 2:38'>Act 2:38</a> ).<p/>2. Into, denoting union or communion with, as <a href='B:520 6:3'>Rom 6:3</a>, "baptized into Christ Jesus; into his death;" i e., we are brought by baptism into fellowship with his death. Baptizing into the name of the Holy Trinity implies a spiritual and mystical union with him. Eijv, into, is the preposition commonly used with baptize. See <a href='B:510 8:16'>Act 8:16</a>; <a href='B:510 19:3'>Act 19:3</a>; <a href='B:510 19:5'>Act 19:5</a>; <a href='B:530 1:13'>1Co 1:13</a>; <a href='B:530 1:15'>1Co 1:15</a>; <a href='B:530 10:2'>1Co 10:2</a>; <a href='B:550 3:27'>Gal 3:27</a>. In <a href='B:510 2:38'>Act 2:38</a>, however, Peter says, " Be baptized upon [&#949; &#960; &#953;] the name of Jesus Christ; and in <a href='B:510 10:48'>Act 10:48</a>, he commands Cornelius and his friends to be baptized in [&#949; &#957;] the name of the Lord. To be baptized upon the name is to be baptized on the confession of that which the name implies : on the ground of the name; so that the name Jesus, as the contents of the faith and confession, is the ground upon which the becoming baptized rests. In the name [&#949; &#957;] has reference to the sphere within which alone true baptism is accomplished. The name is not the mere designation, a sense which would give to the baptismal formula merely the force of a charm. The name, as in the Lord's Prayer (" Hallowed be they name "), is the expression of the sum total of the divine Being : not his designation as God or Lord, but the formula in which all his attributes and characteristics are summed up. It is equivalent to his person. The finite mind can deal with him only through his name; but his name if of no avail detached from his nature. When one is baptized into the name of the Trinity, he professes to acknowledge and appropriate God in all that he is and in all that he does for man. He recognized and depends upon God the Father as his Creator and Preserver; receives Jesus Christ as his only Mediator and Redeemer, and his pattern of life; and confesses the Holy Spirit as his Sanctifier and Comforter.<p/>Alway [&#960; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#962; &#964; &#945; &#962; &#951; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#962;]. Lit., all the days. Wyc., in all days.


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End of the word [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#945; &#953; &#969; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Rev., in margin, and lit., consummation of the age. The current age is meant; and the consummation is coincident with the second coming of Christ, after the Gospel shall be been proclaimed throughout the world. "The Savior's mind goes not farther; for after that, evangelizing work will cease. No man, after that will need to teach his neighbor, saying 'Know the Lord '" (<a href='B:300 31:34'>Jer 31:34</a> ) (Morison " On Matthew ").


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The beginning [&#945; &#961; &#967; &#949;]. There is no article in the Greek. It is possible that the phrase served as a heading or title for the paragraph about the ministry of the Baptist or as the superscription for the whole Gospel (Bruce) placed either by Mark or a scribe. And then the Gospel of Jesus Christ means the Message about Jesus Christ (objective genitive). The word Gospel here [&#949; &#965; &#945; &#947; &#947; &#949; &#955; &#953; &#959; &#957;] comes close to meaning the record itself as told by Mark. Swete notes that each writer has a different starting point [&#945; &#961; &#967; &#949;]. Mark, as the earliest form of the evangelic tradition, begins with the work of the Baptist, Matthew with the ancestry and birth of the Messiah, Luke with the birth of the Baptist, John with the Preincarnate Logos, Paul with the foundation of each of the churches (<a href='B:570 4:15'>Phi 4:15</a> ). The Son of God [&#951; &#965; &#953; &#959; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#959; &#965;]. Aleph 28, 255 omit these words, but B, D, L, have them and the great mass of the manuscripts have huiou tou theou. If this is a heading added to what Mark wrote, the heading may have existed early in two forms, one with, one without "Son of God." If Mark wrote the words, there is no reason to doubt the genuineness since he uses the phrase elsewhere.


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In Isaiah, the prophet [&#949; &#957; &#964; &#969; &#953; &#949; &#963; &#945; &#953; ? &#953; &#964; &#969; &#953; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#966; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#953;]. The quotation comes from <a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a> and <a href='B:290 40:3'>Isa 40:3</a>. The Western and Neutral classes read Isaiah, the Alexandrian and Syrian, "the prophets," an evident correction because part of it is from Malachi. But Isaiah is mentioned as the chief of the prophets. It was common to combine quotations from the prophets in _testimonia_ and _catenae_ (chains of quotations). This is Mark's only prophetic quotation on his own account (Bruce).


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The voice of one crying [&#966; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#946; &#959; &#969; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#963;]. God is coming to his people to deliver them from their captivity in Babylon. So the prophet cries like a voice in the wilderness to make ready for the coming of God. When the committee from the Sanhedrin came to ask John who he was, he used this very language of Isaiah (<a href='B:500 1:23'>Joh 1:23</a> ). He was only a voice, but we can still hear the echo of that voice through the corridor of the centuries. Paths straight [&#949; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#953; &#946; &#959; &#965; &#963;]. Automobile highways today well illustrate the wonderful Persian roads for the couriers of the king and then for the king himself. The Roman Empire was knit together by roads, some of which survive today. John had a high and holy mission as the forerunner of the Messiah.


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John came [&#949; &#947; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#969; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#963;]. His coming was an epoch [&#949; &#947; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#959;], not a mere event [&#949; &#957;]. His coming was in accordance with the prophetic picture [&#954; &#945; &#952; &#969; &#963;, 1:2]. Note the same verb about John in <a href='B:500 1:6'>Joh 1:6</a>. The coming of John the Baptizer was the real beginning of the spoken message about Christ. He is described as the baptizing one [&#951; &#959; &#951; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#969; &#957;] in the wilderness [&#949; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#949; &#961; &#949; &#956; &#969; &#953;]. The baptizing took place in the River Jordan (<a href='B:480 1:5'>Mar 1:5</a>; <a href='B:480 1:9'>Mar 1:9</a> ) which was included in the general term the wilderness or the deserted region of Judea. Preached the baptism of repentance [&#954; &#949; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#969; &#957; &#946; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#953; &#963; &#956; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#945; &#963;]. Heralded a repentance kind of baptism (genitive case, genus case), a baptism marked by repentance. See on ?<a href='B:470 3:2'>Mat 3:2</a> for discussion of repent, an exceedingly poor rendering of John's great word metanoias. He called upon the Jews to change their minds and to turn from their sins, "confessing their sins" [&#949; &#958; &#959; &#956; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#951; &#945; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. See <a href='B:470 3:16'>Mat 3:16</a>. The public confessions produced a profound impression as they would now. Unto remission of sins [&#949; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#966; &#949; &#963; &#953; &#957; &#951; &#945; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#969; &#957;]. This is a difficult phrase to translate accurately. Certainly John did not mean that the baptism was the means of obtaining the forgiveness of their sins or necessary to the remission of sins. The trouble lies in the use of eis which sometimes is used when purpose is expressed, but sometimes when there is no such idea as in <a href='B:470 10:41'>Mat 10:41</a> and <a href='B:470 12:41'>Mat 12:41</a>. Probably "with reference to" is as good a translation here as is possible. The baptism was on the basis of the repentance and confession of sin and, as Paul later explained (<a href='B:520 6:4'>Rom 6:4</a> ), was a picture of the death to sin and resurrection to new life in Christ. This symbol was already in use by the Jews for convert who became Jews. John is treating the Jewish nation as pagans who need to repent, to confess their sins, and to come back to the kingdom of God. The baptism in the Jordan was the objective challenge to the people.


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Then went out unto him [&#949; &#958; &#949; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#949; &#964; &#959; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. Imperfect indicative describing the steady stream of people who kept coming to the baptism [&#949; &#946; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959;, imperfect passive indicative, a wonderful sight]. In the river Jordan [&#949; &#957; &#964; &#969; &#953; &#953; &#959; &#961; &#948; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#960; &#959; &#964; &#945; &#956; &#969; &#953;]. In the Jordan river, literally.


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Clothed with camel's hair [&#949; &#957; &#948; &#949; &#948; &#965; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#961; &#953; &#967; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#955; &#959; &#965;]. Matthew (<a href='B:470 3:4'>Mat 3:4</a> ) has it a garment [&#949; &#957; &#948; &#965; &#956; &#945;] of camel's hair. Mark has it in the accusative plural the object of the perfect passive participle retained according to a common Greek idiom. It was, of course, not camel's skin, but rough cloth woven of camel's hair. For the locusts and wild honey, see on ?<a href='B:470 3:4'>Mat 3:4</a>. Dried locusts are considered palatable and the wild honey, or "mountain honey" as some versions give it [&#956; &#949; &#955; &#953; &#945; &#947; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#957;], was bountiful in the clefts of the rocks. Some Bedouins make their living yet by gathering this wild honey out of the rocks.


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Mightier than I [&#951; &#959; &#953; &#963; &#967; &#965; &#961; &#959; &#964; &#949; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#956; &#959; &#965;]. In each of the Synoptics. Gould calls it a skeptical depreciation of himself by John. But it was sincere on John's part and he gives a reason for it. The Latchet [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#951; &#953; &#956; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#945;]. The thong of the sandal which held it together. When the guest comes into the house, performed by a slave before one enters the bath. Mark alone gives this touch.


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With water [&#951; &#965; &#948; &#945; &#964; &#953;]. So Luke (<a href='B:490 3:16'>Luk 3:16</a> ) the locative case, in water. Matthew (<a href='B:470 3:11'>Mat 3:11</a> ) has en (in), both with (in) water and the Holy Spirit. The water baptism by John was a symbol of the spiritual baptism by Jesus.


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In the Jordan [&#949; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#959; &#961; &#948; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#957;]. So in verse 10, ek tou hudatos, out of the water, after the baptism into the Jordan. Mark is as fond of "straightway" [&#949; &#965; &#952; &#965; &#963;] as Matthew is of "then" [&#964; &#959; &#964; &#949;]. Rent asunder [&#963; &#967; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#963;]. Split like a garment, present passive participle. Jesus saw the heavens parting as he came up out of the water, a more vivid picture than the "opened" in <a href='B:470 3:16'>Mat 3:16</a> and <a href='B:490 3:21'>Luk 3:21</a>. Evidently the Baptist saw all this and the Holy Spirit coming down upon Jesus as a dove because he later mentions it (<a href='B:500 1:32'>Joh 1:32</a> ). The Cerinthian Gnostics took the dove to mean the heavenly _aeon Christ_ that here descended upon the man Jesus and remained with him till the Cross when it left him, a sort of forecast of the modern distinction between the Jesus of history and the theological Christ.


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Thou art [&#963; &#965; &#949; &#953;]. So <a href='B:620 3:17'>2Ti 3:17</a> has this is [&#951; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#963; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#957;] which see. So both Mark and Luke have "in thee," while Matthew has "in whom."


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Driveth him forth [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#954; &#946; &#945; &#955; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. Vivid word, bolder than Matthew's "was led up" [&#945; &#957; &#949; &#967; &#952; &#949;] and Luke's "was led" [&#949; &#947; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. It is the same word employed in the driving out of demons (<a href='B:480 1:34'>Mar 1:34</a>; <a href='B:480 1:39'>Mar 1:39</a> ). Mark has here "straightway" where Matthew has "then" (see on verse ?9). The forty days in the wilderness were under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. The entire earthly life of Jesus was bound up with the Holy Spirit from his birth to his death and resurrection.


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With the wild beasts [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#969; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#969; &#957;]. Mark does not give the narrative of the three temptations in Matthew and Luke (apparently from the Logia and originally, of course, from Jesus himself). But Mark adds this little touch about the wild beasts in the wilderness. It was the haunt at night of the wolf, the boar, the hyena, the jackal, the leopard. It was lonely and depressing in its isolation and even dangerous. Swete notes that in <a href='B:230 90:13'>Psa 90:13</a> the promise of victory over the wild beasts comes immediately after that of angelic guardianship cited by Satan in <a href='B:470 4:6'>Mat 4:6</a>. The angels did come and minister [&#948; &#953; &#949; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#957;], imperfect tense, kept it up till he was cheered and strengthened. Dr. Tristram observes that some Abyssinian Christians are in the habit of coming to the Quarantania during Lent and fasting forty days on the summit amid the ruins of its ancient cells and chapels where they suppose Jesus was tempted. But we are all tempted of the devil in the city even worse than in the desert.


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Jesus came into Galilee [&#949; &#955; &#952; &#949; &#957; &#951; &#959; &#953; &#949; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#957; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Here Mark begins the narrative of the active ministry of Jesus and he is followed by Matthew and Luke. Mark undoubtedly follows the preaching of Peter. But for the Fourth Gospel we should not know of the year of work in various parts of the land (Perea, Galilee, Judea, Samaria) preceding the Galilean ministry. John supplements the Synoptic Gospels at this point as often. The arrest of John had much to do with the departure of Jesus from Judea to Galilee (<a href='B:500 4:1-4'>Joh 4:1-4</a> ). Preaching the gospel of God [&#954; &#949; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#969; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#949; &#965; &#945; &#947; &#947; &#949; &#955; &#953; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#959; &#965;]. It is the subjective genitive, the gospel that comes from God. Swete observes that repentance [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#945;] is the keynote in the message of the Baptist as gospel [&#949; &#965; &#945; &#947; &#947; &#949; &#955; &#953; &#959; &#957;] is with Jesus. But Jesus took the same line as John and proclaimed both repentance and the arrival of the kingdom of God. Mark adds to Matthew's report the words "the time is fulfilled" [&#960; &#949; &#960; &#955; &#949; &#961; &#969; &#964; &#945; &#953; &#951; &#959; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#961; &#959; &#963;]. It is a significant fact that John looks backward to the promise of the coming of the Messiah and signalizes the fulfilment as near at hand (perfect passive indicative). It is like Paul's fulness of time [&#960; &#955; &#949; &#961; &#969; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#967; &#961; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#965;] in <a href='B:550 4:4'>Gal 4:4</a> and fulness of the times [&#960; &#955; &#949; &#961; &#969; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#961; &#969; &#957;] in <a href='B:560 1:10'>Eph 1:10</a> when he employs the word kairos, opportunity or crisis as here in Mark rather than the more general term chronos. Mark adds here also : "and believe in the gospel" [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#960; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#965; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#969; &#953; &#949; &#965; &#945; &#947; &#947; &#949; &#955; &#953; &#969; &#953;]. Both repent and believe in the gospel. Usually faith in Jesus (or God) is expected as in <a href='B:500 14:1'>Joh 14:1</a>. But this crisis called for faith in the message of Jesus that the Messiah had come. He did not use here the term Messiah, for it had come to have political connotations that made its use at present unwise. But the kingdom of God had arrived with the presence of the King. It does make a difference what one believes. Belief or disbelief in the message of Jesus made a sharp cleavage in those who heard him. "Faith in the message was the first step; a creed of some kind lies at the basis of confidence in the Person of Christ, and the occurrence of the phrase pistuete en t" i euaggeli "i in the oldest record of the teaching of our Lord is a valuable witness to this fact" (Swete).


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And passing along by the Sea of Galilee [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#947; &#969; &#957; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#957; &#952; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#963; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#963; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#963;]. Mark uses para (along, beside) twice and makes the picture realistic. He catches this glimpse of Christ in action. Casting a net [&#945; &#956; &#966; &#953; &#946; &#945; &#955; &#955; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#963;]. Literally casting on both sides, now on one side, now on the other. Matthew (<a href='B:470 4:18'>Mat 4:18</a> ) has a different phrase which see. There are two papyri examples of the verb amphiball ", one verb absolutely for fishing as here, the other with the accusative. It is fishing with a net, making a cast, a haul. These four disciples were fishermen [&#951; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#963;] and were partners [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#959; &#967; &#959; &#953;] as Luke states (<a href='B:490 5:7'>Luk 5:7</a> ).


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Become [&#947; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#963; &#952; &#945; &#953;]. Mark has this word not in Matthew. It would be a slow and long process, but Jesus could and would do it. He would undertake to make fishers of men out of fishermen. Preachers are made out of laymen who are willing to leave their business for service for Christ.


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A little further [&#959; &#955; &#953; &#947; &#959; &#957;]. A Marcan detail. Mending their nets [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#948; &#953; &#954; &#964; &#965; &#945;]. See on ?<a href='B:470 4:21'>Mat 4:21</a>. Getting ready that they might succeed better at the next haul.


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With the hired servants [&#956; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#964; &#969; &#957; &#956; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#969; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. One hired for wages [&#956; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#959; &#963;], a very old Greek word. Zebedee and his two sons evidently had an extensive business in co - operation with Andrew and Simon (<a href='B:490 5:7'>Luk 5:7</a>; <a href='B:490 5:10'>Luk 5:10</a> ). Mark alone has this detail of the hired servants left with Zebedee. They left the boat and their father (<a href='B:470 4:22'>Mat 4:22</a> ) with the hired servants. The business would go on while they left all (<a href='B:490 5:11'>Luk 5:11</a> ) and became permanent followers of Jesus. Many a young man has faced precisely this problem when he entered the ministry. Could he leave father and mother, brothers and sisters, while he went forth to college and seminary to become a fisher of men? Not the least of the sacrifices made in the education of young preachers is that made by the home folks who have additional burdens to bear because the young preacher is no longer a bread - winner at home. Most young preachers joyfully carry on such burdens after entering the ministry.


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And taught [&#949; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#957;]. Inchoative imperfect, began to teach as soon as he entered the synagogue in Capernaum on the sabbath. The synagogue in Capernaum afforded the best opening for the teaching of Jesus. He had now made Capernaum (Tell Hum) his headquarters after the rejection in Nazareth as explained in <a href='B:490 4:16-31'>Luk 4:16-31</a> and <a href='B:470 4:13-16'>Mat 4:13-16</a>. The ruins of this synagogue have been discovered and there is even talk of restoring the building since the stones are in a good state of preservation. Jesus both taught [&#948; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#969;] and preached [&#954; &#949; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#969;] in the Jewish synagogues as opportunity was offered by the chief or leader of the synagogue [&#945; &#961; &#967; &#953; &#963; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#947; &#969; &#947; &#959; &#963;]. The service consisted of prayer, praise, reading of scripture, and exposition by any rabbi or other competent person. Often Paul was invited to speak at such meetings. In <a href='B:490 4:20'>Luk 4:20</a> Jesus gave back the roll of Isaiah to the attendant or beadle [&#964; &#969; &#953; &#951; &#965; &#960; &#949; &#961; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#953;] whose business it was to bring out the precious manuscript and return it to its place. Jesus was a preacher of over a year when he began to teach in the Capernaum synagogue. His reputation had preceded him (<a href='B:490 4:14'>Luk 4:14</a> ).


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They were astonished [&#949; &#958; &#949; &#960; &#955; &#949; &#963; &#963; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959;]. Pictorial imperfect as in <a href='B:490 4:32'>Luk 4:32</a> describing the amazement of the audience, "meaning strictly to strike a person out of his senses by some strong feeling, such as fear, wonder, or even joy" (Gould). And not as their scribes [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#959; &#965; &#967; &#951; &#969; &#963; &#951; &#959; &#953; &#947; &#961; &#945; &#956; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#963;]. <a href='B:490 4:32'>Luk 4:32</a> has only "with authority" [&#949; &#957; &#949; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; ? &#953;]. Mark has it "as having authority" [&#951; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#967; &#969; &#957; &#949; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. He struck a note not found by the rabbi. They quoted other rabbis and felt their function to be expounders of the traditions which they made a millstone around the necks of the people. By so doing they set aside the word and will of God by their traditions and petty legalism (<a href='B:480 7:9'>Mar 7:9</a>; <a href='B:480 7:13'>Mar 7:13</a> ). They were casuists and made false interpretations to prove their meticulous points of external etiquette to the utter neglect of the spiritual reality. The people noticed at once that here was a personality who got his power (authority) direct from God, not from the current scribes. "Mark omits much, and is in many ways a meagre Gospel, but it makes a distinctive contribution to the evangelic history _in showing by a few realistic touches_ (this one of them) _the remarkable personality of Jesus_" (Bruce). See on <a href='B:470 7:29'>Mat 7:29</a> for the like impression made by the Sermon on the Mount where the same language occurs. The chief controversy in Christ's life was with these scribes, the professional teachers of the oral law and mainly Pharisees. At once the people see that Jesus stands apart from the old group. He made a sensation in the best sense of that word. There was a buzz of excitement at the new teacher that was increased by the miracle that followed the sermon.


text:
With an unclean spirit [&#949; &#957; &#960; &#957; &#949; &#965; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#952; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#969; &#953;]. This use of en "with" is common in the Septuagint like the Hebrew _be_, but it occurs also in the papyri. It is the same idiom as "in Christ," in the Lord "so common with Paul. In English we speak of our being in love, in drink, in his cups, etc. The unclean spirit was in the man and the man in the unclean spirit, a man in the power of the unclean spirit. Luke has" having, " the usual construction. See on ?<a href='B:470 22:43'>Mat 22:43</a>. Unclean spirit is used as synonymous with demon [&#948; &#945; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. It is the idea of estrangement from God (<a href='B:450 13:2'>Zec 13:2</a> ). The whole subject of demonology is difficult, but no more so than the problem of the devil. Jesus distinguishes between the man and the unclean spirit. Usually physical or mental disease accompanied the possession by demons. One wonders today if the degenerates and confirmed criminals so common now are not under the power of demons. The only cure for confirmed criminals seems to be conversion (a new heart).


text:
What have we to do with thee? [&#964; &#953; &#951; &#949; &#956; &#953; &#957; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#963; &#959; &#953; ?] The same idiom in <a href='B:470 8:29'>Mat 8:29</a>. Ethical dative. Nothing in common between the demon and Jesus. Note "we." The man speaks for the demon and himself, double personality. The recognition of Jesus by the demons may surprise us since the rabbis (the ecclesiastics) failed to do so. They call Jesus "The Holy One of God" [&#951; &#959; &#951; &#945; &#947; &#953; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#952; &#949; &#959; &#965;]. Hence the demon feared that Jesus was come to destroy him and the man in his power. In <a href='B:470 8:29'>Mat 8:29</a> the demon calls Jesus "Son of God." Later the disciples will call Jesus "The Holy One of God" (<a href='B:500 6:69'>Joh 6:69</a> ). The demon cried out aloud [&#945; &#957; &#949; &#954; &#961; &#945; &#958; &#949; &#957;, late first aorist form, anekragen, common second aorist] so that all heard the strange testimony to Jesus. The man says "I know" [&#959; &#953; &#948; &#945;], correct text, some manuscripts "we know" [&#959; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#957;], including the demon.


text:
Hold thy peace [&#966; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#952; &#949; &#964; &#953;]. First aorist passive imperative of fimow. "Be quiet," Moffatt translates it. But it is a more vigorous word, "Be muzzled" like an ox. So literally in <a href='B:50 25:4'>Deu 25:4</a>; <a href='B:530 9:9'>1Co 9:9</a>; <a href='B:610 5:18'>1Ti 5:18</a>. It is common in Josephus, Lucian, and the LXX See <a href='B:470 22:12'>Mat 22:12</a>; <a href='B:470 22:34'>Mat 22:34</a>. Gould renders it "Shut up." Shut your mouth "would be too colloquial. Vincent suggests" gagged, " but that is more the idea of epistomazein in <a href='B:630 1:11'>Tit 1:11</a>, to stop the mouth.


text:
Tearing him [&#963; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#958; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. Margin, convulsing him like a spasm. Medical writers use the word for the rotating of the stomach. <a href='B:490 4:35'>Luk 4:35</a> adds "when the demon had thrown him down in the midst." Mark mentions the "loud voice" [&#966; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#956; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953;], a screech, in fact. It was a moment of intense excitement.


text:
They questioned among themselves [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#950; &#949; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#963;]. By look and word. A new teaching [&#948; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#967; &#949; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#949;]. One surprise had followed another this day. The teaching was fresh [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#949;], original as the dew of the morning on the blossoms just blown. That was a novelty in that synagogue where only staid and stilted rabbinical rules had been heretofore droned out. This new teaching charmed the people, but soon will be rated as heresy by the rabbis. And it was with authority [&#954; &#945; &#964; ' &#949; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. It is not certain whether the phrase is to be taken with "new teaching," It's new teaching with authority behind it, "as Moffatt has it, or with the verb;" with authority commandeth even the unclean spirits "[&#954; &#945; &#953; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#963; &#960; &#957; &#949; &#965; &#956; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#952; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#963; &#949; &#960; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. The position is equivocal and may be due to the fact that" Mark gives the incoherent and excited remarks of the crowd in this natural form "(Swete). But the most astonishing thing of all is that the demons" obey him " [&#951; &#965; &#960; &#945; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969; &#953;]. The people were accustomed to the use of magical formulae by the Jewish exorcists (<a href='B:470 12:27'>Mat 12:27</a>; <a href='B:510 19:13'>Act 19:13</a> ), but here was something utterly different. Simon Magus could not understand how Simon Peter could do his miracles without some secret trick and even offered to buy it (<a href='B:510 8:19'>Act 8:19</a> ).


text:
The report of him [&#951; &#949; &#945; &#954; &#959; &#949; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965;]. Vulgate, _rumor_. See <a href='B:470 14:1'>Mat 14:1</a>; <a href='B:470 24:6'>Mat 24:6</a>. They had no telephones, telegraphs, newspapers or radio, but news has a marvellous way of spreading by word of mouth. The fame of this new teacher went out "everywhere" [&#960; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#967; &#959; &#965;] throughout all Galilee.


text:
The house of Simon and Andrew [&#964; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#954; &#953; &#945; &#957; &#963; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#957; &#959; &#963; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#957; &#948; &#961; &#949; &#959; &#965;]. Peter was married and both he and Andrew lived together in "Peter's house" (<a href='B:470 8:14'>Mat 8:14</a> ) with Peter's wife and mother - in - law. Peter was evidently married before he began to follow Jesus. Later his wife accompanied him on his apostolic journeys (<a href='B:530 9:5'>1Co 9:5</a> ). This incident followed immediately after the service in the synagogue on the sabbath. All the Synoptics give it. Mark heard Peter tell it as it occurred in his own house where Jesus made his home while in Capernaum. Each Gospel gives touches of its own to the story. Mark has "lay sick of a fever" [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#964; &#959; &#960; &#965; &#961; &#949; &#963; &#963; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#945;], lay prostrate burning with fever. Matthew puts it "stretched out [&#946; &#949; &#946; &#955; &#949; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#957;] with a fever." Luke has it "holden with a great fever" [&#949; &#957; &#963; &#965; &#957; &#949; &#967; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#960; &#965; &#961; &#949; &#964; &#969; &#953; &#956; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#969; &#953;], a technical medical phrase. They all mention the instant recovery and ministry without any convalescence. Mark and Matthew speak of the touch of Jesus on her hand and Luke speaks of Jesus standing over her like a doctor. It was a tender scene.


text:
When the sun did set [&#951; &#959; &#964; &#949; &#949; &#948; &#965; &#963; &#949; &#957; &#951; &#959; &#951; &#949; &#955; &#953; &#959; &#963;]. This picturesque detail Mark has besides "at even" [&#959; &#968; &#953; &#945; &#963; &#947; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#963;, genitive absolute, evening having come]. Matthew has "when even was come," Luke "when the sun was setting." The sabbath ended at sunset and so the people were now at liberty to bring their sick to Jesus. The news about the casting out of the demon and the healing of Peter's mother - in - law had spread all over Capernaum. They brought them in a steady stream (imperfect tense, epheron). Luke (<a href='B:490 4:40'>Luk 4:40</a> ) adds that Jesus laid his hand on every one of them as they passed by in grateful procession.


text:
At the door [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#957; &#952; &#965; &#961; &#945; &#957;]. At the door of Peter's house. The whole city was gathered together there (&#136; n episun&#136; gmen&#136;, past perfect passive periphrastic indicative, double compound epi and sun). Mark alone mentions this vivid detail. He is seeing with Peter's eyes again. Peter no doubt watched the beautiful scene with pride and gratitude as Jesus stood in the door and healed the great crowds in the glory of that sunset. He loved to tell it afterwards. Divers diseases [&#960; &#959; &#953; &#954; &#953; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#963; &#957; &#959; &#963; &#959; &#953; &#963;]. See <a href='B:470 4:24'>Mat 4:24</a> about poikilos meaning many - colored, variegated. All sorts of sick folk came and were healed.


text:
Devils [&#948; &#945; &#953; &#956; &#959; &#957; &#953; &#945;]. Demons it should be translated always. Suffered not [&#959; &#965; &#954; &#949; &#966; &#953; &#949; &#957;]. Would not allow, imperfect tense of continued refusal. The reason given is "because they knew him" [&#951; &#959; &#964; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#948; &#949; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. Whether "to be Christ" [&#967; &#961; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#953;] is genuine or not, that is the meaning and is a direct reference to 1:24 when in the synagogue the demon recognized and addressed Jesus as the Holy One of God. Testimony from such a source was not calculated to help the cause of Christ with the people. He had told the other demon to be silent. See on ?<a href='B:470 8:29'>Mat 8:29</a> for discussion of the word demon.


text:
In the morning, a great while before day [&#960; &#961; &#969; &#953; &#949; &#957; &#957; &#965; &#967; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Luke has only "when it was day" [&#947; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#963; &#951; &#949; &#956; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#963;]. The word pr "i in Mark means the last watch of the night from three to six A. M. Ennucha lian means in the early part of the watch while it was still a bit dark (cf. <a href='B:480 16:2'>Mar 16:2</a> lian pr" i). Rose up and went out [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#958; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#949; &#957;]. Out of the house and out of the city, off [&#945; &#960; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#949; &#957;, even if not genuine, possibly a conflate reading from 6:32, 46]. "Flight from the unexpected reality into which His ideal conception of His calling had brought Him" (H. J. Holtzmann). Gould notes that Jesus seems to retreat before his sudden popularity, to prayer with the Father "that he might not be ensnared by this popularity, or in any way induced to accept the ways of ease instead of duty." But Jesus also had a plan for a preaching tour of Galilee and "He felt He could not begin too soon. He left in the night, fearing opposition from the people" (Bruce). Surely many a popular preacher can understand this mood of Jesus when in the night he slips away to a solitary place for prayer. Jesus knew what it was to spend a whole night in prayer. He knew the blessing of prayer and the power of prayer. And there prayed [&#954; ' &#945; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#949; &#965; &#967; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. Imperfect tense picturing Jesus as praying through the early morning hours.


text:
Followed after him [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#949; &#948; &#953; &#969; &#958; &#949; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. Hunted him out (Moffatt). Perfective use of the preposition kata (down to the finish). The verb di "k" is used for the hunt or chase, pursuit. Vulgate has _persecutus est_. The personal story of Peter comes in here. "Simon's intention at least was good; the Master seemed to be losing precious opportunities and must be brought back" (Swete). Peter and those with him kept up the search till they found him. The message that they brought would surely bring Jesus back to Peter's house.


text:
Into the next towns [&#949; &#953; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#967; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#969; &#956; &#959; &#960; &#959; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#963;]. It was a surprising decision for Jesus to leave the eager, excited throngs in Capernaum for the country town or village cities without walls or much importance. Only instance of the word in the N. T. Late Greek word. The use of echomenas for next is a classic use meaning clinging to, next to a thing. So in <a href='B:490 13:33'>Luk 13:33</a>; <a href='B:510 13:44'>Act 13:44</a>; <a href='B:510 20:15'>Act 20:15</a>; <a href='B:650 6:9'>Heb 6:9</a>. "D" here has eggus (near).


text:
Throughout all Galilee [&#949; &#953; &#963; &#951; &#959; &#955; &#949; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#957; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#953; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. The first tour of Galilee by Jesus. We are told little about this great preaching tour.


text:
Kneeling down to him [&#954; &#945; &#953; &#947; &#959; &#957; &#965; &#960; &#949; &#964; &#969; &#957;]. Picturesque detail omitted by some MSS. <a href='B:490 5:12'>Luk 5:12</a> has "fell on his face."


text:
Being moved with compassion [&#963; &#960; &#955; &#945; &#947; &#967; &#957; &#953; &#963; &#952; &#949; &#953; &#963;]. Only in Mark. First aorist passive participle.


text:
Strictly charged [&#949; &#956; &#946; &#961; &#953; &#956; &#949; &#963; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#963;]. Only in Mark. <a href='B:490 5:14'>Luk 5:14</a> has par&#136; ggeilen (commanded). Mark's word occurs also in 14:5 and in <a href='B:470 9:30'>Mat 9:30</a> and <a href='B:500 11:38'>Joh 11:38</a>. See on ?<a href='B:470 9:30'>Mat 9:30</a>. It is a strong word for the snorting of a horse and expresses powerful emotion as Jesus stood here face to face with leprosy, itself a symbol of sin and all its train of evils. The command to report to the priests was in accord with the Mosaic regulations and the prohibition against talking about it was to allay excitement and to avoid needless opposition to Christ.


text:
For a testimony unto them [&#949; &#953; &#963; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#965; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#963;]. Without the formal testimony of the priests the people would not receive the leper as officially clean.


text:
Began to publish it much [&#949; &#961; &#958; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#954; &#949; &#961; &#965; &#963; &#963; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#960; &#959; &#955; &#955; &#945;]. <a href='B:490 5:15'>Luk 5:15</a> puts it, "so much the more" [&#956; ? &#955; &#955; &#959; &#957;]. One of the best ways to spread a thing is to tell people not to tell. It was certainly so in this case. Soon Jesus had to avoid cities and betake himself to desert places to avoid the crowds and even then people kept coming to Jesus [&#949; &#961; &#967; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959;, imperfect tense]. Some preachers are not so disturbed by the onrush of crowds.


text:
It was noised [&#951; &#954; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#952; &#951;]. Lit., It was heard. That he was in the house [&#959; &#964; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#962; &#959; &#953; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#957;]. The oti, that, is recitative, introducing the report in the direct form. It was reported - he is in the house! The preposition in is literally into, carrying the idea of the motion preceding the stay in the house. "He has gone into the house, and is there." But the best texts read ejn oikw, in the house. The account of this rumor is peculiar to Mark. He preached [&#949; &#955; &#945; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. Lit., spake, as Rev. Imperfect tense. He was speaking when the occurrence which follows took place.


text:
Come nigh unto him [&#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#949; &#947; &#947; &#953; &#963; &#945; &#953;]. The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. But some read prosenegkai bring him unto him. So Rev., in margin.<p/>They uncovered [&#945; &#960; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. The only use of the word in New Testament.<p/>Broken it up [&#949; &#958; &#959; &#961; &#965; &#958; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. Lit., scooped it out. Very graphic and true to fact. A modern roof would be untiled or unshingled; but an oriental roof would have to be dug to make such an opening as was required. A composition of mortar, tar, ashes, and sand is spread upon the roofs, and rolled hard, and grass grows in the crevices. On the houses of the poor in the country the grass grows more freely, and goats may be seen on the roofs cropping it. In some cases, as in this, stone slabs are laid across the joists. See <a href='B:490 5:19'>Luk 5:19</a>, where it is said they let him down through the tiles; so that they would be obliged, not only to dig through the grass and earth, but also to pry up the tiles. Compare <a href='B:230 79:6'>Psa 79:6</a>.<p/>The bed [&#954; &#961; &#945; &#946; &#945; &#964; &#964; &#959; &#957;]. One of Mark's Latin words, grabatus, and condemned by the grammarians as inelegant. A rude pallet, merely a thickly padded quilt or mat, held at the corners, and requiring no cords to let it down. They could easily reach the roof by the steps on the outside, as the roof is low; or they could have gone into an adjoining house and passed along the roofs. Some suppose that the crowd was assembled in an upper chamber, which sometimes extended over the whole area of the house. It is not possible accurately to reproduce the details of the scene. Dr. Thomson says that Jesus probably stood in the lewan or reception - room, a hall which is entered from the court or street by an open arch; or he may have taken his stand in the covered court in front of the house itself, which usually has open arches on three sides, and the crowd was around and in front of him.


text:
Reasoning [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#947; &#953; &#950; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#953;]. The word dialogue is derived from this, and the meaning literally is, that they held a dialogue with themselves.


text:
Perceived [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. The preposition ejpi gives the force of fully. He was not only immediately aware of their thought, but clearly and fully aware.


text:
Power [&#949; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#957;]; or better, authority, as Rev., in margin. The word is derived from exesti, it is permitted or lawful. It combines the ideas of right and might. Authority or right is the dominant meaning in the New Testament.


text:
Resorted - taught [&#951; &#961; &#967; &#949; &#964; &#959; - &#949; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#957;]. The imperfects are graphic - kept coming, kept teaching.


text:
Scribes and Pharisees. But the best texts read grammateiv twn Farisaiwn, scribes of the Pharisees. So Rev. Scribes belonging to the sect of the Pharisees. They had followed him into the hall where the company were seated. This hall answered to the k'hawah of Arabian houses, which is thus described by William Gifford Palgrave : "The k'hawah was a long, oblong hall about twenty feet in height, fifty in length, and sixteen or thereabouts in breadth. The walls were covered in a rudely decorative manner with brown and white wash, and sunk here and there into small triangular recesses, destined to the reception of books, lamps, and other such like objects. The roof was of timber, and flat; the floor was strewn with fine, clean sand, and garnished all round alongside of the walls with long strips of carpet, upon which cushions, covered with faded silk, were disposed at suitable intervals. In poorer houses, felt rugs usually take the place of carpets" (" Central and Eastern Arabia ").


text:
They that are whole [&#959; &#953; &#953; &#963; &#967; &#965; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. Lit., they that are strong. See on <a href='B:490 14:30'>Luk 14:30</a>, was not able; and <a href='B:680 2:11'>2Pe 2:11</a>, power.<p/>No need. The Greek order throws the emphasis on these words : No need have they that are strong of a physician. Wyc., Whole men have no need to a leech, but they that have evil.


text:
And of the Pharisees. But the of is wrong. Read as Rev., John's disciples and the Pharisees. Used to fast [&#951; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#957; &#951; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#965; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. The A. V. refers to the fact as a custom; but Mark means that they were observing a fast at that time. Hence the use of the participle with the finite verb. Rev., correctly, were fasting. The threefold repetition of the word fast is characteristic of Mark. See Introduction.


text:
Children of the bride - chamber [&#965; &#953; &#959; &#953; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#957; &#965; &#956; &#966; &#969; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. More correctly as Rev., sons. It is noteworthy that Christ twice uses a figure drawn from marriage in his allusions to John the Baptist, the ascetic. Compare <a href='B:500 3:29'>Joh 3:29</a>. The sons of the bride - chamber are different from the groomsmen. They are the guests invited to the bridal. The scene is laid in Galilee, where groomsmen were not customary, as in Judaea. Hence there is no mention of them in the account of the marriage at Cana. In Judaea there were at every marriage two groomsmen or friends of the bridegroom. See on <a href='B:500 3:29'>Joh 3:29</a>.


text:
Then - in those days. The proper reading is ejn ejkeinh, in that day. So Rev. Another of Mark's double expressions : then - in that day.


text:
Seweth [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#961; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#964; &#949; &#953;]. A word found in Mark only. Matthew (ix. 16) and Luke (v. 36) use ejpiballei, throweth upon, as we speak of clapping a patch upon.


text:
He went [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#957; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#949; &#965; &#949; &#963; &#952; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., went along beside, along the stretches of standing grain. Matthew and Luke use dia, through, as Mark does, but not para.<p/>Began, as they went, to pluck [&#951; &#961; &#958; &#945; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#959; &#948; &#959; &#957; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#964; &#953; &#955; &#955; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#962;]. Lit., began to make a way plucking the ears. This does not mean that the disciples broke a way for themselves through the standing corn by plucking the ears, for in that event they would have been compelled to break down the stalks. They could not have made a way by plucking the heads of the grain. Mark, who uses Latin forms, probably adopted here the phrase iter facere, to make a way, which is simply to go. The same idiom occurs in the Septuagint, <a href='B:720 1:17'>Jud 1:17</a> :8; poihsai oJdon, as he journeyed. The offense given the Pharisees was the preparation of food on the Sabbath. Matthew says to eat, stating the motive, and Luke, rubbing with their hands, describing the act. See on <a href='B:470 12:2'>Mat 12:2</a>. The Rev. rightly retains the rendering of the A. V.


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Had need. Mark adds this to the was an hungered, which is in both Matthew and Luke. The analogy lay in the necessity. The had need is generic; the was hungry is specific, describing the peculiar character of the need.


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The shewbread [&#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#964; &#951; &#962; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#952; &#949; &#963; &#949; &#969; &#962;]. Lit., the loaves of proposition, i e., the loaves which were set forth before the Lord. The Jews called them the loaves of the face, i e., of the presence of God. The bread was made of the finest wheaten flour that had been passed through eleven sieves. There were twelve loaves, or cakes, according to the number of tribes, ranged in two piles of six each. Each cake was made of about five pints of wheat. They were anointed in the middle with oil, in the form of a cross. According to tradition, each cake was five hand - breadths broad and ten long, but turned up at either end, two hand - breadths on each side, to resemble in outline the ark of the covenant. The shewbread was prepared on Friday, unless that day happened to be a feast - day that required sabbatical rest; in which case it was prepared on Thursday afternoon. The renewal of the shewbread was the first of the priestly functions on the commencement of the Sabbath. The bread which was taken off was deposited on the golden table in the porch of the sanctuary, and distributed among the outgoing and incoming courses of priests (compare save for the priests). It was eaten during the Sabbath, and in the temple itself, but only by such priests as were Levitically pure. This old bread, removed on the Sabbath morning, was that which David ate.


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For man [&#948; &#953; &#945;]. On account of, or for the sake of. This saying is given by Mark only.


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A withered hand [&#949; &#958; &#951; &#961; &#945; &#956; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#951; &#957; &#964; &#951; &#957; &#967; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#945;]. More correctly Rev., his hand withered. The participle indicates that the withering was not congenital, but the result of accident or disease. Luke says his right hand.


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They watched [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#949; &#964; &#951; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#957;]. Imperfect tense. They kept watching. The compound verb, with para, by the side of, means to watch carefully or closely, as one who dogs another's steps, keeping beside or near him. Wyc., They aspieden him : i e., played the spy. On threw, to watch, see on <a href='B:500 17:12'>Joh 17:12</a>.<p/>He would heal [&#952; &#949; &#961; &#945; &#960; &#949; &#965; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. Future tense : whether he will heal, the reader being placed at the time of the watching, and looking forward to the future.


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Stand forth [&#949; &#947; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#949; &#949; &#953; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#963; &#959; &#957;]. Lit., rise into the midst. So Wyc., Rise into the middle. Tynd., Arise and stand in the midst.


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Being grieved [&#963; &#965; &#955; &#955; &#965; &#960; &#959; &#965; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Why the compound verb, with the preposition sun, together with? Herodotus (vi., 39) uses the word of condoling with another's misfortune. Plato (" Republic, "462) says," When any one of the citizens experiences good or evil, the whole state will either rejoice or sorrow with him [&#958; &#965; &#955; &#955; &#965; &#960; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The sun therefore implies Christ's condolence with the moral misfortune of these hardhearted ones. Compare the force of con, in condolence. Latin, con, with, dolere, to grieve.<p/>Hardness [&#960; &#969; &#961; &#969; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. From pwrov, a kind of marble, and thence used of a callus on fractured bones. Pwrwsiv is originally the process by which the extremities of fractured bones are united by a callus. Hence of callousness, or hardness in general. The word occurs in two other passages in the New Testament, <a href='B:520 11:25'>Rom 11:25</a>; <a href='B:560 4:18'>Eph 4:18</a>, where the A. V. wrongly renders blindness, following the Vulgate caecitas. It is somewhat strange that it does not adopt that rendering here (Vulgate, caecitate) which is given by both Wyc. and Tynd. The Rev. in all the passages rightly gives hardening, which is better than hardness, because it hints at the process going on. Mark only records Christ's feeling on this occasion.


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Withdrew. Mark alone notes no less than eleven occasions on which Jesus retired from his work, in order to escape his enemies or to pray in solitude, for rest, or for private conference with his disciples. See <a href='B:480 1:12'>Mar 1:12</a>; <a href='B:480 3:7'>Mar 3:7</a>; <a href='B:480 6:31'>Mar 6:31</a>; <a href='B:480 6:46'>Mar 6:46</a>; <a href='B:480 7:24'>Mar 7:24</a>; <a href='B:480 7:31'>Mar 7:31</a>; <a href='B:480 9:2'>Mar 9:2</a>; <a href='B:480 10:1'>Mar 10:1</a>; <a href='B:480 14:34'>Mar 14:34</a>.<p/>A great multitude [&#960; &#959; &#955; &#965; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#959; &#962;]. Compare verse 8, where the order of the Greek words is reversed. In the former case the greatness of the mass of people is emphasized; in the latter, the mass of people itself.


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He did [&#949; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#949; &#953;]. Imperfect tense. Others read poiei, he is doing. In either case the tense has a continuous force : what things he was doing or is doing. Note in verses 7, 8, Mark's accurate detail of places. See Introduction. The reasons for our Lord's withdrawing into a boat, given with such minuteness of detail in verses 9 - 11, are also peculiar to Mark.


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Pressed upon [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#960; &#953; &#960; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#957;]. Lit., fell upon.<p/>Plagues [&#956; &#945; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#947; &#945; &#962;]. Lit., scourges. Compare <a href='B:510 22:24'>Act 22:24</a>; <a href='B:650 11:36'>Heb 11:36</a>. Our word plague is from plhgh, Latin plaga, meaning a blow. Pestilence or disease is thus regarded as a stroke from a divine hand. Plhgh is used in classical Greek in this metaphorical sense. Thus Sophocles, "Ajax," 279 : "I fear that a calamity [&#960; &#955; &#951; &#947; &#951;] is really come from heaven (qeou, God)." So of war. Aeschylus, "Persae," 251 : " O Persian land, how hath the abundant prosperity been destroyed by a single blow [&#949; &#957; &#956; &#953; &#945; &#960; &#955; &#951; &#947; &#951;]. The word here, scourges, carries the same idea.


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The unclean spirits [&#964; &#945;]. The article indicating those particular spirits which took part in that scene. Mark's precision is shown in the use of the two articles and in the arrangement of the noun and adjective : The spirits, the unclean ones.<p/>When they saw [&#959; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#952; &#949; &#969; &#961; &#959; &#965; &#957;]. More accurately as Rev., whenever they beheld. The imperfect tense denotes a repeated act. The an in otan gives an indefinite force : as often as they might see him.


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He charged [&#949; &#960; &#949; &#964; &#953; &#956; &#945;]. The word is commonly rendered rebuke in the New Testament. In classical Greek its predominant sense is that of severe, strenuous reproach for unworthy deeds or acts. It is several times used in the New Testament, as here, in the sense of charge. In this sense the word carries, at bottom, a suggestion of a charge under penalty [&#964; &#953; &#956; &#951;].<p/>That [&#953; &#957; &#945;]. According to the A. V. and Rev. the that indicates the substance of Christ's charge. Properly, however, it indicates the intent of his charge. He charged them in order that they should not make him known.


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Whom he would [&#959; &#965; &#962; &#951; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. Rev., more strictly, "whom he himself would;" not allowing any to offer themselves for special work. Out of the larger number thus called he selected twelve. See verse 14.


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Ordained [&#949; &#960; &#959; &#953; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., made. Rev., appointed.<p/>Might send them forth [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#955; &#955; &#951;]. As apostles. Compare the kindred noun ajpostoloi, apostles.


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To have power [&#949; &#967; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#958; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Note that he does not say to preach and to cast out, but to preach and to have authority to cast out. The power of preaching and the power of exorcising were so different that special mention is made of the divine authority with which they would need to be clothed. The power of driving out demons was given that they might apply it in confirmation of their teaching. Compare 16 20.


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And Simon he surnamed Peter. Mark relates only his naming and not his appointment, leaving his appointment to be understood.


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Although Mark mentions that the apostles were sent out in pairs (vi. 7), he does not classify them here in pairs. But he alone throws Peter and James and John, the three who shared the Lord's particular intimacy, into one group. Matthew and Luke both introduce Andrew between Peter and James.<p/>He surnamed them Boanerges [&#949; &#960; &#949; &#952; &#951; &#954; &#949; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#962; &#959; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#945; &#957; &#951; &#961; &#947; &#949; &#962;]. Lit., he put upon them the name. Some uncertainty attaches to both the origin and the application of the name. Most of the best texts read ojnomata, names, instead of name. This would indicate that each of the two was surnamed a "son of thunder." Some, however, have claimed that it was a dual name given to them as a pair, as the name Dioscuri was given to Castor and Pollux. The reason of its bestowal we do not know. It seems to have been intended as a title of honor, though not perpetuated like the surname Peter, this being the only instance of its occurrence; possibly because the inconvenience of a common surname, which would not have sufficiently designated which of them was intended, may have hindered it from ever growing into an appellation. It is justified by the impetuosity and zeal which characterized both the brothers, which prompted them to suggest the calling of fire from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritan village (<a href='B:490 9:54'>Luk 9:54</a> ); which marked James as the victim of an early martyrdom (<a href='B:510 12:2'>Act 12:2</a> ); and which sounds in the thunders of John's Revelation. The Greek Church calls John Brontofwnov, the thunder - voiced. The phrase, sons of, is a familiar Hebrew idiom, ill which the distinguishing characteristic of the individual or thing named is regarded as his parent. Thus sparks are sons of fire (<a href='B:220 5:7'>Job 5:7</a> ); threshed corn is son of the floor (<a href='B:290 21:10'>Isa 21:10</a> ). Compare son of perdition (<a href='B:500 17:12'>Joh 17:12</a> ); sons of disobedience (<a href='B:560 2:2'>Eph 2:2</a>; <a href='B:560 5:6'>Eph 5:6</a> ).


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Andrew [&#945; &#957; &#948; &#961; &#949; &#945; &#957;]. A name of Greek origin though ill use among the Jews, from ajnhr, man, and signifying manly. He was one of the two who came earliest to Christ (<a href='B:470 4:18'>Mat 4:18</a>; <a href='B:470 4:20'>Mat 4:20</a>; compare <a href='B:500 1:40'>Joh 1:40</a>; <a href='B:500 1:41'>Joh 1:41</a> ); and hence is always styled by the Greek fathers prwtoklhtov, first called.<p/>Philip [&#966; &#953; &#955; &#953; &#960; &#960; &#959; &#957;]. Another Greek name, meaning fond of horses. In ecclesiastical legend he is said to have been a chariot - driver.<p/>Bartholomew. A Hebrew name - Bar Tolmai, son of Tolmai. Almost certainly identical with Nathanael. Philip and Nathanael are associated by John, as are Philip and Bartholomew in the parallel passages of the synoptics. Bartholomew is not mentioned in John's list of the twelve (xi. 2), but Nathanael is; while the synoptists do not mention Nathanael in their lists, but do mention Bartholomew. Probably he had two names.<p/>Matthew. See on the superscription of Matthew's Gospel. Thomas. A Hebrew name, meaning twin, and translated by the Greek Didymus (<a href='B:500 11:16'>Joh 11:16</a> ).<p/>Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus, as in <a href='B:470 10:3'>Mat 10:3</a>. He is the Judas of <a href='B:500 14:22'>Joh 14:22</a>. Luther calls him der formme Judas (the good Judas). The two surnames, Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus, mean the same thing - beloved child.<p/>Simon the Canaanite. Properly, Cananaean. See on <a href='B:470 10:4'>Mat 10:4</a> : "No name is more striking in the list than that of Simon the Zealot, for to none of the twelve could the contrast be so vivid between their former and their new position. What revolution of thought and heart could be greater than that which had thus changed into a follower of Jesus one of the fierce war - party of the day, which looked on the presence of Rome in the Holy Land as treason against the majesty of Jehovah, a party who were fanatical in their Jewish strictures and exclusiveness?" (Geikie, " Life and Words of Christ ").


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Again. Glancing back to the many notices of crowds in the preceding narrative. This reassembling of the multitudes, and its interference with the repast of Christ and the disciples, is peculiar to Mark.


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His friends [&#959; &#953; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965;]. Lit., they who were from beside him : i e., by origin or birth. His mother and brethren. Compare verses 31, 32. Wyc., kinsmen. Tynd., they that belonged unto him. Not his disciples, since they were in the house with him.<p/>They said [&#949; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#959; &#957;]. Imperfect tense. Very graphic, they kept saying.


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Beelzebub. See on <a href='B:470 10:25'>Mat 10:25</a>.<p/>And. Not connecting two parts of one accusation, but two accusations, as is evident from the two otiv, which are equivalent to quotation marks.


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And. Note the way in which the sayings are linked by this conjunction; an impressive rhetorical progression.


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Spoil [&#948; &#953; &#945; &#961; &#960; &#945; &#963; &#945; &#953;]. Mark uses the stronger and more vivid compound verb, where Matthew employs the simple aJrpasai. The verb means, primarily, to tear in pieces; to carry away, as the wind; to efface, as footsteps. So, generally, to seize as plunder, snatching right and left.<p/>His goods [&#964; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#965; &#951;]. Lit., his vessels. So Wyc. Compare <a href='B:480 10:16'>Mar 10:16</a>; <a href='B:510 9:15'>Act 9:15</a>; <a href='B:510 10:11'>Act 10:11</a>; <a href='B:620 2:20'>2Ti 2:20</a>. The special object of the robber may be precious vessels of gold or silver; but the word is probably used in its general sense of household gear.


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Compare <a href='B:470 12:31'>Mat 12:31</a>; and note Mark's superior precision and fullness of detail.


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Guilty [&#949; &#957; &#959; &#967; &#959; &#962;]. From ejn, in, ecw, to hold or have. Lit., is in the grasp of, or holden of. Compare <a href='B:530 11:27'>1Co 11:27</a>; <a href='B:660 2:10'>Jas 2:10</a>.<p/>Eternal damnation [&#945; &#953; &#969; &#957; &#953; &#959; &#965; &#945; &#956; &#945; &#961; &#964; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. An utterly false rendering. Rightly as Rev., of an eternal sin. So Wyc., everlasting trespass. The A. V. has gone wrong in following Tyndale, who, in turn, followed the erroneous text of Erasmus, krisewv, judgment, wrongly rendered damnation. See <a href='B:470 23:33'>Mat 23:33</a>, and compare Rev. there.


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They said [&#949; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#959; &#957;]. Imperfect tense. They kept saying, or persisted in saying. An addition peculiar to Mark.<p/>31, 32. They sent unto him calling him. and a multitude was sitting about him. Detail by Mark only; as also the words in verse 34, Looking round on them which sat round about him.


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Again. He had taught there before. See <a href='B:480 3:7-9'>Mar 3:7-9</a>.<p/>In the sea. Mark only.<p/>There was gathered [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#947; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The A. V. misses Mark's graphic use of the present, "There is gathered." So Rev.


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Choked [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#949; &#960; &#957; &#953; &#958; &#945; &#957;]. The preposition, sun = com (together), carries the idea of com - pression. It yielded no fruit. Added by Mark.


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That sprang up and increased [&#945; &#957; &#945; &#946; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#965; &#958; &#945; &#957; &#959; &#956; &#949; &#957; &#959; &#957;]. The Rev. literally renders the participles, growing up and increasing, thus describing the process more vividly. These two participles, moreover, explain the use of the imperfect tense ejdidou [&#968; &#953; &#949; &#955; &#948; &#949; &#948;], denoting continuance. It began to yield and kept yielding as it increased.<p/>Thirty [&#949; &#953; &#962; &#964; &#961; &#953; &#945; &#954; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945;]. Lit., up to thirty.


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When he was alone. Mark only.<p/>They that were about him with the twelve. Mark only. Matthew and Luke, the disciples.


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Unto them that are without [&#949; &#954; &#949; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#953; &#962; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#962; &#949; &#958; &#969;]. The two latter words are peculiar to Mark. The phrase means those outside of our circle. Its sense is always determined by the contrast to it. Thus, <a href='B:530 5:12'>1Co 5:12</a>; <a href='B:530 5:13'>1Co 5:13</a>, it is non - Christians in contrast with me. <a href='B:580 4:5'>Col 4:5</a>, Christians, contrasted with people of the world. Compare <a href='B:590 4:12'>1Th 4:12</a>; <a href='B:610 3:7'>1Ti 3:7</a>. Matthew (xiii. 11), with less precision, uses simply ejkeinoiv (to them), the pronoun of remote reference. <a href='B:490 8:10'>Luk 8:10</a>, toiv loipoiv (to the rest).


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Peculiar to Mark. Parables [&#964; &#945; &#962; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#945; &#962;]. The parables, which I have spoken or may hereafter speak.


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The sower soweth the word. More precise than either Matthew or Luke. Compare <a href='B:470 13:19'>Mat 13:19</a>; <a href='B:490 8:11'>Luk 8:11</a>.


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The lusts of other things entering in [&#945; &#953; &#960; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#964; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#953; &#960; &#945; &#949; &#960; &#953; &#952; &#965; &#956; &#953; &#945; &#953;]. Lusts not in the limited sense of mere sexual desire, but in the general sense of longing. The word is also used of desire for good and lawful things (<a href='B:490 22:15'>Luk 22:15</a>; <a href='B:570 1:23'>Phi 1:23</a> ).


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A candle [&#959; &#955; &#965; &#967; &#957; &#959; &#962;]. Properly, the lamp, as Rev.<p/>Brought [&#949; &#961; &#967; &#949; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., cometh. Doth the lamp come? This impersonation or investing the lamp with motion is according to Mark's lively mode of narrative, as is the throwing of the passage into the interrogative form. Compare <a href='B:490 8:16'>Luk 8:16</a>. The lamp : the article indicating a familiar household implement. So also "the bed" and "the stand."<p/>Bushel [&#956; &#959; &#948; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. The Latin modius. One of Mark's Latin words. See on <a href='B:470 5:15'>Mat 5:15</a>. The modius was nearer a peck than a bushel.<p/>Bed [&#954; &#955; &#953; &#957; &#951; &#957;]. A couch for reclining at table.<p/>Candlestick [&#955; &#965; &#967; &#957; &#953; &#945; &#957;]. Rev., correctly, stand; i e., lamp stand. See on <a href='B:470 5:15'>Mat 5:15</a>.


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Which shall not be manifested [&#949; &#945; &#957; &#956; &#951; &#953; &#957; &#945; &#966; &#945; &#957; &#949; &#961; &#969; &#952; &#951;]. The A. V. makes Christ say that every hidden thing shall be revealed. This is wrong. He says that things are hidden in order that they may be manifested. Concealment is a means to revelation.<p/>26 - 29. THE PARABLE OF THE SEED GROWING SECRETLY. Peculiar to Mark.


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Should cast [&#946; &#945; &#955; &#951;]. Lit., should have cast, the aorist tense, followed by the presents sleep and rise [&#954; &#945; &#952; &#949; &#965; &#948; &#951; &#945; &#957; &#948; &#949; &#947; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#951; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. The whole, literally, "As if a man should have cast seed into the ground, and should be sleeping and rising night and day." The aorist tense indicates the single act of casting; the presents the repeated, continued sleeping and rising while the seed is growing.<p/>Seed [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#963; &#960; &#959; &#961; &#959; &#957;]. The seed; that particular seed which he had to sow. Such is the force of the article.


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Grow [&#956; &#951; &#954; &#965; &#957; &#951; &#964; &#945; &#953;]. Lit., lengthen; be extended by the seed lengthening out into blade and stalk.<p/>He knoweth not how (wJv oujk oiden aujtov). The Greek order is very lively : how knoweth not he.


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Of herself [&#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#964; &#951;]. Lit., self - acting. It occurs in only one other passage of the New Testament, <a href='B:510 12:10'>Act 12:10</a>; of the city gate which opened to Peter of its own accord.


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Is brought forth [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#948; &#959; &#953;]. This rendering cannot be correct, for the verb is active, not passive, meaning to deliver up. Hence it is usually explained, shall have delivered itself up to harvest; which is stilted and artificial. Rev. is ripe, is a free rendering from the margin of A. V. It is, perhaps, better to explain, as Meyer does, whose rendering is adopted by Rev. in margin : When the fruit shall have allowed, i e., shall have admitted of being harvested. Xenophon and Herodotus use the word in the sense of permit or allow; and an exact parallel to this occurs in the historian Polybius (xxii., 24, 9) : "When the season permitted" [&#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#948; &#953; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#951; &#962;].<p/>Putteth in [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#955; &#955; &#949; &#953;]. Lit., sendeth forth. So Rev. in margin. The rendering, putteth in, misses the figure. The verb is the same as that used of sending forth the apostles to reap the harvest of souls. See especially <a href='B:500 4:38'>Joh 4:38</a> : "I sent [&#945; &#960; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#949; &#953; &#955; &#945;] you to reap."


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Peculiar to Mark.<p/>With what comparison shall we compare it? [&#949; &#957; &#964; &#953; &#957; &#953; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#951; &#957; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#946; &#959; &#955; &#951; &#952; &#969; &#956; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., In what parable might we put it? Rev., In what parable shall we set it forth? Note the we, taking the hearers, with a fine tact, into consultation.


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When it is sown [&#959; &#964; &#945; &#957; &#963; &#960; &#945; &#961; &#951;]. This phrase is repeated in verse 32. Here the emphasis is on otan, when. It is small at the time when it is sown. In verse 32 the emphasis is on sparh, it is sown. It begins to grow great from the time when it is sown.<p/>That are upon the earth. A little detail peculiar to Mark.


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Groweth up. Mark only.<p/>Herbs [&#964; &#969; &#957; &#955; &#945; &#967; &#945; &#957; &#969; &#957;]. Rev., rightly, the herbs; those which people are wont to plant in their gardens. The word denotes garden - or pot - herbs, as distinguished from wild herbs.<p/>Shooteth out great branches [&#960; &#959; &#953; &#949; &#953; &#954; &#955; &#945; &#948; &#959; &#965; &#962; &#956; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#955; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Lit., maketh, etc. Rev., putteth out. Peculiar to Mark. Matthew has becometh a tree. On branches, see note on <a href='B:470 24:32'>Mat 24:32</a>. One of the Talmudists describes the mustard - plant as a tree, of which the wood was sufficient to cover a potter's shed. Another says that he was wont to climb into it as men climb into a fig - tree. Professor Hackett says that on the plain of Akka, toward Carmel, he found a collection of mustard - plants from six to nine feet high, with branches from each side of a trunk an inch or more in thickness. Dr. Thomson relates that near the bank of the Jordan he found a mustard - tree more than twelve feet high.<p/>Lodge [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#954; &#951; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#957;], See on <a href='B:470 8:20'>Mat 8:20</a>. Lit., pitch their tents.


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Such. Implying that Mark knew yet more parables that were spoken at that time.<p/>As they were able to hear it. Peculiar to Mark.


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Even as he was in the ship. Rev., boat. Just as he was, in the boat in which he was then sitting. Mark adds the detail about the accompanying boats.


text:
Storm [&#955; &#945; &#953; &#955; &#945; &#968;]. So Luke. Distinctively furious storm or hurricane. Compare Septuagint, <a href='B:220 38:1'>Job 38:1</a>, of the whirlwind out of which God answered Job. See, also, <a href='B:220 21:18'>Job 21:18</a>. Matthew uses seismov, a shaking. See on <a href='B:470 8:24'>Mat 8:24</a>. Mr. Macgregor (" Rob Roy on the Jordan ") says that "on the sea of Galilee the wind has a singular force and suddenness; and this is no doubt because that sea is so deep in the world that the sun rarefies the air in it enormously, and the wind, speeding swiftly above a long and level plateau, gathers much force as it sweeps through flat deserts, until suddenly it meets this huge gap in the way, and it tumbles down here irresistible."


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A pillow [&#964; &#959; &#960; &#961; &#959; &#963; &#954; &#949; &#966; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. The definite article indicates a well - known part of the boat's equipment - the coarse leathern cushion at the stern for the steersman. The Anglo - Saxon version has bolster.


text:
Peace, be still [&#963; &#953; &#969; &#960; &#945;, &#960; &#949; &#966; &#953; &#956; &#969; &#963; &#959;]. Lit., be silent! be muzzled! Wyc., rather tamely, wax dumb! How much more vivid than the narratives of either Matthew or Luke is this personification and rebuke of the sea as a raging monster.<p/>Ceased [&#949; &#954; &#959; &#960; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. From kopov, meaning, 1, beating; 2, toil; 3, weariness. A beautiful and picturesque word. The sea sank to rest as if exhausted by its own beating.<p/>There was [&#949; &#947; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. More strictly, there arose or ensued. The aorist tense indicates something immediate. Tynd. has followed.<p/>Calm. Wyc., peaceableness.


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They feared exceedingly [&#949; &#966; &#959; &#946; &#951; &#952; &#951; &#963; &#945; &#957; &#966; &#959; &#946; &#959; &#957; &#956; &#949; &#947; &#945; &#957;]. Lit., they feared a great fear.<p/>What manner of man is this? [&#964; &#953; &#962; &#945; &#961; &#945; &#959; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#962; &#949; &#963; &#964; &#953; &#957;]. The A. V. is rather a rendering of Matthew's potapov, what manner of (viii. 27), than of Mark's tiv, who. The Rev. gives it rightly : Who then is this? The then [&#945; &#961; &#945;] is argumentative. Since these things are so, who then is this?


text:
The details of verses 3 - 5 are peculiar to Mark. "The picture of the miserable man is fearful; and in drawing it, each evangelist has some touches which are peculiarly his own; but St. Mark's is the most eminently graphic of all, adding, as it does, many strokes Which wonderfully heighten the terribleness of the man's condition, and also magnify the glory of his cure" (Trench, " Miracles ").<p/>Dwelling [&#954; &#945; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#954; &#951; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. The kata, down, gives the sense of a settled habitation. Compare our phrase settled down. So Tynd., his abiding.<p/>The tombs [&#964; &#959; &#953; &#962; &#956; &#957; &#951; &#956; &#945; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. "In unclean places, unclean because of the dead men's bones which were there. To those who did not on this account shun them, these tombs of the Jews would afford ample shelter, being either natural caves or recesses hewn by art out of the rock, often so large as to be supported with columns, and with cells upon their sides for the reception of the dead. Being, too, without the cities, and oftentimes in remote and solitary places, they would attract those who sought to flee from all fellowship of their kind" (Trench, " Miracles ").


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With fetters and chains [&#960; &#949; &#948; &#945; &#953; &#962; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#945; &#955; &#965; &#963; &#949; &#963; &#953; &#957;]. pedh, fetter, is akin to peza, the instep; just as the Latin pedica, a shackle, is related to pes, a foot. The Anglo - Saxon plural of fot (foot) is fet; so that fetter is feeter. So Chaucer :<p/>"The pure fetters on his shinnes grete Were of his bitter salte teres wete."<p/>Alusiv (derivation uncertain) is a chain, a generic word, denoting a bond which might be on any part of the body.<p/>Broken in pieces [&#963; &#965; &#957; &#964; &#949; &#964; &#961; &#953; &#966; &#952; &#945; &#953;]. The verb suntribw means originally to rub together, to grind or crush. It has been suggested that the fetters might have been of cords which could be rubbed to pieces. Wyc. renders, Had broken the stocks to small gobbets.


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Crying [&#954; &#961; &#945; &#950; &#969; &#957;]. Rev., crying out. The verb denotes an inarticulate cry; a shriek. Aristophanes uses it of the frogs (" Ranae, "258), and of the bawling of a boor (" Equites," 285).


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Afar off [&#945; &#960; &#959; &#956; &#945; &#954; &#961; &#959; &#952; &#949; &#957;]. Peculiar to Mark, as is also he ran.


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Crying - he saith. The inarticulate cry (verse 5), and then the articulate speech.<p/>What have I to do with thee? [&#964; &#953; &#949; &#956; &#959; &#953; &#954; &#945; &#953; &#963; &#959; &#953; ;]. Lit., what is there to me and thee? What have we in common?<p/>I adjure thee by God. Stronger than Luke's I pray thee. The verb oJrkizw, I adjure, is condemned by the grammarians as inelegant.


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For he said [&#949; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#949; &#957;]. Imperfect tense, he was saying; the force of which is lost both in the A. V. and Rev. The imperfect gives the reason for this strange entreaty of the demon. Jesus was commanding, was saying "come out;" and, as in the case of the epileptic child at the Transfiguration Mount, the baffled spirit wreaked his malice on the man. The literal rendering of the imperfect brings out the simultaneousness of Christ's exorcism, the outbreak of demoniac malice, and the cry Torment me not.


text:
Ran [&#969; &#961; &#956; &#951; &#963; &#949; &#957;]. The verb indicates hasty, headlong motion. Hence, as Rev., rushed.<p/>Two Thousand. As usual, Mark alone gives the detail of number.<p/>A steep place. But the noun has the definite article : tou krhmnou, the steep, as Rev.


text:
See (qewrousin). Rev., rightly, behold. For it was more than simple seeing. The verb means looking steadfastly, as one who has an interest in the object, and with a view to search into and understand it : to look inquiringly and intently.<p/>Clothed. Compare <a href='B:490 8:27'>Luk 8:27</a>. For a long time he had worn no clothes.


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When he was come [&#949; &#956; &#946; &#945; &#953; &#957; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#959; &#962;]. The participle is in the present tense. Not after he had embarked, but while he was in the act. Hence Rev., rightly, as he was entering. With this corresponds the graphic imperfect parekalei : While he was stepping into the boat the restored man was beseeching him.<p/>That [&#953; &#957; &#945;]. In order that. Not the subject but the aim of the entreaty.


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My little daughter [&#964; &#959; &#952; &#965; &#947; &#945; &#964; &#961; &#953; &#959; &#957;]. This little endearing touch in the use of the diminutive is peculiar to Mark.<p/>Lieth at the point of death [&#949; &#963; &#967; &#945; &#964; &#969; &#962; &#949; &#967; &#949; &#953;]. One of the uncouth phrases peculiar to Mark's style, and which are cited by some as evidence of the early composition of his gospel.<p/>I pray thee come [&#953; &#957; &#945; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#969; &#957;]. The words I pray thee are not in the Greek. Literally the ruler's words run thus : My little daughter lieth at the point of death - that thou come, etc. In his anguish he speaks brokenly and incoherently.<p/>He went [&#945; &#960; &#951; &#955; &#952; &#949; &#957;]. Lit., went away. The aorist tense, denoting action once for all, is in contrast with the imperfects, hjkolouqei, kept following, and suneqlibon, kept thronging. The multitude kept following and thronging as he went along. The preposition sun, together, in the latter verb, indicates the united pressure of a crowd. Compare Tynd., verse 31. Thrusting thee on every side.


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Mark is much fuller and more vivid than Matthew or Luke.<p/>Had suffered [&#960; &#945; &#952; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#945;]. To be taken, as everywhere in the New Testament, in the sense of suffering pain, not merely subjected to treatment. What she may have suffered will appear from the prescription for the medical treatment of such a complaint given in the Talmud. "Take of the gum of Alexandria the weight of a zuzee (a fractional silver coin); of alum the same; of crocus the same. Let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit, take of Persian onions three logs [&#960; &#953; &#957; &#964; &#963;]; boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say, 'Arise from thy flux. ' If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let some one come behind and frighten her; and say, ' Arise from thy flux. ' But if that do no good, take a handful of cummin (a kind of fennel), a handful of crocus, and a handful of fenugreek (another kind of fennel). Let these be boiled in wine and give them her to drink, and say, 'Arise from thy flux!'" If these do no good, other doses, over ten in number, are prescribed, among them this : "Let them dig seven ditches, in which let them burn some cuttings of vines, not yet four years old. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine, and let them lead her away from this ditch, and make her sit down over that. And let them remove her from that, and make her sit down over another, saying to her at each remove, 'Arise from thy flux!'" (Quoted from Lightfoot by Geikie, " Life and Words of Christ ").<p/>Of many physicians [&#965; &#960; &#959;]. Lit., under; i e., under the hands of.<p/>And was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. Luke's professional pride as a physician kept him from such a statement. Compare <a href='B:490 8:43'>Luk 8:43</a>.


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For she said [&#949; &#955; &#949; &#947; &#949; &#957;]. Imperfect tense. She was or kept saying as she pressed through the crowd, either to herself or to others.


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She knew - she was healed. Note the graphic change in the tenses. egnw, she knew; ijatai she is healed.<p/>Plague. See on 3 10.


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Knowing [&#949; &#960; &#953; &#947; &#957; &#959; &#965; &#962;]. Rev., perceiving. Lit., having fully known.<p/>That virtue had gone out of him [&#964; &#951; &#957; &#949; &#958; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#959; &#965; &#948; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#956; &#953; &#957; &#949; &#958; &#949; &#955; &#952; &#959; &#965; &#963; &#945; &#957;]. More correctly as Rev., that the power proceeding from him had gone forth. The object of the Savior's knowledge was thus complex : 1st, his power; 2nd, that his power had gone forth, This and the following sentence are peculiar to Mark.


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He looked round about [&#960; &#949; &#961; &#953; &#949; &#946; &#955; &#949; &#960; &#949; &#964; &#959;]. Imperfect tense. He kept looking around for the woman, who had hidden herself in the crowd.


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In peace [&#949; &#953; &#962; &#949; &#953; &#961; &#951; &#957; &#951; &#957;]. Lit., into peace. Contemplating the peace in store for her. Mark alone adds, Be whole of thy plague.


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From the ruler of the synagogue. From his house; for the ruler himself is addressed.<p/>Troublest [&#963; &#954; &#965; &#955; &#955; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. See on <a href='B:470 9:36'>Mat 9:36</a>. Compare <a href='B:490 11:22'>Luk 11:22</a>, where occurs the cognate word skula, spoils, things torn or stripped from an enemy. Wyc., travailest. Tynd., diseasest.


text:
Heard. This is from the reading ajkousav (<a href='B:490 8:50'>Luk 8:50</a> ). The correct reading is parakousav, which may be rendered either not heeding, as Rev. (compare <a href='B:470 28:17'>Mat 28:17</a> ), or over - hearing, as Rev. in margin, which, on the whole, seems the more natural. Disregarding would be more appropriate if the message had been addressed to Jesus himself; but it was addressed to the ruler. Jesus overheard it. The present participle, laloumenon, being spoken, seems to fall in with this.


text:
Seeth [&#952; &#949; &#969; &#961; &#949; &#953;]. Rev., beholdeth. See on verse 15.<p/>Wailing [&#945; &#955; &#945; &#955; &#945; &#950; &#959; &#957; &#964; &#945; &#962;]. A descriptive word of the hired mourners crying al - a - lai!


text:
Put them out. "Wonderful authority in the house of a stranger. He was really master of the house" (Bengel). Only Mark relates the taking of the parents with the three disciples into the chamber.


text:
Astonishment [&#949; &#954; &#963; &#964; &#945; &#963; &#949; &#953;]. Better Rev., amazement, which carries the sense of bewilderment. Ekstasiv, of which the English ecstasy is a transcript, is from ejk, out of, and isthmi, to place or put. Its primitive sense, therefore, is that of removal; hence of a man removed out of his senses. In Biblical Greek it is used in a modified sense, as here, <a href='B:480 16:8'>Mar 16:8</a>; <a href='B:490 5:26'>Luk 5:26</a>; <a href='B:510 3:10'>Act 3:10</a>, of amazement, often coupled with fear. In <a href='B:510 10:10'>Act 10:10</a>; <a href='B:510 11:5'>Act 11:5</a>; <a href='B:510 12:17'>Act 12:17</a>, it is used in the sense of our word ecstasy, and is rendered.


text:
Astonished. See on <a href='B:470 8:28'>Mat 8:28</a>.<p/>Mighty works [&#948; &#965; &#957; &#945; &#956; &#949; &#953; &#962;]. Lit., powers. See on <a href='B:470 11:20'>Mat 11:20</a>. Tynd., virtues. Outcomings of God's power : "powers of the world to come" (<a href='B:650 6:5'>Heb 6:5</a> ), at work upon the earth.


text:
The carpenter. This word "throws the only flash which falls on the continuous tenor of the first thirty years, from infancy to manhood, of the life of Christ" (Farrar, " Messages of the Books ").<p/>They were offended. See On <a href='B:470 5:29'>Mat 5:29</a>. Tynd., hurt.


text:
Sick [&#945; &#961; &#961; &#969; &#963; &#964; &#959; &#953; &#962;]. From aj, not, and rJwnnumi, to strengthen. Sickness regarded as constitutional weakness.


text:
By two and two. To help and encourage each other, and also for fullness of testimony.<p/>8 - 12. See <a href='B:470 10'>Mat 10:0</a>.


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Was spread abroad. "But for the rumor, Herod would not have known of him. A palace is late in hearing spiritual news" (Bengel).<p/>Mighty works do show forth themselves in him (ejnergousin aiJ dunameiv ejn aujtw). Rev., these powers work in him. As Dr. Morison observes, "A snatch of Herod's theology and philosophy." He knew that John wrought no miracles when alive, but he thought that death had put him into connection with the unseen world, and enabled him to wield its powers.


text:
He is risen. The he, ou=tov, is emphatic. This one. This very John.<p/>17 - 29. On the Peculiarities of Mark in this narrative, See Introduction.


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Had a quarrel against him [&#949; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#967; &#949; &#957; &#945; &#965; &#964; &#969;]. There is some dispute about the rendering. The Rev. renders Set herself against him, with no alternative translation in the margin; and in <a href='B:490 11:53'>Luk 11:53</a>, Press upon him vehemently, with set themselves against him in the margin. I see no objection to rendering was angry at him, taking ejneicen aujtw with an ellipsis of colon, anger. Very literally, had within herself [&#949; &#957;] anger against him. So Herodotus, 1, 118. Astyages concealing the anger [&#964; &#959; &#957; &#967; &#959; &#955; &#959; &#957;] which he felt toward him [&#959; &#953; &#949; &#957; &#949; &#953; &#967; &#949;]. 6 119, ejneice sfi deinon colon, nourished a fierce anger against them. So Moulton, Grimm, and De Wette.<p/>Desired [&#951; &#952; &#949; &#955; &#949; &#957;]. Imperfect tense, was desiring all along. Her demand for John's murder was the result of a long - cherished wish.


