FOR IF OUR VIRTUES NOT GO FORTH OF US, 'TWERE ALL ALIKE AS IF WE HAB THEM NOT. IX LIBRI. WILLIAM B.-MURRAY Dl g§Sj£&£jnpiv «». priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? w And she confessed, and denied not; z but con- * ^f,1^ fessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, ^im' ' ¦> 3 h Mai. iv. 5. What then? Art thou h Elias? And he saith, I am *»«¦«* y render, testimony. into Scripture, by adopting only-begotten God : a consequence which ought to have no weight whatever where authority is overpowering, but may fairly be weighed where this is not so. I therefore retain the commonly received reading, only-be gotten Son. which is in the bosom] The expression must not be understood as referring to the custom of reclining on the bosom, as in ch. xiii 23 : for by this ex planation confusion is introduced into the imagery, and the real depth of the truth hidden. The expression signifies, as Chry sostom observes, Kindred and oneness of essence : — and is derived from the fond and intimate union of children and parents. The present, which is, as in ch. iii. 13, is used to signify essential truth, without any particular regard to time. he] In the original this pronoun is very marked : He, and none else : an emphatic exclusive expression. declared] Better than 'hath declared,' as A. V. On the sense, see Matt. xi. 27. l 19—11. 11.] intbodtjotiost op Cheist to the wobld: by the wit ness of John (vv. 19 — 40): by Himself (ver. 41 — ii. 11). 19 — 28.] The first witness borne by John to Jesus : before the deputation from the Sanhedrim. 19. the Jews] St. John alone of the Evangelists uses this expression ; — principally as designating the chiefs of the Jewish people, the members of the Sanhedrim. It is an interesting enquiry, what this usage denotes as to the author or date of our Gospel. Prof. Bleek has satisfactorily shewn that no inference can be deduced from it against the Jewish origin of the author, ¦ as some have en deavoured to do ; but it is rather con firmatory of the belief that the Gospel was written after the Jews had ceased to be politically a nation,-~and among Gentiles; — the author hiinself contemplating these last as his readers. priests and Levites] This was & formal deputation; — priests and Levites, constituting the two classes of persons employed about tie ser vice of the temple (see Josh. iii. 3), are sent (Matt. xxL 23) officially to enquire into the pretensions of the new Teacher z render, and he. (ver. 25), who had collected about him such multitudes (Matt. iii. 5), and had awakened popular expectation that he was the Messiah (Luke iii. 15). Who art thou?] The emphasis should be on. the thou. The question is asked with reference to the popular doubts respecting him; in an unbelieving and inquisitorial spirit, — compare Matt. iii. 7 ff., which had already taken place. Even among the learned, as well as among the people, there were con siderable differences as to the prophecies respecting the Messiah : see ch. vii. 40 — 52. 20.] He openly and formally confessed. This emphatic notice of his de- ¦ duration seems to be introduced not with any view of removing too high an esti mate cf John's work and office, as some times supposed, but rather to shew the importance of Ms testimony, which was so publicly and officially delivered, — tliat the Messiah was come (see ch. v. 33—35); and the way in which he depreciated him self in comparison with Him who came after him. ' 21.] Our earliest MS. (the Vatican) reads here) " What then art thou V equivalent to What sayest thou of thyself? ver. 22. Art thou Elias 1] The whole appearance of John reminded them of Elias : — see Matt. iii. 4, and com pare 2 Kings i. S. Besides, his announce ment that the Kingdom of God was at hand, naturally led them to the prophecy Mai. iv. 5. Lightfoot cites from the Rab binical books testimonies, that the Jews expected a general purification or baptism before the coming of the Messiah (from Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26, and Zech. xiii. 1), and that it would be administered by Elias. And he saith, I am not] The right explanation of this answer seems to be the usual one, — that the deputation asked the question in a mistaken and superstitious sense, meaning Elias bodily come down from heaven, who was expected to forerun and anoint the Messias. (Our Lord seems to refer to tlie same extravagantnotion in Matt. xi. 14, If ye will receive it, this is Flias, whieh shall come.) In this sense, John was not Elias; nor indeed in any other sense, was he Elias ; — but only (Luke i. 17) in the spirit and power of Elias. 464 ST. JOHN. I.: iDeut.«iii. not. Art thou i&that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 b Then said they unto him, Who art thou ? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou kMarkiiis8' of thyself? 23 kHe said, I am the voice pf one crying in 'Jh.uilssf' the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as iisi.xi.s. 'said the prophet Esaias. ^ c And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither a that prophet ? 26 John an- nMai'iiPi11, swered them, saying, mI baptize with water: "but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not ; 27 ° d he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's a render, the. * render, they said therefore. c read and render, Now they had been sent by the Pharisees. d read, He that cometh after me. o ver. 16, SO. Acts xix. 4. Art thou the prophet ?] From the prophecy of Moses, Deut. xviii. 15, 18, the Jews expected some particular prophet to arise, — distinct from the Messiah (this dis tinction however was not held by all, see ch. vi. 14), — whose coming was, like that of Elias, intimately connected with that of the Messiah Himself : see ch. vii. 40, 41. In Matt. xvi. 14 we have ' Jeremiah, or one of the prophets,' apparently spoken as representing this expected prophet. There seem to have been various opinions about him ; — all however agreeing in this, that he was to be one of the oldprophets raised from the dead (see also 2 Mace. ii. 1 — 8). This John was not : and he therefore answers this also in the negative. 22.] Notice — they ever ask about his per son : he ever refers them to his office. He is no one — a voice merely: it is the work of God, the testimony to Christ, which is every thing. So the formalist ever in the church asks concerning any one who appears, Who is he ? while the witness for Christ only exalts, only cares for Christ's work. 23.] These words, which by the other Evangelists are spoken of John as the fulfilment of the prophocy, appear from this place to have been first so used by himself. They introduce the great closing section of the prophecy of Isaiah (ch. xl. — Ixvi.) so full of the rich promises and revelations of the Messiah and His kingdom. Hake straight (straighten) is used as compendiously expressing tho commands in the prophecy. By im plication, the Baptist, quoting this open ing prophecy of himself, announces the approaching fulfilment of the whole sec tion. 24. Now they had been sent by the Pharisees] The reason of this explanation being added is not very clear. Liicke refers it to the apparent hostility of the next enquiry : but I confess I cannot see that it is more hostile than the pre ceding. Luthardt thinks that it imports, there were some of the deputation present, who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, which the words will hardly bear. Might it not be to throw light on their question about baptising, as the Pharisees were the most precise about all ceremonies, lustrations, &c. ? Thus the explanation will refer to the nature Of the following question. 25.] This question shews probably that they did not interpret Isa. xl. 3 of any herald ofthe Messiah. They regarded baptism as a sig nificant token of the approach of the Mes sianic Kingdom, and they asked, 'Why baptizest thou, if thou art no forerunner of the Messiah?' 26, 27.] The latter part of ver. 26 and beginning of ver. 27, as read in our oldest and best authorities, runs, as in the corrected text, There stand eth one among you whom ye know not, He that cometh after me. The in sertions, " it is," and " is preferred before me," have been made by some one not aware of the meaning, and wishing to square the verse with vv. 15, 30. The answer of the Baptist seems not to correspond to the question in ver. 25. This was noticed as early as Heracleon (Century II.), who said, John answers the deputa tion from the Pharisees not with reference to what they asked, but what he himself chose. This however is impugned at some length by Origen, but not on very con- 22—28. ST. JOHN. 405 latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28 These things were done in v* Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was*611-*-40- baptizing. e read, Bethany. tures on the identity of the two, or the etymology of the names, as being inde- vincing grounds. The truth seems to have been apprehended by Olshausen, — that the declaration of John that the Messiah was standing among them at that moment un known to them, was an answer to their question demanding a legitimation of his prophetic claims ; — a sign that he was sent from God : — see ch. ii; 18. Olshausen also suggests that this may clear up the cisive and unprofitable. The objection of Paulus, that beyond Jordan the Sanhe drim had no authority, appears not to be founded in fact. The question whether this testimony of the Baptist is identical with that given by the other three Evan gelists, especially by St. Luke (iii. 16), is, saying of the Jews in ch. x. 41 (see note after all that has been said on it, not of there). In repeating this saying at other ¦-'¦ : - - - • ml -1- ¦ ' times (see Matt. iii. 11 and parallel places), the Baptist plainly states of the Messiah, that he should baptize them with the Holy Ghost (and fire), as here in ver. 33. Here, in speaking to those learned in the offices of the Messiah, he leaves that to be sup plied, whose shoe's latchet . . . .] See note on Matt. iii. 11. The latchet is the thong of the shoe or sandal, with which it was bound to the foot. 28.] The common reading, Bethabara, is owing to a conjecture of Origen, the grounds of which he thus states : — ¦" We are not ignorant, that in almost all our copies it is stated, ' these things were done in Bethany ;' and this seems to have been so read even before our time : for I have read it so in Hera- cleon. But I am persuaded that we ought not to read Bethany, but Bethabara ; for I have been on the spot, in my desire to track the footsteps of Jesus and of His Apostles and of the prophets. Bethany, as the Evangelist himself says, is only fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem, far away from the river Jordan, about 180 furlongs, roughly stated. Nor is there any place near the Jordan of the same name as Bethany : but they say that a place is shewn on the banks of the Jordan called Bethabara, where they relate that John great importance. The whole series of transactions here recorded, from ver. 15 onwards, certainly happened after the bap tism of our Lord ; — for before that event John did not know Him as Me that was to come : and " standeth among you," ver. 26, shews that he had so recognized Him (see below on "the next day"): whereas the testimony in Luke iii. 16 and parallel places, is as certainly given before the baptism. But since the great end of John's mission was to proclaim Him who was coming after him, it is not only pro- , bable, but: absolutely necessary to sup pose, that he should have delivered this testimony often, and under varying cir cumstances : before the baptism, in the form given by St. Luke, " One mightier than I cometh," &c, and after it in this form, " This is He of whom I said," &c. (ver. 15), where his former testimony is distinctly referred to. And among John's disciples and the multitudes who fre quented his baptism, many reports of such his sayings would naturally be current. So that there is neither a real nor even an apparent contradiction between John and the other Evangelists. It is a far more important question, in what part of this narration the forty days' Temp tation is to be inserted. From ver. 19 to baptized." He goes on to shew from the ch. ii. 1 there is an unbroken sequence of etymology of the names that it must have days distinctly marked. Since then ver been Bethabara; anargumentwhichmodern criticism will not much esteem. It will be seen that his testimony is decisive for the universality and authority of the reading Bethany, while for the other he only pro duces a tradition, and that only at second hand : ' they say that such a place is shewn.' That no Bethany beyond Jordan was known in his time proves but little ; — for 300 eventful years had changed the face of Palestine since these events, and the names and sites of many obscure places may have been forgotten. I ab stain from enumerating modern conjec- 19 nms,t be understood as happening after the baptism, it must have happened after the Temptation also. ' And in this suppo sition thero is not the slightest difficulty. But when we have made it, it still re mains to say whether at that time our Lord had returned from the Temptation or not. The general opinion of Harmo nists has been, that the approach of Jesus to John in ver. 29 was Mis return after the Temptation. But this I think ques tionable, on account of the " standeth among you," ver. 26 ; which I esai only understand literally. I therefore! helievn 466 ST. JOHN. 29 The next dav f John seeth Jesus coming unto him, 5 Exod. xii. S. j • . ¦« i Jer. so!'7" and saith, Behold Hhe Lamb of God, r which taketh away Acts viii, 32. I Pet. i. 19. Kev.v.6,&c. r Isa. liii. 11. lCor.xv.3. Gal. i. 4. Heb. i.S: ii.17: ix.28. lPet.il. 24: Hi. 18. 1 John ii. 2 : iii. S : iv. 10. Rev. i. 6. ' read, he. that the return from the Temptation to Bethany beyond Jordan had taken place before the deputation arrived. 29 — 34.] Second witness borne by John to Jesus : apparently before His disciples. 29.] The next day (the morrow). Those who wish to introduce the Tempta tion between w. 28 and 29, interpret it, ' on some day after.' Thus Euthym., " the next day ; that is, the next after his re turn from the wilderness." But this sense, although certainly found in the Old Testa ment, — see Gen. xxx. 33 ("in time to come," Meb. "to-morrow"), — is not ac cording to the usage of St. John (see ch. vi. 22; xii. 12), and would be quite alien from the precision of this whole portion of the narrative, which, ver. 40, specifies even the hours of the day. 1 understand it therefore literally, both here and in vv. 35 and 44. coming unto him] It is not said whence, or why, or whether for the purpose of an interview, or not; the fact merely is related, for the sake of the testimony which follows. I mention this, because on these points difficulties have been raised. Behold the Lamb of God] This is one of the most important and difficult sayings in the New Testa ment. The question to be answered is, In calling Jesus by so definite a name as the Lamb of God, to what did John refer P And this question is intimately connected with that of the meaning of the following words, which taketh away the sin of the world, (a) The title must refer to some known and particular lamb, and cannot be a mere figure for a just and holy man, as some suppose. It is inconceivable, that the Lamb of God should, in a testimony so precise and formal as this of the Baptist, be nothing but an hyperbole, and that one wholly unprecedented, and to his hearers unintelligible. Had no doctrinal consi derations been at stake, wc may safely say that this interpretation would never have been proposed. In its bearing on the latter clause of the verse, it is equally un tenable. These interpreters make which taketh away the sin of the world to mean, " who shall, though innocent, have, throughout his life, grievous experience of the wickedness of men, but shall, like a lamb, bear the evils inflicted upon him with a patient and gentle mind" (Gabler) ; or, "He shall remove the sins of men, i. e. wickedness, out of the earth." The first of these meanings of the verb rendered "take away" is altogether without example. The second, though common enough in other connexions, is never found in con nexion with "sin." The common-sense account of this part of the matter is : — John wished to point out Jesus as the Messiah : he designates Him as the lamb of God; he therefore referred to some definite lamb, — revealed by God, sent by God, pleasing to God, or in some meaning especially, of God. Whence did this idea come 1 (b) Can John have referred to the paschal lamb ? Further than the very use of the name brings in with it the general typical use of the animal, and thus this particular use may lie in the background, J think not, — and for this reason ; — The ruling idea in the paschal sacrifice has no connexion, in any sense of the words, with taking away sin. How ever, by the light now thrown back on it since the Spirit has opened the things of Christ, we discern this typical meaning in the sprinkling of the blood (see 1 Cor. v. 7), — in the Jewish mind, no mention being made of sin or the removing of sin in any connexion with the paschal lamb, the two could not be brought for ward, in such an announcement as this, in close connexion with one another. (e) Can the reference be to the lamb of the daily morning and evening sacrifice 1 or to the sacrificial lamb generally ? With the same reservation as above, I think not: for (1) this expression is too definite to have so general and miscellaneous a refer ence; (2) of many animals which were used for sacrifice, the lamb was only one, and that one not by any means so promi nent as to serve as a type for the whole : and (3) the lamb (with only two excep tions, Levit. iv. 32 : Num. vi. 14, in both which cases it was to be & female, as if for express distinction from the ordinary use of the lamb) was never used for a sin- offering, properly so called and known. The question is not, whether Christ be not typified by all these offerings, which we now know to be the case (1 Pet. i. 19 al.), but whether the Baptist is likely to have referred to them in such words as these. (d) There remains but one reference, and that is, to the prophetic announcement in Isa. liii. 7. The whole of that latter sec- 29—31. ST. JOHN. 467 the sin of the world. 30 s This is he of whom I said, After »»»»¦»". w- me cometh a man which ff is preferred before me : for he before me. 31 And I knew him not : but that he was ff render, taketh place. tion of Isaiah, as before remarked on ver. 23, is Messianic, and was so understood by the Jews (see my Hulsean Lectures for 1841, pp. 62—66). We have there the servant of God (the Messiah) compared to a lamb brought to the slaughter (liii. 7), and it is said of Him (ib. ver. 4), " He hath borne our griefs (in the LXX, "bear eth our sins ") and carried our sorrows " — ver. 5, " He was wounded for our trans gressions " — ver. 6, " The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (in the LXX, "delivered Him to our sins") — ver.8, " He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was He stricken " — ver. 12, " He bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (in the LXX., "and was de livered because of their iniquities"). So that here, and here only, we have the connexion of which we are in search, — between the lamb, and the bearing or taking away of sin, — expressly stated, so that it could be formally referred to in a testimony like the present. And I have therefore no doubt that this was the reference. (e) We have now to en quire into the specific meaning of which taketh away the sin of the world (see above under [o]). The verb rendered taketh away answers to a Hebrew verb, which is used frequently in the 0. T., in connexion with sin, in the sense of bear ing its punishment : — see Levit. xxiv. 15 : Num. v. 31; xiv. 34: Ezek. iv. 5; xxiii. 35 al. A form of this very Greek verb is used by the LXX in the sense of taking away sin and its guilt by expiation : see in our English Bible, Levit. x. 17. The word in our verse will bear either of these mean ings, or both conjoined ; for if the Lamb is to suffer the burden of the sins of the world, and to take away sin and its guilt by expiation, this result must be accom plished by the offering of Himself. But (f) it is objected, that this view of a suffer ing Messiah, and of expiation by the suffer ings of one, was alien from the Jewish expectations ; — and that the Baptist (see Matt. xi. 2 ff. and note) cannot himself have had any such view. But the answer to this may be found in the fact that the view, though not generally prevalent among the Jews, was by no means un known to many. The application by the earlv Jewish expositors of Isa. liii. to the Messiah, could hardly have been made, without the idea of the suffering and death of their Messiah being presented to their minds. The same would be the case in the whole sacrificial oeconomy : —the re moval of guilt (which was universally ascribed to the Messiah) by suffering and death would be familiarized to their minds. Traces of this are found in their own writings. In 2 Mace. vii. 37, 38, the last of the seven brethren thus speaks before his martyrdom : — "But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and life for the laws of our fathers, beseeching God that He would speedily be merciful unto our nation ; and that thou by torments and plagues mayest confess, that He alone is God : and that in me and my brethren the wrath of the Almighty, which is justly brought upon all our nation, may cease." And Josephus says of these same martyrs, that they were " as it were a ransom for the nation's sin : and by means of the blood of those pious ones and the propitiation of their death, divine Providence saved afflicted Israel." The whole history of the sacri fices and devotions of the heathen world abounds with examples of the same idea variously brought forward; and to these the better-informed among the Jews could be no strangers. And as to the Baptist himself, we must not forget that the power of the Holy Spirit which enabled him to recognize by a special sign the Redeemer, also spoke in him, and therefore his words would not be the result of education merely, or his own reasoning, but of that kind of intuitive perception of divine truth, which those have had who have been for any special purpose the organs of the Holy Ghost. As regards Matt. xi. 3, the doubt on the mind of John there expressed does not appear to have touched at all on the matter now in ques tion, — but to have rather been a form of expressing his impatience at the slow and quiet progress of Him of whom he expected greater things and a more rapid public manifestation. 30.] See on ver. 15. 31.] On the apparent discrepancy between this statement, I knew him not, and St. Matthew's narrative, I have stated my view on Matt. iii. 14. Both accounts are entirely consistent with the supposi tion that John had been from youth upwards acquainted with our Lorif, and 468 ST. JOHN. I. tHauiM. should be made manifest to Israel, * therefore S am I come Matt, in. 0. ., Luke i. 17, baptizing with water. 32 u And John bare h record, saying iii'. S, 4;- "' baptizing with water. u Satt'. lii. i6. I i saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it k abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon iwhom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, * the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I m saw, and n bare record that this is the Son of God. Mark i. Luke iii. 22. ch. v, 32. X Matt. iii. 11, Acts 1. 6: ii. 4: x. 44: xix. 6. S render, Came I. * render, have beheld. 1 render, whomsoever. a render, have borne witness. k render, witness. k better, remained. m render, have seen. indeed may have in his own mind be lieved Him to be the Christ : — but having (ver. 33) a special sign appointed him, by which to recognize Him as such, — until that sign was given, he, like the rest of the people (the words may be rendered, I also, as well as you, see ver. 26), had no certain knowledge of Him. De Wette gives the sense well: "This testimony (ver. 30) does not rest uponmylong personal acquaintance with Him, but on that which happened during my work of baptizing." but that he should be made manifest] Justin Martyr represents Trypho the Jew saying, " Even if Christ has been born and exists some where, he is unknown, and is not even con scious of his own identity, until Elias shall come and anoint him, and make him mani fest to all." But our narrative is not built upon any such Jewish belief, for it is evidently only as a spiritual preparation, through repentance, for the knowledge of Him, that John regarded his baptism, not as any thing making Him manifest to all. 82, 33.] "What follows, is testi mony, properly so called : what is said from ver. 29 f. was demonstration follow ing on testimony. In the continued dis course of the Baptist the Evangelist as it were interposes a parenthesis, * And John bare witness, saying,' " Bengel. The occurrence related by John happened at the baptism of Jesus, which is therefore here pre-supposed as known. Although this has been questioned, I cannot see how it can be reasonably doubted. We cannot surely suppose that such a sign was twice shewn. On the appearance itself, see note Matt. iii. 16. The account here given con firms the view which I have there main tained, that the appearance was confined to our Lord and the Baptist : he was to receive the sign, and then to testify to the others, who were not themselves yet the bearers, but the recipients of testimony: — " It was seen, in a kind of spiritual vision, by John alone." Theodore of Mopsuestia. I have beheld, in reference to the sign divinely intimated to him, in the abiding fulfilment of which he now stood. So again, below, ver. 34. it remained upon him] By some appearance which is not described, the Holy Spirit was mani fested to John as not removing from Jesus again, but remaining on Him. But we are not to understand that he had seen the Spirit descending on others, and not remaining; for (see ch. vii. 39 ; Acts i. 5 ; xix. 2 ff. (the gift of the Holy Spirit did not ordinarily accompany John's bap tism, but only in this one ease; and its occurrence was to point out to him the Messiah. the same is he which bap tizeth with the Holy Ghost] Here again we seem to have a reference to the cycle of narratives of the three other Gospels, for our Evangelist has not before men tioned this office of the Messiah. 34.] A solemn reiteration of his testi mony, after the mention of the giving of this token by Him who sent him ; — And I have seen (accordingly) &c. The token must have been given to the Baptist by a special revelation, which also revealed to him his own errand and office; so Luke iii. 2, "The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness." The perfect tense in this verse is stronger than the present,— I have seen (on the perf. see above ver. 32) and have borne witness— it is a reference to his testimony at the time, as a thing on record in their memories, and as still con tinuing, the Son of God] See ver. 18 = the Word made flesh, the Messiah. On the import of the descent of the Spirit 32-41. ST. JOHN. 469 35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples ; 36 and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, y Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two dis-yver.M ciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 ° Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye ? They said unto him, Babbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou ? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day : \?fof\ it was about the tenth hour. *° One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was z Andrew, Simon > Matt, t. Peter's brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, 0 render, But. on Jesus at his baptism, I may remark, that the Personal Word, Who became flesh, in our Lord, and was subjected to all the laws of human development in infancy, childhood, youth, — evermore in an especial degree under the leading of the Holy Spirit, by whose agency the Incarnation had taken place, — was the Recipient of this fulness of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost : and that herein consisted the real depth and propriety of this sign; — the abiding of the Spirit without measure (ch. iii. 34) on Him indicated beyond doubt that He was the Word become flesh — for no mere human intelligence could be thus receptive of the Holy Spirit of God; — we receive Him only as we can, only as far as our receptivity extends, — by measure; but He, into the very ful ness and infinite capacities of His divine Being. 35 — 43.] On account of the testimony of John, first Andrew, and another of his disciples, and through Andrew, Simon Peter, become acquainted with Jesus. 35. the next day after] See on ver. 29. I can hardly suppose, with De Wette, that these two had been absent on the preceding day. Rather, what they then heard seems to have made a powerful impression on their minds, so that the repetition of the notice is now the signal for them to follow Jesus. (On the second disciple, see below on ver. 40.) 37.] We must not un derstand followed in the narrower sense which it bears when they left all and fol lowed Him ; but here only of mechanical going after Him, " wishing to know some what of Him," as Euthymius says. 38.] On What seek ye ? Euthymius re marks, " This was not asked in ignorance, seeing that He witnesses the inner thoughts Vol. I. P omit. of men's nunds, but that He might attach them to Himself by the enquiry, and give them confidence. It is likely that they were bashful as yet and in perplexity, as being unacquainted with Him." They ask where dwellest thou? wishing to find Him alone and in quiet. Euthy mius. They enquire after Mis place of lodging for the night, intending to visit Him there ; or perhaps He was then appa rently going thither, as it was late in the day. But He furthers their wish by in viting them to follow, and they will see. 39. about the tenth hour] i. e. 4 p.m., according to the Jewish reckoning; not, as some have thought, 10 A.M., according to that of the Romans. Our Evangelist appears always to reckon according to the Jewish method, see ch. iv. 6, 52; xix. 14, and notes, but especially ch. xi. 9. And as Liicke remarks, even among the Romans, the division of the day into twelve equal hours was, though not the civil, the popular way of computing time. They remained with Him the rest of that day, which would be four or five hours, and need not strictly be limited by sunset. 40.] Who the other disciple was, is " not certain : but considerinc (1) that the Evangelist never names himself in his Gospel, and (2) that this account is so minutely accurate as to specify even the hours of the day, and in all respects bears marks of an eye-witness, and again (3) that this other disciple, from this last cir cumstance, certainly would have been named, had not the name been suppressed for some especial reason, we are justified in inferring that it was the JSvangetist himself. And such has been the general opinion. Euthymius, mentioning this, gives an alternative which is hardly probable: Ii 470 ST. JOHN. I. b ch. xii. 21. c ch. xxi. 2. d Gen. iii. 15: xlix. 10. Deut. xviii. 18. Luke xxiv. 27. elsa. iv. 2: vii. 14: ix. 6 liii. 2. Mic. v. 2. Zech. vi. 12 : and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, [P the] Christ. *2 And he brought him to Jesus. 4 And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Matt. xvi. is. Simon the son oi*Jona: athou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, B A stone. 43 The day following Jesus * would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. ** Now b Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth c Nathanael, and saith unto him, :^TLoke "We have found him, of whom d Moses in the law, and xxiv. 27. fLuveu.4*' the e prophets, did write, u Jesus of ' Nazareth, the son of P omit. 1 render, But Jesus looked on him and said. r render, Jonas. s render, Peter. * render, was minded to. n render, Jesus, the son of Joseph, which is from Nazareth. is on the point of setting out from the valley of the Jordan to Galilee, and finds Philip, with whom there is every reason to believe He was previously acquainted (see ver. 45). Here we find Jesns himself calling a disciple, for the first time. But Follow me does not here bear its strict apostolic sense ; the expression, " We have found" afterwards, and the going to search for others to be disciples, unites Philip to the company of those who have been before mentioned, who we know were not imme diately or inseparably attached as followers to Jesus. 44.] This is Bethsaida on the Western bank of the lake of Genne saret; another Bethsaida (Julias) lay at the top of the lake, on the Jordan. See note on Luke ix. 10. 45.] It does not appear where Nathanael was found: but he is" described, ch. xxi. 2, as of Cana of Galilee : and as we find Jesus there in ch. ii. 1, it is probable the call may have taken place in its neighbourhood. Natha nael (meaning, "the gift of God," corre sponding to Theodore or Theodosius in Greek) is mentioned only in these two places. From them we should gather that he was an apostle ; and as his name is nowhere found in the catalogues of the twelve, but Philip is associated in three of them, Matt. x. 3 : Mark iii. 18 : Luke vi. 14, with Bartholomew, it has been sup posed that Nathanael and Bartholomew were the same person (see note on Matt. x. 3). This is however mere conjecture. Hoses in the law] Probably in Deut. xviii. 15 ; but also in the promises to Abra ham, Gen. xvii. 7 al. : and in the prophecy of Jacob, Gen. xlix. 10, and the prophets, passim ; see the references. the son of Joseph, which is from Nassareth] This expression seems to shew previous acquaint- that this disciple may have been one of those who were but little known or dis tinguished. 41. lUessias] Heb., the Anointed : the well-known name of the expected Deliverer. In the interpretation, it should be Christ, not the Christ : it is the two words which are here identified, not the two titles. 42.] This is evi- - dently the first bestowal of the new name on Simon : and it is done fro-n our Lord's prophetic knowledge of his future cha racter ; see note on Matt. xvi. 18. Kapha in Aramaic, Kaph in Hebrew, a stone. But the rendering of Petros in this verse should be as in margin, Peter, not as in A. V., a stone. The Greek name Peter became the prevalent one in the apos tolic Church very soon : St. Paul uses both names indiscriminately. I own I can not but think that the knowledge of Simon shewn by the Lord is intended to be mira culous. So also Stier, " I know who and what thou art from thy birth till thy pre sent coming to me I name thee, I give thee a new name, I know what I will make of thee in thy following of Me and for my Kingdom." The emphatic use of looked on him here (it is not so emphatic in ver. 36, but still even there may imply fixed contemplation, in the power of the Spirit, who suggested the testimony) is hardly accountable except on this explana tion of supernatural knowledge. Similarly Abram, Sara, Jacob, received new names in reference to the covenant and promises of God to them. 43—52.] The calling of Philip and Na thanael. 43. The day following] Appa rently, the day after the naming of Peter ; and if so, the next but one after the visit of Andrew and the other disciple, and the fourth day after ver. 19. Our Lord 42—49. ST. JOHN. 471 Joseph. « AM Nathanael said unto him, e Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. *7 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold han Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. ^ Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and said unto him, Babbi, Hhou art the Son of God; thou art kthe gch.vU.41, 42,62. h Ps. xxxii. 2: lxxiii. 1. ch. viii. 89. Bom . ii. 28, 20: is. 6. i Matt. xiv. 88. k Matt. xxi. 6 : xxvii. 11, 42. ch. xviii. 87: xix. 8. ance on -the part of Philip with Jesus. No stress can be laid, as has been most unfairly done, on Jesus being called by Philip, the son of Joseph, as indicating that tbe his tory of His birth and childhood, as related by St. Matthew and St. Luke, was unknown to St. John. Philip expresses what was the prevailing belief, in the ordinary words, as Olshausen remarks. In an admirable note, Neander remarks, that by combining the two declarations of John, that in Jesus the Fternal Word of God became fiesh (ver. 14), and that * that which is born of the flesh is flesh ' (ch. iii. 6), we cannot es cape the inference, that a supernatural working of God in the conception of the Man Christ Jesus is implied. 46.] As Liicke observes, the meaning of this question is simpler than at first sight appears. It is impossible that Nathanael, himself a Galitean, could speak from any feeling of contempt for Galilee generally : and we have no evidence that Nazareth was held in contempt among the Galileeans. He alluded therefore to the smallness and insignificance of the town in proportion to the great things which were now pre dicated of it. Nazareth is never named in the O. T. nor in Josephus. 47.] The Evangelist certainly intends a supernatural insight by the Lord into Nathanael's cha racter to be here understood ; and there is probably no reference at all to the ques tion which Nathanael had just asked. To suppose that Jesus overheard that ques tion, is just one of those perfectly gra tuitous assumptions which the very Com mentators who here make this supposition are usually the first to blame. Compare ch. ii. 25. an Israelite indeed] ' An Israelite who truly answers to the inner and honourable meaning of the name.' When we reflect what was contained in that name, and Who it is that speaks, we can hardly agree with De Wette that the words are spoken merely in the spirit in which every nation attaches some peculiar virtue, and especially those of openness and straightforwardness, to itself. 1 I Our Lord probably referred to Ps. xv. 48. The remark ws overheard by Nathanael, and recognized as indicating perfect knowledge of his character. The question, Whence knowest thou me ? is one of astonishment, but not perhaps yet of suspicion of any thing supernatural. Our Lord's answer first opens this to him. Before that &c] The whole form of our Lord's answer seems to indicate that the place where Philip called Nathanael was not now in sight, nor had been. The de claration that Jesus had seen him there, at once brings the conviction which he ex presses in the next verse. This would not have been the case, unless the sight had been evidently and unquestionably supernatural : and unless the words "when thou wast under the fig tree " involved this. Had Jesus merely seen Nathanael without being seen by him, or had " I saw thee" only expressed, •/ knew thy character,' at first sight, ' although at a distance, no sueh immediate conviction would have fol lowed.' when thou wast under the fig tree, says Wordsw., "is something more than merely 'under the fig tree' would be : it indicates retirement thither as well as concealment there, — perhaps for pur poses of prayer and meditation." In fact it contains in it, 'when thou wentest under the fig tree, and while thou wert there.' 49.] The answer expresses, ' Thou art the Messiah ;' see Ps. ii. 7 : ch. xi. 27 : Matt. xvi. 16 : Luke xxii. 70. Olshausen main tains that the Son of God was not a Jewish appellation for the Messiah, — on account of the Jews taking up stones to cast at Jesus when He so called Himself, ch. i. 33. But as Liicke observes, it was not for the mere use of this Name, — but for using it in a close and literal sense which was un intelligible and appeared blasphemous to them, 'I and My Father are one,' — that they wished to stone Him; see note on ch. x. 36. It was certainly not so common a name as ' the Son of David,' for the Mes siah. Nathanael can hardly have meant the name in other than its popular niean- 2 472 ST. JOHN. I. 50, 61. 1 Gen. xxviii. 12. Matt. iv. 11. Luke ii. 9. 13: xxii. 48: xxiv. 4. Acts 1.10. King of Israel. B0 Jesus answered and said unto him. Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these. 61 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, \} ? Hereafter] ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. II. * And the third day there was a marriage in Cana v render, From henceforth : but several of our oldest authorities omit the word. ing; and the synonymous and better known appellation which be adds, confirms this. 50.] Our Lord says this not in blame, rather in praise of the simple and honest expression of Nathanael's convic tion ; but principally to shew him, that if he believed by reason of this comparatively small proof of His divine power, his faith would increase from strength to strength at the greater proofs which should from that time forward be given. There is no need to understand our Lord's reply as a question; it may be, thou believest. The question is perhaps most natural here : but see notes on the similar sentences, ch. xvi. 31, and ch. xx. 29. 51.] Verily, verily is peculiar to St. John. The other Evangelists use ' verily ' once only in such asseverations. Stier remarks, that the Verily, verily, I say unto you of the Lord, is spoken in His coequality with the Father : not as the 'Thus saith the Lord' of the prophets. unto you] The words fol lowing are then spoken to all the disciples present, not only to Nathanael. With or without From henceforth, the meaning will be much the same. The glories of a period beginning from the opening of the Lord's public ministry, and at this day not yet completed, are described. For it is not the outward visible opening of the material heavens, nor ascent and descent of angels in the sight of men,- which our Lord here announces; but the series of glo ries which was about to be unfolded in His Person and Work from that time forward. Luther beautifully says: "When Christ became man and had entered on His minis terial office and begun to preach, then was the heaven opened, and remains open; and has from that time, since the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, never been shut, and never will be shut, although we do not see it with our bodily eyes . . . Christ says this : ' Ye are now heavenly citizens, and have your citizenship above in the ¦heavenly Jerusalem, and are in communion with the holy angels, who shall without intermission ascend and descend about you.'" The opening of heaven is a symbolical expression, signifying the imparting of divine grace, help, and revelation. ' See Gen. xxviii. 10 — 17 : Ezek. i. 1 : "Isa. vi. 1 : Mai. iii. 10 : Isa. Ixiv. 1 : also Deut. xi. 17 : 1 Kings viii. 35. The words have a plain reference to the ladder of Jacob, and imply that what he then saw was now to receive its fulfilment: that He, the Son of Man, was the dwelling of God and the gate of Heaven, and that through Him, and on Him in the first place, was to descend all communication of help and grace from above. That no allusion is meant to the Transfigura tion, or the Agony, is plain ; for all those here addressed did not witness these ap pearances, but Peter and John only; nor to the Ascension, for they did not see heaven opened, nor did angels ascend nor descend. The above has, remarks Olshausen, been the interpretation of all Commentators of any depth in all times : Origen as well as Augustine, Luther as well as Calvin, Liicke as well as Tholuck : and I may add, De Wette as well as Stier. the Son of man] An expression originally (as appears) derived, in its Mes sianic sense, from Dan. vii. 13, 14, and thenceforward used as one of the titles of the Messiah (see ch. xii. 34). It is never predicated of our Lord by any but Himself, except in Acts vii. 56 by Stephen, in allu sion apparently to Matt. xxvi. 64, and— which is hardly an exception — in the pas sages of the Revelation (ch. i. 13 ; xiv. 14) which are almost citations from Daniel. Chap. II. 1—11.] The miracle of turn ing water into wine: the first fulfilment of the announcement in ch. i. 61: see ver. IL 1.] the third day — reckoned from the day of Nathanael's calling. There would thus be but one day between that event and the marriage. Cana of Galilee, see ch. iv. 46 ;— not for from Capernaum. Josephus calls it "a village of Galilee." There is a Kanah in Josh. xix. 28, in the tribe of Asher, which must be distinct from this. Jerome II. 1—3. ST. JOHN. 478 of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was there : 3 and w both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when x they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith w render, Jesus also was bidden. x render, the wine failed. however believes it to have been the same. This was the residence, and probably birth place, of Nathanael. If his calling took place in its neighbourhood, our Lord may have gone on and spent the intervening day at Nazareth. Dr. Robinson satis factorily establishes that Eana-el-Jelil, about 3 hours N. i E. from Nazareth, is the site of this miracle. The name is iden tical, and so stands in the Arabic Version of the N. T. He shews this to have been recognized in early tradition, and its honour to have been only recently usurped by Kefr Kenna, a village 1$ hour N.E. from Nazareth, on one of the roads to Tiberias. See a very interesting descrip tion of Kana-el- Jelll in " The Land and the Book," pp. 426, 427. the mother of Jesus] St. John never names her, as being already well known : or perhaps more pro bably from his own intimate connexion with her, in pursuance of the injunction ch. xix. 26,1 27. He never names either himself, or his own brother, James. 2. and his disciples] It does not appear who these were, unless we assume that they were those called in ch. i., which seems most probable. John himself was most likely present. He does not relate so cir cumstantially any thing which he had not witnessed. In this case, there must have been some other reason for the in vitation, besides mere previous acquaint ance. This would be the probable reason for Jesus himself being invited; but the disciples, being from various places in the district, can hardly all have been (De Wette) friends of the family. The fact of Jesus having attached disciples to Him self must have been known, and they were doubtless invited from consideration to Him. Our Lord at once opens His ministry with the character whieh He gives of himself, Matt. xi. 18, 19, as distinguished from the asceticism of John. He also, as Trench admirably remarks (Miracles, edn. 2, p. 98, note), gives us his own testimony against the tendency which our indolence ever favours, of giving up those things and occasions to the world and the devil, which we have not Christian boldness to mingle in and purify. Even Cyprian, for instance, proscribes such fes tivals, — " Let the wicked feasts and licen tious banquets at marriages be avoided, of which the contagion is perilous." And such is the general verdict of modern religionism, which would keep the leaven distinct from the lump, for fear it should become unleavened. The especial honour conferred upon marriage by the Lord should also be noticed. " He here adorned and beautified it with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought." 8.] There is no necessity to suppose that the feast had lasted several days, as De Wette and Liicke do. It has been sug gested that the unexpected presence of the disciples may have occasioned a failure in the previously sufficient supply : a gloss in one of the old Latin MSS. has, " And it came to pass, that through the great number of guests the wine was used up." The mother of Jesus evidently is in a position of authority (see ver. 5) in the house, which was probably that of a near relative. The conjectures and traditions on the subject are many, and wholly un satisfactory. A graver question arises as to the intent with which this, They have no wine, was said. She cannot have had from experience any reason to suppose that her Son would work a miracle, for this (ver. 11) was His first. Chrysostom and others suggest that, knowing Him to be Who He was, she had been by the recent divine acknowledgment of Him and His calling disciples to Himself, led to expect the manifestation of His Messianic power about this time ; and here seemed an occasion for it. Some of the other explanations are: "that she had always found Him a wise counsellor, and men tioned the want to Him merely that He might suggest some way of remedying it." Cocceius. " Do thou depart, that the other guests may do the same, before the lack of wine is noticed." Bengel. " That by some pious exhortation He might pre vent the guests from feeling annoyance, and at the same time spare the bride groom's shame." Calvin. " Jesus had wrought miracles, but in secret, before this." Tholuck. On the whole, the most probable explanation is that of Liicke, which somewhat modifies the first here mentioned, — that our Lord Himself had recently given some reason to expect that He would shew forth His glory by won derful works. So, very nearly, Stier. 474 a cb. xix. 20. b So 2 Sam. xvi. 10: xix. 22. c ch. vii. 6. d Mark vii. 3. ST. JOHN. II. unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, * Woman, b what have I to do with thee ? c mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, d after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins 4.] The answer of our Lord is beyond question one of reproof, and disclaimer of participation in the grounds on which the request was made. See instances, besides reff., in Josh. xxii. 24 : Mark i. 24. And so all the early expositors understood it. Irenseus says, "The Lord, repelling her unseasonable urgency, said," ice. ; — and Chrysostom, " She wished .... to gain glory to herself by means Of her Son," and therefore He "answered her with Severity." The Romanist expositors mostly endeavour to divest the answer of any aspect of rebuke, and maintain that it was so uttered for our sakes alone, to teach us that He did not perform His miracles from regard to human affinity, but solely from love and His object of manifesting His glory. So Maldonatus. And this is true: — but first among those to be taught this, was she herself, who had tempted Mm to work a miracle from that It has perhaps not been enough noticed, that in this answer the Lord declares His period of subjection to her as His earthly parent to be at an end. Henceforth His thoughts are not her thoughts. At twelve years of age, see Luke ii. 49, He answers, ' thy father and I,' by ' My Father :' — now, He is to be no longer before the world as Mary's son, but as sanctified by the Father and sent into the world : — compare Matt. xii. 48 — 50, and Luke xi. 27, 28. Woman] There is no reproach in this term : but rather respect. The Lord henceforth uses it towards her, not calling her ' mother,' even on the Cross (see ch. xix. 26), doubt less for the reason alleged above. mine hour is not yet come] This expression, mine hour, is generally used in John of the time of the Death of Christ : — see reff. But it is only so used because His death is in those passages the subject naturally underlying the narrative. It is, any fixed or ap pointed time; — and therefore here, the appointed time of His self-manifestation by miracles. This time was not yet come, but was close at hand. Some have sup posed that the wine was not yet wholly exhausted, and that our Lord would wait till the miracle should be undoubted (so Trench)-: but Stier well remarks that the known depth of all His early sayings forbids us from attaching only this mean ing to it; — and he sees in it a reference to the great marriage-feast and the new fruit of the vine in the Kingdom of God. If this be so, it can be only in the back ground; the words must have had a present meaning, and I believe it to he, ' My time, the time at which, from the Father's appointment and my own con curring will, J am to begin miraculous working, is not yet arrived : forestall it not.' Very similarly he speaks, ch. vii. 6, to His brethren, and yet afterwards goes up to the feast. The notion that mine hour refers to the hour of our Lord's human infirmity on the Cross when (ch. xix. 27) He "acknowledged her as His mother," Wordsw., seems wholly un founded. Where do we find any such special acknowledgment there ? And why should we go out of our way for a fanciful sense of words which bear an excellent meaning as referring to circumstances then present ? 5.] There certainly seems beneath this narrative to lie some incident which is not told us. For not only is Mary not repelled by the answer just given, but she is convinced that the miracle will be wrought, and she is not without an anticipation of the method of working it: for how should He require the aid of the servants, except the miracle were to take place according to the form here related? I believe we shall find, when all things are opened to us, that there had been a previous hint given her, — where or how I would not presume to say,— by our Lord, of His intention and the manner of performing it, and that her fault was, the too rash hastening on of what had been His fixed purpose. 6.] These vessels were for the washings usual at feasts : see Mark vii. 4. There could be no collusion or imposture here, as they were water-vessels, and could have no remnants of wine in them (see also ver. 10). And the large quantity which they held could not have been brought in unob served. The word here rendered firkin is probably equivalent to the Jewish " bath" (which held 8 gall. 7-4 pints), and stands for it in the LXX, ref. 2 Chron. According 4—10. ST. JOHN. 475 apiece. 1 Jesus saith unto them, Pill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the J governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 z When the ruler of the feast [a had] tasted the water D that was made wine, and knew not whence it was : (but the servants which c drew the water knew;) the 7 governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 and saith unto him, Every man 4 at the beginning doth set forth good wine ; and when men y render, as below, ruler. a omit. c render, had drawn. a render, setteth on the good wine first, 2 render, But when. 1> render, now become. to this, the quantity of wine thus created would be 6 times | 2 or 3 times | 8 gallons 7-4 pints : i. e. 6 times | 17 or 25 gallons : i. e. (say, taking the mean,) 6 times 21 gallons : i. e. 126 gallons. The large quantity thus created has been cavilled at by unbelievers. We may leave them to their cavils with just one remark, — that He who creates abundance enough in this earth to " put' temptation in men's way," acted on this occasion analogously with His known method of dealing. We may answer an error on the other side (if it be on the other side), by saying that the Lord here most effectually and once for all stamps with His condemnation that false system of moral reformation, which would commence by pledges to abstain from intoxicating liquors. He pours out His bounty for all, and He vouchsafes His grace to each for guidance; and to endeavour to evade the work which He has appointed for each man, — by refusing the bounty, to save the trouble of seeking the grace, is an attempt which must ever end in degradation of the individual mo tives, and in social demoralization, — what ever present apparent effects may follow its first promulgation. One visible sign of this degradation, in its intellectual form, is the miserable attempt made by some of the advocates of this movement, to shew that the wine here and in other places of Scripture is unfermented wine, not possessing the power of intoxication. The filling with water, and draw ing out wine, is all that is related. ' The moment of the miracle,' says Liicke, 'is rather understood than expressed. It seems to lie between vv. 7 and 8 ' (i. 471). The process of it is wholly out of the region of our imagination. In order for wine to be produced, we have the growth and ripening of the grape ; the crushing of it in proper vessels ; the fermentation ; — but here all these are in a moment brought about in their results, by the same Power which made the laws of nature, and created and unfolded the capacities of man. See below on ver. 11. 8.] The ruler of the feast seems to be the same with the " master of a feast " spoken of Ecclus. xxxii. 1, and with the Latin " king," or " master," " of the feast." It would seem, from the place in Ecolesiasti- cus, that he was one of the guests raised to the post of presiding over the arrange ments of the feast. This is however doubted by the older Commentators, who make him not one of the guests, but a person holding this especial office, and attending on feasts. Here, he tastes the wine ; and therefore probably was a guest himself. 10.] The saying of the ruler of the feast is a general one, not applicable to the company then present. We may be sure that the Lord would not have sanc tioned, nor ministered to, actual drunken ness. Only those who can conceive this, will find any difficulty here ; and they will find difficulties every where. ' The ac count of the practice referred to is, that the palates of men become after a while dull, and cannot distinguish between good wine and bad. Pliny speaks of persons " who even give their guests other wine than they drink themselves, or bring it in, as the banquet proceeds." But the prac tice here described is not precisely that of which Pliny speaks, nor is there any mean ness to be charged on it : it is only that, when aman has some kinds of wine choicer than others, he naturally produces the choicest, to suit the most discriminating 476 ST. JOHN. II. have e well drunk, then that whieh is worse ; [f but] thou hast kept the good wine until now. n This beginning of e <*. 1. 14. g miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, eand manifested \^ forth] his glory ; and his disciples believed on him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his BExod.3ii.4i4. mother, and f his brethren, and his disciples : and they continued there not many days. 13 eAnd the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus Deut. xvi. 1,16.ver. 28. ch. v. 1 : vi. 4: xi.55. e render, freely. S render, his miracles ; his signs. ' omit. h The word rendered have freely drunk, in its common meaning, implies, " are intoxicated," " are drunken :" but while there is no reason here to press its ordinary meaning, so neither is there any to shrink from it, as uttered by the ruler of the feast. The safest rendering is that of Tyndall and Cranmer, " when men be dronke :" and so it is in the Vulgate also. 11.] The words may also be rendered according to the reading of most of our ancient MSS., This wrought Jesus as the beginning of his miracles. This as sertion of St. John excludes all the apocry phal miracles of the Gospel of the Infancy, and such like works, from credit. The word sign, which occasionally occurs in the other Gospels and the Acts in this absolute sense of a miracle (e. g. in the original of Mark xvi. 17, 20; Luke xxiii. 8; Acts iv, 16, 22; viii. 6), is St. John's ordinary word for it. his glory] The glory, namely, which is referred to in ch. i. 14, where see note. It was a miracle emi nently shewing^ forth the glory of the Word, by whom all things were made, in His state of having become flesh. And this 'believing on Him,' here predicated of the disciples, was certainly a higher faith than that which first led them to Him. They obtained new insight into His power: — not yet reflectively, so as to infer what all this implied, but so as to increase their faith and trust in Him. Again and again ' they believed :' new de grees of faith being attained; just as this has since been the case, and will continue to be, in the Chureh, in the continual pro vidential development of the Christian spirit, — the leavening of the whole lump by degrees. This important miracle, standing as it does at the very entrance of the official life of Christ, has been the sub ject of many doubts, and attempts to get rid of, or explain away, the power which was here manifested. But never did a nar rative present a more stubborn inflexibility to the wresters of Scripture : — never was simple historical veracity more strikingly stamped on any miracle than on this. And doubtless this is providentially so arranged : see the objections to it treated, and some admirable concluding remarks, in Liicke, i. 478. To those who yet seek some suf ficient cause for the miracle being wrought, we may — besides the conclusive answer that we are not in a position to treat this ques tion satisfactorily, — assign the unmistake able spiritual import of the change here made, as indicating the general nature of the beneficent work which the Lord came on earth to do. So Cornelius a Lapide: " Christ, at the beginning of His ministry, by changing water into wine, signified, that He was about to change the Mosaic law, insipid and cold as water, into the Gospel of Grace, which is as wine, gene rous, full-flavoured, ardent, and powerful." Similarly Eusebius, Augustine, Bernard, and Gregory the Great. II. 12— IV. 54.] FlBST Manifesta tion ob Himself as the Son oe God : — and herein, ii. 13 — iii. 36, IN Jeetjsa- LEM AND JtTDiEA. 12.] went down, because Capernaum lay on the lake, — Cana higher up the country. There is no certainty as to this visit, whe ther or not it is the same with that hinted at in Luke iv. 23 : so that no chronological inferences can be built on the hypothesis with any security. On his brethren see Matt. xiii. 55 and note. Notice the transition from His private to His public life. His mother and brethren are still with Him, attached merely by nature : His disciples, newly attached by faith. In the next verse He has cast off His mere earthly ties for His work. Also in the not many days notice less a mere chronolo gical design, than one to shew that He lost no time after His first miracle, in publicly manifesting Himself as the Son of God. 13—22.] The first official visit to Jertf 11—17. ST. JOHN. 477 xxi. 12. Slark xi. 15. Luke xix. 45. went up to Jerusalem, 14> hand found in the temple those h^J| that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting : 1B and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove \}them] all out of the temple, k and the sheep, and the oxen ; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables ; 16 and said unto them that sold l doves ^ Take these things hence; make not 'my Father's house an house of merchan-iLukeii-49- dise. W And his disciples remembered that it was written, k The zeal of thine house ^hath eaten me up. tp"-Wi' 1 omit. 1 render, the doves. salem, at a Passover : and cleansing of the Temple. 13.] No data are given to determine whether the reason of the short stay at Capernaum was the near approach of the Passover. Nothing is said of those who accompanied Jesus : but at all events, His already called dis ciples would be with Him (see ver. 22, and ch. iii. 22), and among them in all probability the Evangelist himself; — but not the rest of the Twelve, who were not yet called. Of this visit, the narrative of the three other Eyangelists recordsnothing. 14.] On the distinctness of this cleansing from that related in Matt. xxi. 12 ff., see note there. in the temple] In the court of the Gentiles, the outer temple, as distinguished from the sanc tuary, or the inner temple. This market appears to have sprung up since the captivity, with a view to the convenience of those Jews who came from a distance, to provide them with the beasts for offering, and to change their foreign money into the sacred shekel, which alone was allowed to be paid in for the temple capitation- tax (Matt. xvii. 24 ff). This tax was sometimes, as in Matthew, I. c, paid else where than in Jerusalem; but generally there, and in the temple. The very fact of the market being held there would produce an unseemly mixture of sacred and profane transactions, even setting aside the abuses which would be certain to be mingled with the traffic. It is to the former of these evils that our Lord makes reference in this first cleansing ; in the second, to the latter. 15.] The small cords were probably the rushes which were littered down for the cattle to lie on. That our Lord used the scourge on the beasts only, not on the sellers of them, is almost necessarily con tained in the form of the sentence here : which, according to the grammar of the * render, both. m read, shall eat. original, should be rendered as in margin, " He drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen." It has been imagined, that He dealt more mildly with those who sold the doves, which were for the offerings of the poor. But this was not so ; He dealt alike with all. No other way was open with regard to them, than to order them to take their birds away. This cleansing of the temple was in the direct course of His manifestation as the Messiah. Immediately after the prophetic announce ment of the Forerunner, Mai. iii. 1, is that of the Lord's coming suddenly to His temple and purifying it. This act also answers (but like the fulfilment last men tioned, only in an imperfect and still pro phetic sense) to the declaration of the Baptist " Whose fan is in His hand," &c, Matt. iii. 12. His proceeding was not altogether unexampled nor unauthorized, even in an uncommissioned person : for all had the right to reform an abuse of this sort, and the zealots put this right in practice. The disciples by their allusion in ver. 17 seem to refer the action to this latter class. 16. my Father's house] The coincidence with Luke ii. 49 is re markable. By this expression thus pub licly used, our Lord openly announces His Messiahship. Nathanael had named Him ' the Son of God ' with this meaning — see on ch. i. 50, — and these words, coupled with the expectation which the confession of John the Baptist would arouse, could leave no doubt on the minds of the Jews as to their import : see on ch. iii. 2. an house of merchandise] not yet as at the end of His ministry; see above on ver. 14. 17.] his disciples remem bered, at the time, not afterwards, which would have been expressed, as in ver. 22. But the very remembrance itself was pro phetic. The "eating up" spoken of in 478 ST. JOHN. II. 18—25. i Matt. xu. as. lSnThen answered the Jews and said unto him, 'What ch.vi. 80. -Till sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these ™ mrttxrvi, things ? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, m Destroy Mark xiv. es: thig temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in n render, The Jews therefore answered. that passion-Psalm, was the marring and wasting of the Saviour's frame by His zeal for God and God's Church, which resulted in the buffeting, the scourging, the Cross. 18.] On tne demand of the Jews, see Deut. xiii. 1 — 3. It was not only to justify His having driven out the abomina tion; this any one might have done; — but to justify the mission and the whole course of action which the words my Father's house implied. They used the same expression at the end of His ministry, Matt. xxi. 23. 19.] This answer of our Lord has been involved in needless difficulty. That in uttering the words, this temple, He pomted to His own Body, is inconceivable ; — for thus both the Jews and His own disciples must have under stood Him, which (see vv. 20, 22) neither of them did. That He implied in saying, Destroy this temple, that their lawless proceedings in the temple would at last bring it to an end, is equally inconceivable; both on account of the latter part of His declaration, which would thus have no meaning, — and because of the use in this case of the peculiar word, — which signifies the holy and the holiest place, the temple itself, — as distinguished from the whole enceinte of the sacred buildings. Stier has well remarked that our Lord in this saying comprehended in the reality, — His own Body, its type and symbol, — the temple then before them. That temple, with all its ordinances and holy places, was but the shadow of the Christian Church; — that, the type of the Body of the Lord, represented the Church, which is veritably His Body. And so the saying was ful filled by the slaying of His actual Body, in which rejection of Him the destruction of the Jewish temple and city was in volved, — and the raising of that Body after three days, in which resurrection we, all the members of His new glorified Body, are risen again. The difficulties attending the interpretation are, — besides the double meaning which I have treated above, — (1) the use of the imperative, as applied tp the death of Christ. But this surely may be understood as used hypo- thetically, and not by way of command. Matt. xii. 33. (" make the tree good, &c") is an instance in point. (2) The words I will raise it up — seeing that the resur rection of the Lord is ever spoken of as the work of the Father. Tes, — but by power committed to Christ Himself; — see ch. x. 18, where this is distinctly asserted : and ch. vi. 39, 40, 44, where it is implied, for He is the first-fruits of them that sleep, — and (though the whole course of His working was after the will of the Father, — and in the Spirit, which wrought in Him) strictly and truly raised Himself from the dead in the sense here intended. (3) The utterance of such a prophecy at so early a period of His official life. But it was not a prophecy known and under stood, — but a dark saying, from which no one could then draw an inference as to His death or resurrection. The disciples did not understand it ; and I cannot agree with Stier that the Jews could have had any idea of such being His meaning. Chrysostom says, " He speaks many such things, which were not plain to men at the time, but to those who should come after. Why does He do this ? that He might be shewn to have foreknown future events, when the accomplishment of the prophecy should have come : which has come to pass in the case of this very prophecy." Liicke remarks, that the circumstance of the words being spoken so long before his trial by the Sanhedrim, would make it more easy for the false witnesses to distort them. This they did, but not so as to agree with one another. They reported it, 'I can de stroy,' &c. which makes a wide difference, and represents our Lord as an enemy of the temple (Matt. xxvi. 61), and some added to this temple the epithet " which is made with hands," and that He would raise another "made without hands" (Mark xiv. 58). 20.] The bmlding of the temple by_ Herod the Great is stated by Josephus in one place to have been begun in the eighteenth year of his reign; in another, in the fifteenth : the difference being made by counting his reign from the death of Antigonus, or from his appoint ment by the Romans. Reckoning from this latter, we shall have twenty years till the birth of Christ, and thirty vears since that event, from which fifty, however, four III. 1, 2. ST. JOHN. 479 building, and wilt thou ° rear it vp in three days ? 31 But he spake "of the temple of his bodv. 22 When therefore ncoi.u.o. i . p Heb. vin.2. he was risen from the dead, °his disciples remembered l?.1^01- that he had said this [P unto them] ; and they believed the Ycm.ti.w. scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, 1 in the feast [r day] , many believed in his name, when they B saw the miracles which he did. 2* But Jesus did not * commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, pisam.xvi.7. 25 and needed not that any should testify of man : for 5^i-1J-4 p u he knew what was in man. SJvlmI" III. l x There was a man of the Pharisees, named Acts i.' 24. Eev. ii. 28. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2athe same came to a*i.vs";50: 0 render, raise it. 4 render, at. B render, beheld. u render, of himself he knew. must be taken, since our era is four years too late. This gives forty-six. The temple was not completed till a.d. 64, under Herod Agrippa IL, and the procurator Albinus; so that was in building must refer to the greater part of the work now completed. 22.] the Scripture, by all analogy, must mean the O. T. scriptures. That the resurrection of the Lord is the subject of 0. T. prophecy, we find in several passages ofthe N. T., see ch. xx. 9; Luke xxiv. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xv. 4. At first sight it appears difficult to fix on any passage in which it is directly announced : but with the deeper understanding of the Scriptures which the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles and still gives the Christian Church, such prophecies as that in Ps. xvi. are recognized as belonging to Him in Whom alone they are properly fulfilled ; see also Hos. vi. 2. 23—25.] Many believe on Jestjs at the Passoveb : His knowledge o* theie chaeactee, and withholding oe Himself from them. 23. when they beheld the miracles which he did] "They believed on Him, but not firmly. Those converts believed in a stricter sense, who believed not owing to the mira cles only, but owing to His teaching." Euthymius. What miracles these were, is not related: — certainly some notable ones, see ch. iii. 2. The mention of them precludes lis from understanding ch. iv. 54, as indicating that the healing of the ruler's son was absolutely His second miracle. 24, 25.] The meaning is, He did not trust Himself (in the original, the P omit, with the most 1 omit. * render, trust. x render, But there same verb is used for • believed,' in ver. 23, and for 'trust' in this verse) to them, — i.e. treat them as true and earnest disciples : they entered into no spiritual relation with Him, and He in consequence into none with them. The fact of this being narrated shews that it made an impression on the Evangelist, and led him perhaps first to the conclusion which he here expresses, and which higher knowledge enabled him afterwards to place, as he here does, on its right ground; — His knowing what was in man. Nothing less than divine knowledge is here set forth ; the words are even stronger than if the reference had been to the persons here mentioned ("needed not that any should testify of them : for He knew what was in them ") : as the text now stands, it asserts an entire knowledge of all that is in all men. Chap. III. 1—21.] The Lord's discourse with Nicodemus, — one of these believers on account of His miracles, — of the spiri tual nature of the kingdom of God and the necessity of the new birth. 1.] There is mentioned in the Talmud a Nicodemus ben Gorion, who was properly called Bonai, and said to have been a dis ciple of Jesus : but he is found living at the destruction of Jerusalem. This might certainly have been; still it must be quite uncertain whether he bo the same with this Nicodemus. He is mentioned again ch. vii. 50 ; xix. 39. He was a member of the Sanhedrim, and, besides, a teacher of the law (ver. 10). 2.] by night, for fear of the Jews: see ch. xii. 42. The 480 ST. JOHN. III. bch.il. 16, 88. Acts ii. 22. c Acts x. 88. d ch. i. IS. Gal. vi. 15. Titus iii. 5. James i. 18. 1 Pet. i. 28. 1 John iii. 9. y Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God : for b no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except c God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, a Except a man be born z again, he cannot see z render, anew : or, from above : see note. y read, him. discourse seems to have taken place be tween Jesus and Nicodemus alone, — and may have been related by our Lord to the Evangelist afterwards. If this be deemed improbable (though I do not see why it should),— of the two other alternatives I would rather believe that St. John was pre sent, than that Nicodemus should have so minutely related a conversation which in his then position he could not understand. we know] This plural may be merely an allusion to others who had come to the same conclusion, e.g. Joseph of Arimathsea; or it may express that Nicodemus was sent in the name of several who wished to know the real character of this Person who wrought such miracles. It is harsh, in this private conversation, to take the plural as merely of singular import, as Lightfoot seems to do. His other rendering, "it is commonly acknowledged," is better, — but not satisfactory; for the common people did npt generally confess it, and Nicode mus, as a " ruler," would not be likely to speak in their name (see ch. vii. 49). I would rather take it to express the true conviction respecting Jesus, of that class to which Nicodemus belonged — the " rulers :" and see in it an important fact, that their persecutions and murder of the Prince of Life hence found their greatest aggrava tion, that they were carried on against the conclusions of their own minds, out of bitter malice, and worldly disappointment at His humble and unobtrusive character, and the spiritual purity and self-sacrifice which He inculcated. Still this must not, though undoubtedly it has truth in it, be carried too far : compare Acts iii. 17, and Acts xiii. 27 ; 1 Cor. ii. 8. Some degree of ignorance there must necessarily have been in all of them, even Caiaphas included, of our Lord's office and Person. Stier seems to think that Nicodemus, by using ¦ the plural, is sheltering himself from ex pressing his own conviction, so as to be able to draw back again if necessary. art .... come] Stier and others think that there is involved in this word & recognition by Nicodemus of the Messianic mission of Jesus:— that it expresses His being "He that was to come" (Matt. xi. 3 al.). It is "lever used of any but the Messiah, except by the Lord Himself, when speaking of John the Baptist as the subject of pro phecy (see Matt. xi. 14 al.). a teacher] In this and the following words, Nicode mus seems to be cautiously withdrawing from his admission being taken as express ing too much. For who ofthe Jews ever expected a teacher to come from God ? They looked for a King, to sit on David's throne, — a Prophet, to declare the divine will; — but the Messiah was never desig nated as a mere teacher, till the days of modern Socinianism. So that he seems trying to qualify or recall his " art . . . come" by this addition. The following words exhibit the same cautious inconsis tency. No man can do, &c. unless — wc expect some strong expression of the truth, such as we had from Nathanael in ch. i. 50, but the sentence drops to merely — ' God be with him,' which is a very poor and in sufficient exponent of "art come from God." Against this inconsistency, — the inner knowledge that the Kingdom of God was come, and He who was to found it, on the one hand, — and the rationalizing en deavour to reduce this heavenly kingdom to. mere learning, and its Founder to a mere teaclier, on the other,— -is the follow ing discourse directed. 3.] We are not to imagine that any thing is wanting to complete the sense or connexion. Our Lord replies, It is not learning, but life, that is wanted for the Messiah's Kingdom ; and life must begin by birth. Luther says : " My teaching is not of doing and leaving undone, but of a change in the man ; — so that it is, not new works done, but a new man to do them; not another life only, but another birth." And only by this means can Nicodemus gain the teaching for which he is come, — " see the Kingdom of God," — ' become a disciple of Christ :' — " see, that is, understand," says Theophylact, — ' understand, by sharing' — 'have any conception of.' anew] " some say, from heaven, some, from the beginning." Chrysostom: — who, as also Euthymius, explains it by 'regeneration:' —Origen, Cyril, and Theophylact taking the other meaning. The true meaning is to be found by taking into account the answer of Nicodemus, who obviously un- 3—5. ST. JOHN. 481 the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee; a man be born of water and \?of] the Spirit, he cannot "RvPATYT, e Mark xvi. 10. JLXCepi Acts ii. 88. omit. derstood it of a new birth in mature life. Born anew or afresh is a better rendering than 'born again,' being closer to the meaning of the Greek word, ' from the very beginning ;' — ' unless a man begin his life anew altogether (see Gal. iv. 9), he cannot ' &c. It is not impossible tbat the other meaning may lie beneath this, — as the king dom is of God, and so must the birth be ; — but Grotius has made the important remark, that in the language in which our Lord probably spoke, there is no word of double meaning corresponding to the Greek word here: — sothatHemust have expressed it, as Nicodemus understood it, of an entirely new birth. 4.] It is impossible that Nico demus can have so entirely and stupidly misunderstood our Lord's words, as his question here would seem to imply. The idea of new birth was by no means alien from the Rabbinical views. They described a proselyte when baptized as " like an in fant just born." Lightfoot. I agree with Stier in thinking that there was some thing of the spirit that would not under stand, and the disposition to turn to ridi cule what he heard. But together with this there was also considerable real igno rance. The proselyte might be regarded as born again, when he became one of the seed of Abraham : this figure would be easily explained on the Judaical view : but that every man should need this, was beyond Nicodemus's comprehension. He therefore rebuts the assertion with a re duction to an absurdity, which in spirit expresses, as in ch. vi. 60, — 'This say ing is hard; who can hear it?' when he is old : probably he himself was old, and he instances his own case. 5.] Our Lord passes by the question of Nicodemus without notice, further than that this His second assertion takes as it were the ground from under it, by explain ing the token and means of the new birth. There can be no doubt, on any honest interpretation of the words, that to be born of water refers to the token or outward sign of baptism, — to be born of the Spirit to the thing signified, or inward grace of the Holy Spirit. All attempts to get rid of these two plain facts have sprung from doctrinal prejudices, by which the views of expositors have been warped. Such we have in Calvin : who explains the words to mean, " the Spirit, who cleanses us, and by diffusing His influence in us inspires the vigour of heavenly life :" — Grotius, "the Spirit, who cleanses like water ;" — Cocceius, "the grace of God, washing away our uncleanness and sins ;" — Tholuck, who holds that not Baptism itself, but only its idea, that of cleansing, is referred to;— and others, who endeavour to resolve water and the Spirit into a figure, so as to make it mean ' the cleansing or purifying Spirit.' All the better and deeper expositors have recognized the co existence of the two, water and the Spirit. This being then recognized, to what does water refer ? At that time, two kinds of baptism were known : that of the proselytes, by which they were received into Judaism, — and that of John, by which, as a preparatory rite, symbolizing repent ance, the people were made ready for Him who was to baptize them with the Holy Ghost. But both these were significant of one and the same truth; that, namely, of tbe entire cleansing of the man for the new and spiritual life on which he was to enter, symbolized by water cleansing the outward person. Both were appointed means, — the one by the Jewish Church, — the other, stamping that first with ap proval, by God Himself, — towards their respective ends. John himself declared his baptism to be incomplete, — it was only with water; One was coming, who should baptize with the Holy Ghost. That de claration of his is the key to the under standing of this verse. Baptism, com plete, with water and the Spirit, is the admission into the kingdom of God. Those who have received the outward sign and the spiritual grace, have entered into that Kingdom. And this entrance was fully ministered to the disciples when the Spirit descended on them on the day of Pente cost. So that, as ¦ spoken to Nicodemus, these words referred him to the baptism of John, which probably (see Luke vii. 30) he had slighted. But they were not only spoken to him. The words of our Lord have in them life and meaning for all ages of His Church : and more especially these 482 ST. JOHN. III. enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be ¦n. 8 f The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but c canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto D render, anew : or, from above : see on ver. 3. ° render, knowest not. f Eccles. xi. B. bom D 1 Cor. ii. 11. opening declarations of His ministry. He here unites together the two elements of a complete Baptism which were sundered in the words of the Baptist, ch. i. 33 — in which united form He afterwards (Matt. xxviii. 19, 20 ; Mark xvi. 16) ordained it as a Sacrament of His Church. Here he speaks of spiritual Baptism, as in ch. vi. of spiritual Communion, and in both places in connexion with the outward conditions and media of these sacraments. It is observ able that here as ordinarily (with a special exception, Acts x. 44 ff.), the outward sign comes first, and then the spiritual grace, vouchsafed in and by means of it where duly received. enter into is more than " see " above, though no stress is to be laid on the difference. The former word was perhaps used because of Nicodemus's expectation of teaching being all that was required ; but now, the necessity of a real vital change having been set forth, the expression is changed to a practical one — the entering into the Kingdom of God. 6.] The neuter gender (that which is born . . . .) denotes not only the universal application of this truth, but (see Luke i. 35) the very first beginnings of life in the embryo, before sex can be pre dicated. So Bengel: "It denotes the very first elements of life." The Lord here answers Nicodemus's hypo thetical question of ver. 4, by telling him that even could it be so, it would not accomplish the birth of which He speaks. In this flesh is included every part of that which is bom after the ordinary method of generation : even the spirit of man, which, receptive as it is of the Spirit of God, is yet in the natural birth dead, sunk in trespasses and sins, and in a state of wrath. Such ' flesh and blood ' cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, 1 Cor. xv. 50. But when the man is born again of the Spirit (the water does not appear any more, being merely the outward form of reception, — theless included in thegreater), then just as flesh generates flesh, so spirit generates spirit, after its own image, see Z Cor. iii. 18 end; and since the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, such only who are so born can enter into it. 7.] The weightiest word here is Te. The Lord did not, could not, say this of Him self. Why f — -^Because in the full sense in which the flesh is incapacitated from entering the kingdom of God, He was not born of the flesh. He inherited the weakness of the flesh, but His spirit was not, like that of sinful man, alien from holiness and God ; and therefore on Him no second birth passed; when the Holy Spirit descended on Him at his baptism, the words spoken by the Father were in dicative of past approval, not of renewal. His obedience was accepted as perfect, and the good pleasure of the Father rested on Him. Therefore He includes not Himself in this necessity for the new birth. The Marvel not points on to the next verse, in which Nicodemus is told that he has things as wonderful around him every day in the natural world. 8.] Our Lord might have chosen any of the mysteries of nature to illustrate the point : — He takes that one, which is above others symbolic of the action ofthe Spirit, and which (in both languages, that in which He spoke, as well as that in which His speech is reported) is expressed by the same word as it;— Pneuma being both wind and spirit. So that the- words as they stand apply them selves at once to the Spirit and His work ing, without any figure. Bengel, after Origen and Augustine, takes the word pneuma with which this verse opens, and which we have rendered wind, of the Holy Spirit exclusively: but this can hardly be. Tbe form of the sentence, as well as its import, is against it. The words "bloweth," "hearest," "knowest," are all said of well-known facts. And the comparison would not hold on that suppo sition— 'As the Spirit is in His working on those born of Him, so is every one that is born of the Spirit: But on the other interpretation, we have The wind bloweth, &c.:— so is, i. e. 'so it is with' (see a similar construction Matt. xiii. 45) every one born of the Spirit. The word 6—13. ST. JOHN. 483 him, sHow can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and eoi-vi. 52.00. said unto him, Art thou a a master of Israel, and e knowest not these things? llh Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 'ch^'is1:'27' We speak f that we do know, and testify f that we have jjj-J*! seen ; and * ye receive not our S witness. 12 If I have told i ?£:&: you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you (71 of] heavenly things ? 13 And a render, the teacher. f i. e. that which. e render, understandest. S render, testimony. h omit. pneuma is not the violent wind, which is otherwise expressed, but the gentle breath of the wind ; — and it is heard, not felt ; — a case in which " thou knowest not, Src" is more applicable than in that of a violent wind steadily blowing. It is one of those sudden breezes springing up on a calm day, which has no apparent direc tion, but we hear it rustling in the leaves around. The where it listeth, in the ap plication, implies the freedom (2 Cor. iii. 17) and unrestrained working of the Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 11). every one that is born of the Spirit] Our Lord can hardly, as Stier explains, mean Himself by these words; or if He does, only inclu sively, as being one born of the Spirit, — not principally. He describes the mystery of the spiritual life : we see its effects, in ourselves, and others who have it; but we cannot trace its beginnings, nor can we prescribe to the Holy Spirit His course: He works in us and leads us on, accom panying us with His witness, — His voice, spiritually discerned. This saying of the Lord — in contradiction to all so-called Methodism, which prescribes the time and manner of the working of the Spirit — assures us of tbe manifold and undefinable variety of both these. ' The physiognomies of those who are born again, are as various as those of natural men.' Draseke. 9.] The question of Nicodemus is evidently still one of unbelief, though no longer of frivolity : see ver. 12. 11.] Henceforward the discourse is an answer to the unbelief, and in answering that, to the question (How can these things be ?) of Nicodemus : by shewing him the appointed means of this new birth, and of being upheld in the life to which it is the entrance, viz. faith in the Son of God. We speak that we do know . . .] Why these plurals ? Various interpretations have been given : " Either He speaks concerning Himself and the Father, or concerning Himself alone." Euthymius; — 'He speaks of Himself and the Spirit' (Bengel); — of Himself and the Prophets (Beza, Tholuck);— of Himself and John the Baptist (Knapp);— of Teach ers like Himself (Meyer); — of all the born of the Spirit (Lange, Wesley); — of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity (Stier); — or, the plural is only rhetorical (Liicke, De Wette). I had rather take it as a pro verbial saying ; q. d. " I am one of those who," &c. Our Lord thereby brings out the unreasonableness of that unbelief which would not receive His witness, but made it an exception to the general proverbial rule. ye receive not, addressed still to Nicodemus, and through him to the Jews : not to certain others who were pre sent, as Olshausen supposes. 12.] The words receive our testimony prepared the way for the new idea which is brought forward in this verse — believing. Faith is, in the most pregnant sense, 'the re ceiving of testimony;' because it is the making subjectively real the contents of that testimony. So the believing in him (see ver. 15) is, the full reception of the Lord's testimony ; because the burden of that testimony is, grace and truth and salvation by Himself. This faith is neither reasoning, nor knowledge, but a reception of divine Truth declared by One who came from God ; and so it is far above reason ing and knowledge : — we believe above we know. But what are the earthly things ? The matters relating to the new birth which have hitherto been spoken of; — called so because that side of them has been exhibited which is upon earth, and happens among men. That the parable about the wind is not intended, is evident from "and ye believe not," which in that case would be ' ye understand not.' And the heavenly things are the things of which the discourse goes on to treat from this point : viz. the heavenly side of the. new birth and salvation of man, in the eternal counsels of God regarding His only- begotten Son. Stier supposes a refer ence in this verse to Wisd. ix. 16, "Hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon the earth, and with labour do we find the things that are before us : but the things 484 ST. JOHN. III. kno man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came m heaven, even the Son of man which is in 14 l And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the k Prov. xxx. 4. ch.vi. 88, * xvi62s?3: down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in Acts ii. 34. . i cor. xv. 47. heaven. Eph.iv. &, 10. 1 Num. xxi. 9. that are in heaven who hath searched out ? " 13.] The whole verse seems to have intimate connexion with and reference to Prov. xxx. 4, " Who hath ascended up to heaven, or descended ? " and as spoken to a learned doctor of the law, would recall that verse, — especially as the further ques tion is there asked, ' Who hath gathered the wind in His fists ? ' and ' What is His name, and what His Son's name ?' See also Deut. xxx. 12, and the citation, Rom. a. 6 — 8. All attempts to ex plain away the plain sense of this verse are futile and ridiculous. The Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, the Word made Flesh, was in, came down from, heaven, — and was in heaven (heaven about Him, heaven dwelling on earth, ch. i. 52), while here, and ascended up into heaven when He left this earth; — and by all these proofs, speak ing in the prophetic language of accom plished Redemption, does the Lord esta blish, that He alone can speak of heavenly things to men, or convey the blessing of the new birth to them. Be it remem bered, that He is here speaking by anti cipation, of results of His course and suf ferings on earth, — of the way of regene ration and salvation which God has ap pointed by Him. He regards therefore throughout the passage, the great facts of redemption as accomplished, and makes announcements which could not be literally acted upon till they had been so accom plished. See w. 14 ff., whose sense will be altogether lost, unless this hath ascended up be understood of His exaltation to be a Prince and a Saviour. which is in heaven] See ch. i. 18 and note. Doubt less the meaning involves ' whose place is in heaven ; ' but it also asserts the being in heaven of the time then present: see ch. i. 52. Thus majestically does the Lord characterize His whole life of humiliation in the flesh, between His descent and His ascent. As uniting in Himself God, whose dwelling is Heaven, with man, whose dwell ing is on earth, He ever was in heaven. And nearly connected with this fact is the transition to His being the fountain of eternal life, in vv. 14 ff. : cf. 1 Cor. xv. 47 — 50, where the same connexion is strikingly set forth. To explain such expressions as "to ascend up into heaven," &c, as mere Hebrew metaphors (Lueke, De Wette, &c.) is no more than saying that Hebrew metaphors were founded on deep insight into divine truth : — these words in fact express the truths on which Hebrew metaphors were constructed. Socinus is quite right, when he says that those who take ' hath ascended up into heaven' meta phorically, must in all consistency take 'be that came down from heaven' meta phorically also ; " the descent and ascent must be both of the same kind." 14.] From this point the discourse passes to the Person of Christ, and Redemption by His Death. The Lord brings before this doctor of the Law the mention of Moses, who in his day by divine command lifted up a symbol of forgiveness and redemption to Israel. In interpreting this com parison, we must avoid all such ideas as that our Lord merely compares His death to the elevation of the brazen serpent, as if only a fortuitous likeness were laid hold of by Him. This would leave the brazen serpent itself meaningless, and is an ex planation which can only satisfy those who do not discern the typical reference of all the ceremonial dispensation to the Re deemer. It is an important duty of an expositor here, to defend the obvious and only honest explanation of this com parison against the tortuous and inadequate interpretations of modern critics. The comparison lies between the exalted ser pent of brass, and the exalted Son of Man. The brazen serpent sets forth the Bedeemer. This by recent commentators (Liicke, De Wette, and others) is consi dered impossible : and the thing compared is held to be only ' the lifting up.' But this does not satisfy the construction of the comparison. ' The brazen serpent was lifted up : every one who looked on it, lived;' this sentence, in its terms, represents this other, — 'The Son of Man must be lifted up : every one who believes on Him, shall live.' The same thing is predicated of the two ; — both are lifted up ; cognate consequences follow, — body -healing and soul-healing (as Erskine, On the Brazen Serpent). There must then be some reason why the only two members of the comparison yet unaccounted for stand where they do, — considering that the brazen serpent was lifted up not for any physical efficacy, but by command of God alone. Now on examination we find this correspondence fully established. The 'serpent' is in Scripture symbolism, tlie devil, — from the historical temptation 14—16. ST. JOHN. 485 wilderness, even so "must the Son of man be lifted up : ,n^;3,'1!i.ii¦!!8, 15 that whosoever believeth in him * should not perish, but " k have eternal life. 16 o ]?or q.0(j s0 iove(i the world, that he gave his only * render, may. k better, may have n ver. S3. ch. vi. 47. o Eom. v. 8. 1 John iv. 9. in Gen. iii. downwards. But why is the devil set forth by the serpent 1 How does the bite of the serpent operate ? It pervades with its .poison the frame of its victim : that frame becomes poisoned : — and death ensues. So sin, the poison of the devil, being instilled into our nature, that nature has become a poisoned nature, — a flesh of sin (see Rom. viii. 3). Now the brazen serpent was made in the like ness of the serpents which had bitten the children of Israel. It represented to them the poison which had gone through their frames, and it was hung up there, on the banner-staff, as a trophy, to shew them that for the poison, there was healing ; — that the plague had been overcome. In it, there was no poison; only the likeness of it. Now was not the Lord Jesus made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, Rom. viii. 3 ? Was not He made ' Sin for us, who knew no sin' (2 Cor. v. 21) ? Did not He, on His Cross, make an open shew of, and triumph over, the Enemy, so that it was as if the Fnemy himself had been nailed to thaf Cross (Col. ii. 15) ? Were not Sin and Death and Satan crucified, when He was crucified ? " In that case, since the injury was by the serpent, by the serpent was also the cure: and in this, since by man death came into the world, by man entered life also." Euthymius. must the Son of man be lifted up : i. e. it is necessary, in the Father's coun sel — it is decreed, but not arbitrarily; — the very necessity of things, which is in fact but the evolution of the divine Will, made it requisite that the pure and sinless Son of Man should thus be uplifted and suffer; see Luke xxiv. 26. In the word lifted up there is more than the mere cru cifixion. It has respect in its double mean ing (of which see a remarkable instance in Gen. xl. 13, 19) to the exaltation of the Lord on the Cross, and through the Cross to His Kingdom ; and refers back to " hath ascended up into heaven" before. 15.] The corresponding clause applying to the type is left to be supplied — 'And as every one who looked on it was healed, so . . . .' believeth in him] This expression, here only used by John, implies his exalta tion, — see ch. xii. 32. It is a belief in [abiding in, see note on ver. 18) His Per son being what God by his sufferings and Vol. I. exaltation hath made Him to be, and being that to ME. This involves, on the part of the believer, the anguish of the bite of the fiery serpent, — and the earnest looking on Him in Whom sin is crucified, with the inner eye of faith. have eternal life] Just as in the type, God did not remove the fiery serpents,-^ or not all at once, — but healing was to be found in the midst of them by looking to the brazen serpent (' every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live,' Num. xxi. 8), — so the temptations and conflicts of sin shall not leave the believer, — but in the midst of these, with the Eye of Faith fixed on the uplifted Son of Man, he has eternal life; perishes not of the bite, but shall live. See on this verse the remarkable passage, Wisd, xvi. 5 — 13, where as much of the healing sign is opened as could be expected before tbe great Antitype Himself appeared. 16.] Many Commentators — since the time of Erasmus, who first suggested the notion, — have maintained that the dis course of our Lord breaks off here, and the rest, to ver. 21, consists of the remarks of the Evangelist. (So Tholuck, Olshausen, Liicke, De Wette; which last attributes vv. 13, 14 also to John.) But to those who view these discourses of our Lord as intimately connected wholes, this will be as inconceivable, as the idea of St. Mat thew having combined into one the insu lated sayings of his Master. This discourse would be altogether fragmentary, and would have left Nicodemus almost where he was before, had not this most weighty con cluding part been also spoken to him. This it is, which expands and explains the asser tions of vv. 14, 15, and applies them to the present life and conduct of mankind. The principal grounds alleged for supposing the discourse to break off here seem to be (a) that all allusion to Nicodemus is hence forth dropped. But this is not conclu sive, for it is obvious that the natural pro gress of such an interview on his part would be from questioning to listening : and tbat even had he joined in the dialogue, the Evangelist would not have been bound to relate all his remarks, but only those which, as vv. 2, 4, and 9, were important to bring out his mind and standing-point, (b) that henceforth past tenses are used ; makh)g it more probable that the passage was K x 486 ST. JOHN. III. begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him pLukeix.60. -- — cli. ' viii. 15 : i John iv. u. not his Son into the world to n condemn the world; but 1°i.'«,«7'i that the world through him might •54! not perish, but m have everlasting life. W p For God sent XX. 81. 1 render, might. render, judge. be saved. 18 « He m better, might have. added after the great events alluded to had taken place. But does not our Lord speak here, as in so many other cases, prolepti- cally, of the fulness of the accomplishment of those designs, which in the divine coun sels were accomplished ? Is not this way of speaking natural to a discourse which is treating of the development of the new birth, itself not yet brought in till the Spirit was given ? See a parallel instance, with the Evangelist's explanation, ch. vii. 37 — 39. (c) on account of this use of only- begotten, verses 16, 18, which is peculiar to John. But, as Stier well enquires, whence did John get this word, but from the lips of his divine Master ? Would he have ventured on such an expression, ex cept by an authorization from Him ? (d) It is asserted that John often continues our Lord's discourses with additions of his own ; — and ver. 31, and ch. i. 16, are al leged as instances. Of these, ch. i. 16 is beside the question; — for the whole pro logue is spoken in the person of the Evan gelist, and the Baptist's testimony in ver. 15 is merely confirmatory of ver. 14, and then the connexion goes on with ver. 16. On the untenableness of the view with re gard to vv. 31 ff., see notes there. It would besides give us a very mean idea of the honesty or reverence of one who sets forth so sublime a view of the Divinity and Authority of our Lord, to suppose him capable, in any place, of attributing to his Master words and sentiments of his own invention. And that the charge amounts to this, every simple reader can bear testi mony. The obvious intention of the Evan gelist here is, that the Lord shall have said these words. If our Lord did not say them, but the Evangelist, we cannot stop with the view that he has added his own remarks to our Lord's discourse, but must at once pronounce him guilty of an im posture and a forgery. I conclude there fore on all these grounds that the words following, to ver. 21, cannot be otherwise regarded than as uttered by our Lord in continuation of His discourse. loved] The indefinite past tense, signifying the universal and eternal existence of that love which God Himself is (1 John iv. 8): the world, in the most general sense, as represented by, and included in, man, — Gen. iii. 17, 18, and i. 28; — not, the elect, which would utterly destroy the force of the passage; see on ver. 18. The Lord here reveals Love as the one ground of the divine counsel in redemption, — sal vation of men, as its one purpose with re gard to them. he gave his only- begotten Son] These words seem to carry a reference to the offering of Isaac ; and Nicodemus in that case would at once be reminded by them of the love there re quired, the substitution there made, and the prophecy there uttered to Abraham, to which the foUowing words of our Lord so nearly correspond. gave — absolute, not merely to the world — gave up, — Rom. viii. 32 ; where, as Stier remarks, we have again, in the " spared not," an unmistake able allusion to the same words, said to Abraham, Gen. xxii. 16. that who soever . . .] By the repetition of this final clause verbatim from ver. 15, we have the identity of the former clauses established : i. e. the uplifting of the Son of Man like the serpent in the wilderness is the mani festation of the divine Love in the gift of the Son of God -."the Son of Man" of ver. 14 is equivalent, in the strictest sense, to " his only-begotten Son" of ver. 16. 17.] the world,— the Gentile world,— was according to Jewish ideas to be judged and condemned by the Messiah. This error our Lord here removes. The assertion ch. ix. 39, "for judgment (or, condemnation) came I into this world," is no contradic tion to this. The judgment there, as here, results from the separation of mankind into two classes, — those who will and those who will not come to the light ; and that result itself is not the purpose why the Son of God came into the world, but is evolved in the accomplishment of the higher purpose, viz. Love, and the salvation of men. Ob serve, the latter clause does not correspond to the former — it is not that He might save the world, but that the world through Him might be saved : — tbe free will ot the world is by this strikingly set forth, in connexion with verses 19, 20. Not that the Lord is not the Saviour of the world (ch. iv. 42), but that the peculiar cast of this passage required the other side of the 17—21. ST. JOHN. 48.7 that believeth on him °is hot condemned: but he that believeth not is P condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God 19 And this is the 1 condemnation, the world, and men loved r darkness rather than because their deeds were evil. 20 For " every one doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, Eph' lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth that * light is come into r$j-y-* * light, ,ikli!- that ' $ibi£dT- '' v. 18. 0 render, cometh not into judgment. P render, judged. 1 render, judgment. r render, the hght . . the darkness the light. truth to be brought out. 18.] cometh not into judgment— see ch. v. 24; where the same assertion is made more fully ; and note there. is judged already, implying, — by no positive act of judgment of Mine, — but by the very nature of things themselves, God has provided a remedy for the deadly bite of sin; this remedy the man has not accepted, not taken : be must then perish in his sins : he is already judged and sen tenced, hath not believed] The per fect sets before us the deliberate choice of the man, q. d. 'he hath not chosen to believe :' see 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12. in the name — not without meaning : that name was " Jesvs, for He shall save his people from their sins," Matt. i. 21. The word only-begotten also here sets before us the hopelessness of such a man's state : he has no other Saviour. 19.] The par ticular nature of this decided judgment is now set forth, — that the light (see ch. i. 7, and notes) is come into the world, and men (men in general ; an awful revelation of the future reception of the Gospel) loved (the perversion of the affections and will is the deepest ruin of mankind) the dark ness (see note -on ch. i. 5; = the state of sin and unbelief) rather than (not to be resolved into 'and not;' but, as Bengel says, " The loveliness of the light struck them, but they persevered in the love of the darkness," see ch. v. 35; xii. 43; 2 Tim. iii. 4) the light, because their deeds were evil (their habits, thoughts, practices, — all these are included, — were perverted). loved and were are the indefinite past tense, implying the general usage and state of men, when and after the light came into the world. 20.] This verse analyzes the psychological grounds of the preceding. The light is not here ' the com mon light of day,' nor light in general : but, as before, tne Light; i. e. the Lord Jesus, and His salvation : see ver. 21 end. There -is here a difference between K i the verbs used in' the original in the ex pressions doeth evil and doeth the truth, which is too remarkable to be passed over, — especially as the same distinction is ob served in ch. v. 29. I think the distinc tion is perhaps this, — that the first verb represents more the habit of action ; so that we might say-'Ae that practises evil;' but the second the true doing of good, good fruit, good that remains. He who practises, has nothing but his practice, whieh is an event, a thing of the past, a source to him only of condemnation; he has nothing to shew for it, for it is also empty, worthless (which is the real primi tive meaning of the adjective here rendered "evil"); whereas he that does, makes, creates (for this is the force of the second verb), has his deed, or thing made, — he has abiding fruit; his works do follow him. So that the expressions will not perhaps here admit of being interchanged. In the allusion to darkness, there may possibly be a hint at the coming by night of Nicode mus, but surely only by a distant implica tion. He might gather this from what was said, that it would have been Better for him to make open confession of Jesus ; but we can hardly say that our Lord re proves him for coming even as he did. 21.] Who is this doer of the truth 1 the end of ch. i. will best explain to us,— in whom there is no guile, see also Luke viii. 15, and Ps. xv. The practiser of wicked ness is crooked and perverse ; he has a light, which he does not follow ; he knows the light, and avoids it ; and so there is no truth, singleness, in him ; he is a man at variance with himself. But the simple and single-minded is he who knowing and ap proving the light, comes to it ; and comes that he may be carried onward in this spirit of truth and single-mindedness to higher degrees of communion with and likeness to God. " The good man seeks the light, and to place his works in the light, not : 2 488 ST. JOHN. III. * truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into tch.iv.2. .j^e ]an^ 0f Judsea; and there he tarried with them, * and baptized. 23 And John also was baptizing in iEnon near xiteu?M. to "Salim, because there was much water there: xand y Matt. xiv. s. ^hey eame^ anfl were baptized. ^ For * John was not yet cast into prison. 25 Then there arose a question * between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purify- s render, the truth. * read and render, on the part of John's disciples with a Jew. from a vain love of praise, but from a desire for communion wherein he finds strength and security," De Wette. But this is not all : the manifesting his works, that they are wrought in God, is and can be only by the candle of the Lord being kindled within him, and he himself born again in the Kingdom of God; see Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. We hear nothing of the effect pro duced on Nicodemus by this interview. It certainly did not alienate him from Jesus, see ch. vii. 50 ; xix. 39, also ch. xii. 42. "It speaks for the simplicity and historic truthfulness of our Evangelist, that he adds nothing more, and even leaves un told the immediate result which the dis course had." Baumgarten-Crusius. 22 — 86.] Removal of Jesus and Mis disciples into the neighbourhood of the Baptist, who, upon occasion given, bears another notable testimony to Him. 22.] After these things : the sequence is not immediate; for this, St. John uses " after this" or " that," see ch. xi. 7, 11 ; xix. 28. the land of Judsea] The rural districts of Judsea, in distinction from the metropolis. baptized, viz. by means of His disciples; — see ch. iv. 2, and note. The place is not named : perhaps He did not remain in one fixed spot. 23.] The situation of these places is uncertain. Eusebius and Jerome place Salim eight Roman miles south of Seythopolis, and ,35non at the same dis tance, on the Jordan. If Seythopolis was the ancient Bethshan, both places were in Samaria : and to this agree Epiphanius, and the Samaritan chronicle called Abul Phatach. In Judith iv. 4, we find men tion of "the valley of Salem" in Samaria (see note on Heb. vii. 1). An iEnon in the wilderness of Judah is mentioned Josh. xv. 61 (in the Alexandrine text of the LXX, not in our English Bible) and ib. ver. 32, Shilhim (Seleem, LXX) and Ain, both in Judah, where it is certainly, more probable, both from the text here and from other considerations, that John would have been baptizing, than in Samaria. The name AUnon is an intensitive form of Ain, a fountain, which answers to the description here given. Both places were West of the Jordan : see ver. 26, and com pare ch. i. 28. they came, and were baptized, i. e. the multitudes. 24.] There is much difficulty, which pro bably never will be cleared up, about the date of the imprisonment of John, and its reference to the course of our Lord's ministry. Between Matt. iv. 11, 12, there seems to be a wide hiatus, in which (see note there) the first chapters of this Gos pel should be inserted. But the records from which the three Gospels have arisen were apparently unconscious of any such interval. Our Evangelist seems here to refer to such records, and to insert this remark, that it might not be imagined, as it would be from them, that our Lord's public ministry (in the wider sense, see below on ver. 26) began with the impri sonment of the Baptist. 25.] The cir cumstances under which this dispute arose seem to have been these : — John and our Lord were baptizing near to one another. (On the relation of their baptisms, see below on ver. 26.) They were both watched jealously (see ch. iv. 1) by the Pharisees. One of these (a Jew, i. e. a certain Jew, which, iu St. John's use of that tenn, would mean, one of the rulers or chief men) appears to have entered into dispute with the disciples of John about the rela tive importance of the two baptisms ; they perhaps maintaining that their master's purification preparatory to the Messiah was absolutely necessary for all, and he (the Jew) pointing out to them the ap parent inconsistency of this Messiah him self authorizing a baptism in his name, and alleging that if so, their master's baptism was rendered superfluous. We are driven 22—81. ST. JOHN. 489 ing. 26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, zto whom thou u barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 2? John answered and said, aA man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, b I am not the Christ, but c that I am sent before him. 29 d He that hath the bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoieeth x greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 e He that cometh from above f is above all : u render, hast borne. to these conjectures, because the text gives us no further insight into the fact, than what the circumstances and the answer of John render probable. 26.] Com pare ch. i. 28. all men come to him] Not, probably, any who had been baptized already by John ; but multitudes of persons. The baptism now carried on by the disciples appears to have stood very much in the same position as that of John. It was preparatory to the public ministry of our Lord properly so called, which began in Galilee after the imprisonment of John. It was not accompanied with the gift of the Spirit, see ch. vii. 39. As John's commission was now on the wane, so our Lord's was expanding. The solemn cleansing of the temple was its opening-; and now it is proceeding onwards, gather ing multitudes around it (see ch. iv. 1). 27.] The subject of this answer is, — the divinely -appointed humiliation and eclipsing of the Baptist himself before the greater majesty of Himwhowas come after him. Accordingly he begins in this verse by answering to the zeal of his dis ciples, 'that he cannot go beyond the bounds of his heaven-appointed mission.' "I cannot arrogate to myself and take upon me what God has not given." Wet stein. ' Some apply the words to Jesus : — " If His circumstances are more illustrious, and all men come to Him, it is no matter of wonder; for such would be the case with Divinity." Chrysostom. But the whole tone of the answer makes the other view more likely. Of course the remark, being general, may in the background have reference to the greater mission of Jesus ; but not primarily. The parallelism of " a man " here, and himself, as the subject of " I said" in the next verse, also sup ports this view; see Heb. v. 4. z ch. 1. 7, 15, . 27, 34. al Cor. iv.7 Heb. v. 4. James i. 17. b ch. i. 20, 27. c Mai. iii. I. Mark i. 2. Luke i. 17. d Matt. xxii. 2. 2 Cor. xi. 2. Eph. v. 26, 27. Rev. xxi. 9. e ver. 13. ch. viii. 23. f Matt, xxviii. 18. chap. U16, 27. Bom. ix. 5. x render, with joy. 28.] "Not only so, but I have always given the same consistent testimony; that I was only the forerunner of One greater than myself." The word him in the original does not refer to "the Christ:" but to Jesus, as the subject of ver. 26; and thus is not merely a general testimony with regard to the Messiah, but a personal one to Jesus. In reading this verse there fore, strong emphasis should be laid on the word him. 29.] Here first, (and here only in our Gospel,) comes, from the mouth of the Forerunner, this great sym bolical reference, which is so common in the other Gospels and in the Epistles. It is remarkable that our Lord brings it for ward in His answer to the disciples of John respecting fasting, Matt. ix. 15: where see note on the further import of the terms used. The friend of the bridegroom was the regular organ of com munication in the preliminaries of mar riage, and had the ordering of the marriage feast. It is to this last time, and not to any ceremonial custom connected with the marriage rites, that this verse refers. The friend rejoices at hearing the voice of the bridegroom, (see Jer. vii. 34; xvi. 9; xxv. 10: Rev. xviii. 23,) in his triumph and joy, at the marriage. He rejoieeth with joy because he hears in the voice of the Bridegroom an assurance of the happy completion of his mission, and on account of the voice itself, — " so sweet, so lovely, so telling of salvation." The words standeth and belong merely to the graphic setting forth of the similitude. this my j°y therefore is fulfilled] " Because I have presented the bride to Him, and ful filled, as is elsewhere said, the ministry entrusted to me." Euthymius. 30.] decrease, " as the morning-star at the rise of the sun." Euthymius. See note 490 ST. JOHN. III. 32—36: g 1 Cor. xv, h ch. vi. 33. 1 Cor. xv. Eph. i 21. Phil. ii. 0. i ver. 11. ch. viii. 21 xv. 15. kl John v. 1 ch. vii. 16. m ch. i. 16. if. she that is of the earth is y earthly, and speaketh of the earth : h he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And 1 what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33 He that hath received ">• his testimony, khath set [zfo] his seal that God is true. 84 * For he whom God [a hath] sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Sjpirit mby measure y render, of the earth. z omit for perspicuity. a omit. on Matt. xi. 2 ff. 31.] Many modern critics maintain that after ver. 30 we have the words, not of the Baptist, but of the Evangelist. Liicke and De Wette as sume that the Evangelist has put his own thoughts into the Baptist's mouth, or at •least mixed them with his words. The reason of this arbitrary hypothesis is, (a) That the sentiments of thefollowing verses seem to them not to be congruous with the time and position of the Baptist. But some of them confess that this very posi tion of the Baptist is to them yet un explained, and are disposed to question the applicability to their idea of it of very much which is undoubtedly recorded to have been said by him. So that we can not allow such a view much critical weight, unless it can be first clearly shewn, what were the Baptist's convictions concerning the Person and Office of our Lord, (b) That the diction and sentiments of the following verses are so entirely in the style of our Evangelist. But first, I by no means grant this, in the sense which is here meant. It will be seen by the reff. in my Greek Test, that the Evangelist does not so frequently repeat his own favourite expressions as in most other pas sages of equal length. And even were this so the remark made above on vv. 16 — 21, would apply here also ; that the Evan gelist's peculiar style of theological expres sion was formed on some model ; and on what more likely than in the first place the discourses of his divine Master, and then such sententious and striking tes timonies as the present ? But there is a weightier reason than these for opposing the above view, and that arises from what modern criticism has been so much given to overlook, — the inner coherence of the discourse itself; in which John explains to his disciples the reason why Hb must increase ; whereas his own dignity was to be eclipsed before Him. This will be seen below as we proceed. And there is nothing inconsistent with what the Lord himself says of the Baptist in these verses. He (the Baptist) ever speaks not as a dis ciple of Jesus, not as within the Kingdom, — but as knowing the blessedness of those who should be within it ; as standing by, and hearing the Bridegroom's voice. Nor again is there any thing inconsistent with the frame of mind which prompted the question sent by John to our Lord afterwards in the onward waning of his days in prison; see note on Matt. xi. 2. he that cometh from heaven] This gives us the reason why He must increase: His power and His words are not from . below, temporary, limited ; but are divine and inexhaustible ; and, ver. 32], His witness is not, like John's, only of what he has been forewarned to expect, but of that which He has seen and heard. But no man, — i. e. in reference to the world, into which He is come, the darkness in which His light shines, — no one comparatively, — receives His testimony. The state of men's minds at Jerusalem with regard to Jesus must ere this have been well known to the Baptist. 33, 34.] This exception shews the correctness of the sense just assigned to " no man." " He that hath received His testimony, and believeth Him, hath confirmed, shewn, that God is true who sent Him, Whose are the words which He speaks ; but he that hath .not received it and disbelieveth Him, doeth the contrary, and in fact is an open withstander of God," Euthymius. true, not ns Wetstein, that God has been true to His promises by the prophets : this does not suit the con text ; but as above from Euthym., true in Himself: a revealer, and fountain of truth; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure] Seeing that the contrast is be tween the unlimited gift of the Spirit to Hiin that comes from above, and the limited participation of Him by those who are of the earth; wo must not understand the assertion generally, but supply to Him as has usually been done. The Rabbinical books say that the Holy Spirit was only given to the prophets by measure. This unmeasured pouring of the Spirit on Him IV. 1- ST. JOHN. 491 \}u?ito him]. 35 "The Father loveth the Son, and hath ^ Matt. xi. 27, given all things into his hand. 36 "He that believeth on ^v.jo'm, the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not ||-?:g the Son shall not see life : but the wrath of God abideth "Slf on him. vermin. IV. l When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees u<*nv.io. had heard that Jesus made and a baptized more disciples "*¦"'¦ M-23- than John, 2 (though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 he left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria. 5 c Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the •parcel of ground bthat Jacob gave to his son Joseph, b Gen. mat 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being Jo»i>.xxiv. D not in the original. c render, So he Cometh. accounts for his speaking the words of God. 35.] This, again, is the ground why the Father gives not the Spirit by measure (to Him) : see Matt. xi. 27 — 29, with which this verse forms a remarkable point of con nexion, shewing. that what is commonly known as John's form of expression was not confined to him, but originated higher, having its traces in the narrative of the other Gospels, which is confessedly, in its main features, independent of him. 36.] Compare ch. i. 12, 13 ; ver. 15. The word rendered " believeth not " may mean disobeyeth, and is so rendered Rom. ii. 8 ; x. 21 : 1 Pet. ii. 7, and elsewhere. Unbelief implies disobedience. abideth] It was on him, see ver. 18, in his state of darkness and nature, — and can only be removed by faith in the Son of God, which he has not. Chap. IV. 1 — 54.] Manifestation op Himself as the Son op God in Samabiaand Galilee. 1—42.] On his way back to Galilee through Samaria, he discourses with a Samaritan woman. Con fession of his. Messiahship by the Sama ritans. 1.] An inference may be drawn from this, that our Lord knew the anger of the Pharisees to be more directed against Him than against the Baptist, — probably on account of what had passed in Jerusalem. that Jesus, not " that He " .... because the report which the Pha risees had heard is given verbatim. 2.] Probably for the same reason that Paul did not baptize usually (1 Cor. i. .14 — 16) ; viz. because His office was to preach and teach;— and the disciples as yet had no office of this kind. To assume a further reason, e.g. that there might not be ground for those whom the Lord himself had baptized to boast of it, is arbitrary and unnecessary. 4.] If He was already on the borders of Samaria, not far from JEuon (see note on ch. iii. 23), the direct way was through Samaria. Indeed with out this assumption, we know from Jo sephus that the Galilaeans ordinarily took this way. But there was probably design also in the journey. It could not have been mere speed, — since He made two days' stay on the way. 5.] Sychar is better known by tho 0. T. name of She- chem. It was a very old town on the range of Mt. Ephraim, in a narrow valley between Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim, Judg. ix. 7. Some think that Sychar, which means "drunken," was originally a con temptuous name applied by the Jews to Shechem, — which had supplanted the proper appellation. Very near it was afterwards built Flavia Neapolis. There is a long and interesting history of Sychem, and the Samaritan worship on Gerizim, and the Christian church in the neighbour hood, in Robinson's Palestine, iii. 113 — 136. See also Dr. Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 472 ff. He thinks that Sychar and Shechem are not the same, because at Shechem (Nablus) there are delicious fountains of water, which the woman would hardly have left to draw from a deep well two miles off. the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph] This is traditional : it finds however support from Gen. xxxiii. 19, where we find Jacob buying a field near Shechem, and Josh. xxiv. 32, where, on the mention of Joseph's bones being laid there, it is said that it became the inhe ritance of the children of Joseph. Our Lord does not allude to the tradition in the conversation, though the woman does. , 6.]. Robinson (iii. 112) can only solve the ST. JOHN. IV. wearied with his journey, d sat thus on the well : and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water : Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy e meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, whieh am a woman of Samaria? for c [f the] Jews have no dealings with [f the] Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee d living d render, Was sitting. e render, food. - . c3 Kings xvii. 24. Luke ix. 52, S3. Acts X. 28. d lea. xii. 3: xliv. 3. Jer. ii. 13. Zech. xiii. 1 xiv. 8. difficulty of the present well standing in a spot watered by so many natural foun tains, by supposing that it may have been dug, according to the practice of the patriarchs, by Jacob, in connexion with the plot of ground which he bought, to have an independent supply of water. thus refers to being wearied with his jour ney, and might be expressed by accordingly. There is no authority for the meaning 'just as he was,' or 'just as it happened,' i. e. on the bare stone. the sixth hour, i. e. mid-day. Townson supposed the sixth hour, according to St. John, to mean six in the evening, ' after the way of reckoning in Asia Minor ;'— but, as Liicke observes, this way of reckoning in Asia Minor is a pure invention of Townson's. A decisive answer however to such a supposition here, or any where else in our Evangelist, is that he would naturally have specified whether it was 6 a.m. or p.m. The un- usualness of a woman coming to draw Water at mid-day is no argument against its possibility ; indeed the very fact of her being alone seems to shew that it was not the common time. 8.] The disciples had probably taken with them the baggage, among which would be the vessel for draw ing water, — see ver. 11. The Rabbis say that a Jew might not eat the bread or drink the wine of a Samaritan : but that appears from this verse to be exaggerated. 9. being a Jew] She knew this perhaps by his dress, more probably by his dialect. There seems to be a sort of playful triumph in the woman's question, q.d. ' even a Jew, when weary and athirst, can humble himself to ask drink of a Samaritan woman.' for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans are the words of the Evangelist to explain her question. The word rendered have no dealings is properly spoken of trade, — but here is in a omit. wider signification. The fact is abundantly illustrated in the Rabbinical writings. The question of the woman shews a lively, naive disposition, which is further drawn out and exemplified by Him who knew what is in man, in the following dialogue. 10.] The important words the gift of God have been misunderstood by many Commentators. Some suppose them to mean ' our Lord Himself,' and to be in apposition with the next clause, and who it is, &c. Others, 'this opportunity of speaking with Me.' Doubtless both these meanings are involved, — especially the former : but neither of them is ihe primary one, as addressed to the woman. The water is, in this first part of the discourse, the subject, and serves as a point of connexion, whereby the woman's thoughts may be elevated, and her desire aroused. The process of tbe discourse in this particular is similar to that in Acts xiv. 17. From recognizing this water as the gift of God, in its limitation, ver. 13, and its parabolic import, ver. 14, her view is directed to Him who was speaking with her, and the Gift which He should bestow, — THE GIPT OP THE HOLT SPIEIT : see ch. vii. 37—39. who it is] These pregnant words form the second step in our Lord's declaration. He who speaks with thee is no ordinary Jew, nor any ordinary man, but One who can give thee the gift of God ; One sent from God, and God Himself. All this lies in the words, which however only serve to arouse in the woman's mind the question of ver. 12 (see below). living water] Design edly used in a double sense by our Lord, that the woman may lay hold of the material meaning, and by it be awakened to the higher one (see reff.). The words bring with them, and in our Lord's inner meaning involved, the performance 7—14. ST. JOHN. 493 water, u The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep : from whence then hast thou that living' water ? 13 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his S children, and his cattle ? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, h Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: u but e whosoever l drinketh of <»<*-vi. 35,5s. the water that I shall give him k shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him f shall l be in him a well f oh. vii. ss. S render, sons. h render, Every one that drinketh. 1 render, shall have drunk. k render, shall thirst no more for ever. 1 render, become. of all such prophetic promises as Ezek. xxxvi. 25; Zech. xiii. 1 (see also Jer. ii. 13); but, as regarded the woman, the ordinary sense was that intended for her to fasten on, which she does ac cordingly. On the question, how this living water could be now given, before Jesus was glorified, see on ch. vii. 38, 39. 11, 12.] Though " Sir" (the same word as that commonly rendered " Lord") is not to be pressed as emphatic, it is not without import ; it surely betokens a dif ferent regard of the stranger than the words "thou being a Jew" did: — "She calls him ' Sir,' thinking Him to be some great man." Euthymius. The course of b£r thoughts appears to be : " Thou canst not mean living water (' bubbling up and leaping,' Euthymius), from this well, be cause thou hast no vessel to draw with, and it is deep ; whence then hast thou (knowest thou of, drawest thou) the living water of which thou speakest ? Our father Jacob was contented with this, used it, and be queathed it to us: if thou hast better water, and canst give it, thou must be greater than Jacob." There is something also of Samaritan nationality speaking here. Claiming Jacob as her father (Josephus says of the Samaritans, ' When they see the Jews prospering, they call them their rela tives, as being themselves sprung from Jo seph ; but when they see them in trouble, they profess to have no connexion with them'), she expresses by this question an appropriation of descent from him, such as almost to exclude, or at all events set at a greater distance, the Jews, to one of whom she believed herself to be speaking. 13, 14.] Our Lord, without noticing this, by His answer leaves it to be implied, that, assuming what she has stated, He is greater than Jacob: for his (Jacob's) gift was of water which cannot satisfy ; but the water which He should give has living power, and becomes an eternal fountain within. This however, ' that He was greater than Jacob,' lies only in the background : the water is the subject, as before. The words apply to every similar quenching of desire by earthly means: the desire springs up again; — is not satisfied, but only postponed. The manna was as insufficient to satisfy hunger, — as this water, thirst, see ch. vi. 49, 58 : it is only the living water, and the bread of life, which can satisfy. In the original, the words Every one that drinketh set forth the recurrence, the interrupted seasons, of the drinking of earthly water ; — but whosoever shall have drunk sets forth the once having tasted, and ever con tinuing in the increasing power, and living forth-flowing, of that life-long draught. shall thirst no more for ever, shall never have to go away and be exhausted, and come again to be filled; — but shall have the spring at home, in his own breast, — so that he can " draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation" (Isa. xii. 3) at his pleasure. " When thirst does recur, it is the defect of the man, not of the water." Bengel. shall become a well] All earthly supplies have access only into those lower parts of our being where the desires work themselves out — are but local applications; but the heavenly gift of spiritual life which Jesus gives to those who believe on Him, enters into the very secret and highest place of their personal life, the source whence the desires spring out:— and, its nature being living and spiritual, it does not merely supply, but it lives and waxes onward, unto everlasting life, in duration, and also as producing and sustaining it. It should not be 494 ST. JOHN. IV. E See chap. vi. S«: xvii. 2, 3. Bom. vi. 23. 1 John v. 20. of water springing up into everlasting life. 13gThe woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. *7 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, m I have no husband: ]8 for thou hast had five husbands ; and he whom thou now hast m better, An husband I have not : see note. overlooked, that this discourse had, be sides its manifold and wonderful meaning for us all, an especial moral one as ap plied to the woman, — who, by successive draughts at the 'broken cistern' of carnal lust, had been vainly seeking solace : — and this consideration serves to bind on the following verses (ver. 16 ff.) to the preceding, by another link besides those noticed below. • 15.] This request seems to be made still under a misunder standing, tut not so great an one as at first sight appears. She apprehends this water as something not requiring a water- pot to draw it ; — as something whose power shall never fail ;— which shall quench thirst for ever; — and half in banter, half in earnest, wishing perhaps besides to see whether the gift would after all be con ferred, and how, — she mingles in with "this water," — implying some view of its distinct nature, — her ' not coming hither to draw,' — her willing avoidance of the toil of her noonday journey to the well. We must be able to enter into the com plication of her character, and the impres sions made on her by the strange things which she has heard, fully to appreciate the spirit of this answer. 16.] The connexion of this verse with the foregoing has been much disputed ; and the strangest and most unworthy views have been taken of it. Some (e. g. Grotius) have strangely referred it to the supposed indecorum of the longer continuance of the colloquy with the woman alone; some more strangely still (Cyril of Alexandria) to the incapacity of the female mind to apprehend the mat ters of which He was to speak. Both these need surely no refutation. The band of women from Galilee, ' last at the cross, and earliest at the tomb,' are a sufficient answer to them. Those approach nearer the truth, who believe the command to have been given to awaken her conscience ; or to shew her the divine knowledge which the Lord had of her heart. But I am per suaded that the right account is found, in viewing this command, as the first step of granting her request, "give me this water." The first work of the Spirit of God, and of Him who here spoke in the fulness of that Spirit, is, to convince of sin. The ' give me this water' was not so simple a matter as she supposed. The heart must first be laid bare before the wisdom of God : the secret sins set in the light of His counte nance ; and this our Lord here does. The command itself is of course given in the fulness of knowledge of her sinful condi tion of life. In every conversation which our Lord held with men, while He con nects usually one remark with another by the common links which bind human thought, we perceive that He knows, and sees through, those with whom He speaks. 17.] This answer is not for a mo ment to be treated as something unex pected by Him who commanded her. He has before Him her whole life of sin, which she in vain endeavours to cover by the doubtful words of this verse. 18.] There was literal truth, but no more, in the woman's answer: and the Lord, by His divine knowledge, detects the hidden falsehood of it. Notice it is true (a fact —bare truth), not truly: this one word was true : further shewn by the emphatic position of the word husband in our Lord's answer, — which was not so placed in hers. thou hast had five husbands] These five were certainly lawful husbands ; they are distinguished from the sixth, who was not ; — probably the woman had been sepa rated from some by divorce (the law of which was but loose among the Samari tans),— from some by death,— or perhaps by other reasons more or less discreditable to her character, which had now become degraded into that of an openly licentious woman. The conviction of sin here lies beneath the surface : it is not pressed, nor at the moment does it seem to have worked deeply, for she goes on with the conversa tion with apparent indifference to it ; but our Lord's words in vv. 25, 26 would tend to infix it more deeply, and we find at ver. 29, that it had been working during her 15—22. ST. JOHN. 495 ¦is not thy husband : in that n saidst thou truly. lfl The ¦woman saith unto him, Sir, hI perceive that thou art ah£»tevii.ia: prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in 'this mountain; v?i. So." : and ye say, that in k Jerusalem is the place where m.eniti«««-xii-' ought to worship. zl Jesus saith unto her, Woman, be- ach™.1*'8- lieve me, the hour 'cometh, 'when ve shall neither in thisiMai.^'n. • -r 1 -ri ITim. ii.8. mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 32 Ye worship m °ye know not what : we know what we wor- m£,u^S? ¦ a render, hast thou spoken true. 0 render, that which ye know not : we worship that which we know. journey back to the city. 19.] In speaking this her conviction, she virtually confesses all the truth. That she should pass to another subject immediately, seems, as Stier remarks, to arise, not from a wish to turn the conversation from a matter so unpleasing to her, but from a real desire to obtain from this Prophet the teaching re quisite that she may pray to God accept ably. The idea of her endeavouring to escape from the Lord's rebuke, is quite in consistent with her recognition of Him as a prophet. , Rather we may suppose a pause, which makes it evident that He does not mean to proceed further with His laying open of her character. 20.] in this "mountain — Mount Gerizim, on which once stood the national temple of the Sa maritan race. In Neh. xiii. 28, we read that the grandson of the high priest Eliashib was banished by Nehemiah be cause he was son-in-law to Sanballat, the Persian satrap of Samaria. Him Sanballat not only received, but made him high priest of a temple which he built on Mount Gerizim. Josephus makes this appointment sanctioned by Alexander, when at Tyre; — but the chronology is certainly not accu- -rate, for between Sanballat and Alexander is a difference of nearly a century. This temple was destroyed 200 years after by John Hyrcanus (b.c. 129); but the Sama ritans still used it as a place of prayer and sacrifice, and to this day the few Samari tans resident in Nablus (Sy chem) call it the holy mountain, and turn their faces to it in prayer. They defended their prac tice by Deut. xxvii. 4, where our reading and the Heb. and LXX is Ebal, but that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Gerizim (pro bably an alteration) : also bv Gen. xii. 6, 7 ; xiii. 4; xxxiii. 18, 20; Deut. xi.26 ff. Our fathers most likely means not the pa triarchs, but the ancestors of the then Sa maritans, the place where men ought to worship] The definite place spoken of in Deut. xii. 5. She pauses, having suggested, rather than asked, a question, —seeming to imply, ' Before I can receive this gift of God, it must be decided, where I can acceptably pray for it;' and she leaves it for Him whom she now recog nizes as a prophet, tb resolve this doubt. 21.] Our Lord first raises her view to a higher point than her question im plied, or than indeed she, or any one, without His prophetic announcement, could then have attained. The con cluding words mean, Ye shall worship the Father but not (only) in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem .... The prophe tic ye shall worship, though embracing in its wider sense all mankind, may be taken primarily as foretelling the success of the Gospel in Samaria, Acts viii. 1 — 26. the Father, as implying the One God and Father of all. There is also, as Calvin remarks, a " tacit opposition " between the Father, — and our father Jacob, ver. 12, our fathers, ver. 20. 22.] But He will not leave the temple of Zion and the worship appointed by God without His testimony. He decides her question not merely by affirming, but by proving the Jewish worship to be the right one. In the Samaritan worship there was no lead ing of God to guide them, there were no prophetic voices revealing more and more of His purposes. The neuter, that which, is used to shew the want of personality and distinctness in their idea of God : — the second that which, merely as correspond ing to it in the other member of the sen tence. Or perhaps better, both, as desig nating merely the abstract object of wor ship, not the personal God. The word we is remarkable, as being the only in stance of our Lord thus speaking. But the nature of the case accounts for it. He never elsewhere is speaking to one so set in opposition to the Jews on a point where Himself and the Jews stood together for 496 ST. JOHN. IV. n Isa. ii. 3. Luke xxiv. 47. Bom. ix. 4, 5. o Phil. iii. 3. p ch. i. 17. ship : Pfor n salvation 1 is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall wor ship the Father in ° spirit p and in truth : for r the Father q 2 cor. w. 17. seeketh such to worship him. 2* q God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must worship \}him] in spirit and in P render, because. 1 render, Cometh. r render, such the Father also seeketh them that worship him to be. 8 omit : not in the original. God's truth. He now speaks as a Jew. The nearest approach to it is in His answer to the Canaanitish woman, Matt. xv. 24, 26. because : this is the reason why we know what we worship, because the promises of God are made to us, and we possess them and believe them ; see Rom. iii. 1, 2. salvation (or, literally, the salvation [of men]) cometh of the Jews] It was in this point especially, expectation of the promised salvation by the great Deliverer (see Gen. xlix. 18), that the Samaritan rejection of the prophetic word had made them so deficient in comparison of the Jews. But not only this; — the Messiah Himself was to spring from among the Jews, and had sprung from among them; — not " shall come," but cometh, the abstract present, but perhaps with a refer ence to what was then happening. See Isa. ii. 1 — 3. 23.] The discourse re turns to the ground taken in ver. 21, but not so as to make ver. 22 parenthetical only : the spiritual worship now to be spoken of is the carrying out and conse quence of the salvation just mentioned, and could not have been brought in with out it. and now is] "This which was not added in ver. 21, is now added, that the woman might not think that the locality of this true worship was to be sought in Judaea alone," Bengel. the true worshippers, as distinguished (1) from hypocrites, who have pretended to worship Him : (2) from all who went be fore, whose worship was necessarily imper fect. The words in spirit and in truth (not without an allusion to " in this moun tain") are, in their first meaning, opposed to in mere habit and falsehood, — and denote the earnestness of spirit with which the true worshippers shall worship; so Ps. cxlv. 18, " The Lord is nigh .... unto all that call upon him in truth." A deeper meaning is brought out where the ground of this kind of worship is stated, in the next verse. Such worshippers God not only ' requires,' from His very nature, but seeks,— is seeking, This seeking on the part of the Father naturally brings in the idea, in the woman's answer, of the Messiah, by Whom He seeks (Luke xix. 10) His true worshippers, to gather them out of the world. 24.] God is a Spirit, was the great Truth of Judaism, whereby the Jews were distinguished from the idol atrous people around them. And the Sama ritans held even more strongly than the Jews the pure monotheistic view. Traces of this, remarks Liicke, are found in the alterations made by them in their Penta teuch, long before the time of this history. This may perhaps be partly the reason why our Lord, as Bengel remarks, ' never deli vered, even to His disciples, things more sublime,' than to this Samaritan woman. God being pure spirit (perhaps better not ' a Spirit,' since it is His Essence, not His Personality, which is here spoken of), cannot dwell in particular spots or temples (see Acts vii. 48; xvii. 24, 25); cannot require, nor be pleased with, earthly ma terial offerings nor ceremonies, as such : on the other hand, is only to be approached in that part of our being, which is spirit, — and even there, inasmuch as He is pure and holy, with no by-ends nor hypocritical regards, but in truth and earnestness. But here comes in the deeper sense alluded to above. How is the Spirit of man to be brought into communion with God? " Thou seekest to pray in a temple : pray in thyself. But first be the temple of God," Augustine. And how is this to be ? Man cannot make himself the temple of God. So tbat here comes in the gift of God, with which the discourse began,— the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Christ should give to them that believe on Him : thus we have 'prayiny in the Holy Spirit,' Jude 20. So beautifully does the expression the Father here bring with it the new birth by the Spirit, — and for us, the readers of the Gospel, does the dis course of ch. iii. reflect light on this. And so wonderfully do these words form the conclusion to the great subject of these first chapters: 'God is become one PLESH WITH US, THAT WE MIGHT BE COME ONE SPIEIT WITH HlM.' 23—30. ST. JOHN. 497 truth. 26 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ : when he is come, rhe willrTer-2i,>s9- tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, s I that speak "$&***¦ unto thee am he. 2? And upon this came his disciples, 01,62. and marvelled that he ss talked with the woman : yet no man said, What seekest thou ? or, Why talkest thou with her ? 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, * which told me all things that ever I did: is \}nof] this* ver. 25. the Christ ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came ss render, was talking with a woman. * omit. 25.] These words again seem uttered under a complicated feeling. Prom her " story," ver. 29, she certainly had some suspicion (in her own mind, perhaps over and beyond His own assertion of the fact : but see note there) that He who had told her all things, &c, was the Christ ; and from her breaking in with this remark after the weighty truth which had been just spoken, it seems as if she thought thus, ' How these matters may be, I cannot understand ;— they will be all made clear when the Christ shall come.' The ques tion of ver. 20 had not been answered to her liking or expectation: she therefore puts aside, as it were, what has been said, by a remark on that suspicion which was arising in her mind. It is not certain what expectations the Samaritans had regarding the Messiah. The view here advanced might be well derived from Deut. xviii. 15 ;— and the name, and much that belonged to it, might have been borrowed from the Jews originally. which is called Christ appear to me to be the words of the woman, not of the Evangelist ; for in this latter case he would certainly have used Messias again in ver. 29. See also the difference of expression where he inserts an inter pretation, ch. i. 42 : xix. 13, 17. It is possible that the name " Christ" had become common in popular parlance, like many other Greek words and names. The verb rendered will tell us is used especially of enouncing or propound ing by divine or superior authority. 26.] Of the reasons which our Lord had, thus to declare Himself to this Samaritan woman and through her to the inha bitants of Sychem (ver. 42), as the Christ, thus early in his ministry, we surely are not qualified to judge. There is nothing so opposed to true Scripture criticism, as to form a preconceived plan and rationale of the course of our Lord in the flesh, and then to force recorded events into agreement with it. Such a plan will be formed in our own minds from continued study of the Scripture narrative: — but by the arbitrary system which I am here condemning, the very facts which are the chief data of such a scheme, are themselves set aside. When De Wette says, 'This early and decided declaration of Jesus is in contradiction with Matt. viii. 4, and xvi. 20,' — he forgets the very different circumstances under which both those injunctions were spoken: — while he is forced to confess that it is in agreement with the whole spirit of the Sermon on the Mount. He who knew what was in man, varied His revelations and injunctions, as the time and place, and individual dispositions re quired. I] In saying I that speak unto thee, He intends a reference to her words, " will tell us all things," — I am He, who am now speaking to thee— fulfilling part of this telling all things ; see also her confession ver. 29. 27.] The ground of their wonder, as given in the original, was the circumstance, that our Lord was talking with a woman. None of them said either — to the woman — What seekest thou? or to the Lord, Why dispntest thou, or Why talkest thou with her ? — or perhaps both questions to Him. Why talkest thou with her 1 — I rather prefer the former interpretation. 28—30.] She does not mention to the men His own announcement of Himself, — but as is most natural under such circumstances, rests the matter on the testimony likely to weigh most with them,— her own. We often, and that unconsciously, put before another not our strongest, but what is likely to be his strongest reason. At the same time she shews how the suspicion expressed in ver. 25 arose in her own mind. SO.] came, — more properly, were coming, — had not arrived, when what follows hap- 498 ST. JOHN. IV, ^hl'vifssV2' ought to eat? xvii. 4 X Matt. ix. 37. Luke x. 2. unto him. 31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him 34 Jesus saith unto them, u My meat is to u do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, x vfor they are white already to harvest. v render, that. Say not ye ... . surely cannot be ihe introduction to an observation of what was matter of fact at the time. Had the words been spoken at a time when it wanted four months to the harvest, and had our Lord intended to express this, — is it conceivable that He should have thus in troduced the remark ? Would not, must not, the question have been a direct one in that case — 'are there not four months!' &c. I know not how to account for this Say not ye that .... except that it intro duces some common saying which the Jews, or perhaps the people of Galilee only, were in the habit of using. Are not ye accustomed to say, that . . . . ? That we hear of no such proverb elsewhere, is not to the point ; — for such unrecorded sayings are among every people. That we do not know whence to date the four months, is again no objection: — there may have been, in the part where the saying was usual (possibly in the land west of the lake of Tiberias, for those addressed were from thence, and the emphatic "ye" seems to point to some particular locality), some fixed period in the year, — the end of the sowing, or some religious anniversary, — when it was a common saying, that it wanted four months to harvest. And this might have been the first date in the year which had regard to the harvest, and so the best known in connexion with it. If this be so, all that has been built on this saying, as giving a chronological date, must fall to the .ground. (Lightfoot, Wieseler, and others, maintain, that since the harvest began on the 16th of Nisan, we must reckon four months back from that time for this journey through Sa maria, which would bring it to the middle of Chisleu, i. e. tbe beginning of December.) To get the meaning of the latter part of the verse, we must endeavour to follow, as fur as may be, the train of thought which pervades the discourse. He that soweth the good seed is the Son of u better, to be doing. pened. 31, 32.] The bodily thirst (and hunger probably, from the time of day) which our Lord had felt before, had been and was forgotten in the carrying on of His divine Work in the soul of this Samaritan woman. Although I and you are emphatic, the words are not spoken in blame, for none was deserved : but in ful ness and earnestness of spirit; in a feel ing analogous to that which comes upon us when called from high and holy em ployment to the supply of the body or to the business of this world. 33.] It is very characteristic of the first part of this Gospel to bring forward instances of un- receptivity of spiritual meaning ; compare ver. 11; ch. ii. 20; iii. 4; vi. 42, 52. The disciples probably have the woman in their thoughts. , 34.] Christ alone could properly say these words. In the believer on Him, they are partially true, — true as far as he has received the Spirit, and entered into the spiritual life; — but in Him they were absolutely and fully true. His whole life was the doing of the Father's will. We can 'eat and drink, &c. to the glory of God,'— but in Him the hallowing of the Father's name, doing His will, bringing about His King dom, was His daily bread, and super seded the thoughts and desires for the other, needful as it was for His humanity. My meat is to be (better, that I may be) doing, &c.] That is, it was our Lord's continued sustenance, to be ever carrying onward to completion that per formance of His Father's will for which He came into the world. In the words finish his work, the way is prepared for the idea introduced in the next verse. These words give an answer to the ques tioning in the minds of the disciples, and shew that Me had been employed in tlie Father's work during their absence. 35.] The sense of these much-controverted words will be best ascertained by narrowly observing the form of the sentence. 31—43. ST. JOHN. 499 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto Hfe eternal : that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein w is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye x bestowed no labour : other men ''¦laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him yfor the saying of the woman, which testified, HeyTor-29- told me all that ever I did. *0 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them : and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word ; 42 and said unto the woman, y Now we believe, not because of thy saying : for zwe have heard him ourselves, and know that this is z 1'joim'iv' u indeed \JJ the Christ,] the Saviour of the world. w render, is [fulfilled] that true saying. z render, have bestowed, and have laboured. y render, No longer do we believe because of thy story. yy omit. Man : our Lord had now been employed in this His work. But not as in the natural year, so was it to be in the world's lifetime. One-third of the year may elapse, or more, before the sown seed springs up ; but the sowing by the Son of Man comes late in time, and the harvest should immediately follow. The fields were whitening for it ; these Samaritans (not. that I believe He pointed to them approaching, as Chrysos tom and most expositors, but had them in his view in what He said), and the mul titudes in Galilee, were all nearly ready. In the discourse as far as ver. 38, He is the sower, the disciples (see Acts viii.) were the reapers : — He was the one who had laboured, they were the persons who had entered into his labours. The past is used, as descriptive of the office which each held, not of the actual thing done. I cannot also but see an allusion to the words spoken by Joshua (xxiv. 13), on this very spot; — ' I have given you a land for which ye did not labour.' Taking this view, I do not believe there was any allusion to the actual state of the fields at that time. The words Lift up your eyes, &c, are of course to be understood literally ; — tliey were to lift up their eyes and look on the lands around them;— and tben came the assurance; 'they are whitening already towards the harvest.' And it seems to me that on this view— at the Lord speaking of spiritual things to them, and announcing to them the approach of the spiritual harvest, — and none else, — the right under standing of the following verses depends. It is of course possible that it may have been seed-time; — possible also, that the fields may have been actually whitening for the harvest; — but to lay down either of these as certain, and build chronological inferences on it, is quite unwarranted. 36.] The wages of the reaper is in the "joy" here implied, in having gathered many into eternal life, just as the meat of the sower was His joy already begun in His heavenly- work. See Matt. xx. 1 — 16 and notes. 38.] Here, as often, our Lords speaks of the office and its work as accomplished, which is but beginning (see Isa. xlvi. 10). By other men here our Lord cannot mean the O. T. prophets as some say, for then His own place would be altogether left out; — and besides, all Scripture analogy is against the idea of the 0. T. being the seed of which the N. T. is the fruit ; — nor can it be right, as Ols hausen maintains, to leave Him out, as being the Lord of the Harvest : — for He is certainly elsewhere, and was by the very nature of the case here, the Sower. The plural is I believe merely inserted as the correspondent word to ye in the expla nation, as it was one soweth and another reapeth in the proverb. 39 — 42.] The truth of the saying of ver. 35 begins to be manifested. These Samaritans were the foundation of the church afterwards built up there. It does not seem that any miracle was wrought there : the feeling expressed in the words "we have heard 500 ST. JOHN. IV. 43 Now after z two days he departed thence, and went a Matt. xiii. 57. into Galilee. ** For "Jesus himself testified, that a pro- Luke ivv.'24. pne£ hath no honour in his own country. *5 a Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilseans received him, bch.ii.23: b having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the c Deut. xvi. w. feast: cfor they also went unto the feast. 46 So Jesus dch.ii.i,n. came again into Cana of Galilee, d where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. *7 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judsea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son : for he was at the point of death. *8 Then eicoi.i.22. Said Jesus unto him, "Except ye see signs and wonders, z render, the two days. Him ourselves" was enough to raise their faith to a point never attained by the Jews, and hardly as yet by the disciples, — that He was the Saviour of the world. Their view seems to have been less clouded by prejudice and narrow-mindedness than that of the Jews ; and though the conversion of this people lay not in the plan of the official life of our Lord, or working of His Apostles during it (see Matt. x. 5), — yet we have abundant proof from this history, of His gracious purposes towards ' them. A trace of this occurrence may be found ch. viii. 48, where see note. Compare throughout Acts viii. 1 — 25. The word rendered story (literally, "this talking") is one in which it is hardly possible not to see something of allusion to the woman's eager and diffuse report to them. 43 — 54.] The second miracle of Jesus in Galilee. The healing of the Ruler's son. 43.] after the two days, viz. those mentioned above. We find no mention of the disciples again, till ch. vi. 3. And thus the "therefore" in the next verse will be a word connecting it with this preliminary reason given. The reason (ver. 1) why Jesus left Judaea for Galilee was, because of the publicity which was gathering round Himself and his ministry. He betakes himself to Gali lee therefore, to avoid fame, testifying that His own country (Galilee) was that where, as a prophet, He was least likely to be honoured. See on the difficulties which have been found in the connexion of this verse, in my Greek Testament. The above explanation seems to me completely satis factory. 45.] They received Him, but in accordance with the proverbial saying just recorded; — not for any honour in a render, When then. which they themselves held Him, or value which they had for His teaching ; but on account of His fame in Jerusalem, the metropolis, — which set them the fashion in their estimate of men and things. for they also went unto the feast is in serted for those readers who might not be aware of the practice of the Galilseans to frequent the feasts at Jerusalem. 46. a certain nobleman] literally, "a royal person." "Either," say Euthymius and Chrysostom, " one of the royal race, or one in possession of some dignity from which he was called 'royal;'" or, Euthymius adds, " because he was a servant of the King." Origen thinks he may have been one of the household of Caesar, having some business in Judsea at that time. But the usage of Josephus is perhaps our surest guide. He uses this word "royal," to distinguish the soldiers, or courtiers, or officers of the kings (Herods or others), from those of Borne, — but never to desig nate the royal family. So that this man was probably an officer of Herod Antipas. He may have been Chuza, Herod's steward, Luke viii. 3 : but this is pure conjecture. The man seems to have been a Jew: see below. 47, 48.] This miracle is a notable instance of our Lord 'not quenching 'the smoking flax :' just as His reproof of the Samaritan woman was of His ' not breaking the bruised reed.' The little spark of faith in the breast of this nobleman is by Him lit up into a clear and enduring flame for the light and com fort of himself and his house. come down: see on ch. ii. 12. The charge brought against them, Except ye see signs and wonders, &c, does not imply, as some think, that they would not believe signs 43—54. ST. JOHN. 501 ye will not believe. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 60 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way ; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus D had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy c son liveth. E2 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him. Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth : and himself believed, and his whole house. 6* d This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judsea into Galilee. D render, spake. c render, child. d render, This again, a second miracle, did Jesus. and wonders heard of, but required to see them — for in this case the expression would certainly have been fuller, " see with your eyes," or something similar; — and it would not accord with our Lord's known low es timate of all mere miracle-faith, to find Him making so weighty a difference be tween faith from miracles seen and faith from miracles heard. The words imply the contrast between the Samaritans, who be lieved because of His word, and the Jews (the plural reckoning the nobleman among them), who would not believe but through signs and prodigies: — see 1 Cor. i. 22. And observe also that it is not implied that even when they had seen signs and wonders, they would believe: — they required these as a condition of their faith, but even these were rejected by them : see ch. xii. 37. But even with such inadequate conceptions and conditions of faith, our Lord receives the nobleman, and works the sign rather than dismiss him. It was otherwise in Matt. xvi. 1 ff. 49.] Here is the same weakness of faith as there, — but our Lord's last words have made visible impression. It is like the Syrophcenician woman's re joinder, — 'Yea, Lord; but . . . ,' only the faith is of a far less noble kind than hers. He seems to believe it necessary that Jesus should be on the spot; — not that there was any thing strange or blameable in this, for Martha and Mary did the same, ch. xi. 21, 32: — and to think that it would be too late when his child had expired; — not imagining that He to whom he spoke could raise the dead. 50.] The bringing out and strengthening of the man's faith by these words was almost as great a spiri tual miracle, as the material one which Vol. I. they indicated. We may observe the difference between our Lord's dealing here and in the case of the centurion (Matt. viii. 6 ff. and parallel places). There, when from humility the man requests Him to speak' the word only, He offers to go to his house : here, when pressed to go down, He speaks the word only. Thus (as Trench observes, after Chrysostom) the weak faith of the nobleman is strengthened, while the humility of the centurion is honoured. 51.] He appears (see below) to have gone leisurely away — for the hour (1 p.m.) was early enough to reach Capernaum the same evening (twenty-five miles)— in confidence that an amendment was taking place, which he at present understood to be only a gra dual one. 62, 53. the fever left him] This was probably more than he expected to hear ; and the coincidence of so sudden a recovery with the time at which Jesus had spoken the words to him raises his faith at length into a full belief of tho Power and Goodness and the Messiahship of Him, who had by a word commanded the disease, and it had obeyed. The word be lieved, absolutely, implies that in the fullest sense he and all his became disciples of Jesus. It is very different from " be lieved the word that Jesus spake" in ver. 50 — as believing on Him must be always different from believing on any thing else in the world, be it even His own word or His own ordinances. The cure took place in the afternoon: the nobleman probably set out, as indeed the narrative implies, immediately on hearing our Lord's assu rance, and spent the night on the way. 64.] The meaning ofthe Evangelist clearly is. that this was the second Gali* L L 502 ST. JOHN. V. V. 1 After e this there was a feast of the Jews : and o'render, these things. Icean miracle (see ch. iii. 2, and ver. 45). But (1) how is that expressed in the words ? The miracles which He did at Jerusalem in the feast being omitted, the words natu rally carry the thoughts back to a former one related;, and the clause added ("when He was come out ofjudtea into Galilee") shews, not that a miracle prior to this, during this return visit, has been passed over, — but that as the scene of this second was in Galilee, so that former one, to which " second" refers, must be sought in Gali lee also. And then (2) why should this so particularly be stated ? Certainly, it seems to me, on account of the part which this miracle bore in the calling out and as suring of faith, by the manifestation of His glory, as that first one had done be fore. By that (ch. ii. 11), His disciples had been convinced: by this, one (him self a type of the weak and unworthy in faith) outside the circle of His own. By both, half-belief was strengthened into faith in Him : but in each case it is of a different kind. It is an interesting question, whether or not this miracle be the same as the healing of the centurion's servant (or son, Matthew ?) in Matt. viii. 5 : Luke vii. 1. Irenaeus appears to hold the two narratives to be the same history (appears only ; for his words are, " He healed the centurion's servant when ab sent, saying, ' Go thy way, thy son liveth :"' which remark may be simply explained by his having cited from memory, and thus either made this nobleman a centurion, — or,. which is more probable, havjng under stood the word in Matt. viii. to signify a son, and made our Lord there speak very similar words to those really uttered by Him, but which are in reality found here) : so Eusebius also in his canons. Chrysostom notices, but opposes the view : — and it has never in modern times gained many advo cates, being chiefly held by the interpreters of the Straussian school. Indeed, the in ternal evidence is all against it : not only (Chrys.) "in station, but also in the nature of his faith," does the man in one case dif fer from the man in the other. The inner kernel of the history is, in our case here, — the elevation of a weak and mere wonder- seeking faith into a deep conviction of the personal power and love of our Lord; in the other, the commendation of a noble confession of our Lord's divine power, in dicating great strength and grasp of faith, and inducing the greatest personal humi lity. And the external point brought out in the commendation there, " I have not seen such faith, no, not in Israel," is not only different from, but stands in absolute contrast with, the depreciating charge here, "Except ye see signs and won ders, ye will not believe." Olshausen well remarks, that this narrative may be regarded as a sequel to the foregoing one. Chapp. V. — XII.] Second great division of the Gospel. Jesus in conplict with the Jews. V., VI. Jesus the lipe. Beginning of the conflict. V. 1 — 47.] Healing of a cripple at the pool ofBethesda, during a feast; and the discourse of Jesus occasioned by the perse cution ofthe Jews arising thereupon. 1. After these things] Liicke remarks that when John wishes to indicate immediate succession, he uses "after this" (or "that"), ch. ii. 12; xi. 7, 11; xix. 28; when mediate, after an interval, "after these things," ch. iii. 22 ; v. 14; vi. 1; vii. 1 ; xix. 38. So that apart from other con siderations which would lead ns to the same conclusion, we may infer that some interval has elapsed since the last verse of ch. iv. a feast of the Jews] Few points have been more controverted, than the question, what this feast was. I will give the principal views, and then state my own conclusion. (1) Irenaeus under stands it to be the second Passover of our Lord's ministry. Origen (whose commen tary on this chapter is lost) mentions this view, but apparently does not approve it. This is the view of Luther, Grotius, Light foot, and others. (2) Cyril of Alexandria, Chrysostom, and others think it to be the Pentecost. This opinion prevailed in the Greek Church; and has found many de fenders in modern times. (3) Kepler first suggested the idea that it might be the feast of Purim, (Esth. ix. 21, 26,) almost immediately preceding the Passover (the 14th and 15th of Adar). This has been the general view of the modern chronolo- gists. (4) The feast of Tabernacles has been suggested by Coeceius, and is sup ported by one of our MSS., but of late date. (5) Kepler and Petavius thought it also possible thatthe/eas* of Dedication(aee ch. x. 22) might be meant. So that almost every Jewish feast finds some supporters. I believe, with Liicke, De Wette, and Tholuck, that we cannot with any proba bility gather what feast it was. Seeing as I do no distinct datum given in ch. iv. 35, nor again in ch. vi. 1, and finding no- 1—3. ST. JOHN. 503 Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the a sheep [f market] a pool, which is called in thea^hj^l! Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. s In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, * better, [gate] . Not expressed in the original. thing in this chapter to determine the nature of this feast, I cannot attach any weight to most of the elaborate chronolo gical arguments which have been raised on the subject. It can hardly have been a Passover, both because it is called a feast, not the feast, as in ch. vi. 4, and because if so, we should have an interval of a whole year between this chapter and the next, which is not probable. Nor can it have been the Dedication, in the winter ; for then the multitude of sick would have hardly been waiting in the porches of Bethesda. The feast of Purim would nearest agree with the subsequent events ; and it seems as if our Lord did not go up to Jerusalem at the Passover next following (ch. vi. 4 ; vii. 1), so that no difficulty would be created by the proximity of the two feasts, unless, with De Wette, we believe that the in terval was too little for what is related ch. vi. 1 — 3 to have happened. But it may be doubted, (1) whether it was a general practice to go up to Jerusalem at the Pu rim : (2) whether our Lord would be likely to observe it, even if it was. No rea son need be given why St. John does not name the feast; it is quite in accordance with his practice of mentioning nothing that does not concern his subject-matter. Thus the Passover is mentioned ch. ii. 13, because of the buying and selling in the temple; again, ch. vi. 4, to account for the great multitude, and as eminently suiting (see notes) the subject of His dis course there ; the feast of Tabernacles, ch. vii. 2, because of the practice aEuded to by our Lord in ver. 37 ; that of the Dedi cation, ch. x. 22, to account for His being in Solomon's porch, because it was winter; but in this chapter, where there is nothing, alluding to the time or nature of the feast, it is not specified. Jesus] and probably His disciples: for the same expression is used ch. ii. 13, whereas we find, ch. iii. 22, that His disciples were with Him; compare also ch. vii. 10 and ch. ix. 2. 2.] The expression there is has been thought to im port that St. John wrote his Gospel before the destruction of Jerusalem. But this must not be pressed. . He might have spoken in the present without meaning to be lite rally accurate with regard to the moment when he was writing. The locality given means, probably, near the sheep- L gate, — mentioned by Nehemiah, see reff. The situation of this gate is unknown ; — it is traditionally supposed to be the same with that now called St. Stephen's gate ; but inaccurately, for no wall existed in that quarter till the time of Agrippa. Euse bius, Jerome, and the Jerusalem Itinerary speak of a sheep-pool, as indeed the Vul gate renders here. Bethesda, — in Syriac, the house (place) of mercy, or of grace. Its present situation is very un certain. Robinson established by personal inspection the fact of the subterranean connexion of the pool of Silpam (see ch. ' ix. 7 note) and that called the Fountain of the Virgin ; and has made it probable that the Fountain under the grand Mosk is also connected with them; in fact that all these are but one and the same spring. Now this spring, as he himself witnessed, is an intermittent one, as indeed had been reported before by Jerome, Prudentius, William of Tyre, and others. There might have been then, it is obvious, some arti ficially constructed basin in connexion with this spring, the site and memory of which have perished, which would present the phsenomenon here described. I have received an interesting communica tion from a traveller who believes that he has identified Bethesda in the present pool of Siloam. It appears from his account that there are still visible four bases of pillars in the middle of the water, and four corresponding ones in the wall, shewing that at one time the pool has been arched over by five equal porches; This pool is, as above noticed, intermittent, and is even now believed to possess a certain medicinal power. See the account of my informant at length at the end of vol. i., edn. 5, of my Greek Testament. The spot now traditionally known as Bethesda is a part of the fosse round the fort or tower An- •tonia,. an immense reservoir or trench, seventy-five feet deep. But, as Robinson observes, there is not the slightest evidence that can identify it with the Bethesda of the N. T. This pool is not mentioned by Josephus. having five porches] Probably these were for the shelter of the sick persons, and were arches or porticos, openinguponandsurroundingthereservoir;see above; 3. withered] Those who were afflicted with the loss of vital power in any L 2 504 ST. JOHN. b Matt. ix. 6. Mark ii. 11. Luke v. 24. withered [B, waiting for the moving ofthe water. * For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had], 6 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him. Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool : but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, b Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9% And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And con the same day was the sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was S omit : see note. of their limbs by stiffness or paralysis. Of this kind was the man on whom the miracle was wrought. " waiting for the moving of the water," and the whole of ver. 4.] The spuriousness of this con troverted passage can hardly be ques tioned. See the critical considerations dwelt on in my Greek Test. 1 may men tion that the Vatican, Paris, Cambridge, and Sinaitic MSS. omit it: while at the same time the Alexandrine MS. contains it, but with the important variation of "an angel washed in" instead of "went down into." 5.] Observe, he had been lame thirty-eight years, not at Bethesda all that time. 6.] knew, namely, within Himself, as on other simi lar occasions. Our Lord singled him out, being conscious of the circumstances under which he lay there, by that superhuman knowledge of which we hud so striking an example in the case of the woman of Sama ria. Wilt thou be made whole's] Some would supply, " notwithstanding that it is the sabbath." But this is very im probable, see ver. 17. Our Lord did not thus appeal to his hearers' prejudices, and make His grace dependent on them. Be sides, the " being made whole" had in the mind of the man no reference to a healing such as there would be any objection to on the Sabbath ; but to the cure by means of the water, which he was there to seek. The question is one of those by which He so frequently testified his com passion, and established (so to speak) a point of connexion between the spirit of tbe person addressed, and His own gracious purposes. Possibly it may have conveyed to the mind of the poor cripple the idea that at length a compassionate person had come, who might put him in at the next troubling of the water. It certainly is possible that the man's long and apparently hopeless infirmity may have given him a look of lethargy and despondency, and the question may have arisen from this: but there is no ground for supposing blame conveyed by it, still less that he was an impostor labouring under some trifling complaint, and wishing to represent it more important than it was. 7.] The man's answer implies the popular belief that whoever stepped in immediately after the bubbling up of the water was made whole : no more than this. Bauer asks why the person who brought him there every day, could not have put him in? But no such person is implied. The same slow motion which he describes here, would suffice for his daily coming and going. 8.] The command, Take up thy bed, has been treated as making a difference between the man lame from his birth in Acts iii. 8, who walked and leaped and praised God; and this man, who, since sin had been the cause of his disease (ver. 14), is ordered to carry his bed, ' a present memento of his past sin.' _ Possibly ; but our Lord must have had in his view what was to follow, and have ordered it also to bring about this his first open controversy with the Jews. 10.] The Jews, never the mul titude, but always those in authority of some kind, whom John ever puts forward as the representatives of the whole people 4—17. ST. JOHN. 505 cured, 'It is the sabbath day : it is not lawful for thee to d^hd^fi;JS; carry thy bed. . "¦ He answered them, He that made me ?£"¦ Matt. xii. 2. Mark ii. 24 : iii. 4. Luke vi. 2 : xiii. 14. whole, the same said unto me, Take, up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk ? ls And he that was healed wist not who it was : for Jesus h had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 i After ward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole : e sin no more thing come unto thee. 15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus [**, and sought to slay him], because he had done these things on the sabbath day. W But Jesus answered them, f My Father fSv' V lest k a worse "ffijfcfh 11 render, passed away from him. * render, some. in their rejection of the Lord. it is not lawful] The bearing of burdens on the Sabbath was forbidden not only by the glosses of the Pharisees, but by the law itself. See Neh. xiii. 15 — 19 : Exod. xxxi. 13—17 : Jer. xvii. 21, 22. And our Lord does not, as in another case (Luke xiii. 15, 16), appeal here to the reasonableness of the deed being done on the Sabbath, saving the sanctity of the Sabbath, but takes alto gether loftier ground, as being One greater than the Sabbath. The whole kernel of this incident and discourse is not, that it is lawful to do works of mercy on the Sab bath : but that the Son of God (here) is Lord of the Sabbath. 11.] The man's excuse is simple and sufficient; and for us, important, inasmuch as it goes into the depth of the matter, and is by the Jews themselves accepted. He who had power to make him whole, had power to suspend that law which was, like the healing, God's work. The authority which had overruled one appointment of Pro vidence, could overrule another. I do not mean that this reasoning was pre sent to the man's mind ; — he very likely spoke only from intense feeling of obliga tion to One who had done so much for him ;— but it lay beneath the words, and the Jews recognized it, by transferring their blame, from the man, to Him who healed him. 12.] Not, ' who is he that healed thee V but they carefully bring out the unfavourable side of what had taken place, as malicious persons always do. 13.] Difficulty has been found here from the supposed improbability 1 render, After these things. kk omit. that some should not have told him, seeing that Jesus was by this time well known in Jerusalem. But this is wholly unnecessary. His fame had not been so spread yet, but that He might during the crowd of strangers at the feast pass un noticed. Jesus passed on unobserved by him : just spoke the healing words, and then went on among the crowd; so that no particular attention was attracted to Himself, either by the sick man or others. The context requires this interpretation : being violated by the ordinary one, that Jesus ' conveyed himself away, because a multitude was in the place :' for that would imply that attention had been at tracted towards Him which He wished to avoid ; and in that case He could hardly fail to have been known tq the man and to others. 14.] TJie knowledge of our Lord extended even to the sin com mitted thirty-eight years ago, from which this long sickness had resulted, for so it is implied here. The some worse thing, as Trench observes, ' gives " us an awful glimpse of the severity of God's judg ments;'— see Matt. xii. 45. 15.] The man appears to have done this partly in obedience to the authorities; partly per haps to complete his apology for himself. ' We can hardly imagine ingratitude in him to have been the cause ; especially as the words "which had made him whole" speak so plainly of the benefit received ; compare ver. 11 and note. 17.] The true keeping ofthe rest ofthe Sabbath was not that idle and unprofitable cessation from even good deeds, which they would en- 506 ST. JOHN. V. g ch. vii. 19. h ch. x. 80, 83. Phil. ii. 8. i ver. SO. ch. viii. 28: worketh hitherto, s sought the more and I work. 18 Therefore the Jews to kill him, because he not only l had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was m his Father, h making himself equal with God. 19 Then an swered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ' The Son can do nothing of himself, but what sv4;o*ii.49: ne gggtk the Father n do : for what things soever he doeth, k Matt, m. w. these also doeth the Son ° likewise. z0 For kthe Father 2Pet!'i.i7. loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself 1 render, broke. m render, his OWQ. n render, doing. force : the Sabbath was made for man; — and, in its Jewish form, for man in a mere state of legal discipline (which truth could not yet be brought out to them, but is implied in this verse, because His people are even as He is — in the liberty where with He hath made them free) ; whereas He, the only-begotten of the Father, doing the works of God in the world, stands on higher ground, and hallows, instead of breaking the Sabbath, by thus working on it. "He is no more a breaker of tbe Sabbath than God is, when He upholds with an energy that knows no pause the work of His creation from hour to hour, and from moment to moment ; ' My Father worketh hitherto, and I work ;' My work is but the reflex of His work. Abstinence from outward work belongs not to. the idea of a Sabbath, it is only more or less the necessary condition of it for beings so framed as ever to be in danger of losing the true collection and rest of the spirit in the multiplicity of earthly toil and business. Man indeed must cease from his work, if a higher work is to find place in him. He scatters himself in his work, and therefore he must collect himself anew, and have seasons for so doing. But with Him who is one with the Father, it is otherwise. In Him the deepest rest is not excluded by the highest activity." (Trench on the Miracles.) 18.] The ground of the charge is now shifted ; and by these last words (ver. 17), occasion is given for one of our Lord's most weighty discourses. The Jews understood His words to mean nothing short of peculiar personal Sonship, and thus equality of nature with God. And that this their understanding was the right one, the discourse testifies. All might in one sense, and tlie Jews did in a closer sense, call God their, or our, Fathers but they at once said that the individual use of ' Mt Fatheb' by Jesus had a totally distinct, and in their view a o render, in like manner. blasphemous, meaning: this latter espe cially, because He thus made God a parti cipator in His crime of breaking the sab bath. Thus we obtain from the adver saries of the faith a most important statement of one of its highest and holiest doctrines. 19.] The discourse is a wonderful setting forth of the Person and Office of the Son of God in His Ministra tions as the Word of the Father. It still has reference to the charge of working on the Sabbath; and the context takes in our Lord's answer both to this, ver. 17, and to the Jews' accusation, ver. 18. In this verse, He states that He cannot work any but the works of God : cannot, by his very relationship to the Father, by the very nature and necessity of the case;— the working of himself being an impossible supposition, and purposely set here to express one : — the Son cannot' work of Himself, because He is the Son : His very Person presupposes the Father's will and counsel as His will and counsel, — and His perfect knowledge of that will and counsel. And this, because every creature may abuse its freedom, and will contrary to God : but the Son, standing in essential unity with God, cannot, even when become Man, commit sin, — break the Sabbath; for His whole Being and Working is in and of God. for what things soever . . . ] This clause converts the former proposition, and asserts its truth when thus converted. ' For it is the very nature of the Son to do whatever the Father doeth.' Also, to do these works in like manner ; after the same plan and proceeding, so that there can be no discord, but unity. 20.] For (this last is ensured by the fact, that) the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him (in this the Lord sets forth to us the unfolding of the will and purposes of the Father to [Mark xiii. 32 : Acts i. 7] and by Him, in His Mediatorial office) all things that himself doeth (all the purposes of His 18—24. ST. JOHN. 507 doeth : and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 31 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; ^ven so Vthe Son quickeneth ^g0*1-"' whom he will. 22 For Ithe Father jwdgeth no man, but <*¦'*•»•«•• mhath committed all judgment unto the Son: Z3 *that mJ£(fcu.v' all men should honour the Son, even as thev honour the SJui/m: J xvii. 2. Father. n He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not ti^tA^'i1' the Father which [»AatA] sent him. M Verily, verily, S^ui?ii!i: I say unto you, ° He that heareth my word, and believeth julbIi ' P render, the Son also. 1 render, neither doth the Father judge any man. r render, that all may. secret counsel; — for with the Father, doing is willing; it is only the Son who acts in time); and this manifestation will go on increasing in majesty, that the wonder which now is excited in you by these works may be brought out to its full measure (in the acceptation or rejection of the Son of God — wonder leading naturally to the " honour " of ver. 23). 21.] It is very important to observe the distinction here between the working of the Eternal Son (in creation, e.g.) as He is "in heaven" with God, and His working in the state of His humiliation, in which the Father should by degrees advance Him to exaltation and put His enemies under His feet. Of the latter of these mention is made (ver. 20) in tbe future, of the former iatbe present. The former belong to the Son as His proper and essential work : the latter are opened out before Him in the process of His passing onward in the humanity which He has taken. And the unfolding of these latter shall all be in the direction of, and in accordance with, the eternal attributes of the Son : see ch. xvii. 5 ; resulting in His being exalted to the right hand of the Father. So here, — as it is the Father's essential work to vivify the dead (see Bom. viii. 11; 1 Sam. ii. 6 al.), so the Son vivifies whom He will: this last whom He will not implying any selection out of mankind, nor said merely to remove the Jewish prejudice that their own nation alone should rise from the dead, — but meaning, that in every instance where His will is to vivify, the result invariably follows. Observe, this quickeneth (maketh alive) lays hold of life in its innermost and deepest sense, and thus finds its illustration in the waking both of the outwardly and the spiritually dead. 22.] In the words neither doth is implied, that as the Father does not Himself, by His own proper act, vivify any, but commits all quickening power to the Son : — so is it with judgment also. And judgment contains eminently in itself the "whom He will," — when the act of quickening is understood — as it must be now — of bestowing everlasting life. Again, the raising of the outwardly dead is to be understood as a sign that He who works it is appointed Judge of quick and dead, for it is a part of the office of that Judge: — in the vivifying, the judgment is made : see below, ver. 29, and Ps. lxxii. 1 — i. 23.] This being so, the end of all is, the honour of the Father in and by the Son. He (the Son) is the Lord of life, and the Judge of the world ; — all must honour Him with equal honour to that which they pay to the Father :^— and whosoever does not, however he may imagine that he honours or approaches God, does not honour Him at all; — be« cause He can only be known or honoured by us as 'the Fatheb who sent His Son.' 24.] What follows, to ver. 30 inclusive, is an expansion of the two asser tions in vv. 21, 22, — the quickening and the judging, — intimately bound up as they are together. There is a parallelism in verses 24 and 25 which should be noticed for the right understanding of the words. " He that heareth my word," in the one, answers to " the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God" in the other. It is a kind of hearing which awakens to life, — ¦ one accompanied by "believing Him that sent Me." And this last is not barely ' Him who sent Me,' but Him, the very essence of belief in Whom is in this, that He sent Me (see ch. xii. 44). And the expression believeth Him (not " on Him," which is quite unauthorized by the original) expresses that belief in the testimony of God that He hath sent His Son, which is dwelt on so much 1 John v. 9 — 12, where. 508 ST. JOHN. [t on] him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and n shall nuoimiii.il. nof come info condemnation: p but xis passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when ' the dead shall hear the voice the Son of God: and they that 7 hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so xhath he given to &the Son to have life in himself; 2? and '^hath Bali: ?&'. is, given mm authority to execute judgment [calso], "because t omit, u render, cometh not into judgment. x render, hath passed out of death into hfe. y render, have heard. z render, gave he. a render, the Son also. * render, gave. c omit. q ver. 28. Eph. ii. 1,5: v.14. Col. „£ ii. is. OI r ver. 22. Acts x. 42: xvii. 31. ver. 10, we have the same expression, " he that believeth not God," even in the A. V. hath everlasting life: so 1 John v. 12, 13. The believing, and the having everlasting life, are commensurate : — where the faith is, the possession of eternal life is :— and when the one remits, the other is forfeited. But here the faith is set before ns as an enduring faith, and its effects described in their completion (see Eph. i. 19, 20). cometh not into judgment] Judgment being the separation, — the effect of which is to gather out of the Kingdom all that qffendeth;— and thus regarding especially the damnatory part of judg ment, — he who believes comes not. into, has no concern with, judgment. Compare Ps. cxliii. 2. The reckoning which ends with " Well done, good servant," is not judgment : the reward is of free grace. In this sense, the believers in Christ will not be judged according to their works : they are justified before God by faith, and by God — God is he that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? Their 'passage over' from death into life has already taken place, — from the state of spiritual death into that everlasting life, which in their believing state they have already. It is to be observed that our Lord speaks in very similar terms of the unbelieving being condemned already, in ch. iii. 18. The perfect sense of the word hath passed , must not be weakened nor ex plained away. 25.] This verse con tinues to refer to spiritual awakening from the dead. The words The hour is coming, and now is are an expression used of those things which are to characterize the spiritual Kingdom of Christ, which was even now begun among men, but not yet brought (until the day of Pentecost, Acts ii.) to its completion. Thus it cometh, in its fulness, — and even now is begun. the dead, — in reference to the words " out of death " of the preceding verse— the spiritually dead: — see below on ver. 28. the voice of the Son of God] His call to awake, in its widest and deepest sense; — by His own preaching, by His Apostles, His ministers, &c. &c. In all these He speaks to the spiritually dead. Not merely, "and when they have heard it, they shall live :" but, and thex who have heard it (or, who hear it) shall live. This determines the verse to be spoken of spiritual, not bodily awaken ing, they that have heard are the persons to whom the Lord cried so often " he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, i" — the persons who stand opposed to those addressed in ver. 40. shall live is explained in the next verse. 26, 27.] We have here again vivifying and judging bound together as the two great departments of the Son's working;— the former, as substantiating the word " shall live" just uttered; the latter, as leading on to the great announcement of the next verse. But the two departments spring from two distinct sources, united in the Person of the Incarnate Son of God. The Father hath given Him to have life in Himself, as He is THE Son OP God. We have none of us life in ourselves : in Him we live and move and have our being. But He, as the Father is, is the source of Life. Then again the Father hath given Him power to pass judgment, because He is the Son of Man ; man is to be judged by Man,— by that Man whom God hath appointed, who is the inclusive Head of humanity, and to whom mankind, and man's world, pertain by right of covenant- purchase. This executing judgment leads the thought to the great occasion when judgment shall be executed ; which ac cordingly is treated of in the next verse. 25—32. ST. JOHN. 509 he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 ' and shall come forth ; n they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of d damnation. 80 x I can of mine own self do nothing : as I hear, I judge : and my judgment is just ; because f I seek not mine own will, but the will of [e the Father] which [f hath] sent me. 31 z If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. 32 a There is another that beareth witness of me ; and t Isa. xxvi. ID. 1 Cor. xv. 52. 1 Thess. iv. 16. a Dan. xii. 2. Matt. xxv. 82, 33, 46. x ver. 19. 7 Matt. xxvi. 89. ch.iv. 34 : vi. 38. z See chap. viii. 14. Rev. iii. 14. a Matt. iii. 17: xvii. 5. ch. viii. 18. 1 John v. 6.7.9. d render, judgment. ' omit. e read, him. 28.] Marvel not at this, as in ch. iii. 7, introduces a matter of even greater wonder to them ; — the astounding proof which shall be given in the face of the universe that this is so. the hour cometh, but not " and now is " this time, — because He is now speaking of the great day of the resurrection : when not merely " the dead," but all that are in the graves, shall hear His voice, and "they that have heard" are not specified, be cause all shall hear in the fullest sense. Observe that here, as elsewhere, when the judgment according to works is spoken of, it is the great general resurrection of Matt. xxv. 31 — 46, which (and the notes) compare. . So here we have not "they that have believed," and "they that have not believed," but the descrip tions reach far wider, including indeed in this most general form the first re surrection unto life also— and the two great classes are described as they that have done (wrought) good and they that have done (practised, see on ch. iii. 20, 21) evil (vain, worthless things). Observe that life and judgment stand op posed here, as in ver. 24 : — not that there is no such thing as a resurrection of death, but that it is involved in this judgment. Olshausen observes that this, and Acts xxiv. 15, are the only direct declarations in the N. T. of a bodily resurrection ofthe unjust as well as of the just. It is implied in some places, e. g. Matt. x. 28, and less plainly in Matt. xxv. 34 ff. : Bev. xx. 5, 12, and directly asserted in the O. T., Dan. xii. 2. In 1 Cor. xv., — as the object was to convince believers in Christ of the truth of the resurrection of their bodies, — no allusion is made to those who are not believers. 30.] Here begins the second part of the discourse, — but bound on most closely to the first (ver. 23),— treating of the testimony by which these things were substantiated, and which they ought to have received. This verse is, however, perhaps rather a point of trans ition to the next, at which the testimony is first introduced. As the *Son does nothing of Himself, — but His working and His judgment all spring from His deep unity of will and being with the Father, — this His great and last judgment, and all His other ones, will be just and holy (He being not separate from God, but one with Him) ; and therefore His witness given of Himself ver. 17, and called by them blas phemy, is true and holy also. Ob serve, the discourse here passes into the first person, which was understood before, because He had called himself the Son of God, — but is henceforth used expressly. 81.] This assertion is not to be trifled away by an accommodation, or sup posed to be introduced by ' Ye will say to Me:' — see by all means ch. viii. 12 — 14 and notes. The words are said in all earnestness, and are strictly true. If such a separation, and independent testimony, as is here supposed, could take place, it would be a falsification of the very con ditions of the Truth of God as manifested by the Son, Who being the Word, speaks, not of himself, but of the Father. And in this sense ch. viii. 14 is eminently true also, the light being the "brightness of the Father's glory." 32.] This other can, by the inner coherence of the discourse, be no other than the Father, of Whom so much has been said in the former part, but Who is hinted at rather than mentioned in this (the word "Father" in ver. 30 being spurious). It cannot be John, — from whom (ver. 34) our Lord took not his testimony. Similar modes of al luding to the Father occur ch. viii. 50 : see also ch. viii. 18, and Matt. x. 28 aud 510 ST. JOHN. V. I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 3S Ye S sent unto John, b and he a bare witness unto the truth. 3i i But I receive not k testimony from man : but these things I say, that ye might be saved. S5 He was l a burning and c a shining light : and A ye were willing mfor a season to rejoice in his light. 36 But en I have greater witness than that of John: for f the works which the Father ° hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father B render, have sent. k render, hath borne. 1 better, yet. k render, my testimony. 1 render, the lamp lighted and shining. m render, to rejoice for a season. 11 render, the testimony whieh I have is greater than [that of] John., 0 render, gave. c 2 Pet. i. 19. d See Matt. .xiii. 20 : xxi. 26. Mark vi. 20. e 1 John v. 9. f ch. iii. 2: x. 25 : XV. 24 parallel jjlaces. and I know . . . ] This is the Son's testimony to the Father's truth : see ch. (iii. 33) vii. 28; viii. 26, 55. It testifies to the full consciousness on the part of the Son, even in the days of his humiliation, of the righteousness of the Father: and (for the testimony of the Father to the Son is contained in the Scriptures) also to His distinct recognition and approval (Ps. xl. 6 — 8) of psalm and type and prophecy, as applied to Himself and His work. 33.] See ch. i. 19. The connexion is, — another testifies of Me (ver. 32)— 'not John only, although he, when sent to, did certainly testify to the truth; for' &c. he bare witness unto the truth, not merely (Grot.) mo destly said ; — but necessarily. Bare wit ness to Me would have been asserting what the next verse denies. 34.] ' I receive not my testimony (the testimony to Me of which I have spoken) from man, but I mention John's testimony, that you may make the intended use of it, to be led to Me for salvation.' 35.] This was Bhews, as Stier rightly observes, that John was now cast into prison, if not executed. the lamp] The article has been taken by some to point to the pro phecies concerning John. But we have no passage in the O. T. which designates Elias in such terms. In Ecclus. xlviii. 1 we read of him, " Then stood up Elias the prophet as fire, and his word burned like a lamp," which Stier thinks may be re ferred to here. We may, as indeed he also suggests, believe that those words repre sent or gave rise to a common way of speaking of Elias, as certain Babbis were called 'The candle of the Law)' &c. De Wette takes the article as meaning, ' the lamp which was to lead you,' &c. On John as the light lighted not lighting, see note, ch. i. 8. and shining] The description sets forth the derived, and transitory nature of John's light. and ye .... ] See Ezek. xxxiii. 30, 32. 'But you wished only to disport your selves in his light for a time — came out to him in crowds at first, — and — like silly children who play with the fire till it burns and hurts them, and then shrink from and loathe it, — when he began to speak of deep repentance as the preparation for God's Kingdom, and laid the axe to the root of the trees, you left him.' No one cared, when he was imprisoned and put to death. And even those few who remained true to him, did not follow his direction to Christ. For the mass of the people, and their leaders, his mission was in vain. 36.] Literally, I have my witness greater than John; or, than that of John; — but perhaps this is not needed, for John himself was a testimony. for the works, not His miracles alone, although, those principally; but the whole of His life and course of action, full as it was of holiness, in which, and as forming har monious parts of which, His miracles were testimonies of His divine mission. His greatest work (ch.vi.29) was the awakening of faith, the quickening of which we have heard before, to which the miracles were but as means to an end. the same works that I do] The repetition is to shew that His life and working was an exact fulfilment of the Father's will. The works which the Father hath given me to do,, those very works which I am doing 33r-41. ST. JOHN. 511 hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, ghath borne witness of me. Ye have neither e Matt. m. n-. heard his voice at any time,. h nor seen his shape. 38 And T^.Ti8.W: ye have not his word abiding in you : for whom he h Mi?" I2' [P hath] sent, him ye believe not. 39 ' 1 Search the scrip- . ^J0^,'^2" tures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and LvkexvLio. k they are they which testify of me. 40 ' r And ye will not Ac't'sxVii.u. come to me, that ye might have life. 41 mj receive nofc Jf^-^ 27. ch.i.45. loh. i. 11: iii. 10. m ver. 34. 1 Thess. ii. 0. P omit. 1 or, Ye search : see note. r render, And yet ye are not willing to. 37 — 39.] The connexion of these verses has been much disputed. I believe it will be found to be this : ' The works of which I have spoken, are only indirect testimonies ; the Father Himself, who sent Me, has given direct testimony concerning Me. Now that testimony cannot be de rived by you, nor any man, by direct com munication with Him ; for ye have never heard His voice nor seen His shape. (Or perhaps, — have not heard His voice, as your fathers did from Sinai, — nor seen His visional appearance, as the Prophets did.) Nor (ver. 38), vn your case, has it been given by that inward witness (ch. iii. 33 ; 1 John iv. 13, 14) which those have (and had in a measure, even before the gift of the Spirit — see, among other places, Ps. li. 11), in whom His word abides ; for ye have not His word abiding in you, not believing on Him whom He hath sent. Yet (ver. 39) there is a form of this direct testimony of the Father, accessible even to you; — " Search the Scriptures," &c.' Chrysostom and others understand the word voice to refer to the voice at our Lord's baptism : but, as Liicke observes, the addition, at any time, forbids this. Observe that the testimony in the Scriptures is not the only, nor the chief one, intended in ver. 37, but the direct testimony in the heart of the believer; — which, as the Jews have not, they are directed to another form of the Father's testimony, that in the Scriptures. 39.] The word Search may be indica tive, Ye search : then the sense will be, ' Ye search the Scriptures, for ye believe ye have &c, and they are they that testify of Me : and (yet, ver. 40) ye will not come to Me that ye may have life :' or impera tive, as in the text, in which case generally a period has been placed after me, and a fresh sentence begins at And yet ye are not willing .... Authorities are very divided between these : the Greek Fathers, who should best understand their own lan guage, took them (with one remarkable exception, Cyril of Alexandria) as impe rative. And I believe the imperative sense only will be found to cohere with the pre vious verses : — see above, where I have given the context. And no other sense will suit the word search : which cannot be used, as in the indicative it would be, with blame attached to it, — 'ye make nice and fri volous search into the letter of Scripture ;' but implies a thorough search (see also 1 Pet. i. 11) into the contents, and spirit of Scripture. Ye (emphatic) imagine that in them (emphatic) ye have eternal life. We . may find testimonies to this from the Rabbis : " Me who acquires the words of the law, acquires for himself eternal life," &c. But they, like all other secondary ordinances, have a spiritual end in view, and that end is to testify, from first to last (it is their office) ; they are they that testify of Mb. 40.] I would connect these words with the former, and regard them as describing the incon sistency of those who think that they have life in the Scriptures, and yet will not come to Him of whom they testify, that they may have life. Observe, this command to the Jews to search their Scriptures, applies even more strongly to Christians; who are yet, like them, in danger of idolizing a mere written book, believing tbat in the Bible they have eternal life, and missing the personal knowledge of Him of whom the Scriptures testify. The words Ye are not willing to come here set forth strikingly the free dom of the will, on which the unbeliever's condemnation rests : see ch. iii. 19. 41 — 44.] The connexion seems to be ; — the standing-points of our Lord and of the Jews were not only different, but were inconsistent with and exclusive of one another. He sought not glory from below, from man's praise or report : the Father testified to Him, in all the ways which have 512 ST. JOHN. V. 42—47. 0 Bom. ii. 29. p Bom. ii. 12. g Gen. iii. 15 : xii. 3 : xviii. 18 i xxii. 18; xlix. 10. Deut. xviii. 15,18. ch. 1.45. Acts xxvi. 22. S 8 honour from men. *3 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. *3 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not : if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. *4 n How can ye believe, which receive s honour one of another, and seek not the 0 s honour that cometh from * God only ? ih Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father : p there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye. n trust, 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would x have believed me : « for he wrote of. me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words ? render, glory. * render, the only God. render, hope. x render, believe. been specified; but this testimony they could not receive, nor discover Him in their Scriptures, because human regards and ambition and intrigue had blinded then- eyes, and they had not the love of God (the very first command in their law, Deut.vi. 4, 5) in their hearts. 41.] Ire- ceive not, not merely, 'I do not desire,' — but ' I do not receive ;' — ' no such praise nor testimony accrues to Me, nor has in Me that on which it can lay hold.' 'My glory is altogether from another source.' 42.] But (nevertheless, howbeit) draws forcibly the distinction, setting Himself and them in strong contrast. I know you] By long trial and bearing with your manners these many generations; and per sonally also. The words are spoken, not of an ungodly mind in general, but of an absence of that love which God's covenant people should have for Him. ' They would none of Jesus : for they were not true Israelites.' This love, if they had it, would teach them, — the whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength being given to God, — to seek honour only from him, — and thus to appreciate the glory which He hath given to His Son, and His testimony concerning Him. 43.] The first clause is clear. In the latter we have a prophetic declaration regarding the Jews in the latter days. This another is in strong contrast with the "another" of ver. 32. ' The testimony of that Other, who is greater than I, ye will not receive ; but if another come in his own name, him ye will receive.' The words are perhaps spoken primarily of the false or Idol-Messiah, the Antichrist, who shall appear in the latter days (2 Thess. ii. 8 — 12) ; whose appearance shall be according to the working of Satan (their father, ch. viii. 44), shewing himself that he is God, 2 Thess. ii. 4; — and doubt less, in that their final reference, embrace also all the eases in which the Jews have more or less received those false Messiahs who have been foreshadowers of the great Antichrist, and indeed all the cases in which such a spirit has been shewn by them, even in the absence of false Messiahs. 44.] How can ye (emphatic) is grounded on "ye are not willing" — is the consequence of the carnal regards in which they lived. from the only God, not 'from God only' (A. V.), which is un- grammatical : in contradistinction to the idolatry of the natural heart, which is ever setting up for itself other sources of honour, worshipping man, or self, — or even, as in the case alluded to in the last verse, Satan, — instead of God. The words "the only God" are very important, be cause they form the point of passage to the next verses; in which the Jews are accused of not believing the writings of Moses, the very pith and kernel of which was the unity of God, and the having no other gods but Him. 45.] The work of Christ is not to accuse, even as He is Judge ; — but to judge, by the appointment of the Father. And therefore — though He has said so much of the unbelief of the Jews, and charged them in the last verse with breach ofthe central law of God— Bis will not accuse them ; nay, it is not need ful; — for Moses, whom they disbelieved, while vainly hoping in him (see above on ver. 39}, " making their boast in the law," Rom. ii. 17, — already accused them : see Deut. xxxi. 21, 26, and ch. vii. 19. 46. he wrote of me] This is an important testimony by the Lord to the subject of the whole Pentateuch; — it is concerning Him. It is also a testimony to the fact, of Moses having written those books, which were then, and are still, known by his VI. 1—5. ST. JOHN. 513 VI. ! After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw v his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into z a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. * a And the passover, z a feast of the Jews, was a Lev. xxiii. nigh. 6 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw gJuVvI'i y read, the. z render, the. name. 47.] The meaning is : ' men give greater weight to what is written and published, the letter of a book, than to mere word of mouth ; — and ye in particular give greater honour to Moses, than to Me : if then ye believe not what he has written, which comes down to you hallowed by the reverence of ages, — how can you believe the words which are uttered by Me, to whom you are hostile ?' This however is not all: — Moses leads to Christ: — is one of the witnesses by which the Father hath testified of Him : ' if then ye bave rejected the means, how shall ye reach the end ?' If your unbelief has stopped the path, how shall ye arrive at Him to whom it leads f ' Chap. VI. Jesus the like in the flesh. 1—15.] Miraculous feed ing of five thousand men. Matt. xiv. 13— 21. Mark vi. 30 — 44. Luke ix. 10—17, in each of whieh compare the notes through out. Here we have another example of John relating a miracle with the view of introducing a discourse, and that discourse carries on the testimony of Jesus to Him self. In the last, He was the Son ov God, testified to by the Father, received by faith, rejected by unbelief: here He is Son of man, the incarnate Life of the world, and we have the unbelief of the Jews and His own disciples -set in strong contrast with the feeding on and participating in Him as the Bread of Life. 1.] After these things gives us no fixed date ; — see on ch. v. 1. As Liicke remarks, the words went over the sea of Galilee . . . , if con nected with the preceding discourse, would be unintelligible, — and can only be under stood by the fragmentary character of this Gospel as relates to mere narration, and the. well-known fact being presupposed, that His Ministry principally took place in Ga lilee. Matthew gives this passage over the lake in connexion with the execution of John the Baptist : Mark and Luke, with the return of the Twelve from their mis sion. (The Twelve were probably gathered, or their gathering finished, in the interval since ch. v. 47, during which time their mission also had taken place.) which is the sea of Tiberias] The last appellation is probably inserted for the sake of Gentile readers, to whom it was best known by that name. It was more usually called, as by Josephus, Gennesar, or Gennesaritis : see also, 1 Mace. xi. 67. 2.] It is evi dent from this that a circuit in Galilee and works of healing are presupposed (see Mat thew, ver. 13 ; Mark, ver. 33 ; Luke, ver. 11): 3.] the mountain, perhaps 'the hill country' on the shore of the lake: expressed in Matthew by " a desert place apart." The expression is used by John only here and in ver. 15, but no inference can be drawn from that, for this is the only portion of the Galiksan Ministry related by him. 4.] This will account, not for so great a multitude coming to Him, but per haps (?) for the circumstance that the people at that time were gathered, in mul titudes, ready to set out on their journey to Jerusalem. We must remember also that the reference of the following discourse to the Passover being so pointed, the re mark would naturally be here inserted by the Evangelist : but I would not insist on this as the only reason for his making it. 5.] Here there is considerable diffi culty, on account of the variation from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who relate that the disciples came to the Lord after He had been teaching and healing the multi tudes, and when it was now evening, — and asked Him to dismiss the multitudes, that they might buy food ; — whereupon He com manded, ' Give ye them to eat ;'— whereas here apparently, on their first coming, the Lord Himself suggests the question, how they were to be fed, to Philip. This dif ference is not to be passed over, as it has usually been by English Commentators, without notice. Still less are we to invent improbable and hardly honest harmonistic shifts to piece the two narratives together. There can be no doubt, fairly and honestly speaking, that the narratives, in their mere letter, disagree. But those who are not slaves to the mere letter will see here that inner and deeper accordance of which Au gustine speaks in commenting on this pas- 514 ST. JOHN. VI. a great company *come unto him, he saith unto Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? 6 And this he said to prove him : for he himself knew what he bseeNum.xi. b would do. 1 Philip answered him, bTwo hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, whieh hath five barley loaves, and two [c small] 02 Kings iv. fishes : c but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the *men sit down. Now there was a render, Coming. D render, was about to do. e omit. sage : " From which general variety in the verbal narrative amidst agreement in the facts and sense, it is evident enough that we are wholesomely instructed that nothing is to be looked for in the words of Scrip ture but the general purport of those who spoke : to display which purpose should be the watchful care of all truthful narrators, whether relating concerning man, or angel, or God Himself." I repeat the remark so often made in this Commentary, — that if we were in possession of the facts as they happened, there is no doubt that the va rious forms of the literal narrations would fall into their places,, and the truthfulness of each historian would be apparent : — but as we cannot at present reconcile them in this way, the humble and believing Chris tian will not be tempted to handle the word of God deceitfully, but to admire the gra cious condescension which has given us the evidence of so many independent witnesses, whose very difference in detail makes their accordance in the great central truths so much the more weighty. On every point of importance here, the four sacred historians are entirely and absolutely agreed. That every minor detail related by them had its ground in historical fact, we fully believe ; it is the tracking it to this ground in each case, which is now beyond our power ; and here comes in the simplicity and reliance of faith : and the justification of those who believe and receive each Gospel as they find it written. unto Philip] Why to Philip, does not appear; perhaps some reason lay in the words " this He said to prove him," which is now lost to us. From his words in ch. xiv. 8, we cannot infer, as has been done by Cyril of Alexandria and others, that he was weaker in faith, or tardier in spiritual apprehension, than the rest. Of all the Apostles who appear in the sacred narrative, something might be * render, people. See note. quoted, shewing equal unreadiness to be lieve and understand. I would take the circumstance as simple matter of fact, im plying perhaps that Philip was nearest to our Lord at the moment. We must not fall into the mistake of supposing that Philip being of Bethsaida the city of An drew and Peter (ch. i. 45) throws any light on the question: for the Bethsaida near which our Lord now was, Luke ix. 10, was another place : see notes there. Whence — ' from what store ? ' Hence Phi lip's answer. 6.] he knew : — by this St. John must be understood not only to rescue our Lord from the imputation of asking counsel of Philip, but to refer the miraculous act, on His part, to His purpose of exhibiting Himself as the Son of Man the Life of the World in the flesh. 7.] See notes on Mark. 8.] Meyer remarks, that the words one of His dis ciples may seem strange, seeing that Philip also was this: but that it has its value in the narrative, seeing that, Philip, having been asked in vain, one from among the circle of the disciples answers, and is afterwards specified as having been An drew. In the three other Gospels, the loaves and fishes appear as the dis ciples' own; — and we have thus » very simple but very instructive instance of the way in which differences in detail arose. They were their own, — but not till they had bought them. 9.] barley loaves — this was the usual barley bread which formed the food of the lower orders. 10.] much grass, in accordance with the time of year, the latter end of spring, after the rainy season. the men] Before, when our Lord commanded, as in A. V., " make the men sit down," it was the general word, signifying both men and women indiscriminately. And I have there fore substituted in the margin, people. 6—15. ST. JOHN. 515 much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. n And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed [e to the disciples, and the disciples] to them that were set down ; and f likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 11 S Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth i'^that prophet that a Gen. xin. io , . TT_ Deut. xviii. should come into the world. 15 1 When Jesus therefore ^'.""ch?!"' perceived that they would come and take him by force, to IIl. S".19'25' make him a king, he departed again into k# mountain himself alone. e omit, with almost all our ancient authorities. f render, in like manner. S render, The men therefore. a render, the. 1 render, Jesus therefore, knowing. k render, the. But now it is the word signifying men, as Luke, "He blessed them," i. e. the loaves : distinguished from women and children, see ver. 23. 12.] Peculiar to John. And this is a particular touch of accuracy The command, one intent of which was in the account of «n eye-witness, which has certainly to convince the disciples of the not I think been noticed. Why in the power which had wrought the miracle, is other accounts should mention be made given by our Lord a moral bearing also. only of the men in numbering them ? St. They collected the fragments for their own Matthew has, it is true, " beside women use, each in his basket (eophinus), the ordi- and children," leaving it to be inferred that nary furniture of the travelling Jew, to there was some means of distinguishing; — carry his food, lest he should be polluted the others merely give " {about"] five thou- by that of the people through whose terri- sand men " without any explanation. But tory he passed ; see note on Matt. xv. 32. here we see how it came to be so — the men Observe, that here the 12 baskets are filled alone were arranged in companies, or alone with the fragments of the bread alone : arranged so that any account was taken of but in Mark, with those of the fishes also. them : the women and children being served We must not altogether miss the re- promiscuously ; who indeed, if the multi- ference to the 12 tribes of Israel, typifying tude were a paschal caravan (?), or parts of the church which was to be fed with the many such, would not be likely to be very bread of life to the end of time. 14.] numerous;— and here again we have a point On the prophet see note on ch. i. 21, — of minute truthfulness brought out. "Art thou the prophet 1" 15.] After 11.] On the process of the miracle, see notes such a recognition, nothing was wanting on Matthew. St. John describes the distri- but that the multitudes who were jour- bution as being the act ofthe Lord Himself, neying to the Passover should take Jesus and leaves the intervention of the disciples with them, and proclaim Him king of the to be understood. The giving thanks Jews in the holy City itself. The here answers to blessing in the other Gos- other three Evangelists, while they do not pels. It was the 'grace' of the father of give any intimation of this reason of our the family; perhaps the ordinary one in Lord's withdrawal, relate tbe fact, and St. use among the Jews. St. John seems to Luke preserves in the very next verse a connect with it the idea brought out by St. trace of its motive, —by the question 516 ST. JOHN. VI. 16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, W and entered into a ship, and * went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was m not come to them. 18 And the sea " arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship : and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I ; be not afraid. al ° Then they willingly received him into the ship : and immediately the ship was at the land whither they P went. 22 The day following, when the ^people which stood on 1 render, were going. m read, not yet. a render, was rising. 0 render, They were willing therefore to receive, P render, were going. 1 render,- multitude. ' Whom do the people say that I am V and the answer, expressing the very con- fession#of the people here. 16 — 21.] Jesus walks on the sea. Matt. xiv. 22—33. Mark vi. 45—52. Omitted by St. Luke. An important and interest ing question arises, Why is this miracle here inserted by St. John f That he ever inserts for the mere purpose of narration, I cannot believe. The reason seems to me to be this : to give to the Twelve, in the prospect of so apparently strange a dis course respecting His Body, a view of the truth respecting that Body, that it, and the things said of it were not to be under stood in a gross corporeal, but in a super natural and spiritual sense. And their very terror, and reassurance, tended to im press that confidence in Him which kept them firm, when many left Him, ver. 66. 16.] even, here, will be during the time between the " evening " of Matt. xiv. 15, and that of the same, ver. 23. The Jews commonly reckoned two evenings : see the note on Matt. xxvi. 17, p. 182, bottom of col. 1. went down] By the command of Jesus (Matthew, Mark). 17.] were going — denoting the un finished action — they were making for the other side of the sea, in the direction of Capernaum; "unto Bethsaida," Mark, which would be the same thing. It would appear as if the disciples were lingering along shore with the expectation of taking in Jesus : but night had fallen, and He had not come to them, and the sea began to be stormy (ver. 18). Having therefore set out (ver. 19), and rowed, &c. The word So, with which ver. 19 begins, seems to me to render this supposition necessary, — to bind their having rowed twenty-five or thirty stadia, with the fact that the Lord had not come, and it was dark, and the sea swelling into a storm. The lake is forty furlongs wide : so that, as we can hardly assume the passage to have been to a point directly opposite, they were somewhere about " in the midst ofthe sea," Matthew, ver. 24. 18. was rising] was becoming thoroughly agitated. 19. walking on the sea] There surely can be no question in the mind of an unpre judiced reader, that it is John's intention to relate a miracle; — nor again, — that there could be in the minds of tie disciples no doubt about that miracle, — no chance of a mistake as to what they saw. I have treated of on the sea on Matthew, ver. 25. They were afraid : — but upon being reassured by His voice, they were willing to take Him into the ship ; and upon their doing so, the ship in a comparatively short time (or perhaps immediately by miracle, but I prefer the other) was at the land to which they had been going, viz. by the storm ceasing, and the ship making smooth way (" the wind ceased," Matthew, Mark); It seems to me that the above inter pretation of " they were willing there- fore to receive Him" is absolutely necessary to account for the therefore. 22—59.] The multitudes follow Jesus to Capernaum, where, in the synagogue, He discourses to them on Himself as the Bread of Life. 22—24.] These verses are involved and parenthetical in construe* 16—27. ST. JOHN. 517 the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save [r that] one [r whereinto his disciples were entered], and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the s boat, but that his disciples * were gone away alone ; 23 (howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat u bread after that the Lord had given thanks :) ** when the x people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, J7 they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. aB And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither ? 26 Jesus answered them and said. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw6™"- <*• [z the] miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and f xrtu,!u'17: were filled. 2? a Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but i?" iuie . A , ' iii. 22 : ix. 85. e for that meat which endureth unto everlasting hfe, which "S^-.8^,, the Son of man shall give unto you : f for him D hath God u.-.^ i°pet. i. 17. r omit. B read, ship. * render, went. 11 render, the bread. „ x render, multitude. y read and render, they entered into the ships. z omit. a better, Work not : see note, b render, the Father sealed, even God. tion, but very characteristic of the minute And from this low desire of mere satisfac- care with which the Evangelist will account tion of their carnal appetite, He takes oc- for every circumstance which is essential casion in the following discourse to raise to his purpose in the narrative. the them to spiritual desire after Himself, multitude] We are not to understand the the Bbead op Life. The discourse forms whole multitude who were fed, — but that a parallel with that in ch. iv. 27. portion of them which had remained on Work not for] The A. V., 'Labour not the coast over the night. Many had pro- for,' does not give the sense. They had bably dispersed to the villages about, or not laboured in this case for the meat that perhaps taken up then- night quarters more perisheth, but it had been furnished mira- inland. on the other side of the sea] culously. A better rendering would be, i.e. on the east coast. We are supposed Busy not yourselves about, — Do not weary to be at Capernaum. The other boats yourselves for, — which they were doing, had perhaps brought some of them thither : by thus coming after our Lord : but best or the spot nigh unto ihe place where they of all, Work not for, because in the original ate the bread, Stc, might have been some the root of the word is the same in verses landing-place of merchandise. 25.] on 27, 29, 30. " The meat whose nourish- the other side of the sea is now the west ing power passes away," De Wette. Better bank; — we have been crossing the sea with literally, which perisheth, as in text: — the multitude. when? as Stier re-, the useless part of it, in being cast out ; — marks, includes " how ?" in its meaning, the -useful, in becoming part of the body Our Lord leaves the question unanswered, which perishes (see 1 Cor. vi. 13). because it was not for a sign to these people but for that meat] It is important to bear that He had miraculously crossed the lake, in mind that the "working for" spoken 26.] The seeking Him, on the part of above, which also applies to this, was of these people, — to Him, who saw the not a ' labouring for,' or ' bringing about hearts, — was merely a low desire to profit of,' but a following Christ in order to ob- by His wonderful works, — not a reasonable tain. So the meaning will be, but seek consequence of deduction from His miracles to obtain, by following after Me .... that He was the Saviour of the world, which endureth nnto everlasting life] See Vou. I. Mm 518 ST. JOHN. VI. g 1 John iii. 23. h Matt. xii. 88: xvi.l. Mark viii. 11. 1 Cor. i.22. i Exod. xvi. 15. Num. xi.7. Neh. ix. IS. ICor. x.3. k Ps. lxxviii. 24,25. the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What c shall we do, that we d might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, e This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore unto him, h What sign e shewesi thou then, that we may see, and believe thee ? what dost thou work ? 31 j Our fathers did eat f manna in the S desert; as it is written, kHe gave them bread from heaven to eat. S2 n Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not 'xthat bread c render, must. e render, doest. & render, wilderness, as in verse 49. h render, Jesus therefore. •* render, may. f render, the manna. 1 render, the. ch. iv. 14. If this " meat " remains to eternal life, it must be spiritual food. which the Son of man shall give unto you] See ch. iv. ib. which agrees with "meat," not with " life." shall give, future, because the great Sacrifice was not yet offered : so in ch. iv. the Son of man, emphatic here, and belonging tb this discourse, since it is of His Flesh that He is about to speak. for Him the Father sealed, even God] This rendering is made necessary by the grammatical form of the original. sealed, by undoubted ¦testimony, as at His baptism; and since, by His miracles, see ch. x. 36: not, 'stamped with the image of His Person,' which is . altogether beside the present subject, and inconsistent with the meaning of the verb. 28.] The people understand His working literally, and dwell upon it. They quite seem to think that the food .which is to endure for ever is to be spiri tually interpreted; and they therefore ask , this question, — referring the "working" to the works of the law. the works of Bod must not be taken to mean ' the works which God works,' but, as in Jer. xlviii. 10; 1 Cor. xv. 58, the works well pleasing to God. 29.] The meaning is not, — . that faith is wrought in us by God, is the work of God ; but that the truest way of working the work of God is to believe on Him whom He hath sent. work, not works, because there is but this one, pro perly speaking, and all the rest are wrapt up in it (see James i. 25). This is a most important saying of our Lord, as con- . taining the germ of that teaching after- : wards so fully expanded in the writings of St. Pan). "I know not," says Schleier macher, " where we can find any passage, even in the writings of the Apostles, which says so clearly and significantly, that all eternal life in men proceeds from nothing eke than faith in Christ." 30, 31.] This answers to ch. iv. 12, "Art thou greater than our father Jacob," &c. It is spoken in unbelief and opposition; not, as many have supposed, as a request for the Bread of Life, meaning it by the sign, but in the ordinary sign-seeking spirit of the Jews. Stier says well, "They have been hesitating between better and worse thoughts, till at last unbelief prevails." The sign here demanded is the sign from heaven, the proof of the sealing by God; such a proof would be, in their estimation, compared with His present miracles, as the manna (hraadfrom heaven) was, compared to the multiplied loaves and fishes. The manna was extolled by the Jews, as the greatest miracle of Moses. Josephus calls it " a divine and wondrous food :" see also Wisd. xvi. 20, 21. " They forgot that their fathers disbelieved Moses almost from the time when they began to eat the manna; and that the Psalm from which they quote most strongly sets forth this ; — that they despised the manna, and pre ferred ordinary meat to it." Stier. Observe our Lord's believe on him in ver. 29, and their believe thee. The former, the casting their whole hopes and faith on Him, is what He requires : but they will not even give the latter, common credence, to Him. Their what dost thou work! Meyer remarks, is a retort of our Lord's question, ver. 27. The stress, in these words, should be not on the thon, which is not expressed in the original, but on the what. 32.] Our Lord lays open tjie course of their argument. They have not .28—37. ST. JOHN. 519 from heaven j but my Father giveth you the true* bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is *he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 3* ll Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this 1 see cnap.iv. bread. 35 [m And] Jesus said unto them, m I am the bread m ver. 48,68. of life : "he that cometh to me shall n never hunger; andnch.iv.i4: he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 " But I said ow.26,«4. . unto you, That ye ° also have seen me, and believe not. 37 p All P that the Father giveth me shall come to me,; p ver. 45. k render, that. m omit. 0 render, have even seen. mentioned Moses, — nor was the giving of the manna a miracle performed by Moses ; — but He knew that the comparison between Moses and Himself was in their minds, and answers by exposing the error which re presented Moses as the giver of the manna. Neither again was that the true bread from heaven. It was, in one sense, bread from heaven ; — but not in this sense. It was a type and shadow of the true bread from heaven, which my Father is giving (or perhaps the abstract present, — signify ing that It is His office to give it) to you. Our Lord does not here deny, but asserts the miraculous character of the manna. 33.] the bread of God answers to "the bread which my Father giveth." The words that which cometh down from heaven .... are the predicate ofthe bread, and do not apply, in the construction of this verse, to Christ personally, however truly they apply to Him in fact. The A. V. is here wrong : it should be, The bread of God is that (not He) which cometh, &c. Not till ver. 35 does Jesus first say, 'I am: the bread of life.' The manna is still kept in view, which ' when the dew fell on the camp .... fell (the Greek word in the LXX is the same as here, came down) upon it,' Num. xi. 9. And the present tense, here used in refer ence to the manna, is dropped when the Lord Himself is spoken of: see vv. 38, 41, 58, and especially the distinction between ver. 50 and ver. 51. 34.] ch. iv. 15 is exactly parallel. The Jews understand this bread, as the Samaritan woman under stood the water, to be some miraculous kind of sustenance which would bestow life everlasting : — perhaps they thought of the heavenly manna, which the Kabbis speak of as prepared for the just in the future world;— see Eev. ii. 17. ever more] emphatic: — not now only, but al- M 1 render, They said therefore. n render, not. P better, that which : see note. ways. 35.] As in ch. v. 30, so here, our Lord passes from the indirect to the direct form of speech. Henceforward it is ' I,' ' Me,' throughout the discourse. In the genitive of life, is implied, " which came down from heaven and giveth life unto the world." So living water in ch. iv. On the assurance of never hun gering or thirsting, see note at ch. iv. 14. It is possible that our Lord placed the all- satisfying bread of life in contrast to tbe manna, which was no sooner given, Exod. xvi., than the people began to thirst, Exod. xvii. ; — but I would not lay any stress on this. he that cometh to me is in the same sense as in ch. v. 40 — that of accept ance of and faith in Him. 36. I said nnto you] "When did He say this to them P perhaps it was said, but has not been recorded." Euthymius. But perhaps the reference may be to ch. v. 37^-44, and unto yon may be said generally. Stier and others think that ver. 26 is referred tb : but this is far-fetched. We have instances of reference to sayings not re corded, in ch. x. 26; xii. 34. have even seen] ' Ye have seen the true Bread from heaven, the sign greater than the manna, even Me Myself: and yet have not believed.' 37.] The whole body of believers on Christ are spoken of by Him, here and in ch. xvii., as given to Him by the Father. But Bengel's ob servation is very important : ¦' all that which — a most significant expression, and, compared with what follows, most worthy of consideration. For in our Lord's dis courses, that, which the Father hath given Him, is spoken of in the singular number and neuter gender, " all that which :" whereas they who come to Him, the Son, are spoken of in the masculine gender, and sometimes also in the plural number: " every man," or " all they" The Father M 2 520 ST. JOHN. VI. q Matt. xxvi. 30. ch. v.; r ch. iv. 34- e ch. x. 28 : xvii. 12 s xviii. 9. iva. 27, 47. 54. ch. iii. and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I - came down from heaven, q not to do mine own will, T but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is r the Father's will which hath sent me, B that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up [s again] at the last day. 4° * And this is the will of him that sent me, *that every one which u seeth the Son, and iSiiThTu. DelieVeth on him, may have everlasting hfe, and x I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down uMatt.xiu.65. from heaven. 43 And thev said, uIs not this Jesus, the Alarkvi. 3. i i Lukeiv.22. son 0f Joseph whose father and mother we. know? how is it then that he saith, I y came down from heaven ? ^ Jesus °. render, am come. r read and render, the will of him that sent me. s omit. * read, For this is the will of my Father. u render, looketh On. x render, that I should. y render, am come. nath given to the Son as it were one mass, that all whom He hath given should be one : tbat whole mass the Son unfoldeth one by one in this following out of the Father's design. Hence also that which we read in ch. xvii. 2, " that all that which Thou hast given Him (so literally), to them He may give eternal life." ' See also 1 John v. 4. I will in no wise cast out does not refer here to the office of the Son of God as Judge; but is another way of expressing the grace, and readiness with which He will receive all who come to Him. 38, 39, 40.] His reception of men is not capricious, nor even of His own arbitrary choice ; but as He came into the world to do the Father's will, and that will is that all who come to Him by faith shall have life, so He receives all such ; — loses none of them ; — and will raise them all up (here, in the fullest and blessed sense) at the last day. Olshausen remarks, that ' in ch. iv. we had only the inexhaustible re freshing of the soul by the water of life ; but this discourse goes further ; — that not even death itself shall destroy the body of him who has been nourished by this bread of life.' raise it up again refers to the only resurrection which is the completion of the man in his glorified state ; — it does not set aside the " resur rection of judgment" (ch. v. 29), but that very term is a debasement of "resurrec tion f its true sense is only " resurrection of life" Bengel has beautifully given the connexion of this last promise with what went before: "this is the end, be yond which there is no danger." But there is much more than this in it. In this declaration (vv. 39, 40) is contained the key of the following discourse, vv. 44 — 59. The end of the work of God, as regards man, is the glorification of his restored and sanctified nature, — body, soul, and spirit, — in eternity. Without this,— - salvation, restitution, would be incomplete. The adoption cannot be consummated with out the redemption of the body. Bom. viii. 18— 23. And the glorification of the body, soul, and spirit,— of the whole man, — cannot take place but by means of the glorified Body of the second Adam. ' He who does not see this, will never under stand either the Holy Communion, or this testimony of the Lord in its inner mean ing.' Stier. The looketh on here is a different thing from the mere seeing of ver. 36. It is the awakening of the atten tion preparatory to faith, answering to the looking on the serpent of brass : with the eyes of the soul, as Euthymius says ; but we must not make the looking equivalent to believing, to which it is , only preparatory. 41.] Not different hearers, nor does the scene of the discourse here change: they were the same, — perhaps the principal among them, the official superintendents of the synagogue : — for St. John generally uses " the Jews" in this official sense. 42.] They rightly supposed that this having come down from heaven must im ply some method of coming into the world 38—46. ST. JOHN. 521 therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. ** x No man can come to me, except ^J^M- the Father which [z hath] sent me draw him : and I will raise him up "-at the last day. *5ylt is written in the yJ<£^»4' prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. " Every SV"''10' man [*> therefore] that c hath heard, and hath learned of the »S.i8: Father, cometh unto me. i6 a Not that any man hath seen b5££;iI.'jjf' the Father, b save he which is d of God, he hath seen the vu'.m: via. z omit. a read, in. "• omit. c render, hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, 4 render, from. diverse from ordinary generation. Meyer gathers from the word we know, that our Lord's reputed father was then still alive. But surely the verb will bear the sense of knowing, as matter of fact, who they were, and need not be confined to personal knowledge. 43.] Our Lord does not answer their objection, because it lay far from His present purpose to disclose aught of those mysteries which the answer must have indicated. It was not till the faith of the apostolic Christians was fully fixed on Him as the Son of God, and the outline of the doctrine of His Person was firmly sketched out, that the Spirit brought out those historical records which assure us of His supernatural conception. 44.] The connexion seems to be this: They were not to murmur among them selves because He had said this; for the right understanding of what He had said is only to be gained by being taught of God, by being drawn by the Father, who alone can give the desire to come to Christ, and bring a man to Him. That this ' drawing' is not irresistible grace, is confessed even by Augustine himself, the great upholder of the doctrines of grace. "If a man is. drawn, says an objector, he comes against his will. (We answer) if he comes unwillingly, he does not believe : if he does not believe, he does not come. For we do not run to Christ on our feet, but by faith; not with the movement of the body, but with the free will of the heart . . . Think not that thou art drawn against thy will : the mind can be drawn by love." Calvin and others understand irresistible grace to be here meant : " It is false and profane," says Calvin, "to say that only the willing are drawn." The Greek ex positors take the view which I have adopted above. Chrysostom says, " This expression does not remove our part in the coming, but rather shews that we want help to come." See Article X. of the Church of England, at the end. This drawing towards Christ may be exemplified in the legal dispensation, which was to the Jews a schooling for Christ. It now is being exerted on all the world, — in accordance with the Lord's prophecy ch. xii. 32 (see note there), and His command Matt. xxviii. 19, 20, — by Christian preaching and missions; but, after all, the individual will must be turned to Christ by the Father, Whose covenanted promise is, that He will so turn it in answer to prayer. "Art thou not yet drawn? pray that thou mayest be drawn." Augustine. The same solemn and joyous refrain, as Meyer well calls it, follows, as in vv. 39, 40. 45.] in the prophets may be a general form of citation (Mark i. 2. Acts vii. 42; xiii. 40), or may mean that the sense is found in several places of the prophets : see especially Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. This clearly intimates the kind of drawing meant in the last verse: — the opening the eyes of the mind by divine teaching. hath heard and hath learned are expansions of the word taught in the citation from the prophets. cometh unto me] This is the final decision of the human will, acted on by the divine attraction to Christ. The beginning is, The Father draws him: the progress, he hears and learns — here is the consenting will — ' Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth :' — the end, he cometh to Christ — here is the will acting on the whole man. 46.] The connexion is: the mention of hearing from the Father might lead them to think of a personal communication from the Father to each man, and thus the necessity of the mission of the Son might be invalidated. This was the only way in which a Jew could misunderstand ver. 45 ; he could not dream of a seeing of the Father with bodily eyes. he which is of God, is Jesus Himself; see ch. vii. 29. '522 ST. JOHN. VI. cowiiv;1r6ko8' Father. 4? Verily, verily, I say unto you, d He that be lieveth on me hath everlasting life. ^ d I am e that bread of life. 49 e Your fathers did eat f manna in the wilder ness, and Bare dead. 50 'This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the Hving bread, g which came down from heaven : if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ver. 40. d ver. 33, 35. e ver. 31. fver.61, 68. g ch. iii. 13. h'HeT>.x.5,io. ever : ^ e render, the. S render, they died. His knowledge of the Father is complete and immediate; ours, partial, and de rived through Him only. 47.] Our Lord now recurs to the subject of their murmurs, and gives the answer for which He has been preparing the way, repeating nearly ver. 40 and adding, 48.] If so, (see ver. 47,) there is full reason for my naming Myself the Bread of Life. 49.] That bread from heaven had no power to keep off death, and that, death owing to unbelief: — our Lord by thus mentioning your fathers and their death, certainly hints at the similar unbelief of these Jews. And the same dubious sense of "dying" prevails in ver. 50. Death is regarded as being swallowed up in the glory of the resurrection, and the second death — which was hidden in the former term died — has over him who eats this Bread of Life, no power : nay, he is brought, even here into a resurrection state from sin and death ; see Bom. vi. 1 ff. and Col. iii. 1 ff. 51.] the living bread; * containing life in itself,' not merely supplying the waste of life with lifeless matter : see on ch. iv. 13, 14. yea, and the bread that I will give] From this time we hear no more of bread : this figure is dropped, and the reality takes its place. Some difficult questions arise regarding the sense and reference of this saying of our Lord. (1) Does it refer to His Death? and, (2) is there any reference to the Oebihance of the Lobd's St/ppeb? (1) In treating this question I must at once reject all metaphorical and side-interpretations, as, that the teaching of Christ is the Bread, and to be taught by Him is feeding upon it (so Grotius, and the modern rationalists) : that the divine Nature of Christ, or His sending of the Holy Spirit, or His whole life of doing good on earth, can be meant : all such have against them the plain sense bf the words, which, as Stier observes, are very simple ordinary words ; the only diffi- 1 the bread that I will give is my fleshj * render, the manna. k render, yea and. culty arising, when we come to enquire into their application to His own Person. The Bread of Life is Himself: and, strictly treated, when we come to enquire what, of that body, soul, and spirit, which consti tuted Himself, this Bread specifically is, we have His answer that it is His Flesh, which He will give (for this will be the meaning, whether the words "which I will give" are to be regarded as part of the text or not) on behalf of the life of the world. We are then specifically directed to His Flesh as the answer. Then, what does that Flesh import 1 The flesh of animals is the ordinary food of men : but not the blood. The blood, which is the life, is spilt at death, and is not in the fiesh when eaten by us. Now this distinction must be Carefully borne in mind. The flesh here, (see ver. 53,) and the eating of the flesh, are distinct from the blood, and the drinking of the blood. We have nO generalities merely, to interpret as we please : but the terms used are precise and technical. It is then only through or after the Death of the Lord, that by any pro priety of language, His Flesh could be said to be eaten. Then another distinction must be remembered : The flesh of animals which we eat is dead flesh. It is already the prey of corruption ; we eat it, and die (ver. 49). But this Bread, is living Bread ; not dead flesh, but living Flesh. And therefore manducation by the teeth mate rially is not to be thought of here ; but some kind of eating by which the living Flesh ofthe Son of God is made the living sustenance of those who partake of it. Now His Flesh and Blood were sundered by Death. Death was the shedding of His precious Blood, which (most probably) He did not afterwards resume : see ch. xx. 27, and Luke xxiv. 39. His Flesh is the glo rified substance of His Besurrection-Body, now at the right hand of God. It is then in His Resurrection form only that His Flesh can be eaten, and be living food for 47—54. ST. JOHN. 5£3, p which I will give] for the Hfe of the world. 62 The Jews kHow can"*-?"-!8 ix.lG: x.19. kch.iii.g. therefore ' strove among themselves, saying. this man give us his flesh to eat ? 63 * Then unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ' ye eat iMatt.3 the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.' s* m l Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh m ver. 27, 40, 63. ch. iv. 14. 1 omitted by almost all our most ancient authorities. k render, Jesus therefore. 1 render, He that. the living man. I cannot therefore see how any thing short of Mis Death can be here meant. By that Death, He has given His Flesh for the Ufe of the world : not , merely that they who believe on Mini may, in the highest sense, have life; but that the world may have life. The very exist ence of all the created world is owing to, and held together by, that Resurrection- Body of the Lord. In Him all things are gathered together and reconciled to God : " by Him all things consist," i.e. " hold together," Col. i. 17. (2) The question whether there is here any reference to the Obpinance as the Lobd's Suppeb, has been inaccurately put. When cleared of inaccuracy in terms, it will mean, Is the subject here dwelt 'upon, the same as that which is set forth in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper 1 And of this there can surely be no doubt. To the ordinance it self, there is here no reference ; nor could there well have been any. But the spiri tual verity which underlies the ordinance is one and the same with that here insisted on ; and so considered, the discourse is, as generally treated, most important towards a right understanding of the ordinance. 52.] The inference conveyed in the word eat, which word, be it noted, first comes from the Jews themselves, is yet a right one. If He is the Bread, and that Bread is His Flesh, we must eat His Flesh, though not in the sense here meant by them. They contended against one another, probably some having more in sight into the possibility of a spiritual meaning than others. 53.] Our Lord not only ratifies their own word, eat, but adds to it a more wonderful thing ; that they must also do that against which a prohibition might seem to have existed from Noah downwards, — drink His Blood. But observe, this Blood is not to be eaten in the Flesh, which was the forbidden thing (Gen. ix. 4 : Levit. xvii. 10—16), in its strict literal form: but to be drunk, separate from the flesh: again presup posing death. Now as the Flesh of Christ (seeabove) is the Resurrection -Body which He now has, and in which' all things con sist; so is His Blood ("the blood is the life," Lev. xvii. 11, 14) the Life which He gave up, paid down, as the penalty for the sin of the world. By the shedding, pouring forth, of that Blood, is remission of sin. It is quite impossible that these words should, as De Wette maintains, be' merely an expansion of "eating Hisjlesh." Even had the idea of drinking blood been one familiar to the Jews, the construction would not have allowed such an interpreta tion ; — but new as it was, and abhorrent , fi-Omtheir habits and law, we must regard it as specially and purposely added. But. what is this eating and drinking? Clearly, not merely faith : for faith an swers to the hand reached forth for the food, but is not the act of eating. Faith is a necessary condition of the act : so that we can hardly say with Augustine, "believe; and thou hast eaten," but "believe, and thou shalt eat." Inasmuch as Faith will necessa rily in its energizing lead to this partaking, we sometimes incorrectly say that it is Faith : but for strict accuracy this is not enough. To eat the flesh of Christ,, is to realize, in our inward life, the mystery of His Body now in heaven,-^to digest and assimilate our own portion in that Body. To drink His Blood, is to realize; in' our inward life, the mystery of. His satisfaction for sin, — to digest and as similate our own portion in that satisfac tion, the outpouring of that Blood. And both these definitions may be gathered into one, which is: The eating of His Flesh and drinking of His Blood import the making to ourselves and using as ob jectively real, those two groat Truths of our Redemption in Him, of which our Faith subjectively convinces us. And of this realizing of Faith he has been pleased to appoint certain symbols in tho Holy Communion, which He has com manded to be received; to signify to us the spiritual process, and to assist us to wards it. ye have no life in you] • Ye have not in you that spring of life, which -shall mvercope*death, andlead .. 524 ST. JOHN. VI. n 1 John iii. 24 : iv. 15, 16. my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is m meat indeed, and my blood is n drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, n dwelleth in me, and I in him. 67 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live °by the Father: so he over. i9, so, si. that eateth me, P even he shall live °by me. 58 "This is 1 that bread which came down from heaven : not as your fathers did eat [r manna] , and s are dead : he that eateth [* of] this bread shall live for ever. B9 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. " Mattd. o. 60pMany therefore of his disciples, when they [u had] heard this, said, x This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ? 61 y When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples q Mark xvi. n. murmured at it, l~z he] said unto them, Doth this offend ch. in. 13. ^ L J J you ? 63 i a What and if ye b shall see the Son of man Acts i. 0. Eph. iv. 8. m read, true meat. 0 render, because of. 1 render, the. r omit. " omit. u omit. y render, But Jesus knowing. a render, What then if. 54.] to the resurrection in the true sense :' see above, ver. 44, and notice again the solemn refrain. 55.] The sense is not here, ' My Flesh is the true meat &e.,' but My Flesh is true meat, i. e. really to be EATEN, which they doubted. The adverb, " meat indeed," or " drink indeed," as in A. V., falls short of the depth of the ad jective. This verse is decisive against all explaining away or metaphorizing the pas sage. Food and drink, are not here mere metaphors ; — rather are our common ma terial food and drink mere shadows and imperfect types of this only real reception of refreshment and nourishment into the being. 56.] He who thus lives upon Me, abides. in Me (see ch. xv. 5 and note); — and I (that living power and nourish ment conveyed by the bread of life, which is the Lord Himself) abide in him. 57.] The same expanded further — see ch. v. 26. The two branches of the feeding on Christ are now united under the general expression, eateth me. because of expresses the efficient cause. The Father is the Fountain of all Life : the Son lives in and by the Father: and all created being generally, lives (in the lower sense) in and by Him ; but he that eateth Him, shall (eternally and in the highest sense) live by Him. 58.] forms the solemn n read, true drink. P render, he also. B render, died. * render, This saying is hard. z omit. * render, should behold. conclusion of the discourse, referring back to the Bread with which it began and to its difference from the perishable food which they had extolled: — and setting forth the infinite superiority of its effects over those of that sustenance. which came down, — past, now : because He has clearly identified it with Himself. 60 — 65.] Murmuring of some of the disciples at the foregoing discourse, and the answer of Jesus to them. 60.] It has been shewn by Lampe, that the word rendered hard signifies not so much ab surdity as impiety. It seems clear that it was not the difficulty, so much as the strangeness of the saying, which scanda lized them. It is the whole discourse, — the turn given to it, — the doctrine of the Bread of Life, — the giving His Flesh and Blood to eat, — at which they take offence. who can hear it ? i. e. who can listen to it » — ' Who can stay and hear such sayings as this?' not, Who can under. stand it 1 61.] in himself, by His divine knowledge. 62.] What then if ye see . . . not meaning 'will ye not then be much more scandalized?' or, 'what will ye say (or do), then ?'— but appealing to an event which they should witness, as a certain proof of one part of the " hard saying," with which indeed the rest of it 55—67. ST. JOHN. 525 *>" ascend up where he was before ? 63 r It is the spirit that rscor.iii.o. 0 quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I d speak unto you, [e they] are spirit, and [e they] are life. 61 But s there are some of vou that believe not. For * Jesus s ver.se ¦> t ch. ii. 24, 25 : knew from the beginning who they were that believed *UL11- not, and who f should betray him. 65 And he said, S There fore "said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, u ver. 44, 45 except it h were given unto him of * my Father. 66 vis. From that time many of his disciples went back, v ver. m. and walked no more with him. 67 1 Then said Jesus unto DD render, ascending. 4 read, have spoken. f render, it Was that should. S render, For this cause have I "¦ render, be. k render, Upon this. was boundup, — His having descended from heaven. All attempts to explain this otherwise than of His ascent into heaven, are simply dishonest, — and spring from laxity of belief in the historical reality of that event. That it is not recorded by John, is of no moment here. And that none but the Twelve saw it, is unim portant; for how do we know that our Lord was not here speaking to some among the Twelve ? To explain it of His death, as part of His going up where he was be fore, is hardly less disingenuous. 63.] spirit and flesh do not mean the spiritual and carnal sense of the foregoing discourse, as many Commentators explain them : for our Lord is speaking, not of teaching merely, but of vivifying : He is explaining the Ufe-giving principle of which He had been before speaking. ' Such eating of My flesh as you imagine and find hard to listen to, could profit you nothing, — for it will have ascended up, &c. ; and besides, gene rally, it is only the Spirit that can vivify the spirit of man ; the flesh (in whatever way used) can profit nothing towards this.' He does not say 'My Flesh profiteth no thing,' but ' the flesh.' To make Him say this, as the Swiss anti-sacramentalists do, is to make Him contradict His own words in ver. 51. the words that I have spoken] viz. the words my flesh and my blood, above. They are spirit and life : — spirit, not flesh only : — living food, not carnal and perishable. This meaning has been missed by almost all Commentators : Stier upholds it, and it seems to me beyond question the right one. The common in terpretation is, ' the words which I have c render, giveth life. e 1 read, the. 1 render, Jesus said therefore. spoken,' i. e. ' My discourses' are * to be taken in a spiritual sense,' ' and are life.' But this is any thing but precise, even after the forcing of the meaning of the word ** spirit." 64.] 'This accounts for your murmuring at what I said, that ye do not believe.' For Jesus knew . . .] De Wette remarks, that the foreknowledge of our Lord with regard to Judas renders it impossible to apply the ordinary rules of moral treatment, as ' Why did He then continue him as an Apostle ? Why did He give him the charge of the purse, knowing him to be a thief? &c.,'^- to the case : and it is therefore better not to judge at all on the matter. The fact is, we come here to a form of the problem of divine foreknowledge anAhuman free-will, which, in any of its endless com binations of expression, it is equally im possible for ns to solve. from the beginning, from their first coming to Him; — the first beginning of their con nexion with Him. 65.] These un believers had not that drawing to Christ, which leads (ver. 44) to true coming to Him. Observe the parallelism between it were given him here, and all that which the Father giveth me, ver. 37. Both these gifts are in the. Father's power. 66 — 71.] Many of the disciples leave Him. The confession of the Twelve through Peter : and the Lord's warning to them. 66. Upon this] The tem poral meaning prevails, but does not ex clude the causal. It was upon this being said, and it was also because this had been said. many, viz. of those that believed not; but not all. 67.] The first men- 526 ST. JOHN. VI. 68— 71. w Acts v. — X Matt. xvi. 16 ch. i. 40: xi.27. y Luke vi. 13 z ch. xiii. 27. for the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast w the words of eternal life. 69 * And we m believe and are Mark Syo. gwre that -thou art n that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 JeSus answered them, y ° Have not I chosen you twelve, 2 and one of you is a devil ? 71 He spake of Judas P Iscariot the son of Simon : for he it was that 1 betray him, being one of the twelve. VII. ] r After these things Jesus walked in Galilee m render, have believed and know. n read, with most of the ancient authorities, the Holy One of God, 0 render, Did I not choose. P read, [the son] of Simon Iscariot. 4 render, was about to. r render, And after. tion of the Twelve.by John. The question is asked in order to extract from them the confession which follows, and thus to bind them closer to Himself. We must not forget likewise, in the mystery of our Lord's human nature, tbat at such a mo ment of desertion, He would seek comfort in the faith and attachment of His chosen ones. 68.] Peter answers quickly and earnestly for the rest, as in Matt. xvi. 16. to whom shall we go T\ What they had heard and seen had awakened in them the desire of being led on by some teacher towards eternal life; and to whom else should they go from Him who had, and brought out of His stores for their instruc tion, the words (see ver. 63) of eternal life ? 69.] we have believed seems to be used absolutely, as in ver. 64 : we believe [in Thee], and have long done so. In the following words the readings vary; the common text having been to all ap pearance introduced from Matt. xvi. 16. The circumstance of the Lord not being elsewhere called the Holy One of God by John, is of course in favour of the read ing : on the principle that an unusual ex pression was generally by the transcribers altered to a more usual one, not vice versd. The idea however is found (ch. x. 36). I regard the coincidence with the testimony of the dsemoniacs, Mark i. 24 and parallel places, as a remarkable one. Their words appear to have been the first plain declara tion of the fact, and so to have laid hold on the attention of the Apostles. 70.] The selection of the Twelve by Jesus is the Consequence of the giving of them to Him by the Father, ch. xvii. 6,— in which there also Judas is included. So that His select ing, and the Father's giving and drawing, do not exclude final falling away.1 . .. . a devil] It is doubtful in' what sense this word should be. taken. However .we ex plain it, it will be an expression only once used in the N. T. In the dark act here prophesied, Judas was under the immediate instigation of and yielded himself up to Satan (compare our Lord's reply to Peter, Matt. xvi. 23); and I would understand this expression as having reference to that league with and entertainment of the Evil One in his thoughts and purposes, which his ultimate possession by Satan implies. This meaning can perhaps hardly be ren dered by any single word in another lan guage. The A. V. 'a devil,' is certainly too strong ; devilish would be better, but not unobjectionable. Compare " The son of perdition," ch. xvii. 12. 71.] On the name Iscariot (here applied to Simon, Judas's father), see on Matt. x. 4. Chaf. VII. — X.] Jesus the light op the woeld. The conflict at its height. VII. 1 — 52.] Jesus meets the un belief or the Jews at Jebusalem. The circumstances [verses 1 — 13]. 1.] The chronology of this period is very doubtful. I have remarked on it in my note on Luke ix. 51. Thus much we may observe here, that after these things cannot apply em phatically to ch. vi., but must be referred back to ch. v., as indeed must the Jews seeking to kill Him, and the miracle alluded to in ver. 23. But it will not follow from this, that ch. vi. is not in its right place: it contains an independent memoir of a miracle and discourse of our Lord in Gali lee which actually happened in the interval; and only serves to shew us the character of this Gospel as made up of such memoirs, more or less connected with one another, and selected by the Evangelist for their higher spiritual import, and the discourses arising* VII, 1—8. ST. JOHN. 527 he would not walk in s Jewry, a because the Jews sought to ach. v. 10, is. kill him. 2 bNow the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at* if. xxiii. hand. 8cHis brethren therefore said unto him, Denart cMatt.xii.4a. \. 1 • t Mark iii. 81 nence, and go into Judsea, that thy disciples also may tsee Actsi14- the works that thou doest. 4 For [* there is] no man [u that] doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou x do these things, y shew ¦ thyself to the world. 6 d For z neither did his brethren a Mark m. 21. believe in him. 6 zz Then Jesus said unto them, e My time ech.u.4: . . , ... J viii. 20. ver is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 7 f The f(fh.SjT.19 world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, s because Igch.m.19. testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8 Go ye up xmto* this feast: I go not up [b yet] unto this feast ; hfor heh.viu.20.. ver. 6. 8 render, as usual, Judffia. t render, behold thy works. 11 omit. ,x render, doest. y render, manifest: see ch. i. 31; ii. 4; iii. 21; ix. 3; xvii. 6, Sec, where the word is the same. z render, even his brethren did not. zz render, Jesus therefore. a read, the. D omitted by some ancient authorities. from them. I would understand this verse as merely carrying on the time from ch. v. and ch. vi., — and its contents as intro ductory to the account of Jesus not going up at first to the feast. Ch. vi. is in some measure presupposed in our ver. 3, as indicating that He had not constantly observed the festal journeys of late. 2.] See Deut. xvi. 13 — 17. Josephus calls this the holiest and greatest feast. It be gan on the 15th (evening of 14th) of Tisri (Sept. 28), and lasted till the evening of the 22nd (Oct. 6). 3—5.] Respecting the BRETHREN OE the Loed, see note on Matt. xiii. 55. They seem to have had at this time a kind of belief in the Messia nic character of Jesns, but of the very lowest sort, not excluding the harsh and scoffing spirit visible in these words. They recognized his miracles, but despised his apparent want of prudence and consistency of purpose, in not shewing himself to the world. In the words that thy disciples also may see, &e., there is perhaps a reference to the desertion of many of his disciples just be fore. Nay, more than this : the indication furnished by this verse of the practice of our Lord with regard to His miracles up to this point is very curious. He appears as yet to have made His circuits in Galilee, and to have wrought miracles there, in the presence of but a small circle of disciples properly so called : and there would seem to have been a larger number of disciples, in the wider sense, in Judsa, or to be gathered in Judasa by the feast, who yet wanted assuring, by open display, of the reality of His wonderful works. In ver. 5 (as well as by "thy disciples," ver. 3), we have these brethren absolutely ex cluded from the number of the Twelve (see ch. vi. 69)_; and it is impossible to modify the meaning of the word "believe," so as to suppose that they may have been of the Twelve, but not believers in the highest sense. This verse also excludes all His brethren : it is inconceivable that John should have so written, if any among them believed at that time. The emphatic expression, for even his brethren, &c, is a strong corroboration of the view that they were really and literally brethren; — see also Ps. lxix. 8. 6^9.] My time can hardly be taken as directly meaning ' the time of my sufferings and death,' — but as the same expression in ch. ii. 4 : 'My time for the matter of which you speak, viz. manifestation to the world.' That (ch. xii. 32), was to take place in a very different manner. But they, having no definite end before them, no glory of God to shew forth, but being of the world, always had their opportunity ready of mingling with and standing well with the world. Then (veri 7), 'you have no hatred of the world in your way:Jmt its hatred to Me on accounts 538 ST. JOHN. VII. my time is not yet full come. 9 When he had said these words unto them, he c abode still in Galilee. 10 But when his brethren a were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. n e Then ' the Jews sought him at the feast, and said. Where is i he ? 13 And k there was much murmuring among the % people concerning him : [^./or] ' some said, He is a good man : others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the S people. 13 How- beit no man spake openly of him m for fear of the Jews. 14 i Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 15 n k And the Jews marvelled, .iii.ii:. saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never 16 Jesus * answered them, and said, " My doctrine kch. ix. 16: X. 19. 1 Matt. xxi. 46. Luke vii. 16. ch. vi. 14. ver. 40. m ch. ix. 22 : xii. 42: xix. 38. n Matt. xiii. 54. Mark vi. 2. Luke iv. 22. Acts ii. 7. viii. 28 : xii, 40: xiv. 10, 24. learned ? remained. * render, went up. The Jews therefore. f render, that man. multitude. h omit. But when it was now. k render, The Jews therefore. 1 read, therefore answered. of my testimony against it, causes me to exercise this caution which you so blame.' In ver. 8, it is of little import whether we read not or not yet : the sense will be the same, both on account of the present, go not up (not 'will not go up,' which would express the disavowal of an intention to go up), and of "not yet," which occurs afterwards. I go not up would mean, I am not (at present) going up. Meyer at tributes to our Lord change of purpose, and justifies his view by the example of His treatment of the Syrophcenician woman, whom He at first repulsed, but afterwards had compassion on. Matt. xv. 26 ff. The same Commentator directs attention to the emphatic term, " this feast," as im plying that our Lord had it in His mind to go up to some future feasts, but not to this one. is not yet full come: see Luke ix. 51 and note. 10.] not openly, i. e. not in tbe usual caravan-com pany, nor probably by the usual way. Whether the Twelve were with Him, we have no means of judging: probably so, for they appear ch. ix. 2 ; and after their be coming once attached to the Person of our Lord as Apostles, we find no trace of His having been for any long time separated from them, except during their mission Matt, x., which was long ago accomplished. 11.] These Jews are, as usual, the rulers, as distinguished from the multi tudes. Their question itself (that man) shews a hostile spirit. 12.] the mul titudes (the different groups of which the multitude was composed) would include the Galilsean disciples, and those who had been baptized by the disciples in Judasa, — whose view the words "He is a good man" would represent, — as expressed mildly in protest against His enemies. he deceiveth the multitude, possibly in refer ence to the feeding of and then the dis course to the multitude, which had given so much offence. 13. no man- spake openly of him] This was true only of the side who said " He is a good man :" they dared not speak their mind: the others spoke plainly enough. Here again " the Jews " are distinguished from the multi tudes. 14 — 39.] Jesus testifies to Him self in the Temple. 15 — 24.] Mis teach ing is from the Father. 14, 15. when it was now the midst of the feast] Pro bably on a sabbath. It appears to have been the first time that He taught publicly at Je rusalem ; — whence (therefore) the wonder of the Jews, i. e. the rulers of the hierar chy, letters] Particularly, scripture- learning, — perhaps because this was all the literature of the Jews. Probably His teaching consisted in exposition of the Scripture. having never learned: never having been the scholar of any Babbi. He was taught of God. These words are spoken in the true bigotry and prejudice of so-called 'learning.' These words of His enemies, testifying to matter of fact well known to them, are, as Meyer ob- 9—21. ST. JOHN. 529 is not mine, but his that sent me. W p If any man m do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it n be of God, or whether I speak ° of myself. 18 i He that speaketh ° of himself seeketh his own glory : but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19 r Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law ? 8 Why 1 go ye about to kill me ? 20 The r people answered and said, "Thou hast a devil: who s goeth about to kill thee? 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I * have done one p cb. viii. 43. q ch. v. 41 : viii. 30. r Exod. xxiv. 8. Deut. xxxiii. 4. John i. 17* Acts vii. 88. 8 Matt. xii. 14. Mark iii. 6. ch. v. 16, 18. 1.31,39: xi. 53. t ch. viii. 48, 52 : X. 20. m render, be willing to. 0 render, from. r render, multitude. * render, did. n render, IS. 4 render, Seek ye. s render, Seeketh. serves, decisive against all attempts of un believers to attribute our Lord's knowledge to education in any human school of learn ing. Such indications are not without their value in these times. 16.] The words may bear two meanings : — either, ' the sense of Scripture which Iteach is not my own, but that in which it was originally penned as a revelation from God;' or, My teaching (generally) is not mine, but that of Him who sent me. The latter is preferable, as agreeing better with what follows, and because the former assumes that He was expounding Scripture, which, though probable, is not asserted. 17.] The rendering of this verse in the A. V. is much to be deplored. The word signifying be willing to should not have been slurred over, for it is important. If any man's will be, to do His will, &c. As it now stands in the A. V., a wrong idea is con veyed: that the bare performance of God's outward commands will give a man sufficient acquaintance with Christian doc trine : — whereas what our Lord asserts to the Jews is, that if the will be set in His ways, if a man be really anxious to do the will of God, and thus to fulfil this first great commandment of the law, the singleness of purpose, and subjection to the will of God, will lead him on to faith in the promised and then apparent Messiah, and to a just discrimination of the divine character of his teaching. 18.] This gives us the reason why he, who wishes to do God's will, will know of the teaching of Christ : viz. because both are seeking one aim — the glory of God : — and the humility of him, whose will it is to do God's will, can best appreciate that more perfect hu mility of the divine Son, who speaks not of himself, but of Him that sent him, — see ch. v. 41 — 44, of which this verse is a re petition with a somewhat different bearing. In its general sense, it asserts that self- exaltation and self-seeking necessarily ac company the unaided teaching of man, but that all true teaching is from God. But then we must remember that, simply taken, the latter part of the sentence is only true of the Holy One Himself; that owing to human infirmity, purity of motive is no sure guarantee for correct ness of doctrine; — and therefore in this second part He does not say " the glory of God," which would generalize it to all men, but his glory that sent him, which confines it to Himself. 19.] There is a close connexion with the foregoing. Our Lord now takes the offensive against them. The being willing to do His will was to be the great key to a true appreciation of His teaching : but of this there was no example among them : — and therefore it was that they were no fair judges of the teaching, but bitter opponents and persecutors of Jesus, of whom, had they been anxious to fulfil the law, they would have been earnest and humble disciples (ch. v. 46). The law- was to be read before all Israel every seventh year in the feast of tabernacles (Deut. xxxi. 10 — 13) : — whether this was such a year is uncertain : but this verse may allude to the practice, even if it was not. Why seek ye to kill me ?] In their killing the Lord of Life was summed up all their transgression of God's law. It was the greatest proof of their total ignorance of and disobedience to it. 20.] The multitude, not the rulers, replied this. Indeed their question, " Who seeketh to kill thee ?" shews their ignorance of the •530 ST. JOHN. VII. u Lev. xu. s. work, and ye all marvel. 22 u Moses therefore ^gave unto xoen. xvii. w. you circumcision, not because it is of Moses, x but of the fathers; and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken ; are ye angry at ych.v.8,o,i6. me, because * I have made a man every whit whole on the * ueut. l i6, sabbath dav ? ** z Judge not according to the appearance, 17 Prov vuVio8' ch' but judge righteous judgment. 25 Then said some of James H.i. fa^ 0f Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? 26 v But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto a ver. 48. him. awJDo the rulers know indeed that x this is the very b Matt. xin. ss. Christ? 27 b Howbeit we know this man whence he is: Luke iv! 22. j^ when y Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. cch.v.43: viii. 42. . 23 z Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am : and c I am not a render, hath given. v render, And. w render, Have the rulers come to know. x read and render, that this man is the Christ. y render, the Christ. z render, Therefore cried Jesus, teaching in the temple, and saying. purpose of their rulers, which our Lord had just exposed and charged them with. It would not now be their policy to repre sent Him as possessed. 81.] The one work was tbe sabbath healing in ch. v. 22.] The argument seems to be, Moses on this account gave you circum cision, not because it is of Moses, hut of the fathers ; i. e." it is no part of the law of Moses, properly so called, — but was adopted by Moses, and thereby becomes part of his law. Now you circumcise ou the Sabbath, to avoid breaking the law of Moses, &c. If our Lord had said these last words (in ver. 23) merely, the argu ment would not have been strict : they might have answered, that circumcision was not only a command of the law, but anterior to it ; whereas ver. 22 takes this answer from them ; reminding them that . though they regarded its sanction as de rived from Moses, it was in fact older, — and tacitly approving their doing it on the Sabbath. Then the argument is, If this may be done on the Sabbath : — if an ordi nance strictly Mosaic (which the Sabbath in its Jewish mode of observance was) may be set aside by another, Mosaic also, but more ancient, and borrowed from a more general and direct command of God (for, as Grotius observes, circumcision was older than the enactment of strict rest on the Sabbath by the law), how much more may it by a deed of mercy, a benevolent exercise of divine power, the approval of which is anterior to and deeper than all ceremonial enactment? 23.] that the law of Moses should not be broken, viz. that which (after the fathers) ordains circumcision on the eighth day. a man every whit whole] The distinction is between circum cision, which purified only part of a man, by which he received ceremonial cleanness, — and that perfect and entire healing which the Lord bestowed on the cripple. 25 — 81.] He Himself is peom the Patheb. 25, 26.] The inhabitants of Jerusalem know better than the multitude the mind of their rulers towards Jesus ; and suspect some change in their purpose, on account of His being thus permitted to teach freely. 27.] Perhaps they refer to the idea (see quotation from Justin Martyr in note on ch. i. 31) that the Mes siah would not be known until anointed by Elias, when He would suddenly come forth from obscurity. They may allude to Isa. liii. 8. ' The place of the Messiah's birth was known, ver. 42. At all events we see here, that the Jews regarded their Messiah not as a mere man, but one to be supernaturally sent into the world. 28, 29.] cried,— in the same open undis guised manner referred to in the words 22—34. ST. JOHN. 531 dch.v. 82: viii. 20. Bom. iii. 4. e ch. i. 18 : viii. 55 fMatt.xi.27. ch. x.15. g Mark xi. 18. Luke xix. 47: XX. 19. ver. 10. ch. viii.S7. h ver. 44. ch. viii. 20. i Matt, xii: 28. ch. iii. 2: viii. SO. k eh. xiii. S3 : xvi. 18. 1 Hos. v. 6. ch. viii. 21 : xiii. 33. come of myself, but he that sent me d is true, e whom ye know not. ™ [* Buf] fI know him: *for I am from him, and he p hath] sent me. 80" Then they sought to take him : but h no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 31 a And ' many of the e people believed on him, and said, "When f Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done ? 32 The Pharisees heard % that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. 33 Then said Jesus \^unto them], kYet a httle while am I with you, and [i tjien] I go unto him that sent me. 3* ' Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I am, [* thither] ye a omitted by many ancient authorities. ° render, because. c render, Therefore sought they. d render, But. e render, multitude. f render, the Christ shall come. S render, the multitude murmuring these things. "¦ omit. * omit. "speaketh boldly" above; but it was, in the course of His teaching. Te both know me . . . .] It has been questioned whether these words are to be taken ironically, interrogatively, or affirmatively. I incline to the latter view, for this rea son:— obviously no very high degree of knowledge whence He was is implied, for -they knew not Him that sent Him (see also ch. viii. 14, 19), and therefore could not know whence He was, in this sense. The answer is made in their own sense : — they knew that He was from Nazareth in Galilee, see ver. 41, — and probably that He was called the son of Joseph. In this sense they knew whence He was ; but further than this they knew not. and I am not come ; and moreover — i. e. besides this. The sense of true must -be gathered from the context. I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true — ye know Him not, but I know Him. — for I came from Him, and He sent Me. The* matter here impressed on them is the genuineness, the reality of the fact : — that Jesus was sent, and there was one who sent "Bim, though they knew Him not, and consequently knew not whence He was. The nearest English word would be real : but this would not convey the meaning perspicuously to the ordinary mind ; — per haps the A. V. true is better, provided it be explained to mean' really existent, not 'truthful.' 30.] they, namely, the rulers, — instigated by what had been above remarked by the people, vv. 25, 26. There was some secondary hindrance to their laying hands on Him, — possibly the fear of the people: but the Evangelist passes at once to the real cause;— .that God's ap pointed time was not yet come. 31.] The But here contrasts with what went before — nay, many &c. 32 — 36.] He will betubn to the Patheb. 32.] The wavering of the multitude appears to the Pharisees a dan gerous sign: and the Sanhedrim (consist ing of the Chief Priests and the Pharisees) send officers specially to lay hold on Him. 33, 34.] The omission or insertion of "unto them" makes very little differ ence. The words were spoken, not to the officers only, but to all the people. Yet a little while . . . .] This appears to be said in reference to ver. 30, to shew them the uselessness of their attempting to lay hands on Him till His hour was come, which it soon would do. unto him that sent me] It has been asked, ' If Jesus thus specified where He was going, how could the Jews ask the question in ver. 35 ?' but De Wette answers well, that the Jews knew not " Him that sent Him," and therefore the saying was a dark one to them. Te shall seek me, and shall not find me] These words must not be pressed too much, as has been done by many interpreters, who would make them mean ' Ye shall seek My help and not ¦find it' (viz. in your need, at the destruc tion of Jerusalem); for this would not be true even of the Jews, any one of whom 532 ST. JOHN. VII. cannot come. 35 J Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will k he go, that we shall not find him ? will he go unto m the dispersed amoDg the * Gentiles, and teach the 1 Gentiles ? 36 What m manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I am, [n thither] ye cannot come ? 37 n In the last day, 0 that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, j render, The Jews therefore said. * render, this man. 1 render, Greeks. m render, is this saying. n omit. ° render, which was the great day. m Isa. xi. 12. James i. 1. 1 Pet. i. 1. n Lev. xxiii. 88. might have at any time turned and looked on Him whom he had pierced, by faith, — and have been saved ; — nor again must it be taken as meaning, ' Ye shall seek to lay hands on Me, and shall not be able,' — which is vapid and unmeaning. Nei ther of these interpretations, nor any like them, will agree with the parallel place, ch. xiii. 33, where the same words are used to the disciples. The meaning is simply (as in reff.), 'My bodily presence will be withdrawn from you ; I shall be personally in a place inaccessible to you :' see ch. xiii. 36. where I am] We need not sup ply "then;" the present tense is used in the solemn sense of ch. i. 18, and ch. iii. 13, to signify essential truth. Com pare "ye cannot" addressed to the Jews, with " thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards," ad dressed to Peter, ch. xiii. 36, and it will be evident that the Lord had their spiri tual state in view : ' Ye cannot, as ye are now, enter there.' On the whole, see Luke xvii. 22. 35, 36.] The Jews understood not his death to be meant, but somo journey which He would, take in the event of their rejecting him. Their intent in this hypothesis, that He was going to the dispersed among the Greeks, is, to convey contempt and mockery. They do not however believe the hypothesis ; but ask again, What is this Baying % 37 — 52.] Jesus the giver of the Spibit (37—39). Consequences op the disooup.se (40—52). 37, 88.] It is not certain what is meant by this last day, which was the great day of the feast. The command, Levit. xxiii. 34, 35, was to keep the feast seven days ; the first to be a solemn assembly and a feast-sabbath, — then on the eighth day another solemn assembly and a feast-sabbath : — so also ib. ver. 39. (But in Deut. xvi. 13 nothing is said of the eighth day.) In Neh. viii. 18 the feast is kept seven days, and on the eighth is a solemn assembly, 'according unto the manner.' In Num. xxix. 12— 38, where minute directions are given for every day of the feast, the eighth day is reckoned in, as usual. Josephus, Antt. iii. 10. 4, gives a similar account. In 2 Mace. x. 6, we read " eight days . ... as in the feast of the tabernacles." But the eighth day was not properly one of the feast days; the people ceased to dwell in the taberna cles on the seventh day. Philo says of it, that it was the solemn conclusion, not of that feast alone, but of all the feasts in the year, being the last day in the year. And though this may be pure conjecture, it is valuable, as shewing the fact the reason of which is conjectured ; viz. that the eighth day was held in more than ordinary esti mation. The eighth day then seems here to be meant, and the last of the feast to be popularly used, as in some of the cita tions above. But a difficulty attends this view. Our Lord certainly seems to allude here to the custom which prevailed during the seven days of the feast, of a priest bringing water in a golden vessel from the pool of Siloam with a jubilant procession to the temple, standing on the altar and pouring it out there, together with wine, while meantime the Mallei (Ps. cxiii.— cxviii.) was sung. This practice was by some supposed— as tbe dwelling in taber nacles represented their life in the desert of old — to refer to the striking of the rock by Moses: — by others, to the rain, for which they then prayed, for the seed of tho ensuing year: — by the elder Kabbis, to Isa. xii. 3, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit in the days of the Messiah. But it was almost universally agreed, that on the eighth day this ceremony did not take place. Now, out of this difficulty- 1 would extract what I believe to be the right in terpretation. It was the eighth day, and the pouring of water did not take place. But is therefore all allusion to the cere mony excluded ? I think not : nay, I be lieve it is the more natural. For seven 35-41. ST. JOHN. 533 ?If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. •Jj'.-vfik 38 p He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, outppw.^ii7' 3 r 0 4. Isa. xii. 3: of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 « But this $%*. ch. spake he of the Spirit, whieh they that believe on him q j?eiST2e!' P should receive : for the Holy Ghost was not yet [4 given] : Ac'fa a'. 17, because r that Jesus was not yet r glorified. *° s Many of the r ^fl; W: * people therefore, when they heard n this saying, said, Of a " i5,uis"h.i. truth this is sthe Prophet. 41 Others said, 'This is the^'jj48' P render, were about to. 4 omit : not in tl 1 render, neither was Jesus. s read, Some. * render, multitude. u read, these sayings days the ceremony had been performed, and the Hallel sung. On the eighth day the Hallel was sung, but the outpouring of the water did not take place : something was missed, which took place on the other days. ' Then Jesus stood and cried, &c.' Was not this the most natural time ? Was it not probable that He would have said it at such a time, rather even than while the ceremony itself was going on ? On the sense of our Lord's words, see notes on ch. iv. 13, 14. as the scripture hath said] These words must apply to the words " out of his belly shall flow, Src." since the words '!he that believeth on me" could not form part of the citation. But we look in vain for such a text in the 0. T., and an apocryphal or lost canonical book is out of the question. I believe the citation to be intimately connected with the ceremony referred to, and that we must look for its place by consulting the pas sages where the flowing out of water from the temple (see above) is spoken of. The most remarkable of these is found in Ezek. xlvii. 1 — 12. There a river of water of life (see ver. 9 especially) flows from under the threshold of the temple. Again in Zech. xiv. 8, living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. 1 believe these expres sions to be all to which the citation ap plies, and the words "out of his belly" ¦ to be the interpretation of the correspond ing words in the prophecies. For the temple was symbolic (see ch. ii. 21) of the Body of the Lord; and the Spirit whieh dwells in and flows forth from His glorified Body, dwells in and flows forth from His people also, who are made like unto Him, Gal. iv. 6; Rom. viii. 9^ — 11; 1 Cor. iii. 16. 39.] The diffi culties raised concerning this interpreta tion of the saying of our Lord have arisen from a misapprehension. St. John does not say that the words were a prophecy of Vol. I. what happened on the day of Pentecost; but of the Spirit, which the believers were about to receive. Their first reception of Him must not be illogically put in the place of all His indwelling and working, which are here intended. And the sym bolism of the N. T. is fully satisfied by the interpretation. . Granted that the water is the water of life, — what is that life but the life of the Spirit ?'"The mind of the Spirit, is life," Rom. viii. 6;. and again, " the- Spirit,- is life," ib. ver. 10. was not yet] The additions "given," "Upon them," as some authorities read, — and the like, are all put in by way of ex planation, to avoid a misunderstanding which no intelligent reader could fall into. Chrysostom writes, "The Evangelist says, 'for the Holy Ghost was not yet,' i.e. was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified : meaning by the Glory, the Gross." It is obvious that the word was cannot refer to the essential existence of the Holy Spirit, as this would be not only in flat contradiction to ch. i. 32, 33; iii. 5, 8, 34, but to the whole Old. Test.,, in which the agency of the Spirit in the outward world is recognized even more vividly than in the N. T. The word implied is not exactly "given," but rather "work ing," or some similar word : was not, — had not come in ; • the dispensation of the Spirit was not yet.' glorified, through death. The glorified Body of the Lord is the temple from under whose threshold the Holy Spirit flows forth to us ; see ch. i. 16; Rom. viii. 11; Col. ii. 9. .40.] the Prophet is here clearly distin guished from the Christ : see note on cb. i. 21, and Deut. xviii. 15. 41—43.] The mention of the question about Bethlehem seems to me rather to corroborate our belief that the Evangelist was well awnre how the fact stood, than, as some have said, *"2 ivnpb* thnt^fir-p" ignorant of it. rf^tary of the 534 ST. JOHN, VII. uver.52.ch. Christ. But somfe 'said, *Shall Christ come iu out of Galilee r xif °Jer. ' 42 x Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the Mat'tJiL's. see Matt. vu. 29. 46 The officers answered, bc Never man spake like this man. *7 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also de- °Actevi47'. ceived? ^"Have any of the rulers or ofthe Pharisees ^"'.s.20' beheved on him ? 49 But this a people who knoweth not dch.iu.2. .j.he jaw are cursed. 50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (dhe that came to e Jesus ]} by nigM] , being one of them,) * rKVao'- 51 " Doth our law judge any man, S before it hear him, and Ii3:'16- know what he doeth ? 5a They answered and said unto x render, Doth the Christ then. y render, from Bethlehem, the town where. z render, multitude. a render, were minded to take. b render, The officers therefore came. 0 Some ancient authorities read, Never man spake thus : others vary in other ways. * render, multitude : it is here a word of contempt, — rabble. 0 read, him before. * The reading here varies very much : some ancient copies omitting " by night, others inserting it in deferent positions. e render, except it first hear from him. That no more remarks are appended; is 45—52.] Return of the officers to the natural. St. John had one great design in Sanhedrim ; consultation on their report. writing his gospel, and does hot allow it to Either these officers had been watch- be interfered with by explanations of mat- ing Jesus for some days, or the present ters otherwise known. Besides, we may section goes back a little from what has note that the so-called "probability, that preceded. The latter is more probable. John knew nothing of the birth at Beth- 49.] There is no intention to pro- lehem," reaches much further than may nounce a formal ban upon the followers of appear at first. If St. John knew nothing Jesus ; — the words are merely a passionate of it, and yet the Mother of the Lord lived expression of contempt. 60.] The with him, the inference must be that she Jews had, since the sabbath-healing, con- knew nothing of it, — in other words, that dcinucd Jesus, and were seeking to kill it never happened. The word ren- him. But in Exod. xxiii. 1, 2 ; Deut. i. dered division implies a violent dissension, 16, 17, justice is commanded to be done in — some taking up His cause, some wishing the way here insisted on by Nicodemus. to lay hands on Him. 44.] These Observe the consistency, and development, were from among the multitude. Those ofthe character of Nicodemus; and see who wished to lay Hands on Him were, more on ch. xix. 39. 51.] See Deut. as Euthymius remarks, invisibly re- i. 16. 52.] They taunt him with being disposed to join those {mostly 42—52. ST. JOHN. 535 him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and "^look: for iira.ix..i,2. 1 out of Galilee 1 ariseth no prophet. ver.'ii.6' k render, see that. * Some MSS. have, hath arisen. Galilaeans) who had attached themselves to Jesus. Whether we read ariseth or hath arisen, the assertion is much the same : for the expression " no prophet" cannot include the Prophet, or the Mes siah. It was not historically true; — for two prophets at least had arisen from Galilee : Jonah of Gathhepher, and the greatest of the prophets, Elijah of Thisbe ; and perhaps also Nahum and Hosea. Their contempt for Galilee made them lose sight of historical accuracy. HISTORY OP THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. [53 And every man went unto his own house. VIII. ' a Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he b came again into the temple* and all the people came unto him[c; and he sat c the most ancient MS. omits this. a render, But Jesus. b render, cometh. [This passage is to.be treated very differ ently from the rest of the sacred text. In the Alexandrine, Vatican, Paris, and Sinaitic MSS., the ancient Syriac Versions, and all the early fathers,, it is omitted: the Cambridge MS. alone of our most ancient authorities contains it. Augustine states, that certain expunged it from their MSS., because they thought it might encourage sin. But this will not account for the very general omission of it, nor for the fact that ch. vii. 53 is included in the omitted portion. Eusebius assigns it ap parently to the apocryphal " Gospel accord ing to the Hebrews." Other things to be noted respecting it are, (1) that in the MSS. which contain it, the number of variations is very much greater than in any equal portion of Scripture : so much is this the case, that there are in fact three separate texts, it being hardly possible tp unite them into one. (2) That in the original, the style, and manner of nar rating, are entirely different from those pf our Evangelist. It is not merely that many words and idioms occur which John never uses, but that the whole cast and character of the passage is alien from his manner, in whichever of the existing texts we read it. (3) The great majority of those MSS. which contain the passage, place it here. Some however insert it after the end of Luke xxi., which certainly seems a more fitting place, seeing that the incidents evidently belong to the later part of our Lord's ministry. . ($) I have adopted the plan also followed in, the last edition of my Greek Testament, and have printed it beneath the text of St. John, which I have allowed to go on inde- N pendently of the inserted passage. See 'the whole matter discussed and the autho rities given, in, my Greek Testament- 53.] The circumstance that this verse is included in the dubious passage is remark able, and seems tp shew, as remarked above, that the doubt has not arisen , front any ethical difficulty, as Augustine hints, — for then the passage would have begun with ch. viii. 1. Nor can this verse have been expunged to keep up the con nexion with ch. viii. 12 — for that is just as good with it, — if understood, as usually, of the members of the Sanhedrim. We must now regard it as fragmentary, forming tlie beginning of the account of the woman taken in adultery. It is therefore not clear to what the words apply. Taken in conjunction with what follows (see on ch. viii. 5.), I should say that they indicate some time during the last days of the Lord's ministry, when He spent the nights on the Mount of Olives, as the date of the occurrence. Certainly the end of Luke xxi. seems to be its fitter place. Chap. VIII. 1.] St. John never elsewhere mentions the Mount of Olives (not even in ch. xviii. 1) : and when he introduces a new place, it is his habit to give explanations (see ch. i. 45 ; v. 2, and the expressions used in ch. iv. 5 ; xix. 13, 17).* Stier, who says, " The simple answer to Alford's remark is, that John here, and here only, mentions the Mt. of 0." omits all allusion to this habit ofthe Evangelist, which alone gives weight to my remark. Most of the many differences from the style and ex pression of St. John must be gathered from the notes in the Greek Test., as they cannot be made clear to the mere English N 2 536 ST. JOHN. VHI. "ul'i'9*&96- VIII. 13 k Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, aI *ii.xi,m;k am the ligQt of tte worl(j . ^ that followeth me shall not k render, Jesus therefore spake. 12 — 59] Tee coneliot between Jestjs and the Jews, at its height. 12 — 20.] Testimony to Himself as the Light. 12.] The attempts of Bengel, Stier, and others, to establish a connexion with the passage concerning the HISTORY OP THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. down and taught them]. 8 And the Scribes and Pharisees & brought [iiunto him] a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, * e they say unto him, Master, this woman twas taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 aNow Moses in the law commanded us, that a Lev. xx. 10. Deut. xxii. d read, bring. dd the most ancient MS. omits this. e the most ancient MS. reads, The priests say unto him, tempting him, that they .might have matter of accusation against him. t render, hath been taken. reader. 3.] St. John never mentions "the Scribes" elsewhere, but usually calls the opponents of Jesus " the Jews," or " the rulers." " The Scribes and Pharisees" is a very common expression in the three Gospels. The account gives no light as to the capacity in which these Scribes and Pharisees acted when they brought the woman^ Probably, only as tempting Jesus, and not in the course of any legal proceed ings against her. Such would have re quired (Lev. xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22) that the man also should have been put to death. 4.] The words "say unto him, tempting him" savour much more of the three Gospels than of John : see Mt. xvi. 1; xix. 3; xxii. 18, 35: Mk. viii. 11; x. 2 ; xii. 15, &c. Obviously our ch. vi. 6 is no example to the contrary. The diffi culty is even greater than the last, to say, in what sense this was a temptation, to lead to His accusation. The principal solutions of it have been, (1) that the command of the law had fallen into disuse from the frequency of the crime, and to re-assert it would be contrary to the known mildness of Jesus. But what reason had any of His sayings, — who came to fulfil the Law, not to destroy it, — given them to expect such mildness in this case p And suppose He had re-asserted the law,— how could they have accused Him 1 (2) That some political snare was hereby laid for Him, whereby the Roman power might have been brought to bear against Him. But this does not in any way appear ; for (a) the Romans certainly allowed to the Jews (by connivance) the power of putting to death according to their law, — as they 'did in the case of Stephen : (b) our Lord's answer need not have been so worded as to trench upon this matter: and (c) the accusers would have been more deeply involved than Himself, if such had been the case, being by the law the prominent persons in the execution. So that I leave the difficulty unsolved. Liicke observes : ' Since Jesus seems to avoid every kind of decision on the question put to Him, it follows tbat He found in it no reference to the great subjects of His teaching, but treated it as a purely civil or political matter, with which in His ministry He had no concern. Some kind of civil or political collision the question certainly was calculated to provoke: but from the brevity of the narration, and our want of more accurate knowledge of criminal pro ceedings at the time, it is impossible to lay down definitely, wherein the collision would have consisted.' 5.] I will just remark that the very fact of their questioning thus, ' Moses commanded, . . . but what sayest Thou V belongs to the last days of the Lord's ministry, and cannot well be introduced chronologically where it here stands: nor does St. John any where introduce these questions between the law of Moses and Jesus ; but the other Gospels often do. The command here mentioned is not to be found, unless 'putting to death' generally, is to be inter preted as stoning ; — compare Exod. xxxi. 14 ; xxxv. 2, with Num. xv. 35, 36, in which the special order given by God would sanc tion such a view. But the Rabbis taught that every punishment of death in Scrip ture put absolutely, without specification, was to be understood as meaning stran gulation. The passage Ezek. xvi. 38, 40 12, 13. ST. JOHN; 53? walk in 1 darkness, but shall have the hght of life. 13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, bThou bearest m record bob. v. si. 1 render, the darkness. m render, witness. woman taken in adultery are forced and harsh. It was, say they, the early morn ing (ver. 2) and the sun was just rising, to which these words "the light of the world " allude, — and the walking in dark ness is an allusion to the woman, whose HISTORY OP THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. g such should be stoned : but what sayest thou ? 6 [h This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.] But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground[, ias though he heard them not]. ' So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, b He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at I)?5u''I7J'-; her. 8 And again he stooped down, and k wrote on the ground. 9 And 1 they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, m even unto the last : and n Jesus was left g render, such women. h omitted in the most ancient MS. : see above on ver. 4. i omit. k read, wrote with his finger. 1 read, each of the Jews went out. m read, so that all went out. n read, he. proves nothing, or proves too much ; for it is added, 'and thrust thee through with their swords.' I would rather suppose that from Deut. xxii. 21, 23, 24, an in ference was drawn what kind of a death was intended in ver. 22, the crime being regarded as the same; "he hath humbled his neighbours wife." We have similar in definiteness in ib. ver. 25, where evidently the same punishment is meant. 6. wrote on the ground] The habit was a usual one to signify pre-occupation of mind, or intentional inattention. The addition, " as though he heard them not," is an explanatory gloss. It does not follow that any thing was actually written. Stier refers to Jer. xvii. 13, but perhaps without reason. This minute circum stance speaks strongly for the authenticity of the narration. 7.] The expression, "without sin," is not here used in the general sense, meaning, entirely sinless, nor in the strictest, 'free from the crime of adultery ' (it can hardly be that any of the Pharisees should have held themselves sinless, — or that all should have been im plicated in adultery) : — but — as the word "a sinner," in Luke vii. 37, — ofthe sin, of uncleanness generally. Stier, who con tends strongly for the genuineness of this narrative in this place, finds in ver. 4B an allusion to this saying. I cannot say that hiB attempts to establish a connexion with the subsequent discourse are to me at all satisfactory : I am much more inclined to think with Luthardt, that the whole ar rangement and plan of our Gospel is broken by the insertion of this passage. The Lord Jesus was not sent to be a ruler and a judge in this or that particular case of crime, see Luke xii. 14; but the Ruler and Judge of all: and His answer ex presses this, by convicting them all of sin before Him. Some of our MSS. read, " the stone:" in that case, our Lord refers to the first stone, which by Deut. xvii. 7 the witnesses were to cast. 8.] Euthymius remarks that our Lord adopted this ges ture, of again writing on the ground, in His goodness, to' allow them to pass out without being specially observed by Him-. One of our MSS. reads, " He wrote on the ground the sins of each of them." 9.] They had said, ver. 5, " such women " — they now perceive that they themselves were such men. There is no historical difficulty in this conduct of the Pharisees; as Olshausen finds ; — they were struck by the power of the word of Christ. It was a case somewhat analogous to that in which His saying, " I am he" struck His foes to the ground, ch.' xviii. 6. The varia tions of reading are very wide in the latter part of the verse. We can hardly (with some) lay any stress on " beginning at the eldest" as indicating the natural order of conviction of sin. If the consciences of older sinners have heavier loads on them, 538 ST. JOHN. VIII. of thyself; thy m record is not true. ' ** Jesns answered and said unto them, Though I bear mredord of myself, If^-yet] my m record is true ; mfor I know whence I came, m render, witness. n omit : not in the original. 1111 render, because. deed of darkness had been detected in the night. But not to dwell on other objec tions to this view, — e. g. that such an allusion to the woman would be wholly out of character after our Lord's previous treatment of her, — how come these Phari sees, who on the hypothesis of the above Commentators are the' same as those who accused the woman, to be again so soon pre sent ? Was this at all likely ? We cannot escape from this difficulty with Stier, by supposing a multitude of the people to have been witnesses on both occasions : the "Pharisees" of the one must surely extend through the other, if this con nexion is to be maintained. On the other hand, this discourse comes in very well after ch. vii. 52. The last saying of Jesus (ch. vii. 37, 38) had referred to a festal usage then just over ; He now adds another of the same kind. It was the cus tom during the first night, if not during every night, of the feast of tabernacles, to light up two large golden chandeliers in the. court of the women, the light of which illuminated all Jerusalem. All that night they held a festal dance by the light. Now granted that this was on the first night only, — what is there improbable in the supposition that our Lord— standing in the very place where the candlesticks had been or perhaps actually were — should have alluded to that practice, as He did to the outpouring of water in ch. vii. 37, 38? Surely to say in both cases, as Liicke and De Wette do, that the allu sion could not have been made unless the usage took place on that day, is mere trifling. While the feast lasted, and the remembrance of the ceremonies was fresh, the allusion would be perfectly natural. See on ch. i. ,9, and xi. 9, 10. See also Isa. xlii. 6; Mai. iv. 2; and on "the light of life," ch. i. 4, and vi. 48. 13.] See ch. v. 31. The assertion there was, that His own unsupported witness (supposing that possible) would not be trustworthy, but that His testimony was supported by, and in fact coincident with, that of the Pather. The very same argument is here used, but the other side of it presented to us. He does witness of Himself, because His testimony is tbe testimony of the Pather ;— He being the Word of God, and the Pather witnessing in Him. 14.] because I know, &c. — see on ch. vii. 29, This reason binds His testimony to that of the Pather; for He came forth from the HISTORY OP THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. alone, and the woman [o standing] in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, p and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers ? hath no man condemned thee? " qShe said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, ° Neither do I condemn thee : go, r and d sin no more.] elitlkeix. B6; xii. 14. ch. Hi. 17. d ch. v. 14. 0 omit. q read, And she said unto him. those of younger ones are more tender. alone, i. e. with tbe multitude and the disciples ; the Woman standing between Him and the disciples on one hand, — and the multitude on the other. 10, 11.] The question is evidently so worded as it is, " hath no man condemned thee?" for the sake of the form of the answer, " Neither do I condemn thee :" but it expresses the truth in the depth of their hearts. The Lord's chaEenge to them would lead to a condemnation by p read, he said unto the woman, Where are they ? r read, from this time. comparison with themselves, if they con demned at all : which they had not done. The words of Jesus were in feet a far deeper and more solemn testimony against the sin than could be any mere penal sentence. And in judging of them we must never forget that He who thus spoke knew the hearts, — and what was the peculiar state of this woman as to penitence. We must not apply in all cases a sentence, which requires Sis divine knowledge to make it a just one."] 14<— 21, ST. JOHN. 539 and whither I go; but c ye ° cannot tell whence I eome, "H-ii'm- Vand whither I go. ™ *Je judgp after the gesh. e^g^ judge no man. w1 And yet if I judge, my judgment st"47:ivm- is true: Tfor fI am not alone, but I and the Father that'™-29*. sent .me. lie "It is also written in your law, that thegD,!OT-""- testimony of two men is tru,e. 18Iam * one that, bear T^'cot witness of myself, and h the Father that sent me beareth *&' m*' witness of me. 19 u Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, l Ye neither know me, nor iver.R.. ch. my Father: k if ye had known me, ye * should ha,v,e known *<*¦**. 7. . my Father also. 20 These words spake Jesus in itheIMorkxU-41- treasury, as he taught in the temple: and mno man laidmoh.vii.so. hands on him; 7 far "his hour was not yet come. nch.vu.s. 31 z Then said Jesus again unto them, I go a my way, and 0 render, know not. 1 better, Yea, and if I should judge. s render, Moreover it is written. 11 render, They said therefore. y render, because. a render, away. P read, or. r render, because. * render, he that beareth. * render, would know. z render, Therefore. Pather, ch. xvi. 28, and was returning tp Him. " Light," says Augustine, "de monstrates other things, and itself also . ¦ . light gives testimony to itself: opens the eyes that are capable of behqlding it, and is its own witness that it may be known to be light." Then again, he only who knows can witness : and Jesus only knew this. Notice I know whence I came .- —this goes back to the " existence in the beginning" of ch. i. I; hut ye know not whence I come, — 'do not recognize even My present niission.' We must not for a moment understand " Though I bear witness," withGrotius, "eventhoughlshould bear witness," &c: i.e. "even though there were no previous testimonies to me of the prophets or .of 'John the Baptist."' Our Lord's words do not suppose a case, but allows the fact. W, 16.] There is no allusion to the foregping history; the train of thought is altogether another. ' The end of all testimony, is the ifqrming, or pronouncing, jpf judgment. Ye do this by fleshly rules, concerning me and my mis sion: I judge no man, i. e. it is not the ob ject nor habit of this My mission on earth ; but even if I be called on to exercise judg ment, my judgment is decisive :' the word meaning not exactly true in its prdinary meaning, but rather, genuine ; which a judgment can only be by being true and final ; see ch. y. ^30 and note. 17.] The word your seems tp give this sense to the clause:— 'So thjitif you will have the mere letter of the law, and judge my tes timony by it, I will even thus satisfy you :' your thus implying, ' The law which you have made so. completely your own by your (lcind of adherence to itl' 19.] Augus- tine and others imagine that the Jews thought of a human Father, in thus speak ing. But surely before this, as' Stier re marks, the Jews must have become too well accustomed to the words "my Pather," from our Lord, to mistake their mean ing. It is rather a question asked in mere scorn, by persons who know, but will not recognize, the meaning of a word uttered by another. if ye had known me] See ch. xiv. 9 ff- and note!1 20. the treasury] See Luke xxi. 1, and note on Mark xii. 41. Jt was in the court of the women. his hour was not yet come] See ch. vii. 8, 3.0. 21-T59.] Further discourses of Jesus. The jews attempt to stone Him. — -This forms the great conclu sion of the series .of discourses to the Jews. In it pur L,prd testifies more plainly still to His divine prigin and sinlessness, and to the cause of their unbelief; until at last their enmity is worked up to the highest pitch, and they take up stones to cast at Him. It may be divided into four parts : (1) w. 21 — 24,— announcing to them the inevitable consequence of persistence in 540 ST. JOHN. VIII. 3 Ch. vii. 34 1 Xiii. 88. p ver. 24. q ch. iii. 81. r ch. xv. lfli xvii. 16. 1 John iv. 5. a ver. 21. 0 ye shall seek me, and p shall die in your * sins : whither I go, ye cannot come. 22 c Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come. as And he said unto them, « Ye are from beneath ; I am from above : r ye are of this world ; I am not of this world. Z4> 8 1 said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins : for if ye believe not that I am co he, ye shall die in your sins. 25 d Then said they unto him, Who art thou ? And Jesus saith unto them, e Fmen the same that I said unto you from the beginning. 26 I have many things b render, sin. ° render, The Jews therefore said. cc not expressed in the original. "¦ render, Therefore. e read and render, In very deed, that same which I speak unto you. their unbelief, on His withdrawal from them : (2) vv. 25 — 29, — the things which He has to say and judge of them, and the certainty of their own future recognition of Him and His truthfulness: (3) vv. 30-^-47, — the first springing up of faith in many of them is by Him corrected and purified from Jewish pride, and the source of such pride and unbelief detected : (4) w. 48 — 58, — the accusation ofthe Jews in ver. 48, gives occasion to Him ~to set forth very plainly His own divine dignity and prat- existence. 21 .1 .The time and place cf this discourse are net definitely marked; but in all probability they were the same as befere. Only no stress must be laid on the therefore as connected with ver. 20, for it is only the accustomed carrying for ward by the Evangelist of the great self- manifestation of Jesus. ye shall seek me includes the idea ¦' and shall not find me,' which is expressed in ch. vii. 34, 36 : — ye shall continue seeking Me and shall die (perish) in your sin] This sin is not unbelief, for, ver. 24, it is clearly distinguished from that : but, ' your state of sin, unremoved, and therefore abiding on you, and proving your ruin' (see on ver. 24). The words do not refer to tho destruction of Jerusalem, but to individual perdition. In these discourses in John, the public judgment en the Jews is not pro minently brought fprward, as in the other Evangelists. whither I go, ye cannot come, the consequence, not the cause (by any absolute decree) of their dying in their sins (see ch. vii. 34; xiii. 33). This latter sense would have required the insertion of "for " befere the clause. 22.] It iB at least probable that they allude to the idea mentioned by Josephus, himself a Pharisee, in his speech at Jotapata, " As many as have laid violent hands on them selves, for their souls there is a darker Hades reserved." Heracleon, as cited by Origen, gives this interpretation of their saying: — 'and with the bitterest malice taunt Him with thus being about to go where they, the children of Abraham, could never come.' De Wette thinks this too refined, and that such a meaning would, if intended, have been marked in our Lord's answer. 23.] ' Ye cannot come where I am going, because we both shall return thither whence we came : I to the Pather from Whom (from above) I came : ye to the earth and under the earth (for that more awful meaning surely is not excluded) whence ye came' (from beneath). Then the term this world of course does not only imply ' this present state of things' but involves the deeper meaning, of the origin of that state of things (see ver. 44) and its end, ver. 24. 24.] Since this (ver. 23) is the case,— if ye do not believe that I am He, the Deliverer, — and be renewed by Paith, ye shall die in your sins (plural here, as struck nearer home to their consciences, and implying individual acts of sin, the results of the carnal state). 25.] Their question follows on the werds "2" am from above," ver. 23, and en the dubipus ellip tical expressicn I am (he) pf the last verse. It is intended to bring put a plain answer en which their enmity might fasten. Our Lprd's reply has been feund very diffi cult, from reasons which can hardly be ex plained to the English reader. The A. V., ' even the same that I said unto you from the beginning,' cannot well be right. The verb rather means to speak or discourse, than to say : the connecting particle can not well be rendered " even :" and the word rendered "from the beginning" far 22—30. ST. JOHN. 541 to say and to judge of you : but ' he that sent me is true ; tch.vu.28. and u* I speak to the world those things which I have heard ^•^i' of him. 27 They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. 28 g Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have x lifted up the Son of man, * then shall ye know that I am xSi.s2'.14: he, and zthat I do nothing of myself; but a as my Father JS^'mo. P1 hath] taught me, I speak these things. 29 And bhe*S'^-1* that sent me is with me: e*the Father hath not left me0""'1"' alone; ilfor I do always those things that please him. dTb-3jv.-Tt.:s8. 30 As he spake these words, e many believed on him. e ?«?-"ij f render, the things which I heard from him, these speak I unto the world. S read and render, Jesus therefore said. h om^ 7 read and render, he left me not. 1 render, because. more probably means "essentially," or " in very deed." This being premised, the sentence must be rendered (literally) thus : Essentially, that which I also dis course nnto yon: or, In very deed, that same which I speak unto you. He is the Word — His discourses are the revelation of Himself. And there is especial propriety in this : — When Moses asked the name of God, 'I am that which I am,' was the mysterious answer ; the hidden essence of the yet unrevealed One could only be ex pressed by self-comprehension; but when God manifest in the flesh is asked the same question, it is ' I am that which I SPEAK :' what He reveals Himself to be, that He is (see on next verse). The above sense is maintained by De Wette, and strikingly expanded and illustrated by Stier. See an account, and discussion, of other proposed interpretations, in my Greek Test. 26.] He is, that which He speaks; and that, He has received from the Pather ; — He has His definite testimony to give, and His werk to dp : and therefere, theugh He has much that He cculd speak and judge abeut the Jews, He does it not, but over looks their malice, — not answering it, — ¦ that He may go forward with the speaking unto the world, the revelation of Himself: the truth of which is all-important, and ex cludes less weighty things. This verse is in the closest connexion with the fore going. 27.] They did not identify "him that sent me" with "my Father." However improbable this may be, after the plain words " the Father that sent me," in ver. 18, it is stated as a fact; and the Evangelist certainly would not have done so without some sure ground:— "It is pro bable, that they questioned one with an other, ' Who is he that sent him ?'" Eu thymius. There is no accounting for the ignorance of unbelief, as any minister of Christ knows by painful experience. 28.] This connects (therefore being the continuation of the foregoing, see above on ver. 21) with ver. 26, and also with ver. 27, as the words then shall ye know shew, referring to the expression in that verse, "They knew not." On lifted up, see ch. iii. 14. ' When ye shall have been the instruments of accomplishing that death by which He shall enter into His glory :' for the latter idea is clearly implied here. then shall ye know] Perhaps, in different ways: — some, by the power of the Holy Spirit poured out after the exalta tion of Christ, and to their own salvation ; others, by the judgments which were to follow ere long, and to their own dismay and ruin. The interchange cf do and speak is remarkable. The construction is not elliptical, so that " do and speak" shpuld be understood in both cases; but the declaration of ver. 25 is still in the Lord's mind, His doing being all a decla ration of the Father, — a speaking forth in the widest sense. Bengel says well: " Ye shall know by fact, that which ye now believe not by word." 29.] left me not alone, referring to the appointment of the Father by which His work was begun, and which the continued presence of the Pather (he that sent me is with me) carries on through that work: see ch. xvi. 32. because I do always . . . .; not 'for,' as if what follows were merely a token that it is so. The doing always those things that please him is the very essential being of the Son, and is the cause why the Father is ever with Him. 80.] They believed on Him with a higher degree of faith than those in ch. ii. 23, in- 542 ST. JOHN. VIII. 81 Then said Jesus to those Jews which m believed on him, If ye continue in my word, nthen are ye my disciples '«^ 7^ ». indeed; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and ? the -truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, gWe be Abraham's seed, and ° were never in bondage to any man : how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free ? 3* Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, h Whoso ever P committeth sin is the 1 servant of sin. 35 TAnd 'the servant abideth not in the house for ever : [s but] the Son abideth ever. 86 k-jf tne son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37 I know that ye are James i. 23: ii. 12. e Lev. xxv, 42, Matt. iii. 9. ver. 89. h Rom.-vI.18, 20. 2 Pet. il. 19. 1 Cal. iv. 80. k Bom. viii. 2, Gal. v.l. m render, had believed him. 0 render, have never been. 1 render, bondman. s omit: n render, ye are. P render, doeth. r render, Now the bondman. not in,, the original. asmuch as faith wrought by hearing is higher than that by miracles; but still wanted confirming. 31.] continue in my word means to "abide in Me," ch. xv. 7, though that perhaps is spoken pf a deeper entrance into the state of union with Christ. Remaining in Mis word is not merely obeying His teaching, but is the inner conviction of the truth pf that reve lation of Himself, which is his word. ye are, for probably they had given some outward token of believing on Him, e. g. that of ranging themselves among His dis ciples. 32.] In opposition to the mere holding of the truth. The knowing of the truth answers to the feeding on Christ ; — is the inner realization of it in the. man. And in the continuing increase of this comes true freedom from all fear and error and bondage. 83.] The answerers are those that believed, not some others among the hearers, as many Com mentators have maintained; — see, as a proof of this, ver. 36, addressed to these same persons. They had not yet become disciples indeed, were not yet distinct from the mass of the unbelieving; and there fore, in speaking: to them,. He ascribes to them the sins of their race, and addresses them as part of that race. We be Abraham's seed: see Matt. iii. 9. The assertion that they had never been in bond age to any man was so contrary to his torical truth, that we must suppose some technical meaning to have been attached to the word bondage, in which it may have been correct. The words cannot be meant of that generation only, for the word never (never yet at any time, literally) connects with their assertion that they were Abra ham's seed, and generalizes it. As usual (see ch. iii. 4 ; iv. 11 ; vi. 52), they take the words pf our Lord in their out ward literal sense. Perhaps this was not always an unintentional misunderstanding. 34.] doeth sin, not merely "sin neth," for that all do ; but in the same sense as " work iniquity" is said, Matt. vii. 23. It implies living in the practice of sin, doing sin, as a habit : see reff. The mere moral sentiment, of which this is the spi ritual expression, was common among the Greek and Boman philosophers. 85.] I believe, with Stier and Bengel, Uu> refer ence tp be to Hagar and Ishmael,. ana Isaac: the bond and the free. They had spoken ,of themselves as the seed of Abraham. The Lord .shews them that there may be, ef that seed, two kinds ,- the son, properly so called, and the slave. The latter does not abide in the hpnse for ever : it is:not his right nor his position — 'Cast out the bpnd- wpman and her son.' ' But the son abideth ever.' For the application, see on follow ing verses. 86,] Ye then, being in sin, are carnal: the sons of the bond woman, and therefore need liberation. Now comes in the spiritual reality, into which .the discpurse passes frpm the figure. This liberatipn can only ,take place by means pf Him pf whom, Isaac was the type -i- the, Seed according to promise; thpse only who of His Spirit are born, again, and after His image, are free indeed— .truly spns of God, and no longer ^children of the bondwoman, bu,t of the free. . See by all means Gal. iv. 19, (where the subject really .begins, not at ver. 21) to end, which is the best commentary on this verse. There neither is, nor can be here, any allusion 31—42. ST. JOHN. 543 Abraham's seed; *but 'ye seek to kill me, because myi*-** j t » " T6r 40 word *Aath no place in you. 3» "I gpeat x ^ rfC/5, 1 "A^iilm: have seen with my Father: and 7 ye do *that which ye ST-io.2'4- z have seen with your father. 89 They answered and said unto him, "Abraham is our father. Jesus saith untonM!itl;iii-»- them, °If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the "S^X; works of Abraham. ^> PBut now ye seek to kill me, aP«lf man that hath » told you the truth, « which I [° &w] heard i*"-28- c and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham *was, stones to cast at him : am. 69 D Then *took they up1^"^ but Jesus hid himself, and went out ¦liV'coi.1'' of the temple [, ' Agoing through the midst of them, and *°k^8-j31 3B. passed by]. liSkeiv.'so. IX. 1 And as d Jesus passed by, he saw a man which a better, was made. * render, So they took. c omitted, or varied, by many of the most ancient authorities. * render, he. that Abraham did in his time keep Christ's word, viz. by a prospective realizing faith; and therefore that he, in the sense of ver. 51, had not seen death. This is ex pressed by and he saw it, and Was glad: see below. But what is the meaning of My day? Certainly, the day Pf Christ's appearance in the flesh. When that was over, and the attention was directed, to another and future appearance, the word came to be used of His second- coming, 1 Cor. i. 8, &c. &c. But this, as well as the day of Mis Cross, is out of the question here; — and the word was used by the Rabbis fer the time ef the Messiah's ap pearance. Sp we have it, Luke xvii. 22, 26 : but here, as there, the expression must not be limited exclusively to the former appearance. From the sense, it is evident that Abraham saw by faith and will see in fact, not the first coming only, but that which it introduces > and implies, the second also. Technically however, in the form of the sentence here, the First is mainly in view. And to see that day, is to be present at, witness, it; — to have experience of it. and he saw it, and was glad, viz. in his Paradisiacal state of bliss. And his 'seeing of Christ's day' was not by revelation, but actual — the seeing of a witness. ' Abraham then has not seen death, but lives through my word; — having believed and rejoiced in the promise of Me, whom he has npw seen manifest in the flesh.' 57.] No inference can be drawn from this verse as to the age of our Lord at the time, according' to the flesh. Fifty years was with the Jews the completion Of manhood. 58.] As Liicke remarks, all unbiassed explanation of these words must recognize in them a declaration of the essential prse-existence of' Christ. All such interpretations as ' before Abra ham became Abraham,' i. e. father of many nations (Socinus and others), and as 'I was predetermined, promised by God' (Grotius and the Socinian interpreters), are little better than dishonest quibbles. The distinction between was made (or was born) and am is important. The present, I am, expresses essential existence, see Col: i. 17, and Was-often used by Our Lord to assert His divine Being. In this verse1 the Godhead of Christ is involved ; and this the Jews clearly understood, by their conduct to Him. 59.] Probably there were stones (for building) lying about in the outer court of the temple, where these words seem to have been spoken. The reason of the Jews' doing this is given by them on a similar occasion, ch. x. 33, for that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. There does not appear to be any miraculous escape in tended ¦ here, although certainly the as sumption of one is natural under the circumstances. Jesus was probably sur rounded by His disciples, and might thus hide Himself (see eh. xii. 36), and go out of the temple. Chap. IX. X.] Jesus the hght, poe THE HEAT.TNQ OT THE WOBID AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE JEWS. IX. 1 — 41.] Manifestation of Jesus as the Light by a miracle. Judgment of the Jews by the healed man, and by Jesus. 1.] If the concluding words of ch. viii. in the ordinary text are genuine, this would appear to have happened on the same day as tbe incidents there related, which is hardly likely, for we should thus have the whole history from ch. vii. 37 (omitting ch. vii. SS^-'viii.' 12), belonging to one day, and that day a sabbath (ver. 14). And besides, the circumstances under which Jesus here appears are too usual and tranquil to have succeeded immediately to His escape in ch. viii. 59. I would rather therefore suppose that there is a break before this verse : how long, we cannot of course say. Thus we have the commence ment of a new narrative here, as in eh. 548 ST. JQHN. IX. b ch. xi. 4. ccb.iv. 34: - v. 19, 88: xi. 9: xii. 35 xvii. 4. dch.i.6,0: iii. 19 : viii. 12: xii. 35, 46. e Mark vii. 33 viii. 23. was blind from his birtb. 3 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, awho did sin, this man, or his parents, that he "was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither f hath this man sinned, nor his parents : b but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 c I must : work the works of him. that sent me, while it is day : the . night cometh, when no man can work. 6 S As long as I am in the world, d I am the light of "the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, ehe spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the bhnd e render, should be. f render, did this man sin: When. vi. 1, and vii. 1. The blind man was sitting begging (ver. 8), possibly pro claiming the fact of, his having been so born; for otherwise the disciples could hardly have asked the following question. The incident may have been in the neigh bourhood of the temple (Acts iii. 2) : but doubtless there were other places where beggars sat, besides. the temple entrances. 2.] According to Jewish ideas, every infirmity was the punishment of sin (see ver. 34). From Exod. xx. 5, and the pre vailing views on the subject, the disciples may have beheved that the man was visited for the sins of his parents : but how could he himself have sinned before his birth ? Beza and Grotius refer the ques tion to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, that he may have sinned in a former state of existence ; this however is disproved by the consideration adduced by Lightfoot, that the Pharisees believed that the good souls only passed into other bodies, which would exclude this case. Lightfppt, Liicke, and Meyer refer it tc the possibility of sin in the womb; Tholuck to predestinated sin, punished by anti cipation: De Wette te the general doc trine of the prse-existence of souls, which prevailed both among the Babbis and Alexandrians: see Wisd. viii. 19, 20. The question may have been asked vaguely, without any strict application of it to. the circumstances, merely taking for granted that some sin must have led to the blindness, and hardly thinking of the non- applicability of one of the suppositipns to this case. Or perhaps, as Stier inclines to ¦ suppose, the question may mean, 'this man, or, for that is out of the question, his parents ?' 3.] Our Lord does not of course assert the absolute sinlessness of the man, or of his parents, but answers . the question with reference to the reason why it was asked. Supply therefore after his parents, " that he should be born blind." Alse after hut supply " he was bom blind." In the economy of God's Providence, his suffering had its place and aim, and this was to bring out the works of God in his being healed by the Redeemer. De Wette denies this interpretatien, and refers the saying merely te the view pf pur Lprd to bring put his pwn practical design, te make use pf this man to prove His divine power. But see ch. xi. 4, which is strictly parallel. 4.] Connected by the words, work the works, to the former verse- There certainly seems to be some reference to its being the sabbath; see the similar expressions in ch. v. 17. From ver. 5, it seems evident that the day is the appointed course of the working of Jesus on earth, and the night the close of it (see the parallel, ch. xi. 9, 10). It is true, that, accprding tp St. John's universal diction, the death of Jesus is His glorification ; but the similitude here regards the effect on the world, see ver. 5; and the language of Bom. xiii. 12 is in accordance with it, as also Luke xxii. 53 : John xiv. 30. 5.] This partly explains the day and night of the former verse, partly alludes to the nature of the healing about to take place. As before the raising of Lazarus (ch. xi. 25), He states that He is the Eesurrection and, the Life; so now, He sets forth Him self as the source of the archetypal spiritual light, of which the natural, now about to be conferred, is only a derivation and sym bol. 6.] See Mark vii. 33; viii. 23. The virtue especially of the fasting saliva, in cases of disorders pf the eyes, was well knewn to antiquity. In the accounts pf the restoring of a blind man to sight at tributed to Vespasian, the use pf this remedy occurs. The use of clay also for healing the eyes was not unknown- 2—14. ST. JOHN. 549 man with the clay, 7 and said unto him, Go wash finfNel,i"-ls- the pool of Siloam, (which bis by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was * blind, said, Is not this he that k sat and begged ? 9 Some said. This is he : others said, He is like him : p but] he said, I am he. 10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened ? n He answered and said, B A man that is called Jesus made clay, ever. 6,7. and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash : and I went and washed, and I re ceived sight. 12 Then said they unto him, Where is he ? He said, I know not. 13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. 14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. 11 render, is interpreted. k render, sitteth and beggeth. No rule can be laid down which our Lord may seem to have observed, as to using, or dispensing with, the ordinary human means of healing. He Himself determined, by considerations which are hidden from us. Whatever the means used, the healing was not in them, but in Him alone. The ' conductor' of the miraculous power was generally the faith of the recipient : and if such means served to awaken that faith, their use would be accounted for. 7.] The reason of his being sent to Siloam is uncertain. It may have been as part of the cure, — or merely to wash off the clay. The former is most probable. A beg gar blind from his birth would know the localities sufficiently to be able to find his way ; so that there is no necessity to sup pose a partial restoration of sight before his going. The situation of the foun tain and pool of Siloam is very doubtful. On the subject of a recent suggestion re specting the identity of Siloam and Bethes da, see note on ch. v. 1. which is interpreted] The reasen pf this derivation being stated has been much doubted. Some consider the words to have been inserted as an early gloss of some allegorical inter preter. But there is no external authority for this supposition. Euthymius says, " I suppose, on account of the blind man being then sent thither :" and Meyer takes this view. But it would be a violent transfer, — of the name of the fountain, to the man who was sent thither. I should rather regard the healing virtue imparted to the Vol. I. 1 read, a beggar. * omit. water to be denoted, as symbolical of Him who was sent, and whose mission it was to give the healing water of life. came, i. e. came back ; — apparently to his own house, by the next verse. 8.] had beheld, rather than "had seen." The choice of the word implies attention and habit. 11.] The word rendered received sight is literally, recovered sight. Sight being natural to men, the deprivation of it is regarded as a loss, and the reception of it, though never enjoyed before, as a re covery. 13.] The neighbours appear to have brought him to the Pharisees, out of hostility ta Jesus (see ver. 12) : and ver. 14 alleges the reason of this : — or perhaps from fear of the sentence alluded te in ver. 22. The "Pharisees" here may have been the ceurt presiding over the synagogue, or one of the lesser local courts of Sanhedrim. Liicke inclines to think they were an assembly of the great Sanhedrim, whom St. John some times names the Pharisees : — see ch. vii. 47; xi. 46 : Meyer regards them as some formal section of the Pharisees, as a body : but were there such sections p 14.] Lightfoot cites from a Rabbinical treatise on the Sab- b&tb,tbsitit was forbidden evento put saliva on the eyelids. But the making the clay, as a servile work, seems to be here pro minently mentioned. Meyer notices, — and it is interesting, as a minute mark of accuracy, — that the man, in verses 11 and 15, only relates what he himself, as being blind, had felt : he says nothing pf tbe O 0 550 ST. JOHN. IX. 15 m Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. 16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not n of God, because 1,chI'm'2 ne heepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, h How can ich. vii. 12, 43: a man that is a sinner do such miracles ? And "there was x. 19. a division among them. 17 ° They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, P that he hath opened kv?'i4T-10i thine eyes? He said, k He is a prophet. 18lBut the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind ? how then doth he now see ? 20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind : 31 but by what means he now seeth, we know not ; or who [r hath] opened his eyes, we know not : he is . of age ; ask him : he shall speak for himself. ^xuS^Hx. a2 These words spake his parents, because 'they feared the l!is^°ts Jews : for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man mfaxrt.'2. did confess that he was Christ, he m should be put out of the synagogue. 23 s Therefore said his parents, He is of m render, Therefore. n render, from. 0 read, They say therefore. P render, seeing that. 1 render, Therefore. r omit. s render, For this cause. spittle. 15.] again refers back to timony against them, betake themselves ver. 10. The enquiry was official, as ad- to sifting more closely the evidence of the dressed to the chief witness in the matter, fact. The parents are summoned as wit- We cannot'hence infer that no one else was nesses. 19.] The question is three- present at the healing but Jesus and His fold, and in strict legal formality : ? Is disciples. 16. some others] this your son ? Was he born blind ? How Among the latter party would be such as is it that he now sees ?' 21.] The Nicodemus, Joseph, [Gamaliel ?] ; who pronouns in the latter part of the verse probably (Joseph certainly, Luke xxiii. 51) are emphatic : who liath opened his eyes at last withdrew, and left the majority to we know not : ask him : he is of age : he carry out their hate against Jesus. shall speak for himself. 22.] It 17.] The question is but one, What sayest is not said when this resolution was come thou of him, that he hath opened (i. e. for to ; and this also speaks for an interval having opened) thine eyes ? The stress-is between ch. vii., vii?., and this incident. on thou. ' What hast thou to say to it, It could hardly have been before the coun- seeing we are divided on the matter?' cil at the conclusion of ch. vii. Both parties are anxious to have the man's put out of the synagogue] Probably the own view to corroborate theirs. a pro- first of the three stages of Jewish excom- phet, and therefore, from God. 18.] munication, — the being shut out from the The hostile party (the Jews,— those in synagogue and household for thirty days, authority among these variously-minded but without any anathema. The other Pharisees) disappointed at his direct tes- two, the repetition of the above, accom- 15—31. ST. JOHN. 551 age; ask him. ^^Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, "Give « God the praise: 0 we know that this man is a sinner. 25 He answered and said, Whether he x be a sinner or no, I know not : one n Josh. vii. 19. lSam.vi.5. o ver. 16. thing I know, that, 7 whereas I was blind, now I see. 26 z Then said they to him [a again], What did he to thee ? how opened he thine eyes ? 27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear : wherefore would ye hear it again ? h WM ye aiso ie his disciples ? 28 [0 Then] they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. ^ We know that God d spake unto Moses : e as for this fellow, p we know not from whence he is. 30 The man answered and said unto them, i Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is-, and yet he [c hath] opened mine eyes. 31 Now we know that r God heareth not sinners : but if p ch. viif. 14. q ch. iii. 10. r Job xxvii. 9: xxxv/12, 18. Ps. xviii. 41 : xxxiv. 15 : Ixvi. 18. Prov. i. 28 : XV. 29: xxviii. 9. Isa. i. 15. Jer. xi. 11. xiv. 12. Ezek. viii. 18. Mic. iii. 4. Zech. vii. IS. * render, So they called the second time. 11 render, glory to God. * render, is a sinner. 7 render, Though a blind man, I now see. " render, They said therefore. a omitted by several ancient authorities. b render, would ye also become. c omit. d render, hath spoken. e render, but as for this man. panied by a curse, — and final exclusion, — would be too harsh, and perhaps were not in use so early. Trench regards the reso lution not as a token that the Sanhedrim had pronounced Him a false Christ, but as shewing that they forbade a private man to anticipate their decision on this point by confessing Him. But perhaps this may be questioned. 24. Give glory to God] not, ' Give God the praise ' (A. V.) 1. e. ' the glory of thy healing :' for the Phari sees want to overawe the man by their autherity, and make him deny the miracle altogether. The words are a form of ad juration (see Josh. vii. 19), to tell the truth, q. d. ' Remember that you are in God's presence, and speak as unto Him.' 25.] The man shrewdly evades the infer ence and states again the simple fact. We must render his words at the end of the verse, not " whereas I was blind, now I see," as A. V. : but being a blind man, or as in text, though a blind man, I now see. The shrewd and na'ive disposition of the man furnishes the key to the senigmatical expression. He puts it to them as the pro blem, the fact cf which he kncws for cer- 0 tain but the reasen pf which it was for them to solve, that he, whom they all knew as a blind man, now saw. 26.] They perhaps are trying to shake his evidence, — or to make him state something which should bring out some stronger violation of the sabbath. 27.] did not hear must be in its special meaning cf ' did not heed it.' The latter clause is of course ironical : ' you seem so anxious to hear particulars about Him, that you must surely be in tending to become His disciples.' 29.] God hath spoken, not spake, is im portant : it betokens the abiding finality of God's revelation to Moses, in their esti mation : as if they said, " We stand by God's revelation to Moses." from whence, — ' whether from God or not.' But see ch. vii. 27, 28, where a very different reason is given for disbelieving Him to be the Christ. 30.] Why herein is, &c. This well expresses the sense of the original. The man takes what their words had conceded, and proceeds to argue upon it. ye is emphatic: you, whose business it is to know such things. 31.] He expresses a general popular conviction, that one who o 2 552 ST. JOHN. IX. 32—41. u Matt. xiv. S3 : xvi. 18. Marti. 1. ch. X. 36. Uohn v.13. x ch. iv. 20. y ch. v. 22, 27. See ch. iii. 17: xii. 47. z Matt. xiii. 13. any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 32 Since the world began S was it not heard that h any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 33 8 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. 34 They answered and said unto him, l Thou wast alto gether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and iwhen he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on u the Son of God ? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I k might believe on him? 37 p And] Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and x it is he that talketh with thee. 88 And he said, Lord, I beheve. And he worshipped him. 39 And Jesus said, * For judgment mI am come into this world, zthat they which see not might see ; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And n some of the Pharisees which were with him heard S render, it was never heard. h render, for perspicuity, any one. 1 render, he found him, and said unto him. k render, may. m render, came I. * omit. n render, those. cpuld dp these things, must be a pious man: and (ver. 32) very eminently so, since this miracle was unprecedented. 33.] nothing, i. e. — nothing of this kind, much less such a thing as this. 34.] See on ver. 2. altogether,— deeply and entirely, as thy infirmity proved. ' They forget that the two charges, — one that he had never been born blind, and so was an impostor, — the other, that he bore the mark of Gpd's anger in a blindness that reached back te bis birth, — will not agree together.' Trench. they cast him out : i. e. they excommunicated him : see on ver. 22. It cannot merely mean, ' they cast him out of the court,' as many, both ancient and mo dern, interpret it : see next verse, where it would hardly be stated that Jesus heard of it, unless it had been some public formal act. 85.] 'Art thou he, whom our rulers have severely treated on account of thy belief in Jesus whom men call Christ ? Post thou, even after this treatment, be lieve on the Son of God P ' Lampe. 36.] This Son of God surpasses his present comprehension : and therefore, true to his simple and guileless character, he asks for further information about Hiin. 87.] These words, Thou hast both seen him, &c. serve to remind the man of the benefit he has received, and to awaken in him the liveliest gratitude : compare Luke ii. 30. They do not refer to a. former seeing, when he was healed : this was the first time that he had seen his Benefactor. 39.] There seems to be an interval between the last verse and this, and the narrative appears to be taken up again at some subsequent time when this miracle became again the subject of disccurse. The blind man had recevered sight in twc senses, — bpdily and spiritual. And as pur Lord always treats pf the spiritual as parampunt, including the bpdily, sp here He proceeds to speak of spiritual sight. ' We are all, according to the spirit of nature, no better than persons born blind; and to know and confess this our blindness, is our first and only true sight, out of which the grace of the Lord can afterwards bring about a complete receiving of sight. The " becoming blind," on the other hand, is partly an ironical expression for remaining blind, but partly also has a real meaning in the increasing darkening and hardening which takes place through unbelief.' Stier. they which see here answer to "they which are whole," and "the righteous" of Matt. ix. 12, 13; see note there. 40.] They ask the ques- X. 1-3. ST. JOHN. 553 a Bom. ii. 19. these words, aand said unto him, Are we blind also ? . „.„.. 41 Jesus said unto them, » If ye were blind, ye ° should have bch.xv.22, 24. no sin : but now ye say, We see ; therefore your sin remaineth. X. l Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other Way, the same is a thief and a robber. a But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth ; and the sheep 0 render, would not have. tion, not understanding the words of Jesus in a bodily sense, but well aware of their meaning, and scornfully rejoining, 'Are then we meant by these blind, we, the leaders of the people ?' 41.] The distinction in expression between the two clauses must be carefully borne in mind. Our Lord is referring primarily to the unbelief of the Pharisees and their rejection of Him. And He says, 'If ye were really blind (not, ' confessed yourselves blind'), ye would npt have incurred guilt ; but new ye say, " We see;" ye believe ye have the light, and beast that ye knpw and use the light ; and therefore yeur guilt abideth, remaineth on you.' Observe there is a middle clause understood, between * ye would never have incurred guilt,' and ' your guilt remaineth;' and that is, ' ye have incurred guilt ;' which makes it necessary to take the words, ye say, we see, as in a certain sense implying that they really did see : viz. ' by the Scriptures being committed to you, by God's grace, which ought to have led you to faith in me.' Chap. X. 1—21.] Of true and false shepherds, Jesus the good Shepherd. This discourse is connected with the pre ceding miracle; and the conduct of the Pharisees towards the man who had been blind seems to have given occasion to this description of false shepherds, which again introduces the testimony of Jesus to Him self as the true Shepherd. So that, as Meyer remarks, the paragraph should begin at ch. ix. 35. The more we study carefully this wonderful Gespel, the mere we shall see that the idea ef this close connexion is never to be summarily dismissed as ima ginary, and that our Evangelist never passes without notice to an entirely different and disjointed occurrence or discourse. See on the whole subject of the parable, Jer. xxiii. 1—4; Ezek. xxxiv.; Zech. xi. 4 — 17. These opening verses (to ver. 5) set forth the distinction between false and true shepherds. Then (vy. 7, 8, 9) He brings in Himself, as the door, by which both shepherds and sheep enter the fold. Then (ver. 10) He returns to the imagery of the first verses, and sets forth Himself as the Good Shepheed; and the rest (to ver. 18) is occupied with the results and distinctions dependent on that fact. 1. the sheepfold] The word thus rendered is described by the old writers as meaning a space walled round and open to the air : just answering, except in this being a per manent enclosure, to our term fold. This fold is the visible Church of God, primarily, as His people Israel were His peculiar fold ; the possibility of there being other folds has been supposed to be alluded to in ver. 16 : but see note there. The terms in this first part are general, and apply to. all leaders of God's people ; in ver. 1, to those who enter that oflice without having come in by the door (i.e. Christ, in the large sense, in which the Old Testament faithful looked to and trusted in Him, as the covenant promise of Israel's God) ; and in ver. 2 to those who do enter this way ; and whosoever does is the shepherd of the sheep (not emphatic — not, "the Good Shepherd," as below, ver. 11, but here it is merely predicated of one who thus enters, that he is the shepherd of that par ticular fold : it is the attribute of a shep herd thus to enter). The sheep, throughout this parable, are not the min gled multitude of good and bad; but the real sheep, the faithful, who are, what all in the fold should be. The false sheep (goats, Matt. xxv. 32) do not appear; for it is not the character of the fiock, but that of the shepherd, and the relation be tween him and his sheep, which is here prominent. 3.] Perhaps the porter (doorkeeper : it is the same word as that used in ch. xviii. 16, Mark xiii. 34) should not be too much pressed as significant ; but certainly the Holy Spirit is especially He who opens the door to the shepherds ; see frequent uses of this symbolism by the Apostles, Acts xiv. 27; 1 Cor. xvi. 9; 2 Cor. ii. 12 ; Col. iv. 3 ; — and instances of the Holy Spirit shutting the door, Acts 554 ST. JOHN. X. hear his voice : and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 [P And] when he putteth forth 1 his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him : xfor they know his voice. B s And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him : for they know not the voice of strangers. 6 This Sparable spake Jesus unto them : but they understood not what things they were which he , spake unto them. I11 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves P omit. 1 For these words most of the Sinaitic MS. has merely, his Own. r render, because. * better, allegory. xvi. 6, 7. the sheep hear his voice] The voice of every such true shepherd is heard (heeded, understood) by the sheep (generally) : and he calls by name his own sheep, that portion of the great flock entrusted tc him, and leads them put to pasture, as his office is. This distinc tion between the sheep and his own sheep has given rise to mistakes, from not ob serving that shepherd here is still in its mere general sense, and not spiritually applied until ver. 7, or rather ver. 11 above. It has been imagined that Christ is here spoken of, and that therefore these two descriptions of sheep must be different, and so the whole exposition has been confused. Even Stier has fallen into this mistake. 4.] When he has led forth to pasture all his sheep (there shaE not an hoof be left behind), he goes before them (see " The Land and the Book," p. 202, where there is an interesting description of this follow ing the shepherd) ; in his teaching pointing out the way to them ; they follow him, be cause they know his voice ; his words and teaching are familiar to them. But ob serve that the expression here becomes again more general; not his own sheep, but the sheep as in ver. 3. The sheep know the voice of every true shepherd. 5.] So that the stranger is not the shepherd of another section of the flock, but an alien : the robber of ver. 1. Meyer takes it as merely meaning a stranger, one who is not th,eir shepherd : but this hardly seems strong enough for the ccntext. 6.] The word here rendered in the A. V. "parable" is not exactly what is commonly so called: not properly a parable : but rather a parabolic allegory. The parable requires ancient authorities read, all his Own ; the 8 render, But. 11 render, Therefore. narrative to set it forth; and St. John relates no such. The right word here would be allegory. The original term, in its etymology, signifies, any saying di verging from the common way of speech. We have other examples in ch. xv. 1 ff. and in Matt. ix. 37, 38. 7.] What follows is not so much an exposition, as an expansion of the allegery. The key to this verse is the right understanding of what went before. Bear in mind, that verses 1 — 5 were spoken of shepherds in general. But these shepherds themselves go into and out of the fold by the same door as the sheep : and Christ is that door ; the Dooe op the sheep : the one door both for sheep and shepherds, into the fold, into God's Church, to the Pather. 8.] I believe that the right sense of these words, All that ever came before me, has not been apprehended by any of the Commentators. First, they can only be honestly understood of time; all who came before me (not, 'without regard to me,' nor 'passing by me as the door,' nor 'instead of me :' nor 'pressing before me,' (ch. v. 7,) which would have been " come," not " came :" nor " before taking the trouble to find me, the door:" nor any other of the numerous shifts which have been adopted). Whatpretended teachers then came before Christ ? Bemember the connexion of these discourses. He has taught the Jews that Abraham and the prophets entered by Him (ch. viii. 56) : but He has set in strong opposition to Himself and His, them (these Jews) and their father, the Devil (ib. ver. 44). He was, as Milton has it, ' the first thief who clomb into God's fold;' and all his followers are 4—12. ST. JOHN. 555 and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 'Iun'Sji'Iii, the door : by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy : I x am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. nbI am the good shepherd: the * Jgjjj^,^ good shepherd 7 giveth his life for the sheep. la But he xxxvu,24. that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own iPet-Tas:' the sheep are not, z seeth the wolf coming, and °leaveth the °zjch.xi.ie, sheep, and fleeth : and the wolf a catcheth them, and scat- x render, came. z render, beholdeth. ? render, layeth down, as in ver. 15, fyc. * render, teareth. here spoken of inclusively in the language of the allegory, as coming in by and with him. His was the first attempt to lead human nature, before Christ came; be fore the series of dispensations of grace began, in which pasture and life is offered to man by Him. Meyer understands the Pharisees, &c. who taught the people before Christ appeared as the Door of the sheep: but this does not seem to reach the depth of the requirements of the say ing, are, not were, because their es sential nature as belonging to and being of the evil one is set forth, and the in clusion of these present Pharisees in their ranks. but the sheep did not hear them ... J This of course cannct be un derstood absolutely, — 'the sheep never for one moment listened to them;' but, did npt listen te them in the sense of becoming their disciples eventually. So that the fall of our first Parents would be no exception to this ; whom of all men we must con clude, by the continuing grace and mercy of God to them after that fall, to have been of His real sheep. And since then, the same is true ; however the sheep may for a while listen to these false shepherds, they do not hear them, so as to follow them. Those who do, belong not to the true flock. 9.] expands and fixes ver. 7. "There is no entrance for salvation into the church but by Me, whether it be for shepherd, or for sheep." Erasmus. See Numb, xxvii. 16, 17. The sequel of the verse shews that this combined meaning is the true one. Meyer, who understands it all of shepherds alone, finds great difficulty in the interpretation of the latter words : " shall go in and out before the sheep, and find pasture for them," is certainly a forced meaning. 10.] the gracious intent of the Saviour in this ;— to give life, and in abundance. This verse forms the tran sition from Him as the Door, to Him as the Shepherd. He is here set in opposition to the thief (see on ver. 8), and thus insen sibly passes into the place of a shepherd, ¦ who has been hitherto thus opposed. .Then the words, that they might have life, bind on to those in the last verse, " shall find pasture" — and that they might have it more abundantly : as if it had been said, not merely as a door to pass through, but actively, abundantly, to bestow abundance of life. We are thus prepared for — 11.] the announcement of Himself as THE GOOD Shephebd — the great antagonist of the robber — the pattern and Head of all good shepherds, as he of all thieves and robbers: the Messiah, in His best known and most loving office: cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 11—16, 23; xxxvii. 24, and Isa. xl. 11. But He is the good Shepherd in this verse, as having most eminently the qualities of a good shepherd, one of which is to lay down His life for the sheep. These words here are not so much a prophecy, as a declara- ticn, implying hpwever that which ver. 15 asserts explicitly. 12.] The imagery is here again somewhat changed. The false shepherds are here compared to hire lings, i.e. those who serve merely for gain-; the hireling who fulfils the character im plied by the word. The idea is brought in by the words "layeth down his life for the sheep" which introduce the thought of a time of danger, when the true and false shepherds are distinguished. the wolf] The purposes of this wolf are the same as those of the thief in ver. 10, and in the allegory he is the same; — the great Foe of the sheep of Christ. Liicke and De Wette deny this, and hold ' any enemies of the theocracy' io be meant; — but no deep view of the parable will be content with this, — see Matt. vii. 15, where the "ravening wolves" are "false prophets," 556 ST. JOHN. X. i cb. ii. 19. k ch. vi. xv. 10. ii. 24,32. tereth the sheep : 1S [•> The hireling fieeth,] because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. u I am the d2Tim.a.i9. good shepherd, and dknow my sheep, eand am known of mine. 15 d As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the ech.xv.is. Father: "and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And tisa.ivi.8. 'other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them BSz.ekEpKi?' ah?o I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; Band "'25! et' aa there shall be e one fold, and one shepherd. W Therefore h 12?' Heb?'8, doth my Father love me, h because I lay down my life, iL9" that I f might take it again. 18 S No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I ' have power to lay it Acts d0WIlj and I have power to take it again. k This com- " omit, with most of the ancient authorities. 0 Most of the ancient authorities read, and my sheep know me. d render, even as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father. dd render, they shall become. e render, one flock, one shepherd : see note. ' render, may. S render, for perspicuity, No one. the " thieves and robbers" of ver. 8 ; — and their chief and father would therefore be the wolf, just as pur Lprd is the Shepherd. 14, 15.] The knewledge of His sheep here spoken of is more than the mere knowing by name ; it is a knowledge corresponding to the Father's knowledge of Him; — i. e. entire, perfect, all-compre hensive : and their knowledge of Him cor responds to His of the Pather, — i. e. is in timate, direct, and personal: both being bound together by holy and inseparable Love. Beware of rendering the former clause of ver. 15, as in A. V., as an independent sentence, "As my Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father :" it is merely the sequel to ver. 14, and should stand as in margin, as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father. the sheep] i. e. for those my sheep — not, for all; that, how ever true, is not the point brought out here : the Lord lays down His life strictly and properly, and in the depths of the di vine counsel, for those who are his sheep. 16.] The other sheep are the Gen tiles ; — not the dispersion of the Jews, who were already in Qo&'&fold. By these won derful words, as by those in Acts xviii. 10, and by the conclusion of Matt. xxv. (see notes there), our Lord shews that, dark and miserable as the Gentile world was, He had sheep even there. Observe they are not in other folds, but scattered; see ch. xi. 52. Cf. also Eph. ii. 14 ff. I must bring . . . . ] i. e. in the purpose and covenant of the Pather. The Lord speaks of His bringing them, and their hearing His voice : meaning that His ser vants in His name and by His power would accomplish this work. Admirably illustra tive of the converse method of speaking, which He employs Matt. xxv. 40, 45. The one flock, is remarkable — not one fold, as characteristically, but erroneously ren dered in A. V. : — npt ONE E01D, but ONE PliOCK : no one exclusive enclosure of an outward church, but one flock, all knowing the one Shepherd and known of Him. On one shepherd, compare Heb. xin. 20. 17.] The speaking in allegories is now over, and He speaks plainly, — My Father. In this wonderful verse lies the mystery of the love of the Father for the Son ; — because the Son has condescended to the work of humiliation, and to earn the crown through the cross (see Phil. ii. 8, 9). The that here is strictly of the ultimate purpose, in order that. 'Without this purpose in view,' says Stier, ' the Death pf Christ would neither be lawful nor pos sible' 18.] The truth of this volun tary rendering up was shewn by His whole Bufferings, from the falling of His enemies to the ground in the garden (ch. xviii. 6) to His hist words, I commend (render up) my Spirit, Luke xxiii. 46 (see note there). His resurrection also was eminently His ewn wprk, by virtue ef the Spirit pf the Father dwelling in and filling Him : the power in bpth these cases being the com mandment, appointment, ordinance of tho 13-28. ST. JOHN. 557 mandment n have I received of my Father. 19 l There was a division therefore again among the Jews *for these sayings. 2<> And many of them said, m He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him ? 21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. n Can a devil " open the eyes of the blind ? 22 k And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. ^ And Jesus J walked in the temple p in Solomon's porch. s* Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou m make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye n believed not : q the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 26 ° But r ye believe not, P because ye are not of my sheep [, las I said unto you]. 27sMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me ; 28 and I ich. vii. 43: ix 18. ra ch. vii. 20 : viii. 18, 52. n Exod. iv. 11. Ps. xciv. 9: cxlvi. 8. o ch. ix. 6, 7, 82,33. p Acts iii. li, V.12. q ver. Si. ch. iii. 2 : v. 38. r ch. viii. 47. 1 John iv. 0. B ver. 4, 14. 1 render, received I from. * render, because of. k render, Now it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem. l- render, was walking. m render, hold our mind in suspense. 11 render, believe. ' ° render, Nevertheless. P render, for. 9 omitted in many ancient authorities. Father, from the counsel cf whose will the whole mediatorial office of Christ sprung : see ch. xii. 49. 19—21.] The con cluding words bind this discourse to the miracle of ch. ix., though not necessarily in immediate connexion. 22 — 89.] Discourse at the Feast of Dedication. It may be, that Jesus re mained at, or in the neighbourhood of, Jerusalem during the interval (two months) between the Feast of Tabernacles and that of the Dedication. Had He returned to Galilee, we should have expected some mention of it. Still, by the words in Jerusalem, it would seem as if a fresh period and a new visit began; for why should such a specification be made, if the narrative proceeded continuously ? See on Luke ix. 51 ff. 22] This feast had become usual since the time when Judas Maccabaeus purified the temple from the profanations of Antiochus. It was held on Chisleu (December) 25, and seven fol lowing days : see 1 Mace. iv. 41—59 : 2 Mace. x. 1 — 8. it was winter] The notice is inserted to explain te Gentile readers the reasen pf our Lord's walking in Solomon's portico. This latter was on the cast side of the temple, called also by Josephus, " the Eastern porch". He says that it was an original work of Solomon, which had remained from • the former temple. 25.] He had often told them, in unmistakeable descriptions of Himself : see ch. v. 19 ; viii. 36, 56, 58, &c. &c. But the great reference here is to His works, as in ver. 37. 26.] The difficulty of the words as I said unto you is consider able warrant for their genuineness: and they come much more naturally with this than with the following verse. I believe them to refer more to the whole allegory, than to any explicit saying of this kind ; and this is shewn te my mind by the fol lowing words in ver. 27: — the link be tween the twe, ' but ye hear not my voice,' being understood. This was an obvious deduction from the allegory, and thus it might be said, " as I said unto you." This reference to the allegory some two months after it was spoken, has been used by the rationalists as an argument against the authenticity of the narrative. But, as Meyer observes, it in reality implies that the conflict with the Jewish authorities is here again taken up after that interval, during which it had not broken out. 27 — 29.] This leads to a further descrip- ST. JOHN. X. 29-4.2. tcb. vi. 37: xvii. 11, 12 : xviii. 9. u ch. xiv. 28. x ch. xvii. 2, 8, &c. y ch. xvii. 11, 22. z ch. viii. 59. give unto them eternal life ; and ' they shall never perish, r neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand". 29 ^^My Father, "which igave them me, is greater than all ; and n no man is able to pluck [x them] out of my Father's hand. 30 y I and 7 my Father are one. 31 z Then z the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father ; for which of those works a do ye stone me ? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not ; but for blasphemy ; and because that thou, being a man, a makest thyself God. si Jesus answered them, b Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods ? 3B If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be b broken ; 36 say ye of him, "whom the Father [chath] sanctified, and dsent into the world, Thou blasphemest; e because I said, I am the Son r render, and none shall. s Most of our ancient copies read, That which my Father hath given me is greater than all. * render, hath given. u render, none. x omit : not in the original. 7 render, the. z render, The Jews therefore. a render, are ye stoning me. D render, made void. b Psa. lxxxii. 6. c ch. vi. 27. d ch. iii. 17: v.36,37: viii. 42. e ch. v. 17, 18. ver. 30. tion of these sheep. The form of the sentence is a climax ; rising through the words " I give " and " out of my hand," to "my Father which hath given them me," and "out of my Father's hand." Then the apparent diversity of the two expressions, " out of my hand " and " out of my Father's hand," gives occasion to the assertion in ver. 30, that Christ and the Father are one: one in essence pri marily, but therefore also one in working, and poweb, and in will. Notice, one is neuter in gender, not masculine : the Father and the Son are not personally pne, but essentially. That the Jews un derstood our Lord's words to assert this essential unity, is plain from the next verse. 31.] i. e. as having speken blas phemy, Levit. xxiv. 10 ff. 32.] See Mark vii. 37. from my Father, because (cf. vv. 37, 38) He Himself pro ceeded forth from the Pather, and the Father wrought in Him. have I shewed you, — because they were part of the manifestation of Himself as the Son of God. 33.] makest thyself God is equivalent to "making himself equal te Gpfl," ch. v. 18. 34.] The werd law here is in its widest acceptaticn, — the whelp Old Testament, as ch. xii. 34 ; xv. 25. The Psalm (lxxxii.) is directed against the in justice and tyranny cf judges (not, the Gentile rulers of the world, nor, the angels) in Israel. And in the Psalm reference is made by " I have said " to previous places of Scripture where judges are so called, viz. Exod. xxi. 6; xxii. 9. 28. 35.] unto whom the word of God came, i. e. to whom God (in those passages) spoke. The expression, and the scripture cannot be broken (which is net a parenthesis, but constmctionally part of the sentence, de pending on if), implies, ' and if you cannot explain this expression away, — if it cannot mean nothing, — for it rests on the testi mony of God's word,'— 36.] The argument is from the greater to the less. If in any sense they could be called gods,— how much more properly He, whom &c. They were only officially so called, only called gods — but He, the only One, sealed and hallowed by the Father, and sent into the world (the time referred to, in sanctified and sent, is that cf the Incarnatipn), is XI. 1. 2. ST. JOHN. 559 of God? s7 f If I do not the works of my Father, believe f<*.rv.M. me not. 38 But if I a do, though ye believe not me, g believe the works : that ye may e know, and believe, h that "SiJiofn. the Father is in me, and I in him. 30i Therefore they "':*»«; *¦ 3 J i ch. vn. 30, 44 : sought again to take him: ibut he escaped out of their Tiii-59- hand, 40 and went away again beyond Jordan into the place k where John at first baptized; and there he abode. kch.i.2s. 41 And many S resorted unto him, and said, h John did no miracle: 'but all things * that John spake of this man^h.ui.so. were true. 42 m And many believed on him there. "xfis"1'80' XI. l ^Now 2l certain man was sick, named Lazarus, 1 of Bethany, the town of aMary, and her sister Martha. %o! ex" .' 3 b It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with oint- g^Sti!''"' a render, do them. f render, and he passed. h render, John indeed. * render, But. e read and render, perceive and know. & render, Came. 1 render, whatsoever. 1 render, from Bethany, of the town. essentially God, inasmuch as He is the Son of God. The deeper aim of this argu ment is, to shew them that the idea of man and God being one, was not alien from their Old Testament spirit, but set forth there in types and shadows of Him, the real God-Man. Observe ye, set in empha tic contrast to the authority of Scripture, — as " he whom the Father sanctified "... is to "themtowhom the word of Godcame" above. 37, 38.] Having put the charge of blasphemy aside, our Lord again has recourse to the testimony of His works, at which He hinted ver. 32 ; and here, to their character, as admitted by them in ver. 33. ' If they bear not the character of the Father, believe Me not : but if they do (which even yourselves admit), though ye may hate and disbelieve Me, recognize the unquestionable testimony of the works; —that ye may be led on to the higher faith of the unity of Myself and the Father.' that ye may perceive and know] The former of these is the introductory act, the latter the abiding state, of the know ledge spoken of. See further in the notes in my Greek Test. 39.] The at tempt to stone Him seems to have been abandoned, but (see ch. vii. 30) they tried again to take Him into custody : and, as before, He (miraculously ?) withdrew Him self from them. 40 — 42.] Jesus departs to Bethany be yond Jordan, and is there believed on by many. 40.] On Bethany beyond Jor dan, see ch. i. 28 and note. 41.] The locality reminds them of John and his tes timony. The remark seems to have a double tendency : — to relate their now confirmed persuasion, that though John did not fulfil their expectations by shewing a sign or working miracles, yet he was a true prophet, and really, as he professed, the forerunner of this Person, who in con sequence must be, what John had declared Him to be, the Messiah. And (ver. 42) the result followed; — many believed on Him. " The word John repeated ver. 42, belongs to the simplicity of the speech, which is reproduced literally as spoken, and expresses the honour paid by the people to the holy man whose memory still lived among them." Meyer. Chap. XL, XII.] Jesus, dehvebed TO DEATH, THE BeSUKBECTION, AND THE LlPE, AND THE JUDGMENT. XI. 1 — 44.] The raising of Lazarus. On the omissipn of this, the chief of our Lord's miracles, by the three other Evangelists, see the Introduction, ch. i. § v. 1. 1. But] This conjunction here is not merely a word of passage to another subject, but expresses a contrast to the sojourn in Peraja, and thus conveys the reason why our Lord's retirement (see ch. x. 40) was broken in upon. Bethany is designated as ' the village of Martha and Mary,' to distinguish it from that Bethany be yond Jordan, which has just been alluded to (not named, perhaps to avoid the con fusion), ch. x. 40. Mary and Martha arc mentioned as already well known from the current apostolic teaching (see Introduction, chap. v. § ii. 11). 2.] Another refer- 560 ST. JOHN. XI. c ch. ix. 3. ver. 40. g cb. xii. 35. ment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 m Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, c but for the glory of God, that the Son of God n might be glorified thereby. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When he [° had] heard therefore that he was sick, P d he abode two days still in the same place where he was. 7 Then after that saith he to 1 his disciples, Let us go into Juda?a again. 8 1 His dis ciples say unto him, Master, e the Jews r of late sought to stone thee ; and goest thou thither again ? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? fIf any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But g if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because B there is no light in him. m render, The sisters therefore. n render, may. o omit. P render, at that time he continued. 1 render, the. r render, were but now seeking. 8 render, the light is not. ence to a fact which, as our Lord pro phesied, was known wherever the Gospel was preached. This reference containing, as it does, the expression the Lord or our Lord, implying, * as we all well know,' — is a striking illustration of that prophecy. St. John himself relates the occurrence, ch. xii. 3, being necessary for the course of his narrative. 3.] The message (see vv. 21, 32) evidently was to request the Lord to come and heal him .• and implies that the sickness was of a dangerous kind. 4.] The only right understanding of this answer, and our Lord's whole pro ceeding here is, — that He knew and fore saw all from the first, — as well the ter mination of Lazarus's sickness and his being raised again, as the part which this miracle would bear in bringing about the close of His own ministry. is not unto death] Its result as regards Lazarus will not be death (see Matt. ix. 24 and parallel places, and notes) :— but (see ch. ii. 11 ; ix. 3) it has a higher purpose, — the glory of God;— the glorification, by its means, of the Son of God. And this glori fication—bow was it accomplished? By this miracle leading to Mis death, — which in St. John's diction is so frequently implied in the word glorification. It need hardly be remarked, with Olshausen and Trench, that the glorifying of the Son of God in Lazarus himself is subordinately implied. Men are not mere tools, but temples, of God. It is doubtful whether these words were the answer sent back to the sisters, or were said to the disciples. In either case, they evidently carried a double meaning, as again those in ver. 11. 5.] explains he whom thou lovest in ver. 3. 6.] therefore connects with ver. 4, 'Having then said this, — although He loved, &c, He abode,' &e. In all pro bability Lazarus was dead, when He spoke the words ver. 4 ; — or at all events before the messenger returned. 7.] The ques tion, why our Lord did not go immediately on receiving the message, is not to be an swered by any secondary reasons, such as the trial of the faith of those concerned, or the pressing nature of His own ministry in Persea, — but by referring back to ver. 4, — because, for the glory of God, He would have the miracle happen as it did and no otherwise. 9,10.] Our Lord's answer is first general, vv. 9, 10, — then particular, ver. 11. Are there not twelve hours in the day ?] See on ch. ix. 4, where the same thought is expressed. But here it is carried further, — 'I have a fixed time during which to work, appointed me by my Father ; during that time I fear no danger, I walk in His light, even as the traveller in the light of this world by day : and (by 3—18. ST. JOHN. 561 11 These things said he : and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus btsleepeth: but I go, that I may h^Te'' awake him out of sleep. 12 Then said his disciples, Lord, Satt.te.'Ii. if he * sleep, he u shall do well. 13 Howbeit Jesus spake of icor.xv.is, his death : but they thought that he x had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. u Then said y Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 1B And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe ; nevertheless let us go unto him. 16 z Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. W a Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs * render, is fallen asleep. u render, will recover. x render, was speaking. y render, Jesus therefore. z render, Therefore. a render, When therefore. inference) ye too are safe, walking in this light, which hght to you is Myself, — walk ing with Me: — whosoever walks without this light, — without Me, — without the light of the divine purpose illumining the path of duty, stumbles, — because he has no light in him.' In him, for ' the light of the body is the eye,' and the light must be in us in order to guide us. Shut it out by blinding the eyes, and we are in darkness. So too of spiritual light. The twelve-hour division of the day was common among the Jews by this time, being probably bor rowed from Babylon. As the day in Pales tine varied in length from 14h. 12m. in summer to 9h. 48m. in winter, these hours must also have varied considerably in length at the different seasons. I may remark that this verse refutes the fancy of Townson and others, that St. John adopts the so-called Asiatic method of reckoning time: see on ch. i. 40; iv. 6, al. 11.] The special reason for going, which the disciples appear not to have borne in mind, having probably supposed from ver. 4 that Lazarus would recover. Our friend] Bengel notices, with what con descension our Lord shares the friendship with His disciples. And the word pur gives a reason why they should go too. This term, is fallen asleep, might have recalled to three at least of the dis ciples that other saying, Matt. ix. 24. But the former expression, " is not unto death," had not been understood, — and that error ruled in their minds. 12. if he is fallen asleep] They evidently understand the sleep announced to them by Jesus as a physical fact, and a token of a favourable crisis, and think that his reccvery will pro bably be the result. 15.] "Notice that Jesus rejoices not over the sad event itself, but that Me was not there, which might prove salutary to the disciples' faith." Meyer. The intent, [that] ye may believe, is not to be taken as the great end of the miracle (expressed in ver. 4), but the end as regarded them. nevertheless breaks off the discourse, implying that enough had been said. 16.] The meaning of Thomas, in the Aramaic, which was the dialect of the country, is the same as that of the Latin Didymus, viz. a twin. The remark means, Let us also go (with our Master), that we may die with him (not, with Lazarus, as Grot.). This is in exact accord with the character of Thomas, as shewn in ch. xiv. 5 ; xx. 25 ; — ever ready to take the dark view, but deeply attached to his Lprd. 17.] Jesus re mained twp days after the receipt cf the message : ene day the jeurney would oc- cupy : sp that Lazarus must have died pn the day pf the messenger's being sent, and have been buried that evening, accerding to Jewish custom : see ver. 39, and Acts v. 6 — 10. 18.] The geographical no tice is given, to account for the occur rence detailed in the next verse. A fur long or stadium, was \ of a Boman mile. Meyer remarks, that the use of the past tense, was nigh, does not neces sarily imply that the places no longer existed when the Apostle wrote, but may arise from the word occurring in context with a history which is past. But seeing that St. John alone uses this form of desig nation (compare ch. xviii. 1 ; xix. 41), and 562 ST. JOHN. XI. k Luke xiv. 14. ch.v. 29. 1 ch. v. 21 : vi. 89, 40, 44. mch. i. 4: vi.35: xiv. 6 Col. iii.^4. 1 John i. 1, 2: v.ll. 11 cb. iii. 36. 1 John v. 10,11. off: 19 and many of the Jews D came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him : but Mary ° sat still in the house. 21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 d But I know, that even now, ' whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 2* Martha saith unto him, k I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am ' the resurrection, and the m life : n he that believeth in me, though he e were dead, yet shall he live : 26 and i whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall b render, had Come. ° render, was sitting. d render, Nevertheless even now I know that. e render, have died. ' render, Every one that. that he probably wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem, it is more natural (as Meyer himself confesses) to explain the past tense by his regarding Jerusalem and its neigh bourhood as laid waste at the time when he published his Gospel. 19.] Lightfoot gives an account of the ceremonies prac tised during the thirty days of mourning. 20.] The behaviour of the two sisters is quite in accordance with their character, Luke x. 38 —42 : and thus we have a most interesting point of connexion between two gospels so widely various in their contents and character. Stier thinks, as also Trench, that Mary did not hear pf the approach cf Jesus, and that we must not bring the characters to bear on this case. But this is at least questionable. 21.] This saying has evidently been the leading thought of the four days since their brother's death. Mary repeats it, ver. 32. 22.] She seems to express some expectation of the raising of her brother; but it is too great a thing for her to venture to mention : — possibly she had not dared to form the thought fully, but had some vague feeling after help, such as she knew He would give. I can hardly see, as some have done, an unworthy spirit in the form of her expression, in ver. 22. It was said in the simplicity of her faith, which, it is true, was not yet a fully ripened faith : but it differs little from our Lord's own words, ver. 41. The repetition of the word God is to be noticed, as ex pressive of her faith in the unity of pur pose and action between Jesus and God. 23.] I believe these words of our Lord to contain no allusion to the imme diate restoration of Lazarus; but to be designedly used to lead on to the requisite faith in her mind. 24.] She under stands the words rightly, but gently repels the insufficient comfort of his ultimate resurrection. 25, 26.] These words, as Stier observes, are the central point of the history; the great testimony to Him self, of which the subsequent miracle is the proof. The intention of the saying seems to have been, to awaken in Martha the faith that He could raise her brother from the dead, in its highest and proper form. This He does by announcing Him self (it is the expressed emphatic personal pronoun, — I, and no other . . .) as ' the Besubbection ' (meaning, — that resur rection in the last day shall be only by my Power, and therefore I can raise now as well), and more than that, the Lipe itselp : so that he that believeth in me (i. e. Lazarus, in her mind), even though he have died, shall live; and he that liveth (physically; — 'is not yet dead') and believeth in me, shall not die for ever more: i.e. 'faith in Me is the source of life, both here and hereafter; and those who have it, have Life, so that they shall neveb DIE ;' physical death being over- looked and disregarded, in comparispn with that which is really and enly death. The werd liveth must be (against Lampe, Olshausen, and Stier) taken of physical life, for it stands opposed to though he have died. , he that believeth in me is the subject of both clauses ; in the for mer it is said that he "though he have 19—32. ST. JOHN. 563 0 Matt. xvi. 10. cb.iv.42:vi. 14, 09. S never die. Believest thou this ? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord : ° I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which h should come into the world. 28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth fifor] thee. 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. 30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him 31 »The Jews then which were with her in the house, andpver.-o. k comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, ^saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. 32 m Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, \}she] fell down at his feet, saying unto him, 9 Lord, if thou hadst been here, q ver. 21 S or, not die for evermore. h render, is to come. i k render, were comforting. 1 Many of our ancient authorities read, thinking. m render; Mary therefore, when she came. died, shall live .-" in the second, that he " living and believing, shall never die." Olshausen's remark, that living and dying, in the second clause, must both be physical, if one is, is wrong ; the antithesis consist ing, in both clauses, in the reciprocation of the two senses, physical and spiritual ; and serving in the latter clause, as a key hereafter to the condition of Lazarus, when raised from the dead. There can hardly be any reference in ver. 26 to the state of the living faithful at the Lord's coming (1 Cor. xv. 51), — for althpugh the Apestle there, speaking of believers primarily and especially, uses the first person, — the saying would be equally true of unbelievers, on whose bodies the change from the corruptible to the incor ruptible will equally pass, and of whom the " shall, never die " here would be equally true, — whereas the saying is one setting forth an exclusive privilege of the man that liveth and believeth on me. Besides, such an interpretation would set aside all reference to Lazarus, or to present cir cumstances. 27.] Her confession, though embracing the great central point of the truth in the last verse, dees not enter fully into it. Nor does she (ver. 40) seem to have adequately apprehended its meaning. " That He spoke great things about Himself, she knew: but in what sense He spoke them, she did not know : and therefore when asked one thing, she replies another." Euthymius. I — em phatic : I for my part : and the word believe is in the original in the perfect tense, "have believed and continue to believe :" i. e. ' have convinced myself, and firmly believe.' 28.] Her calling her sister is characteristic cf one who (as in Luke x. 40) had not been much habituated herself to listen to his instructions, but knew this to be the delight of Mary. Besides this, she evidently has hopes raised, though of a very faint and indefi nite kind. secretly] " Lest the Jews who were present should know it, and should perhaps give information against Him to those who were conspiring against His life." Euthymius. This fear was realized (ver. 46). calleth thee] This is not recorded. Stier thinks that the Lord had not actually asked for her, but that Martha sees such an especial fit ness for her hearing in the words of vv. 25, 26, that she uses this expression. But is it not somewhat too plainly asserted, to mean only calling by inference 1 Surely, we must regard Martha's words as proving it to have been a fact. 31.] to weep there — as is the custom even now in the East : see an affecting account in Lamar- tine's Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Eng lish translation, vol. ii. pp. 76—78. 32.] The words of Mary are fewer, and her action more impassioned, than those of her sister : she was perhaps interrupted by the 564 ST. JOHN. XL my brother had not died. 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he ° groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34> and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, nuke xix. 41. come and see. 35 r Jesus wept. 36 P Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him ! 37 4 And some of them paid, sch.ix.o. Could not this man, s which opened the eyes of r the blind, have caused s that even this man should not have died ? 38 Jesus therefore again * groaning in himself cometh to the 0 render, was greatly moved in spirit, and troubled himself. P render, The Jews therefore said. 1 render, But. r render, the blind man. B render, also that. * render, greatly moved within himself. arrival of the Jews : cf. ver. 33. 33.] In explaining this difficult verse, two things must be borne in mind: (1) that the word rendered by the A. V. "groaned" can bear but one meaning, — the expres sion oi indignation and rebuke, not of sor row. This has been here acknowledged by all the expositors who have paid any attention to the usage of the word. (2) That both from the words, " When Jesus saw her weeping," &c, — from the expres sion " he troubled himself," and from ver. 35, — the feeling in the Lord was clearly one of rising sympathy, which vented itself at last in tears. These two things being premised, I think the meaning to be, that Jesus, with the tears of sympathy already rising and overcoming His speech, checked them, so as to be able to speak the words following. I would understand the words as expressing the temporary check given to the flow of His tears, — the effort used to utter the following question. And I would thus divest the self-restraint of all stoical und unworthy character, and consider it as merely physical, requiring indeed an act of the will, and a self-troubling, — a com plication of feeling,— but implying no de liberate disapproval of the rising emotion, which indeed immediately after is suffered to prevail. What minister has not, when burying the dead in the midst of a weep ing family, felt the emotion and made the effort here described ? And surely this was cne ef the things in which He was made like unto His brethren. Thus Bengel: " Jesus for the present austerely repressed his tears, and presently, ver. 38, they broke forth. Sp much the greater was their pewer, when they were shed."_ Meyer's explanatien deserves mention; that our Lord was indignant at seeing the Jews, His bitter enemies, mingling their hypocritical tears with the true ones of the bereaved sister. But, not to say how unworthy this seems of the Person and occasion, the explanation will find no place in ver. 38 : for surely the question of the Jews in ver. 37 is not enough to justify it. Still perhaps, any contribution to the solution of this difficult word is not to be summarily rejected. in spirit, here, corresponds to " within himself" ver. 38. Indignation over unbelief, and sin, and death the fruit of sin, doubtless lay in the background; but to see it in the words (with Olsh., Stier, and Trench) seems unnatural. troubled himself is understood by Meyer, and perhaps rightly, as describing an outward motion of the body, — He shuddered: and so Euthymius, "He trembled, as is usual with those who are thus affected." Cyril's comment is to the same effect -. that it was His divinity, rebuking, and in conflict with, His human feelings, which caused His frame to shudder. - 35— 38.] Itis probable that the second set of Jews (ver. 37) spoke with a scoffing and hostile pur port: for St. John seldom uses but as a mere copula, but generally as expressing a contrast: see vv. 46, 49, 51. It is (as Trench remarks) a point of ac curacy in the narrative, that these dwellers in Jerusalem should refer to a miracle so well known among themselves, rather than to the former raisings of the dead in Galilee, of which they probably may have heard, but naturally would not thoroughly beheve on rumour only. Again, of raising Lazarus none of them seem to have thought, only of preventing his death. This second being greatly moved of our Lord I would refer to the same reason as the first. "He wept, as allowing nature to manifest herself there again he ro- 83—42. ST. JOHN. 565 grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay u upon it. 39 Jesus * said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he hath been [y dead] four days. *° Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest beheve, thou shouldest see the glory of God ? 41 z Then they took away the stone [*from the place where the dead was laid] . And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. *2 D And I knew that thou hearest me always, but tc because cf the people tch. xil s u render, against. 7 not expressed in the original. a omit. c render, for the bukes the affections." Euthymius. Only he assigns a didactic purpose, to teach us moderation in our tears ; I should rather believe the self-restraint to have been ex ercised as a preparation for what followed. The caves were generally horizontal, natural or artificial, — with recesses in the sides, where the bodies were laid. There is no necessity here for supposing the entrance to have been otherwise than horizontal, as the word cave would lead us to believe. Graves were of both kinds : we have the vertically sunk mentioned Luke xi. 44. Compare Isa. xxii. 16; 2 Chron. xvi. 14 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 16. Probably, from this circumstance, as from •the Jews' coming to condole, — and the costly ointment (ch. xii. 3), — the family was wealthy. 39.] The corpse had not been embalmed, but merely ' wrapped in linen clothes with spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury,' — see ch. xix. 40, and ver. 44 below. The expression, the sister of him that was dead, as Meyer remarks, notes the natural horror of the sister's heart at what was about to be done. There is no reason to avoid the assumption of the plain fact (see below) stated in by this time he stinketh. I can not see that any monstrous character (as asserted by Olshausen and Trench) is given to the miracle by it ; any more than such a character can ie predicated of restoring the withered hand. In fact, the very act of death is the beginning of decomposition. I have no hesitation, with almost all the ancient, and many of the best modern Commentators, in assuming her words as expressing a fact, and indeed with Stier, believing them to be spoken not as a sup position, but as a (sensible) fact. The ¦ Vol. I. x render, saith. z render, So. " render, Yet. of the multitude. entrances tc these vaults were not built up, — merely defended, by a stone being rolled to them, from the jackals and beasts of prey. 40.] I can hardly think she supposed merely that Jesus desired to look on the face of the dead ; — she ex pected something was about to be done, out in her anxiety for decorum (Luke x. 40) she was willing to avoid the conse quence of opening the cave. This feeling Jesus here rebukes, by referring, her to the plain duty of simple faith, insisted on by Him before (in verses 25; 26 ? or, in some other teaching ?) as the condition of be holding the glory pf God (not merely in the event about, to follow,— for that was seen by many who did not believe, — but in a deeper sense, — that, of the unfolding of the Besurrection, and the Life in the personal being). 41, 42.] In the filial relation of the Lord Jesus to the Father, all power is given to Him : the Son can do nothing of Himself: — and during His humiliation on earth, these acts of power were done by Him, not by that glory of His own which He had laid aside, but by the mighty working of the Pather in Him, and in answer to His prayer : the dif ference between Him and us in this respect being, that His prayer was always heard, — even (Heb. v. 7) that in Gethsemane. And this, Thou hast heard me, He states here for the benefit of the standers-by, that they might know the truth of His repeated assertions of His mission from the Pather. At the same time He guards this, ver. 42, from future misconstruction, as though He had no more power than men who pray, by I knew that Thou hearest me always ; — ' because Thou and I are One.' When He prayed, does not P P 566 ST. JOHN. XI. X ch. ii. 23 : x. 42 : xii. 11, 18. which stand by I said it, that they a may believe that thou hast sent me. 43 And when he thus had spoken, he e cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. ** And f he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave- clothes : and u his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 45 S Then many of the Jews, h which came to Mary, x and had seen the things whieh i Jesus did, believed on him. 46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, 1 SiS: xxvi. and told them what things Jesus had done. Wj Is. Then xiv.i.lrLuke gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, * Actefv.1?^ an<^ sa^> z What l do we ? for this man doeth many miracles. 48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him : and the Romans shall come and take away both d render, might. e better, Cried Out. f better, the dead man. % render, Many therefore. h render, those which had come. * read, he. k render, Therefore. * render, -axe we doing, seeing that. appear. Probably in Peraa, before the declaration in ver. 4. 43.] Some sup pose, that the revivification had taken place before the previous thanksgiving of our Lord, — and that these wprds were merely a summoning forth. But this is highly improbable. The comparison of ch. v. 25, 28, which are analogically applicable, makes it clear that they who have heard, shall live, is the physical, as well as the spiritual order of things. To cry out, shout aloud, was not His wont ; see Matt. xii. 19. This cry signified that greater one, which all shall hear, ch. v. 28. 44.] The word rendered grave-clothes is explained to mean a sort of band, of rush or tow, used to swathe infants, and to bind up the dead. It does not appear whether the bands were wound about each limb, as in the Egyptian mummies, so as merely to impede motion — or were loosely wrapped round both feet and both hands, so as to hinder any free movement altogether. The latter seems most probable, and has been supposed by many. Basil speaks of tbe bound man coming forth from the sepul chre, as a miracle in a miracle : and ancient pictures represent Lazarus gliding forth from the tomb, not stepping ; which apparently is right. The napkin, or handkerchief, appears to have tied up his chin. let him go, probably, to his home. 45—57.] The death op Jesus the iipe OV THE WOBID. Consequences of the miracle. Meeting ofthe Sanhedrim; and final determination, on the prophetic intimation of the High Priest, to put Jesus to death. He retires to Ephraim. 46.] We must take care rightly to under stand this. In the last verse, it is not many of the Jews which had come, but many of the Jews, viz. those which had come, " many ... to wit, those that came." All these beheved on Him (see a similar case in ch, viii. 30 ff.). Then, some of them, viz. of those which had come, and believed, went, &c. The but (see on ver. 37) certainly shows that this was done with a hostile intent: not in doubt as to the miracle, any more than in the case of the blind man, ch. ix., but with a view to stir up the rulers yet more against Him. This Evangelist is very simple, and at the same time very consistent, in his use of par ticles: almost throughout his Gospel the great subject, tbe manifestation of the Glory of Christ, is carried onward by then, or therefore, whereas but as generally pre faces the development of the antagonist manifestation of hatred and rejection of Him. If it seem strange, that this hostile step should be taken by persons who be lieved on Jesus, we at least find a parallel in the passage above cited, ch. viii. 30 ff. 48.] They evidently regarded the result of ' all believing on Him,' as likely to be, that He would be set up as king : which would soon bring about the ruin here mentioned. Augustine understands 43—53. ST. JOHN. 567 our place and nation. 49 And one of them, [m named] ^Caiaphas, being [n^e] high priest that Sesame] year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 60bnor con sider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 61 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus "sjipuld die for P that nation ; 52 and c not for P that nation only, d but that also he 1 should, gather together in one the children of God that r were scattered fab road. ,' 53 6,then from that day forth they took counsel together for to a Luke iii. 2. ch. xviii. 14. - Acts iv.6, b ch. xliii. 14. c Isa. xlix. 6. 1 John ii. 2. d ch. x. IS. Eph. ii. 14, IS, 16, 17. m not expressed in the original. 11 omit .* not in the original, which is the same as in ver. 51. 0 render, was about to die. P render, the. 4 render, might. r render, are. *. render, Therefore. it differently: that, all men being per suaded by Him to peaceful lives, they would have no one to join them in revolt against the Bomans; but this seems forced : for no coming of the Romans wpuld in that case be provoked. ' our place] not, the temple (the holy place, Acts vi. 13), but our place, as in reff. : i. e. our local habi tation, and our national existence. Both these literally came to pass. Whether this fear was earnestly expressed, or only as a covert for their enmity, does not appear. The word our is emphatic, de tecting the real cause of their anxiety. Bespecting this man's pretensions, they do not pretend to decide : all they know is that if he is to go on thus, theib standing is gone. 49 — 52.] The counsel is given in subtilty, and was intended by Caiaphas in the sense of political expe diency only. But it pleased God to make him, as High Priest, the special though involuntary organ of the Holy Spirit, and thus to utter by him a prophecy of the death of Christ and its effects. That this is the only sense to be given, appears from the consideration that the whole of verses 51, 52 cannot for a moment be supposed to have been in the mind of Caiaphas; and to divide it, and suppose the latter part to be the addition of the Evangelist, is quite unjustifiable. high priest that year] repeated again, ch. xviii. 13. He was High Priest during the whole Procuratorship of Pontius Pilate, aleven years. In the words that year, there is no intimation conveyed that the High Priesthood was changed every year, which it was not : but we must un derstand the words as directing atten- P tion to ' that (remarkable) year,' without any reference to time {last or to come. That teas of great events had Caiaphas as its High Priest. See on ver. 57. Te know nothing at all] Probably various methods of action shadJ- been suggested. Observe people here, the usual term for the chosen people,, and then nation, when it is regarded as a nation among the nations : '. compare also ver. 52. not of himself] i. e. not merely of him self, but under the influence of the Spirit, who caused him to utter words, of the full meaning of which he had no conception. being high priest . . . he prophesied] There certainly was a belief, probably arising originally from the use of the iTrim and Thummim, that the High Priest, and indeed every priest, had some knowledge of dreams and utterance of prophecy. Philo the Jew says, " A true priest is ipso facto a prophet." That this belief existed, may account for tbe expression here; which however does npt confirm it in all cases, but asserts the fact that the Spirit in this case made use of him as High Priest, for this purpose. This confirms the above view of tbe words that year, here again repeated. See on ver. 49. that Jesus was about to die . . .] the purport (unknown to himself) of his pro phecy. And the term the nation, is guarded from misunderstanding by what follows. the children of God] are those who are called by the same name in ch. i. 12, the " ordained to eternal life " of Acts xiii. 48 (where see note), among all nations; compare ch. x. 16. 53.] The decision, to put Him to death, is understood : and from that day they P 2 568 ST. JOHN. XI. 54—57. f see 2 Chron, xiii. 19. KCh.ii.13: v. 1 : vi. 4. "vu'i7'1'8 Pu* ^m ^° death. B4 Jesus e therefore walked no more openly among the Jews ; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called 'Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. 65 B And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to hch.vun. purify themselves. 56hThen sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast ? B7 Now [u both] the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him. XII. l Then Jesus six days before the passover came to a co. xi. 1,43. Bethany, "where Lazarus was [x which had been dead], whom 7 he raised from the dead. a z There they made him a supper ; and Martha served : but Lazarus was one of 11 omitted by the most ancient authorities. x omitted by several ancient authorities. 7 read, Jesus. z render, So they made him a supper there. plotted that they might slay Him (not, how they might slay Him). 54.] Ob serve the word Jews here, used as desig nating the official body. He. was still among Jews at Ephraim. This, city is mentioned 2 Chron. xiii. 19 in connexion with Bethel, as also by Josephus. It was near to the wilderness, i.e. to the desert of Judah. Its situation js at present un known. Bobinson supposes it.to be the same with Ophrah (Josh, xviii. 23 : , 1 Sam. xiii. 17: not Judg. vi. Il,'.24;.v8i. 27) and Ephron of the 0. T. (2 Chron. xiii. 19), and the modern et-Taiyibeh, twenty Boman miles from Jerusalem. 65.] The words, the country, do not mean that country, spoken of in the last verse, but, the country generally. They went up thus early, that they might have time to purify themselves from any Levitical uncleanness, that they might be able to keep the Pass over ; see Num. ix. 10 : 2 Chron. xxx. 17 = Acts xxi. 24, 26; xxiv. 18. 57.] The import of this verse depends on the inser tion or omission of the "both" before " the chief priests." Without it, the verse is merely an explanation of the people's question, which was asked in consequence of the order having been issued hy the chief priests &c. : with it, it would mean, • And besides, the chief priests' &c. ; i. e. ' not only did the peeple question, but ' &c. The former is in my view most probable; for the command having been given would satisfactorily account for the questioning, and not be stated merely as co-ordinate with it. Chap. XII. 1 — 36.] Peophetio anti cipations op the Lobd's oioeipica- tion by death. 1— 11.] The arrival, and anointing, at Bethany, according to the ordinary sense of the words, six days before the passover, was on the eighth of the month Nisan, if the passover was on the fourteenth^ That day was a Sabbath ; but this makes no difficulty, as we know not from what' point our Lord came, or whether He arrived at the commencement of the Sabbath, i.e. sunset, — or a little after, on Friday evening, from Jericho. 2. they made him a supper] It is not said who. It was, from Matthew and Mark, in the house of Simon the leper. Prom Lazarus being there, and Martha serving, he may have been a near relative of theirs. See notes on Matthew. Lazarus is mentioned throughout the in cident, as forming an element in tbe unfolding of the hatred of the Jews which issued in the Lord's death : notice the climax, from mere connecting mention in ver. 1, then nearer connexion in ver. 2, — ¦ to his being the cause of the Jews flocking to Bethany in ver. 9, — and the joint object XII. 1—9. ST. JOHN. 569 them that sat at the table with him. 3 Then took bMaiy»J^j,j-*. a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed "•'¦ the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair : and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, [a Simon's son,] which D should betray him, 6 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor ? 6 This he said, not c that he cared for the poor ; but because he was a thief, and cihad the bag, and efow-ecch.xiii.w. what was put therein. 1 Then said Jesus, f Let her alone : against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you ; but me ye have not always. 9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there : and they came not S for Jesus sake only, but that a omit. b render, Was about to. c render, because. d render, kept. e render, took away. * read, with most of the ancient authorities, Let her alone, that she may keep it until the day of my burying. B render, on account of Jesus. with Jesus of the enmity of the chief priests, in ver. 10. 3.] On spike nard, see note on Mark. anointed the feet of Jesus] His head, according to Matthew and Mark. See note on Luke vii. 38. 4.] Por Judas, we have " His disciples" Matthew, — " some" merely, Mark. See note on Matthew, ver. 8. The clause, which was about to betray him, is not inserted, nor are any such notices in St. John, without signifi cance. It has a material connexion with the narrative in hand. Only, one with thoughts alien from Jesus could have originated such a murmur. And on the other hand, it may well be, as some have supposed, that by the rebuke of the Lord on this occasion, the traitorous scheme of Judas, long hidden in his inmost soul, may have been stimulated to immediate action. 5. three hundred pence] Common (with the slight difference of the insertion of "more than") to our narra tive, and Mark. The sum is about 92. 16.9. of our money. 6.] The word ren dered bag originally signified a box in which to keep the reeds, or tongues, of wind instruments: — thus, generally, any kind of pouch, or money-chest. took away] The word may bave the sense given in the A. V., " bare," " carried :" but it seems hardly possible, with St. John's use of the same word in the original in ch, xx. 15 before us (" if thou have borne him hence"), altogether to deny that the sense of carrying off, i. e. purloining, may be here intended. Of this sense we have examples ; see my Gr. Test. And so this place was interpreted by Origen, Theophy lact, and others. 7.] See note on Matt. xxvi. 12. To suppose that the oint ment was a remnant from that used at the burial of Lazarus, is not only fanciful, but at variance with the character of the deed as apparent in the narrative. The common reading, " against the day of my burying she hath kept this," seems to be an adaptation to Mark xiv. 8, in order to escape from the difficulty of understanding how she could keep for His burial, what she poured out now. Meyer understands the words to apply to the remnant : but Luthardt rightly observes, that the his tory clearly excludes the idea of a remnant. I understand the, words, which, like all our Lord's anticipatory expressions, have something enigmatical in them, of her whole act, regarded as a thing past, but spoken of in the abstract, as to be allowed or disallowed : Let her keep it for the day of my burial : not meaning a future day or act, but the present one, as involving that future one. 8.] See note on Mark, w. 7, 8. 9 ff.] Bemember here, as elsewhere in John, the Jews are not the people, but the rulers, and persons of 570 ST. JOHN. XII. f ch. xi. 45. ver. IB. they might see Lazarus also, d whom he had raised from the dead. 10 e But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; n 'because that by reason of him many of the Jews h went away, and believed on Jesus. 12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jeru salem, 13 took J branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, rt Hosanna, ^ Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name ofthe Lord. 14 And Jesus, 1 when he had found a young ass, sat thereon ; as it is written, 1B g Fear not, daughter of Sion : behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 16 These things h under stood not his disciples at the first: 'but when Jesus was glorified, k.then remembered they that -these things were written .of him, and that they had done these things unto him: ¦::. 17 The mpeople therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from h render, were going away and believing. 1 render, the branches of the palm trees. k render, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. 1 render, having found. m render, multitude. fF Psa . cxviii. 25,26. g Zech. ix. 9. h Luke xviii. 34. 1 ch. vii. 39. k ch. xiv. 26. repute : the representatives of the Jewish opposition to Jesus. 10.] consulted, not, ' came to a (formal) resolution,' but were in the mind, — had an intention : see Acts v. 33; xv. 37. The, chief priests, named here and in ch. xi. 57, were of the sect, qf.'the Sadducees; and there fore disbelieved the fact oi "the raising of Lazarus; only viewing him i. as, one whom it would be desirable to' put out of the Way, as an object of popular attentipn in connexion with Jesus. 11. were going away (to Bethany)]. The word contains in it the Sense of mere falling away, viz. from under the hand and power of the chief priests. .. 'v 12 — 19.] The triumphal entry into Je rusalem. Matt- xxi. 1—17. Mark xi. 1 — 11. Luke xix. 29-T-44.. On the chro nology, see note on Matt.. xxi. 1. 12.] On the next day, i.e. on the Sunday; — see on ver. 1. when they heard] Prom the multitude who had returned ¦from Bethany, ver. 9. The order, ef the narrative seems to require that these people shpuld have visited Bethany late en the Sabbath, after sunset, and the anoint ing. 13. the branches of the palm trees] The articles shew that the palm trees were en the spot : or perhaps that the custom was usual at such festivities. 14 — 16.] The Evangelist seems to suppose his readers already acquainted with the circumstances of the triumphal entry, and therefore relates it thus com pendiously. The having found does not involve any discrepancy with the three Evangelists, but is a compendious term, implying their details. 15.] The pro phecy is more fully cited by St. Matthew. 16.] Important, as shewing that this, and probably other prophetic cita tions under similar circumstances, were the effect of the hght poured into the minds of the Apostles by the Holy Spirit after the Ascension. they had done these things unto him] viz. the going out to meet Him, strewing clothes and branches in the way, and shouting 'Ho sanna ' before Him : also perhaps, the set ting Him on tbe ass, implied in the concise narrative. Notice the thrice-repeated these things each time signifying " this which was written by the prophet," " the above citation." 17.] The 'testimony which they bore, is given in Luke xix. 87, IP— 24. ST. JOHN. 571 the dead, bare n record. 18 J For this cause the m people Iire,u- also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among them selves, m Perceive, ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the mchzt'"'''8 world is °gone after him. 30 V And there "were certain Greeks among them "that J^1™;-- came up to worship at the feast : 2i the same came there- Ti&flr. Aots fore to Philip, p which was lof Bethsaida of Galilee, and"^1-41' desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew : r and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. 2S s And Jesus answered them, saying, q The 1 jjj,^'- 32 hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, 'Except a * corn of wheat riccr.xv.36 n render, witness. nn render, multitude. 0 render, gone away. P render, Now. 1 render, from. r read, Andrew and Philip come, and tell Jesus. s render, But. * render, grain. 38. 18.] I see no necessity for sup posing this multitude distinct from that in the last verse. We have had no account of any multitude coming from Bethany with Him, — nor does this narrative imply it : and surely the multitude in the two verses must mean the same persons. The also here dees not imply another multitude, but Aud on this account the multitude also went out to meet Him: i.e. their coming out to meet Him and their testi mony on the Mount of Olives, had one and the same cause, — the raising of Lazarus. 19.] The term gone away can hardly be altogether without allusion to the fact, or likelihood, of apostasy from Judaism. It is used to signify entire devotion to Him whithersoever He might lead them : and thus implies escape and alienation from themselves. 20 — 86.] ftttuee spread ov the kingdom op God among genthes peom THE death OE Jesus. Some Greeks desire to see Jesus. Sis discourse there upon. 20.] These Greeks were not Grecian Jews, — who would not have been so called : but Gentiles, ' proselytes of the gate,' who were in the habit of coming up to the feast ; see ch. vii. 35, and note : also Acts viii. 27. 21.] For what reason Philip was selected, it is impossible to say. The form of his name is Greek, and may imply some connexion with Grecian Jews, who may have been friends or relatives of these Greeks. If they were/«M» the neighbour hood of Bethsaida, they would indeed have been familiar with the person of Jesus : — but what they here requested was evidently a private interview. 22.] Andrew (ch. i. 45) was of the same city ns Philip : and this reason of Philip conferring with him is perhaps implied in the words which was from Bethsaida of Galilee. Bengel remarks on this touch of nature : " when associated with his companion, he makes bold, and does it." 23.] Did these Greeks see (i. e. speak with) Jesus or not ? Certainly not, if I understand His discourse rightly. But they may have been present at, and have understood it. The substance of His answer (made to Philip and Andrew, not to the Greeks) is, that the time was now come for His glorification, which should draw all nations to Him : — but that glo rification must be accomplished by His Death. The very appearance of these Greeks is to Him a token that His glo rification is at hand. Stier strikingly says, " These men from the West at the end of the Life of Jesus, set forth the same as the Magi from the East at its beginning :: — but they come to the Cross of the King, as those to His cradle." The rejection of the Jews for their unbelief is the secondary subject, and is commented on by the Evan gelist, w. 37^43. 24.] Meyer thinks, that our Lord begins His declaration with the double asseveration verily, verily, on account of the slowness of the mind of the disciples to receive the announcements of His Death. But St. John always uses " verily, verily." The grain of wheat 572 ST. JOHN. XII. e Matt. x. 39 : xvi. 25. Mark viii. 35. Luke ix. 21; xvii. 33. tch. xiv. 3: xvii. 24. 1 Thess. iv. 17. u Matt. xxvi. 38,39. Luke 3ii. 50 ch. xiii. 21. fall into the ground and die, it abideth *¦ alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 B He that loveth his *life shall lose it; and he that hateth his * life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and ' where I am, there shall also my servant be : if any man serve me, him will y my Father honour. 27 u Now is my soul troubled ; and what shall I say? Pather, save me from this hour: zbut for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy x Matt. m. 17. name. xThen came there a voice from heaven, [a saying,] u render, by itself alone. x render, soul : the same word is thus rendered in ver. 27. 7 render, the. z render, but yet, or, nevertheless. a not expressed in the original. conflict. And to express both these together in human speech was impossible : therefore our Lord exclaims, What shall I say ' The following words, Father, save me from this hour, must not be taken in terrogatively, as if our Lord were doubt ing whether to say them or not : for thus the whole sense is destroyed, besides the sentiment being most unworthy of Him who uttered it. The prayer is a veritable prayer ; and answers to the pro phetic Messianic prayers in the Psalms, which thus run — 'My soul is troubled; Lord, help me' (Ps. lxix. 1; xl. 12, 13; xxv. 17 ; vi. 3, 4, al.) ; and to that prayer afterwards in Gethsemane, Matt. xxvi. 39. for this cause] The misunderstand ing of these words has principally led to the erroneous punctuation just noticed. for this cause really means, "in order that I may be saved from this hour .-" i. e. 'I came to this hour for this very purpose, — that I might be saved from this hour :' i. e. ' the going into, and exhausting this hour, this cup, is the very appointed way of my glorification.' This interpretation does not, as Luthardt says, fall if we give up the interrogative punctuation of the pre vious clause, but holds equally good when that is relinquished. The other interpre tation of the words for this cause, that of Meyer and others, is, that Thy Name may be glorified. But surely this is to do violence to the order of thought. This particular does not come in till the next clause, and cannot without an improbable transposition be drawn into this. 28.] The glorifying the Name of the Father can only take place by the glorification of the Son ; and this latter only by His death : bo that this is the 'ardour of obedience' triumphant. a voice from heaven] This perishes, and is not apparent (as the seeds of dicotyledonous plants are) in the new plant : — see 1 Cor. xv. 36. The saying is more than a mere parabolic similitude: the divine Will, whieh has fixed the law of the springing up of the wheat-corn, has also determined the law of the glorification of the Son of Man, and the one in analogy with the other : i. e. both through Death. The symbolism here lies at the ropt pf that in ch. vi., where Christ is the Bread of life. it abideth by itself alcne, with its life uncommunicated, lived only within its own limits, and not passing on. 25.] And this same divine Law prevails for the disciples, as well as for their Master : — see Matt. x. 39 and note. But the saying here proclaims more plainly its true extent, — by its immediate connexion with ver. 24 and by the words, unto life eternal. The word soul (or, life, but here better, soul) is not really in a double sense : as the wheat-corn retains its identity, though it die, so the soul: so that the two senses are, in their depth, but one. Notice, that the soul involves tbe life in both cases, and must not be taken in the present acceptation of that term. 26.] Connexion : — The ministering to, or intimate union with, Christ (the position of Philip and Andrew and the rest, and that into which these Greeks seemed de sirous to enter) implies following Him,— and that, through tribulation to glory. where I am] The word refers, not to the place of our Lord at that moment, but to His essential, true place, i. e. (ch. xvii. 24) in the glory of the Father. him will the Father honour] By glorifying him in My glorification, ch. xvii. 24. 27.] Bengel ebserves that the herror of death and the ardour of obedience were in 25—32. ST. JOHN. 573 I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The b people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it J&ttlxi thundered : others said, An angel " spake to him. 3° Jesus x"'i8Lche answered and said, * This voice came not d because of me, "'' Aito" - v ' xxvi. IS. but tor your sakes. sl Now is the judgment of this world : xiv. 30 : xvi. 11. A xxvi.: 2 Cor. iv. i. Eph. ii. 2 : now shall z the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, ach'.ia'.M: viii. 28. ' if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw b all men unto ^eKa8' * render, multitude. c render, hath spoken. 4 render, for my Sake. * voice * can no otherwise be understood, , than as - plain articulate sound, miracu lously spoken, heard by all, and variously interpreted. So all the ancients, and the best of the modern expositors. On the saying of the crowd (ver. 29) has been built the erroneous and unworthy notion, that it was only thunder, but understood by tbe Lord and the disciples to mean as here stated. I have glorified it] In the manifestation hitherto made of the Son pf God, imperfect as it was (see Matt. xvi. 16, 17); in all Old Testament type and prophecy; in Creation; and indeed before the world was made. The word again here implies no mere repetition, but an intensification, of the glorification a yet once more: and this time fully and finally. 29.] Some heard words, but did not apprehend their meaning; others a sound, but no words. I should rather believe this difference to have been pro portioned to each man's inner relation to Christ, than fortuitous. 30.] The voice had been heard by those, who did not apprehend its meaning, as thunder. But the words, this voice, could not by any possibility have been said to them, if it had only thundered. Our Lord does not say that the assurance was not made for His sake : — He had prayed, and His prayer had been answered : — but that it had not been thus outwardly expressed for His, but for their sake. This is like wise true in the case of all testimonies to Him ; and especially of those two other voices from heaven, — at His Baptism and His Transfiguration. Those addressed in the words, for your sakes, are the whole multitude, not merely the disciples. All heard, and all might have understood the voice : see ch. xi. 42. 31.] All this is a comment on the declaration, that the hour was come, ver. 23 : and now a different side of the subject is taken up, and one having immediate reference to the occasion : viz. the drawing of the Gentile world to Him. Now . . . now] He speaks of Himself as having actually en tered the hour of His passion, and views the result as already come. the judgment of this world is not, as Chrysos tom, Augustine, and others think, 'the deliverance of this world from the devil ;' — nor, 'decision concerning this world,' who is to possess it (Bengel) : — but (see ch. xvi. 11) judgment, properly so called, the work of the Spirit who was to come, on the world, of which it is said that " the whole world lieth in wickedness (the wicked one)," 1 John v. 19. the prince of this world] The "prince of the age " of the Jews, Satan, the "god of this world" of 2 Cor. iv. 4 : see also Eph. ii. 2 ; vi. 12. Observe it is shall be cast out, not " is cast cut," because the casting put shall be gradual, as the drawing in the next verse. But after the death of Christ the casting out began, and its firstfruits were, the coming in of the Gentiles into the Church. 32. if I be lifted up] See the references. Here there is more perhaps implied than in either of those places : viz. the Death, with all its consequences. The Saviour crucified, is in fact the Saviour glorified ; so that the exalting to God's right hand is set forth by that uplifting on the Cross. There is a fine touch of pathos, corresponding to the feeling of ver. 27, in the words, if I be lifted up. The Lord Jesus, though know ing that the lifting up would really take place, yet in the weakness of His humanity, puts Himself into this seeming doubt, ' if it is sp to be :' cf. Matt. xxvi. 42. All this is missed by the shallew and un- schelarlike rendering "when I shall be lifted up," which the criginal will npt bear. will draw all men unto me] By the diffusion of the Spirit in the Church : manifested in the preaching of the Word mediately, and the pleading of the Spirit immediately. Before the glori fication of Christ, the Father drew men to the Son (see ch. vi. 44 and note), but now the Son Himself to Himself. Then it was "no man can come except the Father draw him :" now the Son draws 574 ST. JOHN. XII. c ch. xviii. 32. p , d Ps. lxxxix. 36,37: ex. 4. Isa. ix. 7 : liii. 8. E/ek. xxxvii. 25. Dan ii. 44: vii. 14, 27. Mic. ir.7. me. °° e This he said, signifying f what death he should die. si The ff people answered him, d We have heard out of the law that S Christ abideth for ever : and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? 35 n Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while e is the light with you. 'Walk while ye have the light, * lest darkness come upon you : s for he that walketh in k darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may h ! be the children of hght. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and * did hide himself from them. 3? But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him : 3S that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, e render, myself. f render, by what manner of death : see ch. xix. 32, xxi. 19. ff render, multitude. S render, the Christ. 11 render, Jesus therefore. 1 render, that darkness overtake you not. e ch. i. 9: viii, '12 : ix. 5. ver. 46. f Jer. xiii. 16. Eph. v. 8. g tli. xi. 10. Uohnii. 11. h Luke xvi. 8. Eph. v. 8. 1 Thess. v. 5. 1 John ii. 9, 10, 11. ~\ ch. viii. 59 : xi. 54. k render, the darkness. all. And, to Himself, as thus uplifted, thus exalted ; — the great object of Faith : see ch. xi. 52. 33. by what manner of death] The werds here can hardly point to more than the external circum stances of His death. Some have found in the expression the whole consequences and character of His Death ; but see ch. xviii. 32. St. John does not say that this was all that the " lifting up " meant, but that itwas its first and obvious reference. 34.] In such passages as Fs. lxxxix. 36, and perhaps ex. 4 ; Dan. vii. 13, 14. the law must be taken in its wider sense, as including the whole ofthe Old Testament : see ch. x. 34. The actual words, the Son of man must be lifted up, had not been on this occasion used by Jesus ; but in His discourse with Nicodemus, ch. iii. 14, and perhaps in other parts of His teaching which have not been recorded. who is this Son of man T] They thought some other Son of Man, not the Messiah; was meant ; because this lifting up (which they saw implied taking away) was inapplicable to their idea of the Messiah, usually known as the Son pf Man. 35.] He does not answer them, but enjoins them to make use of the time of His presence yet left them. While does not exactly express the sense of the conjunction in the original : it is rather, walk, according to your present state of privilege in possessing the Light : which 1 render, become sons. indeed can only be done while it is with you. the light, i.e* 'Myself:' — see ch. vii. 33; viii. 12; ix. 4, 5. This reference to the light is an easy .tran sition from their question, if, as above supposed, Fs. lxxxix. 36 was alluded to : " His (David's) seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me." Walk] i. e. make use of the Light, do your work in it, and by it. knoweth not whither he goeth] Has no guide nor security, no principle to lead him. 36.] It is by believing on the Light, that men become sons of Light : see ch. i. 12. Our Lord probably went on this occasion to Bethany, Luke xxi. 37. 87 — 50.] Final judgment on the unbehef oe the jews. 37 — 43.] The Evangelist's judgment on their un belief (37 — 41), and their half -belief (42, 43). I do not regard these verses as form ing the conclusion to the narrative of the public ministry of the Lord, on account of vv. 44 — 60 (where see note) : but doubt less the approaching close of that ministry gives occasion to them, and is the time to which they refer. 37. they be lieved not] i. e. the generality did not; — they did not, as a people : see ver. 42. 38.] On the words that the say ing of Esaias might be fulfilled see note Matt. i. 22: beware of understanding them to mean merely "so that the saying of Esaias was fulfilled," which the original 83—45. ST. JOHN. 575 kLord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath kICui the arm of the Lord been revealed ? 39 m Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 1 He nMatt!'xi'u!°" hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, n nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 41 m These things said Esaias, "when he saw his glory, and m i.a. vi. i. spake of him. 43 Nevertheless P among the chief rulers also many be lieved on him: but "because of the Pharisees thev did nch.vii.is: , J ix. 22. not confess 1 him, lest they should be put out of the syna gogue : *3 "for they loved vthe praise of men more than och.v.n. 8 the praise of God. 44 * Jesus cried and said, pHe that believeth on me, ^f^f'"- believeth not on me, but on' him that sent me. 45 And m render, For this cause. n render, And. 0 read and render, because he saw his glory : and he spake of him. P render, even of the rulers. 1 better, it : not expressed in the original, r render, the glory that is of men. B render, the glory that is of God. t render, But Jesus. will" not bear. 39.] For this cause that pf the Son, Who isJ the brightness refers to the last ' verse, and because sets (shining forth) of the glory of the Father, forth the reason more in detail : see ch. v. Whom no eye hath seen. The last clause 16 : 1 John iii. 1 : Matt. xxiv. 44. is independent of ^'because" and contains they could not believe] i. e. it was another assertion,— and he spake concern- otherwise ordained in the divine counsels, ing Him. 42.] For example, Nico- No attempt to escape this meaning (as demus, Joseph, and others like them. " they would not believe," Chrysostom On the putting out of the synagogue, see and others) will agree with the pro- note, ch. ix. 22. 43.] is a reference to phecy cited ver. 40. But the inability, ch. v. 44. 44—50.] Proof of the as thus stated, is coincident with the full- guilt of their unbelief, from the words of est freedom of the human will : compare Jesus Himself. It was by the older Com- " Ye have no mind to come to Me," ch. v. mentators generally thought, that these 40. Then, in what follows, a more special verses formed part of some other discourse ground is alleged why they could not delivered at thisi period. But this is im- believe: — see above. 40.] The pro- probable, from no occasion being specified, phecy is freely cited, after neither, the — from ver. 36, — and from the form and Hebrew nor the LXX, which is followed contents of the. passage, and its reference in Matt. xiii. 14 f. What God bids the to the foregoing remarks of the Evan- prophet do, is here described as done, and gelist.. <. I take it — with almost all modern by Himself: which is obviously implied in Commentators — to be a continuation of the Hebrew text. 41. because he those remarks substantiating them by the saw] "This apocalyptic vision was the testimony of the Lord Himself. The occasion of that prophecy." Meyer. words are taken mostly, but not alto- his glory : i: e. the glory of Christ. The gether, from discourses already given , in Evangelist is giving his judgment, — havings this Gospel. 44, 45.] On the close (Luke xxiv. 45) had his understanding connexion with the Father, see ch. v. 24, opened to understand the Scriptures,— 38; :viii. 19, 42; xiv. ,10. The words mat .the passage in Isaiah is spoken of are in: logical sequence to- ver. 41, in which 'Christ. And indeed, strictly considered, ithe rEvangelist has said that the glory of the glory which Isaiah saw could onJu. be *i Jehovah and His glory were the same. 576 ST. JOHN. XII. 46—50. q ch. xiv. 9. r ver. 85, 88. ch. iii. 19: viii. 12 : ix, a ch. V. 45 : viii. 16, 28. t ch. iii. 17. u Luke x. 10. x Deut. xviii. 19. Mark xvi. 16. y ch. viii. 38 l xiv. 10. x Deut xviii. 18. a ch. xii. 23 : xvU. 1,11. q he that n seeth me u seeth him that sent me. 46 r I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me x should not abide in darkness. *7 And if any man hear my words, and y believe not, s I judge him not : for ' I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 u He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: xthe word that I z have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For ^1 '¦have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me [h a] commandment, z what I should say, and what I should speak. 60 And I know that his command ment is life everlasting : whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father c said unto me, so I speak. XIII. l Now before the feast of the passover, &when Jesus knew that a his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which n render, beholdeth. x render, may not remain in the darkness. 7 read, keep them not. z render, spake. a render, spake not. h omitm 0 render, hath said. d render, Jesus knowing. 46.] See ver. 35; ch. viii. 12; ix. 5. The may not remain in the darkness here implies that all are originally in darkness, — as the same kind of expression in ch. iii. 36. 47.] See ch. iii. 17 ; v. 45; viii. 15. 48.] See ch. iii. 18, also v. 45 ff., and Heb. iv. 12. 49.] See ch. v. 30; vii. 16, 17, 28, 29; viii. 26, 28, 38. On the Father giving the Son commandment, ch. a. 18. 'There does not appear to be any real difference here, though many have been suggested, between the words say and speak. 50.] See ch. vi. 63 (and note), 68. his commandment is, results in, not as a means merely, but in its accomplishment and expansion, eternal life: see ch. iii. 15; v. 24; vi. 40. Thus all who do not believe are without excuse; — because Jesus is not come, and speaks not, of Himself, but of the Father, Whose will and commandment respecting Him is, that He should be and give, Life to all. They who reject Him, reject Life, and (ch. iii. 19) prefer darkness to Light. Chap. XIII.— XX.] Third division of the Gospel. Jesus and His own. XIII.— XVII.] His Love, and the faith ob His own. XIII. 1—30.] His Love in Humiliation. 1—11. His condescension in washing their feet. On the chronological difficulties, see notes on Matt. xxvi. 17, and ch. xviii. 28. There can be no reasonable doubt that this meal was the same as that at which the Lord's Supper was instituted, as re lated in the three Evangelists. The nar rative proceeds without any break until ch. xvii. 26, after which our Lord and the disciples go to Gethsemane. 1. before the feast of the passover] How long, is not said : but probably, a very short time ; — not more than one day at the most ; — see ch. xviii. 28 and note. The words belong to the whole narrative following, not to knowing or having loved. knowing] The view with which our Lord washed His disciples' feet, is shewn by the repetition of this word in verses 1, 3, and by the mention of His love for His disciples. The connexion is : — ' Jesus loved His own even to the end (of His life in the flesh), and gave them in the washing of their feet a proof of His love ; and to this act He was induced by the knowledge that He must soon leave this world; and al though this knowledge was united (ver. 3) with the highest consciousness of His divine mission and speedy glorification, yet this latter did not prevent Him from giving this proof of His self-humiliating love' (De Wette). his own which XIII. 1—7. ST. JOHN. 577 were in the world, [e he] loved them unto the end. 3 And ' supper being ended, bthe devil having now put into thebver.sr. heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him ; 3 [S Jesus] knowing cthat the Father had h given all things tMott.xi.s7i into his hands, and dthat he iwas come from God, and %ii?l\eU k went to God ; * e he riseth from 1 supper, and m laid aside x%%. 'hS: his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. a £!},*$'¦ 42! 5 After that he poureth water into n a bason, and began to " ^ pujila. wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel 7'8" wherewith he was girded. 6 ° Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, fdost thou washfBje48MatfcliI- my feet ? 7 Jesus answered and said unto him, "What I do e omit. * render, when supper was begun. S omitted by many of the most ancient authorities. h render, given him all things. 1 render, Came forth. k render, was going. 1 render, the supper. m render, layeth. , 11 render, the. ° render, So he Cometh. were in the world] See ch. xvii. 11. 2.] The sense is not, as A.V., ' supper being ended,' for (ver. 12) He reclined again, and in ver. 26, the supper is still going on : — but, supper having begun or having been served. See this shewn from the usage of the original in my Greek Test. The verse may be otherwise read and rendered, The devil having by this time suggested (to Judas) that Judas Iscariot the son of Simon (i. e. that he) should betray Him. Jndas had before this covenanted with the Sanhedrim to betray Him, Matt. xxvi. 14 and parallel places, which must here be meant by the devil having put it into his heart : — the thorough self-abandonment to Satan which led to the actual deed, being designated ver. 27. St. Luke (xxii. 3) expresses the steps of his treasonable purpose other wise, — meaning the same. The fact is here stated, to enhance the love which Jesus shewed in the following action. 3.] See above. He did what follows with a full sense of the glory and dignity of His own Person. " The prefatory mention of His glory is as it were a protestation, lest it should be thought that the Lord did any thing beneath His dignity in washing the dis ciples' feet." Bengel. 4. laid aside his garments] "viz. those which might hinder the act of washing." Bengel. He put Himself into the ordinary dress of a servant. Or, which is far more probable, on the deepest grounds, did He not humble Himself so far as literally to divest Him self, and gird Himself merely, as the basest of slaves? 5.] the bason, viz. the vessel usually at hand for such purposes. The context seems to shew that He had washed tbe feet of one or more before the incident of the next verse : were it not so, the words, " began to wash," might merely express His doing something unusual and unlooked for. 6.] And so (the so taking up the narrative again after the word began, as if it were said, ' in pur suance of this intention') He comes to Simon Peter ; not first, ¦ as some have maintained, both with and without re ference to the primacy of Peter : — for that would be hardly consistent (see on the preceding verse) with the context, which seems to require that the washing should have begun and been going on, before He came to Peter. art Thou washing (intending to wash) my feet f] He thinks the act unworthy of the Lord; even as many think that great act of Love to have been, which was typified by it. The word my is not emphatic. The having his feet washed is a matter of course : it is the Person who is about to do it that offends bim. 7.] Hitherto our Lord had been silent. He emphasizes the I and thou, but sp as to set forth Himself as the Master, Peter as the disciple, not wholly cognizant of His will and purpose, and therefore more properly found in subjec tion to it. What I do] i. e. (1) this washing itself, as a lesson of humility and love, ver. 14. (2) Its symbolical meaning, 578 ST. JOHN. XIII. g ver. 12. h ch. iii. 6. I Cor. vi. 11. Eph. V. 26. Tit. iii. 5. Heb. x. 22. thou knowest not now, s but thou shalt P know hereafter. 8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, h If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that 1 is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit : and ' ye are clean, r but not all. u For k he knew s who should betray him ; * there fore said he, Ye are not all clean. ia So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have 13 ' Ye call me Master and Lord : and ye I am. 14 m If I then, your Lord and 1 Matt, xxiii. 8,10. Luke vi. 46. 1 Cor. viii. 6 : xii. 3. Phil. ii. -• , 0 ii. done to you i m Luke xxn. * E |om. xii. io. say well; for ?& v.V' Master, have washed your feet ; n ye also ought to wash so P render, understand afterwards. 1 better, hath been bathed hath no need : see note. 1 render, yet. s or, him that was betraying. * better, for this cause. w. 9, 10. (3) The great Act of Love, the laying aside My glory, and becoming in the form of a servant, that the washing of the Holy Spirit may cleanse men. afterwards] Taking up again the numbers used in the last note, (1) was known very soon, but (2) and (3) not till after the Spirit was given. 8.] The rash and self-opinionated Apostle opposes to our Lord's afterwards his own never (literally, no, not for ever). In interpreting our Lord's answer, we must remember, that He replies more to the spirit of Peter's objection, than to his words. The same well-meaning but false humility would pre vent him (and does prevent many) from stooping to receive at the hands of the Lord that spiritual washing which is ab solutely necessary in order to have any part in Him, Rom. viii. 9, ' If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me ,-' but the affirmative proposition, that those who are washed, have apart in Jesus, is not equally true; witness the example of Judas, who was washed, but yet had no part with Jesus. In the spiritual sense of washing, this is not so. Whoever is washed by Jesus, has part in Him. We are here in the realm of another and deeper logic : the act being no longer symbolic, but veritable. 9.] The warm-hearted Peter, on learning that exclusion would be. the consequence of not being washed, can hardly have enough of a cleansing so precious. There surely is implied in this answer an in cipient apprehension of the meaning of our Lord's words. The expression, if I wash thee not, has awakened in him, as the Lord's presence did, Lnke v. 8, a feeling of his own want of cleansing, his entire pollution. 10.] Reference appears to be made to the fact that one who has bathed, after he has reached his home, needs not entire washing, but only to have his feet washed from the dust of the way. This bathing, the bath of the new birth, but only yet in its foreshadowing, in the purifying effect of faith working by love, the Apostles, with one exception, had; and tbiB foot-washing represented to them, besides its lesson of humility and brotherly love, their daily need of cleansing from daily pollution, even after spiritual re generation, at the hands of their divine Master. See 2 Cor. vii. 1 : James i. 21 : Acts xv. 8, 9 : 2 Pet. ii. 22. On ye are clean, see note, ch. xv. 3. 12—20.] This act, a pattern of self- denying love for His servants. 12.] Enow ye what I have done to yon?] These words are uttered, not so much in expectation of an answer, as tp direct their attenticn to the following. 14.] The command here given must be understood in the full light of intelli gent appreciation of the circumstances, and the meaning of the act. Bengel re marks, that one intent of our Lord's wash ing the feet of His disciples must neces sarily be absent from any such deed on our part: viz. its symbolic meaning, pressed by our Lord on St. Peter, "If I wash 8—20. ST. JOHN. 579 one another's feet. 15 For ° I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. I6 * Verily, verily, I say unto you, ""-The servant is not greater than his lord : x neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 q If ye know these things, 7 happy are ye if ye do them, l8 I speak not of you all : I know whom I z have chosen : but that the scripture may be fulfilled, r He that eateth bread with me [*hath] lifted up his heel against me. I9 s * Now I tell you before it c come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. 20 * Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me : and he that receiveth me receiveth 0 Matt. xi. 29. Phil. ii. S. 1 Pet. ii. 21. 1 John ii. 6. p Matt. x. 24. Luke vi. 40. ch. XV, 20. q James i. 25. r Psa. xli. 9. Matt. xxvi. 23. ver. 21. 8 ch. xiv. 29 : xvi. 4. t Matt. x. 41 xxv. 40. Luke X. IS. U render, There is no servant. y render, as usual, blessed. h render, From this time. thee not, thou hast no part with Me." The command will rather find its fulfil ment in all kinds of mutual condescension and help, than in any literal observance. " In these times," continues Bengel, " pon tiffs and princes obey this injunction to the letter : but it would be a more wonderful thing to see a pontiff, for example, wash the feet of one equal, than of twelve poor beggars." The custom of literally and cere monially washing the feet in obedience to this command, is not found before the fourth century. 15.] Notice that our Lord commands us to do, not "that which I have done to you," but " as, in like man ner as, I have done to you." Our Lord's action was symbolical, and is best imitated in His followers by endeavouring, " if a man be overtaken in a fault, to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness :" Gal. vi. 1. 16, 17.] The proverbial expression, There is no servant greater than his lord, is used here in a different sense from that which it has in ch. xv. 20. Here it is, "if the Master thus humbles Himself, much more should His servants and messengers ;" see Matt. x. 24 ; Luke vi. 40 ; and on ver. 17, ^ Luke xii. 47, 48. The mere recognition of such a duty of humihty, is a very much more easy matter than the putting it in practice. 18.] I say it not (viz. the "if ye do them ") of you all .- for there is one who can never be blessed. Our Lord repeats his words, " but not all," of ver. 10, and the sad recollection leads to His trouble in spirit, ver. 21. I know] The I is emphatic ; and the reason of its emphasis is given in ver. 19. Con nexion : ' It might be supposed that this .treachery has come upon Me unawares; * render, nor apostle. z render, chose. a omit. e render, as below, Come to pass. but it is not so: I (for my part) know whom I have selected (viz. the whole twelve ; see ch. vi. 70, not only the true ones, as in ch. xv. 16, said when Judas was not present) : but this has been done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, declared in the Scriptures.' The words of the citation here are given freely, the LXX having, "magnified the lifting up of the heel against me." This is another instance of the direct and unhesitating application of the words of the Psalms by our Lord to Himself. his heel] Bengel observes that this saying is pertinent to the washing of the feet, and also to the custom of reclining in eating bread. See on ver. 23. 19.] ' Now, from this time, I announce it to you, that when it shall have happened, you may be lieve that I am (the Christ).' See ch. xvi. 1, and above on " I know," ver. 18. 20.] See Matt. x. 40. The connexion is very diffi cult, and variously set down. It has been generally supposed that the words were to comfort the Apostles for the disgrace of their order by Judas, or in prospect of their future labours. But then would not the words " whomsoever I send" have been expressed by "you"? Another view is to refer back to vv. 16, 17, and suppose the connexion to have been broken by the allusion to Judas. But is this likely, in a discourse of our Lord ? I rather believe that the saying sets forth the dignity of that office from which Judas was about to fall : q. d. * not only was he in close inter course with Me (ver. 18), but invested with an ambassadorship for Me, and in Me, for the Father; and yet he will lift -up his heel against Me.' And the con- 580 ST. JOHN. XIII. u Matt. xxvi. 21. Mark xiv. IS. Luke xxii. 21. X ch. xii. 27. y Acts i. 17. zch. xix.20: xx. 2: xxi. 7, 20, 24. a Luke xxii. 8. ch. vi. 70. him that sent me. 2i "When Jesus had thus said, xhe was troubled in d spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that y one of you shall betray me. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. 23 Now z there was e leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 2* Simon Peter therefore t beckoned to him, S that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake: 25 He then h lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it ? 26 Jesus an swered, He it is, to whom I shall give >« sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, [k the son] of Simon. 27 a And 1 after the sop Satan entered into him. m Then said Jesus 6 render, reclining at meat in. d render, his spirit. f render, maketh a sign. cT The text is in confusion : some ancient authorities reading as above, while others have, and saith unto him, Say, who it is of whom he speaketh ? 11 render, leaning back. i render, the. * not expressed in the original. 1 more strictly, after the sop, then Satan . . . m render, Jesus therefore said. sideration of this dignity in all its privi leges, as contrasted with the sad announce ment jiist to be made, leads on to the troubling of our Lord's spirit in the next verse. 21 — SO.] Contrast of the manifestations of love and hate. See notes on Matt. xxvi. 21—25. Mark xiv. 18—21. Luke xxii. 21 — 23. 21.] See above. This was one of those mysterious troublings of spirit, which passed over our Lord, — ch. xi. 33 and xii. 27. The word testified implies the delivery of , some solemn and important announcement. This was the first time He had ever spoken so plainly. All four Evangelists agree in the substance of the announcement. 22.] In Matthew and Mark they express their questioning in words. St. Luke's beginning to enquire among themselves would appear to imply the same. We seem called on here to decide a much-con troverted question, — where, in St. John's narrative, the institution of the Lord's Supper is to be inserted ? I believe certainly before this announcement, as in Luke : and if before it, perhaps before the washing of the disciples' feet : for I see no break which would admit it between our ver. 1 and ver. 21. 23.] Since the captivity, tho Jews lay at table in the Persian manner, on divans or couches, each on his left side with his face towards the table, his left elbow resting on a pillow and supporting his head. Thus the second guest to the right hand lay with his head near the breast of the first, and so on. whom Jesus loved] The disciple meant is John himself, see ch. xxi. 20 ; also designated thus, ch. xix. 26; xxi. 7 (see Introduction to John, § i. 6). 24—26.] See note on Matt. ver. 23. Peter characteristically imagines that John, as the beloved disciple, would know: but he, not knowing, asks of the Lord. 25. leaning back on Jesus' breast] I understand it, that John, who was before lying close to the bosom of Jesus, now leaned his head absolutely upon His breast, to ask the question. This escaped the notice of the rest at the table : — see on Matt, as abpve. 26.] This represents Matt. ver. 23, Mark ver. 20. the sop, probably a piece cf the unleavened bread, dipped in the breth made of bitter herbs. 27.] Bengel observes that it was after the sop, not with it, that Satan entered into him. Observe the word sop, in this sentence, stands for the act in which it played a principal part. This giving the sop was one of the closest tes timonies of friendly affection. The 21—31. ST. JOHN. 551 unto him, ° That thou doest, do quickly. 2S Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29 For some of them thought, because b Judas P had the bag, that Jesus [4 had] said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast ; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 He then having received the sop went immediately out : and it was night. 3X Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, ° Now is the Son of man glorified, and d God is glorified in him. d ch. xiv. 13. 1 Pet. iv. 11. o*.e. What. P render, kept. 1 omit. word then carries a graphic power and pathos with it : at that moment. Satan entered into him] See ver. 2 and note. Satan entered fully into him, took full possession of him, — so that his will was not only bent upon doing the deed of treachery, but fixed and determined to do it then and there. The words must be understood literally, not as merely be tokening the decision of his mind in the direction of the devil's ccunsels. 'What thou deest (art doing) . . .] These words are not to be evaded, as being per missive or dismissive (this latter view is taken by Chrysostom, 'who says, "The words are not to be taken as commanding or exhorting, but as reproaching, and inti mating that there was in him the wish to act decidedly, but as he was undecided, the Lord permits him to depart and do it "). They are like the saying of God to Balaam, Num. xxii. 20, — and of our Lord to the Pharisees, Matt- xxiii. 32. The course of sinful action is presupposed, and the command to go on is but the echo of that mysterious appointment by which the sinner in the exercise of his own corrupted will becomes the instrument of the pur poses of God. Thus it is not " What thou art about to do," but — that which thou art doing, hast just now fully determined to put in present action, do quickly — reproving his lingering, and his pretend ing (Matt. ver. 25) to share in the general doubt. 28.] Not even St. John : who knew he was the traitor, but had no idea the deed was so soon to be done. Stier supposes St. John to exclude himself in saying " no man al the table," and that he knew. 29.] The first supposition agrees with ver. 1, — that it was " before the feast of the passover." Had it been the night of the passever, the next day being hallowed as a sabbath, nothing could have been bought. On the whole question see notes on Matt. xxvi. 17, and ch. xviii. 28. On the second sup- Voi. I. position, see ch. xii. 5. The gift to the poor might be, to help them to procure their paschal lamb. 30.] The re mark, and it was night, seems to be added to bring the whole narrative from ch. xiii. 1 to ch. xviii. 3 into precision, as happening on one and the same night. It is perhaps fanciful to see, as many have done, an allusion to the darkness in Judas's soul, or to the fact expressed in Luke xxii. 53, " this is your hour, and the power of darkness;" though doubtless there the Lord alludes to its being also night .- but I quite feel, with Meyer, that there is something awful in this termination — it was night. 31 — XVI. 83.] His love in keeping and completing- his own. And herein, 31 — XIV. 81.] He comforts tliem with the assurance that He is going to the Father. 31 — 38.] Announcement of the fact — its effect on Peter. Here commences that solemn and weighty portion of the Gospel (ch. xiii. 31— xvii. 26) which Olshausen not without reason calls 'the most holy place.' He beautifully remarks, 'These were the last moments which the Lord spent in the midst of His own before His Passion, and words full of heavenly mean ing flowed during them from His holy hps: — all that His heart, glowing with love, had yet to say to His own, was com pressed into this short space of time. At first the conversation with the disciples takes more the form of usual dialogue: reclining at the table, they mournfully reply to and question Him. But when (ch. xiv. 31) they had risen from the sup per, the discourse of Christ took a higher form : surrounding their Master, tbe dis ciples listened to the Words of Life, and seldom spoke (only ch. xvi. 17, 29). Finally, in the sublime prayer of the great High Priest, the whole Soul of Christ flowed forth in earnest intercession for His own to His Heavenly Father.' Olsh. ii. 329. 31. Now is the Son of man glori- 582 ST. JOHN. XIII. 82—3 "^M?'1" 33 [er If Ood sbe glorified in him,] God shall also glorify fch.xu.2s. him in„ himself, and 'shall straightway glorify him. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me : g and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come ; so now I say' to you. 3* h A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another ; as I [* have] loved you, that ye also love one another. ii.7.'8:iii?.a"35 'By this shall all men nknow that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 36 Simon Peter *said g ch. vii. 34 : viii. 21. h Lev. xix. 18. ch. xv. 12, 17.Eph. v. 2. 1 These, iv. 9. James il. 8. IPet. i 1 John ii. 5: iv. 20. r omitted by many of the most ancient authorities : but probably by mistake in transcribing, from the two similar endings, in him . . . in him. 8 render, is, * omit. u better, perceive. x render, saith. fied] It was not that the presence of Judas, as some have thought, hindered the great censummatipn impcrted by this glorification, but that the work on which he was gone out, was the actual com mencement of that consummation. " Now at length," says Lampe, " as if an obstacle were broken down, the rushing rivers of grace flow from the lips of Jesus." It is true that Judas's presence hindered the ex pression of these gracious words. The glorification is spoken of by anticipation, as if accomplished, because the deed was actually in doing, which was to accom plish it. The glorifying spoken of here, and in ver. 32, is not the same. This is the glorifying of God by Christ on earth, in His course of obedience as the Son of Man, which was completed by His death ("he became obedient even unto death" Phil. ii. 8). And His death was the transition-point between God being glori fied in -Him, and He being glorified in God — manifested to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection, and re ceived up to the Father, to sit at the right hand of God. This latter (ver. 32'v is spoken of by Him here as future, but im mediate (straightway) on His death, and leads on to the address in ver. 33. 82.] in himself is in God (the Father), not in Christ. The word himself reflects back on the subject of the sentence : and in does not mean 'by means of,' but keeps its literal force; — by the resurrection of Him into that glory, which He had indeed before, but now has as the Son of Man, with the risen Manhood ; so "glorify thou me with thyself," ch. xvii. 5. Grotius compares 1 Sam. ii. 30, which stands in the LXX, " them that glorify me I will glorify." Origen remarks, "The Father recompenses to Him more than the Son of Man hath done." 33. little chil« dren] This term, — here only used by Christ, — affectingly expresses His not only brotherly, but fatherly love (Isa. ix. 6) for His own, and at the same time their im mature and weak state, now about to be left without Him. as I said unto the Jews] "He would not say this to his disciples before, but to those who rejected Him.*' Bengel. But naturally the two clauses, 'Ve shall seek Me and not find Me, and shall die in your sins,' also spoken to the Jews (ch. vii. 33 ; viii. 21), are here omitted : and by this omission the con nexion with ver. 34 is supplied; — ' Te shall be left here : but, unlike the Jews, ye shall seek Me and shall find Me, and the way is tbat of Love, — to Me, and to one another — forming (ver. 35) an united Body, the Chureh, in which all shall recognize My presence among you as My disciples.' 34.] The newness of this ccmmandment consists in its simplicity, and (so to speak) unicify. The same kind of love was pre scribed in the Old Test, (see Bom. xiii. 8) : — 'as thyself is the highest measure of love, and it is therefore not iu degree that the new commandment differs from the old, nor in extent, but in being the com mandment of the new covenant, — the first- fruit of the Spirit in the new dispensation (Gal. v. 22) ; see 1 John ii. 7, 8 (and note), where the word new is commented on by the Apostle himself. 35.] all men, — all the world, — and the object is to be, not mere vain praise or display before the world, but that men may be attracted by the exhibition of the Spirit of Christ, and won over to Him. The world, notwith standing this proof of His presence among them, shall hate them : see 1 John iii. 10 — 15. But among all men they them selves are also included— brotherly love is XIV. 1—3. ST. JOHN. 583 kch.xxi.18. 2 Pet. i. 14. unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go thou canst not follow me now; but kthou shalt follow me afterwards. 3? -Peter xx said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for 7 thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for zmy sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. XIV. 1 Let a not your heart be troubled: [*ye] believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you. b D / go to prepare a place for you. s And if I go and 7 render, thee. a omit, most probably : see note. * read, for I go. a ver. 27.. ch. xvi. 2 b ch. xiii. 33, 88. xx render, Saith. z render, me. the true sign to them of being children of God, 1 John ii. 3—5. 36.] This an nouncement of Peter's denial is probably the same with that in Luke xxii. 33 ff., where see notes : but distinct from that on the way to Gethsemane, Matt. xxvi. 34 : Mark xiv. 30. but thou shalt follow me afterwards] Alluding probably both to the future reception of His Apostle into His glory, and to the particular path by which he should ccme to that glory ;— as in ch. xxi. 18, 19. 87.] Peter under stands our Lord's death to be meant as the time of his following;— see Luke, ver. 33. 38.] The question is not answered — but Peter's boast solemnly questioned: See a semewhat similar questipn, ch. i. 51. There was at the same time a startling inversion cf the subsequent facts, in this boast ; to which our Lord, I think, alludes in His question,; — "wilt thou lay down thy life for Me 1" . The words, The cock shall not crow, necessarily imply, as it was night, those also which follow in Matthew and Mark, "in this night," — and bind the whole events of this chapter to ch. xviii. Chap. XIV. 1—31.] This first division of the great discourse (see above on ch. xiii. 31) is spent in more di rectly comforting the disciples for their Lord's departure, by the assurance of His going to the Father, and its ccnsequences. 1—10.] He, in his union with the Father, will take His own to Him. 1.] A pause has intervened; Peter is humbled and silent ; the rest are troubled in heart en account pf the sad things pf which they had been hearing; — Judas's treachery, — Peter's denial, — the Lord's de- parture from them. The verb believe both times is imperative. Many (as in A. V. take the first as indie, the second as imper., 'Ye believe in God : believe also in me.' But this is inconsistent with the whole tenour of the discourse, which pre supposes a want of belief in God in its full and true sense, as begetting trust in Him. Luther takes both as indicative. The command is intimately connected with ch. xiii. 31, ZU,— faith in the glorifica tion of Christ in the Father, and of the Father in Him. 2.] This comfort ¦ — of being reunited te their Lord — is ad ministered tp them as " little children," in forms of speech simple, and adapted to their powers of apprehension of spiritual things. The house spoken pf is Heaven : Ps. xxxiii. 13, 14; Isa. Ixiii- 15. In it are many (in number — it may be also in degree of dig nity, but no such meaning is here conveyed) abiding-places ; room enough for, them all. If not, — if they could not follow Him thither, He would not have concealed this from them. This latter assurance is one calculated to beget entire trust and con fidence ; He would not in any matter hold out vain hopes to them; His word to them would plainly state all difficulties and dis couragements,— as indeed He does, ch. xv. 18 ; xvi. 1, 4. This preparing a place for us is that of which we sing, — ' When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, Thou didst open the Kingdom of heaven to all believers :' see note on Luke xxiii. 43. And thus it is a place, not the many mansions tbat He is preparing : — the place as a whole, not each man's place in it. 3.] In order to understand this, 2 584 ST. JOHN. XIV. o ver. 18, 28. Acts i. 11. dch.3ii.26: xvii. 24. 1 Thes. iv. 17. e Heh. ix. 8. fch.i.17: viii. 82. gch. i. 4: xi. 26. hcb.x.0.ich. viii. 19. prepare a place for you, " I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that d where I am, [c there] ye may be also. 4 And d whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am ethe way, fthe truth, and gthe life : h no man cometh unto the Pather, but by me. 7 '" If ye had known me, ye e should have known my Father also : and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Pather, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long c omit : not in the < 4 many ancient authorities read, whither I go, ye know the way. e render, would. we must bear in mind what Stier well calls the 'perspective' of prophecy. The coming again of the Lord is not one single act, — as His resurrection, or tho descent of the Spirit, or His second personal advent, or the final coming to judgment; but the great summary ef all these, the result ef which shall be, His taking His people to Himself to be where He is. This coming of His is begun (ver. 18) in His Resurrection — carried on (ver. 23) in the spiritual life (see also ch. xvi. 22 ff.), the making them ready for the place prepared ;— further advanced when each by death is fetched away to be with Him (Phil. i. 23); fully completed at His coming in glcry, when they shall for ever be with Him (1 Thess. iv. 17) in the perfected resurrection state. 4.] And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know : or, as in the various reading, whither I go, ye know the way, i. e. " ye know the way to the place to which I am going." They might have known, and doubtless did know in some sense ; but, as Lampe remarks, " sometimes we praise a man to put him in mind of his duty." We use thus, 'you know,' — leaving to be supplied, ' if you would give the matter thought.' whither, viz. to the Father ; the way,— (in our Lord's own case, of which this verse treats) Mis death. 5.] Thomas is slow of belief and apprehension. The answer to " whither goest thou?" ch. xiii. 37, which Peter seems to have apprehended, was not suf ficient for him ; see ch. xx. 25 : " for he thought," says Euthymius, " that it was some material place to which the Lord was going, and that the road thither was of the same kind." 6.] Our Lord inverts the order of Thomas's questien, and in answering it practically, for them, speaks pf 'the Way' first. Me is THE WAT; net merely the Forerunner ; which would imply on our part only an outward con nexion with Him as His followers : but the way, in and on which we must go, having an inner union with and in Him (see Heb. a. 20). the truth] more is implied in this title, than " that He ever spoke truth, and what He said was sure to come to pass," as Euthymius explains it. It is another side of the same idea of the Way ; — God being true, and only approached by and in truth. Christ is the Tetjth, in Whom only (Col.ii. 3) that Knowledge of Him is gained, which (ch. xvii. 3) is eternal life. the life] npt merely because " net even death shall separate you from Me," Euthymius: — but as being the Lipe (see ver. 19 : Gal. ii. 20) of all His in Whom only they who live can come to the living Father (ch. vi. 57). no man cometh unto the Father, but by me . . .] This plainly states whither He was going, and the way also : He was going to the Father : and the way was, through Him self. 7.] See ch. viii. 19. ' from henceforth] There is no difficulty, if we bear in mind the now of ch. xiii. 81. The henceforth is the future time, beginning with our Lord's glorification, which was now at hand. Liicke remarks : ' Henceforth is not entirely future nor entirely present, but the moment ef transitipn, the identifica- ticn pf the present and future. Christ speaks here by anticipatien in reference to the heur pf His glorification being come ' (ii. 598). 8.] Philip misunderstands the words ye have seen him to mean 'seeing in a vision,' — and intimates that one such sight of God would set at rest 4—13. ST. JOHN. 585 kch.xli.45. Col. i. 15. Heb.i.S. time with you, and yet f hast thou not known me, k Philip ? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [^then], Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that ' I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? the words that I speak unto yov m I speak not of myself : but S the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: ° or else believe me for the very works' sake. 12 ° Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also ; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto ^my Father. 13 p And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the ' render, dost thou not kno W. " omit : not in the original. S Some ancient authorities read, the Father, abiding in me, doeth his works. k read, the. 1 ver. 20. ch. x. 38 : xvii. 21, 23. ra ch.v. 10: vii. 16: viii. 28 : xii. 49. n ch. v. 86: x.38. o Matt. xxi. 21. Mark xvi. 17. Luke x. 17. p Matt. vii. 7: xxi. 22. Mark xi. 24. Luke xi. 9. ch. xv. 7, 16: xvi. 23, 24. James i. 5. 1 John iii. 22: V.14. all their fears, and give them perfect con fidence. 9.] The Son is the only Exponent of the Father to men : see ch. xii. 44, 45 ; Col. i. 15 ; Heb. i. 3 ; 1 Tim. vi. 16. This seeing of the Father in Him, is not only seeing His bodily presence, but knowing Him (dost thou not know me 1). 10.] See ch. x. 30, 38, and for the latter clause ch. viii. 28, where the contrast is, as here, purposely inexact in diction, — words being placed in one member and works in the other; and, as there, works and words are taken as correlative and co-extensive; — all the working of the Lord Jesus being a speaking, a revelation of the Father. According to the probably genuine reading in the margin, it will be, doeth his works : they are not Mine, but His, done in and by Me : but in Me present and abiding, so that "he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." 11—24.] Jesus will make proof of His abiding union with the Father, in His union with His own .- and this w. 12 — 14, in answering prayer : vv. 15 — 17, in the sending of the Spirit : vv. 18 ff., as a pledge of the completion of this union in His personal return. The Lord now unfolds out of these words, the Father dwelleth in Me, doeth his works, the great premise of the Paraclete or Ceinforter. 11. for the very works' sake] See ch. x. 38. The object here seems to be, to fix their attention on the works as a plain testimony even to such as could not simply believe so deep a thing on His assertion, and one which 12.] should become a matter felt and known in themselves hereafter,— by virtue of their living union with Him who is gone to the Father, and become the dispenser and channel of the Spirit. 'He who believes Christ speaking concerning Himself, believes on Christ.' Bengel. greater works than these shall he do] This word is not to be evaded (so as to mean greater in number), but taken in its full strict sense. And the keys to its meaning will be found ch. i. 51 ; v. 20. The works which Jesus did, His Apostles also did, — viz. raising the dead, &c. ; — greater works than those, they did — not in degree, but in kinds spiritual works, under the dispensation of the Spirit, which had not yet come in. But they did them not as separate, from Him : but in Him, and by Him ; and se (ch..v. 21) He is said to dp them. The work which He did by Peter's sermon, Acts ii., was one of these greater works — the firstfruits of the unspeakable gift. This union of them with and in Him is expressed here by " the works that I do, shall he do also." ' He has sown, we reap ; and the harvest is greater than the seed-time.' Stier. 13.] I have retained the period at the end of ver. 12 (many editors place a ccmma only and connect this verse with the word because in the former), because the sense remains much the same, and the style is better preserved. ye shall ask, viz. the Father: so ch. xv. 16; xvi. 23. But this does not exclude, but distinctly includes, prayer to Christ ; so blended are these two (as the seeing ver. 9), that we have not "that will He do," but, ver. 14 emphati cally " that will I do." He who prays to the Father, prays to the Son. This doing 586 ST/ JOHN. XIV. q ver. 21, 23. ch.xv.10, 14. Uohn v.S. rch.xv. 26: xvi. 7- Bom. viii. 15, 26. s ch. xv. 26 : xvi. IS. 1 John iv. 6, 1 1 Cor. ii. 14. u 1 John ii. 27. 1 not e. 1 Son. li If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 1S « If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and rhe shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever ; 17 [* even] 8 the Spirit of truth, 'whom the world cannot receive, because it k seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but ye know him : lfor he dwelleth with you, a and m shall be in xpressed in the original. * render, beholdeth. ', because. m read, with many ancient authorities, IS. the Son and Spirit both. And therefore the other meaning, — Comforter, including as it does in its fulness (see Bom. viii. 26, where both, the helping scai the interceding, are united) the Advocate also, has been both here and in Germany (Luther has the equivalent term) sanctioned by Chris tian usage as the most adequate rendering. Wicliff, from whom we have our word Comforter, often used ' comfort ' for the La tin confortari, which means to strengthen, as e. g. Luke xxii. 43 ; Acts ix. 19 &c. Thus the idea of help and strength is con veyed by it, as well as of consolation. It was this oflice, of Comforter in this double sense, which Jesus had filled to His disciples while with them : — and which the Holy Spirit was to fill even more abundantly (and in a higher sense, because their state would be higher) on the removal of Jesus from them. 17.] This Comforter is, not ' the true Spirit,' — ¦ but ' the spirit OP TETJTH;' — the Spirit Who is truth, 1 John v. 6, — of Whom all truth comes, and who alone leads into the whole truth, the truth of God, ch. xvi. 13, the world] equivalent to the " car nal" of 1 Cor. ii. 14 (where see note), those who live according to the desires of the flesh and the mind, and have no re ceptivity of the things of God. beholdeth] This word behold, when used in a spiritual sense, is sometimes equivalent to know: but this cannot be so here, because it is separated from know eth by neither: 'recognizes not in His operations, nor knows:' — has neither sight nor knowledge of. ye know him] present, but spoken ef their state as dis ciples opposed to the werld, — and by anti- cipaticn, as 'before. They were even now not of the world (ch. xv. 19), and are there fore viewed in the completion of their state as opposed to it. dwelleth (not shall dwell) is future in signification, as any present assertion pf that which is to be permanent must necessarily be; abideth, as in ch. viii. 35. Euthymius understands dwelleth with you, of the Spirit abiding answers to the doing in ver. 12 ; the reason why you shall do these greater works, is, on account of the all-powerful Spirit of grace and supplication which My going to the Father shall bring down upon the Church ; in answer to which Spirit, I will do by you whatever, in My Name (i. e. in union with Me, as being Mine, manifesting forth Jesus as the Son of God) ye shall ask. And the end of this is, that by these greater works, the wonders of grace and triumphs of the Spirit, the Father may be glorified (His glory shewn forth) in and by the Son. 14.] solemnly repeats os a promise, what was incidentally asserted before : ' For this is a truth, that what ever' &c. And besides, there is added in the original an emphatic I: it is I myself that will do it: shewing that the use of the first person before was emphatic. " This I myself already points to the glorification of Jesus." Bengel. 15.] is a following out of the condition in the former verse, " If ye shall ask any thing in my name :" 'That way of prayer is the way of loving obedience, in which the Spirit is ever found, and which is only trodden by His help :' — and also of the purpose stated there, " that the Father may be glorified in the Son :" ' As the Father is honoured in the Son, so must the Son be honoured in, you;' — see ch. xv. 10. 16.] And then the Spirit shall proceed forth upon you. The word rendered I will pray betokens, pro bably, a manner of asking implying actual presence and nearness, — and is here used ofthe mediatorial office in Christ's ascended state. Comforter — literally Paraclete. Olshausen remarks that the interpretations of this word range themselves in two classes, which again by no means exclude one another : — those of ' Compoeteb,' and those of 'Advocate.' The etymology of the word requires the latter as its strict meaning, and in this strict meaning it satisfies 1 John ii. 1, " we have an Advocate (Paraclete, as here) with the Father," but not so all the places where it is used of the Holy Spirit, — nor this verse, where of 14—22. ST. JOHN. 587 you. 18 x j wiji not ]eave y0U n comfortless : y I ° will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world 00 seeth me no more ; but ye z P see me : a because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that b I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 c He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 a Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, 1 how is it xMatt.xxviii. 20. y ver. S, 28. z ch. xvi. 16. a 1 Cor. xv. 20. b ver. 10. ch. X. 38: xvii. 21, 23, 26. c ver. 15, 28. 1 John ii. 6 : v.s. d Luke vi. 10. n render, orphans. ° literally, am going. 00 render, beholdeth. P render, behold. 9 Some ancient authorities read, and how IS it. in Jesus, who was among them: but wrongly. is in you] This was per haps corrected te the future, " shall Se," because, though their knowledge of the Spirit proper to their complete state, and His dwelling, remaining, among them, had in some inferior sense begun,— His dwell ing in them had not. With the verb in. the present, the speaking by anticipation is still stronger. 18.] The original word should be literally rendered, orphans, as indeed it is in the margin of the A. V. The office of the Comforter is te ccnnect the disciples with the Father : if therefore they had Him not, they would be fatherless. The expression is closely connected with "little children" eh. xiii. 33, and, as Euthymius says, springs from paternal compassion. This makes our Lord's declaration, that He was coming to them,, plain, as applying to the coming by the Spirit, who is one with Christ; — not only to the ultimate personal coming, which is but the last step of the Advent, nor only the bodily cpming again to them and not to the world at the Eesurrection,. which was but a pledge of His lasting. presence in the Spirit : see on ver. 3. The coming is (as there) the summary of these — the great Bevisitation, in all its blessed progress. The absence of any connecting particle, as "for," with this clause, arises from the depth of affection in the Lord's heart. 19 — 21.] This coming is ex plained to consist in His presence among them by the hfe of His Resurrection, which is theirs; by. (ver. 20) the witness of the Spirit in their hearts ; and (ver. 21) their sanctification by the Spirit in love, and the consequent manifestation of Jesus to them. Luthardt attempts to confine this coming (and the whole passage) to the last great Advent, in spite of the plain sense of vv. 19, 20, relying on the analogy of Bev. xxii. 17, and saying that, on the common interpretation, the Church would have no cause to long for her Lord : and so Augustine and others. But manifestly the context is against them : and they must thus explain away many other passages (je. g. Matt, xviii, 20). The presence of Christ by; the Spirit is none the less real, for being incomplete. 19.] The im- mediate.reference of this, ye behold me, is to the forty days (see Acts x. 41) — but only as leading on to its wider and deeper refer ence to the spiritual life. I live, not "I shall live" — the principle of Life being immanent in Him. ye shall live, live in all fulness, including the most blessed sense of life, — the Life of the Spirit; — here and hereafter. 20.] At that day, no particular day : but ' each of these periods, as its continually increasing light -breaks upon you, shall bring increased knowledge of your unity in Me with the Father, and my dwelling in you by the Spirit.' If any particular day is to be thought of, it would naturally be the Pentecost. 21.] hath . , . and keepeth, — " that is," says Augus tine, "hath, in memory, and keepeth, in life :" or perhaps more accurately, ' He who has my commandments, as being my disciple by outward profession (not thus only : but holds them, by the. inner pos session of a hving faith), and keeps them :' see Luke xi. 28. And this keeping is more of the inner will to keep them, than the absolute observance, which can only follpw on high degrees of spiritual advancement. I will manifest myself to him] by the Holy Spirit : see ch. xvi. 14. This (as Stier observes) is the highest promise which can be made to man (see ver. 23), and yet it is made to every man who has and keeps the commandments of the Lord Jesus. Compare Exod. xxxiii. 13. 22.] Judas, not Iscariot is the same person as " Judas 588 ST. JOHN. XIV. II John ii. 24. Kev. g ver. 10. ch. that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world ? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, e If a man love me, he will keep my word : and my Father will love him, 'and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 2* He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings : and g the word which ye hear is not mine, but 25 These things have I spoken unto you, r being yet present with you. 26 But hthe Comforter, [s which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father vii. io; vm. the Father's which sent me 28: xii. 49. n ver.10.IiUke xxiv. 49. ch.xv. 20 : xvi. 7. ich.u.22: xii. will send in my name, 'he shall, teach you all things, and i Johnii. ' t Iring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have r render, while yet abiding with you. B omit : not expressed in the original. If any word is supplied, even would be better. * render, bring to your remembrance all things which I spake unto you. the [brother] 'of James," in Luke vi. 16 : see note on Matt. x. 3. Meyer remarks that the wOrds not Iscariot are in reality superfluous, after ch. xiii. 30, but are added by St. John from his deep horror of the Traitor who bore the same name. The question seems to be put with the Jewish idea, that the Messiah, the King and Judge of the nations, must necessarily manifest himself to the world. [In reference to the reading in the margin, "And hew is it, &c. ?", we may remark, that and, preceding an interrogation, ex presses astonishment at what has just been said, and, assuming it, connects to it a conclusion which appears to refute or cast doubt on it.] how is it that] lite rally, What has happened, that . . .1 23, 24.] These verses contain the answer to the question in both its parts : — " how is it, that Thou wilt manifest Thy self 'to us," — because love to Christ, lead ing to the keeping of His word, is the necessary condition of the indwelling and manifestation in man of the Father and the Son ; — " how is it, that Thou wilt not manifest Thyself to the world 1" because want of love to Christ, leading to neglect of His words, necessarily excludes from com munion with the Father and the Son, and , the Spirit, who reveals the Son in man. "The addition, we will come unto him, and make our abode with him, makes this incapacity still plainer and more deeply felt." Meyer. For (and meaning, — hence you may infer what I am setting forth) the word which ye hear (and which the world keepeth not, but neglects), — is not Mine, but the Father's. On the gracious and wonderful promise of ver. 23, see Bom. viii. 15. 25—31.] His fare well, and the parting bequest of His Love. 25.] have I spoken is anticipatory, referring, as " I said" (ver. 26), to the futures, " shall teach," and " shall bring to remembrance." Meyer supposes that a pause took place here, and the Lord looks back on what He had said to them. But this does not seem so natural. 26.] But— as if He had said, ' I know that ye do not understand thern yet : but' &c. the Holy Ghost] The Paraclete, or Comforter, is now more closely defined by this well-known Name, — and, by the words, whom (which) the Father will send, and the pronoun He ... , designated personally, as One sent, and One acting on them. in my name] not, 'in My stead,' but in regard of me— 'in answer to My prayer, and prayers in My name, — to those who bear My name, — and as a means of manifesting Me.' shall teach you all things stands by itself, not with "whatsoever I have said unto you:" shall teach you all things,— 'all that can and may be learnt by you, all that belongs to your work and life in Me.' and bring all things to your remem brance] What is not understood is liable to be forgotten; — and therefore in this word is implied the giving them a right understanding of, as well as recalling, what Jesus had said te them : see ch. ii. 22; xii. 16. It is on the fulfilment of this promise to the Apostles, that their sufficiency as Witnesses of all that the Lord did and taught, and consequently THE AUTHENTICITY OP THE GOSPEL NAB- 23—30. ST. JOHN. 589 37 k Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 1 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 Ye have heard how m I said unto you, I go away, and come [y- again] unto you. If ye loved me, ye *¦ would rejoice, because \7 1 said] n I go unto the Father : for my Father is greater than I. 29 And ° now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye z might believe. 30 a Hereafter I will not talk much with you : p for the prince of * this world cometh, and kPhil.iv.7. Col. iii. 16. 1 ver. 1. m ver. 8, 1 n ver. 12. ch. xvi. 10 : xx. 17. o ch. xiii. 19 : xvi. 4. pch.xii.Sl: xvi. 11. u not expressed in the original. 7 omit. a render, I will no more. BATIVB, is grounded. 27.] This is introduced by ver. 25, which suggests the speedy close of the discourse. It was cus tomary to take leave with wishes pf peace: — sc 1 Sam. i. 17: Luke vii. 50: Acts xvi. 36: 1 Pet. v. 14: 3 John 15. Also, to reassure by such words ; see Gen. xliii. 23 : Judg. vi. 23. But our Lord distinguishes Mis peace, true peace, 'the peace which I have and give' (see ch. xv. 11), from the mere empty word used in the world's form of greeting. Peace (in general) He leaves with them ; — Mis peace He gives to them, over and above that other. The words, as the world giveth, must refer, I think, to the world's manner of giving, — not to the unreality of the world's peace, of which, however true, there is no direct mention here. The world can only give peace in empty for mulae, saying ' Peace, peace,' when there is . no peace : Jer. vi. 14 al. 28.] The former part of the verse gives a reason why their heart should not be troubled ; — then the rest of the verse removes all ground of fear, since it is an exaltation of Him whom they loved, which is about to happen; and therefore a ground of joy, and not of fear. my Father is greater than I] And therefore the going of Jesus to the Father is an advancement. This word greater, as Luther well remarks, is not here used as referring to the Nature or Essence of the Son as related to the Father, — but as indicating that particular subordination to the Father in which the Lord Jesus then was, — and the cessation of the state of humiliation, and entering into His glory, which would take place on His being received up to the Father. So also Calvin: "Christ is not here com paring the Divinity of the Father with His own, nor His human nature with the x render, would have rejoiced. z render, may. D render, the. divine essence of the Father, but rather His present state with the heavenly glory to which He was soon to be exalted." And Cocceius : " The inferiority here is npt to be understood as meaning, accord ing to His human nature; for the words point to an inferiority which would be laid aside, on His going to the Father." And this removes all reason for fear, as they will be exalted in Him. The whole doctrinal controversy which has been raised on these words (especially by the Fathers against the Arians), seems not to belong to the sense of the passage. That there is a sense in which the Father is greater than even the glorified Son, is beyond doubt (see especially 1 Cor. xv. 27 f.) ; but as on the one hand that concession is no concession to Arianism, because it is not in the essential being of the Son, but in His Mediatorial oflice, that this His inferiority consists, — so on the other hand this verse implies in itself no such inferiority, the discourse being of another kind. 29.] I have told you— viz. * the prophecies of My Besurrection and Ascension,' &c. ye may believe] See ch. xiii. 19, where the words " that I am He " are sup plied. That ye may believe, in the fullest sense of the word. " Not that they did not previously believe Him to be the Son of God : but then, when that was fulfilled in Him, which He had before predicted, — this their faith, which now, when he was speaking to them, was small, and, when He died, was almost extinguished, revived and flourished." Augustine. See 1 John v. 13. 30.] I will no more talk much with you :— then, as Stier remarks, He had some words more to say, and was not about to break off at ver. 31, as some have supposed. The necessity of the time broke off further words; the prince of this world] i.e. 590 ST. JOHN. XIV. 31. q ch. X. IS. Phil.ii.8.Heb.v.8. hath nothing in me. 31But that the world may know that I love the Father; and «as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. XV. x I am the true vine, and my Father is the husband- Satan: — not, Satan in Judas, but Satan himself, with whom the Lord was in con flict during His passion : see Luke iv. 13 (and note), and xxii. 53. hath nothing in me] i.e. as Augustine, "findeth no sinin Me." This is the enly true interpretation : has nothing in Me — no point of appliance whereon to fasten his attack. But Meyer well observes, that this is rather the fact to be assumed as the ground of what is here said, than the thing itself which is said. Tholuck, and many others render it, ' has no power over me,' or as Euthy mius, finds nothing1, worthy of death. 31.] ' But My Death is an act of voluntary obedience, that it may be known that I love and obey the Father — that the glory pf the Father in and by Me may be mani fested.' T;he construction is elliptic : supply, ' But (his power ever Me for death will be permitted by Me) that,' &e. And the period should be at so I do, as in the text. Meyer and others would put only a comma here, and carry on the sense, * But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, thus I do, arise, let us go' hence.' I need only put it to the inner feehng of " any who have learned to appreciate the majesty and calmness of our Lord's dis courses, whether a sentence so savouring of theatrical effect is likely to have been spoken by Him. W^ may notwithstand ing safely believe that the words "Arise, let us go hence," without this connexion, do undoubtedly express the holy boldness of the Lord in going to meet that which was to come upon Him, and are for that reason inserted by St. John. Arise, let us go hence] These words imply a movement from the table to depart. Pro bably the rest ef the discourse, and the prayer, ch. xvii., were delivered when new all were standing ready to depart. There would be some little pause, in which the preparations for departure would be made. But the place is clearly the same, see ch. xviii. 1, " when Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth -¦" — besides which, we can hardly suppose, as Grotius and others, discourses of a character like those in ch. xv. xvi. to have been delivered to as many ns eleven persons, while walking by the way, and in a time of such publicity as that of the Paschal feast. Still less is the supposition of Bengel and Beausobre pro bable, — that ch. xiii. xiv. happened outside the city, and that between ch. xiv. and xv. the paschal meal takes place. Com pare also ch. xiii. 30, which is decisive against this idea. Chap. XV. 1—27.] Injunction to vital union in love with Jesus and one another. 1 — U.] Their relation to Him. Various circumstances suggestive of this similitude, of the vine and its branches, have been imagined ; but none of them are satisfactory. The vineyards on the way to Gethsemane, — the carved vine on the great doors ofthe temple, — a vine trained about the window ofthe guest-chamber,— are all fanciful, and the two first (see on ch. xiv. 31) inapplicable. The cup, so lately par taken, is certainly nearer, — see below. But I believe that most probably the Lord did not take the similitude from any outward suggesting occasion, but as a means of il lustrating the great subject, the inner unity of Himself and His. Occasion enough was furnished, by the Old Test. symbolism of the vineyard and the vine, — Isa. v. 1 ff. ; Jer. ii. 21 ; Ezek. xix. 10 ff., and especially Ps. lxxx. 8 — 19 : by the in timate analogy of vegetable life (of which the tree bearing fruit is the highest kind, and of such trees the vine the noblest) with spiritual, and perhaps also by the fruit of the vine having been so recently the subject of their attention and the Lord's prophecy, Luke xxii. 18 and the parallel places. 1.] The Vine and branches stand in a much nearer connexion than the Shepherd and the sheep, or the lord of the vineyard and the vines; and answer to the Head and members in Eph. v. 23, 30 ; Col. ii. 19, linked together by a common organization, and informed by one and the same life. the tbtte vine] not only, ' the vine by which prophecy is fulfilled :' not only, ' the vine in which the organism and qualities of the vine are mest npbly realized;' but, as in ch. i. 9, the true, i% e. the original, or archetypal : that which served for the pattern of all such afterwards. The material creations of God are only inferior examples of that finer spiritual life and organism, in which the creature is raised up to partake of the divine nature; only figures ofthe truej Heb. ix. 24 ; " patterns (i. e. representa tions) of things in the heavens,'-' ib, 23 ; see ch. vi. 32. the husbandman] Not XV. 1—6. ST. JOHN. 591 man. 2a Every branch in me that beareth not fruit a Matt. xv. 13. he taketh away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he °purgeth it, that it may a bring forth more fruit. sl,eiVrow are ye clean through the word which I have t>98 ST. JOHN. XVI. 7 reprove the world pf sin, and of righteousness, and of iAetsii.22- judgment : 9 J of sin, because they belieye not on me; 10 of y fender, Convict. We have here, in a few deep and wonderful words, the work of the Spirit on the world set forth. This work He shall begin when He is come, — come, that is, to you : not, however, merely ' by your means,' but per sonally: so that it is not the work and witness of the Apostles which -is spoken of, except iu so far as they are servants of the Holy Spirit, but His own immediate per sonal working. 8. will convict] It is difficult to give in one word the deep meaning of the original term: 'convince' approaches perhaps near to it, but does not express the double sense, which is mani festly here intended — xrf a convincing unto salvation, and a convicting untp condemna tion : — 'reprove' is far too weak, convey ing merely the idea of an outward rebuke, whereas this reaches into the heart, and works inwardly in both the above-men tioned ways. See the whole question amply discussed in Archdeacon Hare's " Mission of the Comforter," vol. ii. note K. Luckp's comment is valuable : 'The testimony of the Holy Ghost in behalf of Christ as opposed to the unbe lieving world (ch. xv. 26) is essentially a refutation, a demonstration of its wrong and error. All the apostolic preaching, as addressed to the world, takes necessarily this polemical form (1 Tim. v. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. 2; iii. 16; Titus i. 9, 13; ii. 15). And the more difficult was the disciples' conflict against the power of this world with only the .Word for their weapon, the more coin- fort was it for them, that the power of God the Spirit working by this refutation was their help. In Matt. x. 19, 20 ; Luke xii. 11, 12, the apolegetic side ef their conflict, which was in close connexion with the polemical, is brought into view. In the word here used is always implied the refutation, the overceming ef an error, a wrong, — by the truth and the right. And when, by means of the "¦ refutation " the truth detects the error, and the- right the wrong, so that a man becomes conscious of them, — then arises the feeling of guilt, which is ever painful. Thus every such "refutation" is a chastening, a punish ment. And hence this office has been called the punitive office of the Spirit. The effect of the "refutation" carried on by the divine Spirit in the world may be to harden : but its aim is the deliverance of the world. This term the world, in John, includes these whp are not yet delivered (from the power pf Satan to God) who may be yet delivered, — npt the con demned. If the " refutation" of the world is a moral process, its result may just as well be conversion, as non-conversion. Only thus did the refutation carried on by the Spirit answer the end of Christ's coming ;~- only thus could it be. a cheering support to tbe Apostles. Certainly, the judgment with which it closes is condemnation, not however of the world, but of the Prince of the world.' De Wette denies the salutary side of this convicting process — but he is certainly wrong : see below. These three wOrds, sin, righteousness, judgment, comprehend the three great steps of advance in spiritual truth among men. Of itself the world does not know what Sin is, what Righteousness is, what Judgment is. Nor can either of these be revealed to any man, except by the Spirit of God working within him. Each man's conscience has some glimmering of light on each of these; some consciousness of guilt, some sense of right, some power of judgment of what is transitory and worth less: but all these are unreal and un practical, till the convicting work of the Spirit has wrought in him. 9-] And the great opening of Sin to the world is to shew them that its root and essence is, unbelief in Christ as the Son of God. Unbeliep: — for, mankind being alien from God by nature, the first step towards their recovery must be to lay hold on that only safety which He has provided for them ; and that laying hold is faith, and the not doing it, when revealed and placed before them, is sin. Beforetime, it was also unbelief; — 'The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God .-'t— but now,— for we can only believe as God has revealed Himself,-^it is unbelief in Christ the San of God, — the having no desire to come to Him .- see this pointedly asserted 1 John v. 10 — 12. Remember, this unbelief is not a mere want of historical faith, — but un belief in its very root,-r-tbe want of a personal and hving recognition of Jesus as the Lord (1 Cor. xii. 3), which, wherever the Spirit has ' opened His commission ' by the planting of the visible Church, is the condemning sin of the world. Of this He shall convince those who are brought out of the world, and ultimately convict those who remain in it and die in their sins (see Hare, "Mission of the Comforter." 9--18. ST. JOHN. 599 righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye z see me m Acts xxvi. no more; n m of judgment, because "the prince of this n Lh-'1gf,)58- world a is judged. i3 I have yet many things to say unto cSt&'w. you, °but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when o Mart iy.os. i ~ . ICor. iii. 2. he, p the Spirit of truth, is come, q he will guide you into pJh.xiv.if': xv. 20.' q ch. xiv. 20. 1 John ii. 20, 27. z render, behold. vol. ii. note Q). 10.] The right eousness here spoken of cannot be only the righteousness of Christ, the mere con viction of which would only bring condem nation to that world which rejected and crucified Him : but as Stier remarks rightly, the conviction of the world concerning sin, righteeusness, and judgment must be cencerning a sin that is theirs, a righteous ness that is (or, in the case of Condemna tion might have been) theirs, a judgment which is theirs (see below). Then what is the world's righteousness ? Not their own, but that cf the accepted Man Christ Jesus standing at the right hand of God (seen by us no more, but by that very withdrawal testified to be the Son of God, the Righteous One), manifested' in the hearts of men by the Spirit to be their only righteousness; — and thereby that right eousness, which they had Of their own before, is demonstrated to be worthless, and as filthy rags. It is His going to the Father by which this righteousness is assured to us, and hy the effect cf which, the Spirit, the ccnvicticn respecting it is wrought in our hearts. The condemnatory side of this part of the Spirit's work of conviction is, — that remorse, wherewith they whose day of grace is past shall look on the perfect righteousness which might have been theirs, and on the miserable substitute with which they contented them- Belves. 11.] As the righteousness spoken of was the world's righteousness, and the convicting them of it was the manifesting to them how worthless it (their righteousness after its old conception) was of their own by nature,' but how perfect and complete it (the same as now newly and more worthily apprehended) is in and by Ghrist,-^sb now the judgment spoken of is the world's judgment : — on the' one side, their judgment or estimate, or dis crimination of things, — on the other side, Gojl's judgment, to which it is opposed. This their judgment by nature they form in subjection to the prince of this world, the Devil, of whose power they are not conscious, and whose existence they even deny : but the Spirit of God shall con vict this judgment of wrong;— shall shew E a render, hath been. them how erroneous and destructive it is, and what a bondage they have been under ; — shall detect to them the Prince of this world reigning in the children of disobe dience, and give them a better judgment, by which they shall 'net be ignerant of his devices' (2 Cor. ii. 11). But this better judgment itself is that very truth of God manifested in the Lord Jesus, by which (ch. xii. 31) the Prince of this world is cast out ;— "-by which the follower of Christ is enabled to say, ' Get thee behind me, Satan ;' by which the unbelieving world, and its Prince, are finally condemned iri the judgment hereafter. - I haye pre ferred giving pointedly what I believe to be tbe sense of this most important pas sage, to Stringing together a multitude of opinions on it : seeing that of even the best Commentators no two bring out exactly the same shade of meaning, and thus classification is next to impossible. It will be seen that in my view the Sub jective (internal, acting in and on the mind of its subject) and objective (external, viewed from without, belonging to the object regarded, not to him who regards it) bearing of the three words are both to be. kept in sight, and that the great con- victive werk pf the Spirit is te bring man OUT OV HIMSEEF INTO ChBIST, 'Wnp (in His pbjective manifestation) must be made unto him (subjectively), 1. redemption, 2. righteousness, 3. wisdom, (the fourth, sanctification, not being here treated of, as being another part of the Spirit'swork, and on those who are no longer " the world," see ch. xvii. 16, 17); and to con demn those who remain in the world finally, in all these points; as having re jected Christ. And this convfetive work of the Spirit is a complex and progressive work ; including the ministry cf the Apostles, and every step taken towards divine truth in the history of the Church, as well as the conversion pf individuals, and condemnation of the unbelieving. 12:] The many things which our Lord dees not say to them are; the things belonging to " all the truth" in the next verse, which were gradually unfolded, after the Ascension, by the Spirit. 13.] he, E 2 600 ST. JOHN. XVI. h all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak : and c he will shew you things to come. li He shall glorify me : for he shall receive rMatt.xi.27. of mine, and shall Ashew it unto you. 15 * All things that iii. a': xva. ^he Father hath are mine : e therefore said I, that he f shall ch.Ui.35:xii" 10. 8 ver. 10. ch, take of mine, and shall tt shew it unto you. 16 * A little ss:' xiv. i». while, and ye S shall not see me : and again, a little while, h render, all the truth. c render, he shall tell you the things to come. 4 render, tell. e render, for this Cause. * read and render, receiveth. S render, no longer behold me : see note. emphatical, as in ver. 8 : see note, ch. vii. 29. all the truth] viz. on those points alluded to in ver. 12. The Lord had ever told them the truth, and nothing but the truth, in spiritual things, — but not yet the whole truth, because they could not bear it. This the Spirit should lead them into, open the way to it, and unfold it by degrees. No promise of universal knowledge, nor of infallibility, is hereby conveyed ; but a promise to them and us, that the Holy Spirit shall teach and lead us, not as children, under the tutors and governors of legal and imperfect know ledge, but as sons (Gal. iv. 6) making known to us the whole truth of God. This was in an especial manner fulfilled to them, as set to be the founders and teachers of the Churches. for he shall not speak of himself] The Spirit dees not, any more than the Son, work or speak of Him self : both are sent, the one from the Father, the other from the Father and Son: the one to testify "whatsoever He shall hear" of the Father, the other of the Father and the Son. whatsoever he shall hear] from God, the Father and the Son. he shall tell you the things to come] As the direct ful filment to the Apostles ef the leading info the whele truth was the unfolding before them those truths which they have delivered down to ns in their Epistles, — so, though scattered traces of the fulfil ment of this part of the promise are found in the Acts and those Epistles, its com plete fulfilment was the giving of the Apocalypse, in which " the things to come" are distinctly the subject of the Spirit's revelation, and with which His direct tes timony closes : seo Rev. i. 1 ; xxii. 6, 20. On the whole of this verse, see Eph. iv. 7 — 16. 14-] This is in connexion with ver. 12 — and sets forth that the Spirit guiding into truth is in fact tlie Son declaring the truth, for He shall shew forth the glory of Christ, by revealing the matters of Christ, — the riches of the Father's love in him (ver. 15). This verse is decisive against all additions and pretended revelations subsequent to and besides Christ; it being the work of the Spirit to testify to and declare the THINGS OB Chbist; not any thing new and beyond Him. And this declaration is coincident with inward advance in the likeness and image of Christ (2 Cor. iii: 17, 18), not with a mere external develop ment. 15.] Here we have given us a glimpse into the essential relations of the Blessed Trinity. The Pather hath given the Son to have life and all things in Himself (Col. i. 19; ii. 2, 3), the rela tion being, that the Son glorifies not Himself but the Father, by revealing the Pather, whom He alone knows (Matt. xi. 27). And this Revelation, the Revelation of the Pather by Christ — is carried on by the blessed Spirit in the hearts of the dis ciples of Christ ; Who receives (i. e. whose Office it is to receive) of the things of Christ, aud declares, proclaims, to them. for this cause I (rightly) said .... i. e. 'this was the ground of My assert ing :' not the reason why it was said, but the justification of it when said. This verse contains the plainest proof by in ference of the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity. 16 — 24.] The Lord speaks of His with drawal, and its immediate mournful, but ultimate (and those soon to begin) joyful consequences for His disciples. "The connexion is : ' Very soon will the Spirit, the Comforter, come to you : for I gp to the Pather, without any real cessation of the communion between you and Me.' Liicke. 16.] The mede of expression is (purposely) enigmatical ;— the beholding and seeing not being co-ordinate;— the 14—21. ST. JOHN. 601 and ye shall see 'me p: because I go to ihe Father], '^_f- clu 17 k 2%e» said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye 1 shall not see me : and again, a little while, and ye shall see me : and, Because I go to the Father ? 1S They said therefore, What is this that he saith, m A little while ? we n cannot tell what he saith. 19 p Now] Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, ° Bo ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye * shall not see me : and again, a little while, and ye shall see me ? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice : p and] ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. aixA woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, xrsa.xivi. 17. 1 omit. k render, Therefore. 1 render, behold me not. m render, This little while. n render, know not of what he speaketh. 0 render, Is it concerning this that ye enquire among yourselves, because I said. first referring merely to physical, the second also to spiritual sight. So before, ch. xiv. 19, where see note. It is im portant to observe the distinction between the two verbs, which the A. V. has pbliterated by rendering bpth "see." The "beholding" implies the leng, ccnstant, usual sight of Him which they then had in the flesh: the "seeing" the glimpses obtained by occasional appearances and • visions, and the dimmer and more inter rupted spiritual sight gained by faith. The promise of seeing Him after a little while, began to be fulfilled at the Eesurrection; — then received its main ful filment at the day of Pentecost ; — and shall have its final completion at the great return of the Lord hereafter. Bemember again, that in all these prophecies we have a perspective of continually-unfolding ful filments presented to us: see nete en ch. xiv. 3. 17, 18.] The disciples are perplexed by this little while, as con nected with what our Lord had before asserted ver. 10, "I go to my Father." That seemed to them a long and hopeless withdrawal : how was it then to be recen- ciled with what he new said pf a shprt absence? What was this little while! This connexion net being observed, has led to the insertion by the copyists of the clause because I go to the Father in ver. 16. 19.]- The real difficulty being in the "little while," our Lord applies him-' self only to this, not noticing the other part of the question : which confirms the view of the connexion taken above. 20.] The words weep and lament are to be literally taken : see Luke xxiii. 27. They weuld mourn for Him as dead: — see alsp ch. xx. 11. ye, emphatic, as epppsed to the world. And the joy of the world found its first exponent in the scoffs of the passers-by at the crucifixion. ye shall be sorrowful] This goes deeper than the weeping and wailing before : and plainly shews that the whole does not only refer to the grief while the Lord was in the tomb, but to the grief continually' manifesting itself in the course and con flict of the Christian, which is turned into joy by the advancing work of the Spirit of Christ; — and, in the completion of the sense, to the grief and widowhood of the Church during her present state, which will be turned into joy at the coming of her Lord. shall be turned into joy] not merely changed for joy, but changed into so as itself to become, — so that the very matter of grief shall become matter of joy; as Christ's Cross of shame has become the glory of the Christian, Gal. vi. 14. 21.] The object cf comparison is, grief which is turned into jby : but the comparison itself gees far beyond this mere similitude. A woman] The original 602 ST.. JOHN. XVI. y ver. 0. because her hour is come : but as soon as she is dehvered. of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for Ijoy that a man is born into the world. z2 y And ye now therefore have sorrow : but I will see you again, and your a Luke xxiv. heart shall rejoice, z and your joy no man taketh from you. xx^o.2 Acts 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. a Verily, fe.^ipet!' verily, I say unto you, r Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father " ci°xiv?is7:' in my name, he will give it you. 3* Hitherto have ye asked bchlxv^n. nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, Hhat your joy may be sfull. 25 These things have I spoken unto you 1 render, her joy. r read, with the most weighty ancient authorities, If ye shall any thing, he will give it you in my name. 8 render, made full, or, filled. ask the Father has the definite article, the woman. This is said by some Commentators to be in allusion to the frequent use and notoriety of the comparison. We often have it in the O. T., — see Isa. xxi. 3 ; xxvi. 17, 18 ; xxxvii. 3.; Ixvi. 7, 8: Hos. xiii. 13; 14: Mic. iv. 9, 10. when she is in travail] literally, is bringing forth. The deeper reference of the comparison has been well described by Olshausen : ' Here arises , the question, how are we to understand this similitude ? We might. perhaps think that the suffering Manhood qf Christ was the woman in her pangs, and the same Christ glorified in the Resur rection, the Man born; but the Bedeemer (ver. 22) applies the pangs to the dis ciples: how then will the "man" who is born apply to them ? ' Then, after con demning the; shallow and unsatisfactory method of avoiding deep research by as serting that the details ef parables are npt tp be interpretedi he proceeds : 'Hence the proper impert pf the figure seems to be, that the Death pf Jesus Christ was as it were an anguish ef birth belonging to all Humanity, in which the perfect Man was born into the world ; and in this very birth of the new man lies tbe spring of eternal joy, never to be lost, for all, inasmuch as: through Him and His power the renovation of the whole is ren dered possible.' And indeed the same is true of every Christian who is planted in the likeness of Christ. His passing from sorrow to joy — till 'Christ be formed in him,' is this birth of pain. And the whole, Churoh, the Spouse of Christ,: — nay, even the whole Creation, travaileth in pain together (Rom. viii. 23) till the number of the elect be accomphshed, and the eternal joy brought in. 22.] I will see you again — in the same manifold meaning as before noticed — will see yon — at My Re surrection — by My Spirit — at My second Advent. 23.] that day; in its full meaning, cannot import the forty days : for, Acts i. 6; they did then ask the Lord" questions — nor this present dispensation of the Spirit, during which we have only the firstfruits, but not the full understand ing so as not, to need to ask any thing;. (for is not prayer itself an asking ?)^but that great completion of the Christian's hope, when he shall be with his Lord, when all doubt shall be resolved, and prayer shall. be turned into praise. The Resurrection- visiting, andthe Pentecost- visiting of them, were but foretastes of this. Stier well re marks, ' The connexion of the latter part of • this verse is, — the way to asking nothing any more, is to ask and to pray the moi-e diligently, till that day comes.' It has heen supposed wrongly that the words me and the Father are in; opposition in this verse, and thence gathered that it is not lawful to address prayer to: Christ. But such an opposition is contrary to the whole spirit of these discourses,— and asking the Father in Christ's name, is in fact asking Hi 51. In the latter clause, notice. the right reading, He will give it you in my name, He being the element, the region, ef all communication between God and tho Churoh. Compare Rom. i. 8, where thanks are offered through Jesus Christ. 24.] It was impossible, up to the time of the glorification of Jesus, to pray to the Father in His Name. It is a fulness of joy peculiar to the dispensation of the Spirit, to be able so to do, Eph. ii. 18. ask, and ye shall receive] See Matt. vii. 22—27. ST. JOHN. GOS [tt but] x the time eometh, when I shall ho more speak unto you in * proverbs, but I shall y shew you plainly ofthe Father. 26 c At that day ye shall ask in my ever. 2 name : and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you : *7 d for the Father himself loveth you, because ye ' d ch. xiv. 21, 23. -j . ..... e ver. SO. ch. have loved me,, and ehave believed that I z came out from ih-m :**"»' * render, parables. * render, the hour, or, an hour. y render, tell you' plainly concerning. z render, as in nex't versi, came forth. u omit. 7, and mark the difference between the command then and now, — that in my name is added. 25 — 33.] Their present real weakness and imperfection, though fancied strength : their future high blessedness and share in His triumph, though in tribulation in the world. 25;] The word used here sig nifies literally, as rendered in A. V., apro- verb : but it is better for the English reader to render it parable, because pro verb has the technical appropriated sense of a short pithy saying pf cencentrated wisdom, Whereas this implies generally something, dark and enigmatical— deep truth wrapped up in words, as in a parable. This is true of the whole discourse — and of the discourses of the Lord in general; as they must then have seemed to them, before the Holy Spirit furnished the key to theif meaning. the hour cometh] viz. the same as that indicated in vv. 16 and 23; — but here again, not one hour only exclusive of all others, but to be understood of the several Steps of spiritual knowledge. Olshausen finely remarks; that all human language is a parable, or dark saying, only able to hint at, not to express fully, the things of God ; and that the Lord contrasts the use of this weak and insufficient medium, With the: inward teaching of the Holy Spirit; This inward teaching, because it is a real imparting of the divine Nature and Life, brings with it not only prayer in the name of Jesus, but a free access to the Father Himself. This speaking plainly however, he continues, is described here by the Lord in its ideal per- fectien (sis it will hereafter be) : and is only approximated to pn earth ; for, as long as the old man yet lives in us, we require still the Lord's intercessory prayer (ch. xvii. IS), daily washing from the pollution of the world ; by which IntercessiPn alpne the faithful man, netwithstanding his imper fection, can enjoy iii peace the grace of God vouchsafed to him. 261] ' The more knewledge, the more prayer in the name of Jesus,' Liicke. ' Knowledge be gets prayer,' Bengel. The approaching the Father through Him shall be a cha racteristic of their higher state under the dispensation of the Spirit. I say not unto you . . . .] This has been variously understood. GrothiS's rendering, " I pass by this, as a lesser thing than that which I am about to mention," comes I believe the nearest to the truth, though it does not express the whole meaning. The Lord is now describing the fulness of their state of communion with Himself.and the Father by the Spirit. He is setting in the strongest light their reconciliation and access to the Father. He therefore says, Ye shall ask the Father in My name : and I do not now say to you, — I do not now state it in this form, — that I will ask the* Father for you— as if there were no relation of love and mercy between the Father and your selves : — (27) for the Father Himself (i. e. of His own accord)1 loveth you; why? Because ye love and believe on Me. The whole mind df the Father towards mankind is Love : both in Bedemption itself (ch. iii. 16),— and then in an especial manner by drawing those who conie to Christ (vi. 44), — and again by this fuller manifestation of His love to those who be heve on and love Christ. The aim of this saying is, to' shew them that His interces'' sion (which is still1 going on under the dis pensation pf the; Spirit, 1 Jphn ii. 1) does Hot*impiy their exclusion from access to the Father, but rather ensures that access, by the especial love'which the Father bears to them who believe in and love His Son : Cheist being still the efficient cause of the Father's love to them; and the chan nel of that Love. No stressJ must be laid (Liicke) on ye have loved here coming before ye have believed, as to Faith coming afte* Love ¦; probably " ye have loved" is placed first as corresponding to the wprd "loveth" just before : — and it mhjht be 604 ST. JOHN. XVI. £8—33. Ech. xxi. 17. h ver. 27- eh. xvii. 8. i Matt. xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27. k ch. xx. 10. 1 ch. viii. 29: xiv. 10, II. m Isa. ix. 6. ch. xiv. 37. Bom. v. 1. Eph. ii. 14. Col. i. 20. nch.xv. 19, 20,21.' Acts xiv. 22. 2 Tim. iii. 12. o ch. xiv. 1. p Bom. iii. 37. Uohniv. 4: v.4. God. 28 f I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world : again, I leave the world and go to the Father. 29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no a proverb. 30 Now * are we sure that s thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee : by this h we believe that thou camest forth from God. 31 Jesus answered them, c Bo ye now believe ? 3Z i Behold, a the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, k every man to his own, and shall leave me alone ; and ' yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 These things I have spoken unto you, that m in me ye e might have peace. " In the world ye * shall have tribulation : ° but be of good cheer : p I have overcome the world. a render, parable. 0 render, Know we. It is the same verb as c better, Ye do now believe. e render, may. knowest, which follows. d or, an hour. ' read, have. said with just as much reason that the Faith contains the ground of the Love, as the converse. 28.] ' And your belief is sound : for I did indeed come forth' .... see ch. xiii. 3. 29, 30.] The stress is on Now : as if they said, " Why announce that as future, which Thou art doing now ? " The hour was not yet come for the speaking plainly : so that we must understand the disciples' remark to be made in weakness, however true, their persuasion, and heartfelt their confession. " They so little understand Him, that they do not even understand, that they did not understand. For they were as babes." Augustine. " They are annoyed that they should be accounted by their Master as unskilful and not comprehending His dis courses, and wanting another Teacher, the Spirit whom He promised. And thus they go so far as to contradict Christ and dis pute His plain words, and deny that He was speaking enigmatically tc them." Lampe. But by the werd now they proba bly only mean, in verses 26 — 28. 30.] ' Thou hast spoken so clearly of our feeling towards Thee, and of Thyself, that we have no occasion to ask Thee any thing ; — and this was what Thou didst announce would be ; — we knew therefore, by its being so, that Thou knowest the secrets of our hearts (all things by inference), — and hence believe that Thou camest forth from God.' The whole being a misunderstand ing, of what had gone before, vv. 23, 25, 31.] Our Lord does not clear up their misunderstanding, but leaves that for the coming day of the Spirit. He only assures them that their belief, though sin cere and loving, was not so deeply grounded in knowledge of Him and His appointed course, as they imagined. The opening words of our Lord's answer are much better taken not as a question; for this very belief was by our Lord recognized and commended, see ch. xvii. 8, also Matt. xvi. 17, 18. And as Stier remarks, " it was the aim and purpose of the whole prophetic oflice of Jesus, to prepare some first dis ciples (not the Apostles alone) for the re ception of the Spirit of Truth and the fruits of His Death, by grounding in them firm belief in His Person." He therefore recognizes their faith; but shews them hew weak it as yet was. 32.] See Matt. xxvi. 31, to which same prophecy the reference here is. I am not alone] The Father can never leave the Son, even in the darkest hour of His human suffer-. ing : — the apparent desertion implied in the cry 'Why hast Thou forsaken me?' being perfectly consistent with this; see note, Matt, xxvii. 46. 33.] On the first clause, especially the words in me, see ch. xv. 7. This presupposes the return from the scattering in ver. 32, — the. branches again gathered in the vine. ye have tribulation] The words are spoken of their normal state in the world. This tribulation is not only perse-? XVII. 1, 2. ST. JOHN. 605 XVII. J These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes ach.xii.23: to heaven, and said, Father, a the hour is come ; glorify * Satt.^'.w': thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee : 2 b S as thou eh7iu.'»; hast given him power over all flesh, that h he should give fti,V7,b Hebliils.' S render, according as. n render, whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life. cutionfrom the world, but trouble, inward distress, while we are in the world,— ch. xvii. 11; — a comforting Sign that we are not of the world. And this latter idea is implied between the two clauses : ' Be of good cheer ; for ye belong not to the world, but to Me, who have (anticipation again, — by that which is now at hand) overcome the world, so that it shall have no power over you, externally by persecution, or in ternally by temptations- and discourage ments.' See 1 John v. 4, 5. Chap. XVII. 1—26.] His iove in THB OTjOBIFICATION OF THB SON OB God. The parting prayer of the Lord Jesus : and herein, for Himself (1 — 5) : for His disciples (6 — 19) : for all be lievers, that they may be one (20, 21), — that they may be glorified in the comple tion of that unity (22—24),— -for their abiding in the union of love, the perfection of divine knowledge (25, 26). Bengel ob serves that this, of all chapters in Scrip ture, is the simplest in words, and the deepest in meaning. " Our Lord, the Only- begotten, and co-eternal with the Father, when in the form of a servant, might, from this His condition of humiliation, have prayed in silence, if He had need of prayer: but it was His pleasure so to shew Himself as a suppliant to the Father, as to be mindful that He was our Teacher. Accordingly, the prayer which, He made for us, He made known also to us : such a Master taught His disciples not only by His discourses to them, but by His prayers to the Father for them. And if them, who were tp hear these words, then us also, who were to read them when written." Augustine. 1.] These words, the fere- geing disccurse. St. John very sel- dpm depicts the gestures er looks of our Lord, as here. But this was an occasion of which the impression was indelible, and the upward look could not be passed over. to heaven] Nothing hereby is de termined as to the locality. , The guest- chamber no doubt was the place of this prayer. The eyes may be lifted to heaven in-doors, as well as out-of-doors ; heaven is not the sky, hut that upper region, above our own being and thoughts, where we all agree in believing God to be especially pre sent; and' which we indicate when we direct our eyes or our hands upward. The Lord, being in all such things like as we are, lifted up His eyes to heaven when addressing the Father (riot His hands, for He prays net here as a suppliant — but as an intercesser and a High Priest, standing between earth and heaven, see ver. 24,* where he says, I will, that ). It is impessible to regard the following prayer otherwise than as the very words of our Lord Himself,— faithfully rendered by the beloved Apostle in the power of the Holy Spirit. Father] not, Our Father, — which He never could say, — nor, My, Father, — which would be too great a separation between Himself and His for such a prayer (see Matt. xxv. [39,] 42, where He prays for Himself only) — but simply Fatheb; that Great Name in which all the mystery of Bedemption is summed up. the hour is come] See ch. xii. 23, 28; xiii. 31, 32. The Glorifica tion is — the exaltation by Death and Ee surrection: He prays in the Manhood, and for the exaltation ofthe Manhood, but in virtue of His Godhead, ver. 5. thy: Son] He prays first as concerning Himself, in the third person, to set the great matter forth in all its majesty; tben from Himself, in the first person, ver. 6, putting Himself. into the place of " thy Son" here. < that thy Son also may glorify thee] " These words are a proof that the Son is equal to the Father as touching His Godhead. What creature could stand before his Creator and say, ' Glorify Thou me, that I may glorify Thee?'". Stier. This glorifying of the Father by the Son is, the whole great result of the glorification of the Son by the Father, — the manifestation of God to and in men by the Son through the Spirit. 2.] ' The causal connexion expressed by according as is this, that the glorifica tion, the end, must correspond to the be ginning, to the sending, the preparation, and office of the Son.'. (Liicke.) We must' also bear in mind that the 'giving of power' in this verse is the ground and source, as well, as the type and manner, of the glorification : see Item. i. 28; 1 Cor. i. 606 ST. JOHN. XVII. c ver. e. ft 24. eternal life to as many c as thou hast given him. 3 And d this 4!sli"jV" is life eternal, * that they might hvow thee ethe only true *iT&.'.!i:«: God, and ^ Jesus Christ, f whom thou hast sent. i *l 1 have i.'If'viJ*-1' glorified thee on the earth : h 1 1 have finished the work 1 which thou m gavest me to do. B And now, O Father, 29: x. xi. 42. gch. xiii. 31. xiv. 13. h ch. iv. 84 : V. 30 : ix. 3 : xix. SO.- i*ch. xiv. 31 : xv. 10. 1 render, for perspicuity, to know. k render, him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. 1 literally, I glorified .... I finished : see note., m render,, hast given. But in all three places there is some uncertainty about rightly, yet regarded Jesus Christ as in cluded in the words " the only true God." But all such violences to the text are unnecessary. For, first, the very juxta position of Jesus Christ here with the Father, and the knowledge of both being defined to be eternal life, is a proof, by implication, of the Godhead of the former. The knowledge of God and a creature could not be eternal life, and the juxta position of the two would be inconceivable. Secondly, the words whom Thou didst, send most distinctly express the coming forth from God, ver. 8— imply the unity expressed in ver. 22, and cannot, in con nexion with What follows; possibly be un- derstopd in a- Socinian, or an Arian sense. I do not scruple to use and preach on the verse as a plain prppf pf the cc-equality of the Lord Jesus in the Godhead. A difficulty has been found in the use of the name JESTJ& Cheist by the Lord Him self: — and inferences have been hence made that we have Stl John's own lan guage here:— but surely without any ground. He who said " Thy Son," ver. 1, might well here, before the change to the first person in Ver. 4, use that prophetic Name Jesus, which had been divinely. given Him as the Saviour of men, and its Weighty adjunct Cheist, in which Names are all the hidden treasures of tbat know ledge of which He here speaks* And as to the' later use of the two names together having led to their insertion here by the Apostle, — what if the converse were the case, and this solemn use of them by our Lord had1 given occasion to their subse quent use by the Church ? This is to me much more probable than the other. 4; 5.] The past tenses are anticipatory. The past tenses are, in the original, inde finite ; I glorified Thee ... I finished . . . Our Lord stands by anticipation at the end of His accomplished coUrse, and looks back on it all as past, as historically gathered up in one act. In English we 6. all flesh is not only ' all mankind,' but (see Gen. vii. 15, 16, 21) all that has life, all that is subject to death, all that is cursed en account of sin. But of this all, mankind is. the head and crown, and in the full blessings of the Lordship of Christ mankind only can participate. All flesh is given by the Father, from before the foundation of the world; to Christ; the whole creation is His to rule, His to judge, by virtue of His being, in the root of that human nature, to which sove reignty over the world was given, the SECOND AND EIGKHTEOTJS ADAM/ But in this wide gift, there is a more special ^2,— whatsoever, thou hast given him- in the stricter sense,— the chosen, they who believe on Him. And to them, and them only, He imparts the further and' ineffable gift consequent on union with Him their God in the Spirit, — --viz. eteb nal mpe (compare ch, v. 26; 27' ; also vi. 37). 3.] See a similar definition of a term just used, in ch. iii. 19; this is life eternal, not is the way to it. The knowledge spokeri of is no mere head or heart knowledge,T-^tbe mere information of the mind; Or excitation of the feelings, -—but that living reality of knowledge and personal realization, — that oneness in will With God, and partaking of His nature, which is itself life eternal: — the know ledge; love, enjoyment, of Him who is in finite; being themselves infinite. "The beginning of life is the result ef the par- ticipaticn of God : and participation of God is^the knowing God and enjoying His goodness." Irenseus. Tlie Latin Fathers, Augustine, Ambrose, and Hilary, anxious to avoid the inference unwarrantably drawn by some from this verse against the God head of Christ, tried to arrange it thus : " that they might know Thee, and Jesus Christ whom Thou didst send, (to be) the only true God." But this treatment of the original! is inadmissible. Others; as Chrysostom and Euthymius, construing 3—9. ST. JOHN. 607 glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory k which I had with thee before the world was. 6 ' I have mani fested thy name unto the men m which thou m gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou m gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they n have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are 0 of thee. 8 P For I have given unto them the words v which thou gavest me ; and they [1 have] received them, ° and r have known surely that I s came out from thee, and [9 they have] believed that thou didst send me. 9 1 * pray for k Ota. 1.1, 2:. X. 30: xiv. 0. Phil. ii. 0. Col. i. 10, 17. Heb. i. 8, 10. 1 ver. 20. Ps. xxii. 22. m ver. 2, 9, 11. ch. vii 37, 39: x.29: xv. 19. nch. viii. 28: xii. 49 : xiv. 10. 0 ver. 25. ch. xvi. 27,30. n render, know. P render, Because. r render, knew. or, am praying : 0 render, from. 4 omit. 8 render, came forth. see note. can hardly retain these indefinite past tenses. They admit with us of another meaning, seeming to refer to a period far removed, and not to one just completed. Wherever they can be retained in their proper force, I have done so. the work which thou gavest me to do is not only the ministerial life of our Lord, but the whole Life, with all its appointed mani festations of humility and purity; — the perfect righteousness which by that life He has planted in our nature, — and His prophetic and declarative office, terminated by His Passion and Death. 5. glorify thou me] Notice the relation between I have glorified Thee before and glorify Thou Me now. The same Person who had. with the Father glory before the world, also glorified the Father in the world, and prays to be again received into that glory. A decisive proof of the unity of Hve Person of Christ, in His three estates of eternal prae-existence in glory, humiliation in the flesh, and glorification in the Resurrection Body. This direct testimony to the eternal prse-existence of the Son of Gpd has been evaded by the Socinian and also the Armininn interpreters, by explaining the word had to mean,., "possessed by Thy decree which destined-it. for Me." On the identity of the glory in ver. 22 with this glory, see note there. before the world was] i. e. 'before all creation.' with thee] See ch. i. 1, IS. 6—19:] He prays for His disciples. 6.] This verse particularizes ver. 4, and forms the transition to the intercessory prayer. thy name] Thy Name of Fatheb, which was so ppnstantly on the lips of our Lord ; — and which derived its living meaning and'power from His teach ing; see Exod. xxiii. 21. the men which thou gavest me] The Father gave them to Christ, by leading them to Christ, see ch. vi. 37, 44, 45: thine they were — Israelites — Thy people before: — not only outwardly, but Israelites indeed, see ch., i. 48, and thus prepared to receive Christ. And thus- the expression out of the world answers to tbe taking to Him self a nation out of another nation,. Deut. iv. 34. But see the fuller sense below, on ver. 9. they have kept thy word — walked in the path of Thy commandments ; — see ch. viii. 51, 52; xiv. 23. Stier understands their walking in the Old Test, ordinances blameless;, as Luke i. 6, — and thus' (compare ch. i. 42, 46) re cognizing Christ as the Messiah when He came. But this is perhaps hardly likely to have been set at the end of the sen tence, after " Thou hast given them Me." 7.] all things whatsoever thou hast given me; 'My whole words and works.' On this their conviction, which how> ever had npt reached its ripeness yet, see ch. xvi: 30. 8.] I have given unto them the words . . . , and the similar sayings ch. xv. 15' al.,, seem to be a reference to Deut. xviii. 18, 19, where it is said that the Prophet 'shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.' The im parting to them of these, "'words" was the efficient cause of their faith : — see their confession ch. vi. 68, 69, where "we have believed and know" are connected as here. On the two last clauses we may notice, that our Lord's coming forth from the Father is with them more a matter of. conviction from inference, and is therefore . connected with they knew (see ch. iii. 2) : — whereas the other side of the same 603 ST. JOHN. XVII. pijohnv.io. them, p I ttpray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me ; for they are thine. 10And ' nall, qch.xvi.15. mine are thine, and q thine are mine ; and I am glorified in. 'xvifls'11 them. n 'And [*now] I am no more in the world, 7 but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, 1 z keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given. BlPet.i.5. Jude 1. ** or, am praying : see note. u render, all things that are mine : the gender is neuter. x omit-: not in the original. 7 render, and. z read, keep them in- thy name, which thou hast given me. truth, thou didst send me, the act of the Pather unseen by us, is more a matter of pure faith, — and is therefore connected with they believed. In the first, the expression knew surely (truly) stamps our Lord's approval on their know ledge, and distinguishes it from such knowledge as the bare assumption of knpwing (John iii. 2) by Nicodemus and his colleagues. 9.] Stier remarks, that the Lord here begins to fulfil Mis promise Matt. x. 32. I pray not for the world] The misconceptions which have been made of this verse, as implying a decree of ex clusion for the vessels of wrath, may be at once removed by considering the usage of the term the world in this Prayer. The Lord does pray distinctly for the world, vv. 21, 23, that they may believe and know that the Pather hath sent Him. He cannot therefore mean here that He does not pray (absolutely) for the world, but that He is not now asking for the world, does not pray this thing for the world. These "whom Thou gavest me" have already believed and known; the prayer for them is therefore a different one, viz. that in vv. 11, 15. The mistake weuld be at once precluded for English readers by the paraphrase, I am praying for them ; I am praying not for the world .... for they are thine] in a fuller sense than " they were Thine," ver. - 6. ¦ That was their preparation for Christ ; this is their abiding in Him, which is abiding in the Father, see next verse. 10.] Compare ch. xvi. 15 and note. "It were not so much if He had only said, 'All Mine is Thine ;' for that we may all say, that all we have is God's. But this is a far greater thing, that He inverts this and says, ' All Thine is Mine.' This can no creature say before God." Luther. The A. V.,— ' All Mine are Thine,' &c. — gives the erro neous impression that persons only are meant, whereas it is all things, in the widest meaning,— the Godhead itself in cluded, — of which this is asserted. I am glorified in them] not ' by their means' but in them ; by that "I in them" of ver. 23, the life ofthe vine in the branches; so that the fruit of the branches is the glory of the vine, by the sap of the vine living in the branches. All this again is anticipa tory. 11.] The occasion, and substance of His prayer for them. I am no more in the world] This shews us that "the. world" is not said of place alone, for the Lord Jesus is still here ; but of state, the- state of men in the fiesh; sometimes viewed on its darker side, as overcoming men and bringing in spiritual death, — sometimes, as here, used in the most general sense. and these are . . J not but; it expresses the simultaneous state of the Lord and His, see ch. xvi. 32, and note. Holy Father] Holy, as applied to God, peculiarly expresses that penetra tion of all His attributes by Love, which He only who here uttered it sees through in its length, breadth, and height: — which angels (Isa. vi. 3 ; Rev. iv. 8) feel and ex press : — which men are privileged to utter, but can never worthily feel: — but which devils can neither feel nor worthily utter (see Mark i. 24). They know His Power and His Justice only. But His Holiness is especially employed in this work pf keeping in His name now spoken of. in thy name] not 'through Thine own Name,' as A. V., which yet renders the same expression 'in Thy Name' ver. 12 — but in the Name of verses 6 and 12; see below. thy name, which thou hast given me] Not only the best supported, but the best reading. The Name of God is that which was to be in the Angel of the Covenant, Exod. xxiii. 21, see also Isa. ix. 6 ; Jer. xxiii. 6. This Name,— not the essential Godhead, but tbe covenant name, Jehovah otjb Righteousness,— the Father hath given to Christ, see Phil. ii. 9 ; and it is the being kept in this, the truth and confession of this, for which He 10—16. ST. JOHN. 609 me, * that they may be one, u a as we are. 12 x While I was with them- [•> mi the world] , c I kept them in thy name : those that thou gavest me I d have kept, and * e none of them is lost,- z but the son of perdition; "that the scripture f might be fulfilled. 13 S And now come I to thee ; and these things I speak in the world, that they f might have my joy fulfilled in themselves, i* b I have given them thy word ; * and the world [" hath] hated them, because they are not pf the world, a even as I am not of the world. ' 15 1 pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but e that thou shouldest keep them from ^the evil. 16 fThey a render, even as. b omit. c Many of our ancient authorities read, as in the last verse, I kept-them in thy name which" thou hast given me, and guarded them. . 4 render, guarded. e render, not one of them perished. ' render, may. S render, But. ^ render, the evil One : see note. t ver. 21, &c. u ch. x. 80. xch.vi.89: x.28. Heb. ii. 13. y ch. xviii. 9. 1 John ii. 19. zch. vi.70: . xiii. IS. a Fs. cix. 8. Acta i. 20. h ver. 8. cch. xv. 18,19. 1 John iii. 18. d ch. viii. 28. ver. 10. e see Matt. vi. 18. Gal.i.4. 2 These, iii. 8. 2 Tim. iv. 18. 1 John v. 18. fver. H. '¦ here prays. 'That which the Son has given to His disciples is no other than that which He himself has received from the Father, viz. the essential. revelation of the Father.' Luthardt. Compare Matt. x. 27. that they may be one, even as we sire] The oneness here is not merely har mony of will pr pf lpve, — as some have interpreted it, and then tried to weaken the Oneness of the Godhead, — but oneness by the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ, the gift of the Covenant (1 Cor. vi. 17), and ultimately (as tbe close Union implied by even as requires) oneness of nature, 2 Pet. i. 4, where the expression "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises" answers to the words "thy name which thou hast given me" here. The Lord does not say, "that they. may be one with us," nor, " that they and we may be one," but " that they may be one as we are." Augustine. 12.] I kept them: see ch. x. 28—30. The Lord here, as Cyril remarks, compares His keeping of His own, to that by the Father, —in a way only accountable by both Persons being of equal Power and Dignity. not one of them perished, bat . . .] So that Judas was one ofthe number which were given to Christ by the Father, men tioned in ver. 9 : — shewing us (1) the sense in which those words must be under stood (see above) ; and (2) that of such persons it is true that there is for them no * irresistible grace,' no * keeping in God's . Name' independently of their 'keeping God's word,' ver. 6, which Judas did not do. the son of perdition] See 2 Thess. ii. 3. As the other disciples, by true keeping of the divine words given to them, rose from being natural men to be the children of God, so Judas, through, want of the Same, sunk from the state of the natural man to that of the lost— the children of the devil. Remark, it is not " I lost ¦ none, but the son of perdition." — Christ did not lose him (compare ch. xviii. 9, where there is no exception), but he lost himself. It may be well to notice, for the English reader, that in the original, the noun perdition is the derivative of the verb perished. None perished but the one who should perish ; whose very state and attribute it was to perish. the scrip ture] in which this was indicated, viz. the passages alleged by St. Peter, Acts i. 20; see ch. xiii. 18. 13.] But now .... opposed to " While I was with them" . . . ver. 12, implying,- * But I shall be here to keep them no mere. And therefore I pray this prayer in their hearing, that' &c. On my joy, see ch. xv. 11; xvi. 24; also the reference to these werds in 1 John i. 4. 14—16.] See ver. 8. Ver. 14 contains the manner in which He guarded them by giving them the Divine Word; - and the reason of the keeping prayed for, viz. because they would be objects of hatred to the world : I and the world being opposed. even as I am not of the world] See ch. xv. 18. 15. I pray not . . .] Said mostly for their sakes, for whom it was necessary that they should abide yet in the flesh, to do- 610 ST. JOHN. XVII are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. '.&»! xv.'9. 17 g Sanctify them k through thy truth : h thy word is truth. ftit.1 ». 18 i As thou J hast sent me into the world, even so [° have] lain ™k I al80 sent tnenl ^° tne worl which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter 17 Then saith the damsel that kept the dpo;r 1 render, So. omit. place " in Matt., where see netes. the cup] A striking allusion to the prayer in Gethsemane; for thp imago does not else where occur, in our Evangelist. See Matt. xx. 22, and the parallel places. shall I not drink it?] literally, Am I not to drink it 1 for this, as Bengel remarks, was the tendency of Peter's struggle against what was about to happen. 12 — 24.] Peculiar to John. Jesus, be fore the Jewish High Priests: — see be low. 12.]' The officers of the Jews were those sent by the Sanhedrim. Luthardt remarks : " He before whose aspect, and whose declaration, I am he, the whole band had been terri fied and cast to the ground, now suffers himself to be taken, bound, and led away. This contrast the Evangelist has in mind here. To apprehend and bind O&x, all gave their help : the cohort, the captain, and the Jewish officers. This the, Evan gelist brings prominently forward, to shew how deep the impression of that previous incident still was i only by the help of all did they feel themselves se'cure. ' And thus it was ordered, that the disciples might escape with the more safety." 13.] On Annas, see note Luke iii. 2. The influence of Annas appears to have been very great, and Acts iv. 6, he is called the High Priest, in the year following this. The narrative evidently rests upon some arrangement with regard to the High Priesthood now unknown to us, but' ac countable enough by foreign influence and thp deterioration of the priestly class through bribes and intrigues, to which Josephus and the Talmud sufficiently tes tify. ' This hearing is entirely distinct from that in the other Gospels. There, S B k render, the other. no questions are asked of Jesus about His disciples, or doctrine (ver. 19) ; there, wit nesses are produced, and, the whole pro ceedings are after a ' legal form. That hearing was in a public court of justice, before the assemh.led Sanhedrim ; this was a private and informal questioning. That Annas should be so often called 'the High Priest,' is ho objeetipn to, this view : see on Luke as above : see also note on ver. 24. The two hearings are maintained to be one and the same by many; among whom are Grotius, Bengel, Tholuck, &c. : ¦=— the view here taken is maintained by Chrysostom, Augustine, Olshausen, Nean der, and others. 14.] See ch. xi, 4? — 52 and nctes; also on the words, that year, ver. 13- 15.] the ether disciple is here mentioned for the first time. There is ne reasen to doubt the universal per suasion that by this name John intends himself, and refers to thp mention in ch. xiii. 23 of a disciple whom Jesus loved. The idea that it was Judas Iscariot, is surely too absurd to need confutation. The details mentioned concerning him, that be followed Jesus;, that he was known to the High Priest (as a matter of indi vidual notice), and, the whole character pf the incident, will preyent any real student of St. John's style and manner from enter taining such a supposition for a moment. How John was known io, the High. Priest, we have np means of forming a conjecture. The palace of) the High Priest was probably the dwelling of both Annas and Caiaphas. 16. her that kept the door] It was not unexampled to have female porters among the Jews. See Acts xii- 13- 17.] See the whole subject of Peter's denials, discussed in notes on Matt. i Jer. xx. 2. Acts xxiii. 2. 616 ST. JOHN. . XVIII. unto Peter, Art \}not] thou also one of this man's dis ciples? He saith, I am not. 18mAnd the servants and officers n stood there, ° who had made a fire of coals ; for it was cold : and they P warmed themselves : and Peter 1 stood with them, and warmed himself. w The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. "ch^vifti5' 20 Jesus answered him, hIW spake T openly to the world ; I 29,28: vm. ever ^-ught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither 8 the Jews always resort ; and in secret * have I said nothing. 21 Why askest thou me ? ask them which n heard me, what I x have said unto them : behold, y they know what I said. 22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by * struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so ? 23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the 1 omit. m render, Now. n better, were standing. 0 render, having made. P render, were warming. 1 render, also was with them, standing and warming himself. 11 read, have spoken. r render, plainly. s read, all the Jews. * render, spake I. u render, have heard. x render, spake. y render, these. vv. 69 — 75. This first denial was to bear. the world here is equivalent to all appearance rashly and almost mad- "all the Jews," or perhaps rather, "all vertently made, from a mere feeling of who were there to hear." in secret shame. Liicke suggests that Peter may spake I nothing] Stier thinks there was have set himself among the servants of the an allusion in these words to Isa. xiv. 19 ; High Priest to bear out his denial. The xlviii. 16, — in the last of which places the question, "Art thou also one of this Messiah is speaking. 21.] See ch. v. man's disciples ?" (ver. 25,) as Luthardt 31, which appears to have, been a legal remarks, implies that the other disciple maxim. behold, these know] Our had already been recognized as a follower Lord appeals to persons there present in of Jesus, and had escaped annoyance. court, pointing at or otherwise designating 19.] This preliminary enquiry seems to them. The word "they" in the A.V., have had for its object te induce the makes it appear as if He meant " those prisoner to criminate himself, and furnish which heard Me." Bengel. The "officers" matter of accusation before the Sanhedrim, mentioned in ch. vii. 46 may have been of his disciples] His party, or ad- present : see next verse. 22.1 See herents, as the High Priest would under- Acts xxiii. 2. one of the officers stand His disciples to be; now many, and which stood by] This was probably whp they were, and with what object one of the band who took Jesus, and gathered together ;— and what His eus- had brought Him hither. It is not ternary teaching of them had been. Of quite certain whether the word here these, Jesus says nothing : compare vv. 8, 9. used implies a blow with the hand, But He substitutes for them " the world," or with a staff. They had staves, and to which He had spoken plainly. perhaps thus used them i see note on 20.] I, emphatic : as if it had been said, Matt. xxvi. 67. This blow was a signal I am one, who . . . plainly (refer- for the indignities which followed. ring to the character of the things 23.] bear witness in a legal way. but said) : not openly (referring to the out- if well] This latter supposition "has the ward circumstances under which they force of an assertion, that it was well. were said), which the word will not It has been often and well observed, that 18—28. ST. JOHN. 617 evil : but if well, why smitest thou me ? 2* z Now Annas [a had] sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. 25 And Simon Peter * stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art [Dbmo^] thou also one of his disciples ? He denied it, and said, I am not. 26 One of the servants of the high priest, being c his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? 27 Peter then denied again': and k imme- koh.xiii.88. diately the cock crew. 28 'Then &led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto ethe hall of 'lActsm. is. judgment: and it was early; mand they themselves went "Vifs.81"28' not into the * judgment hall, S lest they should be defiled; but * render, So. a omit : not according to the original : see note. D render, was standing and warming. bh omit. c better, a kinsman of him. d render, they lead. e render, the palace of the governor. ' render, palace. S render, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the pass- over. our Lord here gives us the best interpre tation of Matt. v. 39— that it does not exclude the remonstrating against unjust oppression, provided it be done calmly and patiently. 24.] Prom what has been above said, it will be seen that I cannot acquiesce in the pluperfect render ing of this word sent, to bring about which the opening particle, So, has apparently been omitted by the copyists. I believe the verse simply to describe what followed on the preceding— So Annas (or Annas therefore) sent Him hound to Caiaphas the High Priest. "Then," says Chrysos tom, "not being able even thus to make progress in their decision, they send Him bound to Caiaphas." There is no real difficulty in this rendering, if Annas and Caiaphas lived in one palace, or at all events transacted public affairs in one and the same. They would naturally have different apartments, and thus the sending from one to the other would be very possi ble ; as also would the incident related by Luke. xxii. 61 :— see the extract from Robinson, Matt. xxvi. 69, note. "The Evangelist had no need to relate the hear ing before Caiaphas, for he has related ch. xi. 47 ff. : and we have ere this been familiarized with the habit of our Evan gelist not to narrate any further the out ward process, where he has already by anticipation substantially given us its re- Bult." Luthardt. 25—27.] Matt. xxvi. 71—74. Mark xiv. 69—72. Luke xxii. 58 — 61 : — see note on Matt. xxvi. 69. Peter was in the court-yard of the house. 26.] This was about an hour after the former, — Luke, ver. 59. The " I" is emphatic in the original : as we say, Did I not see thee with my own eyes ? 28— Chap. XIX. 16.] Jesus before the Gentile Governor. Matt, xxvii. 2, 11 — 30. Mark xv. 1—19. Luke xxiii. 1 — 25. Be fore this comies in the section of Luke, ch. xxii. 66 — 71, containing the close of the examination before the Sanhedrim, which did not happen till the morning. This undesigned agreement between St. Luke and St. John further confirms the justice of the view respecting the two hearings maintained above : see note on Luke, as above. 28 — 40.] Pilate's first attempt to deliver Him. 28. they themselves went not into the palace (literally, the Praetorium)] I have already discussed the difficulties attending the subject of our Lord's last Passover, in the note on Matt. xxvi. 17—19. I will add here some remarks of Priedlieb's. " The Jews would npt enter the Praetorium that they, might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. For the entrance of a Jew into the house of a Gentile made him unclean till the evening. It is surprising, that according to this de claration of the Holy Evangelists, the Jews had yet to eat the Passover, whereas Jesus and His disciples had already eaten it in the previous night. And it is no less sur- 618 ST. JOHN. XVIII. -that they might eat Me passover. 29 h Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30They answered and said unto him, If he were ndt a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. S1 * Then said Pilate unto them, k take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful -for us to put any h render, So Pilate. * render, Pilate therefore said. k render, Take him yourselves. wanting to their proofs, they want to supply by an appeal to their own authority "' 31.] This answer is best regarded as an ironical reproach founded on their apparently proud assertion in ver. 30— and amounting to this : '* If "you suppose I am to have such implicit confidence in your judgment concerning this prisoner as to take his guilt on your word, take "him and put him to death (for so "judge ye Him" must be understood, — see below) according to your law;' reminding them that the same Roman power which had reserved capital cases for his jurisdiction, also ex pected proper cognizance to be taken of them, and not that he should be the mere executioner of the Sanhedrim. It is not lawful for us to put any man to death] Prom the time when Archelaus was de posed (A.D. 6 or 7), and Judaea became a Roman province, it would follow by the Rpman law that the Jews Inst the power of life and death. Josephus tells us, that it was not lawful to hold a court of judgment in capital cases, without the consent of the Procurator. Some have thought that this power was reserved to them in religious matters, as of blasphemy and sacrilege; but no proof has been adduced of this ; the passages commonly alleged in Josephus, and Acts vii. 58, not applying {see note on Acts). The Talmud relates that this had taken place forty years (or more) before the destruction of Jerusalem. Biscoe, on the Acts, argues at great length that the Jews had this power; and that the words here merely mean that they could not put to death on the Sabbath, which, ac cording to the usual custom of executing the next day after judgment, would now have been the case. But this treatment of the words is unjustifiable. Can we suppose for a moment that this can have been meant, when there is not a word in the text to imply it ? We may hope that the day for such forced interpretatiens is fast passing away. Priedlieb gives prising, that the Jews in the early merning should have -been afraid of renderingthem- selves unclean for the Passover, — since the Passover could not be kept till evening, i. e. on the next day, and the uncleanness which they dreaded did not, by the law, last till the next day. Por this reason, the passage in John labours under no small exegetic difficulties, which we cannot altogether solve, from want of accurate knowledge of the customs of the time. Possibly the law concerning Levitical defilements and purifi cations had in that age been made more stringent or otherwise modified; possibly, they called some other meal, besides the actual Passover, by its name. This last we certainly, with our present knowledge ef Hebrew antiquities, must assume : for the law respecting uncleanness will not allow us to interpret this passage of the proper Passover on the evening of the 14th of Nisan, nor indeed of any evening meal at all." The whole depends on this : can the words, eat the Passover, mean any thing else besides eating the paschal lamb in the strict sense? This is a question which in our day we have no power of answering. See the matter further dis cussed in the notes to my Greek Test. See note en ch. xix. 14. The tendency of What is there said is, to warn us, not to be rash in assuming a discrepancy between the Evangelists, where computations ;of time may have been se vague and various. 29.] Though Pilate, having granted the service of the band of soldiers to the Sanhedrim, must have been aware of the circumstances under which Jesus was brought before him, he demanded a formal accusation on which legally to proceed: " dissimulating his own information on the Subject." 30.] They do not mention the charge of blasphemy brought against Him by the Sanhedrim, for fear ef the entire rejecticn pf their cause, as by Gallio, Acts xviii. 16. The Procurators in such cases had a discretionary power. On what they did say, Grot, observes, "What was 29—36. ST. JOHN. 619 man to death: 82nthat the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying 1 what death he should die. 53rn-Then Pilate entered into the n judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews ? S4 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee ° of me ? 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew ? Thine own nation and the chief priests [P have] delivered thee unto me : what hast thou done ? 86 ° Jesus answered, p My • kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, u Matt. xx. 19. ch. xii. 82, S3. o 1 Tim. vi. IS. p Dan. ii. 44: vii. 14. Luke xii. 14 oh. vi. 15 : viii. 15. 1 render, what manner of death. m render, Pilate therefore. n render, palace. 0 render, for perspicuity, concerning me. P omit. the most consistent account of the matter. In the Roman provinces generally, the Pro praetor or Proconsul conducted judicial proceedings. But Judaea, which belonged to the province of Syria, was an exception. There was there a Procurator with full powers, who exercised the right of judicial cognizance. Jerusalem however possessed the privilege of judging all lighter causes before the three-and-twenty, and heavier causes, with the sole exception of capital trials, before the great Sanhedrim : so that none but these reserved cases remained for the Procurator. Pilate seems to have judged these cases at his visits during the festivals; wliich weuld fall conveniently for the purpose, it being the custom in Jerusalem, to execute great criminals at the Peasts. In other provinces the governors made circuits and held assizes through out their jurisdictions. 32.] See Matt. xx. 19, and other places ; — cb. xii. 32, 33. Had the Jews taken Him and judged Him, He would have been stoned, not crucified. ¦ And this whole section, vv. 28 — 32, serves to shew how the divine purpose was accom plished. 33.] This question probably arose out of what Pilate had (previously heard, not from any charge to this effect 'being made between our vv. 31 and 34. Had such -a charge been made, our Lord's question ver. 34 would be unnatural. Pilate summoned Jesus in, vfho had been as ypt outside with the Jews. This was the formal reception ofthe case before him; — the Roman soldiers must now have.formally taken charge of Jesus, as servants of the Roman authorities : having previously, when granted by Pilate to the Chief Priests, acted as their police. The judgments of the Romans were always public and in the open air, see ch. xix. 13 ; — but the enquiries and examinations might be private. In this case Pilate appears to have wished to obtain an account from Jesus apart from the clamours of the chief priests and the mob. 34.] On this whole interview, see note on Luke w. 3, 4. I regard this question, Sayest thou this thing of thyself ... as intended to distinguish the senses of the word King as applied to Jesus : and of course not for the information of Him who asked it, but to bring out this dis tinction in Pilate's mind. If he asked of himself, the word could certainly have but one meaning, and that one would be wrongly applied ; — if from information de rived from the Jews, this very fact would open the way to the true meaning in which He was King of the Jews. Stier and Ebrard think there may be some reference in the words of thyself, to a momentary earnestness in Pilate's own mind, — a suspi cion that his prisoner was what he was charged with being (see ch. xix. 8, 12), from the mention of which he immediately (ver. 35) recoils, and implies the other side of the dilemma. 85.] Pilate at onee repudiates the idea pf his having any share in Jewish expectations, er taking any per sonal interest in Jewish matters : all his information he has derived from the public accusation of the neople and chief priests. Then in the questien, What hast Thou done?, is implied, 'There is ne definite ness in their charge: let me have thine cwn account, thy ex-parte statement, that I may at least know something definite of the case.' 36.] This answer goes to explain the injustice of the charge of "per verting the nation " (Luke xxiii. 2), and to shew Pilate something of the nature of the kingdom which Jesus really came to esta blish. My kingdom is not of this world] i.e. not belonging to (eh. viii. 23; 620 ST. JOHN. XVIII. 37—40. 1 then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then ? Jesus answered, r Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end Bwas /born, and for this cause * came I Into the world, that I u should bear witness unto the truth. Every one 1 render, my servants would have fought. r or, Thou sayest it : for (or, because) I am a king. s render, have I been. * render, am I u render, may. come. x. 16) this world; not springing from, arising put pf, this wprld ; — and therefore not to be supported by this world's wea pons. There is no denial that His King dom is over this world ; but that it is to be established by this world's power. The words not only deny, they affirm : if not of this world, then of another world. They, assert this other world before the representative of those who boasted of their empire, which they called ' orbis terrarum,' i.e. the globe of the earth. Notice the solemn repetition of the words of this world. my servants] certainly not angels (as Stier) nor angels and disciples (as Lampe). This sentence is elliptical, and the fact of "having servants" is in cluded under the supposition introduced, that He was a King. ' If &c, — I should have had servants, and those servants would have fought.' that I should not be delivered to the Jews] which was done by Pilate in ch. xix. 16. now is my kingdom not from hence] The word now has been absurdly pressed by the Romanist interpreters to mean that at some time His Kingdom would be from hence, i. e. of this world : as if its essential character could ever be changed. But now'implies, ' as the case now stands ;' it conveys an ocular demonstration, from the fact that no servants of His had contended or were contending in his behalf; see simi lar usages of now, ch. viii. 40 ; ix. 41 ; xv. 22, 24: Rom. vii. 16, 17. 37.] The word thou, in Pilate's question, is emphatic and sarcastic. " Art thou, thus captured, bound, standing here as a criminal in peril of thy life, A King ?" Thou sayest] A formula frequent in the Rabbinical writings : and conveying assent to the previous enquiry. It seems best, as in margin, to punctuate at it, and regard for, or because, as the reason for tbe affirma tion conveyed in Thou sayest it. This agrees best with the continued affirmation which follows. To this end have I been born . . .] Our Lord here preached the Truth of his mission, upholding that side of it best calculated to meet the doubting philosophic mind of the day, of which Pilate was a partaker. He declares the unity and outward reality of Truth : — and that Truth must come from above, and must come through a Person sent by God, and that that Person was Himself. "I," is both times emphatic, and majes-; tically set (see above) against the preceding scornful thou of Pilate. Our Lord im plies that He was born a King, and that He was born with a definite purpose. The words are a pregnant proof of an Incarna tion of the Son of God. This great truth is further expressed by what follows, — 'I have been born, but not therein com mencing my being — I am (or, have) come into the world.' Thus certainly are the words to be understood, and not of His public appearance, nor as synonymous with His having been born. It is this saying, which began the fear in Pilate, which the charge of the Jews, ch. xix. 7, increased. He is come into the world, not merely to speak truth, but to bear witness to the Truth, in its outward reality : — see ch. xvii. 17, 19, of which deep saying this is the popular exposition for his present hearer. The Lord, besides, sets forth here in the depth of these words, the very idea of all kinghood. The King is the representative of the truth : the truth of dealing between man and man; — the truth of that power, which in its inmost truth belongs to the great and only Potentate, the King of Kings. Again, the Lord, the King of manhood and the world, the second Adam, came to testify to the truth of manhood and the world, which sin and Satan had concealed. This testimony to the Truth is to be the weapon whereby His Kingdom will be spread; — 'every one who is of the truth,' i. e. here in the most general sense, every one who is a true dealer with his own heart, who has an XIX. 1—4. ST. JOHN. 621 that qis of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith 'J^^fjjf- unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, 19!iT-6- he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, r I '<*- **¦*>•¦ find in him no fault at all. 39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover : will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews ? *° s Then x cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but ¦Aotsiu.i*. Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. XIX. lrThen Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. 2And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3 y and said, Hail, King of the Jews ! and they smote him with their hands. *z Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, x better, they all cried out. y read, and they approached him, and said. z read, And Pilate. ear to hear, — 'of such are my subjects composed : — they hear my voice.' But for the putting this true dealing on its proper and only ground, see ch. viii. 47 ; vi. 44. 38.] To this number Pilate did not belong. He had no ear for Truth. His celebrated question is perhaps more the result of indifferent ism than of scepticism ; it expresses, not without scoff and irony, a conviction that truth can never be found : and is an apt representative of the state of the polite Gentile mind at the time of the Lord's coming. It was rather an inability than an unwillingness to find the truth. He waits for no answer, nor did the - question require any. Nay, it was no real question, any more than any other, behind which a negation lies hid. I find no fault in him] I, opposed to you, who had found fault in Him. Pilate mocks both — the Witness to the Truth, and the haters of the Truth. His conduct presents a pitiable specimen of tbe moral weakness of that spirit of worldly power, which reached its culminating point in the Bo man empire. 39.] At this place comes in Matt, xxvii. 12 — 14; — the re peated accusation of Jesus by the chief priests and elders, to which He answered nothing; — and Luke xxiii. 5 — 16, the sending to Herod; and second proclama tion of His innocence by Pilate, — after which he adopts this method of procuring His release (Luke, ver. 17). ye have a custom] See note Matt, xxvii. 15, and compare, for an instruptive specimen ef the variatiens in the Gospel narratives, the four accounts of this incident. 40.] They have net before "cried out" in this narrative : sp that spme circumstances must be presupposed which are not here re lated : unless verses 30 and 31 be referred to. Now Barabbas was a robber] In Mark xv. 7, Luke xxiii. 19, a rioter;— but doubtless also a robber, as such men are frequently found foremost in civil uproar. There is a solemn irony in these words of the Apostle — a Bobber ! See the contrast strongly brought out Acts iii. 14. Luthardt remarks on the parallelism with Levit. xvi. 5 — 10. Thus was Jesus 'the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, to be of fered for a sin-offering.' Chap. XIX. 1.] The reason or purpose, ef this sccurging does not here appear ; but in Luke xxiii. 21 — 23 we read that after the choice of Barabbas, Pilate asked them what should be done with Jesus ? And when they de manded that He should be crucified, Pilate, after another assertion of his innocence, said " I will chastise him, and let him go." Thus it is accounted for. 2, 3. and they approached him] This has been pro bably erased by the copyists, as not being understood. It was their mock-reverential approach, as to a crowned king: coming probably with obeisances and pretended homage. In the address, Hail, King of the Jews, they were insulting the Jews, as much as mocking Christ. See notes on Matt. w. 27— 30;— and on the purple robe, Mark, ver. 17. 4.] The unjust and cruel conduct of Pilate appears to have had for its object to satisfy the 622 ST. JOHN. XIX. cXev. xxvi. 10. d Matt. xxvi. 65. ch. v. 18 : X. S3 athat ye may know that I find no fault in him. 5 a Then, came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And D Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man ! 6 b When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, c Take ye him, and crucify him : for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, c We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because a he made himself the Son of God. 8 When Pilate therefore heard a that saying, he was the more afraid ; 9 and went again into the e judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? eBut Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me ? a render, Jesus therefore came forth. c render, Take him yourselves. e render, palace. h render, he. ^ render, this. multitude by the mockery and degrada tion of the so-called King of the Jews : and with that view he now brings forth Jesus; His speech is equivalent to — " See what I have done purely to please you — for I believe Him innocent." 5.] is the accurate and graphic delineation of an eye-witness, and intimately connected with the speech of Pilate which follows. For the «ry, Behold the man! is uttered to move their contempt and pity ; — ' See this man who submits to and has suffered these indignities — how can He ever stir up the people, or set Himself up for King P Now cease to persecute Him ; your malice surely ought to be satisfied.' 6.] This had been cried before, see Matthew, ver. 22 and parallels. Possibly St. John may not have heard the cry. According as men have been in different parts of a mob, they will naturally report differently, as those nearest to them cried out. Take him yourselves] The words of Pilate shew vacillation between his own sense of the innocence of Jesus and his fear of dis pleasing the Jews and their rulers. He now, but in ironical mockery, as before, ch. xviii. 31, delivers the matter entirely into their hands : perhaps after having received the message from his wife,— Mat thew ver. 19. 7.] In consequence of this taunt, they now declare the cause of their condemnation of Him — see Levit. xxiv. 16 — and their demand that, though found innocent by the governor, He should die. 8.] This charge served to in crease the fear which Pilate had before: gee note on ch. xviii. 37 The name Son pf God served alse to ccnfirm the omen already furnished by the dream of his wife. That this fear was not a fear of the Jews, nor of acting unjustly, but of the Person of Jesus, is evident from what foUows. 9.] He entered, taking Jesus with him. Whence] i. e. not ' from what province ? ' — for he knew this, Luke xxiii. 6, 7: nor, 'of what parents?' — but whence? in reference to the name, the Son of God : Whence is thine origin ? Observe that the fear of Pilate is not mere superstition, nor does it enter into the Jewish meaning of "the Son of God:" but arises from an indefinite impression made on him by the Person and bearing of our Lord. We must not therefore imagine any fear of Him as being a ' son of the gods,' in Pilate's mind : this gives a wrong direction to his conduct, and misses the fine psychological truth of the narra tive. Our Lord, in His silence, was acting according to His own precept, Matt. vii. 6. Notwithstanding Pilate's fear of Him, he was not in earnest ; — not deter mined to be led by his conscience, but had already, given way to the unjust demands of the peoplej and He who saw his heart, knew how unworthy he was of an answer to so momentous a question. Besides, this silence was the most emphatic answer to all who had ears to hear it; — was a refer ence to what He had said before, ch. xviii. 37, and so a witness to His divine erigin. Wpuld any mere man, pf true and upright character, have refused an answer te such a questien, so put ? Let the modern ra tionalist consider this. 10.] As in 0—12. ST. JOHN, .623 knowest thou not that I have power to f crucify thee, and have power to S release thee? n Jesus answered,' Thou fch.vii. so. n couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above : * therefore he that k delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 131 And, from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him : but the Jews cried out, f read, release. h render, wouldest. k render, delivereth. 1 better, Upon this. S read, crucify. i render, for this cause. Some ancient authorities have delivered. ch. xviii. 35, Pilate at ence recoils from his better conscience into the state-pride of office. As Lampe remarks, this speech is directly contrary to his previous expression of fear. This very 'beast was a self-con- victiOn Of injustice. No just judge has any such power as this, to punish or to loose (see '2 Cor. xiii. '8) ; but only patiently to enquire and give sentence according to the truth. untP me, emphatic : it perhaps being implied, 'Thou hast, I know, refused ¦to reply to others before.' That Pilate should put the releasing first, as it stands in the most ancient authorities, seems most naturall, as appealing most to the prisoner : the power of crucifying follows as the alternative in case the other is rejected. 11.] This last testimony of our Lord before Pilate is a witness to the truth: Opening in a wonderful manner the secret of Pilate's vaunted power, o*f His pwh humblp submission, and the sinfulness of His enemies. This Saying, observes Meyer, breathes trtfdh and grace. The great stress is on the term from abpve, on which Gro tius strikingly says, "thence, that is, from whence I am sprung;" so that it furnishes a remarkable -answer to the above. We must not dream of any allusion to Bome, or the Sanhedrim, in this question " Whence art thou?" as the sources pf Pilate's power :— the word was not so meant, nor sp understood : see ver. 12. The word it does not 'refor to power against me, but embraces in itself the whole delegation from above, power included: and the words "except it were given thee from above," are equivalent to except by appointment from above. Lampe remarks : " Our Lord concedes to Pilate 1) Power. He acknow ledged the authority of a human court, because His kingdom was not earthly, de stroying human magistrates : nor did He dispute the authority of Pilate and the Romans over the Jews. 2) He even am plifies that power, as given from above. Per this is the 'Christian, dpctrine, that -all power is from God (Rom. xiii. 1,2). 3) He acknowledges that that power extended even over Himself, since all concerning Him was being done by divine decree (Acts iv. 28)." for this cause] viz. because of what has just been asserted, ' Thou wouldest have no power fyc." The connexion is somewhat difficult. I take it to be this: 'God has (given to thee jpawer over me ;— not insight into the character which I claim, that of being the Son of God — but simply power : that insight be longed to others, viz. the Sanhedrim, and their president, whose office it was to judge that claim; they have judged against the clearest evidence and rejected me, the Son of God ; thy sin, that Of blindly exercising thy power, sin though it be, is therefore less than theirs, who being Gpd's pwn people, and with Gdd's word of prophecy before them (and the High Priest, with his own prophetic word before him, — see ch. xviii. 14), deliberately .gave me over into thy hand.' It is important to this, which I believe to be the only right understand ing ofthe words, to remember that Pilate, from ver. '6, was making himself tsimply their tool; — He was the sinful, but at the same time the blind instrument of their ¦deliberate malice. he that delivereth me Unto thee] Beyond question, Caiaphas, — to whom ^he initiative on the Jewish side belonged,; by whose authority all was done. At the same time the whole ¦Sanhedrim are probably included under the guilt of their chief. In this word sin is an implied reference to a higher Judge— nay, that Judge Himself Speaks. 12.] Upon this: or from this time : but the words in the original hardly bear so much as this latter meaning. See ch. vi. 66, Where the same correction has been made. Pilate him self was deeply struck by these words of majesty and mildness, and almost sym pathy for his own weakness ; and he made a last, and, as this verse seems to imply, a somewhat lenger attempt than befpre, te 624 ST. JOHN. XIX. guiie xxiii. saying, gIf thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's h lets xvii. 7. friend: h m whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Csesar. 13 When Pilate therefore heard n that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 ° And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour : and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15But they cried out, m better, every one that. n read, these words. 0 read, Now it was the preparation of the passover. It was about the sixth hour. cially when connected with ch. xviii. 28. See on the whole matter the notes above referred to. about the sixth hour] There is an insuperable difficulty, as the text now stands. Por St. Mark relates, ch. xv. 25, that the crucifixion took place at the third hour : and that it certainly was so, the whole arrangement of the day testifies. Por on the ene hand, the judgment could hardly have taken the whele day till nppn: and pn the ether, there will net thus be time left for the rest of the events of the day, before the sabbath began. We must certainly sup pose, as did Eusebius, Theophylact, and Severus, that there has been some very early erratum in our copies ; whether the interchange of 3 and 6, which when ex pressed in Greek numeral letters, are not unlike one another (/" and t), or some other, cannot now be determined. We cer tainly may bring the two accounts nearer together by recollecting that, as the crucifixion itself certainly did not (see in Mark) take place exactly at the third hour, and as here it is about the sixth hour, some intermediate time may be described by both Evangelists. But this is not satisfactory : see note on Mark xv. 25. The solution given by Dr. Wordsworth, after Townson and others, that St. John's reckoning of the hours is different, and like our own, so that the sixth hour would be 6 a.m., besides being unsupported by any authority (see ch. i. 39 ; iv. 6, 52 ; xi. 9, and notes), would leave here the difficulty that there must thus elapse three hours between the hear ing before Pilate and the Crucifixion. Be sides which, we may ask, is it possible to imagine St. John, with the other gospels before him as these expositors believe him to have had, adopting without notice an independent reckoning of his own which would introduce utter confusion into that history which (again on their hypothesis) he wrote his gospel to complete and clear deliver Him. Caesar's friend] There does not seem to be any allusion to this name being bestowed as a title of honour (indeed, a good deal of fancy has been employed in making out the fact of such a title having been in use) any further than that the appellation would naturally arise and be accounted honourable. The mean ing is, ' well affected to Csesar.' This was a terrible saying, especially under Tiberius, with whom, as Tacitus assures us, the undefined charge of disaffection to the person of the emperor was used to fill up all other accusations. every one that maketh himself a king] This was true : their application of it to Christ, a lie. But words, not facts, are taken into account by tyrants, and this Pilate knew. 13.] these words — viz. these two last re marks. "In such a perplexity, a man like Pilate could not long hesitate. As Caiaphas had before said, it were better that one even innocent man should die, than that all should perish: so now in like case Pilate decided rather to sacrifice Jesus though innocent, than to expose himself to so great danger." Friedlieb. forth: see on ch. xviii. 33. The judgment seat,, or bema, was in front of the prasto- rimrn, on an elevated platform called Gab batha, which was paved with a tessellated pavement. Such a pavement, Suetonius informs us, Julius Csesar carried about on his expeditions. 14. the preparation of the passover] The signification, ' Friday in the Passover week,' has found many, and some recent, defenders. • But this is not the natural meaning of the words, nor would it ever have been thought of in this place, but for the difficulty arising from the whole Passover question, which I have discussed on Matt. xxvi. 17 — 19, and on ch. xviii. 28. This preparation day is ' the vigil of the Passover,' i. e. the day preceding the evening when the passover was killed. And so it must be understood here, espe- 13—23. ST. JOHN. 625 Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King ? The chief priests answered, ' We have no king but Csesar. 16 TheniG™.xiix.io. delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus [, P and led him away] . 17 And he bearing his cross kwent forth into Laplace called the kKiui'. "¦ place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha : 18 where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19 r And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OE THE JEWS. 2° This title then read many of the Jews : for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city : and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 s Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews ; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. ^Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part ; and also his coat : now the coat was with- P omitted by some ancient authorities. 1 render, Moreover. up? The words Behold your King seem to have been spoken in irony to the Jews — in the same spirit in which after wards the title was written over the cross : — partly perhaps also, as in that case, in consequence of the saying in ver. 12, — to sever himself altogether from the suspicion there cast on him. 15.] We have no king but Csesar, was a degrading con fession from the chief priests of that people of whom it was said, ' The Lord your God is your King.' 1 Sam. xii. 12. "They were so earnest in repudiating Jesus," says Bengel, "that they repudiate their Messiah altogether." However, the cry furthered the present purpose, and to this all was sacrificed, including truth itself; for the confession was not only degrading, but false in their mouths. Some of those who now cried this, died miserably in rebellion against Csasar forty years afterwards. 16.] Here the scourging seems (Matthew, Mark) to have taken place, or perhaps to have been renewed, since the former one was not that customary before execution, but conceded by Pilate to the mob in hope of satisfying them. 17 — 42.] Jesus surrenders himself to death. Matt, xxvii. 31—61. Mark xv. 1 render, the. 8 render, Therefore. 20 — 47. Luke xxiii. 26—56. Compare the notes on the Pour throughout. they took Jesus] viz. the chief priests. 17—22.] His Crucifixion. 17.] See on Matt. ver. 33. 19.] Matt. ver. 37. 20 — 22.] The same spirit of mock ery of the Jews shewed itself in the title, as before, ver. 14. They had prevailed on Pilate by urging this point, that Jesus had set Himself up for a king ; and Pilate is willing to remind them of it by these taunts. Hence their complaint, and his answer. The Latin was the official language, the Greek that usually spoken, — the Hebrew (i. e. Aramaic) that of the common pecple. What I have written I have written] The first perfect denetes the past acticn; the seccnd that it was complete and unalterable. 23 — 30.] Mis death. 23, 24.] There were four soldiers, a quaternion, Acts xii. 4, and perhaps a centurion, for we read elsewhere of a centurion sent to see punishment inflicted. The garments of the exe cuted were by law the perquisite of the soldiers on duty. The coat was the tunic. It reached from the neck to the feet, and was fastened round the throat with a clasp. It was properly a priest's 626 ST. JOHN. XIX. 1 Psa. xxii. 18. m ch. xiii. 23: XX. 2: xxi. 7, 20, 24. n ch. ii. 4. o ch. i. 11 : xvi. 82. out seam, woven from the top throughout. M They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it> but cast lots for it,. whose it shall be : that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, 'They parted my * raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mothers sister, Mary the [tt wife) of x Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. Z6-7 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and mthe disciple standing by, whom he loved, [zhe] saith unto his mother, "Woman, behold thy son ! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother ! And from that hour a thai disciple took her 0 unto his own home. 28 After this, Jesus knowing that * render, garments, n not x this should be ClopaS, as in the original. 7 render, Jesus therefore seeing. a render, the, as above. in the ori z omit. garment, and was woven of linen, or per haps of wooh The citation is verbatim from the LXX- 25-} In Matt, xxvii. 55, 56, and the parallel places, we learn that two of these were looking on afar off, after Jesus had expired, with Salome. Considering then that St. John's habit of not naming himself might extend to his mother (he names bis father, ch. xxi. 2), we may well believe that his mother's sister here represents Salome, and that four women are designated by this, descrip tion. So Wieseler and Meyer, Luthardt opposing them. So also Ewald : and, which is no mean evidence, the ancient Syriac version, inserting and between, "the mother's sister, and Mary, . . . ." This Mary was wife of Klopas (Alphseus, see Matt. x. 3, and Introd. to Ep. of James, § i. 4), the mother of James the Less and Joses ; Matt., Mark. 26. behold thy son] The relationship in the flesh between the Lord and His mother was about to close; hence He commends her to another son who should care for and protect her. Thus, — as at the marriage in Cana, when His official independence of her was to be testified, so now, — He ad dresses her as Woman. 27.] The se- lemn and affecting commendation of her tq St. John is doubly made, — and thus bound by the strongest injunctions on both. The Romanist idea, that the Lord commended all his disciples, as represented by the beloved one, to the patronage of Mis mother, is simply absurd. The converse is true : He did solemnly commend the care of her, especially indeed to the beloved disciple, but in him to the whole cycle of disciples, among whom we find her, Acts i. 14. No certain conclusion can be drawn from this commendation, as to the 'brethren of the Lord' be lieving on Him or not at this time. The reasons which influenced Him in his selection must ever be far beyond bur penetration: — and whatever relations to Him we suppose those bretli/ren to have been, it will remain equally mysteriens why He passed them over, who were so. closely ccnnected with His mcther. Still the pre sumption, that they did not then beheve on Him, is one of which it is not easy to divest one's self; and at least may enter as an element into the consideration of the whole subject, beset as it is with un certainty, from that hour is probably to be taken literally, — from that time; — so that she was spared the pangs of wit nessing what was to follow. If so, John returned again to the Cross, ver. 35. The words, he took her to his own home, need not imply that John had a house in Jerusalem. The name would equally apply to his lodging during the feast; only meaning, that henceforth, wherever he was, she was an inmate with him; and certainly that his usual habitation was fixed, and was his own. Ewald remarks, " It was for the Apostle in his later years a sweet reward to recall vividly every such minute detail, — and for his readers a sign that he alone could have written all this." 28.] After this is generally, but 24-31. ST. JOHN- 637 all things were now ^accomplished, 'that the scripture P might be ° fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 [d Now] there was set a vessel full of vinegar: eand they filled a spunge with vinegar, and iput it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, ' It is finished : and he bowed his head, and Sgave i up the ghost. 31 The Jews h therefore, f because it was the r preparation, ' that the bodies should not remain upon the " cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, ™ render, finished. It is the same word as in ver. 30. c render, accomplished. d omit. ' read and render, so they filled a spunge with the vinegar. f render, for perspicuity, fixed it upon a gtalk of hyssop, £ render, yielded up his spirit. * ietfer, then. ch. xvii. 4. ver. 42. Deut. xxi. 2: not necessarily, immediate, Here we must suppose the " Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani" to have been said meantime, and the three hours' darkness to have taken place. Per haps during some pf this time John was absent : see above. that the scripture might be accomplished] Various needless objections have been raised tp the appli cation of these words to the saying of the Lord which follows, and attempts have been made — having it in view to leave nq pre-appointed particular pf the circum stances of his suffering unfulfilled, thus : that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be accomplished: i, e. that all was now done in order to the accom plishment of Scripture. But it is much more natural to aonnept them with what follows, and to understand, that Jesus, speaking dpubtlpss alsp in intense present agpny of thirst, but only speaking because He so willed it, and because it was an ordained part of the course which He had taken upon Him, said this word, I thirst. !'He weuld npt have seught tWs alle- viatipn of His sufferings, had He not known that this also pertained to the dis tinguishing signs of the Messiah as given in the Prophets, Whence this second motive is stated in addition: that the Scripture might be accomplished." Lampe. Notice, it is not, fulfilled, which is always otherwise expressed in the original, but accomplished. 29.] The vinegar was the spur wine, Pr vinegar and water, the cemmpn drink pf the Roman soldiers. a stalk of hyssop] An aromatic plant growing on walls, common in the south pf England and pn the Continent, with blue or white flowers, and having stalks about 1J foot long, which would in this case be long enough, the feet of the crucified person not being ordinarily raised abeve that distance from the ground. It was much used for sprinkling, Exod. xii. 22 ; Levit. xiv. 4 &c; Ps. li. 7. 30.] It is finished expresses the fulfilling of that ap pointed course pf humiliation, obedience, and suffering, which the Lord Jesus had undertaken. That was now over, — the redemption of man accomplished,-^-and from this time ' the joy that was set before Him ' begins. It is beyond the purpose of a note to bring out the many meanings of this most important and glorious word. he hewed his head] We have the minuteness of an eye-witness, on whom every particular of this solemn moment made an indelible impression. yielded up his spirit] viz. in the words given by St- Luke, Father, into thy hands I com mend my spirit— which was alse the " loud voice" mentioned by St. Matthew and St. Mark. This "yielding up His spirit " was strictly a voluntary and determinate act — no coming on of death, which had no power over Him, — see ch. x. 18, and note on Luke xxiii. 46. 31 — 42.] Jesus in Death: and herein, 8). — 37.] Proof of His Death. 31.] On the Jewish custom, see note, Matt, xxvii. 57. that sabbath day was an high day, being as it was (see note on ch. xviii. 28, and Matt. xxvi. 17) a double sabbath : the coincidence of the first day ef unleavened bread (Ex. xii. 16) with an ordinary sab bath, that their legs might be broken] The breaking of the legs was sometimes appended to the punishment of crucifixion, but dpes not appear to have been inflicted 628 ST. JOHN. XIX. and that they might be taken away. 32 * Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But k when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs : 34 x but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith ' came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it m bare record, and his ™ record is true : and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye ° might believe. 36 Por these things P were done, u that the scrip ture 1 should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 3? And again another scripture saith, * They shall look on him whom they pierced. 3S And after r this , So the soldiers came. k render, having come to Jesus, when they saw. 1 render, nevertheless. m render, hath borne witness. n render, Witness. ° render, may. P render, came to pass. 1 render, might. r render, these things. 1 1 John v. 8,8. u Exod. xii. 46. Num. ix. 12. Pst. xxxiv. 20. X Pa. xxii. 18, 17. Eev. i.7. for the purpose of causing death, which indeed it would not dp. Priedlieb sup poses that the term involved in it the 'coup de grace' which was given to all executed criminals, and that the piercing with the spear was this death-blow, and was also inflicted on the thieves. 34.] The lance must have penetrated deep, for the object was to ensure death, — and see ch. xx. 27, probably into thp left side, on account of the position of the soldier, and of what followed. blood and water] The spear perhaps pierced the pericardium or envelope of the heart, in which case a liquid answering the description of water may have flowed with the blood. But the quantity would be so small as scarcely to have been ob served. It is hardly possible that the sepa ration of the blood into placenta and serum should so soon have taken place, or that, if it had, it should have been by an ob server described as blood and water. It is more probable that the fact, which is here so strongly testified, was a cense - quence of the extreme exhaustion of the Body pf the Redeemer. The medical opinions pn the peint are very various, and by no means satisfactory. Meyer's view after all seems to be the safe and true one — that the circumstance is related as a miraculous sign, having deep significance as to the work of the Redeemer, and shewing Him to be more than mortal. It can be no reason against this, that St. John does not here dwell on any such typical significance : nor can I see how 1 John v. 6 ff. can be understood without reference to this fact : see note there. 35.] This emphatic affirmation of the fact seems to regard rather the whole incident, than the mere outflowing of the blood and water. It was the object of St. John to shew that the Lord's Body was a real body, and underwent real death. And both these were shewn by what took place: not so much by the phenomenon of the water and blood, as by the infliction of sueh a wound, — after which, even had not death taken place before, there could not by any possibility be life remaining. The third person (he that saw it . . . .) gives solemnity. It is, besides, in accordance with St. John's way of speaking of himself throughout the Gospel. The usage ofthe word believe in St. John makes it probable that he lays the weight on the proof of the reality of the death, as above. The clause, that ye may believe, depends on the three preceding clauses, without any parenthesis, as the final aim of what has gone before : in erder that yeur faith may receive confirmation. 36.] 'For' — i. e. as connected with the true Messiah- ship of Christ, • these things were a fulfil ment of Scripture.' It is possible that Ps. xxxiv. 20 may be also referred to; — but no doubt the primary reference is to the Paschal Lamb of Exod. xii. 46 : Num. ix. 12; see 1 Cor. v. 7. 37.] The prophecy, they shall look on Him whom they pierced, does not refer to the Roman 32—41. ST. JOHN. 629 Joseph of Arimathsea, being a disciple of Josus, but secretly ?for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus : and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took s the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also 'Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 4° Then took they the body of Jesus, and "wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was 8 render, his body. 7 ch. ix. 2 xii 42- ZCD. iii. 1,2: vii. 60. soldiers, — but to the repentant in the world, who, at the time the Gospel was written, had begun to fulfil.the prophecy : and is not without a prophetic reference to the future conversion of Israel, who were here the real piercers, though the act was done by the hand of wicked men, Acts x. 28. 38—42.] His Burial. 38.] after these things— not immediately after this, but soon after. The narrative implies, though it does not mention (as St. Mark and St. Luke do), that Joseph himself took down the Body from the cross. Liicke thinks the soldiers would have done this : but their duty seems only to have extended to the ascertaining of the fact of death. The words of ver. 31, " that they might be taken away," need not imply, 'by their hands.' It was customary to grant the bodies of executed persons to their friends. On Joseph, and the other particulars, see notes on Matthew. He came . . .—to Golgotha. 39.] St. John alone mentions Nicodemus. The Galilsean narrative had no previous trace of him, and does not recognize him here. Joseph bore too prominent a part not to be mentioned by all. Luthardt beau tifully remarks on the contrast between these men's secret and timid disoipleship before, and their courage now, "Their love to Jesus was called cut by the might ef His lpve. His Death is the Fewer which constrains men. And thus this act of love on the part of both these men is-a testimony for Jesus, and for the future effect of His death. Hence also it appears why the Evangelist mentions the weight of the spices, as a proof of the greatness of their love, as Lampe ob serves." myrrh, — the gum of an aromatic plant, not indigenous in Pales tine, but in Arabia Felix, see Exod. xxx. Vol.. I. 23; Prov. vii. 17; Song of Sol. iii. 6. aloes] The name of various sorts of aromatic wood in the East. Both materials appear to have been pulverized (the wood either by scraping or burning) and strewed in the folds of the linen in which the body was wrapped. The quan tity, about an hundred pound weight, is large; but perhaps the whole Body was encased, after the wrapping, in the mix ture, and an outer wrapper fastened over all. The proceeding was hurried, on ac count of the approaching Sabbath : and apparently an understanding entered into with the women, that it should be more completely done after the Sabbath was over. This plentiful application of the aromatic substances may therefore have been made with an intention to prevent the Bedy, in its lacerated state, frem inci pient decemppsitipn during the interval. 40.] See ch. xi. 44. Little is kncwn with any certainty, except from these pas sages, of the Jews' ordinary manner of burying. 41.] See note on Matthew, ver. 60. The words, in the place where he was crucified, are so far in favour of the traditional site of the Holy Sepulchre, that Calvary and the Sepulchre are close together, under the roof of the same church. And those who have found an objection in that circumstance have for gotten this testimony of St. John. a new sepulchre . . . .] And therefore given for the purpose — so that the addi tional particular not here mentioned, that it belonged to Joseph, is almost implied. The newness of the tomb was important, that it should be seen that no one but Jesus had risen thence, and Jesus not by the power of another, as was once the case at tbe grave of Elisha : so that no room might be left for the evasions of unbelief Tt 630 ST. JOHN. XIX. 42. a ch. xiii. 23: xix. 28: xxi. 7, 20, 24. never man yet laid. 42 b * There laid they Jesus therefore B because of the Jews' preparation day j for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. XX. * u The first day of the week cometh Mary Magda lene early, x when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 y Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the a other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we * better (see note) arranged as the original ; There then, on account of the Jews' preparation day, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand, laid they Jesus. u render, But on the first day. x render, while. y render, She runneth therefore. 42.] the Jews' preparation day seems to indicate clearly the preparation of the Passover, as I have before main tained that the words mean ; not the mere day of the week so called, which, as it was by the Christians also in the Apostles' time named the preparation (Parasceve), would not be qualified by the additional state ment that it was "the Jews' preparation day." The words because the sepul chre was nigh at hand, may certainly at first sight appear as if St. John were not aware that the tomb belonged to Joseph ; but it is more likely that the thought of asking for the Body may have been ori ginally suggested to Joseph by his possess ing a tomb close to the place of crucifixion, and so the nearness of the tomb may have been the real original reason of the whole proceeding; and St. John, not anxious to record every particular, may have given it as such. It is much better to keep the order of the original in rendering this verse. There is weight and pathos in the concluding words, as completing the great subject of this part of the narrative, which is lost by transposing as in A. V. ' Chap. XX. 1—29.] Jest/s alive krom THB DEAD. COMPLETION OE THE DIS CIPLES' EAITH WBOTJOHT THEBEEY. And herein, 1 — 18.] Contrast between His former life, within the conditions of the fiesh, and His present, in which His communion with His own partakes of his new relation to the Father. Compare Matt, xxviii. 1 : Mark xvi. 1 : Luke xxiv. 1. On the chronology of the events of the Resurrection, see note on Matt, xxviii. 1. I attempt no harmony of the ac counts : — I believe all such attempts to be fruitless ; — and I see in their failure strong corroboration of the truth of the evangelic narratives. It is quite impos sible that so astounding an event, coming upon various portions of the body of dis ciples from various quarters and in various forms, should not have been related, by four independent witnesses, in the scat tered and fragmentary way in which we now find it. In the depth beneath this varied surface of narration, rests the great central fact of the Resurrection itself, un moved and immoveable. As it was THIS above all other things to whieh the Apos tles bore their testimony, se, in their testi mony to this, we have the most remarkable proof of each having faithfully elaborated into narrative those particular facts which came under his own eye or were reported to himself by those concerned. Hence the great diversity in this portion of the nar rative : — and hence I beheve much that is now dark might be explained, were the facts themselves, in their order of occur rence, before us. Till that is the case, (and I am willing to believe that it will be one of our delightful employments here after, to trace the true harmony of the Holy Gospels, under His teaching of whom they are the record,) we must be content to walk by faith, and not by sight. We must also remember in this case, that our Evangelist is selecting his points of narra tion with a special purpose, — to shew us how the belief of the disciples was brought out and ccmpleted, after the unbelief ef Israel : cf. w. 30, 31. 1, 2. Mary Magdalene] She was net alpne (Matthew, XX. 1—10. ST. JOHN. 631 know not where they have laid him. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and z that other disciple, and a came to the sepulchre. 4 D So they ran both together : and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepul chre, 6 and [%?] stooping down and looking in, saw bthe hch.xix.40. linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6 Then d cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and e seeth the linen clothes f lie, 1 and cthe napkin, that • <*.*!•«¦ was S about his -head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 h Then went in also * that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not dthe scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. dP..xvj.io. ln . Aotsii.25 10 k Then the disciples went away again unto their own ^l!lUiM' home. * render, the. b render, And d render, Cometh also. * render, lying. 11 render, Then therefore. * render, So. a render, they went toward. c omit. 6 render, beholdeth. S render, upon. 1 render, the. Mark, Luke). Does this appear in the plural verb, "we know not where they have laid Him," belew ? This is npt, as Meyer says, precluded by the use of "I know not" in ver. 13. Mary there speaks in her own person, which she might do, how ever accompanied. Still, probably not. She perhaps uses the plural, as involving all the disciples in her own feehng of ignorance and pf consequent sorrow. So Meyer : and it is more natural to take it thus. One thing we may conclude for certain, that she, for some reason, did not see the vision related in the three other Gospels. 3.] St. Luke, ver. 12, speaks only of Peter's going. 4 — 8.] Pull of most interesting and characteristic detail. John, probably the younger, outruns Peter ; — but when there, reverently (not for fear of pollution, as some have thought) abstains from enter ing the sepulchre. The ardent and impe tuous Peter goes directly in — John follows — and believes. What can exceed the inner truth of this description? And what is not related is as full ef truth as that which is. Per, w. 6, 7, we seem te hear the very voice of Peter describing te his companion the inner state of the tomb. On the napkin, see ch. xi. 44 and note. seeth represents the original word used of the cursory glance of John, who did not go in, — beholdeth, that which T T describes the exhaustive gaze of Peter, who did. Notice also that John, when he stooped and looked in, saw only the linen clothes, which seem to have been lying where the Peet were, nearer the entrance, whereas Peter, ongoing in, saw the napkin, which was perhaps deposited further in, near the place of the Head. 8. he saw, and believed] Nothing is said of Peter — did he believe too ? I think not; — and that John modestly suppresses it. But what did John believe ? Was it merely, that the Body had been taken away, as Mary had reported (Bengel and others) ? Surely not ; the facts which he saw would prevent this conclusion: nor does John so use the word believe. He believed that Jesus was risen from the dead. He received into his mind, embraced with his assent, the pact op the bestjbbeo- tion, for the first time. He did this, pn the ocular testimony before him; for as yet neither of them knew the Scripture, so as to be previously convinced of the certainty that it would be so. But (see above) Peter does not seem to have as yet received this fact; — accounting probably for what he saw as Mary had done. Lampe beautifully says, 'We conclude tbat from this moment, in the gloom of the sepulchre, the mind of John was enhghtened by saving faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, as with 632 -ST. JOHN. XX. 11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping : and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepul chre, 12 and 1 seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ]s And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. l4> [m And] when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and 1 saw Jesus standing, and e knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? whom seekest thou ? She, supposing n him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne 1 render, beholdeth. m omit. a render, that it was. a new ray of the risen Sun of Righteous ness.' ' 10. went away again unto their own home] St. Luke, xxiii. 12, has the very same expression; see there in margin. This is remarkable, as he evi dently has a fragment of the same inci dent. 11.] She had- come with them, but more slowly. 12.] Prom what has been said above, my readers will not expect me to compare the angelic appearances in the four Gospels. What wonder, if the heavenly hosts were variously and often visible on this great day, when 'the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?' What can be more accurate in detail than this description ofthe vision of Mary ? Every word was no doubt carefully related to the Apostle, and as carefully recorded. And "all is significant : they are in white, be cause from the world of light : they sit, as not defending, but peacefully watching the Body : at the Head and the Feet, for the Body of the Lord was from head to foot in tbe charge of His Pather and of His servants. 13.] Here again the finest psychological truth underlies the narrative. The other women (Mark, ver. 6. Luke, ver. 5) were afraid at the vision ; but now Mary, having but one thought or desire, to recover the lost Body of her Lord, feels no fear. The angels doubtless are proceeding further to assure her as they did the women before : — but this is broken off by the appearance of the Lord Himself, or perhaps by Mary's turn ing away. 14.] she turned herself hack — having her attention attracted by consciousness of some one being present near her — not perhaps by the approach of Or it might be with intent to go forth and weep again, or further to seek her Lord. Chrysostom's reason is very beautiful, but perhaps hardly probable, from the fact that Mary on turning round did not recognize our Lord : " It seems to me that while she was saying these words, the sudden appearance of Christ behind her struck the angels, who saw their Lord, with amazement: and that they imme diately shewed, both by their posture and by their look, that they saw the Lord: and this caused Mary to turn round and look behind her." We need not surely enquire too minutely, why she did not know Him. The fact may be psychologi cally accounted for — she did not expect Him to be there, and was wholly preoccu pied with other thoughts : or, as Draseke says, 'Her tears wove a veil, which con cealed Him who stood before her. The seeking after the Bead prevents ns from seeing the Living.' 15.] The same kind of repetition by the Lord of what the angel had before said is found in Matt. xxviii. 7 — 10. It is idle to enquire why she thought Him to be the gardener : but I may once for all observe that we must believe the clothing of His risen Body to have been that which He pleased to as sume; not earthly clothing, but perhaps some semblance of it. Certainly, in this case, He was clothed; — or she must at once have recognized Him. But see on the words " she turned herself" below. Sir] The Greek word rendered both " Sir" and " Lord" is one and the same through out the New Test. We can only judge from the circumstances in each case, which it represents. Here there can be no doubt, seeing that she did not recognize her Lord, that it is merely the appellation of courtesy 11—18. ST. JOHN. 633 him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him nn, Rabboni ; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not ; for I am .not yet ascended to my Father : but f go to brethren, and say unto them, e I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and [° to] h my God, and your 18 Mary Magdalene 00 came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. n^ add, in the Hebrew tongue. < ° omit. 00 render, cometh, bringing tidings to. my f Ps.xxii. 22. * Eom. viii. /-, j « ch. xvi. 28. LrOQ. hEph.i.17. to an unknown person. thou is em phatic. I will take him away] She forgets her lack of strength for this, in the overbearing force of her love. (Meyer.) 16.] With one word, and that one word her name, the Lord awakens all the con sciousness of His presence : calling her in that tone doubtless in which her soul had been so often summoned to receive divine knowledge and precious comfort. She turned herself] seems to imply that she had not been looking full at Him before. Babboni may mean either my Master, — or only Master ; which last ap pears to be the case here. That she gives way to no impassioned exclamations, but pours out her satisfaction and joy in this one word, is also according to the deepest psychological truth. There is an addition found in some of our copies, "and she rushed forward to touch Him:" this is an explanatory gloss to the words "Touch me not" — but doubtless it repre sents what really was the fact. * It was the former name, with which He called her : His former appellation, in which she replied; and now she seeks to renew the former intercourse.' (Luthardt.) 17.] The connexion between the prohibi tion and its reason is difficult, and haB been very variously given. The sense seems to me to be connected with some gesture of the nature alluded to in the addition quoted above, but indicating that she be lieved she had now gotten Him again, never to be parted from Him. This ges ture He reproves as unsuited to the time, and the nature of His present appearance. ' Do not thus — for I am not yet restored finally to you in the body — I have yet to ascend to the Father.' This implies in the background another and truer touching, when He should have ascended to the Pather. "Thou desirest to touch Me, Mary, and to enjoy friendly intercourse with Me : but that may not be now, for I permit Myself to be seen only for a pur pose connected with Mine Office, the con firmation of your faith. But when I shall have ascended to My Father, the time will come that thou mayst enjoy intercourse with the most perfect, not by earthly touch, but by such as befits that place,— heavenly and spiritual." Grotius. With this my view nearly agrees, not confining (as indeed neither does he) the latter enjoyment to heaven itself, but understanding it to have begun here below. Leo the Great inter prets very similarly : see in my Greek Test. but go . . . .] Stier remarks that this was a far greater honour than that which had been forbidden her ; — just as the handling pf the Lerd allowed to Thomas was afar less thing than the not seeing and yet believing. to my brethren] By this term He testifies that He has not put off his humanity, nor his love for his own, in his resurrection state : see Heb. ii. 11. my Pather, and your Father] This distinction, my . . . and your . . , when " Our" seems so likely to have been said, has been observed by all Commentators of any depth, as indicating an essential dif ference in the relations. Cyril of Jeru salem says, "My Father, by nature: your Father, by adoption." Similarly Augus tine ; adding, " Nor did He say Our God :" wherefore here also is a difference in the relation. " My God, in subjection to whom I am in my human nature, your God, between whom and you I myself am the Mediator." Sp that the my is the ground and spurce cf thp your: God is His God, directly and properly : but our God, through Him. And the words my God indicate that He is still Man : see Eph. i. 3, and cften in the epistles : 1 Cor. iii. 23 : and especially Heb. ii. 11. In the words I ascend is included His temporary stay which He was now making with them — I am ascending— i. e. 'I am on my way/ - . 634 ST. JOHN. XX. 1 oh. xvii. 18, 10. 2 Tim. ii. 2. Heh. IU. 1. 19 * P Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, 1 when the doors were shut, where the dis ciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. kThen were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. zl Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you : ' as r my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. Z2And when he had said this, he P render When it was evening therefore, on that same day. °. render, the doors being shut. r render, the Father. 19 — 23.] In the freedom of His spiri tual and triumphant life, He appears to and commissions His own. Compare Luke xxiv. 36—49; Mark xvi. 14—18. 19.] The circumstance of the doors being shut is mentioned here and in ver. 26, to indicate what sort of appearances these were. Suddenly, unaccounted for by any approach, — the Lord rendered himself visible to his disciples. Nor did this affect the truth of that resurrection Body, any more than his occasionally withdrawing him self from mortal sight affected the truth of His fleshly Body. Both were done by that supernatural Power dwelling in Him, by which His other miracles were wrought. It seems to have been the normal condition of His fleshly Body, to be visible to mortal eyes : — of His risen Body, not to be. But both these He could suspend when He pleased, without affecting the substance or truth of either. for fear of the Jews] This was natural enough; — the bitter hatred of the Jews (both people and rulers) to their Master, — and His own pro phetic announcements, — would raise in them a dread of incipient persecution now that He was removed. came Jesus] not, by ordinary approach; nor through the closed doors ; — nor in any visible man ner ; — but the word describes that unseen arrival among them which preceded His becoming visible to them. stood in (literally, into) the midst] Compare Luke, ver. 36. The into (see on ch. xxi. 4) de notes the coming and standing, in one — the standing without motion thither, which in ordinary cases would be standing as the result of motion thither. Peace he unto .you] See on Luke ver. 36, and ch. xiv. 27. 20.] answers to Luke, ver. 39. Then were the disciples glad] The first and partial fulfilment of ch. xvi. 20 — 22:. see notes there. The dis- -ciples seem to have handled Him: see Luke, ver. 39; 1 Jphn i. 1, and below, ver. 25. 21.] 'Peace be unto you' is solemnly repeated, as the introduction of the sending which follows. The minis ters and disciples of the Lord are mes sengers of peace. This "view is more na tural than that of Euthymius, " they were probably in excitement from their great joy, and He calms them, that they might listen to what He was about to say." as my Father hath sent me] He confirms and grounds their Apostleship on the pre sent glorification of Himself, whose Apostle ship (Heb. iii. 1) on earth was now ended, but was to be continued by this sending forth of them. This commission was not now first given them, but now first fully assured to them : and their sending forth by Him their glorified Head, was to be, in character and process, hke that of Himself by the Father. 22.] To understand this verse as the outpouring of the Spirit, the fulfilment of the promise of the Comforter, is against all consistency, and most against St. John himself : — see ch. xvi. 7, and ch. vii. 39. To understand it rightly, we have merely to recur to that great key to the meaning of so many dark passages of Scripture, the manifold and gradual un folding of promise and prophecy in their fulfilment. The presence of the Lord among them now was a slight and tem porary fulfilment of His promise of re turning to them; and so the imparting of the Spirit now, was a symbol and fore taste of that which they should receive at Pentecost : — just as, to mount a step higher, that itself, in its present abiding with us, is but the firstfruits and pledge (Rom. viii. 23. 2 Cor. i. 22) of the fulness which we shall hereafter inherit. 'The relation of this saying to the effusion of the Spirit is the same which chap. iii. bears to Baptism, chap. vi. to the Lord's Supper, chap. xvii. 1 tp the Ascension, 19—25. ST. JOHN. 635 breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: ^ m whose soever sins ye remit, they are m$f%, gft, remitted unto them; [8 and] whose soever [Bsi»s] ye retain, they are retained. ** But Thomas, one of the twelve, "called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus noh.xi.w. came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We 8 omit. &p.' (Luthardt.) Further : this giving ef the Spirit was net the Spirit's personal imparting pf Himself to them, but only a partial instilhng of His influence. He proceeds forth in His work (as in His essence) from the Father and the Son: this breathing of His influence was an imparting of Him from the Son in His risen Body, but that Body had not yet been received up, without which union of the God-manhood of the Son to the glory ofthe Father the Holy Spirit would not come. What was now conferred is plain from our ver. 23 — whereby autho rity to discern spirits and pronounce on them is re-assured (see Matt, xviii. 18) — and from Luke, ver. 45, by which a dis cerning of the mind of the Spirit is given to them. We find instances ef both these gifts being exercised by Peter in Acts i., in his assertion of the sense of Scripture, and his judgment of Judas. Both these however were only temporary and imper fect. That no formal gifts of Apostle ship were now formally conferred, is plain by the absence of Thomas, who in that case would be no apostle in the same sense in which the rest were. he breathed on them] The very same word in the LXX version is that in Gen. ii. 7, expressing the act of God in the original infusion of the spirit of life into man. This act is now by God Incarnate repeated, sacramentally (so we have the words "Take, Receive" [theyarethesamein the original], in Matt. xxvi. 26 and the paral lels) representing the infusion of the new life, of which He is become by his glorified Humanity the source to his members : see Job xxxiii. 4 ; Ps. xxxiii. 6 ; 1 Cor. xv. 45. 23.] The present meaning of these words has been spoken of above. They reach forward however beyond that, and extend the grant whieh they re assure to all ages of the Church. The words, closely considered, amount to this : that with the gift and real participa tion of the Holy Spirit, comes the con viction, and therefore the knowledge, of sin, oi righteousness, and judgment ;— and this knowledge becomes more perfect, the more men are filled with the Holy Ghost. Since this is so, they who are pre-eminently filled with His presence are pre-eminently gifted with the discernment of sin and re pentance in others, and hence by the Lord's appointment authorized to pronounce par don of sin and the contrary. The Apostles had this in an especial manner, and by the full indwelling of the Spirit were enabled to discern the hearts ef men, and to give sentence en that discernment : see Acts v. 1 — 11; viii. 21; xiii. 9. And this gift belongs to the Church in all ages, and es pecially to those who by legitimate appoint ment are set to minister in the Churches of Christ : not by successive delegation from the Apostles, — of which fiction I find in the New Testament no trace, — but by their mission from Christ, the Bestower pf the Spirit for their office, when orderly and legitimately conferred upon them by the various Churches. Not however to them exclusively, — though for decency and order it is expedient that the outward and formal declaration should be so : — but in proportion as any disciple shall have been filled with the Holy Spirit of wisdom, is the inner discernment, the "judgment," his. The word retain here corresponds to " bind " in Matt. xvi. 19 (see the distinc tion there) ; xviii. 18, and the word remit here to " loose" there. 24—29.] He proves Himself to His own to be Lord and God, to be believed on by them, though not seen. Thomas's doubt, and its removal. Pecuhar to John. 24.] was not with them — for what reason does not appear. Euthymius says, " It is probable that he, since the scattering of the Apostles, .... had not yet joined them." But I incline, with Stier, to think that it could not have been accidentally (Liicke), nor because he was, as Grotius supposes, "occupied by some engagement." On such a day, and in such a man, such an absence must have been designed. Perhaps he had abandoned hope ; — the strong evidence of his senses having finally convinced him that the pierced side and wounded hands betokened such a death that revivification was im possible. 25.] He probably does not name the Feet, merely because the Hands and Side would more naturally offer them- 636 ST. JOHN. XX. 26—31, have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and * thrust my hand into his side, I will not beheve. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them : n then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and * thrust it into my side : and be not faithless, but believing. 2S [x And] Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto * render, as before, put : il is the same word. 11 render, JeSUS Cometh. x omit. selves to his examination than the Feet, to which he must stoop. He requires no more than had been granted to the rest : but he had their testimony in ad dition, and therefore ample ground for faith to rest on. Olshausen calls him the ' Rationalist among the Apostles.' 26.] There is not the least reason for supposing, with Olshausen, that this appearance was in Galilee. The whole nar rative points out the same place as before. The eight days' interval is the first testimony of the recurring day of the resurrection being commemorated by the disciples : — but, it must be owned, a weak one ; — for in all probability they had been thus assembled every day during the in terval. It forms however an interesting opening ofthe history of the Lokd's Day, that the Lord Himself should have thus selected and honoured it. 27.] Our Lord says nothing of the "marks of the nails .-" — He does not recall the malice of his enemies. The words imply that the marks were no scars, but the veritable wounds themselves; — that in His side being large enough for a hand to be thrust into it. This of itself would shew that the resurrection Body was bloodless. It is " reach hither and behold " in the case of the hands, which were exposed — but merely "reach hither and put" in the case of the side, which was clothed. So Meyer : but it may be questioned, whether this was so. be not faithless] not merely, ' Do npt any lpnger disbelieve in my Resurrec tion;' — but Be not (dc npt become) — as apphed generally to the spiritual life, and the reception of God's truth— faithless, hut believing. That Thomas did not apply his finger or his hand, is evident from the reason given by our Lord for his faith below, being, not, " Thou hast touched me," but, Thou hast seen me. " 28.] The Socinian view, that these words, My Lord and my God, are merely an exclama tion, is refuted, (1) By the fact that no such exclamations were in use among the Jews. (2) By the introduction to them, " Thomas said to him." (3) By the im possibility of referrmg the words my Lord to another than Jesus: see ver. 13. (4) By the utter psychological absurdity of such a supposition : that one just con vinced of the presence of Him whom he deeply loved, should, instead of addressing Him, break out into an irrelevant cry. (5) By the further absurdity of supposing that if such were the case, the Apostle John, who of all the sacred writers most constantly keeps in mind the object for which he is writing, should have recorded any thing so beside that object. (6) By the intimate conjunction of the seeing and believing in our Lord's answer, which necessarily makes this his saying the ex pression of his belief: — see below. Dismissing it therefore, we observe that this is the highest confession of faith which has yet been made; — and that it shews that (though not yet fully) the meaning of the previous confessions of His being ' the Son of God ' was understood. Thus St. John, in the very close of his Gospel (see on vv. 30, 31) iterates the testimony with which he began it — to the Godhead of the Word who became flesh : and by this closing confession, shews how the testimony of Jesus to Himself had gradually deepened and exalted the Apos tles' conviction, from the time when they knew Him only as " the Son of Joseph " (ch. i. 46), till now, when He is acknow ledged as their Loed and their Gos. XXI. 1, 2. ST. JOHN. 637 him, [x Thomas,] because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : ° blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30 p y And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 81 q but these are written, that ye z might believe that nLukei.4. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; r and that believing ye z might have life a through his name. XXI. ! After these things Jesus * shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias ; and c on this wise shewed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and a Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and b the a sons of Zebedee, and two other of his 2 Cor. v. 7. lPct.i.S. , p ch. xxi. 25. ch. iii. 15, 10 : 1.24. IPet. i. 8, 9. ch.i.45. Matt. if. SI. ' omit. 7 read and render, Yea, and many other signs did Jesus. z render, may. a render, m . b render, as in ch. i. 31 ; ii. 11 ; hi. 21 ; ix. 3 ; xvii. 6, manifested. c render, he manifested himself on this wise. " not expressed im the original. 29.] The reason, because thou hast seen me, blames the slowness and required ground of the faith : the assertion, thou hast believed, recognizes and commends the Soundness of that faith just confessed. Wonderful indeed, and rich in blessing for us who have not seen Him, is this, the closing word (see below) of the Gospel. For these words cannet apply to thp remaining Ten : they, like Thomas, had seen and believed. 'All the appearances of the forty days,' says Stier, ' were mere preparations for the believing without seeing.' On the record of them, we now believe : see 1 Pet. i. 8. " 30, 31.] POEMAl CLOSE OB THB GoS- PEL (see notes on eh. xxi.). 30.] Tea, and, — or, moreover -. meaning, ' This book must not be supposed to be a com plete account.' signs] not, as many interpret the word, ' proofs of His resur rection,' — but, as ch. xii. 37 and elsewhere in this Gospel, miracles, in the most general Sense — these after the Resurrection in cluded: — for St. John is here reviewing his whole narrative, this book. 31.] The mere miracle-faith, so often reproved by our Lord, is not that intended here. This is faith in Himself, as the Christ the Son of God : and the Evangelist means, that enough is related in this book to be a ground for such a faith, by shewing us His glory manifested forth (see ch. ii. 11). . that believing ye may have life] Thus he closes almost in the words of his prplpgue, ch. i. 4, 12. in his name] These wcrds (see Acts iv. 10 ; 1 Cer. vi. 11) describe the whole standing of the faith ful man in Christ, — by which and in which he has life eternal. Chap. XXI. 1—23.] The Appendix. The glimpse into the putt/be. And herein, 1 — 8. The significant draught of fishes. I reserve the remarks on this chapter to the end, thereby better to put the reader in possession of the evi dence which I shall there gather up into one, but which will present itself as we go on". I will only state here, that whether written by St. John himself (of which I feel no doubt) or not, it is evidently an appendix to the Gospel, which loiter has already concluded with a formal review of its contents and object at ch. xx. 30, 31. 1.] After these things, compare ch.* v. 1; vi. 1, at a subsequent time. manifested himself] This expression is no where else used by St. John of the Lord's appearances, but only in Mark xvi. 12, 14. The use of the verb here indicates that the usual state of the Lord at this time was one not of manifestation, but of invisibility to them. 2.] Nathanael is named by St. John only : see ch. i.'46 ff. : Thomas also by St. John only, except in the catalogues of the Apostles. the sons pf Zebedee are nowhere else named by John; — they may however be here mentioned as in remi niscence of the draught of fishes which 638 ST. JOHN. XXI. e ch. xx. 14. d Luke xxiv. e Lube v. 4, 6,7. disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, "We also *go with thee. They went forth, and entered into f a ship immediately ; and that night they caught nothing. * But when the morning i was now come, Jesus stood on the shore : but the disciples c knew not that it was Jesus. 6 Then d Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any Smeat? They answered him, No. 6' And he said unto them, e Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast there fore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multi- Ix.'a?'28' *u ' Lord, wilt thou at this time k restore again the " not expressed in the original. ° render, Because. 4 render, They therefore came together and asked him. e Luke xxiv. 43,40. f Luke xxiv. 49. John xiv. 16, 26. 27: xv. 20: xvi. 7. ch. ii. SS. KMatt.iii.il, oh.xi.16: xix. 4. h Joel iii. 18. ch. ii. 4 : xi. 15. the Ephesian elders, that the Holy Ghost had made them bishops in the Church of God. The former construction however appears much the best, as expressing not, as might at first seem, a mere common place, but the propriety ef the fact, — that His last commands were given in the power of (see John xx. 22) the Holy Ghost. 3. by infallible proofs] See Luke xxiv. 31, 39, .43. being seen of them forty days] It is hardly possible to give in English the exact force of the original, which imphes that He was oc casionally seen by them during a period of forty days. "He was not always with them as befpre the Besurrectien," says Chrysostom: for the "Evangelist does not say He was seen for forty days, hut {at times] during forty days." This is the .only place where the dura? tion of the interval between the BJe- surrection and the Ascension is specified. the things pertaining to the king dom of God] What things these were, we are not told. Certainly, not future events in their detail, — as the next portion of the narrative shews us. I should rather be lieve them to have concerned the future founding and government pf the Church s though even here the greatest Apostles were apparently left to the unfolding ef the teach ing ef the Holy Spirit as years went en. 4—14.] The last discourses and ascension op the Lobd. Retcbn OE THE AEOSTLES TO JERUSALEM; RECA PITULATION OE THEIR NAMES. 4. being assembled together with them] so the original word imports, .not "eating together with them," which marginal read ing pf the A- V. originated in a mistake as to the etymology of the word. tha/t they should not depart from Jerusalem] See Luke xxiv. 49. " They are com manded to remain together, because they were all to be endowed with one Spirit. Jjf they had been dispersed, the unity of the Church would have been less manifestly known.'' Calvin. The ancient idea, that pur Lprd commanded the Apostles to remain at Jerusalem for twelve years after the Ascension, is sufficiently refuted by His own words here, and by the subse quent history : compare ch. viii. &c. That, in the main, they confined themselves to circuits in Palestine for some years, appears to he true; but surely would not be in compliance with such a command. the promise of the Father] See note on Luke xxiv. 49. 5.] The Lord cites these words from the mouth of John himself, Luke iii. 16 and parallels;— and thus announces to them that, as John's mission was accomphshed in baptizing with water, so now the great end of Bis own mission, the Baptism with the Holy Ghost, was on the point of being accomplished. ¦Calvin remarks, that He speaks of the Pentecostal effusion as being the Baptism with the Holy Ghost, because it was a great representation, on the whole Church, of the subsequent continued work of rege neration en individuals: and was as it were a cemmpn baptism pf the whole Church. I may add, also because it was the beginning of a new period pf spiritual influence, totally unlike any which had preceded. See ch. ii. 17. not many days hence] literally, after these set many days. This expression serves to bind on the time which should elapse to the day then current; as we say, 'one of these days.' Bengel observes, that the time was not precisely defined, for a trial of their faith. 6.] This coining together does not belong to another assembling, different from the former; but takes up again the 3—8. THE ACTS. 647 kingdom to Israel ? 7 e And he said unto them. ) It is not iMatt.xxiT. . 86. Mark xiii. S2. for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father , T„eii.Y.i. mch. ii. 1, 4.'* :exxiv. hath put in his own ee power. 8 m f But ye shall receive nLuie'i power, n S after that like Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ° Jg*^gS'- 0 ye shall be h witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in S'^kSi. e render, But. ee render, authority. It is not the same word as that rendered power in the next verse. * render, Howbeit. sr render, by the Holy Ghost coming upon you. 51 better literally, my witnesses. interpretation nf the two passages, but ene beyond our power to resolve, how far, among the things not yet put under His feet, may be this very thing, the knowledge of that day and hour. — Bengel attempts to evade the generality of the assertion It is not for you to know .... "It was not yet for the Apostles to know these," he says ; " but they were afterwards sig nified by the Apocalypse." But signified to whom ? What individual, pr portion pf the Church, has ever read plainly these times or seasons in that mysterious book ¦? — There is truth in Olshausen's remark, that the Apostles were to be less prophets of the future, than witnesses of the past ; but we must not limit the word yon to the Apostles, nor forget that the knowledge of times and seasons has very seldom been imparted by prophecy, which generally has formed a testimony to this very fact, that God has them in His foreknowledge, and, while He announces the events, con ceals for the most part in obscurity the times . times or seasons] The twe dp npt signify the same thing: times being the wider term, applicable te any kind pf portion or point of duration, whereas a season is always a definite, limited space of time, and involves the idea of transitori- ness. 8.] "As the best means of bridling their curiosity, Christ recalls them both to God's prpmise and to His com mand." Calvin. Howbeit "marks the contrast between that which did be long to the diseiplesand that which did net : as also between that which was to happen at that time, and that which was reserved for the future." Bengel. ye shall receive power] that power, especially, spoken of ch. iv. 33, cftnnected with their office ef witnessing te the resurrection; but also all other .spiritual power. See Luke xxiv. 49. ye shall be my wit nesses] So they say of themselves, ch. y. 32, " We are His witnesses of these things'' This was the pecuhar work of the Apostles. v2 of ver. 4. Lord, wilt thou restore] Uterally, dost thou restore? The stress of the question is in the words, which in the original are prefixed for em phasis, at this time. That the Kingdom was, in some sense, and at some time, to be restored to Israel, was plain; nor does the Lord deny this implication (see on ver. 8). Their fault was, a too curious enquiry on a point reserved among the secrets of God. Lightfoot's idea, that the disciples won dered at the Kingdom being about to be restored to the ungrateful . Jews, at this time, now that they had crucified Him, &c, would make pur Lord's answer irrelevant. — See Micah iv. 8. — Meyer would refer at, or in this time, to the interval designated by " not many days hence," " during this time;" "wilt thou, during this time, re store ? " But this does not seem natural. I should rather understand it, at this present period, — now. The present tense, dost thou restore (see above),' is often used in speak ing with reference to matters of prophecy, imperting fixed determinatien. So that we must not understand it, "Art thou restoring?" but "wilt," or "dost thou restore ?" 7.] This is a general re proof and assertion, spoken with reference to men, as forbidden to search curiously into a point which Omniscience has re served — the times and seasons of the future divine deahngs. But it is Temarkable that not " God," but the Father is here used; and this cannot fail to remind us pf that saying (Mark xiii. 32), "But of that day pr hour knoweth none, no not an angel in heaven, (so in our oldest MSS.,) nor even the Son, hut the Father." It may be observed however, that the same assertion is not made here .- only the times and seasons said to be in the power of the Almighty Pather, Whe ordereth all things " according to the counsel of Mis will." The Knowledge of the Son is not here in question, only that of the disciples. It is an enquiry intimately connected with the U 648 THE ACTS. 1. p Luke xxiv. SI. John vi. 62. q ver. 2. r Matt, xxviii. 3. Mark xvi. 5. Luke xxiv. 4. John xx. 12. ch. X. 3, 30. B ch. ii. 7 : xiii. 81. t Dan. vii. 13. Matt. xxiv. SO. Mark xiii. 26. Luke xxi. 27. John xiv. 3. 1 Thess. i. 10: iv.16. 2 Thess. i. 10. Rev. i. 7. u Luke xxiv. 62. all Judsea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 p And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, « he was * taken up ; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them r in white apparel ; n which also said, s Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, 4 shall so come in like manner as ye k have seen him go into heaven. 13 u Then returned they unto Jerusalem from 1 render, lifted up. It is not the same word as in ver. 2. k render, beheld him going. See on verses 21, 22, and Introduction, ch. i. § 3, paragraph 5. both in Je rusalem .....] By the extension of their testimony, from Jerusalem to Samaria, and then indefinitely over the world, He reproves, by implication, their car nal anticipation of the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel thus understood. The Kingdom was to be one founded on testi mony, and therefore reignimg in the con victions of men's hearts ; and not confined to Judsea, but coextensive with the world. — The Apostles understood this command only of Jews scattered through the world, see ch. xi. 19. — De Wette observes, that these words contain the whole plan of the Acts : Ye shall receive power by the Holy Ghost coming upon yen, ch. ii. 1 to end; the witnesses in Jerusalem, ch. iii. 1 — vi. 7; then the martyrdom of Stephen dis persed them through Judcea, vi. 8 — viii. 3 ; they preach in Samaria, viii. 4 — 40; and, from that point, the conversion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, the vision of Peter, the preaching and journeys of Paul. In their former mission, Matt. x. 5, 6, they had been expressly forbidden from preaching either to Samaritans or Gentiles. 9.] This appears (see Introduction, ch. iv. § 4, paragraph 2) to be an account of the Ascension furnished to St. Luke subsequently to the publication of his Gospel, more particular in detail than that found in it. He has not repeated here details found there; see Luke xxiv. 50 — 52. On the Ascension in general, see note on Luke, as above. he was lifted up] We may understand this of the commencing ascent, when He was first lifted from the ground where they were standing: the next clause, a cloud re ceived him out of their sight, describes the close of the scene, as far as it was visible to the spectators. There was a manifest propriety in the last with drawal of the Lord, while ascending, net censisting in a disappearance pf His Bpdy, as on former occasions since the Resurrection ; for thus might His abiding Humanity have been called in question. As it was, He went up, past the visible boundary of Heaven, the cloud,-^i» human form, and so we think of and pray to Him. 10.] as he went (or was going) up, not " when He had gone up .-" implying that the cloud remained visible for some time, probably ascending with Him. two men] These were evidently angels. See Luke xxiv. 4: John xx. 12. 11.] which (not only appeared but) also said. There is a propriety in the address, Ye men of Galilee. It served to remind them of their origin, their call to bo His disciples, and the duty pf obedience to Him resting on them in consequence. in like manner as; — to be taken literally; as you beheld Him going, so shall He be seen coming: in the same human form, and in the clouds of heaven, Luke xxi. 27. His corporeal identity is imphed in the words, this same Jesus. " Notice, it is not said that they who saw Him ascending should also see Him come again. Between the Ascension and the glorious Advent no exent is interposed which can be put in comparison with either of them : and in consequence these two are placed together. It was then with reason that the Apostles, before the giving of the Apocalypse, looked to the day of Christ as very near. And it is agreeable to the Majesty of Christ, that He should be expected without intermission during the whole interval between the Ascension and His Advent." Bengel. 12.] In so careful a writer (see Luke i. 3), there must be some reason why this minute specification of distance should be here in- 9—14. THE ACTS. the mount called * Olivet, which is mfrom' Jerusalem' a sabbath day's journey. 13 And when they were come in, '"¦they went up *into an upper room, where abode both y Peter, I*-i8^Sir-S9' and James, and John, ¦ and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, *¦ Bartholomew, and Matthew, James [° the son] of Alphseus, and z Simon Zelotes, and " Judas [° the brother] of James. I-SS^1-18- 14 d These all continued with one accord in prayer and sup- y"ih-iLh4a- 1 literally here, olive yard. m render, nigh unto Jerusalem, being a sabbath day's journey. n render, they went up into the upper chamber where they were sojourning; [namely], 0 not expressed in the original. serted, when no such appears in the Gospel. And I believe this will be found, by com bining the hint dropped by Chrysostom, — "It seems to me that these things must have happened on a Sabbath: for the Evangelist would not have thus stated the distance . . . except they had had their jour ney limited by its being the Sabbath day," — with the declaration in the Gospel (xxiv. ¦50) that he led them out as far as to Bethany. This latter was (John xi. 18) fifteen stadia from Jerusalem, which is more than twice the Sabbath day's jour ney (2000 cubits = about six furlongs). Now if the Ascension happened on the Sabbath, it is very possible that offence may have arisen at the statement in the Gospel : and that therefore the Evan gelist gave here the more exact notice, that the spot; although forming part of the district of Bethany, was yet on that part of the Mount of Olives which fell within the limits of the Sabbath day's -journey. This of course must be a mere conjecture; but it will not be impugned by the fact of the Ascension being kept by the Church in after ages on a Thursday. This formed no hindrance to Chrysostom in making the above supposition : although the festival was certainly observed in his time. Forty days from the Eesurrection is an expression which would suit as well ¦the Saturday of the seventh week as the Thursday. — The distance of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem is stated by Josephus at five stadia, in one pas sage, — at six stadia, in another ; different points being taken as the limit. The present church of the Ascension rather exceeds the distance of six stadia from the city. 13. when they were come in] viz. 'into the city.' the upper chamber] The idea that this was a cham ber in the Temple has originated in low literal-harmonistic views, St. Luke having stated (Luke xxiv. 53) that they were " continually in the temple." As if such an expression could be literally under stood, or taken to mean more than that they were there at all appointed times (see ch. iii. 1). It is in the highest degree im probable that the disciples would be found assembled in any public place at this time. The upper chamber was perhaps that in which the last Supper had been taken; pro bably that in which they had been since then assembled (John xx. 19, 26), but cer tainly one in a private house. Lightfoot shews that it was the practice of the Jews to retire into a large chamber under the flat roof for purposes of deliberation or prayer. Epiphanius relates that "when Hadrian came to Jerusalem, he found the whole city levelled with the ground, and the temple ef Gpd trodden down, with the exception of a few houses, and the church of God, which was but small, where the disciples, on their return, after the Saviour had been received up from the Mount of Olives,, went up into the upper chamber. Por there it, was built, that is, in the region Zion; whieh survived the desola tion .... even to the time of Bishop Maximus, and the Emperor Constantine : like a cottage in a vineyard, as it is written." And Nicephorus says that the Empress Helena enclosed in her larger church the room where took place the descent of the Holy Spirit in the upper chamber. where they were sojourn ing] not to be taken, as in A. V. 'where abode both Peter,' &e.j which gives the idea that Peter, &e. were already in the chamber, and the rest^'o»»e and Mary the mother of Jesus^ and [P with] d his brethren* 15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the q. disciples^ and said, (the number ' of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 16 r Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, f which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, B which was guide to them that took Jesus. W s For hhe was numbered with us, and had obtained tpart of 1 this ministry. 18 k Now this man purchased a field with P omit. 1 read, brethren. r better render, for perspicuity's sake, simply, Brethren. The original is " Men \_who are] brethren." s render, Because. * better literally, the lot. The word is the same as that so rendered in ver. 26. e Luke xxiii. 40,55: xxiv. 10. d Matt. xlii. 55 fPe.xIi.O. John xiii. IS. k Luke xxii. 47: John xviii. 3. h Matt. x. i. Luke vi. 16. i ver. 25. ch.xii.25:xx. 24 : xxi. 19. k Matt, xxvii . 5, 7, 8. note. 14. with the women] viz. those spoken of by St. Luke himself, Luke viii. 2, 3, — where, besides those named, he mentions many others. Some have pro posed to render the phrase "with their wives :" but many of these were certainly not wives ofthe Apostles; and that those women who were 'last at the Gross and earliest at the tomb ' should not have been assembled with the company now, is very improbable. and Mary the mother of Jesus] The and gives eminence to one among those previously mentioned. This is the last mention of her in the N. T. The traditions, which describe her as (1) dying at the age of fifty-nine, in the fifth year of Claudius, or (2) accompanying St. John to Ephesus, and being buried there; are untrustworthy. Other acceunts, with the authorities; may be seen in Butler's Lives of the Saints, Aug. 15. The fable of the Assumption has no foundation even in tradition. and Ms brethren] This clearly shews, as does John vii. 5 compared with vi. 67, 70, that none of the brethren of our Lord were of the number of the Twelve. When they were converted, is quite uncertain. See the whele subject discussed in nete en Matt. xiii. 55, and in the Intrpduction to the Epistle of James. IS — 26.] Election or a twelfth Apostle to pill the eoom ov Jtjdas Iscamot. 15. in those days] In the days between the Ascension and Pentecost : during which it appears that the number of the assembly had increased, not probably by fresh conversions; but by the gathering round the ApOstles of those who had pre viously been disciples. the number of names] that is, of perspns : but the term would hardly be used except where the number is small. See Bev. iii. 4, and note. an hundred and twenty] De Wette asks, ' where were the 500 brethren of 1 Cor. xv. 6 ? ' We surely may answer, 'not in Jerusalem.' 16.] We may enquire; by what change in mind and power Peter was able; before the descent of the Spirit, thus authoritatively to speak of Scripture and the divine purposes? The answer will be found in the pecuhar gift of the Spirit to the Apostles, John xx. 21, 23 ; where see nete. — The pre-eminency of Peter here is the commencement cf the fulfilment of Matt. xvi. 18, 19 (see .note there). 17.] Because gives the reason of the previous assertion; viz. that Judas held, and had betrayed, that place of high trust of which the prophecy spoke. Thus it has reference to the substance of the prophecy, already in Peter's mind, and serves to explain the words "his habita tion," and " his bishoprick," which occur in the prophecy. had obtained the lot] not literally, but inasmuch as the lot of every mail is regarded as being cast and appointed by God. 18.] This verse cannot be regarded as inserted by St. Luke; for, 1: the place of its insertion would be most unnatural for an historical notice : 2. the form of its introduction in the original forbids the supposition : 3. the whole style of the verse is rhetorical, and not narrative, e.g. "this man," "the re ward of iniquity" — The statement, that he bought afield, does not appear to agree with the account in Matt, xxvii:. 6 — 8; nor, consistently with common honesty, can they be reconciled, unless we knew more of the facts than we do. If we coin- 15—19. THE ACTS. 65\ and falling headlong, he burst i Matt xxvl ii. 15. lthe feward of u v, asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out, 18 and it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem ; 11 render, his iniquity. pare the two, that pf St. Matthew is the mere particular, and more likely to give rise to this one, as a general inference from, the buying, of the field, than, vice versd. Whether Judas, as Bengel sup poses, began the purchase, and so gave occasion for its being completed by the Chief Priests, we cannot say : such a thing is of course possible, but is certainly not contemplated by St. Matthew's account, where the priests settle to buy the field, on deliberation, what they should do with the money. At all events we hence clearly see that St. Luke could not have been acquainted with the Gospel of St. Matthew at this time, or surely this apparent dis crepancy would not have been found. The various attempts to reconcile the two narratives, which may be seen in most of our English commentaries, are among the saddest examples of the shifts to which otherwise high-minded men are driven by an unworthy system. A notable example occurs in a solution lately proposed; that as the Jews are said to have crucified our Lord when they were only the occa sion of his being crucified; so Judas may be said to have bought the field when he only gave occasion to its being bought by the Chief Priests. I need hardly say to any intelligent and ingenuous reader, that this is entirely precluded here by the wprds with the reward of Ms iniquity, which plainly bind on the purchase to Judas as his personal act. and falling headlong] The connexion pf this with the former clause would seem to point to the death of Judas having taken place in the field which he bought. See also ver. 19. falling headlong will hardly bear the meaning assigned to it by those who wish to harmonize the two accounts, — viz. that, having hanged himself, he fell by the breaking of the rope. It would rather point, as the word used is ex plained, to a sudden fall forward on the face by a stroke from God, or by an acci dent. Nor again is it at all probable that the Apostle would recount what was a mere accident accompanying his death, when that death itself was* the accursed one of hanging. What then are we to decide respecting the two accounts ? That there should have been a double account actually current of the death of Judas at this early period, is in the highest degree im probable, and will only be assumed by those who take a very Ipw view pf the accuracy cf the Evangelists. Dismissing then this solution, let us compare the accounts themselves. In this case, that in Matt, xxvii. is general, — ours particular. That depends entirely on the exact sense to be assigned to the word which we render "hanged himself:" whereas this directly assigns the manner of his death, without stating any cause for the falling on his face. It is obvious that, while the general term used by Matthew points mainly at self-murder^ the account given here does. not preclude the catastrophe related having happened, in some way, as a divine judgment, during the suicidal at tempt. Further than this, with our pre sent knowledge, we cannot go. An accurate acquaintance with the actual circumstances would account for the discrepancy, but nothing else. — Another kind of death is assigned to Judas by (Ecumenius, quoting from Papias : " Papias, the disciple of the Apostle John, relates, that Judas, as he walked about, was a great example of God's judgments pn impiety in this world; for that he swelled up to a fearful size, and once on attempting to pass through (a gateway) at the same time with a waggon which left ample space, he was crushed by the waggon, so that his bowels gushed out." This tradition may be in accordance with, and may have arisen from an ex aggerated amplification of, our text. See more in the note in my Greek Test. he burst asunder : the word implies burst ing with a noise. It is quite possible that this catastrophe happening in the field, as our narrative implies, may have sug gested its employment as a burial-place for strangers, as being defiled. 19.] It is principally from this verse that it has been inferred that the two verses 18, 19 are inserted by St. Luke. But it is impossible to separate it frpm ver. 18; and I am disposed to regard both as belonging to Peter's speech, but freely given by St. Luke, inserting into the speech itself the explanations, '-'"in their proper tongue," and " that is to say, thefield of blood," as if the speech had been spoken in Greek criginally. This is much more natural, than to parenthesize these clauses ; it is, in fact, what must be more or less done by all who repprt in a language different from 652 THE ACTS. m Fs. lxix. 25. q John xv. 27. ver. 8. ch. iv. 33. insomuch as that field is' called in their proper tongue Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 2° For it is written in the book of Psalms, m Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein : and, n His v bishoprick let another take. 31 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 2Z ° beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that p he was taken up from us, must one x be ordained * to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23And they appointed two, Joseph v render, office. x the original has merely, become a witness. that actually used by the speaker. The words and idioms of a mother tongue con tain allusions and national peculiarities which never cenld have been in the mind cf pne speaking in a different language ; but the ear tolerates these, or easily sepa rates them, if critically exercised. it was known . . . .] See Luke xxiv. 18. ¦The field of blood] In Matt, xxvii. 8, the name 'the field of blood' is referred to the fact of its having been bought with the price of blood : here, to the fact of Judas having there met with a signal and bloody death. On the whole, I believe the result to which I have above inclined will be found the best to suit the phaenomena of the two passages, — viz. that, with regard to the purchase of the field, the more circum stantial account in Matthew is to be adopted ; with regard to the death of Judas, the more circumstantial account of Luke. The clue which joins these has been lost to us: and in this, only those will find any stumbling-block, whose faith in the veracity of the Evangelists is very weak indeed. The field eriginally belonged to a potter, and was probably a piece of land which had been exhausted of its clay fit for his purposes, and so was useless. Jerome relates that it was still shewn on the South side of Mount Sion, in which neighbour hood there is even now a bed of white clay. 20.] Por, the connexion being, 'all this happened and became known,' &c, ' in accordance with the prophecy,' &c. Ps. lxix. is eminently a Messianic psalm, — spcken in the first place of David and his .kingdom and its enemies, and so, according ¦to the universal canon of Old Testament interpretation, of Him in whom that king dom found its true fulfilment, and of His enemies. And Judas being the first and most notable of these, the Apostle applies eminently to him the werds which in the Psalm are spcken in the plural pf all such enemies. .The same is true of Ps. cix., and there one adversary is even more pointedly marked out. See also Ps. lv. bishop rick] not necessarily such, in technical accuracy : the word may signify any overseership, oflice, or charge. But, con sidering the usage of the word and its cognates, in this and the following books of the N. T., and in the church, I regard it as best to keep every where the hteral rendering, leaving each passage to explain itself. 21.] Wherefore, since all this has happened to Judas, and since it is the divine will that another should take the charge wMch was his. all the time] This definition of the necessary qualifica tion of an apostle exactly agrees with our Lord's saying in John xv. 27 : " And ye also are witnesses, because ye have been with me from the beginning." See Intro duction, ch. i., § 3, paragraph 5. 22.] the baptism of John is mentioned as a well-known date, including of course the opening event of our Lord's ministry, His own baptism by John. That John con tinued to baptize for some time after that, can be no possible objection to the assign ment of ' John's baptism' generally, as the date of the commencement of the apostohc testimony. We may notice, that from this point, the baptism of John, the testimony of the Evangelists themselves in their Gospels properly begins, Matt. iii. 1, Mark i. 1, Luke iii. 1, John i. 6. a witness .... of his resurrection] This one event was the passage-point between the Lord's life of humiliation and His life of glory, — the completion of His work below and be ginning of His work above. And to ' give witness with power' of the Resurrection (ch. iv. 33), would be to discourse of it as being all this .- in order to which, the whole ministry of Jesus must be within the cycle of the Apostle's experience. — It is remark able that Peter here lays down experience of matters of fact, not eminence in any subjective grace or quality, as the ccn- SO — 26. THE ACTS. 653 called 'Barsabas,' who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias, roh.xv.22. 24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, s which knowest sisam.xvi.7. the hearts of all men ; 7 shew whether of these two thou hast g^y ! chosen, 25 'that he may take zpart of this ministry and ^tud.^ch. apostleship, from which Judas a by transgression fell, that t u/a he might go to his own place. 26 And they D gave forth 7 render, appoint one of these two, him whom thou hast chosen. z read, the place. a the original has merely, passed away. h read and render, Cast lots for them. dition of Apostleship. Still, the testimony was not to be mere ordinary allegation of matters of fact : any who had seen the Lord. since His resurrection were equal to this ; — but belonged to a distinct office (see John xiv. 26 : also ch. v. 31, note), requiring the especial selection and grace of God. 23. they appointed] they, viz. the whole company, to whom the words had been spoken; not the eleven Apostles. Joseph . . . .] The names Joseph and Joses, different forms of the same, are confused in the MSS., both here and in ch. iv. 36. But Barsabas and Barnabas are not to be confounded : they are different names (Barsabas is son of Saba: on Bar nabas, see iv. 36, note) ; and Barnabas is evidently introduced in iv. 36 as, a person who had not been mentioned before. Of Joseph Barsabas, nothing further is known. There is a Judas Barsabas mentioned in ch. xv. 22, whom some take to be his brother. Eusebius states, on the authority of Papias, that he drank a cup of poison without being hurt. — In all probability both the selected persons belonged to the number of the Seventy, as it would be natural that the candidates for apostleship should be chosen from among those who had been already distinguished by Christ Himself among the brethren. — Justus (the Just) is a Boman second name, assumed according to a custom then prevalent. The name Justus seems to have been common : Sch bttgen, on this place, gives two instances of Jews bearing it. Matthias] Nothing historical is known of him. Traditionally, according to Nicephorus, he suffered mar tyrdom in Ethiopia ; according to others, in Colchis : another account makes him preach in Judsea, and be stoned by the Jews. 24.] It is a question, to Whom this prayer was directed. I think all proba bihty is in favour of the Apostle (for Peter certainly was the spokesman) having ad dressed his glorified Lord. ¦ And with this the language of the prayer agrees. No stress can, it is true, be laid on the word Lord being used : see ch. iv. 29, where un questionably the Father is so addressed: but the expression, thou hast chosen, com pared with Bid I not choose yon twelve ? John vi. 70, seems to me almost decisive. See also ver. 2 ; Luke vi. 13 ; John xiii. 18, xv. 16, 19. The instance cited on the other side by Meyer, " God made choice" . . . ., ch. xv. 7, is not to the pofnt, as not relating to the 'matter here in hand; nor are the passages cited by De Wette, 2 Cor. i. 1; Eph. i. 1 ; 2 Tim. i. 1, where Paul refers his apostleship to God, since obviously all such appointment must be referred ultimately to God: — but the question for us is, — In these words, did the dis ciples pray as they would have prayed before the Ascension, or had they Christ in their view? The expression, wMch knowest the hearts of all men (used by Peter himself of God, ch, xv. 8), forms no objection : see John xxi. 17, also in the month of Peter himself. We are sure, frpm the words, they worshipped Him, Luke xxiv. 52, that even at this time, be fore the descent of the Spirit, the highest kind of worship was paid to the ascended Bedeemer. Still I do not regard it as by any means certain that they addressed Christ, nor can the passage be alleged as convincing, in controversy with the So cinian. The words are not, as in E. V., ' shew whether of these two Thou hast chosen,' but appoint one of these two [him] whom Thou hast chosen. The difference is of some import : they did not pray for a sign merely, to shew whether of the two was chosen, but that the Lord would, by means of their lot, Himself ap point the one of His choice. 25.] the place, instead of part, is from internal evidence, as well as MS. authority, the preferable reading. It has been altered to suit ver. 17. ministry, implying the active duties; apostleship, the official dignity, of the office. that he might go to his own place] With the reading place in the former part of the verse, 654 THE ACTS, II. this. — Stier was disposed to question whether this step of electing a twelfth Apostle was altogether suitable to the then waiting position ofthe Church, and whether Paul was not In reality the twelfth, chosen by the Lord Himself. But I dp not see that any of his seven queries touch the matter. We have the precedent, of all others most applicable, of the twelve tribes, to shew that the number, though ever nominally kept, was really exceeded. And this incident weuld npt pccupy a prominent place in a book where St. Paul himself has so conspicuous a part, unless it were by himself considered as being what it pro fessed to be, the filling up of the vacant their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he Was c numbered with the eleven apostles. chn^e.'9' H- 1 And dwhen athe day of Pentecost was fully come, e literally, voted in amongst. d Uterally, while the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled. I think these words may be interpreted two ways: 1. that Judas deserted this our place, our office and ministry, to go to his own place, that part which he had chosen for himself, viz. the office and character of a traitor and enemy of God ; 2. regarding the former word place as being selected to correspond to the more proper and dreadful use of the word here, that Judas deserted his appointed place, here among us, that he might ge tp his own appointed place else where, viz. among the dead in the place of torment. Of these two interpretations, I very much prefer the second, on all ac counts; as being more according to the likely usage of the word; and as more befit ting the solemnity of such a prayer. At the same time, ne absolute sentence is pro nounced on the traitor, but that dark sur mise expressed by the phrase Ms own place, which none can help feeling with regard to him. To understand " he " of Judas's successor, — that he (the new Apostle) might enter on his own place of dignity destined for him by God, (1) is contrary to the form of the sentence in the original ; (2) is in consistent with the words; which are un exampled in this sense $ (3) would divest a sentence, evidently solemn and pregnant, of all point and meaning, and reduce it to a mere tautology. It appears to have been very early understood as above; for Cle ment of Bome says ef Peter, " Thus having berne a martyr's testimony, he went to his appointed plaee of glory," an expression evidently borrowed from our text. Light foot quotes from a Babbinical work on Numb. xxv. 25> "Balaam went to his own place," i.e. " to hell." 26. they cast lets for them] These lots were pro bably tablets, with the names of the per sons written on them, and shaken in a vessel, or io the lap of a robe (Prov. xvi. 93); he whose lot first leaped out being the person desiguated. was voted in amongst the eleven apostles] The lot being regarded as the divine choice, the suffrages of the assembly were unanimously given (not in form, but by cheerful ac quiescence) to the candidate thus chosen, and he was 'voted in' among the eleven Apostles; i. e. as a twelfth. That St. Luke does not absolutely say so, and never after wards speaks of the twelve Apostles, is surely no safe ground on whioh to doubt Chap. II. 1—4.] The Otttpotjeing oh the Holt Spibit on the bisoipives. 1.] while the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled : " during the progress pf that particular day :" necessitated by the pres. tense; In sense, it amounts to 'when the day of Pentecost was fully come' as A. V. the day ef Pentecost] The fiftieth day (inclusive) after the sixteenth of Nisan, the second day of the Passover (Levit. xxiii. 16); — called in Exodus xxiii. 16, 'the feast of harvest,' — in Deut. xvi. 10, ' the feast of weeks:' — one of the three great feasts, when all the males were required to appear at Jerusalem, Deut. xvi. 16. At this time, it was simply regarded as the feast of harvest: among the later Jews, it was considered as the anniversary of the giving of the law from Sinai. This inference was apparently grounded on a comparison of Exod. xii. 2 and xix. 1. Josephus and Philo know nothing of it, and it is at the best very uncertain. Chrysostom's reason for the event happening when it did is probably the true one: "It was fitting that this should take place on the recur rence of a feast : that they who had been present at the cross of Christ might see this alsp." ' The question, on what day of the week this day of Pentecost was, is beset with the difficulties attending the question of our Lord's last passover ; see notes on Matt. xxvi. 17, and John xviii. 28. It appears probable however that it was on the Sabbath, — i. e. if we reckon from Saturday, the \&th of Nisan. Wieseler supposes that the Western Church altered the celebration of it to the first day of the' 1—4. THE ACTS: 655 ch. i. 6. Mark xvi. 17. ch. x. 46: xix. 6. ICor. xii. 10; 28, SO: xiii. 1: xiv: 2, &e: bthey were all *wiik one accord in one place. 3 And bch.i.u suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and c it filled all the house where they were och.w.s sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And * d they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began e to speak with other tongues, f as the Spirit gave them e read, together. f render, even week, in conformity with her observ ance of Easter on tbat day. If we take the second day of the Passover as Sunday, theVlth of Nisan, which somehave inferred from John xviii. 28, the day of Pentecost will fall on the first day of the week. they were all together in one place] Not the Apostles only, nor the hundred and twenty mentioned ch. i. 15 ; but all the believers in Christ, then con gregated at the time of the feast in Je rusalem. The former is manifest from ver. 14, when Peter and the eleven stand for ward and allude to the rest as these: and the latter follpws pn the former being granted. Both are confirmed by the uni versality pf the premise cited by Peter; ver. 17 ff. See Chrysostom below, on ver. 4. together : the other but not so well supported reading, " with one accord," im plies more, viz. that their purpose, as well as their locality, was the same. in one place] Where? evidently not in the temple, or any part of it. The impro bability of such an assemblage, separate and yet so great, in any of the rooms attached to the temple,— the words " all the house" in ver. 2 (where see note), — the notice, that " the multitude came together," ver. 6, — the absence of any mention of the temple,— all these are against such a supposition. Obviously no a priori con sideration sueh as Olshausen alleges; that "thus the solemn inauguration of the Church of Christ becomes more im posing by happening in the holy place of the Old Covenant," fcan apply to the en quiry. Nor can the statement that they were "continually in the temple," Luke xxiv. 53, apply here- (see above on ch. i. 13) ; for even if it be assumed that the hour of prayer was come (which it hardly could have been, seeing that some time must have elapsed between the event and Peter's speech), the disciples would not have been assembled separately, but would, as Peter and John, in ch. iii. 1, have gone up, mingled with tho people. See more below. 2.] The words of the description nould not be better rendered than in A. V., as. a sound as of a rushing: mighty wind. It was the sound as of a violent blewing, borne onward, wMch accompanied tbe descent of the Holy Spirit. To treat this as a natural phenomenon, — even supposing that phseno- menon miraculously produced, as the earth quake at the crucifixion, — is contrary to the text, which does not describe it as a sound of a rushingmighty,wind,b\s.t a sound ss of a rushing, mighty wind. It was the chosen vehicle by which the Holy Spirit was manifested to their sense of hearing, as by the tongues, of fire to their sense of seeing. it filled all the house] Cer tainly Luke would not have used tins word of a chamber in the Temple, or of the Temple itself, without further explana tion. Our Lord, it is true; calls the Temple " your house," Matt, xxiii. 38, — and Jose phus informs us that Solomon's Temple was furnished with thirty small houses (or rooms), and that over these were other, houses ; but to suppose either usage here, seems to me very far-fetched and unnatural. 3. cloven tongues like as of fire] They were not of fire, as not possessing the burn ing power of fire, but only as it were ofjire, in appearance like that element. it sat, viz. the appearance; not the Spirit, nor the tongue, but the appearance described in the preceding clause. I understand the word sat as usually interpreted, lighted on their heads. This also was no effect of natural cause, either ordinarily or extra ordinarily employed : see on ver. 2. 4.] On the. word all, Chrysostom says, " The Evangelist would not have said all, the Apostles being there, had not the rest also been partakers." began to speak with other tongues] There can be no question in any unprejudiced mind; that the fact which this narrative sets, before us is; that the disciples began to speak in vaeious languages, viz. the languages of the nations below enumerated, and perhaps others. All attempts to evade this are con nected with some forcing of the text, or some far-fetched and indefensible explana tion. This then being laid down, several important questions arise, and we are sur» 656 THE ACTS, II; utterance. B And there were dwelling at Jerusalem JeWs; rounded by various difficulties. (1) Was this speaking in various languages a gift bestowed on the disciples for their use afterwards, or was it a mere sign, their utterance being only as they were mouth pieces of the Holy Spirit ? The latter seems certainly to have been the case. It appears on our narrative, even as the Spirit gave them utterance. But, it may be objected, in that case they would not themselves understand what they said. I answer, that we infer this very fact from 1 Cor. xiv.; that the speaking with tongues was often found, where none could inter pret what was said. And besides, it would appear from Peter's speech, that such, or something approaching to it, was the case in this instance. He makes no allusion to the things said by those who spoke with tongues ; the hearers alone speak of their declaring the wonderful works of God. So that it would seem that here, as on other occasions (1 Cor. xiv. 22), tongues were for a sign, not to those that believe, but to those that believe not. If the first supposition be made, that the gift of speak ing in various languages was bestowed on the disciples/or their after-use in preach ing the Gospel, we are, I think, running counter to the whole course of Scripture and the evidence of the early fathers on the subject. There is no trace whatever of such a power being possessed or exercised by the Apostles (see ch. xiv. 11, 14) or by those who followed them. I beheve, there? fore, the event related in our text to have been a sudden and powerful inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by which the disciples uttered, not of their own minds, but as mouth-pieces of the Spirit, the praises of God in various languages, hitherto, and possibly at the time itself, unknown to them. (2) How is this "speaking with other tongues" related to the "speaking with tongues" (or, "with a tongue") afterwards spoken of by St. Paul ? I answer, that they are one and the same thing. See this farther proved in notes on 1 Cor. xiv. Meantime I may remark, that the two are inseparably connected by the following links, — ch. x. 46, xi. 15, — xix. 6, — in which last we have the same juxta-position of speaking with tongues and prophesying as afterwards in 1 Cor. xiv. 1 — 5 ff. (3) Who were those that partook of this gift ? I answer, the whole assembly of believers, from Peter's application of the prophecy, vv. 16 ff. It was precisely the case sup posed in 1 Cor. xiv. 23. The unlearned and unbelieversofthat passage were represented by-the others of our ver. 13, who pronounced them to be drunken. (4) I would not conceal the difficulty which our minds find in con ceiving a person supernaturally endpwed with the power of speaking, ordinarily and consciously, a language which he has never learned. But there is to my mind no such difficulty, in conceiving a man to be moved to utterance of sounds dictated by the Holy Spirit. And the fact is clearly laid down by St. Paul, that the gift of speaking in tongues, and that of interpreting, were wholly distinct. Sp that the above diffi culty finds no place here, nor even in the case of a person both speaking and in terpreting : see 1 Cor. xiv. 13. — On the. question whether the speaking was neces sarily always in a foreign tongue, we have no data to guide us : it would seem that it was; but the conditions would not absolutely exclude rhapsodical and un intelligible utterance. Only there is this objection to it: clearly, languages were spoken on this occasion, — and we have no reason to beheve that there were two dis tinct kinds of the gift. (5) It would be quite beyond the limits of a note to give any adequate history of the explanations of the passage. A very short summary must suffice, (a) The idea of a gift of speaking in various languages having been conferred for the dissemination of the Gospel, ap pears not to have originated, until the gift of tongues itself had some time disappeared from the Church. Chrysostom adopts it, and the great majority of the Fathers and expositors, (b) Some, both in ancient and in modern times, have supposed that the miracle consisted in the multitude hearing in various languages that which the be lievers spoke in their native tongue : that one language was spoken, but many were heard. To this it may be replied, as is done by Gregory Nazianzen, that "thus the miracle would be wrought, not on the speakers, but on the hearers." This view, besides, would make a distinction between this instance of the gift and those subsequently related, which we have seen does not exist. On the courses taken by the modern German expositors, see note in my Greek Test. even as (i.e. 'in such measure and manner in each case as') the Spirit granted to them to speak (bestowed on them utterance)] The words rendered gave them utterance have been supposed here to imply that they uttered short ejaculatory sentences of praise. But this seems to be unfounded : and our word to utter, to speak out, seems exactly to render it. Their utterance was none of their own, but the simple gift and inspiration of the, 5—9. THE ACTS. 657 devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now S when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them h speak in his own language. 7 And they were hh all amazed and marvelled, saying ih one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak f Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every fch.i.n. man ' in our own tongue, wherein we were born ? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in B render, when this sound h render, speaking. Holy Spirit : see above. 5.] De Wette maintains that these dwellers at Jerusalem cannot have been persons sojourning for the sake of the feast, but residents : but see above on ver. 1. I see no objection to including both residents and sojourners in the term, which only specifies their then residence. devout men] Not in refer ence to their having come up to the feast, nor to their dwelling from religious motives at Jerusalem, but stated as7 imparting a character and interest to what follows. They were not merely vain and curious listeners, but men of piety and weight. out of every nation under heaven] Not perhaps used so much hyperbolically, as with reference to the significance of the whole event. As they were samples each of their different people, so collectively they represented all the nations of the world, who should hear afterwards in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. 61] Whatever tMs sound (literally, voice) may mean, one thing is clear, — that it cannot mean, ' this rumour' (* when this was noised abroad,' A. V.) : which would be unexampled. We have then to chcpse between twe things to which the wcrd voice, or sound, might refer : — (1) the " sound as of a mighty rushing wind" of ver. 2, which would hardly be used of a speaking which was- still going on when the multitude assembled; — and (2) the speaking with tongues of ver. 4. To this reference, besides the objection just stated, there is also another, that the voices of a number of men, especially when diverse as in this case, would not be indicated by the singular number, voice, but by voices: comp. St. Luke's own usage, even when the voices cried out the same thing, Luke xxiii. 23, "They were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be cru cified. And the voices of t'lem and of the chief priests prevailed." And when he uses the singular, he explains it, as in ch. xix, 34, 'f All with one voice . . . cried, ent.'.' voice) took place. hh So that we may safely decide for Reformer reference. The noise ofthe rushing mighty wind was heard over all the neighbourhood; probably over all Jerusalem. the mul titude] including the scoffers of ver. 13, as well as the pious strangers : but these latter only are here regarded in the description that they were confounded, and that every man heard &c. On these latter words, see above on ver. 4. Each one heard them' speaking — i. e. either various disciples speaking various tongues, each in some one only : or the same persons speaking now one, now another, tongue. The former is more probable, although the latter seems to agree with some expressions in 1 Cor. xiv., c. g. ver. 18. were confounded] The same word, both in the LXX and in our English version, is used in Gen. xi. 9. 7.] They were not, literally, all Galilaeans ; but certainly the greater part were so, and all the Apostles and leading persons, who would probably be the . prominent speakers. 8—11.] As regards the cata logue here given, — of course it cannot have been thus delivered as part of a speech by any hearer on the occasion, but is inserted into a speech expressing the general sense of what was said, and put, according to the usage of all narrative, into the mouths of all. The words in our own tongue (literally, dialect), wherein we were born are very decisive as to the nature of the miracle. The hearers could not have thus spoken, had they been spiritually uplifted into the comprehension of some ecstatic language spoken by the disciples. They were not spiritually acted on at all, but spoke the matter of fact : they were sur prised at each recognizing, so far from his country, and in the mouths of Galilseans, his own native tongue. 9. Parthians] The catalogue proceeds from the N. E. to the W; and. S. Mede notices, that it follows the order of the three great dis persions of the Jews, thp Chaldasan, As syrian, and Egyptian. •. Medes] Media, 658 THE ACTS. II. Mesopotamia, and in Judsea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya, about Cyrene, and * strangers of Bome , Jews and proselytes, u J Gretes and Arabians, we do hear them k speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God • 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this ? I3 Others mocking 4 render, Homans, who are sojourning here. J render, Cretans. k render, speaking. W. of Parthia and Hyrcania, S. of the Caspian sea, E. of Armenia, N. of Persia. Elamites] in pure Greek, TSIymceans, inhabitants of Elam or Elymais, a Semitic people (Gen. x. 22). Elam is mentioned in connexion with Babylon, Gen. xiv. 1 ; with Media, Isa. xxi. 2; Jer. xxv. 25; with, or as part of, Assyria, Ezek. xxxii. 24; Isa. xxii. 6; as a province of Persia, Ezra iv. 9 ; as the province in which Susan was situated, Dan. viii. 2. According to Josephus, the Elamseans were the pro genitors of the Persians. We find scattered hordes under this name far to the north, and even on the Orontes near the Caspian. Mesopotamia] the well-known dis trict between the Euphrates and Tigris, so called merely as distinguishing its geo graphical position, between the rivers (so the word imports in Greek) : it never formed a state. The name does not appear to be older than the Macedonian conquests. The word is used by the LXX and A. V. in Gen. xxiv. 10 to express the Hebrew "Aram Naharaim," Aram of the two rivers. Judsea] I can.see no difficulty in Judsea being here mentioned. The catalogue does not proceed by languages, but by territorial division ; *nd Judsea lies immediately S. of its path from Mesopo tamia to Cappadocia. It is not Jews by birth and domicile, but devout men who are spoken of; the dwellers in Judaea settled in judsea. And even if born Jews were meant, doubtless they also would find a place among those who heard in their, mo ther tongue the wonderful works of God. Cappadocia] At this time (since the year of Bome 770) a Roman province em bracing Cappadocia proper and Armenia minor. Pontus] the former kingdom of Mithridates, lying along the S. coast of the Euxine (whence its name, from the Pontus Euxinus, the Euxine Sea) from the river Halys to Colchis and Armenia, and separated by mountains from Cappadocia on the S. It was at this time divided into petty principalities under Boman pro tection, but subsequently became a pro vince under Nero. Asia] i. e. here Asia proper, or rather the W. division of it, as described by Pliny, as bounded on the E. by Phrygia and Lycaonia, on the W. by the JEgean, on the S. by the Egyptian sea, on the N. by Paphlagonia. Ephesus was its chief city. See ch. xvi. 6, where the same appears to be intended. 10. Phrygia] It was at tiiis time part of the Boman province of Asia. Pamphylia] a small district, extending along the coast from Olbia, pr Phaselis, tp Ptolemais. It was a separate tributary district: we find it at one time classed with Galatia, and ruled by the same person. Egypt] Having enumerated the principal districts of Asia Minor, the cata logue passes (see above on the arrangement, ver. 9) to Egypt, a well-known habitation of Jews. Two-fifths of the pppulatiun pf Alexandria consisted of them, and they had an Ethnarch, or governor, of their own. the parts of Libya about Cyrene] By this expression is probably meant Pen- tapolis, where Josephus, quoting from Strabo, testifies to the existence of very many Jews, — amounting in Cyrene to a fourth part of the whole population. The Cyrenian Jews were so numerous in Jeru salem, that they had a special synagogue (see ch. vi. 9). Several were Christian converts : see ch. xi. 20 ; xiii. 1. Boman sojourners (so liter,al!y)] 'The Boman Jews dwelling (or then being) in Jerusalem.' Jews and proselytes] This refers more naturally to the whole of the past catalogue, than merely to the Boman Jews. It does not take up a new designation, but expresses the classes or divisions of those which have gone before. 11. Cretans and Arabians] These words would seem as if they should precede the last. 13. Others] Probably native Jews, who did not understand the foreign languages. Meyer supppses, — persons pre viously hostile to Jesus and his disciples, and thus judging as in Luke vii. 34 they 10—18. THE ACTS. 659 I said, These men are full of m new wine. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judsea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words : 1B for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, * seeing eiThe»s.v.7. it is [nbut] the third hour ofthe day. 16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet (oJoel; " hAnd] if'SS^J.?-,, shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, s I will pour ga^js." out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and kyour „£<*=£" daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : 18 and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in 1 literally, said that they were. m render, sweet. , n not expressed in the original. 0 Some of , our ancient authorities amit these words. vii. 88. 45. kcli. xxi. 0. judged of Himself. sweet wine] Sweet wine, not necessarily new wine: perhaps made of a remarkably sweet small grape, wMeh is understood by thfi Jewish expositors to he meant in Gen. xlix. 11; Isa. v. 2; Jer. ii. 21,— and is still found in Syria and Arabia. Suidas interprets it " that which oozes out of the grapes before they are pressed." 14—36-.] The speech oe Peter, " St. Luke gives us here the first sample of thp preaching of theGospel by theApostles, with which the foundation of Christian preach ing, as well as of the -Church itself, appears to be closely connected. We discover already, in this first sermon, all the pecu liarities of apostolic preaching. It contains no reflections nor deductions concerning the doctrine of Christ,— rnp proposition pf new and unknown doctrines, but simply and en^ tirely consists of the proclamation of histo rical facts. The Apostles appear here as the witnesses of that which they had seen : the Resurrection pf Jesus forming the cen tral point of their testimony. It is true, that in the after-development of the Church it was impossible tp cenfine preaching te this historical announcement only : it gra dually became invested with the additional officeof building up behevers in knowledge, But nevertheless, the simple testimony to the great works pf Gpd, as Peter here delivers it, should nev,er be wanting in preaching to those whose hearts are not yet penetrated by the Wprd pf Truth." Olshausen. The discpurse divides itself into two parts: 1. (w. 14 — 21) 'This which you hear is not the effect of drunkenness, but is the promised outpouring pf the Spirit on all fiesh,'— % (vv. 22—36) t which Spirit has been shed forth hy Jesus, whom you crucified, but whom God hath exalted to be Lord and Christ' 14. with the eleven] Peter and the eleven come forward from the ,great body of believers. And he distinguishes (by the word "these" in ver. 15) not himself from the eleven, but himself and the eleven from the rest. De Wette concludes from this, that the Apostles had not themselves spoken with tongues, as being an inferior gift (1 Cor. xiv. 18 ff.)j perhaps too rashly, for this view hardly accords with the wprd all which is the subject of the whole of ver. 4. men of Judsea] the Jews, properly so called : native dwellers in Jerusalem. all ye that dwell at Jerusalem] the sojourners (ver. 5) from other parts. 15.] these, see .above. the third hour of the day] the first hour of prayer .- before which no pipus Jew might eat or drink, — But perhaps we need not look further than the ordinary intent of such a defense— the improbability of intoxication at that hour of the morn ing. See Eccl. x. 1,6; Isa. v. 11; 1 Thess. y. 7. 16.] This prophecy is frem the LXX, wjth very slight variations. this is, i. e- ' this is the fact, at which those words pointed.' See a somewhat similar .exnressipn, Luke xxiv. 44. 17.] in the last days is an exposition pf the werds "after these things" in tiie LXX and Hebrew, referring j,t to the days of the Messiah, as Isa. ii. 2; Micah iy. 1, al. See also 2 Tim. iii. 1 ; Heb, i. 1, saith God does npt eepur in the verse of Joel, hut at thp beginning of the whole passage, ver. 12, and is supplied by Peter here. 18.] The Hebrew does not express the word my either time, but has, as in 660 THE ACTS. II. ich. xxi. 4: ix.10. ICor. xii. 10, 28 : xiv. l,&c. m Joe ii. 3(1, SI. n Matt,, xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 24. Luke xxi. 2 o Bom. x. 13. p John iii. 2: xiv. 10, 11. eh. X. SS. Heb. ii. 4. q Matt. xxvi. 24. Luke xxii. 22 : xxiv. 44. ch. iii. 18 : iv. 28. those days of my Spirit ; ' and they shall prophesy : 19 m and I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs P in the earth beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke : 20 n the sun shall be turned "into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come : 31 and it shall come to pass, that ° whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you p by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 2s him, i being delivered 1 by the 4 render, according to. pressly aserted of Jew and Gentile, Bom. i. 17, where see note. 22. Te men of Israel] This address binds all the hearers in one term, and that one reminds them of their covenant relation with God: comp. " all the house of Israel," ver. 36. of Nazareth] This title does not here seem to be emphatically used by way of contrast to what follows, as some have thought, but only as the ordinary appellation of Jesus by the Jews, see John xviii. 5, 7; ch. xxii. 8; xxvi. 9. The words of (by) God, belong to approved, and denote the source whence the proof came. approved must be taken in its fuller and stricter meaning : viz. as importing, — shewn to be that which He claimed to be. The connexion of the passage is, that the Man Jesus of Nazareth was by God de monstrated, by God wrought in among you, by God's counsel delivered to death, by God raised up (which raising up is argued on till ver. 32, then taken up again), by God (ver. 36), finally, made Lord and Christ. This was the process of argument then with the Jews, — proceeding on the identity of a man whom they had seen and knewn, — and then mounting up from His works and His death and His resurrection, to His glorification,— all THE PTOPOSE AND DOING OE GOD. which God did by him] This is not, as De Wette characterizes it, a low view of the miracles wrought by Jesus, nor is it inconsistent with John ii. 11 ; but it is in strict accordance with the progress of our Lord through humiliation to glory, and with His own words in that very Gospel (v. 19), which is devoted to the great subject, the manifestation, by the Father, of the glory of the Son. This side of the subject is here especially dwelt on in argument with these Jews, to exhibit (see above) the whole course of Jesus of P render, on. our English text, ' the servants and hand maids.' The words and they shall pro phesy are not in the LXX nor in the Hebrew text. 19.] The words above, signs, and beneath are not in the LXX, nor in the Hebrew text. blood, and fire, . . . .] Not, ' bloodshed and wasting by fire,' as commonly interpreted: — not devas tations, but prodigies, are foretold : — bloody and fiery appearances : — pillars of smoke, as in the Hebrew. 20.] See Matt. xxiv. 29. the . . . day of the lord] Not the first coming of Christ, — which interpretation would run counter to the whole tenor of the Apostle's application of the prophecy : — but clearly, His second coming : regarded in prophetic language as following close upon the-outpouring of the Spirit, because it is the next great event in the divine arrangements. — The Apostles probably expected this coming very soon (see note on Bom. xiii. 11) ; but this did npt at all affect the accuracy cf their ex- pressipns respecting it. Their days wit nessed the Pentecostal effusion, which was the beginning of the signs of the end : then follows the period, known to the Father only, of waiting — the Church for her Lord, — the Lord Himself till all things shall have been put under His feet, — and then the signs shall be renewed, and the day of the Lord shall come. Meantime, and in the midst of these signs, the covenant of the spiritual dispensation is, ver. 21 — ' Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.' The gates of God's mercy are thrown open in Christ to all people :— no barrier is placed, — no union with any external association or succession required : the promise is to individuals. As individuals : whosoever : whieh individual universality, theugh here, by the nature ef the circumstances, spoken within the limits of the outward Israel, is afterwards as ex- 19—26. THE ACTS. 661 determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ixye have*A-''-m- taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain : 2* 8 whom ¦ T8r- S2, God [B hath] raised up, having loosed the pains of death : because it was not possible that he should be holden * of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, 'I foresaw the t i""- xvi. 8. Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I u should not be moved : 26 therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh r read and render, ye by the hand of lawless men nailed up and slew. omit. by it. u render, may. Nazareth, as the ordinance and doing of the God op Iseael. 23. delivered] by whom, is not said, but was supplied by the hearers. The counsel and foreknowledge of God are not to be joined as in the A. V. to "delivered," with "by," as if they were the agents — the connexion in the original is that of accordance and appointment, not of agency. The same connexion is ex pressed in ch. xv. by "after the manner of Moses." See 2 Pet. i. 21 and note. by the hand of lawless men] viz. of the Boman soldiers. The same word is Used by St. Paul to express these without law, to whom he became as without law, 1 Cor. ix. 21. The counsel and fore knowledge of God are not the same : the former designates His Eternal Plan, by which He has arranged all things (hence the determinate counsel) — the latter, the omni science, by which every part of this plan is foreseen and unforgotten by Him. nailed up] The harshness and unworthiness of the deed are strongly set forth by a word expressing the mechanical act merely, nailed up, as in contrast with the former clause, in which the dignity and divine mission of Jesus are Set forth. — Peter lays the charge on the multitude, because they abetted their rulers,-^see ch. iii. 17, where this is fully expressed : not for the far fetched reason given by Olshausen, that 'all mankind were in fact guilty of the death of Jesus :' in which case, as Meyer well observes, Peter must have said 'we,' net 'you.' 24.] On the difficulty, and probable account to be given of the ex pression having loosed the pains of death, see note in my Greek Test. They cannot well be explained fo the English reader. The assertion, it was not possible that he should be holden of it, depends for its proof on the "For" which follows. 25.] The xvith Psalm was not by the Babbis applied to the Messiah : but Peter here proves to them that, if it is to Vol. I. be true in its highest and proper meaning of any pne, it must be ef Him. We are met at every turn by the shallew pbjectipns pf the Bationalists, who seem incapable of comprehending the principle on which the sayings of David respecting himself are referred to Christ. To say, with De Wette, that Peter's proof lies not in any historical but only in an ideal meaning of the Psalm, is entirely beside the subject. To interpret the sayings of David (or indeed those of any one else) ' historically,' i. e. solely as referring to the occasion which gave rise to them, and having no wider reference, would be to establish a canon of interpretation wholly counter to the common sense of mankind. Every one, placed in any given position, when speaking of himself as in that position, speaks what will refer to others similarly situated, and most point edly to any one who shall in any especial and pre-eminent way stand in that position. Applying even this common rule to David's sayings, the applicability of them to Christ will be legitimized : — but how much more, when we take into account the whole cir cumstances of David's theocratic position, as the prophetic representative and type of Christ. Whether the Messiah were present or not to the mind of the Psalmist, is of very little import : in some cases He plainly was : in others, as here, David's words, spoken of Mmself and his circumstances, could only be in their highest and literal sense true of the great Son of David who was to come. David often spoke concerning himself: but the Spibit Who spoke in David, concerning Christ. The citation is almost word for word according to the LXX versien, differing frem the Hebrew eriginal as noticed below. that I may not be moved] In the Hebrew, and English Bible, this is, 'I shall not be moved.' 26. my tongue] In the Hebrew, and English Bible, 'my glory .-' so in Ps. cviii. 1, where our prayer-book version renders Xx 66a THE ACTS. II. a 1 Kings ii. 10. ch. xiii. 80. e 2 Sam. vii. 12,18. Ps. cxxxii.ll.Luke i. 82, 69. Eom,' i. 8. 2 Tim, ii. 8. f Pg. xvi. 10. ch. xiii. 35. z ver. 24. a ch. i. 8. b ch. v. 31. Phil.ii.0. Heb. x.' 12. shall rest in hope : 27 because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor ruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life ; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 x Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you u of the patriarch David, that he y is both dead and buried,, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, x and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins^ according to the flesh, z he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne j 31 he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, y that a his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corrup-, tion. 83 z This Jesus [h hath] God raised up, a c whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore b being by the right hand x render, Brethren : see on ch. i, 16. 7 render, both died and was buried. z read, he would set one upon his throne. a read, he. h 0OT^, e more probably, of whom ! see note. v I will give praise with the best member that I have." Cempare also Ps. lvii. 8. 28.] Thou hast made known: in the Hebrew, and English Bible, ' Thou wilt make known.' thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance is in the Hebrew, and English Bible, "In (Heb. with) thy presence is fulness of joy" These two last clauses refer to the Resurrection and the Ascension respectively. 29. Brethren (literally "Men, brethren")] He implies, ' I am your brother, an Israelite, and therefore would not speak with dis respect of David.' He prepares the way for the apologetic sentence which follows. The title ' Patriarch ' is only here applied to David as the progenitor of the kingly race: — Abraham and the sons of Jacob are so called in ch. yii. 8, 9, and in Heb. vii. 4. In the LXX, the word is used of chief men, and heads of families, with the exception of 2 Chron. xxiii. 20, where it represents "captains of hundreds." We learn from 1 Kings ii. 10, and Neh. iii. 16, that David was buried at Jerusalem, in the city of David, i. e. the stronghold of Zion, 2 Sam. v. 1 — Josephus gives an account of the high priest Hyrcanus, when besieged by Antiochus Eusebes, — and after wards King Herod, opening the tomb and taking treasure from it. Dio Cassius mentions, among the prodigies which pre ceded Hadrian's war, that the tomb of Solomon (the same with that of David) fell down. Jerome mentions that the tomb of David was visited in his time; i- e. at the end of the fourth century. 30.] a prophet, in the stricter sense, a foreteller of future events by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. knowing that God had sworn] See 2 Sam. vii. 12. The words in this case are not cited from the LXX, but rendered from the Hebrew. 81,] The term seeing this before distinctly asserts the prophetic consciousness of David in the composition of this Psalm. But of what sort that prophetic consciousness was, may be gathered from this same Apostle, 1 Pet. i. 10 — 12 : that it was not a distinct knowledge of the events which the pro phets foretold, but only a conscious refer ence in their minds to the great promises of the covenant, in the expression of which they were guided by the Holy Spirit of prophecy to say things pregnant with meaning not patent to themselves but to us. 82.] Prom ver. 25, the Apostle has been employed in substantiating the Eesurrection as the act of God announced by prophecy in old time : now the histo rical fact of its accomplishment is affirmed, and the vouchers for it produced^ The word rendered " whereof" may alse mean of whom: and this latter is the mere prpbable ; see ch. i. 8. It includes the ether rendering. 'We are His wit nesses,' implies, 'We testify to this His work,' which work implied the Besurrec- 27—38. THE ACTS. 663 of God exalted, and c having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he dhath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 3* For David d is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, e The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God f hath made that same Jesus, whom ye [dd have] crucified, both Lord and Christ. 3? Now when they heard this, 6 they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, e Men and brethren, what f shall we do ? 38 Then Peter said unto them, h Repent, and be baptized every one d render, did not ascend. dd omit., e render, Brethren : see on ch. i. 16. * render, must. o John xiv. 26 : XV. 3 6: xvi. 7, 13 eh. 1.4. dch.x.45. Eph. iv. 8. e Ps. ex. 1. Matt. xxii. 44. 1 Chr. XV. 25. Eph. i. 20. Heh. i.18. fell. v. 81. g Zech. xii. 10. Luke Ui. 10. ch. &'. ff? xvi. SO. h Luke xxiv. 47. ch. iii. 10. tion. we all, — first, and most properly, the Twelve : but, secondarily, the whole body of believers, all of whom, at this time, had probably seen tbe Lord since His Resurrection ; see 1 Cor. xv. 6. 83.] Peter new comes tc the Ascension — the exaltation of Jesus to be, in the fullest sense, Lord and Christ. being by the right hand of God exalted] Some would render, " being exalted to the right hand of God." But plausible as this seems, it is inadmissible. The great end of this speech is to shew forth (see abpve) the God oe Iseael as the Doer pf all these things. the promise] Christ is said to' have received frem the Father the promise above cited frpm Jpel, whioh is spoken pf His days. This, and npt pf course the declarations made by Him self to the same effect, is here referred to, though doubtless those were in Peter's mind. The very expression,- shed forth, refers to " I will pour out" above, ver. IV (in the original they are the same word). this : i. e. ' this influence,' this merely ; leaving to his hearers the inference that this, which they saw and heard, must be none other than the promised effusion of the Spirit. which ye now see need npt imply, as Dr. Burton thinks, that " there was some visible appearance, which the people saw as well as the apostles :" — very much of the effect of the descent ef thp Spirit would bp visible, — the enthusiasm and gestures of the speakers, for instance j not, however, the tongues of flame, — for then none could have spoken as in ver. 13. 84.] This exaltation of Christ is also proved from prophecy — and from the same passage with which Jesus Himself had silenced His ene- X mies. See notes, Matt. xxii. 41 ff. The connexion is, For Bavid himself ia not ascended into the heavens, — as he would be, if the former prophecy applied to him: but he himself says, removing all doubt on the subject, &e, 86.] The CONCLUSION PE01I ALL THAT HAS BEEN said. The Apostle says, let all the house of Israel know, because all hitherto said has gone upon proofs and sayings belong ing to Israel, and to all Israel. In the words God hath made,, we have as before, the ground-tone of the whole discourse. Lord, from ver. 34. Christ, in the full and glorious sense in which that term was prophetically known. The same is expressed iri eh. v. 31 by " hath exalted: [to be] a Prince and a Saviour-" — The final clause sets in the strongest and plainest hght the fact to which the discourse testi fies—ending with whom ye crucified, — the remembrance most likely to carry com punction to their hearts. " In the close of his discourse, he again reproaches them with His crucifixion; that they may be touched with the greater compunction of conscience, and may be eager to seek the remedy for their sin." Calvin. Bengel calls this, " the sting at the end" of the discourse. 87 — 41.] Eeeeot ob the discourse. 37.] The compunction arose from the thought that they had rejected and crucified Him who was now so powerful, and under whose feet they, as enemies, would be crushed.— "St, Lukegives us the fruit of the discourse, that we may know that the power of the Spirit was put forth, not only in the diversity of tongues, but also in the hearts of the hearers." Calvin. 38. Bepent] The word im- ' ports change of mind : here, change from 664 THE ACTS. II. i Joel ii. 28. ch. iii. 25. kch.x.45: ii. 15, 18: xiv. 27: xv. 8. S. 14. Eph. ii. IS, 17. of you in the name of Jesus Cbrist for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and ' to your children, and k to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did 'he testify and S exhort, saying, h Save yourselves from this * untoward generation. 41 k Then they that [} gladly] received his word were baptized : and the same day there were added g render, exhort them. 1 render, crooked. thinking Jesus an impostor, and scorning Him as one crucified, to being baptized in His name, and looking to Him for remis sion of sins, and the gift of the Spirit. — The miserable absurdity of rendering this word by 'do penance,' — so the Rheims (Boman-Catholic) Version, — or understand ing it as referring to a course of external rites, is well exposed by this passage — in which the internal change of heart and purpose is insisted on, to be testified by admission into the number of Christ's followers. be baptized every one of you] Here, on the day of Pentecost, we have the first mention and administration of Christian baptism. Before, there had been the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, by John, Luke iii. 3 ; but now we have the important addition, in (or, on) the name of Jesus Christ, — in the Name — i. e. on the confession of that which the Name implies, and into the bene fits and WeM»»5« which the Name implies. — The Apostles and first believers were not thus baptized, because, ch. i. 5, they had received the baptism by the Holy Ghost, the thing signified, which superseded that by water, the outward and visible sign. — The result of the baptism to which he here exhorts them, preceded by repentance and accom panied by faith in the forgiveness of sins in Christ, would be, the receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. 89.] your children, viz. as included in the prophecy cited ver. 17, your little ones : not, as in ch. xiii. 32, 'your descendants,' which would be understood by any Jew to be necessarily implied. Thus we have a pro vidential recognition of Infant Baptism, at the very founding of the Christian Church. to all that are afar off] i. e. to the Gentiles; see Eph. ii. 13. There is no difficulty whatever in this interpretation. The Apostles always expected tbe conver sion of the Gentiles, as did every pious Jew who believed in the Scriptures. It • n render, Be Saved : k fender, So then. was their conversien as Gentiles, which was yet tc be revealed te Peter. It is sur prising tp see Commentators finding a difficulty where all is so plain. The very expression, as many as the Lord our God shall call, shews in what sense Peter un derstood those afar off; not all, but as many as tbe Lord our God shall summon to approach to Him, — bring near, — which, in his present understanding of the words, must import — by becoming one of the chosen people, and conforming to their legal observances. 40.] The words cited appear to be the concluding and inclusive summary of Peter's many exhor tations, not only their general sense : just as if ver. 36 had been given as the repre sentative of his whole speech above. The Apostle's command is improperly ren dered in A. V. ' save yourselves .-' it is strictly passive, — be saved, — 'let us save you' — ' let God by us save you.' In saying this crooked generation, St. Peter alludes to Deut. xxxii. 5. 41.] This first baptism of regeneration is important on many accounts in the history of the Chris tian Church. It presents us with two remarkable features : (1) It was conferred, on the profession of repentance, and faith in Jesus as the Christ. There was no instruction in doctrine as yet. The in fancy of the Church in this respect cor responded to the infancy of the individual mind; the simplicity of faith came first, — the ripeness of knowledge followed. Nean der well observes that, among such a mul titude, admitted by a confession which al lowed of so wide an interpretation, were probably many persons who brought into the church the seeds of that Judaizing form of Christianity which afterwards proved so hostile to the true faith; while others, more deeply touched by the Holy Spirit, followed humbly the unfolding of that teaching by which He perfected the apostolic age in the doctrine of Christ. 39—45. THE ACTS. 665 unto them about three thousand souls. *3 ' And they con- iver.4». ch. J . i. 14. Bom. tmued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine " and fellowship, j}|-m. Jjj* and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ** And fear ".as. came upon every soul : and m many wonders and signs m,MMJh:l?^ were done by the apostles. **And all that believed were S3:Tl2- together, and "had all things common; *5and sold their nch.iv.82,84. H render, and in community. (2) Almost without doubt, this first bap tism must have been administered, as that of the first Gentile converts was (see ch. x. 47, and note), by affusion or sprinkling, not by immersion. The immersion of 3000 persons, in u city so sparingly furnished with water as Jerusalem, is equally incon ceivable with a procession beyond the walls to the Eedron, orto Siloam, for that purpose. 42 — 47.] Description of the like and habits op the pirst believers. This description anticipates ; embracing a period extending beyond the next chapter. This is plain from ver. 43 : for the miracle related in the next chapter was evidently the first which attracted any public atten tion : vv. 44, 45, again, are taken up anew at the end of chap, iv., where we have a very similar description, evidently apply ing tc the same period. 42.] the apostles' doctrine: compare Matt, xxviii. 20. and in community] The living together as one family, and having things in common. It is no objection to this meaning, that the fact is repeated below, in ver. 45 : for so is the breaking of bread, in ver. 46, and the continuing in prayers. The meaning given in the A. V., "in the Apostles' fellowship," is not objectionable in itself, but still I conceive bears no meaning defensible in construction. See further in my Greek Test. breaking of bread] or, the breaking of the bread. This has been very variously explained. Chrysostom, "In mentioning bread here he seems to me to signify fasting, and ascetic life: for they partook, not of luxuries, but simply of subsistence." And similarly Bengel : "The breaking of bread, that is, a frugal diet, common among them all." But on ver. 46 he recognizes a covert allusion to the Eucharist. — Theinter- pretation of thp breaking of bread here as the celebration of the Lord's supper has been, bpth in ancient and modern times, the prevalent one. Chrysostom himself, in another place, interprets it, or at all events the whole phrase, of the Holy Communion. And the Romanist interpreters have gone so far as to ground an argument on the passage for the administration in one kind only. But, — referring for a fuller discus sion cf the whole matter to the notes on 1 Cor. x. xi.,— barely to render [the] breaking of [the] oread to mean the breaking pf bread in the Eucharist, as now understood, weuld be to violate historical truth. The Holy Communion was at first, and for some time, till abuses put an end to the practice, inseparably connected with the agapse, or love-feasts, of the Christians, and unknown as u, separate ordinance. To these agapa, accompanied as they were at this time by the celebratien pf the Lerd's supper, the "breaking of [the] bread" refers, — frem the custom of the master of the feast breaking bread in asking a blessing ; see ch. xxvii. 35, where the Eucharist is out of the question. in prayers] or, in the prayers: — the ap pointed times of prayer: see ver. 46. But it need not altogetherexclnde prayer among themselves as well, provided we do not assume any set times or forms of Christian worship, which certainly did not exist as yet. See notes on Bom. xiv. 5 ; Gal. iv. 10. 43.] every soul, designating generally the multitude, — those who were not joined to the infant Church. This is evident by the words "all that believed," when the church is again the subject, ver. 44. They were filled with fear, dread, reverential astonishment, at the effect pro duced by the outppuring pf the Spirit. On the anticipatory character cf the latter part pf the verse, see general remarks at the beginning of this secticn. 44.] If it surprise us that sp large a number should be continually assembled together (for such is certainly the sense of were together, not that they were joined by brotherly love, as Calvin) — we must remember that a large portion of the three thousand were persons who had come up to Jerusalem for the feast, and would by this time have retured to their hemes. and had all things (in) common] i. e. no individual property, but one common stock: see ch. iv. 32. That this was lite rally the case with the infant church at Jerusalem, is too plainly asserted in these passages to admit of a doubt. Some have supposed the expressions to indicate merely a partial community of goods : contrary to 666 THB ACTS. II. 46, 47. possessions and goods, and "parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 » And they, continuing daily with one accord «in the temple^ and 'breaking bread mfrom house to house, n did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 praising God, and s having Ro'iT'xw.is. favour with all the neople; And *the Lord ° added to the ten. v. 14: _ JT JT xi-24, church daily such as should be saved. aeh.u.46. III. 1 Now Peter and John Vwent up [1 together] "into m render, at home. n literally, took their share of food. But the A. V. is better as an Fnglish o Isa. lviii. 7. poh.i.11. o, Luke xxiv. 53. ch. v. '. r ch. xx. 7. s Luke ii. 52. ch. iv. S3 0 read and render, brought together daily more that were in the way of salvation. P render, were going. ^ omit. the express assertion of ch. iv. 32. In order, however, rightly to understand this com munity, we may remark : (1) It is only found in the church at Jerusalem. No trace of its existence is discoverable any where else : on the contrary, St. Paul speaks constantly of the rich and the poor, see 1 Tim. vi. 17; Gal. ii. 10; 2 Cor. viii. 13, 15; ix. 6, 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2: also St. James, ii. 1 — 5; iv. 13. — And from the practice having at first prevailed at Jeru salem, we may partly perhaps explain the great and constant poverty of that church, Eom. xv. 25, 26; 1 Cor. xvi. Lr-3; 2 Cor. viii. ix.; also ch. xi. 30; xxiv. 17. — The non- establishment of this community elsewhere may have arisen from the inconveniences whioh were found ix> attend it in Jeru salem : see ch. vi. 1. (2) This community pf gpods was not, even in Jerusalem, en forced by rule, as is evident from ch. v. 4 (xii. 12), but, originating in free-will, became perhaps an understood custom, still however in the power of any individual not to comply with. (3.) It was not (as Grotius thought) borrowed from the sect of the Fssenes, with whom the Apostles, who certainly must have sanctioned this com munity, do not appear historically to have had any connexion. But (4) it is much more probable that it arose from a con tinuation, and application to the now increased number of disciples, ofthe com munity in which our Lord and His Apos tles had lived (see John xii. 6 ; xiii. 29) before.-^- The practice probably did not long continue even at Jerusalem : see Bom. xv. 26, npte. 45.] possessions probably mean landed property, ch. v. 1 — goods, any other possession; moveables, as dis tinguished frpm land. parted them, i. e. their price ; see a similar way ef speaking, Matt. xxvi. 9. 46. continuing daily with one accord in the temple] See Luke xxiv. 53. The words need not mean, though they may mean, that they were assembled in Solomon's porch, as in ch. v. 12 — but most probably, that they regu larly kept the hours of prayer, ch. iii. 1. at home] i. e. privately, as con trasted with their public frequenting of the temple : not, 'from house to house,' as A. V, : — the words may bear that meaning (see Luke viii. 1), but we have no trace of such a practice, of holding the agapte, or love-feasts, successively at different houses. — The breaking of bread took place at their house of meeting, wherever that was: cf. ch. xii. 12. did eat their meat] i.e. they partook of food: viz. in these agapce, or breakings of bread. single ness of heart] The word rendered single ness originally implies freedomfrom stones or rocks, and thus simplicity, evenness, purity. 47.] praising God does not seem only to refer tp giving thanks at their partaking of food, but to their general manner of conversation, including the recurrence of special ejaculations and songs of praise by the influence of the Spirit. more that were in the way of salvation: compare the Apostle's com mand, ver. 40; — those who were being saved. Nothing is implied by this word, to answer one way or the other the ques tion, whether all these were finally saved. It is puly asserted, that they were in the way of salvation when they were added te the Christian assembly. Dpubtless, some of them might have been of the class alluded to Heb. x. 26—29 : at least there is nothing in this word to preclude it. Chap. IIL 1—10.] Healing op a lame man by Peter at the gate op the III. 1—7. THE ACTS. 667 the temple at the hour of prayer, b being the ninth hour. "si.\T.ir. 2 And a c certain man lame from his mother's womb w-ascch-IiT-8- carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, d to ask alms of them that a Join ix-s. entered into the temple ; 3 who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 6 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive some thing of them. 6 Then Peter said> Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee : eIn the name of ech.iv.io. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. 1 And he Temple. 1. the ninth hour] See eh. x. 3, 30. There were three hours of prayer; those of the morning and evening sacrifice, i..e. the third and ninth hours, and noon. 2.] The Word is Uterally, was being carried. They took him at the hours of prayer, and carried him back between times. the gate .... which is called Beautiful] The arrangement of the gates of the Temple is, from the notices which we now possess, very uncertain. Three entrances have been fixed on for the "Beautiful Gate:" (1) The gate thus described by Josephus : " Nine of the gates were covered with gold and silver, as were also the posts and lintels. But one gate, that outside the temple itself, was of Corinthian brass, and far surpassed the Silver and gilt gates in Splendour." This gate was also called Nicanor's gate, and lay on the Eastern side of the Temple, towards the valley of Kedron. Josephus mentions it again, as " the Eastern gate of the inner enclosure, which is of brass," and gives a remarkable account of its size and Weight : adding, that when, before the siege, it was discovered sUpernaturally opened in the night, "this to unskilled persons seemed a most favourable omen : for they said, that God had opened to them the gate of prosperity." But some find a difficulty in this. The lame man, they say, would npt be likely to have been admitted so far into the Temple (but it appears that lepers used fo stand at Nicanor's gate) : and besides, he would have taken up his station naturally at an outer gate, where he might ask alms of all who entered. These conditions suit better (2) the gate Susan; as does also the cir cumstance mentioned ver. 11, that the people rah together to Solomon's porch; for this gate was on the east side of the court ofthe Gentiles, and close to Solomon's porch. Another suitable circumstance was, that by this gate the market was held for sheep and cattle and other offerings, and therefore a greater crowd would be at tracted, (3) Others again refer the epithet " Beautiful " to two gates opening towards the city on the western side. Sp that the matter must remain in uncertainty. 4. Lock on us] Calvin's note is impprtant : " Peter would npt have thus spoken without being certain of the design of God; and his words command the man to look for some singular and unusual benefit. Yet we may enquire, whether the Apostles had the power of working miracles when it pleased them. I answer, that their ministration of divine influence did not empower them to attempt any thing of their own will or motive, but the Lord wrought by them when He saw it expedient. Hence it arose, that they healed one, not all without distinction. So that in this, as in other things, they had God's Spirit for their guide and direction. Therefore, before Peter orders the lame man to rise, he cast and fixed his eyes on him. That look was not without the express prompting of God's Spirit. And hence it was that he spoke with such cer tainty of the coming miracle. The Apostle summoned the lame man by this command to receive the gift of God : he for his part looked for .nothing but an alms." 6.] "There is no doubt, that it was the custom to give alms' even to those who were not of the community of the faithful, but Peter then either had tipthing about him, gping as he was to the temple, er he ceuld not bestow enough to help the poor man's need. Notice the Apostle's mode ration in his discharge of so important a stewardship : cempare ch. ii. 45 ; iv. 35." Bengel. But perhaps it is mpre simple to cenclude that Peter sppke here ef his own station and means in Hfe — ' I am no rich man, nor have I silver or gold to give thee.' 1.] "Thus also did Christ: He often cured by a word, often by an 668 THB ACTS. III. took him by the right hand, and lifted him up : and im mediately his feet and ancle-bones received strength. fiaa.xxxv.6. 8 And he f leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising Eeh.iv.ie,2i. God. 9 g And all the people saw him walking and praising God : 10 and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple : and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that whieh had happened unto him. u And as r the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch 'that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. 12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye B at this ? or why look ye \}so] earnestly on us, as though by our own power or u holiness we had made this man to walk ? 13 k The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our 8 render, at this man. 1 John x. 23. ch. v. 12. kch.v. SO. r read', he. * omit : not in the original. u render, godliness, as the word is always elsewhere rendered in the N. T. act; often also He put forth His hand, when the objects were weak in faith, — that the healing might not seem to take place of itself." Chrysostom. he took him by the right hand ... his feet and ancle. bones received strength] Luke, the phy sician, had made himself acquainted with the peculiar kind of weakness, and de scribed it accordingly. 8.] leaping up describes his first joyous liberation from his weakness: as soon as he felt himself strengthened, he leapt up, for joy. No suppositions need be made, such as that per haps he was trying the experiment (Chry sostom): or that it was from ignorance how to walk (Bloomfield). His joy is quite sufficient to explain the gesture, and it is better to leave the narrative in its simplicity. -11 — 26.] The discourse op Petee thebetjpon. 11.] The lame man was holding Peter and John, physically: not spoken of mental adhesion, but of actual holding by the hand or arm, that he might not be separated from them in the crowd, but might testify to all, who his benefac tors were. the porch that is called Solomon's] See John x. 23, note. 12.] answered, viz. to their expressions of astonishment imphed in the following verse. See a similar usage of " answered," Matt. xi. 25 ; ch. v. 8. This second discourse of St. Peter may be thus divided : This is no work of ours, but of God for the glorifying of Jesus, vv. 12, 13 : — whom ye denied and killed, but God hath raised up, w. 13 — 15 : — through whose name this man is made whole, ver. 16 : — ye did it in igno rance, but God thereby fulfilled His coun sel, vv. 17, 18. Fxhortation to repent, that ye may be forgiven, and saved by this Jesus Christ at His coming, vv. 19 — 21 : whose times have been the subject of pro phecy from the first, ver. 21. Citations to prove this, vv. 22 — 24 : its immediate application to the hearers} as Jews, w. 25, 26. There the discourse seems to be broken off, as ch. iv. 1 relates. why marvel ye] Their error was not the wonder itself, — though even that would shew ignorance and weakness of faith, for it was truly no wonderful thing that had happened, viewed by a believer in Jesus, — but their wonder ing at the Apostles, as if they had done it by their own power. " Thus we see," says Calvin, " that our wonder is wrong, when it stops at human agency." power, — such as magical craft, or any other sup posed means ef working miracles : godliness, meritorious efficacy with God, so as to have obtained this from Him on our own account. The distinction is important: — ' holiness,' of the A. V., is not expressive of the word, which bears in it the idea of operative cultive piety, rather than of inherent character. 13. The God of Abraham, &c] " An appellation more fre quent in the Acts than in the other books of the New Testament, and suitable to that 3—17. THE ACTS. 669 fathers, [¦ v hath] glorified his w Son Jesus; whom yeiJohnvii.s9: ra dehvered up, and n denied him in the presence of Pilate, m MattVxxvii. when he was determined to let him ffo. 14But ve denied nitatt. xxvii. 20. Mark "the Holy One ^and the Just, and desired a murderer to Siu!'m2o*° be granted unto you ; l5 and killed the Prince of life, IVuifJo:11 9 whom God \Jhath] raised from the deadj r x whereof we ff^ °0 are witnesses. 16 "And his name through faith in his jKeh"; name [v hath] made this man strong, whom ye 7 see and Sv.'27.! know : yea, the faith which is by him * hath given him this Hrt.u.'io: perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 And now, v.'ii.. ' ,°hn brethren, I wot that * through ignorance ye did it, as did J Sf-g- $*¦',,. ch. iv.10: xiv. 9. t Luhe xxiii. 34. Jobnxvl.3. ch.xiii.27. lCor.ii.8. 1 Tim. i. 13. T omit. w render, Servant. x more probably, of whom : see note, ch. ii. 32. 7 render, behold. z render, gave. period of time." Bengel. "See," says Chrysostom, "how he is always connecting God with their ancestors, that he may not seem to be introducing any new doctrine. Before (ch. ii.) he brought in the patri arch David, and now he introduces Abra ham." glorified] Not, as A. V., ' hath glorified,' implying, by thus honouring His name: it is the historic past tense, glorified, viz. by His exaltation through death — Bee John xii. 23; xvii. 10. Not 'His Son,' but His Servant : servant, however, in that distinct and Messianic sense which the same expression bears in Isa. xl. — Ixvi. The abovi meaning is adopted by all the best modern Commentators. in the presence of Pilate, or, perhaps, to the face of Pilate. when he was determined to let him go : see Luke xxiii. 20; John xix. 4, 12. 14. the Holy One and the Just] Not only in the higher and divine sense present to St. Peter's mind, but also by Pilate's own verdict, and the testimony of the Jews' consciences. The sentence is full of antitheses : the "Holy One and the Just" contrasts with the moral impurity of " a murderer," — " the Prince of life," with the destruction of life implied in " murderer," — while "ye killed" again stands in remarkable oppo sition to " the Prince of life." This last title given to our Lord imphes, as the Vul gate renders it, " the Author of life." — It is possible, that the words "Prince of life" may contain an allusion te the great miracle which was the immediate cause of the enmity of their rulers to Jesus. But of course St. Peter had a higher view in the title than merely this. 16.] j The A. V. is right ; through, or better, on account of, faith in his name. The meaning, for the sake of(i. e. of awakening in yon, and in the lame man himself) faith in his name, though grammatically justi fied, seems against the connexion with the Apostle's profession, " whereof we are wit nesses," just before. It is evident to my mind, that the faith in His name, here spoken of, is the faith of these witnesses themselves. His name (the efficient cause), by means of, or on account of (our) faith in his name (the medium), &c. yea, the faith which is [wrought] by him — not * faith in Him ;' which is an inadmis sible rendering. Peter's own words (1 Pet. i. 21) are remarkably parallel with, and the best interpreters of, this expression : " who by Him do believe in God that raised Him up from tlie dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Some of the Commentators are anxious to bring in the faith of the lame man himself in this verse. Certainly it is according to analogy to suppose that he had such faith, from and after the words of Peter : — but, as certainly, there is no allusion to it in this verse, and the thread of Peter's discourse would bp broken by any sueh. It is the firm belief in His name on the part of us His witnesses, of which he is here speaking, as the medium whereby His name (the Power of the great dignity to which He has been exalted, the authorship of life)_ had in this case worked. 17.] now, introducing a new consideration: see 2 Thess. ii. 6. Here it softens the severer charge of ver. 14: sometimes it intensifies, as ch. xxii. 16 ; 1 John ii. 28 : — especially with " behold," ch. xiii. 11 ; xx. 22. No meaning such as ' now that the real Messiahship of Him whom ye have slain is come to light' (Meyer) is admis sible, brethren, still softening his tone, and reminding them of their oneness of blood and covenant with the speaker. through ignorance] There need be 670 THE ACTS. III. Isa. 1. 0: liii. 5, So. Dan. ix. 26 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. y ch. ii. 88. uLukexxiv. also your rulers. 18 But u those things, which God before xfs'xxH bsid shewed Tby the mouth of all a his prophets, that D Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19 * Repent ye therefore, and c be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, &when the times of refreshing shall come from tho presence of the Lord ; 20 and e he shall send f Jesus Christ, «ch.i.ii. which before was preached unto you: 21 z whom the heaven a read, the. D read, his Christ. c literally, turn about. 4 render, that the times of refreshing may come. See note. e render, that he may. i read and render, Christ Jesus, who was before appointed unto you : or perhaps better, him who was before appointed your Messiah, even Jesus. See note. no difficulty in the application of the term " ignorance" to even the rulers of the Jews. It admits of alldegrees— from theunlearned, who were implicitly led by others, and hated Him because others did, — up to the most learned ofthe scribes, who knew and rightly interpreted the Messianic prophecies, but from moral blindness, or perverted expec- , tations, did not recognize them in our Lord. Even Caiaphas himself, of whom apparently this could least be said, may be brought under it in some measure: ei)en he could hardly have delivered over Jesus to Pilate with the full consciousness that He was the Messiah, and that he himself was ac complishing prophecy by so doing. Some degree of ignorance there must have been in them all. 18. Of all the prophets] See Luke xxiv. 27 and note. There is no hyperbole, nor adaptation to Jewish views. The assertion of the Eabbinical books, " All the prophets together prophesied not but of the days of the Messiah," was not merely a Jewish view, but the real truth. — The prophets are here regarded as one body, actuated by one Spirit: and the sum of God's purpose, shewn by their testimony, is, that His Christ should suffer. 19. that your sins may be' blotted out] The faith implied in the command; " Be converted," has for its aim, is necessarily (by God's covenant, see Jphn iii. 15, 18) ac companied by, the wiping out of sin. that the times of refreshing may come] This passage has been variously rendered and explained. To deal first with the ren dering, — that of the A. V., — " when the times . . . shall come," — is entirely un justifiable, and alien from the meaning of the words. They can have but one sense, — that given in the marginal reading. This being so, what are the times (for such is the right reading, and not "times" only) of refreshment? What is refresh ment ? Clearly, from the above rendering, some refreshment, future, and which their conversion was to bring about. But hardly, from what haS been said, refreshment in their own hearts, arising from their con version : besides other ebjections, the fol lowing words, may come from the presence of the Lord, are not likely to have been used in that case. No other meaning, it seems to me, will suit the words, but that pf the times of refreshment, the great season Of joy and rest, which it was under stood the coming of the Messiah in His glory was to bring with it. That this should be connected by the Apostle with the conversion of the Jewish people, was not only according to the plain inference from prophecy, but doubtless was one of those things concerning the kingdom of God, which he had been taught by his risen Master. The same connexion holds even now. If it be objected to this, that thus we have the conversion of the Jews- re garded as bringing about the great times of refreshment, and those times consequently as delayed by their non-conversion, I answer, that, however true this may be in fact, the other is fully borne out by the manner of speaking in Scripture: the same objection might lie against the efficacy oi prayer. See Gen. xix. 22; xxxii. 26; Mark vi. 5 ; 2 Thess. ii. 3; 2 Pet. iii. 12. from the presence of the Lord (the Father), who has reserved these seasons in His own power. When they arrive, it is by His decree, which goes forth from His presence. Compare the expression " there went out a decree from Casar Augustus," in Luke ii. 1. 20.] and that he may send (see above), literally, — not figura tively, by the Spirit : — even if the word send be nowhere else applied to the second coming of the Lord, there is no reason why it should not be here: the whole 18—25. THE ACTS. 671 must receive until the times of a 8 restitution of all things, b h which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 2S [} For] Moses f truly] said [i unto the fathers], c A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, whioh will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. 2* Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. 35 a Ye are a Matt. xvii. 11. b Luke i. 70. o Peat, xviii. 15,18,19. ch. vii. S7. d ch. ii. SO. Rom.ix.4, 8: xv. 8. Gal. iii. 26. S better, restoration, as strictly corn same expression is used. h render, for perspicuity, of which times * omit : not in the original. with Matt. xvii. 11, where 1 omit. ground and standing-point of these two orations of Peter are peculiar, and the very mention of the 'times of refresh ment ' proceeding forth from the presence of the Father would naturally lead to the position here assigned to the Son, as one sent by tbe Father. See below, on ver. 26. who was before appointed] befere appointed, as apparently in ch. xxii. 14 (marginal reading). unto you, — as your Messiah. 21. whom the heaven must receive] The words thus translated admit of a double rendering : (1) ' Whom the heaven must receive/ (2) ' Who must possess the heaven.' Of these the former is in my view decidedly preferable, both as best suiting the sense, and as being the natural rendering, whereas the other is forced. The reason given by Bengel for rejecting the right rendering, " To be re ceived, i. e. contained, shut into, the heaven, is a violent interpretation, and seems to imply, that the heaven is greater than Christ, and to detract from His exaltation above all heavens," is best answered by himself, " Tet there is a sense, in which it may be said that the heaven receives Christ, viz. that it admits Him, as a throne its proper King;" only I would ratber understand it locally, and recog nize a parallel expression with that in ch. i., also local, " a cloud received Him out of their sight." And so far from seeing in it any deregatipn from the Majesty of Christ, it seems to me ad mirably to set it forth: it behoves the heaven (which is his, obeying his will) to receive Him till the time appointed. until] Not during, as the advocates of the present spiritual sense of the passage wish to render it, but until ; see below. The key both to the censtruction and mean ing here, is our Lord's saying, Matt. xvij. 11, " Mias truly first cometh, and shall restore all things. Prom this we see that the restoration of all things stands alone -. and that which does not belong to " all things" Next, what is this restora tion % According to the usage of the word, it cannot be applied to the works of the Spirit in the hearts of men, but must be understood of the glorious restoration of all things, the regeneration (Matt. xix. 28), which, as Peter here says, is the theme of all the prophets from the begin ning. — No objection can be raised to this frpm the meaning ef the word times : see ch. vii. 17, and St. Peter's own language, 1 Pet. i. 20, " in the last times." — On the testimony of the prophets, see ver. 18 nete. 22.] This citaticn is a free but faith ful paraphrase pf the text in Deuteronomy. — That the words, as spoken by Moses, seem to point to tho whole line of pro phets sent hy God, is not any objection to their being applied to Christ, but rather necessitates, and entirely harmonizes with, that application. See the parable Matt. xxi. 33 — 41. And none of the whole pro phetic body entirely answered to the words like unto me, but Christ. The Jews there fore rightly understood it (though not always consistent in this, comp. John i. 21 with vi. 14) of the Messiah. 24.] See ver. 18, note. — St. Peter's aim is to shew the unanimity of all the prophets in speak ing of these times. — Samuel is named, more as being the first great prophet after Moses, than as bearing any part in this testimony. The prophetic period of which 672 THE ACTS. III. 26. e Gen. xii. S: xviii. 18: xxii. 18: xxvi. 4 : xxviii. 14. Gal. iii. 8. t Matt. x. 6 : xv. 24. Luke xxiv. 47. xiii. 32, 83, 46. Ever. 22. Matt. i. 81. a Luke xxii. 4. ch.v. 24. b Matt. xxii. 23. Acts xxiii. 8. the 1 children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with m our fathers, saying unto Abraham, e And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 f Unto you first God, having raised up his n Son [* Jesus] , g sent him, ° to bless you, h in turning away "ch! every one of you from P his iniquities. IV. *And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the ¦ captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 b being grieved that they taught the people, and preached 1 through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold until the next day ; for it was now eventide. 4 How- 1 omit. m or, your. 0 render, blessing. P read, your. * render, sons. n render, Servant. ^1 render, in : see note. David was the ch ef prophet, began in Samuel. these days] i. e. these days now present, no the times of restoration, as some understand : which would require " those days." ' These days ' are, in fact, connected with he times of restoration, as belonging to t' e same dispensation and leading on to them ; and thus the Apostle identifies the then time with this pre paration for and expectation of those glories : but to make "these days" identical with the times rf refreshing and the times of restitution, is to make him contradict himself. 23.] He applies this to them as being inheritors of the promises. They were descendants, ac cording to the flesh, and fellow-partakers, according to the spirit. — Por a full com ment on this promise made to Abraham, see Gal. iii. 16. 26.] first : implying the offer to the Gentiles (but as yet, in Peter's mind, only by embracing Judaism) afterwards : see ch. xiii. 46 ; Bom. i. 16. — It is strange how Olshausen can suppose that the Spirit in Peter overleapt the bouuds of his subsequent prejudice with regard to the admission of the Gentiles .- — he never had any such prejudice,, but only against their admission uncircumcised, and as Gen tiles, raised up, not 'from the dead .-' but as in ver. 22. Again, not His Son, but His Servant : see note, ver. 13. sent him, indefinite, of the sending in the flesh ; it does not apply to Represent time, but to God's procedure in raising up His Servant Jesus, and His mission and ministry : and is distinct frem the sending speken ef in ver. 20. This is also shewn by the present participle, blessing you, inge niously, but not quite accurately rendered in the A. V. ' to bless you.' He came blessing yon (His coming was an act of blessing) — in (as the conditional element of the blessing) — turning every one from your iniquities : thus conferring on you the best of blessings. The word blessing is chosen in allusion to the terms of the prophecy, ver. 25. The application to the present time is made by inference : — ' as that was His object then, so now .-' — but the discourse is unfinished. — It did not come to a final ccnclusion as in ch. ii. 36, because it was interrupted by the appre hension of the Apostles. Chap. IV. 1—4.] Apprehension and IMPRISONMENT OP THE TWO APOSTLES. 1.] the priests, i. e. the officiating priests, as soon as they were released from their duties. — The captain of the temple was the chief officer of the Levitical guard of the temple. In 2 Mace. iii. 4, we hear of the governor of the temple, who appears to have been the same officer. the Sad ducees] See note on Matt. iii. 7. Perhaps they on this occasion had moved the guard and the priests to notice the matter : for the statement in the next verse of the offence given by preaching the resurrection, seems only to refer to them. Compare also ch. v. 17. 2.] in Jesns,— not, as A. V., 'through Jesus,' but in the person (or example) of Jesus, alleging Him as an example of that which the Sadducees de nied : preaching by implication, inasmuch as one resurrection would imply that pf all, the resurrectien pf the dead. We have a similiar use ef " in," 1 Cpr. iv. 6, where " in us" means, in the case cf myself and Apellps. • The resurrectien through Jesus' does not appear on the present occasion to IV. 1—13. THE ACTS. 673 beit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. 6 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 and ° Annas the high priest, and°^g|j. Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were ITiiLia- of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, dBy what power, or by what name, a Exod. h. i^ have ye done this ? 8 e Then Peter, filled with the Holy e&Jxlii,' Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole j 10 be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, 'that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, feh.m.6,16. whom ye crucified, e Whom God raised from the dead, even gch.ii.24. by him doth this man stand here before you whole. ,)t 11 h This is the stone which was set at nought of you ^'gj" builders, which is become the head of the corner. SS?iS;«. 12 'Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is i Matt. i. 21. J ch. x. 43. none other name under heaven given among men, whereby J1™"-6- we must be saved. 13 Now when they r saw the s boldness of Peter and r render, beheld. 8 literally, freedom of speech. have formed part of their preaching. 3.] it was now eventide, perhaps, from their adjourning the case till the next day, the second evening, beginning with the twelfth hour : see Matt. xiv. 15, and note. 4. the number of the men] The Greek word for " men " here is that which signifies males as distinguishedfrom females. But it does not appear whether we are to take this strictly as masculine, or more loosely, as if it were the more general term. Meyer thinks the former : Ols hausen, that as yet only men attached themselves to the church (but see ch. i. 14): De Wette objects to the stricter view, that St. Luke does not so reckon, ch. ii. 4 (see however Luke ix. 14, and cf. the parallel place in Matthew): but leaves it undecided. The laxer use of this stricter term occurs Luke xi. 31, and James i. 20. In ch. v. 14, men and women both are mentioned as being added to the Lord. 5 — 12.] The Apostles examined be- pore the Sanhedrim. Peter's speech. 5. their rulers, Ac.] i. e. the rulers &c. ofthe Jews; a construction frequently Used where there can be httle chance of mistaking to whom or what the pronoun refers. The rulers, elders, and scribes together make up the Sanhedrim, or great council : see Matt. ii. 4 ; xxvi. 59 ; ch. v. 21. 6. at Jerusalem] Why is this spe cified? I believe it merely implies that the meeting was not held in the temple, but in the city. On Annas and Caiaphas, both called high priests, Luke iii. 2, — see note there. 7.] By {literally, in) what (manner of) power? of what kind was the enabling cause, the element in which, as its conditipn, the deed was wrought ? — by (in, see above) what (manner of) name, spoken as a word of power: see ch. iii. 6, 16. this, — not the teaching (as some think), — nor both the miracle and the teaching (as others), but the miracle : and that only. 8.] filled with the Holy Ghost, i. e. specially, for the oc casion. 10.] whom ye crucified, whom God raised . . . the copula (and, or but) is omitted, to make the contrast more striking. 11.] See Matt. xxi. 42, note. 18^-18.] Consultation and sentence 674 THE ACTS. IV. j Matt. xi. 26. John, j * and perceived that thev were unlearned and 1 Cor. i. 27. ' J J ignorant men, they marvelled ; and they n took knowledge of them, that they x had been with Jesus. u And behold- k eh. ui. n. ing the man which was healed k standing with them, they could say nothing against it. ls But when they had com manded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred i John xi. 47. among themselves, 16 saying, 1 What 7 shall we do to these men ? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by inch. iii. g,u>. them is m manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. 17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us z straitly threaten them, that nch.v.46. they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18 n And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John oeh.v.so. answered and said unto them, ° Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, puh's2.8! judge ye. 20 p For we cannot but speak the things which qfjchnii.1i,'s. * we a have seen and heard. 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding h nothing how 'LuleS'e!8' they might punish them, r because of the people: for all Jh!™"' men e glorified God for sthat which was done. 22 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed. tch.xu.u. 23 And being let go, 'they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 2* And when they heard that, they lifted up * render, having also previously known. u render, recognized. * render, Were. 7 letter, must we do. z literally, threaten them with threats. a render, saw. h iefier> no means. 0 render, were glorying. op the Sanhedrim. 13.] having pre- added to the inhibition of ver. 18. viously known, i. e. they did not then per- finding no means] The difficulty with the ceive it for the first time; this is stated as the Sanhedrim was, to find any means of pun- reason for their wonder: net as the A. V. ishing them which sheuld not stir up the they recognized them; their astonish- people. 22.] The circumstance of his ment setting them to think, and reminding being more than forty years old both gave them that they had seen these men with notoriety to his persen as having long re- Jesus :— that they (once) were with Jesus, sorted there, and made the miracle more 18.] in (literally, upon) the name of. notable, his malady being more confirmed. Jesus; i.e. so as to make that Name tbe 23—31.] Prater op the church subject (basis) of their discoursing. thereupon. 23.] their own eom- 19—22.] The Apostles' answer and pany, i. e. the other Apostles, and possibly dismissal. 21.] when they had further some others assembled with them. There threatened them ;— i.e. with threats super- is nothing in ver. 31 to mark that only 14—81. THE ACTS. 675 n 2 Kings xix. 16. their voice to God with one accord, and said, a Lord, u thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is : 26 who by the mouth of e thy servant Bavid hast isaid, x Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things ? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 2? For * of a truth against z thy holy S child Jesus, a whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gen tiles, and the people of Israel, were h gathered together, 28 " for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel deter mined before to be done. 29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings : and grant unto thy * servants, c that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 3Q by stretching forth thine hand to heal, d and that signs and wonders may be done e by the name of f thy holy S child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, Bthe place was shaken where they were assembled together ; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, h and they spake the word of * This is not "Eyrie," the usual word for Lord, as in verses 26, 29, but "Despota," signifying Master. e read, our father David thy servant. f read, said by the Holy Spirit. B render, Servant. 11 read, gathered together in this city. 1 This is the word " doulois," signifying bondservants, not as in verses 27, 30. y Matt. xxvi. 8. Luke xxii. 2 : xxiii. 1,8. z Luke i. 35. a Luke iv. 18. John x. 86. bch. ii.!S: iii. 18. ever. 18, 81. ch.ix. 27: xiii. 46: xiv. S: xix. 8: xxvi. 26: xxviii. 31. Eph.vi. 19. dch.ii.48: v. 12. ech. iii. 6,16. f ver. 27. e ch. ii. 2, 4: xvi. 26. h ver. 39. the Apostles were present on this occasion. 24. they lifted up their voice to God with one accord] i. e. not, as Meyer supposes, literally all speaking together in a known formula of prayer, but led by some one, and all assenting; not "their voices," but their voice : see note on ch. ii. 6. thou art God, which hast made] It is an acknowledgment that it was the same God, who was now doing these things, that had heforetime prophesied them of Christ. 27.] The for implies an acknow ledgment of the truth of God in the ful filment of the prophecy: Thou art the God who hast, &c, for these events have happened accordingly. The clause, in this city, which has been excluded from the text on account of its apparent re dundance, answers to the clause " on his holy hill of Zion," Ps. ii. 6. See also Matt, xxiii. 37; Luke xlii. 33. The parts of this verse correspond accurately to those of the prophecy just quoted. The ap pellation here given to pur Lord is not " child," but Servant, as before, ch. iii. 26. Jesus; the Servant of Jehpvah, is the anti type and ccmpletipn pf David, and pf all other servants pf the Lprd : what is said pf them only partially and hyperbolically, is said Uterally and entirely of Him. 28.] There is an ellipsis in the thought between the verb to do, and its object whatsoever, &c. : '.' to do [as they thought, their own counsel ; but really] whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined." thy hand and thy counsel] thy hand in dicates the Power, thy counsel the Wisdom of God. The Wisdom decreed, the Hand performed. 81.] As the first out pouring of the Spirit; so this special one in answer to prayer, was testified by an outward and visible sign : hut net by the same sign, — for that first baptism by thp Holy Ghost, the great fulfilment of the promise, was not to be repeated. It was on every ground probable that the token of the especial presence of God would be some phenomenon which would be recog- 676 THE ACTS. IV. 32— 37. I ch. v. 12. Bom. xv. 5, 6. 2 Cor. xiii- 11- Phil. i. 37 : ii. 2. lPet. iii. 8. t nil. ii. 44. lch.i.8. m ch. i. 22. n ch. ii. 47* God with boldness. 32And the multitude of them that believed l were of one heart and of one soul : k neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things common. 33 And with * great power gave the apostles m k witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus : and n great grace was upon them all. 3i l Neither was there any among them oeh.ii.45. that lacked: "for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things P ver. 37. ch. that were sold, 35 p and laid them down at the apostles' feet j q and distribution was made unto every man accord ing as he had need. 36And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of m consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of q ch. ii. 45: vi. 1. k render, their witness. m better, exhortation. nixed as such by those present. The idea was not derived from profane sources, as seme would have us believe, but from the Scriptures : see Ps. xxix. 8 ; Isa. ii. 19, 21 ; xiii. 13; Kzek. xxxviii. 19 (especially); Joel iii. 16; Hagg. ii. 6, 7. they were all filled with a fresh and renewed out pouring. 32 — 37.] The state of the chttboh: at this time. This passage forms the conclusion of this division of the history, and the transition to ch. v. 32.] " Where faith reigns, it conciliates men's minds so that all will the same thing. Por hence comes discord, because we are not ruled by this divine spirit of Christ." Calvin. On the community, of goods, see note at ch. ii. 45. We have the view there taken strikingly confirmed here by the expres sions used. No one called (reckoned) any thing of his goods (which were still " his goods," not alienated) [to be] his own. No one called his possessions his own : this shews, says Bengel, that he had not altogether in reahty renounced the posses sion of them. 33.] The Apostles were the specially appointed witnesses of the Resurrection, ch. i. 22 : and this their tes timony they gave with power, i. e. with a special gift of the Holy Spirit to enforce and illustrate, to persuade and dispute on, those facts of which their own experience (see ver. 20) informed them. That the Spirit did not inspire them with unbroken uniformity in matters of fact, our present Gospels, the remnants to us of this very testimony, sufficiently witness. Nor was this necessary : each man reported what render, For neither. he had heard and seen; — and it was in the manner of delivering this report that the great power of the Spirit was shewn. See, on the whole subject, Introduction, ch. i. § iii. 5 ff. great grace, i. e. from God: this is better than to understand it "great favour," i. e. from the people, which would hadly be so absolutely designated. 34.] Por gives a proof of God's grace work ing in them, in that they imparted then- goods to the poor: see especially 2Cor.viii.7. the things that were sold] Literally, the things which were being sold : — the process of selling, as regarded the whole church, yet going on, though completed in individual cases. 35. at the apostles' feet] This expression is to be literally taken. The Apostles probably sat upon a raised seat, on the step of which, at their feet, the money was laid, in token of reve rence. 36.] Barnabas, in Hebrew "the son of prophecy," — and the inter pretation has been generally made good by taking the word rendered by the A. V. " consolation," in the sense of exhortation : see ch. xi. 23. a Levite] Tho Levites might possess land at all times within the precincts of the Levitical cities : such was the case, for example, in Jer. xxxii. 7. At the division ofthe kingdoms, the priests and Levites all resorted to Kehoboam in Judah (and Benjamin), 2 Chron. xi. 13; from that time probably, but certainly after the captivity, when the Mosaic division of the land was no longer accurately observed, the possession of land by Levites seems to have been alllowed. The whole subject is in volved in some uncertainty : compare Levit. V. 1—5. THE ACTS. 677 us, 37 'having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. V. -1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, a and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 b But Peter said, Ananias, why hath c Satan filled thine heart to he to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land ? * Whiles it remained, was it not thine own ? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power ? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart ? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 6 And Ananias hearing d these words fell down, and gave up the ghost : and great fear came on r vep. 34, ss. ch. v. 1, 2. a ch. iv. 87. b Num. xxx. 2. Deut,. xxiii. 21. Eccles. v. 4. e Luke xxii. 3. xxv. 32 ff. ; Num. xxxv. 1 — 8 ; Deut. xii. 12; xviii. 8, al. of the country cf Cyprus] Fur the state pf Cyprus at this time, see netes en ch. xi. 19 ; xiii.' 4—7. ' Chap. V. 1 — 11.] The histoet ob Ananias and Sapphika. This incident, though naturally connected with the end of the last chapter, forms an important independent narrative. 1.] Ananias signifies in Hebrew, — The cloud of God, or The mercy of God. Sapphira is pro bably a Greek name for the piecious stone sapphire. — The crime of these two is well described by Meyer : * By the sale ef their field, and the bringing in ef the money, they in fact prcfessed to give the whole price as a gift ef brotherly love to the common stock : but their aim was to get for themselves the credit of holy love and zeal by one portion of the price, whereas they had selfishly kept back the other por tion for themselves. They wished to serve two masters, but to appear to serve only One.' 8.] The question implies the power of resistance to Satan, and is equiva lent to, Why hast thou allowed Satan to fill, &c. 1 4.] Whiles it remained, did it not remain (so Uterally) thine own 1 i. e. was it not in thine absolute power ? and when sold, was it not (i. e. the price of it) in thine own power, to do with it what Seemed good to thee ? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart ? lite rally, put this thing in thine heart, Dan. i. 8; Mai. ii. 2. Satan suggested the lie, which Ananias ought to have repelled; instead of that, he put it in his heart, — placed it there where the springs of action are, and it passed out into an act. thou hast not lied nnto men, bnt unto God] This mode of expression, not .... but .... is not always an absolute and exclusive negation and assertion, see Mark Vol. I. ix. 37 ; John xii. 44. But here it seems to be sp, and to . imply, ' Thine attempt to deceive was net to deceive us, men; but to deceive the Hely Ghpst,— Gpd, abiding in His church, and in us its appcinted super intendents.' This verse is of weighty doc trinal import, as proving the Deity of the Holy Spirit; unless it be held, that the Holy Spirit whom (ver. 3) Ananias at tempted to deceive, and God to whom he lied, are different. Bengel says, " This is the meaning : Ananias lied to God and His Spirit, not to men and Peter. Dare if thou canst, O Socinian, to say, he lied not to the Holy Ghost and to Peter, but to God." 5.] The deaths of Ananias and Sap phira were beyond question supernaturally inflicted by Peter, speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the only honest interpretation of the incident. Many, however, and among them even Neander, attempt to account for them on natural grounds, — from their horror at detection, and at the solemn words of Peter. But, in addition to all other objections against this (see en ver. 9.),— it weuld make man and wife of the same temperament, which weuld be very unlikely. We surely need not require any justification for this ju dicial sentence of the Apostle, filling as he did at this time tbe highest place in the church, and acting under the immediate prompting of the Holy Spirit. If such, however, be sought, we may remember that this was the first attempt made by Satan to obtain by hypocrisy, a footing among Christ's flpek : and that however, for wise reasons, this may since then have been permitted, it was absolutely necessary in ^ the infancy of the church, that such attempt should be at once, and with se verity, defeated. Bengel remarks : " That severity of punishment which was inflicted y y 678 THE ACTS. v; all them that heard n these things. 6 And the young men e John xix. 40. arose, " wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 7 And it was about the space of three hours' after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed t ver.?8. Matt, together f to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10 B Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost : and the young men ° came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. u h And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. 11 read, it. ° render, when they came in, found. on them in the body, might perhaps have her, perhaps to her salutation .- but more g ver. 6. h ver. 5. ch. ii. 43; xix. )7. been spared their souls." and great fear came ....]" They that heard these things" can hardly be those present, who not only heard, but saw : the remark is anticipatory, and is in fact equivalent to that in ver 11. 6.] Were these young men a class in the congregation accustomed to perform such services, — or merely the younger men, from whom they would na turally be expected P Some maintain the former : some the latter. We can hardly assume, as yet, any such official distinctions in the congregation as would mark off younger men from the elders, which latter are first officially mentioned ch. xi. 30. Besides which, we have no such eccle siastical class as these younger men. And the use of a different word in the original, "the youths," in ver. 10, as applying to these same persons, seems to decide that they were merely the younger members of the church, acting perhaps in accordance with Jewish custom, — perhaps also on some hint given by Peter. wound him up] So Ezek. xxix. 5 ; Tobit xii: 13 ; Ecclus. xxxviii. 1&, wrapped the body up, — pro bably in their own mantles, taken off in preparing to carry him out. The context will not permit any more careful enfolding of the body to be understood. — The speedy burial of the dead, practised among the later Jews, was unknown in earlier times, see Gen. xxiii. It was grounded on Num. xix. 11 ff. The practice was to bury before sunset of the same day. The immediate burial in this case adds to the probability that the young men obeyed an intimation from the Apostle. 8.] answered unto probably to that which he knew to be her intent in entering in before him. so much, naming the sum : or perhaps pointing to the money lying at his feet. 9.] To try the omniscience of the Spirit then visibly dwelling in the Apostles and the church, was, in the highest sense, to tempt the Spirit of God. It was a saying in their hearts "There is no Holy Spirit :' and certainly approached very closely to a sin against the Holy Ghost. Peter charac terizes the sin more solemnly this second time, because by the wife's answer it was now proved to be no individual lie of a bad and covetous man, but a preconcerted scheme to deceive God. the feet of them ] Not that Peter heard the tread of the young men outside (they were probably barefooted), but it is an expression common in the poetical or lively description of the Hebrews, and indeed of all nations (see Isa. lii. 7 j Nah. i. 15 ; Kom. x. 15) ; making the member whereby the person acts, the actor. I take the words to mean, that the time was just at hand for their return : see James v. 9. The space of three hours was not too long : they would have to carry the corpse to the burying-ground at a considerable distance from the city, and when there, to dig a grave, and bury it. shall carry thee out] This word, spoken before her death, decisively proves that death to have been not a result merely of her detection, but a judicial infliction. 10.] when they came in : not im plying that they immediately entered, but leaving room for some interval of time : see above. 6—17. THE ACTS. 679 12 And ' by the hands of the apostles were many signs > f^*% and wonders wrought among the people ; k and they were xiv. S: xix. 11. Rom. xv. 10. 2 Cor. all with one accord in Solomon's porch. 13 And 'of the ,_«"*"' " in oh. ii. 47 iv. 21. . ..,.,„ kch,iii.ll: rest durst no man join himself to them : m but the people uTi?ix. s?. magnified them. 14 And believers were the more added to s?'42 'v the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. 15 Inso much that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, n that at the least the n^'sii!x'ch.' shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of X11'12' them. 16 There P came also 9 a multitude [r out] of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing °" sick folks, and ° 5|f jjjj- 17- them which were vexed with unclean spirits : and they **Y' u' were healed every one. 17 p s Then the high priest rose up, and all they that pch.iv.i,s,6. 1 render, the. 8 render, But. to him the promise of Matt. xvi. 18 (see note there) : — and even the shadow of the Bock (Isa. xxxii. 2, Heb., and E. V., spoken primarily of His divine Master) was sought for. We need find no stumbling-bloek in the fact ef Peter's shadow having been believed to be the medium (er, as is surely implied, having been the medium) ef work ing miracles. Cannot the 'Creator Spirit' work with any instruments, or with none, as pleases Him ? And what is a hand or a voice, more than a shadow, except that the analogy of the ordinary instrument is a greater help to faith in the recipient? Where faith, as apparently here, did not need this help, the less likely medium was adepted.— See, en the whele, ch. xix. 12, and nete : and remark that pnly in the case ef our Lord (Luke viii. 46 and parallel places) and His two great Apostles in theNew Test., — and of Elisha in the Old Test., have we instances of this healing virtue in the mere contact with or accessories of the person. But what a fertile harvest pf superstition and imppsture has been made te spring out of these scanty examples ! 16. J Observe, that the sense is, that 'the mul titude, &c, was cerning together te Jeru salem, bringing, &c, — and all such were healed:' viz. when the next incident, which forms a contrast to this waxing prosperity ef the Church, happened. 17 — 42.] Impbisonment, mtbaoulous libebation, examination bepobe the sanhedbim, and scoub&ing op the Apostles. 17. the high priest] Annas, — ch. iv. 6, and note on Luke iii. 2. rose up is not redundant, but imphes P render, were coming. r omit. 12—16.] Pboobess op the Faith ; mieaoulous poweb, and dignity, op the Apostles. 12.] they were all, i. e. the Apostles only, not all the Chris tians. It does not follow from the word all referring to all the believers in ch. ii. 1 (see note there), that it necessarily refers to the same here also. The Apostles are the subject of the paragraph : and it is to set forth their unanimity and dignity that the description is given. They are represented as distinct from all others, behevers and nnbehevers (beth which I take to be in cluded under the term " the rest") : and the Jewish people itself magnified them. The further connexion see on ver. 14. Solomon's porch] See ch. iii. 11 ; John x. 23, note. 13.] the rest : i. e. all else, whether believers or not : none dared to join himself to, as being one of, or equal to, them : but (se far was this frpm being the case that) the very multitude magnified them. 14.] And (these clauses are net parenthetical, but continue the deseriptien cf the dignity pf the Apestles) the result ef this was, that believers were the more added to the lord, multitudes of men and women. 15.] This verse now takes up afresh the main subject of w. 12 and 13, the glorification of the apostolic office, insomuch that It is con nected not only with the multitude mag nifying them, but also with ver. 12. into the streets] literally, down [the] Streets, i. e. in the line of the streets. the shadow of Peter] As the greatest, in pre-eminence and spiritual energizing, ef the Apestles. Now especially was fulfilled Y 680 THE ACTS. V. r ch. xii. 7 xvi. 26. B John vi. 68 : xvii. S. 1 John v. 11. were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and q Lake xxi. 12. were filled with * indignation, 18 * and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in uthe common prison. 19 But r x the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people s all the words of this life. 21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple y early in the morning, and taught. ' But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, 23 saying, The prison truly found we shut z with all safety, and the keepers standing [a without] before the doors : but when we had opened, we found no man within. 34,Now when ["the c high priest and] ° the captain of the temple and the chief u literally, public custody. 7 render, at the break of day. u Luke xxii. 4. ch. iv. 1. * literally, zeal ; or jealousy. x render, an. z render, in all security. D omitted by most of our oldest authorities. ° render, priest. being excited by the popularity of the Apostles, and on that account commencing a course of action hostile to them. " He thought he ought to be quiet no longer." Bengel. "He was roused to action by what had been done." Chrysostom. To suppose that the High Priest 'rose up' after a council held is far-fetched, and against the following words, which point to the kindhng zeal ef men first stirred up tp action. they that were with him: (see ch. iv. 13; xix. 38; xxii. 9.) — Not the members of the Sanhedrim: but the friends and kindred (ch. iv. 6) ofthe High Priest : see ver. 21. which is the sect of the Sadducees] which is implies more than who were : — the movement extended through the whole sect. On the sect of the Sadducees, see Matt. iii. 7, note. Jose phus also shews that the family of Annas, if not he himself, were connected with the sect of the Sadducees. They (see ch. iv. 1, note) were the chief enemies of the Apostles, for teaching the resurrection. 20.] all the words of this life, an unusual expression, seems to refer to" the pecuhar nature of the enmity shewn to wards them by the Sadducees, for preaching the resurrection unto life : as if it were said, 'all the words of this HFE,' which they call in question. Or perhaps the expression may import, that the religion of Jesus had its issue in life. A similar expression, " the word of this salvation," occurs ch. xiii. 26. See also Eom. vii. 24 The de liverance, here granted to all the Apostles, was again vouschafed to Peter in ch. xii., and is there related more in detail. It is there a minute touch of truth, that he should mistake for a dream (ver. 9) what he saw : having lain so long in prison, and his mind naturally dwelling on this his for mer miraculous liberation. 21.] at the break of day: see Luke xxiv. 1, margin. The high priest came to thp ordinary ses sion-chamber in the Temple, on the south side of it, and therefore if theApostles were teaching in Solomon's porch (ver. 12), not in their immediate vicinity. Perhaps the words, which imply that the summons was not issued till after the arrival ofthe High Priest and his friends, may point to a meeting of the Sanhedrim hurriedly and insufficiently called, for the purpcse ef 'packing' it against the Apestles. If sp, they did npt succeed, see ver. 40 : perhaps on account of the arrival of spme whe had been listeners te the Apestles' preaching. all the senate] Probably the elders, including perhaps some who were not members of the Sanhedrim: the well- known foes of Jesus and his doctrine. 18—29. THE ACTS. 681 priests heard these things, they doubted d of them, where unto this would grow. 25 e Then came one and told them, [* saying,] Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence, x for they feared the people, lest they imatt.xxi.38. should have been stoned. 2? And when they had brought them, they set them before the council : and the high priest asked them, 28 saying, * S Did not we straitly com- y<*.iv.is. mand you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, z and z iu'.iof^ii61 intend to bring this man's "blood upon us. 39 Then Peter aMatt.niii. and the [f other] apostles answered and said, b We ought to *ch.'iv.i»,' * render, concerning. e render, And one came. * omit. S Many of our oldest authorities read, We straitly commanded you that &C, without a question. The expression, the senate of the children of Israel, common in the LXX, is perhaps translated from the form of wprds in which they were summoned. 24.] the priest, if genuine (and the varieties of reading seem to havp arisen frem the difficulty it has cccasicned), must designate the High Priest ; net that the werd itself can bear the meaning (cpmpare 1 Mace. xv. 1 and 2), but that the context peiuts out the priest thus designated to be the High Priest. On the captain of the temple, see note ch. iv. 1. He appears to have been summoned to meet the Sanhedrim, perhaps as the offence had taken place within his jurisdiction. But he was pro bably one of the chief priests. These latter were the titular High Priests, partly those who had served the office, partly the presidents of the twenty-four courses, partly the kindred of the High Priest (see Matt. ii. 4). concerning them] i. e. ' con cerning the Apostles,' the persons men tioned in ver. 22 ; not ' these words,' as would appear at first sight. where unto this would grow, i. e. to what this would eome, is the correct translation of the original : not, as some have main tained, 'how this had come about:' nor, ' what was the meaning of this.' 26.] The clause, lest they should have been stoned, depends upon " brought them with out violence" not upon "for they feared the people" 28.] "They ought to have enquired first, How did ye escape ? But as if nothing had happened, they ask them, saying &c." Chrysostom. The same shy ness of open allusion to the names or facts connected with Jesus and the spread of his doctrine may be traced in the words " this name" and " this man's blood," and is a strong mark of truth and circumstan-- tiality. — " The High Priest will not name Jesus : Peter names and celebrates Him." Bengel. to bring this man's blood upon us] Not meaning that divine ven geance would come on them for the murder of Jesus; but with a stress on us — that the people would be incited to take ven geance on them, the Sanhedrim, for that murder. The preceding clause, "ye have filled Jerusalem withy our doctrine," shews this te be their thought. Compare the pointed address of Peter to the Sanhedrim, ch. iv. 8 — 12, and the distinction between them and the people in iv. 21.— This being so, the resemblance between this expression and the imprecation of the people in Matt. xxvii. 25 must not be too closely pressed, though the coincidence is too striking to escape notice. 29.] Peter, by word of mouth; the Apostles, as a body, by assent, implied in his own utterance and their silence. There is no occasion to insert " other," as done in the A. V.— This de fence of Peter divides itself into the pro positions of an ordinary syllogism — (1) The statement of the general truth that we must obey God rather than men : (2) The reduction of the present circumstances under that general truth, as being the work of the Ged pf their Fathers — shewn in his having raised and glorified Jesus, for a definite purpose, to give, &o. — (3) The 682 THE ACTS. C ch. iii. 13, 15 : Xxii. 14. d ch. x. 89 : xiii. 20. Gal. iii. 13. IPet. ii. 24. e ch. ii. SS, 86. PM1. ii. 9. Heh.ii.10:xii. 2. f ch. iii. 15. g Matt. i. 21. £ Luke xxiv. 47. ch. iii. 26: xiii. 88. Eph. i. 7. Col. i. 14. i John XV. 26, obey God rather than men. 30 c The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and d hanged on a tree. 31 e Him hath Cod exalted with his right hand fh to be] f a Prince and * a Saviour, h for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32And 'we are his wit nesses of these * things ; and so is also the Holy Ghost, k whom God hath given to them that obey him. 33 ' When k ch. ii. 4: X. 44, lch.-ii.B7: vii. 54. h omit. identification of themselves with the course of action marked out by the duty of obeyr ing God rather than men ... in that they were bearing witness to God's work, under the' inspiration of the Holy Spirit given them as men obedient to God. — The whole is a perfect model of concise and ready eloquence, and of unanswerable logical coherence ; and a notable fulfilment of the promise " it shall be given you .in that hour what ye shall speak " (Matt. x. 19). We ought to obey] Much stronger than their former saying in ch. iv. 19, "whether it be right . . . to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye," — :aS their con duct, in persisting after prohibition, had been more marked and determined. That was a mere ' listening to ' the proposition then made to them ; this a course of de liberate action, chosen and entered on. to obey God — opposed to the words your doctrine of the High Priest; and to his designation of our Lord as this man. In the background, there would be the com mand of the angel, ver. 20 : but it is not alleged : the great duty of preaching the Gospel of Christ is kept on its highest grounds. 30. The God of our fathers] Thus binding on Christ and his work to the covenant whereof all present were par takers, ye, emphatic: answering to the emphatic "upon us" of the High Priest. on a tree (or, beam of wood)] Compare the similar contrast in ch. iii. 14, 15. The manner of death is described thus barely and ignominiously, to waken compunction in the hearers, to whom the expression was well known as entailing curse and disgrace en the victim. 31.] with (not to) his right hand, as in ch. ii. 33, where see note. The great aim here, as there, is to set forth God as the Doee pf all this. a Prince and a Saviour, net, 'to be a. Prince and a Savicur :' but the words are the predicate cf Him — as a Prince and a Savicur. a Prince] as in ch. iii. 15, which see. and a Saviour] Jesus was tc be King and Captain of Israel, and also their Saviour. The two * literally, words : see note. offices, though inseparably connected in fact, had each its separate meaning in Peter's speech : aPrince— to whom you owei obedience — a Saviour, by whom you must be saved from your sins. for to give, in his Kingly prerogative; repentance and remission of sins, to lead to salvation by him as a Saviour. — The key to this part of the speech is Luke xxiv. 47 — 49, where we have, in our Lord's command to them, the same conjuncticn of repentance and re mission of sins,—a,nd. immediately follows, as here, "ye are witnesses of these things," appointing them to that office which they were now discharging, — and, parallel with the mention of the Holy Ghost in our text, there follows there, " and behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you." By conjoining the Holy Ghost, as a witness, with themselves, — they claim and assert the promise of John xv. 26, 27 : see also the apostolic letter of ch. xv. 28. When we remember how much of the apostolic testimony was given in writing, as well as by word of mouth, this declaration of Peter becomes an important element for judging of the nature of that testimony also. See a very similar conjunction, 1 John v. 9. — They were God's witnesses, in the things which they had seen and heard as men : the Holy Ghost in them was God's Wit ness, in purifying and enlarging by His inspiration that their testimony to facts, and in unfolding, from (and as inseparable from) these witnessed facts,— the things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard. And in the Scripture these same tes timonies are conjoined; that of the Apos tles, holy men under the guidance and reminiscence of the Holy Spirit, faithfully and honestly, reporting those things which fall under human observation: and that of God the Spirit Himself, testifying, through them, those loftier things which no human experience can assure, nor human imagina tion cempass. 82. things] Uterally, words: meaning, histories, things ex pressed in words : see note on Luke i. 4. to them that obey him] He does 30—36. THE ACTS. 683 they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. M j Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named m Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, m<*.ttu-»- had in reputation amoug all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space ; 35 and said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. 36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody ; j render, But there stood. net say, "to us," which might make an unreal distinction between the Apostles and the then believers, and an implied ex clusion of the hearers from this gift, — but generally, to all that obey Him, by this word recalling the opening of the speech, and binding all tpgether. Sp that the sense of the whole is, ' We are acting in obedience to God, and for the everlasting good of our common Israel : and otherwise we cannot do.' And a solemn invitation is implied. * Be ye obedient likewise.' It is remarkable that a similar word, "were obedient to the faith," is used of the mul titude of converted priests, ch. vi. 7. 33:] When they heard that, they were cut asunder (so literally : i. e. in heart). 34.] Gamaliel (see Num. i. 10; ii. 20) is generally, and not without probability, assumed to be identical with the celebrated Rabban Gamaliel, also en titled " the old man," one of the seven, to whom, among their Rabbis, the Jews give this title Rabban, a wise and enlightened Pharisee, the son of Rabban Symeon (tra ditionally the Symeon of Luke ii. 25) and grandson of the famous Hillel. His name often appears in the Talmud, as an utterer of sayings quoted as authorities. He died eighteen years before the destruction of the city. He was the preceptor of St. Paul (ch. xxii. 3). Ecclesiastical tradition makes him become a Christian, and be baptized by Peter and John, and in the Clementine Recognitions, he is stated to have been at this time a Christian, but secretly. The Jewish accounts dp npt agree, which make him die a Pharisee, with much mere probability. Nor is the least trace of a Christian leaning to be found in his speech: see below on ver. 39. And considering that he was a Pharisee, op posing the prevalent faction of Sad- duceism in a matter where the Resurrec tion was called in question, — and a wise and enlightened man opposing furious and unreasoning zealots, — considering also, that when the anti-pharisaical element of Chris tianity was brought out.in.the acts and sayings of Stephen, his pupil Saul was found the foremost persecutor, — we should, I think, be slpw to suspect him ef any favpuring pf the Apestles as followers of Jesus. (See particulars respecting Gamaliel cellected in Cenybeare and Hewspn's St. Paul, edn. 2, vol. i. p: 69, f.) He does not here appear as the president of the Sanhe drim, but only as a member. to put the apostles forth, i. e. to cause them to withdraw. They are recalled in ver. 40. 35.] The words as touching these men may be joined either with take heed to yourselves, or with what ye intend to do. The latter would give the more usual construction: and seems the more probable of the two. 36.] A great chronological difficulty arises hero. Josephus relates, that when Cuspius Fadus was Procurator of Judsea, an impostor named Theudas persuaded a very great multitude to break up their households and follow him to the Jordan, in expectation that he would divide the river for them to go over. He then relates how Fadus sent a squadron of horse. against him, killing many of his followers, and taking many prisoners, and bringing his head to Jerusalem. But this was in the reign of Claudius, not before the year a.d. 44: and consequently at least- twelve years after this speech of Gamaliel's. On this difficulty I will remark, that we are plainly in no position (setting all ether considerations aside) to charge St. Luke with having put into thp mputh pf Ga maliel words which he could not have uttered. For Josephus himself, speaking of a time which would accord very well with that referred to by Gamaliel, viz. the time when Archelaus went to Rome to be confirmed in the kingdom, says, " Mean time numerous seditional movements took place ameng the Jews, many men feeding their ewn ambitipn by the enmity ef the Jews against the Remans, and breaking out in acts of war." And among these there may well have been an impostor of this name. But all attempts to identify Theudas with any other leader of outbreaks 684 THE ACTS. V. 37—42. to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves : who was slain ; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and k brought to nought. s7 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the 1 taxing, and drew away [m much] people after him : he also perished ; and all, [n even] as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. 38And now I say unto you, Refrain nProv.xxi.ao. from these men, and let them alone: "for if this counsel Isa. viii. 10. , ' ' oLutaS'As. or *hig work be of men, it will come to nought; 39 ° but if i cor. i.26. •£ 0 fe 0f qq(j^ yg cann(V|j overthrow it; lest haply ye be ix.'s: 'xxiii. found V even * to fight against God. *°And to him they k render, Came. * render, enrolment. m omitted by our oldest authorities. n omit. 0 render, is : see note. P render, to fight against God alsO< mentioned by Josephus have failed to con vince any one except their propounders. See them quoted in my Greek Test. The assumption of Josephus having misplaced his Theudas is perhaps improbable; but by no means impossible, in an historian teeming with inaccuracies. All we can say is, that such impostors were too fre quent, for any one to be able to say that there was not one of this name, which was by no means uncommon, at the time spe cified. It is exceedingly improbable, con sidering tbe time and circumstances of the writing ofthe Acts, and the evident super vision of them by St. Paul, the pupil of Gamaliel, that a gross historical mistake should have been here put into his mouth. about four hundred hardly agrees with Josephus's words above, "a very great multitude," which may mean even more, the greatest part of the multitude : and this confirms the idea that different events are pointed at in the twe acccunts. But thp Jewish historian speaks very widely about such matters : see note on ch. xxi. 38. 87.] The decided words, after this man, fix beyond doubt the place here assigned to Theudas. The revolt of Judas, and the occasion of his revolt are related by Josephus. It arose on the mission of Quirinus to enrol the inhabitants of Judsea. They took it quietly at first, but afterwards rose in revolt under Judas as their leader. He says he was a Gaulon- ite, from a city named Gamala, and in returning to the mention of him as the founder of the fourth sect among the Jews, he calls him "Judas of Galilee." From the above citation it is plain that this enrolment was that so called beyond all others, under. Quirinus : see Luke ii. 2 and note. His revolt took a theocratic character, his followers maintaining, as Josephus tells us, that God was the only ruler and master. His end is not related by Josephus. were dispersed] Strictly accurate — for they still existed, and at last became active and notorious again, under Menahem, son of Judas the Galilsean, as Josephus also re lates. 88.] if it be of men ... if it is of God: implying by the first, perhaps, the manifold devices of human imposture and wickedness, any of which it might be, and all of which would equally come to nought, — and, on the other hand, the solemnity and fixedness of thedivine purpose by the indica tive mood, which are also intimated by the present tense, ye cannot.— Or perhaps the indipativemeod is used in the second place, because that is the case assumed, and on which the advice is founded. At all events, the distinction ought to be prescribed, which it is not in our A.V. this counsel] The whole plan — the scheme, of which this work, thefact under yourpresentcognizance, forms a part. 39.] He warns them, lest they be found opponents not only to them, but also to God:— 'even' in A.V., does not give the sense. — As regards Gamaliel's ad vice we may remark that it was founded on a view of the issues of events, agreeing with the fatalism of the Pharisees : that it betokens no leaning towards Christianity \ nor indeed very much even of worldly wisdom;— but serves to shew how Ipw the supreme ceunpil of the Jews had sunk both in their theology and their political sagacity, if such a fallacious laissez-aller view of matters was the counsel of the wisest among them. It seems certainly, on a closer view, as if they accepted, from tear of the people (see ver. 26), this oppor- VI. 1, 2. THE ACTS. 685 agreed: and when they had 'called the apostles, 'and qch.iv.is. beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak VarklCo. in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 And they 1 departed from the presence of the council, [s * rejoicing] 'JJ^1 B that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for * his PhiiYm.10' name. 43And daily ' in the temple, and u in every house, f^f.1-2- "they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus * Christ. tlh.u.-s. VI. ^-7 And in z those days, "when the number of the»«i>-ff«fti£- disciples was a multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the "*¦'¦ ' bh Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were beh.ix.29: neglected cin the daily ministration. 3Then the twelve 00h-iT-S5- called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, 1 render, departed rejoicing. 8 render, because. u render, in the houses : see ch. ii. 46. x render, the Christ : i. e. as the Christ. 7 render, But. a render, multiplying. D render, Grecian Jews, or, Hellenists. r omit. * render, the Name. z render, these. tunity cf compromising the matter, which Gamaliel had designedly afforded them. 40. when they had .... beaten them] See Deut. xxv. 2, — for disobedience to their command. 41. the Name] Not "his Name," as A.V., nor "this Name" (as others), but the Name, par excellence, viz. of Christ. So the term " the Name " is used Levit. xxiv. 11, 16. 42.] On in the houses see nete, ch. ii. 46. Chap. VI. 1 — 7.] Election op seven PEBSONS TO SUPERINTEND THE DISTRIBU TION op alms. 1.] But, in centrast to the former entire unity of the church : introducing that great and important chapter in her history, of Judaizing di visions, which from this time onward dis quieted her. in these days] See ch. i. 15 : — but not necessarily as there, 'within a very few days :' the expression is quite indefinite. Some time must have elapsed since ch. iv. 32. The Hellenists were the Grecian Jews : not only those who were themselves proselytes, nor only those who came of families once proselytized,— but all who, on account of origin or habitation, spoke Greek as their ordinary language, and used ordinarily the LXX version. — The Hebrews were the pure Jews, not neces sarily resident in Palestine (for example, St. Paul, who was " an Hebrew, descended from Hebrews." Phil. iii. 5. See also 2 Cor. xi. 22), — nor necessarily of unmixed Jewish descent, else the words of St. Paul just cited would hardly have conveyed an additional distinction, — but rather distin guished by language, as speaking the Syro- Chaldaie, and using the Hebrew Scriptures. were neglected] literally, overlooked. The use of this appropriate word shews, I think, that Olshausen's supposition, that the term, their widows, implies all their poor, is not correct. Those popr whp could attend for themselves and represent their case, were served : but the widows, who re quired more searching out at their own houses, were everlepked. And this because the Apestles, whp certainly before this had the charge ofthe duty of distribution, being already too much occupied in the ministry of the Word to attend personally to it, had entrusted it apparently to some deputies among the Hebrews, who had committed this oversight. It has been shewn by Biscoe, that the Hellenistic Jews were held in low estimation by the Hebrews. in the daily ministration] Some have argued from this, that there must have been 'deacons' before: and that those now elected (see below on their names) were only for the service of the Hellenistic Jews. But I should rather believe that the Apostles had as yet, by themselves or by non-official deputies, performed the duty. The ministration spoken of was the daily distributipn pf food : see on ver. 2. 2.] the multitude of the disciples, — i.e. 'the whole numberoi disciples in Jeru salem:' summoning a general meeting of the church. How many they were in 686 THE ACTS. VI. d Exod. xviii. 17. e Dent. i. 13. ch. i. 21 : xvi. 2. 1 Tim. iii. 7. g ch. xi. 24. h ch. viii. 5, 26: xxi. 8. iEev.ii.8, 15. 4 It is not ° reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, elook ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the a Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we e may appoint over this business. * But we f will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude : and they chose Stephen, « a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and h Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and, Timon, and Parmenas, and * Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch : ° render, our pleasure. * Most of our ancient authorities read, Spirit. e read, will. number at the time, is' not said. Clearly the 120 names of ch. i. 15 cannot be meant. It is not our pleasure] Not, it is not reasonable, as Beza, Calvin, and the A. V. The meaning of the original word is always as above. . leave the word of God] For to this it would come, if the Apostles were to enquire into, and do jus tice in, every case of asserted neglect. serve tables] It is a question, whether this expression import the service of dis tributing money — or that of appprtipning the daily public meals. The latter seems to me most probable, both on account of the word "daily" above, and of the usage of the word ministration. That both kinds of tables may be meant, is possible : but hardly probable. 3. look ye out] The similarity to Gen. xli. 33 may be npticed,, and seems to shew that the leok ye put pf the A. V. is the right rendering. seven men] Seme have suppesed a re ference to the number of nations of which the Hellenistic Jews would per haps be composed: some, to 7000, to which number the believers would by this time amount: some, to the mystic number seven, so common in Jewish writings : — but the best remark is Light- foot's : — ' why seven were to be chosen, let him say, who has boldness to make the guess.' — Some present consideration of convenience probably regulated the number. over this business (or duty)] The duty (see above) was, not that of ministering to the Hellenistic Jews only, but that of superintending the whole distribution. 4.] the ministry of the word, in opposition to the ministry, or serving, of tables. " This is the noblest portion of the work, which no bishop can delegate to another, as be ing himself occupied in more important matters." Calvin. 6.] full of faith,— not in the lower sense pf 'truthfulness,' — but in the higher ef faith, the root of all Christian virtues : see ch. xi. 24. — Of these seven, Stephen and Philip (ch. viii. 5, 26, 40 ; xxi. 8) only are elsewhere mentioned. On the idea of Nicolas having founded the heretical sect of the Nicolai tans, Rev. ii. 6, 15, see note there. From his being called a proselyte of Antioch, some have argued that he only was a prose lyte, and none of the rest : some that all were proselytes, — but the rest, of Jerusa- lem. But neither inference seems justified: rather I should say that the addition simply. imports that he became better known than the rest, from the very circumstance per haps of Antioch. having been afterwards, se impprtant it spot in the Christian history (ch. xi. 19, note). — These names are all Greek : but we cannot thence infer that the seven were all Hellenistic Jews : the Apostles Philip and Andrew bore Greek names, but were certainly not Hellenists. There does appear however, in the case of these two Apostles, to have been a con nexion with Greeks of some sort, see John xii: 20 — 22. Possibly, thpugh Hebrews, they may net have been descended from Hebrews (see above pn ver. 1), but sprung from intermarriage with Hellenists. And se these seven may have been partly He brews, thpugh their names seem to indicate, and their oflice would appear to require, that they were connected with Hellenists, and not likely to overlook or disparage them. The title of ' deacons ' is nowherp applied to these seven in Scripture, nor does the word occur in the Acts at all. In 1 Tim. iii. 8 ff. there is no absolute identification of the duties of deacons with those allotted to these seven, but at the same time nothing to imply that they were different. The universal consent of all Christian writers in regarding this as the institution of tho office of deacons should" 3— I). THE ACTS. 687 6 whom they set before the apostles : and k when they had prayed, ' they laid their hands on them. 1 And m the word of God increased ; and the number of the disciples multi plied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a great f company " of the priests were obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of S faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9 h Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alex- k ch. i. 24. 1 ch. viii. 17: ix. 17 : xiii. S. 1 Tim. iv. 14 : v. 22. 2 Tim. i. 6. m Ch. xii. 24: xix. 20. Col. i.8. n John xii. 42. f render, multitude. S read, grace. ^ render, But. not be overlooked : but at the same time we must be careful not to imagine that we have here the institution of the ecclesi astical order so named. The distinctness of the two is statedby Chrysostom plainly, whose opinion is that these are not to be confounded with any ecclesiastical order, but were merely appointed for the purpose then in hand. So also (Ecumenius. But that the subsequent office Pf deacon was founded upon this appointment, is very probable. The only one of these seven who appears in the subsequent history (ch. xxi. 8) is called " Philip the Evangelist," probably from the success granted him as recorded in ch. viii. 12. In these early days titles sprung out of realties, and were not yet mere hierarchical classifica tions. 6.] they had, viz. the Apostles. Their office of giving themselves to prayer is here specially exercised. — The laying on of hands, the earliest mention of which is connected with blessing only (Gen. xlviii. 14), was prescribed te Moses as the form of conferring office on Joshua, Num. xxvii. 18, and from that time was used on such occasions by the Jews. From its adoption by the Apostles, it has ever been the practice of the Christian church in ordain ing, or setting apart her ministers. It was also used by the Apostles on those who, having been baptized, were to be fully en dowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit : see ch. viii. 17; xix. 6, and Heb. vi. 2. 7.] And, i. e.'on this measure being completed; as would be the case, seeing that these seven were not only servants, of tables, but men full ofthe Holy Ghost and of wisdom : and we soon hear of the part which; Stephen bore in the work. a great multitude of the priests] The number of priests who returned from Babylon, Ezra ii. 36 — 39, was 4289 : and'the number would probably have much increased since then. No evasion of the historian's assertion is to be attempted, as has been done by somo • Commentators.— At this time was probably the culminating point of popularity of the church at Jerusalem. As yet, all seemed going on prosperously for the conversion of Israel. The multitude honoured the Apostles; the advice of Gamaliel had moderated the opposition of the Sanhe drim: the priests were gradually being won over. But God's designs were far different. At this period another great element in the testimony of the church is brought out, in the person of Stephen, — its protest against Pharisaism. This arrays against it that powerful and zealous sect, and henceforward it finds neither favour nor tolerance with either of the parties among the Jews, but increasing and bitter enmity from them both. 8— Ch. VII. 60.] The accusation, DEPENCE, AND MAF.TYEDOM OP STEPHEN. 8.] This is the first instance of any, not an Apostle, working signs and wonders. The power was perhaps conferred by the laying on of the Apostles' hands; though, that having been for a special purpose merely, and the working miracles being a fulfilment of the promise, Mark xvi. 17, 18, to believers, I should rather, refer the power to the eminence of Stephen's faith. full of grace, i. e. divine grace (not ffavour with the people') : the effects of which, the, miracles were called gifts of Grace (charismata, from charis, grace). 9.] The word Libertines is rightly explained by Chrysostom to mean, the freedmen. of the Romans. Philo speaks of a large district of Rome beyond the Tiber as inhabited by Jews, who were mostly freedmen that had originally been brought in captivity to Italy. Tacitus relates under A.D. 19, that a decree of thp senate passed, to banish to Sardinia four thousand liber tines or freedmen, who were infected with Jewish and Egyptian superstitions, and the rest were ordered either to abjure their religion or to. leave Italy. In this Jose phus agrees, relating a story as one of its causes, in which Ida, a freedwoman, we[s 688 THE ACTS. VI. 10—15; andrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing "chlv's1^15 with Stephen, 1° And °they were not able to resist the iyfilML wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. n » Then they p;!?l?^4 suborned men, * which said, We have heard him speak xxvi. 59. 00. blasphemous WOrds against Moses and \^ against] God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13 and set up false witnesses, » which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against l this holy place, and the law : 14s q for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall r destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. q ch. xxv. S. r Dan. ix. 26. 1 render, to Say. * Many ancient authorities read, the holy place. * omit. the agent of the mischief. Here then we have abundant reason for numbers of these Jews of libertine race having come to Jerusalem, being among the rest, who were ordered to quit Italy : and what place so likely a refuge for Jews as Jerusa lem ? — Those who find a difficulty in this interpretation suppose them to have been inhabitants of Libertum, a town in proper or proconsular Africa, from which we find a bishop of Libertum sitting in the synod of Carthage in 411. But none of their suppositions will bear examination, and the best interpretation is the usual one — that they were the descendants of Jewish freedmen at Rome, who had been expelled by Tiberius. — There is no difficulty in their having had a synagogue of their own : for there were 460 or 480 synagogues at Jeru salem. Cyrenians] See ch. ii. 10, note. Alexandrians] Two of the five regions of Alexandria were inhabited by Jews. It was also the seat of the learning and philosophy of the Grecian Jews, which was now at its height. This metropolis of the Hellenists would certainly have a synagogue in Jerusalem. I understand three distinct synagogues to be meant, not withstanding the somewhat equivocal con struction, — and the words "which is called" only to apply to the unusual term " Liber tines." Cilicia was at this time a Reman province, the capital being the free city of Tarsus, see note on ch. ix. 11. — Asia, — not exactly as in ch. ii. 9, where it is distinguished from Phrygia, — here and usually in the Acts implies proconsular Asia, a large and important Roman pro vince, including Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and Phrygia — known also as "Asia this side of the Taurus." 11.] Neander well remarks that this false charge, coupled with the character of Stephen's apologetic speech, shews the real character of his arguments with his opponents: — that he seems to have been the first who plainly set forth the transitory nature of the law and temple, as compared with the per manence of the latter and better covenant, thus being in a remarkable manner the forerunner of St. Paul. 12.] the people, first, — that by means of the popu lar feeling they might act upon the elders and scribes, the members of the Sanhe drim, came npon him] The nine persons, — acting now by the authority of the Sanhedrim; Saul, among those from Cilicia, being, as is afterwards (ch. vii. 58) implied, ameng the foremost,— came upon him, and seized him. 13. false wit nesses] the falsehood of their witness con sisted, as in the similar case of our Lord, in taking Stephen's words out of their con text, and misrepresenting what perhaps in so many words he had actually said. this holy place] The temple: see Matt. xxiv. 15; ch. xxi. 28. 15.] It is a questien with regard to this verse, Does it relate any supernatural appearance, glori fying the face of Stephen, — or merely de scribe the calm and holy aspect with which he stood before the council ? The majority of commentators suppose the latter : and certainly the foregoing description of VII. 1, 2. THE ACTS. VII. ! m Then said the high priest, Are these things so ? 3 And he said, a n Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; a ch.xxiM. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, m render, But the high priest said. n render, Brethren : see ch. i. 16. Stephen would lead us to infer, that there was something remarkably striking in his appearance and demeanour, which over awed his adversaries. But both from the plain language of our text, well understood among the Jews to signify supernatural brightness, and from the fact that in St. Luke's own narrative we have supernatural brightness associated with angelic appear ances r-.ore than once (see Luke ii. 9 ;- ch. xii. 7), I should be inclined to think that the face of the martyr was lighted up with a divine radiance. That the effect on those present was not such as to prevent the examination proceeding, is no argu ment against this view : in the very mild ness of the question of the High Priest which follows, I see the trace of some un usual incident exercising an influence over him. Chrysostom explains well the effect on the council : " God seems to me to have made him beautiful to lepk at, perhaps to prepare the way for his speech, and that he might immediately strike them with his look. For there is, yea there is, in faces full of spiritual grace that which is lovely to those that love them, and strikes awe and fear into those that hate them. Or perhaps the Evangelist mentions it to account for their tolerating his speech. For what answer does the High Priest make ? Do you see, how mildly and un- reproachfully he puts his question P" Chap. VII. 1.] On the High Priest's ques tion, see Chrysostom just quoted. — It is parallel with Matt. xxvi. 62, but singularly distinguished from that question by its mildness : see above. 2 — 53.] Stephen's DEPence. In order to understand this wenderful and semewhat difficult speech, it will be well tc bear in mind, (1) that the general character ef it is apologetic, referring tp the charge made against him : but (2) that in this apology, forgetting himself in the vast subject which he is vindicating, he every where mixes in the polemic and didactic element. A general synopsis of it may be thus given : (1) He shews (apologetically) that, so far from dishonouring Moses or God, he believes, and holds in mind, God's dealings with Abraham and Moses, and grounds upon them his preaching; that, so far from dishonouring the temple, he bears in mind its history and the sayings pf the prophets respecting it ; and he is proceeding,— when (interrupted by their murmurs — or inatten tion ? but see note, ver. 51) he bursts forth into a holy vehemence of invective against their rejection of God, which provokes his tumultuary expulsion from the council, and execution. (2) But simultaneously and parallel with this apologetic procedure, he also proceeds didactically, shewing them that a future Prophet was pointed out by Moses as the final Lawgiver of God's people, — that the Most High had revealed His spiritual and heavenly nature by the prophets, and did not dwell in temples made with hands. And (3) even more re markably still does the polemic element run through the speech. "It is not I, but you, who from the first times till now have re jected and spoken against God." And this element, just appearing ver. 9, and again more plainly vv. 25 — 28, and again more pointedly still in ver. 35, becomes dominant in vv. 39—44, and finally prevails, to the exclusion pf the apologetic and didactic, in vv. 51 — 53.— That other connected pur: poses have been discovered in the speech, as, for example, that so ably followed out by Chrysostom, of shewing that the cove nant and promises were before the law, and sacrifice and the law before the temple, — is to be attributed to the wonderful depth of words uttered like these under the im mediate inspiration of the Hply Spirit, presenting to us, from whichever side they are viewed, new and inimitable hues of heavenly wisdom. Many of these will be brought out as we advance. — The question, from what probable source St. Luke de rived his report of this speech, so pecu liar in its character and citations as to bear, even to the most prejudiced, decisive evidence of authenticity, can be only con- jecturally answered: but in this case the conjecture can hardly be wrong. I have discussed the point in the Introduction to the Acts, ch. i. § ii. 12 (a), 2. Bre thren (men who are brethren), and fathers] So Paul, ch. xxii. 1, before a mixed asseni- ' bly ef Jews. The brethren would embrace all : the fathers would be a title of respect to the members of the Sanhedrim, in this case, but hardly in oh. xxii. 1. The God of glory] Npt equivalent te the glorious God, but the God of (i. e. who possesses and manifests Himself by) glory, viz. the 690 THE ACTS. VII. c Gen. xi. 81 : xii. 4, 5. d Qen. xii. 7: xiii. 15 : xv. S, 18 : xvii. S: xxvi.S. when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 and said unto him, b Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4 Then " came he out of the land of the Chaldseans, and dwell in Charran : and from thence, when his father was dead, ° he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5 And he gave him none in heritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on, d P yet 0 better, for perspicuity, God. Shechinah, or divine appearance, see Exod. xxiv. 16, 17, and ver. 55. — The words pur father decide nothing as to Stephen's genuine Hebrew extraction. Any Jew would thus speak. before he dwelt in Charran] This was the Jewish tradition, though not asserted in Genesis. Thus Philo, having paraphrased the divine com mand, says, "For this reason Abraham is said to have made his first move from the land of the Chaldseans to that of the Char- rasans." But he accurately distinguishes between the divine command, which he obeyed in leaving Chaldaea, and the vision afterwards, adding a reason after his man ner, why God could not be seen nor ap prehended by him while he was yet a Chal- dsean and an astrologer. The fact of his having left TJr by some divine intimation is plainly stated in Gen. xv, 7, and referred to in Neh. ix. 7. It was surely both natu ral and allowable to express this first com- mand in the well-knewn words of the second. Charran] So the LXX for Haran, Gen. xi. 31, &C; 4 Kings xix. 12; Ezek. xxvii. 23. It is in Mesopotamia, and is celebrated in Roman history as Carrhse, where happened the defeat and slaughter of Crassus by the Parthians. It lay on an ancient road, in a large plain surrounded by mountains ; it was still a great city in the days of the Arabian caliphs. 4. when his father was dead] In Gen. xi. 26, we read that Terah lived 70 years and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; in xi. 32, that Terah lived 205 years, and died in Haran ; and in xii. 4, that Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Since then 70 added to 75 makes 145, Terah must have lived about 60 years in Haran after Abram's departure. — It seems evident, that the Jewish chronology, which Stephen fol lows, was at fault here, owing to the cir cumstance of Terah's death being mentioned Gen. xi. 32, before the command to Abram to leave Haran; — it net having been eb- served that the mentien is anticipatory. And this is ccnfirmed by Phile having fallen P render, and. into the same mistake, and stated the re moval of Abraham from Haran, in almost these same words, to have been after his father's death. It is observable that the Samaritan Pentateuch, in Gen. xi. 32, for 205, reads 145, which has most probably been an alteration to remove the apparent inconsistency.' — The subterfuge of under standing the spiritual death of Terah, who is, as a further hypothesis, supposed to have relapsed into idolatry at Haran, appears to have originated with the Rabbis, on discovering that their tradition was at variance with the sacred chronology. They have not been without followers in modern Christendom. See in my Greek Testament instances of unworthy treatment of the assertion in the text in order to evade the difficulty. The way in which it has been met by some commentators, viz. that we have no right to assume that Abram was born when Terah was 70, but may regard him as the youngest son, would leave us in this equally unsatisfactory posi tion : — Terah, in the course of nature, begets his son Abram at 130 (205 minus 75) : yet this very son Abram regards it as incredible that he himself should beget a son at 99 (Gen. xvii. 1, 17) ; and on the fact of the birth of Isaac being out of the course of nature, most important Scrip tural arguments and ' consequences are founded; cf. iv. 17— 21; Heb. xi. 11, 12. We may fairly leave these commentators with their new difficulty : only remarking for our instruction, how sure those are to plunge into hopeless confusion, who, from motives however good, once begin to han dle the word of God deceitfully. God removed him] In these words Stephen clearly recognizes the second command, to migrate from Haran to Canaan : and as clearly therefore made no mistake in ver. 2, but applied the expressed words of the second command to the first injunction. 5. gave him none inheritance in it] There is no occasion here to wrest our text in order to produce accordance with the 3—15. THE ACTS. 691 he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when [4 as yet] he had no child. 6 And God spake on this wise, eThat his seed should eajn.iv. is, sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil 'four hundred f Exod. xii. 40. l • 1 Gal. iii. 17. years. " And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God : and after that shall they come forth, and g r serve me in this place. 8 h And he grave sfExoa.iii.12. ' . . . Oh Gen. xvn. 9, him the covenant of circumcision : ' and so Abraham begat iQm!xxi.2,8, Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; k and Isaac t Gen. xxv. 2». begat Jacob ; and 'Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. '^.f^s1/ 9 m And the patriarchs, moved with envv, sold Joseph into w.'k^ m Gen. xxxvii. Egypt : n s but God was with him, 10 and delivered him ^r]\73S- v'- out of all his afflictions, ° and gave him favour and wisdom "f^'.lsf*' in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt ; and he made him *m-'». governor over Egypt and all his house. n p Now there poen.xu.M. came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction : and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 9 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, q Gen. xiii. 1. he sent out our fathers first, 1S rand at the second timer Gen. xiv. 4, 10. Joseph was made known to his brethren : and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14> ? Then sent s Gen. xiv. 9, 27. Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and * all his tGen.xivi.27. inc Deut. x. 22. kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. 15 u So Jacob went u Gen. xivi. &. 9 not expressed in the original. r render, Worship. 8 render, and. history. The field which Abraham bought ver. 8. so, i. e. ' in this new covenant for the burial of his dead surely did not state ;' — or, ' in fulfilment of the promise of comeunderthedpseriptionof aninheritance, seed implied in the above words.' In this nor give him any standing as a possessor in word so lies hid the germ of the subsequent the land. 6, 7.] A free citation from teaching of the Holy Spirit by St. Paul, the LXX, with the words, " and they shall Gal. iii. 9.] Here we have the first worship me in this place," adapted and hint of the rebellious spirit in Israel, which added from Exod. iii. 12. The shifts of the progress of the history brings out. some commentators to avoid this plain fact 10.] Observe the simple coupling of the are not worth recounting : but again, the clauses by and, as characteristic of this student who would not handle the word of speech. favcur and wisdpm] favpur, Gpd deceitfully should be here and every so that he was acceptable to Pharaoh (see where on his guard against them. — The reff.) : and wisdom, so that Pharaoh con- round number, 400 years, given here and suited him, and followed his suggestion, in Genesis, is further specified Exod. xii. especially in the important case recorded 40, as 430. (See Gal. iii. 17, and note.) Gen. xli. 38. he made him] viz. 7.] said God is inserted by Stephen Pharaoh : a change of subject. 14. in passing from the narrative form ("his threescore and fifteen souls] In the Hebrew seed") into the direct (" I will judge"), text, Gen. xlvi. 27; Exod. i. 5; Deut. x. 8.] On the institution of circum- 22, seventy souls are reckoned, viz. sixty- cision, it is called a " covenant," Gen. xvii. six born of Jacob, Jacob himself, Joseph, 10 and the immediate promise pf that and his twp spns horn in Egypt. So also covenant is contained in the same chapter, Josephus. But the LXX, whom Stephen mz THE ACTS. VII. Gen. xiix.s3.. down into Egypt, wand died, he, and our fathers, 1B and * were carried over into Sychem, and laid in * the sepul chre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor [* the father] of Sychem. 2? But * when z the time of the promise drew nigh, which God x had sworn to Abraham, athe people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, b so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20 c In which time Moses was born, and d was y exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months : 21 and e when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22 And Moses was z learned in all the Exod. xiii. 19. Josh. . xxiv. 82. y Gen. xxiii. 10: xxxiii. 19. z Gen. xv. 13. ver. 6. a Exod. i. 7, 8, 9. Pa. ov. 24,29. li Exod. i. 22. c Exod. ii. 2. d Heb. xi. 23. e Exod. ii. 3-10. * not expressed in the original. x render, swore. z render, for follows, insert in Gen. xlvi. 20 an account of the children and grandchildren of Ma nasseh and Ephraim, five in number : and in ver. 27 read thus : " And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him.in the land of Fgypt, were nine souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, which entered with Jacob into Fgypt, were seventy-five :" — reckoning, as it appears, curiously enough, among the sons of Joseph, Joseph himself, and his wife Asenath; for these are required to make up the nine, according to their ver. 20. And similarly in Exod. i. 5, and in some copies in Deut. x. 22. With re gard to the various attempts to solve the difficulty, see in my Greek Testament. 16.] were carried over, viz. he and our fathers, not the latter only, — as some com mentators bave suggested, to evade part of the difficulty of the verse. — The facts, as related in the Old Testament, were these : Jacob, dying in Egypt, was (Gen. i. 13) takeh into the land of Canaan, and buried in the cave of Macpelah, befere Mamre (on the rest of the verse see below) : Joseph, dying also in Egypt, was taken in a coffin (Gen. 1. 26) at the Exodus (Exod. xiii. 19), and finally buried (Josh. xxiv. 32) at She chem. Of the burial of the other patriarchs the sacred text says nothing, but rather by the specification in Exod. xiii. 19, leaves it to be inferred that they were buried in Egypt. Josephus, Antt. ii. 8. 2, relates that they were taken and buried in Hebron, and adds, " of whom the graves are shewn even to my time in the fortress Hebron, of very beautiful marble, and sumptuously u render, according as. 7 literally, fair Unto God : see note. ', instructed : see note. wrought." The Rabbinical traditions re port them to have been buried iu Sychem : and Jerome, relating the pilgrimages of Paula to the sacred places, says, " She passed by Sychem, and turning aside there saw the sepulchre of the twelve patriarchs." These traditions probably Stephen fol lowed; and, in haste or inadvertence, classed Jacob with the rest. that Abraham bought] The burying-place which Abraham bought was not at Sychem, hut (Gen. xxiii. 3 — 20) at Hebron, and was bought of Fphron the Hittite. It was Jacob who (Gen. xxxiii. 19) bought a field where he had pitched his tent, near Sychem, of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father : and no mention is made of its being for a burying-place. The two inci dents are certainly here confused; and no ingenuity of the commentators has ever de vised an escape from the inference. I have mentioned a few such attempts in my Greek Testament. 17.] according as, i. e. ' in proportion as ;' not " when," as A. V. 20. fair nnto God (so lite rally) ] The expression here seems borrowed from tradition : Josephus calls the infant Moses " a child of divine beauty." Philp says, "The child at its very birth pre sented an appearance cf beauty greater than that ef ordinary men." 22.] The word " learned," in our A. V. here, is used in its older meaning of " taught," as in the Prayer-book version of the Ps. cxix. 66, " Learn me true understanding and knowledge." This meaning having now become obsolete, the word here is misun- 16-30. THE ACTS. 693 wisdom of the Egyptians, and was f mighty, in words and '^"^'v-m. in deeds. 23 * And when he was full forty years old, it *{£**•«•». came into his heart to visit his brethren the a children of Israel. 2* And seeing one [¦> of them] suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was .oppressed, and smote the Egyptian : 25 for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. 26 hAnd the next day h Exod- «• «>•. he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and [° would have] set them at done again, saying, [° Sirs,] ye are e brethren ; why do ye wrong one to another ? 2? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 38Wilt 'SgSSjf^- thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? 29 fciphen fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in kExotLiys, the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. 30 ' And : #*$:&? j. when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel [° of the Lord] in a a render, sons. c omit. derstppd to mean learned, i. e. erudite, ac complished. It should therefore be altered intp "instructed." That Moses was in structed in the wisdom of the Egyptians, is not found in the Old Testament, but derived from tradition, and following as a matter of course from his adopted station as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. This wisdom of the Egyptians, celebrated by so many ancient writers, consisted mainly in natural philosophy, medicine, and mathematics, — and its teachers were the priests. mighty in words] So Josephus calls Moses admirably persuasive in haranguing multi tudes, but late in his course, during the journey through the wilderness : — when the divine Spirit, as the book of Deuteronomy abundantly testifies, had turned his 'slow ness of speech ' into the most fervid elo quence. That he was so thus early, during his Egyptian course, was probably reported by traditipn, but hardly seems to agree with Exod. iv.10— 16. 23. full forty years old] The text of Exod. ii. 11 has only " when Moses was grown." The exact age was traditional. 24.] the Egyptian, from the history being so universally known, that the agent of the wrong wpuld be readily supplied. 25.] Here we have again the resistance to the Holy Spirit hinted: see ver. 51, and note on ver. 2. Vol. I. D not in the original. * literally, peace. ¦, men brethren. 26.] unto them, two of them, taken as re presenting his brethren the children of Israel. Not, "he would have set them at peace," as our A. V. : this explanation is not needed : — the aet, on Moses1 part, was complete ; but, he set them at peace. 27.] The further progress of resistance to the Spirit on the part of Israel. 29. Madian (or -am)] Winer supposes this Madian to have been a nomad detachment of the more settled Midianites,— which at that time was encamped in the neighbour hood of Sinai and Horeb. For Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, is not found there in Exod. xviii. 1 ff., but comes to visit Moses from a distance. See also Num. x. 29 ff. two sons] Exod. ii. 22; iv. 20; xviii. 3. 30. when forty years were expired] This follows from the tradi tion of ver. 23, combined with Exod. vii. 7. The Rabbinical books said that " Moses lived in Pharaoh's palace forty years, and in Midian forty years, and then ministered to Israel forty years." mount Sina] Horeb, Expd. iii. 1. But bpth were points pf the same mountain range, and the names were convertibly used. In Exod., Levit., and Num.,-the law is said to have been given from Sinai; in Deut. from Horeb. ' The desert of Mount Sina' is the desert in which Mt. S. is situated. So Z z 694 THE ACTS. VII. flame of fire in a bush . 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight : and as he drew near to behold it, the voice ofthe ""a™" HeY'Li ^ord caine unt° h™; 32 saying, m I am the God of thy fathers, 16' the God of Abraham, and [e the God of] Isaac, and [e ihe God of] Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. n Exod. m. s. 33 n Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy Josh. v. 15. . feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. o Exod. iii. 7. 34 o j have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge ? f the same p m n™. B <&& God* send [n t° be] a ruler and a deliverer p by the hand qlxod!'ni.«: of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. 36 ' f He IvmtxTx'xi. brought them out, i after that he had T shewed wonders and xiy. p».ev. gjgng jn fhg ]an(j 0f Egypt, s and in the Red Sea, * and in tlmd'Ivi'i '^e wilderness forty years. 87 This is that Moses, which udsot. ivM. said unto the "^children of Israel, ™ A prophet shall the m'. 22. c '. Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like yExod'.xix.Vunto me[-. xi,nmi shall ye hear]. 38 i This is he, that e 0mit. f better, This Moses. & read, hath God sent. * not in the original. 1 render, shewing. k render, Sons. * omitted by many ancient authorities. ' the Peak of Derbyshire,' originally no This is the emphatic way of expressien in dpubt spme single hill, has ceme te mean the Hebrew. 35.] The werds, this the whole district in which that hill is Hoses, are repeated emphatically again and situated. an angel] Here, as continu- again, to impress on them God's choice of ally in the Old Testament, the angel bears one whom they rejected. whom they the authority and presence of God Himself: refused, ver 27. The rejecter of Moses which angel, since God giveth not His there is regarded as the representative of glory to another, must have been the great the nation : see note on ver. 26. In this Angel of the covenant, the " Angel of the express mention of the rejection of Moses Face" of Isa. Ixiii. 9, "ihe Angel of His by the Jews, and his election and mission ¦Presence," — the Son oe God. See below by God, the parallel of Jesus Christ is no on ver. 53. — Stier remarks, that this doubt in Stephen's mind, and the inference second appearance of God, to Moses (see intended to be drawn, that it does not ver. 2), introduces the legal dispensation, follow that God beiects those whom thet as the first, to Abraham, the patriarchal, be jeoted. — The difficulty of hath God 32.] The order pf Exod. iii. 6, is sent has caused it to be altered into the here somewhat varied. The command to historic tense, " did God send." But the put off the shoe was given on the approach perfect tense sets forth npt only the fact pf Moses, and before these words were of God's sending Moses then, but the en- spoken. 83.] See Josh. v. 15. Put- durance of his mission till now — him hath ting off the sandals was a markof reverence. God sent: with a closer reference than The priests performed all their ministra- before, to Him whom God had now exalted tions barefooted. The Arabs to this day as the true Buler and Deliverer, see ch. continue the practice : they always enter v. 31. 87.] See ch. iii. 22, notes. their mosques barefopted. 34. I hava Our text has probably been altered te agree seen, I have seen (literally, seeing I saw)] verbally with the fprmer citation. ° ,31-42. THE ACTS. 695 was in the m church in the wilderness with ztihe angel which spake to hiin in the mount Sina, and with our fathers : a who received the n lively b oracles to give unto us: 39to whom our fathers would not obey^ but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, *° c-sayihg unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us : for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 41 d And they made a calf in those day's, and offered sacri fice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. ** Then e God turned, arid gave them up to wor ship f the host of heaven ; as it is written in the book of the prophets, 6 O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices [° by the space of] forty years in z Isa. ixiii. 9. Gal. iii. 19. Heb. ii. 1. a Exod. xxi. 1. Deut. v. 27, 31 : xxxiii. 4 .Jp.hn.kl7. b Bom. iii. 2. o EXOd. xxxii. 1. d Dent. ix. 16. Ps. cvi. 19. ePs. lxxxi. 12. Ezek. xx. 25 89. Ram. i.» 24. 2 Thess . li. 11. fDeut.iv.19; xvii. 3. 2 Kings xvii. 16: xxi. 8. Jer. xix. IS. g Amos v. 25, m literally, assembly. 0 not in, the original. 38.] That Moses conversed with both the Angel of the covenant and bur fathers, implies that he was the mediator between them, as indeed the words, who received the living oracles, more plainly declare. the word rendered the church means, probably, the assembly held(Ex0d. xix.) for the promulgation of the law at Mt. Sinai, not 'the Church' generally. Dr. Wordsworth observes on the meaning which the words "the Churchin the wilder ness" carry for the student pf Christian prophecy, Rev. xii. 1 — 6. living oracles, see reff. net ' life-giving :' still less te be understopd ' given vivd voce.' 39.] Anether instance, brought hpme again by the werds our fathers, of rejection of God's appointed messenger and servant. they turned back in their hearts to Egypt: npt 'they wished to return to Fgypt,' of which in Exod. xxxii. there is no trace (but later, in Num. xiv. 4), and which would hardly suit the term to go before us; but 'they apostatized in heart to the Egyptian idolatries.' The very title by which Aaron proclaims his idol, is, 'These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee up out p/'the land of Egypt,' Exod. xxxii. 4. See also Neh. ix. 18. 40. gods to go before ns] As God had done in the. pillar of the cloud and fire. The iplural is not put for the 'singular, but is used eategprically : not perhaps without implying also, that the only two religions Were, the worship of Jehovah, and that of idols, a multitude. The plural is used by Aaron, see above. — In the opprobrious term, this Moses, may be implied, as Meyer n render, living. 'who was the streng opponent Of idolatry.' 41. they made a calf] apparently in imitation of Apis, a bull worshipped at Memphis as the living symbol of Osiris. The oia was a common symbolic form of idols in the East ; it was one of the cherubic forms, Ezek. i. 10 ; and the most Tecent discoveries at Nineveh have brought to light colossal bulls. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson thinks the golden calves of Israel to have been imitations of Mnevis, a bull kept at Heliopolis as a living symbol ofthe sun. Jeroboam after wards set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, and with the same proclamation : see 1 Kings xii. 28. 42. Bod turned] i.e. God, who had hitherto watched over them for good, now provoked by their rebellion, changed, and delivered them up to their own ways. gave them up — nbt 'suffered them:' all these explainings away of the strong expressions pf Scripture be- lpng to the rationalistic school of interpre ters (which is not modern merely; even Chrysostom has here "He permitted them ") : it was a judicial delivering up, not a mere letting alone, see Bom. i. 24, 26, 28. tb worship the host of heaven] This fact is not mentioned hi the Pentateuch, but may refer to the worship of Baal. In after-times we have frequent traces of star worship : see 2 Kings xvii. 16; xxi. 3, 5; xxiii. 4, 5; Jer. xix. 13; Zeph. i. 5. See also Deut. iv. 19; xvii. 3; Job xxxi. 26. The hook of the pro phets, regarded as a whole, contained this prophecy. The citation is from the LXX. I should take the question here as a re- z 2 696 THE ACTS. VII. the wilderness? *3Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of Pyour god Eemphan, figures which ye made to worship them; and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. ** Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he \ihad] appointed, r speaking unto Moses, h that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. 4S A Which also our fathers B that came after brought in with * Jesus u into the m'chfxiii. possession of the Gentiles, kwhom God drave out before mf kings viii. the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; *6 l who cxiiu^!- found favour before God, and mx desired to find a taber- P Many ancient authorities read, the god. 4 omit. B render, inheriting. u render, at their taking possession. x render, asked permission. h Exod. xxv. 40: xxvi. SO. Heb. viii. 6. i Josh. iii. 14. kNeh.ix.24. Ps.xliv.2: lxxviii. 55. eh. xiii. 19. 1 1 Sam. xvi. 1. 2 Sam. vii. 1. r render, who spake. * render, Joshua. proach, implying that God does not receive as offered to Him, saprifices in which He has been made to share with idols : — it is not true that ye offered to Me (but no stress on Me) sacrifices, &c. , ' I regard it as never having happened.' 43.] The answer by God himself: Yea, ye took up, i. e. carried about with you, (nut My taber- naple asypur sole or chief holy place, but) the tabernacle (literally the portable tent forthe image. We read of the sacred tent in the Carthaginian camp) of Moloch &c. Stephen was not the sole dishonourer, if a disho nourer, of the holy place — their fathers had done it before. Meloch] Sc thp LXX : the Heb. has Malchem, ' of your king.' Melpch was the Phoenician Saturn : his image was ef brass with the head of an ox, and outstretched arms of a man, hollow ; and human sacrifices (of children) were offered, by laying them in these arms and heating the image by fire kindled within. The rigid prohibitions of the worship of Moloch (Lev. xviii. 21 ; xx. 2 — 5) were openly transgressed by Ahaz, 2 Kings xvi. 3 ; by Manasseh, ib. xxi. 6 ; see also xxiii. 10 ; Jer. vii. 31 ; xxxii. 35. In the king dom of Israel this abomination had been long practised, see 2 Kings xvii. 17 ; Ezek. xxiii. 37. We find traces of it at Carthage among the Phoenicians, among the Cretans and Rhodians, and the Assyrian colonists at Sepharvaim, 2 Kings xvii. 31. the star of your god Bemphan] Por this word, Kephan or Bemphan the Hebrew has " Chiun :" but what the meaning of either this or Remphan (the word is very variously read in our MSS. Bempham, Bompha, Bofa, Eeffa, Bephan, &c.) is, we have nothing but conjecture to inform us. The most likely opinion has been that of Kircher, who maintains it to be a Coptic word, signifying the planet Saturn, and answering to the Arabic ' Kewan.' The prophecy, both in the LXX and Hebrew, has Damascus. But the fulfilment of the prophecy would make it very natural to substitute that name which had become inseparably associated with the captivity. 44. the tabernacle of witness] In opposition to the tabernacle jast mentioned: but also in pursuance of one of the great aims of the speech, to shew that holiness is not confined to locality or building. This part of his subject Stephen now enters on more particularly. — The words, "the taber nacle of witness," are the LXX rendering of the word in Num. xvi. 18, 19 &c, which the A.V. renders 'the tabernacle of the as sembly,' or 'congregation.' the fashion] This is another centrast : it is the same wprd as that rendered "figures" in ver. 43. 45.] inheriting, succeeding te its custody and privileges. at (or 'in') their taking possession] The term is used of that final and settled possession which Israel took of tho land, not of that transitory possession from which the Gen tiles or natipns were driven out. The martyr combines rapidly a considerable peripd, during which this taking possession and this expulsien was taking place (for it was npt ccmplete till the time ef David) in prder to arrive at the next great event of his history, thesubstitntionofthetemple of Solomonfor the tabernacle. 46. asked permission] See 2 Sam. vii. 2 ff., in which this resquest is made through Nathan the Prophet, and 48—52. THE ACTS. 697 nacle for the God of Jacob. *7 "But Solomon built him nimnwvi.i: viii. 20. an house. 48 Howbeit "the most High dwelleth not LIlS' in 7 temples made with hands; as saith the nronhet, oikS'Su.' *9 p Heaven is my throne, and earth is z my footstool : ikPi^g" what house will ye build me? saith the Lord : or what is * Sattyi'si1 the place of my rest? 50aHath not my hand made all these things ? S1 Ye q stiffnecked and r uncircumcised in %¦¦ xxiiii.s.' ° r Isa. xlviu. 4. heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as r dS^m?1- vour fathers did, so do ve. 62 " Which of the prophets vfaoT'ix.W " J . Ezek. xliv. 9. h have not your fathers persecuted ? and they c have slain a ^2jj^ '. them which shewed before of the coming of 'the Just sofxxull'H One ; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and mur- 1 jfc '^ u 7 read, things. z literally, the footstool of my feet. a render, Did not my hand make. b render, did not your fathers persecute. c render, slew. at first conceded by Nathan, though after wards, on a revelation made from God, denied : — not ' desired,' as A. V. The vow (a species of prayer) here referred to, is de fined by the expression "find a tabernacle," to be that mentioned Ps. cxxxii. 48.] But, though Solomon built Him an house, we are not to suppose, for all that, that He is confined to earthly spots. as saith the prophet] We have in substance the same declaration by Solomon himself at the dedication of his temple, 1 Kings viii. 27: see alse the beautiful prayer ef David, 1 Chron. xxix. 10—19. The cita- tion is freely from the LXX. — The student will not fail to be interested in observing the apparent reference to this declaration in Stephen's apology, by St. Paul, ch. xvii. 24. 61.] I do npt think there is any eccasien tp supppse an interruption from the audience to have occasioned this out break of holy indignation. At each sepa rate recital (vv. 9, 25, 35, 39 ff.) he has dwelt, with centinually increasing ferveur, en the rebellions against and rejections of God by His people. He has now brought down the history to the establishment of the temple worship. From Solomon's time to his own, he saw but a succession of apostasies, idolatries, rejection of God's prophets: — a dark and. loathsome cata logue, terminated by the betrayal and murder of the Just One Himself. It is not at all beyond probability, to believe that the zeal of his fervent spirit was, by the view of this, the filling up of the mea sure of their iniquities, kindled into a flame of inspired invective. I find that this is alse Neanderis view, in epppsition to the generality pf Cpmmentaters, as alsp that p£ Prof. Hackett, in his commentary on the Acts : and I cannot but think it far the most probable. " Henceforward he is borne aleng by vehemenee in his disceurse. His approaching death gave him great boldness pf speech : for pf this I believe him to havp been fully aware." Chrysestom. stiffnecked and uncircumcised] Words and figures familiar to the prophets in speaking of the rebellious Israel : see besides the references, Deut. ix. 6, 13; Neh. ix. 16: — Deut. x. 16; xxx. 6. See alse Rom. ii: 29. and ears] I sheuld hardly think pf any allusion to Ps. xl. 6, — because the LXX have rendered 'mine ears hast thou opened ' by " a body hast thou pre pared me." ye do always resist the Holy Ghost] Apparently a reference te Isa: Ixiii. 10. Thp instances as yet had been cenfined to their fathers : now he has arrived at their own times. The two are taken up again in the next verse. 52. Which of the prophets] See Matt, xxiii. 34 ff. : 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16 : where the same general expressions are used of their perse cuting the prophets. Such sayings are not to be pressed to the letter, but represent the uniform attitude of disobedience and hcstility whiph they assumed to the mes sengers of God.. See also the parable, Matt. xxi. 35. them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One] The office of all the prophets, see ch. iii. 18. The assertion is repeated, to connect them, by this title, with Him, whom they an nounced, the Just One] This name was used by the Jews to designate the Messiah. See note on James v. 6. betrayers] by Judas's treachery, of which the Sanhedrists had been the accomplices ; 698 THE ACTS. VII. 53—60. u Exod. xx. 1. Gal. iii. 19. Heb.ii.2. X eh. v. 33. y ch vi. 6. 2 Ezek. i. 1. " Matt. iii. 16. oh.x.ll. a Dan. vii. 13. b 1 Kings xxi. 13. Lukeiv. 29. Heb. xiii. 12. e Lev. xxiv. 19, d Dent. xiii. 9, 10/: xvii. 7. ch. viii. 1 : x:ii. 20. derers: 5S w-dw^a have received the law eby the disposition of angels, and have not. kept it. 5^x"When they heard the.se. things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 5B But he, y being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, arid saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56> and said, z f Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the. aSon pf man standing on the right hand pf God, 67 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58and bca§t Hm out of the city, "and stoned him: and *the * render, men who received. e render, at the injunction. f render, Lp, I behold. Matt. xxvi. 14—16 -.—murderers, by the hands pf the Eomans; ch. ii. 23, note. 53. at the injunction of angels] Many explanations have been given of these words. An enumeration and description of them may be seen in my Greek Testament. The key to the right 'understanding of them seems to be the similar expression in Gal. iii. 19, 'f the law , ¦ . • ordained, by ¦ [means of] angels." The law was given by God, but announced by angels. The people received God's law then, at the in junction of angels. 54.] were cut to the heart," see ch. v. 33, note. 55.] Certainly, in so far as the vision of Stephen was supernatural, it was not necessary that the material heavens should have been visible to him : but from the words looked up stedfastly into [the] heaven, it weuld seem that they were. We are not told where the Sanhedrim were assembled. It dees not seem as if they were convened in the ordinary session room : it may have been in one of the courts of the temple, which would give room for more than the members of the Sanhedrim to be present, as seems to have been the case. standing] A reason why the glorified Saviour was seen standing and not sitting, has been pleasingly given by Chrysostom, " Why standing and not sitting ? that He may shew His attitude of help to the martyr. Por of the Pather also it is said, 'Arise, 0 God.'" See also the collect for St. Stephen's day. But not perhaps correctly : for 'help' does not seem here to be the applicable idea, but the confirmation of his faith by the ecstatic vision of the Saviour's glory at God's right hand. — I should be rather disposed to think that there was reference in the vision to that In Zech. iii. 1, where Zechariah sees " Joshua [ Jesus] the High Priest standing before the angel of the Lord." Stephen, under accusation of blaspheming the earthly temple, is granted a sight of the heavenly temple; being cited before the Sadducee High Priest, who believed neither angel nor spirit, he is vouchsafed a vision of the heavenly High Pbiest, standing and mi nistering at the Throne, amidst the angels and just men made perfect. 56.] This is the only time that our Lord is. by human lips called the Son op Man after His Ascension (Rev. i. 13 ; xiv. 14, are not instances). And why here? I believe for this reason. Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, speaking now not of himself at all (ver. 55), but entirely by the utterance of the Spirit, repeats the very words, Matt. xxvi. 64, in which Jesus Himself* before this council, had foretold His glorification ; — and assures them that that exaltation of the Son op Man, which they should, here after witness to their dismay, was already begun and actual. 58. cast hi™ out of the city] See Levit. xxiv. 14. The Rabbinical books say, " The place of sto ning was outside the city.: for all walled cities were considered to correspond to the camp of Israel." Compare also Heb. xiii. 12, 13. and stened him] An antici- paticn pf thp fact, the details cf which follow. Stoning was the punishment of blaspheming, Levit. xxiv. 16. The ques tion whether this was a legal proceeding on sentence, or a tumultuary one, is not. easy to answer. It would appear from John xviii. 31, that the Jews had not legally the power ef putting any man to death (see note there). Certainly, from the narrative before us, and from the fact of a bloody persecution having taken place soon after it, it seems that the Jews did, by conni vance of, or in the absence of the Procu rator, administer summary punishments of VIII. 1, 2. THE ACTS. 699 e ch. ix. 14. f Ps. xxxi. 5. Luke xxiii. 46. e ch. ix. 40 : xx. 36: xxi. 5. h Matt. v. 44. Luke vi. 28: xxiii. 84. ach. vii. 58: xxii. 20. witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen, e S calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, f receive my spirit. 60 And he e kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, h Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. VIII. 1 And "¦- Saul was consenting unto; his death. And ^ at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and b they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Jud»a and Samaria, except the apostles, 2And devout men carried S better, praying : it is literally, invoking : no word such as " God ' this sin to their charge] This again was scmewhat similar (thpugh not exactly, see note there) to our Lord's prayer, Luke xxiii. 34. he fell asleep] Not a Chris tian expression only : there are Jewish ex amples : and we have some even in Greek heathen ppetry. But it became the, usual Christian term for death. Its use here, when the circumstances, and the actors hi them, are remembered, is singularly touch ing, from the contrast. Chap. VIII. 1 — 4.] Pebsecution op THE OHXTECH BY SaTJL, CONSEQUENT ON the death op Stephen. 1. con senting] The same Greek word is ren dered '" allow " in Luke xi. 48 : " have pleasure" in Rom. i. 32. Compare St. Paul's own confession, ch. xxvi. 9 — 11. From this time, the narrative takes up Saul, and, at first with considerable inter ruptions (ch. viii. x. xi. xii.), but after eh. xiii. 1 entirely, follows his history. in that day, can hardly mean, as some would render it, on that very day, viz. when Stephen was stoned. Por what follows, 1 they were all scattered abroad" . . . can not have happened on the same day, but would take some little time. We have the same expression used indefinitely, Luke vi. 23; John xiv. 20; xvi. 23', 26. In Luke xvii. 31, it has direct reference to a day just mentioned. all] Not perhaps literally, — or some of them soon returned: see ch. ix. 26 — 30. It may describe the general dispersion, without meaning that every individual fled: Samaria] Con nected with ver. 4 : this word is not with out importance, as introducing the next step in: the dissemination of the Gospel; according to our Lord's command in ch. i." 8. except the apostles] Perhaps,' k literally, in that day. this kind. But here no sentence is re corded : and perhaps the very violence and fanatical character of the execution might constitute it, not an encroachment on tbe power of the Procurator, as it would have been if strictly in form of law, but a mere outbreak, and as such it might be allowed to pass unnoticed. That they observed the forms, of their own law, in tho place and manner cf the stoning, is no objection to this view. the witnesses] See Deut. xvii. 7, where it is enacted that the hands of the witnesses were to be first on the criminal to put him to death, and after ward the hands of all the people. they laid down their clothes] They disen cumbered themselves of their loose outer garments, that they might be light and unimpeded in the throwing, pf the stenes. They laid them at Saul's feet that he might keep them in safety. Such netices are deeply interesting, when we recellect by whom they were in all probability carefully inserted. See ch. xxii. 19, 20, and note on ch. xxvi. 10 : — from which it appears that Saul can certainly net have been less than thirty at this time. He was a member pf the Sanhedrim, and soon after was de spatched on an important mission with their authority. 59.] All attempts to escape from this being a direct prayer to the Saviour are vain, as I have shewn in my Greek Testament. receive my spirit] The same prayer in substance had been made by our, Lord on the Cross (Luke xxiii. 46) to His Pather. To Him was now committed the key, of David. Similarly, the young man Saul, in after years : "I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." 2 Tim. i. 12. * 60. lay not 700 THE ACTS. VIII. e oen. xxm. 2= Stephen to his burial, and "made great lamentation over '' '"'him. 3As for Saul, dhe made havock of the Church, iii. 31. d ch. vii. 58 13. e Mattx 23. eh.xi.19. f ch. vi. 5. x'x'iWf'JJvi. entering into every house, and *• haling men and women S'VhuTiltV committed them to prison. 4 k Therefore e they that were " ,Tlm,i' scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. 5 l Then f Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 6 And the ^people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, n hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 1 Por Mark xvi. w. g ° unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them : and many taken 1 i. e. dragging. * render, And. n render, when they heard them, and saw. k render, So then. m render, multitudes. 0 see note. from their exalted position of veneration by the people, the persecution did not ex tend to them : perhaps they remained, as possessed of superior firmness and devotion. But this latter reason is hardly applicable, after the command of our Lord 'When they persecute you in one city, flee to another.' Matt. x. 23. Stier refers their remaining to an intimation of the Spirit, to stay and strengthen those who were left. Mr. Humphry cites an ancient tradition, mentioned by Clement of Alexandria, and by Eusebius from the Apocryphal work called the Preaching of Peter, that the Apostles were ordered by our Lord to re main at Jerusalem twelve years. But this could not be the case, as we have Peter and John going down to Samaria, ver. 14. 2. devout men] Whether Jews or Chris tians, is not certain. Ananias is so called, ch. xxii. 12, and he was a Christian. Ols hausen thinks that, if they had been Christians the term "brethren" would have been used : but this does not seem by any means certain : we can hardly reason so minutely from the diction of one section in the narrative to that of another, espe cially in the case of a section so distinct and peculiar as this one. Besides, " bre thren " in this very general sense does not occur till ch. ix. 30. Probably they were pious Jews, not yet converts, but hearers and admirers of Stephen. 3. made havock of] The word so rendered is pro perly used of wild beasts or of hostile armies, devastating and ravaging. 4—12.] Preaching op the Gospel in Samabia bt Philip. 4.] So then resumes the subject dropped at the end of ver. 1, and determines this verse to be the opening of a new section, not the close of, the former. , preaching the word] Here first we become acquainted with the missionary language so frequent in the rest of the book : and we have the word, an abbreviated expression very familiar among Christians when the book was written, for the fuller one which must have prevailed at first, "the word of God." 5. Philip] The deacon: net one ofthe Twelve: this is precluded by w. 1 and 14. And it is probable, that the persecution should have been directed especially against the colleagues of Stephen. Philip is mentioned again as the Evangelist, — probably from his having been the first recorded who preached (evangelized) the word, — in ch. xxi. 8, — as married, and having four daughters, virgins, who prophesied. the city of Samaria] Verbatim as John iv. 5, in which case it is specified as being Sychar (Sichem). As the words stand here, seeing that Samaria (w. 9, 14 : ch. ix. 31; xv. 3) signifies the district, I should be inclined to believe that Sychem is here also intended. It was a place of rising importance, and in after-times eclipsed the fame of its neighbour Samaria, which latter had been, on its presentation by Augustus to Herod the Great, re-fortified and called, Sebaste. It still, however, bore the name of Samaria. them] The inhabitants, implied in the word city. 6. gave heed ...J. If this place was Sychem, the narrative in John iv. will fully account for the readiness with which these people re ceived 'the proclamation of the Christ.' 7.] According to the reading in the genuine text, which is too strongly upheld by manuscript authority to be rejected for the easier ordinary one, the literal rendering is as follows: For in the case of many who: 3—11. THE ACTS. 701 with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that . city. 9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which P beforetime in the same city, h 1 used sorcery, and r bewitched the people of Samaria, hch.xiu.«. 1 giving out that himself was some great one : 10 to whom ' oh-T-M- they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is s the great power of God. n And to him P render, was beforetime. 9 render, using. 1 render, bewitching. See note, ver. 11. 8 literally, in all our oldest MSS., the power of God which is called great.had unclean spirits, they crying out with a loud voice, came out. The A.V., though founded on a different reading, comes to the same. 9. Simon] Neander, in the course of some excellent remarks on this whole history (see further on ver. 14), identifies, and I believe with reason, this Simon with one mentioned as living from ten to twenty years after this by Josephus, and as having been employed by the pro curator Felix to tempt Drusilla to leave her husband, and live with him. Simon is there called " a Jew, born in Cyprus, and held to be a magician." The only difficulty seems to be, that Simon is stated by Justin Martyr, himself a Samaritan, to have been " a Samaritan, from a village called Gitton." But it has struck me that either Justin, or perhaps more probably Josephus, may have confounded Ghittim with Chittim, i. e. Citium in Cyprus. The account in Jose phus is quite in character with what we here read of Simon : not inconsistent with ver. 24, which appears to have been uttered under terror occasioned by the solemn denunciation of Peter. — Justin goes on to relate that he was worshipped as a god at Bome in the time of Claudius Caesar, on account of his magical powers, and had a statue on the island in the Tiber, in scribed ' Simoni Deo Sancto' (to Simon the Holy God). Singularly enough, in the year 1574, a stone was found in the Tiber (or standing on the island in the year 1662, according to Smith's Dictionary of Bio graphy and Mythology), with the inscrip tion SEMONI SANCO DEO FIDIO SACRUM, i. e. sacred to the gpd Semo Sancus, the Sabine Hercules ; — which makes it prpbable that Justin may havp been misled. — The history of Simon is full of legend and fable. He is said to have studied at Alexandria, and to have originally been, with the heresiarch Dositheus, a disciple of John the Baptist. Of Dositheus he became first the disciple, and then the successor. Origen makes Dositheus also a Samaritan. His own especial followers (Simoniani) had dwindled so much in the time of Origen, that he says there were at that day hardly thirty in the world. There are reports also pf subsequent centroversies between Simon Magus and Peter, ef which the scene is laid at Caesarea. According to spme, he met with his death at Berne, having, during an enccunter with Peter, raised himself intp the air by the aid pf evil spirits, and being precipitated thence at the prayer ef Peter and Paul. I saw in the church of S. Francesca Romana, . in the forum, a stone with two dents in it, and this inscription : " On this stone rested the knees of S. Peter, when the daemons carried Simon Magus through the air." — The fathers generally regard him as the founder of Gnosticism : this may be in some sense true: but, from the very little authentic information we possess, it is impossible to ascertain how far he- was identified with their tenets. Origen distinctly denies that his followers were Christians in any sense. using sorcery] viz. by exercising magic arts, such as then were very common in the East and found wide acceptance; im postors taking advantage of the very general expectation of a Deliverer at this time, to set themselves up by means of such trickeries as 'some great ones.' We have other examples in Elymas (ch. xiii.); Apollonius of Tyana; and somewhat later, Alexander of Abo- noteichos; see these latter in Smith's Dictionary of Biography and Mythology. some great one] Probably not in such definite terms as his followers later are represented by Jerome as putting into his mouth : " I am the Word of God ... I am the Paraclete, I am Almighty, I am all that is in God." 10. the great power of God] Literally, acccrding to the best MS. authorities, the power of God 702 THE ACTS. VIII. they had regard, because that of long time xhe had be witched them with sorceries. 12 But when they believed »• Philip preaching [* the things] k concerning the kingdcm of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 x Then Simon himself believed also : and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered; beholding the 7 miracles and signs which were done. u Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of t render, they had been bewitched by his sorceries. u omit. x render, And Simon himself also believed. y render, signs and great miracles. which is called great. Neander and Meyer think that they must have referred to the Word, the creating and governing manifestation of God, so much spoken of in the Alexandrine philosophy, and must have regarded Simon as an incarnation of the Word; so that their erroneous belief wpuld form some preparation for the great truth of an incarnate Messiah, preached by- Philip. But to this De Wette well replies, that we can hardly suppose the Alexan drine philosophy to have, been so familiar to the mass of the people; and refers the expression to their popular belief of a great angel, who might, as the angels were called by the Samaritans the powers of God, he designated by these remarkable Words. 11.] The rendering "he had bewitched them " is grammatically wrong. The word rendered "bewitched"' (which is perhaps, the best translation here) is " amazed" in Matt. xii. 23, — " astonished" in Mark v. 42, Luke xxiv. 22 &c. 13.] '¦' Simon saw his followers dropping off; aud was himself astounded at the miracles wrought by Philip : he therefore thought it best himself also to acknow ledge this superior power. He attached himself- tp Philip, and was baptized like the rest: but we are net, as the sequel shews, to understand that the preaching of thp Gospel had made any impression on his heart, but that he accounted for what he, saw in his own fashion. He was con vinced, from the works which Philip did, tliat he was in league with some powerful spirit : he viewed baptism as the initiation into communion with that spirit, and ex pected that he should be able to make use of the higher power thus gained for his own purposes, and unite this new magical power tp his own.. All were baptized who pro fessed belief in Jesus as the Messiah : there was therefore no reason for rejecting Siineu, considering besides, that from the nature of the case he would for the time have given up his magical practices." Neander. " It is plain," says Calvin, " from this example of Simon, that the grace which is figured in Baptism is hot conferred on all in differently. It is a dogma of the Papists, that unless a man place the bar of mortal sin in the way, all1 receive, with the out ward sign, the verity and effect of the Sacraments. Thus they attribute a magical force to the Sacraments, making them profitable without faith. But it is for ns to know, that we are offered by God in the Sacraments whatever the promises annexed to them contain, and this in no empty words merely, provided we are led by faith to Christ, and seek from Him what the Sacraments promise. For though the reception of Baptism was of no profit to him, as the matter stood, yet if his con version had followed afterwards, as some think it did, in that case its profit was not extinguished, npr abolished. Fer it often happens that it is a long time before tho Spirit of God works, and causes the Sacra ments to begin to prove their efficacy." 14 — 25.] Mission op Peteb and John to Samabia. A question arises on this procedure of the Apostles : — whe ther it was as a matter of course, that the newly baptized should, by the laying on of hands subsequently, receive the Holy Ghost,— or whether there was in the case of these Samaritans any thing peculiar, which caused the Apostles to go down to them and perform this act. (1) The only analogous case is ch. xix. 5, 6': in using which we must observe that there it is distinctly asserted that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit followed the laying on of Paul's hands ; and that by the expression " when Simon saw" in ver. 18, which must be taken literally, the same is implied here. And' .12—15. THE ACTS. 70'c God, they sent unto them Peter and John : 15 who, when on this point the remarks of Calvin are too important to be omitted : " Here a ques tion arises. Hesayathat they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and consequently were not yet partakers of thp Spirit. But either Baptism has no virtue and grace at all; or it has whatever efficacy it possesses from the Holy Spirit. In Baptism we are washed from sins : but Paul shews that this washing is the work of the Holy Ghost (Tit. iii. 5).- The water of Baptism is the symbol of Christ's blood : but Peter, says that it is the Spirit by whom we are washed in the blood of Christ. In Baptism our old man is cruci fied that we may be raised. into newness of life (Rom. vi. 6) : whence is all this but by sanctification of the Spirit ? So that Bap tism will have nothing left, if it be dis sociated from the Spirit. Therefore it must not be denied, that the Samaritans, who had duly put on Christ in Baptism, had been also invested with the, Spirit (Gal. iii. 27). And indeed Luke here speaks, not of the ordinary grace of the Spirit by which God regenerates us as sons to Himself, but. ef those special gifts with which it was the Lord's will to endow spme persons in the beginning of the Gos pel for the furnishing of the Kingdom of Christ." And a little, after: "The Papists, in their wish to extel their fictitious Confirmation, do not hesitate to gp even se far as to utter this saerilegieus diction, that those are only half Christians, on whom hands have not yet been laid. It is intolerable that they should have fixed on the Church as a perpetual law, what was a mere temporal symbol ... for even they themselves are obliged to. con fess, that the Church was only for a time, adorned with those gifts. Whence it fol lows that the imposition of. hands whiph the Apostles here performed, came to an end when its effect ceased." The English church, in retaining, the rite of Confirma tion, has not grounded it on any institution by the Apostles, but merely declared the laying on. of hands on the candidates, to certify them (by this sign), of God's. favour and goodness, towards them, to be ' after. the.example ofthe holy Apostles.? Nor is there any trace in the office, of the conferring of the Holy GJiost by con firmation; but a distinct recegnitipn of the former reception of the Hply Spirit (at Baptism), an! a prayer for the increase of His influence, prpportipned to thp nia- turpr life now opening on the newly con- finned. (2) If then we have here no in stitution of a perpetual. ordinance, some thing pecuhar to the case before us must have prompted this journey. And here again we have a question : Was that moving cause in the Samaritans, or in Philip? I believe the true answer to the question will be found by combining both. Our Lord's command (ch. i. 8) had removed all doubt as to Samaria being a legitimate field for preaching, and Samaritan converts being admissible. (So also with regard to Gen tile converts, — see ch. x., notes: but, as the church at this time believed, they must be circumcised, which the Samaritans already were, — aud keep the law, which after their manner the Samaritans did.) The sudden appearance, hpwever, of a body of baptized behevers in Samaria, by the agency, of one who was not one of the Apostles, — while it would excite in them every feeling of thankfulness and joy, would require their presence and power, as Apostles, to perform their especial part as, the divinely appointed Founders of the Church. Add to this, that the Samaritans appear te have been creduleus, and easily moved to attach themselves to individuals, whether it were Simon, or Philip ; which might make the Apostles desirous to be present, in person, and examine, and strengthen their faith. Another reason may have, been not without its influence : the Jewish church at Jerusalem would naturally for the mest part be alienated in mind frem this new bedy pf believers. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans was excessive and unrelenting. It weuld therefore be in the highest degree imper-- tant that it shpuld be shewn, to the church at Jerusalem, that these Samaritans, by the agency of the same Apostles, were par takers of the same visibly testified gifts of the one Spirit. The use of this argument, which was afterwards applied, by Peter in tbe case of the Gentiles, unexpected even by himself, ch. xi. 17,— was probably no small part of the purpose of this, journey to Samaria. 14, Peter ajid Jofte] Perhaps two,, in accordance with their haying been sent out two and two. pp. their first missionary journey (Mark vi. 7) : so Paul and Barnabas, afterwards (ch. xiii. 2) : and the same principle seems to have been adhered to even when these last separated : Paul phpse Silas, Barnabas tepk Mark. — Peter, — because te him belengpd, in this early part of the gpspel, in a remarkable manner, thefirst establishing of the church ; it was the. fulfilment pf. the promise " upon this rock I will build my church." It was he who had (in common with all the Apos tles, it is-trjjp, but in this early period more 704 THE ACTS. VIII ich.ii. ss. they were come down, prayed for them, 'that they m eh. xix. 2. might receive the Holy Ghost: 16for m as yet he was n Matt xxviii. fallen upon none of them : only n they z were baptized a in ° xiiV8'1 ° tbe name of the Lord Jesus. W Then » laid they their pxixT6.' keb. hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18 b And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay c hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because q thou d hast thought that r the gift of God may be purchased with money.. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter : for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and z render, had been. a literally, into. b render, But. c render, my hands. d render, thoughtest to acquire the gift of God. q Matt. x. 8. see 2 Kings v.16. r ch. ii. 88 : x. 45: xi. 17. especially committed to him) the keys of the kingdom of heaven, — who opened the door to the 3000 on the day of Pentecost, — now (as a formal and ratifying act) to the Samaritans, — and in ch. x. to the Gen tiles. So far, is plain truth of Scripture history. The monstrous fiction begins, when to Peter is attributed a fixed diocese and successors, and to those successors a delegated power more like that ascribed to Simon Magus than that promised to Peter. — This is the last time that John appears in the Acts. He is only once more men tioned in the New Testament (except in the Bevelation), viz. as having been pre sent in Jerusalem at Paul's visit, Gal. ii. 9. 15. prayed for them] So laying on of hands is preceded by prayer, ch. vi. 6 ; xiii. 3. 18. when Simon saw] Its effects were therefore visible (see above), and consequently the effect of the laying on of the Apostles' hands was not the in ward but the outward miraculous gifts of the Spirit. he offered them money] De Wette excellently remarks, ' He regarded the capability of imparting the Holy Spirit, — rightly, as something conferred, as a de rived power (see Matt. x. 1), but wrongly, as ene to be obtained by an external method, witheut an inward disposition : and, since in external ccmmerce every thing may be had for gold, he wanted to buy it. This is thp essence cf the sin pf Simony, which is intimately connected with unbelief in the pcwer and signification of the Spirit, and with materialism.' — Clearly, from the narrative, Simon himself did not receive the Spirit by the laying on of hands. His nefarious attempt to treat with the Apostles was before he himself had been presented to them for this pur pose. 20.] The solemn denunciation of Peter, like the declaration of Paul, 1 Cor. vi. 13, has reference to the perishableness ef all worldly good, and of those with it, whose ehief end is the use ef it (see Col. ii. 22). ' Thy gold aud thou are equally on the way to corruption :' thy gold, as its nature is : thou with it, as having no higher life than thy natural corrupt one : as being bound in the bond of iniquity. The expres sion ofthe same Peter, 1 Pet. i. 7, "gold that perisheth," is remarkably parallel with this (see too 1 Pet. i. 18). thou thought est] not 'thou hast thought,' as A. V. The historic force of the tense is to be kept here : the Apostle uses it as looking forward to the day of his destruction, ' Let thy lot be destruction, and that because thou thoughtest,' &c. to acquire, net passive, as A. V., ungrammatically. 21. neither part nor lot] The twe words are apparently synonymous : the first being hteral, the second figurative, but not with out reference perhaps to the inheritance of the kingdom pf God, tho incorruptible in heritance, 1 Ppt. i. 4. this matter] i. e. the matter new speken of, — ' to which I now allude.' thy heart is not right, — sincere, single-meaning, — in God's pre sence, _' as God sees it:' i.e. 'seen as it really is, by God, is not in earnest in its S— 27. THE ACTS. 705 Gen. xx. 7, 17. Exod. viii. 8. Num. xxi. 7. 1 Kiees xiii, 6. Job xlii. 8. James v. 16. pray e God, "if perhaps the thought of thine heart f may he.^f^-^ forgiven thee. 23 Eor I perceive that thou art in 'the gall ,Heb-Iii'ls' of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 24 Then answered Simon, and said, u Pray ye to the Lord for me, that a none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. 25 S And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, h returned to Jerusalem, and ^preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. 26 k And ihe angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, 1 which is desert. 27 And he arose e read, the Lord. ' render, shall. 6 render, So then. 11 read, were returning .... and preaching &c. 1 literally, evangelizing many villages. k render, But an. 1 literally, this [way] is desert. seeking after the gospel, but seeks it with unworthy ends in view.' 22. if per haps] The uncertainty refers, not to the doubt whether Simon would repent or not (see below) : but as to whether or not his sin may not havp ccme under the awful categcry of those, unpardonable ones spe cified by pur Lprd, Matt. xii. 31, to which words this sentence seems to have a tacit reference. Peter does not pronounce his sin to have been such, but throws in this doubt, to increase the motive to repent, and the earnestness of his repentance. This verse is important, taken in connexion with John xx. 23, as shewing how com pletely the Apostles themselves referred the forgiveness of sins to, and left it in, the sovereign power of God, and not to their own delegated power of absolution. 23.] Por gives the reason, not why it would be difficult for forgiveness to take place, but why he had such extreme need cf repentance and prayer, as being tied and bound by the chain of sin. the gall of bitterness] See Deut. xxix. 18; Lam. iii. 15, — ' the gall which is the very seat and essence of bitterness' — a very gall of bitterness. The poison of serpents was considered to be seated in their gall : so " the gall of asps is within him," Job xx. 14. 24.] Simon speaks here much as Pharaoh, Exod. (viii. 28; ix. 28) x. 17, — who yet hardened his heart afterwards. It is observable also that" he wishes merely for the averting of the punishment. The words, "that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me," seem re markably to set forth the mere terror of the carnal man, without any idea of the me becoming another man in thoughts and aims. 25—40.] Conveesion of the Ethio pian ETJNT/CH BY PHILIP'S TEACHING. 25.] So then indicates (see note on ver. 4) that the paragraph should begin here, not at ver. 26 as commonly. villages of the Samaritans] It is interest ing to recall Luke ix. 52, where on their entering into a village of the Samaritans, the same John wishes to call down fire from heaven, and consume them. The gradual sowing of the seed further and further from Jerusalem is advancing: not only is this eunuch to carry it to a far distant land, but Philip is sent to a desert road, away from town or village, to seek him. The imperfect tenses, "were returning Sfc." are significant. They were on their way back to Jerusalem,- and were evange lizing the Samaritan villages, when the angel spake to Philip. 26.] An angel, visibly appearing : net in a dream, — which is net, as some suppose, implied by the command to arise. The ministration of angels introduces and brings about several occurrences in the beginning of the church, see ch. v. 19; x. 3; xii. 7 (xxvii. 23). The appearance seems to have taken place in Samaria, after the departure of Peter and John. He would reach the place appointed by a shorter way than through Jerusalem : he would probably follow the high road (of the itineraries, see map in Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul) as far as Gophna, and thence strike across the country south-west ward to join, at some point to which he would be guided, the road leading from Je rusalem to Gaza. Gaza] The south- ro6 THE VIII. xzeph.iiU'o. and went1: 'and, behold, * a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopian's, y John xii. 20. who had the charge of all her treasure, and J' had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 m Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go neair> and join thyself to this chariot. m render, And. ernmost city of Canaan (Gen. x. 19), in the portipn of Judah (Josh. xv. 47), but soon taken from that tribe by the Philis tines, and always spoken of as a Philistian city (1 Sam. vi. 17 ; 2 Kings xviii. 8; Amos i. 6 — 8; Zeph. iii. 4; Zech. ix. 5). InJer. xlviii 1, we have 'before Pharaoh (Necho ?) smote Gaza,' — implying that at one time it was under Egypt. Alexander the Great took it after a siege of five months, but did not destroy it, for 'we find it a strong place in the subsequent Syrian wars, see 1 Mace, ix. 52; xi. 61 f.; xiii. 43; xiv. 7; xv. 28; xvi. 1. — It was destroyed by the Jewish king Alexander Jannseus (96 A.c), after a siege Of a year, but rebuilt again by the Roman general Gabinius, — after wards given by Augustus to Herod, and finally after his death attached to the pro vince of Syria. Mela, in the time ef Clau dius, calls it 'a vast city, and strongly fortified,' with which agree Eusebius and Jerome. At present it is a large town by the same name, with frOm 15,000 to 16,000 inhabitants. The above chronological no tices Shew that it cannot have been " de sert" at this time : see below. this is desert] The words, I believe, of the angel, not of St. Luke. There appear to have been two (if npt more) ways from Jerusalem to Gaza. Bttt Robinson found, besides, an ancient road leading direct from Jerusalem to Gaza, through the Wadi Musurr, and over the Beit Jiibrin, which certainly at present is " desert," without towns or villages. Thus the words will refer to the way : and denote, the way of which I speak to thee is desert. See in my Greek Test, further proofs of the in applicability of the epithet "desert" to Gaza. 27. an eunuch] The very gene ral use of eunuchs in the East for filling offices of confidence, and the fact that this man was minister to a female Sovereign; makes it probable that he was literally ah eunuch. If not so, the word would hardly have been expressed. No difficulty arises from Deut. xxiii. 1, for no inference can be drawn from the history further than that he may have been a proselyte of the gate, in whose case the prohibition would not ¦ apply. — Nay, the whole occurrence seems to have had one design, connected with this fact. The walls of partition were one after another being thrown down : the Samaritans were already in full possession of the GosPei: it was next to be shewn that none of those physical incapacities which excluded from the congregation of the Lord under the old covenant, formed any bar to Christian baptism and the in heritance among believers; and thus the way gradually to be paved for the great and as yet incomprehensible truth of Gal. iii. 28. Candace (pronounced Caudace, not Candape)] As Pharaoh among the Egyp tians was the customary name of kings, so Candace of the queens among the jEthio- pians in upper Egypt, who dwelt in the island of Meroe, where Pliny relates that a qiieen reigned named Candace, and adds, " which name has now for many years passed from one queen to another." had come to Jerusalem for to worship . . .] This did not only Jews and proselytes, but also those pious Gentiles who adhered to Judaism, — the proselytes of the gate, see John xii. 20. Eusebius, taking for granted that this euUuch was a Gentile, calls him "the firstfruits of the Gentiles throughout the world." There were (see below, ch. xi. 21) cases of Gentile conversion before that of Cornelius; and the stress of the narrative in ch. x. consists in the miscel laneous admission of all the Gentile com pany of Cornelius, and their official re ception into the church by that Apostle to whom was especially given the power. We may remark, that if even the plain revelation by which the reception of Cor- iielius and his epmpany was cpmmanded failed finally te convince Peter, so tnat long after this he vacillated (Gal. ii. 11, 12), it is no argument for the eunuch not being a Gentile, that his Conversion and baptism did not remove the prejudices of tbe Jewish Christians. 28. read Psaias] aloud, see next ver. SchSttgen quotes from the Rabbis : " He whp journeyeth and hath no companion, let him study the Law." — He probably read in the LXX, the USP of which was almost universal in Egypt. 29.] This is the first mention of that inner prompting of thp Spirit, referred to again 28—37. THE ACTS. 707 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him n read the prophet Esaias, and said, ° Understandest thou what thou readest ? 31 And he said, P How can I, except some man should guide me ? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, z He was led as' a sheep to the z is*, in;. 7,8. slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so 1 opened he not his mouth : 33 in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation ? for his life is taken from the earth. 3* And the eunuch answered Philip, and 'said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this ? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, a and a w&exxtv.. ± ± ' 27. ch.xvm. began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 28" 86 And as they went on their way, th'ey came unto a certain water : and the eunuch said. See, here is water ; b what doth hinder me to be baptized ? [37 r And Philip bcKx.tf. said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he an'swered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of 11 render, reading. ° render, Yea, but understandest. P Uterally, For how can I . . 1 render, openeth. r Omit, with all our most ancient authorities. probably ch. xiii. 2, but certainly ch. x. ference in the words some other man, to 19; xvi. 6, 7. Chrysostom understands Christ. 36. a certain water] Traditions the words of the appearance of an angel, about tbe situation of this spring are found but the text nardly allows it. 30.] in some ancient notes to Jerome. It is Yea, but . . . . : i. e. " It is well, thou art said to be near a place named Bethsur. well employed : but . . . . ?" The form of Eusebius states it to be twenty miles south the question assumes, modestly, that he of Jerusalem in the direction of Hebron : did not understand what he was reading, and so it is set down in the ancient itine- 31.] Por (see margin) gives the raries. Pocoek found there a fountain reason of the negative which is understood, built over, and a village called Betur oh The answer expresses at once humility and the left. Fabri describes the fountain as the docility. 32.] Perhaps it is best to head of a considerable brook, and found near render, The contents of the (passage of) it the ruins of a Christian chnrch. There Scripture which he was reading were as is no improbability in the tradition, except follows. 33] This stands in the He- that, even supposing a way going across brew ' He was taken "away by distress and from Hebron straight to Gaza to be called judgment' (so in the margin of theA.V.): desert, this would not be on that portion i. e. as Lowth, '' by an oppressive judgment.' of it, but on the high road. what his generation] i. e. the age in doth hinder me to be baptized 1] There is which he shall live — 'the wickedness of his no reason for supposing Philip to have contemporaries.' The fathers, and Bede preached to him the necessity of baptism : and spme modern Commentators, explain his own acquaintance with Jewish practices, ' His generation ' of His eternal Sonship and perhaps his knowledge of the pro- and 'His .mirafculous Incarnation. Bui the gress of the new faith in Jerusalem, would Hebrew does not seem to bear this out. account for the proposition. 37.] 34. an'swered] to the passage of The authorities against this verse are too Scriptui-e, considered as the question pro- strong to permit its insertion. It appears posed : not, te the question in ver. 30. to have been one of those remarkable ad- We can hardly suppose any immediate re- ditions to the text of the Acts, common 708 THE ACTS. VIII. 38—40. o 1 Kings xviii. 12. 2 Kings ii. 10. Ezek. iii. 12. 14. 3 ch. viii. S. Sal. i. 18. 1 Tim.i. 13. God.] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still : and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch ; and he baptized him- 39 And when they were come up out of the water, c the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, s that the eunuch saw him no more : * and he went on his way rejoicing. *° But Philip was found at Azotus : and passing through he u preached in all the cities, till he came to CsBsarea. IX. 1 And a Saul, yet breathing [x out] threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 and desired of him letters to Damascus s render, and. n literally, evangelized. in some of even our earliest MSS., few of which, however, have found their way into the revised text. This insertion is found as early as Irenaeus (Century IL), who quotes it. It appears to have been made to suit the formularies of the baptismal liturgies, it being considered strange that the eunuch should have been baptized with out some such confession. 38. he (viz. the eunuch) commanded] Some of our MSS., whose text apparently Jerome fol lowed, read here, ' the Spirit fell on the eunuch, and an angel of the Lord caught away Philip.' This is curious, and has probably arisen from a desire to conform the results of the eunuch's baptism to the usual method of the divine procedure, and the snatching away of Philip to his com mission, ver. 26. But the Spirit did not fall on the Samaritans after baptism by Philip. — The text clearly relates a super natural disappearance of Philip : compare 2 Kings ii. 16; no interpretation of his being suddenly hurried away by the prompting of the Spirit, will satisfy the analogy of the above-cited passage, and of (see below) a parallel one in St. Luke's own Gospel. 39. saw him no more] Not ' never saw him from that day,' though (see below) that meaning may be indirectly included: — but as in Luke xxiv. 81, "He vanished from their sight," and as in the strictly parallel words of 2 Kings ii. 12, "he saw him no more," — after the going up pf Elijah. These last werds in my view decide the questien, that the departure ef Philip was miraculous. for he went en his way] This refers to what follows : — Philip was found at Azotus : if thp eunuch had gone that way, he might have met with him again: but he did not, for he went from the fountain on his own way, which did not lead through Azotus. There * render, for. x omit : see note. has been some strange inadvertence in this verse on the part of the translators of the A. V. The Greek has plainly, and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing: and there is no variety of reading. 40.] The term " was found " again appears to refer to 4 Kings ii. ver. 17. — Azotus or Ashdod (Josh. xin. 3 ; 1 Sam. v. 5 al.) was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, never, though nominally in Judah, tho roughly subjugated by the Jews: it was taken by Tartan the Assyrian general (Isa. xx. 1), — again by Psammetichus, Jer. xxv. 20, — again by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Mace. v. 68) and Jonathan (1 Mace. x. 84), and by the latter destroyed; — rebuilt by Ga- binius, and belonged to the kingdom of Herod, who left it in his will to his sister Salome. At present it is a small village, retaining the name Esdud, but there are no remains. all the cities] viz. Ekron, Jamnia, Joppa, Apollonia, on the direct road : or, if he deviated somewhat for the purpose, Lydda also (which seems implied ch. ix. 32). Csesarea] See note, ch. x. 1. Chap. IX. 1 — 30.] Cohveesioit op SatjIi. 1.] The narrative is taken up from ch. viii. 3, but probably with some interval, sufficient perhaps to cover the events of ch. viii. We should per haps hardly render the original word here, as the A. V., "breathing out," — but breathing; his 'spirit,' inhaled or exhaled, being threatenings and slaughter. the high priest] See table in Introduction to Acts ; — it would be Theophilus, — brother and successor to Jonathan, who succeeded Caiaphas. 2. letters] of authoriza tion : written by the high priest (in this case, but not always, president of the San hedrim) in the name of the whole estate of IX. 1—5. THE ACTS. 709 to the synagogues, that if he found any of b 7 this way, b»|scli-iii- whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3And cas he journeyed, he came c^M*$-8! near Damascus : and suddenly there shined round about 1Cor-"'8- him a light from heaven : 4 and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, a why per- ****•***¦ secutest thou me ? 6 And he said, "Who art thou, Lord ? 7 render, the. the elders, ch. xxii. 5. to Damascus] Damascus is probably the oldest existing city in the world. We read of it in Abra ham's time (Gen. xiv. 15 j xv. 2) : then no more till David subdued it (2 Sam. viii. 6); it became independent again under Solomon (1 Kings xi. 24 ff.), and from that time was the residence of the kings of Syria (1 Kings xv. 18 ; xx. 1 ff.), who were long at war with Israel and Judah, and at last were permitted to prevail considerably over Israel (2 Kings x. 32 ; Amos i. 3, 4) and to exact tribute from Judah (2 Kings xii. 17, 18, see also 2 Kings xiii. 3, 22, 25). Da mascus was recovered to Israel by Jero boam II. (about 825 A.O. 2 Kings xiv. 28). Not long after we find Bezin, king of Syria, in league with Pekah, king of Israel, against Ahaz (2 Kings xv. 37). Ahaz in vited to his assistance Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, who took Damascus and slew Rezin, and led the people captive (2 Kings xvi. 5 — 9; Isa. viii. 4). Prom this time wp find it subject to Assyria (Isa. ix. 11 ; x. 9; xvii. 1), then to Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 2; Jer. xxxv. 11), — Persia, the Syrian Seleucidae (1 Mace. xi. 62; xii. 32), — and frem the time ef Ppmppy (64 A.O.), to thp Romans, and attached to the province of Syria. Many Jews were settled there, and the majority of the wives of the citizens were proselytes. — On its subjection to Aretas, see below, ver. 24, note. It was later the residence of the Ommiad Caliphs, and the metropolis of the Mahommedan world. At present it is a large city, with 250,000 inhabitants, nearly 70,000 of whom are Christians. — It is situated most beau tifully, in a large and well-watered plain, on the river Chrysorrhpas (Barrada), which divides into many streams (see 2 Kings v. 12), and fertilizes the plain : — and is bounded en all sides by the desert. See a vivid descriptien of Damascus in Conybeare and Howson's Life of St. Paul, vol. i. pp. 104—108. to the synagogues] i.e. to the presidents of the synagogues, who would acknowledge the orders of the San hedrim, and could, under the authority of the Ethnarch, carry them out. of the Voi. I. way] Not 'of this way,' A. V., which ren dering should be kept for the places where the pronoun is expressed, as ch. xxii. 4,— but ef the way, viz. pf ' salvatipn,' ch. xvi. 17, or 'of the Lord,' ch. xviii. 25. The expression 'the way' had evidently be come a well-known one among Christians (see in this editipn ch. xix. 9, 23 ; xxii. 4 ; xxiv. 14, 22) ; and it enly was necessary to prefix the pronoun when strangers were addressed. — The special journey to Damas cus presupposes the existence cf Christians there, and in seme numbers. This would be aeppunted for by the return of many who may have been converted at the Pen tecostal effusion of the Spirit, and perhaps also by some of the fugitives from the per secution having settled there. This latter is rendered probable by Ananias's words, "I have heard from many of this man," ver. 13. 3.] The journey from Jerusalem was probably made on the Boman road, i. e. that ofthe Itineraries, by Neapolis (Sichem) and Seythopolis, crossing the Jordan, south of the lake Tiberias,— Gadara, and so to Damascus. Or he might have joined,— either the Petra road, by Jericho and Hesh bon, and so by Botsrah to Damascus, — or the Egyptian caravan-track, which passes to the north ofthe lake of Tiberias, and near Caesarea Philippi. In either case the jour ney would occupy from five to six days, thp distance being 130 to 150 miles. there shined round about him . . .] It was (eh. xxii. 6) about noonday; and frem ch. xxvi. 13, the light was above the bright ness of the sun. These details at ence cut away all ground from the absurd rational istic attempt to explain away the appear ance as having been lightning. Unques tionably, the inference is, that it was a bright noon, and the full splendour of the Oriental sun was shining.— His companions saw the light, and were also cast to tlie ground, ch. xxvi. 13, 14 ; xxii. 9 : see below on ver. 7. 4. a veice saying unto him] in the Hebrew language, ch. xxvi. 14. why persecutest thou me?] A remarkable illustration of Matt. xxv. 45. No stress should be laid on me ; but the very 3 A 710 THE ACTS. IX. f Dan. x. 7. see oh. xxii. 9 : xxvi. 13. And z the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou perse cutest [a : it is hard for thee to kick against the priciksi " chM.^':10- 6 ^nd he trembling and astonished said, Lord, e what wilt svi' s0' thou have me to do ? And the Lord said unto him] . D Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 1 And f the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing c a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth ; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no' man : but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he Was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. I0 And z read, he. a omit, with all our Greek MSS. It has been inserted herefrom ch. xxvi. 14 and xxii. 10. D read, But arise. c render, the. lack of emphasis, assuming the awful fact, gives more solemnity to the question. 5.] That Saul saw, as well as heard, Him who spoke with him, is certain from Ana nias's speech, ver. 17, and ch. xxii. 14,— that of Barnabas, ver. 27,— from ch. xxvi. 16 (" I [have] appeared unto thee "), and from the references by Paul himself to his having seen the Lord, 1 Cor. ix. 1; xv. 8. These last I. unhesitatingly refer to this occasion, and not to any subsequent one, when he saw the Lord in a trance, ch. xxii. 17. Such appearances could hardly form the subject of the testimony of an eye- . witness which should rank with that of the other apostles : this, on the contrary, . was no trance, but the real bodily appear ance of the risen Jesus ; so that it might be adduced as the ground of testimony to His Resurrection. — On the words excluded from our text, as having been interpolated from ch. xxvi. 14, and xxii. 10, see note at xxvi. 14. It is natural that the account of the historian should be less precise than that of the person concerned, relating his own history. In ch. xxvi. 15 — 18, very much more is related to have been said by the Lord : but perhaps he there, as he omits the subsequent particulars, includes the revelations made to him during the three days, and in the message of Ananias. 7.] In ch. xxii. 9, we read, " They that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid : but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me." Two ac counts seemingly (and certainly, in the letter) discrepant ; but exceedingly instruc tive when their spirit is compared, — the fact being this: that the companions of j Saul saw and were struck to the ground by the light, but saw no person : — that they stood (I should acknowledge the discre pancy here, and recognize the more accu rate detail of ch. xxvi. 14, that they fell to the ground) mute, hearing the sound of the voice, but not the words spoken and their meaning. Compare John xii. 29, note. Two classes of readers only will stumble at this difference of the forms of narration; those who from enmity to the faith are striving to create or magnify dis crepancies, — and those who, by the suicidal theory of verbal inspiration, are effectually doing the work of the former. The devout and intelligent student of Scripture will see in such examples a convincing proof of the simple truth of the narrative,— the absence of all endeavour to pare aware ap parent inconsistencies or revise them into conformity, — the bond fide work of holy truthful men, bearing each his testimony to things seen and heard under the guid ance, not of the spirit of bondage, but of that Spirit of whom it is said, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." — I should not too hastily determine that this account has not come from Saul him self, on account of the above differences: they are no more than might arise in nar rations at different times by the same per son. 8.] When his eyes were opened (it would seem that he had closed them on the first disappearance of the vision), he saw no one. He explains it, ch. xxii. 11, " when I could not see for the glory of that light." He had seen, what those with him had not seen, the glorious Person of the Lord Jesus. See below on ver. 18. 9. he neither did eat nor drink] There is no occasion to soften these words ; the 6—15. THE ACTS. 711 there was a certain disciple at Damascus, s named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. ll And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, h of Tarsus : for, behold, he prayeth, 12 and hath seen [a in a vision] a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard e by many of this man, ! how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jeru salem: wand here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all k that call on thy name. 15 But the g oh. xxii. 12. h ch. xxi. : xxii. 3. i ver. 1. k ver. 21. dh. vii. 60 : xxii. 16. ICor. i. 2. 2 Tim. ii. 22. * omitted by some ancient authorities. e render, from. .effect produced on him by the heavenly vision (ch. xxvi. 19), aided by his own deeply penitent and remorseful state of mind, rendered him indifferent to all sus tenance whatever. 10.] Paul adds, ch. xx'ii. 12, with particularity, as defend ing himself before the Jews, that Ananias was " a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there :" saying nothing of the com mand received by him, nor that he was a disciple. In ch. xxvi., speaking before the Roman governor, he does not mention him. — Mr. Howson remarks on thp close analogy between the divinp procedure by visicns here, and in ch. x. Here, Ananias is pre pared for his wprk, and Saul for the recep tion of him as a messenger, each by a vision : and similarly Peter and Cornelius in ch. x. I may add, that in ch: viii., where the preparatiun pf heart was already found in the eunuch, Philip only was super- naturally prepared for the interview. 11.] " We are allowed te bear in mind that the thoroughfares ef Eastern cities dc not change, and to believe that the 'straight street,' which still extends through Damas cus in long perspective from the eastern gate, is the street where Ananias spoke to Saul." (Conybeare and Howson, p. 115.) the house of Judas] The houses of Ananias and Judas are still shewn to tra vellers. Doubtless they (or at least the former) would long be remembered and pointed put by Christians ; but, in thp Ipng degradation of Christianity in the East, most of such identities must have been lost ; and imposture is so easy, that it is hardly possible to cherish the thought that the spots now pointed out can be the true ones. .And se pf all pases, where we have not un alterable or unaltered data to go on. Still, 3 A true as this is, we have sometimes proofs and illustrations unexpectedly appearing, as research goes on, which identify as authentic, sites lcng pointed put by tradi- tipn. Sp that our way seems to be, to seek for all such elucidations, and meantime to suspend our judgment : but never to lose sight of, nor to treat contemptuously at first sight, a local belief. of Tarsus] The first place where he is so specified. — TaesT/s was the capital of the province of Cilicia, a large and populous city in a fruit ful plain on the river Cydnus, which flowed through the midst pf it, with a swift stream ef remarkably cpld water. Strabo speaks most highly pf its eminence in schools pf philosophy; and says that they excelled those even pf Athens and Alexandria. He enumerates many learned men whp had sprung from it. It was a "free city," i. e. ene which, thpugh under Rome, lived under its own laws and chose its pwn magistrates. This freedom was granted to it by Antony : and much later we find it a Roman colony. It is now a town with about 20,000 inhabitants, and is described as being a den of poverty, filth, and ruins. There are many remains of the old town. behold, he prayeth] This word would set before Ananias, more powerfully than any other, the state of Saul. 12. a man named Ananias] A man, whose name in the same vision he knew to be Ananias. The sight pf the man and the knowledge of his name were both granted him in his vision. 13. thy saints] This is the first time that this afterwards well-known appellation occurs as applied to the believers in Christ. 14.] It could hardly fail to have been notified to the Christians at Damascus by their bre thren at Jerusalem, that Saul was on his 712 THE ACTS. IX. 1 eh. xlii. 2: xxii. 21: xxvi. 17. Bom. i. 1. 1 Cor. XV. 10. Gal. i. 15. Itoh. iii. 7, 8. ITim. ii. 7- 2 Tim. i. 11. tnBom.L 5: Xi. 13. Gal. ii. 7, 8. u ch. xxv. 22, 23 : xxvi. 1, &c. och. xx. 23: xxi. 11. 2 Cor. xi. 2S. p ch. xxii. 12, IS. qch. viii. 17. r ch. ii. 4 : iv. SI : viii. 17 : xiii. 62. Lord said unto him, Go thy way : 'for i he is B a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before h the m Gentiles; " and kings, and the children of Israel : 16 for ° I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. 17 p And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house : and q putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and r be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales : and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 19And when he had received meat, he was ri. 20. strengthened. s * Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20 And straightway he i.s7. preached k Christ in the synagogues, 'that he is the Son f render, this man. S literally, a vessel of choice, or, of election. n render, nations. x read and render, And he was. k redd, Jesus. way to persecute them. 15. a vessel of choice] i. e. a chosen vessel : as we say, ' the man of his choice.' St. Paul ofteu uses this word vessel in a similar meaning, see 2 Cor. iv. 7 ; 1 Thess. iv. 4 ; 2 Tim. ii. 21; and especially Rom. ix. 22, 23, &c, where it is used in illustrating God's sovereign power in election. to bear, perhaps in reference to the metaphor in vessel. nations] i.e. the Gentiles. This would hardly be understood at the time : it was afterwards on a remarkable occasion repeated to Paul by the Lord in a vision (see ch. xxii. 21), and was regarded by him as the specific command which gave the direction to his ministry, see Gal. ii. 7, 8. kings] Agrippa, and probably Nero. 16. I will shew him . . .] The fulfilment of this is testified by Paul him self, .ch. xx. 23, 25 : see also xxi. 11. 17. and be filled with the Holy Ghost] I can hardly think that these words imply that the Lord had said to Ananias more than is above related : I would rather view them as a natural inference from what was said in ver. 15. — In ch. xxii. 14, where the command to Ananias is omitted, his speech contains much of the reason given in the command here. It is remarkable again how Paul, speaking there to an infuriated Jewish mob, gives the words spoken just that form which would best gain him a favourable hearing with them,— for ex ample, " the God of our fathers," — '• to ,see that Just One," "all men," avoiding as yet the hateful word " Gentiles." He there too gives, " Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord," as part of the ex hortation of Ananias. 18. as it had been scales] The recovery of sight is plainly related as miraculous, the conse quence of the divinely-appointed laying on of the hands of Ananias. And this scaly substance which fell from his eyes was thrown off in the process of the instanta neous healing. was baptized] It has been well remarked by Olshausen, that great honour was here placed upon the sacrament of baptism, inasmuch as not even Saul, who had seen the Lord in spe cial revelation and was an elect vessel, was permitted to dispense with this, the Lord's appointed way of admission into His Church. 19. certain days] A few days; of quiet, and becoming acquainted with those as brethren, whom he came to persecute as infidels : but not to learn from them the gospel (for this he did not receive from man, neither was he taught it, Gal i. 12), nor was the time longer than to admit of straightway being used, ver. 20, — and in deed the same word is used of the whole space (including his preaching in our vv. 20, 21) preceding the journey to Arabia, in Gal. i. 16. See below. 20. he preached Jesus] The alteration to "Christ" has probably, as Meyer suggests, been made from doctrinal considerations, to fix on " the Son of God " the theological sense, — ,16—24. THE ACTS: 713 of God. 21 But all. that heard him were amazed, and said ; u Is not this he that 1 destroyed them which called on u,^T1lii-^ this name in Jerusalem, and m came hither for that intent, i,ls'23- that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests ? 22 But Saul increased the more in strength, rand con- xeh.xviii.as. founded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is n very Christ. 23 And after that many days were fulfilled, y the Jews took counsel to kill him : ^ z but their yoh.xxiu.12: laying await was known ° of Saul. And they watched Ifc|°-Il.s2." 1 render, destroyed in Jerusalem them that called on this name. m render, had come. n render, the. ' ° better, to, or by. that Christ is the Son of God — instead of that which it now bears, — that Jesus is the Son of God, i. e. that Jesus of Naza reth, as a matter of fact, is the Sen pf God, i. e. the Messiah expected. under that appellation. 21.] had ccme hither, im plying the abandonment of the purpose. 22.] I regard the expression Saul increased the more in strength, as the only toords beneath which can lie con cealed the journey to Arabia. Paul men tions this journey (Gal. i. 17) with no ob scure hint that to it was to be assigned the reception by him, in full measure, of the Gospel which he preached. And such a reception would certainly give rise to the great accession cf ppwer here recerded. I am the mere disposed to allot that journey this place, from the following considera tions. The omission of any mention of it here can arise cnly from ono pf two causes : (1) whether Paul himself were the source of the narrative, or some other narrator, — the intentional passing over of it, as be longing more to his personal history (which it was his express purpose to relate in Gal. i.) than to that of his ministry : (2) on the supposition of Paul not having been the source of the narrative,-r- •J la: xxm. 15. Herod Aorippa I., grattfHon pf Herod tne Gseator-soji: of. Aristobulus And Berenice. Having gone to Rome, to accuse Herod: ftae* Tetrarch (Aritipils),, and fallen under the displeasure of 3&berius for paying, open cpurt to Caius Csesar (Caligula), he was imprfeoiied and cruelly treated; but, On the accession of Caligula, released, and at once presented with the tetrarchy of Philip (Trachonitis),— who had lately diedi— and the title of king. On this, Antipas, by persuasion of his wife Herodias, went to Eome, to try to obtain the royal title alto, but was followed by his enemy Agrippa,- who managed to get Antipas banished to Spain, arid to obtain his tetrarchy (Galilee and Persea) for himself. Finally, Clandius, in return for services rendered to him by Agrippa, at the time of Caligula's death, presented him with Samaria and Judsea (about 41 A.D., Jos. Antt. xix. 5. 1), so that' he now ruled- (Jos. ibid.) all thp kingdom of Herod the Great. His cha racter, as given by Josephus, Antt. xix. 7. 3, is important as illustrating the present chapter. He describes him as munificent in gifts and very ambitious pf popular faveur, making himself conspicuous by lavish expen diture; and a great observer,for popularity's sake, of the law and customs of the Jews. This character WiU abundantly account for his persecuting the Christians, who were so odious to the Jews, and for his vain glorious acceptance of the impious homage of the1 people, ver. 23. 2. James' the brother of John] Of him we know nothing besides what is related in the Gpspels. He was the son of Zebedee, called (Matt. iv. 21); together with John his brother : was one of the favoured Three admitted to. the death-chamber of Jairus's daughter (Mark v. 37), to the mount of trans figuration (Matt: xvii. 1), and to the agony in the garden (Matt. xxvi. 37). He, together with John his brother (named by our Lord ' Boanerges,' ' sons of thunder '), Wishedto calldownfire on the inhospitable Samaritans (Lukeix. 54); — and prayed that his brpther and himself might sit, one on the right hand and the other on the left, in the Lord's kingdom (Matt. xx. 20—24): It was then that He foretold to them their drinkjng.of the cup 'of suffering and being baptized with the baptism vthich He was baptized with : a prophecy which James was the first to fulfil.— This is the only Apostle of whose death we have any cer tain record. With' regard tp all the rest, tradition varies, more or lest, as to the place, or the manner,, or the time of then- deaths. — Eusebius relates, from a work of Clemens, who had received it by tradition pf those before him, that, the accuser of James, struck by his confession, became a Christian, arid was led away with him to martyrdom. As they went to execution, he asked the Apostle's forgiveness. After a moment's thpugiht, he replied " Peace be to thee," and kissed him: and so both *vere beheaded together. with the sword] Probably according to the Beman methcd of beheading, whieh became cem- mbn among' thp later Jews. It was a punijnrijent. accounted extremely disgrace ful by the Jews. 3.] See the charac ter of Agripjja' abpve! the days ef unleavened' brea'd] Wieseler regards the whole ef the following narrative as having happened on one and the same day and night, viz. that of the 14th of Nisan (April 1), a.d. 44. He takes the words in the strict meaning : that it was the very day of the passover, and' that "after the pass- over " means, after the eating of the pass- over on the evening of the 14th of Nisan, and that Herod was" intending to bring Peter forth on the next morning. He finds support1 for' this in the four qua ternions of soldiers, the guard for one night (see below), and maintains that the ex pression' the Passover1 cannot apply td' the whele festal peribdj which1 would have been " the feast " pr " Ihose day's." But Bleek calls this view must arbitrary and' even unnatural';' and I own, with all respect for Wieseler's general actimen, I im1 dis posed to agree with this criticisnr. The Whole cast of the narrative, : — the use of days, not " day" as in St. Luke's' own expression in his Gospel, ixii. 7,— the in timation of enduring custody in tne de livering- him to the soldiers to keep' him, the delay implied iri the word intending; — the specification of that same night pre supposing more nights preceding, — all' this would be unaccountable in the precise his torical diction of St. Luke, unless he had intended to cohve'y an impression that some days elapsed. Brit still more decisive is his own definition ofthe Passover Luke xxii. 1, " the feast of unleavened bread which is called the Passover." Sp that "after ther Passover" may Well be equi valent to " after the feast of unleavened 732 THE ACTS. XII. ojchnxxi.i8. bread. 4And cwhen he had apprehended him, he put, him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after S Easter to bring Viim forth to the people. 6 Peter therefore was kept in a 2 cor. i. n. prison: but a prayer was made without ceasing k of the i The™'. v.17. church unto God for him. 6 And when Herod * would' have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping- between two soldiers, bound with two chains : and p the] keepers before the door kept the prison. 7 And, behold, ddch.v.io. 1 aa the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined , in the mprison : and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And n so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9 And he went out, and followed him ; and eps.cxxvi.i. ° wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; tch. x.s,w: but thought fhe saw a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second ° ward, they came unto the iron Bch.xvi.28. gate that leadeth unto the city ; e which opened to them of S render, as in every other place where the word (pascha) occurs, the Passover. h render, by. 1 render, was about to bring. k omfc ! render, an. m render, chamber. n render, he did SO. The words, " so he did," in modern "English, do not carry this sense. ° or, guard. bread." The argument from the four which preceded the day of trial. — The quaternions of soldiers proves nothing: practice of attaching a prisoner to one the same sixteen (see below) may have had keeper or more by a ehain is alluded te by him in permanent charge, that number several ancient authcrs. In the account being appeinted as adequate to the duties of the imprisonment of Herod Agrippa required. 4. to four quaternions of himself by Tiberius, Jos. Antt. xviii. 6. 7, soldiers] In military arrangements, Herod we read of the soldier who was chained, seems to have retained the Boman habits, with him. See note on ch. xxiv. 23 ; see according to which the night was divided also ch. xxviii. 16, 20. 7.] It is in into four watches, and each committed to St. Luke's manner to relate simultaneously four soldiers, to two of whom the prisoner the angelic appearance and the shining of was chained, the other two keeping watch a hght around: ef. Luke ii. 9; xxiv. 4; before the doors of the prison, forming the ch. x. 30. The light accompanied, or per- first and second guards of ver. 10. It is haps shone from, the angel. 9.] went plain that this number being mentioned is out, viz. from the chamber or cell. no sign that the custody was only for one 10.] The first and second watch or guard night. after the Passover] (see above) cannot mean the two soldiers to whom he after the days of the feast, i. e. after the was chained, on account of the mention of 21st of Nisan. Herod, who (ver. 1, note) his going out above : but are probably the observed rigorously the Jewish customs, other two, one at the door of the chamber, would not execute a prisoner during the the other at the outer door of the building. feast. 5.] On the duration implied Then 'the iron gate leading into the city ' by this verse, see above. 6. the same was that outside the prison buildings, form- night] emphatic : that very night, viz. ing the exit from the premises. The situa- 4—17. THE ACTS. 733 his own accord: and they went out, and P passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed. from him. n And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that h the Lord hath sent h dIv^'s7; his angel, and 'hath delivered me out of the hand of "«?' Heb' Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the SVSJ&mJ Jews. 12And when he lhad considered the thing,. k he ioJ'Vco"": came to the house of. Mary the mother of J John, whose k»jjlT.2s. surname was Mark ; where many were gathered together, lch'"' S7' "praying. 13And x as Peter knocked at the door of themver.s. gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Ehoda. 14 And 8 when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, "Itis his angel. 16 But Peter continued knocking: and ¦> qf"-,=?vm. ° O 16. Matt. when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were xvm-10- astonished. ^But he, "beckoning unto them with the "SifssVid.. hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord 40" had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And P One of our oldest MSS. inserts here, descended the seven steps, and ... 1 render, knew. . r render, when he had knocked. 8 render, knowing. tion of the prison is uncertain, but seems Our Lord plainly asserts the doctrine of to have been in tbe city. The additional guardian angels in Matt, xviii. 10 (see clause in the margin is remarkable, and can note there) : and from this we further hardly be other than genuine. 11.] learn in what sense His wcrds were un- when Peter was come to himself : i. e. derstood by the early church. From His when he had recovered his self-conscious- words, " take heed that ye despise not one ness. He was before in the half-conscious- of these little ones," taken with the con- ness of one who is dreaming and knows text, we infer that each one has his guar- tbat it is a dream : except that in his case dian angel : from this passage we find not the dream was the truth, and his sup- only that such was beheved to be the case,. position the unreality. 12.] And now but that it was supposed that sueh angel having become aware of it, — for this, and occasionally appeared in the semblance not " when he had considered the thing," (seeing that he spoke with the voice) of is the meaning, — he proceeds at once to the person himself. We do not, it is true, action. John, whose surname was know who the speakers were ; nor is the Mark] Itis uncertain whether this John peculiar form in which they viewed the Mark was the same as the Evangelist doctrine binding upon us: it may have Mark : but they have been generally been erroneous, and savouring of super- believed to be the. same. For a full ac- stition. But of the doctrine itself this count of him, see Introduction to Mark, may not be said, as the Lord Himself has His mother Mary was not sister, but aunt asserted it. Por what purpose they sup- of Barnabas : see Col. iv. 10, note. 16. pose this angel to have come, does not It is his angel] No other rendering but appear in the narrative. 17. beckon- his angel will suit the sense : and with a ing unto them] His motive was haste : few- exceptions all Commentators, ancient he tells briefly the particulars of his deli- and modern, have recognized this meaning, verance, and, while it w.as yet night, 734 THE ACTS. XII. 18—25, p 1 Kings v. 9, 11. Ezek. xxvii. 17. he departed, and went into' another place. w Nd'w as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. 19 And When Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Csesarea, and there abode. 20 And * Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon : but they came with one ac'eord* to him, and, having made Blastus" the king^s chamberlain their friend, desired peaee; because p their coiiMry' was nourished by the king's country'.- 21 And upon a' set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel^ sat upon his- throne; and * read, he. hastily departs. unto James] James, the brother of the iord, whom we find' presiding; over the church at Jerusalem, ch. xV. 1-3'j xxi. 18 : Gal. ii. 12. See Gal. i. 19 ; ii. 9. I believe him to have been one of those " brethren of the Lord" men tioned Matt. xiii. 55 ; John vii. 5 ; ch. i. 14; 1 Cor. ix. 5; of whom I have in the note on the first of these passages main tained, that they were His real maternal brethren, sons' of Joseph1 and Mary :— to have been an Apostle, as Paul and Barna bas, but not of the number of the twelve "(see note on ch. xiv. 14) : — and to have been • therefore of course distinct from James the son of Alphseus, enumerated (Matt. x. 3 and parallels) among the twelve. Thereasons for this belief I reserve for the Introduction to -the Epistle of James. into anpther place] I see in these words a minute mark of truth in our narrative. Under the circumstances, the place of Peter's retreat would very naturally at the time be kept secret. It probably was unknown to the person' frem whpiri the narrative came, or designedly left indefinite. And so it has remained, the narrative not following Peter's history any longer. We find him again at Jerusalem in ch. xv. Whether he left-it or not on this occasion is uncertain. It is not asserted in the word departed,— which only implies that he left the house. 18 as soon as it was - day] Wieseler argues from1 this, and I think rightly, that the deliverance of Peter must have taken place in the last watch of the night (3 — 6 A.M. in April), for otherwise his escape would have been perceived before the break of day, viz: at the next change of the watoh. 20.] It is impossible that Herod should have been at war with the Tyrians' and Sido- nians, belonging as they did to a Boman province, and he himself being in high favour at Bome : — nor is thisimplied in Pur' text. The quarrel, hewever it originated, appears to have been carried out on Herod's part hy sbme commercial' regulation op posed to their interest, dependent as they were on supplies from his territory. came with one accord, viz. by a deputa tion,— Blastus is a Boman name, and, from Herod's frequent visits to Bome, it is likely that- he would have Romans as his confidential servants. peace] not (see above), in its strict sense, but recon ciliation, because their country was nourished hy the king's country] We learn from 1 Kings v. 11, that Solomon made presents of wheat and oil to Hiram in return for the cedar and fir-trees for the Lord's house : and from Ezek. xxvii. 17, that Judah and Israel exported wheat, honey, oil, and balm (or resin) to Tyre. In Ezra iii. 7 also, We find Zerubbabel giving meat, drink, and oil to them of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar-trees to Joppai Mr. Humphry quotes from Bede, ' The Tyrians found the king's friendship necessary to them, because their country was a very narrow strip,, and close on the borders of Galilee and Damascus.' — An ad ditional reason for their request at this par ticular time may have been, the prevalence of famine. 21.] The' account in Jose phus is remarkably illustrative of the sacred text : " The third year of his reign over all Judsea was now fulfilled, and he came to the city of CsBsarea . . . . and gave specta cles in honpur pf Csesar .... and all the rauk and wealth of the province was assem*- bled at them. And en the secend day of the spectacles, he' put on a vesture all wrought of silver, so that the texture' was wondrous to behold, and came into tho theatre at the rising of the sun. Then the XIII. 1. THE ACTS. 735" made an oration unto them. 22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god,, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord 'smote him^y^-S because rhe gave not God the glory : and he was eaten of r witx"'..' worms, and gave up the ghost. 2* But 8the word of God s(a,alT"- . t f Oil* TI* / : XIZb grew and multiplied. ™ And Barnabas and Saul returned 2°' 0oI'i'6- from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their S3 ministry, B30h'Ii!!9- 30- and * took with them tt John, whose surname was Mark. toxv.t"'5,1S: XIII. !Now there were ain the church that was at»?»ii»: . , xiv. 26 : XV. Antioch l* certam] prophets and teachers; as b Barnabas, blh.xi.sa-26. and Symeon that Was called Niger, and c Lucius of Cyrene, cE0m.xvi.21. omit. silver, struck with the first glitter of the solar rays, cast a splendid reflection, daz zling the eyes of the beholders, and struck fear into them. . And immediately his flatterers called put, in wprds unpro- . pitious to him or any ono, from all parts of the assembly hailing him as God, Be gracious to us ; if we have hitherto feared thee as a man, henceforth we confess thee more than mortal. The king did not re buke them, nor even reject this impious flattery. Looking up however shortly after, he saw an owl over his head, ' sitting on a rope, and straightway felt that it was a presage of mischief." Josephus goes en to relate that he was immediately seized with a violent pain in his bowels, of which he died after five days' agony. On the fraud committed by Eusebius in citing this account of Josephus's, see-my Greet- Test.^ The circumstance related in pur text, of the answer to the Sidonianr embassy, of which Josephus seems not to have been aware, having been one object of Herod on the occasion, shews an accuracy of detail which well accords with the view of the material of this part of the Acts having been col lected at Caesarea,, where the event hap pened (see Introd. to Acts, § 2. 11). 23.] The fact may be correctly related by Josephus (see above) : but our narrative alleges the cause of what happened to have been the displeasure of God, and the stroke to have been inflicted by. His angel. Compare 2 Kings xix. 35,; 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 16. But no appearance of an angel is implied. he was eaten of worms] Another additional particular ; and one to be expected from a physician. In several cases of deaths by divine judgment we have accounts of this loathsome termina tion of the disease. See examples in my Greek Test. 24.] Similarly, eh. v. 12 ff. ; vi. 7; ix. 31, a general state ment of the progress and prosperity of the church of God forms thp transitipn frpm • one portion of the history to another. 25.] The journey (ch. xi. 30) took place after the death, or about the time of the death, of Herod; see on ver. 1. The pur pose of the mission would be very soon accomplished: Saul would naturally not remain longer in Jerusalem than was un avoidable, and would court no publicity : and hence there seems an additional reason for placing the visit after Herod's death-: for, of all the persons whose execution would bejjleasing tp the Jews; Saul weuld hold the foremost place. Our verse is pro bably inserted as a note of passage from the last recorded fact of Barnabas and Saul (xi. 30), to their being found at Antioch- (xiii. 1). John] See above on ver. 12. Chap. XIII. 1— XIV. 28.] Fibst mis- SIONABY- JOTJEKEY OP PaTTI AND BABNA- bas. Henceforward the history follows Saul (pr Paul, as he is now [ver. 9] and from this time denominated), his ministry, and ihe events of his life, to the exclusion, (with the sole exception of the council- in ch. xv.) of all the other Apostles. XIII. 1.] The word "certain" has been interpolated; to make it appear that the persons mentioned were not the only pro phets and teachers at Antioch. It is omitted by all our most ancient autho rities. The enumeration is probably in serted en account of the solemnity ef the incident abeut to be related, that it might be known who they, were, to whom tbe Holy Spirit entrusted so weighty a com mission, prophets] See on ch. xi. 27. teachers] Those who had the gift of teaching, seel Cor. xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11. They were probably less immediately the organs ofthe Holy Spirit than tbe prophets, but under His continual guidance in the 736 THE ACTS. XIIL d Num. vm. u. and Manaen, x which had been brought up with Herod the SxiLii?! tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As thev ministered to the Lord, and Eom.i. 1. 'J 7 Gal. i. 16 : ii. 9. e Matt. ix. S8. ch.xiv. 28. Bom. X. 15. Eph. iii. 7, 8. lTim.ii.7. 2 Tim. i.ll. Heh.v.4. fasted, the Holy Ghost said, d Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work e whereunto I have called them. 3 And render, foster-brother of. gradual and progressive work of teaching the Word. Symeon that was called Niger] Nothing is known of him. From his appellation of Niger, he may have been an African proselyte. Lucius] A Lucius, probably the same person, is men tioned Bom. xvi. 21 as a " kinsman " of Paul. There is no reason to suppose him the same, with Luke (Lucas, or Lucanus), — but the contrary ; for why should Paul in this case use two different names ? See Col. iv. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 11; Philem. 24. Manaen] The same name with Menahem the king of Israel, 2 Kings xv. 14. A certain Essene, of this name, foretold to Herod the Great, when a boy going to school, that he should be king of the Jews. And in consequence, when he came to the throne, he honoured Manaen, and, on his account, all the Essenes. It is then not improbable, that this Manaen may have been a son of that one : but see below. The Herod here meant was Antipas, who with his brother Archelaus (both sons of Herod the Great by Malthace a Sama ritan woman, see Matt. xiv. 1, note) were brought up in a private family at Bome. Both were at this time exiles, Antipas at Lyons, Archelaus at Vienne. This Manaen had probably been Herod's foster-brether ; not, ' brought up with him,' for, if -he had been brought up with Antipas, he would also have been with Archelaus : see above. — In this case, his mother may have called her infant by the name of the person who had brought the Essenes into favour with Herod, and no relationship with that per son need have existed. Saul] men tioned last, perhaps because the prophets are placed first, and he was not one, but a teacher : or it may be, that he himself furnished the account. This circumstance, which has been objected to by some as invalidating the accuracy of the account, is in fact an interesting confirmation of it, as being eminently characteristic of him who spoke as in 1 Cor. xv. 9 ; 2 Cor. xii. 6 ; Eph. iii. 8. 2. As they ministered] The word in the original is that generally used to express the priestly service among the Jews, to which now had succeeded that of the prophets and teachers in the Christian church : ministering is therefore the only word adequate to render it, as A. V. More closely to define it is not only impracticable, but is narrowing an expression purposely left general. the Holy Ghost said] viz. by one of the prophets present, probably Symeon or Lucius : see above. The announcement being to the church, and several persons being mentioned, we can hardly suppose it to have been an inner command merely to some one person, as in the case of Philip, cb. viii. 29. There is in the original words pf the injunction of the Spirit, a precision and force implying that it was for a special purpose, and to be obeyed at the time. the work] Certainly, by ver. 4, we may infer that there had been, er was simultaneously with this command, a divine intimation made to Barnabas and Saul of the nature and direction of this work. In general, it had already been pointed out in the case of Saul, ch. ix. 15 ; xxii. 21 ; xxvi. 17. It consisted in preach ing to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, Eph. iii. 8. In virtue of the foundation of the Gentile churches being entrusted to them, Saul and Barnabas become after this Apostles, not vice versa; nor is there the least ground for the in ference that this was a formal extension of the apostolic office, the pledge of its continuance through the episcopacy to the end of time. The apostohc office terminated with the apostohc times, and by its very nature, admitted not of continuance : the episcopal oflice, in its ordinary sense, sprung up after the apostolic times : and the two are entirely distinct. The con fusion of the two belongs to that unsafe and slippery ground in chureh matters, the only logical refuge from which is in the traditional system of Bome. Jerome says, "Let bishops remember that they are greater than presbyters not so much by the strictness of divine appointment, as by custom, and that the two orders ought together to rule the church." 3. when they had fasted and prayed] not, " when they had done fasting and pray ing :" this was a new fasting and special prayer for Barnabas and Saul. Fasting and prayer have ever been connected with the solemn times of ordination by the 2—7. THE ACTS. 737 f when' they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands t oh. n. 6. on them, they sent them away. * So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, 7 departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to * Cyprus. 5And when they *<*•*>•¦•• were at Salamis, hthey preached the word of God in the »"'¦*>• synagogues ofthe Jews: and they had also 'John z to10^:25' their nrvnister. 6 And when they had gone through a the isle unto Paphos, they found ka certain sorcerer, a false kch.vm.9. prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: 7 which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent y render, went down. z i a read, the whole island we should now say, for. Christian church ; but the fasts four times a year, or 'ember days at the four seasons,' for the special purpose of ordinations, were probably not introduced till the fourth or even fifth century. laid their hands on them] See on ch. vi. 6. 4. being sent forth] Under the guidance of the Spirit, who directed their course, Seleucia] A very strong fortified city (supposed impregnable) fifteen miles from Antioch, — on the Orontes, and five miles from its mouth. It was founded and forti fied by Seleucus Nicator, who was buried there. It was called Seleucia ad Mare, — and Pieria, from Mount Pierius, on which it was built, to distinguish it from other Syrian towns of the same name. Polybius mentions, that it has but one approach from the sea, steep, and excavated by hand, with frequent flights cf stairs. This excavated way is to this day ccnspicucus ampngst thp ruins pf the pity. It was under the Seleucid kings the capital cf a district Seleucis, — and, since Pompey's time, a free city. they sailed to Cyprus] The lofty outline of Cyprus is visible from the mouth of thp Orontes. See belew, ver. 7. It was the native ccuntry cf Barnabas, — and, as John Mark was his kinsman, they were likely to find more acceptance there than in other parts. 5.] Salamis was the nearest port to Seleucia on the eastern side of the island. It had a good harbour, It was the residence of a king anciently, and always one of the chief cities of the island. There were very many Jews there, as ap pears by there being more than one syna gogue. Their numbers may have been increased by the farming of tbe copper- mines by Augustus to Herod. On the insurrection of the Jews in the reign of Trajan, Salamis was nearly destroyed, and they were expelled from the island. Its demolition was completed by an earthquake in the reign of Constantine, who (or his immediate successors) rebuilt it and gave it the name of Constantia. The ruins of this latter place are visible near the modern Fa- magosta, the Venetian capital of the island. ^ their minister] Probably for the administration of baptism : see also 1 Cor. i. 14—17. 6.] Paphos is on the west ern shore, with the length of the island between it and Salamis. It is Nea Paphos which is meant, about eight miles north of the Paphos more celebrated in classic poets for the temple and worship of Venus. It was destroyed by an earthquake in Au gustus's reign, but rebuilt by him. It is now called Baffa, and contains some in- portant ruins. a certain sorcerer] On the prevalence of such persons at this time, see eh. viii. 9, note. The Eoman aristocracy were peculiarly under the in fluence of astrologers and magicians, some of whom were Jews. We read of such in connexion with Marius, Pompey, Crassus, Csesar,— and later with Tiberius : and the complaints of Horace and Juvenal shew how completely, and for how long a time, Bome was inundated with Oriental im postors of every description. Bar- jesus] He had given himself the Arabic. title of Elymas, ' the wise man ' (from the same root as the Turkish ' TJlemah '), inter preted a magician or sorcerer in our text. 7. the deputy] The oflSce was that called in Latin 'proconsul,' the title of the governor of those provinces which were (semblably) left by the emperors to the government of the senate and people. The proconsul was appointed by lot, as in the times of the republic; carried with him the lictors and fasces as a consul : but had no military power, and held office only for a year. This last restriction was soon re laxed under the emperors, and they were 738 THE ACTS. XIII. man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to iExod.vii.n. tear the word of God. 8But 'Elymas the sorcerer (for so 2 Tim, iii. 8. is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then Saul, (who mch.iv.8. a]s0 is called Paul,) m filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 and said, G full of all subtilty and all n Matt. xiii. 88 •> . . . ^ i jotaui."' mischief, " thou " child of the devil, thou enemy of all b read, SOn. retained five or even more years. Tbe imperial provinces, on the other hand, were governed by a military officer, a Pro prietor or Legatus of the Emperor, who was girded with the sword, and npt re vocable unless by the pleasure of the Em peror. The minor districts of the imperial provinces were governed by Procurators. Nothing more is known of this Sergius Paulus. Another person of the same name is mentioned hj Galen, more than a century after this, as a great proficient in philo sophy. He was of consular rank, and is probably the Sergius Paulus who was con sul with L. Venuleius Apronianus, A.D. 168, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. 8. Elymas] See above on ver. 6. 9. who also is called Paul] This notice marks the transitipn from the former part of his history, where he is uniformly called Saul, to the latter and larger portion, where he is without exception known as Paul. I do not regard it as indicative of any change of name at the time of this in cident, or from that time : the evidence which I deduce from it is of a different kind, and not without interest to en quirers into the character and author ship of our history. Hitherto, our Evan gelist has been describing events, the truth of which he had ascertained by research ind from the narratives of others. But henceforward there is reason to think that the joint memoirs of himself and the great Apostle furnish the material of the book. In those memoirs the Apostle is universally known by the name Paul, which superseded the other. If this was the first incident at which Luke was pre sent; or the first memoir derived from Paul himself, or, which is plain, hcwever dqubtful may . be the ether alternatives, the cpmmencement of that part of the history which is to narrate the teaching and travels of the Apostle Paul,— it would be natural that a note should be made, identifying the two names as belonging to the same person. — The also must not be understood as having any reference to Sergius Paulus, or as. meaning that the Apostle 'also (as well a was called Paul.' It signifies that Paulus was a second name borne by Saul, in conformity with a Jewish practice as old as the captivity (or even as Joseph, see Gen. xli. 45), of adopting a Gentile name. Mr. Howson traces it" through the Persian period (see Dan. i. 7 ; Esth. ii. 7), the Greek (1 Mace. xii. 16 ; xvi. 11; 2 Mace. iv. 29), and the Boman (ch. i. 23 ; xiii. 1 ; xviii. 8, &c), and the middle ages, down to modern times. Jerome has conjectured that the name was adopted by Saul in me mory of this event; the subjugation of Sergius Paulus to Christ, as the first fruits of his preaching — in the same way as Scipio after the conquest of Africa was called Africanus, and Metellus was called Creticus after the conquest of Crete. It is strange that any one could be found capable of so utterly mistaking the cha racter of St. Paul, or of producing so un fortunate an analogy to justify the mistake. It is yet stranger that Augustine should, in his Confessions, adopt the same view: " He who was the least of Thine Apostles, . . . loved to be called Paul, instead of Saul, as before, to commemorate so great a victory." Sp alsp Olshausen. A mere probable way of accounting for the addi tional name is pointed out by observing that such new names were often alliterative of or allusive to the original Jewish name : — he who was Jesus as a Jew, was called Jason or Justus, Col. iv. 11 : see other examples in my Greek Test. set his eyes on him] It seems probable that Paul never entirely recovered his sight as before, after the "glory of that light" (see ch. xxii. 11). We have several apparent allu sions to weakness in his sight, or to some thing which rendered his bodily presence contemptible. In ch. xxiii. 1, the same expression, "fixing his eyes on" "ear nestly beholding," A. V., "the council" occurs, and may have some bearing (see note there) on his not recognizing the high priest. See also Gal. iv. 13, 15 ; vi. 11, and 2 Cor. xii. 7, 9, and notes. The tra ditional notices of his personal appearance represent him as having contracted and overhanging eyebrows. — Whatever the 8—14. THE ACTS. 739 righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ? u And now, behold, ° the hand of ° the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness ; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, beheved, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. 13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia : and * John departing from them returned to Jerusalem, p 14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and 4 went into the synagogue on the Exod. ix. 3. 1 Sam. v. 0. eh. xvi. 13: xvii. i : xviii. word may imply, it appears like the graphic description of an eye-witness, who was not Paul himself. 10. son pf the devil] Meyer supposes an indignant allusion to the name Bar-jesus (son of Jesus, or Joshua). This is possible, thpugh hardly probable. wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways pf the Lord 1] This evidently applies, not to Elymas's conduct on this occasion merely, but to his whole hfe of imposture and perversion of others. The especial sin was, that of laying hold of the nascent enquiry after God in the minds of men, and wresting it to a wrong direction. The Lord here and in ver. 11, is Jehovah. 11. for a season] The punishment was only tem porary, being accompanied with a gracious purpose to the man himself, to awaken repentance in him. a mist and a darkness] In the same precise and gradual manner is the healing of the lame man, ch. iii. 8, described : he stood (first), and walked. So here, first a dimness came on him,— then total darkness. And we may conceive this to have been shewn hy his gestures and manner under the infliction. 12. at the doctrine of the Lord] Hesitating as he had bepn before between the teaching of the sorcerer and that of the Apostle, he is amazed at the divine power accompanying the latter, and gives himself up to it. It is not said that he was baptized : but the supposition is not thereby excluded: see ver. -48; eh. xvii. 12, 34; xviii. 8, first part. 13. Paul and his company] Is there not a trace of the nar rator being among them, in this expres sion ? — Henceforward •?#« J is the principal person, and Barnabas is thrown into the background. Perga in Pamphylia] Perga lies on the Cestrus, which flows into the bay of Attaleia. It is sixty stadia (7i miles) from the mouth, "between and upon the sides of two hills, with an extensive valley in front, watered by the river Ces trus, and backed by the mountains of the Taurus." (Conybeare and Howson, vol. i. p. 195, from Sir C. Fellews's Asia Minor.) The remains are almost entirely Greek, with few traces of later inhabitants. The inhabitants of Pamphylia were nearly allied in character to those of Cilicia : and it may have been Paul's design, having already preached in his own province, to extend the Gospel of Christ to this neighbouring people. John probably took the op portunity of some ship sailing from Perga. His reason for returning does not appear, but may be presumed, from ch. xv. 38, tp have been, unsteadiness of character, and unwillingness to face the dangers abound ing in this rough district (see below.). He afterwards, having been the subject pf dis sension between Paul and Barnabas, ch. xv. 37 — 40, accompanied the latter again to Cyprus ; and we find him at a much later period spoken of by Paul, together with Aristarchus, and Jesus called Justus, as having been a comfort to him (Col. iv. 10, 11) : and again in 2 Tim. iv. 11, as pro fitable to him for the ministry. . 14.] It is not improbable that during this jour ney Paul may have encountered some of the ' perils by robbers' of which he speaks, 2 Cor. xi. 26. The tribes inhabiting the mountains which separate the tablp-land of Asia Minor from the coast, were notorious for their lawless, and marauding habits. Strabo says of Isauria, that its inhabitants were all robbers, and of the Pisidians, that, like the Cilicians, they have great practice in plundering. He gives a similar character of the Pamphylians. Antioch in Pisidia was founded originally by the Magnetos on the Meander, and subsequently by Seleucus Nicator ; and became, under Augustus, a Boman colony. Its position is 740 THE ACTS. XIII. r Luke iv. 16. ver. 27. s Heb. xiii. 22. t ch.xii. 17. u ver. 26, 42, 43. ch. X. 36. x Deut. vii. 6, 7. y Exod. i. 1. Ps. cv.23,24. ch. vii. 17. z Exod. vi. 6 : xiii. 14, 16. a Exod. xvi. 35. Numh. xiv. 83,84. Ps. XCV. 9, 10. ch.vii. 80. sabbath day, and sat down. 1B And * after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, [c Ye men and] brethren, if ye have B any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stood up, and ' beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and uye that fear God, give audience. ^The God of this people of Israel x chose our fathers, and exalted the people y when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egpyt, z and with an high arm brought he them out of it. 18 And a about the time of forty years d suffered he their see on ch. i. 16. d render, bore he them as a nurse beareth a child : see note. described by Strabo as being on a hill, and was unknown or wrongly placed till Mr. Arundell found its ruins at a place now called Yalobatch, answering to Strabo's description : where since an inscription has been found with the letters Antiocheae Caesabe. 15.] The divisions of the law and prophets at present in use among the Jews were probably npt yet arranged. Befere the time pf Antiochus Epiphanes, the Law only was read in the synagogues : but, this having been forbidden by him, the Prophets were substituted : — and, when the Maccabees restored the reading of the Law, that of the Prophets continued as well. sent unto them] Then they were not sitting in the foremost seats, Matt, xxiii. 6, but somewhere among the congregation. The message was probably sent to them as having previously to this taught in the city, and thus being known to have come for that purpose. See, as illustrating our narrative, Luke iv. 17 ff. and notes. 16. beckoning with his hand] As was his practice; so he stretched forth the hand, ch. xxvi. 1. See also ch. xxi. 40. The contents of this speech (vv. 16 — 41) may be thus arranged : I. Becapitulation of God's ancient deliver ances of His people and mercies towards them, ending with His crowning mercy, the sending of the Deliverer and promised, Son of David (vv. 16— 25). II. The his tory of the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, and of God's fulfilment of His promise by raising Him from the dead (vv. 26—37). III. The personal application of this to all present, — the announcement to tliem of justification by faith in Jesus, and 'solemn warning against the rejection of Him. It is in the last degree unsafe to argue, as Dr. Wordsworth has done, that because Strabo asserts the language of the Pisidians to have been neither Greek nor Lydian, St. Paul must have spoken to them by virtue of his miraculous gift of tongues. To the question put by Dr. W., " In what language did St. Paul preach in Pisidia ?" we may reply, seeing that he preached in the synagogue, after the reading of the law and prophets, " In the same language as that in which the law and prophets had just been read." ye that fear God] The persons thus addressed here, and in ver. 26, formed a distinct class, viz. the (uncircumcised) proselytes of the gate; not exclnding even such pious Gentiles, not proselytes in any sense, who might be present. The speech, from the beginning and throughout, is universal in its appli cation, embracing Jews and Gentiles. 17. of this people of Israel] Grotius thinks that as the Apostle said these words, he pointed with his hand to the Jews. Or rather, perhaps by the word this he indi cated, without gesture, the people in whose synagogue they were assembled. our fathers] It is evident that the doctrine so" much insisted on afterwards by St. Paul, that all believers in Christ were the true children ef Abraham, was fully matured already : by the werds this people he alludes to the time when God was the God of the Jews only : by this us he unites all present in the now extended inheritance of the promises made to the fathers. exalted the people] Evidently an allusion to Isa. i. 2, where the word is also used in the sense of ' bringing up,' nourishing to man hood. This was done by increasing them in Egypt so that they became a great nation : see Gen. xlviii. 19. There is no reference to any exaltation of the people during their stay in Egypt: whether by their deliverance, or by the miracles of Moses, or by Joseph's preferment to honour. 18. he bore them as a nurse heareth » child] The adoption of this rendering, 15—22. THE ACTS. 741 manners in the wilderness. 19And [6when] bhe \^ had]"b'D'iat-^-1- destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, c f fe'ft^ divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after d that he dj^.ii.uT gave unto them judges, about the space of four hundred and fifty years, e until Samuel the prophet. 21 f And after- ?i IS/vm.^ ward they desired a king : and God gave unto them Saul x-1' the son of S Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And [« » wfren,] he [« had] removed *%%:£& him, hi he raised up unto them David to be their king; .to ¦ h j/^fejjj- ~ whom also he gave testimony, and said, 'I have found ipi'.!^'. 20, omit. ' render, and. & render, KlS, instead of that of the A. V., depends on the change of one letter in the Greek. The word is " etrop(or, ph)ophoresen :" the former being the reading rendered in the A. V. But the other is the more probable, both from the MSS. here, and from the Heb. of 'Deut. i. 31, and the expansion of the same image in Num. xi. 12. 19. seven nations] See Deut. vii. 1; Josh. iii. 10; xxiv. 11. — From the occurrence of manifest references, in these opening verses of the speech, to Deut. i. and Isa. i., com bined with the fact that these two chapters form the present lessons in the synagogues on one and the same sabbath, Bengel and Stier conclude that they had been then read. It may have been, so: but see on ver. 15. 20.] Taking the words as they stand, no other sense can be given to them, than that the time of the judges lasted 450 years. And we have exactly the same chronological arrangement in Josephus ; who reckons 592 years from the Exodus to the building of Solomon's tem ple, — arranging the period thus : (1) forty years in the wilderness: (2) twenty-five years under Joshua : (3) Judges (below) : (4) forty years under Saul, see en ver. 21 : S5) forty years under David, 1 Kings ii. 11 : 6) four years ef Selomori's own Teign. This gives 592 minus 149, i. e. 443 years (about 450) for the judges, inoluding Samuel. That this chrcnplpgy differs widely frem 1 Kings vi. 1, is mpst evident, — where we read that Solomon began his temple in the four hundred and eightieth (LXX, four hundred and fortieth) year after the Exodus. All attempts to reconcile the two are arbitrary and forced. See some such recounted in my Greek Test. It seems then that St. Paul followed a chronology current among the Jews, and agreeing with the book of Judges itself (the spaces of time in which, added toge ther, eome exactly to 450), and that adopted by Josephus, but not. with that of our Vol. 1. present Hebrew text of 1 Kings vi. 1, Samuel] mentioned as the terminus of the period of the Judges, also as having been so nearly concerned in the setting up over them of Saul and David. 21. Saul .... a man of the tribe of Benjamin] It may be not altogpther irrelevant to notice that a Saul, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, was speaking ; and to trace in this minute specification something cha racteristic and natural. by the space of forty years] So also Josephus. In the Old Testament the length of Saul's reign is not specified; 1 Sam. vii. 2 gives no reason, as Bengel thinks, why Saul's reign should have been less than twenty years, as the twenty years there mentioned do not extend to the bringing up of the ark by David, but only to the circum stances mentioned in the following verses. Biscoe has well shewn, that as Saul was a young man when anointed king, and Ish- bosheth his youngest son (1 Chron. viii. 33) was forty years old at his death (2 Sam.] ii. 10), his reign cannot have been much, short of that period. It is clearly against the construction to suppose Samuel's time as well as Saul's included in the forty years, following as they do upon the verb, " gave them." Yet this has been done by the majority of Commentators. 22., he removed him] i. e. deposed him : in this' case, by his death, for David was not made- king till then. Or perhaps'the w;ord may refer to the sentence pronounced against Saul, 1 Sam. xiii. 14, or xv. 23, 28, and the following verb, raised up, to the whole process of the exaltation of David to be. king. But I prefer the former. to, whom he gave testimony, and said] The two passages, Ps. lxxxix. 20, and 1 Sam. xiii. 14, are interwoven together: both were. spoken of David, and both by prophetic inspiration. They are cited from memory, . neither the words " the son of Jesse," nor "which shall fulfil all my will," being! 3 C 742 THE ACTS. XIII. k 1 Sam. liii. 14. ch. vii. 46. 1 Isa. xi. 1. ¦ Luke i. 82, 69. ch. ii. SO. Horn, i. 3. m 2 Sam. vii. 12. Ps. exxxii. 11. n Matt. i. 21. Bom. xi. 26. o Matt. iii. 1. Luke iii. 3. p Matt, iii. 11. Mark i. 7. Luke iii. 16. Jehu i. 20,27. 4 Matt. x. 6. Luke xxiv. 47. ver. 46. cb. iii. 28. r Luke xxiii. 34. ch. iii. 17. lOor.ii. 8. s ver. 14,-15. ch. xv. 21. t Luke xxiv. 20, 44. ch. xxvi. 22: - xxviii. 23. , n Matt, xxvii. 22. Mark xv, 13,14. Luke xxiii. 21, 22. John xix. 6, 15. xch.iii.13,14. y Luke xviii. 31: xxiv. 44. John xix. 28, SO, 38, 37. . z Matt, xxvii. 59. Mark xv. 46. Luke xxiii. 58. John xix. SS. a Matt, xxviii. 6. ch.ii.24 David the son of Jesse, ka man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 l Of this man's seed hath God according m to [h his] promise * raised unto Israel - a Saviour, Jesus : 2* ° when John had first preached k before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, p Whom think ye that I am ? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his ¦ feet I am not worthy to loose. 26 \}Men and] brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and m whosoever among you feareth God, 9 to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, r because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets s which are read every sabbath day, ' they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 u And n though they found no cause of death in him, x ° yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 y And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, z they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 a But God raised him from the dead : 31 and b he was seen many days of them whieh : iii. 18, 15, 26: V.30. b Matt, xxviii. 16. oh.i.8. 1 Cor. xv. 5, 6, 7. 11 omit. 1 render, brought. k literally, before the presence of his coming. * omit : see on ch. i. 16. m render, those among you who fear God : see note. n render, when. ° render, they desired. found in them. These latter words are spoken of Cyrus, see Isa. xliv. 28. That such citations are left in their present shape in our text, forms a strong presumption that we have the speeches of St. Paul word for word as delivered by him, and no sub sequent general statement of what he said, in which case the citation would have been corrected by the sacred text. 2 hath Clod according to promise brought . viz. the promise in Zech. iii. 8, where the very word "bring forth" is used; not however excluding the many other pro mises to the same effect. 24. before the presence of his coming] referring to " brought" above, when his coming forward publicly was about to take place. 86.] The expression "to fulfil (or finish) a course " is peculiar to St. Paul : see ch. xx. 24; 2 Tim. iv. 7. On this course see Luke iii. 15 ff. 26.] The same two classes, (see on ver. 16,) Jews, and God fearing Gentiles, are here again addressed : and this should be more distinctly marked in the version, than is done in the A.V. this salvation] viz. the salvation implied in Jesus being a Saviour — salvation by Him. 27.] On the peculiar construc tion of this verse, almost unintelligible in any English representation, consult my Greek Test. 28. when they found] Not, * though,' but rather because they found no cause : when they found no cause of death in him, they besought, &c : see Luke xxiii. 22, 23. 29.] De Wette rightly remarks, that St. Paul, in this compendious narrative, makes no distinc tion between friend and foe in what was done to our Lord, but regards both as fulfilling God's purpose regarding Him. I may add that there is also a contrast between what men did to Him, and God's raising Him, ver. 30. — Joseph and Nico demus, be it observed, were both rulers. — Paul touches but lightly on the cross of Christ, and hastens on to the great point, the Eesurrection, as the fulfilment of pro phecy and seal of the Messiahship of Jesus.' 23—36. THE ACTS. 743 came up with him cfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, d Vwho are 5 "5- !•"-.. ... J a oh. i. 8 j ii. his witnesses unto the people. 82And we declare unto T!s2Ui'16' you glad tidings, how that e the promise whieh was made eoen.iii.i5. unto the fathers, ^ God hath 1 fulfilled the same unto us p- 'Jg-Jf;.'- their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus [r again]; JS: Gal'lu: as it is also written in the B second psalm, f Thou art my fp»A.ii.7. Son, this day have I begotten thee. 3* And as concerning B- that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, s I will give you b-isa.iv.s. the sure * mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, h Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One hPs.xvi.io. to see corruption. ^ For David, * after he had served his i£."briviu.7t P read, who are now. 1 render, completely fulfilled. r omit. 8 Some of our ancient authorities read, first : *ee note. * The original here has holy things : see note. 31.] The now gives peculiar force to the sentence. Who are at this moment witnesses, — living witnesses; i. e. 'I am not telling you a matter of the past merely, but one made present to the people of the Jews by living and eye-witnessing testi mony.' 32. we declare unto you] He and Barnabas were not of the number of those who came up with Him from Galilee unto Jerusalem, ver. 31, nor was their mission to the Jewish people. ' They are at this moment witnessing to the people, we, preaching to you.' The we is emphatic. Stier observes how entirely Paul sinks himself, his history and com mission from Christ, in the great Object of his preaching. 33. in that he hath raised up Jesus] The term raised up is ambiguous : but here the meaning, from the dead, is absolutely required by the con text; both because the word is repeated with that addition (ver. 34), and because the Apostle's emphasis throughout the passage is on the Besurrection (ver. 30) ab the final fulfilment of God's promises regarding Jesus. The other meaning, 'having raised up,' as in ch. vii. 37, is however maintained by several Commen tators. Meyer well remarks, that this meaning would hardly in our passage have been thought of or defended, had it not been that the subjoined citation from Ps. ii. has been thought necessarily to apply to our Lord's mission upon earth. The reading of some of our ancient autho rities here, in the first psalm, is to be accounted for by the fact that anciently our second Psalm was the first, our first being reckoned as prefatory. St. Paul refers the prophecy in its full completion to the Besurrection of our Lord : similarly in Bom. i. 4, " declared to be the Son of God with power . ... by the resurrection from the dead." 34. now no more to return . . .] Compare Bom. vi. 9, " Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more : death hath no more dominion over him." It is interesting to trace the same shades of thought in the speeches and epistles of Paul; and abundant opportunity of doing so will occur as we proceed. — But here the returning to corruption does not merely imply death, so that Jesus should have once undergone it, and no more hereafter, as the A. V. seems to imply : but we must supply ' to die, and in consequence to ' before the words, understanding them as the result of death, if it had dominion over Him : thus the clause answers even more remarkably to Bom. vi. 9. the holy things is the LXX rendering of the Hebrew word, Isa. lv. 3, which in 2 Chron. vi. 42, they bave translated "the mercies." The word 'holy' should have been pre served in the A. V., as answering to " thine Holy One" below; the mercies of David, holy and sure : or my holy promises which I made sure unto David. 35.] Where fore also,— rcorrespondent to which purpose, of His Christ not seeing corruption. he saith] viz. God, not David : the subject is continued from vv. 32 and 34, and fixed by " he said " and " I will give " just pre ceding, — thou shalt notsufferQitervi&y give) and thine Holy One accurately correspond to "Iwillgive" and "holy things" before. See on ch. ii. 27. . 86.] The psalm, though spoken by David, cannot have its ful- C 2 744 THE ACTS. XIII own generation by the will of God, ' fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption : 37 but he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known 84. unto you therefore, [u men and] brethren, that k through this man is x preached unto you the forgiveness of sins : 39 and l 7 by him z all that believe are justified from all vuS.mHeh'. things from which ye could not be justified 7 by the law of Moses. *° Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, ms^Yf'u' wni°h ig spoken of in m the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers^ and wonder, and perish : afor I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. 4a And D when the Jews were gone out J' 1 Kings ii. 10. ch.ii.22. k Jer. xxxi. Dan. ix. 24. Luke xxiv. 47. 1 John ii. 12. 1 Isa, liii. 11. Bom. iii, "" 16. u omit : see on ch. i. 7 render, in. a render, because. h read and render, as they were going out, they besought. x better here, announced. z render, every one that believeth is. filment in David. his own generation] David ministered only to the generation in which he lived : but through this Man, re mission of sins is preached to you and to all who believe on Him. after he had served his own generation by the will (i. e. according to the appointment) of God] His whole course was marked out and fixed by God— he fulfilled it, and fell asleep. (See, on the whole, 2 Sam. vii. 12 ; 1 Kings ii. 10.) was laid unto his fathers] An expression arising from the practice of burying families together : the expression occurs very frequently in the Old Test. 38.] Paul speaks here of justification only in its lowest sense, as negative, and synonymous with remission of sins; he does not unfold here that higher sense of justifying, the accounting righteous, which those who have from God are just by faith. It is the first oflice of the Spirit by which he spoke, to convict concerning sin, before He convicts con cerning righteousness : therefore he dwells on the remission of sins, merely just giving a glimpse of the great doctrine of justifi cation, of which he had such wonderful things to write and to say. . 39.] And. from all things (sin), from which ye could not in (under) the law of Moses be justified in Him (as in the expression, in Christ, in the Lord, frequently), every be liever is (habitual present tense) justified .... but not implying that in the law of Moses there might be justification from some sins; — under the law there is no jus tification (Gal. iii. 11): — but it means Christ shall do for you all that the law conld not do : leaving it for inference, or for further teaching, that this was abso lutely- all : that the law could do nothing. The same thought is expanded Bom. viii. 3. This interpretation will be the more clearly established, when we remember that to justify from sin was not in any sense, and could not be. the office of the law, by which came the knowledge of sin. The expression "to justify from" is only once used again by St. Paul (Bom. vi. 7, marginal rendering: the A.V. has "freed from sin," but wrongly), and that where he is arguing against the continuing in sin. every one that believeth is not to be joined with in him, which (see above) is con trasted with in the law of Moses. — It is quite in St. Paul's manner to use every one that believeth thus absolutely : see Bom. i. 16; iii. 22; x. 4 (Gal. iii. 22). 40.] The object of preaching the Gospel to the Jews first was for a testimony to them : its reception was almost uniformly un favourable: and against such anticipated rejection he now warns them. 41. ye despisers] So the LXX render the Hebrew word, signifying 'among the heathen,' so in A. V., for which they seem to have read some other word resembling it.— The prophecy was spoken of the judg ment to be inflicted by means of the Chaldseans : but neither this nor any other prophecy is confined in its application to the occasion of which it was once spoken, but gathers up under it all analogous pro^ cedures of God's providence : such repeated fulfilments increasing in weight, and api proaching nearer and nearer to that last 37—48. THE ACTS: 745 of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that 'these ' words might be c preached to them the next sabbath. *» Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas : who, speaking to them, n persuaded them to continue in ° the grace of God. ** And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and p spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, qIt was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you : but 'seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, s we turn to the Gentiles. *7 Por so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, ' I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. *? ^n(j yvhen the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord : u and as many as were d ordained to c render, spoken. and great fulfilment of all the promises of grace and all the threats of wrath, by which every prophetic word shall be exhausted. 42.] The insertions in the text fol lowed by the A. V. have been made partly perhaps to remove the ambiguity in the ." they " and " them" and to shew who they were that besought, &c. But they confuse . the sense. As they (the con gregation) were going. out, they (the same) besought. 43.] See, a similar expres sion ch. xi. 23. There too, we have the grace of God similarly used of the work of the Gospel begun in the hearts of the converts. 44. came . . . together] . 'In, the synagogue ;' it was the sight of the Gentile crowds in their house of prayer which stirred up the jealousy of the Jews. 45. contradicting and blaspheming] These words form a graphic repetition, passing from the particular thing which they did, viz. contradict the words spoken by Paul, to the spirit in which they did it, viz. a contradictious and blaspheming one. 46. should first have been spoken to you] See ch. iii. 26; Bom. i. 16. 47.] They refer the word thee in the pro phecy not to themselves as teachers, but to Christ. 48. as many as were dis posed to eternal life] The meaning of this word disposed must be determined by the context. The Jews had. judged themselves nch. xi.23: xiv. 22. 0 Tit ii. 11. Heh.xii.15.1 Pet. v. 12. p ch. xviii. 6. IPet. iv.4. Jude 10. q Matt. x. 6. ch. iii. 20. ver. 20. Eom. i. 10. r Exod. xxxii. 10. Deut. xxxii. 21. Isa. lv. 5. Matt. xxi. 48. Bom. x. 19. . s ch. xviii. 0 : xxviii. 28. t Isa. xlii. 0: xlix. 8. Luke ii. 82. * render, disposed : see note. unworthy of eternal life : the Gentiles, as many as were disposed to eternal life, be lieved. By whom so disposed, is not here declared': nor need the word be in this place further particularized. We know) that it is God who worketh in us the will to believe, and that the preparation of' the heart is of Him : but to find in this text pre-ordination to life asserted, is to force both the word and the context to a mean ing which they do not contain. The word in the original is the same as in 1 Cor. xvi. 15, where it is said that the house of Stephanas "have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints," and in Bom. xvii. 1, where it is said that " the powers that be are ordained of God:" in both of which places the agents are expressed, whereas here the word is used absolutely, without an agent expressed. Calvin, &c, find here predestination in the. strongest sense: "This ordaining can be referred only to the eternal decree of God . . . It is a ridiculous cavil to refer it to the mind of those who believed, as if they received the Gospel who were properly disposed in their minds." So. the Vulgate translates the word "pre-ordained;" and Augustine, " destined." There are several other, ren-i derings, which see in my Greek Test. Dr. Wordsworth well observes, that it would be interesting ;to enquire what influence such 746 THE ACTS. XIII. 49—52. eternal life believed. m And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. s0 But the Jews stirred up the devout and ' honourable women, and the x 2 Tim. «i. n. chief men of the city, and x raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. yMattx.it 51 y But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, cil^kviH.o'. and came unto Iconium. 53 And the disciples z were filled 'johnivi^. with ioy, and with the Holy Ghost. ch. ii. 40. r l • XIV. i And it came to pass in Iconium, that they, went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. 2 But e the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. 3 Long time therefore abode they speaking a Ma* xvi. 20. boldly in the Lord, a which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. *• But the multitude of the city was divided : e render, the Jews which believed not stirred up and embittered the minds of the Gentiles. renderings as this of "pre-ordained" in the •Vulgate version had on the minds of men like St. Augustine and his followers in the Western Church, in treating the great questions of free will, election, reprobation^ and final perseverance ; and On some writers in the reformed churches who, though re jecting the authority of that version, were yet swayed by it away from the sense of the original, here and in ch. ii. 47. The tendency of the Eastern Fathers, who read the Original Greek, was, he remarks, in a different direction from that of the Western School. 60. devout . . . women] Wo men had a strong religious influence both for and against Christianity : see for the former ch. xvi. 14; xvii. 4; Phil. iv. 3; 1 Cor. vii. 16 : for the latter, we have Josephus's statement, that the majority of the wives of the Damascenes were prose lytes : which may be Compared with ch. ix. 22 — 25. These were proselytes of the gate, or at least inclined to Judaism. expelled them] Though the chief men of the city, at the instigation, probably, of their wives, were concerned, this seems to have been no legal expulsion : for we find them revisiting Antioch on their return, eh. xiv. 21 ; — but. only a compulsory retire ment for peace, and their own safety's sake; 61.] As commanded by our Lord, Matt. x. 14, where see note. Iconium] A populous city, eastof Antioch in Pisidia, lying in a fertile plain at the foot of, and almost surrounded by, Mount Taurus. At this time, it was the capital of Lycaonia, and had around it a distinct territory; ruled by a tetrarch, and probably on that account is not reckoned to any of the above- mentioned districts. It became famous in the middle ages as the capital of the Selju^ kian Sultans, and had a great part in the growth of the Ottoman empire. It is now Konfa, a town of 30,000- inhabitants. 62.] See, for similar "joyful per orations," as Dr. Wordsworth well desig nates them, Luke xxiv. 52 ; ch. v. 41 ; xii. 24. CSap. XIV. 1. Greeks] Probably these were of the number of the devout per sons, or worshippers of God, meutioned ch.xiii. 43, 50; xvi. 14; xvii. 4, 17; xviii. 7, i. e. those of the uncircumcised who were more or less attached to the Jewish religion. 2.] which believed not, viz. when Paul preached. Ver. 3 gives the sequel of ver. 1,— ver. 4, of ver. 2. 3. speaking boldly in the Lord] i. e. * speaking with boldness, which bold ness was grounded on confidence in the Lord.' By the lord here is meant God : see ch. iv. 29, 30, and ch. xx. 32, where we have joined together " God, and the word of His grace." and granted] or, by granting, &e. 4.] This was the way in which God bore His testimony.' • XIV. 1—12. THE ACTS. 747 and part held with the Jews, and part with the b apostles, hch.xui.s. 5 And when there was I an assault made' both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, cto use «»Tim.ia.ii. them despitefully, and to stone them, 6 they were ware of it, and "fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, a Matt. x. 23. and unto the region that lieth round about : 7 and there they preached the gospel. 8 e And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in e <">• iu- 2- his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked : 9 the same S heard Paul speak : who stedfastly beholding him, and f perceiving that he had'fgsVS,I?' faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, * Stand si«». »=».». upright on thy feet. And he leaped and Walked. ll And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, hThe gods "^VmV0' • are eome down to us in the likeness of men.. 12 And they called Barnabas, hJUpiterj and Paul, i Mercurius, because f render, a stir, or movement : see note. S render, was listening to Paul speaking. n literally, Zeus (the Greek name of Jupiter) . 1 literally, Hermes {the Greek name of Mercury) . Such a split into two factions was a com- district : we hear of no synagogue. mon occurrence, on far less important oc- Lycaonia] Strabo describes Lycaonia as casions, in these cities of Oriental Greeks, a hilly plain among the mountain-spurs 6.]' Dr. Howson remarks, that there of Taurus, very ill watered, cold and bare, was no " assault " made on them, as the but exceedingly adapted for sheep-pasture A.V. has it; for if there had been, they could and the growth of wool. 9.] Theim- not but have been ware of it : but a stir, perfect tense here in the original is im- or movement, was going on which would portant. He was listening to Paul's have led to an assault, had they not been preaching, and, while listening, his coun- . ware of it. 6. Lystra] This, as well tenance, read by the Aposthj's gift of spi- as Derbe (of both which very little further ritual discernment, gave token of faith to is known), was probably a small town at be healed. stedfastly beholding him] the foot of the singular mountain-mass See note on ch. xiii, 9. 10. with a known as the Kara-dagh, or black moun- loud voice] The original implies that he tain, Lystra being S., and Derbe S.E. from suddenly raised his voice above the tone in Iconium. The sites are very uncertain, which he was before speaking. 11. in the There are the ruins of about forty Chris- speech (dialect) of Lycaonia] The nature tian churches on tbe north side of the Kara- of this dialect is uncertain. The notice is dagh, at a place called by the Turks Bin- inserted to shew that the Apostles had no bir-Kilisseh (the 1001 churches), which knowledge of the inference drawn by the the most recent travellers believe maybe crowd, till they saw the bulls being brought Lystra. In one of these places (probably to their doors, ver. 13. So Chrysostom : at Lystra, see note, ch. xvi. 1) Paul found " This was not yet known to the Apostles : and took up Timothy on his second jour- for the men spake in their own tongue, ney; and from the expression "my beloved and thus conveyed no meaning to them." child" in 1 Cor. iv. 17, compared with the See, on the real nature of the gift of use of "father" in the same- chapter, as tongues, and the bearing of notices of this defined ver. 15, we are justified in con- kind on its consideration, the note on ch, eluding that he had been converted by the ii. 4. — These appearances of the gods are Apostle; and, if so, during this visit.— frequent subjects of heathen poetry and There appear to have been few Jews in the mythology. It was in the neighbouring 748 .THE ACTS. ." XIV. he was the k chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought 1 oxen and garlands ¦iDan.u. 48. unto the Agates, *and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14 "Which when the apostles, Barnabas and k Matt xxvi. Paul, heard of, k they rent their clothes, and %ran in ich.x.20. among the people, crying out, ls and saying, ° Sirs, ' why m James v. w. do ye these things? m"We also are men, of like passions n y^filn' w^ y°u> an<^ Preac^ un*° y°u *bat ye should turn from Svil: Amos " these P vanities "unto the living God, » which made Viii.'4. or" heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are ol Thess. i.9. ' J, , ' . p pt°ixxiii. e: therein : 16 hath] determined the times [° before] ap pointed, and s the bounds of their habitation ; W ' that they should seek c the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, u though he be not far from every one of us : 28 for xin him we live, and move, and have our being; y as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are z render, served by. a render, caused every nation of men, sprung of one blood, to dwell. " omit. c read, with all our oldest authorities, God. phen : see ch. vii. 48. — Mr. Humphry notices the similarity, but difference in its conclusion, of the argument attributed to Xerxes in Cicero : "Xerxes is said to have burnt the temples of Greece, because they attempted to shut up within walls the gods, to whom all things ought to be open and free, and of whom all this world is the temple and house." — Where Paul stood, he might see the celebrated colossal statue of Athena Polias, known by the Athenians as " the Goddess," standing and keeping guard with spear and shield in the enclo sure of the Acropolis. 25.] is served : i. e. is really and truly served. So " God is not mocked," Gal. vi. 7. As the assertion of Creation contradicted the Epi curean error, so this laid hold of that portion of truth, which, however disguised, that school had apprehended : viz. that the Deity does not stand in need of us, nor can gain aught from us. There is a verse in 2 Mace, xiv 35, remarkable, as compared with the thoughts and words of Paul here : " Thou, 0 Lord of all things, who hast need of nothing, wast pleased that the temple of thine habitation should be among us." life, and breath, and all things] He is the Preserver, as well as the Creator, of all ; and all things come to us from Him. Compare, on all things, David's words, 1 Chron. xxix. 14, " Thine are all things, and of Thine own have we given Thee." 26.] These words were said, be it remembered, to a people who gave themselves out for aboriginal, sprung from the earth : but we must not imagine that to refute this was the object of the words : they aim far higher than this, and contro vert the whole genius of polytheism, which attributed to the various nations differing mythical origins, and separate guardian gods. It is remarkable, that though of all people the Jews were the most distin guished in their covenant state from other nations of the earth, yet to them only was given the revelation of the true history of mankind, as all created of one blood : a doctrine kept as it were in store for the gospel to proclaim. — Not, ' hath made of one blood,' &c., as A. V., but as in margin. See Matt. v. 32 ; Mark vii. 37. de termined the times ,.'..] He who was before (ver. 24) the Creator, then (ver. 25) the Preserver, is now the Governor of all men : prescribing to each nation its space to dwell in, and its time of endurance. 27. if haply] if by any chance, de noting a contingency apparently not very likely to happen. though he be not far • • •] ' Not that He is distant from us, but that we are ignorant of Him.' See Eom. x. 6, 8 ; Jer. xxiii. 23, 24. 28.] There is no justification for the pantheist in this. — It is properly said only of the race of men, as being His offspring, bound to Him: proceeding from, and upheld by, and therefore living, moving, and being in Him : — but even in a wider sense His Being, though a separate objective Per sonality, involves and contains that of His creatures. See Eph. i. 10, where the same is said of Christ. we live, and move, and have our being] 'A chmax rising higher with each term, out of God we should have no Life, nor even movement (which some things without life have, plants, water, &c), nay, not any existence at all (we should not have been),' the in tent being to shew the absolute dependence for every thing of man on God, — and thence the absurdity of supposing the God- XVIII. 1, 2. THE ACTS. 773 25. xxiv. also his offspring. »»' Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, * we ought not to think that the Godhead .iaa.xi.is. is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30And "the times of this ignorance God"^'-'6 4 winked at; but bnow commandeth all men every where bJuke p'.. to repent : 31 because he hath appointed a day, in the "iif-iTt * which c he will judge the world in righteousness by that 'fc f;w . man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given *r'w' assurance unto all men, in that dhe hath raised him from4ch,B-M- the dead. 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked : and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33e#a pau] departed from among them. Si Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed : among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. XVIII. 1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2and found a certain Jew named "Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his ai^.™i.V 11 2 Tim. iv. 19. 4 render, overlooked. e render> [And] thus. head like to the works of his (man's) hands. certain of your own poets] viz. Aratus, in the opening lines of the poem called "the Phsenomena:" . . . Cleanthes also in his hymn to Zeus (Jupiter), has the same words. Aratus was a native of Tarsus, about 270 B.C., and wrote astro nomical poems, of which two remain. Cleanthes was born at Assos, in Troas, about 300 B.C. The Apostle, by the plural, seems to have both poets in his mind. — The his refers to Zeus (Jupiter) in both cases, the admission being taken as a por tion of truth regarding the Supreme God, which even heathen poets confessed. 30. God overlooked] The rendering of the A.V. bears the same meaning, but is to our ears in these days objectionable. In this as surance he treasures of mercy for those who livecTin the times of ignorance. God overlooked them : i. e. corrected not this ignorance itself as a sin, but the abuses even of this, by which the heathen sunk into deeper degradation. The same argu ment is treated more at length in Bom. i. ii. 31. in righteousness] Bighteousness is the character of the judgment, — the element of whieh it shall consist. whereof he hath given assurance] "As the thing asserted was hardly credible, he gives a distinguished proof of it." Grotius. 32. some mocked: and others said . . .] Vol. I. We must not allot these two parties, as some have done, the former to the Epicureans, the latter to the Stoieks : the description is general. — The words, we will hear thee again of this matter, need not; be taken as ironical. The hearing not having taken place is no proof that it was not intended at the time : and the distinction between these and the mockers seems to imply that these were in earnest. 33. thus] i. e. 'in this state of the popular mind:' (with an expectation of being heard again ?) The "so" of the A. V. does not give thisi forcibly enough, but looks like a mere particle of transition. 34. Dionysius the Areopagite] Nothing more is known of him. Eusebius relates that he was bishop of Athens, and Nicephorus, that he died a martyr. The writings which go by his name are undoubtedly spurious. _ Chap. XVIII. 1.] Corinth was at this time a colony (see note, ch. xvi. 12), the capital of the Boman province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul. Por further particulars, see .Introduction to 1 Cor..§ 2. 2. a certain Jew] It appears tbat Aquila and Priscilla were not Christians at this time : it is the similarity of employment only which draws them to, St. Paul, and their conversion is left to be inferred as taking place in consequence : see ver. 26. born in Pontus] literally, 3 E 774 THE ACTS. XVIII. wife Priscilla; because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome : and came unto them. 3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, b 1 oo?iv 'u. b an<^ wrought : for by their occupation they were tent- 2 ThSJ-'iVi'.!: makers. *cAnd he reasoned in the synagogue every cc .xvn. . g^^th, an(j persua(Jed the Jews and the Greeks. 5 iAnd dch.xvii.i4, dwhen Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, e ch^xvH"-;.18- Paul was eB pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews * render, But. S read and render, earnestly occupied in discoursing, testifying . . . a Pontian by race. It is remarkable, that Pontius Aquila is a name found in the Pontian gens at Eome more than once in the days of the Bepublic, whence some have supposed that this may have been a freed- m an of a Pontius Aquila, and that the words " a Pontian by race " may have been an inference from his name. But besides that St. Luke's acquaintance with the real origin of Aquila could hardly but have been accu rate, — Aquila, the translator of ihe Old Test, into Greek, was also a native of Pon tus. From the notices of Aquila and Priscilla in the Epistles, they appear to have travelled, fixing their abode by turns in different principal cities for the sake of their business. In Ver. 19, we have them left at Ephesus (see also ver. 26) : in 1 Cor. xvi. 19, still there ; in Eom. xvi. 3 ff., again at Eome ; in 2 Tim. iv. 19, again at Ephe sus. because that Claudius had com manded all Jews to depart from Bome . . .] Suetonius says, "The Jews, who at the instigation of Chrestus were continually exciting tumults, he expelled from Eome," but as he gives this without any fixed note of time, as the words " at the instigation of Chrestus" may be taken in three ways (as indicative either (1) of an actual leader of that name, or (2) of some tumult con nected with the expectations of a Messiah, or (3) of some dispute about Christianity), —Neander well observes that after all which has been said on it, no secure his torical inference respecting the date of the event, or its connexion with any Chris tian church at Eome, can be drawn. It was as a Jew that Aquila was driven from Bome : and there is not a word of Chris tians here. See more in my Greek Test. The edicts soon became invalid, or the pro hibition was taken off: we find Aquila at Eome, Eom. xvi. 3, and many Jews resi dent there, ch. xxviii. 17 ff. 3. wrought] "The Jewish Eabbis having no state pay, it was their practice to teach their children a trade. ' What is commanded of a father towards his son ?' asks a Talmudic writer, ' To circumcise him, to teach him the law, to teach him a trade.' Babbi Judah saith, 'He that teacheth not his son =i trade, doth the same as if he taught him to be a thief:' and Babban Gamaliel saith, 'He that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like? He is like a vineyard that is fenced.'" Conybeare and Howson, i. p. 58. — The places where St. Paul refers to his supporting himself by his own manual labour are, — ch. xx. 34 (Ephesus): — 1 Cor. ix. 12 ff.; 2 Cor. vii. 2 (Corinth) :— 1 Thess. ii. 9; 2 Thess. iii. 8 (Thessalonica).— In 2 Cor. xi. 9, we learn that supplies were also brought to him at Corinth from Mace donia, i. e. Philippi : see Phil. iv. 15. tent-makers] The general opinion now is, that St. Paul was a maker of tents from the •cilicium,' or hair-cloth of Cihcian goats. If it be objected, that he would hardly find the raw material for this work in cities far from Cilicia, it may be answered, that this would not be required in the fabri cation of tents from the hair-cloth, which doubtless itself would be an article of commerce in the markets of Greece. — Chrysostom calls Paul sometimes a leather- cutter, imagining that the tents were made of leather. 5.] See ch. xvii. 15; 1 Thess. iii. 6. The meaning is, that ' when Silas and Timotheus returned from Macedonia, they found Paul anxiously occupied in discoursing to the Jews.' It seems to be implied, that they found him in a state of more than ordinary anxiety, more than usually absorbed in the work of testifying to the Jews :— a crisis in the work being imminent, which resulted in their rejection of the word of hfe. (On the whole character of his early preaching at Corinth, see notes, 1 Cor. ii. 1—5.) Thus only, the but in ver. 5 and that in ver. 6 will both be satisfied : he discoursed in the synagogue, &c. . . . but when Silas and Timotheus returned, he was earnestly occupied in discoursing, 41c. But, as they 3-12. THE ACTS. 775 that Jesus was & Christ. 6 f And ! when they opposed them- 'fp^'iv15;. selves, and blasphemed, she i shook his raiment, and said 'StttTi.1"- unto them, h Your blood be upon your own heads ; ' k J am h JJ^fc*'1}- clean : kfrom henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 1 And xv'iiS^" he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's iEzEk'u- 18- x ' . 19 : xxxin. 9. house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose kchixfiA: house joined hard to the synagogue. 8 'And Crispus, then^SYii chief ruler of the synagogue, beheved on the Lord with all his house ; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 9 * Then m spake the Lord to Paul in moh.xxju.ii. the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace : 10 nfor I am with thee, and no man shall "SttmiS: set on thee to. hurt thee : for I have much people in this city. ll And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrec- h render, the Christ. l render, shook out. k better perhaps, I shall henceforth with a clear conscience go unto the Gentiles. 1 render, And the Lord spake. opposed themselves and blasphemed, &c. 6.] The term blood is used as in ch. xx. 26. The image and nearly the words, are from Ezek. xxxiii. 4. from henceforth] Not absolutely, only at Corinth : for ver. 19 we find him arguing with the Jews again in the synagogue at Ephesus. The difference in the readings . of the last clause in the verse is matter of punctuation. Probably there should be no stop at clean, and then it will read as in the margin, I shall henceforth with a clear conscience go to the Gentiles. 7.] In order to shew that he henceforth separated himself from the Jews, he, on leaving the synagogue, went no longer to the house of the Jew Aquila (who appears afterwards to have been converted), but to the house of a Gentile proselyte of the gate, close to the synagogue : in the sight of all the congregation in the synagogue : for this seems to be the object in mention ing the circumstance. 8.] On this, a schism took place among the Jews. The ' ruler of the synagogue attached himself to Paul, and was, together with Gaius, bap tized by the Apostle himself (1 Cor. i. 14) : and with him many of the Corinthians (Jews and Gentiles, it being the house of a proselyte), probably Aquila and Priscilla also, believed and were baptized. 9. speak, and hold not thy peace] So, 3 E for solemnity's sake, we have an affirmation and negation combined, John i. 3. See also Isa. lviii. 1. 10. I have much people] See John x. 16. As our Lord forewarned Paul in Jerusalem that they would not receive his testimony concerning Him, so here He encourages him, by a promise of much success in Corinth. The word people, the express title beforetime of the Jews, is still used now, notwith standing their secession. 11.] The year and a half may extend either to his departure, or to the incident in ver. 12 ff. Meyer would confine it to the latter, taking the verb in the sense of 'remained in quiet:' but it will hardly bear such em phasis : and seeing that the incident in w. 12 ff. was a notable fulfilment of the promise, — for though they set on him, they could not hurt him, — I should be disposed to take the other view, and regard that which is related ver. 12 to ver. 18, as having happened during this time. 12. Gallio] His original name was Marcus Annseus Novatus : but, having been adopted into the family of the rhetorician Lucius Junius Gallio, he took the name of Junius Annseus Gallio. He was brother of Lucius - Annaeus Seneca, the philosopher, whose character of him is in exact accordance with that which we may infer from this narrative : " No man on earth is so pleasant 776 THE ACTS. XVIII. och.xxiU.29: xxv. 11, 19. pi Cor. 1.1. tion with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, ls saying, This [J* fellow] persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, ° If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you : 15 but if it be a a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it ; [_°for] I will be no judge of such matters. 16 And he drave them from the judgment seat. W Then P all the Greeks took p Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And m not expressed in the original : n read, questions. P read, all [the people] . better, This man. 0 omit. to me, as this man is to all." " Gallio, my brother, whom there is none that does not love a little, even those who have not the power of loving more." He is called " the pleasant Gallio" by Statius. He appears to have given up the province of Achaia from ill health. He was spared after the execution of his brother : but Dio Cassius adds, that Seneca's brothers were put to death afterwards, and Eusebius in his Chronicle, on a.d. 66, says that he put an end to himself after his brother's death. the deputy] See note on ch. xiii. 7. Achaia was originally a senatorial province, but was temporarily made an imperial one by Tiberius. of Achaia] The Eoman province of Achaia contained Hellas and tbe Peloponnesus, and, with Macedonia, embraced all their Grecian dominions. — "The judgment seat is mentioned three times in the course of this narrative (see w. 16, 17). It was of two kinds : (1) fixed in some public and open place: (2) moveable, and taken by the Boman magis trates to be placed wherever they might sit in a judicial character. Probably here and in the case of Pilate (John xix. 13), the former kind of seat is intended. See Smith's Diet, of Antiquities, under ' Sella.' See also some remarks on ' the tribunal, — the indispensable symbol of the Eoman judgment seat,' in the Edinburgh Eeview for Jan. 1847, p. 151." Conybeare and Howson, vol. i. 494. 13. contrary to the law] Against the Mosaic law: — the exercise of which, as a ' lawful religion,' was allowed to the Jews. 15. ques tions] The plural expresses contempt : If it is questions, &c. . as we should say, 'a parcel of questions.' See ch. xxiii. 29. names] Paul asserted Jesus to be the Christ, which the Jews denied. This, to a Eoman, would be a ' question of names. So Lysias (ch. xxiii. 29) declined to decide Paul's case, and Festus (ch. xxv. 20) though he did not altogether put the enquiry by, wished to judge it at Jeru salem, where he might have the counsel of those learned in the Jewish law. 17. all (the people)] Apparently, all the mob, i. e. the Gentile population present. Sos thenes, as the ruler of the synagogue (either the ruler, or one of the rulers ; perhaps he had succeeded Crispus), had been the chief of the complainant Jews, and therefore, on their cause being rejected, and themselves ignominiously dismissed, was roughly treated by the mob. Prom this, certainly the right explanation, has arisen the explanatory gloss, " the Greeks." Another explanatory gloss, " the Jews," is given : and has sprung from the notion that this Sosthenes was the same person with the Sosthenes of 1 Cor. i. 1, a Christian and a companion of Paul. But, not to insist on the improbability of the party driven from the tribunal having beaten one of their antagonists in front of the tribunal, — why did they not beat Paul him self? — there is no ground for supposing the two persons to be the same, Sosthenes being no uncommon name. If they were, this man must have been converted after wards ; but he is not among those who ac companied Paul into Asia, either in ver. 18, or ch. xx. 4.,— The carelessness of Gallio about the matter clearly seems to be a further instance of his contempt for the Jews, and indisposition to favour them or their persecution of Paul. Had this been otherwise meant, certainly and would not have been the copula. 'So little did the 13—21. THE ACTS. 777 Gallio cared for none of those things. 1S And* Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila ; having « shorn his head in r Cen- 9 lruml>- Ti- ls chrea; for he had a vow. " And he came to Ephesus, ' "om^I'i' i- and left them there : but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not ; 21 but bade them farewell, saying, [s 1 1 must by all * means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem; but] I will 1 omitted by most of our oldest authorities. eh. xix. 21: XX. IS. information against Paul prosper that the informers themselves were beaten without interference of the judge.' Meyer. 18.] Ithas been considered doubtful whether the words having shorn his head in Cen chrea apply to Paul, the subject of the sentence, or to Aquila, the last subject. I agree with Neander that if we consider the matter carefully, there can be no doubt that they can only apply to Paul. Por, although this vow differed from that of the Nazarite, who shaved his hair at the end of his votive period in the temple at Jeru salem, and burnt it with his peace-offering (Num. vi. 1 — 21), Josephus gives us a de scription of a somewhat similar one, where it appears that the hair was shaved thirty days before the sacrifice. At all events, no sacrifice could be offered any where but at Jerusalem : and every such vow would conclude with a sacrifice. Now we find, on comparing the subsequent course of Aquila with that of Paul,— that the former did not go up to Jerusalem, but remained at Ephesus (ver. 26) : but that Paul hastened by Ephesus, and did go up to Jerusalem : see ver. 22. Again, it would be quite irrelevant to the purpose of St. Luke, to relate such a fact of one of Paul's companions. That he should do so apologetically, to shew that the Apostle still countenanced conformity with the law, is a view which I cannot find justified by any features. of this book : and it surely would be a very far-fetched apology, and one likely to escape the notice of many readers, seeing that Aquila would not appear as being under Paul's influence, and even his conversion to the Gospel has not been related, but is left to be implied from ver. 26. Again, Meyer's ground for referring the action to Aquila, — that his name is here placed after that of his wife, — is untenable, seeing tbat, for some reason, probably the superior cha racter or office in the church, of Priscilla, the same arrangement is found (in the best MSS. at ver. 26, and) at Eom. xvi. 3; 2 Tim. iv. 19. There need be no enquiry what danger can have prompted such a vow on his part, when we recollect the catalogue given by him in 2 Cor. xi. Be sides, he had, since his last visit to Jeru salem, been suffering from sickness (see note on ch. xvi. 6, and Introd. to Gal. § 1. 3) : it is true, a considerable time ago, hut this need not prevent our supposing that the vow may have been then made, to be paid on his next visit to Jerusalem. That he had not sooner paid it is accounted for by his having been since that time under continual pressure of preaching and founding churches, and having finally been detained by special command at Corinth. That he was now so anxious to pay it (ver. 21), consists well with the supposition of its having been long delayed. in Cen- chrSa] Cenchrea (pronounced Kenchrea) was a village with a port, about eight miles from Corinth, forming its naval station on the Asiatic side, as Lechseum did on the Italian. There was soon after a Christian church there : see Eom. xvi. 1. 19. Ephesus] Ephesus was the ancient capital of Ionia, and at this time, of the Boman proconsular province of Asia, — on the Cayster, near the coast, between Smyrna and Miletus. It was famed for its com merce, but even more for its magnificent temple of Artemis (Diana : see ch. xix. 24, 27, and notes). See a full account of its situation and history, Becular and Christian, in the Introduction to Eph. § 2. 2 — 6 ; and an interesting description, with plan, in Mr. Lewin's Life and Epistles of St. Paul, i. 344 ff. and left them there : but] I should understand this to mean, that the Jewish synagogue was outside the town, and that Priscilla and Aquila were left in the town. 21.] The omission of the words here inserted in the common text. 778 THE ACTS. XVIII. tioor.iv. w. return again unto you, * if God will. And he sailed from jam"c» i'v.ib. Ephesus. 22And when be had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. 23 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over [r all] the country of u Galatia and Phrygia in order, x strengthening all the disciples. 24 ' And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexan dria, an eloquent man, B and mighty in the scriptures, u Gal. 1.2: iv. 14. ch.xiv. 22: xv. 32, 41. yl Cor. 1.12: iii. 5,0: lv. 8. Tit.iii.I3. r omit : not in the original. 8 in the original •. came to Ephesus, being mighty in the Scriptures. " I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem," seems necessitated on the principle of being guided in doubt ful cases by the testimony of our most ancient MSS. The text thus produced is the shortest and simplest, and the facts, of other glosses having been attempted on this verse, and of one MS. inserting the words without altering the construction to suit them, and of other variations, tend perhaps to throw discredit on the insertion. The gloss, if such it be, has probably been owing to an endeavour to conform the circumstances to those related in ch. xx. 16. If the words are to stand, and for those who read them, it may still be interesting to enquire at what feast they may be sup posed to point. (1) Not at the Passover : for the ordinary duration of the winter shutting up of the sea was till the vernal equinox. And we are not at liberty to assume an exceptional case, such as some times occurred. Hence, if the voyage from Corinth at all approached the length of that from Philippi to Jerusalem in ch. xx., xxi., he would have set sail at a time when it would have been hardly possible. (2) Not at the Feast. of Tabernacles. For if it were, he must have sailed from Corinth in August or September. Now, as he stayed there something more than a year and a half, his sea- voyage from Bercea to Athens would in this case have been made in the depth of winter ; which (especially as a choice of land or water was open to him) is impossible. (3) It remains, then, that the feast should have been Pentecost; at which Paul also visited Jerusalem, ch. xx. 16. The Apostle's promise of return was fulfilled eh. xix. 1 ff. 22. and gone up] to Jerusalem: for (1) it would be out of the question to suppose that Paul made the long detour by Caesarea only to go up into the town from the beach, as supposed by most of those who omit the disputed words in ver. 21, and salute the disciples, — and (2) the ex pression he went down to Antioch, which suits a journey from Jerusalem (ch. xi. 27), would not apply to one from Csesarea. and saluted the church] The payment of his vow is not mentioned, partly because it is understood from the mere mention of the vow itself, ver. 18, — partly, perhaps, because it was privately done, and with no view to attract notice as in ch. xxi. 23.] Paul's visit to the chtjbches in Galatia and Phetoia. — Either (1) Galatia is here a general term including Lycaonia, and St. Paul went by Derbe, Lys tra, Iconium, &c. as before in ch. xvi., or (2) he did not visit Lycaonia this time, but went through Cappadocia: to which also the words "having passed through the upper tracts" (ch. xix. 1) seem to point, "upper Asia" being the country east of the Halys. We find Christian churches in Cappadocia, 1 Pet. i. 1. On this journey, as connected with the state of the Galatian churches, see Introduction to Gal. §3.1. in order implies that he regularly visited the churches, each as they lay in his route. — One work accomplished by him in this journey was the ordaining (but apparently not collecting) a contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem : see 1 Cor. xvi. 1, — Timotheus and Erastus probably accompanied him, see ch.-xix. 22; 2 Cor. i. 1 ; and Gaius and Aristarchus, ch. xix. 29 ; and perhaps Titus, 2 Cor. xii. 18 al. (and Sosthenes? 1 Cor. i. 1, bnt see on ver. 17). 24—28.] Apollos at Ephesus, and in Acitaia. The name Apollos is abbre viated from Apollonius, as Lucas from Lu- canus, &c. born at Alexandria] literally, an Alexandrian by race. Alexandria was the great seat of the Hellenistic or later Greek language, learning, and philosophy (see ch. vi. 9). A large number of Jews had been planted there by its founder, Alexander the Great. The celebrated LXX version of the Old Test, was made tliere under the Ptolemies. There took place that remarkable fusion of GreekJ 22—28. T"HE ACTS. 779 z Bom, xii. 11. came to Ephesus. 25This man *was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being z fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught *¦ diligently the things xof the Lord, a knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue : whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and ex pounded unto him the way of God u more perfectly. 27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him : who, when he was come, b helped them much which had believed through grace : 28 for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, e shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. * render, had been, u render, accurately, and below, more accurately. The word is the same. x read, concerning Jesus. cch.lx.22: ¦xvii. 8. ver.' 6. Oriental, and Judaic elements of thought and belief, which was destined to enter so widely, for good and for evil, into the minds and writings of Christians. We see in the providential calling of ApoUos to the ministry, an instance of adaptation of the workman to the work, A masterly expo sition of the Scriptures by a learned Hel lenist of Alexandria formed the most ap propriate watering (1 Cor. iii. 6) for those who had been planted by the pupil of Gamaliel. The word rendered eloquent may mean learned. But the former mean ing is most appropriate here, both because the peculiar kind of learning implied by it, acquaintance with stories and legends, would not be likely to be predicated of Apollos, — and because the subsequent words, mighty in the Scriptures, sufficiently indicate his learning, and in what it lay. <85.] Apollos had received (from his youth f ) the true doctrine of the Mjessiah- «hip of Jesus, as pointed out by John the Baptist: doubtless from some disciple of John; but more than tiiis he knew not. The doctrines of the Cross,— the Eesurrec tion,— the outpouring of the Spirit, — these were unknown to him : but more particu larly (from the words " knowing only the ¦baptism of John") the latter, as connected with Christian baptism : see further on ch. xix. 2, 3. — The mistake of supposing that he did not know Jesus to be the Messiah, has arisen from the description of his subse quent work at Corinth, ver. 28, but by no means follows from it : this he did before, but not so completely. The same mistake ;has led to the alteration of Jesus into " the Lord " in the ordinary text, it having been well imagined that he could not teach accu rately the things concerning Jesus, if he did not know him to be the Messiah : whereas by these words is impprted that he knew and taught accurately the facts respecting Jesus, but of the consequences of that which he taught, of all which may be summed up in the doctrine of Christian baptism, , he had no idea. knowing only . . .] Meyer well remarks, that it is not meant that he was absolutely ignorant of the fact of there being such a thing as Christian baptism, but ignorant of its being any thing different from that of John,: he knew, or recognized in baptism only that which the baptism of John was : a sign of repentance. 26. more accurately] The former accuracy was only in facts: this is the still more expanded accuracy of doctrine. That was merely " the things concerning Jesus," as He lived and ministered on earth : this included also the promise of the Spirit, and its per formance. 27. exhorting the disciples to receive him] Probably this exhortation was given by Priscilla and Aquila princi pally. It may have been from their account of the Corinthian church, that he was de sirous to go to Achaia. through grace] These words may be joined with the verb helped, implying that the grace was in him,. But the rendering in the text is much more probable,— those who had believed through grace. "The for, which follows, should be noticed. His coming was a valuable as sistance to the Christians against the Jews, in the controversies, which had doubtless 780 THE ACTS. XIX. b ch. viii. 16. Bee 1 Sam. iii. 7. a i cor. i. 12: XlX. l And it came to pass, that, while 3 Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper z coasts came to Ephesus : and finding certain disciples, 2 he said unto them, a Have ye received ihe Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, * b We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized ? And cch. xviu. 26. they said, "Unto John's baptism. 4Then said Paul, d johnLis"^, d John [c verily] baptized with the baptism of repentance, xi'.iei'xi'li.' saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on [c Christ] Jesus. ech.yiii.io. 5 "When they heard this, they were baptized e in the name z render, parts, or tracts. a render, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed ? h render, We did not so much as hear whether there were. c been going on since Paul's departure." Cony beare and Howson, edn. 2, ii. p. 10. 28. mightily convinced] The original word is a very forcible one, — he argued down, as we say,— 'proved in their teeth :' and then it has also the sense of continuity, — that this was not done once or twice, but continuously. Chap. XIX. 1 — 40.] Abeival, eesi- DENOE, AND ACTS OS PAUL AT EPHESTTS. 1. the upper tracts] By this name were known, the eastern parts of Asia Minor, beyond the river Halys, or in com parison with Ephesus, in the direction of that river. certain disciples] These seem to have been in the same situation as Apollos, see on ch. xviii. 25. They cannot have been mere disciples of John, on ac count of when ye believed, which can bear no meaning but that of believing on the Lord Jesus: but they had received only John's baptism, and had had no proof of the descent of the Holy Spirit, nor know ledge of His gifts. 2.] The indefinite past tense in the original should be faith fully rendered: not as A. V. 'Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?' but Bid ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye became believers ? i. e. ' on your be coming believers, had ye the gifts of the Spirit conferred on you V — as in ch. viii. 16, J.7. This is both grammatically neces sary, and absolutely demanded by the sense; the enquiry being, not as to any reception of the Holy Ghost during the period since their baptism, but as to one simultaneous with their first reception into the church : and their not having then received Him is accounted for by the deficiency of their baptism. We did not so much as hear] Literally, on the contrary; not even ... , Here again, not, ' we have not heard,' which would involve an ab surdity : " for they could not be followers of Moses or of John the Baptist, without hearing of the Holy Ghost" (Bengel); — but we did not hear, at the time of our conversion:— Our reception into the faith was unaccompanied by any preaching of the oflice or the gifts of the Spirit, — our baptism was not followed by any imparting of His gifts : we did not so much as hear Him mentioned. The stress of the sentence is on hearing: so far from receiving the Holy Ghost, they did not even hear of His existence. 3.] St. Paul's question establishes the above rendering : — To what then (if ye did not so much as hear of the Holy Ghost at your first believing) were ye baptized ? If the question and answer in ver. 2 regarded, as in A. V., the whole interval since their conversion, this enquiry would have been more naturally expressed in the perfect tense. Unto what] unto (with a view to, as introductory to) what profession? They answer, Unto (that indicated by) the baptism of John, viz.: repentance, and the believing on Jesus, then to come, but now (see ch. xviii. 25, note) the object of our faith. 5.] Two singular perversions of this verse have occurred : (1) the Anabaptists use it to authorize the repetition of Christian bap tism, whereas it is not Christian baptism which was repeated, seeing that John's bap tism was not such, but only the baptism which they now for the first time received; and (2) some of the orthodox, wishing to wrest this weapon out of the hands of the Anabaptists, oddly enough suppose this ' verso to belong stiU to Paul's discourse, and 1—10. THE ACTS, 781 of the Lord Jesus. « And when Paul had f laid his hands ">£*¦•' "« upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and sthey s-oh.ii.4:x. spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And all the men were' about twelve. 8hAnd he went into the synagogue, ^jfj'-2' and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things 'concerning the kingdom of «oh.i._«, God. 9But "when divers were hardened, and believed kWf:il' not, but spake evil ' of d that way before the multitude, he imSix.j: departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing ™'™*S.T' daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And mthis con- mseech.xx. tinued by the space of two years ; so that all they which * render, the : see ch. ix. 2. to mean, ' and the people when they heard him (John), were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.' This obviously is contrary to fact, historically: and would leave our present narrative in a singular state : for Paul, having treated their bap tism as insufficient, would thus proceed on it to impose his hands, as if it were suf ficient, in (into) the name of the lord Jesus] Two questions arise here : (1) Was it the ordinary practice to rebaptize those who had been baptized either by John or by the disciples (John iv. 1 f.) before baptism became, by the effusion of the Holy Spirit, " the bath of regenera tion 1 " This we cannot definitely answer. That it was sometimes done, this incident shews : but in all probabihty, in the cases of the majority of the original disciples, the greater baptism by the Holy Ghost and fire on the day of Pentecost super seded the outward form or sign. The Apostles themselves received only this baptism (besides probably that of John) : and most likely the same was the case with the original behevers. But of the three thousand who were added on the day of Pentecost, very many must have been already baptized by John; and all were rebaptized without enquiry. (2) What conclusion can we deduce from this verse respecting the use or otherwise of baptism in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in the apostolic period ? The only answer must be, that at that early time we have no indication of set formulae in the administration of either sacrament. Such formulae arose of neces sity, when precision in formal statement of doctrine became an absolute necessity in the church: and the materials for them were found ready in the word of God, who has-graciously provided for all necessities of His church in all time. But, in matter of fact, such a baptism as this was a baptism into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. As Jews, these men were already servants of the living God — and by putting on the Son, they received in a new and more gracious sense the Pather also. And in the sequel of their baptism, the impo sition of hands, they sensibly became re cipients of God the Holy Ghost. Where such manifestations were present, the form of words might be wanting ; but with us, who have them not, it is necessary and im perative. Mr. Howson regards (i. 517; ii. 13) St. Paul's question in our ver. 3 as indicative that the name of the Holy Ghost was used in the baptismal formula. But the inference seems to me insecure. 6.] See ch. viii. 17; x. 46, and note on ch. ii. 4 : and on the fact that they pro phesied, ch. xi. 27, note. 9.] Pro bably the school of Tyrannus was a private synagogue (called Beth Midrasch by the Jews), where he might assemble the be lieving Jews quietly, and also invite the attendance of Gentiles to hear the word. But it is also possible that, as commonly supposed, Tyrannus may have been a Gen tile sophist. The name occurs as a proper name, 2 Mace. iv. 40. 10. two years] We cannot derive any certain estimate of the length of St. Paul's stay in Ephesus from these words, — even if we add the three months of ver. 8, — for w. 21, 22 admit of an interval after the expiration of the two years and three months. And his own expression, ch. xx. 31, "three whole years," implies that it was longer than from this chapter would at first sight appear. He probably (compare his an nounced intention, 1 Cor. xvi. 8, with his ex pectation of meeting Titus at Troas, 2 Cor. ii. 12, 13, which shews that he was not far off the time previously arranged) left Ephesus about or soon after the third Pen- 782 THE ACTS. XIX. 11 Mart xvi. '. ch. xiv. 3. o ch. v. 15. see 2 Kings iv. s Matt. xii. 27. I see Mark ix. SB. Lnkeix. dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews '. and Greeks. n And n God wrought e special miracles by the hands of Paul : 12 ° so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 f p Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, « took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 16 And the evil spirit answered and S said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know ; but who are ye ? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame h them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out e 'literally, no common. B read, said unto them. tecost after that which he kept in Jerusa lem. See Introd. to 1 Cor. § 6. all they which dwelt in Asia] Hyperbolical : — all had the opportunity, and probably some of every considerable town availed themselves of it. To this long teaching of St. Paul the seven churches of Asia owe their establishment. 11. no common mi racles] miracles of no ordinary kind. In what they differed from the usual displays of power by the Apostles, is presently related: viz. that even garments taken from him were endued with miraculous power. 12.] Diseases, and possession by evil spirits, are here plainly distinguished from each other. The rationalists, and semi-rationalists, are much troubled to clear the fact related, that such hand kerchiefs and aprons were instrumental in working the cures, from participation in what they are pleased to call a popular notion founded in superstition and error. But in this and similar narratives (see ch. v. 15, note) Christian faith finds no diffi culty whatever. All miraculous working is an exertion of the direct power of the All- powerful ; a suspension by Him of His or dinary laws : and whether He will use any instrument in doing this, or what instru ment, must depend altogether on His own purpose in the miracle — the effect to be produced on the recipients, beholders, or hearers. Without His special selection and enabling, all instruments were vain; with these, all are capable. In the present case, as before in ch. v. 15, it was His pur pose to exalt His Apostle as the Herald of His gospel, and to lay in Ephesus the strong ' render, But. 11 read, them both. foundation of His church. And Hetherefore endues him with this extraordinary power. But to argue by analogy from such a case, — to suppose that because our Lord was able, and Peter, and Paul, and in Old Test, times Elisha, were enabled, to exert this pecuhar power, therefore the same will be possessed by the body or relics of every real or supposed saint, is the height of folly and fanaticism. The true analogy tends directly the other way. In no cases but these do we find the power, even in the apostohc days : and the general cessation of all extraordinary gifts of the Spirit would lead us to the inference that a fortiori these, which were even then the rarest, have ceased also. 13.] See note on Matt. xii. 27, respecting the Jewish exorcists. These men, seeing the success of Paul's agency in casting out devils, adopt the name of Jesus in their own exorcisms. 14. chief of the priests] The word must be used in a wide sense. He may have been chief of the priests resident at Ephesus : or perhaps chief of one of the twenty-four courses. 15.] The nar rative, from describing the nature of the attempt, passes to a single case in which it was tried, and in which (see below) two only of the brothers were apparently con cerned. 16. them both] The weight of MSS. evidence for this reading is even surpassed by its internal probability. There would be every reason, as seven have been before mentioned, for altering it : but no imaginable one for substituting it for that of the common text. Two only, it would seem, were thus employed on this particular 11—24. THE ACTS. 783 of that house naked and wounded. W And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus ; and 'fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many that believed came, and B confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men : and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. *> ' So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. 21 u After these things were ended, * Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, y I must also see Rome. 2'2 So he sent into Mace donia two of z them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and a Erastus ; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23 And bthe same time there arose no small stir about 1 that way. 2* For a certain man named Demetrius, a r Luke 1.05: vii. 10. ch. 11.43: V.5, tch.vi.7,12, 24. u Bom. xv. 2! x ch. xx. 22. ych. xviii. 21: xxiii. 11. Bom. xv. 24—28. z ch. xiii. 5. o [see Rom.c xvi. 230 2 Tim. iv. 20, b2Cor.i.8. 1 render, the : *ee ch. ix. 2. occasion: and St. Luke has retained the word as it stood in the record furnished to him. Whether any similar occurrence happened to the rest, we are not informed : this one is selected as most notorious. 18.] The natural effect of such an occur rence was to induce a horror of magical arts, &c, which some were still continuing to countenanceor practise secretly, together with a profession of Christianity. Such persons now came forward and confessed their error. The deeds mentioned in this verse were probably the association with such practices: the next verse treats of the magicians themselves. 19. their books] These books consisted of magical formula, or receipt-books, or written amu lets. These last were celebrated by the name of Ephesian scrolls. They were copies of the mystic words engraved on the image of the Ephesian Artemis (Diana). fifty thousand pieces of silver] 50,000 drachma?, i. e. denarii: for the drachma of the Augustan and following ages was the Boman denarius — about S\d. of our money : which makes the entire value about £1770. 21. these things] The occurrences of vv. 19, 20. in the spirit] An expression mostly used by St. Paul, see Bom. i. 9 ; viii. 16 ; xii. 11 : 1 Cor. ii. 4; v. 3, 4; xiv. 14, and other places. I must also see Eome] As he was sent to the Gentiles, he saw that the great metropolis of the Gentile world was the legitimate centre of his apostohc working. Or perhaps he speaks under some divine intimation that ultimately he should be brought to Bome. If so, his words were literally fulfilled. He did see Bome, when he had been at Jerusalem this next time : but after considerable delay, and as a prisoner. Compare the same design as expressed by him, Bom. i. 15 : xv. 23 — 28; and Paley's remarks in the Horae Paulinse. 22.] He intended himself to follow, after Pentecost, 1 Cor. xvi. 8. This mission of Timothy is alluded to 1 Cor. iv. 17 (see also 1 Cor. i. 1) ; xvi. 10. The object of it was to bring these churches in Macedonia and Achaia into re membrance of the ways and teaching of Paul. It occurred shortly before the writing of 1 Cor. He was (1 Cor. xvi. 11) soon to return: — but considerable uncertainty hangs over this journey. We find him again with Paul in Macedonia, 2 Cor. i. 1 : but apparently he had not reached Co rinth. See 1 Cor. xvi., as above: and 2 Cor. xii. 18, where he would probably have been mentioned, had he done so. — On the difficult question respecting a journey of Paul himself to Corinth during this period, see notes, 2 Cor. xii. 14; xiii. 1, — and Introduction to 1 Cor. § 5. Erastus] This Erastus can hardly be identical with the Erastus of Bom. xvi. 23, who must have been resident at Corinth : see there : and therefore hardly either with the Erastus 784 THE ACTS. XIX. silversmith, which made silver shrines for k Diana, brought no small lgain unto the craftsmen; 25whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this l craft we have our wealth. 26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded cFs.cxv.4. and turned away much people, saying that cthey be no x?i20 ""*' 8°&s> which are made with hands : 27 so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought ; but also that the temple of the great goddess k Diana should be despised, and m her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. 28And when they heard [n these sayings] they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is k Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And a Bom. xvi. 23. the [° whole] city was filled with confusion: and having caught d Gaius and e Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord 1 Cor. i. 14. ech. XX.' 4: xxvii. 2. Col. iv. 10. Philem. 24. k The Greek is Artemis. Diana is the Boman name. 1 render both times, employment. m read, she should be deposed from her greatness. n not expressed in the original. 0 omit. of 2 Tim. iv. 20 : see note there. 24. silver shrines] These were small models of the celebrated temple of the Ephesian Artemis (Diana), with her statue, which it was the custom to carry on journeys, and place in houses, as a charm. We may find an exact parallel in the usages of that corrupt form of Christianity, which, what ever it may pretend to teach, in practice honours similarly the "great goddess" of its imagination. 25. of like occu pation] i. e. manufacturers of all sorts of memorials or amulets connected with the worship of Artemis (Diana). — Mr. Howson (ii. p. 98) suggests that possibly Alexander the coppersmith may have been one of these craftsmen : see 2 Tim. iv. 14. 26.] The people believed that the images themselves were gods : see ch. xvii. 29, and the citation from Plutarch in my Greek Test. — And so it is invariably, wherever images are employed professedly as media of worship. 27.] but that eventually even the temple itself of the great goddess Artemis "will be counted for nothing. " Great" was the usual epithet of the Ephesian Artemis. — The temple of Artemis at Ephesus, having been burnt to the ground by Herostratus on the night of the birth of Alexander the Great (b.o. 355), was restored with increased magnificence, and accounted one of tbe wonders of the ancient world. Its dimensions were 425 by 220 feet, and it was surrounded by 127 columns, 60 feet high. It was standing in all its grandeur at this time. See Conybeare and Howson, eh. xvi. vol. ii. pp. 84 ff. 29. having caught] It is not implied that they seized Gaius and Aristarchus before they rushed into the theatre : but rather that the two acts were simultaneous. Gaius] A different person from the Gaius of ch. xx. 4, who was of Derbe, and from the Gaius of Bom. xvi. 23, and 1 Cor. i. 15, who was evidently a Corinthian. Aris tarchus is mentioned ch. xx. 4 ; xxvii. 2 ; Col. iv. 10 ; Philem. 24. He was a native of Thessalonica. into the theatre] The resort of the populace on occasions of excitement. * Of the site of the theatre, the scene of the tumult raised by Deme trius, there can be no doubt, its ruins being a wreck of immense grandeur. I think it must have been larger than the one at Miletus ; and that exceeds any I have elsewhere seen Its form alone can now be spoken of, for every seat is removed, and the proscenium is a heap of ruins.' Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 274.' * The theatre of Ephesus is said to be the largest 25—87. THE ACTS. 785 into the theatre. 30And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31 And certain of the 1 chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. 32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another : for the assembly was confused ; j and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 83And x they drew Alexander out of the mul titude, the Jews putting him forward. And 'Alexander "iK? » tS.'.'' s beckoned with the hand, and would have made his c<£xii.w. defence unto the people. 3* But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out. Great is k Diana of the Ephesians. 36 And when the townclerk had appeased the s people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a * worshipper of the great goddess k Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter ? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 37 For ye have brought hither these men, which 4 see note. r render, some of the multitude drew forth Alexander. s render, multitude. * literally, a temple-keeper : *ee note. known of any that have remained to us victim to the fury of the mob : or perhaps from antiquity.' Conybeare and Howson, one of themselves, put forward to clear ii. p. 83, note 3. 31. certain of the them of blame on the occasion. 34. chief of Asia]' Literally, of the Asiarchs. when they knew that he was a Jew] They These Asiarchs were officers elected by the would hear nothing from a Jew, as being cities of the province of Asia to preside an enemy of image-worship. 35.] The over their games and religious festivals, townclerk is the nearest English office Of these it would be natural that the one corresponding to that here mentioned in who for the time presided would bear the the original. He was the keeper of the title of " the Asiarch .¦" but no more is archives, and public reader of decrees, &c, known of such presidency. The Asiarch in the assemblies. The word here Philip at Smyrna is mentioned by Eusebius rendered worshipper probably means a as presiding in the amphitheatre at the virger, or adorner of the temple : here used martyrdom of Polycarp. These Ephesian as implying that Ephesus had the charge games in honour of Artemis took place in and keeping of the temple. The title is May, which whole month (another sin- found on inscriptions as belonging to gular. coincidence with the practices of Ephesus; and seems to have been specially idolatrous Christendom) was sacred to, and granted by the emperors to particular named Artemisian after, the goddess. cities. of the image which fell down 83. drew forth] i. e. urged forward, from Jupiter] To give peculiar sanctity to through the crowd; the Jews pushing him various images, it was given out that they on from behind.— Alexander does not Seem had fallen from heaven. See examples in to be mentioned elsewhere (but see on my Greek Test. This artifice also has_ been 2 Tim. iv. 14). He appears to have been imitated by the paganized Christianity of a Christian convert from Judaism, whom the wretched Church of Eome. 37.] the Jews were willing to expose as a From this verse it appears that Paul had 786 THE ACTS. XIX. 38-41. are neither robbers of x churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the crafts men which are with him, have a matter against any man, 7 the law is open, and there are deputies : let them implead one another. 39 But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in z a lawful as sembly. 4° For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. 41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. XX. 1 And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called »i cor. xvi. e. unto him the disciples, a and embraced them, and " departed for to go into Macedonia. 2 And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, 3 and there abode three months. And b* iff if.' b when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail Sr.'£.28. into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. * And there accompanied him into Asia b Sopater of Bercea ; x better, temples. 7 render, court-days are held. z render, the. a read, and exhorted them, and bade them farewell. b read, Sopater [the son] of Pyrrhus, a Beroean. proceeded at Ephesus with the same able to give an account, i. e. ' no ground caution as at Athens, and had not held up ' whereon to build the possibUity of our to contempt the worship of Artemis, any giving an account.' further than unavoidably the truths which Chap. XX. 1— XXI. 16.] Joubney os he preached would render it contemptible. Patjx to Macedonia and Gbeece, and This is also manifest from his having thence to Jebusaiem. 2.] Notices friends among the Asiarchs, ver. 81. Chry- of this journey may be found 2 Cor. ii. 12, sostom, however, treats this assertion of 13; viii. 5, 6. He delayed on tbe way the town-clerk merely as a device to ap- some time at Troas, waiting for Titus, — pease the people: " this," he says, " was a — broke off his preaching there, though lie, and was said only for the populace." prosperous, in distress of mind at his non- 38, court-days are held] The sen- arrival, 2 Cor. ii. 12, 13, — and sailed for tencc implies that they were then actually Macedonia, where Titus met him, 2 Cor. going on. They were the periodical assizes vii. 6. That Epistle was written during it, of the district, held by the proconsul and from Macedonia (see 2 Cor. ix. 2, ' I ain his assessors (see below). deputies] boasting'). He seems to have gone to the i. e., — see on ch. xiii. 7, — proconsuls : the confines at least of Illyria, Bom. xv. 19. fit officers before whom to bring these them] The Macedonian brethren. causes. So the Commentators generally. Greece] Achaia: see ch. xix. 21. But perhaps the assessors of the proconsul 8. there abode] This stay was may have themselves popularly borne the made at Corinth, most probably : see name. let them implead one another] 1 Cor. xvi. 6, 7 : and was during the i. e. let them (the plaintiffs and defendants) winter ; see below on ver. 6. During it plead against one another. 39.] The the Epistle to the Romans was written : definite article points out the regularly see Introduction to Bom. § 4. as he recurring assembly, of which they all knew, was about to sail] This purpose, of going 40.] He here assumes that this from Corinth to Palestine by sea, is imphed assembly was an unlawful one. The ch. xix. 21, and 1 Cor. xvi. 3 — 7. meaning is, There being no ground why 4. into (as far as) Asia] It is not hereby (i. e. in consequence of which) we shall he imphed that they went no further than to XX. 1—7. THE ACTS. 787 and of the Thessalonians, c Aristarchus and Secundus ; and c Svuf^co; d Gaius of Derbe, and e Timotheus ; and of Asia, f Tychicus ach.iSi.2n. and s Trophimus. 5 These going before tarried for us atf^iT/?2'- Troas. 6 And « we sailed away from Philippi, after h the tiWIj."- davs of unleavened bread, and came unto them * to ,. a Tim.iy.20. w n Exod. xn. 14. Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. 7 And ics/ivf'sl'18' upon k the first day of the week, when d the disciples came * mm'/iv. is. . Bev. i. 10.' c render, we ourselves. * read, with all our ancient authorities, we. Asia : Trophimus (ch. xxi. 29) and Aristar chus (ch. xxvii. 2), and probably others, as the bearers of the alms from Macedonia and Corinth (1 Cor. xvi. 3, 4), accompanied him to Jerusalem. Sopater [the son] of Pyrrhus, a Beroean] This mention of his father is perhaps made to distinguish him (?) from Sosipater, who was with Paul at Corinth (Eom. xvi. 21). The name Pyrrhus has in our copies been erased as that of an unknown person, and because the mention of the father is unusual in the N. T. : — no possible reason can be given for its inser tion by copyists. Aristarchus] See ch. xix. 29; xxvii. 2; Col. iv. 10; Philem. 24.— Secundus is altogether unknown. — The Gaius here is not the Gaius of ch. xix. 29, who was a Macedonian. The epithet Of Derbe is inserted for distinction's sake. Timotheus was from Lystra, which pro bably gives occasion to his being mentioned here in close company with Gaius of Derbe. The name Caius (Gaius) was far too com mon to create any difficulty in there being two, or three (see note, ch. xix. 29) companions of Paul so called. of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus] Tychicus is mentioned Eph. vi. 21, as sent (to Ephesus from Bome) with that Epistle. He bore also that to the Colossians, Col. iv. 7, at the same time. See also 2 Tim. iv. 12 ; Tit. iii. 12.— Trophimus, an Ephesian, was in Jerusalem with Paul, ch. xxi. 29 : and had been, shortly before 2 Tim. was written, left sick at Miletus. (See Introduction to 2 Tim. § 1. 5.) S. These] The per sons mentioned in ver. 4 : not only Tychi cus and Trophimus. The mention of Timotheus in this Ust, distinguished from those included under the word ns, has created an insuperable difficulty to those who suppose Timotheus himself to be the narrator of what follows : which certainly cannot he got over (as De Wette) by sup posing that Timotheus might have inserted himself in the list, and then tacitly ex cepted himself by the us afterwards. The truth is apparent here, as well as before, ch. xvi. 10 (where see note), that the anonymous narrator was in very intimate connexion with Paul ; and on this occasion we find him remaining with him when the rest went forward. going before &c. . .] For what reason, is not said : but we may well conceive, that if they bore the contributions of the churches, a better op portunity, or safer ship, may have deter mined Paul to send them on, he himself having work to do at Philippi; or perhaps, again, as Meyer suggests, Paul may have remained behind to keep the days of un leavened bread. But then why should not they have remained too ? The same motive may not have operated with them : but in that case no reason can be given why they should have been sent on except as above. It is not impossible that both may bave been combined : — before the end of the days of unleavened bread, a favourable oppor tunity occurs of sailing to Troas, of which they, with their charge, avail themselves : Paul and Luke waiting till the end of the feast, and taking the risk of a less desirable conveyance. That the feast had something to do with it, the mention of after the days of unleavened bread seems to imply : such notices being not inserted ordinarily by Luke for the sake of dates. The assumption made by some that the rest of the company sailed at once for Troas from Corinth, while Paul and Luke went by land to Philippi, is incon sistent with the words used in the opening of ver. 4. — From the notice here, we learn that Paul's stay in Europe on this occasion was about three-quarters of a year : viz. from shortly after Pentecost, when he left Ephesus (see on ch. xix. 10), to the next Easter. 6. in five days] The wind must have been adverse : for the voyage from Troas to Philippi (Neapolis) in ch. xvi. 11, seems to have been made in two days. It appeal's that they arrived on a Monday. — Compare notes, 2 Cor. ii. 12 ff. 7. upon the first day of the week] We have bene an intimation of the con- 788 THE ACTS. XX. '"Vor.^'.io': together 'to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready. xi.2o,&c. to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until mch.i.i? midnight. 8And there were many lights min the upper chamber, where e they were gathered together. 9 And there sat iin a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep : and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft,* and was taken up dead. 10 And Paul n 2if 'SIS'i' went down, and n fell on him, and embracing him said, e read, with all our ancient authorities, We. f render, on the window-seat. tinuance of the practice, which seems to have begun immediately after the Besurrec tion (see John xx. 26), of assembling on the first day of the week for religious purposes. Perhaps'the greatest proof of all, that this day was thus observed, may be found in the early (see 1 Cor. xvi. 2) and at length general prevalence, in the Gentile world, of the Jewish seven-day period as a, division of time, — which was entirely foreign to Gentile' habits. It can only have been introduced as following on the practice of especial honour paid to this day. But we find in the Christian Scriptures no trace of any sabbatical observance of this or any day : nay, in Bom. xiv. 5 (where see note), St Paul shews the untenableness of any such view under the Christian dispensation. The idea of the transference of the Jewish sabbath from the seventh day to the first was an invention of later times. to break bread] See note on ch. ii. 42. The breaking of Dread in the Holy Communion was at this- time inseparable from the agapat or love-feasts. It took place ap parently in the evening (after the day's work was ended), and at the end of the assem bly, after the preaching of the word (ver. 11). unto them, in the third person, the discourse being addressed to the disciples at Troas : but the first person is used before and after, because all were assembled, and partook of the breaking of bread together. Not observing this, the copyists have altered we above into " the disciples," and again into they below to suit this to them. 8. there were many lights] This may be noticed, as Meyer observes, to shew that the fall of the young man could be well observed: or, per haps, because many lights are apt to in crease drowsiness at such times. Calvin and Bengel suppose it to have been done, — in order that all suspicion might be re moved from the assembly, others that the lights were used for solemnity's sake,— for that both Jews and Gentiles celebrated their festal days by abundance of lights. But surely the adoption of either Jewish or Gentile practices of this kind in the Christian assemblies was very improbable. 9.] Who Eutychus was is quite un certain. The occurrence of the name as belonging to slaves and freedmen (as it ap pears from inscriptions) determines nothing. on the window-seat] The windows in the East were (and are) without glass, and with or without shutters. being fallen into a deep sleep] Literally, borne down by a deep sleep. . I believe the word, is used here and below in the same sense, not, as usually interpreted, here of the effect of sleep, and below of the fall caused by the sleep. It implies that relaxation of the system, and collapse of the muscular power, whieh is more or less indicated by our expressions 'falling asleep,' ' dropping asleep.' This effect is being produced in this clause, but as Paul was going on long discoursing, took complete possession of him, and having been overpowered, — entirely relaxed in consequence of the sleep, he fell. In the words, was taken up dead, here there is a direct assertion, which can hardly be evaded by explaining it, 'was taken up for dead,' or by saying that it expresses the judgment of those who took him up, as Meyer. It seems to me, that the supposition of a mere suspended animation is . as absurd; here as in the miracle of Jalrus's daughter, Luke viii. 41 — 56. Let us take the narra tive as it stands. The youth falls, and is taken up dead: so much is plainly asserted. Paul, not a physician, but an Apostle, — gifted, not with medical discern-. ment, but with miraculous power, goes: down to him, falls on him and embraces, him, — a strange proceeding for one bent on discovering suspended animation, but not so for one who bore in mind the action of Elijah (1 Kings xvii. 21) and Elisha (2 Kings. 8—16. THE ACTS. 789 "Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. u When o Matt. n. 24. he therefore was come up again, and had broken S bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. 12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. 13 And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul : for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. 14) And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene. 15 And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and « the next day we h arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, i because he would not spend the time in Asia: for ?he hasted, if it v$i"i-'Si 4U. S render, the bread. 1 render, that he might not have to spend time, k render, put ill to. iv. 34), each time over a dead body, — and having done this, not before, bids them not to be troubled, for his life was in him. I would ask any unbiassed reader, taking these details into consideration, which of the two is the natural interpretation, — and whether there can be any reasonable doubt that the intent of St. Luke is to relate a miracle of raising the dead, and that he mentions the falling on and embracing him as the out ward significant means taken by the Apostle to that end ? 11.] The intended break ing of bread had been put off by the acci dent. The article here may import, 'the bread which it was intended to break,' alluding to ver. 7 above. and eaten] The agape was a veritable meal. Not 'ha/ving tasted it,' viz. the bread which he had broken ; — though that is implied, usage decides for the other mean ing, so] i. e. ' after so doing.' 12.] As in the raising of Jairus's daughter, our Lord commanded thatsomething should be given her to eat, that nature might be recruited, so doubtless here rest and treat ment were necessary, in order that the restored life might be confirmed, and the shock recovered. The time indicated by break of day must have been before or about 5 A.M.: which would allow about four hours since the miracle. We have here a minute but interesting touch of truth in the narrative. Paul, we learn afterwards, ver. 13, intended to go afoot. And accordingly here we have it simply related that he started away from Troas before his companions, not remaining for the reintroduction of the now recovered Vol. I. Eutychus in ver. 12. 13. Assos] A sea-port (also called Apollonia, Plin. v. 32) in Mysia or Troas, opposite to Lesbos, twenty-four Boman miles from Troas, built on a high cjiff above sea, with a precipitous descent. Paul's reason is not giveu for wishing to be alone : probably he had some apostolic visit to make. . 14. Mitylene] The capital of Lesbos, on the E. coast of the island, famed for its beautiful situa tion. It had two harbours : the northern, into which their ship would sail, was large and deep, and defended by a breakwater. ' 15. we put in to Samos] Then they made a short run in the evening to Trogyllium, a cape and town on the Ionian coast, only five miles distant, where they spent the night. He had passed in front of the bay of Ephesus, and was now but a short distance from it. Miletus] The ancient capital of Ionia. See 2 Tim. iv. 20, and note. 16. Paul had deter mined] We see here that the ship was at Paul's disposal, and probably hired at Philippi, or rather at Neapolis, for the voyage to Patara (ch. xxi. 1), where he and his company embark in a merchant vessel, going to Tyre. The separation of Paul and Luke from the rest at the be ginning of the voyage may have been in some way connected with the hiring or outfit of this vessel. The expression he had determined is too subjectively strong to allow of our supposing that the Apostle merely followed the previously determined course of a ship in which he took a passage. to sail by (i. e. to omit visiting)] He may have been afraid of detention 3 F 790 THE ACTS. XX. q ch.xxiv. 47. rch.ii.l. 1 Cor. xvi. 8. ach. xviii. 19: xix. 1, 10. tver.S. n ver. 27. y Mark i. 15. Luke xxiv. 47. ch. ii. were possible for him, "> to be at Jerusalem r the day of Pentecost. 17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 18 And wlien they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, s from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I *have been with you at all seasons, 19 serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with Q many] tears, and tempta tions, which befell me ' by the lying in wait of the Jews: 20 fl and] how u I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21 * testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, y repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, k render, was. there, owing to the machinations of those who had caused the uproar in ch. xix. Another reason has been given t "He seems to have feared that, had he run up the long gulf to Ephesus, he might be de tained in it by the westerly winds, which blow long, especially in the spring." But these would affect him nearly as much at Miletus. 17.] The distance from Miletus tp Ephesus is about thirty miles. He probably, therefore, stayed three or four days altogether at Miletus. the elders] called, ver. 28, bishops. This cir cumstance began very early to contradict the growing views of the apostolic insti tution and necessity of prelatical epis copacy. Thus Irenaeus (Cent. 2), "He called together at MUetus the bishops and presbyters (elders), who came from Ephesus and the rest of the churches near." Here we see (1) the two, bishops and presbyters, distinguished, as if both were sent for, in order that the titles might not seem to belong to the same persons, — and (2) other neighbouring churches also brought in, in order that there might not seem to be bishops in one church only. That neither of these was the case, is clearly shewn by the plain words of this verse : " he sent to Ephesus, and summoned the elders of the church." So early did interested and dis ingenuous interpretations begin to cloud the hght which Scripture might have thrown on ecclesiastical questions. The A. V. has hardly dealt fairly in this case with the sacred text, in rendering the designation episcopous, ver. 28, ' overseers :' whereas it ought there, as in all other places, to have been bishops, that the fact of elders and bishops having been originally and aposlolically synonymous might be apparent to the ordinary English reader, which now it is not. 18.], The evi dence furnished by this speech as to the literal report in the Acts of the words spoken by St. Paul, is most important. It is a treasure-house of words, idioms, and sentiments, peculiarly belonging to the Apostle himself. See this shewn in my Greek Test. The contents of the speech may be thus given : He reminds the elders of his conduct among them (vv. 18 — 21) : announces to them his final separation from them (vv. 22—25): and commends earnestly to them the flock committed to their charge, for which he himself had by word artwork disinterestedly laboured(vY. 26—35). from the first day] These words hold a middle place, partly with "ye know," partly with " after what man ner I was with you." The knowledge on their part was coextensive with his whole stay among them : so that we may take the words with ye know, at the same time carrying on their sense to what follows. I was with yon] So 1 Thess. i. 5, ii. 10. See 1 Cor. ix. 20, 22. 19. serving the Lord] With the sole exception of the assertion of our Lord, ' Ve cannot serve God and mammon,' Matt. vi. 24; Luke xvi. 18, this pecuhar verb (" to be a bond-servant to "), for ' serving God,' is used by Paul only, ana by him seven times, viz. Bom. vii. 6, 25; xii. 11; xiv. 18 ; xvi. 18; Phil. ii. 22; Col. iii. 24; 1 Thess. i. 9. with all humility of mind] Also a Pauline expression, 2 Cor. viii. 7 ; xii. 12. temptations] See especially Gal. iv. 14.. 20. I kept back nothing] So again ver. 27. The sense in Gal. ii. 12 is similar, though not exactly identical— ' reserved himself,' withdrew himself from 17—25. THE ACTS. 791 behold, 'I go bound in ™the spirit unto Jerusalem, not .rt.xn.si. knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23 save that "the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying 'irSM' that bonds and afflictions abide me. 2*But hanone o/i>eh.*xi.is. , y , j , . t/ Bom. viii. SSL these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto 2Cor-iv-M- myself, cso that I might finish my course with Joy, " and the SoWitT's ministry, e which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to "Iff?-1 testify the gospel of the grace of God. ^5 And noWj behold, fI know that ye all, among whom I have gone' If rS8- preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. m better, my spirit : see note. a read, I hold my life of no account, nor is it so precious to me as the finishing of my course : omitting all else. any Open declaration of sentiments. In Heb. x. 38 it is different. 22. bound in my spirit] This interpretation is mos(; probable, both from the construction, and from the usage of the expression re peatedly by and of St. Paul in the sense of his own spirit. See ch. xvii. 16, where the principal instances are given. Com pare Bom. xii. 11 j 1 Cor. v. 3 ; 2 Cor. ii. 13, and ch. xix. 21. How he was bound in the spirit, is manifest, by Comparing other passages, where the Holy Spirit of God is related to have shaped his apostolic course. He was bound, by the Spirit of God leading captive, constraining, his own spirit. — As he went up to Jerusalem, bound in his spirit, so he left Judsea again bound in the fiesh, — a prisoner according to the fiesh. — He had no detailed knowledge of futurity — nothing but what the Holy Spirit, in general forewarnings, repeated at every point of his journey (city by city ; see ch. xxi. 4, 11, for two such instances), announced, viz. imprisonment and tribu lations. That here no inner voice of the Spirit is meant, is evident from the words. 23. the Holy Ghost witnesseth] Compare Bom. viii. 16. 24.] The reading in the margin, amidst all the varieties, seems to be that out of whioh the others have all arisen, and whose difficulties they more or less explain. And the meaning will be, 'I do not value my life, in comparison with the finishing my course.' the finishing of my course] See the same image, with the same word remarkably expanded, Phil. iii. 12 — 14. my course] A similitude peculiar to Paul : occurring, remarkably enough, in his speech at ch. xiii. 25. He uses it without this word, at 1 Cor. ix. 24 — 27, and Phil. iii. 14. which I have re ceived] Compare Bom. i. 5, " by whom we 3 P [hovel received grace and apostleship," 25.] It has been argued from the words among whom I have gone, that the elders of other churches besides that of Ephesus must have been present. But it might just as well have been argued, that every one to whom St. Paul had there preached must have been present, on ac count of the words ye all. If he could regard the elders as the representatives of the various churches, of which there can be no doubt, why may not he similarly have regarded the Ephesian elders as representatives of the churches of pro consular Asia, and have addressed all in addressing them ? Or may not these Words have even a wider application, viz. to all who had been the subjects of his former personal ministry, in Asia and Europe, now addressed through the Ephe sian elders? — See the question, whether Paul ever did see the Asiatic churches again, discussed in the Introduction to the Pastoral Epistles, § 2. 18 ff. I may re mark here, that such an expression in the mouth of St. Paul, does not necessarily imply that he spoke from divine and un erring knowledge, but expresses his own conviction of the certainty of what he is saying : see ch. xxvi. 27, which is much to our point, as expressing his firm persuasion that king Agrippa was a believer in the prophets : but certainly no infallible know ledge of his heart :— Bom. xv. 29, where also a firm persuasion is expressed : — Phil. i. 19, 20, where his knowledge, ver. 19, is explained to rest on his expectation and hope, in yer. 20. So that he may here ground his expectation of never seeing them again, on the plan of making a journey into the west after seeing Bome, which he mentions Bom. xv. 24, 28, and from which, with bonds and imprisonment 792 THE ACTS. XX. 26-38. 26 Wherefore I take you to ° record this day, that I am B2hdorv.vii?2. gpure from the blood of all men. 37 p0r hI have not iLoievii.so. shunned to declare unto you all 'the counsel of God. John xv. 15. « kfTim.'iv.'i6. 38 kTake heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the noor.'xu.k flock, over the which the Holy Ghost 'hath made you Hei^ii"' p merseers> to feeAnd when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands h of Jews there are which believe ; and PKo'm?x:!.' they are all p zealous of the law: 2l and they, * are in formed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22 What is it therefore ? k the multitude must needs come together : for they will hear that thou art * render, baggage : see note. S render, from. h render, there are among the Jews which have become believers. i render, were. k better, a multitude will certainly. prophetic formula, instead of " Thus saith quisite to advise him respecting the sus- the Lord " of the Old Test. 14. The picion under which he laboured among the will of the Lord be done] One of the believing Jews. They, led, naturally per- passages from which we may not unfairly haps, but incorrectly (see 1 Cor. vii. 18), infer, that the Lord's prayer was used by some passages of Paul's life [and of his by the Christians of the Apostohc age. See already-written Epistles p], in which he note on 2 Tim. iv. 18. 15.] The word had depreciated legal observances in com- ' carriages ' in the A. V. is used, as in parison with faith in Christ, and spoken Judg. xviii. 21, for baggage, things carried, strongly against their adoption by Gentile 16.] The word rendered old signifies converts, — apprehended that he advised, on from the beginning, and probably implies the part of the Hellenistic believers, an that he had been a disciple all through, and entire apostasy from Moses and the ordi- had accompanied our Lord during His nances of the law. Thou seest . . .] ministry. See ch. xi. 15, where the term This can hardly be a reference to the elders is applied to the time of the Pentecostal present,asrepresentativesofthe"myriads" effusion of the Spirit. of believing Jews : for only those of Jeru- 17 — XXIII. 85.] Path at Jebtjsa- salem were there: — but refers to Paul's leu : made peisonek and sent To own experience, and knowledge of the vast Gjesaeea. 17. the brethren] The numbers of the Jews who believed at Je- Christians generally : not the Apostles and rusalem, and elsewhere in Judaea. elders ; James and the elders are not men- how many thousands (literally, ten thou- tioned till ver. 18. 18. James] ' the sands, myriads) is perhaps not to be strictly brother of the Lord :' the president of the taken. Origen says, that probably the church at Jerusalem : see ch. xii. 17 ; xv. whole number of believing Jews at no time 13; Gal. ii. 12,- and notes,— and Introduc- had amounted to 144,000. 21.] they tion to the Epistle of James, § i. 24 — 37. were informed (at some time in the mind 20.] While they praised God for, of the speaker. The indefinite past tense and fully recognized, the work wrought by must be preserved. Below, ver. 24, it is him among the Gentiles, they found it re- the perfect). The informants were the . 15—27. THE ACTS. 797 come. 28 Do .therefore this that we say to thee : We have four men which have a vow on them ; 8* them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges * with them, that they may i shave their heads : and all m may know g.Nomb.vi.2, that those things whereof they were informed concerning "m-18- thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. 2B As touching the Gentiles which n believe, * we have written, ° and concluded that they r *¦ "¦ 20- !0, observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them "entered into the temple, 'to signify the accomplishment tNuS'^is. of the days of purification, until that P an offering should be offered for every one of them. 2? And when the seven days were almost ended, u the Jews which were 1 of Asia, uch.xxiv.is. . when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the 1 render, for. n render, have become believers. P render, the. anti-Pauline Judaizers. 22.] Not as A. V., 'the multitude must needs come to gether,' i.e. there must be a meeting of the whole church: but a multitude (of these Judaizers) will certainly come together : ' they will meet and discuss your proceeding in a hostile manner.' 23. a vow] A vow of Nazarites. This vow must not be confounded, historically or analogically, with that of ch. xviii. 18 : see note there, and Num. vi. 2 — 21. 24. them take] to thyself, as comrades. purify thy self with them] i. e. become a N azarite with them. The same expression occurs in the LXX, Num. vi. 3, in describing the Nazarite's duties. be at charges for them] It was a custom of the Jews, and was considered a proof of great piety, that the richer Nazarites should pay the ex penses of the sacrifices ofthe poorer. See Num. vi. 14 ff. Josephus, relating Agrippa's thank-offerings at Jerusalem, says that he ordered very many Nazarites tb be shaven. — Oh the shaving the head, see Num. vi. 18. — De Wette remarks : ' James and the elders made this proposal, assuming that Paul could comply with it witha safe conscience, perhaps also as a proof, to assure themselves and others of his sentiments : and Paul accepted it with a safe conscience. But this he could only have done on one condition, that he was sure by it not to contribute in these four Nazarites to the error of 'ustification m render, shall: 0 render, decreeing. 1 render, from. by the works of the law. He might keep, and encourage the keeping of, the law, — but not with the purpose of thereby de serving the approbation of God.' 25.] See ch. xv. 28, 29. 26.] Paul him self entered into the vow with them, and the time settled (perhaps the least that could be assigned : the Mischna requires thirty days) for the completion of the vow, i. e. the offering and shaving of their heads, was seven days. No definite time is pre scribed in Num. vi., but there, seven days is the time of purification in case of un cleanness during the period of the vow. to signify] i. e. to make known to the ministers of the temple. the ac complishment, i. e. that he and the men had come to accomplish : announcing their intention of accomplishing. the offering] See Num. vi. 13—17. 27. seven days] Of the votive period : not (as some think) since Paul's arrival in Jeru salem. Pive days of the seven had passed : see on ch. xxiv. 11. which were from Asia] From Ephesus and the neighbour hood, where Paul bad so long taught. " Paul, while intent on appeasing the be lieving Jews, incurs the furious hostility of his unbelieving enemies." Calvin, who adds, ' In how many ways had those who were at Jerusalem this Pentecost, already persecuted Paul in Asia ?' — Notice the similarity, of the charge against him to 798 THE ACTS. XXI. 38—40. xch.xxvi.2i. people, and xlaid hands on him, 28 crying out, Men of ych. xxiv. s, a. Israel, help: This is the man, ^that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place : and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29 For they had seen z oh. xx. 4. before with him in the city z Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the ach xxvi. 21. temple. 30And aall the city was moved, and the people ran together : and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple : and forthwith the doors were shut. 31 And as they 9 went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. bxxi^7?''S7' 32 b Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them : and when they saw the ehief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. 33 Then c™'a ch- the chief captain came near, and took him, and "com manded him to be bound with two chains ; and demanded Whp he was, and what he had done. ^And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude : and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he com manded him to be carried into the castle. 35 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of 9 render, were seeking. that against Stephen, ch. vi. 18. 28. thus be in the custody of two soldiers. Hreeks into the Temple] The generic The literally accurate rendering of plural: only one is intended; see next verse, the chief captain's demand would be, who They meant, into the inner court, which he might be (subjective possibility) : and was forbidden to Gentiles. 29. Trophi- what he had done (assuming that he must mus] See ch. xx. 4, note. We here learn have done something). 34. the castle] that he was an Ephesian. 80.] The Le- The camp or barracks attached to the vites shut the doors to prevent profanation tower Antonia; — or perhaps 'into the by a riot, and possibly bloodshed, in the tem- tower' itself: but the other is the more pie : hardly, as Bengel, lest Paul should use usual meaning of the word. Por a full the temple as an asylum : — the right of asy- history and description of the fortress of lum was only (Exod. xxi. 13, 14) for murder Antonia, see Robinson i. pp. 431, 435 ; unawares. But by ver. 14 there, and by Williams, Holy City, i. 99; ii. 403 — ill ; Joab's fleeing to the altar, 1 Kings ii. Howson ii. 311. 35. upon the 28 ff., we see that it was resorted to on stairs] The steps leading up into the other occasions. 81. seeking to kill tower. The description of the tower or him] By beating him : see ver. 32. fort Antonia in Josephus, sets the scene tidings came] literally, went (were carried) vividly before us : — " It was, upon the up ; up, either because of his high station, whole, the resemblance of a tower, and us commanding officer, or because he was encompassed with four other towers at locally stationed in the tower Antonia, over- equal distances one from another, and one looking (from the N.W.) the temple, where from every corner : three of them fifty the riot was. the ehief oaptain of the cubits in height, and the fourth, that band] Claudius Lysias (eh. xxiii. 26), tbe looked to the S. and E., of seventy cubits : tribune of the cohort (whose proper com- and from thence they had the view of the plement was 1000 raen)._ 33. with whole temple, Prom the place where the two chains] See ch. xii. 6. He would galleries joined, there were upon the right XXII. 1. THE ACTS. 799 the soldiers for the violence of the x people. 36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, d Away ""kjotoxi*. with him. 37And as Paul was to be led into the castle, » oh'*"1- he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek ? 3S s Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness ifour thousand men that were murderers? 39 Bat Paul said, e u Jam a man which eSiiV1: am a Jew of Tarsus, T a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean eify : and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. *°And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and f beckoned with the hand unto the fch.ni.17. people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, XXII. 1[^Men,] a brethren, and fathers, hear ye my a oh. vii. 2. r render, Crowd. s render, Thou art not then. 1 render, those four. n render, I indeed. v render, a citizen of no mean city in Cilicia. s omit : see on ch. i. 16. and left two pair of stairs, which served for a passage to the soldiers into the temple : for when the Romans were masters of Jerusalem, there were guards posted still upon that quarter to prevent seditions upon their public festivals and meetings. Por as the temple commanded the city, so Antonia the temple." (L'Estrange.) 38. that Egyptian] The inference of the tribune was not, as in Bengel, " He speaks Greek, therefore he is an Egyptian," but the very contrary to this. His being able to speak Greek is a proof to Lysias that he is not that Egyptian.— This Egyp tian is mentioned by Josephus, who says that he persuaded the people to follow him to the Mount of Olives, whence he would by a word throw down the walls of Jeru salem. This Pelix heard of, and sent soldiers to stop his folly, who slew four hundred of bis followers, and took two hundred alive. He himself, however, es caped. In another plaoe, he says of the same person, that he collected about 30,000 deluded persons, and brought them out of the Wilderness to the Mount of Olives, and that a battle took place, in which most of bis followers were killed or taken prisoners. It is obvious that the numerical accounts in Josephus are inconsistent with our text, aud with one another. This latter being the case, we may well leave them out of the question. At different times of his rebellion:, his number of followers would be variously estimated; and the tribune would naturally take it as he himself, or his informant had known it, at some one period. That this is so, we may see, by noticing that our narrative speaks of his leading out, — whereas Josephus's numbers are those whom he brought back from the wilderness against Jerusalem, by which time his band would have augmented con siderably, those four thousand, — the matter being one of notoriety. mur derers] " Sicarii," so called from sica, a dagger. They are thus described by Jose phus : "Another kind of brigands abounded in Jerusalem, those named Sicarii, who slew men in open day in the midst of the city: mixing with the crowds principally in the feasts, and having short swords hidden nnder their garments, with which they stabbed people." 89. indeed] implying 'not the Egyptian, but.' of no mean city] There was distinction In his being a citizen of a, free city. " Many of the coins of Tarsus bear the epigraphs 'metropolis' and 'free.'" Dr. Words worth. 40. in the Hebrew tongue] The Syro-Chaldaic, the mother-tongue of the Jews in Judaea at this time: his motive is implied (eh. xxii. 2) to be, that they might be the more disposed to listen to him. Chap. XXII. 1.] This speech of Paul repeats the narrative of his con version to Christianity, but this time most skilfully arranged and adapted (within 800 THE ACTS. XXII. defence which I make now unto you. 2And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they ^co^x'V kept the more silence : and he saith, 3 b I am [7 verily] a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, za city jtn Cilicia, °s.eu2iang"" yet brought up in this city "at the feet of d Gamaliel, and Lnkex.au. taught e according to the perfect manner of the law of the fch.'xS'io.' fathers, and fwas zealous towards God, g as ye all are this gitainVx"'. day. 4 h And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding Phil; ffft11' and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5As lLiSfxx'u.eo. also the high priest doth bear me witness, and 'all the & ch! ix."i-i estate of the elders: kfrom whom also I received letters xxvi* iu, 12. unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be lcx\vf.'i2|i8. punished. 6And 'it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was a come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7Ahd I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou per- "chfii. t.7' secutest. 9 And m they that were with me saw indeed the light \j * and were afraid] ; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. n And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. 7 omit. z render, of. a render, coming. ^ omitted by most of our oldest authorities. legitimate Emits) to avoid offence and con- his still retaining it) which you all shew ciliate his hearers. Proofs of this will ap- to-day.' A conciliatory comparison. pear as we go on. 3.] On Gamaliel 5. the high priest] ' of that day, who is see note, ch. v. 34. — The expression " at still living :' i. e. Theophilus, see on ch. the feet of Gamaliel " (seo ch. iv. 35, note) ix. 1. Similarly, the whole Sanhedrim indicates that the rabbi sat on an ele- are ' those who were then members, and now vated seat and the scholars on the ground survive.' unto the (Jewish : or, their) or. on benches, literally at his feet. brethren] The rendering, 'against the according to the perfect manner (the art. (Christian) brethren,' is altogether inad- omitted aft. a prep.), the strict acceptation, missible. If ever Paul spoke to the Jews of the law of the fathers ; so in ch. xxvi. as a Jew, it was on this occasion. 6, i. e. " the straitest sect of our religion;" 6.] On Paul's conversion, and the com- — i. e. as a Pharisee. as ye all are parison of the accounts in chapp. ix., xxii., this day] Not meaning 'in the same way and xxvi., see notes on ch. ix. I have as ye all are this day' (but now in another there treated of the discrepancies, real or way) : but as ye all are this day : ' I had apparent. 11.] See notes, ch. ix. 8, the same zealous character (not excluding 18. 12.] That Ananias was a Chris- 2—20. THE ACTS. 801 12 And " one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, "»•">¦«»•»¦ "having a good report of all the p Jews which dwelt there, Jfxtaukr. 13 came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14And he said, «The God of our fathers ifsf-18' 'hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, andrcM'i"! 8 see » that Just One, and u shouldest hear the voice of his |]jft|^?: mouth. 15 * For thou shalt be his witness unto all men Mollis. of y what thou hast seen and heard. 16And now why xoff"xxHLii. tarriest thou ? arise, and be baptized, z and wash away thy , J^ICm sins, a calling on c the name of the £ord. W And b it came achfikfiS?' to-pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, evenb^j-J$j while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance ; ls and "saw him saying unto me, dMake haste, and get theeSMatt.4i.i4. quickly out of Jerusalem : for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 19 And I said, Lord, ethey 6^j^ ch- know that I imprisoned and fbeat in every synagogue m«tt.i.i7. them that beheved on thee; 20 gand when the blood of goh.vu.58. thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and h consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them gj^j-jj 0 read, with all our oldest authorities, his name. tian is not here mentioned, — and " having of Jesus, " that Just One." Paul carefully a good report of all the Jews whieh dwelt avoids mentioning to the Jews this Name, there" is added : both, as addressed to a except where it is unavoidable, as in ver. 8 : Jewish audience. Before the Boman go- so again he says, I saw him, ver. 18. vernor in ch. xxvi., he does not mention 17.] viz. as related ch. ix. 26 — 31, him at all, but compresses the whole sub- where nothing of this vision, or its having stance of the command given to Ananias been the cause of his leaving Jerusalem, is into the words spoken by the Lord to hinted. 19.] The probable account himself. A heathen moralist (Horace) of this answer is, that Paul thought his could teach, " Of whom, and what, thou former great zeal against Christ, con- speakest, and to whom, Take frequent trasted with his present zeal for Him, heed :" and a Christian Apostle was not would make a deep impression on the Jews unmindful of the necessary caution. Such in Jerusalem : or, perhaps, he wishes by features in his speeches are highly instruc- his earnest preaching of Jesus as the Christ tive and valuable to those who would among them, to undo the mischief of gather from Scripture itself its own real which he before was the agent, and there- character : and be, not slaves to its letter, fore alleges his former zeal and his con- but disciples of its spirit. 14 — 16 is senting to Stephen's death as reasons why not related, but included, in ch. ix. 18, 19. he should remain in Jerusalem. 20. 14. The God of our fathers] So thy martyr] So A. V., following Beza: Peter, ch. iii. 13; v. 30. In ch. ix. 17, the Vulgate, and Erasmus, 'thy witness,' "the Lord" is the word: this title is which is the primary meaning of the given for the Jews. that Just One] word martyr in Greek. " The Apostle So Stephen, ch. vii. 52. How forcibly may have here used the word (speaking in must the whole scene have recalled him, Hebrew) in its strict primary sense; for whom presently (ver. 20) he mentions by a view of Christ in His glory was vouch- name. 16. wash away thy sins] This safed to Stephen, and it was by bearing was the Jewish as well as the Christian witness of that manifestation that he doctrine of baptism. — See 1 Cor. vi. 11, and hastened his death (ch. vii. 55 ff.). The note. calling on his name] i. e. the name present meaning of the word martyr did, 802 THE ACTS. XXII. 21—30. that slew him. 21 And he said unto me, Depart : ' for I • will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. 22 And they i ch. ix. IS : xiii. 2,46, 47: xviii. 8: xxvi. 17. Bom. i. fs.'aSi.M: gave him audience unto this ^Word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, k Away with such a fellow from the 16: ii.7,8. Eph. iii. 7, 8, 1 Tim. ii. 7. 2 Tim. 1. 11. k ch. xxi. 36. 1 cb. xxv. 24. m ch. xvi. 37. earth : for it e is not fit that 1 he should live. 23 And as they cried out, and i cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 2* the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. 2° And as they bound him with S thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, m Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned ? 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, h Take heed what thou doest : for this man is a Roman. 27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered, d render, saying. * render, shook. k read, with all our oldest authorities, What art thou about to do ? e render, was. S render, the thongs. however, become attached to it at a very early period, and is apparently of apostohc authority : e. g. B«v. xvii. 6, and Clement of Bome, 1 Cor. v. (cited in note on ch. i. 25). . . . The transition from the first to the secondary sense may be easily accounted for. Many who had only seen with the eye of faith, suffered persecution and death as a proof of their sincerity. For such constancy the Greek had no adequate term. It was necessary for the Christians to pro vide one. None was more appropriate than ' witness' (martyr), seeing what had been the fate of those whom Christ had appointed to be His witnesses (ch. i. 8). They almost all suffered : hence to witness became a synonym for to suffer : while the suffering was in itself a kind of testimony." (Mr. Humphry.) Dr. Wordsworth well designates this introduction of the name of Stephen " a noble endeavour to make public reparation for a public sin, by public confession in the same place where the sin was committed." 21.] The object of Paul in relating this vision appears to have been to shew that his own inclination and prayer had been, that he might preach the Gospel to his own people : but that it was by the imperative command of the Lord Himself that he went to the Gentiles. 22. unto this saying] viz. the announce ment that he was to be sent to the Gentiles. " The nations of the earth have no hving existence," was the maxim of the children of Abraham, as set down in their Rab binical books. it was not fit] imply ing, he ought to have been put to death long ago (when we endeavoured to do it, but he escaped). 23.] They were not ' casting off their garments,' as preparing to stone him, or even as representing the action of such preparation : the former would be futile, as he was in the custody of the tribune,— the latter absurd, and not borne out by any known habit of the Jews : but shaking their garments, as shaking off the dust, abominating such an expression and him who uttered it. The casting dust into the air was part of the same gesture. Chrysostom explains it in this way. 24.] The tribune, not understanding the language in which Paul spoke, wished to extract from him by the seonrge the reason which so exasperated the Jews against him. In this he was acting illegally : for Augustus had expressly provided that legal exa minations were not to begin with torture. 25.] Literally, while they were bind ing him down with the thongs. The po sition of the prisoner was, bent forward, and tied with a sort of gear made of leather to an inchned post. the centurion] This was the ordinary officer — standing by to superintend the punishment. On XXIII. 1. THE ACTS. 803 With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. w Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him : and the chief captain also was afraid, * after he knew that he was a Roman,, and k because he had bound him. 30 On the morrow, * because he would have known the certainty where fore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. XXIII. 1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, \^Men and] brethren, aI have lived in all good i render, when he bethought him. 1 render, wishing to know. St. Paul's question to him, see ch. xvi. 37, note. 28.] Dio Cassius mentions that, in the reign of Claudius, Messalina used te sell the freedom of the city, and at very various prices at different times. I was free hern] literally, But I (besides having the privilege like thee of being a Boman citizen) was also born one. How was Paul a Boman citizen by birth 1 Cer tainly not beoause he was of Tarsus: for (1) that city had no such privilege, but was only a. free city, not a colony nor a municipal town : and (2) if this had been so, the mention of his being a man of Tarsus (ch. xxi. 39) would have of itself prevented his being scourged. It remains, therefore, that his father, or some ancestor, must have obtained the freedom of the city, either as a reward for ser vice or by purchase. It has been sug gested that the father of Saul may have been sold into slavery at Bome, when Cassius laid a heavy fine on the city of Tarsus for having espoused the cause of Octavius and Antony, and very many of the Tarsians were sold to pay it. He may have acquired his freedom and the citizen ship afterwards. See Mr. Lewin, i. p. 4. But this is mere conjecture. 29. was afraid] There is no inconsistency (as De Wette thinks) in the tribune's being afraid because he had bound him, and then letting him remain thus bound. Meyer rightly explains it, that the tribune, having com mitted this error, is afraid of tbe possible consequences of it (for as Cicero says, it was an offence to bind a Boman citizen, and a crime to scourge hico), and shews this by taking the first opportunity of either undoing it, or justifying his further detention, by loosing him, and bringing him before the Sanhedrim. His fear was ch. xxiv. 16. 1 Cor. iv. 4. 2 Cor. i. 12 c iv.2. 2 Tim. i. a. Heb. xiii. IS. k render, that. m omit : see on ch. i. 16. on account of his first false step; but it was now too late to reverse it: and the same reason which leads him to continue it now, operates afterwards when the hearing was delayed. ' The centurion believed Paul's word, because a false claim of this nature, being easily exposed, and punish able with death, was almost an unpre cedented thing.' Hackett. 30.] It seems remarkable that the tribune in com mand should have had the power to sum mon the Sanhedrim : and I have not seen this remarked on by any Commentator. brought Paul down] Prom Antonia to the council-room. According to tra dition the Sanhedrim ceased to hold their sessions in the temple, about twenty-six years before this period. Had they done so now, Lysias and his soldiers could not have been present, as no heathen was per mitted to pass the sacred limits. Their present council-room was in the upper city, near the foot of the bridge leading across the ravine from the western cloister of the temple. XXIII. 1.] earnestly beholding seems to describe that peculiar look, connected probably with infirmity of sight, with which Paul is described before as regarding those before him : and may perhaps account for his not knowing that the person who spoke to him was tine high priest, ver. 5. See ch. xiii. 9, note. — The purport of Paul's assertion seems to be this : being charged with neglecting, and teaching others to neglect tlie law of Moses, he at once en deavours to disarm those who thus accused him, by asserting that up to that day he had lived a true and loyal Jew, — obeying, according to his conscience, the law of that divine polity of which he was a covenant member. Thus I have lived before God 804 THE ACTS. XXIII. conscience before God until this day. 2 And the high biKincBixii. priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him bto ^johnxviii. srnite him on the mouth. 3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall : for sittest thou to °i>eutxxv\ Ju(lge me after the law, and ccommandest me to be smitten 3. johnvii: contrarv to the ]aw? 4 And they that stood by said, dch.xxiv.17. Revilest thou God's high priest? 5 Then said Paul, dI wist not, brethren, that mhe was the high priest; for it is or, it. (literally, have been a citizen before God) will have its full and proper meaning : and the words are no vain-glorious ones, but an important assertion of his innocence. 2. Ananias] He was at this time the actual high priest (ver. 4). He was the son of Nebedaeus — succeeded Joseph son of Ca- mydus — and preceded Ismael, son of Phabi. He was nominated to the office by Herod, king of Chalcis, in a.d. 48; and sent to Bome by Quadratus, the prefect of Syria, to give an account to the emperor Claudius ; he appears, however, not to have lost his office, but to have resumed it on his return. This has been regarded as not certain, — and the uncertainty has produced much confusion in the Pauline chronology. But as Wieseler has shewn, there can be no reasonable doubt that it was so, especially as Ananias came off victorious in the cause for which he went to Bome, viz. a quarrel with the Jewish procurator Cumanus, — who went with him, and was condemned to banishment. He was deposed from his office not long before the departure of Felix, but still had great power, which he used violently and lawlessly : he was assas sinated by the sicarii (see ch. xxi. 38, note) at last. 3.] It is perfectly allowable (even if the fervid rebuke of Paul be con sidered exempt from blame) to contrast with his conduct and reply that of Him Who, when similarly smitten, answered with perfect and superhuman meekness, John xviii. 22, 23. Our blessed Saviour is to us, in all His words and acts, the perfect pattern for all under all circum stances : by aiming at whatever He did in each case, we shall do best : but even the greatest of his Apostles are so far our patterns only as they followed Him, which certainly in this case Paul did not. That Paul thus answered, might go far to excuse u like fervent reply in a Christian or a minister of the gospel, — but must never be used to justify it : it may serve for an apology, but never for an example. God shall (is about to, literally) smite thee] Some' have seen a prophetic import in these words ;— see above on the death of Ananias. But I would rather take them as an expression founded on a conviction that God's just retribution would come on unjust and brutal acts. thou whited wall] Lightfoof s interpretation, that St. Paul used this term because Ananias had only the semblance of the high priesthood and had lost the thing itself, is founded on the hypothesis (for it is none other) that the high priesthood was vacant at this time, and Ananias had thrust himself into it. The meaning is as in Matt, xxiii. 27 ; and in all probabihty Paul referred in thought to our Lord's saying. sittest thou to judge me] This must not be taken as favouring the common interpretation of ver. 5 (see below) : for the whole San hedrim were the judges, and sitting to judge him according to the law. 4.] Hence we see, that not only by the* Jews, but by the tribune, who was present, Ana nias was regarded as the veritable high priest. 5.] (1) The ordinary inter pretation of these words since Lightfoot, is, that Ananias had usurped the office during a vacancy, and therefore was not recognized by Paul. They regard his being sent to Bome as a virtual setting aside from being high priest, and suppose that Jonathan, who was murdered by order of Felix, was appointed high priest in his absence. But (a) there is no ground what ever for believing that his office was va cated. He won the cause for which he went to Bome, and returned to Jerusalem : it was only when a high priest was de tained as hostage in Bome, that we read of another being appointed in his room : and (b) which is fatal to the hypothesis, Jonathan himself the high priest was sent to Bome with Ananias. Jonathan was called by the title merely as having been previously high priest. He succeeded Caiaphas, and he was not high priest again afterwards, having expressly declined to resume the office. Nor can any other Jonathan have been elevated to it, — for Josephus gives, in every case, the elevation o 7 THE ACTS. 805: written, e Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy e Sj^'gSE;. people. 6 But n when Paul perceived that the one part were u. w. Judea. Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, [° he] cried out in the council, [vMen and] brethren, 'lama Pharisee, Bthe son'^^s- of 1 a Pharisee : of the hope and resurrection of the dead I B a'-. xxxvu>V am called in question. 1 And when he had so said, there , * *'"' arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sad- n render, Paul being aware. P omit : see on ch. i. 16. of a new high priest, and his whole number of twenty-eight from Herod the Great to the destruction of Jerusalem agrees with the notices thus given. So that this inter pretation is untenable. (2) Chrysostom and most of the ancient commentators sup posed that Paul, having been long absent, was really unacquainted with the person of ¦ the high priest. But this can hardly have been: and even if it were, the position and official seat would have pointed out, to one who had been himself a member of the Sanhedrim, the president of the coun cil. (3) Calvin and others take the words ironically: 'I could not be supposed to know that one who conducted himself so cruelly and illegally, could be the high priest.' This surely needs no refutation, as being altogether out of place and cha racter. (4) Bengel and others understand the words as an acknowledgment of rash and insubordinate language, and render, 'I did not give it a thought,' ' I forgot :' and so Dr. Wordsworth. But this is never the meaning of the word here used in the original ; and were any pregnant or unusual sense intended, the context (as at 1 Thess. v. 12) would suggest it. (5) On the whole then, I believe that the only rendering open to us, consistently with the simple meaning of the words, and the facts of history is, I did not know that it (or he) was the high priest: and that it is pro bable that the solution of his ignorance lies in the fact of his imperfect sight — he heard the insolent order given, but knew not from whom it proceeded. I own that I am not entirely satisfied with this, as being founded perhaps on too slight pre mises : but as far as I can see there is no positive objection to it, which there is to every other. The objection stated by Dr. Wordsworth, "If St. Paul could, not dis cern that Ananias was high priest, how could he see that he sat there as his judge ? " would of course be easily answered by sup posing that Paul, who had himself been a member ofthe Sanhedrim, may have known Ananias by his voice : or indeed may not Voi. I. 0 omit. 1 read, Pharisees. (as above) have known him at all per sonally. It is hardly worth while to notice the rendering given by some, ' I knew not that there was a high priest.' Had any such meaning been intended, it would have been further specified by the construction. Besides which, it renders Paul's apology. irrelevant, by eliminating from it the person who is necessarily its subject. for it is written] Implying in this, ' and the law is the rule of my life.' Even in this we see the consummate skill of St. Paul. 6.] Surely no defence of Paul for adopting this course is required, but all admiration is due to his skill and presence of mind. Nor need we hesitate to regard such skill as the fulfilment of the promise, that in such an hour, the Spirit of wisdom should suggest words to the accused, which the accuser should not be able to gainsay. All prospect of a fair trial was hopeless : he well knew from fact, and present experience, that personal odium would bias his judges, and violence prevail over justice : he there fore uses, in the cause of Truth, the maxim so often perverted to the cause of false hood, "divide, and govern." la one tenet above all others, did the religion of Jesus Christ and the belief of the Pharisees coincide: that of the resurrection of the dead. That they looked for this resur rection by right of being the seed of Abra ham, and denied it to all others,— whereas he looked for it through Jesus whom they hated, in whom all should be made alive who had died in Adam, — this was nothing to the present point : the behef was common — in the truest sense it was the hope of Israel — in the truest sense does Paul use and bring it forward to confound the ad versaries of Christ. At the same time by this strong assertion of his Pharisaic standing and extraction, he was further still vindicating himself from the charge against him. So also ch. xxvi. 7. the son of Pharisees] i. e. ' a Pharisee of Pharisees,' — 'by descent from father, grandfather, and upwards, a pure Pharisee.* This meaning not having been appre. 3 G S06 THE ACTS. XXIII, hiiatt.xxii. ducees : and the multitude was divided. 8 h For the 23. Mark . . . xx.'27.' LulM Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit : but the Pharisees confess both. 9 And there arose a great cry : and the scribes that were of the Uxx"si.25' Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, 'We find no evil kch. xx«. 7,17, in this man: but kIifa spirit or an angel hath spoken to ich.v.so. him, l let us not fight against God. 10 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and tb bring him into the castle. aiAnd ""x^villsS'! m the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer [, s Paul] : for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. "chf'xxv.a.' 12 And when it was day, [s certain of] "the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. 14,And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. 16 Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you [s to morrow] , as though ye would * enquire something more perfectly concern- r read, with all our oldest authorities, what if a spirit or an angel hath Spoken to him ? omitting the rest. B omit, with all our oldest authorities. 1 render, determine with greater accuracy. hended, the plural was by the copyists complishment of his intention of visiting altered into the singular. 8.] See Bome : (3) of the certainty that however note, Matt. iii. 7, for both Pharisees and he might be sent thither, he should preach Sadducees : Josephus says that tbe latter the gospel and bear testimony there. So denied the future existence of the soul, and that they upheld and comforted him (1) rewards and punishments hereafter. in the uncertainty of his life from the 9. but what if a spirit or an angel have Jews: (2) in the uncertainty of his libera- spoken to him t] Perhaps in this they tion from prison at Casarea : (3) in the referred to the history of his conversion, as uncertainty of his surviving the storm in told to the people, ch. xxii. 10. should the Mediterranean : (4) in the uncertainty have been pulled in pieces] to be taken of his fate on arriving at Bome. So may literally, not as merely meaning, 'should one crumb of divine grace and help be be killed.' The Pharisees would strive to multiplied to feed five thousand wants and lay hold of him to rescue him : the Sad- anxieties. 12.] Wetstein and Light- ducees, to destroy him, or at all events, to foot adduce instances of similar conspira- secure him. Between them both, there cies, — not to eat or drink till some object was danger of his being pulled asunder be gained. See 1 Sam. xiv. 24 ff. 14.] by them. 11.] By these few words, It is understood from the narrative that it the Lord assured him (1) of a safe issue was to the Sadducees, among the chief from his present troubles ; (2) of an ac- priests aud elders, that the murderers went. 8—24. THE ACTS. 807 ing him : and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. 16 And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain : for he hath a certain thing to tell him. 18 So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. 19 Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me ? 20 And he said, ° The Jews °™-w' have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though x they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 21 But do not thou yield unto them : for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him : and now are they ready, looking for 7 a promise from thee. 22 So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. 23 And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go tb Caesarea, and horsemen three score and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night ; 2* and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the x read, with most of our oldest authorities, thou wouldest. 7 render, the. That the high priest belonged to this sect, for, not " a promise," as A. V., but the cannot be inferred with any accuracy, promise (to that effect), 23. two cen- 15. determine with greater ac- turions] literally, some two centurions. curacy] or perhaps, neglecting the com- The soldiers here spoken of were the parative sense, to determine accurately ordinary heavy-armed legionary soldiers: (not as A. V. ' enquire something more per- distinguished below from the horsemen and fectly'). 16.] It is quite uncertain spearmen. spearmen] The word thus whether Paul's sister's son lived in Jeru- rendered has never been satisfactorily ex- salem, or had accompanied him thither, plained : but spearmen seems to represent The us of eh. xx. 5, will include more than it more nearly than any other term. See •merely Luke. But from his knowledge in my Greek Test. 24. bring him of the plot, which presupposes other ac- safe] The full meaning of the word is, quaintances than he would have been likely escort him safe the whole way. to make if he had come with St. Paul, I Felix] Felix was a freedman of the should suppose him to have been domiciled Emperor Claudius: Suidas and Zonaras at Jerusalem, possibly under instruction, gave him the praenomen of Claudius, but as was formerly Paul himself, and thus Tacitus calls him Antonims Felix, perhaps likelv in the schools, to have heard the from Antonia, the mother of Claudius, as scheme spoken of. 21.] They waited he was brother of Pallas, who was a freed- 3 G 2 808 THE ACTS. XXIII. 25—35. governor. 25 And he wrote a letter after this manner : 26 Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix pch.xxi.s3: sendeth greeting. 27 p This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with z an army, and rescued him, having understood that he qcii.xxii.so. was a Roman. 28'And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth 'xxv".1'16' into their council : 29whom I perceived to be accused rof sch.xxvi.si. questions of their law, "but to have nothing laid to his t ver. jo. charge worthy of death or of bonds. 30And 'when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent nch.xxiv.8: straightway to thee, and ugave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell. 31 Then the soldiers, as it was com manded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: 33who,_ when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul, also before him. 3* And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of yiolxxv.'i8. * Cilicia; 35 M will hear thee, said he, when thine ac- z render, the troop. man of Antonia. He was made sole procu- understood that he was a Boman] The rator of Judaea after the deposition of Cu- fact was not as he here states it. This manus (having before been three years joint was ah attempt to conceal the fault that procurator with him) principally by the in- he had committed, see ch. xxii. 29. For fluence of the high priest Jonathan, whom this assertion cannot refer to the second he afterwards procured to be murdered, rescue : see next verse. 31.] Antipa- Of his character Tacitus says, "Antonius this, forty -two Boman miles from Jeru- Felix wielded kingly power with the dispo- salem, and twenty-six from Caesarea, was sition of a slave, disgracing it by every kind built by Herod the Great, and called in of cruelty and lust." His procuratorship honour of his father. It was before called was one series of disturbances, false mes- Kapharsaba. In Jerome's time it was a siahs, assassins, and robbers, and civil con- half-ruined town. They might have well tests. He was eventually (a.d. 60) recalled, made so much way during the night and and accused by the Cesarean Jews, but the next day, — for the text will admit of acquitted at the instance of his brother that interpretation, — the morrow being not Pallas. On his wife Drusilla, see note ch. necessarily the morrow after they left Jeru- xxiv. 24. 26. most excellent] See salem, but after they arrived at Antipatris. Luke i. 3. — This letter seems to be given 82. the horsemen] As they had now (translated from the Latin) as written, the lesser half of their journey before them, not merely according to its general import and that furthest removed from Jerusalem. (see the false statement in ver. 27) : from The spearmen appear to have gone back what source, is impossible to say, but it with the soldiers. 85. in Herod's may be imagined that the contents tran- palace] The procurator resided in the for- spired through some officers at Jerusalem mer palace of Herod the Great. Here Paul or at Caesarea friendly to Paul. 27. was committed to the custody of a soldier, with the troop] See above ver. 10, and not in a prison, but in the buildings at- note, ch. xxi. 32. rescued him, having tached to the palace. XXIY. 1—6 THE acts: 809 cusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in z Herod's a judgment hall. XXIV. *And after "five days b Ananias the high priest descended with » the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. 2 And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, 3we accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 Not withstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words. 5 ° For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the c sect of the Nazarenes : 6 d who also hath gone about to profane the z Matt, xxvii. 27. a ch. xxi. 27. b ch. xxiii. 2, 3(1, »5 : xxv. 2. c Lake xxiii. 2. ch. vi. IS : xvi. 20 : xvii.' 6; xxi. 28. IPet.ii. 12, 15. dch.xxi.28. a render, palace : see on John xix. 28. b read, certain of the. c render, heresy. Chap. XXIV. 1— XXVI. 32.] Paul's IMPRISONMENT AT GESABEA. 1. after five days] or, on the fifth day — from . Paul's departure for Casarea. This would be the natural point from which to date the proceedings of the High Priest, &c, who were left in Jerusalem. That it is so, appears from ver. 11. See note there. a certain orator] This was an " orator forensis," or pleader, persons who abounded in Bome and the provinces. Tertullus] The name is a diminutive from Tertius, as Lucullus from Lucius, — Catullus from Catius. We are told that many Boman youths, who were studying for the bar, were in the habit of accompanying the magistrates into the provinces, to practise themselves in pleading the causes of the provincials, and thus be preparing for more important actions in the metropolis. informed] laid information; and, as it seems, not by writing, but by word of mouth, since they appeared in person, and Paul was called to confront them. 2.] Grotius tells us that it is among the pre cepts of the rhetoricians, to win the favour of a judge by praising him. Certainly Tertullus fulfils and overacts the precept, for his exordium is full of the basest flat tery. Contrast with his "great quietness" and "worthy deeds," the description of Tacitus, where he says that Felix, and Ventidius Cumanus, who ruled in Galilee, emulated one another in crimes and enor mities. They carried out their mutual enmity, by employing bands of robbers to slay and plunder, who sometimes met in open battle, and brought back their spoils to the procurator. Contrast also Josephus's account of the inhabitants of Caesarea sending a deputation to Bome to complain of the oppressions and enormities of Felix. There was just enough foundation for the flattery, to make the falsehood of its general application to Felix more glaring. He had put down some rebels (see ch. xxi. 38, note) and assassins, but, as Wetstein remarks, was himself worse than them all. by thy providence] This was with the Latins, as with us, more properly an attribute of divinity than of men; but with other divine characteristics, had come to be attributed to the Emperors. " The providence of Ctesar " is a common phrase on their coins. 3.] We receive it, i. e. not only here in thy presence, but also at all times and in all places. A refinement of flattery. 5. the world would here mean the Boman empire. Na zarenes] This is the only place in the New Testament where the Christians are so called. The Jews could not call them by any name answering to Christians, as the hope of a Messiah or Christ was professed by them selves. 6.] Considerable difficulty rests on the omission of the words here put in brackets. Their absence from the prin cipal MSS., their many variations in those which contain them, are strongly against their genuineness ; as also is the considers- 810 THE ACTS. XXIV. eJohnxvai. temple: whom we took [, a and would « have judged accord- fch.'xxi.88. ing to our law. 1 f Put the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands, gch.xxin.8o. 8 e commanding his accusers to come unto thee]: by examin ing of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him. 9 And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. 10 Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheer fully answer for myself: n because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem h for to worship. 12 ' And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city : IS neither can they prove the things * The whole of this passage is omitted by most of our ancient authorities : on the question, see note. h ver. 17. ch, xxi. 20. ich. xxv. 8: xxviii. 17. tion that no probable reason for their omis sion can be suggested. On the other hand, as De Wette observes, itis hardlyimaginable that so little should have been assigned to the speaker, as would be if these words were omitted. Besides this, the words whom we took seem to require some sequel, some reason, after his seizure, why he was there present and freed from Jewish durance. The phaenomena are common enough in the Acts, of unaccountable insertions; but in this place it is the omission which is unaccountable, for no similarity of ending, no doctrinal consideration can have led to it. 8.] by examining of whom, if the disputed words be inserted, refers na turally enough to Lysias ; but if they be omitted, to Paul, which would be very un likely, — that the judge should be referred to the prisoner (for examination by torture on one who had already claimed his rights as a Boman citizen, can hardly be intended) for the particulars laid to his charge. Cer tainly it might, on the other hand, be said that Tertullus would hardly refer the go vernor to Lysias, whose interference he had just characterized in such terms of blame ; but (which is a strong argument /or the genuineness of the doubtful words) remarkably enough, we find Felix, ver. 22, putting off tbe trial till the arrival of Lysias. The English reader should be cau tioned against one mistake which the form of the words in the A. V. rather encou rages : the referring whom to the accusers. This cannot be, as the relative "whom " is, in the original, in the singular. 9. assented] joined in setting upon him, bore out Tertullus in his charges. 10. of many years] Felix was now in the seventh year of his procuratorship, which began in the twelfth year of Claudius, a.d. 62. — The contrast between Tertullus's and Paul's. winning favour with the judge is remark able. The former I have characterized above. But the Apostle, using no flattery, yet alleges the one point which could really win attention to him from Felix, viz. his confidence arising from speaking before one well skilled by experience in the manners and customs of the Jews. 11. twelve days] The point of this seems to be, that Felix having been so long time a judge among the Jews, must be well able to search into and adjudicate on an offence whose whole course was comprised within so short a period. — The twelve days may be thus made out : 1. his arrival in Jeru salem, eh. xxi. 15 — 17; 2. his interview with James, ib. 18 ff. ; 3. his taking on him the vow, ib. 26; 3 — 7. the time of the vow, interrupted by — 7. his apprehen sion, ch. xxi. 27 ; 8. his appearance before the Sanhedrim, ch. xxii. 30 ff.; 9. his de parture from Jerusalem (at night) ; and so to the 13th, the day now current, which was the 5th inclusive from his leaving Je rusalem. This is far more natural than to suppose that the days which he had already spent at Caesarea are not to be counted, be, 7—19. THE ACTS. 811- whereof they now accuse me. " But this I confess unto thee, that after kthe way which they call heresy, sok!?8Am°» worship I the ! God of . my fathers, believing all things ilf^i. t which are written in mthe law and in the prophets: moh-I!n'i-32: 15 and "have hope toward God, which they themselves ¦"*¦«•«.«: also allow, ° that there shall be a resurrection [e of the oiE?xuf«. dead,] both of the just and unjust. 16And p herein do fI m*"-** i. , , . . poh. xxiii. 1. exercise myseit, to nave always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. 17 g JVbw after many years 9I came to bring alms to my nation, and*0*1-1'-29'80' offerings. 13 r h Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found i'J: £Ca?. me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor «i""-»i- ?«• with tumult. 19' Who ought to have been here before '%£$¦"' e omit. ^ f render, I also. g render, But. h or, Amidst which, i.e. my offerings: For the literal rendering, and force, see notes. cause his raising disturbances while in cus tody was out of ; the question. 12. in the city] literally, throughout the city, ' any where in the city ;' as we say, 'up and, down the streets' 14.], The But here has its peculiar force, of taking off the attention from what has immediately pre ceded, and raising a new point as more worthy of notice. But, (' if thou wouldst truly know the reasoif why they accuse me'), this is the whole grievance* heresy, in allusion to the same word used by Ter tullus, ver. 5. The word is capable of an indifferent or of a bad sense- Tertullus had used it in the latter. Paul explains what it really was. the god of my fathers] literally, my paternal God (see below). Hotice in the words the skill of Paul. The term was one well known to the Greeks and Bomans, and which would carry with it its own justification. The abandonment of a man's national worship and attaching himself to strange gods and modes of worship was regarded unfavour ably by the Bomans : and the Jews had had their worship of their fathers' God with their ancient national rites, again and again secured to them by decrees of ma gistrates and of the senate. In his address to the Jews (ch. xxii. 14) the similar ex pression, "the God of our, fathers," brings out more clearly those individual fathers, in whom Felix had no interest further than the identification of Paul's religion with that of his ancestors required. 15. they themselves] literally, these very men. It would appear from this, that the High Priest and the deputation were not of the But perhaps this inference is top hasty; Paul might regard them as representing the whole Jewish people, and speak generally, as he does of the same hope ch. xxvi. 7, where he assigns it to "our twelve tribes." The words "of the deacl," inserted here in spme MSS. to fill up the meaning, are not likely to have been_ spoken by the Apostle. The juxta position of those words, which excited mockery even when the Gospel was being directly preached, would hardly have been hazarded in this defence, where every ex» pression is so carefully weighed. 16. herein] accordingly, i.e. 'having and che rishing this hope.' I also, i. e. ' as. well as they.' 17.] But refers bacl^' to the former "but," ver. 14. 'But the matter of which they complain is this, that after an absence of many years,' &c. — Sea 1 Cor. xvi. 3, 4; 2 Cor. viii. ix. notes, ch, xx. 4. 18.] The eonstruction in the original is peculiar, and can hardly be re,-, presented in a faithful English version. The nominative case to the verb found' has to be supplied, somehow thus : amidst which they found me purified in the, temple, none who detected me in the act of raising a tumult .... but certain Asiatic Jews This would leave it to' be inferred that no legal officers had ap prehended him, but certain private indi viduals, illegally; who besides had not come forward to substantiate any charge againstj him. 19.] This also is a skilful argu ment on the part of the Apostle : — it being the custom of the Bomans not to judge % prisoner without the accusers face to faoe, 812 THE ACTS. XXIV. 20—27, t ch. xxiii. 6: xxviii. 20. X oil. xxvii. 3 xxviii. 10. thee, and object, if they had ought against me. 20 Or else let these same here say, * if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council, 2i except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, 'Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day. 22 And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of k that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. 23 And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and x that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister [* or come] unto him. 24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and m judgment to come, 1 read, what evil-doing they found. * render, the : see note on ch. ix. 2. ' omit. m render, the judgment which is to come. he deposes that his real accusers were the Asiatic Jews, who first raised the cry against him in the temple, — not the San hedrim, who merely received him at the hands of others, — and that these were not present. 20.] Otherwise : Or let these persons themselves say, what fault they found in me while I stood before the Sanhedrim, other than in the matter of this one saying. 22. having more perfect knowledge about the way] not, * till he should obtain more accurate knowledge' (ungrammatical) : nor, 'since he had now obtained' (viz. by Paul's speech, which the words will not bear). But this, the only right rendering, is variously understood. Chrysostom says : " He adjourned the case purposely, not because he wanted informa tion, but because he wished to put off the Jews. He was not willing to acquit the prisoner, for fear of them." And nearly so J.iuther and others. But these interpreta tions, as De Wette observes, overlook the circumstance, that such a reason for ad journment would be as unfavourable to Paul as to the Jews. Meyer explains it, that he adjourned the case, 'because,' &c. But this would imply that he was favourably disposed to Paul. .The simplest explanation is that given by De Wette : He' put them off to another time, not as requiring any more information about 'the way,' for that matter he. knew before,— but waiting for the arrival df Lysias.— Whether Lysias was expected, or summoned, or ever came to be heard, is very doubtful. The real mo tive of the deferring appears in ver. 26. The comparative "more perfect" imphes, " more accurate than to need additional in formation." he deferred them] them, viz. both parties : not, " these things." 23. liberty] Not literally and ab solutely, for he was in military custody, but it was relaxed as much as was con sistent with safe custody. Remission, or relaxation, would perhaps be a better ren dering than 'liberty.' 24. when Felix came] Into the hall or chamber where Paul was to speak. Drusilla] She was daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (see ch. xii.) and of Cypres, — and sister of Agrippa II. She was betrothed at six years old to Epiphanes son of Antiochus, king of Commagene; but he declining the marriage, not wishing to be circumcised and become a Jew, she was married to the more obsequious Azizus, king of Emesa. Not long after, Felix, being enamoured of her beauty, persuaded her, by means of a certain Simon, a Cyprian magician (see note on ch. viii. 9), to leave her husband and live with him. She bore him a son, Agrippa : and both mother and son perished in an eruption of Vesuvius, in the reign of Titus. — The Drusilla men tioned by Tacitus, a granddaughter «f Antony and Cleopatra, must have been tnother wife of Felix, who was thric'e XXV. 1—5. THE ACTS. 813 Felix "trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. 26 He hoped also that y money should have been given him pf Paul[, ° that he might loose him] : wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. 2? But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, z willing to P shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. XXV. i Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2 a 1 Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews in formed him against Paul, and besought him, 3 and desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jeru salem, b laying wait in the way to kill him. * But Festus »5J;"iH-:u> answered, that Paul should be kept at Ca?sarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither. 6 Let them 11 literally, becoming alarmed, answered. There is nothing in the original to answer to " trembled." 0 omit, with all our oldest authorities. P render, win favour with the Jews. y Exod. xxiii. z Exod. xxiii. 2. ch. xii. 8: xxv. 9. 14. : ch. xxiv. 1. ver. 15. 1 read, And. married, and each time to persons of royal birth; Suetonius calls him "the husband of three queens." 25.] It is remark able that Tacitus uses of Felix the ex pression, " he thought himself heensed to commit all crimes with impunity." The fear of Felix appears to have operated merely in his sending away Paul : no im pression for good was made on him. 26.] The Julian law enacted that no one should receive any consideration for throw ing a man into prison, for putting him into bonds, or releasing him, or for a condemnation or an acquittal. Mr. Hum phry observes, that Albinus, who succeeded Festus, so much encouraged this kind of bribery, that no malefactors remained in prison, except those who did not offer money for their liberation. St. Paul did not resort to this mode of shortening his tedious and unjust imprisonment, and Tertullian quotes his conduct in this respect against those who were disposed to purchase escape from persecution : a practice which prevailed and became a great evil in the time of Cyprian. 27. two years] viz. of Paul's imprison ment. Porcius Festus] Festus ap pears to have succeeded Felix in the sum mer or autumn of the year 60 A.D. : but the question is one of much chronological difficulty. He found the province wasted and harassed by bands of robbers and sicarii (assassins), and the people the prey of false prophets. He died, after being procurator a very short time, — from one to two years. Josephus contrasts him, as a putter down of robbers, favourably with his successor Albinus. It was a natural wish of Felix at this time to confer obliga tions on the Jews, who were sending to complain of him at Bome.. left Paul bound] There was no change in the method of custody, see note on ver. 23. He left him in the 'military custody' in which he was. XXV. 1. the province] The term is properly used of & province, whether imperial or senatorial (see note on ch. xiii. 7), — but is here loosely applied to Judaea, which was only a procuratorship, attached to the province of Syria. 2. the high priest] The High Priest now was Ishmael the son of Phabi. See chronological table in tbe Introduction. The term chief of the Jews is more general than " elders," though most of the chief men must have been members of the Sanhedrim. Festus, relating this application, ver. 15, calls them "elders." 3.] favour is explained to mean condemnation, ver. 15. laying wait] They were making, contriving, the ambush already. The country was at this time, as maybe seen abundantly in Josephus, full of sicarii (assassins) : who were hired 814 THE ACTS. XXV. c ch. xviii. 11. ver. 18. e ch. vi. IS : xxiv. 12 ; xxviii. 17. therefore, said he, which r among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, c if there be any wickedness in him. 6 And when he had tarried among them s more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea ; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought. 7 And when he was come, the Jews which came dSx"iiS'2. down from Jerusalem stood round about, d and laid many io. di. xxiv. an(j gyjevous complaints against *Paul, which they could, not prove. 8 While u he answered for himself, e Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Csesar, have I offended any thing at all. 9 But Festus, f willing to x do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul,, and said, g Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me ? 1° 7 Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged : to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. n h » For if I be an offender, » or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die : but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no, man may deliver me unto them. ' I appeal unto h ver. 25. < xviii. 14 : xxiii. 29: xxvi. 81. ich. xxvi. 82: xxviii. 19. r render, are powerful among you. s read, not more than eight or ten. * read, him. x render, win favour with the Jews. 7 render, But Paul said. a render, and. ^ read, Paul. z read, If then. by the various parties to take off their ad versaries. 5. are powerful] not, as in A. V., " those among you that are able " [to go down f ] : but, are powerful among you: those who from their position and influence are best calculated to represent the public interests. 6.] The number of days is variously read. It is possible that a perverted notion of the necessity of an absolute precision in details in the in spired text, may have occasioned the erasure of one of the 'numbers. 8.] These were the three principal charges to which the "many and grievous complaints" of the Jews referred. 9.] The question is asked of Paul as a Boman citizen, having a right to be tried by Boman law: and more is contained in it, than at first meets the eye. It seems to propose only a change of place; but doubtless in it was contained by implication a sentence pronounced by the Sanhedrim. The words before me may mean no more than that the procurator would be present and sanction the trial : Grotius interprets it " wilt thou be judged by the Sanhedrim in my presence ?" Other wise, a journey to Jerusalem would he superfluous. Festus may very probably have anticipated the rejection of this pro posal by Paul, and have wished to make it appear that the obstacle in the way of Paul being tried by the Sanhedrim arose not from him, but from the prisoner him self. 10.] Paul's refusal has a positive and a negative ground — 1. ' Gatsar's tri bunal is my proper place of judgment : 2. To ihe Jews I have done no harm, and they have therefore no claim to judge me.' I stand at Caesar's judgment seat] Meyer quotes from TJlpian, " What is done by a procurator of CsBsar, is approved as if it were done by CsBsar himself." as thou very well knowest] literally, knowest better than thou choosest to confess. We have an ellipsis of the same kind in our phrase ' to know better.' Or it may be in this case as in 2 Tim. i. 18, 'better, than that I need say more on 6—14. THE ACTS. 815 Csesar. i2 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, * Hast thou appealed unto Ceesar? unto Csesar shalt thou go. i3And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Cassarea to salute Festus. 14 And when they had been there many days, Festus * better, Thou hast appealed unto Csesar {without the question: see note). it :' but I prefer the other interpretation. 11. no man may ¦ (literally, can) deliver me] Said of legal possibility : "it is not lawful for any man . . . . " The dilemma here put by St. Paul is, "If I am guilty, it is not by them, but by Ceesar, that I must be (and am willing to be) tried, sentenced, and punished. If I am innocent, and Casar acquits me, then clearly none will be empowered to give me up to them : therefore, at all events, guilty or innocent, I am not to be made their victim." I appeal unto Caesar] lite rally, I call npon, i. e. appeal to Caesar. This power (of appeal to the people) having existed in very early times was ensured to Boman citizens by the Lex Valeria in the year of Bome 245, suspended by the De cemviri, but solemnly re-established after their deposition a.u.o. 305, when it was decreed that it should be unlawful to make any magistrate from whom there did not he an appeal. When the emperors ab sorbed the power of the people and the tribunilial veto in themselves, the appeals to the people and to the tribunes were both made to the emperor. In Pliny's celebrated Epistle to the Emperor Trajan respecting the Bithynian Christians, we read, " Others shared in the like madness, whom, as they were Boman citizens, I noted to be sent to the metropolis." 12. the council] The convention, or as sembly of citizens in the provinces, as sembled to try causes on the court-days, see ch. xix. 38. A certain number of these were -chosen as jurymen, for the particular causes, by the proconsul, and these were called his ' councillors,' 'or' assessors.' So in Josephus, Cestius, on receiving an application from Jerusalem respecting the conduct of Florus, took counsel with his assessors, or council. He consulted them, to decide whether the appeal was to be conceded, or if conceded, to be at once acted on. The law provided that if the matter did not admit of delay, the appeal was not allowed. The sense is stronger and better without a question after the first clause of Festus's answer. — Thus were the two— the design of Paul (ch. xix. 21), and the promise of our Lord to him (ch. xxiii. 11) — brought to their fulfilment, by a combination of providential circumstances. We can hardly say that these must have influenced Paul in making his appeal : that step is naturally accounted for, and was rendered necessary by the difficulties which now beset him : but we may be sure that the prospect at length, after his long and tedious imprisonment, of seeing Bome, must at this time have cheered him, and caused him to hear the decision of Festus, "To Caesar shalt thou go," with no small emotion. 13.] Hehod Agbippa TJ., son of the Herod of ch. xii. (see note on ver. 1 there), was at Bome, and seventeen only, when his father died. Claudius was about to send him to succeed to the kingdom, but was dissuaded by his freedmen and favourites, and sent Cuspius Fadus as procurator instead. Soon after, Claudius gave him the principality of Chalcis, which had been held by his uncle Herod, — the presidency of the temple at Jerusalem and of its treasures, — and the appointment of the High Priest. Some years after the same emperor added to his jurisdiction the former tetrarchy Of Philip, and Batanaea, Tracbonitis, and Abilene, with the title of King. Nero afterwards- annexed Tiberias, Tarichea, Julias, and fourteen neighbouring villages to his king dom. He built a large palace at Jeru salem; but offended the Jews by con structing it so as to overlook the temple, and by his capricious changes in the high priesthood, — and was not much esteemed by them. When the last war broke out, he attached himself throughout to the Bomans. He died in the third year of Trajan, and fifty-first of his reign, aged, about seventy. Bernice] The Mace donian form (Berenice or Beronice) for Pherenice. She was the eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I., and first married to her uncle Herod, prince of Chalcis. After his death she lived with Agrippa her brother, but not without suspicion ; in consequence of which she married Polemo, king of Cilicia. The marriage was, however, soon dissolved, and she returned to her brother. She was afterwards the mistress of Vespa sian, and of Titus. to salute Festus] on his accession to the procuratorship, to 816 THE ACTS. XXV. 15—27. kch.xxiv.27. declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, k There is a 1 ver. 2,s. certain man left in bonds by Felix : i5 ' about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against m ver. i, 5. him. lfi ra To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to c deliver any man [d to die] , before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. 17 Therefore, when they were come hither, nver.a. " without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. is e Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought f none accusation of such things as I supposed : "xxifiTm151 19obut had certain questions against him of their own % superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. 20And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters. 2l But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I pseech.ix. might send him to Csesar. 22Then p Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. 23 And on the morrow, c render, give up. ** omit, with almost all our oldest authorities. e render, Round about. ' Most of our oldest authorities read, none evil accusation : but there are variations among them. S render, religion. gain his favour. 14. declared Paul's pleasing to his guest Agrippa. 21. cause] He did this, not only because Augustus (in the Greek, Sebastos)] This Agrippa was a Jew, hut because he was title was first conferred by the senate on (see above) governor of the temple. Octavianus, and borne by all succeeding 16. to give up] i. e. to his enemies, and emperors. Dio Cassius says : "Augustus for destruction. On the practice of the implies that he was something more than Bomans, here nobly and truly alleged, man: for all most revered and sacred several citations occur in Grotius and things are called august. Whence also Wetstein. 18. Bound about whom] they called him Sebastos, after the Greek See ver. 7 : the A, V., ' against whom,' is manner, as one to be adored, from sebazo- wrong. 19.] The word rendered mai, to adore." 22. I would hear the religion is used by Festus in a middle man myself] Uterally, I was wishing to . . . sense, certainly not as equivalent to 'super- It is a modest way of expressing a wish, stition,' A. v., speaking as he was to formed in this case while the procurator Agrippa, a Jew. 20.] See the real was speaking, but spoken of by Agrippa as reason why he proposed this, ver. 9. This if now passed by, and therefore not pressed. he now conceals, and alleges his modesty See Bom. ix. 3, and note there. Agrippa, in referring such matters to the judgment as a Jew, is anxious to hear Paul's defence, of the Jews themselves. This would be as a matter of national interest. The pro* XXVI. 1, 2. THE ACTS. 817 when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus' com mandment Paul was brought forth. 8* And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom * all the multitude of the i Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought r not to live any longer. 25 But r [h when] I found 8 that he had committed nothing worthy • of death, * and i that he himself p1 hath] appealed to t Augustus, I P1 have] determined to send him. 26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, After exami nation had, I might have somewhat to write. 2? For it seemeth to me unreasonable k to send a prisoner, \} and] not withal to signify the crimes laid against him. XXVI. 1 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself: 2 1 think myself ver. 2, 3, 7. ch. xxiii. 9, ": xxvi. 81. n omit. k render, when sending. curator's ready consent is explained, ver. 26. 23. with great pomp] Wetstein finely remarks on the words, "This was in the same city where the father of Agrippa and Bernice had been eaten of worms for his blasphemous pride." the place of hearing] The original is a Greek word, formed after. the Latin 'audi torium :' perhaps no fixed haU of audience, but the chamber or saloon set apart for this occasion. the chief captains] These were the tribunes of the cohorts stationed at Caesarea. Stier remarks, "Yet more and more complete must the giving of the testimony in these parts be, before the witness departs for Bome. In Jerusalem, the long-suffering of the Lord towards the rejecters of the Gospel was now exhausted. In Antioch, the residence of the Praeses (or governor) of Syria, the new mother church of Jewish and Gentile Chris tians was flourishing ; here, in Caesarea, the residence of the procurator, the testimony which had begun in the house of Cornelius the centurion, had now risen upward, till it comes before this brilliant assembly of all the local authorities, in the presence of the last king of the Jews." 24. all the multitude of the Jews] At Jerusalem 1 render, seeing that. 1 omit. Sver. 1) literally, by the popular voice probably) of some tumultuous outcry : — here, by their deputation. 25. that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and seeing that he himself . . . .] These reasons did really coexist as influencing Festus's determination. 26. no cer tain thing] i. e. nothing fixed, definite. The whole matter had been hitherto ob scured by the exaggerations and fictions of the Jews. unto my lord] viz. Nero. Augustus and Tiberius refused this title ; Caligula and (apparently) all following bore it : but it was not a recognized title of any emperor before Domitian. Olshau sen remarks, that now first was our Lord's prophecy, Matt. x. 18, Mark xiii. 9, ful filled. But Meyer answers well, that we do not know enough of the history of the other Apostles to be able to say this with any certainty. James the greater, and Peter, had in all probability stood before Agrippa I. See ch. xii. 2, 3. XXVI. 1.] The stretching out of the hand by a speaker was not, as Hammond supposes, the same as the " beckoning with the hand" of ch. xii. 17; xiii. 16. Tbe latter was to ensure silence ; but this, a formal attitude usual with orators. Apuleius describes it 818 THE ACTS. XXVI. a ch. xxii. 8: xxiii. 6: xxiv. 15, 21. Phil. iii. 5. b ch. xxiii. 0. c Gen. iii. 15: xxii. 18-. xxvi. 4: xlix. 10. Deut. xviii. 15. 2 Sam. vii. 12. Ps cxxxii. 11. Isa. iv. 2: vii. 14: ix. 6 : xl. 10. Jer. xxiii. 5: xxxiii. 14. 15, 18. Ezek. xxxiv. 2S: xxxvii. 24. Dan. ix. 24. Micah vii. 20. ch. xiii. 32. Bom. xv. 8. Tit. ii IS. d James i. 1. e Luke ii. 87. 1 Thess. iii. 10. ITim. v.5. fPhU.iii.ll. happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews : 3 especially m because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews : wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. 4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews ; 5 which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after * the n most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 b And now I stand and am judged for the . hope of c the promise made of God unto our fathers : 1 unto which promise d our twelve tribes, in stantly serving God e ° day and night, f hope to come. Por which hope's sake, Iking Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible m render, because thou art. 0 render, night and day. very precisely. The hand was stretched out with the two lower fingers shut, and the rest straightened. St. Paul's hand was chained — compare " these bonds," ver. 29. 5. the strictest sect] See ch. xxii. 3. Josephus calls the Pharisees " a sect of the Jews professing to be more devout than other men, and to observe the laws more strictly." The use of the term finds another example in Eph. v. 15, which is literally, " See ye walk strictly." The word rendered sect is the same as that rendered in ch. xxiv. 5, 14 " heresy," here used in an indifferent sense. 6.] The promise spoken of is not that of the resurrection merely, but that of a Messiah and His kingdom, involving (ver. 8) the resurrec tion. This is evident from the way in which he brings in the mention of Jesus of Nazareth, and connects His exaltation (ver. 18) with the universal preaching of repentance and remission of sins. But he hints merely at this hope, and does not explain it fully: for Agrippa knew well what was intended, and the mention of any king but Casar would have misled and pre judiced the Boman procurator. There is great skill in binding on his former Phari saic life of orthodoxy (in externals), to his now real and living defence of the hope of Israel. But though he thus far identifies them, he makes no concealment of the dif ference between them, ver. 9 ff. 7. our twelve tribes] The Jews in Judaea, and those of the dispersion also. See James i. 1. There was a difference between n i. e. strictest. P read, O king. Paul and the Jews, which lies beneath the surface of this verse, but is yet not brought out : he had already arrived at the accom plishment of this hope, to which they, with all their sacrifices and zeal, were as yet only earnestly tending, having it yet in the future only (see Bom. x. 2). It was con cerning this hope (in what sense appears not yet) that he was accused by the Jews. 8.] Having impressed on his hearers the injustice of this charge from the Jews, with reference to his holding that hope which they themselves held, he now leaves much to be filled np, not giving a con fession of his own faith, but proceeding as if it were well understood. 'You as sume rightly, that I mean by this hope, in my own case, my believing it accomplished in the crucified and risen Jesus of Naza reth.' Then, this being acknowledged, he goes on to show how his own view became so changed with regard to Jesus ; drawing a contrast in some respects between him self, who was supernaturally brought to the faith, and them, who yet could not refuse to beheve that God could and might raise the dead. All this he mainly ad dresses to Agrippa (ver. 26), as being the best acquainted with the circumstances, and, from his position, best qualified to judge of them. It may be, as Stier suggests, that if not open, yet practical Sadduceism had tainted the Herodian family. Paul knew, at all events, how generally the highly cultivated, and thosfe in power and wealth, despised and thought 8—15. THE ACTS. 819 with you, 4 that God should raise the dead ? 9 e I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 h Which thing I also did in Jerusalem : and many of the saints did I shut up in x prison, having received authority i from -the chief priests ; and when they were put to death, I gave my 8 voice against them, u k And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. 12 1 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ls at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. 11 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice * speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 15 And I said, Who art thou, S John xvi. 2. 1 Tim. i. IS. h ch. viii. S. Gal. i. 13. I ch. ix. 14, 21 : xxii. 5. 1 ch. ix. S : xxii. a. 1 render, if God raiseth. 8 render, Vote. incredible the doctrine of the resurrection. It is not, as commonly rendered, ' that God should raise the dead ' (E. V.) : but the question is far stronger than this : why is it judged by you a thing past belief, if God raises the dead li.e.'if God, in His exercise of power, sees fit to raise the dead (the word implying that such a fact has veritably taken place), is it for you to refuse to believe it ?' 9.] Henceforward he passes to his own history, — how he once refused, like them, to believe in Jesus : and shews them both the process of his conversion, and the ministry with which he was entrusted to others. 10, 11.] This is the "great persecu tion" of ch. viii. 1. We are surprised here by the unexpected word saints (holy ones), which it might have been thought he would have rather in this presence avoided. But, as Stier remarks, it belongs to the more confident tone of this speech, which he delivers, not as a prisoner defend ing himself, but as one being heard before those who were his audience, not his judges. I gave my vote against them can hardly be taken figuratively, as many Commentators, trying to escape from the inference that the "young man" Saul was a member of the Sanhedrim ; but must be understood as testifying to this very fact, however strange it may seem. He can r render, prisons. * render, saying unto me. hardly have been less than thirty, when sent on his errand of persecution to Damascus. On the fact, compare the words " Saul was consenting unto his death," ch. viii. 1. 11. punished them] viz. by scourging ; comp. Matt. x. 17. I compelled them to blaspheme does not imply that any did blaspheme (Christ : so Pliny, in his celebrated Epistle, speaks of ordering the Bithynian Christians to curse Christ, and adds, that he hears none can be compelled to do this who are really Christians) : the verb only relates the attempt. The persecuting the Christians even to foreign cities, forms the transition to the narrative following. 12. Where upon] literally, In which things (being engaged). 13.] See notes on ch. ix. 3 — 8, where I have treated of the discre pancies, real or only apparent, between the three accounts of Saul's conversion. See also ch. xxii. 6—10. 14. in the He brew tongue] These words are expressed here only. In ch. ix. we have the fact remarkably preserved by the Hebrew form in the original ; in ch. xxii. he was speak ing in Hebrew, and 'the notice was not required. it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks] This is found here only; in ch. ix. the words are spurious, having been inserted from.this place. The metaphor is derived from oxen- at plough 820 THE ACTS. XXVI. Lord? And n he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet : for I have appeared mch.xxii.i5. unto thee for this purpose, mto make thee a minister and nch.xxii.21. a witness both of these things whieh thou hast seen, and ° l%T^hne 0^ tnose things in the which I will appear unto thee ; viii. 12. 2 Cor. iv. 4. Eph. i. 18. 1 Thess. v. 5. p 2 Cor. vi. 14. Eph. iv.18: v. 8. Ool. i. IS. 1 Vet. ii. 9, 25. q Luke i. 77. r Eph. i. II. Col. i. 12. !? delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, n unto whom [x now] I send thee, 18 ° to open their eyes, [y and] v zto turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, « that they may receive forgiveness of sins^ and 'inheritance among them which 11 read, with all our oldest authorities, the Lord. x omit, with all our MSS. z render, that they may turn. 7 omit. or drawing a burden, who, on being pricked with the goad, kick against it, and so cause it to pierce deeper. See instances, in my Greek Test., of the use of the pro verb. 16 — 19.] There can be no ques tion that St. Paul here condenses into one, various sayings of our Lord to him at different times, in visions, see ch. xxii. 18 — 21; and by Ananias, ch. ix. 15; see also ch. xxii. 15, 16. Nor can this, on the strictest view, be considered any deviation from truth. It is what all must more or less do who are abridging a narrative, or giving the general sense of things said at various times. There were reasons for its being minute and particular in the details of his conversion; that once related, tho commission which he thereupon received is not followed into its details, but summed up as committed to him by the Lord him self. It would be not only irreverent, but false, to imagine that he put his own thoughts into the mouth of our Lord ; but I do not see, with Stier, the necessity of maintaining that all these words were ac tually spoken to him at some time by the Lord. The message delivered by Ananias certainly furnished some of them ; and the unmistakeable utterings of God's Spirit which supernaturally led him, may have furnished more, all within the limits of truth. 16.] for this purpose refers to what follows, to make thee, &c; for gives the reason for rise, and stand upon thy feet. See reff. of these things which thou hast seen] Stier remarks, that Paul was the witness of the glory of Christ : whereas Peter, the first of the former twelve, describes himself (1 Pet. v. 1) as 'a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.' So true it was that this latest born among the Apostles, became, by divine grace, more than they all (1 Cor. xv. 8 — 10). — The expression a minister of those things which thou hast seen may be compared with "ministers ofthe word," which St. Luke calls the eye-witnesses, Luke i. 2. and of those things in the which (or, on account of which) I will appear unto thee] That such visions did take place, we know, from ch. xviii. 9 ; xxii. 18; xxiii. 11; 2 Cor. xii. 1; Gal. i. 12. 17. delivering thee from] This, and not ' choosing thee out of' is the right meaning. the people] as elsewhere, the Jewish people. " Thus," says Calvin, " the Lord armed him against all fears which awaited him, and at the same time prepared him to bear the cross." unto whom] to both, the people, and the Gentiles ; not the Gentiles only. 18.] not, as Beza, and A. V., ' to turn them :' but, that they may turn ; see ver. 20. — The general reference of whom becomes tacitly modified (not expressly, speaking as he was to the Jew Agrippa) by the expressions above, darkness and the power of Satan, both, in the common language of the Jews, applicable only to the Gentiles. But in reality, and in Paul's mind, they had their sense as applied to Jews, — who were in spiritual darkness and under Satan's power, however little they thought it. See Col. i. 13. that they may receive] A third step : first the opening of the eyes — next, the turning to God — next, the re ceiving remission of sins and a place among the sanctified; see ch. xx. 32. — This last reference determines the words by faith that is in me to belong, not to sanctified, but to receive. — Thus the great object of Paul's preaching was to awaken and shew the necessity and efficacy of faith that is in Christ. And fully, long ere this, had he recognized and. acted on this his great 16—24 THE ACTS. 821 are ¦ sanctified, by faith that is in me. 19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision : 20 but * shewed first unto them of Damascus, and [7 at] Jerusalem, and throughout all the a coasts of Judsea, and [y then] to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do u works b meet for repentance. 21 For these causes * the Jews caught me in the temple, and • went about to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those 7 which the prophets and z Moses did say should come : 23 a d that Christ should suffer, and b that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and c should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. 2* And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, ch.ix. 20,22, 29; xi.26,&0, u Matt, iii* 8. : ch. xxi. 80, 31. ' Luke xxiv. 27,44. ch. xxiv. 14 : xxviii. 28. Bom. iii. 21. ; John v. 46. , Luke xxiv. •20,46. il Cor. xv.20. Col. 1.18. Rev. i. 5. i Luke ii. 82. y omit. a render, Country. D render, worthy of their. ° render, endeavoured. 4 render, If [at least] Christ was liable to suffering, and, first rising from the dead, was to ... . light, to be preached to the Jews (the people) and Gentiles, must spring from the resurrection of the dead, and that Christ the first from the resurrection, was to announce it. See Isa. xlii. 6; xlix. 6; lx. 1, 2, 3 ; Luke ii. 32 ; ch. xiii. 47. 24.] The words as he thus spake for himself must refer to the last words spoken by Paul : but it is not necessary to suppose that these only produced the effect described on Festus. Mr. Humphry remarks, "Festus was probably not so well acquainted as his predecessor (ch. xxiv. 10) with the character of the nation over which he had recently been called to preside. Hence he avails himself of Agrippa's assistance (xxv. 26). Hence also he is unable to comprehend the earnest ness of St. Paul, so unlike the indifference with which religious and moral subjects were regarded by the upper classes at Bome. His self-love suggests to him, that one who presents such a contrast to his own apathy, must be mad : the convenient hypo thesis that much learning had produced this result, may have occurred to him on hearing Paul quote prophecies in proof of his asser tions." thou art beside thyself (mad)] not merely, ' thou ravest,' nor ' thou art an enthusiast :' nor are the words spoken in jest, as Olshausen supposes, — but in earnest, as Chrysostom says : " They are the Words of angry passion." Festus finds himself by this speech of Paul yet more bewildered 3 H mission. The epistles to the Galatians and Bomans are two noble monuments of the Apostle ov Faith. 19. I was not disobedient] See Isa. 1. 5. 22.] The therefore refers to the whole course of deliverances which he had had from God, not merely to the last. It serves to close the narrative, by shewing how it was that he was there that day, — after such repeated persecutions, crowned by this last attempt to destroy him. 23. If (not, " that," as A V.)] meaning, that the things fol lowing were patent facts to those who knew the prophets. See Heb. vii. 15 (marginal rendering), where if has the same sense. The first thing which was thus patent was not, as Beza, and A. V., " that Christ should suffer :" but that Christ was liable to suffering. St. Paul does not refer to the prophetic an nouncement, or the historical reality, of tbe fact of Christ's suffering, but to the idea of the Messiah, as passible and suf fering, being in accordance with the tes timony of the prophets. That the fact of His having suffered on the cross was in the Apostle's mind, can hardly be doubted : but that the words do not assert it, is evi dent from the change of construction in the next clause, where the fact of the bringing life and immortality to light by the resur rection is spoken of. first rising from the dead] literally, first from the resur rection of the dead: implying that this Vol. I. 822 THE ACTS. XXVI. 25—32. 4iiH^otax af;bou art beside thyself j emuch learning doth make thee Is': u. uu