which was represented by the prophets as a polluted land, Amos vii. 7. when compared with the land of Israel, which was considered as a holy land, Ezek. xlv. 1. therefore, to shake the dust of any city of Israel from off one's clothes or feet, was an emblematical action, signifying a renunciation of all farther connexion with them, and placing them on a level with the cities of the Heathen. See Amos ix. 7. Verse 15. In the day of judgment] Or, punishment, -κρισεως. Perhaps not meaning the day of general judgment, nor the day and heighten its brilliant ornaments. The whole, under surface of the head and body, is of a silver white, separated from the changing blue of the back by a golden chain on each side, the whole length of the body. This fine blue and silver, ornamented with gold, by no means give a full idea of the beautiful embroidery of the boiga. We must take in all the reflected tints of silver colour, golden yellow, red, blue, green, and black mingled, and changing in the most extraordinary and beautiful manner possible; so that, when about to change its of the destruction of the Jewish state by the Romans; but askin, it seems studded with a mixt assemblage of diamonds, Directions for confidence in God day in which God should send punishment on that particular city, or on that person, for their crimes. So the day of judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, was the time in which the Lord destroyed them by fire and brimstone, from the Lord out of heaven. If men are thus treated for not receiving the preachers of the gospel, what will it be to despise the gospel itself-to decry || it-to preach the contrary to hinder the preaching of itto abuse those who do preach it in its purity-or to render it fruitless by calumnies and lies? Their punishment, our Lord intimates, shall be greater than that inflicted on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah! Verse 16. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves] IIe who is called to preach the gospel, is called to embrace a state of constant labour, and frequent suffering. IHe who gets case and pleasure in consequence of embracing the ministerial office, neither preaches the gospel, nor is sent of God. If he did the work of an Evangelist, wicked men and dæmons would both oppose him. Wise (Φρονιμοι prudent) as serpents, and harmless as doves.] This is a proverbial saying: so in Shir hashirim Rabba, fol. 16. "The holy blessed God said to the Israelites, Ye shall be towards me, as upright as the doves; but towards the Gentiles, as cunning as serpents." There is a beauty in this saying which is seldom observed. The serpent is represented as prudent to excess, being full of cunning; Gen. iii. 1. 2 Cor. xi. 3. and the dove is simple, even to stupidity; Hos. vii. 11. but Jesus Christ corrects here the cunning of the serpent, by the simplicity of the dove; and the too great simplicity of the dove, by the cunning of the serpent. For a fine illustration of this Text, see the account of the Boiga: "This species is remarkably beautiful, combining the richest colours of the finest gems, with the splendor of burnished gold, mingled with dark brown shades, which contrast emeralds, topazes, saphirs, and rubies, under a thin transparent veil of bluish chrystal. Thus, in the rich and torrid plains of India, where the most splendid gems abound, Nature seems to have chosen to re-unite them all, together with the noble metals, to adorn the brilliant robe of the Boiga. This is one of the most slender of serpents in proportion to its length. The specimens in the royal collection, which exceed three feet in length, are hardly a few lines in diameter. The tail is almost as long as the body, and at the end is like a needle for fineness; yet it is sometimes flattened above, below, and on the two sides, rendering it in some measure square. From the delicacy of its form, its movements are necessarily extremely agile; so that, doubling itself up several times, it can spring to a considerable distance, with great swiftness. It can twine and twist itself, most readily, and nimbly, around trees or other such bodies; climbing, or descending, or suspending itself, with the utmost facility. The Boiga feeds on small birds, which it swallows very easily, notwithstanding the small diameter of its body, in consequence of the great distensibility of its jaws, throat and stomach, common to it with other serpents. It conceals itself under the foliage of trees, on purpose to surprise the small birds; and is said to attract them by a peculiar kind of whistling, to which the term of song has been applied: but we must consider this as an exaggeration; as its long divided tongue, and the conformation of its other organs of sound, are only adapted for producing a hiss, or species of simple whistle, instead of forming a melodious assemblage of tones. Yet, if Nature has not reckoned the Boiga among the songsters of the woods, it seems to possess a more perfect instinct than other serpents, joined to more agile movements, and more magnificent ornament. In the isle of Borneo, the children play with the Boiga, without the smallest dread. They carry it in their hands, as innocent as themselves, and twist it about their necks, arms, and bodies, in a thousand directions. This 2 A.M. 4031. the midst of wolves: be ye therefore and kings for my sake, for a testi- A.M. 4031. A. D. 27. b An. Olymp. wise as serpents, and harmless as circumstance brings to recollection, that fine emblem of Candour and Confidence, imagined by the genius of the ancients: A child smiling on a snake, which holds him fast, in his convolutions. But in that beautiful allegory, the snake is supposed to conceal a deadly poison; while the Boiga returns caress for caress, to the Indian children who fondle it, and seems pleased to be twisted about their delicate hands. As the appearance of such nimble andinnocent animals in the forests must be extremely beautiful, displaying their splendid colours, and gliding swiftly from branch to branch, without possessing the smallest noxious quality; we might regret that this species should require a degree of heat greatly superior to that of our regions, and that it can only subsist near the Tropics in Asia, Africa, and America. It has usually a hundred and sixty-six large plates, and a hundred and twenty-eight pairs of small plates, but is subject to considerable variation, "According to this representation, the Beiga is not merely to be praised for its beauty, but may be said to fulfill the old maxim of combining the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove." Cepede's Hist. of oviparous Quadrupeds and Serpents. Instead of ακέραιο harmless, or as the Etymol. Mag. defines it, without mixture of evil, the Cod. Beza reads απλούστατο, simple-uncompounded-so all the copies of the old Itala, the Vulgate, and the Latin fathers; but this curious and explanatory reading, is found in no other Greek MS. Verse 17. But beware of men:] Or, be on your guard against men, των ανθρωπων THESE men; i. e. your countrymen; those from whom you might have reasonably expected comfort and support; and especially those in power, who will abuse that power to oppress you. Councils] Συνεδρια, sanhedrins, and synagogues. See on chap. By synagogues we may understand here, not the places of public worship, but assemblies, where three magistrates, chosen out of the principal members of the synagogue, presided to adjust differences among the people: these had power, in certain cases, to condemn to the scourge, but not to death. See Acts xxii. 19. 2 Cor. xi. 24. compared with Luke xii. 11." See Lightfoot. mony against them and the Gentiles. A. D. 27. An. Olymp. CCL. 3. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak : for it shall be given you in that same hour, what ye shall speak: h 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Verse 18. Ye shall be brought before governors, &c.] affords a striking proof of the prescience of Christ. Who could have thought, at that time, that these despised and illiterate men could excite so much attention, and be called upon to apologize for the profession of their faith, before the tribunals of the most illustrious personages of the earth??" Wakefield. By governors and kings we may understand, the Roman proconsuls, governors of provinces, and the kings who were tributary to the Roman government, and the emperors themselves, before whom many of the primitive Christians were brought. For a testimony against them and the Gentiles.] That is, to render testimony, both to Jews and Gentiles, of the truth and power of my Gospel. Verse 19. Take no thought how or what ye shall speak] Mn μεριμνησετε-Be not anxiously careful, because such anxiety argues distrust in God, and infallibly produces a confused inind. In such a state, no person is fit to proclaim or vindicate the truth. This promise, It shall be given you, &c. banishes all distrust and inquietude on dangerous occasions; but without encouraging sloth and negligence, and without dispensing with the obligation we are under to prepare ourselves by the meditation of sacred truths, by the study of the Holy Scriptures, and by prayer. It shall be given you in that same hour what] This clause is wanting in the MSS. D and L, and several others, some Versions, and several of the Fathers; but it is found in Mark xiii. 11. without any various reading; and in substance in Luke xi. 13. Verse 20. For it is the Spirit of your Father, &c.] This was an extraordinary promise, and was literally fulfilled to those first preachers of the Gospel; and to them it was essentially necessary; because the New Testament dispensation was to be fully opened by their extraordinary inspiration. In a certain measure, it may be truly said, that the Holy Spirit animates the true disciples of Christ, and enables them to speak. The head speaks in his members, by his Spirit: and it is the province of the Spirit of God to speak | for God.-Neither surprise, defect of talents, nor even Christ, an advice to those who might imprudently draw upon themselves persecution, and of indulgence for those who are weak. But this flight is highly criminal in those mercenary preachers, who, through love to their flesh and their property, abandon the flock of Christ to the wolf. See Quesnel. In this city, flee ye into another] There is a remarkable repetition of this clause found in the MSS. DL. and eight others; the Verse 21. And the brother shall deliver up the brother, &c.] What an astonishing enmity is there in the soul of man against God and goodness! That men should think they did God ser-Armenian, Saxon, all the Itala except three; Athan. Theodor. vice, în putting to death those who differ from them in their political or religious creed, is a thing that cannot be accounted for, but on the principle of an indescribable depravity. O shame to men! devil with devil damn'd PAR. LOST, b. ii. l. 496. Tertul. August. Ambr. Hilar. and Juvencus. Bengel, in his gnomon, approves of this reading. On the above authorities, Griesbach has inserted it in the text. It probably made a portion of this gospel as written by Matthew. Ye shall not have gone over (ended or finished, margin) the cities, &c.] The word τελέσητε here is generally understood as implying to go over or through, intimating that there should not be time for the disciples to travel over the cities of Judea before the destruction predicted by Christ should take place. But this is very far from being the truth, as there were not less than 40 years after this was spoken, before Jerusalem was destroyed. τελειων και μανθαναντων are used by the Septuagint, 1 Chr. xxv. 8. for those who teach and those who learn. And τοις τελείοις is used by the Apostle 1 Cor. ii. 6. for those who are Verse 22. Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake] Because ye are attached to me, and saved from the corruption that is in the world; therefore the world will hate you. "The laws of Christ condemn a vicious world, and gall it to re- perfectly instructed in the things of God. Ovid has used the venge." He that endureth to the end, shall be saved.] He who holds fast faith and a good conscience to the end, till the punishment threatened against this wicked people be poured out, he shall be saved, preserved from the destruction that shall fall upon the workers of iniquity. This verse is commonly understood to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. It is also true that they who do not hold fast faith and a good conscience till death, have no room to hope for an admission into the kingdom of God. Verse 23. But when they persecute you] It is prudence and humility (when charity or righteousness obliges us not to the contrary) to avoid persecution. To deprive those who are disposed to do evil, of the opportunities of doing it; to convey the grace which they despise to others; to accomplish God's designs of justice on the former, and of mercy on the latter, are consequences of the flight of a persecuted preacher. This flight is a precept to those who are highly necessary to the church of Latin perficio, which answers to the Greek τελειοw in exactly the same sense. Phillyrides puerum cithara perfecit Achillem. "Chiron TAUGHT the young Achilles to play on the harp." For these reasons some contend that the passage should be translated, ye shall not have INSTRUCTED, i. e. preached the gospel in the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come. The Greek divines call baptism τελειωσις or initiation. See Leigh. Crit. sacr. Edit. Amst. p. 326, 328. Dr. Lightfoot supposes the meaning to be, ye shall not have travelled over the cities of Israel preaching the gospel, before the Son of Man is revealed by his resurrection, Rom. i. 4. compare Act. iii. 19, 20. and v. 26. To you first God raising up his son, sent him to bless you, &c. The Epoch of the Messiah is dated from the resurrection of Christ." After all, the place may be understood literally; for τελειν τας πολεις, το finish the cities, is only a concise mode of speech for τελειν οδον dragons, to complete the journey through the cities. To "For the searching out the sense of this horrid blasphemy, finish the survey, to preach in every one-till the Son of Man be||these things are worthy observing. come, may refer either to the out-pouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, or to the subversion of the Jewish state. See Rosenmuller. ." I. Among the Jews it was held, in a manner, for a matter of religion, to reproach idols, and to give them odious names. R. Akibah saith idolatry pollutes, as it is said, Thou shalt cast Verse 24. The disciple is not above his master] Or in plainer away the (idol) as something that is abominable, and thou terms, A scholar is not above his teacher. The saying itself shalt say to it, Get thee hence (Esai. xxx. 22.) R. Lazar saith, requires no cominent, its truth and reasonableness are self- thou shalt say to it, Get thee hence: that which they call the evident, but the spirit and design of it should be carefully at- face of God, let them call the face of a dog. That which they tended to. Jesus is the great teacher, we profess to be his call or ein cos, the FOUNTAIN OF A CUP, let them call ry scholars. He who keeps the above saying in his heart, will ein kuts, the FOUNTAIN OF TOIL (or of flails.) That never complain of what he suffers. How many irregular ||which they call 7 gediyah FORTUNE, let them call œı geliya thoughts and affections is this maxim capable of restraining! a STINK, &c. That town which sometimes was called Bethel, A man is not a scholar of Christ unless he learn his doctrine; || was afterwards called Bethaven. See also the Tract Schabbath. and he does not learn it as he ought, unless he put it in II. Among the ignominious names bestowed upon idols, the practice. general and common one was 11 Zebul, DUNG, or a DUNGHILL. Even to them that have stretched out their hands 11 bezebul, in a dunghill (that is, in an idol temple, or in idolatry) there is hope. Thou canst not bring them (into the Church) because they have stretched forth their hands, bezebul, in a dunghill. But yet you cannot reject them, because they have repented." And a little after, He that sees them dunging, 1, (that is, sacrificing) to an idol, let him say, cursed be he that sacrifices to a strange God. Let them therefore, who dare, form this word in Matthew into Beelzebub. I am so far from doubting that the Pharisees pronounced the word BEELZEBUL, and that Matthew so wrote it, that I doubt not but the sense fails, if it be writ otherwise. Verse 25. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master] Can any man who pretends to be a scholar or disciple of Jesus Christ, expect to be treated well by the world? Will not the world love its own, and them only? Why then so much impatience under sufferings, such an excessive sense of injuries, such delicacy; can you expect any thing from the world better than you receive? If you want the honour that comes from it, abandon Jesus Christ, and it will again receive you into its bosom. But you will, no doubt, count the cost before you do this. Take the converse, abandon the love of the world, &c. and God will receive you. Beelzebub] This name is variously written in the MSS. Beelzeboul, Beelzeboun, and Beelzebud, but there is a vast majority in favour of the reading Beelzebul, which should, by all means, be inserted in the text instead of Beelzebub. See the reasons below, and see the Margin. It is supposed that this idol was the same with 1 Baal zebub the God fly, worshipped at Ekron, 2 Kings i. 2, &c. who had his name changed afterwards by the Jews to Baal zebul, the dung God, a title expressive of the utmost contempt. It seems probable that the worship of this vile idol conunued even to the time of our Lord; and the title, being applied by the Jews to our blessed Lord, affords the strongest proof of the inveteracy of their malice. Dr. Lightfoot has some useful observations on this subject, which I shall take the liberty to subjoin. III. Very many names of evil spirits, or devils, occur in the Talmud, which it is needless here to mention. Among all the devils, they esteemed that devil the worst, the foulest, as it were, the prince of the rest, who ruled over the idols, and by whom oracles and miracles were given forth among the Heathens and Idolaters. And they were of this opinion, for this reason, because they held idolatry above all other things, chiefly wicked and abominable, and to be the prince and head of evil. This Dæmon they called byɔ Baal-zebul, not so much by a proper name, as by one more general and common; as much as to say, the Lord of idolatry: the worst devil, and the worst thing and they called him the prince of devils, because idolatry is the prince (or chief) of wickedness.” Verse 26. Fear them not] A general direction to all the What Christ has spoken in private ST. MATTHEW. must be published to the world. A.M. 4031. thing covered, that shall not be reveal- || but are not able to kill the soul: but A. D. 27. CCL. 3. An. Olymp. ed; and hid that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28. And fear not them which kill the body, Isai. 3. 12, 13. Luke 12.4. 1 Pet. 3. 14. rather fear him which is able to destroy b A.M. 4051. A. D. 27. CCI. 3. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. b It is in value half-penny farthing in the original, as being the tenth part of the Roman penny. See on ch. 18. 28. theirs in the city; the third that they should light the sabbath persecuted followers of Christ. Fear them not, for they can For there is nothing covered, &c.] God sees every thing: this is consolation to the upright, and dismay to the wicked, and he will bring into judgment every work, and every secret thing whether good or bad. Eccl. xii. 14. Verse 27. What I tell you in darkness] A man ought to preach that only, which he has learned from God's spirit, and his testimonies; but let him not pretend to bring forth any thing new, or mysterious. There is nothing that concerns our salvation that is newer than the new covenant; and in that there is, properly speaking, no mysteries: what was secret before, is now made manifest in the Gospel of the everblessed God. See Ephes. iii. 1-12. Verse 28. Fear not them which kill the body] Των αποκτεινοντων. Those who slay with acts of cruelty, alluding probably to the cruelties which persecutors should exercise on his followers in their martyrdom. But are not able to kill the soul. Hence we find that the body and the soul are distinct principles, for the body may be slain and the soul escape; and secondly, that the soul is immaterial, for the murderers of the body are not able, μη δυναμένων, have it not in their power to injure it. Fear him] It is not Hell-fire we are to fear, but it is God; without the stroke of whose justice, Hell itself would be no punishment; and whose frown would render Heaven itself insupportable. What strange blindness is it to expose our souls to endless ruin, which should enjoy God eternally; and to save and pamper the body, by which we enjoy nothing but the What ye hear in the eur] The doctor who explained the law | creatures, and them only for a moment! in Hebrew, had an interpreter always by him, in whose ears he softly whispered what he said; this interpreter spoke aloud what had been thus whispered to him. Lightfoot has clearly proved this in his Horæ Talmudicæ, and to this custom our Lord here evidently alludes. The spirit of our Lord's direction appears to be this: whatever I speak to you is for the benefit of mankind, keep nothing from them, declare explicitly the whole counsel of God, preach ye (κηρυξάτε, proclaim) on the house-tops. The houses in Judea were flat-roofed, with a ballustrade round about, which were used for the purpose of taking the air, prayer, meditation, and it seems, from this place, for announcing things in the most public manner. As there are no bells among the Turks, a crier proclaims all times of public worship from the house-tops. Whoever will give himself the trouble to consult the following scriptures will find a variety of uses to which these house-tops were assigned. Deut. xxii. 8. Josh. ii. 6. Jud. ix. 51. Neh. viii. 16. 2 Sam. xi. 2. 2. Kings xxiii. 12. Isa. xv. 3. Jer. xxxii. 29. and Acts x. 9. Lightfoot thinks that this may be an allusion to that custom, when the minister of the Synagogue, on the sabbath eve, sounded with a trumpet six times, upon the roof of a very high house, that from thence all might have notice of the coming in of the sabbath. The first blast signified they should leave off their work in the field; the second that they should cease from Verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?] Ασσαρίου. A Roman As was one tenth of a DENARIUS, which was about sevenpence-halfpenny, and one tenth of sevenpencehalfpenny makes just three farthings. The word ασσαξιον, which we translate farthing, is found among the Rabbins in the word עיסר aisar, which, according to Maimonides, is equal to four grains of silver; but is used among them to express a thing of the lowest, or almost no value. Our Lord seems to have borrowed the expression, one of them shall not fall on the ground, &c., from his own countrymen. In Bereshith Rabba, sect. 79. fol. 77. it is said, In the time in which the Jews were compelled to apostatize, Rab. Simeon, Ben. Jochai, and Eliezer his son, hid themselves in a cave, and lived upon dry husks. After thirteen years they came out, and sitting at the mouth of the cave, they observed a fowler stretching his nets to catch birds; and as often as the Bath Kol said דימוס dimos, escape! the bird escaped: but when it said .ספקולא spicula, a dart, the bird was taken. Then the Rabbin said, Even a bird is not taken without Heaven, i. e. without the will of God, how much less the life of man! The doctrine intended to be inculcated, is this: The providence of God extends to the minutest things; every thing is continually under the government and care of God, and nothing occurs with out his will or permission: if then he regards. sparrows, how much more man, and how much more still the soul that trusts in him. |