He is called John at the particular A. M. 4000. CXCII. 4. a 59 And it came to pass, that on [ of thy kindred that is called by this An. Olymp. the eighth day they came to circum- name. cise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said, "Not so; but he shall be called John. A.M. 4000. B. C. 3. An. Olymp. CXCIII. 4. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they 61 And they said unto her, There is none marvelled all. * Gen. 17. 12. Lev. 12. 3.- ver. 43. < Ver. 13. and to congratulate them on the advantages which he has granted to them, is a duty which bumanity, charity, and religion call upon us to fulfil. 1. It is a duty of humanity which should be punctually performed. We are all members of each other, and should rejoice in the welfare of the whole. He who rejoices in his neighbour's prosperity, encreases his neighbour's happiness, and gets an addition to his own. They called him Zacharias] Among the Jews, the child was named when it was circumcised, and ordinarily the name of the father was given to the first-born son. Verse 60. Not so; but he shall be called John.] This is the name which the angel desired should be given him, ver. 13. and of which Zacharias by writing had informed his wife. There is something very remarkable in the names of this family. Zachariah, 17; the memory or memorial of Jehovah ; · 2. It is a duty which charity or brotherly love requires us to yeho at the end of the word, being contracted for m perform with sincerity. In the polite world, there is no duty Yehovah, as in many other names. Elisabeth, naws the better fulfilled in word, than this is: but sincerity is utterly sabbath or rest of my strong God: names probably given them banished and the giver and receiver are both convinced that by their parents, to point out some remarkable circumstance compliments and good wishes mean-nothing. He who does in their conception or birth. And John, which should always not endeavour to take a sincere part in his neighbour's pros-be written Jchochanan or Yehochanan, the grace or perity, will soon feel ample punishment in the spirit of jea- || mercy of Jehovah : so named, because he was to go before lousy and envy. and proclaim the God of all grace, and the mercy granted through him to a lost world. See John i. 29. see also chap. iii. 16. and Mark i. 4. 3. It is a duty of religion which should be fulfilled with piety. These neighbours and relatives saw that God had mag- || nified his mercy towards Elizabeth, and they acknowledged his hand in the work. God is the dispenser of all good-he distributes his favours in mercy, judgment and justice. Let us honour him in his gifts; and honour those for his sake, who are objects of his favour. The society of believers are but one body; the talents, &c. of every individual are profitable to the whole community; at least none are deprived of a share in the general welfare, but those who through jealousy or envy refuse to rejoice with him towards whom God hath magnified his mercy. Verse 59. On the eighth day they came to circumcise] See an account of this institution in the note on Gen. xvii. 10-14. Had circumcision been essential to an infant's salvation, God would not have ordered it to be delayed to the eighth day, because in all countries, multitudes die before they arrive at that age. Baptism which is generally allowed to have been substituted for circumcision, is no more necessary to the salvation of an infant, than eircumcision was. Both are signs of the covenant-circumcision, of the putting away the impurity of the flesh; and baptism, of the washing of regenera- | tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, producing the answer of a good conscience towards God. Confer 1 Pet. iii. 21. with Tit. iii. 5. This should never be neglected: it is a sign and token of the spiritual grace. Verse 61. None of thy kindred] As the Jewish tribes and families were kept sacredly distinct, it appears the very names of the ancestors were continued among their descendants, partly through reverence for them, and partly to avoid confusion in the genealogical tables, which, for the sake of distinguishing the inheritances, were carefully preserved in each of the families. It seems to be on this account, that the neighbours and relatives objected to a name, which had not before existed in any branch of the family. Verse 62. They made signs to his father] Who, it ap pears from this, was deaf as well as dumb; otherwise they might have asked him, and obtained his answer in this way. Verse 63. A writing table] Taxidior, a tablet, a diminutive of a, a table. "The boys in Barbary are taught to write upon a smooth thin board, slightly daubed over with whiting, which may be rubbed off or renewed at pleasure. Such probably (for the Jewish children use the same) was the little board, or writing table, as we render it Luke i. 63. that was called for by Zacharias." Shaw's Travels, p. 194. My old MS. considers the word as meaning the instrument of writing, rather than the tablet on which he wrote: and he aringe a poyntel, wroot skyinge, Joon is his name. A thin board, made out of the pine tree, smeared over with wax, was used among the ancients; and to this the An glo-saxon version seems to refer, as it translates xxidov, pexbrede, a wax board or cloth. Verse 64. The latter clause of the preceding verse should be joined with the beginning of this, as follows: And they marvelled all, for his mouth was opened, &c. Every person must see the propriety of putting this clause, And they marvelled all, to the beginning of the 64th verse, instead of leaving it at the end of the 63d, as in the common version. The people did not wonder because Zacharias said, He shall be called John; but because he himself was that instant restored to the use of his speech. And he spake, and praised God.] In his nine months' silence, he had learnt the proper use of his tongue; and God, whose power was discredited by it, is now magnified. Happy they who, in religious matters, only break silence in order to speak of the loving-kindness of the Lord! Verse 65. And fear came] Seeing what they might have thought a paralytic affection, so suddenly and effectually healed. Bos-This word certainly means in several places, religious fear or reverence; and in this sense it is used Acts ix. 31. Rom. iii. 18. xiii. 7. 1 Pet. i. 17. ii. 18. iii. 2. The meaning of it here is plainly this: The inhabitants of Hebron and its environs, who were well acquainted with the circumstances of Zacharias and Elizabeth, perceived that God had in a remarkable manner visited them; and this begot in their minds a more than ordinary reverence for the Supreme Being. Thus the salvation of one often becomes an instrument of good to the souls of many. The inhabitants of this hill country, seem to have been an open, honest hearted, generous people; who were easily led to acknowledge the interposition of God, and to rejoice in the comfort and welfare of each other. The people of the country are more remarkable for these qualities, than those in towns and cities. The latter, through that evil communication which corrupts good manners, are generally profligate, selfish, regardless of God, and inattentive to the operation of his hands. Verse 66. What manner of child shall this be !] As there have been so many extraordinary things in his conception and birth, surely God has designed him for some extraordinary purpose. These things they laid up in their heart, patiently waiting to see what God would work. Ch. 2. 19, 51. f Joel 2. 28. Gen. 39. 2. Ps: 80. 17. & 89. 21. Acts 11. 21. 1 Kings 1. 48. Ps. 44. 15. & 72. 18. & 106. 48. The hand of the Lord was with him.] God defended and prospered him in all things, and the prophetic spirit began to rest upon him. Verse 67. Zacharias-prophesied] The word prophecy is to be taken here in its proper acceptation, for the predicting or foretelling future events. Zacharias speaks, not only of what God had already done, but also of what he was about to do, in order to save a lost world. Verse 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for, &c.] Zacharias praises God for two grand benefits which he had granted to his people. 1. He has visited them. 2. He has ransomed them. 1. He speaks by the spirit of prophecy, which calls things that are not, as though they were; because they are absolutely determined by the Most High, and shall be all fulfilled in their season. God visits his people in the incarnation of Jesus Christ; therefore this Christ is called by him, Kugios o rog, Jehovah the God of Israel. Here the highest and most glorious character of the Supreme Being is given to Christ. 2. This God redeems, his people: it is for this end that he visits them. His soul is about to be made a sacrifice for sin he becomes flesh, that he may suffer and die for the sin of the world. God, by taking upon him the nature of man, has redeemed that nature from eternal ruin. He hath redeemed] ETonσs AUTgwow, he hath made a ransom-laid down the ransom price. Avrgow signifies particularly to ransom a captive from the enemy, by paying a price. The following remarkable passage from Josephus, Ant. b. xiv. c. 14. sect. 1. fully illustrates this meaning of the original. "Herod not knowing what had happened to his brother, hastened avrewoɑodas, to ransom him from the enemy; and was willing to pay: λutgov uñez avtov, a ransom for him, to the amount of three hundred talents." Sinners are fallen into the hands of their enemies, and are captives to sin and death. Jesus ransoms them by his own blood, and restores them to life, liberty, and happiness. This truth the whole Bible teaches: this truth God has shewn in certain measures, even to those nations who have not been favoured with the light of his written word: for Christ is that true light, which enlightens, every man that cometh into the world. How astonishing is the following invocation of the Supreme Being, (translated from the original Sunscreet by Dr. C. Wu- The prophecy of Zacharias A. M. 4000. ST. LUKE. с concerning his son John. B. C. 5. lie hath visited and redeemed his 70 As he spake by the mouth of A. M. 4000. An. Olymp. people, his holy prophets, which have been An. Olymp. CXCIII. 4. since the world began: CXCIII. 4. b 69. And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David; a Exod. 3. 16. & 4. 31. Ps. 111. 9. ch. 7. 16.— Ps. 132. 17. 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; с Jer. 23. 5, 6. & 30. 10. Dan. 9. 24. Acts 3. 21. Rom. 1. 2. KINS) still existing on a stone, in a cave near the ancient city horns. Horns have also been considered as emblems of light; of Gya, in the East Indies. therefore the heathen god Apollo, is represented with horns, to point out the power, glory, and excellence of the solar light. The Chaldee paraphrast sometimes translates p keren, horn, by mɔ mulcuth or smɔb malcutha, 1 Sam. ii. 10. that the allusion is here made to the horns of the altar; and as the altar was a place of refuge and safety, and those who laid hold on its horns, were considered to be under the protection of the Lord; so, according to the expression of Zacharias, Jesus Christ is a new altar, to which, whosoever flees shall find refuge. The Deity, who is the Lord, the possessor of all, appeared in this ocean of natural beings, at the beginning of the Kalee Yoog. (the age of contention and baseness.) He who is omnipresent, and everlastingly to be contemplated, the Su-Jerem. xlviii. 25. which signify a kingdom: but it is likely, preme Being, the Eternal One, the Divinity worthy to be adored-APPEARED here with a PORTION of his DIVine nature. Reverence be unto thee in the form of (a) Bood-dhă! Reverence be unto the Lord of the earth! Reverence be unto thee, an INCARNATION of the Deity, and the Eternal One! Reverence be unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of Mercy; the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, the Deity who overcometh the sins of the Katee Yoog; the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy toward those who serve thee-(b) O'M! the possessor of all things in VITAL FORM! Thou art (c) Brahmă, Veeshnoo, and Măhésa! Thou art Lord of the universe! Thou art under the form of all things, moveable and immoveable, the possessor of the whole! and thus I adore thee. Reverence be unto the BESTOWER OF SALVATION, and the Ruler of the faculties! Reverence be unto thee, the DESTROYER of the EVIL SPIRIT! O Dāmōrdără, (d) shew me favour! I adore thee, who art celebrated by a thousand names, and under various forms, in the shape of Bood-dha, the God of MERCY! Be propitious, O Most High God!" ASIATIC RESEARCHES, vol. i. p. 284, 285. Verse 69. And hath raised up a horn of salvation] That is, a mighty and glorious saviour: a quotation from Psal. xviii. 2. Horns are the well known emblems of strength, glory, and power, both in the sacred and prophane writers, because the strength and beauty of horned animals, consist in their (a) Bood-dha. The name of the Deity, as author of happiness. (b) O'M. A mystic emblem of the Deity, forbidden to be pronounced but in silence. It is a syllable formed of the Sanscreet letters ă, ŏ ŏ, which The in composition coalesce, and make ō, and the nasal consonant m. first letter stands for the Creator, the second for the Preserver, and the third for the Destroyer. It is the same among the Hindoos, as Yehovah is among the Hebrews. (c) Brahma, the Deity in his creative quality. Veeshnoo, he who fill eth all space, the Deity in his preserving quality. Mahesa, the Deity in his destroying quality. This is properly the Hindoo Trinity: for these three names belong to the same Being. See the notes to the Bhagvat Geeta. (d) Damordura, or Darmadeve, the Indian God of Virtue. Some imagine that this form of speech, is taken from the custom of ancient warriors, who had a horn of steel on the top of their helmets, which ordinarily lay flut, till the person came victorious from battle, and then it was erected, as em||blematical of the victory gained. Such a horn as this, is represented on the helmet of the Abyssinian kings and warriors: see the plates in Bruce's Travels. To this custom of wearing or lifting up the horn, the following scriptures are thought to allude: 1 Sam. ii. 10. Psal. cxii. 9. cxlviii, 4. Lam. ii. 17. In ancient gems and coins, this form of the horn on helmets, is easily discernible, sometimes flat, sometimes erected. A horn filled with various fruits, was also the emblem of abundance among the ancients: hence their cornu copia, or horn of plenty. From all this we may learn, that the Lord Jesus gives a luminous, powerful, prevalent, glorious, and abundant SALVATION OF REFUGE to mankind. In the house of his servant David] Or, in the family: so the word axos, house, is often used in the Sacred Writings. In ver. 32. the angel states that Mary was of the family of David; and Zacharias, who, from the nature of his office, must have been well acquainted with the public genealogicaltables, attests the same thing. This is a matter of considerable importance; because it shews forth the truth of all the prophetic declarations, which uniformly state, that the Messiah should come from the family, and sit on the throne of DAVID. Verse 71. That we should be saved (literally, a salvation). from our enemies] As Zacharias spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the salvation which he mentions here, must necessarily be understood in a spiritual sense. Satan, death, and sin, are the enemies from whom Jesus came to deliver us. Sin is the most dangerous of all, and is properly the only CXCII. 4. holy covenant; fear, d B. C. 5. Ant. Olymp. 4. 75 In holiness and righteousness CXCL. + 73 The oath which he sware to our father before him, all the days of our life. Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our ene 76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; Lev. 26. 42. Ps. 98. 3. & 105. 8, 9. & 106. 45. Ezek. 16. 60. ver. 54. Rom. 6. 18, 22. Heb. 9. 14. Jer. $2. 39, 40. Eph. 1. 24. 2 Thess. 2. 13. 2 Tim. 1. 9. Tit. 2. 12. 1 Pet. 1. 15. 2 Pet. 1. 4. Isai, 40. 3. Mal. 3. 1. & 4. 5. Matt. 11. 10. ver. 17. enemy we have to fear. Satan is without us, and can have phet of the Most High. Prophet has two acceptations: 1st. a no power over us, but what he gets through sin. Death is person who forctells future events; and, 2dly, a teacher of men only in our flesh, and shall be finally destroyed (as it affects in the things of God, 1 Cor. xiv. 3. John was a prophet in us) on the morning of the resurrection. Jesus redeems from both senses: he proclaimed the mercy which should be comsin; this is the grand, the glorious, the important victory.municated; announced the baptism of the Holy Spirit; and Let us get sin cast out, and then we need fear neither death taught men how to leave their sins, and how to find the salnor the devil. Verse 72. His holy covenant] See the note on ver. 54. Verses 74, 75. Being delivered, &c.] The salvation brought by Jesus Christ, consists in the following things: vation of God. See chap. iii, 5-14. His very name, Jeko, 1. We are to be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, 2. We are to worship God, λargeva, to render him that service and adoration which the letter and spirit of his religion require. 3. We are to live in holiness, a strict inward conformity to the mind of Christ-and righteousness, a full outward conformity to the precepts of the gospel. 4. This is to be done before God, under the continual influence and support of his grace, and with a constant evidence of his presence and approbation. 5. This state is a state of true happiness-it is without fear. Sin is all cast out, holiness is brought in; God's power upholds, and his approbation cheers and comforts the believing heart. Thus misery is precluded, and happiness established. 6. This blessedness is to continue as long as we exist-all the days of our life, in all ages, in all situations, and in all circumstances. What a pity to have lived so long without God in the world! when so much happiness and glory are to be enjoyed in union with him! Tns (wns, in the last clause, is omitted by many MSS. Versions, and Fathers. Griesbach has left it out of the text: however, it is but of small importance whether we read all our days, or, all the days of our life. Verse 76. And thou, child, &c.] Zacharias proclaims the dignity, employment, doctrine, and success of his son; and the ruin and recovery of the Jews and the Gentiles. 2. His employment. Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. He should be the immediate forerunner of Jesus Christ, none being capable of succeeding him in his ministry but Christ himself. He was to prepare his ways, to be the honoured in-trument in the hands of God, of disposing the hearts of multitudes of the Israelites, to believe in and follow the Lord Jesus. 3. Zacharias points out the doctrine or teaching of John. It should be yowσis σwingias, the science of salvation. Men are ignorant, and they must be instructed. Human sciences may be profitable in earthly matters, but cannot profit the soul. The science that teaches God, must come from God. No science is of any avail to the soul, that does not bring salvation with it: this is the excellence of heavenly science, and an excellence that is peculiar to itself. No science but that which comes from God can ever save a soul from the power, the guilt, and the pollution of sin. 4. Zacharias predicts the success of his son's ministry. Under his preaching, the people should be directed to that tender mercy of God, through which they might obtain the remission of their sins, ver. 77, 78. Those who are sent by God, and preach his truth, and his only, shall always be successful in their work: for it is for this very purpose that God has sent them; and it would be a marvellous thing indeed, should they labour in vain. But there never was such a case, since God made man, in which a preacher was divinely commissioned to preach Jesus, and his salvation, and yet had no 1. His dignity. Thou shalt be called (constituted) a pro- fruit of his labour. The prophecy of Zacharias A. M. 4000. A.M. HUO. 77 To give knowledge of salvation || 79 To give light to them that sit in b a An.Orsmp. An. Olymp. unto his people by the remission darkness, and in the shadow of death; CXCIII.4 of their sins, to guide our feet into the way of peace. g CXCHL 4. 78 Through the tender mercy of our God; 80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in whereby the day-spring from on high hath visit- || spirit, and was in the desarts till the day of his shewing unto Israel. ed us, Mark 1.4. ch. 3. 3.——Or, fər. Or, bowels of the mercy.d Cr. sunrising, or, braach. Num 24. 17. Isai. 11.1. Zech.3.8. & 6. 12. Mal 4.2. 5. Zacharias points out the wretched state in which the inhabitants of Judea and the Gentile world were then found. 1. Their feet had wandered out of the way of peace, (ver. 79.) of temporal and spiritual prosperity. 2. They had got into a state of darkness—they were blind concerning the things of God, and the things which belonged to their salvation. 3. They had become contented inhabitants of this land of intellectual darkness-they had sat down in it, and were not concerned to get out of it. 4, They were about to perish in itdeath had his dominion there; and his swift approaches to them were now manifested to the prophet by seeing his shadow cast upon them. Ignorance of God and salvation is the shadow of death; and the substance, eternal ruin, is essentially connected with the projected shadow. See these phrases explained at large, on Matt. iv. 16. || e Isai. 9. 2. & 42. 7. & 49.9. Matt. 4. 16. Acts 26. 18.- fch. 2. 40. Matt. 3. 1. & 11. 7. give light to them that sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death, &c. "Let the Reader judge, whether my arrangement of this passage, which much better suits the original, be not far more elegant, and in all respects supe rior to the old translation? Thou, child wilt be a teacher -THOU WILT BE a day-spring from the sky. And with what beauty and propriety is John, the forerunner of our Lord, stiled the dawn of day, that ushers in the rising of the Sun of Righteousness! And the concluding words-to guide our feet into the way of peace-is a comprehensive clause, after the manner of Hebrew poetry, belonging equally to the former sentence, beginning at-And thou, child !—and the latter, beginning at-A day-spring from the sky for the people spoken of in the former, are the Jews; and in the latter, the Gentiles."-WAKEFIELD. 6. Zacharias proclaims the recovery of a lost world. As Verse 80. The child grew] Increased in stature and bodily the removal of this darkness, and redemption from this death, vigour. And waxed strong in spirit—had his understanding diwere now at hand, John is represented as being a day-spring vinely illuminated, and confirmed in the truths of God. And from on high, a morning star, that foretold the speedy ap- was in the deserts-the city of Hebron, the circumjacent hill proach of the day, and the rising of the Sun of Righteous-country, and in or near Nazareth. Till the time of his shew ness. That these words should be applied to John, and not to Christ, I ain fully satisfied; and cannot give my reasons better for the arrangement I have made in the preceding notes, than in the words of an eminent critic, who, I find, has adopted nearly the same plan with myself. The passage as I read it, is as follows: Through the tender mercy of our God, by which he hath visited us: a day-spring from on high, to ing, or manifestation-till he was thirty years of age, before which time the law did not permit a man to enter into the public ministry, Numb. iv. 3. See also chap. iii. 23. So much has already been said by way of practical improvement of the different subjects in this important chapter, as to preclude the necessity of any addition here. CHAPTER II. The decree of Augustus to enroll all the Roman empire, 1, 2. Joseph and Mary go to their own city to be enrolled, 3-5. Christ is born, 6, 7. His birth is announced to the shepherds, 8-14. They go to Bethlehem, and find Joseph, Mary, and Christ, 15-20. Christ is circumcised, 21. His parents go to present him in the temple, 22-24. Simeon receives him: his song, 25-35. Anna the prophetess, 36-38. The holy family return to Nazareth, 39, 40. They go to Jerusalem at the feast of the pass-over, and leave Jesus behind in Jerusalem, 41-44. They return seeking him, and find him in the midst of the doctors, 45-47. His mother chides him, 48. His defence of his conduct, 49, 50. They all return to Nazareth, 51, 52. |