1. When Jesus was born. See the full account of his birth in Luke ii. 1-20. ¶ In Bethlehem of Judea. Bethlehem, the birth-place of Christ, was a small town about six miles south of Jerusalem. The word Bethlehem denotes "house of bread"—perhaps given to the place on account of its great fertility. It was also called Ephrata, a word supposed likewise to signify fertility. Gen. xxxv. 19. Ruth iv. 11. Psalm cxxxii. 6. It was called the city of David (Luke ii. 4.), because it was the city of his nativity. 1 Sam. xvi. 1. 18. It was called Bethlehem of Judea, to distinguish it from a town of the same name in Galilee. Josh. xix. 15.-The soil of Bethlehem was noted for its fertility. Ancient travellers frequently spoke of its productions. The town is situated on an eminence, in the midst of hills and vales. At present it contains about 200 houses, inhabited chiefly by Christians and Mohammedans, who live together in peace. About 200 paces east of Bethlehem, the place is still shown where our Saviour is supposed to have been born. There is a church and a convent there; and beneath the church, a subterranean chapel, which is lighted by thirty-two lamps, which is said to be the place where was the stable in which Jesus was born.-No reliance is, how ever, to be placed on this tradition. Herod the king. Judea, where our Saviour was born, was a province of the Roman Empire.. It was taken about 63 years before, by Pompey, and placed under tribute. Herod received his appointment from the Romans, and had reigned at the time of the birth of Jesus 34 years. Though he was permitted to be called king, yet he was in all respects dependent on the Roman Emperor.He was commonly called Herod the Great, hecause he had distinguished - days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, himself in the wars with Antigonus, and his other enemies, and because he had evinced great talents, as well as great cruelties and crimes, in governing and defending his country; in repairing the temple; and in building and ornamenting the cities of his kingdom.-At this time Augustus was Emperor of Rome. The world was at peace. All the known nations of the earth were united under the Roman Emperor. Intercourse between different nations was easy, and safe. Similar laws prevailed. The use of the Greek language was general throughout the world. All these circumstances combined to ren der this a favorable time to introduce the gospel, and to spread it through the earth; and the Providence of God was remarkable in fitting the nations, in this manner, for the easy and rapid spread of the christian religion among all nations. ¶ Wise men. The original word here is magoi, from which comes our word magician, now used in a bad sense, but not so in the original. The persons here denoted were philosophers, priests, or astronomers. They dwelt chiefly in Persia and Arabia. They were the learned men of the eastern nations, devoted to astronomy, to religion, and to medicine. They were held in high esteem by the Persian court, were admitted as counsellors, and followed the camps in war to give advice. From the east. It is unknown whether they came from Persia or Arabia. Both countries might be denoted by the word east-that is, east from Judea. ¶ Jeru salem. The capital of Judea. As there is frequent reference in the New Testament to Jerusalem; as it was the place of the public worship of God; as it was the place where many important transactions in the life of the Saviour occurred, and the place where he died; and as no Sabbath school teacher can intelligently explain the New Testament without some knowledge of that city, it seems desirable to present a brief description of it. A more full description may be seen in Calmet's Dictionary, and in the common works on Jewish Antiquities.-Jerusalein was a 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews! for we the capital of the kingdom of Judah, and was built on the line dividing this tribe from the tribe of Benjamin. It was once called Salem (Gen. xiv. 18, Ps. lxxvi. 2.), and in the days of Abraham was the abode of Melchizedek. When the Israelites took possession of the promised land they found this stronghold in the possession of the Jebusites, by whom it was called Jebus or Jebusi. Josh. xviii. 28. The name Jerusalem was compounded probably of the two, by changing a single letter, and calling it, for the sake of the sound, Jerusalem instead of Jebusalem. The ancient Salem was probably built on Mount Moriah or Acra-the eastern and western mountains on which Jerusalem was subsequently built. When the Jebusites became masters of the place, they erected a fortress in the southern quarter of the city, which was subsequently called Mount Zion, but which they called Jebus; and although the Israelites took possession of the adjacent territory (Josh. xviii. 28), the Jebusites still held this fortress or upper town until the time of David, who wrested it from them (2 Sam. v. 7-9), and then removed his court from Hebron to Jerusalem, which was thenceforward known as the city of David. 2 Sam. vi. 10. 12. 1 Kings viii. 1. Jerusalem was built on several hills-Mount Zion on the south, Mount Moriah on the easton which the temple was subsequently built (see Notes on ch. xxi. 12), Mount Acra on the west, and Mount Bezetha on the north. Mount Moriah and Mount Zion were separated by a valley called y Josephus the Valley of Cheesemongers, over which there was a bridge or raised way leading from the one to the other. On the south-east of Mount Moriah, and between that and Mount Zion, there was a bluff or high rock capable of strong fortification, called Ophel. The city was encompassed by hills. On the west there were hills which overlooked the city; on the south was the valley of Jehoshaphat, or the valley of Hinnom, (see Notes on Matt. v. 22.) separating it from what is called the Mount of Corruption; on the east was the valley or the brook Kedron, dividing the city from the Mount of Olives; and on the north the country a Ze.9.9. was more level-though it was a broken or rolling country. To the south-east the valleys of the Kedron and Jehoshaphat united, and the waters flowed through the broken mountains in a south-east direction to the Dead Seasome fifteen miles distant. The city of Jerusalem stands in 31° 50′ north latitude, and 35° 20′ east longitude from Greenwich. It is thirty-four miles south-easterly from Jaffa-the ancient Joppa-which is its sea-port, and one hundred and twenty miles south-westerly from Damascus. The best view of the city of Jerusalem is from Mount Olivet on the east, (see Notes on Matt. xxi. 1); the mountains in the east being somewhat higher than those on the west. The city was anciently enclosed within walls-a part of which are still standing. The position of the walls has been at various times changed-as the city has been larger or smaller, or as it has extended in different directions. The wall on the south formerly included the whole of Mount Zion, though the modern wall runs over the summit, including about half of the mountain. In the time of the Saviour, the northern wall enclosed only Mounts Acra and Moriah north-though after his death Agrippa extended the wall so as to include Mount Bezetha on the north. About half of that is included in the present wall. The limits of the city on the east and the west being more determined by the nature of the place, have been more fixed and permanent. The city was watered in part by the fountain of Siloam on the east (for a description of which, see Notes on Luke xiii. 4, and on Isa. vii. 3); and in part by the fountain of Gihon, on the west of the city, which flowed into the vale of Jehoshaphat; and in the time of Solomon by an aqueduct, part of which is still remaining, by which water was brought from the vicinity of Bethlehem. The 'pools of Solomon," three in number 66 one rising above another-and adapt. ed to hold a large quantity of waterare still remaining in the vicinity of Bethlehem. The fountain of Siloam still flows freely (see Note on Isa. vii. 3.), though the fountain of Gihon is commonly dry. A reservoir or tank, however, remains at Gilion. Jerusalem have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had a Nu.24.17. Is.60.3. b Jno.5.23. heard these things, he was troubled, c Ps.2.2. had, perhaps, its highest splendor in the temple. It is a city containing a popu time of Solomon. About four hundred lation variously estimated at from 15,000 years after, it was wholly destroyed by to 50,000-though probably not far Nebuchadnezzar. It lay utterly deso- from 20,000-comprising Jews, Turks, late during the seventy years of the Arabs, Armenians, Greeks, and PaJewish captivity. Then it was rebuilt, pists. The Jews have a number of sy. and restored to some degree of its for- nagogues. The catholics have a conmer magnificence, and remained about vent, and have the control of the church six hundred years, when it was utterly of the Holy Sepulchre. The Greeks destroyed by Titus, A. D. 70. In the have twelve convents; the Armenians reign of Adrian, the city was partly re- have three convents on Mount Zion, built under the name of Elia. The and one in the city; the Copts, Syrimonuments of Pagan idolatry were ans, and Abyssinians have each of them erected in it, and it remained under one convent. The streets are narrow, Pagan jurisdiction until Helena, the and the houses are of stone, most of mother of Constantine, overthrew the them low and irregular with flat roofs memorials of idolatry, and erected a or terraces, and with small windows magnificent church over the spot which only towards the street, usually pro was supposed to be the place of the Re- tected by iron grates. The above de. deemer's sufferings and burial. Julian, scription has been obtained from a great the apostate, attempting to destroy variety of sources, and it would be use the credit of the prophecy of the Sa- less to refer to the works where the viour that the temple should remain in facts have been obtained. As a refer ruins (Matt. xxiv.), endeavored to re- ence to Jerusalem often occurs in the build the temple. His own historian, New Testament, and as it is very imAmmianus Marcellinus (see Warbur-portant to possess a correct view of the ton's Divine Legation of Moses), says that the workmen were impeded by balls of fire coming from the earth, and that he was compelled to abandon the undertaking. Jerusalem continued in the power of the eastern emperors till the 2. Where is he, &c. There was, at reign of the caliph Omar, the third in this time, a prevalent expectation that succession from Mohammed, who re- some remarkable personage was about duced it under his control about the year to appear in Judea. The Jews were 640. The Saracens continued masters anxiously looking for the coming of the of Jerusalem until the year 1099, when Messiah. By computing the time menit was taken by the crusaders under tioned by Daniel (ch. ix. 25-27,) they Godfrey of Bouillon. They founded a knew that the period was approaching new kingdom of which Jerusalem was when the Messiah should appear. This the capital, which lasted eighty-eight personage, they supposed, would be a years under nine kings. At last this temporal prince, and they were expect. kingdom was utterly ruined by Sala- ing that he would deliver them from din; and though the Christians once Roman bondage. It was natural tha! more obtained possession of the city, this expectation should spread into other yet they were obliged again to relin- countries. Many Jews, at that time, quish it. In 1217 the Saracens were dwelt in Egypt, in Rome, and in Greece expelled by the Turks, who have ever many, also, had gone to eastern coun since continued in possession of it. Je-tries, and in every place they carried rusalem has been taken and pillaged seventeen times, and millions of men have been slaughtered within its walls. At present there is a splendid mosque the mosque of Omar on the site of the site of the ancient and modern city, a view is annexed here. It is by Catherwood, and is probably the most exact view of the city that has been pub. lished. their scriptures, and diffused the ex. pectation that some remarkable person was about to appear. Suetonius, a Ro. man historian, speaking of this rumor, says: "An ancient and settled per 66 of them where Christ should be born. 6 all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded suasion prevailed throughout the East, does not mean that they had seen tho that the Fates had decreed some one to star to the east of themselves, but that, proceed from Judea, who should attain when they were in the East, they had universal empire." Tacitus, another seen this star. As this star was in the Roman historian, says: Many were direction of Jerusalem, it must have persuaded that it was contained in the been west of them. It might be transancient books of their priests, that at lated, We, being in the East, have that very time the East should prevail, seen his star.' It is called his star, beand that some one should proceed from cause they supposed it to be intended Judea, and possess the dominion."+ to indicate the time and place of his Josephus, also, and Philo, two Jewish birth. To worship him. This does historians, make mention of the same not mean that they had come to pay expectation. The fact that such a per- him religious homage, or to adore him. son was expected is clearly attested. They regarded him as the king of the Under this expectation these wise men Jews. There is no evidence that they came to do him homage, and inquired supposed he would be divine. They anxiously where he was born? His came to honor him as a Prince, or a star. Among the ancients, the appear- king, not as God. The original word ance of a star or comet was regarded implies no more than this. It meant to as an omen of some remarkable event. prostrate one's self before another; to Many such appearances are recorded fall down and pay homage to another. by the Roman historians at the birth or This was the mode in which homage death of distinguished men. Thus, was paid to earthly kings, and this they they say, that at the death of Julius wished to pay to the new-born king of Cæsar a comet appeared in the heavens, the Jews. See the same meaning of and shone seven days. These wise men the word in Matt. xx. 20, xviii. 26; also considered this as an evidence that Acts x. 25; Luke xiv. 10. The Eng the long-expected Prince was born. It lish word worship also meant formerly, is possible that they had been led to this" to respect, to honor, to treat with civil Delief by the prophecy of Balaam. reverence." Num. xxiv. 17. "There shall come a star out of Jacob," &c. What this star was, is not known. There have been many conjectures respecting it, but nothing is revealed concerning it. We are not to suppose that it was what we commonly mean by a star. The stars are vast bodies fixed in the heavens, and it is absurd to suppose that one of them was sent to guide the wise men. It is most probable that it was a luminous appearance, or meteor, such as we now see sometimes shoot from the sky, or such as appear stationary, which the wise men saw, and which directed them to Jerusalem. It is possible that the same thing is meant which is mentioned by Luke, ii. 9: "The glory of the Lord shone round about them," i. e. (see Note on this place,) a great light appeared shining around them. That light might have been visible from afar, and have been seen by the wise men in the East. In the East. This (Webster.) 3. Had heard these things. Had heard of their coming, and of the star, and of the design of their coming. He was troubled. Herod had obtained the kingdom by great crimes, and by shedding much blood. He was, therefore, easily alarmed by any remarkable appearances; and the fact that this star appeared, and that it was regarded as proof that the King of the Jews was born, alarmed him. Besides, it was a common expectation that the Messiah was about to appear, and he feared that his reign was about to come to an end. He, therefore, began to inquire in what way he might secure his own safety, and the permanency of his government. All Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem, and particularly the friends of Herod. There were many waiting for the consolation of Israel, to whom the coming of the Messiah would be a matter of joy; but all of Herod's friends would doubtless be alarmed at his coming. 4. The chief priests. By the chief priests here are meant not only the high priest and his deputy, but also the heads or chiefs of the twenty-four classes into which David had divided the sacerdotal families. 1 Chron. xxiii. 6, xxiv. ; 2 Chron. viii. 14, xxxvi. 14; Ezra viii. 24. Scribes. By the scribes, in the New Testament, are meant learned men, men skilled in the law, and members of the great council. They were probably the learned men, or the lawyers of the nation. They kept the records of the court of justice, the registers of the synagogues, wrote their articles of contract and sale, their bills of divorce, &c. They were also called lawyers, Matt. xxii. 35, and doctors of the law, Luke v. 17. They were called scribes from the fact of their writing the public records. They were not, however, a religious sect, but might be either Pharisees or Sadducees.-By the chief priests and scribes here mentioned, is Jenoted the sanhedrim or great council of the nation. This was composed of seventy-two men, who had the charge of the civil and religious affairs of the Jews. On this occasion, Herod, in alarm, called them together, professedly to make inquiry respecting the birth of the Messiah. Demanded of them. Inquired, or asked of them. As they were the learned men of the nation, and as it was their business to study and explain the Old Testament, they were presumed to know what the prophecies had declared on that point. His object was to ascertain from prophecy where he was born, that he might strike an effectual blow. He seems not to have had any doubt about the time when he should be born. He was satisfied that the time had come. 5, 6. By the prophet. The sanhedrim answered without hesitation. It was settled by prophecy. This prophecy is found in Micah, v. 2. In that privily called the wise men, inquir ed of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem; and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. c Pro.26.24. prophecy, both the place of his birth and the character of the Messiah are so clearly set forth, that there was no room to doubt. It will be observed that there is a considerable difference between the passage as quoted by the sanhedrim, and as it stands in Micah. The main point, however, is retainedthe place of his birth. We are not concerned, therefore, in showing how these passages can be reconciled. Matthew is not responsible for the correctness of the quotation. He affirms only that they gave this answer to Herod, and that Herod was satisfied. Admitting that they did not quote the passage correctly it does not prove that Matthew has not reported their answer as they gave it and this is all that he pretends to give Art not the least. In Micah, "though thou be little.' Though a small place so far as population is concerned, yet shall not be small, or least, in honor; for the Messiah shall be born there. His birth gave the place an honor which could not be conferred on the larger cities by all their numbers, their splen. dor, and their wealth. The birth of a distinguished personage was always sup. posed to give honor and importance to a city or country. Thus seven cities contended for the honor of giving birth to Homer; Stratford-upon-Avon is dis. tinguished as the birth-place of Shak speare; and Corsica as the birth-place of Napoleon. A Governor. A Ruler. This is one of the characters of the Messiah, who is the King of his people. John xviii. 37. The word rule hers means to rule as a shepherd does, his flock, in faithfulness and tenderness. Compare John x. 11, Isa. xl. 10, 11. ix. 7. 7. Privily. Secretly, privately. He did this to ascertain the time when Jesus was born. ¶ Diligently. Accurately, |