THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

ST. MATTHEW.

I.-18. The later MSS. have yévvnois, probably an early correction from the verbs succeeding. But B, C, and many others have yévɛois. Render everywhere "the Holy Spirit." The Revisers are obliged to use "Spirit" when the adjective is omitted, and "Ghost" in this sense has long been obsolete. So also in v. 20. 21. Retain "For He shall save His people from their sins." Aurós is not always emphatic in the Scriptures; nay, after a relative, often redundant. 25. Modern editors have followed §, B, 33, and cursives in substituting "a son" for "her first-begotten;" but the latter reading is unquestioned in Luke ii. 7.

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II. 1. "Magi" might well have been employed as the appellative of a class of seers and astrologers in the East, especially in Chaldea. They are distinguished from the wise men in Dan. ii. 27. 7. “He learned exactly from them." 18. "Lamentation and " is found in almost all MSS. except &, B, as in Jer. i. 15. 23. The name, probably, only means of Nazara, or Nazarene, though some connect it with the Hebrew netser, a branch, and Isa. xi. I.

B

III.-7. "Spawn," or brood, of vipers comes nearer to the force of the original. 8. "Fruit worthy of your repentance," or, as suiting agios wherever it occurs, "befitting your repentance," and in v. II, "Fit to bear." 13. Here and in v. I "cometh" is an inadequate rendering, and perhaps "is present" is a little more graphic. 15. It will be found that in all similar passages, “let," or "let be," represents peç more correctly. "Let it be so now. . . . Then he

lets Him." Here and elsewhere it should be understood that by "righteousness" is meant the fulfilling of God's Laws (see viii. 22; xxvii. 49).

IV. 3. Why have not the Revisers rendered äproi "loaves" here, as in vii. 9? The word should be so translated whenever the form is spoken of rather than the substance. They may, however, plead here that apro (v. 4) must be rendered "bread." The Jews use still at the Passover large, flat cakes. 10. The omission of "behind Me," after wayɛ is supported by slightly preponderating testimony., B, C, omit it; but the MSS., versions, and Fathers are nearly equally divided here, and in Luke iv. 8 (see xvi. 23). 12. “Was put in prison." The Revisers are strictly correct, but "delivered up" to the officer or gaoler must soon have passed into the other technical meaning. 24. "Possessed with evil spirits, and lunatic." It is better to reserve “devil” for diáßodos, and even if epileptics be intended, "lunatics" represents correctly the current opinion of the time.

15. The

V.-I. Perhaps "the hill country." "bushel" is the corn-basket, or measure, found in every Jewish house. "Lamp-stand" is, of course,

correct, but as the Revisers have retained “candlestick" in the Revelation, it seems pedantic to alter it here. 20. "Has abounded more than that of the scribes." 21. It would be better to render "the court," as this is generally mistaken for the final judgment. There was a court of seven inferior magistrates held in every town or populous village (see Jas. ii. 6, кpińρia), while graver cases were reserved for the supreme council, or Sanhedrin, at Jerusalem. 22. If Raca (empty-headed) is retained, so should Moreh also, though it is a Hebrew word and not Aramaic. But they might be rendered “fool and rebel." The latter probably implied an imputation of blasphemy against God, or the Law of Moses. "The Gehenna of fire." As the Revisers have rightly adopted “Hades” for the place of departed spirits, they might well have substituted "Gehenna" for "the nethermost hell, the place of torment." "Evoxos iç, “liable to the sentence to be cast," and a double ellipse more often found with the genitive. Εἰκή, “without a cause,” is an early but scarcely authorized insertion. 26. Last" is a feeble substitution for "uttermost." 29. "Maketh thee offend." This rendering seems inevitable on a comparison of the numerous passages where oкávdaλov occurs, though our word "offend" has lost its classic sense of "stumbling,"

and the Greek word in the Septuagint means more frequently a snare laid by an enemy than a stumblingblock. The Revisers are strangely inconsistent. 32. There is intrinsic probability, though insufficient authority, for uoixãola, against &, B, D, and cursives. 37, 39. "The evil one" and "the evil man" seem to be necessary here, and so far supply arguments for "the evil one" in the Lord's Prayer (vi. 13). Superfluous affirmations or oaths, as prompted by an evil conscience, may well be said to proceed from the evil one. 41. Literally, " make thee a forced messenger;" "impress thee for a mile." The ayyapos was properly a Persian courier, or postal messenger, and the Jews complained bitterly that they were impressed by the Romans for these services. But "forced companionship" seems all that is intended here. 44. The clauses, "Bless them which curse you, and do well to them which hate you," and "despitefully use you and," are wanting in &, B, cursives, and some versions. and Fathers, and are said to be interpolations from Luke vi. 27, 28. The bias of modern editors favours theories like this; but may not the contrary have been the case, and passages have been omitted in carly MSS. because of their appearance in other Gospels (see x. 8, and note, xvi. 2)?

VI.-2, 16. “They have their full reward." There is a strange mistranslation here on the part of the Revisers. 4, 6. (See note, v. 44.) Openly” (ἐν τῷ pavɛpą) is omitted by &, B, D, Z, and others-strong