tom, and Cyril, and the rest, with their materials; and further, that the best of the moderns are but learners in a School where they filled professorial chairs. Should it not, however, be cheerfully allowed that there arises at least one important counterbalancing consideration, when an ancient exposition is thus re-produced by a modern Doctor; namely, that the sentiment thereby obtains the sanction of an independent mind,-trained under different influences, and furnished with all the appliances of modern learning; superior it may be in judgment, and not unfrequently superior in power;-after having stood the trying ordeal of at least fifteen hundred years?-It may be stated, in conclusion, that the writer would have availed himself far more largely of the ample stores, ancient and modern, which he had at command, but that he prescribed to himself the rule of brevity, in order to produce a Commentary within moderate limits. He was thus often afraid to consult fresh authorities; and has always laid down his pen with regret. At the same time, the reader will not be aware how much has been offered on any given subject, unless he will be at the pains to refer, when directed, from one part of the Commentary to another. This operation may prove troublesome; but a system of cross references was clearly unavoidable,-unless the same statements were to be repeated again and again in different parts of the work. The materials have been distributed, according to the writer's best judgment; and the Commentary on each chapter has been made as readable, and it is hoped as interesting, as the narrow limits would allow. The assistance which has been derived from living authors has been so faithfully acknowledged in the foot-notes, that particular allusion to it is the less necessary here; but the writer feels that he ought to acknowledge his oral obligations to the Rev. Charles Marriott,-whose daily life and conversation has been to him a perpetual Commentary on the Gospel. Very delightful, lastly,-(why should the writer be ashamed to confess it?) has been the favourable notice which his labours have from time to time obtained. Very encouraging have those public and private expressions of approval been, and he is very grateful for them. Very serviceable they have also proved: for indeed the labour of producing even a popular Commentary, like the present, is excessive,-far surpassing what most persons would suppose; and though, in this instance, the labour has always been its own abundant and most blessed reward, yet has the writer many a time felt the need of a little encouragement during the countless weary days and nights of prolonged mental activity, which he has been compelled to bestow upon his task, the difficulties of which he did not by any means foresee when he first undertook it. The dread of incautiously delivering an unsound, or (GOD forbid) an heretical opinion: the awful responsibility of having undertaken to explain our SAVIOUR's discourses, and a miserable apprehension at every instant lest he should not be explaining them rightly: the constant fear of overlooking something of importance, for want of a little more investigation,or lest, by yielding to the sense of weariness and fatigue, he should be doing any part of the work in a slovenly manner:-all this produced what was often felt to be a painful tension of the critical faculty. For the sayings of our LORD are so deep, (u) and sometimes, so perplexing; (v) the apparently trivial words of Scripture prove, not unfrequently, to be so full of unsuspected meaning;(w) the common narrative is so mysterious and divine;(x) that no ordinary vigilance, no ordinary amount of painstaking, is necessary on the part of a Commentator. It is a very facile proceeding to say a few weak, lifeless words about a hard text; a very laborious one to ascertain what the most judicious of the ancients and moderns have said concerning it. Moreover, it demands a severe exercise of the judgment calmly and dispassionately to decide between rival interpretations; to select what seems to be, upon the whole, the best; and to present it to the unlearned reader in a few plain words. This kind of labour, persevered in for about three years;—as well in seasons of sickness and sorrow, as of health and joy; amid the pressure of other duties, collegiate and parochial; and (how often!) during those hours which GOD has allotted to Man for rest;-may well crave a little encouragement. The labour thus adverted to has increased as the work has proceeded. Whether because the writer grew more interested in his trade, as well as more skillful at it,—or because St. John's Gospel invites to deeper research, and will have more attention, he is conscious that his exposition of the last sixteen chapters of St. John, together with the fourth, are the least imperfect part of his entire performance. Would that the rest were like it!... But in truth, the Commentary is all so utterly unworthy of its Divine subject, that, even in laying down his pen, and invoking a blessing on his labours, the blessing of Him by whose SPIRIT the Gospel was given !—he desires nothing so much as that its many imperfections may be pardoned; that it may prove of use to many, and productive of mischief to none. The Author would conclude by gratefully recording that he has compiled this Commentary, for the most part, in the shelter of a College,—a daily pensioner on the bounty of one who entered into rest more than five hundred years ago. He has thus endeavoured, (to adopt the language of pious Bishop Horne,) to give the world some account of that time and those opportunities which the Providence of a gracious GOD, and the munificence of a pious Founder, have placed within his power. OXFORD, August 21st, 1855. (u) E.g. St. John xv. 26; and see xx. 17,-the whole verse. (v) E.g. St. John xiv. 28,- -see pp. 628-630. (10) E.g. St. Luke iv. 31: xvi. 2. (x) E.g. St. Matthew ii. 23: xxi. 2 to 8. St. Mark xi. 12 to 14. St. John iv. 42,-where see the notes. A PLAIN COMMENTARY ON THE FOUR HOLY GOSPELS. ST. MATTHEW. CHAPTER I. 1. The genealogy of CHRIST from Abraham to Joseph. 18. He was conceived by the HOLY GHOST, and born of the Virgin Mary when she was espoused to Joseph. 19. The Angel satisfieth the misdeeming thoughts of Joseph, and interpreteth the names of CHRIST. 1. THE book of the generation of JESUS CHRIST, the son of David, the son of Abraham. THE beginning of the New Testament is meant to remind us of the beginning of the Old. The resemblance in the language is intended to imply that there is a certain relation or resemblance between the two Testaments also: so that the one is, in many respects, the very counterpart of the other. They have been compared to the two Cherubims of glory, which overshadowed the mercy-seat with their wings, and turned their faces one to another;-between which also GoD dwelt in brightness, (a) and from between which He communed with men.(b) Genesis v. is found to begin as follows,-"This is the book of the generations of Adam." Now Adam "is the figure of Him that was to come." (c) The man CHRIST JESUS is the second Adam, (d) in whom we behold the beginning of a new Creation. For, "if any man be in CHRIST, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."(e) Our LORD is here called "the Son of David, the son of Abraham," because the promise of the Messiah was especially given to those two great saints; to Abraham, in Gen. xxii. 18; to David, in 2 Sam. vii. 12. And "the Son of David" comes before "the son of Abraham," in order that "the stone which the builders rejected" may be made "the head of the corner." How attentive should we be to the first words of the Gospel of CHRIST! 2, 3 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; and Judas begat Pharez and Zara of Thamar. Besides the Blessed Virgin Mary, only four female names are found in this genealogy, Thamar, guilty of incest; Rahab, the harlot; Ruth, a Moabitess; Bathsheba, an adultress. Nothing is said of Sarah, and Rebekah, and Rachel, and the other holy matrons of whom we elsewhere read. Our LORD's descent from (a) Psalm lxxx. 1. (d) 1 Cor. xv. 45. (b) Exod. xxv. 20, 22. (c) Rom. v. 14. these four persons, (all, probably of Gentile extraction,) may have been recorded, partly in order to intimate the interest which the Gentile world has in CHRIST; and to prepare men's minds for the ultimate call of the Church,-His Spouse,from among the Heathen: partly, in order to teach us that He came into the world to bear our shame. And we learn from what is here written, that the disgrace of the ancestor is no real blot upon the descendant; who may yet be very holy, and reflect back his own brightness on all who ever went before him. Concerning Rahab and Ruth, however, much is said in the way of actual commendation in Holy Scripture: see the two next notes. And Thamar receives memorable notice in the Book of Ruth.(f) "She hath been more righteous than I," exclaimed the patriarch Judah concerning her. (g) Indeed we should be very careful how we venture to speak of persons whose history indeed, but not whose character is set down in the Book of Life. The History may mislead us, or rather, it may be mistaken by us. For example, few readers of Genesis would have suspected that Esau was in GoD's sight a "fornicator," and "a profane person.”(h) 4, 5 And Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; and Aram begat Aminidab; and Aminidab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; "The harlot Rahab" is one of the "cloud of Witnesses," whose Faith is noticed by St. Paul:(i) and whose works are appealed to by St. James, ii. 25. For her remarkable history see Joshua ii. and vi. This is the only place in the Bible where her marriage is recorded. And Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; For the lovely history of Ruth the Moabitess, see the Book in the Bible which bears her name. It was all in consequence of her faithfulness(k) that she won for herself so glorious a place in the Book of Life. 6 And Jesse begat David the king; David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons. (7) and "fed his father's sheep at Bethlehem."(m) GOD "took him from the sheepfolds to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance."(n) And David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; Instead of telling us that this was Bathsheba, the Spirit gives the name of her murdered husband; and thus reminds us of David's sin and Bathsheba's shame. 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; The names which follow, (with slight diversities in the spelling,) are the names of the kings of Judah, whose acts are recorded in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. 8 And Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; and Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; It is not meant that “Ozias,” (that is, Uzziah,) was the son of "Joram" or Jehoram, but his grandson's grandson; the names of three kings of Judah are therefore here left out; namely, Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. This reminds us that there are evil names which God will at last, assuredly, blot out of the Book of Life.(o) Perhaps these three generations are omitted because they were the result of the unholy marriage of Jehoram with Athaliah, the daughter of the wicked Ahab and (f) Ruth iv. 12. (g) Gen. xxxviii. 26. (h) Heb. xii. 16. idolatrous Jezebel.(p) Uzziah, who married Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok the priest,(q) is the first name which becomes restored to the line of our LORD's ancestors after the flesh. We are reminded by all this of the danger, and perhaps the guilt, of contracting marriage with an ungodly family. 9, 10, 11 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; and Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon: This "Jechonias" is called in the Old Testament Jehoiakim. Unless the Jechonias in this verse and the next are distinguished, it might be thought that the numbers in ver. 17, do not correspond with the names which had gone before. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; The king mentioned in verse 11, was the father of this "Jechonias;" who is called in the Old Testament Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, or Coniah. The curse of dying childless had been solemnly pronounced upon "Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim," by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah.(7) Salathiel, here mentioned, must therefore have been only his adopted son. And Salathiel begat Zorobabel; Zorobabel, (whose name means "He of the dispersion of Babylon,") was governor of Judah; a famous type as well as ancestor of our LORD. He it was who, with Joshua the high-priest, rebuilt the temple of Jerusalem after the Captivity;(s) being sustained in the task by the prophets Haggai and Zachariah.(1) For the sense in which Salathiel is here said to have begotten Zorobabel, see the note on St. Luke iii. 27. 13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; This only means that Abiud was descended remotely from Zorobabel; he might be called his "son" in the same way as Joseph, in ver. 20, is called “son of David.” For Zorobabel's immediate descendants, see 1 Chronicles iii. 19-24. The names which here follow, down to Joseph, are nowhere found in the Bible except in this place. 14, 15, 16 And Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; and Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; and Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born JESUS, who is called CHRIST. This then is "the genealogy of CHRIST from Abraham to Joseph," as the heading of the chapter rightly informs us. But, since our blessed LORD was born of the Virgin Mary, it may be asked, Why was not her genealogy given rather than Joseph's? And, since Joseph was not our LORD's real Father, How does his descent from David show that our LORD also was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh?”’(u) These questions cannot be fully answered in a few words. It must suffice to point out that it was necessary at first, to keep the mystery of the Birth of CHRIST hidden from the unbelieving eyes of men, and indeed from the Powers of Darkness also: and that was why it seemed good in the providence of GOD, that Joseph should not only become the Virgin's wedded husband, but be looked upon and be spoken of for a certain space of time as our LORD's Father likewise.(x) Accord (p) 2 Kings viii. 16-18, 26. (9) 2 Kings xv. 32, 33. (r) Jer. xxii. 24-30. (1) See Ezra v. 1; Hag. i. 1, 12; ii. 2. (u) Rom. i. 3. 48; iii. 23; St. John vi. 42. |