Luke 8:1-3
Luke 8:1-3. THE MINISTERING WOMEN... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 8:1-3. THE MINISTERING WOMEN... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἘΓΈΝΕΤΟ ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΚΑΘΕΞΗ͂Σ. See note on Luke 7:11. The expression marks a new phase, a new departure, in Christ’s mode of action. Hitherto He had made Capernaum His head-quarters; regarded it as “His own city,” and not gone to any great distance from it. At this period—the exact beginning of which... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΥΝΑΙ͂ΚΈΣ ΤΙΝΕΣ. This most remarkable circumstance is prominently mentioned by St Luke alone, though alluded to in Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:41. It accords alike with the probability that some of his peculiar sources of information had been derived from women; and with the certainty that he is fond... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑΥ̓ΤΟΙ͂Σ BD and most edd. αὐτῷ אAL, La[169] [169] La. Lachmann. 3. ἸΩΆΝΝΑ. She is mentioned only in Luke 24:10, but had apparently been healed of some infirmity. ΓΥΝῊ ΧΟΥΖΑ͂ ἘΠΙΤΡΌΠΟΥ ἩΡΏΔΟΥ. She was probably a widow of Chuzas. See Luke 24:10. On ἐπιτρόπου without the article see note on Luke 2:36... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΥΝΙΌΝΤΟΣ. ‘Were coming together.’ Our Lord, though ready at all times to utter the most priceless truths even to one lonely and despised listener, yet wisely apportioned ends to means, and chose the assembling of a large multitude for the occasion of a new departure in His style of teaching. ΚΑῚ ΤΩ... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΣΠΕΊΡΩΝ. ‘The sower;’ as also ‘the’ rock, ‘the’ thorns. No doubt these may be regarded as _generic_ articles, marking the class; but they give a more graphic turn to the story, and in all probability Jesus saw, and pointed to, a sower actually working before their eyes. A comparison of the parable... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠῚ ΤῊΝ ΠΈΤΡΑΝ. St Matthew and St Mark say “upon stony places,” and add its speedy growth, and its withering after sunrise from want of root; St Luke dwells rather on the lack of moisture than on the lack of soil.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΩ͂Ν�. In rich soils and hot valleys like Gennesareth the growth of weeds and thorns is as rapid and luxuriant as that of good seed. In summer and autumn there are parts of the plain which are quite impervious from the forest of gigantic thistles which covers them—“so tall and so dense that no horse... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠΟΊΗΣΕΝ ΚΑΡΠῸΝ ἙΚΑΤΟΝΤΑΠΛΑΣΊΟΝΑ. St Luke passes over the ‘growing and increasing’ of the fruit (Mark 4:8) and its various degrees of productiveness—thirty and sixty as well as an hundredfold. “Quelle puérilité indigne d’hommes sérieux que ces variations mesquines,” says Godet, “si les évangélistes... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΈΓΟΝΤΕΣ omitted by אBDL. 9. ΟἹ ΜΑΘΗΤΑῚ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂. St Mark says “those about Him, with the Twelve;” and that they came to Him afterwards when they found Him alone.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΔῈ ΕἾΠΕΝ. This verse is rather an answer to the other question, recorded in St Matthew, “_why_ dost thou speak to them in parables?” ΔΈΔΟΤΑΙ. ‘It has been given.’ ΓΝΩ͂ΝΑΙ ΤᾺ ΜΥΣΤΉΡΙΑ. I.e. to grasp the revealed secrets, the ‘apples of gold’ hid in these ‘networks of silver.’ The proper use of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΣΠΌΡΟΣ ἘΣΤῚΝ Ὁ ΛΌΓΟΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ΘΕΟΥ͂. We have the same metaphor in Colossians 1:5-6; 1 Corinthians 3:6; and a _similar_ one in James 1:21, “the _engrafted_ word;” 2Es 9:31; 2Es 9:33, “Behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring fruit in you … yet they that received it perished, because they kept no... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΣΑΝΤΕΣ אBL and most edd. 12. ΟἹ ΔῈ ΠΑΡᾺ ΤῊΝ ὉΔΌΝ. The prepositions are used with accurate variety, παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας, εἰς τὰς�, ἐν τῇ καλῇ γῇ. The word σπαρέντες must be understood from σπόρος. The seed is (grammatically) identified with those into whose hearts it is sown. More defi... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ ΔῈ ἘΠῚ ΤΗ͂Σ ΠΈΤΡΑΣ. Shallow, impulsive listeners, whose enthusiasm is hot and transient as a blaze in the straw. ΜΕΤᾺ ΧΑΡΑ͂Σ. “Yet they seek me daily, and _delight_ to know my ways,” Isaiah 58:2. “Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice … for they hear thy word... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΔῈ ΕἸΣ ΤᾺΣ�. Here the grand paradox which identifies the seed with its recipient is very marked. See especially Matthew 13:19, where “_he that received the seed_ by the way-side, &c.” should be ‘_he that was sown_ by the way-side, &c.’ The class here described are worldly, ambitious, preoccupied,... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΈΧΟΥΣΙΝ, “_hold it fast_.” Vulg[177] _retinent_. Comp. Luke 11:28; John 14:21; 1 Corinthians 11:2. “Thy word have _I hid in my heart_, that I might not sin against Thee,” Psalms 119:11. These are the opposite of the “forgetful hearers,” James 1:25. For them the seed does not fall ‘on the way.’ ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΎΧΝΟΝ. “A lamp.” The connexion lies partly in the antithesis between penal obscurity and the dissemination of added light. ΣΚΕΎΕΙ. St Luke uses the word as more intelligible to his Gentile readers than “bushel.” ὙΠΟΚΆΤΩ ΚΛΊΝΗΣ. ‘Under a couch.’ The ancient Jews had nothing resembling our _bed_. T... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW TO USE THE LIGHT WHICH CHRIST HAS THUS KINDLED... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ ΓΆΡ ἘΣΤΙΝ ΚΡΥΠΤΌΝ. This verse, like the parallel (which occurs in a different connexion in Matthew 10:26), is usually quoted of the discovery of secret crimes. The truth which would in that case be illustrated is often mentioned _elsewhere_ in Scripture (1 Corinthians 4:5), but here in both inst... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΩ͂Σ�. And also “_what_ ye hear,” Mark 4:24. ΔΟΘΉΣΕΤΑΙ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι. Comp. Luke 19:26. It was evidently a thought to which our Lord recurred, John 15:2. Ὃ ΔΟΚΕΙ͂ ἜΧΕΙΝ. “That which he thinketh he hath.” This fancied possession is mere self-deception. The Greek might however be rendered as in the A. V[1... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΕΓΈΝΕΤΟ ΔΈ. The _Rec_[179] has the plural; the reading παρεγένετο would imply that the Virgin took a specially prominent part in the incident. Joseph is never mentioned after the scene in the Temple. This incident can hardly be the same as those in Mark 3:31-35; Matthew 12:46-50, because in both... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST’S MOTHER AND HIS BRETHREN... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΗΓΓΈΛΗ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι. The word λεγόντων is added by some MSS. It is then a genitive absolute with the subject suppressed.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΉΤΗΡ ΜΟΥ. Not ἡ μήτηρ. ‘Mother and brethren to me are those who,’ &c. ΟὟΤΟΊ ΕἸΣΙΝ. The demonstrative implies the “looking round at those sitting in a circle about Him” of Mark 3:34, and the “stretching forth His hand towards His disciples” of Matthew 12:49. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΜΙΑ͂Ι ΤΩ͂Ν ἩΜΕΡΩ͂Ν. ‘On one of the days.’ From Mark 4:35; Matthew 8:18, we should infer that this event took place in the evening on which He began to teach the crowd in parables, and that—attracted by the beauty and novelty of His teaching they lingered round Him till, in utter weariness, He lon... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST STILLING THE STORM... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΦΎΠΝΩΣΕΝ. ‘He fell into deep sleep.’ The day had been one of incessant toil; and He was resting (as St Mark tells us, reflecting the vivid reminiscence of St Peter) ‘in the stern on the steersman’s leather cushion,’ Mark 4:38 : contrast with this Jonah 1:5. ΚΑΤΈΒΗ ΛΑΙ͂ΛΑΨ. ‘_There swept down a hurr... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΟΛΛΎΜΕΘΑ. ‘We are perishing!’ ‘Lord! save! we are perishing,’ Matthew 8:25. ‘Rabbi, carest thou not that we are perishing?’ Mark 4:38. The peril was evidently most imminent. Ὁ ΔῈ ΔΙΕΓΕΡΘΕΊΣ. ‘But He, being roused from sleep.’ ἘΠΕΤΊΜΗΣΕΝ ΤΩ͂Ι�. Speaking to the wind and the billows of the water as... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΥ͂ Ἡ ΠΊΣΤΙΣ ὙΜΩ͂Ν; “They had _some_ faith, but it was not ready at hand.” Bengel. ΤΊΣ ἌΡΑ ΟὟΤΌΣ ἘΣΤΙΝ; ‘_Who then is this_?’ Comp. Luke 4:36; Luke 9:9; Luke 24:13. The ἄρα expresses the same surprise and emotion conveyed by the τίς, ‘What kind of Being,’ of St Matthew. Psalms 107:23-30.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΕΡΑΣΗΝΩ͂Ν BDC (in 37), Vulg[170] It[171] Γεργεσηνῶν אL. [170] Vulg. Vulgate. [171] It. Old Latin Version (Itala). 26. ΤΩ͂Ν ΓΕΡΑΣΗΝΩ͂Ν. In all three narratives, here, Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-19, the MSS. vary between Gergesenes, Gadarenes, and Gerasenes, and Tischendorf follows א in reading Gada... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GERGESENE DEMONIAC... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠΉΝΤΗΣΕΝ�. ‘There met him a man of the city.’ He had been a resident in Gergesa till his madness began. St Matthew (as in the case of Bartimaeus) mentions two demoniacs, but the narrative is only concerned with one. There may of course have been another hovering in the neighbourhood. The variation... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊ ἘΜΟῚ ΚΑῚ ΣΟΊ. I.e. ‘Why should’st thou interfere with me?’ 2 Samuel 16:10; 2 Samuel 19:22. See Luke 4:24. Bauer refers to obvious imitations of this narrative in the story of the Lamia expelled by Apollonius of Tyana (Philostr. IV. 25). ΤΟΥ͂ ὙΨΊΣΤΟΥ. Probably the epithet was customary in exorcis... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΉΓΓΕΛΛΕΝ. ‘He commanded.’ ΠΟΛΛΟΙ͂Σ ΧΡΌΝΟΙΣ usually means ‘_for a long time_.’ Comp. Plut. _Thess._ VI. πολλοῖς χρόνοις ὕστερον, ‘long afterwards.’ ΦΥΛΑΣΣΌΜΕΝΟΣ. ‘_Being kept under guard_.’ The A. V[180] misses this curious point in the narrative, preserved by St Luke only,—namely, that ‘he was... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊ ΣΟΙ ὌΝΟΜΆ ἘΣΤΙΝ; The question was no doubt asked in mercy. Gently to ask a person’s name is often an effectual way to calm the agitations and fix the wavering thoughts of these sufferers. ΛΕΓΙΏΝ. A legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers, and this man (who was probably a Jew) would have become famili... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΕΚΆΛΟΥΝ. If παρεκάλει be the right reading, it should be rendered “_he_ besought Him,” for the plural is used in the next verse. ΕἸΣ ΤῊΝ ἌΒΥΣΣΟΝ. The ‘abyss’ (Hebrew _tehôm_) intended is perhaps the prison of wicked spirits (Romans 10:7; Jude 1:6; Revelation 20:3). St Mark says “that He would no... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΟΊΡΩΝ ἹΚΑΝΩ͂Ν. St Mark says “about 2000.” Of course, if the owners of these swine were Jews, they were living in flagrant violation of the Law; but the population of Peraea was largely Greek and Syrian. ΕἸΣ ἘΚΕΊΝΟΥΣ ΕἸΣΕΛΘΕΙ͂Ν. The Jews, as we have already seen, believed that physical and mental ev... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤᾺ ΤΟΥ͂ ΚΡΗΜΝΟΥ͂. ‘Down the precipice.’ Near Kherza is _the only spot on the entire lake_ where a steep slope sweeps down to within a few yards of the sea, into which the herd would certainly have plunged if hurried by any violent impulse down the hill. (Tristram, _Land of Israel_, p. 462). If it... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΠΉΓΓΕΙΛΑΝ ΕἸΣ ΤῊΝ ΠΌΛΙΝ. A _breviloquentia_ for ‘They went into the city and reported,’ as in Matthew 8:33, ἀπελθόντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν�.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ΓΕΓΟΝΌΣ. ‘What had happened’ (A.V[182] “what was _done_”). [182] A.V. Authorised Version. ΠΑΡᾺ ΤΟῪΣ ΠΌΔΑΣ. In the attitude of a disciple. ἹΜΑΤΙΣΜΈΝΟΝ. Perhaps one of the disciples had thrown a cloke (ἱμάτιον) over his nakedness or his rags.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἨΡΏΤΗΣΑΝ … ἈΠΕΛΘΕΙ͂Ν. The opposite to the request of the Samaritans (John 4:40). Unlike Peter, they _meant_ what they said. Preferring their swine to Christ, they felt that His presence was dangerous to their greed. And our Lord acted on the principle of not casting that which was holy to dogs, nor... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΔΈΕΤΟ. An Ionic form, but found also in Attic.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΗΓΟΥ͂. This command valuably illustrates one of the _reasons_ why our Lord commanded reticence in other instances. To the region of Gadara He did not intend to return, and therefore the proclamation of a miracle would not cause Him to be surrounded by curious crowds.... [ Continue Reading ]
40. THE WAITING MULTITUDE 40. ἈΠΕΔΈΞΑΤΟ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ Ὁ ὌΧΛΟΣ. The _multitude_ welcomed him. We have the same verb apparently in this sense in Acts 15:4; Acts 28:30, and elsewhere. They would see the sail of His boat as it started back from Gergesa, and the storm had probably driven back the other boats.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS AND THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἸΔΟΎ. St Matthew places this message of Jairus after the farewell feast which he gave to his friends before abandoning for ever his office of tax-gatherer. At that feast arose the question about fasting, and St Matthew (Matthew 9:18) says that Jairus came ‘while Jesus was yet speaking these thin... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΟΝΟΓΕΝΉΣ. St Luke, whose keen sympathies are everywhere observable in his Gospel, mentions the same touching fact in the case of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:12), and the lunatic boy (Luke 9:38). ἈΠΈΘΝΗΣΚΕΝ. St Matthew says “_is even now dead_.” Perhaps we catch in these variations an echo... [ Continue Reading ]
43. See note. 43. ἘΝ ῬΎΣΕΙ ΑἽΜΑΤΟΣ. The ἐν indicates her condition: comp. ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ, Luke 4:36; ἐν περιτομῇ, Romans 4:10. ἸΑΤΡΟΙ͂Σ. The _dativus commodi_, ‘_upon_ physicians.’ The more classical construction would be the εἰς ἰατροὺς of the Rec[183] but it is probably a correction. [183] Rec. The... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΣΕΛΘΟΥ͂ΣΑ ὌΠΙΣΘΕΝ ἭΨΑΤΟ ΤΟΥ͂ ΚΡΑΣΠΈΔΟΥ Κ.Τ.Λ. ‘Approaching from behind touched the tassel of His outer robe.’ This is a miracle ‘by the way’ (_obiter_), but, as Fuller says, “His _obiter_ is more to the purpose than our _iter._” She sought to steal (as it were) a miracle of grace, and fancied tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΠΈΤΡΟΣ ΚΑῚ ΟἹ ΣῪΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι. St Mark merely says ‘His disciples’; but the question is in exact accordance with that presumptuous impetuosity which marked the as yet imperfect stage of Peter’s character.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἭΨΑΤΌ ΜΟΥ ΤΊΣ. ‘Some one touched me.’ “They _press; she_ touches.” Aug. “Flesh presses; faith touches.” Id. Our Lord’s question was meant to reach the woman’s heart: comp. Genesis 3:9; Genesis 4:9; 2 Kings 5:25. ἜΓΝΩΝ ΔΎΝΑΜΙΝ ἘΞΕΛΗΛΥΘΥΙ͂ΑΝ�' ἘΜΟΥ͂. Literally, ‘_I recognised_ that power _had gone fo... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΡΈΜΟΥΣΑ ἮΛΘΕΝ. Because by her touch she had communicated to Him Levitical uncleanness; and this by one of the Rabbis or Pharisees would have been regarded as an intolerable act of presumption and injury. To this day the Jewish Rabbis (or Chakams) in the East are careful not even to be touched by a... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΎΓΑΤΕΡ. The only recorded occasion on which our Lord used that tender word to a woman. Ἡ ΠΊΣΤΙΣ ΣΟΥ ΣΈΣΩΚΈΝ ΣΕ. Literally, ‘_hath saved thee_.’ Thy faith—not the superstitious and surreptitious touch of my _tallith’s_ fringe. Jesus thus compelled her to come forth from her timid enjoyment of a sto... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΗΚΈΤΙ אBD, La[172] Ti[173] W.H[174] Μὴ is supported by ACL. [172] La. Lachmann. [173] Ti. Tischendorf. [174] W.H. Westcott and Hort. 49. ΜΗΚΈΤΙ ΣΚΎΛΛΕ ΤῸΝ ΔΙΔΆΣΚΑΛΟΝ. ‘_Worry the Teacher no longer_.’ For the colloquial verb, preserved also in St Mark, see Luke 7:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΣΑΣ. The remark was addressed to Jairus, and St Mark says that Jesus ‘_overheard_ it.’ ΠΊΣΤΕΥΣΟΝ. The aor. refers to the immediate act of faith. The πίστευε of the Rec[184] would mean ‘keep up thy faith.’ [184] Rec. The Textus Receptus.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸ ΜῊ ΠΈΤΡΟΝ Κ.Τ.Λ., as at the Transfiguration and at Gethsemane, Mark 9:2; Mark 14:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΚΌΠΤΟΝΤΟ ΑΥ̓ΤΉΝ. ‘Beat their breasts on account of her.’ Comp. Luke 23:27 and Nahum 2:7. St Mark gives a graphic picture of the tumult, and loud cries, and wailings (_alalai_, the Egyptian _wilweleh_). Even the poorest were obliged to provide for a funeral two flute-players and one wailing woman. S... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΕΓΈΛΩΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂. Literally, ‘_were utterly deriding Him_.’ ‘To laugh to scorn’ is used by Shakespeare, e.g. “Our castle’s strength Will laugh a siege to scorn.” _Macbeth_, Luke 5:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
54. The words ἐκβαλὼν ἔξω πάντα καὶ are omitted by אBDL. 54. [ἘΚΒΑΛῺΝ ἜΞΩ ΠΆΝΤΑΣ ΚΑΊ.] These words, being omitted by אB DLX, are probably interpolated here, from the other Synoptists. Our Lord could not feel the smallest sympathy for these simulated agonies of people, who (to this day) “weep, howl,... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΗΔΕΝῚ ΕἸΠΕΙ͂Ν. See on Luke 5:14. And as usual the injunction was probably unheeded.... [ Continue Reading ]