Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:31_. Rejected by the Samaritans. A lesson of Tolerance._ This section forms a great episode in St Luke, which may be called the departure for the final conflict, and is identical with the journey (probably to the Feast of the Dedication, John 10:22) which is partially Luke 9:51... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:1-12. The Duty of bold Sincerity and Trust in God. 1. _when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people_ Rather, -when the myriads of the multitude had suddenly assembled. It is evident that the noise of this disgraceful attack on our Lord had been heard. This scene was... [ Continue Reading ]
_For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed_ Rather, But (unless with א we omit the δὲ altogether). This whole discourse, in its vividness and compression, and the apparent abruptness of some of its causal connexions, indicates the tumult of emotion through which our Lord had been pas... [ Continue Reading ]
_whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness_ The _application_of the similar language in Matthew 10:26; Mark 4:22, is different. See Luke 8:17. _in closets_ Literally, _"in the treasuries_or _storehouses," i.e._in closed, secret places. _upon the housetops_ i.e. in the most public places of resort, so... [ Continue Reading ]
_my friends_ John 15:14-15, "Henceforth I call you not servants but _friends_." The term comes the more naturally and pathetically because Jesus had just been in the thick of enemies. _Be not afraid of_ μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπό _,_i.e. afraid of anything which can come _from_them. This construction is only... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fear him_, _which after he hath killed_ Many commentators have understood this expression of the Devil, and one of the Fathers goes so far as to say that it is the only passage in the Bible in which we cannot be certain whether God or Satan is intended. There can, however, be no doubt that the refe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings_ St Matthew says _-two_sparrows for _one_farthing." The little birds were sold in the markets strung together, or on skewers. The varying expressions of St Matthew and St Luke lead us to the interesting fact that if five were bought _one was thrown in,_w... [ Continue Reading ]
_even the very hairs of your head_ See Luke 21:18; Acts 27:34; and in the O. T. 1 Samuel 14:45; 1 Kings 1:52.... [ Continue Reading ]
_before the angels of God_ Compare Luke 9:26. "Before my Father which is in heaven," Matthew 10:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
_it shall be forgiven him_ Thus our Lord prayed even for His murderers. This large rich promise is even further amplified in Matthew 12:31. It is the sign of a dispensation different from that of Moses, Leviticus 24:16. _unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost_ The other passages in which m... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto the synagogues_, _and unto magistrates, and powers_ The -synagogues" were the small Jewish tribunals of synagogue officials in every town, which had the power of inflicting scourging for minor religious offences. -Magistrates" and -powers" would be the superior authorities Jewish or Gentile.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Holy Ghost shall teach you_ A similar promise had been given to Moses, Exodus 4:12-15; see Luke 21:15. For fulfilments of the promise, see Acts 6:8; Acts 6:10 (St Stephen); 2 Timothy 4:17 (St Paul), &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
13-21. Egotism rebuked. The Rich Fool. 13. _Master, speak to my brother_ This was the most foolish and unwarrantable interpellation ever made to our Lord. The few words at once reveal to us an egotist incapable of caring for anything but his own selfishness. _that he divide the inheritance with me... [ Continue Reading ]
_Man_ The word is sternly repressive. Comp. Romans 2:1. _who made me a judge_ "My kingdom is not of this world," John 18:36. _or a divider_ i.e. umpire, arbitrator. There is an evident allusion to Exodus 2:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_beware of covetousness_ The better reading is "of ALL covetousness," i.e. not only beware of avarice, but also of selfish possession. Both the O. and N. T. abound with repetitions of this warning. Balaam, Achan, Gehazi are awful examples of this sin in the O. T.; Judas Iscariot, the Pharisees and A... [ Continue Reading ]
_The ground_ Rather, The estate. In this parable (peculiar to St Luke) our Lord evidently referred mentally to the story of Nabal, whose name means -Fool" or -Churl" (1 Samuel 25). Observe that his riches, like those of Nabal, were acquired, not by fraud or oppression, but in the most innocent way.... [ Continue Reading ]
_What shall I do_ "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase," Ecclesiastes 5:10. _my fruits_ So "_my_barns," _"my_fruits and _my_goods," and _"my_ soul." This touch is evidently intended and is most vividly natural. So Nabal says, "Shall... [ Continue Reading ]
_my barns_ Rather, storehouses (_apothekas_not only for corn). He never thought of the admonition of the Son of Sirach, "Shut up _alms_in thy storehouses," Sir 29:12 _._ my fruits Not the same word as before. Rather, my produce. _my goods_ Such -good things" as he was alone capable of recognising,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will say to my soul_, _Soul_ "What folly! Had thy soul been a sty, what else couldst thou have promised to it? Art thou so bestial, so ignorant of the soul's goods, that thou pledgest it the foods of the flesh? And dost thou convey to thy _soul_, the things which the draught receiveth?" St Basil.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou fool_ Literally, "_Senseless_" 1 Corinthians 15:36. _this night_ Compare the death of Nabal, 1 Samuel 25:36. _thy soul shall be required of thee_ Rather, THEY DEMAND THY SOUL OF THEE. Who are -they"? Some say God (Job 27:8), or His death- angels (Job 33:22), or robbers whom they suppose to a... [ Continue Reading ]
_is not rich towards God_ Rather, IF HE IS NOT. We are often taught elsewhere in Scripture in what way we can be rich toward God. Matthew 6:19-21; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; James 2:5. There is a close parallel to this passage in Sir 11:18-19, "There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and pinching, and thi... [ Continue Reading ]
22-53. Lessons of Trustfulness (Luke 12:22-32), Almsgiving (Luke 12:33-34), and Faithful Watchfulness (Luke 12:35-48). The searching Effect of Christ's Work (Luke 12:49-53). 22. _Take no thought_ This rendering is _now_unfortunate, since it might be abused to encourage an _immoral_carelessness (1 T... [ Continue Reading ]
_The life is more than meat_, &c. and the spirit is more than either the body, or the natural life.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the ravens_ More specific, and therefore more poetic, than "the fowls" in St Matthew. Perhaps there is a reference to Job 38:41; Psalms 145:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_to his stature_ Some would here render the word ἡλικία _,_ -age" (comp. Psalms 39:5); but -stature" is probably right.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the lilies_ The term is perfectly general. The scarlet anemones (_anemone coronaria_), or the -Huleh lilies" growing around may have given point to the lesson. (Thomson, _Land and Book_, p. 256.) _Solomon in all his glory_ 1Ki 3:13; 1 Kings 10:1-29, and for a splendid description of his progresses... [ Continue Reading ]
_the grass...in the field_ The common Scripture symbol for evanescence, Isaiah 40:6; 1 Peter 1:24; James 1:10-11. _is cast into the oven_ In the absence of wood this is the usual method of heating ovens in the East.... [ Continue Reading ]
_neither be ye of doubtful mind_ Literally, "Do not toss about like boats in the offing," a metaphor for _suspense._Cicero says, "So I am in suspense (μετέωρος _)_and entangled in great perplexities." _Ad Att._xv. 14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the nations of the world_ But you have not the same excuse that the heathen have for over-anxiety about transient needs.... [ Continue Reading ]
_little flock_ The address was primarily to disciples, Luke 12:1. For the metaphor, see Psalms 23:1; Isaiah 40:11; Matthew 26:31; John 10:12-16. _the kingdom_ How much more shall He give you _bread._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sell that ye have_ This command was taken very literally by the early Church, Acts 2:44-45. Comp. Luke 16:9; Matthew 19:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let your loins be girded_ Without which active service is impossible in the loose flowing dress of the East (Exodus 12:11; 1 Kings 18:46); and spiritually, for the Christian amid worldly entanglements, 1 Peter 1:13; Ephesians 6:14. _your lights burning_ The germ of the Parable of the Ten Virgins,... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he will return from the wedding_ The word here used (_pote analusei)_is very rare, occurring only in Philippians 1:23; 2 Timothy 4:6. Here there is a variation from the commoner metaphor of _going to_the wedding feast.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to meat_ Doubtless some of the Apostles must have recalled these words when Jesus washed their feet. To Roman readers the words would recall the customs of their Saturnalia when slaves were waited on by their masters.... [ Continue Reading ]
_come in the second watch_, _or come in the third watch_ It is not clear, nor very important, whether St Luke here alludes to the _three_ watches of the Jews and Greeks (Lamentations 2:19; Judges 7:19; Exodus 14:24) or to the _four_of the Romans (Jerome, Ep. CXL.). But it _is_very important to obser... [ Continue Reading ]
39. _this know_ Rather, THIS YE KNOW. _the goodman of the house_ An archaic expression for the master of the house, the _paterfamilias._It is said to be a corruption of the Saxon _gumman_-a man," _good wife_being formed from it by false analogy. _to be broken through_ Literally, _"to be dug throug... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Peter said unto him_ Peter's intercourse with his Lord seems to have been peculiarly frank and fearless, in accordance with his character. In the immaturity of the disciples we may suppose that the blessing on the faithful servants mainly prompted his question. But if so the lesson of our Lord... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who then is that faithful and wise steward_ Our Lord, in the deeply instructive method which He often adopted, did not answer the question, but taught the only lesson which was needful for the questioner. St Paul perhaps refers to these words of Christ in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. _their portion of mea... [ Continue Reading ]
_ruler over all that he hath_ See Luke 22:29-30. __... [ Continue Reading ]
_say in his heart_, _My lord delayeth his coming_ Ecclesiastes 8:11. It was not long before the temptation to use this language arose with fatal results, 2 Peter 3:8-9.... [ Continue Reading ]
_will cut him in sunder_ This was literally a punishment prevalent among some ancient nations, 2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3; Daniel 2:5; Herod. vii. 39. Comp. Hebrews 11:37 (the legendary martyrdom of Isaiah) and Susannah 55-59. Hence Bengel says "Qui cor _divisum habet, dividetur_." But becau... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall be beaten with many stripes_ Exceptional privileges if rejected involve exceptional guilt and punishment, Luke 10:13; James 4:17; 2 Peter 2:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that knew not_ i.e. that knew not fully (Jonah 4:11; 1 Timothy 1:13), for there is no such thing as absolute moral ignorance (Romans 1:20; Romans 2:14-15) _shall be beaten with few stripes_ A most important passage as alone clearly stating that punishment shall be only proportional to sin, and tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am come to send fire on the earth_ St John had preached "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" and that "He should burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The metaphor is probably to be taken in all its meanings; fire as a spiritual baptism; the refining fire to purge gold fr... [ Continue Reading ]
_a baptism to be baptized with_ Matthew 20:22. _how am I straitened_ i.e. How heavy is the burden that rests upon me; how vast are the obstacles through which I have to press onwards. It is the same spirit that spoke in "What thou doest, _do quickly_." The word is found in 2 Corinthians 5:14; Phil... [ Continue Reading ]
_Suppose ye_ as they were far too much inclined to suppose, Luke 19:11 _that I am come to give peace on earth_ It is only in His _ultimate_ kingdom that Christ will be fully the Prince of Peace, as was understood even by Simeon, Luke 2:34-35; see too John 9:39. _Nay; but rather division_ "I came n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The father shall be divided against the son_ The verse seems to be a distinct allusion to Micah 7:6. There is in the Greek a delicate change of phrase which can hardly be reproduced in English. It is -father _against son_" _(_ἐπὶ υἱῷ _),_where the preposition takes _the dative;_but in -mother-in-la... [ Continue Reading ]
54-59. The Signs of the Times, and resultant Duty. 54. _to the people_ Rather, to the multitudes, whom He now addresses, having finished the lessons which were most necessary for His timid and discouraged disciples. _a cloud_ Rather, the cloud, comp. Matthew 16:2-3. _rise out of the west_ In Hebr... [ Continue Reading ]
_heat_ Rather, A SIMOOM or scorching wind, because -the South wind" in Palestine would blow from the desert.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye hypocrites_ The insincerity consisted in the fact that though the signs of the Kingdom were equally plain they _would_not see them, and pretended not to see them. The Prophets had long ago pointed them out. Among them were, miracles (Isaiah 35:4-6); the political condition (Genesis 49:10); the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_even of yourselves_ i.e. without the necessity for _my_thus pointing out to you facts which are so plain. _what is right_ what is your duty to do under circumstances so imminent.... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thou goest_ Rather, For as thou goest. Our translators omitted the "for" probably because they could not see the connexion. It seems however to be this. -For _this_is your clear duty, to reconcile yourselves with God, as you would with one whom you had alienated, before the otherwise inevitabl... [ Continue Reading ]
_till thou hast paid the very last mite_ Mite is _lepton_(_minutum_), the smallest of all coins, Mark 12:42. If it be asked, -can this ever be paid?" the answer of course is, as far as _the parable_is concerned, -it depends entirely on whether the debt be great or small." As far as the _application_... [ Continue Reading ]