Luke 6:1-5. The Disciples pluck the ears of corn on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28.) 1. _on the second sabbath after the first_ Better, on the second-first sabbath. St Luke gives this unique note of time without a word to explain it, and scholars have not and probably never will come to... [ Continue Reading ]
_certain of the Pharisees_ On the Jewish sects see Excursus VI. As the chronological sequence of the incident is uncertain, these may be some of the spy-Pharisees who as His ministry advanced dogged His steps (Matthew 15:1; Mark 3:22; Mark 7:1), in the base and demoralising desire to convict Him of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have ye not read so much as this_ Rather, Did ye not even read this? He answers them in one of their own formulae, but with a touch of irony at their ignorance, which we trace also in the "Did ye never read?" of St Mark; _never_though ye are Scribes and devote all your time to the Scriptures? Perha... [ Continue Reading ]
_did take and eat_ St Mark says that this was "in the days of Abiathar the high priest." The priest who actually _gave_the bread to David was Ahimelech, the father of Abiathar. _the shewbread_ Literally, -loaves of setting forth;" "continual bread," Numbers 4:7. "Bread of the Face," i.e. set before... [ Continue Reading ]
6-11. The Healing of the Man with the Withered Hand. 6. _into the synagogue_ Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6 _._None of the Evangelists enable us to decide on the time or place when the healing occurred. _there was a man whose right hand was withered_ Obviously he had come in the hope of being healed;... [ Continue Reading ]
_the scribes and Pharisees watched him_ Luke 20:20. The followers of Shammai, at that epoch the most powerful of the Pharisaic Schools, were so strict about the Sabbath, that they held it a violation of the Law to tend the sick, or even to console them on that day. Hence what the Pharisees were wait... [ Continue Reading ]
_their thoughts_ Rather, THEIR REASONINGS.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will ask you one thing_ Rather, I FURTHER ASK YOU. Implying that He had already addressed some questions to their consciences on this subject, or perhaps because they had asked Him, -Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" Matthew 12:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_looking round about upon them all_ St Mark adds -with _anger_, being _grieved_at the callousness _porosin,_Romans 11:25) of their hearts." _Stretch forth thy hand_ Compare 1 Kings 13:4. __... [ Continue Reading ]
_.they were filled with madness_ Rather, unreasonableness. The word implies _senselessness_, the frenzy of obstinate prejudice. It admirably characterises the state of ignorant hatred which is disturbed in the fixed conviction of its own infallibility. (2 Timothy 3:9.) The two first Sabbath miracles... [ Continue Reading ]
12-19. The Selection of the Twelve Apostles. 12. _in those days_ wearied with their incessant espionage and opposition. Probably these two last incidents belong to a later period in the ministry, _following_the Sermon on the Mount (as in St Matthew) and the bright acceptable Galilaean year of our L... [ Continue Reading ]
12-19. _The Selection of the Twelve Apostles._ And it came to pass in those days, _that_he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to _to do good, or to do evil He_was intending to work a miracle for good; _they_were secretly plotting to do harm, their object being, if p... [ Continue Reading ]
_he chose twelve_ doubtless with a reference to the twelve tribes of Israel. _whojn also he named apostles_ The word means primarily -messengers," as in Philippians 2:25. It is a translation of the Hebrew _Sheloochim,_ who often acted as emissaries of the Synagogue (comp. Mark 3:14, ἴνα ἀποστέλλῃ αὐ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Simon_ Lists of the twelve Apostles are given in four passages of Scripture in the following order: Matthew 10:2 Mark 3:16 Luke 6:14 Acts 1:13 Simon Simon Simon Peter Andrew James Andrew James James John James John John Andrew John Andrew Philip Philip Philip Philip Bartholomew Bartholomew Barthol... [ Continue Reading ]
_called Zelotes_ Rather, who was called the Zealot.... [ Continue Reading ]
_which also was the traitor_ Rather, who also became a traitor. "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Joh 6:70; 1 John 2:17; typified by Ahithophel, Ps. 12:9. If it be asked why our Lord chose him, the answer is nowhere given to us, but we may reverently conjecture that Judas Is... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he came down with them_, _and stood in the plain_ Rather, And descending with them, He stopped on a level place. _Topos pedinos_also occurs in Isaiah 13:2, LXX. If it be thus rendered there is no discrepancy between St Matthew, who says that "He went up into the mountain, and when He sat down H... [ Continue Reading ]
_to touch him_ Compare Luke 8:44; Matthew 14:36 _;_Mark 5:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed be ye poor_ Rather, Blessed ARE THE POOR. The _makarioi_is a Hebrew expression (_ashri_), Psalms 1:1. St Matthew adds "in spirit" (comp. Isaiah 66:2, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word"). But (1) St Luke gives the address o... [ Continue Reading ]
20-26. BEATITUDES AND WOES. This section of St Luke, from Luke 6:20 to Luke 9:6, resembles in style the great Journey Section, Luke 9:51.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed are ye that hunger now_ Comp. Luke 1:53; Psalms 107:9. St Matthew here also brings out more clearly that it is the beatitude of spiritual hunger "after righteousness." _ye shall laugh_ See 2 Corinthians 6:10; Revelation 21:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hate you...separate you...reproach...cast out your name as evil_ We have here four steps of persecution increasing in virulence: (1) General hatred, (2) Exclusion from the synagogue, a lesser excommunication, viz. the _Neziphah_or exclusion for 30 days, or _Niddoui_ for 90 days (Gfrorer, _Jahrh. d... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rejoice ye in that day_ See Acts 5:41. "We glory in tribulation;" Romans 5:3; James 1:2-3; Colossians 1:24; Hebrews 11:26. They accepted with joy that -ignominy of Christ" which made the very name of -Christian" a term of execration; 1 Peter 4:14; 1 Peter 4:16. _in the like manner did their fathers... [ Continue Reading ]
_But woe_ While sin lasts, there must still be woes over against Beatitudes, as Ebal stands for ever opposite to Gerizim. In St Matthew also we find (Matthew 23) eight woes as well as eight Beatitudes. See too Jeremiah 17:5-8, but there the "cursed" precedes the "blessed." _woe unto you that are ric... [ Continue Reading ]
_you that are full_ "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, _fulness of bread,"_Ezekiel 16:49. _Woe unto you that laugh now_ Compare Ecclesiastes 2:2; Ecclesiastes 7:6 _;_Proverbs 14:13..... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto you_ Omit _unto you_with א, A, B, E, &c. _when all men shall speak well of you_ "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" James 4:4. "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own," John 15:19. _for so did their fathers to the false prophets_ "The prophets... [ Continue Reading ]
_Love your enemies_ This had been distinctly the spirit of the highest part of the Law and the Old Testament. Exodus 23:4, "If thou meet _thine enemy's_ox or ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again." Proverbs 25:21, "If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat." Yet in man... [ Continue Reading ]
27-38. THE LAWS OF LOVE AND MERCY. 27-30. The _manifestations_of Love. 31. Its formula. 32-35. Its distinctiveness. 35-36. Its model. 37-45. Love as the principle of all judgment. Godet.]... [ Continue Reading ]
_pray for them which despitefully use you_ The Greek word implies the coarsest insults, and is found in 1 Peter 3:16. St Luke alone records our Lord's prayer for His murderers, Luke 23:34, from which St Stephen learnt his, Acts 7:60.... [ Continue Reading ]
_offer also the other_ The general principle "resist not evil" (Mat 5:39; 1 Corinthians 6:7; 1 Peter 2:19-23) impressed for ever on the memory and conscience of mankind by a striking paradox. That it is only meant as a paradox in its _literal_sense is shewn by the fact that our Lord Himself, while m... [ Continue Reading ]
_Give to every man that asketh of thee_ Literally, "_be giving_ implying a _habit_, not an instant act. Here again we have a broad, general principle of unselfishness and liberality safely left to the common sense of mankind, Deuteronomy 15:7-9. The _spirit_of our Lord's precept is now best fulfille... [ Continue Reading ]
_as ye would that men should do to you_ The golden rule of Christianity of which our Lord said that it was "the Law and the Prophets," Matthew 7:12. The modem -Altruism" and - _vivre pour autrui_," though pompously enunciated as the bases of a new religion, are but a mutilated reproduction of this.... [ Continue Reading ]
_for sinners also love those that love them_ Where St Matthew (Matthew 5:46-47), writing for Jews, uses the term "tax-gatherers" or -Gentile persons" (_ethnikoi_), St Luke naturally substitutes the nearest equivalents of those words in this connexion, because he is writing for Gentiles. Our Lord mea... [ Continue Reading ]
_to receive as much again_ From this we see that -interest" and -usury" are not here contemplated at all.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hoping for nothing again_ See Psalms 15:5, with the Rabbinic comment that God counts it as universal obedience if any one lends without interest. The words may also mean DESPAIRING IN NOTHING, or (if μηδέν be read) DRIVING NO ONE TO DESPAIR. _he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil_ See the... [ Continue Reading ]
_._ _Be ye therefore merciful_ Rather, BECOME, or PROVE YOURSELVES MERCIFUL (omit οὖν, א BDL). _merciful_ St Matthew has "_perfect_," Matthew 5:48; but that there is no essential difference between the two Evangelists we may see in such expressions as "the _Father of Mercies_," 2 Corinthians 1:3; "T... [ Continue Reading ]
_fudge not_ For comment read Romans 2:1-3; Romans 14:10, "Why dost thou judge thy brother?...for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ;" 1 Corinthians 4:3-5; 1 Corinthians 4:13, and the Lord's prayer; James 2:13, "he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy." Hence... [ Continue Reading ]
_into your bosom_ Pockets were unknown to the ancients. All that was necessary was carried in the fold of the robe (Heb. _Cheyk., Psalms 35:13_, &c.; Lat. _sinus)_or in the girdle. _with the same measure that ye mete A_proverb almost verbally identical with this is found in the Talmud (Duke's _Rabb... [ Continue Reading ]
39-45. Sincerity. Four Comparisons. 39. _Can the blind lead the blind?_ Matthew 15:14; Proverbs 19:27, "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err." St Paul taunts the Jew with professing to be "a guide of the blind," Romans 2:19. St Luke calls this "a parable" in the broader sense... [ Continue Reading ]
_every one that is perfect shall be as his master_ Rather, WHO HAS BEEN PERFECTED, 2 TIMOTHY 3:17. A favourite quotation of St John's, Luke 13:16; Luke 15:20. See Matthew 10:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
_beholdest thou the mote_ The hypocrite _sees_(_blepei_) at the slightest glance the mote in his brother's eye; but not the most careful inspection enables him to _observe (katanoein)_the very obvious beam in his own eye. The word _mote_is in the original _karphos_, a stalk or chip, and this is also... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hypocrite_ Romans 2:1, "Wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself." "If we condemn others when we are worse than they, we are like bad trees pretending to bear good fruit." Bengel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_do not gather figs_ The simile might have been illustrated by pointing to one of the common Eastern gardens or orchards with its festooning vines and fig-trees just beyond the rough hedges of prickly pear.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh_ "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?" Matthew 12:34; "the vile person will speak villany," Isaiah 32:6. __... [ Continue Reading ]
- 49 _._ False and true Foundations. 46. _why call ye me_, _Lord_, _Lord_ "If I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts?" Malachi 1:6. Painful comments are supplied by the language of two parables, Matthew 25:11-12; Luke 13:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and doeth them_ John 13:17. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only," James 1:22 _._... [ Continue Reading ]
_he is like a man which built a house_, _and digged deep_, _and laid the foundation on a rock_ The E.V. here loses all the picturesque force of the original. Rather, HE IS LIKE A MAN BUILDING A HOUSE, WHO DUG, AND KEPT DEEPENING, AND LAID A FOUNDATION ON THE ROCK. The rock is Christ and the teaching... [ Continue Reading ]
_upon the earth_ In St Matthew, more graphically, "_upon the sand;"_ e.g. the sand of superficial intellectual acceptance.... [ Continue Reading ]