_Nisan_9 (_Palm Sunday_). Ch. Matthew 21:1-10. The Royal Entry into Jerusalem Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-19. St Luke alone places here the incident of Christ weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:40-44).... [ Continue Reading ]
_were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives_ "Unto Bethphage and Bethany at the mount of Olives" (Mark). "Nigh to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called the mount of Olives" (Luke). Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem, at the S.E. base of the mount of Olives. Of Bethphage ("place of... [ Continue Reading ]
_an ass tied, and a colt with her_ "A colt tied whereon never man sat" (Mark and Luke). St Matthew notes the close correspondence with the words of the prophecy; see Matthew 21:5. Oriental travellers describe the high estimation in which the ass is held in the East. The variety of Hebrew names for... [ Continue Reading ]
The account leads to the inference that the owner of the ass was an adherent of Jesus who had perhaps not yet declared himself. The number of such secret followers was probably very large.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that it might be fulfilled_ See note ch. Matthew 1:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tell ye the daughter of Sion_, &c. Zechariah 9:9. The prophet is predicting the triumph of Israel and the fall of the neighbouring nations. The prophecy contains three distinct Hebrew words for an "ass." "Sitting upon an ass (_chamâr_, from a root meaning _red_) and a colt (_air_, -a young male ass... [ Continue Reading ]
_put on them their clothes_ Their upper garments, the _abbas_of modern Arabs. Cp. with this the throne extemporised for Jehu, 2 Kings 9:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a very great multitude_ Rather, THE GREATER PART OF THE CROWD. _spread their garments in the way_ Instances are recorded of similar acts of respect shewn to Rabbis by their disciples. See Schöttgen, ad loc.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hosanna_ Hebr. "_hoshiah-na_," "save now," "save I pray." _Na_is a particle of entreaty added to imperatives. They are the first words of Psalms 118:25, "Save now I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity," a verse which was sung in solemn procession round the altar at the... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the city was moved_ By a census taken in the time of Nero it was ascertained that there were 2,700,000 Jews present at the Passover. We may picture the narrow streets of Jerusalem thronged with eager inquisitive crowds demanding, with Oriental vivacity, in many tongues and dialects, "who is thi... [ Continue Reading ]
_cast out all them that sold_, &c. It is probable that a look of divine authority, the enthusiasm of His Galilæan followers, and the consciousness of wrongdoing on the part of the traders, rather than any special exercise of miraculous power, effected this triumph of Jesus in His Father's House. _t... [ Continue Reading ]
The Second Cleansing of the Temple Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-46. It is clear from the other Synoptists that the Cleansing of the Temple took place on Nisan 10, not on the day of the entry. St Mark says (Matthew 11:11) that "when he had looked round about on all things there, the eventide being com... [ Continue Reading ]
_My house shall be called the house of prayer_ Isaiah 56:7, "Mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people," or for all nations, _not_of all nations (Mark). _a den of thieves_ Rather, A CAVE OF ROBBERS OR BANDITS. Cp. Jeremiah 7:11, "Is this house which is called by my name become a de... [ Continue Reading ]
The Children's Praise. Peculiar to St Matthew 15. _the chief priests_ The heads of the twenty-four priestly courses, as well as the high-priest and those who had served that office. See note ch. Matthew 26:3. _children crying in the temple_ Children were taught at an early age to join in the templ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise_ Rather, _out of_(or by) _the mouths of_ CHILDREN _and sucklings hast thou_ FOUNDED STRENGTH. Psalms 8:2. The ruling thought of the opening verses is the glory of God set forth in His works. The "scarcely articulate" cry of an infa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bethany_ "House of dates," or, according to Caspari, "Place of shops, or merchant tents," on the S.E. of the Mount of Olives, see note Matthew 21:9. Here Jesus lodged with Lazarus and his sisters.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Cursing of the Fig-Tree Mark 11:12-14; Mark 11:20-24. St Mark places this incident before the "Cleansing of the Temple," see note Matthew 21:12. 19 _a fig tree_ Rather, A SINGLE FIG-TREE. _found nothing thereon, but leaves only_ The fig-tree loses its leaves in the winter: indeed it looks part... [ Continue Reading ]
_they marvelled_ It was rather the power and wonder of the act than the deeper significance of it that moved the disciples. The miracle was to them an "act of power" (δύναμις), or a "wonder" (τέρας), rather than a "sign" (σημεῖον). Yet Jesus follows the turn their thoughts take, and teaches that pra... [ Continue Reading ]
_and doubt not_ The Greek verb implies the doubt that follows questioning and discussion. The active voice is used of _discerning_the face of the sky (ch. Matthew 16:3): from the sense of deciding litigation the meaning passes to disputation in general, and thence in middle voice to its force in the... [ Continue Reading ]
The Authority of Christ is questioned Mark 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8. 23. _By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?_ The second question is not a mere repetition of the first, Jesus is asked (1) what kind of authority He possesses human or divine? (2) By whose agenc... [ Continue Reading ]
_I also will ask you one thing_ This form of argument was usual. The question of the Elders was really an attack. Jesus meets that attack by a counter-question which presented equal difficulties in three ways whether they said from heaven or of men, or left it unanswered. To say from heaven was equi... [ Continue Reading ]
_two sons_ representing the sinners who first refused to do God's will, but repented at the preaching of John; and the Pharisees who, having "the righteousness which is of the law" (Philippians 3:9), professed to do God's will but did it not. Both are sons. God still cares for both. The Pharisees ma... [ Continue Reading ]
The Parable of the Two Sons, and the Explanation of it Peculiar to St Matthew St Luke omits the parable, perhaps as referring especially to Israel. The parable follows in close connection with the question as to the teaching of John. The parables and discourses that follow deal no longer with the... [ Continue Reading ]
_repented_ Rather "changed his mind," felt regret but not repentance or _Metanoia_, a deeper and more lasting feeling: see ch. Matthew 3:2. According to a well-supported reading the cases of the two sons are reversed. The first agrees but goes not, the second refuses but afterwards works in the vin... [ Continue Reading ]
_the way of righteousness_ A Hebrew expression. Cp. "the way of God," ch. Matthew 22:16; "the way of salvation," Acts 16:17. The Christian doctrine was called in a special sense "the way" (Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23). The Greek word in the text also signified a philosophical system. _when ye had seen it... [ Continue Reading ]
_planted a vineyard_ Cp. the parable in Isaiah 5:1-7, where the description is very similar to this. See also Psalms 80:8-16; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:1-6. The vine was adopted as a national emblem on the Maccabean coins. _hedged it round about_ with a stone wall or with a fence of prickly pears.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Wicked Husbandmen Mark 12:1-11; Luke 20:9-18. No parable interprets itself more clearly than this. ISRAEL is represented by an image which the prophets had made familiar and unmistakeable the Vineyard of the Lord. The householder who planted the Vineyard and fenced it round signifies God the F... [ Continue Reading ]
_beat one, and killed another, and stoned another_ See ch. Matthew 23:35.... [ Continue Reading ]
_let us seize on his inheritance_ This would be impossible in real life, but not more impossible than the thought of the Pharisees that by the death of Jesus they would gain the spiritual supremacy.... [ Continue Reading ]
_cast him out of the vineyard_ Words that recall the crucifixion of Jesus outside the city of Jerusalem.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They say unto him_ An interruption from the listening crowd, which marks the intense interest with which these parables were heard. The indignation of the bystanders is aroused as if it were a tale of actual life.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Did ye never read in the scriptures_ Psalms 118:22 (Matthew 21:25 of the same psalm is quoted above, Matthew 21:9, where see note); the psalm "was probably composed for the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the completion of the Second Temple" (Nehemiah 8:13-18). (Canon Perowne.)... [ Continue Reading ]
_whosoever shall fall on this stone_, &c. Lightfoot, _Hor. Hebr._, sees here a reference to the custom of stoning: "the place of stoning was twice as high as a man. From the top of this, one of the witnesses striking him on his loins, fells him to the ground: if he died of this, well; if not, anothe... [ Continue Reading ]
_when they sought to lay hands on him_ The Sanhedrin aimed at two things: (1) to seize Jesus quickly, for the Passover (during which no hostile measures could be taken) was close at hand; and because Jesus might be expected to quit Jerusalem after the feast. (2) To seize Him apart from the people; f... [ Continue Reading ]