Luke 11:1

CHAPTER XI.

Christ teaches his disciples to pray, 1-4.

Shows the necessity of importunity in prayer, 5-13.

Casts out a dumb demon, 14.

The Jews ascribe this to the power of Beelzebub; our Lord

vindicates his conduct, 15-23.

Miserable state of the Jews, 24-26.

Who they are that are truly blessed, 27, 28.

He preaches to the people, 29-36.

A Pharisee invites him to dine with him, who takes offence

because he washed not his hands, 37, 38.

Our Lord exposes their hypocrisy, 39-44.

He denounces woes against the lawyers, 45-52.

The scribes and Pharisees are greatly offended, and strive to

entangle him in his words, 53, 54.

NOTES ON CHAP. XI.

Verse Luke 11:1. Teach us to pray] See the nature of prayer, with an ample explanation of the different parts of the Lord's Prayer, treated of in Matthew 6:5. The prayer related here by Luke is not precisely the same as that mentioned by Matthew; and indeed it is not likely that it was given at the same time. That in Matthew seems to have been given after the second passover; and this in Luke was given probably after the third passover, between the feasts of tabernacles, and the dedication. It is thus that Bishop Newcome places them in his Greek Harmony of the Gospels.

There are many variations in the MSS. in this prayer; but they seem to have proceeded principally from the desire of rendering this similar to that in Matthew. Attempts of this nature have given birth to multitudes of the various readings in the MSS. of the New Testament. It should be remarked, also, that there is no vestige of the doxology found in Matthew, in any copy of St. Luke's Gospel.