CHAPTER V. _The miraculous draught of fishes at the lake of Gennesaret_, 1-11. _Christ heals a leper_, 12-14. _His fame being published abroad, he withdraws to the desert_, 15, 16. _He heals a paralytic person, at which the scribes and Pharisees_ _murmur, but the people glorify God_, 17-26.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:2. _TWO SHIPS_] δυο πλοια, _Two vessels_, It is highly improper to term these _ships_. They appear to have been only such _small boats_ as are used to manage nets on flat smooth beaches: one end of the net is attached to the shore; the fishermen row out, and drop the net as they go, mak... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:3. _AND TAUGHT - OUT OF THE SHIP._] They pressed so much upon him on the land, through their eagerness to hear the doctrine of life, that he could not conveniently speak to them, and so was obliged to get into one of the boats; and, having pushed a little out from the land, he taught th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:5. _SIMON - SAID - MASTER_] επιστατα. This is the first place where this word occurs; it is used by none of the inspired penmen but Luke, and he applies it only to our blessed Lord. It properly signifies a _prefect_, or one who is _set over_ certain affairs or persons: it is used also f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:6. _THEIR NET BRAKE._] Or, _began to break_, διερρηγνυτο, or, was _likely_ to be _broken_. Had it _broke_, as our version states, they could have caught no fish. Grammarians give the following rule concerning words of this kind. _Verba completiva_ _inchoative intelligenda_. Verbs which... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:7. _THEY BECKONED UNTO THEIR PARTNERS_] Had not these been called in to assist, the net must have been _broken_, and all the fish lost. What a pity there should be such envious separation among the different sects that profess to believe in Christ Jesus! Did they _help each other_ in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:8. _DEPART FROM ME; FOR I AM A SINFUL MAN_] εξελθε απ εμου, _Go out from_ me, i.e. from my boat. Peter was fully convinced that this draught of fish was a miraculous one; and that God himself had particularly interfered in this matter, whose presence and power he reverenced in the pers... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:10. _THOU SHALT CATCH MEN._] ανθρωπους εση ζωγρων, _Thou_ _shalt catch men alive_; this is the proper signification of the word. _Fear not_: these discoveries of God tend to _life_, not to _death_; and ye shall become the instruments of _life_ and _salvation_ to a lost world. _These_ fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:11. _THEY FORSOOK ALL, AND FOLLOWED HIM._] God expects this from every person, and especially from those in whose _hearts_, or in whose _behalf_, he has wrought a miracle of _grace_ or of _providence_. Jesus intended to call Peter, James, and John, to become his disciples; and that they... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:12. _A CERTAIN CITY_] This was some city of Galilee; probably _Chorazin_ or _Bethsaida_. _A MAN FULL OF LEPROSY_] See this _disease_, and the _cure_, largely explained on Matthew 8:2; and see it particularly applied to the use of public preaching, Mark 1:40, c. See also the notes on L... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:14. _AND OFFER FOR THY CLEANSING_] A Hindoo, after recovering from _sickness_, presents the _offerings_ he had _vowed_ when in _distress_, as a goat, sweetmeats, milk, or any thing directed by the Shaster. All nations agreed in these gratitude-offerings for benefits received from the ob... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:16. _AND HE WITHDREW HIMSELF INTO THE WILDERNESS_] Or rather, _He frequently withdrew into the desert_. This I believe to be the import of the original words, ην υποχωρων. He made it a frequent custom to withdraw from the multitudes for a time, and pray, teaching hereby the ministers o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:17. _ON A CERTAIN DAY_] This was when he was at Capernaum. See Mark 2:1. _THE POWER OF THE LORD_] Δυναμις Κυριου The _mighty_ or _miraculous_ power of the Lord, i.e. of Jesus, was there to heal them - as many as were diseased either in body or soul. Where the _teaching_ of _Christ_ is,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:18. _A MAN - TAKEN WITH A PALSY_] See this case described on Matthew 9:1, c., and Mark 2:1, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:19. _WENT UPON THE HOUSETOP_] Matthew 24:17, Matthew 24:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:21. _WHO CAN FORGIVE SINS, BUT GOD ALONE?_] If Jesus were not God, he could not forgive sins; and his arrogating this authority would have been blasphemy against God, in the most proper sense of the word. That these scribes and Pharisees might have the fullest proof of his Godhead, he w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _STRANGE THINGS_] παραδοξα, _paradoxes_. A paradox is something that appears _false_ and _absurd_, but is not _really_ so: or, something _contrary_ to the _commonly received opinion_. We have seen _wonders_ wrought which seem _impossible_; and we should conclude them to be _tricks_ and _il... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _LEVI_] See on Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _AND HE LEFT ALL_] καταλιπων - _completely abandoning_ his office, and every thing connected with it. He who wishes to preach the Gospel, like the disciples of Christ, must have no earthly entanglement. If he have, his whole labour will be marred by it. The concerns of his own soul, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _A GREAT FEAST_] δοχην μεγαλην, _A splendid_ _entertainment_. The word refers more properly to the _number_ of the _guests_, and the manner in which they were _received_, than to the _quality_ or _quantity_ of the _fare_. A great number of his friends and acquaintance was collected on the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:30. _WHY DO YE EAT AND DRINK_, c.] See what passed at this entertainment considered at large on Matthew 9:10 Mark 2:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:37. _THE NEW WINE WILL BURST THE BOTTLES_] These old bottles would not be able to stand the fermentation of the new wine, as the old sewing would be apt to give way. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the eastern bottles are made of _skins_; generally those of _goats_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Luke 5:39. _THE OLD IS BETTER._] χρηστοτερος - Is more _agreeable_ to the _taste_ or _palate_. _Herodotus_, the scholiast on _Aristophanes,_ and _Homer_, use the word in this sense. See _Raphelius_. The _old_ _wine_, among the rabbins, was _the wine of three leaves_; that is, wine three years... [ Continue Reading ]