CHAPTER XIX. _Jesus leaves Galilee, and comes into the coasts of Judea, and_ _is followed by great multitudes, whom he heals_, 1, 2. _The question of the Pharisees concerning divorce answered, and_ _the doctrine of marriage explained_, 3-9. _The inquiry of the disciples on this subject_, 10. _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:2. _GREAT MULTITUDES FOLLOWED HIM_] Some to be _instructed _- some to be _healed _- some through _curiosity _- and some to _ensnare_ him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:3. _TEMPTING HIM_] Trying what answer he would give to a question, which, however decided by him, would expose him to censure. _IS IT LAWFUL - FOR EVERY CAUSE?_] Instead of αιτιαν, _fault, cause,_ _reason_, three MSS. and the _Coptic_ version read αμαρτιαν, _sin_ or _transgression... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:4. _HE WHICH MADE THEM AT THE BEGINNING_] When Adam and Eve were the first of human kind. _MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE_] Merely through the design of matrimonial union, that the earth might be thus peopled. To answer a case of conscience, a man should act as Christ does here; pay no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:5. _FOR THIS CAUSE_] Being created for this very purpose; that they might glorify their Maker in a matrimonial connection. _A man shall leave_ (καταλειψαι, _wholly give up_) both _father and_ _mother _- the matrimonial union being more _intimate_ and binding than even paternal or fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:6. _WHAT THEREFORE GOD HATH JOINED TOGETHER_] συνεζευξεν, _yoked together_, as _oxen in the plough_, where each must pull _equally_, in order to bring it on. Among the ancients, when persons were newly married, they put a _yoke_ upon their necks, or _chains_ upon their arms, to show... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:7. _WHY DID MOSES THEN COMMAND TO GIVE A WRITING OF_ _DIVORCEMENT?_] It is not an unusual case for the impure and unholy to seek for a justification of their conduct from the law of God itself, and to wrest Scripture to their own destruction. I knew a gentleman, so called, who profe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:8. _MOSES, BECAUSE OF THE HARDNESS OF YOUR HEARTS_] It is dangerous to tolerate the least evil, though prudence itself may require it: because toleration, in this case, raises itself insensibly into permission, and permission soon sets up for command. Moses perceived that if divorce... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:9. _EXCEPT_ IT BE _FOR FORNICATION_] See on Matthew 5:32. The decision of our Lord must be very unpleasant to these men: the reason why they wished to put away their wives was, that they might take others whom they liked better; but our Lord here declares that they could not be rem... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:10. _IF THE CASE OF THE MAN_] του ανθρωπου, _of a husband_, so I think the word should be translated here. The _Codex Bezae,_ _Armenian_, and most of the _Itala_, have του ανδρος, which, perhaps, more properly signifies a _husband_, though both words are used in this sense. Our wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:11. _ALL - CANNOT RECEIVE THIS SAYING_] A very wise answer, and well suited to the present circumstances of the disciples. _Neither_ of the states is condemned. If thou marry, thou dost well-this is according to the order, will, and commandment of God. But if thou do not marry, (bec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:12. _EUNUCHS_] ευνουχος, from ευνην εχειν, _to have the_ _care of the bed_ or _bedchamber_; this being the principal employment of _eunuchs_ in the eastern countries, particularly in the apartments of queens and princesses. These are they whom our Lord says are _made eunuchs by men_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:13. _THEN WERE THERE BROUGHT UNTO HIM LITTLE CHILDREN_] These are termed by Luke, Luke 18:15, τα βρεφη, _infants_, very young children; and it was on _this_ account, probably, that the disciples rebuked the parents, thinking them _too young_ to receive good. See on Mark 10:16. _TH... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:14. _OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN._] Or, _the kingdom_ _of heaven is composed of such_. This appears to be the best sense of the passage, and utterly ruins the whole inhuman diabolic system of what is called non-elect infants' damnation; a doctrine which must have sprung from Mo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:15. _HE - DEPARTED THENCE._] That is, from that part of Judea which was beyond Jordan, Matthew 19:1; and then went to Jericho. See Matthew 20:29.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:16. _ONE CAME_] Instead of εις one, several MSS., the Slavonic version, and _Hilary_, read νεανισκος τις, _a certain young_ _man_. _GOOD_, c.] Much instruction may be had from seriously attending to the _conduct, spirit_, and _question_ of this person. 1. He came running, (Mark 10... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:17. _WHY CALLEST THOU ME GOOD?_] Or, _Why dost thou_ _question me concerning that good thing_? τι με ερωτας περι του αγαθου. This important reading is found in BDL, three others, _the_ _Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, Ethiopic_, latter _Syriac, Vulgate,_ _Saxon_, all the _Itala_ but one... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:18. _THOU SHALT DO NO MURDER_, c.] But some say these commandments are not binding on _us_. Vain, deceived men! Can a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, and a liar enter into eternal life? No. The God of purity and justice has forbidden it. But we are not to keep these commandments in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:19. _HONOUR THY FATHER AND_ THY _MOTHER_] σου _thy_, is omitted by almost every MS. of respectability. _THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF_] _Self-love_, as it is generally called, has been grievously declaimed against, even by religious people, as a most pernicious and drea... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:20. _ALL THESE HAVE I KEPT_] I have made these precepts the rule of my life. There is a difference worthy of notice between this and our Lord's word. He says, Matthew 19:17, τηρησον, _keep_, earnestly, diligently, as with watch and ward; probably referring not only to the _letter_ b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:21. _IF THOU WILT BE PERFECT_] τελειος ειναι, To be _complete_, to have the business _finished_, and all _hinderances_ to thy salvation removed, _go and sell that thou hast_-go and dispose of thy possessions, to which it is evident his heart was too much attached, _and give to the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:22. _WENT AWAY SORROWFUL_] Men undergo great agony of mind while they are in suspense between the love of the world and the love of their souls. When the first absolutely predominates, then they enjoy a factitious rest through a false peace: when the latter has the upper hand, then... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:23. _A RICH MAN SHALL HARDLY ENTER_] That is, into the _spirit_ and _privileges_ of the _Gospel_ in _this world_, and through them into the _kingdom of glory_. Earthly riches are a great obstacle to salvation; because it is almost impossible to possess them, and not to set the heart... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:24. _A CAMEL_] Instead of καμηλον, _camel_, six MSS. read καμιλον, _cable_, a mere gloss inserted by some who did not know that the other was a proverb common enough among the people of the east. There is an expression similar to this in the _Koran_. "The impious, who in his arroga... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:25. _WHO CAN BE SAVED?_] The question of the disciples seemed to intimate that most people were _rich_, and that therefore scarcely any could be saved. They certainly must have attached a different meaning to what constitutes a _rich man_, to what we in general do. Who is a _rich m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:26. _WITH MEN THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE_] God _alone_ can take the love of the world out of the human heart. Therefore the salvation of the rich is represented as _possible_ only to him: and indeed the words seem to intimate, that it requires more than common exertions of Omnipotence to sa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:27. _WE HAVE FORSAKEN ALL_] "A poor _all_," says one, "a parcel of rotten nets." No matter - they were _their_ ALL, whether _rotten_ or _sound_; besides, they were the _all_ they got their bread by; and such an _all_ as was quite sufficient for that purpose: and let it be observed,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 19:28. _YE WHICH HAVE FOLLOWED ME, IN THE REGENERATION, WHEN_ _THE SON OF MAN SHALL SIT IN THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY_, C.] The punctuation which I have observed here, is that which is followed by the most eminent critics: the _regeneration_ is thus referred to the _time_ when Jesus _shal... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _SHALL RECEIVE A HUNDREDFOLD_] Viz. in this life, in _value_, though perhaps not in _kind_; and in the world to come everlasting life. A glorious portion for a persevering believer! The fulness of GRACE _here_, and the fulness of GLORY _hereafter_! See on Mark 10:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _BUT MANY_ THAT ARE _FIRST_, C.] The _Jews_, who have been the _first_ and most _distinguished_ people of God, will in general reject the Gospel of my grace, and be consequently rejected by me. The _Gentiles_, who have had no name among the living, shall be brought to the _knowledge_ of th... [ Continue Reading ]