AND HE LOOKED UP,.... As Christ sat over against the treasury, looking upon the ground, he lift up his eyes; for the treasury was not in an high place, or above Christ, who was right against it. The Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions leave out this clause. AND SAW THE RICH MEN CASTING THEIR GIFTS... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAW ALSO A CERTAIN POOR WIDOW,.... Whom he took particular notice of above all the rest: the poor, and the widow, are regarded by him, and are his care; nor are their mean services, done in faith, and from a principle of love, despised by him, but preferred to the greater services of others,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID,.... To his disciples, as the Ethiopic version adds; these he called to him, upon this occasion, as appears from Mark 12:43 OF A TRUTH I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT THIS POOR WOMAN HATH CAST IN MORE THAN THEY ALL: than all the rich men; not in quantity, but in proportion to her ability; Mark 12:... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR ALL THESE HAVE OF THEIR ABUNDANCE,.... Which they had remaining; the same Hebrew word יתר signifying to remain, and to abound: they had large possessions, and gave in much, and yet had a great deal left; out of which they CAST IN UNTO THE OFFERINGS OF GOD; or "gifts of God": not as gifts unto h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS SOME SPAKE OF THE TEMPLE,.... These were the disciples; Mark says, one of them; but it seems there were more than one; one might begin the discourse, and others join him: HOW IT WAS ADORNED WITH GOODLY STONES AND GIFTS; Matthew 24:1. HE SAID; what follows. This was as he went out of the te... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FOR THESE THINGS WHICH YE BEHOLD,.... Some, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, read these words by way of interrogation; "are these the things which ye behold?" do ye look upon these with wonder and delight? THE DAYS WILL COME; and they are hastening on; a little while, a few years more: IN T... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY ASKED HIM,.... That is, his disciples, when they were come to the Mount of Olives, and as he sat upon that, Matthew 24:3 SAYING, MASTER, BUT WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE? when the temple shall be destroyed; and one stone shall not be left upon another; AND WHAT SIGN [WILL THERE BE] WHEN TH... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID, TAKE HEED THAT YE BE NOT DECEIVED,.... With false Christs, and false prophets: FOR MANY SHALL COME IN MY NAME; making use of his name, taking it to them; not that they would pretend they were sent by him, but that they were he himself: SAYING, I AM [CHRIST]; so the Syriac and Persic v... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN YE SHALL HEAR OF WARS AND COMMOTIONS,.... Or seditions and tumults; "wars" may design the wars of the Romans, against the Jews; and the "commotions", or seditions, the internal troubles among themselves: BE NOT TERRIFIED; as if the destruction of the nation, city, and temple, would be at o... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID HE UNTO THEM, NATION SHALL RISE,.... Matthew 24:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND GREAT EARTHQUAKES SHALL BE IN DIVERS PLACES, AND FAMINES AND PESTILENCES,.... Matthew 24:7. AND FEARFUL SIGHTS; or "terrible things"; whether heard, or seen, as dreadful thunderings, and lightnings; and a voice heard in the temple, saying, let us go hence; and an idiot that went about several y... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BEFORE ALL THESE,.... Before all these things come to pass: THEY SHALL LAY THEIR HANDS ON YOU; as the high priest, the priests, and the captain of the temple did upon the apostles, Acts 4:1 AND PERSECUTE YOU; as upon the death of Stephen, Acts 8:1 DELIVERING YOU UP TO THE SYNAGOGUES; to be sc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL TURN TO YOU FOR A TESTIMONY. By this means they would have an opportunity of leaving their testimony for Christ before kings and rulers; and what they should meet with from them, would be a means of strengthening and confirming them in the truths of the Gospel; and be a proof and eviden... [ Continue Reading ]
SETTLE IT THEREFORE IN YOUR HEARTS,.... Resolve on this in your minds, and let it be a rule never to be departed from: NOT TO MEDITATE BEFORE WHAT YOU SHALL ANSWER; not to sit down, and study a form of words, and scheme of things, what to reply to the ensnaring questions, that may be thought would... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WILL GIVE YOU A MOUTH,.... A faculty of speaking, a freedom of expression, a door of utterance, a good degree of elocution, to speak properly, pertinently and freely to any point: AND WISDOM; to answer with great propriety, and in the most prudent manner, to any difficult and ensnaring questi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL BE BETRAYED BOTH BY PARENTS, AND BRETHREN,.... Matthew 10:21 AND KINSFOLKS, AND FRIENDS. The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions add, "your", to each of these relations, as your parents, c. AND SOME OF YOU SHALL THEY CAUSE TO BE PUT TO DEATH as Stephen was stoned to death, and James... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL BE HATED OF ALL MEN,.... Matthew 10:22. Matthew 24:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THERE SHALL NOT ART HAIR OF YOUR HEAD PERISH. That is, without the will of God, as in Matthew 10:29 or not one shall perish, but what shall be restored again: or the sense is, that though they should be betrayed by their friends, and hated, and persecuted, and imprisoned by their enemies, yet th... [ Continue Reading ]
IN YOUR PATIENCE, POSSESS YE YOUR SOULS. By patiently bearing all afflictions, reproaches, indignities, and persecutions, enjoy yourselves; let nothing disturb or distress you; possess that peace and joy in your souls, which the world cannot take away; see Romans 5:3. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arab... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN YE SHALL SEE JERUSALEM COMPASSED WITH ARMIES,.... The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions read, "with an army"; that is, with the Roman army, as it was by the army which Titus Vespasian brought against it, and besieged it with: THEN KNOW THAT THE DESOLATION THEREOF IS NIGH; signifyi... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN LET THEM WHICH ARE IN JUDAEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS,.... Matthew 24:16. AND LET THEM WHICH ARE IN THE MIDST OF IT; either of Judea, as the preceding clause seems to direct the sense; or in Jerusalem, and which indeed was in the midst of Judea; and this sense is favoured by the Persic version, w... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THESE BE THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE,.... Of God's vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah; THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED; as in Moses and the prophets; see Deuteronomy 28:20... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WOE UNTO THEM THAT ARE WITH-CHILD,.... Matthew 24:19. FOR THERE SHALL BE GREAT DISTRESS IN THE LAND; of Judea. The Greek word αναγκη, here used, properly signifies "necessity", but here intends afflictions and distress; in which sense it is often used by the Septuagint, as in Psalms 107:6 and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL FALL BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD,.... Or "mouth of the sword", an Hebraism; see the Septuagint in Judges 1:8. The number of those that perished by the famine and sword, were eleven hundred thousand f: AND SHALL BE LED AWAY CAPTIVE UNTO ALL NATIONS; when the city was taken, the most beau... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE SHALL BE SIGNS IN THE SUN, AND IN THE MOON,.... They shall be darkened, and suffer very strange and surprising eclipses: AND IN THE STARS; they shall fall from heaven, as in Matthew 24:29 and so the Ethiopic version reads here: all which, as it may be understood in a literal sense, so it... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN'S HEARTS FAILING THEM FOR FEAR,.... Of what these signs in the heaven, earth, and sea portend: AND FOR LOOKING AFTER THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE COMING ON THE EARTH; on the land of Judea: FOR THE POWERS OF HEAVEN SHALL BE SHAKEN; Matthew 24:29.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEN SHALL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN,.... Matthew 24:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THESE THINGS BEGIN TO COME TO PASS,.... When the first of these signs appears, or any one of them: THEN LOOK UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS; be cheerful and pleasant; do not hang down your heads as bulrushes, but erect them, and put on a cheerful countenance, and look upwards, from whence your... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SPAKE TO THEM A PARABLE,.... That is, to his disciples: BEHOLD THE FIG TREE, AND ALL THE TREES; that, or any other tree; Matthew 24:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY NOW SHOOT FORTH,.... Their buds, branches, and leaves; the Vulgate Latin adds, "of themselves": YE SEE AND KNOW OF YOUR OWN SELVES; without any hint, or direction from others, the case is so plain and obvious; the Syriac and Arabic versions read, "of them"; the trees, by their putting for... [ Continue Reading ]
SO LIKEWISE WHEN YE SEE THESE THINGS COME TO PASS,.... The signs before mentioned, in Luke 21:8. KNOW YE THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NIGH AT HAND: a more visible and glorious display of the kingdom of the Messiah, in the destruction of his enemies, the Jews; see Mark 9:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THIS GENERATION,.... Matthew 24:34. Matthew 24:35. All the Oriental versions read here as there, "all these things"; before related.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES,.... To your souls and bodies, to your lives and conversations; be upon your watch and guard: LEST YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND DRUNKENNESS; with excessive eating and drinking; for these, as they oppress and burden the stomach, and disorder the body, so... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR AS A SNARE SHALL IT COME,.... In which a bird is suddenly taken, and cannot get out again; the Persic version renders it, "as lightning and the splendour of the sun"; which break out at once, and enlighten the whole earth; so the destruction of the Jewish nation should be sudden and unavoidable,... [ Continue Reading ]
WATCH YE THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS,.... Watch against every sin, snare, and temptation; particularly, against the above things, surfeiting, drunkenness, and worldly cares; pray continually, for fresh supplies of grace: THAT YE MAY BE COUNTED WORTHY; not for watchfulness and prayer, but through the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THE DAY TIME HE WAS TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE,.... That is, Jesus, as the Persic version expresses it; his constant method every day, till the feast of passover came, was to go up to the temple, and there openly and freely preach the Gospel to the people, who resorted thither in great numbers, f... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE PEOPLE CAME EARLY IN THE MORNING,.... Not all the people in Jerusalem, every inhabitant of the city; this word "all", is often to be taken with a restriction, and here it designs a large number; the Persic version renders it, "vast multitudes": these, some out of curiosity, and others fr... [ Continue Reading ]