Matthan
Jacob

LUKE.

CHAPTER III.

A. a. C. 380 Elicenai, or Esli, born

Naum

Joseph, the husband of Mary Heli

340

290

260

230

200

165

130

100

65

Mary, the mother of Christ 25 Dr. B. now proceeds to inquire, whether by the proposition it appears, that Salathiel in Luke, and Salathiel in 1 Chron. are the same person, provided the generations be traced up to David. This inquiry, he acknowledges, is pressed with many and great difhculties; and the utmost that can be expected from it is, to show that the objections advanced against It are destitute of force.

Matthew states that Jechonias was the father of Salathiel; but Luke says that Neri was his father. These two accounts, however, may be reconciled by the hypothesis, that Neri was the maternal grandfather of Salathiel, and hence, according to the custom of the Hebrews, put down for his father; so we read, Ezra ii. 61. Who took a wife of the daughters of The truth of Barzillai, and was called after their name. this hypothesis is next examined.

It is a received opinion among the Jews that Susanna was wife of Jechonias, and mother of Salathiel, which is conArmed by Biblioth. Clement. Vatic. tom. i. page 490. where it is said, "that Joachim, the husband of Susanna, was supposed to have been the king whom Nebuchadnezzar shut up in prison, whence he was liberated, on the death of that mo narch, by his son and successor, Evil-merodach. Of Susanna was born Salathiel; because he was of the regal line, the elders of the people sat in judgment in his house, as in the palace of the king." That Susanna was nearly allied to the throne, will be readily credited, if it is considered that when she came to the tribunal, she was accompanied by fifty servants: (see the Septuag. version of Daniel, fol. Romæ, 1772,) this was a proof of the regal state; for when Absalom and Adonijah affected the throne, they prepared fifty men to run before them, (2 Sam. xv. 1. 1 Kings i. 5.) The Jews also af firm that she was of the tribe of Judah.

Dr. B. next inquires into the genealogy of Neri, whom he supposes to be the same with Neriah, mentioned so frequently oy Jeremiah, ch. xxxii. 12, 16. xxxvi. 4, 8, 14, 32. xliii. 3, 6. ziv. 1, 41, 59, and who was the father of Baruch and Seraiah. Baruch was certainly of an illustrious family, as we learn from Josephus, (Ant. x. 11.) who calls him the son of Neri. This Dr. B. further establishes by the following considera. tions 1. The title of prince is given to his brother Seraiah, Jer. xli. 59. 2. When the Jews were conquered by the Chal deans, Johanan, the son of Kareah, took the remnant of Judah, and all the nobility and persons of distinction, and car. ried them down into Egypt; and among these were Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch, the son of Neriah, Jer. xliii. 5-7. 3. The words of Jer. xlv. 4, 5. "The Lord saith, Behold, that which I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted will I pluck up; and seekest thou great things for thy. self, seek them not, for I will bring evil upon all flesh," &c. Here it is evident the threatening is directed against the house of Darid; (2 Sam. vii. 16. 1 Chron. xvii. 25.) and the great things which Baruch sought for himself, were certainly a share in the government of the land, as being nearly allied to the 4. Add to this, that the throne, or even the throne itself. Jews alleged as a charge against Baruch, that by his instigation, Jeremiah exhorted them rather to continue under the power of the Chaldeans, than escape to Egypt, Jer. xliii. 3. which seems strongly to intimate that he expected to exercise the regal power over the remaining Jews, by the assistance of the Chaldeans, which he could not expect to maintain in Egypt. From all these considerations, Dr. B. infers, that Baruch, and consequently Neriah, sprang from Nathan, the son of David.

genealogy of our Lord.

pè verba Hebraica et nomina quæ in Græca et Latina trans latione sunt posita, nimia vetustate corrupta scriptorumque vitio depravata, et dum de inemendatis scribuntur inemen. datiora de verbis Hebraicis facta esse sarmatica imò nullius gentis, dum et Hebra esse desierint, et aliena esse non cæpe rint. HIERON. Opera, vol. iii. col. 981. edit. Martinay.

Dr. B. thinks, that if the above hypothesis be allowed as probable, it will follow, that the family of Nathan was concealed in an humble and obscure situation, until almost the whole race of Solomon was destroyed by the treachery of Athaliah. Maaseiah or Simeon, the prince of this family, fearing a similar destruction, and being moved with pity towards his relative Joash, and having, by the assistance of Jehoiada the priest, removed Athaliah out of the way, set Joash at last on the throne, according to the particular account in 2 Chron. xxii. 23. From that time the wealth and dignity of this family increased, till the whole line of Solomon becoming extinct, Jechonias, his only remaining heir, took Susanna. the daughter of Neriah, to wife; to which circum.. stance, Dr. B. thinks, the author of Psalm cxxxii. 17. proba bly alludes: "There will I make the horn of David to bud; 1 have ordained a lamp, (that is, Neri) for mine anointed." Here Dr. B. plays a little on the original wordner, a lamp; and as Neri, signifies my lamp, and Neriah, the lamp of the Lord, he seems to think this a prophetical declaration of the preservation of the seed royal in the person of Neriah, the direct ancestor of Christ. Supposing this hypothesis to be true, Dr. B. constructs his genealogical table in the following manner, beginning at the division of the line of Solomon, and omitting Melea and Mainan, for reasons that have been already assigned.

1 SOLOMON.
2 Rehoboam
3 Abiah
4 Asa

5 Jehoshaphat
6 Jehoram
7 Ahaziah
8 Joash

9 Amaziah

17 Jehoiakim

18 Jehoichin or Jechonlas

1 NATHAN.
2 Mattatha
3 Eliakim

4 Jonan

5 Joseph

6 Judah or Adaiah

7 Simeon or Maaseiah

8 Levi

9

Matthat

On the ancestors of Mary, and the consanguinity between her and Joseph, Dr. B. shows that the Virgin descended, not from the tribe of Levi, (an opinion which some of the ancients embraced,) but from the family of David; and brings several additional arguments, to prove that St. Luke's professed object was to trace out the genealogy of Mary, and St. Matthew's that of Joseph.

According to the universal voice of antiquity, the father and the mother of the Virgin were called Jeachim and Anna. Dr. B. thinks it indisputable that Joachim is the same name with Eli, Luke iii. 23. or Eliakim, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4. To give a greater probability to the opinion that Luke delivers the ge nealogy of Mary, Dr. B. refers to those Jewish writings quo ted by Lightfoot, in which the mother of our Lord is called by na Mary the daughter of Eli; and though the lat ter word is written by instead of this does not, in his opi nion, tend to invalidate the argument, as x and y are fre quently interchanged. It may, therefore, be taken for granted, that Eli was the father of Mary, and maternal grandfather of Christ, and that he is considered by St. Luke as the real father of Christ, while Joseph was only the putative father; and thus Dr. B. thinks, his own exposition is not only confirmed, but Luke is represented to be consistent with himself Neri is said to be the father of Salathiel, though it is evident through the whole of his account: for in the same way as he was no more than his maternal grandfather, so Eli would appear to be the maternal grandfather of Christ, although he is called his father. On the contrary, if the hypothesis of Africanus be adopted, the genealogy by St. Luke is self-contradictory. Dr. B. next takes into consideration the family of Anna, the mother of Mary. It is generally agreed, that the is not easy to be known. Some suppose him to have been a father of Anna was named Matthan; who this person was, priest; and as it was lawful for the daughters of the priests to marry into any tribe, (Lev. xxii. 12.) we may perceive how Mary could be the cousin (vyyevns) of Elisabeth, (who was really of the tribe of Levi) though her father Joachim, or Eli, was a descendant of the tribe of Judah.

As nothing is related of the ancestors of Neriah, Dr. B. is obliged to recur to conjectures, the chief of which are the following. "Maaseiah or Melchi, the father of Neriah, was probably the same who, during the reign of Josiah, was goTernor of the city, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 8. whom the Syriac calls the serile, and the Arabic the teacher of the city. Probably, also Simeon the son of Juda, (Luke ili. 30.) is the same as is called Maaseiab, the son of Adaiah, 2 Chron. xxiii. 1. Simeon and Maaseiah, (Dr. B. observes,) are written in nearly the sune letters, and differ scarcely, except in their situation. As to the names of Adaiah and Juda, the difference is nearly the same with that already observed between Obadiah and From considering the family of Anna, the Virgin's mother, Judas, Luke lii. 25." That the names in the Old Testament have been extremely corrupted, not only in the different translations through which the Sacred writings have passed, Dr. B. proceeds to the family of Joachim; but in this examibut also in varioas copies of the original, is wel known to nation, he finds very few documents to guide his inquiries. every biblical critic, and has been continually deplored, from Ancient writers, in order to prove that Mary sprang from Da. the days of St. Jeroni to the present hour. The complaint of vid, invented two names, Panther and Barpanther, as the this father, in his comment on Ezekiel xl. 7. is as follows:-grandfather and father of Joachim. Concerning this fabulous Station mensus est limen portæ quod LXX. Ocɛ nominant, Panther, there are two hypotheses: one is, that Panther was in flebræo scriptum est' Seph; et diligentem et the surname of Jacob, the father of Joseph; and this was the 193 pro quo 18 stuum lectorem adrinendum putout sciat omnia pro- opinion of Epiphanius. Others have maintained that he was Bb

Observations on the

ST. LUKE.

All subjects of is kind, both in sacred and profane history, are entangled with difficulties peculiar to themselves, partly through the remoteness of the tines to which they refer, and partly through the peculiar manners that prevailed in different nations, of reckoning and recording their genealogical successions. I may venture to affirm, that similar difficulties, and even greater, are to be found in profane histories of the first import ance; the general accuracy and universal authenticity of which no man who regards his credit will ever call into question. Dr. B. has certainly proved his main points without recur ring to the discreditable shifts, which some will adopt who cut the knots they cannot untie; and because they find it impracti cable to reconcile certain seeming diffiulties in the sacred his tory, first affect to doubt the authenticity of those histories, and afterwards put forth their criminal hands, and lop off whole branches from the tree of life: a text is too small a por. tion: difficulties (to them) still remain, another text must follow, and another still, till at last whole chapters are tossed away into the limbo of vanity. Then, to be sure, all is fair and clear; for by this species of criticism any thing may be proved or denied: but God never appointed such a method to discover truth, and sound criticism should hold it disgraceful to resort to it.

genealogy of our Lord. of the family of Nathan, and brother of Melchi: this hypo- | authority of the Old Testament and a collation of MSS. unthesis is delivered by Damascenus, who appears to have found connected with any hypothesis whatever. it in Epiphanius. Leaving all these precarious and forged authorities, Dr. B. thinks that the family of Joachim is more likely to be ascertained, by inquiring among the brethren of our Lord, mentioned Matt. xiii. 55, and Mark vi. 3.-James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. Concerning these, there have been two opinions: 1. That they were the sons of Joseph by a former wife, which Origen, Epiphanius, and Theophylact, seem to have believed, and Jerom has opposed with considerable asperity. (See his books De viris illustribus et adversus Helvidium.) Jerom's hypothesis, on the contrary, is, that James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, were cousins of our Lord, being the sons of Mary, the wife of Alpheus, and sister to the Virgin, who is called Mapia n rov Kλwra, John xix. 25. Dr. B. asserts, after Baronius and others, that James the Just, the first bishop of the church at Jerusalem, was the same who is called the brother of our Lord, and the son of Alpheus. Concerning Cleopas or Klopas, there are various opinions, both among ancient and modern writers. Hegesippus, as quoted by Eusebius, (Hist. Eccl. 1. iii. c. 2.) calls himn the brother of Joseph. Epiphanius, on the contrary, calls him the brother of Joachim: Chrysostom is of the same opinion. Others make Cleopas and Alpheus the same person: and Grotius, following the Arabic version, understands by ʼn rou Kλora, the daugh ter, not the wife of Cleopas. Calmet, in his comment on John xix. 25. gives it as the most plausible opinion, that Cleopas was husband of that Mary, who was sister to the blessed Virgin, and father of James the less. Dr. B. thinks that these apparently discordant systems may be harmonized by the following scheme:

MATTHAT

Joachim, or Eli, married the second time to Anna, from sprang

Cleopas died with.
out issue; from
the marriage of
his widow with
his brother Joa- whom
chim sprang Ma- Mary
αψη του Κλωπα.

Joseph

JESUS

JACOB

Alpheus or Cleopas, married Mary η του KAшra whence sprang James, Joses, Simon, and Juda. By this hypothesis it would appear, that there were two persons of the name of Cleopas, one the brother of Joachim, the other the brother of Joseph; one the legal father, the other the husband of Mary. Hence James and the others are properly termed the brethren of our Lord, being connected with him by a twofold tie of consanguinity-on their mother's side, and on the side of their putative father. Secondly, by this hypothesis, the difficulty of regarding these four brothers, as the sons of Joseph, is quite removed: if this indeed were true, they would not be the sons of Mary Tov Kona, for Joseph would then have been the husband of the two sisters, contrary to the law, Lev. xviii. 18. Cleopas or Alpheus, according to Grotius and Lucas Brugensis, is the same with KAora, (John xix. 25.) who was alive when Christ was crucified. Hence it is improbable that James, Joses, Simon, and Judas, could have been born of his wife, by any marriage of her with Joseph. We have already seen from Hegesippus, that the grandchildren of this very Jude who was called our Lord's brother, were alive in the time of Domitian: he expressly says, that "Simon, the son of Cleopas, who was uncle to our Lord, was crucified in the 120th year of his age, under the reign of Trajan, when Atticus, of the consular order, was president of Syria." See Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1 iii. c. 32. Simon must, therefore, have been born before Christ, for Trajan, in whose reign he suffered, died A. D. 117. If, therefore, Joseph had ever married Mary Tov Kλora, it must have been before he espoused the mother of our Lord, and then, as both these sisters were alive at the crucifixion, (John xix. 25.) he must have been illicitly the husband of both at the same time.

I have said that the peculiar manner used by some of the eastern nations in recording their genealogies, is one cause of their present obscurity: on this subject the late ingenious Mr. Harmer refers to a case in point, which I shall give in his own words:

"Genealogical tables were kept among the Jews with great exactness. Every person of learning, however, knows, that the great difference in this point between St. Matthew and St Luke, who have each of thein given us a genealogy of our Lord, has greatly embarrassed the curious, and did so early; (see Aug. Retract. 1. ii. c. 7.) but as in other cases, what was at first thought an objection against the sacred writer, has turned out in his favour; so doubly will this, when it shall be thoroughly cleared up. Time may, perhaps, do it: all I would attempt to show here is, that there has been lately discovered an inscription at Palmyra, which has just the same difficulty. He that clears up the Syrian difficulty, will, I presume, clear up the Sacred. To which I would add, that it is to be remembered, that Palmyra was in the neighbourhood of Judea, and the inscriptions that are found there, are about the apostolic age. As to the inscription, I refer to Mr. Wood, the ingenious editor of those ruins, who has observed, that it was more difficult to understand than translate it. This, says he, will appear by rendering it literally, which is easiest done into Latin, thus. Senatus populusque Alialamenem, Pani filium, Mocimi nepotem, Aranis pronepotem, Matha abnepotem, et Æranem patrem ejus, viros pios et patriæ amicos, et omni modo placentes patriæ patriisque diis, honoris gratia. Anno 450, Mense Aprili. Our difficulty is, continues he, that Eranes is called the father of Alialamenes, who is himself called the son of Panus, just in the same manner as St. Matthew tells us that Jacob begat Joseph; and St. Luke calls Joseph the son of Hels. There is something without doubt in these affairs peculiar to the east, which, however unknown to us, was common to the Jews and the people of Palmyra; and will, when properly explained, be a proof of the authenticity of these genealogies, instead of an objection." HARMER'S Observations.

To several of my readers it will probably appear that Dr. B. has carried his critical conjectures too far, particularly in respect of several names which occur in these genealogies. Those only will make this objection, who from a want of acquaintance with ancient MSS. suppose that those names, as they occur in our present copies, are to be considered as invariably genuine and original. But the specimen I have already given in the preceding pages, of the different reading of the same name in ancient MSS. will serve to remove this misapprehension. From a very particular acquaintance with this subject, I think I have sufficient ground to state, that through the ignorance and carelessness of transcribers, innumerable mistakes have been inade in ancient names. These also have suffered very greatly in their transfusion from one language to another, till at last the original name is almost totally lost. Examples might be multiplied without end: a very few will suffice: the yo Yehoshua (according to the Masoretic punc tuation) of the Hebrew Bible, is changed into Joshua and Je sus; y Yesh yahoo into Isaiah and Esaias; 8 EliyaArdsheer into Ahasuerus; Artachshasta into Artaxerzes, and even Darius; and p Yahchanan into loans, Jo hannes, and John! Besides, neither the Greeks nor Romans could pronounce either the Hebrew or Persian names; and when engaged in the task of transcribing, they did it according to their own manner of pronunciation. It is notorious that all the Greek and Latin historians have committed innumerable blunders of this kind, in their accounts of foreign nations. St. Jerom loudly complains of the ridicule, which those Christians, who were accustomed only to a Greek or Latin mode of pronunciation, endured continually from the Jews, because they could not pronounce the Hebrow proper names, particularly the gutturals: " Solent, (says he) irridere nos imperitia maximé in aspirationibus et quibusdam cum rasura gula litteris proferendis;-si igitur à nobis hæc

Dr. Barret having thus finished his laborious investigation of this difficult subject, concludes his work by observing, that his prime object was to prove, by the agreement of the evangelists, that Christ descended from David by the line of Solomon; that on this subject he has not assumed that the explanation given of one or other of these genealogies is the true one, and that the other should be corrected according to it; but that in the first place, he has considered the number of the generations, and then by assistance derived from the books of the Old Testament, the rules of sound and temperate criti-hoo into Elijah and Elias: the Persian Daráb into Darius ; cism, and the collation of MSS., has constructed a genealogical table of the family of David; (see the preceding pages ;) and having compared with this table the genealogies extant in the evangelists, he finds that they agree with it in the main, and consequently that they agree with each other. It cannot be objected against his argument, that he takes for granted what he should have proved, viz. that one or other of the genealogies is true; this he has not asserted, but he infers that both are authentic, from their agreement with that which he has constructed from the best existing authorities: and although he considers the hypothesis of the moderns, which states that Luke sets down the genealogy of Mary, to be the most probable, yet he has not assumed it as true; neither do his concluBions against the hypothesis of Africarus, in the second and third sections, rest on any such assumption, but solely on the

Account of Christ's temptation

CHAPTER IV.

nominum et linguæ idiomata ut videlicet barbara non ita fue-
rintexpressa ul exprimuntur ab Hebræis, solent cachinnum
attollere, et jurare se penitus nescire quod dicimus." Com.
in. Epist. ad. Tit. c. iii. v. 9. This learned father excuses him-
self and his brethren on the consideration, that the Hebrews
had both sounds and letters, which were wholly unknown to
the Greeks and Latins; and particularly instances cheth,
and yayin, the double aspiration of which (as he terms it)
the Septuagint not being able to express, were obliged to repre.
sent by the use of additional letters, quia cum duplici aspi-
ratione in Græcam linguam transferre non poterant, aliis
Litteris additis expresserunt: he adds, that, whereas the
Greeks and Romans had only one s, the Hebrews had three,
samech, sade, and sin, each of which had a different |

m the wilderness
sound. (Ubi supra.) From these examples, the reader wil
see the indubitable evidence of corruption in many proper
names, and the great probability of it in others.
On the whole of this genealogy a pious writer makes the
following reflections:

Jesus, the author and principle of the new creation, and the
repairer of the world, disdains not to be reckoned among or-
dinary creatures, and among the children of sinful Adam.
He designed hereby to secure us from having the least doubt
of his human nature; and to assure us, that we have a Vic-
tim, a Saviour, and a High-priest, capable of compassion-
ating our infirmities and miseries, and making atonement
for our sins; and thus reconciling us to God. Thanks be to
God for his unspeakable gift!

CHAPTER IV.

Heals Peter's mother

Teaches in the synagogues of Galilee, 14, 15. He preaches in a synagogue at Nazareth, 16–23. Christ's templation, 1—13. They attempt to kill him, 29, 30. He preaches in Capernaum, 31, 32. and casts out a demon, 33-37. is law, and various others, 33-41. He goes to the desert, and preaches afterward in the synagogues of Galilee, 42-44. [A. M. 4031. A. D. 27. An. Olymp. CCI. 3.]

A

ND Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2 Being forty days teinpted of the devil. And in those days be did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, d It is written, That man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed
unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee,
and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to
whomsoever I will I give it.

7 If thou therefore wilt f worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind
me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pin-
nacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of
God, cast thyself down from hence:

a Mait. 4. 1. Mark 1.12-b Ver 14. Ch 27 Exod. 34. 28. 1 Kings 19 8Den. 6. 2.- John 12 31. & 14 30. Rev. 13, 2, 7-f Or, fall down before ine.· The 6.1.2 & 10. 20.

NOTES.-Verse 1. Was led by the Spirit] Or, And was carried about, nyεTO. Matthew says, avnxon, he was brought Mark says, the Spirit driveth him, exẞadλet-putteth him forth. But each of the evangelists attribute this to the Holy Ghost, not to Satan.

up.

It may be useful to remark here, that during the forty days and forty nights in which he is said to have been tempted by the devil, he is carried about continually sustained and supported by the Holy Ghost. Let those who are tempted by Satan, look for, and in virtue of the power and intercession of Christ, claim the same support; and it matters little how maby days they may be assaulted by the devil, while they are carried about by the Spirit of God.

7. If thou-wilt worship me] This temptation is the last in order, as related by Matthew; and it is not reasonable to suppose that any other succeeded to it. Luke has here told the particulars, but not in the order in which they took place. See every circumstance of this temptation considered and explained in the notes on Matt. iv. 1-11.

14. Returned in the power of the Spirit] εν τη δυνάμει του vesparos, in the mighty power of the Spirit. Having now conquered the grand adversary, he comes in the miracleworking energy of the Spirit to show forth his power, Godhead, and love to the people, that they might believe and be saved. He who, through the grace of God, resists and over. counes temptation, is always bettered by it. This is one of the wonders of God's grace, that those very things which are designed for our utter ruin, he makes the instruments of our greatest good. Thus Satan is ever duped by his own proceedings, and caught in his own craft.

15. And he taught in their synagogues] We do not find that even the persecuting Jews ever hindered Christ or his disciples from preaching in their synagogues. Is it the same in every place where even the Christian religion is established by law 1 Would Jesus, or his apostles, or their most scriptural representatives, be permitted to preach in one out of a thousand churches, in certain countries, unless they were strictly conformed to their external ecclesiastical customs? Nor even then, unless their doctrine were according to the taste of the managers and of the times.

Glorified of all.] All felt the power of his preaching, and acknowledged the divinity of his mission. The scandal of the cross had not yet taken place.

16. To Nazareth, where he had been brought up] It is likely that our Lord lived principally in this city, till the 30th year of his age; but after he entered on his public ministry, his usual place of residence was at the house of Peter, in Ca pernaum.

As his custom was] Our Lord regularly attended the public worship of God in the synagogues; for there the Scriptures were read-other parts of the worship were very corrupt;

10 For i it is written, He shall give his angels charge over
thee, to keep thee:

11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

12 And Jesus answering said unto him, k It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

14 m And Jesus returned" in the power of the Spirit into Galilee and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to P Nazareth, where he had been brought up and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up for to read.

૧

17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place

where it was written,

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives.

h Matt. 4. 5.-i Paa. 91. 11.-k Deu. 6. 16.- John 14. 30. Hebrews 4. 15-m Matt 4. 12. John 4. 43.-n Verse 1.-o Acts 10. 37.-p Matt. 2. 23. & 13. 51. Mark G. 1.q Acts 13. 14. & 17. 2-t isa. 61. 1.

but it was the best at that time to be found in the land. To worship God publicly is the duty of every man; and no man can be guiltless who neglects it. If a person cannot get such public worship as he likes, let him frequent such as he can get. Better to attend the most indifferent, than to stay at home, especially on the Lord's day. The place and the time are set apart for the worship of the true God: if others do not conduct themselves well in it, that is not your fault, and need not be any hinderance to you. You come to worship God-don't forget your errand-and God will supply the iack in the service by the teachings of his Spirit. Hear the saying of old Mr. Herbert.

"The worst speak something good: should all want sense, God takes the text, and preacheth p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e.

A man may always profit where the word of God is read. Stood up for to read] The Jews, in general, sat while they taught or coinmented on the Sacred Writings, or the traditions of the elders; but when they read either the law or the prophets, they invariably stood up: it was not lawful for them even to lean against any thing while employed in reading.

17. And when he had opened the book] Avarrukas, when he had unrolled it. The Sacred Writings used to this day, in all the Jewish synagogues, are written on skins of basil, parchment or vellum, pasted end to end, and rolled on two rollers, beginning at each end; so that in reading from right to left, they roll off with the left while they roll on with the right. Probably the place in the prophet Isaiah here referred to, was the lesson for that day; and Jesus unrolled the manuscript till he came to the place; then, after having read, he rolled it up again, and returned it to the officer, ver. 20. the ruler of the synagogue, or his servant, whose business it was to take care of it. The place that he opened was probably the section for the day. See the Table at the end of Deuteronomy, and the note at the end of that table.

18. The Spirit of the Lord] This is found in Isaiah Ixi. i. but our Lord immediately adds to it ver. 7. of chap. xlii. The proclaiming of liberty to the captives, and the acceptable year (or year of acceptance) of the Lord, is a manifest allusion to see Lev. xxv. 9, &c. and the notes there. This was a year of the proclaiming of the year of Jubilee by sound of trumpet, general release of debts and obligations; of bondmen and wo the families and tribes to which they belonged. Our Saviour, men; of lands and possessions, which had been sold from by applying this text to himself, a text so manifestly relating to the institution above-mentioned, plainly declares the typical design of that institution.-I.OWTH.

He hath anointed me] I have been designed and set apart for this very purpose: my sole business among men is, to proclaim glad tidings to the poor, &c. All the functions of this new prophet are exercised on the hearts of men; and the 195 grace by which he works in the heart is a grace of healing,

1

and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

2! And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

22 And all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son ?

23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself; whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

с

24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accept. ed in his own country.

25 But I tell you of a truth, f many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and

a Paa. 45.2. Matt. 13, 54. Mark 6, 2. Ch 2.47-b John 6.42. Matt 4 19. & 11. 23-d Matt. 13 54. Mark 6. 1.-e Mar 13 57. Mark 6.4. John 4.44 -f Kings 17. 9. deliverance and illumination; which, by an admirable virtue, causes them to pass from sickness to health, from slavery to liberty, from darkness to light, and from the lowest degrees of misery to supreme eternal happiness. See Quesnel. To those who feel their spiritual poverty; whose hearts are broken through a sense of their sins; who see themselves tied and bound with the chains of many evil habits; who sit in the darkness of guilt and misery, without a friendly hand to lead them in the way in which they should go-to these, the Gospel of the grace of Christ is a pleasing sound, because a present and full salvation is proclaimed by it; and the present is shown to be the acceptable year of the Lord; the year, the time, in which he saves to the uttermost all who come unto him in the name of his son Jesus. Reader! what dost thou feel ? Sin-wretchedness-misery of every description? Then come to Jesus-He will save THEE-he came into the world for this very purpose. Cast thy soul upon him, and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life.

20. Were fastened on him) Were attentively fixed on him. The proper import of ατενίζοντες αυτού.

and attempt to kill him,

six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta,
a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the
prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the
Syrian.

28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these
things, were filled with wrath,

29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

30 But he i passing through the midst of them went his way, 31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath-days.

32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

& 18.1. Janies 5,17 —g 2 Kings 5 14.-h Or, edge-i John 8.59 & 10. 3).—k Mast 4. 13. Mark 1. 21.-1 Mart. 628, 19 Th.2 15-m Mack 1.23.

The kingdom of God was taken from the Jews, and given to the Gentiles; not because the Gentiles were better than they were, but because, 1st. The Jews had forfeited their privile ges; and, 2dly. Because Christ saw that the Gentiles would bring forth the fruits of the kingdom.

29. The brow of the hill Mr. Maundrel tells us, that this is still called "the Mountain of the Precipitation, and is half a league southward of Nazareth. In going to it, you cross first over the vale in which Nazareth stands; and then going down two or three furlongs, in a narrow cleft between the rocks, you there clamber up a short but difficult way on the right. hand; at the top of which you find a great stone standing on the brink of a precipice, which is said to be the very place where our Lord was destined to be thrown down by his en raged neighbours." Maundrel's Journey, p.116. edit. 5th. 1732. 30. Passing through the midst of them] Either he shut their eyes so that they could not see him; or he so overawed them by his power, as to leave them no strength to perform their murderous purpose. The man Christ Jesus was immortal till his time came; and all his messengers are immortal till their work is done.

22. At the gracious words] To the words of grace, et rois Anyous Tηs Xaptros, or the doctrines of grace, which he then preached. It is very strange, that none of the evangelists give us any account of, this sermon! There was certainly more of it than is related in the 21st verse. To-day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears; which seems to have been no more than the first sentence he spoke on the occasion. Had it been necessary for our salvation, it would have been recorded. It was a demonstration to those Jews, that Jesus, who preached to them, was the person of whom the prophet there spoke: it was not designed for general edification. Let us make a good use of what we have got, and we shall not re-rounded the house, armed with different instruments of death. gret that this sermon is lost. The ear is never satisfied with hearing: we wish for another and another reveiation, while sadly unacquainted with the nature and design of that which God's mercy has already given us.

The following relation of a fact presents a scene something similar to what I suppose passed on this occasion. A missionary, who had been sent to a strange land to proclaim the Cospel of the kingdom of God, and who had passed through many hardships, and was often in danger of losing his life, through the persecutions excited against him, came to a place where he had often before, at no small risk, preached Christ crucified. About fifty people, who had received good impressions from the word of God, assembled: he began his discourse; and after be had preached about thirty minutes, an outrageous mob surand breathing the most sanguinary purposes. Some that were within, shut the door; and the missionary and his flock betook themselves to prayer. The mob assailed the house, and began to hurl stones against the walls, windows, and roof; and in a short 23. Physician, heal thyself] That is, heal the broken heart-time almost every tile was destroyed, and the roof nearly uncoed in thy own country, as the latter clause of the verse ex-vered, and before they quitted the premises, scarcely left one plains it but they were far from being in a proper spirit to receive the salvation which he was ready to coinmunicate; and therefore they were not healed.

24. No prophet is accepted] See on Matt. xiii. 55-57. 25. In the days of Elias] See this history, 1 Kings xvii. 1— 9. compared with chap. xviii. 1-45. This was evidently a miraculous interference, as no rain fell for three years and six months, even in the rainy seasons. There were two of these in Judea, called the first and the latter rains: the first fell in October, the latter in April; the first prepared the ground for the seed; the latter ripened the harvest. As both these rains were withheld, consequently there was a great famine throughout all the land.

square inch of glass in the five windows by which the house was enlightened. While this was going forward, a person came with a pistol to the window opposite to the place where the preacher stood (who was then exhorting his flock to be steady, to resign themselves to God, and trust in him) presented it al him, and snapped it, but it only flashed in the pan! As the house was a wooden building, they began with crows and spades to undermine it, and take away its principal supports. The preacher then addressed his little flock to this effect: "These outrageous people seek not you, but me; if I continue in the house, they will soon pull it down, and we shall be all buried in its ruins; I will therefore, in the name of God, go out to them, and you will be safe." He then went towards the door: the poor people got round him, and entreated him not to venture out, as he might expect to be instantly massacred. He went calmly forward, opened the door, at which a whole volley of stones and dirt was that instant discharged, but he received no damage. The people were in crowds in all the space before the door, and filled the 27. None of them was cleansed] This verse is to be under-road for a considerable way, so that there was no room to pass derstood as the 26th; for Naaman being a Syrian, was no or repass. As soon as the preacher made his appearance, the leper in Israel. savages becaine instantly as silent and as still as night; he walked forward; and they divided to the right and to the left, leaving a passage of about four feet wide for himself, and a young man who followed him, to walk in. He passed on through the whole crowd, not a soul of whom either lifted a hand or spoke one word, till he and his companion had gain

26. Unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta] The sentence is elliptical, and means this: To none of them was Elias sent: he was not sent except to Sarepta: for the widow at Sarepta was a Sidonian not a widoio of Israel. PEARCE-Sarepta was a Pagan city in the country of Sidon, in the vicinity of Galilee.

The meaning of the verses is, God dispenses his benefits when, where, and to whom he pleases. No person can conplain of his conduct in these respects, because no person deserves any good from his hand. God never punishes any but those who deserve it; but he blesses incessantly those who deserve it not. The reason is evident: justice depends oned the uttermost skirts of the mob! The narrator, who was certain rules; but beneficence is free. Beneficence can bless both the good and the evil; justice can punish the latter only. Those who do not make this distinction, must have a very co fused notion of the conduct of Divine Providence among men. 23. Were filled with wrath! They seem to have drawn the following conclusion from what our Lord spoke; "The Gentules are more precious in the sight of God than the Jers: and to them his miracles of mercy and kindness shall be principally confined." This was pretty near the truth, as the event proved. Those who profit not by the light of God, while it is among them, shall have their candle extinguished.

present on the occasion, goes on to say: "This was one of the most affecting spectacles lever witnessed: an infuriated mob, without any visible cause, (for the preacher spoke not ené word,) became in a moment as calm as lambs! They seem. ed struck with atmazement bordering on stupefaction: they stared and stood speechless; and after they find fallen back to the right and left to leave him a free passage, they were as motionless as statues! They assembled with the full parpose to destroy the man who came to show them the way of salvation; but he passing through the midst of them went his way. Was not the God of missionaries in this work ? The

CHAPTER V.

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. He calls the publican Levi, who makes a feast for Christ, to which he invites a great num ber of publicans and others, at which the scribes and Pharisees murmur, and our Lord vindicates his conduct, 27-32. The question about fasting answered, 33-35. The parable of the new piece of cloth put on the old garment, and the new wine put in old bottles, 36–39. [A. M. 4031. A. D. 27. An Olymp. CCI. 3.] AND it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

NOTES-Verse 1. The people pressed upon him.] There to term these ships. They appear to have been only such was a glorious prospect of a plentiful harvest, but how few of small boats as are used to manage nets on flat smooth beach. these blades caine to full corn in the ear! To hear with dili-es: one end of the net is attached to the shore; the fishermen gence and affection is well, but a preacher of the Gospel may expect that out of crowds of hearers, only a few, comparatively, will fully receive the truth, and hold out to the end. To hear the word of God] Tov Xoyov rov ✪cov, the doctrine of God, or, the heavenly doctrine.