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No. 399.-xviii. 34. And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors.] Imprisonment is a much greater punishment in the eastern parts of the world than here; state criminals especially, when condemned to it, are not only forced to submit to a very mean and scanty allowance, but are frequently loaded with clogs, or yokes of heavy wood, in which they cannot either lie or sit at ease; and by frequent scourgings, and sometimes by racking, are quickly brought to an untimely end. (See Samedo's China, p. 225.) To this there is probably a reference here.

DODDRIDGE in loc.

No. 400.-xix. 24. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.] The plundering Arabs commonly ride into houses, and commit acts of violence, if measures are not taken to prevent them. On this account the doors are often made very low, frequently not above three feet in height. This must be very inconvenient for those who keep camels, and must often want to introduce them into their court-yards. They however contrive to do this, by training them up not only to kneel down when they are loaded and unloaded, but to make their way on their knees through such small doorways. This must, without doubt, be attended with great difficulty, and makes the comparison of our Lord sufficiently natural; it would be as easy to force a camel through a door-way, as small as the eye of a needle, as for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

HARMER, vol. iii. p. 89.

No. 401.-xx. 21. She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.] This request was made in allusion to the ab bethdin, or father of the

court, who sat on the right hand of the nasi or president of the sanhedrim; and to the hacam or sage, who sat on the left. (Lamy, App. Bibl. b. i. c. 12. p. 201. 4to.)

No. 402.-xx. 23. Ye shall drink indeed of my cup.] It was anciently the custom, at great entertainments, for the governor of the feast to appoint to each of his guests the kind and proportion of wine which they were to drink, and what he had thus appointed them it was thought a breach of good manners either to refuse or not drink up; hence a man's cup, both in sacred and profane authors, came to signify the portion, whether of good or evil, which befals him in this world. Thus Homer introduces Achilles comforting Priam for the loss of his son.

Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood,
The source of evil one, and one of good:
From thence the cup of mortal man he fills,
Blessings to those, to these distributes ills ;
To most he mingles both; the wretch decreed
To taste the bad unmix'd is curs'd indeed:
Pursued by wrongs, by meagre famine driv'n,
He wanders, outcast both of earth and heav'n.
The happiest taste not happiness sincere,

But find the cordial draught is dash'd with care.

Iliad. xxiv.

Similar to this is what we meet with in Psalm 1xxv. 8. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. What Christ means by the expression, we cannot be at a loss to understand, since, in two remarkable passages, (Luke xxii. 42. and John xviii. 11.) he has been his own interpreter: for lethale poculum bibere, or to taste of death, was a common

phrase among the Jews, and from them we have reason to believe that our Lord borrowed it.

No. 403.-xxi. 8. Others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way.] It was usual in the East to strew flowers and branches of trees in the way of conquerors and great princes. So we find that those who esteemed Christ to be the Messiah and their king acted towards him. A similar instance may be found in Herodotus, (vii. p. 404.) He informs us that people went before Xerxes passing over the Hellespont, and burnt all manner of perfumes on the bridges, and strewed the way with myrtles.

No. 404.-xxi. 9. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosannah to the son of David.] This was a form of acclamation used in the feast of tabernacles, when they carried boughs in their hands, and sung psalms and hosannahs. The use of boughs and hymns was common amongst the Greeks, in any time of sacred festivity. According to Hesychius they held a bough of laurel in their hands when they praised their gods. As this ceremony was used at the inauguration of a king, who was honoured with the strewing of garments and boughs, so in the present instance it was an acknowledgment of Christ as the Messiah, whom they expected, and thus welcomed.

No. 405.-xxi. 12. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers.] The money-changers were such persons as supplied the Jews, who came from distant parts of Judea, and other parts of the Roman empire, with money, to be received back at their respective homes, or which they had paid before they began their journey. Perhaps also they ex

changed foreign coins for those current at Jerusalem. The Talmud and Maimonides inform us that the halfshekel paid yearly to the temple by all the Jews, (Exod. xxx. 15.) was collected there with great exactness in the month Adar, and that on changing the shekels and other money into half-shekels for that purpose, the money-changers exacted a small stated fee, or payment, called kolbon. It was the tables on which they trafficked for this unholy gain which Christ overturned. HAMMOND in loc.

No. 406.-xxi. 21. Ye shall say to this mountain, be thou removed.] It was a common saying among the Jews, when they intended to commend any one of their doctors for his great dexterity in solving difficult questions, that he was a rooter up of mountains. In allusion to this adage, Christ tells his disciples, that if they had faith, they might say to a mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and it should be done; that is, in confirmation of the christian faith, they should be able to do the most difficult things. As these words are not to be taken in a literal sense, so they are likewise to be restrained to the age of miracles, and to the apostles, since experience convinces us, that this is no ordinary and standing gift belonging to the church.

WHITBY in loc.

No. 407.-xxii. 11. A wedding garment.] It was usual for persons to appear at marriage-feasts in a sumptuous dress, generally adorned with florid embroidery, as some writers tell us (See Rev. xix. 8. and Dr. HAMMOND in loc.); but as it could not be expected that travellers thus pressed in should themselves be provided with it, we must therefore conclude, not only from the magnificence of the preparations, to which we must

suppose the wardrobe of the prince corresponded, but likewise from the following circumstance of resentment against this guest, that a robe was offered, but refused by him: and this is a circumstance which (as Calvin observes) is admirably suited to the method of God's dealing with us, who indeed requires holiness in order to our receiving the benefits of the gospel, but is graciously pleased to work it in us by his holy spirit, and therefore may justly resent and punish our neglect of so great a favour. DODDRIDGE, in loc.

No. 408.-xxii. 24. Moses said, if a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.] The marriage of the widow with her brother-in-law was performed without much ceremony; because the widow of the brother who died without children passed at once for the brother-inlaw's wife. Custom, however, required that it should be acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses, and that the brother should give a piece of money to the widow. The nuptial blessing was added, and a writing to secure the wife's dower. Some believe that this law was not observed after the Babylonish captivity, because since that time there has been no distinction of the inheritances of the tribes. The present Jews do not practise this law, or at least very rarely.

manner:

Leo of Modena describes this practice in the following "Three rabbins and two other witnesses, the evening before, choose a place where the ceremony may be performed. The next day, when they come from morning prayers, they all follow the rabbins and witnesses, who in the appointed place sit down, and order the widow and her brother-in-law to appear before them, who declare that they there present themselves in order to be free. The principal rabbin proposes several

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