^ (V \ X • t' / •iL"\~ '■' -k.'3lf* . ^* A NEW HfS TORY OF THE OLY BIBLE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, ESTz\BLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY. •WITH ANSV/ERS TO MOST OF THE CONTROVERTED QUESTIONS, DISSERTATIONS UPON THE MOST REMARKABLE PASSAGES, AND A CONNECTION OF PROFANE HISTORY ALL ALONG. To which are addeJ, NOTES, EXPLAINING DIFFICULT TEXTS. RECTIFYING MIS- TRANSLATIONS, AND RECONCILING SEEMING' CONTRADICTIONS. The whole illuflratcd *ich proper Map's &c. BY THE REV. THOMAS STACKHOUSE, A. M LATE VICA,R OF BEENHAM IN BERKSHIRE VOL. VL GLASGOW: PRINTED BY JOSEPH GALBRAITH. 1 7s>(5. HISTORY OF THE I B L E BOOK VIII. CHAP. III. Containing an Account of Things, frovi our Lord's Tram- ■figuration to his last hntry into Jeriifalem. The History. a.m. 4035, &c, Ann Dom "'HEday following our Lord's transfiguration, (for 31, &c. that tranfaction was very probably in the night- *^';°'" *^'^'^* time *,) as he came down from the mount, he perceived *"j^" "^j^g the fcribes in deep debate f with the apoftles he had left vi. i. John behind him, and while he was enquiring into the fubject of ^' *• '» ^1 . Matt. xvii. their .^^3,j, ix. i4.Luke * The evaneelift acquaints us, that white our Sivionr was ix- 37. John at prayer on the mount, St Peter, and they that .'were nvith him^'^'^^ '• luere heavy luith Jleep, Luke ix. 32. which, in lome meafure, *^-<^V">^ confi'tns ihe coijeiture, that the tramfiguration was in the '^'^"- "»','• night ; a time much more proper for the difp'ay of the luftre*' ""*^'*' of fuch an appearance, than if it had happened in the broad i'x^ 3,'. ' day-lii^ht ; Ca/met's Conmientary. Our Savi- ■f What the .ubjc'd matter of this debate was, the evangelifts our cures hav* aot informed us : buc it feems not uaiikely, that the fcribes ^^f '""atic, . ^ ' who was A ^ were,ikewika dcmouiac. 4 TheHi/toyyofthe BIBLE, Book VIII. A. M. their difpute, a certain man, breaking through the crowd, /°im'D*m <^^"^6 2"^ ^£^1 proftrate at his feet, and belbught him to 31, &c have pity upon his only fon, a depjpr ble objed, a luna- fr'>m ^ tic *, and poiTcfTed, deaf and demb, often thrown upon Mat;h SI. ji^g ground, and into the fire and water, racked with vio- I, Mark A, O ' ' a 3 Luke lent Vi. I. Jolm V. I. »nrei-e difpnring with the apofiles about iherr maker's viethod cf ^^j, " "■ ° ejefting de^nls, and the ponver nvhich, in that matter , he had confer- 14. Mark Ted upon tkern ; bec.iulf, in ihe cale belcre them, they iaw them ix. 14. nnnplufred, and not ab.'e tocaft a devil out of one, who. in his J,ukc IX. abieiice was brought lo them. This, is the rather probab'e, |/' J"^" not only uecaufe our Saviour's difp jfleffing devils was v, hat 4*^^,,^ gravelled and v<:-xed the fc. ib:s and Phariiees more th n a 1 his oth r miracles .\r,c. forced th-^m to the forry refuge cf Hs ccyleth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince oj devils; but be- caute, upon t;is con.iQg 10 the tiiucly reiiet ot his apoilles, and demanding of the !ciib;s, what they were qneltioning and disputing about, i- imme^'iaiely iojiows. Qr.c of the multitude an- fvered and /aid, Mafer, J have hrou^ht unto the my fon^ nvhich hath a dumb fpirit : - ■ Ai:d I fpake to thy difipks, that ttey f:ould caJlhi7HCUt, and they could r.ot ., Mark i\. 17 i8. ; Fools AiimtS' tions, * The word e-;x»»(a^iT«i» coming f/om «rxi»v>). the v:oon^ an- fwers exaftly to 'he i^-Vi^W^ lunatic from luna ; !uit there is a mil^ake in rendering it : For whereas the Eiig^lilh word lunatin is coiTimoiii/ taken for a madman, fuch a one efpecialiy, whofe temper g^ows worf£ towards the full of the moon, it is plain, from all iy(npto'.T)S, fuch -is being convulfed, foaming at the mouth, grinding his reeth, falling into the fire, and brufing and tearir.j^ himfslf, &c that the ditorder under which this pcrjon laboured vvas anepiiepfis. or the Jalling-ficknei's. Now, the reafon why this diiea{e is exprefled by the word c-EX»voung man, cat^ him into frequent fits of the falling fn.kneis, (as all demoniacs^ we find, have one diftemper or other attending them,) ot which ths'.e vpas no way to cure h;r;i, but by cafting out the devil j Hammond'' s Annotations^ Chsp. III. from ihe Birth of CHRISTy S:c. - 5 lent convuifions, accompanied with difmal out-cries, foar,'.- Av x. ings, bruifcs, and torments, and every way in fo defpcratc l^^f '|^ ■' a condition, that his difciples, in his abfence, were not able 3,^ ^^.^ to cure hiiTi. Our Lord, upon hearing cf this, was * not from Matt. a little grieved at the want ot faith in his difciples, but or- 'V i.*'- 1 1 • 111 • Mark 11 a;, dered the child to be brought to him. As he was drawmg Luke vj. ». near, the devil began 10 rack him with convulflons, Aviiich J'^lm v. i. put the father in a terrible fright ; and when our Lord ''".i"^"* commanded the evil ipirii to depart out or the young man, M.i,ki;r.,..^ and never to moleft him more; after fome hidepiis out- Like ii cries, he tore and diftcrted him to fuch a degree, thnt he 27- Ihu }eh him breathlefs on the ground, fo that m.any concluded .[^.J^,,., he was quite dead : But Jefus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up, and delivered him to his father, perfe£Uy cured, to the .great aftoniflmient of all the fpeftatcrs. And when his difciples in private defired to know the reafon why they coul4 not caft out this fpirit, he imputed it, partly to their want of faith, and partly to this fpirit's being of a kind f which was not to be ejefled v/ithout failing and prayer. From » * The rebuke which our Saviour utters upon this occafion, Ofaithlefs and perverfe generation, ko'-Ji long Jloall i be nxiith ^.i, ^c. Matth. xvii. I -J. leen;i!> to beintecdeii tor the ivhoie conjpany, and every one 10 have a fhare in it, in proportion to their de- ferts. The dilciples are not csempted; for they are charged with infidelity, verfe 20. The father of the pacient h poiniej at for his faith was wavering, Mark ix si is't:. And the whole nation of the' Jews is included in it ; for this was ex- prefsly their charader of old ^4 very fio'\uard ar.d pervci fe qene- ratio:, and children in 'whcrn is twfaHh, Deut. xiiii. 5.20 Beau-- Johrc's Anna jtion^ t Jofephus, who himfelf was a Pharlfee, and wei! acquainlr ed with the notions of every fetft f honour means, was, in this cafe, a very pro- per emblem ofchat fimplicity, innocence, and humility, thac our Lord req'ires in all his difciples ; QalmeCs Commtntary i &nd IVhitby^s /-jnotations , f The word in the caution are,- IVIjofo Jhall offend one of 'thefe little ones^ which believe in 7ne, it 'were better for him that (t ffiillftone 'were liaged cAout his neck, ard that he 'were drowned in the depth of the ia, Matth. ivTii, 6, To offend orfcandalize, is to Chap. III. from t^^ Birth of CHRIST, Sec. 9 guardian angels * ; and, to retn6ve the occadon of all fuch A« ^• offences, exhorted them ta mortify their inordinate ^ffec-^^^j^'j-,^^' tions, though thfy were as dear to them as an eye, an hand, 31, &c. or afoot, becaufe hi= heavenly Father (like a diligent fliep- ''i';'.^ m^"- herd that delights in the recovery of a ftray-lheep) was un- j^^^^]^i\ ^^, willing that any believer ihould perifh. Together with Luke vi. ». thefe reafons againft fcandal and offences, he prefcribedj^h" v. i. fome excellent rules in relation to brotherly reproof, ^^^-j^^^^l church cenfures, and forgivenefs of injuries j and for the Mark ix. 14, en- Luke ix. 37. Joha to difcourage men in the profefiion and praiFlice of religion, y^^^^w^ and by indignities and perlecuuons, as weji as by bad examples, to occafion their apoftatizing from tiie faith : For we can hard- ly imagine, that in jevere a puniiliment as is here threatened, ihould be inflifteJ for a crime of lefs'Taggravaticn than what this amounts to, Grotius, upon the place, is of opinion, that the milltone about the neck alludes to a cuUom of drowning a- raong the Syririns. But St Jerora thinks that this manner of execution was in ufe among the Jews ; for (according to Dr Alix)ltwas cuilomary for them to cad execrable men into the Dead-fea, with a ftone tied to them, h is certain from Diodorus Siculus, and others that among the Greeks this was the ancient punilhment for facrilegious perfons ; and from Su- etonius we may learn, that for the pride and covetoufnefs wherewith fome in public offices had infeftcd the province where they lived, Auguflus had them call into the river, with great weights about their necks ; Whitby's Annotations. * It were too nice perhaps to fay, thit every diftincl man has his dillin<5t guardian angel. It rady be true fometimes. that many have but one ; and it may be trr.e, at other times, that one has many, as we find Jacob had a Mahanaim, and Elias St Dothan : but this we may fafely affirm, that no good man is without an ange!, to infpect his behaviour, and to foiicit his well being. To this purpofe, Abrahaai teiis his fervant travel- ling -to Nahor, The Lord vjillpnd his angel 'with thse, andprofper thy ave the credit of an Heathen, and profelTed enemy to Chfiilianity, who might either read negligently, or meet with a deficient or corriipt Latin copy ? Flipecially fince it is certain, that St Chryfoftom reads this particle ; that the Syriac «nd .\rabic verfiout, the Alexandrian, and mod other anciens irnanurcripts, h.ive it; and that it entirely agrees with the fenfe beta ol the preceding and fubrcquent words ; Whitby's Anmto Chap. in. from the Birth' cf 'CHRIST, &c. 13 of Samaria *, he fent fome of his apofilcs to provide him A.- m. lodsings t in one of the viliases , but the inhabitants, V'^r-f^^J-J;]^' .00' . »j ^ irrLj. ftnn uoni ceivmg that he was gomg to Jerulalem to the realt 4, were j,^ &c. fo uncivil as to refufe aim entertainment. .• fiom ;>uif. rpi^jg x'n I. ,.,ark II, »3. iuke vj. I. John * Samaria was a province tii.it lay between Galilee and Ju- v. i. 10 . dea, and our Sayioui's neareft way to Jerufalem was through watt xvii. it. But then it may be qiicllioned, why the Simaritans, who ^^- ^^^^}^ lived at a lefs diftance from Jcrufaiemthan the Galileans, came j^ j^johu to be more corrupted in their religion ? To which the moll vii 1. probable anfwer is, — That when Uie king of Aiiyria had taken v,>^/'>o? Samaria, and carried av/ay the people captive, 2 Kings xvii. Lukcixsi- 5n their room he phj.nted colonics of hisovs'n fubjet^s. who were grols iuolateis, avid more efpecially in the country of Samaria, properly fo called, becau'e it was a province which lay in the heart of his new conqueft, and might therefore keep the o- thers, that depended on it, in fubjedion. Now, thefe idola-r ters, mixing with the jews that were Ie!t behind,* made up a ftrange medley of religion, which was not quite retormed, eveu in our Saviour's time ; and therefore he tells the Samaritan woman, at Jacob'i; well, 7's ivorjlvp ye km"jj ii^/t ivhat, John iv. 22. whereas the people of Giiiiiee, having few of the A/Ty- rians planted among them, kept their religion more pure and unmixed, and, after the deRruuiion of the ternple ofGeiizzim by John Hyrcanus, held conllant communion with the tenvple of jeruialem, even though Gabiaius, when he was governor of Syria, had built the Samaritans another; and in relation to this communion it is, that our Saviour tells the lame woman, (fpeaking of bimfelf among other Galileans,) 'vje knonu nxjhai tue 'WorJJoip ; for falvatioii is of the Je-ws. f The great multitude that accompanied our Saviour, and the little or no provifion that he uluaily carried with him, made it nec-iflkry for feme to =^^0 before to make preparation foe his reception ; and his two apofilcs, James and John, are fnp- pofed to be the perfons employed in this capacity ; becaut'e we find them, in particular, refeniing the indignity put upon their mafter; Caln:et''s Diiiiojiary. % Jcvfephus tells us, — ' That, as it was an ufual thing for • the Galileans to travel by the way of Samaria to Jeruialem, • upon the celebration of their feliivals, one lime, as they palf. ♦ ed by a village, called Naiu under the jurifdidion of Sama- * ria, and fituated in the great PLiio, there happened a quarrel * between the paffeogers and villagers, wherein levera! of ih^ • Galileans were flain, and which afterwards occafioned a civil ° war between thefe tv.'o provinces.' And as it was a comn>ca thing 14 The Hjjiofy of the BIBLE, Book VIII. A. M. This indignity put upon their mafier, fo exafperated Don.1 o?s- -^C' James and his brother John, that they defired leave of '^' " £i'r. ii'ni (in imitation of * EUas) to command fire down from troni heaven to confumefuch inhofpitabie wretches •, but inftead T.iatth XI. of giving any fach permifiion f, our Saviour took care to '■ Tyj^c'' i-^form them, that the marks of a Chriftian were meeknefs and »3 vi, I. ifohn V. r K-^r-y^ t'> Mattn. thing for the Samaritans to be angry with the Galileaos in ge- '^^"m* k "^'^' for paffing by their temple to go to Jerufalem ; To they ix.' 14. n-.i'eht much mere rcfent it in our Saviour, becaufe, as he was I.ui-e ix. accounted a prophet fsnt frorti God, by this aflion he plainly de- 21- J j'«-i cided the contrcerfy between them and the Jevi^s, couching *'•• '• the place which God had appointed for his reiigious worlhip : Jofeph. Antiq. lib. 20. c. 5, ; 'Je^lJ]} Wars, lib. 2. c. i i. and Whitby^ s Annotations. * The hiftory of Elias (to which the apoflles refer us) is doubtlefs that, where, by the direction of God, that prophet calhd for fire from heaven to dedroy thofe captains and their companies whom king Ahaziah fenc out to apprehend him, 2 Kincrsi. 10. &c. And when theft two apoftles defired the .iiks judgment »pon the v.l!l2ge of S^.maria, for refafmg to re- ceive their nnfter, they vari{i;d their name of beingys,'?/ ofthiiri' dsr.. which, upon account of their fiery zeal, their mafter had before given them, Mark iii. 17. t What the two apoilles had to alledge in behalf of their rntendsa feverity againfl: thefe Samaritans, was, — That they were Schifniatici, and had fet up another temple in oppofition CO that at Jerufalem ; that they were heretics, and, together with the worlhip of the God of Ifrael, had mixed that of Pa.- p-iQ ti.ols ; that the ptrfon whom ihey had afFronteJ, had a char.itler m'lch fuperior to that of Elias ; and that, by an eic- emplary puniihmenc inflidted upon this viiiage, they might convince the rell of the S.imaritijns of God'sdiTpleafure againft; theh- way of worlhip, and of the divine miffion of their mafler, who was the trne Melliah, But notwithftandlng thefe plaufi- ble allegations, our Saviour rebuked them, and in his rebuke 'rave ihem to underftanJ, that a fpirit of fevcrity towards erro- neous perfons, in whomfoever it Is found, is highly oppoiite to the calm temper of Lhriilianity, which \'-> pure and peaceable, gen- tle and eafy to bs infreaied. full of mercy, and good nuorks, James jii. 17. and that it was repugnent to the end for Avhich he came into the world, which was to difcountenance all fierceneis and rage, and furious zeal, that occafion fo many mifchiefs among mankind, and to beget in all his follovvers fuch a difpofitioa av exerts itieif in love^ peace, long fnprir.g, gentlenefs, goodncfs, ^nd-iiteekncft Gal. v 22. 23. even to those of the moH contrary tem'^ers and perfuiifion j iVhitby's Annotations. om Chap. III. from the Birth of CHRIST, ''"*»>-' Samaritan. ^^'^ -'"'- Having thus returned good for evil, and the greateft kindnefs for the moft palpable arfront, our Lord proceed- ed on his journey, and came to another village, where he lodged that night; but before he arrived at Jerufalem, he Luke n i. fent out feventy f of his difciples, by two and two toge- ther, * By tha prleflsy to v.'hom our Saviour remits thefe ieper?, ■we ara to underltand the prierts at Jerufilem ; for we can hard- ly luppofe that he would fend them to thole of mount Geij-/- zJra, when himfelf, both in his words and practice, h;id lufH' ciently declared the iliegality of their inflitutioa : And there- fore, by fending them to Jerufalem, where they were to make their offerings for their cleanfmg. Lev. xiv. 2. ^c. he noi on!/ decided the controverfy between the Jews and the Samaritans, but gave them likewiie to underfland, that, before they reach- ed Jerufalem, he would undoubtedly heal them; JVh:tby^s An- notations and Hammojid'* s Paraphrnfs. \ Thofe who would have it, that thefe mifiionaries were chofen according to the number of the Sanhedrim, imagine, that they were feventy- two, though the round fum only b'U mentioned; but the general teiVimony of the ancients is, thac they were no more than feventy. What their names were, Is a thing unknown, only we have an uncertain account of twen- ty-eight of them out of Eufcbius, Epiphanius, and Papias; and thefe are, — Matthias, Mark, Luke, Barnabas, Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicholas, Juf- tus, Apelles. Softhenes, Rufus, Niger, Cephas, Thaddseiis, Arifiion, John, Bai"fabas, Andronicus, Junius, Silas, Lucius, Mnaen, Mnafon, and Ananias. Now, whereas fome compare the biihops to the apoftles, and thefe feventy to the prefbyters of the church, and thence cencluds, thac thsfe two orders ia the i6 The HIJory of the BIBLE, Book VIII. A, M. ther t, (in the fame manner r-s he had fent his twelve a- ^ojj, &c. pQ(-J.igg^ ij-jtQ thofe places which hehimfelf, in a fhort time, -I Sec. intended to viiit, and gave them inftiutlions much of the from fame import with what, upon the like occafion, he had Mat. xii. I. giygi^ j^jg apoftles. Lukevi. i! The feaft of tabernacles always continued eight days j Jofin V. I. but, for fome lime after his arrival, our Saviour did not to jwatth. appear publicly, v/hich occafioned no fmail inquiry, and ivi'it'k I'x.' "various difcourfes concerning him ; fome faying that he 14. Luke was a good man, and others, an impoftor, v/ho deluded iK, 37 the people. At length, when every one began to defpair ^^**'*"^"'''of feeing him, about the middle of the feaft, he fhewed himfwlf openly, and went and taught In the temple, to the JO " ^" gi"e2t admiration of the Jews, who were not a little fur- H'sappejr- prifed to find him, whofe education had been deftitute of ing, and ^jj learning, fo perfect in the Scriptures : But, to obviate ^^'xU'^feid '^^'^ exception, he gave them to underftand, that the doc- of Tabcr- trine wherein he inftructed them, was not of human acqui- nucles, snJ {ition, but divine infpiration ; and that it was a very bafe r.ne defijtis ^^ ungencrous thing in them, to endeavour to take away of the ban- ^ . o o , ,' 1 • 1 i hcdrim a. tne life of one, who taught them nothmg but what was gainO: J.ii). agreeable to the law 'of Mofes, whereof they made fo loud a profeflion. In this manner he preached to the people for the miniftry, one inferior to the ether, v/ere inftltuted by Chriil himfeif, thereis this diffsrencs in the matter, That the i'e- venty received noc their mlffian (as prePjyters do) from bifhops, but immsdiiicely from our Lord, as ihe apoftbsdid, and weri lent upon the fame errand, and with the fame powers. There is, however, I think, this foundation iov that wherein Sc ChryfoRom and others place the fuperiority of bilhops over prelbyters, viz. that the power of ordination belongs to them alone : For, though the comn^iilion to preach the gofpel be- longed to the fsventy, as well as to the tv/elve apoftles, yec tha power of conferring the Holy Glioil by the impohiicn of hands was peculiar to the twelve, AAs vi!i. 14. &c. And this.feeras to be the reafon why the conferring of the Holy Ghoft, for the ufe of the miniftry, (which is done by the im- pofuion of hands,) has perpetually been efteemed peculiar to rhofe bifhops, who, in the ecclefiallical ftyle, are always call- ed the fuccelTors of the apoftles ; WhUhf s Annotations, and Eachard's EccLfiapcal hijl'jry, lib. 3^5. * That they- might ^be oF mutual affiftance to each (ther, and their teiUmony of more force and validity ; Pod's and '■^eaufobre'' s Annotatio^is, Chap III. from the Birth of CHRIST, ^c. 17 for the remaining part of the feaft; and *, on the laft and A. m. greateft day thereof, took occafion, from the cuftom of t^^'^' fetchmg water from the roantain or biloah m great pomp, j,, &c. and pouring it upon the ahar of burnt-offerings in great from AUtt. abundance, to acquaint them with the future elfulion of ^*^' '.'.. the Holy Ghoft, which he intended to fend down upon x.uke vi. i\ all thole that believed in him. John v. i. Thoie who knew the great hatred which the ruling part '" !^'^"" of the nation had conceived againft him, admired to hear Marki-*i4. him fpeafc with fo much freedom and intrepidity j and Ltikeix 37, fhofe who had Cizn the number and greatnefs of his mira- J"*^" ^"' •'♦ cles, were by them convinced that he was the true Mef- '^-''^*^'^ flah ; but the prejudice of his being a Galilean, and not acknowledged by any of their rulers and learned rabbies, led others into a contrary perfuafion. In the confulion, of- ficers were fent from the Sanhedrim to apprehend him j but they were fo taken with his perfon and preaching, that they became his difciples ; for, upon their return, they told the council, that they could not e^iecute their office, becaufs * From the 29th chapter of the book (jf Numbers we leara, that on the firft day of this feaft, thirteen ballocks were to bs offered ; on the fecond, twelve; on the ihiri, eleven ; on the fourth, ten ; on the fifth, nine; on the fix ch, eight; on the feventh, feven ; and ca the eighth, or iaft, only one ; fo thaCj, in regard to the facrrsices, the lail day was the lead of all, and yet the Jews accounted it the greaieft, becaufe on that day the King cf Ifrael (as the Talaiiidifts love to fpeak^ v/as entertained by his own people only, and not by thofe cf any o- ther nation. For their tradition is, that on the hrft day of the feall, their anceilors (when the temple was ftanding) fa- crificed feventy baliocks for the feventy nations (for they fup- pofe juft fb n^.any) that are upon the face of the earth; bat oa the lall day no more than one, but that in the name of the peo- ple of Ifrael only. .And, as they imagine that an earthly prince Riay fometiii2es (inftead of a vaft entertainment) defire but a fmall colldtian with his firft favo'irite, that they may have an opportiuiity of fo.ne familiar converfe together; fo, upon the account of the intimate fri<;adfhip with God, which the Jews on that day thought themfelves admitted to. and the excelTive joy which, from the feufe of that friendftiip, they exprefTed in all the outward fignifications ormulic, finging, and dancing* the laftdiy of the feall of tabernacles was always accounted the greateft; SurenhfU CQnciltaiic;}€s, ir, Is^a V, T. ajj^mi Jthan, Vol. VI. No. 27, C K.yysU 1 8 T/je History of the BIBLE, Book Vlll. A. M. becaufe * never man J^mke like him ; fo that the Pharifees, ''^^nnDom ^'^^" were part of the aiTembly, being more inraged at their ir, &c reafon which they gave, than the negle6l of their duty, up- fi-cm Piatt braided them for being fo eauly feduced, and for following •^ '•','■.. - the error of an ignorant mob ; until Nicodemus, who had Lukev'. I. formerly converled with our Lord, and was indeed a fe- jolin V. r, crct difciple of his, feeing with what violence his enemies to .M3tt!i •vvcrc bent again him, could not forbear interpofing in his Maili \x'. hchalf, by urging the unlawfulncfs of condemning a per- »4. Luke fon without hearing , fo that, after fome reilecHons thrown 5x'37. upon him, as a favourer of this Galilean f, who could Jo n vii. I. i^jjyg j-jQ pretenfions (as they faid) to the title of a prophet, the aflembly + broke up, without proceeding any farther againft him \ becaufe, indeed, as yet his time was not fully come. In * In thefe words there are two things remarkable : ift, Tha power of Chrlft's preaching to change the Irame and temper of men's fpirits ; for thefemen came with hearts alienated from Chrill, and with intention to apprehend, and carry him be- fore the chief priells, but returned with great adir.ira'ion cf his excellency ai-d worth. 2dly, The honefly and integrity of thefe men is very remarka'uie •, for they do ncU return with •a pretence, that they feared the muhitudc, and therefore thought it dangerous to apprehend him, but ingentioufly con- fefs, that they could not prevail with themiclves to lay violent hands upon a perfon whofe difcourles were fo esceiJcnt and divine ; IVhithy^s Aniiotatmis . t Our Blefied Saviour was neither by birth nor by defcent a Galilean," but, admitted he had been fo, it is a falfe affer- tion to fay, that no prophet ever arofe out of Galilee, fince Nahum, though originally of the tribe of Simeon, (accordmg to the teftimony of St Jerom, who himfelf was a Galilean,) was born in that province, and in Elcifi, the iame town which that father came from ; fince Jonas was undouNredly cfGath- hepher, in the tribe of Zebulun, which lay in the land cf Ga- Jilee, 2 Kingssiv. 25. and in the opinion of feverai. Maiachi was of the /"ame irioe, and born in the city cf Sapha . For, as there can be no reafon in nature, fo is there no declaration of the divine will, why a Cialilean fhould not be iiifpirsd with tha gift of prophecy, as well as any other Jew; Pool's and Beau- fohre' s Annotations ^ and Caljuet''s Commentary . \ Some are of opinion, that the party of S.idducses in the council, who held the rites and traditions of the Pharifees in great contsmpr, joined with Nicodemus, in not having Chrift condemned Chap III. from the Birth of CHRIST, tsfc. to in the evening, Jefus repaired to the mount of Olives, a. m. about a mile from the city, and where he fometimes ufed* ^^> &<:• to pafs the night with his apoftles. £.arly next morning 3,^ ^^^ he returned to the temple, and as he was teaching thef'om Mrt. people, that were gathered about him, the fcribes and Pha-l'/V ^ ^yj^'i rifees brought in a woman, taken in the a!>n v. i, ednefs and degeneracy of thofe, who Ibught to take away'" -"^'^^'l'. f. his life, and how unlike to the behaviour of the fons O'i iV.x^^y^- God and Abraham (whom they boafted themfeivcs to be) 14. Li:l;c fuch caufelefs and inveterate malice was, he fo provoked '.^•: 3T. *- them with his fevere refledtions, and eipccially with the ■'""° '''"■ '^'• iuperiority which he claimed above Abrah:im that they ^^"^ took up ftones to caft at him, had he not miraculoufly con- , ]' " ""'"' veyed himl'elf out of their hands. His pteach- Before our Lord left Jerufaiem, the feventy difciples, '"§ 'o 'he v^hom he had fent to preach the gofnel, returned from their P^'*^"^.'^'^ journey and miniltry, greatly rejoicing, becaule the very Cbri«iaHity devils, by virtue of his name *, were fubjedled to them j whereupon -^■.^■;,y eternal I'uc might come under the number of ihsm whofe cafe is thus re- to his dif- preJented in the v/ords of Deuteronomy : If.z d.amfd that is /z eip'es. virgin, be betrothed to a kujhand. and a manfud her in the city, and he lie 'with her, then ye JIjuII bring them both out unto the gate -sftki city and ye J}}all Jlonc thetn 'withjiones, that t key die ; the damfel, be- caufejhe cried not, being in the city; and the man. becaufe he hath 'humbled his neighbour'' s 'viife, Deut. xxii. 23. 24. The puniftiment of ftoning, which this lav/ msntions. and the accufers of this vpoman here infi'l on, feem to favour this notion ; and the in- dulgence which our Saviour fiiewed her, looks as if flie had ml- fered fomc kind of violence, though (he was not entirely ir,no- cent. Our Saviour, however, could not aft in the capacity of a judge, becaufe that was no part of his prefent sninillry : Tho' therefore he was fo far from approving her conouifi, ihat ht: fifficiently blamed her, in biding \itvfin r.o mc^e. yet was he reftrained from pronouncing any fentence of condemnation up- on her ; becaufe the end of his coming at this time into the world ^vas, not to judge the ivorld, but to fave it, John xii, 47, Seldcn^ Uxor. Heb. lib. 3. c. 11. Fagius in Deut, xxii. 22. and Cabjiefs CovnJicntary. * The power which our Saviour gave to the LXX, when he fent them out to preach the gofpel, was only that of heal- ing the fick where-ever they went, Luke x. 9, but finding that, upon naming their Matter's name, they were able likewife to cure thofe that w?rc polfefTed of devils, this they mide the V.^'VS^^ 22 "^he Hijioy^ of the BIBLE, Book VIII. A. M. wliereupon our Lord promifed them ftill greater fuccefs ; ^oiSy ^'^- invcfted them with power to tread upon the' moft vcne- Ann ij oni * , J!. &c. mous beafti *, nnd all the malignant inftrumcnts of Satan, from K.r.t% without the leaft harm ; and, at the lame time, gave them *"• ''^-^['^airurance of a bleffing more peculiarly theirs, viz. that ■ ■" *^* jjjj^n their names were recorded in heaven; and fo broke out V. I. lo into a rapture of joy, glorifying God for concealing the Matt. xvii. jnyfteries of the gofpel from the great and wife, and re- 14. . "Tw Yg^^ijj^g tl-je,n to the iimple and ignorant, and to his dif- Lukeix. ciples more efpecially, who, in virtue of that revelation, 37. John enjoyed a happinefs v;hich many kings and prophets had ^'' '• . in vain defired. Our greater risatter of their joy, and, at their return, told it with more pleafurc, becaufe it was no part of their commidion. It is to be obferved, however, that our Lord himfelf call out de- vils by a divine power refiding in himfelf; his dilciples only, in virtue of his name or by a power derived froai him Seeing then that this power accompanied them, in ail parts of the vofld, it was neceffary that Chrilt's preTence fnould be with them every where, and fuch a prefencc was a certain proof of hh beiag God ; Whitby^s Annotation ; and Hammond's Para- phrafi. Thefe words feem to have a plain allauon to thof: of the Pfalmift:, where, under the mci7i^\ior oi. treading on ike fcorpion and bjjdifr.t Pfih xci. 13. God promiTes the good m,m a mora ihan common protcclion from all forts of dangers and enemies. But tliere is no reafon, however, I think, why our Saviour's words may not here be taken in a literal fenfe, hnce they agree {\^ well with what he promiles all true believers in another place, they JJ^ all take up ferpeiits, (as we fmd one f'ftened upon SC Paul's hand without doing him any harm, A<5ls xxviii. 3.), and if they drank any deadly thing, it Jhall not hurt them, Markxvi. 18. I'/hithfs Annotations ; and Calmet^ s Commer^tary. * The words allude to a known cullom in well-governed ci- ties, where reglflers are kept of the names of their inhabitant;;, arid do plainly denote the title which believers have to eternal happinefs ; but by no means an abiolute eledion to It. For, as 3 citizen, when he mlibshaves egregiojfly, and thereupon be- comes infamous, has his name razed out of the city-regifler, ?^nd is himfelf difenfrrtncliiied of all his privileges; fo we read of fome, of whom Chrift threatens to blot out their names out ofthi hook of life. Rev. xxii. 19. For, ♦ as men are written in this book ■: fays St bafil in Ifa. iv 3. ) when they are converted from vice « to virtue, fo are they blotted out of it, when they backflide * U/:o!:d zxid IVUi- ly't Amjotatictu , and Cahnefi Coiimisntary. * 'I'he law of Moles does no where exprefsiy promife eter- nal life to thofe that obferved its precepts. It is wholly taken up with temporal bleffings and profperities ; and yet the ge- nerality of the Jews were not dellitute of the hopes of another life, hecaufe their writers, a little before, and after the capti- vity, are very full of ir, fo that it became the prevailing opi- nion of the whole nation, and was received by their two prin- cipal feds, the Pharifees and Elfenes : for, as for the Saddu- cees, who had other notions of the matter, their religion was very little, and their principles purely Epicurean ; Calmcfi Commentary. t In our Saviour's time, the Pharifees had reftrained the word neighbour, to hgnify thofc of their own nation, their own religion, and their own friends only ; and all who differ from them in any of thefe refpcifls, they indulged the people the li- berty to hate ; nor v^rould they permit them to extend the leafb. office of common civility to any fuch. But our Saviour over- threw thefe falfe maxims of the Jewitli doclors, and reduced the precept nf uaiverlal charity to its f;r ft intention, when, is this para'ie of the Jew and the Samaritan, he plainly demon- ftrated, that no difference of nation or religion, no »]uarrel or refentment, no enmity or alienation cf afi^iflions, can exempt us from owaing any perfon to bs our neighbour ; IVbithys An" notatiom^ 24 A. Ann Dom 31, &c. fronj Mitt xii i.r.iaik ii,i3. Luke VI. I. J.'tm The Hljlory of the BIBLJS, Book vin. w- dueftion, bv tellinp- him, -'That, once upon a time, 3 certain Jew, as he was travelling in the road between * Jerufalem and Jericho, was robbed, ftripped, barba- roufly ufed, and left almofi: dead with his wounds; that by chance a priefl ■\ came that way, and faw the poof wretch weltering in his blood; but the horror of the fight did not affe^i: him ; he paiTed along unconcerned ;' that next came a Levite ; but he too was as void of ten- dernefs and compaflion as was the prieft, though botli of them were of the fame country with the fufFerer ; that at laft a Samaritan, a ftranger, and one abhorred by the Jews, feeing this diftreffed perlon, with great compaf- lion came to him, raifed his head, recalled his fainting fpirits, and doled his gaping wounds with the beft me- dicines t he had ; then, m.ounting him on his own horfe, he gently conveyed him to the firft inn, where, at his own coIl, he entertained him, v»'hile he ftaid with him, and, at his departure jj, promifed the hoft to be at whatever ' expences * Between Jerufalem and Jericho (vhich Vv-erc about (even Jeagues di[i?.nt) the road was very infamous for murders and Eobberies; for in it was a place called the valLy of Adormnim, or of bloody men, becaufe of the great quantity of blood that was there fpilc ; and Tor this realon it is thac our Lord iays the ftexieof his parable in this place; Calniet's Co??!nie?itaiy. •j" To make the defcription more lively, our Saviour inftanceS in two men, a prieft and a Levite, v\'ho took no pity of this jew jn diftreis^ though they were of the fame religion and country; nay, though they were the minifters and teachers of the reii* gioa which he profelTed, and might therefore be prefumed, even in virtue of their office and education, to hive more ex- tenlive notions, and hearts more capable of tender impreffions, than the ruder vulgar ; And, for the fame reafon, he intro- duces a Samaritan adting a different part, and taking all ima- ginable care of this wounded Jew, though between Jews and tianii^riians there was a moil inveterate haired. % The words in the text are, pouting in ivine and oil ; oil. to eafe and alfuage the pain ; and wine, to cleaafe and heal the wound : And thcfe things the good Samaritan had about him, becaui'e the inns In the caflern countries (even as it is ftillj af., forded nothing, but barely houfe-room ; and therefore the caf>om was, for the traveller to carry all kinds of necefT-iries, both for kis bed and board, along with him ; Cahmfs Coni' wientary. fj The words in the text arc, ivhen he departed he took out tnjjo pence, Luke x. 35. The hydpiov, which we rea- der Chap. lir. from the Birth cf CHRIST, ^c. 25 * ever expences more fhovild accrue.' From which plain A. M. narration, the Doftor hirafelf * could not but conclude, ^°^^5^ ^^'^ that the Samaritan was the neighbour to the perfon in di- ^^^ Sic. ftrefs, and confequently that the notion of a neighbour com- ^rot^.. prehended men of all nations, and all religions whatever. i^',"^i*"j '* As foon as the feaft of tabernacles was ended, our Lord m^g yj. j] departed from Jerufalem, and, in the beginning of his jour- John v. t. ney, went to a fmall village called Bethany, about two miles''* .^.'^•*'^* eaft of Jerufalem, where he was joyfully received by a wo- •,iarkix.'i4, man named Martha, who, with her lifter Mary and her n)keix.|3 7. brother Lazarus, was highly in favour with him. "WTiile J"'^" '"«^* Martha was bufy in making preparation for his entertain- ^^-'''V"*'^ ment, her lifter Mary fat with the company liftening to his J^" ^ ^t}^' inftru£l:ions •, and v/hen Martha complained to him that her Mary's fifter had left the whole burden of the bullnefs upon her, choice; mi and thereupon defired him to fend her to her affiftance,'^°'^ i^^*^^"- our Lord commended Mary's choice, and though he .a'. h, had civen them about eishteen months before, in his fer- Ma'kii. t- '^°" °^ ^hs mount, but encouraged them likev/ife, from L\.k?ix Y: the confidcration of God's goodnefs, and fatherly affeciion, John vij. 1 ^faj. mere indulgent t© his children than any earthly pa- ^'■'^'''^''^ rents v/ere to theirs,) to be conflant in their petitions to him, Lu'.e r. '• vv it h fervour f, importunity, and an indefatigable perfeve- rance, as the likelleft way to obtain a gracious anfwer to ^"^='':- '4 them. pdifl rlie Not long after this, upon our Lord's curing a demoniac fcribrs arir!that Vv'as dumb, the Pharifees renewed their old fenfelefs Fr.anfcs. j-^yj]^ of his ejecting devils by Beelzebub, which he con- futed by the fame arguments he had foraierly ufed upon that account; and when, they again demanded of him a iign from heaven, he again made them the fame reply. Nay not only fo, but when he was invited to dinner one day by a certain perfon of that fe£l;, who was not a little offended at his fitting down to meat without wafhing his hands sn this exprefflon, told Martha that one dift was enough. Boc befides the lownefs ofthefenfe, the great company that at- tended our Lord, feventy difciples and twelve apoflles, to be i'ure, if no more, fliev/s the incongriioufnefs of it. O'hers wi!l have this one thing needful to be a life of meditation and con- templatlon which Mary had all alcngaddifled herfelf to ; but her chufing to take the advantage of our Saviour's company, to hear hioi fcr an hour or two, rather than prepare a fupper for hicn, is not foundation enough for this conjesf^ure; and thtre- fnre we cannot but think that the moil general interpretation concerning the care of the fo'il, with reference to eternily, is the be ft-; Pool's Ar.notal ions. * Thefe difciples nnuft have been fome of the feventy who were hot preient when our Lord delivered his fermon on the mounr, wherein he firft of all pre!"cribed to his apoftles this form of prayer : Bcaiifohre's Atwotations . f The word a'vai,j£i'a Properly fignifies impudence, and mighf here be ufed in conformity to that faying of the Jews, Tkeivi' pudf?it man c-vercovies the vicdeji and the bq/Jy/ui, hoiv much 7Korf God, "jjho is goodnefs itjelf'f Whitby's Annotations. Chap. III. from the Birth of CHRIST, ^c. 27 hands, he took occaflon from thence to inveigh very fe- A M. vsreiy againft their ridiculous luperrcitlon, in affecting out- V^^'-^'^* ward neatnefs in their manner of living, while they ne- "it^gic. glecled to cleanfe their fouls from internal pollutions. And fro ti _ • i'o proceeding to reproach both them and the fcribes, the '^'■'■' .V-'* teachers of the law, with their pride and prevarication, L^k^ vi\V, their hypocrify and fplrit of perfecation, he ib exafperr.ted Jonn v. 1. them, that they ufed all poflible methods to infnare him ^° ^'a't'»- in his fpeech, and to find fome accufation aqainfl him, "'i.-^''* Tvfhereby they might deftroy him. luI cix.:i7" One of the company, however, feeing vv'ith what au- J"'-'^ ^''- f- ihority he reproved, and determined among the people, ^^--'''W.^' defired of him * to arbitrate between him and his bro- Y''^'^^' '^• ther, concerning an eftate which had lately fallen to them : ra'^ml'^Vo-" But this ofiice he chofe to decline, and thence took ccca- vc-tonfners. fion to preach againft covetoufneis, or placing our felicity ^'"•'^ ^^'\°'''s in worldlv pofleflions ; and to enforce this, he orcpounded f'!!"!""'"^' tlie parable of a certain rich man, v,'ho, when he had ac^ preparation P 2 quired f"'; 'i'='^-^ andjiidg- * The praflice among the Jews of referring civil matters tofo, atimely ccc!tfi>iiiical perfons as judp;es, beg^rj in the captivity of T^aby- lepentsncc. Ion, when, by this means, the Jews avoided the bringing their • difl'ereQces betore He;^then judges. CJunder llie dominion of the Romans, they were indulged a greater liberty, and had civil courts made up of perfons of their own religion. In cafes of private difference between man and man, it was ufual to njak« either the confiRory of three, or foaie others chofen by the contending parties, arbitrators. Whether both ihefe brothers had agreed to refer their difference to our Lord's determir.a- tion, or tliid one of them only defired him to interpofe his au- thority, if not to enjoin, atJea!^ to perfuade, his brother to come to an accommodation, it is difficult to fay, becaule the Scripture is fiient : But this we may obfervc, that the ordinary rule of inheriiance among the Jews was, for the eldeil fon to have a double porcion of his father's eftate^ and the reft to be divided eqaaliy among the othsr children ; but in what came by the mother, the eldeft had no prerogative above the reft • the divifion among them was equal. Whatever then the con- troverfy between thefe brothers was, our Saviour might very juftly refufe to intermeddle in it ; and that, not only becaufe i£ was inccnfiltent with his dclign of coming into the worid> which v/as to promote men's Ipiritual, rather than their tem- poral interells, but becaufe it might probably have drawn upon him the envy and calumny of the Jewifn rulersj who might be apt to fay that he took upon him an ufiice to which he had no call, in prejudice to them who were legally appointed to it; ro-/l'i and Whithfs Annotathv.'. ; and Calnict's Co?.'i:7rnta'-y, 28 ^he History tf the BIBLE, Book VIII. ^*' ^^L quired eflate enough, propofed to indulge hlmfelf in vo- Xnn' Dom luptuoufnels, but was ladiy difappcinted by the interven- 31, &c, tion of afudden death. He therefore exhorted his difci- from Malt, pies not to be too anxious about the things of this life, but Ula'k ii 13 *® ^'^^ their care upon God's providence, who, having \iTo- Luke vi. i.niifed them a kingdom in heaven, would not fail of fup- John V. I. plying them with what v/as neceiTary here. He exhorted ^^Man. thei-n to charily, to watchfalnefs, to preparation aguinft the iiarkix.'u.^^y of judgment, or the arreft of death, and (under the. lukeix.a;. emblem of ftewards or governors in great men's houfes) John VII. I'j^ecommended gentlenefs and temperance, and cautioned ^^^■^"^^ them againfc indulging themfeives in any kind of excefs, upon the confidence of their Lord's abfence or delay, ... While he w:4S tlius difcourfing to his diiciples, news was '"'''brought him of * the maffacre which Pliate had caufed to be made of fome Galileans, while they were offering their facrifices at the altar ; and the confequence which he drew from thence (as well as from another fad accident that bad lately happened in Jerufalem, where the fall of the tower of Siloam f had deftroyed no lefs than eighteen perfons) • ' * The genera] opinion is. that this piece of billory relates to the fedition which Jud-is Gaulorices raifed againfl the Ro- inan government in Judea, when he and one Sadducus aPha- rifee, po/Teffed the people with a notion, ' That taxes were a « badge of iheir fJavery ; that they ought to acknowledge no < fovereign but God himfelf, nor pav any tribute but to his • temple," It was in Galilee, very probably, where this Judas firft broached thefe fentiments, and there acquired !uch a mul- titude of foDowers and abettors, as made Jofephus call hina Galilssns, as well as Gaulonites ; j^nc'/q. lib 18. c. 2, Nay a!J his followers in genera!, tho' they were of different provincec by birth, obtained the fame name. But when they canie to Je- x-ufalem, atone of the great fcftiva's, and began to fpread thefe feditious notions againft Cafar, Pilate who was then the Roman governor, h^.ving had intelligence of it, caufed a confi- derable mimber of them to be {lain in the temple while they v/ere facri.^icjng ; Whiihy\- ^nd Bea7 ginning of the world to the time of Mofes ; under the written law, from Mofes to Jefus Chrift ; and under the evangelical law, from jefus Chriii to the end of the world. Others rather •mean by them, the three kinds of government under which the Jews had lived, viz. the government of judges, from jou^ua to Saul; the government of kings, from Saul to the Babylonifa captivity ; and the government of high-priefts, from the cap- tivity to the time of Jefus Chrift. But ihife explications are a little too arbitrary ; nor will the three years of our Saviour's preaching among the Jews con:ie up to the point, becaule the Jews were not deftroyed the next year, (as the barren fig-tree was %o be cut down,) but forty years after our Lord's afcenfion. All that is meant by theexpveflion, therefore, is, that Godgave them 30 The History of the BIBLE, Book VIIL A M. the gardener's promiling to ufe a more than ordhiary care 4o3>-, «c. ^j^j diliaence about it, he was prevailed on to let it ftand Aim lyim. ^, . • I 1 • J • • 1 -r- 0..1 3 1 &c. one year longer, but with this determination, that if it itill r> 'm continued unfruitful, he would not then fail to cut it down. ji :• •x-,:.j. Every Sabbath-day our Lord's cuftoin was to preach in ^'■^ 'y;''j one of the Jewilli fynagogues, aad^ while he was thus em- ] ,ni. V I, ployed, he obferved a woman, who for the fpace of eigii- to Ml" 1 tQtn years, had laboured under a fpirit of infirmity, which ^,'.'t'^' bowed down her body fo, that fhe was notable to lift her- 1 u^eix iJv.feif up. Here was a proper obje^l: for his compaffion and Joir; VI. 1. power to exert themfelves ; and therefore, calling the wo- ^-^v"**-^ man to him, he hid his hands upon her, and immediately »,uke X ii ijj,^ became ilraight, and glorified God. A\. this the ruler ]?' .. ^ of the fvnapoffue * became fo very envious and difpleafed, * ^ . r ' s t n c '^ o o ' * ' cr)>,ca that he told the people, There were ilx days in the 'V nnan, week allowed by God for labour, and that on thofe they ;yu. con- p-,-,rt{^{. come for cure, but not on the Sabbath, which was t Jtc- the ' \' . 1 r n i^ T ^ r i i • !;ii..r o: ihea day appointed tor reit. i5ut our JLord loon made him fynagoguc:. afbamed of his hypocrify f, by an argument drawn from their ov/n pradice of ioofing an ox or an afs from tlie ftall on • them all the time, and all the means, tliat could b? deGred, to make iheiii inescufable ; and th^ term of three years feems ra!:her to be mentioned, bcca'afe ths fruit of feme fig-trees Loaies not to maturity till the third year; Cahiei^s Comtnentary\ "and r/hiihy' s An72otatJo}is . * In every iynagogue there was a conficlerable nnmher of doctors of the law, who in the gofpel are frcqneiUiy called rollers or goverao^s, and over thefe there was ufually on; chief preliJent. R^u the pcifon h-ere feems not to have b:en the chief prefident, but one of the fubordinate rulers, becaufe ws iind him, not addreiTiag himtelf diredly to ChriH, (which, not improbably, hid he been the prefident, he would have ta- ken courage to do,) but only to the people in general : though by them he obliquely ftrack at our Saviour ; Bsaufobrc's An- flotations, and Cahid s Cotivnentary . t Our Saviour declared this ruler of the fynagogue to be an hypooite. partly becaufe he placed hisholinefs in the obferva- tion of the ritual precepts of the law, (fach as bodily red on the Sabbath-day) to the dii'paragement.of the works of mercy, and other great matters oF eternal obligation ; and parrly be- caufi he pretended to a great zeal for the performance of God's couin-iands, when, all the while, he was rather adied by a malevolent envy to the glory of Chrill, which he, to whooj his hf.irt was open, perfs^ly kasw; Wkii'of s Annotations, Chap III. f^om the Birth of CHRIST, '^'c. 31 on the Sabbath-day, and leading them away to watering ; ^ iM. and much more then might he be permitted to cure, on ^^^^^J'^^'^'^^" that day, a daughter of Abraham, whoni Satan, for fo jt 6ic,' many years, had affli>£l:ed with a iore difeafe. Whereupon from his adverfaries were fdenced,'but the people were alhslad, "^"V ''."' '* and rejoiced at his glorious adtions. lurc vl », . The feaft of dedication * was now approaching, when, ;;.•! a 7 i. jkfter leveral removals, our Lord repaired again to Jerula- ''^ ^'"^'• km, and, as he was walking in the lireets on the Sabbath- )^,'''|,|,j^V^ day t, fiiw a poor man that was blind from his very birth, lu; eix 57! Upon his calling the m.an to him, his difciples afked him, J '''' "! «• whether it v/as the \ man's own, or his parents' lin, that ■'— '"V-s^ hadJ°' " '^ '• ■vi.il cii es * When Jadas Maccabeus had cleanfed the temple, which that was had been polluted by Antiochus Epiphanes, he agiindedicat born bljr.d, cdche altar; (i Maccab. iv. 59. and 2Maccahx. 8.) and thii^P^r'^hicii is fuppofed to be the dedication, in memory of which the Jews'^^'"^' f^^'^'" Conunued to celebiate a feaft, which fell out in the winter, in ijon:,! ' the'raor.th Chifleu, between the i^ih and 14th cf our Novem- ber ; and being the fame, in all probability, with what in the gofpcl is called 7« lyx^ivia, \v^s hcr^oured and approved by our Saviour's pre'^ence, though but of human intlitnticn ; IVkitby's Annotations, Hammond^ s Paraphrnfif, and Eackard's Ecckjiajli- cal Hijiory, lib. I.e. ^. ■j" I c has been obferved before, that our Saviour made choice of the Sabbith dajr, as a day wherein he did many of his mighty works. It was on this day that he cured the impotect man vk'ho lay at the pool of Bethefdj, John v. to. On this day that he healed him who had the withered h^nJ, Matlh. xii. 10. and now on this day likewiie, that he gave light to the man who was born blind, John ir. 14. and poffibly he migh" chufe this, becaufe it was the day whereon he ordinarily preached that heavenly dodlrine, which he ccnrirmed by thefe miraculous works ; or perhaps, that he might inil'Uct the Jews (i/they would hive received inftruftion) in the right ob- fervation. of the Sabbath, and arm his difciples againft thac pernicious doiftrin.; of the Pharifees, viz. that it v.-as not law- ful to do good, or perform works of mercy and compafficn, oa that d:i\ ; Peel's and Whitbys AnnorafloKs. \ What the difciples might mean by the fin of the blind man's parents, is no 'hard m.-.ttsr to folve, confidering the ftriJl prohibition irx the law, Levit. xx. 18. of not coming near a raenftruous woman, which was thought to have fo ill an in- fluence upon the child, as to make it obnoxious to leprofy, or mutilation, and might, confcqueatly, be the caufe of this per- fon's bliadnefs ; But what w^ ar; to uuJcrftaad by his owa fjU) 32 "^he Misery pfthe BIBLE, Bobk VIK. A-- M. £aci brought that calamity upon him ? But his blindnefs, as 4o;s &c, ^g told, them, was not ient for a puni&ment of any one's 31, &c. ' ^J^*) but * for the greater manifeftation of God's glory; and from fo fpitting upon the ground, he made fome clay, and hav- wa t. xn r. jj-,g ajiointed his eyes therevA^ith, he f fent hinj to wafh ^''j^g'^'i_^^'them in the pool of Siloam ; which accordingly he did, John V. I. and returned with fuch perfedt eye-fight, that his neigh- to Muih. hour's waik5x.i4. j'j^^ before ha was horn, is not fo eafy to be determined. That Tot n ••iii '"- cannot relate to the original fm which he brought into the ,^^,py«j^ world with him, is evident, becaufe ail mankind {our Lord only excepted) are equally guilty of this ; nor does this entail upon them ar,y corporeal imperfedion . And therefore the fm here intended muH: be fomething fpecial and perfonal. Now, •whoever confiders that the opinion of the Platonifts and Pytha* goreans conceruing the pre exiltsnce of ibuls. their tranfmi- gration from one body to another, and being fent into bodies better or wcrfe, according to their merit or demerit, had ob- tained among the jews, and more efpecially among the Pha- rifees, need not much wonder to (ind our Lord's difciples ia* fefted with it, or, at leaft, defirous to know their mafter's fen- timents about it. The author of the book of Wifdom, where fpeaking of himftlf, he tells us, t^at, be; Kg good, he came into a body iindefikd, i. e. free from any notable infirmity, chap, viii, 20 gives countenance to this dodtrine ; and, in the v/ritings of' Philo, (Degigant. p. 285. et De fomniis, p. 586) and of Jo- 4 fephus (De b^iio Jud. lib. 2. c, 12) we hnve it confirmed to us : And therefore the difciples may well be fuppoled to en fijuire here, whether our l^ord allou'ed of the prevailing no tion, vi/,, that the foul of this man might be put into this im^ perfect body, for the punifhment of what he had done, either m or out of the body, in a pre-exiftent ft ate •, IVkitby'' s ■s.Vi.'i Hammond's AnnUations , and Cahuefs Commentary, * it muft not be thought, that God did any ways actively concur to make this man blind, though, in his wifdcai, he thought fit to leave this imperfediou in the plaific matter^ whereof he was formed, unreftified,' that thereby he mighc Oiew hi'^ miraculous power in giving fight to fuch an one for the confirmation of Chrift's dodrine; thereby difplay hisgood- neis, in illuminating both the fou! and body of this man at once; and thereby give all others, who beheld this miracu- lous cure, a powerfal motive to believe; Whitby's Annotation!-, f V/e read of nothing medicinal in this water, only our Lord was plcafed to fend the blind man to walh his eyes here, asa probation of his faith and obedience, in the fame manner as, of old, Naaman the Syrian was fent to walh i2 tha river Jordan,, 2 Kings v, 10.; Pool's Amotationt^ Ghap. III. from the B'trth of CHRIST, tsfc. 3^ hours wereama^ed, and began to queftlon whether he was •^- **• the fame man that ufed to fit begging, until he afTured ^."'^o^ them, that he was the very perlon -, and, to fatisfy them 31, &c. farther, not only told them who his phyfician was, but in ir^m what manner his ture was efFeded. f^wf' '^■' Various were the cenfures and opinions of men upon jj. Lute' this occalion. The Pharifees, to diminiOi the credit of the vi 1. miracle, faid that Jefus could not be a prophet fent from ^''^^ ^' j^* God *, becaule he violated the Sabbath; but others again j^vii. 14. * replied, that no impoftor could be permitted to work fuch Mark ix. miracles, as had apparently the finger of God in them. '4- Thofe who were averfe to believe the miracle, or in hopes ,' t^^^' of making the thing look intricate, fent for the parents of vii. i. the man that was cured, and alked them thefe three que- v,-«OPO ftions, Whether he was their fon ? Whether lie was born blind ? and, Whether they knew how, and by whom, he" was cured ? To the two firft queftions they anfwered di- re£Hy, that he was their fon, and was born blind ; but, as rothe laft, they referred them to him, who (as they told; them) was of age to anfwer for himfeif ; not daring to fay any more for fear of the Sanhedrim, who had made an f oMet' * And yet ihey tbemfelves acknowledge, that a prophet might do and command ihin^s contrary 10 the reft required by the Sabbath, which they alio prove by the example of Jo- (hua, •w\\o covnrxizndtd. that the (irkJI?o:c!d be carried round jferi' '' chot tHe armed mengohig before and after itfeven days, one of which muft be the Sabbath, John vi. How then could that which prophets, by the known principles of the Jews, were allowed to do, prove that Jefus was no prophet, efpecially if we confl'-' ■der, that, by thefe anions of mercy and goodneft, he did not in- deed violsite the reft of the Sabbath, but only their corrupt^ traditions concerning it ; Whitby' i Annotations. •(• The general opinion is, that, among the Jews, there were' three kinds of excommunication ; that the firft was called A'V/- dui^ chat is to ixy , fparation , which lafted for thirty days, and feparated the perfon from the ufe of all things holy. The fe« ■cond was c-AXt^Cherem, or execration, which excluded the per- foii from the fynagogue, and deprived him of all civil com- merce. And the third, Shammatha, ov ^cijion, which removed' him froai ail hopes of returning to this lyaagogue any more.' But Sclden (De Synedr. Hebr.) maintain?, that thefe three terms, Niddui, Cherem, and Shxvimatha, are fometiaies fyno- nymous ; and that the Jews, properly fpeaking, never had inore than two forts of excommunication'-, ttr;' greater and the Vot. VI. No. 27. ^ ^ Ifefs'; v_^w*' 34 The Hijhry of the BIBLE, Book VIII.. ?.. rt. order to excommunicate any perfon who fliould acknow- rtoBJ, S. :. jgjae Tefus to be Ciirift. Him therefore they began to ex- ->! ikc. amine ; and to draw Lim from the good opinion he had fiom Malt conceived of his phyfician, bid him afcribe the glory of his "''.':. , cure wholly to God, and not to look upon Jefus with any r "^"^ vi I. ■^'eneration, who was a fmner and Sabbath- breaker, and j:>ii:i V. I. confequently could not come from God. To which the to Matth. jfian boldly replied, * That |it was very unaccountable that ^r'k "'^ ' ^^'^y^ fhould not perceive from whence the man was, 1^1. Luks ^ whom God had endued with fuch a miraculous power IX 37- * of opening the eyes of one born blind *, a thing that John VII. r. s ^j,g never heard of before fince tlie world began; and * that iince it was a certain truth t that God heareth not * finners, if he were not fent, and impowered by God, he ' could never do fuch wonderful cures as thefe.' This provoked them fo highly, that they firfi upbraided him with his former bllndnefs, as a character of fome extraor- dinary ill in him, and then caft him out of the fynagogue with difgrace ', but Jefus fliortly after met him, and receiv- ed him into his own church.' He declared himfelf to him, that he was the Meluah ; and the poor man, believing on him, immediately fell down proftrate at his feet, and a- dored him. • After lefs ; though mofl are agreed, that it was the greater fort of excommunication which the Sanhedrim threatened to any one that (hould confefs that Jefus was the Chrift, becaufe the pa- rents of the blindman were (b fearful of it, that they d'.irfl not fpeakout; Calmet's DiHionary, under ih.Q ■wov^ Excorimmika' iion. * They who lofe their fight by adifeafe, may be cured ; but no man, no not Mofes, or any of the prophets, ever did, or e- ver could, without the afliftance of a divine power, give fighc to one born blind : for which reafon the Jews reckon this a- mong the figns of the Mefllah, that \iZ floould open the eyes of the hlind ; IVhithy's Annoiatiom. \ But doth not God hear finners. Then whom can he hear, fmce no man liveth, and commiiteth not fin againftGod? it is true indeed : But then the finners which the poor man may be fuppufed here to mean, are not thofe who become fuch through ignorance, weaknefs, or human infirmity, but fuch notorious and prefuraptuous finners, as go on in their impic- tieSj viith an high hand, and an hardened heart, of whom the Spirit of God declares, When they fpread forth their kar.dsy Invill hide niyfelf from them,, arid 'when they make many prayers^ I •'J-vV/ not heir, Ifa, i. 15. The maxion however is here to be underllood, HOC .Chap. III. jrom the Birth of CHRIST, ^c. 35 After that our Lord had received the poor man's ho- * "• , mage, he continued his difcourfe, and under the ^hegory ^°^^^*' j^^)^ of a * fhepherd and his fheep, proved the Pharifees to be 3,, &c. E 2 no frotn MiU. xii. t. not in a general but reftrained fenfe, viz. that God ufeth not "'J';' "•. *5' to honour notorious and flagitious finners, (cfpecially when 1^,1^";., ^^'j_' they pretend to come with a raeliage froai him,) by giving to Ma-.th. them a power to work miracles, in order to confirm the truth xvii. 14. of what they fay. For this is the force of the poor man's ar ^"''^ ]^ '4' gument, That Chrili could not be fiich a notorious finner r(|,'[,,'^^^i^^" as he was reprefented to him, becaufe it was inconfiftent with ^^^r^'.^ the attributes 01 God, to honour fuch perfons wiih his pre- , , fence aud affiltance, in doing fuch works as none could do, ^^ nu»s ' without a divine pov/er comrriitted to them ; Pool's AnKotationr. th^ t^haii- * That this allufion was \ery proper and pertinent with re. ^'cs 'o he gard to the perfons to whom our Saviour addrefied his dif-*"''^ ■?"""> courfe, the condition and cuftom of that country i^ay con- ^^j^ ^1^^ '' vince us. For the greatefl part of the wealth and improve- true one ment there confifted in(heep; and the examples of Jacob and and, pj-ot David in particular, are proofs that the keeping of thefe v/as ^(''^5'."^'^!* not ufually committed to fervants and ftranpeis, (as it is a--''."''^' '* mong us ) but to men of the greateft quality and fubftance.of bcuiT The children of the family, nay, the matters and owners rtoncd, thcmfelves, made it their bufmcfs, and e(leem:'d the looking to their flocks, a care and employment in no cafe below them. Hence probably came the frequent metaphor of flyling Khigf, the foepherds of their psopk. Hence the ancient prophets defcribe the Mefliah m the character oi -a fijepkerd ; and our Bleffed Sa- viour, to ihew that he was the perfon intended by the prophets, applies the fame character to himfelf, thereby to reprefent his government of the church, and tender concern for mankind: He /hall fed bis fiock like a fjepkerd ; hs frjall gather the Lvnhs luith his anus, and carry them in his bofom ; fjallfeek that ivhich ivas I ft, and bring again that nvhich rvas drhen aivay i fjall bi>id up thai •which ivas broken and frengthen that ivhich 'wasfuk, and gently lead thofe ivhich vje re "with young, Ifa. xl. tt. and £zek. xxj:'V. 16. ail lively emblems of our Lord's paftoral care, and of the various methods which he hath employed to accomodate his difpenfitions to our wants, in order to promote our eternal fal- vation. And as the charaftsr of a Ihepherd did well become our gracious Saviour, fo there is fomething in the very nature and difpofition of fheep, (which appears fo innocent and inof- fenfive, fo peaceable and gentle, fo patient and fubmiflive, fo honeil and undefijrning,) as carries a near refemblance to that plainnefs and probity, that modefty and humility, that quiet- Eefs and fubiaifion, ■which are indeed the firii elements of the Chriftian ^6 . Wh History of iU BIBLEy Book VIII. A. M- no -better than blind guides, nay than thieves and robberSj Xnn' Don>^^° had* climbed up into the fheep fold, or made them- 3 r , &c. felvcs rulers and governors in God's church without any pro- froni Matt per commJlSon from him. Upon the fame ground he con- xii. ..Mark jgj^^jjgj ^ji j^^l-g f^l^e Chriils t who before him had ufurp- Ti. 1. John eci T. 1. to ?iatthi.xvii. Chriftisn religion, as \v;ll as the qualifications requifite to the 74 Mai IX. j.^^^p^j^^ of it. It is to be chferved, however, that as the Sx. 37, ' (hepberd's art in managing his iiiscp (in the eaftern countries) John vii.i. was different From what is among us, ^to which purpofe w-eread K.^.^f'^Y^ of his going before, leading, and calling his ibeep, and of their following, and knowing his voice ; whereas our fhepherds go after and drive their fheep,) \o thefe feveral exprellions do, in %\\t moral, denote our Lord's receiving into the number of Chriftians all thofe humble and obedient fouls that come to him in the fpirit of meeknefs, not in the clothing, but in the real qualities, of his fheep, and making provifiou for their growth in grace and improvement in all virtue and godlinefs of living : Stanhops en thi epifiks and gofjxlsi ^oL 3. and Hanz- mond''s Annotations. * According to the primary inftitution of God. it was the proper province of the fons of Levi to teach the children of Jfrael all the JIatuie: ivhich the Lord had fpohn rinto them by the hand of Mofesy Lcvit. x- 1 1, and therefore it was required that the friejis' lips fuould preferve hnivledge, and the people feek his taiu at. their mouths, Mai. li. 4. 7. But (however it came about) no fooner did their traditions grow in edeem, than the fcribes and Pharifces, not only took upon them to be the guides and teach- ers of the people, but maintained likewife, that others were to receive authority to teach from their commiffion and ordina- tion to that OiEce ; though v.'e no where find that they receiv- ed any fuch authority from God ; for which reafon oar Saviour repreients them as a plantation which his Feather had not planted, .Matth. >v 13. and bids his difciples beware of theic doiftrine, Matth. xvi. 12. becaui'e /ly^iy taught for the doctrines of God, the cormnandntents of men , and made void the comnmndinents of Cod by their traditions, Matth. xv; 6. 9.; Whitby* s Annotations. f In feveral of the Greek copies, as well as the Syriac, Per- fsan, and Gothic, the words hefire me (for our Saviour in the text fpeaks in his own perfon; are omitted : and fome critics are of opinion, that this omiflion was early, becaufe the Mani- chees (according toTheophylaft) made no fcruple to infer from hence, that the prophets of the Old Teftameni had not their niifiion from God. Our Saviour, however, in feveral places where he quotes thera has fufficiently eftabliflied the autho- rity cf the prophets j and by this pafTagc means no more then that Ghap. III. frcm thi Birth of CHRIST^ tsfc, 37 ed the title of the Mefiiah, aflerted his his own right to it -^. m. by an argument that no other (hepherd durft produce, viz. *°^*' ■. . , • 7 1 • IT r 1 • n » 1-1 Ann Donrt bis laying down his lire tor his Iheep *, which were to 3,^ ^c. conlift of Gentiles f as well as Jews, and ail together make from imtt. up one flock. '^"- '.: Before the conclufion of the feaft, as he was walking ji^c vif![ ia Solomon's porch :f, feveral of the Je\vs came, and re- John v. t. quired '^ '*''^''- xv:i, 14. that all thofe who before him had taken upon them the title i.ukejx. 97 iand quality of the Meffiah (fuch as Theudas and Judas Gali- Johnvii » J^us, whereof we find mention Adls v. 36, 37) were thieves V-^v^^ and robbers, becaufe they iilurped a charafter which they hadjohnx.i:, no right to ; and that all before him, who either had not their commiilion from God, or could not prove it by extraordinary miracles, (fuch as the authors of the Rabbinical tradition'-, and of all the other reigning fe^s among the Jews.) were fai^ from being the true fnepherds of God's people; Calmei's Com. * His fheepare here fuppofcd by fome to be his eleit and pe- culiar friends ; and thence they infer, that Chrift laid down his life for them only. Now, if ws refpcift the counfel of God and the deflgn of Jefiis Chriil, nothing is more certain than that he gave himfelf a ranfom foi* all, i Tim. ii 6. and tafted death |or every man, Heb. ii 9. and was a propitiation for the fins of the whole world, 1 John ii 2. but then becaufe the world can no otherwife lay hold on the bcnc.^ts of this propitiation, than by believing, and being obedient to the voice of this fliep- herd ; he therefore is faid to do this more eminently for his fteep. The apoftle, I think, h^s determined the whole contro- yerfy in a few words, — He died fir all, that they nvko livs might not live unto themfclvfs, hut unto hint Mt becaufe they will not perform the conditions required to make his death efficacious to them ; they will not live unto him who died for them ; Whith-/} Annotations. \ Thefe our Saviour calls /fi/j: other Jheep, John x. 16. by way pf anticipation, becaufe he foreknew that many of them (when once his gofpel came to be tendered to them) would give it a ready reception, be convened and baptifed ; and becaufe the ceremonial law (which was the partition-wall between the Jews and Gentiles) was ftjortly to be broken down, and the Gen- tiles admitted ro the fame privileges with the Jews that believ- ed in his name ; Whithy's Annotations. % This porch confifted of fome (lately cloifters on the caft fide of the temple, and not far from the court of the Gentiles. 33 The History of the BIBLE, Book VIII. A. w, quired him to tell them (in pofitive terms) -whether he was A?*'!-?*^' ^^^^ Mefllah or not. To which his anfwer was, That he jj, &c. l^sd already fuiliciently informed them of that, but to no trosn effe£t •, that the miracles which he wrought in his Father's itaii Ki.t, j^jjne, were a full evidence of his miffion j that the reafon i,\ikc"i*i.* "^'''^y *^^y believed him not was, becaule they were not jrih!i v.\. of a cifpofition proper for his fheep ; that to fuch as were iv. Maul,, j-^52 (heep, and followed him, he would give eternal lifej iV.t ;'*'.. and that none could pull them out of his, or his Father's iukeix.S:. hands. i.n V!! li. '•-'^'^'^ It was c"'5ed SolorTiOn's, e'ther to preferve the memory of that p-reat prince, or becaufe it was built according to the model of that which he ereflsd, i Kings vi. 5. for boih in the temple vhich Zoral-bahel, and in that which Herod rehuilt. the plan of Solomon's was chiefly obfeived. thougTi "caie variations inighc be allov/ed of; And in this poich our Siivicur was walk- in?^, becaufe at this time it was winter, and here he found a cover from the injuries of the weather ; whereas in the fummer- fesfon it was cullomary with the jews to walk in the open courts of the temple ; Eachard's Ecclefiajlical hijiory , lib. 1, c ^. IVhithy^s Annotations ; and Calmei's Commentary. * S 5me are of opinion, that the words in the text ^ y^^-?, which we render hicaufe^ are not rational, or do not render 3 reafon for thcfa people's inSdelity, but only intimate that their mfide- liiy v/as confeqaenlial to their not being his flieep; or in other words, that they could not believe becaufe they were not e- ]e6ed. But to obviate this we muft obierve. that the reafon "•hich cur Lord here affigns for this defecft of faith, is doubt- lefs fii.ch as made it a great crime in them ; for Aire that mulf be fuch for which they were to die in their fins, John viii. 24. .1* is therefore certain, that this unbelief cannot be refolved in- to any natural defeft of knowledge on their pare, nor any aia't. his Father's name, and endeavoured to apologize for his f|!|'i,'ji ^ calling himielf the Son of God, (even becaufe in Scripture Luke vi. i\ we find judges and magiftrates frequently fo ftyled, and Jo^-n v. i,- much more then might he, who v/as confecrated and fent ^°^-^^''l^' by God, afTimie that title) yet all this wcvdd not appeafe MarK -x 14. their rage, fo that he was forced to leave the city, and went Lvkr.\x thence over loraan to Bethabara, where John had former- V J^^''" ly baptiied ; v.'here great multitudes refor ted to him, both y,^^^r\"sj to hear his inftruftions, and to be healed of their difeafes ; .^^ ^ ^^ and where he made many difcipies, becaufe the place put the people in mind, that whatever John had reported cf him was true. . While he continued in thefe parts, a certain perfon pu^^ sh-^s"!!*? a curious queftion to him fj concerning the number of .1 fficuity of ■ thofe'"3'"'"ij iaivation, * That IS, one in efisnce and nature ; one m autnorr.y and wretched- power; and net barely one in will and confent: And that this is cc:n one thing, in the neuter. Now, \{ thing be not the Divine Being they cannot be one ; for fince the Father is confefi'ed to be God, the Son cannot be one thing with the Father, if he be not God too. td!y, Ic appear.^ Ironn the context, v.hare our Saviour, having, in the preceding verfes, afcribsd the prcfervation of his fheep to the power of his Father, None is able to pluck thejn out of ny Father'r handsy Johns. 29. afcribes the fame alio to his own power, Neither p)all any pluck them out of my hand, ver. 28. plainly intimating, that his flictp were equally fafe in his own hand, as in his Fa- ther's ; becaufe, fays he, / and my Father are one. ver. 50. And, 3dly, It appears from the verfes which immediately follow; for when the Jews took up flones to ftone him, as guilty of blafphemy, becaufe he made himfelf God, he does not evade the charge, by faying, that he only confpired with the will of God, as all tru^ prophets did ; but appealed to the works which h^ performed by the power of che Father reliding in him, which plainly c-rries it to an unity of power, not of will only ; and then St Chryfoftom's inference is undeniable, that ' if the * power be the fame, the eflence alfo is the fame ;' Whithfi Annotation! . t The man, who propofcd this queftion to our Saviour, had doubilefs 40 ^^^ History of the BIBLE j Book V!tf. A- M- tliofe that Ihould be faved : whereupon he took occafioti 4035, «^c, admoriifn his hearers, ♦ That they ought to ufe their Ann Dom _ ,,1 - 1 « '^- -/-/-, 31, &c. utmolr endeavours to enter in at the Itrait gate * or lal- from Matt. « vation, becauie the number of thofe, who fhould not at- xu I. Mark« jj^ jj. would be large -, that they ought to do it with all vj. I. John expedition, becauie, when once the gate was Ihut, and V, I. to < the means of falvation withdrawn, all pretences of having Matt xvii. , j^g^rd the glad tidings of the gofpel, and of having been ix!"i4.Luke' converfant with him upon earth, would gain them no ad- 3r. 37. John* mittance ; that all workers of iniquity Ihould be utterly vu. I. i excluded j and therefore the Jews, in particular, would ^""^^^"^^ < have caufe to lament, when they fhould fc.^ many Hea- * thens, from all parts of the earth, pofTefled of the glq- * ries of heaven, v/itli Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and all * the ancient prophets, while themfelves (who were the * heirs of the kingdom) fhould be thruft out, and fo made * the laft, v/ho were once the firft.' At doubtlefs in his thoughts the common opinion of the Jews, thac all the Ifraelites (how much foever they may fuffer in this) might have their portion in the world to come ; but this was a quefiion of too much needlefs curioficy for our Saviour to an- fwer, becaufe it is no part of our concern, how many fhall be faved ? But only how, and by what means, we are to work out our ov.'n falvation : And therefore he took occafion from hence \o inftruft the man (and in him all others) in what might be of much more fubftantia] benefit to him ; Whitby's Amiotations . • This expreilion oP our BtelTed Saviour's, whether it was borrowed from the Heathen fages or no. is extremely like ihem : For Cebes tells us, that, at the firft entrance upon a courfe of virtue, there is a Httle gate; that after we havepalT- ed this gate, there is a narrow afcent ; and that the way fol- lov.'icg is rough and nigged, becaufe it is not much frequent- ed ; but that, * after we have got up to the top of the hill, the * reft is ftnooth and eafy, free from all obftrudions, and lead- < ing CO the regions of felicity.' Nay, Hefiod, who was much older than Cebes, hai given us the fame defcription of the patlw of virtue : 'Pi;ji?;'i> i' i'riiV* irtA«, ^cixevn -ntf ivcroL. Oper. et Drer. lib. i.Hn. 288. And hsnce we may perceive, to our comfort, that though the ways of virtue and religion are not, at their firft entrance, fo very agreeable, yet, in procefs of time, they will be found to te '"jjsnr of thaf^r.imfsf Chnfi yoki U eafy, and kU co^imand- ■ ' ' ' fftent Chap. in. from the Birth of CHRIST, tsfc. 41 • As he was difcouriing in this manner, (omc of the Pha- -A. M. rifees, who could no lonaer bear with patience the povver"*^^^;^ * and authority which lie had gamed among the people, m 3., &c, hopes of getting rid of him *, came and fuggelted the *'""',. danger he was in from Herod Antipas, fo long as he con- ^'a'^-."" «* tinued in GaUIee, which was part of his dominions: But far mke vi. i' from betraying any fear upon fuch information, he let the Joim v. x. Pharifees know, that, having but a few days longer to live, t^' J^^atth. he was determined to devote them to the relief of the di- warkix. »\^. ftrelTod, the curing difeafes, and cafting oat devils; and as Luksix jr. to Herod'3 t fubtilty^ and dciigns aguinfl his life, they ^ "'^" ^" '* were ^"^"^^""^ i.uk.exiii( '»2snis not grievous ; Cdetis Tab.; Calrr.d'i Commentary; and ^ * iVhitby's Aimotations , * But, whether they came upon their ow:i accoont, or by the inftigifion of Herod, is the cuiertion —If they came upoa their owa account, ic is cerlaln. thrit they came not out of a ly kindnefs to oar Saviour ; becaufe the whole hiilory of the go- fpel ioforms us, that they were far from having any afteition for him; and therefore they muft com; witli a defign, either to fcare him out of Galilee, where he had been too popular for them, or to drive him into a trap which they had laid for hirr^ in Judea. This feems to be a genuine interpretation enough of the fenfe of the evangelift ; and therefore, in our hiilory, w§ have followed it : Cat Hi!! it feems not improbable, that, con? {idering the prelent circumftances Herod was under, he might fend thefe mefTengers to our Saviour. Me had but lately gain- ed hlmfelf no good reputation among the Je^vs, by murdering John, whom all the world looked upon as a prophet : And therefore, feeing that oar Saviour excel le J John, efpecially ia the fame and renown of his miracles, he was unwilling to aug- ment the odium w.hich already lay upon hira, by any frefh afts of violence to a pcrfon, that was reputed a prophet, much fu- perior to the Baptift, whom he had flain : He had got a notioa too, that the Baptid, at leall the foul of the Baptift, in another body, was rifen from the dead, and what the effect of his ghoft's haunting his dominions might be, he could not tell ; and therefors he might think it convenient to pi:t ihefe Plia- rifeei upon fome expedient to get our Saviour (whom poffijly lie might cake for John. revivified ■ removed farther from him. fiov;eVer this be, icis certain, that eidier he or the Pharifeesp pr both, had a mind to have him gone fomcwhere elfe.and that, for this purpofe, the oxz'Xa.'S^^ v/as brought him ; PooP s Aniist. , \ Thefubtilty of that prince is implied in the anl'wer which our Saviour makes to the Pharifees, and which looks indeed a^ if they had been fent froTJ bira. Co t:U that/ox^ Luke xiii. 32. Vol. VI. No. 27. F The Luke xlv. 4^ ■ The liisiory of the BIBLE, Book VIII A, M. were altogether fuperfluous, becaufe he foreknew*', that he '*"^^'t^^1' was to fuixer death a£ Terufalem *, which was the place, 31, &c. appointed (as it were) for the (laughter of all the prophets ; from Mait.jind hereupon he broke out into a mofl parhetic exclama- *''' ,'*; tion againll the inhabitants of that unhappy city, reproach- Lukzvi. I, ing them with their rcjefting the kind ctrers of the gofpel, loim V. I. and with their Icilling the meflengers fent from God, and to Matt. tj^eji denouncinsf their f.^.d approaching deftruclion and ca- xvii r4. '^ rr o Ma-kix.t4 lamity- Luke ix,37. One Sabbath-day, when Jefus was invited by a Pharifee John. vii i.^r fQi^-jg diftinction to dine with him, a man difliempered with the dropfy came after him ; and, when levcral of the company narrov/ly obicrved how he would behave upon Cure-; the this occafion f, he firft cured the poor man, and then dropfical juftified man, re- humility, '-'^^ expreiTicn, nowever, may be taken either m a mild or an and repr> harfher i'enfe . If a mild, it may denote that exquifite pclicj fcnts the wherewith this prince conduced his affairs all his lifetime, duiLTcnt fiding fooietimes with the Jews, ibaiecimes with the Romans, the eofnci fof^^times with the Pharifees, and fometimes with the Sad- * ducees, jail as ic fuited his incerefl • But, fuppofe it to be taken in an harfli fonfe, it will nowife affedt our Saviour's charafler, nor infringe the command of not * fpeaking evil of the ruler of * the people,' fince our Lord was a prophet fent from God, and the office of a prophet is, not to fpare kings, when they reprove their offences, Jer. i. 15. Whitby's Annotations ; and Calmefs Cojmnentary . * Some are of opinion, that, becaufe the Jews had referred to the Sanhedrim, which fat at jerufalem, the whole cogni- fance and trial of prophets, therefore a prophet was not to fuf- fer out of that city ; but this interpretation Teems to enervate our Saviour's fentiment, whofe defign certainly was, to repre- fent the city of Jerufalem, fo accullomed to flied the blood cf the prophets, that there was fcarce a poffibility for any prO' phet's dying out of it : Cait/.t't*s Co;::;.ve;ita>y. f The prefence of the dropfical man, and its being the Sab- bath day, would involve our Saviour (as they thought) in this difficulty, — That either, by forbearing to heal at that time, be would betray his fear, and ftrengthen their fijperftitions with regard to fuch ritual obfervances ; or elfe, that, by doing it, he ninft incur the cenfure and odium of a Sabbath-breaker, and a contemner of the law : But he. who was well aware what fpies he had upon him, fo ordered the matter, as to accompliCb what he faw fit, without any opportunity given for his enemies to compafs their 'snds by it; Stanhope en ike efijlks arJgofpels^ vol'^. . .Chap, in: from the Birth of CHRIST, ksfc. 43 juftified his doing fo, by the fame argument he madeufe of A. M- to thofe who reprehended him for curing the crooked wo- t*^.'^' Y^' man on the Sabbath-day. Obferving, hbwever, how eager ^,\ &c. the gueftswere to take every one the uppermoft places at trom the table, he endeavoured to convince them, how commen- ^'^.r ml 1. dable it was for a man to feat himfeif in a place below, ra- n'ke vi. i. ther than above, his rank and condition, becaufe daily ex- John v. i. perience fhewed us, that humility was a virtue, which was '•'Maul.. ib far from debafing, that it raifed and exalted the perfon Marie ix 14. who pra£tifed it. And then, turning his difcourfe to the nikeiv. 57. mallier of the houfe, v/hom he found too regardlefs of -f"^^" ^'"•*- the poor and needy, he gave him (and in him all others) **-^W^ the good advice * of inviting the poor, the blind, and the lame, who could make no requital, rather than his own friends t, or rich acquaintance, who were able' to return the comphmcnt, to his entertainments, and in fo doing, he might depend upon a recompence from God in tl\p jkingdom of Heaven. At * Whether this precept is to be underftood in a literal fenfe ^r no, may in ibme meafure admit of a debate. Our Saviour, when he afled the part of a rich man, in feeding the multitude, had people of the oieaneft rank, and, anaong ihele, the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, (who daily refor'ted to kini for cure,) for the chief of his guells : But moft men think, that the!e extraordinary ailions of his were no proper patterns for us in the difpenfation of our charity, but that we anfvver the intent of the precept as weil, if we do what is equivalent to us in refpecfl of charge, and more advantageous to them and their families, by fending them meat, or money, to refrefn them at home ; li'hjtby''s Atinotations, f The words in the text are. When thou viakeft a dhiner or a f upper, call not thy friends,, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinfmcn, nor thy rich neighbours, Luke xiv. 12. It is to be obferved, in 04ir ex- pounding ot Scripture, that, as comparative particles are fom- times ufed in a fenfe negative, (for fo we find the chief prieils moving the people, I'va fj.a.K\ov B^f^CJav aC-oTi^ that he footdd rather relcafe Earrabjs to them, i. e. that he fhouM re- Jeaie Barrabas, and not Jefus,) fo negative particles are ofc u!ed ia a ienfe comparative ; as when we read in Prov viii. 10. Receive my injirufiions, and not fiver; and in Joel ii. Rend your hearts, ajid not your garments, the meaning Is rather than filver, or your garments ; in like manner as here. Call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, i. e. be not fo much concerned to call ihem. a§ yhe poor. For it can hardly be thought, that our Saviour's in- F 2 lenl: 44 A W. «"3^ , &c A. n D'^ ■?'. , &c. fro ni Tke H'lstory of the SIBLE, Book VIII. f At the hearing of tliefe lafl; words, one in the cona-' pany repeated that common faying among the Rabbins, Bleffed . is he that shall eat bread * in the kingdom of God ; whereupon our Lord tookoccafion to raprefent the difFer- '^^" ^^''^'^'Cnt fucceis of the gofpel, the rejection of the Jews, and i.iike vi, i". the call of the Gentiles, under the f emblem of a feaft, John V. t. to to Mattli. s\i .. 14. jgjjf jj^ this precept was abfolutely to forbid all invitations of iukeixij?.*'"^ neighbojirs or friends to dijsfi oy fup with us. This is an Joh.Mvli. r.a£t of kindnels and civility, and of good tendency fomeiimes K^i^'y^^ to maiatain and promote amity and fiiendfflip among neigh. hours and i^couaintance ; but his only meaoing is, that we fhould not invite them, out of aprofpef^of a compenlVtioa fronj them iJgain, which is malcliig a k:rjd of traffic with our gene- rcfity ; but, inftead of this? that we fnould expend our money in the exercife of <:I)srity to fuch as are In no condition to make i:s a retribution ; Whithy^s and Fcol's Annotations. * From the enfuing parable it appears, that the kirtgdoni of. Cdd here does not fignify the kingdom of heaven in its mod ex- alted fenfe, h\\t.on\y the kingdom of the A jejii a f^, whereof this car- r.al Jew here fpeahs according to the received fenfe of bis na- tion, as of a glorions temporal kingdom, in waich the Jews Should lord it over the Gentile wcrld, enjoy their wealth, and be provided v.'ith ali thofe earthly bifffings and delights in "which they placed their felicity ; IVhitifs Annntalioris, f If we compare this with another paflage elfewhere, Malt. txw. 2. we niay be farther fatisSed, that, by the kingdom cf hea- ven 1% here rcpreiented \.\it gcfpcl-difpenfatiin ; and this, as it mi- ziifiers true plenty and pleafure', all that men can vvant, and all that they ran wiCi, to render them perfeflly happy, is com- pared to a fupper. The box^nty and infinite lov: of Almighty God arc fignified by the greatnefs of that fupper, and the mul- titude? bidden to it The firft bidding implies all the previous notices of ilie Meffi.ih, by which the lav/ and the prophets were intended to prepare the Jev/s for the reception of him and his do(flrine. The fscond bidding, when all things were ready, feetns to import all that jefus did, and taught, ard fuffered, for their convcrHon and fa'vatinn, and all the teflixonies and exhortations of hisapoft'e"^, and other preachers oi the gofpel, to the r^me ptirpofe. The excufes fenl for their absence, are the prejudices nud pvf^ons, and wcrldly intereft, which did not on- ly liinder thofe Jev;s fron": coming into the faith, but difpofed them likewife to treat a!! attempts to win them over with th« Ulmori ohfiinacy and contempt. The guefts brought in from abroad to fupplj their places, arc the Gentile world, to whom (afcer Chap III. from fhe Bh'th of CHRJBT, l^c. 41,' to which thtjfc that were invited, upon fundry pretences, -»• m. refufed to come, (o that the niafter of the honfc was obli- ^J,^,^'t^^^*^* ged to fend out into the ilreets and lanes oi the city, and Y,, ^