YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

HOW TO STUDY THE
NEW TESTAMENT

ALEXANDER STRAHAN,
r.48, Strand, . ... London.
1 78, Grand Street, . ... New York.

HOW TO STUDY THE
NEW TESTAMENT

THE GOSPELS
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

By HENRY AL'FORD, D.D.
DEAN OF CANTERBURY

ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER
LONDON AND NEW YORK

CONTENTS.

THE GOSPELS.
I. INTRODUCTORY .
II. THE THREE. — ST. MARK
III. THE THREE.— ST. MATTHEW
IV. THE THREE. — ST. LUKE
V. ST. JOHN ....
VI. THE FOUR NARRATIVES OF THE PASSION
VII. THE FOUR NARRATIVES OF THE RESUR
RECTION

I
28 5279
112170

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
I. JERUSALEM ... . . 253
II. JERUSALEM TO ANTIOCH .... 285
III. ANTIOCH TO ROME ... 312

THE GOSPELS.

INTRODUCTORY.
I HAVE in my mind a hill-side, from which is
visible a long stretch of goodly prospect.
Rich plains, with their masses of foliage varying
their bright green meadows : towns, whose towers
are reflected in rivers of ample breadth : hills,
range after range, fading away into fainter blue,
till the last promontory dips into the far-off sea,
whose line stretches across the sky, keenly bright,
flashing in the western sun.
Now of those who look on this prospect from
the hill-side, there are several classes. The sheep
and oxen around me are browsing on the grass,
and heed it not. The labourer who holds the
plough as he plods backward and forward across
yon arable field, hardly heeds it more than they :
not for want of faculty, but for want of use.
A

2 How to study the New Testament.
The ordinary passenger may turn his eye upon it
and remark on some one circumstance — the shape
of a cloud, the colour of the crops, the signs of
fair weather or of rain : but little recks he of the
exquisite scene before him. And of those who
look upon it as being what it is, how various and
how partial are the regards ! One has that general
feeling of exhilaration which accompanies the re
cognition of beauty : that gladness which Homer
puts into his shepherd's heart when the moon and
stars are bright in the clear heaven. Another is
straining his -sight to find some well-known church-
tower in the distance, or the roof of some beloved
home among its sheltering trees. An artist is
there, marking the various lines of colour which
diversify the fair landscape, and how its lights and
shades are distributed : a geologist, noting the
signs given by the forms of hilly outline, and the
nature of the local products of the soil. Or a
student of history may have sat himself down on
some projecting knoll, and is even now mapping
out in his mind the scene of some great conflict of
the past ; where the invader landed, and how far
his forces penetrated ; where the patriot bands
met him ; with the advantages and disadvantages

Introductory. 3
of each army, as shown by the hill and dale spread
beneath him. Or the engineer may be there with
his theodolite, taking tlie levels for some great
scheme of locomotion, or of sanitary improvement.
Now note, that each of these latter, in his
examination of our landscape, sees things which
others miss seeing. The colours of nature do not
reveal themselves except to the eye practised in
searching for and discriminating them : the con
tour of the hills has no meaning for him who
knows not the phenomena of stratification ; nor
has the battle-field any interest for one who knows
not the history of the battle ; nor would an unin
formed man care for the mysterious figures which
are the engineer's working tools, or for their
results, as shown on the landscape before him.
Note too another thing worth remarking. Of
the spectators on that hill-side, one may know
more, and one less, of the details of the wide
spread view. To one man's eye a certain corner
may be most familiar.. To every roof seen over
the trees he can supply inmates : he knows where
every field-path lies ; where the gleaming river is
lost among the thickets : he can tell you its exact
course, and, if need be, every tree that rises from

4 How to study the New Testament.
its banks. This minute knowledge, however, can
not extend far. The whole prospect has,' to every
one looking on it, vast blanks which his foot never
explored, mysteries which his penetration cannot
fathom. Nay, in one sense, this is so over all its
extent, and with all who see it. What is going on
beneath those chimneys which symbolize human
habitation, not one of the spectators can tell :
what scenes of happiness or misery, of peace or
strife : what souls are even now leaving those
towns and villages for the final state, what souls
are just waking in them to human consciousness.
All this, and the like of this, is absolutely hidden
from all.
But there is one eye, now and ever looking on
that fair scene, the eye of One to whom all these
things are open : of One who himself spread those
hills and commanded those streams to flow, and
said to that ancient sea, ' Hitherto shalt thou
come.' No roof conceals aught from Him. The
colours of the air and earth, in all their lovely
combinations, were His arrangements ; the strati
fied remnants of the ancient earth which lie hidden
in the hills are all known to Him, for He made
them all out of nothing, and His eye never slum-

Introductory. 5
bered while they were depositing : no event, past
or present, which this tract of earth has witnessed
or is witnessing, yea, no detail of its future destiny,
is unknown to Him.
Now what reference has this long description to
the subject at the head of my page % I answer,
Much, and that obvious. It is a parable, not
difficult to understand. That fair prospect sets
forth to us the Gospels, rich in all fertility, beau
tiful in every detail, full of hidden interest, open
ing ever to those who seek it : concealing mysteries
which no human eye can penetrate ; but all known
to Him from whom they came.
Let us stand for a moment, and contemplate
the scene around us. The Church, our dwelling-
place, is the city set on a hill, and the great land
scape lies spread beneath, as we walk about in
the streets and gardens of our home. There it is,
with its pleasant places full of undying memories ;
with its grand rocky heights, and plains of green
pasture, and glittering reaches of the river of the
water of life ; with His history running through it
like a golden thread, who humbling Himself to be
born in its lowliest valley, filling it with the battle
field of His conflict of love and self-sacrifice,

6 How to shidy the New Testament.
passed from His grave in the rock, up even to the
right hand of God in heaven.
All this is open to the eyes of all in this our
home. And yet there are many around us, who
know no more of it all, and reck no more of it,
than the kine which browse on the grass on the
hill-side. They use it — not at all.
In other words, — for our parable has now done
its work, and may be laid aside, — there are among
us those who have no use of, no care for, the Holy
Gospels of our Lord : of whose minds they form
no part, into whose thoughts their glories never
enter. And just as in order for a man to enjoy a
prospect, even in the least and lowest degree, he
must lift up his eyes and see it, so must these men
have the Gospels brought within their view, and
made parts of their thoughts, before they can
profit by them at all.
And, even for this purpose, ' How to use the
Gospels' is an important inquiry. For it is pre
cisely those that know least of them, who know
that little worst ; know it carelessly, unintelli-
gently, unprofitably. And as we advance upwards
through the ranks of those who know more, how
fragmentary, how insufficient, is commonly that

Introductory. 7
knowledge ! How much do almost all persons
whom we meet in ordinary society, want teaching
how to use the Gospels, so as to make them serve
the purposes for which they were intended !
For be it remembered, that God has not given
us these inspired records of our Lord's life and
teaching, in their present form, without a benefi
cent purpose. He might have given us one in
dubitable plain historic account. But He has
given us four. These four might have been found
in exact verbal accord as to every incident in our
Lord's life, and every word spoken by Him : but
they differ, and sometimes widely, in the expres
sion, even where facts, and things said, are evi
dently the same. These Gospels, as they were
written by the inspired authors, might have come
down to us without any variety of reading in
different authorities : they have come down to us
with many thousand such varieties, of greater or
less importance. They might have been by divine
inspiration rendered into all the languages on
earth ; whereas they exist in verbal accuracy in
one ancient language only, and the Churches of.
modern times have to accept and read them in
fallible human versions.

8 How to study the New Testament.
It is with such points as these that the present
series of papers will mainly deal. The writer
finds them in very great part set aside and ignored.
Even in societies where information and intelli
gence on all ordinary matters are indispensable,
any degree of ignorance on this matter passes
muster without bringing reproach. The utmost
that seems expected, even from the clergy them
selves, is to be able to affirm, that the Scripture
says so and so. But what Scripture says it, —
with what intent, — how far, in the words quoted,
the context is duly had in regard, — whether they
do or do not rightly represent the sense of the
original ; these things not one clergyman in ten
seems to take into account ; still less those lay
men who would be ashamed to quote in the same
slovenly manner any of the well-known classical
authors. And as to ordinary English readers of
the Gospels, it is not too much to say, that the
way in which they use them seems to proceed on
the assumption that there is b.ut one Gospel, not
four : that that one has been delivered down to
us entire and indisputable in every point, and in
one form, and that form the English version as
published by King James's translators.

Introductory. 9
Now the present writer does not mean for a
moment to say that the Holy Gospels may not be
used for the confirmation of tlie faith, and the
nourishment of the inner life, in the manner with
which he is now finding fault. Blessed be God,
they are so full of rich food for the soul, the seeds
of divine truth- lie so thickly scattered over them,
and the affections are so powerfully drawn to Him
who is their great subject, that even the most
inadequate use of them in the most imperfect
version may serve to bring souls to God ; nay
more, — that even a crumb of the blessed Bread of
Life may sustain and re-create the man. Many a
fainting spirit, in weakness and ignorance, has
gathered strength from even one text of Holy
Writ, treasured up and often thought on ; and
that too, when the one text itself has not, perhaps,
been so apprehended as to carry its full or even
its proper meaning.
But it is not of bare sustenance that we are now
speaking; we are not inquiring how little use of
the Gospels is compatible with life unto God ; 011
the contrary, we would wish to be understood as
endeavouring to set forth the provision here made
for us in all its wonderful fulness and in its mani-

io How to study the New Testament.
fold variety, and as inquiring how we may best
avail ourselves oi every means of profiting by God's
revelation of His Blessed Son. Therefore let
nothing here said be understood as casting doubt
or depreciation upon the blessing which may
accrue even from the most inadequate use of the
Gospels. My anxiety is, if it may be, to point
out how Scripture may be better used and God
more honoured, than is commonly the case ; how
we may not lose the things we have wrought, but
receive our full reward : how Christ's Church,
whose work for God, by the Spirit dwelling in her,
these Scriptures are, may gain the utmost from
them, and receive the divine treasure in full.
I would put in one more caution, and it is
this : Let not anything here said be supposed in
the least degree to impugn the truth of the special
inspiration of the writers of Holy Scripture by the
Spirit of God. It seems to me, that it is assuming
far too much respecting our knowledge of the
mode and process of that inspiration, to tie it
down to conditions such as we are compelled to
lay down for human narration. How it wrought
in the sacred writers we are unable to say, except
that it was the especial influence of the Spirit of

Introductory. 1 1
Truth. We are certain that each of the Gospel
narratives is, in the highest sense, true. But we
are not certain that we can, by sight, assure our
selves, in each apparent case of discrepancy, that
it is so. I have elsewhere maintained, and I
maintain again here, that if we could know exactly
how any given event related in the Gospels hap
pened, we should at once be able to account for
the variations in the narratives, and the separate
truth of each would be shown. But, not knowing
the exact details of any event thus narrated, nor
the position of the narrator with respect to it, we
cannot undertake to reconcile apparent discre
pancies between the Evangelists. Our plain duty,
in making a right use of the Gospels, is, firmly
and fearlessly to recognise these, and to leave
them as fearlessly unsolved, if no honest solution
can be found. A way may be opened by and by,
in the process of human discovery, and the toil of
human thought : or the time for a solution may not
come, till the day when all things shall be known.
Let me then, in pursuance of these remarks,
mention what I believe to be the requisites for the
right use of the Gospels — indeed, of any portion
of Holy Scripture.

1 2 How to study the New Testament.
And I will mention first, Faith. These books
of Holy Writ are totally unlike any other books in
the world. Ever since they were first published,
the best and purest and wisest of mankind have
regarded them as inspired by God. The greatest
change for good ever wrought among our species,
has been the effect of these books. Wherever
they are known, that change is still going on. It
is no less than a change from darkness to light,
from the power of Satan to God. These books
contain depths which the sublimest human intel
lect cannot fathom, beneath a tempting and beau
tiful surface which may attract the unlearned and
the child. No imitations have ever come near
them : never book spake like this Book. Well,
then, in the name of all that is reasonable and
consistent, trust this Book. Don't be ever trem
bling for it, still less ever cavilling at it. It can
hold its own. The voice of God does not speak
in it any the less, because to our dull ears it some
times seems to send forth an uncertain sound.
Let us take a manly line in this matter. This
book is God's Book. It is the great light which
He hath put in the firmament of the Church, to
rule the day, rejoicing as a giant to run its course,

Introductory . 1 3
and to flood the earth with its blessed light. But
the telescope shows me apparent spots in it. Does
it therefore cease to be the sun ? Shall I therefore
refuse to walk and work by its light ? Shall I not
rather say, ' I know that those interruptions of
light are themselves phenomena in the outpouring
of the light 1 He who doeth all things well hath
done this well also, though at this moment I may
not know how.' Say not, unreasonably and un-
trustingly, ' I cannot believe this to be the sun, I
cannot work by its light, unless it can be shown to
me that there is not a spot on its bright surface.'
He who does this throws an immense advantage
into the hands of the unbeliever. He puts his
faith at the mercy of every caviller. He throws
his pearls before swine, who, having trampled them
under their feet, will turn again and rend him.
Approach the holy Gospels from the side of
trust and love, not from that of distrust and un
christian doubt. In them is found the blessed
presence of Him whom, if you are a Christian,
your soul loves above all things : of Him through
whom you have your daily access to the Father of
your spirit : of Him whose atoning blood, daily
applied to your soul, is your only confidence

14 How to study the New Testament.
before God, in the midst of daily growing proofs
of your own utter unworthiness : of Him whose
victory over death is your only hope as years pass
on, and the edges of the dark shadow begin to
enfold you. You fear as you enter the cloud, but
you are reassured, because in it He stands trans
figured in light. These Gospels are the history of
Him. Flow He from his awful Godhead was
pleased to stoop to be born, as one of us, and yet
not as one of us ; how, in the emptying out of his
glory as God, there grew up mysteriously around
Him in his humiliation the elements of human
knowledge ; how, Himself without sin, He entered
into conflict with sinners ; how loving in the midst
of severity, how gentle amidst sternness, how
humble in the holding back of his power, was ever
his bearing among those who hated Him : how
holy and harmless was his going down into death,
how glorious his victory over it.
Take these blessed facts as the life of your soul,
and go to the Gospels to know more of them and
of Him. When this is the main object, all else
will easily fall into its place. He who is ever
sitting at the feet of Jesus, and learning, will be
listening more to His blessed words than to idle

Introductory. 1 5
voices which float in the air around. He who has
his eyes fixed on the divine form of the Son of
God in his glorified humanity will have small in
clination to ' peep and botanize' with the poor
paltry caviller. He whose daily sustenance is the
bread of God which came down from heaven, and
whose inner thirst is daily quenched by draughts
of the water of life, will hardly be persuaded by
those who tell him that there is no sustenance in
the one, nor refreshment in the other. Depend
upon it, faith is the great primary requisite for
the right use of the Gospels.
And, next to faith, Intelligence. ' Be ye not
unwise, but understanding what the will of the
Lord is.' God has given us his Gospels, a reve
lation from heaven. He, I say, has given them to
us. They have not somehow escaped from His
secret place, like a document furtively abstracted
by some officious angel, and found their way down
into the world no one knows how ; but every step
of their compilation, promulgation, preservation,
has been His especial care. Not only what they
contain — their substance, — but the vehicle in
which that substance is delivered, their language
and outer phenomena ; and not only that, again,

1 6 How to study the New Testame7it.
but the form in which, even to the minutest detail,
their transmission to us has taken place ; all these
have not been as they are without His will ; and
those who ignore these, and determine to use the
Gospels without taking them at all into account,
will of necessity come short of the fulness of their
use, — will of necessity lie open to the attacks of
unbelief, — will of necessity be feeble and timorous,
or, what is even worse, overbearing and rash, in
their defence of the faith.
First, then, notice that this Holy Gospel which
you are reading, and in which you trace the divine
form of your Saviour and listen to His voice, is
not written in words of light on the sky, one
record, indivisible, indisputable. God made use
of four instruments, four inspired men, to gather
the facts and words into histories for you. He
did not so inspire those Four that they all wrote
the same concerning the same thing, or that they
all reported the same discourse in the same words.
He was pleased that they should each look on the
facts from a slightly different point of view, • and
each retain, or find retained, slightly differing
groups of the sayings of the Lord. Now, as we
have said, all this has not been accident,-— is not

Introductory. 17
to be lamented, — is not to be passed over, It is
so written for our learning. Various reasons, even
in our incapacity to fathom the divine purposes,
may be imagined why this should have been done.
There might have been one supreme record, and
one only ; but this might have been perilous for a
dispensation and a Church which was to regard
not the letter, but the spirit, and to walk not by
sight, but by faith.
And another matter is here to be noticed. We
know these Gospels by the names of certain
writers. But in the case of three of them we have
no authority whatever for such appropriation in
the Gospels themselves, nor in any contemporary
document. Trustworthy tradition alone is our
warrant for believing St. Matthew, St. Mark, and
St. Luke to have written the Gospels which bear
their names. In the case of the fourth, it may be
gathered almost with certainty from the contents
of the Gospel itself, who it was that wrote it. But
even here the writer's name is nowhere told us —
nay, is purposely concealed. So little is there of
documentary authentication, so little of the autho
rity or dignity of mere names, about writings on
which the faith of the Church is to rest all the ages

1 8 How to study the New Testament.
of the world. It is the character of the Gospels
themselves, not the authority with which they come
to us, on which it has pleased God to fix our
attention. We are to value them for what they
are, not for what they say they are. Let, then,
what they are be our main study — the real charac
ter and contents of each, as discovered by intelli
gent search and discrimination.
But here another consideration meets us. These
Gospels, so important to the Church, have not
come to us in one undisputed forrm We have no
authorized copy of them in their original language,
so that we may know in what precise words they
were originally written. The authorities from
which we derive their sacred text are various
ancient copies, written by hand on parchment.
Of the Gospels, there are more than five hundred
of these manuscripts of various ages, from the
fourth century after Christ to the fifteenth, when
printing superseded manual writing for publication
of books. Of these five hundred and more, no
two are in all points alike, probably in no two of
the more ancient can even a few consecutive verses
be found in which all the words agree. Most of
the differences are unimportant to the meaning;

Introductory. 19
but, on the other hand, some are very important,
even to the omission in some copies, and inser
tion in others, of passages of considerable length.
Obviously, of all these manuscripts, those which
are the most ancient are the most valuable. And
we can tell which are the most ancient, by know
ing what manner of writing prevailed at different
times. We have of the Gospels two manuscripts,
containing them nearly entire, which belong to the
fourth century : one, besides many fragments of
others, written in the fifth century : another, and
that a very remarkable one, which apparently
dates from the sixth. In these very ancient docu
ments, the forms of the sacred text are sometimes
widely divergent. Nay, a remarkable phenomenon
is forcing itself on the minds of those who have
been widely conversant with these oldest authori
ties, viz., that the further back we go, the more
divergent in mere outward form become the word
ings of the same passages which are narrated by
the Gospels in common, and also the more diver
gent in the different primitive manuscripts become
the mere words of the sacred text throughout.
The truth appears to have been, that in those
early days, as is also clearly shown by the quota-

20 How to study the New Testament.
tions of Scripture in the works of the Fathers,
men cared little for the precise words, provided
the sense were correctly given. ' What matters
it,' says St. Augustine, in commenting on the cry,
' Save, Lord : we perish,' — the words and time of
utterance of which are variously reported by the
Evangelists, — ' What matters it, whether the dis
ciples, in calling on the Lord, really used one or
another of these expressions, or some other, differ
ing from them all, but still giving the sense that
they were perishing, and called on Him to save
them 1 ' Here is a noble example of one who
made right use of, and could trust, the Gospels.
Strive to imitate this. Be intelligent enough to
recognise, and believing enough not to be afraid
of these differences of Gospel from Gospel, and
of various forms of the same passage in the same
Gospel. Not the form, but the substance, is to
save thy soul : for the kingdom of God is not in
word, but in power.
Another point of importance, which in a proper
use of the Gospels an ordinary Christian reader
must not fail to discern, is, that he possesses them,
not in their original tongue, but in a translation
made from that tongue into his own. This like-

Introductory.

21

wise is God's will respecting him, and it is not for
him to ignore it by acting as if it were otherwise.
It is no accident that the English reader is com
pelled to use the Scriptures in a form in which
man, and not God, has written them. He who
has made of one blood all nations on the earth,
and has fixed their times and the bounds of their
habitation, so arranged the issues of things, that
the revelation of Himself by Christ should be
originally written in the most wonderful and
powerful of human tongues. The Greek lan
guage possesses capacities for expressing minute
differences, and for fathoming profound depths,
of thought, of which our own tongue is destitute.
In rendering from one into the other, very much
must be sacrificed : very much of fulness of mean
ing, of variety of possible senses, of power to
attract and to convince. This would be the
case, even were the translation faultlessly accurate,
and made by infallible authority. But I need
not say that no translation has ever possessed
these qualities. The English version, for faith
fulness, for simplicity, for majesty, will bear com
parison with any that ever has been made : yet
it is not a word more than the truth to say, that

2 2 How to study the New Testament.
it abounds with errors and inadequate render
ings. In this matter let me speak plainly, and say that
the Church of Christ in this land has not acted
faithfully by her members. A formidable list of
passages might be given, in which our version
either has confessedly misrendered the original, or
has followed a form of the text now well known
not to have been the original form. These might
be corrected at any time : and it is a grievous
thing that this has not been done, or is not now in
doing. For, as matters now stand, we are print
ing for reading in our churches, we are sending
forth into the cottage and the mansion, books
containing passages and phrases which pretend to
be the Word of God, and are not : and that, when
the remedy is most easy, and lies at any time in
our power. Let a commission of men learned in
the Scriptures be appointed, chosen from among
our different Christian denominations, with defi
nite powers as to this weighty matter, to be exer
cised under proper safeguards ; and in a few years
at most this stumbling-block will have been re
moved. The time may not have been ripe for it
a short while ago, but I believe it is ripe for it

Introductory. 2 3
now, at least as far as regards the New Testament.
And mind, I speak not as a youthful enthusiast,
but as one whose life, now not a short one, has
been mainly spent in the study of the Sacred
Word ; not as. a lover of change in this matter,
but as an ardent admirer and lover of the dear old
English words of our national Bible. Let us not
lose one well-known text in that our precious in
heritance, unless it be, in the estimation of all who
are capable of judging, a right hand which ought
to be cut off, an eye which must be plucked out.
But the state of things at present is most unsatis
factory. As a nation, and as Churches, are we
making a right use of the holy Gospels, or of the
rest of God's revealed Word, till these blemishes
are removed %
What, then, ought to be, on the mind of the
English reader, the effect of this last treated fact
— the necessary imperfection of the particular
vehicle in which God's providence has trans
mitted the Gospels to him 1 Not distrust : not
unbelief. Were his version tenfold more imper
fect than it is, there would be no excuse for
either of these. The glories of the everlasting
Gospel, as seen in Him who is its subject, are not

24 How to study the New Testament.
blotted out for him. The treasure within is not
less precious, for a few comparatively insignificant
flaws in the earthen vessel containing it. Dig
thou ever in this thy field for the treasure passing
all price, even Christ the hope of glory. The soil
may yet be rough ; some stones remaining to turn
the edge of thy tool, some clods unbroken which
pass thy strength to cleave asunder : but for all
these, thou shalt find, if thou seekest aright.
Only go not about boasting vainly of thy posses
sion of this holy Book without in fact really
possessing it at all. For only he can be said in
any worthy sense to possess it, who knows what
the will of God has been towards him in it and by
it, both as to its inner contents, and as to its out
ward form and transmission to himself.
In concluding these general preliminary obser
vations, I would yet mention two requisites for
the right use of the Gospels. The former of these
is, honesty; a straightforward manly spirit, afraid
of no truth, disclaiming all compromise with
falsehood. Whatever certain apologists for their
defection from the truth may say, there is, depend
upon it, no just cause which can excuse a lie.
Nay, the better the cause, the worse the falsehood ;

Introductory. 2 5
because it betrays die more distrust of Him who
will suffer no good thing to fail. And some,
shame to say, have endeavoured to save the
credit of the Holy Gospels by concealing, by
palliating, by solving inadequately and unfaith
fully, these difficulties and these drawbacks of
which we have been treating. Do thou, my
reader, who wishest to live in the light of God
and by the example of Christ, not consent unto
these persons. Handle not the Word of God
deceitfully. Every fact respecting it is God's fact,
sent by God to thee for thy good. Fear it not ;
face it, and give it its due influence. It may
seem unwelcome at first — a visitor whose aspect
and speech jar on thy snug system of cherished
home-thoughts ; but depend upon it, thou wilt
have entertained an angel unawares. Only be
sure that it is genuine, and not an idle fiction of
the enemy. For in our days the enemy is very
busy. Men who ought to know better, are striv
ing to overthrow the faith of the Church by
approaching the Scriptures from a hostile point of
view, and cavilling at statements in them which
the most ordinary common sense seems to explain
satisfactorily. Be not, on the other hand, deceived

26 How lo study the New Testament.
by these fair-seeming writers. Do not let them
quietly assume, as they do, all the credit for
honesty, and brand us believers with disingenu-
ousness. Show them that we are as truthful as
they are ; show them that there is at least as much
honesty and manliness in a hearty defence of the
faith, as in their boastful abandonment of it.
Give not the unbeliever a monopoly of fair deal
ing. Be true, while you believe ; and pray that
he too may be some day convinced, that the only
way to be true, is to believe.
And the other requisite is Charity. In fact,
the one requisite above all others. Oh, my
brothers, we all speak and write too many hard,
bitter words ; we all indulge in too many cruel
sentences ; we are all trying to break, not to
mend, the bruised reed. In this matter of the
Holy Gospels, especially, do we need the blessed
gift of charity. They are not Christ, but were
given to lead to Christ. And if any seem to
have laid hold on Christ by their means, blessed
is that man — whether he know little or much,
whether he be aware of anything else respecting
them or not. Let this ever be borne in mind by
us. While we are striving to be strong in the

Introductory. 27
faith, let us not despise the faith of the weakest.
For there will come a day to us all when, in
the giving way of the powers of nature, and the
pouring in of the great waterfloods, we shall grasp
at something which may hold us up and carry us
over. And then, not how much we have searched
out and known, not how much we have disputed
and prevailed, will help us ; but how much we
have lived on Christ, and heard in our souls of
His own life-giving voice, and how much we
have shown in the world of His meek and lowly
example. For this, use the Gospels ; for this, search into
them and appreciate them : — not to argue and
dispute out of, not to become vain and puffed up
by, but to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

28 How to study the New Testament.

n.

THE THREE.— ST. MARK.
WE will suppose ourselves taking a survey
of the world, with reference to the
spread of Christianity, at some considerable dis
tance of time, say thirty or forty years, after our
Lord's ascension into heaven.
We see the faith planted in a multitude of places.
In various large cities churches have grown up,
round which, as so many great centres, the work,
as to its organization and vital energy, seems
grouped. If Jerusalem has not yet passed into
the shade of her great final trouble, she is of these
centres the chief. Antioch is certainly another of
hardly inferior importance ; Ephesus is another,
and Alexandria ; and last, but certainly not least,
imperial Rome. In all these, and in hundreds of
smaller cities, ' the Gospel ' of Christ is actively

St. Mark. 29
and constantly preached. But let us choose
simpler terms, more in accordance with the ori
ginal meaning of these very familiar words, and
with the real work of those times. Let us not
say ' the Gospel was preached,' but ' the good
news was proclaimed.'
What good news 1 The tidings of that which
God had done by His Son Jesus. And to whom
did the Church look for these good tidings ?
Mainly, and in the first place, of course, to those
who had been eye-witnesses of the facts themselves.
Of these a set number had been especially consti
tuted authoritative witnesses of these facts. To
them had been committed the remembrance of the
sayings of Him whose words were spirit and life.
Their oral narratives had been for the most part
nearly in the same strain, especially as regarded
those sacred words of the Lord. But in different
parts of the Christian world, according as the liv
ing voice of this or that Apostle was present, the
great main narrative took different shapes and
arrangements. Truth they all told — truth of a
more precise and higher order than narrative
founded on human accuracy can usually attain ;
but each, from the very circumstance of his having

30 How to study the New Testament.
been himself present at the occurrence of the facts,
gave them as they impressed his own character,
and were reproduced by his own individual feel
ings. One loved to describe to his hearers the
very look and gesture of the Lord as He spoke
comfort or warning ; another seems ever given to
contemplate Him as the King and Lord of Israel
announced in Old Testament prophecy, to retain
in faithful memory the long connexion of His
wonderful discourses, and to enounce with reve
rent recollection their stately periods ; while an
other, or more than one, in different fields of
Gentile labour, might love to dv/ell on those of
His sayings and acted parables which had world
wide reference — might love to look on Him as the
light of the Gentiles, as well as the glory of His
people Israel. And so various narratives grew up
here and there, all showing' in the main form the
common testimony which all the Apostles bore
before they parted from Jerusalem, but differently
deflected from that common narrative in things
indifferent. St. Peter might give, in his missionary
journeys, one of these accounts, St. Matthew
another, St. Philip and St. Andrew another, and
so of the rest. But at or before the time when

St. Mark. 31
our survey is taken, these venerable men were
drawing near to the end of their course ; peril and
persecution were gathering round them, and it
was evident that the living voice of inspired eye
witnesses would very soon be lost to the Church.
Then it was that the Divine Spirit, ever watch
ful and working among those that are Christ's, put
it into the heart of one here and another there to
commit these apostles' testimonies to writing, that
they might remain with the Church for ever. We
will suppose, as seems most probable, that the
idea was first suggested to Marcus, sister's son to
St. Barnabas, of whom we read in the Acts of the
Apostles. He at that time was working with and
under St. Peter, and he took to writing down the
good tidings, in all its blessed vividness and power,
as it was usually delivered by the Apostle. We
are told that he was ' Peter's interpreter,' in what
exact sense we cannot say ; but, his name bearing
a Roman form, we may well suppose that he was
more conversant with the current Greek and Latin
than the fisherman of Bethsaida, and that he thus
was enabled to set down for common use that
which the Apostle spoke to the Churches. One
account tells us that St. Peter, on becoming aware

2,1 How lo study the New Testament.
of his employment, neither encouraged nor dis
couraged him ; another, that the Apostle carefully
supervised that which had been written. It is
remarkable that the Gospel of St. Mark is exactly
contained within the limits which St. Peter him
self prescribes for the necessary experience of a
candidate for the Apostleship : ' beginning from
the baptism of John, unto the day when He was
taken up from us.' Ancient tradition also reports
that this Gospel was drawn up at Rome ; but this
appears somewhat uncertain, because we do not
know, and the ancients did not know, whether St.
Peter, when he mentions ' Babylon ' as the place
of writing his first epistle, meant Babylon in the
East, or the mystical Babylon, viz., Rome.
At the same time, or somewhat later, ' while St.
Peter and St. Paul were founding the Church at
Rome,' the apostle Matthew himself undertook
the writing of his own most grave and precious
testimony to the words and deeds of Jesus. The
ancients say that he originally drew it up in the
Flebrew language. But there is some question
whether those who repeat this may not have been
deceived by the existence at that time of a ' Gospel
according to the Hebrews,' which certainly in

St. Mark. 33

o

many essential points coincided with that of St.
Matthew. In Palestine, where this Gospel was
probably written, Greek was the language com
monly spoken by the people. It seems probable
that our Lord Himself ordinarily spoke that lan
guage. When St. Paul made to the Jews the
speech of Acts xxii. in the Hebrew tongue, it was
an unusual thing, and caused them to pay deeper
attention. And all over the East the conquests
of the great Alexander, three hundred years before,
had spread the Greek language. If we desire to
reconcile probability, and the internal evidence of
the Gospel itself, there need be no difficulty in
supposing that St. Matthew may have himself pub
lished it in both languages — the one edition spe
cially for Jews, the other for general use. If this
were so, the Hebrew Gospel was rejected by the
Jews, and the Christian Jews themselves having
soon lost their distinctive position in the Church,
this form of the original writing has perished.
I shall return presently to the consideration of
the character and use to be made of each of the
three Gospels : let me now complete my sketch of
their origin by saying something of the third.
Here the case is somewhat altered. The writer
c

.34 How to study the New Testament.
himself, in a preface, informs us of the circum
stances under which, and the view with which, his
work was composed. We have now arrived at a
time when many persons had taken in hand to
draw up narratives containing the testimony of the
eye-witnesses and ministers ofthe Word. It seems
good to this person also to set down in order the
details of the things unanimously received among
Christians. He has accurately traced them down
from the first. He composes his work primarily
and ostensibly for the benefit of a convert in high
station called Theophilus, but also evidently with
a view, under this dedication, to the use and bene
fit of the Church in general. Where this Gospel
was written, and when and where the materials
were gathered, is uncertain. The universal tradi
tion of the Church reports Lucas or Luke as the
name of the author, and identifies him with the
' beloved physician,' who appears in two of St.
Paul's epistles to have been his constant com
panion.- And, seeing that we have positive evi
dence, in the preface to the Acts of the Apostles,
that the same person wrote that book who was
the author of the Gospel, and in the course of
that book, that its writer was the constant com-

St. Mark. 35
panion of St. Paul, we arrive at a tolerably com
plete idea of the personality and position of the
writer of the third Gospel. And having done this,
if we now look down the course of St. Paul's mis
sionary journeys, we find times when Luke might
well have been employed in gathering materials
for his Gospel. There is a long interval after the
imprisonment at Philippi during which the Evan
gelist does not appear — there is a long suspen
sion of St. Paul's active missionary work, owing to
his imprisonment at Cassarea, during which time
Luke may have been employed, in Jerusalem or
elsewhere, in taking down the apostolic testi
mony. If the materials were gathered during either or
both of these intervals, it is hardly probable that
the Gospel itself was published until some time
considerably later than both of them. The very
words of its preface, stating, as they do, that many
had undertaken to draw up narratives embodying
the apostolic testimony, would place the third
Gospel far on in the period which closed the apov
stolic age ; not to mention that the work of care
ful and laborious compilation bears of itself a later
character than that of single independent testi-

36 How to study the New Testament.
mony, whether this latter be set down by the wit
ness himself, or by another for him.
There is one interesting question concerning
these three Gospels, the treatment of which will
lead us into that also of their mutual relations one
to another. Is it likely that either of the three
Evangelists had seen and worked upon the pre
vious work of another? The theory commonly
received by persons who have not examined into
the matter, and even still upheld by some who
have examined, is, that one of the Evangelists
having written first, the second, having this finished
work before him, composed his own Gospel with a
definite purpose in view, working in or omitting
what he found in that first ; then that the third
acted in like manner with the two others already
finished and lying before him. I purposely, in
giving an account of this theory, suppress names
of the Evangelists, because among those who hold
it the order is very variously given, so variously,
indeed, as to comprise every one of the six per
mutations which can be made of the three.
Now, I will only say of this theory, that it does
not correspond to what we find in the Gospels
themselves, and that any one need but compare

St. Mark. 37
together any three or any two portions of different
Gospels, containing the same subject-matter, to be
convinced of its entire untenableness.
According to this theory, to take an example,
St. Luke, with the Gospels of St. Matthew and St.
Mark before him, sat down to write the account of
an incident which they had previously narrated.
He knew both their accounts to be true, and had
no fault to find with either. Under such circum
stances we may well conceive him incorporating
the two together, in order to form a more com
plete account, adding such new particulars as he
himself in the course of investigation had dis
covered. But examine his narrative, and you will find that
nothing can be further from a description of it.
On this theory, it is the most strange and capri
cious composition that has ever been seen. For,
in writing it, he arbitrarily sometimes writes in the
same words as one, sometimes as another ; some
times expresses a detail related by both, but in
words which neither of them has used; sometimes
omits important details related by one or both,
and writes as if he were not aware of their exist
ence. I have said elsewhere, and say again, that

38 How to study the New Testament.
if this, or any form of this theory, is to be adopted,
then two at least of our three Evangelists can
hardly have been men in their sober senses,
so strangely and capriciously must they have
written. But adopt the other view, and all falls readily
into its place. The oral narrative was common in
its main points to all the Apostles, but modified as
to detail and verbal expression. While it rendered
for the most part in the same words the leading
sayings of our Lord, it varied very much the lan
guage in which the connecting links of mere nar
rative were given. As the disposition of each was
inclined to graphic narration, or mere matter-of-
fact expression, — to giving the precise words used,
or merely their general sense, — so these portions
would be variously expressed. One might report
simply that Jesus answered and said '; another, that
looking round on his disciples, He answered, and so
on. Each would have been especially impressed
by that aspect of an incident which laid hold of
his own feelings and sympathies. According as
minor details served to illustrate this, they would
be dwelt on and brought out into notice. Any
unusual word used by our Lord, any fact which

St. Mark. 39
admitted of but one way of description, would be
reproduced exactly in all the narratives ; while
other sayings and details would be very variously
expressed. Now, this is exactly what we do find in our
three Gospels, as any one will see who will take
the trouble to compare those sections, which they
contain in common. And I conclude, therefore,
— and I may state that this is now becoming the
general conclusion among those who examine into
the matter, — ¦ that our Gospels represent three
forms of the oral apostolic testimony, committed
to writing, under the direction and inspiration of
God's Holy Spirit, independently of one another.
Having endeavoured to make this plain, I will
now go on to consider each of the three Gospels
by itself : setting down, in accordance with what
was proposed in my first paper, such particulars
regarding its use as may seem to be most desirable
for the English reader to know, and least likely to
have been brought under his notice in his ordinary
course of Scripture reading.
First, we will treat of the Gospel of St. Mark.
It is the shortest, and certainly in its form the
earliest of the three— not enriched with those addi-

40 How to study the New Testament.
tions which arose from documents preserved in the
Holy Family and among the primitive disciples,
but, as has been already remarked, confined within
the limits of the public career of our Lord.
I have before hinted that this Gospel is, in its
style of description, the most minute and graphic
of the three. It has been well observed by Mr.
Westcott, in his most valuable little work On the
Study of the Gospels, that ' there is not perhaps
one narrative which St. Mark gives in common
with St. Matthew and St. Luke, to which he does
not contribute some special feature.'
I will indicate a few of the more remarkable
of these, leaving my readers to follow out the
interesting study for themselves by comparing,
with the aid of the references in their Bibles, the
common portions in the three Gospels. I will
first notice some places where minute particulars
are given which give life and reality, and seem to
put us in the very presence of the thing related.
In ch. iv. 37, 38, we have in the description of
the storm, this additional particular, that1 the
' waves beat or were beating into the ship, so that it

1 I quote always from the revised text in my New Testament for
English Readers.

St. Mark. 41
was now filling : and He was in the hinder part of
the ship, asleep oti the pillow.'
In ch. ii. 2, we learn ' that there was no more
room, no, not so much as about the door:' ch.
vi. 48, ' He was minded to pass by them,' giving
us the very look of disregard and fixed purpose
which they saw : ch. ix. 16, where the very im
pression of one who came down with Jesus from
the mount is given in the words, ' He saw a great
multitude about them (the disciples), and the scribes
questioning them :' in ch. x. 50, we read of the
blind man on the way out of Jericho, that ' he
cast away his garment, and leaped up, and came to
Jesus.' Sometimes we have, in precious and
exquisite touches, the mental impressions of
hearers or eye-witnesses imparted to us ; as for
instance in that great description of our Lord's
journeying up to Jerusalem, ch. x. 32, 'And they
were in the way going up to Jerusalem : and Jesus
went before them : and they were amazed: and as
they followed they were afraid.' See also verses
24, 26, of the same chapter, where, after the first
declaration of the difficulty of a rich man entering
the kingdom of God, we read that ' the disciples were
astonished at his words ;' and after the second and

42 How to study the New Testament.
more severe, saying that ' they were astonished out
of measure! In two places, ch. vi. 31, and viii. 3,
we have touching revelations given us of minute
details ofthe feeling of our Lord himself. In the
former place, when the Apostles had related to
Him the particulars of their own mission, and (as
we learn from St. Matthew xiv. 12) the intelli
gence of the martyrdom of John the Baptist, we
read, ' He said unto them, Come ye yourselves
apart into a desert place, and rest a while; for there
were many coming and going, and they had no
leisure so much as to eat.' In the latter, when (as
in Matt. xv. 3 2) the sympathy of Jesus with the
multitudes has been related, ' If I send them away
fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the
way,' St. Mark gives the additional reason, 'for
divers of than came from far.' From this Evan
gelist we have nearly all the accounts of the very
look and feeling of Jesus : see ch. iii. 5, ' When
He had looked round about on them with anger, being
grieved for the hardness of their hearts :' iii. 34,
' He looked round about on them that sat about
Him, and said, Behold my mother and my
brethren.' Compare also ch. v. 32, 'He was
looking round (so literally) to see her that had done

Si. Mark. 43
this thing :' vi. 6, ' He marvelled at their unbelief r
x. 21, 'Jesus looking on him loved him:' also ch.
x. 23, xi. 1 1. In five places this Evangelist pre
serves our Lord's words, which had so struck on
the ear of the hearer as that their sound never was
forgotten, in the very language in which they were
spoken : ch. iii. 17 ; v. 41 ; vii. n ; vii. 34; xiv.
36. In the sublime ending of ch. ix., St. Mark
gives the solemn repetition, or burden, of our
Lord's discourse, verses 44, 46, 48, in a way
which shows the same, viz., that the sensitive ear
had caught the very words as uttered, and the
faithful memory refused to part with one of them.
The additional details of circumstances given
by our Evangelist are most numerous. I set
down a very few. If the reader will consult Mr.
Westcott's volume above quoted, he will find
(note at p. 345) a far more copious list. Ch. i. 36,
' Simon and they that were with him followed
after Him :' ch. iii. 22, 'The scribes which came
down from Jerusalem said:' ch. xiii. 3, ' Peter and
James and John and Andrew asked him privately :'
ch. v. 13, 'they were about two thousand:' ch. vi.
40, ' They all sat down in ranks, by hundreds and
by fifties :' ch. xiv. 30, ' Before the cock crow

44 How to study the New Testament.
twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.' Again, notice
the minute details of time and place given, ch. i,
35, 'in the morning, rising up a great while before
day :' ch. iv. 35 (a very important notice, bearing,
as we shall see in our next paper, on the arrange
ment of the earlier chapters of St. Matthew), ' the ¦ ¦
same day when the eveti was come :' ch. xv. 25, 'it
was the third hour :' ch. ii. 13, 'by the seaside:'
iii. 7, iv. 1, ' there was gathered to Him a great
multitude, so that He entered into the ship and sat
in the sea : ' xii. 41, ' Jesus sat over against the
treasury.' It will be seen, by this very imperfect selection,
how much of vivid reality and exact detail, in our
idea of the Lord's life and ministry, we owe to
this shorter Gospel. We may also see how
entirely beside the point any account of it is,
which makes it to have been merely an abridg
ment of St. Matthew or of St. Luke.
It remains that I should endeavour to furnish
my readers with two statements which may be
useful to them. The first, of the more remark
able places where our present text in this Gospel
is not that of the most eminent authorities ; the
second, of the more remarkable instances where

St. Mark. 45
our translators have not given us the force of the
original. In ch. i. 2, for ' the prophets] ought to be read
' Esaias the prophet : ' and the words ' before thee]
which end the verse, should be omitted. In ver.
4, for 'John did baptize in the wilderness] should
be read, ' John the Baptist was in the wilderness
preaching.' In ch. iii. 29, for ' in danger of eternal
damnation] should be read ' guilty of eternal sin.'
In ch. ii. 17, the words 'to repentance' should be
omitted; and in ch. iii. 5, the words 'as the other.'
In ch. iv. 24, ' unto you that hear shall more be
given] ought to be ' more shall be given unto you.'
In ch. vi. 1 1, the words ' Verily I say unto you,'
etc., to the end, should most probably be omitted;
and in ver. 44 the word ' about ' is in none of the
ancient authorities. In ch. ix. 31, x. 34, 'the
third day ' should be ' after three days.' In ch.
xi. 8, 'off the trees' should be 'out of the fields.'
In xii. 32, for 'thou hast said the truth : for there
is one God] read, ' thou hast truly said that He is
one.' In xiii. 4, 'when all these things shall be
fulfilled] should be ' when these things are aboul
to be all fulfilled.' In ver. 14, the words ' spoken
of by Daniel the prophet] should be omitted. In

46 How to study the New Testament.
ch. xiv. 22, the word 'eat ' should be omitted,
and in consequence we must read it, ' Take this :
this is,' etc. : in ver. 24, 'new' should be omitted,
and in consequence we had better say, ' the blood
of the covenant :' in ver. 27, ' because of me this
night] and in ver. 70, the clause, ' and thy speech
agreelh thereto] should be omitted. Ver. 28 of ch.
xv. should be omitted altogether. At the end of
the Gospel a very remarkable variation in reading
is found. The whole passage, from ch. xvi.
ver. 9 to the end, is wanting in some of our oldest
manuscript copies. The opinion of those who
have examined and are best able to weigh the
evidence concerning it is, that, for some unex
plained reason, the original Gospel of St. Mark,
as possessed by the primitive Church, ended
abruptly with the words ' for they were afraid,'
ver. 8 : that, during apostolic times, and by apo
stolic and inspired men, the general compendium
of the events of the Resurrection, with which the
present Gospel concludes, was added. It is, as
the reader of the Greek may observe, not in the
style of St. Mark, containing many words and
expressions which that Evangelist never elsewhere
uses. But it has all the marks and the authority

Si. Mark. 47
of a contemporary record ; and it contains several
particulars not otherwise told us. It is remarkable
that in our oldest manuscript, now in the Vatican
Library at Rome, the writer left a space for the
passage at the end of this Gospel : an occurrence
not found in that manuscript at the end of any
other Gospel ; but, having left the space, he deter
mined not to fill it up.
I now pass to those places where our English
rendering of the original requires correction.
In ch. i. 10, 'opened' should be 'cleft asunder.'
In ver. 14, 'put in prison' should be 'delivered
up.' In ch. ii. 1 8, ' used to fast ' ought to be
' were fasting ; ' namely, at the particular time
when the incident happened. In ver. 27, it
should be, ' The Sabbath was made on account
of man, and not man on account of the Sabbath.'
In ch. iii. 14, 'ordained' conveys to the English
reader a wrong idea : it should be ' appointed.'
In ch. iv. n, instead of ' Unto you it is given to
know the mystery] it should be, 'Unto you is
given the mystery.' In ver. 22, 'abroad' should
be 'to light' In ver. 37, 'it was now full'
ought to be, ' it was now filling : ' and in the next
verse, ' a pilloiv ' should be ' the pillow :' and in

48 How to study the New Testament.
ver. 41, ' What manner of man is this V should
be, 'Who then is this?' Inch. v. 30, for 'virtue'
should stand 'power.' In ver. 36, for ' heard the
word that was spoken] substitute ' overheard the
word being spoken.' In ch. vi. 20, ' observed
him] ought to be ' kept him safe,' i.e., in cus
tody. In ver. 21, for ' chief estates] substitute
' chief men.' In ver. 49, ' a spirit ' ought to be
' an apparition : ' it is not the same word in the
original as in Luke xxiv. 37. In ver. 56, 'streets'
should be ' market-places.' In ch. vii. 1 1, the
words after ' mother' ought to stand thus : ' That
wherein thou mightest have been benefited by
me is Corban ; that is to say, a gift.' In ver. 28,
'yet' should be 'for even,' making the woman's
argument clear. In ver. 31, 'coasts] a word now
understood to mean ' parts by the sea,' should be
'borders;' so also in ch. x. 1. In ch. viii. 36,
37, 'soul' ought to be 'life,' as in ver. 35 : it is
the same word in the original. The latter part of
ch. ix. ver. 12, is a question, not an affirmation :
and ought to stand, ' and how is it written of the
Son of Man,' etc. ? In ch. x. 5 2, it ought to be,
' thy faith hath saved thee.' In ch. xi. 17, 'an
house of prayer for all the nations.' In ch. xii.

St. Mark. 49
26, ' Have ye not read in the book of Moses, in
the history concerning the bush, how God spake
unto him : ' and in the next verse, ' God is not
the God of dead men, but of living.' In ver. 39,
for ' uppermost rooms] substitute ' chief places.'
In ch. xiii. 12, ' shall cause them to be put to death'
should have been, ' shall put them to death.'
Verse 28 should begin, ' Now learn the parable
from the fig-tree : when now her branch becometh
tender.' In ver. 32, ' no man' ought to be
'none :' and 'neither] 'nor even.' In ch. xiv. 2,
'on the feast day' should be 'during the feast'
In ver. 18, our Lord's words should stand, 'One
of you shall betray me, even he that eateth with
me:' and Peter's words in ver. 31, ' If I must
die with thee.' In ver. 38, it should be, ' The
spirit truly is willing :' the word is the same as in
Matt. xxvi. 41, and ought not to have been varied.
In ver. 68, 'I neither know him, nor : ' and in
ver. 69, ' the maid,' omitting ' again' In ch.
xv. 5,,' yet answered nothing] ought to be 'made
him no further answer.' In verses 31, 32, it
ought to stand, 'himself he cannot save, the
Christ, the King of Israel. Let him descend now,'
etc. In verses 37, 39, ' gave up the ghost' should
D

50 How to study the New Testament.
be ' breathed his last,' the word being different
from that in St. Matthew, which is properly
' rendered up his spirit' In ch. xvi. 2, ' at the
rising of the sun] should be ' when the sun was
risen.' In ver. 8, it should have been, accord
ing to the striking expression of the original, ' for
trembling and amazement had possession of them.'
In ver. 12, ' appeared' should be' 'was mani
fested :' and in ver. 14, ' the elezien ' should be
'the eleven themselves.' In ver. 15 (as in Rom.
viii. 22, where the words are the same), it should
be, not ' every creature] but ' the whole creation.'
And lastly, in ver. 20, ' signs following' should be
'the signs that followed.'
The reader will understand that the foregoing
list comprehends only a selection from the prin
cipal places where corrections are needed : that
there are very many more where the sense
might be made clearer, and the expression more
accurate, by a closer rendering of the original.
Those which I have given must merely be looked
on as an humble contribution to the better use of
the Gospel by those who cannot have recourse to
large books, but have only their English Bibles.
It is hoped that the little which has been here

St. Mark. 5 1
said of the shortest and perhaps least studied of
the three Gospels, may serve in some measure to
illustrate the parable with which these papers
began, and to show what riches the prospect con
tains for those who will look on it aright.

52 How to study the New Testament.

in.

THE THREE— ST. MATTHEW.
PERHAPS it is hardly possible for us at
this distance of time, and under cir
cumstances so widely different, to form an idea
of the views and feelings of a pious Jew who
viewed Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ. If we
could do so, doubtless many difficult portions
of the Gospels would be placed in a clear light.
And the nearer we endeavour to approach the
idea, the more I am persuaded we shall be enabled
to discern of their design and meaning.
Matthew the publican, — Levi the son of
Alpheus, — one and the same person, — was evi
dently, even before the apostolic power came upon
him, no common man. Himself a pious Jew,
brought up to read and to love the prophets,
and to anticipate the future glories of Israel,

St. Matthew. 53
he followed an occupation which severed him
from his countrymen. The teachers, and the
punctilious observers, of the law which he obeyed,
would have deemed themselves polluted by con
tact with the publican of Capernaum. Yet, as
was said afterwards by our Lord of another publi
can, Zaccheus, ' he . himself also was a son of
Abraham.' And this peculiarity of his situation
must be taken into account, if we would under
stand the character of his Gospel. It may be
noticed, that we have in the evangelic history
several instances of pious God-fearing men, who
were for some reason or other cut off from the
common life of the Jews ; and, corrupted and
spiritless as that ordinary life was, it may not un
reasonably be supposed that among the outcasts
from it were frequently found men in closer walk
with the God of Israel Himself. It was not from
the Rabbis of the synagogue, but from the con
stant communings of his own heart with the word,
that Matthew learned to look at all things in the
light of the coming Kingdom. Little as he then
knew of its real character, or of Him who was its
King, this was manifestly the bent of his mind.
His thoughts had long dwelt on the glories and

54 How to study the New Testament.
the trials of God's people, and had been wavering,
with ever-increasing light and approximation to
truth, till those blessed forty days of resurrection
joy, when his eyes saw the King in his beauty, and
his ears heard Him speaking of ' the things per
taining to the kingdom of God.'
Thenceforward the teaching of St. Matthew was
such as we now see it in his wonderful Gospel —
The Kingdom of Heaven. This was the great
comprehensive theme which took up and included
in itself the details of the common apostolic nar
rative ; and it was this Kingdom, not in the vague
aspirations of an enthusiastic Jew — not as painted
by the carnal imagination of man — but in all its
spiritual depth and height, as revealed by that
Holy One who knoweth the deep things of God.
Its poverty and its wealth, its meekness and its
majesty, its shame and its glory, its persecution
and its recompense, all are laid forth in that
Gospel which may well be called the Charter of
the Constitution of the Church of Christ. And
through all its onward narrative moves His form,
of whom Moses in the law and the Prophets did
write, in all His majesty, and all His gentleness.
His very breath breathes from the sentences.

St. Matthew. 55
Never can the Evangelist dwell too long on His
great and glorious discourses. Wide as the world
of men and angels, deep as the heart of God,
woven together as to their separate parts by links
of inseparable power, it is from this one alone of
the Three Evangelists that we have the great ser
mons of the Prophet of Galilee in all their com
pleteness. The Sermon on the Mount, in chapters
v., vi., vii. ; the commission given to the Apostles
in chapter x. ; the discourse respecting John in
chapter xi. ; the great series of parables in chapter .
xiii. ; that other, spoken during the last week of
the ministry, in chapters xxi. and xxii. ; the denun
ciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, in chapter
xxiii. ; the great prophecy in chapter xxiv. ; com
pleted by the final parables, and description of the
judgment of the nations, in chapter xxv. ; all
these, in their completeness and their arrange
ment, we owe to St. Matthew ; besides many
important parables and other portions of our
Lord's divine teaching. The Holy Spirit seems
to have wrought in this Evangelist to the largest
reproduction of the popular teaching of Christ, as
He did in the beloved disciple, St. John, to the
reproduction of those words uttered in conflict

56 How to study the New Testament.
with the Jews, and in holy confidence to His own
disciples. If we would have a living idea, of those
events in Galilee, in holy deed and in word, we
need but combine the graphic description of St.
Mark's narrative with the majesty of the Lord's
discourses as given by St. Matthew, filling in the
details, and here and there winning some precious
additional story, from the third Evangelist, the
careful investigator and summer-up of the whole.
But as we have before said that to find out
Christ is the great aim of the use of the Gospels,
let us hasten to inquire into the exact portraiture
of our Blessed Lord, as it is set before us by this
Evangelist. Does any wish to see Him as the
Messiah foretold in prophecy, — the long expected
King and Prophet, who was to spring of Abraham
and David — who was the bright point to which
all lines of light converged under the old dispen
sation 1 Let him take up this Gospel, which,
beginning with words of themselves recalling the
Old Testament, shows, by the official genealogy of
the Lord, how He was ' the son of David, the son
of Abraham ;' how He was foretold in the sign
promised to assure Ahaz of his deliverance ; how
His Name, that of an ancient leader and champion

St. Matthew. 57
of Israel, was prescribed by an angel as significant
of his work of salvation for his people. Then let
him mark, how to the cradle of the new-born King
Arabia and Saba bring their gifts — and see, amidst
the splendour, the first little cloud of persecution
arise, and the first blood shed for the King and
the Kingdom's sake. And through all he shall
hear, if he listen, the echo of the old prophets,
' All this was done that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophets.' The
flight into Egypt, and the return from thence,
happen, that Israel's King may share Israel's
destiny. The turning back to Nazareth, — here we
know the earthly reason of it, because the son of
the persecutor ruled in Judea : and here we know
the heavenly reason of it also ; because the pro
phets had said, ' He shall be called a Nazarene.'
And now years have passed away, and the King
dom is ready to be ushered in, and in the wilder
ness of Judea appears one to prepare the way
before the King, crying, ' The Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand,' and proclaiming the spiritual' condi
tions of the Kingdom, repentance and purity of
life. By this Forerunner, the Elias of the new
dispensation, it is necessary that the Messiah be

58 How to study the New Testament.
anointed ; and to him Jesus coming is baptized,
and on his baptism is solemnly recognised of God
by the bodily descending upon him of the Holy
Ghost, and the voice of the Father from heaven.
Then goes forth the King to His work of saving
His people from their sins. First, over the tempter
and accuser of men, He gains, in the fight of
temptation, a glorious triple victory, in the matters
of fleshly appetite — of carnal self-confidence — of
worldly ambition. In His victory, we gain a
glimpse of His majesty ; He is ministered to by
the angels of heaven. Then, as the great Fore
runner wanes, the Sun of righteousness begins to
arise over the coasts of the sea of Galilee, and to
those who sat in darkness and the shadow of
death a great light arises, as had been written in
the Prophets. Now begins the ministry ; now the
Prophet unfolds before us. The fishermen are
called to be fishers of men, and the teaching and
preaching and healing are spread abroad over
Galilee, and sought by eager multitudes.
Then, — then first, — the Divine Prophet opens
His mouth in set discourse, and gives forth the
charter law of His Kingdom of Heaven. Not to
destroy, but to fulfil; to fill up, and amplify, all

Si. Matthew. 59
the spiritual aspirations of the Jew ; to make men
perfect, as their Father is perfect ; to purify the
heart ; to bring in the golden rule of charity, and
the blessed calm of holy confidence ; to build
man's eternal habitation on the rock which He is
Himself; — these are the blessed ends for which
the Royal Lawgiver is come on earth. And now
begins the procession of miracles which attest the
divine mission of the Messiah : which testify also
to the fact, that He took our infirmities and bore
our sicknesses. These are touched for the most
part lightly ; rather the place of each, in its testi
mony to Him, being in the Evangelist's view, than
minuteness of detail ; and they are grouped to
gether without regard, in some cases, to their
position in point of time. If we want to know
the accurate details of the raising of the daughter
of Jairus, and the healing of the woman with the
issue of blood, which occurred in the course of
that other miracle, we must go to the other two
Evangelists for them ; if we would arrange the visit
to the land of the Gadarenes in its chronological
place, it is St. Mark only who will give us the
clue : who informs us1 that it took place on the
' See Mark iv. 35.

60 How to study the New Testament.
evening of the same day on which the parables in
Matthew xiii. were spoken.
Thus this grouping of incidents together, be
cause of their bearing on a great design, becomes
a characteristic of our Evangelist which it is im
possible to gainsay ; and he who makes even the
least use of the Gospels as he ought, becomes
aware that he must not look in them for formal
chronological annals of the doings and sayings of
the Lord; that he is not to be a slave of their
letter, but an humble searcher after their spirit.
In continuing this our search, we come next on
the call and the commission, first of our Evange
list himself, then of all that chosen band who were
nearest to the Lord in His temptations. Here
we have that great commission most clearly and
fully unfolded ; in its present limited foretaste, and
in its ultimate world-wide development. It is set
before them in all its suffering, and all its glory :
in all its privation, and all its rich reward. Close
upon it follows the weighty discourse uttered in
consequence of the inquiry of the now imprisoned
Baptist, ' Art thou he that should come, or do we
look for another?' In it, our Lord lays forth to
the multitudes the distinct characters of His fore-

St. Matthew. 6 1
runner's mission, and of His own, and the capri
cious treatment which both had met with : and
ends by answering the Baptist's question in words
found only in diis Gospel of the Kingdom, ' Come
unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest :' that is — ' I am He that
should come, and none need look for another.'
As we pass on, we see something of the conflict
and contrast between the hypocritical observance
of the letter of the law, and the freedom of the
spirit which the new Lawgiver came to bring in :
between the malice of His adversaries, and His
own peaceful and consoling character as foretold
by the prophets : between the power and King
dom of Satan, and the power and Kingdom of
God, of which He was at once the representative
and the King, greater than Solomon, greater than
Jonah, whose sign is the only one vouchsafed to
that sinful and adulterous generation. Yet one
more contrast remains : that between earthly and
heavenly relationship, declared when His mother
and brethren came to speak to Him. Their pur
pose was to lay hold of Him and put a stop to
His ministry, as we learn from St. Mark, but not
here, as it is our Evangelist's desire ever to pre-

62 How to study the New Testament.
sent events not in their minute details, but in
their bearing on the King, and the Kingdom He
came to found.
And now comes a great and mighty change in
our Lord's teaching to the people, recorded for us
by St. Matthew alone. He had spoken plainly
to them in the Sermon on the Mount, and doubt
less in many other discourses as He went up and
down Galilee. But they had rejected His teach
ing, plain as it was. From time to time, therefore,
He withdrew his plain speaking, and had recourse
to a new and hidden method of teaching. The
Parable was a lesson which might be heard, and
yet not heard : heard alike outwardly by all, and
yet differently by each, according to his capacity
for apprehending spiritual truth. Henceforth the
Lord teaches in parables, explaining all in private
to His disciples. And of these parables we have
the richest collection in the thirteenth chapter of
this Gospel. There the whole idea, and progress,
and destiny, of the Kingdom of Heaven are un
folded. Its beginnings among men, in the Parable
of the Sower : its counterfeits, and their treatment
by us, and by God, in that of the Tares : its vast
outward extent, from the smallest beginning, in

St. Matthew. 63
that of the mustard-seed : its inward purifying and
transforming power, in that of the leaven : the two
ways in which men find it, one by chance in a
field which he gives up all he has to buy, another
by search, also giving up all to acquire it when
found : and then finally the ultimate destiny of
the good and bad in it, in the parable of the
draw-net With the fourteenth chapter begins the great
third division of the Gospel, in which the King,
and his Kingdom, and his subjects, come con
tinually more and more into prominence. After
the martyrdom of the Forerunner, the Lord retires
into a desert place apart, and there miraculously
feeds the multitudes who resort to Him, manifest
ing His wondrous creative power : as He does
afterwards His power over the winds and waves,
and is worshipped as the Son of God. So wonder
ful is the virtue of His divine person, that healing
influence goes forth from Him over all who so
much as touch the hem of His garment.
Again, in the fifteenth chapter, we have an
echo, prolonging the pure strain of the Sermon on
the Mount, in the Lord's protest against the hypo
crisy of those who maintained the tradition of the

64 How to study the New Testament.
elders against truth and righteousness ; and, as if
in pursuance of the feeling of this discourse, He
departs far away, crossing the border of the land
of Israel, and works a work of mercy on one not
of the chosen people ; returning, however, imme
diately into Galilee, and betaking Himself to a
mountain where multitudes were brought and laid
at his feet to be healed, and the characteristic
notice is added, ' They glorified the God of fsrael.'
Another act of mercy on the assembled multi
tudes, another note of conflict with the wicked
and adulterous generation which tempted Him —
by healing a leper, and warning His dischiles to
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Saddu
cees, and we come to that Confession of Peter,
which may be described as the turning-point of
the whole great history.
The Lord, knowing all that should come upon
Him, and also knowing the hearts of His dis
ciples, is willing to prove them by questioning
them as to their views respecting Himself; and
thus is educed the great Confession, taught not
by flesh and blood, but by inspiration from heaven
— ' Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God.' Thus is laid the foundation : in him who

St. Matthew. 65
made this confession, in all who make this con
fession, in this confession itself, in Him whom this
confession acknowledges — ' Other foundation can
no man lay than that which hath been laid, Jesus
the Christ'
Why was this done ? This Evangelist, more
fully than the others, gives us the reason — wraps
on, one after another, the ever-darkening folds of
the cloud of suffering into which, from this time,
the King begins to enter.
Now first is made to the apostles the announce
ment of the Lord's sufferings, and death, and re
surrection. ' From that time,' designedly writes
St. Matthew, ' Jesus began to show this unto His
disciples.' Shortly, but again most characteristi
cally, does our Evangelist touch on the great lesson
of self-denial, more expanded in the other Gospels,
which followed on the rebuke of Peter. And
thus we are brought to the holy Mount — to that
vision of glory, and voice of testimony from the
Father, which was our Lord's solemn consecration
for His coming sufferings, as a like vision of glory,
and a like testifying voice, had been His conse
cration for His ministry.
' St. Peter's inspired confession,' says Mr. West-
E

66 How to study the New Testament.
cott, ' opens the way to further glimpses of the
Kingdom. Yet the earljest manifestation of
Christ's glory, like the splendours of the Eastern
sky, betokens the coming storm. The announce
ment of shame and sorrow and death is the intro
duction to the vision of majesty. The transfigura
tion of Messiah is connected with the first distinct
announcement of His sufferings, with the prospect
of His human conflict, and the vindication of
His divine right. Thenceforth He speaks more
in detail of the citizens of the Kingdom : of their
moving principles, obedience, humility, unselfish
ness, forgiveness ; and of their social character
istics, of the rights of marriage as a religious bond,
ofthe duties of wealth as* a blessing derived only
from God. Yet all claims of merit are excluded.
Many first shall be last. The warning voice of
the parable which closes the section shows that
our reward rests in God's good pleasure.'1 Hence
forth, as we advance with the Gospel, the shadow
of suffering gathers darker, and the notes of con
flict sound shriller and harsher. Yet also, the
majesty and the Messiahship of Jesus shine out
and are recognised more and more. The ambi-
1 Study ofthe Gospels, p. 337.

Si. Matthew. 67
tion of the two sons of Zebedee is an occasion,
not only of a new warning respecting the baptism
of suffering, but also of a new assertion of the
dignity of the coming Kingdom. The progress to
Jerusalem, the final entry into the vale of suffer
ing, is shone about by glimpses of glory. ' Have
mercy on us, thou Son of David,' is the cry of
the blind men at Jericho. ' Hosanna to the Son
of David,' is the jubilant shout of the multitudes,
as they strew the path for the King, and wave
their palm branches around Him.
And so sets in that last week of the deepest
and intensest interest in all the Saviour's life
below. It is full of divine teaching amidst the
gathering conflict. This Evangelist of the king
dom gives it to us in far more significant com
pleteness than the others. One by one all His
enemies are met and are discomfited, and the
time of questioning gives place to the time of
conspiring. No longer separately, but all to
gether in assembly, they devise His death. Then
follows his awful denunciation of woe upon the
Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, and His final
words of sorrowful farewell to Jerusalem, whose
children He would often have gathered as a hen

68 How to shidy the New Testament.
gathers her chickens under her wings, but they
would not, and therefore their house is left unto
them desolate.
It would be impossible, in a notice of this
Gospel, to leave unnoticed the majestic proces
sion of discourses by which the narrative of the
Passion is ushered in. The great prophecy on
the Mount of Olivet is terminated by a descrip
tion of the blessedness of the faithful, and the
misery of the unfaithful servant at that day when
the Lord of both shall come again. And then
the discourse proceeds at once to say that, ' At
that time,' viz., at the day of the Lord's coming,
' shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened to ten
virgins, five wise and five foolish, going forth to
meet the bridegroom.' Here we have gathered
up in one the images so frequently used before :
the children of the bride-chamber, the King who
made a marriage for His Son. After this parable
we are introduced into the King's palace, where
He is taking account of His own servants ; to the
judgment, that is, beginning at the house of God.
And then follows — like the rest of this grand
series, given us by St. Matthew only — the sublime
description of the great final judgment : ' the

St. Matthew. 69
King,' here, and here only by our Lord identified
with the ' Son of man] sitting on the throne of
His glory ; before Him all nations gathered, and
the division into blessed and cursed made ; and the
eternal doom pronounced, according to the pre
sence or the absence of a virtuous life of love to
Him in His little ones.
As it is my intention to devote a separate
section to the four accounts of the Passion, Death,
and Resurrection of our Lord, I will not pursue
the contents of our Gospel further at present ; but
will proceed to give the reader the two lists, as
before : the one, of passages in which our version
differs from the best authenticated reading of the
original text, or there occurs in that text a doubtful
reading which the English reader ought to know ;
the other, of words or phrases not accurately ren
dered from the original.
To the former belong the following : — In ch. i. 25,
our oldest mss. have, instead of ' her firstborn son] ' a
son.' In ch. v. 22, the words ' without a cause' are
omitted in very many ofthe ancient authorities, and
are expressly pronounced spurious by Jerome and
Augustine, and ought probably to be expunged.
But the ancient authorities are much divided.

70 How to study the New Testament.
Such disputed passages ought in common fairness
to be known to the readers of the English Bible.
In ch. v. 27, 'by them cf old time' should be
omitted. In ver. 44, the words ' bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you] and the
words ' despitefully use you, and' should be omitted.
In ver. 47, for 'publicans so] substitute ' Gentiles
the same.' In ch. vi. 1, ' alms' ought to be ' right
eousness ;' but not in ver. 2. The first verse is a
general caution, which is afterwards divided into
particular ones. In ch. vi. 1 2, ' we forgive' ought to
be 'we have forgiven.' In ver. 13, the Lord's prayer
ought to end with the word ' evil.' The doxology,
' For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory] is omitted by all our most ancient mss ,
and by the Greek Fathers, even when they ex
pounded the prayer in detail. It is stated by one
of them to have been added by Church authori
ties ; and probably from being used in the liturgies
it found its way into the sacred text. At the end
of ver. 18, omit 'openly.' In ch. viii. 15, for
' ministered unto them] read ' ministered unto him.'
In ch. viii. 28, ' Gergesenes' should most probably
be ' Gadarenes.' In ch. ix. 13, end, omit the
words ' to repentance' In ver. 36, for 'fainted]

St. Matthew. yi
read ' were harassed.' In ch. x. 4, for ' Canaanite]
read ' Canansean.' This is of some importance.
The name ' Canansean' signifies a zealot, and is
equivalent to the appellation Zelotes, which is
affixed to the name of this Simon in both St.
Luke's lists of the Apostles. This has, from igno
rance, been confounded with the word ' Canaanite]
which is a national appellation. In ch. xi. 2, in
stead of ' two of (duo) all our most ancient autho
rities have 'by means of (dia). In ch. xii. 6, for
'one greater] read 'that which is greater.' In
ch. xiii. 55, for 'Joses] the right reading is pro
bably 'Joseph;' some mss. have 'John.' In
ch. xvii. 4, for ' let us make] read 'I will make.'
In ch. xix. 17, for 'Why callest thou me good t there
is none good but one, that is, God] read ' Why
askest thou me concerning good ? There is One
good.'1 In ver. 20 the words, 'from my youth up'
should in all probability be omitted. In ch. xx. 7,
omit ' and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive : '
as also the words ' and (to) be baptized with the
baptism that I am baptized with] in verses 22, 23.
1 Compare this notice with what will hereafter be said on the parallel
passage in St. Luke. Tt is one of those places where the texts of the
three Gospels, originally slightly differing in expression, have been in
later times assimilated to one another.

72 How to study the New Testament.
These last have been inserted here from the
parallel place in St. Mark, ch. x. 38, 39. In
ch. xxi. 13, for ' have made] read 'are making.'
In ch. xxii. 7, for ' But when the king heard thereof,
he was wroth] read ' But the king was wroth.'
In ver. 23, for 'which say] read 'saying.' They
said it then and there, not only commonly.
Ch. xxiii. 14 should be altogether omitted; it is
wanting in all our most ancient mss., and has
been inserted here from Mark xii. 40, Luke xx. 47.
In ch. xxiv. 7, ' and pestilences' is omitted in most
of our ancient mss. In ver. 42, ' hour' should
be ' day.' In ch. xxv. 3, instead of ' They that
were foolish took their lamps, and took] read ' For
the foolish, . when they took their lamps, took.'
In ch. xxvi. 3, the words ' and the scribes' are
omitted by all our most ancient mss. In ver. 42,
our Lord's words should stand, ' if this may not
pass away, except I drink it.' In ver. 60, it
should stand, 'but found none, even though many
false witnesses came.' In ch. xxvii. 64, the words
' by night' should be omitted ; they are not in any
of our most ancient mss. In ch. xxviii. 9, the
. words ' as they went to tell his disciples] should
most probably be omitted.

St. Matthew. 73
The second list, of some of the principal pas
sages and words wrongly or inadequately rendered
by our translators, is as follows : —
In ch. ii. 16, 'coasts' should be 'borders.'1 In
ch. iii. 7, 'generation' should be 'offspring.'2 In
ch. iv. 5, 'a pinnacle' should be 'the pinnacle'
(it was probably the point of Herod's portico).
In ch. iv. 1 2, ' cast into prison ' should be ' de
livered up.' In ch. v. 9, it should be ' shall be
called sons of God ;' and in ver. 45, ' the children'
should be ' sons.' In ch. vi. 23, ' how great is that
darkness' ought to be ' how dark is the darkness ;'
i.e., if the eye, which is the light of the body, be
dark, how dark must the rest be, which is of itself
not light, but naturally dark. In verses 25, 27,
28, 31, 34, and in ch. x. 19, 'thought' should be
' anxious thought,' which is the real meaning of
the word in the original : our present version is
liable to be misunderstood. In ch. viii. 12, 'chil
dren' should be 'sons;'3 in ver. 16, 'his word'
should be ' a word ;' and in ver. 24, ' was covered'
should have been ' was being covered.' In ch. x.
39, 'findeth' should be 'hath found ;' and ' loseth'
1 So also in ch. xv. zi, 22 ; xix. 1.
2 So also in ch. xii. 34 ; xxiii. 33.
8 So also in ch. ix. 15 ; xii. 27 ; xiii. 38 ; xxiii. 15, 31.

74 How to study the New Testament.
should be ' hath lost' In ch. xi. 7, ' see' should
be 'gaze upon;' it is not the same word as that
rightly rendered ' see' in verses 8 and 9. In ver.
14, ' was for to come' ought to be 'shall come.'
In ver. 19, for ' is justified] substitute 'was justi
fied.' In ver. 27, ' are delivered' ought to stand
'were delivered.' In ver. 27, the meaning is
made clearer if, instead of 'will reveal him' we
give the word in the original its full meaning, ' is
minded to reveal him.' In ch. xii. 21, 'trust'
ought to be ' hope.' In ch. xii. 24, there is in the
original no term of opprobrium corresponding to
'fellow;' it is simply 'This man.' The same is
the case in ch. xxvi. 61, xxvii. 47. In ch. xii.
31, ' against the Holy Ghost' ought to be 'of the
Spirit' In verses 41, 42, it should stand, 'there
is more than Jonas here,' ' there is more than
Solomon here.' In ch. xiii. 19, it should stand,
' This is he which was sown by the way side ;' and
in ver. 20, ' He that was sown upon the stony
places;' and in verses 22, 23, for 'received seed
into, or among] ' was sown upon, or among.' In
xiv. 26, ' a spirit' should be ' an apparition.'1 In
ch. xv. 5, the saying should stand, ' That wherein
1 See on Mark vi. 49, page 48.

St. Matthew. 75
thou mightest have been benefited by me, is a
gift [to God] ; [he is free], and shall not honour
his father or his mother.' In ch. xv. 27, 'yet'
should be 'for ever;' and in ver. 32, ' will not]
'am not willing to.' In ch. xvi. 22, 'Be it far
from thee' should have been kept, as in the origi
nal, ' God be gracious to thee.' In ver. 26, 'soul'
(both times) ought to be 'life.' In ch. xviii. 12,
it should stand ' doth not he leave the ninety and
nine upon the mountain, and goeth and seeketh.'
In ch. xix. 10, 'good' should be 'expedient;' and
in ver. 23, 'hardly' should be 'with difficulty.'
In ch. xx. 14, ' f will give' should have been more
clearly expressed, ' it is my will to give.' In
ch. xxi. 33, where our present text has, ' went
into a far country] the original has only ' left his
home.'1 In ch. xxiii. 6, for ' uppermost rooms] sub
stitute 'uppermost place.' In ver. 10, 'Neither
be ye called leaders; for one is your leader.'
Ver. 24, ' straining out the gnat and swallowing
the camel.' In ver. 26, for 'that which is within'
(the qontents), substitute ' the inside of.' Ch.
xxiv. 12, 13, should stand, 'And because iniquity
hath abounded, the love of the many shall wax
1 See also in ch xxv. 14.

76 How to study the New Testament.
cold. But he that hath endured,' etc. Ch. xxiv.
32, 'Now learn the parable from the fig-tree:
When now his branch becometh tender.' Ver. 36,
'710 man' should be 'none.' In ch. xxv. 8, not
'gone out] but ' going out.' In ch. xxv. 46, either
' everlasting' or ' eternal' should be used in both
places — the word is the same in both. In ch. xxvi.
5, 'on the feast day' should be 'during the feast.'
In ver. 35, ' Though T should die' ought to be
' Though I must die,' ' even if it be necessary for
me to die.' In ver. 64, ' Hereafter' should be
' Henceforth.' In ch. xxvii. 9, ' valued] and
' value] should for perspicuity be ' set a price on :'
and in ver. 10, for the same reason, ' appointed me'
should be ' commanded me.' In ver. 44, the
strange expression, ' cast the same in his teeth]
has nothing to correspond to it in the original.
It is, ' In like manner did the thieves also revile
him, which were crucified with him.' In the next
verse, ' all the land' should be ' all the earth.' In
ver. 50, it should stand, 'yield up his spirit' In
ver. 56, ' Zebedee' s children' should be 'the sons of
Zebedee,' viz., the two well-known Apostles. Ver.
66 should end, ' sealing the stone, besides posting
the guard.' In ch. xxviii. 3, ' countenance' should

St. Matthew. 77
be ' appearance ;' in ver. 19, 'teach' should be
make disciples of:' and in ver. 20, 'alway'
should be ' all the days.'
The Gospel »f St. Matthew is that one to which
we owe, more than to any other, our complete
idea of our Blessed Lord as the promised Messiah,
the Holy One of God, the King and Head over
all to His Church. In the vivid depictions of St.
Mark, we have ever His personal image before
us, and the very sound of His voice : in the care
ful and precious collections of St. Luke, we see
Him as the Saviour of our race, the Head and
Root of our humanity : while it is from this first
and best known of the Gospels that that image of
Him especially arises, which is so much in the
thoughts and hearts of all of us who believe — that
Chosen One, in whom centre all the ways and
works of God : perfect in Majesty, perfect in
Mercy : the King's Son, for whom is made the
great marriage of heaven and earth : the Bride
groom, into whose feast the wise and virgin souls
shall enter : the King himself, who shall come to
take account of His own servants : nay, who shall
come, and all the holy angels with him, and sit
on the throne of His glory, with all the nations

78 How to study the New Testament.
before Him, and allot to every one his. eternal
doom. Reader, would you use this Gospel aright ?
Seek ever this thy King and Saviour in it : and
mayest thou find Him more and more, to thy
soul's everlasting health.

St. Luke. 79

IV.

THE THREE — ST. LUKE.
i T" UKE, the beloved physician, and Demas,
J,  y greet you.' Thus wrote St. Paul, from
his prison at Rome to the Colossians. ' Demas
hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.
. . . Only Luke is with me.' Thus he wrote,
some years after, when he was now ready to be
offered up, and the time of his departure was at
hand, to his ' son ' Timotheus.
And the faithful companion was also the faithful
narrator. Twice did he take in hand to give an
account of the things which were fulfilled, and
fully received, among Christians : the first time, to
record the birth and ministry of our Lord : the
second time, to chronicle the chief events which
befel the Church, from the ascension to the im
prisonment of' St. Paul. The Church owes to

80 How to study the New Testament.
St. Luke more of the knowledge of the events of
Redemption, and of the whole course of our Lord,
than to any other Evangelist : and she owes to
him entirely her knowledge of the history of the
Primitive Church. His Gospel alone contains any
account of the parentage and birth of the Lord's
Forerunner. His Gospel alone relates the joyful
details of the birth of the Lord Himself. From
this Gospel alone we have the Christian hymns of
Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, of the
Virgin Mary, and of the aged Simeon, all of them
for ages familiarized to Christians by their use in
the services ofthe Church. From St. Luke-alone
have we' the narrative of our Lord's circumcision,
and of His presentation in the Temple. Were it
not for St. Luke, we should know absolutely
nothing of those thirty years which He passed in
obscurity before the commencement of His mini
stry; but now we have that most touching and
beautiful history of His visit at twelve years old
to the Temple, and we know that after it He went
down to Nazareth and was subject unto his parents.
Moreover, we have from this, which has been well
called the Gospel of our Lord's Humanity, the
precious and wonderful testimony, that Jesus in-

St. Luke. 8 1
creased in wisdom as in stature, and in favour
with God and man.
Universality, again, is throughout a character
istic of this Gospel. Christ is not the Messiah of
the Jew only : He is the Desire of all nations. His
genealogy traces Him not from Abraham only, as
that of St. Matthew, but is carried up to the first
man, who owned no parent but God. Another
characteristic is, the habit of relating His acts of
mercy and love, and His words by which mercy
and love are prescribed. Here alone we have
the touching scene at the gate of Nain, where the
Lord poured joy into the bereaved heart of the
widow : here also the healing of the woman with
the spirit of infirmity, and of the man with the
dropsy ; here alone the cleansing of the ten lepers ;
here alone the fact that our Lord touched the ear
of Malchus and healed him. n
And in the reports of the words of Jesus, it is
the same. St. Luke only of the Evangelists gives
us the parable of the two debtors, going down to
the very depths of the source of human love : St.
Luke alone that of the good Samaritan, which
teaches us to widen our charities and extend the
service of self-denying love to all : St. Luke alone,
F

82 How to study the New Testament.
the friend at midnight, teaching us the duty and
sure success of holy importunity in prayer. Nor
is our rich catalogue nearly complete. To this
Evangelist we owe our knowledge of the gracious
intercession for the barren fig-tree, so full of warn
ing and of comfort ; and it is he only who has
given that gem of all the collections of parables,
the three in his fifteenth chapter — the best possi
ble commentary on the Lord's own declaration of
His mission, that He came to seek and to save
that which was lost. Whether the lost one be
silly and deceived, as the sheep that strayed, — or
all unconscious of his noble lineage and divine
stamp, as the lost piece of money, — or recreant in
conscious rebellion, as the lost prodigal, — there is
a Shepherd to go in search of him, there is One
who will light a candle and seek him even in the
dust of death, there is a gracious Father who will
come to meet and welcome the returning penitent,
and feast him with his pardoning love.
Nor have we yet done with the holy lessons of
grace and mercy which this faithful collector of the
Lord's sayings has handed down to us. Wisdom is
taught us by the parable of the unjust steward,
— Christian prudence, to be as diligent for our

Si. Luke. 83
undying interests, as the world's children are for
their temporary ones : distrust of man's judgment
and of self-exalting thoughts, by the story of the
Pharisee and publican. O how deeply comforting
is that blessed assurance, that he who could do
nothing but smite on his breast and cry for mercy
on him the sinner, went down to his house justi
fied! How sweet an echo there is here of the
doctrine of justification by grace through faith, for
which St. Luke's great companion, himself in his
own estimation ' the chief of sinners,' argued and
toiled !
But I forgot, as we passed on, that we owe also
to this Evangelist alone the strange and wonderful
glimpse into the secret realms beyond the grave,
afforded in the parable of the rich man and Laza
rus. And here again how full of comfort is the
history for the poor and needy and afflicted ! Full
of comfort again is that other parable of the unjust
judge, moved at last to do right by the simple
importunity of the oppressed widow. If unright
eous man can thus against his bent be moved
by the pleading of justice, how much more shall
He who hateth iniquity regard the prayers of His
elect !

84 How to study the New Testament.
And if we recur again for a while to facts, how
numerous and how characteristic, in the sense
already mentioned, are those which we learn from
St. Luke alone. First, as first in importance also,
comes the visit of our Lord to the synagogue at
Nazareth. Here the character of His great mis
sion is at once, from His own lips, declared to us.
He was anointed ' to preach the Gospel (to declare
glad tidings, that is) to the poor ; sent to heal the
broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind ; to
set at liberty them that are bruised ; to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord.' All is mercy
and tender compassion ; all wondered at the
gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth.
And as these words go on, their bearing has the
universality which so characterizes this Gospel.
Elisha was sent only to a Sidonian widow : the
only leper cleansed was a Syrian captain.
Here too only, we read of that first miraculous
drajght of fishes, symbolizing the universality of
the future Church. Here alone we learn of the
ministering women who accompanied the Lord
through Galilee, as He preached and showed the
glad tidings of the kingdom of God. ' The

Si. Luke. 85
Teacher,' says Mr. Westcott, ' who included in his
church the humble, the distressed, and the repent
ant, is attended by the weak and loving rather
than by a council of elders, a band of warriors, or
a school of prophets.'
The contents of nine whole chapters, from
chapter ix. 51 to xviii. 14, are peculiar to St. Luke.
They embrace the narrative of the Lord's last
great journey to Jerusalem, with all its collateral
incidents and sayings. Besides what has been
already mentioned, they contain the following his
tories, found, of course, here only : — the over- zeal
of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, and its
rebuke ; the mission of the seventy ; the visit to
Martha and Mary in Galilee, and their characters.
As we advance, the same wealth of special details
continues, and the same spirit prevails in their
selection. He who received publicans and sinners
now condescends to become the guest of the publi
can Zaccheus. It is here alone that we have that
remarkable scene on the way to Jerusalem, which
begins with the multitude of the disciples rejoicing
and praising God with a loud voice for all the
mighty works that they had seen, and ends with
the Lord's tears over the rebellious city. Mr.

86 How to study the New Testament.
Westcott notices that this triumphant song of the
band of disciples is the echo of the angelic song
at the nativity, the gloria in excelsis being found
in both. As I said in my last section, I abstain at present
from comparing the narratives of the Passion.
But I cannot help noticing, because it belongs
eminently to the character of St. Luke's Gospel,
that it is in his narrative alone that we find men
tion of the agony and bloody sweat, and the
ministration of the angel comforter ; of the Lord
turning, and looking upon Peter ; of the part
which Herod bore in the events ofthe Lord's trial ;
of the great company of the people who followed
Him as He went to crucifixion, and His memorable
speech to the daughters of Jerusalem ; of the
prayer for the Gentile soldiers who were nailing
Him to the cross ; of the penitent thief, — by
which incident, besides its wonderful revelation of
tender mercy and grace in the dying Saviour, we
obtain another glimpse within the veil into the
mysterious world of spirits. Here only we are
told that ' all the people who came together to
that sight, beholding the things that were done,
smote their breasts, and returned,' and that ' all

Si. Luke. 87
his acquaintance, and the women that followed
Him from Galilee, stood afar off beholding these
things.' And most precious is the concluding chapter ;
full of new and deep interest. The journey to
Emmaus, with its touching and kindling incidents,
making our hearts burn, as it did theirs ; the
appearance to Simon ; the proofs of Christ's glori
fied Humanity ; the opening of the disciples'
understandings that they might understand the
Scriptures, with the assurance that thus it behoved
the Christ to suffer and to fulfil all things that were
written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms concerning Him ; and then the assur
ance that repentance and remission of sins were
to be preached in His name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem, — all these break upon the
reader of St. Matthew and St. Mark now for the
first time.
And in the narratives of the Ascension, be it
remembered that St. Luke stands alone. He only
relates to us the manner of its happening, and
that in two separate accounts. The previous
Gospels had made no mention of it : the short
notice occurring in the apostolic fragment at the

88 How to study the New Testament.
end of St. Mark apparently not being due to that
Evangelist himself.
Notice how St. Luke, in ending his Gospel, pre
pares the way for his second treatise : ' Behold, I
send the promise of my Father upon you : but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem till ye be endued
with power from on high.'
And the Gospel ends also with joy, and the
glory of the exalted Son of God : ' they wor
shipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with
great joy, and were continually in the temple,
praising and blessing God.' ' The Gospel of the
Saviour,' says Mr. Westcott, 'begins with hymns
and ends with praises : as the thanksgivings of the
meek are recorded in the first chapter, so in the
last we listen to the gratitude of the faithful.'
A few peculiarities may be mentioned, which
will still further illustrate the gracious and the
universal character aheady given of our Gospel.
Notice the addition — after ch. iii. 4, 5, which
give the preaching of the Baptist as described by
the other Evangelists — of ver. 6 : ' And all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.'
St. Luke alone of the three (I do not now speak
of St. John) uses the title ' Saviour' for our Lord

St. Luke. 89
(ch. i. 47, ii. 11), and 'salvation' for that blessing
which He came to bring (ch. i. 69. 71, 77 ; ii. 30;
iii. 6 ; xix. 9).
Notice, as bearing on our Lord's Humanity, the
words in ch. vi. 12, ' and [He) continued all night
in prayer to God.'
St. Luke alone of the three uses the well-known
word ' charis] grace or favour or thanks : it occurs
eight times in the Gospel, ch. i. 30; ii. 40, 52;
iv. 22; vi. 32, 33, 34; xvii. 9.
Where he follows the course of the oral apo
stolic narrative, and coincides with the sequence of
events related by the other two, additions are con
stantly found, and some of them of a very interest
ing kind. For instance, in the account of the
Baptist's preaching, the different classes of hearers
are specified, and that which was said to each.
In ch. iv. 1, we are told that our Lord, when He
was led up into the wilderness to be tempted, was
'full of the Holy Spirit ;' and in ver. 13, we are
told that the baffled tempter ' departed from him
for a season ' only. In iv. 43, we have the saying
of our Lord, ' / must preach the kingdom of God io
other cities also, for therefore am I sent.' In vi. 8,
we have the important addition, 'he knew their

90 How to study the New Testament.
thoughts.' In vii. 21, we have the interesting sup
plement to St. Matthew's narrative, that when the
messengers of John came to our Lord, ' in the
same hour He cured many of their infirmities and
plagues, and of evil spirits : and to many that were
blind He gave sight.' In the middle of our Lord's
discourse on that occasion, we have the interesting
notice inserted (vii. 29, 30) respecting the effect
produced on the various classes of hearers.
A most instructive point of comparison between
the three Gospels is furnished by the narrative of
the healing of the woman with the issue of blood,
which happened as our Lord was on the way to
the house of Jairus. Had we only the short and
summary account of St. Matthew, we certainly
should derive a totally different impression of what
took place, from that which we now have. But
that is no fault of the narrative. It states the
simple facts and tells the strict truth, though in the
strictest manner. But it does not tell what the
two other Evangelists do, that our Lord stopped
and inquired after the woman, and that she came
trembling and fell down before Him, and told
Him what had happened. Compare again these
two fuller accounts, and see how characteristically

St. Luke. 91
they differ. St. Mark gives us the minute details,
that the woman had suffered many things of many
physicians, and grew no better, but rather had become
worse, — that she haa^heard of Jesus,— that she catne
in the crowd behind, — that she knew in her body
that she was healed from her plague, — that Jesus
turned round in the crowd, — -and looked round lo see
her that had done this thing; that the woman told
Him all the truth. Turn now to the account of
St. Luke. Here we have nearly the same parti
cular account as in St Mark, with the omission of
the minute touches above noticed ; but the state
ments are more such as would have been made by
a physician. ' She had spent all her livelihood on
physicians, and could not be healed by any! ' fmme-
diately her issue of blood stanched! And we have
one additional graphic detail — that she told Him
before all the people. The overflowing of His mercy
and the sense of His omniscience had turned her
timidity into boldness.
In the narrative of the Transfiguration (chap.
ix. 29) we learn from St. Luke that it was as Jesus
prayed that the fashion of His countenance was
altered So we read that He -was praying at his
baptism (chap. iii. 21), when the Holy Ghost de-

92 How to study the New Testament.
scended on Him. So, too, as before noticed, in
chap. vi. 12, that He continued all night in prayer
to God. So in chap. xi. i, that His disciples came
and besought Him to teach them to pray. Truly,
this is in an especial manner the Gospel of prayer
and of grace.
Here, too, in this same narrative, we learn what
it was on which the Three glorified Ones con
versed on the holy mount : His decease, which He
should accomplish at Jerusalem. Thus does the
incident of the Transfiguration acquire a holy
significance in our Lord's history, which we should
not otherwise have been able to attach to it. He
is now passing into the shadow of His Passion,
and the blessed glorified ones are permitted to
come and solace His human soul with mention
of the sufferings He was to undergo, and the
glory which should follow. The Transfigura
tion is the gilded edge of that dark cloud, into
which the Son of God was entering for our
sakes. And how deep the pathos of that which follows
after the wondrous narrative ! ' While they won
dered every one at all things which Jesus did, He
said unto His disciples, Let these sayings sink down

St. Luke. 93
into your ears : for the Son of Man shall be delivered
into the hands of men!
I pass over many minor additions, leaving them
for the intelligent reader to discover in his own
comparison of the Gospels.
In our Lord's great prophetic discourse, at the
end of His ministry, given by all the three, St.
Luke inserts some most interesting sayings of His,
not elsewhere repeated. ' They (the Jewish
people) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall
be led away captive into all nations : and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, till the time
of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled! It is a strange
feature of the impudent folly (really one can
call it by no other name) of modern unbelief,
that it should take upon it to pronounce,
on account of this passage, that this Gospel
was not written till after the destruction of Jeru
salem. At the end of this great discourse, we gain this
valuable information respecting the way in which
our Lord spent the important week preceding the
Passion : ' fn the day-time He was teaching in the
temple : and at night He went out, and abode in the
mount that is called the Mount of Olives. And all

94 How to study the New Testament.
the people came early in the morning to Him, for to
hear Him!
It may be known to some of my readers, that
Mr. Smith, of Jordanhill, has published an excel
lent little treatise on the voyage and shipwreck of
St. Paul. We shall have occasion to speak more
of his labours, and their complete and decisive
success, when we come to our chapter on the Acts
of the Apostles. But they somewhat concern us
now also. Mr. Smith has been led, in examining
into the use of nautical terms in that narrative, to
the inquiry, what was St. Luke's own position in
regard to acquaintance with the sea. He has
carefully considered the Evangelist's use of sea
terms, and has found reason to believe that he was,
though not himself a seaman, yet a landsman
thoroughly versed in sea matters, and taking most
accurate account of what he saw. It is very
probable that he was a native of Antioch, a city
which had great commerce at sea, by means of
its port Seleucia. There is a remarkable reading
in the Cambridge MS. at Acts xi. 27, 28, which
would make him present at Antioch long before
he became the companion of St. Paul. The pas
sage in that MS. runs thus : ' And in these days

St. Luke. 95
came down prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
And there was great rejoicing : and when we were
gathered together one of them named Agabus, said]
etc. And Augustine, writing nearly two hundred
years before the probable date of this ms., quotes
the words as above.
Mr. Smith has also shown that St. Luke was a
most diligent and accurate observer, and thus de
scribes his style : ' The style of St. Luke as an
historian is clear, animated, and picturesque. This
last attribute is, of course, most obvious when he
describes scenes which fell under his own obser
vation, but it is not confined to them. It dis
tinguishes his descriptions in the Gospel also.
. . . Combined with these excellences we find
the total want of anything like display or attempt
at fine writing ; his sole object being to convey
the truth to his readers, not to enhance his literary
reputation.' I proceed now to give my readers two lists of
matters to be corrected in their English Bibles,
similar to those which have accompanied my
other papers.
The first will be of those places in this Gospel
where the reading adopted in our English version

96 How to study the New Testament.
is not that of our most ancient authorities. I
shall also insert notices of some remarkable varia
tions in particular manuscripts.
In ch. i. 28, the words, ' Blessed art thou among
women] are not found in our two most ancient
mss., the Sinaitic and the Vatican. In all pro
bability they owe their insertion in the text to
increasing reverence for the mother of our Lord
after those mss. were written. In ver. 29, 'when
she saw him' should be omitted. In ver. 35, 'of
thee' should be omitted.
In ch. ii. 14, 'on earth peace, good-will toward
men] should be ' on earth peace among men of
good pleasure.' Thus it stands in all our most
ancient mss., the Sinaitic, Vatican, Alexandrine,
Cambridge : the meaning being, not, as the
Roman Catholics read it, ' men of good-will,'
' those that like it] but * men of God's good pleasure]
— ' the elect people of God:' for such is the New
Testament sense of the word used. It occurs
eight times more, and in six of the places it sig
nifies God 's pleasure : Matt. xi. 26; Luke x. 21;
Eph. i. 5, 9 ; Phil. ii. 13 ; 2 Thess. i. 11. In ver.
22, '/^/-purification' ought to be ' their purifica
tion :' so read all the mss. except the Cambridge,

St. Ltike. 97
which has 'his purification.' In ver. 33, 'Joseph
and his mother] should be ' his father and mother :'
so our most ancient mss. and the express testi
mony of Origen in the third century. In ver. 40,
omit ' in spirit!
In ch. iv. 4, the words, ' but by every word of
God] are not found in our most ancient mss. : and
the same read the beginning of ver. 5, 'And
taking him up, he showed him,' etc. In ver. S,
instead of ' Get thee behind me, Satan : for it is
written] read simply, ' It is written.' The rest
has been added from St. Matthew iv. 10, and is
not in the most ancient mss. In ver. 18, omit the
words, ' to heal the broken-hearted! They have been
inserted from the place in Isaiah.1 In ver. 41,
omit ' Christ! In ver. 44, instead of ' Galilee]
the great majority of our ancient authorities have
' Judaea.' In ch. v. 33, omit ' Why do] and read the verse
as an assertion. In ver. 38, omit ' and both are
preserved :' and in the next verse omit 'straightway]
and instead of 'better] read 'good,' i.e., good enough.
In ch. vi. 1, our most ancient copies omit the
1 This ought to have been noticed in my New Testament for English
Readers, but was overlooked.

98 How to study the New Testament.
words ' second . . . after the first,' reading only
' on the Sabbath.' It might possibly be the diffi
culty of the description of the particular Sabbath,
which occasioned the omission. The 'second after
the first' has never yet received any satisfactory
interpretation. Instead of ver. 5 of this chapter
(which it inserts after ver. 10), the Cambridge ms.
has these remarkable words : ' On the same day
he beheld a certain ?nan working on the Sabbath, and
said unto him, O man, if thou knowest what thou
att doing, blessed art thou : but if thou knowest not,
accursed, and a transgressor of the law! In ver. 25,
instead of 'full] read 'full now.' In ver. 36, omit
' therefore! In ver. 48, instead of 'for it was
founded upon a rock] read ' because it was well
built' In ch. vii. 19, for 'Jesus] read 'the Lord.' In
ver. 31, the words, ' and the Lord said] are omitted
by all the principal mss.
In ch. viii. 3, 'him' ought to be 'them.' In
ver. 37, 'the country of the Gadarenes round about'
should be, 'the country round about the Gera-
senes.' In ver. 48, omit ' be of good comfort' (pro
bably inserted from Matt. ix. 22). In ver. 54,
'put them all out, and' should be omitted.

St. Luke. 99
In ch. ix. i, 'his twelve disciples' should be
'the twelve.' In ver. 7, 'by him' should be omit
ted. In ver. 10, instead of ' into a desert place
belonging to the city called Bethsaida] it should stand
'to a city called Bethsaida.' In ver. 35, instead
of ' beloved] read, with our most ancient mss.,
'chosen.' In ver. 48, for ' shall be] read 'is.' In
ver. 54, the words 'even as Elias did' are omitted
in some of our oldest mss. : and in the next two
verses, the words, ' and said, Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is
not come to destroy men's lives, bul to save them] are
omitted by all our most ancient mss. On the
other hand, they are contained in the oldest ver
sions, and quoted by very ancient writers. It is
one of those doubtful places that probably will
never be cleared up altogether.
In ch. x. 15, it should stand, 'And thou, Caper
naum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven ? thou
shalt be thrust down to hell.' In ver. 19, 'give'
should be ' have given.' In ver. 20, omit ' rather!
In ver. 21, for 'rejoiced in spirit] read, with
almost all the most ancient authorities, ' rejoiced
in the Holy Spirit' In ver. 39, for 'Jesus' feet]
read ' the Lord's feet'

100 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. xi. 2-4, the Lord's prayer stands thus in
the most ancient mss. : ' Father, hallowed be thy
name ; thy kingdom come : give us day by day
our daily bread : and forgive us our sins, for we
also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And
lead us not into temptation.' This shorter form
has been, in later mss., filled in and altered from
St. Matthew. It is to be noticed that several of
the early fathers state, that St. Luke, instead of
' thy kingdom come] wrote ' let thy Holy Spirit
come upon us and purify us.' In ver. 44, omit
' Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! In ver. 48, the
words ' their sepulchres' are omitted in the most
ancient mss. In ver. 53, instead of 'as he said
these things unto them] read, ' when he was gone
out :' and in the next verse, the most ancient mss.
read, ' laying wait for him, to catch something out
of his mouth :' omitting all the rest
In ch. xii. 15, for 'covetousness] read 'all covet
ousness.' In ver. 31, omit 'all!
In ch. xiii. 15, 'thou hypocrite' should be 'ye
hypocrites.' In ver. 24, 'the strait gate' should be
' the narrow door.' In ver. 31, for 'the same day]
read 'in that hour.' In ver. 35, omit 'desolate]
and ' verily!

St. Luke. 101
In ch. xiv. 3, after 'Sabbath-day,' add, 'or
not?' In ver. 5, instead of 'an ass or an ox]
should be read, ' a son, or an ox.' In ver. 34, read,
' Salt therefore is good ; but if even the salt,' etc.
In ch. xv. 2 2, after ' Bring forth,' add ' quickly.'
In ch. xvi. 9, for ' when ye fail] read, ' when it
fails.' In ver. 25, read, ' he is comforted here,
and,' etc.
In ch. xvii. 3, read, ' If thy brother sin, rebuke
him.' In ver. 9, omit ' f trow not! Omit ver. 36
altogether. It is wanting in almost all our older
mss. In ch. xix. 45, the words ' and them that bought'
should be erased : they are not found in the most
ancient mss., and Origen, in the third century,
says in his commentary, that we are told Jesus
drove out the sellers, but not the buyers.
In ch. xx. 30, omit ' took her to wife, and he died
childless! In ch. xxi. 4, omit ' of God;' and in ver. 8,
omit 'therefore! In ver. 25, all the most ancient
mss. and versions have ' distress of nations in
despair at the roaring of the sea and the waves.'
In ver. 36, instead of 'may be accounted worthy,'
many ancient mss. read, ' may be able.'

102 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. xxii., verses 43, 44 are wanting in the
Vatican MS., and in some other of our most ancient
authorities ; but they are found in the Sinaitic and
Cambridge mss., and in the most ancient versions,
and are quoted in the writings of the earliest
fathers, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, both in the
second century. There need, therefore, be no
reasonable doubt of their genuineness. In
ver. 64, 'struck him on the face, and' should be
omitted. In ch. xxiii. 8, omit 'many things! Ver. 17 is
omitted by the Alexandrine and Vatican mss., and
many ancient authorities, but contained in the
Sinaitic and Cambridge mss., and in many ancient
versions. In ver. 35, instead of 'the Christ, the
chosen of God] read ' the Christ of God, the chosen
[One],' — or, the ' chosen Christ of God :' either
way, keeping the words 'Christ of God' together.
In ver. 39, for ' If thou be Christ] read, 'Art thou
not the Christ?' In ver. 42, for 'he said unto
Jesus, Lord, remember me] read, 'he said, Jesus,
remember me.' In ver. 51, ' also himself should
be omitted.
In ch. xxiv. 1, ' and certain others with them'
should be omitted. In ver. 17, our two oldest

St. Luke. 103
mss., the Sinaitic and tlie Vatican, have, ' as ye
walk? And they stood looking sad.' This also
was apparently the reading of the Alexandrine MS.,
but there has been an erasure. The Cambridge
MS. has 'as ye walk sadly?' which, perhaps, was
the original text. In ver. 42, the words, ' and of
an honeycomb,' are omitted by almost all the
most ancient mss. and fathers, but they are found
in the ancient Syriac version, and hardly could
have been an interpolation. In ver. 46, read,
' Thus it is written, that Christ should suffer, and
should rise,' etc. In ver. 49, omit the words, ' of
Jerusalem! In ver. 51, the words, 'and carried
up into heaven,' are omitted in the Sinaitic and
the Cambridge mss., but contained in all the
others. Both this omission and that in ver. 42
may be accounted for by the eye of the copyist
passing from ' and ' to ' and,' a very common
source of omissions in our mss.
I next give the list of the principal passages in
this Gospel where the rendering in our authorized
version does not faithfully represent the original,
or where it may be made more perspicuous for
the English reader.
In ch. i. ver. 1, ' declaratioti of,' should be 'nar-

104 How to study the New Testament.
ration concerning.' In ver. 3, ' had perfect under
standing of] should be 'traced down accurately.'
In ver. 4, it should be, ' those sayings wherein thou
wert instructed.' In ver. 48, 'shall call me blessed]
means merely, ' shall congratulate me,' or ' account
me happy.' In ver. 59, for 'called] substitute
' were calling,' i.e., ' intended to call.'
In ch. ii. 1, 2, 3" 5, for 'taxed' and 'taxing]
read 'enrolled' and 'enrolment' In ver. 10, 'all
people' ought to be ' all the people,' i.e., of Israel.
In ver. 12, 'the babe' should be 'a babe.' In
ver. 19 it should stand, 'kept all these words,
pondering them,' etc. In ver. 33, ' of him' had
better, for perspicuity, be ' concerning him.' In
ver. 35 it should be, ' that reasonings out of many
hearts may be revealed.' In ver. 38, 'she coming
in at the same hour.' In ver. 40, 'filled' should
rather be 'becoming filled.' In ver. 43, 'child'
should be ' boy' or ' lad ;' up to this time ' child'
has been used, but this is another term. In ver. 49,
' about my Father's business' should be ' among my
Father's matters.' It may even be rendered ' in my
Father's house.' In ver. 52, ' wisdom and stature'
may also be rendered ' wisdom as well as age.'
Ch. iii. 7 should begin ' He said therefore ;'

St. Luke. 105
and 'generation' ought to be 'offspring.' In ver.
23,- for ' began to be about thirty years of age] sub
stitute ' was about thirty years of age when He
began (his ministry).'
In ch. iv. 9 (as in Matt. iv. 5), for ' a pinnacle,'
read ' the pinnacle.'
In ch. v. 6, for ' their net brake] it should be
' their nets were bursting.' In ver. 22, 'thoughts'
should be 'reasonings,' as before and after. In
ver. 34, 'children' should be 'sons;' so also in
ch. vi. 35 ; ch. xvi. 8 (twice).
In ch. vi. 11, for 'madness] read 'folly.' The
word cannot mean madness. In ver. 15, ' the son'
is not expressed in the original, nor is ' the brother]
in ver. 16 : nor 'the mother] in ch. xxiv. 10. In
ver. 1 7, for ' in the plain] read ' upon a level
place ;' for ' the company] ' a multitude ;' and for
' multitude of people] ' number of the people.' In
ver. 19, for ' virtue' substitute ' power :' so also in
ch. viii. 46. In ver. 20, ' Blessed be' should be
' Blessed are : ' it is not a pronouncing them
blessed, but a declaration of the fact of their
blessedness. In ver. 48, the right rendering is,
' he is like a man building an house, who digged,
and went' deep.'

106 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. vii. 5, read ' and himself built us our
synagogue.' In ver. 24, 'people' should be ' mul
titudes,' as in Matt. xi. 7, where the same word is
used in the original ; and ' see ' should be ' gaze
upon.' It is a different word from that in verses
25, 26, where ' see' is right. In ver. 30, 'against'
ought to be ' towards.'
In ch. viii. 4, for ' come] read ' coming.' In
ver. 19, for 'press] 'multitude.' In ver. 29, for
' had commanded] ' was commanding.' In the
same verse (as also in ch. ix. 42), ' the devil' does
not mean Satan personally, but the dcemon which
possessed him. In ver. 33, 'a steep place' should
be ' tlie precipice.' In ver. 40, 'gladly' is not in
the original. In ver. 44, ' border' should be
' hem,' as in Matt. ix. 20.
In ch. ix. 32, instead of 'And when they were
awake] it should be ' but having kept awake.'
The authorized version implies that they fell asleep;
the sacred text asserts the contrary. In ver. 43,
for ' mighty power] read 'majesty;' and, in ver.
45, for ' that they perceived it not] ' that they might
not perceive it.' Verse 5 1 should run, ' And it
came to pass, as the days of his receiving up were
being accomplished, he himself,' etc.

St. Luke. 107
In ch. x. 22, for 'will reveal him,' read 'is
pleased to reveal him.'
In ch. xi. 8, for ' importunity] read ' shameless-
ness.' In ver. 12, 'offer' ought to be 'give;' it is
the same word as in ver. 11. In ver. 13, 'your
heavenly Father' should be ' the Father from
heaven.' In verses 31, 32, it should stand, ' there
is more than Solomon here.' . . . ' there is more
than Jonas here.' In ver. 34, it should be, ' The
candle of the body is the eye ;' the word used is
the same as in verse 33.
The latter part of ch. xii. 15 should stand, 'For
not because a man hath abundance, doth his life
consist in the things which he possesseth.' In
verses 18, 19, for 'goods' we should now say
'good things,' the former word meaning simply
possessions. In verses 22, 25, 26, for 'thought]
read 'anxious thought' In verse 37, 'the lord'
would be better ' their lord,' for clearness. In
ver. 49, read ' What will I ? would that it were
already kindled.'
Begin ch. xiii. 1, 'There came some at that
season, telling him . . . ' In verses 3 and 5, for
' likewise perish] read * perish in like manner.' In
ver. 17, ' When he had said' should be ' while he

108 How to study the New Testament.
was saying.' In ver. 31, for ' will kill thee] read
'is minded to kill thee.' In ver. 33, for 'walk'
substitute 'journey:' and for ' out of] for perspi
cuity, read ' outside of.'
In ch. xiv. 1, 'As he went' ought to be 'when
he had come.' In verses 7, 8, 9, for ' rooms]
'room] substitute 'places,' 'place;' and for 'and
thou begin] ' then shalt thou begin.' In ver. 33, 'for-
saketh not' ought to be 'biddeth not farewell to.'
In ch. xv. 7, for 'likewise' should stand 'in like
manner.' In ch. xvi. 1, for ' had wasted] ' was wasting.'
Ver. 2, for 'give an account] 'give up the account.'
In ver. 8 (for perspicuity), for ' the lord] ' his lord ;'
and for ' in their generation] ' for their own genera
tion.' Ver. 9, for 'everlasting] 'the everlasting.'
In ver. 23, 'hell' is not the final place of torments;
but ' PIade"s,' the place of departed spirits, the
place whither our Lord went, having its blissful
and its baleful side. In ver. 25, ' receivedst' should
be ' receivedst in full.' In ver. 26, it should be,
' In order that they which would pass from hence
to you may not be able : and that they may not
pass to us,' etc.
In ch. xvii. 6, ' sycamine ' ought to be ' mul-

St. Luke. 109
berry.' In ver. 21, for 'within you' it should be
' among you.' It does not mean that the kingdom
of God is within men's hearts, but that it was
already begun among the Jews. In ver. 33, 'pre
serve' should be ' quicken.'
In ch. xviii. 7, for ' though he bear long with
them] substitute ' and he is long suffering over
them.' In ver. 12, for 'possess] 'acquire.' In
ver. 16, for 'them] 'the infants;' and for 'little
children] 'the little children,' as in Mark x. 14,
where the words are the same. In ver. 42, the
word rendered ' hath saved thee' is the same as that
rendered ' hath made thee whole] in Matt. ix. 22 ;
Mark v. 34; Luke xvii. 19.
In ch. xix. 3, for 'press' should stand 'multi
tude :' in ver. 15, for 'how much every man had
gained by trading] ' what business they had carried
on ;' in ver. 18, for 'gained] 'made' (it is not the
same word as in ver. 16).
In ch. xx. 20, for 'unto the power and authority]
' unto the ruling power, and unto the authority'
(' the ruling power' being one thing, and ' the
authority of the governor' being another) : in ver.
36, 'neither' should be 'for neither,' and 'the chil
dren' (twice) should be 'sons.' In ver. 37, ' at the

1 10 How to study the New Testament.
bush, when' should be ' in the history concerning
the bush, how.' In ver. 47, 'shew' should be
'pretence,' as it stands in Matt, xxiii. 14, Mark
xii. 40, where the word is the same.
In ch. xxi. 5, 'gifts' should be 'offerings:' in
ver. 16, 'cause to be' should be omitted. In
ver. 19, 'possess ye' should be ' ye shall acquire.'
In ver. 21, 'countries' should be 'fields.' In ver.
23, 'in the land' should be ' on the earth.' The
latter part of ver. 24 should stand ' into all the
nations : and Jerusalem shall remain trodden down
by the nations, until the times of the nations shall
be fulfilled.' In ver. 36, for 'shall] substitute
' are about to.' In ver. 37, 38, it should stand,
'And during the days .... and during the nights
.... and early in the mornings.'
In ch. xxii. 6, ' in the absence of the multitude '
may be rendered also ' without tumult.' In ver. 31,
'desired' ought to be 'prevailed :' and in ver. 32,
' art converted' should be 'hast turned again.'
The latter part of ver. 36 should stand, 'and he
that hath none (i.e., in purse), let him sell his gar
ment, and buy a sword.' In ver. 42, it should be,
' if thou be willing to remove this cup from me'
.... the sentence being broken off there. In

St. Luke. 1 1 1
ver. 59 (and in ch. xxiii. 2) there is no word in
the original corresponding to fellow:' it would
be much better ' this man.' In ver. 67, it should
be, ' If thou art the Christ, tell us :' and in ver. 69,
' Hereafter' should be ' Henceforth.'
In ch. xxiii. 4, 48, 'people' should be ' multi
tudes :' in ver. 15, ' unto him] ' by him :' in ver. 27,
'people] ' the people ;' in ver. 3 1, it should be, ' if
they do these things to the green tree, what must
be done to the dry?' In ver. 32, read 'two
others, malefactors :' in ver. 33, for ' Calvary] • a
skull :' in ver. 40, ' Dost thou also not ....:' in
ver. 47, for ' this was a righteous 7nan] ' this man
was righteous :' in ver. 54, for ' drew on] ' was
dawning.' In ch. xxiv. 4, for ' stood by] read ' came upon :'
in ver. 12, for ' The7i arose Peter] 'But Peter
arose :' and for ' depat-ted, wotidet-'mg in himself]
'went away home, wondering at :' in ver. 17, for
' com7nunications] read ' disputes,' and for ' to]
' with.' In ver. 18, for ' Art thou only a stranger]
' Dost thou sojourn alone :' in ver. 25, for fools]
' without understanding :' in ver. 26, for 'enter]
' have entered :' in ver. 37, for ' had seen] 'beheld :'
and in ver. 49, for 'endued] 'clothed.'

1 1 2 How to study the New Testament.

ST. JOHN.
TI 7"E have been dealing wholly as yet, in
* * _ writing of the three former Gospels,
with various modifications of the great common
cycle of apostolic oral testimony. The three
Evangelists wrote this down and filled it out, as
directed by the Divine Spirit, with that peculiar
aim, and in that individual style, which belonged
to the character and habit of feeling of each.
Hence the Three, though varying in amount of
historical record and in narration of minute details,
differ in the main but little where they are on
common ground. Hence, too, in their reports of
our Lord's discourses, while again the tendency of
each writer may be seen in the kind of sayings
which he has preserved, the general complexion
of the things said is for the most part the same.

St. John. . 113
Take the words of our Lord from which you will,
and there is a character pervading them which
stamps them as faidiful records of the teaching of
one and the same Person, and at the same time
presents to us a consistent and easily-imagined
idea of what that person must have been. But
now we stand on totally different ground. We
have to deal with a writer who is not only a faith
ful reporter, not only 'a diligent collector — with a
writer whose individuality not only casts a com
plexion over a history which may in the main be
identical with another history. St. John writes on
system — writes evidently with purposes in view.
With him the impression made is not, so to speak,
an accident of the history, left to its course, and
to the effect on the reader's mind of that which
was said or done ; but it is first thought of, and
those incidents and those discourses are selected
which may best serve its end, and for that end they
are related, and not for themselves in any case.
Again, in reading St. John's Gospel, we seem to
see our Lord on a different side from that on
which we have contemplated Him when reading
the Three. Nothing can be more consistent, no
thing more individual, than the cast of all His dis-
H

1 1 4 How to study the New Testament.
courses as collected by St. John ; but, at the same
time, nothing at first sight can be more diverse
from the complexion of those things which the
Three relate Him to have been in the habit of
saying. I merely state these things now ; to inquire into
and elucidate them will be my main object in this
chapter. For to describe aright the nature and
the reasons of the difference between St. John's
Gospel and the Three, is, in fact, to enter into
the object and contents of that Gospel itself.
Let us place ourselves at Ephesus, almost half a
century after the ascension of our Lord into heaven.
First, let us inquire what manner of place we are
in. Ephesus was the capital of Asia, and in Asia,
the capital of heathendom. At the time of which
we write the great temple of Diana is still stand
ing, and resorted to by all the world. But there
is one point even more to our present purpose.
At Ephesus, an outpost of Asia towards Europe,
met the mysticism of the East and the philosophy
of the West. It seems to have been here first
that the peculiar Greek terms which are found in
the writings of the Platonist Jews of Alexandria,
were adopted as the representatives of Christian

St. yohn. 1 1 5
truth. The students of their books had already
become accustomed, for example, to read of the
' Word of God ' as a Person inferior only to God
Himself — to see it stated that ' all things were
made by Him;' that He was 'the image of God;'
that He was ' the first-born Son of the Father,'
' not unbegotten like God, nor begotten like us' —
these, and many like expressions, being found in
the works of Philo the Jew, who had flourished
about twenty years previously.
Let us look again at the state of things at
Ephesus, as regards the Christian Church founded
there by St Paul. The great Apostle had told
them in his farewell speech at Miletus (Acts xx.),
' that after his departure grievous wolves should
enter among them, not sparing the flock, and that
of their own selves men should arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them.' All this seems to have happened as he
had predicted. Bitter dissensions had arisen,
obliterating that love which is the greatest of
Christian graces. The new philosophy had been
employed as the vehicle of grossly erroneous views
concerning the person and nature of the Son of
God. With some He was not truly man : He had

1 1 6 How to study the New Testament.
taken our flesh, and eaten and drunk in His dis
ciples' presence, and suffered pain and death, only
in a semblance, for appearance' sake. With others
He was not God : an emanation from God had
entered into Him at His baptism to fit Him for
His ministry ; but at His Passion this Divine Spirit
forsook Him, and a mere man was crucified.
Beside these errors, tending to uproot all Chris
tianity, based as it is on the union of the Divine
and human natures in the Divine person of our
Lord, there were others affecting purity of practice
and holiness of life. It was held that a man might
have part in Christ, and yet not follow Christ's
righteous example — might live in Him, and yet be
forsaken of God.
And amidst all this breaking up of the faith
once delivered, amidst all this peril of the ship
which once had Christ on board, and still had His
presence by His Spirit, — whose hand was on the
helm at Ephesus ? What voice spoke to these
discordant elements, with power from Him who
once commanded the winds and waves to be
still ?
Many there were at Ephesus who remembered
that sad day when the burning but loving words of

St. yohn. 117
their father in the faith had entered their very
hearts at Miletus : the fervour of that last embrace
on the beach had never passed from them. But
he could speak to them no longer. The mighty
heart was cold in its grave at Rome. They might
read his glorious Epistle, less written to them
specially than to the whole Church through them.
But danger was imminent ; clouds had gathered
about the bright vision which St. Paul had revealed
to them ; a new revelation seemed to be needful
to clear up his teaching ; more light from heaven,
to show which was sun and which was shade in the
mist of error which was creeping over them.
Another writing they had, addressed to the
strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, penned by the
eager but chastened hand of him who was thrice
commissioned to feed the flock of Christ, full of
encouragement, full of solemn prophetic warning ;
but in this emergency they listened for his living
voice in vain. Peter, too, had passed to his glo
rious rest ; girded by others, and carried whither
he would not
Was there no other left to them ? — none who
might throw across the now familiar course of

1 1 8 How to study the New Testament.
Christian instruction a ray of light fresh from
heaven ? — none who might take up the weapons,
bright and beautiful, now wielded by the adver
sary, and arm with them the soldiers of God 1 —
none who might bring up from the inner places
of the Lord's intercourse with His own His most
sacred utterances concerning Himself? — none who
might show Him forth as having in Himself all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily, — as the Light of
the world, the Life of men, the Bread of God
which came down from heaven, the present Com
forter, still revealed by another Comforter, even
the Spirit of Truth ?
O for a voice to utter more truth about Him
who is Truth ! O for some great apostle's autho
rity to proclaim His Godhead — for some eye-wit
ness's testimony to bear record of His manhood !
O for some man full of the Holy Ghost to tell us
what He spake in His conflict with His deadly
foes — whether He said aught to them of which we
have not heard : to tell us also of His great signi
ficant acts, whether aught fell from Him by which
our understanding of them may be turned from '
inference into certainty !
And such an one there was in Ephesus ; the

St. John. 1 1 9
last, and in some sense the greatest, of the apo
stolic band. It has been well remarked that every
thing relating to St. John seems to partake of
something approaching to the sanctity which in
vests the person and recollections of his Divine
Master. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved.
He seems to have drunk deeper of the spirit of
Jesus than any of the rest. One can hardly think
of him apart from his Lord. And our notices of
his apostolic course are very few and scanty. At
the foot of the cross he took the mother of Jesus
into his protection, at the dying command of her
Son — ' unto his own home,' wherever that might
be. For many years it appears to have been at
Jerusalem. After the ¦ martyrdom of Stephen, we
are told (Acts viii. i) that all the disciples were
dispersed away from Jerusalem, except the apostles.
In Acts xii. i, and following verses, it would appear
that the apostolic body were still there, Herod
having killed one of the chief of them, and having
prepared to take another. In ch. xv., a visit of
Paul and Barnabas is related, which is demon
strably identical with that related in Gal. ii. At
that visit St. Paul saw ' James, Cephas, and John.'
He does not say how many other of the apostles.

120 How to study the New Testament.
This was, in all probability, in a.d. 50, twenty
years after the ascension of our Lord. After this
we lose sight of St. John, till we find him at
Ephesus, ruling the Church there. It must have
been some years after the death of St. Paul that
he came to Ephesus. It is not impossible that it
may have been during, and perhaps as a conse
quence of, the tumults in Jerusalem which pre
ceded the last dread siege.
From that time he ruled the Church, and taught
in the chief city of Asia. Before he came, the
course of oral apostolic instruction had been well
made known there. Whether any of our three
Gospels had reached the Ephesian Christians, we
cannot say, but we may be pretty certain that the
general history of our Lord's life and ministry was
familiar to them.
Probably the design of writing a doctrinal Gospel
was suggested to the beloved Apostle on his
finding how matters stood at Ephesus. We may
suppose him there becoming daily more and more
acquainted with the peculiar terms of that philo
sophy by whose spurious reasonings the Church
was becoming deceived ; and daily taught by the
informing Spirit how to apply its words and its

St. John. 121
thoughts to the high purpose of setting forth God's
truth respecting His Son.
At length the beloved disciple bore his testi
mony. It was, as has been already observed, of
a totally different kind from those already borne
by the Evangelists. It bore upon its surface, not
facts to be received, but doctrines to be believed.
It opened, not with a human generation, not with
a careful and formal preface, not with an announce
ment of the fulfilment of prophecy, but with a
superhuman revelation of that which was before
time began. ' In the beginning' seems to resume
the book of Genesis : but it reaches back even
beyond that primitive record, even to the pre-
existence of the Son of God before all created
things. And at once, without introduction or apo
logy, the Apostle grasps the adversary's weapons
and makes them his own. The Word of God, as
we said, had been much spoken of by Philo and
the Jewish Platonists : He was as yet the offspring
of the human imagination : He was now to be first
heard of as affirmed by Divine Truth. Whom they
ignorantly worshipped, the Evangelist now declared
unto them. There has been no sublimer sentence
in human speech than this, ' In the beginning was

1 2 2 How to study the New Testament.
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.' And from every verse, as we
proceed, we learn what none had ever told us
before- St. Paul had indeed paved the way for
these lofty truths to be recognised : the writer of
the Epistle to the Hebrews had echoed, and in
deed carried further, St. Paul's doctrinal declara
tions : but never had the doctrine of the Divine
and human natures in Christ been so simply and
so profoundly set forth as in the wonderful open
ing of this Gospel. In it we learn the eternal pre-
existence of the Word with God, and as God : the
creation of all things without exception by His
means : He was the source of life, and His life is
the light of men. He came into the world, and
the world knew Him not : He came to His own
possessions, and His own people rejected Him.
But all did not so : and to them who received
Him, He gave the right to become children of
God, not in a carnal, but in a spiritual sense.
And, moreover, tliis Word became flesh, and had
His tabernacle among us — a tabernacle like that
ancient one, not without the glory of the Lord
shining in it and from it. And this glory the
writer and his brethren beheld — such glory as

St. John. 123
befitted the only-begotten of the Father, one
full of grace and truth. And no wonder, for the
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
into the world by this Word become flesh, even
Jesus Christ.
What truths are here ! This is not the fervid
argument of St. Paul, not the affectionate exhorta
tion of St. Peter, not the divine morality of St.
James, not the flashing and kindling invective of
St. Jude, but something higher and deeper even
than them all ; the very ground tones of the
heavenly harmonies, in which each of those others
bore a part.
Let me attempt to carry on the reader through
the plan of this wonderful Gospel, for the whole
of it is formed on a fixed and set plan ; not an
incident nor a saying but serves its purpose, and
contributes to the matter in hand. I may premise
that the whole Gospel is like a great drama,
wherein several underplots are pursued in con
junction with that of main interest. It is possible
to take any one of these and follow it out, and to
regard the others as for the time subordinate to it.
And the consequence has been, that many plans
of the Gospel have been drawn out, differing from

1 24 How to study the New Testament.
one another — each full of deep interest and
answering to its contents. At the same time,
there can be no doubt that all these are subor
dinate to the Apostle's main design, and that he
who keeps that main design most steadily in view,
and regulates his divisions of the Gospel accor
dingly, will be nearest the truth as to its real
arrangement. The main subject may be given in
very few words : ' The glory of Christ as mani
fested by His public working in the world ; which
public working led to His death ; which death
further manifested His glory.' Let us follow this
grand note through the Gospel.
First, the glory of Christ is set forth, as we have
seen, in the preface (ch. i. 1-18). Thai being
done, we have the Son of God, the Word made
flesh, introduced into the world (ch. i. 19 — ii. 11) ;
first, by the testimony of the Baptist, who testifies
to His priority in time and in dignity to himself,
who was but a voice proclaiming His advent ;
and testifies also to having seen the Spirit descend
and abide upon Him ; and by pointing Him out
as the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of
the world, self-denyingly parts with his own dis
ciples, whom that proclamation caused to follow

St. John. 125
Him (ch. i. 19-40). Thus Jesus being introduced
into His work in the world, next bears witness of
Himself (i. 40 — ii. n). He draws disciples to
Him, and testifies to them of His dignity and
power. He bestows on Simon the prophetic
name of Peter, the rock (i. 42) : He commands
Philip to follow Him (i. 43) : He declares to
Nathanael His knowledge of him, and announces
the great series of glories which are to come
(i. 47-51); and He manifests forth His glory to
His disciples by His first great creative miracle at
Cana in Galilee, — His glory, causing them still
further to believe on Him, both by the power
which they saw exerted, by the kind of result pro
duced, and the beneficence which prompted the
exertion. Then we advance to His first manifestation of
Himself as the Son of God (ii. 12 — iv. 54). This
is begun in Jerusalem and Judsea, by His driving
the buyers and sellers out of the temple — ' Make
not my Father's house a house of merchandise '
(ii. 12-22); by His knowledge, which needed not
that any should testify of man (ii. 25); by His
great discourse with the Jewish teacher Nico
demus, concerning the heavenly new birth by the

126 How to study the New Testament.
Spirit; the lifting up of the Son 'of Man ; the
sending by God of His Son into the world
that the believer on Him might not perish but
have eternal life, whereas the unbeliever abides
under condemnation because he rejects the only-
begotten Son of God (iii. 1-21). And here is
introduced the crowning and decisive testimony of
the Baptist, setting forth Jesus as the bridegroom
of His Church — as the Son of God into whose
hands all things are given by the Father, and in
faith in whom stands everlasting life.
And then the testimony of Jesus to himself goes
on in Samaria and in Galilee (iv. 1-54). In
Samaria, by the wonderful discourse with the
woman at the well, where He, the weary and
thirsty traveller, proclaims Himself as the only
fountain of never-failing water of life ; penetrates,
by His all-knowledge, the woman's life and con
science, and announces to her the spiritual worship
of the Father ; departing, with the seeds of faith
in Himself as the Saviour of the world, sown in
that city of Samaria (see Acts viii. 5-8).
Nor must Galilee be left without His own testi
mony of Himself. By another of those wonderful
proofs of power which St. John characteristically

St. John. 127
always calls ' signs,' Jesus implants faith in the
heart of the nobleman at Capernaum.
And now opens the second great portion of
the Gospel, extending from ch. v. 1, to xii. 50,
and comprehending The Conflict between Jesus and
the Jews. Wonderful, indeed, is the way in which
this is carried onward by the Evangelist. Jesus is
set forth in it, after his manner, as the light and
life of men : these His attributes are shown by
manifold signs and discourses ; in each capacity
He offers himself to the Jews ; in each capacity
He is rejected by them.
But to come to the details of this portion. In
ch. v. we have the miracle from which the conflict
takes its open beginning. Jesus shows himself as
the bestower of life, both by the miracle itself,
and, which this Evangelist is always careful to
record, by our Lord's comment on it, for the sake
of which frequently the miracle itself is given.
(See especially verses 21-29, 39> 4°-) They resist
Him as the author and giver of life : they attempt
to stop His working, which was God's working,
because He had committed a formal violation of
the ordinances of the law by breaking the Sabbath.
The same subject is continued through ch. vi.

1 2 8 How to study the New Testament.
Here we have Jesus as the physical life of men,
and further as the spiritual life. By His great
miracle of feeding the five thousand, He shows
how all look to Him for their sustenance ; but this
was, though great, the least part of the miracle.
The wondrous ' sign ' itself was but a faint shadow
of the far more glorious truth that He is the Bread
of Life which came down from God to sustain
man's best life ; that by His body broken, and
His blood shed, men were to be nourished unto
eternal life.
But around this His self-manifestation, as before
round that other, rages the conflict : some vainly
misapprehending Him ; others finding it ' an hard
saying,' and going away and walking with Him
no longer ; while, on the other hand, faith is ever
called out more and more ; and His own, led by
the forward and plain-speaking Peter, declare
their adherence to Him as having the words of
eternal life, and as being themselves persuaded
that He is the Holy One of God.
Jesus, then, is the Life of men. But He is also
the Light of the world. And the manifestation
of Him as such, is the subject of chapters vii.-x.
In the first of these, He goes up to the feast at

St. John. 129
Jerusalem (notice how the Apostle is ever intro
ducing Him between unbelief on the one hand,
and belief on the other. As His disciples believed
in and confessed Him, so His brethren disbelieve
artd misunderstand Him). At the feast the Jews
are divided in opinion about Him. Gradually
the conflict approaches its height. They are with
difficulty restrained from laying hold on Him. He
defeats, by the majesty of presence and discourse,
the officers sent by the Pharisees to take Him
(ver. 45, 46). He testifies openly to Himself as
the light ofthe world (ch. viii. 12) : again the con
flict opens, and attains the utmost height in the
latter half of the chapter, amidst the glorious things
.which He says of Himself, and the assertion of
His own eternal pre-existence. These sayings
His adversaries ascribe to possession by Satan,
and finally take up stones to cast at Him as the
punishment of blasphemy.
In ch. ix. the same aspect of the divine charac
ter in Jesus is presented, but on an occasion very
different. Here He reveals Himself as the Light
of the World (ver. 5) by a notable miracle of
beneficence and power. He creates sight in one
born blind. Again He chooses the Sabbath-day
1

1 30 How to study the New Testament.
on which to assert His working for the good of
men and God's glory. Again, this revelation of
Himself as the world's light, brings judgment on
those who hate the light, together with faith and
blessing to those who love and walk in it (ver.
35-4i)- In ch. x. the subject is again followed out in
another of its bearings. The blind had been
leading the blind. The Pharisees had been false
shepherds, feeding themselves and not the flock.
He who was come to be the Light of the World
is the true, the Good Shepherd, whose own the
sheep are. Now begins the first mention of His
laying down His life for the sheep ; now He
begins to hint also that He was about to take it
again. Now comes in also the mention of the
great primal covenant between Him and His
Father of the gift of eternal life, which He, the
world's light and life, would bestow upon His own
sheep : of the absolute unity between Himself and
Flis Father. Again the enmity reaches its height,
and they take up stones to cast at Him ; and
again He withdraws Himself from their land, re
tiring beyond Jordan to the place where John at
first baptized. And notice how nothing in this

St. John. 131
Gospel is introduced without deep reason, belong
ing to the main design of the Evangelist. Why
this mention of the place of our Lord's retreat ?
Not to show historical accuracy : not for the mere
information of the readers : but because it is con
nected with the testimony of John, and with the
effects of that testimony and its verification by
fact, in causing many to believe on Him there.
And now opens the third section of this second
great portion of the Gospel, containing chapters
xi.-xii. It may be thus entitled : The delivery of
Jesus to death is the life, and at the same ti7ne the
judgment of the world. It begins with the recital
of that greatest of the Lord's miracles, which
brought the enmity of the Jews to its head, and
prepared the way for His death. The sickness
of Lazarus was not to end with death, but was
for the glory of God, that the Son of God might
be glorified thereby. And notice that this word,
'glorified] is throughout this section used of the
Death of Christ, through which He went to glory.
1 Notice, too, how, in all these narratives, the work
ings of faith and of unbelief are wonderfully inter
woven, and set before us together. Notice here
the faith, and half-faith, and unbelief of Mary, of

132 How to study the New Testament.
Martha, of Thomas, of the Jews ; see the perfect
humanity of our Lord in his self-chiding and tears
over the grave of Lazarus ; see also the divinity
of Him who could with a word do what was here
done. The sublimest moment in written history
is that in which Jesus stood by the tomb of the
four-days' dead, and having wept and prayed,
shouted (for such is the word) with a loud cry,
'Lazarus, come forth.'
And now the preparation is made, which is to
lead to the sacrifice of one man for the people.
The Jews' counsel is taken, and henceforth they
seek to put Jesus to death. He withdraws to
Ephraim with His disciples, and there are ques
tionings at Jerusalem whether He will come up to
the feast.
The next chapter opens with prophetic intima
tions of the event soon about to happen. The-
anticipatory preparation for His burial ; the tri
umphant entry into Jerusalem, and meantime the
thickening of the plots against Him ; the endea
vours of the Greeks to see Jesus, and His discourse
thereon, setting forth that His death should draw
all men unto Him : with these St. John's narrative,
or rather doctrinal version, of the Lord's ministry

St. John. 133
and conflict with the Jews, comes to an end. And
then follow two weighty sections at the end of ch.
xii. ; the first, a comment by the Evangelist on the
unbelief and hardness of the Jews ; the other, a
summary of sayings of our Lord respecting those
that should receive Him, and those that should
reject Him.
Having now arrived at that portion of the Gos
pel which treats of the Passion, and, as before,
reserving that for a special comparison of the four
Gospels in this particular, I pass to the corrections
necessary in our English version of this Gospel,
whether from our translators having been ignorant
of the text contained in the most ancient mss., or
from their having given an inadequate rendering
of that which was before them.
In ch. i. 16, instead of ' Atid of his fulness,'
ought to be read, ' For of his fulness.' In ver. 18
there is a remarkable variation in some of our
principal ancient mss., which, instead of ' only-
begotten Son,' read ' only-begotten God.' It is
impossible to say which was the original. On
weighing the whole of the evidence, which I have
stated in the notes to my Greek Testament, I have
concluded that ' only-begotten Son' is the more

1 34 How to study the New Testament.
probable reading, and have therefore retained it.
Ver. 24 ought to stand, ' Now they had been sent
by the Pharisees.' There ought to be a semicolon
at the end of ver. 26, and ver. 27 should begin
' He that cometh after me, whose,' etc. In ver.
28, 'Bethabara! ought to be 'Bethany:' not, of
course, the village near Jerusalem, but another
place of that name : so it stands in all the most
ancient mss. In ver. 41, before ' Christ ' omit
' the! In the last verse, ' Hereafter ' is omitted by
our two oldest mss. (See our second list, p. 142.)
In ch. ii. 17, 'hath eaten' ought to be 'shall
eat ;' and in ver. 2 2, ' unto them ' should be
omitted. In ch. iii. 2, 'Jesus' ought to be ' him.' In ver.
15, our two oldest mss. omit the words ' not perish,
but' In ver. 25, instead of 'the Jews] read 'a
Jew,' with most of our oldest mss.
In ch. iv. 42, omit 'the Christ!
In ch. v. the passage from the word ' waiting'
in ver. 3 to the end of ver. 4 is omitted by our
four greatest ancient mss., the Sinaitic, the Vati
can, the Cambridge, and the Paris mss. ; while in
those which do contain it there are several varia
tions, which is an almost certain sign of spurious-

St. John. 135
ness. The words are to be rejected. In ver. 16,
' and sought to slay him' should be omitted. In
ver. 30, for ' the Father which hath sent me] read
' him that sent me.'
In ch. vi. 11, omit the words ' to the disciples, and
the disciples] leaving the sentence ' he distributed
to them that were set down.' In ver. 22, instead
of ' save that one whereinto his disciples were entered]
read ' save one.' In ver. 39, for 'the Fathers will
which hath sent me] read, as in the last verse, ' the
will of him that sent me.' In ver. 40, for 'And this
is the will of Him that sent 7ne] read ' For this is
the will of my Father.' In ver. 45 omit ' therefore!
In ver. 5 1 the words, ' which I will give,' are
omitted by almost all the ancient authorities. If
they are omitted they must be supplied in the
sense, so that the difference is not important to the
meaning. In ver. 55, 'meat indeed] and 'drink
indeed] should be ' true meat,' and ' true drink.
In ver. 58 omit the word 'manna! In ver. 6^,
for ' speak] read 'have spoken.' In ver. 65, for
' my Father,' read ' the Father.' In ver. 69, in
stead of ' that Christ, the Son of the living God]
read, with all our most ancient mss., ' the Holy
One of God.'

1 36 How to study the New Testament.
In chap. vii. 8, omit 'yet! In ver. 26, for
' this is the very Christ] read ' this man is the
Christ' In ver. 40, for ' many] read ' some ;' and
for 'this saying] 'these sayings.' In ver. 50, for
' he that came to Jesus by 7iight] it should be, 'he
that came to him before,' It is to be noticed that
our most ancient MS., the Sinaitic, omits the clause
altogether ; and it perhaps has been inserted as a
description of Nicodemus.
We now come to a very well known and im
portant subject, of critical variation, though hardly
of doubt to any one who has the least intelligent
acquaintance with the question. I mean the pas
sage respecting the woman taken in adultery, in
cluding also ch. vii. 53. All the most ancient
mss. omit it : so do the ancient Syriac version
and all the early Fathers. The Cambridge ms.
alone, «f our principal ones, contains it, and that
in a form widely differing from that in our text.
In the other mss. which contain it there are very
considerable variations, both in its wording and
in its place, some putting it at the end of this
Gospel, others at the end of Luke xxi. These
reasons alone would be amply sufficient to exclude
it here. But there are more. Its style, in the

St. John. 137
original, is entirely distinct from that of St. John.
Places and persons are mentioned in it which St.
John never mentions. In my own view (which is
supported by the best modern writers on St. John),
¦its insertion here entirely breaks the context, and
is foreign to the manifest design of the Gospel.
In all carefully-edited texts it ought to be omitted.
But then comes an important question, ' What are
we to think of it ? Is it to be treated as Scrip
ture ?' It is impossible to give a decisive answer
to the question. The Cambridge ms. is notorious
for its many apocryphal additions to the primitive
text, and this may be one of them. But, on the
other hand, the passage contains nothing which
should, on its own account, prevent its being an
authentic history of an incident in our Lord's
ministry. I have ever thought the safest way is to
regard it, like the passage at the end of St. Mark,
as a portion ofthe apostolic teaching, of which we
know not the author; and, though excluding it
from the Gospel of St. John, I have never scrupled
to regard it as Scripture, and to preach from it.
It seems to belong to the last portion of our Lord's
ministry, when He spent the nights on the Mount
of Olives : and thus the end of Luke xxi. would

138 How to study the New Testament.
be its fittest place. At all events, we must not be
moved from an honest determination to stand con
scientiously by our evidence, as in God's sight, by
any repetition of what Augustine in the fifth cen
tury alleged, that certain persons expunged this
passage in their mss. from fear that it might en
courage sin. For, on the one hand, this fails
entirely to account for the very general omission
of it ; and on the other, if so, why should ch. vii.
53, be included in the omitted portion?
In ch. viii. 29, for ' the Father hath not left me
alone] read, 'He left me not alone.' Ver. 38
ought to stand, ' I speak the things which I have
seen with my Father : and ye do the things which
ye heard from your father.' In ver. 59, the words,
' going through the midst of them, atid so passed by]
should be omitted.
In ch. ix. 8, instead of ' seen him that he
was blind] read, ' seen him that was a beggar.'
In ver. 9, read, ' Others said, Nay, but he is
like him.' In ver. 11 omit the words, ' the pool
of In ch. x. 4, for 'his own sheep] most of our
oldest mss. have 'all his own.' In ver. 26, 'as I
said unto you ' is omitted in many ancient mss.

St. John. 139
In ver. 38, for 'Know and believe] read 'perceive
and know.'
In ch. xi. 41, omit the words, from the place
where the dead was laid!
In ch. xii. 7, read ' Let her alone, that she may
keep it until the day of my burying.' In ver. 47,
for 'believe not] read 'keep them not.'
At the end of ch. xiii. 24, the text is in some
confusion. Most of the ancient mss. have, instead
of ' that he should ask who it should be of whom he
spake] ' and saith unto him, Say who it is of whom
he speaketh?'
In ch. xiv. 2, read ' I would have told you :
because I go to prepare a place for you.' In ver.
4, read 'whither I go, ye know the way.' In
ver. 28, for 'because I said, I go unto the Father,'
read ' because I go unto the Father.'
In ch. xvi. 3, omit ' unto you! In ver. 4, for
' when the time is come] read ' when the time shall
come.' In ver. 16, omit ' because I go to the Father!
In ver. 23, read ' If ye shall ask the Father any
thing, he will give it you in my name.' In ver.
33, for ' ye shall have tribulation,' read ' ye have
tribulation.' In ch. xvii. 1 1, read ' keep them in thy name

1 40 How to study the New Testament.
which thou hast given me ;' ' which' having for its
antecedent, not 'them] but ' thy name! In ver.
12, omit ' in the world! For '/ kept them in thy
name] many ancient authorities read, ' I kept
them in thy name which thou hast given me, and
guarded them.' In ver. 17, for ' through thy truth]
read 'in the truth.' In ver. 21, the second 'one'
is omitted by about half our most ancient autho
rities. In ch. xviii. 20, for ' the Jews always] read
' all the Jews.'
In ch. xix. 3, for ' a7id said] read ' and they
approached him, and said.' In ver. 16, omit ' and
led him away.'
In ch. xx. 16, read ' and saith unto him in
Hebrew, Rabboni.' In ver. 29, omit ' Thomas.'
In ch. xxi. 3, omit ' immediately.' In verses
15, 16, 17, most of our ancient mss. have, instead
of 'Jonas] 'John.' The 'Amen' at the end is
omitted by nearly all our oldest mss.
The following are the principal corrections
needed in the English version of this Gospel,
owing to inadequate renderings of the original.
In ch. i. 3, ' that was made' should be 'that
hath been made.' In ver. 5, for ' in darkness]

St. John. 141
read •' in the darkness.' In ver. 7, instead of 'for
a witness] read 'for witness,' or 'for testimony.'
In ver. 8, for ' that Light] ' the Light ' (twice).
Verse 9 ought to stand, ' The true Light, which
lighteth every man, came into the world.' In ver.
1 1, the first ' His own,' in the original, is neuter,
the second masculine. It is difficult to express this
in English : it might stand, ' He came to His
own possessions, and His own people received
Him not.' As it stands in our version, the dis
tinction is lost. In ver. 1 2, for ' the sons] read
'children.' In ver. 14, for 'was made] 'became :'
there is no sense of being made, in the original
word. For ' the glory as of the only-begotten of the
Father] read ' glory as of the only-begotten from
the Father.' In ver. 15, it should be, ' John
beareth witness of Him, and crieth ' (or ' hath
cried') ; and in the same verse, and in ver. 30,
' is preferred' ought to be 'taketh place,'1 — and
for' should be ' because.' Verse 16 should
begin, 'And out of His fulness all we received :'
1 We have a curious instance how an ambiguous rendering like
' preferred' may mislead. The word here means 'has come to be,'
— ( takes his place or rank,' before me. But Dr. Johnson, in his
Dictionary, wishing to exemplify 'prefer' in the sense of 'to love
more than another,' adduces this place. — ' He that cometh after me
is preferred before me,' as an example of that sense !

142 How to study the New Testament.
and ver. 18 should end, 'he declared Him.' In
ver. 19, 'record' should be 'testimony,' or
'witness.' So also in ver. 32. In ver. 21, ' that
Prophet' should be 'the Prophet' In ver. 31,
for ' Tarn come] read 'came I.' In ver. 32, for
' saw ' read ' have seen,' and the same in ver.
34 ; where, for ' bare record] read ' have borne
witness. In ver. 42, for ' And when Jesus beheld
him, He said] read ' But Jesus looked on him
and said : ' and for ' A stone] which is a mis
translation, read ' Peter.' In ver. 43, for ' would]
read 'was minded to.' In ver. 45, for 'Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph] '.Jesus the son of
Joseph, which is from Nazareth.' In ver. 51,
instead of ' Hereafter] read ' Henceforth ; ' but
several of our oldest authorities omit the word
altogether. In ch. ii. 2, for ' both Jesus was called] read
' Jesus also was bidden.' In ver. 3, for ' when
they wanted wi7ie] read ' when the wine failed.'
In ver. 9, for ' the water that was 7nade wine]
read 'the water now become wine.' In ver. 10,
read ' Every man setteth on the good wine first ; '
and for 'well] read 'freely.' In ver. 15, read
' He drove all out of the temple, both the sheep

St. John. 143
and the oxen;' and in ver. 16, for 'doves] read
'the doves.' In ver. 17, for 'hath eaten] substi
tute ' shall eat' In ver. 20, for ' rear it up] read
'raise it' In ver. 24, for 'commit] read 'trust:'
and at the end of ver. 25, 'for of Himself He
knew what was in man.'
Ch. iii. should begin, ' But there was a man,'
etc. It is connected with what went before ;
Nicodemus forming an exception to those to
whom Jesus did not trust Himself.
In verses 3 and 7, the expression ' born again '
does not give the sense of the original. It should
be 'born anew,' or, ' born from above,' but
better the former, as it is evident from Nico-
demus's answer, that he understood it of a new
birth, not of a heavenly one. In ver. 10, 'a
7naster' ought to be 'the teacher;' and 'knowest]
'understandest' In ver. 17, for 'condemn] read
'judge;' in ver. 18, for 'is not condemned]
' cometh not into judgment,' and for ' condemned'
'judged:' and in ver. 19, for ' C07ide7nnation]
'judgment' In the same verse, 'light' and
' darkness] each time, should be ' the light,' and
'the darkness;' and in ver. 21, 'truth' should
be ' the truth.'

144 How to study the New Testament.
Ch. iv. 14, should stand, ' but whosoever shall
have drunk of the water that I shall give him
shall thirst no more for ever ; but the water that
I shall give him shall become,' etc. Ver. 22
should stand, ' Ye worship that which ye know
not : we worship that which we know ; because
salvation cometh of the Jews.' The last clause in
ver. 23 should stand, ' for such the Father also
seeketh them that worship Him to be.' In ver.
27, for 'talked with the woman] read 'was talk
ing with a woman.' In ver. 29, for ' is not this the
Christ V read 'is this the Christ?' In ver. 37,
for ' herein is that saying true] read ' herein is ful
filled that true saying.' In ver. 42, the Samaritans'
speech should begin, ' No longer do we believe
because of thy story.' In ver. 43, for ' two days]
read ' the two days.' In ver. 51, for 'son] ' child.'
Ver. 54 ought to begin, ' This again, a second
miracle, did Jesus,' etc.
In ch. v. 2, there is no word in the original
corresponding to ' 7nai'ket! The more probable
word to be supplied is ' gate ' (see Neh. iii. 1,
xii. 39). In ver. 13, for 'had conveyed himself
away] read ' passed away from him.' In ver. 18,
'his' ought to be 'his own.' In ver. 19, and in

St. John. 145
ch. vi. 11, 'likewise' should be 'in like manner.'
In ver. 21, 'the Son' should be 'the Son also.'
In ver. 24, 'believeth on him ' should be 'believeth
him ; ' i.e., gives credit to his testimony. In the
same verse, for ' shall not come into condemnation]
read 'cometh not into judgment;' and in ver. 29,
for 'damnation' read 'judgment.' Vers. 33-35
should stand, ' Ye have sent unto John, and he
hath borne witness unto me. Yet I receive not
my testimony from man ; but these things I say,
that ye might be saved. He was the lamp, lighted
and shining ; and ye were willing to rejoice for a
season in his light But the testimony which I
have is greater than John.' In ver. 39, 'search'
might also be rendered ' ye search.' Ver. 40
should begin, ' And yet ye are not willing ' (it is
the same verb as that rendered 'ye desire] Gal.
iy. 9) ' to come to me.' In vers. 41, 44, ' honour '
should be ' glory ; ' and in the latter verse, fro7n
God 07ily] should be 'from the only God.' In
ver. 45, ' trust ' ought to be ' hope ; ' and in
ver. 46, ' have believed' should be 'believe.'
In ch. vi. 3, 4, for ' a mountain,' ' a feast,' read
' the mountain,' ' the feast.' In ver. 6, for ' would
do] read 'was about to do.' In ver. 10, 'men]
K

1 46 How to study the New Testament.
the first time, ought to be ' people ;' the second
time, 'men' is the right word, as distinguished
from women and children. In ver. 14, ' that
prophet' should be 'the prophet;' and in ver. 15,
'a mountain,' 'the mountain.' In vers. 17, 21,
for ' went] read ' were going ;' and begin the latter
verse, ' They were willing therefore to receive
him,' etc. In ver. 27, instead of ' labour not for]
read ' work not for,' to correspond to ' work' in
vers. 28, 29, where the word is the same in the
original. In the end of the same verse, it should
be, 'for him the Father sealed, even God.' In
ver. 31, for 'manna in the desert] read 'the
manna' (so also in ver. 49) 'in the wilderness.'
In ver. 32, for 'that bread] 'the bread.' In ver.
37, 'all that the Father hath given me] does not
convey the sense of the original, in which the ' all
.that' is in the neuter gender. It would perhaps
best be expressed by ' all that which the Father
giveth me.' In the next verse, for ' came] read
' am come ;' and so in ver. 42 also. In ver. 45,
read ' Every man that hath heard from the Father,
and hath learned. . . .' And in the next verse,
for ' of God] read ' from God.' In ver. 49, for
' are dead] read ' they died.' In ver. 57, instead

St. John. 147
of ' by the Father] and ' by me] read ' because of
the Father,' and 'because of me.' Ver. 58 should
stand, ' This is the bread which came down from
heaven : not as your fathers did eat and died : he
that eateth this bread shall live for ever.' Ver. 61,
for 'when Jesus knew] which conveys the wrong
idea, that at some definite moment He acquired
the knowledge, read ' but Jesus knowing.' Ver.
62 should stand, ' What then if ye should behold
the Son of Man ascending?' etc. In ver. 63, for
' quickeneth] read ' giveth life :' for ' speak] ' have
spoken :' and omit ' they ' both times. In ver. 66,
instead of 'From that time,' read 'Upon this.'
The expression does not point so much at the
time of their departure, as at its occasion. Ver.
69, for ' believe, and are sure] read ' have believed
and know.'
In ch. vii. 1, 'Jeivry' should be 'Judea,' as
usual. In ver. 4, ' shew ' should be ' manifest,' as
in ch. i. 31 ; ii. 11; iii. 21; ix. 3; xvii. 6, etc.,
where the word is the same. In ver. 5, for
' neither did his brethren] render, ' even his brethren
did not.' in ver. 12, for 'people' (both times),
read ' multitude.' This inaccuracy often occurs —
e.g., vers. 20, 40, 43, 49 — and should not have

1 48 How to study the New Testament.
been committed ; the word expressing 'people' is
a different one, and always means God's people,
the Jews — e.g., in Luke ii. 10, 'to all the people,'
which is often misunderstood. In ver. 14, for
' Now about] read ' But when it was now.' In
ver. 17, for ' will do] read ' be willing to do ;' and
for 'of myself (so in next verse, ' of himself),
'from myself — i.e., from mine own resources or
strength. In ver. 19, 'go ye about' should be
' seek ye ;' and in ver. 20, 'goeth about' should be
' seeketh.' In ver. 21, ' have done' should be 'did;'
and in ver. 22, 'gave' should be 'hath given.' In
ver. 26, it should be, ' Have the rulers come to
know that this man is the Christ?' In ver. 27,
' when the Christ cometh.' In ver. 28, ' There
fore cried Jesus, teaching in the temple, and say
ing.' In ver. 29, 'because I am from him, and
He sent me.' In ver. 30, 'Therefore sought
they.' In ver. 31, 'But many ofthe multitude.
. . .' and ' when the Christ shall come.' In ver.
32, 'heard the multitude murmuring these things.'
In ver. 35, 'The Jews therefore said;' and
'whither will this man go;' and for 'Gentiles'
(both times), ' Greeks.' In ver. 37, for 'that great
day] read ' which was the great day.' In ver. 39,

St. John. 149
for ' should receive] read ' were about to receive :'
omit the word 'given] which is not expressed at
all in tlie original, and read ' because neither was
Jesus glorified.' In ver. 41, ' Doth the Christ
then come ? ' In ver. 44, for ' would have taken
him] ' were minded to take him.' In ver. 49,
'people' should be 'multitude,' and the word is
here spoken in contempt, meaning 'rabble,' or
' canaille.' In ver. 51, ' before it hear him] should
be 'except it first hear from him.' In ver. 52,
' Search, and see that out of Galilee hath arisen
no prophet'
Omitting the passage, ch. vii. 53 — viii. n, — in
ch. viii. 12, ' da7-ktiess' should be 'the darkness:'
and in verses 13, 14, ' record' should be ' witness '
throughout. In ver. 21, for ' my way] read ' away.'
In ver. 25, instead of ' Eveti the same that I said
unto you from the beginning] which is a wrong ren
dering of the original, read ' In very deed that
same which I speak unto you.' In ver. 29, for
' the Father hath not left 7ne alone] read ' he left me
not alone.' Inverses 34,35, the word 'servant'
hardly expresses the sense ; it should be ' bond
man.' In ver. 37, for 'hath noplace] read 'gaineth
no ground.' In ver. 42, read ' and am come from

150 How to study the New Testament.
God ; for neither have I come of myself,' etc. In
ver. 44, 'ye will do] is a most inadequate ren
dering. It gives the idea of a mere future,
whereas the original is, ' ye like to do,' ' it is your
desire to do.' In the same verse, 'abode' is a
mistake, the verb being present in tense : read
' standeth not in the truth.' At the end of the
same verse, 'thereof would give the sense better
than ' of it] meaning of lying. In ver. 46, ' con-
. vinceth ' should be ' convicteth :' see on ch. xvi.
8. In ver. 47, it would be better, ' for this cause
ye hear them not' In verses 51, 52, 55, for ' say
ing] read 'word.' In ver. 53, for ' are dead'
(twice), read 'died.' Ver. 54, for ' hotwur]
' ho7iour] ' ho7ioureth] read 'glorify,' 'glory,' 'glori-
fieth.' In ver. 58, 'was' should be 'was made.'
It is the same verb as that rendered ' were made,'
and ' hath been made,' in ch. i. 3 : whereas in ' I
am,' the verb is that rendered ' was ' in chap. i. 1.
In ch. ix. 2, for ' was] read ' should be.' Ver.
3, for ' neither hath this man sitvned] which may be
wrongly understood, read ' neither did this man
sin.' In ver. 5, 'as long as' should be 'when.'
In ver. 8, for ' sat and begged] read ' sitteth and
beggeth.' In ver. 17, for 'that] read 'seeing

St. John. 151
that. ' Ver. 24 should begin, ' So they called the
second time . . . ;' and 'give God the praise] ough,t
to be ' give glory to God :' it does not mean that
he was to ascribe to God the merit of his healing,
but is a formula of adjuring him to tell the truth :
see Joshua vii. 19 ; as much as to say, 'Remem
ber you are in God's presence, and speak as unto
Him.' In ver. 25, read 'I know that though a
blind man, I now see.' It is not that I was blind
and now see, but that I, who am known by all as
a blind man, now see. Ver. 29, 'spake' should
be 'hath spoken :' and ' as for this fellow' should
be ' but as for this man.' The conternptuous
appellation does not exist in the original. Ver.
32, for ' was it not heard] read 'it was never
heard :' and for ' any man ' (which might seem as
if a distinction were made between human and
divine agency), ' any one.' Ver. 35, read ' and
he found him, and said unto him.' In ver. 41,
for ' should have no sin] read ' would not have
sin.' In ch. x. 6, 'parable' is hardly the word, nor
is the Greek term that commonly so rendered.
'Allegory' is nearer the mark. In ver. 10, 'am
come' should be 'came.' In ver. n, 'giveth'

1 5 2 How to study the New Testament.
ought to be ' layeth down,' as in verses 15, 17, 18.
It is the same word. In ver. 1 2, ' catcheth ' should
be 'teareth.' The former part of ver. 15 is a mis
translation. There ought to be only a comma at
the end of ver. 14, and the sense should proceed,
' Even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the
Father ' — i.e., the knowledge which the Lord Jesus
has of His people, and they of Him, is compared
with that which the Father has of Him, and He
of the Father. As the words stand in our ver
sion, they are without relevance in the context In
ver. 16 read, ' and they shall become one flock,
one shepherd.' The rendering fold' instead of
' flock ' here is a grievous and important error.
Fold has all through the passage been expressed
by one Greek word, aule ; but here it is not that
word, but another, poi/nne, which in every other
place where it occurs is rendered 'flock' (Matthew
xxvi. 31 ; Luke ii. 8 ; 1 Cor. ix. 7). It is impos
sible to acquit King James's translators of some
unfairness here. Tyndale's version, which they
had before them, had the faithful rendering as far
as this word is concerned ; but they followed the
eiToneous one. For it is not true that there is to
be in the Christian Church one fold: one flock

St. John. 153
there is, but it is contained in many folds. In
ver. 18, as before in ch. ix. 32, ambiguity would be
prevented by rendering, instead of ' no man] ' no
one.' Ver. 26, read ' Nevertheless ye believe not,
for ye are not,' etc. Ver. 28, for 'neither shall any
man] read 'And none shall;' and in the next
verse, ' None is able to pluck out of my Father's
hand ;' — i.e., ' that which He holdeth fast none
can tear away ;' ' them ' is not expressed. Ver. 3 1
should begin, ' The Jews therefore.' I may men
tion once for all, that our translators have very
often lost the connecting thread of St. John's style,
by rendering ' therefore ' as if it were merely the
temporal adverb ' then.' This Evangelist connects
every step of the advancing hatred of the Jews,
and of the expanding glory of the Only-begotten
from the Father, by this particle ' therefore.' One
step in each leads on to the next. I have not
been able to specify a tenth part of the occurrences
of this mistake, but notice it only where most im
portant, as here : the Jews taking up stones
having been occasioned by their hearing of the
blasphemy which they attributed to our Lord. In
verse 35, ' broken ' should be ' made void.' In
ver. 39, for ' but he escaped] read 'and he passed.'

1 54 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. xi. 8, for ' of late sought] read ' were but
now seeking.' In ver. io, for 'there is no light]
read 'the light is not.' In ver. n, for ' sleepeth]
read ' is fallen asleep ;' and in the next verse,
' Lord, if he is fallen asleep, he will recover.' In
ver. 22, read ' Nevertheless even now I know that,'
etc. In ver. 25, for 'were dead] read 'have died.'
At the end of ver. 26, ' shall never die,' might also
be rendered ' shall not die for evermore.' In ver.
31, for 'comforted] read 'were comforting,' — i.e.,
trying to comfort. In ver. 33, for ' groaned iti the
spii-it and was troubled] read ' was greatly moved
in spirit, and troubled himself.' For the present,
as Bengel expresses it, our Lord ' austerely re
pressed His tears,' putting a check on himself;
afterwards they burst forth. Verse 36 is another
instance ofthe beauty of the original being marred
by 'then' being put where it should have been
' therefore.' ' The Jews therefore,' — because Jesus
thus wept — ' said, Behold how he loved him !'
Ver. 37, 'And' should be 'But;' these persons
forming an exception to the foregoing. ' The blind '*
looks as if it were plural, and as if many instances
were referred to ; but it is singular, referring only
to the case in ch. ix. Render therefore ' the blind

St. John. 155
man.' ' That even' gives a wrong sense : Lazarus
was not more nor less hard to keep from dying
than other men ; what the original has is, ' have
caused also, that this man should not have died ?'
In ver. 38, again, for 'groaning in himself] render
' greatly moved within himself (see on ver. 33).
In ver. 41, for ' Then] read ' So.' In ver. 42, 'And'
should be 'Yet;' and ' because of the people] 'for
the sake of the multitude.' In ver. 43, 'cried' is
not strong enough. It is an unusual word. The
Lord ' cried out,' or ' shouted,' which was not His
wont. See Matt. xii. 19, where the same word is
used. This is the only place where it is said that
He did it. This loud cry was an anticipation of
that other wliich all that are in the graves shall
hear. What a moment it was ! Who that stood
by could ever forget it ? In ver. 44, ' he that was
dead] should be 'the dead man.' In ver. 47, read
' What are we doing, seeing that this man doeth,'
etc. In ver. 49 it ought to stand, 'being high
priest that year ;' the words are the same as in
ver. 51. In ver. 51, ' that Jesus was about to die
for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also
that He might gather together in one the children
of God that are scattered abroad.'

156 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. xii. 2, ' so they made Him a supper
there.' In ver. 6, ' and kept the bag, and took
away (purloined) what was put therein.' In ver.
13, ' Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the
Lord, even the King of Israel.' In ver. 14, ' when
he had found] gives a wrong idea. It should be
'having found.' In ver. 17, for 'people] read
'multitude;' so also in vers. 18, 29, 34; and for
'record] 'witness.' In ver. 24, 'corn' should be
' grain ;' and ' alone] ' by itself alone.' In ver. 25,
the word rendered ' life ' is the same as that ren
dered 'soul' in ver. 27, and different from that
rendered ' life' ' at the end of this same verse.
' Soul ' would perhaps here be better. In ver. 34,
for ' Christ] read ' the Christ' In ver. 35, for
' lest dark7iess cotne upon you] read ' that darkness
overtake you not ;' and for ' darkness ' below, ' the
darkness.' In ver. 36, it ought to stand, ' that ye
may become sons of light' Ver. 41 should stand,
' These things said Esaias, because he saw His
glory : and he spake of Him.' In ver. 43, read,
' they loved the glory that is of men more than the
glory that is of God.'
In ch. xiii. 1, for ' when Jesus knew ' (which
gives a false impression — viz., that He had been

St. John. 157
ignorant of it, and at a certain time came to know
it), read ' Jesus, knowing . . . ' In ver. 2, for
' supper being etided] read ' when supper was
begun.' Our translators mistook the meaning of
the phrase. In ver. 7, for ' shalt know hereafter]
read ' shalt understand afterwards ;' there is no
allusion to another life, but to future enlighten
ment in this life. In ver. 10, read ' He that hath
been bathed, hath no need save to wash his feet ;'
— i.e., one who has bathed, on reaching his home,
needs not entire washing, but only to have his
feet washed from the dust of the way. In ver. 11,
' He knew him that was betraying Him.' In
ver. 16, read 'There is no servant greater than
his lord, nor apostle greater,' etc. In ver. 17, the
word rendered ' happy] should have been, as it is
elsewhere, translated ' blessed.' In ver. 19, ' From
this time I tell you before it come to pass, that,
when it is come to pass,' etc. Verses 23-25, from
inaccurate rendering, lose much of the graphic
character of the original narrative. They should
run thus : ' Now there was reclining at meat in
Jesus' bosom, one of his disciples, whom Jesus
loved. Simon Peter therefore maketh a sign to
him, and saith unto him, Say, who it is of whom

158 How to study the New Testament.
He speaketh ? He then, leaning back on Jesus'
breast, saith unto him, Lord, who is it?' where
observe, that the ' leaning back ' was not the same
as the ' reclining ' mentioned before ; but the be
loved disciple, reclining as he was next our Lord,
and thus in His bosom, when requested by St.
Peter, leant back his head so as to be close to that
of our Lord, and thus privately asked the question
of Him. In ver. 27, for ' then said Jesus unto him]
read 'Jesus therefore said unto him;' therefore,
because now Satan had entered into him. In
verses 37, 38, the words should stand thus: 'I
will lay down my life for thee. Jesus answered
him, Wilt thou lay down THY life for ME ?' with
strong emphasis on the words in capitals. We
know why. The rash saying of the Apostle was a
direct and startling reversal of the great work which
Jesus came into the world to do — to lay down HIS
life for every sinner.
In ch. xiv. 1, the imperative rendering, 'believe
in God, believe also in me,' is far more probable
than the indicative, ' ye believe,' etc. In ver. 9,
for ' Hast thou not known me,' read ' Dost thou
not know me ?' In ver. 18, for 'comfortless] read
' orphans.' In ver. 30, for 'Hereafter I will twt]
read ' I will no more.'

Si. John. 159
In ch. xv. 2, for ' purgeth] read 'cleanseth:'
and for ' bring forth] ' bear,' as above : it is the
same word in the original. Begin ver. 3, ' Ye are
clean already by reason of.' In ver. 5, for 'bring
eth forth] read again ' beareth ' (it is one and the
same word throughout) ; and instead of 'for with
out me] ' because apart from me.' This should
have been carefully kept, because of its answering
to the similitude of the branches, which cannot
bear fruit apart from the vine. In ver. 6, for ' ai'e
burned] which would imply being consumed, it ought
to be ' burn ' (verb neuter), which implies ' go on
burning' (see Mark ix. 44, 46, 48). Begin ver. 15,
' No more call I you servants :' and ver. 16, 'Ye
did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed
you, that ye should go and bear fruit,' etc. Or
dained is objectionable, as introducing the idea of
appointing to the ministry, which does not belong
to this passage. Ver. 18 ought to stand, ' If the
world hateth you, know that it hated me before
you.' In ver. 27, for ' shall bear witness] read
' are witnesses.'
In ch. xvi. 2, read ' yea, an hour cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he offereth a
service to God.' In ver. 4, read 'Nevertheless

1 60 How to study the New Testament.
these things have I spoken unto you, that when
their hour is come,' etc. In ver. 7, ' It is expe
dient for you that I depart : for if I depart not,
the Comforter will not come unto you : but if I
go, I will send Him to you :' the two former verbs
expressing His leaving them ; the third, His going
to the Father. In ver. 8, for ' reprove] which is a
most unfortunate word, far too weak for the mean
ing, read ' convict ;' the work of the Spirit spoken
of being within the hearts of individual men, bring
ing home to them the consciousness of the three
things spoken of. In ver. 13, for ' all truth] read
' all the truth :' and end the verse, ' he shall tell
you the things to come.' In the next verse, too,
and in ver. 15, for 'shew] read 'tell.' In ver. 16,
for 'ye shall 7iot see me] read ' ye no longer behold
me :' so also in verses 17, 19. In ver. 18, for 'a
little while] read ' this little while :' and at end,
'we know not of what he speaketh.' In ver. 21,
for 'joy] read 'her joy.' And ver. 25, 'These
things have I spoken unto you in parables (or
hard sayings, or allegories) : an hour cometh when
I shall no more speak unto you in parables, but
shall tell you plainly concerning the Father.' In
ver. 27, ' came out] should be 'came forth,' as in

St. John. 161
next verse. In ver. 29, for 'proverb] read 'para
ble.' In ver. 30, for ' are we sure] read ' know
we :' it is the same verb as ' knowest,' which fol
lows. In ver. 31, for ' Do ye now believe ? ' read
' Ye do now believe.'
In ch. xvii. 2, read ' that whatsoever Thou hast
given Him, to them He should give eternal life.'
In ver. 3, read ' to know Thee, the only true God,
and Him whom Thou hast sent, even Jesus Christ'
Ver. 7 should begin, ' Now they know . . . :' and
should end . . . ' from thee.' Ver. 9 would better
begin, ' I am praying for them : I am not praying
for the world,' etc., seeing that by and by our
Lord does pray for the world : and this verse re
fers only to this portion of this prayer. In ver. 10,
' all mine] should be ' all things that are mine,' the
gender being neuter in the original. In ver. 12,
read ' those that Thou gavest me I guarded, and
not one of them perished,' etc. In ver. 15, for
' the evil] substitute ' the evil one.' In ver. 17, for
' through thy truth] read ' in the truth :' and in
ver. 19, 'in truth.' In ver. 20, omit 'shall! In
ver. 24, the original text has ' Father, as to that
which Thou hast given me, I will that they also be
with me where I am.' L

1 62 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. xviii. 4, for 'should come] read 'were
coming.' In ver. 15, for ' a7iother] read 'the
other.' In ver. 25, for ' Art twt thou . . . V read
'Art thou . . . ?' In ver. 28 (twice), for ' the
hall of judgment] read ' the palace ofthe governor :'
and at the end of the verse, ' that they might not
be defiled, but might eat the passover.' Begin
ver. 29, ' So Pilate went out,' etc. In ver. 33, for
' judg7nent hall] read ' palace,' and so in ch. xix. 9.
In ver. 34, for ' of me] read, for clearness, ' con
cerning me.' In ver. 36, ' my servants would have
fought' In ver. 37, ' To this end have I been
born, and for this cause am I come into the world,
that I may,' etc.
In ch. xix. 12, begin, 'Upon this Pilate,' etc.
In ver. 25, Cleophas should be, as in the original,
Clopas. Ver. 26 should begin, ' Jesus therefore
seeing.' In ver. 27, ' that disciple' should be, as
before in the verse, 'the disciple.' In ver. 28,
the word rendered ' acco7nplished' is the same as
that rendered 'finished' in ver. 30, and should
have been rendered by the same. In the next
verse read, ' So they filled a sponge with the
vinegar, and fixed it upon a stalk of hyssop,' etc.
In ver. 30, for 'gave up the ghost] wliich is become

St. John. 16

j

a mere formula for the act of death, render,
' yielded up His spirit,' viz., in the words given by
St. Luke, ' Father, into Thy hands I commend my
spirit.' This yielding up His spirit was no mere
coming on of death, but strictly a voluntary and
determinate act. Begin ver. 32, 'So the soldiers
came.' In ver. 35, for ' ba7-e 7-ecord] etc., read
' hath borne witness, and his witness is true.' In
ver. 36, for ' were done] read ' came to pass.' In
ver. 42, our version misses the peculiar arrange
ment of the original, which should have been pre
served : ' There then, on account of the Jews' pre
paration day, because the sepulchre was nigh at
hand, laid they Jesus.'
In ch. xx. 2, ' She runneth therefore.' In ver. 3,
' the other disciple, and they went toward the
sepulchre.' Begin ver. 8, ' Then therefore,' and
ver. 10, 'So the disciples,' etc. In ver. 18, for
' came a7id told] ' cometh, bringing tidings to.' In
ver. 27, for 'thrust] read 'put :' it is the same word
as before in ver. 25. In ver. 31, for 'through]
read ' in.'
In ch. xxi. 1 (twice), and in ver. 14, for ' shewed]
read 'manifested.' In ver. 3, for 'go' (second
time), read 'come:' and for 'aship,' 'the ship.'

164 How to study the New Testament.
In ver. 5, for ' meat] read ' fish.' In ver. 7, ' Simon
Peter then, hearing that it was the Lord, girt,' etc.
In ver. n. for 'Simon Peter went up] read 'So
Simon Peter went aboard :' and for ' broken] read
'rent' In ver. 16, for feed] read 'keep.' Begin
ver. 23, 'This saying therefore went abroad among
the brethren, that that disciple was not to die :
yet Jesus said not unto them that he was not to
die,' etc.
The lists which I have given of necessary cor
rections in the Gospels, are but abridged ones,
Many more must be added to the places men
tioned, were the catalogues to aim at complete
ness. But I believe that of the more important
corrections, not many will be found to have been
passed over.
Even of the corrections here given, many may
seem to a casual inspector unimportant. But I
would entreat him, before he passes that judg
ment, to weigh well this : that no corrections can
be unimportant, which, by bringing the English
text nearer to the original, while it retains the
perspicuity of our own idiom, clears up to the un
lettered reader the connexion of clauses in narra
tive or in discourse. A ' therefore ' substituted for

St. John. 165
a ' then,' a ' but' for a ' now,' may first let in light
on a fact or a saying which before lacked it
See a notable instance of this in John iii. 1, where
the same narrative, having stated that Jesus did
not intrust himself to those in Jerusalem who
followed Him, goes on to state an exception where
He did commit himself to one who came to seek
His teaching : ' But there was,' etc. And the
intelligent and fair-judging reader may find nume
rous other examples where the trifler and the
scorner will find materials for their vocation, and
treat the change with ridicule.
Respecting this whole subject, I maybe permitted
to say a word to my readers. Considerable fault has
been found with me for venturing to hint at the fact
that our authorized version needs correction at all.
To shake the people's confidence in it was held to
be ill-judged and mischievous. It will be seen
that I have not been deterred from my course by
such criticisms. The matter is too serious a one
to be thus dealt with. It is a matter between the
conscience of him who is treating of the Bible, and
Him who gave us the Bible. If we really do
believe that God has revealed to us His holy will
and His blessed Son in the Bible, then, just in

1 66 How to study the New Testament.
proportion as that belief is living and efficient, will
be our anxiety to have that His revelation trans
mitted to us as pure and as free from corruption
and misrepresentation as may be. We derive the
text of the Bible from testimony ; from the testi
mony of various ancient manuscripts and versions,
and quotations in the writings of ancient authors.
Every man cannot weigh that evidence for himself.
If I am of the number of those who can, — and
who have devoted their labour for years to working
among that evidence, then just in proportion to
my acquaintance with the evidence ought to be
my anxiety that the text put into the hands of
those who cannot examine for themselves, should
be as pure and unalloyed as possible. Those
persons, in a land and in a Church, who can con
tribute to this work of purifying the sacred text by
bringing it into accordance with the most ancient
authorities, are bound in conscience before God
not to cast away their knowledge in unprofitable
critical disquisitions, but to familiarize it for the
benefit of their fellow-Christians. When our autho
rized version was made, very few, comparatively,
of those ancient authorities were in the hands of
those who were to decide on the text to be

St. John. 167
adopted. The most important of them have never
been examined thoroughly, some not discovered
at all, — till our own time ; and we are conse
quently now in a position to decide many doubt
ful matters as to ' various readings' which could
not have been decided even in the times of our
own fathers. And this being so, and feeling that
this which has been given us will also be required
of us, I shall not be deterred from bringing before
the English reader the principal places in which
our version needs correcting in its readi7igs of the
sacred text
With regard to its renderings from the Greek
into the English, let me also make a remark. If
these are faultless : if no place can be pointed out
in which our translators have evidently missed the
sense of the original : nay, further, if it can be
shown that all cases in which they may have
seemed to do so are absolutely of no consequence,
— then I acknowledge it would not be well to
raise complaints, or to awaken dissatisfaction on
inadequate grounds. Our authorized version is
on the whole an admirable one. It is the greatest
treasure in our literature, rich as we are in trea
sures. And in that place it is my earnest hope

1 68 How to study the New Testament.
and firm conviction that it will ever be maintained.
But let us take heed what we are doing with
regard to it. If it can be shown to contain ren
derings which have obscured or misrepresented
the revealed will of God, if it can be shown to
have fallen short of the sense of the sacred text,
then this morbid conservatism of its words is
nothing less than setting up the word of man
against the word of God : and constitutes, as be
tween God and our unlettered brethren, one of
the most flagrant instances, among the many in
stances in our time, of handling the word of God
deceitfully. It is a common trick of those who deprecate all
correction of our authorized version, to charge
those who publish abroad the necessity for such
correction, with want of regard for ihe sacred text.
It is strange that it has never occurred to them,
that just in proportion to a man's reverence for
the sacred text, will be his anxiety to see it brought
as near as possible to its original purity. If the
charge is justified anywhere, it is surely as brought
against men who are contented day after day, and
year after year, to read as the Word of God, to
others who have no means of judging for them-

St. "John. 169
selves, sentences which they must be aware form
no part of that Word. We are never told that
when we have the power of putting God's truth
into men's hands, we are to abstain for fear of
unsettling their minds : but one solemn thing we
are told, which bears directly on this subject : ' To
him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not,
to him it is sin.'

1 70 How to study the New Testament.

VI.

THE FOUR NARRATIVES OF THE
PASSION.
IN order that we may be put in a condition the
better to appreciate our present subject, we
will spend some little time, by way of introduc
tion, in considering the great closing events them-
• selves, of which the Four Gospels contain separate
narratives. After a career of teaching and healing, of which
the duration is variously computed at one year,
three years, or five years, Jesus fell into the hands
of His cruel enemies, and was put to death. Let
us try to look on this as if we had been among
those who followed Him. Of this termination to
His course they had indeed been often forewarned,
and especially with reference to, and during, His
last journey to Jerusalem. But they had been

The Passion. 171
very slow to take in what they heard. They were
doubtless aware of the growing enmity of the
rulers and Pharisees ; but they had not been, on
the other hand, prepared for the triumph of His
foes by any perceptible waning of His own mani
festations of mercy and power. They had yet to
learn what one of them set forth so grandly after
wards in his Gospel, — -that the brighter the light
shown the more did the children of darkness hate
it, and seek to quench it; and that the Lord's
crowning miracle would bring out their final re
solve that He should die. During that last jour
ney, during that last eventful week of conflict,
how bewildered must their spirits have been — how
suspended between hope and fear ! How mys
terious must have seemed to them that anointing
for His burial at Bethany ; those nights spent on
the Mount of Olives ; that Paschal supper with its
significant and valedictory institution ; that long
discourse, so full of calmness and majesty, in
which, while consoling them and building them
up with precious promises, He draws them, word
by word, closer and deeper into the shadow of
His sufferings ; finally, how mysterious that sub
lime intercessory prayer, so full of the humility of

172 How to study the New Testament.
obedience, the joy of the glory to be resumed, the
pleadings of love for His own !
Let us pass on to the dread scene of the agony
and the betrayal. All the eleven Apostles had
accompanied the Lord from the supper-chamber
to the garden of Gethsemane. What befel three
of them there, we know. Their physical and,
mental state is sufficiently indicated when we
are told that He returned between the periods of
His agony, and found them sleeping for sorrow.
Nay, we had learned it before from His own
words during His farewell discourse : ' Because I
have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled
your heart' (John xvi. 6). ' Sleeping for sorrow.'
And who are they that sleep for sorrow? The
mother watching her babe night and day, with the
weight ever at her heart, that her child will die, —
worn out with fasting and unrest, is found sleeping
for very sorrow : and the same mother, when she
has looked dry-eyed on the placid corpse, and
borne up even at the grave's brink, casts herself
down on her solitary bed, and, with the solace of
tears, finds the sleep that comes with sorrow.
And even thus the Apostles, worn out with the
sickness of hope deferred, darkened by that

The Passion. 173
shadow which they saw to be on their Lord,
weighed down with apprehension of some terrible
thing at hand, distracted moreover by rebel
thoughts of mistrust and unbelief ever rising
higher and bolder within them, slept for very
sorrow. And as the three whom the Lord took
with Him, so the eight who were left behind : for
all behaved alike when the trial came. We sel
dom, I think, enter into the state of these Apostles,
or ask ourselves what conflict they were passing
through. For one who confessed like Peter, for
one who was beloved like John, for one whose
guileless heart at once recognised Him like Nath
anael, for one who was ready to go into Judaea
and die with Him like Thomas, for all who had
heard his divine discourses, and drunk in life and
joy at His lips, and stood at His hand while He
wrought His miracles, — for such as these to for
sake Him and fly, what anguish, what terror, what
bitter dereliction of the very life's hopes must
there have been ! How must all constancy, all
resolve, all repose and balance of character, have
been shaken to pieces by that rude crash which
scattered the sheep when the Shepherd was
smitten !

1 74 How to study the New Testament.
I dwell on these things, because they are im
portant elements for our present consideration.
That promised inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the
Comforter, which brought back to their remem
brance the things which Jesus had said unto them,
and thus empowered them for the construction of
the Gospel narrative, acted, we may presume to
suppose, though in a high and especial manner,
yet in accordance with the well-known analogy of
His other operations. He did not supersede, but
He elevated, their human testimony. In deliver
ing it, they were assisted and enabled by Him ;
but within the limits of their human characters
and the evidence of their human senses. ' He
that saw it bare record, and his record is true.'
' Ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been
with me from the beginning! And when the
Apostles, after the Ascension, came to choose a
successor to the traitor Judas, the extent and
completeness of his human testimony was the in
dispensable condition of his becoming with the
Apostles a witness to the truth of the Resurrection
of the Lord. The circumstances, then, under
which the human testimony of each was- gathered
would, we may fairly presume, give a tinge to the

The Passion. 1 75
narrative itself; and it would be no wonder if
great revulsions of feeling, and deep conflicts of
spirit, left their traces even on the style of
Apostles. Their Lord was apprehended, led away, judged,
buffeted, taken forth as a malefactor, crucified
openly, buried. Where were they ? What were
their thoughts ? Something of their state of mind
we learn from the beautiful fragments preserved to
us of their sayings and doings on that day of the
Resurrection. Their hopes had died within them.
Even St. Peter, when he went in and saw the
empty tomb, knew not what had happened, but
departed, wondering in himself at that which had
come to pass. It was reserved for the beloved
disciple to see and believe : but even he, up to
this moment, knew not the Scripture, that He
must rise again from the dead. And the two, as
they went to Emmaus, spoke of the whole fair
fabric of their hopes as a matter gone by : ' We
trusted it had been He which should have re
deemed Israel.'
We can hardly doubt that the disciples for the
most part abandoned heart and hope during those
dark three days — that there was a gap, so to speak,

1 76 How to study the New Testament.
in the continuity of their belief in Jesus as a living
and present power.
The holy women, constant in their love, pro
bably formed no exception to this. Mary Magda
lene, when she found the tomb empty, thought of
nothing but that the body of her Lord had been
taken away. It was not till the well-known voice
had pronounced her own name, that recognition
flashed upon her. The very meeting ofthe Apostles
and disciples on that day was probably prompted
by the reports heard from the women. When the
Two returned from Emmaus, we are told that they
found the Eleven gathered together, and them that
were with them — evidently indicating that it was
an unexpected thing, and had arisen from the fact
which was immediately announced to the travellers
— that the Lord was risen indeed, and had ap
peared unto Simon.
And here let me notice a very important point
with regard to the truth of this part of the Gospel
history. Without the Resurrection, it seems to me
that it is impossible to account for the revival of
belief in Jesus as the Christ, and for the existence
of the Christian Church. The leading characters
among the Apostles are pretty well known to us.

The Passion. 177
And we say safely say that never were men so un
likely to have gatiiered up their broken hopes, and
concocted a scheme of deliberate and crafty false
hood, requiring the utmost presence of mind and
power' of invention to carry it out. One only way
is there of accounting for their meeting together
afresh, and forming the compact and unyielding
and influential body that they did — namely, that
He over whom and whose prospects they mourned
as lost, had risen from the dead and appeared to
them again. This fact of the Resurrection is the
foundation of Christianity, and, accordingly, no
fact in history has ever been so attested. I defy
the unbeliever to point out any portion of recorded
human testimony which bears so unmistakably on
its face the impress of truth. Wonderful, indeed,
has been the Providence of God as concerning
the narrative of these facts, upon which all we have
and hope depends. As the day was, so is the
story : a great outburst of sudden joy : hurried,
fragmentary : idle tales found to be true : the
uniform course of nature broken up : hopes and
prospects untold, once more opened to the soul.
A day of heaven and not of earth : a day of run-
1
ning and seeing, and running and telling : first
M

1 78 How to study the New Testament.
Mary Magdalene, then Simon Peter, then the Two
from Emmaus ; — and then, O joy, not unmixed
with awe, — the Lord Himself is there in the midst
of them ! Who should sit down and chronicle
such a day ? Each told, or told not, what befel
each. That blessed interview by the garden tomb,
that sound thenceforth ever heard through life, —
' Mary ! ' — what stranger could ever intermeddle
with her joy? So she confided it to the beloved
Apostle, and the Spirit shut it safe in his heart,
and long years after he wrote it at Ephesus. That
appearance to the penitent Peter has never been
told, nor that other to the Lord's brother : the
visit of the women in the morning is given us from
several points of view, and we lack the clue which
shall lead us into the place whence we may see
them as one : that most beautiful of all narrated
incidents, the journey to Emmaus, was educed by
the patient and accurate inquiry of St. Luke : the
appearance to the assembled Eleven is so related
by the two, St. Luke and St. John, that only the
observant reader recognises that pointed at by the
narratives as one and the same.
What can be greater and more undeniable
signs of truth than these fragmentary and appar-

The Passion. 179
ently discordant accounts? Had the Resurrec
tion been a fiction, this would have been better
managed, all would have fitted accurately together ;
or if the semblance of independence in the ac
counts had been fraudulently given, the eye of
posterity would have detected the imposture.
And yet, the enemies of the faith are stupid
enough to triumph over these superficial discre
pancies — and yet, still more wonderful, ihe friends
of the faith are stupid enough to deny the discre
pancies — to repudiate the independence of the
accounts — and with their own hands to blunt the
weapons which God has given them to fight His
battles withal. There never was stronger testi
mony furnished to any facts, than this of these
Four independent witnesses, relating that which
had come to their knowledge, each from his own
point of view, each aided by the Holy Spirit to
use, not to cast off, his individual observation and
memory ; but the moment we make them depend
ent on each other, the value of their testimony is
so far diminished ; the moment you succeed in
proving that their accounts of the same events are
not from autoptic authority, but from one another,
you weaken the fourfold cord. As the narratives

180 How to study the New Testament.
now stand, all bears the stamp of truth : every in
cident is fresh from the heart of one who saw it,
or had collected its details from those that saw
it. Careless about collusion to bring right those
minutiae which always will look different in honest
independent narratives, — strong in uprightness of
purpose, faithful in recording the impressions of
the time, filled with the enabling and reminding
power of the Holy Teacher vouchsafed to them,
the Evangelists have bequeathed to the Church a
history of which it may be said that truth looks
forth from every line of it, and that none but
matters of fact could be so related.
With these remarks, let us now speak more in
detail of these four histories of the Passion and
Resurrection. I shall take the principal events
in order, remarking on any particulars, which
may require notice, in the Gospels which relate
. them. I. The anointing at Bethany : John xii. i-ii;
Mark xiv. 3-9 ; Matt. xxvi. 6-13. Omitted alto
gether by St. Luke. We are here at once met by
some difficulties, but not of a formidable kind.
St. John could not but be acquainted with the

The Passion.

181

general current and contents of the apostolic oral
narrative. Traces of this are here and there un
mistakably visible in his Gospel : in places where
he fixes what that tradition had left indefinite, or
fills up what it incompletely reported. And when
he here states that the anointing took place ' six
days before the passover] and that the triumphal
entry followed on the morrow, we may feel certain
that he is thus fixing what had been left unfixed.
As related in St. Matthew and St. Mark, it would
at first sight appear as if it happened several days
later : for they have first the triumphal entry, then
a long series of incidents and discourses, and then
the anointing. But on looking for a reason for
this arrangement, we at once perceive that it has
arisen from a desire rather to group subjects together,
than to relate what happened in order of time.
The anointing is in both these Evangelists closely
connected with the treachery of Judas, which again
leads immediately on to the betrayal and the
Passion. But now, what reason could there be
why the two Evangelists should connect the
anointing with the treachery of Judas, seeing that
he is not mentioned in its history? St. John again
gives us the reason. St. Matthew had said that

1 82 How to study the New Testament.
the disciples were indignant at the waste : St. Mark,
that there were so7ne who were indignant. But turn
to St. John, and we find that it was Judas Iscariot
who complained of the waste, and are told why
he did so : gaining thereby a most valuable inlet
into the motive of the dark treachery which fol
lowed. Notice, that St. Matthew's account, agree
ing verbally in many particulars with St. Mark's,
is shorter and less precise. The curious designa
tion of the ointment (pestick) found in the other
two, is omitted : as is the price for which the mur-
murers alleged it might have been sold, also found
in the other two ; the fact that they murmured
against the W07na7i, given by St. Mark ; and the
words, ' She hath wrought a good work on me.'
St. Mark alone gives us the detail, that ' she brake
the box,' and then shed forth the ointment on the
head of our Lord. But, of all three, St. John is
by far the fullest. We at once feel ourselves to
be in the presence of an eye-witness. From him
alone we learn who the woman was. He sets
before us the household, and tells us who served,
and what remarkable guest was present. And
here we find what appears a slight discrepancy.
In the two others, Mary pours the ointment over

The Passion. 183
the Head of Jesus : in St. John she anoints His
Feet, and wipes them with the hair of her head.
Both accounts are strict and accurate. We can
not, as sometimes, correct one by the other. St.
Matthew has, l poured it upon His head :' St.
Mark, ' poured it down over His head.' No ques
tion, this must be taken to the letter. She did
thus pour it, and St. John omits this part of the
transaction. Perhaps, because the other part was
more nearly connected with the next particular
which he mentions — that the liouse was filled with
the smell of the ointment. This may have first
attracted his own attention, and when he looked,
Mary may have come to the second part of her
good work. Or, there may be a more probable
reason still. It is likely, at least, that St. John,
on this occasion, may have occupied the same
position as we know he did at the Last Supper ;
resting on the couch next to, and in the bosom
of, our Lord. If this were so, and if the anointing
on the Flead took place before the other, it would
not be observed by the beloved Apostle, being, in
fact, behind him. But the anointing on the Feet
would pass under his very eye : and, cautious as
he ever is to select those incidents which he him-

1 84 How to study the New Testament.
self witnessed, this, and not the other, would find
place in his narrative.
Moreover, from St. John, we also learn who was
the murmurer on the occasion. The chief second
ary lesson of the history is contained in his Gospel
alone. The murmuring of the disciples in general,
rebuked as it was by our Lord, may seem to have
been the natural feeling, and the rebuke to have
sprung from the solemn and exceptional character
of the occasion : but when we know that the mur
murer was also the Traitor, — when we reflect that
the same lips which said, ' To what purpose was
this waste?' also said, 'What will ye give me and
I will betray Him unto you?' — we feel that all
niggardly repining at the cost of deeds of love is
for ever silenced.
II. Anotiier, and a scarcely less interesting
point of comparison between the Gospels is, the
Lord's triumphal entry itito Jerusale7n. Judging
from the Three, we might suppose that it hap
pened on the same day as the journey from
Jericho, and as the termination of that journey.
This is not indeed anywhere asserted, but it
would be the natural inference. There is no

The Passion. 185
break in the narrative. Nay, in St. Luke, tlie
idea of immediate continuity is almost forced
on us by the spirit of the context : compare
Luke xix. verses 28 and 29, with verses 37 and
41. But all doubt on this matter is at once
removed by St. John. In his Gospel, the triumphal
entry follows on the anointing at Bethany, with
the precise detail, ' O71 the morrow, a great multi
tude,' etc. So that on His way from Jericho He
halted for the night at Bethany. It probably was
the Friday evening, which in the Jewish compu
tation was the beginning of tlie Sabbath. And if
so, St. John's expression, ' On the morrow,' need
not bind us to believe that the triumphal entry
took place during the hours of the Sabbath, which
it hardly could have done. For, knowing as we
do from St. Mark (xi. 11) that it took place in
the evening, the Sabbath would then be over, and
the next day, according to the same computation,
begun. But our comparison of the four accounts brings
before us another remarkable circumstance. In
the accounts of St. Matthew and St. Luke, the
cleansing of the Temple is related as having
taken place on occasion of the solemn entry.

1 86 How lo study the New Testament.
On this St. John is silent. Having already
related in his second chapter the cleansing of the
Temple on a former occasion, he passes it over
now. But from St. Mark (xi. ii) we have, as so
often, a valuable detail not found in the others.
It is, that on this occasion the Lord only looked
round upon all things, and as it was now late,
returned to Bethany. Then on the morrow, He
went into the city, and purified the Temple.
But now comes in another detail, respecting
which also there is apparent variation. Accord
ing to St. Matthew, on the day after the triumphal
entry, and the cleansing of the Temple (for so the
words ' Early in the morning,' following the other
narrative, imply), our Lord cursed the barren fig-
tree by the way. And, adds the Evangelist, the
fig-tree immediately (not prese7itly, as our autho
rized version, which is hardly fair) withered away.
Now here again St. Mark furnishes us with the
right clue. It was on the morning after the
triumphal entry, but not after the cleansing of the
Temple, which St. Matthew, as we saw, has
inserted a day too soon. It was on the way to
the cleansing of the Temple, that the cursing of
the fig-tree took place : it was on the way into

The Passion. 187
Jerusalem again the next morning, that its having
withered away was noticed by the disciples.
III. The next point of comparison in the four
accounts is, the treachery of Judas. The way for
this has been long ago prepared in St. John's
Gospel. As early as ch. vi. 70, 71, he relates
to us an instance of our Lord's prescience as
regarded Judas, which must have occurred not
long after the choosing of the Apostles. But St.
John gives no formal account of the compact with
the chief priests, which the other Three relate.
In St. Matthew and St. Mark, this narrative
follows immediately on that of the anointing at
Bethany, where, as we learn from St. John, he
had been the murmurer. St. Luke's account bears
traces of relation with that of St. John, in the
words ' then entered Satan ' into Judas,' etc.
(compare John xiii. 22). And from this, one
might be disposed to think that the two narratives
pointed to one and the same time. This, however,
is hardly possible ; for the compact with the chief
priests, by its very terms, must have been made
some days before the betrayal took place. And
here we may notice (1.) that the amount of the

1 88 How to study the New Testament.
treachery-money is mentioned by St. Matthew
only, and that for the purpose of adducing the
prophecy in which that amount is specified. (2.)
That the announcement made by our Lord, that
one of the twelve was about to betray Him, is
related by all four Evangelists : by St. Matthew,
St. Mark, and St. John in the same words, with
the addition of '¦ he that eateth with me,' in St.
Mark. That here, as in the other cases where the
same event is narrated by the Four, St. John's
account goes the most minutely into that which
regarded himself and the part which he bore in
the matter, while the others (St. Luke in this case
being an exception, giving only a summary
account) relate more of the general action among
the Apostles. (3.) That with regard to the act of
treachery itself, it being in the apprehension of
our Lord, St. John in this case, as so often when
a fact was already sufficiently related by the apo
stolical tradition, and there was no special reason
for incorporating it in his work, omits the account
of the capture itself; but as to that which hap
pened before it, including our Lord's word of
power which struck His enemies (and Judas with
them) to the ground, St. John's is our only

The Passion. 189
account, and it is most precise and graphic. He
only tells us of the lanterns and torches as well
as weapons ; the minute accuracy of an eye
witness relating the impression which he retained
all those years is in the words, ' And Judas also,
which was his betrayer, was standing with them.'
He only again gives us the important notice, that
Judas knew the place, because Jesus ofttimes
resorted thither with His disciples. As regards
the incident of Peter's sudden blow, we have it
from all Four : and it is instructive to notice the
narrative of each. St. Matthew alone gives us the
wonderful saying of the King of Angels and the
Son of God : ' Thinkest thou not that I can now
ask my Father, and He shall give me (set by my
side to defend me) more than twelve (not Apostles,
but) legions of angels ? ' St. Mark, in this case
(and it is a rare one with him) abridges what
happened, barely stating the fact, and giving no
particular which is not mentioned by the others.
St. Luke in this case is very precise and full. He
tells us that it was the right ear, and adds
the important circumstance that Jesus, having
besought those that held Him to grant Him thus
much liberty, touched his ear and healed him,

1 90 How to study the New Testament.
But hitherto we have been in uncertainty as to
who was the striker. ' One of those with Jesus] says
St. Matthew. ' One of the slanders by] says St.
Mark (there must have been some urgent motive
for concealment, when the companion of the
doer of the deed was permitted to write thus).
' A certain one from among them] says St. Luke.
But St. John, writing perhaps long years after,
repeats again the incident, contrary to his usual
practice, but this time with a sufficient reason : —
the name of the striker is given, — it is — Simon
Peter. (4.) We come to the sequel of the dark
history. And here, of the writers of the Gospels,
we are beholden to St. Matthew alone. The
despair of the wretched man when he found
that his deed had really been the cause of his
righteous Master's condemnation, his casting down
the blood-money in the temple and going and
hanging himself, these incidents are peculiar to
St. Matthew. In the second treatise of St. Luke
we have another account, evidently independent
of that in St. Matthew, and with our scanty
knowledge of the circumstances as they were,
hardly by us reconcilable with it. It is just one
of those cases in which the Christian sound and

The Passion. 191
healthy in the faith must be content to believe for
the present that both accounts are true, and that
he will one day be permitted to see that they
are : meantime being willing to walk by faith, not
by sight, and firm in resisting all attempts, which
well-meaning men will be sure to make, to induce
him to give up the plain sense of words and
commit little dishonesties to bring both into
accord. IV. In the accounts of the leading away of the
Lord after His apprehension, we have, from St
Mark, the unexplained incident of the young man
clothed with a linen garment, who being laid hold
of, left it and fled from them naked. On the
question who this was, conjectures have not been
wanting, one of the most extraordinary being that
recently put forth — not, it is true, in sober prose
— that it was the lately-resuscitated Lazarus. We
may well conceive that some other reason besides
the accuracy of a graphic narrator must have
gained for this incident its place in the history.
We also have from St. John the important notice
that our Lord's first hearing was before Annas, the
rightful but deposed High-Priest, and that from

192 How to study the New Testament.
Annas he was sent bound to Caiaphas, the actual
High-Priest of that year. But here comes in a
remarkable circumstance in the narrative of St.
Luke, as apparently distinguished from the rest.
Undoubtedly, the impression derived from the
three other Evangelists is that our Lord was taken
before the High-Priest and the council, and ques
tioned, as related, during the night ; and that then
in the morning a council was held, at which the
final determination was come to, that He should
be put to death, which resulted in His being deli
vered over to Pilate, the Roman governor. Now,
in the narrative of St. Luke, we read (ch. xxii. 54),
that they took Him (that night) to the house of
the Fligh-Priest ; and then, Peter's denials having
happened meantime, in the morning the Sanhe
drim is assembled, and our Lord is questioned in
the same manner as the other Evangelists make
Him to have been questioned by the High-Priest
during the night. But there is no real difficulty in
this. In the private hearing before the High- Priest,
and in the public hearing before the whole council,
what more likely than that the questions should
have followed the same regular form ? In St. Luke's
narrative we have traces of the presence of Jesus

The Passion. 193
during the denials of Peter, in the words, 'the
Lord turned and looked upon Peter.' Then again,
in the whole process before the council in that
Evangelist we have indications that it was not a
first, but a second hearing. No evidence is men
tioned as having been taken ; but the council at
once begin with, ' If thou art the Christ, tell us.'
I should be disposed to regard St. Luke's as the
strictly exact account of what took place before
the council in the morning, and that of St. Mat
thew and St. Mark as a general summary of what
happened at both hearings, put together.
V We now come to another point of compari
son between all four Evangelists : the narrative of
the denials of Peter.
And here let us notice first, the terms in which
the announcement of the denials is made in each
Evangelist. In Matthew, Luke, and John it is
that the cock shall not crow (' in this night,' Matt. ;
' to-day,' Luke) before he had denied Jesus thrice.
In St. Mark alone we have the more precise ac
count—this day, in this night, before the cock has
crowed twice thou shalt thrice deny Me. And in
the narrative of the denials the same distinction
N

1 94 How to study the New Testament.
is observed. The agreements and differences in
the four will be best seen by the table on page 197,
which is familiar to readers of my Greek Testa
ment. Now, if Peter denied his Lord in words three
times, and three times only, we have here an in
superable difficulty. But there is no need to make
any such supposition, and there is, in fact, no dif
ficulty at all. The facts were these : on three
distinct occasions during this night was Peter
charged with being a disciple of Jesus ; on each
of these occasions did he deny his Master. Fie
was, on each occasion, among a crowd. A charge
of this kind, made by one, would be taken up by
others, and only dropped upon his repeated as
severations to the contrary. Nay, in the second
denial in St. John, and the third in St. Matthew
and St. Mark, as much as this is distinctly implied :
' Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.
They said therefore to him' (John xviii. 25) : many,
the standers by, as expressed in Matt. xxvi. 73,
Mark xiv. 70. And the same diversity and repetition
on Peter's part is implied when St. Matthew and St.
Mark tell us that he began to curse and to swear :
he uttered many asseverations, accompanied with

The Passion. 1 95
oaths and imprecations on himself if what he said
were not true. So that we have room for all that
is related, and more. And even where the Evan
gelists appear not in accord, as in the account of
the second denial, by St. Matthew aud St. John
(he ' had gone out into the porch,' St. Matt. ; ' he
was standing and warming himself,' St. John), it
may well have been so — the renewed asseverations
may have begun round the fire, and Peter may
have gone out into the porch, or fore-court, to
escape it, and have there been charged by the
maid-servant in waiting. On the whole, as we
might expect, the most precise detail is owing to
St. John, who alone tells us of the peculiar reason
of the third recognition, that the speaker was his
kinsman whose ear Peter cut off. It is remark
able that another and distinct reason for this third
denial is given by St. Matthew and St. Mark, and
hinted at by St. Luke. Peter was a Galilean, and
betrayed by his dialect. Lastly, let us notice the
conclusions of the four accounts. Here St. Luke's
narrative has all the precision of the report of an
eye-witness, ' Immediately, while he was yet speak-
ing, the cock crew.' And he alone has retained
for us that look of the Lord which brought repent-

196 How to study the New Testament.
ance to the faithless disciple. Of all this, St. John
merely mentions that immediately the cock crew :
while St. Mark, with the particular detail that it
was the second time, according to our Lord's
saying, has used, to describe Peter's repentance, a
remarkable and difficult word, best, perhaps, ren
dered as we have it, in our authorized version,
' when he thought thereon/ but capable of several
other meanings, among which one is, ' covering
his head with his cloak.'
The whole comparison remarkably shows us how
the four Evangelists, essentially independent, fill
out and confirm one another. We shall find more
instances of this as we advance through the audi
ence before Pilate, the Crucifixion, the Burial, and
the Resurrection.

MATTHEW.

MARK.

LUKE.

JOHN.

ISt
denial.

Sitting in the hall without,
is charged by a maid-servant
with having been with Jesus
the Galilaean. ' I know not
what thou sayest.5

Warming himself in the
hall below, — etc. as Matt. —
goes out into the vestibule
— cock crows. ' I know not,
neither understand what thou
sayest.'

Sitting ' by the light, ' is
recognised by the maid and
charged — replies, ' Woman,
I know Him not.*

Is recognised by the por-
teress on being introduced
by the other disciple. ' Art
not thou also one of this
man's disciples V He saith,
' I am not. '

2d
denial.

He has gone out into the
porch — another maid sees
him. ' This man also was
with Jesus of Nazareth. '
He denies with an oath, ' I
do not know the man.'

The same maid (possibly :
but not necessarily) sees him
again, and says, ' This man
is of them.' He denies
again.

Another (but a male ser
vant) says : ( Thou also art
of them.* Peter said, 'Man,
I am not.'

Is standing and warming
himself. They said to him,
' Art not thou also of His
disciples?' He denied, and
said, ' I am not.'

3d
denial.

After a little while, the
standers-by say, ' Surely
thou art of them ; for thy
dialect betrayeth thee.' He
began to curse and to swear :
' I know not the man.'

As Matt.
( Surely thou art of them :
for thou art also a Galilasan."

After about an hour, an
other persisted saying, 'Truly
this man was with Him, for
he is a Galilsean.' Peter
said, ' Man, I know not what
thou sayest.'

One of the slaves of the
High - priest, his kinsman
whose ear Peter cut off, says,
' Did I not see thee in the
garden with Him?' Peter
then denied again

Immediately the cock crew,
and Peter remembered, etc.
— and going out he wept bit
terly.

A second time the cock
crew, and Peter remembered,
etc. — and when he thought
thereon, he wept

Immediately while he was
yet speaking the cock crew,
and the Lord turned and
looked on Peter, and Peter
remembered, etc. — and going
out he wept bitterly.

Immediately the cock crew.

198 How to study the New Testament.
VI. The hearing before Pilate is the next point
of comparison between our four Evangelists. It
has been already remarked that St. Luke, and he
only, gives us notice of the second hearing of our
Lord before the High-Priest and the Sanhedrim
having taken place in the morning. Had it not
been for his narrative, we should have imagined
that those hearings were over the night before,
and that the first incident in the morning
was the leading Him away to Pilate. Arrived
before the Roman governor, they began, accord
ing to St. Luke, to charge Him with perverting
the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar,
calling himself Christ, a King. According to St.
John, Pilate comes out to them, and asking them
what charge they brought against Him, gets but a
vague answer, and thereupon bids them take Him
and judge Him by their law. On this they reply
that it is not allowed them to put any one to death,
whereat Pilate goes into the Prastorium, and asks
Jesus whether he is the King of the Jews. This
question, be it observed, presupposes the infor
mation having been laid as St. Luke tells us it
was ; or how should Pilate have had this question
suggested to him ?

The Passion. 199
At this point all four narratives agree. The
question, 'Art thou the King of the Jews V is re
lated by all in. the same words. But in what
follows there is great resemblance of diversity.
The Three give for our Lord's answer, ' Thou
sayest it' Then St Matthew and St. Mark repre
sent our Lord as accused vehemently by the chief
priests (and elders), and answering nothing, either
to them or, as in St. Mark, to the governor him
self. Here, however, St. John gives us the details
of a long and deeply-interesting conversation be
tween the Prisoner and His judge, in which the
kinghood of our Lord, and the nature of His king
dom, and His having come into the world to tes
tify to the truth, of which Pilate knows nothing,
are asserted. This took place within the Prseto-
rium ; whereas the vehement accusations by the
chief priests and elders must of necessity have
been made without; for Pilate says to our Lord,
' Hearest thou not how many things they witness
against thee?' And thus all discrepancy is re
moved. In the presence of His accusers He
answered nothing, not even to the governor ; but
when within the Praetorium, He held the conver
sation which St. John gives us. At the close of

200 How to study the New Testament.
this, and after asking ' What is truth ?' Pilate came
out to them, and announced his persuasion of our
Lord's innocence : again, says St. John, because
his former question, ' What charge bring ye against
this man ?' yet unanswered, was his first declara
tion to that effect.
And now comes in an important portion of the
narrative, for which we are beholden to St. Luke
alone. In their rejection of Pilate's acquittal of
their prisoner, the chief priests had mentioned
Galilee as the supposed scene of His seditious
attempts. On this Pilate sends Him to Herod,
who, having insulted Him, and clothed Him with
a scarlet robe, sends Him back to Pilate. A
source of information connected with the family
of Herod, and open to St. Luke, may be indicated
by his having enumerated (ch. viii. 3) Joanna, wife
of Chuza, Herod's steward, among the women who
attended on Him and ministered to Him of their
substance. Thus an incident of this kind, which
in the mere summary account of the events of the
day had been absorbed in the greater parts, would
be recalled to the diligent investigator St. Luke.
We have now then our Lord again presented to
FIis persecutors, with the renewed declaration of

The Passion . 201
His innocence from Pilate, strengthened also, as
in St Luke, by the fact that Herod had not
thought Him worthy of punishment. Pilate is
anxious to release Him ; he will chastise Him
and let Him go ; he tries to get them to choose
Him as the prisoner to be given them at the
feast. But Barabbas is preferred ; and here we
have again the united testimony of the Four ; St.
Matthew adding the interesting particular of the
message of Pilate's wife. On this fact more may
rest than at first might appear. Undoubtedly
there does seem to have been a previous acquaint
ance on the part of the Roman governor with our
Lord and His character, to which this incident
may furnish a clue. We owe the account of Pilate
having washed his hands also to St. Matthew.
Here, then, we have the release of Barabbas
related by the Three, and implied by St. John ;
and the scourging of Jesus : this latter being re
lated by all but St. Luke, and by him included in
the wordj, ' Pilate decreed that their request
should be granted ;' for it was usual with the
Romans to scourge criminals before execution.
Previously to His being led away to be crucified,
all but St. Luke relate to us His mockery by the

202 How to study the New Testament.
soldiers, the crown of thorns, the purple robe, the
saluting Him as King of the Jews. St. Luke has
told us that the purple robe had been before put
on Him by Herod, and he passes over the rest of
this portion of the narrative.
But here the last Evangelist again interposes
with a weighty history of the end of this eventf,1l
audience, which the rest had not given us. The
bringing forth of Jesus after His mocking by the
soldiers, the final declaration of His innocence,
the fear of Pilate on hearing that He had called
Himself the Son of God, — the entering in again,
and the declaration by the Prisoner of the source
of the judge's power, — the fresh determination of
Pilate to release Him, and how that determination
was finally overborne, — all of these, so important
in the account to be given of the governor's ulti
mate decision, we get only from the disciple who
was known to the High-Priest, and who seems on
this occasion to have been present where others
could not.
And now the four narratives join again at the
point where our Lord, being by Pilate delivered
to the will of His enemies, is led away to be
crucified.

The Passion. 203
VII. The Crucifixion. — Here St. John begins
by summing up very shortly the leading away and
the incidents of the crucifixion properly so called.
From St. Matthew and St. Mark we have the fact,
that they took off from Jesus the purple robe and
put on Him His own garments ; from all Three,
that the cross was laid on Simon the Cyrenian, to
bear it ; St. Mark adding a personal notice, that
he was father of Alexander and Rufus ; St. Luke,
that he bore the cross after Jesus.
But now we have from St. Luke, the careful in
quirer in Jerusalem, the detail respecting our Lord
turning to the women that wept and bewailed Him.
I shall have occasion to notice by and bye, that
details of this peculiar character especially belong
to St. Luke's narrative of the Passion and Resur
rection. On the name of the place to which our
Lord was taken, all are agreed. St. John gives
the explanation, that Golgotha was its Hebrew
appellation, while St. Luke omits that name alto
gether, and (in the genuine text) tells us that it was
called Cranium, ' a skull,' thereby showing us that
' the place of a skull,' which it is called in the
others, is to be understood, not of skulls lying
about there (which could not well be, in the

204 How to study the New Testament.
care of the Jews to escape pollution), but of
some natural conformation of the hill or rock
resembling a skull when seen from a dis
tance. Being arrived there, the Roman soldiers, whose
office it was, despoil our Lord of His garments,
and nail Him to the cross. It is this which gives
significance to the prayer of Jesus here preserved
to us by St. Luke : ' Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.' They were but blindly
performing that which came in the course of their
daily duty. It is full of interest to reflect that the
Evangelist who relates this incident, is also he who
tells us of the pious centurion Cornelius, and the
devout soldier who waited upon him. I might
add, he who, as the companion of St. Paul, must
have been much and often in intercourse with the
Roman soldiery, and likely to hear from them
more than others. It is notable also in connexion
with this, that St. Luke is the Evangelist who gave
us so minute and accurate an account, in his
seventh chapter, of the healing of the centurion's
servant. With regard to two being crucified with
our Lord, one on either side, all are in accord. In
St. Matthew and St. Mark they are robbers, in St.

The Passion. 205
Luke, malefactors, in St. John they are merely
called ' other two.'
A title was placed over the cross, that is, on the
upright portion seen above the head, on which the
name and description of the crime were inscribed.
This title was, according to St. Matthew, ' This is
Jesus, the King of the Jews;' according to St.
Mark, ' The King of the Jews ;' according to St.
Luke, ' This is the King of the Jews ;' according
to St. John, ' Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews.' This latter, as the fuller form, has gener
ally been taken as the actual Greek inscription.
St. John also tells us that it was written in the
three current languages, — Hebrew, Greek, Latin,
— and gives the additional anecdote that the Jews
wished to have the title altered, but Pilate refused.
It is observable that the words, ' The King of the
Jews,' at which the Jews were offended, are com
mon to all four forms of the title ; constituting as
they did the offence, for which the. punishment had
been ostensibly inflicted.
Now follows (I am taking St. John's order of
events) the incident, common to the Four, of the
casting lots for the tunic of Jesus. St. John gives
us the reason for this, and connects it with the

206 How to study the New Testament.
prophecy in the 2 2d Psalm. The verse in St.
Matthew which cites the prophecy is spurious,
not being found in any of the most ancient
authorities. The mocking on the cross by the passers-by
and the chief priests and scribes, is given at most
length by St. Matthew. St. Mark joins him in re
porting the taunt about rebuilding the Temple in
three days ; St. Mark and St. Luke in reporting
' He saved others, himself He cannot save,' or
' Let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the
chosen of God.' All Three agree in joining with
this a taunt respecting His being King of Israel ;
but again St. Luke tells us that it was the soldiers,
as they offered Him vinegar (sour wine), whc thus
reproached Him. St. Matthew alone tells us that
in thus reviling Him they used the very words of
the Messianic Psalm xxii., ' He trusted in God ;
let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him.'
St. Matthew and St. Mark relate that the thieves
who were crucified with Him reviled Him (' in the
same 7nanner] adds St. Matthew). Had we but
this statement, we certainly should depart with a
wrong impression of that which really happened.
St. Luke, who seems throughout this part of the

The Passion. 207
history to be in possession of accurate information
which the others had not, relates that it was one
only of the thieves who thus reviled the Lord, and
adds the history, so familiar to every Christian
mind, of the penitent, and of the gracious promise
made to him.
Of the whole incidents of this period St. John
gives us but one ; that one, however, is of deep
interest : the committal of the mother of our Lord,
by his dying command, to the care of the disciple
whom Jesus loved. When we consider that there
were then living four of the brethren of our Lord,
and that St. John was not related to him in the
flesh, this incident must ever be full of mystery :
whether we consider these brethren as His true
brothers by the same mother, — as children of
Joseph by a former marriage, — or as His cousins ;
for whichever view we take, we cannot remove the
difficulty of His having set aside the ties of kindred
in committing so sacred a trust, and preferring to
them those of holy friendship.1
1 Professor Lightfoot, in his recent edition of the Epistle to the
Galatians, assumes that this difficulty bears wholly on the hypothesis
of the Lord's brethren being sons of Joseph and Mary, and that the
other hypotheses are free from it. But surely it bears on all, though
not on all in exactly the same degree. If, as Professor Lightfoot main-

208 How to study the New Testament.
And now the solemn end approaches. The
supernatural darkness is related by the Three in
almost the same terms. No stress is to be laid on
St. John's not mentioning any given fact in the
history : he does not repeat incidents already fur
nished by the ordinary apostolic tradition, except
some special reason moves him to' do so. The
great cry of the suffering Redeemer, ' My God,
my God, why hast Thou forsaken me ?' is given,
in different forms of the common Hebrew dialect
of Palestine, by St. Matthew and St. Mark only.
The bystanders, in derision, give Him vinegar on
a sponge, in answer, St. John informs us, to His
cry of ' I thirst,' and after this, He cried out again
with a loud voice, and expired. What this cry
was, we are expressly told by St. John : ' When
then Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, " It
is finished," and bowing His head He delivered
up His spirit' Nor is this inconsistent with St.
Luke's equally detailed account, that ' Jesus cry
ing (or, when He had cried) with a loud voice,
said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my
tains, they were sons of Joseph by a former marriage, the setting them
aside for a stranger to the family was surely a step almost as unaccount
able as if they were sons ofjoseph and Mary.

The Passion. 209
spirit :" and when He had said this, He expired.'
For this may be the cry ' delivering up His spirit,'
of which we were told by St. John, and the loud
cry may be the ' It is finished.'
And now follow the portents which accompanied
the Saviour's death, related in most detail by St.
Matthew; St Mark and St. Luke noticing only
the rending of the veil of the Temple, which St.
Luke appears to place during the darkness and
before the Lord's death. The mysterious addition
is given by St. Matthew, that 'the graves were
opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept
were raised up, and went out of the tombs after
His resurrection, and entered into the holy city,
and appeared to many.' These words suggest to
us many questions, which only the fuller know
ledge of the blessed state to come will enable us
to answer : Who were these that were raised ?
What was it that happened at the moment of the
Lord's death ? Were the graves only opened, and
did the raising of the bodies happen, as we might
expect, after He, the first-fruits, was raised ? Not
so, says the narrative, but, which is surprising, that
the bodies were raised now, at the death of the
Lord, and that they awaited His resurrection to
o

1 1 o How to study the New Testament.
come out of the tombs and enter into the holy
city and appear to many. We may notice here a
mark of consistency uniting the end of the first
Gospel with the beginning— the appellation of ' the
holy city' to designate Jerusalem : the same which
had occurred in St. Matthew's narrative of the
temptation. The effect on the centurion (' and those who
with him watched Jesus :' so St. Matthew) is given
in similar terms by all Three. But in St. Matthew
it is the earthquake and attendant circumstances
which make the impression ; in St. Mark, the
manner of the Lord's death ; in St. Luke, simply
' .'hat which happened.' Here, again, we have
St. Luke doubtless giving us the exact words used
by the centurion, whilst all the others relate rather
that which those words implied ; for if our Lord
was a just and true man, He was the Son of God,
for He had given Himself out so to be.
The solemn account terminates with the notice
that the women who had followed Him from Gali
lee were looking on from afar ; and St. Matthew
and St. Mark enumerate four who were among
them. St. Luke adds to them ' all His acquaint
ance,' and tells us, evidently again from his testi-

1 he Passion. 211
mony collected at Jerusalem, that all the multitudes
who flocked together to the spectacle, when they
saw what had happened, returned beating their
breasts. A notice indeed remarkable and worth
pondering. That day's event, in other words, pro
duced dismay and anguish among the spectators ;
the taunts and jeers of the passers-by are heard
no more ; are forgotten in the presence of the
darkness, and the trembling of the earth, and the
superhuman cry of the Sufferer ; and those who
just now were shouting ' Come down and save
thyself,' are inwardly sighing ' Woe unto us, for we
have slain the just ; for this day's deed will rise
up in judgment against us.'1
And now the beloved disciple has his express
1 It will be observed that I have said nothing of the remarkable
discrepancy between St. Mark and St. John as to the honr of the cruci
fixion, the former relating that it was the ' third hour when they cru
cified Him ' (xv. 25), and the latter that it was the sixth hour when
Pilate said to the Jews, ' Behold your King ! ' (xix. 14 ) It is quite
impossible for us to reconcile these statements by any information we
at present possess. It must be quite clear, on the one hand, that
there could never really exist such a difference as this between any
two accounts of this memorable day ; and on the other hand, that
no difference in the method of counting the hours of the day can be
supposed as a solution for the difficulty. St. John had the Apostolic
tradition before him which used one reckoning of time : can it be for
¦a. moment believed that he, writing to fill out and clear up that
tradition, would adopt another reckoning, to the confusion of his
readers ?

2 1 2 How to study the New Testament.
testimony to bear to the truth of the humanity of
the Lord. This death of His, there were some
who said, was no true death : only a semblance ;
only a withdrawal of the spirit from the body by a
miracle ; and He died not as men die. And so
St. John at Ephesus looks back over the years
that had passed, and in the name of the Spirit,
tells how the Jews, careful against outward pollu
tion, besought Pilate that the legs of the three
crucified men might be broken, and the bodies
taken away : how, finding our Lord already dead,
the soldier brake not His legs, but one of the
soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and the
undeniable tokens of veritable human death were
seen to issue therefrom. This the Apostle him
self saw ; and we may therefore assume that he
had returned to the fatal spot, after having led away
her who was now by a higher tie even than that
of nature his mother, and had remained watching
there since.
And in both these incidents, the Apostle reminds
us, Holy Scripture found its fulfilment : in the
former, the commandment concerning the Pass
over lamb, that not a bone of it was even to be
broken ; in the latter, the declaration of Zechariah,

The Passion. 213
that the house of David and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem should look on Him whom they had
pierced. VIII. And here we have another point of
junction of the four Evangelists : the pious service
of Joseph of Arimathea. The four notices are
much in the same terms ; those who do not state
that Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, implying it ;
and St. John plainly describing him as a disciple,
but secretly, for fear of the Jews. All, in the
course of the narrative, inform us that it was the
preparation of the Sabbath, as indeed we learnt
before from St. John. St Mark relates that Pilate
wondered at Jesus being already dead, and assured
himself that it was so by inquiry from the centu
rion. St. John adds that Nicodemus, who came
before to Him by night, assisted in the pious
labour of wrapping in linen the sacred Body ; and
by this we see the continual care of the beloved
Apostle to introduce those circumstances which
may illustrate the power of Jesus to educe faith
and love. These two men, who before were secret
and timid disciples, are made, by the wondrous
power of the Cross, into bold and fearless men.

2 1 4 How to study the New Testament.
Their Master was popular, was widely followed,
was gaining on the world, — then they feared to
follow Him ; now He is betrayed, forsaken, con
demned, executed, — when lo ! they come forward
and bestow cost and care on His corpse.
The ' tomb cut in the rock,' — simply called such
by St. Mark, — is described as Joseph's ' own new
tomb' by St. Matthew; and both St. Luke and
St. John add the significant notice, that never had
any man been buried in it. The Three conclude
with a notice respecting the faithful women who
sat overagainst the sepulchre, and beheld it, and
how His body was laid ; and, adds St. Luke, ever
precise when they are concerned, ' they went away
and bought spices and ointments, and rested the
Sabbath-day, according to the commandment.'
We have but one notice of anything that occurred
during the time when our Lord lay in the tomb,
and that is found in St. Matthew. The chief
priests and Pharisees obtained from Pilate leave
to use the Roman guard, which was at their dis
posal during the feast, for the custody of the tomb,
for fear the disciples should come and steal away
the Body. Certainly, for some' reason, this Evan
gelist seems to have had peculiar knowledge of

The Passion. 2 1 5
that which took place in the house of Pilate. It
is just what we might expect, that according as
each happened to have acquaintances who were
concerned in this or that portion of the field of
action, his narrative would embrace a set of details
peculiar to himself.
IX. We now come to the most important, as
it is tlie most difficult, part of our comparison :
that of the accounts of the Resurrection. And
here it is necessary to enter for a few moments
again on the same train of thought which occupied
us at the beginning of my last section. Let us
again place ourselves on the spot, amidst the events
which happened. The mood of mind of the whole
body of disciples was that of bitter disappoint
ment, gradually settling down into despair. They
had passed out of their former confidence and
hope. They ' trusted it had been He.' This had
passed away, and they acknowledged their fatal
mistake. There was doubtless something also of
shame mingled with this sadness. They had
' erred, they had played the fool exceedingly.'
They were going back to their homes and occu
pations sadder and wiser men. We have not the

216 How to study the New Testament.
faintest hint that hope survived in any one of
them : that any one dwelt in thought upon the
Lord's often repeated words, that after three days
He would rise again. Certainly, it is plain that
the beloved disciple did not : and if he did not,
what other did ? Certainly, it is as plain that the
faithful women did not ; for the very service which
they came to render, implied finality of rest in the
tomb ; and when one of them found the Body
gone, the fact of the Resurrection did not even
occur to her ; but simply that it had been taken
away and laid elsewhere.
I make these remarks, as I made similar remarks
before, to illustrate the character of this eventful
day ; and with the character, the narratives which
partake of that character. It was unlike any other
day that ever dawned. Many strange days have
been, many new and unexpected turns have come
suddenly upon men's lives : but never one like
this. Think but of the event itself. The Dead,
alive ! not the lost and supposed to be dead.
They had seen that body torn, pierced, buried.
They had beheld it in its lifelessness taken down
from the cross, livid and flaccid. They had even
tended it in death, and wrapped it in spices for its

The Passion. 2 1 7
long rest in the tomb. Whatever doubt arose
within them, none occurred to any mind respecting
the reality of this fact of death. The Dead, alive !
No mere apparition of the departed spirit, clothed
in a thin veil of its former shape. The Dead
Himself, able to be tested and handled ; with the
marks of the nails in His hands and feet, and the
pathway ofthe spear in His side. All was changed.
Not to them only, as when the long-lost appears,
and the widow's heart sings for joy ; but all the
world was changed, for the Dead was alive !
Nature was changed. A new creation had begun.
Human thought was changed. Death was no longer
death, but the seed-ground and vestibule of life.
The past was all changed : no longer a deplorable
mistake, covering with shame, best forgotten, — but
now a treasury of all that is precious, the childhood
that is to be father of a glorious manhood. The
present was all changed. The band of baffled
ones, hiding their heads hither and thither in
Jerusalem, suddenly knit up in heart and hope,
with a mission such as man was never yet in
trusted with, and a purpose such as man never
yet conceived. Upon them that sat in darkness
had arisen a great light. The future was all

2 1 8 How to study the New Testament.
changed ; if indeed the happy bewildered spirit
had that day any leisure to look forward. The
sinking of heart at those coming days of resumed
humble occupation in Galilee : — that finger of
scorn which was to point at the dupes who had
been with Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified impos
tor : — where are these now ? The Kingdom, — the
Glory, — the Twelve Thrones, — all have flashed
back again into the dark space. What wonder if
the glory dazzled them — this morning sun in his
strength bursting in upon midnight ? What mar
vel if they ' could not see for the greatness of that
light?' And if the four narratives of the Resurrection
be genuine pieces of human testimony, we have a
right to claim that, as the day was, so shall the
tidings be. All was surprise ; eager running to
and fro ; reports waxing ever stronger and stronger;
idle tales become sober facts ; sober facts turned
into shadows and fleeing like mist away. Where
is all this in those testimonies which are presented
to me as truth ? Do they reflect the character of
the time ? Are they fragmentary, hurried, con
fused — truth shivered in the shifting mirror ?
Because, if they are, I shall at least know one

The Passion. 2 1 9
thing : either they are the genuine evidence of
those who were tossed upon the waves of this
tempestuous day, or they are the ablest imitation
the world has ever seen.
But suppose the contrary. Let us imagine
matters to be thus : We have, I will say, in these
four accounts, the most complete, nicely-fitted,
soberly-balanced history of the whole events of
the day. All is in its place. What one does
not relate, the other puts in where it ought to
come. No question arises, no doubt, no difficulty,
as to what each person did and saw, and when.
What would be our verdict on such a history?
Thinking the worst of it— it is a story made up by
collusion : these men met, and agreed what each
should say ; we have no security that the whole
has not been invented and fixed together to de
ceive. Thinking the best of it, and believing it to
relate the truth, — we lose the fourfold cord of tes
timony, and our manifold witnesses, are reduced to
one ; or rather, not even to one, for we have no
freshness of individual character left. We lose all
the reflection of the stir and excitement of the day :
such a Gospel would be a poor companion for
Easter morning ; it would have no retinacula to

220 How to study the New Testament.
lay hold of the interest. How many eyes would
it cause to brim over with tears? How many
hearts to leap with joy?
Which of these two characters belongs to our
fourfold History of the Resurrection ? I hope my
next section will show.

The Resurrection. 221

VII.
THE FOUR NARRATIVES OF THE
RESURRECTION.
TT is Easter morning : to me the best part of
¦*• the best day in the year. The welcome
return of soft breezes has dappled the trees in the
old Deanery garden with bright spots of green ;
and against the clear blue sky the grey cathedral
tower stands brightened by the unclouded sun.
All is peace, except that the birds are plying round
me their unceasing chorus, giving voice to the
tranquillity, and making it deeper. Can there be
a time when earth seems so like heaven — heaven
so near to earth ? And is this all a dream ? Nay,
is not heaven near to earth — is it not on earth ?
Sin is pardoned, death overcome and abolished,
life eternally assured to the members of Christ.
And all by that on which so many thoughts are
fixed this day. In that Tomb on Calvary death

222 How to study the New Testament.
was for ever conquered ; from that Tomb life for
ever streamed forth, glorious and all-sufficient.
Let us see how this came to pass. Let us try,
not artificially to weave the four accounts into
one, but to ascertain and appreciate the leading
features of each, and indicate at least the direc
tion in which their agreement is to be looked for.
On the evening of the great Sacrifice, the faith
ful Joseph and the no longer timid Nicodemus
brought about an hundred pound weight of myrrh
and aloes, and wound round the Body with linen
cloths, in which these precious spices were laid.
This we are told by St. John, the Three noticing
the winding it in the linen cloth, but not the bring
ing of the spices. St. Mark tells us that Joseph
bought the linen cloth for the purpose. Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary (the mother of
Joses) were sitting overagainst the tomb (Mat
thew), and saw where He was laid (Mark). And
then St. Luke, who has ever most to tell of the
doings of these holy women, adds, that they pre
pared spices and ointments, and rested the Sab
bath-day according to the commandment. Thus
then we leave the tomb : the silence of death
within, and a great stone rolled to the door to keep

The Resurrection. 223
all secure. We hear nothing of any visits made to
it on the next day, the Sabbath, by the followers
of Jesus. On that day, St. Matthew tells us, the
chief priests and Pharisees applied to Pilate to
have it made safe, and were commanded to use
for that purpose the guard which was at their dis
posal during the feast. This they do, and add the
precaution of sealing the stone ; placing a cord
across it, the two ends of which were sealed with
wax to the jambs of the entrance. And thus the
tomb is left this second night : the Roman guards
walking their beat before it in the moonlight, or
sitting employed in their talk or their pastimes at
the entrance. So the night wears away, and the
dawn approaches. It was yet dark, but not too
dark to distinguish objects. So St. John expressly
tells us ; it was ' deep dawn,' writes St. Luke ; it
was ' becoming light towards the first day of the
week,' writes St. Matthew. At that time, ' Mary
Magdalene comes to the tomb,' writes St. John,
taking one definite account from one eye-witness,
and following it, without deviating to include the
rest, or to add even the reason for her visit ; ' came
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to behold
the tomb,' writes St. Matthew : St. Luke going

224 How to study the New Testament.
on with his former sentence, which was said of
' the women which had followed with Him from
Galilee.' He adds that ' they brought with them
the spices which they had prepared,' thus indicat
ing the purpose of their visit. The reader will
remember that the words here found in our autho
rized version, ' and some others with them,' are
not in our most ancient mss., and must be excluded.
They were probably added as an attempt towards
harmonizing. But here we are met by the independent and
apparently to us hardly reconcilable account of
St. Mark. 'When the Sabbath was past, Mary
Magdalene and Mary [the mother] of Joses and
Salome, brought spices that they might come and
anoint Him.' That is, they brought the spices
after sunset on the Saturday evening, when, ac
cording to Jewish ideas, the Sabbath was over.
This seems at first sight at variance with St. Luke,
who places the preparing the spices and ointments
before the notice that they rested the Sabbath
day. But his sentence hardly necessitates such
precision of sequence. The former words of it,
' they returned and prepared spices and oint
ments,' may be intended for a general account of

The Resurrection. 225
what they did in the interim, and the following
notice, which stands literally, ' and the Sabbath
indeed they rested according to the command
ment,' may be parenthetical, merely indicating
that they did not employ the sacred hours in this
preparation. The difference here is too trifling to
be matter of serious notice. But as much cannot
be said of the next words in St. Mark, that they
came very early on the first day of the week to
the Tomb, ' after the sun had risen] for thus, and
thus only, can the words be rendered ; the English
translation, ' at the rising of the sun,' being an un
faithful and discreditable one. Now, it is not my
purpose to force these accounts into harmony; but
I cannot help saying that in this particular case I
have long suspected that there must be some error
in our present reading of St. Mark's text. Con
jecture is and must be always excluded from the
criticis7n of the Sacred Word ; and no text ought
ever to be altered conjecturally. Still it is not in
human nature not to have suspicions, however
imperative may be the duty of checking them, and
keeping the text as we find it. It would be hardly
likely that St. Mark should have written here,
' very early . . . when the sun had risen ;' for the
P

226 How to study the New Testament.
time of the sun's rising in that country was not
ordinarily accounted ' very early.' By that time
in the morning all was life and stir. What if St.
Mark wrote one word (ouketi) more than we now
read in his text, and signified, ' when the sun had
not yet risen ?' But this cannot now be set at
rest, and faith must be content to accept the dis
crepancy, not to bridge it over by the clumsy
resource of multiplying visits and producing all
sorts of unlikely coincidences.
And even St. Mark's account (not St. Luke's in
the genuine text) tells us that they questioned
with themselves, ' Who shall roll us away the
stone from the door of the tomb ? ' and St. John
relates that Mary ' seeth the stone taken away
from the tomb : ' St. Luke says the same of his
band of unnamed women : St. Mark the same of
the two Marys and Salome, and adds as a reason
for their question, ' for it was very large.'
Here it is evident that we must give to St.
Matthew's fuller and independent account, a
separate consideration. In the dawn, the two
Marys came to look at the tomb. ' And behold
there was a great earthquake : for an angel of the
Lord descended from heaven, and came and

The Resurrection. 227
rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his
appearance was as lightning, and his raiment
white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers
shook, and became as dead men. And the angel
answered, and said to the women, Fear not ye,'
etc. Now the obvious impression given by this
continuous narrative is, that the women witnessed
the earthquake and the descent of the angel. It
is not absolutely said so, nor is the narrative
committed to the fact. But we may venture to
assert, that such must certainly have been the
impression of the Writer, or he could hardly have
written as he did.
But this is a case where, upon consulting the
other accounts, the matter assumes a different
aspect. It would seem, from their united testi
mony, that these startling incidents were not
witnessed by the women. They at once, finding
the stone rolled away, entered (see, however,
below) into the tomb, and not finding the Body,
they there saw the angel (Matthew, Mark), or
angels (Luke), who reassured them. St. John
gives us a further detail : that Mary Magdalene
did not enter the tomb, but on seeing the stone
removed, at once inferred that the Lord's Body

228 How to study ihe New Testament.
had been taken away, and ran to tell Simon
Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved.
So that here we -have the band of women
severed into two, Mary Magdalene, and those
who were left. In St. Luke's narrative this is not
recognised, for he tells that ' it was Mary
Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary [the mother]
of James, and the rest with them, who told the
apostles these things.' Still, as will be observed
throughout the greater part of the history, details
which could not have been inferred from the
different accounts, are not precluded by them.
St. Luke says nothing inconsistent with the
women having come in detachments, though
apparently his information did not specify this.
Now as to the words of the angel or angels in
the Three Gospels. In substance they are the
same, ' Seek not the living among the dead, — He
is not here, He is risen, as He said.' These last
words (of St. Matthew) are omitted by St. Mark,
and in St. Luke are given at greater length, to the
omission ofthe command, 'tell the disciples to
go into Galilee,' which is contained in the two
others, and of the invitation to come and see the
place where He lay. St. Mark, as might have

Tlie Resurrection. 229
been expected, preserves the fact, that not only
were the disciples mentioned as the objects of
this message, but Peter was besides specified by
name. We may observe, as a slight indication
where to look for the greater precision as between
two of the accounts, that the concluding words,
'as He told you,' in St. Mark, have become
' behold, I have told you ' in St. Matthew.
But now we come to some of the remarkable
indications of that character of the whole history
which I have contended it will be found to bear,
if it indeed contain the genuine testimonies of
persons affected as this day must have affected
those concerned. And I would have the reader
notice, that the chief form which this character
takes in the Three Evangelists is, that of relating
a portion of the dispersed action under an appar
ent impression that it was the whole. Each of
the Three had his own sources of authentic infor
mation, and to these he confines himself, not
excluding, but appearing to ignore, what hap
pened elsewhere, by giving this special testimony
as if it included all. With St. John this is not so.
He expressly takes one portion of the evidence,
and pursues it minutely, and exhaustingly. He

2 30 How to study the New Testament.
tells us what was witnessed by himself, and by
one person who herself related her account to him.
Even to this general remark there are excep
tions. One case has occurred already, where the
accounts, as they now stand, are beyond our
power to put together : and other cases will soon'
come before us. To this I say, and I want
faithful Christians generally to say, What wonder ?
Is not this discrepancy, in such a case, a far
weightier and deeper token of truth, than would
be the strictest verbal agreement ?
Let us proceed. After the angelic message, St.
Mark adds, ' And they went but and fled from
the tomb : and trembling and excitement [ecstasy]
possessed them, and they said nothing to any one,
for they were afraid.' Compare this with St.
Luke : ' And ' returning from the tomb they
brought all these tidings to the eleven and all the
rest ; ' and St. Matthew : ' And departing quickly
from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran
to tell these tidings to His disciples.' Of course,
at first sight, records can hardly be more expressly
opposed. It is quite impossible that the same
persons can be the subjects of both these
accounts. But here comes in an important par-

The Resurrection. 231
ticular. The Gospel of St. Mark, as has been
seen in a previous section, breaks off abruptly
with these words, 'for they were afraid.' What
we now learn, is apparently not all which that
Evangelist originally narrated. What exception
to this general assertion, that they said nothing to
any one, might have been coming, one cannot
tell. The narrative might have proceeded to
record how their fear and excitement were
affected by the appearance and command of the
Lord Himself; or might have given some other
notice which would show us that this particular
party of women took a line of their own, and
were, as we may strongly suspect, a second
off-set from the main body. Here, as in all other
cases, sound criticism, the terror of the morbid
and half-informed, comes in aid of the Faith, and
confirms the veracity from which it is at first sight
supposed to detract.
But if at this point we lose one precious
historian, we gain another. The Gospel of St.
Mark is completed by an Apostolic fragment
(ch. xvi. 9-20), containing an independent sum
mary of the events of the Resurrection and
Ascension. As we proceed we shall take this

232 How to study the New Testament.
for our fourth account, designating it as that of
' The Summarist.'
And now let us pursue our narrative. Three
separate objects claim our attention. First, Mary
Magdalene, who upon seeing the stone removed,
immediately ran to Simon Peter and the beloved
disciple ; secondly, a portion of the women who
ran (Matthew, Luke) to tell the disciples ; thirdly,
another portion (?) of the women who fled from
the tomb in fear, saying nothing to any one.
And here again the skein becomes too intricate
for our hands to unravel ; for while St. Matthew
seems to relate that, as the women were going to
tell the disciples, Jesus Himself met them, not
only are we expressly told by the Summarist that
the first appearance was to Mary Magdalene, but
the message of the women to the disciples, as
reported by the two on the road to Emmaus, bears
no trace of their having seen the Lord Himself:
' they had seen a vision of angels, which said that
He was alive ;' which certainly could not have
been the report, had they seen Himself. Here
again, it is true, sound criticism comes somewhat
to our help, but still leaves us in considerable
difficulty. The words, ' as they went to tell his dis-

The Resurrection. 233
ciples] found in the common text of Matt, xxviii. 9,
are wanting in our most ancient mss., and should
be expunged. But even thus we cannot get rid of
the impression that the spirit of the narrative
requires us to understand that it was so. We
shall see, as we proceed, how difficult it is to
explain this.
Let us now for a while follow Mary Magdalene
in St. John's narrative. She runs, and comes to
Peter and John, with her news that the Lord had
been taken away out of the sepulchre. At once,
the two disciples run to the tomb together.
Here, as far as regards Peter, St. Luke's narrative
agrees, but places his running to the tomb as the
consequence of the report by all the women of
what had been said by the angel.
As Peter and John ran to the tomb, Mary fol
lowed. This is of necessity implied by St. John,
who tells us that when they left it, Mary remained
behind weeping. Looking into the tomb, she
saw the two angels sitting, one at the Head, the
other at the Feet, where the Body had lain. On
their asking her the cause of her tears, she turns
round, — struck, as Chrysostom finely says, by a
sudden change of expression on the countenance

234 How to study the New Testament.
of the angels, — and sees the Lord Himself. Being
commanded by Him, she goes and tells ' the dis
ciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He
had said these things to her.' All this is con
tinuous in one and the same narrative (St. John) :
and it is not we, but he, that has divided expressly
her first tidings, to Peter and John, from her
second, to the disciples.
Here the Summarist comes in with full con
firmation, and an additional particular : ' Having
arisen on the first day of the week, He appeared
first to Mary Magdalene. . . . She went and told
them who had been with Him, as they mourned
a7id wept. And they hearing that He had been
seen by her, disbelieved.'
Now let us go to St. Luke for an additional
note of time. The two travellers to Emmaus,
before they left Jerusalem, had heard the message
brought by the band of women (as above) con
cerning the vision of angels ; they also knew of
the visit of Peter and John : but they had heard
710 tidings of Jesus himself havi7ig been seen : ' Some
of those who came with us also went to the
tomb, and found it as the women had said, but
Hi7n they saw not! These two, therefore, we

The Resurrection . 235
may infer, had left Jerusalem before Mary arrived
with her tidings of a personal appearance. It is
true the whole body of disciples may not have
been assembled in one and the same place ; but
on comparing the narratives, it would appear that
they were at least in close and rapid communica
tion all the day : and certainly their being found
assembled in the evening with the doors shut for
fear of the Jews, and being thus at once found in
a defined spot by the travellers from Emmaus,
looks as if the main body at least had been there
for some time before.
Let us then see, — if we may assume that they
left before Mary Magdalene's second tidings, —
what this will import respecting the time of those
tidings being brought. Emmaus was sixty stadia,
or furlongs, from Jerusalem — i.e., above seven
English miles : a walk for ordinary men, suppos
ing them to be at their leisure, of about two hours
and a half. Even allowing for delay while the
conversation was proceeding, we cannot set down
more than three hours for the journey. On their
arrival at Emmaus, they say, ' It is towards even
ing, and the day hath now declined.' It is pro
bable that the sun was not set, but ' westering,'

236 How to study the New Testament.
approaching the horizon. It could hardly have
been earlier than five o'clock, it was more pro
bably half-past five. Thus we should get half past
two, or at the earliest two, for the time of their
leaving Jerusalem. But we have seen that they
left before any personal appearance of the Lord
had been announced. We shall thus have, even
supposing these two not to have come straight
from the city, but to have tarried somewhere by
the way, still a considerable number of hours left,
after the early morning, before either Mary Mag
dalene or the other women had announced any
personal appearance. This inference as to the
time does not, it is true, do much positive service
in helping us over our difficulty ; but it furnishes
a useful negative indication — viz., that we must
not too hastily assume all that has as yet been
related to have occupied only the early morning
of the Resurrection-day. By some means or other,
the time from sunrise till midday, or past, had
elapsed, before any tidings of Jesus having been
seen had become current among the disciples.
And put together with this, that, as matter of fact,
there were appearances on this day which are not
related to us. That to Peter is only briefly indi-

The Resurrection. 237
cated ; that to James, the Lord's brother, is tradi
tionally placed on this day, although St. Paul, in
1 Cor. xv., seems to mark that it followed the
appearance to ' more than five hundred brethren
at once.'
The tendency of these considerations is to lead
us to suspend our judgment as to the identity, or
inconsistency, of one Evangelist's detail with that
of another. There was ample time for many visits
to the tomb before it became known by all that
visits to the tomb were profitless. And mere
suspicion, on the difficulty arising at Matt, xxviii.
9, that the Evangelist, in summing up the inci
dents, must be speaking of another band of women
from that previously in his view, thus becomes, at
all events, legitimized by the ascertained condi
tions of the earlier narrative.
Arid now we come to another difficulty, arising
from the declaration of the Summarist, in Mark
xvi. 13, that the associated disciples did not believe
the travellers returned from Emmaus. For we
know, from the precise and detailed account in
St. Luke, that on the contrary, ' they found the
Eleven and those with them assembled, saying,
The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to

238 How to shidy the Neiv Testament.
Simon.' Of this I cannot see, and therefore do
not pretend to offer, any solution. It must be
confessed that the tendency of its occurrence is
rather to diminish the authority, while at the same
time it completely establishes the independence,
of the Summarist's account. Had he been, as
some have supposed, merely a filler-up of the gap
at the end of St. Mark out of the other Gospels,
this startling discrepancy would never have been
found. And now we come to the first appearance of
the Lord to the assembled disciples. While the
travellers from Emmaus were yet telling their
wonderful story, and mutual confirmations and
congratulations were being exchanged, Jesus Him
self stood in the midst of them. This appearance
is related at length by St. Luke and St. John, and
briefly touched by the Summarist. That all Three
relate one and the same appearance, is made
manifest by two or three instances of independent-
coincidence. St. John tells us that the Lord re
peated twice the simple greeting, ' Peace be to
you :' while St. Luke shows us what reason there
was for it, in the disciples being terrified and
affrighted, supposing that they had seen a spirit.

The Resurrection. 2 39
St. John tells us that He showed them His hands
and His side. St. Luke again explains in detail,
by giving His own words as He did so, ' Behold
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself,' what
the reader supplied in his own mind in St. John's
account, that this exhibition of Himself was in reply
to doubts which arose in their hearts. St. John
tells us, ' Then were the disciples glad when they saw
the Lord ;' St. Luke, that they yet believed not for
their glad/iess ; and adds the remarkable detail,
that he asked for food, and did eat before them.
This last particular again is confirmed by the
Summarist, who tells us that it was ' as the Eleven
sat at meat' that the Lord appeared to them. St.
Luke proceeds to relate how He went on to dis
course to them of the prophecies respecting Him
self, and His own previous words while He was
with them. The Summarist writes, that ' He re
proached them with unbelief and hardness of
heart, because they believed not them that had
seen Him.' It will be observed, that this, while
no doubt it represents the discourse in St. Luke,
has taken its form from the previous assertion of
this same writer, that the travellers from Emmaus
were not believed.

240 How to study the New Testament.
St. John has the important addition of the
, breathing the Holy Spirit on the disciples, and the
apostolic mission ; of which we may also discern
traces in the 48th and 49th verses of the narrative
in St. Luke.
St. John also gives us the deeply interesting
account of the unbelief of St. Thomas, which
brings in the mention of yet another appearance
of the Lord a week after, under exactly similar
circumstances, for the confirmation ofthe doubter's
faith. And now, as we hurry rapidly on to the glorious
end, the independence, and, indeed, apparent
divergence of the Four become more striking than
ever. St. Matthew and St. Mark, in relating the events
at the tomb, have reported the command of the
angel, that the disciples should go away into Gali
lee, where they should see the Lord. St. Matthew
repeats this command as having been given again
by the Lord Himself, when He appeared to the
women ; and again refers to its having been given
yet more in detail, relating how the Eleven went
to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had appoi7ited
them. St. John, confining himself at first to the

The Restirrec tion. - 241
personal narrative of Mary Magdalene, naturally
has nothing of this command ; but with reference
to what happened in Galilee, he gives us the
touching and important history contained in his
twenty-first chapter.
Now it is very remarkable, as one of the most
convincing proofs of the independence on one
another of the three Evangelists, that St. Luke,
in all probability gathering his materials in Jeru
salem, makes no mention of, nor has the slightest
allusion to, this Galilean journey of the disciples.
The word ' Galilee' occurs indeed in the speech
of the angel to the women at the tomb, but it is
quite in another reference — ' remember, that when
He was yet with you in Galilee, he spoke to you,'
etc. And had we St. Luke's narrative in his Gospel
alone, or St. Luke's and that of the Summarist,
we should certainly infer that the Ascension took
place immediately after the discourse of the Lord,
at His appearance to the Eleven, on that first day
of the week.
But gathering the particulars of the Galilean
journey from St. Matthew and St. John, we find
that the Eleven (and others ?) went thither to a
particular mountain, appointed by Christ Himself;
Q

242 How to study the New Testament.
and that there He appeared to them, and gave
them the great commission to evangelize the world,
and the promise of His continued presence with
them. It has been generally assumed, that this is
the appearance spoken of by St. Paul in 1 Cor.
xv. 6, 'After this He was seen by above five
hundred brethren at once.' No doubt it 77iay
have been so ; but on the other hand it must be
borne in mind, that the incident in St. Matthew is
simply said to have happened to the eleven disciples.
It is equally possible, that there may have been
another appearance to the greater number. Another
appearance to a portion of the Eleven we know
there was, from the Gospel of St. John, who has
appended his supplementary twenty-first chapter
for the purpose of clearing up a wrong impression,
which was prevalent owing to some words of our
Lord on that occasion. The verse with which he
concludes this supplementary chapter is important
for our present purpose. He tells us, as he also
did at the end of chap, xx., that there were many
other things which Jesus did, — so many that, ac
cording to his simple hyperbole, if they should all
be written, ' the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written.' We are not then

The Resun'ection. 243
to expect that independent selections out of so
rich a store will be in every respect coincident, or
that all such taken together are exhaustive. There
were more incidents, more appearances, more re
markable sayings, than we are told of. The slight
hint of St. Paul need not be found to fit on to the
detailed account of St. Matthew. Nor need we
put together the complete speech of our Lord in
St. Luke, with the complete speech in the Sum
marist, and by supposing them to have been neces
sarily spoken at the same time, produce incoherence
and confusion. We have only, so to speak, frag
ments of single groups, out of the action of an
immense and crowded picture. It is not for us,
because the positions of one or two figures in sepa
rate fragments may seem to agree, to rush to the
conclusion that they necessarily formed part of
the same, and by ' harmonizing,' to bring about
incongruous piecing. The only result of this too
common procedure will be, as it has ever been, to
give an air of unreality and constraint to the com
pound figures thus grafted on one another, to blunt
the vividness, and destroy the simplicity, of the
truthful and independent narratives.
For all further particulars up to the time of the

244 How to study the New Testament.
Ascension, we are indebted to St. Luke. In his
Gospel, he had given an account of that great
event, precise as to its manner and place, although
without any exact note of time. This is amply
supplied in his ' second treatise,' written, we may
believe, from the character given by himself of his
researches in the preface to his Gospel, after addi
tional materials of evidence had been collected.
There we learn that fo7-ty days intervened between
the Resurrection and the Ascension. The dis
ciples, whom we find in John xxi. employed about
their former occupations in Galilee, seem to have
returned to Jerusalem before the approach of the
Feast of Pentecost. St. Luke tells us, that the
Lord was ' being seen of them throughout these
forty days.' So that we need be at no loss to
account for their movements ; they may be assumed
to have been under the especial guidance of their
Divine Master Himself. Being arrived in Jeru
salem, they are commanded by Him' not to depart
thence, but ' there to wait for the promise of the
Father, which they had heard of Him.' It would
seem, from the way in which the forty days are
specified, and the notice, 'being assembled to
gether with them,' inserted before this speech of

The Resurrection. 245
our Lord, — as if this second narrative were spe
cially designed to correct the impression, un
doubtedly conveyed by the first, that the command,
and the Ascension, followed continuously on the
appearance to which they are there appended. A
further indication of the same kind has been be
lieved to exist in Acts i. 12, where the former
notice, that ' He led them out as far as to Bethany]
is made more precise by the statement, that the
spot where He ascended was the Mount of Olives;
and it is added, that it was ' nigh to Jerusalem, a
Sabbath-day's journey! It was long ago believed
that these last words were occasioned by offence
having been taken at the leading out ' as far as to
Bethany] the Ascension having taken place on the
Sabbath-day. The two accounts are not really
inconsistent, Bethany being on the further slope
of the Mount of Olives, and the portion of the
Mount adjoining bearing, as commonly, the
name of the district or parish in which it was
situated. The Summarist gathers up the events of this
period in very few words : and those few are cal
culated, if taken alone, even more than those of
St. Luke, to give the impression that the Ascen-

246 How to study the New Testament.
sion happened at the end of the words which the
Lord spoke on His appearance to the Eleven
there related. But the subsequent and concluding
verse, which sums up the labours of the Apostles
in preaching the Word, and the signs following,
shows us that we must not look for precision where
the expressions are so general.
We have now only to deal with the fact of the
omission of all narrative of the Ascension in the
two apostolic Evangelists.
In St. John, we have two distinct mentions of
the Ascension : one in ch. vi. 62, the other in our
Lord's own announcement of it to Mary Magda
lene after His Resurrection. It may be asked,
why he should have omitted to give an account
of the event itself? But it may be replied, that
we are not to judge of the completeness of the
Gospel of St. John by mere insertions or omis
sions of this kind. Completeness, with him, is in
dodritie, rather than in narration. The Ascension
had been predicted in connexion with the doctrine
of the Lord's Body, and had been announced as
His intention after His Resurrection ; and this
having been done, St. John's purpose has been
accomplished. Not a complete narration, but a

The Resurrection. 247
complete image of the Incarnate Son of God, was
that at which his Gospel aimed.
With St. Matthew the case was different ; and
the total omission of the Ascension occasions us
surprise. The mind is obliged to satisfy itself by
observing, that there is a propriety in terminating
that Gospel which above all others sets forth the
kingly character of our Lord, by the declaration
that all power was given unto Him in heaven and
earth, and the commission to teach all nations, which
follows in the exercise of that power.
After all, let it be remembered that the Ascen
sion of our Blessed Lord into heaven was no new
event in the course of Redemption, but was in
fact only the completion of His Resurrection, in
volved in it, and effected by the same act of power
The interval which separated the two was not a
necessity for our Lord, but was interposed in con
descension to us, to furnish His Church with full
and indubitable evidence of His being alive from
the dead. His Resurrection being related, the
Ascension, though not related, follows as a matter
of course. The imputation, that an Evangelist
who relates not the Ascension knew not of it, is
too foolish even for ordinary unbelief to conde-

248 How to study the New Testament.
scend to. That one who like St. Matthew had
described our Lord as saying, ' Ye shall see the
Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming on the clouds of heaven,' should
not have known of the Ascension, would be
simply impossible, even had we no account of
his having been an eye-witness of the event
itself. We have thus endeavoured to furnish a few
hints to the English reader for the comparison
and understanding of the Gospels, regarded as
Four independent testimonies to the Life, Death,
and Resurrection of our blessed Lord. It has
been our endeavour to apply to the subject the
resources of sound criticism, and to adhere in its
treatment most strictly to simplicity and honesty
of thought. We are persuaded, as we have ex
pressed elsewhere, that ' Christianity never was,
and never can be the gainer, by any concealment,
warping, or avoidance of the plain truth, wherever
it is to be found -!1 and we may add, neither will
it gain by the suppression or concealment of any
existing difficulty, nor by the offering of any spe
cious but insufficient solution.
1 Greek Testament, vol. i., Prolegomena, I. iv. 3,

The Resttrrection. 249
In commenting on the Holy Scriptures, we must
be true men, dealing faithfully and boldly with
existing facts. The more we do this, the clearer
will become the evidence for our holy faith, and
the more God Himself will be glorified.

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

JERUSALEM.
I "'IRST, what is this book which we have taken
-*- in hand ? Its writer speaks of a ' former
treatise,' thereby making this his second, or latter
treatise. He addresses a certain Theophilus, a
circumstance which can leave us in no doubt as
to his own personal identity. He is evidently St.
Luke, the writer of the third Gospel, which opens
with a dedication to the same person. So far is
clear. But now, on referring to the opening of that
third Gospel, I find a remarkable and elaborate
preface, setting forth the reasons and nature of
the work which was to follow. Judging by
analogy, something of the kind might here also
have been looked for. But at first sight we do
not seem to find it. The narrative appears at

254 How to study the New Testament.
once to begin with the account of our Lord's
Ascension. It is possible, however, that we may be mis
taken, and that the prefatory announcement of
which we were in search may be present after all.
Let us examine somewhat closely into the matter
of this opening portion of the Acts, and see
whether we can discover its purport and use.
First, let us observe how the writer designates
his former treatise. It is said to be concerning all
things that Jesus began both to do atid to teach.
Now, from the arrangement of these words in the
original Greek, two things are plain which escape
the English reader : First, there is an emphasis on
the verb, ' began;' secondly, there is none on the
word 'Jesus! The contrast is not that the former
treatise related what Jesus began, and this relates
what some other person or persons continued ;
but it is that the former treatise related what Jesus
began to do and to teach ; and this relates what
He, the same Jesus, co7itinued to do and to teach.
And thus we have won aheady a position of some
importance for the understanding of what is to fol
low. It is to be a continuation or second part of
the acts and teachings of the Lord, as that former

The Acts of the Apostles. 255
treatise was a beginning or first part. So that it
has rather unfortunately been called ' ihe Acts of
the Apostles] being rather, ' the Second Part of the
Gospel,' or ' the latter ' or ' second treatise of St.
Luke.' Now let us pause to exemplify the idea thus won
for us, that our Lord is the actor throughout this
book. It is remarkable how the contents of the
book justify it It is He who (i. 24) is supplicated
to designate the new Apostle ; He, who, being by
the right hand of God exalted, shed forth that
which was seen and heard on the day of Pentecost
(ii. 33) ; His name, through faith in His name,
that made the lame man strong (iii. 16, iv. 10) ;
He, to whom, in the increase of the Church, be
lievers were added (v. 14) ; He, to whom the
Apostles gave witness, as exalted to be a Prince
and a Saviour (v. 31, 32) and whom they ceased
not to teach and preach (v. 42) ; He, who was
seen standing at the right hand of God to succour
His dying proto-martyr (vii. 56) ; He, that was
preached everywhere by those whom the persecu
tion that arose about Stephen had scattered (viii.
4) 5> 35) 1 He, who by His own personal act
wrought the conversion of the chief persecutor

256 How to study the New Testament.
(ix. 3, 5) ; He, of whom Peter said, ' ^Eneas,
Jesus Christ maketh thee whole ' (ix. 34) ; He,
who is recognised as ' Lord of all,' by the same
St. Peter, when speaking in the house of Corne
lius, of the dispensation which opened the door of
faith to the Gentiles (x. 36) ; and finally, as regards
the first portion of our book, He, by whose name
the disciples were collectively called on the found
ing of the church at Antioch (xi. 26) ; not forget
ting that which perhaps, after all, rather than
insulated instances, is the true and great example of
that which we are illustrating ; that it is His Spirit,
the promise of the Father sent by Him, who is
poured out on His Church, and in whose power
every act is done and every word spoken.
This point then being established, we recur
again to the opening of the book. The former
treatise, dealing with the beginning of the acts
and teachings of Jesus, had its limit in the Ascen
sion : ' until the day in which he was taken up.'
From that day then our present history begins.
But here we are met by something unexpected.
At this point we look for a preface, like that which
opens the Gospel, informing us of the purpose and
nature of this second treatise. But instead of that,

The A ets of the Apostles. 257
we are carried back at once over the limit of the
history of the former treatise, and find ourselves
reading a second narrative of the Ascension. But
this, which is at first sight strange, is easily ac
counted for. The time of our Lord appearing to
the disciples after the Resurrection is distinctly
marked off from the time when He was with them
in the flesh. Speaking to them after the Resur
rection, He refers back to that former period as
' when I was yet with you.' He had ceased to be
with them as He was with them before. He was
seen, not as man by man, but only at intervals and
in vision : ' appearing to them,' and vanishing from
their sight. And this period of the forty days was
full of the future. During it, His discourses were
concerning the Kingdom of God, that is, the
Church of the future, — her constitution and her
fortunes. During it were uttered by Him those
commandments by which their future course was
to be guided. So that this period contained the
germ of all that our present treatise is to unfold.
The things, that Jesus continued to do and teach
here found their announcement, as far as He was
pleased to give it.
And we here find, as has well been ob-
R

258 How to study the New Testament.
served,1 a reason for the difference in the manner
of treating the period preceding the Ascension here
and in the Gospel. There it is all gathered up
very summarily ; indeed so briefly, that, as I have
observed in a previous section, it may seem as if
it had been overlooked altogether. It belonged
not to the design of the Gospel to set it forth in
all its significance. Having regard to a future
course of action, it is reserved till that future
course of action comes to be related. Here it is
strictly in its place, and every word of its history
is important. Let us see then what it includes.
First, notice the preparation in this narrative
for a book which is to deal with the outpouring
and dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The writer
seems studiously to introduce the mention ofthe
Holy Ghost as ruling alike, and connecting
together, the ministry of our Lord and that of His
Apostles. It was (ver. 2) ' through the Holy
Ghost ' that he delivered to them commandments
respecting their future course : in a few days they
were to be ' baptized with the Holy Ghost : '
1 By Baumgarten, in p. n of his Apostelgeschichte ; a treatise to
which it is a real pleasure again to acknowledge my obligations. It
has been published for the English reader in Clark's ' Theological
Library.1

The Acts of the Apostles. 259
they were to 'receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost was come upon them.'
Next observe the command, not to depart from
Jerusalem. This injunction is also related at the
end of ' the former treatise ' (Luke xxiv. 49) :
but in the summary character of that abridgment
of the events following the Resurrection, it loses
its proper significance. In the absence of all
allusion in the Gospel to the disciples' journey
into Galilee, the command would there appear as
if it precluded such a journey. Here, we know
that the journey had already taken place, and the
return from it ; this latter also under the direction
ofthe Lord Himself. This regard paid to Jeru
salem is very remarkable. He who came not to
destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfil
them, will have His Gospel in its first going forth,
bound to the Holy City, and to its solemn
appointed observances. 'To the Jew first, and
also to the Gentile.' And this is the more to be
observed, because of the declaration so soon
"following, that the Gospel was not to remain in
Jerusalem, but to be spread to the ends of the
earth. That which is to supersede the Jewish
polity, that which is to contradict its maxims and

260 How to study the New Testament.
its spirit, is yet in its beginnings not to be sepa
rated from it. Jerusalem is to be the mother of
us all : Old and New Testament are to be inse
parably linked in one.
And this is further apparent, when we notice in
what words the Lord characterizes the great out
pouring of the Spirit for which the Church was to
wait in Jerusalem. It is ' the promise of the
Father : ' not His own promise, though He
announces it in words belonging rather to the
spirit of His own preaching than to that of the
Prophets : not John's promise, though in saying
' ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost,' He
cites the very terms in which the Baptist had
announced the working of the Greater One who
was to come after him. It is ' the promise of the
Father] because it is the one sum and substance
of all the Old Testament promises, in that dis
pensation which was especially declaratory of the
Father's purpose and will : it is ' the promise of
the Father,' as embracing in one all other
promises, and as the inclusive blessing of the
covenant being no less than the entire renewal of
man by the indwelling Spirit : a blessing unknown
to the earlier dispensation, and by virtue of which

The A ets of the Apostles. 2 6 1
the least under the latter covenant is greater than
the greatest under the former one. This baptism
by the Holy Ghost was to be the fulfilment of
that which the baptism of John only foreshadowed.
And now, why ' not many days hence ? ' Why
was this, and no other, especially the time for this
indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our nature to
begin ? St. John furnishes us with the answer,
when he tells us (vii. 39), ' the Holy Ghost was not
yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.' On
Him, the inclusive Head of our humanity, the
Holy Spirit alighted in His baptism. To Him
the Spirit was given without measure. But the
fulness of the outpouring of this Spirit from Him
over all flesh summed up in Him, awaited the
full acceptance of all our flesh in Him, when He
had by himself purged our sins and sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on High. It is this
which so closely binds on the narrative of the
Ascension to all that is to follow. It is this
which makes the ' not many days hence ' so
pregnant with deep meaning, as assigning to the
greatest event in the Church's history its proper
and only place.
And now comes the question of the disciples

262 How to study the New Testament.
respecting the restoring at this time of the
kingdom to Israel. Did it arise from understand
ing, or from misunderstanding, of our Lord's
words ? Jointly from both. From the former, in
that they connected together the baptism by the
Spirit and the (true) restoration of the glory of
Israel : from the latter, in that they supposed this
to be that literal restoration of outward pre
eminence, which indisputably was the subject of
Old Testament promise, and had been declared
by our Lord Himself.
Notice how the reply to this their question
leads on to what is to follow. Our Lord does
not, as sometimes supposed, repudiate the as
sumption that the kingdom was to be restored
to Israel : nay rather He Himself assumes it, but,
in strict consistency with His own declaration in
Mark xiii. 32, warns them, that the times and the
seasons are not for us to know, but are by the
Father reserved in His own authority. This
being so, speculate not on them, but learn the
announcement of the part which is to be your
own, when power from on high has come upon
you. This will be the true founding of that
Kingdom of which you ask, in which, at the

The Acts of the Apostles. 263
Father's own time, Israel shall be restored to pre
eminence. 'Ye shall receive power.' Then at
present they were weak ; and it was a sign of
their weakness, that they had asked this question.
When power was come upon them, they should
no longer ask about the kingdom, but work it out,
in their new and energetic testimony to Him who
is its King and Founder. And the fountain of
this power was to be the Holy Ghost. Not till
He had come upon them, were they to be thus
endowed. Not till He had become the inherit
ance of the ends of the earth by the gradual
spread of the evangelic testimony to Jesus, could
this kingdom fully come.
And now we have come to the sentence which,
above all others in this prefatory narrative, sums
up the purpose and contents of the book which is
to follow. ' Ye shall be witnesses unto me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost parts of the earth.' In these
words, we have in fact a brief table of contents
of the whole book. The testimony in Jerusalem
occupies the history as far as the end of ch. vii. ;
in ch. viii. it spreads to all Judea and Samaria : in
ch. ix., we have the preparation, by the conversion

264 How to study the New Testament.
of the Apostle of the Gentiles, for its being carried
abroad over all the world : and the rest of the
book is occupied with this extension. In ch. xi.
we pass from Jerusalem to Antioch ; thence over
Asia Minor, and into Greece : thence, finally, to
the world's great capital, Rome.
And now follows the account of the Ascension,
fully given in detail. We may be disposed to
inquire, Why so ? For clearly this writer cannot
be supposed at the solemn opening of His book
to place any narrative so circumstantially related
without special purpose. It is not 7nerely because,
since writing his Gospel, he has made new and
careful researches, and is able to fill in details
which he possessed not then. Those who have
thought about the matter, have seen very sufficient
reasons why the Ascension should be here so fully
narrated. First, the manner of the Lord's recep
tion into heaven is important for all that is to
follow. It is not sudden nor forcible, but tranquil,
and as matter of course. No chariot of fire and
horses of fire, as when Elijah was taken ; no myste
rious disappearance, as when Enoch ' was not, for
God took him :' but simply a journey, as of a man
to his home. ' They looked as He went up.'

The Acts of the Apostles. 265
And inasmuch as a cloud received Him out of
their sight, it was declared to them that the human
form of the Lord which thus departed from among
them, has not disappeared into the air, but has
entered heaven, the abode of God, and is there
working and acting. But how ? Entering heaven
as the glorified King, it is concerning His King
dom that He is acting and working ; but inasmuch
as He is withdrawn from them, and no longer
personally among them, it is not outwardly and
visibly that He is thus working ; not concerning a
visible earthly Kingdom : but only by that out
pouring of the Spirit which He is gone up to
receive, and concerning an inward and spiritual
kingdom. And how notably is accomplished that saying of
His, the fulfilment of which bega7i indeed with the
moment when He uttered it, ' Hereafter ye shall
see heaven open, and the angels of God ascend
ing and descending upon the Son of man' (John
i. 51). Now first the gulf between heaven and
earth is bridged over ; and, accordingly, two
heavenly messengers, as men among men, stand
by the Apostles as they gazed after their departing
Lord, and spoke of the far distance in time, when

266 How to study the New Testament.
the Lord should be no longer hidden, the kingdom
no longer working in the depths of men's spirits,
but this same Jesus, unchanged, in all His
humanity, even as He had gone from them, should
come again.
Thus we have the mind and position of the
writer fully set before us : and without a careful
examination of the prefatory narrative, it is impos
sible rightly to apprehend it. The Lord, received
into heaven till the time of the restitution of all
things ; by the appointment of the Father and by
the agency of the Spirit, working all in all ; the
Apostles, left on earth to carry out His commands
and witness to Him in all the world ; the promise
of the Spirit about to be fulfilled not many days
hence : this is the situation with which the book
opens. And the reader needs to be reminded,
that this view of the position and those agents are
kept in view throughout. For this has been very
generally forgotten. The unfortunate name of the
book, ' the Acts of the Apostles,' has arisen from
this forgetfulness : and it has also resulted in a
number of theories, each more absurd and irrele
vant than the last, concerning the composition and
purpose of the history. Being persuaded that the

The Acts of the Apostles. 267
key, and the only key to it, is in the view above
propounded, I shall not trouble the reader with
an account of any of those theories, but shall at
once proceed to an endeavour to unfold the con
tents of the book according to this scheme.
And what have we next related to us ? Mani
festly, as we have already seen, the great History
of the Church is to open with its constitution by
the outpouring of the Spirit. So that in this
second part of ch. i. the commencement of the
history is not yet reached : we are still amidst pre
fatory matter. Let us examine its character and
appropriateness. The Apostles return from the
Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, full of joy, full of
dependence on their glorified Head, worshipping
Him, and frequenting their own assembly and the
Temple. ' Their very souls were prayer.'1 They
were in an especial manner under His guidance.
The Comforter had not yet come ; and we cannot
suppose that they were left orphans, but were
rather specially cared for in the interval.
Under this guidance, Peter is moved to address
the 120 brethren on the incompleteness of the
Apostolic band. For the Church, constituted on
1 Baumgarten.

268 How to study the New Testament.
the model of Israel, this Apostolic band was of
the weightiest import. Its members were above
all others to be witnesses of the Lord's Resurrec
tion. Its members were to lead and govern the
first age of the Church : and, in its ultimate glories,
were to sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of the Israel of God. One of the former
number had despised his heavenly inheritance for
an earthly one : had ' gone to his own place,'
which he had purchased with the wages of his
iniquity, and had there (perhaps, as some believe,
in the very valley of the typical Hinnom, thus
throwing light on the mysterious phrase just cited)
met with his fearful end. Into his place another
must be chosen. This choice is made in accordance
with the prophetic announcements of Scripture,
and with regard to the necessary qualifications of
an Apostle. It is made by the whole assembled
body, under the direction of him who, in virtue of
his confession of faith in the Son of God, had been
constituted, during this building up of the Church,
leader and president of the band. According to
his designation, two are selected possessing the
necessary requirements. Whether there were only
these two thus endowed, or whether these were

The Acts of the Apostles . 269
chosen out of more, is, I conceive, of very little
importance. The narrative (ver. 23) certainly
seems to imply the latter alternative : and it would
be natural perhaps that the function of the Church
should not be confined merely to describing the
obvious requisites for an Apostle, as would be .the
case under the other. The ultimate choice is left
to the Lord Himself. And the words in which
the assembly prays, show us that the reference is
made in all recognition of the Godhead and abso
lute foreknowledge of the ascended Saviour. It
is not said ' Show whom thou wilt choose] but
' whom Thou hast chosen.' There exists no more
decisive proof of the absolute recognition of the
Divinity of our blessed Lord, than this first prayer
of His Church. That the prayer is made to Him,
is undeniable. The very word in which He says,
John vi. 70, ' Have I not chosen you twelve ?' is
also used here : if He chose the Twelve, His it
was to choose the new Apostle. And, the prayer
being thus made to Him, there is in it attributed
to Him knowledge of the hearts of all men, and
that divine foreknowledge which, before all secon
dary agents, determines the destiny of men.
I have dwelt thus at length on the prefatory

270 How to study the New Testament.
matter, because it was needful that it should be
laid out somewhat in detail before the reader.
We must henceforward pass on more rapidly, bring
ing out only the more prominent points, and their
places in the history.
The time of the fulfilment of the fiftieth day
from the Passover was noted by the solemn feast
of Pentecost. As described to us in the Old Tes
tament, that feast had reference only to the com
pletion of the ingathering of the harvest. The
circumstance often adduced in reference to the
Christian history of the day, that it was also kept
as the anniversary of the Giving of the Law on
Sinai, can hardly be said to claim a place in our
considerations, as finding no ground in the sacred
books ; from which, and from which alone, any
safe estimate of the typical import of the day can
be derived. Now it is, that the grain of wheat
which had been dropped into the ground, and had
died, was to bring forth its first rich harvest of
fruit ; now that the ingathering of that harvest was
to begin, of which the first-fruit was already in the
garner of God. On this day the whole Church,
assembled together in one place, became ' filled
with the Holy Spirit :' lifted above the ordinary

The Acts of the Apostles. 271
condition of humanity into an ecstatic state, in
which the common requisites of knowledge and
utterance were superseded. Marvellous sounds
and sights, the rushing wind and the tongues of
flame, accompanied the spiritual phenomenon,
and assured it to the senses as an objective reality.
These signs, and that which followed them, — the
speaking with tongues, — were but indications of
the deeper and greater event itself, the being filled
with the Holy Ghost. The rushing wind and the
tongues of flame passed away in a few minutes,
the speaking with tongues in a few years : but the
event of Pentecost remains in all its presence and
all its power. The filling, teaching, indwelling
Spirit, is as much with us, as He was with them.
And none makes a right use of this book, who
does not keep this ever in mind. Two more mis
takes respecting this day's history are common.
One is, to imagine that it is of the Apostles only
that the whole is related. Any fair examination
of the narrative will remove this impression.
Throughout the latter part of ch. i. we are in pre
sence of the assembled believers, the hundred and
twenty names of ver. 15. In ver. 23, it is 'they'
who ' appoint two ;' in ver. 24, ' they' who pray;

272 How to study the New Testament.
in ver. 26, ' they' who give forth their lots ; in
ch. ii. 1, ' they' who are ' all with one accord in
one place;' in ver. 3, it is upon ' each of them'
that the fiery tongues rest. There is no change
of subject throughout. And with this agree the
words and acts of the Twelve. It is they, with
St. Peter as their spokesman, who stand forward
before the rest, and point to them as not being
drunken, but the subjects of the fulfilment of the
prophetic word. And in the terms of that word,
as cited, the same is corroborated. That which
was happening was an example of the outpouring
of the Spirit upon ' all flesh.' Among those who
were speaking with tongues were the holy women ;
and in the prophetic text we have, ' Your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy,' and, ' on the ser
vants and hand-maidens will I pour out of my
Spirit' Connected with this mistake is another, viz.,
the idea that on this occasion was conferred on
the Apostles the permanent gift of speaking in
various languages, to qualify them for their mis
sionary work. There is for this no foundation
whatever in the sacred text It is inconsistent
both with all we read afterwards respecting the

The Acts of the Apostles. 273
gift of tongues, and with every indication which
we subsequently find of their course of proceeding
in preaching in strange lands ; not to mention,
that it would remove altogether the region of the
Spirit's great work of apostolic missions from the
firm ground of aided human endeavour, into the
vague, unsatisfactory realm of standing miracle,
and superseding ofthe normal conditions of speech
and thought. That the idea was unknown to the
ancient Church, is plain from its testimony that
St. Mark accompanied St. Peter as his i7iterpreter :
that it found no countenance from the greatest
expositor of the fourth century, we see from Chry
sostom, who, in explaining Acts xiv. 14, accounts
for the Apostles not interfering before, by the
notice inserted by St. Luke, that the words, ' The
gods are come down to us in the likeness of men,'
were uttered ' in the speech of Lycaonia,' and
were therefore unintelligible to them. This mis
take, I said, is closely connected with the other.
If the gifts here related were confined to the
Apostles, then they might naturally be supposed
to have some connexion with the future Apostolic
work of preaching the Gospel : but seeing that
they were shared by many, women included, to
s

274 How to study the New Testament.
whom fell no such duty of preaching, that supposi
tion is entirely out of place. When we come, in
the proper place, to speak of the gift of tongues,
it will be seen how totally different it was from the
lasting endowment of ability to speak in a tongue
which had never been learned. That it took the
form, in the ecstatic rapture, of various languages,
understood by the pious strangers then present in
Jerusalem, is nothing to the point. It is enough
answer to those who would make this into an
argument, that no distinction can be sharper and
plainer than that drawn by St. Paul between the
gift of tongues, as a temporary, ecstatic, super
natural sign, and preaching, as a permanent, spiri
tual, convincing ordinance.
But we must pass rapidly onward. The Church
is now constituted. On all its members alike is
poured out the Spirit of God. The oil of anoint
ing, which was shed abundantly on its glorified
Head, has descended even to the skirts of the
raiment. But now, contemporaneously with this its first
constitution, its definite government and approved
teaching begins. No sooner is there a Church,
than there is also a separated ministry. Peter

The A ets of the Apostles. 275
stood forth — it is the formal word statheis — with
the eleven, and lifted up his voice — again the for
mal expression by which a course of teaching is
ushered in. And the first Apostolic testimony is
borne — to whom ? Formally again, to the men
of Judea, and all that dwell in Jerusalem — to the
men of Israel ; not only to the multitude then
present, but to the nation which had crucified the
Lord, and whom now by His ministers He calls
to repentance.
On the rich and weighty contents of this first
sermon I would dwell, but must not. Nothing in
it is accidental, nothing occasional. Every word
told then ; every word tells now. The result is
that with which we are now mainly concerned.
As the Apostle speaks, strange compunctions enter
the breasts of those that hear. The crucified
malefactor exalted above the heavens — the crushed
impostor become Lord and Christ, and shedding
forth this which they saw and heard — what had
they done ? what should they do ? They are
pierced in heart, looking on Him whom they had
pierced. The very word used is the same. They
cast themselves at once on the guidance of those.
whom, but a little before, they had regarded

276 How to study the New Testament.
as conspirators leagued to deceive them. The
change within them is begun already ; and the
Apostle's advice in reply is but to complete the
change, and ratify it by baptism into the name of
Jesus as their Lord.
And thus does the Church receive her first in
crement, and hundreds become thousands ; and
the first is given of those remarkable descriptions
of the blessed unanimity and community which
prevailed. Still, this is but a beginning. The testimony
must wax onward. It must be forced on the atten
tion of the rulers : of those very men who had
condemned the Lord to death, and had insisted,
when Pilate would have let Him go. And so, in
the face of all the people, at the very gate of the
Temple and at the hour of prayer, a notable
miracle is wrought, which cannot be left unnoticed
by the authorities. The despised name of Jesus
of Nazareth is proved to be the source of Divine
healing power, not only of ecstatic influence which
they might attribute to natural causes. With that
effect of this Name came the preaching of Him
as Lord and Christ, and ofthe truth of His resur
rection. These things could no longer be borne.

The Acts of the Apostles. 277
The Apostles are summoned before the rulers.
The despised men of Galilee stand before the
Council which had condemned their Master. The
power of the Holy Ghost in them is mighty and
irresistible, and the first effort of the foe is baffled.
All is triumph to the Church : triumph without,
and increase of power in the Apostolic testimony ;
and peace, and unity, and community within.
As we pass onward with this rapid sketch, the
progress of the Church is like the lifetime of a
plant : the trying wind, the biting frost, the wither
ing blight, all tending to stablish, strengthen, settle,
even till the nations take refuge in the shadow of
the spreading branches. The next trial is from
within. Falsehood and double-dealing appear in
this chosen band of witnesses to the Lord. So,
indeed, is it ever to be ; wheat and tares growing
together till the harvest. But this first example,
this lying to the Holy Ghost present in the Apostles,
is not to pass without that which shall carry terror
to the hearts of all who would in like manner bring
a double heart into the fold of Christ And thus
the power and the influence of the rising Church
waxes onward : all is success, all is hope fulfilled,
multitudes are added to the Lord ; daily the

278 How to study the New Testament.
Apostles, in the most conspicuous part of the
Temple, bear their testimony to the Resurrection
pf the Lord, standing separate and unrivalled, and
magnified by all the people. As they pass along
the streets the sick are brought out, and laid for
the healing influence of even the shadow of Peter
passing by. Crowds throng, to Jerusalem out of
the country round, bringing their sick ; the pour
ing out of praise is universal, all are healed.
Once more the foe bestirs himself. The Apostles
are cast into prison ; but ho sooner cast in, than
by angelic hands delivered, and commanded to
continue their testimony in the ears of the people.
Again they are brought before the Council ; gently.
for they were the favourites of the people. Even
in the Council itself they find an advocate : ' Let
these men alone ; may be you are fighting against
God.' However, this time persecution tastes blood,
and the Apostles suffer shame for the name of the
Lord. But as the shame, so waxes the joy ; as the
prohibition, so advances the spirit and power of
the teaching. Still the Church in Jerusalem grows
and spreads. New arrangements have to be made,
new offices devised for the carrying on of its
machinery.

The Acts of the Apostles. 279
And now we have risen to the very summit of
the first, the Jerusalem career of the Church's
triumph. In ch. vi. 7, 8, we have the joyous
record of increase and success for the last time.
All, up to this point, seems to bid fair for the con
version of the entire Jewish people. The number
of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ;
and we even read that a great multitude of the
priests were obedient unto the faith.
Meantime on the horizon is arising the little
cloud, which ere long shall cover the heaven with
clouds and wind : and the distant howling of the
tempest is already heard. ' The persecution that
arose about Stephen,' scattering abroad the Jeru
salem Church, sowing far and wide the seed of the
Word, — this is the opening event ofthe next period
of the history. And for our treatment of the next
period we will reserve it.
Our usual duty yet remains : to give to the
English reader a list of revised readings and ren
derings in the six chapters through which we have
been passing.
Among the alterations which should be made in
the text itself, to bring it into accord with our
oldest authorities, the following are the principal :

280 How to study the New Testament.
In ch. i. 25, part should be 'the place.' Judas
had left the place which his Lord had appointed
him, to go to his ow7i place.
In ch. ii. 1, for ' with one accord] read ' to
gether.' In ver. 23, instead of 'ye have taken and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain] read and
render, 'ye by the hand of lawless men nailed up
and slew.' In ver. 30, instead of 'he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne] read, ' he would set
one upon his throne :' and in the next verse, for
' his soul] read ' he.' Last verse, read and render,
' The Lord brought together daily more that were
in the way of salvation.'
In ch. iii. 18, read, 'by the mouth of all the
prophets, that his Christ should suffer.' In vers.
19, 20, read and render, 'that the times of refresh
ing may come from the presence of the Lord, and
that He may send Him who was before appointed
your Messiah, even Jesus.' In ver. 22, omit ' u7ito
the fathers!
In ch. iv. 25, read, ' who by the mouth of our
father David, thy servant, hast said by the Holy
Spirit.' In ver. 27, read, ' gathered together in
this city.'
In ch. v. 24, the words, ' the high priest

The A ets of the Apostles. 2 8 1
and' are omitted by most of our oldest authori
ties. In ch. vi. 3, for ' 7nay] read ' will.' In ver. 8,
for 'faith] read 'grace.'
The corrections necessary to bring the English
version into stricter accordance with the original
text, are in this portion far more numerous.
In ch. i. 2, render, 'had given commandments
to the Apostles whom he had chosen through the
Holy Ghost.' In the original, it is doubtful
whether the words 'through the Holy Ghost'
belong to ' had given commandments ' or to ' had
chosen ;' and this ambiguity should be preserved
in the version. In ver. 6, render, ' They therefore
came together and asked Him.' In ver. 7,
'power' should be 'authority.' As it stands, it
misleads the reader, looking as if it represented
the same word as ' power ' in the next verse,
whereas it does not. In ver. 8, render, ' by the
Holy Ghost coming upon you.' ' Witnesses unto
me ' would be better, as it stands in the original,
'my witnesses.' In ver. 12, render, 'which is
nigh unto Jerusalem, being a Sabbath-day's jour
ney.' In ver. 13, it should stand, ' they went up
into the upper chamber where they were sojourn-

282 How to study the New Testament.
ing, namely, Peter,' etc. The words 'the son
and ' the brother ' are not expressed in the origi
nal. In ver. 16, and whenever the words occur,
'Men and brethreti' should be 'Brethren' only.
It does not represent two classes of persons, but
one: 'men who are brethren,' 'brother men.'
(This will not be noticed again.) In ver. 17,
'part' should be 'the lot,' being the same word
as that so rendered in ver. 26. In ver. 22, it
should stand, as in the original, ' must one become
a witness.' In ver. 24, for ' shew whether of those
two Thou hast chosen] ' appoint one of these two,
him whom Thou hast chosen.' In ver. 25, for
' by transgression fell] the original has merely
' passed away.' In ver. 26, for 'gave forth their
lots] ' cast lots for them.'
In ch. ii. 1, render, 'while the day of Pentecost
was being fulfilled.' In ver. 6, 'when this was
noised abroad] should be 'when this sound (literally,
noise) took place.' In ver. 10, for ' strangers of
Rot7ie] ' Romans who are sojourning here.' In
ver. 13, ' 7iat) wine ' should more properly be
' sweet wine.' In ver. 23, ' delivered by] should
be ' delivered according to.' Ver. 29, for 'is both
dead and buried] ' both died and was buried.'

The Acts of the Apostles. 283
A'er. 34, for ' is not ascended] 'did not ascend.' In
ver. 40, it should stand, 'Be saved from this
crooked generation.' The Apostle does not com
mand them to save themselves, but to receive Christ's
salvation. Ver. 42, ' and fellowship' should be
'and in community :' it is a separate matter, not
connected, as ' doctrine ' is, with ' the Apostles.'
In ver. 46, 'from house to house ' should be ' at
home.' In ch. iii. 1, for ' went up together] it should be
simply ' were going.' Ver. 12, 'at this] should be
' at this man :' and ' holiness ' should be ' godli
ness,' as this word is always elsewhere rendered in
the New Testament. Ver. 13, 'Son' ought to be
' Servant :' and in ver. 15, ' whereof should be
' of whom.' In ver. 21, for 'which] which now is
ambiguous, substitute ' of which times.' In ver.
26, for 'Son] render 'Servant:' and for 'to bless
you] ' blessing you.'
In ch. iv. 13, better, ' when they beheld the
freedom of speech of Peter and John, having also
previously known, etc. : and they recognised them,
that they had been with Jesus.' Ver. 27, 'child'
should be ' Servant.'
In ch. v. 19, 'the angel' should be ' an angel 1

284 How to study the New Testament.
and in ver. 2 1, ' early in the morni7ig ' should be
' at the break of day.' In ver. 24, ' doubted of]
would be better ' doubted concerning.' In ver. 37,
for 'taxing] substitute 'enrolment.' In ver. 39,
' if it be' ought to be 'if it is,' retaining 'be' in
the previous verse. The distinction is in the
original, and is intended. In ver. 41, render
' they departed rejoicing from the presence of the
council, because they were counted worthy to
suffer shame for the Name,' viz., of Christ. Ver.
42, it should be ' Jesus the Christ :' i.e., as the
Christ. In ch. vi. 1, 'multiplied' should be 'multiply
ing ;' and 'Grecians' should be ' Grecian Jews,' or
' Hellenists.' They were not Gentiles, as the word
Grecians would seem to imply. In ver. 2, for
' 7'eason] substitute ' our pleasure :' and in ver. 7,
for ' company] ' multitude.'

The Acts of the Apostles. 285

11.

JERUSALEM TO ANTIOCH.
TT ITHERTO, the career of the Church has
¦*- ¦*- been all prosperity. Paradise seems to have
been regained for the sons of men. Outward danger
has been triumphantly overcome. Inward danger
has been effectually repressed byapostolic authority.
The brightest visions of human happiness could
hardly find more glowing description than in St.
Luke's words which set forth the state of those
who believed. All things in common ; the general
possession administered by men miraculously en
dowed with the Holy Ghost ; daily worship in the
Temple ; daily commemoration and spiritual par
ticipation of the Body and Blood of the Lord ;
gladness and singleness of heart, and holy mutual
love : these are the characteristics of the happy
band of pious Jews, not yet called Christians,
which was rapidly increasing in Jerusalem. But
this second Eden may not abide, any more than

286 How to study the New Testament.
the first. Human infirmity is present still ; present
even in the highest spirit of man ; and in that, even
when most specially dwelt in by the Spirit of God.
I said that the distribution of the common pos
session had hitherto rested with the Apostles them
selves. Than this nothing can be clearer. The
money brought in was laid at their feet. And had
they before this been in the habit of delegating
the duty of distributing it to others, we should not
now first hear of that delegation being determined
on and carried out. But the Apostles were them
selves Jews. Though two of them, Andrew and
Philip, bear names of Greek origin, and on one
occasion (John xii.) seem to have been the chan
nel of communication between Greeks and our
Lord, there is no reason to suppose that they were
other than pure Jews by descent. Andrew indeed
was own brother to Simon Peter.
¦ Where personal selfishness and greed are absent,
national party spirit may still be found. Com
plaints arose from the Hellenistic Jews who were
believers — men of Grecian descent, adopted into
the family of Israel — that their widows were over
looked in the daily ministration of the common
fund of the Church.
Let us notice how commonplace, and how uni-

The A ets of the Apostles. 287
form in all time, are these grounds of murmuring
and of division in the Church. I knew a neigh
bourhood where, in the first years of a faithful and
energetic ministry, it was made ground of grave
censure of the minister that, in the increase of
communicants, persons from other villages con
sumed the parish bread and wine ! Let it be
Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome, Geneva, England,
Scotland, America — our infirmities, our party
strifes, are in type the same ; and the most trivial
and everyday matters will break in among and
disturb the exercise of spiritual gifts and graces.
At the same time, in the good providence of
God, from these unwelcome and unseemly dis
turbances spring the most important onward steps
in the Church's progress. Even so it was in this
first example. Now first is the ministry widened,
and passes beyond the apostolic body to another
class of men, set over this special need by laying
on of hands and prayer. That every one of these
should bear names more or less Grecian, is easily
accounted for by the necessity out of which their
appointment arose. That they were chosen not by
the Apostles, but by the multitude of the brethren,
is a circumstance not lightly to be passed over.
But another tiling also is worthy of our notice.

288 How to study the New Testament.
These seven men are not, and are not intended
to be, mere distributors of alms. The solemnity
of their appointment, the fact that they are the
only order of ministers co-ordinate with the Apos
tles, forbids such a supposition : and as we read,
the facts themselves entirely preclude it. These
men, ' full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom,' were
not likely to set aside all spiritual gifts, and to
serve tables only. The result of their appoint
ment seems to have been the setting at rest of the
present trouble, and is expressly stated to have
resulted in a great increase of the number of be
lievers ; so that even of the priestly order itself, a
great multitude were obedient to the faith.
And now springs out of this matter another, of
inestimably greater import in the Church's history.
One of these seven, Stephen, soon rises far above
the rest in activity and notoriety. He exercises
among the people miraculous gifts, hitherto con
fined to the Apostles only. He disputes with the
Grecian Jews, and in their synagogues silences all
objections by the wisdom and the power of the
Spirit with which he spoke. The special character
of his preaching may be surmised from the imme
diate result, and from the kind of charge which
was brought against him. He had told them, as

The Acts of the Apostles. 289
he afterwards told the Council, that the Most High
dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; he had
ventured* to hint at the transitoriness of the Mosaic
dispensation, and the indications, in its most
solemn ordinances, of the permanent spiritual
reign of Jesus of Nazareth. By words like these the
active enmity of fanatical Judaism was awakened.
Defeated in argument, it issues in force. The
Grecian Jews stir up the people by exaggerated
and false reports of Stephen's sayings. Hitherto
the multitude has been with the Apostles. Hitherto
the Council has been afraid to proceed because of
the people. But now the nature of the charge at
once alienates the popular affection. As before
' Hosanna ' became ' Crucify,' so now. Stephen
is dragged before the Council, charged with having
spoken blasphemous words against the holy place
and against tlie law.
It is not my purpose to follow the history into
the details of each narrative, or I would willingly
have paused over every incident in this great crisis
of the Church, and have traced the connexion
and effect of every portion of Stephen's wonderful
speech. My object is rather to point out in short
compass the meaning and coherence of the whole,
T

290 How to study the New Testament.
and to trace, as it were, in a bird's-eye view, the
paths by which the Church spread from point to
point in the prospect. It must suffice, then, to say
of this long and somewhat difficult apology, that
not a word of it is wasted ; that the great theme
of it is to show that the holy people had been
rebellious from the first, and that holy places made
with hands had never been the dwelling-place of
God. Before it had come to an end, the martyr,
provoked, most probably, by the impatience or
hostile expressions of his hearers, burst forth into
a torrent of fervid vituperation of the hard-hearted-
ness and rebellion of Israel. Upon this the fury
of his enemies was aroused. They seized him,
and dragged him forth out of the city, and stoned
him. This opened the flood-gates of persecution.
From being a scene of triumph, Jerusalem became
a scene of deadly peril. One foe is prominent
among the rest, the ' young man named Saul,' who
makes havoc of the Church, searches houses for
the faithful, and takes multitudes of both sexes to
prison. And now commences a new period and form of
the Church's activity. Hitherto her course has

The Acts of the Apostles. 291
been led under the immediate guidance of the
Apostles. The present dispersion is to prove, for
the first time, that she has work to do without the
Apostles. It was indeed still their work, but their
work by delegation to others. Judea and Samaria
(the two next localities, be it observed, which the
Lord had prescribed for the testimony to Him)
are filled with the scattered members of the Church ;
and the afterward familiar expression, ' preaching
the word,' first meets the eye. Let us notice, also,
another expression, now found for the first time —
' the church which was in Jerusalem.' We are
now about to hear, not of the Mother Church
only, but of churches in other parts. And in this
"multiplication of churches, let us not fail to observe
how the Spirit, in His manifold gifts and strength,
asserts His independence of mere official co-opera
tion of men. Of all offices, none surely was ever
so honoured and so distinct as that of the Apostles.
In the infancy of the Church, it seemed that none
but they were ever to lead or to enlarge it. ' Of
the rest, durst no man join them,' as with great
power they gave witness to the Resurrection of
Jesus. And now, while their official work is yet
but midway, and much remains for them to do,

292 How to shidy the New Testament.
the very first dispersion of the Gospel is carried on
without them. The Spirit, working faith in man,
is not bound. He is as powerful, in His voice of
persuasion, in the servant and handmaid, in the
babe and suckling, as in the Apostle and the
bishop. But let us also observe, that, although
remaining in Jerusalem, the Apostles are not laid
aside. No sooner does the successful preaching
of another of the seven, Philip, make the found
ing of a church in Samaria imminent, than two of
the chief Apostles are sent down to them ; and the
formal bestowal of the gifts of the Spirit takes
place by their hands. The founding and ruling of
the Church, the orderly assembly of believers, is
bound to the appointed offices and officers in the
Church : but the spread of the Gospel from heart
to heart, from the living voice to the pricking con
science, is not thus bound. Every Christian is
not a church-officer, not a conferrer of spiritual
gifts, not an administrator of the sacraments, not
a public preacher, or reader of God's Word ; but
every Christian is a witness of Christ, and, if need
so be, a missionary of Christ to his brethren.
Let us pass on, noting as we pass any steps
which are taken to assure the inward purity of the

The Acts of the Apostles. 293
Church, or to extend its range without. To the
first of these belongs that second protest against
the base lust of lucre in holy matters, which is fur
nished by the proposal of Simon Magus and its
indignant rejection by the Apostles ; and to the
second belongs the providentially prepared meet
ing between the deacon Philip and the .^Ethiopian
eunuch, who, being taught the truth respecting
Jesus, beyond doubt became the bearer of the
' good tidings ' to his distant home.
And now the dawn of day is brightening
rapidly onward ; and He who at first commanded
light to shine out of darkness, raises, in an unex
pected quarter of the horizon, a burning and a
shining light. I have ever felt that, among all the
visible interpositions of God's providence in
history, none is so clear, or so worthy of our
admiration, as the preparation and career of the
young man Saul. That we may the better see
this, let us briefly review the situation of the
Church and the world in the time at which we
have arrived. The Church, built upon the
foundation of the old covenant, and destined to
carry God's building to its completion, has
excited the bitter hatred of Judaism proper.

294 How to study the New Testament.
This latter must either wane before it, or crush it.
This is one great enigma to be solved : to fuse
into one the strictness of Judaism and the belief
in Jesus Christ. But look again. The Gospel
is for all mankind ; is to be received by the per
suaded reason, to become wisdom to the enligh
tened intellect, to feed the yearnings of the
loftiest spirit; and the intelligent nations of
heathendom are facing the new religion in all the
pride of highly cultivated intellect, and flushed
with the triumphs of transcendent genius. A
second problem then is, to fuse into one the
simplicity which is in Christ and the subtilties of
human philosophy ; to show that He is made to
man the highest wisdom, and that the discourse
concerning Him can take up into itself all the
materials, of which ages of the training of the
human understanding have taught the use. There
yet remains a third difficulty — less in dimensions
and character, but not less needful to be over
come. We are treating of a time in the world's
history when human life was of small account,
and personal safety can hardly be said to have
existed. Any human instrument undertaking the
practical solution of either of these great problems,

The Acts of the Apostles. 295
must soon have been borne down by hostile influ
ences, and crushed in the attempt.
Now let us again review our ground. In the
fusing of Christianity and Judaism, what and who
is needed ? No shallow observer of the customs
and prejudices of Judaism will serve our purpose ;
nor, on the other hand, any who shall have fallen
short in his estimate of the entire freedom of
Christianity, and the full extent of its encroach
ments on Judaism. The man whom we seek
must be a pure Jew by birth, and by education
imbued with the fullest and deepest knowledge
both of the law itself, and of that fabric of human
traditional interpretation which the Rabbis had
built up around it.
Then as to our second requisite. It will obvi
ously be hard to combine in one man the endow
ments which we have just mentioned, with this
other, no less necessary, that he should have been
versed in the Greek tongue, which was then the
universal vehicle of thought and argument;
should have been trained in Gentile habits of
joining thought to thought ; and should have
acquired that degree of acquaintance with heathen
literature, which might enable him to dispute with

296 How to study the New Testament.
effect in Grecian schools and among Grecian
audiences. Our third difficulty could only be overcome by
one who should possess the privilege, at this time
not so common as it afterwards became, of
Roman citizenship, — which might, by the peculiar
immunities attached to it, exempt him from arbi
trary punishment at the caprice of petty provincial
officers, and give him the right of appeal to the
great central power at Rome.
I need hardly say that all these qualifications
were united in Saul of Tarsus. First, he was of
unexceptionable Jewish descent : an Hebrew of
Hebrews. Then he was brought up at Jerusalem,
under Gamaliel, the most distinguished Pharisee
of his time. Even more : he had been himself
a keen and unsparing foe of Jesus and His
Gospel. He had, for himself and for others, exag
gerated to the utmost the antagonism between
Christianity and Judaism. He had looked down,
in his anxiety to prove their irreconcilableness,
into the gulf which parted them ; and was not likely
to attempt lightly or flimsily to bridge it over. He
was the man, if ever there was one, to set forth
the full freedom of the Gospel of Christ, and its

The Acts of the Apostles. 297
independence of Mosaic customs and ordinances.
For these qualities, he had himself hated and per
secuted it.
Again, he was born, and spent at all events
many important years of his youthful life, at
Tarsus, one of the principal seats of Grecian learn
ing. There, he had acquired mastery of the
Greek language, as then spoken and written in
the East : and had read those authors whose
sayings he afterwards quoted in dispute witii Gen
tiles, and in his epistles to Grecian churches. Edu
cated half at Jerusalem, half in Cilicia, his mind
had become accustomed to that form of logical argu
ment in words, and of joining thought to thought,
from which the pure Jewish mind was alien.
And add to all this, that as a native of Tarsus
he was born with the rights of Roman citizenship,
which others, even in high station, had to acquire
at much cost.
I have said nothing as yet of personal qualifi
cations. Yet these were to the full as marvellous.
Hardly ever was man born with more qualities
tending to enforce persuasion, or to acquire influ
ence over his fellows. Ardent, sympathetic, uni
versal in his regards, and able to cast himself

298 How to study the New Testament.
into every other man's position; within certain
limits becoming all things to all men, but abso
lutely immovable as to compromise beyond these
limits ; carrying all in his heart, and making every
man's griefs and joys his own ; with tears for
every sorrow, and glowing terms of endearment
and congratulation ever on his tongue ; master at
the same time, of the most melting exhortation,
and the keenest and most delicate irony ; pouring
out his words, which crowded one another to
keep pace with the rapidity of his phases of
thought, flying from proof to proof, and from one
indignant refutation to another ; sometimes seem
ingly forgetful of his main subject, while he
pursues word after word which have sprung up
along the path of his disputation, then returning
to it again, in like manner again to desert it :
till at last all these off-lying ideas, and images,
and allusions, are bound up together in the majes
tic and overwhelming conclusion. Such was the
mind, and such was the heart, of which God
made choice, to bring about the greatest revolu
tion ever wrought in the history of man.
If we ask what were the outward characteristics
of one who was to do so mighty a work, we find

The Acts of the Apostles. 299
them summed up by himself in representing the
aspect of him by his enemies : — his bodily pre
sence was weak, his speech was contemptible.
Fie was afflicted, at all events from the time of his
conversion, witii a nervous malady, accompanied
probably with feebleness of sight, of which he
speaks as his tiiorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan sent to buffet him ; and of which, when he
prayed repeatedly that it might be removed from
him, the Lord spoke as weakness, wherein His
strength was to be perfected. Nor must the won
derful endurance and self-spending be omitted,
which have rendered St. Paul one of the most
notable among men. What a record of his labours
and sufferings has he given us in that summary in
the Second Epistle to the Corinthians ! How he
ever came to be ' Paul the Aged,' might be matter
of marvel, did we not remember Who was con
serving him, and for what end. All elements of
danger, all details of adventure, all anxieties and
toils, seem summed up in his one person. Europe
and Asia are full of him. ' From Jerusalem round
about unto IUyricum,' is but his note of journey
made half way. The deserts have seen him strug
gling with their sand-storms ; the rivers have been

300 How to study the New Testament.
breasted by his arm ; the deep has held him, hour
after hour, drifting solitary on its surface. Again
and again ocean has cast him shipwrecked to land,
and land has yielded him, full of fresh holy en
terprise, to ocean, Disputing in the synagogue,
working at the hair-cloth loom, singing at midnight
in the prison, kneeling, and mingling his tears with
his farewell prayers on the Syrian or Milesian
shore, preaching amidst the marble temples on
Mars' Hill at Athens, thanking God and taking
courage on the broad stones of the Appian Way ;
clanking his chain as he writes in his hired house
at Rome ; where, and in what employ, do we not
find this strange fervent man, this vessel of God's
election for the second founding of His Church ?
Such, then, was he ¦ whom the Lord grasped
with His own hand, and rescued, from the ranks
of foes and persecutors, for His own service.
From the conversion of Saul, the history of St.
Luke's second treatise assumes a wider range. It
is henceforth devoted in the main to following the
labours and journeys of the new Apostle. Only
while he is laid aside at Tarsus, waiting and ripen
ing for his great work, does St. Peter again appear
as the chief actor in the narrative. And when he

The Acts of the Apostles. 301
so appears, it is to pave the way for the missionary
agency of St. Paul. After that, we see him, ex
cept in the council of the Apostles, but once more.
After that, the Apostles themselves, and the Jeru
salem church, appear but as pendants to the action
of the Apostle of the Gentiles.
It required no less than a special interposition
by vision and voice from heaven,- and even after
these, a special command and direct action of the
Spirit, to bring about the admission of Gentiles,
as such, into the Church of Christ. He to whom
the keys of the kingdom of heaven had been com
mitted, is chosen to open the door of faith to the
Gentiles. Had not the descent of the Spirit in
the house of Cornelius taken place, those Cyprians
and Cyrenians who, being dispersed on the perse
cution which arose about Stephen, preached the
word to Gentiles as well as Jews, would have been
repudiated by the central authority in the Church ;
and even the work of Barnabas and Paul must
have gone on in separation from James, and the
Apostles and elders, in the holy city. As it was,
the Gentile mission was watched for many a year
with the strictest jealousy. Within the limits of
the purest faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God

302 How to study the New Testament.
and the Redeemer, there subsisted in the apostolic
church two parties, the Jewish and the Grecian ;
the former, in its rigid conservatism, represented
by St. James, the brother of the Lord, and the
latter by St. Paul. In the Epistles of St. James
and St. Jude his brother, we discern no trace of
any feeling inconsistent with rigid conformity to
Christian Judaism ; and even after tlie question of
the general obligation of circumcision was settled
in the negative by the council at Jerusalem, we
find a remarkable account of St. Peter, who had
been walking in the full liberty of the Gospel with
St. Paul at Antioch, wavering and oscillating back
again into the limits of strict legal observance
on the arrival of messengers from the Judaizing
church of Jerusalem. Nay, so great was the in
fluence of the re-assertion of the venerable old
customs, that even Barnabas himself, who had
been the first, even apparently before the matter
of Cornelius, to recognise the grace of God in the
Gentile converts, was carried away with their dis
simulation, and began pulling down that which he
had helped to build. It required, as we read in
the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians,
all the plain speaking and fervour of St. Paul. — it

The Acts of the Apostles. 303
required an open rebuke of St. Peter before them
all, to assert again the universality of Christian
liberty, and the nullity of the law as recommend
ing men to God. Such was the great revolution
in men's thoughts, which the new Apostle was
raised up to work. There is reason to believe
that during his lifetime its ferment never subsided ;
that however the whole apostolic body were at
unity as to the central verities of the faith, there
was ever this effervescent margin of differing views
as to the extent of Gentile liberty in the Church.
And at this we need not wonder. With so con
siderable an element of Judaism as every congre
gation contained, it was necessary, as well as
natural, that the transition to the full freedom of
the Gospel should be very gradual, and that no
step in it should be accomplished until its ground
had been firmly and solidly assured. Thus we
find that in the Epistles to the Romans, Corinth
ians, Galatians, Colossians, Philippians, and even
as 1'ate as those to Timothy and Titus, St. Paul is
ever employed in settling questions between the
Jewish and Gentile elements in the churches, or
in denouncing Judaizing practices which were
lingering among the converts.

304 How to study the New Testament.
I have dwelt thus long upon this matter, because
it in fact carries the history of the Church with it.
As soon as it became evident that the wider range
of the Gentile world, as such, was destined for
the action of the Church, it also became evident
that Jerusalem was no longer a fit centre for its
operations. The holy city could serve as the per
manent metropolis for those only who might re
tain the idea of Jewish obligation, or who, at all
events, even when this was overcome, clung to the
associations of the religion in which they had
been born and educated. For the pure Gentile
converts, Jerusalem would be an inconvenient and
unwelcome place of resort. And accordingly, in
the providence of God, no sooner does Gentile
Christianity gain even the slightest degree of re
cognition, than the head-quarters of the Church's
activity are transferred to Antioch. Coincident
with the first mission of Barnabas, and his sym
pathy with the work wrought among the Gentiles,
is the foundation of the Church in Antioch. Im
mediately on that change of mind, he set out for
Tarsus, to seek Saul. It was evident that the
work and the workman now at last required bring
ing together, and that the way of the Lord was

The Acts of the Apostles. 305
prepared. And thus we have Barnabas and Saul
settled for a whole year at Antioch, teaching the
great multitude who there had embraced the faith.
And a significant notice is appended, marking the
opening of the new era of church life and action.
Hitherto, the followers of Jesus of Nazareth may
have been known as a Jewish sect. But from the
moment when God made it plain that pure Gen
tiles were to be among its members, such designa
tion was no longer possible. With a new mission,
and a new condition of membership, a new name
arose. In Antioch, famed as we are told for the
aptitude of its citizens to invent nicknames, the
new appellation of ' Christian ' was first given to
the followers of Jesus. It appears at first to have
been strictly a nickname. We do not find it
occurring in any of the earlier apostolic epistles,
nor indeed at all in the sacred canon, except once
in the Epistles of St. Peter. And even then it
appears rather as the name by which a persecuted
believer is to suffer, cast at him by his enemies,
than as his. own name for himself.
With this opening of the new phase of the life
of the Church, we close the present chapter. The
rest of this wonderful book, so full of undying in-
u

306 How to study the New Testament.
terest and world-long edification, is, in the main, a
record of missionary enterprise ; and to sum it up
in our next chapter, will not require the proportion
of our space, which it occupies in the second
treatise of St. Luke.
The changes which are required in the English
text in the present portion of the Acts, are : i.
owing to the testimony of our most ancient MSS.
and other authorities :
In ch. vii. 48, for ' temples] read ' things.'
In ch. viii. 10, ' the great power of God] is liter
ally, in all our oldest mss., ' the power of God
which is called great' Ver. 37 should be alto
gether omitted. It is wanting in all our earliest
mss. and versions. It appears, from its being cited
by Irenasus in the second century, to have been
very early inserted into the text, as were many
other passages now wanting in this book, which,
more than any other of the New Testament, suffered
interpolation (or abridgment, as the case may be)
in the first ages.
In ch. ix. 5, 6, from ' it is hard . . . ' to the
end of ver. 6, should be omitted. These words
are 'not found in any Greek ms. in existence.
They were put in here by Erasmus from the Latin

The Acts of the Apostles. 307
versions, having been first inserted from ch. xxvi.
14, and xxii. 10. In ver. 20, ' Christ' should be
' Jesus.' Ver. 3 1 should stand, ' So then the church
had peace throughout all Judea and Galilee and
Samaria, being built up and going onward in the
fear of the Lord ; and was multiplied by the ex
hortation of the Holy Spirit.'
In ch. x. 6, the words, ' he shall tell thee what
thou oughtest to do] should be omitted : as also
should the words, ' which were se7it unto hitn from
Cornelius] in ver. 21. In ver. 23, read, 'And
on the morrow he rose up and went away with
them.' In ch. xii. 10, the Cambridge MS. reads, 'they
went out and descended the seven steps, and
passed on through one street.' This is one of those
places where the words seem to have been in the
original text, and afterwards to have been excluded
in the process of abridgment.
2. The alterations required, owing to our trans
lators not having accurately represented the sense,
are as follow : — In ch. vii. 1, it should be, ' But
the high priest,' etc., and in ver. 2, ' Men, brethren]
should be ' Brethren.' In ver. 20, ' exceeding fair]
is, in the original, 'fair unto God.' In ver. 22,

308 How to study the New Testament.
'learned' does not mean ' learned' in our ordinary
acceptation of the word, but is used in the old
sense of 'taught] as in 'Learn me thy precepts.'
It had better, therefore, be ' instructed.' In ver.
26, it should stand, 'and set them at peace, say
ing, "Ye are brethren,"' etc. In ver. 36, 'This
Moses brought them out, showing wonders,' etc.
In ver. 38, 'church' is more properly 'assembly,'
and 'lively' should be 'living.' In ver. 44, it
should stand, ' as He appointed who spake unto
Moses.' In ver. 45, 'which also our fathers in
heriting, brought in with Joshua at their taking
possession of the Gentiles.' In ver. 46, 'desired'
should be ' asked permission.' In ver. 53, 'men
who received the law at the injunction of angels.'
In ver. 59, 'calling upmi God] should be 'praying.'
It is literally, ' invoking.'
In ch. viii. 6, 'hearing a7id seeitig] should be,
' when they heard them, and saw.' In ver. 9, it
should be ' Simon, which was beforetime in the
same city, using sorcery and bewitchings,' etc. In
ver. 13, it should be 'signs and great miracles.'
In ver. 20, ' thou thoughtest to acquire the gift of
God.' In ver. 26, instead of ' and the angel]
' but an angel ;' and in the same verse, for ' Gaza,

The Acts of the Apostles. 309
which is desert] 'Gaza: this way is- desert' In
ver. 30, ' Yea, but understandest thou,' etc.
Ver. 39, ' caught away Philip, and the eunuch
saw him no more ; for he went on his way re
joicing.' Ch. ix. 1, omit 'out:' 'breathing' means both
breathing in, inhaling, and breatlmig out, exhaling.
In ver. 2, for ' this way] read ' the way.' Ver.
15, 'the Gentiles' should be 'nations.' In ver. 21,
render, for perspicuity, 'destroyed in Jerusalem
them that called on this name.' And in ver. 22,
for ' very Christ,' ' the Christ' Ver. 24, for ' the
gates] ' even the gates.' In ver. 29, ' Grecians' are
' Grecian Jews.' In ver. 32, 'quarters' is not ex
pressed in the original ; the meaning, perhaps, is
rather, 'passed throughout all the believers.' In
ver. 34, 'Jesus Christ' should, in this place, be
' Jesus the Christ'
In ch. x. 1 r, ' knit at the four corners] should
be ' tied by four rope ends.' In ver. 15 it should
stand, 'Those things which God hath cleansed,
call not thou common.' In ver. 25, ' as Peter was
comi7ig in] should be ' when Peter had come in.'
The word ' him] after ' worshipped,' may be right,
but is not expressed in the original. In ver. 28,

3 1 o How to study the New Testament.
' but' should be ' and,' the stress in reading being
on the ' ye ' in the beginning of the verse, and on
'me' in the latter part. In ver. 36, 'all' should
be ' all men,' and the beginning of ver. 37 should
be, ' Ye know the matter which was published ;'
and in the next verse, ' how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth] should be, ' Jesus of Nazareth, how
that God anointed him.' In ver. 40, ' shewed him
openly,' is literally ' permitted him to become
manifest' In ver. 42, it should stand, ' which is
ordained by God, Judge of quick and dead.' In
ver. 47, 'water' should be 'the water,' i.e., the
water commonly used for that ordinance.
In ch. xi. 4, it should stand, ' But Peter began
and rehearsed unto them in order.' In ver. 5,
' corners' should be ' ropes :' and in ver. 6 should
stand, ' saw the four-footed beasts of the earth,
and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and
the fowls of the air.' In ver. 9, ' what things God
hath cleansed, those call not thou common.' In
ver. 13, for 'an angel,' 'the angel.' In ver. 17,
' who believed] should be ' when we believed,' i.e.,
' when we began to believe.' Ver. 19 should be
gin, 'So then they.' Before 'Jews' omit 'the!
Ver. 20 should begin, ' But some of them,' and

The Acts of the Apostles. 3 1 1
instead of ' the Grecians] should stand ' Grecians
also.' In ver. 21, for ' believed, and turned] should
stand, ' wliich believed, turned.' In ver. 22, 'tid
ings of these things] should-be ' tidings of them,'
viz., ofthe persons. In ver. 26, ' and the] should
be, 'and that the.' In ver. 27, 'came' should be
' came down.'
Ch. xii. 1, the rendering is, ' laid his hands upon
certain of the church to vex them.' In ver. 4,
instead of ' Easter] it should be ' the Passover.'
In every other place in the New Testament but
this, the word pascha is so rendered. In ver. 5,
'ofthe church,' would now be expressed ' by the
church.' In ver. 6, for ' would have brought] sub
stitute ' was about to bring ;' and ' the keepers '
should be 'keepers.' In ver. 7, 'an angel;' and
instead of ' the prison] ' the chamber.' In ver. 8,
it should be, 'he did so :' the words ' so he did]
do not, in modern English, mean quite the same
thing. In ver. 12, ' had considered] should be
' knew.' Ver. 13 should begin, ' And when he
had knocked ;' and ver. 14, ' And knowing Peter's
voice.'

3 1 2 How to study the New Testament.

in.

ANTIOCH TO ROME.
OUR attention is now fixed on the church at
Antioch. Jerusalem is no longer the mother
of churches. The days of her place among the
' thousands of Israel' are numbered. The prompt
ings of the missionary Spirit have departed else
where. At Antioch first His voice is heard, and
the two, Barnabas and Saul, are -specially desig
nated for the work. But they were thus designated,
be it remembered, in the midst of solemn prayer
and fasting, and from among the number of ap
pointed ministers of the church there. Before we
are told of their designation, these particulars are
emphatically impressed on us (ch. xiii. r).
And now we begin a series of missionary jour
neys, which it is not our intention to follow in
detail, but only to trace in so far as they bring out
points essential to the understanding of the history,
and to the development of the purpose of the writer.

The Acts of the Apostles. 3 1 3
From Antioch, the great stream of commerce
flowed westward, down the river Orontes, to
Seleucia, the port of the city. And as Antioch .
had been chosen as the second resting-place ofthe
Church, because of its Gentile character, it was
natural that the missionaries should be guided by
the Holy Ghost, not eastward, to the land of pri
mitive history, and of the springs of Judaism, but
to the west, where lay the Gentile world with its
intellect, and its arts, and its arms, to be won for
the Gospel of Christ
Westward — but whither ? As they stood on the
coast looking seaward, the native island of Bar
nabas lifted its blue hills in the horizon. The
guidance of the Spirit fell in with the yearnings of
the Apostle's heart, and Salamis in Cyprus wit
nessed the opening of the first missionary teach
ing. It may seem strange, that we hear of their
preaching in Salamis only in the synagogues of the
Jews. If I mistake not, the incident which fol
lows is not unconnected with this circumstance.
Whatever may have been their own intention
about speaking the Word to the Gentiles, their
purpose is hastened, or anticipated, by the Provi
dence of God. They are sent for by the Roman
governor of the island, and achieve the first vie-

3 14 How to study the Neiv Testament.
tory of the Gospel in his person. This incident is
notable for the first outbreak, in the rebuking and
punishment of the sorcerer Bar-jesus, of the fer
vour and power of the Holy Ghost in Saul.
Hitherto, Barnabas has been foremost, and Saul
has kept in the background. Here first, and
henceforward, Saul becomes ' the chief speaker.'
But here, also, we have in conflict together two
of the influences which strove for the mastery of
the heathen world. Paganism, as such, was worn
out : its fables were seen through, its worship
despised. There was in it no relief to the con
science, no satisfaction to the soul. On its wreck
was arising the influence of Oriental magic, which,
founded on the truth of Judaism, perverted it, by
mingling with it the unhallowed rites and practices
of superstition. It claimed intercourse with power
ful spirits, and the gift of foretelling futurity. It
gained influence and position for various designing
men who were found about the courts of emperors
and rulers. Here first, at Paphos in Cyprus, this
new religious element came into decisive conflict
with Christianity. Before this, at Samaria, it had
been seen how alien the spirit of the Gospel was
from that of the professors of magic : here it was
to be seen which of the two was really in posses-

The Acts of the Apostles. 3 1 5
sion of gifts of power, and in communion with the
Spirit of God. The result is the conversion of the
deputy to the faith, and the overthrow and disgrace
of Elymas.
Henceforward, we have in Scripture history no
record of magic as an antagonist of the Gospel of
Christ. We have indeed a faint trace of a cognate
influence being at work in the Colossian church,
but it is hardly traceable to the same source. Tra
dition tells us of conflicts between the Apostles
Peter and Paul and Simon Magus, at Rome ; and
the subsequent history of the Church records the
baneful influence of the magical doctrines of the
East in mingling themselves with and corrupting
the purity of the Christian faith.
Coincident with, rather than consequent upon,
this triumph ofthe Gospel, is the change of appella
tion of the new Apostle from Saul to Paul. Such
changes, on the part of Jews much employed and
known among the Gentiles, were very common.
The commentators give us a long list of them, all
having the same feature as this, — the similarity in
sound of the new name to the old one. Saul was
a Hebrew name, unknown- to Roman ears. Paulus
was one of their own ordinary appellations. What
more obvious, than the substitution of the well

3 1 6 Hoiv to study the New Testament.
known for the unknown? That Paulus was on
this occasion also the name of the governor who
was converted to the faith, may have rendered the
change all the more obvious. But that the Apostle
himself, as some have thought, took the new name
as a kind of trophy of this his first missionary
achievement, seems to me in the last degree im
probable, and indeed inconsistent with the whole
character of St. Paul. The name was given by
others, rather than assumed by himself; given
perhaps all the more readily on account of this
resemblance, but given certainly in conformity with
a practice so common as to need no justification
other than its prevalence.
One particular is noticeable in the resumption
of the narrative after the conversion of Sergius
Paulus. We are told that ' Paul and his company'
loosed from Paphos — the preference being at once
given to St. Paul, as henceforth the chief person.
This is the more to be observed, because up to this
point St. Luke has been careful to allot the supe
rior place to Barnabas: see ch. ix. 27; xi. 30;
xiii. 1, 2, 7. The remaining places where Barnabas
is placed first (xiv. 12, 14; xv. 12, 25, 37-41)
seem to rest each upon reasons special to itself.
The course of the Apostles led them to the

The Acts of the Apostles. 3 1 7
opposite coast of Asia Minor. And here one of
the band, forsaking them, returned to Jerusalem.
We can hardly be wrong in ascribing the defection
of John Mark, not to indisposition for the work,
or fear of its hardships, but to the fact of his
Jerusalem birth (which seems implied in ch. xii.
12), and his unreadiness to engage in a mission so
pointedly to the Gentiles as this now promise'd to
be. Thus his want of sympathy with the great
object of St. Paul's ministry will fully account for
the determination with which the great Apostle
afterwards repudiated his co-operation for the
second missionary journey (ch. xv. 36-41). We
know, from Gal. ii. 13, that even Barnabas was
not so fully convinced as might have been wished,
with regard to the work among the Gentiles ; and
John Mark, his relative, would have formed, per
haps, with him a party against St. Paul in any
question of a difficult nature which might arise.
Such considerations are the more forced on our
minds, by finding that at the very first place where
the Word is preached in Asia Minor, Antioch in
Pisidia, the question as between Jew and Gentile
assumes a decisive form. Here the Apostles are
invited to speak in the synagogue ; and St. Paul

3 1 8 How to study ihe New Testament.
delivers a long and solemn discourse inaugurating
his commission to Israel. His invitation to them
being deliberately rejected, and the Gentiles gladly
receiving it, the ministry of the Word henceforth
turns toward these latter, and an abundant harvest
of Gentile converts is reaped. Henceforth waxes
onward the conflict between the Apostle of the
Gentiles and his own countrymen, the Jews.
These last drive Paul and Barnabas out of An
tioch in Pisidia ; when, undeterred by their hos
tility, the Apostles renew their preaching in the
synagogue at Iconium, they drive them thence
also ; at Lystra, where the people, recalling
their old traditions of appearances of the Gods
in human shape, would have worshipped Barnabas
and Paul, unbelieving Jews from Antioch and
Iconium persuade the fickle multitude to stone
Paul, and cast him out ofthe city as dead. How
ever, the Apostles are not daunted ; they return
the same way, building up the churches which
they had already founded, and teaching the disci
ples that through much tribulation we must enter
into the kingdom of God. All this is most impor
tant, as carrying on the Church to the decision of
the great question between Jew and Gentile, now

The A ets of the Apostles. 3 1 9
immediately to be brought under dispute among
the apostolic body.
The circumstances and the issue of the great
apostolic council in Acts xv., are well known. Its
importance cannot be overrated. It amounted to
a deliberate sanction, by the whole Church as
sembled, of the proceedings of the two mission
aries among the Gentiles : and it resulted in a
decree, issued with the assertion of the divine
authority of the Holy Spirit Himself, and of the
Apostles and elder brethren, confirming the ex
emption of Gentile converts from the requirements
of the Jewish ceremonial law. One or two points
only were reserved, and those rather of necessary
obligation than of special enactment.
We now come to the second great missionary
journey ; in noting which we shall observe the
plan before laid down, and adduce such things
only as concern the larger features of the progress
of the Church.
The journey was to have been undertaken by
both the Apostles, at the instigation of St. Paul.
Why it was 'not thus carried out, we have already
explained. Let us cast a glance at the position of
matters in Antioch at its commencement. Judas

320 How to study the New Testament.
and Silas, themselves prophets, i.e., endowed with
the faculty of speaking in the Spirit to the Church,
had come down from Jerusalem with the decree
from the council. We can hardly be wrong in
recognising this as the time spoken of in Gal. ii.
r i and following, when ' certain from James' came
down to Antioch. Their arrival seems to have
been a short time delayed after that of Paul and
Barnabas, and another, now mentioned for the
last time in Scripture story — even St. Peter him
self. During the interval before their coming, St,
Peter had been taking the full liberty granted him
by the apostolic decision. But on their arrival he
withdrew himself, and restricted his converse to
those who lived as did the Jews. Of the two
messengers, Judas and Silas, both of course were
at one as to the main purport of the decree. But
it would seem as if both were not at one as to
the duty of Jews with regard to Gentile converts.
The notice (ver. 33), that Judas returned to Jeru
salem, whereas we find by ver. 30 (not by ver. 34,
which is spurious, — see at the end of this section)
that Silas remained in Antioch, seems to import,
that the latter at all events was more in sympathy
with the state of things at Antioch than the former;

The Acts of the Apostles. 321
an impression which is presently confirmed. The
dissimulation of Peter, Barnabas, and others, with
regard to the obligation of living as did the Jews,
had evidently no small share in precipitating St.
Paul into the determination, which the wish of
Barnabas to take John Mark with them ripened
into practice, to shake loose from him the influ
ence and the co-operation of those who were not
hearty in their determination to stand fast in the
liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. So,
having chosen Silas as his companion, and having
evidently the church at Antioch heartily on his
side, he set out, passing through Syria, and travers
ing his native land, Cilicia, confirming the churches
in the faith. Besides the general meaning which
these words naturally bear, we are obviously led
to understand that a special confirmation of their
steadfastness is intended, viz., that which would be
brought about by delivering to them the decrees
of the council at Jerusalem, which had now be
come the charter of their Christian liberty.
The chief incident of this part of the new jour
ney was the adoption of Timotheus, or Timothy,
as a companion and helper of St. Paul. This
young disciple, born of a Gentile father, but in-
x

322 How to study the New Testament.
heriting the true faith of Judaism from his mother
and grandmother, — and well reported of by the
churches in Lystra and Iconium, — appeared to
the Apostle specially adapted to accompany and
minister to him in his missionary work. That he
took him and circumcised him, because of the
Jews in those parts, is so far from being, as some
have thought, inconsistent with his principles and
practice on other occasions, that it furnishes us
with an admirable illustration of his maxim of
becoming to the Jews as a Jew, that he might gain
the Jews ; and is, as Baumgarten has admirably
shown, an example of the exercise of that liberty
which was free to choose or to reject a particular
course of action, according to the necessity of the
case. His previous refusal to circumcise Titus at
Jerusalem (Gal. ii. 3), was not inconsistent with
this act, but was an exercise of the same liberty,
acting under different circumstances.
The subject of the course which Timothy ac
complished as the minister of St. Paul, serving
with him as a son with a father in the Gospel, will
come before us for remark in our section on the
Epistles to Timothy. At present I will only say,
that this adoption of a fellow-labourer who was

The Acts of the Apostles. 323
half a Gentile, lay completely in the course of St.
Paul's whole proceeding in his missionary life, and
formed a marked step forward in his assertion of
apostolic independence.
Of the Asiatic portion of the missionary work
of this journey, we know but little in detail.
Evidently, from hints furnished in the Epistles, it
was full of incidents of importance, both to the
territory passed through, and to the Apostle him
self. Taking a northerly direction from Lycaonia,
he traversed the great central province of Galatia,
founding churches among its ardent and fickle
people. There, as we learn from notices in his
Epistle to them, he lengthened his stay, owing to
being afflicted with feeble health, and was with
them in weakness and fear and much trembling ;
and his constitutional trouble, probably some dis
tressing nervous affection, seems to have proved a
more than common interruption to his work (Gal.
iv. 13). How long he was thus detained, we are
not informed ; but the circumstance is otherwise
interesting to us, as perhaps connected with the
accession to the missionary party of Luke, the
physician, which took place very shortly after
wards. To this accession we owe the precision

324 How to study the New Testament.
and detail of the subsequent part of the narrative,
during the whole of the incidents of which, even
when the first person plural is not used, there is
reason to believe that he accompanied St. Paul.
And now, guided by a Divine intimation, the
apostolic band first set foot in Europe. The in
cidents at Philippi, at Thessalonica, at Bercea, are
well known to all. Pursued everywhere by the
active enmity ofthe Jews, the party is constrained
to break up for the present, and to convey away
St. Paul from those who sought his life.
And thus we have him brought to Athens, and
are introduced to. one of the most remarkable
episodes in his missionary history. Jerusalem,
Athens, Rome, — these were the three great centres
of interest in the ancient world. Each had its
peculiar civilisation : each contributed an impor
tant and indispensable contingent to the training
of mankind for the influences of the latter dispen
sation. Adopting the Scriptural threefold division
of man into spirit, soul, and body, and under
standing by the first of these the higher aspirations
and communicated life arising from contact with
God, — by the second, the intelligent animating
principle of personality, by which we are distin-

The Acts of the Apostles. 325
guished from the lower orders of creation, — and
by the third, the animal life, with its various
phases of economical, social, and political well-
being ; then we may say, that to Jerusalem we
owe the culture of man's spirit ; to Athens, that of
his soul ; to Rome, that of his body. In each of
these centres of humanity did the great Apostle
testify to the faith of Christ, the regeneration of
our whole nature.
But in none of them does his capacity for his
wonderful work more signally appear, than at
Athens. There, amidst the most subtle intellects
of the age, in the presence of the highest examples
of human art, on a spot the most signalized by
the triumphs of human genius, does he plead for
the purer faith and the higher philosophy, in a
speech, of which it is not too much to say, that it
is the most beautiful specimen extant in language,
of fitting thoughts clothed in fitting words. The
' apples of gold in pictures of silver ' were never
more aptly exemplified. With the most exquisite
tact, he introduces his subject by dwelling on the
acknowledged tendencies and the patent confes
sions of his hearers ; when it has been thus intro
duced, he confirms his sayings by the words of

326 How to study the New Testament.
their own poets ; and in all his speech, ingratiates
himself with them by the use of language and
forms of thought to which their tastes and habits
were accustomed.
But it was not in the metropolis of the human
intellect that the permanent foundations of the
Church in Europe are to be laid. The great and
dissolute Corinth was at that time the capital of
Greece ; and there the Apostle fixes himself for
eighteen months, founding the church with which
we afterwards become so familiar.
Events are now hurried along in St. Luke's
narrative, and in a few verses at the end of the
eighteenth chapter we have related the return
by Ephesus to Palestine, a visit to Jerusalem, a
sojourn at Antioch, and a second journey through
Galatia and Phrygia, to confirm the churches al
ready founded.
At the end of this, we have related another
long sojourn of St. Paul, and this time at Ephesus,
the heathen metropolis, in arts, learning, and
religion, of Asia Minor. At Ephesus, he is
brought into conflict with another form of pre
valent superstition, and eventually encounters the
the hostility of the upholders of the great ' pil-

The A ets of the Apostles. 327
grimage church ' of the lady of Ephesus, known
and worshipped throughout Asia and the world.
As we read the living description of the tumult,
and the words of the speakers, the mind' recalls
scenes of travel among the hardly less than Pagan
superstitions of modern Europe, and feels that
the conflict between Satan and Christ is now
much what it was in the earliest times.
When the tumult happened which this conflict
occasioned, the Apostle was already intending to
pass over into Europe, and then, after visiting
Jerusalem, to see Rome. After the tumult, the
former part of this intention was immediately
carried out. The latter portion also followed,
but in a manner very different from that proposed
by the Apostle. Having stayed three months at
Corinth, where the church required his presence,
owing to the irregularities and the questions which
are dealt with in the Epistles to the Corinthians, —
he passed back into Asia, not without apprehen
sion, which he touchingly expressed to the elders
of Ephesus, that his course was drawing to an
end. The Jews had been seeking his life at
Corinth, and this had compelled him to adopt a
different route to Asia from that which he had

328 Hew to study the New Testament.
intended. Many signs were given, that this, his
visit to Jerusalem, would witness the culmination of
•their hatred against him. How this happened is too
well known to require notice here. It may suffice
to remark, that the providential fact of his Roman
citizenship saved him from their conspiracies ;
and that after a two years' detention in custody at
Csesarea, he set out, with Luke and Aristarchus,
a prisoner, for Rome, to be brought before Caesar,
to whom he had appealed.
But before we advance further, we must not
forget to cast a glance at the state of Gentile and
Jewish Christianity, as shown by the incidents of
this, St. Paul's last recorded visit to Jerusalem.
On his arrival, there appears to have been a re
luctance to come into direct contact with the
church ; at all events without previous prepara
tion. The band had been lodged at Caesarea
with Philip, now known as the Evangelist, who
had been one of the seven — the former converter
of the Samaritans and of the Ethiopian eunuch.
There he had been prophetically warned, but in
vain, of the dangers which awaited him in the
Holy City ; even their special form, the being
delivered by the Jews to the Gentiles, being speci-

The Acts of the Apostle's. 329
fied. His whole approach seems to have been
marked with caution. His party are conveyed by
those who accompanied them from Csesarea, not
at once to James and the church, but to an aged
Cyprian disciple. Though it is stated that the
brethren received them gladly, yet it would seem
as if these v.wds were rather to be understood of
the greetings of individual believers, than of any
enthusiastic welcome from the official heads of
the church. On the next day there is a formal
audience given by James and the elders of the
Jerusalem church, Paul and his compa7iy being
present ; and a formal statement, a report, made
by him of all that God had done by his ministry
amid the Gentiles. Now let us notice the im
pression made on the assembled church by this
narrative. First, they glorified God. They were
not prepared to disown the work of God among
the Gentiles, nor to deny to the Gentile church
its proper and independent standing before God.
As to these main points, the two parties were at
one, as they were with regard to Him in whose
name and to whose glory the work had been
accomplished. But in this unity on the main
point, there was still diversity and independence

330 How to study the New Testament.
in the views of the two parties on the standing of
the Jewish Church. St. Paul stood compromised
to the assertion that in Christ there was neither
Jew nor Gentile. He had again and again
affirmed the transitional and occasional character
of the law of Moses, and the absolute death to
the law of those who had become believers in
Christ. The observance of feasts and sabbaths,
the abstinence from meats, had been again and
again declared by him to be things absolutely
indifferent, except for secondary and temporary
considerations. Nay, he had even charged those
who maintained the necessity of circumcision,
with causing apostasy from Christ. But now he
stood face to face with those who upheld in their
own persons the ancient obligations, and enforced
them on the Jewish believers ; with those who
viewed all things through a Jewish medium, and
could not entertain the idea of a Church of Christ
dissociated from the ancient observations of times,
and places, and ceremonies.
In some very beautiful remarks on this unity in
the main in the midst of such weighty differences,
Baumgarten bids us observe, that such ought ever
to be the attitude towards each other observed by

The Acts of the Apostles. 331
the great parties in the Church : independence and
firmness in their own course according to their
consciences, and at the same time generous and
unselfish recognition of God's work in and by each
other. See, he observes, how clear and pure is the con
duct of each on this occasion. The Apostle of
the Gentiles simply relating God's work done by
him, without bringing into prominence the conflict
in which he had been incessantly engaged with
the very principles whose representatives were
before him : and, on the other hand, the Apostle
of the circumcision, and his company, glorifying
God for the work thus accomplished, without for
getting, but at the same time without objecting,
that it had been carried on in contravention of
principles which they held dear as life itself.
In the manifestation of this unity in the midst
of difference, we may, he thinks, account for the
great earnestness of spirit with which St. Paul had
made this one journey to Jerusalem, in spite of
the warnings of danger which had been given him,
and in spite of his own dim forebodings of a dis
astrous personal result. His own words to the
elders of Ephesus at Miletus (Acts xx. 24), are

332 How to study the New Testament.
remarkable as bearing out this idea : ' I count not
my life of any account to myself, in comparison
with the finishing my course, and the ministry
which I received from the Lord Jesus, the com
pleting my testimony to the Gospel of the grace of
God! By these last words, he indicates that
Gospel of liberty from the works of the law, which
he preached among the heathen ; and it was to
obtain from the church at Jerusalem the full re
cognition of this work of God by him, that he was
thus willing to risk his life, in the visit to the
very stronghold of his enemies, the unbelieving
Jews. The reply of James and the elders is no less
remarkable than what has been already noticed.
It shows a state of things in the church which is
worth our contemplation. ' Thou beholdest,
brother, how many myriads there are among the
Jews of believers, and all are zealous for the law :
and they were instructed concerning thee, that
thou teachest apostasy from Moses to all the Jews
who are among the Gentiles, ordering them not
to circumcise their children, nor yet to walk ac
cording to the customs.' It is surprising here to
find, on the one hand, that the number of Jewish

The Acts of the Apostles. 333
believers is stated to be so large ; and on the
other, to see that the Jewish churches had already
assumed so definite an attitude of hostility towards
Pauline Christianity. With regard to the former
point, we are led to suppose that there must have
been, in the apostolic time, before the destruction
of Jerusalem, a great outbreak of apparent success
of the Gospel among the Jews, otherwise unknown
to us. Indeed an ancient Christian writer, Hege-
sippus, tells us that at one time, from the great
number of rulers who believed, the Scribes and
Pharisees feared that the whole nation would ac
knowledge Jesus as their Messiah. And as to the
other point, we may observe that the Jewish
churches, in carefully circulating this adverse
opinion of Paul and his teaching (the term used
is a remarkable one : they were orally instructed,
' catechised respecting thee '), are exhibited to us as
already in that course of rapid decline from the
purity of the faith, the progress of which we may
trace in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where apo
stasy from Christ is the sin of which above all
others they stand in peril, — and in the message of
the Spirit to the Churches in the Apocalypse.
The advice given to St. Paul by James and the

334 How to study the New Testament.
elders, wise as it doubtless was, with a view to
conciliate the Jewish believers, proved in the end
the means of awakening against him the bitter
hostility of his own people. The Asiatic Jews,
believing, or feigning to believe, that they had
seen with him, on one of his visits to the temple,
Trophimus a Gentile, one of his companions,
stirred up the people against him, and threw all
Jerusalem into uproar.
What followed is well known to us all, and need
not be dwelt upon here. Only let the reader ob
serve, that at the very mention of Paul's mission
to the Gentiles, the riot breaks out afresh ; clearly
showing what was the salient point of the enmity
against him ; — not the preaching of Jesus of
Nazareth as the Messiah, but the admission of the
Gentiles to equal privilege with the Jews them
selves. We pass rapidly on to the end : reminding the
reader that the delightful narrative of the voyage
and the shipwreck has in our time received most
interesting elucidation from the little work of Mr.
Smith of Jordanhill, in which he has laid down
minutely and satisfactorily, from personal nautical
observation, and from that of others, every par-

The Acts of the Apostles. 335
ticular of the course, and every detail of the dis
aster. I cannot help expressing a wish that the
excellent author of this little treatise might be in
duced to put it into a small tract for popular use.
I know of nothing which has been written on the
Scriptures in our day, that has tended so much to
give life and reality to a portion of the sacred
narrative. It is hard for one, who loves the very stones of
Rome, to pass over all the thoughts which arise
in his mind, as he thinks of the great Apostle
treading the rude and massive pavement of the
Appian Way, and passing under that arch of
Drusus at the Porta S. Sebastiano, toiling up the
Capitoline Hill past the tabularium of the Capitol,
dwelling in his hired house in the Via Lata or
elsewhere, imprisoned in those painted caves in
the Praetorian Camp, and at last pouring out his
blood for Christ at the Tre Fontane, on the road
to Ostia. But these things can only be thus men
tioned, and this section drawn to a close with a
notice of what, for its purpose, is more important
— the object of St. Paul's conduct and discourse to
the Jews in Rome, and the reason of the history
closing as it does.

. 336 How to study the New Testament.
The Christian church at Rome was unquestion
ably the first of all the Gentile churches in import
ance. To it the Apostle had already written the
most elaborate and greatest of his epistles. Yet
in this narrative no notice of that church is found,
further than that brethren came out to meet St.
Paul on the Appian Way. On the other hand,
his whole care on his arrival appears to have been
for the Jews, whom he forthwith assembles at his
lodging. How is this to be accounted for ?
The answer is not far to seek : and is one which
admirably sets forth the unity of design of our his
tory. It is found partly in the fact, that St. Luke
does not commonly relate that which took place
in the Christian churches already founded. St.
Paul spent three years at Ephesus — and a year
and a half on one occasion, and three months on
another, at Corinth ; — but we hear nothing which
took place among the Christians themselves during
these periods. This of itself would be enough to
vindicate our history from the charge of inconsis
tency, in the omission of notice of the Christian
church at Rome. But there is another reason,
even more apposite. This narrative is evidently
drawn up under the personal superintendence of

The Acts of the Apostles. 337
the Apostle. It is a record of his zeal and love
for Israel, his own people. ' The Jew first, and also
the Gentile,' is the leading maxim of the mission
ary work of even the great Apostle of the Gentiles
himself. And as this was the order in which our
Lord's parting command had laid down the spread
of the Testimony to Himself, so this book, which
is but an exemplification how that command was
carried out, ends with the final attempt of St. Paul
for the conversion of his countrymen. We know
from himself (Rom. xi. 25, 26) that when the ful
ness of the Gentiles was come in, Israel was to be
saved. His work amongst the Gentiles had now
reached its highest point. Asia and Europe —
Antioch, Athens, Corinth,— had been filled with
his testimony of the Gospel of the grace of God :
it might seem to him, now that he had reached
the chief city of the world, now that he had seen
and joined himself to the great Gentile Church
there founded, that the moment was come for
Israel to look on Him whom they had pierced.
But gently, and cautiously, he clears the way
before him for this testimony: taking care that
his appearing as a prisoner from Judea, and his
having appealed to Csesar, should not in their

338 How to study the New Testament.
minds create a prejudice against him. And thus
he opens his commission, and once more goes
over the accustomed ground, persuading them
concerning Jesus from the law of Moses and from
the Prophets, from morning to evening. On this
there was a division among them, ending, as the
narrative implies, in the official rejection of the
Apostle's message. On this he dismisses them,
remarkably enough with the very same prophetic
words of Isaiah, with which our Lord had opened
His teaching by parables.
And, this having been done, the history of this
book closes : and with it the historical Scriptures.
All further notices have to be gleaned from the
Epistles, and the Book of Revelation.
For this apparently abrupt termination, the best
assignable reason beyond doubt is, that at the end
of the two years here spoken of, during which Paul
dwelt in his hired house at Rome, this book, the
Acts of the Apostles, was published ; and there
fore there was nothing more to tell. Another
reason coincides with this, viz., that the subject of
the book has now reached a certain completion,
the preaching of the Word having been brought as
far as to Rome itself, the capital of the world. But

The Acts of the Apostles. 339
too much weight must not be laid upon this. The
original commission by our Lord (ch. i. 8) did not
stop but with ' the ends ofthe earth :' and there can
be no doubt that had there been a further journey
of St. Paul, and wider dispersion of the testimony
to relate, it would have been related.
I close this series of our New Testament notices
with the usual tables of matters to be otherwise
read, or otherwise rendered from the Greek, in the
long portion which has been under our notice.
First, for passages which should be otherwise
read in the Greek text.
In ch. xiii. 18, it is doubtful (see margin of Eng
lish version) whether the term ought to be ' bore
their manners,' or, ' bore them as a nurse.' The
difference is that of only one letter in the Greek,
and the ancient manuscripts are divided in their
testimony. In ver. 42, for ' when the Jews ivere
gone out of the sy7iagogue, the Ge/itiles besought] read
' now when they were going out, they besought'
Ch. xiv. 17, most of the ancient mss. read '.your
hearts,' not ' our hearts.'
Ch. xv. 7, ' among us] should be 'among you.'
In ver. n, omit ' Christ! In verses 17, 18, there
is a remarkable variety of reading. That in our

340 How to study the New Testament.
version, ' saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
K710W11 unto God are all His wo/-ks from the begin-
7iing of the world] is only found, as it stands, in
some of the ancient Latin mss. The reading of
the three most ancient, and of several others of
good authority, is merely this : ' saith the Lord,
who maketh these things known from the begin
ning.' And this reading is now generally adopted.
In ver. 23, for ' the apostles, and elders, a7id breth
ren] read 'the apostles and the elder brethren.'
In ver. 24, omit ' saying, Ye must be circumcised,
and keep the law! In ver. 33, for ' the apostles,'
read ' them that sent them.' Ver. 34 is omitted
altogether by our three oldest mss. It has been
inserted in order to explain the circumstance that
Silas afterwards went from Antioch with St. Paul.
One of the old mss. which contains it, further in
serts, 'but Judas went by himself:' thus showing
plainly the apocryphal character of the verse. In
ver. 36, for ' our brethren,' read ' the brethren.'
In ver. 40, for ' God] read ' the Lord.'
In ch. xvi. 7, for ' the Spirit] read ' the Spirit of
Jesus.' In ver. 10, for ' the Lord] read ' God.'
In ver. 13, for ' out of the city] read ' out of the
gate.' In ver. 31, omit ' Christ!

The Acts of the Apostles. 341
Ch. xvii. 5, omit 'which believed not! Ver. 27,
for ' the Lord] read ' God.'
Ch. xviii. 1, for ' Paul departed,' read ' he de
parted.' In ver. 5, for ' was pressed in the spirit]
read 'was earnestly occupied in discoursing.' In
ver. 15, for ' if it be a question] read ' if there be
questions.' In ver. 17, for 'then all the Greeks
took] read 'then they all took.' In ver. 19, read
' and they came to Ephesus, and he left them
there.' In ver. 20, omit 'with them! Ver. 21
ought to stand thus : ' But bidding them farewell,
and saying, I will return again unto you, if God
will, he sailed from Ephesus,' omitting all the rest.
In ver. 25, for ' the things of the Lord] read ' the
things concerning Jesus.' In ver. 26, for ' Aquila
and Priscilla] read ' Priscilla and Aquila' (see
Rom. xvi. 3 ; 2 Tim. iv. 19). In the same verse,
omit ' of God!
Ch. xix. 4, omit ' Christ! In ver. 9, omit 'one!
In ver. 10, omit 'Jesus! In ver. 16, for '' overca7ne
them] read ' overcame both of them.' There seem
to have been two thus employed on this particular
occasion. In ver. 29, for 'the whole city] read
'the city.' In ver. 35, omit 'goddess! In ver. 37,
for 'your goddess,' read ' our goddess.'
1

342 How to study the New Testament.
Ch. xx. 4, read, ' Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, a
Bercean.' Ver. 7, for 'the disciples] read 'we.'
Ver. 8, for 'they were] read 'we were.' Ver. n,
for 'bread] read 'the bread' — i.e., the usual sacra
mental bread. Ver. 19, omit 'ma7iy! Ver. 21,
omit ' Christ! Ver. 24 ought to stand thus : ' But
I hold my life of no account, nor precious to me,
in comparison of finishing my course, and the
ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to
complete my testimony of the gospel of the grace
of God.' In ver. 25, the words, ' of God] should
be omitted. In ver. 28, there is a great question
between the readings, ' the Church of God,' and
' the Church of the Lord ;' the great mss. being
divided. The whole matter will be found dis
cussed in my note on the place. The result has
been that I see no reason for departing from
the reading, ' the Church of God,' which is found
in our two oldest mss., the Sinaitic and the
Vatican. In ver. 29, omit 'For] and 'this!
and in ver. 32, omit 'brethre7i:' and in ver. 34,
omit 'yea!
In ch. xxi. 8, for 'we that were of Paul's cotti-
pany] read ' we.' In ver. 20, for 'the Lord] read
' God : ' and for ' of Jews] read ' among the

The Acts of the Apostles. 343
Jews.' Ver. 24, for "' may know,' read ' shall
know.' In ch. xxii. 3, omit ' ve7-ily! Ver. 9, omit ' a7id
were afraid! Ver. 16, for 'the name of the Lord]
read ' his name.' In ver. 20, omit ' unto his death'
(it has been supplied from ch. viii. i,- and is not
found here in any of the oldest mss.). In ver. 26,
for ' take heed what thou doest] read ' what art
thou about to do ? ' In ver. 30, for ' to appear]
read 'to assemble :' and for ' their council,' 'the
council.' In ch. xxiii. 6, for ' the son of a Pharisee] read
' the son of Pharisees.' In ver. 9, for ' the scribes]
read ' some of the scribes ;' and for the latter part
of the verse read, ' but peradventure a spirit or an
angel hath spoken to him:' omitting 'let us 7iot
fight agai7ist God] which words are not in the
oldest mss., and have apparently found their way
in from ch. v. 39. In ver. n, omit 'Paul! In
ver. 12, for 'certain of the Jews] read 'the Jews.'
In ver. 20, for ' as though they Would inquire,' read
' as though thou wouldest inquire.' In ver. 30, the
true reading is, ' But when it was told me, that a
plot was prepared against the man.' At the end
of the verse, omit ' Farewell.'

344 How to study the New Testament.
Ch. xxiv. i, for ' the elders] read ' some of the
elders.' Verses 6-8 ; the whole passage from ' we
took ' to ' come unto thee,' is omitted in the prin
cipal ancient mss. It must here be matter of doubt,
how far we may discern traces of deliberate abridg
ment of the text in the Acts, in the earliest mss.
This is only one of numerous passages, where it
appears most unlikely that the shorter text should
have been the original. In such cases, the words
in question should be retained, but enclosed within
brackets, to denote their doubtful genuineness. In
ver. io, for ' the7nore cheerfully, read ' cheerfully.'
In ver. 13, for 'prove] read 'prove unto thee.'
In ver. 15, omit ' of the dead! In ver. 18, for
' whereupon] read ' amidst which.' In ver. 22, for
' and when Felix heard these things] read ' and
Felix,' omitting ' he ' below. In ver. 23, for
' Paul] read 'him :' and at the end of the verse,
omit ' or come! In ver. 26, omit 'that he 7night
loose him!
Ch. xxv. 2, for ' the high priest] read ' the chief
priests.' In ver. 6, it should stand as in the mar
gin of our version, ' not more than eight or ten
days.' The alteration has probably been made,
because it was supposed that Scripture could not

The Acts of the Apostles. 345
leave anything uncertain. In ver. 7, after ' round
about,' insert ' him :' and omit ' against Paul] be
ginning the next verse, ' while Paul answered for
himself Ver. 1 1 should begin, ' If indeed I be
an offender.' In ver. 16, omit 'to die! In ver.
18, for ' none accusation] read 'no wicked accusa
tion.' Ch. xxvi. 15, for 'he] read 'the Lord :' ver. 17,
omit ' 7iow! In ver. 30, omit ' when he had thus
spoken! Ch. xxvii. 2, read, 'a ship of Adramyttium which
was to sail towards the coast of Asia, we put to
sea.' Ver. 12, omit 'also! Ver. 14, for 'Euro
clydon] read ' Euraquilon.' Ver. 16, 'Clauda'
ought most probably" to be ' Cauda.' Ver. 19, for
' we cast out,' read ' they cast out.' Ver. 34, for
fall] read 'perish.'
Ch. xxviii. 3, for ' a bundle] read ' a certain
quantity.' In ver. 16, the principal ancient manu
scripts omit the words, 'the centurion delivered
the prisoners to the captain of the guard : but'
At all events, if retained (see above, on ch. xxiv.
6-8), they should be enclosed in brackets. In
ver. 25, for ' our fathers,' read ' your fathers.' In
ver. 28, for 'the salvation of God,' read 'this sal-

346 How to study the New Testament.
vation of God.' Ver. 29 is omitted by all the
most ancient manuscripts and versions.
The chief cases where our rendering requires
correction, are the following : —
In ch. xiii. 1, for ' which had been brought up
with] substitute ' foster-brother of In ver. 4, fcr
'departed] 'went down.' In ver. 19, it should
stand, 'And he destroyed seven nations in the
land of Canaan, and divided,' etc. ; and in ver. 22,
'And he removed him, and raised up,' etc. In
ver. 23, ' Of this man's seed hath God according
to promise brought unto Israel,' etc. In ver. 24,
' before his coming' is literally ' before the presence
of his coming ;' ' before ' not meaning ' p7-miously
to] but as in the words, ' Behold, I send thy mes
senger before thy face.' In ver. 26, omit ' 7nen
and;' 1 and instead of ' whosoever among you feareth
God] 'those among you who fear God.' Ver. 28
should stand, ' And when they found no cause of
death in him, they desired Pilate,' etc. In ver. 33,
after ' raised up Jesus,' omit ' again! It is not the
Resurrection of our Lord, but His mission, which
is spoken of. In ver. 34, the word rendered
' mercies ' signifies ' holy things,' the word ' holy '
1 So also in ver. 38 ; ch. xv. 7, 13 : xxiii. 1, 6 : xxviii. 17.

The Acts of the Apostles. 347
should have been retained. Perhaps ' the mercies
of David, holy and sure,' would have been the
best rendering. In ver. 38, 'preached' would be
better here ' announced ;' and ver. 39 should
stand, 'And in Him every one that believeth is
justified from all things, from which ye could not
be justified in [under] the law of Moses.' In ver.
42, read and render, 'And as they were going out,
they besought that these words might be spoken,'
etc. In ver. 48, for ' ordained] render ' disposed.'
This is a change of importance, as this text has
been misapplied to support a doctrine to which it
has no reference. The word in the original is the
same as that used in 1 Cor. xvi. 15 of the house
of Stephanas, where it is said, in our version, that
they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the
saints ; and this meaning, of the disposition ofmitid
of the persons spokai of, should have been kept here
also. By whom these persons were so disposed,
will of course be understood by every Christian,
but is hot expressed in the word.
In ch. xiv. 2, render, ' But the Jews which be
lieved not, stirred up and embittered the minds of
the Gentiles against the brethren.' In ver. 5,
'assault' ought to be 'stir,' 'movement' If an

348 How to study the New Testament.
assault had been made on them, they could not
but have been ' ware of it.' In ver. 9, ' was listen
ing to Paul speaking.' In ver. 13, 'brought bulls
and garlands unto the doors.' In ver. 14, for ' ran
in] 'rushed forth.' In ver. 15, for 'vanities] 'vain
gods.' In ver. 16, for 'times] 'the generations.'
In ver. 18, for ' the people] 'the multitude;' and
in ver. 19, 'the multitudes.' In ver. 21, 'taught
many] should be ' made many disciples.' (See on
Matt, xxviii. 19.) In ver. 22, ' 7nuch tribulation'
should be 'many tribulations.' Ver. 23, 'ordained'
should be ' elected' — an important fact to be held
fast. The verse should end, ' they prayed with
fasting, and commended them to the Lord, on
whom they had believed.' In ver. 27, render, for
perspicuity, instead of ' how] ' that.' It was
not the ma7incr, but the fact, which they told
them. In ch. xv. 3, for ' and] ' so then.' Ver. 9, for
faith] 'their faith.' Ver. n, for ' But] 'How
beit' Ver. 1 2, for ' miracles] ' signs,' as in ch. v.
12, vii. 36, xiv. 3. Ver. 19, for 'turned] 'turning.'
Ver. 2 1, for ' of old time,' ' from of old time.'
Ver. 22, 'to choose out men of their own com
pany, and send them.' Ver. 26, 'hazarded' is

The Acts of the Apostles. 349
literally 'delivered up.' Ver. 37, for 'determined]
' was minded.'
Ch. xvi. 5, ' So then the churches were,' etc.
Ver. 6, for ' and wei-e forbiddm of] 'being hindered
by.' Ver. 12, for 'the chief city of that part of
Macedo7iia] ' the first Macedonian city of the dis
trict' Ver. 14, for 'heard us] 'was listening.'
Ver. 16, for ' p7-ayer] 'the place of prayer.' In
ver. 17, for 'shew] 'tell.' Ver. 25, 'Paul and
Silas, in their prayers, were singing praises unto
God, and the prisoners were listening to them.'
Ver. 27, 'was about to kill himself Ver. 29, 'a
light] should be ' lights.' Ver. 34, • brought them]
should be ' brought them up ;' the prison was
underground. Ver. 40, ' cotnforted' should pro
bably be ' exhorted.'
Ch. xvii. 5, for 'gathered a company] 'made a
riot' Ver. 9, for ' the other] which is meant by
our translators to he plural, 'the rest' Ver. 11,
for ' a7id searched] ' searching.' Ver. 13, ' at
Bercea also, they came stirring up and troubling
the multitude there likewise.' Ver. 15, 'unto'
should be ' as far as.' Ver. 18, 'What meaneth
this babbler to say?' Ver. 19, 'Areopagus' should
be, as in ver. 22, 'the hill of Mars.' Ver. 21,

350 How to study the New Testament.
' For ' should be ' Now.' Ver. 22, ' too superstitious'
is a sad mistake, causing the English reader to
miss the fine tact and skill of the address ; it
should be, 'very religious.' Ver. 23 should stand,
' For as I passed by, and beheld your objects of
worship, I found also an altar with this inscrip
tion, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What there
fore ye ignorantly worship, that declare I unto
you.' Ver. 24, ' The God,' etc. Ver. 25, for
' worshipped with] ' served by.' Ver. 26, ' And
caused every nation of men, sprung of one blood,
to dwell on all the face of the earth, and deter
mined the times appointed,' etc. In ver. 30,
'winked at' should be 'overlooked.' Ver. 33,
' So' should be 'And thus.'
Ch. xviii. 5, 'And' should be 'But,'1 and
' Christ' should be ' the Christ' In ver. 6, ' shook'
should be ' shook out,' and it would better stand,
' I shall henceforth with a clear conscience go
unto the Gentiles.' In ver. 13, for ' this fellow]
' this man.' Ver. 25, for ' was] 'had -been;' for
'diligently] 'accurately,' and in ver. 16, for ' 7nore
pafectly] ' more accurately,' the adjective being
the same. 1 So also in ver. 6.

The Acts of the Apostles. 35 1
Ch. xix. 1, for ' coasts] ' parts.' Ver. 2, ' Did
ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed ?
And they said unto him, We did not so much as
hear whether there were any Holy Ghost' The
mistake of the authorized version confuses the
whole history. In ver. 9, for ' that way,' ' the
way.'1 In ver. 24, for 'gain] and in ver. 25, for
' craft] render ' employment :' the word being the
same. In ver. 33, ' Some of the multitude drew
forth Alexander.' In ver. 35, for 'people] ' multi
tude.' ' Worshipper' is literally 'temple-keeper.'
In ver. 37, 'temples,' instead of 'churches! In
ver. 38, for ' the law is open] ' court-days are held.'
Ver. 39, for 'a] 'the.'
Ch. xx. 6, for ' we] ' we ourselves.' Ver. 9, for
'in a window,' 'on the window seat' Ver. 11,
for ' bread] ' the bread.' Ver. 15, for ' arrived at]
'put in to.' Ver. 16, 'that he might not have to
spend the time in Asia.' Ver. 18, for 'have been]
' was.' Ver. 26, for ' record] ' witness.' In ver.
28, for 'overseers] 'bishops :' elders and bishops,
in the primitive Church, were the same. Ver. 30,
for ' disciples] ' the disciples.' Ver. 38, for 'spake]
' had spoken.' ¦ So also in ver. 23, and ch. xxiv 22.

352 How to study the New Testament.
Chap. xxi. i, for ' were gotten from them] ' had
torn ourselves away from them.' Ver. 3, for ' into]
' towards.' Ver. 4, ' But having sought out the
disciples.' Ver. 6, 'we embarked in the ship.'
Ver. 7, ' And finishing our voyage, we came from
Tyre to Ptolemais.' Ver. 8, for ' which was]
' being :' the reason is given, why they abode with
him. Ver. 13, 'What do ye, weeping and break
ing.' Ver. 15, for 'carriages] 'baggage.' Ver.
16, 'from Caesarea.' Ver. 20, ' how many thou
sands there are among the Jews which have be
come believers.' Ver. 22, better 'a multitude
will certainly come together.' Ver. 24, ' at charges
for them,' etc. : ' and all shall know.' Ver. 25,
' which have become believers, we have written,
decreeing.' Ver. 26, ' the offering.' Ver. 27,
'which were from Asia.' Ver. 31, 'as they were
seeking to kill him.' Ver. 36, 'the violence ofthe
crowd.' Ver. 38, ' thou art not then that Egyptian :'
and for four thousand] ' those four thousand.'
Ver. 39, 'a Jew of Tarsus, a citizen of no mean
city in Cilicia.'
Ch. xxii. 1, omit ' men! Ver. 3, ' In Tarsus of
Cilicia.' Ver. 6, 'coming nigh unto Damascus.'
Ver. 22, 'unto this saying:' and for 'is not fit,'

The Acts of the Apostles. 353
'was not fit' Ver. 23, for 'cast off] 'shook.'
Ver. 25, ' with the thongs,' which were commonly
used for the purpose. Ver. 29, ' when he bethought
him that he was a Roman, and that he had
bound him.' Ver. 30, ' wishing to know the cer
tainty.' Ch. xxiii. 6, ' But Paul, being aware,' etc. Ver.
15, 'as though ye would determine with greater
accuracy.' Ver. 27, 'then came I with the troop.'
Ver. 35, ' Herod's palace.'
Ch. xxiv. 5, ' the heresy of the Nazarenes.' Ver.
16, 'do I also exercise myself Ver. 25, 'the
judgment which is to come, Felix, becoming
alarmed, answered.' There is nothing about
trembling in the original. Ver. 27, ' willing to win
favour with the Jews :' so also in ch. xxv. 9.
Ch. xxv. 5, ' which are powerful among you,'
instead of 'which amo7ig you are able! Ver. n,
for ' or] 'and.' Ver. 18, for 'against] 'round
about' Ver. 19, for 'superstition] 'religion.' Ver.
25, ' But I found that he had committed nothing
worthy of death : and seeing that he himself ap
pealed to Augustus, I determined to send him.'
Ver. 27, for 'to send] 'when sending a prisoner,
not withal to,' etc. z

354 How to study the New Testament.
Ch. xxvi. 3, 'Especially because thou art ex
pert' Ver. 8, ' if God raiseth the dead.' Ver. io,
'I gave my vote against them.' Ver. 18, for 'to
turn them] render 'that they may turn.' Ver. 20,
' them of Damascus and Jerusalem, and through
out all the country of Judaea and to the Gentiles :'
and for 'meet for] 'worthy of their.' Ver. 21,
' endeavoured to kill me.' Ver. 23, ' If at least
Christ was to suffer, and, first rising from the dead,
was to.' Ver. 24, ' thy much learning.' Ver. 28,
'With small persuasion thinkest thou that thou
canst make me a Christian.' And in ver. 29, ' I
would to God, that, whether with little persuasion
or with much, not only thou, but also all who hear
me this day, might become such as I am, except
these bonds.'
Ch. xxvii. 2, ' a ship of Adramyttium, which was
about to sail by the coasts of Asia, we put to sea.'
Ver. 7, for ' scarce] ' with difficulty.' Ver. 9, for
'sailing] 'the voyage.' Ver. 12, for 'lieth toward
the south-west and north-west] ' looketh toward the
north-east and the south-east.' Ver. 14, for ' there
arose agaitist it] ' there blew down from it,' i.e.,
from Crete. Ver. 17, for 'the quicksands] 'the
quicksand,' or ' the Syrtis,' the great quicksand on

The A ets of the Apostles. 355
the African coast : and for ' strake sail] ' lowered
the gear;' i.e., struck the top-mast, and set all
their sails. The authorized version makes them,
as Mr. Smith has observed, do the very thing which
was sure to bring about what they wished to avoid.
Ver. 19, for 'tackling] 'furniture.' Ver. 21, for
'to have gained] ' should have been spared.' Ver.
25, for 'was] 'hath been.' Ver. 30, for 'cast
anchors] 'carried anchors.' Ver. 34, for 'health]
'safety.' Ver. 38, for ' and cast] 'casting.' Ver.
39, ' on which they were minded, if it were pos
sible, to run the ship aground.' Ver 40 should
#
run thus — ' And when they had cut off the anchors,
they left them in the sea :' and for ' 77iain sail]
'fore sail.'
Ch. xxviii. 2, for ' barbarous people] ' barbarians,'
as in ver. 4, Rom. i. .14, 1 Cor. xiv. ri, Col. iii.
1 1 ; and for ' little] ' common.' Ver. 6, ' when
they were long locJdng.' Ver. 9, for ' others] ' the
rest' Ver. 13, 'the south wind sprung up, and
we came the second day to Puteoli.' Ver. 15, for
' of us] ' the tidings concerning us.' Ver. 22, ' sect '
is literally ' heresy.'

; ' -•