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here. His fame was become exceeding great, insomuch, that every where he was resorted to, and followed by the sick who wished to be healed, by their friends who attended them, by those whose curiosity prompted them to see and examine things so wonderful, by well disposed persons who found themselves greatly profited and pleased with his sermons, by enemies who watched all his words and actions with a design to expose him as a deceiver, lastly, by those who expected that he would set up the kingdom immediately. Besides, at this time the multitude may have even been greater than ordinary, because as the pass over was at hand, many going thither may have chosen to travel in our Lord's train, expecting to see new miracles *.

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In the first chapter of the Talmudical tract called Shekalim, we have the following passage as it is cited by Lamy, Harm. vol. i. p. 207. On the first day of the month Adar, a proclamation awas made, requiring that the half shekel, which every Jew paid towards the service and reparation of the temple, should be provided. On the fourteenth day of the month, the collectors of this tribute sat in every city to receive it: but they did not as get constrain persons to make payment. On the twenty-fifth day boswever, they sat in the temple, and then obliged them to pay, seizing on the goods of those who refused. Adar being the last month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, answering to our February and March, if the authority of the Talmud is acknowledged, the tribute was demanded from our Lord at Capernaum, about four weeks before the passover; for that feast was always celebrated on the fif teenth day of the first month. Or this supposition, the journey which Matthew and Mark say Christ took into Judea, immediately after paying the tribute, must have been to the passover in the following month; not, however, to the passover at which he suffered, because we find him after wards celebrating the feast of tabernacles and dedication. Besides, if the number and extent of the journies performed between the third passover and that at which our Lord suffered are considered, it will perhaps appear, that they could not all take place in the space of one year; and conse quently, that a passover may have intervened, and that it was celebrated soon after the tribute was demanded, as the passage cited from the Tal mud obliges us to believe. We can thus see the reason why the multitude accompanied our Lord into Judea at this time; they were going to the passover, and chose to travel along with him, in hopes of seeing new miracles And though it should be granted, that they took their journey immediately after the tribute was paid, i. e. three weeks before the pass over, it is no ways inconsistent with the hypothesis now offered, as the peo ple commonly went up early to purify themselves, John xi. 55. It is true, the passovers in our Lord's public life will thus have been no fewer than five but the arguments offered under the second preliminary observation, shew, that there may have been more passovers in his ministry, than the historians have thought fit to mention distinctly. It may seem an objec tion of more moment, that, according to this hypothesis, Matthew and Mark have omitted a whole year almost of Christ's public life, relating only a few things which happened before his passion. But we should con, sider, that the bike blanks are to be found in other parts of their histories. Besides, Luke, who wrote before them, had given a large account of Christ's ministry during this interval, in the country beyond Jordan; not to mention that his sermons there were much the same with those he preached in Galilee, and which they had given an account of, John, whose principal design was to write the history of our Lord's transactions in Jerusalem,

during the passovers and other feasts omitted by the precedent evangelists, relates what happened at the feasts of tabernacles and dedication this year; so that he brings down the history through the period which Luke had omitted. But if the reader, setting aside the authority of the Talmud, supposes that the tribute was demanded at Capernaum sooner in the year, and that all the journies which Jesus made since the third passover, together with those which follow to the close of the history, were performed in the space of twelve months, it will no ways affect the scheme of harmony laid down in this book, only the journey into Judea through Perea must in that case have been to the feast of tabernacles, and not to the passover, and consequently must be placed after John vii. 1o. This is Sir Isaac Newton's scheme, who is of opinion, that the journey into Judea by Perea, brought our Lord up to the feast of tabernacles, and that this was his last departure from Galilee. The other scheme however I judge to be more natural and probable, for which reason I place the fourth passover here.

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FOURTH PASSOVER.

It is probable that Jesus, after the celebration of this fourth passover, left Jerusalem and Judea as soon as possible, because the priests and great men were now become solicitous to have him killed. There is nothing said of him by any of the evangelists after this passover till the feast of tabernacles approached, where John takes up the history again, relating what happened at that feast, from ch. vii. 2. to ch. ix. 35. so that he has omitted the transactions of one whole year, viz. that which intervened between the third passover, before which the first miraculous dinner was given, where he drops the history, and the fourth passover, after which the feast of tabernacles happened, where he resumes it again. Luke gives an account of his transactions between the feast of tabernacles and dedication, mentioned by John, and particularly what happened in his journey at the feast of dedication, from ch. ix. 51. to ch. xi. 1. Here John's account of the feast of dedication comes in, ch. ix. 35. After that, Jesus went away into the country beyond Jordan, where he abode till he was called into Judea to visit Lazarus. The history of his ministry in this country Luke hath given from chap. xi. 1. to chap. xvii. 11. When our Lord was called into Judea to visit Lazarus, he left Perea, and taking the south of Galilee in his way, travelled through Samaria to Bethany. We have the history of that journey Luke xvii. 11,—20. After the resurrection of Lazarus, our Lord retired to Ephraim, John xi. 54. The transactions at Ephraim we have Luke xvii. 20. Matt. xix. 3. Mark x. 2. The reader will be pleased to take notice, that this is Sir Isaac Newton's scheme also; only he supposes that the transactions recorded Matt. xix. 3, &c. happened in Perea before the resurrection of Lazarus; whereas I imagine they were done at Ephraim, whither Christ retired after having performed that miracle. The three histories coincide again (Matt. xix. 13. Mark x. 13. Luke xvii. 15.) in the account of the little children, who were brought to Jesus at Ephraim to be blessed. But Matthew and Mark relate this immediately after their account of the journey which brought our Lord into Judea at the preceding passover, I mean, acco: ding to the scheme of har mony proposed in this book, omitting the intermediate events, because Luke had given the history of them. Accordingly, the transitions by which they have connected those distant periods of our Lord's life, are such as they have made use of on other occasions, when they give accounts of things very remote from each other in point of time. For the passage Mat. xix. 3. which we have translated, the Pharisees also came to him, tempting him, and saying, is in the original, xx προσελθοντες αυτώ οι Φαρισαίοι, and therefore should have been translated, and the Pharisees came unto him. We have the journey from Ephraim to Jerusalem by Jericho, Marth. xx. 17.

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Mark x. 32. Luke xviii. 31. From thence to the conclusion, there is no interruption of the history in any of the evangelists; wherefore, in the latter part of their books likewise there is a beautiful agreement which has not been sufficiently taken notice of.

Such is the plan on which I have formed the harmony of our Lord's history, from the third passover, which happened after the first miraculous dinner, John vi. 4. to his passion. It may be worth while to consider not only the foundation upon which it is built, but the opinion of others in so important a branch of the subject. All the evangelists relate the first miraculous dinner, for which reason they must all be supposed to coincide at that period. But John vii. 1. we are told, that after these things, viz, the first miraculous dinner, and the conversation in the synagogue of Capernaum, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. It seems some fresh attempts had been made upon his life at the passover immediately following the first miraculous dinner, as was shewed in the account of that passover, p. 350. wherefore, the journey into Galilee mentioned John vii. 1, and the other transactions connected with it, come in naturally after that attempt. The transactionsTM connected with the journey into Galilee are, the journey to the country of Tyre and Sidon, the return through Decapolis, the second miraculous dinner, the journey into the territory of Cesarea Philippi, the transfiguration, the cure of the epileptic boy, and the strife of the disciples about the chief posts in the Messiah's kingdom, as they were travelling into Capernaum, where the receivers of the didrachmas accosted Peter. After the transaction last mentioned, the journey into Judea, through Perea, is related by Matthew and Mark. But about this time the feasts of tabernacles and dedication were celebrated, at both which, according to John's account, Jesus was present. The difficulty therefore is, to fix precisely upon the place of the three histories, where these feasts, with their transactions, should be introduced. To begin with the gospels of Matthew and Mark; the feasts of tabernacles and dedication, which John tells us our Lord attended, should not be brought in before the journey into Judea by Perea, because, properly speaking, there is no place at which they can be introduced into these gospels, till that journey is mentioned. Besides, John, who has given us the history of these feasts, and of our Lord's trans actions at them, tells us, that after the third passover, he industriously kept out of Judea, and walked in Galilee for a considerable time, being afraid of the Jews. Since therefore he continued so long in Galilee, his first return into Judea, and by consequence the feasts under consideration, could hardly happen before the journey mentioned by Matthew and Mark, which brought him into Judea through Perea. Yet these feasts must have hap pened before the next particular found in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, viz. the conversation with the Pharisees on the subject of divorce; because the things related by the two evangelists after that conversation, are so connected together, that there is no where else an opportunity for the feasts to be brought in. Wherefore, with respect to the histories of Matthew and Mark, it cannot be doubted, that the feasts of tabernacles and dedication mentioned by John, should be brought in between the journey into Judea by Perea, and the conversation with the Pharisees on the subject of divorce. The relation which these feasts bear to Luke's history comes next to be considered. Luke ix. 46. the strife of the disciples is mentioned, and, chap. xviii. 15. the history falls in again with Matthew and Mark, in the account of the infants who were brought to Jesus to be blessed. Here, therefore, we have a large detail of transactions, said to have happened between the two events, which stand so near to each other in Matthew and Mark; and consequently to assign John's account of the two feasts their proper places in Luke's history, must be a matter of some diffi culty. The whole of Luke, from chap ix. 51. where the histories sepa

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rate, to chap. xviii. 15. where they again coincide, may be placed either before the feasts mentioned, or after them, and before the resurrection of Lazarus; or part before these feasts, and part after; or wholly after the resurrection of Lazarus, and before the concluding passover. That the whole of this passage cannot be placed before the feasts, is evident from several particulars in the passage itself; for instance, Luke xiii. 35. where, in his first lamentation over Jerusalem, Jesus declares, that its inhabitants should not see his face, till they should say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;" wherefore he did not enter Jerusalem after that, till he was received with hosannas. The passage in Luke cannot be wholly brought in after the feasts, and before the resurrection of Lazarus, because if our Lord died at the following passover, there was no feast in that period to which he could be going when the Samaritans refused to lodge him, Luke ix. 53. Indeed, because it is said, Luke ix. 51. And it came to pass, that when the time was come that he should be received up, &c. it may be thought, that this part of the history should be wholly placed after the resurrection of Lazarus, and before the passover at which Jesus suffered. But, besides the reason mentioned, the Greek tyto v to cuμzλngsodul της ημέρας της αναλήψεως αυτέ, does not imply, that the precise moment of our Lord's ascension was come. The time was fulfilled, which, according to the Hebrew idiom, signifies, that it approached or drew on. Withal, the mission of the seventy disciples, the transactions following thereon, our Lord's return into Galilee, Luke xvii. 11. and the journey through. part of Samaria, all related in the passage before us, seem to be inconsistent, with this scheme of harmony. Upon the whole, the plan laid down in the beginning of this note, looks more like the truth than any of the rest, viz. that part of the passage in hand contains an account of what happened be tween the feasts of Tabernacles and Dedication, and part of it what hap-. pened after the feast of Dedication, and before the resurrection of Laza rus. Indeed Le Clerc goes differently to work about the same scheme. He supposes that the seventy disciples were sent out as our Lord was going up to the feast of Tabernacles; accordingly he relates their return,. Luke x. 17. after John's account of the transactions at that feast, chap. vii. 2 to chap. x. 21. then brings in the whole of Luke, from chap. x. 21. to chap. xviii. 15. and after that gives John's account of the feast of Dedication. And because Matt. xix. 1. and Mark x. r. tells us, that Jesus returned into Judea through the country beyond Jordan, he supposes, that Jesus went away after the feast of Dedication into Galilee, and from thence passed into the country beyond Jordan, and so returned to Judea. But against this order it may be objected, 1. That both Matthew and Mark affirm expressly, that the journey into Judea by Perea immediately fol lowed the reproof given to the disciples, for contending who should be the greatest. 2. When Jesus went to the feast of Tabernacles, he did not go openly, but as it were in secret, John vii. 10. Whereas in the journey, Luke ix. 51. which Le Clerc and others suppose was to this feast, he sent forth the seventy disciples, was followed by a great crowd, and no doubt wrought several miracles, Luke ix. 57. x. 25 Besides, in the forecited passage, john tells us, that Jesus did not go from Galilee to the feast of Tabernacles, till his brethren were departed; if so, he could have little. time by the way to work miracles in Samaria, or send forth the seventy, as Le Clerc and others are obliged to suppose, who think the journey men. tioned - Luke ix. 1. was to the feast of Tabernacles. To conclude, this journey is said to have happened when the time of his being received up drew on, Luke ix. 1s and consequently agrees better to the feast of Dedication, which happened about two months after the feast of Tabernacles, and but four mouths before the passover; for in that space all the subse quent transactions mentioned in the history might easily happen. See the second preliminary observation. 3. To bring in the feast of dedication, VOL. II.

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as Le Clerc does, after Luke xviii. 14. seems contrary to our Lord's de claration, Luke xiii. 35. Ye shall not see me, until the time come, when ze shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: which implies, that he did not go to Jerusalem, till he rode in amidst the triumphs and acclamations of the people, a few days before his death. 4. John seems to say, that after the feast of Dedication our Lord went directly to Bethabara, beyond Jordan; whereas Le Clerc, and the rest, find themselves obliged to suppose, that he went first to Galilee, and from Galilee into Perea.

§ LXXVI. Jesus goes up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. In the temple he preaches to a great concourse of people. While he is preaching, the senate send their officers to apprehend him. The officers, charmed with his eloquence, go aray without attempting to lay hands on him. Jesas continues his discourse. John vii. 2,-53. viii. 1.

AND now the feast of tabernacles drew on, which the law, Lev. xxiii. 39. ordained to begin on the fifteenth day of the se venth month, answering to our September and October so that it happened in the end of the former, or in the beginning of the latter month. During the continuance of that solemnity, the males of the Jewish nation that were fit to travel, dwelt at Jerusalem in tents or tabernacles made of the boughs of trees, in commemoration of their fathers having dwelt in tabernacles of this kind for the space of forty years in the wilderness. A little while before the feast, Jesus being in Galilee, whither he had returned from the fourth passover, some of his kinsmen, who had not as yet believed on him, desired him to go up to the approaching solemnity and shew himself. John vii. 2. Now the Jews feast of tabernacles was at hand: 3. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples there also may see the works that thou doest: 4. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly if thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5. For neither did his brethren believe on him. As they did not believe on him, they condemned him in their own minds, and said that he acted altogether absurdly, in passing so much of his time in Galilee, and the other remote corners of the country, while he pretended to so public a character as that of Messiah; that it would be much more for his interest to make disciples in Jerusalem and Judea, the seat of power; and that he ought to work his miracles there as publicly as possible, before the great and learned men of the nation, whose decision in his favour would have great influence to induce others to believe on him. But Jesus knowing the malice of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, did not incline to be among them longer than was absolutely necessary, lest they might have taken away his life prematurely. He therefore told his relations, that his time of going up to the feast was not yet come. 6. Then said Jesus unto them, My time is

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