Page images
PDF
EPUB

41 And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son? 42 and David himself saith in the book of m PSA. cx. 1. Psalms, m The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 43 till I make thine enemies thy footstool. 44 David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

n Matt. xxiii. 5.

o ch. ri. 43.

[ocr errors]

45 Then in the audience of all the people he said unto This disciples, 46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief 8 rooms at feasts; 47 which devour widows' houses, and for a tshew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.

XXI. 1 And he looked up, and saw u the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3 And a 2 Cor. viii. 12. he said, Of a truth I say unto you, a that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: for all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings [of God]: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. 5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned

r read, them.

render, places.

render, pretence, as in Matt. xxvii. 14, Mark xii. 40, where the original word is the same as here.

RESPECTING

[ocr errors][merged small]

gelist's narrative: but surely not, when they are in a discourse of our Lord. If His words were so loosely reported as this, where is any dependence on the accuracy of the Evangelists ?

45-47.] DENUNCIATION OF THE SCRIBES. Matt. xxiii. 6, 7. Mark xii. 38-40, with which latter our text almost verbally agrees: see notes there. 45.] This particular, in the audience of all the people, is only in Luke.

■ render, rich men who were casting. W omitted by some ancient authorities. 41-44.] QUESTION CHRIST AND DAVID. Matt. xxii. 41-46; Mark xii. 35-37, where see notes. St. Luke omits the question of the lawyer, which occurred immediately on the gathering together of the Pharisees after the last incident. This question of our Lord seems to have followed close on that, which (and not that in vv. 27 ff. here) was their last to Him, Mark xii. 34. 41.] unto them, i. e. the Scribes. The same thing is signified by "How say the Scribes?" in Mark. In Matthew the question is addressed to the Pharisees. I mention these things as marks of the independence of the accounts. The underlying fact is, the Lord addressed the Pharisees and Scribes on a view which they (the Scribes, the Pharisees agreeing) entertained about the Messiah. Hence the three accounts diverge. 42.] On in the book of Psalms, Wordsw. says, "added here as conveying information necessary to Gentile readers." This might be well, did the words occur in the Evan

CHAP. XXI. 1-4.] THE WIDOW's MITES. Mark xii. 41-44, where see notes.

1. looked up] Our Lord as yet has been surrounded with His disciples (see ch. xx. 45), and speaking to them and the

multitude. He now lifts up His eyes, and

sees at a distance, &c.

5-36.] PROPHECY OF HIS COMING,

AND OF THE TIMES OF THE END. Matt. xxiv. 1-51 (xxv. 1-46). Mark xiii. 1-37. See notes on both, but especially on Matthew. Meyer says truly, that there is no trace in Luke of the dis

with goodly stones and things which ye behold,

[blocks in formation]

the days will come, in the which

b there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall b ch. xix. 44. not be thrown down. 7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things a shall come to pass?

с

C

2 Thess. ii. 3.

8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for Eph. v.6. many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and, The time draweth near: go ye not [therefore] after them. 9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not d by and by. 10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11 and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 12 d But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, d Rev. ii. 10. and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues,

render, offerings.

z render, will be the sign.

7 not expressed in the original.

a render, are about to.

not expressed in the original. Better perhaps, I am he. comit.

better, these things.

course being delivered on the Mount of Olives-but he adds, that it belongs to the discourses in the temple, which begin ch. xx. 1, and that therefore St. Luke alone mentions the offerings. He seems to have overlooked the break at ver. 7, corresponding to the change of scene. All three speak of the opening incident as happening while He was departing from the temple; and St. Matthew and St. Mark, of the enquiry being made afterwards, on the Mount of Olives,-i. e. in the evening, when he had retired thither (ver. 37).

5.] The offerings were many and precious. Tacitus calls it "a temple of immense opulence:" and Josephus gives an account of the gilding, and golden vines (presented by Herod the Great) with bunches of grapes as large as a man, &c. in the temple.

7.] That St. Luke's account alone gives us no trace of a different scene or a different auditory, is a proof of its independence of the others: for how could any rational writer have omitted so interesting a matter of accurate detail, if he had been

aware of it? but when] Their question begins with "but," on account of what our Lord had said, ver. 6. 8.] The time

d i.e. immediately.

draweth near, i. e. the time of the Kingdom. They are the words, not of our Lord, but of the many just mentioned: see on Matthew, verses 4, 5. 10.] Then said he unto them perhaps implies a break in the discourse, which the other reports do not notice. 12.] Why the words before all these things should have made any difficulty, I am at a loss to imagine. The prophecies of vv. 7, 8 in Matthew,-ver. 8 in Mark, -and vv. 10, 11 here, are a parenthetical warning of what shall happen before the end. And then having stated, that these things shall be the very beginning of the actual pangs themselves (see note on Matthew), the prophetic chronology is resumed from "the end is not yet," in all three accounts; here, by distinct statement, But before all these things: in Mark by implication, "But take ye heed to yourselves," by which "but" the following words are thrown back to the "Take heed" before:-in Matthew, by the gathering up of the parenthetical announcements as "all these things," and thus casting them off, as the " beginning of pangs belonging to the "end," before the discourse proceeds with the "then" taken

e Acts iv. 3. and

18: xii. 4: xvi. 24.

f Acts xxv. 23.

1 Pet. ii. 13. Phil. i. 28.

2 Thess. i. 5.

i Matt. x. 19. ch. xii. 11.

k Acts vi. 10.

1 Micah vii. 6.

xii. 2.

you

a

into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers g for name's sake. 13 And hit shall turn to for my testimony. 14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, k which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 161 And ye shall be 1 betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, m Acts vii. 50: and friends; and m some of h shall they you cause to be n Matt. x. 29. put to death. 17 And "ye shall be hated of all men for my o Matt. x. 30. name's sake. 18 oi But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 19 In your patience possess ye your souls. 20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem 1compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the m countries enter p Dan. ix. 20, thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that Pall things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 [But] woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days for there shall be great distress an in the land, and wrath upon this people, 24 and they shall fall

27. Zech. xi.

1.

[blocks in formation]

up from ver. 6. The whole difficulty has
arisen from not rightly apprehending the
force of the word pangs as the death-
throes of the end. 13.] for a testimony,
viz. of your faithfulness, and (Mark) against
them. 15.] Luke only. Gainsay cor-
responds to mouth, resist to wisdom.

16.] even by... 'not only by strangers,'
Bengel.
some of you-i. e. of the
Apostles. One of the four who heard this
discourse was put to death, Acts xii. 2.

18.] Not literally, but really true; not cor-
poreally, but in that real and only life which
the disciple of Christ possesses. 19.] In
your patience (i. e. by your endurance of all
these things) ye shall acquire (not, possess,
which is an ungrammatical rendering)
your souls: this endurance being God's
appointed way, in and by which your
salvation is to be put in your possession.
acquire, as "find," Matt. xvi. 25—
"save," ch. ix. 24.
20.] being com-

m render, fields.
• render, for.

passed graphically sets forth the scene
now before them, as it should then ap-
pear. On the variation of expression from
Matthew and Mark, see note on Matthew,
ver. 15.
21.] of it belongs to the "of
it" (thereof) of ver. 20, and signifies not "of
Judæa," but "of Jerusalem." the fields
-not "the countries," or "the provinces."
It is in the original the same word as our
Lord uses in John iv. 35, where He com-
mands His disciples to lift up their eyes on
the fields. 22.] vengeance; from this
being the same word in the Greek, it is a
hint perhaps at ch. xviii. 8. The latter part
of the verse alludes probably to the pro-
phecy of Daniel, which St. Luke has omitted,
but referred to in "the desolation thereof,”
ver. 20. 23.] on the earth, general-
for this people, particular. The distress
on all the earth is not so distinctly the
result of the divine anger, as that which
shall befall this nation. 24.] A most

by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive
into all P nations: and Jerusalem 4 shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the
fulfilled. 25 r And there shall be signs in the

Gentiles be a Dan. ix. 27:

t

them a

30 when

r

xii. 7. Rom. xi. 25.

2 Pet. iii. 10,

12.

14.

23.

sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man S coming in a cloud with power and 8 Rev.1.7: xiv. great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your t Rom. viii. 19, redemption draweth nigh. 29 And he spake to parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34 And take heed to your- u selves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you ་ unawares. 35 For as a snare

shall it come on all them that w dwell on the face of the

P render, the nations.

ri.e. by.

I render, shall remain trodden
literally, nations.

t render, in despair at the roaring of the sea and the waves. a render, coming.

Rom. xiii. 13. iPet. iv.7.

1 Thess. v. 6.

v1 Thess. v. 2.

2 Pet. iii. 10.

Rev. iii. 3:

xvi. 15.

down.

་ many ancient authorities read, unawares as a snare. For it shall come on all them

W literally, sit.

...

[blocks in formation]

tion;-the great rejection of the Lord
by the Gentile world, answering to its
type, His rejection by the Jews, being
finished, the time shall come, of which
the destruction of Jerusalem was a type.
Times has the same meaning as time:
no essential difference is to be insisted on.
It is plural, because the Gentiles (nations)
are plural: each Gentile people having in
turn its time.
25, 26.] The greater
part of these signs are peculiar to Luke.
28.] your redemption, i. e. the com-
pletion of it by My appearing.
34-36.] Peculiar to Luke. 34.] your-
selves and your are emphatic, recalling

w ch. xviii. 1. whole earth.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these P. 1.5. Eph. things that I shall come to pass, and × z to stand before the Son of man.

vi. 13.

37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple;

y ch. xxii. 39. and ya at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

a Ps. ii. 2. John xi. 47.

[ocr errors]

XXII. 1 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and Acts iv. 27. scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. 3c Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might d betray him unto them. 5 And b Zech. xi. 12. they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. 6 And he promised, and sought opportunity to a betray him

I read, But watch ye.

XX many ancient authorities, for "be accounted worthy," read, be able. y render, are about to.

literally, to be set.

a literally, during the days . . . during the nights.

b better, mornings: see above.

C

better, And Satan entered. d render, deliver him up.

"Then" is not temporal.

the thoughts to themselves, after the re-
counting of these outward signs.
35.] There is meaning in sit; on them
who are sitting securely. 36.] to be
set, i. e., by the angels-see Matthew, ver.
31-before the glorified Son of Man.

37, 38.] Peculiar to Luke. These verses
close the scene of our Lord's discourses in
Jerusalem which began ch. xx. 1. It does
not appear, that St. Luke believed our
Lord to have taught after this in the
temple. Nothing is said to imply it-
a general closing formula like this applies
to what has been related.
38.]
St. Luke relates nothing of any visits to
Bethany. He has the name, incidentally
only, in ch. xix. 29 and ch. xxiv. 50, where
see note.
On the whole question
regarding the history of the woman taken
in adultery, which some of our MSS. in-
sert here, compare notes, John viii. 1 ff.
This certainly would seem a more appro-
priate place for it, than that which it now
holds.

CHAP. XXII. 1, 2.] CONSPIRACY OF THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES TO KILL

JESUS. Matt. xxvi. 1-5. Mark xiv. 1, 2. The account of St. Matthew is the fullest;-see notes there. The words here give us a mere compendium of what took place.

3-6.] COMPACT OF JUDAS WITH THEM ΤΟ BETRAY HIM. Matt. xxvi. 14-16. Mark xiv. 10, 11. Our account is strikingly peculiar and independent of the others. The expression Satan entered into Judas is found in John xiii. 27,—and certainly in its proper place. Satan had not yet entered into Judas,-only (John xiii. 2) put it into his heart to betray our Lord. 4.] and captains is peculiar to Luke: the others have merely the chief priests. On the office, see Acts iv. 1. The Levitical guard of the temple would be consulted, because, it had been of late especially in the temple that our Lord had become obnoxious to them (see ver. 53 and ch. xxi. 37, 38). The words covenanted and promised here seem clearly to imply that the money was not now paid, but afterwards, when the treachery was accomplished;-see note on Matt. xxvi. 15.

« PreviousContinue »