journey, of the most comprehensive | most eminent, although the Feast of kind, is undertaken in the same year Tabernacles was sometimes so de(Luke viii. 1), in which he "went scribed. All that the omission could throughout every city and village." prove would be that the Evangelist did And a third circuit of the same kind, not think it needful to describe the feast and equally general (Matt. ix. 35-38), more precisely. The words in John would close the same year. Is it at iv. 35, "There are yet four months all probable that Jesus, after spending and then cometh harvest," would a considerable time in Judæa, would agree with this, for the barley-harvest be able to make three circuits of Gal- began on the 16th Nisan, and reckilee in the remainder of the year, oning back four months would bring preaching and doing wonders in the this conversation to the beginning of various places to which he came ? | December, i. e., the middle of Kisleu. This would be more likely if the journeys were hurried and partial; but all three are spoken of as though they were the very opposite. It is, to say the least, easier to suppose that the "feast" (John v. 1) was a Passover, dividing the time into two, and throwing two of these circuits into the second year of the ministry; provided there be nothing to make this interpretation improbable in itself. The words are, "After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." These two facts are meant as cause and effect; the feast caused the visit. If so, it was probably one of the three feasts at which the Jews were expected to appear before God at Jerusalem.* Was it the Passover, the Pentecost, or the Feast of Tabernacles? In the preceding chapter the Passover has been spoken of as “the feast” (ver. 45); and if another feast were meant here the name of it would have been added, as in vii. 2, x. 22. The omission of the article is not decisive, for it occurs in other cases where the Passover is certainly intended (Matt. xxvii. 15; Mark xv. 6); nor is it clear that the Passover was called the feast, as the

If it be granted that our Lord is here merely quoting a common form of speech (Alford), still it is more likely that he would use one appropriate to the time at which he was speaking. And if these words were uttered in December, the next of the three great feasts occurring would be the Passover. The shortness of the interval between v. 1 and vi. 4 would afford an objection, if it were not for the scantiness of historical details in the early part of the ministry in St. John: from the other Evangelists it appears that two great journeys might have to be included between these verses. Upon the whole, though there is nothing that amounts to proof, it is probable that there were four Passovers, and consequently that our Lord's ministry lasted somewhat more than three years, the "beginning of miracles” (John ii.) having been wrought before the first Passover. On data of calculation that have already been mentioned (p. 202), the year of the first of these Passovers was A.U.c. 780 (A.D. 27), and the baptism of our Lord took place either in the beginning of that year or the end of the year preceding. The ministry of John the Baptist began in A.U.c. 779 (A.D. 26).

(C.) GALILEE.

northern section of the country, namely, the ancient territories of Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali. It was divided into two sections, "Lower" and "Upper;" ǹ KάTw kai ǹ ävw raλilaia. A single glance at the country shows that the division was natural. Lower Galilee included the great plain of Esdraelon with its offshoots, which run down to the Jordan and the Lake of Tiberias, and the whole of the hill-country adjoining it on the north, to the foot of the mountain-range. Upper Galilee embraced the whole mountain-range lying between the upper Jordan and Phonicia. To this region the name "Gal

This name, which in the Roman age was applied to a large province, seems to have been originally confined to a little "circuit" (the Hebrew word Galil, the origin of the later "Galilee," signifies a "circle, or circuit") of country round KedeshNaphtali, in which were situated the twenty towns given by Solomon to Hiram, king of Tyre, as payment for his work in conveying timber from Lebanon to Jerusalem (Josh. xx. 7; 1 K. ix. 11; LXX. Faλıλaía). They were then, or subsequently, occupied by strangers, and for this reason Isaiah gives to the district the name "Galilee of the Gentiles" is given in the ilee of the Gentiles" (Is. ix. 1. In Matt. iv. 15, Tadıλaía tův ¿0võv; in 1 Macc. v. 15, гaλıλaía ảλλopúλwv). It is probable that the strangers increased in number, and became during the Captivity the great body of the inhabitants; extending themselves also over the surrounding country, they gave to their new territories the old name, until at length Galilee became one of the largest provinces of Palestine.

In the time of the Maccabees Galilee contained only a few Jews living in the midst of a large heathen population (1 Macc. v. 20-23). Strabo states that in his day it was chiefly inhabited by Syrians, Phoenicians, and Arabs (xvi. p. 760); and Josephus says that Greeks also dwelt in its cities (Vit. 12.)

O. and N. T. (Is. ix. 1; Matt. iv. 15). The town of Capernaum, on the north shore of the lake, was in Upper Galilee; and this fact is important, as showing how far the province extended southward, and as proving that it, as well as Lower Galilee, touched the lake.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Galilee became the chief seat of Jewish schools of learning, and the residence of their most celebrated Rabbins. The National Council, or Sanhedrim, was taken for a time to Jabneh in Philistia, but was soon removed to Sepphoris, and afterward to Tiberias. The Mishna was here compiled by Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh (cir. A.D. 109-220); and a few years afterward the Gemara was added. ReIn the time of our Lord all Pales-mains of splendid synagogues still extine was divided into three provinces, ist in many of the old towns and vilJudæa, Samaria, and Galilee (Acts lages, showing that from the second ix. 31; Luke xvii. 11; Joseph. B. J. to the seventh century the Jews were iii. 3). The latter included the whole as prosperous as they were numerous.

§ 1. Return of Jesus from Jerusalem to Galilee-The plucking of the ears of corn on the Sabbath-The healing of the withered hand-Christ rebuts the charge of Sabbath-breaking-Plot of the Pharisees and the Herodians against him. § 2. He retires to the shore of the Galilean lake, and is followed by multitudes-His miracles prove him the servant of God predicted by Isaiah. § 3. Preparations for organizing the Christian Church-Choice of the Twelve Apostles-The Sermon on the Mount-Certain preliminary questions discussed-Unity of the Discourse, and its identity in Matthew and Luke. § 4. The Time and Scene-Mount of the Beatitudes-Choice of the Apostles-Characters of their office- Personal qualifications - The Lists of the Twelve Apostles. § 5. The SERMON ON THE MOUNT; the Law of the New Dispensation. § 6. Effect of the discourse - Jesus returns to Capernaum-Healing of the Centurion's servant-Raising of the widow's son to life. § 7. Last mention of John the Baptist-His message to Jesus-Christ's final testimony to John-Denunciation of the Galilean cities-Thanksgiving for that the Gospel is revealed to babes. § 8. Jesus, at a Pharisee's table, is anointed by a sinful woman -He forgives her sins, and rebukes the scornful Pharisees-The woman not Mary Magdalene-Distinction between this anointing of Jesus as the Christ, and his anointing for his burial by Mary of Bethany. § 9. Second Circuit through Galilee-The women who ministered to Jesus-His Miracles, Discourses, and Parables-He stills the Storm on the Lake of Galilee-The Gadarene demoniac. § 10. Third Circuit through

Galilee-The Apostles sent forth-Their commission and success. § 11. Herod believes Jesus to be John restored to life, and desires to see him -Jesus retires by ship to a lonely spot on the lake, and is followed by multitudes. § 12. Approach of the Passover, to which Jesus does not go-First miracle of the loaves and fishes-Its effect on the GalileansThey wish to make Jesus king-Voyage of the disciples across the lake -Jesus walks upon the water, and saves Peter-The ensuing controversy-Many desert Jesus-Peter's confession. § 13. Jesus watched by emissaries from Jerusalem-He retires into Phoenicia and Decapolis-The Syro-Phoenician woman-Healing of the deaf and dumb-Second miracle of the loaves and fishes-Encounters with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians-The sign of the prophet Jonah. § 14. Jesus ascends the Upper Jordan to Cæsarea Philippi-Peter's full confession of the Christ-The Rock on which Christ's Church is built; and the Keys of the kingdom of heaven-Christ predicts his Passion, and rebukes the remonstrance of Peter. § 15. Christ's TransfigurationDiscourse concerning Elias-The demoniac Child-Prayer and Fasting -Renewed prediction of Christ's Passion. § 16. His last return to Capernaum-The contest for precedence-Example of the little child; and the ensuing discourse-Christ's final departure from Galilee.

§1. ONCE more we behold Jesus returning from the city of his father David, where he had proved himself the promised spiritual king, rejected and persecuted with a spite that was literally deadly. Though his retirement from Jerusalem removed him beyond the immediate danger that the rulers might have found means to take his life, either in a tumult or by persuading the Roman procurator, he was still pursued by their hostility. During this second period of his Galilean ministry, we often see how closely he was watched by the emissaries of the Jewish rulers. On his very journey he was followed by the same charge which had formed their pretext for plotting against his life at Jerusalem. The innocent act of his hungry disciples, which was sanctioned by a merciful law,' of plucking and eating the ripe ears, as they walked through the corn-fields on the Sabbath, was construed into Sabbath-breaking." At least, the view that the Feast of John V. was a Passover, compared with the order of the other Evangelists, may justify us in regarding the controversy that arose out of the act of the disciples as having occurred on the way back from Jerusalem to Galilee. At all events, the fact of the corn being ripe points to the time of the Passover; though it would depend on the species of the grain, whether this was immediately before the Passover, when the

1 Deut. xxiii. 25. The disciples must have been living a hard and poor life, to resort to such means of

uistry of the Jewish doctors found the sin in the manual act of rubbing the ears of corn in the hands, as a species of that servile labor which was forbid2 Some think that the subtle cas- den by the Law.

sustenance.

barley-harvest began, or later, when the wheat was ripe. With this question another is connected, concerning the phrase "the second-first Sabbath," of which the most probable interpretation is that of Wieseler, that it was the "first Sabbath of the second year after the Sabbatic year.'

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In reply to the charge of Sabbath-breaking made by the Pharisees against the disciples, Jesus reminds them that David, whose example they are not likely to challenge, ate the sacred shew-bread in the tabernacle, which it was not lawful to eat. The priests might partake of it, but not a stranger. David, on the principle that mercy was better than sacrifice," took it and gave it to the young men that were with him that they might not perish for hunger. In order further to show that a literal mechanical observance of the law of the Sabbath would lead to absurdities, Jesus reminds them that this law is perpetually set aside on account of another: "The priests profane the Sabbath and are blameless." The work of sacrifice, the placing of the shew-bread, go on upon the Sabbath, and labor even on that day may be done by priests, and may please God. It was the root of the Pharisees' fault that they thought sacrifice better than mercy, ritual exactness more than love: "If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." These last words are inseparable from the meaning of our Lord's answer. In pleading the example of David, the king and prophet, and of the priests in the temple, the Lord tacitly implies the greatness of his own position. He is indeed Prophet, Priest, and King; and had he been none of these, the argument would have been not merely incomplete, but misleading. It is undeniable that the law of the Sabbath was very strict. Against labors as small as that of winnowing the corn a severe penalty was set. Our Lord quotes cases where the law is superseded or set aside, because he is One who has power to do the same. And the rise of a new law is implied in those words which St. Mark alone has recorded: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." The law upon the Sabbath was made in love to men, to preserve for them a due measure of rest, to keep room for the worship of God. The Son of Man has power to

3

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Σάββατον δευτερόπρωτον.

Matt. xii. 1-8; Mark ii. 23-28; Luke vi. 1-11. Others explain it as the first Sabbath after the second day of the Passover.