Bible Commentaries

Matthew 27:9-10 — Matthew 27:9-10 . Prophetic reference , τότε , as in Matthew 2:17 , not ἵνα or ὅπως . διὰ Ἰερεμίου , by Jeremiah, in reality by Zechariah (Zechariah 11:13 ), the reference to Jeremiah probably due to there being somewhat similar texts in that prophet (Jeremiah 18:2-3 , Jeremiah 32:6-15 ) running in the evangelist’s mind. A petty error. More serious is the question whether this is not a case of prophecy

Matthew 8:34 — Matthew 8:34 . παρεκάλεσαν : same word as in Matthew 8:31 in reference to the demoniacs. They did not order or drive Him out. They besought in terms respectful and even subdued. They were afraid of this strange man, who could do such wonderful things; and, with

Mark 13:34 — Mark 13:34 . Enforcement of the exhortation to watch by a brief parable. At this point each of the synoptical evangelists goes his own way. In Mt. Jesus presses home the lesson by historical and prophetical pictures of the surprises brought by unexpected crises;

Luke 2:1-5 — Bethlehem. To this it has been objected: 1. Apart from the Gospel, history knows nothing of a general imperial census in the time of Augustus. 2. There could have been no Roman census in Palestine during the time of Herod the Great, a rex socius . 3. Such a census at such a time could not have been carried out by Quirinius , for he was not governor in Syria then, nor till ten years later, when he did make a census which gave rise to a revolt under Judas of Galilee. 4. Under a Roman census it

John 5:2 — destruction of Jerusalem [“Scripsit Johannes ante vastationem urbis”]. But quite probably John considered the pool one of the permanent features of the city. Its position is more precisely defined in the words ἐπὶ τῇ προβατικῇ , rendered in A.V [53] “by the sheep market” and in R.V [54] “by the sheep gate”. Others read κολυμβήθρᾳ , and render “by the sheep- pool a pool ”; Weiss, adopting this reading, supplies οἰκία or some such word: “there is by the

John 6:1 — was Passover, a year. In any case Jesus had left Jerusalem, the reason being that the Jews sought to slay Him (John 7:1 ). ἀπῆλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς , “Jesus departed,” but whence? Evidently from Capernaum and the neighbourhood; cf. Matthew 14:13 , Mark 6:30 , Luke 9:10 . πέραν … Τιβεριάδος , “to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, of Tiberias”. In John 21:1 it is called simply τῆς Τιβεριάδος . The second title may here be a gloss, either by the evangelist himself or by a later

Acts 2:19 — Acts 2:19 . The word σημεῖα is wanting in the Hebrew and the LXX, but the co-ordination of the two words τέρας and σημεῖον is frequent in the N.T. (John 4:48 , Acts 4:30 , Romans 15:19 , 2 Corinthians 12:12 ), and even more so in the LXX (Exodus 7:3 ; Exodus 7:9 , Deuteronomy 4:34 , Nehemiah 9:10 , Daniel 6:27 ), so also in Josephus, Philo, Plutarch, Polybius. For the distinction between the words in the N.T., see

2 Timothy 3:5 — 2 Timothy 3:5 . ἔχοντες (see note on 1 Timothy 1:19 ) μόρφωσιν , κ . τ . λ .: Habentes speciem quidem pietatis . We have an exact parallel in Titus 1:16 , θεὸν ὁμολογοῦσιν εἰδέναι , τοῖς δὲ ἔργοις ἀρνοῦνται . They were professing Christians, but nothing more;

Titus 2:12 — Titus 2:12 . παιδεύουσα . erudiens (Vulg.), corripiens ( [319] ). Grace is potentially σωτήριος as regards all men; actually its efficacy is seen in the disciplining of individuals one by one; ἡμᾶς , to begin with. See notes on 1 Timothy 1:1 ; 1 Timothy 2:4 ; 1 Timothy 4:10 . So Chrys. makes ἵνα depend on ἐπεφάνη

Philemon 1:19 — Philemon 1:19 . ἐγὼ Παῦλος : “The introduction of his own name gives it the character of a formal and binding signature, cf. 1 Corinthians 16:21 , Colossians 4:18 , 2 Thessalonians 3:17 ” (Lightfoot). ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμῇ χειρί ἀποτίσω : ἔγρ . epistolary aorist, cf. 1 Peter 5:12 , 1 John 2:14 ; 1Jn 2:21 ; 1 John 2:26 . Deissmann ( op. cit. , p. 239) calls attention to the large number of papyri which are acknowledgments of debt

Hebrews 12:5 — “And ye have clean forgotten the exhortation, which speaks to you as to sons, My Son, etc.” καὶ introduces a fresh consideration. Calvin, Bleek and others treat the clause as an interrogation, needlessly. The παράκλησις is cited from Proverbs 3:11 , and includes Hebrews 12:5-6 . The only divergence from the LXX is the insertion of μου after υἱέ . But Bleek calls attention to the fact that the Hebrew of the last clause stands, according to the present punctuation, וּכְאָב אֶת־בֵן יִרְצֶה =

Hebrews 6:20 — ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς , “whither as forerunner for us entered Jesus”. ὅποι does not occur in N.T. or LXX, ὅπου taking its place, as in English “where” often stands for “whither”; see Matthew 8:19 , Luke 9:57 , James 3:4 . So, too, occasionally, in Attic; examples in Bleek. πρόδρομος as an adjective, “running forward with headlong speed,” see Jebb’s note on Soph., Antig. , 107; as a substantive “scouts” or “advanced guard”

Hebrews 9:10 — divers washings ordinances of the flesh, not of the conscience, imposed until a time of rectification. The change of preposition from κατὰ to ἐπὶ need excite no surprise ( cf. Aristotle’s frequent change of preposition, e.g., Eth. Nic. , iv. 3, 26); and here there is a slight distinction in the reference. ἐπὶ has frequently the meaning “in connection with,” “with regard to” as in Luke 12:52 ; John 12:16 ; Acts 21:24 [see especially Donaldson’s excellent treatment

James 1:11 — statement of general truths, by employing a distinct case or several distinct cases in the past to represent (as it were) all possible cases, and implying that what has occurred is likely to occur again under similar circumstances” (Moulton, p. 135, quoting Goodwin); he adds, “the gnomic aorist … need not have been denied by Winer for James 1:11 and 1 Peter 1:24 ”. The R.V. gives the present, in accordance with the English idiom, but clearly the Greek way is the more exact; the same

James 2:10 — that of a παραβάτης stumbling over the border which marks the way; cf. the oft-used expression in Jewish writings of making a “hedge” or “fence” around the Torah, e.g., Pirqe Aboth. , i. 1. With the verse before us cf. Sir 37:12 , … ὃν ἂν ἐπιγνῷς συντηροῦντα ἐντολάς … καὶ ἐὰν πταίσῃς συναλγήσει σοι , and James 2:15 καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις δεήθητι Ὑψίστου ἵνα εὐθύνῃ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ τὴν ὁδόν σου . ἐν ἑνί : used in a pregnant sense, “in one matter” or “in any single

1 Peter 4:4 — συντρεχόντων , from Psalms 50:18 , LXX, if thou sawest a thief , συνέτρεχες αὐτῷ , and with adulterers thou didst set thy portion ; where תרץ consent has been rendered as if from רוץ run . It thus corresponds to St. Paul’s συνευδοκεῖν (Romans 1:32 ). ἀσωτίας , profligacy . According to Aristotle ἀ . is the excess of liberality, but is applied in complex sense to τοὺς ἀκρατεῖς καὶ εἰς ἀκολασίαν δαπανηρούς . Prodigality is in fact a destruction of oneself as well as one’s property ( Eth.

Revelation 11:1-2 — subject implied in ἐδόθη ), “Up (or come = קוּמ ) and measure the temple of God and the altar (of burnt-offering, which stood outside the inner shrine) and (sc. number) those who worship there” ( i.e. , in the inner courts, Revelation 13:6 ; for constr. cf. 2 Samuel 8:3 ). The outer court (Ezekiel 10:5 ) is to be left out of account ( ἐκβ . = “omit” or exclude as unworthy of attention), “for it has been abandoned (or, assigned in the divine counsel) to the heathen,

Revelation 16:16 — Revelation 17:14 , Revelation 19:19 ) and ( b ) that of Rome’s ruin by the Parthians under Nero redivivus. The two were originally distinct, but the apocalyptist naturally twists them together, although he never clears up their relationship. Here 13 16 is an enigmatic summary of what is variously depicted further on. But, though an erratic block in its present setting, it may have been placed here by the final editor, in his characteristically proleptic manner. Strictly speaking, the sixth plague

Revelation 20:1-3 — Iranian view was that Fredun could not kill the serpent, whose slaughter was reserved for for Sâme (Bund. xxix. 9). But John abstains from giving any reason for the devil’s reappearance. He simply accepts the tradition and falls back (Revelation 20:3 ) piously upon the δεῖ of a mysterious providence. Some enigmatic hints in a late post-exilic apocalypse (Isaiah 24:21-22 , the hosts on high and the kings on earth to be shut up in the prison of the pit but after many days to be visited, i.e. , released),

Revelation 5:8 — air, became a natural symbol for prayer breathed from earth to heaven; see Philo’s τὸ καθαρώτατον τοῦ θύοντος , πνεῦμα λογικόν . αἱ … ἁγίων , probably an editorial gloss like Revelation 19:8 b , suggested by the verbal parallel in Revelation 8:3 (so, e.g. , Spitta, Völter, Briggs, Julicher, J. Weiss, Wellhausen, etc.). Contrast with this verse (and Revelation 5:4 ) the description of the enthusiastic seamen and passengers who “candidati, coronatique, et tura libantes,” praised