Bible Commentaries

Matthew 12:43 — Matthew 12:43 . διʼ ἀνύδρων τόπων : the haunts of demons, as popularly conceived, were places uninhabited by men, deserts and graveyards. The demon in Tob 8:3 flies to the uppermost parts of Egypt; and in Bar 4:35 a land desolated by fire is to become tenanted by demons. διέρχεται ζητοῦν : the spirit keeps moving on in quest of a resting place; like a human being he feels ill at ease in the monotonous waste

Matthew 15:30 — they threw them at His feet either in care-free confidence, or in haste, because of the greatness of the number. Among those brought were certain classed as κυλλούς , which is usually interpreted “bent,” as with rheumatism. But in Matthew 18:8 it seems to mean “mutilated”. Euthy. takes κυλλοὶ = οἱ ἄχειρες , and Grotius argues for this sense, and infers that among Christ’s works of healing were restorations of lost limbs, though we do not read of such anywhere else. On

Matthew 21:43 — forfeiture of privilege, the kingdom taken from them and given to others. ἔθνει , to a nation; previously, as Paul calls it, a no nation ( οὐκ ἔθνει , Romans 10:19 ), the reference being, plainly, to the heathen world. ποιοῦντι τ . κ . α .: cf. Matthew 3:8 ; Matthew 3:10 ; Matthew 7:17 , bringing forth the fruits of it (the kingdom). The hope that the new nation will bring forth the fruit is the ground of the transference. God elects with a view to usefulness; a useless elect people has no prescriptive

Matthew 27:39-44 — from us, thanks to the civilising influence of the Christian faith, which has made the whole details of the Passion history so revolting to the Christian heart. These sneers at the great Sufferer are not invented fulfilments of prophecy (Psalms 22:7-8 ; so Brandt), but belong to the certainties of the tragic story as told by the synoptists.

Matthew 28:8 — Matthew 28:8 . ἀπελθοῦσαι : the reading of T. R. ( ἐξελθ .) implies that they had been within the tomb, of which no mention is made in Matthew. They went away from, not out of, the tomb. ἀπὸ τ . μν ., depending on ἀπελθοῦσαι , in Mark on ἔφυγον . μετὰ φόβου καὶ

Mark 4:10-12 — Mark 4:10-12 . Disciples ask an explanation of the parable (Matthew 13:10-17 , Luke 8:9-10 ). Mark 4:10 . κατὰ μόνας ( ὁδούς or χώρας understood), alone οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν , those about Him, not = οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ (Mark 3:21 ), nor = the Twelve, who are separately mentioned ( σὺν τ . δωδ .); an outer circle of disciples from which the Twelve

Mark 5:2 — is unnecessary. ἐκ τ . μνημείων , from the tombs, as in Mt., ἐκ τῆς πόλεως in Lk.; the former doubtless the fact . Luke’s phrase probably means that he belonged to the city, not necessarily implying that he came from it just then ( vide Luke 8:27 , last clause). [32] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

Luke 18:36 — Luke 18:36 . ἀκούσας : in Lk. what he hears is the multitude passing through, which he would have seen if he had not been blind. In the parallels what is heard is that it was Jesus around whom the multitude had gathered, which even a seeing man might have had

Luke 20:1-8 — Luke 20:1-8 . By what authority ? (Matthew 21:23-27 , Mark 11:27-33 ). ἐν μιᾷ τ . ἡ ., on one of the days, referred to in Luke 19:47 ; vague note of time. εὐαγγελιζομένου : Lk. wishes his readers to understand that Jesus was not engaged in heated controversy all

Luke 20:38 — Luke 20:38 . θεὸς is predicate = Jehovah is not God of dead men. δὲ has the force of the argumentative nonne . πάντες γὰρ αὐτῷ ζῶσιν . “for all live unto Him” (A.V [167] , R.V [168] ), is probably an editorial explanatory gloss to make the deep thought

Luke 5:3 — Jesus would be noticed of course, and would bring the owner to His side. It was Simon’s boat, the man whose mother-in-law, in Lk.’s narrative, had been healed of fever. ἐπαναγαγεῖν , to put out to sea, here and in Luke 5:4 and Matthew 21:18 only. ὀλίγον : just far enough to give command of the audience. ἐδίδασκεν : this teaching from a boat took place again on the day of the parables (Matthew 13:2 , Mark 4:1 ). But that feature does not appear in the corresponding narrative of Lk. (Luke

Luke 6:14 — Luke 6:14 . Σίμωνα : here follows the list much the same as in Mt. and Mk. Lk., though he has already called Simon, Peter (Luke 5:8 ), here mentions that Jesus gave him the name. In the third group of four Judas Jacobi takes the place of Thaddaeus in Mk. and Lebbaeus in Mt. and Simon the Kananite is called Simon the Zealot. Of Judas Iscariot it is noted that he became a traitor,

Luke 8:10 — Luke 8:10 . The contrast between the disciples and others, as here put, is that in the case of the former the mysteries of the kingdom are given to be known , in that of the latter the mysteries are given, but only in parables , therefore so as to remain

John 12:39 — John 12:39 . Διὰ τοῦτο seems to have a double reference, first to what precedes, second to the ὅτι following, cf. John 8:47 . οὐκ ἠδύναντο , “they were not able,” irrespective of will; their inability arose from the fulfilment in them of Isaiah’s words, John 6:10 (John 12:40 ), Τετύφλωκεν … αὐτούς . τετύφλωκεν refers to the blinding of the organ for

John 15:25 — incredible blindness and obduracy is accounted for, as in John 12:37 , by the purpose of God disclosed in O.T. Scripture. “Their law” is here, as in John 10:34 , etc., used of O.T. Scripture as a whole. αὐτῶν is inserted, as ὑμετέρῳ in John 8:17 , to suggest that the very Scripture in which they had prided themselves would condemn them; see also John 5:45 , John 5:39 . The words ἐμίσησάν με δωρεάν do not occur in O.T.; but similar expressions are found in Psalms 34:19 , οἱ μισοῦντές με δωρεάν

John 16:8 — John 16:8 . καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐκεῖνος … “and when He” (with some emphasis, “that person”) “has come, He will reprove,” or as in R.V [89] , “convict the world” “Reprove,” reprobare, to rebut or refute, as in

John 3:22 — country,” the rural parts in contradistinction to the metropolis. “Nam quum ex Judaeae metropoli exiret Jesus, non poterat simpliciter dici proficisci in Judaeam; … maluimus ergo territorium convertere quam terram,” Beza. So in Joshua 8:1 (Codex Ambrosianus), “I have given into thy hand the King of Gai καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ ”. Cf. also John 11:54 . καὶ εῖἐκ διέτριβεν , “and there He spent some time with them”; whether weeks or months depends

John 9:40 — now by all your words and actions you proclaim that you are satisfied with the light you have, therefore you cannot receive that fuller light which I bring and in which is deliverance from sin, and must therefore remain under its bondage. Cf. John 8:21 .

Acts 5:12 — the miracles; διὰ τῶν χειρῶν characteristic of St. Luke in Acts, cf. Acts 2:23 ; Acts 7:25 ; Acts 11:30 ; Acts 14:3 ; Acts 15:23 ; Acts 19:11 . On Luke’s fondness for this and similar phrases with χείρ , see Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium , p. 8; Lekebusch, Apostelgeschichte , p. 77. Such phrases, cf. διὰ στόματός τινος , are thoroughly Hebraistic; so also in Acts 3:13 , Luke 3:21 , κατὰ πρόσωπον , and for other instances, Blass, Grammatik des N. G. , pp. 126, 147. Στοᾷ Σολ ., Acts 3:11

Acts 9:5 — to follow the voice, whether it was that of an angel or of God Himself (Felten), “Jam parat se ad obediendum, qui prius insaniebat ad persequendum,” Augustine. Ἐγὼ … σὺ : both pronouns are emphatic, and contrasted: Ἰησοῦς , cf. Acts 20:8 , and note. For rest of verse see critical notes.