Bible Commentaries

Matthew 11:11 — βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστι .” μικρότερος , κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν δόξαν , καὶ γὰρ ἔλεγον αὐτὸν φάγον καὶ οἰνοπότην · καὶ “ οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός ;” καὶ πανταχοῦ αὐτὸν ἐξηυτέλιζον . Hom. xxxvii. 2, p. 416. And a little afterwards: περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγων εἰκότως κρύπτει τὸ πρόσωπον διὰ τὴν ἔτι κρατοῦσαν ὑπόνοιαν καὶ τὸ μὴ δόξαι περὶ ἑαυτοῦ μέγα τι λέγειν · καὶ γὰρ πολλαχοῦ φαίνεται τοῦτο ποιῶν . τί δέ ἐστιν “ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ;”

Matthew 24:32-34 — 32, 33, 34. ] τὴν παρ ., not as E. V., ‘ a parable ,’ but the (not, its : the fig-tree may teach many lessons besides this; cf. reff. Matt. Luke) parable, the natural phænomenon which may serve as a key to the meaning. This coming of

Matthew 5:22 — 22. ] The sense is: ‘There were among the Jews three well-known degrees of guilt, coming respectively under the cognizance of the local and the supreme courts; and after these is set the γέεννα τοῦ πυρός , the end of the malefactor, whose corpse,

Matthew 8:4 — , Chrysost.), for the injunction to silence was not our Lord’s uniform practice (see Mark 5:19 , [97] Luke), and in this case they were of lasting obligation, that the cleansed leper was not to make his healing a matter of boast hereafter; or (2) they were a cautionary admonition, only binding till he should have shewn himself to the priest, in order to avoid delay in this necessary duty, or any hindrance which might, if the matter should first be blazed abroad, arise to his being pronounced

Luke 2:12 — 12. ] Olshausen hazards a conjecture that the stable or cave may possibly have belonged to these shepherds. But I think the words ἕως [20] ., Luke 2:15 , do not look as if Bethlehem were their home . It seems clear that the spot was somehow known to

Luke 2:48-50 — course . Analogous to this first utterance of His conviction, is the dawn, amongst ourselves , of the principle of duty in the youthful and well-trained spirit about this same age, this ‘earing time’ of human progress: see below on Luke 2:52 . ἐν τοῖς τοῦ π . ] Primarily, in the house of my Father (so in Sir 42:10 , ἐν τοῖς πατρικοῖς αὐτῆς : Theocr. ii. 76, τὰ Λύκωνος : Demosth. p. 1071, τὰ τοῦ ἀποθανόντος : see Lobeck on Phryn. p. 100); but we must not exclude the wider sense,

Luke 23:43 — in the ordinary sense of the words, ‘I shall be in Paradise, and thou with Me.’ ἐν τῷ παρ . ] On these words rests the whole exegesis of the saying. What is this PARADISE? The word is used of the garden of Eden by the LXX, Genesis 2:8 , &c., and subsequently became, in the Jewish theology, the name for that part of Hades, the abode of the dead, where the souls of the righteous await the resurrection. It was also the name for a supernal or heavenly abode, see reff. N.T. The former

John 3:16 — 16. ] Many Commentators since the time of Erasmus, who first suggested the notion have maintained that the discourse of our Lord breaks off here , and the rest, to John 3:21 , consists of the remarks of the Evangelist. (So Tholuck, Olshausen, Lücke, De Wette; which last attributes Joh 3:13-14 also to John.) But to those who view these discourses of our Lord as intimately connected wholes , this will be as inconceivable,

John 8:25 — 25. ] Their question follows on ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἄνω εἰμί , John 8:23 , and the dubious elliptical expression ἐγώ εἰμι of the last verse. It is intended to bring out a plain answer on which their enmity might fasten. Our Lord’s reply has been found

Acts 5:31-32 — 31, 32. ] ἀρχηγ . κ . σωτ . , not, ‘ to be a Prince and a Saviour:’ but the words are the predicate of τοῦτον as a P. and a S. ἀρχηγόν , as ch. Acts 3:15 , which see. κ . σωτ . not = τῆς σωτηρίας . Jesus was to be King and Captain

Acts 8:14-24 — 14 24. ] MISSION OF PETER AND JOHN TO SAMARIA. A question arises on this procedure of the Apostles: whether it was as a matter of course, that the newly baptized should, by the laying on of hands subsequently, receive the Holy Ghost, or whether there was

Colossians 1:21-22 — 21, 22 .] And you, who were once alienated (subjective or objective? ‘ estranged ’ (in mind), or ‘ banished ’ (in fact)? In Ephesians 2:12 , it is decidedly objective, for such is the cast of the whole sentence there: so also

1 Timothy 1:6 — ‘rationem alicujus rei non habere, et respectu ejus sibi male consulere.’ Thus Polyb. i. 33. 10, τῆς μὲν πρὸς τὰ θηρία μάχης δεόντως ἦσαν ἐστοχασμένοι , τῆς δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἱππεῖς , πολλαπλασίους ὄντας τῶν παρ ʼ αὐτοῖς , ὁλοσχερῶς ἠστόχησαν ; v. 107. 2, πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν ἐνδεχομένως ἐβουλεύσατο , τοῦ δὲ μέλλοντος ἠστόχησε : see also vii. 14. 3) turned aside to ( ἐξ -, away from the path leading to the τέλος , 1 Timothy 1:5 , in which they should have been walking: the idiom is often found in the

Hebrews 12:25 — 25 .] This voice of the blood of sprinkling, just mentioned, leads naturally to the caution not to despise that voice, nor put it by as they of old did the φωνὴ ῥνμάτων from Sinai . Take heed (more forcible without any inferential particle such as

Hebrews 3:15 — this verse to ch. Hebrews 4:1 , where the sense is taken up again by φοβηθῶμεν οὖν . Besides the contextual objections to this (which see in the connexion below) there are these: 1. that δέ or some such connecting particle would thus be wanted here; 2. that thus the οὖν of ch. Heb 4:1 would be very unnatural. β . Semler, Morus, Storr, De W., Bleek, Tholuck, Lünem., Delitzsch, Winer (§ 63. I. 1, edn. 6), al. still regarding it as the beginning of a new sentence, believe the apodosis to follow at τίνες

Hebrews 6:2 — 2 .] of the doctrine of washings (not baptisms : βάπτισμ α is generally the N. T. word for both Christian baptism and that of John. In reff., the word is used as here of washing, or lustration with water. On the meaning, see below. Our first question

Revelation 2:24 — 24 .] But (contrast to those addressed before) to you I say, the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as have not (not only do not hold , but are free from any contact with) this teaching, such as ( οἵτινες , as usual, classifies) have not known the

Revelation 21:18-27 — 18 27 .] Material , and further description of the city. And the building-work (Jos. in ref. is speaking of the harbour of Cæsarea, as built by Herod the Great: he describes it as being τῇ δομήσει περίβλεπτον , because the materials were costly and brought

Revelation 6:12-17 — 12 7:17 .] OPENING OF THE SIXTH SEAL, AND ITS ATTENDANT VISIONS. And herein ( Rev 6:12-17 ) Immediate approach of the great day of the Lord , Matthew 24:29 [98] : ( Rev 7:1-8 ) gathering of the elect out of the four winds , Matthew 24:31 ; ( Rev 7:9-17

Revelation 7:1-17 — 12 7:17 .] OPENING OF THE SIXTH SEAL, AND ITS ATTENDANT VISIONS. And herein ( Rev 6:12-17 ) Immediate approach of the great day of the Lord , Matthew 24:29 [98] : ( Rev 7:1-8 ) gathering of the elect out of the four winds , Matthew 24:31 ; ( Rev 7:9-17