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Mark ii. 2.

Luke v. 17.

Luke v. 18.

Mark ii. 3.

Luke v. 18.

And straightway many were gathered together, Capernaum. insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was
teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of
the law sitting by, which were come out of every
town of Galilee, and Judæa, and Jerusalem; and
the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
And behold,

they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy,
a man which was taken with a palsy,

Matt. ix. 2. lying on a bed,

Mark ii. 3.
Luke v. 18.

Luke v. 19.

which was born of four:

and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay
him before him.

And when they could not find by what way they
might bring him in, because of the multitude,
they could not come nigh him for the press;
Luke v. 19. they went upon the house-top, and

Mark ii. 4.

Mark ii. 4.

Luke v. 19.

Mark ii. 5.

Matt. ix. 2.
Luke v. 20.

Matt. ix. 3.

Mark ii. 6.

Luke v. 21.

Matt. ix. 3.

Luke v. 21.
Mark ii, 7.

they uncovered the roof where he was; and when
they had broken it up, they

let him down through the tiling, with his couch,
into the midst before Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the
sick of the palsy, Son,

be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee:
Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

And behold,

there were certain of the Scribes sitting there, rea-
soning in their hearts;

and the Pharisees began to reason, saying
within themselves, This man blasphemeth :
Who is this which speaketh blasphemies?

Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies?
Luke v. 21. Who can forgive sins but God alone?

Mark ii. 8.

And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, Matt. ix. 4. knowing their thoughts,

Luke v. 22.
Mark ii. 8.
Matt, ix. 4.

Matt. ix. 5.

he, answering, said unto them,

Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? for
whether

argues that the restoration of the sick of the palsy was accompanied with the remission of all his past transgressions.-Vide Schoetgen, Horæ Hebraicæ, vol. i. p. 93; Lightfoot; Whitby and Gill in loc.

y Job xiv. 4.

Isa. xliii. 25.

Capernaum. is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins Mark ii. 9.
be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up
thy bed, and walk?

But that ye may know that the Son of man Mark ii. 10. hath power on earth to forgive sins :

(Then saith he to the sick of the palsy)

Matt. ix. 6.

say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and Mark ii, 11. go thy way into thine house.

And immediately he

Mark ii. 12.

rose up before them, and

Luke v. 25.

took up the bed

Mark ii. 12.

that whereon he lay,

Luke v. 25.

and went forth before them all,

Mark ii. 12.

and departed to his own house, glorifying God,

Luke v. 25.

insomuch that,

Mark ii. 12.

when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and
they were all amazed,

Matt. ix. 8.

Mark ii. 12.

and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen Luke v. 26. strange things to-day;

we never saw it on this fashion.

Mark ii. 12.

and [they] glorified God, which had given such Matt. ix. 8. power unto men.

MATT. ix. part of ver. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. ver. 7. and part of ver. 8.

2 And behold they brought to him a man sick of the palsy-and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son-be forgiven thee.

3-certain of the Scribes said

4-And Jesus-said

5 -easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?

6 But that ye may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins-Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

7 And he arose, and departed to his house.

8 But

MARK ii. part of ver. 4. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 12.

4 And when-let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay.

6 But

7-who can forgive sins but God only?

8-he said unto them

9 Whether is

10-(he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

12 arose and glorified God, saying—

LUKE v. part of ver. 18. 20, 21, 22. ver. 23, 24. and part of ver. 25, 26.

18-men brought in a bed—

20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him—

21 And the Scribes

22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts-What reason ye in your hearts ?

23 Whether, is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up Capernaum, and walk?

24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thine house.

25 And immediately-took up

26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God

SECTION XII.

The calling of Matthew 30.

MATT. ix. 9. MARK ii. 13, 14.

LUKE V. 27, 28.

Luke v. 27.
Mark ii 13.

And after these things

he went forth again by the sea side; and all the
multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

30 Lightfoot, Archbishop Newcome, and Doddridge, place the calling of St. Matthew in its present order, and separate that event from the feast which was given afterwards in his house. They reason, from Luke viii. 41. and Mark v. 22. that many events occurred, and much time elapsed, from the calling of Matthew to the visit of Jairus, which took place at the feast, Matt. ix. 10—18. Michaelis, Pilkington, and Bedford in his Scripture Chronology, unite these

events.

Is it not probable, that our Lord proposed some useful lesson by thus calling Matthew from the receipt of custom? The Jews expressed the utmost contempt and hatred of all those of their countrymen, who accepted the office now held by St. Matthew. In their opinion, vows made to thieves, murderers, and publicans, might be broken. These persons were regarded by them as profane, shepherds, alms-gatherers, and publicans—ı,ixa),jyın phon›bæ. Their repentance also was considered very difficult. The Jerusalem Targum has the

.חבר שנעשה בחיי דוחין אותו מחבור .3 .following canon, Demai, fol. col

A pharisee, that becomes a publican, they remove from his order: but if he leaves his profession they restore him to his order again. St. Matthew appears to have been, from his official situation, which must have made him more generally known, the most suitable of all the apostles to become the writer of the first Gospel; and he was an eye-witness also of what he records. The others, excepting St. John, and perhaps St. Peter, who probably dictated, or at least superintended, St. Mark's Gospel, were men of but little education, and not much known to their countrymen. Our Saviour, by calling St. Matthew, intended perhaps to reprove the self-righteousness and arrogance of the Pharisees; and to shew them, that the most despised among men were preferred before them in the sight of God (a).

In addition to the reasons assigned by Lightfoot for separating the invitation

(a) See Talmud in Nedarim per 3. halac 4. and Sanhed. per 1. fol. 24. ap Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 660.

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sitting at the receipt of custom.

and he said unto him, Follow me.

And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

MATT. ix. 9.

Mark ii. 14.

Matt. ix. 9.

Luke v. 27.

Matt. ix. 9.

Mark ii. 14.

Matt. ix. 9.

Luke v. 27.

Luke v. 28.

9 And as Jesus passed forth-and he saith unto him, Follow me. arose, and followed him.

me.

13-And

MARK ii. part of ver. 13, 14.

And he

14 he saw Levi-sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow And he arose and followed him.

LUKE V. 27.

27 he went forth, and saw-sitting at the receipt of custom

J. P. 4740.

V. Æ. 27.

Jerusalem.

z Levit. xxiii. 2.

Deut. xvi.

SECTION XIII.

The Infirm Man healed at the Pool of Bethesda.

JOHN V. 1-16.

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews 31; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

to the feast at the house of Matthew, from the call of that Apostle, it may be observed, at that feast our Lord spake in parables. But this mode of teaching was never adopted till the Scribes and Pharisees had imputed his casting out of devils to the agency of an evil spirit.

I have not thought it deserving of consideration, whether Matthew and Levi were different persons. It is the general, and, I cannot but think the correct opinion, that they were the same. I insert the words of Rosenmüller, as expressing my own opinion. An diversa tantum sint nomina unius ejusdemque personæ, an vero duo portitores simul vocati sint a Christo, equidem definire non ausim. Quum tamen Marcus et Lucas in plerisque cum Matthæo consentiant, et alii etiam apostoli binomines fuerint (Simon Petrus, et Lebbæus Thaddeus) præferenda esse videtur eorum sententia, qui Levin et Matthæum diversa tantum esse nomina unius ejusdemque personæ existimant. Rosenmüller, Scholia N. T. vol. i. p. 193.

31 ON THE NUMBER OF PASSOVERS DURING OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. There are four passages in St. John's Gospel which are considered, by the majority of harmonizers, as intending to express the number of passovers, and the consequent duration of our Lord's ministry. They are the following

ii. 13. καὶ ἐγγὺς ἦν τὸ πάσχα τῶν Ιεδαίων, καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς ̔Ιεροσόλυμα

2 Now there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep-market, a J. P. 4740. pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, hav- V.E. 27. ing five porches.

ὁ Ἰησοῦς. The second is, v. 1. Μετὰ ταῦτα ἦν ἑορτὴ τῶν Ιεδαίων, καὶ ἀνέβη ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. The third vi. 4. ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς τὸ πάσχα, ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν Ιεδαίων. The fourth xi. 55. ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς τὸ πάσχα τῶν 18daiwy. Upon the right construction indeed of the second of these, the question of the duration of our Lord's ministry may be said to depend. The generally received opinion is, that our Lord's ministry lasted three years and a half, during which time four passovers were celebrated. The second of these passages, however, does not appear to warrant the supposition that a passover is the feast intended, and consequently no argument can be deduced from these passages to ascertain the duration of our Lord's ministry.

In all the other three passages, St. John uses the words rò doxa, to express the passover, in the second he uses only the word word opry. Now this, it is evident, does not assert that the feast here meant was a passover. If we may judge from the other passages of St. John, without taking into consideration the other Gospels, we may say that the omission of the article demonstrates that he could not mean a passover; as the article is inserted in every other passage where the word top7n is used, as referring to the feast of the passover. It is found also in the seventh chapter, where the same expression is given in reference to the feast of tabernacles. On examining the other Gospels, we shall see, that though St. Mark has once used the word without the article, when speaking of the feast of the passover, and St. Luke also has done the same thing, yet St. Matthew, like St. John, has uniformly preserved it; and so indeed have all the evangelists, with these two deviations only.

Matt. xxvi. 2. τὸ πάσχα γίνεται,

5. μὴ ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ.

xxvii. 15. κατὰ δέ τὴν ἑορτήν.

Mark xiv. 1. ÿv dè rò náoxa, &c.

2. μὴ ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ.

The exception referred to is,

xv. 6. ́xarà dè ¿oprýv.

Luke ii. 41. τῇ ἑορτῇ τῷ Πάσχα. But in

xxiii. 17. καθ' ἑορτὴν.

John in this instance only uses the word kopr), without the article. Compare the passages John ii. 23.-iv. 45.—vi. 4.—vii. 2.-vii. 8. 10. 11. 14. 37.-xi. 56.-xii. 12. 20.-xiii. 1. 29.

These passages, in which topr) is without the article, may denote the feast of the passover, may in fact be considered as the same: and it may be observed, therefore, that the expression cal' ¿oρτǹv is an idiomatical phrase, similar and equivalent to κατ' ἔτος, the construction of which depends on πᾶς, or ἕκατος, understood. In this manner we must supply the ellipsis by St. Luke, who uses the expression κατὰ πᾶν σάββατον, (Acts xiii. 27.) καθ' ἑορτὴν therefore will mean κατὰ πᾶσαν ἑορτὴν, or feast by feast; as κατ ̓ ἔτος, signifies year by year and as the propriety of the latter expression would be destroyed by the insertion of the article rò, so, to render the phrase xa0' kopriv, analogous in its construction, it was necessary that the article should be omitted. This there

Jerusalem. * Or, gate.

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