Jerusalem. crites? for ye devour widows' houses, and for a Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- Matt.xxiii.15. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Matt.xxiii.16. Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the Matt.xxiii.17. gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is Matt.xxiii.18. nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that *Or, debtor, is upon it, he is guilty. or, bound. dill. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the Matt.xxiii. 19. gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, Matt.xxiii.20. sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth Matt.xxiii.21. by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth Matt.xxiii.22. by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- Matt.xxiii. 3, anise, u Luke xi. 42. crites! "for ye pay tithe of mint, and Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and Matt.xxiii.24. swallow a camel. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- Matt. xxiii.25. x Luke xi. 39. crites! *for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee ", cleanse first that which Matt.xxiii.26. 14 Our Lord, no longer under restraint from fear of apprehension, as he was now on the point of offering Himself a willing victim, reproached the Pharisees in the strongest terms, in the presence of all the people, for their shameful pride and hypocrisy, and for their wilful misapprehension of the spirit and intent of the law of Moses. In this passage he seems particularly to allude to the custom prevalent among the more ostentatious of them, but condemned by others, of covering their head and eyes, lest they should look even upon the wickedness of the world, upon wicked men, or upon anyʻthing which might-incite them to evil. Matt.xxiii.27. is within the cup and platter, that the outside of Jerusalem. them may be clean also. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all unclean ness. Matt.xxiii.28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matt.xxiii.29. Matt.xxiii.30. Matt.xxiii.31. Matt.xxiii.32. Matt.xxiii.33. Matt.xxiii.34. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that Fill ye up Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, In consequence of this practice, they would sometimes strike against a wall,. and cover themselves with blood. The Talmudist who describes it, nw Dwb ahı, : 08 30 mar xx eos hoc non fecisse ad gloriam Dei, sed ut homines deciperent. Vides (Schoetgen adds) ergo Judæos avтoкaraкpires. et veritatem servatoris etiam inimicorum ipsius testimonio comprobatam (a). It must, however, be remembered, that the Pharisees did but disguise the traditional truth received from their ancestors. Bishop Blomfield has admirably discussed this subject, with great skill and learning. His conclusions may be expressed in that of Schoetgen. Quamvis vero Christus Pharisæos tantopere refutat, non tamen existimandum est, ipsum omnes Judæorum doctrinas absolute rejecisse. Credibile quippe est in antiquiore Judæorum Ecclesia circa et post Esræ tempora multa viguisse Veritatis antiquæ ac nondum depravatæ vestigia. Veritatis, inquam, illiusque tum quod ad dogmata, tum quod ad mores spectat consideratæ. Quæcunque ergo cum œconomiâ novâ et perfectione, quam a nobis Christus requirit, conveniebant, illa omnia retinuit. Unde non mirum, multa a Lightfoot et nobis ex Pandectis Judæorum adferri potuisse, quæ cum doctrinâ Salvatoris omnino conveniunt. Fermentum Pharasaicum omnia polluerat. Schoetgen, vol. i. p. 27. (a) Anich, fol. 127. 4. ap Schoetgen, Hora Hebraicæ, &c. vol. i. p. 205. Bishop Blomfield's tract, Knowledge of Jewish Traditions essential to an accurate Interpretation of the New Testament. Jerusalem. scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them That upon you may come all the righteous blood Matt.xxiii.35. y Gen. iv. 8. shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, z Luke xiii. 34. a 2 Chron. xxiv. 1. whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall Matt.xxiii.36. come upon this generation. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Matt.xxiii.37. prophets, a and stonest them which are sent unto b 2 Esd. i. 30. thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings 15, and ye would not! Behold, your house 16 is left unto you desolate. Matt.xxiii.38. 15 When a Gentile was converted to Judaism, he was said to have come nɔɔwn bɔɔ nan, under the wings of the Shechinah, In using this expression, therefore, our Lord again asserted his divinity, and reminded the Jews of the doctrine he had before taught Nicodemus, that the people of Israel themselves were required to enter into his kingdom as new creatures, as proselytes to a new dispensation. See many instances in Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 208. The remark of Dr. Hales on this passage, appears to me to be too refined and hypercritical, and censures unjustly the translation in the authorized version. He observes, "the word in the original is öpvc, which is generic; and surely more applicable to that noblest of birds, the eagle and his brood, than to the 'hen and chickens' of the English Bible." And he supposes that our Lord, 66 as the tutelar God of Israel, alludes to his former comparison, in the divine ode of the parent eagle, training his young brood, after he had brought them on eagles wings to himself, to Mount Sinai (a)." This learned writer, however, has not taken into consideration, that the comparison of the hen and chickens was known from the earliest times to the Jews, and was frequent and familiar among them; and that this humble metaphor was much more suited to the genius and nature of the Christian religion. When the tribes of Israel, under the guidance of the God of their fathers, departed from the wilderness, with the fierceness and fearlessness of youthful and impetuous warriors; when they seized upon their divinely-conquered provinces, and triumphed in the spoil of their enemies, they were as justly, as they were sublimely, compared to the young eagles soaring from their inaccessible heights at the call of their parent, and darting like lightning upon their ignoble prey. The comparison of our Lord is consistent with the nature and design of his more perfect dispensation of reconciliation and love. His disciples, like their Master, were to be meek and lowly in spirit, and they were to be sheltered and nourished under the saving wings of their kind and merciful Protector. 16 The ancient Jews were accustomed to call the temple rn, "the House," to shew its great superiority to any other building. They called it likewise (a) Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. part 2. Matt.xxiii.39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me hence- Jerusalem, forth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. MARK xii. part of ver. 38. and ver. 39, 40. 38 -which-and love salutations in the market-places, 39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts; 14. 40 Which devour widows' houses, and-make long prayers: these shall, c Matt. xxiii. receive greater damnation. LUKE XX. part of ver. 45. and ver. 46. 45 -he said unto his disciples, 5. 46 Beware of the Scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and loved Matt. xxiii. greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts. Mark xii. 41. SECTION XIX. Christ applauds the Liberality of the poor Widow. MARK Xii. 41, to the end. LUKE XXi. 1-5. * money into the that were rich cast in much. Mark xii. 41. and beheld how the people cast Mark xii. 42. Luke xxi. 2. also a certain poor widow, Mark xii. 42. and she threw in two + mites ", which make a far- + It is the se Mark xii. 43. Luke xxi. 4. thing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all these have of their abundance cast in "domus" "sanctuarii,” w¬pan n'a, and □phy ma, domus æterna (a). And this house, or temple, which has now, for near eighteen centuries, continued desolate, in fulfilment of the prophecy in the next verse, shall be again rebuilt, and on the mountains of Israel the tribes shall again plant the olive and the vine, and offer up their praises and thanksgiving in a more glorious temple than that of ́ Solomon. Glorious things shall be spoken of thee, thou city of God. 17 A curious law, which prevailed among the Jews at that time, prohibited one mite, as we translate the word λɛñτòν, to be put into the treasury. The poor widow, therefore, in casting two mites, her little all, into the treasury, gave the non לא יתן ארם פרוטה לארנקי של צרקה: .smallest sum permitted by the law ponat homo λETTOV in cistam eleemosynarum.-Bava Bathra, fol. x. 2. ap Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 250. (a) Schoetgen, Hor. Heb. vol. i. p. 211. Jerusalem. unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury all that she had, even all her living. MARK xii. part of ver. 44. Mark xii. 44. 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in LUKE xxi. part of ver. 1, 2. ver. 3. and part of ver. 4. 1 -and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also-casting in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 -all the living that she had. SECTION XX. Christ foretells the Destruction of Jerusalem, the End of the Jewish MATT. xxiv. 1-36. MARK Xiii. 1-32. LUKE XXi. 5-34. 18 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. In the ancient times of the world, when all mankind began to apostatize from the faith of their fathers, it pleased the true God to select the illustrious ancestor of the now scattered sons of Israel, to maintain and perpetuate the true religion. Thus, for a long series of ages, the God of Nature demonstrated to the whole world that He was the God of the Church also, by the most stupendous miracles in favour of the chosen family of Abraham. For them the sea was divided, the tides of rivers were stopped, and the waters rose up in heaps. Fountains broke forth in the desert; decay approached not their garments, nor fatigue their limbs. The god of the idolaters stood still in the temple of Heaven, and the moon paused in her course at the voice of a mortal. For them the fire descended from heaven. God himself reigned over them, enthroned in a pillar of fire at night, and a cloud by day. He was their king, He was their deliverer. Whatever were their wanderings or deviations from his institutions: continued miracles, and the spirit of prophecy, demonstrated the perpetual superintendence of a presiding Providence. The records, handed down from their fathers, have been faithfully preserved; and we are there assured that the same power which ordained these wonders for the family of Abraham in the olden times, will never leave them, nor forsake them: "Can a woman forget her sucking child? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Is God unchangeable? Is he a man, that he should lie; or the son of man, that he should repent? To what condition are his people reduced? Nearly two thousand years have elapsed since their holy city was burnt with fire, and their nation scattered among their insulting Gentile brethren. To the intolerable sufferings of the sons of Israel during this long period, it is not necessary to make further allusion. They are stamped on every page of history. The Jews are |