sweep the house, and seek diligently, till she find it? when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, There is joy in the 10 presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

And he said, A certain man had two sons: and the 12 younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, 13 and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there 14 arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; 15 and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would 16 fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat;

17 and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough 18 and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to

my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against 19 Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called 20 thy son make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose,

and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on 21 his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more 22 worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on

ten inches long, and a finger broad. They are eaten with relish by the common people, and are used extensively by them as an article of sustenance. We had them dry on board of our boat on the Nile, in January; steeped in water, they afforded a pleasant drink. These are the nɛgária (husks) of Luke xv. 16, on which the swine were fed; as is not uncommon at the present day." -No man gave unto him. i. e. No one gave him food.

17. Came to himself. A profound meaning is conveyed in these simple words. The sinner is beside himself; he knows not what he does, Luke xxiii. 34; and happy will it be for him, if his wretchedness, when other and milder means have failed, should be instrumental of bringing him back to reason and conscience, to his better self, and of inducing him to cast himself upon the free mercy of his heavenly Father. How many hired servants, &c. The delineations of this parable are traced with so much naturalness and beauty, as to give evidence of the rarest wisdom, as well as the most celestial goodness. What composition of human genius can be compared with this similitude of Jesus? "Every circumstance is tender, and happily

chosen; every word has a meaning; every image is beautiful; and the narrative closes just where it is fitted to make the deepest impression."

20. When he was yet a great way off, &c. Every incident seems to have been thought of, to add grace and pathos to the tale, and to illustrate, in living colors, the compassion of God towards the wicked, and his readiness to welcome the feeblest sigh of penitence and returning virtue.

22. The father, it has been observed, interrupts him before he has time to say, verse 19, "Make me as one of thy hired servants." No explanation, no satisfaction for his sins, is sought. It is enough that, having wandered, he has come back to confess his sins, and throw himself into the arms of his father. We should be cautious how we interpret parables to prove or disprove any doctrinal tenet, since we are exceedingly liable to press some part of the illustrations too far, or overlook the main object of the similitude, in attending to some minor idea, incidentally introduced. Yet the general strain of this parable, we may remark, is totally at variance with the doctrine that God cannot forgive sin, until an expiation has been made by the blood

his hand, and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted 23 calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son 24 was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field; 25 and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what 26 these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is 27 come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not 28 go in; therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And 29 he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends; but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath 30 devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the

of an innocent being. Ring on his hand, &c. While these particulars showed his utter destitution, they also vividly expressed the respect and affection, with which he was greeted by his forgiving parent.

east.

23, 24. Fatted calf. This was esteemed a great delicacy in the Was dead, i. e. morally. The Arabs have a saying, illustrative of this phrase, "Not he that is at rest is dead; but the living dead man, he is truly dead." Pythagoras, the Grecian philosopher, was accustomed, when any one of his pupils deserted his school, to set an empty coffin in his place, to signify that he was spiritually dead. His elder son. Jesus would represent in this part of the parable the Pharisees and scribes, who murmured that he received sinners and ate with them. - Music and dancing. Accompaniments of oriental feasts.

28, 29. And he was angry, &c. A strong contrast is here drawn between the compassion of the father and the churlishness of the brother, and, in the application, between the mercy and condescension of God and Jesus,

and the narrow-minded jealousy of the Pharisees.-Therefore came his father out, &c. "Methinks," says a quaint writer, "the mercy and grace of our God in Christ, shines almost as bright in his tender and gentle bearing with peevish saints, represented by the elder brother here, as before in his reception of prodigal sinners upon their repentance, represented by the younger brother." — Do I serve thee. Present tense, expressing, as Bloomfield observes, "continued service; I have been and am serving thee.". - Neither transgressed I at any time. Jesus takes the Pharisees at their own word as righteous and holy, and proceeds, from that point of view, to show how odious and ungenerous was their murmuring at his compassion towards the sinful. — A kid, i. e. a young goat. This is contrasted with the fatted calf, as being of less value.

30-32. This thy son. It has not escaped critical notice, that while the elder brother uses this designation, as if disclaiming the fraternal tie, the father, ver. 32, employs the term, "this, thy brother," as if to remind

31 fatted calf.

And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me; 32 and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Parables of the Unjust Steward, and the Rich Man and Lazarus.

:

AND he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him 2 that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy 3 stewardship for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the steward5 ship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How

him, that the returning prodigal was indeed his brother.-Son, thou art ever with me. The intimation is here given, that although more joy, more surprise mixed with pleasure, would be felt for the repentance and return of the wicked, yet that the long and faithful services of those, who had never wandered so far from the right path, would not be forgotten or undervalued. Let, then, the sinner be encouraged to repent, assured that God is merciful beyond his hopes, beyond his fears, and will kindly and cordially welcome him back to virtue, and to himself. Nor let the good be jealous, though joy is felt for the returning sinner; for if he is blessed, who has returned to his Father's house, thrice blessed is he, who has never left it.

CHAPTER XVI.

1. And he said also unto his disciples. As he had addressed the three

preceding parables to the scribes and Pharisees, so he now turns to the publicans and sinners, to his disciples or learners, to teach them the importance of laying up the "true riches."

A steward. Men of large property were accustomed to employ an agent, in managing their private affairs. The parable of the steward was peculiarly applicable to the publicans or tax-gatherers, who were employed in large pecuniary transactions, and not unfrequently were accused of injustice and wastefulness in their office.

3. I cannot dig. According to Bloomfield, "I have not strength to work as a day-laborer;" for such is the idea conveyed by the original word, which is translated cannot. His mode of life had incapacitated him for such toils.

5-7. His lord's debtors. These were tenants, who paid their rent with the produce of the land — wheat

much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, A hundred meas- 6 ures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how 7 much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And 8 the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. yourselves friends of the mammon

and oil.

A hundred measures of oil. Or, a hundred baths; a measure of about twelve or thirteen gallons. The oil was olive or sweet oil. Take thy bill, i. e. the contract or engagement. A hundred measures of wheat. This dry measure was altogether different from the wine and oil measure, before mentioned, and contained about fifteen bushels.

8. The lord, i. e. the rich man. — Commended the unjust steward, &c. He praised him, not because he was unjust, not on account of his dishonest trick, but because he had prudently made provision for his future living, since, by taking off so large an amount from the tenants' rent, he hoped to make them his friends, so that they would receive him into their houses, when he was expelled from his office. - For the children of this world, &c. i. e. Those devoted to the things of this world, as the children of light, signify those who are interested in living for higher objects than those of time and sense.- In their generation, means in their way, their method of conducting their affairs. The worldly are more sagacious, active, and persevering in the management of their concerns, and in using the best means of securing their ends, than the spiritually-minded are in effecting their nobler purposes, and making provis

And I say unto you, Make to 9 of unrighteousness; that when

ion for that higher futurity, when they shall be discharged from their present stewardship. In other words, the bad often exercise a forecast, which the good would do well to imitate in the matters of religion. It has been well said, that the wisdom or forethought, here spoken of, has no moral character in itself, but derives all its character from the good or bad end which it is employed to attain. This verse is paraphrased by Brazer, showing that there is an implied reproach in the comparison between the children of this world and the children of light. "Go ye, who profess to be my disciples, to the worldling, the child of earth, and learn of him consistency, and prudence, and diligence, and zeal. Will you permit him to be wiser for earth, than you are for heaven?

9. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. This follows as an inference or moral of the foregoing parable. Mammon here means riches, and the " mammon of unrighteousness," or, ver. 11, the "unrighteous mammon," is the uncertain, deceptive goods of this world, which we ought so to use that when we fail, or die, we may be received into everlasting habitations in heaven. The steward made himself friends for this life: be it your aim so to appropriate your wealth, as to make friends for the life to come.