Page mentions, must, when the sun shone upon it, have rendered it a most splendid and beautiful spectacle.-Doddridge. 816. Luke xxi. 6. There shall not be left one stone upon another. This was exactly fulfilled in the time of Titus, who commanded the city and temple to be entirely ruined, and this was put in execution to that degree, that, as Josephus tells us, there was not left so much as any marks of an inhabited city. Eleazer in his speech to the Jews does affirm, that the city was taken away from the very foundation, and that the temple was dug up. Maimon tells us also, that after this, the temple was ploughed by Turnus Rufus. Our Saviour's words were exactly fulfilled, as appears by the foregoing testimonies of the Jews themselves.-Kidder. 319. Matt. xxiv. 15. Abomination of desolation. By this term, or the Abomination that maketh desolate, is intended, the Roman armies with their ensigns. As the Roman ensigns, especially the eagle, which was carried at the head of every legion, were objects of worship, they are, according to the usual style of scripture, called an abomination.-Lardner. The completion of this event, attendant upon the destruction of Jerusalem, not to be foreseen by human skill, was very unlikely to happen. The great care which the Jews. took at other times not to defile the holy place, and the small strength it had to defend them long from the Roman arms, were both circumstances, which in all human appearance would have kept them from the rash experiment. And yet, against all probability, they fled to the temple, and there made a last and desperate resistance. Having thus defiled it with their own arms, they made it necessary for the Romans to follow them into the sanctuary, so that they took it by storm, and of consequence caused their military ensigns to be seen standing there.-Pearce. 319. Matt. xxiv. 16. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Cestius Gallus besieged Jerusalem some years before he raised the siege. This was a sign to the Christians to flee into the mountains. They accordingly removed to Pella, beyond Jordan, in the territories of Agrippa, who had continued faithful to the Romans, so that they avoided the desolation that overspread all Judea: and when Titus some months after sat down before the city, there was not one Christian remaining in it.-Grotius and Hammond. Matt. xxiv. 17. Let him which is on the house top not come down, &c. For an account of the general construction of the houses, see notes on page 63 and 155. The flat roofs sometimes formed a continued terrace, extending from one end of the city to the other, and terminating at the gates. (1 Sam. ix. 26.) So that our Lord seems to advise them to Page hasten along the tops of the houses, in order to reach the city gates with greater dispatch.-Hammond. 320. Matt. xxiv. 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day. The former part of this verse seems a mere allusion to the severity of the season, the roads then being scarcely passable. In travelling on the sabbath, they might expose themselves to the indignation of the Jews, or be restrained by their own particular observance of it, as the distance allowed for a sabbath-day's journey was only two thousand cubits, or about one mile supposed to be the space between the camp and the tabernacle. See Josh, iii. 4.-Grotius and Whitby. 321. Matt. xxiv. 22. Should no flesh be saved. The violence of the war was such, from the Romans, and from the Zelots within, who killed all that were averse to hostilities, that if it had gone on further against the city, the nation, says Chrysostom, would have been entirely destroyed.Hammond. Titus confessed that it was God who deprived the Jews of their fortresses.--Whitby. Matt. xxiv. 27. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. From the account by Josephus it may be observed that the Roman army entered on the east side of it, and carried on their conquests westward, as if not only the extensiveness of the ruin, but the very route which the army would take, was intended by this comparison. 321. Matt. xxiv. 28. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. This was a proverbial saying, and is here applied in a prophetic sense. The Jewish writers had this maxim among them, that wicked men, while they live, are to be reckoned amongst the dead. Thus by the word carcass, Christ means the Jewish nation, which was morally and judicially dead. Under the metaphor of eagles, which fly swiftly, and seize violently on their prey, conquerors are frequently spoken of in scripture. See Lament. iv. 19. Hosea viii. 1. When Moses threatens the Jews with the destruction of their nation, in his description, which coincides in the most material parts with their final destruction by the Romans, the destroying army is introduced with this very emblem of an eagle. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle fleeth, a nation whose language thou shalt not understand. Deut. xxviii. 49. The sense of the prophecy may be thus gathered: wheresoever the wicked Jews are, there will the Roman eagles, (whose principal standard supported an eagle on its summit) the destroying armies, follow them.-Pearce. Page 324. Matt. xxiv. 41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. Most families grind their wheat and barley at home, having two portable grindstones for that purpose. The uppermost is turned round by a small handle of wood or iron placed on the edge of it. When this stone is large, or expedition is required, a second person is called to assist. It is usual for the women alone to be concerned in this employ, sitting themselves down, over against each other, with the millstones between them.-Shaw. The fulfilment of the prophecies of our Saviour, respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, is amply and minutely treated of by Lardner, as an argument of the truth of Christianity. This work is republished in the 5th vol. of Watson's Theo logical Tracts, and will amply compensate the reader for his attention to it. 327. Matt. xxv. 4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Chardin observes, that in many parts of the east, and in particular in the Indies, instead of torches and flambeaux, they carry a pot of oil in one hand, and a lamp full of oily rags in the other. They seldom make use of candles, especially amongst the great; candles casting but little light, and they sitting at a considerable distance from them. Harmer: Matt. xxv. 6. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. The bridegroom and his friends usually supped with the bride, and then conducted her to his house, late in the evening, by the light of lamps and torches, making great acclamations. The young virgins were they who waited at the house, to have every thing ready for the reception of the new married couple, and to attend on the bride.-Willan. 330. Matt. xxv. 33. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. This seems to allude to the custom in the Sanhedrim, where the Jews placed those to be acquitted on the right, and those to receive sentence of condemnation on the left hand. 333. Matt. xxvi. 7. And poured it (the ointment) on his head, as he sat at meat. The use of unguents was common at feasts among the Easterns, and also among the Greeks and Romans.-- -Newcome. Whitby. 338. Mark xiv. 14. And wheresoever he shall go in, &c. It was the custom at Jerusalem, for the inhabitants to allow the free use of their rooms and furniture to the strangers at the passover, without pay or advantage, except of the skins of the lambs sacrificed.-Le Clerc. 341. John xiii. 10. He that is washed needeth not, save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. The words, in their literal sense, allude to the custom of using the bath immediately be Page fore attendance on feasts; at which feasts the feet of the guests were first washed.--Pearce and Campbell. 342. John xiii. 18. He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. This was a peculiar aggravation in the East, where the rites of hospitality were very sacred, and are so to this day.--Newcome. 344. Matt. xxvi. 23. He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish. In Barbary, and probably in the East, when the food is any liquid substance, after having broken their bread in little bits, they dip their hands and their morsels together into it.--Shaw. 346. John xiii. 34. A new commandment, &c. The new commandment is, to love one another as he had loved them. See John xv. 12, 13. That merely to love one another was not a new commandment, appears from Levit. xix. 18. Newcome. 351. John xiv. 16. Give you another comforter. Grotius and some others are of opinion, that the Greek word (agæxλntos,) rendered in our translation comforter, is more properly expressed by advocate, or one who undertakes to plead the cause of the accused, and act for them. 363. Matt. xxvi. 30. Had sung an Hymn. Newcome in his translation has "used an hymn," to which is annexed the following explanation. The hymn may have been recited, as the original Greek word (oavris) does not necessarily imply that it was sung. It is said that the Jews repeated six psalms, from the cxiii. to the cxviii. inclusive, three before, and three after taking the paschal supper. 364. Mark xiv. 35. He went forward a little, and fell on the ground. Many instances occur in ancient writers, more particularly in the profane authors, where falling to the ground, or rather throwing themselves upon it, indicates a mind overwhelmed with the deepest distress. This appears to have been the case with our Saviour, who is represented in the preceding verse to have been "exceeding sorrowful, unto death." 365. Matt. xxvi. 41. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Our Lord mildly and benevolently alledges for their infirmity the only extenuation it admitted.--Newcome. 369. Matt. xxvi. 52. All they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword. This prophecy seems to have been verified, whenever Christians have had recourse to arms, in order to defend themselves from persecution: as in the case of the Hussites in Bohemia, and the Huguenots in France. Priestley. 375. John xviii. 20. I spake openly to the world. It is said in the Mishna, that before any one was punished for a capital crime, proclamation was made before the prisoner by the public cryer, as follows: "Whoever may know any thing Page concerning his innocence, let him come forward, and declare St. Paul likewise, in similar circumstances, standing before the judgment seat of Festus, seems to complain of the same unjust treatment, that no one was called, or would appear, to his character. See Acts xxvi. 4, 5. Note on Lowth's Isaiah. 378. Matt. xxvi. 65. The high priest rent his clothes. They who judge a blasphemer, first bid the witness to speak out plainly what he has heard; and when he speaks it, the judges, standing upon their feet, rend their garments, and do not sew them up again.-Lightfoot. 379. Mark xiv. 65. And to cover his face. Criminals, immediately after sentence of condemnation, had their faces covered or hooded, as if unworthy to enjoy the benefit of the light any longer. In cases of treason, the Roman law (according to which our Saviour was executed) ran thus: "If the sentence is confirmed, let the criminal's hands be bound, let him be veiled or hoodwinked, and hanged on a cursed tree, after having been scourged," &c.-Livy. The custom of veiling condemned criminals was observed likewise among Eastern nations. Esther vii. 8. As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.-Willan. 380. John xviii. 28. Went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover. It appears from Maimonides, that a legal pollution was contracted, even by presence, among the Gentiles, especially on occasions of purity, at the Passover. Hence Acts x. 28. xi. 3. Hammond. John xviii. 32. Saying of Jesus might be fulfilled. On several occasions our Lord, speaking of his death, had al |