31 He that cometh from above is above all he that is J. P. 4740. V. Æ. 27. of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. 2 Judæa, 33 He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his z Rom. iii. 4. seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him 17. 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things a Matt. xi. 27. into his hand. 1 John v. 10. 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: b Hab. ii. 4. and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 16 The expression "this my joy is fulfilled," ǹ xapà ý kμǹ werλýpwraι, corresponds with the Hebrew expression now bw, a phrase which is used by the rabbinical writers to express even the happiness of heaven; and which most powerfully delineates therefore the joy and rapture which the Baptist felt, and which a Christian minister ought to experience, when he perceives that his labours in the vineyard are attended with success. Schoetgen gives several instances of this application of the phrase. Sohar. chadasch. fol. 42, 2. Quidnam agunt animæ piorum in cœlo. Resp. Operam dant laudi divinæ 1 .nwx et tunc gaudium coram te est perfectum. Ibidem, fol. 49. 4. Et Deus S. B. gaudebit cum justis abwa mna gaudio perfecto. Siphra, fol. 188. 4. ejus non est perfectum. Quamvis homo in hoc mundo gaudeat, gaudium tamen .illud gaudium demum erit perfectum, q. d אותה השמחה תהיה שלימה eternum Psalm cxxvi. 2. Tunc os nostrum risu, et lingua cantu implebitur. 17 These words allude to the opinion entertained by the Jews that the Holy Spirit was given in measure only to the prophets. Vaikra rabba, sect. 15, fol. אפילו רוח הקדש אינו שורה על הנביאים אלא במשקל: .Dixit R. Acha .2 .158 etiam Spiritus S. non habitavit super prophetas, nisi mensurâ quâdam. Draw constituebant, unum sponso, alterum sponsæ, ut illis ministrarent, quando in Chuppam ingrediuntur; sed in Galilæa tale quid observatum non est. Schoetgen. Hor. Hebr. vol. i. p. 337. Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 605. I have not entered minutely into all the circumstances of the comparison of the Baptist to the paranymph. They may be found at great length in Lampe, Comment. Evang. sec. Joan. vol. i. p. 672. Hammond in loc. Lightfoot's Harmony, and Schoetgen. vol. i. p. 335, &c. Dr. Adam Clarke has given a copious abridgment of Schoetgen's remarks. Dr. Gill (in loc.) has inserted a curious tradition, that Moses was the paranymph to present the Jewish Church to God. J. P 4740. V. Æ. 27. Judæa. * Or, an in SECTION VIII. Imprisonment of John the Baptist 18. MATT. xiv. 5. MARK vi. 17-21. LUKE iii. 19. But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him Luke iii. 19. for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound Mark vi. 17. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful Mark vi. 18. for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodías had * a quarrel against him, Mark vi. 19. ward grudge. and would have killed him; but she could not: For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a Mark vi. 20. Or kept him, just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard or, saved him. him gladly. с And when he would have put him to death, he Matt. xiv. 5. c Ch. xxi. 26. feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet 19. MARK vi. part of ver. 17. LUKE iii. 20. and MATTHEW xiv. 3, 4. 17 For Herod himself LUKE iii. 20. 20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison. MATTHEW XIV. 3, 4. 3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 18 Lightfoot inserts the imprisonment of John immediately after the delivery of his decisive testimony to the divine mission and Messiahship of our Lord. He is followed in this order by Newcome, Michaelis, and Doddridge; and on these united authorities I have inserted this event in its proper place. Lightfoot has so arranged it, because no other speech of the Baptist is recorded respecting Christ; and the Evangelists are unanimous in relating that our Saviour's journey into Galilee (the next thing they all mention) did not occur till after the imprisonment of John. Pilkington has made another disposition of the events already related, and places the imprisonment of John after the temptation and baptism, which he supposes did not take place till after our Lord's first visit to Jerusalem. It is not however necessary to discuss his arguments, as the date assigned by him, and Whiston, to our Lord's baptism, has been already considered. 19 This account of the Baptist is confirmed by Josephus, who has related at length the history of this incestuous marriage between Herod the tetrarch, and CHAPTER III. From the Commencement of the more public Ministry of SECTION 1. General Introduction to the History of Christ's more public MATT. iv. 12-18. MARK i. 14, 15. LUKE iv. 14, 15. Mark i. 14. Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus J. P. 4740. came into Galilee. Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip. The tetrarch had married the daughter of Aretas, a petty king of Arabia Petræa. Some time after, however, when he was at Rome, lodging in the house of Herod Philip, he became enamoured of Herodias, and persuaded her to marry him, promising on her consent that he would divorce his present wife. Josephus takes care to conceal that John was imprisoned on account of his reproving the tetrarch's conduct, and represents Herod as proceeding upon more general grounds. He describes John as a good man, who persuaded the Jews to moral and virtuous living, to justice towards each other, devotion towards God, and to become united by baptism; and as he had many followers, who were entirely devoted to him, the tetrarch deemed it advisable to seize and imprison him, before any revolt or insurrection should actually begin. On this account he ordered him to be apprehended, and sent as a prisoner to the castle of Mecharus, where he was afterwards killed. Soon after this event, Josephus adds, Herod's army was defeated and destroyed by Aretas, and the Jews considered the tetrarch's loss and defeat as a punishment from God for the murder of John the Baptist. It is possible there may be no real difference between the Evangelist and Josephus. The former relates the real cause of the Baptist's imprisonment, as part of the secret history of the court of Herod; the latter gives the public and ostensible reason. It is indeed a common mistake among historians to impute great effects to proportionate causes; the most important events in history have arisen, and do arise, more frequently from the caprice, resentment, or other private motives of individuals, than from any well planned, or long intended system of political conduct (a). Laing is of opinion that John was imprisoned twice by order of Herod. The arguments by which this opinion may be supported appear to have been so ably combated by Archbishop Newcome, that it is only necessary to refer the reader to his Harmony, p. 10. of the notes. It has been objected that the name of the brother of Herod the tetrarch was not Philip, but Herod. Griesbach (Luke iii. 19.) has omitted the word in the text, but placed piλínov in the margin. The discrepancy is easily obviated by the supposition that Philip assumed the name of Herod to distinguish his family and descent. 1 The order of events hitherto adopted in this arrangement has been nearly the same as that proposed by the five principal harmonizers, by whose authority, (a) See Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 591, 592. and Josephus Antiq. lib. 18. cap. 7. V. Æ. 27. Judæa. J. P. 4740. Now when Jesus heard that John was V. Æ. 27. into prison, he departed, Judæa. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit Luke iv. 14. *Or, deliver. into Galilee 2, a John iv. 43. ed up. as well as by an examination of the internal evidence, I have been principally influenced. With this chapter the more difficult task arises of reconciling the clashing authorities of commentators, and assigning satisfactory reasons for the place of every fact recorded. The present section gives an account of the commencement of the more public ministry of our Lord, after the imprisonment of John. That this is the proper place for the insertion of that event, may be proved by comparing John iii. 24. with Matt. iv. 12. and Mark i. 14. These passages are considered by all harmonists as sufficiently demonstrating that Christ did not begin to preach till after the imprisonment of John; and it is worthy of remark, that our blessed Lord begins his ministry with the same words as his appointed forerunner, (whose divine commission he thereby established) calling on all men to repent and to believe. Compare Mark i. 15. and Matt. iv. 17. I have inserted, with Pilkington, in this section, many of the parallel passages, to render the preface to the narrative of our Lord's public ministry more complete and satisfactory. The more public ministry of our Lord may be properly said to commence with his preaching in Galilee. Though at his inauguration into his office at his baptism, and yet further by his driving the buyers and sellers from the temple, he had manifested himself to the people, he does not appear to have assumed the public office of preaching and instructing the people, till John was cast into prison. The reason of this ordering of events seems to have been, that undivided attention might be now paid to the ministry of our Lord. The fame of the Baptist had gone through the country, preparing the way of the Lord; his preaching was known to all; and all held John as a prophet. The time was fulfilled when a greater prophet than John the Baptist was to begin his ministration. The expectation of the people had been excited to the utmost by the declarations of the Baptist; and, at the moment when the glory of the Messiah was anticipated, according to the sublime, though confused and imperfect notions of the Jews, there appears among them the being whom John had declared to be from above. He establishes no temporal kingdom, but he heals the sick, calms the ocean, raises the dead, demonstrates his connexion with, and knowledge of, an invisible world; and instructs his hearers in other ideas of the kingdom of God, than they had hitherto entertained. Through a great part of this period, the Baptist, though in prison, was still alive, a faithful witness of his own prophecy-" He must increase, but I must decrease." The beams of his setting sun still reflected their last lustre on the stone which was now becoming the mountain to fill the whole earth. 2 Idolatry was introduced into the tribe of Dan, which in after ages was called Lower Galilee, by Micah. The account is contained in the 18th chapter of Judges. The first who carried captive any part of the people of Israel was Benhadad, king of Syria, who subdued Sion, Dan, Abel-beth-Maachah, Cinneroth, and the land of Napthali, all of which were included in Galilee. A heavier calamity was brought upon the same country by Tiglath Pileser, who again took the same towns, when they had begun to recover their prosperity, and sent the inhabitants as captives to Assyria. Mark i. 15. J. P. 4740. V.E. 27. Mark i. 14. preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, Luke iv. 14. and there went out a fame of him through all the Luke iv. 15. Matt. iv. 13. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: The account of the manner in which the tribe of Dan became possessed of part of the land of Palestine so far north as the most northern part of Galilee, is given in the 17th chapter of Judges. The town of Laish, afterwards called Dan, was situated on the north-west boundary of Napthali, on the border of Syria (a). Many of the Jewish traditions assert that Galilee was to be the place where the Messiah should first appear (b); but for the more complete statement of the reasons why Christ was to dwell in Galilee, and a critical discussion of Isa. ix. 1-3, &c. vide J. Mede's Works (c). Isa. ii. 19. When he shall arise to smite terribly the earth, is expounded in the book Zohar, as referring to the Messiah. When he shall arise, y 57, and shall be revealed in Galilee; and other instances are given in Schoetgen (d). The country beyond Jordan was called Galilee, though properly Peræa, Matt. iv. 15. Judas is called by Gamaliel, Judas of Galilee, yet Josephus calls him a Galilonite, of the city of Gamala. Peræa, called Galilee, because Canaan was divided into four tetrarchies-Judæa, Samaria, Iturea, and Trachonitis; the remaining fourth was called Galilee, and included Peræa. The great estates of Galilee are said to have feasted with Herod. But the palace of Herodium was in the extreme part of Peræa. It is not probable that the great men of Peræa would have been utterly excluded. Joshua xxii. 11. refers to a place in Peræa, and Lightfoot supposes that the word "Galilee" was derived from the name of that place (e), 177 nibiba. Moses had predicted that Zabulon and Issachar, which, with Napthali, were the tribes originally settled in that tract of country, afterwards called Galilee, should call the people unto the mountain of the Lord's house, to offer sacrifices of righteousness, Deut. xxxiii. 19.—And Jacob had before predicted that Napthali, the Galilæan, should give goodly words, Gen. xlix. 21. Both evident predictions of the diffusal of the Gospel in both places (ƒ). (a) Vide the maps of the tribe of Napthali, and of Canaan, in Wyld's Scripture Atlas, an admirable compendium of sacred geography. (b) Johar. Genes. fol. 74. col. 293. Revelabitur Messias in terra Galilæa. Pesikta sotarta, fol. 58. 1, 2. adverba numer. 24. 17. Johar. Exod. fol. col. 1. Illo die, &c. (c) Discourse xxvi. p. 101. See also Lowth's (d) Vol. ii. p. 525. and vol. i. p. 11, &c. &c. (e) Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. p. 362. (f) Lightfoot's Works, vol. i. P. 627. ויתער בארעא רגליל .c& Isaiah on this passage. |