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STUDIA SACRA

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COMMENTARIES
ON THE INTRODUCTORY VERSES OF ,
ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL,
AND ON A PORTION OF
ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS ;
WITH OTHER THEOLOGICAL PAPERS
BY THE
REV. JOHN KEBLE, M.A.

<&xfaxb an& lontom:
JAMES PARKER AND CO.
.1877-

PREFACE.

^\ TE are indebted for the design and publication
of this volume to the same Editor whose
loving devotion to Mr. Keble's memory gave us
the " Occasional Papers" a year ago.
The first and most valuable of its five parts,
the fragment on St. John's Gospel, was in fact
printed for that earlier collection, but was re
served when it was found that there was enough
matter of like kind to form a separate volume.
In the Postscript to the Preface to the "Occa
sional Papers," Dr. Pusey, it will be remembered,
thus refers to it : —
"It was not until past the 'threescore years and ten/
that with diffidence John Keble began what I had ven
tured to press upon him many years before, a Com
mentary on St. John's Gospel. He seems to have under
taken it, in order to do something towards the fulfilment
of a long-cherished hope ; yet knowing that he could
never finish it. It was much in his thoughts ; but his
Manuscript ends in an unfinished sentence on the fifteenth
verse. But this single pearl gives a thought what the
golden string might have been, could he have brought
himself to undertake it earlier."
This fragment may, therefore, be dated 1863.
The Manuscript of the unfinished Commentary
on the Epistle to the Romans was found by the
Vicar of Bisley, among his Uncle's papers, and

VI PREFACE.
with it there were some letters which determine
its date.
In August, 1833, Mr. Hale (afterwards Arch
deacon of Middlesex) wrote to Mr. Keble, asking
him to be a contributor to the Commentary on the
Bible which he and Mr. Lonsdale (afterwards Bishop
of Lichfield) were preparing for the Christian Know
ledge Society. In reply, Mr. Keble sent a small
portion of this manuscript Commentary on the
Epistle to the Romans by way of specimen, and
on the margin of it there is the conclusion of his
accompanying letter : —
" So now you have fair warning what you are to expect
from me as a Commentator. I am sorry to say it is quite
impossible for me to do anything in St. Matthew at pre
sent. It would be only hurrying myself and annoying
you, if I were to pretend to it. — Ever, my dear Hale,
yours most truly, J. Keble, jr."
On Sept. 17 Mr. Hale returned the specimen,
entreating Mr. Keble to go on with the Epistle
to the Romans, and begging that it might be ready
for the press by Christmas, 1834.
This Commentary on Rom. i. — vii. was there
fore then in progress; and must be dated 1833
and 1834, while he was living with his father at
Fairford, and engaged on the Edition of Hooker.
So far as appears, it was never completed \
Of later date, evidently, is the Paper on the
» The Commentary of which it was to have formed a part
did not appear until 1849, and did not extend beyond the Four
Gospels. It was published in quarto by Messrs. Rivington.

PREFACE. VII

Doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Spirit.
Mr. Keble, of Bisley, has sent me the following
extracts from three letters, written, by his Uncle in
1 85 1 to a Clergyman who appears to have sought
his counsel on the subject ; and there seems to be
a high probability that the Monograph printed at
p. 149 of this volume is "the paper" referred to
in the second of these extracts : —
Jan. 31, 185 1. "... With regard to this particular
point, first, are you not mistaken .in treating it, as you
seem to do, as a distinct Article of the Creed ? I always
thought it was only a difference in the wording of the
Eighth article ; and that, as such, it might fairly admit
of various interpretations within a certain latitude ; just
as ' He descended into Hell,' being part of the Fifth ar
ticle, or 'the Communion of Saints/ being part of the
Ninth, have been and are variously interpreted, without
prejudice to the orthodoxy or honesty of the different
parties. Then, as to the Texts by which the wording
in our copies is defended, I own that Bishop Pearson's
argument from the term, ' the Spirit of His Son,' appears
to me very conclusive. It is not simply saying that the
One has a property in the Other, but that it is such
a property as implies a relation more or less like that
of a man to his own spirit or breath ; see St. John xx. 22.
Then your objection to the passages cited from St. John
xiv., &c, that they are ' in the future tense,' will equally
hold against the phraseology of the Greek Fathers, who,
as I see in Pearson, argue from the phrase, iic tov i/j,ov
X^erai, as if it implied an eternal relation.
" The more I think on the passages which I have seen
(few indeed), the more I seem convinced that the differ
ence is merely verbal. I grant that this makes greatly
against Rome, in forming an opinion as to which of the
parties was really most blameable for the separation.
But surely it ought also to take away the difficulty of

Vlll PREFACE.

joining in either formula which happened to be imposed
on one by authority otherwise competent. Surely one
is not called on in such a case to inquire into the history
of the Editions of the Creed, with a view to reject that
one of the two, which was most discreditable to its up
holders in the manner of propagating it. All that indi
viduals have to consider is, Is the doctrine sound, accord
ing to Scripture and Antiquity ? Just as in the adminis
tration of the Sacraments, I may have a strong opinion
as to the presumptuousness of making certain changes,
which yet, having been made, I am bound as an individual
to acquiesce in, provided they are consistent with the sub
stance itself of the Sacrament.
" It is a sad, sad thought, to be sure, for one to asso
ciate with the words of a sacred formulary, however ca
pable of a good meaning in themselves, that they should
have been the occasion of anything so bad as the breach
between the East and the West. But is it so in this case ?
They came in as a pretext, and cause a great aggravation,
I allow. But surely the real matter was the Supremacy;
which, from the time of the Fourth Council, if not before,
had caused exceeding jealousy between Rome and Con
stantinople. I quite agree (as far as I know) with what
you say of the disingenuity of Rome in the matter : at the
same time, I cannot say that the Eastern proceedings ap
pear to me very satisfactory. In short, I have long ago
seemed to perceive that it will never do to think of settling
such questions by the moral behaviour of those concerned
in them. When all is said and done, we must come to
the Law and to the Testimony, i.e. to Scripture and An
tiquity, and where we providentially are, there we must
stay ; unless it is made overwhelmingly clear to us that
we are being made to contradict that rule in essen
tials  "
Dec. i, 1851. "... My delay in writing again was partly
owing to my having set myself the task of examining the
great question a little for myself; first, in Scripture; then,
in some of the Fathers : and I wanted to have something
to say to you of the result of that process before I wrote.

PREFACE. IX

I was on the point of writing this very day, but I will re
serve the paper which I was going to send ; only saying
thus much, that the more I inquire, the more I seem to
perceive that the two portions of the Church will probably
be found to divide the blame, — the Greeks wrong in charg
ing the Latins with false theology, the Latins wrong in
adding to the Creed without sufficient authority. . . ."
Jan. 1852. "... May not 'Filioque' be taken as mean
ing, ' So proceeding from the Father as neither to damage,
on the one hand, the Father's Prerogative as the sole
fountain of Godhead = ayevvrjTos ©eos ; nor, on the other
hand, the Son's Prerogative as having, so to speak, the
Holy Spirit for His own Spirit (which is = Breath) as
truly and entirely as It is the Father's. So that the Holy
Spirit shall be truly and properly the Third Person, by as
true a subordination as the Son is the Second Person."
In editing this Monograph, apology ought perhaps
to be made for taking up so much space (23 pages)
with matter not included in the original Manuscript.
But it was thought that readers to whom the an
cient Fathers are not easily accessible, would be
glad to have before them the extracts referred to
by Mr. Keble. These notes, Scriptural and Pa
tristic, read in connexion with the above extracts,
wil.1 be welcomed by many who have interested
themselves in the recent Conferences between the
Eastern and Western Churches.
Of the three parts of the Volume now men
tioned, two, the Commentaries on St. John and on
the Epistle to the Romans, were carried through
the Press by the Editor of the "Occasional Papers."
The editing of the Paper on the Procession, and of
the rest of the Volume, was entrusted to the writer
of this Preface.

X PREFACE.

My connexion with the work, and especially with
the latter part of it, may be very briefly told.
I had chanced to be useful in verifying some
references in the Commentary on St. John's Gospel,
and in looking over the Proof sheets. And while
we were engaged on this, there arrived from our
kind friend at Bisley a Greek Testament, inter
leaved in quarto, and annotated by Mr. Keble, in
some places very fully, in some partially, down
to the end of the Epistle to Philemon. The Greek
Testament was a Clarendon Press Edition of 1813,
but the manuscript annotations had no date what
ever. The character of the handwriting seemed
to indicate that it was all early work ; it was
begun apparently after the date of Mr. Miller's
Bampton Lectures, 18 17 (for there is a reference
to them near the beginning), and seems to have
been continually growing under his hand, over a
space of ten or fifteen years. That the main
part, if not the whole of it, was done before the
correspondence with Archdeacon Hale (referred to
above), seems probable; for there is internal evi
dence that the Commentary on Romans i. — vii.,
referred to therein, was based on this annotated
Greek Testament, — large portions being word for
word identical.
This precious monument of Mr. Keble's early
studies was placed in my hands, and I was asked
to give my opinion as to the desirableness of pub
lishing it.
Remembering what Bentley said of Pearson, and
applying it to Mr. Keble, my first impression was

PREFACE. XI

that it ought to be published. It seemed to me
that the personal value of the Book more than com
pensated for its immaturity. What greater privi
lege to a student than to be admitted into the study
— into the oratory and study — of one whom many
would so fain call Master ? And the Book is em
phatically a student's Book : we seem to see him,
fresh from his Ordination, spreading his folios —
Hammond's Paraphrase, Lightfoot's Horce Hebra-
icce, Grotius, Wetstein, and his Savilian Chrysostom
— before him ; and working steadily through much
of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, The value of
the annotations is all the greater, from their being
so unlike popular commentaries of our day ; —
the results of downright conscientious labour, con
densed into the briefest possible expression ; every
now and then pregnant suggestions, which it would
take days to unfold ; and the manner of it so
humble and devout, — reminding one of Albert
Diirer's wood-cut of St. Jerome lifting his eyes
from his page to his crucifix ! Nor is the tone of
his notes less wholesome in the way of example,
being entirely devoid of controversy or foregone
conclusion, as if he remembered what Lord Bacon
says on this very subject, that the juice is ever the
sweetest which the grape yields without pressure.
For these and other reasons, swayed, perhaps,
too much by my affection for the dear old book, as
a veritable fragment of a past life that we all vene
rate, I thought it might properly be published.
It might be considered out of date by those
who were preparing themselves for examinations.

XU PREFACE.
But I thought that many of those readers whom
Bishop Butler most coveted for his Sermons, — such
as seek well-digested premisses rather than ready-
made conclusions, — would value it in their quiet
parsonages. With Dr. Pusey's kind approval I was asked to
edit a portion at any rate, to enable us to judge
the better as to the rest. When eleven . chapters
of St. Matthew's Gospel had been printed, we be
came aware that the work would occupy much more
space than we anticipated, — that it must form, in
short, an integral and rather costly volume of some
400 or 500 pages. This suggested further con
sideration : — would not the advertisement of such
a work (an Annotated Greek Testament by Mr.
Keble) raise great expectations ? and might not
many be disappointed to find that it was a com
paratively youthful note-book, containing not much
that was original ? Misgivings of this kind grew
upon us; and it was resolved that the pages al
ready printed should be submitted to the Bishop
of Salisbury, and that his judgment in the matter
should be final.
The Bishop of Salisbury's advice was that its
publication as an integral work should be aban
doned ; and that a portion only, viz. the eleven
chapters of St. Matthew which were already in
type, should be appended to this volume, for the
sake of their personal interest, as illustrating Mr.
Keble's early studies.
On further perusal of the Manuscript, I found
that the latter half of the book contained a complete

PREFACE. Xlll

analysis, by way of abbreviated paraphrase, of St.
Paul's Epistles, from Romans to Philemon ; and
that this was, perhaps, the most original part of
the work, and might be easily disentangled from
the rest.
This Analysis, therefore, with the approval of the
Bishop of Salisbury and Dr. Pusey, is included in
this volume.
Such is the volume ; — fragmentary, containing
much that Mr. Keble might have wished to revise
before publication b, and therefore to be received
with such reservation as this implies.
Some who read this Preface may think, that what
ever reasons lead us to withhold a portion, should
prevail against the publication of any of these post
humous papers ; for none appear with his sanction.
It is true we have not his leave. It may be true
that some portions of what is here given are quite
unequal to his later writings. It is probable that,
had he been asked to publish them before he left
us, he would have declined.
But does this close the question ?
They have a value now and a sacredness which
they had not then.
" Where thou hast touched, O wondrous death !
Where thou hast come between,
Lo ! there for ever perisheth
The common and the mean."
b It should be mentioned that the Commentaries on St. John's
Gospel and the Epistle to the Romans were written out in fair
copy, as if for the Press.

XIV PREFACE.

Some things here published may be immature.
They may be but his " stepping-stones " to higher
things. But it is precisely this that gives them
their great personal and biographical value. Surely
it is well for a younger generation of students to be
permitted to see how an elder Saint built himself
up in the Faith, by unresting prayerful labour, —
" by toil of hands and knees " winning his way up
the long ascent to light !
We have not his leave, it is true. And yet the
very same humility that made him, while here, put
aside these earlier manuscripts as too imperfect for
publication, might gently reprove us now, if in
our care for his fair fame we withheld from others
what might to them be useful.
If from within the Veil he could now speak to us,
I almost hear him saying they were the sweetest
hours he spent, those hours over God's Word —
"inter Paradisi fluenta;" and if these pages were
likely to serve in ever so small a measure to whet
the thirst of others for those same fountains, he
would leave it to the Holy Spirit so to use them,
that their streams might still " make glad " the Ci-
vitas Dei he loved so well !

J. P. N.

The Abbey House, Bristol,
October, 1877.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Commentary on part of the First Chapter
of St. John . . . . i
Commentary on Chapters I. — VI. of the
Epistle to the Romans: —
The Date and Scope of the Epistle . . -45
§ I. St. Paul's Salutation to the Church of Rome ; with
some account of the Grounds on which he expected
them to receive him . . . .47
§ II. Assurances of the Interest he took in the Roman
Church, . . . . . -S3
§ III. On Justification by Faith only. 1. The Subject
proposed . . . . . -59
§ III. 2. The Christian Doctrine of Pardon founded on
the Misery of Man ; and first of the Gentiles . 62
§ III. 3. The Misery and Danger of the Gentile World
brought home to each Individual . . .69
§ III. 4. Impartiality of Divine Retribution towards Jew
and Gentile alike . . . . .74
§ III. 5. Futility of Jewish Privileges, supposing their
Practice not answerable . . . -79
§ III. 6. Digression to obviate an Objection which
might arise on the Statement just made with regard
to Jewish Privileges . . . .86
§ III. 7. Summary and Confirmation of the Doctrine of
Human Depravity out of the Scriptures . . 94
§ III. 8. The true Method of Justification stated . 99
§ III. 9. Three Arguments in Support of the Christian
Doctrine of Justification . . . .104
§ III. 10. Justification by Faith exemplified in Abraham,
and witnessed by David . . . .109
§111. 11. Justification by Faith not Invalidated, but Con
firmed, by the Abrahamic Covenant of Circumcision . 115
§111. 12. Statement of Christian Privileges consequent
on Justification . . . • I2S

XVI

contents.

§ III. 13. Correspondence between the Manner of our
Fall in Adam, and that of our Recovery by Jesus
Christ ......
§ IV. Of Sanctification by the Holy Spirit, the next in
tended Result of Justification
Processio Spiritus Sancti
Appendix added by Editor ....
Analysis of St. Paul's Epistles : —
The Epistle to the Romans
The First Epistle to the Corinthians .
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians
The Epistle to the Galatians .
The Epistle to the Ephesians .
The Epistle to the Philippians
The Epistle to the Colossians .
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians
The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
The First Epistle to Timothy .
The Second Epistle to Timothy
The Epistle to Titus .
The Epistle to Philemon
Notes on the Greek Testament

PAGE 132
141
149 iS4

177
186
200210218223227
231 234
236
242245247
249

COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.

(Verse i.) In the Beginning. Not without many
depths of meaning, we may be sure, did the Holy
Ghost chuse for the beloved Disciple the very form
of words which He had chosen for His servant
Moses wherewith to open the Old Testament. It
is an intimation given from the very first, that the
later dispensation was not in any thing to be con
trary to the former, but the confirmation and in
finite extension of it.
The infinite extension : — no less. For this " Be
ginning " is far indeed, very far beyond and before
that which had been spoken of in the first chapter
of Genesis. That was the first point, so to speak,
of Space — the first moment of Time : — the point
or moment from which it pleased the Almighty
that other beings besides Himself should begin to
exist. But This Beginning is the mysterious Eter
nity which we feel in ourselves that we are to look
back upon, as having (so men speak) gone by, or
ever He saw fit to create anything at all. It is
that of which the Holy Spirit had before spoken
in the Name of Wisdom : " The Lord possessed
Me [in] the beginning of His way, before His
works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from
the beginning, or ever the earth wasa." Here we
have a Beginning before the beginning — Infinite
" Prov. viii. 22, 23.
B

2 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
duration in the God of all, before He began to
work anything (as it were) out of Himself. " Be
ginning of a beginning there cannot be, according
to the exact and true force of the term ; our dis
course of it will but wander on as along a thread
which cannot be spun out or overtaken : and since
there is no limit to this its constant escape back
wards, and retracing of all the ages in their turn,
we must infer that the Son came not into being
in Time, but must rather be said to exist ever
lastingly with the Father. For he was ' in the
Beginning V "
It is good surely that from time to time we
should go back in our hearts, and contemplate the
endless ages of that aweful solitude : (for such to
our poor frail imaginations it may seem, though the
Revelation of the Blessed Trinity intimate to us
that it was far otherwise) ere the Great God of
all began to be a Creator. Holy Scripture invites
us more than once to such contemplation, in
structing us to unite the two thoughts of His un
changeable Eternity and our own mere nothingness
as long as we are out of Him. The one truth is
set against the other, to make us at once humble
and trustful. " Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever the earth and the world were made :
Thou art God from everlasting, and world without
endc." But as for us, "The days of our age are
threescore years and ten ; and though men be so
strong that they come to fourscore years : yet is
their strength then but labour and sorrow ; so soon
passeth it away, and we are gone a." The Church
reminds us of it when we stand by the grave ¦ and
b St. Cyr. Alex. iv. u. * Psalm xc. 2, P.-B.V. a ibid 6

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.

again, by the bedside of a sick penitent : — " He
brought down my strength in my journey : and
shortened my days. But I said, O my God, take
me not away in the midst of mine age : as for
Thy years, they endure throughout all generations.
Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foun
dation of the earth ; and the heavens are the work
of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt
endure : they all shall wax old as doth a garment ;
and as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they
shall be changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy
years shall not fail6." So far it would be simply
aweful, but the next verse sings joyfully : " The chil
dren of Thy servants shall continue ; and their seed
shall stand fast in Thy sight." God's past eternity
before we had any being is marvellously made a
pledge of an eternity to come for the holy and the
spiritual children of Abraham, even for us, if we
do not abuse the being which He has given us
Alas ! what an if is that ! too often how sadly real
ized ! even among those who, from their Baptism
upward, are constantly reminded of the great things
prepared for them, and nowhere more effectually
than in this Gospel of love. "Open thy mouth
wide, and I shall fill it : but My people would not
hear My Voice f." O Lord, save us from that
.worst of ruin, before it is too late to pray !
Was the Word. In this beginning (so God's an
cient people had been obscurely but really taught),
that is, all along throughout that Infinity of Duration,
we are to conceive of the Eternal Father as having
within Himself (for as yet there was nothing ex-
e Psalm cii. 23 — 27. (So in the MS. ; the allusion is not clear, as the Psalm
in the Visitation Office is Ps. lxxi.— Ed.) ' Ibid, lxxxi. 11, 12.
B 2

COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

ternal to Him) a Personal Being, the Same Who
declared Himself by Solomon, under the name of
Wisdom, by such tokens as these : He was possessed
and owned of the Father, "set up" and "brought
forth" by Him, (therefore He is not the Father) :
but He was not made by Him, for He was "before
His works of old." He was "by" the Father,
especially in the Creation of the Heavens and the
Earth, "as one brought up with Him," His nurs
ling, His well-beloved, " daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him ;" and finally, taking a special
interest in this lower world, and in man : " rejoicing
in the habitable part of His earth ; and His de
lights were with the sons of men e."
This revelation had been made a thousand years
before Christ, in that portion of the Old Testament
which was sure (humanly speaking) to attract most
regard in the Eastern world, from the name and
renown of its Author. In his life- time " his fame
was in all nations round about," and " there came
of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from
all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wis
dom h." He "exceeded all the kings of the earth
for riches and for wisdom ; and all the earth sought
to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had
put in his heart :." And so it continues even unto
this day, as not only the records of the East, but
still more the popular traditions, bear witness. For
the time especially between the two Testaments,
how far his authority reached as a teacher of
truth, we may judge by the Apocryphal books ; the
Son of Sirach addressing him as one whose soul
8 See Prov. viii. 22—31. b 1 Kings iv. 31, 34.
' I Kings x. 23, 24.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.

" covered the whole earth, and filled it with dark
parables ;" whose " name went far unto the islands "
.... at whom " the countries marvelled for his
songs and proverbs and parables and interpreta
tions \" — while the Book of Wisdom, by its very
title and by the whole framework of it, implies an
exceeding deference certain to be felt by all readers
towards its assumed Author and subject. These two
writings, so unlike in style and in tone of thought,
and originally, it would seem, in language, — the one
mainly Oriental, the other Hellenistical, — take up
as it were between them the whole world of civil
ized readers at that time. Judging by them, we
must perceive that Solomon's works especially were
drawing attention far beyond the limits of Pales
tine ; that the inspired words concerning Wisdom
were being taken up by Hellenistical writers of
various schools; and thereby, as well as by the
Chaldee Paraphrasts, one of whom was also con
nected with Alexandria, and by such language as
Philo's (to say nothing of Plato before him), men's
minds were being unconsciously prepared for the
sublime announcement of St. John : Christ's way
being thus made ready in Theology properly so
called, as in the CEconomy by the Jewish ritual,
the institution of Sacrifice and the Theocracy. Thus,
in respect of the subtle inquiring mind, as well as of
the frail anxious heart— in Articles of Faith as well
as in Rules of life, — He who makes known and pre
pares the end from the beginning, never laid more
on man than He had first made him able to bear —
gradually, perhaps, and unconsciously, but really,
educating him for what was to come.
k Ecclus. xlvii. 15—17-

6 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
In the beginning was the Word. Observe this
word was : not " began to be ;" not " took place ;"
not " came into being ;" but simply was : the words
in the original which mark this difference \J]v, eyevero]
are so plain, and of such constant undeniable use,
that there can be no gainsaying them. In the old
eternity, the Beginning before the Beginning, there
was no point, no moment, in which it might be
said, The Word is not yet. The saying " He
was" declares absolute, necessary, continued exist
ence ; such as is denoted by similar inflections of
the verb substantive in such instances as, " the
only-begotten Son, Which is in the bosom (6 a>v els
tov koXttov) of the Father1," and " the Son of Man
which is in heaven" (6 a>v kv tv> ovpava>)m ; and
" He which is of God (6 a>v irapa tov Qeov), He
hath seen the Father" ;" and "Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (iym cipu) " ; "
"Thou sayest that I am a King" (oti fiaaiXevs
eifit e'yco) p ; and " of whom as concerning the flesh
Christ came, Who is over all (6 wv eVl iravrav),
God blessed forever"1;" and "The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Which is blessed for
evermore" (6 a>v evXoyqros ety tqvs almvas)1 ;" and
" Ye did service unto them which by nature are no
Gods " (roZy fxrj (pvaei odai Oeols) s ; " Being the
brightness of His glory" (os wv aTravyao-fia)' ;
"Though He were a Son" (/caiVe/j a>v vlos)u; and
" Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come "
(o d>v ical 6 rjv kcu 6 ip^ofievos) x.
Now what is This Uncreated Being, Who never
came into being, absolutely, necessarily continuing
1 Ch. i. 18. ra Ch. ;;;_ ,3_ „ ch_ v; 4g 0 Ch_ v...
" Ch. xvin. 37. i Rom. ix. 5. r 2 Cor. xi 3,# , GaL .y g
' Heb. i. 3. " Ibid. v. 8. * Rev. i. 4.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.

in existence ? and by what name are we to call and
know Him ? " The Word" — that is His chosen title
in this place ; not the abstract " Wisdom," but " The
Word ;" as though to signify a continual going forth
or proceeding; — an action ad extra. "He rather
calls Him Word than Son, because the latter term
has respect to the Father only, the former implies
not only a speaker but a sound also, a meaning and
a hearer ; and so it becomes a merciful intimation of
God's relation to His creatures by and through
His Sony. " But in one respect the original,
6 Aoyoy, seems to answer a little more exactly to
our English " Discourse," which, as we know, stands
both for the faculty by which we think and reason,
and for the connected words in which we express
the exercise of that faculty. " Discourse," however,
is of far too confined application to express the full
meaning of the Greek Aoyoy, which therefore must
be described rather than translated. It would be
rightly described, perhaps, as a term that has two
meanings, the one, Reason, or Reasoning ; the other,
Speech, or Speaking : in any case, then, it is a re
lative term, for Reason implies a Reasoner, and
Speech a Speaker. Now the Reasoner and Speaker,
in this highest use of the terms, was " in the begin
ning ;" that is, before anything had been made.
Therefore " The Word," in this place, signifies That
Something in the Eternal Uncreated One, which
answers best, in the way of analogy, to Reason and
Speech in us mortals. I say, in the way of ana
logy ; because, as far as we can judge from the con
descension of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, so only
can human ideas, however imperfectly, correspond

J" Ludolphus Saxo, De Vita Christi.

COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

to Divine Truths, and the things of Heaven be
expressed by the words of Earth.
The knowledge indeed of these things is too
wonderful for us ; we cannot attain unto it. Only
of one thing we are quite sure,— and God grant that
it be never out of our minds ! — that He, in Whom
we are to be restored to God's Image, in vouch
safing to call Himself the Word and Wisdom of
the Father, plainly teaches that to be negligent in
ordering and guarding our own thought and speech
is in a special manner pouring contempt upon that
Divine Image and His offer to save us by it.
But it ought to be well understood that these
sayings, " God's Reason, God's Word, God's Wis
dom," and the like, do by no means denote a mere
quality or attribute of the Most High, as the
same form of speech might, if applied to a man or
to an angel. That Something in God Almighty,
which is so described, " The Word of the Lord,"
is a Person, distinct from the Father of all, yet of
the same Substance or Nature with Him. So the
phrase would be understood by those to whom
St. John was immediately addressing himself — by
such as were used to read the Old Scriptures in
the interpretation of the Chaldee Paraphrasts. For
with them it was quite a customary thing to put
" the Word of the Lord," for the Lord Himself, often
in places where only personal speech or action could
be intended. Two instances will explain what is
meant as well as a thousand. Jacob's saying in
Genesis xxviii. 20, 21 : "If God will be with me
. . . then shall the Lord be my God ;" stands in the
Chaldee thus : " If the Word of the Lord will be
with me, . . . then shall the Word of the Lord be

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.

my God." And in Exodus xix. 17 : " Moses brought
forth the people out of the camp to meet with God ;"
Chald. "to meet the Word of the Lord." The,
Word of the Lord was the God of Jacob, the God
who brought Israel out of Egypt : and readers of
the Old Testament, thus instructed concerning Him,
would be prepared to gather from the saying, " The
Word was with God," the confirmation of His dis
tinct Personality as a Gospel Doctrine.
From all Eternity, then, The Word was — existed
as a Person — with God; — with the Father, Whose
Word He is. But what is " with God?"
The preposition translated " with" (irpos), prefixed
to an accusative case, ordinarily answers to the
English " to ;" but it is often found to express not
motion but position, and then is rather to be ren
dered by " at," or " with," according as it governs
the name of a place or of a person. Thus, " the axe
is lying at (rrpos) the root of the trees," St. Matt. iii.
10 ; "I was daily with you in the Temple," St.
Matt. xxvi. 55 ; " The parts towards or by the door,"
St. Mark ii. 2. " The multitude was towards or by
the sea," St. Mark iv. 1 ; " Whom I was minded
to keep with myself," Philemon 1 3. The only place
besides this in St. John's writings, where the same
construction is adopted, occurs in his first Epistle,
i. 1, 2 ; and the two passages stand (as will be seen)
in marvellous agreement with each other; — "That
which was from the beginning" — equivalent to That
of which it was written, "In the beginning was
the Word." And again, " We declare unto you
That Eternal Life which was with the Father" —
this is equivalent to " The Word was with God."
Perhaps some of the places cited may suggest,

IO COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
as part of their meaning, something like the French
chez ; as if one should say, " He was at home with
God." The following seem to be instances : "His
sisters, are they not all with usz?" "I celebrate
the Passover (jrpos ae) at thy house a /' " I shall re
main — tarry — with you h ;" "I abode with Peter c ;"
" when we were with you d ;" " I was minded to re
tain Onesimus with myself6." In different but
kindred phrase we read, " The disciples went away
again (jrpos avTovs) to their own homes1."
If such an allusion were intended in the saying
" The Word was with God," it would seem to be in
keeping with the mysterious condescension which
in the holy Book of Proverbs had borrowed a sort
of " household words" to express the same Divine
Truth. " The Lord possessed Me," (so we read) ;
" / was daily His Delight;' literally, " the Object of
His caresses," " I was as one brought up with Him"
a nursling, " rejoicing always before Him s"
Thus Wisdom, i.e. the Word, makes Itself known
as other indeed than God the Father, yet inseparable
from Him. Wherever God Almighty was, there
was the Word. The phrase declares His Im
mensity and Incomprehensibility, as the former
portion of the verse had declared His Eternity.
The next following sums up all, mentioning no
more Attributes, but passing at once to the Sub
stance. And the Word was God. In such sense God, as
not to be the Father, but to be with Him, Very
God of Very God; and therefore (since God is
One) of One Substance with the Father.
* St.Matt.xiii. 56. « Ibid. xxvi. 18. » 1 Cor. xvi. 7. ¦= Gal • 8
u 1 Thess. iii. 4. = Philemon 13. ' St. John xx. xo. * Prov. viii'. 22^ 30.'

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 1 1
With those four short words, The Word was God,
it pleased the Holy Ghost not only to crown, com
plete, and establish for ever in men's sight, the doc
trine obscurely intimated in the Old Scriptures, —
the traditions and instinctive auguries of those who
had known Christ after the flesh,- — but His will
was also to seal as it were anew, and verify in a way
which could not be gainsaid, His own revelations
poured into the hearts of His holy Apostles and
Prophets on the first Whitsunday, and repeated
constantly now for seventy years in their Sermons
and Catechisms, their Hymns and Confessions of
Faith ; — often affirmed, implied throughout, in the
Books of the New Testament, of which this was
providentially intended to be the last.
Let any one suppose himself then living at Ephesus,
or within sound of the teaching there, and more or
less bewildered by what might reach him of the
dreams and theories, the wild and self-sufficient
talk, even among professing Christians, of which the
air was beginning to be full : such an one may
imagine also the relief, when, according to the tra
dition of St. Jerome \ this fourth and last Gospel was
given to the Church at the request of the Bishops
of Asia. In answer to their earnest prayer with
fasting, the Apostle was prompted by the Holy
Ghost to rise up against the Cerinthians and other
heretics, and chiefly, just then, against the doctrine
of the Ebionites, "who affirm" (says Jerome) "that
Christ had no existence before Mary:." "He cut
them short by his Apostolical authority, and from
that time forward fixed the Rule of Faith in the
Church k."
h Com. in Matt. Prolog. ' De Viris Illust. c. ix. k The quo
tation appears to be from Iren. u. Haer. iii. xi. I. — [Ed.]

12 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
In sum, S. John, we know, was one of the two
who were divinely named Sons of Thunder. And
surely this first verse of his gospel is like three
' distinct thunders uttering their voices. Or if we may
borrow an illustration from what, in the abundance
of the revelations, he has told us elsewhere, we may
say that the Eternity of the Word having first been
proclaimed from on high (for the first voice which
the Evangelist heard as of a trumpet talking with
him said, In the beginning was the Word i) the
next revelation, as a second Voice, saying, The
Word was with God, declared that there was be
tween Him and the Eternal Father that separation
in the mode of existence which the Church ex
presses by the terms First and Second Person, and
such as she implies in teaching us to say, God of
God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God ; not
a mere emanation, or aspect, or attribute of the
Father, but a living, conscious, willing agent; for
to such the word Person is applied in our ordinary
language, and from that use it was adopted into
Theology. But once more : lest any hearing of First and
Second — the Word with God — should imagine a
division of Nature and Substance, Two Gods, equal
or unequal to each other, the Voice comes graciously
the third time, and says, with no uncertain sound,
but positively and absolutely, The Word was God;
completing thus, and authoritatively sealing afresh,
the great Doctrine of His proper Divinity, and then,
as an Eagle that has soared out of sight, returning
to contemplate Him in His Dispensations and in
His Works.
(Ver. 2.) The Same was in the Beginning with God.
This is the first instance of a sort of repetition not

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN.

13

unusual in the narrative of this Evangelist, as may
be seen in the places noted below ' ; all but one of
which (it is observable) occur in the discourses
of our Divine Master Himself. Is the repetition
simply rhetorical ? or can a special significance be
assigned to it in each case ? Of those which occur
hereafter, each one in its turn will appear perhaps
easy to be accounted for : it will be no presumption,
then, to attempt an explanation here, although it
rest but upon conjecture. May not the repetition
be emphatical, to indicate the commencement of
an intended contrast between the Divine Word
Himself and the chief of His human prophetic wit
nesses ? and that expressed partly after the manner
of Hebrew Parallelism ? as thus : —

In the Beginning was the
Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word
was God.
The Same was in the Be
ginning with God.
All things were made by
Him, and without Him was
not anything made that was
made. In Him was Life, and the
Life was the Light of men.
And the Light shineth in
darkness, and the darkness
comprehended (overtook ?)
it not.

There was a Man sent
from God, whose name was
John. The same came for a wit
ness, to bear witness of the
Light, that all men through
Him might believe.

He was not that Light,
but was sent to bear witness
of that Light.
That was the true Light,
which lighteth every man
that cometh [coming] into
the world.

1 Chap. ii. 24, 25 ; iii. 15, 16 ; vi. 39, 40 ; viii. 24 ; x. 28, 29 ; xvi. 14, 15.
Cf. I St. John v. 13 (?).

14 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
The term ovtos, " The same," would thus be
equivalent to " This Person," or " That Person."
As if he should say, This Person (mark it well) was,
in the very Beginning, with the Eternal Father :
That person (I do not say was, but) iyevero, came
in time into being, a man sent from God, &c. Thus,
whereas both the Son of God and His Servant the
Baptist were truly subordinate to the Father of all,
both, in several senses, instruments working His
will, nevertheless there is and ever will be as much
difference between the two, as between the Eternal
and the Temporal, between the highest Heaven and
His earth, between the Supreme God and one who
is a mere man.
The repetition in the second verse is the Apos
tle's preparation — his foot planted as it were firmly
behind him— when he is about to pass from the
doctrine of the Word's Consubstantiality with the
Father to that of the Father's manifestation of
Himself by the Word. It seems, if one may re
verently say so, natural and orderly, to recall just
then to the Disciples' mind the personal distinction
of the Two. As He was from the Beginning with
the Father, — not Himself the Father, though one
and the same God with Him, — so by Him, thus dis
tinct yet identical, were wrought all the works of
the Father. Their Working is as their Being,
common to Both, but under the same condition or
rule of subordination ; as the Word Himself plainly
teaches, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son
can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the
Father do : for what things soever He doeth, these
also doeth the Son likewise"1."
'" Ch. v. 19.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. I 5
This is, in other words, the Proclamation (Ver. 3),
All things were made by Him. The full meaning of
the phrase cannot perhaps be given without attend
ing to both applications of the verb eyeveTO, — " came
into being" and "came to pass." "All persons and
all things that ever began to be had their begin
ning through" (or "by") "the Word;" and again,
" All events that ever took place, all the issues
of all causes, took place, in some sense, through
Him." To Him the true confession is made, —
" We all acknowledge both Thy Power and Love
To be exact, transcendent, and Divine ;
Who dost so strongly and so sweetly move,
While all things have their will, yet none but Thine.
For either Thy command or Thy permission
Lay hands on all ; they are Thy Right and Left "."
Even that which goes wrong, through the free-will
mysteriously allowed to some of the creatures, is
so far wrought by Him, that without His Power,
sustaining them in existence and in the use of the
faculties which they so pervert, it could not take
place. A fearful idea, bringing sin as it were into
immediate contact with Him against Whom it is
wrought. But the thought is no less full of com
fort, as connecting not only our moral but our phy
sical condition, at all moments, with the very touch
of our Incarnate, sympathizing God.
All things were made, and (in the sense above
mentioned) all events were wrought, by the Word.
And that there may be no mistake, nor inadequate
notion, of the saying, he adds, And without (or
apart from) Him was not anything made that was
made. This I take to be much more than a mere
" Herbert, on "Providence," in The Temple.

1 6 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

emphatical repetition. It is parallel, rather, to
those Scriptures which assure us that Christ is our
Preserver as well as our Creator. So in Colos. 1.
16, 17 ; not only " in Him all things were created ;"
"all things were created by Him and for Him, and
He is before all things" — but also " and by (or in)
Him all things consist (or subsist)." Also in He
brews i. 3, He is described as " upholding all things
by the Word of His Power."
Had the saying been simply " All things were
made by Him," there are a sort of half Epicureans
in the world, ready enough to take it as implying
that after one impulse given, the Great Artificer left
His work to itself, to go according to the laws
which He had once for all impressed on it, impulsu
remorum ; a notion most dismal to a loving, dutiful
heart.
" Hast Thou left all things to their course,
And laid the reins
Upon the horse ° ? "
Whereas now it is a doctrine not to be gainsaid
by any Christian, that not only did the Universe
begin out of nothing through the word spoken by
our Lord at the first ; but also that nothing is done
or takes place in it — no motion or act of any of His
creatures, visible or invisible, — can happen or be
wrought, without Him — apart from His Presence
and Power. "Not a sparrow falleth to the ground
without your Father ;" and " Whatsoever He doeth,
the same doeth the Son likewise;" — He Who has
vouchsafed to be " our Brother and our Flesh," and
" Whose delight is with the sons of men." In every
• G. Herbert, on "Longing," in The Temple. Cf. St. Aug. Serm. Hi. § 5.
" Fieri non potest ut per Ipsum creaverit, et non per Ipsum gubernet," &c

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 1 7
process of Nature without exception, and in every
event of the world's course, the faithful man is pri
vileged to see the direct Hand of his Redeemer,
and to apply the promise, " All things work toge
ther for good to them that love God." A pregnant
truth, and if seriously thought on, such as will pour
an aweful or a consoling light into every corner
of man's being.
The original has here a various reading founded
on such high authority, and in itself so remarkable
and suggestive, that it would seem wrong not to
mention it. In St. Augustine's time, the Latin
copies divided the 3rd verse differently ; as thus,
" All things were made by Him, and without Him
was not any thing made. What was made" or
rather (regarding the difference in grammar be
tween the Aorist and the Perfect Middle [iyiveTO . .
yiyovev] ). " That in Him which hath been made,"
or " hath come into being" (which form, it should be
noticed, implies permanency in the change spoken
of,) "was Life." The question of course will be
asked, (may it be asked with all reverence !), " What
is That, in The Word, Which hath been made, —
Which hath come into Being ; Which hath had a be
ginning and abides as It began?" The answer
must be, " His Human Nature, doubtless — the
Body and Soul of the Incarnate Son of God."
And This was, and is, and ever will be, Life.
From the Word made Flesh virtue evermore goeth
out, whereby the generations before and after, as
well as those immediately around Him, have Life ; —
not so much physical Life, as the true supernatural
Life, whereby men and angels live unto God. So
expounded, this reading, it will be clearly seen,

COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

leaves entire the blessed doctrine of our Lord s
ever-present agency in all things, while It adds, as
the source and formal condition of such agency,
His purposing first, and eventually vouchsafing, to
become and to continue for ever, a Member of
His own Universe, a Creature among, though not
such as, all other creatures.
Whichever of these two readings may approve
itself most to the learned, the doctrine inculcated
remains the same : — that The Word is eminently,
(what the same Apostle styles Him in the beginning
of his first Epistle) The Word of Life, — that the
Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity has be
come, eminently, the Channel of Life to the crea
tures. The difference being that the common read
ing states this generally, that of St. Augustine adds,
in special, that the Prerogative has regard to, or
"depends on," our Lord's Incarnation. In either
case, (Ver. 4,) " In Him was Life : " whatever hath
lived at any time hath derived that Life from the
Father through the Son. " As the Father hath Life
in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have
Life in Himself." Therefore His Title, no less
than the Father's, is, "The Living God." "We
both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust
in the Living God, Who is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that believe p." " Living is the
Word of God and powerful "." And to Him belongs
the attestation exclusively divine, " As I live." For
the Apostle quotes the saying in Isaiah (xlv. 23) :
" I have sworn by Myself . . . that unto Me every
knee shall bow :"— St. Paul quotes this as spoken by
Him, before Whose Judgment-seat we are all to
P ' Tira- iv- la » Heb. iv. i2

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 1 9
stand r. He Himself claims to be "The Resurrec
tion and the Life;" and by His Spirit prompts His
Beloved Disciple to declare of Him, " This is the
true God and Eternal Life8."
Jesus is the Life of Angels as well as of men.
This is implied in His being their Maker and Pre
server : perhaps also, in His declaring that He
" gives Himself to be the Life of the world." For
" the world" may mean both Angels and men : as
the Apostle says, " We are made a spectacle unto
the world, and to angels and to men1." And
from the Christian proverb, " Know ye not that the
saints shall judge the world ?" he infers, " Know ye
not that we shall judge angels u ? "
Now in what sense the Word, as the Son of Man,
may be said to be the Life of Angels, or of other
living creatures in God's many worlds, above or
below man — this is nowhere at all revealed to us.
Only the fact itself seems implied in such Scriptures
as entitle our Lord " The First-born of every crea
ture," and " The Beginning of the Creation of
God ;" also in that the whole Creation is in " travail,"
expecting for itself some kind of participation in
" the glorious liberty of the children of God."
On this hypothesis, the verse we are now con
sidering might be paraphrased as follows : " In
Him" — in That Which He vouchsafed to become
at His Incarnation — was Life ; the Life of all crea
tures that have ever lived was due, in God's secret
and eternal Counsels, to that condescension of The
Word. And the Life was the Light of men : of all
men especially, that Life was, is, and ever will be,
' See Rom. xiv. 11. • I St. John v. 20. ' I Cor. iv. 9.
" Ibid. vi. 3.
C 2

20 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

The Light. The " Breath of Life breathed"^ into
Adam's "nostrils," whereby he "became a living
soul," caused him to be in the Image of God, Who
" is Light," and in Whom " is no darkness at all."
"God saw all that He had made" in Adam "and
behold, it was very good." The Life that He
had given him was Light, .heavenly Light. The
two at the beginning were blended into one; so
entirely were man's physical and intellectual powers
pervaded and imbued with " righteousness and true
holiness." It was " the Life of God in the soul of
man;" and true Light, except so imparted, man
never had nor could have any. What may seem
to be such, — call it wisdom, knowledge, understand
ing, invention, counsel, energy, largeness of heart,
or by what name soever it may be known, — is all
a mere dream or worse, except so far as it comes
from the Word Which was in the Beginning with
God. For as the secret Presence of That Word,
and His communication of Himself has been the
principle of Life to all that have lived, so, whatever
real Light the children of men have at any time
enjoyed, or in any measure, it has been wholly due
to this same Divine Presence : — a spark as it were
of the vital fire mysteriously abiding within them,
struck out by His providential working according
to the counsel of His own will. The Light of
Mankind has been, is, and ever will be, the Mani
festation of the Life within them of the Living and
Life-giving Word. "With Thee," says the Holy
Ghost by the Prophet David, " is the Fountain of
Life: in Thy Light shall we see Light x."
It is the same process which is described in the
1 Ps. xxxvi. 9.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 21
parallel passage already referred to, the opening of
St. John's first Epistle. Only there the beloved
Disciple traces it in a somewhat different order,
backwards from the visible and tangible result to
the Absolute, Eternal Cause. " We have heard
Him, we have seen Him with our eyes, we have
looked upon Him, and our hands have handled
Him Who is the Word of Life ;" and having
been so made acquainted with Him, we tell you
from Him, " this is the message which we have
heard of Him and declare unto you, that God is
Light, and in Him is no darkness at all y." Here,
on the other hand, the Apostle sets out from the
Fountain, — what our Lord is in Himself, — and
traces creating and redeeming Love all the way
down to the moment in which he (St. John him
self) with others, "beheld His glory."
The particular step in this wondrous ascent and
descent, on which we are now pausing, is " The
Life was manifested" =" The Life was the Light of
men." Just so far and so long as the Living and
Powerful Word of God has vouchsafed to reveal
Himself to man, hath man been partaker of the
True Light — of the Wisdom, Purity, and Goodness
of God. They are His own sayings : " I am the
Light of the world : He that followeth Me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of
Life2." "As long as I am in the world, I am the
Light of the world a." And " I am come a Light
into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me
should not abide in darkness b."
(Ver. 5;) And the Light shineth in darkness: As it
y 1 St. John i. 5. * St. John viii. 12.
• Ibid. ix. 5. " Ibid- *"• 46.

22 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

is the nature of all light to shew itself in the dark,
so, be sure, that quality is inseparable from this, the
very true, the original, archetypal Light. It is shin
ing in darkness, always shining ; even as the natural
light, once kindled, has never died down or gone out,
since the moment when first God spake the Word
for it to shine out of darkness, so, and much more,
will it ever be with This Holy and Glorious Light
— The Word Incarnate, shining before and behind
and around Him through all time and space. By
the Almighty's permission there is still darkness,
moral darkness, the darkness of the will determined
to reject Him : such darkness as He, Who is the
Light Himself, describes, " Light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than Light
because their deeds were evil c." There is a wild
and blind struggle to prevail against the Light, but
it may not be : the darkness did at no time really
succeed in " comprehending," that is, overtaking,
laying hold of, detaining, much less overwhelming,
that Holy Light. No, not even at the fall of our
first Parents, when more than at any moment, as far
as we are told, that darkness seemed to have the
mastery. Presently the Lord's Voice, His Word,
was heard in the garden, and the prophetic an
nouncement of His victory began to be " a Light
shining in a dark place." And so It went on all
along, variously, but on the whole more and more,
"until the Day should dawn, and the Day-star
arise in men's hearts ;" that is, until the preparation
for the actual appearance of the Word should be
completed by the witness of His last and greatest
Forerunner.
c St. John iii. 19.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 23
In this account of the probable meaning of the
verse, the word " comprehended " (borrowed by our
Translators from the Latin) has been taken in a dif
ferent sense from that in which St. Augustine and
the Fathers generally understood it. With them
it expresses the kind of resistance which a mass (so
to call it) of " darkness which might be felt" would
offer to the strongest light ; utterly refusing to
admit a single ray — to be pervious to it in any de
gree. So they take it to signify the lost state of
the Heathen — " having no hope, and without God
in the world." But the Greek word (/eareAa/3ey)
of which " comprehended " is the rendering, is used
by St. John d himself with " darkness," in the
sense of " overtaking :" " Walk while ye have the
Light, lest darkness come upon you." And St. Paul
to the Thessalonians, " Ye are not in darkness, that
the Day should overtake you as a thief6." And
three or four times elsewhere in his Epistles it
stands as the correlative of " pursue ;" as " So run,
that ye may obtain1." And it may seem, on the
whole, more congruous with the tenor of the whole
passage, that this clause should rather add a cir
cumstance descriptive of what God continued to
do for us, than merely deepen the picture of our
wilful unbelief.
These five verses, so construed, may appear to
contain an account strictly historical, yet drawn from
the very depths of the spiritual world ; — breathed
(as one may say) from the Bosom of the Almighty ;
• — an account of His dealings with His creatures,
and especially with man, by His Word one day to
J Ch. xii. 35. e I Thess. v. 4. ' I Cor. ix. 24.
Cf. Rom. ix. 30 ; Philip, iii. 12, 13.

24 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
become a Creature Himself, and Incarnate. It is
a History commencing before creation, and extend
ing down to the moment when the Baptist began
his witness.
On comparing the terms used in this brief his
tory with the vocabulary of the philosophizing
Heretics (Gnostics they were commonly called) of
those days, as it is recorded by St. Irenaeus, there
appears much reason to accept the tradition, that
the former was given (among other ends) as a Pro
vidential antidote to the latter. " The Word," " the
Life," the Only- Begotten, Light, Grace, Truth, and
even John Baptist, with many more, came to be in
their fantastic theologies or cosmogonies, the names
of so many ^Eons, Beings, or Cycles of Being, or
whatever else they might denote : which, being
shaken together as in a kaleidoscope, formed them
selves into a system or systems (as the Israelites'
earrings into a calf) to us revolting and ab
surd, to the degree of incoherence, yet, as the
event proved, not without attraction to the Oriental
mind. And if there be any thing in the notion of some
learned and thoughtful persons that the strange
mixture of Christianity and Pantheism, which now
plays the part of philosophy in this and other por
tions of Christendom, is substantially a reproduc
tion of those dreams of the first century, the warn
ings provided for that time may prove no less
seasonable to us. The two first verses of this
Gospel, for instance, expressly declare a Personal
God against any Spinozist imagination of an Anima
Mundi. The third is authoritative to put down
any atomic or Darwinian theory, which would make

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 2$
God's creatures the result of I know not what in
herent appetencies or tendencies developing them
selves for an unlimited time.
Then Life, according to verse 4, instead of being
a necessary function of bodies organized in a par
ticular way — a " wave " (so to speak) of certain ma
terial fluids — is a Gift directly communicated from
the Most High, the Everliving Creator and Pre
server. And so, depending on it, is Light, " the
Light of men," the true spiritual Wisdom, Reason
and Understanding. It comes not of course, begins
not, nor continues, nor is perfected, in mere process
of time, by experience, calculation, high cultivation
of the intellect : but it comes supernaturally, of
God's Word living and abiding in the man, and
cannot be separated altogether from the Image in
which man was created — " after God, in righteous
ness and true holiness."
From which it follows, as in verse 5, that the dif
ference between good and evil is not, as the world
would have it, conventional, fantastic, and unreal ;
but has its roots in the eternal nature of things — in
the character (so to call it) of God Himself; that
the warfare between the two is irreconcileable ; and
that the final victory of the good cannot be really
doubtful for a moment : the darkness cannot over
take or quench the Light.
The same train of thought may seem to be car
ried on in the next statement of the Divine History :
which takes up the gradual victory of the Word
over the Powers of Evil at the point immediately
before that in which the whole centred, His Incar
nation. (Ver. 6.) " There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John." It appears that the Gnostics

26 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
considered St. John Baptist also as an ^Eon, and the
word " a Man " is supposed by some interpreters to
be intended as an emphatical contradiction of this,
But doubtless it implies also the distinction be
tween the Word Incarnate and all other prophets.
"John, than whom there was no greater, was just
a Man sent from God, and no more." Such he was
in nature ; and as to his office,
(Ver. 7.) The same came for a witness ; to bear wit
ness of the Light ; no more ; he was sent to declare
the Name and Glory of Another : a witness, indeed,
most high and supernatural, and of deepest moment
to all, but still he was no more than one bearing
witness ; differing as widely from Him to Whom
he was witnessing, as any mere human being differs
from the Word which " was in the Beginning with
God, and was God."
(Ver. 8.) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear
witness of that Light. The Holy Spirit repeats the
words, as though in anxiety lest the interval between
the Master and the Servant should be imagined less
than infinite. It is true that in another place the
Master declares that He Himself came for a Wit
ness8; and He calls Himself in the Revelation, the
Amen,, the Faithful and True Witness. But He
is witnessing not to another as greater than Him
self, but to the Truth, the abstract Truth as against
falsehood, and to good as against evil.
That all men through him might believe. One
naturally pauses at so very large a declaration of
the value of the one Testimony of St. John. His
being the last of the Holy Order of Prophets of
the Old Testament, and, so far, " sealing up the
" Chap, xviii. 37.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 27
vision," is hardly sufficient to account for the saying,
" through him." However, as matter of fact thus
much is certain ; i. That Christians generally are
spoken of by our Lord as believing " through the
word " of the Apostles ; ii. That two, probably four,
of the chiefest Apostles literally and bodily came
to believe in our Lord through the Baptist, as this
chapter goes on to relate ; iii. That his witness is
repeatedly alleged by our Master Himself h, by
St. Peter ', and by St. Paul k, as necessary and fore
ordained towards the conversion first of Jews, and
then of Gentiles through the Jews. So that all
sorts of believers may be truly said to believe
through St. John Baptist. And the Church ac
cordingly, among other special honours, has been
used of old to name him in her great and solemn
services, among those whom she most earnestly
commemorates, and in whose communion she espe
cially rejoices.
He was not That Light, but was sent to bear
witness of That Light. There is in the original
something to be noted here, besides the repetition
characteristic of St. John's style : it lies in the omis
sion of " this was so ordered," or as in our version
" he was sent," before the phrase which describes
the purpose of his mission. A similar omission
may be seen in the following passages. " Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but .... that
the works of God might be made manifest in him ' ;"
and, " I know whom I have chosen, but ... . that
the Scripture may be fulfilled m;" and, "But ... .
that the world may know that I love the Father";"
1 Chap. v. 33. ' Acts x. 37. k Ibid. xiii. 24. > Chap. ix. 3.
m Chap. xiii. 18. " Chap. xiv. 31.

28 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

and, " But .... that the word might be fulfilled
which is written in their law";" and, " If they had
been of us, they would have continued with us ;
but .... that it might be made manifest that they
were not all of us p."
No other writer of the New Testament has used
this form. Is it fanciful to observe that St. John's
devotional feelings would lead his mind always to
the final cause of things, while his reverence would
cause him to employ a degree of reserve in the
manner of setting it forth ? And the Holy Spirit,
we know, did not supersede the human tendencies
of those whose pens He guided, but, in an ineffable
way, sanctified and sealed them to be His own.
(Ver. 9.) That was the true Light, which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world ; or, as it may
be translated without prejudice to the grammar,
" It was the true Light, which lighteth every man,
coming into the world."
The Fathers generally, I believe, adopt the former
construction, and it has the high authority of the old
Latin version. So taken, the verse would seem
nearly to repeat the former statement, The Life was
the Light of men. Only, as specifying the point of
time when each child of Adam begins to exist, it
would have to be understood, not universally of all
Divine Illumination, but exclusively of the Image
and Likeness of God given to Adam, so far as
any thing remains of it in our fallen condition.
"For there is a kind of Light — the Light of Rea
son — wherewith all are enlightened when they come'
here, deriving it from their first creation in the
Image of God q."
0 Chap. xv. 25. , p 1 St. John ii. 19. q Rupertus.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 29
But perhaps both the grammar and context of
the passage may be thought to tell in favour of the
other construction. The grammar, because accord
ing to St. John's almost invariable usage, the par
ticiple " coming " would have the article before it,
if it were to be taken in the accusative '. The con
nection, because the Evangelist is in course of re
lating the special witness of the Baptist, which, as
we know, is summed up in one saying, " The True
Light is not, as former Prophets have said, to come
hereafter : It is even now in the act of coming."
Besides, " He that cometh," was, over and over, used
by St. John Baptist, and may have been generally
familiar at the time, as the designation of the
Messiah. And the addition, " into the world"
makes the phrase exactly conformable to our Lord's
own twice-repeated way of describing His Incar
nation : — " Light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than Light s ;" and, "/ am come
a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth in
Me should not abide in darkness t."
And it was the True Light : we must pause
upon the word " True" (aArjdivos). This is the first
use of it in an idiomatic sense, in which it occurs
frequently enough to be a characteristic of St. John's
style. " True" is here opposed, not to the false,
but to the shadowy and typical. A deep lesson
attaches to the word in this application of it. Such
phrases as " the True Light," " the True Bread,"
" the True Vine," in this Gospel ; in St. Luke, " the
True Riches ;" and in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
r Cf. chap. hi. 8, 15, 16, 20 ; iv. 13 ; vi. 40, 45 ; viii. 34 ; xi. 26 ; xii. 46 ;
xv. 2 ; xvi. 2 ; xviii. 4, 37 ; xix. 12 ; 1 St. John ii. 23, 29 ; iii. 3, 4, 6 (bis), 9,
10, 15 ; iv. 7 j v. I (bis), 4, 18 ; 2 St. John 9. The only exception is in
St. John xv. 2, initio. » St. John iii. 19. ' Ibid. xii. 46.

30 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
" the True Tabernacle," and, " holy places made
with hands, which are figures of the True," — evi
dently imply a standing relation of things in sight
to things out of sight ; — of the first Heaven and
the first Earth to the New ; in the way of type and
antitype, figure and reality. This relation is in
some degree recognised by all. There are instances
of it in Scripture so clear as to make that inevit
able, if Scripture is at all believed. But few admit
it, as the old Christians did, in its full extent.
And too often it is not only misapprehended, but
even (if one may so speak) inverted : the Shadow
taken for the Substance, and the Substance for the
Shadow. To mention one very sad instance : by
some our Lord's death on the Cross is supposed
to be called a Sacrifice merely by allusion to the
customary sin-offerings, which are accounted sacri
fices indeed; instead of their owning Him to be the
One Great Reality, of which they were all but pro
phetic images u.
But may God be thanked for permitting and en
couraging sinful man, His unworthy servant, thus
to employ the works of His Creation, and the ways
of His Providence, even those which otherwise might
seem to us most trivial and transitory, as so many
true tokens from Him,— most helpful, if we will so
take them, to purify the imagination and lift up the
heart to the better, the eternal thing's !
The Voice from above goes on, telling us of the
True Light; (Ver. io.) He was in the world, and
u The above passage recalls Bishop Butler's words : — " The doctrine
of this Epistle" (to the Hebrews) "plainly is, that the legal sacrifices
were allusions to the great and final atonement to be made by the blood
of Christ ; and not that this was an allusion to those."— Analogy Part ii
Ch. v. — £Ed.]

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 31
the world was made by Him, and the world knew
Him not. As if He should say, " Whereas you
have been told that the subject of John's witness
was the True Light, just then in the very act of
coming into the world ; this must not be taken as
if the Word of the Lord had ever ceased to be
present with, or to manifest Himself to, His crea
tures, low as they had fallen." " He left not Himself
without witness, in that He did good, and gave us
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our
hearts with food and gladness x." " The invisible
things of Him from the foundation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that were made, even His Eternal power and God
head7." The world was made by Him; it had
been made, and was continually preserved by Him,
and the world might have known this. Some did
know it, and recognise Him — enough to leave the
others without excuse, and to condemn themselves
also, whereinsoever " knowing God, they glorified
Him not as God." In the wisdom and goodness of
the heathen ; in the teaching of such as Socrates and
yEschylus, Plato and Cicero, in all the glimpses and
fragments of truth and self-denial, benevolence and
natural piety, which any where and in any degree
survived the Fall ; and most especially in the chosen
family and people, and the religious influences pro
pagated around them far and near ; — in all this, the
Word, the True Light, was always, in presence and
in energy : He was there, every where in the world
which He had made ; but "that world knew Him
not. It is the description of the old Pagans before
our Saviour came : how sad to think that it should
1 Acts xiv. 17. 7 Rom. i. 20.

32 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

have continued to be a true account for the most
part to those even to whom our Lord spake in
person ; as He Himself declares, " O righteous Fa
ther, the world hath not known Thee *." And yet
again (which is still worse), long after the Holy
Spirit had come, the last Apostle and Prophet has
still to make the mournful confession, " The world
knoweth us not ;" and no wonder, for " it knew
Him nota." Alas! that the words should stand
good and undeniable now at the end of eighteen
centuries. But there is a greater wonder than this, both of
mercy on His part and of unbelief on ours; and to
this also the Baptist testified, and the Evangelist re
peats his witness : (Ver. ii.) "He came unto His
own (els to. idea), and His own received Him not?
Here again we may remark an idiom used elsewhere
by this Evangelist, and by St. Luke, — one of those
phrases which denote the ineffable condescension of
the Incarnate One. Bethlehem and Nazareth,
Judea and Galilee, all the Holy Land and the
haunts of His human forefathers ; — nay, and all
that marked out the Jewish people and realm as
" dwelling apart, and not reckoned among the na
tions ;" the Temple and its services, the Levitical
rites, the Mosaic and Davidical politics, the schools
of the Prophets, their visions and their miracles,
and above all, perhaps, the Ark of the Covenant
with its treasures ; — all these together formed the
chosen and favoured Home of the Divine Word, so
long as it pleased Him to have any limited, local
Home. " This shall be My Rest for ever ; here
will I dwell, for I have a delight therein \"
" Chap. xvii. 25. » 1 St. John iii. I. •> Ps. exxxii. 15, P.-B.V.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 33

But when He, the Great Owner and House
holder, came bodily in His own Person, — knocked
as it were at His own door, demanding admission,
His own people, not only His servants, but those
who were His own Flesh and Blood, received Him
not. Their will was, if they could, to shut the door,
and hold it fast against Him.
Mournfully mysterious is the very sound of those
two verses, the 10th and nth ; especially consider
ing by Whom they were really indited,— -Whose
complaint they indeed embody. Taken together
they seem to represent to us, not for that time
only but for all times, the two sad forms of misery
which divide between them all mankind who as yet
are not Christians. For either they, know nothing of
any such deliverer as the Name of Christ indicates
to us, or, having the notion more or less distinctly,
they will not confess it to be realized in Jesus
Christ, God and Man. The first are Heathens ;
the second, in spirit, Jews. They may be called
Mahometans or Unitarians, or by any other name :
but with whom can their portion be, but with such
as refuse to receive the Word offering Himself
to them as to His own ?
Observe that in each of these sayings, while the
alienation of the world, and of the Jews, is confessed,
their original interest in the Word is also confirmed.
Against- both Gnostics and Manichaeans it is writ
ten, the world which knew Him not had been made
by Him ; the Jews who rejected Him were His
own people. Whatever Philosophers may surmise,
Nature is not contrary to Scripture ; whatever un
believing Israelites may affirm, the Old Testament
is not contrary to the New. D

34 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

But the two verses may have yet another and
a still more alarming application. How many in
the Christian world, which has been not only made
but regenerated by Him, go on without caring to
know Him ! And how many go on knowing Him
after a sort, account themselves to be His own, and
pride themselves on it, yet have never really re
ceived Him, but are still making Him wait until
they have done with the world and the flesh ! Over
such the Word of Life seems to lament by the lips
of His beloved Disciple, as He had Himself la
mented over Jerusalem c.
But in His human condescension He comforts
Himself, as continually in the old prophecies, with
the thought of the remnant that should remain,
and return, and stay upon the Lord ; or as in His
pleading with the Father in His Great Sacrificial
Prayer: "The world hath not known Thee, but
I have known Thee, and these have known that
Thou hast sent Med." The Jews as a nation re
jected Him; but "there was a remnant by way of
election of grace e." So here, from these definitions
of Heathens and of Jews, and from the narrative of
their unbelief, the Sacred Text proceeds to a true
historical definition of Christian People (ver. 12).
As many as received Him, to them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His Name. Power, that is, prerogative or privi
lege; as in other verses of St. John (chap. v. 27 ;
x. 18; xix. 10); implying not only physical ability,
but some kind of legal or settled right. The New
Birth then— real transference into God's family —
actually becoming Children of God, not merely being
c St. Matth. xxiii. 37. <* St. John xvii. 25. ' Rom. xi. 5.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 35
so accounted and styled — this is the specific mark,
the Differentia, as Logicians say, of a Christian.
And to every person is given the right of being so
transferred and adopted into the Lord's Household,
when he comes to believe in the Lord's Name, — to
believe with that peculiar trust and self-surrender,
which we know belongs to Christian Faith. On
His Name, on the Power and Virtue of it, such as
the Father gave It Him at His Incarnation f.
This faith does not formally make a man a child
of God, but it entitles or qualifies him to be made
so. If the question be asked, " What doth hinder
me to be baptized ?" the answer is ready : — " If thou
believest with all thine heart thou mayest." But the
New Birth itself, which makes alienated man God's
Child, which causes wilful darkness to be again
" Light in the Lord " — that is a work far above all
human counsels or causes, physical or moral ; —
Which were born (so he speaks, Ver. i 3) not of Blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God. Thou must not be misled by His con
descending to use the word born, for these were
born, not of bloods, of the conjunction of male and
female ; nor of the will of the flesh, through any
carnal or natural appetency; nor of the will of man,
through any goodness or wisdom of mortal man,
seeking and continuing and helping forward so
great a blessing; as when in charity one adopts
another's child; but this is wholly and only God's
work; as much so as when the world was created;
—as much so as when the Word of God came into
His own world as one of His creatures. It is God's
1 Phil. ii. 9.
D 2

36 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE

gift and God's doing : His Spirit given, and His
Spirit working.
(Ver. 14.) And the Word was made Flesh, and
dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as
of the only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and
truth. Who can venture to write upon this verse ?
But if one may at all take upon him to consider
how these Divine sayings follow one upon another,
perhaps their connection may be thus stated. The
first thirteen verses, having set forth, in the way of
History passing from one fact to another, God's
dealings with the Creatures, especially Man, by His
Word, down to the period in which St. John was
writing, that is, the setting up of the Church, — had
simply said, He came unto His own. Now it seems
good to the Divine Inspirer that the doctrine of
the Church as to the manner of His coming should
be re-affirmed, and all hearts set musing upon it,
as the central point towards which all before had
converged, and from which all after would diverge;
— as leading also immediately to the outward wit
ness of Him, which St. John in his work as an
Evangelist was presently to detail.
Or (if we may express it in terms comparatively
of later usage) that which is affirmed in ver. 13
is subjective, the inward and spiritual result of the
Word's coming unto each one who receiveth Him :
but that coming Itself, as set forth in ver. 14, is an
objective and historical fact, the greatest of all, and
from which all the rest flow : Creation itself, and
all God's government of His creatures, having, ap
parently, some mysterious relation to That which
the Holy Ghost has been vouchsafed to teach in
blessed words which cannot be explained away.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 37
And the Word was made Flesh ; or rather, became
Flesh ; as really as the water at Cana became wine,
or as the stone would have become Bread had the
Tempter had his own way.
He does not say " became Man" but " Flesh?
naming the inferior part of man, the more to de
clare His humiliation.
And dwelt among us. He not only became
Flesh, but in Flesh He " tabernacled among us ;" —
sojourned, pitched and inhabited His tent ; as of
old (though not yet incarnate) among our Fathers
in the wilderness. Perhaps the more exact word
might be " encamped;" — a shade of meaning brought
out (Rev. vii. 15) by the use of the verb with eVt
and the accusative. It gives the notion of being
elsewhere than in one's natural home (Rev. xxi. 3) ;
so o-KT]V(op,a (Acts vii. 46 ; 2 Pet. i. 13, 14)- Then
the reference to the Tabernacle suggests (if one
may speak after the manner of men) the mention
of the " Glory," that is, the Shechinah. Whence we
may gather that all the instances of the appearing
of that Glory in the Old Testament, were typical
of Its abode, first in Christ, and afterwards in His
Church. Among us ; in the midst of us; not of
men generally, but of us, the Apostles and other
disciples. For in that sense the holy writers of
the New Testament, and St. John among them,
constantly use the pronouns us and we: "That
which we have heard and seen, declare we unto
you8;" " We have seen and bear witness that the
Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the
world h."
And whereas it is here said not " we saw" but
1 1 St. John i. 3. " Ibid. iv. 14.

38 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
"we beheld His glory," it is the same word which
St. John uses in the place so often cited as parallel
to this : " That which we have " not only " heard
and seen with our eyes," but, " which we have looked
tipon? "have contemplated1 ;" as the Baptist contem
plated the Spirit descending like a Dove ; as our
Lord would have His servants contemplate the ripen
ing fields ; as the King came in to contemplate, to
look narrowly on, his wedding guests ; as the holy
women not only beheld but contemplated— considered
with all earnestness — " the sepulchre, and how His
Body was laid."
"We" thus contemplated (St. John adds here)
not simply the Incarnate Word Himself, but His
glory. This has been commonly referred to the
Transfiguration, which is mentioned in like man
ner, and with like mention of glory, by another
favoured eye-witness of it, St. Peter : — " There came
a voice to Him from the excellent glory, . . . when
we were with Him in the Holy Mount k." And
St. Luke, " Peter and they that were with Him, saw
His glory1." And for St. John in particular, we
know tha^ he was permitted to gaze on our Lord
glorified on two other occasions at least; at His
Ascension, and in the vision which preceded the
Apocalypse. And if as seems likely, his Gospel
was the latest of his writings, we may understand
him to be alluding here to that vision also.
There is moreover a remarkable coincidence be
tween the phrase, The glory as of the Only-Begotten
from the Father, and that of St. Peter in the place
just quoted, " He received from God the Father
xxH^'srtV" ^••ChaP' l 32' 38; "• 35J ' St-M^. i4 ; St. Matt.
xxn. 2 , St. Luke xxm. 55. k a St. Peter L x ;# , gt Lukg ^

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 39

honour and glory, when there came such a voice
to Him from the excellent glory, This is My Be
loved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased." St. John's
" Only- Begotten" agrees critically with St. Peter's
" beloved " (ayair-qTos), which we know by the Gos
pels to have been the word which came from Hea
ven at the time.
In the Transfiguration itself, as well as in the
mention of it by the holy writers, and indeed in
this whole Proem of St. John's Gospel, may be dis
cerned, I think, the special care of the Holy Ghost
to keep before the eye of Faith as well the Personal
Subordination of the Son to the Father, as their
natural Equality and Consubstantiality.
Full of grace and truth. These high Revelations,
and whatsoever else Holy Scripture announces to
us from "the third Heaven," are here brought home
to the lowliest believer, to the simplest little Chris
tian child. As in Himself the Word is "the Only-
Begotten from the Father," so to us He is "full of
grace and truth? Grace, that is, Favour and Mercy,
as distinguished from strict justice ; and Truth,
that is, Reality and Substance, as distinguished
from types and shadows. There is a tacit compari
son with Moses' law, which is brought out a few
verses after ; and indeed it may be said to be de
veloped in the whole of the New Testament ;
Grace (e.g.) in Romans and Galatians, Truth in
Hebrews, in the way of doctrine : and in ways
ineffable, Grace and Truth, " Righteousness and
Peace," blending together in every line of the Four
fold Image which the Holy Comforter and Guide
has drawn for us in the Gospels.
(Ver. 15.) John bare witness of Him. From the

40 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
broad historical sketch of the Dispensation, the
Holy Ghost passes to an account, more or less de
tailed, of the evidence vouchsafed to win our faith
to it. John, the Forerunner, stands as the first wit
ness, — the sample and specimen of the innumerable,
ever- varying ways, whereby in the course of His
outward Providence God introduces us, one by one,
to the knowledge of His Incarnate Son. John first ;
then all we the rest — all Christians from the be
ginning to the end — are called and empowered, one
after another, to bear each his several witness to
Him. For to this end we have received inwardly
of His Fulness, of the Grace and Truth whereof
He is full m.
In this transition, and perhaps not seldom else
where, St. John's manner and train of thought is like
St. Paul's ; as though what he began with reminded
him of something which at first he had not intended.
The saying quoted from the Baptist, the occasion
of which he is about to narrate particularly, sug
gested the mention, contained the germ, as it were,
of the coming Manifestation of the Word by the
Spirit in the Communion of Saints. Carried away
to the end of Time, and beyond, (if one may speak
as a man), by the thought, the beloved Disciple
interrupts the narrative which he had begun of
the Forerunner's outward witness (which another
Evangelist marks as, " The beginning of the Gos
pel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ",") to seal it
m It might be a question here, as perhaps c. iii. 31—36, whether the pas
sage be a portion of the Baptist's witness, or » descant of the Evangelist
upon it. Origen thinks the former, but St. Augustine and St. Chrysostom,
with the Commentators in general, the latter; which is here assumed both in
deference to their authority, and because verses 16 to 18 seem to have more
of the Fulness of the Gospel than anything that could be uttered before
PenteCOSt- "St. Mark:

: 1. I.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 41
with his own and the whole Church's testimony, not
outward, but inward and spiritual, by each one's
actual partaking of Christ. Which being done, he
is at leisure to return to the particular moment in
the Baptist's Mission from which his own witness
was to begin. This he does in ver. 19.
jfohn bare [beareth] zvitness of Him, and cried
[crieth], saying, &c. It may be reverently sur
mised (according to God's mode of using, not alto
gether superseding, the natural feelings and powers
of His inspired agents,) that St. John was led
to begin his narrative from this particular say
ing of the Baptist, because it had been the pro
vidential instrument of his own conversion. Cer
tainly it was so, if he, as some in St. Chrysostom's
time thought, was the other disciple, besides St.
Andrew, who heard the Baptist speak, and followed
Jesus to see where He dwelt Who was declared
to be the Lamb of God. His concealing his name
would be according to his custom in his Gospel,
when any thing is related of himself. And other
circumstances will have to be noted which favour
the supposition that he had been an earnest disciple
of the Baptist.
He beareth witness. So it stands — in the present
tense, in the Greek, and though the next word,
" he cried," is Perfect in form, that also is allowed
by grammarians to be, in sense, a present verb, im
porting, "he cried once, and still continues to cry :"
the loud and clear announcement which at the first
he uttered has been continued on for our time and
for all times. " John is the Word's witness, in that
he cried and yet crieth, saying," &c.
The expression " crieth " answers well to that of

42 COMMENTARY ON PART OF THE
the Prophet : — " The voice of one crying in the wil
derness0." It is applied in this Gospel and not
elsewhere to our Lord's own utterances, and that
three times (chap. vii. 28, 37, and xii. 44). In
each case it describes an announcement both loud
and sudden, applying not to any words that had
passed, but to something in the hearer's mind, to
which the omniscient Speaker vouchsafes to ad
dress Himself p.
And this is the very description (although the
word "cry" is not there used) of the Baptist's
mode of proclaiming Christ in St. Luke. The mul
titude being in expectation, and all men musing in
their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ,
or not ; he speaks (as his Master used afterwards
to speak) to their thoughts, and that suddenly,
loudly, expressly. This was his " cry " — the same,
in substance, as that recorded by St. John ; but the
latter is much more distinct as to the degree of our
Lord's excellency.
This was He of whom I spake. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me. The Apostle goes
back, not to the Baptist's original testimony, but
to the repetition of it in his own presence, and
that in such a way as identified Jesus of Naza
reth with the pre-existent Word. As if he should
say, "It was of Him, the Word, Who is God,
that John Baptist was witnessing, when in my
" Isaiah xl. 3 ; St. Matt. iii. 3.
r St. Luke applies the word ("cried") in a like way to St. Paul's saying
before the Council, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Phari
see," (Acts xxiii. 6). He professed his Pharisaism aloud and suddenly, not
called on to do so by anything that had been said or done, but instinctively
observing the mixed character of the Council, and availing himself of it to
interest the one side in his favour.

FIRST CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN. 43
presence he pointed to the Son of Man and said,
This is He."
"He that is coming after me, means ' He Who
preacheth after me :' not ' He Who came into the
world after me.' So St. Matthew (to allege nothing
more) implies : ' One is coming after me :' not speak
ing of His Birth from Mary, but of His being with
us to preach the Gospel. For if he were speaking
of His Birth, he would not have said 'is coming,'
but ' is come ; ' for Christ was born when these
things were spoken q."
In point of time our Lord, doubtless, came into
this world after John by six months, and in all pro
bability there was about the same interval between
the commencement of their several ministrations.
For, as our Lord Himself, in regard it may be to the
Mosaical ordinance, waited until He had "begun to
be about thirty years of age " before He entered on
His work, His servant St. John cannot be supposed
to have anticipated that time. At most he pre
ceded his Master by six months : but he did pre
cede Him, and more than that, Christ had now con
descended to come as one among sinners, and to
be baptized by him. Then it became necessary for
the holy Baptist to repeat more earnestly than
ever what he had all along been impressing on his
hearers, as to his inferiority to Him whose Fore
runner he was : but he bears his witness now with
two remarkable differences. First, "He that is
coming after me" — not "is mightier than I? but "is
preferred before me," or literally, "hath come to be
before me:" alluding, of course, to the visible dignity
which our Lord, as Man, had acquired bythe Descent
« St. Chrysostom, In Joan. Horn. xiii. 3.

44 A COMMENTARY, &C.
of the Spirit upon Him and the Voice from Heaven.
And next, a greater, an infinite wonder — the account
of this ministerial exaltation of our Lord above John
and all other Prophets is, "He was before me? had
an existence of His own, before ever I came into this
world, whereby He is the Son of God, and the
Communicator of the Spirit of God — He that bap-
tizeth with the Holy Ghost. Thus, — O marvellous
mystery of Divine Friendship ! — the blessed Jesus
did, from the beginning, seal the Disciple whom He
loved to be the especial Witness of His Godhead to
all generations, attracting him, in the first instance,
by the Baptist's saying, He was before me : and in
the end causing him, by His Spirit, to recall and
record that moment and that saying as the head and
front of his written testimony. In the very act of
his conversion he became eminently 'O OeoAoyoy — ¦
St. John the Divine.
For He was before me. The phrase means more
— indefinitely more — than simply " before me :" lite
rally it may be rendered, " so much before me as no
other can be ;" and that, not by having become so,
but by His very Being from the Beginning: He
was — not He became — such. It is the same state
ment in regard of the Baptist, as our Lord Himself
made in regard of Abraham, "Before he was I AM?
And as the Jews then took up stones to stone our
Lord, not enduring what they rightly understood
to be a declaration of His absolute Eternity :
[Here the MS. breaks off.']

COMMENTARY ON CHAPTERS I— VI. OF THE
EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

The Date and Scope of the Epistle.
"THE Date of the Epistle to the Romans may
be made out with tolerable accuracy by com
paring the three passages following :—
Rom. xv. 23, 24. "Now having no more place
in these parts, and having a great desire these many
years to come unto you ; whensoever I take my jour
ney into Spain, I will come to you!'
25, 26, 27. "But now I go unto ferusalem to
minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them
of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contri
bution for the poor saints which are at ferusalem.
It hath pleased them verily ; and their debtors they
are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers
of their spiritual things, their duty is also to min
ister unto them in carnal things!'
28. " When therefore I have performed this, and
have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you
into Spain!'
This shews, first, that the letter was written be
fore St. Paul had ever been at Rome (see ch. i.
11 — 15). Therefore it must have been written
some time before the conclusion of the history in
the Acts.
Secondly, the verses above cited shew that St. Paul

46 COMMENTARY ON THE
was just on the point of setting out in charge of
a collection of alms from the Christians of Greece
for the Christians of Jerusalem. Now such a col
lection is mentioned, Acts xxiv. 17, "After certain
years, I came to bring alms to my nation, and offer
ings." Looking back to the beginning of the jour
ney spoken of, viz. to ch. xx. 3, we find St. Paul
just setting out from Greece, that is, from Corinth,
the chief city of Greece, for Syria, that is to say, for
the Holy Land. And as it appears by the notes in
the margin a, the Epistle was probably written from
Corinth ; and no doubt Acts xx. 2, 3, is the very
point in the history to which we must assign it.
Now Acts xx. 3 is generally agreed on by in
terpreters to bear date a.d. 5 7, being the third year
of the Roman Emperor Nero. And the Epistle
was written, as it seems, towards the end of the
three months during which St. Paul stayed at Co
rinth, in the spring of that year, a little before
the Passover.
The general Scope of the Epistle may be thus
stated : — To set forth, as against both Jew and
Gentile, the process of salvation through Jesus
Christ, including the two great doctrines of Justi
fication by His Blood, and Sanctification by His
Spirit : — then, to shew how those great doctrines
may be applied to all parts of Christian morality,
and especially to the solution of certain doubtful
cases of conduct, then engaging men's attention,
or very likely soon to do so.
" Rom. xvi. I, 23 ; comp. 2 Tim. iv. 20.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 47

§1-
St. Paul's Salutation to the Church of Rome; with some
account of the grounds on which he expected them
TO RECEIVE HIM (Ch. i. ver. T — 7).
(Ver. 1.) Paul, a servant of fesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.
A servant"0. \ More properly ' a slave! one who
is no more his own, but absolutely and entirely
belongs to another. To stand in this relation to
our Saviour was accounted by St. Paul the founda
tion of all honour ; which feeling he expresses by
so styling himself in the opening of this Epistle,
as also of those to the Philippians and to Titus.
And not St. Paul alone, but all the Apostles, of
whom Epistles are remaining, employ this style.
See St. James i. i ; 2 St. Pet. i. 1 ; Rev. i. 1. In
the Old Testament the title is given to Moses",
to Joshua d, to David e.
Separated unto the Gospel!] That 'is, unto the
office of preaching the Gospel, especially among
the Gentiles ; to which office St. Paul, in the counsels
of God, was "separated from his mother's wombf;"
and to which he, with St. Barnabas, had been so
lemnly "separated" in the Church of Antioch, by in
spiration of the Holy Ghost and laying on of hands,
about thirteen years before this was written g.
(Ver. 2.) (Which He had promised afore by His
prophets in the holy Scriptures)
In the holy Scriptures!] One great purpose of
this Epistle being to reconcile Jewish Christians to
b (a) Gal. i. 10; (/3) Acts ix. 15, Jerem. i. 5 ; (7) Gal. iv. 4.
' Tosh. i. 1. d Judges ii. 8. ' Ps. cxxxii. 10.
f Gal. i. IS- g Acts xiii- 2'

48 COMMENTARY ON THE

the favour which the Gospel offered to the Gen
tiles, the Apostle loses no time in introducing this
clause, by which he establishes the connection of
the two Testaments, and shews how honourably all
Christians were bound to think of the Law and
the Prophets.
(Ver. 3.) Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our
Lord, which was made of the seed of David according
to the flesh.
Our Lord!] In the original the order of this sen
tence, from ver. 3 to ver. 5, is different from that of
the English; as thus: — "Concerning His Son, which
was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, which was ordained [to be] the Son of God
with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by
the Resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our
Lord; by Whom we have received grace," &c.
Which order seems to answer beautifully to the
gradual march of divine knowledge concerning our
Saviour. In Him, this passage gives us to under
stand, the whole Gospel is summed up. And again,
the doctrine concerning Him is summed up in two
points, — His Manhood, in that He was made, or
born, of the seed of David according to the Flesh —
by His natural descent through Mary; — and His
Godhead, or His being the Son of God with power,
declared by His Incarnation, the worker of which
was the Holy Spirit, and the proof of it, His raising
Himself from the dead.
In fact, the whole sentence corresponds exactly
with the third article of the Apostles' Creed, " Who
was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the
Virgin Mary," only the order of the clauses being
changed. For the Creed gives the history of our

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 49

Lord according to the actual succession of events ;
St. Paul, in this place, gives it according to the
order in which those events were made known
to the world.
(Ver. 4.) And declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resur
rection from the dead.
From the dead"*!] This and the former verse
together come to much the same as i St. Peter
iii. 18, " Being put to death in the flesh, but quick
ened by the Spirit."
(Ver. 5.) By Whom we have received grace and
apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all na
tions, for His Name.
Grace and apostleship!] That is, the undeserved
favour of being an Apostle. He calls it by the
same name, ch. xii. 3, xv. 15; Gal. ii. 9; Eph.
iii. 2, 7, 8.
Among all nations.] Properly, all the Gentiles ;
a point which St. Paul's drift in this Epistle re
quired him to keep continually in view. Compare
Acts xxii. 21, xxvi. 17, 18.
For His Name?] To be connected with the be
ginning of the verse ; " We have received grace
and apostleship in the Name and on the behalf
of Jesus Christ;" "we are ambassadors for Him."
(Ver. 6.) Among whom are ye also the called of
Jesus Christ.
Among whom are ye also!] And therefore it is
no presumption in me to address you; you are
within the limits of my commission.
(Ver. 7.) To all that be in Rome, beloved of God,
h (8) Acts xiii. 33 ; (e) ch. xvi. 26.
E

50 COMMENTARY ON THE

called to be saints : Grace to you and peace from
God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Called to be saints,] i.e. Christians ; for so this
word is used constantly, both by St. Paul and
St. Luke. See below, ch. xv., in which he re-
peatedy speaks of the collection for the saints, and
of the poor saints which are at Jerusalem ; and
see also the addresses of the following Epistles : —
i and 2 Cor., Ephes., Philip., Coloss. Compare
Acts ix. 13, 32, 41.
Grace to you and peace, &c] The regular Chris
tian salutation, being an enlargement of the com
mon salutation of the Jews and all Oriental nations,
which is simply, " Peace be unto you." All the
Epistles of St. Paul, except that to the Hebrews,
have it : (those to Timothy and Titus adding,
" mercy," " Grace, mercy, peace" unto thee). It
appears also in the two Epistles of St. Peter, and
in the Apocalypse. St. John's second Epistle has
the same form as those to Timothy and Titus.
One or other of the two forms was very commonly
used by Christians, in their letters on sacred sub
jects, for several ages of the Church.

Observations on § I.
Credentials of a Christian Teacher.
ST. Paul is here writing to a Church which knew him
not, and had never seen his face in the flesh. That, in
deed, was the case also when he was writing to the
Colossians ; but with this difference, that Colosse was
near to Ephesus, to Iconium, and many other places,
in which St. Paul had been much in person, and had

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 5 1
wrought many great miracles ; whereas, hitherto, his
ministry had been exercised at a very great distance
from Rome. On this account perhaps it is, that he sets
forth more largely than in other salutations his claim to
be heard even by those who had never seen him, as one
speaking with all authority on the highest and most
aweful subjects. Now, on what does he rest his claim ?
It is worthy of very exact observation ; for, as the
diligent reader will perceive, the case between St. Paul
and these Romans whom he had never seen, was in sub
stance the very same with the case between any newly-
appointed Pastor and his flock, to whom he is as yet a
stranger. What credentials ought the Pastor to bring,
and the flock to require of him ?
Reply may be made in two words. The congregation
must require, and the Bishop or Priest must produce,
Apostolical Doctrine, and an Apostolical Commission.
The Apostles' Doctrine and Fellowship, — by these, as
St. Luke intimates, men continued members of the first
Church at Jerusalem, the root and pattern of the whole
Catholic Church, — these, therefore, in every change of
pastors, are the great points to be secured.
Accordingly, the Apostle sets out by referring the
Church of Rome to two remarkable events of his life,
on which he grounded his claim to their obedience. First,
he had been " called to be an Apostle ; '' this is a very
evident allusion to his first call upon his miraculous con
version, as related in the Acts of the Apostles. Then
he had been "set apart to the Gospel," i.e. to the preach
ing of the Gospel, ''of God;" this is a no less evident
allusion to his being separated, with Barnabas, by special
command of the Holy Ghost, to the work whereunto He
had called them both, namely, to the conversion of the
Gentiles. Whoever, would consider these two transac
tions, which were both of them now made solemn and
public, could have no doubt of St. Paul's being an Apostle,
though not one of the first Twelve, nor of his being espe
cially the Apostle of the Gentiles. E 2

52 COMMENTARY ON THE
Having thus made his commission clear, he briefly sums
up his doctrine : — That he preached Christ to be the Son
of God with power, and the Son of David according to
the flesh. Whatever he taught was grounded on two
grand points, — the Divinity of our Lord, and His In
carnation ; the Resurrection being the great evidence of
both : of which Resurrection he, like the other Apostles,
was ordained and qualified to be an original witness.
Now it is a great privilege of our Church, and of every
branch of the Orthodox Catholic Church, that her Bishops
and Presbyters are at once introduced to their people on
terms which secure both these essential points. Their
Apostolical commission is made sure by their public con
secration or ordination ; their Apostolical doctrine, by their
adherence to the formularies of the Church, particularly to
her three Creeds. These are surely great blessings, espe
cially to the great mass of the people.
Consider how much edification would be lost, how much
anxiety and discomfort incurred, how many ruinous errors
committed, if every person had to judge for himself, as
often as a new pastor was set over him, whether he might
with a safe conscience receive that pastor's instructions.
All which being obviated in orthodox Catholic Churches
by the two precautions above mentioned, all that is needed
further is affectionate simplicity and constancy, on the one
part, in conveying, on the other, in receiving God's grace.
Whatever personal defects may unhappily be found in the
pastor, the consciences of the flock continue untouched,
and free to communicate with the Church through him.
In this point of view, it would seem most unkind to
weak brethren, as well as unwise and disorderly in itself,
to encourage slight thoughts of the Apostolical commis
sion, or to be forward in undervaluing creeds and for
mularies.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. S3
§11.
Assurances of the Interest he took in the
Roman Church (Ch. i. ver. 8 — 15).
(Ver. 8.) First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of
throughout the whole world.
My God.] This expression is used occasionally
by St. Paul : see 1 Cor. i. 4 ; 2 Cor. xii. 2 1 : and
often by David in the Psalms ; now and then, too,
by other prophets, as Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah,
Hosea, Micah. But generally in passages of high
devotional feeling, and not so as to warrant the use
of like expressions by ordinary Christians in com
mon conversation.
Through Jesus Christ?] Compare the places in
the margin \ by which it appears that Thanksgiving,
as well as Prayer, should always be offered by Chris
tians to the Almighty in our Saviour's Name.
Spoken of in the whole world.] A Church in
Rome, the capital of the world, would of course
draw general attention, rather than in any other
place. According even to heathen historians, it had
existed at least years before St. Paul wrote this letter.
This ancient and famous Church must ever be con
sidered the great glory of Rome ; and we ought not
to suffer our just abhorrence of her later errors to
interfere with our admiration of her long- continued
orthodoxy and deep sense of the many obligations
we owe her.
(Ver. 9.) For God is my witness, Whom I serve
with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.
' Eph. v. 20; Heb. xiii. 15 ; 1 St. Pet. ii. 5.

54 COMMENTARY ON THE
God is my witness!] Here we see that St. Paul,
in serious matters, and with strict truth, did not
think it unchristian to invoke God as a witness,
i.e. in fact, to take an oath. Compare the places in
the margin k.
With my spirit!] That is, " in the purpose of my
heart;" "in spirit and in truth," as our Lord ex
presses it, St. John iv. 24.
Without ceasing!] That is, without leaving you
out of any of my prayers of intercession. The same
assurance is given to the Thessalonians, 1 Thess.
1,2; and to Timothy, 2 Tim. i. 3. Such passages
warrant and encourage the charitable and Christian
custom of interceding for those in whose behalf
we are especially interested by name; which is
a good sign of piety as well as of friendship, for
it shews that people are in no such great hurry
to have done with their prayers.
(Ver. io.) Making request, if by any means now
at length I might have a prosperous journey by the
will of God to come unto you.
If by any means now at length.] Observe how
full he is of doubt, how afraid to be confident in
his hope of visiting them, and how much he had it
at heart. Why, we shall see presently.
(Ver. i i.) For I long to see you, that I may im
part unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may
be established.
I long to see you.] No doubt there were many
then and at all times eager to pay a visit to
Rome; but how many with the devout and cha
ritable mind of the Apostle ? Those who set their
hearts wildly and eagerly upon going to fresh places
k 2 Cor. i. 23, xi. 31 ; Gal. i. 20; Philip, i. 8.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 55
and seeing fresh people, merely for their own plea
sure and fancy, may do well, perhaps, to compare
their eagerness with his.
That I may impart unto you some spiritual gift?]
Here he refers to his Apostolical Commission, as
being one of those through whom the Holy Spirit
had pledged Himself ordinarily to impart His gifts
and graces to men. In the same sense, when a man
is ordained Priest, the Bishop bids him " receive the
Holy Ghost for that Office and Work." The ex
pression is no more presumptuous, than it was pre
sumptuous in that ancient Bishop, St. Paul, to speak
of himself as imparting spiritual gifts. This is
remarked for the satisfaction cff those who may
happen to have heard the phrase in our service ob
jected to.
To the end ye may be established!] Or " strength
ened," in the faith. Compare ch. xvi. 25, where he
speaks of God as of " Him who is able to establish
you;" thus hinting that they stood in great danger
of falling, living as they did in the dissolute metro
polis of the world, and the very centre and spring
of persecution.
(Ver. 12.) That is, that I may be comforted to
gether with you by the mutual faith both of you
and me.
This verse is an instance of a kind of courtesy
(or ought it rather to be called sweetness) very re
markable in St. Paul's character. It seems to have
come into his mind that he had been taking rather
a high tone with them, and that in the last verse
especially, in which he had spoken of imparting to
them spiritual gifts. He qualifies, therefore, what
he had said, telling them that he longed so much

56 COMMENTARY ON THE

to see them, for his own sake as well as for theirs.
He wanted to taste the consolation arising from
the mutual faith, i.e. the firm, unreserved confi
dence in one another, subsisting between himself
and the Roman Church. To enter into the spirit
of this, consider what a peculiar satisfaction it
must be, in bad times, when the true friends of
the Church are few, to go where one is sure of
meeting with cordial sympathy in one's cares and
wishes for her good. If even ordinary Christians
feel this, how must a keen and ardent spirit, a self-
devoted, single-minded Apostle, have felt it !
(Ver. 13.) Now I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you,
(but was let hitherto) that I might have some fruit
among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
I would not have you ignorant, brethren.] This
was a form of speaking which marked St. Paul's
style in particular, as the places noted in the margin

w

she That I might have some fruit!] The only fruit or
proof St. Paul thought of, either at Rome or any
where else, was the edifying and saving souls.
" I desire that fruit," says he to the Philippians,
"which aboundeth to your account:" to the Co
rinthians, " I seek not yours, but you." In this
only respect, St. Paul was truly greedy and covet
ous. As some men like to have estates in a great
many countries, so St. Paul could not rest till he
had acquired to himself a spiritual estate, a set
of souls profited by his exertions, in Rome as in
other Gentile Churches.
1 Ch. xi. 25 ; 1 Cor. x. 1 ; 1 Thess. iv. 13.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. $7
(Ver. i 4.) / am debtor both to the Greeks, and to
the Barbarians ; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
Observe that he is writing from Corinth, where
doubtless every day they kept ringing in his ears
the difference between Greeks and Barbarians, be
tween the wise and the unwise, i.e. as they proudly
accounted it, between themselves and other men.
/ am a debtor!] i.e. I have a special duty to per
form : so ch. viii. 12, " We are debtors, not to the
flesh;" Gal. v. 3, " He is a debtor to do the whole
Law." Barbarians?] It is hardly needful to observe that
this means all nations besides the Greeks ; who em
ployed the word not in our common meaning, but
simply as the Jews used the word Gentiles.
Observations on § II.
The Intercommunion of Churches.
St. Paul, in these verses, offers an example of that
truely fraternal spirit which animated our Lord's Apostles,
and after them the primitive Christians, towards the par
takers of the same faith, however distant from them, and
unconnected in other respects. For we must not too
hastily ascribe this and other like expressions of feeling
to the fervent and overflowing charity of the Apostle
himself. It was in great measure characteristic of those
early generations of Christians ; as may appear by the
accounts, in the Acts of the Apostles, of communica
tions between different bodies of Christians ; and by
many epistles still preserved, which passed among distant
Churches for very many centuries afterwards.
The Bishops in Africa, for example, presently knew, and
keenly felt, whatever heresies arose in Gaul ; and en
couraged themselves in primitive usages by correspond
ence with their colleagues of Asia Minor. The religious

58 COMMENTARY ON THE
Communities of Gaul and Egypt compared notes, as it
were, concerning the more or less edifying effect of the
several observances in use among them. In short, a kind
of sympathy pervaded the whole frame of the Christian
world : any string that was touched, vibrated to the very
farthest point which the Apostolic faith and discipline had
reached. That such is not the fact now must be allowed ; not,
indeed, altogether through any fault of the present gene
ration of Christians. But, without entering into the causes
of the change, which are many, and some of them most
lamentable, one may observe and regret it, made more
striking as it is by the recollection, of how difficult, in
comparison, and how expensive it was then, to hold com
munication between remote countries..
It forms one of the many painful blanks, which meet the
eye on looking at things as they are, after a survey, how
ever cursory, of the sacred and primitive history. But if
we at all enter into the mind of the Apostle here, if we
are sincere in regretting the dearth of brotherly intercourse
between Churches in different countries, our regret will not
evaporate in empty feeling : it will enter, soberly but
very seriously, into our thoughts when we pray for Christ's
holy Catholic Church : it will make us, the very poorest
of us all, rejoice that he has still opportunities of contri
buting though it be but two mites, to the welfare of that
Church in other regions : it will set us more than ever
on our guard against that spirit of irreverence and self-
will, which has broken up the Visible Church, formerly one
fair whole, into such a number of shattered fragments,
loosely and obscurely, if at all, connected. In a word,
the humiliation a good Christian must feel, at this and
other marks of decay in the Church, will prove, by God's
blessing, an effectual aid when he is tempted to heresy or
schism, or any kind of presumptuous dealing with the old
paths and the good way. God knows, we all stand in
need of all the help we can obtain towards learning a due
mistrust of ourselves, and of the arrogant principles and
practices of the age we live in.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 59

§111.
On Justification by Faith only (From Ch. i. ver. 16
to Ch. v. ver. 21).
1. The Subject proposed (ver. 16, 1 7).
(Ver. 16.) For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and also
to the Greek.
Ashamed!] This was a word of our Saviour's
own teaching ; see St. Mark viii. 38, " Whosoever
shall be ashamed of Me and My words .... of
him shall the Son of Man be ashamed!' See also
St. Luke ix. 26; 2 Tim. i. 8, 12, 16; Heb. ii. 11,
xi. 16; by which it seems that the word means
a disavowing, or a shrinking from any thing, for
fear especially of ridicule or human censure.
To the Jew first, &c] The same expression is
found, ch. ii. 9, 10; and in both places denotes the
perfect impartiality of the Gospel ; such, however,
as to allow for the preference assigned in the order
of God's counsels to His first elect people.
(Ver. 1 7.) For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The
just shall live by faith.
The righteousness of God.] As if he had said,
"A righteousness altogether supernatural, such as
man, left to himself, could never have so much as
imagined, much less attained unto ; a righteousness,
not of men, nor of angels, but of God." Comp.
Rom. iii. 5, 21, 22, x. 3; Heb. xi. 7 ; St. James i. 20;
2 St. Pet. i. 1.
From faith to faith!] That is, by a gradual pro-

60 COMMENTARY ON THE
gress, from one degree of faith to another ; the same
divine principle unfolding itself, through an infinite
variety of examples, and under several different
dispensations, from the foundation of the world to
the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven. In
fact, as St. Chrysostom observes, the whole of the
eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews is,
as it were, an expansion of this short clause, " from
faith to faith."
As it is written.] In Habak. ii. 4, which, both
here and in the Epistle to the Hebrews"1, the Apo
stle takes, as it were, for a Text, whereon to dis
course of justifying and saving Faith. By this we
are quite sure that Faith, in this Epistle, means
the same as in that ; and the obscurer parts in the
one cannot be better explained than by comparison
with the other, which is in some respects plainer.
Now faith, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, is ex
plained to be " the considering things hoped for
as present, and making practical trial of things un
seen;" that is, behaving as if those things were
real. The same, therefore, must be the meaning
of the word, both here and in the Epistle to the
Galatians (iii. 11). For there, too, the Text from
Habakkuk is quoted, and applied to the saving
Faith of a Christian. Observations on § III. 1.
The Nature of Faith which Justifies.
True Devotion, Justifying and Saving Faith, the right
eousness of God revealed from Heaven in the Gospel, is
not a single act, not an impulse, emotion, or feeling ; but
it is a fixed and regular Habit of the mind, capable, like
m Heb. x. 38.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 6l
other habits, of gradual improvement, and depending for
that improvement on Practice. It is not a single act, but
a progressive habit, for it goes on, we are told, " from Faith
to Faith," from a lower Faith to a higher. And it de
pends on Conduct, rather than on Feeling; for it is the
practical " trial of things unseen ;" — behaving as if God's
word was true.
Keep steadily, not only with your lips but in your life,
to this notion of justifying Faith, and you will, by God's
blessing, escape the errors and perplexities which are very
apt on that point to beset unguarded or presumptuous
minds. Remember that Faith is a habit, not a feeling ;
you will not then value yourself on impulses seemingly
good, which may visit you, as it were, from time to time ;
nor will you be too much disheartened if you find no rap
tures in religion.
Remember, again, that this habit, in order to be strength
ened, must be practised, — practised in continual acts of
Devotion to your Saviour, and Resignation to His will.
Thus you will perceive that true Faith is not an object
to take its turn with others, but that it naturally twines
and blends itself with every part of a man's life and con
duct. This will warn you against the error of those who
allow that religion is all very well, at proper times, and
in its awn province, but do not see why they should be
called on to give themselves up wholly to it.
And observe particularly, that it is called throughout,
not our righteousness, but "the righteousness of God;"
because, in truth, from beginning to end, it is His ; His,
in that He graciously accepts it as righteousness, for the
sake of our Mediator, Jesus Christ, imperfect and blem
ished as it ever must be in us ; His, in that His gra
cious Spirit forms the habit of Faith in our minds, and
helps us to cherish it by the right use of the Sacra
ments, and other aids which His good Providence affords ;
His, because, without His teaching, the wisest of men could
never have dreamed either of the reward to which Faith
aspires, or of the process of Christian Devotion by which

62 COMMENTARY ON THE
God prepares men for it, much less of the mysterious
Sacrifice, the sole meritorious cause of either.
From beginning to end it is the righteousness of God :
how then can it be attained, except by entire surrender
of one's self to God, through Him who is both God
and Man ? § III. 2.
The Christian Doctrine of Pardon founded on the Misery of Man;
and first of the Gentiles (Ch. i. ver. j8 — 32).
(Ver. 18.) For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Is revealed?] That is, by the Gospel, as a part,
and the first part in order, of the doctrine of " the
righteousness of God." For " revealed" here is
taken up as it were from "revealed" in the verse
before. It follows, that no man must pretend to
understand the Gospel, except he have a deep and
serious sense of his own and the world's condition
without it, as being a condition of misery and ruin.
It follows also, that it is a great mistake to con
sider the Gospel as a dispensation of mercy only,
and to forget the terrors of the Lord revealed in
it — the terrors of the judgment-day and of eternal
punishment, which are, strictly speaking, a part of
the Revelation by our Saviour.
Ungodliness and unrighteousness.] The first op
posed to our duty to God, the latter to our duty to
our neighbour.
That hold the truth in unrighteousness!] Here
St. Paul touches the very ground of God's wrath
against the Gentile world : They are inexcusable,
because they knew, or might have known, better.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 63
A fearful sentence for any age or country, which
prides itself on superior light and knowledge, ex
cept true religion and virtue thrive in proportion.
(Ver. 19.) Because that which may be known of
God is manifest in them ; for God hath shewed it
unto them.
In them.] Rather, among them.
(Ver. 20.) For the invisible things of Him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being un
derstood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead ; so that tliey are without excuse.
(Ver. 21.) Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their fool
ish heart was darkened.
When they knew God.] The Fathers not un-
frequently remark on the unconscious testimony
which the Heathens used to bear to the one living
and true God in their familiar conversation. In
their oaths and exclamations, they oftener called
on "God" than on "Gods." Thus they were self-
condemned for their Idolatry, as common swearers
are now for their irreligion.
In their imaginations.] Rather, " in their reason
ings;" they were ingeniously wrong and absurd.
" Reason," says a devout commentator here, " must
be very corrupt, since, being given to help men in
finding God, it has served to remove them farther
from Him."
Became vain.] The same phrase appears to be
employed emphatically in the Old Testament, of
Saul, 1 Sam. xiii. 13 ; and of makers of idols, Jer.
Ii. 17.
Foolish heart!] Rather, inconsiderate, not taking

64 COMMENTARY ON THE
notice of plain truths and duties. A greater sin
than is commonly thought, since it was the source
of the guilt and misery of heathenism.
(Ver. 22.) Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools.
Professing themselves to be wise!] This verse, and
indeed the whole tenour of the passage, shews that
St. Paul was writing with an especial eye to the
so-called wise men among the Greeks. This shews
us what to judge, and what to expect, of refinement,
civilization, philosophy, without true religion.
(Ver. 23.) And changed the glory of the uncor
ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. Changed the glory . . . into the likeness, &c] An
expression borrowed from the Psalmist, cvi. 20,
" They turned their glory into the similitude of
a calf that eateth hay;" and Jer. ii. 11, " My people
hath changed their glory for that which doth not
profit." (Ver. 24.) Wherefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonour their own bodies between themselves.
Gave them up.] So Acts vii. 42, " God turned,
and gave them up to worship the host of heaven;"
and Eph. iv. 19, "Who, being past feeling, have
given themselves over unto lasciviousness."
(Ver. 25.) Who changed the truth of God into
a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Into a lie.] i.e. into an Idol, which in Scripture
is emphatically "a lying vanity." Compare Isa.
xliv. 20, " A deceived heart hath turned him aside,

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 65
that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there
not a lie in my right hand?" and Jer. xiii. 25,
" Thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in false
hood." Worshipped and served!] These words involve in
the Apostle's censure those Gentiles who, pretend
ing to greater refinement, rejected the Idols in their
hearts and opinions, but conformed to their worship
and ceremonies. For " worshipped and served" re
late properly to outward ritual honour. Of course
the censure touches also all who, anywhere, on " li
beral " or worldly principles, conform to superstition
and falsehood, deriding it in their hearts.
Who is blessed, &c] He adds these words to
express most fully his detestation of the impieties
he had mentioned, and, as it were, to ask pardon
for the very naming of such things. Natural Piety
has ever taught devout men to do the like on the
like occasions.
(Ver. 26.) For this cause God gave them up unto
vile affections : for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature.
This verse takes up and continues the statement
which had been begun in ver. 24, and interrupted
to insert (ver. 25) a remark on the way in which
God's forsaking them did, as it were, answer to their
forsaking Him.
(Ver. 27.) And likewise also the men, leaving the
natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one
toward another ; men with men working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recom
pense of their error which was meet.
That recompence of their error, &c] As right
eousness is part of the reward of righteousness
F

66 COMMENTARY ON THE
(see Ps. cxix. 55, 56, and xix. 11), so one sin is,
in a certain sense, the " recompence" or punish
ment of another.
(Ver. 28.) And even as they 'did not like to re
tain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to
a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient. Did not like!] Did not think proper, did not
judge it sound and right.
To a reprobate mind!] A mind, or temper, or way
of thinking, altogether unsound and wrong, such as
cannot stand the test, proof, or assay. So we read
of "reprobate" silver in Jer. vi. 30; and compare
Titus i. 16, 2 Tim. iii, 8.
Not convenient?] Not right or becoming : so
Eph. v. 4 ; Philemon 8. The word was then used
in a graver sense than it commonly is now.
(Ver. 29 — 3 1 .) Being filled with all unrighteous
ness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malicious
ness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ;
whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boast
ers, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without
natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.
The terms, in catalogues of this sort, need not
always be nicely distinguished from each other:
the purpose of them being frequently, only to take
in every shade and variety of the general subject,
by whatever name denoted. The whole, as a de
scription of unregenerate men, may be compared
with that of apostate Christians in 2 Tim. iii. 1  5.
There, as here, we have "proud, boasters, disobe
dient to parents, covenant-breakers, without natural

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 67
affections," and some other terms which, though not
the same, are equivalent to those used in the text.
In general, there appears to be this difference ;
that the vices there mentioned as likely to prevail
in the latter times are in general less outrageous,
more consistent with external decency, than those
here laid to the charge of the Pagan world before
Christ's coming.
Malignity.] Properly, an ill-natured way of ex
pounding questionable conduct ; taking everything
by the worst handle ; contrary to that charity which
thinketh no evil, which hopeth all things, and be
lieveth all things.
Whisperers, backbiters!] The first concealed, the
second open, defamers,
Without understanding!] Rather, inconsiderate,
refusing to take notice of God's ways, and the
Church's instruction. How many are there, espe
cially among the young, who look on this as a trifle,
and a matter of course at their age ! Yet here we
see it is joined, by St. Paul, with the very worst
tempers of lost and condemned man.
(Ver. 32.) Who knowing the judgment of God,
that they which commit such things are worthy of
death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them
that do them.
The judgment of God.] That is, the ordinance
of God; the law written in their hearts, and pre
served among them, heathens as they were, by
loose fragments of patriarchal tradition, and faint
notices of Hebrew Revelation.
This verse refers especially to the civilized na
tions of antiquity, and to the writings of their great
moralists, as contrasted with their own conduct, and
f 2

68 COMMENTARY ON THE
that of those whom they allowed and praised. The
emphasis in the latter part of it is much to be ob
served. If they had only committed the crimes
themselves, it might have been by surprise or
sudden impulse, their mind and principles not yet
being corrupted. But their having pleasure in them
that do them, their consenting to other men's shame
ful conduct, was too plain a proof of the evil having
wrought itself into the very grain. It is the same
kind of temper which is touched in the Psalm,
where in describing the ungodly it is said : " He
speaketh good of the covetous, whom God abhor-
reth." And Psalm 1. 18, "When thou sawest a
thief, thou consentedst unto him, and hast been par
taker with the adulterers." Such is the disposition
which makes men idolize heroes and conquerors,
and admire men splendid in their crimes ; a dispo
sition, as appears by this verse, thoroughly hea
thenish and unchristian. Observations on § III. 2.
How God deals with Men who divorce Morality from Religion.
The main purpose of this fearful description, no doubt,
is to prove the need of supernatural pardon and grace, by
exhibiting, in true colours, the actual condition of the
world left to itself : to lay the foundation of the Christian
scheme in the real, habitual, universal corruption of man ;
which corruption is, itself, afterwards accounted for (ch. v.
12, &c.) by the original taint derived from Adam.
One very terrible circumstance is, the manner in which
God's dealings with the wicked answer to their dealings
with Him. They, knowing God, would not glorify, nor
thank Him : He permitted them to err and be darkened
in their very reasonings and ingenious disputations,—
the things on which they prided themselves most. They

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 69
prided themselves in their self-sufficient wisdom: HE
allowed them to "become fools." They changed His
glory into vile images : He gave them up to change the
course of nature by vile affections, and lusts that cannot
be named. They refused to retain Him in their know
ledge, in the serious attention of their hearts : He gave
them over to a reprobate mind, interfered not to prevent
their moral taste from becoming utterly perverted and
corrupt. And yet there are persons who think, or pretend to
think, first, that Morality is all in all ; and, secondly,
that it may very well be without any particular religion,
that is, in other words, without any fear of God. High
civilization, polish of mind and manners, order, exactness,
conveniency of social intercourse, the luxuries of refined
life, corporeal and mental, — these are to many persons as
objects, for the sake of which they are even content not
to retain God in their knowledge. And this more and
more, as generations go on, adding, by ever new dis
coveries in art and science, to the outward comforts of
this present world.
What are the consequences ? We see them too plainly
in the ordinary vices of great and highly-polished cities,
even here where all men call themselves Christians ; be
tween which and the Apostle's description, as the resem
blance is undeniable, so it cannot be thought on, in the
fear of God, without exciting sericJus reflection what the
end of such things must be, how near it may be, and what
must be done by each of us, that we may be able to stand
when it comes. § HI. 3-
The Misery and Danger of the Gentile World brought home
to each Individual (ch. ii. ver. 1 — 10).
(Ver. 1 .) Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest : for wherein thou
judgest another, thou condemnest thyself ; for thou
that judgest doest the same things.

70 COMMENTARY ON THE
Inexcusable!] So above, ch. i. 20, " so that they
are without excuse!' There, it is applied to the
world collectively, convicted by the works of the
Almighty which are exhibited to it in vain ; Here,
to each particular person, who, on reading the cata
logue of sins in the preceding chapter, should ex
press or feel a natural abhorrence of them.
The Apostle speaks to what may reasonably be
supposed to pass in every reader's mind. As if he
had said, " You are shocked, of course, at such
a picture as I have now truly set before you. By
that very feeling you condemn yourself. For if
you consider the sins which I have enumerated,
you will find them, or some of them, a faithful
counterpart of your own doings, or at least of your
own tendencies." The whole passage is an appeal
to the Moral sense, the testimony of God in every
man's heart to the present deformity and certain
end of sin.
Another!] Rather, "the other;" the other per
son, whoever he be, of whose transgressions at any
time mention is made in your hearing.
(Ver. 2.) But we are sure that the judgment of
God is according to truth against them which commit
such things.
We know.] This word St. Paul uses when a thine
is evident to people's common sense ; so ch. iii. 19,
"We know that whatsoever things the law saith,
it saith to them which are under the law ; " and
1 Cor. viii. 4, "We know that an idol is nothing
in the world."
According to truth?] Compare ch. iii. 7, " If the
truth of God hath more abounded through my lie
unto His glory;" and 1 Cor. xiii. 6, "Charity. ..

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 7 1
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the
Truth? (Ver. 3.) And thinkest thou this, O man, that
judgest them which do such things, and doest the same,
that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Thinkest thou ?] q. d. Dost thou calculate or
reckon ? referring to the utter, inexpressible ab
surdity of the reasoning.
(Ver. 4.) Or despisest thou the riches of His good
ness and forbearance and longsuffering ; not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ?
The riches!] Compare ch. ix. 23; Ephes. i. 7,
18. Goodness, and patience, and long-suffering.] These
words form a kind of gradation, rising one above
another : " goodness" is " kind intention at first ;"
" patience, or forbearance," the same kindness con
tinued even towards sinners ; " long-suffering," un
wearied perseverance in it.
The goodness of God leadeth — " is leading," or,
"would lead" — thee to repentance.] Perhaps this
is the verse quoted by St. Peter, 2 Ep. c. iii. 9,
15, "The Lord is long-suffering to usward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance." ..." And (do ye) account that
the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation : even as
our beloved brother Paul also according to the wis
dom given unto him hath written unto you."
(Ver. 5.) But after thy hardness and impenitent
heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment
of God.
Hardness!] Stiffness, stubbornness, obstinacy of
heart. It is the same word in the original which

72 COMMENTARY ON THE
is so often applied to the Jews, when the Scripture
terms them " stiff-necked."
(Ver. 8.) But unto them that are contentious, and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indig
nation and wrath.
Contentious.] Literally, on the side or party of
contentiousness. The whole verse strikingly repre
sents the enemies of God in this particular point
of view, namely, as a factious and rebellious set.
Comp. Phil. i. 16.
Indignation and wrath?] It may be observed that
St. Paul does not say " eternal death," as he had
in the verse before, " eternal life," but uses the
general phrase, to all such " there is indignation
and wrath." The idea having been sufficiently con
veyed, he shrinks from the word, and thereby makes
his denunciation, taken all together, more aweful.
(Ver. 9.) Tribulation and anguish, upon every
soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and
also of the Gentile.
Anguish!] The same as " straitness," which is
used in the Old Testament to express particularly
the last extremity of a siege : want, desolation, per
plexity, and dread combined. See especially Deut.
xxviii. 53, &c. ; Isa. viii. 22.
Of the Jew first, &c] Here St. Paul, having laid
his foundation upon principles which must meet
with universal assent, gives the first hint of the
particular controversy which he meant to settle,
by mentioning the distinction between the Jew
and the Greek.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. *Jl

Observations on § III. 3.
The Self-condemnation of Christians who believe in the Impar
tiality of God.
The statement in the preceding chapter was addressed
more particularly to the readers of history, and to those
who have leisure, and think they have skill, to take " gene
ral views " of things. It cannot, therefore, be fully appre
ciated without some knowledge of Pagan Antiquity.
But the argument arising from it is such as may be
thoroughly comprehended and assented to, even by those
who have not the means of comparing it with the testi
mony of books. For thus it runs. As you read of these
things (the horrid immoralities of the Gentiles), you feel
a natural shrinking and horror ; you condemn them, as
it were, by instinct, and at once. Apart from all con
sideration of their reality, your heart rises up in judgment
against them. It needs no learning to help you to that
feeling. Now, then, consider that by such feeling you bear wit
ness against yourself, that it is not through ignorance you
transgress when you do the same things. And who has
not often done them ? Who can say, I have made my
heart clear from impurity, covetousness, envy, deceit ; my
tongue from evil speaking and boasting ; my conduct from
faithlessness, inconsideration, ill-nature, disobedience to
parents, and the like ?
Therefore, whatever fair pretences you make, you must
be condemned by your own behaviour, compared with
what conscience whispers and revelation confirms of " the
righteous judgment of God." Privileges, if abused, only
serve to make the condemnation more signal and certain.
And therefore it is emphatically remarked that the Jews,
God's own people, must expect in some especial sense to
be first in tribulation and anguish if they go wrong, as
they may hope to be first in glory, honour, and peace,
if found faithful. Jew and Greek will be impartially tried

74 COMMENTARY ON THE
by the same great and eternal principles ; only the Jew
comes first, as the appointed specimen and sample of
God's moral government. He has come first, in his tem
poral sufferings, as one of a nation on which God's mark
is set, according to that of the Prophet Amos : " You only
have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore
I will punish you for all your iniquities."
Recollect how these words have been accomplished,
what the Jews as a nation have endured, and judge
thereby what Christian souls must expect, if they abuse
their greater privileges, and force God finally to cast
them away. § HI. 4-
Impartiality of Divine Retribution towards Jew and
Gentile alike (ch. ii. ver. io — 16.)
(Ver. ii.) For there is no respect of persons with
God. Respect of persons!] Having been brought, as
it were incidentally, to the great topic of the pre
sent Epistle, the Impartiality, namely, of the Gos
pel of Christ, as well in respect of Gentiles as
Jews, St. Paul begins his discourse on it by re
peating the maxim of St. Peter, " God is no re
specter of persons," — a maxim uttered on a remark
able occasion, namely, when the first Gentile was
converted, and which would seem to have passed
afterwards into a sort of proverb among Christians.
See Gal. ii. 6 ; Eph. vi. g ; Col. iii. 25 ; 1 S. Peter
i. 17. (Ver. 12.) For as many as have sinned without
law shall also perish without law : and as many as
have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.
Without law.] That is, without any distinct re
velation of God's will; — persons who are left to

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 75
the misgivings of nature, and the relics of original
tradition. See the same phrase, i Cor. ix. 21. The
sum of the verse is, that whether they enjoyed, or
considered themselves as enjoying, any special re
vealed light or not, there will be wilful transgres
sion enough to condemn and ruin them.
(Ver. 13.) For not the hearers of the law are
just before God, but the doers of the law shall be
justified. Justified!] Or " acquitted," or " accounted right
eous." So Isaiah v. 23, " which justify the wicked
for reward." This verse is a confirmation, out of
the mouth of God, of the dictate of common sense,
that " he that doeth righteousness is righteous." It
is opposed to the Rabbinical notion that all Jews,
as such, were sure of final acceptance. See St. Matt.
iii. 9.
(Vers. 14, 15.) For when the Gentiles, which have
not the law, do by nature the things contained in the
law, these, having not the law, are a law unto them
selves :
Which shew the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one
another. These verses come in by way of explanation,
the connection with ver. 12, 13, standing as fol
lows : "I say, ' those without law will be judged
as well as the Jews.' For in fact they have, though
not a distinct revelation, yet a law written in their
hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and
their thoughts the mean while accusing or else ex
cusing one another."
When!] That is, as often as ; for example, in

y6 COMMENTARY ON THE

their obedience to parents, their gratitude to bene
factors, &c. The whole seems to run thus : " In
those instances in which Gentiles, not having any
definite law from above, do by nature those things
which the Law of Moses enjoins," &c.
By nature!] See i Cor. xi. 14, for an appeal to
the dictates of nature, even on the part of the in
spired Apostle himself.
The work of the Law.] That is, what the Law
would have them do. "In every such case as has
now been mentioned, they shew that they are aware
of their duty, though it be not written, as to the
Jews it was, on tables of stone" (see 2 Cor. iii. 3),
" but only in their hearts and minds." The whole
verse presents a kind of picture of a court of jus
tice, (if one may so say,) set up by God's ordi
nance in every man's heart ; the Moral Sense being
the Rule or Law, Conscience the witness, and the
thoughts and discourses of the man accusers or
defenders, as the case may be.
(Ver. 16.) In the day when God shall judge the se
crets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel.
This verse connects with the termination of ver.
1 3 ; the two intervening verses forming a kind of
parenthetical note.
According to my Gospel?] The same phrase is used,
2 Tim. ii. 8, in speaking of the Resurrection of our
Lord. Its being applied here to the judgment to
come, shews the error of those who would exclude
the "terrors of the Lord" from their notion of
" the Gospel."

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. yj

Observations on § III. 4.
Concerning the Goodness of Unbelievers.
There are two opposite extremes into which men are
apt to fall, according to their tempers and course of life.
The most usual is, overvaluing mere natural religion in
respect of its worth and efficacy ; as though there were
any such thing apart from Revelation, which can either
make men truely good, or put away the terrors of God's
wrath. All such pretences St. Paul at once annuls, by
shewing how the very virtues of heathen men and un
believers would reasonably lead us to judge of their
whole condition.
There are some cases in which it may be said, they
do the things contained in the Law. There are among
them noble examples of fortitude, patience, self-denial,
loyalty, filial love, and other real virtues ; nay, even (as
in the case of Socrates) something nearly approaching to
martyrdom for the truth of God. What then ? are they
thereby justified? No, in no wise; except their whole
conduct, both towards God and man, had been consistent
with these bright spots.
But, as plain facts shew concerning the best of them,
what they did rightly might serve — not indeed of itself
to condemn them, God forbid ! — but to shew that their
wrong-doings were their own fault, — that they knew, or
might have known, better.
Now it is evident that this argument turns upon the
supposition that they might do, and in some cases did,
"by nature the things contained" in the Law. By ad
vancing it, therefore, St. Paul would seem to discount
enance also the opposite error of charging them with
total unmitigated depravity. Heathens are not left, in
discriminately, without any spark of goodness. Compare
ch. vii. 15, "The good that I would, I do not; and the
evil that I would not, that I do." Which passage, taken
together with the text, would seem to furnish materials
forjudging, sadly and seriously, but without exaggeration,

78 COMMENTARY ON THE
of the wretchedness of the very best that man can arrive
at without the Gospel.
The opposite ways of thinking, thus obviated, are far
from being mere speculative errors. Those, on the one
hand, who think too much of mere heathen virtue, have
great reason to suspect themselves, lest in their own
temper and conduct they, too, be endeavouring to do
without the Gospel. There is a spurious charity abroad
in the world, which would give such persons but too
much encouragement. For why ? " It is enough," people
think, "to be good;" if you are so, it does not much
signify, " be it on natural, that is on heathen, or on evan
gelical, that is on Christian principles." But they should
consider (to go no further at present) what sort of good
ness that can be, which allows habitual, gross ingratitude.
For, undoubtedly, it is gross ingratitude, if Christ's re
deemed do less than surrender themselves, wholly and
unreservedly, to their Redeemer.
On the other hand, the opposite temper, I mean the
disposition to slight and vilify whatever the Gentiles did
right " by nature," has these evil tendencies : It gives
advantage to the sneering Infidel, in his constant efforts
to persuade men that Faith has little to do with Morality :
It perplexes and disheartens those whom our Lord would
have cheered, as good beginners, " not far from the King
dom of God :" And, worst of all, and in our time espe
cially most perilous, it discourages in all men attention
to the particulars of conduct, and encourages a kind of
national shadow of religion.
Better, surely, on every account, to keep that middle
way, which the Apostle not obscurely points out : — To
acknowledge the virtues of heathen men and unbelievers,
so far as may make us ashamed of our own sins ; and to
understand, by their gross blemishes and corruption, what
must be the end of learning, civilization, liberality, if men
think to do without Faith in Christ, and constant Com
munion with Him in His own appointed way.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 79
§ III. 5-
Futility of Jewish Privileges, supposing their Practice not
answerable (Ch. ii. ver. 17 — 29).
Having established the great principle of impar
tial retribution on all alike, the Apostle proceeds
now to consider how the Jews stand in regard
of it. First he allows their privileges (ver. 17 — ¦
20) ; then compares their privileges with their per
formances, (ver. 21 — 24) ; then answers a tacit plea
of theirs, which they grounded on the promises
made to Circumcision (ver. 25 — 29).
(Ver. 17.) Behold, thou art called a Jew, and
restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God.
Restest in the law.] " Leanest, or reposest on it ;
puttest all thy trust in it, and art at ease."
Makest thy boast.] The proper meaning of the
word is, "to congratulate one's self upon" any
thing. It bears a good or a bad sense, according
as the object of self-gratulation is to be really
trusted or no ; bad, for example, in Psalm xcvii. 7,
where mention is made of " delighting one's self in
vain gods ;" good, in Rom. v. 2, " We rejoice," or
" make our boast," " in hope of the glory of God."
(Ver. 18.) And knowest His will, and approvest
the things that are more excellent, being instructed out
of the law.
Approvest.] That is, knowingly, after examina
tion had. See ch. xiv. 22 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 3; and the
whole phrase, Philip, i. 10. The expression is ad
dressed to that ordinary feeling of educated per
sons, that " they know better than to be led impli
citly by any one;" "they are able to compare and
judge for themselves."

80 COMMENTARY ON THE
Instructed!] Literally, " catechized," " trained up
as a scholar ; " as Theophilus was in Christianity
(St. Luke i. 3), and Apollos in the doctrine of St.
John the Baptist (Acts xviii. 25).
(Ver. 19.) And art confident that thou thyself
art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are
in darkness.
A guide of the blind!] Compare St. Matt. xv.
13, xxiii. 16.2* It should seem that this and the
other titles enumerated here were studiously as
sumed by the Judaical teachers. For example,
Moreh Nevochim, " Instructor of the simple," is
the title of the most celebrated work of the most
celebrated of the Rabbins, Maimonides.
(Ver. 20.) An instructor of the foolish, a teacher
of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the
truth in the law.
Form of knowledge!] So 2 Tim. iii. 5, " Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
Compare with this whole description the conduct of
the Pharisees in the seventh, eighth, and ninth chap
ters of St. John's Gospel.
(Vers. 21 — 23.) Thou therefore which teachest an
other, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest
a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Thou that say est a man should not commit adultery,
dost thou commit adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols,
dost thou commit sacrilege ?
Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through
breaking the law dishonourest thou God ?
Compare Ps. 1. 16 — 21 ; St. Matt, xxiii.
Abhorrest idols.] The original word is one which,
of all others in the Greek language, expresses the
utmost detestation and loathing.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 8 1
It is observable that, in this clause, the Apostle
gives up the exact correspondence of the members
of the sentence with each other ; he does not say,
as in former instances, "Thou that abhorrest idols,
dost thou commit idolatry ? " but changes the word
to "sacrilege;" probably because idolatry, properly
so called, had ceased among them ever since the
captivity ; on which they greatly prided themselves ;
not however, as St. Paul intimates, with any very
good reason, unless they could be sure that as great
a sin, namely sacrilege, had not taken the place of
idolatry among them. For the tendency to sacri
lege among the reformed Jews, see Malachi i. 6 — -
14, iii. 7 — 18; St. Matt. xxi. 12, 13; St. John ii.
14 — 17. There seems to be a hint in this clause
well worthy the attention of those Churches, States,
and individuals, which think themselves farthest
from superstition, and pride themselves most on the
purity of their worship ; namely, that covetousness,
and much more sacrilege is in God's sight as bad
as idolatry.
(Ver. 24.) For the Name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
For the Name, &c] Observe here once for .all,
that in St. Paul, as in all argumentative writers,
such words as "For," " Therefore," "Because," &c,
are often used where the object is to make out,
not the thing itself which is being stated, but the
reason why it is stated, or why such and such a form
is used in stating it. Thus here ; it is as if he had
said, " I say, ' Dishonourest thou God?' because
God is really, in. a Scripture sense, 'dishonoured;'
that is, His Name is reproached, &c, through your
ill-conduct." G

82 COMMENTARY ON THE
As it is written.] Not in so many words, but in
the substance of two famous prophecies : first, Isa.
Hi. 5, " My people is taken away for nought ; they
that rule over them make them to howl, saith the
Lord, and My Name continually every day is blas
phemed." This, however, refers rather to the re
proach incurred by their state of captivity; to the
punishment of their sin, than the sin itself. The
other passage is more directly to the purpose,
Ezek. xxxvi. 20 — 24, "When they entered unto
the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My
holy Name, when they said to them, These are
the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of
His land. But I had pity for Mine holy Name,
which the house of Israel had profaned among
the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say
unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord
God : I do not this for your sakes, O house of
Israel, but for Mine holy Name's sake, which ye
have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
And I will sanctify My great Name, which was
profaned among the heathen, which ye have pro
faned in the midst of them ; and the heathen shall
know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when
I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes."
Now compare with this prophecy the following
statement by Josephus of the general conduct and
character of his countrymen and contemporaries :
" Those whom the Babylonian warred against, who
took our city, and burned it, with the Temple, had
not, I conceive, committed any impiety worthy
to be compared with your crimes. I for one am
persuaded that God has withdrawn Himself from
the holy places, and taken part with those against

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 83
whom now ye are combating. A good man, though
he be but a man, will fly from an impure house,
and loathe its inmates ; and think you that the
great God still abides with you in your crimes, He
by Whom all hidden things are seen, and all that is
buried in silence heard ? Although, in fact, among
you nothing is kept silent or hidden ; all is made
known to the very enemies. For you make an
open show of your iniquities, and daily contend
which of you shall be most abandoned, displaying
your profligacy as if it were an excellence." And
in another place he says, " To enumerate the de
tails of their iniquity is impossible. I may say
in one word, Never did any city suffer so much,
nor ever was there, since the world began, a gene
ration more fruitful of crime." And elsewhere,
" I cannot refrain from expressing what deep feel
ing dictates to me. I verily believe, had the
Romans been slack in coming upon these devoted
ones, that the city would have been swallowed up
by the earth opening her mouth, or overwhelmed
with a flood, or would have had her portion of
such thunders as fell on Sodom. For they who
suffered such things fell far short in impiety of
the generation which Jerusalem had now bred."
(Ver. 25.) For circumcision verily profiteth, if
thou keep the law : but if thou be a breaker of the
law, thy circumcision is made uncircumciswn.
Circumcision verily profiteth, &c] In other words,
the being, or not being, a partaker of God's cove
nant by Moses, of which circumcision was the out
ward sign.
(Ver. 26.) Therefore if the uncircumcision keep
the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircum
cision be counted for circumcision ?
G 2

84 COMMENTARY ON THE
The uncircumcision.] That is, the uncircumcised
person. The name was applied to Gentiles in dis
dain, as appears by Eph. ii. n, "Ye being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncir
cumcision by that which is called Circumcision in
the flesh made by hands."
(Ver. 27.) And shall not uncircumcision which
is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the
letter and circumcision dost transgress the law ?
Judge!] That is, condemn. The same word,
among many other places, as in ch. xiv. 20, " Happy
is he that judgeth not himself in that thing which
he alloweth." Parallel places (in sentiment) are
St. Matt. xii. 41, 42 ; the case of the centurion,
St. Matt. viii. 10; and that of the Samaritan leper,
St. Luke xvii. 18. The Apostle's argument does
not suppose that any Gentile had, properly speak
ing, fulfilled the Law; but that in those instances
in which they obeyed it, they were a silent con
demnation to the Jews disobeying it.
By the letter and circumcision dost transgress the
law.] " By way of literal obedience to the law of
circumcision," i.e. by a way consistent with such
obedience. (Ver. 28, 29.) For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which
is outward in the flesh :
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and cir
cumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in
the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Outwardly . . . inwardly!] Or, as in the Sermon
on the Mount, " openly ... in secret," St. Matt. vi.
4. 6, 18.
Spirit . . . letter?] The substance, meaning, and
drift of the commandment, opposed to the mere

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 85
outward thing expressed by it. Compare Rom.
vii. 6 ; 2 Cor. iii. 6. This shews the meaning of
"letter" in ver. 27.

Observations on § III. 5.
The Case of the Jews brought home to Degenerate Christians.
To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. So the Apostle
had told us before it would be found, in the matter both
of punishment and reward. The Jew would come first,
as a kind of signal pattern or sample of what all might
expect from God's sovereign justice and mercy.
The present section enforces and indicates the fearful
half of this dispensation, the decree of Almighty God to
make the incorrigible Jews a pattern and sample of His
justice. Even to our human eyes, says the Apostle, such
a proceeding would seem reasonable. For what can be
more reasonable, than for the highest privileges, being
abused, to bring on the severest punishment ?
Granting, then, the very utmost which the Jews thought,
and justly thought, of their privileges, what is it but ag
gravating their guilt and their misery, their conduct being
such as it was ? Their two chief privileges were, (1) their
knowledge of the One God and His will ; (2) their especial
Covenant with Him, of which Circumcision was the sym
bol. What if their conduct were notoriously a virtual con
tradiction of their knowledge, and renunciation of their
Covenant? Must they not expect to be "first," that is,
most exemplary and conspicuous, in " wrath and anguish,"
as they had been in talents and privileges ?
The application to corrupt and degenerate Christians
is too clear to need explanation. Would that it were as
easy to impress it on men's consciences, as to lay it before
their understandings !
" Thou art called a Christian, and restest in Faith, and
makest thy boast in the Redeemer. Thou knowest His
good, and acceptable, and perfect will ; thou art able to

86 COMMENTARY ON THE

distinguish not only good from evil, but of several goods
which is the best, being instructed out of the Gospel.
Thou thinkest with reason that God, in calling thee to
be a Christian, has called thee to a state of much light
and liberty, has taught thee truths, in comparison of which
all other knowledge is no better than blindness, darkness,
folly, and childishness. Thou, therefore, which art so
ready to correct another, dost not thou correct thyself?
Thou that sayest, Love thy neighbours, art thou selfish ?
Thou that professest purity, dost thou indulge wanton
ness ? Thou that abhorrest superstition, dost thou prac
tise irreverence ? Thou that makest thy boast in Faith,
do thy actions, disowning Faith, dishonour thy Saviour.
For, on account of such as you it is, that the Name of
Christ is cheaply thought of among the nations which
remain unconverted ; as the prophets of old foretold would
be the case.
" Then, again, as to privileges : thy sanctification by
God's Sacraments is a real blessing to thee, if thou keep
the law evangelical ; otherwise thy sanctification becomes,
as it were, unsanctified, and the very heretics, heathens,
and infidels, in what they do right, effectually condemn
thee. For (as to our acceptance before God) he is not
a Christian which is one outwardly, neither is that sancti
fication which is outward, and of which the world can
judge. But he is (in God's sight) a Christian, who is one
inwardly, and sanctification is of the heart and mind and
purpose, in meaning, not in form only ; a kind of charac
ter, whereof the discernment, the praise, and the reward
belongs to God only, and not to man."
§ III. 6.
Digression to obviate an Objection which might arise on the State
ment just made with regard to Jewish Privileges (Ch. iii. i — 8).
(Ver. i.) What advantage then hath the Jew ? or
what profit is there of circumcision ?
The course of the argument, in the last section,

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 8y
might be taken advantage of by those who were
inclined to disparage the Jewish Dispensation, or
to undervalue Church privileges generally. In order
to leave them without pretence, St. Paul suggests
principles on which they and all such objectors may
be answered. This verse contains the objection ;
the next, the substance of the answer.
(Ver. 2.) Much every way: chiefly, because that
unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Much every way.] That is, the condition of a Jew
has much advantage over that of a Gentile. The
word much in the original refers to " advantage,"
and has no particular respect to the ceremony of
" circumcision." Chiefly.] Rather, " in the first place ;" as though
the writer were commencing an enumeration, which
the course of the objector caused him to break off
suddenly, not, however, until he had said enough
for his present purpose. It was (to say no more)
advantage enough to the Jew, and profit enough in
Circumcision, that to them were entrusted the Ora
cles of God. Compare ch. ix. 4, 5.
The Oracles of God.] The supernatural means
of knowing God's will, written or unwritten. See
Acts vii. 38 ; Heb. v. 12 ; 1 St. Peter iv. 11. The
unwritten Oracles of God among the Jews were
words of Angels or inspired Prophets, sent to them
from time to time ; signs from heaven, by fire coming
down on the altar, or the like ; and the revelations
made occasionally to the High Priest, through what
outward means not distinctly known.
(Vers. 3 — 8.) For what if some did not believe?
shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect ?

COMMENTARY ON THE

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man
a liar ; as it is written, That Thou mightest be jus
tified in Thy sayings, and mightest overcome when
Thou art judged.
But if our unrighteousness commend the righteous
ness of God, what shall we say f Is God unrighteous
who taketh vengeance ? (I speak as a man)
God forbid : for then how shall God judge the
world ?
For if the truth of God hath more abounded through
my lie unto His glory ; why yet am I also judged as
a sinner ?
And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported,
and as some affirm that we say) Let us do evil, that
good may come ? whose damnation is just.
The argument here seems to pro ceed as follows.
To the statement, in ver. 2, of the great privilege
of the Jews in having God's revealed word, it might
be objected, that they proved unworthy of that pri
vilege by their sin and unbelief (ver. 3). In short,
that practically the Mosaical Dispensation seemed
a failure. It is answered (ver. 3, 4), that God's
truth and mercy are just the same, and will end to
His glory, let men behave as they will.
It is objected again (ver. 5), " Then it seems hard
to punish men for what turns out so much to God's
glory at last." Answer (ver. 6) : " This would prove
too much. For by the same rule all distinction of
right and wrong will be taken away. As thus : If
God cannot justly inflict judgment on the Jews be
cause their unbelief, by His wisdom and goodness,
is made to serve the ends of His glory ; by the
same rule, He cannot judge the world at all. For,
when He comes to do so, I or any man might plead

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 89
as in ver. 7. And then (ver. 8) it would be, in
deed, as we (the Apostles) are falsely charged with
teaching : — All evil might be excused on the plea
of leading eventually to good. A doctrine which
whosoever holds, his damnation is just." The ob
jection, therefore, against the Christian system, from
its pre-supposing a sort of practical failure in the
Jewish, falls to the ground ; being found to rest
on a proposition which would strike equally at the
root of all religion, natural as well as revealed, that
is to say, at God's moral government. And thus,
the Jewish privileges having been vindicated, the
argument against sinful man may proceed without
prejudice to God's glory.
(Ver. 3.) For what if some did not believe ? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect ?
Did not believe!] Were not faithful, had the
temper of rebels. " Some," in this place, does not
mean " a few out of many," but " any, be they who
they might." The whole nation, if it should so
happen. Unbelief?] Not simply " not believing," but "hav
ing a rebellious, irreligious mind, contrary to the
obedience of faith ; not submitting one's self to
God." So 2 Tim. ii. 13, " If we believe not, yet He
abideth faithful;" and compare St. Mark xvi. 16.
(Ver. 4.) God forbid : yea, let God be true, but
every man a liar ; as it is written, That Thou might
est be justified in Thy sayings, and mightest overcome
when Thou art judged.
Let God be true, but every man a liar?] " Let
us regulate our thoughts and conduct on the sup
position that God is true, though it involve the
other supposition, that every man is a liar." See

90 COMMENTARY ON THE
a like form of expression, ch. vi. 17, "God be
thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have
obeyed," &c. ; meaning, " that although ye were the
servants of sin, yet now ye have obeyed," &c.
As it is written.] In Psalm li. 4. As if he had
said, " The spirit in which we ought to regard this
melancholy subject is that expressed by the Psalmist,
when he so unreservedly lays the whole blame of
his sins upon himself, none of it at all on his Maker."
And see St. James i. 13.
In Thy saying?] " In Thy pleadings," an expres
sion borrowed from law proceedings ; as also is the
following, "when Thou art judged," which is the
same in the Greek, as in 1 Cor. vi. 1, "go to law."
(Ver. 5.) But if our unrighteousness commend
the righteousness of God, what shall we say ? Is
God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak
as a man).
Commend!] Or, as in modern English, " recom
mend," i.e. "set forth to advantage," "bring into
notice and honour." See the same word, ch. v. 8 ;
2 Cor. iii. 1 ; vi. 4.
I speak as a man.] So 1 Cor. ix. 8 ; Gal. iii. 15.
It is a sort of apology for introducing topics or ex
pressions which might sound at first unworthy of
the subject ; as here, for uttering but in a question
the thought of God being unrighteous or unjust.
(Ver. 7.) For if the truth of God hath more
abounded through my lie unto His glory ; why yet
am I also judged as a sinner ?
This verse seems to be unfolding the argument
alleged in the verse before. A Jew is supposed,
pleading against St. Paul's assertion, "that the Law
would in general fail to reform men, yet God would

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 9 1
somehow turn that failure to His glory. Nay, re
plies the Jew, then it were unjust for God to take
vengeance on our nation, they doing what redounds
to His glory." " That argument," rejoins the Apo
stle, "can never stand, for it makes it unjust for
God to judge the world at all. For since, no
doubt, all the sin and misery in the universe is
somehow overruled to God's glory, any other sin
ner might say, ' Why am I also judged more than
these Jews ?' Which being manifestly absurd (for
it destroys the difference between right and wrong,
and is contrary to all moral feeling, as well as all
revealed religion), the allegation of the supposed
objector is proved absurd also.
(Ver. 8.) And not rather, (as we be slanderously
reported, and as some affirm that we say) Let us do
evil, that good -may come ? whose damnation is just.
And not rather?] The sense of the whole verse
is, " On the supposition in ver. 8, why should we
not even do evil, that good may come ?" Of which
sort of persons the damnation is most righteous,
although some calumniously ascribe that very prin
ciple to us Christians. Observations on § III. 6.
On the "Failures" of the Gospel.
What St. Paul owns here concerning the Law, we must
with shame and sorrow confess, has in a great measure
proved true, thus far, concerning the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. There are fearful appearances in the world of its
failure, I mean, its wanting the success one would have
expected from it, considered as a mean of actually re
forming mankind. We are not, of course, judges to what
extent it has failed : but to say that it has failed more or

92 COMMENTARY ON THE
less, is merely affirming the unquestionable truth, that the
Christian world is far from what it ought to be.
Now if any person be perplexed at this, and begin to
wonder how the plans of Eternal Wisdom should be seem
ingly so far made void, he may be answered as the Apo
stle here answers the like difficulty concerning the Jewish
dispensation. Man's unbelief, or rebellion, cannot make
void the Faith or Veracity of God. As He found a way
of accomplishing His promise to Abraham, so He will
find a way of performing His Covenant through Christ,
however scornful and unbelieving the world may prove.
Any appearances to the contrary ought no more to stag
ger our faith, than the like appearances in the natural
world ought to make us Atheists. We doubt not, for ex
ample, that the Creator of our bodies had an eye to their
health and well-being, though the gracious purpose be
so often frustrated by our own intemperance or other
causes. Apply the same rule of common sense to mat
ters of Religion, and you will perceive that no amount
of seeming failure in the conversion and amendment of
souls ought in the least to shake your faith either in
the Old or in the New Testament.
A much more ordinary result, however, of the unsatis
factory behaviour of Christians in general, is not so much
to perplex one another's faith, as to lower their stand
ard of practice. When all seem to move quietly on, in
a sphere so very much below what the Gospel precepts
require them to be moving in, a vague but not the less
mischievous impression takes place, as though God would
not take vengeance, as though He were not so strictly
a Moral Governor as the Bible assuredly represents Him.
Men silently persuade themselves that allowances and
abatements will be made ; and thereupon take liberties
more and more; taking it for granted, that some ex
amples, indeed, must be made, but that the Almighty
will never endure to destroy finally the whole or the
greater part of His reasonable creation. And so, if they
are no worse than the generality, they somehow or other
dream themselves safe.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 93
These whisperings of unbelief should be silenced by
reference to God's plain declarations, which no sophistry
can argue out of the Bible, that He will judge the world
by the rules there laid down. And it should be seriously
considered, that to expect impunity after such clear and
full warning, is no better than downright Atheism. It is
denying God's moral government, which is, practically,
having no God, whatever such persons may say or specu
late about the order, beauty, and stability of creation.
There is another consideration, which may help such
persons to receive, in their full force, those terrible pas
sages of Scripture which they are most anxious to explain
away. It is this : that they are not to fancy God's saving
word "returning to Him void," though it fail, - through
man's depravity, to accomplish its saving purpose. We
know not what other ends the Gospel Dispensation may
be intended to answer, though men should refuse to be
the happier for it. One purpose our Saviour has hinted,
in saying that it should be preached " for a witness " unto
all nations. " Whether you will hear, or whether you will
forbear," that purpose is equally accomplished. Away,
then, with the vain thought of unrevealed abatements to
be made in God's laws, on the ground that otherwise
His scheme of Mercy will fail !
This most dangerous and immoral way of thinking, is
not the less immoral or dangerous for taking, as it too
often does, the pretended form of high Gospel doctrine.
As thus : " Our Lord having died for us sinners, His grace
in saving any one of us is the more magnified, the deeper
the stain of our sins. Therefore, I have the less need to
be very careful of my conduct." In this form, the error
takes the name of Antinomianism ; and it is surely no
uncommon error in substance, though, of course, none
or very few ever stated it, as above distinctly, to their
own minds. Indeed, it is sure by unperceived degrees
to spread itself over a man's mind, if he unfortunately
use himself to speak much or speculate much on the
mystery of Atonement, without corresponding Practice in
heart and life. Presently, if he watch, he will find himself

94 COMMENTARY ON THE

making abatements, considering what wrong indulgence
he may take, and yet obtain pardon at last ; that is, doing
evil that God may be glorified in forgiving him.
You see how peremptorily St. Paul denounces such
wilful self-deceit : " Their damnation " — who practise it —
" is just." Enough, surely, to put every man, who believes
at all, on his guard against it. And the only effectual
guard is, constantly and humbly endeavouring to keep
the Commandments. § III. 7-
Summary and Confirmation of the Doctrine of Human Depravity
out of the Scriptures (Ch. iii. ver. 9 — 20).
(Ver. 9.) What then ? are we better than they ?
No, in no wise : for we have before proved both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.
What then?] Here the argument is taken up
from the second verse. " The Jews had much ad
vantage everyway;" — then comes in an objection,
ver. 3, which is discussed and answered to the end
of ver. 8, all which being considered as in a paren
thesis, the Apostle here returns to the main argu
ment. "The Jews had much advantage. What
then ? are we [Jews] better [than they, Gentiles]
in the matter of Justification ? Have we more
right to claim God's pardon than they ? No, in
nowise."
We have before declared!] Of Gentiles, in ch. i.
18 — 32; of Jews, ch. ii. 17 — -29.
(Ver. io.) As it is written, There is none right
eous, no, not one.
As it is written!] In several places of Scrip
ture, relating to the conduct of several generations
of men; which is stronger to prove universal cor-

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 95
ruption, than if the whole were taken from one pas
sage only. According to the Prayer-book version,
which, in that instance, is taken from the Greek,
the following verses do occur all together, Ps. xiv.
2 — 7. But the Bible version of that Psalm, which
is more exact from the original Hebrew, corre
sponds with the text of this chapter only to the
end of ver. 12. Compare Psalm liii., whether in
the Prayer-book or Bible.
(Ver. 11.) There is none that understandeth, there
is none that seeketh after God.
Understandeth?] Or " taketh notice." The thing
complained of is man's profane inattention, as in
St. Matt. xiii. 19, "When any man heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not :" — "pays
no attention to it."
(Ver. 12.) They are all gone out of the way, they
are together become unprofitable; there is none that
doeth good, no, not one.
They are all gone out of the way.] So Isaiah
liii. 6, " All we like sheep have gone astray, we have
turned every one to his own way."
Unprofitable.] The word in the original is much
stronger ; it means, " become rotten, or loathsome."
Compare Job xv. 16, " How much more abomin
able and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like
water." (Ver. 13.) Their throat is an open sepulchre;
with their tongues they have used deceit ; the poison
of asps is under their lips.
The two first clauses of this verse are taken from
Psalm v. 9, the last from Psalm cxl. 3.
An open sepulchre!] Deadly, and full of corrup
tion, and so like a sepulchre : ever ready to do mis-

g6 COMMENTARY ON THE
chief to the incautious, and so " an open sepulchre."
Compare St. Matt, xxiii. 27 ; St. Luke xi. 44.
(Ver. 14.) Whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Whose mouth is full of cursing.] From Psalm
x. 7. The Apostle adds, " and bitterness," by way
of explanation.
(Vers, i 5 — 1 7.) Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways :
And the way of peace have they not known.
These verses are taken from Isaiah lix. 7, 8,
and therefore are quite a distinct testimony from
the former, referring to a different generation of
men ; the one to David's time, the other to Heze-
kiah's. It has been observed that from ver. 10 to
12, men are charged with the evil root, irreligion
of heart ; from ver. 13 to 14, with evil words ; from
ver. 15 to 17, with evil actions and habits of life ;
and then, ver. 18, from Psalm xxxvi. 1, sums up
the whole with the want of the fear of God.
(Ver. 19.) Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law :
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God.
The Law.] Put here for the whole Old Testa
ment. For the quotations were from the Psalms and
Prophets. So St. John x. 34 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 21.
All the world.] The Gentiles, by the judgment
of the Jews, confirmed by the reasoning in ch. i. ;
the Jews themselves, by these strong passages out
of their own inspired Prophets. For there is no
reason at all to think that they were worse in Da
vid's time and Hezekiah's, than they were before
and after.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 97

(Ver. 20.) Therefore by the deeds of the law thiere
shall no flesh be justified hi His sight : for by the law
is the knowledge of sin.
"Wherefore by no works of any law can any
mortal be accounted righteous before God ; neither
by the Law of Nature, which failed so deplorably
with the Gentiles ; nor by the Law of Moses, which
failed, as we have seen, no less with the Jews.
For all that any law, considered in itself, can do,
is to augment people's ' knowledge of sin,' to make
them see more clearly the difference between good
and evil, and their respective consequences ; which
knowledge, if men will not act on it, of course ag
gravates instead of justifying. And it is now most
clear that men have always refused to act on it."
Compare ch. vii. 7.
Observations on § III. 7.
Human Guilt.
THE Apostle has now brought his argument to this
point : — that he has laid the whole world as it were pros
trate before God's throne of judgment, waiting for the
sentence due to their sins.
But if there be any persons who, not being in their own
account guilty of gross and flagrant transgressions, feel
as if they could not thoroughly consent to this portion
of Scripture, nor enter into the spirit of it ; they may
do well to consider what use St. Paul here teaches them
to make of the sins of others, which they do not deny
nor question. St. Paul takes the fashionable sins of the
Jews, in the decline of God's kingdom over them ; their
lying and evil-speaking, their cursing and bitter words,
their murderous and turbulent proceedings : — these things
St. Paul charges on the whole race of mankind, so far as
they are symptoms of that alienation from God of which
all mankind are guilty. H

98 COMMENTARY ON THE

This may instruct us what use to make of any remark
able instance of wickedness, whether read of in books, or
seen in real life ; not too hastily to congratulate ourselves
on having no share in that guilt, but rather to turn our
thoughts inward, and recollect that, be it what it may, we,
too, have the seed of the like iniquity within us. And if
we have not plunged to the like depth in actual crime,
no thanks surely to ourselves, but all to God's restraining
and correcting grace.
Boerhaave, one of the greatest physicians and wisest
men of the last century, whenever he heard of a criminal
condemned to die, was accustomed to say to himself,
" Who can tell if this man is not better than I ? or, how
ever, if I am better, it is not to be ascribed to myself, but
to the goodness of God." This is more easily said, than
thought ; and yet it is no more than the dictate of plain
common sense. Every man's conscience, if he would
consult it, would most likely tell him of many occasions, in
which, had he been left to himself, he would have fallen
inevitably into great transgression. But some cause which
he had nothing to do with, that is, in other words, God's
unknown and wonderful Providence, put in his way this
or that impediment : something happened to divert his
thoughts ; or he found he was not alone ; or scruples arose
unaccountably in his mind.
Can a man have recollections of this kind (and who has
not ?) — can he own them to himself, and not own, at the
same time, that his nature is very corrupt ? that he owes
to the Just God, for this virtual if not actual sinning, an
infinitely greater satisfaction than he can pay ?
Let this be seriously considered, as in the presence of Him
who reads the heart : it may prepare not only the flagrant
sinner, but those too, who, by God's mercy, are or seem
comparatively innocent, to open their hearts unreservedly
to the gracious remedy provided for this universal disease :
"The Righteousness of God by Faith in Jesus
Christ," which St. Paul next proceeds to set forth.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 99

§ III. 8.
The true Method of Justification stated (Ch. iii. ver. 21—26).
(Ver. 21.) But now the righteousness of God with
out the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law
and the prophets.
" But, as things are, a righteousness supernatural,
the free gift of God, is manifested : a righteousness
' without law,' that is, not purchased, earned, or
merited, by strict obedience to any law, either of
nature or of Moses."
Witnessed by the law.] In the history of Abra
ham, and in the whole ritual of atoning sacrifice.
And the prophets.] Especially David, Psalm xl. ;
Isaiah, ch. liii. ; Jeremiah, ch. xxxi. ; Ezekiel, ch.
xxxvi., xxxvii. ; Daniel, ch. ix. ; &c. Compare St.
Peter's words in Acts iii. 24, x. 43.
(Ver. 22.) Even the righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them
that believe : for there is no difference.
The righteousness of God.] That is, a free par
don, proceeding from God, and entirely His own
gift. " Pardon,'' by an easy figure of speech, is
called " Righteousness," because, as far as the law
is concerned, it puts a person on the same footing
as if he had never transgressed.
By Faith?] It comes from God, and is His free,
that is, utterly unmerited, gift; and the mean by
which we lay hold on it, the condition on which we
receive benefit by it, is Faith in Jesus Christ ; that
is, as it is explained in Heb. xi., a sincere, practical
surrender of ourselves to be Christ's own in every
respect : — Behaving as if the Gospel were true.
h 2

IOO COMMENTARY ON THE
Unto all and upon all.] Reaching to all sorts,
and abiding upon each individual, so believing;
without distinction of Jew or Gentile. Compare
ch. x. 12.
(Ver. 23.) For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God.
The glory of God.] If this translation be right,
it must mean, " such conduct as is to God's glory."
But the Greek phrase is the same as in St. John
v. 44, " The honour which cometh from God only :"
and St. John xii. 43, " They loved the praise" (or
"good opinion") "of men, more than the praise of
God? Thus it would mean, "there is not a man
living, but is very far short of what God approves."
Where it is said, "all have sinned," perhaps it
should be, " they all," meaning all that believe, who
had been mentioned in the verse before, and whom
the verse following goes on to describe as " being
justified freely," &c.
(Ver. 24.) Being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Freely by His grace?] Words could not express
more strongly this plain truth, That God's pardon
is His free and absolute gift, not earned, or de
served, by our works, or faith, or anything else
that can be in us. Freely, is used as in St. Matt.
x. 8, " Freely ye have received, freely give." By
His grace, His own mere bounty or favour.
Through the redemption!] This seems to be a sa
crificial word, which would be understood by the
Jews, because they were used in the service of God
to substitute one kind of offering for another, and
call it Redemption : thus Exod. xxxiv. 20, " All
the first-born of thy sons thou shalt redeem';" and

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. IOI
Levit. xxvii. 28, " No devoted thing .... shall be
sold or redeemed." Compare Heb. ix. 15; Eph.
i. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 20.
(Ver. 25.) Whom God hath set forth to be a pro
pitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God.
Set forth?] Or "purposed" to be.
A propitiation!] It is the same word which in
Heb. ix. 5, and also in the books of Moses, re
peatedly denotes the Mercy-seat, or Throne, over
which the Lord of hosts, who "sitteth between the
Cherubims," was accustomed to reveal Himself
miraculously to His people, and from which He
vouchsafed to give signs of His accepting their
prayers and sacrifices ; especially their sacrifices of
Atonement. Hence it is applied to our Incarnate
Saviour, the true Medium of communication be
tween between God and man, through Whom only
sinners dare look upward for pardon. And note»
that the word, being so applied, conveys a clear
hint of His divine nature ; since it implies, that
in the Man Christ Jesus abode the very fulness
of the Godhead.
To declare His righteousness for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.]
This seems to point out one final cause of the
mysterious sacrifice of our Lord. " God designing,
in His forbearance, to remit all the past sins of
those who should believe, made^ that awful sacrifice
the cost, as it were, of their pardon, and thus recon
ciled His perfect justice, and holy anger against
sin, with His justifying, or pardoning the sincere
believer in Jesus."

102 COMMENTARY ON THE

(Ver. 26.) To declare, I say, at this time His
righteousness : that He might be just, and the jus-
tifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Him which believeth!] Literally, " the man who
is of the faith of Jesus;" which turn of expression,
in St. Paul, denotes a person's being of such and
such a class, side, or party. Thus Gal. iii. 7, " They
who are of Faith," are opposed to those who " are
of the works of the Law :" so Rom. iv. 16. The
full force, therefore, of the words translated "him
which believeth," is, " That person who is such as
Faith in Jesus requires him to be."
Observations on § III. 8.
Practical Errors regarding Justification.
MUCH, indeed, were it to be wished, that Christian
people might be left free to receive these comfortable
assurances of Pardon and Hope in Jesus Christ, without
any mention of human errors and perplexities, even by
way of warning against them. But since such warnings
are absolutely necessary, it may not be amiss to give the
substance of them here, in as few words as possible. For
there is hardly a page in holy Scripture in which the doc
trine of Justification by Faith only is more expressly and
strongly stated.
Let no one be startled or confounded at the fact that
such errors and perplexities do exist. What else could be
looked for in a fallen and corrupt world ? Souls naturally
alienated from God, would, of course, find themselves alien
ated and indisposed towards His method of bringing them
to Himself. And if the evidence be too strong for them,
if they dare not expressly resist, they will be tempted
somehow to pervert His teaching. Perversion and resist
ance were to be expected beforehand ; Scripture itself
had warned us of them ; therefore, let it be no objection
to the faith when such things really occur.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 03

Human nature resists the Gospel, because men cannot
bear to be told that they do really deserve such things as
are revealed from Heaven against them. They go talking
and dreaming on, as if they might do well enough, pro
vided they were no worse than their neighbours, only
giving way to ordinary infirmity. That is, they first frame
to themselves low and mean notions of the Law of God,
and then insist on being justified by virtue of that Law.
Each is apt to fix on that point on which he thinks him
self most unblemished. This man relies on his generosity ;
that, on his good temper and mildness ; another, on what
he calls liberality and candour in his opinions ; a fourth,
on his industry and zeal in his calling ; a fifth, it may be,
on his orthodoxy and sincerity in support! of true religion ;
and so on. This seems the natural tendency of us all in
our view of our condition towards God : — To make our
own liking our law, and then, according to our temper,
either to claim justification by that law, or to hope we may
be so justified. To indulge such a mind as this, is di
rectly resisting the Gospel doctrine. It is the spirit either
of Heathenism or Judaism : Heathenism, if men trust to
their natural good feelings, or good works ; Judaism, if
they think they may claim God's pardon in right of their
obedience to revealed duties.
Next, suppose a man, by early education, or by con
sideration afterwards, brought to give up all notion of
Justification by works, — brought to perceive (what it seems
wonderful that any one should fail to perceive, when his
attention is once drawn that way), — That it is in vain for
a sinner to think of deserving God's mercy. Such a person
is no longer a resister of the truth in this matter.
But is he free from all danger of perverting it? Cer
tainly not, if our Judge require practical Faith, and if it
be possible for us to fail in practically believing. A man
may renounce all merit but our Saviour's, and yet fall
short of saving Faith, either mistaking what faith means,
or indolently imagining that it means nothing which at
all concerns our practice.
For instance ; is it not a clear mistake if you construe

104 COMMENTARY ON THE
Faith to be simply feeling sure that Christ has done all
this for you ? when Scripture so expressly tells you that
the Faith which justifies " worketh by love," that is, it is
a practical Habit, gradually forming a man's conversation
to the likeness of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In which
sense St. James feared not to write, " By works a man
is justified, and not by faith only." As if he had said,
" That faith which the Holy Ghost, by St. Paul, requires
as the only condition of God's pardoning favour, is not to
be so understood, as if mere believing were enough ; it is
practical Faith, Trust, Resignation ; it is submitting our
selves to the will of Christ actually in what we think,
speak, and do." In a word, St. Paul's "Faith" is the
principle in the heart, St. James' "works," the same prin
ciple in the life and conduct. Neither of the two is at
all meritorious ; both are equally necessary to salvation.
The whole doctrine is briefly contained in the eleventh
Article of the Church of England : " We are accounted
righteous before God, only FOR the merit of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ :" trust we, therefore, no more
to " our own works or deservings."
Again, this our pardon or justification is to be applied,
as it were, to each of us " by Faith." Therefore, we have
need to practise Faith continually ; to surrender and resign
ourselves wholly to our divine Saviour, not only with our
lips, but in our lives.

§ HI. 9-
Three Arguments in Support of the Christian Doctrine
of Justification (Ch. iii. ver. 27 — 31.)
(Vers. 27, 28.) Where is boasting then? It is
excluded. By what law ? of works ? Nay : but by
the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by
faith without the deeds of the law.
The Apostle now proceeds to suggest consider-

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 10$
ations, very briefly, for confirming and illustrating
the doctrine above delivered.
The first may be stated as follows. Boasting
(not so much boasting in words, as an irreverent,
careless self-sufficiency of mind) is above all things
to be avoided in religion : now the notion of being
justified by works may offer some encouragement
to that evil disposition ; the Christian principle of
pardon by free grace, takes away from it all ex
cuse, — a great advantage, surely, in the practical
tendency of the one doctrine above the other ; and
consequently a reason why we should " conclude
that a man," if justified at all, " is justified by faith,
without works of any law."
Boasting.] Not only what is usually called spiri
tual pride, but also all presumption and light ways
of talking and thinking about our eternal state : see
note on ch. ii. ly. The Sadducee, no less than the
Pharisee, the confident man of the world as well
as the hypocritical devotee, comes under the cen
sure implied in this word.
It is excluded.] " Self-sufficiency is now entirely
out of the question, since both nature's law and that
of Moses, having had a full trial, are found inca
pable of justifying any man : that is, experience
has now proved, what otherwise would not have
been so readily allowed, that there is no hope of
obtaining pardon in virtue of our obedience to
any law."
By what law ? of works ?] The force of these
questions seems to be somewhat as follows : " By
which kind of dispensation is it natural to sup
pose self-sufficiency most entirely excluded ? By
a dispensation which supposes men to earn God's

106 COMMENTARY ON THE

favour ? you will not surely say so. Evidently it
must be a rule or dispensation of Faith thoroughly
to exclude such irreligious presumption, by sending
us to God's unmerited grace for the only fountain
of pardon." Wherefore we conclude.] "We reason, or calcu
late." As far as this topic, exclusion of self-suffi
ciency, goes, common sense of itself would lead us
to expect, that man should be invited to seek par
don through grace, not through any kind of works
of their own.
(Ver. 29.) Is He the God of the Jews only ? is
He not also of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the Gentiles
also. Is God the God of the Jews only ?] One of
the strongest prejudices of the Jews against the
Gospel doctrine of pardon, was grounded on the
indiscriminate admission of the Gentiles to the pri
vileges which they deemed peculiar to themselves.
St. Paul, intending to say more on that subject
afterwards (see ch. ix. — xi.), here just points out
that it was, in one very material respect, a pre
sumption in favour of the Gospel. " The prime
Article of that very Law, for the honour of which
you are so zealous, is the sovereignty of One God
over Jews and Gentiles alike. If He is God of
both equally, what so reasonable as to suppose that
He will deal with both by the same rule, so that
even the very privileges of the Jews might turn
out to be part of a dispensation extending to the
Gentiles also ?"
(Ver. 30.) Seeing it is one God, wtiich shall jus
tify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision
through faith.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 107
There is One God.] Compare Zech. xiv. 9, where
the Prophet connects in a like way the Unity of
God with the future conversion of the world : " The
Lord shall be King over all the earth ; in that day
shall there be One Lord, and His Name One."
(Ver. 31.) Do we tJien make void the law through
faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law.
A third test of truth, in the Gospel doctrine of par
don, is its establishing, or fulfilling, the Law of Moses.
This is only affirmed here, by way of protest against
an objection sure to arise in almost every mind.
In like manner (ver. 21), having said that justifica
tion was " without law," he had added immediately
the clause, " Being witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets." The subject is afterwards enlarged on,
ch. vi., vii., viii., and in the concluding part of the
Epistle ; also especially in the Epistle to the He
brews. As far as the morality of the law goes,
no one who acknowledges the Sermon on the Mount
can doubt its being established by the Gospel.
" Why ask," says one of the Fathers of the Church,
" why ask whether the Gospel keeps entire the com
mand against adultery, when it adds a command
against adulterous desire ?"

&¦¦

Observations on § III. 9.
Humility, Impartiality, Dutifulness, of the Christian Temper.
FAITH being that temper by which men receive God's
pardoning mercy exactly as He has revealed it, a sincere
believer will take notice of whatever is made known con
cerning that mercy, in order that he himself may learn to
live and act accordingly.
For example ; it being here declared that one purpose
of the dispensation of grace was to exclude all boastful-

108 COMMENTARY ON THE

ness, those who take God at His own word will above all
things be anxious to keep themselves in a very reverential
frame of mind. They will feel, that whatever else is right
or wrong, all lightness, familiarity, carelessness, presump
tion, in our dealings with our God and Saviour, must be
wrong, and contrary to the Gospel. If any man indulge
himself in such a mind, under the notion that he is par
doned, that God is surely on his side, that he has Faith,
and need not live in constant fear and self-denial ; such
a person, without knowing it, is falling back into that irre
verence from which the Gospel was meant to deliver him.
Again, impartiality, we are here assured, is a character
istic of God's saving way. He has shewn Himself, by
His Son and Spirit, to be no respecter of persons, — a God
of the Gentiles no less than of the Jews. It becomes us,
according to the good advice of the Church of England
in her seventeenth Article, to receive all His gracious
promises as they are generally set forth in Holy Scrip
ture, that is, as they are set forth of such and such sorts
of people, not of such and such favoured individuals.
And as His offers are large and universal, yet always
under certain conditions, so should our language be, and
our hopes, concerning our brethren ; never absolutely de
spairing of any, nor yet often daring to speak of indivi
duals in a very exulting, triumphant tone ; keeping our
feelings a good deal to ourselves, and proportioning our
judgments, (as far as we must judge of them,) to their
steadiness and consistency in bearing the fruits of Faith.
Thus will Christian toleration be kept up, without en
couraging lightness and indifference.
Nor let it be supposed that, in cautions like these, too
much stress is laid upon our works, to the disparagement
of Divine mercy.
For see what, in the next place, is required in him who
would receive the Gospel as it is. He must receive it so
as not to make void, but on the contrary to establish, the
Law. Grace, Faith, Pardon, Mercy, do in no wise annul
the declaration of God's good and acceptable and perfect

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. I09

will, but enact it anew, and enforce it with better, and
higher, and more endearing sanctions. In a word, the
spirit of the Gospel is a dutiful spirit : it looks simply
to our Saviour's will, and tries as it may to be conformed
to His likeness ; thankfully availing itself of every help
which His good Providence and gracious Spirit afford ;
shrinking, therefore, from all attempts to disparage the
Old Testament, under pretence of exalting the New ; or
the Sacraments, in order to magnify the Word ; or the
example of the Church, and Saints of old, on the ground
of each person being the best judge what edifies himself.
Against all such instances of presumption, the Faith
recommended by the Apostle will set the plain words of
our Blessed Saviour: " Whosoever shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be
called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven : but whosoever
shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great
in the Kingdom of Heaven."

§ III. 10.
Justification by Faith exemplified in Abraham, and
witnessed by David (Ch. iv. ver. 1 — 8).
(Ver. 1 .) What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
Here an objector is supposed to say, " If all justi
fication is by Faith in Christ, what becomes of the
privileges promised in Scripture to Abraham's seed ?
What hath he found according to the flesh ?" i.e.
What good thing has been granted him for those
who are literally His children ? The question cor
responds to those in ch. iii. 1.
(Ver. 2.) For if Abraham were justified by works,
he hath whereof to glory ; but not before God.
This verse seems to stand in a parenthesis : " I say,

IIO COMMENTARY ON THE
Abraham ;" for if it could be once made out that he
was justified by the merit of his own works, it would
follow that he had " whereof to glory, but not be
fore God ;" something to rely upon, besides that
treasure of mercy which is wholly and entirely laid
up with God : and so the whole of the preceding
argument would fail.
Abraham would naturally be referred to here by
one objecting, on Judaical principles, because the
Jews depended on their descent from Abraham;
(see Isa. xii. 8 ; St. Matt. iii. 9 ; St. John viii. 33),
because he is called " the righteous man" in Isaiah
xii. 2, and because those " who followed after right
eousness" were especially bidden to " look unto
him" (Isa. Ii. 1, 2). That is, Abraham is repre
sented to us, in the Old Testament, as a speci
men of the way in which man may hope to find
favour with God.
If, therefore, on the other hand, it can be proved
that he was justified by faith and not by works,
the controversy is at once ended. The Old Testa
ment is proved to preach Christianity, and the Jew,
on his own principles, must submit himself to the
Gospel. Before God.] Rather, " with God," as in St. John
i. 1. (Ver. 3.) For what saith the Scripture ? Abra
ham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. This is the Apostle's answer to the objection
in the first verse, the force of which had been ex
plained in the second. " You ask, ' On the Chris
tian scheme, what becomes of the promises to
Abraham and his seed?' Why, what saith the

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. Ill
Scripture ? Abraham believed God, and it was
counted unto him for righteousness."
For what saith the Scripture ?] The form of this
question in the original is exactly that used in
St. Luke xxiii. 22, and rendered there, " Why, what
evil hath he done ?"
Abraham believed God.] See Gen. xv. 6. This
declaration of the inspired writer occurs after the
third great trial of Abraham's faith ; the first and
second being the two commands to migrate, from
Ur of the Chaldees into Haran (Acts vii. 2), and
from Haran into Canaan (Gen. xii. 5). The third
was, his continuing to trust in God's promise, though
he still found himself, after so many years, in human
appearance as far from its accomplishment as ever.
The perseverance, in this case, was the great trial :
there was no violent struggle required, no strong
effort of self-denial for the time; but it was more
like the ordinary, daily probation of us all, whether
we will wait God's time contentedly and devoutly,
though we have not our own will, nor see how we
ever can have it. In one word, Abraham's faith
was Resignation ; of which, though other instances,
(especially the sacrifice of Isaac,) were more illus
trious, yet this is singled out as especially proper
to be a sample to all ages of justifying Faith.
It was counted unto him for righteousness!] The
same words are used concerning Phinehas, and his
zeal in executing judgment on Zimri and Cosbi,
Psalm cvi. 31.
(Vers. 4, 5.) Now to him that worketh is the re
ward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.

H2 COMMENTARY ON THE

These two verses contain the Apostle's reasoning
on the text which he had just quoted, which reason
ing seems to turn chiefly on the use of the word
" imputed." Thus it stands : Those who are accepted by the
Almighty, are accepted as Abraham was. But
Abraham was accepted, not in virtue of his having
strictly fulfilled the law, but of God's free mercy,
imputing his faith to him for righteousness. The
conclusion is evident. The sentiment of the two
verses is exactly the same with ch. xi. 6.
To him that worketh!] The expression seems
used in the same kind of sense as when we speak
of a man's working in a vineyard, whose " reward,"
or rather " hire," (see St. Matt. xx. 8,) is not a mat
ter of " grace " or favour, but strictly accord
ing to " the debt" incurred by the previous agree
ment. Him that wo7'-keth not.] That is, who does not
stand towards his Heavenly Master in the relation
of one doing his day's work, so that in the evening
the Master should be his debtor.
The ungodly.] From Josh. xxiv. 2, it should seem
that this epithet might once have been applied even
to Abraham in the literal sense. " Your Father
dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time,
even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father
of Nachor : and they served other gods."
(Ver. 6.) Even as David also describeth the bless
edness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteous
ness without works.
Even as David!] To confirm his account of Jus
tification, St. Paul produces the witness of David,
giving the same account of God's dealings generally,
which Moses had given in the particular instance

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 113
of Abraham. And certainly those Jews, who had
any sort of candour in them, could not but acknow
ledge that Justification by Faith must be somehow
reconcileable with their Law, when they found it
confirmed both by Moses in the case of Abraham,
and by David universally ; thus uniting, in support
of itself, the three names of which they were justly
proudest. (Vers. 6 — 8.) Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth right
eousness without works,
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are for
given, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not im
pute sin.
It is clear, on a comparison of these three verses,
that " imputing righteousness without works" is the
same thing as " forgiving sins," " covering iniqui
ties," " not imputing sinfulness."
Observations on § III. io.
The Case of Abraham considered as the Pattern of Faith.
There is One perfect Model,— our Lord and Saviour,
towards Whom we are bound to look up in all things.
Only in one respect He cannot be our pattern ; that is,
in regard of the right way of receiving the Mercy of God
offered to sinners through Him. Our Lord, being wholly
without sin, cannot, strictly speaking, be a pattern to sin
ners of the temper and frame of mind in which they must
come to Him for Pardon.
Here, then, is to be admired the unwearied condescen
sion of God our Heavenly Father, and the absolute per
fection of His holy Word as a Rule and Guide of Life.
In that one respect in which the Son of God, from the
nature of the case, could not be our Example, we have
I

114 COMMENTARY ON THE

expressly provided for us, and recommended to our devout
imitation, the example of the holy Patriarch Abraham.
Only read or hear, and consider, the history of this Fa
ther of the faithful, as it is plainly set forth in the Book
of Genesis. This will shew you what Faith means ; not
simply " believing God's general Promises," nor " applying
them confidently to yourself," but " living; by such belief
as your rule." It is sincerely resigning yourself to God,
body and soul, heart and understanding, to do and to
suffer all His Will.
Particularly in that great concern of approaching God
in Christ for pardon of our sins, this Faith, Trust, or Re
signation will shew itself by our submitting, humbly and
entirely, to the Way of Pardon which God has ordained :
renouncing all notions of our own merit, and depending
entirely on the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Here many will be apt to say, " Certainly, it is all very
true ; I see, by the light of common sense, that no sinner,
how complete soever his repentance, can claim Pardon as
naturally due to him, since we all owe God a' perfect ser
vice ; and were we even perfect at one moment, that could
not pay the debt contracted by the imperfection of a for
mer moment. And I see yet more plainly by Scripture,
that the Blood of Jesus Christ is set forth as the only
means of cleansing man from sin. Whenever I think of
this, I assent to it ; I never use any other plea in my
applications to the Almighty for Pardon. What then
is there wanting in my Faith ? "
To a person asking such a question, answer might be
made, It is yet possible that you have not the substance
of true Faith ? How is it with you when matters do not
go on to your mind? If you allow yourself, then, to
grumble and fret ; if you do not habitually try to sacrifice
your own will to the will of Him Who thoroughly knows
and loves you ; is it not plain that, whatever you may
fancy, you do not quite acknowledge your own unworthi-
ness ? that still, in some unaccountable way, you reckon
God Almighty your debtor, and yourself affronted, and
ill-used, in not having your own way ?

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 115
What is there in such Faith at all like the Faith of
Abraham ? For his whole life was a trial and exercise
of Resignation, from his first call out of Ur of the Chal-
dees, to that greatest triumph over himself, the offering
of his only son. Thus Resignation wrought with his
works, and by his works was Resignation made perfect.
And his name remains for ever a warning to all such as
think to be justified by Faith, in the world to come, yet
will not trust themselves heartily with their Saviour in the
comparatively trifling concerns of this present evil world.
A like warning is to be found in the conduct of those
who are held up in Scripture as the specimen and sample,
if one may so speak, of Unbelief ; opposed to Abraham,
who was the specimen and sample of Faith : I mean, the
disobedient Jews in the wilderness. With them our part
must be, if we will not take it with faithful Abraham.
See 1 Cor. x. 1 — 10; Hebrews iii. 7 — iv. 11.
§111. 11.
Justification by Faith not Invalidated, but Confirmed, by the
Abrahamic Covenant of Circumcision (Ch. iv. 9 — 25).
(Vers. 9 — 12.) Cometh this blessedness then upon
the cirmmcision only, or upon the uncircumcision
also ? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness.
How was it then reckoned? when he was in cir
cumcision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of
the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being
uncircumcised : that he might be the father of all
them that believe, though they be not circumcised ;
that righteousness might be imputed unto them also :
And the father of circumcision to them who are
not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the
1 2

Il6 COMMENTARY ON THE
steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he
had being yet uncircumcised.
The Apostle returns again to Abraham from this
allusion to David : as if he had said, The case of
Abraham not only enables us to determine that Jus
tification, wherever vouchsafed, must be a free gift,
but also that Circumcision is no necessary condition
of it.
Circumcision . . . uncircumcision.] i.e. the state of
a circumcised, or of an uncircumcised, person.
For we say, &c] The word " For" may be un
derstood as in ver. 3. See note there.
Not in circumcision, &c] On comparison of Gen.
xvi. 16 with Gen. xvii. 1, it appears that the men
tion of Abraham's Justification comes at least fif
teen years before the Covenant of Circumcision.
On this verse a pious commentator writes : " Would
to God we were as full of faith, love, and integrity,
after our spiritual circumcision (Baptism), as Abra
ham was before his carnal circumcision."
And he received, &c. Here the Apostle meets
the difficulty. " Wherefore then serveth circum
cision ?"
The sign of circumcision.] Gen. xvii. 1 1, " It shall
be a token of the Covenant between Me and you,
and thy seed after thee."
That he should be the father, &c] Gen. xvii. 4,
" As for Me, behold, My Covenant is with thee,
and thou shalt be a Father of many nations : " so
vers. 5—7. "Father" means spiritual Father or
pattern ; resembling those to whom he is a Father,
as Parents commonly resemble their own children.
So St. John viii. 39, 44 ; 1 St. John iii. 2, 3, 9— 11 ;
Isaiah li. 1, 2.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 117
Walk.] Literally, "walk orderly," by a line or
rule marked out : see Acts xxi. 24 ; Gal. v. 25,
vi. 16 ; Phil. iii. 16. The word is very expressive
of the nature of Abraham's Faith, that it was not
one great effort, but a matter of sober every-day
practice. In the steps.] " By a very scrupulous and careful
imitation," 2 Cor. xii. 18; 1 St. Pet. ii. 21. Does
not this make it the duty of Christians to observe
and copy very devoutly the practical results and
details of Abraham's Faith ?
(Ver. 13.) For the promise, that he should be
the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to
his seed, through the Law, but through the righteous
ness of faith.
Here St. Paul, in his consideration of Gen. xvii.,
passes from ver. 4 to ver. 8, that is, from the promise
that he should be a Father of many nations, to the
promise that he should possess the land of Canaan ;
which latter promise the Apostle teaches us to in
terpret by Abraham's being "heir of the world."
Compare Ps. xxxvii. 9 ; St. Matt. v. 5 ; St. James
ii. 5. The connection, therefore, of St. Paul's argu
ment stands as follows :— " As the first promise to
Abraham on his circumcision, that he should ' be
father of many nations, so also the second, that he
should be heir of the world, came not by any law,"
(was not earned by any merit of his,) "but only
through God's gracious acceptation of his sincere
faith instead of merit." (N.B. That promise also
had been given to Abraham long before. See Gen.
xii. 7 ; xiii. 14—17 ; and especially xv. 7, 18—21.)
(Vers. 14, 15.) For if they which are of the Law

Il8 COMMENTARY ON THE
be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made
of none effect :
Because the Law worketh wrath : for where no
law is, there is no transgression.
" For if they only who are righteous by law,"
— (that is, by perfect obedience to a divine law, in
other words, by merit of their own,) — "be heirs,
this is implicitly making void the faith which was
first accepted" (Gen. xv. 6, 7) "as a qualification
for heirship, and the promise which was then made,"
(compare Gal. iii. 17). "Because the Law, though
not in its extent, yet in its actual result, worketh
only wrath : giving more accurate knowledge of
what is sin, but no clear revelation of Atonement,
Sanctification, or everlasting Life."
(Ver. 16.) Therefore ii is of faith, that it might
be by grace ; to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed ; not to that only which is of the Law, but
to that also which is of the faith of Abraham ; who
is the father of us all.
" Therefore the expression, ' by Faith,' is used.
Men are said to be justified 'by Faith,' rather than
by Charity, Devotion, Holiness, or the like; that
all the world might clearly understand Acceptance
and Pardon to come of God's free grace, as pro
mised to Abraham before his circumcision." For
of all the names by which the Christian temper is
denoted, Faith is that which points most directly
to Christ as the only Fountain of Pardon and Grace,
at the same time expressing entire renunciation of
every kind of self-sufficiency.
To all the seed!] As if he had said, " Upon the
whole, we may conclude that the spiritual seed of

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. I 1 9
Abraham, not his natural seed only, were chiefly
intended in the promise." The following verses
to the end of the chapter explain who are his spi
ritual seed.
Of us all.] That is, of all Christians, whether
Jews or Gentiles.
(Ver. 17.) (As it is written, I have made thee
a father of many nations) before Him whom he
believed, even God, Who quickeneth the dead, and
calleth those things which be not as though they
were. Who quickeneth the dead?] Alluding, perhaps, on
the one hand, to the great trial of Abraham's Faith,
the Sacrifice of Isaac ; to which, as we know, he was
encouraged by his Faith in a possible Resurrection
(Heb. xi. 19) ; and, on the other hand, to God's
wonderful work of mercy in quickening the Gentile
world, dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. ii. 1) ;
which to a Jewish eye was, as it were, " raising up
of these stones children unto Abraham."
And calleth those things which be not as though
they were.] This, again, may refer to the Promise
of the birth of Isaac, on the one hand ; on the other,
to the calling of the heathen, which is described
by the same expression (i Cor. i. 28), " God hath
chosen the things that are not, to bring to nought
things that are."
(Vers, i 8 — 2 1 .) Who against hope believed in hope,
that he might become the father of many nations,
according to that which was spoken, So shall thy
seed be.
And being not weak in faith, he considered not his
own body now dead, when he was about an hundred
years old, neither yet the deadness of SaraKs womb :

120 COMMENTARY ON THE
He staggered not at the promise of God tlirough
unbelief ; but was strong in faith, giving glory to
God ;
And being fully persuaded that, what He had pro
mised, He was able also to perform.
St. Paul, carried, as it were, away by a generous
admiration of Abraham, expatiates on the details
of his history, and shews how they enhanced the
nobleness of his faith, when he was promised an
heir through Sarah; then (vers. 23 — 25) transfers
the whole to the case of devout Christians.
Against!] Rather, "beyond" hope.
That which was spoken.] Which had been spoken,
when he was bidden to look up, and see if he could
count the stars, Gen. xv. 6.
Now dead?] Heb. xi. 12, " Therefore sprang
there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many
as the stars of the sky in multitude."
Staggered not?] It is the same word in the Greek
as Acts xi. 2, " They that were of the circumcision
contended with Peter;" and Acts x. 20, "Go with
them, doubting nothing." The strict meaning is,
" He disputed not within himself against God's
promise." Natural misgivings he had at first
(see Gen. xv. 2, 3 ; xvii. 17,. 18), but he did not
indulge them by any temper of unbelief. Invo
luntary doubts, then, are consistent with acceptable
Faith ; but not doubts cherished, encouraged, and
acted on.
(Ver. 22.) And therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness.
Here the Apostle, like a Preacher at the end of
a sermon, recurs to his text, repeating, and shortly
applying it.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 121
(Vers. 23, 24.) Now it was not written for his
sake alone, that it was imputed to him ;
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if
we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from tlie dead.
Raised up Jesus.] We have seen that the
Resurrection of the Dead was a great point in
Abraham's Faith, and every one knows that it is
a chief point in ours. So the one faith resembles
the other in the thing believed, as well as in the
kind of belief .
(Ver. 25.) Who was delivered for our offences,
and was raised again for our justification.
For our justification!] That is, because we were
justified, because our pardon was earned by His
Death and Passion, God raised Him, our Surety
and Representative, from the dead. The Resur
rection sealed the Father's acceptance of the meri
torious Sacrifice of the Son. For " if Christ be not
raised, your Faith is vain ; ye are yet in your
sins," 1 Cor. xv. 17.
Observations on § III. n.
ABRAHAM is " the Father of us all," the Father of all true
believers, "before God." Doubtless, God sees things as
they really are, and, therefore, our relation to the holy Pa
triarch must be more than a mere figure of speech. It is
grounded indeed on resemblance ; but the privilege itself
goes much further than that ; and will be found, on serious
thought, a matter of great admiration and thankfulness.
Let us consider it in this way: — (1.) What Abraham
gains, by being the spiritual father of the Faithful ;
(2.) What they gain by being his children.
The first may be estimated in some way by reflecting
how great the blessing is, if a man have but one child

122 COMMENTARY ON THE
truely devout and dear to God. " The father of the right
eous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise
child shall have joy of him. Thy Father and thy Mother
shall be glad, and she that bare thee will rejoice'."
Conceive this blessing multiplied, as it were, by the
whole number of faithful people, and you will have some
idea of the privilege of him who is before God the Fa
ther of all believers.
God, in His mysterious bounty, promises to impute (if
one may say so) to Abraham, the Christian Piety and
Resignation of all the Saints, after the same manner as
He imputes to a watchful and fond parent the improve
ment and good conduct of his children. For, indeed,
the example of Abraham, diffused as it is by the Scrip
ture through all times and countries, is continually doing
the same sort of good as the example of a pious parent
does to a child ; and, indirectly, it may profit thousands
who never, it may be, heard of his name, or have heard it
without knowing his history. For if they follow some
other pattern, which was itself immediately or remotely
reflected from Abraham, they still are, by faith, his pos
terity, and every one of them adds to his reward.
How this comes to pass ; how the successive conver
sions and advances of Christian men, in this lower world,
can do any good to Abraham in his state of rest, as we
cannot know, we must not enquire : but the fact seems
unquestionable from holy Scripture, and the God of Abra
ham, to be sure, has abundant ways of accomplishing His
word. One thought, naturally suggested by our Lord's own
manner of speaking, is the thought of Abraham wel
coming his spiritual descendants, one by one, as they
enter into their rest. Assuredly this was the expectation
of the Jews in our Lord's time. The death of a good
man, they thought, was passing into " Abraham's bosom."
The happiness they looked forward to was, " sitting down
with Abraham in the Kingdom of Heaven." It is obvious
" Prov. xxiii. 23, 24.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 23

that our blessed Saviour's parables, while they refined
and elevated this thought, by no means contradicted nor
warned people against it ; but rather gave men to under
stand that some such honour, as they supposed, was indeed
shewn in the next world to the great Father and Pattern
of them all.
Now here is held out peculiar encouragement to devout
parents, watchful Masters, and all who, being entrusted
with others, take care to be exemplary to their charge.
All the faithful are blessed with Abraham, but these
have a peculiar blessing. For, depend on it, it is not in
vain that the following promise is set down in the Scrip
ture, over and above God's other favours to Abraham : —
" Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.
For I know him that he will command his children and
his household after him ; and they shall keep the way of
the Lord, to do justice and judgment ; that the Lord may
bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him."
May we not, in virtue of this sentence, humbly hope that
such as follow Abraham in the quiet practice of household
duties, will hereafter so far partake of his reward, that
they, too, may recognise their children and children's
children ; their servants also, and their children, receiv
ing their portion in the Paradise of God ?
Further, since there are many persons who feel being
childless as a great affliction ; what if such consider that
they may, by God's grace, obtain to be accounted before
Him the Parents of all whom they, by good example or
charitable influence of any kind, may help to win over to
the way of holy obedience ? They may feel lonely here,
but He will give them a family in Heaven, "a place and
a name better than of sons and of daughters ;" just as He
provided for the holy Patriarch an innumerable progeny,
even all the faithful, over and above his children after
the flesh.
Now, as to what we gain by being Abraham's spiritual
children : first, it is a very clear instance of the high

124 COMMENTARY ON THE
and consoling privilege of Communion between Saints on
Earth and Saints in Paradise ; which privilege, however
disdained in our time, was so dear to the first and purest
ages of Christians, that they gradually filled their year
with Saints' Days, expressly for the devout exercise of
that Communion.
And surely, in so doing, they acted in the spirit of
the Apostolical commemorations of Abraham, and other
ancient _worthies. Surely the cold faithlessness of modern
days, which would teach us to look at our Fathers gone
before as no more to us than good historical examples ;
surely this temper of mind is reproved by St. Paul's re
presenting Abraham as a real Father, by adoption, to
us all, to be remembered as such, when we praise God
in the Communion Service for " His servants departed
this life in His faith and fear ;" and more especially, per
haps, to be remembered by those (in this sinful world
not a few), who either do not know their parents, or
cannot remember them, but with pain and confusion of
heart! Let such know that if they be faithful, Abra
ham is their Father, their spiritual Father, not in figure
only, but by real appointment of Him, "of Whom the
whole family of heaven and earth is named."
Were all the privileges here to be specified, which follow
on our being in this sense the seed of Abraham, this would
be in fact to go over the Patriarch's entire history. For
" to Abraham and his seed were the promises made :" — the
promise that the Lord would be their God, their shield,
and exceeding great reward; the promise of the best
that this world can give (for that is the spiritual meaning
of the land of Canaan) ; and the promise of life and glory
in the other world, implied in God's everlasting Covenant.
So completely,— though as yet dimly, and in parable-
was the Gospel preached before to Abraham ; and so per
fect is the Unity which binds together the whole Church
and Congregation of the Faithful, by virtue of Him who
is the true Seed of Abraham, the Author and Finisher
of our Fathers' Faith and ours.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 25

§ III. 12.
Statement of Christian Privileges consequent on
Justification (Ch. v. ver. 1 — 1 1).
(Ver. 1.) TJierefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace with God.] St. Paul, having established
the doctrine, proceeds now to point out some of
its happy results. First, as to our state and con
dition ; we were before enemies to God, now we
have Peace with Him; according to the song of
the Angels, when our Lord was born (St. Luke ii. 14).
And therefore " the God of Peace " is one of the
Titles by which St. Paul delighted to call the Al
mighty ; and " Grace and Peace," as was observed
before, is the ordinary salutation among Christians.
And our Saviour is especially called " our Peace"
(Eph. ii. 14). The proper meaning of the word
is that God, for Christ's sake, looks on us not as
enemies but as reconciled persons. Sometimes
it is used to express our own comfortable sense of
being so reconciled; as in St. John xvi. 33, "These
things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye
might have Peace." In that sense, of course, it
must be perceived by the person enjoying it; but,
in the former and more proper sense, it "passeth
all understanding." Many have it, and perceive
it not ; some, it is to be feared, think they perceive
it, and are very far from having it. And in this
sense, namely, as denoting God's being at peace
with us, it is here declared to be a result of Justi
fication. It is the state of Amity, following the
Act of Pardon.

126 COMMENTARY ON THE
(Ver. 2.) By Whom also we Iiave access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God.
Access!] This is one of the words made sacred,
as it were, by Apostolical use to express our Sa
viour's mercy, as a Mediator introducing us, to
be forgiven by His offended Father. So St. Peter
(i Ep. iii. 1 8) says, "He once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to
God? " For through Him we both (Jews and
Gentiles) have access, by one Spirit, unto the
Father," (Eph. ii. 18; compare ch. iii. 12).
This grace. ] " This favour or bounty of the
Father." And rejoice!] This is a second happy result of
Justification : the first was, our being in a state
of Pardon, and after it comes Cheerfulness, result
ing from the reasonable hope which we consequently
have of " the glory of God," that is, of everlasting
life (see Rev. xxi. 11); or, more probably, God's
approbation (see St. John xii. 43, and Rom. iii. 23,
with the note there). N.B. This cheerful hope is
the natural result of Justification and admission
to Christian Privileges. But it is not always the
actual result, bodily infirmities and mental per
plexities intervening. In such a case, the dejection
must be borne as one would bear a bodily disease :
it is not to be charged on the conscience as a sin,
nor is it a bad sign of our spiritual condition, ex
cept it be accompanied by known and habitual
transgression. (Vers. 3 — 5.) And not only so, but we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience ;

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 27
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not as/iamed ; because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us.
Here St. Paul extends the ground of Christian
cheerfulness : now that we belong to Christ's peo
ple, we may rejoice, not only in hope of future
glory, but also in present tribulations and trials,
knowing, &c. The turn of expression seems to
intimate that what follows, to the end of ver. 5,
was a kind of saying among Christians ; possibly
part of a chant or hymn, for it flows like the
poetical parts of the Old Testament. The very
same expression occurs, St. James i. 3, "My breth
ren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temp
tations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith
worketh patience?
Experience?] That is, " the actual proof of the re
ality of your Faith." (Compare 2 Cor. ii. 9, xiii. 3 ;
Phil. ii. 22.) "Affliction, borne sweetly and pa
tiently, tests your Faith, which might otherwise
deceive you ; and then you may have the more
reasonable hope." Does not this sufficiently dis
prove the notion that true faith is a peculiar kind
of feeling or process in the heart, bringing with
it its own evidence ? For, were it so, there would
be no occasion for affliction and patience to attest
a man's faith to himself.
Hope maketh not ashamed?] That is, disappoints
not. See ch. ix. 33, and x. 11, from Isaiah xxviii.
16, "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be
ashamed;" shall not find himself put to that con
fusion which men endure when their chief trusts
fail. The reasoning here seems to be, That this

128 COMMENTARY ON THE n
hope, thus confirmed by affliction well endured, can
not disappoint we know, first, by the gift of the
Holy Spirit, shed abroad in our hearts, as an
earnest of the love of God (ver. 5) ; and secondly,
by the consideration ,of what our Lord endured
for us while we were yet aliens from Him (vers.
6—10). Is shed abroad.] " He says not simply, It was
given, but, It was shed abroad in our hearts; inti
mating the abundance of the gift. For He gave
not heaven, and earth, and sea, but that which
was more precious than all these, — that which made
us angels instead of men, sons of God, and breth
ren of Christ; that is to say, He gave us the
Holy Ghost. Now, were it not His will, our
trial being over, to bestow on us some most glo
rious crown, He would not, before our trial, have
endowed us with so great a blessing °." — (Compare
Eph. i. 14; where the Holy Spirit is called the
earnest of our inheritance).
(Ver. 6.) For when we were yet without strength,
in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Without strength!] Sick, weak, and helpless;
in our natural condition.
In due time.] According to the Prophets.
(Ver. 7.) For scarcely for a righteous man will
one die : yet peradventure for a good man some would
even dare to die.
For scarcely!] As if he had written, " I say,
For the ungodly ; for it is much if any one submit
to death even for a righteous person." (I make
this allowance, because, now and then, we do see
0 St. Chrysoslom, Ninth Homily onEp. to Rom., § 3.

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 29

people sacrificing their lives in a good man's
cause.) (Ver. 8.) But God commendeth His love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Commendeth.] So ch. iii. 5, " If our unrighteous
ness commend the righteousness of God ;" that is,
" set it forth to advantage, make it appear the more
admirable." (Ver. 9.) Much more then, being now justified by
His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
From wrath!] Rather, " the wrath," " the wrath
to come," 1 Thess. i. 10.
(Ver. io.) For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Reconciled to God.] Compare 1 Cor. v. 18 — 20.
(Ver. 11.) And not only so, but we also joy in
God throug/i our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we
have now received the atonement.
And not only so, but we also joy, &c] The con
struction is, " We shall be saved, being reconciled,
&c. ;" (as in ver. 10), "and not only reconciled, but
also rejoicing, exulting, having a cheerful hope in
God, &c." The Apostle recurs to the same two
blessings which he had mentioned in the beginning
of the chapter as the result of justification, — Peace
with God (ver. 1), which is the same with recon
ciliation here ; and Joy, or glorying, in hope, con
firmed (among other things) by trouble patiently
endured (ver. 2, 3).
The atonement?] That is, " the reconciliation "
aforesaid : for atonement and reconciliation are the
same word in the original; and "to atone," in old
English, means "to set at one those who disagree."
K

130 COMMENTARY ON THE

Observations on § III. 12. (Ch. v. ver. 1 — n.)
The foundation being thus laid, — that all who receive
God's pardon receive it by Faith only without works, that
is, through the merits of our Saviour only, and not through
any desert of their own, — St. Paul proceeds to point out
some of the privileges resulting from that gracious dis
pensation. Now there are persons who look on it as the very first
and chiefest of those privileges, that the person pardoned
is assured, not only of his present interest in the Gospel,
common to him with all Christians, but of his own final,
everlasting salvation. Let us see how this doctrine agrees
with the Apostle's way of speaking here. For this is the
place where, of all others, one might expect a clear and
distinct account of such assurance, supposing it a certain
result and token of Justification. Here, where St. Paul
is expressly enlarging on the happy and comfortable fruits
of Justification, if absolute personal assurance be wanting,
which, if real, would naturally be the very first mentioned,
surely there arises a strong presumption that such assu
rance ought not to be insisted on as a necessary token of
our being in a good way.
What, then, is the fact ? In the first place, the ex
pressions are all general : " We have peace with God,"
" We have access by faith," " We rejoice in hope," &c.
We, i.e. the whole body of Christians, as such; we, of
whom the next chapter fully proves, that we are still in
danger of continuing in sin, of letting it rule in our mortal
body, of yielding our members as instruments of unright
eousness. Such warnings and cautions would be needless,
if a man's future conduct and condition were made sure
to him from the first moment of justification.
Surely in this, as in all other points, the advice of the
Church of England is sound and Scriptural, "We must
receive God's promises, as they be generally set forth to
us in holy Scripture ;" not greatly anxious about ap
propriating them to ourselves in any other way than by

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 131
following "that will of God, which we have expressly
declared unto us in God's word."
In the next place, St. Paul says here, that the joy, or
thankfulness of heart, which naturally belongs to a Chris
tian's condition, is a joy felt "in hope of the glory of
God," or "in hope of God's final approbation." Now,
as the same St. Paul tells us a little further on (ch. viii. 24),
" Hope that is seen is not hope ; for what a man seeth,
why doth he yet hope for ?" The very notion of Hope,
then, excludes that absolute certainty, which puts away
all fear, and admits no chance of falling away.
Further ; absolute positive assurance admits of no con
firmation or increase : but the joy which St. Paul de
scribes here is increased and confirmed by patient en
durance of affliction. Patient endurance is a practical
proof or trial, appointed to satisfy the conscience more
and more, that the faith of the sufferer is genuine, and
his hope such as will not disappoint him.
Who does not see at once that this is a very different
state of mind from what some are taught to imagine and
long for, both in themselves and in others, a state of mind
in which people seem to themselves as certain of their
future salvation as they are of their present existence ?
St. Paul's joy and glory, as represented in these verses,
was far unlike this. It was a sober conviction of God's
merciful purpose towards . him, gradually strengthening
with his patient continuance in well-doing.
Does any one think that his faith is more genuine than
the faith of St. Paul, or that he has a right to expect
a more comfortable hope than his ? Why, then, should
not Christians be content to measure their faith by their
patient endurance, and other good works, as St. Paul did ?
Such a view may not at first sight overpower and dazzle,
like the notion of absolute certainty. But, as it clearly
tends to make men more watchful and humble, so, in the
end, it will be found more cheering and consoling ; not
leading us to force ourselves into unnatural postures of
mind, nor to keep up excitement of any sort ; but sus-
K 2

132 COMMENTARY ON THE
taining and impelling us continually in the plain path
of duty, which, after all, must be the only path of comfort
and salvation.
Nor is this view at all inconsistent with the strong expres
sions of many good men, implying a kind of certainty of
salvation, especially towards the latter part of their lives.
Their certainty was still no more than a reasonable and
assured hope. For Hope may be in all shades and de
grees, from the sense of a faint possibility, such as is ex
pressed in the Burial Service over the grave of such an
one as may have repented for aught we know, to the
joyful anticipation of an Apostle on the eve of mar
tyrdom : " I have fought a good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Yet the same
Apostle, a while before, felt it needful to keep in remem
brance the possibility of his being " a castaway," and to
take precautions accordingly.
Doubtless, it is safer for ordinary Christians to imitate
him in that sober, self-denying carefulness, rather than to
aspire eagerly after his last triumphant assurance. Neither
in this, nor in any other respect, is it well to seek too
much of Heaven on earth. They who do so, are always
in more or less danger of having their reward in earth and
not in Heaven. § HI. 13-
Correspondence between the Manner of our Fall in Adam, and that
of our Recovery by Jesus Christ (Ch. v. ver. 12 — 21).
(Vers. 12 — 21.) Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death
passed upon all ?nen,for that all have sinned:
(For until the Law sin was in the world: but sin is
not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 33
of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him
that was to come.
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For
if through the offence of one many be dead, much more
the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by
one Man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
And not as it was by one tliat sinned, so is the gift :
for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the
free gift is of many offences unto justification.
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ;
much more they which receive abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by
one, Jesus Christ)
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came
upon all men to condemnation ; even so by the right
eousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life.
For as by one mans disobedience many were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be
made righteous.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might
abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by
Jesus Christ our Lord.
This difficult passage follows, by way of general
remark and deduction, from the view which had
just been given of Justification by Faith and the
privileges resulting thereon. It is one of the many
places where it is peculiarly necessary to remember
that St. Paul is writing a Letter, not a Treatise
regularly arranged. We must expect, therefore,

134 COMMENTARY ON THE

that he should occasionally interrupt himself, and
insert explanations and remarks, such as a modern
writer would subjoin in a note. The thirteenth and
fourteenth verses of this chapter, as also the twen
tieth and twenty-first, appear to be insertions of
this kind.
The course and order of the whole section may
perhaps be truely stated as follows (ver. 12). "It
appears, by what has been said, that there is a mys
terious correspondency between the manner in which
Sin and Death entered in, and prevailed in the
world," (upon which prevalence, vers. 13, 14, is
a note) ; " and the manner in which God vouchsafes
to redeem and sanctify us: nay," (vers. 15 — 17)
it is much more than correspondency. The favour
of God, through Christ, and the effects of that
favour, do more than answer to the curse on Adam,
and effects of the Fall. Therefore (vers. 18, 19),
the Apostle limits the comparison, for the present, to
the circumstance that it was one Act, of one Person,
which led to the whole in each of the two trans
actions : in other words, that Adam and Christ
Jesus were respectively the Sureties and Repre
sentatives of all mankind.
As to the twentieth and twenty-first verses, they
are evidently a kind of note likewise, to sum up
briefly the purpose and effect of the Law, how it
also magnifies God's mercy in the whole scheme
of Justification as before explained.
Came into the world!] See Wisdom of Solomon,
ii. 24, " Through envy of the Devil death came
into the world." This was written, most probably,
before the birth of our Saviour, and may shew

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 35

how the Jewish Converts at Rome, to whom espe
cially St. Paul was writing, had been used to think
of Adam's fall, before they were Christians.
For that.] Rather, " on condition of which," " at
the risk of which." All sinned, under the certain
peril of death, the declared wages of sin, passing
upon them. And death did pass upon them ac
cordingly ; as had been foretold in Gen. ii. 1 7, " In
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die." All have sinned.] Compare c. iii. 23, "All have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
The thirteenth and fourteenth verses appear to
be what we should call a Note on the last clause of
ver. 12. "Death passed upon all men, at the peril
of which all men sinned. All, I say, sinned, at the
known risk of the penalty of Death. How does
that appear ? Because, except where Law (which
implies moral government, and of course a penalty),
is known, sin is not accounted sin, properly speak
ing. But, that it is accounted sin in all mankind
appears by the actual infliction of the penalty,
Death ; even upon those who would seem, at first
sight, least liable to such penalty : — upon the ge
neration between Adam and Moses, which had
no covenant so expressly revealed for them to
sin against, as Adam had revealed to him in
Paradise." Unto the Law.] Rather, " as far as Law reach
ed ;" meaning, that if there be any persons, or any
portions of human life, to which Law does not
reach, in them there can be no sin, properly so
called ; sin being, as is defined by St. John (1 Ep.
iii. 4), " The Transgression of the Law." See be-

136 COMMENTARY ON THE
fore, ch. iv. 15, "Where no Law is, there is no
transgression." St. Paul is not speaking in this
verse of the Law of Moses only, but of all declara
tions of God's will, natural or revealed.
Of Adams transgression!] The sinners between
Adam and Moses sinned least in the likeness of
Adam, because they had not the Word of God,
forbidding what they did, under pain of His wrath,
so distinctly revealed to them, as Adam had before,
and as Jews and Christians have since.
A Figure of Him that was to come!] That is, of
our Saviour, who is called, " the last Adam," and
"the second Man" (1 Cor. xv. 45, 47). In what
sense was Adam a Figure of our Lord ? " Be
cause," says St. Chrysostom, " as Adam caused
death to all who sprang of him, though not them
selves partakers of the forbidden fruit ; so Christ,
to all who are of Him, though in their past lives
unrighteous, is become a warrant and surety of
righteousness, His free gift to us all by His
Cross." But not as the offence, so also is the free gift!]
Observe here the unaffected earnestness of the
Apostle, stopping short, as it were, and correcting
himself. For thus the sentence runs, connecting
it with ver. 1 2. " As by one man sin and death
came into the world, and passed unto all men ;
so — nay, not exactly so — Not as the offence, so also
the free gift. Not exactly so, but in much greater
perfection. Of which greater perfection one mark
is what is mentioned, ver. 16, that, whereas one
offence was enough to cause the Fall, the Restora
tion was after numberless offences. Another (ver.
17), That the reign of pardoned sinners in Life,

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 37
through Christ, is much more complete than the
reign of Death, by Adam.
The Grace of God.] That is, Pardon and Jus
tification ; "the gift by grace," that is, "the Holy
Ghost given unto us" (ver. 5). For that is called
eminently, " The gift of God," Acts viii. 20 ; com
pare Acts x. 45, xi. 17. In Eph. iii. 7, it is, "The
gift of the grace of God ;" in Heb. vi. 4, it is, " The
heavenly gift."
Not as it was by one that sinned, so is tlie gift?]
Here St. Paul, like one writing eagerly, leaves out
several words, to be supplied by the common sense
of the reader. The whole meaning of this clause
not being, "Not exactly as the condemnation came
by one that sinned, so did the gift come by one that
was righteous? but in a way to set forth God's
mercy still more wonderfully, which the latter part
of the verse explains.
The judgment was by one.] That is, by one of
fence, namely, Adam's one act, in tasting the fruit
of the forbidden tree.
By one mans offence death reigned by one.] In
consequence of the transgression of Adam, death
reigned over all, derived through the same Adam
as the Father of all men.
The Offence of one . . . the Righteousness of one.]
Rather, as it is in the margin, " by one offence . . .
by one righteousness."
Were made sinners.] Properly, "were brought
into court" as it were ; " were presented before their
Judge as sinners." The same word, in Acts xvii.
15, stands for "conducted;" in Heb. v. 1, for "or
dained ;" implying in each case something formal
and official.

I38 COMMENTARY ON THE

The Law.] Rather, Law, omitting the Article :
That is, not simply the Law of Moses, but any posi
tive Rule of Conduct whereof God is known to
be Author. The apparent result of such a rule,
introduced among creatures so sadly fallen as we
are, might be merely to multiply offences ; and no
doubt was so in many cases. So much the more
entire and signal was the triumph of Grace by Jesus
Christ over the sin and guilt of disobeying known
rules, as well as over the sin and guilt inherited
by all mankind from Adam.
Entered!] Literally, " came in by-the-bye." In
Gal. ii. 4, the same word stands for " came in pri
vily." Here it implies that what is after mentioned,
namely, the multiplying of offences, was something
by-the-bye, not the intent of the Law.
That the offence might abound!] The word " that?
here, as in many places, denotes the result, not the
purpose, of what was done. As we say in common
discourse, " Such a per"son went to such a place
to die ;" not meaning that he intended to die there,
but that such was actually the event of his going.
An instance may be found, St. Matt. ii. 23, " Joseph
went and dwelt at Nazareth, that it might be ful
filled which was spoken by the Prophets :" not that
he was thinking of the Prophecies, but he acted
so that they were fulfilled. So here : the word
" that" points out not the purpose but the effect of
any divine Laws or Rules which might be laid on
man in his lost state. The result would be, that
sin would more abound. But from this, God took
occasion to magnify the more His grace and mercy.
Through Righteousness.] There seems something
very emphatical in the introduction of these words :

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 39
implying that Christ saves us not in but from
our sins.

Observations on § III. 13.
Of Original Sin.
It is somewhat remarkable that in this Epistle, where
St. Paul treats so much at large of the method of our sal
vation by Christ, he should go on so far before introducing
the subject of Original Sin.
For first, he humbles the whole world by his unanswer
able reproof of actual Sin. Then in the Name of Jesus
Christ he offers the only way of deliverance. And not
till after that does he recall to our thoughts the source
of our corruption, and our natural impotency for good.
This order of teaching, so carefully observed by the
Apostle, would seem to shew how men should order their
meditations on the great truths of the Christian System ;
and how teach others (if such there be) for whose in
struction they are responsible : Not to dwell, first and
chiefly, on natural impotency, but on actual guilt: To
acknowledge, indeed, with deep humiliation, that we are,
one and all, born in iniquity ; yet to bear in mind con
tinually that, in our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus, to
Whom we are united by Holy Baptism, we have a present
and effectual antidote to the mischief with which we are
tainted. Thus, never separating in our thoughts Adam
from Christ, the disease from the remedy, our own frailty
from the power of Him Who is pledged to be our Strength
and Protection, we shall neither forget our original sinful
ness, nor make it an excuse for actual sin.
For these are the two opposite errors into which men
are apt to fall. Some of us at all times, and almost all
of us, with regard to those sins to which we feel no par
ticular inclination, are disposed to make light of the fault
and infection born in our souls and bodies. It is good,
then, for all to be continually reminding themselves of

140 COMMENTARY ON THE

it ; and, with good Bishop Wilson, seriously to pray God
that He would "give us a true knowledge of ourselves,
of the corruption of our nature, and of the necessity of
His gracious help to save us from ruin."
On the other hand, by a strange perverseness, when
those sins come in our way to which we are so evidently
inclined, that we cannot hide our ill tendency from our
selves, we are presently too apt to begin thinking of our
original corruption, not as a ground of wholesome fear,
but as a sort of excuse to quiet our consciences, and re
concile us to our own presumptuous sins.
There is always a deceiver at hand to help us in thus
deceiving ourselves ; to come in with such sayings as these :
" Every man has his fault," " It is all in vain trying to be
perfect," "We are born in a wicked world, and cannot
go out of it," and the like.
Now the simple and short answer to all this is, that,
whatever may be said of unregenerate Heathens, bap
tized Christians are in that condition, in which it is ex
pressly promised, that, however sin may have abounded,
grace shall much more abound. That is, however corrupt
they may be, the Holy Spirit, offered in Christ's Ordi
nances, is more than able to purify and strengthen them.
Thus every mouth is stopped, and the whole world of
impenitent Christians especially made guilty before God.
How stands the case in regard of bodily disease, the
punishment and effect of sin ? A man's constitution has
some hereditary taint : how will common sense direct him
to deal with himself? To neglect the unsound tendency
altogether, and just behave as if nothing at all were the
matter with him ? Or, if he cannot help thinking of it,
yet to take liberties prejudicial to his health, under the
pretence that, be he never so careful, the constitutional
infirmity cannot be entirely cured ? Nay, but to use all
reasonable care in the way of watching, precaution, and
palliation ; that he may pass his time, if not in ease, yet
in as little distress as possible.
It is much the same in regard of the soul's health ;

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 141
except that the matter at issue is eternal, and that a cer
tain and perfect recovery is offered, if the sick man will
but persevere in obeying his infallible Physician.

§IV.
Of Sanctification by the Holy Spirit, the next intended
Result of Justification (Ch. vi. 1 — viii. 39).
I. Sanctification enforced as a Duty, first, from the Typical Death,
which all Christians undergo in Baptism (Ch. vi. 1 — 14).
(Ver. 1.) What shall we say then? Shall we
continue in sin, that grace may abound ?
That grace may abound!] This expression is re
peated from the twentieth verse of the preceding
chapter : " Where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound." From it, St. Paul takes occasion
to pass to the next great branch of his subject, the
necessity of good works in those who are justified ;
to prevent that abuse, to which in all ages the doc
trine of Pardon without Merit has been liable.
(Ver. 2.) God forbid. How shall we, that are
dead to sin, live any longer therein ?
We who are dead unto sin.] That is, in respect
of sin; so ver. 10, "He died unto sin once;" ch.
vii. 4, "Ye are dead to the Law." The meaning
is, It is as much out of the question for baptized
and justified Christians to obey sin, as for a dead
body to perform the actions of a living one. In
respect of committing sin, they are to consider them
selves dead and helpless, like a corpse, So also
in Col. iii. 3, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God." In these and all similar places,
not the actual but the natural result of admission

I42 COMMENTARY ON THE

into the Christian Covenant is intended : for ex
ample, in i St. John iii. 9.
(Ver. 3.) Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
His death ?
Know ye not.] This implies that the Romans,
and all Christians, might be expected at once to
enter into the notion of being " dead to sin ;" a no
tion which, as the next verse intimates, was care
fully taught by the very act of Baptism.
Baptized into Jesus Christ!] So in Gal. iii. 27, and
in 1 Cor. x. 7, we read of the Jews being " baptized
unto Moses," that is, admitted by Baptism into
Communion with Moses and with Christ respect
ively. " To be baptized into His death," therefore,
is " to be introduced by Baptism into a Participa
tion of His Death ;" not only by having it imputed
to us, as it were, for Pardon of our sins, but also
by actual conformity to it, in our dying to those
sins for the future.
(Ver. 4.) Therefore we are buried with Him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life.
We are buried with Him by Baptism!] Alluding
to the original Form of that holy Sacrament, in
which the baptized person was, as it were, buried
for a moment under the water, and without delay
raised again. Comp. Col. ii. 12; and the Baptismal
Service of the Church of England, " Baptism doth
represent unto us our profession, which is, to follow
the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made
like unto Him ; that as He died and rose again for
us, so should we who are baptized die from sin and

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. I43
rise again unto righteousness." The force of such
passages is much obscured among us by the. general
use of sprinkling instead of immersion, — a thing
allowed rather than encouraged by the Church.
By the glory of the Father.] That is, most likely,
"By His Divine Nature, which He receives of the
Father, being from all Eternity God of God, Light
of Light, Very God of Very God." Comp. St. John
xi. 40, where our Lord, speaking of the Resurrec
tion of Lazarus, says, " Said I not unto thee, that
if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory
of God?" raising the dead being a work appropri
ate to that most glorious Nature. And, therefore,
Christ's raising Himself (St. John ii. 19) is proof
of His being Very God.
Like as Christ . . . so we.] Compare 2 Tim. ii. 11,
"If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with
Him." This St. Paul cites as part of " a faithful
saying;" that is, not improbably, a proverbial ex
pression in use among the Primitive Christians.
(Ver. 5.) For if we have been planted together in
the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the like
ness of His resurrection.
Planted together?] As if he had said, "grafted
into Him by the likeness of His death," "by that
Baptism which resembles His death."
We shall be also!] Or, " We are to be also" like
Him, in leading a new life of holiness, by way of
preparation for a Life of Glory like His in heaven.
(Ver. 6.) Knowing this, that our old man is cru
cified with Him, that the body of sin might be de
stroyed, that Jienceforth we should not serve sin.
Our old man.] Our old, merely human, corrupt

144 COMMENTARY ON THE
Nature, such as we inherited it from Adam. Com
pare Ephes. iv. 22 ; Col. iii. 9.
Crucified with Him.] So Gal. ii. 20, " I am cru
cified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me;" meaning that by the
Virtue of Christ's Cross and Holy Spirit, com
municated to us in Baptism, we have power to
overcome sinful tendencies, so that sin shall utterly
die away in us, and be powerless, like a man cru
cified and dead.
The body of sin.] That is, the whole power or
substance of sin, made up of many bad habits and
inclinations, as a man's body is of many limbs.
May be destroyed.] The word properly means,
" made useless, inefficient, helpless, powerless ;" in
the Baptism Service it is "abolished," where after
the Baptism prayer is made, according to the mean
ing of this verse, for the child or person just bap
tized, " that he, being dead unto sin, and living unto
righteousness, and being buried with Christ in His
death, may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish
the whole body of sin; and that, as he is made
partaker of the death of the Son of God, so he
may be partaker of His resurrection."
(Vers. 7, 8.) For he that is dead is freed from
sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with Him.
These two verses seem to run into each other,
thus, " He who is dead is in any case free from sin ;
but we who are dead with Christ trust also to live
again in righteousness with Him."
Is freed!] This word is in opposition to " serv-

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 145
ing sin," or " being the slave of sin," in the verse
before. (Ver. 9.) Knowing that Christ being raised from
the dead dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion
over Him.
Death hath no more dominion over Him!] "Is
no longer His Lord and Master." The figure
of speech from slavery being kept up, as in vers.
6, 7-
(Ver. io.) For in that He died, He died unto
sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto
God. Once!] " Once for all ; no more to return to
corruption. In the same sense he says in Heb.
ix. 27, 28, " It is appointed unto men once to die :
... so Christ was once offered."
(Ver. 12.) Let not sin therefore reign in your
mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof. Your mortal body!] Opposed to the glorious,
immortal body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
had been mentioned just before, vers. 9, 10. See
the like opposition, with the like stress upon the
word mortal, ch. viii. 11, and 2 Cor. iv. 11.
Thereof!] That is, of the body. The desires of
the mortal body are the most prevailing instru
ments by which sin contrives to subdue Christians
to slavery again. "Purity" is the great point on
which evangelical freedom depends.
(Ver. 13.) Neither yield ye your members as in
struments of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield
yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from
L

146 COMMENTARY ON THE

the dead, and your members as instruments of right
eousness unto God.
Yield?] Or " present." The word in the original
has especial reference to a person's appearing be
fore a superior. So 2 Tim. ii. 15, "Study to shew
thyself approved unto God;" Col. i. 28, "That
I may present every man perfect;" and see be
low, vers. 16, 19, "Let not sin, but God, be the
Master, to whom, as servants anxious to be ap
proved, you present your members and your whole
selves." (Ver. 14.) For sin shall not have dominion over
you : for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Shall not have dominion!] Or, is not to be your
master and owner. See ver. 9.
Ye are not under the Law, but under grace?] Not
under a dispensation which only gives you know
ledge of right and wrong, without giving you the
grace of the Holy Spirit to do right. You have,
or may have, that grace ; therefore, it is in vain
for you to plead that you are serving a hard
Master against your will. You are delivered from
that yoke which your Fathers were not able to
bear. The following is in short the substance of this
whole section : —
Ver. 1. The possible abuse of Justification is
answered, (ver. 2), by considering the Christian's
Death unto Sin, which (ver. 3) takes place at, and
is signified by, Baptism : which Baptism implies
(vers. 4, 5) a typical Resurrection too, upon con
sideration (vers. 6, 7), first, of the abolition of the
tyranny of Sin implied in the typical Death, and

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 147
(vers. 8 — n) secondly, of the Death of Christ, into
which we are baptized, being a death once for
all, and his Life, an eternal one. Vers. 12, 13
are an earnest exhortation to live in purity, ac
cording ^to this faith ; (ver. 14) the excuse of
inability to resist temptation being now completely
gone. [Here the MS. breaks off]

L 2

PROCESSIO SPIRITUS SANCTI.
The Doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Ghost.

The critical words in this controversy are : —
a. eiaropeveo-Oai, which is used only twice of the
Holy Spirit; first in St. John xv. 26 : —
OTav Be e\0y 6 IIapdicXrjTO<;, ov ijm irefiyfrco v/mv Trapa, tov
HaTpo'i, to Hvevfjua jrjs aXrjOeias, 0 irapa tov Harpo?
eiciropeveTai, itcetvos /uipTvprjcret, irepl efiov.
When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father,
He shall testify of Me.
And again in Rev. xxii. 1 : —
Kal eSei^e /mol Kadapov iroTafibv vSaros £cor}?, Xafiirpov a>s
tcpvo-TaWov, iiaropevofievov ix tov Qpovov tov ©eov
Kal tov 'Apvi,ov.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, dear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Iamb.
That this last means the Holy Spirit, see St.
John vii. 38, 39 : —
iroTafiol €K tj}? KOiXias avrov pevcovo~iv ii8aTO<} ^oovtos.
tovto Be ewre irepl tov UvevfxaTos.
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this
He spake of the Spirit.
/3. irvev/xa itself; which, spoken of the Persons
of the Holy Trinity, one amongst another, must
be understood to indicate a real Personal Relation,
I suppose; just as much as the words, Tioy, or
Harrjp. So that the Spirit of the Son is as truly
and properly "breathed" out from the Son, as the
Son is "begotten" of the Father. That which

ISO PROCESSIO SPIRITUS SANCTI.
invalidates the eternal " spiration" of the One,
would seem to invalidate the eternal "filiation"
of the Other.
If this be correct, then all passages which repre
sent the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of Christ declare
Him to proceed eternally from Christ. See, for"
example, Rom. viii. 9 : —
v/ieis Be ovk iaTe iv crapKi, aXX' iv irvevfiari, e'lirep Ilvevfia
@eov olksi iv v/uv. el Be Tt? IlveO/ia XpiaTov oiik eyei,
OVTOS OVK ko~Tt,V ailTOV.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of His.
Gal. iv. 6 : —
oti Be ia-Te viol, i^aireaTeiXev 6 &ebs to Hvev/jLa tov Tlov
avrov eh to.*; KapBia<; vfiwv, Kpatpv, 'Afifia, 6 TlaT-qp.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
1 St. Pet. i. 1 1 :—
epevvwvTe<i ek Tiva rj ttoiov Kaipbv iBrfXov to iv
auTot? Uvevfia XpicrTov.
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify.
St. John xx. 22 : —
Kal tovto elircbv, ive<f)vo-r)o-e, Kal Xeyei avTols'
Xafiere Ilvev/xa ayiov.
And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
And, perhaps,
St. John xiv. 17 ; xv. 26 ; xvi. 13.
Acts ii. 17, 18, 33 (cf. Joel ii. 28, 29); v. 9 ; viii. 39 ; xv. 8
(cf. i. 24, for KapSiayudaarris applied to Christ) ;
1 Cor. ii. n (cf. ver. 16) ; 2 Cor. iii. 17 ; 2 Thess. ii. 8.

PROCESSIO SPIRITUS SANCTI. 151
y. Aia (with a genitive) : —
St. John i. 3, i7(?):—
travra BC avrov iyevero . . . 97 %a/HS Kal r\ dXr]6eia
Bid 'Itjctov Xpto~TOV iyevero.
All things were made by Him .... grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ.
Acts i. 2 : —
ivTeiXdftevo<s to?? diroo'ToXoi'i Bid Ilvevfiaros ' Ayiov.
After that He, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments
unto the Apostles.
Rom. v. 16 — 19 : —
eos BC evb^ dfiapTrjo-avTos . . ovrw Kal BC evb<; BiKaubfjiaTos. . .
As by one that sinned . . . so by the obedience of One. . ". .
1 Cor. viii. 6 : —
' lt)o-ovs Xpiaros, BC ov to. iravra, Kal 17/iet? BC avrov.
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.
Gal. iv. 7 : —
kXtjpovo/jlos Oeov Bid Xpiarov.
An heir of God, through Christ.
Eph. ii. 18 : —
BC avrov e'xpfiev rr\v irpoaaycoyrjv.
Through Him we have access.
Col. i. 16 : —
to, irdvra BC avrov Kal et? avrov eKrurrat.
All things were created by Him and for Him.
Titus iii. 6 : —
IIvev/MaTOS ayiov, ov i^ixeev ty' W"? tXovo-{<os Bid
'Irjaov XpiaTov.
The Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ.
&c, &c.

152 PROCESSIO SPIRITUS SANCTI.
These expressions are allowed to prove that all
the graces and gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the
Holy Ghost Itself, so far as It is a grace and
gift, flow down to us from the Father through
the Son.
But there is an allowed analogy, or rather con-
gruity, between the mutual relations of the Persons
of the Blessed Trinity one amongst another, and
the order in which They communicate Themselves
to us.
As the Holy Ghost, then, is the gift of the Father
by the Son, there is a congruity in that interpre
tation of the former sets of passages, which sup
poses Him to have His Being, i.e. to proceed,
from the Father by the Son ; which is what I sup
pose to be meant by the Latin form of the Nicene
Creed. The oiKOvo/jiia points, as it were, to the OeoXoyia.
(See a like argument in Hooker, E. P. 1. v. c. 51,
§3a)- Thus He will be strictly the Third Person, as
the Son is the Second Person, by a kind of subor
dination which does not prejudice His equality.
This is offered for a taste of our Scriptural argu
ment. For testimonies of the Fathers I will in
stance but in four : — St. Augustine, for the Latins ;
St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, and St. Basil, for the
Greeks.
* "And if some cause be likewise required why rather to this end and pur
pose the Son than either the Father or the Holy Ghost should be made man,
could we, which are born the children of wrath, be adopted the sons of God
through grace, any other than the natural Son of God being Mediator between
God and us?"

processio spiritus SANCTI. I S3
a. See in St. Augustine (inter alia) : —
Tract, in Joan., 99, § 6 — 9.
Contra Maximin. Arian., lib. 2, c. 14, § 1.
De Trin., lib. 4, c. 29; lib. 5, c. 12 ; lib. 15, 45 — 47.
j3. St. Athanasius (or rather, St. Dionysius of
Alexandria) : —
De Sententia Dionysii, § 17, t. i. 255 A., Ed. Ben. Paris,
1698. (This strikes me as a very decisive passage).
St. Athanasius himself: —
Expositio Fidei, § 4, p. 102 A.
Orat. 3, contra Arian., § 24.
Ad Serap., I. Ep., § 1, p. 648 B, 649 B, D ¦ § 6, p. 653
C; § 12, p. 661 C, D ; § 14, p. 663 B; (Per Contr.,
§ 16, p. 665 B); § 19; §20, p. 669 B, C, D; § 21,
ibid. E; § 23, p. 671 (Sia tov Xlov iv t<3 Uveijiari) ) § 24,
p. 673 B; (Image of the Son) C; § 25, ibid. E; § 26,
p. 675 Cj (tSiov tov Aoyou) 676 A, C ; (fVl, dia, iv) ibid.
F> § 28; § 30; § 32.
Ad Serap., III. Ep., § 1, p. 691 B ; § 3, p. 692 D ; § 4,
p. 693 D ; § 5, p. 694 D ; § 6, p. 695 B.
Ad Serap., IV. Ep., § 3, D, E.
y. St. Cyril (Alex.) : —
Synod. Ep. ad Nestorium, § 10; and St. Cyril's Bed. ap.
Theodoret, torn. v. 44 (ed. Schulze, 1774); Anathema ix.;
(Per Contr., Theodoret, ibid. p. 47) ; St. Cyril, Defens.,
ibid. p. 48.
In Joan., lib. X. t. iv. p. 910 A — p. 911 D.
De S. Trin. Dial., t. v. p. 654 C, D; p. 655 A; p. 669 E;
p. 671 C; p. 672 A, B; (E ?) ; p. 674 E ; p. 675 D;
Dial, vii., p. 639 B, C, D ; Dial, vii., p. 634 C; p. 637
A; p. 639 C, D, E; p. 640 D; p. 642 B; p. 647 D,
E; p. 656 B(?); p. 6S7 C, D; p. 658 A.
8. St. Basil : —
De Spiritu Sancto, c. xvi. t. iii. p. 31 C; c. xvii. p. 36 E;
c. xviii. p. 38 C and E; p. 39 A; c. xxvi. p. 53 E (ed.
Paris, 1630).

APPENDIX ADDED BY EDITOR.

ST. AUGUSTINE.
Tract, in Joan., 99.
[Ed. Bened., vol. iii. p. 746, Paris, 1680.J

§ 6. Hie aliquis forsitan quse-
rat, utrum et a Filio procedat
Spiritus Sanctus. Filius enim
solius Patris est Filius, et Pater
solius Filii est Pater : Spiritus
autem Sanctus non est unius
eorum Spiritus, sed amborum.
Habes ipsum Dominum dicen-
tem, Non enim vos estis qui
loquimini sed Spiritus Patris
vestri qui loquitur in vobis : ha
bes et Apostolum, Misit Deus
Spiritum Filii sui in corda vestra.
Numquid duo sunt, alius Patris
alius Filii ? Absit. Unum enim
corpus, ait, cum significaret Ec-
clesiam ; moxque addidit, et
unus Spiritus. Et vide quo-
modo illic impleat Trinitatem.
Sicut vocati estis, inquit, in una
spe vocationis vestrce. Unus Do-
minus ; hie utique Christum
intelligi voluit : restat ut etiam
Patrem nominet : Sequitur ergo,
Una fides, unumBaptizma ; unus
Deus et Pater omnium, qui super

Here, it is likely, some man
may ask whether the Holy
Ghost proceedeth also from
the Son. For the Son is Son
of the Father alone, and the
Father is Father of the Son
alone : but the Holy Ghost is
not the Spirit of One of Them,
but of Them both. Thou hast
the Lord Himself saying, " For
it is not ye that speak, but the
Spirit of your Father that speak-
eth in you" (St. Matt. x. 20).
Thou hast also the Apostle,
"God hath sent the Spirit of
His Son into your hearts" (Gal.
iv. 6). Are they two, one of
the Father, one of*the Son?
God forbid ! For " one body,"
saith he (Eph. iv. 4 — 6), mean
ing the Church, and presently
adds, "and one Spirit." And
see how he there fills up the
Trinity : — " As ye are called,"
saith he, " in one hope of your
calling ; one Lord," — here of
course he means Christ : it yet
remains to name the Father;
he proceeds therefore, — "One
faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of all, who is above

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

155

omnes, et per omnes, et in omni
bus nobis. Cum ergo sicut'
unus Pater, et unus Dominus,
id est Filius, ita sit et unus
Spiritus, profecto amborum est :
quandoquidem dicit ipse Chris-
tus Jesus, Spiritus Patris vestri
qui loquitur in vobis; et dicit
Apostolus, Misit Deus Spiritum
Filii sui in corda vestra. Ha-
bes alio loco eundem Aposto-
lum dicentem, Si autem Spiri
tus ejus qui suscitavit Jesum ex
mortuis, habitat in vobis ; hie
utique Spiritum Patris intelligi
voluit ; de quo tamen alio loco
dicit, Quisquis autem Spiritum
Christi non habet, hie non est
ejus. Et multa alia sunt tes-
timonia, quibus hoc evid enter
ostenditur, et Patris et Filii
esse Spiritum, qui in Trinitate
dicitur Spiritus Sanctus.
§ 7. Nee ob aliud existimo
ipsum vocari proprie Spiritum ;
cum etiam si de singulis inter -
rogemur non possimus nisi et
Patrem et Filium Spiritum di-
cere ; quoniam Spiritus est
Deus, id est non corpus est
Deus, sed Spiritus. Quod ergo
communiter vocantur et sin-
guli, hoc proprie vocari opor-

all, and through all, and in us
all." Seeing, therefore, as there
is " one Father" and " one
Lord" (Christ), so there is also
one Spirit ; without doubt He
is the Spirit of both : since
Christ Jesus Himself saith,
"The Spirit of your Father
which speaketh in you ;" and
the Apostle saith, "God hath
sent the Spirit of His Son into
your hearts" (Gal. iv. 6). Thou
hast in another place the same
Apostle saying, " But if the
Spirit of Him that raised Jesus
from the dead dwell in you"
(Rom. viii. 11); here of course
he meant the Spirit of the
Father, of which Spirit how
ever he saith in another place,
" But whoso hath not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of His"
(Rom. viii. 9). And there are
many other proofs, by which
that is evidently shewn to be
the Spirit of the Father and
the Son, which in the Trinity
is called the Holy Spirit.
§ 7. And for no other cause
do I consider Him to be dis
tinctively called Spirit, while,
if we be questioned concerning
each Person severally, we can
not but affirm both Father and
Son to be Spirit ; since " God
is a Spirit" (St. John iv. 24),
that is, God is not body, but
Spirit. What, therefore, They
each in common are severally
called, by that name behoved
He to be called, who is not

i56

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

tuit eum qui non est unus eo-
rum sed in quo communitas
apparet amborum. Cur ergo
non credamus quod etiam de
Filio procedat Spiritus Sanctus,
cum Filii quoque ipse sit Spi
ritus? Si enim non ab eo
procederet, non post resurrec-
tionem se representans disci-
pulis suis insufflasset dicens,
Accipite Spiritum Sanctum.
Quid enim aliud significavit ilia
insufflatio, nisi quod procedat
Spiritus Sanctus et de ipso?
Ad hoc pertinet etiam illud
quod de muliere quag fluxum
sanguinis patiebatur, ait : Tetigit
me aliquis, Ego enim sensi de
me virtutem exiisse. Nam vir-
tutis nomine appellari etiam
Spiritum Sanctum, et eo loco
clarum est, ubi Angelus dicenti
Marias, Quomodo fiet istud, quo-
niam virum non cognosco : re-
spondit, Spiritus Sanctus super-
veniet in te, et Virtus Altissimi
obumbrabit tibi: et ipse Domi-
nus, promittens eum discipu-
lis ait, Vos autem sedete in civi-
tate quousque induamini virtute
ex alto: et iterum, Accipietis,
inquit, virtutem Spiritus Sancti
supervenientem in vos: et eritis

one of Them, but in whom
appeareth the community of
both. Then why should we
not believe that the Holy Ghost
proceedeth also from the Son,
seeing the same is Spirit of the
Son also ? For did He not
proceed from Him, He would
not, when He presented Him
self to His disciples after His
resurrection, have breathed
upon them, saying, " Receive
ye the Holy Ghost" (St. John
xx. 22). For what else did
that insufflation signify, but
that the Holy Ghost proceedeth
from Him also? To this per-
taineth that also which He
said concerning the woman who
had the flux of blood, " Some
person hath touched Me, for I
perceive that virtue is gone out
of Me" (St. Luke viii. 46). For
that the Holy Ghost is likewise
called by that term, "virtue,"
is manifest also in that place
where, when Mary said, " How
shall this be, seeing I know not
a man ?" The Angel answered,
"The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the Virtue of
the Highest shall overshadow
thee" (St. Luke i. 35). And
the Lord Himself, promising
Him to His disciples, saith,
" But tarry ye in the city, until
ye be endued with virtue from
on high" (St. Luke xxiv. 19).
And again, " Ye shall receive,"
saith He, "the virtue of the
Holy Ghost coming upon you,

Appendix added by Editor.

157

mihi testes. De hac virtute cre-
dendus est dicere evangelista,
Virtus de illo exibat et sanabat
omnes. § 8. Si ergo et de Patre et
de Filio procedit Spiritus Sanc
tus ; cur Filius dixit, De Patre
procedit ? Cur putas nisi quem-
admodum ad eum solet referre
et quod ipsius est, de quo
et ipse est? Unde illud est
quod ait, Mea doctrina non
est mea, sed ejus qui me misit.
Si igitur intelligitur hie ejus
doctrina, quam tamen dixit non
suam sed Patris ; quanto magis
illic intelligendus est et de ipso
procedere Spiritus Sanctus, ubi
sic ait, De Patre procedit, ut
non diceret De me non pro
cedit? A quo autem habet
Filius ut sit Deus (est enim
de Deo Deus) ab illo habet
utique ut etiam de illo pro
cedat Spiritus Sanctus ; ac per
hoc Spiritus Sanctus ut etiam
de Filio procedat, sicut pro
cedit de Patre, ab ipso habet
Patre. § 9. * * * Spiritus autem

and ye shall be witnesses unto
Me" (Acts i. 8). Of this Virtue
the Evangelist must be believed
to speak, in saying, " There
went out Virtue from Him, and
healed them all."
§ 8. If, then, the Holy Ghost
proceedeth both from the Fa
ther and from the Son, where
fore said the Son, " Proceedeth
from the Father"? (St. John xv.
26). What should be the rea
son, thinkest thou, except as
He is wont to refer what be
long eth to Himself to Him from
whom He hath Himself His
being? Whence that saying,
" My doctrine is not Mine, but
His that sent Me" (St. John
vii. 16). If, then, it is here
understood to be His doctrine,
notwithstanding that He saith
it is not His, but the Father's ; —
how much more must we then
understand the Holy Spirit to
proceed from Him also, where,
speaking of the Spirit "pro
ceeding from the Father," He is
careful not to say, Proceedeth
not from Me ? Now from whom
the Son hath it that He is God
(for He is God of God), from
the same hath He it, that from
Him also should proceed the
Holy Ghost ; and consequently
the Holy Ghost hath it from the
Father Himself, that He should
proceed from the Son also, as
He proceedeth from the Fa
ther. § 9. * * * But the Holy

i58

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

Sanctus non de Patre procedit
in Filium, et de Filio procedit
ad sanctificandam creaturam ;
sed simul de utroque procedit ;
quamvis hoc Filio Pater de-
derit, ut quemadmodum de se,
ita de illo quoque procedat.

Ghost doth not proceed from
the Father into the Son, and
from the Son proceed to the
creature, to sanctify the same ;
but proceedeth at once from
both; albeit it is by the Fa
ther's gift to the Son that He
should proceed as from the Fa
ther Himself, so from the Son
also.

ST. AUGUSTINE.
Contra Maximinum Arianum, lib. ii. c. 14, § 1.
[Ed. Bened. (Paris, 1694), torn. viii. p. 703.]

Quseris a me, "Si de sub
stantia Patris est Filius, de
substantia Patris est etiam Spi
ritus Sanctus, cur unus Filius
sit, et alius non sit Filius"?
Ecce respondeo sive capias,
sive non capias. De Patre
est Filius, de Patre est Spiritus
Sanctus : sed ille genitus, iste
procedens : ideo ille Filius est
Patris, de quo est genitus ; iste
autem Spiritus utriusque, quo-
niam de utroque procedit. Sed
ideo cum de illo Filius loque-
retur, ait, De Patre procedit :
quoniam Pater processionis ejus
est auctor, qui talem Filium
genuit, et gignendo ei dedit ut
etiam de ipso procederet Spiri-

You ask me this question :
"If the Son is of the Sub
stance of the Father, and the
Holy Spirit is also of the Sub
stance of the Father, why is
one a Son, the other not a
Son?" Here is my answer,
whether you can take it in or
no. The Son is of the Father,
the Holy Ghost is of the Fa
ther; but the former as be
gotten, the latter as proceed
ing: therefore the one is the
Son of the Father, of Whom
He is begotten; the other is the
Spirit of each, since He pro
ceedeth from each. But when
the Son was speaking of Him,
He said, " He proceedeth from
the Father," for this reason :—
because the Father is the author
of His procession, having be
gotten such a Son, and having,
in begetting Him, given unto
Him that the Holy Ghost should

Appendix added by Editor.

159

tus Sanctus. Nam, nisi pro-
cederet et de ipso, non diceret
discipulis, Accipite Spiritum
Sanctum; eumque insufflando
daret, ut a se quoque procedere
significans, aperte ostenderet
flando, quod spirando dabat
occulte.

proceed from Him. For, were
it not that the Holy Spirit pro
ceeded from Him, He would
not say to His disciples, " Re
ceive ye the Holy Ghost ;" and
bestow Him by breathing,
meaning by this to shew them
that He proceeded from Him
self also, the breathing being
the outward sign of that which
He gave by an inward inspira
tion.

ST. AUGUSTINE.

De Trinitate, lib. iv. §
[Ed. Bened. (Paris,
Sicut ergo Pater genuit, Filius
genitus est : ita Pater misit,
Filius missus est. Sed quem-
admodum qui genuit et qui
genitus est; ita et qui misit
et qui missus est unum sunt;
quia Pater et Filius unum sunt.
Ita etiam Spiritus Sanctus unum
cum eis est ; quia hasc tria
unum sunt. Sicut enim natum
esse est Filio, a Patre esse;
ita mitti est Filio, cognosci
quod ab illo sit. Et sicut
Spiritui Sancto donum Dei esse,
est a Patre procedere, ita mitti,
est cognosci quia ab illo pro
cedat. Nee possumus dicere
quod Spiritus Sanctus et a Filio

29, being part of c. xx.
1694), t. viii. p. 829.J
Therefore, as the Father be
gat, and the Son was begotten,
so the Father sent, and the
Son was sent But even as He
who begat and He who is be
gotten are one ; so He who
sent and He who was sent are
one; because the Father and
the Son are one. So also the
Holy Spirit is one with Them ;
because these Three are one.
For as the being born is to the
Son equivalent to being of the
Father, so the being sent is to
the Son equivalent to being
known to be of Him. And as
to the Holy Spirit, the being
the gift of God is equivalent t©
proceeding from the Father;
so the being sent is equivalent
to being known to proceed from
Him. Nor can we say that the
Holy Ghost doth not proceed
from the Son also ; for it can-

i6o

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

non procedat : neque enim
frustra idem Spiritus et Patris
et Filii Spiritus dicitur. Nee
video quid aliud significare vo-
luerit, cum sufflans in faciem
discipulorum ait, Accipite Spiri
tum Sanctum. Neque ille flatus
corporeus, cum sensu corpora-
liter tangendi procedens ex cor-
pore, substantia Spiritus Sancti
fuit ; sed demonstratio per con-
gruam significationem, non tan-
tum a Patre, sed et a Filio pro
cedere Spiritum Sanctum.
* * * Quod ergo ait Domi-
nus, Quern ego mittam vobis a
Patre ; ostendit Spiritum et Pa
tris et Filii. Quia etiam cum
dixisset, Quern mittet Pater, ad-
didit, in nomine meo ; non ta-
men dixit, Quem mittet Pater
a me : quemadmodum dixit,
Quem ego mittam vobis a Patre :
videlicet ostendens quod totius
divinitatis, vel, si melius dicitur,
deitatis, principium Pater est.
Qui ergo a Patre procedit et
Filio, ad eum refertur a quo
natus est Filius.

not be said in vain that this
same Spirit is the Spirit both
of the Father and of the Son.
Nor do I see what else can be
the meaning of the passage,
where breathing on the face of
His disciples, He said, "Re
ceive ye the Holy Ghost." We
do not for one moment mean
that that bodily breath, palpa
ble, and proceeding from the
Lord's body, was the substance
of the Holy Ghost ; but it was
a proof, by way of congruity,
that the Holy Ghost proceed
eth from the Son as well as
from the Father.
* * * When therefore the
Lord said, " Whom I will send
unto you from the Father"
(St. John xv. 26), He shewed
that He was the Spirit both of
the Father and of the Son.
Because, after saying, " Whom
the Father will send," He add
ed, " in My name." But He
said not, "Whom the Father
will send from Me;" as He
said, " Whom I will send unto
you from the Father:" clearly
indicating that the Father is
the origin of the whole Divinity,
or, if the word be preferable, of
the whole Godhead. He there
fore who proceedeth from the
Father and the Son, is referred
to Him (as origin) of whom the
Son is begotten.

Appendix added by Editor.

161

Ibid., lib. v. sec. 12
* * * Ergo Spiritus Sanctus
ineffabilis est qusdam Patris
Filiique communio ; et ideo
fortasse sic appellator, quia
Patri et Filio potest eadem ap-
pellatio convenire. Nam hoc
ipse proprie dicitur, quod illi
communiter : quia et Pater
spiritus et Filius spiritus, et
Pater sanctus et Filius sanctus.
Ut ergo ex nomine quod uni
que convenit, utriusque com
munio significatur, vocatur do-
num amborum Spiritus Sanc
tus.

(cap. xi.), p. 839.
* * * Therefore the Holy
Ghost is a kind of ineffable
communion of the Father and
of the Son ; and therefore per
haps derives the name of " Spi
rit," because this term may be
applied equally to Father and
to Son. For He is properly
said to be that which They are
in common : because the Fa
ther is spirit, and the Son is
spirit ; and the Father is holy,
and the Son is holy. As, there
fore, by that name which suits
each, the communion of each
with the other is signified, so
the gift of Both is called the
Holy Spirit.

Ibid., lib. xv. sec. 45, 46, 47, p. 998.
Mr. Keble refers his reader to all three sections. They
are too long to be re-produced without abridgement.
After citing the same Scriptures as were cited in the
other extracts, to shew that the Holy Ghost is spoken of
as the Spirit of the Father, and as the Spirit of the Son ;
and that the Son gave Him to His disciples both on
Easter Day and on the day of Pentecost ; St. Augustine
proceeds to reconcile the Scriptures which speak of the
Son bestowing, with those that speak of Him receiving, the
Spirit : —

Propter hoc et Dominus ipse
Jesus Spiritum Sanctum non
solum dedit ut Deus, sed etiam
accepit ut homo; propterea
dictus et plenus gratia et Spiritu
Sancto. Et manifestius de illo

For this reason the Lord
Jesus Himself not only gave
the Holy Spirit as God, but
also received Him as Man :
wherefore He was said to be
full of grace and of the Holy
Spirit (St. John i. 14 ; St. Luke

M

l62

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

scriptum est in Actibus Aposto-
lorum : quoniam unxit eum Deus
Spiritu Sancto. Non utique
oleo visibili, sed dono gratise,
quod visibili significatur un-
guento quo baptizatos ungit
Ecclesia. Nee sane tunc unc-
tus est Christus Spiritu Sancto
quando super eum baptizatum
velut columba descendit : tunc
enim corpus suum, id est, Ec-
clesiam suam pragfigurare dig-
natus est, in qua prsecipue bap-
tizati accipiunt Spiritum Sanc
tum : sed isti mystica et in-
visibili unctione tunc intelli-
gendus est unctus, quando
Verbum Dei caro factum
est. * * *
In eo etiam quod de illo
scriptum est, quod acceperit
a Patre promissionem Spiri
tus sancti et effuderit, utraque
natura monstrata est, et hu-
mana scilicet et divina : acce
pit quippe ut homo, effudit
ut Deus. Nos autem accipere
quidem hoc donum possumus
pro modulo nostro, effundere
autem super alios non utique
possumus; sed ut hoc fiat,
Deum super eos, a quo hoc

iv. i). And still more plainly
is it written of Him in the Acts
of the Apostles (x. 38), that
"God anointed Him with the
Holy Ghost;" not, of course,
with visible oil, but with the
gift of grace, which is signified
by the visible chrism with which
the Church anoints those who
are baptized. Nor do we mean
that Christ was then anointed
with the Holy Ghost, when the
Spirit descended on Him as
a dove at His baptism : for
then He deigned to prefigure
His mystical body, that is His
Church, in which the baptized
pre-eminently receive the Holy
Ghost : but we must conceive
Him to have received that mys
tical and invisible unction when
the Word of God was made
flesh. * * *
In the passage where it is writ
ten of Him that He received
from the Father the promised
gift of the Holy Ghost, and
shed it forth, each of His two
natures is exhibited, His human
and His divine nature ; for He
received it as Man, and shed
it as God. Now we can re
ceive this gift according to our
measure ; but pour it forth on
others, of course we cannot:
but that this may be done, we
make our prayer for them to
God, by whom it is bestowed.

efficitur, invocamus.
St. Augustine then shews (§ 47) that neither the Gene
ration of the Son, nor the Procession of the Spirit, are in

Appendix added by Editor.

163

the sphere of time ; and that we must not apply to the
Spirit the word begotten (which belongs to the Son alone),
nor the word unbegotten (which belongs to the Father
alone). And in the concluding words of the section, he
again (as above, lib. iv. § 29) carefully reconciles the doc
trine of the Double Procession with the doctrine of the
Monarchia ; as follows : —

Quapropter, qui potest in-
• telligere sine tempore genera-
tionem Filii de Patre, intelligat
sine tempore processionem Spi
ritus Sancti de utroque. Et qui
potest intelligere in eo quod ait
Filius, Sicut habet Pater vitam
in semetipso, sic dedit Filio vi
tam habere in semetipso, non
sine vita, existenti jam Filio
vitam Patrem dedisse, sed ita
eum sine tempore genuisse ut
vita quam Pater Filio gignendo
dedit, coaeterna sit vitte Patris
qui dedit; intelligat sicut ha
bet Pater in semetipso ut de
illo procedat Spiritus Sanctus,
sic dedisse Filio ut de illo pro
cedat idem Spiritus Sanctus, et
utrumque sine tempore; atque
ita dictum Spiritum Sanctum de
Patre procedere ut intelligatur,
quod etiam procedit de Filio,

Wherefore, whoever can un
derstand how the generation of
the Son of the Father is before
all time, may equally well un
derstand how the procession of
the Holy Spirit from Both, is
before all time also. And as
you can understand the passage
where the Son saith, "As the
Father hath life in Himself, so
hath He given to the Son to
have life in Himself" (St. John
v. 26), to mean, not that the
Son was lifeless until the Father
gave Him life, but that the Fa
ther begat Him so indepen
dently of all time, that the life
which the Father gave to the
Son in begetting Him, was co-
eternal with the life of the Fa
ther who gave it ; so you can
understand that even as the
Father hath it in Himself that
the Spirit should proceed from
Him, so He granted to the
Son that this same Spirit should
proceed from Him also ; and
in each case independently of
time. And again the affirma
tion that the Holy Spirit pro
ceeds from the Father, must be
understood to mean that the
fact of His proceeding from

M 2

164

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

de Patre esse Filio. Si enim
quicquid habet de Patre habet
Filius, de Patre habet utique
ut ex illo procedat Spiritus
Sanctus. Sed nulla ibi tem-
pora cogitentur, qua? habent
prius et posterius; quia om-
nino nulla ibi sunt. Quomodo
ergo non absurdissime Filius
diceretur amborum, cum sicut
Filio pra?stat essentiam sine
initio temporis, sine ulla mu-
tabilitate natura? de Patre ge-
neratio ; ita Spiritui Sancto prae-
stet essentiam, sine ullo initio
temporis, sine ulla mutabilitate
natura?, de utroque processio ?
Ideo enim cum Spiritum Sanc
tum genitum non dicamus, di-
cere tamen non audemus inge-
nitum, ne in hoc vocabulo vel
duos Patres in ilia Trinitate,
vel duos qui non sunt de alio
quispiam suspicetur. Pater
enim solus est non de alio, ideo
solus appellator ingenitus, non
quidem in Scripturis, sed in
consuetudine disputantium, et
de re tanta. sermonem qualem
valuerint proferentium. Filius
autem de Patre natus est; et
Spiritus Sanctus de Patre prin-
cipaliter, et ipso sine ullo tem
poris intervallo dante, commu
niter de utroque procedit. Di-

the Son also, is a gift from the
Father to the Son. For if the
Son hath from the Father all
that He hath, then, of course,
He hath it from the Father
that the Holy Spirit proceedeth
from Him. But all this must
be conceived as independent
of time, unconditioned by before
and after ; for no such terms
have place in the matter. Most
absurd, then, would it be to
say that the Spirit was Son of
Both, seeing that, as the Son
derives His being, without be
ginning of time, without change
of nature, from His generation
from the Father, so the Spirit
derives His being, without be
ginning of time or change of
nature, from His procession
from Both. For this reason,
while we refuse to speak of the
Holy Spirit as begotten, we
dare not speak of Him as un
begotten, lest by using this term
we should seem to imply two
Fathers in the Trinity, or two
Self-existent Ones. For the
Father is the only self-existent
one ; therefore He alone is said
to be unbegotten, not indeed in
Scripture, but in theological
language, when men wish to
use terms befitting so great a
theme. But the Son is born of
the Father ; and the Holy Ghost
proceedeth/hw* the Father prin
cipally, and— the Father grant
ing this before all time— from
Both in common. He would

Appendix added by Editor.

165

ceretur autem Filius Patris et
Filii, si, quod abhorret ab om
nium sanorum sensibus, eum
ambo genuissent. Non igitur
ab utroque est genitus sed pro
cedit ab utroque amborum Spi
ritus.

be termed, however, the Son of
Father and Son, if (a horrible
supposition) He had been be
gotten of Both. Therefore He is
not begotten of Father and Son,
but proceedeth from each of
Them, being the Spirit of Both.

ST. ATHANASIUS.
De Sententid Dionysii, § 17.
[Ed. Bened., Paris, 1698, torn. i. p. 254 F.]
This Epistle of St. Athanasius is an animated defence
of his predecessor in the See of Alexandria, Dionysius,
when the Arians claimed him as favouring their views.
In the following passage, St. Athanasius is quoting words
of Dionysius, to shew that he was perfectly orthodox as
to the indivisibility of the Godhead. " The Names I have men-

" rutv vir' i/Mov Xe^devTcov
ovofidrav eKaarov d^copio-rov
io~ri Kal dBualperov tov ttXtj-
aiov JJarepa etrrov, Kal irplv
irraydyw rbv Tibv, iarf/Aava
Kal tovtov iv rm JJarpi' Tibv
irrrjyayov, el Kal /irj irpoeipr\-
Keiv rbv JJarepa, rrdvrcas av
iv rw Tim irpoeiXrjirTo' fir/iov
Ilvevfia rrpoaeQr)Ka, dXX' a/Ma
Kal TrbQev Kal Bid rivos r\Kev
ifprjpjj.oaa. Oi Be ovk iaaaiv,
on yJyre drrrjXXorpianai Ha-
rrjp Tlov y Harrjp' irpo<i-
KarapKriKov yap io~ri rr/s
avvafyeias to ovo/xa' ovre o
Tib<; drratKiarai tov UaTjOos"
¦f) yap Uarpos irpoo-qyopia
SrjXoi rrjv KOivaviaV ev re

tioned cannot be separated or
divided one from another. I
named the Father ; and before
I made mention of the Son,
I indicated Him in the Father.
I made mention of the Son;
and even if I had not pre
viously spoken of the Father,
He would have been antici
pated in the Son. I added
the Holy Ghost ; but in doing
so, I implied both Him from
whom, and Him through whom
He came. But those heretics
know not that the Father, as
Father, cannot be estranged
from the Son ; for the name
is of itself suggestive of their
conjunction. Nor is the Son
removed from the Father; for
the name of Father declares

1 66

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

rals -yepo-lv avrwv icrri to Their fellowship. And in Their
Ilvevfia, fi-nre rov irifinrovros, hands is the SPirit> incaPable
/ - i / s ' of being parted from Him who
firjre rov Aepovros ovvafievov ° F
/ n tt» , , / sends, or from Him who bears
arepeaaai. Hay; ovv o tovtois „. , T , .,
r Him. How then can I, while
Xpoifievos toi, ovofiaai /^e- uging these nameS; suppose k
plo-dai ravra Kal d(j><opla8ai possible for them to be divided
iravreX&s dXXrjXwv olop,ai ; " and separated one from the
Kal fier' bXlya ivdyei Xe- other?"
ymv "ovrrn fiev v/j.eis eh And shortly afterwards he
„ \ , rp /c; v 1,/r /j (Dionysius) adds: — "Thus do
re rrjv lpiaoa rrjv Movaoa v J '
.. ,ss / \ we expand the Unity into the
rrXarvvoixev aoiaiperov, Kai „.. ., ,•¦,-
v r Irmity, without dividing it:
rrjv TpiaSa nraXiv dftelvrov and again sum up the Trinity
ek rrjv MovdBa avyKe^aXai- int0 the Unity without dimin-
ovfieda." ishing it."
Expositio Fidei, § 4. [Ed. Bened., t. i. p. 102 A.J
To Be ayiov JJvevp,a, eKiro- The Holy Ghost, being that
pevpa ov rov JJarpbs, del which proceedeth from the Fa-
io-nv iv rah Xep°l to£) ireu- ther' is eVer in the hands (at
„ „ the disposal) of the Father who
ttovtos llarpos Kai rov <be- j o j c ., o
^ ^ sendeth, and of the Son who
povros Tiov, BC ov iirXijpmae beareth Him, through whom
He filled all things.

ra rravra.

Contra Arianos, Oratio iii. § 24. [Ed. Bened., t. i. p. 573 R]
Tpdcpei rolvvv 6 'Iadwrj*; St. John writes thus : "Here-
ovra> Xiycov 'Ev rovrq> yi- by know we that we dwell in
vwa-KOfiev on iv avrai p,ivo- Him, and He in us, because
(lev Kal airbs iv rjjuv, on He hath given us of His Spirit"
in rov Jlvevfjiaro^ avrov Be- i1 Jonn iy- x3)- Therefore it
Ba>Kev r)iuv. Ovkovv Bid ttjv is ^ reason of the grace of the
BiBofievrjv fjixlv rov JJvevjjia- SPirit Siven unt0 us that we

ros x°-Plv ^ets re iv aurw
yivbfjieQa, Kal avrbs iv rjfuv
Kal iireiBr) to JJvevfia rov
@eov icrri, Bud rovrov yivo/ni-
vov iv yp.iv eiKorcos Kal rjp,ei<;,
exovres rb JJvevfia, vop.1,^6-

come to be in Him and He
in us. And since He is the
Spirit of God, it is through His
coming to be in us, that we
accordingly, having the Spirit,
are deemed to come to be in
God. And thus is God in us.

Appendix added by Editor.

167

fieOa iv r&> @eS yeveadai'
Kal oi/T<»? iarlv 6 @ebs iv
f/pJiv. Ovk apa ms eariv 6
Tib<; iv rm JJarpl, ovtco Kal
rjfieis yivbp,eda iv ra> JJarpl'
011 yap Kal 6 Tibs fierex^v
iarl rov JJvevfiaros, 'tva Bid
rovro Kal iv tm JJarpl ykvr\-
rai' ovBe Xap./3avcov earl to
JJvevp,a, aXXd piaXXov avrb<;
rots iraai rovro xoPVY6^' Kai
011 to JJvevfia rbv Abyov av-
vdtrrei rw JJarpl, dXXa fidX-

It is not then after the manner
in which the Son is in the Fa
ther, that we come to be in the
Father. For the Son does not
partake of the Spirit in order
that He may so come to be in
the Father. Nor is He one
who receiveth the Spirit, but
rather Himself bestows Him
upon all. And it is not the
Spirit who connects the Word
with the Father, but rather the

Xov to JJvevp,a rrapa rov Ab- Spirit is a recipient from the
yov Xap./3dvei. Word.
Ep. ad Serapion, I. § 1. [Ed. Bened., t. ii. p. 648 B.]
* * * igeXdovTcov p.ev rivmv There are some who have
a7ro rcov 'Apeiavcov Bid rrjv left the ranks of the Arians
Kara tov Tiov rov @eov fiXaa- because of their blasphemies
<pr)p,lav, (ppovovvrav Be Kara against the Son of God, but
rov dylov JJvevfiaro^, Kal have themselves entertained
Xeybvrwv avrb p,r) pbvov Krlcr- ideas injurious to the Holy
fia, dXXa Kal rmv Xenovpyi- Ghost, saying that He is not
kcov irvevp.drcov ev aiirb elvai, oniy a creature, but also one
Kal /3adp.a> pibvov avrb Biacpe- 0f the ministering spirits, dif-
peiv r&v dyyeXcov. Tovro Be fering from the angels in rank
iaTi irpbs pkv rov<; ' ' Apeidvovs only. They affect to be com-
Trpoairoirjrbs p>dxv' dXrjdrj'i bating the Arians ; but their
Be dvriXoyia irpbs rrjv eio-eftrj real contention is against the
rrlariv. Christian faith.
Ibid., p. 649 B.
Tovrwv yap Kal davp,daeiev One may well wonder at
av ns rrjv dvoiav, on rbv their folly . for) refusing to call
Tibv rov ©eov p,h deXovres
, , \' -v" ... the Son of God a creature,
Krlo-jxa eivai, Kai «aA.co? 76
Kara rovro fypovovvres, irSis (and so far right,) how can

to IJvevfia rov Tiov Kricrp,a ^ endure even to hear the
k&v dKovo-ai tvevxovro; Kal ^ gon called a crea.
yap ei Boa rrjv irpos rov f ., , r. ,
JJarepa rov Abyov ev6ryra, ture ? For if the Sons unity

1 68

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

oil QeXovaiv elvai roiv ye-
vrjriov avrov rbv Tibv * * *
Bid rl to JJvevp>a to ayiov, rb
tt]v avrr]v exov evbrr/ra rrpo'i
rbv Tibv, yjv avrb<; e%6(. irpbs
rov JJarepa, Krlop-a Xeyovcri ;
* * * El yap i<f>povovv
6p6S><! "irepl tov Aoyov, e<ppo-
vovv iiyi&s Kal irepl rov JJvev-
p.aro'i, b Trap a rov JJarpos
iKrropeverai, Kal rov Tiov
IBiov ov, Trap' avrov BIBorai
roif p,a9r]Tai<s Kal irdai roi<;
iriarevovaiv els avrov.

D.

with the Father forbids them
to regard Him as one of created
beings, * * * how can they call
the Holy Spirit a creature, see
ing that He has the same unity
with the Son, that the Son has
with the Father?
For if they conceived rightly
of the Word, they would con
ceive soundly of the Spirit, which
proceedeth from the Father,
and being a property of the
Son, is from Him given to His
disciples and to all who believe
on Him.

Ibid., § 6 [p. 653 C]
Kal rrjv p.ev rrdaav deoXo- Wishing to sum up all the-

ylav Kai rfjv rjpbcuv reXeioxriv,
iv fi avvrprrev r)p,a$ eavrw Kal
BC eavrov r& JJarpl, iv rovrat
o-vplirX7)pa>v, irapijyyeiXe rots
pbadrjTais' " JJopevOivres, p,a-
drjrevaare, irdvra rd eOvr),
f3arrTl%ovres avrovs ets rb
ovop,a rov JJarpos, Kal rov
iov, Kai rov ayiov llvev-
p.aro<}'"

ology, and the whole process
of our initiation whereby He
knits us in communion to Him
self, and through Himself to
the Father, He charged His
disciples, " Go, make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them
into the Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost."

Ibid., § 12 [661 C]
Athanasius shews that Moses clearly distinguished the
Holy Spirit from Angels. In Exod. xxxiii. I — 15, he de
clined the offered "Angel" as guide, and claimed that "the
Presence" should go with them, by " the Presence" mean
ing the Holy Spirit, as Isaiah shews, lxiii. 1 1 — 14 : "Where
is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shep
herd of His flock ? where is He that put His Spirit within
him ? ... As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit
of the Lord caused him to rest ; so didst Thou lead Thy
people."

Appendix added by Editor.

169

Ibid, § 14
'H yap ay la Kal p,aKapla
Tpias dBiaipero<; Kal rjvmp^evi)
rrpbs eavrr/v iari' Kal Xeyo-
pievov rov JJarpb<;, rrpbaean
Kal 6 tovtov Abyov Kal to
iv t(3 Tim JJvevp.a. 'Edv Be
Kal 6 Tibv 6vop,d^r]rai, iv rm
Tim icrnv 6 JJarr/p, Kal rb
JJvevfia ovk eariv e'/cro? tow
Abyov. Mia yap ianv e'/c
toO ITaT/ao? %apts BC Tiov
iv JJvevfJ,an dylm irXrjpov-
fievr).

[p. 663 B.]
For the Holy and Blessed
Trinity is indivisible and united
in itself. And when mention
is made of the Father, there
is also included the Son of the
Father, and the Spirit who is
in the Son. And if the Son
be named, in the Son we have
the Father, nor is the Spirit
separable from the Word. For
there is one grace from the
Father, fulfilled through the
Son in the Holy Spirit.

Per contra, Mr. Keble refers us to § 16 [p. 665 B.], a pas
sage which, taken alone, might seem to make against the
doctrine of the double Procession : —

ovBe yap mvop.daQr) iv rals
Tpafyalv vibs rb JJveijfia, iva
fir] dSeXcpb<s vofiicrOfj' ovBe
vibs rov Tiov, 'iva p,rj rrdrrrros
vooiro 0 JJarijp' dXX' 6 Tibs,
rov JJarpos vibs, Kal rb JJvev-

Never once in the Scriptures
is the Spirit called Son, lest
a Brother should be imagined ;
nor yet Son of the Son, lest
the Father should be conceived
to be a grandfather. But the
Son is the Son of the Father,

fi,a rov JJarpbi rrvevpa eiprf and the Spirit is said t0 be tne
raf Kal ovrms rijs dylas Spirit of the Father. And thus
TpidBos jxia 17 6ebrrj<s Kal we have one Godhead of the
•jtLotk eariv. Holy Trinity and one faith.
Ibid., § 19, 20, 21 [p. 669, B, C, D, E.]
tou roivvv JJarpos (pmrbs The Father then being light
,, „ «,% „,' » > ' (1 John i. 5), and the Son being
ovrov, tou oe Tiov airavyaa- ; J . J" 6
His brightness (Heb. 1. 3), we
fjt,aTO$ avrov, e^eariv opav Kal may see, in the Son, the Spirit
iv ra, Tim to IJvevfia, iv & in whom we axe illumined (Eph.
i. 17). Seeing then that we
(pmrit;6/j,e0a. rm Be JJvevp,aTi are inumined by the Spirit, it
§mTvC,op,ivav r)p,mv, 0 Xpiaros is Christ who illumines us in

170

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

icrnv 6 iv avrm (Jxoti'Jjdv. ird-
Xiv re rov JJarpos ovros rrt]-
yrjV, rov Be Tiov rrorap,ov Xe-
yofjuevov, rrlveiv Xey6p,e8a rb
JJvevfia. rb Be JJvevfia rrori-
tpfievoi rbv Xpiarbv rrlvo/iev.
* * * ^woiroiovfievmv Be
ijfiwv iv rm JJvevfiari %rjv
avrov b Xpiaros iv rjpTiv Xe-
yerai * * *
§ 20. Kal yap marrep fio-
voyevrjv b Tibs icrnv ovrm
Kal rb JJvevfia irapd rov Tiov
BiSo/ievov Kal irefirrbfievov, Kal
avro ev iari Kal 011 rroXXd,
ovBe eK 7roXXcov ev dXXd fio-
vov avrb JJvevfia. 'Evbs yap
ovros rov Tiov tov ^mvrov
Abyov, filav elvai Bel reXelav
Kal irXrjpr) rrjv dyiao-riKrjV
Kal (pmnariKrjp ^cocrav ivep-
yeiav avrov Kal Bmpedv, f/nv
iK JJarpbv Xeyerai iKiropev-
eadai, iireiBr) irapd tov Ab
yov tov eK JJarpos bfioXoyov-
fievov iKXapbirei, Kai diroareX-
Xerai, Kal BiSorai.
'ApeXei 0 fiev Tibv rrapd
rov JJarpbv drroareXXerai' 0
Be Tibs rb JJvevfia aTroareX-
Xei. Kal b fiev Tibv rbv JJare
pa Bo^d^ei' rb Be JJvevfia Bo-
£d%ei rbv Tibv. Kal b pev Tibv
(f>7jaiv, " *A -rjKovaa irapa rov
JJarpos, ravra Kal "XaXm els
rov Koafiov'" rb Be Ilvevpa
sk rov Tiov Xafifidvei. Kal
o fiev Tios iv rm ovofiari rov

Him (John i. 9). Again, the
Father being a fountain (Jer.
ii. 13), and the Son being called
a river (Ps. lxv. 10), we are
said to drink the Spirit (1 Cor.
xiii. 13) ; and being made to
drink of the Spirit, we drink
Christ (1 Cor. x. 4).
# * * When we are being
quickened by the Spirit, Christ
Himself is said to live within
us (Gal. ii. 20). * * *
§ 20. For as the Son is only-
begotten, so the Spirit also,
given and sent from the Son,
is Himself too one, and not
many nor made up of many ;
but one simple Spirit. For
inasmuch as the Son, the living
Word, is one, one also must
needs be, perfect and complete,
the sanctifying and illuminating
living energy and gift of the
Son, which is said to proceed
from the Father ; since from
the Word, who is confessedly
of the Father, He (the Spirit)
shines forth, and is sent forth,
and is given.
Clearly the Son is sent forth
from the Father (John iii. 16) ;
but the Son sends forth the
Spirit (xvi. 7). And the Son
glorifies the Father (xvii. 4) ;
but the Spirit glorifies the Son
(xvi. 14). And the Son saith,
" What I have heard from the
Father, that I speak also to
the World" (viii. 26) ; but the
Spirit receives of the Son (xvi.
14). And the Son came in the

Appendix added by Editor.

171

JJarpbv i?X0e- " To Be JJvev
fia to ayiov," <$>r)o-lv 6 Tibs,
" o "irefityei 6 JJarrfp iv rm
ovofiari fiov." Toiavrrjv rd-
%iv Kal (fiiio-iv exei rb JJvevfia
irpbs rbv Tibv, o'iav b Tibs
e'^et irpbs rbv JJarepa.

name of the Father ; but " the
Holy Spirit" (saith the Son)
"which the Father will send
in My name." Thus the Spi
rit hath a like rank and nature
in relation to the Son, as the
Son hath in relation to the
Father.

Ibid., § 23 [p. 671].
ovrm Be acppayi^bfievoi, el- Being thus sealed, we be-

Kormv Kal Koivmvol Betas (pv-
aems yivbfieOa, mv elrrev b
JJerpov, Kal ovrm /xeTe%et
7rao-a 17 ktIctis tov Aoyov
iv rm JJvevfiari.
§ 24 [p.
ElBeb JJ ar rj p B id tov, Abyov
iv JJvevfiari dyim Krl^ei ra
rrdvra Kal dvaKaivi%ei, rroia
bfioibrrjv r/ avyyeveia t<3 kti-
%ovn rrpbv ra Krlafiara ; * * *
EIkcov tov Tiov Xeyerai
Kal eari rb JJvevfia' " Otis"
yap " rrpoeyvm Kai nrpompiare
o~vfifibp<povs rrjv eiKovos rov
Tiov avrov." * * *
{§ 27 [P-
El Be rovro u!ev del rb
avrb icrri Kal fiedeterov, ra
Be KrCafiara fiere\ovrd ianv
avrov' ovk av e'ir\ rb JJvevfia
rb ayiov ovre dyyeXos, ovre
oXm's Krlo-fia, dXX' 'IBiov rov
Abyov, rrap' ov BiBbfievov fie-
T6%erat rrapd rmv Kncrfiarmv.
* * * tv bv, fidXXov Be tov
Abyov evbv ovros 'IBiov, Kai
rov ©eov evbv ovros IBiov Kai
bfioovaibv ion.
§ 28. Eh &ebv iv rf, iic-
KXyaia KrjpvrreTai, "6 irrl

come consequently partakers
also of the divine nature, as
St. Peter said (1 Pel. i. 4) ; and
thus all created beings partake
of the Word in the Spirit.
673 B.J
But if the Father creates and
renews all things through the
Word in the Holy Spirit, what
homogeneity can there possibly
be between the Creator and
the things created ? * * *
The Spirit is called, and is,
an Image of the Son. For we
read, "Whom He foreknew,
He also did predestinate to
be conformed to the Image of
His Son" (Rom. viii. 29).
676 A, C]
But if this (the Spirit) is ever
the same and communicable,
and if created beings partake
thereof; then the Holy Spirit
cannot be either angel or cre
ated being, but a property of
the Word, by whose donation
He is communicated to created
beings. * * *
* * * Being one, or rather
a property of the Word who
is one, He (the Spirit) is also
a property of the one God and
consubstantial with Him.

172

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

irdvrmv, Kal Bid rrdvrmv, Kal
ev iraaiv. ihiri iravrav
fiev b JJarrjp, ms dpxv Kal
rrt\yr\' " Bid irdvrmv" Be Bid
rov Abyov' " iv iraai '' Be iv
rm JJvevfiari rm dyitp.
§ 30 (commenting on 1 Cor.
xii. 4 — 6). a yap rb JJvevfia
eKaarm Biaipei, ravra irapd
rov JJarpbv Bid rov Abyov
Xoprjyeirai.
(On John xiv. 23). "Evda
yap to (pmv, e'«et Kal to dirav-
yaafia' Kal evda to dirav-
yacrfia, iKel Kal r) rovrov
ivepyela Kal avyoeiBrjs %<ZjOts.
ST. CYRIL (OF
Synodal Epistle to
Orav Be Xeyrj irepl rov
JJvebfiaros, 'Ekcivos ifie Bo-
%daei' voovvrev opdms, oi>x
ms Bbtyqs iiriBea rijs irap'
erepov <f>ap,ev, rbv eva Xpia-
rbv Kal Tibv rrjv irapd rov
dylov JJvevfiarov Bbfyv eXeiv'
on fiTjBe Kpelrrov avrov Kal
virep avrov rb JJvevfia avrov.
iirel Be els evBei^iv rrjs eav-
rov OeoTTfrov iKexpyro rm
dyim JJvevfiari, irpbs fieya-
XovpyiXov, BeSbfjaadai irap'
avrov (prjcriv, ibairep dv el
Kai riv Xeyoi rmv KaO' vfidv
irepi rrjv ivovarjv lo~xvos avT<p
rvxov, rfyovv iiriarrjfirjv rr)v
e<p' ormovv, on Bo^dcroval fie.
ei yap Kal eariv iv viroardaei
to JJvevfia IBiKy, Kal Brf Kal

One God is preached in the
Church, " Who is over all, and
through all, and in all" (Eph.
iv. 6). " Over all," the Father,
as origin and fountain: "through
all," through the Word : "in
all," in the Holy Ghost. * * *
§ 30. For what things the
Spirit distributes to each, these
things are supplied from the
Father, through the Word. * * *
For where the light is, there is
the brightness also. And where
the brightness is, there also is
its energy and radiant grace.
Alexandria).
Nestorius, § 10.
But when He saith concern
ing the Spirit, " He shall glorify
Me," a sound divine does not
explain it to mean that because
He needed glory from another,
Christ the only Son of God re
ceived glory from the Holy
Spirit ; because His Spirit can
not be His superior.
But when, for the manifesta
tion of His own Divinity, He
used the Holy Spirit for the
doing of great deeds, He speaks
of Himself as glorified by Him;
just as one of you might say of
his strength haply or knowledge
of any subject, "They will
make me glorious." For though
the Spirit has a specific person
ality, and may be conceived as

Appendix added by Editor.

173

voeirai k<z#' eavrb, Ka9b JJvev
fia iari, Kal ovx Tios, dXX'
ovv iariv ovk dXXorpiov av
rov. JJvevfia yap dXr]8elas
mvbfiaarai, Kal eari Xpiarov
7) dXrfQeia' Kal irpoxeirai irap
avrov, Kaddirep dfieXei Kai eK
rov 0eov Kal FJarpbv. ivep-
yvaav roiyapovv rb JJvevfia
Bid veipos rmv ayimv airo-
arbXcov rd irapdBofja fiera
rb dveXOeiv rbv Kvpiov r/fimv
'Jrjaovv Xpiarov els tov ov-

existing by Itself, as Spirit, not
as Son, yet It is not alien to
the Son. For It is called the
Spirit of truth, and the truth
is Christ. And It is shed forth
from the Son, as, of course, also
out of" God the Father. There
fore, when by the hand of the
holy Apostles the Spirit wrought
those wonderful works after our
Lord Jesus Christ's return to
heaven, It glorified Him. For
Christ was " believed on in the

pavbv, eBo^aaev avrbv. iiria- worid>» as truly God, when He
revQr] yap on ©ebv Kara
<f>vaiv iarlv, irdXiv avrov
ivepymv Bid tov IBiov IJvev-
fiaros. Bid rovro Kai ecpaaKev,
on e/c tou i/iov Xvifrerai Kai
dvayyeXei iifiiv. Kai ovn

began again (at Pentecost) to
work through His Spirit. Where
fore also He said, " He shall
receive of Mine and shall shew
it unto you." Again, we by
no means say that the Spirit,

rrov fafih, ms iK furotfjs rb ^ ^ q{ participation; is wise

JJvevfia iari aocpov re Kai
Bvvarbv. iroXvreXeiov yap Kai
dirpoaBeev ian iravrbs dya-
6ov. iireiBr) Be rr)v rov JJa
rpos Bvvdfiemv Kal aocf>iav,
tovt eariv Tiov, JJvevfia ia
riv, avroxpVpQ' ^<JTt o-o<pia
Kal Bvvafiiv.

and powerful. For It is abund
ant and self-sufficing in all that
is good. But being the Spirit
of the Father's Power and Wis
dom, (that is, of the Son,) the
Spirit is in very deed wisdom
and power.

Anathema IX. At the end of Cyril's letter to Nestorius
de excommunicatione.
einv &)a\ rbv eva Kvpiov If any one affirms that our
'Irjaovv Xpiarov BeBbgaadai one Lord Jesus Christ was glo-
irapa rov JJvebfiaros ms dX- rifled by the Spirit, in that He
¦ When the Greek Fathers speak of the Spirit coming from the Son, they
use the preposition irapb. (from the side of) ; when from the Father, they use
the preposition ix (from as from a centre). Unfortunately, this nice distinction
cannot be neatly preserved in Latin or English.

174

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

Xorpla Bvvdfiei rfj BC avrov
Xpmfievov, Kal irap" avrov Xa-
fibvra rb ivepyeiv Bvvaadai
Kara irvevpdrmv aKaddprmv
Kal to irXrfpovv elv dvOpm-
irovs rdv 6eoat)pelas, Kal
ovxi or) fiaXXov ioiov avrov
rb JJvevpa, <f>7]al, BC ov Kai
evTjpyrjKe ras Oeoarjfieiav' dvd-
depa earm.

used the power which He had
through the Spirit as a borrowed
power, and in that He from
the Spirit received the power
of expelling unclean spirits and
accomplishing those miracles
He wrought for mankind, and
not rather that it was His own
proper Spirit through which He
worked His miracles, — let him
be anathema.

ST. BASIL.
liber de Spiritu Sancto, c. xvi.
[Ed. Bened., Paris, 1730, t. iii. p. 31 C]

B. Kal ovrm S' dv rb awa
kes Kal dBiaiperov Kara ira-
aav ivepyeiav dirb JJarpos
Kal Tiov rov JJvev/iaros Bi-
Baxdelrfs. . . .
C. Ov fifjv iireiBrj irpmrov
ivrav&a rov JJvevfiaros b
AirbaroXov iirefivrja07], Kal
Bevrepov tov Tiov, Kal rplrov
rov ©eov Kal JJarpos, r)Brj
XPV KaObXov vofii^eiv dvrea-
rpd$6ai rr)v rdgiv. ' Airb
yap rrjv r)perepav axeaems
ttjv dpxrjv eXafSeV iireiBr)
viroBexbfievoi rd Bmpa, irpm
rov ivrvyxdvofievov rm Biave-
fiovrf elra ivvoovfiev rbv diro-

areCXavra'

eira avayofiev ttjv

evdvfirjaiv iirl rr)v irrjyr)v Kal
alrlav ra>v dyadmv. Mddoiv
S' dv rr)v irpbv JJarepa Kal
Tiov rov IJvevparos Koivm-
viav Kai e'« rmv Brfpiovpyrj-
fidrmv rmv eg dpxfjs.

B. Thus mayst thou learn
the Spirit's conjunction and
practical inseparability from the
Father and the Son. . . .
C. Because the Apostle in
this passage (1 Cor. xii. 4 — 6)
mentions the Spirit first, and the
Son second, and God the Father
third, we must by no means infer
generally that the order of the
Trinity is inverted. For it was
in respect of His relation to
us that he began with the Spi
rit ; since in receiving the gifts
we first come into direct rela
tion with the Distributor. Next,
we think of Him Who sent the
Spirit. And lastly, we ascend
in thought to the fountain and
author of good things. Thou
mayst also learn the commu
nion which the Spirit hath with
the Father and the Son from
the first creation of the world.

Appendix added by Editor.

175

Ibid., c. xvii. p. 36 E.

El Br) rm JJvevfiari irpe-
rreiv o'lovrai fibvm rr)v vira-
pldfirjaiv, fiavdavermaav, on
Kara rbv avrov rpoirov, av-
veKtpmveirai rm Kvplm ro
JJvevfia, Kad' bv Kal 6 Tibs
rm JJarpl. To yap ovofia
JJarpbv Kal Tiov Kal dylov
JJvevfiaros bfioims iKB'eBorai.
lis roivvv exei o 1 lov irpov
rbv JJarepa, ovrm irpbs rbv
Tibv rb JJvevfia, Kara rr)v iv
rm fiairrlafian irapaBeBo-
fievrjv rov Xoyov avvragiv.
El Be rb JJvevfia rm Tim
avvreraKrai b Be Tios rm
JJarpl, BrjXovoTi Kal to JJvev
fia rm Uarpl.

But if they suppose that a
subordinate place in the Tri
nity is proper for the Spirit
only, let them bethink them
that the Spirit is proclaimed
with the Son, precisely as the
Son is proclaimed with the
Father. For the name of Fa
ther, and of Son, and of Holy
Spirit is co-ordinately uttered.
As the Son therefore stands re
lated to the Father, so the
Spirit stands related to the
Son, according to the arrange
ment of the baptismal formula.
But if the Spirit is classed with
the Son, and the Son with the
Father, then clearly the Spirit
is classed with the Father.

Ibid., c. xviii. (p. 38 E.)
Kal ovk ivrevdev fibvov rr)v Nor are these the only proofs
Kard rr)v Svaiv Koivmvlav ai of the SPirit's community of
nature with the Father, but
airoBei%eis, aXX' on Kal e'« tjiere ;s aiso the fact that He
tou @eov elvai Xeyerai' ovx is said t0 be of God: not in
mvrdirdvraiKTOv®eov,dXX' the sense in which all things
„ _. „ , n , , may be said to be of God, but
ms eK tov 0eov irpoeXaov, ov J . . ,
r as proceeding {irpoiKaov) out ot
yevvr/rms d>v b Tibv, aXX' mv q0(jj — not by wav 0f genera-
irvevfia arbfiaros avrov. irdv- tion as the Son, but as Spirit
rms Be oZre rb arbfia fieXov, of His mouth. But as by
„ v , ' v tt - " mouth " we in nowise mean
ovre 7rvori Xvofievn to llvevua, .
1 n ' a bodily member, so by Spirit
dXXa Kal to arbfia Qeoirpe- we jn nowise mean dissolving
irmv, Kal to JJvevfia ovaia breath; but we use the word
" mouth " in a divine sense,
&aa, dyiaafiov Kvpia, rrjv and by Spirit we mean a liv-
piev olKeiorrjros Brfkovfievrfs ing substance, with the prerog-

176

Processio Spiritus Sancti.

ivrevGev, rov Be rpoirov rrjs
virdpgemv dpprjrov (pvXaaao-
fievov. dXXa Kai JJvevfia
Xpiarov Xeyerai d>v mKeim/ie-
vov Kara ttjv cpvaiv avrm. Bid
rovro e'i nv JJvevfia Xpiarov
ovk exei, ovros ovk eariv av
rov. 68ev fibvov dglav Bog-
a^ei tov Kvpiov, iKeivov ydp
ifie Bogdaei, cprjaiv, ovx ws
r) KTiaiv, dXX' mv JJvevfia rrjv
aXrjOeiav rpavmv iK(f>alvov iv
eavrm rrjv aXrjOeiav, Kal ms
JJvevfia aofylav rbv Xpiarov
rrjv rov 0eov Bvvafiiv Kal rrjv
rov @eov aocplav iv rm eav-
rov fieyedei diroKaXvirrov. Kal
mv JJapaKXrjros Be iv eavrv
XapaKT7]pl^ei rov diroarelXav-
ros avrov JJapaKXr/rov rr)v
ayaQorvfra, Kal iv rm eavrov
d%imfian rrjv fieyaXmavvrjv
eficpaivei rrjv tov 68ev irpo-
rjXOev.

ative of sanctifying; so that
the closeness of the relation
ship is hence discernible, while
the mode of His being remains
ineffable. But further, He is
called the Spirit of Christ, as
being by nature closely re
lated to Him. Therefore we
read, " If any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of His." Whence only He
worthily glorifies the Lord ; for
the Lord said, " He shall glo
rify Me ; " not as a creature
might, but as the Spirit of truth
clearly in Himself shewing forth
the truth, and as the Spirit of
wisdom, revealing Christ, "the
power of God and the wisdom
of God," in His own grandeur.
And as the Paraclete, He in
Himself expresses the goodness
of the Paraclete (the Son) who
sends Him : and in His own
dignity He shews the greatness
of Him (the Son), from Whom
He (the Spirit) proceeded (npo-
r/XQev — not itciropeverai).

Ibid., c. xxvi. p. 53 E.
Aevrepov Be vovs ovBe avrbs Nor is that other meaning
airb/3XrjTos, on mairep iv rm to be discarded, that as the Fa-
Tim bpdrai b JJarrjp, ovrmv b ther is beheld in the Son, so is
Tibs ev rm JJvevfiari. the Son beheld in the Spirit.

ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES,
FROM MR. KEBLE'S INTERLEAVED GREEK
TESTAMENT.

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
Date of the Epistle, plain from ch. xv. 25 — 28 compared
with Acts xx. 3, xxiv. 17.
§ I. Salutation (i. 1 — 7).
§ II. Assurances of his interest in them (8 — 15).
| III. Of Justification by Faith only (i. 16 — v. 21).
a. Subject of § III. proposed (i. 16, 17).
/3. Foundation of the Doctrine in the misery of men (i. 18 — iii.
20);
a. of the Gentiles (i. 18 — ii. 10);
b. of the Jews (ii. 11 — iii. 8);
c. of both, summed up (iii. 9 — 20).
y. The misery of unregenerate man having been fully proved,
the true method of justification is
a. stated (21 — 28);
b. guarded by some necessary practical corollaries afterwards
to be explained at large (29 — 31) ;
c. confirmed and illustrated by the example of Abraham (iv.
1 — 5), the witness of David (6 — 9), and the circumstance
that Abraham was justified before he was circumcised
(10—25).
8. Statement of Christian Privileges consequent on Justification
(v. 1— 11).
r. Peace with God (1).
2. Access by Prayer as to a reconciled King (2).
3. Kavx_rjo-is (whatever that may be),
a. in hope of the glory of God (2),
b. in tribulation for the present, as an earnest of salvation
(3-")-
e. Correspondence between the manner of our Fall and that
of our Recovery ; by way of Corollary to what has been said
(12 — 21).
He begins a comparison (12), but interrupts it in the
N

178 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

manner of one correcting himself (15) : the case of our
recovery being more than analogous to the fall, both in
the favour of God [considered, 1. in itself (J] x°-Pls) > 2- m
the gift of the Holy Ghost (17 hapea) ; 3. in the restoration
of what had been many times forfeited] (15, 16) ; and in
the effect oi it (17). Therefore he limits the comparison
to the circumstance that it was one act (18) and one person
(19) which led to the whole in each case. A note on the
effect of the Law (20, 21).
§ IV. Of Sanctification by the Holy Spirit, the result
and purpose of Justification (vi. 1 — viii. 39).
a. Enforced as a duty,
a. from the typical death of Baptism (vi. 1— 14) ;
b. from the cessation of our servitude under the Law
(vi. 15 — vii. 6).
c. The exact relation of the Law to the Gospel, in respect
of practical obedience is explained by the bye (vii. 7 —
viii. 11).
/3. Recommended as a privilege (viii. 12 — 39).
a. a. Possible abuse of Justification (vi. 1 ), answered from con
sidering the Christian's " Death unto Sin" (2). Which
takes place at, and is signified by, Baptism (3). Which
Baptism implies a typical resurrection too (4, 5), upon
consideration, 1st. of the abolition of the tyranny of sin,
implied in the typical death ; 2nd. of the death of Christ,
into which we were baptized, being a death once for all,
and His life an eternal one (8 — 11.) Earnest exhor
tation to Christians to live in purity according to this
faith (12, 13); the excuse of impotency being completely
gone (14).
• b. Sanctification enforced from our being not under a Law
but under Favour (vi. 15 — vii. 6).
Conclusion proposed (15), made out from the true ac
count of our situation which is not exactly freedom, but
a change of Masters ; so that our former obedience to sin
is at least to be the measure of our new obedience to
Christ (16 — 20).
[Sanctification enforced] from the present fruit and
final end of the two (Law and Favour) (21 — 23): and

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 79
from an analogy between our case and that of a person
set free from a relative duty (e.g. of marriage) by death
(vii. 1 — 6). The principle in such a case being laid
down (1) ; exemplified (2, 3) ; applied to our case (4) ;
drawn into the required practical conclusion (5, 6).
Note on the exact relation of the Law to the Gospel,
and of our conditions under the two ; by which the
duty of obedience is all the more enforced (vii. 7 — 13).
The Law is far from evil ; but so far it made our con
dition worse, that, giving us a more perfect knowledge
of sin (7), without Gospel means of resisting it, it only
shewed us our wretched condition, and did not deliver us
from it : made out from the nature of Law and Sin,
which are correlatives (8) : from our experience of the
difference between childhood and riper years (9, 10),
more particularly in the case of express Laws (such as
those of Moses) perverted by corrupt casuistry (n).
Conclusion stated (12, 13).
To explain this, consider the peculiar frame and con
dition of a person having knowledge without grace
(14 — 25). He is opposed to the Law he owns (14), to
his own conduct (15), thereby approving the Law (16),
to such an extent that it almost seems as if some evil
power possessed him (17): his best efforts going only
to the approbation, not the practice, of holiness (18 —
20) ; or as if there were two laws contradicting each
other within him (21 — 25): — a condition the remem
brance of which makes him cry out for mercy and
thankfulness (24, 25).
Consider, also, on the other hand, the condition of
a Christian (viii. 1 — 11). He, if sincere, is free from
condemnation (1), being at any rate free from the law
of sin (2) ; for the Gospel has found a way to condemn
sin without destroying the sinner, but only reforming
him (3, 4) : for as naturally as those who are left un
regenerate are earthly-minded, so naturally those who
are in the Spirit are heavenly-minded (5). And as the
one ends in death (which is explained in 7, 8), so the
other in life and peace (6). And as an earnest of this
our condition, we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us,
else we are not Christians at all (9). Which, implying
N 2

l8o ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
the peculiar presence of Christ, implies a death unto sin
and new birth unto righteousness, like Christ's (io) ;
and implying the presence of the Father, who raised
Christ, implies the possibility of using our very bodies
to His service, which is a figurative resurrection of those
bodies. [And thus there is an end of the " Law in our
members" mentioned in vii. (n).]
/3. Sanctification recommended as the chief Privilege (12
—39): a. By its being a matter of life and death (13) :
b. By the adoption we have received (14 — 16) :
c. By the hope of everlasting inheritance with Christ (17),
which is so blessed that our sufferings are not to be
compared with it (18) ; — as is shewn by the earnestness
with which it is longed for, 1st. by the whole world
(19 — 22), 2nd. by the Elect (i.e. Christians) (23 — 25),
3rd. by the Spirit of God Himself, as the Inspirer of
our prayers (26, 27).
d. By the certainty that to good Christians all things are
good (28—39).
§ V. Of the Rejection of the Jews (ix. 1 — xi. 36).
1. Lamented (ix. 1 — 5).
2. Guarded from certain objections (6—29).
3. Accounted for by their error about Justification (30— x. 21).
4. Shewn not to be entire (xi. 1 — 10).
5. Nor final (xi. 11 — 36).
1. Their rejection lamented (1 — 5).
2. u. God's dispensation with regard to the Jews vindi
cated from the charge of a failure of purpose (6—13),
it being evident from the beginning that it was a dis
pensation of election. The case of Isaac and Ishmael
(7, 9), and also of Jacob and Esau (10—13), proving
that natural descent, in this case, did not convey a right
to the promises (8).
/3. God's dispensation with regard to the Jews vindicated
from the charge of unrighteousness (14 — 29).
His mercy did not proceed from caprice, but in strict
conformity to His own attributes, proved by reference
to His declaration to Moses (15, 16). So also His

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. l8l
justice in letting sinners fill up the measure of their
sins, e.g. Pharaoh (17). Summed up (18).
Objection : How is all this reconciled, considering
His Almighty Power (19)? Answer
a. We are incompetent judges (20, 21).
b. We may see some of the great purposes amid the
manifestations of God's moral government over the
wicked (22), and His mercy to the penitent (23). As
in the present case, both among Jews and Gentiles
(24), according to the prophecy of Hosea (25, 26) and
of Isaiah among the Jews more particularly (27 — 29).
3. The unbelief of the Jews accounted for by their error
about Justification (ix. 30 — x. 21).
Their error stated, and contrasted with the notions of
the Gentiles (30 — 32), shewn to have been foretold (33),
had something in it which interested you for them (x.
1,2): but yet was an error (3), as is shewn
a. by stating the true doctrine (4), and proving it out of
the Scriptures, by taking Moses' account of the sanc
tions of the Law (5), and comparing it with what he
says of the Gospel (6 — 10).
0. by the prophecies of Isaiah (11) and Joel (12), which
also indicate the universality of the new revelation (12),
and shew that the Apostles were right in preaching as
they did to the Gentiles (14, 15). Objection: "The
Gospel was but partially received." Answer: "This
also was prophesied (16) in terms which point out, by
the bye, the need of more Revelation (17). The very
general publication of the Gospel (18) and its rejection
by the Jews in spite of Moses' and Isaiah's warning (19
— 21) are much stronger arguments on the other side.
4. The Rejection of the Jews not entire (xi. 1 — 10).
He deprecates such a notion from his natural patriot
ism (1) : illustrates the real state of the case from what was
said to Elijah (2—5) : deprecates, in a parenthesis, any
notion of merit, properly so called, which they might
revert to on this statement of God's continued favour
to them (6). Shews that if they (as a body) failed of the
benefit of this mercy, it was the fault of their own cal
lousness (7), which in former instances, typical of this,
had met with similar results (8 — 10).

182 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
5. The Rejection of the Jews not final (11 — 36).
a. The contrary may be argued from the very circum
stances of it. It has been so ordered as to lead to
the acceptation of the Gospel among the Gentiles : the
very thing to excite them to a religious emulation (11) :
and in this the Gentiles are as much concerned as they :
for if God's mercy is so great that the very fall of His
ancient people is turned to our good, how much more
their recovery, which has a natural tendency that way
(12). And here is the reason why St. Paul, as Apostle
of the Gentiles, spoke so highly of his peculiar ministry
(cf. Eph. iii. 8 ; Rom. xv. 18, &c), viz. to profit the
Gentiles still more if by any means he might provoke
the Jews to jealousy (13 — 15).
13. The same thing may be argued from the holiness of
the Patriarchs (16). In which, having used the word
" branches," it suggests the Parable of the Olive, by
means of which he meets the probable errors of the
Gentile converts on the subject : shewing them how
unnatural it was for them to be puffed up, or feel any
party-spirit against the Jews, since it was only by their
union to that Body from which the Jews had fallen,
that they lived at all (17, 18) ; not by any partial favour
as some might dream (19), but in regard of their un
belief and faith respectively (20).
Therefore their rejection is a reason not for pride
but fear, and that a fortiori (21). This practical lesson
he sums up in 22, 23 ; and then returns to his argu
ment, and puts it a fortiori, still using the Parable (24).
Then leaving both the Parable and the argumenta
tion, he speaks out as a Prophet, and announces the
whole counsel of God in this matter (25) ; confirms it
from Isaiah (26, 27); and shews how in this way
God's ancient and present dispensations are reconciled
(28 — 31), and all reduced to this one great principle,
of convicting all of unbelief, to bring all to repentance
and pardon :— the subject in fact of the former part
of the Epistle (32). Finally he ends with a hymn of
glory to God, for thus turning evil into good (33 — 36).
§ VI. Practical results from the former Parts (xiii. 1 
xv. 13).

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 83
1. Christian Sobriety (xii. 1 — 8).
2. Christian Charity (9- — 21).
3. Christian Loyalty (xiii. 1 — 10).
4. Constant remembrance of the end (11 — 14).
5. Condescension to one another's notions of duty (xiv. 1
—xv. 13).
1. Of Christian Sobriety" (with reference to the peculiar
condition of the Roman Church when he wrote).
To be practised for God's sake, u. in the body (1), for
all the foolish and flattering world (2) ; /3. in the mind,
concerning oneself, in suiting one's own opinion to God's
gifts (3), according to the analogy of the body (4, 5, and
part of 6) : whatever our office be (6, 7, and part of 8),
and whatever virtue it most calls on us to practise (8).
2. Of Christian Charity, described by various signs in the
manner of memoranda. Cf. 1 Cor. xiii., 1 Thess. v.,
1 St. Pet. iv. 7, &c. (I do not discern his exact arrange
ment in these verses, 9 — 21).
3. Of Christian Loyalty (xiii. 1 — 10).
We must be loyal, for, a. Government is of God (1, 2) :
/3. its purpose is most useful, to repress vice, and en
courage goodness (3, 4) ; which is a reason binding on the
conscience as well as self-love (5).
Corollary: the reasonableness of paying taxes (6), which
stands on the same ground as any other debt (7) ; and it
does not become a Christian to have any debt but Cha
rity : which, as it can never be fully paid, so in proportion
as it is sincerely paid, supersedes positive laws and renders
them unnecessary (8 — 10).
4. Constant remembrance of the end (xiii. 11 — 14).
These duties enforced, a. by the shortness of the time ;
which ought to impress us more instead of less, than when
we first thought of it (11); 0. by the great change ap
proaching,— as great as from night to day (12) ; which re
quires a corresponding preparation on our parts (13), ac
cording to our Lord's example (14).
5. Condescension to one another's notions of Duty (xiv. 1 —
xv. 13).
» Mr. Keble's note : " He begins with Christian Sobriety as Jer. Taylor in
his ' Holy Living.' "

1 84 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
General rule (i), illustrated by the case of the Judaizers
who scrupled about eating (2) ; in which there being two
parties, the strong and the weak, he gives directions,
a. to both, not to judge (3).
a. because of the impertinence of interfering between
God and His servant (3, 4) ;
b. because both, for aught you know, may be acting for
God's sake, in conformity to the principle of religion ;
illustrated by the example of days as well as meats
(5-9);
c. because we are soon to be judged ourselves (10 — 13).
0. He gives directions to the strong, particularly, to avoid
whatever may occasion sin in others (13). Their prin
ciple indeed is true, — that such uncleanness is only rela
tive and fanciful (14) ; but it becomes them
a. not to press such food on their brother, if he scruple it ;
considering 1st. the value of his soul (15); 2nd. the
duty of preserving our Christian liberty from reproach
(16) ; 3rd. the avowed triflingness of these things in
comparison of the great things of peace, &c. (17 — 19,
in which N.B. the Apostle's ingenuity in taking up,
as it were, the words of an objection, and turning
them to his own account).
b. It becomes the strong even to abstain themselves,
rather than cause sin in others, considering,
1 st. the small value of the good, and the greatness
of the loss (20) ;
2nd. the duty and virtue of self-denial in such
cases (20, 21) ;
3rd. that they lose by it no part of the appropriate
blessing of Faith, which is not for show, but for
a quiet conscience; a great and rare blessing (22) :
whereas he who eats in doubt, being tempted by
them, is self-condemned (23).
4th. That God gave them their strength for the
very purpose: to support the weak, not to enjoy
themselves (xvi. 1, 2).
5th. That Christ throughout set them such an ex
ample (3), which being illustrated by a quotation,
leads to some affectionate expressions suitable to
St. Paul's purpose (4 — 6),

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1 85
6th. Particularly in the Gospel dispensation, which,
so far as it is an union of Jews and Gentiles, is a great
example of the npoo-Xrjyfns h which he wants to have
practised among Christians (7 — 12); and which, he
finally insinuates, would be sure to obtain them
a blessing (13).
§ VII. His own feelings and plans explained (xv. 14 —
33). He knows there was no absolute need of such
an Epistle (14) : but it came within the line of his
peculiar duty (15, 16) ; in which he had been very
successful (17 — 19), observing the rule of going to un
tried places by preference (20, 21); which was one
obstacle to his visiting Rome (22). His present plan :
to visit Rome (23, 24) on his way into Spain, after he
had first been to Jerusalem with alms (25, 26), most
reasonably contributed (27). Plan following this (28) ;
his good hope of it (29) ; requests intercession as one
in jeopardy (30 — 32). A benediction (33).
b T\p6a\t]tyis, irpo<r\aii.&i.vs<;Gai : — words used by St. Paul in the sense of
welcoming others into our communion. — [Ed.]
[The Sixteenth Chapter, containing the Salutations, is omitted
in the Analysis. — Ed.]

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

Date of I Cor. is made out from ch. xvi. 8, by which it
is clear that it was written at Ephesus, when St. Paul
was intending to leave it for the journey mentioned
in Acts xx. ; one purpose of which was a collection
for the poor of Jerusalem. From the opening of
2 Cor. (i. 8) I gather that this was written before the
stir by Demetrius ; and from i Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10,
after Timothy and Erastus had been sent into Mace
donia, but before they arrived at Corinth (Acts xix. 22).
§ I. Salutation (i. 1 — 3) and thanksgiving for the pro
ficiency of the Corinthians (4 — 9).
§ II. Reproof of the Corinthians for their schism and
party-spirit (i. IO — iv. 21).
Charge stated (i. 10 — 12).
Amendment enforced a. on general considerations (i. 12 — iv. 5).
b. on personal considerations (iv. 6 — 21).
a. a. Their disputes contrary to the singleness with which
Christ should be loved and obeyed (i. 12 — 17) — enforced
by St. Paul's practice in not baptizing.
0. The aadp'ia, which, being over-esteemed, led them to dis
putes, was no measure of right and wrong in the Gospel
(17), which rather appeared folly to men left to themselves
(18) ; as had been prophesied (19), and came to pass (20) :
God ordering it so, to expose the false wisdom which had
led the world from God (21): and thus Christ's Cross,
though it completely answers both the Jews' demand of
power, and the Greeks' of wisdom, appears weakness to
the one, and folly to the other (22 — 24). God's glory
being thus shewn both in the frame of the Dispensation
itself (25), and in the sort of persons who received it (26),
and the world at the same "time completely humbled be
fore Him (27 — 29), and His Son, who is wisdom and all
in all (30, 31). This train of thought illustrated by re
ference to his own way of instructing them (ii. 1 — 5) -} and

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 1 87
followed up by a claim on the part of Christians of the
true wisdom, long hid in God (6 — 9), revealed only by
His Spirit (10 — 12), and taught by spiritual arguments to
spiritual men (13 — 16).
y. The point on which they disputed shewed great imperfec
tion in Christianity, viz. the merit of their respective
teachers (iii. 1 — 4), who were but several ministers of the
same divine work (5—10), a work of exceeding awful-
ness and danger (ro — 17), and therefore requiring, in those
who judge as well as in those who practise it, the greatest
intellectual humility (18 — 20), and entire freedom from
low and party views (21 — 23). The whole topic summed
up by a brief statement of the true office of Christ's min
isters, their duty, and the frame of mind concerning man's
judgment (iv. 1 — 5).
b. Personal considerations, enforcing the general warning
against conceit and party-spirit (iv. 6 — 21).
He declares that he had only used his own name and
Apollos' before as a mode of conveying his argument, which
was general, against those faults (6), (which indeed might at
once be put down by the bare consideration of our account-
ableness) (7). And whereas they seem to have represented
themselves as being in a high state of spiritual enjoyment
(8), it might not be amiss for them to recollect the sufferings,
inward and outward, which the Apostles were enduring the
while (8 — 13) ; of which he at least might remind them with
out invidiousness, as he was their spiritual father (14, 15),
with whom they would do well to sympathize more than
they did (16). And to assist them in doing so, was one pur
pose of his sending Timothy (17) ; not that he did not mean
to come himself, as some imagined (18), who would soon
find in his presence how little talking signifies (19, 20).
Surely, then, they would rather he came in affection than in
anger (21). Thus he passes to his direction concerning the
incestuous person.
§ III. Reproof of the Corinthians regarding the incestuous
person (v.). The charge brought (1), and the temper
which it should produce in them stated (2) ; a solemn
excommunication directed (3—5). Three remarks :—
first, on the absurdity of their conceit with such sin

ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

among them (6) ; second, the need of their purifying
themselves, to keep a spiritual as well as external Easter
(7, 8) ; third, a limitation of his exclusive sentence to
those who were Christians, and so amenable to dis
cipline (9 — 13) : confirmed by the analogy of the law
(13)-
IV. Reproof of the Corinthians for going to law before
heathens. From the mention of ecclesiastical judgment,
he naturally passes to their civil suits, which he blames
on two grounds : — a. as being in heathen courts, dis
creditable to their high calling, as if the meanest of
them ought not to be able to determine such trifles
(vi. 1 — 6). /S. as implying bad passions somewhere or
other among themselves, such as in fact they had re
nounced in baptism, and such as disqualified them for
God's kingdom (7 — 11).
V. Caution against sensuality ; — connected with the last
section by the mention of such sins in ver. 9, 10 (vi. 12 —
20). Christian liberty to be modified by Christian pru
dence (12) ; remembering that as there are some animal
enjoyments which are necessary, though but for the
short space of this world, so there are others which are
positively -wrong, first, as breaking the relation between
our bodies and Christ, which was sealed by His resur
rection, and will be confirmed by ours (13, 14), — and
wrong in the most insulting way (15), proved by the in
stitution of marriage (16), and its analogy to our union
with Christ (17) : — wrong, secondly, as being committed
against our own bodies (18), which are the temples of
the Holy Ghost, and God's property by redemption
(19, 20), due therefore entirely to His glory.
From which he passes naturally to answering some
questions which the Corinthians had sent him about
marriage (ch. vii.).
a. Perhaps generally, but certainly in their case, he recom
mends abstinence, but allows marriage, and forbids sepa
ration, except temporary, for devotional purposes (1 — 7).

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 1 89
0. Repeating the general principle (8, 9), he settles the point
of divorce by an appeal to Christ's own words (10, n).
y. On his own authority he forbids separation on the part of
the believer when married to an unbeliever (12, 13) : —
a. because the sanctity of the one extended after a manner
to the other, proved, a fortiori, from what they knew con
cerning their children (14) ;
b. (After providing for the case of the unbeliever wishing to
separate) he shews it by the tone of the Gospel gene
rally (15):
c. From the chance of doing good to the soul of the
other (16).
[This takes him into a digression, in which he illustrates
the general principle on which the above rule de
pended : — the principle of making the best of things
as they are, instead of seeking outward changes (17,
20, 24) ; e.g. in circumcision (18, 19), in slavery
(21—23).]
8. By his own authority, in like manner, he settles the duty of
parents in respect of giving their children in marriage or no
(25-38). Not as matter of commandment, but as matter of pru
dence, he rather recommends virginity (25 — 28), not for any
excellency in itself, but with a view to Christian quietness of
mind (29 — 35) ; so that, although there is nothing sinful in
marriage, yet on the whole the other is better (36 — 38).
e. In the same way second marriages are not forbidden, yet
not recommended to widows (39, 40).
§ VI. Of eating things offered to idols (viii. 1— xi. 1).
a. The general principle clear :— that, an idol being nothing,
nothing offered thereto was unclean in itself (viii. 1 — 6).
0. But the greatest practical caution to be observed, both for
our brother's sake (7 — ix. 22),
y. and for our own (ix. 23 — x. 23).
8. The whole authoritatively summed up.
0. The practice of eating elSaXodvra not to be rashly sanc
tioned :
a. Because the danger to our brother's soul is not to be
balanced by the mere consciousness of superior know
ledge (viii. 7 — 13). Error from which that danger

190 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
arises ; viz. a lingering fancy of ceremonial unclean-
ness (7) ; in which, by the way, we participate, if we
press the absolute duty of eating (8). Rather let us
look at the thing with a view to our brother's good
(9) ; for it is plain how with this error our liberty may
mislead him (10) ; and so for our foolish vanity Christ's
work is undone (11), and Christ affronted (12). There
fore we should rather give up the most innocent liber
ties than give such scandal (13).
b. Because in such matters it is right to go by the rule
which St. Paul had set himself: which is made clear,
first, in the instance of maintenance (ix. 1 — 18); and,
secondly, by a general statement (19 — 22).
First. He asserts his Christian liberty, and Aposto
lical prerogative (1), especially over the Corinth
ians (2)," which was enough to stop the mouths of
objectors (3), as carrying with it a right to main
tenance, for himself and his family (4, 5), proved
(A) by the example of other Apostles (5, 6) ; (B) by
analogy (7), as in the law of Moses (8 — 10) ; (C) by
natural equity and gratitude (11); (D) by the allow
ance of the Corinthians in other cases (12); (E) by
the express ordinance of God, both under the Law
(13), and under the Gospel (14). Having thus
proved his right, he states his practice and his wish,
to decline it (15); his peculiar delight being not
simply to preach the Gospel, which he did by direct
commandment (16), but to preach it without cost to
the Church, the pleasure of which was a reward to
him, over and above his trust as a steward of the
Word (17, 18).
Secondly. What he did in the matter of maintenance
was an instance of his general rule (19), as practised
towards Jews— men who owned right and wrong
(20),— and men who did not (21); and, as in this
instance, towards the weak ; for the good of others
(22).
y. This care of the Apostle was necessary to him, and is so
to us, for the salvation of our own souls, as well as others
(23) ; which work— how great and difficult it is— he il
lustrates

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 191
a. from the Grecian games (24 — 27) ;
b. from the history of the Israelites in the wilderness
(x. 1— 11);
c. from both ; inferring the need of mistrust of ourselves
(12), trust in God (13), such prudent care against
> idolatry, as would keep us, who are by the Sacrament
of the Lord's Supper one with Christ, from becoming
one (not with idols, which are nothing, but) with de
mons, and so provoking God (14 — 22).
a. 24 — 27. We must not take liberties, because our call
ing is like one of the ayaves. For (A) not every one
that runs, wins : (B) self-command is required in all
things. Again, they are unlike in one thing which
strengthens the argument : — St. Paul himself (consider
ing A) took all pains, and (considering B) was univer
sally temperate.
b. x. 1 — 11. We must not take liberties, because we have
the example of the Israelites set before us ; who all
shared in privileges corresponding to Baptism (1, 2), and
to the Lord's Supper, both as to the bread (3) and as to
the cup (4) ; yet most of them fell (5) ; to warn us that
with all our privileges we are in danger of wrong de
sires (6), which will lead either to gross apostasy, as
when the first generation of Israelites worshipped the
calf (7), and the second joined the Midianitish women
(8) ; or to inward presumption, as when these were
slain by serpents (9) ; and murmuring, as those fell by
the plague after the matter of Korah (10) ; all which
had a double meaning, regarding us as well as them (11).
c. Application of the examples above quoted (12 — 22).
Our duty is to be afraid of ourselves (12) ; yet to trust
in God's grace (13) : And as to the particular matter
before the Corinthians to avoid every sort of idolatry
(14) ; which — how it was connected with idol-feasts —
their own common sense would shew them (15), con
sidering that by the Lord's Supper they communicate
in Christ's Body and Blood (16) [that being the me
dium which makes them one with each other] (17);
just as the Jews communicated in the sacrifices by the

192 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
feast which took place after them (i 8) a. Considering
this, they might see that though the idol was nothing
(19), yet the evil which prompted the idolatry was;
and that it was therefore inconsistent for God's com
municants to partake of that feast (20, 21), and affront
ing to God also (22).
8. Summing up the whole of the Corinthians' duty in the
matter of things offered to idols (23 — xi. 1).
Allowing their Christian liberty, it is yet to be limited
by expedience (23), and by others' good (23, 24). Their
liberty made it lawful for them to eat freely of common
food, as God's gift (25, 26), even at meals with unbe
lievers (27). But the limitations above-mentioned forbade
them to do so if any one expressed a scruple (28) ; be
cause it was God's gift, and therefore only to be used to
His glory, (taking care however not to be entangled in such
scruples themselves, their thanksgiving always shewing that
they meant no dishonour to God by their liberty) (29, 30).
Generally do all to God's glory (31) and man's edification
(32), as St. Paul did, putting himself in everybody's place
(33), imitating him as he did Christ (xi. 1).
§ VII. Of certain points which needed regulation in the
public worship of the Corinthians (xi. 2 — xiv. 40).
1. Of the dress of men and women (xi. 2 — 16).
2. Of the Eucharist (17 — 34).
3. Of the exercise of spiritual gifts (xii. 1 — xiv. 40).
(In which arrangement observe the delicacy of the Apostle
touching, first, on what was least universally interesting ;
secondly, on what was most obviously wrong ; and, thirdly,
on what would be most trying to the prejudices of the
Corinthians).
1. Generally speaking they were to be praised for their obe
dience (2) ; but it was worth while to remind them of the
great principle of subordination, by which, as Christ is in
ferior to the Father touching His manhood, and as the
Church looks up to Him as her Head, so the woman to the
" Mr. Keble's note :— " Nothing surely can be more express than these
verses to shew that the proper notion of the Lord's Supper is that of a feast
upon a Sacrifice. "

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 1 93
man (3) : which settles the point that men should pray
uncovered (4), and women covered (5) : which last
(being, I suppose, the point in dispute) is sufficiently in
dicated by considering what we should think of their
being shorn (6). The reason given is the Scriptural ac
count of the origin of man and woman : the man directly
in the image of God (7), the woman from (8) and for (9)
the man : which makes a mark of subordination of this
kind right : considering moreover the presence of the
angels (10) : [taking care, however, to make no distinc
tion between the two sexes in respect of their Christian
calling (n, 12)]. This reason is confirmed by an appeal
to natural instinct (13 — 15). Finally, if people will be
perverse, the custom established must be pleaded against
them (16).
2. He warns them that he had a charge against them, by
incurring which they turned the Church assemblies into
evil (17) ; and laid themselves open to the imputation of
schism (18); which, by the way, might well be believed,
since even heresies would be permitted to try their sta
bility (19). To specify this charge : — it was their hurrying
way of rushing to the Lord's Supper as to a common feast
(20, 21), — to the reproach of the Church, and confusion
of the poor (22). To correct this let them only recollect
the institution of this Supper (23 — 25), and that conse
quently, when they take it, they are bearing witness to
Christ's death (26) ; from which it follows, that if they do
it unworthily they are consenting with His murderers, —
at least slighting His remains (27) b. The practical re
medy is also evident : — let a man prove or try himself
(28), considering that he condemns himself by the very
act of communicating, if he do it unworthily (29) ; in cor
rection of which God had sent on the Corinthians tem
poral judgments (30), according to His wont when Chris
tian people forget their calling (31, 32). This in general :
and as to the particular case, let them wait decently for
one another (33), and reserve their regular meals for their
own houses (34).
b I have allowed this word to stand, though very sure that Mr. Keble
would have changed it, had he revised his Manuscript for the Press.— Ed.
O

194 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

3. Of spiritual or supernatural gifts.
a. A test given that false spirits might not deceive (xii.
2, 3)-
0. In the management of really supernatural endowments,
remember the common origin of these gifts amidst all
their diversity (4 — 11) :
y. and their union, like members of the same body (12 —
27), which of course implies inequality (28 — 30).
8. Also, how worthless they are without charity (31 —
xiii. 4), which is quite distinct from them, both by its
marks (5 — 7) and by its excellency (8 — 13).
c Yet this is not to exclude the pursuit of spiritual gifts,
in due subordination to charity (xiv. 1), with right ap
prehensions of their relative importance, e.g. preferring
prophecy to speaking with tongues (1 — 25) ; and with
strict regard to edification, decency, and order (26 —
40).
More in detail : —
0. With regard to the miraculous endowments : different
as they are, yet looking on them as gifts, they come
from the same Spirit (xii. 4), as modes of service from
the same Lord (5), as powers from the same God (6).
And expediency (of which God is the judge) assigns
and measures the gift (7). Some are taught the reason,
some the facts, of religion (8) : some have simple faith,
some miracles (9) : and so of others (10) ; yet all from
the same Spirit dispensing all freely (n).
y. This arrangement of the Holy Ghost may be illustrated
by considering the natural body ; which bears an ana
logy to the mystical body of Christ in being (A) one,
(B) with many members (12); — explained as to A in
the Church (13) : — the practical result enforced in terms
drawn from the body (14 — 26), i.e. since the constitution
of the body is that of a whole, made up of various and
unequal parts (14), the minister (15) and the learner
(16) must not complain as if they were not of the body,
because they have not the higher offices, considering,
first, that various functions require various members
(17) ; second, that the arrangement of these is according
to God's good pleasure (18) ; and third, that without
this diversity the body would perish (19). And, on the

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 195
other hand, since the body, though of such various
parts, is still one (20), those in higher places or gifts
must not disdain the weaker (21); as is intimated in
the natural body by the need of the weakest (22), and
the respect natural to the most uncomely parts (23) ;
which is God's doing (24), to produce perfect sympathy
in the body (25) ; and His purpose is there accom
plished (26). The case being analogous in the Church
[as had been shewn as to the unity of the body (A) in
verse 13, and is shewn as to the diversity of 'members (B)
in verses 27 — 30], the conclusion is evident, yet ad
mitting of a reasonable care about the better (i.e. the
more edifying) gifts (part of 31).
8. Contains
a. The proposal of " a way" which was such <ar i&xnv
b. The declaration of its excellency over tongues (xm.
1), over prophecy, over faith of miracles (2), devotion
of all our goods, martyrdom (3) :
c. The account of its marks (4 — 7) :
d. Of its excellency in respect of xaP^°'lxaTa> tnat li is
eternal, they temporary (8), proved by their imperfect
nature (9), which cannot remain in a perfect state (10),
any more than the notions of a child in full age (n) ;
— our present and future spiritual sight differing as a
shadow and substance, or as our knowledge and God's
—(12). Whereas there being three tempers which
will be never out of date, charity is the greatest (13).
e. On the relative value of the spiritual gifts one among
another. As Charity is above them all, since we are to
pursue it, and only to desire xapio-para ; so the best of
them are the gifts of instruction (xiv. 1) ; because in
tongues we speak to God only, in prophecy to man
also (2, 3) : in tongues we edify ourselves, in prophecy
the Church (4). Prophecy is therefore the higher gift,
unless interpretation be added to tongues (which im
plies prophecy in some sort) (5) ; for so only can the
speaking by tongues be addressed to the hearers, and
bring them either information, or instruction (6). Con
sider the absurdity of music without distinct sounds
(7, 8) ; and see whether tongues without interpretation
o 2

196 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
have not something of the same (9). Or — there being
many languages with eachiits system of sounds (10) —
consider the uselessness of speaking one of them to
a foreigner (11); and let that teach you what sort of
spiritual gifts you should prefer (12); and, if you have
tongues, pray that you may interpret (13), else you
bring no edification to others by your prayers in an un
known tongue (14). Therefore any one who had his
choice should prefer uniting the two gifts (15), else
neither is there any communion nor edification to their
hearers in their thanksgiving (16, 17). This he con
firms by a strong expression of his own feelings (18,
19). Then, prefacing his argument by an appeal to
their common sense (20), he proves by a passage in
Isaiah (21) that gifts, such as these of tongues, were
meant, rather for the convincing unbelievers, — Pro
phecy for believers (22) : and even so, when exercised
among themselves, the latter would have most force
even in convincing the unbelievers themselves (23 — 25).
4. Practical rules for the management of these gifts.
u. Generally, when you come together with each his gift of
instruction, let edification be the rule (26).
0. Particularly as to tongues. Let not more than two or
three speak in each assembly, and never without an in
terpreter (27, 28).
y. As to Prophecy, let two or three speak by turns (29),
and give way to express revelations, if such be made
(30), each taking his share in the common edifica
tion (31); and having the command of his own gift
(32) : God revealing Himself everywhere, even on
these occasions, as a God not of confusion but of
peace (33).
8. The women to refrain from public instruction according
to nature and Scripture, and to wait till after church
for explanation (35).
*. Authoritative enforcement of all these rules, upon con
sideration that the Corinthians were neither the mother-
church nor the only one (36). Appeal in this behalf
to the prophetic knowledge of such as were really pro
phets (37). And censure of such as would not recog
nize them (38).

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. I97

5. Brief recapitulation of the whole,
a. As to the temper with which the xapl°~MTa should be
regarded (39) :
0. As to the outward conduct of them (40),
§ VIII. Of the Resurrection of the Dead (ch. xv.).
1. Summary of the evidence of our Saviour's Resurrection
(i-n).
2. Necessary connexion of His Resurrection with ours, and
with all our hopes (12 — 19).
3. Order observed by the Almighty in the completion of this
great work (20 — 28).
4. Witness borne to it through the whole of practical religion,
which falls to the ground without it (29 — 34).
5. Answer, by analogy, to the objection, that we cannot under
stand the manner of the Resurrection, or the kind of Body
we shall have (35 — 49).
6. Prophetic declaration of as much as is needful to be known
on this subject: and practical application (50 — 58).
1. Reference to the Gospel as first preached among them (1) ;
with a hint of its importance (2). The first point in it the
doctrine of the Atonement (3) ; the second, the Resurrection
(4), proved by six appearances, each briefly indicated (5 — 8),
and the last to St. Paul himself, very remarkable in its re
sults, comparing his former unworthiness with what the
mercy of God had enabled him now to do (9, 10). But to
return, such was the Gospel (n).
2. Inconsistency of the denial of the Resurrection by some of
the Corinthians with our Lord's Resurrection (12) ; since, if
there be no Resurrection, Christ is not raised (13) ; and our
faith and pardon are void (14) ; and we are false witnesses in
religion (15). This repeated, substituting the impossibility
of a Resurrection for the falsity of it (16, 17) ; and adding
the consideration of the lost condition (in such a case) of
those dead in Christ (18), and the pitiable condition of
Christians generally (19).
3. The fact of Christ's Resurrection, and its relation to ours,
stated again triumphantly (20); with a short parenthesis
shewing its congruity, that the manner of our recovery might
answer to the manner of our fall, both being by man (21),

ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

and both by one man (22) ; and if it be yet matter of faith,
that is from no doubtfulness in the thing, but because God
works it by degrees : first, His resurrection ; then ours (23) ;
then the final triumph, upon which His mediatorial kingdom
ceases (24), the Saviour having limited that kingdom by the
subjection of His enemies (25), of which the last is Death
(26); and having also implied His subordination as Me
diator to His Father by the word vwira^v (27) ; which sub
ordination will be manifested, and God's immediate agency
revealed in some signal way, at the end (28).
4. As the doctrine of the Resurrection harmonizes with God's
dealings, so it is implied in the very notion of a Christian
life : e.g. in Baptism c (29), in the sufferings of the Apostles
(3° — 32)> in not living at random (32), the tendency to
which in such irreligious speculations (33), and in the wilful
ignorance of religion in which some live (34), requires the
most earnest warning oh the Apostle's part (33, 34).
5. If people object that they cannot understand how this will
be, or what sort of body will appear (35), they may be re
ferred to what happens in sowing ; in which, first, the seed
must die (i.e. be dissolved) (36) ; then a change must take
place, the greatness of which we know by the difference be
tween a dry grain and a plant of wheat (37), and that change
varying in different kinds and individuals according to the
will of God (38) : which, if it cause so great differences here
in various living substances (39), we may well conceive
a like or greater difference between earthly and heavenly
bodies (40) ; and infinite differences of glory between these
and those, and between those one amongst another, as in
the lights of Heaven (40, 41). And this, which we might
conceive by analogy, will be made good in fact. The risen
body will differ from the mortal one, in corruption (42),
glory, power (43), and in being a fit instrument, not of the
' Mr. Keble's note is as follows :—
_ 0a7rnf<W„oi Mp rS>v veKRw.] May not the phrase mean, "Who are from
time to time receiving Baptism in behalf of ," i.e. in testimony on the side of,
'the Dead," scil. that they rise again  The argument resting upon the
very significant reference made in the act of baptizing to the doctrine of the
Resurrection, (cf. Rom. vi. 3, 4) ; and (as St. Chrysostom points out) on the
profession of Faith in the Resurrection which seems to have been the last
thing then required of the Catechumens.

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 199
soul only, but of the spirit, for there is a real difference (44),
in reference to which Moses spoke as he did of the creation
of man ; and we Christians can fill up the analogy to which
he only alluded (45), observing always that God's dealings
proceed in this order : viz. that the natural comes first, the
spiritual after (46) ; Adam first, Christ after (47) ; represent
ing, respectively, men's earthly and their heavenly condition
(48), and our future resemblance to the other (49).
6. Authoritative declaration of the Apostle, that, there being
a congruity between the substance and the condition in
which it is placed, and it being impossible for the corrupt,
as such, to inherit incorruption (50), the quick, as well as
the dead, must be changed (51). The change will be
sudden ; the signal, the last trump ; and it will go along with
the resurrection of the dead (52); — it being God's purpose
to make us, even our bodies, incorruptible and immortal
(54) ; to which also the old Prophets bear witness, Isaiah
(54), and Hosea (55). On which passages let it be re
marked, that as the " sting" of which they speak is sin,
and the power of sin depends on the imperfect state of
man without the Gospel (56), we — delivered as we are
already from that — have nothing to do but to be thankful
(57) and persevering, since we know for certain that none
of our labour can be vain (58).
[The Analysis of the Sixteenth Chapter is wanting in the MS. — Ed.]

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE
CORINTHIANS.

DATE of this Epistle after Pentecost (i Cor. xvi. 8)
A.U. 808, A.D. 56. Probably in the autumn, to give
time for the journeys of St. Paul himself (ii. 13, 14), and
of Titus (vii. 6), mentioned in it. The place evidently
some town in Macedonia (ix. 2).
§ I. Salutation (i. 1, 2).
§ II. Account of his own sufferings and proceedings quite
or nearly ever since dispatching the former Epistle
(i. 3 — vii. 16), with many digressions.
1. Expression of the state of mind which his trials had pro
duced (3 — 7).
2. Statement of the last of them (probably that in Acts xix.),
and of his deliverance (8 — 10).
3. Request for their intercession, with the reason why he de
pended on it (11 — 14). He begs it (11) relying on what
conscience told him (12), his present writing agreeing with
his past and (perhaps) his future sentiments, — or (perhaps)
his writings agreeing with Scripture and experience d — (13);
and answering to what they had expressed (14).
4. Account of his change of purpose about coming to Corinth
(15— ii- 2).
His purpose had been to pay them a second visit for their
edification (15), passing by them into Macedonia, and re
turning, and so away to Judea (16). Nor was it mere light
ness which made him forego this, his purposes not depending
on himself (17): — [which leads him to observe parentheti-
d On the 13th verse Mr. Keble's note is:— "May it be imagined from this
that St. Paul had been charged by some with writing private letters inconsis
tent with what he wrote to the Church, 'which they read ; or rather,' says
he, ' consented to on meeting with it.' (There is a turn in the words aravictSiT-
kets, fj Kal i-iriytviiiTKeTe, which I cannot render.) Or perhaps the word
avaywiio-Ktre may refer them to the Scriptures, as iiriyiviia-K^Te to their own
conscience.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 201
cally how little reason they had in his preaching to suspect
him of anything like caprice or wavering (18), the great doc
trine of redemption through Christ (19), and the consequent
promises of God in Him, continuing always the same (20) ;
and we having, to confirm us, God's Spirit given by Himself,
as an unction (21), a seal and an earnest of His love (22)].
But to return : it was not of caprice, but to spare them, that
he gave up that purpose (23) ; [and he uses the word
" spare" in no invidious meaning (24)] ; i.e. being a " helper
of their joy," he would not come to them in grief (ii. 1)
which would only be spoiling his own best comfort (2).
5. The same account given of the severity of the former
Epistle : which, having had its effect, the censure there
directed might now be taken off (3 — 11). Accordingly he
had written as he did, instead of coming ; trusting to their
affectionate feelings (3), himself in great affliction — which he
mentions, not to grieve them, but to shew his love (4). —
[For, as to the offender, he knew they participated in his
grief concerning him (5); and accordingly their censures on
him had been sufficient (6) for them now to forgive and
cheer him (7) ; which he exhorts them to do (8) ; thus
giving a fresh proof of the obedience which he had before
tried (9) ; and ratifying the absolution, as before their ex
communication (10), to counteract the devil's work — i.e.,
I suppose, temptation to despair — (11)].
6. Account of his perplexity at Troas, and of his departure fo r
Macedonia : with an expression of thanks to God for "using
him in the Gospel (not by way of recommending himself) ;
and of trust in the same God (12 — iii. 6). He went to
Troas, and had made a beginning (12), but was so dis
quieted at not meeting Titus with news from Corinth, that
he went on into Macedonia (13). The recollection of which
journey gives him occasion to thank God for His peculiar
mercy towards him (14) in accepting his services as an
Evangelist, whether successful or no (15, 16); which thanks
he is bold to offer, being conscious of his sincerity (17).
[This tone he takes, not as needing to introduce himself, or
be introduced by others (iii. 1): — the Church of Corinth,
which he had founded, being itself his credentials (2) ; a re
commendation, as it were, in Christ's own hand, written
with His Spirit on men's hearts (3).] To return : This con-

202 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

fidence he has towards God, not of himself, but in God
entirely (4, 5): — in God, who has made him minister of
a covenant better than that of Moses, the one, alone, leading
to death, the other to life (6).
7. Digression on the comparative glory of the Mosaic and
Christian Ministry (7 — 11).
[N.B. I have just called my ministry better than that of
Moses (6); now that of Moses was exceeding glorious, as
was indicated by the anecdote of the veil (7); how much
more mine (8) ; — that bringing condemnation, the other
pardon (9) ; the second quite eclipsing even the real glory
of the first (10); and this confirmed by the eternity of the
one, the transitoriness of the other (11).]
8. Tempers suited to this glorious ministry.
a. wapprjaia (12 — 1 8).
Our hope naturally leads to free access to God (12),
unlike that separation which was indicated by Moses' veil
(13). And if they do not acknowledge this, the fault is,
not in the Scripture in which the obscurity is done away,
but in their hearts, which keep the veil on the Old Testa
ment (14, 15). But as in Exodus, when Moses went in to
God, he took off the veil (16), so where the Spirit of the
Lord is there is liberty (17) : and this privilege, leading
to constant improvement in Christ's likeness, Christians
have always (18).
0. Tempers suited to the Christian Ministry, continued.
Disinterestedness (iv. 1 — 6).
As God has favoured us, so we continue in the exercise
of His favour continually (iv. 1), having no self-ends,
but doing all to commend ourselves to God (2). And if
some perceive not, it is their own fault, and at their own
risk (3), for allowing the evil spirit to blind them (4) ; not
ours, who consider Christ only as the Master, ourselves
your servants for Christ's sake (5) : We having truly in
our hearts to perceive the glory of the Creator of the
world, as now revealed by Jesus Christ (6).
y. A mind superior to affliction, and set only on pleasing
God (7 — v. 10).
True : we are afflicted for the present : but as one final
cause of this is clear (7), so it is not an affliction we give
way to (8, 9) ; and accordingly it conforms us to the like-

THE 'SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 203
ness of our Lord's life as well as His death (10, 11) : and
works a good effect on you our converts (12). The Faith
which the Prophets felt and taught, we feel and teach (13)
with regard to the Resurrection particularly (14) ; — under
standing so much of God's glorious purposes, as not to
separate your spiritual interest from our own (15); de
siring, rather, strength from tribulation (16), when we
consider what our brief troubles are leading to (17); and
compare things temporal with things eternal (18). Or
thus : if our present body were destroyed, we know of an
eternal one to follow (v. 1) ; therefore, even while here,
we long for a better state (2), if we could but make sure
of it (3); we long, I say, in spite of our natural dread of
death (4), such being God's purpose towards us, and the
meaning of the seal of His Spirit (5). To which add the
consideration that whilst we are here, we are away from
Christ (6) ; it being our condition here to walk by faith
not by sight (7). Therefore we look death in the face,
for the sake of meeting Christ (8) : and our only ambi
tion is to please Him (9) : remembering the great day
of judgment (10).
8. The Fourth requisite for the Christian ministry : Devo
tion to the cause, arising from a deep sense of its im
portance (v. 11 — vi. 10).
Having mentioned the Day of Judgment, he points out
its effect on their labours (n); [appealing to God and
them for the truth of what he said (11), not boastfully,
but to help them in maintaining his cause (12); and
whether he took that tone, or the tone of quietness, he
had always the same thing in view (13) :] — as also the
effect of Christ's great love (14), the reasonableness of
which is shewn both from the greatness of the need, and
the natural result of the deliverance (15). The result is,
no relationship, to us, continues merely human (16). And
not to us alone, but even Christ is, as it were, in a new
world (17), in which all is directly from God,— both
Christ's Ministry and ours (18) :— ours, I say, which is,
as it were, His, both in respect of reconciliation, and of
transmitting the ministry (19) : We are therefore properly
ambassadors ; and this is our message :— " Be reconciled"
(20): this our reason: — "He hath made," &c. (21).

204 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

To which message from God we add our own exhor
tations (vi. i), confirming them by the consideration of
the time ; that it will not last for ever, as Isaiah hints
(2) : and preaching also by our conduct, avoiding offence
for our office' sake (3) ; approving ourselves
a. by patience in sufferings, inward (4), and outward, both
from others, and from our own self-denials (5) ;
0. by other Christian virtues (6) ;
y. by Christian talents (7) ;
S. by all means and the most opposite circumstances (7, 8) ;
c by the contrast between what we are and what we are
supposed to be (8 — 10).
9. Earnest recommendation to keep themselves from close
connexion with unbelievers, preceded and followed by ex
pressions of deep affection (vi. 1 1 — vii. 3).
You see how fluent my affection makes me (11). Indeed,
I take more account of your true interest than you do your
selves (12). And the recompense I ask is, that you would
enter into those feelings of mine (13) : especially keep your
selves from union with unbelievers, considering what utter
contradiction is involved in it (14, 15) ; and that most in
your relation to God as Temples of His Spirit; which is
proved from Leviticus (16). And the consequent duty of
separation enforced by Isaiah (17). And the reward of
being God's children proved by Jeremiah and others (18) :
which promises we having, are bound peculiarly to all
purity (vii. 1). And with this reproof you will bear, con
sidering my blameless behaviour toward you (2), and that
I speak from true affection, having no pleasure in con
demning you (3).
10. Statement of his proceedings resumed, and continued to
the return of Titus (vii. 4 — 16).
He had been speaking of his affection, and this was espe
cially his feeling now, through the comfort he had just re
ceived from them (4), after his restless troubles, inward and
outward, in Macedonia (5) ; by the return of Titus (6), and
most by his account of the repentance of the Corinthians
(7). Which quite put an end to his regret for having written
sharply to them (8), and made him glad that he grieved
them to repentance (9) : — a sort of grief not to be repented
of, and therefore unlike the deadly sorrow men feel about

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 205
worldly things (10). And the good effects of it were especi
ally instanced in their case (i i). Whence they might under
stand his true purpose in being so sharp with them (12),
and the greatness of his comfort now, enhanced as it was by
sympathy for the joy of Titus (13), and by finding that he
was quite right in what he had said to him in their praise
(14) : Titus himself delighting to dwell on the particulars
of his reception at Corinth (15) : and St. Paul's confidence
in the Corinthians being restored (16).
j III. Concerning the collection for the poor Christians of
Jerusalem (viii., ix.)
1. (viii. 1 — ix. -5.) Exhortation to the Corinthians to be zeal
ous in their contributions ;
a. by the example of the Macedonian Churches (viii. 1)
enhanced by their poverty, as their joy by their affliction
(2), carried beyond their means (3), and earnestly pressed
on the Apostle by their entreaties (4) ; the whole amount
ing to a complete surrender of themselves beyond what
could have been ever anticipated (5) ; and leading St. Paul
especially to recommend Titus to follow up his good
beginnings with the Corinthians on that subject (6).
0. The same enforced by their own superiority in other
gifts (7) ; [not by way of command (8)] ; but in remem
brance of the mercies of Christ (9) ; and by their for
wardness in planning the contribution at first (10) ; which
required an answering zeal now (11).
y. By the consideration of allowance made for unavoidable
deficiencies (12).
8. By the equity of the thing, that each should alternately
supply the other's need with his abundance (13, 14), and
so fulfil the lesson given typically by the manna coming
to all in equal measure (15).
e. By the consideration of the persons whom he had sent
to them; 1. Titus, and his zeal for them (16, 17); 2.
(supposed) St. Luke, and his high character as an evan
gelist (18), particularly indicated by his appointment as
a awtKbi)p.ose (19), which was due to the Apostle's cha
racter (20, 21); 3. Another' remarkable for his great
* A fellow-traveller, cf. Acts xix. 29. — Ed.
1 Mr. Keble's note : " It seems clear that the two other messengers were

206 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
earnestness in the cause, and confidence in theme (22).
Altogether they have the strongest claims : Titus, for
St. Paul's sake ; the others, for the Church's and Christ's
(23). They are therefore worthy of all the encourage
ment the Corinthians can give them (24) ; not that the
Corinthians want to be taught the duty itself (ix. 1),
since their zeal for it has become exemplary to the
Macedonians (2) ; but only to be ready (3), and not
to disappoint and shame himself with his Macedonian
friends (4). And this is the full account of his send
ing the brethren (5).
2. The whole to be regarded rather as a privilege than as
a duty — applicable to time, as well as money (ix. 2 — 15).
k. As enhancing the reward (5, 6).
0. As pleasing God (7), who is able to give you such grace
(8), and has promised in the Psalm to favour the profuse
almsgiver (9), which he prays might be fulfilled in them
(10).
y. As occasioning thanksgiving (n), over and above the
immediate use (12) : such donations being (as it were)
a double sacrifice of praise for their Christian calling,
1. in the liberality of the thing itself (13), 2. in the inter
cession and affection of the persons benefited (14), to
which St. Paul most heartily adds his thanksgiving (15).
§ IV. A strong personal remonstrance, in opposition to
some usurping teacher or teachers, x. 1 — xiii. 10.
u. Commencing with a threat, grounded on an appeal to
a prerogative which he had in common with all the Apo
stles (x. 1 — 6).
0. Proceeding to special proofs of his own commission and
integrity (x. 7 — xii. 18).
y Applying all this to their present condition (xii. io— xiii. 10).
a. Some persons had sneered at his difference of tone, when
absent and present (x. 1). He hopes they will not force him
to use his power against those who charged him with worldly
unknown to the Corinthians, else they would have been named as Titus
was. Apollos, therefore, was not one."
s " In them," i.e. in the Corinthians.— Ed.

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 207

motives (2) ; for though in the world, his warfare was not
of the world (3), as would appear on considering the in
struments of it (4), subduing pride, and making Christ all
in all in every man's mind (5) ; and prepared (if he could
once see the Corinthians submitting) to avenge all other
disobedience without delay (6).
0. So much for general considerations common to all Christ's
ministers. If we descend now to those which are personal ;
whatever reason any man can give for thinking he has
Christ's commission, St. Paul could give the same and more
(7). [He ventures to boast in this way, knowing that the
event will make it good (8), and will take away all pre
tence of his being bold only at a distance (9 — n).] They
fancied he shrank from the comparison h. It only shewed
how they limited their views to themselves (12).
1st, then, he kept to his own appointed rule (13), which in
cluded the Corinthians (14) ; and sought to confirm them
before he went further — especially into another's province'
(15, 16). [Here he checks his own self-commendation
with a prophetic text (17), and an application of it to his
own case, and his adversaries (18).]
2ly. They should bear with his " folly," as it was called
(xi. 1), considering his anxiety about them, whom he
had espoused to Christ (2), and who, he now feared,
would be seduced (3).
3ly. They should bear with it, considering that whatever
claim, even to a totally new gospel, any other teacher
might set up (4), still his (St. Paul's) claim to be equal
to the highest Apostles (5) would stand; if not on his
eloquence, yet on his knowledge, and indeed on all the
experience they had had of him (6).
4ly. They should consider his having served them freely (7),
at the expense of other churches (8), especially of Mace
donia : and so he meant it should be (9), pledging him
self by an oath (10), not for want of love (11), but to
silence the objectors (12); [whom he pauses to describe
h Mr. Keble's note : " Perhaps the first half of the verse might be put
in inverted commas, as being the assertion, not improbably, of St. Paul's .
rivals. "
1 Mr. Keble's note : " It is first an object to me to make Christians better ;
secondly, only, to make heathens Christians. "

208 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

as pretenders to Apostleship (13), and imitators of Satan's
hypocrisy (14, 15)].
Sly. If theyjcompared him with the ^<ruSa7rooToX(H, [a topic
which they were not to believe he entered on willingly
(16, 17), but which others made much use of (18), and
those well received by them (19), for all their ill-usage of
them (20), and which he had no occasion to recur to
considering his authority], still he had, even humanly
speaking, as strong claims as they (21), in respect both
of descent (22) and of services and sufferings (23); of
which instances are given, both external (24 — 27), and
internal (28, 29) : [The latter in part shewing his weak
ness, and therefore more willingly mentioned by him (30) ;
for the sincerity of what he says, God is witness (31)].
And then, as if forgotten in its proper place, another in
stance comes in (32, 33).
61y. The tacit comparison of the Apostle with the \jrevd-
anwroXoi is carried on from sufferings to visions and
r evelations : a topic on which he had an especial reason
to fear vainglory (xii. 1). For after his trance fourteen
years before, and visit, bodily or not, to Paradise and
Heaven (2, 3, 4), [favours so great that they might be
mentioned, as proving God's mercy to him, though he
had nothing of his own but infirmities (5), and yet the less
that was said of them (however true) the better, that peo
ple might not have overweening thoughts of him (6)],
I say, after this trance, an affliction was sent him to check
vainglory (7), which after three prayers (8) Christ de
clined to remove, to make him an example of resignation,
which he cheerfully acquiesced in (9) ; as he did in what
ever he endured for Christ's sake, being strongest when
weakest (10).
7ly. Again expressing his unwillingness to speak so much
of himself, and laying the blame on them (11), he says it
could not at any rate be any deficiency in miracles or
gifts, they had to complain of (12), they being at least as
well off as the other churches (13), except in the one
point of their not being allowed to contribute to him
[which he meant should still be so (14) whether it lessened
their love for him or no (15)].
81y. And whereas it might be said that this refusal of his

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 209
was mere policy (16), he appeals to the conduct of his
messenger, Titus, as well as his own, to shew his frank
dealing with them (17, 18).
y. Application. of St. Paul's personal remonstrance to the pre
sent case of the Corinthians (xii. 19 — xiii. 10).
He was not speaking to clear himself to them, but in
God's presence for their good (19): fearing party-spirit
among them, for their sake (20), and his own : fearing
also imperfect repentance for profligacy of other kinds (21).
This leads him to warn them that when he came this time
he should proceed solemnly, as Christ had appointed (xiii. 1 ) ;
neither former nor present sinners would he spare (2) ; ac
cepting their challenge, and appealing to Christ's miraculous
power within him (3) ; which abode in the midst of his out
ward weakness, as Christ's divine omnipotency did through
His crucifixion (4) ; bidding them try themselves, standing
in awe of their own great privilege of Christ's peculiar pre
sence, if they had not quite forfeited it (5). At any rate, he
trusted he had not (6). And whilst he spoke thus sharply,
his prayer was that they might so repent, as to take away all
need for displaying his power ; though his credit might suffer
thereby (7); for it might seem as if he had boasted falsely,
his power not being shewn except when the vindication of
the right of his Master required it (8). But still his joy was
to have them go on so well and perfectly, and reform them
selves so thoroughly, that he might appear as no more than
another man (9). And this was the full account of his
writing as he did, to avoid the necessity of spiritual censures
when present (10).
V. Parting advice (11); salutation (12); and blessing
(13)-

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS.

§ I. Salutation (i. i — 5).
§ II. Protest against any new Gospel (i. 6 — 10).
§ III. Originality of St. Paul's Gospel shewn in answer
to the undervaluers of his authority (i. 11 — ii. 14).
§ IV. Statement and vindication of his doctrine of Justifi
cation (ii. 15 — iv. 7).
§ V. Application of it to correct the practical errors of the
Galatians (iv. 8 — vi. 10).
§ VI. Conclusion, summing up the whole, and blessing
them (vi. 10 — 18).
§ I. i. 1 — 5. Salutation, reminding them of his immediate
call from God (1), indicating offence by the tone of his
address (2), and remembering them of the great benefit
which they had received in Christ's dying to deliver
them from this evil world (3—5), to which they were
disposed to return.
§ II. 6 — 10. Occasion of his writing : the rapid falling
away to a new Gospel (6) ; though in fact there could
be no such thing ; unless these new preachers were some
wonderful persons (7). Once and again, therefore, he
anathematizes those who preached any new Gospel, be
they who they might (8, 9) : and accounts for his speak
ing so strongly from the consideration that he had long
left off trying to please men, else he could not be an
Apostle (10).
§ III. Proof of the originality of his Gospel by a review of
his demeanour to the other Apostles.
a. From his Conversion to a certain journey to Jerusalem (n —
24).
0. During the Conference occasioned by that journey (ii.
1 — 10).
y. When St. Peter was at Antioch (11 — 14).

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 211
a. "My Gospel is not human (n), for it was received im
mediately from our Saviour (12), in confirmation of which,
consider that any prejudices I might have of my own,
would be all in favour of Judaizing ; as is clear from my
persecuting, as I did (13), and from my great progress in the
old religion (14). And when I was converted, with such
circumstances as shewed me to be one raised up specially
(15) to preach the Gospel to the Heathen, I took no counsel
of man (16). I was in Arabia, and at Damascus, not at all
with the Apostles at Jerusalem (17). Three years after,
I visited Peter (18), and saw James (19). [This statement
I think of consequence enough to confirm it by an oath (20).]
The rest of my time I spent in Syria and Cilicia (_2i), un
known to the Jews (22), except by report (23) and thanks
giving (24)."
0. On the second journey to Jerusalem here referred to (one
being omitted, Acts xi. 30), Barnabas and Titus being wit
nesses (ii. 1), St. Paul had a divine command to compare
his Gospel with what the other Apostles preached, pri
vately to prevent hazard of souls (2). The rest gave the
strongest proof of their agreement with him, by not even
having Titus circumcised (3); but whatever was done, was
done with a view to those errors which some insincere per
sons were trying to introduce (4), whom St. Paul resisted
constantly (5). And in conference the very chief Apostles
(a strong proof of God's not respecting persons) made no
difference, added nothing to him (6). But seeing the pecu
liar trust and favour which had been conferred on him,—
which they knew by the same signs as in St. Peter's case,- — •
they made a compact with him and St. Barnabas, to divide
the ministry between them (7 — 9) ; only with a caution to
remember the poor of Jerusalem, which, as St. Paul reminds
the Galatians, he was earnest in fulfilling (10).
y. The strongest proof of St. Paul's independence was his re
sisting St. Peter at Antioch (11), whose error was, withdraw
ing himself from intercourse with the Gentiles for fear of
offending some Jews (12) ; which misled the other Jews and
St. Barnabas himself (13), and',,led to a strong remonstrance
from St. Paul on the inconsistency of his conduct (14).

p 2

212 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL S EPISTLES.
§ IV. Statement and Vindication.
a. The Doctrine of Justification stated as the ground of Chris
tian Faith (15, 16).
0. Vindicated from the charge of immorality (17 — 20).
y. Shewn inconsistent with the error of going back to the Law
for righteousness (21 — iii. 18).
8. Reconciled with the Law by considering the Law's pre
paratory nature (19 — iv. 7.
a. Such persons as St. Peter and I, with all our Jewish privi
leges (15), have found it necessary to become Christians, to
obtain the pardon by faith in Christ, which can never be ob
tained by works of any law (16).
0. If those who seek pardon through Christ are still found im
penitent, that is not the fault of the doctrine (17), but of the
person acting so inconsistently (18); the very drift and
meaning of the change from the Law taught by that Law),
to the Gospel, being "a life unto God" (19) ; a crucifixion,
with Christ, unto sin ; and a life, in Christ, by Faith (20).
y. Inconsistency of the doctrine of Pardon through faith in
Christ with the supposed necessity of the law.
1. If Pardon could be had by any Law (or other way),
Christ's death was unnecessary (21);— a consideration
which it was strange had not occurred to the Galatians,
who had been so carefully taught the whole process of our
Lord's crucifixion (iii. 1).
2. Spiritual gifts being annexed to Justification, if the Gala
tians received the Spirit by faith without the Law, they
were so justified (2), [a topic which strongly marks how
preposterous their error was (3), and how they were throw
ing away the fruits of the sufferings too (4)]. But it was
enough to ask the question again (5).
3. Abraham was justified by faith (6), and your glory is to
be sons (representatives) of Abraham; therefore you must
be justified so too (7). And this explains how all nations
are blessed in him : i.e. by the admission of the Gentiles to
favour, in a similar way (8). The blessing of Abraham
therefore, i.e. Justification, is confined to the faithful (9);
—those who depend on the Law being in fact under the
curse annexed to the disobedient (10). And besides:
whereas the man whom God accounts righteous is he

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 213
who lives by faith in an unseen reward (n); the Law
provides no such principle, but a present temporal re
ward (12). In a word, so far was the Law from conveying
the blessing of Abraham, that Christ was crucified on pur
pose to redeem men from the curse of it, — the manner of
His death being such as to indicate this (13); — thus pur
chasing a right to justify all nations as Abraham was
justified, and to seal that mercy with His promised
Spirit (14).
4. This topic of Abraham's acceptance may be urged to dis
prove the need of the Law, in the following way : —
Even among human covenants, no alteration may take
place without mutual consent (15). But God's covenant
to Abraham was a free promise (not to all his seed, but to
a chosen individual, viz. Christ, as was indicated by the
Hebrew idiom STft), to forgive all faithful and resigned per
sons for His sake (16). This the Law, 430 years after,
cannot invalidate (17), the notion of a subsequent Law
with fresh conditions, and a free promise at first, being
incongruous (18).
. Objection: Is not this making the Law useless? Answer:
The Law was (q. d.) an addition to the first scheme, to be
a witness to the world against sin, and a check to it, till the
appointed time should come, — administered, not by the Son
of God Himself, but by angels (cf. Heb. ii. 2, &c), and
through a mediator (19); [which last circumstance implies
that it was a proper covenant, — a mediator or umpire imply
ing two parties : but if so, it could not make any change in.
the old covenant, except it were made between the same
two parties : now the parties to the old Covenant were God
and Christ, to the Mosaic, God and the Jews ; therefore one
only of the former was a party to the latter ; therefore the
former was not affected by the latter (20)]. And as the
purpose of the Law is thus stated without any impeachment
of the Promise, so the substance of it is a full confirmation of
the Faith. For it does not profess to be the life-giving Law,
else of course righteousness might have been won through
it (2 1) ; but now it has expressly convicted all men of sin
and imperfect means of recovery, to prepare the way for the
Gospel (22) : up to which time, it was a guard and restraint
(23) : and so acted (to change the image) as a kind of school-

214 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

master to bring us to Christ and His righteousness by faith
(24) : whose office was superseded when faith came (25).
To enter into the spirit of this, remember the privilege of
sonship (26), which you received at Baptism, having then
been put as it were in Christ's place (27) ; and that without
distinction of birth, station, or sex (28). Remember also the
privilege of heirship, consequent upon the former by virtue
of the promise to Abraham (29). And to understand the
difference of our condition now and under the Law, consider
these privileges as having been (as it were) in abeyance, like
those of a child in infancy (iv. 1) under guardians at the
father's discretion (2). So our privileges were no more than
those of a slave, or a child learning his letters : those sensible
rules or motives by which we were in a degree managed,
being no more than an alphabet to higher things (3). But
now that our Saviour has come, in all things like unto us,
incarnate, and subject to the Law (4), we, being redeemed
by Him, are fully adopted as sons (5), of which the Spirit of
filial love is a seal (6) ; and thus the difference of Jews and
Christians is that of servants and sons and heirs of God
through Christ (7).
V. Application of the Doctrine of the Epistle to correct
the practical errors of the Galatians (iv. 8 — vi. 10).
a. Inconsistency of the Gentile converts in thus receding to
the Law.
" Your idolatry before was so far excusable, that it was ac
companied with ignorance (8) ; but your present voluntary
submission to that imperfect state admits of no such pallia
tion (9), e.g. your observance of days (10) enough to excite
my worst fears (11)."
0. Appeal to their former feelings towards him (12 — 20).
" Why cannot you take my word, who was once in the
same error? you have no cause to mistrust me, as if you had
deserved ill of me (12). Though it was not deliberate kind
ness, but some infirmity which brought me among you, at
first, as a missionary (13) ; yet nothing could exceed your
respect for me (14), and devotion to me (15). You have
not surely come to dislike me for telling you the truth (16).
It is rather the flattery of those who want to persuade you

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 215
that you want one thing to be full partakers of the Gospel,
they hoping to make themselves your idols (17). But as to
whatever might flatter you, if you had any right to it when
I was among you, how childish in you to give it up merely
because I am away (18) ! Indeed, I feel towards you as to
children in the birth (19) : — and would I were with you !
that I might suit my instructions to your immediate occasion,
so perplexed am I (20)."
Appeal (as it were an after-thought) to the history of Abra
ham, which is shewn to be typical (iv. 21- — v. 1).
" To make the matter as clear as possible, I will explain to
you the meaning of a portion of Genesis, which the admirers
of the Law cannot gainsay (21)." The history of Abraham
having two sons abridged (22, 23) ; explained to be the two
Covenants — the Jewish (24) [to which in the case of Agar
there is an allusion in the very name] (25), and Christian
(26), according to the Prophecy of her supernatural fruitful-
ness (27). Isaac therefore is the representative of Christians
(28) ; his being taunted by Ishmael, the type of their persecu
tion from the Jews (29). The decree of Ishmael's expulsion
the type of God's admitting the faithful only to justification
(30). We being therefore children of the freewoman (31)
must stand fast in our liberty (v. 1).
Importance of the point of circumcision.
" Virtually you give up the liberty and the blessing of Christ
by submitting to circumcision (2) ; for you bind yourselves
to the whole Mosaic Law (3), breaking the Covenant of
Justification by faith, and falling from God's favour (4),
which we are taught by His Spirit to expect only by Faith
(5) ; i.e. practical faith, — circumcision, uncircumcision, and
every thing else, being then of no consequence (6). And so
you had once begun to act : what has checked you ? (7).
Not He that called you, in any way (8) ; but it is an infusion
of evil teachers (9), which I hope you will get rid of (10).
Least of all, does it come from me, else why am I still perse
cuted, or any one else, by the Jews ? (1 1). It were best to
excommunicate such perverters at once (12)."
Caution against abuse of Christian liberty, shewing by the
way the true root of the error of the Galatians (13 — 25).
" Observe that when we talk of Christian liberty, we mean
nothing at random, but a service of love (13). [I say ' ser-

2l6 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
vice of love :' because, as far as the Law is binding, its
accomplishment is secured by that one principle, which is
indeed the same as Moses has delivered in other words (14) ;
whereas in the disputes about it, you seem in danger of
going to the extremest faults against it (15).] Or thus:
once try to conduct yourselves by the Spirit, and your earthly
tendencies will be kept in order of course (16) ; it being out
of the question for those who have any principle of that kind
to live at their own will and pleasure (17): and in such
proportion as you permit the Spirit (as a kind friend) to
guide you, you are freed from the penalties and restraints of
Law (18). And the rule is clear enough : it consists in
avoiding such and such things, as unchristian (19 — 21) ; and
pursuing others as the blessings of the Spirit, and as sealing
our release from condemnation by the Law (22, 23). And
do not say this is impossible ; for all Christians have re
ceived a power to keep themselves in order, and have
pledged themselves to do so, in virtue of Christ's cross (24) :
They live by the Spirit, — how inconsistent in them not to
walk by the Spirit ! " [It was neglect therefore of practical
holiness, and not of points of doctrine, which led the Gala-
tians to their error] (25).
r. Caution particularly against vanity and consequent unkind-
ness (v. 26— vi. 5). Especially is it unworthy of those who
have such a rule, to be vainglorious, disputatious, envious
(26); or to treat the real faults of others in any other but
a spirit of meekness, considering ourselves (vi. 1). Rather
it should make us submit to any inconveniences even when
deserved by others, in imitation of Christ (2) : the self-
consequence which would hinder this, being a mere dream
of one's own fancy (3) ; and the only true satisfaction one
can have, arising from the sober approval of one's own con
duct on examination, without comparison with others, or
appeal to their judgment (4). This is evident from the
simple doctrine of personal responsibility (5).
17. Recommendation of charity, especially to the teachers of
the Gospel (6—10). The duty inculcated (6), on the ground
that whatever might be fancied, there is no deceiving God,
nor evading the rule of retribution (7) ; which proceeds,
both for good and evil, in strict analogy with God's ordi
nary dealings (8) ; and therefore perseverance is only rea-

THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 217
sonable as in husbandry (9), as also vigilance in seizing
all opportunities (10).
§ VI. Conclusion : —
In which he draws their attention to the importance of the
subject ; his strong sense of which was indicated by his writ
ing so long a letter with his own hand (11). The point at
issue being in fact no less than the virtue of the Cross of
Christ : which those who preached the Judaizing doctrine
wished to avoid conforming themselves to (12). It being clear
that this was their real motive ; for they did not pretend to
keep the rest of the Law, but wanted to win men to their par
tial conformity, that they might keep themselves in countenance
by their example (13). In opposition to whom, St. Paul de
clares his resolution to depend on nothing but the doctrine of
the Cross (14) ; in comparison of which, all these outward dis
tinctions were absolutely nothing (15). And on such as follow
his rule he pronounces a blessing (16). And so, first hinting
the peculiar unkindness of annoying him who had suffered so
much for Christ (17), commends them to His grace, and bids
them farewell (18).

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

§ I. Salutation, and congratulation on the conversion
of the Ephesians (i. i — ii, 22).
§ II. Account of St. Paul's special interest in it (iii. 1 — 21).
§ III. Consequent exhortations :
To Unity (iv. 1— 16). Purity (17 — 24). Government
of the Tongue (25 — v. 21). Relative duties (22 — vi. 9).
Universal goodness under the similitude of armour
(10—18).
§ IV. Farewell, and blessing (19 — 24).
§ I. a. Salutation. The Ephesians addressed simply as Chris
tians, and St. Paul described simply as an Apostle. —
The Epistle may therefore be expected to be of most
universal application (i. 1, 2).
0. Thanksgiving to God for calling us to be Christians
(3 — 14). He gives glory to God for the abundance of
spiritual blessings (3), corresponding to His final pur
pose, known to Him for ever, to make us good by
making us Christians (4) ; I mean His purpose of adopt
ing us by Jesus Christ (5) ; that His grace might be
glorified in us. a. in our acceptance through Christ (6),
and the forgiveness of our sins (7) ; b. in the wisdom and
prudence of His revelation (8, 9), reserved for the later
dispensation ; — the revelation, I mean, of Christ's me-
diatorship (9, 10) : in whom both we Jews, set apart by
His purpose to believe first (11, 12), have a part, and
also you Gentiles, by hearing, Faith and Baptism (13)';
so receiving the Spirit for an earnest of their inherit
ance, till all be fulfilled, and all to His glory (14).
y. Intercession, corresponding to the former Thanksgiving
(15— ii. 10).
The report of their Faith and Love (15) caused him
to give continual thanks, and to pray (16) that they might
have more and more knowledge of Christ (17), and of

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 219
their Christian Privileges, here summed up in two
heads (A and B) :
A. The hope of their calling and rich inheritance (18),
B. Omnipotence of God on our side, evinced
1 st, in the resurrection and glorification of Christ (19 —
21) of which He graciously considers it the sum,
that He is made Head of the Church (22, 23) ;
2nd, in our resurrection, when dead in sin (ii. 1), [both
Gentile (2) and Jew, having been of old alike under
the power of the Devil, to please themselves (3), and
alike delivered only by God's mercy through Christ
(4)], our resurrection, I say, and ascension with Him
(5, 6) the full effect of which will only be understood
in another world (7).
And N.B. all this is entirely a matter of free grace
and favour (8), not earned by works, therefore not
to be boasted of (9), as the very nature of the case
shews : God made us for good works, therefore we
can never make Him our debtor (10).
. Recommendation to compare often their former state
with their present (11 — 22).
Consider your former condition as Gentiles and un
circumcised (11), without Mediator, Church, Covenant,
Hope or God (12); and then your present, — brought
near by the blood of Christ (13) ; — one of His attributes
being to be our Peace, uniting us together, and doing
away the enmity which separated between us and God
(14) ; doing away also the law of express outward ser
vices, and substituting the law of love, so as to re-create
both Jew and Gentile alike after His own image (15),
and reconcile both to God by His Cross for ever (16).
And not only hath He done this, but revealed it too
(17), giving us alike access by the same Spirit unto the
Father (18), so that now we are at home with God (19),
part of that building of which the Apostles and Prophets
are the foundation, and Jesus Christ the head-corner
stone (20) : inasmuch as He keeps the whole in its place,
so that it is gradually completed to be a fit temple by
His divine power (21): in Him, I say, to crown these
mercies, you are inserted by Christianity, to be an habi
tation for God (22).

220 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
§11. Expression of St. Paul's peculiar interest in the
Conversion of the Gentiles (iii. I— 21). [The whole
section is parenthetical, inserted to enforce the prac
tical admonitions which follow.]
Now St. Paul was at this time in prison for vindicating the
right of the Gentiles to be Christians (iii. 1) ; as would well
appear if they regarded the history of his ministry (2), especially
the revelation made to him (to which he had formerly referred)
(3) ; according to the state of their information on such points
(4) to him, I say, and to the other Apostles, first of all men
(5), the mystery of the conversion of the Gentiles (6) by the
Gospel, of which he became a minister (7). An astonishing
instance of God's power, on comparing the instrument with
the message (8), revealing so deep a mystery, not only to all
men (9), but also to angels (10) ; the message, I mean, of
Christ's mediation purposed for ever (11), accomplished in
our acceptance through Him (12) : — the greatest encourage
ment to pray that no tribulation might make him faint (13),
and that God would continue the gift of spiritual strength
(14 — 16), of the presence of Christ by Faith (17), of Christian
understanding (18, 19) : for all which he gives glory to God
(20, 21).
§ III. Exhortations consequent on the statement of Chris
tian Privileges :
a. to Unity (iv. 1 — 16).
This your calling requires a corresponding demeanour (1)
in the way of meekness (2), and particularly with a view
to the preservation of Christian Unity (3), the reasonable
ness of which is plain on considering the identity of our
hope (4), of our Mediator, and His ways of saving us (5),
of our God (6). Yet in this unity there is great diversity,
as Christ has pleased (7), according to the Psalmist's pro
phecy (8), [which, N.B., implies previous humiliation (9),
and shews whom God delights to honour (10)], fulfilled
in the various extraordinary offices and gifts communi
cated to the Church (n), with a view to the improvement
of the whole (12), till they were come to true Christianity
(13), and to defend us from religious jugglery (14) ; so
that we may by truth and love grow like Him (15), from
whom, incessantly, the happy growth proceeds (16).

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 221
0. To Purity (17 — 24).
Again, we must not walk at random, as the Gentiles do (17),
with darkened minds (18), given up to uncleanness (19),
whereas the very drift of Christian instruction is (20, 21)
putting off the likeness to Adam (22), and an inward re
newal (23) after the likeness of Christ (24).
y. In particular, self-government towards others is enforced:
In respect of truth (25). In respect of anger, which must
be checked as soon as perceived (26), lest the Devil " im
pose on" us (27). In respect of honesty (28). In re
spect of unsound conversation, which particularly grieves
the Holy Ghost (29, 30). In respect of unkind words
(31), for which the temper of God in Christ must be
substituted (32), as it is natural for darling children to
imitate their parents (v. 1), and for those to walk in
love for whom Christ offered Himself (2). In respect
of immodesty, which should not be named (3) nor (es
pecially) jested upon ; rather our discourse should tend
to thanksgiving (4) ; considering the serious consequences
of impurity (5), which is the very cause of God's wrath
against the Heathen (6), with whom as such we have no
more to do (7), we being turned from darkness to light
(8), i.e. holiness, which is the natural result of the Spirit
(9) ; and so approve what God loves (10), and expose what
He hates (11). These sins being disgraceful to speak of,
are best exposed by their contraries (12, 13), as is implied
in the mention of light in a well-known formula (14). Be
therefore very careful (15) considering the bad times (16),
e.g. avoiding excess of wine, that the Spirit may dwell in
you (18), [marking God's will (17)] delighting in Psalms
(19), thanksgiving (20), mutual submission (21).
8. Relative duties.
a. Of the marriage relation (22 — 33).
Duty of submission on the wife's part (22), considering
the analogy between her relation to the husband, and
that of the Church to Christ (23, 24). Of love on the
husband's part, considering Christ's love for the Church
(25), which (observe) was not a blind fondness, but
such as tended most to her purity (26, 27), both being
grounded on the very close connexion between them,
like that of the head and members of the same body

222 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
(28 — 30) ; as is signified in the words of the institution
of marriage (31), which had a deeper meaning, refer
ring to Christ and the Church (32), but are mentioned
now particularly, to enforce the duties of the conjugal
love (33).
b. Relative duties of Children and Parents.
Of children from natural equity (vi. 1) from God's com
mandment (2), enforced by promise (3). Of Parents,
not to provoke, but calmly to instruct (4).
c. Of slaves and masters.
Slaves must shew due respect (5) and sincerity as to
God (6) ; which thought should also teach them to
serve with good will (7), considering that God's re
wards will be distributed impartially (8). Masters must
rule by love rather : remembering His impartiality to
whom they must give account.
f. Concluding exhortation to entire Holiness : in a Parable
from the Armour of the Roman soldiers (10 — 20).
Universal duty of Christian courage (10), of such prepara
tion for our spiritual warfare, as may be expressed by
completely arming ourselves (11), most needful, con
sidering that we have not men but spirits to contend
with, and very powerful spirits (12) : our only chance
is to arm ourselves entirely (13) : so to take our station,
guided with truth (i.e. a notion of things as they are,
not fancies). Armed on the breast with righteousness,
i.e. good conduct (14) : shod with Christian good tem
per1' (15): Resignation to cover all (16): the doctrine
of eternal life to keep off speculative objections : and
the Word of God always ready to defend us as a sword
(17) : with continual prayer, and intercession (18),
which last he particularly asks for himself (19, 20) '.
§ IV. (21—24) For information as to himself they are
referred to Tychicus (21, 22). And so he ends with
a blessing on them (23), and on all good Christians
(24).
k Mr. Keble's note : "The thing meant is, I suppose, the good temper of
the Gospel, preparing us especially for minor difficulties."
1 Mr. Keble's note : " This Section is perhaps the most poetical in St. Paul's
writings. Compare with it Wisdom v. 17—20."

THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

THIS Epistle is, perhaps, (except those to the Thessa
lonians,) the most like a private letter of all St. Paul's
Epistles to Churches. It naturally writes off in Seven
Paragraphs :
§ I. Salutation, and assurance of his devout remembrance
of them (i. I — n).
§ II. Comfort in respect of his imprisonment : as to the
progress of the Gospel : and as to the probability of
his coming to them again (i. 12 — 26).
§ III. Admonition to them to keep up union and perse
verance, and to live in the Spirit of Christ's Incarnation
(i. 27 — ii. 18).
§ IV. Arrangements which he was making to communi
cate with them (ii. 19 — 30).
§ V. Caution against debasers of the Gospel (iii. 1 — iv. 1).
§ VI. Interference to reconcile two persons who had quar
relled, leading to an exhortation to cheerfulness and
kindness (iv. 2 — 9).
§ VII. Thanks for their contributions, and farewell (iv.
10—23).
§ I. Salutation (1, 2) ; assurance of the thankful joy with which
he remembered them as Christians, from his first acquaintance
with them (3 — 5) ; and of his confidence in their perseverance
(6) ; which they had well deserved by their recollection of,
and sympathy with, him (7) : also of his wish to see them (8),
and his prayer for their increase in spiritual wisdom (9), till
they become, practically, perfect in it (10), according to the
natural result of Christ's Gospel (11).
§ II. (i. 12 — 26). With regard to himself, his imprisonment had
tended to the furtherance of the good cause (12), being much
talked of in the Praetorium and generally (13), and adding
boldness to the efforts of the Christians (14) ; so that the very

224 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
spite of his enemies exulting over his calamity served to dis
seminate the truth, as well as the honest efforts of his friends
viewing it as a part of his testimony (15 — 17) : a matter of
joy to him in the event, in whatever spirit it was done (18).
To him, I say, personally, as it gave him more and more hope
of his final acceptance, by their intercession and God's sanc
tification (19), through courage and resignation to life and
death (20); which two being compared, though for himself
he would rather die, for their sake he consents, as it were,
to live (21 — 24); and predicts that he shall do so, and see
them again to their edification and comfort (25, 26).
§ III. This (comfort) would, however, depend on their conduct,
their unanimity in the good cause particularly (27), and their
fortitude in calamity, — the best earnest of salvation (28), and
a special favour over and above their Christian calling (29), —
in imitation of St. Paul himself (30). He adjures them, there
fore, by all the privileges of Christianity (ii. 1) to be united (2),
humble (3), waiting on one another (4), in imitation of Christ's
temper (5), shewn in His leaving His first glory (6), and taking
the form of a slave, as He did in becoming man (7) ; and suf
fering death, even Crucifixion (8), which was rewarded by His
glorification (9) ; to be Lord over all in heaven, earth, and
hell (10) ; and to be the Mediator through whom all glory
should be given to God (11) ; which is the greatest reason for
their persevering as they had done, sincerely, and in an awful
sense of God's working in them (12, 13) ; without murmuring
or disputing (14), innocent, as an example to a bad world
(15), and that the Apostle might see the fruit of his labour
in them at last (16) : — labour which, if it ended in martyrdom,
ought to be the greatest joy to them, as the thought of it was
to him (17, 18).
§ IV. Not but he wanted the comfort of knowing how they were
going on : and therefore he was going to send them Timothy
(19), being the only person on whom he could depend for
thorough sympathy with regard to them (20), all being more
or less taken up with themselves (21). But him they knew by
proof (22) ; and he should send him as soon as he was out of
suspense as to himself (23), trusting himself to come soon (24).
For the present he had sent Epaphroditus, qualified by his
connexion both with him and with them (25), and earnestly
longing to see them again after his illness (26) ; which, how-

THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 22 5
ever severe, had been removed, — an especial mercy to St. Paul
and him (27). Him he had now sent for their mutual comfort
(28), recommending him to their special care (29), who had
so nearly lost his life in waiting on Christ and Christ's minis
ter (30).
§ V. (iii. 1 — iv. 1.) Having cheered them up, he now proceeds
to admonish them, rather wishing to use too much than too
little care for their security (1). And his admonition is against
the Judaizing teachers, and their mangling, which they called
circumcision (2), whereas the true circumcision was only with
Christians (3). And this he says the more emphatically, since
he had the authority of one possessing in the highest degree
the external Jewish advantages (4), in circumcision, birth, sect
(5), zeal, obedience (6). Yet all these, and whatever else he
had that seemed good, he was willing to give up for Christ,
and that without hesitation, as chaff or refuse (7, 8). For
Christ, I say, and that righteousness which can only be had
of God by faith in Him (9), i.e. the actual knowledge of His
Resurrection and Death, by living a life conformable to them
(10), in hope of the resurrection (11), never once supposing
that he had done enough : since the very purpose for which
Christ had overtaken him was to put him in a state of continual
exertion (12); he knew he had not got his crown (13), but
was still racing towards the heavenly goal (14) : let this temper
be our test of Christian perfection ; and if we sincerely cherish
it, God will rectify what is in us at variance with it (15). Only
keep fast hold, practically and peacefully, of the good you have
already got (16). Such being the Apostle's temper, he calls
on his converts to imitate him and his imitators (17) ; for
which caution there was great need, through the number of
seducers, of whom he had warned them as enemies to the
Cross (i.e. recommending base compliances to avoid perse
cution) (18): abandoned, selfish, impudent, earthly-minded
(19). Whereas the city to which he invited them was hea
venly, and would be revealed by the coming of our Lord (20),
to raise and change our bodies according to His supreme
sovereignty (21). And with this awful topic he concludes
his affectionate exhortation to them, to stand fast as they
were ir the Lord (iv. 1).
§ VI. (iv. 2 — 9). , Evodias and Syntyche to be reconciled (2). The
husband (perhaps) of one of them to assist them ; considering
Q

226 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
how they had helped St. Paul (3). Let all live in Christian
cheerfulness (4) and exemplary equity, in expectation of the
Lord (5) ; without carefulness, throwing all that on God (6).
So might they be sure of His peace to keep their hearts and
thoughts (7). One care only should they have : to do all that
is right (8), as he had taught them and set the example (9).
§ VII. (iv. 10 — 23). Assurance of his thankfulness for the re
newal of their liberality, which in purpose wanted no renew
ing (10); — not on his own account, who had learned the lesson
of contentment in wealth and poverty alike (11 — 13), but on
theirs who had well done (14) ; as, indeed, they were the only
converts from whom he accepted such aid at first (15), having
been twice supplied in the three weeks he stayed at Thessa-
lonica (16). His joy then was that their reward would be in
creased (17). For himself he had more than enough, and God
would take it as a meet sacrifice (18), and would reward their
need in like manner (19), Doxology (20). Farewell (21, 22).
Benediction (23).

THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

§ I. Salutation, and expression of St. Paul's interest in
the Colossians, and thankfulness on account of them
(i. 1—29).
§ II. Warning against mixing human inventions with the
Gospel (ii. 1 — 23).
§ III. Exhortation to holiness generally (iii. 1 — 17).
§ IV. Relative duties (iii. 18 — iv. 1).
§ V. Concluding cautions, messages, and salutations (iv.
2—18).
§ I. (i. 1 — 29). The Colossians being unknown to St. Paul per
sonally, are addressed simply as Christians (1, 2). He assures
them of the part they had, a. in his thanksgiving (3—8) : 0. in
his prayers (9 — 23) : y. in the consolation of his troubles
(24—29).
a. He remembered them always in his devotions with thanks
giving (3), since he has heard of their conversion and cha
rity (4). Thanksgiving, I say, for their part in the hope of
Heaven (5) : — that Gospel hope, upon which they were en
deavouring to act (6), to which Epaphras had introduced
them (7), who himself told St. Paul of them (8).
0. And as he gave thanks, so he prayed for their daily growth
in Christian wisdom (9), and in Christian practice, the only
way to that wisdom (10), especially in respect of resignation
(n), and thankfulness in trouble for their Christian calling
(r2), i.e. for being turned from Satan to Christ (13), who is,
a. our Redeemer (14), b. God's image ; infinitely great, and
so first-born111 over all even in His human nature (15), ac
cording to His hereditary right as Creator of all (16), pre-
existent, and preserver of all (17) ; and more peculiarly abso
lute over the Church, and first-born from the dead (His oltco-
vopla thus bearing an analogy to His natural government) (18).
m Mr. Keble's Note : " I suppose the word has reference to dignity rather
than time. Our Lord in His human nature is the TrpardroKos of creation : and
well may it be so, for by Him (in His Divine nature) all things were created."
Q 2

228 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
All which depends on His being very God, inhabiting (as
it were) very man11 (19), and the chosen instrument, in
some unspeakable way connected with His sufferings, of all
reconciliation with God everywhere (20). And as their
privilege was thus great in itself, so it was enhanced by the
consideration of what they were called from ; which made
them a special instance of that reconciliation (21) ; to whom
individually Christ's death, and the sanctification and salva
tion depending on it, were now ensured, if they only kept
the faith (22, 23).
y. The thought of this their faith gave him joy in his suffer
ings, and encouraged him to suffer on for the Church (24), of
which by a special dispensation he had been made a minister
(25), to make known more particularly the mystery of Christ
as the Saviour of the Gentiles (26, 27) ; which he laboured
to do, bringing it home to every man by God's help (28, 29).
§ II. (ii. 1 — 23). With regard to themselves especially they
shared his anxiety, with all Christians whom he had not seen
(1), for that comfort and growth in true wisdom (2) which is
only to be had in Christ (3). Which last caution he added
against deceivers by plausible argument (4) : — having much
approved their beginning, in respect both of good order and of
firmness (5), and only wishing them to continue and go on,
upon the one foundation they had received (6, 7). They must
therefore be on their guard generally against any encroachments
which human- philosophy might make on the Gospel (8). For
as Christ has in Him the fulness of God (9) ; so have Chris
tians, as such, already the fulness of Christ, the sovereign of
all (10) by spiritual circumcision (11), i.e. Baptism, which is
also a spiritual burial and resurrection (12) ; conveying even to
Heathens a new life with Christ by forgiveness (13) ; the charge
against us being blotted out, or nailed to the Cross, and so
cancelled (14) : and the evil spirits openly led in triumph (15).
And m the assertion of their Christian liberty, they were par
ticularly to be on their guard against doctrines of the ritual ob
servance of meats and days (16), [on this principle, that the
shadow gives way to the substance (17)], or of voluntary ritual
observance, or "Angel-worship;" calling itself humility, and
1 "w^' wble^ N°te ! "Fr°m the COmmon usaSe with reSa^ to this word
(«,««,«) I could fancy that rf, rb ^pafla might be the nominative case : and
>n that way the sentence flows on better to the next infinitive, ^oKaTa^dfat."

THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 229
being presumption (18) ; and fundamentally wrong, in that it
swerves, more or less, from Christ the only Mediator (19). It
was contrary to the perfection of their Christian calling (20) to
be subject to such trifling (21), transitory, human rules (22);
which, in a show of austere wisdom, pervert fasting from its
right use, and make it ritual instead of moral0 (23).
§ III. (iii. 1 — 17). From the particular errors mentioned above,
and considered as inconsistent with the condition of a Chris
tian, the Apostle passes to the delineation of that temper which
alone suits the Christian privileges ; which consists in seeking
(1) and minding (2) heavenly, not earthly things: in being
dead here, and our true life with Christ in Heaven (3) : yet
with a sure hope of meeting Him in glory (4). Parts of this
dispensation will be,
1st. The mortification of our impure desires (5), which draw
down God's anger on the Heathen (6) ; as the Colossians,
recollecting their own days of Heathenism, might too well
know (7).
2nd. Correction of irascible passions, especially in respect of
angry words (8).
3rd. Speaking the truth to one another : which is especially
required by our change from the likeness of Adam (9) to
that of Christ (10), a change common to one as much as
another (11).
4th. Cultivation of good feelings, gentleness, &c. (12), espe
cially forgiveness in imitation of Christ (13) ; and to crown
all, charity (14).
5th. Habitual reference of all things to the peace (or appro
bation) of God with thankfulness (15).
6th. Christian conversation and meditation, assisted by
divine poetry and music (16).
7 th. Mingling all we do with Christian motives, and Chris
tian thankfulness.
§ IV. (iii. 18 — iv. 1). E.g. Let wives practise on this principle
0 Mr. Keble's Note: "Perhaps the verse might be rendered :—' Which
things have a show (not the substance) of wisdom in affected voluntary service
and humility, and unsparing use of the body, not in any real respect shewn to
it in regard of surfeit (or, in the way of guarding against surfeit) of the ap
petite.' iv ieehoeprjaKeia, k.t.A. being opposed to kv rip.fi, k.t.\., and not
the latter exegetic of the former. . . . Thus the passage, at the same time that
it does away with ritual, confirms and inculcates moral Fasting.

230 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
obedience (18); husbands, love and sweetness (19); children,
submission (20); parents, condescension (21); slaves, loyalty
in sight and out of sight (22), not feeling themselves degraded,
as knowing that they serve the Lord (23), and shall be paid
their wages by Him, whether for good (24) or for evil (25).
Let masters treat their slaves fairly ; remembering their own
subjugation to God (iv. 1).
§ V. (iv. 2 — 18). Farewell admonitions,
1 st. To pray with perseverance, attention, and thankfulness
(2), especially for the Apostle, that he might do his duty (3, 4).
2nd. To use all Christian wisdom, with a view particularly
to the Gentiles (5), especially in their conversation, the rule of
which is exactly given (6). Reference for further information
to Tychicus (7, 8), and to Onesimus (9).
Salutations from his Jewish helpers (10, 11), and from Epa-
phras (12), according to his particular interest in them (13):
and from other Gentile companions of the Apostle (14). Salu
tation to Laodicea (15). The letter to Laodicea and Colossi
should be mutually read (16). Message to Archippus (17).
Farewell (18).

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS.

§ I. (i., ii., iii.) EXPRESSIONS of love and encouragement.
§ II. (iv., v.) Good advice for the future.
§ I. o. Salutation (i. i).
0. Assurance that their conduct was matter of thanksgiving
to him (i. 2 — ii. 13).
y. Encouragement from considering the present state of
Christianity in Judea, and with regard to the Jews (ii.
14—16).
8. Expression of his feelings with regard to his visiting
them, and on receiving Timothy's report of them (ii. 17
—iii. 13).
0. It was matter of daily thanksgiving to him to think of
them (2) for their Christian conversation (3), the manner
of their calling having made as deep an impression on
him (4, 5), as he hoped his conduct had on them (5).
Particularly for their joy in affliction (6), by which they
had become patterns to the Greek Christians (7), and
indeed in every place (8), men preventing St. Paul with
the accounts of their conversion to Christianity, which is
here designated by serving the true God, and waiting for
Jesus Christ (9, 10). And as he had joy in thinking of
them, so they could not have forgotten the reality of his
addresses to them (ii. 1), evinced a. by his boldness just
after persecution (2) ; b. by the sincerity of motive and
demeanour which he maintained (3), answering to the
trust which the Omniscient reposed in him (4) ; without
flattery, covetousness (5), or vainglory : whatever pretext
the Apostolical authority might afford (6) : with fostering
gentleness (7), ready to give up all for them (8) ; as was
especially shewn by the labour to which he submitted (9) ;
c. by his Christian conversation with them (13) so pa
ternal (11), and constantly urging improvement (12).
This, then, was his joy, to recollect how they received
the Gospel and acted on it (13).

232 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
y. It was worth remarking that the conduct of the Mace
donian Christians answered to that of the Jewish, as well
as their trial (14) ; whose adversaries, following up their
murder of Christ and His Prophets, were now hindering
the conversion of the Gentiles ; but he, by the Spirit of
Prophecy foresaw the end (15, 16).
8. According to these affectionate feelings he had been
longing to see them ever since their parting (17), and had
twice attempted it, but was hindered by persecution (18),
for he looked to them for an increase of glory at the
great day (19, 20). Therefore he could not rest without
sending Timothy (iii. 1, 2) to comfort them by the as
surance of his (St. Paul's) steadiness, and that of his com
panions (3), whose trials were no more than he had fore
told (4). However, they led him to send and inquire of
their perseverance (5). Now Timothy had brought a
good account (6), and had comforted him and revived him
with their perseverance (7, 8). His joy before God was
beyond all thanks (9), as well as his wish to see them
and improve them (10) : for which in the end he prays
(11), as well as for their continual growth and final en
durance (12, 13).
§ II. (iv. and v.) Good advice for the future.
1. As to constant improvement (iv. 1) in what they knew al
ready (2). But it was worth while to mention particularly, —
2. Purity (3) : — recommended as a duty to our own bodies,
and requiring much Christian wisdom (Ahivaf) (4); as ne
cessary to keep us from the sad condition of Gentiles (5);
as part also of our duty to our neighbour, and implying
fraud and unfairness if transgressed : which is sure to draw
down God's anger (6), as most contrary to our Christian
calling (7). N.B. Contempt of this warning is contempt of
God, as surely as He has put His Holy Spirit in His Apo
stles (8).
3. Brotherly love : in which God had given them such grace
(9), that they only needed exhortation to improve (10),
especially in respect of quietness and industry (n), with
a view to others' edification and their own independence (12).
4. Consideration of the Last Day : with a view,
a. to comfort concerning the dead (iv. 13 — 18),
0. to constant watching (v. 1 — 11).

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 233
a. One immediate effect of Christian principles is to modify
our sorrow for the dead (13); whose return with Jesus
follows surely from His Death and Resurrection (14) ; to
which St. Paul by divine inspiration here adds the cir
cumstance, that the resurrection of the dead will take
place along with the glorification of the living (15) ; the
course of which great day being, 1st. the Descent of the
Lord, 2nd. the Resurrection of the dead in Christ (16),
3rd. the ascension of them with the living (in Christ) to
meet Him, and be with Him for ever (17). This he
leaves with them as matter of comfortabie exhortation
(18).
0. (v. 1 — 11). If any one ask "when?" you know the an
swer (1), that no one knows (2), the destruction of the
careless being to come on them suddenly and unerringly
(3) ; but let it not be so to Christians (4), who are chil
dren of Light (5), whose part therefore is wakefulness and
sobriety (6) ; the contrary evils being only of night and
darkness (7), whereas we are bound to soberness and
watching in Christian armour (8), remembering God's pur
pose to save us (9), and Christ's death for us (10). Such
are the topics of comfort and instruction which Christians
have always ready for one another (11).
. General maxims of Christian conduct, and conclusion. Par
ticular sympathy due to Christ's ministers (12); and love,
which goes along with a spirit of mutual peace (13). From
them [Christ's ministers] in particular all long-suffering is
due (14). Revenge forbidden. Charity inculcated (15).
Edify yourselves with joy (16), prayer (17), thanksgiving
(18) ; and others by not doing anything to damp the fire
of the Holy Ghost (19), by respecting all the means of
grace, yet distinguishing, in the use of them, between right
and wrong (20 — 22).
Final blessing (23) : uttered with confidence (24). Re
quest for intercession (25) and salutation (26), and request
that the Epistle be made public (27). Farewell (28).

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS.

§ I. Salutation, and congratulation on their faith and
patience, with anticipation of the final result (i. I — 12).
§ II. Correction of an error with regard to our Saviour's
coming, with prediction of an Apostasy first (ii. 1 — 17).
§ III. Farewell : with a kind of postscript relating to the
idleness of some of their poor (iii. 1 — 18).
§ I. (i. 1 — 12.) Salutation (1, 2); expression of delight at their
growth in faith and love (3), and patience, which was matter
of exultation to him everywhere (4) ; and which he would have
them consider as an earnest of future reward (5) and redress
(6), at Christ's visible coming (7) to take vengeance of His
and God's enemies (8), i.e. everlasting perdition (9) ; as also
to be glorified in His friends, and to prove the Apostle's wit
ness to all (10). To this consummation, and the intermediate
improvement necessary, all his intercessions had respect (11),
for the mutual glory of Christ and Christians (12).
§ II. (ii. 1 — 17.) Speaking of the coming of Christ, it was desir
able they should be warned against exciting imaginations, whe
ther grounded on supposed new revelations, or on interpreta
tions of Apostolic words or writings of its immediate approach
(1, 2). It will not come till the predicted Apostasy have taken
place, and "the Man of Sin" (whatever it means) be revealed
(4) : whose first mark will be, magnifying himself against all
gods to such a degree, as to set himself in their place in God's
Temple (4): his second, that a certain "let" or hindrance, which
as yet hindered him (else he was already beginning to work in
the dark), would be taken away. [This hindrance he had
mentioned to them, and therefore it was enough to refer to it
now] (5 — 7). His third mark will be, that, once revealed, he
will continue in being until the coming of our Lord, then
to be destroyed (as it should seem) suddenly (8). His fourth,
that he will come with false miracles (9) and immoral sophistry,
to deceive those who will not love the truth (10) : God letting
such imposture loose among them (11), finally to expose that

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 235
temper among them which makes people unbelievers because
they are sinners (12). [Whatever, therefore, the prophecy
means, those who are truly well-meaning cannot be involved
in its censure.]
But committing these things to God, one thing is certain :
that we owe Him constant thanks for those whom, in His
purpose of saving them (13), He has called to be Christians
(14). One thing they have to do : to stand fast in the"
Apostolic truth (15). And may the Saviour and Father give
them comfort and firmness so to do (16, 17).
§ III. (iii.) Having preferred his usual request for their inter
cession (1), more particularly needed from the troubles he was
exposed to at Corinth (2), and expressed his confidence in
God (3) and in them (4), and given them a blessing (5), he
bethinks himself of what he had heard of some men's disorderly
conduct among them, and directs them to discountenance it
(6), recollecting the example he himself had set (7), how he had
supported himself by his own labour (8), waiving his right for
example's sake (9) ; recollecting also the rule he had given, that
the idle should not eat the Church's bread (10). This warning
he repeats, in consequence of information of the idleness and
vain curiosity of some of them (11), to whom in the name of
Christ he recommends quietness and industry (12) ; and warns
the rest not to be weary in any work of charity (13) : specially,
if they saw the above warning slighted, to be shy of such a
person, out of brotherly kindness, not enmity (14, 15). Bless
ing of Peace (16), which is a token of St. Paul himself, being
in his own handwriting (17). Farewell (18).

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.

§ I. Salutation and purpose of the Epistle (i. i — 20).
§ II. Rules concerning Christian Worship (ii. 1— 15).
§ III. Rules about Ordination (iii. 1 — 15).
§ IV. Rules about Preaching (iii. 16 — iv. 16).
§ V. Rules about Christian Discipline, with regard to sex,
age, station (v. 1 — 25).
§ VI. Method of dealing with men in regard to their con
dition in life (vi. I — II, 17 — 19).
§ VII. Farewell, as of one entrusting another with a pre
cious charge (vi. 12 — 16, 20, 21).
§ I. Consists oifour Paragraphs.
a. Salutation (1, 2).
0. Declaration of the purpose of the Epistle (3, 4, 18 — 20).
y. A long parenthesis, pointing out, 1st. some of the principles
on which that purpose might be answered (5 — 11).
8. 2nd. The ground of St. Paul's personal authority (11 — 17).
0. In pursuance of St. Paul's intention in leaving Timothy as
a sentinel against perverse doctrine (i. 3), especially that sort
which only pampers curiosity (4), he now proceeds [pointing
out, by the way, the principles on which those errors might
be guarded against, and his own authority to do so (as
a great instance of mercy,)] to give him some further direc
tions in harmony with what Timothy had before been told
(18), relating to faith and a good conscience; the con
nexion between which is evidenced in the fall of some (19),
especially Hymenals and Alexander (20).
y. It may be observed by the way that such errors arise en
tirely from people's neglecting the end of the Apostle's
injunction — Christian practice (i. 5, 6); which is particularly
absurd in one who would explain the Law, since he can
neither understand his own principles nor conclusions (7);
e.g. he does not seem to be aware that Law is a paren
thesis; and — being a relative term to the great corruption

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 237
of our nature (9, 10) [and then only good when practised (8)]
— is now naturally merged in the Gospel, which sets itself
against the same things more effectually (11).
8. And for this St. Paul's words might be taken, since he had
been specially intrusted with the Gospel (11) out of Christ's
favour (12), for all his former enmity in consideration of his
ignorance (13) ; and had been admitted into the full benefit
of the Gospel (14) [which he most thankfully acknowledges
(15)], as a pattern to believers (16), for which he gives God
glory (17).
§ II. Rules concerning Christian Worship.
a. Of public prayer : it should contain intercession and thanks
giving for all — even heathens (ii. 1 ), especially for governors
(2), considering the end of their appointment and the will
of God (3), for the salvation and instruction of all (4). For,
generally speaking, the latter is necessary to bring us to the
one Mediator (5) and Redeemer (6) : the doctrine which
St. Paul was particularly appointed to preach to the Gen
tiles (7).
0. The men everywhere should come to it pure, meek, and
free from worldly anxiety (8).
y. The women in decent, not fine, apparel (9), their good
works being their best ornament (10) : to learn humbly (11),
not to teach (12), considering men's priority, 1st. in creation
(13), 2nd. in understanding, shewn by his not having been
deceived, even at the Fall, as the woman was (14) ; for which,
however, God immediately provided a remedy p, if women
are not wanting to themselves (15)-
§ III. (iii. 1 — 15). Rules of Ordination, a. of Priests (1 — 7),
fS. of Deacons (8 — 13), followed by an explanation of
the reason why St. Paul was so anxious to write on the
subject (14, 15).
a. The thing to be kept in view as a principle, in ordination of
Priests, is the intrinsic nobleness of the work (1), requiring
p Mr. Keble's Note : "By means of that child-bearing, which was men
tioned in the sentence passed on her," Gen. iii. 16. St. Chrysostom refers
the "faithful saying" to this, but Mr. Keble points out that in other pas
sages the phrase irtarbs \6yos seems to point to what follows.

238 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

great blamelessness in the way of temperance q, kindness (2),
gentleness, disinterestedness (3), a good probation at home
(4, 5), experience (6), a good name even among infidels (7).
0. On the like sort of grounds to take care of the blameless
ness (8, 9), and sufficient trial (10) of Deacons : the qualities
of the wives' (11), and their own domestic authority (12),
considering the advantage it is to a person to have exer
cised this office well (13). [All this St. Paul wrote, to make
sure of Timothy's having sufficient directions, in case — con
trary to his hope — he should be detained far from him
(M, IS)-]
§ IV. (iii. 16 — iv. 16). Rules of public instruction.
The first thing is a clear view of the fundamental truths, which
are summed up (16) ; then of the errors of our own sphere,
such as the Spirit had foretold should come on the publica
tion of the Gospel, amounting to apostasy through the insti
gation of evil spirits (iv. 1), acting by means of reckless
men (2) ; e.g. enforcing celibacy and distinction of meats,
1 I Tim. iii. 2, the husband of one wife. Folded in the Greek Testament
at this place was a paper, in Mr. Keble's handwriting, marked " Copy," and
dated " Penzance, Dec. 28, 1862.". . . " The last time I had occasion to con
sider it, I was convinced that the texts" (this text and verse 12, and Tit. i. 6)
" meant to enforce monogamy as a condition ordinarily to be for the offices
there mentioned. And I believe this is the sense of almost all antiquity.
But neither could I conceal from myself that this might be part of the general
preference of the coelibate, which our Lord and St. Paul so plainly express.
And as the Church, both in the East and among ourselves, has waived receiv
ing that as a positive precept for Clergymen, so I presume we must understand
our own Church (for the Eastern Church, I believe, does not in this go along
with us) to interpret St. Paul's words here not as a. peremptory law for all
times and circumstances, but as a recommendation to be followed except for
some grave cause ; like the caution which accompanies it in Titus, that a man
should not be ordained if he have unconverted or unruly children : or that
other, that he should not be a novice. On these grounds or the like, I have
kept silence when perhaps I might have had a right to interfere, but I should
have thought it hard and wrong to do so, the parties being already committed.
Had I been consulted beforehand, I suppose I should have said what I have
now written : but I am sure I should have also said as earnestly as I could,
that as things are among us, such an engagement, once made, should be kept
as sacredly as any other, unless there be consent, spontaneous on both sides, to
separate (cf. I Cor. vii. 5). May God give a right judgment and a great bless
ing to the persons, whoever they are, on whose behalf you ask the question. "
' Mr. Keble does not notice the question whether ywaiKas here may not
rather mean Deaconesses. — Ed.

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 239
contrary to God's creation and purpose (3) ; whereas all
God's creatures are good, received thankfully (4), and are
sanctified by His permission at first, and by prayer on each
occasion (5). It is by such reference to first principles,
both in our teaching and in our studies, that we shall do
our duty well (6) ; declining irreverent and silly discussions,
and entering on nothing which does not promote our own
personal holiness (7), considering that as surely as exercise
is the way to bodily health for a short time, so is piety to
happiness in both worlds (8) ; or in other words — as is truly
said among Christians (9) : — "what signify toil and shame to
those who have a living God to trust in, a Saviour to all,
but to the believers more especially" (10). These are the
views of the relative importance of things, which must be
continually inculcated (11). As to the manner of doing so
(in which the great danger in youth is that of being con
temned), it depends, 1st. upon exemplary goodness (12);
2nd. upon devotion to pastoral care (13); 3rd. upon atten
tion to gifts and talents in the limited sense (14). Give
yourselves up to those, so as to be exemplarily improving
(15) ; with care and perseverance ; and you and your hearers
will, as far as lies in you, be safe (16).
§ V. Rules of Discipline (v. 1 — 25).
a. How to correct old and young men (1) and women (2) :
which reminds the Apostle of the institution of Deaconesses,
for which he recommends persons really destitute (3) ; since
those who have children should have brought them up so as
to ensure their support in their old age (4) ; and real desti
tution implies application to the Almighty (5), — a sort of
life infinitely above that of pleasure (6). [N.B. These charges
the Apostle gives, the better to ensure their fidelity, though
nature herself might enforce them sufficiently (7, 8).] But
to proceed, as to the Widows : their age and character are
specified (9, 10). Young persons not so well qualified, since
more exposed to temptation from pleasure (11, 12), idle
ness and foolish talking (13); they had better leave them
selves open to domestic engagements till the danger of
scandal is over (14, 15). This subject is ended by re
peating the caution of the fourth verse, more particularly
to the relatives of the widows (16).

240 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.

0. In the government of the Clergy,
a. Distinguish the more deserving by temporal encourage
ments (17), according to both Law and Gospel (18).
b. Proceed openly both in receiving charges (19) and in
rebuking offenders (20).
c. In your own conduct (considering yourself as a minister
of discipline) avoid partiality (21), precipitancy in ordi
nation especially, and every sort of impiety (22), making
health the only cause of indulgence in diet (23) ; and
remembering that there are judgments in store for secret
as well as open sins (24, 25).
§ VI. Method of dealing with men according to their
condition in life (vi. 1 — 10).
Slaves must be especially instructed in the duty of obedience,
if it were only for the credit of the Gospel (1). And the
more if their masters be Christians too (2). Opposite
doctrines can only proceed from vanity and ignorance
engendering a spirit of controversy, and producing envy,
strife, evil -speaking, uncharitable suspicions (3, 4), and
whatever else is the occupation of wrong-headed men
who make a trade of religion (5). [Not but that religion
— with content — is the best bargain a man could make
(6), since nothing else will follow us into the other world
(7). It is common sense, therefore, to be satisfied with
the least of this world's goods (8) ; especially considering
the temptations to which love of wealth exposes one (9),
and the many that have been ruined by it (10)].
§VII. Parting Charge (11— 16).
You see what you are to avoid : now what you are to prac
tise is every Christian grace (11), with all possible earnest
ness, considering your peculiar obligations (12) ; to which
is now added a charge in the presence of God and Christ
(13), and in reference to the Day of Judgment (14), the
approach of which is sure as the attributes of Almighty
God (15, 16).

THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 24 1
Postscript, adding something both to § VI. and to § VII.
(vi. 17 — 21).
§ VI. To the rules about content should be added espe
cial charges to the rich against pride and idolatrous
trust in wealth (17), and in favour of all sorts of charity
and public spirit (18), with a view to the other world
(19).
§ VII. To the parting charge is added a caution especially
against the pretended " knowledge" or " enlarged views"
of that time, as being full of profaneness, 1st. in un
meaning subtleties of ingenious sound, 2nd. in objec
tions (20) ; a caution enforced by the sad experience
of the heresy into which it had led some (21).

R

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.

§ I. General encouragements, implying rather low spirits
in him to whom they are addressed (i. I — ii. 13).
§ II. Directions or maxims of episcopal behaviour gene
rally (ii. 14 — 26).
§ III. Maxims relating particularly to an approaching de
generacy among Christians (iii. 1 — iv. 5).
§ IV. Commissions and statements relating to St. Paul
himself (iv. 6 — 22).
§ I. a. Salutation (i. r, 2), referring especially to the promise, and
using the endearing word, iyawqrw.
0. Timothy is encouraged
a. by the thankful remembrance had of his family (3—5),
as also by the affection shewn in the Apostle's prayers
and wish to see him :
b. by the remembrance of the special grace he had re
ceived, a great warrant against cowardice (6, 7) :
c. by the remembrance of the nobleness of the Gospel,
and God's eternal purpose towards Christians revealed
in it (8 — 10) :
d. by St. Paul's example (11, 12).
y. Timothy is directed to provide for the continuance of the
truth by an abstract of St. Paul's preaching (13), the better
to ensure that precious deposit ; and so fulfil the purpose
of the Spirit dwelling in them (14); the more necessary
considering the spirit of defection which had been shewn
in Asia (15) : [to which Onesiphorus formed a noble ex
ception] (16 — 18). The times therefore required energy
in maintaining God's bounty — the Gospel (ii. 1) ; and care
in selecting those who might continue it (2).
8. Fresh encouragement needed upon the former directions
(3 — r3)- In doing these duties, tribulation is to be ex
pected; as in warfare (3). Therefore disengage your
mind from earthly things (4), and remember not only to
be on the right side, but also to labour in the right spirit
(5). So will your reward be eminent (6), — a matter greatly

THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 243
to be considered (7) : as well as the very substance of our
Gospel, the resurrection of Christ (8), and its flourishing
in spite of our sufferings (9). St. Paul is full of confi
dence and perseverance (10), and holds by the group
of Christian proverbs, "If we be dead," &c. (n — 13).
§ II. (ii. 14 — 26). Such are the true topics of Christian instruc
tion, avoiding dangerous disputes (14), sparing no pains in
sound interpretation (15); but shunning profane and un
practical enquiries, as sure to lead to irreligion (16), and to
spread: of which an instance is given (17, 18); [not that
the foundation of Christian faith is shaken : it stands upon
the joint security of God's promise and our loyal obedience
(19); but as in a family, some vessels must be put to mean
uses, so here (20). However, the way is clear for each man
to get himself an honourable place, — it is merely shunning
whatever is profane (21)]. Again, Timothy is directed to shun
youthful lusts, and follow every kind of virtue (22); to depre
cate that sort of inquiry which shews an irregular, undisciplined
mind (23), and so produces strife, most unapt for a servant of
the Lord (24), whose great business is to instruct in meekness,
and never despair of any one" (25, 26).
§ III. (iii. 1 — iv. 5.) Particularly you should be aware of the
immorality to be expected in the times of the Gospel, so
exactly answering to that of Heathenism (1—4), with the
additional mark of hypocrisy, most to be avoided of all (5).
One practice of these bad Christians especially stigmatized :
that of insinuating themselves into domestic society, and
leading weak people astray (6); not without the fault of
those people themselves in giving the reins to their fancy
and curiosity, under show of seeking the truth (7) : to which,
in fact, these teachers are as much opposed as the Magicians
were to Moses : having, in fact, entirely corrupted their sense
of religious truth (8) : and will by-and-by appear as plainly
as in the case of Moses (9). »
Meantime do you, remembering my example, my sufferings,
and deliverances (10, n), [the common case of all who would
. Mr. Keble's Note on ii. 26. ' ' Qu. Might els rb iicetvov 6i\rip.* be taken with
lLvarfrt»<ri,— putting a comma at avrov, and referring ixttyov to ®*6s in ver. 25.
The ordinary use of telw. would seem to enforce this." [The meaning will
then be, "That they may recover themselves out of the smre of^ the devil
(who have been taken captive by him) unto obedience to God's will." -Ed.]

244 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
be good Christians, as long as bad men will be wilful, and
corrupt themselves and others (12, 13)], continue in your good
beginnings taught by God Himself (14). For that may be
truly said of one who from his youth has learned the Holy
Scriptures of the Old Testament, — out of which one may learn
Christian truth enough to save his soul (15). This we know,
because all Scripture is inspired for our use (16), and so, that
out of it a minister may learn all his duty (17).
So much for your personal duty : as to your ministerial,
you are adjured by the remembrance of God's judgment (iv. 1)
to be regular and instant in all sorts of pastoral care (2); and
the more, as we must expect men to be at times impatient of
sound doctrine, and led by their own fancies in multiplying
teachers (3), the natural result of which is, that they like fables
better than truth (4). Let it, therefore, be your care to wake
up for suffering and doing all your work (5).
§ IV. Personal commissions, &c. (6 — 22).
I am the more earnest in pressing these duties on you, be
cause I am so soon to go (6), looking with comfort to the past
(7), and with hope to the future (8). Make haste and come
(9), for I am alone (10) all but Luke, and want Mark in
particular (11); Tychicus too being gone (12).
Remember and bring my manuscripts from Troas (13). Be
on your guard henceforth against Alexander, remembering his
behaviour to me (14,- 15).
And be not faint-hearted about me : for you know how,
although forsaken of men, I was delivered from my former
imprisonment, to do more of God's work here (16, 17) : and
now I shall have a happier deliverance (18). Salutations (19).
[I am the more earnest about your coming, as my two
other friends, Erastus and Trophimus, are away : and it is
ill voyaging in winter (20, 21). Salutations from Rome (21).
Farewell (22).]

THE EPISTLE TO TITUS.

THIS Epistle contains six Paragraphs : —
§ I. Salutation (i. i — 4).
§ II. Particular purpose of Titus' commission (5 — 16).
§ III. Instructions how to execute it; in respect of men's
different ages (ii. 1 — 8).
§ IV. In respect of station, as to slaves (9 — 15), as to
subjects (iii. 1 — 8).
§ V. In respect of disputes and heretics (9 — 1 1).
§ VI. Miscellaneous directions, and farewell (11 — 15).
§ I. St. Paul, in virtue of his Apostolical work (i. 1), end (2), and
commission (3), sends his blessing to Titus (4).
§ II. Having left him in Crete to appoint elders (5), he tells him
what outward marks an elder should have (6), what inward
vices he should be free from (7), and what virtues possess (8).
Especially how single-hearted he should be in teaching, with
a view both to exhortation and rebuke (9) ; particularly the
last, greatly needed by Jewish teachers (10), most destructive
and unprincipled (11), according to Epimenides' character of
the Cretans : who, being liars, and stupified by sensuality and
sloth (12), required no timorous treatment (13) to withdraw
them from profane superstition and Pharisaism (14) : and
teach them that the real difference of things is in us, and not
in them (15) ; and that none are so bad as the hypocrites
in heart (16).
§ III. Instructions how to teach in respect of men's ages (ii.
1 — 8). Sound doctrine (opposed to what was described in
chap, i.) to be the measure of teaching (1), e.g. as to old men
(2), old women (3), young women (4, 5), young men (6),
among whom Titus was to be an especial pattern (7, 8).
§ IV. How to teach in respect of stations (ii. 9— iii. 8).
a. For slaves (ii. 9 — 15).
Their duty as to temper ( 9), as to honesty ( 1 o), for the credit
of the Gospel, whose salutary appearance (11) is accom
panied with perfect moral teaching (12), and glorious sanc
tions, having respect to our Lord's final coming (13), and
past mercies (r4). All this to be taught with authority (15).

246 ANALYSIS OF ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES.
0. For subjects (iii. 1 — 8).
Their duty is active obedience (1), especially in respect of
the Sixth and Ninth Commandments (2) ; and is enforced
by the remembrance of the sins from which Christianity de
livers man (3); through, no merit of our own, but entirely
through Christ (4, 5), both in baptism and in following gifts
of the Spirit (5, 6), and in our final hope (7). Impress these
things, not controversially, that men may have the more will
and leisure for practice (8).
§ V. Apostolical charge how a Bishop should deal with dis
putes, &c. (9 — n), what matters (9) and what persons (10, n)
time is not to be spent with. N.B. This and the section be
fore seem to point out the right way of dealing with Reformers,
in the bad sense of the word.
§ VI. Commands about Titus' coming (12), about supplying
ministers of the Gospel on their travels (13), recommended as
a common case (14). Farewell (15).

THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.

§ I. Salutation (1—3).
| II. Commendation of Philemon (4 — 7).
§ III. Recommendation of Onesimus (8 — 21).
§ IV. Farewell (22 — 24).
III. Waiving his own authority (8), he pleads his age and his
bonds (9), his consideration of Onesimus as a child (10), re
formed (11), and restored to Philemon (though ill-spared) for
Philemon's own sake (12 — 14). To which are added God's
special Providence appearing in the matter (cf. Gen. xiv. 5)
(15, 16), and his own strong feeling, expressed by his willing
ness to take Onesimus's debt on himself (17 — 21).

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.

TO KATA* MAT&AION ATION ETATTEAION.
The Gospel according to St. Matthew.
CHAP. I.— Ver. i.
BiftXos yeveaemv 'Irjaov Xpiarov, viov Aaf3lB, viov 'Aftpadfi.
The Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of
David, the Son of Abraham.
Bi'0\os yevio-easi] Heb. rnVifl "ED Gen. V. I.
B/0\or.] Cf. Herod, ii. 100. It appears from Ezra (ii. 62) and
Nehemiah (vii. 64) that the Jews preserved their genealogies
carefully. viov . . . viov.] Agrees in both places with 'irjo-ov. Cf. Gen.
xxxvi. 2 (Aholibamah the daughter ofAnah the daughter of Zibeon),
compared with v. 24 [which shews that Anah was a man]b; cf.
also St. Luke iii. 23 — 33.
Abraham and David, — why particularly mentioned.
Ver. 5.
SaXfimv Be iyevvrjae rbv Bob% ex ttjv 'Paxd/3.
And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab.
If this Rahab was the harlot mentioned in Joshua, (as is most
likely, from comparing this verse with the mention of Thamar,
Ruth, and Bathsheba,) we may probably suppose that some ge
nerations are omitted here, as in ver. 8, since there is an interval
of at least 300 years between Joshua and David.
Ver. 8.
'Impd/i Be iyevvrjae rbv 'O^lav.
Andjoram begat Ozias.
Three generations : why omitted ? They are Azariah, Joash,
and Amaziah. The explanation in the text is literally true, ac
cording to that Hebrew idiom, by which Isaiah predicted to
" Kara.] — Query whether Schleusner's quotation from Gal. i. n be much to
the purpose ; but that from I St. Peter iv. 14, Kara fihv abrovs 0\a(T(prip.e7Tai
Kara Sh 6p.as 5o£afeVai, seems to justify us in translating it 'by.'
b Note. — The reader is requested to observe that whatever is enclosed in
square brackets [....] has been inserted by the Editor.

250 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Hezekiah that his children should be carried away captive;
whereas they were his far descendants. Probably these gene
rations were omitted, on account of the wickedness of the three
kings, in some genealogy from which this was copied ; so Cain
is not mentioned in the Book of Chronicles, nor Simeon in the
Blessing of Moses, Deut. xxxiii.
Ver. ii.
'Eirl rrjs fieroiKeaiav BafSvXmvos.
About the time they were carried away to Babylon.
N.B. in\ for Time.
St. Mark ii. 26, em. 'A0m%>.
St. Luke iii. 2, iir apxifpitov.
St. Luke iv. 27, eVi 'eA«to-<hW
Acts xi. 28, iir 1 KXavbiov Kaiaapos.
UeroiKfo-ia an Euphemismus which seems to favour the notion
of this being an extract from a Jewish record, and so does the
way in which some MSS. have it, vid. Griesb. p. 5, n. o.
pfroiKfo-ias.] Heb. nVi2. i.e. 1 Chron. v. 22; Ezech. xii. n.
Ver. 12.
Merd Be rrjv fieroiKeaiav BafivXmvos, 'Iexovlav iyevvrjae tov
SaXadiijX' XaXaOirjX Be iyevvrjae rbv Zopof3df3eX.
And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel;
and Salathiel begat Zorobabel.
Consider how to reconcile this with Jer. xxii. 30 ( Write ye
this man childless). 1. Hammond proposes adoption; 2. but
perhaps the passage in Jeremiah is misunderstood. LXX. ren
ders it iKKf)pvKTov, instead of ar«vov. (I think 1 Chron. iii. 17, 19
— the sons of Jeconiah, Assir, Salathiel his son, drc. — favours the
scheme of adoption.) And this agrees with the opinion of most
commentators, that St. Matthew meant to give our Lord's legal
descent from David ; St. Luke His natural descent. Concerning
the genealogies, see Grotius.
Ver. 17.
JJdaai ovv ai yevedi dirb 'A/3padfi ems AafSIB, yeveal
BeKareaaapev.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are
fourteen generations.
All the generations in the list ; not all the actual generations,

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 25 1
Ver. 18.
Mvrjarevdeiarjs yap rr)s firjrpbs avrov Maplas rm Jmarj<p,
irplv r) avveXdeiv avrovs.
When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before
they came together.
Between marrying and betrothing there was generally some
time ; Deut. xx. 7, (Hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her).
Force of yap, namely that . . .
o-vveXdetv.] Frequent, apud Thucyd. and Aristot.
Ver. 19.
'Imarjcp Be b dvrjp avrrjs, Blxaios mv, Kal firj deXmv avrrjv
irapaBeiy fiarlaai, if3ovXrjdrj Xddpa diroXvaai avrrjv.
Then Joseph her husband, being a fust man, and not willing to make
her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Sixmos.] perhaps here, "merciful." So Tlp~f2 means eXe-qpoo-ivri
in Deut. xxiv. 13 (// shall be righteousness unto thee before the lord) ;
Dan. iv. 27 (In LXX. and Vulg., Redeem thy sins by almsgiving).
StWos.] Deut. xxiv. 13 (as above).
Ps. cxii. 9, Hath given to the poor ; his righteousness remaineth
for ever.
Ps. cxlv. 16, 17, Thou openest thine hand . . . righteous in all
His ways.
Isa. Iviii. 7, 8, Deal thy bread to the hungry . . . thy righteous
ness shall go before thee.
Matt. vi. 1, Your alms : marg. "righteousness."
irapabeiypario-u.] Numb. XXV. 4.
Jer. xiii. 22, V?jO [Their veils were taken away. — Ed.]
Ezech. xxviii. 17,/ will lay thee before kings that they may
see thee, — Trapabfiypario-Orjvm.
Heb. vi. 6, Put Him to an open shame.
Ver. 20.
Tavra Be avrov ivdvfirjdev'rov . ¦ . fir) (fioftrjdrj? irapaXaf3eiv. . . .
While he thought on these things . . . Fear not to take unto thee. . . .
For the strict law in this case, cf. Deut. xxii. 13 — 20, by which
the supposed criminal would be punished with death. rrapa\a$fiv
Heb. nf?b, Gen. iv. 19 (lamech took unto him two wives) ; Hosea
i. 2, (so take thee a wife, LXX. Xd0c).
iv6vp.rj8ivTosi] Acts x. 1 9 ( While Peter thought on the vision).

252 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 21.
Kal KaXeaeis to ovo/ia avrov IHSOTN.
And thou shalt call his name JESUS.
IH20YN. So ^ttjin of Alexander the Great, Isa. xix. 20
(There shall be an altar to the lord . . . in Egypt . . . He shall send
them a Saviour). Enquire whether the word has any reference
to Jehovah : which would much illustrate what is said of Em
manuel. Ver. 22 and 23.
Tovro Be.oXov yeyovev, 'iva irXrjpaOfj rb prjOev. . . .
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken. . . .
Ioov rj irapdevos iv yaarpl e!jei, Kal re^erai, viov, Kal Ka-
Xeaovai to ovopa avrov 'EfifiavovrjX' o iari fieOepfirjvev-
b/ievov, Med' rj/imv b Qebv.
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted
is, God with us.
Force of ito. Isa. vii. 14. Occasion of the prophecy. New
Testament quotes from Septuagint. Figure in KaXio-ovo-i (" They
shall call His name;' a Hebraism for "He shall be"). How ful
filled in Christ. Cf. Jer. xxxi. 22 (. . . a neio thing in the earth,
A woman shall compass a man). Ver. 25.
Kal ovk iylvmaKev avrrjv, ems ov ereKe rbv viov
avrrjs rbv irpwrbroKov.
And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son.
Force of «W ol, cf. xx. 44, Sit thou . . . till I make thine ene
mies; xxviii. 20, I am with you alway, even unto the end; 2 Sam.
vi. 23, Michal had no child unto the day of her death.
CHAP. II.— Ver. i.
Tov Be Jrjaov yevvrjdevTos iv BrjOXeefi rrjs 'IovBalas iv rjfie-
pais 'HpmSov rov f3aaiXims, IBoii fidyoi dirb dvaroXmv
irapeyevovro els ' IepoabXvfia.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judcea in the days
of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east
to Jerusalem.
Why of Judaea, cf. Jos. xix. 15 (another Bethlehem in Zebulon).

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 253
Time of this after the Purification, probably a year and twelve
days from the Nativity, cf. S.Luc, ii. 22 (Purification 40 days
after birth), and ver. 16 of this chapter.
Who and what Herod was ? Who were the Magi? Dan. i. 20
(The magicians and astrologers, Chald. CEttJS) ; ii. 2, &c. Why
ava.ro\u>v (so Virgil, 3 Geor. 437, "Solis ad ortus"). Perhaps they
came from Tarshish, Isa. Ix. 9, (The isles shall wait for tne, the
ships of Tarshish) ; Ps. Ixxii. 10, The Kings of Tarshish and of
the isles shall bring presents ; Jackson. Lightfoot thinks from
Arabia, which had been subject to David and Solomon, and was
included in the promise of the land of Canaan.
Ver. 2.
EXBofiev yap avrov rbv darepa iv rrj dvaroXfj.
For we have seen his star in the east.
Refers to prophecy of Balaam, Num. xxiv. 17, There shall
come a Star out of Jacob. Quotation from Chalcidius on Plato's
Timasus °.
in rjj aWroXjJ.] Perhaps in its rising; "in the East" is com
monly plural (avaToXais), Hammond. Lightfoot thinks the star
was the light that appeared to the shepherds.
Ver. 4.
Tovs dpxiepeis Kal ypafifiareis rov Xaov.
And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes
of the people together.
Who were the dpxifpfU undypapparfU? (1.) apxitptis were either
the persons who had been from time to time turned out of their
offices by the Romans, of whom Josephus mentions many; or
the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests instituted by David
(1 Chron. xxiv.). (2.) ypappareh, whose office was double, 1. to
expound the law by preaching; 2. to copy it.
tov Xaov,] to distinguish them from such as Baruch, who were
scribes to individuals.
c [The passage in the Platonist Chalcidius (Commentary on the Timceus,
vii. 125) is that beginning, "Est quoque alia sanctior et venerabilior historia,
quas perhibet ortu Stellas cujusdam, non morbos mortesque denuuciatos, sed
descensum dei venerabilis, ad humanae conservationis rerumque mortalium
gratiam." — Ed.]

254 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 6.
Kai av BrjdXeefi, yrj JovBa, ovSafimv iXaxio~rrj el iv roiv
rjyefibaiv 'lovSa.
And thou Bethlehem, in the land ofjuda, art not the least
among the princes ofjuda.
Refer to Micah v. 2 (Heb. i.), not translated as by LXX.
Variation of word r)yep6o-w. The Hebrew here is, iTrTP 'E1?Kp
Wnb nnH "T5>£, which LXX. literally render okiyoo-rbs et tov
flmi iv xiXiaa-w 'loida. But Lightfoot proposes an ingenious ren
dering, " It is a small thing for thee to be among the thousands,"
&c, which reconciles it with St. Matthew ; for x<^l<*s may very
well be put for fapav, as " a thousand " means probably a certain
district, like our word "hundred," cf. 1 Sam. xxiii. 23, I will
search throughout all the thousands ofjudah.
Ver. io.
Exdprjaav xap^v fieyaXrjv acpbBpa.
They rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
peyaX-qv o-<p68pa. Hebraismus.
Ver. ii.
irpoarjveyKav avrm Bmpa, xpvabv Kal Xiffavov Kal afivpvav.
They presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Cf. Ps. Ixxii. 10, 15, To him shall be given of the gold of Sheba :
prayer also shall be made for him; Isa. Ix. 6, . . . . they shall bring
gold and incense. Enquire into the symbolical interpretation.
>
Ver. 12.
Kal xpy^cmaOevres Kar ovap.
And being warned of God in a dream.
XpnpaTio-6fvrfs.'\ St. Luke ii. 26, It was revealed unto him
(Simeon); Acts x. 22, Cornelius . . . . was warned from God;
Heb. viii. 5, Moses was admonished of God; xi. 7, Noah, warned
of God; xii. 25, refused him that spake, xpwaT'Li0VTa ', saepe apud
Jerem. LXX. Ver. 15.
E£ Aiyvirrov ixdXeaa tov viov fiov.
Out of Egypt have T called my son.
Hosea xi. 1, When Israel was a child, &>c. An instance of the
whole nation of Israel being a type of Christ. Cf. Isa. xix. 1,

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 255
The lord rideth on a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt ; and
the idols shall be moved at His presence; but query ? — See Milton's
Hymn on the Nativity (" Nor is Osiris seen," &c).
Ver. 16.
,AveiXe irdvras rovs iraiBav robs iv BrjOXeep, Kal iv irdai rois
bpioiv avrrjv, dirb Bierovv Kal Karmrepm.
And slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the
coasts thereof, from two years old and under.
opiois.] Regionibus. Ita LXX. Exod. and elsewhere, pro VCD
[borders in sense of territories].
a7ro SietoGc k.t.X.] Cf. i Chron. xxvii. 23, David took not the
number of them from twenty years old, and under; 2 Chron. xxxi.
16, From three years old, and upwards.
Ver. 18.
$>mvrj iv 'Pafia rjKOvaOrj, Qprjvov Kal KXavdfibv Kal bBvpfibs
iroXiis, 'Pax^jX KXalovaa rd reKva avrrjs' Kal ovk rjOeXe
irapaKXrjOrjvai, on ovk eiai.
In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and
great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would
not be comforted, because they are not.
Jer. xxxi. 15 ; Gen. xxxv. 19. Rachel was buried in Beth
lehem, which was six miles from Ramah, and in the tribe of
Benjamin ; and it was at Ramah that the prophecy received its
primary accomplishment in point of time, when Nebuzaradan
there disposed of the captives taken at Jerusalem, Jer. xl. 1.
avrfs.] Not strictly hers, except so far as she had a common
interest in all Jacob's family. We must understand it as a strong
poetical expression of the grief of the Israelitish mother.
'PaxijX.] Who died there, in labour of Benjamin, called by
her, Benoni.
Ver. 19.
TeXevrrjaavTos Be tov 'HpmBov.
But when Herod was dead. ....
For the account of Herod's cruelty in murdering his own son,
&c, cf. Jos. Antiq. xvi. xi. 7 ; Bell. i. xxxii. 7.

256 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 20.
TeOvrjKaai yap oi ^rjfovvrev rrjv -^rvxr)v T°v iraiBiov.
For they are dead which sought the young child's life.
oi frrovvrts.] N.B. Change of number, — "they who sought."
Lightfoot thinks Herod and his son Antipater are meant ; Anti-
pater, from other anecdotes of his jealous and cruel disposition,
seems very likely to have abetted the massacre.
Ver. 23.
Orrms irXrjpwOfj rb prjdev Bid rmv irpo<prjTmv,"On
Na^mpaiov KXrj6^aerai.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,
He shall be called a Nazarene.
KKrjdrjo-eTai.] A Hebraism meaning no more than "he shall
be;" cf. places where "OT is put for things, and Svopara for per
sons, vid. Hammond. Nafapalor may mean Christ's Divinity, as
Nazir, the Branch of righteousness ; or else it may mean His low
and despised condition and country. Cf. Jackson, vol. ii. 401 —
416 [ed. 1673]; cf. prophecies of Caiaphas and Pharaoh ("Thou
shalt see my face," &c.) as instances of words receiving a meaning
far other than was intended. Name Nazarene used reproachfully
by the Jews, was in fact an accomplishment of those prophecies
which called Christ " the Branch," and of Samson's type of Him
as a Nazarite. Isa. xi. i,A Branch ("IS? netser) shall grow out of
his roots. But the word for Branch is np^, tsemach, in Isa. iv. 2 ;
Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15 ; Zech. vi. 12.
Why irporprjrmv, not singular.
CHAP. III.— Ver. i.
'Ev Be rais rjfiepaiv iKeivaiv irapayiverai Jmdvvrjv b fSair-
narrjs Krjpvaamv iv rfj iprjfim rrjv 'IovBalav.
In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the
wilderness of Judcza.
Prophecies fulfilled.
Occurred when Jesus was at Nazareth, about thirty years old.
Cf. Numb. iv. 3, From thirty years old and upwards . . . to do the
work in the Tabernacle.
Krjpio-o-av.] The prophet's office.
iv ttj ipypm.] The place; viz. " The country," rure.
xal Xe'ycuc.] The preaching.— All distinguished in the Prophecy.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 257
Ver. 2.
Kai Xeyaw, MeravoeiTe' ijyyiKe yap rj /3aaiXela rmv oiipavmv,
And saying, Repent ye : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
Force of pe ravof Ire , and of 0ao-tXe la rmv oipavav.
Meaning of perdvoia Opposed to perapiXfta. Lightfoot gives
three reasons for the use of the word : 1. To do away Justifica
tion by legal works ; 2. To meet the opinion of the sounder Jews,
who put repentance and the reign of Christ together; 3. To
hinder them from thinking bare confession enough.
f) 0ao-tXeia rmv oipavav.] Its triple meaning ; why tS>v olpavav
in the plural.
Ver. 3.
$mvr) fSomvrov iv rfj ipfjfMp, 'Eroifidaare rrjv bBbv Kvpiov.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the
way of the lord.
Quoted from LXX., proof of Christ's Divinity from it.
Ver. 4.
To evBv/ia avrov dirb rpix<bv Ka/irfXov Kal %mvrjv Bepfiarivrjv
irepl rrjv bafyvv avrov' r) Be rpocprj avrov aKplBev Kai fieXi
dypiov.
His raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins ;
and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
Mai. iv. 5, I will send you Elijah the prophet ; St. Matt. xvii. 12,
13, Elias is come already and they knew him not ; St. Luke v. 17,
He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias ; St. Matt.
xi. 14, If ye will receive it, this is Elias ; 2 Kings i. 8, He was an
hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather; 1 Kings xvii. 6, The
ravens brought him bread and flesh, xix. 6; Lev. xi. 22, Ye may
eat the locust after his kind; 1 Sam. xiv. 25, Came to a wood;
and there was honey upon the ground.
Ver. 5.
' Eljeiropevero irpbs airbv 'IepoabXvfia Kal irdaa r) 'lovBala.
Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judcea.
Cf. 1 Kings xviii. 19 — 39, Now therefore send and gather to me
all Israel, &C.
Ver. 6.
Kal ifiairrltpvTo iv rm 'IopBdvp vir avrov.
And were baptized of him in Jordan.
Baptism a custom among the Jews. s

258 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 7.
'IBmv Be iroXXovv rmv Qapiaaimv Kal "ZaBBovKaimv ipxofie-
vovs iirl to fidirriafia avrov, elirev avrols, Tevvrjfiara e%tS-
vmv, rls vireBeigev vfiiv (pvyeiv dirb rrjv fieXXovarjv bpyrjv.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his
baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath
warned you to flee from the wrath to come ?
Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees ? and etymology of the
two words.
Lightfoot refers both to the time of Ezra. Peculiar doctrines,
peculiar vices ; how they are the representatives of two classes
of sinners.
yewrjpara ixihvSsvi] Meaning, Children of the old Serpent.
rijs peWovo-rjs opyr/s.] Mai. iv. 6, He shall turn the heart of the
fathers . . . lest I come and smile the earth with a curse.
Ver. 8.
JJoirjaare o&v Kapirovv dijlovs rrjv fieravoiav.
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.
Uotrjo-arf ovv Kapirovs.] A Hebraism? cf. ch. vii. 17 — 19, Every
good tree brought forth good fruit, &*c; xiii. 23, He that received
seed into the good ground, 6r>c.
a^lovs, Cf. Thuc. iv. 34; a£ia T^f irpooSoKias.
Ver. 9.
Kai fir) Bb^rjre Xeyeiv iv eavrols, JJarepa exo/iev rbv
'AfSpadfi. Xeym yap vpiiv, on Bvvarai 0 ©ebs e'« rmv
Xiffmv rovrmv iyeipai reKva rm 'AfSpadfi.
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our
father: for T say unto you, that God is able of these stones to
raise up children unto Abraham.
Cf. Phil. iii. 4, f'lris boKfl, k.t.X., If any man thinketh that he hath,
&c. But cf. Luke iii. 8, Begin not to say within yourselves we
have Abraham to our father, &*c. (where Spiw6f is redundant).
For the Hebrew see Lightfoot, [" We do not say the Baptist played
on the sound of these two words, KM Benaia, children, and ^32N
Abenaia (stones)."— Ed.] Cf. Rom. ii, iii, iv. Probably a mystical
meaning in \l6uv tovtcov, but cf. St. Luke xix. 40, If these should
hold their peace the stones would cry out; and on the other hand,
Isa. Ii. i, Look unto the Rock whence ye are hewn.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 259
Ver. io.
"HBrj Be Kal r) d^lvrj irpbv rrjv pi^av rmv BevBpmv Kelrai.
And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.
Cf. Ps. lxxx. 8 — 16, Tlwu hast brought a vine out of Egypt . . .
it is burned with fire, it is cut down; Isa. v. 1 — 7, My well-beloved
hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, 6rc.
Ver. ii.
Oil ovk el fit Ikovos ra viroBrjfiara f3aardaai' avrov iifias
fSairrlaei iv JJvevfiari dylm Kal irvpi.
Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire.
ra vrrobripaTa 0airrd<rai.] A Hebrew proverb. Cf. Ps. cviii. 9.
[Edom is only fit to hold my shoe as a slave while I wash my
feet— Ed.]
iv irvevpan ayla Kal irvpi.] Cf. Acts ii. 3 ; Hooker [V. lxix. 5,
" In this the Apostles' later Baptism, there was as well a visible
descent of fire, as a secret miraculous infusion of the Spirit."]
Difference of Christ's Baptism and John's. Cf. 1 Reg. ubi sup.,
but query. [The reference seems to be to 1 Kings xviii. 19 — 39,
quoted in note on ver. 5. — Ed.]
Ver. 1 2.
Ov rb irriiov iv rj) %etpi aiirov, Kal BiaKaOapiei rrjv dXmva
avrov, Kal avvdgei rbv airov aiirov elv rrjv airoQrjKrjv,
rb Be axvpov KaraKavaei irvpl da/3earm.
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the
chaff with unquenchable fire.
Cf. Isa. v. 24, As the fire devour eth the stubble and the flame con-
sumeth the chaff. ..; xii. 15, 16, 1 will make thee anew sharp thresh
ing instrument. ..; Ps. i. 4, like the chaff which the wind driveth
away; lxxxiii. 13, As the stubble before the wind. Parable of the
Tares. Cf. Louth, ad loc. Esais, ap. Prael. [describing the drag
which oxen drew over the corn-sheaves spread on the floor.— Ed.]
oS . . . alTov.] Hebraism.
Vers. 10 — 12. The decisive nature of Messiah's rule strongly
marked in these three verses. Cf. Isa. x. 23, The Lord shall
make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land;
Rom. ix. 28, He will finish the work and cut it short, &>c.
s 2

260 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 15.
"A<pev dpn' ovrm yap irpeirov iarlv rjpfiv irXrjpmaai
irdaav BiKaioavvrjv.
Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil
all righteousness.
Spn.] Heb. M3 [like the Latin amabo, or our " With your
leave." Ed.]
SiKaioo-ivrjv.] That Christ should be baptized was a point of
righteousness, i.e. legal righteousness, because the High Priest
was initiated by baptism and anointing, Exod. xl. 12—16; and
because He was to be a pattern to us, — Lightfoot. All those
things which under that more imperfect ministry were required of
men to their being approved by God. Hammond, on Rom. i. 2.
Ver. 16.
Avemxdrjaav avrm oi ovpavol, Kal elBe rb JJvevfia rov Qeov
KarafSalvov mael irepiarepdv, Kal ipxbpevov iir aiirov'
The heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting- upon him.
cioe probably refers to John; see St. John i. 32, I saw the Spirit
descending, Grc. ao-fl peed not mean bodily likeness, — alludes
probably to the Cherubim and Shechinah.
Ver. 17.
Kai iSov (pmvrj e'/c rmv ovpavmv Xeyovaa, Ovrbv ianv 6 vibs
fiov 0 ayairrjrbs, iv m evBoKijaa.
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.
IBov, Hebraism; ayairyrbs, cf. Arist. Rhet. p. 36, [A16 ko.1 ovk "<ttj
{rjpia, av ris rbv erfpotpdaXpov TvrpXwo-rj Kal rbv 8v f\ovra' dyairrjTOV yap
dcpfipriTai, — " The loss of an eye is a far greater injury to a one-
eyed man than to a two-eyed man ; for it is his only one that is
taken away." Arist. Rhet. i. 7, 41.— Eo.] ; 2 Sam. xii. 25, He
called his {Solomon's) namejedidiah (beloved of the Lord); Isa. xiii. 1,
Mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ; (quoted Matt. xii. 18).
CHAP. IV— Ver. 2.
Kal vrjarevaas rjfiepas reaaapaKOvra Kal viiKrav reaaa-
paKovra, varepov iireivaae.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was
afterward an hungrcd.
So Moses and Elias.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 26 1
Ver. 3.
Kal irpoaeXOmv avrm b ireipd^mv.
And when the tempter came to him.
So 6 panrlfav, as a proper name. Cf. Exod. xvi. Behold, I will
rain bread from heaven; Ps. Ixxviii. He rained down manna upon
them to eat ; cv. He satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
Ver. 4.
.4\X' irrl iravrl prjfian iKiropevofievm Bid arbfiarov &eov.
But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Cf. Deut, viii. 3. rfirTpB H2TO"73, omne quod egreditur ex ore
Dei. Ps. Ixxxix. 34 (Heb. 35), The thing that is gone out of my
lips.
Ver. 6.
Tolv dyyeXois avrov ivreXeirai irepl aov, Kal iirl ^etpcSv
dpovai ae.
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands
they shall bear thee up, &*c.
Quoted from Ps. xci. 11, 12.
Et vibs e? tov GeoC.] A proof of Christ's Divinity ; [for it shews
that the Tempter understood Christ to claim it. — Ed.]
Ver. 7.
Ovk iKireipdaeis Kvpiov rbv 0eov aov.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Quoted from Deut. vi. 16. Ver. io.
Kvpiov rbv ©ebv aov irpoaKvvrjaeiv Kal avrm fiovm Xarpevaeis.
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt
thou serve.
Quoted from Deut. vi. 13. Ver. 13.
Kal KaraXiirmv rrjv Na^aper.
And leaving Nazareth.
Why did He leave Nazareth ? Ans. St. Luke iv. 24, No pro
phet is accepted in his own country; St. John iv. 44, For Jesus him
self testified that no prophet hath honour in his own country.

262 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 15.
TaXtXaia twv eQvmv.
Galilee of the Gentiles.
idvavi] Because it was near Tyre and Sidon, &c. Cf. Isa.
ix. 1,— [rendered thus by Louth :— " But there shall not hereafter
be darkness in the land which was distressed : In the former
time He debased the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali :
But in the latter time He hath made it glorious : Even the way
of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations." — Ed.] Cf. also
2 Kings xv. 29, [which explains how the Assyrians had formerly
distressed these northern tribes.— Ed.]
Ver. 18.
IJepiirarmv Be b Jrjaovs irapd rrjv ddXaaaav rrjv TaXiXalav,
eiSe Bvo dBeX(f>ovs.
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren.
First preachers came out of Galilee, cf. Gen. xlix. 21, Naphtali
. . . giveth goodly words; Deut. xxxiii. 19, And of Zebulon he said :
They shall call the people unto the mountain; there shall they offer
sacrifices of righteousness.
Final cause of their being chosen out of a low condition,
1 Cor. i. 26, Not many wise men afcer the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble, are called. Ver. 19.
AXieiv dvdpmirmv.
Fishers of men.
Cf. ch. xiii. 47— 50, (Parable of the Net). So ^Esch. Agam.
361, vdyyapov arrjs navaXvTov. [The net of an all-enclosing des
tiny.] Ver. 23.
AiSdaKmv iv raiv avvaymyaiv avrmv.
Teaching in their synagogues.
iv rah o-waycoyaU.] Observe the regularity of Christ's manner
of preachmg. He did all things decently and in order.
Ver. 24.
¦tl aKorj avrov.
His fame.
Kai idepdirevaev aiirovv.
And he healed them.
of « "S- A .^Ir' Cthe W°rd "hearing" bdnS used in sense
of tidings," as »»£? is frequently.— Ed.]

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. :6j
On this verse, which is the first mention of a miracle, explain
the nature of miracles, and refer to Paley's answer to Hume.
Saipovt&pivovs. [Mr. Keble seems to have intended to add
a note on this word at some future time. — Ed.]
CHAP. V.— Ver. i.
'IBmv Be roiiv SxXovv dvef3rj elv rb opov' Kal KaOlaavrov
avrov, irpoarjXdov avrm 01 fiadrjrai avrov'
And seeing the multitudes, he weut up into a mountain : and when
he was set, his disciples came unto him.
Chap. V. Just before this Sermon He seems to have elected
His Apostles; see St. Luke vi. 13, [He called unto Him His dis
ciples, and of them He chose twelve.~\
to Spos.] The Sermon is on the mount, perhaps, to parallel the
Law; and opens with Beatitudes, to parallel the Psalms. Not
the Disciples only, but all Christians are concerned in it ; (for
whether the Disciples were ordained is doubtful, and if certain
would make no difference). Cf. c. vii. 28, The people were aston
ished at his doctrine.
First Section of Sermon, Beatitudes, ver. 3 — 12.
Each Beatitude both present and future, vid. Hammond,
Pract. Cat., lib. ii. § i. [" He went up to the Mount to intimate
the matter of this Sermon to be the Christian Law, as you know
the Jewish Law was delivered in a Mount. . . . Every one of
these Graces hath matter of present blessedness in it. . . . There
is also assurance of future blessedness to all those that have
attained to those several Graces." — Ed.]
Ver. 3.
MaKapioi ol 7ttco%oI rm irvevfian' on avrmv ianv r)
fSaaiXela rmv ovpavmv.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Vid. c. xviii. 4, Whosoever shall humble himself as this little
child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven; St. James ii. 5,
Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs
of the kingdom ? Humility runs through all the rest of these beati
tudes, alternately respective to God and man.
Hammond in his Practical Catechism observes that " humility
is the seed-plot of all ;" from whence we proceed to mourning
for sin, which respecteth God; meekness, which respecteth our

264 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
neighbour ; hungering and thirsting after righteousness, which is
to be had of God ; mercifulness towards man ; purity respecting
God ; peaceableness, respecting man ; persecution for God's sake.
(lib. ii. § 1.)
Ver. 4.
MaKdpioi oi irevOovvrev' on avrol irapaKXrjQfjaovrai.
Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted.
Ps. cxxvi. 5, They that sow in tears shall reap in joy ; 2 Cor. vii.
10, Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation; Eccles. vii. 2, 3,
Better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. . .
Ver. 5.
MaKapioi 01 irpaelv' on avrol KXrjpovofirjaovai rrjv yrjv.
Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth.
Ps. xxxvii. 11, The meek shall inherit the earth. As the fifth
commandment contains the same promise, we may collect a par
ticular reference to the duty of obedience.
Ver. 6.
MaKapioi oi ireivmvrev Kal Biy]ra>vrev rrjv BiKaioavvrjV
on avroi xopraadtfaovrai.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness :
for they shall be filled.
irfwavrfs Kal difavrfs. The first for sanctification, and the
second for pardon ; cf. St. John iv. 34, My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent Me ; Ps. cxix. 55, 56, [? Hammond refers to Ps.
xiii. 1, As the hart panleth after the water brooks, &>c. — Ed.]
Ver. 7.
MaKapioi oi eXeijpoves' on avrol eXerjdrjaovrai.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Ps. xxxvii. 25, ... yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor
his seed begging bread; c. vi. 14, 15, If ye forgive men their tres
passes, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, &c.
Ver. 8.
MaKapioi oi KaOapol rr, KapBiq' on avrol rov Qebv o^rovrai.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Purity opposed, t. to carnality; 2. to hypocrisy. Heb. xii.
14, • • • holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord ; 1 St. John
ii. 2, 1,. ..we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath
this hope in Him pwifieth himself.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 265
Ver. 9.
MaKapioi oi elprjvoiroiol'
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Cf. St. James iii. 18, The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
of them that make peace ; Ephes. ii. 14, He is our peace, who hath
made both one. ' Sons of God' means imitators of Him, Ephes.
v. 1, Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.
Ver. io.
MaKapioi oi BeBimyfikvoi evemv BiKaioavvrjs.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Cf. St. Matt. xix. 29, 30, Every one that hath forsaken . . . the
last shall be first; St. Luke xxii. 28 — 30, Ye are they which have
continued with Me in My temptations, &°c; which shews that
this, like the other Beatitudes, hath its accomplishment in both
worlds.
Ver. 12.
Xalpere Kal dyaXXidaSe, k.t.X.
Rejoice and be exceeding glad, arc.
See the command obeyed in Acts v. 41, Rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
St. Luke (vi. 23) has o-KipTTjo-aTe. Cf. St. James v. 10, 11, Take
the prophets . . .for an example, &>c; Acts vii. 52, Which of the
prophets have not your fathers persecuted 1 St. Luke xiii. ^^, 34,
It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem,
which killest the prophets, &c.
Ver. 13.
'Tfieis iare to dXas rrjs yrjv' idv Be rb dXas pmpavffrj, iv
rlvi aXiaOrjaerai ; els ovBev laxvei en . . .
Ye are the salt of the earth : but if the salt have lost his savour,
whereunth shall it be salted ? It is thenceforth good for no
thing, &>c.
Second Section. Christians must be exemplary, 13 — 16.
" Sal vulgo animi aut orationis indolem, hie hominum genus
denotat. Insulsum apud Latinos simile quiddam 1-0O papavdfj,
sonat." Query whether this at all hints at the world's being
saved for the elect's sake? Cf. Gen. xviii. [Abraham's inter
cession for Sodom] and St. Matt. xxiv. 22, For the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened; l<rxv" illustrated from Gal. v. 6,
Neither circumcision availeth (iVxiiet) anything.

266 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 14.
Oi Bvvarai irbXis Kpv/3fjvai iirdvm opovs Keifievrj.
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Spovs.] The Church is likened to a mountain by Isaiah ii. 2,
The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established; and Micah
iv. 1, The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established.
Ver. 15.
'^4\X' iirl rrjv Xvxviav.
But on a candlestick.
Cf. Apuleius ap. Wetstein. [Tom. i. p. 292, " Novaculam
sub pulvinar abscondit, lucernamque modio contegit." Meta-
morph. V] Ver. 16.
Ovrm Xafi-^drm rb (pms vfimv efiirpoadev rmv dvOpmirmv,
oirmv XBmaiv vfimv ra KaXa epya, Kal Bo^damai rbv irarepa
bfimv rbv iv rolv ovpavols.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Ambiguity in the English word let; still no encouragement to
vainglory, dogdo-ao-i, to glorify by obedience ; 1 Cor. x. 3 1, What
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Ver. 17.
Third Section. Christ did not abolish but perfected the Law,
17 — 20.
Mrj vofiiarjre on rjXdov KaraXvaai rbv vbfiov rj roiis irpo-
(prjras' ovk rjXdov KaraXvaai, dXXa irXrjpmaai.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets :
T am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Difference between vopov and irpo<pr)Tas. Force of KaraXvaai to be
taken as an indication of that of nXijpmarai, which is probably an
av^rjo-is of prj KaraXvaai, and means 1. fully to establish; 2. fully
to explain ; 3. fully to obey ; 4. fully to accomplish, the old dis
pensation ; as it was, 1. a covenant; 2. a revelation ; 3. a law;
4. a shadow of good things to come. And in this way the word
"perfect" seems no unfit rendering of irXrjpSio-ai ; not necessarily
implying any defect in the substance of the moral law, but only
in the delivery and explanation of it. Cf. Heb. vii. 19 The Law
made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 267
Ver. 18.
Afirjv yap Xiym vfiiv, ems dv irapeXdrj b ovpavbv Kal r) yfj,
libra ev fj p.ia Kepala ov firj irapeXdrj dirb rov vbfiov, emv dv
irdvra yevrjrai.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
'Ajui)i'.] Kept in most versions. [" Amen" instead of the
"verily" of the English Version. — Ed.] Cf. 2 Cor. i. 20, All the
promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him Amen; Rev. iii. 14,
These things saith the Amen.
eW av, k.t.X.] Cf. c. xxiv. 34, 35, This generation shall not
pass, eye.
Iwrai] An imperfect letter.
Kepala.] A dash of the pen.
Ver. 19.
,vO? idv ovv Xvarj fiiav rmv ivroXmv Tovrmv rmv iXaxicrmv,
Kal BiBd^y ovrm roiiv dvdpmirovv, iXdxiarov KXrjdrjaerai iv
rf) f3aaiXeiq rmv ovpavmv ov B' dv iroifjarj Kal BiBdgrj, ovros
fieyas KXrjdrjaerai iv rfi j3aaikeiq rmv ovpavmv.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,
and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom
of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Schleusner, under the word Xva>, expounds this "shall inter
pret ;" but the use of KaraXia) above contradicts this ; and besides,
under the word e'Xdxioros, Schleusner contradicts himself.
From the reference to doing and teaching, the faults of the
Scribes may probably be gathered, for (1) their doctrinal right
eousness was imperfect, they taught men to break the command
ments, cf. ch. xv. 1 — 20, and the rest of this chapter; (2) their
practice came not up to it, cf. ch. xxiii. ( Woe unto you Scribes and
Pharisees . . .) and passim.
Ver. 20.
Aeym yap vfiiv,"Ori idv fir) irepiaaevarj r) BiKaioavvi) vfimv
irXeiov rmv ypafifiaremv Kal $apiaaimv, oi fir) elaeXdrjre
elv rrjv fSaaiXeiav rmv ovpavmv.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter
into the kingdom of heaven.
Trfpio-o-evo-ri — etVeX^re.] Very strong expressions. Note here

268 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
what (I believe) Bp. Taylor says, that the Jews held that if but
two men were to enter into the kingdom of heaven, one would
be a Scribe, and the other a Pharisee. Also the aKplfifia of the
Pharisees, Acts xxvi. 5, After the most straitest sect of our religion
I lived a Pharisee. Ver. 21.
Fourth Section. Six instances of perfecting the Law, 21 — 48.
'HKOvaare on ippidrj rols dpxalois, Ov (povevaeis, bv 8" dv
(fiovevarj, evoxos earai rfj Kpiaei.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
Not 8ta rmv dpxalav. Where I find the word in the New Tes
tament, it governs a dative of the person addressed.
rfj Kplo-u.] The provincial courts established by Moses see
Deut. xvi. 18, Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy
gates . . . throughout thy tribes, and they shall judge the people; cf.
also Exod. xxi. 12, He that smiteth a man . . . shall be surely put
to death; Deut. xix. 11, 12, (The avenger of blood).
Ver. 22.
Evoxov earai rrj Kpiaei.
Shall be in danger of the judgment.
' Evoxos earai rm avveBpim'
Shall be in danger of the council.
Kplais seems here to mean more than meets the ear.
avvidpiov.] Cf. Numb. xi. 16, Gather me Seventy men of the
Elders of Israel.
Mcopi.] A very strong word in Hebrew. Cf. Joshua vii. 15, He
hath wrought folly in Israel (nb23, fiagitium) ¦ 2 Sam. iii. 33, Died
Abner as afooldieth ? (bjfl) ; Ps. xiv. i, The fool (b^3) hath said
in his heart . . .
Ver. 23.
'Edv otv irpoa<pepr)s to Bmpbv aov iirl rb dvaiaarrjpiov.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar.
Application to the Holy Communion. Ver. 27.
'HKOvaare on ippidrj rots dpXaloiv, Ov fioixebaeiv
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt
?iol commit adultery.
First error (verse 2 1), making the civil law the measure ; second
(in this verse), leaving out bad desire from the list of sins.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 269
Ver. 29.
El Be b o<pdaXp,bv aov b Be^ibv aKavBaXl^ei ae.
And if thy right eye offend thee.
o-KavSaXt'fet.] Corresponds to the Hebrew t^nfifi, a snare, from
ttJip, bent, iv rfj rraylhi iiriKapiris £iiXov, " Respiciunt hsc de oculo
dicta versum 28, cap. v.," Grot. Ver. 31.
Eppedrj Be, ' On bs dv diroXvarj rrjv yvvaiKa avrov, Bbrm
avrfj airoardaiov.
It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him
give her a writing of divorcement.
Connected with the thought of the two preceding verses. So
ch. xix. 10, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not
good to marry.
Cf. Deut, xxiv. 1, When a man hath taken a wife . . . let him
write her a bill of divorcement; St. Matt. xix. 8, Moses because of
the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives.
Possibly the law might be made less lax, as well as Polygamy for
bidden, as the world was more fully peopled. Also marriage was
now to put us in mind of the union betwixt Christ and his Church.
Ver. 32.
JJapeKrov Xbyov iropvelas.
Saving for the cause of fornication.
Xbyov.] So ratione, in Latin.
Ver. 33.
Ovk iiriopKrjaeiv, airoBmaeis Be rm Kvpla robs opaovv aov'
Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the
Lord thine oaths.
This is the only commandment of the first Table which Christ
expounds. The Jews were less deficient in it. The last clause
of the verse relates to vows, cf. Numb, xxx, 2, If a man vow
a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond,
he shall not break his word, &>c. The error in expounding was
mentioning only the highest act [omitting the many other ways
in which the Lord's Name may be taken in vain. — Ed.]
Ver. 34.
'Eym Be Xiym vpiiv, Mr) bfibaai oXms'
But I say unto you, Swear not at all.
Cf. St. James v. 1 2, Above all things, my brethren, swear not,

270 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
neither by heaven, &C. But all swearing is not forbidden. Cf.
ch. xxvi. 63, 64 [where Christ accepts the oath administered to
Him]; 2 Cor. xi. 31, The God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ knoweth that I lie not ; i. 18, As God is true, &*c.
Ver. 35.
Mrjre iv rm ovpavm, on dpbvov iari rov ©eov' firjre iv rrj
yfj, on inroirbBibv iari rmv iroBmv avrov'
Neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth,
for it is his footstool.
It was idolatry to swear by anything without reference to God :
cf. Deut. vi. 13, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God . . . and shalt
swear by His Name; Ps. xvi. 4. Their drink offerings of blood will
T not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. And to swear
lightly by anything was therefore profaneness, as it included
a reference to His Name ; this is expressed in our Lord's reasons
here. On 6p6vos and vwoiroSwv, cf. Isa. lxvi. 1, Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool, &>c.
Ver. 37.
To Be irepiaabv rovrmv eK rov irovrjpov ianv.
For whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
eV tov irovrjpov has a double sense, as in the Lord's Prayer ; but
the result is the same [whether we understand it to mean the
Evil One or evil. — Ed.]
Ver. 38.
'JjKovaare on ippidrj, 'OcpdaX/ibv dvrl bfydaXfiov, Kal
boovra dvrl bBovrov'
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and
a tooth for a tooth.
Cf. Exod. xxi. 24, Thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, hand for hand. The error here, was interpreting a ju
dicial precept in a moral sense.
Ver. 39.
'Eym Be Xeyco vpiiv fir) dvnarrjvai rm irovrjpm'
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil.
avTiarrjvai.] To withstand by way of retaliation.
Ver. 40.
Kai rm deXovrl aoi Kpidrjvai Kal rbv xiTwvd aov XaBeiv.
And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat.
KPrfr)vai.] Cf. Job ix. 3, If he will contend with Him (KPi6r)vai

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 271
per auTOv) ; SO ddeXcpbs perd d$iX(pov Kplvfrai, brother goeth to law
with brother; 1 Cor. vi. 6.
Ver. 41.
Kal bans ae dyyapevaei filXiov ev.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile.
dyyapevo-ei.] Cf. Herod, viii. 98 [description of the Persian
couriers. So ayyapov rrvp, the courier flame of the beacon] ^Esch.
Agam. 282.
This passage shews how individual Christians should endure
slight oppressions from their governors.
piXwv.] A Latin word. Ver. 42.
Tm alrovvrl ae BiBov
Give to him that asketh thee.
Indiscriminate charity clearly not commanded here, and there
fore by parity of reasoning, indiscriminate submission not im
plied in the other cases. Cf. 1 Tim. v. 9 [not to relieve widows
indiscriminately] ; St. John xviii. 20, 21 [our Lord refusing to be
questioned by the High Priest] ; Acts xvi. 37 [St. Paul's protest
at Philippi] ; xxii. 25, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is
a Roman; and the whole case of St. Paul before Felix and
Festus. Query, What is the limit? Answer, That nothing be
done but upon public grounds, and no violence offered upon
any grounds. That war is not forbidden, see St. Luke iii. 14
[the Baptist's words to the soldiers], and the case of Cornelius.
That capital punishments are not forbidden, see Rom. xiii. 4,
He beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God.
Ver. 43.
'HKOvaare on ippidrj, ' Ayairfjaeiv rbv irXrjalov aov, Kal
fiiarjaeis rbv ixdpbv aov.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Cf. Lev. xix. 18, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour.
Brother among the Jews meant of the same blood; Deut. xv. 12,
If thy brother, an Hebrew man or Hebrew woman, be sold; xxiii. 20,
unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother
thou shalt not. Neighbour meant one of the same Religion. Among
Christians, Neighbours are all mankind ; Brothers, fellow Chris
tians, 2 Pet. i. 7, To brotherly kindness add charity. But Neigh-

272 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
bour is used more largely in the Old Testament for him who is
next to thee. Cf. 2 Sam. ii. 16 (They caught every one his fellow).
And therefore our Saviour extends it in Luke x. [parable of Good
Samaritan] ; cf. also Exod. xxii. 21, Thou shalt not vex a stranger;
xxiii. 9, 4, 5, If thou meet thine enemy's ox or ass going astray, thou
shalt restore it to him. On the other hand, are the cases of the
seven nations of Canaan (Josh. iii. 10), Amalek, Moab, and Am
nion, but the distinction is manifest. Ver. 44.
'Ayairare robs ixdpovv xifimv, eiiXoyeire roiiv Karapmfievovs
vpav, KaXms iroieire roiiv fiiaovvras vfids, Kal irpoaevxeade
vrrep rmv eirrjpea'Cpvrmv vfids, Kal BimKovrmv vfiav'
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and
persecute you.
Observe, thought, word, and deed are here specified, also slight
injuries are to be borne with, as appears from the word eVrj/je-
atfivrav. Cf. Arist. Rhet. ii. 2 [iari yap 6 iirrjpeao-pbs ipirodiapbs
rals fiovXTfo-toriv ovx "lva " avT<? °X\' Iva pr) iKflvm, — thwarting from
petty spite]. Ver. 45.
Tov rjXiov aiirov dvareXXei.
For he maketh his sun to rise.
Cf. v. 9. dvariXXfi, used actively to express the Hebrew verb
in Hiphil [caused to rise], an usual Hellenism.
Ver. 46.
Ox>xi Kai oi reXmvai rb avrb iroiovai ;
Do not even the publicans the samel
nXavai.] Very offensive by trade, political situation, character.
Ver. 47.
Ti irepiaabv iroieire ;
What do ye more than others ?
irfpio-a-bv.] Cf. Arist. Rhet. i. 6 [Kal rd i'Sta, Kal a prjotis, Kal Ta
¦rrtpiTTd,— things peculiar, original, and extraordinary].
Ver. 48.
"Eaeade ovv ifieiv reXeioi, mairep 0 irarrjp vfimv b iv
rols oiipavois reXeibv iari.
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 273
reXetot respondet rw "aytot,"cf. Lev. xx. 26, And ye shall be
holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy. reXetdw means " to con
secrate." Three reasons [for sanctifying our affections] are given in these
verses [45 — 48], — to be like God, to be unlike bad men, to
receive a reward ; and to be like God comes first and last.
CHAP. VI.— Ver. i.
JJpoaixere rfjv iXerjfioavvrjv vfimv fir) iroieiv efiirpoadev
rmv dvdpmirmv.
lake heed that ye do not your alms before men.
Sub. iavTaTs. Subintelligitur s«pe rbv vovv, semper autem, quan
tum scio, cum dativo, non cum infinitivo, jungitur.
biKaioo-vvrfv, apud Griesbach ; [see note on i. 19 supra. — Ed.]
irapd ra irarpl, laid up for you with your Father.
Ver. 2.
Mfj aaXiriarjv efiirpoadev aov, mairep oi viroKpiral iroiovaiv
iv ralv avvaymyaiv Kal iv rdis pv/iaiv.
Do not sound a trumpet before them, as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets.
o-dXirlo-r)s, to be taken metaphorically; o-waywyatr, forsan non
technica [need not be understood in its technical sense, but for
any place where men congregate. — Ed.] " When they gave alms
in the Synagogue, they had it openly proclaimed and published
what they gave ; and an open proclaiming in the streets, for the
calling of the poor to gather the corner of the field they had
left them," — Lightfoot. [N.B. I have looked in vain for this
passage in Lightfoot. His note, in loco, alludes to the Alms-chest
in every synagogue, and a proclamation (of what nature uncertain)
in connexion with it ; and also to proclamations in harvest-time,
specifying what fields, or corners of fields, were open to gleaners.
Possibly Mr. Keble gives the substance of this note from me
mory. — Ed.]
Ver. 5.
$iXovaiv iv ralv avvaymyais Kal iv rais ymviaiv rmv
irXareimv earmrev irpoaevxeadai.
They love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets.
(piXovo-iv, are accustomed. They were bound by tradition to

274 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.

be much in prayer. Lightfoot says they prayed in the Syna
gogues in the time of public prayer, but apart from the rest.
io-r&Tfs.] The Jews used to stand when they prayed, cf. Mark
xi. 25, when ye stand praying; Luke xviii. 11, 13 (parable of
Pharisee and Publican) ; Job xxx. 20, 1 say unto Thee . . . I stand
up, and Thou hearest not; Gen. xviii. 22, Abraham stood yet before
the Lord; Jer. xv. 1, Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me;
and xviii. 20, T stood before Thee to speak good for them. Query
whether the three last texts do not imply that standing is the
peculiar gesture for intercession, and therefore used by the Priest
in the Communion Service. So Tertullian uses statio as a name
for the place of prayer [De Or at. xix., &c. — Ed.]
Ver. 6.
Sv Be orav irpoaevxv> e'laeXde els rb rafiieluv aov, Kal KXelaas
rrjv dvpav aov, irpbaev^ai rm irarpi aov rm iv rm Kpvtrrm.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.
This is consistent with common prayer ; see ch. xviii. 19, If
two of you shall agree on eaiih as touching anything that they shall
ask, it shall be done for them.
Ver. 7.
IJpoaevxb/ievoi Be prj fSarroXoyrjarjre, mairep oi idviKoi'
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do.
$arToXoyr)o-T)Tt.] Cf. Ecclus. vii. 1 4, Make not much babbling
when thou prayest, e.g. [the Latin Office of] the Roman Catholics.
&o-irfp oi idviKoi] As in the many names they gave their gods :
7roXuo>j/t;/ie, &c. See also Acts xix. 34, All with one voice about the
space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians ;
Ter. [Heaut., v. i. " Ohe, jam desine deos obtundere," &c]
Our Liturgy not liable to this charge, cf. Luke xxii. [the thrice-
repeated prayer in Gethsemane] ; xviii. 1, Men ought always to
pray, and not to faint ; Acts xii. $,Prayerwas made without ceasing
of the Church for him; Thess. v. 17, Pray without ceasing; Col.
iv. 2, Continue in prayer. And consider, r, the relief afforded by
the variation of the Service ; 2, the pregnant meaning of the
prayers repeated ; 3, the fact of the best men having most de
lighted in them.
%6vos and Xa&s, cf. Acts xxvi. 17, 23, where " the people " — God's
people — are opposed to the Gentiles.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 275
Ver. 8.
OiBe yap b irarrjp ifimv, mv xpsiav e^ere, irpb rov
iifidv alrrjaai aiirov.
Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before
ye ask him.
Cf. Juv. [x. 347, " Permittes ipsis expendere numinibus, quid
Conveniat nobis," &c]
Gr. Poeta ap. Platon., [Zeu 0a<rtXeO, ra plv iaBXd kox evxopivois Kal
dvevKTOis "Aft/tt Slbov ra 8e Sfivd Kal eixopivots arraXf^eiv].
Ver. 9.
Ovrmv ovv irpoaevx^ade iifieis' JJdrep rjfimv b iv roiv
ovpavoiv, ayiaadrjrm rb ovofid aov.
After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father, which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Observe, I. That this was chiefly formed from old Jewish
Prayers. II. That it was for a form, and not merely a directory ;
for, 1. This is thcliteral sense of the words : 2. The customs
of the Jews would lead the Apostles to take them so : for autho
rity in Old Testament for a set form, vide Numbers vi. 22 — 27
[form of Blessing] ; Deut. xxi. 8 [form of Expiation] ; xxvii. 13—
15, [form of Curses on Ebal] ; and the whole Book of Psalms :
3. Possibly this may account for His delivering it twice ; but the
differences of the two are such as to make us suppose that the
first was public, the other private.
III. That each petition, like each commandment, is the head
of a class, and they admit of a similar general division, — the glory
of God and the good of mankind.
ndrfp.] Isa. lxiii. 16, Doubtless Thou art our Father; lxiv. 8,
But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; Mai. i. 6, If then I be
a father, where is mine honour 1 1. As Creator; 2. As Father of
Jesus Christ ; for from Christ's prayers, and from the Apostolical
blessings, it is probable that this prayer is specially addressed
to God the Father.
r)pS>v.] Teaches, 1. difference between us and Christ in son-
ship ; 2. humility; 3. charity.
Vide Talmud ap. Lightfoot, " Orantem oportet semper se cum
Ecclesia consociare, nequis oret numero singularis."
6 iv tois ovpavols.] 6 vocativum.
Svopa.] 1. The Majesty of God Himself; 2. Anything where-
T 2

276 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
upon His Name is called, and which has so far come to represent
it to our minds.
dyiao-6t)ra),] i.e. to separate; vide Deut. vii. 6, A holy people . . .
chosen to be a special people ; xxvi. 18, 19, A peculiar people . . . holy
unto the Lord; xix. 2, Thou shalt separate three cities: compared
with Jos. xx. 7, And they appointed Kedesh, &C, where J£Hp (to
appoint) corresponds to bl3 (to separate) in the former verse.
Consider also the use of kowos in Acts x., common or unclean;
Heb. x. 29, an unholy thing. The petition then means, Mayest
Thou be served and glorified in opposition to irreligion, and
that with incommunicable service, in opposition to Idolatry,
and, may Thy holy things, places, persons, &c, be treated with
peculiar reverence by us, and amongst the rest ourselves, who
are a Xabs irepiovcnos.
Ver. 10.
EXderm rj fSaaiXela aov' yevrjdrjrm rb deXrjfid aov,
mv iv ovpavm, Kal iirl rrjs yrjv.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
God's kingdom has been already explained. Of His will, vide
ch. vii. 21, Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, &=c;
how it is done in heaven, Ps. ciii. 21, Ye ministers of His that do
His pleasure; cf. also what He said in His agony.
Ver. ii.
Tbv dprov ijpmv rbv iiriovaiov Bbv fjfiiv afjfiepov'
Give us this day our daily bread.
imoio-ios ab iwioio-ia ab irepwi/o-ws ap. LXX. a Trepiovo-Lq ; means
sufficient for being; inl tt)v oio-lav, Mede.
Ver. 12.
Kal acpev rjfdv ra btpeiXrjfiara rjfimv, mv Kal rjfieiv d<piefiev
toiv bcpeiXerais fjfimv
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
ixpuXirai cum dpaprmXol, commutatur St. Luke xiii. 2, "sinners,"
4, "debtors" in the margin.
dcpUpfv.] Opponitur ™ Kpareiv, cf. Ecclus. xxviii. 2, He that
revengeth . . he will surely keep his sins; forgive thy neighbour . .
so shall thy sins also be forgiven. Unforgiving persons, using the
petition, curse themselves.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 277
Ver. 13.
Kal firj elaeveyKrjv rjfids els ireipaapbv, dXXa pvaai rjfiav diro
rov irovrjpov. on aov ianv rj j3aaiXeia Kal r) Bvvafiiv Kai rj
Bb^a els roiiv almvas. dfirjv.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Cf. St. Matt. xxvi. 41, Pray that ye enter not into temptation
(nupao-pov). God does not tempt, St. James i. 13, Neither tempteth
He any man ; but He suffers men to be tempted, sometimes by
way of trial, as the children of Israel in the wilderness ; some
times by way of punishment, e.g. Balaam ; this clause applies to
both. o novr/pos,] or to irovqpov? May mean both, being said of sin
and of punishment. As to the Doxology, it is wanting in the
Greek and Latin Doctors, and in the manuscripts B. and D.,
and its insertion may be easily accounted for by its appearing
in the Liturgy of the Greek Church. There is authority for the
" Amen," r Cor. xiv. 16, How shall he . . . say Amen at thy giving
of thanks 1
Ver. 14.
'Edv yap dfprjre rois dvdpmrroiv ra irapairrmpara aiirmv,
a<prjaei Kal hfiiv 0 irarrjp vfimv 0 ovpaviov'
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you.
Our Lord gives a reason for this petition, because it was the
only one omitted by the Jews.
Ver. 16.
"Orav Be vrjarevrjre, fir) ylveade wairep 01 viroKpirai, okv-
dpmirol' d<f>avi%ovai yap ra irpoamira avrmv.
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad
countenance: for they disfigure their faces.
Christ takes it for granted that Christians will fast.
Is is spoken against the Pharisees, cf. St. Luke xviii. 12, I fast
twice a week.
The Jews had four public yearly fasts : see Levit. xxiii. 26
[for one of them, the Day of Atonement. For mention of all the
four, see] Zech. viii. 19, The Fast of the fourth month, and the Fast
of the fifth, and the Fast of the seventh, and the Fast of the tenth.
From Zech. viii. 5 ( When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and

278 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
seventh month those seventy years), it seems that two of these were
appointed in Babylon.
acpavifavm, perhaps they cover or hide, cf. Ezek. xxiv. 17, 22,
Make no mourning . . . cover not thy lips ; or possibly, They pro
duce paleness, cf. Lexicog. ; irpio-uma may mean looks. Cf. Hab.
i. 5, and Acts xiii. 41, Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.
[atpavlo-Br/Tf, which may mean, be astonished or dismayed. — Ed.]
Ver. 17.
!%v Be vrjarevmv aXei^ral aov rrjv KetyaXrjv, Kal to
irpoamirbv aov vlyfrai'
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face.
Cf. Ps. civ. 15, Oil to make his face to shine; from which and
similar passages, it follows that Christ is not here commanding
men to pretend to be feasting, but only to go on as usual.
Ver. 18.
O irarrjp aov b fSXiirmv iv rm Kpvirrm.
Thy Father which seeth in secret.
Cf. Isa. xiv. 15, Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself ;
where God is called "WFIDa bw, and by LXX. Geo* Kal ovk
yftfipev.
Ver. 1 9.
Mrj drjaavpi^ere vfiiv drjaavpovs eirl rrjs yrjs, oirov arjv
Kai fipmais a<pavi£ei, Kal oirov KXeirrai Biopiiaaovai Kal
KXiirrovai'
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
From this to the end may be considered as an explication of
the tenth Commandment, and of the fourth petition in the
Lord's Prayer. 8topiWou<n does not necessarily mean digging
through, though probably its first use in this sense came from
the Custom of hiding treasure in a field. fipSxns may mean rust
in corn, and then we shall have the two chief cares of the body
referred to here, the Food in 0p£o-tj, and Raiment in o-r)s. Cf.
Sapph. ap. Pind. Schol. in Pyth. iv. 407, [Sn Atos na'is 6 xP"<ros,
KflVOV oi orjs ovbf kIs ddirrei. — Ed.]
Ver. 22.
Edv ovv b bcpdaXfibv aov dirXovs r), oXov rb am/id aov
(fimreivbv earai'
If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Explained, dnXois means " liberal," 2 Cor. viii. 2, The riches of

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 279
their liberality (dirXonjros) ; Rom. xii. 8, He that giveth with sim
plicity (dm-XdTTjTt) ; cf. Arist. Eth. [I cannot find this reference. —
Ed.] The connexion of this and the following verse, with what
comes before and after, is probably best made out by considering
the meaning of " an evil eye," and of dn-Xdn;? in other parts of the
New Testament. Cf. Arist. Eth. vi. 1 2 [8td rb e^eu/ U rfjs ipneipias
Sppa dpaaiv dpdas] ; and i. 6 [where human good is defined to be
doing the proper work of the soul well. — Ed.]
0<oretvdv.] Cf. Ephes. v. 8, Now a?-e ye light, in the Lord;
1 St. John i. 6, 7, If we walk in the light as He is in the light. . . .
Covetousness is " the lust of the eye," Hammond.
Ver. 23.
^Edv Be b bcfidaXfiov aov irovrjpbs rj.
But if thine eye be evil.
dqbdaXpbs wovqpbs.] So 37ttT) is opposed to p"^i ; and SO a<p8ovos
means "liberal." Cf. St. Mark vii. 22, An evil eye; St. Matt.
xx. 15, Is thine eye evil, because I am good.
Ver. 2 4.
OiiBels Bvvarai Bval Kvpiois BovXeveiV rj yap tov eva fiiafj-
aei, Kal rbv erepov dyairrjaei' rj evbv dvdi^erai, Kai rov
erepov Kara(ppovrjaei. oil Bvvaade ©ea> BovXeveiv Kai
fiafifimva.
No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and
love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Here our Lord anticipates the objection, Why cannot I receive
both worlds ? Also observe that the SoDXos was required to give
a more undivided service to his master than servants now are,
and therefore more nearly answering to the case of one go
verned by avarice, or by true religion, tov has — tov erepov ;
hujus — illius. Mammon is a Syriac name for riches; it seems
to have been occasionally used as a proper name.
Ver. 25.
Aid rovro Xeym vfiiv, Mrj pepifivare rfj ^frvxf] vfimv, ri
<j>dyrjTe, Kal ri irirjre.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what
ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink.
Cf. Phil. iv. 6, Be careful for nothing; 1 Pet. v. 7, Casting all

280 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
your care on Him. perewplgeadai, ap. St. Luc. xii. 29. Occurrit
Christus tacitse objectioni : saltem de necessariis hisce prospiciam.
Ver. 26.
O irarrjp v/iobv 0 ovpdvios rpefyei avrd' ovx vf16^? fidXXov
Bia<f>ipere avrmv;
Your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they 1
Emphatice warrtp.
pdXXov is redundant, cf. St. Mark vii. 36, pdXXov irepto-aoTepov >
2 Cor. Vll. 13, irepio-o-orepais 8e pdXXov.
Ver. 27.
Tis Be if- vfimv fiepifivmv Bvvarai irpoadeivai iirl rrjv
rjXiKiav avrov irrjxvv eva ;
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ?
Zaccheus was piKpbs rjj TjXiKta. St. Luke xix. 3, He was little of
stature. But it may mean time; cf. Ps. xxxix. 5, Thou hast made
my daysas an handbreadth.
Ver. 28.
Karafiddere ra Kplva rov dpyov.
Consider the lilies of the field.
Example of Christ's way of teaching ; by familiar instances.
Ver. 29.
OvBe SoXofimv iv irdarj rr) Bogy avrov irepiefidXer o ms
ev rovrmv.
Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Cf. 1 Kings x. [The queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon].
" Homerus omnes flores vocavit Xelpta." Pollux ap. Scult. in
Poli Synopse. Ver. 30.
Ei Be rbv x°prov rov dypov.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field.
Discrimen, tov gvXov, and tov x°prov.
Ver. 33.
Zrjreire Be irpmrov rr)v fdaaiXeiav rov Geov Kal rr)v BiKaio-
avvrjv avrov, Kal ravra irdvra irpoaredfjaerai vfiiv.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you.
Cf. 1 Kings iii. n, Because thou hast asked. . .for thyself under-

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 28 1
standing to discern judgment. . . . I have also given thee that which
thou hast not asked, both riches and honour.
Observe here, i. The express promise ; cf. i Tim. vi. 6, Godli
ness with contentment is great gain; 8, . . . having food and raiment,
let us be therewith content; iv. 8, Godliness is profitable unto all
things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to
come; Heb. xiii. 5, 6, Be content with such things as ye have, for
He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee ; so that we
may boldly say, The Lord is my helper ; on which, vide Taylor,
"Holy Dying," 236*.
2. It is given by way of irpoo-SrjKr) [supplementally].
Ver. 34.
Mrj ovv fiepifivrjarjre elv rrjv avpiov' r) yap avpiov fiepifivrjaei
ra eavrrjs. dpKerbv rfj rjfiepa rj /caKia avrfjs.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof.
Cf. the history of the manna [Exod. xvi. 19, &c, And Moses
said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding . . .
some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and
stank]. KaKia for KaKorrjs.
CHAP. VII.— Ver. i.
Mrj Kplvere, 'iva fifj Kpidrjre.
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Kplva id quod Karaxpiva. Rom. ii. t, Wherein thou judgest ano
ther, thou condemnest thyself; explained by KaraXaXa, St. James
iv. ir, He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother.
But in 1 Cor. iv. 5 (Judge nothing before the time, &*c.) it seems to
be forbidden in a sense which excludes premature praise, and in
general their disposition to judge of others. In Rom. xiv. 10,
Why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set at nought
thy brother ?
It is opposed to igovdevelv in a way which seems to indicate
d [Ch. v. § 5 (Against Despair), "I find that the Spirit of God taught the
writers of the New Testament to apply to us all in general, and to every
single person in particular, some gracious words which God in the Old Testa
ment spake to one man upon a special occasion, in a single and temporal in
stance. Such are the words which God spake to Joshua, I will never fail
thee nor forsake thee. " — Ed. ]

282 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.

that one means moral, and the other intellectual contempt. In
St. James ii. 13 (he shall have judgment without mercy that hath
shewed no mercy) Kplais is opposed to eXeos, and the whole passage
is directed against irpoo-anroX^ia, and the not judging of others by
a mild rule, like that of the Gentiles, but by a severe rule, like
that of the law. The judgment threatened is both of this world
and of the next.
Ver. 2.
Ev m yap Kplfian Kpivere, Kpidrjaeade' Kai iv m fierpm
perpeire, avrifierprfdrjaerai vpiiv.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
This is a proverb, and so our Lord used several proverbs.
Cf. ch. x. 24, The disciple is not above his master ; xix. 24, It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, &c.
Ver. 3.
Tl Be fiXeireis rb Kap<posib iv rm b<fidaXfim rov dBeX<pov aov,
rrjv Be iv rm am b(pdaXfim Bokov oi Karavoeiv ',
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye 1
Kapcpos used by Herod, for chaff. This also was proverbial, and
answers to Hor. Sat. I. iii. 67, " Eheu Quam temere in nosmet
legem sancimus iniquam ;" and " Cum tua pervideas oculis male
lippus inunctis," Ibid. 25. " Mos nimirum erat Christo dicta de
rebus humanis usurpari solita ad divina transferre." Grot.
Ver. 5.
EKf3aXe irpmrov rrjv Bokov iK rov bcjidaXfiov aov.
First cast out the beam out of thine own eye.
Not only as a matter of moral propriety, but as a necessary
qualification for judging rightly. Grot.
Ver. 6.
Mr) Bibre to ayiov rois Kvai' firjBe fidXrjre roiiv fiapyaplrav
vfimv efiirpoadev rmv x°ipo)V.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your
pearls before swine.
This is a qualification of the former precept, say Hammond
and Grotius ; quod dicit,— There are some men so proud and ma
licious (like dogs), or so stupid and sensual (like swine), that

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 283
they will only reject your charity, which ought to be the most
effectual admonition, and persecute your persons, which ought to
be most dear e. In the first clause, there is an allusion to the im
purity of dogs. Cf. Exod. xvi. 31, Ye shall cast it to the dogs;
Deut. xxiii. 18, The price of a dog . . .; Rev. xxii. 15, For without
are dogs and sorcerers; Phil. iii. 2, Beware of dogs ; ch. xv. 26, It
is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.)
In the second to that of swine. Cf. Lev. xi. 7, and Deut.
xiv. 8, The swine . . . chew eth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
Both are united, Isa. lxvi. 3, He that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he
cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered
swine's blood ; 2 St. Peter ii. 22, The dog is turned to his own vomit
again, and the sow . . . to her wallowing.
Here ends the eighth section of the Sermon, which may be re
garded as an exposition of the ninth commandment. [See Ham
mond, Pract. Cat., lib. iv. § t.]
Vers. 7 — 27.
Since the precepts hitherto given are difficult, Christ now
shews how we may get strength to perform them, that is, by
prayer, 7 — 1 1 ; by observing the golden rule, 12; by a manful
resolution to abide in our Christian calling, whatever it cost,
13, 14; by a prudent choice and use of guides, for which he
points out a' text, 15—20 ; lastly, by a thorough sense that re
ligion is nothing without practice, 21 — 27.
Ver. 7.
Alrelre, Kal Bodr'jaerai vp.lv fyreire, Kal evprjaere' Kpovere,
Kal dvoiyrjaerai vfiiv.
Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you.
Repetition here denotes the duty of perseverance, cf. St. Luke
xi. 9 — 13, Ask, and it shall be given you, &*c. ; St. James v. 16,
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much; and
i. 5, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, that giveth to all
men liberally; cf. [Second Collect in] Baptismal Service.
c Mr. Keble seems to have had Hammond's paraphrase open before him : — ¦
"For this matter of reprehending others (all holy advices and admonitions
out of God's word), because they are a very precious deed of Charity, take
care they be not cast away upon those that are incorrigible." — Ed.

284 NOTES ON THE GREEK, TESTAMENT.
Ver. 8.
JJav yap b alrmv XapfSdvei.
For every one that asketh receiveth.
As to the non-fulfilment of the promise on some occasions, see
Taylor on The Return of Prayer ; . St. James i. 6, Let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering; iv. 3, Ye ask and receive not, because ye
ask amiss.
Ver. 9.
*H rls ianv if; vfimv avdpmiros, bv idv alrrjarj b vibv avrov
aprov, firj Xidov iiriBmaei avrm;
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will
he give him a stone 1
rls.] "Siquis ;" cf. St. Luke xi. 5, rls e'£ Ipav e£ei (plXov . . . ; v. 1 1,
rlva 8e vpav rbv irarepa airrjaei 6 vios ; St. James iii. 13, rls aodjbs Km
eiriarrjpav . . . ; ch. xii. II, rls earai e£ vpav . . . ; xxiv. 45, rls apa
iarlv 6 marbs SovXos . . . ', Hag. 11. 3, rls i£ vpav os eldev rbv o'lkov . . .
idv post relativum redundat; v. 19, 6s idv Xiarj . . . ; x. 14, os idv
prj oet-rjrai vpds ¦ ¦ ¦ ', 42, 6s iav irorlajj. . . .
Ver. ii.
El ovv iifieis irovrjpol ovrev . . . Bmaei dyadd rots
alrovaiv avrov.
If ye then, being evil . . . give good things to them that ask him i
irovr)pds.] Grudging, as in the phrase SrpdaXpos irovtjpos, accord
ing to Hammond; but Qu. cf. Job xv. 14, 15, What is man that
he should be clean, &>c.
dya6d.] scil. Spiritus Sanctus. Cf. St. Luke xi. 13, How much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask Him ; and St. James i. 5, If any of you lack wisdom, &°c.
Ver. 12.
JJavra ovv baa av deXrjre 'iva iroimaiv iifiiv oi dvdpmiroi,
ovrm Kai ijfielv iroieire avroiv'
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them.
Cf. Isocrates ad Nicoclem, pp. 71, 76 [oiW o>tXet tuv rroXeav
irpos ras rjrrovs, aairep av rds Kpenrovs npbs aeavrbv dgiaaeias, — So
deal with the lesser states as thou wouldst have the greater states
deal with thee ; a irdaxovres vcp' eripav 6pyi£ea8e, ravra rots aXXots pr)
irote'ire : What you resent at the hands of others, that do not to
others.— Ed.] But observe that the rules there do not, by a

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 285
good deal, come up to our Saviour's precept, for the universal
one is negative only, the other is a peculiar precept addressed
to the representatives of a king. Cf. Miller's Bampton Lectures,
p. 136, and Gibbon. It was often quoted by Severus '. Ham
mond calls it an extension of the eighth commandment. [See
Pract. Cat, lib. iv. § 2.] Cf. Rom. xiii. 8, Owe no man anything,
but to love one another; Gal. v. 14, All the law is fulfilled in one
word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Ver. 13.
ElaeXdere Bid rrjs arevrjs irvXrjv'
Enter ye in at the strait gate.
A precept of Christian strictness. Hammond [Pract. Cat., as
above]. Life is "a gate," "a way," because we only pass through
it. Christian life a strait gate, because io-dXol pev yap dnXas, &c.
Cf. Hesiod Op. et Dies. 287 — 290 [ttjv pevroi KaKorrjra Kal tXaSoV
e'arti> iXeaOai pni'Si'cos' oXlyi) pev 680s, pdXa 8' iyyvdt vaiei- rr\s 8 aperrjs
iSpara 8eol irpoirdpoidev edrjKav dddvarof paKpbs 8e (cat op&ios olpos eir
avr^v Ka\ rprjxvs to irparov. The line from Bias, partly quoted
above, is, 'E0-6X0I pev yap dn-Xcos, iravrooairms be KaKoi, — There is but
one way for the good, but many for the wicked. — Ed.]
Ver. 14.
"On arevrj rj irvXrj, Kal redXipfievrj rj bBbv rj airdyovaa elv rrjv
£mrjv, Kai bXlyoi elalv ol eiiplaKovrev avrrjv.
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
The Jews thought that in the time of the Messiah all would
be good.
6Vt might possibly mean " how." [Mr. Keble had in his mind
the Vulgate, " Quam angusta porta ! " but this was based on
MSS. which read ri instead of on. — Ed.]
Ver. 15.
IJpoaexere Be dirb rmv ¦^revBoirpo(prjTmv, o'inves epxovrai irpbv
vfiav iv ivBvfiaai irpofSdimv, eamdev Be elai Xvkoi dpirayes.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothitig,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
' [Spartianus, in the Augustan History, speaking of Alex. Severus, says,
" Clamabatque saepius, quod a quibusdam sive Judceis sive Christianis audierat
et tenebat : idque per praeconem, cum aliquem emendaret, dici jubebat : Quod
tibi fieri nonvis, alteri ne feceris. Quam sententiam usque adeo dilexit, ut et
in palatio et in publicis operibus praescribi juberet." — Ed.]

286 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Cf. 2 St. Peter ii. r, But there were false prophets also among
the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you. Elijah's
mantle was in Greek, prfXarffs (sheep-skin), i Kings xix. 13, He
wrapped his face in his mantle; 2 Kings ii. 13, He took up the
mantle of Elijah ; cf. Zech. xiii. 4, Neither shall they wear a rough
garment to deceive.
Xvkoi dpnayes.] Cf. Acts xx. 29. The caution is against pro
fessing Christians, cf. v. 21, Not every one, &>c. (N.B. The dis
tinction between the show of godliness and the power.)
Ver. 16.
Airo rmv Kapirmv avrmv iiriyvmaeade avrovs' firjn avXXe-
yovaiv dirb aKavdmv ara<f>vXrjv, rj dirb rpifibXmv avKa ;
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles?
Here it is disputed whether Christ means the fruits of the
doctrine or their lives. I apprehend the former, as discernible
from the latter. Cf. 2 Tim. iii. 5, Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof ; and qua? habet Grot, ad loc. [Grotius
instances the evil fruits of heresy: " Perpessiones defugiunt;
allectant eos qui in vitiis hserent, praesertim opulentiores ; quses-
tiones movent nihil facientes ad profectum pietatis," &c. — Ed.]
These men had sheep's clothing; yet their fruits were bad: i.e.
not being notoriously wicked, and in outward show gracious
and reverent, they yet wanted the love of God.
rpi$6~Xav.] Lat. ap. Virg. [Geor. i. 153, "Lappasque tribulique,
interque nitentia culta Infelix lolium]. Cf. Article VII. [Of Good
Works, " Which are the fruits of faith."]
Ver. 18.
To Be aairpbv BivBpov.
A corrupt tree.
o-airpbv.] Bad, as the English "corrupt."
Ver. 19.
JJdv BevBpov fir) iroiovv Kapirbv koXov, iKKoirrerai Kal elv
irvp f3dXXerai.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire.
Cf. St. John xv. 6, If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as
a branch, and is withered; ch. iii. 10, And now also the axe is laid
unto the root of the trees, &c.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 287
Ver. 20.
"Apaye dirb rmv Kapirmv avrmv iiriyvmaeade avroiiv.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
If it had been &pa ye with a question, it would have been
a most triumphant conclusion ; and I take apa ye, affirmatively,
to carry a similar meaning.
Ver. 21.
Oil irav b Xeymv pot, Kvpie, Kvpie, elaeXevaerai els rrjv
jSaaiXelav rmv ovpavmv
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven.
St. John xiii. 13, Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well;
St. Luke vi. 46, Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the
things which I say] ch. xxv. 11, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Ver. 22.
JJ0XX0I ipoval fioi iv iKelvrj rfj rjfiepa, Kvpie Kvpie, oil rm am
ovofiari irpoe<f>rjrevaafiev, Kal rm am bvbpan Baifiovia ige-
j3dXofiev, Kal r<S am bvbfian Bvvdpeiv iroXXds iiroirjaafiev ;
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not pro
phesied in thy name 1 and in thy name have cast out devils 1 and
in thy name done many wonderful works 1
First express mention of the day of judgment.
irpoedjrjTevo-apev.] Probably taken here literally.
ra o-<i dvopan.] Cf. St. Mark xvi. 17, In My Name shall they
cast out devils; Acts iii. 6, In the Name of Jesus Christ of Naza
reth; ix. 34, jEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole; xix. 5, Bap
tized in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Argument hence for the ex
cellency of Christ's Person.
dwdpeis.] Effect for cause. [Cause for effect (?). — Ed.]
Here observe, 1. How much the evidence of the Apostles is
strengthened by the care shewn in the New Testament not to set
up miracles as signs of God's favour. Cf. St. Luke x. 20, In this
rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice
because your names are written in heaven.
2. Difference of x<*Pl* ar,d X<¥"0>ta> CI- x Cor. xiii. [Praise of
Faith, Hope, and Charity, compared with gifts of tongues, &c] ;
case of Balaam and Judas, and of the old Prophet in 1 Kings xiii.
[all of whom had gifts without grace]. Applied to the present
time it suggests an especial caution not to regard success, elo
quence, &c, as signs of God's favour.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.

Ver. 23.
Kal rare bfioXoyrjam aiirols, on ovBeirore eyvmv vfias'
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.
SpoXoyijaa.] Heb. eyvav [V"}\, as in Ps. i. 6, The Lord knoweth
(approveth) the way of the righteous. — Ed.] Cf. St. John x. 14,
I know My sheep, and am known of Mine ; Rom. viii. 29, Whom
He did foreknow, He also did predestinate ; 1 Cor. viii. 3, If any
man love God, the same is also known of Him.
Ver. 24.
JTas ovv bans aKovei fiov robs Xoyovv tovtovv, Kai
iroiei aiirov s.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them.
Cf. St. James i. 22, Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only ; St. John xiii. 17, If ye hww these things, happy are ye if ye
do them; 1 St. John ii. 3, seqq. Hereby do we know that we know
Him, if we keep His commandments ; iii. 7, He that doeth righteous
ness is righteous ; and passim.
Here consider how the demand of perfect holiness is reconcile
able with the redemption from the Law and free Grace. Con
sider, 1. God demands it as a condition, not as & price. (Observe
that in the first covenant our holiness was not per se, but by
the mercy of God, the consideration and price of eternal life.)
2. He gives His Holy Spirit, which was not under the Law.
Ver. 28.
' E^errXrjaaovro oi b'xXoi iirl rfj BiBaxfj aiirov'
The people were astonished at his doctrine.
Cf. St. John vii. 46, Never man spake like this man; St Luke
iv. 22, All bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words.
Ver. 29.
Hv yap BiBdaKmv avroiis mv i^ovaiav e'^ow, Kal
oi>x a>v oi Tpap.fiaTeiv.
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Cf. St. Matt. xxi. 23, &c, By what authority doest Thou these
things 1 crc; They had been used to say, Let us wait for a Pro
phet. Cf. 1 Mac. iv. 46, They laid up the stones . . . until there
should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them;
xiv. 41, Until there should arise a faithful prophet. But He taught

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 289
with more authority than even the highest prophet, viz. in His
own Name ; cf. Heb. iii. 5, 6, Christ as a Son over His own house;
and with perfect innocence. CHAP. VIII.— Ver. i.
KarafSdvn Be aiirm dirb rov opovs, rjKoXoiidrjaav avrm
oxXoi iroXXol.
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed him.
St. Matthew puts the Doctrine first, and then the Miracles ;
vid. ch. iv. 23, Teaching in their synagogues . . . and healing all
manner of sickness.
Ver. 2.
Kal IBoii, Xeirpbs iXdmv irpoaeKVvei avrm Xeymv.
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him.
Probably this miracle happened the year before the Sermon on
the Mount, in one of our Lord's incidental excursions from Ca
pernaum. For St. Luke places the centurion's servant's cure im
mediately after the Sermon, loov does not fix the order of the
cure ; cf. ch. ix. 2, And behold they brought unto Him a man sick
of the palsy.
avrm repeated, a Hebraism; but cf. Soph. QCd. Tyr. 276-7, *ai
ravra to'is pr] bpwaiv evxopai Beovs prjr aporov avrols yf/s avievai riva
. . . etiam ThucydideS iv. 93, ra Se 'iwiroKpdrei . . . ms avrm rjyyeXdrj
. . . irepirei, &C.
Xeirpbs.} Cf. Levit. xiii., xiv., and Deut. xxiv. 8, 9, for the law
concerning lepers.
It was a type of sin. Cf. Ps. xxxviii. 3, There is no soundness
in my flesh because of Thine anger; Isa. i. 6, No soundness in it,
but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores : and consider, 1. no
creature so unclean as man, perhaps none other, living g ; 2. It
was the greatest and most lasting uncleanness ; 3. It continued
after cleansing; 4. It was purified when the person owned
himself entirely unclean ; 5. The High Priest shared not in it ;
Aaron was not leprous, Uzziah was.
Ver. 3.
OeXm, Kadapiadrjri.
I will; be thou clean.
Cf. ch. vii. 29, As one having authority.
Cf. Gen. i. 3, (pas yeveo-da, Let there be light.
s I leave these words as I find them. — Ed.
U

290 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 4.
Kal \e<yet avrm b 'Irjaovv, "Opa firjBevl e'iirr/s' dXX viraye, ae
avrbv Selfjov rm lepei, Kal irpoaeveyKe rb Bmpov o irpoaerafje
Mmarjv, elv fiaprvpiov avrols.
And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way,
shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded,
for a testimony unto them.
Observe Christ's respect for the Law, and also His humility.
The Jews thought leprosy came from the hand of God imme
diately ; cf. 2 Kings v. 7, Am la God, to kill and to make alive 1
ch. xi. 5 [Christ's appeal to the cleansing of lepers in reply to the
Baptist's message].
avrots, either "the priests," governed of paprvpiov, or "the
lepers," governed of irpoaera£e ; — or the whole may be taken
with Xeyet aira, i.e. He said it in witness of His being the Son
of God.
Query, whether the office of binding and loosing sins be not
typified by this ordinance of Moses ?
Ver. 5.
JJpoarjXdev avrm eKarbvrapxov irapaKaXmv avrov.
There came unto him a centurion, beseeching him.
eKorovrapxas shews that a soldier's business is lawful. Cf. St.
Luke iii. 14 [the Baptist and the soldiers] ; Acts x. 1, A centurion
. . . a devout man, and one that feared God. Probably the soldier
might have heard of the cure of the nobleman's son, recorded
St. John iv. 53. According to St. Luke, the centurion sent elders
of the Jews.
Ver. 6.
'O iralv fiov /3i/3Xrjrai iv rfi oIkio, irapaXvriKov.
My servant lieth at home sick of the palsy.
0e'0X7)Tat] is very expressive of the man's helplessness. Cf.
V. 14, fiePXrjppevrjv Kal irvpecro-ovaav ; St. Mark vii. 30, fiefSXqppevrjv
irrl rrjs KXlvr/s; Rev. ii. 22, 0dXXa> avrrjv els kXIvtjv.
Ver. 8.
Ovk elfil wavbv 'iva fiov iiirb Trjv areyrjv elaeXdrjv'
I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof.
iWds.] Cf. ch. iii. 11, 0$ ovk elpl Uavbs ra virootjpaTa Paordaat.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 29 1
Ver. 9.
Kal yap iym dvdpmirov elfii vtrb i^ovalav, e^w iiir
ifiavrbv arpanmrav'
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.
q. d. Thou canst do this as readily, and with as full right, and
more certain success, as my superiors can command me, or
I mine inferiors. It is an argument a fortiori. If I can do this,
who am virb igovalav, how much more Thou.
Ver. io.
OiiSe iv r<2 IaparjX roaavrrjv iriariv evpov.
T have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Why should our Lord have expected Faith in Israel ? Answer
from prophecy more particularly. Ver. 1 1.
"On iroXXol dirb dvaroXmv Kal Bvajimv rj^ovai, Kal dvaKXidrj-
aovrai fierd 'Aftpadfi Kal 'IaaaK Kal JaKm/3 iv rfj fiaai-
Xeiq, rmv ovpavmv.
That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
A prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles. The Jews often
represented the Kingdom of Heaven as a feast, in Abraham's
bosom; cf. St. Luke xvi. 22, Was carried by the Angels into Abra
ham's bosom; Gen. xxviii. 14, In thee . . . shall all the families of
the earth be blessed; St. Luke xxii. 29, 30, That ye may eat and
drink at My table in My kingdom; Isa. xxv. 6,f,In this mountain
shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things.
There is a euphemism in dvaKki6r\aovrat.
Why are these three named particularly? 1. Because God
was called their God; 2. Because Canaan was promised to
them; 3. Because they were the heads of the nation. And
the Gentiles are seated next to them, as the centurion's faith was
preferred to that of Israel.
Ver. 12.
Oi Be viol rrjv ftaaiXelas iKf3Xrjdr]aovTai elv rb aKorov to i%m-
repov iKei earai b KXavdfibs Kal b f3pvjfibs rmv bBbvrmv.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness :
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Lightfoot (in loco) represents this as a prophecy of the final
rejection of the Jews : but qu? U 2

292 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.

to o-Koros rb i&repov best illustrated by ch. xxv. 10—12 [the ex
clusion of the foolish Virgins] ; and v. 30, Cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness.
The prophecy began to be signally accomplished, Acts xiii.
46—51 [Paul and Barnabas turning from the Jews to the Gentiles
at Antioch].
viol rijs 0ao-tXei'as.] Cf. Rom. ix. 4, 5, Israelites, to whom per-
taineth the adoption and the glory, &=c. Perhaps fipvypbs may ex
press cold.
Ver. 14.
JJevdepdv aiirov.
His wife's mother.
Peter was married. Cf. i Cor. ix. 6, Have we not power to lead
about . . . a wife, as well as . . . Cephas 1
Ver. i 6.
'Oijriav Be yevofievrjs irpoafjveyKav avrm Balfiovi^ofiivovv
iroXXovv.
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were
possessed with devils.
tyla is an adjective ; it marks our Lord's unwearied benevo
lence. God probably permitted so many Satpovi^opevovs, to shew
Christ's power.
Ver. i 7.
Avrbs ras dadevelas rjfimv eXafSe, Kal rav voaovv ifSdaraaev.
Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
e'0dorao-ei/.] Cf. St. John xx. 15, If thou have borne him hence;
1 St. Pet. ii. 24, His own self bare our sins; Heb. v. 1, 2, Who
can have compassion, &*c. ; iv. 15, Touched with the feeling of our
infirmities ; Isa. liii. 4, Surely He hath borne our grief s ; St. Mark
vii. 34, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha ; St. Luke vii. 13,
He had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not ; St. John
Xl> 33j 35; 38, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled . . .Jesus
wept . . . again groaning in Himself ; from which it may seem
not improbable that the place is applied here to express our
Lord's divine sympathy.
The Rabbins call Christ " the Leper of the house of Rabbi :"
Lightfoot (Hor. Heb. in loco), who renders ifidaraaev, "who is able
to remove" our sorrows. But add Christ's agony to the texts
quoted above. Observe that, as Christ's healing disease was
typical of His taking away sin, so this prophecy has a double
sense, 1. miracles, 2. redemption.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 293
Ver. 19.
Kal irpoaeXdmv elv Tpafifiareiiv.
And a certain scribe came, and said unto him.
els pro t!s, fere cum genitivo apud Atticos.
Ver. 20.
Ai dXmireKes (pmXeoiis exovai, Kal ra irereivd tov ovpavov
KaraaKrjvmaeiv b Be viov rov dvdpmirov ovk e%et, irov rrjv
Ke<f>aXrjv kXivt).
The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Here Christ speaks to the man's thoughts, who was probably
worldly in his purpose.
6 vibs tov avdpairov] denote our Lord's divine nature, His
Messiahship, His humility. Cf. Ps. viii. 4, What is man . . . and
the Son of man, that Thou visitest him? lxxx. 17, The Son of man
whom Thou madest so strong for Thyself; Dan. vii. 13, One like
the Son of man.
Ver. 21.
"Erepov Be rmv fiadrjrmv avrov elirev avrm, Kvpie, iirirpetybv
fioi irpmrov direXdeiv Kal dd-^-ai rbv irarepa fiov.
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first
to go and bury my father.
Clement of Alexandria says this was Philip [Strom, iii. c. 4,
kov avyxpilcravTai rfj tov Kvpiov (piovrj Xeyovros ra QiXlirira, ' Aabes tovs
veKpovs, &C. — Ed.]
Bdfyai, some say, means, " live on to my Father's death." Cf.
Job xiv. 13, Oh that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave . . .; from
which it seems that burying was a great duty among the Jews.
Ver. 22.
"Atyes roiiv veKpoiiv dd-tyai rovv eavrmv veKpovv.
And let the dead bury their dead.
veKpovs.] Possibly a proverbial expression, cf. St. Luke ix. 60.
Compare Ephes. ii. 1, You hath He quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins. Perhaps an allusion to the uncleanness con
tracted by touching the dead, which was certainly unfit for
Christ's peculiar people ; evidently there is the figure like that
in Revelation (xxii. 18), "If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in
this book," &c. The dead were unclean ; the priest might not

294 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT,

touch them, Lev. xxii. 4, 8, Whoso toucheth anything that is un
clean, Grc. Clement quotes a precept of Pythagoras, dirixeo-dai
rS>v Bvrjatpalav [Paedag. ii. i ?]. Bad men were spiritually dead ;
cf. Ephes. ii. 5, When we were dead in sins; Rom. viii. is, He
that raised up Christ . . . shall quicken your mortal bodies.
Ver. 27.
JJorairbs ianv ovrov ;
What manner of man is this ?
Tiorairos, qualis, quantus ; 7ro8an-o's, cujas in Latin. Cf. St. Mark
Xiii. I, 2 ; iroranolXWot, 2 Pet. iii. II, 7roTa7rous 8et vwdpxetv vpds. . .
Ver. 28.
Kai eXdovri aiir<2 els to iripav els rrjv xmpav fbw Fepyearj-
vmv, vrrfjvTrjaav avrm Bvo BaifiovvCpfievoi iK rmv fivrjfieimv
ifjepxbfievoi.
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the
Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out
of the tombs.
Perhaps these Gergesenes might be a remnant of the old
Canaanites ; they were certainly many of them Gentiles. St.
Mark and St. Luke mention only one possessed, but he might
be superior in rank or in misery. They used to live in tombs ;
the eastern tombs would easily admit of this ; cf. the account of
the Resurrection. Ver. 29.
Ti fjfiiv Kal aol, Jrjaov vie rov ©eov ; rjXdes mBe irpb
Kaipov ftaaavlaai rjfiav ;
What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God 1 art thou
come hither to torment us before the time 1
ri fjpXv Kal o-oi] Difference between the Hebrew and Latin
phrase [Dpb'] ""Vtto, Quid mihi tecum.] The latter expresses con
tempt; the former, complaint.
irpb Katpov.] Cf. 2 St. Pet. ii. 4, If God spared not the angels that
sinned . . . reserved unto judgment ; Jud. 6, The angels . . . He hath
reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of
the great day.
Ver. 30.
''Hv Be fiaKpdv air' aiirmv dyeXrj xolpmv iroXXmv fSoaKO/ievrj.
And there was a good way off from them an herd of
many swine feeding.
oh paKpdv is what one would expect ; but the meaning is the

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 295

same. paKpdv would mean "at some distance ;" oi panpdv, "within
reach." Swine forbidden, cf. Deut. xiv. 8, The swine, because it
divideth the Jwof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you; ye
shall not eat of their flesh; but it was eaten very commonly.
Probably these swine were to be smuggled into Judaea.
Vers. 31, 32.
Eirirpetyov rj/fiv direXdeiv els rrjv dyeXrjv r$>v x°^P(l}V-
Kal elirev aiirolv, 'Tirdyere.
Suffer us to go away into the herd of swine,
Afid he said unto them, Go.
This does not make Christ the author of sin'; for He only re
frained from hindering what they asked ; it shewed His Divinity.
The devil had a double spite to gratify here ; against the owners,
and against our Lord Himself. This miracle justified the Law of
Moses to the Gentiles, who were wont to sneer at this precept.
Perhaps it might shew the punishment of wallowing like swine in
sensual lusts ; viz. being delivered into the power of the devil.
And He shewed His power over evil spirits ; their malice, and
the blessing to us of the restraint He keeps over them. See the
history of Job. Ver. 34.
JJapeKaXeaav birms fierafirj dirb rmv bplmv aiircby.
They besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
St. Luke v. 8, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Observe the different manner in which our Lord treated St. Peter
in the verse quoted above, and these Gergesenes in the text.
The one He took at their word, and departed from them, the
other not.
CHAP. IX.— Ver. i.
*HXdev els rrjv IBiav irbXiv.
And came into his own city.
tt\v May iroXiv.] Sc. Capernaum; v. St. Mark ii. 1, He entered
into Capernaum after some days.
Ver. 2.
Kal IBmv b Jrjaovs rrjv irianv avrwv eiire rm irapaXvriKm,
©dpaei reKVOV, d<pemvrai aoi ai dfiapriai aov-
And Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son,
be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee.
rr\v rrianv avravi] Sc. of the men and of the sick person him-

296 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
self. Observe here the effect of a faithful intercession. Disease
was the one effect of all sin, and the particular punishment of
some sins among the Jews. Cf. Deut. xxviii. 21, 22, 27, 60 [the
diseases which disobedience should entail on the Israelites]. Cf.
etiam Isa. xxxiii. 24, The inhabitant shall not say, T am sick; the
people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity ; cf. also
Numb. v. ; 1 Cor. v. 5, To deliver such an one to Satan, for the de
struction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved.
In saying, "Thy sins," &c, Christ gave assurance that the
disease should be healed, and pointed out the origin of it, and
of scourges generally. Cf. Rev. xxi. 4, There shall be no more
death, . . . neither shall there be any more pain.
acpewvTai is per dimresin for ddjelvrat, scil. the Attic perfect. Some
hold it to be imperative; but cf. St. Luke vii. 47, Xe'yeo o-ot doieWat
at dpaprlai avrijs ; I St. John ii. 12, ypd(pco vpiv on d<pia>VTat, &C.
Again, the Iva of v. 6 may be referred to what, went before,
I said it in order that, &c Thus He declared 1. His own power
as Christ ; 2. the doctrine of Justification.
Ver. 3.
Kai IBoii rives rmv ypafifiaremv elirov iv eavroiv, Ovros
f3Xaa(prjfiei.
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves,
This man blasphemeth.
Cf. ch. xxvi. 64, Hereafter shall ye see . . . Then the High Priest
rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy.
Ver. 4.
Kai iBmv 0 'Irjaovs rds ivdvjirjaeiv avrmv elirev.
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said.
Cf. 1 Sam. xvi. 7, The Lord looketh on the heart; 1 Kings viii. 39,
Thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men; 1 Cor.
ii. 10, 11, The Spirit searcheth all things. . . . Hence we obtain
presumptive proof of our Lord's divinity from these words.
Ver. 5.
Tl yap ianv eiiKoirmrepov, elireiv, 'Atpemvrai aoi ai dfiaprlai'
rj eiireiv, "Eyeipai Kal irepiirdrei ;
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say,
Arise, and walk 1
Quod dicit, I know you count it an easy thing and deride it,
what I have just said. But it is in fact a greater miracle of

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 297
divine mercy than the other, and as a proof that I possess it on
earth, I now make use of the other.
Perhaps rl may mean, " how," " why," " in what respect." Cf.
St. Chrys. iii. 331, 12, 13 (ed. Sav.), where he uses W for norepov.
[Horn. XIV. 4, in I Corinth., ri rotvvv evKoXarepov, ecpieadai iroXXav
Xprjpdrav, rj pei£ova eivai rrjs imBvplas TavTr/s ; — Ed.]
Ver. 6.
'O vibs rov dvdpmirov.
The Son of man.
6 vibs tov dvdpasirov.] Cf. Dan. vii. 13, Behold, One like the Son
of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
Days; and Ps. bcxx. 17, Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy
right hand, upon the Son of ma?i whom Thou madest strong for
Thyself.
Ver. 8.
JBbvrev Be oi 6'^Xot idavfiaaav, Kal iB6f;aaav rbv @eov.
But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God.
Observe the different feelings with which different bystanders
viewed our Lord's miracles here and in ver. 33 (The multitudes
marvelled, saying it was never so seen in Israel), compared with
ver. 34, The Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince
of the devils; and ch. viii. 34, When they besought Him that He
would depart out of their coasts.
Ver. 9.
ElBev dvdpmirov Kadfjfievov eirl to reXmviov, Mardalov
Xeybfievov.
He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom.
Probably there was a custom-house on the sea-shore.
Whether Levi was Matthew is disputed, principally on the
ground of his relationship to Alphaeus not being mentioned in
the catalogues of Apostles, v. Grotius ad loc, and Michaelis.
Some suppose him to have been St. Jude, and the dpxiTeXa>n7s,
under whom St. Matthew was.
Ver. io.
Kal eyevero avrov avaKeifievov iv rfj oIkio,, Kai ISov iroXXol
reXmvai Kal dfiaprmXoi.
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold,
many publicans and sinners. . . .
In the house of Levi. Cf. St. Mark ii. 15, As Jesus sat at meat

298 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
in his house ; St. Luke v. 29, Levi made Him a great feast in his
own house.
dpapraXol.] Like other words in ijX6s and a>X6s, expresses the
habit ; so o-iyi/Xo's, <pei8a>X6s, k.t.X. Such persons would be with
the Gentile Publicans, 1. As having no scruples in associating
with the unclean ; 2. As being without any character to lose.
Ver. 12.
Oil xPeMV exovaiv oi laxvovres larpov, dXX' oi
KaKwv exovres.
They that be whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick.
Hence we see for what end we may converse with sinners,
i.e. to make them better; but if there be no chance of that,
we are to break with them; cf ch. xviii. 17, If he neglect to hear
the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen and a publican : or
if there be a greater chance of making other men worse, cf. 1 Cor.
v. 9 — 13, . . . With such an one, no, not to eat. Antisthenes made
the like excuse when reproached for the like conduct ; and Dio
genes, to justify himself for not living in Lacedaemon [Diog. Laert.
Antisthenes, VI. 6, 6vet8i£6pevos irore iirl tw irovrjpois avyyeveadat, Kal ¦
ol larpot, qbr/o-i, perd twv voaovvrav elaiv, dXX' ov irvperrovcri ; StobffiUS
o. XI., says of Diogenes, ovbe yap larpbs, etirev, vyelas av 7Toii)tik6s
ev Tots iyialvovat Siarptfirjv Troielrat. — Ed.]
Ver. 13.
'.EX,eoi> diXm, Kal oil dvaiav.
I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.
Hosea vi. 6, For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; 1 Sam.
xv. 22, To obey is better than sacrifice; Ps. iv. 5, Offer the sacrifice
of righteousness ; Isa. i. 11—14, To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto Me, saith the Lord; Ixvi. 3, He that killeth
an ox is as if he slew a man, 6rc. Distinction of moral and posi
tive duties here clearly marked out.
ol . . . axxd.] "Magis quam" ["not that but this," meaning
"this more than that"]. Cf. St. John vii. 16, My doctrine is not
Mine, but His that sent Me.
iropevBivres pdBere, Hebraism [Ttobil sa.— Ed.]
Observe, the eating with the heathens was strictly a breach of
the ceremonial law.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 299
Ver. 14.
Atari rjfieis Kal ol $apiaaioi vrjarevafiev iroXXd, ol Be
padrjrai aov oil vrjarevovai ;
Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not 1
Cf. ch. xi. 18, 19, John came neither eating nor drinking. John's
disciples fasted for prayer, their master being in prison. St. Luke
v- 33, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers 1
Acts xii. 5, Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was made without
ceasing of the Church unto God for him. Besides that, his dis
cipline was more austere than Christ's ; probably to shew the dif
ferent genius of the Old and New Testament.
The disciples of John would fast often, because of their
master's imprisonment.
Ver. 15.
Mr) Bvvavrai ol viol rov vvfi<pmvov rrevdeiv, ecp baov fier avrmv
ianv b vv/idpiov ; iXevaovrai Be rjpepai brav airapdjj air'
avrmv 6 vvu<plov, Kai rbre vrjarevaovaiv.
Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bride
groom is with them 1 But the days will come, when the bridegroom
shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
Cf. St. John iii. 29, He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, &*c;
Hos. ii. 16, Thou shalt call Me Ishi (husband), and shalt call Me
no more Baali (Lord) ; Rev. xxi. 9, Come hither, I will shew thee
the Bride, the Lamb's wife.
o\ viol roO wpdjavos.] A Hebraism [nBTP32], St. John xvii. 12,
The son of perdition. So perhaps Judges xiv. 20 [Samson's wife
was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend] ;
scilicet viol vocantur in aliquid destinati, alicui addicti aut ad
juncts The disciples were not persecuted while Christ was with them.
In consequence of this saying, the Church kept Easter-Eve as
a great fast.
Ver. 16.
OiiBeh Be iirif3dXXei iirijSXrjfia paKOVs dyvd<pov iirl
ifiarlm iraXaim.
No manputteth apiece ofneiv cloth unto an old garment, for that
which is put in to fill it up takethfrom the garment.
Quod dicit, — This service of Christian fasting is yet too precious
for My half-educated disciples. 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2, I have fed you

300 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
with milk, and not with meat, &=c. ; Heb. v. 12 — 14, Every one
that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness ; for he is
a babe.
Ver. 17.
OvBe fSdXXovaiv olvov viov els daKovv iraXaiovs.
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles.
Perhaps there is here an allusion to that figure by which Christ
in many places represented the change of dispensations, i.e.
calling the New Testament the new wine. Cf. St. John ii. (the
miracle at Cana) ; St. Luke xxii. 18, / will not drink of the fruit
of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.
Ver. 18.
'IBoii, dpxmv iXdmv irpoaeKvvei avriS, Xeymv," On fj dvydrrjp
fiov dpn ereXevrrjaev
There came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying,
My daughter is even now dead.
"Apxav.] Scil. dpxto-ovdyayos. His business was to preside in
the assemblies, to appoint who should read, &c. ; St. Mark v. 22,
and St. Luke viii. 41 (Jairus, "a ruler of the synagogue").
Spn.] "By this time." Ver. 20.
Kal IBoii yvvr) alfioppoovaa BmBeKa errj, rrpoaeXdovaa biriadev.
And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of
blood twelve years, came behind him.
She was afraid, partly because she was in a state of legal
uncleanness.
Ver. 21.
"EXeye yap iv eavrfj, 'Edv fibvov dfmfiai rov Ifiarlov
aiirov, amdrjaofiai.
For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment,
I shall be whole.
Cf. Zech. viii. 23, Ten men shall take hold of the skirt of him
that is a Jew, saying, . . . God is with you. She made a mistake
in attributing the miracles of Christ to some natural power in
dependent of His will, but was right in expecting all power from
Him whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power
all over, as the High Priest was anointed with oil.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 301
Ver. 22.
H irians aov aeamKe ae.
Thy faith hath made thee whole.
This was a common saying among the primitive Christians,
and was objected to them by Celsus, as a sign of unreasoning
assent ; but Origen answered him.
Ver. 23.
'IBiov rovs aiiXrjrdv Kal rbv SxXov dopvftov/ievov.
And saw the minstrels and the people making a noise.
The custom of lamenting the dead with pipes came from the
Gentiles. No sign of it in the Old Testament ; but only of a kind
of mournful chant, Oprjvos, begun by old women, and followed by
the wailing, /eojreVos, of the whole company. But music at a fu
neral is mentioned among aratpa by the son of Sirach [Ecclus.
xxii. 6, A tale out of season is as musick in mourning],
rbv oxXov dopvfioipevov.] It was reckoned a great act of charity
to be present at a funeral, and a kind of entertainment was also
made. Lightfoot, in loc. Ver. 24.
Oil yap diredave to Kopdaiov, dXXa KadevBei.
For the maid is not dead, but sleepeth.
Ita St. John xi. 11, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; 1 Cor. xv. 6,
Some are fallen asleep; and 18, They also which are fallen asleep
in Christ; 1 Thess. iv. 13 — 15 (Concerning them which are asleep).
Christ might mean, 1. To leave the matter ambiguous before the
people; 2. To give evidence of the immateriality of the soul
against the Sadducees; 3. To instruct us that death to the Chris
tian is no more than a sleep. Ver. 25.
"Ore Be if;ef3Xrjdv 0 oxXov, elaeXdibv iKpdrrjae rrjv ^etpo?
avrrjv, Kai rjyepdr) to Kopdaiov.
But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her
by the hand, and the maid arose.
it-e$kr\6r\.] Cf. ver. 38, oiras iKpdXr) ipyaras els tov depiapov ;
ch. xii. 20, eK^akrj els vikos rrjv Kpicriv ; and 35, eK tov dya6ov Orjaavpov
e'ne0dXXet rd dya^d ; St. John X. 4, orav ra i'Sta 7rpd0ara eV0dXi; ; Rev.
xiv. 15, 16, e0aXev to bpeiravov. He touched her as if she were
really but asleep.

302 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 27.
'EXirjaov rifids, vie AafilB.
Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
Observe, these blind men thought our Lord to be Christ, and
He confirmed their faith by answering to the name. How is this
consistent with His studious concealment of that truth? He
wished people to find it out for themselves, instead of its being
openly declared by Him ; and He would not let these make
Him known. (Cf. Isa. xxxv. 5, The eyes of the blind shall be
opened; xiii. 7, To open the blind eyes, 6°r.) This is plain, (1) from
ver. 30, (2) from His not healing them till they were in the
house.
Ver. 30.
Kal ivefSpifirjaaro aiiroiv b 'Irjaovv, Xiymv, 'Opdre
firjSels yivmaKirm.
Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that, no man know it.
iveppiprjo-aro.] Gave signs of indignation, for many had before
made Him known. Ver. 33.
OvBeirore icpdvrj ovrms iv rm 'IaparjX.
It was never so seen in Israel.
The last clause seems to refer to the wonderful events of the
whole day. Cf. xii. 22, seq. The blind and dumb both spake and
saw, and all the people were amazed.
Ver. 35.
Kai irepirjyev o 'Irjaovv rds iroXeis irdaav Kal rdv Kmfias
BiBdaKmv iv rais avvaymyais avrmv, Kal Krjpvaamv rb
evayyiXiov rrjv fiaaiXelav, Kal depaireiimv irdaav vbaov
Kai irdaav fiaXaKiav iv rm Xam.
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every sickness and every disease among the people.
Difference of K-npio-aav and diSdo-Kav, Xdyos and StSa^i} ; the one
to believers, the other to infidels. Acts v. 42, They ceased not to
teach and preach Jesus Christ; xv. 35, Teaching and preaching the
Word of the Lord; 1 Tim. v. 17, They who labour in the Word
and doctrine; 2 Tim. iv. 2, Preach the Word . . . with all long-
suffering and doctrine.
This passage shews that the Jews (and first Christians also)
had country synagogues, like our country churches.

us
NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 303
Ver. 36.
'IBmv Be roiiv oxXovv, iairXayxviadrj irepl aiirmv, on ?jaav
iKXeXvfiivoo Kal ippffifievoi mael irpofiara prj exovra
iroifieva.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on
them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep
having no shepherd.
io-TvXayxvlo-6r)?\ The ancierits made the bowels the seat of
pity, the heart of wisdom, the liver of jealousy, the gall of
malice, &c.
io-KvXpevoi, ippippevoi.] The one by the vain and burfhensome
traditions, the other by "the profligate neglect of their teachers.
Or iKXeXvpevoi, made to faint ; cf. Heb. xii. 5, Nor faint when thou
art rebuked; Gal. vi. 9, We shall reap if we faint not. Cf. Numb.
xxvii. ii, As sheep which have no shepherd; 1 Kings xxii. 17, 1 saw
all Israel . . . as sheep that have not a shepherd.
Ver. 37.
'O fiev depiafibs iroXiiv, oi Be ipydrai bXiyoi.
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.
Cf. ch. iii. 12, Gather his wheat into the garner ; xiii. 24 (Parable
of Sower); St. Mark iv. 26 (Parable of seed growing secretly);
St. John iv. 35, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest.
The expression implies the preparation of people's minds to re
ceive the Messiah.
Ver. 38.
Aerjdrjre ovv rov Kvpiov rov depiafiov, oirms iKf3dXrj ipydras
elv rbv depiafiov aiirov.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
labourers into his harvest.
This verse is a great reason for the Ember-weeks.
tov Kvpiov tov depto-pov.] Cf. St. John xv. 1, I am the true Vine,
and My Father is the husbandman ; St. Matt. xxi. 35, Thehusband-
man took his servants, and beat one, arc.
eK^dXy.] Cf. ch. xii. 35, Bringeth forth good things . . . evil
things ; St. John x. 4, He putteth forth His own sheep.

304 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
CHAP. X.— Ver. i.
Kal irpoaKaXeadfievov roiiv BmBeKa fiadrjrds aiirov, eBmKev
avrols igovaiav irvevfidrmv aKaddprmv.
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave
them power against unclean spirits.
What He had just directed to be prayed for, He here accom
plishes Himself. He had chosen the Apostles before (cf. St. Luke
vi.) ; but till now they had not been with Him long enough to
be qualified as evidences [sic, qu. witnesses ?].
8a>SeKa.] Cf. St. Luke xxii. 30, Judging the twelve tribes ; Rev.
xxi. 12, Twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels ; 14, Twelve
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles ; from
which it would seem that there is an analogy here with the
number of the tribes of Israel. Cf. also Rev. iv. 4, And round
about the throne were four-and-twenty seats ; and ch. xix. 28, Ye
which have followed Me, in the regeneration . . . twelve tribes of
Israel. edaKev airols i£ovalav.] A special instance of Divine power.
iiovalav irvevpdrav.] Scil. against them. Cf. ch. xii. 31 (blas
phemy of, i.e. against, the Holy Ghost).
dKaddPTav.] By way of antithesis to ayiov. Lightfoot suspects
the cause of the number of unclean spirits to be the special curse
now coming on the special impiety of the Jews.
Ver. 2.
Tibv Be BmBeKa diroarbXmv rd bvofiard iari ravra' wpmrov
Slfimv b XeySfievov IHrpos, Kal 'AvBpiav 0 dBeX<pbv avrov.
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon,
who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of
Zebedee, and John his brother.
dTrdo-roXo,.] Erant proprie non tantum legati, sed vicem ma-
gistn gerentes. It was a great mercy to give a catalogue of the
Apostles. irparos.] Ordine non gradu: first called with Andrew St
John i. 40, 41.
^Vpos.] May mean either a foundation-rock, or a strong
corner-stone. He was so, because of the Churches being both
[Hebrew and Gentile] founded by his ministry; see Acts ii and
x. [the 3,000 on Pentecost, and the household of Cornelius].

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 305
Ver. 3.
JIaK(of3os b rov ZefSeBaiov, Kal 'Imdvvrjv b d8eX<f>bv aiirov.
$lXiiriros, Kal BapdoXofidios' ©mfiav, Kal Mardaios o
reXmvrjs' 'IaKwfSos b rov 'AXdpaiov, Kal Aef3/3aiov b iiri-
KXrjdels OaBBaiov.
Philip, and Bartholomew ; Thomas, and Matthew the publican ;
James the son of Alpluzus, and Lebbasus, whose surname was
Thaddceus.
The Apostles are mentioned here, as nearly as we can make
out, in the order of their calling. Cf. St. John i. 37 — 51 [where
we hear of the call of Andrew, John (?), Peter, Philip, Nathanael,
supposed to be Bartholomew]. Alphaeus is perhaps the same
with Clopas; he was probably the husband of Mary's sister.
Christ did not disdain His relations, though they were in general
so ill-disposed to Him. Thaddaeus comes from the same root ;
and is the same radically with IT^ [to praise ; whence "Judah"
(see Gen. xxix. 35, Now will I praise the Lord; therefore she
called his name Judah) altered to Thadai, ">Ntn, to distinguish the
faithful Jude from the traitor, according to Wetstein. — Ed.]
Ver. 4.
Sl/iav b Kavavirrjs, Kal 'IovSav 'IaKapimrrjv b Kal
irapaBovv avrov.
Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
" Canaanite," probably the Zealot ; such were Phinees, Elias,
the Maccabees. An account of their corruption is found in
Josephus, Bell. Jud. IV. [c. iii. 9, n, 12, and VII. c. viii. 1].
" Iscariot," probably from his town Iscarair-Kerioth (cf. Josh.
xv. 25), quod autem de eodem loco apud Jerem. xliii. 41, Amos
ii. 2, memoratur ait Schleusner, vereor ut res se habeat; illis
enim locis mentio fit toO Pftnj) cujusdam Moabitici, hie autem
Judaicam desideramus urbem. Cf. Cod. Cant, in loco et apud Joan.
xii. 4 [the Cambridge MS. (d) omits " Simon's son," and reads,
dirb Kapvarov. — Ed.].
Ver. 5.
Eis bBov idvmv fir) direXdrjre, Kal elv iroXiv Sa/iapeirmv
prj elaeXOrjre.
Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the
Samaritans enter ye not.
els obbv idvav.] Cf. Sept. apud Jer. ii. 18 [ri 0-01 Kal rjj 68a Alyinr-
X

306 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
tov, &c] ; also as to the exclusion of the Gentiles for the present,
cf. St. Matt. xv. 24 [the cure of the woman of Canaan's daughter] ;
St. Luke xxiv. 47, That repentance and remission of sins should be
preached among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; Acts ii. 39,
The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
afar off; xiii. 46, It was necessary that the Word of God should
first have been spoken to you; Rom. ix. 10, To the Jew first, and
also to the Gentile; compare Pensees de Pascal [Pt. II. Art. ix.
des preuves historiques de la Religion].
els iroXtv 's.apapea-av.] Because the Samaritans were enough like
Jews to give rise to a mistake. Cf. 2 Kings xvii. 41, So these na
tions feared the Lord, and served their graven images ; cf. also
Ezra iv., Nehemiah ii., iv., vi., and St. John iv. Christ wished
(1) to make the world understand the greatness of the Jews'
privileges; (2) to convince them of their sin; (3) to guard against
offending them ; cf. Rom. xv. 8, Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God.
Ver. 6.
JJopeveade Be pdXXov irpbv rd irpb/3ara ra diroXmXbra
oIkov laparjX.
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
irpofiara ra diroXcoXora.] Cf. St. Luke xv. [Parable of Lost Sheep] ;
St. John x. 15, I lay doitm My life for the sheep ; Ezek. xxxiv.
[Woe to the false shepherds] ; Jer. iv., v., vi. [God's judgments on
Judah] ; Isaiah liii. 6, All we like sheep have gone astray.
Ver. 7.
JJopevbfievoi Be Krjpiiaaere, Xeyovres' "On rjyyiKev r)
fiaaiXela rmv ovpavmv.
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The same proclamation which John and Jesus had made.
Ver. 8.
'Aadevovvrav depairevere, Xeirpovs Kadapi^ere, veKpoiis iyel-
pere, Bai/ibvia iKf3dXXere. Bmpedv iXd^ere, Bmpedv Bore.
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: '
freely ye have received, freely give.
veKpovs iyelpere.] Probable reason for omitting these words in
many MSS.
Saped*.] Whereas ye have not received your power of heal-

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 307
ing at large expense (as physicians) give also freely. Cf.
2 Kings v. (cure of Naaman); Gen. xiv. 22 (Abram refusing the
King of Sodom's gifts) ; Dan. v. 17, Let thy gifts be to thyself . . .
yet I will read the writing ; Acts viii. 20, Thy money perish with
thee. Yet it was allowed them to receive sustenance ; 1 Cor. ix.
[the minister ought to live by the Gospel] ; Gal. vi. 6, Let him that
is taught communicate unto him that teacheth; Phil. iv. 15, No
church communicated with me . . . but ye only.
But sometimes they would forego it to spare the people, or for
example's sake ; Acts xx. 34, 35, These hands have ministered unto
my necessities, &c. : or to avoid scandal, 2 Cor. xi. 7 — 12, I have
kept myself from being burdensome . . . that I may cut off occasion
from them which desire occasion.
Ver. 9.
Mr) tcrrjarjade xpvabv, firjBe apyvpov, firjBe xa^K0V
elv rds %mvav vfimv.
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses.
KTJjaT)a8e.] Apud St. Mark vi. 8, and St. Luke ix. 3, atpere.
Cf. ch. vi. 34, Take no thought for the morrow ; some things
here are commanded for that journey only, some universally,
some both, in different verses, e.g. ver. 5, latter part of ver. 8,
and this ninth verse. Christ did not observe quite the letter of
this commandment; cf. St. John xiii. 29, Buy those things that we
have need of; nor the Apostles, 1 Thess. ii. 9, Labouring night and
day, because we would not be chargeable ; 2 Tim. iv. 12.
XoKkov.] Sic " as," apud Latinos.
£avas.] Sic " zonam perdidit," Horace, [Ep. II. ii. 40].
Ver. io.
Mr) irrjpav els bBbv, firjBe Biio xiTavas} A"7^e viroBrjfiara, firjBe
pdfiBov dfjios yap b ipydrrjv rrjv rpodjrjs aiirov eariv.
Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet
staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
irfipav.] A scrip for provisions.
pd08ov.] For defence, probably, cf. St. Luke xxii. 36, He that
hath no sword, let him . . . buy one. Whence in St. Mark vi. 8
they are allowed pd08ov, not pdfioovs, scil. for support ; and o-avodXia,
but not KTi\o-aa6ai vnoh^para ; there was a difference between
aavhdXta and virobrjpaTa. X 2

308 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
The latter part of the verse is Christ's charter for a provision
for the support of the clergy.
Ver. ii.
Elv rjv B' dv irbXiv rj Kmfirjv eiaeXdrjre, i^erdaare riv iv airy
a%iov iari' KaKet fieivare, Urns dv ifjeXdrjre.
And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it
is worthy ; and there abide till ye go thence.
Cf. Acts xvi. 15, She besought us saying, . . . Come into my house,
and abide.
Ver. 12.
Elaepxbfievoi Be els rrjv oIkiov, dairdaaade avrrfV.
And when ye come into an house, salute it.
The Jewish salutation was, Peace be unto you ; cf. Phil. iv. 7,
The peace of God which passeth all understanding.
Ver. 13.
'Eav Be fir) j) df;ia, r) elprjvrj vfimv irpbs ifids iiriarpa^>fjrm.
If it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
Cf. Acts xiii. 46, Seeing ye judge yourselves unworthy. Pothinus,
Bishop of Lyons, being asked who was the God of the Christians,
answered, "If thou beest worthy, thou shalt know." Cf. Ps.
xxxv. 13, My prayer returned into mine own bosom; Isa. Iv. 11,
My word . . . shall not return unto Me void.
Ver. 14.
'EKTivdffare rbv Kovioprbv rmv iroBmv vfimv.
Shake off the dust of your feet.
The Jews accounted the dust of a heathen city impure. By
shaking it off, the Apostles were to signify that they would have
no more communication with them. Acts xiii. 51, And they
shook off the dust of their feet against them.
Ver. 15.
' Avembrepov earai yfj %oB6fimv Kal Tofibppmv iv fjfiepa
Kpiaems, fj rfj irbXei iKelvrj.
It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in
the day of judgment, than for that city.
Cf. ch. xi. 23, 24, And thou, Capernaum . . . than for thee.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 309
Ver. 16.
Tiveade oZv (ppovifioi ms ol otpeis, Kal aKepaioi mv
ai irepiarepai.
Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Special care taken by Christ not to flatter His disciples. Im
perative form for predictive, cf. Gen. iii. 1, Now the serpent was
more subtil. . . . The dove is said to have no gall [Hammond,
in loco. — Ed.]
Ver. 17.
JJapaSmaovai yap ifidv els avveBpia, Kal iv raiv avvaymyatv
avrmv fiaanymaovaiv vfidv.
They will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge
you in their synagogues.
Cf. Acts iv. 12, They brought him to the council ; xx. 22, 23,
Bonds and afflictions abide me; 2 Cor. xi. 25, Thrice was T beaten
with rods, once was I stoned.
Query whether they punished in their synagogues [Lightfoot
and Wetstein adduce evidence that they did. — Ed.] i Mace.
vii. 1 2, Then did there assemble unto Alcimus and Bacchides a com
pany of scribes to require justice.
Ver. j8.
Kal iirl rjyefibvas Be Kal fSaaiXeis dxdrfaeade.
And ye shall be brought before governors and kings.
Cf. Acts xxiv. — xxvi. [Paul before Felix, and Festus, and
Agrippa].
Ver. 19.
Aodrjaerai yap vfiiv iv iKelvrj r% mpa ri XaXrjaere.
For it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Cf. St. Luke xxi. 12 — 15, I will give you a mouth and wisdom.
As in the case of Moses, Exod. iv. 11, Go, and I will be with thy
mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And in the case of
Isaiah, vi. 7, 8, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, . . . send me; and in
the case of St. Peter, Acts ii., iii., x. ; and in the case of St. Ste
phen, Acts vii., Boldness, with fervent zeal, &-c, or in Scripture
language, " utterance."
Ver. 21.
JJapaBmaei Be dBeXtpbs dBeX<pbv els ddvarov.
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death.
This was among the signs of the Messiah. Cf. ch. xxiv. 10.,

3IO NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another ; 2 Tim.
iii. 1 — 3, Men shall be lovers of their own selves . . . false ac
cusers.
Ver. 22.
Kal eaeade fiiaovfievoi iiirb irdvrmv Bid rb ovofid fiov b Be
virofieivas elv riXov, ovros amdfjaerai.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake : but he that
endureth to the end shall be saved.
Sta rb ovopd pov.] Cf. Acts v. 4 1, Counted worthy to suffer shame
for His Name , i.e. because of Me by whose Name ye are called.
vwopelvas.] Scil. " endureth these troubles," or rather " abideth "
simply. Partes temporis ovx viropevivovo-i [Mr. Keble appears to
mean that the word viropeveiv is not used of such mere continuance
as we predicate of time, but implies hardship, like the Latin
durare. — Ed.] Virgil, " Durate, et vosmet rebus servate se-
cundis,'' ^En.,i. 207. Qu. is the " salvation" temporal or eternal?
The question is principally dependent on another, namely, what
is the coming of the Son of man in the next verse. In the mean
time, it will be true in both senses.
6 he vnopelvas els Te'Xos.] Cf. ch. xxiv. 13 [where the phrase
is repeated]. Ver. 23.
' Otov Be BimKmaiv vfiav iv rfj iroXei rainy, <f>evyere elv rrjv
dXXrjv. dfirjv yap Xeym iipiv, Oil firj reXearjre rds irbXeis
tov IaparjX, emv dv eXdy b vibs rov dvdpmirov.
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another : for
verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Observe here the permission given to use lawful means for
safety, provided you do not forsake your duty; cf. Acts xiv. 5, 6,
When there was an assault . . . fled unto Lystra. This should
check them who are proud of persecutions.
TeXe'o-j;re.] ThuC. iv. 78, eK rrjs MeXeTt'as ddjappr)aev, is &dpaaX6v
re ireXeae. So dtavietv is often used ; SO Florus [i. C 1 8], " COn-
summare Italiam" [h.e. obire, peragrare Italiam].
The coming of Christ means, 1. His coming to judgment-
2. (as is generally believed) that great type of it, the destruction
of Jerusalem ; 3. His coming to His Apostles by His Spirit ; so
Grotius here; 4. His coming into men's hearts by His power-
so Beza. Consider which is most probable.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 31 1

Ver. 24.
Ovk ean fiadrjrrjs virep rbv BiSdaKaXov, oiBe BovXov
iiirep rbv Kvpiov aiirov.
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
A proverb often used by Christ in different senses. Use made
of it by the Church in Visitation of the Sick ["There should be no
greater comfort to Christian persons, than to be made like unto
Christ by suffering patiently," &c.J
Ver. 25.
El rbv oiKoBeairorrjv BeeX£e/3ovX iKaXeaav, irbam fidXXov
rovs o'lKiaKoiis aiirov ;
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much
more shall they call them of his household 1
An allusion probably to the blasphemy of the Pharisees con
cerning His miracles. Beelzebub mentioned 2 Kings i. 2, Go,
inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron. Pliny [Hist. Nat., x. 28]
speaks of Zeus pvlaypos ; so Apollo Smintheus, from his driving
away mice. b?2 is Baal or Belus, probably the sun, who, being
put at the head of the false gods, his name was applied by the
Jews to the head of the false daemons.
m>o-<a pdXXov tovs oIkiokovs.] This prophecy was fulfilled in Celsus
calling the Christians yorjras. Lucian confounds them with such
impostors as Peregrinus. Tacitus calls them, " convictos odio
humani generis," and the religion, " exitiabilis superstitio," &c.
Ver. 26.
Mrj ovv (pofirjdrjre avroiis' oiiBev yap iari KeKaXvfifievov, b
ovk diroKaXv^tdrjaerai' Kal Kpvirrbv, b oil yvmadrjaerai.
Fear them not therefore : for there is nothing covered, that shall not
be revealed ; and hid, that shall not be known.
For the whole Gospel must nevertheless be preached, and God
will judge one day betwixt you and your persecutors.
Ver. 27.
*0 Xeym vpiiv iv rfj aKoria, elirare iv t<S djmri' Kal b elv to
oils aKovere, Krjpv^are iirl rmv Bmfidrmv.
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye
hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
6 Xe'y<» vplv iv t$ o-kotIo..] In the parson's library.
This verse refers to the mysterious parts of Christianity kept

312 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
secret at first, e.g. the calling of the Gentiles. Christ is said to
tell it them in their ears, in imitation of the Jewish irpAcjnyrai, who
had each his viroirpo<prjTris [or interpreter] into whose ear they
whispered. o&pa means peculiarly a house-top; cf. Josh. ii. 6, She had brought
them up to the roof of the house; Judges ix. 51, They gat them to
the top of the tower ; and xvi. 27, There were upon the roof about
three thousand men.
Ver. 28.
Kal firj (pofirjdrjre dirb rmv diroKreivbvrmv to am/ia, rrjv Be
tyvxyv firj Bvva/iivmv diroKreivai' (pojSrjdrjre Be fidXXov rov
Bvvd/ievov Kal ijrvxrjv Kal amfia diroXeaai iv yeevvy.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul : but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell.
dn-oXeVai.] Plus quam dTTOKTeti/at.
Ver. 29.
Oiixl Bvo arpovdia daaap'tov irmXeirai ; Kal e~v if; avrmv oil
ireaetrai eiri rrjv yrjv dvev rov irarpbv iifimv.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing i and one of them shall
not fall on the ground without your Father.
According to Schleusner the daadpiov was probably the tenth
of a Denarius, and therefore originally the As ; but in process of
time one-tenth of sixteen Asses. Arbuthnot, p. 42, says, Cleopatra
determined it to be one half the As.
Here the doctrine of God's general providence is asserted ; and
in the next place that of His particular providence. The Epicu
reans denied this altogether; the Peripatetics (Aristot. Eth., x.
494) Spoke doubtingly of it [el ydp ns impeXeia rav dvBpanlvav wo
6ea>v ylverat, aairep Soxet, k.t.X. lib. X. C 9. — ED.J The Jews Con
fined it to men. Plato, and Pindar, and ^Eschylus spoke of it
gloriously. Ver. 30.
'Tfimv Be Kal ai rpixes rrjs KecpaXfjv iraaai rjpidp.rjp.evai elai.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
According to the phrase, " Not a hair of his head shall perish,"
1 Sam. xiv. 45 ; Acts xxvii. 34, There shall not an hair fall from
the head of any of you. In Latin, to despise is, " nullo numero
habere."

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 3J3

Ver. 31.
IJoXXmv arpovdlmv Biatpepere ifieis.
Ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Cf. ch. vi. 26, Behold the fowls of the air, &°c.
Ver. 32.
Uav ovv bans bfioXoyrjaei iv ifiol efiirpoadev rmv avdpmirmv,
bfioXoyrjam Kaym iv avrm efiirpoadev rov irarpov fiov rov
iv ovpavoiv.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess
also before my Father which is in heaven.
6po\oy!]o-a ev aira.] So TJ2. 7rept crou in Ps. lxxxvii. 4, Glorious
things are spoken of thee.
iv, redundant apud Nold. voc. 3. [The particle 5 is redundant
sometimes in Hebrew, and used to be called Beth essentia. — Ed.]
Perhaps bpoXoyr\aei may carry a notion of boasting.
Ver. 33.
Vans o av apvrjarjrai p,e.
But whosoever shall deny me.
Scil. renounce Me. Ver. 34.
Ovk r)Xdov fSaXeiv elprjvrjv, dXXa fidxaipav.
T came not to send peace, but a sword.
Not in intention, but in effect, from the perverseness of men.
This was fulfilled, (1) in the grievous massacres and murders of
the Jews ; (2) in the quarrels among Christians and heathens, and
among one another. Ver. 35.
Aixdaai dvdpmirov Kara rov irarpbs aiirov, Kal dvyaripa
Kara rrjs firjrpov.
To set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother.
Quoted from Micah vii. 6, The son dishonoureth the father, the
daughter riseth up against her mother, &°c.
Ver. 37.
'0 (piXmv irarepa rj firjrepa vrrep ifie, ovk eari fiov d^iov.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
St. Luke xiv. 26, If any man come to Me, and hate not his father

3 14 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
and mother, 6rc. ; so Abraham, Gen. xii. i, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred.
Ver. 38.
Kal bv ov XafifSdvei rbv aravpbv avrov Kal aKoXovdei
biriam fiov, ovk eari fiov af;iov.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me.
Xapfidvei.] dlpeiv or $ao-rd£eiv in the other Evangelists. The
cross was used among the Romans and Persians ; cf. Ezra vi. 11,
Let timber be pulled down from his house ; and, being set up, let him
be hanged thereon. Christ here makes a reference to the kind of
death which He was to undergo Himself; for all condemned
malefactors bore their cross.
Ver. 39.
O evpmv rrjv ^}rvxr)v avrov, diroXeaei avrrjv' Kai o airoXeaas
rr)v ¦vj'vxri1' avrov eveKev ifiov, evprjaei avrrjv.
He that findeth his life shall lose it : and he that loseth his life
for my sake shall find it.
So we know that many Christians were delivered from the
slaughter at Jerusalem, but many apostates probably perished
in it.
Ver. 40.
'O Bexbfievov vjids, ifie Bexerai.
He that receiveth you receiveth me.
" Apostolus cujusque est quisque," Hebraicum dictum [a man's
apostle, or proxy, is as himself (Hammond)]. Cf. St. John xx. 21,
As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you ; 2 Cor. v. 20, We
pray you in Christ's stead ; Gen. xii. 3, I will bless them that
bless thee.
Ver. 41.
O Bexbfievov irpofyrjrrjv els ovo/ia rrpofyfjrov, fiiadbv irpo-
cprjTov Xrjyjrerai' Kal b Bexofievov BtKaiov elv ovo/na BiKalov,
fiiadbv BtKaiov Xrjfp-erai.
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive
a prophet's reward ; and he that receiveth a righteous man in
the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's
reward. Observe gradations of reward, as of punishment, in ver. 15.
Here they are three, (1) 7rat8es; (2) 81W01; (3) irpofp^Tai. The

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 315

reward for receiving each is either, (1) the same with their own ;
or (2) that given on their account ; as pXaadj. T. ir. h
Ver. 42.
Kai os idv irorlarj eva rmv fiiKpmv rovrmv rrorrjpiov tyvxpov
fiovov elv ovofia fiadrjrov.
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones
a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple.
Observe piKpav synonymous with paQ-qrav. Cf. ch. xviii. 3, Ex
cept ye be converted, and become as little children.
CHAP. XL— Ver. i.
MerefSrj iKeidev rov BiBdaKeiv Kal Krjpvaaeiv iv rais
iroXeaiv aiirmv.
He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
rdls iroXeaiv avrav.] Cf. ch. xii. 9, Their synagogue ; St. Luke
iv. 15, In their synagogues ; it means those of the Jews. Observe
again the difference of StSdo-Keiv and Kupvaa-etv [see note on iv. 23].
Ver. 2.
'O Be 'Imdvvrjv aKOvaav iv rm Bea/imrrjpim ra epya rov
Xpiarov, irifityav Bvo rmv fiadrjrmv avrov.
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ,
he sent two of his disciples.
iv ra 8eo-^a)T77pt'ffl.] Scil. apud Macha^rum. Why he was im
prisoned there, see ch. xiv. 3 ["for Herodias' sake"]. He asks
not for information, but to fulfil his office of herald ; and to in
crease the faith of his disciples, who were rather jealous of our
Lord. See ch. ix. 14 [the question about fasting] ; St. John
iii. 26 [the complaint that Christ baptized so many].
The name is taken probably from Ps. cxviii. 26, Blessed is he
that cometh. Cf. the accounts of Christ's entry into Jerusalem.
Ver. 5.
TvdjXol dvafSXeirovai . . . Kal irrmxol eiiayyeXlfavrai.
The blind receive their sight, . . . and the poor have the gospel
preached to them.
h [I have given the last four words exactly as they stand abbreviated in
Mr. Keble's MS., being unable to conjecture their meaning, unless it be,
"even as the punishment for blaspheming one who speaks in the name
of the Holy Ghost, will be the same as that for blaspheming the Holy
Ghost.'— Ed. 1

316 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Cf. Isa. xxxv. 5, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, &c. ;
lxi. i, The Lord hath anointed me to preach, &°c.
irraxol.] Are perhaps taken in a spiritual sense. Observe
here, by Christ's not answering their question immediately, how
He deals with us in the matter of evidences. The raising the
dead was more than was predicted. Christ's teaching the poor
was most contrary to that of the scribes ; for they said that the
Holy Ghost only rested on a rich man. Cf. St. John vii. 48, 49,
Have any of the rulers . . . believed on Him i
evayyeXi(pvrai.] Expresses a real effect, as passive words often
do; q. d. " They receive the truth given them."
Ver. 6.
Kal fiaKapibv ianv, ov idv prj aKavBaXiadfj iv ifiol.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
See Ps. ii. 12, Kiss the Son, 6rc.
aKavhaXov.] Is, (i) a gull-trap, (2) a snare, (3) a stone or block
in the way. For the use of the word here, see ch. xiii. 2 1, By-
and-by he is offended ; xxvi. 31, 33, All ye shall be offended.
Ver. 7.
KaXafiov iiiro avifiov aaXevofievov ;
A reed shaken with the wind 1
Here some find John's steadiness contrasted with the vacilla
tion which the scribes were chargeable with.
Ver. 8.
' Avdpmirov iv fiaXaKOis ifiariois rjpfyieafievov ;
A man clothed in soft raiment ?
"Soft," some say, silken.
Ver. 9.
Nai, Xeym vp.lv, Kal irepiaabrepov irpofyrjrov.
Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
John was more than a prophet, if we take Maimonides' account
of inspiration, for God Himself spake with him.
irepiao-orepov.] Cf. ch. v. 47, rl irepiaabv irotelre.
Ver. io.
IBov, eym diroareXXa rbv ayyeXov fiov irpb irpoamirov aov,
os KaraaKevdaei rrjv bBbv aov efiirpoadev aov.
Behold, T send my 7nessenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee.
Cf. MaL iii. 1, Behold, I will send My messenger, and He shall

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 317
prepare the way before Me ; and the Lord whom ye seek shall sud
denly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant ;
where it is, I will send . . . before My face (Heb.) This, and the
word "Lord" in great letters, though not Jehovah [but iTWrrj,
are strong in support of our Saviour's Divinity; Christ was "the
Angel of the Covenant," probably, in Exod. xxiii. 20, (Behold,
I send an angel before thee).
The prophecy is quoted according to sense, not sound. (1) For
the prophet speaks to the people; here to Christ; (2) epirpoo-dev
aov is added.
Cf. ch. iii. 3, The voice of one crying, &>c. The herald's office
is double, — to proclaim ; and to make way ; John fulfilled
both.
Ver. ii.
Oi)K iyrjyeprai iv yevvrjroiv yvvaiKmv fiel^mv 'Imdvvov rov
Bairnarov' 6 Be piiKporepos iv rfj fiaaiXeiq rmv ovpavmv
fiei%mv aiirov iariv.
Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist : notwithstanding he that is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
John is compared here with the other prophets before Christ ;
and in the discharge of his prophetic office.
piKpdrepos.] q. d. eXdx«rros. Cf. St. Luke x. 24, Many prophets
and kings have desired, &c. ; Heb. xi. 40, That they without us
should not be made perfect ; St. Luke ix. 48, He that is least among
you all, the same shall be great.
He was peculiarly great from his miraculous birth; from his
clear knowledge of the Person of Christ ; and from his peculiar
relation to Him.
He was not so great as the least prophet under the Gospel,
because (1) the Christian knew the mystery of godliness, of the
truths of God Incarnate, &c. ; (2) he could usually work mi
racles; (3) the Holy Ghost had special care to instruct the
Christian prophet.
o p.tKpdrepos.] Scil. irpo^T^s. Cf. St. Luke vii. 28, Among those
born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the
Baptist.

318 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 12.
'Airb rmv rjfiepmv 'Imavvov tov Bairriarov ems apn, rj
fSaaCXeia rmv ovpavmv fSid^erai, Kal fSiaaral apiratpvaiv
avrrjv.
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven
suffer eth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Cf. Exod. xix. 24, Let not the priests and the people break through
io come up unto the Lord.
0ao-tXeta rav obpavav.] Did not properly begin till Christ's in
stalment in His regal office, by His resurrection and ascension.
dirb rmv i\pepwv.] That is, from the beginning of His preaching,
a reference to the admission of persons who would be thought
least likely to obtain the kingdom, the publicans and Gentiles ;
see St. Matt. xxi. 31, xv. 28 ; in which case it must be a metaphor
from a feast ; or it is (as dpnd&vaw seems to denote) a metaphor
from a taken city. Learn hence that we ought to set about the
work of religion with all our might, Josh. i. 6, Be strong, and of
a good courage.
Ver. 13.
Uavrev yap 01 irpo^rjrai Kal o vo/ios ems Imavvov
irpoecprjrevaav.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Here the question is whether the stress should be laid on the
verb irpoedpfirevaav, or on the nominative cases, irpotprjrai and vopos.
If the former, the whole is a declaration of the greater clearness of
the preaching of the Gospel, than of that of the Law. But qu.
whether irpocpr/Teia in the New Testament does often mean obscure
predictions? Therefore I should prefer the latter way, which
would place the excellency of the Baptist's ministry in this, that
the Law ended in him ; and its defect in this, that the Gospel did
not quite begin ; so rendering a reason for both the assertions in
ver. 11. Observe that where St. Luke introduces a discourse
similar to this, he inverts the order of vers. 12, 13; St. Luke
xvi. 16, The law and the prophets were until John ; since that time
the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Ver. 14.
El deXere Befjaadai, avrbs ianv 'HXlas, b fieXXmv epxeadai.
If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Our Lord's manner of declaring this proves that He knew it

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 319
would be a hard doctrine for them to relish ; for many had rejected
John for his evidence of Christ, and all expected a literal, not
a figurative, Elias. See a parallel expression in 1 Cor. xi. 16, If
any man seem to be contentious, we have 710 such custom.
Cf. Mai. iv. 5, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
The principal point of resemblance between John and Elijah
seems to be the object of their mission, described in St. Luke i. 17,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Both came in
a time of general defection, the one to temporal, the other to
spiritual, idolatry. Both were unsuccessful, except as to a rem
nant. There are also many points of resemblance in personal
character and circumstances. Let it be considered particularly,
whether the history of 1 Kings xviii. [the fire from heaven on
Carmel] may not have a typical meaning. The Fathers expected
a literal Elias, but it seems impossible to resist the arguments
offered in Whitby (ad locum) to refute their notion. [Whitby's
argument is based on St. Matt. xvii. 12, 13 ; and from Acts ii. 16
he shews that Mai. iv. 5 need not point to the Second Advent : —
"The day of our Lord's first coming, considered as reaching to
the destruction of Jerusalem, was indeed a very 'dreadful day.' "
—Ed.]
Ver. 15.
' ' O exmv mra aKOveiv, aKOverm.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
One reason, perhaps, why this was so important a thing for
them to know, was that, being so plainly told that the prophecy
concerning Elijah was to be taken spiritually, not literally, they
might be the readier to believe the same of those concerning
Jesus. For the phrase, &ra aKoveiv, understand &o-re; cf. ch. xiii. 9,
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear; St. Luke viii. 8, Rev. ii. 7,
et alicubi.
Ver. 17.
HvXrjaafiev vfiiv Kal ovk mpxvo-aade' idprjvrjaafiev vfiiv,
Kal ovk iKotyaade.
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have mourned
unto you, and ye have not lamented.
A wonderful instance of Christ's condescension, to draw an

320 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
illustration from children making believe, first to be at a feast,
secondly to be at a funeral ; sic Herbert, 405 >.
This seems to be authority for Boyle's " Reflections," and such
books. tIvl be bpoiaaa.] An exordium common among the Jews.
Spola iari irat8aplots.] Not that the Jews were like those boys, but
that the one transaction was like the other; cf. xiii. 24, 45, The
kingdom of heaven is like . . . For the thought, cf. Prov. xxix. 9,
If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or
laugh, there is no rest. The proverb was used by the Talmudists,
of God's different dealings with Ahaz, and with Amaziah. Bux-
torf says, Christ represents the children as referring to the double
use of pipes at feasts and at funerals ; see ix. 23, Saw the minstrels
and the people making a noise.
Vers. 18, 19.
"'UXde yap 'Imdvvrjs firjre iadimv, firjre irlvmv. . . .
rfXdev b vibs tov dvdpmirov iadimv Kal irivmv . . . Kal iBiKaimdrj
fj aocpla dirb rmv reKvmv avrrjs.
John came neither eating nor drinking . . .
The Son of man came eating and drinking . . . But wisdom is
justified of her children.
In the difference between John and Jesus we may see the
mercy of God, who would try all ways with the Jews ; also an
aptness to the message which each brought ; also a warning
to ourselves, not to judge others or plume ourselves on such
distinctions. Of the various interpretations of the last clause, those of Ham
mond and Maldonate seem to shew fairest, viz. Wisdom (i.e. the
Gospel) has this overpowering argument to justify herself, that
she is received by just the sort of people by whom the truth
is likely to be received ; cf. St. Luke vii. 29, All the people . . .
justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John ; ver. 25,
(hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them
1 Possibly the allusion is to the lines on Affliction, in "the Church" :—
" There is but joy and grief;
If either will convert us we are thine :
Some Angels used the first ; if our relief
Take up the second, then thy double line
And several baits in either kinde
Furnish thy table to thy minde." — Ed.

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 32 1

to babes); to which Maldonate adds, " and rejected by them by
whom the truth was likely to be rejected;" taking rijs aodjlas in
a wider sense, "all to whom grace is offered." I think St. Luke
vii. 29 confutes Whitby's notion that the clause is ironical, a con
tinuation of the scoff of the Pharisees. Ver. 20.
Tore rjpfjaro bveiBi^eiv rds irbXeiv.
Then began he to upbraid the cities.
oj/eiSifetv.] Is quoted as used by Plato and Xenophon in the
like sense.
Ver. 21.
Oval aoi, XopaQv oiiai aoi BrjdaaiBdv.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida I
Of Bethsaida were Philip, Andrew and Peter ; and we hear par
ticularly of the healing of a blind man there (St. Mark viii. 22 — •
26), and of the feeding of the five thousand (St. Luke ix. 10 — 17).
Tyre and Sidon were warned in the Old Testament by Ezekiel
(xxvi. 2, and seq.), by Isaiah xxiii. 1 (the burden of Tyre), Jeremiah
xxv. 22, xlvii. 4, and Zech. ix. 1 — 4. Their ruling sins seem to
have been pride of worldly wisdom, and of wealth ; as those of
the Jews were of spiritual wisdom and wealth. But perhaps
Christ mentioned them rather as being near, than as being like.
This text most clearly implies the doctrine of different degrees of
grace being to be measured by different opportunities of its ex
ternal means; and to be followed, if rejected, by different de
grees of punishment.
I do not see how Hammond's interpretation of a temporal
judgment is consistent with the future tense in verses 22 and 24
(It shall be more tolerable). For the day of Sodom's and Tyre's
temporal judgment had been long come ; and qpepa Kpia-eas is
never used in that sense that I know of; f/pepa iino-Koirfis is. Tyre
and Sidon were separated from the knowledge of Christ's mighty
works by place, Sodom by time. They represent, therefore, both
classes of those who are, without any fault of their own, insuf
ficiently furnished with evidence of Him. The sentence passed
in verse 22 is inconsistent with Grotius' notion of giving dv the
sense of " perhaps ;" Christ here exercises His attribute of know
ing the hearts ; cf. Ezra iii. 6, Surely had I sent thee to them, they
would have hearkened unto thee. Y

322 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
Ver. 23.
Kal aii, Kairepvaoiip,, rj emv rov oipavov ir^rmdeiaa, emv aBov
Kara/3 iftaadrjarj' on el iv SoBbpois eyevovro ai Bvvdfieiv
at, yevbp,evai iv aoi, efieivav dv fiexpt> "rrjv afjfiepov.
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be
brought down to hell : for if the mighty works, which have been
done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day.
Capernaum seems to have flourished in merchandise ; but as
this could be nothing comparable to the wealth of Tyre, I should
rather take the passive participle, fyaQeloa, in a middle sense,
"which exaltest thyself." Hammond well observes that abt)s is
best construed not locally, but " the state of the dead ;" Gen.
xxxvii. 35, 1 will go down into the grave, unto my son ; Ps. xvi. 10,
Acts ii. 27, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; Rev. vi. 8, A pale
horse ; . . . and hell followed with him. And in the Apocrypha
many times : cf. 1 Sam. ii. 6, He bringeth down to the grave, and
bringeth up ; Isa. xiv. 15, Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to
the sides of the pit ; lvii. 9, Thou didst debase thyself, even unto hell.
So ^Esch. Sept. C Theb. 327, oiKTpbv yap irdXtv £8' ayvylav 'A189
Trpotd^at.
Ver. 25.
Ev iKeivm rm xaipm diroKpidels b 'Irjaovv eiirev, 'EfjofioXo-
yovpai aoi, rrdrep, Kvpie rov oiipavov Kal rrjv yrjv, on dir-
eKpvtyas ravra dirb ao<f>mv Kal avvermv, Kai direKaXvyjras
aiird vrjirloiv.
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
diroKpidels], in the sense of answering, is bad Greek, according
to Phrynichus, apud Schleusner : d^oKptra/tei/os would be right, so
the Hebrew <"F3y, to which airoKplveadai answers. It means here,
Continued his discourse ; ch. xxii. 1, Jesus answered and spake unto
them again by parables ; xxvi. 25, Judas answered and said ; ver.
63, The High Priest answered and said.
The thought of the sin and misery of them who rejected Him,
naturally brought to His mind the qualification and the blessed
ness of those who received Him, which He describes to the end
of the chapter.
e'£op.oXoyoC/iat] means (1) to confess sins, (2) to give thanks,

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 323

(3) t0 glorify, more generally ; and this seems to be the mean
ing here.
The next clause is a Hebraism, quod dicit, diroKptyas ravra
direKaXvtyas ; cf. Rom. vi. 17, But God be thanked, that ye were the
servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doc
trine which was delivered you.
Let us all give glory to God, in imitation of our dear Lord, for
framing His Gospel so that it should be hid from the self-suffi
cient and revealed unto babes. Keep me, O God, from being
wise in mine own eyes, and proud in mine own sight ; lest, while
I am shewing the Light of Thy glorious Gospel to others, I be
come blind to it myself!
Read Cameron's note here (in Pole's Synopsis), and judge of
the danger of following up a favourite hypothesis too far. To
avoid the conclusion evidently following from this verse against
irrespective Predestination, he says, " Non mirum [erat Deum
mansuetis se potius quam superbis revelare, cujus ratio patet,
nee opus tunc fuisset ad ebooKlav Dei recurrere] ;" by which he con
tradicts a fundamental tenet of Christianity, and of his own scheme
of it ; for he allows that human reason of itself could discern suf
ficiently the great doctrine of " mysteries being revealed to the
meek." Ver. 26.
Nal, b irarrjp, on ovrmv iyevero eiBoKia efiirpoadiv aov.
Even so, Father : for so it seemeth good in thy sight.
Nal more than any word seems to be the Greek of I^S, and is
here the seal of God the Son, set to the gracious dispensation of
God the Father. evSoxia epirpoaBev o-ov, Hebraism used in the
Liturgies, juxta Grotium ; *p.??b "P2"} TH- Cf. 1 Cor. i. 21,
evhoK-qo-ev 6 Beds, It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe. Ver. 27.
Udvra fioi irapeBbdrj virb rov irarpbs fiov' Kal oiiBels irri-
yivmaKei rbv viov, el firj b irarrjp' ovBe rbv irarepa riv
iiriyivmaKei, el firj b viov, Kal m idv f3ovXrjrai b vlbv
diroKaXirtyai.
All things are delivered unto me of my Father : and no man knoweth
the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
A question is stirred up here whether irdvra mean persons or

324 NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT.
things. What if we extend it to both, and say, that both the
souls to be saved, and the ways of saving them, are expressly
declared to be entrusted to Christ as the One Mediator? That
the neuter (ndvra) may mean persons, cf. St. Matt, xviii. ii, For the
Son of man is come to save that which was lost, where rb diroXaXos
corresponds to ets rav piKpav tovtcov of ver. 14 ; Heb. xii. 13, Lest
that which is lame be turned out of the way (Iva py to x«>Xbv iKrpairfj);
I ¦ St. John V. 4, Whatsoever is born of God (irdv to yeyevvrjpevov eK
rov ©eoO).
Grotius rather takes irapedodr) in the sense of tradition ; and
perhaps that rendering may suit the context. In the second
clause Christ's Divinity is certainly implied ; and in the third,
salvation exclusively through Him.
Adjuva, Domine, adjuva Sancte Spiritus, ut melius intelligam
caeca, hac et profana mente, quid sibi velit versus hie mirabilis ;
per Jesum tuum carissimum. Amen.
Ver. 28.
Aevre irpbs fie irdvrev oi KOTritovres Kal irecpopna/ievoi,
Kaym dvairavam ifidv.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest.
hevrei] An adverb.
K07ria>j/res Kal irecpopnapevot.] An allusion here probably to the
hard bondage in Egypt, which is often referred to as an emblem
of our natural state. Ver. 29.
1 ' Apare rov £vyov fiov er/>' vfids, Kal fiddere air ifiov, on
irpaov eifii Kal raireivbs rfj KapBia' Kal eiiprjaere dvd-
iravaiv rails yjrvxais vfimv.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly
in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Cf. Zech. ix. 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout,
O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy king cometh unto thee : he is
just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and
upon a colt the foal of an ass.
A yoke was a very common emblem of obedience among the
Jews. Gen. xxvii. 40, Thou shall break his yoke from off thy neck ;
Ps. ii. 3, Let us break their bands asunder ; Jer. ii. 20, / have
broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; Acts xv. 10, Why tempt ye

NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT. 325
God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples. " Amat Christus
loqui prophetarum verbis: extant haec, apud Jer. vi. 16" [Ask
for the old paths . . . and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for
your souls], Grotius.
Whether Christ propounds His own lowliness as an example or
as an encouragement, comes much to the same thing ; but it
seems rather more to the purpose to take it as an example ; and
then it will point out the natural tendency of meekness and low
liness to give rest, and will connect it with ver. 25.
Ver. 30.
'0 yap £vybv fiov XP7laT0S> Kal T0 <p0PT',0V flov iXatppov ianv.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Observe the doretoi' of the epithets : light, to burthen ; and
benign, gracious, to yoke. Read a sermon of Hammond's on the
text. To reconcile it with the precepts of self-denial, and also
with the doctrine of original sin, consider (1) the promises of the
Spirit, (2) the love of God can make anything pleasant, (3) the
hope of eternal life, (4) the natural tendency of virtue to reward
itself. Chrysostom said, "Difficilius vitium virtute k." Let it be
so to me, O God, for Jesus Christ's sake ! Amen.
No excuse for infidelity, if God had never given us but this one
chapter. For here we have, (1) The Evidences, both Prophecy
and Miracles, vers. 2- — 15 ; (2) The different ways of God's deal
ing with man, and pretences on which they reject Him, vers.
16 — 19; (3) The punishment of wilful unbelief, vers. 20 — 24;
(4) The reward and qualifications of the Christian, vers. 25 — 30.
k [^Opcjs troas eiiKoKov r\ aperty, o6ctko\ov he r\ KaKia; Expos, in Ps. vii. — Ed.]

grinfab In; Jsttus $Jsrrhtt a«ir &a., Crottm garb, ®*f<irb.

WORKS by the late REV. JOHN KEBLE, M.A.
OCCASIONAL PAPERS AND REVIEWS on Sir Walter
Scott, Poetry, and Sacred Poetry, Bishop Warburton, Rev.
John Miller, Exeter Synod, Judicial Committee of Privy Coun
cil, Parochial Work, the Lord's Supper, Solomon, the Jewish
Nation. By the late Rev. John Keble, Author of "The
Christian Year." Demy 8vo., pp. xx., 506, with Two Facsimiles
from Common-place Book, cloth extra, 12s.
*• More than one-third of the volume is taken up with original, and hitherto unpublished,
papers of Mr. Keble, the remainder with reviews printed in the * British Critic * and ' Chris
tian Remembrancer,' and one of them on ' sacred poetry ' in the ' Quarterly Review,' whilst
edited by Mr. Keble's frienn and biographer, the late Sir John Coleridge ; to these are added
three tracts called out by passing events, but events which are ever repeating themselves,
a fact which invests these tracts with a permanent value. . . . The volume of ' Occasional
Papers and Reviews' is not a mere collection of papers published, pnd hitherto uncollected,
but of thoughts and judgments on past topics, w>>ich will posses an enduring value in the
eyes of all who cherish the memory of John Keble, and will give to those who may not
have known the author of 'The Christian Year,' the best means of estimating a character
of piDgular simplicity and utter un-selfconsciousness. ... No man surely ever lived who
thought less of himself than the author of this volume. . . . This side of Mr. Keble's charac
ter, his humility, brought out in a letter contributed to thin volume, is sketched with the
rare felicity which marks almost all the writings of John Henry Newman, and bv recollec
tions of his own intercourse with Mr. Keble To this letter is added a postscript by Dr.
Pusey, so that in this posthumous volume we are again reminded of what the EDglish
Church and the world oweB to the three Fellows of Oriel, -who, more than thirty years ago,
aroused the half-torpid, if not stagnant, religious life, not of England only, but of Chris' endom.
By this publicatioD, and by their own contr buttons to this volume, Dr. Pusey and Dr. New
man have not only added another column to the monument erected to Mr. Keble's memory,
but have added to the depth of our obligation to themselves. Generations will pass away
before the names, again blended in this volume, of Keblf, Pusey, and Newman will be for
gotten by the Christian Church."— John Bull.
" The volume before us appears at a singularly opportune time. ... A reprint of Mr.
Keble's Tracts will be read with even more eagerness and interest now than on the occasion
of their first appearance. It must not be supposed this volume of remains contains nothing
else than Mr. Keble's papers on the crisis of 1850. There is much else both of high interest
and enduring value."— Church Quarterly Review.
"AU the papers have this surpassing value, that, over and abo^e their literary merits,
they reveal a noble, devout, tender spirit, o fa modest and chaste reserve almost astonishing.
The paper on Warburton especially is an instance of how a saintly mmd can apologize for
and make the best of another mind wnich, though its masculine power and vigour are
universally admitted, has been usually regarded as rough, coarse, and even wcrloly. We
assure our readers that they have a great treat before them in the loving and reverei.t pe
rusal of this collection of Keble's writings, many of them in a vein with which they had
not perhaps connected their memory of Keble."— Church Review.
*' Three of the papers contained in the volume are said to be from unpublished manu
scripts. The first is a discussion of the proper meaning of the term, ' The Lord's Supper.'
Keble here argues with considerable force that this name, according to Scriptural use, does
not beloDg to the Holy Eucharist, but to the feast of charity. His quotations from the New
Testament and from the early Fathers Beem to support his position.
** The second paper is on the character and history of Solomon, with a view especially to
the question of his final penitence. It is a production of great value, both for its scholarly
research and for its freshness. The third paper is an abstract of what the author evidently
intended to be a more extended treatise. Its title is * The Jewish Nation, and God's Deal
ings with Toem.' The author draws a parallel between the history of the Jews and that of
our present and imperfect Christianity.
** It is a very ingenious attempt at analogy, and the result is, in most points, remarkably
successful. It shews a careful study of the history of God's ancient people, and an ac
curate knowledge of the special defects in the Church of to-day.
" The preface to this volume is from the pen of Dr. PuBey. It is a warm and loving
tribute to Keble's worth and saintliness. A letter written by John Henry Newman in
answer to an inquiry as to the artioles contributed by Kehle to the « British Critic,' of
which Newman was at one time the editor, is also printed." —New York Churchman.
" They are prefaced by two letters of deep interest from Dr. Newman and Dr. Pusey.
There is something extremely touching in the reunion, as it were, of the three old friends
and fellow-labourers." — Guardian.
OXFORD AND LONDON : JAMES PARKER AND CO.

WORKS by the late REV. JOHN KEBLE, M.A. (continued).
LETTERS of SPIRITUAL COUNSEL and GUIDANCE.
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SERMONS, OCCASIONAL AND PAROCHIAL. 8vo.,
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SUNDAY LESSONS. THE PRINCIPLE OF SELEC
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LETTER TO A MEMBER OF CONVOCATION, de
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Book. 8vo., 2d.

WORKS by the late REV. JOHN KEBLE, M A. (continued).

ON THE REPRESENTATION OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF OXFORD. A LETTER to Sir Brook W. Bridges,
Bart. 1852. 8vo., 6d.
A VERY FEW PLAIN THOUGHTS ON THE AD
MISSION OF DISSENTERS to the UNIVERSITY.
1854. 8vo., 6d.
WOMEN LABOURING IN THE LORD. A SERMON
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PENTECOSTAL FEAR. A SERMON preached at Cud-
desdon on the Anniversary of the Theological College.
1864. 8vo., ts.
ON THE MYSTICISM ATTRIBUTED TO the EARLY
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH. Being No. LXXXIX.
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SERMONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. By the Rev.
John Keble, Author of " The Christian Year."

Advent to Christmas. 8vo.,
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Ash-Wednesday to Holy Week.
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STUDIA SACRA. COMMENTARIES ON THE IN
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TO THE ROMANS; with other Theological Papers by
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