έχοντι δοθήσεται. Vul. Omni habenti dabitur, et abundabit. For the two last words the La. has the sanction of five MSS. of no name, which read » TepiaσevINσer, but of no version whatever. 32. Found every thing as he had told them, ivpov natws estev \autois. Vul. Invenerunt, sicut dixit illis startem pullum. Agreeably to this a few MSS. but none of any note, read after autois, έρωτα τον πωλον. The second Sy. the Sax. and the Arm. versions are also conformable to the Vul. 38. In the highest heaven. Ch. ii. 14. N. 42. O that thou hadst considered, iti es ɛyvwç xas ov. Ch. xii. 49. N. 43. Will surround thee with a rampart, wigibaλso1 xaçaxa 501. E. T. Shall cast a trench about thee. Xaçağ does not occur in any other place of the N. T.; but in some places wherein it oc curs in the Sep. it has evidently the sense I have here given it. Indeed a rampart, or mound of earth, was always accompanied with a trench or ditch, out of which was dug the earth necessary for raising the rampart. Some expositors have clearly shown, that this is a common meaning of the word in Gr. authors. Its perfect conformity to the account of that transaction, given by the Jewish historian, is an additional argument in its favour. CHAPTER XX. 1. Teaching- and publishing the good tidings- didarnost -x EvayyediČoμEV. Diss. VI. P. V. § 14. 13. Surely, WG. E. T. It may be. Though the latter may be thought the more common signification, the former suits better the genius of the parable, and the parallel passages. Besides, the word has often that signification in profane authors. It is found but once in the version of the Seventy, 1 Sam. xxv. 21. where it is evidently used in this sense, answering to the Heb. Tach, profecto, and rendered in the E. T. surely. It occurs in no other place of the N. T. 35. Who shall be honoured to share in the resurrection. It may be remarked in passing, that our Lord, agreeably to the Jewish style of that period, calls that only the resurrection, which is a resurrection to glory. CHAPTER XXI. 8. Saying, I am the person; and the time approacheth, yo τες, ότι εγω ειμι καὶ ὁ καιρο ηγγικε. The second clause, xìó xaιp® #yyze, and the time approacheth, is capable of being understood as the words either of the false messiahs that would arise, or of our Lord himself. In the former case, the copulative connects this clause with that immediately preceding, to wit, & ess; in the latter, the connection is made with the verb sλsurovtal. Former expositors have, I think, in general, adopted the latter mode of interpreting, making these the words of our Lord. Of this number is Gro, who considers the second clause as equivalent to what is said, Mt. xxiv. 34. Mr. xiii. 30. This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Most translators also have favoured this manner. Er. says, Multi venient dicentes se esse Christum; et tempus instat. Had he understood both clauses as the words of the impostors, he would have said instare. Cas. to the same purpose, Qui se eum esse dicant; et quidem tempus instat. Such foreign translations as do not preserve the ambiguity of the original, seem all to approve the same explanation. Some late Eng. commentators have favoured the other, and have been followed by some interpreters, Dod. and Wes. in particu lar. Yet, in their translations themselves, this does not appear, unless from the pointing, or the notes. As very plausible things may be said on each side of the question, and as there does not appear any thing in the context, that can be accounted decisive, I consider this as one of those ambiguities which translators ought, if possible, to preserve. Most of them, indeed, have either accidentally or intentionally done so. Of this number is the Vul. Dicentes quia ego sum, et tempus appropinquavit. And the Zu. Dicentes, Ego sum Christus, et tempus instat. As also the E. T. Saying, I am Christ, and the time draweth near. Bishop Pearce seems to think that the words in the following verse, & subwG TO TEA, are said in direct contradiction to the clause, xapyxs, and, consequently, show this to be the assertion of the seducers. If our Lord had employed ỏ xap in this verse, instead of το τελ, I should have thought the arguI ment very strong; but, as it stands, it has no weight at all. know no interpreter who gives the same import to zasp☞, in the eighth verse, and to Tλ in the ninth. And if they refer to dif ferent events, the one cannot be in opposition to the other. 15. To refute, avrunav. E. T. To gainsay. The import of the declaration is well expressed by Grotius, "Cui nihil con"tradici possit, quod veri habeat speciem." That their adversaries did actually gainsay, or contradict them, we have from the same authority. Acts, xiii. 45. xxviii. 19. 22. It deserves, however, to be remarked, that the term in all these places is dif. ferent from that used here. It is avaiλeyer which, in the idiom of the sacred writers, is evidently not synonymous. T 19. Save yourselves by your perseverance, ev în urma in κτήσασθε τας ψυχας ύμων. Ε. Τ. In your patience possess ye your souls. For the proper import of the word ousvn, see ch. viii. 15. N. Kтaopas signifies not only I possess, but I acquire, and even I preserve what I have acquired; for it is only thus I continue to possess it. Such phrases as di Tuxai jμav were shown, ch. xiv. 26. N. to serve, in the Hellenistic idiom, for the reciprocal pronoun. The sentence is, therefore, but another manner of expressing the same sense, which Mt. has delivered (ch. x. 22.) in these words-The man who persevereth to the end, shall be saved, ὁ ὑπομείνας εις τέλος στο σωθήσεται. That the words may have a relation to a temporal, as well as to eternal, salva. tion, is not to be doubted; but as the whole discourse is a prophecy, a translator ought not, from the lights afforded by the fulfilment, to attempt rendering it more explicit than it must have appeared to the hearers at the time. I shall only add, in passing, that there is a small deviation from the common, in the reading of the Vul. and the Sy. versions, where we find the fu ture of the indicative instead of the imperative; in conformity to which, three or four MSS. have σ instead of race. But this makes no alteration in the sense. It may be even reason. ably questioned, whether there has been any difference in the Gr. copies used by those translators. The future in Heb. is often no other than a more solemn expression of the imperative; and, therefore, if I had not had occasion to make other remarks on the verse, I should have thought this too slight a difference to be taken notice of here. εκχωρείτωσαν. 21. Let those in the city make their escape, of εy μeow auoYS E. T. Let them who are in the midst of it depart out. AUTng may here, very naturally, be thought at first to refer to Idara, mentioned in the former part of the verse. But the sense and connection evidently show, that it relates to Ipara, mentioned in the foregoing verse. The next member of the sentence is a confirmation of this—και οι εν ταις χω ραις, μη εισερχεσθωσαν εις αυτην. Here the fields could not be contrasted to Jerusalem, the metropolis; the contrast of town and country is familiar in every language. I do not urge that this suits better the events which soon followed: for if there were not ground for this interpretation from the context and the parallel passages in the other Gospels, it would be hazardous to determine what the inspired author has said, from what a translator may fancy he ought to have said, that the prediction might tally with the accomplishment. In this way of expounding, too much scope is given to imagination, perhaps to rooted prejudices and mere partiality. 23. Woe unto the women with child. Ch. vi. 24, 25, 26. N. 25. Upon the earth, ex rns yns. Some late expositors think it ought to be rendered, upon the land, considering the prophecy as relating solely to Judea. The words, as they stand, may, no doubt, be translated either way. I have preferred that of the common version, for the following reasons: First, though what preceded seems peculiarly to concern the Jews, what follows appears to have a more extensive object, and to relate to the nations, and the habitable earth in general. There we hear of cu νοχη εθνών, and of the things επερχομένων τη οικεμένη ; not to mention what immediately follows, to wit, that the son of man shall be seen coming on a cloud, with great glory and power. Nor is it at all probable that, by the term ebvæv, nations, used thrice in the preceding verse, manifestly for Gentiles, are meant in this verse only Jews and Samaritans. 2dly, The prediction which the verse under examination introduces, is accurately distinguished by the historian, as not commencing till after the completion of the forIt was not till after the calamities which were to befal the mer. Jews, should be ended; after their capital and temple, their last resourse, should be invested and taken, and the wretched inhabitants destroyed, or carried captive into all nations; after Je. rusalem should be trodden by the Gentiles; nay, and after the triumph of the Gentiles should be brought to a period; that the prophecy contained in this and the two subsequent verses, should begin to take effect. The judicious reader, to be convinced of this, needs only give the passage an attentive perusal. 28. Begin to be fulfilled, ApxoμLEVOY VIVETJA. Mr. v. 17. N. 30. When ye observe them shooting forth, orav poßadworn now, BAETOVTES. Vul. Cum producunt jam ex se fructum. This addition of fructum is not favoured by any other version except the Sax. or even by any MS. except the Cam. which has to g AUTWY. ύπο τινος. CHAPTER XXII. 25. They who oppress them are styled benefactors, is s ζοντες αυτων ευεργεται καλονται. E. T. They who exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. The verb valet, in its common acceptation, does not mean simply to rule, or govern, ποιμαίνειν, αρχειν, ἡγεμονεύειν, οι κυβερναειν, but to rule with rigour and oppression, as a despot rules his slaves. It is, in this sense, used by the Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. vi. 12. sx syW EğɣTIATIntoμas E. T. I will not be brought under the power of any ; that is, 'How indifferent soever in themselves the particular ' gratifications may be ;' for it is of this kind of spiritual subjec. tion he is speaking,' I will not allow myself to be enslaved by 6 any appetite.' It seems to be our Lord's view, in these instructions, not only to check, in his Apostle, all ambition of power, every thing which savoured of a desire of superiority and dominion over their brethren, but also to restrain that species of vanity which is near a-kin to it, the affectation of distinction from titles of respect and dignity. Against this vice particularly, the clause under consideration seems to be levelled. The reflection naturally suggested by it is, How little are any the most pom. pous epithets which men can bestow, worthy the regard of a good man, who observes how vilely, through servility and flattery, they are sometimes prostituted to the most undeserving. That |