to have spoken of the character of the Jews, as a nation; and of course the consequences implied are to be understood as having regard to the people in their collective, rather than in their individual capacity. Now it is a fact, admitted by all orthodox critics, that, generally, when Jesus denounced the judgments of God on the Jewish nation, he had reference to temporal calamities, and especially to their memorable destruction by the Romans. And I see nothing in the text which leads to the conclusion that he spake of a different kind of punishment here. Of the writers, quoted below, some confine their remarks to the most obvious purport of the text, to wit, its purport, as descriptive of the Jewish character. But as many as speak of the consequences implied, i. e. the punishment the Jews would incur by by their impenitence and obstinacy, evidently understand it to indicate the severe temporal calamities then approaching.

1. BEAUSOBRE and LENFANT. The Jews had often experienced the severe judgments of God; they had been in some measure reformed, and had obtained mercy. But at last they incurred entire ruin, by obstinately rejecting the gospel, and crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ.' Note in loc.

2. KENRÍCK. 'The sense of these verses may be thus expressed It is commonly supposed, that if dæmons leave a man but return to him, the disorder, which is no other than madness, comes upon him with seven-fold violence; for that is all we are to understand by seven other spirits. So it will be with you; notwithstanding some appearance of repentance and reformation, on the preaching of John the Baptist, and the ministry of the Messiah, your vices will return upon you with double violence, and bring down upon you heavier judgments. Christ here speaks, all along, upon the principles of his hearers, making use of a common notion concerning dæmons, to illustrate the truth of what he was going to say respecting the Jews. The reason of his having recourse to this comparison, seems to have been, his having cast out a dæmon in the presence of the multitude. We should

say, at the present day, when a fever is expelled, if the person cured does not take great care of his health, the same disease returns, and the relapse is much more dangerous and difficult to cure, than the original disease. In like manner it is in regard to the man who has begun to break off vicious habits; if he return to them, they become stronger and more inveterate than before. Peter has expressed the same sentiment: "for if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning," 2 Pet. ii. 20. Expos. in loc.

It will be observed that Beausobre and Lenfant speak of the entire ruin of the Jewish nation, as the consequence of their greater sinfulness, compared with other severe judgments, they had experienced in consequence of less enormous sins. And Kenrick, in like manner speaks of heavier judgments, compared with others which had before been endured. From the manner of the comparison, it is evident they understood the entire ruin, and the heavier judgments, to be of the same nature as the other severe judgments before experienced: i. e. temporal calamities.

6

3. GROTIUS. Christ appears to have had reference to the character of the Jewish people, at the two periods of their captivity in Babylon, and their destruction by Titus. Before their captivity, the people were exceedingly wicked, as may be seen in the Prophets; during their exile many began to reform, and under a superintending Providence, returned to their native land. But in the days of the Asmoneans, having again plunged into excessive wickedness, they added to their other crimes, a contempt of the Messiah, who came to them with a message of mercy, and exercising miraculous power. Having done this, they were abandoned by God, and became the most wicked of all men, as Josephus has described them in his history of their last days.' Annot. in loc.

4. ELSLEY. As each man is in a worse state on relapsing to evil, so this generation, numbers of whom have had strong convictions of my doctrine and mira

cles, shall, on resisting these good resolutions, and relapsing to unbelief, become more obdurate and abandoned than before; which was the case before the destruction of Jerusalem. See Josephus. The connexion of the Gentiles and the " dry and barren places seems overstrained. Macknight.' Annot. in loc.

5. DUTCH ANNOTATIONS. By this similitude Christ teacheth, that when a man by the knowledge of the gospel is freed from his natural ignorance, and notwithstanding lives not according to it, but keeps it under, he is much worse than before, see 2 Pet. ii. 20, 21.' in loc.

Annot.

6. MACKNIGHT. This parable is designed to teach men in every age the danger of resisting their convictions, and of breaking through their resolutions, the effect being commonly to render them much more obdurate and abandoned than before, see 2 Pet. ii. 20. Harm. Evan. § 48.

7. WYNNE. The Jews, instead of growing better, will grow seven times worse than before, as a natural and judicial consequence of their rejecting the Messiah and his offers of grace. We find by Josephus, that this was remarkably the case.' Note in loc.

SECTION XXV.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.'-MATT. xiii. 24-30.

THE explanation which Jesus gave of this parable to his disciples, is as follows:

'He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that soweth them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.'-MATT. xiii. 37-43.

Inasmuch as both the parable and the explanation, particularly the last, contain certain highly figurative expressions, which were often used, and well understood by the Jews, many, who are less acquainted with the original import of this kind of language, suppose that Jesus must have intended to teach the doctrine of torment in the future life. It will appear, however, from the quotations I shall offer, that there is authority, sufficiently orthodox, for understanding all these figurative phrases as descriptive of events which should occur on the earth, during the natural life of man.

1. PEARCE. Ver. 40. End of this world: Rather end of this age, viz. that of the Jewish dispensation.'

Ver. 41. Shall send forth his angels: This is spoken, not of what shall happen at the end of the world, but of what was to happen at the end or destruction of the Jewish state.'

'I have explained this and the foregoing verse, as relating, not to the end of the world, but to that of the Jewish state, which was to be destroyed within forty years after Jesus' death; for the same manner of expression is made use of, where it is more certain, that not the time of the general judgment, but that of the visitation of the Jews is meant; viz. in chap. xvi. 27, 28. This last verse, accomplished in one of the apostles at least, (I mean John,) plainly shows that all the phrases used in the first verse were designed to express only the destruction which was to befal the Jewish state; at which time the Christians, who endured to the end, were to be saved, chap. x. 22, and xxiv. 13. These are called the elect in chap. xxiv. 22, 24. And ecclesiastical

history informs us, that by a divine admonition, the faithful christians retired from Judea, before the ruin of it by the Romans, and were preserved. See chap. iii. 12, and Luke xxi, 18, 36, and especially note on Matt. xxiv. 13.' Com. and note in loc.

2. HAMMOND. The phrase sunteleia tou aionos, ver. 39, (end of the world,) Dr. Hammond translates conclusion of the age; and sunteleia tou aionos touto, ver. 40, (end of this world,) he renders, conclusion of this age. In his paraphrase he seems to interpret the parable in a twofold sense: he applies it, (1,) literally to the temporal destruction about to come on the Jewish nation, and the deliverance of believers from that destruction; and (2,) by accommodation, to the day of future judgment. But whatever he might have supposed to be its remote, or mystical allusion, he evidently interprets its literal sense as having relation to temporal concerns. His paraphrase follows:

"The field is this world, the place of our living here; that part of the parable that concerneth the good seed, signifies the christians; but that of the tares, signifies the wicked seducers; such were the Gnostics, and other heretics of the first times, such are all heretics and scismatics since. The time when believers and unbelievers (and seducers) shall be called to account, is, to this people, that solemn approaching time of their visitation, as to all other people, the time of final excisions, and especially the day of judgment. So shall it be at God's times of eminent discrimination, such as his judgments on the Jews, and such the last dreadful day of doom. Christ by his messengers and instruments of his justice, shall destroy all heretics and scismatics, that any way keep others from the christian religion, and all that live professedly in any unlawful course of contrariety to christian purity. Then shall the true, pure christian professors shine eminently in the church here, and after in glory.' Par. in loc.

3. CAPPE.

"All the terms of this parable deter