CHAPTER VI

1-5. Compare Matt. xii. 1-8; Mark ii. 23-28.

1. The second after the first (deuteroprwtw). Only here in New Testament. Many high authorities omit it, and its exact meaning cannot be determined. Rev. omits.

Went through (diaporeuesqai). Rev., was going. Compare paraporeuesqai, went along beside - Mark ii. 23.

Cornfields. See on Matt. xii. 1.

Plucked (etillon). Imperfect; were plucking, as they walked. In classical Greek the word is used mostly of pulling out hair or feathers. See on Mark ii. 23.

Did eat (hsqion). Imperfect, were eating.

Rubbing (ywcontev). The verb means to rub small.

2. Not lawful. See on Matt. xii. 2.

3. Have ye not read (oude anegnwte)? The A.V. misses the force of oujde: "have ye not so much as read?" Rev., "have ye not read even this?"

4. Did take. Peculiar to Luke.

The shew-bread. See on Mark ii. 26.

5. Lord of the Sabbath. See on Matt. xii. 6.

6-11. Compare Matt. xii. 9-14; Mark iii. 1-6.

6. His right hand (h ceir autou h dexia). A very precise mode of statement. Lit., his hand the right one. Luke only specifies which hand was withered. This accuracy is professional. Ancient medical writers always state whether the right or the left member is affected.

Withered. See on Mark iii. 1.

7. They watched (parethrounto). Imperfect. They kept watching. See on Mark iii. 2.

He would heal (qerapeusei). So Rev. Some authorities, however, read qerapeuei, "whether he is healing." This may mean either "whether it is his habit to heal," which is far-fetched, or "whether he is actually healing."

Find. Peculiar to Luke, and emphasizing the eagerness of the Pharisees to discover a ground of accusation.

8. He knew (hdei). Imperfect. He was all along aware.

Thoughts (dialogismouv). See on Jas. ii. 4; Matt. xv. 19.

9. I will ask (eperwthsw). Peculiar to Luke's narrative. The best texts read ejperwtw, the present tense, I ask. So Rev. Life (yuchn). Better as Rev., a life. Though the question is a general one, it carries a hint of an individual life thrown into it by the special case at hand. See on Mark xii. 30. Wyc., to make a soul safe.

10. Thy hand. The arm was not withered.

11. They were filled with madness. Peculiar to Luke.

Anoia, madness, is, properly, want of understanding. The word thus implies senseless rage, as distinguished from intelligent indignation.

12-16. Compare Matt. x. 2-4; Mark iii. 13-19.

12. A mountain (to orov). The article denotes a familiar place. Rev., rightly, the mountain.

Continued all night (hn dianuktereuwn). Only here in New Testament. Used in medical language. The all night prayer is peculiar to Luke's narrative.

13. Chose (eklexamenov). Mark has ejpoihsen, he made or constituted. He named apostles. Peculiar to Luke.

14. On the order of the names, see on Mark iii. 17.

Andrew. See on Mark iii. 18.

James and John. See on Mark iii. 17.

Philip and Bartholomew. See on Mark iii. 18.

15. Matthew. See on Superscription of Matthew.

Thomas. See on Mark iii. 18.

Simon. Distinguished by Matthew and Mark as the Cananaean. See on Matt. x. 4; Mark iii. 18.

16. Judas. See on Thaddaeus, Mark iii. 18.

Judas Iscariot. See on Matt. x. 4.

17. In the plain (epi topou pedinou). There is no article. More literally, and better, as Rev., in a plain or level place. There is a discrepancy in the two narratives. Matthew says he went up into the mountain and sat down. Vv. 17-19 are peculiar to Luke.

Judaea and Jerusalem. See on chapter v. 17.

18. Vexed (ocloumenoi). The best texts read ejnocloumenoi, occurring only here and Heb. xii. 15. From oclov, a crowd or mob, with the idea of want of arrangement and discipline, and therefore of confusion and tumult. Hence it is applied to the noise and tumult of a crowd, and so passes into the sense of the trouble and annoyance caused by these, and of trouble generally, like the Latin turbae. Thus Herodotus says of Croesus, when on the funeral pile he uttered the name of Solon, and the interpreters begged him to explain what he meant, "and as they pressed for an answer and grew toublesome (kai oclon parecontwn)" - i. 86. Frequent in medical language. Thus Hippocrates, "troubled (enocloumenw) with a spasm or tetanus."

19. Sought - went out (ezhtounexhrceto). Both imperfects. The A.V. and Rev. lose in vividness by not rendering them accordingly. The multitudes were all the while seeking to touch him, for virtue was going out of him.

Healed (iato). Compare Matt. xiv. 36; Mark vi. 56, where dieswqhsan, were thoroughly saved, and ejswzonto, were saved, are used. Luke is more technical, using the strictly medical term, which occurs twenty eight times in the New Testament, seventeen of these in Luke. Luke also uses the two words employed by Matthew and Mark, but always with some addition showing the nature of the saving. Thus Luke vii. 3, where diaswsh, (A.V., heal) is explained by verse 7, ijaqhsetai, the technical word, shall be healed, and by verse 10, "found the servant whole (uJgiainonta, another professional word - see on chapter v. 31) that had been sick." Compare, also, Luke viii. 35, 36, 44, 47, 48. Medical writers do not use swzein or diaswzein, to save, as equivalent to ijasqai, to heal, but in the sense of escaping from a severe illness or from some calamity. Luke employs it in the sense - Acts xxvii. 44; xxviii. 1.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

20-49. Compare Matt. v. 1 to viii. 1.

20. Lifted up his eyes. Peculiar to Luke. Compare he opened his mouth (Matt. v. 1). Both indicate a solemn and impressive opening of a discourse.

Blessed. See on Matt. v. 3.

Ye poor. See on Matt. v. 3. Luke adopts the style of direct address; Matthew of abstract statement.

Kingdom of God (h basileia tou qeou). Matthew has kingdom of heaven, or of the heavens (twn ouranwn), a phrase used by him only, and most frequently employed by Christ himself to describe the kingdom; though Matthew also uses, less frequently, kingdom of God. The two are substantially equivalent terms, though the pre-eminent title was kingdom of God, since it was expected to be fully realized in the Messianic era, when God should take upon himself the kingdom by a visible representative. Compare Isa. xl. 9, "Behold your God." The phrase kingdom of Heaven was common in the Rabbinical writings, and had a double signification: the historical kingdom and the spiritual and moral kingdom. They very often understood by it divine worship; adoration of God; the sum of religious duties; but also the Messianic kingdom.

The kingdom of God is, essentially, the absolute dominion of God in the universe, both in a physical and a spiritual sense. It is "an organic commonwealth which has the principle of its existence in the will of God" (Tholuck). It was foreshadowed in the Jewish theocracy. The idea of the kingdom advanced toward clearer defination from Jacob's prophecy of the Prince out of Judah (Gen. xlix. 10), though David's prophecy of the everlasting kingdom and the king of righteousness and peace (Psalms 22,

72.), through Isaiah, until, in Daniel, its eternity and superiority over the kingdoms of the world are brought strongly out. For this kingdom Israel looked with longing, expecting its realization in the Messiah; and while the common idea of the people was narrow, sectarian, Jewish, and political, yet "there was among the people a certain consciousness that the principle itself was of universal application" (Tholuck). In Daniel this conception is distinctly expressed (vii. 14-27; iv. 25; ii. 44). In this sense it was apprehended by John the Baptist.

The ideal kingdom is to be realized in the absolute rule of the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are made and consist (John i. 3; Col. i. 16-20), whose life of perfect obedience to God and whose sacrificial offering of love upon the cross reveal to men their true relation to God, and whose spirit works to bring them into this relation. The ultimate idea of the kingdom is that of "a redeemed humanity, with its divinely revealed destiny manifesting itself in a religious communion, or the Church; a social communion, or the state; and an aesthetic communion, expressing itself in forms of knowledge and art."

This kingdom is both present (Mattthew xi. 12; xii. 28; xvi. 19; Luke xi. 20; xvi. 16; xvii. 21; see, also, the parables of the Sower, the Tares, the Leaven, and the Drag-net; and compare the expression "theirs, or yours, is the kingdom," Matt. v. 3; Luke vi. 20) and future (Daniell vii. 27; Matthew xiii. 43; xix. 28; xxv. 34; xxvi. 29; Mark ix. 47; 2 Pet. i. 11; 1 Cor. vi. 9; Revelation 20 sq.). As a present kingdom it is incomplete and in process of development. It is expanding in society like the grain of mustard seed (Matt. xiii. 31, 32); working toward the pervaion of society like the leaven in the lump (Matt. xiii. 33). God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and the Gospel of Christ is the great instrument in that process (2 Cor. v. 19, 20). The kingdom develops from within outward under the power of its essential divine energy and law of growth, which insures its progress and final triumph against all obstacles.

Similarly, its work in reconciling and subjection the world to God begins at the fountain head of man's life, by implanting in his heart its own divine potency, and thus giving a divine impulse and direction to the whole man, rather than by moulding him from without by a moral code. The law is written in his heart. In like manner the State and the Church are shaped, not by external pressure, like the Roman empire and the Romish hierarchy, but by the evolution of holy character in men. The kingdom of God in its present development is not identical with the Church. The Church is identified with the kingdom to the dgree in which it is under the power of the spirit of Christ. "As the Old Testament kingdom of God was perfected and competed when it ceased to be external, and became internal by being enthroned in the heart, so, on the other hand, the perfection of the New Testament kingdom will consist in its complete incarnation and externalization; that is, when it shall attain an outward manifestation, adequately expressing, exactly corresponding to its internal principle" (Tholuck). The consummation is described in Revelation 21, 22.

21. Now. Peculiar to Luke.

Shall be filled. See on Matt. v. 6.

Weep (klaiontev). Strictly, to weep audibly. See on qountev, mourn, Matt. v. 4.

Laugh (gelasete). Matthew, shall be comforted.

22. Compare Matt. v. 11.

Son of Man. The phrase is employed in the Old Testament as a circumlocution for man, with special reference to his frailty as contrasted with God (Number xxiii. 19; Ps. viii. 4; Job xxv. 6; xxxv. 8; and eighty nine times in Ezekiel). It had also a Messianic meaning (Dan. vii. 13 sq.), to which our Lord referred in Matt. xxiv. 30; xxvi. 64. It was the title which Christ most frequently applied to himself; and there are but two instances in which it is applied to him by another, viz., by Stephen (Acts vii. 56) and by John (Apoc. i. 13; xiv. 14); and when acquiescing in the title "Son of God," addressed to himself, he sometimes immediately after substitutes "Son of Man" (John i. 50, 52; Matt. xxvi. 63, 64).

The title asserts Christ's humanity - his absolute identification with our race: "his having a genuine humanity which could deem nothing human strange, and could be touched with a feeling of the infirmities of the race which he was to judge" (Liddon, "Our Lord's Divinity"). It also exalts him as the representative ideal man. "All human history tends to him and radiates from him; he is the point in which humanity finds its unity; as St. Irenaeus says, 'He recapitulates it..' He closes the earlier history of our race; he inaugurates its future. Nothing local, transient, individualizing, national, sectarian dwarfs the proportions of his world embracing character. He rises above the parentage, the blood, the narrow horizon which bounded, as it seemed, his human life. He is the archetypal man, in whose presence distinction of race, intervals of ages, types of civilization, degrees of mental culture are as nothing" (Liddon).

But the title means more. As Son of Man he asserts the authority of judgment over all flesh. By virtue of what he is as Son of Man, he must be more. "The absolute relation to the world which he attributes to himself demands an absolute relation to God.... He is the Son of Man, the Lord of the world, the Judge, only because he is the Son of God" (Luthardt).

Christ's humanity can be explained only by his divinity. A humanity so unique demands a solution. Divested of all that is popularly called miraculous, viewed simply as a man, under the historical conditions of his life, he is a greater miracle than all his miracles combined. The solution is expressed in Hebrews 1.

23. Leap for joy (skirthsate). See chapter i. 41, 44. Compare Matthew, be exceeding glad (ajgalliasqe: see on 1 Pet. i. 6).

Their fathers. Peculiar to Luke.

24. Woe. These woes are not noted by Matthew.

Have received (apecete). In Matt. vi. 5, 16, the Rev. has properly changed "they have their reward" to "they have received." The verb, compounded of ajpo, off or from, and ecw, to have, literally means to have nothing left to desire. Thus in Philip. iv. 18, when Paul says, "I have all things (apecw panta)," he does not mean merely an acknowledgment of the receipt of the Church's gift, but that he is fully furnished. "I have all things to the full."

Consolation (paraklhsiv). From para, to the side of, and kalew, to call or summon. Literally, a calling to one's side to help; and therefore entreaty, passing on into the sense of exhortation, and thence into that of consolatory exhortation; and so coming round to mean that which one is summoned to give to a suppliant - consolation. Thus it embodies the call for help, and the response to the call. Its use corresponds with that of the kindred verb parakalew, to exhort or console. In its original sense of calling for aid the noun appears in the New Testament only in 2 Corinthians viii. 4: with much entreaty. The verb appears frequently in this sense, rendered beseech, pray (Matt. viii. 34; xiv. 36; Mark i. 40; v. 12, etc.). In the sense of consolation or comfort the noun occurs, in Luke ii. 25; vi. 24; 2 Cor. i. 3; vii. 4; Philemon 7. The verb, in Matt. ii. 18; v. 4; Luke xvi. 25; 2 Cor. i. 4. In some instances, however, the meaning wavers between console and exhort. In the sense of exhortation or counsel, the noun may be found in Acts ii. 40; xi. 23; xiv. 22; Rom. xii. 8; Titus ii. 15. Neither the noun nor the verb appear in the writings of John, but the kindred word paraklhtov, the Paraclete, Comforter, or Advocate, is peculiar to him. On this word, see on John xiv. 16. It should be noted, however, that the word comfort goes deeper than its popular conception of soothing. It is from the later Latin confortare, to make strong. Thus Wycliffe renders Luke i. 80, "the child waxed, and was comforted in spirit" (A.V., waxed strong); and Tyndale, Luke xxii. 43, "there appeared an angel from heaven comforting him" (A.V., strengthening). The comfort which Christ gives is not always soothing. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is to convince of sin and of judgment. Underlying the word is the sense of a wise counsel or admonition which rouses and braces the moral nature and encourages and strengthens it to do and to endure. When, therefore, Christ says "they that mourn shall be comforted," he speaks in recognition of the fact that all sorrow is the outcome of sin, and that true comfort is given, not only in pardon for the past, but in strength to fight and resist and overcome sin. The atmosphere of the word, in short, is not the atmosphere of the sick chamber, but the tonic breath of the open world, of moral struggle and victory; the atmosphere for him that climbs and toils and fights.

25. Mourn and weep (penqhsete kai klausete). See on Matt. v. 4.

26. Well (kalwv). Handsomely, fairly.

27. Which hear. With the sense of hearing in order to heed: giving heed. Compare Matt. xi. 15.

29. Cheek (siagona). Lit., the jaw. The cheek is pareia. The blow intended is not, therefore, a mere slap, but a heavy blow; an act of violence rather than of contempt.

Taketh away (airontov). Lit., taketh up, lifteth.

Cloke - coat. See on Matt. v. 40.

30. Everyone. Peculiar to Luke. Augustine remarks, "omni petenti, non omnia petenti; give to every one that asks, but not everything he asks." Asketh (aitounti). See on Matt. xv. 23. Compare Matt. v. 42.

Ask again (apaitei), Only here and chapter xii. 20. Used in medical language of diseases demanding or requiring certain treatment.

32. What thank (poia).? What kind of thanks? Not what is your reward, but what is its quality? On thank (cariv), see on chapter i. 30.

34. Lend (daneizete). Properly, at interest.

Sinners (oi amartwloi). The article marks them as a class. So, often in New Testament, as when classed with publicans.

Love. Not filousi, which implies an instinctive, affectionate attachment, but ajgapwsin, of a sentiment based on judgment and calculation, which selects its object for a reason. See, farther, on John xxi. 15-17. Tynd., the very sinners love their lovers.

35. Hoping for nothing again (mhden apelpizontev). A later Greek word, only here in New Testament, and meaning originally to give up in despair, a sense which is adopted by some high authorities, and by Rev., never despairing. Luke was familiar with this sense in the Septuagint. Thus Isa. xxix. 19, "The poor among men (oi aphlpismenoi twn anqrwpwn). shall rejoice." So in Apocrypha, 2 Mac. ix. 18, "despairing of his health;" Judith ix. 11, "A savior of them that are without hope (aphlpismenwn)." According to this, the sense here is, "do good as those who consider nothing as lost." The verb and its kindred adjective are used by medical writers to describe desperate cases of disease.

Children of the Highest (uioi uyistou). Rev., rightly, sons. Compare Matt. v. 45, 48.

Kind (crhstov) See on Matt. xi. 30.

36. Merciful (oiktirmonev). See on Jas. v. 11.

37. Forgive (apoluete). Lit., release. So Rev., Christ exhorts to the opposite of what he has just forbidden: "do not condemn, but release." Compare chapter xxii. 68; xxiii. 16, 17.

38. Pressed down (pepiesmenon). Only here in New Testament. A common medical term for pressing strongly on a part of the body, and opposed to yauein, to touch gently.

Shaken together, running over. Bengel says, "Pressed down, as dry articles; shaken together, as soft goods; running over, as liquids." But this is fanciful and incorrect. The allusion in every case is to a dry measure; and the climax in the three participles would be destroyed by Bengel's interpretation.

Bosom (ton kolpon). The gathered fold of the wide upper garment, bound together with the girdle, and thus forming a pouch. In the Eastern markets at this day vendors may be seen pouring the contents of a measure into the bosom of a purchaser. In Ruth iii. 15, Boaz says to Ruth, "Bring the vail (the mantle, so Rev., Old Testament), that thou hast upon thee, and hold it (hold it open): and he measured six measures of barley into it." Compare Isa. lxv. 7, "I will measure their former work into their bosom; also Jer. xxxii. 18. In Acts xxvii. 39, the word is used of a bay in a beach, forming a bend in the land like the hollow of a robe. Similarly, the Latin sinus means both the hanging, baggy bosom of a robe and a bay.

39. Can the blind (mhti dunatai tuflov)? The interrogative particle expects a negative reply. Surely the blind cannot, etc.

Lead (odhgein). Better, guide, as Rev., since the word combines the ideas of leading and instructing.

Shall they not (ouci)? Another interrogative paricle, this time expecting an affirmative answer.

40. Perfect (kathrtismenov). Rev., rendering the participle more literally, perfected. See on Matt. iv. 21. The word signifies to readjust, restore, set to rights, whether in a physical or a moral sense. See 1 Corinthians i. 10, where Paul exhorts to be perfectly joined together (kathrtismenoi) in opposition to being divided. In Gal. vi. 1, it is used of restoring a brother taken in a fault. Hence the meaning to perfect, as Eph. iv. 12. Used in medical language of setting a bone or joint.

41. Beholdest (blepeiv) - considerset (katanoeiv) - mote (karfov) - beam (dokon). See on Matt. vii. 3.

42. Brother. "Expressing the pretense of fraternal duty. To this is opposed 'Thou hypocrite!'" (Bengel).

Let me cast out (afev ekbalw). with a studied courtesy: allow me to cast out.

See clearly to cast out. See on Matt. vii. 5.

43. a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit (ouj ejstin dendron kalon, poioun karpon sapron). Rev., more correctly, there is no good tree that bringeth, etc. Sapron, corrupt, is etymologically akin to shpw, in Jas. v. 2: "Your riches are corrupted." The word means rotten, stale. Neither. Rev., nor again. The A.V. omits again (palin, on the other hand).

44. Bramble-bush (batou) Matthew has tribolwn, thistles. The word occurs only once outside of Luke's writings, in Mark xii. 26, where it is used as the familiar title of a section of the Pentateuch. Luke also uses it in the same way (xx. 37). He was doubtless acquainted with it medicinally, as it was extensively used by ancient physicians. Galen has a chapter on its medicinal uses, and the medical writings abound in prescriptions of which it is an ingredient. Galen also has a saying similar to our Lord's: "A farmer could never make a bramble bear grapes." It is the word employed by the Septuagint for the bush out of which God spoke to Moses.

Grapes (stafulhn). Lit., a cluster of grapes.

45. Evil. See on Luke iii. 19.

47. I will shew you to whom he is like. Peculiar to Luke. See on Matt. vii. 24.

48. Digged deep (eskayen kai ebaqunen). The A.V. regards the two words as a strong expression of a single idea; but the idea is twofold: he dug (through the sand), and deepened down into the solid rock. So Rev., rightly, he digged and went deep.

The flood (plhmmurav). There is no article: a flood. The word occurs in Luke only, and only in this passage. As a medical term it is used of excess of fluids in the body: flooding.

Beat vehemently (proserrhxen). Rev., more literally, brake. Used by physicians of a rupture of the veins. It occurs only here and verse 49. Matthew has prosekoyan, beat.

49. Upon the earth without a foundation. Matthew, upon the sand. The two men are conceived as alike selecting a spot where the sand overlies the rock. The one builds directly upon the sand, the other digs through and down into the rock.

It fell (epesen). But the best texts read sunepesen, fell together, collapsed. Rev., fell in. Only here in New Testament. In medical language used of falling-in of parts of the body. Thus Hippocrates, "the temple fallen in: the limb quickly collapses or shrivels." Matthew uses the simple verb epesen, fell.