旷野线 · 要节

And the angel of the Lord found her. We are here taught with what clemency the Lord acts towards his own people, although they have deserved severe punishment. As he had previously mitigated the punishment of Abram and Sarai, so now he casts a paternal look upon Hagar, so that his favor is extended to the whole family. He does not indeed altogether spare them, lest he should cherish their vices; but he corrects them with gentle remedies. It is indeed probable, that Hagar, in going to the desert of Sur, meditated a return to her own country. Yet mention seems to be made of the desert and the wilderness, to show that she, being miserably afflicted, wandered from the presence of men, till the angel met her. Although Moses does not describe the form of the vision, yet I do not doubt, that it was clothed in a human body; in which, nevertheless, manifest tokens of celestial glory were conspicuous.

Calvin, Commentary on Genesis vol.1, tr. Rev. John King M.A., Calvin T

Here is the first mention we have in scripture of I an angel’s appearance. Hagar was a type of the law, which was given by the disposition of angels; but the world to come is not put in subjection to them, Heb. 2. 5. Observe, I. How the angel arrested her in her flight, v. 7. It should seem, she was making toward her own country; for she was in the wav to Shur, which lay toward Egypt. It were well if our afflictions would make us think of cur home, the better country. But Hagar was now out of her place, and out of the way of her duty, and going further astray, when the angel found her. Note, 1. It is a great mercy to be stopped in a sinful w'ay, either by conscience or by providence. 2. God suffers those that are out of the way, to wander a while, that when they see their folly, and what a loss they have brought them- selves to, they may be the better disposed to re- turn. Hagar was not stopped till she was in the wdderness, and had sat down weary enough, and glad of clear water to refresh herself with: God I brings us into a wilderness, and there meets us, I Hos. 2. 14. i II. Plow he examined her, v. 8. He called her j Hagar, l-arai's maid, 1. As a check to her pride: ^ though she was Abram’s wife, and, as such, was ' obliged to return, yet he calls her Sarai’s maid, to humble her. Note, Though civility teaches us to call others by their highest titles, yet humility and wisdom

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

7. And the angel . . . found her by a fountain. I This well (see on v. 14), pointed out by tradition, lay on the side of the caravan road, in the midst ' of Shur (now Difar), a sandy desert on the west of Arabia Petrsea, to the extent of 150 miles, between Palestine and Egypt. By taking that direction, she seems to have intended to return to her rela- ' tives in that country. Nothing but pride, passion, i and sullen obstinacy could have driven any soli- tary person to brave the dangers of such an inhos- pitable wild; and she must have died, had not the timely appearance and words of the angel recalled her to reflection and duty, the angel of the Lord. Angel means messenger, and the term is frequently used in Scripture to denote some natural pheno- menon, or visible symbol, betokening the presence and agency of the Divine Majesty (Exod. xiv. 19; ] 2 Ki. xix. 35; Ps. civ. 4). That the whole tenor ; of this narrative, however, indicates a living per- sonal being, is allowed on all hands ; but a variety i of oi)inions are entertained respecting the essential I standing of this messenger of Jehovah. Some think ' that he was a created angel, one of those celestial I spirits who were frequently delegated under the ancient economies to execute the purposes of God's j ^149 grace to his chosen ; while others, convinced that things are predicated of this angel involving the possession of

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

NOW Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Mi- dian : and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush: and he ooked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4. x^nd when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Mo- ses, Moses. And he said. Here am I. 5. And he said. Draw not nigh hither: put off tliy shoes from olf thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy fa- ther, the God of Abraham, the God of fsaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face ; for he was afraid to look upon God. The years of the life of Moses are remarkably divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh’s court, the second a shepherd in Midian, the third a king in Jeshurun; so changea- ble is the life of men, especially the life of good men. He had now finished the second forty, when he re- ceived his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt. Note, Sometimes it is long before God calls his ser- vants out to that work which of old he _ designed them for, and has been

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

1. Now Moses kept the flock. This employment he had entered on in furtherance of his matrimonial views (see on ch. ii. 21) ; but it is probable he was continuing his services now on other terms, like Jacob during the latter years of his stay with Laban (Gen. xxx. 28). led the flock to the back side of the desert— i. e., on the west of the desert (Gesenins) ; and as- suming Jethro's head-quarters to have been at Dahab, the route by which Moses led his flock must have been west through the wide valley called by the Arabs Wady-es-Zugherali {Rohimon), which conducted into the interior of the wilder- ness. The traditional spot is in Wady Shuweib, or Jethro's valley, on the north of Jebel Milsa, where the convent of St. Catherine now stands. Of course, Jebel MUsa must be "the mount of God." Lepsius ('Letters, Appendix B ') aud o«4 ter ('Erkunde der Sinai - Habbinsel,' &c., xiv., 733-735) contend for Serbal, so called as 'the centre of an ancient worship,' (see on ch. xix.) mountain of God— so named either, according to Hebrew idiom, from its great height, as ' great mountains,' Hebrew, 'mountains of God' (Ps. xxxvi. 6), "goodly cedars," Hebrew, 'cedars of God' (Ps. Ixxx. 10); or, as some think, from its being the old abode of 'the glory;' or, Anally, by prolepsis, from its being the theatre of transac- tions most memorable in the history of the true religion ( Lepsius). to Horeb —rat

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

came to the mountain of God called Horeb. ■while Moses was thinking only of ietfing the fleck of skef which God had entrusted to him in the house of /us fathcr-m- hfs> as to a particular shepherd, lie was elevated to a higher union with God, approaching nearer to the mountain by a more sublime loss into Him. ■ 2 And the Lord appeared to him in aflame of fire which issued from a bash. And he saw the bush ottrnmg without it being consumed. \ God speaks to him in a bush from a flame of fire: God was in the flame, and the flame was in the bush. 1\\\s flame denoted the love that God has for interior souls, in spite of their weak- nesses It pleased Him to bestow a large share of it on this shepherd whom he had chosen to conduct a very numerous flock ; for the first quality of the shepherd is love, causing him to expose his life for his sheep. This flame is surrounded with thorns, for those have much to suffer who have the conducting of souls. One cannot conceive I of the crosses that are prepared for them, uor the thorns and persecutions that they must suffer. I This bush burns, and is not consumed. 1 his is the symbol of the love of the shepherds, which must be always equal, without ever crowing tired ot feeble. The extent to which tins holy shepherd had been filled and inflamed by it appears further on, when seeing his people on the point of being smitten of God for their sins, he

The Mystical Sense of the Pentateuch

Here is, I. The choice God made of their way, v. 17, 18. He was their Guide, Moses gave them diiecticn but as_ he received it fi r m the Lord. Note, The way of man is not in himself, .Icr. 10. 23. He may devise his xvay, and design it; but, after all, it is God that directs his str/is, Prov. 16. 9. Man /:ro- poses, but Gcd o’/iposes; and in his disposal we must acquiesce, and set curseh es to fellow Pro- vidence. There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was a shoi t cut fix m the ik rtii ( f Egypt to the south of Canaan, perhaps about four ci- five days’ journey; the other was much furth.er about, through the wilderness, and di .t was the way which Gcd chose to lead his peojile Israel in, x\ 18. 1. There were many reasons whv Gcd led them throun'h the xvay of the wilderness of the Bed-sea. The Egyptians were to lie drowned in the Red-sea, the Israelites were to be huml)led and proved in the wilderness. Dent. 8. 2. God had given it to Moses for a sign, {ch. 3. 12.) e shall serx'c God in this mountain. They had again and again told Pharaoh, i that they must go three days' journey into the wil- derness to do sacrifice, and therefore it was requi- site that they should bend their march that way, else they had justly been exclaimed against as noto- I riuus dissemblers. Before they entered the lists I with their enemies, matters must be settled between them and theii' God, laws

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

latter the Israelites marched, the children of Israel went up harnessed [D^^'pn], This word, M'hich is of doubtful etymology, has been variously interpreted. It is of rare occurrence, being found only four times in the Old Testament (Josh. i. 14 ; iv, 12; Judg. vii. 11; Jer. xlvi. 4), [In the first three of these passages it is rendered in our version "armed;" so Aquila, evwirXLafxevoL; Sym- machus, KadcoirXicrfxevoL; Vulgate, armati; and on the hypothesis of this being the only correct trans- lation, an objection has recently been raised against the historical credibility of this narrative.] ' It is imjDossible,' says Colenso, ' that a grossly oppressed and enslaved people could be universally furnished with military weapons.' Those, however, who take the word as denoting armour, do not suppose that the Israelites were accoutred as a modern army:— the very idea of comparing such a horde to a disciplined and fully equipped body of troops is quite preposterous. A few or many might be armed; which could be the more easily done as the armour used in that age was simple, consisting of a bow and arrows, a bull's hide shield, a sling, a heavy club, &c, ( see Wilk'mson's 'Ancient Egypt.') That a number, though not all of them, might be equipped with arms of this sort— some having a spear, others a club, received amongst the parting gifts of the Egyptians — is rendered probable from th

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

out of the land of Egypt, there arrived only two persons into the pronnsed land. How comes this? from want of courage regretting unceasingly that they had left. If they had been General Preface. jj courageous and faithful, only a few months would have been necessary to arrive there; but murmuring and despondency made them remain on the road forty years. It happens as much thus to persons whom God desires to conduct by the interior They regret not the onions of Egypt, but the sensible sweetnesses when they are desired to walk in a purer and barer road; they do not wish so delicate a food as manna, they desire something more sensible; they revolt against their Conductor, and far from profiting by the goodness of God, they raise His anger and kindle His fury; so that they make for themselves an extremely long road, and turn round about the mountain ; if they advance one step, they fall back four, and the greater part do not arrive at the promised end by their own fault „ L f t f take , c ™ ra g e > my dear brethren, let us endeavour to reach the goal without ever being discouraged by the difficulties during the day, which, concealing from us the brightness of the of faith U' S a v? T J"^ Y e have dari "S the d^est night ot faith the pilar of fire, which guides us also. What is this inlJd^ " " 0t S T Cd i0Ve ' Which becomes ^ »°« glow! mg, as faith appears the more obscure and dark

The Mystical Sense of the Pentateuch

Observe, i 1. How God makes known to Moses his kind in- 1 tentions, that he might not be uneasy at their mur- murin^s, nor be tempted to wish he had let them alone m Egypt. (1.) He takes notice of the peo- ple’s complaints; (v. 12.) I have heard the murmur- ings of the children of Israel. As a God of pity, he took cognizance of their necessity, which was the [ occasion of their murmuring; as a just and holy God, I he took cognizance of their base and unworthy re- ; flections upon his servant Moses, and was much dis- pleased with them. Note, When we begin to fret and be uneasy, we ought to consider that God hears all our murmurings, though silent, and only the murmurings of the heart. Princes, parents, mas- ters, do not hear all the murmurs of their inferiors against them, and it is well they do not, for perhaps they could not bear it; but God hears, and yet bears. We must not think, because God does not immedi- ately take vengeance on men for their sins, that therefore he does not take notice of them ; no, he hears the murmurings of Israel, and is grieved with this generation, and yet continues his care of them, as the tender parent of the froward child. (2.) He promises them a speedy, sufficient, and constant, supply, V. 4. Man being made out of the earth, his Maker has wisely ordered him food out of the earth, Ps. 104. 14. But the people of Israel, typifying the church of the

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

3. Would to God we had died toy the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt— t. e., by the plague which had carried off the first-born of the Egyptians suddenly, rather than by a lingering death from starvation here. How unreasonable and absurd the charge against Moses and Aaron ! how ungrateful and impious against God ! After all their experience of the Divine wisdom, good- ness, and power, we pause and wonder over the sacred narrative of tlieir hardness and unbelief. To such a depth of debasement had they sunk, z The Lord promiseth EXODUS XVL bread from heaven. 4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain *^ bread from heaven for you ; and the people shall go out and gather ^ a certain rate every day, that I ^may prove them, whether they will walk in my 5 law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in ; and ^ it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. 6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, ^At even, that they seem never to have reflected or reasoned on the course of Providence ; and although they had witnessed the most astonishing demonstra- tions of the majesty and power of God, they were incapable of drawing from these gracious interpositions any general conclusions for their encouragement and comfort in future emergencies. In short, the wonders they had seen in Egypt, and the miraculo

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to Godwe had died in Egypt by the hand of the Lord, when we sat by the flesh pets, and we could eat brad to the full! Why have ye brought us into this desert to kilt this whole people? People q{ flesh, how difficult it is for you to become spirit, and to content yourselves with naked faith ! These persons often issue out of abandon for some moments, and frequently their will has no part in these extravagances : it is nature alone which, destitute of its spirit, mourns like a brute beast. The enlightened director easily discerns this state. Many of those who enter therein, and nearly all, are so blind 226 Exodus, that they regret their not having died in the time of their abun- ] dance, fancying that at that time their salvation would have ' been more certain. This word sat, signifies the repose they J took in their lights and sweetnesses. 4. And the Lord said unto Moses; I shall cause it to rain\ tread from heaven ,■ Let the people go out and gather what is sufficient for each day, so that I may prove them whether they walk in my law or not, O goodness of my God, Thou recompensed with all heavenly manna- the murmuring of this people. This very recom-l pense, or nourishment, which God bestows upon them, shows clearly enough that the will had no part in their discontent. directors, who have persons of this sort under your care, j h

The Mystical Sense of the Pentateuch

Observe, (1. J They w-ere continually upon the re- move. When they had pitched a little while in one place, they departed from that to another. Such is our state in this world; we have here no continuing cit y. [2. ] Most of their way lay through a wilderness, uninhabited, untracked, unfurai.shed even with the necessaries of human life; which magnifier, llu wisdom and power of God, by whose wonderful conduct and bounty the thousands of Israel not only subsisted for forty years in that deso- late place, but came out at least as numerous and vigorous as they went in. At first, they pitched in the edge of the wilderness, {v. 6.) but afterward, in the heart of it; by lesser difficulties God prepares his people for greater. We find them in the wil- derness of Etliam, (y. 8.) of Sin, {v. 11.) of Sinai, (f. 15.) Our removes in this world are but frcir NUMBERS, XXXl\U one wilderness to another. [3.] That they were led to and fro, forward and backward, as in a maze or labyrinth, and yet were all the while under the direction of the pillar of cloud and fire. He led tliem about, (Dent. 32. 10.) and yet led them the right way, Ps. 107. 7. The way which God takes in bringing his people to himself, is always the best way, though it does not always seem to us the near- est way. [4. ] Some events are mentioned in this journal, as their want of water at Rephidim, (j>. 14. ) the death of Aai’on,

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

2. thou shalt remember all the way which ... God led thee these forty years. The recapitulation of all their chequered experience during that long period was designed to awaken lively impressions of tlie good- ness of God. First, Moses showed them the object of their protracted wanderings and varied hardships : these were trials of tlieir obedience 2 T An eccJiortation DEUTERONOMY VIII. to obedience. 3 And he humbled thee, and '^suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know ; that he might make thee know that man doth ^ not live by bread only, but by every icord that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. 4 Thy ^ raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these 5 forty years. Thou shalfc also consider in thine heart, that, as a man 6 chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasten eth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7 For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land; a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and 8 hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pome- 9 granates; a land ^of oil olive and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing m it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

This is the bread which tlie Lord hath given you to eat: 16. This is the thing which the Lord hath command- ed : Gather of it every man according to his eating ; an omer for every man : according to the number of your persons, take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17. And the children of Israel did so, and gath- ered some more, some less. 18. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gath- ered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack : they gathered every man according to his eating. 1 9. And Moses said, L<et no man leave of it till the morning. 20. Notwithstanding they hear- kened not unto Moses ; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred i worms, and stank ; and Aloses vA^as wrath with them. 21. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating : and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. M Now they begin to be provided for by the imme- |i diate hand of God. I. He makes them a feast, at night, of delicate fowl, feathered fowl, (Ps. 78. 27.) therefore not locusts, as some think; quails, or jiheasants, or some wild fowl, came up, and covered the camj), so t; me, that they might take up as many of them as they pleased. Note, God gives us of the good things of this life, not only for necessity, but for delight, that we may not only serve him, but serve him cheerfully. II. Next morning, he rained manna upon

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

2-9. I speak not with your children which have not known . . . but your eyes have seen. Moses is here giving a brief summary of the mar- An exJiortation DEUTEKONOMY XI. to obedience. which I command you this day, that ye may '^be strong, and go in and 9 possess the land whither ye go to possess it ; and '^that ye may prolong your days in the land which the Lord sware unto

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It is certain that so long as the road of faith lasts, the soul does not know of\.\iz imperceptible support. The fathers even, however holy they were, had not known it so that they could speak of it, God not permitting it to be declared to souls ; for if the greatness of this state could be made known to them, they would never allow themselves to be lost, nor would they ever come out of themselves. But if they have had some slight transient acquaintance with it, God takes away from them all the certitude of it by the most extreme reverses, so that they can lean upon it no longer. Eut, says Scripture, God makes the soul pass through these so terribly denuded states, to make known to it that man does not live by bread alone, namely, the gifts and perceptible graces serving for it as sensible and dis- tinct sustenance ; but that he lives much more from God Himself, which is signified by every word that proceedeth out of His mouth. It must be remarked that it is not said simply by the word of God, which might be understood as to everything known and comprehended as of God ; but by every word proceeding out of 3$o Deuteronomy. His mouth. Now this speech which proceeds from his mouth is His Word and Himself in essential unity, without means or medium of communication. The speech of God, taken simply, is a mediate speech, rece

The Mystical Sense of the Pentateuch

Here are two great instances of their wickedness, and each of them amounted to an apostasy from God. I. Security and sensuality, pride and insolence, and the other common abuses of plenty and pros- perity, V . 15. These people were called Jc'shurun, an u/iright fieofile, so some; a seeing people, so j others; but they soon lost the reputation both of j their knowledge and of their righteousness; for, 1 being well-fed, 1. They nvaxedfat, and grevj thick, tliat is, tftey indulged themselves in all m, nner of luxury and gratifications of their appetites, as if , they had nothing to do but to make provision for the Jlesh, to fulfil the lusts of it. They grew fat, ; that is, they grew big and unwieldy, unmindfai of j business, and uilfit for it; dull and stupid, careless ‘ and senseless; and this was the effect of their plen- ' Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them, j rrov. 1.32. Yet this was not the worst of it. They! kicked: they grew proud and insolent, and Ifted up | the heel even against God himself; if Grd rebuked | them, either by his prophets, or by his pro\ i deuce, | tliey kicked against the goad, as an unturned heifer, \ or a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, and in their | rage persecuted the prophets, and flew in the face j of providence itself. And thus he forsook God that j made him, (not paying due respects to his Creator, I nor answering the ends of his creatio

An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, vol.1

10. He found him in a desert land [inKi*Q\ he found] — ?, e., ' assisted,' ' sustained,' provided for him "13"7ID] in a pasture land uninhabited, but occupied by nomadic people. But Hengstenherg ('Penta- teuch,' i., p. 125) regards the word " found" as so peculiar that it cannot be attributed to an accidental agreement. The phrase is borrowed by Hosea (ix. 10), "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness," ' where,' says Hengstenherg, ' the general image of an agreeable discovery, in the Pentateuch, is individualized by "the prophet un- der the image of grapes.' The reason why "the wilderness" is selected as the starting-point of Israel's career is, that there only they began to feel themselves a free and independent people, and in the waste howling wilderness [^^: inhni ]bti*^]— and in a desolate howling wilderness: a very different term from the former. These epithets show clearly that they are not descrip- tive of the general character of the wilderness, but only of particular XJortions of it— viz., either the great Arabah, the long, parched, dreary valley which extends from the Dead Sea to Akaba, or to the sterile region east of the Seir mountains, on the border of the Arabian desert, which the Israelites were under necessity of traversing towards the close of their migrations, — which is described elsewhere as "great" and "terrible," infested by " fiery serpents," and th

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror and -oast solitude. He conducted him by long turnings, and instructed him, and preserved him as this apple of his eye. Bat where has God found this people ; and how has Hehnown them to be his own ? Oh it is in the desert land, in the total sepa- ration from all creatures, in the stripping of all good, in the pri- vation of all support, in the place of vast solitude, horrible alike to nature and the spirit, where the soul finds itself all naked and alone, without being accompanied by anything whatsoever ; ah, then it is that Ho conducts it by long turnings and instructs it in His purest will. He guards it as the apple of his eye. These Chapter XXXff. 417 words so well express God's care, and are so fit and proper, that we could not add anything to them without detracting some- what from their beauty, it. As an eagle siirreth up Jar young ones to fly, and fluttereth over them, he stretched forth his wings, and took him upon him, and bore him upon his shoulders. There is not a word in this verse but is ravishing. As ike eagh stirreih up her young ones to J?y as she files, so God encourages as His children the abandoned souls to follow Him, to abandon themselves, to suffer themselves to be led, therefore He flutters o%>er them like the eagle, to animate and encourage His little ones, to defend them, and to sustain them. It is by t

The Mystical Sense of the Pentateuch

Here is, I. Elijah housed in a cave at mount Horeb, which is called the mount of God, because on it God had formerly manifested his glory. And, perhaps, this was the same cave, or cleft of a rock, in which Moses wras hidden, when the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed his name, Exod. 34. 6. What Elijah proposed to himself, in coming to lodge here, I cannot conceive, unless it were either to indulge his melancholy, or to satisfy his curiosity, and assist his faith and devotion, with the sight cf that famous 544 I. KINGS, XIX place where the law was given, and so many great things were done, and hoping to meet with God himself, there where Moses met with him; or, in token of his abandoning his people Israel, who hated to be reformed; and so it agrees with Jeremiah’s wish, (Jer. 9. 2.) 0 that I had in the wilderness a ludging-place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go Jrom them, for they be all adul¬ terous; and so it was a bad omen of God’s forsaking them: or, it was because he thought he could not be safe any where else; and to this instance of the hardships this good man was reduced to, the apos¬ tle refers, Heb. 11. 38, They wandered in deserts and in mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. II, The visit God made him there, and the in¬ quiry he made concerning him: The word of the Lord came to him. We cannot go any whither, to be out of the reach of

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4. went a day's journey into the wilderness— on the way from Beer-sheba to Horeb [a wide expanse of sand-hills, covered with the Dnh (not juniper, but broom shrub), whose tall and spread- ing branches, with their white leaves, afford a very cheering and refreshing shade]. 'The Ro- them, or Retem,' says Robinson ('Biblical Ee- searches,' i., p. 299), 'is the largest and most conspicuous shrub of these deserts, growing thickly in the valleys and water-courses. Our Arabs always selected the place of encampment (if possible) in a place where it grew, in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind; and during the day, when they often went on in God appear eth 1 KINGS XIX. to Elijah. tree, behold, then 'an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise a7id G eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his ^head: and he did eat and drink, and laid 7 him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again tlie second time, and touched him, and said. Arise and eat; because the journey is 8 too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty -^days and forty nights unto " Iloreb the mount of God. 9 And he came thither unto ''a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him. What doest thou 10 here, Elijah? And he said, *I have been very ■'jealo

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Observe, [1.] His complaint in the want of God's favourable presence. He was in a dry and thirsty land; so he reckoned it, not so much because it was a wilderness, as because it was at a distance from the ark, from the word and sacraments. This world is a weary land, so the word is; it is so to the worldly that have their portion in it, it will yield them no true satis- faction; it is so to the godly that have their passage through it, it is a valley of Baca, they can promise themselves little from it. [2.] His importunity for 380 PSALMS, LXIII. that prestrnce of Gcd; My soul thirsteth, longeth, fjr thee. His want quickened his desires, which WL-rc \ery intense; he thirsted as the liunted liart tor the water-brooks; he would take up with nothing short of it. His desires were almost impatient; he longed, he languished, till he should be restored to tue liberty of God's ordinances. Note, Gracious souls look down upon the world witli a holy disdain, and l(xk up to God with a holy desire. 2. He longs to enjoy God. What is it that he does so passionately wish for? What is his petition, and whit is his request? It is this, {v. 2.) To see thy /lower, and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. That is, (1.) "To see it here in this wilderness, as I ha\ e seen it in the tabernacle; to see it in secret, as I have seen it in the solemn as- sembly. " Note, When we want the bene

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trong emotion (Ps. Ixxxiv. 2). in a dry and thirsty land— /^^, a iveary land,' the epithets that apply to him- self, 'dry and weary,' being transferred to the "land" (2 Sam. xvi. 14). 2. To see thy power and thy glory, so (as) I have seen thee in the sanctuary— ;<7., ' so in the sanctuary I have beheld thee, that I may see thy power and thy glory. ' Thus "to see," or 'that 1 may see thy power,' follows " my soul thirsteth for thee," &c. ; ' so in the sanc- tuary I have beheld thee,' is a parenthesis. What I ' thirst for' is, " to see thy power and thy glory," as once I saw it. The abruptness of the interrupted clauses accords with his excitement. The "so" is beautifully forcible ; so lovable and so fully satis- fying to thy people did I formerly behold thee, riiy soul therefore now thirsts for thee (cf. Ps. xxvii. 4, 1.3). David's desire in this psalm, and in the parallel psalm, xlii., is to be restored to the vl<iih/e sanctuary (cf. Ps. xliii. 3 with 2 Sam. xv. 25). 3. Because thy loving-kindness (is) better than life. This gives the reason why he so eagerly thirsts after (Jod, and after the ordinances «i the sanctuary — viz., because in the land of the people of the covenant, (lod's " loving-kindness" is fully revealeil; and that loving-kindnesss is better than lirc.^ (so the Hebrew)—*, e., better than life and all life's earth/;/ hlessin<js. What I desire is not so much my r

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

In these verses, I. The psalmist observes the late rebukes of Providence that the people of Israel had been under, which they had hi-oughtupon themselves by tlieir dealing treacherously with God, ik 9' -11. The children of Ephraim, in which tril^e Shiloh was, though they were well armed, and shot with PSALMS, LXXVIII. 431 bows, yet turned back in the day of battle. This seems to refer to that shameful defeat which the Phihstines gave them in Eh's time, when they took the ark prisoner, 1 Sam. iv. 10, 11. Of this the psalmist here begins to speak, and, after a long di- gression, returns to it again, v. 61. Well might ttuit event be thus fresh in mind, in David's time, above forty years after, for the ark, which in that memorable battle was seized by the Philistines, though it was quickly brought out of captivity, was never brought out of obscurity, till David fetched it from Kirjath-jearim to his own city. Observe, 1. The shameful cowardice of the children of Ephraim, that warlike tribe, so famed for valiant men, Joshua's tribe; the children of that tribe, though as well armed as ever, turned back, when they came to face the enemy. Note, Weapons of war stand men in little stead without a martial spirit, and that is gone, if God be gone. Sin dispirits men, and takes iiWay the heart. 2. The causes of their cowardice, which were no less shameful; and these were, (1.) A shameful viol

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17-20. —Israel's ungrateful return to God. 17. And they sinned yet more against him— rather, ' But,' &c. They went on sinning as they did just before the first seuding of water miraculously, tempting God, and saying, " Is the Lord among us, or not? (Exod. xvii. 2, 7). As then it was on account of drink, so afterwards it was for meat. The very same phrase is used of contumacious Pharaoh (Exod. ix. 34, "he sinned yet more"). They now had fallen to a level with even him. provoking the Most High— (Deut. ix. 22, 23.) in the wilder- ness—ijV., in the arid laud; alluding to God's having given them water even there, which aggra- vated their sin (Deut. ix. 7, 24 ; xxxi. 27). 18. And they tempted God — they presumptuously and mur- muringly demanded what they ought to have be- sought God for in suppliant faith. They put God to the proof, intending to forsake His service if He should not give what they required ; whereas they ought to have believed that He could, and that He would, give a supply for all their needs in His own good time (Exod. xvii. 7; Deut. vi. 16). in their heart— the fountain whence flow evil words and deeds (Matt. xii. 34, 35). by asking meat for their lust — for their appetite; their animal soul ; not the desire merely for what is necessary (Deut. xii. 20). The emphasis is ou "'asking;" not on "for their lust." 'Their sin lay not in what they desired, but in the way in

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

In these verses, we have, 1. The desert land blooming. In the chapter be¬ fore, we had a populous and fruitful country turned into a horrid wilderness; here we have, in lieu of that, a wilderness turned into a good land. When the land of Judah was freed from the Assyrian army, those parts of the country that had been made as a wilderness by the ravages and outrages they com¬ mitted, began to recover themselves, and to look XXXV. pleasantly again, and to blossom as the rose. WheD the Gentile nations, that had been long as a wilder¬ ness, bringing forth no fruit to God, received the gospel, joy came with it to them, Ps. lxvii. 3, 4. — xcvi. 11, 12. When Christ was preached in Sa¬ maria, there was great joy in that city, (Acts viii. 8.) they that sat in darkness saw a great and joyful light. And then they that blossomed, gave hope's of abundance of fruit; for that was it which the preach¬ ers of the gospel aimed at, (John xv. 16.) to go, and bring forth fruit, Horn. i. 13. Col. i. 16. Though blossoms are not fruit, and often miscarry and come to nothing, yet they are in order to fruit. Convert¬ ing grace makes the soul that was a wilderness to rejoice with joy and singing, and to blossom abun¬ dantly. This flourishing desert shall have all the glory of Lebanon given to it, which consisted in the strength and stateliness of its cedars, together with the excellency of Carmel and Sha

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1. the solitary place— lit., a di-y place, tzivvah, without springs of water. A moral wilderness is meant, for them— viz., on account of the punish- ment inflicted according to the preceding prophecy on the enemy : probably the blessings set forth iu this chapter are included in the causes for joy, ch. Iv. 12. the rose (Hebrew, chabatztzeleth)— rather, the meadow-saffron, an autumnal flower with bulb- ous roots : so the Syriac {chamfzabjotho : evidently the same word slightly changed) translation. The Golchicum autumnale, or autumn crocus: from betzel, a bvlb. Boyle understands it to be the Polyanthus narcvisus. The fragrance of the narcis- sus makes it more likely than the crocus, which has no such odour. Also the chahatztzeleth, in Song ii. 1, is associated with the liiy, wliich blossoms in spring; whereas the colchicum bios- ISAIAH XXXV. The joyful flourishing •ilTshall blossom abundantly, and rejoice— even with joy and singing : The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, The excellency of Carmel and Sharon ; r r. j Thov shall see the glory of the Lord, — and the excellency ot our bod. .3 Stre'ii'^then "ye the weak hands,— and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a ^fearful heart. Be strong, fear not: Behold, your God will come With vengeance, even God with a recompence; He will come and save you. 5 Then the *eyes of the blind shall be opened, And '^ the ear

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

We have here the enemies of the church bold and daring, and threatening to be its death, to cut off the name of Israel; such the people of God had lately been insulted by; I looked, and, behold, four horns, {y. 18.) which are explained, v. 19. They are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem; that is, the Jews both in the coun¬ try and in the city, because they were the Israel of God. They have tossed them, (so some read it,) as furious bulls with their horns toss that which they are enraged at. They have scattered them, so that no man did lift tip his head, v. 21. No man durst show his face, for fear of them, much less give them any opposition, or make head against them. Thev are horns, denoting their dignity and domi¬ nion, horns exalted; denoting also their strength and power and violence. They are four horns, for the Jews are surrounded with them on every side; when they avoid one horn that pushes at them, they run upon another. The men of Judah and the in¬ habitants of Jerusalem, and many of Israel that joined themselves to them, set about the building of the temple; but the enemies of that work from all sides pushed at them, and drove them from it Rehum, and Shimshai, and the other Samaritans that opposed the building of the temple, were these horns, Ezra iv. 8. So were Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Ammonites and Arabians, that opposed the building cf

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3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. So the LXX. and Matt. iii. 3 connect the words. The Hebre\v^ accents, however, connect them thus: 'In the wilderness prepare ye,' &c. ; and the parallelism also requires this, ' Prepare ye in the wilderness,'' answering to " make straight j» the desert." Matthew was entitled, as uncler inspiration, to vary the connection, so as to bring out another sense, included in the Holy Spirit's intention. In Matt. iii. 1, "John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness," answers thus to "The voice of one p-ying in the ivilderness." It was in the moral wilderness that the way of the Lord was to be jirejiared ; and it was in the literal wilderness that John iireached. Maurer takes the participle as put for the finite verb (so in v. 6), ' A voice crieth.' The clause, " in the wilderness," alludes to Israel's passage through it froni ECTl)t to Canaan (Ps. Ixviii. 7). Jehovah being tlieir leader, so it shall be at the coming restoration of Israel, of which the restoration from Babylon was but a type (not the full realization ; for their way from it was not through the " wilderness "). Where John preached (viz., in the wilderness — the type of this earth — a moral wilderness), there were the hearers who are ordered to prepare the way of the Lord, and there was to be tlie coming of the Lord (Bengel). John, though he was immediately followed by t

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Here is a good reason given; they had neglect¬ ed God and had cast him off, and therefore he justly rejected them, and gave them to the curse; {v. 28.) and they must be brought to own this before they are prepared for deliverance; and they did so, Dan. ix. 5. Neh. ix. 33. 2. To advance God’s mercy in their deliverance, and to make that appear more glorious. Many things are before observed to mag¬ nify the flower of God in it; but this magnifies his goodness, that he should do such great and kind things for a people that had been so very provoking to him, and were now suffering the just punishment of their iniquity. The pardoning of their sin was as great an instance of God’s power (for so Moses reckons it, Numb. xiv. 17.) as the breaking of the yoke of their captivity. Now observe here, I. What the sins are which they are here charged with; 1. Omissions of the good which God had com¬ manded; and this part of the charge is here much insisted upon. And observe how it comes in with a hut; comparer'. 21. where God tells them what fa¬ vours he had bestowed upon them, and what his just expectations were from them; he had formed them for himself, intending they should show forth his praise. But they had not done so; they had frus¬ trated God’s expectations from them, and made very ill returns to him for his favours. For, (1.) They had cast off prayer; thou hast not called u/ion me, O

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19. Behold, I will do a new thing- unprecedented in its wonderful character (ch. xiii. 9). now it shall spring forth— as a germinating herb : a beautiful image of the silent but certain gradual growth of events in God's providence (Mark iv. 26-28). Here, however, the growth shall be unprecedented in its raiiidity. The tieiv thing shall spring forth as it were in a day. I will even, make a way in the wilderness— just as Israel iui the wilderness, between the Red Sea and Canaan, was guided and supplied with water by Jehovah ; but the "new" deliverance shall be attended with manifestations of God's power and love eclipsing the old (cf. ch. xli. 17-19). ' I will onen a way, not merely in the Red Sea, but in the wilderness of the whole world ; and not merely one river shall gush out of the rock, but many, which shall refresh, not the bodies as formerly, but the souls of the thirsty. God reprovetk ISAIAH XLIII. the people. 20 The beast of the field shall honour me, — The dragons and the ^ owls : Because ' I give waters in the wilderness, — and rivers iu the desert. To give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 This "people have I formed for myself ;— they shall show forth my praise. 22 But thou hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob ; But thou ''' hast been weary of me, 0 Israel. 23 Thou hast not brought me the ^ small cattle of thy burnt offerings; Neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacri

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Some think it may be translated, Afterward, or Nevertheless, I will allure her. It comes all to one; the design is plainly to magnify free grace to those on whom God will have mercy purely for mercy’s sake. Now that which is here promised to Israel is, I. That, though now they were disconsolate, and ready to despair, they should again be revived with comforts and hopes, v. 14, 15. This is expressed here with an allusion to God’s dealings with that people when he brought them out of Egypt, through the wilderness to Canaan; as their forlorn and de¬ plorable condition in their captivity was compand to their state in Egypt in the day that they were bom, v. 3. They shall be new-formed by such mi¬ racles of love and mercy as they were first formed by; and such a transport of joy shall they be in as they were in then. It is hard to say when this had its accomplishment in the kingdom of the ten tribes; but it principally aims, no doubt, at the bringing in both of Jews and Gentiles into the church by the gospel of Christ; and it is applicable, najr, we have reason to think it was designed that it shoujd be applied, to the conversion of particular souls to God. Now observe, 1. The gracious methods God will take with them. (1.) He will bring them into the wilderness, as he did at first when he brought them out of Egypt, where he instructed them, and took them into covenant with himself. T

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14. Therefore — rather, Nevertheless (Henderson). The English version gives a more lovely idea of God. That which would provoke all others to unappeasable wrath, Israels perversity and con- sequent punishment, is made a reason why God sliould at last have mercy on her. As the "there- fore" (v. 9) expresses Israel's punishment as the consequence of Israel's guilt; so "therefore" here, as in V. 6, expresses that when that ijunishment has effected its designed end, the hedging up her way with thorns, so that she returns to God, her first love, the consequence, in God's wondrous grace, is. He "speaks comfortably unto her" — lit., speaks to (or on — i. e., so as to make an impression on) her heart [na^ h^] (cf. Judg. xix. 3, " siieak friendly," marg., ''to her heart;' Ruth ii. l.S). behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 8o obstinate she is, that God has to "allure her" - /. e., so to temper juilgmeut with unlooked-for grace as to win her to his ways. For this imrpose it was necessary to " luring her into the wilder- ness" ((. e., into temporal want and trials) first, to make her sin hateful to her by its bitter fruits, and God's subscipient grace the more precious to her by the contrast of the "wilderness." In the Hebrew it is, '/ miiself will allure her.' Her who was allured by Satan's false enticements I will idlure, by makin

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

to be tempted of the Devil. Tlie Spirit that descended upon him like a dove made him meek, and yet made him bold. Note, Our care must be, not to enter into temptation ; but if God, by his pro- vidence, order us into circumstances of temptation for our trial, we must not think it strange, but double our guard. Be strong in the Lord, resist steadfabt in the faith, and all shall be well. If we presume upon our own strength, and tempt the Aey'A to tempt us, we provoke God to lea^•e us to ourselves ; but, whi- tliersoever God le.ads us, we may hope he will go along witli us, and bring us off more than conquerors. Christ was led, to be tempted of the Devil, and of him onlv. Others are tempted, lahen they are drawn aside of their own lust, and enticed ; (Jam. 1. 14. ) the Devil takes hold of that handle, and ploughs with that heifer : but our Lord Jesus had no contipt nature, and therefore he was led securely, w ithout any fear or trembling, as a champion into' the field, to be temfited purely l^y the Devil. Now Christ's temptation is, (1.) An instance of his o^vn condescension and humiliation. Temptations wee fiery darts, thorns in the ^flesh, bujfetings, lift- ings, wrestlings, combats, all which denote hardship and suffering ; therefore Christ submitted to them, because he would humble himself, in all things to be made like unto his brethren ; thus he gax'e his back to the s?niters

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1-11.— Temptation of Christ. (=Marki. 12, 13; Luke i v. 1-13.) 1. Then [ToVe]— an indefinite note of sequence. But Mark's word (i. 12) fixes what we should have presumed was meant, that it was " immediately " [ei/Oiis] after His baptism ; and with tliis agrees the statement of Luke (iv. 1). was Jesus led up [«M;x^'d — i. €. , from the low Jordan valley to some more elevated spot, of the Spirit— that blessed Spiiit immediately before spoken of as descending upon Him at His liaptism, and abiding upon Him. Luke, connecting these two scenes, as if the one were but the secpiei of the other, says, "Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led," &c. Mark's expression has a startling sharji- ness about it— " Immediately the Spirit diiveth Jf'sus IS tempted MATTHEW IV. in t/ie wilderness. 2 '^tempted of the devil. And when he had ''fosted forty daj'S and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, 4 command that tliese stones be made bread. But he answered and said, ""It A. D. 27. ' l!eb. 4. 15. d Kl. 31. 28. ' Eph. 6. \~. Him" [eh:/^aXX6i], 'puttetli,' or 'biu-rietli, Him forth,' or ' impelleth Him.' (See the same word in Mark i. 43; v. 40; Matt. ix. 25; xiiL 52; John x. 4.) The thought thus strongly expressed is the mighty constraining impulse of the Spirit under wliich He went; while Mat

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil." Then. When? After the descent of the Spirit, after the voice that was borne from above, and said, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And what was marvellous, it was of the Holy Spirit; for this, he here saith, led Him up. For since with a view to our instruction He both did and underwent all things; He endures also to be led up thither, and to wrestle against the devil: in order that each of those who are baptized, if after his baptism he have to endure greater temptations may not be troubled as if the result were unexpected, but may continue to endure all nobly, as though it were happening in the natural course of things. Yea, for therefore thou didst take up arms, not to be idle, but to fight. For this cause neither doth God hinder the temptations as they come on, first to teach thee that thou art become much stronger; next, that thou mayest continue modest neither be exalted even by the greatness of thy gifts, the temptations having power to repress thee; moreover, in order that that wicked demon, who is for a while doubtful about thy desertion of him, by the touchstone of temptations may be well assured that thou hast utterly forsaken and fallen from him; fourthly, that thou mayest in this way be made stronger, and better tempered than any steel; fifthly, that thou mayest

Homilies on Matthew

We have here a brief account of Christ's baptism and temptation, which were largelv related. Matt. 3. and 4. I. His baptism, which was his first public appear- ance, after he had long lived obscurely in .Yazarcth. O how much hidden worth is therej which in this world is either lost in the dust of contempt and can- not be known, or wrapped up in the vail of humility and will not be known ! But sooner or later it shall be known, as Christ's was. 1. See how humbly he owned God, by coming to be baptized of John ; and thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness . Thus he took ufion him the like- ness of sinful fiesh, that, though he was perfectly Eure and unspotted, yet he was washed as if he had een polluted ; and thus for our sakes he sanctified himself, that we also might be sanctified, and be baf tized with him, John 17. 19. 2. See how honourably God owned him, when he submitted to John's baptism. Those who justfy God, as they are said to do, who were baptized with the baptism of John, he will glorify, Luke 7. 29, 30. (1.) He saw the heavens opened ; thus he was own- ed to be the Lord from heaven, and had a glimpse of the glory and joy that were set before him, and se- cured to him, as the recompense of his undertaking. Matthew saith. The heavens were opened to him. Mark saith, Jfe saw them opened. Many have the heavens opened to receive them, but they do not see it ; Christ

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1-12. — Healing of a Paralytic. (= Matt. ix. 1-8; Luke v. 17-26.) This incident, as remarked on Matt. ix. 1, appears to follow next in order of time after the ciu-e of the Leper (ch. L 40-45). 1. And again he entered into Capernaum— "His own city" (Matt. ix. 1), and it was noised that he was in the house — no doubt of Simon Peter (ch. i. 29). 2. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door. This is one of ilark's graphic touches. No doubt in this case, as the scene occm-red at his informant's own door, these details are the vivid recollections of that houom-ed disciple, and he preached the word unto them— that is, in-doore ; but in the hearing, doubtless, of the multitude that pressed around. Had He gone forth, as He naturally would, the paralytic's faith would have had no such opiiortunity to display itself. Luke (v. 17) furnishes an additional and very important incident in the scene — as follows: " And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of evei-ytowai," or 'village' [/cai/x7;s]," of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem." This was the highest testimony yet borne to oiir Lord's growing infiuence, and the necessity in- creasingly felt by the ecclesiastics throughout the country of coming to some defin

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

This is the first word recorded as spoken by Christ after his instalment in his pro- phetical office ; and it is a quotation out of the Old Testament, to show that he came to assert and maintain tlie authority of the scrijiture as uncon- trollable, even by Satan himself. And though he had the Spirit without measure, and had a doctrine of his own to preach, and a religion to found, vet it agreed with Moses and the prophets, whose writings he therefore lays down as a rule to himself, and re- commends to us as a reply to Satan and his tempta- tions. The word of God is our sword, and faith in that word is our shield; we should therefore be 7nighty in the scriptures, and go in that might, go forth, and go on, in our spiritual warfare, know what is nuritten, for it is for our learning, for oiir use. The text of scripture he made use of, is quoted from Deut. 8. 3. " Man shall not live by bread alone. I need not turn the stone into bread, for God can send manna for my nourishment, as he did for Is- rael ; man can live by every word of God, by what- ever God will appoint that he shall live by." How had Christ lived, lived comfortably, these last forty days ? Not by bread, but by the wordof God, by me- ditation upon that word, and communion with it, and with God in and by it : and in like manner he co\i\A live yet , though now he began Xohe an hun- gered. God has many ways of providing f

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1-6. This is maintained on the following grounds: — First, The most natural sense of the words in Matt. iv. 13, "And leaving Nazareth, He came down and dwelt in Capernaum," is that He then paid a visit to it, though the particulars of it are not given. In this case the visit recorded in ch. xiii. 54-58 must be a second visit. Next the visit recorded in Luke bears on its face to have been made at the outset of our Lord's ministry, if not the very hi-st opening of it; whereas that recorded in Matt. xiii. and in Mark vi. is evidently one paid at a somewhat advanced period of His ministry. Further, at the visit recorded by Luke, our Lord appears to have wrought no miracles ; whereas it is expressly said that at the visit recorded in Mark He did work some miracles. Once more it is alleged of the wonder expressed by the Nazarenes at our Lord's teaching, that the language is notice- ably different in Luke and in Mark. In reply to this, we observe : First, That as none of the Evan- gelists record more than one public visit to Naza- reth, so we have shown in our exposition of Matt, iv. 13, that it is not necessary to infer from that verse that our Lord actually visited Nazareth at that time. Thus are we left free to decide the ques- tion— of one or two visits — on internal evidence alone. Secondly, The unparalleled violence with which the Nazarenes treated our Lord, at the visit recorde

Jamieson·Fausset·Brown, A Commentary Critical, Experimental and Practical

Now the tilings which 1 write unto you, behold, before God, 1 lie not. 21. Afterward I j came into ihe regions of Syria and Cilicia: 22. And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ: 23. But they had heard only, That he who persecuted us in times past, now preacheth I the faith which once he destroyed. 24. And they glorified God in me. What Paul had said more generally, in the pre¬ face of this epistle, he now proceeds more particu¬ larly to enlarge upon. There he had declared him¬ self to be an apostle of Christ ; and here he comes more directly to support his claim to that character and office. There were some in the churches of Galatia, who were prevailed with to call this into question ; for they who preached up the ceremonial law, did all they could to lessen Paul’s reputation, who preached the pure gospel of Christ to the Gen¬ tiles : and therefore he here sets himself to prove the divinity both of his mission and doctrine, that thereby he might wipe off the aspersions which his enemies had cast upon him, and recover these Christians into a better opinion of the gospel he had preached to them. This he gives sufficient evidence of, I. From the scope and design of his ministry, which was not to persuade men, but God, &c. The meaning of this may be, either that in his preaching the gospel he did not act in obedience to men, but God, who had called

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Some think this alludes to Elias’s calling for fire from heaven, to consume the cap¬ tains and their companies that came to seize him, 2 Kings 1. 12. God promised the prophet Jeremiah, (cA. 5. 14.) Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people shall be wood, and it shall devour them. By their praying and preaching, and courage in suffering, they shall gall and wound the very hearts and consciences of many of their perse¬ cutors, who shall go away self-condemned, and be even terrors to themselves ; like Pashur, at the words of the prophet Jeremiah, ch. 20. 4. They shall have that free access to God, and that interest in him, that, at their prayers, God will inflict plagues and judgments upon their enemies, as he did on Pha¬ raoh, turning their rivers into blood; and restrain¬ ing the dews of heaven, shutting heaven up, that no rain shall fall for many days, as he did at the prayers of Elias, 1 Kings 17. 1. God has ordained his ar¬ rows for the persecutors, and is often plaguing them while they are persecuting his people ; they find it hard work to kick against the pricks. 6. The slaying of the witnesses, to make then- testimony more strong ; they must seal it with their blood. Here observe, (1.) The time when they should be killed ; when they have finished their tes¬ timony. They are immortal, they are invulnerable, till their work be done. Some think it ought

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