NOTES.

THEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 2 All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe 3 and do; but do ye not after their works; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, 4 and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they 5 do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the 6 uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, 7 Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi; Rabbi; for one is your 8

2. sit in Moses' seat] The Sanhedrim, which was composed mainly of the scribes and Pharisees, was the highest religious authority recognized among the Jews. 3. therefore] This word limits the command which it introduces. Therefore, inasmuch as they occupy the seat of Moses, and so far as they occupy it, and are the expounders of his law, observe their directions, but do not imitate them in their conduct.

for they say, and do not]
There is always this danger with
those whose business it is to ex-
pound the duties of moral and re-
ligious obligation. They are so
taken up with thinking about them,
and enforcing them on others, that
they are in danger of failing to re-
ceive them into their own hearts,
and carry them out in their lives.
There is no soul so impervious to
the vital and vitalizing powers of
divine truth as one encased in its
own religious speculations and stud-
ies. Its intellectual processes on
these great themes absorb into
themselves the life which should
enter into it and quicken alike its
sensibilities, its affections, and its
active powers.
4. For
they bind] The allusion here is
to beasts of burden, which when

men have loaded with a heavy
weight, they apply their hand to it
to keep it steady, and prevent it
from falling." Kenrick. "In what
an entirely different light does the
Saviour appear, who himself sought
to bear the heaviest burdens, and by
his love to make everything easy for
his people." Stein.
5. their

phylacteries] Strips of parch-
ment with certain passages of Scrip-
ture, viz. Exod. xiii. 11-17, and 1
-11; Deut. xi. 13-22; vi. 4-10,
written on them, and worn on the
forehead between the eyes, on the
left side next the heart, and on the
left arm.
and enlarge the
borders of their garments] The
fringes were commanded to be worn
for a memorial. (Num. xv. 38.)

6. the uppermost rooms]
the highest place for reclining at
the feasts.
the chief seats]
The uppermost seats in the Syna-
gogue, i. e. those which were near-
est the Chapel, where the sacred
books were kept, were esteemed
peculiarly honorable." Jahn.
8. Be not ye called Rabbi]
Rabbi, my Master. The negative
particle is sometimes used in He-
brew instead of the comparative
"For thou desirest not sacrifice,
else would I give it, and the sacri-
fices of God are a broken spirit.”

13

9 Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in 10 heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Mas11 ter, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be 12 your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go 14 in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer; 15 therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear 17 by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools, and blind! for whether is greater? the gold, or the temple that

(Ps. li. 16, 17.) That is, outward sacrifice is less required than a broken spirit. So it may be here, that Jesus commands his disciples not to receive or bestow these titles of respect, for they are nothing when thus received and accepted, compared with what they are when applied to Christ their only master, and to God who alone in the highest import of the word is their Father. The meaning of the passage is the same, whether we adopt this or the common interpretation. In either case, Jesus forbids his disciples to seek or to use among themselves those titles of distinction which may interfere with their brotherly equality, or put any one on earth as a master between them and him.

16-22. Bishop Jebb (Thirty Years' Correspondence, Vol. II. pp. 56, 57) has pointed out in these passages a construction which corresponds very closely to the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, and which may interest those who are curious in some of the lighter matters pertaining to the form of our Saviour's teachings. The characteristic con

sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the 18 altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools, and blind! for whether is great- 19 er? the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso 20 therefore shall swear by the altar sweareth by it, and by all things thereon; and whoso shall swear by the temple sweareth 21 by it, and by him that dwelleth therein; and he that shall swear 22 by heaven sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 23 crites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin; and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides! which strain at a 24 gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Phar- 25 isees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and ex

cess.

Thou blind Pharisee! cleanse first that which is within 26 the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are 27 like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous 28 unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

23. tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin] These were unimportant herbs, and the scribes and Pharisees are represented as hypocritically magnifying the importance of paying their tenths on them, that they might cover up their short-comings in weightier matters. Jesus tells them that they should not omit the least, but above all they should observe the weightier matters of the law. "The tithe was a provision made by the law of Moses for the support of the Levites, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, Deut. xxvi. 12; and was therefore intended to proceed from the produce of the field, and not from garden herbs. The Pharisees, however, were so scrupulously exact in observing the injunctions of the law, that they tithed all small herbs." Kenrick.

27. Ye are like unto whited sepulchres] "In order that those who were forbidden to approach unclean places might not be polluted, the Jews were accustomed to whitewash the sepulchres." Schleusner. "The Jews used once a year (on the 15th of the month Adar) to whitewash the spots where graves were, that persons might not be liable to uncleanness by passing over them. (See Num xix. 16.) This goes to the root of the mischief at once: your heart is not a temple of

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of 30 the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the 31 blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed the 32 prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! how can ye escape the 34 damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you

prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in 35 your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the tem36 ple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 38 chickens under her wings! and ye would not. Behold, your 39 house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall

the living God, but a grave of pestilent corruption." Alford.

35. Zacharias, son of Barachias] It is not known with certainty who is meant here. There is a tradition mentioned by Origen that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was slain by them in the temple. It may have been some other person of that name whom the Jews had recently murdered, or it may be that Jesus alluded to Zacharias the son of Jehoiada, who was killed there (2 Chron. xxiv. 21), and of whose blood the Jews had a saying, that it was never washed away till the temple was burnt at the captivity.

Son of Barachiah] "does not
occur in Luke xi. 51, and perhaps
was not uttered by the Lord himself,
but have been inserted by mis-
may
take, as Zecharias the prophet was
son of Barachiah, see Żech. i. 1.”
Alford.
between the tem-

ple and the altar] between the
vaós, temple proper and the altar,
which was in the court, iepóv, just
in front of the temple. The altar
built by Solomon, was, according to
Josephus, about 30 feet square and
15 feet high. According to the
same writer the altar in the enclos-
ure of Herod's temple was about
75 feet (50 cubits) square, and 22
feet high.
39. Ye shall
not see me henceforth, till]
Many commentators find here a
prediction of the future conversion
and restoration of the Jews.
til that day the subject of all proph-
ecy," says Alford," when your re-
pentant people shall turn with true
and royal hosannas and blessings to
greet Him whom they have pierced."

"Un

Christ takes leave of them,” says Stier, "not merely with the feeling that he can return to the temple only as Messiah or never (accord

not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!