New Testament life, and that in the person of Christ particularly, as the representative of the New Testament, all the rays of the Old Testament ideas are concentrated as in their focus." We may admit the general principle here stated. The only objection to applying it in the case before us is the want of sufficient evidence that this particular passage was intended, either by the prophet or the evangelist, to be so understood. On reading carefully the whole passage in Isaiah, from the beginning of the seventh chapter to the eighth verse of the ninth chapter in Dr. Noyes's Translation, we cannot free ourselves from the impression, that though the seventh chapter standing by itself might indicate no allusion to the Messiah, yet the extraordinary passage beginning with the last verse of the eighth and reaching through the first seven verses of the ninth chapter can hardly be understood in any other way than as pointing on to the times of the Messiah; and if so, as giving some countenance to those who interpret vii. 14 as in a secondary sense applying to the same distant event. For the opposite view, see Dr. Palfrey's able, ingenious, and elaborate work on “The Relation between Judaism and Christianity." NOTES. THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of Da2 vid, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren. 1. Jesus Christ] In the body of the Gospel, where Jesus is spoken of as present and acting, he is never called by his official title, Christ, the Messiah, or the anointed, though he is constantly so called in the Acts and the Epistles. This is one of the slight but unmistakable marks of truthfulness in the writers of the And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares 3 begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; and Aram begat 4 Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab. And Booz be- 5 gat Obed of Ruth. And Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat 6 David the king. And David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias. And Solomon begat Roboam; 7 and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; and Asa be- 8 gat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; and Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; 9 and Achaz begat Ezekias; and Ezekias begat Manasses; and 10 Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; and Josias 11 begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time`they were carried away to Babylon. — And after they were brought to 12 Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; and Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Elia- 13 kim; and Eliakim begat Azor; and Azor begat Sadoc; and 14 Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; and Eliud be- 15 gat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of 16 whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the 17 generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations ; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his 18 mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then 19 Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying: Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that 21 which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he 22 shall save his people from their sins. (Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the and was legally liable for any misconduct, the same as if they had actually come together in marriage. If Joseph, therefore, had instituted proceedings against Mary for conjugal infidelity, the legal penalty, a disgraceful divorce or perhaps death, would have been exacted. The word translated just, díkaios, does not bear the meaning merciful, which is sometimes put upon it. A paraphrase closer to the original would be: 66 But Joseph, her husband, though a just man, [and therefore unable to countenance what seemed to him a violation of the law,] yet not wishing to expose her [to unnecessary shame or suffering], had made up his mind to put her away privately;" not, however, without a writing of divorce, as that would have been unlawful. For the law of divorce, see Deut. xxii. 23, xxiv. 1. 20. in a dream] This mode of divine communication, i. e. through a dream, is mentioned nowhere in the New Testament but here and in the next chapter, unless we regard the dream of Pilate's wife, xxvii. 19, as of the same character. 21. and thou shalt call his name Jesus] i. e. SAVIOUR, in Hebrew, the same name as Joshua. for he shall save his people from their sins] The true character of his salvation, namely, salvation from sin rather than from its penalties, is here distinctly set forth. his people] not the Jews alone, but all who accept him as their Sav22. that it might be fulfilled, &c.] iva, that. "It is impossible," says Alford, "to interpret iva in any other sense than ' in order that.' The words all this iour. was done,' and the uniform usage of the New Testament, in which iva is never used except in this sense, forbid any other." We are surprised at so unqualified a statement. Winer, the ablest writer on the Grammar of the New Testament, though he insists on design as the primary and almost uniform meaning of the word, is yet obliged to allow that there are cases (e. g. John i. 27, iv. 34, vi. 7, xv. 8, xvi. 7; Matt. xviii. 6; Luke xi. 50, xvii. 2, &c.) where "the original import of the particle of design entirely disappears." Winer, xliv. 8, c. (Masson's Tr., Am. ed. p. 354). Sophocles, in his learned work, "A Glossary of Later and Byzantine Greek," Introduct., § 95, says: "In later and Byzantine Greek, iva often denotes a result; that is, it has the force of ore, that, so that, so as.” And this he proves by many examples. Purpose or design is not then necessarily implied by the word iva. On the contrary, it is also used to denote result as well as purpose; e. g. Luke ix. 45: But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that [va, so that] they perceived it not." This passage, we think, furnishes the key to the passage here, and to the same form of expression, Matt. ii. 15, iv. 14, xxi. 4, xxvii. 35. In every one of these instances, so that is a better translation of iva than in order that. It is equally in conformity with the grammatical usage of the Greek word, and evidently better describes the use that is made of the prophecies. The Evangelist does not mean to say, these events occurred in order that the words of the prophet prophet, saying: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and 23 shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel;" which, being interpreted, is, God with us.) Then Joseph, 24 being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him; and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till 25 she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called his name Jesus. 22. might be fulfilled," but "they occurred in such a manner that as a result the words of the prophet were fulfilled in them.” might be fulfilled] λnpwoŋ. What is meant by fulfilled? The literal meaning of this word is filled, or filled out. Thus Matt. v. 17: "Think not that I come to destroy the law or the prophets: I come not to destroy, but to fulfil;" i. e. I i. e. I come to carry out to its complete and spiritual fulfilment the law whose burdensome forms, once a help, are now a hindrance to the work for which it was given. To fulfil, in this case, is not, therefore, a literal fulfilment, for in the literal sense of the words, Jesus did come to destroy the law; but it was to fulfil the law in a different and higher sense than had previously been thought of. The same, we suppose, is also true in regard to the prophets. Not always in a literal sense, but in their deepest and highest meaning, in the divine truth and life, the spiritual redemption and deliverance towards which they were pointing, their words are fulfilled in Jesus. So, in other ways, in an inferior sense, even one which though literal may never have occurred to them, specific words which they used may have been fulfilled in particular incidents connected with his life, i. e. may be used to describe them, as in the passage before us. See also Notes on ii. 5, 15, 17, 23; xxi. 4. For a fuller exposition of the subject of Prophecy, see xxiv. 23. Behold, a virgin] The first clause of this sentence is the emphatic one. The name Emmanuel, which is found nowhere else in the New Testament, was not given to Jesus. He was not so named by his parents. He never assumed the name himself, and was never so called by his disciples. It was directed to be given to a child mentioned in Is. vii. 14, who was to be born in the reign of Ahaz, and who was to be to him a sign that God was with him. "The mere use of such a name," says Dr. Barnes, "would not prove that he had a divine nature," especially, we might add, when there is no evidence that he ever bore the name. It does, however, unquestionably describe the mission of our Saviour, in whom God was with us, manifesting himself in the flesh, and reconciling the world to himself. The Jews were in the habit of giving significant titles to their great men. Thus the original name of Joshua was Oshea or Saviour, and Moses, Num. xiii. 16, called him Jehoshua, which means the salvation of God. Eli means My God; Elijah, My God Jehovah; Elisha, God the Saviour. first-born son] Tischendorf, in conformity with the reading in some of the best manuscripts, leaves out the word first-born; but Alford retains it, with the remark that the omission" was evidently made from superstitious veneration for Mary." The perpetual virginity of the mother of Jesus, as held by the Roman Catholic Church, is not implied or intimated here by either reading. 25. her CHAPTER II. 1–12. — VISIT OF THE WISE MEN, OR MAGI. THE remarkable event in this chapter, at least that which gives the greatest trouble to those who would understand in all its bearings every particular connected with the Gospel narratives, is the visit of the Magi, or wise men, under the guidance of a star, or some extraordinary luminous appearance in the heavens. A vast deal of learning has been expended upon the subject without coming to any satisfactory results. It has never been definitely ascertained who these wise men were, or what was the precise appearance in the heavens that brought them to Bethlehem. All that can be learned is, that there was at that time a widely extended expectation in the East of the birth, in that part of the world, of some one who was to have an extraordinary influence on human affairs. Jews, in their various national misfortunes, and the migrations consequent upon them, had mingled as permanent residents with the people beyond their eastern borders. They had undoubtedly carried with them their religious notions, and particularly the prophetic expectations of the Messiah, which had entered so deeply into the heart of the nation. Their ablest and wisest men would naturally be brought into connection with the corresponding classes whom they might meet in foreign lands, and in the interchange of ideas with one another whatever was most remarkable in the science or religious systems of either would become the common property of all. Thus there may have been in those Eastern regions men of devout and earnest hearts, waiting anxiously |