The birth] CHAP. II. S. MATTHEW. NOW when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily CHAP. II. [of Christ. called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared, 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another away. (B) 13 And when they were departed, EXPOSITION. (B) Ver. 1-12. The wise men of the east led by a star to Bethlehem, to worship Jesus.-There is abundant evidence of a general expectation, both in Judea and the surrounding countries, that about this time some illustrious person should be born there, and obtain the government of the world. Dr. Lardner cites on this subject Josephus, Tacitus, and Celsus in Origen. The first two, like time-serving historians, apply the oracle (as they call it) to the government of Vespasian, the Roman emperor; though he had no claim to this distinction, but by the judgments be inflicted on the Jews. Celsus tells us, that " he who is to come is great, and a prince, and Lord of all the earth, and of all nations, and of armies." See also John iv. 25, 26. (Lardner's Cred. vol. i. p. 275-278.) With respect to the "wise men," or Magi, here referred to, there are different NOTES. CHAP. II. Ver. 1. Bethlehem.-See Exposition of Micah v., and Note on ver. 2.-Wise men (Gr. Magi) from the east.-But the country here meant is much disputed; Chaldea and Persia have both been named; but we follow Grotius and Doddridge, in fixing on Arabia.-King Herod-that is, "Herod the Great," as he was falsely called. Ver. 2. We have seen his star in the east — or, "We (while) in the east, have seen his star;" i. e. an extraordinary meteor which they thought must needs indicate the birth of King Messiah. Many think that these learned men might have seen in the Septuagint the prophecies of Kalaam, Num. xxiv. 17-19. The star seen by these Magi, must evidently have been a meteor, at no great height in the atmosphere, or it could not have marked a particular house, or even town. So we call those meteors frequently shooting through our atmosphere in summer evenings, falling stars. To worship him-literally, "To fall prostrate before him." Ver.3. He was troubled.It was natural for Herod to be alarmed for the safety of his throne, but why should all Israel be troubled? Meteors have always been alarming to the vulgar. The writer can remember when all London was troubled at the northern lights, and at the appearance of a comet. Indeed Justin Martyr, and other fathers, supposed this to have been a comet, which it probably resembled in its form. Ver. 4. The chief priests.-"Not only the high priest and his deputy, with all who formerly had borne that office, but also the heads of the 24 courses, as well as any other persons of peculiar eminence in the priesthood" So Josephns uses the word." Doddridge. And scribes.-See Note on chap. v. M. Ver. 7. Enquired of them diligently-or exactly. Doddridge reads, "Having got exact information from them." Ver. 11. Presented unto him gifts. It should be remembered, that in the east, no visits are made to persons of rank without a present. Ver. 12. Another way-Literally, "they turned back their course" to Arabia, without going again to Jerusalem, as Herod had desired. Ver 13. Flee into Egupi-Bethlehem was in that part of Judea nearest Egypt; it must have been, cruel. "There is no villainy so great (says Bp. Hall) but it will mask itself under a show of piety. Herod will also worship the babe! The courtesy of a false tyrant is death. A crafty hypocrite never means so il as when he speaks the fairest." Herod, no doubt, designed to murder the holy infant from the first. opinions, as well as of the country_from_plain that he acted a part as hypocritical as which they came. The learned Rosenmiller says, "That the Magi mentioned by the Evangelist, came from Arabia, is an opinion which arose in the first ages of Christianity, and is rendered probable by the fact that .... gold, frankincense and myrrh (ver. 11.) were productions of southern Arabia." (Orient. Lit. No. 1143.) This was also the country of Job, who was the greatest man of all the East (see our Note on Jub i. 3.), and lay south-east of Jerusalem and Judea. The original Magi were the priests and philosophers of Persia; but in process of fime, the term was applied to the priests and philosophers of other countries, and particularly of Arabia (so that Arabi and Magi became terms synonymous), and as things degenerated, the name was degraded to mean Magicians, or those who practised necromancy, and other forbidden arts. These men of the East saw an extraordinary star, or meteor, not in the east to them, but in the north, or it could not have guided them to Jerusalem, or to Bethlehem, which lay about six miles south of the metropolis. The presents which these Magi brought to the young Messiah were an acknowledgment of devotion from the Gentiles, and the gold (though it might not be much), while it evinced that they were persons of some consequence (perhaps Arabian princes, Ps. Ixxii. 10), might, at the same time, be of essential service to the holy family, in their flight into Egypt. It was undoubtedly by a peculiar providence that the star led them first to Jeru. salem, in order to excite the public attention; and that, possibly, at one of the great feasts, when the whole nation was there assembled. As to Herod, it is The inquiries of Herod produced from the chief priests and scribes this testimony, that, according to ancient prophecy, Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, where these pious philosophers afterwards found and worshipped him. } It has been thought strange, that neither priests nor scribes accompanied the Magi in their way to Bethlehem; but it seems clear that Herod wished to keep the matter as private as possible, for when he heard of it, he inquired of these wise men privately; and probably as privately dismissed them on their errand, thinking that from his rank and authority, he could depend on their return. The star which guided them to Jerusalem had withdrawn; but, to their great joy, it again appeared when they got without the city, and lowering its elevated course, took its station over the very house where the child lay, till the pious strangers came within, aud worshipped, and then finally disappeared. Herod had enjoined upon them, that when they found the infant, they should immediately bring him word, which probably they would have done, had they not been warned in a dream to return another way, whereby Herod was disappointed of his object, which was doubtless to destroy "the holy child, Jesus." Thus the Providence of God over-rules the wickedness of man. NOTES. Ver. 16. All the children-Doddridge and Campbil," male children." At present, Dr. Richardson Bethlehem contains but about 300 inhabitants, and perhaps never contained many more; out of these it is probable the male infants might not exceed 50, though Voltaire puts them down at 14,900! Dr. Richardson was shown a small chamber, excavated from a rock, in which they were all said to be entombed. Travels, vol. ii. p. 384-387. To the credit of this narrative, it has been objected, that it is not mentioned by Josephus, nor by any other ancient writer, except Macrobius, a Pagan author of the 5th century. Rev. Mr. Townsend (above referred to) quotes from the Barrington papers in his hands, an unpublished letter of Lardner, in which the Doctor says, "I the arded it he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the [cruelty. young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. 21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee : 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (C) EXPOSITION-Chap. II. Continued. (C) Ver. 13-25. The escape of the holy family, and Herod's massacre of the infants. -As the divine providence had, in a dream, admonished the Magi to return home another way, whereby they escaped the rage of Herod; so, by the same means, Joseph is warned no longer to remain in Bethlehem, but to fly immediately into Egypt, where many thousands of Jews resided, some of whose hearts the Lord probably opened to receive them; and as to the means of supporting them in their journey, they had been provided by the presents of the wise men so recently received. The admonitions given to the Magi by way of dream, and to Joseph himself in three several instances, and that in all probability, by the vision of angels in their sleep, seem to indicate a temporary return of the patriarchal dispensation, when angels were the usual messengers of the divine will to men: but this, we may observe, was on the approach of that period of which it was predicted, "Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." (Acts ii. 17.) Indeed the ministry of angels, if we can be lieve the New Testament, was evidently continued to the close of the sacred canon. From that period we have a more sure word of prophecy, and should be extremely cautious of trusting to visionary appearances; at the same time, we have no authority to conclude that the Almighty has deprived himself of any means formerly employed, of communicating his will to men, when he shall see an occasion worthy of his interference. Angels are still ministering spirits to the church. (Heb. i. 14.) That Herod should feel indignant, mortified, enraged, by this conduct of the eastern strangers, is not to be wondered at; and the means he took to avenge himself were in perfect consistence with his former character, in which pride and cruelty were predominating qualities. The measure of his vengeance, however, furnishes us with a note of time, relative to our Saviour's age at this period. Herod was by no means tender of human life; and as, when the decree came to be executed, mothers would be tempted to represent their children as older than they really were, in order to save their lives; it is natural NOTES-Chap. II. Con. (the passage in Macrobius) because the objection taken from the silence of Josephus appeared to me of no moment. When we have but one history of the affairs of a country, and that a brief one, the omission of some particular event is no difficulty. Josephus was a firm Jew, and had therefore a particular reason for passing over the event; because he could not mention it without giving the Christian cause a very great advantage." New Test. Arr. 1. 77, N. Ver. 18. In Rama. — This name signifies a high place, or hill, and such were generally resorted to on these occasions. See Isa. xv. 2, 3; Jer. iii. 23. Ver. 20. They are dead-that is, Herod and his Antipater, who was equally cruel with his father. Ver. 22. Archelaus-another son, also rivalled the cruelties of his father, massacreing 3000 Jews in the temple, near the beginning of his government. Ver. 23. A Nazarene-cannot here mean a person under a particular vow (i. e. a Nazarite, Numb. vi. 2, &c.) in which sense it could not apply to Jesus: but an inhabitant of Nazareth, is here intended. So, among ourselves, the names of places are sometimes used reproachfully. Thus a Birmingham halfpenny, means a counterfeit; a Billingsgate, means a low fish-woman; and it is likely that Nazareth was, at this time, spoken of with the like contempt that our citizens used formerly to speak of Billingsgate, or Wapping. to : [of John the Baptist. 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The EXPOSITION. Suppose that he might extend the age prescribed to at least double the age of the infant whose life he sought we cannot therefore consider the Holy infant at this time as more than a year old, perhaps not more than half so much, when he was visited by the eastern sages. And as it does not appear that he was certain as to the infant's age, we may rather wonder that he did not extend the murderous decree farther, than that it should extend so far. The scene here delineated is sufficiently cruel, without exaggeration. On the passage quoted from Micah (ch. v.2.), we have already remarked, that Bethlehem was but a small city, and with few inhabitants; it therefore, probably, did not contain more tham about fifty male infants; this was, however, a scene of sufficient horror to excite the pathetic lamentation here made. Rachel lay buried near this spot. On a former occasion, when her children were about to go into captivity, she is poetically represented as rising from her tomb to wail over them; but these innocents were gone to" that country from whose bourn no traveller returns." The manner of lamentation among the eastern women was also most violent, of which we shall give the following example, quoted by the late Editor of Calmet, from M. Le Bruyn's Voyage in Syria (p. 256). That celebrated traveller says, "When I was at Rama (near Lydda; not this Rama near Bethleben), I saw a great company of these Weeping women (namely, those who go to weep over the graves of their relations), who went out of the town. I followed them, and after having observed the place they visited, adjacent to their sepulchres, seated myself on an elevated spot. . . .. They first placed themselves on the sepulebres, and wept there; after having remained there about half an hour, some of them rose up, and formed a ring, holding .... each other by the hands. . . . . Quickly two of them quitted the others, and placed themselves in the centre of the ring, where they made so much noise, in screaming and clapping the hands, as, together with their various contortions, might have subjected them to the suspicion of madness. After that, they returned and seated themselves to weep again, till they gradually withdrew to their homes." (See Jer. xxxi. 15; John xi. 31, and Note on ver. 18 below. But it may be remarked, that this, and two or three other passages quoted in this chapter, seem cited in a sense that appears to have little or no connection with their original import; though it is expressly said, that these things happened that the Scriptures might be fulfilled . On this subject we beg leave to introduce a very candid and judicious remark of Dr.J.P. Smith; "It is admitted (he observes), that the Apostles and Evangelists have sometimes cited sentences and phrases from the Old Testament, in the way of accommodation to subjects not contemplated in the original design of those passages. To deny this, would be to refuse them that liberty of observing striking coincidences, and of making useful applications, which writers of all ages have exercised; and the scriptural books were almost the only literature of the Jews. We should, however, be slow and cautious to admit this solution; and well consider the probability that, in such cases, there may be a ground of appropriation, the inobservance of which is solely owing to our ignorance of some circumstance in the original intent of the passage." (Messiah, vol. i. p. 169.) On the principles just mentioned, we should be far from saying, that any of the passages cited in this chapter are quoted in a sense foreign to their original design. The first passage above quoted is applied to Messiah by the Jewish Sanhedrim, and NOTES. CHAP. III Ver. 1. In those days-that is, while Jesus resided with his parents in Nazareth.John the Baptist or the Baptiser, as afterwards is explained Preaching-that is, proclaiming, as a herald, or pablie erier. Campbell.-In the wilderness of Judea-mentioned Jud. i. 16, and in the title of Ps. Ixiii. It lay east from Jerusalem, along the Jordan and the Dead Sea. Not a region unin bsited, but woody. mountainous, and thinly inhabited. The name seems to be of much the same import with our word Highlands. Campbell. V. 3. The prophet Esaias-Heb. "Isaiah." And The voice of one crying, Prepare, &c.— 13 See Isa. xl. 3. Diodorus Siculus says of Semira mis, that" in her march to Ecbatane she came to the Zarcean Mountain, which, extending many furlongs, and being full of craggy precipices and deep hollows, could not be passed without making a great compass about. Being, therefore, desirous of leaving an everlasting memorial of herself, as well as of shortening the way, she ordered the precipices to be digged down, and the hollows to be filled up; and, at a great expense, she made a shorter and more expeditious road, which to this day is called the road of Semiramis." She did the same afterwards in Persia, other countries. See Orient. Lit. No. 1146, the facts he has recorded, and compare rigorous examination, as we shall have them with the other Evangelists, who appear to record the same, or others very similar. On Mark, we shall omit, or pass lightly over what corresponds with Mat thew, and so with Luke and John, which will prevent much repetition, and reduce our work within as narrow limits as can be done conveniently. As to any attempts at chronological arrangement, we confess that we see little like it in either of the Evangelists. Events were recorded as they recurred, or were brought to mind by the Holy Spirit who directed them, their great object not being to form a well digested history, but to collect such facts and discourses as were adapted to direct their faith to the true Messiah. Thus St. John says, "These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name." John xx. 31, SECTION I. The Old and New Dispensations (or Testaments) compared. But there is another point of view in which the harmony of the New Testament may be considered, namely, as it corre sponds with the Old Testament in several interesting points of view, two or three of which we shall just mention, before we proceed farther in our inquiries. 1. Considered historically, we may ob serve, that the Mosaic revelation is not only admitted but confirmed by that of Christ. The former may lead a dispas sionate inquirer to embrace the latter; but the latter so necessarily supposes the former, that we find it difficult to conceive of any man as a believer in Christ, who rejects Moses and the Prophets. Indeed our Saviour himself places this in the strongest point of view, when he says, "If men hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead." (Luke xvi. 31.) 2. The New Testament corresponds with the Old, as it contains the fulfilment of many of its prophecies; those particularly which relate to the Messiah. To him "gave all the Prophets witness," and the New Testament records the fulfilment of their predictions. From the first promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, we have a long series of predictions, pointing to the character and works, the life and death, resurrection and future triumphs of the Messiah, the fulfilment of which is distinctly pointed out in various parts of the New Testament, and particularly in the Gospels. Some passages of the Old Testament may be cited only by way of accommodation, or illustration; but others, quoted by way of argument, have stood the test of the most occasion to show in the farther progress our work. of Typical institutions are a species of prophecy, by means of emblems and figurative action, which, though not so well understood in our western world, were in the east equally intelligible and satisfactory, with the clearest verbal prophecies. Travellers into these countries are surprised to find the frequency of figurative action, and the ease with which it is understood. Among the Old Testament types, the sacrifices are the most interesting and important. The scape goat, the paschal lamb, and the whole burnt-offering, all, though in dif ferent points of view, direct us to the one offering of Messiab. But the New Testament, while it clears away the obscurity of former prophecies, presents us with a new series, extending no less distance into fu turity than those of Abraham and Jacob and terminating only with the church and with the world. Our Lord himself foretold the past calamities and present dispersion of the Jews. St. Paul has drawn the character of the Man of Sin, and marked his progress and final overthrow; but St. John, in his Revelations, presents us with the most extensive set of prophetic visions that ever were exhibited. They are indeed enveloped in the same obscurity as those of former ages; but Time bas already partially withdrawn the veil, and, as he passes on, will still roll back the remaining clouds. assure 3. Another point of view in which these dispensations may be compared, regards their peculiar temper and spirit. That of the Old Testament was partial and severe. It was confined to the children of circumcision; yea, with some exceptions, to a single nation, and that one of the smallest, and which, as their own Scriptures us, had as little to boast in respect of merit as of numbers. (Deut. vii. 7,8; Dan. ix. 8, 16.) But the gospel has in it nothing peculiar to any nation, or country. have the clearest proofs in matter of fact, that it suits equally with the climates of England, of India, and of Labrador. It is calculated, therefore, for universal use, and its universal spread is promised. We If we advert also to the miracles with which each dispensation was introduced, we find those of Moses were miracles of judgment, inflicting punishment upon sinners (not, indeed, undeserved), but of a very different character from those by which our Redeemer introduced the gos pel: these were almost, without exception, miracles of mercy, as we shall have occasion to point out as we proceed. 4. Another point of view in which we may advantageously compare the Old and New Testaments, relates to the gradual 81 |