00050
 \\Repent\\ (\\metanoeite\\). Broadus used to say that this is the worst
 translation in the New Testament. The trouble is that the English
 word "repent" means "to be sorry again" from the Latin
 _repoenitet_ (impersonal). John did not call on the people to be
 sorry, but to change (think afterwards) their mental attitudes
 (\\metanoeite\\) and conduct. The Vulgate has it "do penance" and
 Wycliff has followed that. The Old Syriac has it better: "Turn
 ye." The French (Geneva) has it "Amendez vous." This is John's
 great word (Bruce) and it has been hopelessly mistranslated. The
 tragedy of it is that we have no one English word that reproduces
 exactly the meaning and atmosphere of the Greek word. The Greek
 has a word meaning to be sorry (\\metamelomai\\) which is exactly our
 English word repent and it is used of Judas
 # Mt 27:3
 John was a new prophet with the call of the old prophets: "Turn
 ye"
 # Joe 2:12; Isa. 55:7; Eze 33:11,15

 \\For the kingdom of heaven is at hand\\ (\\ggiken gar h Basileia tn\\
 \\ourann\\). Note the position of the verb and the present perfect
 tense. It was a startling word that John thundered over the hills
 and it re-echoed throughout the land. The Old Testament prophets
 had said that it would come some day in God's own time. John
 proclaims as the herald of the new day that it has come, has
 drawn near. How near he does not say, but he evidently means very
 near, so near that one could see the signs and the proof. The
 words "the kingdom of heaven" he does not explain. The other
 Gospels use "the kingdom of God" as Matthew does a few times, but
 he has "the kingdom of heaven" over thirty times. He means "the
 reign of God," not the political or ecclesiastical organization
 which the Pharisees expected. His words would be understood
 differently by different groups as is always true of popular
 preachers. The current Jewish apocalypses had numerous
 eschatological ideas connected with the kingdom of heaven. It is
 not clear what sympathy John had with these eschatological
 features. He employs vivid language at times, but we do not have
 to confine John's intellectual and theological horizon to that of
 the rabbis of his day. He has been an original student of the Old
 Testament in his wilderness environment without any necessary
 contact with the Essenes who dwelt there. His voice is a new one
 that strikes terror to the perfunctory theologians of the temple
 and of the synagogue. It is the fashion of some critics to deny
 to John any conception of the spiritual content of his words, a
 wholly gratuitous criticism.

 \\For this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet\\ (\\houtos\\
 \\gar estin ho rhtheis dia Esaiou tou prophtou\\). This is
 Matthew's way of interpreting the mission and message of the
 Baptist. He quotes
 # Isa 40:3
 where "the prophet refers to the return of Israel from the exile,
 accompanied by their God" (McNeile). He applies it to the work of
 John as "a voice crying in the wilderness" for the people to make
 ready the way of the Lord who is now near. He was only a voice,
 but what a voice he was. He can be heard yet across the
 centuries.

00051
00052
 \\Now John himself\\ (\\autos de ho Ians\\). Matthew thus introduces
 the man himself and draws a vivid sketch of his dress (note
 \\eichen\\, imperfect tense), his habit, and his food. Would such an
 uncouth figure be welcome today in any pulpit in our cities? In
 the wilderness it did not matter. It was probably a matter of
 necessity with him, not an affectation, though it was the garb of
 the original Elijah
 # 2Ki 1:8
 rough sackcloth woven from the hair of camels. Plummer holds that
 "John consciously took Elijah as a model."

00053
00054
 \\And they were baptized\\ (\\kai ebaptizonto\\). It is the imperfect
 tense to show the repetition of the act as the crowds from Judea
 and the surrounding country kept going out to him (\\exeporeueto\\),
 imperfect again, a regular stream of folks going forth. Moffatt
 takes it as causative middle, "got baptized," which is possible.
 "The movement of course was gradual. It began on a small scale
 and steadily grew till it reached colossal proportions" (Bruce).
 It is a pity that baptism is now such a matter of controversy.
 Let Plummer, the great Church of England commentator on Matthew,
 speak here of John's baptising these people who came in throngs:
 "It is his office to bind them to a new life, symbolized by
 immersion in water." That is correct, symbolized, not caused or
 obtained. The word "river" is in the correct text, "river
 Jordan." They came "confessing their sins" (\\exomologoumenoi\\),
 probably each one confessing just before he was baptized, "making
 open confession" (Weymouth). Note \\ex\\. It was a never to be
 forgotten scene here in the Jordan. John was calling a nation to
 a new life. They came from all over Judea and even from the other
 side of El Ghor (the Jordan Gorge), Perea. Mark adds that finally
 all Jerusalem came.

00055
 \\The Pharisees and Sadducees\\ (\\tn Pharisain kai Saddoukain\\).
 These two rival parties do not often unite in common action, but
 do again in
 # Mt 16:1
 "Here a strong attraction, there a strong repulsion, made them
 for the moment forget their differences" (McNeile). John saw
 these rival ecclesiastics "coming for baptism" (\\erchomenous epi\\
 \\to baptisma\\). Alford speaks of "the Pharisees representing
 hypocritical superstition; the Sadducees carnal unbelief." One
 cannot properly understand the theological atmosphere of
 Palestine at this time without an adequate knowledge of both
 Pharisees and Sadducees. The books are numerous besides articles
 in the Bible dictionaries. I have pictured the Pharisees in my
 first (1916) Stone Lectures, _The Pharisees and Jesus_. John
 clearly grasped the significance of this movement on the part of
 the Pharisees and Sadducees who had followed the crowds to the
 Jordan. He had welcomed the multitudes, but right in the presence
 of the crowds he exposes the hypocrisy of the ecclesiastics. \\Ye\\
 \\offspring of vipers\\ (\\gennmata echidnn\\). Jesus
 # Mt 12:34; 23:33
 will use the same language to the Pharisees. Broods of snakes
 were often seen by John in the rocks and when a fire broke out
 they would scurry (\\phugein\\) to their holes for safety. "The
 coming wrath" was not just for Gentiles as the Jews supposed, but
 for all who were not prepared for the kingdom of heaven
 # 1Th 1:10
 No doubt the Pharisees and Sadducees winced under the sting of
 this powerful indictment.

00056
 \\Fruit worthy of repentance\\ (\\Karpon axion ts metanoias\\). John
 demands proof from these men of the new life before he
 administers baptism to them. "The fruit is not the change of
 heart, but the acts which result from it" (McNeile). It was a
 bold deed for John thus to challenge as unworthy the very ones
 who posed as lights and leaders of the Jewish people. "Any one
 can do (\\poisate, vide\\
 # Ge 1:11
 acts externally good but only a good man can grow a crop of right
 acts and habits" (Bruce).

00057
 \\And think not to say within yourselves\\ (\\kai m doxte legein en\\
 \\heautois\\). John touched the tender spot, their ecclesiastical
 pride. They felt that the "merits of the fathers," especially of
 Abraham, were enough for all Israelites. At once John made clear
 that, reformer as he was, a breach existed between him and the
 religious leaders of the time. \\Of these stones\\ (\\ek tn lithn\\
 \\toutn\\). "Pointing, as he spoke to the pebbles on the beach of
 the Jordan" (Vincent).

00058
 \\Is the axe laid\\ (\\h axin keitai\\). This verb \\keitai\\ is used as
 the perfect passive of \\tithmi\\. But the idea really is, "the axe
 lies at (\\pros\\, before) the root of the trees." It is there ready
 for business. The prophetic present occurs also with "is hewn
 down" and "cast."

00059
 \\Mightier than I\\ (\\ischuroteros mou\\). Ablative after the
 comparative adjective. His baptism is water baptism, but the
 Coming One "will baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire." "Life in
 the coming age is in the sphere of the Spirit. Spirit and fire
 are coupled with one preposition as a double baptism" (McNeile).
 Broadus takes "fire" in the sense of separation like the use of
 the fan. As the humblest of servants John felt unworthy to take
 off the sandals of the Coming One. About \\bastaz\\
 See note on "Mt 8:17"

00060
 \\Will burn up with unquenchable fire\\ (\\katakausei puri asbesti\\).
 Note perfective use of \\kata\\. The threshing floor, the fan, the
 wheat, the garner, the chaff (\\achuron\\, chaff, straw, stubble),
 the fire furnish a life-like picture. The "fire" here is probably
 judgment by and at the coming of the Messiah just as in verse
 # 11
 The Messiah "will thoroughly cleanse" (\\diakathariei\\, Attic future
 of \\-iz\\ and note \\dia-\\). He will sweep from side to side to make
 it clean.

00061
 \\Then cometh Jesus\\ (\\tote paraginetai ho Isous\\). The same
 historical present used in
 # 3:1
 He comes all the way from Galilee to Jordan "to be baptized by
 him" (\\tou baptisthnai hupo autou\\). The genitive articular
 infinitive of purpose, a very common idiom. The fame of John had
 reached Nazareth and the hour has come for which Jesus has
 waited.

00062
 \\Would have hindered\\ (\\diekluen\\). Rather "tried to prevent" as
 Moffatt has it. It is the conative imperfect. The two men of
 destiny are face to face for the first time apparently. The
 Coming One stands before John and he recognizes him before the
 promised sign is given.

00063
 \\To fulfil all righteousness\\ (\\plrsai psan dikaiosunn\\). The
 explanation of Jesus satisfies John and he baptizes the Messiah
 though he has no sins to confess. It was proper (\\prepon\\) to do so
 else the Messiah would seem to hold aloof from the Forerunner.
 Thus the ministries of the two are linked together.

00064
 \\The Spirit of God descending as a dove\\ (\\pneuma theou katabainon\\
 \\hsei peristeran\\). It is not certain whether Matthew means that
 the Spirit of God took the form of a dove or came upon Jesus as a
 dove comes down. Either makes sense, but Luke
 # Lu 3:22
 has it "in bodily form as a dove" and that is probably the idea
 here. The dove in Christian art has been considered the symbol of
 the Holy Spirit.

00065
 \\A voice out of the heavens\\ (\\phn ek tn ourann\\). This was the
 voice of the Father to the Son whom he identifies as His Son, "my
 beloved Son." Thus each person of the Trinity is represented
 (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) at this formal entrance of Jesus upon
 his Messianic ministry. John heard the voice, of course, and saw
 the dove. It was a momentous occasion for John and for Jesus and
 for the whole world. The words are similar to
 # Ps 2:7
 and the voice at the Transfiguration
 # Mt 17:5
 The good pleasure of the Father is expressed by the timeless
 aorist (\\eudoksa\\).

00066
 \\To be tempted of the devil\\ (\\peirasthnai hupo tou diabolou\\).
 Matthew locates the temptation at a definite time, "then" (\\tote\\)
 and place, "into the wilderness" (\\eis tn ermon\\), the same
 general region where John was preaching. It is not surprising
 that Jesus was tempted by the devil immediately after his baptism
 which signified the formal entrance upon the Messianic work. That
 is a common experience with ministers who step out into the open
 for Christ. The difficulty here is that Matthew says that "Jesus
 was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the
 devil." Mark
 # Mr 1:12
 puts it more strongly that the Spirit "drives" (\\ekballei\\) Christ
 into the wilderness. It was a strong impulsion by the Holy Spirit
 that led Jesus into the wilderness to think through the full
 significance of the great step that he had now taken. That step
 opened the door for the devil and involved inevitable conflict
 with the slanderer (\\tou diabolou\\). Judas has this term applied to
 him
 # Joh 6:70
 as it is to men
 # 2Ti 3:3; Tit 2:3
 and women (she devils,
 # 1Ti 3:11
 who do the work of the arch slanderer. There are those today who
 do not believe that a personal devil exists, but they do not
 offer an adequate explanation of the existence and presence of
 sin in the world. Certainly Jesus did not discount or deny the
 reality of the devil's presence. The word "tempt" here (\\peiraz\\)
 and in
 # 4:3
 means originally to test, to try. That is its usual meaning in
 the ancient Greek and in the Septuagint. Bad sense of \\ekpeiraz\\
 in
 # 4:7
 as in
 # De 6:16
 Here it comes to mean, as often in the New Testament, to solicit
 to sin. The evil sense comes from its use for an evil purpose.

00067
 \\Had fasted\\ (\\nsteusas\\).  No perfunctory ceremonial fast, but of
 communion with the Father in complete abstention from food as in
 the case of Moses during forty days and forty nights
 # Ex 34:28
 "The period of the fast, as in the case of Moses was spent in a
 spiritual ecstasy, during which the wants of the natural body
 were suspended" (Alford). "He afterward hungered" and so at the
 close of the period of forty days.

00068
 \\If thou art the Son of God\\ (\\ei huios ei tou theou\\). More exactly,
 "If thou art Son of God," for there is no article with "Son." The
 devil is alluding to the words of the Father to Jesus at the
 baptism: "This is my Son the Beloved." He challenges this address
 by a condition of the first class which assumes the condition to
 be true and deftly calls on Jesus to exercise his power as Son of
 God to appease his hunger and thus prove to himself and all that
 he really is what the Father called him. \\Become bread\\ (\\artoi\\
 \\genntai\\). Literally, "that these stones (round smooth stones
 which possibly the devil pointed to or even picked up and held)
 become loaves" (each stone a loaf). It was all so simple,
 obvious, easy. It would satisfy the hunger of Christ and was
 quite within his power. \\It is written\\ (\\gegraptai\\). Perfect
 passive indicative, stands written and is still in force. Each
 time Jesus quotes Deuteronomy to repel the subtle temptation of
 the devil. Here it is
 # De 8:3
 from the Septuagint. Bread is a mere detail (Bruce) in man's
 dependence upon God.

00069
00070
 \\Then the devil taketh him\\ (\\tote paralambanei auton ho diabolos\\).
 Matthew is very fond of this temporal adverb (\\tote\\). See already
 # 2:7; 3:13; 4:1,5
 Note historic present with vivid picturesqueness. Luke puts this
 temptation third, the geographical order. But was the person of
 Christ allowed to be at the disposal of the devil during these
 temptations? Alford so holds. \\On the pinnacle of the temple\\ (\\epi\\
 \\to pterugion tou hierou\\). Literally "wing:" the English word
 "pinnacle" is from the Latin _pinnaculum_, a diminutive of
 _pinna_ (wing). "_The temple_" (\\tou hierou\\) here includes the
 whole temple area, not just the sanctuary (\\ho naos\\), the Holy
 Place and Most Holy Place. It is not clear what place is meant by
 "wing." It may refer to Herod's royal portico which overhung the
 Kedron Valley and looked down some four hundred and fifty feet, a
 dizzy height (Josephus, _Ant_. XV. xi. 5). This was on the south
 of the temple court. Hegesippus says that James the Lord's
 brother was later placed on the wing of the temple and thrown
 down therefrom.

00071
 \\Cast thyself down\\ (\\bale seauton kat\\). The appeal to hurl himself
 down into the abyss below would intensify the nervous dread that
 most people feel at such a height. The devil urged presumptuous
 reliance on God and quotes Scripture to support his view
 # Ps 91:11
 So the devil quotes the Word of God, misinterprets it, omits a
 clause, and tries to trip the Son of God by the Word of God. It
 was a skilful thrust and would also be accepted by the populace
 as proof that Jesus was the Messiah if they should see him
 sailing down as if from heaven. This would be a sign from heaven
 in accord with popular Messianic expectation. The promise of the
 angels the devil thought would reassure Jesus. They would be a
 spiritual parachute for Christ.

00072
 \\Thou shall not tempt\\ (\\ouk ekpeiraseis\\). Jesus quotes Deuteronomy
 again
 # De 6:16
 and shows that the devil has wholly misapplied God's promise of
 protection.

00073
 \\And showeth him\\ (\\kai deiknusin auti\\). This wonderful panorama
 had to be partially mental and imaginative, since the devil
 caused to pass in review "all the kingdoms of the world and the
 glory of them." But this fact does not prove that all phases of
 the temptations were subjective without any objective presence of
 the devil. Both could be true. Here again we have the vivid
 historical present (\\deiknusin\\). The devil now has Christ upon a
 very high mountain whether the traditional Quarantania or not. It
 was from Nebo's summit that Moses caught the vision of the land
 of Canaan
 # De 34:1-3
 Luke
 # Lu 4:5
 says that the whole panorama was "in a moment of time" and
 clearly psychological and instantaneous.

00074
 \\All these things will I give thee\\ (\\tauta soi panta ds\\). The
 devil claims the rule of the world, not merely of Palestine or of
 the Roman Empire. "The kingdoms of the cosmos"
 # 4:8
 were under his sway. This word for world brings out the orderly
 arrangement of the universe while \\h oikoumen\\ presents the
 inhabited earth. Jesus does not deny the grip of the devil on the
 world of men, but the condition (\\ean\\ and aorist subjunctive,
 second class undetermined with likelihood of determination), was
 spurned by Jesus. As Matthew has it Jesus is plainly to "fall
 down and worship me" (\\pesn prokunsis moi\\), while Luke
 # Lu 4:7
 puts it, "worship before me" (\\enpion emou\\), a less offensive
 demand, but one that really involved worship of the devil. The
 ambition of Jesus is thus appealed to at the price of recognition
 of the devil's primacy in the world. It was compromise that
 involved surrender of the Son of God to the world ruler of this
 darkness. "The temptation was threefold: to gain a temporal, not
 a spiritual, dominion; to gain it at once; and to gain it by an
 act of homage to the ruler of this world, which would make the
 self-constituted Messiah the vice-regent of the devil and not of
 God" (McNeile).

00075
 \\Get thee hence, Satan\\ (\\Hupage, Satan\\). The words "behind me"
 (\\opis mou\\) belong to
 # Mt 16:23
 not here. "Begone" Christ says to Satan. This temptation is the
 limit of diabolical suggestion and argues for the logical order
 in Matthew. "Satan" means the adversary and Christ so terms the
 devil here. The third time Jesus quotes Deuteronomy, this time
 # De 6:13
 and repels the infamous suggestion by Scripture quotation. The
 words "him alone thou shalt serve" need be recalled today. Jesus
 will warn men against trying to serve God and mammon
 # Mt 6:24
 The devil as the lord of the evil world constantly tries to win
 men to the service of the world and God. This is his chief
 camouflage for destroying a preacher's power for God. The word
 here in
 # Mt 4:10
 for serve is \\latreuseis\\ from \\latris\\ a hired servant, one who
 works for hire, then render worship.

00076
 \\Then the devil leaveth him\\ (\\tote aphisin auton ho diabolos\\).
 Note the use of "then" (\\tote\\) again and the historical present.
 The movement is swift. "And behold" (\\kai idou\\) as so often in
 Matthew carries on the life-like picture. "\\Angels came\\ (aorist
 tense \\proslthon\\ punctiliar action) \\and were ministering\\
 (\\dikonoun\\, picturesque imperfect, linear action) \\unto him\\."  The
 victory was won in spite of the fast of forty days and the
 repeated onsets of the devil who had tried every avenue of
 approach. The angels could cheer him in the inevitable nervous
 and spiritual reaction from the strain of conflict, and probably
 also with food as in the case of Elijah
 # 1Ki 19:6
 The issues at stake were of vast import as the champions of light
 and darkness grappled for the mastery of men.
 # Lu 4:13
 adds, that the devil left Jesus only "until a good opportunity"
 (\\achri kairou\\).

00077
 \\Now when he heard\\ (\\akousas de\\). The reason for Christ's return to
 Galilee is given here to be that John had been delivered up into
 prison. The Synoptic Gospels skip from the temptation of Jesus to
 the Galilean ministry, a whole year. But for
 # Joh 1:19-3:36
 we should know nothing of the "year of obscurity" (Stalker). John
 supplies items to help fill in the picture. Christ's work in
 Galilee began after the close of the active ministry of the
 Baptist who lingered on in prison for a year or more.

00078
 \\Dwelt in Capernaum\\ (\\Katiksen eis Kapharnaoum\\). He went first to
 Nazareth, his old home, but was rejected there
 # Lu 4:16-31
 In Capernaum (probably the modern \\Tell Hm\\) Jesus was in a large
 town, one of the centres of Galilean political and commercial
 life, a fishing mart, where many Gentiles came. Here the message
 of the kingdom would have a better chance than in Jerusalem with
 its ecclesiastical prejudices or in Nazareth with its local
 jealousies. So Jesus "made his home" (\\katiksen\\) here.

00079
00080
00081
 \\Saw a great light\\ (\\phs eiden mega\\). Matthew quotes
 # Isa 9:1
 and applies the words about the deliverer from Assyria to the
 Messiah. "The same district lay in spiritual darkness and death
 and the new era dawned when Christ went thither" (McNeile). Light
 sprang up from those who were sitting in the region and shadow of
 death (\\en chori kai skii thanatou\\). Death is personified.

00082
 \\Began Jesus to preach\\ (\\rxato ho Isous krussein\\). In Galilee.
 He had been preaching for over a year already elsewhere. His
 message carries on the words of the Baptist about "repentance"
 and the "kingdom of heaven"
 # Mt 3:2
 being at hand. The same word for "preaching" (\\krussein\\) from
 \\krux\\, herald, is used of Jesus as of John. Both proclaimed the
 good news of the kingdom. Jesus is more usually described as the
 Teacher, (\\ho didaskalos\\) who taught (\\edidasken\\) the people. He
 was both herald and teacher as every preacher should be.

00083
 \\Casting a net into the sea\\ (\\ballantas amphiblstron eis tn\\
 \\thalassan\\). The word here for net is a casting-net (compare
 \\amphiball\\ in
 # Mr 1:16
 casting on both sides). The net was thrown over the shoulder and
 spread into a circle (\\amphi\\). In
 # 4:20
 and
 # 4:21
 another word occurs for nets (\\diktua\\), a word used for nets of
 any kind. The large drag-net (\\sagn\\) appears in
 # Mt 13:47

00084
 \\Fishers of men\\ (\\haleeis anthrpn\\). Andrew and Simon were fishers
 by trade. They had already become disciples of Jesus
 # Joh 1:35-42
 but now they are called upon to leave their business and to
 follow Jesus in his travels and work. These two brothers promptly
 (\\euthes\\) accepted the call and challenge of Jesus.

00085
00086
 \\Mending their nets\\ (\\katartizontas ta diktua autn\\). These two
 brothers, James and John, were getting their nets ready for use.
 The verb (\\katartiz\\) means to adjust, to articulate, to mend if
 needed
 # Lu 6:40; Ro 9:22; Ga 6:1
 So they promptly left their boat and father and followed Jesus.
 They had also already become disciples of Jesus. Now there are
 four who follow him steadily.

00087
00088
 \\Went about in all Galilee\\ (\\perigen en holi ti Galilaiai\\).
 Literally Jesus "was going around (imperfect) in all Galilee."
 This is the first of the three tours of Galilee made by Jesus.
 This time he took the four fishermen whom he had just called to
 personal service. The second time he took the twelve. On the
 third he sent the twelve on ahead by twos and followed after
 them. He was teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom in
 the synagogues chiefly and on the roads and in the streets where
 Gentiles could hear. \\Healing all manner of diseases and all\\
 \\manner of sickness\\ (\\therapeun psan noson kai psan malakian\\).
 The occasional sickness is called \\malakian\\, the chronic or
 serious disease \\noson\\.

00089
 \\The report of him went forth into all Syria\\ (\\aplthen h ako\\
 \\autou eis holn tn Syrian\\). Rumour (\\ako\\) carries things almost
 like the wireless or radio. The Gentiles all over Syria to the
 north heard of what was going on in Galilee. The result was
 inevitable. Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over
 Galilee and Syria. "\\Those that were sick\\" (\\tous kaks echontas\\),
 literally "those who had it bad," cases that the doctors could
 not cure. "\\Holden with divers diseases and torments\\" (\\poikilais\\
 \\nosois kai basanois sunechomenous\\). "Held together" or
 "compressed" is the idea of the participle. The same word is used
 by Jesus in
 # Lu 12:50
 and by Paul in
 # Php 1:23
 and of the crowd pressing on Jesus
 # Lu 8:45
 They brought these difficult and chronic cases (present tense of
 the participle here) to Jesus. Instead of "divers" say "various"
 (\\poikilais\\) like fever, leprosy, blindness. The adjective means
 literally many colored or variegated like flowers, paintings,
 jaundice, etc. Some had "torments" (\\basanois\\). The word
 originally (oriental origin) meant a touchstone, "Lydian stone"
 used for testing gold because pure gold rubbed on it left a
 peculiar mark. Then it was used for examination by torture.
 Sickness was often regarded as "torture." These diseases are
 further described "in a descending scale of violence" (McNeile)
 as "demoniacs, lunatics, and paralytics" as Moffatt puts it,
 "demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics" as Weymouth has it,
 (\\daimonizomenous kai selniazomenous kai paralutikous\\), people
 possessed by demons, lunatics or "moon-struck" because the
 epileptic seizures supposedly followed the phases of the moon
 (Bruce) as shown also in
 # Mt 17:15
 paralytics (our very word). Our word "lunatic" is from the Latin
 _luna_ (moon) and carries the same picture as the Greek
 \\selniazomai\\ from \\seln\\ (moon). These diseases are called
 "torments."

00090
 \\Great multitudes\\ (\\ochloi polloi\\).  Note the plural, not just one
 crowd, but crowds and crowds. And from all parts of Palestine
 including Decapolis, the region of the Ten Greek Cities east of
 the Jordan. No political campaign was equal to this outpouring of
 the people to hear Jesus and to be healed by Jesus.

00091
 \\He went up into the mountain\\ (\\aneb eis to oros\\). Not "a"
 mountain as the Authorized Version has it. The Greek article is
 poorly handled in most English versions. We do not know what
 mountain it was. It was the one there where Jesus and the crowds
 were. "Delitzsch calls the Mount of Beatitudes the Sinai of the
 New Testament" (Vincent). He apparently went up to get in closer
 contact with the disciples, "seeing the multitudes." Luke
 # Lu 6:12
 says that he went out into the mountain to pray, Mark
 # Mr 3:13
 that he went up and called the twelve. All three purposes are
 true. Luke adds that after a whole night in prayer and after the
 choice of the twelve Jesus came down to a level place on the
 mountain and spoke to the multitudes from Judea to Phoenicia. The
 crowds are great in both Matthew and in Luke and include
 disciples and the other crowds. There is no real difficulty in
 considering the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on
 the Plain in Luke as one and the same. See full discussion in my
 _Harmony of the Gospels_.

00092
 \\Taught them\\ (\\edidasken\\). Inchoative imperfect, began to teach. He
 sat down on the mountain side as the Jewish rabbis did instead of
 standing. It was a most impressive scene as Jesus opened his
 mouth wide and spoke loud enough for the great throng to hear
 him. The newly chosen twelve apostles were there, "a great number
 of disciples and a great number of the people"
 # Lu 6:17

00093
 \\Blessed\\ (\\makarioi\\). The English word "blessed" is more exactly
 represented by the Greek verbal \\eulogtoi\\ as in
 # Lu 1:68
 of God by Zacharias, or the perfect passive participle
 \\eulogmenos\\ as in
 # Lu 1:42
 of Mary by Elizabeth and in
 # Mt 21:9
 Both forms come from \\euloge\\, to speak well of (\\eu, logos\\). The
 Greek word here (\\makarioi\\) is an adjective that means "happy"
 which in English etymology goes back to hap, chance, good-luck as
 seen in our words haply, hapless, happily, happiness.
 "Blessedness is, of course, an infinitely higher and better thing
 than mere happiness" (Weymouth). English has thus ennobled
 "blessed" to a higher rank than "happy." But "happy" is what
 Jesus said and the _Braid Scots New Testament_ dares to say
 "Happy" each time here as does the _Improved Edition of the
 American Bible Union Version_. The Greek word is as old as Homer
 and Pindar and was used of the Greek gods and also of men, but
 largely of outward prosperity. Then it is applied to the dead who
 died in the Lord as in
 # Re 14:13
 Already in the Old Testament the Septuagint uses it of moral
 quality. "Shaking itself loose from all thoughts of outward good,
 it becomes the express symbol of a happiness identified with pure
 character. Behind it lies the clear cognition of sin as the
 fountain-head of all misery, and of holiness as the final and
 effectual cure for every woe. For knowledge as the basis of
 virtue, and therefore of happiness, it substitutes faith and
 love" (Vincent). Jesus takes this word "happy" and puts it in
 this rich environment. "This is one of the words which have been
 transformed and ennobled by New Testament use; by association, as
 in the Beatitudes, with unusual conditions, accounted by the
 world miserable, or with rare and difficult" (Bruce). It is a
 pity that we have not kept the word "happy" to the high and holy
 plane where Jesus placed it. "If you know these things, happy
 (\\makarioi\\) are you if you do them"
 # Joh 13:17
 "Happy (\\makarioi\\) are those who have not seen and yet have
 believed"
 # Joh 20:29
 And Paul applies this adjective to God, "according to the gospel
 of the glory of the happy (\\makariou\\) God"
 # 1Ti 1:11
 Cf. also
 # Tit 2:13
 The term "Beatitudes" (Latin _beatus_) comes close to the meaning
 of Christ here by \\makarioi\\. It will repay one to make a careful
 study of all the "beatitudes" in the New Testament where this
 word is employed. It occurs nine times here
 # 3-11
 though the beatitudes in verses 10 and 11 are very much alike.
 The copula is not expressed in either of these nine beatitudes.
 In each case a reason is given for the beatitude, "for" (\\hoti\\),
 that shows the spiritual quality involved. Some of the phrases
 employed by Jesus here occur in the Psalms, some even in the
 Talmud (itself later than the New Testament, though of separate
 origin). That is of small moment. "The originality of Jesus lies
 in putting the due value on these thoughts, collecting them, and
 making them as prominent as the Ten Commandments. No greater
 service can be rendered to mankind than to rescue from obscurity
 neglected moral commonplaces " (Bruce). Jesus repeated his
 sayings many times as all great teachers and preachers do, but
 this sermon has unity, progress, and consummation. It does not
 contain all that Jesus taught by any means, but it stands out as
 the greatest single sermon of all time, in its penetration,
 pungency, and power. \\The poor in spirit\\ (\\hoi ptchoi ti\\
 \\pneumati\\). Luke has only "the poor," but he means the same by it
 as this form in Matthew, "the pious in Israel, for the most part
 poor, whom the worldly rich despised and persecuted" (McNeile).
 The word used here (\\ptchoi\\) is applied to the beggar Lazarus in
 # Lu 16:20,22
 and suggests spiritual destitution (from \\ptss\\ to crouch, to
 cower). The other word \\pens\\ is from \\penomai\\, to work for one's
 daily bread and so means one who works for his living. The word
 \\ptchos\\ is more frequent in the New Testament and implies deeper
 poverty than \\pens\\. "The kingdom of heaven" here means the reign
 of God in the heart and life. This is the _summum bonum_ and is
 what matters most.

00094
 \\They that mourn\\ (\\hoi penthountes\\). This is another paradox. This
 verb "is most frequent in the LXX for mourning for the dead, and
 for the sorrows and sins of others" (McNeile). "There can be no
 comfort where there is no grief" (Bruce). Sorrow should make us
 look for the heart and hand of God and so find the comfort latent
 in the grief.

00095
 \\The meek\\ (\\hoi praeis\\). Wycliff has it "Blessed be mild men." The
 ancients used the word for outward conduct and towards men. They
 did not rank it as a virtue anyhow. It was a mild equanimity that
 was sometimes negative and sometimes positively kind. But Jesus
 lifted the word to a nobility never attained before. In fact, the
 Beatitudes assume a new heart, for the natural man does not find
 in happiness the qualities mentioned here by Christ. The English
 word "meek" has largely lost the fine blend of spiritual poise
 and strength meant by the Master. He calls himself "meek and
 lowly in heart"
 # Mt 11:29
 and Moses is also called meek. It is the gentleness of strength,
 not mere effeminacy. By "the earth" (\\tn gn\\) Jesus seems to mean
 the Land of Promise
 # Ps 37:11
 though Bruce thinks that it is the whole earth. Can it be the
 solid earth as opposed to the sea or the air?

00096
 \\They that hunger and thirst after righteousness\\ (\\hoi peinntes\\
 \\kai dipsntes tn dikaiosunn\\). Here Jesus turns one of the
 elemental human instincts to spiritual use. There is in all men
 hunger for food, for love, for God. It is passionate hunger and
 thirst for goodness, for holiness. The word for "filled"
 (\\chortasthsontai\\) means to feed or to fatten cattle from the
 word for fodder or grass like
 # Mr 6:39
 "green grass" (\\chortos chlros\\).

00097
 \\Obtain mercy\\ (\\elethsontai\\) "Sal win pitie theirsels" (_Braid
 Scots_). "A self-acting law of the moral world" (Bruce).

00098
 \\Shall see God\\ (\\ton theon opsontai\\). Without holiness no man will
 see the Lord in heaven
 # Heb 12:14
 The Beatific Vision is only possible here on earth to those with
 pure hearts. No other can see the King now. Sin befogs and
 beclouds the heart so that one cannot see God. Purity has here
 its widest sense and includes everything.

00099
 \\The peacemakers\\ (\\hoi eirnopoioi\\). Not merely "peaceable men"
 (Wycliff) but "makkers up o' strife" (_Braid Scots_). It is hard
 enough to keep the peace. It is still more difficult to bring
 peace where it is not. "The perfect peacemaker is the Son of God
 # Eph 2:14
 " (McNeile). Thus we shall be like our Elder Brother.
