PREFACE THE attempt to write this commentary has been made under impulses given, in the one case consciously, in the other not, by two friends. For some years, Bishop Lloyd of Newcastle-on-Tyne, whose loss we are still deeply lamenting, had been urging the writer to do something of the kind; and one of the latest letters received from him, a letter written shortly before his death, expressed delight that this volume was progressing. And it was the writer's privilege to take a very small part in the production of the invaluable work on this Gospel by the Rev. W. C. Allen in the International Critical Commentary published by Messrs. T. & T. Clark. To share in that work was to be inspired to continue it. This volume, therefore, has two aims over and above the desire to do something in accordance with Bishop Lloyd's earnest wishes. On the one hand, this sequel to Mr. Allen's commentary has for its object to call the attention of some who do not already know it to a book which Leaflet 31 of the Central Society of Sacred Study (July 1907) pronounces to be "the best English commentary on the first Gospel" (p. 5), and of which reviewers have said much the same. On the other hand, this volume aims at supplementing the earlier one. A reviewer in the Guardian doubted whether Mr. Allen "was well advised to restrict himself so rigidly to questions of literary, as distinct from historical-not to say theological and religious-interest." How well he would have dealt with the historical, theological, and religious sides of his subject is shown in those places in which he somewhat transgresses his self-imposed limits. But there can be no doubt that his desire to do the critical and literary part of the work (which was the part most needed) with thoroughness has caused him to omit a good deal that his readers would have been glad to have from him. To supply, if possible, some of the elements which he has passed by, or has treated very briefly, is another of the aims of this volume. The works to which this commentary is indebted are numerous. A list of some of them is given below, partly as an expression of gratitude, partly as some help to others who desire to labour in the same field. An asterisk indicates that the writer's debt is large, and that others may expect to find much to aid them. For further information the list of works in the writer's International Critical Commentary on St. Luke, pp. lxxx-lxxxviii, 577– 580, may be consulted. Abbott, E. A. . Paradosis, London, 1904. Johannine Vocabulary, 1905. *Johannine Grammar, 1906. Alexander, W. M. Demonic Possession in the New Testament, Edinburgh, 1902. *A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Edinburgh, 1907. *The Messiah of the Gospels, Edinburgh, 1894. New Light on the Life of Jesus, Edinburgh, 1904. The Ethical Teaching of Jesus, New York, 1904. Criticism and the Dogma of the Virgin Birth (N. Amer. Rev., June 1906).1 Bruce, A. B... The Synoptic Gospels (The Expositor's Greek Testament), London, 1897. 1904. Cambridge, The Gospel History and its Transmission, This valuable essay has been published separately. Scribner, 1909. Burton and Dalman, G. . Constructive Studies in the Life of Christ, The Book of Enoch, Oxford, 1893. The Apocalypse of Baruch, London, 1896. *The Words of Jesus, Edinburgh, 1902. The Philology of the Greek Bible, London, New Light on the New Testament, Edinburgh, 1907. Donehoo, J. de Q. The Apocryphal and Legendary Life of Christ, New York, 1903. Encyclopedia Biblica, London, 1899-1903. Commentaire critique et moral sur l'Evangile selon Saint Luc, Paris, 1903. Introduction au Nouveau Testament, Neuchatel, 1897. The Incarnation of the Son of God (The The New Theology and the Old Religion, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Canon and Text of the New Testament, Sayings of our Lord from an early Greek New Sayings of Jesus, London, 1904. Die Chronologie der altchristlichen Literatur *The Sayings of Jesus, the Second Source of *Dictionary of the Bible, Edinburgh, 1898- Hastings, J... *Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, 1900 1908. Hawkins, Sir J. C. *Hora Synoptica, Oxford, 1899; 2nd ed. 1909 Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, London, 1903. Herford, R. T.. Holtzmann, H. J. Holtzmann, O. Jülicher, A.. Kennedy, H. A. A. Klostermann, E. Knowling, R. J. Einleitung in das Neue Testament, Freiburg i. The Life of Jesus, London, 1904. Lock and Sanday An Introduction to the New Testament, Sources of New Testament Greek, Edinburgh, Handbuch zum Neuen Testament; Markus, Our Lord's Virgin Birth, London, 1907. Two Lectures on the Sayings of Jesus re- Mackinlay, G.. The Magi, How they recognised Christ's Star, Maclaren, A. London, 1907. *The Gospel according to St. Matthew, London, 1905, 1906. Moulton, J. H. . *A Grammar of New Testament Greek, Edinburgh, 1906. The Modern Reader's Bible, London, 1907. The Gospel according to the Hebrews, London, 1879. The Gospel according to St. Matthew, London, 1881. The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the The Talmud (The Chandos Classics), Das Kindheits Evangelium (Texte und |