which was spoken and shall bring forth h 6 a son, [7] and they hand as there the child in the prophet was called shall call his name Emmanuel, to signify the presence and protection of Emmanuel, whichbe- God to Ahaz, so shall the birth of this child be the ing interpreted is, coming of God among us.) God with us. bidden 24 Then Joseph 25. And she brought forth this Jesus, her first7 being raised from born, and in all probability her only son, (the word sleep did as the an- till being of no force to the contrary, as may appear, gel of the Lord had 1 Sam. xv. 35,) without ever being known by her 8 took unto him his husband, either before or after the conception of him, (and as it is piously believed, though not affirmed in 25 And knew her scripture, remained a virgin all her life after ;) and on not till she had the eighth day, the day of circumcision and of impobrought forth her sition of names, his name was called Jesus by the 9 he called his name appointment of his parents, according to the angel's direction. wife : firstborn son: and JESUS. CHAP. II. NOW when Je- 1. THE birth of Christ, and the circumstances besus was born in longing to that, being set down in the former chapter, Bethlehem of Ju- here now succeed in this some passages pertaining dæa in the days of to his childhood; and the first passage is, That after Herod the king, behold, there came some time, not immediately after his birth, but whilst [a] wise men from Mary and her son remained yet at Bethlehem, the east to Jerusalem, certainly after the time of Mary's purification at Jerusalem (mentioned by St. Luke) and return to Bethlehem again, the Chaldeans or Arabian astronomers came to Jerusalem. 1 a 2 Saying, Where " when we were in our country we saw a strange is he that is born extraordinary star rise in the heavens, which we [b]King of the Jews? never saw before, and discerning that it signified the for we have seen his birth of the Messias of the Jews (and of all other true [c]star in the [d]east, and are come to wor- sons of Abraham), foretold by Jewish prophets that he ship him. should be born, (and that all kings should worship him, Psalm lxxii. 11,) we are come to bring presents to him and worship him, and therefore we desire to be informed where is the place of his birth, and where 3 When Herod the is he. king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 6 Or, thou shalt, for risen, διεγερθείς. the ancient Gr. and Lat. MS. reads kaλéσeis. 7 when he was 8 took her to him to wife: see ver. 20. 9 Or, she, for ekάλeσe bears 1 learned men or magi, μayo: see note [a]. either see note [7]. 2 the King of the 4 And when he had 4. And calling the rulers of the Sanhedrin to him, gathered all the Chief (see note [a] on Mark v. 22.) he proposed this quesPriests and Scribes tion to them, What place do your books assign for of the people toge ther, he demanded of the birth of your expected Messias? (see note [c] on them where 3 Christ Acts xv.) 3 should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written by the prophet, b prophet Micah, ch. v. 2. 6 And thou Bethlehem, '[e] in the land 6. And thou Bethlehem, which art part of the porof Juda, art [f]not tion of land assigned to the tribe of Judah in the dithe least among the vision, known by the name of Bethlehem Ephrata [9] princes of Juda : for out of thee shall for its affinity to Ephrath, Gen. xxxv. 16, though come a Governor, thou wert in precinct and worldly account one of that shall rule my the least cities of Judah, yet art thou not now by any people Israel. means the vilest, but the most honourable; for from thee shall proceed, or, in thee shall be born a Ruler, vily called the wise who shall govern my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had pri 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 6 saw in the east, 7 < went before them, emoved before them in the heavens as a guide till it came and stood to lead them to the place where the child was, and over where the young when it came to the point of the heavens which was just over the house, it stood still. child was. 10 When they saw 10. And discerning that the star, which they had the star, they re- not seen so long, appeared again to them, in an joiced with exceed- horizon so far distant from that where they first saw ing great joy. it, and that it conducted them, and at last stood still, and pointed out the house to them, they rejoiced very exceedingly. 3 the Christ is, or, must be born, & Xplords yeνvâτα!. the territory of Judah. learnt from them exactly. 6 had seen, eldov. 7 led them along, προῆγεν αὐτούς. II 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 trea sures, they present ed unto him gifts; d gold as an acknowledgment of a King: which [i] gold, and frank- also fell out opportunely, to fit the parents for the incense, and myrrh. charge of their journey into Egypt, ver. 13. 12 And being warn ed of God 8 in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they depart e they went home a nearer and more private ed into their own way, (not that way which they came, through Jerucountry another way. salem, which was about,) and so were out of Herod's 13 And when they were departed, be- reach before he missed them. hold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, 14. And upon the angel's warning, after the dehe took the young parture of the magi, or astronomers, immediately he child and his mother took the child and his mother in the night time, and by night, and de- went a private way into Egypt. parted into Egypt: 15 And was there f and so that speech of Hos. xi. 1, which had until the death of one accomplishment in the people of Israel's being Herod : that it carried into and fetched out of Egypt, was now might be fulfilled again fulfilled in this true promised seed of Abrawhich was spoken of ham, i. e. in Christ, (of whom Israel, called God's the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of first-born, was a type,) and in him, now that he was a Egypt have I called child, as it was said in Hosea. and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, 5 according to the time of Christ's birth, or acaccording to the time which he had cording to the age which he had by conference 'diligently enquired with the magi, calculated Christ to be of, viz. not two of the wise men. spoken by Jeremy years old. 17 Then was ful- 17. Then had that prophecy of Jeremy, xxxi. 15. filled that which was (which was delivered first to express the captivity the prophet, saying, of Babylon and slaughter of Jerusalem,) another more 18 In Rama was eminent completion. there a voice heard, and lamentation, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the 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 Judæa in the room of his was h went into Galilee, where another of Herod's father Herod, he sons, Herodes Antipas, that contended with Archeafraid to go thither: laus for the whole kingdom, had seated himself, havnotwithstanding, be- ing gotten that from him. He probably would not ing warned of God be inquisitive or jealous against any that should be in a dream, he likely to dethrone Archelaus, and so there was not the parts of Galilee: from him any apprehension of danger. Besides he 23 And he came was not such a tyrant as Archelaus had discovered and dwelt in a city himself to be. turned aside into called Nazareth: i and so by residing and dwelling in Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which he was made capable of that title which is used spoken by the pro- of the Messias in the prophets, that he should be was learned, píßwoe: see note [h]. phets, He shall be Natser, the branch of the root of Jesse, (or, as the called a[] Nazarene. word may bear, a Saviour,) so often promised to that people. Judæa, CHAP. III. IN those days NOW before Christ's entering upon the first part came John [a] the of his office, that of preaching the will of God, Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of called his prophetic office, (in which he continued till his crucifixion,) it was necessary to set down the office of John Baptist, who proclaimed his coming beforehand as his harbinger or forerunner, and at whose baptizing of Christ the Holy Ghost visibly descended on him, and consecrated him to this prophetic office. And thus it was, while Jesus continued at Nazareth, though many years after his first coming thither, John the Baptist preached in the desert called the desert of Judæa, (differing from other deserts mentioned in the scripture, under the name of Maon, Engaddi, Ziph, the desert of Idumea, &c.) by a river side near Enon and Salim. 2 And saying, 2. Not giving them any new precepts of life, but [b] Repent ye for charging them with their breaches against the rule the [c] kingdom of or law which they had already, and accordingly sayheaven is at hand. ing to all that people, Reform, and mend your lives, for the kingdom of the Messias, so long looked for, is now approaching, and so the time that God shall come to execute most visible judgments on this land, (even to an utter destruction, if ye repent not at this preaching of John and Christ,) and withal bestow most eminent and remarkable preservations upon all penitent believers. saying, The voice of 3 For this is he that 3. And this according to that which Isaiah, ch. xl., was spoken of by saith, He shall preach in the wilderness of Judæa, the prophet Esaias, and the sum of his preaching shall be, the approach one crying in the of the Lord's coming to receive his kingdom; and wilderness, Prepare upon his being rejected, coming with his hosts against ye the way of the the obdurate and rebellious, to destroy them that Lord, make his paths would not let him reign over them. See note [c]. straight. 4 And the same a wore a rough garment made of camel's hair, John had his[d]rai- (such as Elias had, 2 Kings i. 8, and was thence ment of camel's hair, called an hairy man,) or of sackcloth, Rev. xi. 3, and a leathern girdle agreeable to his being in the wilderness, and nothing about his loins; and his meat was locusts to gird it to him but (as Elias again) a piece of and '[e] wild honey. leather made of some beast's skin; and he eat no thing but either a larger sort of grasshoppers, called locusts, Rev. xi., 22, (or else, as some think, green herbs,) and field-honey, i. e. neither bread nor wine, 1 field-honey. |