one other place in- the New Testament : Acts xvii. 1. It is there rendered " passed through." The full idea is that of one going on a journey through a place or country.
2. — [Man/ called Mafjdalene.^ The origin of this name is differently explained hy commentators. Some think that she was so called from a Hebrew word signifying " a plaiter of hair." Some think that she was so called from the town of " Magdala," in Galilee. Talmudic authority favours the first explanation, but the second seems more probable. The question will be found fully dis- cussed in Lightfoot's Horae Hebraicse on St. Matthew xxvii., 50.
There is no Scriptural authority for the common opinion that Mary Magdalene was ever a notorious sinner against the seventh commandment. That she had been a sufferer from an extraor- dinary pDssession of the devil is plain, fi*om this verse, and Mark xvi. y., the number " seven devils" being specified in each place with ])eculiar emphasis. But there is not a whit of satisfactory evidence that she was ever a harlot. Chemnitius considers Gregory the Great to have been the author of the common opinion about Mary Magdalene.
3. — [Joanna^ the wife of Chuza^ Herod! 8 steward.'] This person is only mentioned liere in the New Testament, and we know nothing more of her. Her case reminds us of Obadiah in Ahab's house, and " the saints in Nero's household." — It also teaches us that not all our Lord's followers were poor. Some rich, though not many, were called. — It also throws light on Herod's anxiety to see our Lord, when He was sent to him by Pilate. He had probably heard of Him through his steward's family. — It also suggests the pleasant idea, that John the Baptist's imprisonment by Herod was a cause of conversion to some of Herod's retainers. Who can tell but Joanna first heard of our Lord through John the Baptist?
[Ghuza, Herod 8 steward.] The word translated " steward" is only found here and in two other places : Matt. xx. 8. and Gal. iv. 2. In the latter text it is translated" tutors." Whether Chuza was Herod's treasurer or only the head of his household, we can- not certainly pronounce. The word admits of either sense. At any rate he was a person holding a high and responsible office.
[Susanna.] This is the only place in which we find this woman mentioned. Of her past or subsequent history we know nothing.
[Many others.] Who these were we do not know. The names of most of them probably are in the book of life, and " the day will declare" them.
[Ministered to him of their substance.] Maldonatus in comment- ing on this expression quotes a passage from Jerome, which throws some light on it. He says, " It was a Jewish custom, and from the ancient habit of the nation it was thought a blame-