[4108] St. John viii. 50.
[4109] The word is that peculiar and remarkable one, thereo, to gaze earnestly and intently, to which I have already called attention (see vol. i. p. 692).
[4110] He spoke of seeing,' they of tasting' death (vv. 51, 52). The word {hebrew} taste,' is used in precisely the same manner by the Rabbis. Thus, in the Jer. Targum on Deut. xxxii. 1. In Ber. R. 9, we are told, that it was originally destined that the first man should not taste death. Again, Elijah did not taste the taste of death' (Ber. R. 21). And, tropically, in such a passage as this: If any one would taste a taste (here: have a foretaste) of death, let him keep his shoes on while he goes to sleep' (Yom. 78 l). It is also used of sleep, as: All the days of the joy of the house of drawing [Feast of Tabernacles] we did not taste the taste of sleep' (Succ. 53 a). It is needless to add other quotations.
[4111] vv. 52, 53.
[4112] On the expression keep (teren) His work,' Bengel beautifully observes: doctrinam Jesu, credendo; promissa, sperando; facienda obediendo.
[4113] Gen. xv. 17.
[4114] Ber. R. 44, ed. Warsh. p. 81 b, lines 8, 7, 6 from bottom.
[4115] In the Targum Jerusalem on Gen. xv. also it seems implied that Abraham saw in vision all that would befall his children in the future, and also Gehenna and its torments. So far as I can gather, only the latter, not the former, seems implied in the Targ. Pseudo-Jonathan. Note on the differences between the Feast of Tabernacles and that of its Octave (see p. 156, note 1). The six points of difference which mark the Octave as a separate feast are indicated by the memorial words and letters {hebrew}, and are as follows: (1) During the seven days of Tabernacles the Priests of all the courses' officiated, while on the Octave the sacrificial services were appointed, as usually, by lot ({hebrew}). (2) The benediction at the beginning of a feast was spoken again at the Octave ({hebrew}). (3) The Octave was designated in prayer, and by special ordinances, as a separate feast ({hebrew}). (4) Difference in the sacrifices ({hebrew}). (5) Difference in the Psalms - on the Octave (Soph. xix. 2) probably Ps. xii. ({hebrew}). (6) According to 1 Kings viii. 66, difference as to the blessing ({hebrew}). __________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER IX. THE HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND.
(St. John ix.)
After the scene in the Temple described in the last chapter, and Christ's consequent withdrawal from His enemies, we can scarcely suppose any other great event to have taken place on that day within or near the precincts of the Sanctuary. And yet, from the close connection of the narratives, we are led to infer that no long interval of time can have elapsed before the healing of the man born blind. [4116] Probably it happened the day after the events just recorded. We know that it was a Sabbath, [4117] and this fresh mark of time, as well as the multiplicity of things done, and the whole style of the narrative, confirm our belief that it was not on the evening of the day when He had spoken to them first in the Treasury,' and then in the Porch.
On two other points there is strong presumption, though we cannot offer actual proof. Remembering, that the entrance to the Temple or its Courts was then - as that of churches is on the Continent - the chosen spot for those who, as objects of pity, solicited charity; [4118] remembering, also, how rapidly the healing of the blind man became known, and how soon both his parents and the healed man himself appeared before the Pharisees - presumably, in the Temple; lastly, how readily the Saviour knew where again to find him [4119] - we can scarcely doubt that the miracle took place at the entering to the Temple, or on the Temple-Mount. Secondly, both the Work, and especially the Words of Christ, seem in such close connection with what had preceded, that we can scarcely be mistaken in regarding them as intended to form a continuation of it.