2. Moses’ seat (xadédpas). Or chair, as Wyc., in allusion to the practice of teachers sitting.
5. To be seen (pos 70 Seadjvar). See on ver. 11, where the same word occurs. The scribes and Pharisees deport them- selves with a view to being contemplated as actors in a theatre ; so that men may fix their gaze upon them admiringly.
Phylacteries—Borders of their garments (¢vAaxr7pra— xpaorreda). Phylacteries, called by the Rabbis tephidllin,
Cua. XXITIT.] MATTHEW. 123
prayer-jillets, were worn on the left arm, toward the heart, and on the forehead. They were capsules containing on parchment these four passages of Scripture: Ex. xiii. 1-10; xiii. 11-16; Deut. vi. 4-9; xi. 18-21. That for the head was to consist of a box with four compartments, each containing a slip of parch- ment inscribed with one of the four passages. Each of these slips was to be tied up with well-washed hair from a calf’s tail; lest, if tied with wool or thread, any fungoid growth should ever pollute them. The phylactery of the arm was to contain a single slip, with the same four passages written in four columns of seven lineseach. The black leather straps by which they were fastened were wound seven times round the arm and three times round the hand. They were reverenced by the Rabbis as highly as the scriptures, and, like them, might be rescued from the flames on a Sabbath. They profanely imag- ined that God wore the tephallin. The Greek word transcribed phylacteries In our versions is from dvdrdcow, to watch or guard. It means originally a guarded post, a fort ; then, generally, a safeguard or preserva- tive, and therefore an amulet. Sir J. Cheke renders guards. They were treated as such by the Rabbis. It is said, for in- stance, that the courtiers of a certain king, intending to kill a Rabbi, were deterred by seeing that the straps of his phylac- teries shone like bands of fire. It was also said that they pre- vented all hostile demons from injuring any Israelite. See on Matt. ix. 20, for borders.
6. The uppermost rooms (rpwroxMalav). JRev., more cor- rectly, the chief place, the foremost couch or uppermost place on the divan.
7. Rabbi. My master. In addressing Jesus, dsddoKados (teacher) answers to Rabbi. Compare John i. 39; Luke ii. 46.
9, Father (marépa). Aimed at those who courted the title Abba, or Futher. Compare the title Papa—Pope.
10. Masters (xa9nynta/). Lit., leaders.
124 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. XXIII.
13. Hypocrites (i7oxpital). From trroxpivw, to separate gradually ; so of separating the truth from a mass of falsehood, and thence to subject to mquiry, and, as a result of this, to ea pound or interpret what is elicited. Then, to reply to inquiry, and so to answer on the stage, to speak in dialogue, to act. From this the transition is easy to assuming, feigning, playing «a part. The hypocrite is, therefore, etymologically, an actor.
Against (éuzpooSev). Very graphic. The preposition means before, or in the face of. They shut the door in men’s faces.
18. He is guilty (o¢efre). In the rendering of this word the A. V. seems to have been shaped by the earlier and now obsolete sense of guilt, which was probably a fine or payment. Compare Anglo-Saxon gyld, a recompense, and German geld, money. There is a hint of this sense in Shakspeare, Henry IV. (Second Part), Act iv., Sc. 4:
‘England shall double gild his treble guilt,”
where the play upon the words hovers between the sense of be- deck and recompense. Wyc. renders oweth, and Tynd., he ds debtor. Rev., he ts a debtor.
23. Ve Tithe (dmrodexatoire). amo, from, Sexarw, to take a tenth. Tithe is tenth ; also in older English, tethe, as tethe hest, the tenth commandment. A tething was a district containing ten families.
Mint (jdvocpov). 15s, sweet, don, smell. A favorite plant in the East, with which the floors of dwellings and synagogues were sometimes strewn.