scribes of the people)) occurs in 1 Mace. v. 42, cf. also Deut. xx. 5. They render also "iSD1 by ypa^^a.rfjc,. And that signification suits also the present passage, where a Theological Reply is spoken of. The scribes of the people are spoken of in contradistinction to the chiefs of the priests : and were private men or doctors, well versed in the Scriptures ; cf. note on ch. xxii. 35. — ivu&d- viro, inquired. He ought to have done so before. — -roD 6 Xp iff TO 5 yswarai, where Christ is born) He makes the question of the Magi his own. The present tense of the verb yiwarai (is born), accords with the general expectation of the coming of the Mes siah, which prevailed at that time.
5. B^Xgg//,, Bethlehem) The knowledge which the scribes, who do not go themselves, have derived from their ancestors, is of service to the Magi, who are seeking for Christ. — oi/ru yap yty?a.<K- rai dia rov KpopqTov, for thus it is written by the prophet) This reason was alleged by the council ; but St Matthew has stamped it with his approval.
6. K«/ sit Bij^Xs^a x.r.X., and thou Bethlehem, etc.) The passage referred to is in Micah v. 2, thus rendered by the LXX., xat <rO BJ$X££,<£ 6 oiKog Eu^paSa, oXiyidrbs il TOU sivai sv ^iXidffiv 'louden,' ex, (Sou [LCI I^Xfufffra/, roii thai s/g ap^ovra, roD 'laparj'k. On which passage see Hallet's Notes.2 Let the following be accepted as a paraphrase of both the Prophet and the Evangelist. And thou Bethlehem Ephrata, or district in the tribe of Judah, art small, fivn?, to be, in other words, inasmuch as thou art (quce sis) (consult on ? Noldii3 Concordantise Particularum, p. 458), among
Deut. xvi. 18, etc., etc. ; used of the superior magistrates, Prov. vi. 7.— Gesenius. — (I. B.)
1 i.e. "sa a scribe, Psalm xlv. 2, Ezra ix. 2, 3 ; specially (a) the king's scribe ; 2 Sam. viii. 17, xx. 25; 2 Kings xii. 17, xix. 2, xxii. 3, 4 ; (&) a military scribe who has the charge of keeping the muster-rolls, Jer. xxxvii. 15, lii. 25 ; 2 Kings xxv. 19 ; (c) in the later books a person skilled in the sacred writings, ypix.pp.a.Ttv$, 1 Chron. xxvii. 32 ; Ezra, vii. 0, etc., etc.; or "«o (1) a scribe, a royal scribe accompanying a satrap or governor of a province, Ezra iv. 8, 9, 17, 23 ; (2) yptx,p[*a,Tivs — one skilled in the sacred books, Ezra vii. 12, 21.— Ibid,— (I. B.)
2 JOSEPH HALLET, a dissenting minister, born at Exeter, 1692 ; died 1744.— (I.E.)
3 CHRISTIAN NOLDIUS, author of " Con cord antise Particularum Hebraso- Chaklajorum," was an eminent Dutch divine, born 1626, died 1683. — (I. B.)