35. E!g, upon) There is a difference between this and sv (by}1 used in the last verse. The Jews were accustomed to pray for all blessings upon Jerusalem. The meanings of the formula therefore was — /So may the city be in safety, as — So may it light upon the city, as2 — cro'A/j, the city) the royal abode. — roD3 Mi-ydXou Ba<r/>Jwj, of that4 Great King), (see Ps. xlviii. 2), i.e. of the Messiah whom (ver. 34, 35) heaven anil earth obey. It is not unbecoming in Him to speak thus of Himself. See ch. ix. 38, and xxii. 43.
36. K«paX»j, head) Their sin is still graver who swear by their life or their soul. — ftiav rpi^a Xtvuriv ft peXaivav To/7j<ra/, to make one Iiair [thereof] white or black) The dye of human art is not real whiteness or blackness. Not merely is a single hair, but even the colour of a single hair, beyond the power of man.
37. 'o Xo'yog v/tuv, your conversation) your daily ordinary speech. vai, mi. ou, ou, yea, yea ; nay, nay) Let " yea," or, " it is, be employed to affirm what is true, — " Nay" or, " it is not," to deny what is false.5 Cf. Gnomon on 2 Cor. i. 17, 18, and James v. 12. — vripiffffbv, exceeding, that which exceeds) Excess is faulty. — ex. roD xwrtfw, of evil) ; the word is here in the neuter gender, [and signifies evil in the abstract! : see ver. 39.
38. 'o^aXttoi/, an eye) sc. Thou shalt require. In Exod. xxi. 24, the LXX. have o<pdaXfj,ov dvri b<pf)a\>j,o\J, odovTO, dvri boovro;, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The lex talionis was most suitable for punishments, as in the greater injury, murder, and in the less, theft, so also in that which stood midway between them. See Lev. xxiv. 20. Mutilation was frequent in punishments without reference to the principle of the lex talionis ; why then should it not be used to carry out that principle itself? Cf. Jud. i. 7.6 Penalties would avail more, if human judgment did not depart
1 E. V. renders both words "by" — sc. " by Heaven," " by Jerusalem," etc.— (I. B.)
2 Perhaps it may refer to the Jewish custom of praying with the face to wards Jerusalem, Daniel vi. 10. — ED.
3 The article has a magnifying force. — Not. Crit.
* Magni illius regis. E. V. renders it " of the Great King." — (I. B.) 6 Lit. Let the " It is" of fact be also the " It in" in your words : let the
" It is not" of fact be also the " It is not" in your words. — ED.
6 What had been prescribed to the magistrate, that the Scribes allotted
to private vengeance. — B. G. V.