7. Am/7-e, ask) Ask for gifts to meet your needs. — £»?«/•«, seek) sc. the hidden things which you have lost, and return from your error. — x.^oiirs, knock) sc. ye who are without, that ye may be admitted within. See 2 Cor. vi. 17, fin. Ask, seek, knock) without intermission.1
8. rias, every one) that asketh, even from man, much more from God.
9. "H, An interrogative particle, corresponding to the Latin an.2 — Ig upuv, of you) Parables are especially popular, when they are addressed ad hominem. — avdpuKog, a man) One, that is, who is not clearly devoid of humanity.3 — aprov, bread) A stone, which is useless for food, resembles outwardly a loaf or roll. A snake, which is noxious, resembles a fish. A child can more easily do without fish than bread, and yet he obtains even a fish by asking for it. Fishes were given then to children, as apples are now. — pri Xidov, a stone ?) Lat. num lapidem, [such must be the force of ^ * in this place] ; for the parent, when asked, will not refuse to give either bread or a stone.
11. 'Tftt/g, you) Christ rightly excepts Himself, and no one else.5 — The i>f*>e?s here refers to J£ V/&MV, of you, in ver. 9. — Tov>jpo/, evil) An illustrious testimony to the doctrine of original sin. Cf. the evil one,6 vi. 13. The Panegyric of Gregory7 Thau-
1 Never cease, I pray thee, Reader, to turn such a promise to thy advan tage, as often soever as the opportunity presents itself. — V. g.
2 The second part of a disjunctive interrogation. — ED.
3 The arrangement of the words in the original brings this idea strongly out.— (I. B.)
* The interrogative particle, which expects a negative answer. — " He will not give a stone, will he?" — ED.
5 What man of you, ver. 9, implies that all but Himself are included in His words. — (ED.)
6 Men who are devoid of a godly disposition imitate him. — B. G. V.
In the original the expressions used are, Malus, malitiam, male audit. — As the first of these = the Evil One, I have rendered the others so as to cor respond with it. — (I. B.)
7 GREGORY, surnamed THAUMATURGUS, or the wonder-worker, was born at Neo-Csesarea, in Cappadocia. He was originally a heathen, and highly educated, in the learning of the ancients. He afterwards embraced Christianity, and studied under Origen. Having taken orders, he was ordained Bishop of his native city about 239. He died between 264 and 271. He was a man of high attainments and great piety. Several valuable