ately before Thee. The LXX. have gga/<p vq$ (immediately) in the passage just quoted. John was not a prophet of distant events. — See Luke i. 76. The advent of the Father and of the Son are the same, and so is the language which applies to them. It is one of the strongest arguments for the divinity of Christ, that those things which are said of Christ in the New Testament are quoted from the Old Testament, where they are predicated as exclu sively belonging to God. — See Gnomon on John xii. 41 ; Acts ii. 33 ; Kom. ix. 33, xiv. 11 ; 1 Cor. i. 31, x. 9 ; Eph. iv. 8 ; Heb. i. 6, 8, 10, 11 ; Rev. i. 8, 17.
11. Obx tyqytprai, there lias not arisen) or there hath not been raised up as yet. The verb sytlptadai, denotes an office conferred. — sv yewriTo?s ywaixuv, among them that are born of women) An expression of universal extent. Thus, Iv yuva/g/v, among women, of the blessedness of Mary, Luke i. 28. — pei^uv, a greater, sc. prophet) See Luke vii. 28, and i. 15, even if he be compared with Enoch, Moses, and Elias. — ro\J /SaTr/croD, the Baptist) He was already then distinguished by this surname, on account of the novelty and magnitude of the matter, not merely afterwards to distinguish him from John the apostle. — 6 & pixpoTtpog, but the least) The comparative with the article has the force of a super lative. As far as John excels eveiy one, even the greatest of the ancient prophets, so far is John himself excelled by every one, even the least, in the kingdom of heaven, whether he be a preacher of Christ, or merely a citizen thereof. John himself was not yet in the kingdom of heaven, but he preceded it [as a herald].1 Jesus is not the least IN the kingdom of heaven, but is the King Himself; and He Himself is implied by the kingdom of heaven, which John announced. — See ver. 10 and 3, and ch. iii. 11. And the less and the greater are here spoken of as they are, not in the opinion of men, but in reality, in the know ledge of the revealed Christ. — See 1 Pet. i. 12. The idea of external appearance, in ver. 6, does not come in here. Jesus was despised and unknown amongst men, but He was not the least, as far as the kingdom of heaven was concerned ; all the citizens of the kingdom of heaven already acknowledged Him
1 Even at that time the Apostles themselves already were superior to John in their baptizing and teaching, John iv. 2 ; Matth. x. 7, etc. — Harm., p. 299, at the end.