ye shall not even enter therein. He does not say, " ye shall not remain," but, " ye shall not enter," so as to repress their arrogance the more.
4. "Offng, whosoever) No answer is given concerning the indivi dual whom they inquired about. — wro^thismari) sc. he, I tell you.
5. AsgjjT-a/, shall receive) sc. humbly, lovingly, to the profit of his soul, as appears from the contrast in the next verse. — roiovTov, such) For little children also are sometimes corrupt.1 — The same termination occurs in Acts xxi. 25.2 — Iv, one) God's providence is exercised also on individuals ; see the next verse. One is frequently mentioned in this chapter. — JT/ TM ovdpari Mou, in My name) Not from natural or political causes. — 6co',aar/, name) see ver. 20. — '£//,£, Me) sc. who am in the little ones which believe on Me, as the Father is in Me. In like manner it may be said that, in Justification, when God receives a believer, He receives Christ.
6. SxavdaXiffri, shall offend) sc. by putting a stumbling- block in the way of either his faith or practice, by provoking to pride or strife, by calling him away from the virtues of that early age. The greatest reverence is due to a child, if you are em ployed in anything which is wrong.3 Children are more easily impressible; therefore they are more easily injured. — ruv -XIG- •rivovruv, ivho believe) Jesus paid great attention to little children, and endued them with faith ; see ch. xiv. 21, xix. 13, 14, and xxi. 15, 16. — ffvfjup'spei avrw, it is expedient for him) i.e., it is his interest — it were better for him ; for drowning is far less horrible than the fire spoken of in ver. 8, or the lake of fire mentioned in Rev. xix. 20. — /AuXoj ovi%b$, amillstone)* An appropriate phrase in a discourse concerning offence, for stumbling is produced by stones.
be drowned) A frequent and horrible punishment.5
1 Therefore He marks out one endued with humbleness of heart. — V. g.
2 TOIOVTO;, roietvTYi, TOIWTO, Att. also TOIOVTOV, which however is also found in Od. vii. 309, and xiii. 330 ; and seems to prevail in Herodotus. Liddell and Scott.— (I. B.)
3 See Juvenal xiv. 47, 48.— (I. B.)
" Maxima debetur puero reverentia, si quid Turpe paras." — ED.
4 Literally, an ass millstone — i.e. the millstone of a mill worked by an ass, and therefore larger than a common hand-mill. — (I. B.)
5 In opposition to the kingdom of heaven. — V. g.