places. The discourse appears to have been delivered on the shore of the lake of Gennesareth.1
13. 'Eav y'tvriTa.1 svpsTv, if it happen that he find it) The finding of the sinner, therefore, is, in the sight of God, a something as it were contingent — IF IT HAPPEN that he find it : cf. on the loss of a sinner, ver. 11, and Gnomon in loc. Therefore grace is not irresistible ; cf. Luke xv. 6, 9, 24, and xvii. 18. — apyv }.ty<a vpTv, verily I say unto you) This formula refers to the Apodosis,2 as in Luke xi. 8, and John xii. 24 ; cf. the Divine adjuration in Ez. xxxiii. 11.
14. Oi/c sen dtXrtfta, it is not a wish)3 or anything to be de sired (cf. Ez. xviii. 23). The article is not added in the present passage ; cf. tfaX^aam, wishes, in Acts xiii. 22.4 We ought to subserve the Divine will in caring for the salvation of all. — t^rtpoffdiv,5 in the presence <?/) 6The Divine intellect is intimated as discerning what things please His will.7 — /W, x.r.X., that, etc.) i.e. He wishes most earnestly that all should be saved. — sJg, one) The disciples had asked in the comparative ;8 our Lord answers specially in the positive degree.
15. 'Ecb di, x.r.'k., but if, etc.) The sum of this chapter is as
1 Which was surrounded by mountains — (I. B.)
2 See explanation of technical terms in Appendix. — (I. B )
3 E. V. " It is not the will." Middleton renders it, " There is no wish." -(I. B.)
* Rendered in E. V. by, "Which shall fulfil all My will."— (I. B.)
5 In his own German Version Bengel renders the passage thus : — " Also ist es kein Wille VOK eurem Vater, dass" etc. — (I. B.)
6 E. V. renders the passage, " It is not the will of your Father," etc. Bengel would render it literally, " It is not a wish in the presence of your Father," etc., and explain it as representing the Divine Intellect as survey ing all possible contingencies (rendered by the Divine power visible to the Divine perception), and distinguishing between those which are, and those which are not, agreeable to His Will. — (I. B.)
7 Bengel has used the word Voluntas four times in this paragraph, and that in two different senses. In the first instance, I have rendered the singular by Wish ; in the second, the plural by Wishes ; in the third and fourth, the singular by Will. — (I. B.)
8 i.e. The disciples had asked, " Which is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven ?" — their question therefore referred to the comparative degrees of glory. Our Lord's reply directs their attention to the simple notion, the positive degree of salvation ; the universal requisites on man's part to attain — the universal desire on God's part to bestow it. — (I. B.)