such being far from our Lord's intention : for no one can safely swallow a gnat, which may choke him. A beam is the worse of the two, and yet a chip1 is not disregarded, even in the hand, much more in the eye. See ch. vii. 5. The noun x.ojvu-^ is a word of common gender, and signifies a gnat, properly one be longing to wine, which easily falls into a strainer.2
25. To s^uQev, that tchich is without) sc. the external surface. — sffudsv df, but within) where the meat and drink are. — yefiovaiv, they are full) sc. the cup and dish. — apvayrig, of rapacity , ex tortion) see ver. 14. — xai dxpaov'ag, and excess) Excess, axpaaia, is opposed to abstinence, not only in meat and drink, but also in money and gain. With this idea, Aristotle (Eth. Nicom. vii. 6) says that the particular thing should be mentioned in regard to which any one is remarkable for excess or the oppo site ; as gain, honour, anger, etc. And this is evident in the present passage, from the use of the synonymous term, apxayri. Gregory Nazianzen says, axpaffia, l^i vuv TO vfpjrrov xai l<r?p rri\> Xptiav, everything which is siqwrfluous and more than necessary, is, in my opinion, axpctsla.
26. Kaddpiaov, cleanse) sc. by removing rapacity by almsgiving. See Luke xi. 41. — vpurov, H.T.\., first, etc.) This may also be applied to the matter of decorum. — <Va, x.r.?.., in order that, etc.) for otherwise that outward cleanliness is not cleanliness.
27. "Or/, X.T-.A., for, etc.) In this verse the especially distinc tive characteristic of hypocrites is described : for hypocrisy is named in ver. 28. Cf. Luke xi. 44 with the context.
1 In the original, " Festiica" corresponding to the English word, Mote ; the meaning of which, in Matt. vii. 3 (which is here referred to), is not a mote such as we see in sunbeams, but a small particle of straw. I know of no English word that now corresponds to this idea : it is something between a chip and a speck. — (I. B.)
2 The wine-gnat, according to Rosenmuller, is found in wine when turn ing acid. The Jews used to strain out their wines through a napkin or strainer, to prevent this wine-gnat being swallowed unawares. See Buxtorf on the root '•a. Beng. wishes to guard us against the abuse of this passage, whereby it is often said to those who are careful in the greater duties, when particular also on minor points, " Oh ! you are straining at a gnat." They for get that Jesus does not object to tenderness of conscience as to moral gnats, but to those who, whilst scrupulous as to gnats, are unscrupulous as to moral cumels, Eccles. x. 1. — ED.