see ver. 15 and 18 ; Luke xxi. 20, 21. The beginning is only mentioned in ver. 8.
7. 'Eyipdqfftrui, shall be roused) sc. after a period of greater peace. — sdvo;, X.T.X., nation, etc.) even beyond the limits of Judea. — A//AO/, KOI,) hotpot, no.) ffziff/Aoi, famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes) Almost all matters treated of in the Novelise, may be referred to one or the other of these classes, though historians frequently regard such things less than the deeds of men. — Kara rovovs, in divers places) There always have been pestilences, etc., but not of such frequent occurrence.
8. 'APX?I, the beginning) sc. with regard to the Jews; con trasted with the end spoken of in ver. 6, 14. — wftivuv, of pangs) which precede the regeneration [or new birth of the world] : see ch. xix. 28, and Rom. viii. 22. A metaphor taken from childbirth.
9. ' Aw/trfvoZffiv b/j,as, they shall kill you) sc. some of you ; see Luke xxi. 16. The Lord does not point these out, in order that all may watch. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, James the Greater was slain by Herod, as St Luke mentions ; Peter, by Nero, as ecclesiastical history hands down. You : as if you were in fault, and were the authors of the misery of the human race. This is the last consolation of the world. "Judgment begins with the house of God." — (Aufovpevoi, hated) The Christian religion has something peculiar, hateful to the corrupt world, which tolerates all other denominations.
10. 'Zxavda'kiffdTjffovrai, shall be offended) sc. shall make shipwreck of their faith.1 — «AAJJAOUJ, one another) This is the saddest of all.
11.— 13. K«/ T6AAO/, x.r.A., and many, etc.) Faith, love, and hope must be anxiously preserved.
12. 1r,v avo.uiav, unrighteousness) Unrighteousness and love are opposites ; for love is the fulfilling of the laiv. Unrighteousness involves compulsion, love, as it were, something natural. — shall wax cold) It is the character of love to burn. — love) sc. towards God, mankind, our neighbour, and ourself; of a spiritual and also natural kind; love, which is the sum of the law. — eropyri (natural affection) makes parents rejoice in the birth of their offspring : when iniquity has made times
1 As of love, v. 12. — V. g.