81 (5 passeth away).
i hereandin
” οι. j Mk. ii. the mas Lk. ν. 38. ἀνακειμένου (Hebrew ὃν idiom; cf. Num. xxii. 20).
Καὶ Jdvaoras ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.
8. ἰδόντες δὲ of ὄχλοι COadpacay,! καὶ ἐδόξασαν τὸν Θεόν, τὸν δόντα .. ἐξουσίαν τοιαύτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
9. Καὶ " παράγων 6 ᾿Ιησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήµενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, Ματθαῖον λεγόμενον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ, '"᾽Ακολούθει
Io. Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῦ
ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, καὶ ” ἰδού, πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ
k Ch, xxii. 10; xxvi. 7,20. Mk. xiv. 18. Lk. xxii. 27.
1 εφοβηθησαν in SBD (Tisch., W.H.) εθαυµασαν (CLA al.) gives a commonplace:
idea more to the taste of the scribes. 2 Ἴκολουθει in SD (Tisch.).
ἕανακειμενου αυτον in 9 Ὁ, as in text in most MSS.
4 και omitted in SD.
7 Said, done; a convincing ar- gumentum ad hominem. Who would dispute the right to forgive to one who could do that, or persist in the charge of blasphemy against Him? At least those who do will get little sympathy from the mass of spectators.—Ver. 8. δόντες οἱ ὄχλοι. The people are free from the petty jealousies and pedantic theories of the professional class ; broad facts settle the matter for them. They probably had no scruples about the forgiving, but if they, hadthe miracle would put an end to them: the manifest authority and power a witness of the non-apparent (ποιεῖται THY φανερὰν [ἐξουσίαν] τεκµή- ριον τῆς ἀφανοῦῖς. ΕΙΙΊΥ.).--ἐφοβήθησαν, they feared; may point to a change of mind on the part of some who at first were influenced by the disapproving mood of the scribes. The solemn frown of those who pass for saints and wise men is a formidable thing, making many cowards. But now a new fear takes the place of the old, perhaps not without a touch of superstition.
Vv. 9-13. The publican feast (Mk. ii. 13-17; Lk. v. 27-32). The point of interest for the evangelist in this narra- tive is not the call of the publican disci- ple, but the feast which followed, a feast of publicans and ‘ sinners” at which Jesus was present proclaiming by action what He formerly proclaimed by word: a sinful past no doom. The story, though not a miracle-history, finds a place here because it follows the last in Mark, in whose Gospel the incident of the palsied man forms the first ofa group serving one aim—to show the beginnings of the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. The same remark applies to the next section.
Ver. 9. παράγων ἐκεῖθεν: passing
along from the scene of the last incident, Jesus arrives at the custom-house of Capernaum (τελώνιογ).---εἶδεν . . . Ματ- θαῖον Aey.: there He saw a man named Matthew. (On the identity of Matthew with Levi in Mark and Luke, vide Mark.) Capernaum being near the boundary and on the caravan road be- tween Egypt and Damascus, Matthew would be a busy man, but, doubtless, Christ and he have met before.—’AxodA- ούθει por: Jesus acted on His own plans, but the recent encounter with the scribes. would not be without influence on this. new departure—the call of a publican. It was a kind of defiance to the party who cherished hard thoughts not only about pardon but about those who needed pardon. An impolitic step the worldly-wise would say; sure to create prejudice. But those who are too anxious to conciliate the prejudices of the present do nothing for the future.— ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν: prompt compli- ance, probably with some astonishment at the invitation.
Ver.10. καὶ ἐγένετο, είο. The narra- tive of this incident in all three Syn- optists is condensed, and the situation not clear. What house is meant (ἐν τῇ olx.), and why so many (πολλοὶ) ? ‘““There were many,’ Mark remarks, emphatically (ii. 15), and the ἰδοὺ here implies that something important took place. Luke infers (for we need not suppose independent information) that it is a feast (δοχὴν), and, doubtless, he is tight. But given by whom? Levi, according to Luke. It may have been so, but not necessarily as the prime mover; possibly, nay, probably, as the agent of his new Master. Our thoughts. have been too much biassed by the assumption that the call of Matthew in