ἀπολέσωσιν.
16. καὶ "ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς, ἵνα μὴ Ἡ Φανερὸν αὐτὸν ” ποιήσωσιν: 17. ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ 'Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου, λέγοντος, 18. “Ιδού, 6 wats µου, ὃν ἠρέτισα:
185
ε s 5 A AY > , Baer) « \ o Ch. xvi. 20 15. Ὁ δὲ ημουν μα ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ (W.H.). ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ ὄχλοι 1 πολλοί, καὶ ἐθεράπευσεν αὐτοὺς πάντας’
Mk. viii. 30 (with ινα). Mk. iii. 12 (with ἵνα ag ό αθώος” Hol Ap here)- 6 απητ ου, εἰς ὃ ere an προ SERPS E raeate ep
αεὐδόκησεν ἡ ψυχή pou’ θήσω τὸ πνεῦμά pou ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, καὶ κρίσιν q with
A A , τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀπαγγελεῖ: 19. οὐκ *épicer, οὔδὲ "κραυγάσει’ οὐδὲ [ ~ ἀκούσει τις ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις THY φωνὴν αὐτοῦ.
accus. as
20. κάλαμον x. 6,8. τ here only.
ry - Σσυντετριμμένον οὐ κατεάξει, καὶ λῖνον τυφόµενον οὗ σβέσει’' ἕως s John xi.
a? η 3 ~ , ο δι ή, (na νὰ 9 ~ ἂν “exBady ets νῖκος Thy κρίσιν. 21. καὶ ἐν" τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ
ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι.
1 $9B omit οχλοι, which is inconsistent with παντας.
* SB have simply ον.
Vv. 15-21. Yesus retires; prophetic fortraiture of His character. Verses 15 and 16 are abridged from Mk. iii. 7-12, which contains an account of an ex- tensive healing ministry. The sequel of the Sabbatic encounter is very vague. The one fact outstanding and note- worthy is the withdrawal of Jesus, con- scious of having given deep offence, but anxious to avoid tragic consequences for the present. It is to that fact mainly that the evangelist attaches his fair picture of Jesus, in prophetic language. It is happily brought in here, where it gains by the contrast between the real Jesus and Jesus as conceived by the Pharisees, a miscreant deserving to die. It is not necessary to suppose that the historical basis of the picture is to be found exclusively in vv. 15, 16, all the more that the statement they contain is but @ meagre reproduction of Mk. iii. 7-12, omitting some valuable material, ¢.g., the demoniac cry: ‘‘ Thou art the Son of God”. The historic features answering to the prophetic outline in the evangelist’s mind may be taken from the whole story of Christ’s public life as hitherto told, from the baptism onwards. Luke gives his picture of Jesus at the beginning (iv. 16-30) as a frontispiece, Matthew places his at the end ofa con- siderable section of the story, at a critical turning point in the history, and he means the reader to look back over the whole for verification. Thus for the evangelist ver. 18 may point back to the baptism (iii. 13-17), when the voice from heaven called Jesus God’s beloved Son ; ver. 19 to the teaching on the hill
43.. Acts xxii. 23.
t Mk. v. 4; xiv. 3. Lk.
ix. 39. u ver. 35. Ch. xiii. 52. John x. 4.
2 SSBCD have ινα.
* Most uncials omit ev, which is found in D it. vg.
(v.-vii.), when the voice of Jesus was heard not in the street but on the mountain top, remote from the crowd below ; ver. 20 to the healing ministry among the sick, physically bruised reeds, poor suffering creatures in whom the flame of life burnt low; ver. 21 to such significant incidents as that of the cen- turion of Capernaum (viii. 5-13). Broad interpretation here seems best. Some features, ¢.g., the reference to judgment, ver. 20, second clause, are not to be pressed.
The quotation is a very free repro- duction from the Hebrew, with occasional side glances at the Sept. It has been sug- gested that the evangelist drew neither from the Hebrew nor from the Sept., but from a Chaldee Targum in use in his time (Lutteroth). It is certainly curious that he should have omitted Is. xlii. 4, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged,” etc., a most important additional feature in the picture = Messiah shall not only not break the bruised reed, but He shall not be Himself a bruised reed, but shall bravely stand for truth and right till they at length triumph. Admirable historic materials to illustrate that pro- phetic trait are ready to our hand in Christ’s encounters with the Pharisees (ix. 1-17, xii. 1-13). Either Matthew has followed a Targum, or been misled by the similarity of Is. xlii. 3 and 4, or he means ver. 20 to bear a double reference, and read: He shall neither break nor be a bruised reed, nor allow to be quenched either in others or in Himself the feeble flame: a strong, brave, buoyant, ever- victorious hero, helper of the weak, Him-