The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 82

or the Lord shall rest upon him.' Dy what sill'l,'ular of the original, from their inter- kind or merit does it dro.w ueo.r and come? It preting the passage, not of the return of the says, 'upon the faoe of the waters.' Dy the Lord to Palestine, bnt his coming into me.ny merit of repentance, which is compared to hearts. wnter, ns it is written (Lam. ii. 19), 'Pouz Ver. 4.-With this verse we begin to out thy heart like we.ter •" (' Bresh. R.,' § 2). meet with matter peculiar to Me.tthew e.nd But, unfortunately, they o.eeign far too legal Mark. And the aame John (a~T/Js Be ~ B meaning to the word, and their phre.se, "do 'It11av11s). (For the phrase, cf. Me.rk vi. 17, repento.uce" (;i:mm ;,2111), becomes e.lmost Luke iii. 23.) (1) If the Revised Version. identico.l with the "do pene.nce" (prenl- "Now John himself," holds goocl, th, tentiam agite, Vulge.te)of the Roman Ce.tho- phrase seems to mean that not only did lics (cf. 'fe.lm. Bab., •Se.nh.,' 97 b). For Isaiah speak of him in terms that implied the kingdom of heaven (see Introduction. the.t he was the forerunner of l\Iessiah, the p. xxii.). true Elijah (l'ilark i. 2), bat also be him- Ver. 3.-:ror. The reason for John's self had his very food and dress consistent appearance and procle.me.tion lies in with his office. (2) But it is safer, with prophecy. This is he that we.a spoken of Tbayer's •Grimm• (I. 2, a), to take o:ln6s as (o'ii-ro• -yJ.p ,cr-riv • ~.,,o.(,). In John i. 23 merely recalling the person before men- the following quotation is uttered by the tioned. " Now he, whorn I spoke of, John" Do.pti&t himself, and some commente.tors (cf. 2 Chron. xx.xii. 30). Had j during all he.ve supposed this to be the case also here. that time (<lx•v). His ho.bitual dress, eto., But (1) this is e.gainst the parallel po.sse.ges was as follows. Of (,bro) oa.mel's hair. Not, in Me.rk and Luke. (2) The form of the as D:.r Old Lat. a in the parallel passage in expression in John arises directly from the Mark, B,pf,11v, pellem, "e. camel's hicle," bat context. (3) In tile Be.ptist'e mouth the coarse cloth made from the hair. So pro- neuter (-rou-ro • • • -ro f,118,v) re.ther the.n bably," hairy man" (2 Kings i. 8; cf. Zech the masculine would he.ve been more xiii. 4). And a leathern girdle. Probabl9 natural. The expression is doubtless that of sheep or goatskin, worn over the garment. of the eve.ngelist, suggested to him by Mentioned because (1) it formed another John's own utterance, the "is" (lcr-r,v) point of similarity to Elijah (2 Kings L 8); expressing John's permanent character. (2) girdles were frequently very costly (cf. Contrast ,lx<v, ;jv (ver. 4) of his clothing Smith's 'Diet. of l:!ible,' i. 701). Every and food. [He that was] spoken of. The part of John the Baptist's dress we.a for use, expression means. not e. mere reference not ornament. And his meat; food (Revised found in Isaiah, but the absolute content Version); 7po.p,f, not f!,pwµa.. He ea.red not of the prophet's words. The utterance of whnt he e.te, bnt what nourished and sup- God by mee.ns of the prophet is-John the ported him. We.s. The right order of the Daptist. The Prophet Esaias ; Isaiah the words(-/i Be -rpocf>'I, ~v ab-roii) le.ys slightly more prophet (Revised Version); the commoner stress on the continuance of this mode of life. Greek order (but cf. Luke iv. 17). The Locusts. Used for food in the East from voioe, etc. ( except " his" for "our God," the remotest times until now. Four kinds from the LXX. of Isa. xl. 3). The Hebrew e.re permitted in Lev. xi. 22. "The wings probu.bly joins "in the wilderness" with and legs are tom off, and the remainder is "prepo.re ye,'' but St. Matthew with sprinkled with salt, and either boiled or "crying" (cl". ver. 1, "preaching in the eaten roastea" (Meyer). They are men- wilderness," as probo.bly the LXX.) In tioned in 'falm. Bab., 'Ah. Zar.,' 40 b, a3 Ieo.iah the original menning of the pas- being sold e.fter preservation in wine. The sage wns probo.bly, "prepare for the re- wonl a.,cp(Bu forbids the identification of turn to J erusnlem." Tile figure is tha.t these locusts with the pods of the ea.rob, or of tile common 11ud necessary process in locust tree, such as the prodigal sou would semi-civilized countries of repail'ing roads fa.in have eaten. It seems that Jewish before o. greo.t personage comes a.long thorn. Christians of Essene and therefore vege- Zechnrinh he.cl, yee.rs before, e.pplied the tarian tendencies read ,-y,cp{BES (cakes) here. similar expression in Mai. iii. l to his son Such at least is the most natural meaning, (Luke i. 76; of. Mark i. 2). (For o. metaphor accepted by Epipbanius, of a quotntion like in kind, but with contrnsted meaning, which he gives from the Ebionite Gospel cf. Gal. v. 7, 1-y,dnrTEw, breaking up e. rond accorcling to the Hebrews (vide Tischeudorf, to render it impassable.) Pe.ths (-rplfjou,). in loc.). (On the theory that John the Bo.ptist According to Pl\ilo, the word is equivnleut to we.a e.n Essene, cf. Bishop Lightfoot, 'Colos- "e. carriage-road" (l,r1r~!l.a-ro• ,cal aµa!,/}..a-ros sians,' p, 161, edit. 1875.) And wild honey. 68&,, mde in Wetstein). It is thus equiva- This apparently simple phrnso is, uotwith- lent to the Hebrew (m'sillah, '' e. highway," standiug, of doubtful interpreto.tion. (I) "e. ma.de road"). Possibly the pluro.l we.s Probably the honey of wild bees. This ia employed by the LXX. mther than the still to be found in trees nnd reeks, e.nd  70 THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. MA'l'THEW. [oH, m. 1-17,