The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 410

capaoity of witnesses for Christ. The minis- way of the Gentilea (•lr d6~v levwv). (1) terie.l. fnnotion of preaohing committed t,o These words are generally understood to men selected for it is only an aooentue.tion mean "into any road that .would leo.d to Gentile lands or districts." Bo Tyndale, of one of the duties expected from all Christ's "Go not into the wayes that leade to the followers. gentyls.''. (For this &~nitive of direction, The development of thought in the ohapter cf. oh. 1v. 15: Jer. u, 18, and perhaps, appears to be RB follows :- Judith v. 14.) (2) Weiss, 'Matthaus-ev.,' 1. The external conditions of conveying takes tllem as equivalent to "iuto any street Christ's message, with special reference t.o in a heathen le.nd," making the genitives, l6vwv and :i;aJLap«Twv, both possessive. the immediate oooasion (vers. 5b-15). There are serious objections to these two 2. The internal conditions (vers. 16-39). interpretations: to the first, the.t the geni- (1) Vere. 16-23: Though surrounded by tives are then used in different senses: to enemies, yon must conduct yourselves with the second, tho.t it suggests something alto- calmness (ver. 19); with endurance (ver. gether outside the IsraeUtish border. (3) Is not a third interpretation possible-to 22); with wisdom (ver. 23). (2) Vers. 24- consider that our Lord had in his mind the 83: Remembering that fellowship with me parts of towns, otherwise Jewish, which were in suffering is essential to fellowship with inhabited by hee.then,just as, in the do.ye of me in glory. (3) Vers. 34-39: Such fel- Omri and Ahab, such parts were assigned lowship with me will cost separation from to Syrians in Samaria, and to Iara.elites in the dearest on earth, yet its reward is great. Damascus, or in modern times to J ewe _in Christian towns? We have not, indeed, 3. Final encouragement (vers. 40-42). direct evidence of Gentiles, during the time of our Lord, thus living in separate streets, Vere. 5lr-15.-The ezumal conditions of but with the Jewish aversion to even letting Con'De'!fing CJhriBi's message, with special refer- them houses and to having more to do with enee f,o the immediak occasion.. Our Lord them tl.iau possible (cf. Schurer, II. i. 51- points out (a) the sphere of their work 56), it would seem probable that, withont (vers. 5b, 6); (b) the substance of their any formal arrangement being mo.de, the result would be separation of this kind. message (ver. 7); (c) its accompe.nying It is true the.t 66&s is not used elsewhere in signs (ver. 8); (a) the external mee.ns and this sense in the New Testament, bnt a methods that they should employ (vers. comparison of passages in the LXX. seems 9-15). t.o justify our so interpreting it. For n\:tin, in 1 Kings xx. 34, means such streets, Ver. 5b.-Matthew only. The sphere e.nd the LXX. for this is /{&~our (({o6ov, of their work. The reasons for the limita- Luke), yet n\11n, in the sense of " streets," tion here expressly enforced are: (1) That is often elsewhere rendered by 66ol (Jer, it we.a only right that the proclamation of v. 1: vii. 17; Ezek. xi. 6: Ne.h. ii. 4; iii. the coming of Messiah should be thoroughly 10). Compare especially 2 Sam. i. 20, "in matle to the Jews first. Had they accepted the streets of ABoalon," where, for the it, they would have become the great factors common text, lv 'TAir ,(060,s 'A<1tcd.J\.t11vos, in I.he evangelization of the Gentiles (cf. Lucian's reads, Iv 'Tllir 660..r 'Autcd.1"11vor, Rom. xi. 12, 15): e.s they rejected it, it The expression thus means-Go not off into was necessary that the offer should, apart any quarter (of such towns as yon may come from them, be ma.de to others (Acts xxviii. e.oross) inhabited by Gentiles, and (both in 28). (2) The apostles were as yet in no complete parallelism nnd with perfect e.o- fit state spiritually t,o carry the message curacy, for Samaritans dwelt alone) into o.ny beyond their own nation, and the facts city of Samaritans enter ye not. And into whicll they were in a position to proclaim any oity. In the Greek both clauses are in might, when proclaimed alone, have proved the so.me order, the verb coming last. It a stumbling-block to the after-acceptance will be noticed that the Revised Version has by Gentiles and Samaritans of a fuller and transposed both for the sake of uniformity. therefore truer message (cf. eh. xxviii. 18, Of the Se.me.rite.ns. Dy descent, a mixed aqq.; Acts i. 8). Therefore tlley are now race, from the intermingling of the remnants bid perform their present duty without turn- of the lsrae!itish population more especially ing o.we.y from it, and, as we may e.tld, with- with the heo.Lhen colonists introduced by out anticipating their entr.i.nce upon a wider the Assyrians (2. Kings xvii. 24, ,qq.); by 11phere. Baying, Go not. '.l'h.i.s would bo out- religion, so fo.r laraolite e.s to he.vo aocepted side your course ( beJ\.611-r•). In the Greek, the Pento.teuch, o.nd to have mo.intniued however, the following wom receive the the observance of eiroumcision, the sabbath, emphasia. Imo the (an11, Revised Version) and the annual festivals. Both sides of· their ou. x. 1-42.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 407