The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 448

order of the verbs is reversed ; (2) the tense bably to suggest to English readers the is not the present, as here, but the aorist, reference to Isa. lxi. 1). the miracles being regarded from the point Ver. 6.-And blessed la he, whosoever of time when the disciples had returned ahall not be offended (oh. v. 29, note) in me; to John. The present tense in Matthew shall find noM occasion of stumbling in mB brings out what St. Luke had already iudi- (Revised Version). But exhibits perfect oated by his preceding explanatory verse trust under delay e.nd disappointment (Jae. that the messengers arrived when the Lord i. 12). was aotually performing mirs.cles. Vers. 7-15.-Je,1.11' recognition of the Ver. 5.-The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are olea.nsed, and greatnus of John as herald. Vere. 7-11: the deaf hear (and, Revised Version), the pamllel passage : Luke vii. 24-28. dead are raised up, and the poor hava the • Ver. 7.-And as they departed; and aa gospel preached to them. The first and these went their way (Revised Version). the last of the examples selected by our Fulfilling his command (ver. 4). If we may Lord are fulfilments of prophecy (Isa. lxi. combine the language of St. Matthew e.nd 1). Observe that (1) the words a.re taken St. Luke (" when the messengers of John from the LXX. ( ,ba.ry,>..ltratr8a., 'IM".,xoir were departed"), we may say the.t they had • • . -rvq,>..ois ~a.B>....,.,w), which, perhaps, left the circle immediately round our Lord, represents a diff'erent reading from the but were hardly further the.n the outskirts Maesoretic text (cf. Cheyne, in loe., 'Critical of the crowd. What went ye out into the Note'). (2) Our Lord reverses the order of wilderness to see 1 to behold (Revised Ver- the expressions, taking the restoration of sion) ; e,atrauea., ( cf. ela.Tpov). It almost eight to the blind as the commencement suggests the.t they went out as though to of a series of physical miracles, and thus see e. spectacle. They were stirred by no ms.king spiritual work the climax. (3) He deeper motive. Bengel compares John v. does not quote lsaie.h's phra.<!e, "liberty to 35. A reed shaken with the wind 1 If the the captives," although the quotation of its reed referred to by our Lord we.a the context could not but suggest it to John, papyrus, which still grows freely in certain the reason being, it would seem, that he po.rte of the Jordan valley, the description desired to call John's attention away from of this ple.nt in 'Rob Roy on the Jordan,' the more political part of Meseiah's work to eh. xvii., is specie.Hy interesting : "There that which alone forms the basis of perma- is fust a le.tera.l trunk, lying on the water nent political improvement-the restoration and he.If-submerged. This is sometimes as of the individne.l. (4) In accordance with thick e.s a me.n's body, e.nd from its lower this is the fact that when he was laying side he.ng innnmemble string-like roots from stress on the cha.meter of his adherents as three to five feet long, and of e. deep purple the one qne.lification for sharing in his colour. . . . These pendent roots . . . retard kingdom, he alluded to the same passage much of the surface-current where the of Isaiah (vide eh. v. 3-5). John was not papyrus grows. . . . On the upper surfe.oe wholly emancipated from the Jewish ten- of the trunks the stems grow alternately in dency to regard the external results of the oblique rows; their thickness at the junc- kingdom; our Lord's mind dwelt mther tion is often four inches, and their height on the int.erne.l results. Although John's fifteen feet, gre.cefully tapering until e.t the difficulty he.d been felt when he hee.rd of top is a little round knob, with long, thin the workB (ver. 2, note), our Lord only said brown, wire-like he.ire eighteen inches long, in reply, "Tell him of my works." It we.s which rise e.nd then, recurving, he.ng about a.n old message, e.nd yet a new one. In the it in o. thyrsns-sbaped head." He also says, nature of those works, when fully understood, "The whole jungle of papyrus we.a floating lay the true solntion of his difficulty. upon the water, e.nd so the we.ves raised by Observe the.t here also Christ adds e. Beati- the breeze were rocking the green curtain tude (ver. 6). The blind (eh. iL 27, note), to e.nd fro." This explained "a most and the lame. The "e.nd " is doubtless curious hissing, grinding, bustling sound, genuine here, its omission in some manu- that we.a hee.rd like we.ves upon a shingly scripui being due to the parallel passage in beach," as "the papyrus stems were rubbing Luke. Observe the rhythm, " blind e.ud age.inst each other as they nodded out and le.me," "lepers and deaf," "and dee.d and in." It is, however, much more probe.hie poor." Perhaps this is the result of ore.I that the reed referred to we.a "the .Aranda transmission. The lame walk (Isa. xxxv. 6). dona:e, e. very tall cane, growing twelve feet The dead are railled up. " Quod novissime high, with a magnificent pe.nicle of blossom factnm erat juveni Nainitico" (Bengel; e.t the top, e.nd so slender and yielding the.t a.nd eo Ellicott, • Hist. Leete.,' pp. 181, it will lie perfectly flat under e. gust or 183, edit. 1861 ). The gospel; good tidings wind, e.nd immediately resume its upright (Revised Version text [not margin], pro- position." It grows especially on the western on, II, 1-30.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 445