The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 396

lme altar eho 11 be holy" (oomp. Ezek. xli. 8), and wae hnng np in tho synagogue for 22). The off,·ring is one with tho alt.&r. its frngrance. "Anise" ('1"'1160~) is known Ver. 20.--Sweareth by it, eto. One can to us as " dill," and is mncb used in see what an inveterRte evil our Lord wu medicine and for seasoning. "Cummin" denouncing, when he takes enoh pains to (,d,µwov) (Isa.. xxviii. 25, 27), an umbel- point out its ahsnrdities, which seem to UB liferous plant, with seeds something like 118lf-evident. The oath by the alt.&r in- care.we.ye, and used, like them, as a oondi- volves the notion of the viotim e.s well as ment and medicine. Have omitted the the altar; one cannot be separated from the weightier matters of the Law. The Phari- other; and, of course, implies him to whom sees were very far from treating important the offering is made. duties with the same scrupulosity wliich they Ver. 21.-By him that dwelleth therein. observed in little matters. Obrist particu- In feet, it comes to this: to swear by temple larizes these weighty duties: J'ndgment, or altar is to swear by God-an oath most (and) mercy, and faith. Three are named, solemn, which may not be evaded. "'l'liat in contrast to the three petty observances dwelleth" i.B in some manuscripts the aorist mentioned above. Christ seems to refer to participle, 1ea.-ro11<71ua1m, implying that God the words of Micah vi. 8, "What doth the once for all took up bis abode in the temple, Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and and filled it with his ineffable presence (see to Jove mercy, and t.o walk hnmbly with I Kings viii. 13; Ps. cxxxii. 14). From such thy God?" (see also Hos. xii, 6; Zeoh. vii. p&£Sages we learn t!Jat God sanctifies things 9, 10). Worthless are all outward obser- and places to be devoted to bis semce., and vances when the moral preoepts are neg- to be accounted by men holy and separated lected. "Judgment" (-riw ttpluu,) means from all common uses. The Authorized acting equitably to one's neighbour, hnrting Version translates the received text, 1ea.-ro1- nobody by word or deed; e.s in Jer. v. 1 a 1eovv-r,, which hns good authority, the past man is sought " that exerciseth justice." participle being, perhaps, a correction by Such impartiality is specially enjoined in some scribe who thought that the day of the Law (Deut. xvi. 19, eta.). "Mercy," ,'Judaism was past when Christ spoke. loving-kindness in conduct, often taught Ver. 22.-By heaven. The Talmudists in the Penie.tenoh, as in the case of the &.ffirm that nn oath "by heaven" or "by widow, the stranger,and the debtor, and very earth " we.s not binding, on the ground, different from the feeling of those who "de- probably, that these were mere creatures. vour widows' hoUBes." "Faith" may mean Christ age.in dissipates such sophistries. fidelity t.o promises: "He that sweareth unto To swear by the creature is virtually to his neighbonr and disappointeth him not, 11wear by the Creator. A brute, inanimate though it were to his own hindrance" (Ps. thing cannot be witness to an oath; he xv. 4); but it is more probably taken a.& alone can be appealed to who owns all. that belief in God without which it is not Thus we" kiss the book," calling God t.o wit- poSBible to please him, and which should ness onr words. Christ had already given underlie and influence all moral action a lesson t.o hiB followers on this snbject in (Heh. xi. 6). These (nvTa) . . . the other the sermon on the mount (eh. v. 34-37). (i1e,,va.). "These last" a.re jndgment, He inculcates true reverence, that fear and mercy, and faith; these it was your duty t.o awe of God's dignity and God's presence have done. "The other" refers to the tithing -which constrains a man to a.void all pro- mentioned above. Christ does not censnre faneness and carelessness in regard t.o things thiB attention to minutim. He would teach that a.re concerned with God. conformity to regule.tione made by compe- Vere. 23, 24.-Fijth u:oe-age.inst ecrnpn- tent authority, or conscientiously felt to be fosity in tri11.es and neglect of weighty duties binding, even tbongh not distinctly enjoined (Luke xi 42). Ye pay tithe of (luro5,1ea- in Scripture (see vers. 2, 3); his blame is .,-o;;,-,, ye tithe) mint and anise and cummill. reserved for that expenditure of zeal on Practically, the law of tithe was enforced trifles which stood in the place of, or left only in the case of the produce mel!tioned no strength for, higher duties. It was a in Dent. xiv. 23--ilorn, wine, and oil-but very elastic conscience which tithed e. pot- the Pharill8es, in their overstrained scrupn- herb and neglected jndgment. Strain at a fosity, applied the lB.w of Lev. :uvii. 30 gnat; li,ii:>..i(ov'TES -rbv Htl,v=11. "At" is sup- (" aU the tithe of the land, whether of the posed to be a misprint for "out." Thus -seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, Revised Version, and early English versions, u tLe Lord's") to the smallest pot-lierbs, tchich strain out the gnat; Vnlgate, eii- even to their leaves and stalks. "Mint'' colantes culicem, Alford thinks tht> present (71fi'1or1,,,,v). Of this well-known plant reading was an intentional alteration, mean- eevere.l epeciee grow in Palestine; it was ing" strain (out the wine) at (the occurrence one of the ingredien':.s of the so.nee of bitter of) e. gne.t"-which seems more ingenious cerbe eaten at the Paschal feast (Excd. xii, than probable If " at " be rete.inod, it CD, x:xm. 1-39.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BT. MATTHEW. 4.0l