The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 438

it le plnin thnt the nicost dlscrimlno.tion is form (eee Luke xii. 39, eto.). The good man exeroieed, e.ncl that among men e.nd womon, of the hoaee; olK08,u1r&,-71,: tM maner of the in e.U oonditlone of life, e. flne.l severe.nee houge; paterfamiliaa(Vnlga.te). It . . . he.d. ehnll then he me.de, whioh ehe.ll e.pportion known ... he would have watched. The their lot in the other world. form of the sentence ( ,l with indicative in Ver. 41.-Two women ehe.11 be grinding the protasis, and tlv with in,licative e.oriat in at (lv) the mill. In the absenoe of mills the apodosis) implies that the result did not turned by wiud or water, which were of happen. The m·1ater may have me.de e.ll much later invention, every household had secure e.e fa.r e.s bolts and bars were con- its own little he.ndmill, worked by women of cerned, but he di.r] not keep a.wake, though the fe.mily or by slnves (Exod. xi. 5: Jadg. he he.d reason to know that e. thief was in xvi. 21 ; Isa. xl vii. 2). • "Two stones, a.bout the neighbourhood, and so was not ready to eighteen inches or two feet e.oross, reet one frustrate e.ny attack made in an unsuspected on the other, the under one slightly higher manner. To be broken op ; 8,opi,yriva,: to ba towards the centre, and the upper one hol- digged throU,f!h; perfodi (Volga.to). Houses lowed out to fit this oonvexity; a hole constracted of sun-dried bricks, mud, or throngh it, in the middle, receiving the loose stones, eonld be easily pierced e.nd grain. Sometimes the under stone ls bedded entered without forcing shuttered window or in cement, raised into a border ronnd it, to barred door (comp. Job xxiv. 16). The catch and retain the flour, or meal, as it falls. significance of the prtrable is easy to see. A stick fastened into the upper one served The householder is the disciple of Christ, ss a handle, Occe.sionally two women sit the thief is Christ himself, who comes on the e.t the same pair of stones, to lighten the unwatchfnl when and where they expect task, one hand only being needed where two him not. It is, indeed, a strange comparison, work together, whereas a single person has but one calculated to alarm the nnwe.ry, e.nd to use both hands" (Geikie, • Holy Land to show the necessity of the caution enjoined. and Bible,' p. 155). "•.rwo women were Similar warnings are fonnd elsewhere; e.g. busy in a cottage at the hoasehold mill, 1 Thesa. v. 2, 4; 2 Pet. iii. 10; Rev. iii. S ; whioh attracted me by its sound. . . . To xvi. 15. The exposition which regards the grind is very exhausting work, so that, thief e.s the devil is not so suite.ble to the where possible, one woman sits opposite the context. _,, other, to divide the strain, thongh in e. poor Ver. 44.-Therefore. Regarding the solemn man's house the wife hos to do this drudgery example just given, taking it a.s applicable unaided" (ibid., p. 661). St. Luke (xvii. to spiritne.l things. The warning is of general 84) adds e. third situation to the cases men- obligation, e.nd me.y be used by each in- tioned by our Lord, viz. "two men in one dividual Christian for his own benefit; for bed," or on one dining-couch. there is a sense in which the day of death is Vers;42-5l.-Practical eiihortaticm dra'IDfl the coming of Christ, and e.s death leaves us so, e.s fe.r e.s we k:now,judgment will find us. fr<Ym the uncertainty of the last day: Watch. Ver. 45.-Who then(,-1s /J.pa;)? In Lnke Ver. 42.-We.tch therefore. The end will xii 41, eto., Obrist utters this pe.rabolio dis- be sudden, the fine.I separation will be then conrse in reply to Peter's question, "Lord, c_ompleted; be ye therefore always prepared. speakest thou this parable unto us, or even Few exhortations are more frequently e.nd to e.11? " He now turns his exhortation to impressively given than this of the duty e.nd those in authority over the house, specially necessity of watchfulness. Of course, the to the ministers and stewards of his mysteries, Christian he.a to watch ago.inst many things proposing it in e.n interrogative form, not -hie own evil hearl, temptation, the world, only because the man he wants is difficuH but most of all he must watch and be always to find, but in order that ea.oh me.y put the looking for the coming of his Lord ; for question to himself, e.nd see if he reaches the whether he be regarded ss Redeemer, De- high standard suggested. Is a (b, the) liverer, or Judge, he will come as e. thief in faithful and wise ( </)pov,µos, prudens, prac- the night. What hour. Very many good tically IJJ'ise) servant. The idea is that some manuscripts e.nd some late editors read good and true slave is raised to the stewe.rd- "on what day," '.rhis is probably the ehip of his master's household, like Eliezer genuine reading, "hour" being an alteration whom Abram e.i.ve.nced to this position derived from ver. 44. What (,rola) means (Gen. xv. 2). H11th made ruler (Ka-reu-r11aw, of what kind or quality-whether sudden, hatl1 set) over his household (l1rl Tij< 9,pa- immediate, or remote. .,,.,!as afrrou, see on ver. 47). The word Ver. 48.-But know thie; '"•ivo 6~ "t"',f,.. 8,pa1r,la is used classically for e. body of <rKETE: illud autem soitote (Vulgate); or, this attendant 1, tho serv11nts that form the family, 11e know. The Lord draws particular atten- the m~nage. Christ ,,sks-Where is one to be tion to what ho is going to say, which is a found fi~ for this position in bis Church? 1trange and startling truth in e. paraLolio It is the Lord who selects 11Dd appoints the H4 THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST, MATTHEW. [011, :uxv. 1-51.