John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Luke 10:1



Ver. 1. After these things,.... After the calling and mission of the twelve apostles, and giving them their powers, commissions, and instructions, with other things that followed thereon; Lu 9:1



the Lord appointed other seventy also; not that he had appointed before seventy, and now made an appointment of seventy more; but as the Syriac version renders it, "Jesus separated out of his disciples, seventy others" that is, besides the twelve, whom he chose and called out, from among the multitude of the disciples, and ordained them apostles, he selected and ordained seventy others, in allusion to the seventy elders of Israel, Nu 11:16. The Vulgate Latin and Persic versions read, "seventy two", and so does Epiphanius {x}. The Jewish sanhedrim is sometimes said to consist of seventy one {y}, and sometimes of seventy two {z}; though commonly said to be of the round number seventy, as these disciples might be. The above mentioned ancient writer gives the names of some of them, as the seven deacons; Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas; together with Matthias, Mark, Luke, Justus, Barnabas, Apelies, Rufus, and Niger. The names of all these disciples, according to ancient traditions, though not to be depended on, are given in an alphabetical order, with the places where they afterwards presided as bishops, or pastors, by a late learned writer {a}, and are as follow, viz. Agabus, the prophet; Amphias, of Odyssus, sometimes called Amphiatus; Ananias, who baptized Paul, bishop of Damascus; Andronicus, of Pannonia, or Spain; Apelies, of Smyrna, or, according to others, of Heraclea; Apollo, of Caesarea; Aristarchus, of Apamea; Aristobulus, of Britain; Artemas, of Lustra; Asyncritus, of Hyrcania; Barnabas, of Milgin; Barnabas, of Heraclea; Caesar, of Dyrrachium; Caius, of Ephesus; Carpus, of Berytus, in Thracia; Cephas, bishop of Konia; Clemens, of Sardinia; Cleophas, of Jerusalem; Crescens, of Chalcedon, in Galatia; Demas, a priest of idols; Epaenetus, of Carthage; Epaphroditus, of Andriace; Erastus, of Paneas, or, according to others, of the Philippians; Evodus, of Antioch; Hermas, of Philippi, or Philippolls; Hermes, of Dalmatia; Hermogenus and Phygellus, who followed Simon Magus; Hermogenus, bishop of the Megarenes; Herodion, of Tarsus; James, the brother of our Lord, of Jerusalem; Jason, of Tarsus; Jesus Justus, bishop of Eleutheropolis: Linus, of Rome; Luke, the evangelist: Lucius, of Laodicea, in Syria; Mark, who is also John, of Biblopohs, or Byblus; Mark the evangelist, bishop of Alexandna; Mark, the sister's son of Barnabas, bishop of Apolloma; Matthias, added to the apostles; Narcissus, of Athens; Nicanor, he died when Stephen suffered martyrdom; Nicolaus, of Samaria; Olympius, a martyr at Rome; Onesiphorus, bishop of Corone; Parmenas, of the Soli, Patrobulus, the same with Patrobas, in Ro 16:14 of Puteoli, or as others, of Naples; Philemon, of Gaza; Philemon (in the Acts he is called Philip), by whom the eunuch of the queen of Ethiopia was baptized, of Trallium, of Asia; Philologus, of Sinope; Phlegon, bishop of Marathon; Phygellus, of Ephesus; Prochorus, of Nicomedia, in Bithynia; Pudens; Quartus, of Berytus; Rhodion, a martyr at Rome; Rufus, of Thebes; Silas, of Corinth; Sylvanus, of Thessalonica; Sosipater, of Iconium; Sosthenes, of Colophon; Stachys, of Byzantium; Stephen, the first martyr; Tertius, of Iconium; Thaddaeus, who carried the epistle of Jesus to Edessa, to Abgarus; Timon, of Bostra, of the Arabians; Trophimus, who suffered martyrdora with the Apostle Paul; Tychicus, bishop of Chalcedon, of Bithynia; Tychicus, of Colophon; Urbanus, of Macedonm; and, Zenas, of Diospolis. According both to this account, and Epiphanius, Luke was one of these seventy, and he is the only evangelist that makes mention of the appointment of them:



and sent them two and two before his face: as he did the twelve before, to be his harbingers and forerunners:



into every city and place, whither he himself would come: which he intended to visit: he sent them beforehand to acquaint the inhabitants of it; and prepare them by their ministry, for the reception of him; as John the Baptist, who was in a more eminent sense the harbinger and forerunner of Christ, went before him in his ministry, and prepared the way for him.



{x} Contr. Haeres. haeres. 20. {y} Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrim, c. 1. sect. 3. {z} Misn. Yadim, c. 3. sect. 5. Aben Ezra in Num 11. 25. {a} Fabricii lux Evangelii, p. 115, 116, &c.





Luke 10:2



Ver. 2. Therefore said he unto them,.... That is, the "Lord Jesus", as the Ethiopic version expresses it; he said to the seventy disciples, what he had before said to the twelve apostles in Mt 9:37 where are the same words as here:



the harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labourers into his harvest; for though there was such a number of disciples called to the ministerial work, and sent out, there was still need of more; so great was the harvest of souls, or number of hearers, that the labourers were yet but few; and therefore the Lord of the harvest and whose all souls are, was to be prayed unto to send forth more laborious preachers; See Gill on "Mt 9:37".

See Gill on "Mt 9:38".





Luke 10:3



Ver. 3. Go your ways,.... Into all the villages, towns, cities, and places, where he directed them to go, to make ready for him.



Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves; as harmless, innocent, profitable, and defenceless creatures, among spiteful, malicious, cunning, and cruel men; See Gill on "Mt 10:16".





Luke 10:4



Ver. 4. Carry neither purse,.... The Syriac version reads, "purses, "to put money, gold, silver, and brass in; and the prohibition regards the money in the purse chiefly:



nor scrip; the Syriac version here also reads in the plural number, "scrips", to put victuals in, provisions or any sort for their journey, which they were not to carry with them, any more than money, to buy food with



Nor shoes; any more than those they had upon their feet;

See Gill on "Mt 10:9" See Gill on "Mt 10:10" and salute no man by the way; that they might not be retarded, and hindered in their journey by tedious ceremonies, and long inquiries into the health of persons and friends, and the business they were going about, and places where; and by discourses and confabulations, drawn out to great length, as was often the case at meeting on the road: and, for the same reason, a like charge is given to Gehazi, 2Ki 4:29, and which, as the Jewish commentators on the place observe {a}, was, that he might not multiply words with persons he met with, and might not be stopped by the way; and that his intention might be in his work, and his mind might not turn to any other thing, either by word or deed. So our Lord's intention, by this order was, not to teach them incivility, or to be morose and uncourteous; but that they might dispatch their business with the utmost expedition, and rather forego some common civilities and ceremonies, than to neglect, or, in the least, to hinder a work of so much importance they were sent about: and this was the more necessary, since, according to the Jewish maxim {b},



"prevent every man with a salutation;''



they saluted all that they met, which took up time, and hindered business. Some sorts of persons indeed were excused, as those who were mourners {c} for the dead, and such as kept fasts for rain {d}: but such were not these disciples; they neither mourned, nor fasted, nor could they, so long as the bridegroom was with them.



{a} Jarchi, Kimchi, & R. Levi Ben Gersom in 2 Kings iv. 29. {b} Pirke Abot. c. 4. sect. 15. {c} T. Bab. in Misn. Moed Katon, c. 3. sect. 6. {d} Misn. Taanith, c. 1. sect. 7.





Luke 10:5



Ver. 5. And into whatsoever house ye enter,.... When ye come into any city, town, or village,



first say, peace be to this house: salute the inhabitants in the usual form, saying, peace be to you; wishing them all happiness and prosperity, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. This shows our Lord did not disapprove of civil salutations.





Luke 10:6



Ver. 6. And if the son of peace be there,.... If there be any elect person or persons in the house, whom God has chosen to partake of peace by the blood of Christ, and the benefits arising from it; and of a conscience peace in their souls, upon the best foundation; and of eternal peace in the world to come, though yet in a state of nature; and which may be known by this sign;



your peace shall rest upon it: the salutation, or wish of peace, shall be well taken, and gratefully received; and upon this you will be kindly invited into the house, and used well by, those of the family;



if not, it shall turn to you again: if there are no sons of peace, no elect persons there, your salutation, or wish of peace and prosperity to the family, will be despised and rejected, and will return to you without any good effect upon them.





Luke 10:7



Ver. 7. And in the same house remain,.... Where the sons of peace are, and the peace rests, and into which you are invited, and kindly received and used:



eating and drinking such things as they give; or rather, "such things as are with them", as the Vulgate Latin renders it; or "of that which is theirs", as the Syriac version; all one, and with as much freedom, as if they were your own; the reason follows,



for the labourer is worthy of his hire; what you eat and drink is your due; what you ought to have; your diet is a debt, and not a gratuity; See Gill on "Mt 10:10"



go not from house to house; as if fickle and inconstant, as if not satisfied with your lodging and entertainment, and as seeking out for other and better, or as if burdensome where they were;

See Gill on "Mt 10:11". The Jews have a proverb, expressing the inconvenience and expensiveness, and the danger of moving from place to place:



"he that goes, tybl tybm, "from house to house", (loses his) shirt, (i.e. comes to distress and poverty,) from place to place (his) life {e};''



or he is in great danger of losing his life.



{e} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 39. fol. 34. 3.





Luke 10:8



Ver. 8. And into whatsoever city ye enter,.... Into whatsoever house in it ye go, and apply to for lodging and entertainment,



and they receive you, readily and cheerfully,



eat such things as are set before you; though ever so mean, accept of them, and do not object to them on that account, lest it should be thought you serve your own bellies, and seek to gratify your appetites; nor, on the other hand, do not think anything too good for you, or that you are burdensome and chargeable, but eat as if it were your own; nor ask questions about the cleanness and uncleanness of it, or whether it has been tithed or not; but feed upon it without any scruple.





Luke 10:9



Ver. 9. And heal the sick that are therein,.... Of all their bodily diseases, which would not only show their power and warrant, theft mission and commission, but also their goodness and beneficence to men; and would be a sufficient return for what they ate and drank:



and say unto them; not only to the sick that are healed, and those in the house in which they were, but to all the inhabitants of the city;



the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you: the Gospel dispensation, the kingdom of the Messiah, and even the Messiah himself, as might be concluded from the miracles they wrought; and thus by their ministry and works, were they to go before Christ, and prepare his way.





Luke 10:10



Ver. 10. But into whatsoever city ye enter,.... On the other hand Christ here directs how to behave towards other cities they should come to, and be rejected:



and they receive you not; refuse to admit them into their houses, or provide in any shape for them, nor hear their message:



go your ways out into the streets of the same. The Ethiopic version reads, "cast the dust off your feet into the streets of it: and say"; aloud, in the most public manner, in the ears of all the people, as follows.





Luke 10:11



Ver. 11. Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us,.... The Syriac version adds, "to our feet"; and so in Beza's most ancient copy, and the Arabic and Persic versions read, "which cleaves to our feet"; which agrees with Mt 10:14.



we do wipe against you: for a testimony against them, that they had been with them, and were rejected by them; See Gill on "Mt 10:14" See Gill on "Mr 6:11"



notwithstanding be ye sure of this; they might assure themselves of this, and which will be an aggravation of their guilt, and increase their punishment another day:



that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you; was at their very doors, since the ministers of it, of the Gospel dispensation, the harbingers of the Messiah, who were sent to publish his Gospel, to proclaim him as king, and de clare that his kingdom was at hand, had been with them, and they had despised them.





Luke 10:12



Ver. 12. But I say unto you,.... The same that he said to the twelve apostles, when he sent them out, Mt 10:15,



that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. By "that day" is meant, the famous day to come, the last day; the day of judgment, as it is expressed in Matthew; and so the Ethiopic version reads here, "it shall be better in the day of judgment". Sodom was a very wicked city, and was destroyed by fire from heaven for its iniquity, and its inhabitants suffer the vengeance of eternal fire: and there was also Gomorrha, a neighbouring city, guilty of the same crimes, and shared the same fate; and which is mentioned along with Sodom in Matthew; and is here read in the Persic version. And the sense of the whole is, that though the iniquities of Sodom and Gomorrha were very great, and their punishment very exemplary; yet, as there will be degrees of torment in hell, the case of such a city, which has been favoured with the Gospel, and has despised and rejected it, will be much worse than the case of those cities, which were devoured by fire from heaven; and than that of the inhabitants of them in the future judgment, and to all eternity;

See Gill on "Mt 10:15".





Luke 10:13



Ver. 13. Woe unto thee Chorazin,....

See Gill on "Mt 11:21".



Woe unto thee Bethsaida; a city of Galilee, a fishing town, from whence it has its name, and was the native place of those two fishermen, Peter and Andrew: very likely Chorazin was near it, since they are here, and in Matthew, mentioned together; and woe is pronounced upon them both for their impenitence and unbelief, which were attended with aggravating circumstances:



for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you; meaning both the ministry of the word by Christ, which was with power and authority, and the miracles of Christ, which were the works of almighty power, and showed him to be the mighty God: these were not done in Tyre and Sidon, cities in Phoenicia; for though our Lord was on the borders of those places, yet not in them, they being Gentile cities, to which he was not sent, and in which he did not preach, nor do miracles; but he did both in Bethsaida and Chorazin, and they repented not of their sins; nor did they embrace his doctrine, though confirmed by miracles; whereas, in all likelihood, humanly speaking, had the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon had the like advantages,



they had a great while ago repented: they would have repented immediately, it would have been soon visible in them, of which they would have given proof, by



sitting in sackcloth and ashes; which was an outward token of repentance, used by penitent sinners, as by the Ninevites, and others. The same things are said at another time, and on another occasion, as here; See Gill on "Mt 11:21" See Gill on "Mt 11:22" See Gill on "Mt 11:23" See Gill on "Mt 11:24"





Luke 10:14



Ver. 14. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment,.... Or "in the day of judgment", as read the Syriac, Persic, Ethiopic, and Gothic versions; and as it is in Mt 11:22



than for you; the inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida, who will be more severely punished than these Gentile cities; for by how much greater were their light, privileges, and advantages against which they sinned, by so much will be their severer punishment.





Luke 10:15



Ver. 15. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven,.... Referring either to the situation of it, which was on a very high hill; or to its privileges, through the ministry and miracles of Christ; or the phrase may be expressive of the pride and loftiness of the inhabitants of it, who were elated with the mercies they enjoyed, it being a most delightful, pleasant, and comfortable place to live in, as its name signifies. It was a famous port, commodiously situated by the sea of Tiberias; and, as Josephus {f} says, was in an excellent temperament of the air, and watered with a most choice fountain, called by the same name.



Shalt be thrust down into hell; meaning either the low condition to which it was to be, and has been reduced in a temporal sense, and continues in to this day; there being nothing of it now remaining, as travellers, who have been eyewitnesses of it, say {g}, but a few little houses and cottages; or else the sad and miserable condition of the inhabitants of it hereafter: and so it is, that such who have lived in great plenty and pleasure in this life, and have thought themselves to be the favourites of heaven, and that they should enter there, shall be thrust down to hell by the arm of vengeance, with the utmost indignation in God, and shame to themselves: it follows in Matthew, "for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day; but I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee".



{f} De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 35. {g} Vid. L'Empereur, Not. in Benj. Itinerar. p. 68.





Luke 10:16



Ver. 16. He that heareth you, heareth me,.... This is said for the encouragement of the seventy disciples, that though they would be rejected by some, they would be received by others, who would hear them, and embrace their doctrine, as if the Messiah himself had been among them; they looking upon them as representing him: and so Christ himself considers them as ambassadors in his name, and as representing his person, taking what is done to them, as done to himself; See Gill on "Mt 10:40"



and he that despiseth you, despiseth me: every degree of contempt cast upon them by words or actions, Christ looked upon as cast on himself, and will resent it another day, and punish for it. The despising of wise men, or doctors, and their disciples or scholars, was accounted with the Jews a very heinous crime, and was severely punished both by excommunication and fines: for thus it is said {h},



"a great iniquity it is to despise the wise men, or to hate them. Jerusalem was not destroyed until the disciples of the wise men were despised in it, as it is said, 2Ch 36:16 "but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets": as if he should say, they despised those that taught his words: and thus saith the law, "if ye despise my statutes"; they that teach my statutes ye will despise; and every one that despiseth the wise men, hath no part in the world to come; and lo! this is included in that general rule, "for he hath despised the word of the Lord". Although he that despiseth the wise men hath no part in the world to come, if witnesses come (and depose) that he hath despised them even in words, he is guilty of excommunication: and the sanhedrim excommunicate him publicly, and fine him a pound of gold in every place, and give it to the wise men: and he that despiseth a wise man by words, even after his (the wise man's) death, the sanhedrim excommunicate him; and they free him when he returns by repentance: but if the wise man is alive, they do not free him till he pleases.''



And he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me: this is said to aggravate the sin of the despisers of Christ's ministers, and to deter from it; since the contempt does not terminate in them, nor even in Christ, but reaches his Father also. The Ethiopic version adds, "and he that heareth me, heareth him that sent me": but is not supported by any copy, or any other version.



{h} Maimon. Hilch. Talmud Tora, c. 6. sect. 11, 12.





Luke 10:17



Ver. 17. And the seventy returned again,.... The Syriac version adds, "whom he had sent": these disciples having received orders and instructions from Christ, went as he directed them; and when they had finished their embassy, they returned again to him, and gave him an account of their journey and success. The Vulgate Latin and Persic versions read here, "the seventy two", as they do in

Lu 10:1



with joy; with great joy, as read the Syriac and Persic versions; notwithstanding the difficulties that had attended them, reproaches cast upon them, the ill treatment they might have met with in some places, and the labours and fatigues of their journey, and the dangers they had been exposed to:



saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name: they found the miraculous power conferred on them was greater than they at first imagined, or could collect from what Christ said to them, who only bid them heal the sick, Lu 10:9, but when they came to make use of it they found they had a power of casting out devils; not in their own name and strength, but in the name, and through the power, and by the authority of Christ; and this had thrown them into an ecstasy of joy, and in a sort of a rapture: they express themselves as men astonished at the powers bestowed on them.





Luke 10:18



Ver. 18. And he said unto them,.... In order to abate their surprise, and reduce their transport of mind:



I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven; meaning, that this was no news to him, nor any surprising event, that devils should be cast out of men, and be in a state of subjection; for as he existed as the eternal Son of God before his incarnation, he was present, and saw him and his angels fall from heaven, from their first estate, their habitation of bliss and glory, down to hell, upon their sin and rebellion, as violently, swiftly, and suddenly, as the lightning falls from heaven to earth; and when he sent out these his disciples, as soon as they began their work, and all along in it, he, by his divine omniscience, saw the powers of darkness falling before their ministry and miracles; and he also foresaw how Satan hereafter, in a more conspicuous manner, would fall before the preaching of his Gospel by his apostles, not only in Judea, but especially among the Gentiles, where he, the prince of this world, would be cast down from his throne, and out of his kingdom; so that what they related, as it was what he knew before, it was but little in comparison of what he himself had seen long ago, and of what he foresaw would be; and even he would give them power to do other miraculous works besides these.





Luke 10:19



Ver. 19. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions,.... Which may be literally understood, as in Mr 16:18, or figuratively of the devil, and his principalities and powers, and all his emissaries, who, for their craft and cunning, and for their poisonous and hurtful nature and influence, may be compared to serpents and scorpions:



and over all the power of the enemy; of mankind in general, and of the seed of the woman, Christ and his people in particular, Christ has a power over all his power, his whole posse of devils, even the power of the air, of which he is prince; and he communicated this power to his disciples, even to the seventy: adding,



and nothing shall by any means, hurt you; not the most hurtful and poisonous animals, nor the most malicious persecutors on earth, nor all the devils in hell: as the former venomous creatures, when took up in their hands, should not hurt, their bodies; so the other, whatever they might be permitted to do with respect to their lives, and outward estate, should never hurt their souls, and the eternal welfare of them; nor even hinder the work of God prospering in their hands.





Luke 10:20



Ver. 20. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not,.... That their power was enlarged, or that they had, the same as before:



that the spirits, evil spirits, devils, are subject unto you; and come out of men at your command; rejoice not so much in this, or chiefly and principally; not but that it was matter of joy both with respect to the gift bestowed upon them, and the benefits men received by it, and the glory that was brought to Christ through it;



but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven; in the book of life, called the Lamb's book of life, written from the foundation of the world: in divine predestination to everlasting glory and happiness: which shows that God's election to eternal life is of particular persons, of persons by name; that it is sure, and certain, and immutable, being in opposition to what is written in earth,

Jer 17:13, that the knowledge of this may be attained to, through the grace of God, the revelation of Christ, and the witnessings of his Spirit; and that this is matter of the greatest job, since it is the foundation and security of all the blessings of grace and glory.





Luke 10:21



Ver. 21. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in Spirit,.... In his human soul: his heart was filled with joy, not so much at the success of the seventy disciples, and the subjection of the devils to them, as in the view he had of the spread of the Gospel, and of the revelation and application of the truths of it to multitudes of mean and despicable persons, while it was rejected by the wise and learned; and particularly at the sovereign and distinguishing grace of God towards the elect, whose names are written in heaven; upon the mention of which his soul was so affected, that he broke out in, an exulting strain, into thanksgivings to God, in the following manner,



and said, I thank thee, O Father,.... In three ancient copies of Beza's, and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions it is read, "in the Holy Spirit"; and the Persic version reads, "he spake, or confabulated with the Holy Spirit": but the former reading and sense are best. See Gill on "Mt 11:25" See Gill on "Mt 11:26"





Luke 10:22



Ver. 22. All things are delivered to me of my Father,.... In some ancient copies, and in the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, before these words, are read, "and turning to his disciples he said, all things", &c.



and no man knoweth who the Son is; what is his name, his nature, his perfections and glory; and how he is the Son of God, his only begotten Son:



but the Father; who begat him, and whose own, and proper Son he is:



and who the Father is; what are his perfections, purposes, grace, greatness, mind, and will:



but the Son; who is of him, and lay in his bosom:



and he to whom the Son will reveal him: in himself, by his Spirit;

See Gill on "Mt 11:27".





Luke 10:23



Ver. 23. And he turned him unto his disciples,.... Both to the twelve apostles, and seventy disciples;



and said privately; or to them apart: the phrase "privately" is wanting in the Vulgate Latin version:



blessed are the eyes that see the things that ye see; the person of the Messiah, his kingdom setting up in the world, miracles wrought by him, and Satan falling before him; See Gill on "Mt 13:16".





Luke 10:24



Ver. 24. For I tell you that many prophets and kings,.... As Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who were prophets, as well as patriarchs, and David, Solomon, and others:



have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them, meaning himself, doctrines, and miracles; See Gill on "Mt 13:17".





Luke 10:25



Ver. 25. And behold a certain lawyer stood up,.... From his seat, having been hearing Christ preach, very likely, in some synagogue; when and where this was, is not certain. The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions call this man a Scribe; and a lawyer and a Scribe were the same, as appears from Mt 22:35 compared with Mr 12:28



and tempted him; or tried him whether he understood the law, or whether he would say any thing contrary to it, and see if he could gain any advantage against him, and expose him, and get credit and applause to himself:



saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? the same question as was put by the young ruler in Mr 10:17 for they were both of the same complexion, and upon the same foundation, seeking eternal life by their own works: See Gill on "Mt 19:16"



he said unto him; that is, Jesus, as all the Oriental versions express it.





Luke 10:26



Ver. 26. What is written in the law?.... Christ, with great propriety, sends him to the law, to see and observe what was written there, what are the terms and conditions of life, as fixed there; partly, because this man, by his office and character, was an interpreter of the law; and partly, because his question was, what shall I do?



how readest thou? in the law, every day; referring to the "Keriat Shema", the reading of the Shema, i.e. those words in De 6:4, &c, "Hear, O Israel, &c." morning and evening {i} as appears by his answer



{i} Vid. Misn. Beracot, c. 1. sect. 1, 2.





Luke 10:27



Ver. 27. And he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God,.... This was part of their phylacteries, which they recited every day; See Gill on "Mt 22:37" See Gill on "Mt 22:39" See Gill on "Mr 12:28" See Gill on "Mr 12:29"





Luke 10:28



Ver. 28. And he said unto him, thou hast answered right,.... It is so written, and read; and this, as if he should say, is the sum and substance of the law, and what that requires men should do; wherefore,



do this, and thou shalt live; for the bare reading of it was not sufficient; though these men placed great confidence in reading this passage, or in reciting their phylacteries, of which this was a part, morning and night. Our Lord intimates by this, that, according to the tenor of the law, eternal life was not to be had without a complete and perfect performance of the duties of love to God, and to the neighbour, contained in these words; and this he suggests, in order to convict him of the impossibility of obtaining life by the works of the law, since such a performance cannot be made by man.





Luke 10:29



Ver. 29. But he willing to justify himself,.... Upon the foot of his own righteousness, and to make himself appear to be righteous to others; for this the Jews thought themselves able to do, both to justify themselves before God by their own works, and make it out to men, that they were truly righteous persons; and it is a maxim with them, that



"every one wmue ta qydumh that justifies himself, below (on earth), they justify him above (or in heaven) {k}.''



No wonder then that this man was desirous of justifying himself; and in order to which



he said, and who is my neighbour? he takes no notice of God, and love to him, as coming into the account of his justification, only of his neighbour; thinking when this question was answered, he should be very able to make it out, that he was not wanting neither in doing justice between himself and his neighbour, nor in showing kindness and beneficence to him; for by his neighbour he meant only an Israelite; one of the same nation and religion with him. So the Jews commonly interpret the word neighbour, either of one that is related to them in nature, wbwrq, that is, near akin to them in blood {l}; or that professes the same religion as they do, and whom they call a neighbour in the law; and so they explain the passage now cited, "and thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself", hrwtb Ker awhv; "that is, who is thy neighbour in the law" {m}: for they will not allow a Gentile, no, not even a proselyte of the gate to be a neighbour: for thus they say {n},



"an Israelite that slays a proselyte of the gate, or the stranger that dwells with him, is not slain for him by the sanhedrim; for it is said, Ex 21:14 but if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbour to slay him, &c. and there is no need to say he is not slain for a Gentile.''



And again {o},



"when a man sees one of them (the Gentiles) fall into the sea, he need not take him up; as it is said, Le 19:16 "neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour", Ker hz Nyaw "but this is not thy neighbour."''



This notion Christ opposes and disproves in the following parable, which is an answer to the lawyer's question.



{k} T. Bab. Tasnith, fol. 8. 1. {l} Kimchi in Psal. xv. 3. {m} Moses Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, pr. affirm. 9. {n} Maimon. Hilch. Rotzeach, c. 2. sect. 11. {o} Ib. c. 4. sect. 11.





Luke 10:30



Ver. 30. And Jesus answering, said,.... The following things; which may either be considered as a narrative of matter of fact, or as a supposed case, and delivered by way of parable; and in either way, though the general design of it is in answer to the lawyer's question, to show who may be called a neighbour; and that a man who is a stranger, and accounted an enemy, yet doing acts of mercy, kindness, and beneficence, to one in distress, ought to be accounted a neighbour: and has a much better title to such a character, than one of the same nation and religion, who takes no notice of a distressed object; yet it may be considered, as representing the sad estate and condition of mankind by the fall, and their recovery by Christ; whereby he shows himself to be their best neighbour, and truest friend:



a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. The distance between these two places, the Jews say {p}, was ten "parsas", that is, forty miles; for every "parsa" was four miles, and ten "parsas" are expressly said {q} to be forty miles; which must be understood of the lesser miles, otherwise a parsa itself was but a mile: the Jews had two sorts of miles, the greater was 2000 cubits, the lesser 1000 cubits: the man is said to go down from the one to the other, because Jerusalem stood on high ground, and Jericho in a valley. This "certain man", may represent mankind failing in Adam, from a state of happiness, into misery: human nature was originally in one man, but one man was created at first, and he had all human nature in him, and was the representative of mankind; he was made upright, but sinned, and fell from his uprightness, and all mankind in him: he may be said to go down, from Jerusalem, which signifies peace, and the vision of it; and was a city compact together, beautiful and well situated; where were the worship of God, and his Shekinah, or divine presence; to Jericho, a city accursed by Joshua, and a very wicked place in the days of Christ: since man by sinning against God, departed from his happy and peaceful state, from a state of peace and tranquillity with God, with the holy angels, and even with the beasts of the field; and also from peace and serenity in his own conscience, as well as from communion with God; and from his pure worship and service, to a sensual, earthly, worldly, wicked, and accursed state:



and fell among thieves: in the way to Jericho, was a place called Adomim, which signifies "bloods", because much blood was shed there, by the frequent incursions of thieves and robbers, as Jerom observes {r}; and was about four hours journey from Jericho {s}: and by the man's falling among thieves, may be expressed mankind coming into the hands of sin and Satan, which are as robbers, that steal, kill, and destroy; since these have robbed man of his honour, defaced the image of God in him, and deprived him of the glory of God, and were murderers of him from the beginning:



which stripped him of his raiment; as thieves and robbers are used to do; signifying the loss of original righteousness, by sin, which was a covering to man, in which he could appear before God; and was very ornamental to him, being pure and perfect in its kind, though only a creature's righteousness, and a created one; and which was natural and loseable, as the event has shown: hence man is become a naked creature, has nothing to cover himself with, but stands exposed to the law, justice, and wrath of God; is destitute of a righteousness, nor can he work out one that will stand him in any stead, or justify him before God:



and wounded him: which is the common usage of such men; and may set forth the morbid and diseased condition that sin has brought man into; being from the crown of the head, to the sole of the foot, full of wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores; and such as are in themselves mortal, and incurable by any, but the great physician of souls, the Lord Jesus Christ; and yet men are naturally insensible of them, and unconcerned about there:



and departed, leaving him half dead; or "near death", as the Arabic version renders it; which may be applied to death natural, spiritual, and eternal: to death natural, which comes by sin, seeing it is but one part, or half of the man that dies this death, namely, his body; and to a spiritual death, or the death of the soul, which is dead in trespasses and sins, whilst the body is alive; and to eternal death, to which men are exposed for sin, and are under the sentence of it, though not executed; and in each of these senses may be said to be "half dead": and which is no ways to the advantage of the doctrine of man's freewill, and the powers and abilities of; as if man was not in a spiritual sense so dead, that he can do nothing in a spiritual manner; but the phrase is used, to show the power of sin, and the malice of Satan, and yet that man is still recoverable by the grace of God.



{p} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 20. 2. & 39. 20. Bartenora in Misn. Tamid, c. 3. sect. 8. {q} T. Bab. Pesachim. fol. 93. 2. & Gloss. in ib. {r} Ad Eustochium, Tom. I. fol. 59. I. K. {s} Masius in Josh. xv. 7.





Luke 10:31



Ver. 31. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way,.... Who had been at Jerusalem, to take his turn in the courses, and was now returning to Jericho, where the stationary men were, to which he belonged: for it is said {t}, that



"the former prophets appointed twenty and four courses; and for every course there was a station at Jerusalem, of priests, and of Levites, and of Israelites; and when the time of the course came to go up, the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem. The Rabbins teach, that there were twenty four courses in the land of Israel, and there were twelve at Jericho.''



And which is elsewhere {u} related thus;



"the former prophets appointed four and twenty courses, and for every course there was a station at Jerusalem, of priests, of Levites, and of Israelites; the tradition is, that four and twenty thousand were the station from Jerusalem, and half a station from Jericho; though Jericho was able to furnish out a perfect station itself; but for the sake of dividing the glory to Jerusalem, it produced but half a station.''



So that it is no wonder to hear of priests and Levites passing to and fro in this road. Nor was this a chance matter with respect to God, by whose providence all things are ordered, directed, and governed; nor any wonderful thing with respect to men, which fell out in an uncommon way, beyond expectation; the phrase only signifies, that so it came to pass:



and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side: when he saw him naked, and in such a bloody condition, he might take him for one really dead, and therefore crossed the way on purpose, lest he should any ways touch him, and be defiled by him, and so break the law, and incur the penalty of it, mentioned in Nu 19:16 or to shun so horrible a sight; or rather, through hardness of heart, and want of compassion.



{t} T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 27. 1. {u} T. Hieros. Pesachim, fol. 30. 3. & Taanith, fol. 67. 4.





Luke 10:32



Ver. 32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place,.... Where the poor man lay in this deplorable condition:



came and looked on him; and that was all; but neither spoke a comfortable word, nor administered any relief to him, or in the least assisted him:



and passed by on the other side; as the priest had done before him: by the "priest" may be meant, the moral law, and by the Levite the ceremonial law; and so by both, the whole law of Moses; and intimates, that no mercy is to be expected from thence: the law makes no abatement in its demands, nor any allowance for the fall and weakness of man: nor is it become milder under the Gospel dispensation; nor will it accept of an imperfect, though sincere obedience, in the room of a perfect one; and is deaf to all repentings, cries, and tears: no relief is to be had from thence, for a naked, wounded, and dead man; no robe of righteousness to cover a naked soul; for by the law is the knowledge of sin, but not a justifying righteousness by the deeds of it: for the deeds of the law, performed by sinful men, are impure and imperfect; and were they pure and perfect, they would be unprofitable, and could not justify in the sight of God from former sins; for could they, they would establish boasting, and disannul the death of Christ, and frustrate the grace of God; and therefore righteousness cannot be by the law, that leaves a man as naked as it finds him: nor is there any healing by it to a wounded conscience; there is no pity from it, no justification by it, no pardon through it, no expiation or atonement of sin, by obedience to it; no word of comfort is spoken by it; so far from it, that when it comes with power, it opens the wounds of sin, fills the conscience with wrath and terror, destroys all the man's former hopes of happiness, and leaves him where it found him; without healing him itself, or pointing out a physician to him: much less can it give life to a dead sinner: spiritual life is not communicated by it, nor can eternal life, or any true hope of it, be attained through it; it is so far from it, that it is the killing letter, and the ministration of condemnation and death.





Luke 10:33



Ver. 33. But a certain Samaritan,.... By whom Christ may be meant; not that he was really so, for he was a Jew, a son of Abraham, and of David, according to the flesh, but he was so called by the Jews, Joh 8:48 and was treated as such by them: and since it is the design of the parable in general to show, that he that does acts of kindness and mercy to persons in distress, is a neighbour in the truest sense, though he is not an Israelite, but even a Samaritan, who was, above all men, hated by the Jews; why may it not be thought to be the view of Christ in particular, to prove himself the best neighbour and friend of men, though he was traduced by the Jews as a Samaritan?



as he journeyed; which may design the assumption of human nature, which is sometimes expressed, by his coming from his Father, by his descending from heaven, and coming into this world; which phrases intend his incarnation, and carry in them the idea of journeying: for as his ascent to heaven is expressed by taking a journey, Mt 25:15 so may his descent from heaven; and while he was here on earth, he was as a stranger and pilgrim, as a sojourner and traveller:



came where he was; put himself in the legal place, and stead of his people, who fell with the rest of mankind in Adam; he became their surety from eternity, and clothed himself with their nature in time; he took upon him their sins, as their representative, and fulfilled the righteousness of the law on their account, and bore the penalty of it in their room:



and when he saw him; Christ saw the elect before the fall, as they were chosen in him, and given unto him, in all the glory they were to be brought into; when he loved them, and his delight was with them: and when he came to redeem them, he saw them as follows; as lost, as weak and strengthless, as wicked, and as the worst of sinners, as ungodly, and enemies, as children of wrath by nature, as others; and he shed his blood for them, and washed them from their sins, that he might present them to himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; just such an one he had seen them to be, in the glass of his Father's purposes, in his council and covenant; and he sees them in their blood, and in the impurity of their nature, when he comes to call them by his grace:



and he had compassion on him. The compassion of Christ on his elect, is to be seen in his eternal covenant engagements; for his tender mercies have been ever of old; and in his assumption of their nature, which was through his own, as well as the tender mercy of his Father; and in the redemption of them, which was in love and pity; and also in their regeneration and conversion, for the great things there, and then done for them by him, are owing to his compassion.





Luke 10:34



Ver. 34. And went to him, and bound up his wounds,.... Which sin had made; it being part of the work of Christ, to bind up the broken-hearted, to heal wounded sinners, and restore comforts to mourners; and which he does, by



pouring in oil and wine: by which, in general, may be designed, the blood of Christ, applied to the conscience of a wounded sinner; which cleanses from all sin, heals all the wounds and diseases of sin, cheers and revives fainting spirits, gives ease, peace, and pleasure, and is therefore exceeding valuable and precious: and in particular by "oil" may be meant, the grace of the Spirit of God; compared unto it, for its sweet smell, its cheering and refreshing virtue and efficacy, and its cooling, softening, supplying, and healing nature: and by "wine", the doctrines of the Gospel; such as free justification by Christ's righteousness, and pardon through his blood; which when applied to distressed minds, cause joy and gladness, and them to forget their sorrow, and remember their misery no more: and the pouring in of these, may denote the plentiful effusion of Christ's blood, and the riches of his grace in the application of it; and the freeness and generousness of this action, which is his own: for man cannot do it. It was usual with the Jews, to mix oil and wine together, for the healing of wounds: hence those rules and traditions {w};



"they anoint a linen cloth for a sick man on the sabbath; when? when they mingle the oil and the wine on the sabbath eve, but if they do not mingle it on the sabbath eve, it is forbidden; it is a tradition, says R. Simeon ben Eleazer, R. Meir pronounced it lawful,

Nmvw Nyy Pwrjl to mingle wine and oil, and to anoint the sick on the sabbath.''



So oil and wine were mingled together, and used to heal the sore occasioned by circumcision {x}



and set him on his own beast; by which may be meant, either the red horse of Christ's humanity, Zec 1:8 to which he has united all his people; and in which he has bore their persons, and has represented them, and still bears them on his heart: or the white horse of the Gospel, Re 6:2 compared to a horse for its strength, swiftness, and usefulness in battle; and to a "white" one, for the purity of its doctrines, the joy and peace it brings, and the victory it obtains: and this is Christ's own, and on which he himself rides, and shows his glory, and goes forth conquering and to conquer: and on which he sets his people, and they are carried out of the reach of men and devils to destroy them, and are caused to ride on the high places of the earth:



and brought him to an inn; a church of Christ, where the Gospel guides, directs, and carries souls: saints are not at home in their proper city and country, they are travellers here, and need refreshment by the way; and a church of Christ is as an inn, for the entertainment of such: it is large, and has room enough for as many as come to it; and is well stored with provisions of all sorts, signified by bread, and milk, and wine, a feast of fat things, a furnished table, Zion's provisions, the goodness and fatness of God's house; and has rivers of pleasure, and very good lodgings, sure dwellings, and quiet habitations; all which is agreeable to weary travellers: and hither Christ brings his people, whom he saves and calls; it is his will that they should be in a church state, and it is his own act to bring them there, and it is their great privilege to be thither brought:



and took care of him; clothed him with his righteousness, fed him with the choicest of provisions, gave him reviving cordials of love, refreshing promises, exceeding great and precious ones; and larger supplies of grace, with protection and preservation from all evils.



{w} T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 14. 3. & Beracot, fol. 3. 1. {x} Misn. Sabbat, c. 19. sect. 2.





Luke 10:35



Ver. 35. And on the morrow when he departed,.... Having taken care of him all night, and put him into a comfortable way, leaves him, though in good hands; as Christ does his people, to learn to live by faith upon him:



and he took out two peace; two Roman denarii, or pence; which amount to about fifteen pence of our money, and were equal to the half shekel, paid for the redemption of an Israelite: by which may be meant, not the law and Gospel; for though these both bear the image and superscription of God, and are his current coin, and are both delivered by Christ, and to be regarded and dispensed by the ministers of the word; yet they are not of equal value and use, as these two pence seem to be: wherefore, rather the two Testaments, Old ann New, may be designed, since they are both inspired by God, and dictated by the same Spirit, and bear the same impress; and are alike, and exactly agree, as two pence do; and are given to the ministers of the Gospel to handle, and make use of for the good of souls: unless the two ordinances of baptism, and the Lord's supper, should rather be thought to be intended: these bear the same stamp and authority, and are both jointly necessary to communion, and church order; and are given by Christ to his ministers, to be administered by them, for the good of his church; and are similar, as two breasts are, they being both breasts of consolation, and agree in setting forth the sufferings and death of Christ: or rather, the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, to qualify men for the work of the ministry; which both come from the selfsame Spirit of God, and are jointly necessary to fit a man for such service; and are given for the benefit and advantage of the Lord's people, and in an eminent manner by Christ, on his departure from hence, when he ascended on high, and received gifts for men, and gave them to them:



and gave them to the host; or the keeper and master of the inn; by whom are meant, the ministers of the Gospel; who are governors, in the church, the masters of that spiritual inn; who have the provisions of God's house under their care, and whose business it is to invite travellers in, and to dress their food for them, and set it before them, and bid them welcome:



and said unto him, take care of him: which is the work of Christ's ministers to do, by feeding souls with the words of faith and sound doctrine; by ministering the Gospel to them in a faithful manner; and by a constant administration of the ordinances of it; and by keeping a diligent watch over them, both with respect to principles and practice; and by speaking a word in season to them:



and whatsoever thou spendest more: faithful ministers spend much, and are at great expense in taking care of the souls of men; in fervent and frequent prayer to God; in diligent searching the Scriptures; in the laborious ministry of the word and ordinances; and in the constant exercise and improvement of their spiritual gifts; and in the loss of reputation and credit, and of health, and sometimes of life itself:



when I come again, I will repay thee: Christ will certainly come again a second time, to judge both quick and dead; and then he will recompense his ministers, for all their toil and labour, care and expense; he will then bid them, as good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of their Lord; and when they shall every one receive the reward of his own work, in a way of grace, and shall shine as the stars in the firmament, for ever and ever.





Luke 10:36



Ver. 36. Which now of these three,.... The priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan,



thinkest thou, was neighbour to him that fell among the thieves? the priest and Levite that passed by, and took no notice of him, and gave him no relief, neither by words nor actions; or the Samaritan, that did all the above kind and generous things to him?





Luke 10:37



Ver. 37. And he said, he that showed mercy to him,.... Meaning the Samaritan; which he was obliged to declare, though of another country and religion, and accounted as an enemy; yet the case was so plain, as put by Christ, that he could not with any honour or conscience, say otherwise:



then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise; such like acts of beneficence and kindness, though to a person of a different nation and religion, and though even an enemy; and by so doing, thou wilt not only appear to be a good neighbour thyself, but to love thy neighbour as thyself.





Luke 10:38



Ver. 38. Now it came to pass as they went,.... As Christ and his disciples went from Jerusalem, having been at the feast of tabernacles, Joh 7:2 or at the feast of dedication, Joh 10:22 to some other parts of Judea:



that he entered into a certain village; called Bethany, which was about fifteen furlongs, or two miles from Jerusalem, Joh 11:1



and a certain woman named Martha. This is a common name with the Jews; hence we read of Samuel bar Martha {y}, and of Abba bar Martha {z}, and of Isaac bar Martha {a}; and of Martha, the daughter of Baithus {b}, who is said to be a rich widow; and this Martha here, is thought by Grotins to be a widow also, with whom her brother Lazarus, and sister Mary lived: though sometimes, this name was given to men; so we read of Martha, {c} the uncle of Rab, who had five brethren; and the same writer observes {d}, that it is not known whether Martha is, a man or a woman, but this is determined here:



received him into her house; in a very kind and courteous manner, she being mistress of it; and having known Christ before, or at least had heard much of him, and believed in him, as the true Messiah.



{y} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 13. 2. & 25. 2. & Pesachim, fol. 106. 2. Yoma, fol. 19. 2. Juchuin, fol. 76. 2. {z} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 121. 2. Juchasin, fol. 72. 2. {a} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 33. 2. Juchasin, fol. 91. 1. {b} Misn. Yebamot, c. 6. sect. 4. T. Bob. Yoma, fol. 18. 1. Succa, fol. 52. 2. Cetubot, fol. 104. 1. Gittin, fol. 56. 1. Juchasin, fol. 57. 1. {c} Juchasin, fol. 99. 1. {d} lb. fol. 105. 1.





Luke 10:39



Ver. 39. And she had a sister called Mary,.... Which also was a common name with the Jews, and is the same with Miriam; so we read of Mary, the daughter of Nicodemon, the same perhaps with Nicodemus; and the same person that is before called Martha, the daughter of Baithus, is sometimes called Mary, the daughter of Baithus {e}, though these two names are certainly distinct:



which also sat at Jesus' feet; was a disciple of his, as well as Martha; for it was usual for disciples, or the scholars of the wise men, to sit at the feet of their masters, to which the allusion is in

De 33:3,

See Gill on "Ac 22:3" The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Coptic versions, read "at the Lord's feet": so Beza's ancient copy, and one of Stephens's; and the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "at our Lord's feet". The phrase is expressive of her great affection for Christ, her humble deportment, and close attention:



and heard his word; or discourse; for as soon as he entered into the house, he began to preach to those that were in it, and that came along with him, improving every opportunity for the good of souls; and Mary heard him with great eagerness and diligence, affection, pleasure, and profit.



{e} Echa Rabbati, fol. 49. 2.





Luke 10:40



Ver. 40. But Martha was cumbered about much serving,.... "Or was drawn off", from hearing the word, from attending on Christ; being taken up in providing for him, and those that came with him; in dressing food, or in ordering her servants, how she would have every thing done, and in overlooking them, that every thing was done in proper order; so that she had a great deal of business upon her head and hands, which distracted her thoughts, or took them off of divine things, and put her in great hurry and concern. The Ethiopic version renders it, "Martha laboured in preparing many things for him"; making a large and sumptuous entertainment: and the Persic version, which is rather a comment than a translation, renders it, "Martha was busied in preparing food, and making a feast": sparing no cost nor pains, thinking nothing too good, nor too grand, for such a guest she had in her house:



and she came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? she came to him; that is, to Jesus, as the Persic version expresses it: she came out of the room where she was getting ready the entertainment, into the room where Christ was preaching; and, as the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "she stood and said": she did not sit down at his feet, as Mary did, to hear his word, but stood as about to go away again, after she had said what she came about: she did not think fit to speak to Mary herself, though perhaps she might do that first; who, showing an unwillingness to go with her, she therefore applies to Christ, as believing that he would, with her, look upon it as a very reasonable thing that she should take her part with her; and that a word from him would go a great way with her sister. And she seems to speak, not only by way of complaint of Mary, who had left her to prepare and serve up this entertainment alone; but even of Christ himself, in some sort, as if he had not showed that care and concern in this matter, which she thought was necessary. However, she was willing to have his sense of her sister's conduct, and hoped, and even doubted not, but that he would be of the same mind with herself:



bid her therefore that she help me; that she join, assist, and put an helping hand in this service; speak but a word to her, give her orders, and she will observe and obey.





Luke 10:41



Ver. 41. And Jesus answered and said unto her,.... Calling her by her name, and repeating it, Martha, Martha, which expresses great intimacy and friendship, and much earnestness, and, as it were, pitying her present situation and circumstances:



thou art careful and troubled about many things; intimating, that she was over anxious, and too solicitous, and more thoughtful and careful than she need be: he did not require such preparations for him, and so much attendance; she gave herself an unnecessary trouble in providing so many things for his entertainment, when less would have sufficed; so that instead of joining with her in her request, he reproves her for her over anxious care and solicitude, to have a nice and plentiful feast. The Persic version gives a sense quite contrary to the design of the text, rendering the words thus, "thou art adorned in all things, and hast the preference above many women".





Luke 10:42



Ver. 42. But one thing is needful,.... Meaning not that one dish of meat was sufficient, and there was no need of any more, in opposition to Martha's carefulness in preparing many; for this is too low a sense of the words; which yet some ancient writers have given into: but rather the hearing of the word, the Gospel of Christ, which Mary was engaged in; and which, ordinarily speaking, is necessary to the knowledge of Christ, and salvation by him, and to faith in him, Ro 10:14 not that this is the only needful thing; nor does Christ say there is but one thing needful, but that there is one thing needful; for there are other things that are also needful, and useful, as meditation and prayer, and attendance on, and submission to the ordinances of baptism, and the Lord's supper, and all the duties of religion: but Christ's meaning seems plainly to be, that Mary hearing the word from his mouth, and at his feet, was one necessary thing, in opposition to Martha's many unnecessary ones, about which she was cumbered:



and Mary hath chosen that good part; or "the good part", or "portion"; Christ, the sum and substance of the word she heard, and eternal life and salvation by him. God himself is said to be the portion of his people, and a good one he is, and a portion that lasts for ever; and so is Christ; see Ps 73:26 where the Septuagint use the same word as here. The heavenly inheritance also, eternal glory and happiness, is the saints' portion; it is called in Col 1:12 the part, or portion of the inheritance with the saints in light. The word answers to the Hebrew word, qlx; as in that saying of the Misnic doctors {f},



"all Israel have, qlx, "a part", or "portion" in the world to come.''



All the Oriental versions add, "for herself", and this choice she made, not from the natural power of her own freewill, but as directed, influenced, and assisted by the Spirit and grace of God, and in consequence of God's eternal choice of her unto salvation by Jesus Christ: and the part she chose is, that



which shall not be taken away from her; by men or devils: faith which comes by hearing of the word, and so every other grace of the Spirit is what can never be lost; nor an interest in God, as a covenant God, or in Christ as a Saviour, nor a right and title to, nor meetness for eternal life, nor that itself, can be taken away, or the believer ever be deprived thereof.



{f} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Luke 11:1



Ver. 1. And it came to pass that as he was praying,.... The following directions concerning prayer, though they agree with those in Mt 6:9 &c. yet were delivered at another time, and in another place, and upon another occasion: Christ was then in Galilee, now in Judea: he gave the former directions unasked for, these at the request of one of his disciples; the other were given as he was preaching, these immediately after he had been praying; as soon as he had done a work he was often employed in, as man and mediator, on account of himself, his disciples, cause, and interest: and this was done



in a certain place; perhaps in the Mount of Olives, which was not far from Bethany, where we hear of him last, since this was a place where he used to abide in the night, and pray, Lu 21:37. The Arabic version reads, "in a desert place"; and after he had been at Bethany, he did go to a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, Joh 11:54



when he ceased; from praying; when he had concluded his prayer, and finished all his petitions, and was off of his knees:



one of his disciples; perhaps one of the seventy disciples who had not heard the summary of prayer, and the directions about it before given on the mount, Mt 6:9 The Persic version reads, "his disciples": as if they all united in the request:



and said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples, who, as Tertullian says {g}, brought in a new order and method of praying, and gave his disciples some instructions and directions concerning it, much better than what the Jews in common had: and this disciple looking upon his Lord and master as much better qualified to give directions in this important affair than even John himself was, requests of him that he would; and what might put him upon it at this time seems to be, his observing that Christ had now been at prayer.



{g} Contr. Marcion. l. 4. c. 26.





Luke 11:2



Ver. 2. And he said unto them,.... That is Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express, who directed his speech to all the disciples; for though but one of them addressed him, it was in the name of the rest: and besides, the instructions Christ was about to give concerned them all, even those that heard them before, and those that had not:



when ye pray, say, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth; the last petition is left out in the Vulgate Latin;

See Gill on "Mt 6:9",

See Gill on "Mt 6:10".





Luke 11:3



Ver. 3. Give us day by day our daily bread. Or "for the day"; or "every day", as the Syriac version renders it;

See Gill on "Mt 6:11"





Luke 11:4



Ver. 4. And forgive us our sins,.... Beza's most ancient copy reads "debts", as in See Gill on "Mt 6:12"; and which best agrees with the phrase "indebted", after mentioned:



for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;

See Gill on "Mt 6:12",

See Gill on "Mt 6:13". The doxology there used, and the word "Amen", are here omitted. Some of the petitions in this prayer are not delivered in the very same words as they are in Matthew. The three first petitions are word for word the same; for though the third petition is different in our translation, it is the same in the original. The fourth and fifth vary: in Matthew the fourth is, "give us this day our daily bread"; here in Luke, "give us day by day our daily bread." The fifth in Matthew is, "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"; here, "and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us". And these verbal variations, though the sense is the same, together with the omission of the doxology, and the word "Amen", show, that this prayer was not designed to be an exact form, and to be so used, but as a directory of prayer. I have, in my notes See Gill on "Mt 6:9" &c. shown the agreement there is between the petitions in this prayer, and some that were made use of among the Jews; and have supposed that our Lord took notice of such petitions, which the good people among the Jews frequently used; and which he approved of, and singled out, and put them into the order and method in which they stand, with some alterations for the better, to be a directory to his disciples and followers. Which to suppose, I apprehend, does not at all countenance the making and using stinted forms of prayer; since the petitions used by good men among the Jews, were not used as forms of prayer, but what they were led unto by the Spirit of God from common and constant experience to make use of; just as we may observe now, that good people in different parts, who use no form of prayer, nor have ever heard one another pray, and yet make use of the same petitions, and almost, if not altogether, in the selfsame words, their wants, necessities, cases, and circumstances being the same; and these frequently returning, oblige to a repeated use of them, in the same words, or near unto them. And though forms of prayer might not be in use among the Jews in the times of Christ, yet it is easy to account for it, how Christ came to be acquainted with the petitions in general use with good men; since not only he is God omniscient, and knows all the prayers of his people, both in public and private; but, as man, must know what were used, by his attendance on public worship, and by the private communion he had with the saints and children of God. It must indeed be owned, that forms of prayer very early obtained among the Jews; and if not in Christ's time, yet in the times of his apostles. There is frequent mention {h} of the eighteen prayers in the times of Gamaliel, the master of the Apostle Paul; and of a nineteenth composed by one of his disciples {i}, Samuel the little, who is thought, by some, to be Saul himself, whilst he was a scholar of his; and which is directed against the heretics, or Christians, as they were called by the Jews; and this easily accounts for, how the petitions of the ancient good men among the Jews came to be put with others into their forms of prayer, where we now find them. For that they should take these petitions from this directory of Christ's, is not reasonable to suppose, considering their implacable enmity against him. Moreover, supposing, but not granting, that these petitions which our Lord took, and put into this order, for the use and instruction of his disciples, had been used by good men as forms of prayer, it will not justify the use of forms by any authority of Christ, or as being agreeably to his will; since it is certain, that however these petitions were used by good men before, our Lord never designed they should be used as an exact, precise form of prayer by his disciples; seeing there are several variations in them as here delivered, from what they are as they stand in Matthew; whereas, had they been intended as a stinted form, they would have been expressed in the selfsame words: and moreover, to approve of here and there a petition, which for their matter are excellently good, and to approve of them all together, as a form, are two different things: to which may be added, that though there is an agreement between the petitions, as used by the Jews, and those our Lord directs to; yet there are some variations and alterations much for the better, which destroy the form of them.



{h} Misn. Beracot, c. 4. sect. 3. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 28. 2. T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 3. Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 7. sect. 7. {i} T. Bab. Beracot, ib. Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 2. sect. 1, 2. Gauz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 25. 2.





Luke 11:5



Ver. 5. And he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend,.... A neighbour, or acquaintance:



and shall go unto him at midnight; which may seem a very unseasonable time, and which nothing but real distress, not knowing what otherwise to do, would put a man upon:



and say unto him, friend, lend me three loaves: it was usual of the Jews to borrow bread of one another, and certain rules are laid down, when, and on what condition, this is to be done; as for instance, on a sabbath day {k},



"a man may ask of his friend vessels of wine, and vessels of oil, only he must not say, lend me: and so a woman,

twrkk htrybxm, "bread of her friend".''



Again {l},



"so said Hillell, let not a woman lend htrbxl rkk "bread to her friend", till she has fixed the price; lest wheat should be dearer, and they should be found coming into the practice of usury.''



For what was lent, could not be demanded again under thirty days {m}.



{k} Misn. Sabbat, c. 23. sect. 1. {l} Misn. Bava Metzia. c. 5. sect. 9. {m} T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 3. 2. Jarchi in T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 148. 1. Bartenona in Misn. Sabbat, c. 23. sect. 1.





Luke 11:6



Ver. 6. For a friend of mine in his journey,.... Or "out of the way"; having lost his way, being benighted; and has rambled about for some time, and at length,



is come to me; for lodging and entertainment:



and I have nothing to set before him; to refresh him with, after such a fatigue, before he goes to bed, which was very requisite and proper.





Luke 11:7



Ver. 7. And he from within shall answer and say,.... The friend within doors, shall reply to him that is without at his door, in the street:



trouble me not; by knocking at the door, and importuning to rise and lend loaves; whereby his rest would be disturbed, and trouble given him;



the door is now shut; being very late at night, and which could not be opened without noise and inconvenience:



and my children are with me in bed: sleeping, as the Persic version adds; there were none, children, or servants up, to let him in:



I cannot rise; without disturbing them:



and give thee; the loaves desired.





Luke 11:8



Ver. 8. I say unto you,.... This is the accommodation of the parable; to these words are premised, in the Vulgate Latin version, the following, "if he continue knocking":



though he will not rise and give him, because he is a friend; though mere friendship will not influence and engage him to rise from his bed, at such an unseasonable time, and fulfil the request of his friend;



yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth: as he asks for, or more, if necessary: the design of this parable, is the same with that of the widow and the unjust judge, in Lu 18:1 which is to show the force of importunity, where friendship, as here, and the fear of God, and regard of men, which were wanting there, have no influence; and so to encourage to constancy and perseverance in prayer, with earnestness; taking no denial at the hand of God, but still continuing to make pressing instances.





Luke 11:9



Ver. 9. And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you,.... This is said by Christ, to encourage to prayer, and importunity in it; that if any one asks of God, in the name of Christ, and in faith, whether it be bread for the body, or food for the soul; or any blessing whatever, whether temporal or spiritual, it shall be given; not according to their deserts, but according to the riches of the grace of God; who is rich unto all that call upon him, in sincerity and truth:



seek, and ye shall find: whether it be Christ, the pearl of great price, or God in Christ; or particularly, pardoning grace and mercy through Christ, or the knowledge of divine things; and both grace here, and glory hereafter, as men seek for hidden treasure; such shall not lose their labour, but shall enjoy all these valuable things, and whatever they are by prayer, and in the use of other means, seeking after:



knock, and it shall be opened to you; the door of mercy with God; the door of fellowship with Christ; the door of the Gospel, and the mysteries of it and of the Gospel dispensation and church state, into which is admission, to all that seek; and the door of heaven, into which there is entrance by the blood of Jesus: the several phrases denote prayer, the continuance of it, and importunity in it;

See Gill on "Mt 7:7"





Luke 11:10



Ver. 10. For every one that asketh receiveth,.... Some indeed ask and receive not, because they ask amiss, Jas 4:3 who either apply to a wrong person, or ask in a wrong manner, or from wrong principles, or with wrong ends in view: but when a man is right in the object of prayer, and in the matter and manner of prayer, and in the end he proposes to himself, let him be what he will, of whatsoever nation, or ever mean a person, he has the petitions which he asks, either immediately, or, at least, he may be assured he shall have them in God's due time:



and he that seeketh findeth; whoever not only prays, but makes use of means, as attendance on other ordinances, and is diligent in the use of them, sooner or later finds his account herein, and what his soul seeks for:



and to him that knocketh it shall be opened; not only who prays heartily, and seeks diligently, but who is importunate, and will have no denial; continues knocking; though there may be some time a seeming delay, yet the door will not always be shut to him; after much knocking it will be opened; See Gill on "Mt 7:8"





Luke 11:11



Ver. 11. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,.... Our Lord illustrates and confirms what he had said before by an instance common among men: the relation between a father and a son is natural, and it is very near; and it is usual for a son, when hungry, and at the proper times of meals, to ask bread of his father: and when he does,



will he give him a stone? should he do so, he would show that his heart was as hard, or harder than the stone he gives:



or if he ask a fish, will he, for a fish, give him a serpent? And endeavour to deceive him by the likeness of the one to the other, especially some sort of fish, which would poison or sting him, but not refresh and nourish him: such inhuman brutish parents are not surely to be found;

See Gill on "Mt 7:9",

See Gill on "Mt 7:10".





Luke 11:12



Ver. 12. Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion.... Of which there are three sorts; some are terrestrial, or land scorpions, scorpions of the earth, a kind of serpents, very venomous and mischievous, to whom the wicked Jews are compared, Eze 2:6 and the locusts in Re 9:3 others are airy, or flying scorpions, a sort of fowl; and others are sea scorpions; of the fish kind: it is not easy to say which of them is here meant. There is an herb which is called Nynbrqe {n}, "the scorpion": it leaves are like unto a scorpion, as the Jewish commentators say {o}. This is observed with the same view as the former. By it may be meant here, either the fish that is so called, since a fish is mentioned before; or rather, the land scorpion, which is of the serpent kind; this brings forth little worms, in the form of eggs, as {p} Pliny says: and it is said, that a scorpion put into an empty eggshell, has been used to be given to persons, whose death has been desired; which it bursting from, at once strikes and kills: but what father would do so to a child!



{n} Misn. Erubin, c. 2. sect. 6. {o} Maimon. & Bartonora in lb, {p} Lib. 11. c. 25.





Luke 11:13



Ver. 13. If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children,.... See Gill on "Mt 7:11".



How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? instead of the Holy Spirit here, the Vulgate Latin version reads, "good Spirit", and so two copies of Beza's; and the Ethiopic version, "the good gift of the Holy Spirit"; and doubtless intends the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, in distinction from, and as preferable to the good things given by earthly parents, to their children.







Luke 11:14



Ver. 14. And he was casting out a devil,.... At a certain time, either the same that is recorded in Mt 9:32 or in Mt 12:22 for both of them were attended with the same effect upon the people, and with the same calumny of the Pharisees, mentioned here:



and it was dumb. The Ethiopic version reads, "deaf and dumb"; that is, the devil, which possessed the man, made him both deaf and dumb; if the same as in Mt 12:22 he was blind, as well as dumb:



and it came to pass, when the devil was gone out; of the man possessed by him, by the command of Christ:



the dumb spake; as other men did, and as he had done before; the cause being removed, the effect ceased:



and the people wondered; at the power of Christ, and concluded that he must be the Messiah, the son of David.





Luke 11:15



Ver. 15. But some of them said,.... The Pharisees, Mt 9:34

Mt 12:24 who could not bear that he should be thought to be the Messiah, and therefore put an ill construction on the miracle:



he casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of devils; in several copies he is called Beelzebul, and in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions; which last adds these words, "and he answered and said, how can Satan cast out Satan?" See Gill on "Mt 12:20".





Luke 11:16



Ver. 16. And others tempting him,.... Others of the Scribes and Pharisees, or Sadducees: sought of him a sign from heaven;

See Gill on "Mt 12:38",

See Gill on "Mt 16:1".





Luke 11:17



Ver. 17. But he knowing their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient,



said unto them; the following parables, as they are called in Mr 3:23 or proverbial expressions, very pertinent to the purpose, and sufficient to set aside the base calumnies of the Pharisees:



every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; in process of time, division will end in destruction; and as it does in the kingdoms of the world, of which there have been fatal instances, so it would in the kingdom of Satan, was there in it a division, which the calumny of the Pharisees supposes:



and an house divided against an house, falleth. The Persic version renders it, "an house divided from the foundation, falls"; the sense is, a family, in which one part is opposed to the other, issues in the ruin of both; See Gill on "Mt 12:25",

See Gill on "Mr 3:24",

See Gill on "Mr 3:25".





Luke 11:18



Ver. 18. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?.... This is the accommodation of the above parables, or proverbial sentences; suggesting, that Satan must be against himself, if what the Pharisees said was true; and consequently, his kingdom and government, could not long subsist:



because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub; which is all one as to say, that Satan is divided against himself, which is not reasonable to suppose; See Gill on "Mt 12:26" and

See Gill on "Mr 3:26".





Luke 11:19



Ver. 19. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils,.... Which is what the Pharisees charged him with; in the Greek copies, and so in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions it is read, "by Beelzebul", and so in the preceding verses; See Gill on "Mt 10:25"



By whom do your sons cast them out? by whose help? or in whose name? for the Jews pretended to cast out devils, and to heal those that were possessed with them; which they did sometimes, by making use of the names of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and sometimes of the name of Solomon: Josephus {q} speaks of many in his time, who had this power of healing; and he himself saw one Eleazar, in the presence of Vespasian, his children, officers, and soldiers, cure many that were possessed of devils: and his method was, by putting a ring to the nose of the possessed, under the seal of which, was a root directed to by Solomon, and thereby brought out the unclean spirit; and as soon as the man was healed, he adjured the devil never to return more; at which time he made mention of the name of Solomon, and rehearsed the enchantments written by him: the said Eleazar, to give a specimen of the efficacy of his art, set a cup full of water upon the ground, and commanded the devil when he went out of the man, to turn it over, as a sign that he had left the man, and the devil immediately obeyed his order: now if these sons of theirs cast out devils, which they would not say were done by the help of the devil, or in his name, why should they ascribe the ejection of devils by Christ, to a diabolical assistance?



therefore shall they be your judges; or "judges against you", as the Arabic version; or "shall reprove you", as the Ethiopic; convict and condemn you; See Gill on "Mt 12:27"



{q} Antiqu. Jud. l. 8. c. 2.





Luke 11:20



Ver. 20. But if I with the, finger of God,.... The power of God, referring to Ex 8:19 and so the Cabalistic Jews {r} explain it,



"the finger is one of the five in the hand, and is that finger which works by the power of Elohim;''



it is the same with the Spirit of God; See Gill on "Mt 12:28" which is often called the hand of the Lord, Eze 1:3.



{r} R. Mosch in Sepher Hashem, apud Cabal. Denudata. T. I. par. l. p. 146.





Luke 11:21



Ver. 21. When a strong man armed,.... By the strong man, is meant the devil; See Gill on "Mt 12:29" and who may be said to be "armed", both with his own temptations, which are as fiery darts, and which are thrown by him thick and fast, suddenly and swiftly, privily, and with great art and cunning, and with great strength, and are very injurious; and also with the sins and lusts of men, which are armour of unrighteousness, and which Satan turns upon them, and makes use of against them, to their great detriment; and who



keepeth his palace: which is the corrupt heart of an unregenerate man, where he dwells as a king, has his throne, keeps his court, and has his courtiers, and attendants, the lusts of the flesh, and the desires of the will, and the carnal affections; and which, as filthy a palace as it is, is perfectly agreeable to his nature; and this is kept by a guard of devils, and worldly lusts, till its strong holds are demolished by the Gospel, and Christ the King of glory enters in; till such time,



his goods are in peace: there is no concern in such an heart about sin, no uneasiness on that account, no sense of danger, nor inquiry after salvation; no dread upon the mind at the curses of the law, nor fears of hell, and damnation; but such a man lives in entire security, crying Peace, Peace, to himself.





Luke 11:22



Ver. 22. But when a stronger than he,.... By whom is meant Christ, who is the mighty God, the Almighty; and appears to be so, in the creation of all things, in upholding them by the word of his power, in the government of the world, and the works of providence, in the redemption of his people from sin, Satan, and the law, and in the conversion of them, by the efficacy of his grace, and in the preservation of them by his power; and who is manifestly stronger than Satan; not only by these instances, but by what follows:



shall come upon him; as he did in person, when he dispossessed him from the bodies of men; and does by his Spirit in conversion, when he enters into his palace, the heart of man, binds him, and looses men from him, and turns them from the power of Satan, to God, and sets up a throne of grace, where he himself dwells and reigns: so he comes upon him as an adversary, and often at an unawares; and always with great power and strength, and succeeds: Satan came upon Christ in the wilderness, in the garden, and on the cross, and attacked him, but without success; whence it is clear, that he is stronger than he:



and overcame him; he overcame him in the wilderness, and obliged him to retreat; and on the cross, when he obtained a complete victory over him, destroyed him, his principalities and powers, and all his works, and led him captive; and in conversion, so as to deliver his people from him, that were led captive by him, as that he can never regain his dominion over them more; and though he is suffered to tempt them; he cannot destroy them; and the saints shall overcome him at last, and have him bruised under their feet: and at the same time,



he taketh from him all his armour, wherein he trusted; as his temptations, which he himself repelled in the wilderness, and wrenched out of his hands, and made them useless, and he gives power to his people to resist them, and succours them under them, and delivers them out of them; and also the sins of men, which he took away on the cross, when he bore them, and the punishment of them there: and in conversion, he greatly weakens the power of sin, and takes away the dominion of it; and though the being of it is not removed, hence Satan has something to work upon, yet its power is so far gone, that neither that nor Satan, can destroy such who are truly called by the grace of God:



and divideth his spoils: he spoils his house, the heart of man, from being any longer a palace for him, and his goods, his mind and conscience, which are enlightened and awakened, and purged: or by his spoils are meant, the souls of men; which are taken as a prey out of his hands, and become trophies of victorious grace.





Luke 11:23



Ver. 23. He that is not with me, is against me,.... Our Lord does not mean one, that was not personally with him; for there might be some, and doubtless were many, who were not in person with him, and yet were not against him, but friends to him, and to his interest; nor one that was not a professed disciple of his, or not a follower of him, and his apostles; for there were some who called themselves John's disciples, and did not attend on Christ, and yet were not against him, but cast out devils in his name; and such an one perhaps was he, that is made mention of in Mr 9:38 on occasion of whom, Christ there says some words, which may seem at first view, not so well to accord with these: but such are intended, who acted a neutral part between him and the Pharisees; who could bear to hear them accuse him of casting out devils by the prince of devils, and be easy at it: and such persons are condemned, who can hear all manner of blasphemy against the deity, sonship, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ, and express no indignation at it; these, as they cannot be said to be with Christ, may be truly ranked among those that are against him:



and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth; whoever did not encourage persons to attend on the ministry of Christ, which was confirmed by such miracles the Pharisees spoke so reproachfully and contemptuously of, were reckoned by Christ as such, who were the means of hindering persons gathering unto him; as well as those who menaced and excommunicated them for so doing: the allusion is either to the gathering of the sheep into the fold, and the scattering of them by the wolf; or to the gathering of the wheat, and binding it in sheaves, and bringing it home in harvest; and to the scattering of the wheat loose in the field, whereby it is lost, and comes to nothing; See Gill on "Mt 12:30".





Luke 11:24



Ver. 24. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,.... That is, the devil, who is in, and works in the children of disobedience, whether under a profession of religion or not; whose hearts are unclean like himself, wherefore there he delights to dwell; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "the evil demon": who may be said to go out of a man in appearance, when he outwardly reforms and takes up a profession of religion.



He walketh through dry places; or "a desert", as the Ethiopic version; to which the Gentile world is sometimes compared in the Old Testament Isa 35:1 whither Satan might go, being disturbed in Judea, through the many dispossessions by Christ; or rather leaving for a while the Scribes and Pharisees, who outwardly appeared righteous before men, he went to the Gentiles;



seeking rest, and finding none; being also made uneasy among them, through the preaching of the Gospel, which was sent unto them after Christ's resurrection; and not being able to keep his place in the hearts of men, nor do the mischief he was desirous of.



He saith, I will return unto my house, whence I came out; to the Jews again, who were blinded and filled with rage and enmity to the Gospel by him, and whom he instigated to persecute the apostles of Christ, and preachers of the word, wherever they came;

See Gill on "Mt 12:43" and

See Gill on "Mt 12:44".





Luke 11:25



Ver. 25. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. In Matthew it is also said to be "empty"; and so it is read here in the Arabic version; and in the Ethiopic version, "empty of men": but rather the sense is, that he found it empty of all goodness, notwithstanding all the sweeping and garnish of an outward reformation. The Persic version renders it, "heated and prepared"; heated with wrath and fury against Christ, and his Gospel, and so was prepared and fitted to be a proper habitation for Satan; and in such a case as this was the Jewish nation from the time of Christ's death to the destruction of Jerusalem; See Gill on "Mt 12:44"





Luke 11:26



Ver. 26. Then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits,.... Or "demons", as the Ethiopic version, whom he took to him as his consorts and companions, as the same version calls them.



More wicked than himself; for it seems there are degrees of wickedness among the devils, as well as among men:



and they enter and dwell there; the unclean spirit, and the other seven: so seven devils were in Mary Magdalene, and a legion in another man; and indeed the evil heart of man is an habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit: here it may chiefly design the place and power which the devil had among the Jews before their destruction:



and the last state of that man is worse than the first; the Persic version adds, "and more miserable"; as was the case of the Jews, to which this parable refers; as appears by what is subjoined in Matthew, which manifestly applies it to them,



even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation;

See Gill on "Mt 12:45".





Luke 11:27



Ver. 27. And it came to pass as he spoke these things,.... That is, as Christ spoke, or "had finished these sayings", as the Persic version expresses it, before related, in vindication of himself and his miracles, from the blasphemy of the Scribes and Pharisees to their entire confusion, and had delivered the above parable concerning the unclean spirit, which had a particular regard to them:



a certain woman of the company: observing the miracle he had wrought, in casting out a devil, and being affected with his discourse, in which he so fully cleared himself, and so strongly confuted his enemies, and set them forth in so just a light:



lift up her voice, and said unto him, aloud, in the hearing of all the people, and with great earnestness and fervour:



blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked: whether this woman personally knew Mary, the mother of Christ, is not certain; it may be that she was now present, or at least not far off; and this woman hearing that she, with the brethren of Christ, were without, and desired to speak with him, might be the occasion of her uttering these words; Mt 12:46 though they are said not so much in praise, and to the honour of Mary, as in commendation of Christ, from whom, and for the sake of bearing and suckling so great a person, she was denominated blessed as before, both by the angel and Elisabeth, Luke 1:28 This was a form of blessing among the Jews: so it is said {s} of R. Joshuah ben Chananiah, a disciple of R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who lived about these times, wtdlwy yrva, "blessed is she that bore him": and they had also a form of cursing among them, much after the same manner, as qnyya Nkd azyb jyl, "cursed be the paps that suckled him" {t}. The Jews, in their blasphemous rage against Christ, and all that belong to him, say of Mary, the daughter of Eli, by whom they seem to design the mother of our Lord, that she hangs in the shades by the fibres of her paps {u} but this woman had a different opinion of her.



{s} Pirke Abot, c. 2. sect. 8. {t} T. Hieros. Celaim, fol. 27. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 5. fol. 5. 1. {u} T. Hieros. Chagiga, fol. 77. 4. & Sanhedrin, fol. 23. 3.





Luke 11:28



Ver. 28. But he said,.... Christ said "to the woman", Persic version reads, as correcting her, though not denying it, nor reproving her for it, but improving upon it:



yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it; intimating, that though his mother was happy in bearing and suckling such a son, yet it was a far greater happiness to hear the word of God; meaning either himself, the eternal "Logos", so as to embrace him, believe on him, and have him formed in the heart; or the Gospel preached by him, so as to understand it, receive it as the ingrafted word, and bring forth fruit, and act in obedience to it, observe it, and abide by it, and never relinquish it. This is a greater happiness than to be related to Christ in the flesh, though ever so nearly. The Ethiopic version reads, "that hear the word of God, and believe, and keep it": for faith comes by hearing, and shows itself in doing. Barely to hear the word, and even give an assent to it, will be of little avail, unless what is heard and believed is put in practice.





Luke 11:29



Ver. 29. And when the people were gathered thick together,.... Upon this woman's lifting up her voice, and saying the things she did; or rather to see what sign he would give, which some had desired Lu 11:16



he began to say, this is an evil generation. The Alexandrian copy, two copies of Beza's, and the Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions read, "this generation is an evil generation"; and also it was an "adulterous one", as is added in Mt 12:39



they seek a sign; for they had asked one of him, Lu 11:16



and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet; one like unto it: See Gill on "Mt 12:39"





Luke 11:30



Ver. 30. For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites,.... As he was by lying three days and three nights in the whale's belly, and then cast on shore alive; which sign, or miracle was wrought to confirm his mission and message, and to engage the Ninevites to give credit to him, and repent, or they might assure themselves they would be utterly destroyed;



so shall also the son of man be to this generation; by lying three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and then rising again from the dead the third day; and which should be done to confirm the truth of his Messiahship, and to declare him to be the Son of God with power, and to engage persons to believe in him; and to assure that wicked generation, that in case they remained, after such a sign, impenitent and unbelieving, wrath would come upon them to the uttermost; see Mt 12:40.





Luke 11:31



Ver. 31. The queen of the south,.... That is, the queen of Sheba, which was a country of Arabia, which lay south of Judea; of whom it is said, that



she shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: the sense is, that at the last day, when all shall rise from the dead, both Jews and Gentiles, this Heathen queen shall rise together with the men of the present generation among the Jews, stand in judgment with them, and against them; and that her conduct would be brought as an evidence against them, and be improved as an aggravation of their condemnation:



for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon is here: the difference between them, and what aggravates the case is, that she was a Gentile that knew not God, they were Jews, his professing people; she came from afar, they were near, upon the spot, where Christ was, he was preaching in their streets, temple, and synagogues; she came to hear only natural or moral wisdom, but they might have heard spiritual and heavenly wisdom, with which eternal happiness is connected; she came to hear only a mere man, but they might have heard him who is the wisdom of God, and the only wise God, and our Saviour; See Gill on "Mt 12:42".





Luke 11:32



Ver. 32. The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it,.... Luke changes the order of these instances; Matthew mentions this before the instance of the queen of Sheba; but Luke puts it last: this circumstance is not material, and the design of it is the same with the former:



for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than Jonas is here: what in this case will aggravate the condemnation of the Jews in the day of judgment is, that these men were Heathens, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, and were not used to have prophets sent to them; and yet as soon as Jonas, a mere man, came to them, and preached but one sermon among them, they repented of their sins, and turned from them; whereas the Jews, who had a better notion of religion, and who, though they had the Son of God himself among them, and preached to them, and that many sermons, and whose ministry was confirmed by miracles, and afterwards his apostles for a course of years, had yet remained impenitent and unbelieving;

See Gill on "Mt 12:41".





Luke 11:33



Ver. 33. No man when he hath lighted a candle,.... These words are often repeated by Christ on different occasions,

See Gill on "Mt 5:15" and

See Gill on "Lu 8:16" and here seem to design the free, open, and clear ministry of Christ, who excelled Solomon in wisdom, and Jonas in powerful preaching. It being as a candle, which, when lighted, no man



putteth in a secret place; as under a bed, Mr 4:21 where it cannot be seen, and its light be of any use:



neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come may see the light; intimating, that Christ and his disciples did not preach in corners, or in private houses, and secret places, but in the streets of the city, and in the temples and synagogues, the public places of worship: and therefore the Jews were the more inexcusable, that they did not attend to the ministry of the word; and this would be their condemnation, that light was come among them, and they preferred darkness to it, Joh 3:19.





Luke 11:34



Ver. 34. The light of the body is the eye,.... The Vulgate Latin and all the eastern versions read "the light of thy body is thine eye". The sense is, that as the eye gives light, to the body, and the several members of it, by which they are guided and directed; so the understanding is the light of the soul, and the guide to all the powers and faculties of it;



therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light: as when the eye is free from vicious humours, and its sight is clear, the whole body reaps the advantage of it, and is perfectly illuminated by it; so when the eye of the understanding is opened and enlightened by the Spirit of God, into the truths of the Gospel, and a single regard is had unto them, and to the glory of Christ in them, the whole soul is filled with light, joy, and comfort:



but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness; as when the eye of the body is attended with any bad humours that hinder the sight, all the members of it are in darkness; so, when the understanding is darkened through the blindness and ignorance there is in men, with respect to Gospel truths, all the powers and faculties of the soul are in a very miserable and uncomfortable condition. The 35th and 36th verses are not in Beza's most ancient copy.





Luke 11:35



Ver. 35. Take heed therefore,.... By attending to the light of the Gospel, shining in the ministration of it, and do not neglect and despise it:



that the light which is in thee be not darkness; lest being given up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart, not only the light of nature, which the Jews had in common with the Gentiles, but even that notional light and knowledge of divine things, which they had by being favoured with an external revelation, the writings of the Old Testament, should be lost.





Luke 11:36



Ver. 36. If thy whole body therefore be full of light,.... That is, if the whole soul, as the Ethiopic version reads, be full of Gospel light, through the illuminating influences of the blessed Spirit accompanying the word:



having no part dark; every power and faculty of the soul being affected with it, and influenced by it, though, as yet, the light and knowledge of evangelical things is not perfect in any:



the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light; the whole soul shall be as full of light and joy, which the Gospel always brings with it, as a room is full of light, when a candle is lighted, and shines brightly, and burns clearly in it.





Luke 11:37



Ver. 37. And as he spake,.... Either the above words, or others at another time:



a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: as one of the same sect had before, in Lu 7:36 and who either was better affected to Christ than the generality of them were; or had a design upon him to get him into company with others, in private, and ensnare him if they could, and overcome him, who was an overmatch for them before the people; among whom they feared, should they go on thus publicly to attack him, their credit and reputation would sink, and be lost.



And he went in and sat down to meat: whatever were the intentions of the Pharisee, Christ, who was always affable and free with all sorts of men, readily accepted of the invitation, and at once went along with him to his house; and dinner being ready, and on the table, he immediately sat down without any ceremony.





Luke 11:38



Ver. 38. And when the Pharisee saw it,.... That Christ laid himself down on one of the couches and began to eat:



he marvelled; that so great a prophet as he was, and a man of so much religion and holiness, should show no regard to a common custom with them, and which was one of the traditions of their elders, and which they put upon a level with the commands of God. The Vulgate Latin version, and so Beza's most ancient copy, and another exemplar, read, "he began to say, thinking" (or judging) "within himself": he was "moved" at it, as the Persic version renders it; he was filled with astonishment and indignation,



that he had not first washed before dinner; especially since he had been in a crowd of people, Lu 11:29 for the Pharisees not only washed their hands, by immersing them up to the elbow before eating; but when they had been at market, or among any large number of people, or had reason to think they had, or feared they had touched any unclean person or thing, they immersed themselves all over in water: and which is the sense of the word baptizomai, here used; See Gill on "Mr 7:2",

See Gill on "Mr 7:3" and

See Gill on "Mr 7:4".





Luke 11:39



Ver. 39. And the Lord said unto him,.... Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions read; the Lord Jesus, as the Ethiopic.



Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup, and the platter; being very tenacious of the traditions of the elders, concerning the washing of cups and pots, which had been of late years brought in among them, and therefore the word "now" is used;

See Gill on "Mt 23:25" and

See Gill on "Mr 7:4",



but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness: meaning either their souls, which were full of all manner of sin, the cleansing and purity of which they had no concern about, whilst they were very strict and curious in washing their bodies, their cups and platters; or rather the vessels which were filled with meat and drink got by extortion, rapine, and oppression; see Mt 23:25.





Luke 11:40



Ver. 40. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without,.... That is, made clean that which is without, or the outside of the cup and platter;



make that which is within also? does not he make the inside clean likewise? whoever washes a cup or platter, but washes and makes clean the inside, as well as the outside? and so ye who are so very careful to have your cups and platters clean, should be as careful what you put in them, that they are clean also; not only that they are clean according to the law, in a ceremonial sense, but in a moral sense, that they are honestly and lawfully got. The word,

poiew, rendered "made" and "make", answers to the Hebrew word

hve, which sometimes signifies to beautify and adorn, and to cleanse, and remove away filth, as by paring nails, and washing the feet; so in De 21:12 it is said of a captive woman that a man takes into his house for his wife, among other things, htvew, "she shall make her nails"; that is, "pare" them, as we render it, and remove the filth from them. Again, in 2Sa 19:24 it is said of Mephibosheth, that from the day king David departed, he had not,

hve, "made his feet"; that is, as the Targum renders it,

Pjv al, "he had not washed his feet"; and so other Jewish interpreters understand it, either of his having not washed his feet, much less his whole body {w}, or of not having pared his nails {x}; and so the Vulgate Latin renders it, that he came to meet the king "with unwashen feet"; which may serve to illustrate and confirm the sense before given: though interpreters generally understand this of God, as the maker of the soul, as well as of the body; and therefore the purity of the former should be regarded, as well as that of the latter.



{w} R. David Kimchi and Rabbenu Isaiah in loc. Vid Jarchi in ib. {x} R. Levi ben Gersom in ib.





Luke 11:41



Ver. 41. But rather give alms of such things as ye have,.... The phrase ta enonta, is variously rendered, and so furnishes out various senses: the Syriac version renders it, "give that which is", which is yours; or "which is given to you", as the Persic version, and agrees with ours, "such things as ye have"; and which carries in it but a very odd sense; for none can give of that which they have not. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "that which is over and above"; superfluous substance, and which may be easily spared without hurting a man, or his family: others, "as much as you can": according to a man's ability, and as God has prospered him in the world. The Ethiopic version renders it, "that which is necessary"; which the necessities of the poor call for, and is right and proper to give them: and the Arabic version, very foreign from the sense of the phrase, reads, "before every thing"; above all things give alms. But the true sense of it is contained in the literal version of it, "things that are within"; that is, that are within the cup and the platter; give meat and drink to the poor, your platters and cups are full of, gotten by injustice and oppression. Some read it not imperatively, "give", but indicatively, "ye do give": you oppress and defraud men, devour widows' houses, and fill your own with the spoils of others; and then give out of your cups and platters drink to the thirsty, and meat to the hungry, to make atonement for your avarice and extortion:



and behold all things are clean unto you; that is, according to their own opinion, who fancied that alms deeds justified them in the sight of God, cleansed them from their sins, delivered them from hell, and gave them a title to eternal life; See Gill on "Mt 6:1" for it can never be thought to be our Lord's meaning in earnest, that either their persons, or what they had, should be pure and clean unto them, by giving a part of their ill-gotten goods to the poor; but he speaks their sense, in an ironic way. From this opinion of theirs it is, that the Hebrew word, hkz, which signifies "to be clean", is used by them for giving alms: so it is said {y}, that



"R. Jonathan and Resh Lekish went down to bathe themselves in the baths of Tiberias; and a certain poor man met them, and said unto them, yb Nyykz, "give me alms"; they said unto him, when we come back we will Kb Nyykz, "give thee alms":''



and so the Mahometans call alms by the same name, because they imagine that they cleanse their other substance from pollution, and their souls from avarice.



{y} Vajikra Rabba, Sect. 34. fol. 174. 2. Vid. fol. 173. 3, 4. & 174. 4.





Luke 11:42



Ver. 42. But woe unto you Pharisees,.... Though these words, with several other passages in this chapter, are much alike with those in Matthew 23 yet it is clear that they were spoken at different times, these in the house of a Pharisee, and they in the temple at Jerusalem:



for ye tithe mint and rue; See Gill on "Mt 23:23" the Persic version here reads, "mint and anise", as there; and the Ethiopic version only "hyssop":



and all manner of herbs; or "every herb"; that is, all sorts of herbs that grow in the garden, and were not common to all;



and pass over judgment, and the love of God: by "judgment" may be meant justice, or doing that which is right between man and man, both publicly and privately, which was greatly neglected by these extortioners and unjust men: and by "the love of God" may be intended, both love to God, which shows itself in the observance of the first table of the law, and love to the neighbour, which God requires, and regards the second table:



these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone;

See Gill on "Mt 23:23".





Luke 11:43



Ver. 43. Woe unto you Pharisees, for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues,.... And also the uppermost rooms at feasts,

Mt 23:6



and greetings in the market; See Gill on "Mt 23:6" and

See Gill on "Mt 23:7".





Luke 11:44



Ver. 44. Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... As they are all along called by Matthew; though only here by Luke. The Vulgate Latin only reads, "woe unto you", leaving out all the rest: but the whole is retained in all the Oriental versions;



for ye are as graves which appear not; being covered with grass; "or which were not marked", as the Ethiopic version renders it; that is, were not whited or covered with lime, as some were, that they might be seen at a distance, and be known what they were; that so men might avoid going near them, and prevent their being defiled with them; See Gill on "Mt 23:27"



and the men that walk over them



are not aware of them; and so are defiled by them. Christ compares the Pharisees, because of their hypocrisy, and secret iniquity, both to whited sepulchres, and to those that were not: to those that were, because, like them, they looked beautiful without, and righteous in the sight of men, and yet were inwardly full of all manner of pollution and sin; and to those that were not, because they did not appear to be what they were, and men were deceived by them; and under specious pretences to religion and holiness, were by their corrupt doctrines and practices unawares drawn into the commission of sin. Regard may not only be had to graves covered with grass, or not marked with lime, by which they might be known; but also to what the Jews call, Mwhth rbq, "the grave of the abyss" {z}; a grave that is not known no more than if it was in the bottomless pit: so uncleanness by touching a dead body, which a man is not conscious of, is called the uncleanness of the abyss, or an unknown one {a}.



{z} Misn Parah. c. 3. sect. 2. Maimon. Hilch. Parah. c. 3. sect. {a} Maimon. in Misn. Nazir, c. 9. sect. 2. & Pesach. c. 7. sect. 7.





Luke 11:45



Ver. 45. Then answered one of the lawyers,.... Or Scribes, as the Syriac and Persic versions read: and so the Ethiopic version calls him, "a Scribe of the city": the Scribes and lawyers were the same sort of persons who were interpreters of the law, and equally tenacious of the traditions of the elders Christ had referred to, as the Pharisees, and in general were Pharisees; though some of them might be of the sect of the Sadducees. This man observing that Christ, in his last words, joined the Scribes and Pharisees together, and charged them both with hypocrisy, and pronounced a woe upon them, was very uneasy at it:



and saith unto him, master, thus saying, thou reproachest us also; us lawyers, or Scribes also; both by mentioning their names, and accusing the Pharisees of the same things, which they must be conscious to themselves they were equally guilty of; so that if the one were criminal, the others were also. The Ethiopic version reads by way of interrogation, "what thou sayest, does it not injure us?"





Luke 11:46



Ver. 46. And he said, woe unto you also, ye lawyers,.... Christ was so far from calling back what he had said or suggested, that he repeats and confirms it, and more particularly names them, and enlarges on their evil practices:



for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers; see Gill on "Mt 23:4".





Luke 11:47



Ver. 47. Woe unto you,.... Meaning particularly the lawyers or Scribes, together with the Pharisees, and even the whole body of the people, who in general were of the cast and complexion here described:



for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets;

See Gill on "Mt 23:29"



and your fathers killed them; the prophets; "or whom your fathers killed", as read the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions; the one put them to death, and the other erected stately monuments over them, or adorned them; and yet both had the same malignant spirit against the faithful servants and messengers of God; and which showed their great hypocrisy.







Luke 11:48



Ver. 48. Truly ye bear witness, that ye allow the deeds of your fathers,.... Or "ye bear witness, and ye allow"; that is, they both witnessed that their fathers killed the prophets, and they consented to what they did, and approved of their actions:



for they indeed killed them; it must be owned, and not their sons:



and ye build their sepulchres; which was a bearing and keeping up a testimony against them, and a continuing a remembrance of their crimes; and which looked as though they approved of them, or otherwise they should have been content to have the prophets lie buried in silence, and not erected stately monuments over them, which seemed to be raised more for the honour of those that put them to death, than of the prophets themselves. Or, whereas they did this under specious pretences of disliking their fathers' sins, which yet secretly they loved, and were of the same wicked disposition against the ministers of the word, and which they would quickly show; this discovered their hypocrisy, and confirmed the character Christ had before given of them; for it follows,





Luke 11:49



Ver. 49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God,..... The Syriac version only reads "wisdom"; by which seems to be meant not the perfection of God's wisdom: though it is usual with the Jews to represent the divine perfections as speaking, as the justice and mercy of God. They say {b}, that



"when the holy blessed God sought to make Hezekiah the Messiah, and Sennacherib, Gog, and Magog, Nydh tdym, "the property of judgment", or "justice, said" before the holy, blessed God, Lord of the world, &c.''



and so the sense may be here, that the infinite wisdom of God said within himself, determined in his own breast, to do what follows. But I rather think that Christ is intended, who, as God, is the essential wisdom of God; and, as man and mediator, has the spirit of wisdom resting on him, and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hid in him; since this is said by Christ, Mt 23:34 though the words here seem to be the words of the evangelist relating what Christ had said. Some have thought, that some book, under the name of "The Wisdom of God", is here cited, which had in it the following words,



I will send them prophets and apostles; which, in Matthew, are called prophets, wise men, and Scribes; and by whom are meant the apostles of Christ, and the ministers of the Gospel. The Persic version reads, "lo, I send to you", as in Mt 23:34,



and some of them they shall slay and persecute; some of them they shall put to death, and others they shall persecute from one place to another; See Gill on "Mt 23:34".



{b} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1. Vid. Targum in Eccl. x. 8. & in Lam. i. 1. & ii. 20.





Luke 11:50



Ver. 50. That the blood of all the prophets,.... The same with "all the righteous blood", or the blood of all the righteous men, in

Mt 23:35,



which was shed from the foundation of the world: for there were prophets from the beginning, which prophesied of Christ, Lu 1:70 and whose blood was shed very early; for Abel, the son of the first man, and who was the first whose blood was shed, was not only a righteous man, but a prophet; for by the sacrifice which he offered up, he gave a prophetical hint of the sacrifice of Christ, in that he spoke beforehand of it, as being dead he yet speaks: and now the Lord was about to send apostolical prophets, whom the Jews would slay, and he would suffer them to slay, that so the blood of all the former ones,



may be required of this generation; and they be punished for it: just as in Babylon will be found, when God makes inquisition for blood, as he sooner or later always does, the blood of the prophets and saints, and of all that are slain upon earth, ever since Rome papal has been in power, Re 18:24.





Luke 11:51



Ver. 51. From the blood of Abel,.... "Righteous Abel", as in

Mt 23:35 and so read the Arabic version here, and two manuscripts in the Bodleian library, and three of Stephens's copies; the Persic version renders it, "innocent Abel": he is mentioned because he was the first man that was slain, and he was slain because of his righteousness.



Unto the blood of Zacharias; in the Cambridge copy of Beza's, it is added, "the son of Barachias", as in Mt 23:35 and so the Arabic version, "the son of Barasciah"; who he was,

See Gill on "Mt 23:35"



which perished between the altar and the temple; or "the house", that is, the holy place: and the Ethiopic version renders it, "the holy house"; here he died, being slain by the Jews; see the note, as before.



Verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation; as it was at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.





Luke 11:52



Ver. 52. Woe unto you lawyers,.... Who are particularly addressed again in distinction from the Pharisees, though much the same things are said to them both in Mt 23:13



for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; of the Scriptures, of the law, and the prophets, and the true interpretation of them, and especially of such places as refer to the Messiah, and the Gospel dispensation, called the kingdom of heaven, Mt 23:13 they had not only arrogated the knowledge of these to themselves, setting up for the only interpreters of the sacred writings; but they had took away from the people the true knowledge and sense of them, by their false glosses upon them, so that they were destroyed for lack of knowledge: and hence came that famine of hearing the word, which they say {c} should be before the coming of the King Messiah, and now was. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "the keys of knowledge"; and the Ethiopic version, "the key of righteousness". The Jews sometimes speak of "the keys of the law", and represent the oral law as the root and key of the written law {d}: but, alas! it was by the oral law, or traditions of the elders, that they took away the key, or obscured the true sense of the written law. Some think, that here is an allusion to the custom of delivering a key to any one, when he was ordained or promoted to the dignity of a doctor: it is said of R. Samuel {e}, that



"when he died they put, wxtpm, "his key", and his writing book into his coffin, because he was not worthy of a son''



to succeed him:



ye entered not in yourselves; into the kingdom of heaven, the Gospel dispensation, neither receiving doctrines, nor submitting to its ordinances:



and them that were entering in ye hindered; by reproaching the miracles and ministry of Christ; by threatenings and excommunications; See Gill on "Mt 23:13".



{c} Targum in Ruth i, 1. {d} Zohar in Exod. fol. 46. 1. {e} Vid. Cameron. in loc.





Luke 11:53



Ver. 53. And as he said these things unto them,.... Denounced the above woes upon them, charging them with the above crimes, and threatening them with divine vengeance:



the Scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently; to fall upon him with their tongues, and express great rage, wrath, and virulence against him:



and to provoke him to speak of many things; they put questions to him, and urged him to answer them, and did all they could to irritate him to say things that they could improve against him, to draw words out of his mouth, and then wrest and pervert them.





Luke 11:54



Ver. 54. Laying wait for him,.... To ensnare and entangle him, watching his words, observing what he said, and laying hold thereon:



and seeking to catch something out of his mouth; like beasts of prey, or hunters, that were watching for their prey; or lay ambush, diligently looking out, and greedily catching at every thing they thought for their purpose:



that they might accuse him; either of heresy or sedition, to the Jewish sanhedrim, or the Roman governor.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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