ADVERTISEMENT.

THE TEXT in this Commentary is a reprint of the last Edition with marginal references, published at the Oxford Press, with the following differences:

1. Quotations from the Old Testament are printed in thick type. As, for example, in St. Matt. iii. 3.

2. Each new paragraph is headed with the sign ¶ and followed by a space.

3. When a verse does not end with a full stop, the succeeding verse is not begun with a capital letter. See for example the beginning of St. Matthew iii. 9.

It is hoped that the two latter features of the printing will to some extent supply the place of a "Paragraph Bible' to those who aim at an accurate study of the Holy Scriptures; while at the same time it will not interfere with the division into verses which is so familiar to readers.

It will be observed that in the Commentary on the Gospels, each heading of a principal section is accompanied by a reference to the parallel passages in other Gospels.

It may be well to call attention here (though it is also done in the Note to St. Matt. ii. 1.) to the fact that the ordinary system of chronology in use among us, is not strictly accurate. Careful study has established that the Birth of our Blessed Lord took place four years earlier than the date commonly assigned. Thus, assuming that He was born at the time at which we now keep Christmas, the date of the Birth is Christmas-Day B.C. 5, and of the Circumcision, January 1, B.C. 4. In like manner the date of His first Passover is A. D. 8, though He was twelve years old. St. Luke ii. 42.

THE

FOUR GOSPELS

According to

THE AUTHORISED VERSION.

WITH A BRIEF COMMENTARY

BY

THE REV. W. WALSHAM HOW, M. A.,
Honorary Canon of Saint Asaph, Rural Dean,
Rector of Whittington, Salop.

With Maps and Plans.

•BOD

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE.

London:

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Sold at the Depositories,

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1870.

1015. e. 3

THE GOSPEL

ACCORDING TO

SAINT MATTHEW.

COMMENTARY.

TITLE.

THE GOSPEL-Gospel' means 'Good Tidings,' or 'Good News.' Each of the Gospels is a Life or History of our Lord Jesus Christ and to tell of Him is to tell the best tidings the world has ever heard. For it is to tell of God, the everlasting Son, leaving His eternal glory, to be born and to live and to die as Man, that He might "people from their sins."

save His

ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.-That is, as St. Matthew records it. Each of the four Evangelists (or Gospel-writers) tells his story differently from the others. Each tells it after his own fashion, in his own words, and for his own purpose; and yet each, most surely, only as he was "moved by the Holy Ghost," or as that Divine Comforter brought to his remembrance the things which Jesus had spoken. According to Christ's promise, the Holy Spirit led them "into all "truth."

St. Matthew had been a publican, or tax-gatherer, and was called by our Lord from his place of business, as the fishermen were from their ships and nets (See ix. 9.). He is called Levi by St. Mark and St. Luke. Probably Levi was his former name, and he was named Matthew when he became a disciple of Christ. He was one of the twelve Apostles, and thus himself saw and heard most of what he relates.

St. Matthew's Gospel has been universally held to be the oldest of the four. The exact date of it is not known, but it was probably written not many years after the Ascension of our Lord (See Introduction to St. Luke.). It is almost certain that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel

A

first in Hebrew (that is, in the language spoken by the Jews of his time. See on St. John i. 42. note), but that the Greek version which we possess was made, either by the Evangelist himself or under his direction, very shortly afterwards. Greek was known by all welleducated people in those days, which may have been the reason why the original Hebrew Gospel was lost in early times. St. Matthew wrote his Gospel firstly for the Jews, which was the reason of its being first written in Hebrew. Jewish customs and expressions are not explained, as in the other Gospels: the Scriptures of the Old Testament are very largely quoted: the Jewish teachers are made the subject of many discourses: and Christ is set forth with great distinctness as the King of the Jews.

The four Living Creatures seen by Ezekiel (See Ezek. i. & x.), and by St. John are supposed by many ancient writers to be emblems or symbols of the four Evangelists (But see on Rev. iv.), although with some difference of opinion as to the application of the several emblems. These expositors appear agreed thus far, "that the Lion "signifies what is kingly; the Man what is human; the Ox what "is sacerdotal (priestly) and sacrificial; the Eagle what is spiritual "and Divine" (Is. Williams.). The difficulty is to decide which of the Gospels bear these several characters most strikingly. All are agreed that the Eagle represents St. John with his heavenly flight of language. Perhaps it is best (although a different order has been popularly adopted) to follow St. Augustine and other high authorities in assigning the Lion to St. Matthew, as setting forth the royal character and the kingdom of Christ; the Man to St. Mark, as setting forth Christ in His human character; and the Ox (or Calf) to St. Luke, as setting forth the atonement and sacrifice of Christ.

The Collect for St. Matthew's Day.

O ALMIGHTY God, who by Thy blessed Son didst call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist; Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate love of riches, and to follow the same Thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.