PERIODVII.THE NEW TESTAMENT ERA.THE LIFE AND TIMES OF OUR SAVIOUR.THE PLANTING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.CHAPTERI.FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.1.No other people have had stronger motives for cherishing the memories of their past than have had the Jews.One of the most important sources of Jewish pride was found in theirgenealogical records. The history of the return from captivity and of the renewed settlement in Palestine, as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, shows how important these records were considered to be. But the most important of all the records were those which traced any lineage up to David, and there is no reason to believe that a true line of descent was ever forgotten.Not only the genealogy of the male members, but also that of the female members of a family, were preserved, as we may learn from Scripture accounts and certainly from secular history. A supposed defect in the genealogy of the mother of JohnHyrcanus, a high-priest, B. C. 108, was the cause of bloodshed in Jerusalem155because of the insult offered to the high-priest by the bare announcement of such a defect, although it was shown that the genealogical records certified her descent from a Jewish tribe.2. The Virgin Mary’s genealogywas as important as that of Joseph, her reputed husband, although her husband’s genealogy might have been perfect, as in the instance given in the last paragraph. In the case of Hyrcanus, his father’s origin, according to the Jewish law, was without defect; it was the mother’s pedigree which was assailed.Especially was it important to the priest’s office that the mother of the candidate for this office should be of unquestioned Jewish descent.3. It is for this reasonthat while the writer of the first Gospel (Matthew) opens his history of the Messiah with the answer to the important question, Whose son is he? the writer of the third Gospel (Luke) gives the lineage of his mother. So that, whether Christ’s pedigree be traced through the line of Joseph or of Mary,it is undeniable that he was descended from David and from Abraham.156NAZARETH AND BETHLEHEM.4. These two places, which are brought into prominence at this part of the history, were 68 milesapart, Bethlehem being not quite five miles, a little west of south, from Jerusalem, and Nazareth 63 miles north of Jerusalem, if the distances be measured in a straight line.5. Nazarethis a village of about 5,000 inhabitants, situated in a plain surrounded almost entirely by hills. The place is not mentioned in the Old Testament, nor in Josephus, but twenty-nine times in the New Testament. The city itself rises in part upon the sides of a hill on its northwest side, but the little plain at the south end of the city is 1,144 feet above the sea level,and the top of the hill northwest of the city 1,602 feet, or 458 feet higher.157The country slopes from Nazareth southward to the northern limit of the plain of Esdraelon, two miles distant, where the level is about 300 feet above the sea. The Mediterranean is twenty-one miles west from Nazareth, and the southernmost shore of the Sea of Galilee is seventeen miles due east of the city. The soil has always been fertile and the climate pleasant. It has one fine spring which supplies the entire city, as it must have done in the time of Christ.6. Bethlehemcontains nearly the same population as Nazareth, but its surroundings are the reverse of those at Nazareth, Bethlehem being upon an elevation. A church, erected by Constantine, A. D. 330, still remains, which furnishes us with the style of architecture of the earliest Christian period.This was the city of David and of his father Jesse, and hence always held dear by his descendants, and to this town Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to be enrolled in accordance with the decree issued by Cæsar Augustus, as stated in Luke 2:1. The decree was only for the enrolment. The actual collecting of the taxes did not take place for some years afterward, as is recorded in Josephus, when the rebellion took place,which is alluded to in Acts 5:37, against the actual levying of the taxes.158THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR.7. During their stay at BethlehemJesus was born. The crowd was great of the many who came to this small town to be registered by the officers taking the census, and the accommodations for his parents were poor, for the record states “there was no room for them in the inn” and she “laid him in a manger.” It was here that he was visited byTHE WISE MEN.8. These men, usually known as “the Magi,” belonged to a class of astrologers whose office it wasto study omens, or signs, as drawn from the planets. They were descendants of a class which was noted for learning and influence in the flourishing ages of Babylon and Nineveh, but neither of these cities was in existence at this time. As many of the Magi had retired eastward to Persia after the fall of Babylon, it is probable that these came from the Persian dominion to Jerusalem, expecting that there they should learn something of the new king.9. The coming of the Messiahhad long been the hope of the captive Jews, and as a large number of the people, some of influence and wealth, existed at this time in the Persian dominions, there can be but little doubt that these “wise men” were roused to make the journey they did, and to greet the advent of a king who, to them, after seeing the celestial sign, was more than simply a “King of the Jews.”10. These menhad a reputation which was highly regarded in Jerusalem, and to Herod they were not strangers of a common class. Hence to him their inquiry carried great importance.His consultation with theSanhedrin, which was the most learned body in Jerusalem at that time, soon showed that the Messiah, according to the prophets, was to be born in Bethlehem, Micah. 5:2. To this place, guided by the supernatural sign, they came, found the child, and offered their gifts.HEROD AND HIS SUCCESSOR.11. The effort of Herodto destroy Jesus in anindiscriminate slaughter of the children of Bethlehem of a certain age, failed of its intention. Joseph, having been warned in a dream, took the young child and his mother and fled into Egypt before the destruction took place.12. Egypt at this timewas entirely under Roman control. Many Jews inhabited Alexandria and were in affluent circumstances; two of them had been chief officers of the armies of Cleopatra. The two refugees, with the child, in that land were safely beyond the power of Herod, and there they remained until the death of Herod, which took place about a year after their departure from Bethlehem.13. Archelaus, who succeeded Herod, was his son, but he inherited none of the enterprise and mental ability, but only the atrocious cruelty of his father; and the complaints of the Jews occasioned his deposition and the confiscation of his property. Joseph and Mary, fearing the consequences of coming within the power of Archelaus, after the death of Herod returned to Nazareth in Galilee.THE EARLY CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.14. One incident onlyis recorded of Jesus from this time until he arrived at manhood. This incident was his visit to the Temple at Jerusalem, when only twelve years of age. His parents, with their friends, had visited the city to attend the great feast of the Passover. The celebration of that feast being over, they had started upon their returnin company with crowds of those who were passing along the only highway leading northward from the city. Jesus had stopped at the Temple and was conversing with the learned doctors, or teachers, of the Law.15. The peculiar significancy of this visitat this time is stated inMal.3:1, and it was the first time that he had ever referred to the great object of his divine mission. This divine mission he announced to his mother when she, having sought for and found him in the Temple, gently reproved him for remaining behind.From this time to that when he entered upon his public ministry our Saviour remained at Nazareth, and as the Scriptural record informs us, he was subject to his parents and “increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man,” Luke 2:51, 52.THE INTERIM.16. Events now transpiredin the history of the Jews which are important to a full understanding of the future ministry of our Saviour.It is evident, in accordance with the ancient prophecy by Jacob in his dying hour,159that the “sceptre had departed from Judah,” for “Shiloh” had come.This Shiloh had been interpreted in all their chief commentaries to mean the Messiah.160These commentaries were the Targums of which we have written, page 189, note. The expression inMal.3:1, that “he shall suddenly come to his temple,” appears to have been fulfilled when Jesus visited the Temple as spoken of already, that is, when at the age of twelve he suddenly appeared asking and answering questions of the astonished doctors of the Law in whose midst he sat, Luke 2:47.THE CHRISTIAN ERA.17. Before we proceedit is necessary that we should know that not even at the present time are we fully assured as to the exact date of the birth of Christ. It is generally supposed that Dionysius Exiguus, the monk who introduced in A. D. 527 the custom of dating events from the birth of Christ, mistook the time of that event by exactly four years. That is, the birth took place four years before the time asserted in that chronology known as Anno Domini. But recent discoveries seem to prove that the true statement is that the error is one of five years, asProf.Sattler of Munich asserts in an essay published by him in 1883. This statement he bases upon the discovery of four copper coins which were struck under Herod Antipas, seeming to prove that Christ was born 749 years after the foundation of Rome, and not, as usually accepted, 754.But, with this explanation, we shall continue to use the common date, while we keep in memory that our era is at least four years in error, so that the actual birth of Christ took place four or five years before A. D. 1.THE HERODS.18. The name Herodwill be found applied to no less than five different rulers in New Testament times. Their dates of office enable us frequently to determine the dates of events referred to in the Scriptures.The following facts are all that are necessary to distinguish the Herods. Herod the Great had five wives, but the descendants of only four are referred to in the New Testament, as follows:Herod the Great,Matt.2:1. He was made king by Julius Cæsar, B. C. 37, and died B. C. 4, that is, before the common era, but really in the first year of Christ.He had two sons by Malthace, a Samaritan, namely, Herod Antipas and Archelaus. The latter succeeded him after some delay, but, although called king by the people, was only tetrarch, with the promise conditionally made that he should be king. He was deposed through complaint of his atrocious cruelty,and banished to Vienna, now called Lyons, where he died.161The names of the other members of this family of Herods may be seen in the following table.HEROD married:MARIAMNE, granddaughter of Hyrcanus.│└─ ARISTOBULUS—Married his niece, Berenice, daughter of Salome, Herod’s sister. Slain by his father, B. C. 6.│├─ HEROD—king of Chalcis; died A. D. 48.│├─ HEROD AGRIPPAI.—Succeeded to tetrarchy of Herod PhilipII.A. D. 37; and to Herod Antipas A. D. 40; Judæa and Samaria added A. D. 41; married Cypros, granddaughter of Phasael, brother of Herod the Great; died A. D. 44.│├─ AGRIPPAII.—king of Chalcis A. D. 48–53; succeeded to tetrarchy of PhilipII., A. D. 53–100; died A. D. 100—the last prince of the line.│├─ BERNICE or BERENICE—Married Herod king of Chalcis, her uncle. After his death she returned to her brother for a time. A woman of great lack of virtue.│└─ DRUSILLA—Married to Felix, after separation from Azizus king of Emesa.│└─ AGRIPPA—being her son by Felix. Died A. D. 79.│└─ HERODIAS:1. Married PhilipI.2. Married Herod Antipas.MARIAMNE, daughter of Simon, high-priest.│└─ PHILIPI.—Married Herodias; lived in private.MALTHACE, a Samaritan.│├─ HEROD ANTIPAS—Tetrarch of Galilee, married daughter of Aretas, then married Herodias. Deposed and banished A. D. 40.│└─ ARCHELAUS—Deposed as we have said.CLEOPATRA, of Jerusalem.│└─ HEROD PHILIPII.—Tetrarch of Ituræa and Trachonitis, died A. D. 33–34. He married Salome, daughter of Herodias by PhilipI.19. The Herodsmentioned in the New Testament simply by the name “Herod” are three.(1) Herod the Great.(2) Herod Antipas, referred to inMatt.14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29; Luke 3:1, 19, 20; 8:3; 9:7–9; 23:7–12, 15; Acts 4:27; called “the king” inMatt.14:9; Mark 6:22, 25–27; and “king Herod” in Mark 6:14. He was son of Herod the Great, as was the Herod for whom Herodias left her husband. Therefore John the Baptist reproved him for taking for a wife Herodias, and she, because of her hatred of the Baptist for this reproof, moved her daughter Salome to ask, as her reward for pleasing Herod (Antipas) by her dancing, that he would present her with the head of John in a platter.(3) Herod AgrippaI., Acts 12:1–23. The sickness referred to in this passage occurred A. D. 44. He was grandson of Herod the Great.Others of this family of Herods are mentioned in Scripture, but not by the name of Herod, as in the case of(4) PhilipI., ofMatt.14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19. In the table he is marked PhilipI., but only to distinguish him from his brother of the same name, Herod Philip. But PhilipI.lived in private station and is only mentioned as the husband of Herodias, as recorded in the passage just given.(5) PhilipII., of Luke 3:1, is called “tetrarch of Ituræa and of the region of Trachonitis.” It was after this Philip that Cæsarea Philippi, at the footofMt.Hermon, received its name, to distinguish it from the other Cæsarea, on the coast south ofMt.Carmel, the latter being called Cæsarea Palestina. He was also called Herod, but in Scripture only Philip. He married Salome the daughter of Herodias, his niece, the young woman referred to inMatt.14:6. He was a son of Herod the Great, as was PhilipI.(6) Agrippa, of Acts 25 and 26, is also called king Agrippa in the New Testament, a title given him by Claudius, the Roman emperor, A. D. 52.20. Of the femalesof the Herodian family, four are mentioned in the New Testament, Herodias, Salome, Bernice, and Drusilla. Salome is not named, but simply called “the daughter of Herodias.” Herodias is mentioned inMatt.14:3–11 and in Mark and Luke, where the same incident is recorded. Bernice (or Berenice) was niece of Herodias and married her uncle, Herod king of Chalcis, who died A. D. 48. She then lived with her brother AgrippaII.Drusilla was sister of Bernice and was married to Azizus, king of Emessa in Syria, now Homs; but at the persuasion of Felix she left her husband and married Felix, who was procurator of Judæa, according to Josephus. He was succeeded by Porcius Festus about 61 or 62 A. D., having been accused of great cruelty after his departure to Rome. The scene described in Acts 23 and 24 occurred just before his visit to Rome, and that in Acts 25 and 26 soon after. Felix had driven out the banditti andimpostors from the country, and to this Tertullus alludes in his address as given in Acts 24:2.IDUMÆA.21. Before the Captivityof the Jews to Babylon the name Idumæa designated the land east of the great valley Arabah which runs south of the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. Petra was its capital. But during the Captivity the Idumæans gradually extended their settlements to that part of Judæa south of Jerusalem, including Hebron. After the return from Babylon, the Idumæans became the enemies of the Jews until the time of the Maccabees, when they were conquered and required either to leave the country or change their religion for that of the Jews. They chose the latter alternative under John Hyrcanus, about B. C. 130, and were governed by Jewish prefects.When, therefore, Antipater the father of Herod the Great, and Herod himself, are said to be “Idumæans,” the allusion is to this district south of Judæa, which was at that time called Idumæa. This is the Greek term for Edom. The name is used,Isa.34:5, 6, in the former sense, namely, of the country east of the Arabah, before the Captivity; but inEzek.36:5 in the sense used after the Captivity, and in the latter sense also in Mark 3:8.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF OUR SAVIOUR.
THE PLANTING OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
1.No other people have had stronger motives for cherishing the memories of their past than have had the Jews.
One of the most important sources of Jewish pride was found in theirgenealogical records. The history of the return from captivity and of the renewed settlement in Palestine, as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, shows how important these records were considered to be. But the most important of all the records were those which traced any lineage up to David, and there is no reason to believe that a true line of descent was ever forgotten.
Not only the genealogy of the male members, but also that of the female members of a family, were preserved, as we may learn from Scripture accounts and certainly from secular history. A supposed defect in the genealogy of the mother of JohnHyrcanus, a high-priest, B. C. 108, was the cause of bloodshed in Jerusalem155because of the insult offered to the high-priest by the bare announcement of such a defect, although it was shown that the genealogical records certified her descent from a Jewish tribe.
2. The Virgin Mary’s genealogywas as important as that of Joseph, her reputed husband, although her husband’s genealogy might have been perfect, as in the instance given in the last paragraph. In the case of Hyrcanus, his father’s origin, according to the Jewish law, was without defect; it was the mother’s pedigree which was assailed.
Especially was it important to the priest’s office that the mother of the candidate for this office should be of unquestioned Jewish descent.
3. It is for this reasonthat while the writer of the first Gospel (Matthew) opens his history of the Messiah with the answer to the important question, Whose son is he? the writer of the third Gospel (Luke) gives the lineage of his mother. So that, whether Christ’s pedigree be traced through the line of Joseph or of Mary,it is undeniable that he was descended from David and from Abraham.156
4. These two places, which are brought into prominence at this part of the history, were 68 milesapart, Bethlehem being not quite five miles, a little west of south, from Jerusalem, and Nazareth 63 miles north of Jerusalem, if the distances be measured in a straight line.
5. Nazarethis a village of about 5,000 inhabitants, situated in a plain surrounded almost entirely by hills. The place is not mentioned in the Old Testament, nor in Josephus, but twenty-nine times in the New Testament. The city itself rises in part upon the sides of a hill on its northwest side, but the little plain at the south end of the city is 1,144 feet above the sea level,and the top of the hill northwest of the city 1,602 feet, or 458 feet higher.157The country slopes from Nazareth southward to the northern limit of the plain of Esdraelon, two miles distant, where the level is about 300 feet above the sea. The Mediterranean is twenty-one miles west from Nazareth, and the southernmost shore of the Sea of Galilee is seventeen miles due east of the city. The soil has always been fertile and the climate pleasant. It has one fine spring which supplies the entire city, as it must have done in the time of Christ.
6. Bethlehemcontains nearly the same population as Nazareth, but its surroundings are the reverse of those at Nazareth, Bethlehem being upon an elevation. A church, erected by Constantine, A. D. 330, still remains, which furnishes us with the style of architecture of the earliest Christian period.
This was the city of David and of his father Jesse, and hence always held dear by his descendants, and to this town Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to be enrolled in accordance with the decree issued by Cæsar Augustus, as stated in Luke 2:1. The decree was only for the enrolment. The actual collecting of the taxes did not take place for some years afterward, as is recorded in Josephus, when the rebellion took place,which is alluded to in Acts 5:37, against the actual levying of the taxes.158
7. During their stay at BethlehemJesus was born. The crowd was great of the many who came to this small town to be registered by the officers taking the census, and the accommodations for his parents were poor, for the record states “there was no room for them in the inn” and she “laid him in a manger.” It was here that he was visited by
8. These men, usually known as “the Magi,” belonged to a class of astrologers whose office it wasto study omens, or signs, as drawn from the planets. They were descendants of a class which was noted for learning and influence in the flourishing ages of Babylon and Nineveh, but neither of these cities was in existence at this time. As many of the Magi had retired eastward to Persia after the fall of Babylon, it is probable that these came from the Persian dominion to Jerusalem, expecting that there they should learn something of the new king.
9. The coming of the Messiahhad long been the hope of the captive Jews, and as a large number of the people, some of influence and wealth, existed at this time in the Persian dominions, there can be but little doubt that these “wise men” were roused to make the journey they did, and to greet the advent of a king who, to them, after seeing the celestial sign, was more than simply a “King of the Jews.”
10. These menhad a reputation which was highly regarded in Jerusalem, and to Herod they were not strangers of a common class. Hence to him their inquiry carried great importance.His consultation with theSanhedrin, which was the most learned body in Jerusalem at that time, soon showed that the Messiah, according to the prophets, was to be born in Bethlehem, Micah. 5:2. To this place, guided by the supernatural sign, they came, found the child, and offered their gifts.
11. The effort of Herodto destroy Jesus in anindiscriminate slaughter of the children of Bethlehem of a certain age, failed of its intention. Joseph, having been warned in a dream, took the young child and his mother and fled into Egypt before the destruction took place.
12. Egypt at this timewas entirely under Roman control. Many Jews inhabited Alexandria and were in affluent circumstances; two of them had been chief officers of the armies of Cleopatra. The two refugees, with the child, in that land were safely beyond the power of Herod, and there they remained until the death of Herod, which took place about a year after their departure from Bethlehem.
13. Archelaus, who succeeded Herod, was his son, but he inherited none of the enterprise and mental ability, but only the atrocious cruelty of his father; and the complaints of the Jews occasioned his deposition and the confiscation of his property. Joseph and Mary, fearing the consequences of coming within the power of Archelaus, after the death of Herod returned to Nazareth in Galilee.
14. One incident onlyis recorded of Jesus from this time until he arrived at manhood. This incident was his visit to the Temple at Jerusalem, when only twelve years of age. His parents, with their friends, had visited the city to attend the great feast of the Passover. The celebration of that feast being over, they had started upon their returnin company with crowds of those who were passing along the only highway leading northward from the city. Jesus had stopped at the Temple and was conversing with the learned doctors, or teachers, of the Law.
15. The peculiar significancy of this visitat this time is stated inMal.3:1, and it was the first time that he had ever referred to the great object of his divine mission. This divine mission he announced to his mother when she, having sought for and found him in the Temple, gently reproved him for remaining behind.
From this time to that when he entered upon his public ministry our Saviour remained at Nazareth, and as the Scriptural record informs us, he was subject to his parents and “increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man,” Luke 2:51, 52.
16. Events now transpiredin the history of the Jews which are important to a full understanding of the future ministry of our Saviour.
It is evident, in accordance with the ancient prophecy by Jacob in his dying hour,159that the “sceptre had departed from Judah,” for “Shiloh” had come.This Shiloh had been interpreted in all their chief commentaries to mean the Messiah.160These commentaries were the Targums of which we have written, page 189, note. The expression inMal.3:1, that “he shall suddenly come to his temple,” appears to have been fulfilled when Jesus visited the Temple as spoken of already, that is, when at the age of twelve he suddenly appeared asking and answering questions of the astonished doctors of the Law in whose midst he sat, Luke 2:47.
17. Before we proceedit is necessary that we should know that not even at the present time are we fully assured as to the exact date of the birth of Christ. It is generally supposed that Dionysius Exiguus, the monk who introduced in A. D. 527 the custom of dating events from the birth of Christ, mistook the time of that event by exactly four years. That is, the birth took place four years before the time asserted in that chronology known as Anno Domini. But recent discoveries seem to prove that the true statement is that the error is one of five years, asProf.Sattler of Munich asserts in an essay published by him in 1883. This statement he bases upon the discovery of four copper coins which were struck under Herod Antipas, seeming to prove that Christ was born 749 years after the foundation of Rome, and not, as usually accepted, 754.
But, with this explanation, we shall continue to use the common date, while we keep in memory that our era is at least four years in error, so that the actual birth of Christ took place four or five years before A. D. 1.
18. The name Herodwill be found applied to no less than five different rulers in New Testament times. Their dates of office enable us frequently to determine the dates of events referred to in the Scriptures.
The following facts are all that are necessary to distinguish the Herods. Herod the Great had five wives, but the descendants of only four are referred to in the New Testament, as follows:
Herod the Great,Matt.2:1. He was made king by Julius Cæsar, B. C. 37, and died B. C. 4, that is, before the common era, but really in the first year of Christ.
He had two sons by Malthace, a Samaritan, namely, Herod Antipas and Archelaus. The latter succeeded him after some delay, but, although called king by the people, was only tetrarch, with the promise conditionally made that he should be king. He was deposed through complaint of his atrocious cruelty,and banished to Vienna, now called Lyons, where he died.161
The names of the other members of this family of Herods may be seen in the following table.
HEROD married:MARIAMNE, granddaughter of Hyrcanus.│└─ ARISTOBULUS—Married his niece, Berenice, daughter of Salome, Herod’s sister. Slain by his father, B. C. 6.│├─ HEROD—king of Chalcis; died A. D. 48.│├─ HEROD AGRIPPAI.—Succeeded to tetrarchy of Herod PhilipII.A. D. 37; and to Herod Antipas A. D. 40; Judæa and Samaria added A. D. 41; married Cypros, granddaughter of Phasael, brother of Herod the Great; died A. D. 44.│├─ AGRIPPAII.—king of Chalcis A. D. 48–53; succeeded to tetrarchy of PhilipII., A. D. 53–100; died A. D. 100—the last prince of the line.│├─ BERNICE or BERENICE—Married Herod king of Chalcis, her uncle. After his death she returned to her brother for a time. A woman of great lack of virtue.│└─ DRUSILLA—Married to Felix, after separation from Azizus king of Emesa.│└─ AGRIPPA—being her son by Felix. Died A. D. 79.│└─ HERODIAS:1. Married PhilipI.2. Married Herod Antipas.MARIAMNE, daughter of Simon, high-priest.│└─ PHILIPI.—Married Herodias; lived in private.MALTHACE, a Samaritan.│├─ HEROD ANTIPAS—Tetrarch of Galilee, married daughter of Aretas, then married Herodias. Deposed and banished A. D. 40.│└─ ARCHELAUS—Deposed as we have said.CLEOPATRA, of Jerusalem.│└─ HEROD PHILIPII.—Tetrarch of Ituræa and Trachonitis, died A. D. 33–34. He married Salome, daughter of Herodias by PhilipI.
HEROD married:
MARIAMNE, granddaughter of Hyrcanus.
│
└─ ARISTOBULUS—Married his niece, Berenice, daughter of Salome, Herod’s sister. Slain by his father, B. C. 6.
│
├─ HEROD—king of Chalcis; died A. D. 48.
│
├─ HEROD AGRIPPAI.—Succeeded to tetrarchy of Herod PhilipII.A. D. 37; and to Herod Antipas A. D. 40; Judæa and Samaria added A. D. 41; married Cypros, granddaughter of Phasael, brother of Herod the Great; died A. D. 44.
│
├─ AGRIPPAII.—king of Chalcis A. D. 48–53; succeeded to tetrarchy of PhilipII., A. D. 53–100; died A. D. 100—the last prince of the line.
│
├─ BERNICE or BERENICE—Married Herod king of Chalcis, her uncle. After his death she returned to her brother for a time. A woman of great lack of virtue.
│
└─ DRUSILLA—Married to Felix, after separation from Azizus king of Emesa.
│
└─ AGRIPPA—being her son by Felix. Died A. D. 79.
│
└─ HERODIAS:
1. Married PhilipI.
2. Married Herod Antipas.
MARIAMNE, daughter of Simon, high-priest.
│
└─ PHILIPI.—Married Herodias; lived in private.
MALTHACE, a Samaritan.
│
├─ HEROD ANTIPAS—Tetrarch of Galilee, married daughter of Aretas, then married Herodias. Deposed and banished A. D. 40.
│
└─ ARCHELAUS—Deposed as we have said.
CLEOPATRA, of Jerusalem.
│
└─ HEROD PHILIPII.—Tetrarch of Ituræa and Trachonitis, died A. D. 33–34. He married Salome, daughter of Herodias by PhilipI.
19. The Herodsmentioned in the New Testament simply by the name “Herod” are three.
(1) Herod the Great.
(2) Herod Antipas, referred to inMatt.14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29; Luke 3:1, 19, 20; 8:3; 9:7–9; 23:7–12, 15; Acts 4:27; called “the king” inMatt.14:9; Mark 6:22, 25–27; and “king Herod” in Mark 6:14. He was son of Herod the Great, as was the Herod for whom Herodias left her husband. Therefore John the Baptist reproved him for taking for a wife Herodias, and she, because of her hatred of the Baptist for this reproof, moved her daughter Salome to ask, as her reward for pleasing Herod (Antipas) by her dancing, that he would present her with the head of John in a platter.
(3) Herod AgrippaI., Acts 12:1–23. The sickness referred to in this passage occurred A. D. 44. He was grandson of Herod the Great.
Others of this family of Herods are mentioned in Scripture, but not by the name of Herod, as in the case of
(4) PhilipI., ofMatt.14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19. In the table he is marked PhilipI., but only to distinguish him from his brother of the same name, Herod Philip. But PhilipI.lived in private station and is only mentioned as the husband of Herodias, as recorded in the passage just given.
(5) PhilipII., of Luke 3:1, is called “tetrarch of Ituræa and of the region of Trachonitis.” It was after this Philip that Cæsarea Philippi, at the footofMt.Hermon, received its name, to distinguish it from the other Cæsarea, on the coast south ofMt.Carmel, the latter being called Cæsarea Palestina. He was also called Herod, but in Scripture only Philip. He married Salome the daughter of Herodias, his niece, the young woman referred to inMatt.14:6. He was a son of Herod the Great, as was PhilipI.
(6) Agrippa, of Acts 25 and 26, is also called king Agrippa in the New Testament, a title given him by Claudius, the Roman emperor, A. D. 52.
20. Of the femalesof the Herodian family, four are mentioned in the New Testament, Herodias, Salome, Bernice, and Drusilla. Salome is not named, but simply called “the daughter of Herodias.” Herodias is mentioned inMatt.14:3–11 and in Mark and Luke, where the same incident is recorded. Bernice (or Berenice) was niece of Herodias and married her uncle, Herod king of Chalcis, who died A. D. 48. She then lived with her brother AgrippaII.Drusilla was sister of Bernice and was married to Azizus, king of Emessa in Syria, now Homs; but at the persuasion of Felix she left her husband and married Felix, who was procurator of Judæa, according to Josephus. He was succeeded by Porcius Festus about 61 or 62 A. D., having been accused of great cruelty after his departure to Rome. The scene described in Acts 23 and 24 occurred just before his visit to Rome, and that in Acts 25 and 26 soon after. Felix had driven out the banditti andimpostors from the country, and to this Tertullus alludes in his address as given in Acts 24:2.
21. Before the Captivityof the Jews to Babylon the name Idumæa designated the land east of the great valley Arabah which runs south of the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. Petra was its capital. But during the Captivity the Idumæans gradually extended their settlements to that part of Judæa south of Jerusalem, including Hebron. After the return from Babylon, the Idumæans became the enemies of the Jews until the time of the Maccabees, when they were conquered and required either to leave the country or change their religion for that of the Jews. They chose the latter alternative under John Hyrcanus, about B. C. 130, and were governed by Jewish prefects.
When, therefore, Antipater the father of Herod the Great, and Herod himself, are said to be “Idumæans,” the allusion is to this district south of Judæa, which was at that time called Idumæa. This is the Greek term for Edom. The name is used,Isa.34:5, 6, in the former sense, namely, of the country east of the Arabah, before the Captivity; but inEzek.36:5 in the sense used after the Captivity, and in the latter sense also in Mark 3:8.
CHAPTERII.THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF OUR SAVIOUR.1. As soon as Jesus arrived at the ageof about thirty he left Nazareth, and probably passing down the valley of the Jordan, went on his way to Bethabara, John 1:28.BETHABARA.2. John, the forerunner of Jesus, was baptizing at this place, the site of which is not known, but from the meaning of the name, “the house of the ferry, or ford,” it must have been on the banks of the Jordan. Moreover as John was preaching in Judæa,Matt.3:1, and apparently baptizing in the parts of Jordan near at hand, Bethabara must have been not far off from the locality now identified with it, namely, somewhere east of the present plain of Jericho, but from John 3:26 it is plain that the place was “beyond,” that is east of Jordan. The name Beth-barah ofJudg.7:24 may refer to another place farther up the Jordan, as the word “ford” may have been then, as it is now, applied to several places.THE WILDERNESS.3. After the baptism of Jesusby John the Baptist at Bethabara he was immediately subjectedto several very severe spiritual trials called temptations of the devil,Matt.4:1. These temptations were preceded by a period of fasting which continued forty days, after which the attacks of the evil spirit took place as recorded inMatt.4, Mark 1, and Luke 4, but omitted by John.4. “The wilderness” was probably the uninhabited country west of the northern end of the Dead Sea, a region which seems never to have been settled; and the immediate scene of the temptation is celebrated in tradition as that rough and hilly ridge west of the plain of Jericho called by the Latin Church Quarantania.DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES.5. Soon afterhis triumphant victory over the devil in the temptations our Saviour gained some of his disciples and departed from this region to Galilee.It is plain from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John that the Baptist was near the region of our Saviour’s trial by the temptations, and was left behind when Jesus and Andrew, Simon Peter and Philip, the new disciples, left for Galilee. These were added to James and John afterward in Galilee, Luke 5:10; and to others, who though now believers, and called simply disciples, constituted afterward that band of twelve who are distinguished by the more important name of apostles, that is, envoys, or messengers.6. Of these, Andrew was the first to followJesus. The others were Simon, called Peter, James and his brother John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, called also Levi, Simon the Zealot, Lebbæus, surnamed Thaddæus, called also Judas, or Jude, James, called “the less” to distinguish him from the other James, called “the greater,” and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him, and who, when he hung himself, was replaced by Matthias, Acts 1:15–26.THE GENERAL ORDER OF EVENTS. CANA.7. After his baptismin the Jordan and departure to Galilee, the first event which brought him before the great Jewish public took place at Cana of Galilee.CANA OF GALILEE, JOHN 2:11.Some variance of opinionseems to exist as regards the identification of this place. There are two places, each of which is pointed out as the Cana of the Gospel. One is eight miles due north of Nazareth and the other three and a half miles northeast of it. The one is on the north side of an extensive plain and is entirely in ruins, while the other is now an inhabited village. Early tradition seems to claim the former, but the latter is now, and appears always to have been, on the direct line to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee from Nazareth, and it may be due to this fact that many have supposed it to be the Cana of the Gospel. But the names are not exactlyalike, the former having been for many centuries called Kana of Galilee and the latter only Kenna. The ruins show that the former was a much finer village than the latter in every way, and had a Roman road on its south connecting the Mediterranean with the Sea of Galilee. It is probable, therefore, that it was at this Cana that two of our Lord’s miracles were performed as stated in John 2:11 and 4:46–54.
1. As soon as Jesus arrived at the ageof about thirty he left Nazareth, and probably passing down the valley of the Jordan, went on his way to Bethabara, John 1:28.
2. John, the forerunner of Jesus, was baptizing at this place, the site of which is not known, but from the meaning of the name, “the house of the ferry, or ford,” it must have been on the banks of the Jordan. Moreover as John was preaching in Judæa,Matt.3:1, and apparently baptizing in the parts of Jordan near at hand, Bethabara must have been not far off from the locality now identified with it, namely, somewhere east of the present plain of Jericho, but from John 3:26 it is plain that the place was “beyond,” that is east of Jordan. The name Beth-barah ofJudg.7:24 may refer to another place farther up the Jordan, as the word “ford” may have been then, as it is now, applied to several places.
3. After the baptism of Jesusby John the Baptist at Bethabara he was immediately subjectedto several very severe spiritual trials called temptations of the devil,Matt.4:1. These temptations were preceded by a period of fasting which continued forty days, after which the attacks of the evil spirit took place as recorded inMatt.4, Mark 1, and Luke 4, but omitted by John.
4. “The wilderness” was probably the uninhabited country west of the northern end of the Dead Sea, a region which seems never to have been settled; and the immediate scene of the temptation is celebrated in tradition as that rough and hilly ridge west of the plain of Jericho called by the Latin Church Quarantania.
5. Soon afterhis triumphant victory over the devil in the temptations our Saviour gained some of his disciples and departed from this region to Galilee.
It is plain from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John that the Baptist was near the region of our Saviour’s trial by the temptations, and was left behind when Jesus and Andrew, Simon Peter and Philip, the new disciples, left for Galilee. These were added to James and John afterward in Galilee, Luke 5:10; and to others, who though now believers, and called simply disciples, constituted afterward that band of twelve who are distinguished by the more important name of apostles, that is, envoys, or messengers.
6. Of these, Andrew was the first to followJesus. The others were Simon, called Peter, James and his brother John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, called also Levi, Simon the Zealot, Lebbæus, surnamed Thaddæus, called also Judas, or Jude, James, called “the less” to distinguish him from the other James, called “the greater,” and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him, and who, when he hung himself, was replaced by Matthias, Acts 1:15–26.
7. After his baptismin the Jordan and departure to Galilee, the first event which brought him before the great Jewish public took place at Cana of Galilee.
Some variance of opinionseems to exist as regards the identification of this place. There are two places, each of which is pointed out as the Cana of the Gospel. One is eight miles due north of Nazareth and the other three and a half miles northeast of it. The one is on the north side of an extensive plain and is entirely in ruins, while the other is now an inhabited village. Early tradition seems to claim the former, but the latter is now, and appears always to have been, on the direct line to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee from Nazareth, and it may be due to this fact that many have supposed it to be the Cana of the Gospel. But the names are not exactlyalike, the former having been for many centuries called Kana of Galilee and the latter only Kenna. The ruins show that the former was a much finer village than the latter in every way, and had a Roman road on its south connecting the Mediterranean with the Sea of Galilee. It is probable, therefore, that it was at this Cana that two of our Lord’s miracles were performed as stated in John 2:11 and 4:46–54.
CHAPTERIII.FROM THE FIRST PASSOVER TO THE SECOND.1. As is generally supposed, the first miracle, at Cana, was performed during the first year of our Lord’s public ministry. His attendance upon the first Passover at Jerusalem brings us to consider the state of the city at the time of his visit.At the great event ofa Passoverthe city would be crowded with visitors, not only from Judæa and the surrounding country, but from distant lands. At this time the Jews were scattered over almost every province under Roman control, and even beyond the Roman Empire.Josephus informs us that for these occasions immense preparations were made, not only to accommodate the people, but also that they might bring with them their flocks,and he estimates that at the Passover celebrated in the time of Nero the number of lambs sacrificed was 256,500.1622. The presence of Jewsfrom so many countries would of necessity bring into the city not only purchasers, but tradesmen with various moneys requiring an exchange or brokerage; and some of the Rabbinical writers say that an immense traffic was carried on in cattle and other animals for victimsand for food, and much extortion was practised, a great part of the profits of which went to the priests.163It was on this occasion of his first Passover that our Saviour drove out the sheep and oxen and upset the tables of the exchangers, as recorded in John 2:15, using the material with which the animals were bound for a whip or scourge.3.From the very evident divine power which the Saviour exhibited at this Passover, a member of the Sanhedrin,Nicodemus, sought aninterviewwith him at night, John 3, at which time Christ made the announcement of his special mission to this world in those remarkable words: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” John 3:14, 15.4.ThePassover being ended, Jesus left Jerusalem, but seems to have remained in Judæa near the Jordan, perhaps on the plain at the north end of the Dead Sea. John was baptizing in the same region. It must have been somewhere on these plains that Herod Antipas met the Baptist and received the reproof of which we have spoken before.This Herod164was the ruler of Galilee and Peræa, and was at first married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, but forsook her for Herodias, thewife of his half-brother (see preceding table). This brought on a war with Aretas on the confines of his territory on the south, and it is probable that on his way to meet Aretas Herod received the reproof from the Baptist and condemned the latter to imprisonment in his castle at Machærus.MACHÆRUS AND PERÆA.5. This castlewas seven miles east of the Dead Sea, and the ruins remain at a place about 25 miles south of the north end of the sea. It is 3,800 feet above its level and 2,507 feet above the Mediterranean. Josephus says that John the Baptist was imprisoned here, and here he must have been beheaded. The region of Peræa extended from this place to Pella, near the Jordan, about 60 miles north, and Herod Antipas was at that time ruler of all Galilee and Peræa, which included the castle Machærus.ENON AND SALIM.6. During the Saviour’s stay in Judæa, after the Passover just spoken of, it appears that he remained for a time near the Jordan while his disciples baptized. The two preachers were therefore not far distant from each other, and the disciples of John, evidently with a spirit of rivalry, communicated the fact that greater crowds attended the ministry of Jesus.This brought out the testimony of John to the greater glory and future progress of the gospel ofJesus. John was at this time at “Enon near Salim,” and the sites of these two places have not yet been settled.Enon is the Greek form of the Aramaic word for “springs,” and Salim is the word for “peace,” and both of these words are frequently found in varying forms in several places.It has been thought that the little village now called Salim, not far east of Shechem, was the site of the Scripture Salim, and that Enon was to be identified with a little ruin called Ainun, nearly eight miles northeast. But apart from the fact that these places are not near each other, they are entirely too near the very heart of the Samaritan district, Salim being only four miles east of Shechem.It is not at all probable that John ever left Judæa, and it is exceedingly improbable that he would have gone into the Samaritan region to baptize. There is a little valley three or four miles northeast of Jerusalem which yet bears a name somewhat similar to Salim, where there are waters described byDr.Barclay; but neither of these Biblical places has yet been satisfactorily identified.7. Our Saviour now left Judæaand passed to Galilee upon the shortest road, which leads through Samaria, John 4:3. The season seems to have been in December, John 4:35, as it was “four months to harvest,” which began in April. On the way he sat down upon the well called Jacob’s, and the scene described in John 4 took place.JACOB’S WELL, SYCHAR, John 4.8. Jacob’s wellhas always been identified with that well cut in the solid rock which is about a mile and a half east by south from Shechem. It formerly had a small chapel built over it, in the fourth century, and was about 80 feet in depth when examined by the writer, but the original depth must have been greater, for there are many stones at the bottom. It is not now a well of constant supply, but varies with the season, and was dry when we examined it. Hence perhaps the remark of our Saviour, John 4:10, in which he alludes to “living water.”Sychar was probably at the little village now called Askar, about one-half of a mile northeast from the well. Some have supposed that Sychar and Shechem were the same; but it is not probable that the woman spoken of in the context would have walked a mile and a half from Shechem, where there was an abundance of water, to draw water from this deep well. The probabilities are that Askar was the site of Sychar, where there are caves and remains of ancient tombs.MATT.4:12–17; MARK 1:14, 15; LUKE 4.9. Jesus passed throughSamaria to Galilee, stopping for a short time in Nazareth,Matt.13:53–58; and then going to Capernaum, announced as he went the great object of his mission, and especially that the appointed time had arrived which had beenforetold for the appearance of the Messiah as spoken of in the prophets, Mark 1:14, 15. That he himself was this Messiah he distinctly asserted at Jacob’s well to the Samaritan woman, John 4:26.10. Passing on from Nazarethhe again visited Cana, where the miracle of the healing of the nobleman’s son was performed, John 4:46–54. He then went down to Capernaum, which hereafter seems to have been adopted as his favorite place of abode.CAPERNAUM.11. This placehas not yet been certainly identified. Some have supposed that it was on the west side of the Sea of Galilee at a place called Khan Minyeh, which is on the plain of Gennesaret, five miles southwest of the mouth of the Upper Jordan; others have located it at a ruin farther north of this sea, called Tell Hum. To some this name seems to be all that remains of the ancient name Capernaum, which, as they think, means the village (caper) of Nahum (Naum).At Capernaum many of our Saviour’s miracles were performed, and the place is referred to sixteen times by name.12.A miracle performed here at this time in the history confirmed the faith of Andrew, Peter, James, and John, who were fishing in the waters of the sea not far off from the village, Luke 5:1–11.Soon after this the restoring of the demoniac to his senses in the synagogue took place, Luke 4:33,and immediately after this the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother, as recorded in the same chapter. Many other miracles were performed the same evening.13. Jesus then began to travelthroughout Galilee, preaching and healing. One miracle on this journey is recorded, that of healing a leper, as narrated inMatt.8:2; Mark 1:40; Luke 5:12. On his return to Capernaum he heals a paralytic,Matt.9:2; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:18.In the narrative of this last-mentioned miracle we have an illustration of the use ofdouble namesamong the Jews, for Matthew, 9:9, calls himself Matthew,whereas the other evangelists in their accounts called him Levi,165and moreover Matthew adopts the usual method of Greek historians in speaking of themselves in the third person to avoid egotism. CompareMatt.9:10; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:29.
1. As is generally supposed, the first miracle, at Cana, was performed during the first year of our Lord’s public ministry. His attendance upon the first Passover at Jerusalem brings us to consider the state of the city at the time of his visit.
At the great event ofa Passoverthe city would be crowded with visitors, not only from Judæa and the surrounding country, but from distant lands. At this time the Jews were scattered over almost every province under Roman control, and even beyond the Roman Empire.
Josephus informs us that for these occasions immense preparations were made, not only to accommodate the people, but also that they might bring with them their flocks,and he estimates that at the Passover celebrated in the time of Nero the number of lambs sacrificed was 256,500.162
2. The presence of Jewsfrom so many countries would of necessity bring into the city not only purchasers, but tradesmen with various moneys requiring an exchange or brokerage; and some of the Rabbinical writers say that an immense traffic was carried on in cattle and other animals for victimsand for food, and much extortion was practised, a great part of the profits of which went to the priests.163
It was on this occasion of his first Passover that our Saviour drove out the sheep and oxen and upset the tables of the exchangers, as recorded in John 2:15, using the material with which the animals were bound for a whip or scourge.
3.From the very evident divine power which the Saviour exhibited at this Passover, a member of the Sanhedrin,Nicodemus, sought aninterviewwith him at night, John 3, at which time Christ made the announcement of his special mission to this world in those remarkable words: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” John 3:14, 15.
4.ThePassover being ended, Jesus left Jerusalem, but seems to have remained in Judæa near the Jordan, perhaps on the plain at the north end of the Dead Sea. John was baptizing in the same region. It must have been somewhere on these plains that Herod Antipas met the Baptist and received the reproof of which we have spoken before.This Herod164was the ruler of Galilee and Peræa, and was at first married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, but forsook her for Herodias, thewife of his half-brother (see preceding table). This brought on a war with Aretas on the confines of his territory on the south, and it is probable that on his way to meet Aretas Herod received the reproof from the Baptist and condemned the latter to imprisonment in his castle at Machærus.
5. This castlewas seven miles east of the Dead Sea, and the ruins remain at a place about 25 miles south of the north end of the sea. It is 3,800 feet above its level and 2,507 feet above the Mediterranean. Josephus says that John the Baptist was imprisoned here, and here he must have been beheaded. The region of Peræa extended from this place to Pella, near the Jordan, about 60 miles north, and Herod Antipas was at that time ruler of all Galilee and Peræa, which included the castle Machærus.
6. During the Saviour’s stay in Judæa, after the Passover just spoken of, it appears that he remained for a time near the Jordan while his disciples baptized. The two preachers were therefore not far distant from each other, and the disciples of John, evidently with a spirit of rivalry, communicated the fact that greater crowds attended the ministry of Jesus.
This brought out the testimony of John to the greater glory and future progress of the gospel ofJesus. John was at this time at “Enon near Salim,” and the sites of these two places have not yet been settled.
Enon is the Greek form of the Aramaic word for “springs,” and Salim is the word for “peace,” and both of these words are frequently found in varying forms in several places.
It has been thought that the little village now called Salim, not far east of Shechem, was the site of the Scripture Salim, and that Enon was to be identified with a little ruin called Ainun, nearly eight miles northeast. But apart from the fact that these places are not near each other, they are entirely too near the very heart of the Samaritan district, Salim being only four miles east of Shechem.
It is not at all probable that John ever left Judæa, and it is exceedingly improbable that he would have gone into the Samaritan region to baptize. There is a little valley three or four miles northeast of Jerusalem which yet bears a name somewhat similar to Salim, where there are waters described byDr.Barclay; but neither of these Biblical places has yet been satisfactorily identified.
7. Our Saviour now left Judæaand passed to Galilee upon the shortest road, which leads through Samaria, John 4:3. The season seems to have been in December, John 4:35, as it was “four months to harvest,” which began in April. On the way he sat down upon the well called Jacob’s, and the scene described in John 4 took place.
8. Jacob’s wellhas always been identified with that well cut in the solid rock which is about a mile and a half east by south from Shechem. It formerly had a small chapel built over it, in the fourth century, and was about 80 feet in depth when examined by the writer, but the original depth must have been greater, for there are many stones at the bottom. It is not now a well of constant supply, but varies with the season, and was dry when we examined it. Hence perhaps the remark of our Saviour, John 4:10, in which he alludes to “living water.”
Sychar was probably at the little village now called Askar, about one-half of a mile northeast from the well. Some have supposed that Sychar and Shechem were the same; but it is not probable that the woman spoken of in the context would have walked a mile and a half from Shechem, where there was an abundance of water, to draw water from this deep well. The probabilities are that Askar was the site of Sychar, where there are caves and remains of ancient tombs.
9. Jesus passed throughSamaria to Galilee, stopping for a short time in Nazareth,Matt.13:53–58; and then going to Capernaum, announced as he went the great object of his mission, and especially that the appointed time had arrived which had beenforetold for the appearance of the Messiah as spoken of in the prophets, Mark 1:14, 15. That he himself was this Messiah he distinctly asserted at Jacob’s well to the Samaritan woman, John 4:26.
10. Passing on from Nazarethhe again visited Cana, where the miracle of the healing of the nobleman’s son was performed, John 4:46–54. He then went down to Capernaum, which hereafter seems to have been adopted as his favorite place of abode.
11. This placehas not yet been certainly identified. Some have supposed that it was on the west side of the Sea of Galilee at a place called Khan Minyeh, which is on the plain of Gennesaret, five miles southwest of the mouth of the Upper Jordan; others have located it at a ruin farther north of this sea, called Tell Hum. To some this name seems to be all that remains of the ancient name Capernaum, which, as they think, means the village (caper) of Nahum (Naum).
At Capernaum many of our Saviour’s miracles were performed, and the place is referred to sixteen times by name.
12.A miracle performed here at this time in the history confirmed the faith of Andrew, Peter, James, and John, who were fishing in the waters of the sea not far off from the village, Luke 5:1–11.
Soon after this the restoring of the demoniac to his senses in the synagogue took place, Luke 4:33,and immediately after this the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother, as recorded in the same chapter. Many other miracles were performed the same evening.
13. Jesus then began to travelthroughout Galilee, preaching and healing. One miracle on this journey is recorded, that of healing a leper, as narrated inMatt.8:2; Mark 1:40; Luke 5:12. On his return to Capernaum he heals a paralytic,Matt.9:2; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:18.
In the narrative of this last-mentioned miracle we have an illustration of the use ofdouble namesamong the Jews, for Matthew, 9:9, calls himself Matthew,whereas the other evangelists in their accounts called him Levi,165and moreover Matthew adopts the usual method of Greek historians in speaking of themselves in the third person to avoid egotism. CompareMatt.9:10; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:29.