1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑8Olshausen, ut sup.↑9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑13Ut sup.↑14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑63Weisse, s. 573.↑64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑
1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑8Olshausen, ut sup.↑9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑13Ut sup.↑14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑63Weisse, s. 573.↑64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑
1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑8Olshausen, ut sup.↑9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑13Ut sup.↑14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑63Weisse, s. 573.↑64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑
1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑8Olshausen, ut sup.↑9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑13Ut sup.↑14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑63Weisse, s. 573.↑64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑
1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑8Olshausen, ut sup.↑9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑13Ut sup.↑14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑63Weisse, s. 573.↑64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑
1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑
1Vom Erlöser der Menschen nach unsern drei ersten Evangelien, s. 114.↑
2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑
2In a treatise on the history of the Transfiguration, in his neuesten theol. Journal, 1. Bd. 5. Stück, s. 517 ff. Comp. Bauer, hebr. Mythol. 2, s. 233 ff.↑
3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑
3Bibl. Comm. 1, s. 534 f.↑
4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑
4Olshausen, ut sup. s. 537.↑
5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑
5Olshausen, 1, s. 539; comp. s. 178.↑
6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑
6Thus Tertull. adv. Marcion, iv. 22; Herder, ut sup. 115 f., with whom also Gratz agrees. Comm. z. Matth. 2, s. 163 f., 169.↑
7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑
7Comp. Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 552; Olshausen, 1, s. 523.↑
8Olshausen, ut sup.↑
8Olshausen, ut sup.↑
9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑
9Rau, symbola ad illustrandam Evv. de metamorphosi J. Chr. narrationem; Gabler, ut sup. s. 539 ff.; Kuinöl, Comm. z. Matth. p. 459 ff.; Neander, L. J. Chr. s. 474 f.↑
10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑
10Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 148 f.; comp. also Köster, Immanuel, s. 60 f.↑
11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑
11Bauer has discerned this, ut sup. s. 237; Fritzsche, p. 556; De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 2, s. 56 f.; Weisse, die evang. Gesch. 1, s. 536; and Paulus also partly, exeg. Handb. 2, s. 447 f.↑
12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑
12Paulus, exeg. Handb., 2, 436 ff.; L. J. 1, b, s. 7 ff.; Natürliche Geschichte, 3, s. 256 ff.↑
13Ut sup.↑
13Ut sup.↑
14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑
14Paulus, exeg. Handb., s. 446; Gratz, 2, s. 165 f.↑
15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑
15Comp. De Wette, Einleitung in das N. T. § 79.↑
16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑
16Thus Schneckenburger, Beiträge, s. 62 ff.↑
17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑
17Neander, because he considers the objective reality of the transfiguration doubtful, also finds the silence of the fourth Evangelist a difficulty in this instance (s. 475 f.).↑
18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑
18Olshausen, s. 533, Anm.↑
19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑
19Vid. Rau, in the Programme quoted in Gabler, neuestes theolog. Journal, 1, 3, s. 506; De Wette, in loc. Matth.↑
20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑
20Fritzsche, in Matth., p. 553; Olshausen, 1, s. 541. Still less satisfactory expedients in Gabler, ut sup. and in Matthäi, Religionsgl. der Apostel, 2, s. 596.↑
21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑
21This even Paulus admits, 2, s. 442.↑
22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑
22Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 149.↑
23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑
23This is an answer to Weisse’s objection, s. 539.↑
24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑
24Comp. Jalkut Simeoni, p. 2 f. x. 3, (ap. Wetstein, p. 435):Facies justorum futuro tempore similes erunt soli et luna, cælo et stellis, fulguri, etc.↑
25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑
25Bereschith Rabba, xx. 29, (ap. Wetstein):Vestes lucis vestes Adami primi.Pococke, ex Nachmanide (ibid.):Fulgida facta fuit facies Mosis instar solis, Josuæ instar lunæ; quod idem affirmarunt veteres de Adamo.↑
26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑
26In Pirke Elieser, ii. there is, according to Wetstein, the following statement:inter docendum radios ex facie ipsius, ut olim e Mosis facie, prodiisse, adeo ut non dignosceret quis, utrum dies esset an nox.↑
27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑
27Nizzachon vetus, p. 40, adExod. xxxiv. 33(ap. Wetstein):Ecce Moses magister noster felicis memoriæ, qui homo merus erat, quia Deus de facie ad faciem cum eo locutus est, vultum tam lucentem retulit, ut Judæi vererentur accedere: quanto igitur magis de ipsa divinitate hoc tenere oportet, atque Jesu faciem ob uno orbis cardine ad alterum fulgorem diffundere conveniebat? At non præditus fuit ullo splendore, sed reliquis mortalibus fuit simillimus. Qua propter constat, non esse in eum credendum.↑
28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑
28From this parallel with the ascent of the mountain by Moses may perhaps be derived the interval—theἡμέραι ἓξ—by which the two first Evangelists separate the present event from the discourses detailed in the foregoing chapter. For the history of the adventures of Moses on the mountain begins with a like statement of time, it being said that after the cloud had covered the mountainsix days, Moses was called to Jehovah (v. 16). Although the point of departure was a totally different one, this statement of time might be retained for the opening of the scene of transfiguration in the history of Jesus.↑
29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑
29Vide Bertholdt, Christologia Judæorum, § 15, s. 60 ff.↑
30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑
30Debarim Rabba, iii. (Wetstein):Dixit Deus S. B. Mosi: per vitam tuam, quemadmodum vitam tuam posuisti pro Israelitis in hoc mundo, ita tempore futuro, quando Eliam prophetam ad ipsos mittam, vos quo eodem tempore venietis.Comp. Tanchuma f. xlii. 1, ap. Schöttgen 1, s. 149.↑
31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑
31This narrative is pronounced to be a mythus by De Wette, Kritik der mos. Gesch. s. 250; comp. exeg. Handb., 1, 1, s. 146 f.; Bertholdt, Christologia Jud. § 15, not. 17; Credner, Einleitung in das N. T. 1, s. 241; Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 319, at least admits that there is more or less of the mythical in the various evangelical accounts of the transfiguration, and Fritzsche, in Matt. p. 448 f. and 456 adduces the mythical view of this event not without signs of approval. Compare also Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 459, and Gratz, 2, s. 161 ff.↑
32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑
32Plato also in the Symposion (p. 223, B. ff. Steph.), glorifies his Socrates by arranging[546]in a natural manner, and in a comic spirit, a similar group to that which the Evangelists here present in a supernatural manner, and in a tragic spirit. After a bacchanalian entertainment, Socrates outwatches his friends, who lie sleeping around him: as here the disciples around their master; with Socrates there are awake two noble forms alone, the tragic and the comic poet, the two elements of the early Grecian life, which Socrates united in himself: as, with Jesus, the lawgiver and prophet, the two pillars of the Old Testament economy, which in a higher manner were combined in Jesus; lastly, as in Plato both Agathon and Aristophanes at length sleep, and Socrates remains alone in possession of the field: so in the gospel, Moses and Elias at last vanish, and the disciples see Jesus left alone.↑
33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑
33Weisse, not satisfied with the interpretation found by me in the mythus, and labouring besides to preserve an historical foundation for the narrative, understands it as a figurative representation in the oriental manner, by one of the three eye-witnesses, of the light which at that time arose on them concerning the destination of Jesus, and especially concerning his relation to the Old Testament theocracy and to the messianic prophecies. According to him, the high mountain symbolizes the height of knowledge which the disciples then attained; the metamorphosis of the form of Jesus, and the splendour of his clothes, are an image of their intuition of the spiritual messianic idea; the cloud which overshadowed the appearance, signifies the dimness and indefiniteness in which the new knowledge faded away, from the inability of the disciples yet to retain it; the proposal of Peter to build tabernacles, is the attempt of this apostle at once to give a fixed dogmatical form to the sublime intuition. Weisse is fearful (s. 543) that this his conception of the history of the transfiguration may also be pronounced mythical: I think not; it is too manifestly allegorical.↑
34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑
34Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 160.↑
35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑
35Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑
36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑
36Thus e.g. Lightfoot, in loc.↑
37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑
37Wetstein, Olshausen, in loc., Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 164, 214.↑
38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑
38Vid. De Wette, in loc.↑
39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑
39Fritzsche, in Marc. p. 415:Marcus Matthæi, xix. 1,se auctoritati h. l. adstringit, dicitque, Jesum e Galilæa(cf. ix. 33)profectum esse per Peraeam. Sed auctore Luca, xvii. 11,in Judæam contendit per Samariam itinere brevissimo.↑
40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑
40Paulus, 2, s. 293, 554. Comp. Olshausen, 1, s. 583.↑
41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑
41Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 159.↑
42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑
42Paulus, 2, s. 294 ff.↑
43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑
43Paulus, ut sup. 295 f., 584 f.↑
44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑
44Schleiermacher, ut sup. s. 161 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 104 ff. With the former agrees, in relation to Luke, Olshausen, ut sup.↑
45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑
45Tholuck, Comm. z. Joh., s. 227; Olshausen, 1, s. 771 f.↑
46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑
46Tholuck and Olshausen, ut sup.↑
47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑
47Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 92 ff., 98 ff.; Schleiermacher, über den Lukas, s. 244 f.↑
48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑
48Schleiermacher, ut sup.↑
49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑
49Comp. Lücke, 2, s. 432, Anm.↑
50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑
50Hase, L. J. § 124.↑
51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑
51Comp. De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 172.↑
52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑
52Paulus, 3, a, s. 115; Kuinöl, in Matth., p. 541.↑
53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑
53Olshausen, 1, s. 776.↑
54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑
54Comm. in Matth., p. 630. His expedient is approved by De Wette, exeg. Handb. 1, 1, s. 173.↑
55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑
55Paulus, ut sup. s. 143 f.↑
56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑
56Glassius, phil. sacr., p. 172. Thus also Kuinöl and Gratz, in loc.↑
57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑
57N. T. Gramm., s. 149.↑
58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑
58Eichhorn, allgem. Bibliothek, 5, s. 896 f.; comp. Bolten, Bericht des Matthäus, s. 317 f.↑
59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑
59Vide Fritzsche, in loc. This is admitted by Neander also, s. 550, Anm.↑
60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑
60Schulz, über das Abendmahl, s. 310 f.; Sieffert, über den Urspr., s. 107 f.↑
61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑
61That the above motive will not suffice to explain the conduct of Jesus, Paulus has also felt; for only the despair on his part of finding a more real and special motive, can account for his becoming in this solitary instance mystical, and embracing the explanation of Justin Martyr, whom he elsewhere invariably attacks, as the author of the perverted ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible. According to Justin, the ass designatedὑποζύγιον(that is under the yoke), is a symbol of the Jews; the ass never yet ridden, of the Gentiles (Dial. c. Tryph. 53); and Paulus, adopting this idea, endeavours to make it probable that Jesus, by mounting an animal which had never before been ridden, intended to announce himself as the founder and ruler of a new religious community. Exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 116 ff.↑
62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑
62Natürliche Gesch. 3, s. 566 f.; Neander, L. J. Chr., s. 550, Anm.↑
63Weisse, s. 573.↑
63Weisse, s. 573.↑
64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑
64Apol. i. 32:τὸ δὲ δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ—σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ κ.τ.λ.Binding his colt to a vine—was a symbol indicative of what would happen to Christ; for there stood at the entrance of a certain village, bound to a vine, an ass’s colt, which he ordered them to bring to him, etc.↑
65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑
65Vid. Schöttgen, horæ, ii. p. 146.↑
66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑
66Midrasch Rabba, f. xcviii.↑
67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑
67On account of this silence of the fourth Evangelist, even Neander (ut sup.) is in this[557]instance inclined to admit, that a more simple event, owing to the disproportionate importance subsequently attached to it, was unhistorically modified.↑
68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑
68Comp. Paulus, in loc.↑
69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑
69The citation given by Matthew is a combination of a passage from Isaiah with that of Zechariah. For the wordsTell ye the daughter of Zion,εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιὼν, are fromIsa. lxii. 11; the rest fromZechariah ix. 9, where the LXX. has with some divergency:ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων αὐτὸς πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.↑
70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑
70Hitzig,über die Abfassungszeit der Orakel, Zach. ix.–xiv.in theTheol. Studien, 1830, 1, s. 36 ff.refers the preceding verse to the warlike deeds of this king, and the one in question to his pacific virtues.↑
71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑
71Paulus, exeg. Handb. 3, a, s. 121 ff.↑
72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑
72Rosenmüller, Schol. in V. T. 7, 4, s. 274 ff.↑
73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑
73In the passage cited Introd., § 14, from Midrasch Coheleth, the description,pauper et insidens asinoin Zechariah, is in the very first instance referred to theGoël postremus. This ass of the Messiah was held identical with that of Abraham and Moses, vid. Jalkut Rubeni f. lxxix. 3, 4, ap. Schöttgen, i. s. 169; comp. Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum, 2, s. 697 f.↑
74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑
74Sanhedrin f. xcviii. 1 (ap. Wetstein):Dixit R. Alexander: R. Josua f. Levi duobus inter se collatis locis tanquam contrariis visis objecit: scribiturDan.vii. 13:et ecce cum nubibus cœli velut filius hominis venit. Et scribitur Zach.ix. 9:pauper et insidens asino. Verum hæc duo loca ita inter se conciliari possunt: nempe, si justitia sua mereantur Israëlitæ, Messias veniet cum nubibus cœli: si autem non mereantur, veniet pauper, et vehetur asino.↑