Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“And they bring unto him one that was deaf . . . and they beseech him to put his hand upon him--In their eagerness they appear to have been somewhat too officious.”

“And straightway his ears were opened--This is mentioned first as the source of the other derangement. and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain--The cure was thus alike instantaneous and perfect.”

“And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well--reminding us, says TRENCH, of the words of the first creation (Ge 1:31, Septuagint), upon which we are thus not unsuitably thrown back, for Christ's work is in the truest sense "a new …”

“I have compassion on the multitude--an expression of that deep emotion in the Redeemer's heart which always preceded some remarkable interposition for relief.”

“And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way--In their eagerness they seem not to have thought of the need of provisions for such a length of time; but the Lord thought of it. In Matthew (Mt 15:32) it is, "I will not send t…”

“From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?--Though the question here is the same as when He fed the five thousand, they evidently now meant no more by it than that they had not the means of feeding the multitude; modestly leavin…”

“And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven--It was important in this case, as in the former, that the precise number of the loaves should be brought out.”

“It might be added, that in the one case the people, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, would have taken Him by force to make Him a king; in the other case no such excitement is recorded.”

“And straightway he entered into a ship--"into the ship," or "embarked." with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha--In Matthew (Mt 15:39) it is "the coasts of Magdala." Magdala and Dalmanutha were both on the western shore of the lake, and pr…”

“And he sighed deeply in his spirit--The language is very strong. These glimpses into the interior of the Redeemer's heart, in which our Evangelist abounds, are more precious than rubies.”

“And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread--But a little while ago He was tried with the obduracy of the Pharisees; now He is tried with the obtuseness of His own disciples.”

“Even the different kind of baskets used at the two miraculous feedings, so carefully noted in the two narratives, are here also referred to; the one smaller, of which there were twelve, the other much larger, of which there were seven.”

“And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking--This is one of the cases in which one edition of what is called the received text differs from another.”

“After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly--Perhaps the one operation perfectly restored the eyes, while the other imparted immediately the faculty of using them. It is the only recorde…”

“There can hardly be any doubt that His countenance still retained traces of His transfiguration-glory. So BENGEL, DE WETTE, MEYER, TRENCH, ALFORD. No wonder, if this was the case, that they not only ran to Him, but saluted Him.”

“And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away--rather, "becomes withered," "dried up," or "paralyzed"; as the same word is everywhere else rendered in the New Testament. Some additional particulars …”

“He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation--"and perverse," or "perverted" (Mt 17:17; Lu 9:41). how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?--language implying that it was a shame to them to want the faith necessary to perform this cur…”

“Seeing the case stood still, waiting not upon the Lord's power but his own faith, the man becomes immediately conscious of conflicting principles, and rises into one of the noblest utterances on record.”

“Second, His appeal to Christ for help against his felt unbelief--a feature in the case quite unparalleled, and showing, more than all protestations could have done, the insight he had attained into the existence of a power in Christ more glorious them any he h…”

“But the Lord of life was there; the Healer of all maladies, the Friend of sinners, the Seed of the woman, "the Stronger than the strong man armed," was there. The very faith which Christ declared to be enough for everything being now found, it was not possible…”

“"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (Mt 17:21), that is, though nothing is impossible to faith, yet such a height of faith as is requisite for such triumphs is not to be reached either in a moment or without effort--either with God in…”

“For he taught his disciples, and said unto them--"Let these sayings sink down into your ears" (Lu 9:44); not what had been passing between them as to His grandeur, but what He was now to utter. The Son of man is delivered--The use of the present tense expres…”

“This raised the whole question afresh, and at this point our Evangelist takes it up. The subject was suggested by the recent announcement of the Kingdom (Mt 16:19-28), the transfiguration of their Master, and especially the preference given to three of them …”

“But in Mt 18:6 it is the "ass-turned" kind, far heavier than the small hand-mill turned by female slaves, as in Lu 17:35. It is of course the same which is meant here. and he were cast into the sea--meaning, that if by such a death that stumbling were prev…”

“The only difference between the words there and here is that there they refer to impure inclinations; here, to an ambitious disposition, an irascible or quarrelsome temper, and the like: and the injunction is to strike at the root of such dispositions and cut …”