Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“Go ye therefore into the highways--the great outlets and thoroughfares, whether of town or country, where human beings are to be found. and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage--that is, just as they are.”

“So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good--that is, without making any distinction between open sinners and the morally correct. The Gospel call fetched in Jews, Samaritans, and outlying he…”

“But to find themselves not only excluded from the brightness and glory and joy and felicity of the kingdom above, but thrust into a region of "darkness," with all its horrors, this is the dismal retribution here announced, that awaits the unworthy at the great…”

“Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit--The Jewish teachers stood to read, but sat to expound the Scriptures, as will be seen by comparing Lu 4:16 with Lu 4:20. in Moses' seat--that is, as interpreters of the law given by Moses.”

“It is remarked by WEBSTER and WILKINSON that the warning to beware of the scribes is given by Mark and Luke (Mr 12:38; Lu 20:46) without any qualification: the charge to respect and obey them being reported by Matthew alone, indicating for whom this Gospel w…”

“But all their works they do for to be seen of men--Whatever good they do, or zeal they show, has but one motive--human applause. they make broad their phylacteries--strips of parchment with Scripture-texts on them, worn on the forehead, arm, and side, in time…”

“And love the uppermost rooms at feasts--The word "room" is now obsolete in the sense here intended. It should be "the uppermost place," that is, the place of highest honor. and the chief seats in the synagogues.”

“And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi--It is the spirit rather than the letter of this that must be pressed; though the violation of the letter, springing from spiritual pride, has done incalculable evil in the Church of Christ. T…”

“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven, &c.--To construe these injunctions into a condemnation of every title by which Church rulers may be distinguished from the flock which they rule, is virtually to condemn th…”

“But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant--This plainly means, "shall show that he is so by becoming your servant"; as in Mt 20:27, compared with Mr 10:44.”

“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men--Here they are charged with shutting heaven against men: in Lu 11:52 they are charged with what was worse, taking away the key--"the key of knowledge"--whic…”

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, &c.--Taking advantage of the helpless condition and confiding character of "widows," they contrived to obtain possession of their property, while by their "long prayers" they made t…”

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte--from heathenism. We have evidence of this in JOSEPHUS. and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves--condemned, for the hypo…”

“We know who the successors of these men are. but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty--It should have been rendered, "he is a debtor," as in Mt 23:16.”

“Our Lord purposely names the most trifling products of the earth as examples of what they punctiliously exacted the tenth of. and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith--In Luke (Lu 11:42) it is "judgment, mercy, and the l…”

“To these words, recorded by Luke, He adds the following, involving a principle of immense value: "But rather give alms of such things as ye have, and behold, all things are clean unto you" (Lu 11:41).”

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?--In thus, at the end of His ministry, recalling the words of the Baptist at the outset of his, our Lord would seem to intimate that the only difference between their condemnation no…”

“What precisely is meant by "the wisdom of God" here, is somewhat difficult to determine. To us it appears to be simply an announcement of a purpose of the Divine Wisdom, in the high style of ancient prophecy, to send a last set of messengers whom the people wo…”

“In the first French Revolution the same awful principle was exemplified, and Christendom has not done with it yet. Lamentation over Jerusalem, and Farewell to the Temple (Mt 23:37-39).”

“For rising into strength, kindling into fury, and forgetting herself entirely in her young, she will let the last drop of her blood be shed out and perish in defense of her precious charge, rather than yield them to an enemy's talons. How significant all this …”

“Behold, your house--the temple, beyond all doubt; but their house now, not the Lord's. See on Mt 22:7. is left unto you desolate--deserted, that is, of its Divine Inhabitant.”

“That glory, once visible in the holy of holies, over the mercy seat, when on the day of atonement the blood of typical expiation was sprinkled on it and in front of it--called by the Jews the Shekinah, or the Dwelling, as being the visible pavilion of Jehovah-…”

“Then--at the time referred to at the close of the preceding chapter, the time of the Lord's Second Coming to reward His faithful servants and take vengeance on the faithless.”

“And five of them were wise, and five were foolish--They are not distinguished into good and bad, as TRENCH observes, but into "wise" and "foolish"--just as in Mt 7:25-27 those who reared their house for eternity are distinguished into "wise" and "foolish bui…”

“But this is too general; for it cannot be for nothing that this inward grace is here set forth by the familiar symbol of oil, by which the Spirit of all grace is so constantly represented in Scripture.”