Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“In the time of the Christian era this original disadvantage of their position was still felt; the speech of the Galileans "bewrayed them" by its uncouth pronunciation (Mt 26:73); and their distance from the seats of government and civilization at Jerusalem a…”

“By Messiah's taking up His abode in those very regions of Galilee, and shedding His glorious light upon them, this prediction, He says, of the Evangelical prophet was now fulfilled; and if it was not thus fulfilled, we may confidently affirm it was not fulfill…”

“Our Lord sometimes speaks of the new kingdom as already come--in His own Person and ministry; but the economy of it was only "at hand" until the blood of the cross was shed, and the Spirit on the day of Pentecost opened the fountain for sin and for uncleanness…”

“And he saith unto them, Follow me--rather, as the same expression is rendered in Mark, "Come ye after Me" (Mr 1:17). and I will make you fishers of men--raising them from a lower to a higher fishing, as David was from a lower to a higher feeding (Ps 78:70-7…”

“(2) Here, Christ calls Andrew: there, Andrew solicits an interview with Christ. (3) Here, Andrew and Peter are called together: there, Andrew having been called, with an unnamed disciple, who was clearly the beloved disciple (see on Joh 1:40), goes and fetch…”

“In point of officers and mode of worship, the Christian congregations are modelled after the synagogue. and preaching the gospel of the kingdom--proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness--every disease. and all manner o…”

“The prevailing opinion of these critics is that Luke's is the original form of the discourse, to which Matthew has added a number of sayings, uttered on other occasions, in order to give at one view the great outlines of our Lord's ethical teaching.”

“So charming is the whole landscape that the descriptions of it, from JOSEPHUS downwards [Wars of the Jews, 4.10,8], are apt to be thought a little colored. and when he was set--had sat or seated Himself. his disciples came unto him--already a large circle, m…”

“The eighth one--the "persecuted for righteousness' sake"--denotes merely the possessors of the seven preceding features, on account of which it is that they are persecuted (2Ti 3:12). Accordingly, instead of any distinct promise to this class, we have merely …”

“Without it we are inaccessible to the riches of Christ; with it we are in the fitting state for receiving all spiritual supplies (Re 3:17, 18; Mt 9:12, 13). for theirs is the kingdom of heaven--(See on Mt 3:2). The poor in spirit not only shall have--they a…”

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted--This "mourning" must not be taken loosely for that feeling which is wrung from men under pressure of the ills of life, nor yet strictly for sorrow on account of committed sins.”

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth--This promise to the meek is but a repetition of Ps 37:11; only the word which our Evangelist renders "the meek," after the Septuagint, is the same which we have found so often translated "the poor," sho…”

“But what is the precise meaning of "righteousness" here? Lutheran expositors, and some of our own, seem to have a hankering after that more restricted sense of the term in which it is used with reference to the sinner's justification before God.”

“"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other"--He with us and we with Him--"and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son clea…”

“When this reconciliation actually takes place, and one has "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"--even "the peace of God which passeth all understanding"--the peace-receivers become transformed into peace-diffusers. God is thus seen reflected in them;…”

“Thus does "righteousness" come to be "persecuted." But blessed are they who, in spite of this, dare to be righteous. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven--As this was the reward promised to the poor in spirit--the leading one of these seven beatitudes--of cour…”

“He had before said, "for righteousness' sake." Here He identifies Himself and His cause with that of righteousness, binding up the cause of righteousness in the world with the reception of Himself. Would Moses, or David, or Isaiah, or Paul have so expressed th…”

“The restoration or non-restoration of grace, or true living Christianity, to those who have lost it, has, in our judgment, nothing at all to do here. The question is not, If a man lose his grace, how shall that grace be restored to him? but, Since living Chris…”

“Neither do men light a candle--or, lamp. and put it under a bushel--a dry measure. but on a candlestick--rather, "under the bushel, but on the lampstand." The article is inserted in both cases to express the familiarity of everyone with those household utens…”

“It is the expression manifestly, of supreme legislative authority; and as the subject in connection with which it is uttered is the Moral Law, no higher claim to an authority strictly divine could be advanced.”

“Either of them is grammatically defensible, though the latter--"to the ancients"--is more consistent with New Testament usage (see the Greek of Ro 9:12, 26; 9:4); and most critics decide in favor of it. But it is not a question of Greek only.”

“But Romish expositors greatly err in taking the first two--"the judgment" and "the council"--to refer to degrees of temporal punishment with which lesser sins were to be visited under the Gospel, and only the last--"hell-fire"--to refer to the future life.”

“The converse of the truth here taught is very strikingly expressed in Mr 11:25, 26: "And when ye stand praying (in the very act), forgive, if ye have aught (of just complaint) against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespas…”

“The concluding words--"Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out," &c.--manifestly show that though the language is drawn from human disputes and legal procedure, He is dealing with a higher than any human quarrel, a higher than any human tribuna…”

“Ye have heard that it was said--The words "by," or "to them of old time," in this verse are insufficiently supported, and probably were not in the original text.”