When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And having seen the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy,
And when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Matthew — The Gospel of the promised King. Five discourses punctuate the narrative; roughly sixty-five Old Testament citations bind the story to the prophets.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices3
(Hom. in Evang. i. 106.) Gold, as to a King; frankincense, as sacrifice to God; myrrh, as embalming the body of the dead. (ubi sup.) Something further may yet be meant here. Wisdom is typified by gold; as Solomon saith in the Proverbs, A treasure to be desired is in the mouth of the wise. (Prov. 21:20.) By frankincense, which is burnt before God, the power of prayer is intended, as in the Psalms, Let my speech come before thee as incense. (Ps. 141:2.) In myrrh is figured mortification of the flesh.
Gregory the Dialogist· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 604patristic
When they saw the star,.... Which by its appearance, size, brightness, &c. they knew to be the same with that which they had seen, when in their own country; they rejoiced with exceeding great joy; a "pleonasm" or a redundancy of expression frequently used by the Hebrews, see Joh 4:6 and the Septuagint there; setting forth the rapture, the excess of joy they were in upon the sight of the star. Very probably before this, their hearts were sad, their countenances dejected, and they greatly discouraged, having taken so great a journey, and as yet to so little purpose.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed
They who follow God in the dark shall find that light is sown, is reserved, for them. Israel was led by a pillar of fire to the promised land, the wise men by a star to the promised Seed, who is himself the bright and morning Star, Rev. xxii. God would rather create a new thing than leave those at a loss who diligently and faithfully sought him.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Luke 2:10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
leads to
Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of…
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Through
Psalms 105:3Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
leads to
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Through
Psalms 67:4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah
leads to
before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
The verses this one reaches8
Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.
so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
