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00001
 # Mt 1:1
  SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 1
  \\The Genealogy and Birth of Christ\\

  The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
  Three Series of Fourteen Generations
  The Betrothal of Mary and Joseph
  The Immaculate Conception
  The Purpose of Joseph
  The Lord's Message in a Dream
  The Name Jesus
  The Prophecy of the Virgin
  Immanuel
  The Birth of Jesus

    \\The book of the genealogy.\\ Literally, "the book of
 birth," or genealogy. This title applies, not to the whole
 Gospel, but to the table of descent in the first seventeen
 verses. The title was possibly copied from some Hebrew document
 compiled from the genealogical tables.
    \\Jesus Christ.\\ Jesus, the personal name, which means
 "Saviour"; Christ, the official title, which means "Anointed." He
 is our Anointed Prophet, Priest, and King.
    \\The son of David.\\ The descendant. The prophets had
 declared that the Messiah should be of David's seed.
    \\The son of Abraham.\\ The Lord had promised Abraham that in
 his seed all the world should be blessed. David and Abraham
 were the two greatest ancestors of Jesus, and are named because
 it had been predicted that he would be their descendant.
 # Ge 12:3 22:18
 (PNT 19)

 See topic Johnson's Introduction to Matthew                 9152
00002
 # Mt 1:2
    \\Abraham begat Isaac.\\ Matthew begins with Abraham to trace
 the line down. He was writing for Jews, and Jewish history
 begins with Abraham. Luke, writing for Gentiles, goes back to
 Adam. For the differenes between Matthew and Luke,
    See note on "Mt 1:16"
    See note on "Lu 3:23"
 (PNT 19)
00003
 # Mt 1:3
    Three women are named in this list: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth.
 These were all Gentile women, and are named for this reason, and
 for their remarkable history. There were stains upon the
 character of Tamar and of Rahab, but Ruth is one of the sweetest
 women of the Bible.
 # Ge 38:11-30 Jos 2:1
 (PNT 19)
00006
 # Mt 1:6
    \\David the king.\\ The greatest of line from Abraham to
 Christ, so exalted that one of the titles of the Messiah was
 "the Son of David."
    \\[The wife] of Uriah.\\ The mother of Solomon is referred
 to, not by name, but as the wife of Uriah. Uriah was a Hittite,
 a Gentile, and his wife may have been also. She was certainly a
 partner of David in the greatest guilt of his life.
 (PNT 19)
00008
 # Mt 1:8
    Between Joram and Uzziah three names are intentionally
 omitted. They are found in
 # 1Ch 3:11-12
 They were probably omitted to equalize the threefold division of
 generations from Abraham to Joseph. Such omissions of
 unimportant links are common in the Old Testament.
 (PNT 19-20)
00011
 # Mt 1:11
    \\About the time they were carried away to Babylon.\\ The
 great seventy years' captivity in Babylon, following the
 destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
 (PNT 20)
00012
 # Mt 1:12
    \\After they were brought to Babylon.\\ The descendant of the
 ancient kings who led the Jews back from the Captivity.
 # Ezr 3:2
 (PNT 20)
00016
 # Mt 1:16
    \\Jacob begat Joseph.\\ The descendant of a long line of
 kings was a poor carpenter of Nazareth. As the husband of Mary
 he was the legal father of Jesus, and Matthew gives his line of
 descent.
    A comparison of the table given by Luke will show that it
 differs in part from that of Matthew. Between David and Joseph
 the lists are widely different. Several views, all possible,
 have been presented, but the most probable explanation is that
 Matthew gives the line of Joseph, the legal line, and that Luke
 gives the line of Mary, the mother of our Lord. As the Jews
 regarded only male descent, unless Joseph, the supposed father,
 was a descendant of David they would not have recognized the
 genealogy as a fulfilment of the prophecies that Christ should
 be the Son of David; while Luke, himself a Gentile and writing
 for Gentiles, was more particular to give the line that shows
 that Jesus is really the Son of David. If Mary was the daughter
 of Heli, especially if an heiress, Joseph, by marriage, would
 become the "son of Heli."
    That there is no contradiction between the two tables is
 shown by the fact that the Jews who best understood their
 genealogies never charged it. These tables were preserved with
 great care, for various reasons, until Christ was born, but it
 is asserted that Herod destroyed them. If this is incorrect,
 they did not survive the destruction of Jerusalem.
 (PNT 20)
00017
 # Mt 1:17
    \\Fourteen generations.\\ There are exactly fourteen
 generations from Abraham to David, and two other series made to
 correspond.
    \\From David to\\, etc. David's name is counted again to make
 the number fourteen. The third series begins with Jeconiah and
 ends with Christ.
 (PNT 20)
00018
 # Mt 1:18
    \\The birth of Jesus Christ.\\ The word rendered here "birth"
 is the same in Greek that is translated "genealogy" in
 # 1:1
    \\Mary was espoused.\\ Not married, but engaged. Betrothal
 was, from the times of the patriarchs, a formal ceremony, and
 was regarded a binding obligation. It generally lasted a whole
 year before marriage. After betrothal unfaithfulness was
 regarded adultery.
    \\Before they came together.\\ Before marriage.
    \\She was found.\\ The angel predicted her conception, and
 when the prediction was verified she probably did not hesitate
 to reveal it. Her heart would be filled with joyous pride
 instead of shame.
 # Lu 1:26,27
    \\Holy Spirit.\\ The Divine power. Christ is the only example
 of such a birth in all history. His birth, like his life and his
 resurrection, is a miracle.
 (PNT 21)
00019
 # Mt 1:19
    \\Joseph her husband.\\ Betrothal, according to the law, made
 him her husband before marriage.
 # De 22:23,24
    \\A just [man].\\ Righteous and humane. To put her away
 publicly was to expose her to the penalty of death. Probably she
 had made her defense to him, but her story was so wonderful that
 he was in doubt.
    \\Privately.\\ Give her a bill of divorce. See
 # De 24:1
 (PNT 21)
00020
 # Mt 1:20
    \\While he thought.\\ Reflected, still in doubt, perplexed.
    \\The angel.\\ Gabriel appeared to Mary; the name of the
 angel is not here given. Angels are messengers; an angel of the
 Lord is the Lord's messenger. These messengers are usually
 superhuman, but not always.
 # Lu 1:26
    \\In a dream.\\ Often messages were conveyed by impressions
 made in sleep. Three times revelations were thus made to Joseph.
    \\Thou son of David.\\ It was fitting that he should now be
 reminded that he belonged to the family from whence the Messiah
 was to come.
    \\Fear not.\\ His betrothed was pure.
 (PNT 21)
00021
 # Mt 1:21
    \\Thou shalt call his name JESUS.\\ That is, Saviour. The
 Hebrew form is Joshua; the full meaning is "Jehovah's
 salvation."
    \\He shall save his people.\\ Not the Jewish nation, as
 Joseph probably supposed, but all who accept and follow him.
    \\From their sins.\\ Not a temporal salvation, but from the
 curse of sin, condemnation and banishment from God's favour and
 heaven.
 (PNT 21)
00022
 # Mt 1:22
    \\That it might be fulfilled.\\ Matthew neglects no
 opportunity to show the Jews that their prophets described
 Christ. The prophecy will be found in
 # Isa 7:14
 (PNT 21)
00023
 # Mt 1:23
    \\Behold, a virgin.\\ Rather "the virgin," as in the ASV.
 Isaiah had in view a particular virgin, the mother of the true
 Immanuel. Like many other prophecies, it had a double, a typical
 and a true, fulfilment. The first was in the reign of Ahaz,
 concerning a temporal deliverance, but the higher reference is
 to the spiritual Deliverer of the world. The first is the type,
 the second is the great event that inspired the message.
 # Isa 7:14
    \\Emmanuel.\\ This means "God with us," an appropriate title
 for Jesus among men.
 (PNT 21)
00024
 # Mt 1:24
    \\And Joseph . . . did.\\ He obeyed at once, a fitting
 example for all men. When the Lord's will is spoken there should
 be no delay in obedience.
 (PNT 21)
00025
 # Mt 1:25
    \\Knew her not.\\ A Hebrew form for conjugal intercourse. The
 language of the verse does not imply the perpetual virginity of
 Mary.
 (PNT 22)
00026
 # Mt 2:1
  SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 2
  \\The Wise Men and the Flight into Egypt\\

  The Wise Men
  The Star in the East
  The King of the Jews
  Herod and Jerusalem Troubled
  Christ to be Born in Bethlehem
  Herod's Demand of the Wise Men
  The Star Over the Young Child
  Gifts Laid at His Feet
  Joseph Warned in a Dream
  Flight into Egypt
  The Massacre of the Children
  Rachel Weeping
  Joseph Called to Return
  The Home in Galilee
  The City of Nazareth

    \\After Jesus was born.\\ Though the home of Joseph and Mary
 was Nazareth, prophecy had declared that Christ should be born
 at Bethlehem, the native place of David; and this was
 accomplished by the agency of the Roman emperor.
    See note on "Lu 2:1"
 The pride of the Jews in their genealogies would lead them to
 the head cities of their families; thus, Mary traversed with her
 husband the length of the land, from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the
 city of David, to whose house they both belonged.
    \\In Bethlehem of Judaea.\\ Bethlehem was one of the oldest
 places in the land of Judea, and had been in existence at least
 1,500 years before the Saviour was born. It was the scene of
 events so touchingly related in the Book of Ruth. It was known
 as the city of David, because it was his birthplace. The little
 town has an imposing aspect and commanding site. It stands on
 the summit of a narrow ridge, which projects eastward from the
 central mountain chain of Judah. It is about six miles south of
 Jerusalem, on the road toward Hebron. It contains at the present
 time about four thousand inhabitants, chiefly Christians of the
 Greek Church, who obtain much of their sustenance from the sale
 of relics to pilgrims and visitors.
    \\In the days of Herod the king.\\ This statement gives data
 for ascertaining the time of the birth of Jesus. It is conceded
 that it took place in the last year of Herod's reign. But it is
 known that Herod died about three years before the first year of
 our era. Therefore, if the Saviour was born "in the days of king
 Herod," he must have been about four years earlier than the date
 assigned. Herod was only partly of Jewish blood, was a man of
 most bloody and unscrupulous character, a great tyrant, the
 murderer of even his own wife and sons. Seven of the Herods are
 named in the New Testament.
 (1) "Herod the king," here named, called by Josephus Herod the
     Great, the first of the Herodian kings, a man of great force
     of character, but a bloody tyrant. He held his royal
     authority by the appointment of the Romans.
 (2) Herod Archelaus, his son and successor in Judea (Mt 2:22).
     The Romans deposed him and appointed a Roman governor in his
     stead.
 # 2:22
 (3) Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, who slew John the
     Baptist. Also a son of Herod the Great.
 # 14:1
 (4) Herod Philip, a third son, the lawful husband of Herodias.
 # 14:3
 (5) Another son, also named Herod Philip. He is only referred to
     in the New Testament in
 # Lu 3:1
 (6) Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, named in
 # Ac 12:1-3,23
 (7) Herod Agrippa, the son of the last, the King Agrippa before
     whom Paul made his famous defense.
 # Ac 25:13,23 26:27
    \\There came wise men from the east.\\ The word rendered
 "wise men" is more correctly \\Magi\\, a term which designates
 an order of priests and philosophers which belonged originally
 to Persia and Media, and who were extensively distributed over
 the region of the Euphrates. Those described in the book of
 Daniel as wise men, astrologers and magicians, belonged to this
 order. We can only conjecture where these "wise men" came from,
 but the probability is that they journeyed from the valley of
 the Euphrates.
 (PNT 22)
00027
 # Mt 2:2
    \\Where is he that is born King of the Jews?\\ Their question
 shows two things:
 (1) That they partook of the general expectation that about
     this time there would appear in the East a Ruler divinely
     appointed to his mission. The works of profane writers of
     this period show that this expectation was general.
 (2) It is plain that the wise men misapprehended the mission of
     Christ, and expected him to be a secular king.
    \\We have seen his star in the east.\\ No certain conclusion
 can be reached as to what this appearance in the heavens was,
 and it is useless to enter into the discussion. It seemed a
 part of God's plan that Gentiles as well as Jews should offer
 homage to the infant King.
 (PNT 22-23)
00028
 # Mt 2:3
    \\Herod . . . was troubled.\\ The trouble of Herod is easily
 accounted for. He was a usurper. This news seemed to portend a
 legitimate king, a rival for the throne, around whom the Jewish
 nation would rally.
    \\All Jerusalem with him.\\ The capital was in commotion. It
 was the seat of Herod's power, and his staunchest supporters
 were there.
 (PNT 23)
00029
 # Mt 2:4
    \\And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes
 \\together.\\ Literally, "high priests." The high priests, and
 perhaps the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests, are
 included. See
 # 1Ch 24:1-19
 The "scribes" were the successors of Ezra, the official copyists
 of the Scripture, who naturally became its expounders, and were
 the theologians of the time of Christ. The priests, as the head
 of the Jewish religion, and the scribes, as the chief expounders
 of the Scriptures, were the proper persons to answer Herod's
 question.
    \\Where Christ should be born.\\ This demand concedes:
 (1) That the Jews expected a Messiah;
 (2) That the Scriptures had foretold his coming;
 (3) That the very place of his birth had been pointed out.
 (PNT 23)
00030
 # Mt 2:5
    \\For thus it is written by the prophet.\\ The prophet here
 referred to is Micah, who lived about seven centuries before
 Christ. See
 # Mic 5:1,2
 (PNT 23)
00031
 # Mt 2:6
    \\And thou Bethlehem.\\ The quotation is made freely from the
 Septuagint version (Greek), which was in common use, and from
 which the Saviour and his apostles constantly quoted. The Hebrew
 is literally, "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, too small to be among
 the thousands of Judah (i.e., the towns where the heads of
 thousands resided, the chief towns in the distribution of the
 tribes), out of thee shall come forth one who is to be the ruler
 of Israel"
 # Mic 5:1,2
    \\Princes of Judah.\\ Put for towns, where the princes or
 head of thousands lived.
 (PNT 23)
00032
 # Mt 2:7
    \\Herod, when he had privately called the wise men.\\ The
 crafty and cruel king had gained one point--he now knew where
 the Christ was to be born. He therefore asks another question of
 the wise men, by which he hopes to ascertain the age of the
 royal child.
    \\What time the star appeared.\\ The fact that, as stated
 below, he slew the children of two years and under, denotes that
 the star had been seen first about two years before.
 (PNT 23)
00033
 # Mt 2:8
    \\And he sent them to Bethlehem.\\ Herod commanded them to
 search out the young child and bring him word, but lied as to
 his object, which was murder instead of worship.
 (PNT 23)
00034
 # Mt 2:9
    \\They departed.\\ They probably departed immediately after
 their interview with Herod, and as the appearance of the star as
 soon as they started indicates that it was right, they probably
 saw Herod in the evening.
    \\The star . . . went before them.\\ This language implies a
 miraculous appearance, like a star, which guided the steps of
 the wise men. Such a view is no less probable than that a pillar
 of fire should have guided Israel. The luminous appearance
    \\stood over where the young child was.\\ Either over
 Bethlehem, or over the house where the young child was
 sheltered.
 (PNT 23-24)
00035
 # Mt 2:10
    \\And when they saw the star.\\ This language shows that for
 a time, at least, they had not seen the star until they left
 Jerusalem for Bethlehem. Its reappearance caused them great
 rejoicing, because it showed them that their quest was not in
 vain.
 (PNT 24)
00036
 # Mt 2:11
    \\And they had come into the house.\\ Not, probably, the
 stable where the Lord was born, but a temporary home obtained
 after the crowd had left Jerusalem. Many suppose that Joseph and
 Mary remained at Bethlehem until the forty days of purification
 were passed; that the young child was presented in the temple as
 recorded in
 # Lu 2:22
 that then they returned to Bethlehem; were visited shortly after
 by the wise man, and thence fled into Egypt. If this is correct,
 the young child must have been six or seven weeks old at the
 time of the visit.
    \\With Mary his mother.\\ The child was probably in the
 mother's arms.
    \\They fell down and worshipped him.\\ Observe that no
 adoration is offered his mother.
    \\When they had opened their treasures.\\ They had brought
 these all the way from the East as an offering. They offer to
 him gifts such as were offered to kings by ambassadors or
 vassals.
    \\Gold.\\ A usual offering to kings.
    \\Frankincense.\\ A costly and fragrant gum distilled from a
 tree in India and Arabia.
    \\Myrrh.\\ An aromatic gum produced from a thorn-bush that
 grew in Arabia and Ethiopia.
    The providence of God is seen in these gifts. It provided the
 means necessary for the flight to Egypt that was to follow at
 once, and to sustain the holy family in a foreign land.
 (PNT 24)

 # Lu 2:22
00037
 # Mt 2:12
    \\Being warned by God in a dream.\\ Probably they were
 suspicious of Herod, for they could not fail to know his
 character, and asked God to guide them. He did so by a dream,
 and hence they avoided Jerusalem on their return.
 (PNT 24)
00038
 # Mt 2:13
    \\And when they had departed.\\ It is probable that the Magi
 were led by the star to Bethlehem, offered their homage,
 departed, Joseph was warned, and the holy family started to
 Egypt, all the same night.
    \\Flee into Egypt.\\ Egypt has a very intimate connection
 with Bible history. It was the nearest of Roman provinces
 independent of Herod, was the home of thousands of Joseph's
 countrymen, was the home of thousands of Joseph's countrymen,
 and was convenient for a return at the proper time.
 (PNT 24)
00039
 # Mt 2:14
    \\When he arose, he took the young child.\\ The message came
 while he was sleeping; as soon as he arose from his bed he took
 the Child and his mother and departed at once. There was prompt
 obedience, as there should always be, to the divine commands.
 (PNT 24)
00040
 # Mt 2:15
    \\Out of Egypt have I called my son.\\ The prophecy here
 quoted is found in
 # Ho 11:1
 Israel, which was called out of Egypt, is spoken of a
 son. Israel, however, was a type, and the events portrayed in
 Israelitish history were typical prophecies. That was the
 dispensation of types and shadows. Hence, the great outlines
 were prophetic, and the calling of Israel out of Egypt a
 prophecy of the Leader of the true Israel being called out of
 that land.
 (PNT 24-25)
00041
 # Mt 2:16
    \\Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked.\\ He had
 directed the wise men to report to him after their visit to
 Bethlehem. Their return to their own country without complying
 with his wishes seemed to Herod a mockery of his authority, and
 excited his rage.
    \\Sent forth, and slew.\\ A band of his murderous satellites
 were sent, and not only slew the male children of Bethlehem, but
 those of that vicinity.
 (PNT 25)
00042
 # Mt 2:17
    \\Then was fulfilled\\, etc. The saying is found in Jeremiah,
 and was first spoken with reference to the desolation of Israel
 by Nebuchadnezzar. The survivors of the Israelites were gathered
 by their conquerors as captives at Ramah. There the voice of
 lamentation was heard from the mothers bereft of their
 offspring. The prophet describes Rachel, the mother of two great
 tribes, as weeping and refusing to be comforted. It was still
 more appropriate to the bereaved mothers of Bethlehem.
 # Jer 31:15
 Within half a mile of that city was the tomb of Rachel, and
 hence the pathetic language of the prophet is again applied to
 the inconsolable mothers of Bethlehem, as though the Rachel that
 slept in the tomb were a mourner over her slain offspring. On
 the site of the tomb Rachel is now a Mohammedan mosque. For the
 burial of Rachel see
 # Ge 35:19
 (PNT 25)
00043
 # Mt 2:18
    \\In Ramah was there a voice heard.\\ Ramah was a border
 fortress of Judah, where the captives are collected by the
 generals of Nebuchadnezzar after the fall of Jerusalem.
 (PNT 25)
00044
 # Mt 2:19
    \\But when Herod was dead.\\ This event was the signal for
 the return to Judea. He died in the spring of the year 750 after
 the building of Rome, just before the passover. This would place
 his death nearly four years before the Christian era, the date
 from which we reckon our time. That was not fixed upon until
 five hundred years after the birth of Christ, and was fixed
 erroneously.
 (PNT 25)
00045
 # Mt 2:20
    \\Arise . . . go into the land of Israel.\\ Notice that
 Joseph is not required to return to Bethlehem or to Judea, but
 simply to the land of Israel.
    \\They are dead who sought the young child's life.\\ As
 "they" is plural, there must have been the death of more than
 one of those who sought the death of the Lord. Five days before
 the death of Herod he slew his son Antipater, a prince of dark,
 cruel, treacherous character, whom he expected to succeed him.
 Nothing could be more likely than that he had fully sympathized
 in the scheme of child-murder at Bethlehem. Now both, "they that
 sought the young child's life," were dead.
 (PNT 25)
00046
 # Mt 2:21
    \\And he arose.\\ He obeyed as promptly as before, waiting
 obediently upon the Divine will.
    \\Came into the land of Israel.\\ This included not only
 Judea, but Samaria, Galilee and the country beyond the Jordan.
 The part first reached by Joseph on his return would be Judea.
 (PNT 25-26)
00047
 # Mt 2:22
    \\When he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judaea.\\ Archelaus
 is one of the four sons of Herod, who are named in the NT.
    See note on "Mt 2:1"
    \\Was afraid to go there.\\ This implies that he had designed
 to return thither.
 (PNT 26)
00048
 # Mt 2:23
    \\And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth.\\ Matthew
 makes no mention of the previous residence at Nazareth, and he
 now names it first when it becomes the home of Christ. It was an
 obscure village, nestled in the hills about five hundred feet
 above the plain of Esdraelon, on the side of Galilee. It is not
 named in the Old Testament, was probably a small town in the
 time of Christ, but now has about 6,000 inhabitants.
    \\That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the\\
 \\prophets.\\ Not by one prophet, but the summing up of a number
 of prophecies. No prophet had declared in express terms that he
 should be called a Nazarene. They, however, did apply to Christ
 the term "Nezer," from which Nazareth is derived; the Nazarites,
 of whom Samson was one, were typical of Christ; the meanness and
 contempt in which Nazareth was held was itself a prophecy of one
 who "was despised and rejected." See
 # Isa 53:3 11:1 Jer 23:5 33:15 Zec 3:8 6:12
 (PNT 26)
00049
 # Mt 3:1
  SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 3
  \\John the Baptist and the Baptism of Christ\\

  The Preaching of John
  The Kingdom of Heaven
  John's Raiment and Food
  The Great Multitudes
  The Pharisee and Sadducees
  Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire
  Jesus Comes for Baptism
  Jesus Baptized in the Jordan
  The Anointing of the Spirit
  The Voice from Heaven

    \\In those days.\\ Many years after the incidents of the last
 chapter; somewhere from twenty-five to thirty.
    \\Came John the Baptist.\\ Called the Baptist or "Baptizer"
 because he baptized the people. He came forth as a preacher and
 reformer. He was the subject of prophecy;
 # Isa 40:3 Mal 3:1
 his birth was announced by an angel; he was of a priestly
 family, the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary.
 He was now about thirty years old.
    \\Preaching in the wilderness of Judaea.\\ A region thinly
 inhabited, used mostly for pasture, a rocky tract in the eastern
 part of Judea and west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea.
 (PNT 26)