: lived at Nazareth: and Luke tells us why: viz. because Mary had lived there before her marriage. And Matthew adds another reason, which lay in the dispensation of God's providence: viz. in order that Jesus might be called a Nazarene. Again, Matthew and Luke both relate that Jesus was born at Bethlehem and Luke alone relates how, in the natural sequence of events, Mary was obliged to go to Bethlehem, before the birth of Jesus: but then Matthew adds an inspired commentary on the prophecy of Micah, that Bethlehem was indeed the birthplace of the Anointed of JEHOVAH. But these are things to be spiritually discerned: to the modern sophist they are μωρία. ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν] The variation in the language of Matthew when applying prophecy to history, is very remarkable: he had twice before, viz. i. 22, and ii. 15, said, ἵνα πληρωθῇ· and once, ii. 17, said, τότε ἐπληρώθη but here he says oπws anрwî · i. e. “whereby, among other means, the prophecy may be fulfilled.” Όπως is very different from ἵνα· for ὅπως is said of a mode or instrument: but iva denotes a purpose or intention. The writers of N.T. frequently omit av after ones, as here: but they sometimes insert it, as Luke ii. 35, Acts iii. 19, &c. And they never say πληρωθείη after ὅπως or ἵνα, but always πληρωθῇ. But where a subjunctive mood comes after drws, there av is often omitted in N.T., which is contrary to the usage of the best Attic writers. But there is one passage of Aristophanes, which, as it is commonly read, may seem to resemble this usage of N.T.; and as this is an error of very long standing in the text of Aristophanes, the following correction of it may not be unacceptable to the learned reader: Vesp. 1524: καὶ τὸ Φρυνίχειον ἐκλακτισάτω TIS, ὅπως This is the reading of Aldus: where, as adovтes is evidently wrong, Bentley corrected it idóvres and this reading is exhibited by Dindorf, and found in MSS. to which he refers. But although Bentley's correction is good as far as it goes, he has not done justice to Aldus, who in fact has preserved a vestige of the antient and true reading: for the construction of onws before wow absolutely requires a and the like is also required by the metre; which is a system of six trochees, embracing a system of six anapaests: the anapaestic system beginning with a spondee in order to receive the trochee preceding. So that the verses ought to be corrected and distinguished thus: speaks, he uses unaugmented tenses, ẻσrì, yéyove. Besides which, Matthew never uses yéyovev in his own narrative: although he sometimes uses a present tense for a past, as Tapayívetaɩ, iii. 1, and in fact yéyove is so used, xxv. 6. But there it is not in the narrative of Matthew, but part of a speech: like pxovraι, xxv. 11. The word of narrative would have been éyévero, as vii. 28, &c. The phrase TOûTO de oλov yeyover, is used in two other places by Matthew, viz. xxi. 4, and xxvi. 56; in each of which, it is part of the speech of Jesus, who tells his disciples that a passing event is the fulfilment of an antient prophecy. 23. Taρlévos] Here E.V., with characteristic inaccuracy, has n omitted the article: whereas in v. 20, ayyeλos Kupiou, they have inserted two articles, where the Greek has none. But they knew nothing of Greek. The article is sometimes omitted by the writers of N.T. but it is never redundant. Here it is important: for the angel informs Joseph that Mary is The Maiden intended by the prophecy of Isaiah. 24. ἐποίησεν ὡς προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ ἄγγελος Κυρίου] The absence of the article before Kupiov, here and in verse 20, shews clearly that the name of JEHOVAH is intended. Then the word Tроσéτage demands our attention. Joseph did as the angel had directed him: but what was that? why, we next read, that he did three things: the first of which was, to take his wife to him: from which it is clear that the words un poßnois, ver. 20, were not merely a negative encouragement, but a positive order to acknowledge Mary as his wife. 25. οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αυτὴν ἕως οὗ ἔτεκεν υἱόν] This is the reading adopted by Tischendorf, and it is a very antient one: the common reading is τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον ̇ a reading apparently borrowed from Luke ii. 7. But the other reading is easier here. The maiden TEKEV vióv there was the fulfilment of the prophecy : to add other words, is to depart from the language of the original announcement of Isaiah, and of the angel. οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν ἕως] This is the second thing which Joseph did in obedience to the angel's direction: for he had told Joseph that The maiden would bear a son, and that Mary was the maiden intended by the prophecy: thus entrusting to Joseph the care of the prophecy which was, not only that the maiden should conceive, but also that the maiden should bear a son. Joseph, therefore, did as the angel had directed him, and deferred to assert his privilege of a husband, until after the birth of Jesus. This fact is recorded by the Holy Spirit, who alone could know it, in order to place the fulfilment of the prophecy beyond a doubt to all believers. ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν] That is, gave him the name of Joshua, which, in the Sept. is written 'Inoous. The words Jesus and Saviour, different in English, are intended by one and the same word in the original. Matthew tells us, first, that Joseph did as the angel had directed him : and then tells us what he did : viz. 1. took Mary under his protection : 2. knew her not until she had borne a son: 3. called his name Jesus. From which alone it is clear that Act 2, standing as it does between Acts 1 and 3, was in compliance with the angel's direction: and accordingly we find such direction in vs. 22, 3, which are part of the angel's speech, and not of Matthew's narrative. Here ends the Scriptural narrative of the generation of Jesus Christ and here begins the folly and impurity of the Holy Catholic Church. Matthew had recorded that Jesus was born of a maiden: a notable miracle of God. Upon which The Church has founded a miracle of Satan; who has persuaded hundreds and thousands of men to believe that Mary, although acknowledged by Joseph as his wife, and actually living with him for several years, nevertheless died an old maid: and this monstrous fable is believed to this hour, not only by every Roman Catholic, but also by many who call themselves Protestants. Antient and modern Divines, treating of this subject, seem to have lost their heads. Many of these are unknown to modern readers, and they deserve to be so. But one of them deserves and requires special notice. I mean the late Bp. Pearson, author of An Exposition of the Creed. That work is to the present day a favourite text book, on which Candidates for Holy Orders in the Church of England, are fed, as on mother's milk: it undergoes many new editions, and is printed at the Cambridge University Press. therefore important to expose the folly and wickedness of that work. It is The Right Reverend Prelate, Art. 3, in his exposition of the words Born of the Virgin Mary, undertakes to shew, that Mary, being at once the Mother of the Son of God, and yet a Virgin, continued for ever in the same Virginity, according to the tradition of the fathers, and the constant doctrine of the Church. But how could the fathers know that Joseph and Mary lived otherwise than as husband and wife? God has not told us so : then how could man know it? Here is to be seen the folly and impurity of The Church: pretending to know what no man could know: prying into the mystery of married life: superseding the written word of God by traditions of man: doing what Scripture has expressly told us not to do. And the following is the Bishop's argument in support of this sapient doctrine of the Church: The peculiar eminency and unparalleled privilege of that Mother, the special honour and reverence due unto that Son and ever paid by her, the regard of that Holy Ghost who came upon her, and the power of the Highest which overshadowed her, the singular goodness and piety of Joseph to whom she was espoused, have persuaded the Church of God in all ages to believe that she still continued in the same Virginity, and therefore is to be acknowledged the Ever Virgin Mary.—Many indeed. F Nothing is more easy than the depravation of ANI, AAII, AI. Nor is there any objection to the word av at the beginning of the verse, in a system of this kind: e. g. Ar. Eq. 917. διαμηχανήσομαί θ' ὅπως ὅτι Ναζωραίος κληθήσεται] i. e. shall be a Nazarene: this is the meaning of κληθήσεται. Thus, c. v. 9, υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται· xxi. 13, and Mark xi. 17, οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι· Luke i. 32, υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται· 35. κληθήσεται υἱὸς θεοῦ. 76. προφήτης ὑψίστου κληθήσῃ ̇ and so, Δ. 60 and Σ. 365, οὔνεκα σὴ παράκοιτις Κέκλημαι. τῷ δέ κε νικήσαντι φίλη κεκλήσῃ ἄκοιτις. Γ. 138. οἶμαί ποτε λυσιμάχας ἡμᾶς ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι καλεῖσθαι. Ar. Lys. 554. Having thus explained the meaning of the words of Matthew, we find that a like thing is said of Samson, who was a type of Jesus, Judg. xiii. 5, 7. And the like appears to be said, but obliquely and mystically, of Samuel, who was another type of Jesus, 1 Sam. i. 11, 28. But still it may be asked, where is the resemblance between dwelling at Nazareth, and, keeping the Nazaritic vow imposed upon Samson and Samuel? The answer seems to lie in the etymology .of the word Nazareth, which Matthew thought so well understood by his readers as to require no explanation, and which seems to embrace a meaning of reservation or safe-keeping, and devotion to a particular purpose. Thus it is said of Samson, that he should be a Nazarite unto God. Judg. xiii. 7. This is the last mention by Matthew, of the name of Joseph, the husband of Mary: but it appears from Luke ii. 42, that Joseph and Mary were living together, when Jesus was twelve years old. Nevertheless Matthew's testimony thus far, is important for it appears from him, that Mary lived with Joseph after the birth of Jesus: accompanied him into Egypt: returned with him into Galilee: and lived with him at Nazareth. It is from these passages, and not from Mat. i. 25, that we know that Mary was now not a Maiden, but a Wife and a Matron: a position equally honorable, and far more useful than that of a Maiden. One Honorable Lady at the head of her own house, and in her own sphere of society, is a better witness to the truth of God, than a whole army of Priests, with a shipload of sermons. ΙΙΙ. 1. ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις] Matthew here passes per saltum from the infancy of Jesus to his adult and mature age: for we are told by Luke, iii. 23, that Jesus at the time of his baptism by John, was about thirty years of age. But Matthew adds a remarkable notification of time: ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις· but in what days? why, the days of the events which he had just before mentioned: i. e. the days when Joseph was dwelling at Nazareth. This is a remarkable confirmation of the words addressed by Elizabeth to Mary, Luke i. 45. A blessing was promised to Mary for her unhesitating belief in the word of JEHOVAH. And here we read how that blessing was accomplished. Joseph appears to have lived with her for more than thirty years after their marriage; and she had at least seven children by him. Mat. xiii. 55, 6. Thus Mary was made to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Ps. cxiii. 9. 'Iwávvns & BaπTIOT's] In plain English, John the Washer. This washing is symbolical. For as the washing of water makes clean the natural body, so the washing of God's Holy Spirit cleanses the moral nature of man from the defilement of sin. The only importance in the ceremony of washing with water, lies in its typical nature. 3. OUTOS уáp σTw i pηleís] i. e. I am the man, &c. John says this of himself; here, as in John i. 23, oûtós ẻσri means not this is, but here is like Ar. Ach. 129, ovтoσì máρa ib. 367, ô d' ávηp ó λéέwv ovroσí Eq. 1331, od ekeivos ópâv, &c. The student must not be led away by Alford's trifling, here. · διὰ τοῦ προφήτου] The common reading is ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου, but antient MSS. have dia, which is adopted by Tischendorf and Wordsworth, and is an excellent reading: and so in c. ii. 17. The Word is spoken ὑπὸ Κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου: a nicety of expression, which cannot be translated: but vrò belongs to the Principal, dia to his agent or instrument. JEHOVAH speaks: the prophet is his mouthpiece. · τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου] Here again the absence of the article shows that the name of JEHOVAH is intended. 6. ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν] Of the form and mode of this confession, nothing more is said by Matthew, here: but other passages of Scripture leave us no room to doubt of the nature of the confession which God requires. Thus, Luke xviii. 13, Jesus gives us a pattern of the confession which man ought to make: Ὁ Θεὸς, ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ. In which words, it may be observed, is no particular mention of any individual delinquencies, but only a general acknowledgment of the debt and burthen of the sinner. And this is the only confession which can have any meaning with God. It is not the fact of our delinquencies, but the guilt of them, that God requires us to confess. This is obvious. For a confession to God, that we did this thing or that thing, is only telling him what he knows already: but to acknowledge our sin, and to feel the burthen of it, is the beginning of repentance and conversion, and is the result of the work of God's Holy Spirit. But then our confession must be made to God, and not to man. 1 John i. 9. Ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, πιστός ἐστι καὶ δίκαιος, ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας. i. e. If we humble our |