1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus:2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son. Grace, mercy and peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my forefathers, with a pure conscience, that without ceasing I have a remembrance of thee in my prayers, night and day.4Desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy:5Calling to mind that faith which is in thee unfeigned, which also dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and I am certain that in thee also.6For which cause I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power and of love and of sobriety.8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but labour with the gospel, according to the power of God.
1Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, in accord with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,2to Timothy, most beloved son. Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3I give thanks to God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. For without ceasing I hold the remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day,4desiring to see you, recalling your tears so as to be filled with joy,5calling to mind the same faith, which is in you unfeigned, which also first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and also, I am certain, in you.6Because of this, I admonish you to revive the grace of God, which is in you by the imposition of my hands.7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue, and of love, and of self-restraint.8And so, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. Instead, collaborate with the Gospel in accord with the virtue of God,
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;4Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus:2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son. Grace, mercy and peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my forefathers, with a pure conscience, that without ceasing I have a remembrance of thee in my prayers, night and day.4Desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy:5Calling to mind that faith which is in thee unfeigned, which also dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and I am certain that in thee also.6For which cause I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power and of love and of sobriety.8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but labour with the gospel, according to the power of God.
1Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, in accord with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,2to Timothy, most beloved son. Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3I give thanks to God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. For without ceasing I hold the remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day,4desiring to see you, recalling your tears so as to be filled with joy,5calling to mind the same faith, which is in you unfeigned, which also first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and also, I am certain, in you.6Because of this, I admonish you to revive the grace of God, which is in you by the imposition of my hands.7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue, and of love, and of self-restraint.8And so, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. Instead, collaborate with the Gospel in accord with the virtue of God,
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;4Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
1A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.2Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.7Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:8Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts:10Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice.
1A Canticle of David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.2Sing to the Lord and bless his name. Announce his salvation from day to day.3Announce his glory among the Gentiles, his miracles among all peoples.7Bring to the Lord, you natives of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor.8Bring to the Lord glory for his name. Lift up sacrifices, and enter into his courts.10Say among the Gentiles: The Lord has reigned. For he has even corrected the whole world, which will not be shaken. He will judge the peoples with fairness.
1O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.2Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.7Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.8Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.10Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
1A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.2Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.7Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:8Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts:10Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice.
1A Canticle of David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.2Sing to the Lord and bless his name. Announce his salvation from day to day.3Announce his glory among the Gentiles, his miracles among all peoples.7Bring to the Lord, you natives of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor.8Bring to the Lord glory for his name. Lift up sacrifices, and enter into his courts.10Say among the Gentiles: The Lord has reigned. For he has even corrected the whole world, which will not be shaken. He will judge the peoples with fairness.
1O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.2Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.7Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.8Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.10Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
The title promises a building — when the house was built after the captivity — and Augustine notices that the psalm then describes no building at all. A reader hearing that heading might expect to be told what stones were hewn from the mountains, what foundations were laid and what columns raised; instead the first line says sing ye to the Lord a new canticle. His conclusion is not that the title is decorative but that the singing is the construction: "the very act of singing is building," and the site is not a spot or a region but all the earth. What makes the song new is specified: the lust of the flesh sings the old song, the love of God the new, and behind it stands the new commandment, that we love one another. Calmet notes the literal history — David's great canticle of 1 Paralipomenon xvi, probably divided into three on the occasion of the return — while Haydock thinks the variations too many for a simple division and suspects David revised the work himself. Challoner keeps both senses: the rebuilt temple, and principally the Church raised after our redemption from the captivity of satan.
The hardest verse is v. 10, and the difficulty is textual. The Lord hath reigned stood in many old copies as "the Lord hath reigned apo tou xulou" — from the wood. Justin Martyr charged that the phrase had been cut out, and the Latin Fathers, Jerome excepted, had it in their copies; Berthier weighs Justin's positive testimony and the Italic version used by Tertullian and Augustine as heavier evidence than the mere silence of Origen's copies. Calmet answers that the words are absent from the parallel in Paralipomenon and from the Vulgate, though the Roman breviary keeps them, and Faber and Justiniani suggest a marginal gloss that crept in, where Genebrard held the Septuagint inspired to add them. Haydock rests nothing on the outcome: whatever is decided, the reign of Christ was in fact propagated from the wood, since it was there he began to draw all men to himself. Amama's remark is the sharpest in the apparatus — the Popes have not thought the cross stood in need of this support. Augustine, for his part, simply preaches the line, observing that Christ already possesses regions the Roman empire never reached: what is closed to those who fight with the sword is not closed to him who fights with wood.
The psalm then turns to the Gentiles, and Augustine holds the two halves together with one warning. Those who declared the message declare his glory among the Gentiles — his glory, not their own; and those who receive it are told to ascribe worship to the Lord and not to the man who baptized them. Whoever preaches his own honour is not building the house but raising what Augustine calls a whited wall: bright outside, dirt within, and standing alone, so that a man who goes through its door finds himself outdoors. The entrance fee is named in v. 8. Bring up sacrifices renders the Hebrew Mincha, the oblation of flour, which Menochius takes for the Eucharist and the spiritual sacrifices of prayer, and which Berthier reads with Malachias i. 11 — the victims cease, the pure oblation continues among the Gentiles. Calmet observes that the mention of the courts is itself a prophecy of conversion, since no Gentile could otherwise come there. Augustine asks only what a man carries in. Were a bull or a ram appointed, he says, you would find one; a humble heart has been appointed instead, and if you are proud you enter empty.
31And his mother and his brethren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.32And the multitude sat about him; and they say to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.33And answering them, he said: Who is my mother and my brethren?34And looking round about on them who sat about him, he saith: Behold my mother and my brethren.35For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
31And his mother and brothers arrived. And standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.32And the crowd was sitting around him. And they said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”33And responding to them, he said, “Who is my mother and my brothers?”34And looking around at those who were sitting all around him, he said: “Behold, my mother and my brothers.35For whoever has done the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and mother.”
31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
31And his mother and his brethren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.32And the multitude sat about him; and they say to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.33And answering them, he said: Who is my mother and my brethren?34And looking round about on them who sat about him, he saith: Behold my mother and my brethren.35For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
31And his mother and brothers arrived. And standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.32And the crowd was sitting around him. And they said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”33And responding to them, he said, “Who is my mother and my brothers?”34And looking around at those who were sitting all around him, he said: “Behold, my mother and my brothers.35For whoever has done the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and mother.”
31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Mark arranges the scene by position. His mother and brethren are standing without and send in a message (v. 31); the multitude sat about him (v. 32); and Jesus answers by looking round about on them who sat about him (v. 34), naming as kin the people within reach of his eyes. The closing verse adds a word that the message did not contain. The crowd reported only thy mother and thy brethren, but Jesus says brother, and my sister, and mother (v. 35), and Pseudo-Jerome explains the addition: "He discerns us not by sex but by our deeds." On the identity of the brethren, Bede, cited by Haydock and in the Catena, excludes two readings. They were not sons of the ever-virgin Mary, as Helvidius held, nor sons of Joseph by an earlier marriage, "as some think," but relatives, in the usage of Scripture.
The commentators agree that Jesus is not rebuffing his mother, and they differ over why she came. Theophylact links the visit to v. 21, where his relations set out to seize him as one beside himself; Mary came, "urged by the sympathy of her love." Chrysostom notes that they were evidently not always with him and came "from reverence and affection." Pseudo-Chrysostom recalls that his brethren did not believe in him (John 7:5) and takes their waiting outside as of a piece with that. Bede gives the reason for the refusal. Jesus declines "not as though He refused the dutiful service of His mother," but because "He owes more to His Father's mysteries than to His mother's feelings," teaching "that religion is the bond of the heart rather than that of the body." Theophylact draws the conclusion for Mary herself, that the saying shows her worthy of honour for her other virtues as well as for bearing Christ. Chrysostom goes further and says that a man becomes the mother of Jesus by preaching him, for "he, as it were, brings forth the Lord, when he pours Him into the heart of his hearers." Bede's mystical reading turns the scene outward, with the kindred standing outside as the synagogue "guarding the letter," wanting the Lord to come out to them and teach carnal things rather than going in to learn spiritual ones.
The passage rebukes two opposite errors. One treats belonging to Christ as a matter of inheritance, a family or a culture or a baptism long past, with nothing done since. The other reads the verse as a slight to Mary and misses that Theophylact and Bede both find her honoured in it. What the text requires is the doing of v. 35, the will of God carried out. The Catena presses the question on every reader: "If therefore not even His parents when standing without are acknowledged, how shall we be acknowledged, if we stand without?" The word is inside the house, among those who are sitting close enough for him to look at.
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus:2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son. Grace, mercy and peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my forefathers, with a pure conscience, that without ceasing I have a remembrance of thee in my prayers, night and day.4Desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy:5Calling to mind that faith which is in thee unfeigned, which also dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and I am certain that in thee also.6For which cause I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of God which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power and of love and of sobriety.8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but labour with the gospel, according to the power of God.
1Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, in accord with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,2to Timothy, most beloved son. Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.3I give thanks to God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. For without ceasing I hold the remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day,4desiring to see you, recalling your tears so as to be filled with joy,5calling to mind the same faith, which is in you unfeigned, which also first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and also, I am certain, in you.6Because of this, I admonish you to revive the grace of God, which is in you by the imposition of my hands.7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue, and of love, and of self-restraint.8And so, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. Instead, collaborate with the Gospel in accord with the virtue of God,
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;4Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
Stir up the grace of God which is in thee (v. 6) is a translation of a fire word. The Greek is anazopurein, which Haydock glosses quasi sopitum ignem excitare — to rouse a fire that has gone drowsy, to blow the embers back to flame. Grace is being described as something that can bank down without going out, and that requires an act from the man who holds it. Two more words in these verses are similarly precise. When Paul says he is certain of Timothy's faith (v. 5), the Greek is pepeismai, persuasum habeo: not a guess but a conviction he has been brought to. And the spirit of fear God has not given (v. 7) is deilias, which Witham renders timiditas, cowardice and want of courage — pointedly noting that the word here "is not phobou." The fear excluded is not reverence but nerve failure. Its opposite in the same verse is sophronismou, which the Douay gives as sobriety; Witham observes that the Protestant versions render it "a sound mind" here while translating the same Greek word "sobriety" at Acts xxvi. 25, 1 Timothy ii. 9 and iii. 2, and Titus i. 8.
Witham handles v. 3 with unusual care, because Paul's claim to have served God from my forefathers, with a pure conscience has an obvious objection attached to it. It was true, Witham allows, that Paul had always served and worshipped the one true God as his forefathers had done — true even during the years he persecuted Christians. But the persecution itself was not done with a pure conscience; it was done with a false, mistaken zeal, and his ignorance could not excuse him once he might have known Christ. The distinction is between the continuity of a life turned toward God and the specific culpability of an act within it, and Paul claims only the first. Denis the Carthusian reads the whole letter as consolation: its principal intention is to comfort Timothy under the many hardships he laboured under for the faith, and Paul strengthens him first by recalling the faith that lived in Lois and Eunice before it lived in him. Some, Denis reports, take the passage further, as an exhortation to desire martyrdom in the perfect discharge of his ministry — Paul writing, on the same reading, from confinement at Rome or Laodicea. On v. 6 Denis draws the sacramental conclusion: the grace came by imposition of hands, either in confirmation or in orders, and the verse seems to show that this gesture is the essential matter of both sacraments, the instrumental cause of the grace conferred. Witham fixes the occasion more narrowly still — when thou wast ordained bishop.
What v. 8 asks is set against the cowardice of v. 7, and the shame it names has two objects: the testimony of the Lord, and a particular man in chains. It is easier to own the message than the prisoner. The Douay's labour with the gospel can be taken, Witham says, as labour with me in preaching; but the Greek is sugkakopatheson, which he renders mala ferto mecum — carry the evils along with me. That is a request for company in trouble, not for agreement at a distance, and it lands on anyone who admires a persecuted faith from a safe remove. Timothy is not asked to feel braver. He is asked to blow on the fire he was given and stand next to the man who lit it.
1A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.2Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.7Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:8Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts:10Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice.
1A Canticle of David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.2Sing to the Lord and bless his name. Announce his salvation from day to day.3Announce his glory among the Gentiles, his miracles among all peoples.7Bring to the Lord, you natives of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor.8Bring to the Lord glory for his name. Lift up sacrifices, and enter into his courts.10Say among the Gentiles: The Lord has reigned. For he has even corrected the whole world, which will not be shaken. He will judge the peoples with fairness.
1O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.2Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.7Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.8Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.10Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
The title promises a building — when the house was built after the captivity — and Augustine notices that the psalm then describes no building at all. A reader hearing that heading might expect to be told what stones were hewn from the mountains, what foundations were laid and what columns raised; instead the first line says sing ye to the Lord a new canticle. His conclusion is not that the title is decorative but that the singing is the construction: "the very act of singing is building," and the site is not a spot or a region but all the earth. What makes the song new is specified: the lust of the flesh sings the old song, the love of God the new, and behind it stands the new commandment, that we love one another. Calmet notes the literal history — David's great canticle of 1 Paralipomenon xvi, probably divided into three on the occasion of the return — while Haydock thinks the variations too many for a simple division and suspects David revised the work himself. Challoner keeps both senses: the rebuilt temple, and principally the Church raised after our redemption from the captivity of satan.
The hardest verse is v. 10, and the difficulty is textual. The Lord hath reigned stood in many old copies as "the Lord hath reigned apo tou xulou" — from the wood. Justin Martyr charged that the phrase had been cut out, and the Latin Fathers, Jerome excepted, had it in their copies; Berthier weighs Justin's positive testimony and the Italic version used by Tertullian and Augustine as heavier evidence than the mere silence of Origen's copies. Calmet answers that the words are absent from the parallel in Paralipomenon and from the Vulgate, though the Roman breviary keeps them, and Faber and Justiniani suggest a marginal gloss that crept in, where Genebrard held the Septuagint inspired to add them. Haydock rests nothing on the outcome: whatever is decided, the reign of Christ was in fact propagated from the wood, since it was there he began to draw all men to himself. Amama's remark is the sharpest in the apparatus — the Popes have not thought the cross stood in need of this support. Augustine, for his part, simply preaches the line, observing that Christ already possesses regions the Roman empire never reached: what is closed to those who fight with the sword is not closed to him who fights with wood.
The psalm then turns to the Gentiles, and Augustine holds the two halves together with one warning. Those who declared the message declare his glory among the Gentiles — his glory, not their own; and those who receive it are told to ascribe worship to the Lord and not to the man who baptized them. Whoever preaches his own honour is not building the house but raising what Augustine calls a whited wall: bright outside, dirt within, and standing alone, so that a man who goes through its door finds himself outdoors. The entrance fee is named in v. 8. Bring up sacrifices renders the Hebrew Mincha, the oblation of flour, which Menochius takes for the Eucharist and the spiritual sacrifices of prayer, and which Berthier reads with Malachias i. 11 — the victims cease, the pure oblation continues among the Gentiles. Calmet observes that the mention of the courts is itself a prophecy of conversion, since no Gentile could otherwise come there. Augustine asks only what a man carries in. Were a bull or a ram appointed, he says, you would find one; a humble heart has been appointed instead, and if you are proud you enter empty.
31And his mother and his brethren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.32And the multitude sat about him; and they say to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.33And answering them, he said: Who is my mother and my brethren?34And looking round about on them who sat about him, he saith: Behold my mother and my brethren.35For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
31And his mother and brothers arrived. And standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.32And the crowd was sitting around him. And they said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.”33And responding to them, he said, “Who is my mother and my brothers?”34And looking around at those who were sitting all around him, he said: “Behold, my mother and my brothers.35For whoever has done the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and mother.”
31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Mark arranges the scene by position. His mother and brethren are standing without and send in a message (v. 31); the multitude sat about him (v. 32); and Jesus answers by looking round about on them who sat about him (v. 34), naming as kin the people within reach of his eyes. The closing verse adds a word that the message did not contain. The crowd reported only thy mother and thy brethren, but Jesus says brother, and my sister, and mother (v. 35), and Pseudo-Jerome explains the addition: "He discerns us not by sex but by our deeds." On the identity of the brethren, Bede, cited by Haydock and in the Catena, excludes two readings. They were not sons of the ever-virgin Mary, as Helvidius held, nor sons of Joseph by an earlier marriage, "as some think," but relatives, in the usage of Scripture.
The commentators agree that Jesus is not rebuffing his mother, and they differ over why she came. Theophylact links the visit to v. 21, where his relations set out to seize him as one beside himself; Mary came, "urged by the sympathy of her love." Chrysostom notes that they were evidently not always with him and came "from reverence and affection." Pseudo-Chrysostom recalls that his brethren did not believe in him (John 7:5) and takes their waiting outside as of a piece with that. Bede gives the reason for the refusal. Jesus declines "not as though He refused the dutiful service of His mother," but because "He owes more to His Father's mysteries than to His mother's feelings," teaching "that religion is the bond of the heart rather than that of the body." Theophylact draws the conclusion for Mary herself, that the saying shows her worthy of honour for her other virtues as well as for bearing Christ. Chrysostom goes further and says that a man becomes the mother of Jesus by preaching him, for "he, as it were, brings forth the Lord, when he pours Him into the heart of his hearers." Bede's mystical reading turns the scene outward, with the kindred standing outside as the synagogue "guarding the letter," wanting the Lord to come out to them and teach carnal things rather than going in to learn spiritual ones.
The passage rebukes two opposite errors. One treats belonging to Christ as a matter of inheritance, a family or a culture or a baptism long past, with nothing done since. The other reads the verse as a slight to Mary and misses that Theophylact and Bede both find her honoured in it. What the text requires is the doing of v. 35, the will of God carried out. The Catena presses the question on every reader: "If therefore not even His parents when standing without are acknowledged, how shall we be acknowledged, if we stand without?" The word is inside the house, among those who are sitting close enough for him to look at.
The complete public-domain commentary this reading's note draws from, unabridged. Every claim in the note traces to a passage here.
Whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience. That is, have always served and worshipped the one true God, as my forefathers had done, which was true, even when he persecuted the Christians; though this he did not with a pure conscience, but with a false mistaken zeal; and his ignorance could not excuse him, after he might have known Christ. (Witham)
Thy grandmother, Lois. The principal intention St. Paul seems to have had in writing this second epistle to Timothy, was, to comfort him under the many hardships under which he laboured for the faith of Christ. To this end he endeavours first to strengthen his faith, by calling to his mind the example given him in his grandmother, as also in his mother, Eunice. Some likewise think St. Paul is here exhorting Timothy to a desire of martyrdom in the perfect discharge of his ministry, by his own example; as the same writers think it most probable that he was confined in prison at Rome, or at Laodicea, at the time he wrote this epistle. (Denis the Carthusian) --- Certain [1] that in thee also. (Witham)
Certus sum, Greek: pepeismai, persuasum habeo.
That thou stir up [2] the grace of God. In the Greek is a metaphor for fire that is blown up again. --- Which is in thee by the imposition of my hands, when thou wast ordained bishop. (Witham) --- The grace, which St. Paul here exhorts Timothy to stir up in him, was the grace he had received by imposition of hands, either in his confirmation, or at receiving the sacrament of orders, being a bishop. This verse seems to shew that the imposition of hands is used in these two sacraments, as the essential matter of the sacraments, being the instrumental cause of the grace therein conferred. (Denis the Carthusian)
Ut resuscites, Greek: anazopurein, quasi sopitum ignem excitare.
Of fear.[3] Of a cowardly fear, and want of courage. --- Of sobriety.[4] Though the Protestants here translate of a sound mind, yet they translate the same Greek word by sobriety in divers other places, as Acts xxvi. 25; 1 Timothy ii. 9 and 15 and chap. iii. 2; Titus i. 8. &c. (Witham)
Timoris, Greek: deilias, timiditatis, it is not Greek: phobou.
Et sobrietatis, Greek: kai sophronismou.
Labour with [5] the gospel. That is, labour with me in preaching, &c. Or by the Greek, be partner with me in suffering. (Witham)
Collabora, Greek: sugkakopatheson. Mala ferto mecum.
This second epistle Paul wrote to Timothy from Rome, when he was a prisoner there and in danger of his life; this is evident from these words, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand, ch. iv. 6 . It appears that his removal out of this world, in his own apprehension, was not far off, especially considering the rage and malice of his persecutors; and that he had been brought before the emperor Nero, which he calls his first answer, when no man stood with him, but all men forsook him, ch. iv. 16 . And interpreters agree that this was the last epistle he wrote. Where Timothy now was is not certain. The scope of this epistle somewhat differs from that of the former, not so much relating to his office as an evangelist as to his personal conduct and behaviour.
After the introduction ( ver. 1, 2 ) we have, I. Paul's sincere love to Timothy, ver. 3-5 . II. Divers exhortations given to him, ver. 6-14 . III. He speaks of Phygellus and Hermogenes, with others, and closes with Onesiphorus, ver. 15, to the end .
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
Here is, I. The inscription of the epistle Paul calls himself an apostle by the will of God, merely by the good pleasure of God, and by his grace, which he professes himself unworthy of. According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, or according to the gospel. The gospel is the promise of life in Christ Jesus; life is the end, and Christ the way, John xiv. 6 . The life is put into the promise, and both are sure in Christ Jesus the faithful witness; for all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea, and all amen, 2 Cor. i. 20 . He calls Timothy his beloved son. Paul felt the warmest affection for him both because he had been an instrument of his conversion and because as a son with his father he had served with him in the gospel. Observe, 1. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God; as he did not receive the gospel of man, nor was taught it, but had it by the revelation of Jesus Christ ( Gal. i. 12 ), so his commission to be an apostle was not by the will of man, but of God: in the former epistle he says it was by the commandment of God our Saviour, and here by the will of God. God called him to be an apostle. 2. We have the promise of life, blessed be God for it: In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began, Tit. i. 2 . It is a promise to discover the freeness and certainty of it. 3. This, as well as all other promises, is in and through Jesus Christ; they all take their rise from the mercy of God in Christ, and they are sure, so that we may safely depend on them. 4. The grace, mercy, and peace, which even Paul's dearly beloved son Timothy wanted, comes from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord; and therefore the one as well as the other is the giver of these blessings, and ought to be applied to for them. 5. The best want these blessings, and they are the best we can ask for our dearly-beloved friends, that they may have grace to help them in the time of need, and mercy to pardon what is amiss, and so may have peace with God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Here is an exhortation and excitation of Timothy to his duty ( v. 6 ): I put thee in remembrance. The best men need remembrancers; what we know we should be reminded of. 2 Pet. iii. 1 , I write this, to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
I. He exhorts him to stir up the gift of God that was in him. Stir it up as fire under the embers. It is meant of all the gifts and graces the God had given him, to qualify him for the work of an evangelist, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the extraordinary gifts that were conferred by the imposition of the apostle's hands. These he must stir up; he must exercise them and so increase them: use gifts and have gifts. To him that hath shall be given, Matt. xxv. 29 . He must take all opportunities to use these gifts, and so stir them up, for that is the best way of increasing them. Whether the gift of God in Timothy was ordinary or extraordinary (though I incline to the latter), he must stir it up, otherwise it would decay. Further, you see that this gift was in him by the putting on of the apostle's hands, which I take to be distinct from his ordination, for that was performed by the hands of the presbytery, 1 Tim. iv. 14 . It is probable that Timothy had the Holy Ghost, in his extraordinary gifts and graces, conferred on him by the laying on of the apostle's hands (for I reckon that none but the apostles had the power of giving the Holy Ghost), and afterwards, being thus richly furnished for the work of the ministry, was ordained by the presbytery. Observe, 1. The great hindrance of usefulness in the increase of our gifts is slavish fear. Paul therefore warns Timothy against this: God hath not given us the spirit of fear, v. 7 . It was through base fear that the evil servant buried his talent, and did not trade with it, Matt. xxv. 25 . Now God hath therefore armed us against the spirit of fear, by often bidding us fear not. "Fear not the face of man; fear not the dangers you may meet with in the way of your duty." God hath delivered us from the spirit of fear, and hath given us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. The spirit of power, or of courage and resolution to encounter difficulties and dangers;—the spirit of love to God, which will carry us through the opposition we may meet with, as Jacob made nothing of the hard service he was to endure for Rachel: the spirit of love to God will set us above the fear of man, and all the hurt that a man can do us;—and the spirit of a sound mind, or quietness of mind, a peaceable enjoyment of ourselves, for we are oftentimes discouraged in our way and work by the creatures o our own fancy and imagination, which a sober, solid, thinking mind would obviate, and would easily answer. 2. The spirit God gives to his ministers is not a fearful, but a courageous spirit; it is a spirit of power, for they speak in his name who has all power, both in heaven and earth; and it is a spirit of love, for love to God and the souls of men must inflame ministers in all their service; and it is a spirit of a sound mind, for they speak the words of truth and soberness.
II. He exhorts him to count upon afflictions, and get ready for them: " Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. Be not thou ashamed of the gospel, of the testimony thou hast borne to it." Observe,
1. The gospel of Christ is what we have none of us reason to be ashamed of. We must not be ashamed of those who are suffering for the gospel of Christ. Timothy must not be ashamed of good old Paul, though he was now in bonds. As he must not himself be afraid of suffering, so he must not be afraid of owning those who were sufferers for the cause of Christ. (1.) The gospel is the testimony of our Lord; in and by this he bears testimony of himself to us, and by professing our adherence to it we bear testimony of him and for him. (2.) Paul was the Lord's prisoner, his prisoner, Eph. iv. 1 . For his sake he was bound with a chain. (3.) We have no reason to be ashamed either of the testimony of our Lord or of his prisoners; if we are ashamed of either now, Christ will be ashamed of us hereafter. " But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God, that is, expect afflictions for the gospel's sake, prepare for them, count upon them, be willing to take thy lot with the suffering saints in this world. Be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel; " or, as it may be read, Do thou suffer with the gospel; "not only sympathize with those who suffer for it, but be ready to suffer with them and suffer like them." If at any time the gospel be in distress, he who hopes for life and salvation by it will be content to suffer with it. Observe, [1.] Then we are likely to bear afflictions as well, when we fetch strength and power from God to enable us to bear them: Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God. [2.] All Christians, but especially ministers, must expect afflictions and persecutions for the sake of the gospel. [3.] These shall be proportioned, according to the power of God ( 1 Cor. x. 13 ) resting upon us.
2. Mentioning God and the gospel, he takes notice what great things God has done for us by the gospel, v. 9, 10 . To encourage him to suffer, he urges two considerations:—
(1.) The nature of that gospel which he was called to suffer for, and the glorious and gracious designs and purposes of it. It is usual with Paul, when he mentions Christ, and the gospel of Christ, to digress from his subject, and enlarge upon them; so full was he of that which is all our salvation, and ought to be all our desire. Observe, [1.] The gospel aims at our salvation: He has saved us, and we must not think much to suffer for that which we hope to be saved by. He has begun to save us, and will complete it in due time; for God calls those things that are not (that are not yet completed) as though they were ( Rom. iv. 17 ); therefore he says, who has saved us. [2.] It is designed for our sanctification: And called us with a holy calling, called us to holiness. Christianity is a calling, a holy calling; it is the calling wherewith we are called, the calling to which we are called, to labour in it. Observe, All who shall be saved hereafter are sanctified now. Wherever the call of the gospel is an effectual call, it is found to be a holy call, making those holy who are effectually called. [3.] The origin of it is the free grace and eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus. If we had merited it, it had been hard to suffer for it; but our salvation by it is of free grace, and not according to our works, and therefore we must not think much to suffer for it. This grace is said to be given us before the world began, that is, in the purpose and designs of God from all eternity; in Christ Jesus, for all the gifts that come from God to sinful man come in and through Christ Jesus. [4.] The gospel is the manifestation of this purpose and grace: By the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who had lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity, and was perfectly apprised of all his gracious purposes. By his appearing this gracious purpose was made manifest to us. Did Jesus Christ suffer for it, and shall we think much to suffer for it? [5.] By the gospel of Christ death is abolished: He has abolished death, not only weakened it, but taken it out of the way, has broken the power of death over us; by taking away sin he has abolished death (for the sting of death is sin, 1 Cor. xv. 56 ), in altering the property of it, and breaking the power of it. Death now of an enemy has become a friend; it is the gate by which we pass out of a troublesome, vexatious, sinful world, into a world of perfect peace and purity; and the power thereof is broken, for death does not triumph over those who believe the gospel, but they triumph over it. O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? 1 Cor. xv. 55 . [6.] He has brought life and immortality to light by the gospel; he has shown us another world more clearly than it was before discovered under any former dispensation, and the happiness of that world, the certain recompence of our obedience by faith: we all with open face, as in a glass, behold the glory of God. He has brought it to light, not only set it before us, but offered it to us, by the gospel. Let us value the gospel more than ever, as it is that whereby life and immortality are brought to light, for herein it has the pre-eminence above all former discoveries; so that it is the gospel of life and immortality, as it discovers them to us, and directs us in the ready way that leads thereto, as well as proposes the most weighty motives to excite our endeavours in seeking after glory, honour, and immortality.
(2.) Consider the example of blessed Paul, v. 11, 12 . He was appointed to preach the gospel, and particularly appointed to teach the Gentiles. He though it a cause worth suffering for, and why should not Timothy think so too? No man needs to be afraid nor ashamed to suffer for the cause of the gospel: I am not ashamed, says Paul, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Observe, [1.] Good men often suffer many things for the best cause in the world: For which cause I suffer these things; that is, "for my preaching, and adhering to the gospel." [2.] They need not be ashamed, the cause will bear them out; but those who oppose it shall be clothed with shame. [3.] Those who trust in Christ know whom they have trusted. The apostle speaks with a holy triumph and exultation, as much as to say, "I stand on firm ground. I know I have lodged the great trust in the hands of the best trustee." And am persuaded, &c. What must we commit to Christ? The salvation of our souls, and their preservation to the heavenly kingdom; and what we so commit to him he will keep. There is a day coming when our souls will be enquired after: "Man! Woman! thou hadst a soul committed to thee, what hast thou done with it? To whom it was offered, to God or Satan? How was it employed, in the service of sin or in the service of Christ?" There is a day coming, and it will be a very solemn and awful day, when we must give an account of our stewardship ( Luke xvi. 2 ), give an account of our souls: now, if by an active obedient faith we commit it to Jesus Christ, we may be sure he is able to keep it, and it shall be forthcoming to our comfort in that day.
Place of Writing.-- Paul, in the interval between his first and second imprisonment, after having written First Timothy from Macedonia or Corinth [Birks] (if we are to adopt the opinion that First Timothy was written after his first imprisonment), returned to Ephesus, as he intended, by way of Troas, where he left the books, &c. (mentioned in 2Ti 4:13 ), with Carpus. From Ephesus he went to Crete for a short visit and returned, and then wrote to Titus. Next he went by Miletus to Corinth ( 2Ti 4:20 ), and thence to Nicopolis ( Tit 3:12 ), whence he proceeded to Rome. From his prison there he wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, shortly before his martyrdom. It is not certain where Timothy was at this time. Some of the internal evidences favor the view of his having been then at Ephesus; thus the salutation of Priscilla and Aquila, who generally resided there ( 2Ti 4:19 ); also that of the household of Onesiphorus, who is stated in 2Ti 1:16-18 to have ministered to Paul at Ephesus, a circumstance implying his residence there. Also, the Hymenæus of 2Ti 2:17 seems to be the same as the Hymenæus at Ephesus ( 1Ti 1:20 ); and probably "Alexander the coppersmith" ( 2Ti 4:14 ) is the same as the Alexander joined with Hymenæus ( 1Ti 1:20 ), and possibly the same as the Alexander put forward by the Jews to clear themselves, not to befriend Paul, at the riot in Ephesus ( Ac 19:33 , 34 ). The difficulty is, on this supposition, how to account for 2Ti 4:12 , 20 : if Timothy was at Ephesus, why did he need to be told that Paul had sent Tychicus to Ephesus? or that Paul had left Trophimus, himself an Ephesian ( Ac 21:29 ), sick at Miletus, which was only thirty miles from Ephesus? However, see on 2Ti 4:12 ; 2Ti 4:20 . Troas lay on the road to Rome from either Ephesus or Pontus, so that 2Ti 4:13 will accord with the theory of either Ephesus or any other place in the northwest of Asia Minor, being Timothy's place of sojourn at the time. Probably, he had the general superintendence of the Pauline churches in Asia Minor, in accordance with his mission combining the office of evangelist, or itinerant missionary, with that of presiding overseer. Ephesus was probably his headquarters.
Time of Writing.-- (1) Paul's first imprisonment, described in Ac 28:17-31 , was much milder than that in which he was when writing Second Timothy. In the former, he had liberty to lodge in his own hired house, and to receive all comers, guarded only by a single soldier; in the latter, he was so closely confined that Onesiphorus with difficulty found him; he was chained, his friends had forsaken him, and he had narrowly escaped sentence of execution from the Roman emperor. Medieval legends represent the Mamertine prison, or Tullianum, as the scene of his incarceration with Peter. But this is irreconcilable with the fact of Onesiphorus, Linus, Pudens, &c., having access to him. He was probably under military custody, as in his former imprisonment, though of a severer kind (2Ti 1:16-18; 2:9; 4:6-8, 16, 17). (2) The visit to Troas ( 2Ti 4:13 ) can hardly have been that mentioned in Ac 20:5-7 , the last before his first imprisonment; for, if it were, the interval between that visit and the first imprisonment would be seven or eight years, a period most unlikely for him to have allowed to pass without sending for his cloak and parchments, when they might have been of service to him in the interim. (3) Paul's leaving Trophimus sick at Miletus ( 2Ti 4:20 ), could not have been on the occasion mentioned in Ac 20:15 ; for, subsequent to that, Trophimus was with Paul in Jerusalem ( Ac 21:29 ). ( 4 ) The words ( 2Ti 4:20 ), "Erastus abode at Corinth," imply that Paul had shortly before been at Corinth, where he left Erastus. But before his first imprisonment, Paul had not been at Corinth for several years; and in the interval Timothy had been with him, so that Timothy did not need at a later period to be told about that visit ( Ac 20:2 , 4 ). For all these reasons the imprisonment, during which he wrote Second Timothy, is shown to be his second imprisonment. Moreover, He 13:23 , 24 , represents the writer (who was probably Paul) as in Italy, and at liberty. So Clement of Rome [First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1.5], the disciple of Paul, explicitly states, "In the east and west, Paul as a preacher instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman empire) in righteousness, and having gone to the extremity of the west, and having borne witness before the rulers (of Rome), he so was removed from the world." This plainly implies that he fulfilled his design ( Ro 15:24-28 ) of a missionary journey into Spain. The canon of the New Testament, compiled about A.D. 170 (called Muratori's Canon), also mentions "the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain." See Routh [Sacred Fragments, vol. 4, p. 1-12].
His martyrdom is universally said to have occurred in Nero's reign [Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.22; Jerome, On Illustrious Men]. Five years thus seem to have elapsed between the first imprisonment, A.D. 63 ( Ac 28:17-31 ), and his martyrdom, June A.D. 68, the last year of Nero's reign. He was probably arrested by the magistrates in Nicopolis ( Tit 3:12 ) in Epirus, in the winter, on a double charge, first, of being one of the Christians who had conspired, it was alleged by Nero's partisans, to set fire to Rome, A.D. 64; secondly, of introducing a novel and unlawful religion. His friends all left him, except Luke: Demas from "love of this present world": the others from various causes ( 2Ti 4:10 , 11 ). On the first charge he seems to have been acquitted. His liberation from his first imprisonment took place in A.D. 63, the year before the great fire at Rome, which Nero made the pretext for his persecution of the Christians. Every cruelty was heaped on them; some were crucified; some were arrayed in the skins of wild beasts and hunted to death by dogs; some were wrapped in pitch-robes and set on fire by night to illuminate the circus of the Vatican and gardens of Nero, while that monster mixed among the spectators in the garb of a charioteer. But now (A.D. 67 or 68) some years had elapsed since the first excitement which followed the fire. Hence, Paul, being a Roman citizen, was treated in his trial with a greater respect for the forms of the law, and hence was acquitted ( 2Ti 4:17 ) on the first charge of having instigated the Christians to their supposed acts of incendiarism before his last departure from Rome. Alexander the coppersmith seems to have been a witness against him ( 2Ti 4:14 ). Had he been condemned on the first charge, he would probably have been burnt alive, as the preceding martyrs were, for arson. His judge was the city Præfect. Clement of Rome specifies that his trial was (not before the emperor, but) "before the rulers." No advocate ventured to plead his cause, no patron appeared for him, such as under ordinary circumstances might have aided him; for instance, one of the powerful Æmilian house, under which his family possibly enjoyed clientship ( 2Ti 4:16 , 17 ), whence he may have taken his name Paul. The place of trial was, probably, one of the great basilicas in the Forum, two of which were called the Pauline Basilicas, from L. Æmilius Paulus, who had built one and restored the other. He was remanded for the second stage of his trial. He did not expect this to come on until the following "winter" ( 2Ti 4:21 ), whereas it took place about midsummer; if in Nero's reign, not later than June. In the interim Luke was his only constant companion; but one friend from Asia, Onesiphorus, had diligently sought him and visited him in prison, undeterred by the danger. Linus, too, the future bishop of Rome, Pudens, the son of a senator, and Claudia, his bride, perhaps the daughter of a British king (see on 2Ti 4:21 ), were among his visitors; and Tychicus, before he was sent by Paul to Ephesus ( 2Ti 4:12 ; perhaps bearing with him this Epistle).
Object of the epistle.-- He was anxious to see his disciple Timothy, before his death, and that Timothy should bring Mark with him ( 2Ti 1:4 ; 4:9 , 11, 21 ). But feeling how uncertain it was whether Timothy should arrive in time, he felt it necessary, also, to give him by letter a last warning as to the heresies, the germs of which were then being scattered in the Churches. Hence he writes a series of exhortations to faithfulness, and zeal for sound doctrine, and patience amidst trials: a charge which Timothy seems to have needed, if we are to judge from the apostle's earnestness in urging him to boldness in Christ's cause, as though Paul thought he saw in him some signs of constitutional timidity (2Ti 2:2-8; 4:1-5; 1Ti 5:22 , 23 ).
Paul's Death.-- Dioysius, bishop of Corinth (quoted in Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 2.25]) about A.D. 170, is the earliest authority for the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome "about the same time" as Paul, after having labored for some time there. He calls Peter and Paul "the founders of the Corinthian and Roman Churches." The Roman presbyter, Caius (about A.D. 200), mentions the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom in the Vatican. But (1) Peter's work was among the Jews ( Ga 2:9 ), whereas Rome was a Gentile Church ( Ro 1:13 . Moreover, (2) the First Epistle of Peter ( 1Pe 1:1 ; 5:13 ) represents him as laboring in Babylon in Mesopotamia. (3) The silence concerning Peter of Paul's Epistles written in Rome, negatives the tradition of his having founded, or labored long at Rome; though it is possible he may have endured martyrdom there. His martyrdom, certainly, was not, as Jerome says, "on the same day" with that of Paul, else Paul would have mentioned Peter's being at Rome in 2Ti 4:11 . The legend says that Peter, through fear, was fleeing from Rome at early dawn by the Appian Way, when he met our Lord, and falling at His feet, asked, Lord, whither goest thou? to which the Lord replied, I go again to be crucified. The disciple returned penitent and ashamed, and was martyred. The Church of Domine quo vadis, on the Appian Way, commemorates the supposed fact. Paul, according to Caius (quoted in Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 2.25]), suffered martyrdom on the Ostian Way. So also Jerome, who gives the date, the fourteenth year of Nero. It was common to send prisoners, whose death might attract too much notice at Rome, to some distance from the city, under a military escort, for execution; hence the soldier's sword, not the executioner's axe, was the instrument of his decapitation [Orosius, The Seven Books of History against the Pagans, 7.7]. Paul appears, from Php 1:12-30 , to have had his partisans even in the palace, and certainly must have exercised such an influence as would excite sympathy in his behalf, to avoid which the execution was ordered outside the city. Compare Tacitus [Histories, 4.11]. The Basilica of St. Paul, first built by Constantine, now stands outside Rome on the road to Ostia: before the Reformation it was under the protection of the kings of England, and the emblem of the order of the Garter is still to be seen among its decorations. The traditional spot of the martyrdom is the Tre Fontane, not far from the Basilica [Conybeare and Howson].
2Ti 1:1-18 . Address: Thankful Expression of Love and Desire to See Him: Remembrance of His Faith and That of His Mother and Grandmother. Exhortation to Stir Up the Gift of God in Him, and Not Shrink from Affliction, Enforced by the Consideration of the Freeness of God's Grace in Our Gospel Calling, and by the Apostle's Example. The Defection of Many: The Steadfastness of Onesiphorus.
1. This Epistle is the last testament and swan-like death song of Paul [Bengel].
according to the promise of life ... in Christ-- Paul's apostleship is in order to carry into effect this promise. Compare "according to the faith ... in hope of eternal life ... promise," &c. ( Tit 1:1 , 2 ). This "promise of life in Christ" (compare 2Ti 1:10 ; 2Ti 2:8 ) was needed to nerve Timothy to fortitude amidst trials, and to boldness in undertaking the journey to Rome, which would be attended with much risk ( 2Ti 1:8 ).
2. my dearly beloved son-- In 1Ti 1:2 , and Tit 1:4 , written at an earlier period than this Epistle, the expression used is in the Greek, "my genuine son." Alford sees in the change of expression an intimation of an altered tone as to Timothy, more of mere love, and less of confidence, as though Paul saw m him a want of firmness, whence arose the need of his stirring up afresh the faith and grace in Him ( 2Ti 1:6 ). But this seems to me not justified by the Greek word agapetos, which implies the attachment of reasoning and choice, on the ground of merit in the one "beloved," not of merely instinctive love. See Trench [Greek Synonyms of the New Testament].
3. I thank-- Greek, "I feel gratitude to God."
whom I serve from my forefathers-- whom I serve ( Ro 1:9 ) as did my forefathers. He does not mean to put on the same footing the Jewish and Christian service of God; but simply to assert his own conscientious service of God as he had received it from his progenitors (not Abraham, Isaac, &c., whom he calls "the fathers," not "progenitors" as the Greek is here; Ro 9:5 ). The memory of those who had gone before to whom he is about to be gathered, is now, on the eve of death, pleasant to him; hence also, he calls to mind the faith of the mother and grandmother of Timothy; as he walks in the faith of his forefathers ( Ac 23:1 ; 24:14 ; 26:6 , 7 ; 28:20 ), so Timothy should persevere firmly in the faith of his parent and grandparent. Not only Paul, but the Jews who reject Christ, forsake the faith of their forefathers, who looked for Christ; when they accept Him, the hearts of the children shall only be returning to the faith of their forefathers (Mal 4:6; Lu 1:17 ; Ro 11:23 , 24, 28). Probably Paul had, in his recent defense, dwelt on this topic, namely, that he was, in being a Christian, only following his hereditary faith.
that ... I have remembrance of thee-- "how unceasing I make my mention concerning thee" (compare Phm 4). The cause of Paul's feeling thankful is, not that he remembers Timothy unceasingly in his prayers, but for what Timothy is in faith ( 2Ti 1:5 ) and graces; compare Ro 1:8 , 9 , from which supply the elliptical sentence thus, "I thank God (for thee, for God is my witness) whom I serve ... that (or how) without ceasing I have remembrance (or make mention) of thee," &c.
night and day-- (See on 1Ti 5:5 ).
4. desiring-- Greek, "with yearning as for one much missed."
mindful of thy tears-- not only at our parting ( Ac 20:37 ), but also often when under pious feelings.
that I may be filled with joy-- to be joined with "desiring to see thee" ( Ro 1:11 , 12 ; 15:32 ).
5. When I call to remembrance-- This increased his "desire to see" Timothy. The oldest manuscripts read, "When I called to remembrance"; implying that some recent incident (perhaps the contrasted cowardice of the hypocrite Demas, who forsook him) had reminded him of the sincerity of Timothy's faith.
faith that is in thee-- Alford translates, "that was in thee." He remembers Timothy's faith in the past as a fact; its present existence in him is only matter of his confident persuasion or hope.
which-- Greek, "such as."
dwelt-- "made its dwelling" or abode ( Joh 14:23 ). The past tense implies they were now dead.
first-- before it dwelt in thee. She was the furthest back of the progenitors of Timothy whom Paul knew.
mother Eunice-- a believing Jewess; but his father was a Greek, that is, a heathen ( Ac 16:1 ). The faith of the one parent sanctified the child ( 2Ti 3:15 ; 1Co 7:14 ). She was probably converted at Paul's first visit to Lystra ( Ac 14:6 ). It is an undesigned coincidence, and so a mark of truth, that in Ac 16:1 the belief of the mother alone is mentioned, just as here praise is bestowed on the faith of the mother, while no notice is taken of the father [Paley, Horæ Paulinæ].
and-- Greek, "but," that is, notwithstanding appearances [Alford].
persuaded that-- it dwells, or it shall dwell "in thee also." The mention of the faith of his mother and grandmother is designed as an incentive to stir up his faith.
6. Wherefore-- Greek, "For which cause," namely, because thou hast inherited, didst once possess, and I trust ("am persuaded") still dost possess, such unfeigned faith [Alford].
stir up-- literally, "rekindle," "revive the spark of"; the opposite of "quench" or "extinguish" ( 1Th 5:19 ). Paul does not doubt the existence of real faith in Timothy, but he desires it to be put into active exercise. Timothy seems to have become somewhat remiss from being so long without Paul ( 2Ti 2:22 ).
gift of God-- the spiritual grace received for his ministerial office, either at his original ordination, or at his consecration to the particular office of superintending the Ephesian Church (see on 1Ti 4:14 ), imparting fearlessness, power, love, and a sound mind ( 2Ti 1:7 ).
by the putting on of my hands-- In 1Ti 4:14 , it is "with [not by] the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." The apostle was chief in the ordination, and to him "BY" is applied. The presbytery were his assistants; so "with," implying merely accompaniment, is said of them. Paul was the instrument in Timothy's ordination and reception of the grace then conferred; the presbyters were the concurrent participants in the act of ordination; so the Greek, "dia" and "meta." So in ordinations by a bishop in our days, he does the principal act; they join in laying on hands with him.
7. For, &c.-- implying that Timothy needed the exhortation "to stir up the gift of God in him," being constitutionally "timid": "For God did not give us (so the Greek, namely, at our ordination or consecration) the spirit of fear." The spirit which He gave us, was not the spirit of timidity (literally, "cowardice," which is weakness), but of "power" (exhibited in a fearless "testimony" for Christ, 2Ti 1:8 ). "Power is the invariable accompaniment of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Lu 24:49 ; Ac 1:8 ; compare Ac 6:6 , "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," with 2Ti 1:8 , "full of faith and power." Fear is the result of "the spirit of bondage" ( Ro 8:15 ). Fear within exaggerates the causes of fear without. "The spirit of power" is the spirit of man dwelt in by the Spirit of God imparting power; this power "casteth out fear" from ourselves, and stimulates us to try to cast it out of others ( 1Jo 4:18 ).
love-- which moves the believer while "speaking the truth" with power, when giving his testimony for Christ ( 2Ti 1:8 ), at the same time to do so "in love" ( Ep 4:15 ).
a sound mind-- The Greek, is rather, "the bringing of men to a sound mind" [Wahl]. Bengel supports English Version, "a sound mind," or "sober-mindedness"; a duty to which a young man like Timothy especially needed to be exhorted ( 2Ti 2:22 ; 1Ti 4:12 ; Tit 2:4 , 6 ). So Paul urges him, in 2Ti 2:4 , to give up worldly entanglements, which as thorns ( Lu 8:14 ) choke the word. These three gifts are preferable to any miraculous powers whatever.
8. therefore-- seeing that God hath given us such a spirit, not that of fear.
Be not thou ... ashamed-- I agree with Ellicott, in opposition to Alford, that the Greek subjunctive here, with the negative, implies action completed at one time, not continued action, which the present imperative would express; thus implying that Timothy had not decidedly yet evinced such feeling of shame; though I think, Paul, amidst the desertion of others who once promised fair, and from being aware of Timothy's constitutional timidity (see on 2Ti 1:7 ), felt it necessary to stir him up and guard him against the possibility of unchristian dereliction of duty as to bold confession of Christ. Shame ( 2Ti 1:8 ) is the companion of fear ( 2Ti 1:7 ); if fear be overcome, false shame flees [Bengel]. Paul himself ( 2Ti 1:12 ), and Onesiphorus ( 2Ti 1:16 ), were instances of fearless profession removing false shame. He presents in contrast sad instances of fear and shame ( 2Ti 1:15 ).
of the testimony of our Lord-- of the testimony which thou art bound to give in the cause of our Lord; he says "our," to connect Timothy and himself together in the testimony which both should give for their common Lord. The testimony which Christ gave before Pilate ( 1Ti 6:12 , 13 ), is an incentive to the believer that he should, after His Lord's example, witness a good testimony or confession.
nor of me his prisoner-- The cause of God's servants is the cause of God Himself ( Ep 4:1 ). Timothy might easily be tempted to be ashamed of one in prison, especially as not only worldly shame, but great risk, attended any recognition of Paul the prisoner.
be thou partaker-- with me.
of the gospel-- rather, as Greek, "for the Gospel," that is, suffered for the Gospel ( 2Ti 2:3-5 ; Phm 13).
according to the power of God-- exhibited in having saved and called us ( 2Ti 1:9 ). God who has done the greater act of power (that is, saved us), will surely do the less (carry us safe through afflictions borne for the Gospel). "Think not that thou hast to bear these afflictions by thine own power; nay, it is by the power of God. It was a greater exercise of power than His making the heaven, His persuading the world to embrace salvation" [Chrysostom].
1. My lord and brother Severus still defers the pleasure we shall feel in his discourse, which he oweth us; for he acknowledgeth, that he is held a debtor. For all the Churches through which he hath passed, by his tongue the lord hath gladdened: much more therefore ought that Church to be rejoiced, out of which the Lord hath propagated his preaching among the rest. But what shall we do, but obey his will? I said, however, brethren, that he deferred, not that he defrauded us. Therefore let us keep him as a debtor bound, and release him not until he hath paid. Attend therefore, beloved: as far as the Lord alloweth, let us say somewhat of this Psalm, which indeed you already know; for the fresh mention of truth is sweet. Possibly when its title was pronounced, some heard it with wonder. For the Psalm is inscribed: "When the house was being built after the Captivity." This title having been prefixed, ye were perhaps expecting in the text of the Psalm to hear what stones were hewn from the mountains, what masses were drawn to the spot, what foundations were laid, what beams were placed on high, what columns raised. Its song is of nothing of this kind....It is no such house that is in building; for behold where it is built, not in one spot, not in any particular region. For thus he beginneth:--
2. "O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth"
(ver. 1). If all the earth singeth a new song, it is thus building while it singeth: the very act of singing is building: but only, if it singeth not the old song. The lust of the flesh singeth the old song: the love of God singeth the new....Hear why it is a new song: the Lord saith, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another." The whole earth then singeth a new song: there the house of God is built. All the earth is the house of God. If all the earth is the house of God, he who clingeth not to all the earth, is a ruin, not a house; that old ruin whose shadow that ancient temple represented. For there what was old was destroyed, that what was new might be built up....The Apostle bindeth us together into this very structure, and fasteneth us when bound together in that unity, saying, "Forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Where there is this unity of Spirit, there is one stone; but one stone formed out of many. How one formed out of many? By forbearing one another in love. Therefore the house of the Lord our God is in building; it is this that is being wrought, for this are these words, for this these readings, for this the preaching of the Gospel over the whole world; as yet it is in building. This house hath increased greatly, and filled many nations: nevertheless, it hath not yet prevailed through all nations: by its increase it hath held many, and will prevail over all: and it is gainsaid by those who boast of their being of its household, and who say, it hath already lost ground. It still increaseth, still all those nations which have not yet believed are destined to believe; that no man may say, will that tongue believe? will the barbarians believe? what is the meaning of the Holy Spirit having appeared in the fiery tongues, except that there is no tongue so hard that it cannot be softened by that fire? For we know that many barbarous nations have already believed in Christ: Christ already possesseth regions where the Roman empire hath never yet reached; what is as yet closed to those who fight with the sword, is not closed to Him who fighteth with wood. For "the Lord hath reigned from the wood." Who is it who fighteth with wood? Christ. With His cross He hath vanquished kings, and fixed upon their forehead, when vanquished, that very cross; and they glory in it, for in it is their salvation. This is the work which is being wrought, thus the house increaseth, thus it is building: and that ye may know, hear the following verses of the Psalm: see them labouring upon, and constructing the house. "O sing unto the Lord all the earth."
3. "Sing unto the Lord, bless His Name: be telling good tidings of His salvation from day to day"
(ver. 2). How doth the building increase? "Be telling," he saith, "good tidings of His salvation from day to day." Let it be preached from day to day; from day to day, he saith, let it be built; let My house, saith God, increase. And as if it were said by the workmen, Where dost Thou command it to be built? Where dost Thou will Thy house to increase? Choose for us some level, spacious spot, if Thou wish an ample house built Thee. Where dost Thou bid us be telling good tidings from day to day? He showeth the place: "Declare His honour unto the heathen:" His honour, not yours. O ye builders, "Declare His honour unto the heathen." Should ye choose to declare your own honour, ye shall fall: if His, ye shall be built up, while ye are building. Therefore they who choose to declare their own honour, have refused to dwell in that house; and therefore they sing not a new song with all the earth. For they do not share it with the whole round world; and hence they are not building in the house, but have erected a whited wall. How sternly doth God threaten the whited wall? There are innumerable testimonies of the Prophets, whence He curseth the whited wall. What is the whited wall, save hypocrisy, that is, pretence? Without it is bright, within it is dirt....A certain person, speaking of this whited wall, said thus: "as, if in a wall which standeth alone, and is not connected with any other walls, you make a door, whoever enters, is out of doors; so in that part which hath refused to sing the new song together with the house, but hath chosen to build a wall, and that a whited one, and not solid, what availeth it that it hath a door?" If thou enterest, thou art found to be without. For because they themselves did not enter by the door, their door also doth not admit them within. For the Lord saith, "I am the door: by Me they enter in." ..."Declare His honour unto the heathen." What is, unto the heathen? Perhaps by nations but a few are meant: and that part which hath raised the whited wall hath still somewhat to say: why are not Getulia, Numidia, Mauritania, Byzacium, nations? Provinces are nations. Let the word of God take the word from hypocrisy, from the whited wall, building up the house over the whole world. It is not enough to say, "Declare His honour unto the heathen;" that thou mayest not think any nations excepted, he addeth, "and His wonders unto all people."
4. "For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised"
(ver. 7). This we declare, when we are building the house; behold, it is already declared unto the heathen; what ought the heathen to do, to whom those who have cleared away the wood have declared the Lord's honour? He now saith to the heathen themselves, "Ascribe unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people: ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour." Ascribe them not unto yourselves: because they also who have declared it unto you, have not declared their own, but His honour. Do ye then "ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour;" and say, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us: but unto Thy Name give the praise." Put not your trust in man. If each of you is baptized, let him say: He baptizeth me, of whom the friend of the Bridegroom said, "He baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." For when ye say this, ye ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour: "Ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour."
9. "Ascribe unto the Lord glory unto His Name"
(ver. 8). Not unto the name of man, not unto your own name, but unto His ascribe worship....Confession is a present unto God. O heathen, if ye will enter into His courts, enter not empty. "Bring presents." What presents shall we bring with us? The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, "O God, shalt not Thou despise." Enter with an humble heart into the house of God, and thou hast entered with a present. But if thou art proud, thou enterest empty. For whence wouldest thou be proud, if thou wert not empty? For if thou wast full, thou wouldest not be puffed up. How couldest thou be full? If thou wert to bring a present, which thou shouldest carry to the courts of the Lord. Let us not retain you much longer: let us run over what remaineth. Behold the house increasing: behold the edifice pervade the whole world. Rejoice, because ye have entered into the courts; rejoice, because ye are being built into the temple of God. For those who enter are themselves built up, they themselves are the house of God: He is the inhabitor, for whom the house is built over the whole world, and this "after the captivity." "Bring presents, and come into His courts."
10. "O worship the Lord in His holy court"
(ver. 10). What testimonies of the building of the house of God! The clouds of heaven thunder out throughout the world that God's house is being built; and the frogs cry from the marsh, We alone are Christians. What testimonies do I bring forward? That of the Psalter. I bring forward what thou singest as one deaf: open thine ears; thou singest this; thou singest with me, and thou agreest not with me; thy tongue soundeth what mine doth, and yet thine heart disagreeth with mine. Dost thou not sing this? Behold the testimonies of the whole world: "Let the whole earth be moved before His face:" and dost thou say, that thou art not moved? "Tell it out among the heathen, that the Lord hath reigned from the wood." Shall men perchance prevail here, and say they reign by wood, because they reign by means of the clubs of their bandits? Reign by the Cross of Christ, if thou art to reign by wood. For this wood of thine maketh thee wooden: the wood of Christ passeth thee across the sea. Thou hearest the Psalm saying, "He hath set aright the round world, that it cannot be moved;" and thou sayest it hath not only been moved since it was made fast, but hath also decreased. Dost thou speak the truth, and the Psalmist falsehood? Do the false prophets, when they cry out, "Lo, here is Christ, and there," speak truth; and doth this Prophet lie? Brethren, against these most open words ye hear in the corners rumours like these; "such an one was a traditor," and, "such an one was a traditor." What dost thou say? Are thy words, or the words of God, to be heard? For, "it is He who hath set aright the round world, that it cannot be moved." I show unto thee the round world built: bring thy present, and come into the courts of the Lord. Thou hast no presents: and on that account thou art not willing to enter. What is this? If God were to appoint unto thee a bull, goat, or ram, for a present, thou wouldest find one to bring: He hath appointed a humble heart, and thou wilt not enter; for thou findest not this in thyself, because thou art swollen with pride. "He hath set aright the round world, that it cannot be moved: and He shall judge the people righteously." Then shall they mourn, who now refuse to love righteousness.
12. "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad"
When the house was built, &c. Alluding to that time, and then ordered to be sung; but principally relating to the building of the Church of Christ, after our redemption from the captivity of satan. (Challoner) --- Captivity. The greater canticle of David, (1 Paralipomenon xvi.) was probably divided, on that occasion, (Calmet) into three. This forms the second part, from ver. 23; as the psalm civ., to ver. 16., does the first. The three last verses of David's canticle, (ver. 34.) occur [in] Psalm cv. 1, 47. But in reality, there are so many variations, that it seems most probable, (Haydock) that he revised that work, and left us the three psalms in their present form. This perhaps relates to the establishment of the Church, though it might be also sung at the return from Babylon. (Berthier) --- Modern Jews understand it of their future re-union under the Messias. (Kimchi) (Calmet) --- The rebuilding of the temple is foretold, as a figure of man's redemption. (Worthington) --- New canticle. As the blessed do, (Apocalypse v. 9., and xv. 4.) and those who receive the Messias, Isaias xlii. 10. (Berthier) --- Love sings the new canticle. (St. Augustine) --- Earth. And not Judea alone, ver. 7. (Berthier)
Lord....his name. As ver. 7., and 8. The plural and singular denote the Trinity. (Worthington) --- Shew forth. Septuagint, "evangelize," bene nuntiate. (St. Augustine) --- "Tell the glad tidings" of salvation incessantly. This preaching shall continue for ever. (Haydock)
Kindreds; patriæ, or families, as it is expressed, 1 Paralipomenon xvi. (Haydock)
Sacrifices. Hebrew Mincha, "the oblation" of flour, &c., (Haydock) which denotes the blessed Eucharist, and the spiritual sacrifices of prayer, &c. (Menochius) --- Victims shall cease, but the pure oblation shall continue among the Gentiles, Malachias i. 11. (Berthier) --- Courts. This shews that their conversion is predicted, since they could not otherwise come thither. (Calmet)
Reigned. St. Bernard says, "the kingdom of Jesus is in the wood." (Du Hamel) --- St. Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho) accuses the Jews of retrenching Greek: apo tou xulou, "from the wood," which all the Latin Fathers, except St. Jerome, acknowledge in their copies. That ancient author, being born among the Samaritans, could hardly be so ignorant of the Hebrew text, and his antagonist does not attempt to refute the charge; so that it seems probable, that they were in the original, (Berthier) and since erased by the Jews, from the Septuagint, who added them, (Worthington) by the spirit of prophecy. (Tournemine) --- But how came Christians to permit this to be done in their Hebrew, Greek, and Latin copies? The words in question may have been, therefore, a marginal gloss, which had crept into the text. (Faber, Justiniani, &c.) --- They do not occur in the parallel passage, (1 Paralipomenon) nor in the Vulgate, though they be retained in the Roman breviary. (Calmet) --- Lindan objects this perfidy of the Jews to the Reformers, not reflecting, that he thus condemns the Vulgate. Genebrard is of opinion, that "the Septuagint were inspired to add these words, which some half-learned critics have thought proper to expunge with an impiety which is now but too common." The Popes have not, however, thought that the cross stood in need of this support. (Amama) --- The Chaldean and Syriac, as well as all the copies of the Septuagint extant, and the Arabic and Ethiopic versions taken from it, and all the Greek interpreters and Fathers, (except St. Justin) with St. Jerome, both in his versions from the Hebrew and Septuagint, omit these words, which are found in the Roman, Gothic, and other psalters. Origen's Hexapla seem to have most enabled the Greeks to discern the interpolation, which the Latins retained longer, not having such easy access to that work. Whatever may be the decision on this important matter, it is certain that the reign of Christ was propagated from the wood, in a wonderful manner, as he there began to draw all to himself, and the prophet seems evidently to allude to the times when Christ proclaimed, the kingdom of God is at hand, and when the conversion of the Gentiles, and the institution of the blessed Eucharist (ver. 8.) would fill all the world with rapture. (Haydock) --- The positive testimony of St. Justin, and the Italic version used by the Latin Fathers, (Berthier) Tertullian, St. Augustine, &c., (Worthington) seems of more weight to prove the authenticity of the words, than the simple omission in the copies of Origen, and St. Jerome, &c., to evince the contrary. (Berthier) --- Corrected. Evil morals and idolatry, (Menochius) rather than the physical order of the globe, Psalm xcii. 1. (Berthier) --- Hebrew, "he hath balanced," (Houbigant) or established. (Haydock) --- The Christian faith shall not be abolished, (Menochius) or corrected. (Haydock) --- "Faith is not to be reformed." (Tertullian) --- Justice. Ancient psalter add, "and the Gentiles in his wrath," ver. 13., and Psalm xcviii. 8.
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord , all the earth. 2 Sing unto the Lord , bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Give unto the Lord , O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. 8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
These verses will be best expounded by pious and devout affections working in our souls towards God, with a high veneration for his majesty and transcendent excellency. The call here given us to praise God is very lively, the expressions are raised and repeated, to all which the echo of a thankful heart should make agreeable returns.
I. We are here required to honour God,
1. With songs, v. 1, 2 . Three times we are here called to sing unto the Lord; sing to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, when the morning stars sang together, is now, in the church militant, and ever shall be, in the church triumphant. We have reason to do it often, and we have need to be often reminded of it, and stirred up to it. Sing unto the Lord, that is, " Bless his name, speak well of him, that you may bring others to think well of him." (1.) Sing a new song, an excellent song, the product of new affections, clothed with new expressions. We speak of nothing more despicable than "an old song," but the newness of a song recommends it; for there we expect something surprising. A new song is a song for new favours, for those compassions which are new every morning. A new song is New-Testament song, a song of praise for the new covenant and the precious privileges of that covenant. A new song is a song that shall be ever new, and shall never wax old nor vanish away; it is an everlasting song, that shall never be antiquated or out of date. (2.) Let all the earth sing this song, not the Jews only, to whom hitherto the service of God had been appropriated, who could not sing the Lord's song in (would not sing it to) a strange land; but let all the earth, all that are redeemed from the earth, learn and sing this new song, Rev. xiv. 3 . This is a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles; all the earth shall have this new song put into their mouths, shall have both cause and call to sing it. (3.) Let the subject-matter of this song be his salvation, the great salvation which was to be wrought out by the Lord Jesus; that must be shown forth as the cause of this joy and praise. (4.) Let this song be sung constantly, not only in the times appointed for the solemn feasts, but from day to day; it is a subject that can never be exhausted. Let day unto day utter this speech, that, under the influence of gospel devotions, we may daily exemplify a gospel conversation.
2. With sermons ( v. 3 ): Declare his glory among the heathen, even his wonders among all people. (1.) Salvation by Christ is here spoken of as a work of wonder, and that in which the glory of God shines very brightly; in showing forth that salvation we declare God's glory as it shines in the face of Christ. (2.) This salvation was, in the Old-Testament times, as heaven's happiness is now, a glory to be revealed; but in the fulness of time it was declared, and a full discovery made of that, even to babes, which prophets and kings desired and wished to see and might not. (3.) What was then discovered was declared only among the Jews, but it is now declared among the heathen, among all people; the nations which long sat in darkness now see this great light. The apostles' commission to preach the gospel to every creature is copied from this: Declare his glory among the heathen.
3. With religious services, v. 7-9 . Hitherto, though in every nation those that feared God and wrought righteousness were accepted of him, yet instituted ordinances were the peculiarities of the Jewish religion; but, in gospel-times, the kindreds of the people shall be invited and admitted into the service of God and be as welcome as ever the Jews were. The court of the Gentiles shall no longer be an outward court, but shall be laid in common with the court of Israel. All the earth is here summoned to fear before the Lord, to worship him according to his appointment. In every place incense shall be offered to his name, Mal. i. 11 ; Zech. xiv. 17 ; Isa. lxvi. 23 . This indeed spoke mortification to the Jews, but, withal, it gave a prospect of that which would redound very much to the glory of God and to the happiness of mankind. Now observe how the acts of devotion to God are here described. (1.) We must give unto the Lord; not as if God needed any thing, or could receive any thing, from us or any creature, which was not his own before, much less be benefited by it; but we must in our best affections, adorations, and services, return to him what we have received from him, and do it freely, as what we give; for God loves a cheerful giver. It is debt, it is rent, it is tribute, it is what must be paid, and, if not, will be recovered, and yet, if it come from holy love, God is pleased to accept it as a gift. (2.) We must acknowledge God to be the sovereign Lord and pay homage to him accordingly ( v. 7 ): Give unto the Lord glory and strength, glory and empire, or dominion, so some. As a king, he is clothed with robes of glory and girt with the girdle of power, and we must subscribe to both. Thine is the kingdom, and therefore thine is the power and the glory. "Give the glory to God; do not take it to yourselves, nor give it to any creature." (3.) We must give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, that is, to the discovery he has been pleased to make of himself to the children of men. In all the acts of religious worship this is that which we must aim at, to honour God, to pay him some of that reverence which we owe him as the best of beings and the fountain of our being. (4.) We must bring an offering in to his courts. We must bring ourselves, in the first place, the offering up of the Gentiles, Rom. xv. 16 . We must offer up the sacrifices of praise continually ( Heb. xiii. 15 ), must often appear before God in public worship and never appear before him empty. (5.) We must worship him in the beauty of holiness, in the solemn assembly where divine institutions are religiously observed, the beauty of which is their holiness, that is, their conformity to the rule. We must worship him with holy hearts, sanctified by the grace of God, devoted to the glory of God, and purified from the pollutions of sin. (6.) We must fear before him; all the acts of worship must be performed from a principle of the fear of God and with a holy awe and reverence.
10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. 11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice 13 Before the Lord : for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
We have here instructions given to those who were to preach the gospel to the nations what to preach, or to those who had themselves received the gospel what account to give of it to their neighbours, what to say among the heathen; and it is an illustrious prophecy of the setting up of the kingdom of Christ upon the ruins of the devil's kingdom, which began immediately after his ascension and will continue in the doing till the mystery of God be finished.
I. Let it be told that the Lord reigns, the Lord Christ reigns, that King whom God determined to set upon his holy hill of Zion. See how this was first said among the heathen by Peter, Acts x. 42 . Some of the ancients added a gloss to this, which by degrees crept into the text, The Lord reigneth from the tree (so Justin Martyr, Austin, and others, quote it), meaning the cross, when he had this title written over him, The King of the Jews. It was because he became obedient to death, even the death of the cross, that God exalted him, and gave him a name above every name, a throne above every throne. Some of the heathen came betimes to enquire after him that was born King of the Jews, Matt. ii. 2 . Now let them know that he has come and his kingdom is set up.
II. Let it be told that Christ's government will be the world's happy settlement. The world also shall be established, that it shall not be moved. The natural world shall be established. The standing of the world, and its stability, are owing to the mediation of Christ. Sin had given it a shock, and still threatens it; but Christ, as Redeemer, upholds all things, and preserves the course of nature. The world of mankind shall be established, shall be preserved, till all that belong to the election of grace are called in, though a guilty provoking world. The Christian religion, as far as it is embraced, shall establish states and kingdoms, and preserve good order among men. The church in the world shall be established (so some), that it cannot be moved; for it is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall never prevail against it; it is a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
III. Let them be told that Christ's government will be incontestably just and righteous: He shall judge the people righteously ( v. 10 ), judge the world with righteousness, and with his truth, v. 13 . Judging is here put for ruling; and though this may be extended to the general judgment of the world at the last day, which will be in righteousness ( Acts xvii. 31 ), yet it refers more immediately to Christ's first coming, and the setting up of his kingdom in the world by the gospel. He says himself, For judgment have I come into this world ( John ix. 39 ; xii. 31 ), and declares that all judgment was committed to him, John v. 22 , 27 . His ruling and judging with righteousness and truth signify, 1. That all the laws and ordinances of his kingdom shall be consonant to the rules and principles of eternal truth and equity, that is, to the rectitude and purity of the divine nature and will. 2. That all his administrations of government shall be just and faithful, and according to what he has said. 3. That he shall rule in the hearts and consciences of men by the commanding power of truth and the Spirit of righteousness and sanctification. When Pilate asked our Saviour, Art thou a king? he answered, For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth ( John xviii. 37 ); for he rules by truth, commands men's wills by informing their judgments aright.
IV. Let them be told that his coming draws nigh, that this King, this Judge, standeth before the door; for he cometh, for he cometh. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, said so. Behold, the Lord cometh, Jude 14 . Between this and his first coming the revolutions of many ages intervened, and yet he came at the set time, and so sure will his second coming be; though it is now long since it was said, Behold, he comes in the clouds ( Rev. i. 7 ) and he has not yet come. See 2 Pet. iii. 4 , &c.
V. Let them be called upon to rejoice in this honour that is put upon the Messiah, and this great trust that is to be lodged in his hand ( v. 11, 12 ): Let heaven and earth rejoice, the sea, the field, and all the trees of the wood. The dialect here is poetical; the meaning is, 1. That the days of the Messiah will be joyful days, and, as far as his grace and government are submitted to, will bring joy along with them. We have reason to give that place, that soul, joy into which Christ is admitted. See an instance of both, Acts viii. When Samaria received the gospel there was great joy in that city ( v. 8 ), and, when the eunuch was baptized, he went on his way rejoicing, v. 39 . 2. That it is the duty of every one of us to bid Christ and his kingdom welcome; for, though he comes conquering and to conquer, yet he comes peaceably. Hosanna, Blessed is he that cometh; and again, Hosanna, Blessed be the kingdom of our father David ( Mark xi. 9, 10 ); not only let the daughter of Zion rejoice that her King comes ( Zech. ix. 9 ), but let all rejoice. 3. That the whole creation will have reason to rejoice in the setting up of Christ's kingdom, even the sea and the field; for, as by the sin of the first Adam the whole creation was made subject to vanity, so by the grace of the second Adam it shall, some way or other, first or last, be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, Rom. viii. 20, 21 . 4. That there will, in the first place, be joy in heaven, joy in the presence of the angels of God; for, when the First-begotten was brought into the world, they sang their anthems to his praise, Luke ii. 14 . 5. That God will graciously accept the holy joy and praises of all the hearty well-wishers to the kingdom of Christ, be their capacity ever so mean. The sea can but roar, and how the trees of the wood can show that they rejoice I know not; but he that searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit, and understands the language, the broken language, of the weakest.
1-3. All nations are invited to unite in this most joyful praise.
new song-- literally, "fresh," or new mercies ( Psa 33:3 ; 40:3 ).
7-9. Give-- or, "ascribe" ( Psa 29:1 ) due honor to Him, by acts of appointed and solemn worship in His house.
10. Let all know that the government of the world is ordered in justice, and they shall enjoy firm and lasting peace (compare Psa 72:3 , 7 ; Is 9:6 , 7 ).
CHAPTER 3
1 Christ healeth the withered hand, 10 and many other infirmities: 11 rebuketh the unclean spirits: 13 chooseth his twelve apostles: 22 convinceth the blasphemy of casting out devils by Beelzebub: 31 and sheweth who are his brother, sister, and mother.
Ver. 4. And He saith to them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath-days, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy? But they held their peace. The translator reads άπολέσαι, that is, to destroy. We now read α̉ποκτει̃ναι, i.e, to kill. But to destroy is better. For the Gospel is speaking of a maimed person, who had a withered hand, not of one who was dead. With reference to healing this maimed person, the Scribes had proposed a doubt or scruple, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-days? Christ resolved this doubt by means of another question, not dubious, but plain, Is it lawful to do well on the Sabbath, or to do evil; to save a soul, or to destroy it? (Vulg.). A soul, i.e., a man, says S. Augustine. The meaning is, if any one should not succour or do a kindness to one who is sick or heavily afflicted, like this maimed man, on the Sabbath, when he is able to do it, as I, Christ, am able, he does him an injury; for he refuses him the help which is due to him by the law of love. In a similar sense S. Augustine says, "If thou hast not fed the hungry, thou hast killed him," because thou hast allowed him to die of hunger. In like manner, if thou hast not delivered him who was about to be killed by a robber, when thou mightest have done so, thou hast slain him; for his death will be reckoned to thee by God for guilt and punishment, in exactly the same manner as if thou hadst killed him thyself. Christ, therefore, signifies that not to do good on the Sabbath to a sick person, when thou art able, is to do him evil. But it is never lawful to do evil. Therefore it is always lawful to do good to such persons, even on the Sabbath. For the Sabbath is devoted to God and good works. And thus it is a more grievous sin to do evil on the Sabbath than upon other days. For by this means the sanctity of the Sabbath is violated, even as by doing good upon it it is the better kept and hallowed.
Ver. 5. And looking round upon them with anger. Being angry at their unbelief, says the Interlinear, showing by His countenance that He was wroth with the blind, and obstinate, and perverse minds of the Scribes, in that they ascribed Christ's miracles of goodness, which He wrought upon the Sabbath, to a breach of the law enjoining the observance of that day. From hence it is plain that there was in Christ real anger, sorrow, and the rest of the passions and affections, as they exist in other men, only subject to reason. Wherefore anger was in Him a whetstone of virtue. "Anger," says Franc. Lucas, "is in us a passion; in Christ it was, as it were, an action. It arises spontaneously in us; by Christ it was stirred up in Himself. When it has arisen in us, it disturbs the other faculties of the body and mind, nor can it be repressed at our own pleasure; but when stirred up in Christ, it acts as He wills it to act, it disturbs nothing,in fine, it ceases when He wills it to cease."
This is what S. Leo (Epist. 11) says, "The bodily senses were vigorous in Christ without the law of sin; and the reality of His affections was governed by His soul and deity."
Lactantius says (lib. de Ira Dei ex Posidon.), "Anger is the lust of punishing him by whom you think yourself to have been injured." Wherefore anger in other men springs from self-love; but in Christ it sprang from love of God, because He loved God perfectly. Hence He was infinitely grieved and angry at offences against God by reason of sin, and committed by sinners, wishing to compensate for those offences by punishing or correcting sinners and unbelievers. Wherefore Christ's anger was zeal, or seasoned with zeal, even as in the angels and the blessed it is not anger but zeal. (See S. Thomas, 3 p. q. art 9.)
Being grieved at the blindness, Syriac, hardness or callousness, of their hearts. Grieved, Gr. συλλυπούμενος, i.e., condoling with and commiserating them, because, being blinded and hardened by envy and hatred, they would not acknowledge Him to be the Messiah, but spake evil of His kindness to the sick upon the Sabbath-days. It is meant, therefore, that the anger of Jesus did not proceed from the desire of vengeance, but was mingled with pity; and that Jesus was angry with sin, but sorry for sinners, insomuch as He loved them, and strove to save them. Lastly, all such anger is mingled with sorrow; for he that is angry grieves for the evil at which he is angry. Thus the sorrow for the evil causes and sharpens anger, that it may strive to remove the evil at which it is grieved.
Ver. 9. That a little ship should wait upon Him. Gr. προσκαρτερη̃, i.e., should be close at hand, that He might betake Himself to it when the multitude pressed upon Him.
Ver. 10. Plagues, Gr.μάστιγας, i.e., scourgings, viz., strokes and diseases, with which God chastises and scourges men on account of their sins.
Ver. 11. And unclean spirits fell down before Him, i.e., they fell clown, kneeling at His feet, not out of love and devotion, but from fear, deprecating punishment, that He would not drive them out of the men, and banish them to hell.
Saying, Thou art the Son of God. You will ask whether the devils really knew that Jesus was the Messiah or the Christ, the Son of God? I answer, it is plain from this passage, and from S. Mat_8:29, and from S. Luk_4:41, and from the Fathers and commentators generally, that the devils, although they did not fully know Christ at His baptism, and before His baptism, because they afterwards tempted Him, that they might learn who He was; yet subsequently they did recognise who He was, from the many and great miracles, which they clearly saw were true miracles, and far transcending their own power and that of the angels. They saw that what Christ did was wrought alone by the power of God, with this end in view, that He might prove, first, that He was the Messiah promised to the fathers; second, that He was God, and the Son of God. Wherefore, I say that the devils knew that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, especially when they compared the Scriptures and the ancient prophecies with the miracles of Christ. For they saw that Jesus was to be such a person, and would work such miracles, as they had predicted.
Observe, however, that the devils did not so clearly know this truth, as not, on the other hand, when they thought of the greatness of the mystery, and of the infinite dignity and humiliation of Christ incarnate (which would appear a thing of itself incredible, especially to the devil, being most proud), somewhat to hesitate and be in doubt whether Jesus were really Messiah and the Son of God. They the more hesitated, yea, they were ignorant of the object and fruit of this mystery, that indeed by the incarnation and death of Christ men were to be redeemed, and that the kingdom of God was to be erected in them. Especially were they blinded by their hatred of Jesus, because they saw that many souls were delivered from them by Him. Hence they felt that He must be altogether opposed and crushed by them. Whence it came to pass that they, being blinded by their hatred of Jesus, did not understand the Holy Scriptures, otherwise so plain, concerning the cross of Christ and our redemption thereby. Thus, by means of the Jews, they crucified and slew Jesus as an irreconcilable enemy, and thus they ignorantly destroyed their own kingdom. Thus S. Leo (Serm. 9, de Pass.), "Nor did the devil himself perceive that by his rage against Christ he destroyed his own principality; who would not have lost the rights he had gained by his ancient fraud if he had refrained from shedding the blood of the Lord Jesus. But by his malice, being greedy of doing harm, when he rushes upon Him, he falls; when he would capture, he is taken; whilst he pursues a mortal, he stumbles against the Saviour."
And Simon He surnamed Peter. Several Greek codices prefix to these words, πρω̃τον Σίμων, first Peter. The rest omit them. The same thing is sufficiently gathered from the fact that Peter is here first named by Christ, and his name changed, so that he who was first called Simon, is afterwards called in Syriac Cephas, in Greek and Latin Petrus, that is, a rock, because he was to be made by Christ the rock and foundation of the Church.
And James the son of Zebedee (James is named first because he was the elder), and John the brother of James. And he called the Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder. He saith not name, but names, because they were two. They were thunderers, thundering forth, as it were, Christ's Gospel and doctrines.
Boanerges: so the Arabic, Egyptian, and Persian. The Ethiopic has Baanerges. This name is a corruption, for in Hebrew, or rather in Syriac, it would be Banerges or Bonerges, as it is found in certain MSS., as Franc. Lucas attests in his Notation. For the Syrians, like the Bavarians and the Westphalians, pronounce the vowel a like o, and e like a. For Semuel they say Samuel, and for bene, or sons, bane. It may be that Banerges has been changed into Boanerges by persons ignorantly supposing that boa signifies the sound of thunder.
Banerges, as Jansen observes, is a compound word, consisting of כני, bane, sons, and כנש, regesch, a roaring, i.e., of thunder. Thus Jupiter is called by the Greeks ύψιβρεμέτης, loftily roaring, i.e., thundering on high. The Syriac version has in this place bane reges, sons of thunder, instead of the Hebrew expression, bene raam. For Christ here spoke in the Syriac of that age. There is here, then, a metathesis or transposition of the letters r and e, banerges, instead of bane reges. A similar transposition is common in many languages, as Angelus Caninius shows (Hellen. p. 64). Thus, for καρδία the Greek poets say κραδίη, κρατερός for καρτερός; for νεϋρον the Latins say nervus; for άρπαξ, rapax; for μορφή, forma. Punic has gerac for άκρα, i.e., arx, a citadel. Etruscan has bigr, virgo, a virgin; darag, gradus, a step; elmara, mulier, a woman; cabbirim, cherubim, &c.
The meaning, then, is as follows: Christ called James and John by a new name, Banerges, Sons of thunder, because He charged them above the rest of the Apostles with the glorious preaching of His Gospel, that by the holiness of their lives and their miracles they might be like thunderbolts, and might, by the power of their voices, shake as with claps of thunder unbelievers and barbarians, and bring them to repentance and a holy life. This appears in the history of S. James. Because of his liberty and zeal in preaching, he was the first among the Apostles to incur the wrath of Herod and the Jews, by whom he was beheaded (Acts 12.). The same converted the Spaniards, and by their means the inhabitants of the East and West Indies, to the faith of Christ. John preached for a very long period, and very efficaciously. He was the last of the Apostles to depart this life, which he did after he had subdued Asia and other provinces to Christ by his preaching. Hence, also, his Gospel begins with divine thunder, as it were an eagle of God crying with a voice of thunder, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (S. Epiphanius, Hæres. 73). Wherefore, when he was writing his Gospel, there were lightnings and thunderings from heaven, like as it lightened from Mount Sinai when God gave the law to Moses. So Baronius shows from Metaphrastes (A.D. 99 in fin).
See what I have said on Eze_1:14, on the words, "They went like a flash of lightning," where I have given a threefold meaning to the expression, Sons of thunder. Thus Pericles, as an orator, seemed, says Quintilian, not so much to speak as to thunder and lighten. Wherefore he was called by the poets the Olympian, that is, the heavenly.
Ver. 21. He is beside himself. See what has been said on S. Mat_12:46. The Arabic has, saying that He is foolish. The Greek is ε̉ξέστη, i.e., He has gone out of his mind, through too great piety and zeal. The Syriac renders literally. Others render differently, saying that He has swooned, from hunger, because, on account of the multitude, He had no leisure to eat. (Top)
There came then His brethren, and His mother, and, standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him. 32. And the multitude sat about Him, and they said unto Him, “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for Thee.” 33. And He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brethren?” 34. And He looked round about on them which sat about Him, and said, “Behold My mother and My brethren!” 35. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.
Because the relations of the Lord had come to seize upon Him, as if beside Himself, His mother, urged by the sympathy of her love, came to Him.
Wherefore it is said, “And there came unto Him His mother, and, standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him.”
From this it is manifest that His brethren and His mother were not always with Him; but because He was beloved by them, they come from reverence and affection, waiting without.
Wherefore it goes on, “And the multitude sat about Him, etc.”
The brother of the Lord must not be thought to be the sons of the ever-virgin Mary, as Helvidius says (ed. note: The perpetual virginity of the Mother of God is reckoned by White, Bramhall, Patrick and Pearson, amongst the traditions which have ever been held in the Catholic Church. For an account of the heretics who denied it, see Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Art, 3, p. 272, note x., also Catena Aurea in Matt., p 58, note c), nor the sons of Joseph by a former marriage, as some think, but rather they must be understood to be His relations.
But another Evangelist says, that His brethren did not believe on Him. [John 7:5] With which this agrees, which says, that they sought Him, waiting without, and with this meaning the Lord does not mention them as relations.
Wherefore it follows, “And He answered them, saying, Who is My mother or My brethren?”
But He does not here mention His mother and His brethren altogether with reproof, but to shew that a man must honour his own soul above all earthly kindred; wherefore this is fitly said to those who called Him to speak with His mother and relations, as if it were a more useful task than the teaching of salvation.
Being asked therefore by a message to go out, He declines, not as though He refused the dutiful service of His mother, but to shew that He owes more to His Father’s mysteries than to His mother’s feelings. Nor does He rudely despise His brothers, but, preferring His spiritual work to fleshly relationship, He teaches us that religion is the bond of the heart rather than that of the body.
Wherefore it goes on, “And looking round about on them which sat about Him, He said, Behold My mother and My brethren.”
By this, the Lord shews that we should honour those who are relations by faith rather than those 70 who are relations by blood. A man indeed is made the mother of Jesus by preaching Him (ed. note: Nearly the same idea occurs in St. Ambrose, in Luc. 2, 8); for He, as it were, brings forth the Lord, when he pours Him into the heart of his hearers.
But let us be assured that we are His brethren and His sisters, if we do the will of the Father; that we may be joint-heirs with Him, for He discerns us not by sex but by our deeds.
“Whosoever shall do the will of God, etc.”
He does not therefore say this, as denying His mother, but as shewing that He is worthy of honour, not only because she bore Christ, but on account of her possessing every other virtue.
By mystically, the mother and brother of Jesus means the synagogue, (from which according to the flesh He sprung,) and the Jewish people who, while the Saviour is teaching within, come to Him, and are not able to enter, because they cannot understand spiritual things.
But the crowd eagerly enter, because when the Jews delayed, the Gentiles flocked to Christ; but His kindred, who stand without wishing to see the Lord, are the Jews who obstinately remained without, guarding the letter, and would rather compel the Lord to go forth to them to teach carnal things, than consent to enter in to learn spiritual things of Him.
If therefore not even His parents when standing without are acknowledged, how shall we be acknowledged, if we stand without? (ed. note: see Ambr. in Luc., 6, 37) For the word is within and the light within.
The brethren of our Lord were not the children of the blessed Virgin: nor were they the sons of St. Joseph by a former wife, as some pretend; but in the Scripture language, and in this place, we understand by brethren the relatives of Mary and Joseph. (Ven. Bede)
Our Lord does not refuse to go out through any, the least, inattention to his mother; he wishes hereby, to teach us the preference we should give to the business of our heavenly Father, before that of our earthly parents. Neither does he consider his brethren as beneath his attention, but prefers spiritual before temporal duties; and shews us, that a religious union of hearts and feelings is far more lasting, and better rooted than any other ties of affinity or friendship whatsoever. (Ven. Bede)
The Pharisees were afraid lest the greatness of Christ's miracles, and the excellence of his doctrines, should put an end to their credit and authority among the people. Hence their calumnies against him.
31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. 33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Here is, 1. The disrespect which Christ's kindred, according to the flesh, showed to him, when he was preaching (and they knew very well that he was then in his element); they not only stood without, having no desire to come in, and hear him, but they sent in a message to call him out to them ( v. 31, 32 ), as if he must leave his work, to hearken to their impertinences; it is probable that they had no business with him, only sent for him on purpose to oblige him to break off, lest he should kill himself. He knew how far his strength would go, and preferred the salvation of souls before his own life, and soon after made it to appear with a witness; it was therefore an idle thing for them, under pretence of his sparing himself, to interrupt him; and it was worse, if really they had business with him, when they knew he preferred his business, as a Saviour, so much before any other business.
2. The respect which Christ showed to his spiritual kindred upon this occasion. Now, as at other times, he put a comparative neglect upon his mother, which seemed purposely designed to obviate the prevent the extravagant respect which men in aftertimes would be apt to pay her. Our respect ought to be guided and governed by Christ's; now the virgin Mary, or Christ's mother, is not equalled with, but postponed to, ordinary believers, on whom Christ here puts a superlative honour. He looked upon those that at about him, and pronounced those of them that not only heard, but did, the will of God, to be to him as his brother, and sister, and mother; as much esteemed, loved, and cared for, as his nearest relations, v. 33-35 . This is a good reason why we should honour those that fear the Lord, and choose them for our people; why we should be not hearers of the word only, but doers of the work, that we may share with the saints in this honour, Surely it is good to be akin to those who are thus nearly allied to Christ, and to have fellowship with those that have fellowship with Christ; and woe to those that hate and persecute Christ's kindred, that are his bone and his flesh, every one resembling the children of a king (see Judg. viii. 18, 19 ); for he will with jealously plead their cause, and avenge their blood.
Stir up the grace of God which is in thee (v. 6) is a translation of a fire word. The Greek is anazopurein, which Haydock glosses quasi sopitum ignem excitare — to rouse a fire that has gone drowsy, to blow the embers back to flame. Grace is being described as something that can bank down without going out, and that requires an act from the man who holds it. Two more words in these verses are similarly precise. When Paul says he is certain of Timothy's faith (v. 5), the Greek is pepeismai, persuasum habeo: not a guess but a conviction he has been brought to. And the spirit of fear God has not given (v. 7) is deilias, which Witham renders timiditas, cowardice and want of courage — pointedly noting that the word here "is not phobou." The fear excluded is not reverence but nerve failure. Its opposite in the same verse is sophronismou, which the Douay gives as sobriety; Witham observes that the Protestant versions render it "a sound mind" here while translating the same Greek word "sobriety" at Acts xxvi. 25, 1 Timothy ii. 9 and iii. 2, and Titus i. 8.
Witham handles v. 3 with unusual care, because Paul's claim to have served God from my forefathers, with a pure conscience has an obvious objection attached to it. It was true, Witham allows, that Paul had always served and worshipped the one true God as his forefathers had done — true even during the years he persecuted Christians. But the persecution itself was not done with a pure conscience; it was done with a false, mistaken zeal, and his ignorance could not excuse him once he might have known Christ. The distinction is between the continuity of a life turned toward God and the specific culpability of an act within it, and Paul claims only the first. Denis the Carthusian reads the whole letter as consolation: its principal intention is to comfort Timothy under the many hardships he laboured under for the faith, and Paul strengthens him first by recalling the faith that lived in Lois and Eunice before it lived in him. Some, Denis reports, take the passage further, as an exhortation to desire martyrdom in the perfect discharge of his ministry — Paul writing, on the same reading, from confinement at Rome or Laodicea. On v. 6 Denis draws the sacramental conclusion: the grace came by imposition of hands, either in confirmation or in orders, and the verse seems to show that this gesture is the essential matter of both sacraments, the instrumental cause of the grace conferred. Witham fixes the occasion more narrowly still — when thou wast ordained bishop.
What v. 8 asks is set against the cowardice of v. 7, and the shame it names has two objects: the testimony of the Lord, and a particular man in chains. It is easier to own the message than the prisoner. The Douay's labour with the gospel can be taken, Witham says, as labour with me in preaching; but the Greek is sugkakopatheson, which he renders mala ferto mecum — carry the evils along with me. That is a request for company in trouble, not for agreement at a distance, and it lands on anyone who admires a persecuted faith from a safe remove. Timothy is not asked to feel braver. He is asked to blow on the fire he was given and stand next to the man who lit it.