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MATT. XXV.

will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou
into the joy of thy lord.' 24 And he also who re-
ceived the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew
thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou
hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not
scattered; 25 and I was afraid, and went and hid
thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast thine
own.'
26 But his lord answered and said unto him,
'Thou wicked and slothful servant! thou knewest
that I reap where I have not sown, and gathered
where I have not scattered? 27 thou oughtest there-
fore to have put my money to the exchangers,* and
then at my coming I should have received mine own
with interest. 28 Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath + shall be given,
and he shall have abundance: but from that hath
not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast out the unprofitable servant into the
outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.

31But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 and before him will be gathered all nations and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: 33 and he will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left, " Then will the King say unto them on his right hand, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ‡ naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.' 37 Then will the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 99 and when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?' 40 And the

36

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• Or, the bankers, тois тpañεlitais, as in Luke xix. 23, επι тην тρaπεlav, to the bank. See Note. p. 193.

+ Or, hath acquired more--hath not acquired more-(i. e. than was given him).

Or, received me as your guest, ovvnyayɛTɛ. And so in the corresponding parts: but the common rendering suits these best.

MATT. XXV.

King will answer and say unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.'

Then will he say also unto them on the left hand, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry, and ye gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.' 44 Then will they also answer, saying, 'Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?' 45 Then will he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.' 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life."

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SECT. VIII.

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The Sanhedrim consult how to put Jesus to death: Judas offers to deliver him up to them.

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MATT. XXVI.

3 Then the Chief Priests, and the Scribes, and the Elders of the people, were gathered together at the palace of the High Priest, who was called Caiaphas; and they consulted that they might take Jesus by craft, and put him to death. 5 Bat they said, "Not during the feast, lest there should be a tumult among the people."

+ 14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the Chief Priests, 15 and said, "What are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him up unto you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to deliver

him up.

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• Or, within two days, μɛтa dvo ǹμepas, as in Matt. xxvi. 2, p. 231.

JOHN

+ Between the 5th and 14th verses in Matthew, and the 2d and 10th in Mark, are introduced the circumstances at the house of Simon the Leper, placed by St. John on an earlier day. See Note p. 197. In the two first Gospels, the record of them may be regarded as a parenthesis; and they appear inserted here to explain the reason of Judas's conduct.

Or, welghed out to him, kotηoav.

The following Part is occupied with the transactions of ONE DAY, beginning with the sunset of the evening on which our Saviour ate the passover, and ending with the sunset after his burial. As we know (see John xix, 31.) that he was crucified on the day before the Jewish sabbath-which began on Friday at sunset-there is no doubt that he ate the passover on the Thursday evening. Yet it is clear (see John xviii. 28. compared with Matt. xxvii. 1.) that the Chief Priests and Elders had not eaten the passover when they delivered hint up to Pontius Pilate on the morning of Friday. It is further clear from Josephus (see Bell. Jud. lib. VI. c. ix. § 3.) that, at least as the general custom, the lambs for the passover were killed between three and five, in the afternoon, on the 14th of Nisan; and (Ant. lib. III. c. x.) that they were eaten that evening, viz., in the beginning of the 15th. The Chief Priests and Elders, therefore, must have eaten the passover on the evening of Friday, the day on which our Lord was crucified.

It is further clear from the records of St. Mark and St. Luke, (sce Part IX. Sect. i.) that these Evangelists regarded the day on which our Lord ate the passover, as the very day on which the paschal lamb was to be killed.

The law enjoined (Exod. xii. 6.) that the lamb should be killed on the 14th day of the first month, IN THE EVENING: "literally, (says Mr. Wellbeloved on the passage), between the twilights, i. e., most probably, between sunset and darkness." On this point there has bceu, however, diversity of interpretation; some reckoning from three till sunset, and others from noon to sunset. "Of these three modes of reckoning, (continues this able and learned critic), the first suits best the celebration of the first passover": but it is obvious that in the time of Josephus the second was the one adopted.

The account of Josephus of course respected the system of the Pharisees, to which sect he belonged; and before his time, this may have become almost universal. But those of the Jews who neglected the traditions of the Pharisees, and followed the literal interpretation of the scriptures, might be expected to kill the lamb after sunset on the 14th of the first month; i e. at the commencement of that day-instead of the close of it, as the Pharisees did. Jennings (Jewish Antiquities, vol. II. p. 182) states that the Karaites did not kill the lamb till after sunset, between that and the end of twilight: Kuinoel also states (on Matt xxvi, 17.) that the Sadducees interpreted the direction for the time of killing the lamb to denote between six and seven in the evening.

As the lamb was to be slain on the 14th of the month, and eaten on the same night, those who killed it after sunset must have eaten it on the evening before those who killed it in the afternoon of the 14th: the former ate it in the evening of the 14th; the latter, on the evening of the 15th.

In A. D. 30, which was, most probably, the year of the Crucifixion, the full moon at Jerusalem occurred about half-past ten P. M. on Thursday, the 6th of April; and the 14th of Nisan comprehended the twenty-four hours from the sunset of that Thursday. According to the preceding views, the Scripturalists would kill the lamb after sunset on the Thursday, and eat the passover that evening: the Traditionalists would kill the lamb in the afternoon of Friday, and eat it on Friday evening, after the Sabbath had begun.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted seven days from the day on which the passover was killed but as on that day the Jews removed all leaven from their houses, and ate only unleavened bread, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (as appears from Josephus) was sometimes reckoned eight days; and the day on which the passover was slain was, on that reckoning, the first day of Unleavened Bread. This then began at sunset on the Thursday.

This solution of the apparent discrepancy in the expressions of the Evangelists, respecting the Last Passover, appears quite satisfactory. It was suggested by the beforementioned statement of Jennings; and it is actually given and approved by Kuinoel.

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Events of the 14th of Nisan : i. e. from Sunset on Thursday to Sunset on Friday.

SUNSET.

9-11. P. M. MIDNIGHT.

1. A. M.

3.SUNRISE.

7. A. M.

9. 9}.

NOON.

3. P. M.

4.

SUNSET.

The Sadducces begin to slay the lamb for their Passover.
Christ in the Paschal Chamber.

The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Christ betrayed by Judas: then taken to the house of Annas, and afterwards to the palace of Caiaphas: there he was kept, till sunrise, before the High Priest and his partisans in the Sanhedrim, who were seeking for witnesses against him; and by them was pronounced worthy of death.

The (second) Cockcrowing.

Assembling of the Sanhedrim in their Hall in the Temple: they condemn
Christ.

Our Lord is taken before Pilate, who sends him to Herod, by whom he is
sent back to Pilate.

Condemnation of Christ by Pontius Pilate.

Christ crucified.

The darkness begins, which spread over the whole land for three hours.
Our Saviour expires, at the hour of Evening Sacrifice, when the Pharisees
and their followers were beginning to slay the lamb for their Passover.
The Veil of the Temple rent from top to bottom.

Christ taken down from the Cross, hastily embalmed, and then interred.
Beginning of the Sabbath.

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