Then he called his twelve disciples together The Persic version reads, “all his twelve disciples”, the other nine, besides the three that were with him, when he raised Jairus’s daughter, recorded in the foregoing chapter; the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, “the twelve apostles”,…

And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God The Gospel, which gives an account of the kingdom of the Messiah; of his kingly office and power; of his church, which is his kingdom, and of the government of it, by the ministration of the word, and the administration of ordinances; of the kingdom of…

And he said unto them, take nothing for your journey Throughout the towns and cities of Judea, where they were sent to preach the Gospel: neither staves, The Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read in the singular number, “neither staff, rod, or club”; and so it was in one of Beza’s…

And whatsoever house ye enter into In any town, or city, they should come to in their journey through Judea, and should enter into for the sake of lodging, during their stay: there abide; do not shift quarters, or move from house to house: and thence depart; the house you come into first, go out of…

And whosoever will not receive you Unto their houses: when ye go out of the city; where lodging and entertainment are refused you; shake off the very dust from your feet, for a testimony against them; (See Gill on Matt. 10:14) (See Gill on Mark 6:11)

And they departed That is, the apostles, as the Syriac and Persic versions express it: they went from Christ, and the place where he was, from Capernaum, at least from some place in Galilee: and went through the towns; the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions add, “and cities”; that is, of Judea,…

Now Herod the tetrarch Of Galilee, and who is called a king in as he is here in the Ethiopic version: heard of all that was done by him; of all the miracles that were wrought by Christ, and his apostles; the fame of which were the more spread through the mission of the apostles, and the journey…

And of some, that Elias had appeared Who had been translated, body and soul, to heaven, and whom the Jews expected a little before the coming of the Messiah: and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again; that is, one of the former prophets.

And Herod said, John have I beheaded That is, he had ordered him to be beheaded, and which was accordingly done by the executioner; of which he had full proof, since the head was brought him in a charger, and which he delivered to the daughter of Herodias: but who is this of whom I hear such…

And the apostles, when they were returned From the several parts of the land where they had been sent, and had been preaching and working miracles, having gone through their circuit, and finished the service they were sent to do: told him all they had done; what doctrines they had taught, how they…

And the people, when they knew it Having heard of his departure from others, and seeing him go off themselves: followed him; not by ship, but on foot, going over the bridge at Chainmath of Gadara, and got thither before Christ and his disciples did: and he received them; very kindly, and in a very…

When the day began to wear away Or “to decline”, as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions; or “to incline”, as the Syriac; that is, as the Ethiopic version renders it, “when the sun was declining” towards the “horizon” and was almost set; or “when the evening time was come”, as the Persic version:…

And he said to them, give ye them to eat Signifying, that it was not his will to dismiss people, and send them scattering abroad into the adjacent cities, towns, or houses; and that there was no need of it, but that his will was, that they should be supplied with provisions out of their stock: and…

For they were about five thousand men Beside women and children, , and he said to his disciples, make them to sit down by fifties in a company; and by hundreds also; some companies had a hundred apiece in them, and others fifty; and which was done partly, for the more easy numbering of them, and…

And they did so, and made them all sit down. ] The disciples did not dispute the case any longer with Christ, but obeyed his orders, and ranged the multitude in companies, a hundred in one, and fifty in another; and ordered them to sit down in their distinct companies and ranks upon the green…

Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes Into his hands, being brought him by the disciples from the lad that had them: and looking up to heaven: to his Father there, from whom all the mercies and blessings of life come; he blessed them; either asked, or commanded a blessing on them, that…

And they did eat, and were all filled Every one had a part, and enough: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them, twelve baskets; (See Gill on Matt. 14:20).

And it came to pass, as he was alone praying To his God and Father, for himself as man, and mediator; for the success of his Gospel, and the increase of his interest; and for his disciples, that they might have a clearer revelation of him; and which they had, as appears in their after confession of…

They answering said, John the Baptist This was the opinion of some who thought that he was risen from the dead, as in . but some say Elias; the prophet, and the Tishbite; who according to the Jewish notion, was to be the forerunner of the Messiah, so in .

He said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? &c.] Which was the main thing he had in view in this private conference; and in order to introduce which, he puts the former question: Peter answering: in the name of the rest of the disciples, they assenting to it: said, the Christ of God; The Persic…

And he strictly charged them, and commanded them Though he highly approved of this their confession, and pronounced Peter blessed upon it; and signified that it was a discovery which flesh and blood could not make, but what was made to him his Father: yet he gave them a strict charge, and laid his…

Saying, the son of man must suffer many things In his person and character, in his soul and body, at the hands of God, and of men, and devils: and be rejected of the elders, and chief priests, and Scribes; who made up the grand sanhedrim of the nation: by these he was to be, and was rejected as the…

And he said to them all Not only to all the disciples, but “to the multitude”, as the Arabic version renders it, who were now called unto him, with his disciples, as is clear from , any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me; the same is said here,…

For whosoever will save his life (See Gill on Matt. 16:25).

For what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world, &c.] Or what profit will it be unto him? all the honours, riches, and enjoyments of it will be of no use and service to him if he himself is lost: and lose himself; or his own soul; for he that loses his soul, which is his better and immortal…

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me Of my person and offices, of me, as the Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer, of my grace, righteousness, blood, and sacrifice: and of my words; of the doctrines of the Gospel, one and another of them.

But I tell you of a truth And let it be received as such; you may assure yourselves of it, that not only at the last day, the son of man will come in this glorious manner, and show his resentment to all such as have been ashamed of him; but, also there be some standing here, which shall not, taste…

And it came to pass, about an eight days after those sayings About a week after he had declared the above things, at, or near to Caesarea Philippi. The other evangelists, Matthew and Mark, say it was six days after: the reason of this difference is, because Luke takes in the day in which he…

And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, &c.] It became exceeding bright and glorious, it shone like the sun, and hereby his prayer was answered; and thus, as Christ was heard and answered, whilst he was yet speaking, so are his people sometimes; and even their countenance is…

And behold there talked with him two men Of great note and fame: which were Moses and Elias; the one the giver of the law from God to the people “of Israel”, as well as the redeemer of them from Egyptian bondage, and who led them through the wilderness, to the borders of Canaan’s land; and the…

Who appeared in glory In a very glorious manner, in most divine and beautiful forms to Christ, and to his disciples: and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem; the word, rendered “decease”, is “Exodus”, the name of the second book of Moses; so called from the departure of…

But Peter, and they that were with him The other two disciples, James and John; were heavy with sleep; as they afterwards were in the garden, while Christ was praying, as he had been now; being weary with the labours of the day past, and it being now night, as is very probable, since that was an…

And it came to pass, as they departed from him That is, as Moses and Elias departed from Christ; or “when they began to depart”, as the Syriac version renders it; or “would depart”, as the Arabic and Persic versions; seemed desirous of going, or made some signal or other by which the disciples…

While he thus spake there came a cloud While Peter was making the above request, before an answer was returned, a cloud appeared, a very uncommon one, as a symbol of the divine presence: “and overshadowed them”; Jesus, Moses, Elias, and the disciples: and they feared as they entered into the cloud;…

And there came, a voice out of the cloud (See Gill on Matt. 17:5).

And when, the voice was past The above words were delivered, and it was heard no more: Jesus was found alone; by his disciples; Moses and Elias being gone, and he in the same form in which he was before his transfiguration.

And it came to pass, that on the next day For Jesus and his disciples staid all night on the mountain: when they were come down from the hill; to the bottom of it: much people met him. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions read, “met them”.

And behold, a man of the company One that was in the company, and among the multitude, that met him: cried out; with great vehemence and earnestness: saying, Master; doctor, or “Rabbi”: I beseech thee: most humbly, for he was now on his knees: look upon my son: with pity and compassion, and help…

And, lo, a spirit taketh him An evil spirit, the devil, as in seizes and possesses him at once, and he suddenly crieth out; in a most terrible manner, giving dreadful shrieks, as soon as he perceives that he is seized by the demon: and it teareth him, that he foameth again; throws him into…

And I besought thy disciples The nine disciples that were left behind, whilst Christ, and the other three, were gone up to the mountain: to cast him out; the devil out of his child: and they could not; (See Gill on Matt. 17:16).

And Jesus answering, said To the father of the child, and those that were with him; and with a particular view to the Scribes and Pharisees, who had been insulting the disciples, and triumphing over them, because of their inability to cast out the evil spirit: for the words are not spoken to the…

And as he was yet a coming Whilst he was in the way bringing to Jesus, before he came to him: the devil threw him down, and tare him; knowing who Jesus was, and that he was able to dispossess him: and having reason to believe he would, was resolved to do all the mischief he could, and give him all…

And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God Or at “the greatness”, or “majesty of God”; which was displayed in this cure: for the great power of God was manifestly seen in it, to the astonishment of the disciples, who could not cure this child, and of the parent and friends of it, and of…

Let these sayings sink down into your ears The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, “in your hearts”: Christ’s sense is, that they would, diligently attend to them, seriously consider them, and carefully lay them up in their memories; and what he refers to are not the words he had…

But they understood not this saying What was meant by being betrayed into the hands of men, and by his being put to death; they knew not, how these things could possibly be, for they could not by any means reconcile them with the notions they had of a temporal Redeemer, and victorious Messiah: and…

Then there arose a reasoning among them The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions read, “a thought entered into them”; suggested very likely by Satan, which broke out into words, and issued in a warm dispute among them; and this was in the way, as they were travelling from Caesarea Philippi,…

And Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart Not by any words he had heard; for the dispute was on the road, as they came along behind him; but as the omniscient God, who is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, he was privy to all their ambition, and the vanity of their minds,…

And said unto them, whosoever shalt receive this child, &c.] Or “one such little child”, as in and so the Syriac version here, “a child like to this”; and the Arabic version, “one like to this child”; not in age, but in meekness and humility; one that is not proud and haughty, ambitious of worldly…

And John answered and said, Master The Syriac and Persic versions read, “our Master”: we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him; (See Gill on Mark 9:38) Because he followeth not with us; the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, “because he followeth not thee with us”; did…

And Jesus said unto him, forbid him not “Or forbid not” him, or any other so doing: for he that is not against us, is for us: in two exemplars of Beza’s it is read, “for he is not against you”: the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions, instead of “us”, in both clauses read “you”, and so likewise the…

And it came to pass, when the time was come Or “days were fulfilled”, an usual Hebraism; when the period of time fixed for his being in Galilee was come to an end: when he had fulfilled his ministry, and finished all his sayings, and wrought all the miracles he was to work in those parts; when he…

And sent messengers before his face Who very likely were his two disciples, James and John, since they so highly resented the ill treatment their master met with from the Samaritans: and they went; before him: and entered into a village of the Samaritans; or “city”, as the Vulgate Latin, Persic,…

And they did not receive him The Ethiopic version reads “them”, the messengers; but it should rather seem that they did receive the messengers, and promised them lodging and entertainment; being glad that so great a person would honour them with his presence, hoping that miracles would be done by…

And when his disciples, James and John, saw this The Persic version reads thus; when “James and John, and the disciples saw this”; that is, the other disciples besides them, so making all the disciples say what follows; whereas only those two are intended, who having been the messengers, were the…

But he turned and rebuked them He turned himself about to them, and looking upon them with a stern countenance, sharply reproved them for their intemperate zeal, their passion of wrath, and anger, and desire of revenge: and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; or do not consider that…

For the son of man Meaning himself, in his state of humiliation: is not come to destroy men’s lives; the word “men’s” is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions: and both words, “men’s lives”, are left out in the Arabic version: but to save them; as they might easily observe, by…

And it came to pass, as they went in the way From one village of the Samaritans, to the other; though if this is the same history related in it was as Christ went from Capernaum to the sea side, in order to go to the other side of it; and must be inserted here, without regard to the order of time:…

And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes Both the words of this man to Christ, and Christ’s answer to him, are exactly the same as in Matthew, which makes it look as if it was the same history; though it is not improbable, that Christ might be accosted in the same manner by another person, at…

And he said unto another, follow me According to Matthew, one of his disciples, who had attended him some time, and whom he now called to the ministerial work; (See Gill on Matt. 8:20).

Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury the dead (See Gill on Matt. 8:22). but go thou and preach the kingdom of God; that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the Gospel dispensation is now ushering in, and the kingdom of the Messiah is setting up; go and publish the things concerning the kingdom of…

And another also said “To him”, as the Syriac and Arabic versions add, that is, to Christ; the Ethiopic version reads, “and a third said to him”; for this is the third person mentioned in this relation of Luke’s; only two are spoken of by Matthew, but a third is added here: Lord, I will follow…

And Jesus said unto him The copulative “and”, is left out in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions: no man having put his hand to the plough; or “ploughshare”, as reads the Syriac version; or “plough handle”, as the Persic; referring, as Beza thinks, to the business of Elisha, in…