And he began to speak unto them by parables As of the two sons the father bid go to work in the vineyard; and of the planting of a vineyard, and letting it out to husbandmen, as here; though the latter is only related by this evangelist, yet both are by Matthew.

And at the season he sent unto the husbandman a servant, &c.] The Evangelist Matthew says, “when the time of the fruit drew near”, ; and so the Persic version here reads.

And they caught him This clause is left out in the Syriac and Persic versions, though it seems proper to be retained; and denotes the rudeness and violence with which the prophets of the Lord were used by the Jewish nation: and beat him: either with their fists, or with rods, and scourges, till the…

And again he sent unto them another servant Another set of good men, to instruct, advise, and counsel them, and exhort them to their duty; such as were Isaiah, Zechariah, and others: and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head; for of these were stoned, as well as sawn asunder, and…

And again he sent another That is, another servant, or set of men, it may be in the times of the Maccabees, who were used in a very inhuman manner; see (Heb. 11:37, Heb.

Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one, and only Son of God his Father, his only begotten Son, for he has no other Son in the same way of filiation; and who is his dear Son, the Son of his love, who was loved by him before the foundation of…

But those husbandmen said among themselves This, in the Persic version, is introduced thus, “when the vine dressers saw the son of the lord of the vineyard”: agreeably to .

And they took him, and killed him, and cast him, out of the vineyard. ] They sent their officers and servants, and apprehended him in the garden; they delivered him to the Gentiles, who were without the vineyard, and by whom, at their instigation, he was put to death, even to the death of the…

What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? &c.] The Arabic and Ethiopic versions add, to them; that is, to the husbandmen, as is expressed in , (See Gill on Matt. 21:40): he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.

And have ye not read this Scripture? &c.] In (Ps. 118:22, Ps. 118:23) these are the words of Christ directed to the above persons, who were, many of them, teachers of the people, and therefore ought to have read the scriptures, and have taken notice of, and considered more especially such as…

This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. ] That is, the exaltation of the Messiah, after he had been so ill treated, and at last put to death by the Jews. These words are a continuation of the passage cited out of (Ps. 118:22, Ps. 118:23) .

They sought to lay held on him That is, the chief priests, Scribes, and elders, after they had heard the parables he spake to them, were greatly irritated, and provoked, and had a good will to have seized him, and carried him away, and have had him before their court, and condemn him: but feared…

And they send unto him That is, the chief priests, Scribes, and elders, who had been with Jesus in the temple, and were silenced by his reasonings, and provoked by his parables; and therefore left him, and went together to consult what methods they should take to get him into their hands, and be…

And when they were come Unto Jesus in the temple: they said unto him, master; they saluted him in like manner, as they did their doctors and Rabbins, calling him “Rabbi”, though they were not his disciples; but one part of them were the disciples of the Pharisees, and the other had Herod for their…

Shall we give, or not give? &c.] They not only ask whether it was lawful, but whether also it was advisable to do it, that they might not only accuse him of his principles, but charge him with persuading, or dissuading in this case.

And they brought it The penny, which was a Roman one, and worth seven pence halfpenny of our money: and he saith unto them, whose is this image, and superscription; for it had the head of an emperor upon it, very likely the image of the then reigning emperor Tiberius, and a superscription on it,…

And Jesus answering said unto them Very wisely and pertinently, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s: or “to the king, which are the king’s”, as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions render it: and to God the things that are God’s; (See Gill on Matt.

Then came unto him the Sadducees The same day, immediately after he had silenced the Pharisees and Herodians: these were a set of men distinct from the former, in some of their sentiments, especially in their religions ones, and particularly in the following: which say there is no resurrection: of…

Master, Moses wrote unto us Has left in writing for us the following precept to observe; for they acknowledged the writings of Moses, and indeed all the Scriptures of the Old Testament; adhering to the literal sense of them, and rejecting the traditional interpretation of them by the Rabbins: if a…

Now there were seven brethren In a certain family, at a certain place; perhaps at Jerusalem, who were brethren by the father’s side; for such only were reckoned so, and such only did this law oblige: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed: no child: hence it is clear that the ancient…

The second took her To wife, married her, as the next eldest brother, by the above law was obliged to: and so the Jewish “the command is, (בגדול) , “for the eldest” to marry his brother’s wife: if he will not, they go to all the brethren; if they will not, they return to the eldest, and say, the…

And the seventh had her, and left no seed All, the seven brethren married her, one after another, and neither of them had any children by her: and last of all the woman died also; after all the seven brethren, to whom she had been married.

In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise This last clause, “when they shall rise”, is omitted in two copies of Beza’s, and in the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, because, perhaps, it might be thought superfluous; but this is agreeably to the way of speaking and writing…

And Jesus answering said unto them Which they thought he was not able to do, but would have been silenced at once by them, as many of their antagonists had been: do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God? what is expressed in Matthew affirmatively, is…

For when they shall rise from the dead These seven brethren, and the woman; and so any, and every other: they neither marry, nor are given marriage: there will be no such natural relation subsisting, nor any need of any: but are as the angels which are in heaven; (See Gill on Matt. 22:30).

And as touching the dead, that they rise For the proof of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read in the book of Moses; that is, in the law of Moses; for though it was divided into five parts, it was but one book; just as the Psalms are called the Book of Psalms, , and the…

He is not the God of the dead This is our Lord’s reasoning upon the passage; showing from hence, that since God is the God of these persons, they must be now alive in their souls, for God is not the God of the dead; and that their bodies must rise again, or he will not be the God of their whole…

And one of the Scribes came Matthew calls him a lawyer, , an interpreter of the law, as a Scribe was: and having heard them reasoning together; being present at the dispute between Christ and the Sadducees, which he diligently attended to: and perceiving that he had answered them well: in a most…

Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, &c.] Christ replied at once, without taking any time to consider of it, that the chief and principal of all the commands of the law, and what is of the greatest importance is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God Which is to be understood of the one God, Father, Son, and Spirit; for all the three divine persons are to be equally loved, being possessed of the same perfections and excellencies, and having done the same works, and having bestowed like benefits and favours…

And the second is like “Unto it”, as in and so it is read here in two ancient copies of Beza’s, and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions; namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

And the Scribe said unto him This reply of the Scribe, is not related by Matthew: well, Master, thou hast said the truth: what thou hast said is truth, and thou hast expressed it in a most beautiful manner: the Scribe was charmed with his answer, and could not forbear speaking in commendation of…

And to love him with all the heart That is, the one God, with a sincere hearty love and affection; and with all the understanding; of his being, perfections, and works, which will serve to draw the affections to him: this clause answers to that, “with all thy mind”, in ; and with all the soul; with…

And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly Wisely and prudently, as a man of sense and understanding; by taking in the several parts of our Lord’s answer very distinctly, and reasoning upon them, and confirming them: he said unto him, thou art not far from the kingdom of God: not meaning from…

And Jesus answered and said To the Pharisees that were gathered together about him; (See Gill on Matt. 22:41). While he taught in the temple; Whilst he was in the temple, and as he was teaching the people there; among other things in his doctrine, he put this question, how say the Scribes, that…

For David himself said by the Holy Ghost In , being inspired by the Spirit of God: the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

David therefore himself calleth him Lord David, whose son you say the Messiah is, speaks of him as one superior to himself; as Lord, and as his Lord: whence is he then his son? from what passage of Scripture does it appear, that he is his son? and how can these two different characters of him, be…

And he said unto them in his doctrine As he was preaching, not to the Scribes and Pharisees but to the multitude, and to his disciples particularly; and to them in the audience of the people, as appears from .

And the chief seats in the synagogues Where the rulers of the synagogue, and the elders of the people sat; (See Gill on Matt. 23:6). And the uppermost rooms at feasts; or the first and chief places where they sat, or rather lay along at public entertainment; (See Gill on Matt. 23:6).

Which devour widows’ houses (See Gill on Matt. 23:14).

And Jesus sat over against the treasury the Arabic version reads, “at the door of the treasury”; the place where the chests stood, into which money was put for various uses: there were thirteen chests in the temple [[3]]; six of them were, (לנדבה) , for voluntary oblations, or freewill offerings;…

And there came a certain poor widow Among the many that came to offer their gifts freely, there came one that was particularly taken notice of by Christ; and she was a “widow”, had no husband to provide for her, and was a “poor” one; had no substance left her by her husband to support her with;…

And he called unto him, his disciples Who were at some little distance from him, he having finished his discourses: and saith unto them, verily I say unto you: a way of speaking he often used, when he was about to deliver something of importance, and not so easy of belief, and which required…

For all they did cast in of their abundance Or “superabundance”, as the Arabic version renders it; or “superfluity”, as the Ethiopic: they abounded in the things of the world, of which they gave only a part; and though they might give much, yet they could easily spare it, and had enough remaining:…