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dom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder,
which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into

by the For to the conclusion of chap. xix.,
and arose out of the question of Peter
in ver. 27, what shall we have therefore?
(1) Its salient point is, that the Kingdom
of God is of grace, not of debt; that they
who were called first, and have laboured
longest, have no more claim upon God
than those who were called last: but that
to all, His covenant promise shall be ful-
filled in its integrity. (2) Its primary
application is to the Apostles, who had
asked the question. They were not to be
of such a spirit, as to imagine, with the
murmurers in ver. 11, that they should
have something super-eminent (because
they were called first, and had laboured
longest) above those who in their own
time were to be afterward called (see
1 Cor. xv. 8-11). (3) Its secondary ap-
plications are to all those to whom such
a comparison, of first and last called, will
apply:-nationally, to the Jews, who were
first called, and with a definite covenant,
and the Heathens who came in after-
wards, and on a covenant, though really
made (see Jer. xxxi. 33: Zech. viii. 8:
Heb. viii. 10), yet not so open and pro-
minent :-individually, to those whose call
has been in early life, and who have spent
their days in God's active service, and
those who have been summoned later;
and to various other classes and persons
between whom comparison, not only of
time, but of advantages, talents, or any
other distinguishing characteristic, can be
made that none of the first of these can
boast themselves over the others, nor look
for higher place and greater reward, inas-
much as there is but one "gift" of God
according to the covenant of grace. And
the "first" of these are to see that they
do not by pride and self-righteousness be-
come the "last," or worse-be rejected, as
nationally were the Jews; for among the
many that are called, there are few chosen
-many who will fail of the reward in the
end. (4) In subordination to this leading
idea and warning of the Parable must the
circumstances brought before us be in-
terpreted. The day and its hours are not
any fixed time, such as the duration of the
world, or our Lord's life on earth, or the
life of man, exclusively: but the natural
period of earthly work as applied to the
various meanings of which the parable is
capable. The various times of hiring are
not to be pressed as each having an ex-
clusive meaning in each interpretation:
they serve to spread the calling over the
various periods, and to shew that it is

again and again made. They are the quarters of the natural day, when the aliquot parts of the day's wages could be earned, and therefore labourers would be waiting. The last of these is inserted for a special purpose, and belongs more expressly to the instruction of the parable. (5) The hire bears an important part in the interpretation. I cannot with Stier (whose comment on this parable I think much inferior to his usual remarks) suppose it to mean "the promise of this life" attached to godliness. His anxiety to escape from the danger of eternal life being matter of wages, has here misled him. But there is no such danger in the interpretation of the parable which I believe to be the true one. The hire is the promise of the covenant, uniformly represented by our Lord and His Apostles as a 'reward,' Matt. v. 12: Luke vi. 35; xiv. 14: John iv. 36: 1 Cor. iii. 14: 2 John 8: Heb. x. 35; xi. 6 al., reckoned indeed of free grace but still, forensically considered, answering to, and represented by, wages,' as claimed under God's covenant with man in Christ. (The freeness and sovereignty of God's gift of grace is pointedly set before us in ver. 14, It is my will to give &c.) This hire I believe then to be eternal life, or, in other words, GOD HIMSELF (John xvii. 3). And this, rightly understood, will keep us from the error of supposing, that the parable involves a declaration that all who are saved will be in an absolute equality. This gift is, and will be to each man, as he is prepared to receive it. To the envious and murmurers, it will be as the fruit that turned to ashes in the mouth: by their own unchristian spirit they will "lose the things that they have wrought" (2 John 8), and their reward will be null: in other words, they will, as the spiritual verity necessitates, not enter into that life to which they were called. God's covenant is fulfilled to them

:

hire"

they have received their denarius-but from the essential nature of the are disqualified from enjoying its use for as Gregory the Great remarks, "the kingdom of heaven none who murmurs, inherits: none who inherits, can murmur." To those who have known and loved God, it will be, to each, as he has advanced in the spiritual life, joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1. early in the morning] See Jer. xxxv. 14, and other places. labourers] in the primary meanings of the parable, apostles, prophets, ministers:' distinct from the vines in the vineyard.

r

4

his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing [idle], and saith unto them, Why

7 They say unto him, He saith unto them, Go

r

stand ye here all the day idle?
Because no man hath hired us.
ye also into the vineyard [t and whatsoever is right, that
shall ye receive]. 8 So when even was come, the lord of
the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and
give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the
first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the
eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But
when the first came, they supposed that they should have
received more; and they likewise received every man a
r penny.
11 And when they had received it, they mur-
mured against the good man of the house, 12 saying, These
last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them
equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of
rrender, denarius.
t omit.
u render, householder, as in ver. 1, where the word is the same.

But inasmuch as every workman is himself
subject to the treatment of the husband-
man (see John xv. 1, 2), and every man in
the Kingdom of God is in some sense or
other a worker on the rest, the distinction
is not to be pressed-the parable ranges
over both comparisons. vineyard]

not the Jewish church only, as Greswell, Parables, iv. 355 ff., maintains. The Jewish Church was God's vineyard especially and typically; His Church in all ages is His true vineyard, see John xv. 1.

2.]

The denarius a day was the pay of a Roman
soldier in Tiberius' time, a few years before
this parable was uttered. Polybius (but
in illustrating the exceeding fertility and
cheapness of the country) mentions that
the charge for a day's entertainment in
the inns in Cisalpine Gaul was half an as,
th of the denarius. This we may
therefore regard as liberal pay for the day's
work.
3, 4.] The third hour, at
the equinox our 9 a.m., and in summer 8,
was sometimes called "the height of the
market,” — when the market was fullest.

$ omit.

"The market-place of the world is con-
trasted with the vineyard of the Kingdom
of God: the greatest man of business in
worldly things is a mere idle gazer, if he
has not yet entered on the true work which
alone is worth any thing or gains any re-
ward." Stier. No positive stipulation
is made with these second, but they are
to depend on the justice of the house-
holder. They might expect ths of a de-
narius. From the same dialogue being
implied at the sixth and ninth hour ("he
did likewise") the "whatsoever is right"
is probably in each case the corresponding
part of the denarius, at least in their ex-
pectation; so that it cannot be said that
8.] By the

no covenant was made.
Mosaic law (Deut. xxiv. 15) the wages of
an hired servant were to be paid him be-
fore night. This was at the twelfth hour,
or sunset: see ver. 12. I do not think the
steward must be pressed as having a
spiritual meaning. If it has, it represents
Christ (see Heb. iii. 6, and ch. xi. 27).
beginning is not merely expletive,

the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, ▾ Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 a Is it not a Rom. ix. 21.

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by Is b Deut. xv. 9.

lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall
be first, and the first last [: zd for many be called, but few
chosen].

Prov. xxiii. 6.

ch. vi. 23, ach. xxii. 14.

c ch. xix. 30.

17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, 18 e Behold, e ch. xvi. 21. we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 19 f and shall deliver him to fch. xxvii. 2. the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Acts iii. 13.

20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children g ch. iv. 21. with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain

thing of him.

21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou?

་ more properly, Comrade, or Companion: see ch. xxii. 12; xxvi. 50.

W render, denarius.

y render, Or is.

but definite, as in Luke xxiii. 5.

render, It is my will to give.

Z omitted in several of the oldest authorities.

13,

14.] Friend, at first sight a friendly word merely, assumes a more solemn aspect when we recollect that it is used in ch. xxii. 12 to the guest who had not the wedding garment; and in ch. xxvi. 50 by our Lord to Judas. go thy way hardly denotes (as Stier in his 1st edn.) expulsion and separation from the householder and his employment: it is here only a word of course, commanding him to do what a paid labourer naturally should do. 15. evil] here envious: so also Prov. xxviii. 22. 16.] The last were first,

as equal to the first; first, in order of payment; first, as superior to the first (no others being brought into comparison), in that their reward was more in proportion to their work, and not marred by a murmuring spirit. The first were last in these same respects. The last words of the verse belong not so much to the parable, as to the first clause, and are placed to account for its being as there described; for, while multitudes are called into the vineyard, many, by murmuring and otherwise disgracing their calling, will nullify it, and so, although first by profession and standing, will not be of the number of the elect: although called, will

not be chosen. In ch. xxiii. 14 the reference is different.

17-19.] Mark x. 32-34. Luke xviii. 31-34. FULLER DECLARATION OF HIS SUFFERINGS AND DEATH-revealing His being delivered to the Gentiles-and (but in Matthew only) His crucifixion. See the note on the more detailed account in Mark.

20-28.] AMBITIOUS REQUEST OF THE MOTHER OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE; OUR LORD'S REPLY. Mark x. 35-45; not related by Luke. This request seems to have arisen from the promise made to the twelve in ch. xix. 28. In Mark's account, the two brethren themselves make the request. But the narration in the text is the more detailed and exact; and the two immediately coincide, by our Lord addressing His answer to the two Apostles (ver. 22). The difference is no greater than is perpetually to be found in narrations of the same fact, persons being often related to have done themselves what, accurately speaking, they did by another. The mother's name was Salome ;-she had followed our Lord from Galilee,and afterwards witnessed the crucifixion, see Mark xv. 40. Probably the two brethren had directed this request through

h ch. xix. 28.

42.

1 Acts xii. 2.

Rom viii. 17. 2 Cor. i. 7.

2 Tim. ii. 11. Rev. i. 9.

h may

She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons
sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on a the left,
in thy kingdom. 22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye

i

ich. xxvi. 30, know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup k Luke xii. 50 that I shall drink of [ and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with]? They say unto him, We are able. 23 And he saith unto them, 1 Ye shall drink indeed of my cup [ and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with]: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, m ch. xxv. 34. is not mine to m give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. 24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise n1 Pet. v. 3. authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among cha you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be

o xxiii. 11.

a read, thy.

their mother, because they remembered
the rebuke which had followed their for-
mer contention about precedence.
21] The places close to the throne were
those of honour, as in Josephus, where
speaking of Saul, he describes Jonathan
his son as seated on his right hand, and
Abner the captain of the host on his left.
In a Rabbinical work, it is said, that
God will seat the King Messiah at his
right hand, and Abraham at his left.

One of these brethren, John, the beloved
disciple, had his usual place close to the
Lord, John xiii. 23: the other was among
the chosen Three (this request hardly can
imply in their minds any idea of the rejec-
tion of Peter from his peculiar post of
honour by the rebuke in ch. xvi. 23, for
since then had happened the occurrences
in ch. xvii. 1-8, and especially ib. vv.
24-27). Both were called Boanerges, or
the sons of thunder, Mark iii. 17.
They thought the kingdom of God was
immediately to appear, Luke xix. 11.

22.] One at least of these brethren saw the Lord on His Cross-on His right and left hand the crucified thieves. Bitter indeed must the remembrance of this ambitious prayer have been at that moment! Luther remarks, The flesh ever seeks to be glorified, before it is crucified: exalted, before it is abased.' The cup' is a frequent Scripture image for joy or sorrow see Ps. xxiii. 5; cxvi. 13: Isa. li. 22: Matt. xxvi. 42. It here seems to signify

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more the inner and spiritual bitterness,
resembling the agony of the Lord Himself,
--and the baptism, which is an important
addition in Mark, more the outer acces-
sion of persecution and trial,-through
which we must pass to the Kingdom of
God. On the latter image see Ps. xlii. 7;
lxix. 2; cxxiv. 4. Stier rightly ob-
serves that this answer of our Lord con-
tains in it the kernel of the doctrine of the
Sacraments in the Christian Church: see
Rom. vi. 1-7: 1 Cor. xii. 13, and note on
Luke xii. 50.
Some explain their
answer as if they understood the Lord to
speak of drinking out of the royal cup,
and washing in the royal ewer: but the
words are ye able to drink, and we are
able, indicating a difficulty, preclude this.

23.] The one of these brethren was
the first of the Apostles to drink the cup
of suffering, and be baptized with the bap-
tism of blood, Acts xii. 1, 2: the other
had the longest experience among them
of a life of trouble and persecution.
The last clause of the verse may be un-
derstood as in the text, is not mine to
give, but it shall be given to them for
whom it is prepared of my Father;' so
Meyer, al.; or, 'is not mine to give, except
to those for whom,' &c. So Chrysostom
and others. If however we understand
after but it shall be given by Me,' the
two interpretations come to the same.,
26-28.] great
first, i. e.
in the next life, let him be minister

27 P and whosoever will be

chief among

Son of

your minister;
you, let him be your servant: 28 9 even as the
man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and

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11. Dan ix. 24, 26. John

xi. 51, 52.

1 Tim. ii. 6.

1 Pet. i. 19.

29 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude Tit. 14. followed him. 30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by

d render, first.

and servant here. Thus also the came, ver. 28, applies to the coming of the Son of man in the flesh only.

a ransom

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for many, is a plain declaration of the sacrificial and vicarious nature of the death of our Lord. The principal usages (in the Greek Scriptures) of the word rendered ransom are the following:-(1) a payment as equivalent for a life destroyed; (2) the price of redemption of a slave; (3) propitiation for.' many here is equivalent to "all" 1 Tim. ii. 6. No stress is to be laid on this word " many as not being "all" here; it is placed in opposition to the one life which is given-the one for many-and not with any distinction from "all." (I may observe once for all, that in the usage of these two words, as applied to our redemption by Christ, "all" is the OBJECTIVE, "many" the SUBJECTIVE designation of those for whom Christ died. He died for all, as outward matter of fact; but as matter of individual participation, the great multitude whom no man can number, "many," will be the saved by Him in the end.) As the Son of man came to give His life for many and to serve many, so ye, being many, should be to each one the object of service and self-denial.'

29-34.] HEALING OF TWO BLIND MEN ON HIS DEPARTURE FROM JERICHO. Mark x. 46–52. Luke xviii. 35-43; xix. 1, with however some remarkable differences. In the much more detailed account of St. Mark, we have but one blind man, mentioned by name as Bartimæus; St. Luke also relates it of only one, and besides says that it was "as he was come nigh to Jericho." The only fair account of such differences is, that they existed in the sources from which each Evangelist took his narrative. This later one is easily explained, from the circumstance having happened close to Jericho-in two accounts, just on leaving it-in the third, on approaching to it: but he must be indeed a slave to the letter, who would stumble at such discrepancies, and not rather see in them the corroborating coincidence of testimonies to the fact itself. Yet some strangely suppose our

ix. 28.

e read, shall be.

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uch. xxvi. 28.

Heb. ii. 10: ▼ ch. ix. 27.

Lord to have healed one blind man (as in Luke) on entering Jericho, and another (Bartimæus, as in Mark) on leaving it,— and St. Matthew to have, with his characteristic brevity in relating miracles,' combined both these in one. But then, what becomes of St. Matthew's assertion, "as they departed from Jericho?" Can we possibly imagine, that the Evangelist, having both facts before him, could combine them and preface them with what he must know to be inaccurate? It is just thus that the Harmonists utterly destroy the credibility of the Scripture narrative. Accumulate upon this the absurd improbabilities involved in two men, under the same circumstances, addressing our Lord in the same words at so very short an interval, and we may be thankful that biblical criticism is at length being emancipated from forcing narratives into accordance.' See notes on Mark.

JERICHO, 150 stadia (18 rom. miles) N.E. of Jerusalem (Jos. B. J. iv. 8. 3), and 60 (7.2 rom. miles) w. from the Jordan (Jos. ibid.), in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 21), near the borders of Ephraim (Josh. xvi. 7). The environs were like an oasis surrounded by high and barren limestone mountains,-well watered and fertile, rich in palm-trees (Deut. xxxiv. 3: Judg. i. 16; iii. 13), roses (Ecclus. xxiv. 14), and balsam (Jos. Antt. iv. 6. 1 al.). After its destruction by Joshua, its rebuilding was prohibited under a curse (Josh. vi. 26), which was incurred by Hiel the Bethelite in the days of Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 34): i. e. he fortified it, for it was an inhabited city before (see Judg. iii. 13: 2 Sam. x. 5). We find it the seat of a school of the prophets, 2 Kings ii. 4 ff. After the captivity we read of it, Ezra ii. 34; Neh. vii. 36: and in 1 Macc. ix. 50 we read that Jonathan strengthened its fortifications. It was much embellished by Herod the Great, who had a palace there (Jos. Antt. xvi. 5. 2 al.), and at this time was one of the principal cities of Palestine, and the residence of a chief publican on account of the balsam trade (Luke xix. 1). At present there is on or

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