Mar. 7. Departure for the region of Tyre and Sidon. 9. Cure of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. 11. Our Lord again near Bethsaida in Philip's dominions. - 15. Cure of the blind man at Bethsaida of Galilee. 17. Avowal of Peter near Cæsarea Philippi. -25. The TRANSFIGURATION, in the northern part of Galilee. 27. The Temple tribute paid at Capernaum. 29. Having been refused reception by the Samaritans, Christ enters the Perea. -31. Crosses the Jordan in the afternoon, and passes the Sabbath near Jericho. Apr. 1. Jesus visits Zaccheus at Jericho. 2. Sunday. Our Lord arrives at Bethany: the supper at the house 3. Monday. Public entry into Jerusalem: Voice in the Temple. 6. Thursday. Christ at Bethany: in the evening he goes to Jeru- 8. Saturday. The (Jewish) Sabbath. The sepulchre sealed, and 9. Sunday. Before sunrise our Saviour left the tomb; and, not long after, was seen by Mary Magdalene. 18. Second visit to the apostles, Thomas being present. May. Christ appears to the apostles, and perhaps at the same time to the Five Hundred Brethren, on a mountain in Galilee. 18. The ASCENSION OF CHRIST, near Bethany. 27. The PENTECOST. The communication of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. [CHIEFLY TAKEN FROM ALLEN'S QUESTIONS, PART I.] Money mentioned in the New Testament reduced to Federal Currency. A Mite, (Leptum, Mark xii. 42, Luke xii. 59) A Farthing, (Quadrans, Matt. v. 26, Mark xii. 42) A Piece of Silver, (Drachm, Luke xv. 8) Tribute Money, (Didrachm, or half-shekel, Matt. xvii. 24) A Talent of Silver, (Matt. xxv. 15) about A Talent of Gold, about Measures of Length mentioned in the New Testament. dolls. c. m. 12 4 15 140 140 280 560 13888 1,500 000 24,000,000 A Firkin, (Metretes, John ii. 6) probably about 73 gallons, though some say 9 gallons. A Measure, (Satum, Matt. xiii. 33) 1 peck, 4 quarts. A Roman Bushel, (Modius, Matt. v. 15) 1 peck. A Cor, (Corus, or homer, Luke xvi. 7) about 14 bushels. A Pot, (Sextarius, Mark vii. 4) about 14 pint. A Bath, (Batus, Luke xvi. 6) 73 gallons. A Measure, (Chanix, Rev. vi. 6) about one quart. Seasons of the Year in Palestine. 1. Seed Time, corresponding to our October and November. "December and January. 66 "June and July. August and September. TO THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. MATTHEW, or Levi, the son of Alpheus, was probably a native of Galilee. Little is recorded of him in the New Testament. He was called by our Lord to be one of his twelve apostles, as he sat at the receipt of custom in Capernaum, in the discharge of his duties as a publican, or taxgatherer. He immediately left all, and followed the Messiah. Those who collected the Roman revenues in Palestine were held in great odium and ignominy by the Jews, and loaded with every opprobrious name. But Jesus hesitated not to mingle with this abhorred class, and even to choose one as his apostle, as if the better to demonstrate his reliance upon a power more than human, which could employ the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. The period of Matthew's discipleship and remaining life appears to have passed without note. Uncertain traditions existed in early times that he preached the Gospel in Parthia and Ethiopia, and fell as a martyr at Naddaber, in the latter country. But the single illustrious monument that remains of him is the following work. This towers simple and majestic over the ruins of time, and bears the name of the once despised publican down to the latest posterity. His character, as we gather it from the brief data of history, and the style, structure, and spirit of his Gospel, was marked by decision, sterling honesty, and straight-forwardness. He showed his meekness in recording himself as one of a hated and ignominious calling; and his modesty in forbearing to state that the feast, which took place after he was called by Jesus, was due to his hospitality. The marks of his unswerving truth and honest independence are traceable throughout his work. He is generally supposed to have written his Gospel before the others, and hence it has always been placed first. At what exact period it was composed is unknown. Some critics assign it to A. D. 38 or 41, while others, with more probability, conjecture it to have been written as late as A. D. 61 or 64. The great authority of Lardner is in favor of the last date. Matthew is believed to have used the Hebrew language in the original composition of his Gospel; or rather a mixed dialect termed Aramean, or Syro-Chaldaic, made up of Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Syriac, -our Saviour's vernacular tongue. According to Eusebius, it is stated by Papias, who lived about A. D. 100, that "Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect, and every one translated it as he could; " and by Irenæus, A. D. 190, that “Matthew, then among the Hebrews, published a Gospel in their own language; whilst Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel, Xxiv INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. and founding a church at Rome." Eusebius himself says, that “ Matthew, having first proclaimed the Gospel in Hebrew, when on the point of going to other nations, committed it to writing in his native tongue, and thus supplied the want of his presence to them by his writings." No copy of this Gospel, however, is now extant in the Aramean, or Syro-Chaldaic language. All existing manuscripts are in Greek. The translator of the work from the original into Greek is unknown. The Gospel of Matthew was written and circulated particularly in Palestine, and was designed by its author to exhibit Jesus to the Jews as their Messiah, who had been so long predicted, and so eagerly expected. Hence he often quotes from their sacred books in the way of illustration, and to show the fulfilment of ancient prophecies, thus enlisting in the cause of the Gospel their national feelings and religious associations. As he wrote for the Jews, he takes less pains than Mark, who wrote for the Latin Christians, to explain the manners, customs, opinions, ceremonies, and geography of the country. "The Gospel of Matthew," says Dr. Carpenter, "from the Temptation to the Last Journey to Jerusalem, is essentially Galilean. During that interval, he gives no intimation of occurrences in any part of Palestine, but Galilee and its borders." "Great brevity in the relation of facts, and detail in the record of discourses, are two of the characteristics of St. Matthew's Gospel. His manner is calmly earnest throughout; and it has the impress of deep conviction and certain knowledge. He gives a clear, but compressed summary of the transactions which he relates; entering but little into the circumstances of each; yet tracing the main fact distinctly and forcibly. For this style of composition, his official duties had, it is probable, peculiarly qualified him; that it is his style is not to be disputed." The writer above quoted considers Matthew's order of events, in respect to chronological arrangement, as preferable to that of the other evange lists, though there are exceptions in some places. The devotion of thirty years, with more or less application, to the study of the Four Gospels, entitles his opinions to a candid attention. The first two chapters of Matthew, the passage contained in chap xxvii. verses 3-10 inclusive, and the latter clause of verse 52 and the whole of verse 53, in the same chapter, are deemed by some critics, chiefly out of respect to the internal evidence as weighed in their judgments, to be interpolations. But the external evidence from manuscripts, versions, and the early fathers, was not of such a nature as to lead Griesbach to reject either of the passages from the text, or to place it under a mark of inferior authority. And his decisions, so far as that kind of testimony is concerned, have been admitted with great unanimity by almost all critics of every denomination. THE CHAPTER I. The Genealogy and Birth of Jesus Christ. THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of 2 David, the son of Abraham. 1. The book of the generation. The table of the genealogy, or the catalogue of the ancestors. This is probably not the title of the whole Gospel, but the heading of the first chapter, or, more likely, of the first seventeen verses. See Gen. v. 1, xi. 10; Ruth iv. 18. The Jews were very careful to preserve their genealogies. Copies of them were kept at Jerusalem, and handed down hundreds of years. This was done, in addition to the desire common to all men of knowing their ancestry, in order to distinguish the tribes and families from each other, to secure the fulfilment of the laws respecting marriage, and the rights of succession to offices and estates, and to afford the means of ascertaining in what tribe the Messiah was born. Priests who had not kept their lineage accurately were degraded from their office. Ezra ii. 62; Neh. vii. 64. Eusebius, the earliest ecclesiastical historian, mentions, on the authority of Africanus, a tradition that Herod the Great committed the Hebrew genealogies kept in the public archives to the flames, that he might conceal his ignoble extraction, but that they were restored either by recollection, or by private copies. The public documents were utterly destroyed in the sack of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the nation by the Romans, A. D. 70. Other nations have prided themselves upon their genealogies. The Welsh pretend to carry theirs back to Adam. - Jesus. Saviour; the same as Abraham begat Isaac; and Joshua. Jesus is the Greek, and Joshua is the Hebrew form of the word. Joshua is called Jesus in Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8.-Christ. Anointed. The same in Greek as Messiah in Hebrew. Dan. ix. 25. Priests, Prophets, and Kings were anointed as a sign of induction into their respective offices. Exodus xl. 15; 1 Kings xix. 16. It was usual among the Orientals to give significant names to their children. Our Lord was a Saviour to the world, as he came to rescue and preserve men from sin, and a Messiah, or Christ, an Anointed one, to the Jews, as succeeding in some sense to their Kings, Priests, and Prophets, combining their offices in his commission, and fulfilling the old prophecies. Son of David, &c. Descendant of David and Abraham. It was essential that the Messiah should be able to trace his ancestry to these distinguished persons, so venerable to the Jewish mind. Matthew was writing to Jewish converts, and he writes in accordance with their feelings. It is generally supposed that he gives the descent of Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus. Whilst Luke, writing for Gentiles, traces the pedigree of Jesus from Mary through her father Heli, through Nathan, David, and Abraham, back to Adam, the ancestor of both Jews and Gentiles Luke iii. 23-38. Their lists are different, but not contradictory. They drew them no doubt from the same archives at Jerusalem. If then the genealogies are inaccurate, |