37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

IN

CHAPTER VIII.

N those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,

2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat :

3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way for divers of them came from far.

4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

throughout all that region. Probably, however, as many of them as verily and confidently believed him to be the Messiah, and acknowledged his authority as such, obeyed him so far as not to speak publicly of their belief.

37. Beyond measure astonished. Exceedingly; their astonishment was overwhelming. Done all things well. That is, his cures are perfect; or, he hath, in all things, manifested a kind and gracious spirit; his works are good.

CHAPTER VIII.

1-9. See notes on Matt. xv. 32-38. 2. Three days, and have nothing to eat.

"It does not seem necessary that we should suppose the multitude to have eaten nothing during the whole three days. They had nothing to eat then, when Jesus said this, but the three days is only spoken of as the time that they had been with him, not as the time that they had fasted. It is probable that some of them might have furnished themselves with some provision

6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: "and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.

8 So they did eat, and were filled and they took up of the broken meat that was left, seven baskets.

9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

10 And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.

11 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this from

the neighboring villages, (see Matt. xiv. 15,) or they might some of them have carried some provision along with them into the wilderness; and therefore it was, that on the third day they had nothing to eat. But supposing that they had eaten nothing during the whole three days, it is no more than what we read of Paul, in Acts ix. 9, who during three days did neither eat nor drink; and, though Italy is not so warm a climate as Judea, Cicero, in Tusc. Disp. ii. 16, speaks of old women fasting there, during the same length of time, as a common thing."-Pearce.

9. About four thousand. The women and children, mentioned by Matthew, xv. 38, are not here included. Probably the number of that class was not small.

10. Dalmanutha. See note on Matt. xv. 39, where Magdala is named instead of Dalmanutha.

11-21. See notes on Matt. xvi. 112.

12. Sighed deeply in his spirit. He was powerfully moved by their hardness of heart. He had already manifested

generation seek after a sign? Verily, I say unto you, There shall no sign be given to this generation.

13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side.

stand? have ye your heart yet hardened?

18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.

17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither under

sufficient proof of his Messiahship, and yet they demanded further signs, as a condition of belief. It would seem, also, that their object in asking an additional sign was not so much to obtain satisfactory evidence, as to tempt him to undertake something which he could not perform, so that they might denounce him as an impostor. See ver. 11. Such blindness, united with such depravity of heart, strongly moved the compassionate nature of Jesus; he pitied their sad condition, and sighed at the contemplation of their approaching fate. There shall no sign be given, &c. That is, no such sign as was then demanded. Matthew adds, except "the sign of the prophet Jonas." Matt. xvi. 4. But this was not such a sign as they requested; nor did it convince them, when it was witnessed.

17. Have ye your heart yet hardened? See note on Mark vi. 51, 52. The hardness of heart, here mentioned, was nothing more than dulness of apprehension. They did not perceive nor understand that the performance of one miracle afforded proof that he could perform others; but were just as much astonished at every new display of power, as they were at the preceding. In this particular case, they had recently seen him feed five thousand with five

21 And he said unto them, how is it that ye do not understand?

22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit

loaves, and four thousand with seven loaves, and the quantity of food left, on each occasion, exceeded the original quantity; and yet they did not so remember, or so appreciate the import of these miracles, as to cherish confidence that he could repeat the miracle, if necessary. See ver. 18-21. As they did not understand this, their Master represents their hearts as hardened, or, as the original may be translated, stupified.

22. Bethsaida. See, note on Matt. xi. 21. ¶ They bring, &c. The friends of the blind man brought him, having heard that Jesus had power to give or restore sight. Besought him to touch him. That is, to restore his sight; for this they believed Jesus was able to do by a touch.

23. Led him out of the town. Our Lord did not usually affect concealment in the performance of miracles, but gave the most full and perfect opportunity to his watchful enemies to detect the imposture, if there were any. See Mark iii. 1-5. The feeding of the multitudes also was necessarily public. Mark vi. 34-44; viii. 1-9. Why he retired from public observation, at this particular time, the evangelist has given no hint. The conjecture of Clarke is not unreasonable, that this was done to "show the inhabitants that he consid

24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees walking.

25 After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into ered them unworthy of having another miracle wrought among them. He had already deeply deplored their ingratitude and obstinacy. Matt. xi. 21." Spit on his eyes. Some suppose this was done to moisten the lids, which were glued together, as it were; this being effected by natural means, and the sight restored supernaturally, or miraculously. But, however this be, we are not to suppose that the spittle, or the touch of the hands, had any influence, in themselves, upon the restoration of sight. They were emblematical only. See note on Mark vii. 33. Aught. Anything.

24. I see men as trees walking. The sight at first was indistinct and confused. The man could distinguish men from trees, only by their locomotion. By a second touch, ver. 25, accompanied by an exertion of miraculous power, he was fully "restored, and saw every man clearly." From his recognition, even while his sight was confused, of men and trees, it would seem that the man was not born blind, but that he had unfortunately been deprived of sight at a period within reach of his

own memory.

26. Sent him away to his own house. He seems not to have been an inhabitant of Bethsaida; but he was brought thither by his friends, ver. 22; and, when cured, was directed to return home. T Neither go into the town. Into Bethsaida. Nor tell it, &c. That is, lest a tumult should be produced; or, according to the conjecture on ver. 23, because the inhabitants were unworthy of further information concerning the works of our blessed Lord. See Acts xiii. 46.

town.

27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Cesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am?

28 And they answered, John the Baptist but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

:

29 And he saith unto them, But "Though our Lord did not, by this, probably, intend to teach any lesson in regard to the way in which the mind of a sinner is enlightened, yet it affords a striking illustration of it." The blindness of sinners is described, 2 Cor. iv. 4; 1 John ii. 11. "The effect of religion, or of the influence of the Holy Spirit, is to open the eyes, to show the sinner his condition and his danger, and to lead him to look on him whom he has pierced. Yet at first he sees indistinctly. He does not soon learn to distinguish objects. When converted, he is in a new world. Light is shed on every object, and he sees the Scriptures, the Saviour, and the works of creation, the sun, and stars, and hills, and vales, in a new light. He sees the beauty of the plan of salvation, and wonders that he has not seen it before. Yet he sees at first indistinctly. It is only by repeated applications to the source of light that he sees all things clearly. At first, religion may appear full of mysteries. Doctrines and facts appear on every hand, that he cannot fully comprehend. His mind is still perplexed, and he may doubt whether he has ever seen aught, or has been ever renewed. Yet let him not despair. Light, in due time, will be shed on these obscure and mysterious truths. Faithful and repeated application to the Father of lights, in prayer, and in searching the Scriptures, and in the ordinances of religion, will dissipate all these doubts, and he will see all things clearly, and the universe will appear to be filled with one broad flood of light." -Barnes.

27-33. See notes on Matt. xvi. 1328. See also Luke ix. 18-27.

who say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him.

33 But when he had turned about, and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of

men.

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35 For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

in direct and positive terms. At this time only, during his ministry, his disciples seem to have had an indistinct idea, that their Lord predicted his actual and literal death; yet, even now, they so scantily appreciated the nature of his resurrection, that they regarded his language, on the whole, as the prediction of a calamity rather than an assurance of unspeakable good. Else Peter's expostulation would appear not only uncalled for, but unaccountable.

38. Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed, &c. See note on Matt. x.

33.

Whoever shall be ashamed to profess my gospel and obey my precepts, in this wicked age, on account of the enmity and prejudices of the Jews, shall receive a just retribution when the Son of man comes to execute judgment on this guilty people. See Matt. xvi. 27, 28, and Mark ix. i.

36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

CHAPTER IX.

AND he said unto them, Verily

I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

2 And after six days, Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them.

3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

4 And there appeared unto them

CHAPTER IX.

1. This verse properly belongs to the foregoing chapter, and ought not to have been separated from it; as is manifest from the parallel passages, Matt. xvi. 27, 28; Luke ix. 26, 27. Our Lord here fixes the time indicated by his glorious coming, mentioned in the last verse of the preceding chapter, when he would be ashamed of them who deserted him, or would administer to them a righteous retribution. Some then stood in his presence, who should live to witness this exhibition of divine justice. Hence it is undeniably manifest, that he referred to a period then near at hand. And it is allowed by the nearly unanimous consent of the most approved commentators, that he refer red especially to that period when the Jewish temple, state, city, and nation,