Matthew 14

Chap. XIV. Ver. 1—21. Herod’s cruelty to John the Baptist. Our Lord feeds five thousand, &c.—The voice of conscience is the voice of God, and speaking with no less authority than his own thunder, can make even infidels and tyrants tremble, ‘‘O the terrors and tortures of a guilty heart! (says Bp. Hall.) Herod’s conscience told him that he had offered an unjust and cruel violence to an innocent (person;) and now he thinks that John’s ghost haunts him…:. Revel, O Herod! and feast and frolic, and please thyself with dances, and triumphs, and pastimes: thy sin shall be as some fury, that shall invisibly follow thee, and scourge thy guilty heart with secret lashes,…. and begin thy hell within thee.”

The popularity of St. John the Baptist, whom all men esteemed a Preacher, had induced Herod to invite him to his court. John, however, was no courtier; instead of flattering Herod, as he probably expected, he reproved him for marrying his brother’s wife, his brother being yet alive. This exasperated the tyrant, who threw him into prison, and in his rage would, as it appears, have killed him outright, had he not feared the people. While, however, he was imprisoned, Herod made a great feast to celebrate his birth-day, and the daughter of Herodias, by her former husband, so pleased him by her dancing, that he vowed to give her whatever she might require, even to the value of half his kingdom. Elated with such a promise, (though great rewards for dancing were by no means uncommon,) she, on leaving the room, ran to consult her mother, who bitterly hating the Baptist for his reproof of her adultery, counselled her daughter to ask the head of John the Baptist, in a charger, or large silver dish. Tyrant as he was, he was startled at the demand, and would fain have evaded it; partly from check of conscience, for he knew John to be a good and honest man; and partly from fear of an insurrection among the people: his oath, and still more his honour, were, however, pledged in presence of his court; and what is the life of a subject to an Eastern despot, who claims a right to all the lives and property in his kingdom? A military executioner was sent; John was beheaded; his head was brought in a charger, as desired, and delivered to the delicate damsel, who carried it to her mother; she feasted her revenge thereon, considering it doubtless, as to her, worth more than half a kingdom. See ) Herod had been hitherto too much involved in business of state, and in the pleasures of his court, to pay any attention to the reports in circulation relative to the preaching and miracles of Jesus; but when John was dead, and reports began to circulate more widely respecting the miracles which Jesus had lately wrought in Galilee, (where he had for some time resided,) it became surmised that John, or one of the old prophets, must be risen from the dead, and Herod’s conscience decided for the former opinion: “Surely,” said he, “‘ John the Baptist is risen from the dead !” Upon hearing of John’s death, his affectionate disciples came and buried his corpse, and then went and told Jesus, who immediately took ship, and crossing the lake privately, departed into a desert place; partly, probably, for private devotion, and seat to avoid [the] crowd in “time not being yet come.” The people, however, followed him into the desert on foot, taking their sick with them, on whom he had ‘compassion, and whom he healed.” When evening came on, the disciples applied to their Master to dismiss the people (who seem to have showed no disposition to depart) to their respective homes, to buy food. Jesus, however, taking another course; commanded the people to sit down upon the grass, (of which, according to St. John, there was much in that place,) and finding that the disciples had five loaves, and two fishes, he gave thanks, and miraculously multiplied them to such a degree, that they fed and satisfied five thousand men, besides women and children, and left twelve baskets of fragments over. ‘I know not, (says Bp. Hall,) whether more to wonder at the miraculous eating, or the miraculous leaving. Here were ‘five thousand men,’ and, in all likelihood, no fewer women and children. Perhaps some of these only looked on; nay, they did all eat ‘and were satisfied.’ So many must needs make clean work; of so little, there could be left nothing. Yea, there were ‘fragments’ remaining. Perhaps some crumbs, or crusts.

Nay, ‘twelve baskets full;’ more remaining than was first set down…. Here is a marvellous provision made; a marvellous bounty of that provision; and no less marvellous extent of that bounty. Those that depend upon God, shall not want a due purveyance in the very desert.” Ver. 22—36. Christ walketh on the water.—Having thus miraculously fed the multitude, Jesus constrained his disciples, who seem to have been unwilling to leave him, to re-cross the lake, while he dismissed the people to their homes; after which he went up into a mountain apart—that is, secretly and alone—to pray. The time which Jesus devoted to his public work and private devotion, seems hardly to have allowed sufficient intervals for either sleep or food.

After the labours of the preceding day, instead of retiring to rest, he seeks a solitary place to pray, where he might “pour out prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears,’ ((Hebrews 5:7),) without interruption from either friends or enemies. And after this, instead of lying down to rest, even in the open air, like Jacob, his head pillowed with a stone, ((Genesis 28:18);) his heart is with his disciples, and foreseeing a rising storm, in the fourth watch of the night, (or between three and four in the morning,) behold him walking on the swelling waves. The disciples, as well they might, felt alarmed and terrified, concluding that they saw a spectre, and cried out, or screamed, for fear, Jesus hearing them, immediately called out, to calm their fears, “Be of good cheer, it is I.”

Instantly their fears are calmed, and Peter, in a moment of sudden joy and gratitude, exclaimed, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” He received the command, and instantly obeyed, and for a moment he walked on the water; but looking at the waves instead of ‘the Saviour, his faith failed him, and he began to sink. ‘‘Looking at difficulties with an eye of sense, more than at precepts and promises with an eye of faith, (says Henry,) is at the bottom of all our inordinate fears, both as to public and personal concerns.” When Peter begins to sink, he begins to pray, which is the only remedy for sinking, both with him and us. In the conduct of our Saviour, here are several things to remark.

1. The Lord cures vain confidence by leaving us for a time to try our own strength. Peter suspected not the weakness of his faith, till he found it fail him. 2. When Jesus reproved Peter for his wavering faith, he at the same time sustained him. Indeed he caught him before he reproved him; and when he did reprove, it was in these gentle words, ‘‘O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?’ There is no room, in any case, to doubt, while we are directed by a clear command. 3. The presence of the Saviour insures the safety of his disciples. ‘Immediately as he came into the ship, the wind ceased !” Well, therefore, might the little crew of mariners and disciples fall down and “worship him.’ He steps into the sea, and the waves become as a solid pavement beneath his tread; and no sooner are his feet within the vessel, than the winds are hushed to peace!

Well might they, in a rapture of surprise and joy, exclaim, “Of a truth, thou art the Son of God!” It is difficult to say exactly what was meant by this expression. If the company consisted, as some suspect, partly of Jews and partly of Gentiles, they might have different ideas under the same title. The latter were used to consider extraordinary personages as children of the gods; but the former could hardly attach to it any other idea than that of the Great Prophet—the Messiah!

Notes on the verses

Ver. 3. Herodias.—[This infamous woman was the daughter of Aristobulus and Berenice, and grand-daughter of Herod the Great.— Philip’s wife.—Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and Mariamne.]—Bagster. Ver. 7. Promised with an oath.—Doddridge and Campbell, ‘‘Sware unto Ver. 8. Before instructed.—Campbell, ‘Instigated.’ The facts appear to have been, that when the daughter of Herodias danced, her mother was not in the ball-room, but in an antechamber; when, therefore, Herod made his foolish vow, the girl ran to her mother, who told her what to ask, and she followed her directions. Give me here.—Mark, “By and by;’’ Doddridge, ‘‘Presently,” which seems more exact. Ver. 10. He sent and beheaded, &c.—This is no uncommon thing in Turkey and the East to this day.

Some time since the Grand Signior having received the heads of some of his officers who had been decapitated by his orders, commanded that they should be exposed in large silver dishes (chargers) at the entrance of his porte. See Orient. Lit. No. 1195.—(Josephus informs us, that John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded by Herod in the strong castle of Macherus, which he describes as situated about 60 stadia east of Jordan, not far from where the river discharges itself into the Dead sea.)—Bagster. She brought it to her mother.—Jerome relates that Herodias treated the Baptist’s head with great disdain, and pierced it with a needle. So when the head of Cicero was brought to Fulvia (wife of Mark Anthony) she is said to have pierced it with a silver bodkin.

Ver. 11. The damsel.—[This was Salome, the daughter of Herodias by her uncle and husband, Herod Philip. Nicephorus and Metaphrastes relate, that she accompanied her mother Herodias and Herod in their banishment; and when passing over a river that was frozen, the ice broke, and she sunk up to her neck, and the ice uniting, she suffered the same punishment she had caused to be inflicted on John the Baptist. If true, this was certainly a wonderful providence; but it must be confessed that it appears contrary to the account of Josephus, who says, that she first married Philip the Tetrarch, and then Herod the King of Chalcis, by whom she had three sons.]—Bagster. Ver. 13. Apart.—Campbell, ‘‘Privately;”’ so ver.

24. — On foot.—Campbell, “By land;” he says that the Greek word means on foot, when opposed to horseback; and by land, when contrasted with by sea. Ver. 15. When it was evening.—Campbell, “Towards evening.” He adds “The Jews reckoned two evenings, the one commencing about three in the afternoon, (the time of the evening sacrifice,) the other about six, or sunset.” The second evening is mentioned ver. 23, where the same critic renders, “It was late.” Ver. 19. He blessed.—Query, What did he bless? This is generally explained of the fishes; but Campbell (guided by the oriental idiom) inclines to explain it, ‘‘He blessed God,” or asked a blessing. Compare (Mark 6:6). Ver. 20. Twelve baskets full—From this it is clear that a creative power must have been exerted, as the food remaining was evidently more than before they began to eat.

Ver. 22. Jesus constrained his disciples.—John intimates that the people wanted to take Jesus by force, and make him a king; ((John 6:15).) one reason, therefore, for Jesus sending them away might be, to prevent their uniting with the multitude, and creating an alarm to the Roman [authorities]. Ver. 24. The wind was contrary.—By this they were driven farther from the shore than they designed, and in a different course. Ver. 25. Fourth watch.—The Jews at this time divided the night into four watches. the first was from six o’clock in the evening till nine; the second, from nine to twelve; the third from twelve till three; and the fourth, from three till six. So that it probably began to be daylight before our Lord came to his disciples.

—— Walking on the sea.—This was thought so absurd, that the Egyptian hieroglyphic for an impossibility was “two feet walking on the sea.” This suspension of the laws of gravitation was a proper manifestation of omnipotence. Ver. 26. It is a spirit.—Gr. Phantasma, i. e. ‘‘an apparition.”’ So Doddridge. Ver. 34. Gennesaret.—Gennesaret was a fertile district, in which were situated the cities of Tiberias and Capernaum, extending along the western shore of the lake to which it gave name, about thirty stadia, or nearly four miles in length, and twenty stadia, or two miles and a half in breadth, according. Ver. 35. Knowledge of him—That is, found out [who he was]. Ver. 36. Hem—Or ‘‘fringe.”

See note on ch. ix. 20.

Chap. XV. Ver. 1. Of Jerusalem—Or, from Jerusalem. Doddridge suggests, as these were deputed to watch the conduct of Jesus and his disciples in Ver. 2. Traditions of the elders.—[Tradition, in Latin traditio, from trado, I deliver, hand down. Among the Jews, it signifies what is called the oral law, which they say has been successively handed down from Moses, through every generation, to Judah the Holy, who compiled and digested it into the Mishneh to explain which the two Gemaras, or Talmuds, called the Jerusalem and Babylonish, were composed. Of the estimation in which these were held by the Jews, the following may serve as an example: ‘‘The words of the Scribes are lovely beyond the words of the law, for the words of the law are weighty and light, but the words of the Scribes are all weighty.” Hieros. Berac.] Ver. 4. Curseth.—Campbell is surprised at this translation being so current; he thinks that both the Hebrew and Greek words signify to reproach, or calumniate. But the penalty of death being affixed to this “reproach,” probably led to this strong term “curseth,” and seems to justify it: for no slight reproach, assuredly, would warrant such a punishment. Ver. 5. It is (or, be it) a gift.—‘It is Corban,” the Hebrew term for a gift, or offering to God. Levit. i, 2,3; ii. 1,8, &c. To interfere with this offering would have incurred the imputation of impiety; but it was often wickedly pleaded, &c. as an excuse for neglecting the plainest duty. Ver. 9. Teaching for doctrines.—Doddridge, “* While they teach doctrines (that are) human injunctions,” or the commandments of men. These they considered not only equal, but in some cases even more obligatory, than the precepts of Moses and of God. Thus they considered the neglect of washing, according to their traditions, as equal to whoredom, and worthy of death. Ver. 12. Then came, &c.—This was after Jesus had gone into a house. Ver. 13. Every plant—That is, every doctrine not of God; every teacher not enlightened by him. Sard. 2, Ver. 14, Blind leaders.—Elsewhere they are called “blind guides.” Ver. 20. To eat with unwashen, &c.—It is no sin to neglect a superstitious Ver. 22. A woman of Canaan—Of the accursed and devoted race of Canaan, and, as Mark informs us, (ch. vii. 26,) a Syro-phenician; i.e., a native of that part of Phenicia which had formerly been conquered by the Syrians. Doddridge.—Vexed with a devil—Or ‘‘demon,” as before. Ver. 23. Send her away; for she crieth after us.—Grant her request and dismiss her. Ver. 26. Cast it to dogs.—This is the language that the Jews constantly used toward the Gentiles, and the same language has been too long used by Christians toward the Jews. Ver. 33. Commended her faith, and assured her that her daughter was healed.—B. Ver. 30. Maimed.—{Properly, those who had lost a hand, arm, foot, &c. “It is reasonable to suppose, that among the many maimed, who were brought on these occasions, there were some whose limbs had been cut off; and I think, hardly any of the miracles of our Lord were more illustrious and amazing than the recovery of such.” Dr. Doddridge.]—Bagster. Ver. 32. Lest they faint.—Campbell, ‘Lest their strength fail.” Ver. 37. Baskets.—Campbell, ‘‘Maunds;” properly, hand-baskets, a different word from what is bet -3 the preceding miracle, (Matthew 14:20), ‘Jordan, sometimes called by the Rabbins Magdala of Gadara, from its vicinity to that city. Dr. Lightfoot has satisfactorily shown, from the Jewish writers, that it was situated on the south-east side of the Lake of Gennesareth, a sabbath-day’s journey, or two miles, from Chammath, near the hot baths of Tiberias, one mile from Jordan, and the same distance from Hippo. It appears to be the same Magdala which Josephus mentions, in his Life, as in the vicinity of Gamala, in Gaulonitis.

]—Bagster.