Matthew 9
DODDMatthew 9:18
Christ, having in the way cured a woman by the ment, raises the daughter of Jairus from the wards performs some other miracles. Mr Mark V. 22, to the end. Luke VIII. 41, to
MAT. IX. 18. —
WHILE he was speaking these things to them in Matthew’s house,ᵃ behold, a very remarkable circumstance happened, which opened the way to one of the most signal miracles which Christ ever performed: for, though it was an uncommon thing for persons in an elevated rank of life to pay any regard to him (see John vii. 48,) there came a certain ruler of the synagogue in that city of Capernaum, whose name was Jairus; and when he was entered into the room where Jesus was, and saw him, he fell down at his feet with the profoundest humility, and worshipped him in the presence of all the company, and entreated him to come immediately to his house: For he had one only daughter, about twelve years old, and, having in the bloom of life been seized with a very dangerous distemper, she then lay, to all human appearance, at the very point of death. And he applied himself to Jesus with the utmost importunity, and earnestly entreated him, saying, My dear little daughter is in the last extremity, [or] is perhaps, as she was just expiring when I left her, even now dead;ᵇ [I beseech thee] therefore, that thou wouldest be pleased to
ᵃ While he was speaking these things to him in Matthew’s house.] These words fix the order of this section so plainly, that it is surprising Mr. Le Clerc should suppose that many events happened between the discourses recorded just above, and this application of Jairus to Christ, which St. Matthew so strongly connects. That critic is driven to the hard expedient of paraphrasing this clause thus: “While he discoursed with them on the same subject, which he had been upon the beginning of the year;” which is extremely unnatural, and, so far as I can recollect, quite unexampled in any author ancient or modern. (See Le Clerc’s Harmony, p. 197.) Had he thought of what is suggested above,
lxxi. note ᵃ, p. 389, to prove Matthew’s feast did not immediately follow his calling, he would have seen this criticism as unnecessary as it is forced.
meets him, as he went, that had a ux o oo .
ome, and lay thine hands on her, that she may recover; and I doubt not but, extreme as the case is, if thou wilt interpose in her behalf, she shall live.
And Jesus arose and followed him, and [so did] his disciples. Now, as he was going to the ruler’s house, much people followed him to see he event; and they pressed upon him in such manner that he could not walk without some difficulty.
And behold, among those that were crowding about him, there was a certain poor unhappy woman who had been long afflicted with a grievous disorder, having laboured under a ux of blood for no less than twelve years: And she had suffered a great deal from the many physicians she had consulted, by disagreeable medicines and uneasy restraints, as well as by the great expense she had been at in applying to them: for indeed she had wasted all her substance, and spent all that she had upon them: but her distemper was so inveterate, that she could not be healed by any; and, on the whole, she was not at all the better for their prescriptions, but rather grew worse, and weaker than before; And, having heard of Jesus, and the extraordinary cures he had wrought, being ashamed publicly to mention her case, she came in the crowd behind him, and touched the fringe which, according to the Divine commandment (Numb. xv. 38, and Deut. xxii. 12,) he wore upon the border of his garment.
when he applied to Christ for his miraculous assistance, be ready to fear she was by this time dead, and might accordingly express himself in such a manner as to intimate his apprehension of it. Nor is it necessary, after all, that we should understand the phrase in Matthew as implying she was now actually dead; for all does not only signify what is now come to pass, but what is just at hand (as may be seen in Pharomine;) and so it may imply no more than that she was considered as just dead, and that there was no hope of her recovery but by a miracle.
Spent all that she had upon them.] The ingenious Dr. Friend imagines that he discovers something remarkable in the difference of those seemingly synonymous terms which Mark and Luke make use of upon this occasion, and pleads that
in the former, signifies to squander away; whereas
he touches the border of his garment, and is healed.
For, as she knew that many had before been healed by touching him (see Luke vi. 19. p. 296,) she had such a firm persuasion of the virtue that was in him, and of his power to cure her, that she said within herself, If I may but touch any part of his clothes I shall be recovered.ᵈ And immediately on her having done it, the fountain of her blood that issued from her was at once staunched and dried up; and she felt such an unusual vigour and flow of spirits, that she plainly perceived in her body that she was healed of that wasting and dangerous distemper with which she had been chastised for so long a time.ᵉ
And upon this she would have retired unobserved: but Jesus, who had secretly performed the cure by the concurring efficacy of his will, immediately knowing in himself that healing virtue was gone out of him, thought fit on this occasion to shew that it had not escaped his notice,ᶠ as well as to illustrate and commend the faith of the patient; and therefore he immediately turned himself about in the crowd, and, looking round him, said, Who is it that has just now touched my clothes? And all the rest that were near him denying it,ᵍ Peter, and his disciples that were near him, said unto him, Sir,ʰ Thou seest that the multitude are
hall be recovered.] It is in the original μαι, I shall be saved: and there are other places in which the word is in the same sense; as to be sure it ith great propriety be applied to a from any imminent danger or presslamity, especially in an extraordinaire. Compare Mark v. 23; vi. 56; xviii. 36; xvii. 19; xviii. 42; John xi. and Acts iv. 9.
that distemper with which she had chastised, &c.] This being the eaning of μαζίς; here, I did not it necessary to render it plague or e, as I have done in some other
to shew that it had not escaped his .] And perhaps also to prevent a tions regard to any thing which look like a relic of his, and from weak people might, without any nt, have expected benefit.
denying it.] The phrase not necesimplying that the woman herself it it would be unjust to suppose she
was base or foolish en deny what she had done next moment we find with all possible cand
ᵇ Peter, and his disci Sir.] Our English w we indifferently apply to whom we speak, unlearned, and which mon converse genera inferiors, does by no to the Greek δίδακα teacher, and would be ered doctor (a word j port in its original lang the word here used least a presiding auth fore here chose to i should think δίδακα rendered Rabbi, as I can recollect. It is of honour and respec translated from one la considering the diver ceremonies in different
owns what she did, and is sent home in peace.
rowding around thee, and press thee on every side, and dost thou say, Who has touched me? One might rather ask, Who that has walked near thee has not done it? or which way is it possible in such a crowd as this, to avoid it? And Jesus said, I am well aware that somebody here has touched me, not merely by accident, but on some important design: for I perceive what a healing virtue and efficacy is gone out of me, and am not ignorant of the particulars of the cure it has produced.
And upon this he looked round about again, to see her who had done this; and directed his eye towards her with some particular regard. And when the woman saw that she was not concealed from his all penetrating view, knowing (as we before observed) what a marvellous work was wrought in her, she came fearing and trembling, lest he should be displeased with this surreptitious method she had taken; and, falling down before him, she candidly told him all the truth; [and] declared to him before all the people, without any reserve, for what reason she had thus touched him, and how she had been immediately healed by that touch of the grievous distemper she had been so many years afflicted with, which no force of medicines could remove or abate.
But Jesus, having thus turned about and seen her, instead of reproving her with the severity she expected, said to her, in a most gentle and condescending manner, Daughter, take courage, and be comforted, for I am not offended with thee: I know the sincerity of thy faith, in the regard which thou hast shewn to me, though mingled with some infirmity; and it has made thee well, and fitted thee for a cure thou couldest not otherwise have received: and therefore go home in peace and cheerfulness; for I dismiss thee with my blessing (see note¹ on Luke vii. 50, p. 333,) and assure thee thou shalt continue to be free from any return of thy distemper. And accordingly the woman was perfectly well from that hour, and the malady never returned upon her as long as she lived.
In the mean time, while he was yet speaking to the woman, [some] messengers came from [the house of] Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue,
B
A message comes to Jairus, that his daughter
whom we mentioned above: and they said unto him, Thy daughter, in whose behalf thou art applying to Jesus, is now actually dead, and consequently beyond the reach of prayer and of help: why therefore dost thou trouble the great Master in our Israel to come any farther? Do not trouble him¹ to come into the house of mourning, where he can only renew their sorrows by the lateness of his arrival there. But as soon as Jesus heard the word which was spoken by these messengers, in which they related this melancholy news, he says to the afflicted ruler of the synagogue, Be not discouraged by these mournful tidings; and, notwithstanding they have brought thee such a sad account, be not afraid, as if there were no hope; only believe in the Divine power and goodness operating by me, and I will answer for it that, desperate as thy daughter’s case may now appear to a human eye, she shall still be recovered.
And when he came to enter into the ruler’s house, he permitted none of the company to follow him in, except his three most intimate friends, Peter, and James, and John the brother of James, whom he was pleased to distinguish on this, as he did afterwards on other occasions; and these, with the father and mother of the deceased maiden, were the only persons whom he permitted to be eyewitnesses of the miracle he was about to perform. And, as she was an only daughter, all their relations and friends who were present wept bitterly, and lamented her: and, as soon as Jesus was entered, he saw the tumult, and the crowd of people who wept and cried out aloud;ᵏ and there were also the flute
¹ Why dost thou trouble the Master any farther? Do not trouble him.] As several persons came, one might say, Why dost thou trouble him? as Mark has it; and another, as Luke, Do not trouble him. I am sensible the mention of both together is no ornament to the story; and perhaps it might have been as agreeable to our taste and manner had both been expressed by saying, Messengers came, who would have persuaded him not to have given Jesus the trouble of coming. But I endeavour in this work to give the reader as exact a view as possible of the (very consistent) varieties
with which different evangelists record the same facts; and it seems an end considerable enough to excuse some little inclegancies of style which the execution of such a design must occasion. This remark is to be applied to many preceding and following passages.
ᵏ Cried out aloud.] A late version renders ἀλαλαζοῦνες, howling; which is indeed a sense that the original will bear, yet it is not always to be so translated: (see 1 Cor. xiii. 1. Gr.) And as the word howling is seldom used among us but in the case of brutes, or where reat contempt is designed,
having come to the house, raises her to li e.
players, as usual on such occasions,¹ making a mournful noise with their musical instruments, to soothe the grief of the afflicted family. And when he was come in to the house, he says to them, Retire, and make way that I may see her; [and] do not weep in this abandoned and inconsolable manner: for why do you lament, and make a noise? and where is the need of all this hurry and disturbance? The damsel, whose departure you so bitterly bewail as if her loss was irretrievable, is not finally dead, but is fallen asleep; and if you have a little patience you shall see her awakened: (by which he intimated that this death should be but like a transient sleep; see John xi. 11, 13, sect. cxxxix.) And they, not understanding his true meaning, were so rude that they derided him, as if the assertion had been altogether wild and ridiculous, well knowing that she was really and certainly dead. But he, too wise to enter into a clamorous debate with them, desired them to withdraw; and when he had put them all out of the way, he takes the father and mother of the deceased maiden, and those three disciples that were with him, and enters in to the chamber where the damsel lay dead. And, approaching the bed on which the corpse was laid out, he took hold of her hand; and, to express his power over death itself, called with a loud voice, saying to her, (as if she had indeed been only asleep,) Talitha cumi; which Syriac expression, being translated into our language, signifies, Maiden, (I say unto thee,) rise up. And he had no sooner spoke these words, but presently her spirit came back again to animate the body which it had deserted, and she was so perfectly recovered that she arose and walked; which she was well able to do, for she was twelve years old.
I rather chose to drop a little of the emphasis of the word, than to shock a compassionate reader by so harsh an expression. To lift up the voice in weeping was common in the eastern countries: see Gen. xxi. 16; Judg. ii. 4; and 1 Sam. xxx. 4.
¹ The flute players, as usual on such occasions] It is well known that musical instruments were used by the Jews as well as the heathens in their lamentations for the
dead, to soothe the melancholy of surviving friends by soft and solemn notes. There were persons who made it their business to perform this office, and to sing to their music. (See Jer. ix. 17; xlviii. 36; 2 Chron. xxxv. 25; and the notes of Drusius and Wolfus on this place.) Many have observed that flutes were used especially on the death of children, and larger and louder instruments in the death of the adult.
He restores two blind men to their sig
And, as the life to which she was restored was not to be supported by a continued miracle, but must have food to nourish it in a natural way, he ordered that something should be given her to eat; which, on account of her late illness, she had not been able to do for some time.
And her parents, and they [all] who were present, were exceedingly astonished, as well as filled with joy and gratitude: but [Jesus] behaved with his usual modesty,ᵐ and strictly charged them, that they should tell no man the particulars of what was done, nor make it their business to blaze abroad an event which would of itself become more public than he would have desired. And indeed it soon did so; for such numbers knew that she was really dead, and saw her alive again, that the fame of it, as of a most illustrious and extraordinary miracle, went abroad into all that country; and, being made the common subject of discourse, greatly increased the reputation he had before acquired by so long a series of wonders that he had wrought among them.
And as Jesus passed on from thence out of the ruler’s house, Two blind men, who had heard of his being there, and waited for his coming out, followed him, as he went through the street, crying out, with great importunity, and saying, O thou Son of David, have compassion on us in the miserable darkness that distresses us, and restore to us that precious sight which we have lost. And he took no notice of them as he walked on; but when he was come into the house to which he was going, the two blind men, by his permission, came unto him: and Jesus says to them, Do you indeed seriously believe that I am able to do this? They say unto him, Yes, Lord, we have not the least doubt of it. Then he touched their eyes, and said, Since you have that persuasion, be it unto you according to the sincerity of your faith. And immediately they both found that their eyes were opened, and they saw strongly and distinctly. And Jesus gave
ᵐ With his usual modesty.] It is well worth the reader’s observation, with what perfect decorum our Lord conducted himself on this occasion; and how entirely he bears master of himself, and superior to
any views of human applause. Dr. Lardner has illustrated this with a just and lively spirit of criticism. See his Answer to Wolston, p. 89.
He cures a possessed person that was dum.
them a strict charge, that they should not report it publicly abroad, and should tell no manⁿ of the cure they had received. But they were so transported at what he had done for them, that when they were gone out, they were not able to refrain from publishing the miracle, but immediately began to spread his fame over all that country.
And when he had thus cured the two blind men, just as they went out of the house where Jesus was, behold, they brought to him a dumb person, who had been for some time deprived of his speech by being possessed with a demon. And when by the victorious word of Jesus the demon was expelled, the man who had so long been dumb spake readily and distinctly; and the multitudes were astonished, saying, It was never seen so, even in Israel itself,ᵒ though it be a people among whom God has wrought such unparalleled wonders. But the Pharisees continued their senseless and blasphemous charge against him as a magician; and, not being able to deny facts that were so notorious, in order to prevent the effect which they might have upon the people, they said, He certainly casts out these inferior demons by a wicked confederacy with Beelzebub himself, the prince of the demons,ᵖ whose interest gains far more than it loses by dispossessions wrought by such a hand.
IMPROVEMENT.
We have here a scene of complicated wonders, worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance. Any single story of this kind might justly move our admiration; but when we are reading the life of Christ, such a constellation of miracles rises, that the number renders us less sensible of the lustre and glory of each.
ⁿ Jesus gave them a strict charge, that they should tell no man.] Our version is more literal, but the sense is perfectly the same. I intended the variation only as a specimen of several of the like kind, which I think might be made in a manner which would better suit the genius of our language, though (perhaps through an excess of tenderness) I have not often ventured to take even such little liberties as these. See Mr. Pope’s note on Homer’s Illiad, Vol. II. Book vi. ver. 665.
ᵒ It was never seen so even in Israel
itself.] This reflection was perfectly just; for no one of the prophets that we read of in the Old Testament, appears to have wrought so many beneficial miracles in his whole life, as our Lord did in this one afternoon.
ᵖ He casts out demons by the prince of demons.] Our Lord had in an unanswerable manner confuted this base calumn before: (see sect. lxi. p. 536, & sec.) Yet they had the assurance to advance it again, without any regard to that confutation. Such were the infidels of those days, as well as of these.
Reflections on the raising of Fairus’s daughter, &c.
Mark v. 25,
& seq.
We may observe in the story of the distempered woman a mixture of weakness and of faith. She could not reasonably think to steal a cure, without the knowledge of him by whom it was wrought; or imagine a charm in the garment that Christ wore, which could produce so glorious an effect, independent of his agency and will. Yet she acted as if she had thought thus; and a compassionate Redeemer commended her faith, and excused her infirmity. Such candour should we exercise towards those in whom we find any thing truly valuable; not despising the day of small things, but ready to encourage and support the weak, and to commend whatever good we may discover in them.
Luke viii.51 & seq.
We have already beheld Christ frequently giving sight to the blind, and casting out evil spirits: but we have here a second instance of his power over death, and behold one under its dominion hearing the voice of the Son of God! In how majestic, and yet in how gentle a manner, does he address himself to this admirable work! Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise. And immediately she heard and obeyed. Thus shall he, with equal ease, call forth myriads of his saints, who now seem perished in the dust: and it may be said with regard to them also, in reference to that day, They are not dead, but sleep. The maiden, of whom we here read, arose only to a dying life; a life which needed the support of food, and was in no respect more noble or more secure than that of other mortals: but we look for a better resurrection, in which all the infirmities of the body shall be left behind in the grave; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying. (Rev. xxi. 4.)
Mark v. 39
In expectation of this, let us restrain immoderate sorrow when our pious friends are taken away: let us not make too much ado on the occasion, nor allow ourselves to be thrown into a tumult of passion, even when our children are stretched on the bed of death; but believing in Christ, and governing ourselves by his precepts and maxims, let us in humble resignation, and submissive though mournful silence, wait the issues of his providence and grace; since he knows how, as in this instance, to overrule the calamities of our families to the good of our souls, and even to strengthen our faith by those exercises which might seem most likely to overthrow it.
es again to Nazareth, and preaches t ere.