Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 2:11
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
11. the house ] St Matthew gives no hint that “the house” was an inn, or that the babe was lying in a manger. Perhaps here as in other places we are misled by the ideas suggested by great pictures; and in truth the visit of the Magi should be placed at least some days after the events recorded in Luk 2:1-38.
their treasures ] Properly caskets or chests in which treasures were placed. Such offerings to kings were quite in accordance with Eastern usage. Seneca says “No one may salute a Parthian king without bringing a gift;” cp. Psa 68:29; Psa 72:10.
frankincense and myrrh were products of Arabia, and, according to Herodotus, of that country only. They were both used for medicinal purposes and for embalming; cp. Joh 19:39.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The house – The place where he was born, or the place where they lived at that time.
Fell down – This was the usual way of showing respect or homage among the Jews, Est 8:3; Job 1:20; Dan 3:7; Psa 72:11; Isa 46:6.
Worshipped him – Did him homage as King of the Jews. See the notes at Mat 2:2.
Had opened their treasures – The treasures which they had brought, or the boxes, etc., in which they had brought their gold, etc.
They presented unto him gifts – These were presented to him as King of the Jews, because they supposed he was to be a distinguished prince and conqueror. It was customary in the East to show respect for persons of distinction by making presents or offerings of this kind. See Gen 32:14; Gen 43:11; 1Sa 10:27; 1Ki 10:2; Psa 72:10-15. This custom is still common in the East, and it is everywhere there unusual to approach a person of distinguished rank without a valuable present.
Frankincense – Frankincense is a white resin or gum. It is obtained from a tree by making incisions in the bark, and suffering the gum to flow out. It is highly odoriferous or fragrant when burned, and was therefore used in worship, where it was burned as a pleasant offering to God. See Exo 30:8; Lev 16:12. It is found in the East Indies, but chiefly in Arabia; and hence it has been supposed probable that the wise men came from Arabia.
Myrrh – This was also a production of Arabia, and was obtained from a tree in the same manner as frankincense. The name denotes bitterness, and was given to it on account of its great bitterness. It was used chiefly in embalming the dead, because it had the property of preserving dead bodies from putrefaction. Compare Joh 19:39, it was much used in Egypt and in Judea. It was obtained from a thorny tree, which grows 8 or 9 feet high. It was at an early period an article of commerce Gen 37:25, and was an ingredient of the holy ointment, Exo 30:23. It was also used as an agreeable perfume, Est 2:12; Psa 45:8; Pro 7:17. It was also sometimes mingled with wine to form an article of drink. Such a drink was given to our Saviour, when about to be crucified, as a stupefying potion, Mar 15:23; compare Mat 27:34. The offerings here referred to were made because they were the most valuable which the country of the Magi or wise men produced. They were tokens of respect and homage which they paid to the new-born King of the Jews. They evinced their high regard for him, and their belief that he was to be an illustrious prince; and the fact that their deed is recorded with approbation shows us that we should offer our most valuable possessions, our all, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise men came from far to do him homage, and bowed down, and presented their best gifts and offerings. It is right that we give to him also our hearts, our property, our all.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 2:11
Worshipped Him-Gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Action, Prayer, Sorrow
I. Gold may be taken as representing our substance, our goods, our material wealth. All work, all material, have their worth in gold. This oblation, represents the efficiency of that which is external to us, and can be detached from us.
II. The frankincense is a substance which, once kindled, sends up sweet clouds to the sky it is the symbol of religious thought directing itself lovingly and longingly towards God. It typifies what is inward. There is a life of contemplation as well as of action.
III. The last offering completing the text is myrrh. This stands for sorrows; in this we are equal before God. We can offer to Him our pains and repentance. (M. Dix.)
The character of their worship
1. Devout.
2. Believing.
3. Self-sacrificing.
4. Intelligent.
5. Obedient (ver. 12). (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Give the best you have to Jesus
It matters not how poor the offering be, if it is the best you can give. A legend tells us how once u little boy in church had no money to place among the offerings on the altar, so he gave a rosy apple, the only gift he had to offer. Presently, when the priest removed the alms from the altar, he found there an apple of pure gold. The simplest gift is in the eyes of God as pure gold. (H. J. Wilmt Buxton.)
A Christmas-time address-Gifts for the child Jesus.
From this visit of the magi has grown up our idea of keeping Christmas with gifts. We will try to see the inner meaning of the good old custom.
I. Our chief idea in keeping Christmas is to make everybody happy. Jesus came to make us all happy-blessed of God.
II. Making everybody happy can be done best by giving gifts. All sorts needed-should be adapted-make everybody happy because they bless both him who gives and him who takes.
III. In giving gifts we remember especially the little ones. Because we think of Jesus as a child, etc. Show how suggestive are the magis gifts.
IV. Then we rise beyond the little ones to all those whom Jesus taught us to think of as His brethren. Those who are poorer than ourselves, etc. Every child may make somebody a little happier with their love-gift to-day. (R. Tuck, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. They presented unto him gifts] The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Sea Islands.
Gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.] Some will have these gifts to be emblematic of the Divinity, regal office, and manhood of Christ. “They offered him incense as their God; gold as their king; and myrrh, as united to a human body, subject to suffering and death.” Aurum, thus, myrrham, regique, DEO, HOMINIQUE, dona ferunt. JUVENCUS. Rather, they offered him the things which were in most esteem among themselves; and which were productions of their own country. The gold was probably a very providential supply, as on it, it is likely, they subsisted while in Egypt.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
How long the virgin Mary and her holy Child had been there is not expressed; those that think these wise men came within six weeks or two months, judge that Joseph and Mary came thither from Jerusalem after that he had been there offered, to the Lord, of which you read Luk 2:22; but they are forced, to uphold this, to interpret Luk 2:39, which saith that after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth, of a considerable time after they had performed these things, which seemeth something hard and needless, especially considering Nazareth was Josephs own city, i.e. the city where his fixed habitation was. It is most probable that they, after so long absence, went right home, and if the wise men (which is said) found them in Bethlehem, they were gone thither again to visit some relations.
They saw the young child with Mary his mother; under what other circumstances the Scripture saith not, but questionless they were very poor and mean, which is a very strong inducement to us to believe that they had a spiritual Divine revelation, that this was a King whose kingdom was not of this world, the true Messiah and Saviour of the world; they would hardly else have treated a poor infant, in an ordinary house and no more attended, at the rate they did, for the text saith they
fell down and worshipped him; a usual homage indeed which the Eastern nations paid to princes, but they used then to have better evidences of their royal state and dignity than these wise men seemed to have had, if they had not, besides the star, a Divine revelation what manner of King this was to be. We may therefore rather judge that their revelation extended not only to the birth of a King, but of such a King as indeed he was, the eternal Son of God clothed with human flesh; and that their falling down and worshipping him is to be understood of a Divine worship they paid to him, as the Saviour of the world: and so they were the first fruits of the Gentiles, owning and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that their following offerings to him were upon that account, for opening
their treasures, they presented to him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The guesses of those who think that they offered him gold as to a King, frankincense as a High Priest, and myrrh to sweeten the place where he was, I take to be but the product of luxuriant fancies. It is most certain that those Eastern people seldom came to their princes without some presents, and that their presents were usually of the most choice things their country afforded. This is plain from Gen 43:11; and if what naturalists tell us be true, that myrrh was only to be found in Arabia, and frankincense in Sabea, (a part of Arabia) and that country also had gold, which it is plain that it had from 2Ch 9:14, it makes a very probable argument, that these wise men came from Arabia, which was full of men that were astrologers. The providence of God was wonderfully seen in these presents, by them providing for the sustenance of Joseph, and Mary, and Jesus in that exile which they were soon after to endure. For other allegorical and mystical significations of these presents, they are but conjectures, and the exuberances of mens fancies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. And when they were come into thehousenot the stable; for as soon as Bethlehem was emptied ofits strangers, they would have no difficulty in finding adwelling-house.
they sawThe receivedtext has “found”; but here our translators rightly departfrom it, for it has no authority.
the young child with Mary hismotherThe blessed Babe is naturally mentioned first, then themother; but Joseph, though doubtless present, is not noticed, asbeing but the head of the house.
and fell down and worshippedhimClearly this was no civil homage to a petty Jewish king,whom these star-guided strangers came so far, and inquired soeagerly, and rejoiced with such exceeding joy, to pay, but a loftyspiritual homage. The next clause confirms this.
and when they had openedtheir treasures they presentedrather, “offered.”
unto him giftsThisexpression, used frequently in the Old Testament of the oblationspresented to God, is in the New Testament employed seven times, andalways in a religious sense of offerings to God. Beyonddoubt, therefore, we are to understand the presentation of thesegifts by the Magi as a religious offering.
gold, frankincense, andmyrrhVisits were seldom paid to sovereigns without a present(1Ki 10:2, c. compare Psa 72:10;Psa 72:11; Psa 72:15;Isa 60:3; Isa 60:6).”Frankincense” was an aromatic used in sacrificialofferings; “myrrh” was used in perfuming ointments. These,with the “gold” which they presented, seem to show that theofferers were persons in affluent circumstances. That the gold waspresented to the infant King in token of His royalty; thefrankincense in token of His divinity, and the myrrh, of Hissufferings; or that they were designed to express His divine andhuman natures; or that the prophetical, priestly, and kingly officesof Christ are to be seen in these gifts; or that they were theofferings of three individuals respectively, each of them kings, thevery names of whom tradition has handed downall these are, at thebest, precarious suppositions. But that the feelings of these devoutgivers are to be seen in the richness of their gifts, and that thegold, at least, would be highly serviceable to the parents of theblessed Babe in their unexpected journey to Egypt and stay therethatmuch at least admits of no dispute.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they were come into the house,…. Which they entered without making any inquiry, being fully assured by the star’s standing right over it, that this was the house, and here was the king of the Jews, whom they were come to worship; and having entered in “they saw” some copies read ,
they found the young child, with Mary his mother; in her lap, or arms, or in the house with her, for by this time he might go alone. Joseph perhaps was not at home, but about his business; and which might be so ordered by the providence of God, that so these men might only see the mother of Christ, who had no real father as man; who had they seen Joseph, might have took him to be his proper father. Upon the sight of the young child,
they fell down on their knees or faces to the ground, agreeably to the custom of their country,
and worshipped him as a king; giving him the same civil honour and respect, as they were wont to do to their own kings and princes; which custom began with Cyrus: for so Xenophon c says, that
“when the people saw him, , they all worshipped him; either because some were ordered to begin this custom; or else being amazed at the apparatus; or because he seemed to appear so great and beautiful; for before that time none of the Persians worshipped Cyrus.”
And when they had opened their treasures, that is, their purses, bags or boxes, in which they put those things they brought with them necessary for their journey;
they presented, or offered to him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh: such things as they had; it being usual, not only with the Persians, but other eastern nations, to make presents to kings and great persons, when they made any addresses to them; which generally, among other things, consisted of gold, spices, myrrh, and the like, see
Ge 43:11. Which last passage referred to, being a prophecy of the Messiah, has been thought by some now to have had its accomplishment, together with Isa 60:6 where frankincense as well as gold is mentioned, “they shall bring gold and incense” or frankincense; upon which a noted Jewish writer d observes, that gold and frankincense shall be brought privately as a present to the king Messiah. According to the Ethiopians, these wise men were three, whose names they give us; the name of him that offered the gold, was Annoson; he that offered the frankincense, was Allytar; and he that offered the myrrh, Kyssad e. The Papists call them the three kings of Colen, and say they lie buried in that place.
c Cyropaedia, l. 8. sect. 23. d R. David Kimchi. e Ludolph. Lex. Ethiop. p. 539, 542, 543.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Opening their treasures ( ). Here “treasures” means “caskets” from the verb (), receptacle for valuables. In the ancient writers it meant “treasury” as in 1Macc. 3:29. So a “storehouse” as in Mt 13:52. Then it means the things laid up in store, treasure in heaven (Mt 6:20), in Christ (Col 2:3). In their “caskets” the Magi had gold, frankincense, and myrrh, all found at that time in Arabia, though gold was found in Babylon and elsewhere.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when they were come into the house,” (kai elthontes eis ten oikian) “And (upon) entering into the house.” At two years of age Jesus lived in an house, not in a grotto-inn, stable, or cave, such as He had been born in, Luk 2:4-17; Luk 2:16.
2) “They saw the young child,” (eidon to paidion) “They saw the child (Jesus),” now some two years of age, Mat 2:16. Textus Recepticus indicates they “found” (Gk. heuron) the child in their seeking search for Him, because they sought Him with all their heart, Jer 29:13. Note the Scribes and Chief Priests did not seek for Him, because they sought Him with all their heart, Jer 29:13. Note the Scribes and Chief Priests did not seek for Him, find Him, or worship Him.
3) “With Mary his mother,” (meta Marias tes metros autou) “With his mother Mary,” in company with His mother Mary.
4) “And fell down and worshipped him:” (kai pesontes proekunesan auto) “And they (the magi or wise men) fell down and worshipped him,” as the Son of God, as the only one born of women who was worthy of worship, because He was God, Mat 4:10; Joh 4:24.
5) “And when they had opened their treasures,” (kai anoiksantes tous thusaurous auton) “And upon opening their treasures,” which they had brought to give him, as a child of Royalty. Giving is an expression of loving and living and gratitude.
6) “They presented unto him gifts;” (prosenegkan auto dora) “They offered to him,” to Jesus as a matter of worship specific gifts of three kinds: These gifts were perhaps needed by Joseph and Mary for their expense on their trip to Egypt.
a) “Gold,” (chruson) gold, a symbol of Royalty and Deity. He was the Son of God, Joh 3:16. One gives of his best to a king.
b) “And frankincense,” (kai libanon) “and frankincense,” a symbol of acceptable prayers in worship, offered as a sweet smelling savor unto the Lord, used on sacrificial offerings.
c) “And myrrh,” (kai smurnan) “And myrrh,” a spice used in perfume ointments and for anointing the body for burial, an expression of their faith in the coming death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. They found the young child So revolting a sight might naturally have created an additional prejudice; for Christ was so far from having aught of royalty surrounding him, that he was in a meaner and more despised condition than any peasant child. But they are convinced that he is divinely appointed to be a King. This thought alone, deeply rooted in their minds, procures their reverence. They contemplate in the purpose of God his exalted rank, which is still concealed from outward view. (186) Holding it for certain, that he will one day be different from what he now appears, they are not at all ashamed to render to him the honors of royalty.
Their presents show whence they came: for there can be no doubt that they brought them as the choicest productions of their country. We are not to understand, that each of them presented his own offering, but that the three offerings, which are mentioned by Matthew, were presented by all of them in common. Almost all the commentators indulge in speculations about those gifts, as denoting the kingdom, priesthood, and burial of Christ. They make gold the symbol of his kingdom, — frankincense, of his priesthoods, — and myrrh, of his burial. I see no solid ground for such an opinion. It was customary, we know, among the Persians, when they offered homage to their kings, to bring a present in their hands. The Magi select those three for the produce of which Eastern countries are celebrated; just as Jacob sent into Egypt the choicest and most esteemed productions of the soil.
“
Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds,” (Gen 43:11.)
Again, in rendering homage, according to the custom of Persia, to him whom they still regarded as an earthly King, they offered the productions of the soil. Our duty is, to adore him in a spiritual manner: for the lawful and reasonable worship which he demands is, that we consecrate first ourselves, and then all that we have, to his service.
(186) “ Car ils considerent et contemplent au conseil de Dieu sa dignite et magnificence royale, laquelle n’apparoissoit point encores;” — “for they consider and contemplate in the purpose of God his royal dignity and splendor, which did not yet appear,”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) Opened their treasures.The word points to caskets, or chests, which they had brought with them.
Gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.These were natural enough as the traditional gifts of homage to a ruler. Compare the gifts sent by Jacob to Joseph (Gen. 43:11), and Psa. 45:8, for the myrrh and spices; Psa. 72:15, for the gold; Isa. 60:6, for gold and incense. The patristic interpretation of the gifts as significantthe gold, of kingly power; the incense, of Divinity; the myrrh, of death and embalmmentinteresting as it is, cannot be assumed to have been definitely present to the mind of the Evangelist. It is noticeable that there is here no mention of Joseph. Looking to his prominence in St. Matthews narrative, we must assume that his absence on the night of their arrival was accidental.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Worshipped him Something more than human homage; for emphatically it was offered to him, and not to his mother, in whose arms he was. Gold and frankincense The very sort of presents predicted in Isa 60:6: “All they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense.” This is a sample and type of the conversion of the Gentile nations to Christ. “The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isa 60:3.
Incense, or frankincense, is a resinous gum, flowing from a tree, gashed for the purpose, growing in Arabia and Lebanon. Myrrh is also a gum obtained from a tree similar to the Acacia, growing in Arabia.
From the nature of these presents it has been argued that the Magi came from Arabia, the land which abundantly produces them; but this sort of wealth abounded through all the East. They were the kind of presents which it was customary to bring when admitted into the presence of princes or gods.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and paid him homage, and opening their treasures they offered to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.’
And then, having made enquiries, they came to the house where the young child was, and saw Him with Mary His mother. And they fell down before Him and paid Him homage, opening up their treasures and offering Him gold and frankincense and myrrh (compare Isa 60:6; Psa 72:10-11; Psa 72:15). Note how Joseph, who has been prominent all the way through chapter 1 is here kept out of sight. All the homage, and even worship, was for the young child. There were eyes for no one but Jesus only. Mary is only introduced because He was on His mother’s knee, being little more than a year old. To have introduced Joseph would have been to distort the picture and detract attention from Jesus. Mary is only mentioned because she was the necessary framework so as to emphasise that the young child was an infant (note her description as ‘His mother’ and the ‘Him’ — ‘Him’). The centre of attention had to be kept on Jesus.
(Any suggestion that this non-mention of Joseph therefore indicates another ‘source’ is to miss the point completely. Whatever sources there may have been they cannot be found by this means).
‘They offered to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.’ These were three of the greatest portable treasures that the world could afford, and all three were involved in Israel’s worship. But gold is the delight of the hearts of men, indicating kingship and wealth; frankincense (Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20) was used in worship and for perfuming king’s palaces; and myrrh is what sweetens men and women in both life and death (Gen 37:25; Gen 43:11; Est 2:12; Psa 45:8; Pro 7:17; Son 1:13; Son 3:6; Son 4:6 etc.; Mar 15:23; Joh 19:39). They are in the end simply illustrations of luxury gifts fit for a King. Frankincense is an odiferous resinous gum coming from certain trees growing in Arabia, India and Somalia. Myrrh is similar and is found in Arabia and Ethiopia. It is noteworthy that there is no verse in Scripture where all three are brought together as gifts, apart from here. Had Matthew simply wanted to deliberately imitate Scripture he would surely have chosen alternatives about which he could find a quotation.
We may close our dealings with the passage by emphasising its significance.
While the most important men in Jewry ignored the coming of the Messiah, apart from the godly who were waiting for the consolation of Israel, learned but anonymous men from afar, guided by God, came to seek Him, putting them to shame. We are reminded of the words of John, ‘He came to His own world and His own people did not receive Him’ (Joh 1:11).
Those who had the knowledge of the Scriptures, but were hardened in their views, took no note of them, while the nameless Magi who heard them afresh and did not claim them as God’s Law, responded to them. As with the tax-gatherers and sinners later, it was the unexpected who sought Jesus. ‘I am enquired of by those who asked not for me; I am found of those who sought me not; I said, Behold me, behold me, to a nation which was not called by my name’ (Isa 65:1).
While the Jews on the whole did not allow themselves to be stirred by the arrival of the Magi, except in the wrong way, the interest of these Gentiles themselves only increased more and more, an indication of what was to follow in Acts as many Jews were apathetic while many Gentiles were eager to learn about Jesus.
God had made even the creation itself bear witness to the advent of His Son. The very stars cried out to all who would hear, and added their testimony to His coming (we might add, ‘and all the sons of God shouted for joy’).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 2:11 . ] As the Magi did not arrive till some time after the birth (Mat 2:1 ), it does not follow indeed from . . in and by itself that the evangelist makes Jesus be born not in the stable of a friend (Luke), or in a cave (Justin and Apocrypha), but in Joseph’s house . Certainly, however, the latter follows from this, that, according to Matthew, Bethlehem is the dwelling-place of Joseph; see Remark after Mat 2:23 .
] The non-mention of Joseph is not to be ascribed to any design.
] the chests which held their treasures , Xen. Anab . v. 4. 27; 1Ma 3:29 ; Mal 4:4Mal 4:4 . See Wetstein and Valckenaer, ad Herod . iv. 162. To find symbolical references in the individual presents is arbitrary. Tertullian and Chrysostom: Incense and myrrh they presented to Him as to a God; Irenaeus, Origen (in answer to Celsus, who ridiculed the divine worship of a ), Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, Erasmus, Luther: as a king, they presented Him with gold; as a God, with incense and with myrrh, . Comp. the Christian Adamsbuch in Ewald, Jahrb . V. p. 81, which makes the three gifts and their meaning to be derived from Adam.
It was and still is the Eastern custom not to approach princes without presents, Gen 43:11 ; 1Sa 10:27 ; 1Ki 10:2 ; Aelian, V. H. i. 31; Harmar, Beobacht. b. d. Orient , II. p. 1 f. That the gifts of the Magi are said to have enabled the poor parents to make out their journey to Egypt (Wetstein, Olshausen, and others), is a strange conceit.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
I beg the Reader to remark with me, that the Wise Men saw not Joseph. For as Joseph was not the real but only the reputed father, his presence was not necessary; perhaps it might have been improper. But must not the same power which hung out the star, and directed the minds of these men to interpret the meaning of it, have influenced them also to worship CHRIST. For otherwise, how ill did the poverty of Christ’s appearance correspond to the greatness of his dignity. It hath been supposed, that the gifts they presented of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, had some significancy. Perhaps they might. But the Holy Ghost is silent upon this subject. Instead, therefore, of conjecture, I would refer the Reader to those scriptures. Son_5:11; Son_1:13; Son_4:14 ; Psa 72:10-15 ; 1Ki 10:2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 4
Life Larger Than Logic The Helpfulness of Science the Religious Imagination the Difficulty of Patience
Prayer
Almighty God, we know thee through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Priest and Saviour. He is the Mediator between God and Man, he is the propitiation for our sins, his blood cleanseth from all guilt, he is our joy and our strength, and there is none beside him, our whole salvation, a redemption complete and infinite. We assemble to-day around his Cross, we touch the dying Lamb, we look first at our sin and then at his grace; where sin abounds grace doth much more abound, so that the blood of Jesus Christ thy Son is our answer to thy fierce law. We have no other reply, our hearts are silent when thy law accuses, bat in Christ Jesus and his cross, and in all the wondrous work he did, we find our answer to the accusations of thy righteousness and all the challenges of thy law. We pray in his name; our intercessions are mighty because they are offered at his cross; they are weak and worthless in themselves, but because of what Jesus is and what Jesus did, all our weakness is turned into strength, and our trembling prayer becomes a prevalent intercession.
We have come to bless thee with a new song, for thy mercies have been renewed in our life day by day. Every hour has brought its own miracle of grace, every moment has seen some fresh display of thy patience or providential care. The very hairs of our head are all numbered. Thou hearest the throbbing of our heart, thou knowest the way that we take; yea, thou dost beset us behind and before, and upon us is laid thy gentle yet mighty hand. We are here because of thy goodness, thou hast saved our soul from death, we are yet on praying ground, we have the opportunity of uttering our psalm and hymn and prayer into Heaven in the name and for the sake of the one Saviour. Thou hast given us bread to eat, thou hast sheltered us from the darkness and the storm, thou hast given unto us rest in sleep, and the renewal of strength therein, thou hast continued unto us our reasoning faculties, the chain of our friendship has not been broken in one link because, therefore, of all these thine earthly mercies, we bless thee with a rising gratitude, we praise thee with a full heart, for thy mercies have been many and tender.
Thou hast, above all things, nourished our soul. Though we were branches that had no place in the living stem, yet hast thou graffed us in, so that now we partake of the root and the fatness of the olive. Thou didst find us when we were lost, thou didst make us sons when we were aliens and wanderers, thou didst invest us with all the privileges of thy church when our arm had been lifted against thee in continual rebellion. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. May we enjoy all thy privileges now, may we seize our inheritance and claim it with our whole heart, so that we who were poor by reason of this world’s sins and distresses may now become rich with imperishable wealth. To this end do thou pour upon us the Holy Ghost; may he dwell in us, ruling our thought and purpose and will, and sanctifying us altogether, till there be in our whole nature nothing of impurity or wrong. Complete the miracle of thy grace in our sanctification; may we be without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, glorious personally, and glorious as a redeemed church.
We put our life into thy care day by day. We know not when its last breathings shall be; help us, therefore, to be diligent with all care and filial anxiety to do that which is right in thy sight, and to make the most of our day and generation. Deliver us from the torment of fear, save us from the hell of despondency, create in us that happiness, that overflowing joyousness which comes of complete trust in God. May we not give way to the temptation of the evil one, may our fears never multiply themselves against us to the extinction of our hope, and in the darkest night may we see some distant and trembling star, in the coldest winter may there come upon us now and again some gleam of light that tells of the summer that is yet to dawn. In all the way that we take give us guidance, ensure unto us defence, then snail our steps be steady, and they shall all point towards the city of light and the city of rest.
Thou knowest what we need: grant unto us, we humbly pray thee, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, that which our heart most truly requires. Wherein our words do not express our needs, do thou not hear those words nor answer them: wherein we are inspired to speak of our real and vital wants, do thou command thy blessing to rest upon us, even life for evermore. Pity us when we are infirm and little in soul and in purpose, save us when we are most conscious of our aggravated guilt, fill our vision with thy beauty when that which is of the earth and time would tempt us with its meaner attractions.
Hear us when we pray one for another, when we pray for heads of houses that they may be clothed with wisdom, sobriety, and grace, for children, that they may be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, for masters and servants, that they may understand and help one another, for the sick and the afflicted, that in their weakness they may see the incoming of Christ, bringing with him health and immortality, for the distant and the wandering, those from whom we are for the moment separated, that there may be no division of soul or distraction of love, but that though far apart, we may yet be one in affection and godly desire.
The Lord hear us on account of those who never pray for themselves, those who are aliens and prodigals, who have broken every vow, dishonoured every covenant, and have gone far away into the bleak wilderness of iniquity the Lord’s Gospel flee after them like a saving angel, and flash upon them some home-light or strike in their hearts some tender chord that shall bring them back again, that there may be rejoicing on earth and in Heaven. The Lord’s light make our morning glad, the beauty of the Lord himself be upon us, making our souls lovely with his presence and strong with his grace. Amen.
Mat 2:11-15 .
11. And when they were come into the house they saw the young child (the child first, not the mother: this order should be marked) with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him (a word often used in a double sense; Xenophon says that Cyrus was worshipped by his subjects); and when they had opened their treasures (caskets or packages), they presented (according to oriental custom) unto him gifts: gold and frankincense, and myrrh, (Psa 45:8 , Psa 72:15 ; Isa 60:6 ).
12. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13. And when they were departed, behold, the (an) angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt (the nearest asylum), and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother (this order is unnatural, if not inspired) by night, and departed into Egypt;
15. And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet (of Israel, but typically of Christ), saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
“They found the young child with Mary, his mother.” Surely this is an inversion of the right method of stating the case, judged by our little rules, pedantic and inadequate. A critic might here interpose and say, You have adopted the wrong order of sequence, you have inverted the proper method of statement. Instead of saying, Mary, the mother, and the young child, you have actually put the young child first, and thus you have inverted the order of time. Nor is this a slip, for I find the angel of the Lord adopting the same sequence in the 13th verse, saying to Joseph in a dream, “Take the young child with his mother,” and afterwards in the 20th verse, the angel again says, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother,” and in the 21st verse, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother.” The frequency of the repetition shows us that to indicate the young child first and the mother afterwards was not a literary slip.
When will we learn that life is larger than logic? When will we keep our little technical rules away from great providences and mysteries? We are ruined herein by our own exactness. The literalist can never be right in anything that challenges the highest efforts of the mind. He who is right in the mere order of words, after a pedantic law of rightness and accuracy, often misses the genius, the poetry, the overflowing and ineffable life of things. He boasts of his exactitude, he is very clever in defending himself against etymological and critical assaults, but he is vitally wrong. Within the limits which he has assigned for the movement of his powers he is right, but those limits themselves are wrong, and, therefore, it is possible to be partially right and yet to be substantially and vitally in error. He, for example, who says the earth stands still, is in a popular sense right, and yet his statement is absolutely wrong.
If we could apply this great thought of the largeness of life to the interpretation of Scripture, we should not be fretted by many of those petty and distracting criticisms which bring down heaven to the scale of earth, and vex us with unworthy controversies. The rule is, Christ first the young child mentioned at the top of every list. “He was before all things and by him all things consist.” If he is Alpha, he is Omega; if he is the young child, he is the Ancient of Days. He takes precedence of the whole universe, for he was before it he laid its foundations, and arched its canopies. Refrain, therefore, from thy little and dwarfing criticisms as to chronological sequence, and abandon those neat exactitudes which, by their very superficial claim to being considered right, may prevent the entrance into thy mind of the larger light and the broader revelation.
When the wise men came into the house they fell down and worshipped the young child. They did not fall down and worship Mary they hardly saw the mother. Who can see anything but Christ when he is there? To see anything in God’s house but God is to waste the opportunity. The wise men worshipped the young child, they did him homage, they bent before him, they became oblivious of themselves in his presence; not a word might they say, for worship when deepest is often silent. Words have been hindrances in the way of spiritual progress. Words are to blame for the thousand controversies that afflict and distress the Church. I would to God we could do without words, for who can understand even his friend? Who can catch the subtle emphasis, who has eyes quickened to see the colouring of the word, and sagacity to set it in its right place, so as to lose nothing of its rhythm, and harmony, and sweet intent? Whatever the word worship may mean here, religiously for that word is used ambiguously both in the classics and in Scripture it is evident that the wise men offered homage to the young child. The right attitude of wisdom is to bend before Christ, to be silent in his presence, to wait for him to lead the conversation. If wisdom venture to utter its voice first, it ought to be in inquiry or in praise. Wisdom is always reticent of speech; it is the fool who chatters, the wise man thinks. When Socrates was told that he was the wisest man in the world, he ran away, and yet returned to accept the compliment, for, said he, “I knew that I knew nothing, and I have met with no other man so wise.”
If we come into the house where Jesus Christ is, our business is to imitate the wise men who came from the far east, namely, to bend the knee, to put our hand over our eyes, lest we be blinded by the great light, to be silent, to wait. It would be well, if in our brief time of worship we could set aside a few minutes for absolute silence. No minister to speak, no organ to utter its voice, no hymn to trouble the air. If we could, with shut eyes and bent head, spend five minutes in absolute speechlessness, that would be prayer, that would be worship. The fool would misunderstand it, and think nothing was being done, but as the last expression of velocity is rest, so the last expression of eloquence is silence, and sometimes the highest liturgy is to be dumb. We have banished the angel of silence, the angel of quietude is a nuisance to our fussy civilization; we have set noise in the front, and silence has been exiled from the Church.
Not only did the wise men worship Christ, they presented unto him gifts, “gold and frankincense and myrrh.” This is the method of love. Worship is giving, it is not receiving. We are never to see Christ without giving him ourselves. Jesus Christ does not seek the homage of a courteous recognition, he seeks the loyalty of absolute sacrifice. The wise men gave him all they had, and Jesus Christ never says, “Hold, you have given enough.” Never, till the heart’s last fibre is given to him, and the last red blood-drop falls upon his hand then, having received us in the totality of our being, his soul is satisfied.
“And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.” God is in continual communication with the right-minded. He speaks to them by starry eloquence. He speaks to them in words and visions and dreams. He is a God nigh at hand, and not afar off to all those who are rightly disposed towards him, and whose hearts rise up in vehement desire to know his will. He will be as near us as our desire is pure: the fire of our earnestness will be, as it were, the measure of his readiness to come and give us guidance and defence. He spake to the wise men in a dream. We have debased the word dream, and then we ask one another, with a hilarious scepticism if we believe in dreams? What word have we not fouled and despoiled, and then, having brought it to its smallest significations; we have turned round and asked if we believe that such terms can be measured by divine revelations? By overfeeding, we have brought upon ourselves all the distresses of dyspeptic nightmare, and having come out of the nightly struggle, we say, “Now do you suppose that there is any truth in dreams? ” See how the argument is put upon a false centre, see how we first waste the inheritance, and then demand its value?
What does the word dream signify? Not a nightmare, not the incoherences and ravings of a disordered brain, resulting from overfeeding. It means the outgo of the soul towards the invisible, distant, spiritual, incomprehensible, eternal. We have lost the dream out of the Church. We have lost everything prophecy, tongues, miracles, songs, gifts of healing, helps, governments, enthusiasms, heroisms we have lost them all! It is just like us fools, we ought never to have been trusted with anything! What have we left now? Nothing. Miracles gone, prophecy gone, the devil gone, God GOING. As for dreams, we have long survived their foolish means of communicating with the invisible. As for dreams, we despise them, and laugh mockingly over our smoking chocolate, and ask one another if we believe in dreams! Reclaim the original signification of the term, rebuild the shattered inheritance, and then ask the great question, and you shall have a great reply.
The dream stands for that grandest of all powers, the religious imagination. That, again, is a word which must be used with great guardedness, because the word imagination has itself been stripped, wounded, and left half-dead. Who can now define imagination with the original fire and with the original grandeur? We abuse and misapply the terms. We now say, speaking of a man who makes false suppositions, “He imagines things.” When we so use the word, we use it with improper limitations, and in short we give a wrong turn to the term. No wonder, therefore, that we are afraid to use the grand word imagination in any religious sense. It is only a man in a century or two who is really gifted with imagination. Imagination is a creative faculty, imagination images the unimaged, gives visibility and palpableness to the immaterial, the unmeasured and the unnamed.
When we charge certain persons with having no imagination, they start and say, “If we have one faculty more than another, it is imagination.” When we ask them to provide the proof, what do they reply? They mistake description for imagination; thus, they will describe an object as blue on one side and yellow on the other and surmounted by a coronal of red, and then they will claim for their speech the sublime epithet of imagination! It is a house painter’s imagination. It is the imagination of a man who paints rustic signs for rustic inns. Imagination! it is God’s supreme gift to the human mind. When a thought presents itself to the intelligence, imagination bodies it, gives it form, configuration, colour, and enters into high dialogue with the strange and most wondrous guest. The most of us have no imagination; the next best gift we can have is to listen with patience rising into delight, to the man to whom God has given this great gift of making the dumb speak, and calling into visibleness the unseen and unpalpable.
The wise men “departed into their country another way.” God knows the way into your countries and kingdoms, how distant soever they be. You have made a high road out of your Persia into the distant Judea, how will you get back again? Why, by the same road there is no other, say you, in conscious wisdom concerning the whole topographical arrangement. The angel of the Lord says, “I will show you the way home: not one step of the old road shall you take, I will make a way for you.” Do not say there is no way out of your difficulty. It is a family difficulty, or a difficulty imperial or ecclesiastical, or a difficulty upon which you can take no human counsel. Do not, therefore, say that your way is passed over from your God, that you have been brought into a cul de sac, and must bruise your head against the resisting and defiant walls. Stand still, and say, “Lord, show me thy salvation: take me home by another way: I thought this was the right road, I find that my thinking has been misinformed, or that circumstances have arisen which throw my calculations into preplexity and environ my life with strange and mighty opposition. Lord, I will not move one inch until thou dost lead the way.” Say you so is that your heart’s sweet litany? No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Oh, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, and he shall give thee thy heart’s desire.
This incident shows us in how many ways God interposes in human affairs. The angel of the Lord warned the wise men, and he also warned Joseph. There is a ministry of warning in our life. Why that sudden start? You cannot explain it. It was a frightening angel that looked upon your life for a moment, and by his look said, “Not this way straight on.” Why tear up the programme on which you have spent months? You cannot explain why, but a voice said to you, “That programme is all wrong, tear it to pieces and throw it into the fire: there is danger there. Beware, take care. Not this road. Trust not to thine own understanding. That programme is a witness to thy folly and shallowness: throw it from thee as thou wouldst throw poison, and stand empty-handed before God, and ask him to write the way-bill.” “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Lean not to thine own understanding.”
Sometimes God sends warnings to us in extraordinary ways by extraordinary people and under improbable circumstances. I am conscious of the presence of this warning ministry in my life, though I have no words subtle and keen enough wherewith to express all that I feel on that solemn subject. Shall I shake hands with yonder man? I think I will; he looks healthy, he looks kind, and yet in the midst of all these hopeful lucubrations, my hand takes sudden palsy and I will not shake hands with him, and cannot. How so? There is a warning angel in my life. I, poor unsuspecting fool, would shake hands with every man who smiles upon me, for I have no eye for the detection of the villain’s cheek, but the warning angel says, “Take care, go aside, he is a goodly apple rotten at the core.”
Not only is there a warning ministry in this incident, there is also a watching ministry. The angel of the Lord watched Herod, watched the young child and his mother, watched the wise men. O those watchers that fill the air your mother, your child, your friend, your guardian angel every one of us has an angel-self to be seen only with the eyes of the soul’s inspired imagination. They watch us night and day. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation?” I am alone, yet I am not alone, for God’s angel is with me. Do not live a little fleshly life, do not shut yourself up within the limits of your constabulary arrangements and imagine that no eye is upon you but the eye of detective and suspicious law. Love watches, redemption, embodied in Jesus Christ, watches, we are beset behind and before, and there is a hand upon us, and a kind eye is behind the cloud, looking now and again upon our life, and flashing a tender morning ray upon our long-bound and darkness-wearied souls.
Learn from the next passage in the incident, that man’s simple business in preplexity is to obey. “Joseph arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.” Obedience sometimes requires activity. The angel said, “Arise and flee.” That is the easiest part of obedience. There is no difficulty about fleeing, about exerting oneself; the blood heats, and activity is delight. God puts these calls to activity into our life at the right times and with the right measure of appointment. Why, you say, you would have died on the dear friend’s coffin, but that you were obliged to arouse yourself to attend to the last obsequies. Kind is the way of God even in these matters. When death darkens your window and turns your day into night it always says to you, “Arise and flee, work, arrange, settle,” and one of the first things you have to do in the midst of your intolerable agony is to bestir yourself. In that bestirring there is sometimes salvation.
After activity comes patience. The angel said, “And be thou there until I bring thee word.” That is the hard part of life. Whilst I am climbing the mountains, passing through the wildernesses, daring dangers, I feel comparatively quiet, or even glad. But to sit down when the angel tells, me to sit, and not to stir till he comes back again who can do it? I inquire of the first man who comes near me, whether I cannot get away out of Egypt? He says he thinks I can if I try the next turn, and I, disobedient soul, move towards the next turn, and if a wolf sent of God did not show its gleaming teeth at me there, I would be off, so fond am I of activity and self-direction, and so impossible is it to me to sit still and see the outworking of the divine will.
The true interpretation of human purposes is from God. Herod said, “I will worship him, when you bring me word.” The angel said, “Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” Herod said worship Herod meant destroy. The angel knows our meaning: God does not take our words always in the sense in which we offer them. He reads between the lines. He peruses the small print of the motive and of the inward and half-revealed or even half-formed desire. He shows us to ourselves. Sometimes when we say worship, he shows us by an analysis of our own acceptation of the term, that destroy is the proper meaning of our language. Lord, interpret my speech to me: I use words of false meaning, I think sometimes I mean to be religious show me that some religions are lies, and that some prayers are offences. Save me from being my own lexicographer: when I write a word, do thou, gentle Father, ever wise, write after it its true and proper meaning.
The young child, Mary and Joseph, are now at this point of the incident, away in Egypt. There are times of retreat in every great life, times when Christ must be driven into Egypt, when the prophet must be banished into solitude, when John the Baptist must be in the desert eating locusts and wild honey, when Saul of Tarsus must be driven off into Arabia times when we are not to be found. An asylum need not be a tomb, retreat need not be extinction. For a time you are driven away make the best of your leisure. You want to be at the front, instead of that you have been banished to the rear: it is for a wise purpose. Gather strength, let the brain sleep, yield yourself to the spirit of the quietness of God, and after what appears to be wasted time or unprofitable waiting, there shall come an inspiration into thy soul that shall make thee strong and fearless, and the banished one shall become the centre of nations.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Ver. 11. And when they were come into the house ] Not a palace prepared for the purpose, as the Porphyrogeniti in Constantinople had, but in an inn was Christ born, as ready to receive all that come unto him ( ); and in a hole of the earth, an underground den, as Justin Martyr, Epiphanius, Eusebius, and Origen witness. In hoc terrae foramine (saith St Jerome, ad Marcell. tom. 1) coelorum conditor natus est, hic involutus pannis, hic visus a pastoribus, hic adoratus a Magis, hic circumcisus, &c.: In this cell or hole was the world’s Creator born, swathed, visited, adored, circumcised.
They saw the young child ] For this Ancient of days, by joining his majesty to our vileness, his power to our weakness, suspended and laid aside his own glory, wherewith he was glorified with the Father before the world began, and voluntarily abased himself to the shape and state of a poor, feeble, helpless infant, that we might come to the fulness of the age in Christ. Eph 4:13 .
With Mary his mother ] Without any other assistance or attendance. Joseph haply was at work, or otherwise absent, lest the wise men should mistake him for the true father of the child.
And when they had opened their treasure, they presented unto him gifts ] No great matters to make him rich; for then, what needed the holy Virgin, at her purification, to have offered two young pigeons, as a token of her penury, that could not reach to a lamb? Yet something it was, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (sent them in by a special providence of God), to help to bear their charges into Egypt, whither they were now to flee.
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh ] The best commodities of their country, doubtless; thereby (as by a peppercorn or trifle, in way of homage or chief rent) they acknowledged Christ to be the true Proprietary and Lord of all. Of the elephant it is reported, that coming to feed, the first sprig he breaks he turns it toward heaven. Of the stork Pliny tells us, that she offers the firstfruits of her young ones to God, by casting one of them out of the nest. a God is content we have the benefit of his creatures, so he may have the glory of them: this is all the loan he looketh for, and for this, as he indents with us,Psa 50:15Psa 50:15 , so the saints promise in return, Gen 28:22 . But he cannot abide that we pay this rent to a wrong landlord, whether to ourselves, asDeu 8:17Deu 8:17 , or to our fellow creatures, as they to their sweethearts, Hos 2:5 .
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh ] Aurum, Thus, Myrrham, Regique, Hominique, Deoque. A little of each, as Gen 43:11 . Lycurgus made a law that no man should be too costly or bountiful in his offering of sacrifice, lest at length he should grow weary of the charge, and give God up. b Ought we not (saith one) often in soul to go with the wise men to Bethlehem, being directed by the star of grace, and there fall down and worship the little King; there offer the gold of charity, the frankincense of devotion, the myrrh of penitence; and then return, not by cruel Herod or troubled Jerusalem, but another way, a better way, unto our long and happy home? (Sutton’s Disce Virere. )
a Hinc pietatis cultrix a Latinis dicitur, Hafida ab Hebraeis. Amasii Trem.
b . Plut.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11. ] No stress must be laid on the omission of Joseph here. In the parallel account as regarded the shepherds, in Luk 2:16 , he is mentioned. I would rather regard the omission here as indicating a simple matter of fact , and contributing to shew the truthfulness of the narrative: that Joseph happened not to be present at the time. If the meaning of is to be pressed (as in a matter of detail I think it should), it will confirm the idea that Joseph and Mary, probably under the idea that the child was to be brought up at Bethlehem, dwelt there some time after the Nativity. Epiphanius supposes that Mary was at this time on a visit to her kindred at Bethlehem (possibly at a passover) as much as two years after our Lord’s birth. (Hrr. xx. xxx. 29, Lev 8 , vol. i. pp. 48, 154, 430.) But if Mary had kindred at Bethlehem, how could she be so ill-provided with lodging, and have (as is implied in Luk 2:7 ) sought accommodation at an inn? And the supposition of two years having elapsed, derived probably from the of Mat 2:16 , will involve us in considerable difficulty. There seems to be no reason why the magi may not have come within the forty days before the Purification, which itself may have taken place in the interval between their departure and Herod’s discovery that they had mocked him. No objection can be raised to this view from the of Mat 2:16 : see note there. The general idea is, that the Purification was previous to the visit of the magi. Being persuaded of the historic reality of these narratives of Matt. and Luke, we shall find no difficulty in also believing that, were we acquainted with all the events as they happened, their reconcilement would be an easy matter; whereas now the two independent accounts, from not being aware of, seem to exclude one another. This will often be the case in ordinary life; e.g. in the giving of evidence. And nothing can more satisfactorily shew the veracity and independence of the narrators, where their testimony to the main facts, as in the present case, is consentient. (I must caution the reader against the misunderstanding of these last remarks in Bishop Ellicott’s Lectures on the Life of our Lord, p. 70, note 4; and indeed of my own views as regards apparently irreconcilable narrative in the Gospels, generally throughout his notes to that work.)
] chests or bales , in which the gifts were carried during their journey. The ancient Fathers were fond of tracing in the gifts symbolical meanings: , , . Origen, ag. Celsus, i. 60, vol. i. p. 375, and similarly Irenus, iii. 9. 2, p. 184: . (Clem. Alex [10] Pd. ii. 8 (63), p. 206 [11] .) We cannot conclude from these gifts that the magi came from Arabia , as they were common to all the East. Strabo says, xvi. p. 1129, Wets [12] ., that the best frankincense comes from the borders of Persia.
[10] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
[11] By these symbols are designated the portions of two ancient MSS., discernible (as also are fragments of Ulphilas’ gothic version) under the later writing of a volume known as the Codex Carolinus in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbttel. P (GUELPHERBYTANUS A) contains fragments of each of the Gospels. Q (GUELPH. B) fragments of Luke and John. Both are probably of the sixth century . They were edited by F. A. Knittel in 1762; and, more thoroughly, by Tischendorf in 1860 [1869], Monumenta Sacra, vol. iii. [vi.]
[12] Wetstein.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 2:11 . The Magi enter and do homage . . . . : the house . In Luke the shepherds find the holy family in a stable , and the holy child lying in a manger; reconcilable by assuming that the Magi arrived after they had found refuge in a friend’s house (Epiphan. Theophy.). . . : better than , which seems to have been introduced by the copyists as not only in itself suitable to the situation, but relieving the monotony caused by too frequent use of (Mat 2:9-10 ). The child with His mother , Joseph not mentioned, not intentionally, that no wrong suspicions might occur to the Gentiles (Rabanus in Aquin. Cat. Aur. ). . They come, eastern fashion, with full hands, as befits those who enter into the presence of a king. They open the boxes or sacks ( , some ancient copies seem to have read = sacculos, which Grotius, with probability, regards as an interpretative gloss that had found its way into the text, vide Epiphanius Adv. Haer. Alogi., c. 8), and bring forth gold, frankincense and myrrh , the two latter being aromatic gums distilled from trees. : in classic Greek, the tree, in later Greek and N. T., the gum, = , vide Phryn. ed. Lobeck, p. 187. The gifts were of three kinds, hence the inference that the Magi were three in number. That they were kings was deduced from texts in Psalms and Prophecies ( e.g. , Psa 72:10 , Isa 60:3 ), predicting that kings would come doing homage and bringing gifts to Messiah. The legend of the three kings dates as far back as Origen, and is beautiful but baseless. It grew with time; by-and-by the kings were furnished with names. The legendary spirit loves definiteness. The gifts would be products of the givers’ country, or in high esteem and costly there. Hence the inference drawn by some that the Magi were from Arabia. Thus Grotius: “Myrrha nonnisi in Arabia nascitur, nec thus nisi apud Jabaeos Arabum portionem: sed et aurifera est felix Arabia”. Gold and incense ( ) are mentioned in Isa 60:6 among the gifts to be brought to Israel in the good time coming. The fathers delighted in assigning to these gifts of the Magi mystic meanings: gold as to a king, incense as to God, myrrh as to one destined to die ( ). Grotius struck into a new line: gold = works of mercy; incense = prayer; myrrh = purity to the disgust of Fritzsche, who thought such mystic interpretations beneath so great a scholar.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
into. Greek. eis. App-104.
into the house. Not therefore at Bethlehem, for that would have been into the stable. See note Mat 2:1. There is no “discrepancy” here.
Child. Greek. paidion. See App-108.
Mary. See App-100.
Him. Not Mary. treasures = receptacles or treasure cases. gold, &c. From three gifts being mentioned tradition concluded that there were three men. But it does not say so, nor that they were kings. These presents supplied their immediate needs.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11. ] No stress must be laid on the omission of Joseph here. In the parallel account as regarded the shepherds, in Luk 2:16, he is mentioned. I would rather regard the omission here as indicating a simple matter of fact, and contributing to shew the truthfulness of the narrative:-that Joseph happened not to be present at the time. If the meaning of is to be pressed (as in a matter of detail I think it should), it will confirm the idea that Joseph and Mary, probably under the idea that the child was to be brought up at Bethlehem, dwelt there some time after the Nativity. Epiphanius supposes that Mary was at this time on a visit to her kindred at Bethlehem (possibly at a passover) as much as two years after our Lords birth. (Hrr. xx. xxx. 29, li. 8, vol. i. pp. 48, 154, 430.) But if Mary had kindred at Bethlehem, how could she be so ill-provided with lodging, and have (as is implied in Luk 2:7) sought accommodation at an inn? And the supposition of two years having elapsed, derived probably from the of Mat 2:16, will involve us in considerable difficulty. There seems to be no reason why the magi may not have come within the forty days before the Purification, which itself may have taken place in the interval between their departure and Herods discovery that they had mocked him. No objection can be raised to this view from the of Mat 2:16 : see note there. The general idea is, that the Purification was previous to the visit of the magi. Being persuaded of the historic reality of these narratives of Matt. and Luke, we shall find no difficulty in also believing that, were we acquainted with all the events as they happened, their reconcilement would be an easy matter; whereas now the two independent accounts, from not being aware of, seem to exclude one another. This will often be the case in ordinary life; e.g. in the giving of evidence. And nothing can more satisfactorily shew the veracity and independence of the narrators, where their testimony to the main facts, as in the present case, is consentient. (I must caution the reader against the misunderstanding of these last remarks in Bishop Ellicotts Lectures on the Life of our Lord, p. 70, note 4; and indeed of my own views as regards apparently irreconcilable narrative in the Gospels, generally throughout his notes to that work.)
] chests or bales, in which the gifts were carried during their journey. The ancient Fathers were fond of tracing in the gifts symbolical meanings: , , . Origen, ag. Celsus, i. 60, vol. i. p. 375, and similarly Irenus, iii. 9. 2, p. 184:- . (Clem. Alex[10] Pd. ii. 8 (63), p. 206 [11].) We cannot conclude from these gifts that the magi came from Arabia,-as they were common to all the East. Strabo says, xvi. p. 1129, Wets[12]., that the best frankincense comes from the borders of Persia.
[10] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
[11] By these symbols are designated the portions of two ancient MSS., discernible (as also are fragments of Ulphilas gothic version) under the later writing of a volume known as the Codex Carolinus in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbttel. P (GUELPHERBYTANUS A) contains fragments of each of the Gospels. Q (GUELPH. B) fragments of Luke and John. Both are probably of the sixth century. They were edited by F. A. Knittel in 1762; and, more thoroughly, by Tischendorf in 1860 [1869], Monumenta Sacra, vol. iii. [vi.]
[12] Wetstein.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 2:11. , they saw) Sweetly is expressed the increase and progress of their joy from that of seeing the star to that of seeing the KING Himself. The inferior reading, [94] (they found), corresponds with the words of Herod, Enquire diligently, and when ye have found, etc. But the star, by becoming stationary, spared the Magi the labour of enquiring. They did not so much find as see. Cf. Luk 2:17; Luk 2:20; Luk 2:26; Luk 2:30.- , they worshipped Him) Mary was not an object of worship to the Magi. If she had been conceived without sin, as the greater portion of the Roman Church has now decided, why should she not then have been worshipped as well as now? for she was then already the Mother of the King, who was to be worshipped.- , their treasures) or receptacles of treasures. The Hebrew , which is rendered by the LXX. ; in Pro 8:21, etc., signifies a storehouse, a repository, even a portable chest or casket.-, they offered) as to a King. They were not offended by His present poverty.-, , , gold, and frankincense, and myrrh) from the productions of their own country. There was a prediction concerning gold and frankincense in Isa 60:6. These first fruits showed that all things were to belong to Christ, even in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, etc.-See Hag 2:8.
[94] BCDa read . bc, Vulg. and Rec. Text, with less authority, .-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
they saw: Luk 2:16, Luk 2:26-32, Luk 2:38
worshipped: Mat 2:2, Mat 4:9, Mat 4:10, Mat 14:33, Psa 2:12, Psa 95:6, Joh 5:22, Joh 5:23, Act 10:25, Act 10:26, Rev 19:10, Rev 22:8-10
presented: or, offered, Gen 43:11, 1Sa 10:27, 1Ki 10:2, 1Ki 10:10, Psa 72:10, Psa 72:15, Isa 60:6
frankincense: Exo 30:23, Exo 30:34, Lev 2:1, Lev 2:2, Lev 6:15, Num 7:14, Num 7:86, Psa 45:8, Mal 1:11, Rev 5:8
Reciprocal: Gen 17:17 – fell Gen 24:52 – worshipped Exo 35:22 – every man Deu 16:16 – and they shall 1Ki 10:25 – every man 2Ch 9:1 – spices 2Ch 17:5 – presents 2Ch 32:23 – gifts Psa 45:12 – with Pro 19:6 – will Isa 18:7 – shall the Mat 8:2 – worshipped Mat 20:20 – worshipping Mar 5:22 – he fell Luk 4:7 – worship me Luk 5:8 – he Luk 8:3 – of their Luk 17:16 – fell Rev 4:10 – fall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CHRIST IN COMMON LIFE
When they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him.
Mat 2:11
Think of those Magi, great men in their own land, rich men, powerful men,men who could undertake a long journey, and bring great wealth with them,what did they find at last? A royal infant, royally attended,such as, no doubt, they had expected? Quite the reverse: the babe of a poor peasant woman, in great humility. What an end to what a journey! This, to be the end to which a Star in Heaven had led them! This, the goal to which a King, instructed by the priests of God, had directed them! How strange it must have seemed! Did they doubt, or what? By no means.
I. The best for the poor.They worshipped him immediately. Did they think that it would be a mistake to pour out all their costly gifts before so poor a family? No, they offered all. The way of the world is only to give valuable presents to rich people. Small gifts are good enough for poor people. And if these Magi had gone the way of the world, when they found what a poor family it was they had come to, they would have kept back most of their expensive offerings, and given just what would do decently for the poor family before them. They did the reverse. They gave their best. They offered all. And so they proved their thorough Faith. They not only worshipped Him, but they also made Him offerings, which showed that their worship was no empty form, but a reality, although they must have been astonished more than one can express, that, after all their journeys and all their marvels of the Divine Star, it was only to a peasants cradle that they had come.
II. Our commonplace duties.How often must not we have been astonished when, after some series of circumstances which has caused us much perplexity, all that we come to is some very commonplace ending, some new position in life where the duties seem excessively commonplace, extremely unimportant, hardly worth taking particular notice of. Beware if you think this. Those commonplace duties are like the Bethlehem Cradle. In them, in fulfilling them, you shall find Christ. If it has been worth Gods while to lead you to them, it is worth your while to attend to them. In doing them with all your heart you are worshipping Him, even as the Magi were worshipping the Lord of Heaven in the lowly cradle. With all your heart, I say, and with all your means and powers. Do not say, This is a very unimportant matter, I will only give it such pains as it is worth.
III. Gods leadings.In all that God leads you to undertake, be it ever so small to look at, do your best. The Magi offered their best, and so they went away with a blessing. Therefore in all that God leads you untodo your utmost. Who are we that we should be able to judge what is important and what is unimportant? If it had not been important, would God have led you to it? That is enough for us; remembering that if we do our duty, holding back nothing, the humble duty on which we spend our all will have been to us as the Cradle of Bethlehem to the Magi. In it we shall have found Christ.
Illustration
God guides us as much, and perhaps much more, by the things which happen to us in our daily lives, than by any inner speaking to our hearts. And this is most especially true in the earlier stages of our religion. As a matter of actual fact, it is by no means safe for those who are comparatively beginners to trust to their power to understand the inner voice of Gods guidance. It takes time and experience to enable them safely to discriminate between what is really Divine, and what is only their own fancy. There can be no mistake about plain facts. The message of our circumstances is usually very distinct. Of course we can shut our eyes to it, if we please: or we may turn our eyes away from it. But generally circumstances are so clear that we have to turn our eyes away in order to avoid seeing what they mean. Hence for beginners it is best to gather Gods will about them from His outward leadings, just as it was not by an inner voice, but by a visible Star, that God led these Gentiles to the Cradle of the Lord.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2:11
Verse 11. They worshiped him, not the mother. For the meaning of worshiped see the note at verse 2. Gifts isfrom DORON and Thayer says in this place that it means “gifts offered as an expression of honor.” An infant this young could not have personal appreciation tor material articles, hence the performance was in token of their recognition at his dignified importance. It was customary in old times to show recognition of either social or official rank by making presents. (See Gen 32:13; 1Sa 10:27 and the comments on those passages.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 2:11. The house. Probably not the place where Jesus was born, but temporary lodgings, in which they remained until the forty days of purification were accomplished. If the event falls within that period it would be easy to find the house, since the story told by the shepherds would not be so soon forgotten in a little place like Bethlehem.
With Mary, his mother, not Mary with her child (as the later Mariolatry would have it). The same order occurs in Mat 2:13-14; Mat 2:20-21. Joseph seems to have been absent.
And they fell down and worshipped him, and Him alone. The worship was more than the usual reverence to kings, or the journey of the Magi would seem unaccountable (comp. Mat 2:2).
Opening their treasures. The bags or boxes containing their treasures.
Gifts to a superior sovereign were usual in the East
Gold. Offered -chiefly to kings and gods.
Frankincense. A resinous transparent gum of bitter taste and fragrant odor, used in sacrifices and temple worship, distilled from a tree in Arabia and India.
Myrrh. An aromatic gum, produced from a thorn-bush, indigenous in Arabia and Ethiopia, but growing also in Palestine, used for fumigation and for improving the taste of wine, but especially as an ingredient of a very precious ointment. The Greek word is smyrna. These gifts were costly, but give no clue to the home of the magi, nor do they indicate their number or rank.
The holy family were thus providentially supplied with means for the journey to Egypt, and for the purification of Mary. Strangers from a distance must be the instruments of providing for the born King of the Jews; the promised Messiah supported in his poverty by heathen. Offering to the Lord what we have; He knows how to put it to the very best use. These heathen show how the sight of Christ not only leads earnest hearts to worship, but willing hands to give.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 11
Worshipped him; prostrated themselves before him, according to the Eastern custom of doing homage to kings.–Frankincense; a gum which, when burnt, produced a very fragrant smoke.–Myrrh; a very valuable gum, used in embalming the dead.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and {h} fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their {i} treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
(h) A kind of humble and lovely reverence.
(i) The rich and costly presents, which they brought him.