Is removed by an angel. 51 SECT. viii. Mat. be with child; and this pregnancy was (as we have been informed above) by the miraculous 19 Then Joseph operation of the Holy Spirit. Now Joseph her her husband, being a husband, being a righteous man', perceiving there I. 19. just man, and not willing to make her a was something very extraordinary in the case, public example, was and being by no means willing to expose her to minded to put her away privily. these 20 But while he thought on things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, not to take unto thee thou son of David, fear public infamy by any severe prosecution, never- And as he was revolving these things in his mind 20 during the night-season, full of the thoughts of what he was to do, he fell asleep; and, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said unto him, Joseph, thou son of David, (as being lineally descended from him) fear not to Mary thy wife; for take home Mary thy wife, according to the espouthat which is conceiv- sals that have passed between you, though there may seem some danger of bringing a reflection on thyself and family; for that which is begotten and formed in her, is of no human original, but was produced by the miraculous and unexampled 21 And she shall operation of the Holy Spirit himself. And, in 21 thou consequence of it, when her time is fulfilled, ed in her, is of the Holy Ghost. bring forth a Son, and 2 A righteous man.] It is without any just reason that this text is often assigned as an instance where the word dixato; is used to signify merciful, and some accordingly have here translated it a good-natured man. If we consider the information which Joseph might have received from persons of such an extraordinary character as Zacharias and Elizabeth, (who would certainly think themselves obliged to interpose on such an occasion, and whose story so remarkably carried its own evidence along with it) besides the intimation the prophecy of Isaiah gave, and the satisfaction he undoubtedly had in the virtuous character of Mary herself, we must conclude that he had acted a very severe and unrighteous part, had he proceeded to extremities without serious deliberation; and that putting her away privately would, in these circumstances, have been the hardest measure which justice would have suffered him to take. b To expose her to public infamy.] It is very possible waşadıymalıon. may here she refer to that exemplary punishment which c An angel of the Lord.] Probably a Call 52 Joseph commanded to name the child, Jesus. SECT. she shall bring forth a Son; and thou, under thou shalt call his name viii. Mat. Jesus: for he shall whose protection and care he shall be placed save his people froin during his infancy, shalt call his name Jesus, their sins. I. 21. that is, God the Saviour; for he shall prove that 22 glorious and divine person intended by God 22 (Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, Now all this was done (that is, this miraculous conception, together with all the circumstances proper to attend it, was effected) that this celebrated prophecy might be accomplished which the Lord had so long before spoken by the prophet Isaiah, (Is. vii. 14.) cho said to the house of David in the reign of Ahaz, when it seemed in the utmost danger of being destroyed, 23" Behold, and attend to it with a becoming regard, while I assure you that God will accom- and shall bring forth a plish a yet nobler work than what he is ready Son, and they shall call to perform in your deliverance from Pekah his name Emmanuel, and the son of Tabeal; for an unspotted vir- which, being interpretgin, descended many ages bence from this royal family now to be rescued, shall, in a miraculous manner, conceive, and bring forth a Son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel;" which, being translated, signifies God with us, that is, d Call his name Jesus.] Bishop Pearson e That this prophecy might be accom- God ed, is, God with us.) then a virgin, when she was married, was no such miraculous event as to answer such a pompous introduction; and that it seems most reasonable to interpret Isa. vii. 16. as referring to Shearjushub, whom Isaiah was ordered to take in his hand (ver. 3.) for no other imaginable reason but that something remarkable was to be said of him. So that the general sense, in short, is this: "You have affronted God by refusing a sign now; yet his transcendant mercy will make your present forfeited deliverance, (by the death of these confederate kings, which shall happen before [HANAHAR] this child in my hand is grown up to the exercise of reason) a sign of a much nobler deliverance by the Messiah, who shall be born of an immaculate virgin, and condescend to pass through the tender scenes of infancy as other children do." Compare Isa. vii. 10-16. And see Bishop Chandler's excellent remarks on this text, in his Defence of Christianity, page 325-331. Mr. Green's 4th Letter to Mr. Collins; and Usher's Annals, zi. M. 3262. Reflections on the tidings of Christ's incarnation. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel viii. God dwelling in our nature, on the most gra- SECT. cious and important design; a name in signification nearly equivalent to that of Jesus. Mat. Then Joseph, arising from his sleep, with entire 1.24. satisfaction and humble acknowledgment, did of the Lord had bid- as the angel of the Lord had appointed him; and den him, and took unto without any farther delay, took home Mary his 25 And knew her wife. Nevertheless, in expectation of this won- 25 not till she bad brought derful event, and out of reverence to this sacred forth her first-born Son; birth, he knew her not as a wife, though she dwelt and he called his name under his roof; but she continued a pure virgin him his wife; Jesus. even till she had brought forth her divinely be- IMPROVEMENT. We see here, in Joseph, an excellent pattern of gentleness and Ver. prudence. In an affair which appeared dubious, he chose, as we 19 should always do, rather to err on the favourable, than on the severe extreme. He was careful to avoid any precipitate steps; and, in the moments of deliberation, God interposes to guide and 20 determine his resolves. With what wonder and pleasure did he receive these glad tidings! With what pleasure should we also receive them! For we too are informed of Jesus who came to save his people from their 21 sins. An important and glorious salvation indeed! Hosannah to him that cometh in the name of the Lord! Blessed Jesus! answer thy character in delivering us not only from sin's condemning, but from its reigning power! Till she had brought forth her Son, the first-born.] There seems to be some peculiar emphasis in the expression, Toy aulas Tov Teuloloxov, which justifies the turn I have given to the words. Compare Luke ii. 7. (where the very same words are used with a remarkable exactness ;) Rom. viii. 29. Col. i. 15. and Heb. i. 6. -Though I confess the force of the learned and candid Dr. Daniel Scott's remarks on this note to be such as to convince me that this expression might have been used with regard to the first-born son of any family, and consequently, that no certain argument of Christ's superior dignity and glory can be drawn from it, yet, from the pen of one so deeply impressed with the thought of it as Luke as well as Matthew was, I think it may probably contain some VOL. VL Let references to it. On what terms Joseph F g In 53 54 SECT. viii. The genealogy of Christ from Abraham, Let our souls bow to Emmanuel, our incarnate God: and, while with holy wonder we survey the various scenes of his humiliation, Mat. let us remember too his native dignity and his divine glory. By 1. 21. him God hath fulfilled his ancient promises in the most ample and glorious manner, in the fulness of time sending forth his Son, made of a woman, and sprung like a tender shoot from the decayed stock of David his servant. 22 While we study the oracles of the Old Testament, let us with pleasure trace the notices of the great Messiah there, even of Jesus, to whom all the prophets give witness. May his name be ever inscribed upon our hearts! In that name may we lift up our banners, and judge those reproaches a glory which we may meet with in his sacred cause ? ! SECT. ix. 1. 1. SECT. IX. The genealogy of Christ from Abraham, as B MAT. I. 1. recorded by Matthew; Mat. I. 1-17. Luke Mat. I. 1. neration of Jesus EFORE we proceed to the birth of this THE book of the geDivine Infant, whose conception was so Christ, the son of DaMat. very remarkable, it will be proper to give some vid, the son of Abraaccount of his descent according to the flesh. ham. And we shall therefore introduce it with a table of the genealogy of Jesus Christ; which is intended, not only as an introduction to his history, but more especially to shew that he was the son of David, and the son of Abraham, as it was often foretold the Messiah should be. (Compare Psal. cxxxii. 11. Isa. xi. 1. Jer. xxiii. 5. xxxiii. 15. and Gen. xii. 3. xxii. 18. xxvi. 4. xxviii. 14.) 2 Now it is well known that Abraham, that 2 Abraham begat renowned patriarch and friend of God, from Isaac, and Isaac begat whom the whole Jewish nation had the honour Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his breto descend, begat Isaac in his old age, that son thren. of Sarah, according to the promise, with whom God's covenant was established; and Isaac begat g In his sacred cause.] There was, humauly speaking, a probability that Joseph might have brought some suspicion on his character, or reflection on his family by admitting Mary in these circumstances. a The genealogy of Jesus Christ.] I am well aware that the word yes, and the Hebrew TILEDETH which corresponds to it, sometimes signifies the history of a person's life (as well as other things,) and not merely his genealogy; (compare Gen. i. 9. xxxviii. 2. Judith xiii. 18. Jam. i. 23. Jacob and iii. 6. Gr.) and that the learned Vitringa understands it so in this place: (See Vitring. Observ. Sacr. lib. i. dissert. i. pag. 39.) Yet, as it is much more frequently used in the latter sense (see Gen. v. 1. x. 1. xi. 10-27. xxv. 12. xxxvi. 1, 9. Numb. i. 20, &c. and Ruth iv. 18. in all which places it is applied to genealogies), I think it best, with the learned Dr. Scott, to render it as above; only giving a little hint of the more extensive sense the word may possibly bear. 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of begat Esrom, and Esrom begat Aram; Thamar, and Phares And Aram begat Aminidab, and Amini Naasson begat Salmon; dab begat Naasson, and 5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab, and Jesse; As recorded by St. Matthew. ix. 55 Jacob, on whom also it was entailed in preference SECT. And as Judah was the person to whom that ex- And, after their settlement in Canaan, Salmon 5 begat Boaz of Rahab, who had been a native of that country, but entertained the spies at Jericho, and, afterwards embracing the Jewish religion, had the honour to be thus incorporated with this noble family; and Boaz their son begat Obed of Ruth, the Moabitess, who had so resolutely chosen to adhere to the God and people of Israel; and Obed, in a very advanced age, 6 And Jesse begat begat Jesse: And Jesse begat, besides several 6 David b Till Shiloh, that is, the Messiah, came.] This sense of Jacob's prophecy is so beautifully illustrated and so strongly asserted by the learned Dr. Sherlock, bishop of London, in his Discourses on Prophecy, Dissert. 3. page 317, &c. that, if I was writing on this passage of the Old Testament, I should have little to do but to refer my reader to it. c Of Rahab.] It is not indeed expressly said she was Rahab of Jericho, commonly called the harlot; but I think there can be no room to doubt it, as we know she was contemporary with Salmon, and may conclude that she (this Rahab) was, as all the other women mentioned in this list, a remarkable person. Now there was no other of that name, especially ofthis age, of whom the compiler of this table could (so far as we can judge) suppose his reader to have any knowledge. d Boaz begat Obed of Ruth the Moabitess.] The son of a Moabite, by an Israelitish woman, could never be allowed to enter into the congregation of the Lord; that elder is, at least he was rendered incapable of e Obed, in a very advanced age, begat Jehoram Mat. 1. 3. |