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By the preaching of John

CHAPTER III.

many are brought to repentance.

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A. M. 4030. camel's hair, and a leathern girdle || all Judea, and all the region round A. Μ. 4030. about his loins; and his meat was hlocusts and wild honey.

about Jordan,
6 1 And were baptized of him in Jordan, con-

5 * Then went out to him Jerusalem, and fessing their sins.

h Leviticus xi. 22.1 Samuel xiv. 25, 26.

k Marki. 5; Luke iii. 7.1 Acts xix. 4, 18.

the months of April and May are the time when locusts abound, it has been conjectured that John || began his ministry about that season of the year, which might also seem more convenient for receiv

the river, and that John, passing along before them, cast water on their heads, or faces, by which means, he might baptize many thousands in a day." This, it must be confessed, most naturally signified Christ's

ing, and especially for baptizing, so great a number || baptizing them with the Holy Ghost and with fire,

of people, than the winter could have been.

Verse 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem-That is, the citizens of it, famed as they were for wisdom and virtue: and all Judea, &c. -The preacher being described, the evangelist proceeds to tell us what auditors he had. All sorts and ranks of persons, and the generality of the people there, flocked to hear him. The uncommon circumstances of John's public appearance could scarcely fail to awaken the attention of the people to his person and ministry, which would be yet more excited by the time of it: for the Roman yoke began to bear hard upon them, and their uneasiness under it raised in their minds the most impatient desire of the Messiah's arrival, by whom they expected not only deliverance, but universal monarchy. No wonder, therefore, that they flocked to the Baptist from all parts, and listened attentively while he proclaimed

which John spoke of as prefigured by his baptizing with water: and which was eminently fulfilled when the Holy Ghost sat upon the disciples, in the appearance of tongues, or flames of fire. But be this as it may: supposing that John baptized by immersion, it will not follow from hence, that immersion is essential to baptism; the washing of the soul from the guilt of sin, by the blood of Christ, or from the power and pollution of sin, by the Spirit of God, (the things signified by baptism,) being expressed by sprinkling or pouring water on a person, as well as by plunging him in it. See Isaiah xliv. 3; Ezek. xxxvi. 25; Col. ii. 12. And as Cyprian observes, in his 76th Epistle to Magnus: "Baptism is rather of the mind by faith, than of the body by immersion in water: this being only a visible sign of an invisible baptism." It is admired by some, that this practice of John did not excite more stir,

this long-expected Messiah's approach, and de-and meet with more opposition among the Jews.

nounced the divine vengeance upon such as rejected him. Add to this, the novelty of a prophet's appearance in Israel, (for it seems they had had none among them since Malachi's time;) the family of John, the circumstances of his birth, and the extraordinary character he had no doubt maintained for strict and undissembled piety; the new doctrine he taught, and his fervent manner of urging it, together with the new rite of baptism which he brought in; -all concurred, with the cause mentioned above, to draw such vast multitudes after him. And, it appears, great numbers of them were brought under

:

But it must be observed, that baptizing was not a ceremony entirely new. For, "there were two kinds of baptism in use among the Jews; one was that of the priests at their consecration, Lev. viii. 6; the other was that of the heathens proselyted to the Jewish religion. It was, therefore, no unheard-of rite which the Messiah's harbinger made use of. His countrymen were well acquainted both with the thing itself and its signification. They knew that it denoted some great change, either in the opinions or practices of those who submitted to it, and implied a promise of acceptance with God.

very serious impressions by his faithful remonstran- | Moreover, they had been led by a passage in their

ces, expostulations, and warnings. Here we observe a remarkable difference between John and Jesus. That the people might hear John they were under the necessity of going out of the city, and travelling to him into the desert: but Jesus, of his own accord, went to his hearers.

sacred books, Zech. xiii. 1, to expect, that either the Messiah himself, or some of his attendants, would baptize; as is evident from the question which the messengers of the Sanhedrim put to the Baptist, John i. 25: Why baptizest thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias? They must have known,

Verse 6. And were baptized of him in Jordan- | therefore, that John's baptism represented purifica

Namely, those that were awakened to repentance. It has been questioned by many, whether John baptized these immense multitudes by dipping them in Jordan? In answer to which it has been observed, "that such prodigious numbers could hardly be baptized by immerging their whole bodies under water: nor can we think they were provided with change of raiment for it, which was scarce practicable for such vast multitudes. And yet they could not be immerged naked with modesty, nor in their wearing apparel with safety." It has been thought, therefore, "that they stood in ranks on the edge of || did he baptize them with the Holy Ghost, a circum

tion both of heart and life, as necessary even to Jews themselves, before they could become the subjects of so holy a prince as the Messiah; and that it was a solemn obligation, binding those who received it to lead such lives. Hence, as Dr. Whitby observes, they are mistaken who think John's baptism the same in kind with that which Christ afterward instituted, for admission of disciples into his Church. The difference between the two was considerable: 1st, John did not baptize either in the name of Christ, or of the Holy Ghost; much less John sharply reproves the

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7 But when he saw many of to his baptism, he said unto them, A. Μ. 4030. the Pharisees and Sadducees comem O generation of vipers, who hath

m Chap. xii. 34; xxiii. 33; Luke iii. 7-9.

stance mentioned by himself, as what remarkably distinguished Christ's baptism from his. 2, They who were baptized with John's baptism did not profess their faith in the Messiah as actually come, neither did they receive his baptism in testimony of their entertaining that belief; for after having administered it he exhorted his disciples to believe on Him who was to come.

cerning sins committed after baptism, but of those who were to be baptized. It therefore differs widely from, and gives no countenance to, the auricular confession of the Church of Rome.

Verse 7. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, &c. -These are not names of office, but of sects, or sorts of persons of different opinions in Therefore his baptism | matters of religion. There were three religious

could not initiate men into the Christian Church, as appears likewise by the apostles' rebaptizing some who had been baptized by John. Acts xix. 4, 5. 3d, John's was the baptism of repentance, whereby all that had a sense of their sins, and professed repentance, were promised pardon, and exhorted to believe in the Messiah, who was soon to appear. Or, it was a washing with water, to show the Jews that they must be cleansed, not only from their prejudices and vices, but that they must relinquish Judaism in order to their becoming fit members of the Messiah's kingdom." - Macknight. Indeed, John, properly speaking, was not a gospel minister, nor his ministry a gospel ministry; for that state of the Church was not then begun; but, as he was a middle person between both testaments, greater

sects among the Jews,---the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Of the latter, indeed, we read nothing in the Holy Scriptures. We shall only, therefore, observe concerning them, that their way of life was very singular. They did not marry, but adopted the children of others, whom they brought up in the institutions of their sect. They despised riches, and had all things in common, and never changed their clothes till they were entirely worn out. When initiated they were strictly bound not to communicate the mysteries of their sect to others; and if any of their members were found guilty of any enormous crime they were expelled. As to their doctrine, they allowed a future state, but denied the resurrection of the body. The reason why we find no mention of them in the New Testament

than the prophets, less than a gospel minister, Matt. || may be their recluse and retired way of life, no less

xi. 11, 13, so his ministry was a sort of middle ministry, the chief drift whereof was to prepare people to receive Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah: in order whereunto he laboured to convince them of their sins, and their need of a Saviour, by preaching repentance, verse 2; and pointed out the Messiah to them, John i. 29; and baptized them as a sign of repentance, on their part, and an assurance of pardon on God's part. John's baptism, therefore, was only a temporary sacrament or institution, set up upon a particular occasion; which, as it agreed with Christ's in the external sign, so was perfected by his. See Grotius. Confessing their sins-Acknowledging their offences, and condemning their former lives, and that freely and of their own accord: for it does not appear that the

than their great simplicity and honesty, in consequence of which they lay open to no censure or reproof. - The Pharisees were a very ancient sect. They are said to have made their first appearance about 150 years before Christ. It is certain from the account given by Josephus, Ant., lib. xii., cар. 10., sect. 5, 6, that in the time of John Hyrcanus, the high priest, about 108 years before Christ, the sect was not only formed, but made a considerable figure; and that it had advanced to a high degree of popularity and power about thirty years after that period. They took their name from the Hebrew word פרסpharas, which signifies to separate, because they seemed to separate themselves from all others by their peculiar manner of living. They pretended to have greater knowledge of the rites of

Baptist required them to do it. It is not said wheth-the Jewish worship and of the customs of their

er this confession was made to God or man: but it is probable it was to both: only, so far as it was made to John, it must have been merely general. For how could one man have sufficed to hearken to a particular confession of all the offences of this immense multitude made secretly in his ears. It seems to have been like the confessions recorded in the Old Testament; (see Ezra ix.; Neh. ix.; Dan. ix. ;) and that made by the high priest on the day of atonement, Lev. xvi. 21. They acknowledged || in words their sinfulness and guilt, professed repentance for, and a detestation of all their sins, and submitted to be baptized in token of their being convinced of their need of pardon and purification. And it must be observed, that this was the confes

country than other people, and were very strict in the observance of them, as also of all the traditions of the elders. They fasted often, made long prayers, rigorously kept the sabbath, and put on an appearance of great sanctity, with much display of zeal for Moses and the law. On all these accounts they were in high esteem among the people: and some of them, we have reason to hope, had a measure of true piety; but it is evident from several of the discourses of our Lord, recorded by the evangelists, that they were in general devoid of that humility, and sincere love of God, which are essential to true religion. Though they acknowledged the existence of angels, the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and a future state of rewards and

sion, not of persons who had been baptized, con- || punishments, yet they were involved in many great

The Pharisees and Sadducees

CHAPTER III.

exhorted to repentance A. M. 4030. warned you to flee from the wrath || 8 Bring forth therefore fruits 1 meet A. M. 4030.

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to come?

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■ Rom. v. 9; 1 Thess. i. 10.

for repentance:

1 Or, answerable to amendment of life.

and destructive errors, both in principle and practice. They held the unwritten traditions of the elders to be of equal authority with the written word, pretending that both were delivered to Moses from mount Sinai. From their rigorous observance || of these traditions they considered themselves as more holy than other men, and held their own righteousness to be sufficient for their justification before God; having no proper conception of the spirituality, extent, and obligation of the divine law. Accordingly they neglected the weightier matters of it, justice, mercy, and the love of God, and rendered its holy precepts of none effect through their traditions, while they were scrupulously exact in little and trivial things, such as washing cups, &c., Mark iv., and tithing mint, anise, and cummin.

In like manner the crafty Herod is styled a fox, and persons of insidious, ravenous, profane, or sensual dispositions, are named respectively by Him who saw their hearts, serpents, dogs, wolves, and swine; terms which are not the random language of passion, but a judicious designation of the persons meant by them. For it was fitting such men should be marked out, either for a caution to others, or a warning to themselves. Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?-To put on this form of humility and repentance? What hath moved you to it? How came you to think yourselves in any danger of divine and future wrath, or to use any means to escape it? since you Pharisees think yourselves secure from it, on account of the sanctity of your lives, and you Sadducees imagine there is no such wrath, and that all that is spoken of it is a mere fable and delusion?

The Sadducees also were a sect of great antiquity, having existed, as well as the Pharisees, according to Josephus, from the time of the Maccabees. They had their name from their founder, Sadoc. Antigonus of Socho, president of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and teacher of the law in the divinity school in that city, having often in his lectures asserted to his scholars that they ought not to serve God in a servile manner, with respect to reward, but only out of filial love and fear; two of his scholars, Sadoc and Baithus, inferred from thence that there were no rewards or punishments after || this life; and therefore, separating from the school of their master, they taught that there was no resur- || rection nor future state. Many embracing this opinion gave rise to the sect of the Sadducees, who were a kind of Epicureans, but differing from them in this, that, though they denied a future state, yet they allowed that the world was created by the power of God, and governed by his providence, whereas the followers of Epicurus denied both. The Sadducees, says Luke, (Acts xxiii. 8,) say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit. Add to this, that they not only rejected all unwritten traditions, but all the books of the Old Testament, excepting those of Moses. They were not very numerous, but being the wealthiest of the three sects, the rich and great gave in to their opinions; whereas the people were firm in the interest of the Pharisees, and so attached to their notions, that, if a Pharisee || reconciled to or have communion with the sinner,

Verse 8. Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance--That is, a change of temper and behaviour, answerable thereto; forsake, as well as confess, your sins, and let the integrity, regularity, holiness, and usefulness of your lives, manifest the sincerity of your repentance. It is a metaphor taken from trees, which discover what quality they are of by the fruits they bear; in allusion to which, pious men are called trees of righteousness, Isa. lxi. 3; and their works, fruits of righteousness, Phil. usness, i. 11. Let it be observed, further, that as the original word, μετανοια, here rendered repentance, properly signifies a change of mind, from the approbation and love of sin to an aversion and hatred to it, in consequence of a deep conviction of its evil nature and destructive tendency; (see on verse 2;) so, wherever this is, there will, of course, be an entire reformation of life, a ceasing to do evil, in all respects, according to the knowledge and ability of the penitent, and a learning to do well. Hence it is styled repentance from dead works, Heb. vi. 1; and repentance unto salvation not to be repented of, 2 Cor. vii. 10; that is, such as is not reversed by any voluntary returning or relapsing into our former sins. And, seeing God is unchangeably holy, and must for ever hate all sin with a perfect hatred, it is certain, from his very nature, that he cannot be should happen to throw out reflections, either upon till a change be wrought in his spirit and conduct, the high priest or king, he was sure to be believed; and he cease from the commission of known inifor every thing that concerned divine worship was quity. For a change there must be in God or man; regulated by the Pharisees. So that when the Sad-and, since God's nature is immutable, and it cannot ducees took upon them any public employment || be in him, it must of necessity be in man. Now it they were obliged, though never so much against is evident, both from reason and experience, that their own interest, to obey the injunction of the Pharisees, which had they presumed to refuse, the consequences would have been dangerous, and

confession of sins, a present sorrow for them, and displeasure against them, with a warm resolution to forsake them, are by no means always attended

would have set the people in an uproar. O gene- || with this change, and, therefore, that these alone ration of vipers-A wicked offspring of wicked | cannot be fruits meet for repentance. And O, how parents, crafty, malignant, mischievous creatures. || necessary was this admonition for the men of that

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10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy

• John viii. 33, 39; Acts xiii. 26; Rom. iv. 1, 11, 16. P Ch. vii. 19; Luke xiii. 7, 9; John xv. 6.

age, who placed their repentance, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, in a mere verbal confession of their sins; and is it not equally necessary for too many of our own age?

Verse 9. And think not to say-Or, as the words, μη δοξητε λεγειν, rather signify, Presume not to say, or, Say not confidently, within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father-As if he had said, Being called upon to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, begin not to obstruct the efficacy of the admonition with those thoughts which are so common among || you, that you are secure from wrath by being the chil- || dren of Abraham. It is almost incredible how great the presumption of the Jews was, on this their relation to Abraham. "Abraham," says the Talmud, (a book in high repute among them,) "sits near the

9 Mark 1.8; Luke iii. 16; John i. 15, 26, 33; Acts i. 5; xi. 16; xix. 4.

merely because you have the abused honour to descend from that peculiar favourite of Heaven. Thus the Baptist took from those presumptuous men the ground of their confidence, by affirming that God could perform his promises to Abraham, though the whole Jewish nation should be rejected by him; the seed, like the stars for multitude, that was principally intended in the promise, being a spiritual progeny.

Verse 10. And now, also, the axe, &c. -To enforce his exhortation, he informs them that they had no time to delay their repentance, because the patience of God was very near exhausted, and come to an end with respect to them. His judgments were at hand and ready to be inflicted, so that, if they continued unfruitful, notwithstanding the extraor

gates of hell, and does not permit any wicked Is-dinary means that were now to be tried with them, raelite to go down into it." And Justin informs us, || destruction would speedily overtake them; as if he that the Jewish rabbins assured them, "That, being || had said, God now once more offers you his grace in

Abraham's seed, though they continued in disobedience to God, and in infidelity, the kingdom of heaven should still be given them." And it is to be feared that many professors of Christianity build their hopes of salvation on a foundation equally false, depending on their baptism, their knowledge, their orthodoxy, their forms of godliness, their deeds of charity, or their fancied interest in the merits of Christ, while they live in sin, and are lukewarm and negligent in pursuit of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

For I say unto you-This preface always denotes the importance of what follows: God is able of these stones-He probably pointed to those which lay before them: to raise up children to Abraham -You think that because you are the only Church of God upon earth, and if you were destroyed God would then have no seed of Abraham to show mer

and through his Son, which, if you refuse, he will no longer bear with you. You think of national deliverances, but I am sent to warn you of national judgments; judgments, which even now hang over your heads, and are ready to fall upon you if you still continue barren, or do not bring forth good fruit: for I assure you, the hand of God is lifted up to strike the fatal blow. There is an allusion in the words to a woodman, who, having marked a tree for excision, lays his axe at the root of it, till he puts off his upper garment, and then immediately goes to work to cut it down. Therefore, every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit-Every one that, while he professes to be one of God's people, contradicts that profession by a wicked life, or by the neglect of vital and practical religion, is cut down, &c.Instantly, without further delay; and cast into the fire-Of hell: a prediction this, 1st, of that dreadful

cy to, and keep his covenant with, therefore judg-destruction which, within the short period of forty

ment shall not come upon you: but mistake not; that God who raised Adam from the dust of the earth, and children to Abraham from the dead womb of Sarah, can, if he please, animate and sanctify these very stones, which are before your eyes, and transform them into children of Abraham; into persons who shall inherit Abraham's faith and piety, and who, by imitating his obedience, shall become his spiritual seed, to whom the promises made to him shall be fulfilled, and in whom the church shall || still subsist, though all you should be destroyed. And he would sooner work such a miracle as this, than he would suffer his promise to fail, or admit you to the blessings of his approaching kingdom,

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four years, came, by the Romans, upon the whole Jewish nation; as if he had said, The Babylonians formerly lopped off your branches, but now the tree shall be cut down; your commonwealth shall be destroyed, and your temple, city, and nation totally ruined: and, 2dly, it is a prediction of that particular destruction which shall soon overtake all that reject the counsel of God against themselves, or, as the apostle expresses it, that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 11. Iindeed baptize you with water-I call you to repentance, and admit the penitent to the baptism of water, as a sign and token of their being washed from their past sins, and of their engaging Separation of the wheat and chaff.

CHAPTER III.

Jesus goes to John for baptism.

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the chaff with unquenchable fire.
13" Then cometh Jesus * from Galilee to

A. M. 1030. to bear: he shall baptize you with || into the garner; but he will burn up A: M. 4030. the Holy Ghost, and with fire : 12 $ Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat || Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

1 Isa. iv. 4; xliv. 3; Mal. iii. 2; Acts ii. 3, 4; 1 Cor. xii. 13. 8 Mal. iii. 3.

t Mal. iv. 1; Chap. xiii. 30. Mark i. 9; Luke iii. 21. * Chap. ii. 22.

to walk henceforward in newness of life. He answers the question put to him, John i. 19, 25, by the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem. But he that cometh after me-That succeeds me in preach-fruitful, are joined together in the visible Church,

his floor-His Church, at present covered with a mixture of wheat and chaff. As he had said, Though, for the present, the good and bad, the fruitful and un

ing and baptizing, is mightier than I-Is endued with unspeakably greater authority and power; Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear-That is, for whom I am unworthy to perform the humblest || garner-Wil: lay then in heaven as his peculiar

yet in due time he will sever them, Mal. iii. 2, 3; and rid his Church of all hypocrites and ungodly persons. Ana gather his wheat-The truly pious, into his

office of menial service: He shall baptize you with treasure. But the chajj Those who have only a the Holy Ghost and with fire-He shall not only show of religion, without the po ", and produce administer the outward element, or sign, to his dis- || not the fruits of righteousness, he will burn with ciples, but the thing signified thereby, viz., the gifts | unquenchable fire---He will treat them as men do and graces of the Holy Spirit, which, in their ope- the refuse of the floor. He will destroy them as rations and effects, are like fire, enlightening, quick- || worthless and unprofitable trash. There is, in these ening, and purifying men's souls, and kindling words, an evident allusion to the custom of burning therein pious and devout affections; inflaming their || the chaff after winnowing, that it might not, by the hearts with love to God and all mankind, and with wind's changing, be blown back again, and so be a degree of zeal for his glory and the salvation of || mingled with the wheat. And though this may in sinners which all the waters of difficulty and dan-part refer to the calamities to come upon the Jewger, of persecution and tribulation, which they may ish nation for rejecting Christ, yet, it seems chiefly be called to pass through, shall not be able to quench. to intend the final destruction of all sinners in hell, And this baptism he will communicate in so abun- || which alone is properly opposed to the gathering

dant a measure, that you shall seem to be overflowed therewith. Now this promise was fulfilled, even with a visible appearance, as of fire, on the day of pentecost; and it is fulfilled without that appearance to this day, with respect to all that believe in Christ with a faith that worketh by love.

Verse 12. Whose fan is in his hand-That is, the doctrine of the gospel, which is of such a nature as effectually discovers what is the real disposition of the hearts of men, and perfectly distinguishes between the hypocritical and the sincere. Perhaps, also, the Baptist might refer to the persecutions and tribulations which should attend the preaching of the gospel. Dr. Campbell renders the original expression, το πτυον, winnowing shovel, mentioned Isa. xxx. 24, "an implement of husbandry, very ancient, simple, and properly manual: whereas the fan, (or van, as it is sometimes called,) is more complex, and, being contrived for raising an artificial wind, by the help of sails, can hardly be considered as proper for being carried about in the hand." "In the eastern countries," says Dr. Shaw, "after the grain is trodden out, they winnow it by throwing it up against the wind with a shovel." "To understand ||

the wheat into the garner. See chapter xiii. 40-42. And certainly this burning of the chaff with unquenchable fire, is absolutely inconsistent with all views of the restoration of the wicked, nor can it, by any easy or just interpretation, be reconciled with their annihilation, which, it is certain, no punishment of mind or body can, of itself, effect.

Verse 13. Then cometh Jesus-Who was now about thirty years of age, from Galilee-Where he had long lived, in a retired manner, unto John, to be baptized of him-Not in testimony of his repentance, or for the remission of sins, for, being without sin, he neither needed repentance nor remission; but that he might honour John's ministry, and acknowledge his commission to baptize, and might confirm the institution of baptism by water. He thus, also, offered himself to receive that testimony which he knew his heavenly Father would give him, and conformed himself to what he appointed for his followers; for which last reason he drank likewise of the sacramental cup. Thus the apostolical constitutions inform us that Christ was baptized, not that he needed any purgation, but to testify the truth of John's baptism, and to be an example

the Baptist's meaning aright, we should observe, that || to us. We may consider this as a plain argument

in this verse he describes the authority of Christ's ministry, as in verse 16 he had described its efficacy. As if he had said, The Messiah is infinitely mightier than I, not only as he will bestow on you the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, but as he has power to reward those who obey him with eternal life, and to punish such with everlasting destruction, as re

that baptism may be rightly administered to, and received by those that are incapable of many of the chief ends of it, provided they be capable of some other end for which it also was designed. For Christ, being without sin, could neither repent nor promise amendment of life; being the wisdom of the Father, he could be taught nothing; being the

ject him."-Macknight. He will thoroughly purge || Christ, he could not profess he would believe on

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