CHAPTER I. Verse 1. Have taken in hand. The verb erexeipnσav signifies to undertake successfully or otherwise. It does not here necessarily denote that the attempts alluded to, failed; but yet other expressions in this introduction indicate that a better account was necessary, and that justice had not been done to the great subject. As St. Luke speaks of many having written such accounts, he could not refer to Matthew's Gospel, which was one, nor to Mark's, which, if previously written, would make but two. It is natural to suppose that events so wonderful as those which had been witnessed by many, and narrated to still greater numbers in so many places by those who had witnessed them, events too which formed the evidences of the truth of the new religion, and which so deeply interested the very consciences and religious hopes of men, should be frequently committed to writing. This would be done often for private use; often for the information of distant friends; and those who might have collected most largely from the vivá voce statements of those apostles and disciples "who went every where preaching the word," would no doubt be happy to read their collections in meetings of Christian friends. This would indeed continue after the earliest Gospels had

been published, because, before the art of printing, books were multiplied slowly, and were of course expensive. Such private collections, no doubt, are those to which St. Luke here refers; but we are not to confound them with the

apocryphal Gospels afterwards published, chiefly by teachers and heads of fanatic sects, full of distorted facts and absurd relations, dreams and forgeries. The age of St. Luke was not the age of pious frauds and religious imposture of this kind, though these evils speedily came in. It was not before the second century that spurious Gospels began to circulate, and in the third they greatly increased. Many have perished: a few have been collected by Fabricius; but none of these are so old as the age of St. Luke, and could not therefore be referred to by him. In fact, the manner in which he tacitly contrasts his own account with those to which he alludes, shows in what they were defective. He admits that they contained the things believed among Christians, and recorded what had been delivered by eye witnesses and ministers of the word; but when St. Luke speaks emphatically of his accurate information in all things, from the very first, he intimates that there were parts of our Lord's history which these accounts did not state; when he proposes to write

Lightfoot, in its primary sense, from above, to denote inspiration. But this explicit and direct profession of inspiration, is not in the manner of the sacred writers; and the sense of from the top or commencement is to be preferred, and refers not only to his knowledge of things from the commencement of our Lord's public ministry, but from his conception and birth.

In order.—Kalens has been understood to signify an exact successive series of events, so that St. Luke's narrative has been, by some harmonists of the Gospels, taken as the rule by which to adjust the others. A careful consideration will, however, show, that the order of which he speaks cannot be the order of succession or time. St. Luke indeed furnishes some important dates, but in a great number of instances the order of time has been disregarded; of which the evidence is furnished in his own Gospel itself, as in several of his accounts of the miracles, discourses, and journeys of Christ. St. Luke's order must therefore be understood of his referring events to certain classes, adopted for the sake of illustration. Rosenmuller has marked these classes as follows: The first contains the narrative of the birth of Christ, with all its circumstances; the second, the particulars of our Saviour's infancy and youth; the third includes the preaching of John and the baptism of Christ; the fourth comprehends his discourses, miracles, and actions, during the three whole years of his ministry; the fifth contains our Saviour's last journey to Jerusalem, including the circumstances relative to his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. Campbell observes, "From the word kabens, we cannot conclude, as some have done, that the order of time is better observed by this than by any other evangelist. It does not necessarily relate to time. See Acts xviii. 23. The proper im

port of it is distinctly, particularly, as opposed to confusedly, generally."

Most excellent Theophilus.-The epithet KPATIOTE indicates that Theophilus was a real, not a feigned, person; for this title was given exclusively to persons of eminence, as to Festus and Felix, the Roman governors, Acts xxiii. 26, xxvi. 25. It is equivalent to the Latin optimus. Such a title St. Luke was not likely to attach to an imaginary person. Besides, we have no instances in the other parts of scripture history of the use of feigned

names.

Verse 4. Know the certainty.-By a particular and full statement of things whereby their evidence would be set forth in a more convincing manner

Wherein thou hast been instructed.Every Christian, in those early ages, who had heard the preaching of the apostles and others, and had placed himself under due course of instruction, would be taught the leading facts of Christ's history, and the leading doctrines of his discourses. On this sure basis faith might be built, and it would be confirmed by the various miracles wrought by the apostles and those to whom supernatural gifts had been communicated. Still, all the knowledge acquired in this manner would be general; and it is easy for us, who have so often felt the edification arising from reading the Gospels, to conceive of the immense benefit which was conferred upon a sincere but young and partially-informed believer, by putting into his hands even one of those divine and all-important narratives of the history and discourses of our Lord. Through Theophilus the gift was, however, designed for the whole church.

Verse 5. A certain priest, named Zacharias.-Several reasons appear for the insertion of the account of the birth of John the Baptist, at least in one of the Gospels. 1. That John might be pointed

out as a special messenger of God, by the supernatural circumstances accompanying his birth; for whatever accredited John gave weight to his testimony respecting the Messiahship of Jesus. 2. That we might be made acquainted with some interesting particulars respecting the mother of our Lord after her conception. 3. That several prophetic songs, uttered under special inspiration, and which showed that the long-suspended gift of prophecy had been restored, might be recorded.

Of the course of Abia.-The Jewish priests were divided into twenty-four courses, each of which attended, in rotation, to perform the service of the temple. At the three great feasts they all attended. That Zacharias was a priest of one of these courses, proves that he was not the high priest, as some have thought; for the high priest was of no course. As each course, so each priest in the course, was in attendance for one week, twice in each year, the great festivals excepted.

Of the daughters of Aaron.-Yet she was cousin to Mary, who was of the tribe of Judah, which indicates the marriage of some predecessor into the other tribe. The priests might marry into any of the tribes of Israel; and the law restraining heiresses to marry into their own tribes did not extend to other daughters, nor at all to the tribe of Levi, who had no share in the land.

Righteous before God.--Not as the Pharisees, before men, but in the sight of

God; and therefore sincerely so, because God trieth the reins and the heart.

Commandments and ordinances.-These comprehend both moral and ceremonial injunctions; but that evroλa signifies the former, dikaiwμara, the other, is assumed without sufficient proof. They are words of nearly similar import, and each includes whatever God has expressly commanded, whether positive or moral; which, as resting upon the same authority, is felt to be binding upon his conscience by every good man. The righteousness of this venerable pair is the same, substantially, as the righteousness of true Christians We have our moral rules and our ritual observances, although the latter are of a simpler character, as suited to a more perfect and spiritual dispensation; and in walking in them, a phrase which expresses the habit of obedience, our practical righteousness consists.

Blameless.-Neither as to the moral law, nor the ritual obligations of Judaism, were they open to the slightest human blame or censure.

Verse 7. Well stricken in years.-The ages are not given; so that whether the event of Elizabeth's conception was strictly miraculous, or merely preternatural, cannot be determined. It supposed, in either case, a special interposition of God; so that John was born out of the usual course of things.

Verse 8. Before God.-That is, in the temple, and in his turn, according to the course of Abia.

Verse 9. His lot was to burn incense, &c.-The priests in each class distributed the service each was to perform by lot;

and in this way it was determined who should cleanse the altar, who slay the sacrifice, who should sprinkle the blood, who should remove the ashes from the innermost altar, who should cleanse the lamps, who should burn the incense, &c. The last was esteemed a

highly honourable service

Verse 10. The whole multitude of the people. From this it has been probably concluded that the time was a sabbath or a festival; for on ordinary days the attendance was not numerous. Hence, there were always twenty-four men engaged to attend, who represented the whole people of Israel, laid their hands upon the head of the sacrifices, prayed and received the benediction. On this curious representative institution Maimonides remarks, "It is not possible that a man's offering should be offered up, and he not stand by it. But the offerings of the congregation are the offerings of all Israel; and it is not possible that all Israel should stand in the court at the time of sacrifice. Wherefore the former prophets ordered, that they should choose out of Israel men that were fit, and feared to sin, that they might be the messengers of all Israel, to stand by the offerings; and these are called the men of the station; and they divided them into twentyfour stations, according to the number of the courses of the priests and Levites." Thus on all occasions the whole body of the Israelites every where was represented by these stationary men, and through them, as their representatives, all were supposed to be present.

altar, or altar of incense, was within the vaos, or sanctuary, or temple itself. Here when the priest burned the "sweet incense," in the morning and in the evening, the people without, in the court of the Israelites, prayed, each by himself, for the pardon of his sins, till the priest returned and pronounced the benediction. This is vigorously described in the book of Ecclesiasticus 1. 19-21: “And the people besought the Lord, the Most High, by prayer before him that is merciful, till the solemnity of the Lord was ended, and they had finished his service. Then he (the priest) went down, and lifted up his hands over the whole congregation of the children of Israel, to give the blessing of the Lord with his lips, and to rejoice in his name. And they bowed themselves down to worship the second time, that they might receive a blessing from the Most High." The whole was typical of the intercession of our great High Priest, the presentation of our prayers through him, whose merit alone can render them a "" sweet-smelling savour to God," and of that effectual BLESSING in the daily forgiveness of sin which he bestows upon all those who "draw near to God through him."

Verse 11. On the right side of the altar of incense.—The right was esteemed a good omen, says Grotius. This is true as to the heathen; but a pious Jew would not be under the influence of that kind of superstition, nor would an angel from God plant himself on the right side of the altar to sanction so silly a notion.

Verse 12. He was troubled, and fear fell