In the New Testament, there are eight Writers, and not one real contradiction!

Concerning the Four Gospels, which alone are received, without dispute, by the whole church of God under heaven; the First was written by Matthew, once a publican, afterwards an Apostle of Jesus Christ, who delivered it to the Jewish believers, composed in the Hebrew language.

ORIGEN, as quoted by Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. vi. cap. 25.

Matthew wrote a Gospel in the Hebrew tongue, which every one interpreted (or translated) as he was able.

PAPIAS, Ibid. lib. iii. cap. 39. Matthew, among the Hebrews, wrote a Gospel in their own language, whilst Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel at Rome, and founding the Church there (1 Pet. v. 13). IRENEUS, Ibid. lib. v. cap. 8. The Gospel according to Matthew was written to the Jews: for they earnestly desired a Messiah of the posterity of David. Matthew, in order to gratify them on this point, began his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus.

Fragments of IRENEUS, published by
Grabe and others.

of publican was at Capernaum, where he was called to be an Apostle and Evangelist. He is said to have wrote his Gospel about eight or ten years after Christ's resurrection. Univer. Hist. vol. x. p. 313.

4493. [Matt. i.] St. Matthew's chief residence and office

as

4498. [Matt. i. 17.] The titles of father and sou, well as the term to beget and be begotten, in the language of scripture, frequently imply a remote succession; as, "when thou shalt hereafter beget children and children's children," Deut. passim.

In this sense Matthew, who begins his genealogy from Abraham, divides it into forty-two successions, called by him generations; that is, fourteen before, and fourteen after the regal government.

The first fourteen are the same with those in the Old Testament, and in Luke.

The next fourteen in Matthew contain the legal succession of Solomon's line, until its extinction in Jechoniah, alias Coniah and Jehoiachim; when the succession commenced in the line of Nathan, the son of David and brother of Solomon.

The inheritance in the Jewish polity being unalienable farther than the jubilee, when it revolved to the next surviving heir; this heir, though at some distance from the former inheritor, was called the son, that is, properly the successor of the former. Thus Salathiel, who by Luke's genealogy appears to have been the descendant of Nathan the son of David, is by Matthew said to be begotten by Jechoniah, the last of the Solomonic line, because he was the next surviving heir of the house of David after Jechoniah's death. Had not therefore Solomon's line been set down, and the end thereof noted, it could not have appeared from Luke, how Salathiel came by his title of succession; for the line of Nathan could not have any claim to it, whilst that of Solomon subsisted, unless in an uncertain reversion and this will account for the difference between Luke and Matthew, in the fourteen middle generations.

But in this latter succession, there is also a manifest variation as to number from what appears in the books of the Old Testament. This difference seems to arise as foliows. The historical books set down all the kings in general that had reigned from David to Jechoniah; but Matthew, as a genealogist, takes notice of those only who had a legal title, omitting the rest. Of this latter description was Ahaziah the son of Jehoram by Athaliah, who is said to have been made king by the inhabitants of Jerusalem on his father's decease, because his elder brother had been killed by the Philistines. This seems to intimate, that they had chosen him in lieu of some infant son of his deceased brother; for, had not this been the case, he would have succeeded of course, without the people's choice. In the same class we may put Joash, who succeded his father Ahaziah, and Amaziah the son of Joash; all who might succeed each other in prejudice of the elder branch, till this being extinct, made way for the younger in Usiah or Osias, the son of Amaziah, who is therefore called by the Evangelist, the son, that is, the successor of Jehoram, though at the distance of three generations, In like manner Zedekiah, who was set up by the king of Babylon, in prejudice of his elder brother Jechoniah, being omitted with the other irregular successions, there will remain but the same fourteen mentioned in Matthew's genealogy.

The next variation between the two evangelists is in the last fourteen generations, and arises from Matthew's constant care to point out the passing of the inheritance as far as it goes in the elder branch. Both agree as far as Zerubbabel, after whom Matthew goes on with Abiud and his heirs, down to Eleazar, where the line of Abiud ends; and then sets down as bis son and successor Matthan, who is by Luke mentioned under the name of Matthat, and was of the line of Rhesa the son of Zerubbabel. So that he entered into the regular succession after the extinction of that of Abiud.

Thus again Matthat or Matthan dying childless, Eli was obliged, according to the Mosaic law, to take his wife, and raise up seed to him; and thus by him (was) begot Joseph the husband of Mary, who, according to the same law, was still reputed as the son of the dead elder brother. For this reason Matthew rightly calls him the son of Jacob; whereas Luke, who gives us the name of his legal parent, calls him the son of Eli. Univer. Hist. vol. x. p. 206.

4499. [Matt. i. 17.] I think, says Bp. NEWCOMBE, that St. Matthew gives the natural genealogy of Joseph: 'Jacob', says he, 'begat Joseph'. But I understand St. Luke as giving the civil or legal genealogy of Joseph.

4500.

Note, in loco.

From Saul to the captivity of the Ten Tribes, and from David to the carrying away of Judah and Benjamin, were respectively 490 years; see Note on Lea. xxvi. 15, 34. Now, if we divide 490 by 14, we shall find that a generation was precisely 35 years; the exact period of our Lord's incarnation, and of his subsequent abode in the Paradise above, where after preaching and executing judgment on departed souls for other 35 years, and filling the New Christian Heaven of Truth with the sphere of Love from the Jehovah of the Jewish Heaven above, he finally in the 70th year from the incarnation, by divesting himself wholly of the finite spirit he had assumed from the Virgin, was translated far above all heavens that He, as the Infinite Human Spirit, might again fill all things, particularly the New Christian Heaven over our earth, with an ultimate Image and display of God and his glory in love, wisdom, goodness, and truth. See Matt. xxviii. 20. and Luke xxi. 32.

4503. [Matt. i. 17.] About this time existed Jesus, a wise man, if indeed he might be called a man: for he was the author of wonderful works, and the teacher of such men as embraced truths with delight. He united to himself many Jews, and many from among the Gentiles. This was the Christ, and those who from the first had been attached to him, continued their attachment, though he was condemned by our great men, and crucified by Pilate. For he appeared to them again alive the third day. These and innumerable marvellous things concerning him are foretold by the divine prophets; and the tribe that from him called themselves Christians are not fallen off even at this time.

JOSEPHUS' Antiq. Jud. lib. xviii. c. iii. § 3.

4509.

Among the Persians, says PORPHYRY, those wise persons who were employed about the divinity, and served him, were called Magi. They refrain, affirms LAERTIUS, from rich attire, and from wearing gold; their garments are mostly white; their beds the ground; their food nothing but herbs, cheese, and bread; their chief employment is praying to God, and exhorting men to live uprightly. - They were a spiritual people, who sought not power and wealth, but wisdom and truth; they resembled rather the Baptist in his coarse clothing and simple diet, than those who are to be seen in the courts of kings, prostituting religion to private ends, and unworthily taking the name of God in vain ; to gratify the pride of Mortals. Ibid. vol. v.

4510.

p.

163.

The Druids were the Magi of the Britons, and had a great number of rites in common with the Persians: now one of the chief functions of the Magi of the East was to divine, that is, to explain the will of the gods, and foretell future events; the term magus signifying among the Antients not a magician in the modern sense, but a superintendent of sacred and natural knowledge.

4511.

Dr. BORLASE's Antiquities of Cornwall, chap. xxi. p. 138.

Zeradusht, improperly called Zoroaster, the preceptor of the magi, taught the Persians concerning the manifestation of Christ, and ordered them to bring gifts to him, in token of their reverence and submission. He declared, that in the latter days a pure virgin would conceive, and that as soon as the child should be born, a star would appear, blazing even at noon-day with undiminished lustre. You, my sons", exclaims the venerable seer, "will perceive its rising, before any other nation. As soon, therefore, as you shall behold the star, follow it whithersoever it shall lead you, and adore that mysterious child, offering your gifts to him with the profoundest humility. He is the Almighty WORD, which created the heavens."

ABUL-PHARAJIUS, as cited by Hyde, de Relig. vet. Pers. c. 31.

The same year, adds Abul-Pharajius (p. 110), that Cesar the emperor sent Cyrenius into Judea in order to tax it, as Joseph the husband of Mary, went up from Nazareth to Jerusalem, to give in his name, when he was come to Bethlehem in the way Mary brought forth a son. The mag brought their gifts from the East, and offered to Christ gold, myrrh, and frankincense. Being questioned on this head by Herod in their passage, they answered thus: “A person of great

fame among us, in a book which he left us, has thus admonished us: There shall hereafter be born in Palestine a male child descending from heaven, whom the greatest part of the world shall obey; now the sign of his appearance shall be this: Ye shall see a strange star which shall direct you till it stops; which when ye shall behold, take gold, myrrh, and frankincense; offer them to him, and adore him; then return, lest great evil should overtake you. Now therefore this star appearing, we come to do as we were commanded." Univer. Hist. vol. v. p. 180.

4512. [Matt. ii, 1-16.] "It is expressly affirmed by the two Roman historians, Tacitus and Suetonius, that there was a general expectation spread all over the eastern nations, that out of Judea should arise a person who should be governor of the world. That there lived in Judea, at the time which the gospel relates, such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, is acknowledged by all authors, both Jewish and Pagan, who have written since that time. The star that appeared at his birth, and the journey of the Chaldean wise men, is mentioned by Chalcidius the Platonist. Also Herod's causing the children in Bethlehem to be slain, and a reflection upon him on that occasion by the emperor Augustus, is related by Macrobius."

-23. He shall be called a Nazareme] Not in any version (except perhaps the Chaldee and the Syriac)

but in the original Hebrew, where we shall find him called

Notzer; not indeed on account of his having received that appellation from any particular city, but by reason of his high character, office, and descent. Thus in Exod. xxxiv. 5, 6, the Lord is said to descend in the cloud, and to proclaim in the following words: The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in mercy and truth; keeping (NOTZER) mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, &c. Where it is observable, that the first letter in the word notzer, the keeper or depository of mercy, is one of those which the Jews call majuscula, or large letters, such as occur only about thirty times in the whole Old Testament, and are, according to them, never used by the sacred writers, but to imply some great mystery to be contained in the word. Whatever be the mystery, it is sufficient for our purpose, that the name of Notzer is here given to the Divine Personage then appearing in human form, and ultimately manifested in Jesus of Nazareth.

In Isai. xi. 1, the same Messiah is called a Netzer, or a branch out of the old stem of Jesse. Where the word gezang or megzang, which we translate stem, signifies the old stump of a tree, after the main body has been cut off; and the netzer the spontaneous shoot which springs from it: and such precisely was the house of David at Christ's birth, reduced to the lowest degree of Poverty and obscurity, though at the distance of but fourteen generations from Zerubbabel.

Without adducing further instances, we shall only observe in general, that the Jews had two false notions concerning Christ, the one that he was born at Nazareth, and consequently that he was a Galilean; the second, that out of Galilee there never arose any prophet. As however he set up both for a prophet and for the Messiah, they thought the name of Nazarene sufficient to confute both those claims, and therefore gave it both to him, and to his followers who gladly embraced it, on account of its true and genuine signification, implying a preserver of mercy, and a genuine descendant of the house of David.

Ibid. p. 259.

4528. [- — iii. 4. His raiment of camel's hair] The dress of the Arabs in the Holy Land and indeed throughout all Syria, is simple and uniform: it consists of a blue shirt descending below the knees, the legs and feet being exposed or the latter sometimes covered with the antient cothurnus or buskin. A cloak is worn of very coarse and heavy camel's hair cloth, almost universally decorated with broad, black and white stripes, passing vertically down the back: this is of one square piece; with holes for the arms: it has a seam down the back. Made without this seam, it is considered of greater value. Our Saviour's garment, for which the soldiers cast lots, was "without seam woven from the top throughout."

See CLARKE's Travels in Asia, &c.Monthly Mag. for July 1812, p. 653.

4525. [Matt. iii. 1. In those days came John the Baptist] Arbishop USHER, supposes, with great probability, that this preacher of repentance began his ministry on the grand fast or expiation day, when every Israelite was enjoined to afflict his soul under penalty of being otherwise cut off from his people. This day fell this year, on the tenth of the seventh month, called Tisri, answering to about the nineteenth of our October; and on that solemnity the Jubilee was to be proclaimed through all the land.

See Ush. sub. A. M. 4030.

PINKERTON, vol. ix. p. 206.

4526. [

→ 2. The kingdom of heaven is at hand]

4531.

His meat was locusts and wild honey]