Matt. xxvi. 7. of very precious ointment,

John xii. 3. a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly,

Mark xiv. 3 and she brake the box, and poured it on his

head.

Matt. xxvi. 7. as he sat at meat.

John xii. 3.

Matt. xxvi. 8.

and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet
with her hair: and the house was filled with the
odour of the ointment.

But when his disciples saw it,

Mark xiv. 4. there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

Mark xiv. 5.

*

Bethany.

For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. See Matt. And they murmured against her.

Matt. xxvi. 8. To what purpose is this waste?

John xii. 4.

John xii, 5.

John xii. 6.

Mark xiv. 6.

Mark xiv. 7.

Mark xiv. 8.

John xii. 7.

Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, which should betray him,

Why was not this ointment sold for three hun-
dred pence, and given to the poor?

xviii. 29.

This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, b Ch. xiii. 29. and bare what was put therein.

And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me,

For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

She hath done what she could:

:

Let her alone against the day of my burying
hath she kept this.

version extant; and the latter derives the word from the name of Pista, a Persian city, mentioned by Æschylus, Τάδε μὲν Περσῶν τῶν οἰχομένων Ελλάδ ̓ ἐς alav Iliorà kadɛiraι, Persæ, line 1, 2. on which the Scholiast observes, ȧyνοοῦσι δ ̓ ὅτι πόλις ἐστι Περσῶν ἔσωθεν Πιστεῖρα καλουμένη, ἣν συνκόψας ὁ ποιητὴς Πιστὰ ἔφη—the only objection to this opinion is, that nard does not grow in Persia. It might, however, be imported from India, and manufactured there for the use of the merchants. Abulfeda is quoted both by Lampe and Pfeiffer, to prove that Pista was the metropolis of Caramania, a large and flourishing city on the river Indus.

Pfeiffer, after reviewing these various opinions, comes to the same conclusion as Luther and Kuinoel (Com. in Hist. lib. N. T. in Mark xiv. 3.) that it signifies unadulterated, or pure, and is derived from rioriç. He quotes Casaubon's observation, that σTIKòç signifies that which can be depended upon, or which deserves confidence. Eusebius (Demons. Evang. lib. viii.) calls the wine of the Eucharist, κράμα πιστικὸν τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης.

Bethany.

c Mark xiv. 3. John xi. 1.

d Deut. xv.11.

For in that she hath poured this ointment on Matt.xxvi.12. my body, she did it for my burial.

say unto you,

Wheresoever this Gos- Mark xiv. 9,

she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the Mark xiv. 8.
burying.
Verily I
pel shall be preached throughout the whole world,
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for
a memorial of her.

Much people of the Jews therefore knew that John xii. 9.
he was there and they came not for Jesus' sake
only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom
he had raised from the dead.

But the Chief Priests consulted that they John xii, 10. might put Lazarus also to death;

Because that by reason of him many of the John xii. 11. Jews went away and believed on Jesus.

MATT. xxvi. ver. 6. part of ver. 7, 8. and ver. 9, 10, 11, 13.

6 ¢ Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box-and poured it on his head

9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

7 Then said Jesus

JOHN xii. part of ver. 7, and ver. 8.

8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

SECTION LIII.

Near Jerusalem.

prepares to enter Jerusalem.

MARK Xi. 18.
JOHN xii. 12-19.

Christ

MATT. xxi. 1—8.

And it came to pass,
On the next day,

LUKE XIX. 29-36.

Luke xix. 29.

John xii. 12.

when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were Matt. xxi. 1.

come,

when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Beth- Luke xix. 29. any, at the mount called the mount of Olives,

much people that were come to the feast, when John xii. 12 they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

Took branches of palm-trees, and went forth to John xii. 13.

meet him, and cried, Hosanna; Blessed is the King Near Jerusa of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord :

Matt. xxi. 1. then sent Jesus

forth two of his disciples,

And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you and as soon as ye be entered into it,

straightway ye shall find an ass tied,

and a colt tied

with her,

Luke xix. 30. whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring

Matt. xxi. 2.
Matt. xxi. 3.

Luke xix. 31.

Mark xi. 3.

Matt. xxi. 4.

John xli. 14.
John xii. 15.

him hither.

unto me.

And if any man say ought unto you,

Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him,
Because the Lord hath need of him :

and straightway he will send him hither.

All this was done, that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
as it is written,

e

Fear not, daughter of Sion":

lem.

Zech. ix. 9.

39 ON ZECHARIAH IX. 9.

This prediction of Zechariah, four hundred years before the event, announced to the people of Israel, that the king of Jerusalem, contrary to the universal custom of his own, and of every other nation, should enter into his royal city, without any outward pomp and splendour; that he should ride upon the humblest of animals; himself the meekest and lowliest of men, yet the Saviour of his people, and, as such, be received by them with the loudest rejoicings and acclamations. We are assured, by the Prophet Malachi also, that the Messiah should certainly visit the second temple at Jerusalem. Let me now, then, appeal to the Jew who receives the Old Testament, and entreat him to search the records of the history of his fathers, and there find if any Prophet, Priest, or King, or Ruler of Israel, before the destruction of the second temple, ever entered into Jerusalem, as Jesus of Nazareth is here represented to have done; and which of all these rulers of Israel united so many of their ancient prophecies in his own person. Of all the long train of Persian, Grecian, Roman, or Jewish rulers, to whom can we apply the prophecy of Zechariah, and assert that he rode into Jerusalem humble, royal, and a Saviour, visiting and appearing in their temple? Ezra was in their city when the prophecy was delivered (a). The successor of the Persian conqueror was reposing in his palace. Nehemiah went up to Jerusalem, attended by the captains and cavalry of the king of Persia, (Nehem. ii. 9.) When he arose privately in the night, he was accompanied by few only of his train, and though he

(a) Vide on the date of this prophecy, &c. &c. Arrangement of the Old Testament, vol. ii. p. 857, and the references in the note.

Near Jerusa

lem.

Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King Matt, xxi. 5. f Isa. Ixii. 11. cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Zech. ix. 9.

rode, it was not in the manner described by the prophet (b); and of this his
second entrance nothing is recorded (c).

Did the governors of Syria, under the Persian sovereigns of Judæa, visit Jeru-
salem in such lowly state? Was the prophecy fulfilled in Bagoses, when he
espoused the cause of the usurper of the high priesthood, and imposed a fine
upon the priests for every offering that was brought to the temple? Did any
Persian emperor ever enter Jerusalem; or can it be supposed that the prophet
alluded to any officer who bore an inferior title (d)? If it be imagined that Ze-
chariah predicted the conquest of the Grecian conqueror, when, meeting the
high priest Jaddua, he venerated, amidst the astonishment of his attendants, the
name of Jehovah, glittering on his tiara (e); let it remembered that Alexander
was at the head of his army, neither meek, nor poor, nor humble (ƒ). Do the
pages of history unfold any similar event, which occurred in the lives of either of
the Ptolemies? whether of Lagus, who entered the city on the sabbath, as an
enemy and a conqueror, and took away many thousands of the people as his pri-
soners? or of Philadelphus, who reversed the decree, and restored them to their
own country? or of Ptolemy Philopater, who marked the wretched Jews with
the ivy-leaf, in honour of Bacchus, and sacrilegiously attempted to enter the
sanctuary? can we trace a similitude between these men and the King of Israel,
at whose coming the daughter of Zion was invited to rejoice greatly?

Let us turn our attention to another dynasty, and search among them also for this meek and humble Saviour, and King of Israel. Did Antiochus the great protect the people? It is true that they welcomed, with acclamations, his army

-Nehem. ii. 12, whereas the pre אין עמי כי אם הבהמה אשר אני רכב בה (6) .רכב על חמור ועל עיר בן אתנות,dicted King of Zechariah was to enter the city

(c) Vide Arrangement of the Old Testament, vol. ii. p. 893. (d) Sub præ-
sidibus alii minorum ordinum magistratus fuere; qui aliquando principes,
Ezra ix. 1, 2. alias, nobiles, magnates, patricii, Neh. iv. 14. nonnunquam
et principes patrum, seu familiarum, dicuntur, Ezra viii. 29. A quibus
distincti fuisse videntur, quos Dp seniores, aliquando et □ secundarios sive
subalternos judices, sacra historia nuncupat. Quibus quandoque jungitur civium
omnium cœtus ban bnp congregatio magna. Quorum ordinum diserta
mentio Neh. v. 7. contendi cum nobilibus, et cum □ secundariis judi-
cibus, Junius vertit antistitibus, et indixi illorum caussa b пbnp congrega-
tionem magnam, Ezra x. 8. memoratur pin Dwn ny senatus principum et
seniorum, deinde aan bap congregatio deportatæ multitudinis. Sub auspiciis
ducis seu præsidis provincialis erat Hierosolymis secundarius quidam præfectus,
seu legatus ipsius præsidis, ex tribu Benjaminis: ut colligi potest ex Neh. xi. 9.
Ibi enim dum enumerantur Benjaminitæ Hierosolymis habitantes, laudatur Juda
filius Senuæ yn by now Secundarius supra civitatem.-Witsius Historia Hie-
rosol. Exerc. Sacræ, p. 11, sect. 23. (e) Alexander enim, ut vidit e longinquo
candidatum populum, et sacerdotes in amictu byssino, pontificemque in stola
hyacinthina auro distincta, tiaram in capite gestantem cum præfixa lamina aurea
insculpta nomine Jehovæ, solus ad eum accedens, nomen illud adoravit, ac salu-
tavit Pontificem. Judæis uno ore Alexandrum consalutantibus, et in orbem
cingentibus, Syriæ Reges et reliqui obstupuerunt, vix credentes regem mentis
esse compotem.-Witsius ubi sup. sect. 25, p. 562, 12mo. edit.

phus Ant. b. xi. ch. viii.

(f) Jose

John xii. 16.

These things understood not his disciples at the Near Jerusafirst but when Jesus was glorified, then remem

lem.

and their elephants; but where do we read that this king entered Jerusalem on
a colt, the foal of an ass? Did Seleucus Philopater fulfil the prediction, when
he sent Heliodorus to plunder the temple: or was his brother, the cruel oppres-
sor, the savage murderer, and the foulest idolater, of all the enemies of Israel,
more meek and humble, when he profaned the temple, and slaughtered the peo-
ple on the sabbath? If we look to the history of the Maccabean family, we may
still proceed in vain to find one among them whose characteristics, as a leader of
Israel, correspond with this prediction of the prophet. Mattathias excited the
people to resistance in defence of their religion. Judas entered Jerusalem in
triumph, purified the temple, and dedicated it again to the worship of Jehovah ;
as a religious and devout man, he perhaps might be called meek and humble;
but where is it recorded that he entered into Jerusalem sitting upon a colt, the
foal of an ass? Shall we apply the prediction to the idolatrous Bacchides, who
captured the holy city, and murdered the zealous Maccabee? or to any of the
sons of the Asmonæan family; whether it be the pious Simon, his warlike son,
or to the weak and profligate Aristobulus, who first assumed the diadem, and sur-
named himself the king of the Jews; or to his fierce and cruel brother Alexander
Jannæus? If it is possible not to turn in disgust from the unnatural contests of
this man's sons, we might enquire if either of these were the meek and holy King
of Israel, before or after the Romans entered Jerusalem on the sabbath, and
assisted the royal Jew to slaughter his countrymen on that holy day? Pompey,
who spared the gold of the temple, and Crassus who followed him, and despoiled
it: Gabinius, and Cæsar, and Antipater, with all the mingled tribe of Parthian,
Roman, and Jewish contenders, who next crowd the scene, may be considered
as alike falling short of the description of the prophet. We are now brought to
the days of Herod the king, the contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, the tributary
dependent on Rome, the fierce, implacable, and haughty murderer of his wife,
his people, and his children? Is this the portrait of the expected king of Israel?
Was the destroyer of Mariamne, the flatterer of Augustus, the slaughterer of the
innocents at Bethlehem, was he the meek and humble Saviour, who was to ride
into the city among the acclamations of the people? Was Herod the king, who
died amidst the deep and indignant curses of a suffering people? was he who was
smitten of God, hateful to his own family, and abhorred by his subjects, was
this the king for whom Zion was to rejoice, and the daughter of Jerusalem to be
glad? Surely neither this man, nor his tyrannical son, nor his family of te-
trarchs, nor the corrupt and sanguinary governors from imperial Rome, can ap-
pear as candidates for the title of the true King of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth.
None but the Prophet of Galilee, who worked miracles, who fulfilled every pro-
phecy, who was so poor that he had not where to lay his head; so humble, that
he washed the feet of his disciples, whom the people more than once endeavoured
to make their king; and who was now received among them with acclamations
and hosannas, none but He accomplished this prediction of Zecharias, and
entered into Jerusalem, "just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an
ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass."

Brethren of Israel, you acknowledge the miracles of Christ, although you im