he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into utter darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.' MATT. xxii. 2-14.

The parallel place is Luke xiv. 16-24. This parable is designed to teach the same truth which is taught under a different imagery in the passage last noticed; to wit, the taking of the kingdom of God from the Jews, and the bestowing of it upon the Gentiles; or the rejection of the Jews as the peculiar people of God, and the admission of all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, to the blessings of the new covenant. It has had its fulfilment in this world: and therefore we need not go into another to seek it.

1. LARDNER. This passage is said by Dr. Lardner to relate to the calling and acceptance of the Gentiles, and the rejection and destruction of the Jewish nation. See his remarks quoted among the notes on Matt. xxi. 33-44.

2. GILPIN. 'A person in the company, pleased with these instructions, expressed aloud his sense of the happiness of those who lived under the influence of the gospel. Jesus closing with the sentiment, showed, under the following parable, how very undeserving the Jews therefore were, in refusing its gracious offers; and how justly they should be rejected in favor of the Gentiles. A rich man, said he, made a great feast, to which he invited his particular friends. But they, instead of attending, when called, absented themselves on trifling excuses. The master of the feast, displeased at this neglect, sent out his servants, and in the room of those unworthy guests, whom he had first invited, filled his table with those, whom they accidentally met in the high-roads, and places of public resort.' Expos. in Luke xiv. 16—24.

3. CLARKE. • From this parable it appears plain, (1,) That the king means the great God. (2,) His son, the Lord Jesus. (3,) The marriage, his incarnation, or espousing human nature, by taking it into union with himself. (4,) The marriage feast, the economy of the gospel,

during which men are invited to partake of the blessings. purchased by, and consequent on, the incarnation and death of our blessed Lord. (5,) By those who had been bidden, or invited, ver. 3, are meant the Jews in general, who had this union of Christ with human nature, and his sacrifice for sin pointed out by various rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices under the law; and who, by all the prophets, had been constantly invited to believe in,and receive the promised Messiah. (6,) By the servants, we are to understand the first preachers of the gospel, proclaiming salvation to the Jews. John the Baptist, and the seventy disciples, (Luke x. 1,) may be here particularly intended. (7,) By the other servants, ver. 4, the apostles seem to be meant, who, though they were to preach the gospel to the whole world, yet were to begin at Jerusalem, (Luke xxiv. 47,) with the first offers of mercy. (8,) By their making light of it, &c. ver. 5, is pointed out their neglect of this salvation, and their preferring secular enjoyments &c. to the kingdom of Christ. (9,) By injuriously using some, slaying others, of his servants, ver. 6, is pointed out the persecution raised against the apostles, by the Jews, in which some of them were martyred. (10,) By sending forth his troops, ver. 7, is meant the commission given to the Romans against Judea, and burning up their city, and the total destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the son of Vespasian, which happened about forty-one years after.' Com. in loc.

Thus far Dr. Clarke very clearly interprets the parable, as having relation to temporal events. The remainder, he thinks, must be descriptive of torments after death. This course is also taken by Theophylact, Rosenmuller, and others. But truly, I see no necessity for thus changing the rule of interpretation. However, this question is not for me to discuss in this place. The reader will discover by the quotation which follows, that one man at least, whose belief in the doctrine of endless misery no one questions, goes through this parable consistently, and interprets the whole, as belonging to the present life; I mean Dr. Whitby. His meaning will

be more fully understood by reading, in connexion with his remarks here, his note on Matt. viii. 11, 12, to which he refers:

4. WHITBY. 'The doctrine of the kingdom of heaven, preached to this nation, is like to find a success answerable unto that of a certain king who made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them who were to be bidden to the wedding, viz., the apostles, and the seventy sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matt. x. 6, Luke x. 1, and being thus lovingly invited, they would not come. Wherefore he again sent forth other servants, viz., the apostles and the hundred and eight on whom the Holy Ghost fell, saying, Tell them that were bidden, behold I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come, I pray you, to the marriage feast; But they made light of it, i. e., the invitation, and went their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And the remnant of them took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew some of them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burnt up their city; and so will this spiritual king deal with those of this nation who not only refuse his invitation to partake of the blessings of the gospel, but also kill his messengers: he by the Roman army will destroy them, and their capital city. Then saith he to his servants, the wedding feast is ready, but they who were bidden were not worthy, and therefore shall not taste of this feast. Go ye therefore into the highways, to the dispersion of the Jews, and to the Gentiles, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So these servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests, and when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment, i. e., a faith and conversation answerable to the design of the gospel. And he saith to him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was as one speechless. Then said the king to his servants, bind him

hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into utter darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth: so shall it be with the Jews, the children of the kingdom, Matt. viii. 12, Luke xiii. 28. For many of the Jews are called, but few of them are chosen; i. e., believers in the gospel. See note on 1 Peter, ii. 9. Par. in loc.

SECTION XXXV.

'Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.' MATT. xxiii. 14.

THE parallel places are Mark xii. 40, and Luke xx. 4 7. The damnation here mentioned has been supposed to belong to the future life. But this is by no means necessary. It seems rather to denote a punishment to be inflicted in the present state of existence. Such appears to have been the opinion of the writers mentioned below:

1. DUTCH ANNOTATIONS. That is, under pretence of devotion, and praying for them, ye rob them of their means. See also 2 Tim. iii. 6. Or under a pretence, or for a cloak, ye are long praying. Therefore shall ye receive the heavier judgment: (Greek, more abundant.)'

Annot. in loc.

2. WYNNE. • Greater damnation; or shall be more severely punished. Krima, (damnation,) signifies judg ment, or punishment.' Note in loc.

3. PEARCE. Damnation; Rather judgment, or punishment. See note on Mark xii. 40, and on Acts vii. 7.' Com. in loc.

In the note on Mark xii. 40, to which he refers in the foregoing comment, Bishop Pearce says:—

'Rather judgment, or punishment; by which is meant, that they should suffer more severely than other Jews,

when the Jewish state should be destroyed.' Com. in Mark xii. 40.

4. KENRICK. You make great pretensions to devotion; but it is only to gain the esteem and confidenee of the weak and superstitious, that they may be induced to reward your piety, by giving you freely of their substance. Your long prayers are a cloak to your avarice, which you are willing to gratify at the expense even of widows, from whom, if you had any humanity, you would accept of no gratuity. Your pretences to piety, therefore, which serve to enhance your character among men, shall only expose you to severer vengeance from God, when he visits the Jews for their sins.' Expos. in loc.

SECTION XXXVI.

'Wo unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.' MATT. xxiii. 15.

In this passage, we again find the word gehenna; for some remarks on its import, see the notes on Matt. v. 22, 28, 29. Not a word is here said of endless punishment, or in fact of any punishment, except by implication. The phrase, child of hell,' or of gehenna, has reference to the character of the person to whom it is applied. A similar form of expression, generation of vipers, occurs in the passage next to be noticed. This figure of speech was familiar to the Jews, and well understood by them. Child of hell' means simply a very vile, wicked person, and has reference to the character of men in the present life. That it was very applicable to the Jewish proselytes is manifest from the description given of their character by Josephus. The writers from whom I make the following selections, seem to have entertained a similar view of this passage: