10He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.12And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise: behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.13And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.14For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.15She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day16The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.
10He rose up and went away to Zarephath. And when he had arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the widowed woman collecting wood, and he called to her. And he said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”11And as she was going to bring it, he called out after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beg you, a morsel of bread in your hand.”12And she responded: “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a bottle. See, I am collecting a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and make it for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”13And Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. But go and do as you have said. Yet truly, first make for me, from the same flour, a little bread baked under ashes, and bring it to me. Then afterward, make some for yourself and for your son.14For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not fail, nor the bottle of oil be diminished, until the day when the Lord will grant rain upon the face of the earth.’ ”15She went and acted in accord with the word of Elijah. And he ate, and she and her household ate. And from that day,16the jar of flour did not fail, and the bottle of oil was not diminished, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah.
10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.12And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.14For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
10He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.12And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise: behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.13And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.14For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.15She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day16The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.
10He rose up and went away to Zarephath. And when he had arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the widowed woman collecting wood, and he called to her. And he said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”11And as she was going to bring it, he called out after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beg you, a morsel of bread in your hand.”12And she responded: “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a bottle. See, I am collecting a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and make it for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”13And Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. But go and do as you have said. Yet truly, first make for me, from the same flour, a little bread baked under ashes, and bring it to me. Then afterward, make some for yourself and for your son.14For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not fail, nor the bottle of oil be diminished, until the day when the Lord will grant rain upon the face of the earth.’ ”15She went and acted in accord with the word of Elijah. And he ate, and she and her household ate. And from that day,16the jar of flour did not fail, and the bottle of oil was not diminished, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah.
10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.12And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.14For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
7Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:8The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.9The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.10The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.
7He preserves the truth forever. He executes judgment for those who suffer injury. He provides food for the hungry. The Lord releases those who are bound.8The Lord enlightens the blind. The Lord sets upright those who have been thrown down. The Lord loves the just.9The Lord watches over new arrivals. He will support the orphan and the widow. And he will destroy the ways of sinners.10The Lord shall reign forever: your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:8The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:9The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.10The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.
7Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:8The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.9The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.10The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.
7He preserves the truth forever. He executes judgment for those who suffer injury. He provides food for the hungry. The Lord releases those who are bound.8The Lord enlightens the blind. The Lord sets upright those who have been thrown down. The Lord loves the just.9The Lord watches over new arrivals. He will support the orphan and the widow. And he will destroy the ways of sinners.10The Lord shall reign forever: your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:8The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:9The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.10The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.
The single line about the blind (v. 8) comes down in three forms, and the difference decides how the whole psalm is read. The Douay has the Lord enlighteneth the blind; the Hebrew, Berthier reports, says he openeth the eyes; and the Septuagint says he gives wisdom to the blind. Augustine is working from the third, and he treats the wording as deliberate. The psalmist would not say "enlightened," he argues, precisely so that no one would take the clause of the flesh, remembering the man whose eyes were anointed with clay and spittle; he says instead that God makes the blind wise, and so points to a light of wisdom rather than of daylight. Berthier, reading with the Hebrew, still lands nearby: many of these favours seem meant spiritually, alluding to the times of Christ when the miracles were in fact performed.
That one word then governs its neighbours, which is Augustine's real move. If the blind are enlightened with the light of wisdom, then the fettered are loosed and the fallen lifted in the same register — otherwise, he says, we would picture prisoners in irons, or a man stumbling, or someone thrown from a horse. Asked what the fetters actually are, he gives an answer with no consolation in it: the body was once our ornament, we sinned, and the chain we now wear is our mortality. The same discipline governs the food of v. 7. God feeds all that has life, and Augustine will not pretend otherwise, but he asks whether the Lord reserves nothing further for those he loves, and finds the second hunger in the beatitude — blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. We ought, he says, to be God's hungry ones. Calmet keeps the literal floor under all of this. The psalm was sung by people whose fetters were not metaphors: Cyrus had been turned against the Jews by false insinuations, the Babylonians had been punished and the Samaritans would be, and the Lord looseth them that are fettered carried the hope of release from Persian rule.
Augustine's hardest sentence is about them that suffer wrong (v. 7). Not every annoyance is a wrong; robbers suffer many things and suffer no wrong at all; so the test is not what is being done to you but what you did. Consider what thou hast done, not what thou art suffering — if thou hast done right, thou art suffering wrong; if thou hast done wrong, thou art suffering right. The modern instinct runs the opposite way, treating the fact of grievance as its own credential, and the psalm's promise of vindication belongs only to those who pass Augustine's test first. He names the other error too, and it has not aged: the way of sinners is to mock these things as fables, to say let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die — and its quieter twin is the envy of the believer who sees them prosper. What they receive you can see; what is in store for them you cannot. Against both stands the promise at v. 10, which Augustine says the psalmist could only stammer. Unto generation and generation is a phrase repeated because the man could not say "for ever" and be understood. Eternity is four syllables; the thing itself has no end.
24For Jesus is not entered into the Holies made with hands, the patterns of the true: but into Heaven itself, that he may appear now in the presence of God for us.25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the Holies every year with the blood of others:26For then he ought to have suffered often from the beginning of the world. But now once, at the end of ages, he hath appeared for the destruction of sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment:28So also Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many. The second time he shall appear without sin to them that expect him unto salvation.
24For Jesus did not enter by means of holy things made with hands, mere examples of the true things, but he entered into Heaven itself, so that he may appear now before the face of God for us.25And he did not enter so as to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies each year, with the blood of another.26Otherwise, he would need to have suffered repeatedly since the beginning of the world. But now, one time, at the consummation of the ages, he has appeared in order to destroy sin though his own sacrifice.27And in the same manner as it has been appointed for men to die one time, and after this, to be judged,28so also Christ was offered, one time, in order to empty the sins of so many. He shall appear a second time without sin, for those who await him, unto salvation.
24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
24For Jesus is not entered into the Holies made with hands, the patterns of the true: but into Heaven itself, that he may appear now in the presence of God for us.25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the Holies every year with the blood of others:26For then he ought to have suffered often from the beginning of the world. But now once, at the end of ages, he hath appeared for the destruction of sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment:28So also Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many. The second time he shall appear without sin to them that expect him unto salvation.
24For Jesus did not enter by means of holy things made with hands, mere examples of the true things, but he entered into Heaven itself, so that he may appear now before the face of God for us.25And he did not enter so as to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies each year, with the blood of another.26Otherwise, he would need to have suffered repeatedly since the beginning of the world. But now, one time, at the consummation of the ages, he has appeared in order to destroy sin though his own sacrifice.27And in the same manner as it has been appointed for men to die one time, and after this, to be judged,28so also Christ was offered, one time, in order to empty the sins of so many. He shall appear a second time without sin, for those who await him, unto salvation.
24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
One word governs these five verses: "once." The high priest entered the Holies "every year with the blood of others" (v. 25); Christ, by contrast, "now once, at the end of ages, hath appeared for the destruction of sin by the sacrifice of himself" (v. 26). The writer then grounds the point in the most ordinary fact of human life, "as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment" (v. 27), and draws the parallel: "So also Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many" (v. 28). The Douay's verb is unusual, and Challoner glosses it: "to exhaust" means "to empty or draw out to the very bottom, by a plentiful and perfect redemption." The sanctuary too is contrasted with its copy. Christ has not entered "Holies made with hands, the patterns of the true," but "Heaven itself" (v. 24).
Witham reads verse 25 as a claim about the past as well as the future. The single death on the cross satisfied for the sins of all men "that even were from the beginning of the world," because the ransom "that was not yet paid was accepted" for those who believed in a Redeemer still to come. On "the sins of many," he adds that "many" means "all, according to the style of the Scriptures." Challoner draws out the consequence for worship. Christ will never again offer himself "in that violent, painful, and bloody manner," since the cross furnished "the full ransom"; but this does not prevent his offering himself "in the sacred mysteries in an unbloody manner, for the daily application of that one sacrifice." Because the cross was once for all, the daily offering in the mysteries applies it and does not repeat it. Haydock adds a reflection on cost: "a single tear might have satisfied the justice of God," but nothing less than his blood "could satisfy the charity of Jesus Christ." And he cites Augustine on the effect of that death: the devil is chained, so that he may bark and solicit, but "can bite none, except those that wilfully cast themselves within his reach."
The passage rules out two errors. One treats the sacrifice of Christ as unfinished, needing to be redone; the other treats it as so finished that it no longer touches anyone today. Challoner's distinction answers both. Witham's comment on verse 28 completes the picture. The first coming was "laden with our sins"; the second will be "with great power and majesty to judge all men." Augustine's image belongs between the two comings, an enemy on a chain who can still bark but cannot bite those who keep out of his reach.
Mark sets two figures side by side in the temple: the scribes in long robes who devour the houses of widows (v. 40), and a widow who puts her whole living into the treasury (v. 44). The commentators attend to the coins and the box. The treasury is the Vulgate's gazophylacium, from the Persian gaza, riches, and the Greek phylassein, to keep; the catena and Lapide both say the name covered the chest for the offerings and the porch where it stood. The two mites, which make a farthing (v. 42) give Lapide a correction to make, since Euthymius took one mite for a farthing, whereas the text plainly makes it two. Bede notes that reckoners use quadrans for the fourth part of anything and guesses at the fourth part of a shekel. Witham, in Haydock, presses the phrase of her want in v. 44. The Greek ek tes ustereseos means she gave out of what she needed to live on, not out of a surplus.
On the scribes, Bede draws a careful line. Christ does not forbid salutations or chief seats to those whose office brings them; he blames the intention, and warns against both being taken in by such men and imitating them. Theophylact describes the method, scribes presenting themselves as protectors to women left without husbands and using a reverend exterior to empty their houses. Bede puts it more sharply. A hand stretched out to the poor goes with prayer, "but these men pass the night in prayer, that they may take away money from the poor". Lapide adds Chrysostom's verdict, "Simulated holiness is a double iniquity". The widow's coins draw the same agreement from everyone. Bede says God "weighs not the substance, but the conscience of the offerers". Lapide distinguishes the larger gift per se from the greater gift per accidens, measured by what it costs the giver, and quotes Ambrose: "The disposition therefore makes the offering poor or valuable". The allegories then divide. For Theophylact the widow is the soul, giving flesh by abstinence and mind by humility; for Bede she is the Church, widowed by her husband's death, offering love of God and neighbour; Pseudo-Jerome takes her as himself, a preacher with more will than power to explain.
Bede joins the two halves of the passage. The Lord who has warned against vain glory now "distinguishes by a sure test those who brought in gifts". The test still applies. The scribes' piety cost them nothing and paid them well, while the widow's left her nothing, and the passage reproaches any religion that measures itself by robes, seats and the size of the donation. Haydock draws the rule that the more able a man is, the more he must give. Lapide's proverb is "Give God an egg, and receive a sheep". The picture Mark leaves is Jesus sitting over against the treasury, watching what goes into the chest and from what store it comes.
10He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.12And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise: behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.13And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.14For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.15She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day16The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.
10He rose up and went away to Zarephath. And when he had arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the widowed woman collecting wood, and he called to her. And he said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”11And as she was going to bring it, he called out after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beg you, a morsel of bread in your hand.”12And she responded: “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a bottle. See, I am collecting a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and make it for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”13And Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. But go and do as you have said. Yet truly, first make for me, from the same flour, a little bread baked under ashes, and bring it to me. Then afterward, make some for yourself and for your son.14For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not fail, nor the bottle of oil be diminished, until the day when the Lord will grant rain upon the face of the earth.’ ”15She went and acted in accord with the word of Elijah. And he ate, and she and her household ate. And from that day,16the jar of flour did not fail, and the bottle of oil was not diminished, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah.
10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.12And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.14For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
The widow of Sarephta is introduced with an exact inventory of her poverty: "a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise," and "two sticks" gathered to cook it, "that we may eat it and die" (v. 12). Elias's answer begins with comfort and then makes a hard demand: "Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake" (v. 13). The promise follows, and it is phrased with a time limit: the pot "shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth" (v. 14). The narrator closes by repeating the promise as fulfilled, "according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias" (v. 16).
Calmet, as Haydock reports him, fastens on the word "first." Elias "puts the faith of the widow to a severe trial," and "the gospel requires nothing more perfect than what she practised." She is asked to feed a stranger from the last meal of a household that expects to die, before she has seen any sign. Calmet's next remark reverses the expected order of rewards. The meal and oil are not the main gift. "The true faith, which she then received, was her first and most precious recompense," and the blessings her guest drew down on her came after. Salien, also cited by Haydock, deals with a narrower point in verse 14. The word "until" does not mean the supply stopped on the day the rain came, since "the corn could not grow immediately"; otherwise the household would have been in danger of starving all over again. The promise covered the interval between the rain and the harvest it would produce.
Calmet's reading cuts against two familiar distortions: the piety that gives only from surplus, and the piety that gives in order to be repaid in meal and oil. The widow gives from nothing, and what she receives first is faith itself. Salien's small point carries the same lesson from the other side; God's provision is measured by real need, including the weeks no one had counted on. What the story leaves in view is a single handful of meal and the jar it came from, which the narrator says "wasted not."
7Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:8The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.9The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.10The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.
7He preserves the truth forever. He executes judgment for those who suffer injury. He provides food for the hungry. The Lord releases those who are bound.8The Lord enlightens the blind. The Lord sets upright those who have been thrown down. The Lord loves the just.9The Lord watches over new arrivals. He will support the orphan and the widow. And he will destroy the ways of sinners.10The Lord shall reign forever: your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:8The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:9The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.10The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.
The single line about the blind (v. 8) comes down in three forms, and the difference decides how the whole psalm is read. The Douay has the Lord enlighteneth the blind; the Hebrew, Berthier reports, says he openeth the eyes; and the Septuagint says he gives wisdom to the blind. Augustine is working from the third, and he treats the wording as deliberate. The psalmist would not say "enlightened," he argues, precisely so that no one would take the clause of the flesh, remembering the man whose eyes were anointed with clay and spittle; he says instead that God makes the blind wise, and so points to a light of wisdom rather than of daylight. Berthier, reading with the Hebrew, still lands nearby: many of these favours seem meant spiritually, alluding to the times of Christ when the miracles were in fact performed.
That one word then governs its neighbours, which is Augustine's real move. If the blind are enlightened with the light of wisdom, then the fettered are loosed and the fallen lifted in the same register — otherwise, he says, we would picture prisoners in irons, or a man stumbling, or someone thrown from a horse. Asked what the fetters actually are, he gives an answer with no consolation in it: the body was once our ornament, we sinned, and the chain we now wear is our mortality. The same discipline governs the food of v. 7. God feeds all that has life, and Augustine will not pretend otherwise, but he asks whether the Lord reserves nothing further for those he loves, and finds the second hunger in the beatitude — blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. We ought, he says, to be God's hungry ones. Calmet keeps the literal floor under all of this. The psalm was sung by people whose fetters were not metaphors: Cyrus had been turned against the Jews by false insinuations, the Babylonians had been punished and the Samaritans would be, and the Lord looseth them that are fettered carried the hope of release from Persian rule.
Augustine's hardest sentence is about them that suffer wrong (v. 7). Not every annoyance is a wrong; robbers suffer many things and suffer no wrong at all; so the test is not what is being done to you but what you did. Consider what thou hast done, not what thou art suffering — if thou hast done right, thou art suffering wrong; if thou hast done wrong, thou art suffering right. The modern instinct runs the opposite way, treating the fact of grievance as its own credential, and the psalm's promise of vindication belongs only to those who pass Augustine's test first. He names the other error too, and it has not aged: the way of sinners is to mock these things as fables, to say let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die — and its quieter twin is the envy of the believer who sees them prosper. What they receive you can see; what is in store for them you cannot. Against both stands the promise at v. 10, which Augustine says the psalmist could only stammer. Unto generation and generation is a phrase repeated because the man could not say "for ever" and be understood. Eternity is four syllables; the thing itself has no end.
24For Jesus is not entered into the Holies made with hands, the patterns of the true: but into Heaven itself, that he may appear now in the presence of God for us.25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the Holies every year with the blood of others:26For then he ought to have suffered often from the beginning of the world. But now once, at the end of ages, he hath appeared for the destruction of sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment:28So also Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many. The second time he shall appear without sin to them that expect him unto salvation.
24For Jesus did not enter by means of holy things made with hands, mere examples of the true things, but he entered into Heaven itself, so that he may appear now before the face of God for us.25And he did not enter so as to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies each year, with the blood of another.26Otherwise, he would need to have suffered repeatedly since the beginning of the world. But now, one time, at the consummation of the ages, he has appeared in order to destroy sin though his own sacrifice.27And in the same manner as it has been appointed for men to die one time, and after this, to be judged,28so also Christ was offered, one time, in order to empty the sins of so many. He shall appear a second time without sin, for those who await him, unto salvation.
24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
One word governs these five verses: "once." The high priest entered the Holies "every year with the blood of others" (v. 25); Christ, by contrast, "now once, at the end of ages, hath appeared for the destruction of sin by the sacrifice of himself" (v. 26). The writer then grounds the point in the most ordinary fact of human life, "as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment" (v. 27), and draws the parallel: "So also Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many" (v. 28). The Douay's verb is unusual, and Challoner glosses it: "to exhaust" means "to empty or draw out to the very bottom, by a plentiful and perfect redemption." The sanctuary too is contrasted with its copy. Christ has not entered "Holies made with hands, the patterns of the true," but "Heaven itself" (v. 24).
Witham reads verse 25 as a claim about the past as well as the future. The single death on the cross satisfied for the sins of all men "that even were from the beginning of the world," because the ransom "that was not yet paid was accepted" for those who believed in a Redeemer still to come. On "the sins of many," he adds that "many" means "all, according to the style of the Scriptures." Challoner draws out the consequence for worship. Christ will never again offer himself "in that violent, painful, and bloody manner," since the cross furnished "the full ransom"; but this does not prevent his offering himself "in the sacred mysteries in an unbloody manner, for the daily application of that one sacrifice." Because the cross was once for all, the daily offering in the mysteries applies it and does not repeat it. Haydock adds a reflection on cost: "a single tear might have satisfied the justice of God," but nothing less than his blood "could satisfy the charity of Jesus Christ." And he cites Augustine on the effect of that death: the devil is chained, so that he may bark and solicit, but "can bite none, except those that wilfully cast themselves within his reach."
The passage rules out two errors. One treats the sacrifice of Christ as unfinished, needing to be redone; the other treats it as so finished that it no longer touches anyone today. Challoner's distinction answers both. Witham's comment on verse 28 completes the picture. The first coming was "laden with our sins"; the second will be "with great power and majesty to judge all men." Augustine's image belongs between the two comings, an enemy on a chain who can still bark but cannot bite those who keep out of his reach.
Mark sets two figures side by side in the temple: the scribes in long robes who devour the houses of widows (v. 40), and a widow who puts her whole living into the treasury (v. 44). The commentators attend to the coins and the box. The treasury is the Vulgate's gazophylacium, from the Persian gaza, riches, and the Greek phylassein, to keep; the catena and Lapide both say the name covered the chest for the offerings and the porch where it stood. The two mites, which make a farthing (v. 42) give Lapide a correction to make, since Euthymius took one mite for a farthing, whereas the text plainly makes it two. Bede notes that reckoners use quadrans for the fourth part of anything and guesses at the fourth part of a shekel. Witham, in Haydock, presses the phrase of her want in v. 44. The Greek ek tes ustereseos means she gave out of what she needed to live on, not out of a surplus.
On the scribes, Bede draws a careful line. Christ does not forbid salutations or chief seats to those whose office brings them; he blames the intention, and warns against both being taken in by such men and imitating them. Theophylact describes the method, scribes presenting themselves as protectors to women left without husbands and using a reverend exterior to empty their houses. Bede puts it more sharply. A hand stretched out to the poor goes with prayer, "but these men pass the night in prayer, that they may take away money from the poor". Lapide adds Chrysostom's verdict, "Simulated holiness is a double iniquity". The widow's coins draw the same agreement from everyone. Bede says God "weighs not the substance, but the conscience of the offerers". Lapide distinguishes the larger gift per se from the greater gift per accidens, measured by what it costs the giver, and quotes Ambrose: "The disposition therefore makes the offering poor or valuable". The allegories then divide. For Theophylact the widow is the soul, giving flesh by abstinence and mind by humility; for Bede she is the Church, widowed by her husband's death, offering love of God and neighbour; Pseudo-Jerome takes her as himself, a preacher with more will than power to explain.
Bede joins the two halves of the passage. The Lord who has warned against vain glory now "distinguishes by a sure test those who brought in gifts". The test still applies. The scribes' piety cost them nothing and paid them well, while the widow's left her nothing, and the passage reproaches any religion that measures itself by robes, seats and the size of the donation. Haydock draws the rule that the more able a man is, the more he must give. Lapide's proverb is "Give God an egg, and receive a sheep". The picture Mark leaves is Jesus sitting over against the treasury, watching what goes into the chest and from what store it comes.
The complete public-domain commentary this reading's note draws from, unabridged. Every claim in the note traces to a passage here.
First. He puts the faith of the widow to a severe trial; and the gospel requires nothing more perfect than what she practised. The true faith, which she then received, was her first and most precious recompense; and we shall soon see, that her guest drew down blessings upon her. (Calmet)
Until, nor for some time afterwards; otherwise they would still have been in danger of perishing, as the corn could not grow immediately. (Salien, the year before Christ 929.)
8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord , which he spake by Elijah.
We have here an account of the further protection Elijah was taken under, and the further provision made for him in his retirement. At destruction and famine he shall laugh that has God for his friend to guard and maintain him. The brook Cherith is dried up, but God's care of his people, and kindness to them, never slacken, never fail, but are still the same, are still continued and drawn out to those that know him, Ps. xxxvi. 10 . When the brook was dried up Jordan was not; why did not God send him thither? Surely because he would show that he has a variety of ways to provide for his people and is not tied to any one. God will now provide for him where he shall have some company and opportunity of usefulness, and not be, as he had been, buried alive. Observe,
I. The place he is sent to, to Zarephath, or Sarepta, a city of Sidon, out of the borders of the land of Israel, v. 9 . Our Saviour takes notice of this as an early and ancient indication of the favour of God designed for the poor Gentiles, in the fulness of time, Luke iv. 25, 26 . Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, and some, it is likely, that would have bidden him welcome to their houses; yet he is sent to honour and bless with his presence a city of Sidon, a Gentile city, and so becomes (says Dr. Lightfoot) the first prophet of the Gentiles. Israel had corrupted themselves with the idolatries of the nations and become worse than they; justly therefore is the casting off of them the riches of the world. Elijah was hated and driven out by his countrymen; therefore, lo, he turns to the Gentiles, as the apostles were afterwards ordered to do, Acts xviii. 6 . But why to a city of Sidon? Perhaps because the worship of Baal, which was now the crying sin of Israel, came lately thence with Jezebel, who was a Sidonian ( ch. xvi. 31 ); therefore thither he shall go, that thence may be fetched the destroyer of that idolatry, "Even out of Sidon have I called my prophet, my reformer." Jezebel was Elijah's greatest enemy; yet, to show her the impotency of her malice, God will find a hiding-place for him even in her country. Christ never went among the Gentiles except once into the coast of Sidon, Matt. xv. 21 .
II. The person that is appointed to entertain him, not one of the rich merchants or great men, of Sidon, not such a one as Obadiah, that was governor of Ahab's house and fed the prophets; but a poor widow woman, destitute and desolate, is commanded (that is, is made both able and willing) to sustain him. It is God's way, and it is his glory, to make use of the weak and foolish things of the world and put honour upon them. He is, in a special manner, the widows' God, and feeds them, and therefore they must study what they shall render to him.
III. The provision made for him there. Providence brought the widow woman to meet him very opportunely at the gate of the city ( v. 10 ), and, by what is here related of what passed between Elijah and her, we find,
1. Her case and character; and it appears, (1.) That she was very poor and necessitous. She had nothing to live upon but a handful of meal and a little oil, needy at the best, and now, by the general scarcity, reduced to the last extremity. When she has eaten the little she has, for aught she yet sees, she must die for want, she and her son, v. 12 . She had no fuel but the sticks she gathered in the streets, and, having no servant, she must gather them herself ( v. 10 ), being thus more in a condition to receive alms than give entertainment. To her Elijah was sent, that he might still live upon Providence as much as he did when the ravens fed him. It was in compassion to the low estate of his handmaiden that God sent the prophet to her, not to beg of her, but to board with her, and he would pay well for his table. (2.) That she was very humble and industrious. He found her gathering sticks, and preparing to bake her own bread, v. 10 , 12 . Her mind was brought to her condition, and she complained not of the hardship she was brought to, nor quarrelled with the divine Providence for withholding rain, but accommodated herself to it as well as she could. Such as are of this temper in a day of trouble are best prepared for honour and relief from God. (3.) That she was very charitable and generous. When this stranger desired her to go and fetch him some water to drink, she readily went, at the first word, v. 10, 11 . She objected not to the present scarcity of it, nor asked him what he would give her for a draught of water (for now it was worth money), nor hinted that he was a stranger, an Israelite, with whom perhaps the Sidonians cared not for having any dealings, any more than the Samaritans, John iv. 9 . She did not excuse herself on account of her weakness through famine, or the urgency of her own affairs, did not tell him she had something else to do than to go on his errands, but left off gathering the sticks for herself to fetch water for him, which perhaps she did the more willingly, being moved with the gravity of his aspect. We should be ready to do any office of kindness even to strangers; if we have not wherewith to give to the distressed, we must be the more ready to work for them. A cup of cold water, though it cost us no more than the labour of fetching, shall in no wise lose its reward. (4.) That she had a great confidence in the word of God. It was a great trial for her faith and obedience when, having gold the prophet how low her stock of meal and oil was and that she had but just enough for herself and her son, he bade her make a cake for him, and make his first, and then prepare for herself and her son. If we consider, it will appear as great a trial as could be in so small a matter. "Let the children first be served" (might she have said); "charity begins at home. I cannot be expected to give, having but little, and not knowing, when that is gone, where to obtain more." She had much more reason than Nabal to ask, "Shall I take my meat and my oil and give it to one that I know not whence he is? " Elijah, it is true, made mention of the God of Israel ( v. 14 ), but what was that to a Sidonian? Or if she had a veneration for the name Jehovah, and valued the God of Israel as the true God, yet what assurance had she that this stranger was his prophet or had any warrant to speak in his name? It was easy for a hungry vagrant to impose upon her. But she gets over all these objections, and obeys the precept in dependence upon the promise: She went and did according to the saying of Elijah, v. 15 . O woman! great was thy faith; one has not found the like, no, not in Israel: all things considered, it exceeded that of the widow who, when she had but two mites, cast them into the treasury. She took the prophet's word, that she should not lose by it, but it should be repaid with interest. Those that can venture upon the promise of God will make no difficulty of exposing and emptying themselves in his service, by giving him his dues out of a little and giving him his part first. Those that deal with God must deal upon trust; seek first his kingdom, and then other things shall be added. By the law, the first-fruits were God's, the tithe was taken out first, and the heave-offering of their dough was first offered, Num. xv. 20, 21 . But surely the increase of this widow's faith, to such a degree as to enable her thus to deny herself and to depend upon the divine promise, was as great a miracle in the kingdom of grace as the increase of her oil was in the kingdom of providence. Happy are those who can thus, against hope, believe and obey in hope.
8-16. the word of the Lord came to him-- Zarephath, Sarepta, now Surafend, whither he was directed to go, was far away on the western coast of Palestine, about nine miles south of Sidon, and within the dominions of Jezebel's impious father, where the famine also prevailed. Meeting, at his entrance into the town, the very woman who was appointed by divine providence to support him, his faith was severely tested by learning from her that her supplies were exhausted and that she was preparing her last meal for herself and son. The Spirit of God having prompted him to ask, and her to grant, some necessary succor, she received a prophet's reward ( Mt 10:41 , 42 ), and for the one meal afforded to him, God, by a miraculous increase of the little stock, afforded many to her.
1Ki 17:17-24 . He Raises Her Son to Life.
(ver. 7). He avengeth them that suffer wrong. There cometh at once to thee the voice of the Apostle: "now therefore there is altogether a fault among you, that ye go to law one with another: why do ye not rather suffer wrong?" He urged thee not to suffer annoyance, but to suffer wrong: for not every annoyance is wrong. For whatever thou sufferest lawfully is not a wrong; lest perchance thou shouldest say, I also am among those who have suffered wrong, for I have suffered such a thing in such a place, and such a thing for such a reason. Consider whether thou hast suffered a wrong. Robbers suffer many things, but they suffer no wrong. Wicked men, evil doers, house-breakers, adulterers, seducers, all these suffer many evils, yet is there no wrong. It is one thing to suffer wrong; it is another to suffer tribulation, or penalty, or annoyance, or punishment. Consider where thou art; see what thou hast done; see why thou art suffering; and then thou seest what thou art suffering. Right and wrong are contraries. Right is what is just. For not all that is called right, is right. What if a man lay down for you unjust right? nor indeed is it to be called right, if it is unjust. That is true right, which is also just. Consider what thou hast done, not what thou art suffering. If thou hast done right, thou art suffering wrong; if thou hast done wrong, thou art suffering right....
7. "Who giveth food to the hungry." Behold, from thee I look for nothing: "God giveth food to the hungry." Who are "the hungry"? All. What is, all? To all things that have life, to all men He giveth food: doth He not reserve some food for His beloved? If they have another kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food. Let us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." We ought to be God's hungry ones...."The Lord looseth them that are fettered; the Lord lifteth up them that are dashed down; the Lord maketh wise them that are blind"
(ver. 8). Perfectly hath he by this last sentence explained to us all the preceding ones: lest perchance, when he had said, "the Lord looseth them that are fettered," we should refer it to those fettered ones, who for some crime are bound in irons by their masters: and in that he said, "He lifteth up them that are dashed down," there should occur to our minds some one stumbling or falling, or thrown from a horse. There is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters, just as there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, "He maketh the blind wise;" he would not say, He enlightened the blind, lest thou shouldest understand this also in reference to the flesh, as the man was enlightened by the Lord, when He anointed his eyes with clay made with spittle, and so healed him: that thou mightest not look for anything of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual things, he pointeth to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are enlightened. Therefore in the same way as the blind are enlightened with the light of wisdom, so are the fettered set free, and those who are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby then have we been fettered? whereby dashed down? Our body was once an ornament to us: now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters? Our mortality...."The Lord loveth the righteous." And who are the "righteous"? How far are they righteous now? Just as thou hast; "the Lord, guardeth proselytes"
(ver. 9). "Proselytes" are strangers. Every Church of the Gentiles is a stranger. For it cometh in to the Fathers, not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter by imitating them. Yet the Lord, not any man, guardeth them. "The orphan and widow He will take up." Let none think that He taketh up the orphan for his inheritance, or the widow for any business of hers. True, God doth help them; and in all the duties of the human race, he doeth a good work, who taketh care of an orphan, who abandoneth not a widow: but in a certain way we are all orphans, not because our Father is dead, but because He is absent. ...
8. "And the way of sinners He shall root out." What is, "the way of sinners"? To mock at these things which we say. "Who is an orphan, who a widow? What kingdom of heaven, what punishment of hell is there? These are fables of the Christians. To what I see, to that will I live: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Beware lest such men persuade you of aught: let them not enter through your ears into your heart; let them find thorns in your ears: let him, who seeketh to enter thus, go away pierced: for "evil communications corrupt good manners." But here perhaps thou wilt say, "Wherefore then are they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit every kind of evil daily: yet they abound in those things, through want of which I toil." Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, thou seest; what is in store for them, seest thou not?...Wilt thou not believe even the Lord thy God, who saith, "Broad and spacious is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that walk by it"? This "way the Lord will root out." And, when "the way of sinners" has been "rooted out," what remaineth for us? "Come, ye blessed of My father, enjoy the Kingdom;" "The Lord shall reign for ever"
(ver. 10). "O Sion, thy God" shall reign for ever; surely thy God will not reign without thee. "For generation and generation." He hath said it twice, because he could not say it for ever. And think not that eternity is bounded by finite words. The word eternity consists of four syllables; in itself it is without end. It could not be commended to thee, save thus, "for generation and generation." Too little hath he said: if he spoke it all day long, it were too narrow: if he spoke it all his life, must he not at length hold his peace? Love eternity: without end shalt thou reign, if Christ be thine End, with whom thou shalt reign for ever and ever. Amen.
Truth. Houbigant, "his truth," and promises. (Haydock) --- The disposition of Cyrus towards the Jews had changed, in consequence of some false insinuations of their enemies. --- Wrong. The Babylonians have been, and the Samaritans will be, punished. --- Fettered. We may hope to be freed from the dominion of the Persians. (Calmet)
Enlighteneth. Hebrew, "openeth the eyes." Septuagint, "gives wisdom to the blind." Many of these favours seem to be understood in a spiritual sense, and allude to the times of Christ, when these miracles were performed. (Berthier) (Isaias xxxv. 5., and Matthew xi. 5. (Calmet)
Strangers. He charges his people to be compassionate towards such, Exodus xxii. 21., and James i. 27. (Berthier) --- We have been captives, Psalm cxii. 9. --- Sinners, who have calumniated us, ver. 7. (Calmet)
Sion. Figure of the true Church. God is now more attached to Sion than to any other place. (Berthier) --- He lives for ever, and therefore alone deserves our confidence. (Calmet) --- Generation. Hebrew adds, "Alleluia," which we have in the next title, as the psalm also begins with the same word. (Haydock)
5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: 6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: 7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners: 8 The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous: 9 The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. 10 The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord .
The psalmist, having cautioned us not to trust in princes (because, if we do, we shall be miserably disappointed), here encourages us to put our confidence in God, because, if we do so, we shall be happily secured: Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, that has an interest in his attributes and promises, and has them engaged for him, and whose hope is in the Lord his God.
I. Let us take a view of the character here given of those whom God will uphold. Those shall have God for their help, 1. Who take him for their God, and serve and worship him accordingly. 2. Who have their hope in him, and live a life of dependence upon him, who have good thoughts of him, and encourage themselves in him, when all other supports fail. Every believer may look upon him as the God of Jacob, of the church in general, and therefore may expect relief from him, in reference to public distresses, and as his God in particular, and therefore may depend upon him in all personal wants and straits. We must hope, (1.) In the providence of God for all the good things we need, which relate to the life that now is. (2.) In the grace of Christ for all the good things which relate to the life that is to come. To this especially the learned Dr. Hammond refers this and the following verses, looking upon the latter part of this psalm to have a most visible remarkable aspect towards the eternal Son of God in his incarnation. He quotes one of the rabbies, who says of v. 10 that it belongs to the days of the Messiah. And that it does so he thinks will appear by comparing v. 7, 8 , with the characters Christ gives of the Messiah ( Matt. xi. 5, 6 ), The blind receive their sight, the lame walk; and the closing words there, Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me, he thinks may very well be supposed to refer to v. 5 . Happy is the man that hopes in the Lord his God, and who is not offended in him.
II. Let us take a view of the great encouragements here given us to hope in the Lord our God. 1. He is the Maker of the world, and therefore has all power in himself, and the command of the powers of all the creatures, which, being derived from him, depend upon him ( v. 6 ): He made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and therefore his arm is not shortened, that it cannot save. It is very applicable to Christ, by whom God made the world, and without whom was not any thing made that was made. It is a great support to faith that the Redeemer of the world is the same that was the Creator of it, and therefore has a good-will to it, a perfect knowledge of its case, and power to help it. 2. He is a God of inviolable fidelity. We may venture to take God's word, for he keepeth truth for ever, and therefore no word of his shall fall to the ground; it is true from the beginning, and therefore true to the end. Our Lord Jesus is the Amen, the faithful witness, as well as the beginning, the author and principle, of the creation of God, Rev. iii. 14 . The keeping of God's truth for ever is committed to him, for all the promises are in him yea and amen. 3. He is the patron of injured innocency: He pleads the cause of the oppressed, and (as we read it) he executes judgment for them. He often does it in his providence, giving redress to those that suffer wrong and clearing up their integrity. He will do it in the judgment of the great day. The Messiah came to rescue the children of men out of the hands of Satan the great oppressor, and, all judgment being committed to him, the executing of judgment upon persecutors is so among the rest, Jude 15 . 4. He is a bountiful benefactor to the necessitous: He gives food to the hungry; so God does in an ordinary way for the answering of the cravings of nature; so he has done sometimes in an extraordinary way, as when ravens fed Elijah; so Christ did more than once when he fed thousands miraculously with that which was intended but for one meal or two for his own family. This encourages us to hope in him as the nourisher of our souls with the bread of life. 5. He is the author of liberty to those that were bound: The Lord looseth the prisoners. He brought Israel out of the house of bondage in Egypt and afterwards in Babylon. The miracles Christ wrought, in making the dumb to speak and the deaf to hear with that one word, Ephphatha—Be opened, his cleansing lepers, and so discharging them from their confinements, and his raising the dead out of their graves, may all be included in this one of loosing the prisoners; and we may take encouragement from those to hope in him for that spiritual liberty which he came to proclaim, Isa. lxi. 1, 2 . 6. He gives sight to those that have been long deprived of it; The Lord can open the eyes of the blind, and has often given to his afflicted people to see that comfort which before they were not aware of; witness Gen. xxi. 19 , and the prophet's servant, 2 Kings vi. 17 . But this has special reference to Christ; for since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind till Christ did it ( John ix. 32 ) and thereby encouraged us to hope in him for spiritual illumination. 7. He sets that straight which was crooked, and makes those easy that were pained and ready to sink: He raises those that are bowed down, by comforting and supporting them under their burdens, and, in due time, removing their burdens. This was literally performed by Christ when he made a poor woman straight that had been bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself ( Luke xiii. 12 ); and he still does it by his grace, giving rest to those that were weary and heavily laden, and raising up with his comforts those that were humbled and cast down by convictions. 8. He has a constant kindness for all good people: The Lord loveth the righteous, and they may with the more confidence depend upon his power when they are sure of his good-will. Our Lord Jesus showed his love to the righteous by fulfilling all righteousness. 9. He has a tender concern for those that stand in special need of his care: The Lord preserves the strangers. It ought not to pass without remark that the name of Jehovah is repeated here five times in five lines, to intimate that it is an almighty power (that of Jehovah) that is engaged and exerted for the relief of the oppressed, and that it is as much the glory of God to succour those that are in misery as it is to ride on the heavens by his name Jah, Ps. lxviii. 4 . (1.) Strangers are exposed, and are commonly destitute of friends, but the Lord preserves them, that they be not run down and ruined. Many a poor stranger has found the benefit of the divine protection and been kept alive by it. (2.) Widows and fatherless children, that have lost the head of the family, who took care of the affairs of it, often fall into the hands of those that make a prey of them, that will not do them justice, nay, that will do them injustice; but the Lord relieveth them, and raiseth up friends for them. See Exod. xxii. 22, 23 . Our Lord Jesus came into the world to help the helpless, to receive Gentiles, strangers, into his kingdom, and that with him poor sinners, that are as fatherless, may find mercy, Hos. xiv. 3 . 10. He will appear for the destruction of all those that oppose his kingdom and oppress the faithful subjects of it: The way of the wicked he turns upside down, and therefore let us hope in him, and not be afraid of the fury of the oppressor, as though he were ready to destroy. It is the glory of the Messiah that he will subvert all the counsels of hell and earth that militate against his church, so that, having him for us, we need not fear any thing that can be done against us. 11. His kingdom shall continue through all the revolutions of time, to the utmost ages of eternity, v. 10 . Let this encourage us to trust in God at all times that the Lord shall reign for ever, in spite of all the malignity of the powers of darkness, even thy God, O Zion! unto all generations. Christ is set King on the holy hill of Zion, and his kingdom shall continue in an endless glory. It cannot be destroyed by an invader; it shall not be left to a successor, either to a succeeding monarch or a succeeding monarchy, but it shall stand for ever. It is matter of unspeakable comfort that the Lord reigns as Zion's God, as Zion's king, that the Messiah is head over all things to the church, and will be so while the world stands.
Should offer himself, &c. He takes notice that Christ, by virtue of his sacrifice, and his dying once on the cross, satisfied for the sins of all men that even were from the beginning of the world. It was decreed from eternity that the Son of God should come to redeem mankind: the ransom that was not yet paid was accepted; and all might be saved who believed in their Redeemer, who was to come, and who, by the graces that God offered and gave them, lived well. (Witham) --- Christ shall never more offer himself in sacrifice, in that violent, painful, and bloody manner, nor can there be any occasion for it; since by that one sacrifice upon the cross, he has furnished the full ransom, redemption, and remedy for all the sins of the world. But this hinders not that he may offer himself in the sacred mysteries in an unbloody manner, for the daily application of that one sacrifice of redemption to our souls. (Challoner)
He came at the end of the ages, as it were in the last age of the world, to the putting away or abrogating of sin. (Witham) --- Though less, viz. a single tear, might have satisfied the justice of God, nothing less than his own precious blood could satisfy the charity of Jesus Christ. By his death, as St. Augustine observes, Christ has bound the devil in a chain, so that he can tempt us no further than we are able to resist: he may bark, he may tempt, he may solicit us; but he can bite none, except those that wilfully cast themselves within his reach. (Serm. 1. post Trin.)
To exhaust the sins of many. That is, of all, according to the style of the Scriptures. When he came first, he took upon him the load of our sins; but at his second coming, at the end of the world, he will come in a quite different manner, not as laden with our sins, not after the similitude of a sinful man, not to redeem us, but with great power and majesty to judge all men. (Witham) --- To exhaust. That is, to empty or draw out to the very bottom, by a plentiful and perfect redemption. (Challoner)
23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
In this last part of the chapter, the apostle goes on to tell us what the Holy Ghost has signified to us by the legal purifications of the patterns of the things in heaven, inferring thence the necessity of better sacrifices to consecrate the heavenly things themselves.
I. The necessity of purifying the patterns of the things in heaven, v. 23 . This necessity arises both from the divine appointment, which must always be obeyed, and from the reason of that appointment, which was to preserve a proper resemblance between the things typifying and the things typified. It is observable here that the sanctuary of God on earth is a pattern of heaven, and communion with God in his sanctuary is to his people a heaven upon earth.
II. The necessity that the heavenly things themselves should be purified with better sacrifices than of bulls and goats; the things themselves are better than the patterns, and must therefore be consecrated with better sacrifices. These heavenly things are the privileges of the gospel state, begun in grace, perfected in glory. These must be ratified by a suitable sanction or consecration; and this was the blood of Christ. Now it is very evident that the sacrifice of Christ is infinitely better than those of the law. 1. From the places in which the sacrifices under the law, and that under the gospel, were offered. Those under the law were the holy places made with hands, which are but figures of the true sanctuary, v. 24 . Christ's sacrifice, though offered upon earth, was by himself carried up into heaven, and is there presented in a way of daily intercession; for he appears in the presence of God for us. He has gone to heaven, not only to enjoy the rest and receive the honour due to him, but to appear in the presence of God for us, to present our persons and our performances, to answer and rebuke our adversary and accuser, to secure our interest, to perfect all our affairs, and to prepare a place for us. 2. From the sacrifices themselves, v. 26 . Those under the law were the lives and blood of other creatures of a different nature from the offerers—the blood of beasts, a thing of small value, and which would have been of none at all in this matter had it not had a typical respect to the blood of Christ; but the sacrifice of Christ was the oblation of himself; he offered his own blood, truly called, by virtue of the hypostatical union, the blood of God; and therefore of infinite value. 3. From the frequent repetition of the legal sacrifices. This showed the imperfection of that law; but it is the honour and perfection of Christ's sacrifice that, being once offered, it was sufficient to all the ends of it; and indeed the contrary would have been absurd, for then he must have been still dying and rising again, and ascending and then again descending and dying; and the great work had been always in fieri—always doing, and always to do, but never finished, which would be as contrary to reason as it is to revelation, and to the dignity of his person: But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The gospel is the last dispensation of the grace of God to men. 4. From the inefficacy of the legal sacrifices, and the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice. The legal sacrifices could not of themselves put away sin, neither procure pardon for it now power against it. Sin would still have lain upon us, and had dominion over us; but Jesus Christ by one sacrifice has made an end of sin, he has destroyed the works of the devil.
III. The apostle illustrates the argument from the appointment of God concerning men ( v. 27, 28 ), and observes something like it in the appointment of God concerning Christ.
1. The appointment of God concerning men contains in it two things:—(1.) That they must once die, or, at least, undergo a change equivalent to death. It is an awful thing to die, to have the vital knot loosed or cut asunder, all relations here dropped at once, an end put to our probation and preparation state, and to enter into another world. It is a great work, and it is a work that can be but once done, and therefore had need to be well done. This is matter of comfort to the godly, that they shall die well and die but once; but it is matter of terror to the wicked, who die in their sins, that they cannot return again to do that great work better. (2.) It is appointed to men that after death they shall come to judgment, to a particular judgment immediately after death; for the soul returns to God as to its judge, to be determined to its eternal state; and men shall be brought to the general judgment, at the end of the world. This is the unalterable decree of God concerning men—they must die, and they must be judged. It is appointed for them, and it is to be believed and seriously considered by them.
2. The appointment of God concerning Christ, bearing some resemblance to the other. (1.) He must be once offered, to bear the sins of many, of all the Father had given to him, of all who should believe in his name. He was not offered for any sin of his own; he was wounded for our transgressions. God laid on him the iniquity of all his people; and these are many, though not so many as the rest of mankind; yet, when they are all gathered to him, he will be the first-born among many brethren. (2.) It is appointed that Christ shall appear the second time without sin, to the salvation of those who look for him. [1.] He will then appear without sin; at his first appearance, though he had no sin of his own, yet he stood charged with the sins of many; he was the Lamb of God that bore upon him the sins of the world, and then he appeared in the form of sinful flesh; but his second appearance will be without any such charge upon him, he having fully discharged it before, and then his visage shall not be marred, but shall be exceedingly glorious. [2.] This will be to the salvation of all who look for him; he will then perfect their holiness, their happiness; their number shall then be accomplished, and their salvation completed. Observe, It is the distinguishing character of true believers that they are looking for Christ; they look to him by faith; they look for him by hope and holy desires. They look for him in every duty, in every ordinance, in every providence now; and they expect his second coming, and are preparing for it; and though it will be sudden destruction to the rest of the world, who scoff at the report of it, it will be eternal salvation to those who look for it.
24. Resumption more fully of the thought, "He entered in once into the holy place," He 9:12 . He has in He 9:13 , 14 , expanded the words "by his own blood," He 9:12 ; and in He 9:15-23 , he has enlarged on "an High Priest of good things to come."
not ... into ... holy places made with hands-- as was the Holy of Holies in the earthly tabernacle (see on He 9:11 ).
figures-- copies "of the true" holiest place, heaven, the original archetype ( He 8:5 ).
into heaven itself-- the immediate presence of the invisible God beyond all the created heavens, through which latter Jesus passed (see on He 4:14 ; 1Ti 6:16 ).
now-- ever since His ascension in the present economy (compare He 9:26 ).
to appear-- To PRESENT Himself; Greek, "to be made to appear." Mere man may have a vision through a medium, or veil, as Moses had ( Ex 33:18 , 20-23 ). Christ alone beholds the Father without a veil, and is His perfect image. Through seeing Him only can we see the Father.
in the presence of God-- Greek, "to the face of God." The saints shall hereafter see God's face in Christ ( Re 22:4 ): the earnest of which is now given ( 2Co 3:18 ). Aaron, the Levitical high priest for the people, stood before the ark and only saw the cloud, the symbol of God's glory ( Ex 28:30 ).
for us-- in our behalf as our Advocate and Intercessor ( He 7:25 ; Ro 8:34 ; 1Jo 2:1 ). "It is enough that Jesus should show Himself for us to the Father: the sight of Jesus satisfied God in our behalf. He brings before the face of God no offering which has exhausted itself, and, as only sufficing for a time, needs renewal; but He himself is in person, by virtue of the eternal Spirit, that is, the imperishable life of His person, now and for ever freed from death, our eternally present offering before God" [Delitzsch in Alford].
25. As in He 9:24 , Paul said, it was not into the typical, but the true sanctuary, that Christ is entered; so now he says, that His sacrifice needs not, as the Levitical sacrifices did, to be repeated. Construe, "Nor yet did He enter for this purpose that He may offer Himself often," that is, "present Himself in the presence of God, as the high priest does (Paul uses the present tense, as the legal service was then existing), year by year, on the day of atonement, entering the Holy of Holies.
with-- literally, "in."
blood of others-- not his own, as Christ did.
26. then-- in that case.
must ... have suffered-- rather as Greek, "It would have been necessary for Him often to suffer." In order to "offer" ( He 9:25 ), or present Himself often before God in the heavenly holiest place, like the legal high priests making fresh renewals of this high priestly function. He would have had, and would have often to suffer. His oblation of Himself before God was once for all (that is, the bringing in of His blood into the heavenly Holy of Holies), and therefore the preliminary suffering was once for all.
since the foundation of the world-- The continued sins of men, from their first creation, would entail a continual suffering on earth, and consequent oblation of His blood in the heavenly holiest place, since the foundation of the world, if the one oblation "in the fulness of time" were not sufficient. Philo [The Creation of the World, p. 637], shows that the high priest of the Hebrews offered sacrifices for the whole human race. "If there had been greater efficacy in the repetition of the oblation, Christ necessarily would not have been so long promised, but would have been sent immediately after the foundation of the world to suffer, and offer Himself at successive periods" [Grotius].
now-- as the case is,
once-- for all; without need of renewal. Rome's fiction of an UNBLOODY sacrifice in the mass, contradicts her assertion that the blood of Christ is present in the wine; and also confutes her assertion that the mass is propitiatory; for, if unbloody, it cannot be propitiatory; for without shedding of blood there is no remission ( He 9:22 ). Moreover, the expression "once" for all here, and in He 9:28 , and He 10:10 , 12 , proves the falsity of her view that there is a continually repeated offering of Christ in the Eucharist or mass. The offering of Christ was a thing once done that it might be thought of for ever (compare Note, see on He 10:12 ).
in the end of the world-- Greek, "at the consummation of the ages"; the winding up of all the previous ages from the foundation of the world; to be followed by a new age ( He 1:1 , 2 ). The last age, beyond which no further age is to be expected before Christ's speedy second coming, which is the complement of the first coming; literally, "the ends of the ages"; Mt 28:20 is literally, "the consummation of the age," or world (singular; not as here, plural, ages). Compare "the fulness of times," Ep 1:10 .
appeared-- Greek, "been manifested" on earth ( 1Ti 3:16 ; 1Pe 1:20 ). English Version has confounded three distinct Greek verbs, by translating all alike, He 9:24 , 26, 28, "appear." But, in He 9:24 , it is "to present Himself," namely, before God in the heavenly sanctuary; in He 9:26 , "been manifested" on earth: in He 9:28 , "shall be seen" by all, and especially believers.
put away-- abolish; doing away sin's power as well by delivering men from its guilt and penalty, so that it should be powerless to condemn men, as also from its yoke, so that they shall at last sin no more.
sin-- singular number; all the sins of men of every age are regarded as one mass laid on Christ. He hath not only droned for all actual sins, but destroyed sin itself. Joh 1:29 , "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin (not merely the sins: singular, not plural) of the world."
by the sacrifice of himself-- Greek, "by (through) His own sacrifice"; not by "blood of others" ( He 9:25 ). Alford loses this contrast in translating, "by His sacrifice."
27. as-- inasmuch as.
it is appointed-- Greek, "it is laid up (as our appointed lot)," Col 1:5 . The word "appointed" (so Hebrew "seth" means) in the case of man, answers to "anointed" in the case of Jesus; therefore "the Christ," that is, the anointed, is the title here given designedly. He is the representative man; and there is a strict correspondence between the history of man and that of the Son of man. The two most solemn facts of our being are here connected with the two most gracious truths of our dispensation, our death and judgment answering in parallelism to Christ's first coming to die for us, and His second coming to consummate our salvation.
once-- and no more.
after this the judgment-- namely, at Christ's appearing, to which, in He 9:28 , "judgment" in this verse is parallel. Not, "after this comes the heavenly glory." The intermediate state is a state of joyous, or else agonizing and fearful, expectation of "judgment"; after the judgment comes the full and final state of joy, or else woe.
28. Christ-- Greek, "THE Christ"; the representative Man; representing all men, as the first Adam did.
once offered-- not "often," He 9:25 ; just as "men," of whom He is the representative Head, are appointed by God once to die. He did not need to die again and again for each individual, or each successive generation of men, for He represents all men of every age, and therefore needed to die but once for all, so as to exhaust the penalty of death incurred by all. He was offered by the Father, His own "eternal Spirit" ( He 9:14 ) concurring; as Abraham spared not Isaac, but offered him, the son himself unresistingly submitting to the father's will ( Ge 22:1-24 ).
to bear the sins-- referring to Is 53:12 , "He bare the sins of many," namely, on Himself; so "bear" means, Le 24:15 ; Nu 5:31 ; 14:34 . The Greek is literally "to bear up" ( 1Pe 2:24 ). "Our sins were laid on Him. When, therefore, He was lifted up on the cross, He bare up our sins along with Him" [Bengel].
many-- not opposed to all, but to few. He, the One, was offered for many; and that once for all (compare Mt 20:28 ).
look for him-- with waiting expectation even unto the end (so the Greek). It is translated "wait for" in Ro 8:19 , 23 ; 1Co 1:7 , which see.
appear-- rather, as Greek, "be seen." No longer in the alien "form of a servant," but in His own proper glory.
without sin-- apart from, separate from, sin. Not bearing the sin of many on Him as at His first coming (even then there was no sin in Him). That sin has been at His first coming once for all taken away, so as to need no repetition of His sin offering of Himself ( He 9:26 ). At His second coming He shall have no more to do with sin.
The widow of Sarephta is introduced with an exact inventory of her poverty: "a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise," and "two sticks" gathered to cook it, "that we may eat it and die" (v. 12). Elias's answer begins with comfort and then makes a hard demand: "Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake" (v. 13). The promise follows, and it is phrased with a time limit: the pot "shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth" (v. 14). The narrator closes by repeating the promise as fulfilled, "according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias" (v. 16).
Calmet, as Haydock reports him, fastens on the word "first." Elias "puts the faith of the widow to a severe trial," and "the gospel requires nothing more perfect than what she practised." She is asked to feed a stranger from the last meal of a household that expects to die, before she has seen any sign. Calmet's next remark reverses the expected order of rewards. The meal and oil are not the main gift. "The true faith, which she then received, was her first and most precious recompense," and the blessings her guest drew down on her came after. Salien, also cited by Haydock, deals with a narrower point in verse 14. The word "until" does not mean the supply stopped on the day the rain came, since "the corn could not grow immediately"; otherwise the household would have been in danger of starving all over again. The promise covered the interval between the rain and the harvest it would produce.
Calmet's reading cuts against two familiar distortions: the piety that gives only from surplus, and the piety that gives in order to be repaid in meal and oil. The widow gives from nothing, and what she receives first is faith itself. Salien's small point carries the same lesson from the other side; God's provision is measured by real need, including the weeks no one had counted on. What the story leaves in view is a single handful of meal and the jar it came from, which the narrator says "wasted not."