Matthew 4

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:12-22

Call of the fishermen. I. THE OCCASION OF THE CALL . Driven from Nazareth, our Lord repaired to the busy western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Through this district ran the great caravan-roads; and several important towns gathered all kinds of tradesmen. Herod the tetrarch had his court in Tiberias. The valuable fishings in the lake gave employment to many. Courtiers, soldiers, tax-gatherers, watching the caravans and fisheries, fishermen, women reputable and disreputable, filled... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:12-25

The beginning of our Lord's ministry. I. HE REMOVES TO CAPERNAUM . 1 . John was cast into prison. His ministry was ended; the Lord's begins. God continues his'servants' work; when one passes away, another takes his place; when the voice of one prophet is silenced, a greater follows, Each must work in faith while time is given; the work is not man's, but God's. He will fulfil it. His servants may seem to be laid aside and to be forgotten; he will carry on their work. He does not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:13

And leaving Nazareth . Finally as a place of residence. The form ναζαρά occurs only here and Luke 4:16 , which in itself well suits the opinion that Luke 4:16-30 is only a fuller account of this sojourn at Nazareth (cf. Weiss, ' Matthaus-Evang.'). He came and dwelt ; i.e. made his home in (cf. Matthew 2:23 ). Not as having a house of his own there, so that he could take shelter in it as of right (cf. Matthew 8:20 , "The foxes have holes," etc.); but probably settling his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:15

The land of Zabulon , etc. From Isaiah 9:1 , Isaiah 9:2 , spoiled in the Authorized Version, but rendered correctly in the Revised Version. Isaiah says that those parts of the land which had borne the first brunt of the Assyrian invasions under Tiglath-Pileser ( 2 Kings 15:29 ; el. Zechariah 10:10 ), shall be proportionately glorified by the advent of Messiah. Wetstein gives a tradition from the 'Pesikt. Zut.,' of Messiah ben Joseph first appearing in Galilee; hut the whole passage... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:16

The people which sat ; "who walk" (Hebrew). Saw great light ; saw a great light (Revised Version); unnecessarily except as a matter of English, for it can hardly mean a definite light, Messiah. φῶς both here and in the next clause means light as such . And to them which sat . So the Hebrew, but the LXX . generally οἱκατοικοῦντες . In the region and shadow of death . The region where death abides, and where it casts its thickest shade. The Hebrew is simply "in the land of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:16

The extremes of light and darkness. The interval between the place of this verse and the close of the three temptations is considerable, and is not evident from the passage before us. It is also even obscured by the order of the verses here. Much history belongs to the gap between Matthew 4:11 and Matthew 4:12 . The seventeenth verse, as regards the matter of it, follows the twelfth. That, again, begs the fuller explanations of Matthew 14:3-5 ; and lastly, after all the history of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:17

The proclamation. From that time ; ἀπὸ τότε (elsewhere in the New Testament only Matthew 16:21 ; Matthew 26:16 ; Luke 16:16 ); i.e. from the time of his residence in Capernaum ( Matthew 4:13 ). Apparently our Lord, after the baptism, went to John ( vide supra , verse 1), then retired to Galilee, going first to Nazareth, then finally leaving it as his home for Capernaum. At Caper-nauru his public activity begins. From that time ; the phrase expresses not merely "at... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:17

The summons—to repent! It would appear that while first John the Baptist uttered the summons, "Repent ye," when announcing the advent of "the kingdom of heaven" ( Matthew 3:1 ), and while now Jesus himself does the same, the charge to utter it was not committed to "the twelve" ( Matthew 10:7 ), nor to "the seventy" ( Luke 10:9 ). The reason, perhaps, is this, that the work of these disciples was intentionally didactic rather than dogmatic for the present, while all the weight of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:17

The common message of John and Jesus. Here is a fact of the records to which sufficient attention has not been given. Our Lord did not realize at once the individuality of his Messianic message. He began public labour by doing John's work and repeating's John's message. Both had this for their gospel, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Another remarkable fact needs to be noticed in this connection. When our Lord sent out his apostles on their trial-mission—a beginning of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:18

And Jesus, walking . Revised Version rightly omits "Jesus," and inserts "he" before "saw." The right reading does not detract so much from the emphatic statement of Matthew 4:17 . By the Sea of Galilee . His walk lay along the lake. Socin speaks of "the probability that there was a frequented road from the mouth of the Jordan skirting the bank of the lake." Two brethren, Simon … and Andrew his brother ; the addition, "his brother," emphasizing the relationship. Christ's coming would... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:12-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:12-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:18

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