Matthew 3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:2

Repent - Μετανοειτε . This was the matter of the preaching. The verb μετανοεω is either compounded of μετα , after, and νοειν to understand, which signifies that, after hearing such preaching, the sinner is led to understand, that the way he has walked in was the way of misery, death, and hell. Or the word may be derived from μετα after, and ανοια , madness, which intimates that the whole life of a sinner is no other than a continued course of madness and folly: and if to live in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:3

The voice of one crying in the wilderness - Or, A voice of a crier in the wilderness. This is quoted from Isaiah 40:3 , which clearly proves that John the Baptist was the person of whom the prophet spoke. The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition, or took a journey through a desert country, sent harbingers before them, to prepare all things for their passage; and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:4

His raiment of camel's hair - A sort of coarse or rough covering, which, it appears, was common to the prophets, Zechariah 13:4 . In such a garment we find Elijah clothed, 2 Kings 1:8 . And as John had been designed under the name of this prophet, Malachi 4:5 , whose spirit and qualifications he was to possess, Luke 1:17 , he took the same habit and lived in the same state of self-denial. His meat was locusts - Ακριδες . Ακρις may either signify the insect called the locust,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:5

Jordan - Many of the best MSS. and versions, with Mark 1:5 , add ποταμω , the river Jordan; but the definitive article, with which the word is generally accompanied, both in the Hebrew and the Greek, is, sufficient; and our article the, which should ever be used in the translation, expresses the force of the other. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:6

Were baptized - In what form baptism was originally administered, has been deemed a subject worthy of serious dispute. Were the people dipped or sprinkled? for it is certain βαπτω and βαπτιζω mean both. They were all dipped, say some. Can any man suppose that it was possible for John to dip all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea, and of all the country round about the Jordan? Were both men and women dipped, for certainly both came to his baptism? This could never have comported... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:7

Pharisees - A very numerous sect among the Jews, who, in their origin, were, very probably, a pure and holy people. It is likely that they got the name of Pharisees, i.e. Separatists, (from פרש pharash , to separate), from their separating themselves from the pollution of the Jewish national worship; and hence, the word in the Anglo-saxon version is, holy persons who stand apart, or by themselves: but, in process of time, like all religious sects and parties, they degenerated: they lost... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:10

And now also the axe is laid - Or, Even now the axe lieth. As if he had said, There is not a moment to spare - God is about to cut off every impenitent soul - you must therefore either turn to God immediately, or be utterly and finally ruined. It was customary with the prophets to represent the kingdoms, nations, and individuals, whose ruin they predicted, under the notion of forests and trees, doomed to be cut down. See Jeremiah 46:22 , Jeremiah 46:23 ; Ezekiel 31:3 , Ezekiel 31:11 ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:11

But he that cometh after me - Or, I coming after me, who is now on his way, and will shortly make his appearance. Jesus Christ began his ministry when he was thirty years of age, Luke 3:23 , which was the age appointed by the law, Numbers 4:3 . John the Baptist was born about six months before Christ; and, as he began his public ministry when thirty years of age, then this coming after refers to six months after the commencement of John's public preaching, at which time Christ entered... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:12

Whose fan is in his hand - The Romans are here termed God's fan, as, in Matthew 3:10 , they were called his axe, and, in Matthew 22:7 , they are termed his troops or armies. The winnowing fan of the Hindoos is square, made of split bamboo; and the corn is winnowed by waving the fan backwards with both hands - "Whose fan is in his hand." His floor - Does not this mean the land of Judea, which had been long, as it were, the threshing-floor of the Lord? God says, he will now, by the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 3:14

John forbad him - Earnestly and pressingly opposed him: this is the proper import of the words διεκωλευεν αυτον . I have observed that δια , in composition, most frequently, if not always, strengthens the signification in classic authors. - Wakefield. read more

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