situated beyond the territory of Palestine, and which is so called from the city Abela, is made mention of in the words, Avoɑviou Ths 'Aßianvis Tergagxouvros, "Lysanias being tetrarch of Abilene." Besides, at the time of Tiberius no Lysanias is mentioned as the ruler of that land; thirty years previous to that period there reigned, indeed, a man of that name, who was murdered by Antonius. Nevertheless, if we consider that the city and the territory belonging to it was so unimportant as to make it impossible that all its rulers should have been mentioned by the ancient historians, then the silence of writers respecting this prince will be by no means remarkable. We only need to suppose that Augustus had invested a son, or descendant of the earlier Lysanias, having the same name, in order to remove every doubt. And as Abilene bordered on Galilee, the scene of the ministry of Jesus, so this might have induced the Evangelist to mention likewise the prince of this small territory. What St Luke has indicated in so minute a manner, is stated by St Matthew, iii. 1, in the indefinite formula, iv raîs èxsívais gais, "in those days." It is not improbable, that the diegesis which St Matthew no doubt employed when writing the first chapters went yet much farther, but that the formula just mentioned had a closer connection; it has, nevertheless [= the Hebrew "in those days"], frequently also a wider reference, comp. Exod. ii. 11).— With these chronological remarks respecting the political rulers of those days, St Luke connects the mention of the then living heads of the spiritual dominion. But there are mentioned two high-priests (Luke iii. 2); the reading aggśws, "of the highpriest," is no doubt to be preferred to the plural, because two names followed, Annas and Caiaphas, hence the singular, which, according to the intention of the Evangelist, referred to the proper one, i.e. to the one who held the office of high-priest, was thus changed. The latter was the officiating high-priest; but his father-in-law, Annas, who formerly held the same office, and of which he now had been deprived, still maintained a great influence. (Respecting this subject, see the comment. to the history of the passion, as recorded in St Matth. xxvi. 57 sqq.) At this time, then, it was that St John appeared (agayivera, "came," Matth. iii. 12.dev, "went," of Luke iii. 3), and preached repent

1 Comp. Tholuck's Glaubw. der Evang. Gesch. p. 198 sqq., and Schneckenburger's treatise in the Studien for 1833. Pt. 4.

ance. As the place of his preaching is mentioned, the gnuos, wilderness," which, of course, was not a desert in the true sense of the word, but which we must consider rather as having been a heath,, “wilderness." But the circumstance of St John's preaching in the gnos, and not in towns, shows the peculiar character of this witness of truth. It formed a portion of the nature of St John to fly from the human race [Luke i. 80], and to preach to those who seek him; whereas our Redeemer himself seeks mankind. (The wilderness of Judea [Matth. iii. 1] was bounded, moreover, by the river Jordan and the Dead Sea. [Comp. Joseph. de Bell. Jud. L. iii. 18]; hence St Luke iii. 3 calls it egiXwgos Tou 'Iogôávou, "the country about the Jordan," χώρος τοῦ "the plain of Jordan,” Gen. xiii. 11.) But peculiar to St Luke iii. 2 is the addition ἐγένετο ῥῆμα Θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἰωάννην, “ the word of God came unto John," which corresponds with the expression so

=

the word of the * הָיָה דְבַר י"י עַל ,common to the prophets

Lord was upon." This remark, in the first place, implies that the public appearance of St John was not the result of his own reflection, but an act produced by inspiration from above. But then, in the second place, the manner in which the mind of St John was affected by the powers of a higher world seems not to differ from the one which took place in the prophets of the Old Testament. For, whilst a calm and continually active influence of the Divine Spirit manifests itself as the peculiarity in the minds of the faithful under the dispensation of the New Testament (the term ive, "to remain, abide, or dwell," is here used in the language of St John); in the Old Testament, on the contrary, the ministry of the Spirit is expressed more as sudden and momentary, but which always involved other periods barren, and, as it were, forsaken of the Spirit as succeeding, such indeed as we find them in a subsequent period of the life of the Baptist (comp. Matth. xiv. 1 sqq.) Hence it is that the formula, "the hand of the Lord was upon," is frequently applied when speaking of the inspired moments of the prophets, in order to indicate the violence and suddenness of the inspiration. Such formulas, of course, are never used when speaking of Jesus, because the Divine nature manifested itself in him not at certain isolated moments in his life, but because he was himself the One everlasting manifestation of the deity, the Word. (Concerning the relation of gua, "word," and 26yos, "word," which lead us λóyos,

יַד יי עַל

M

to the same fundamental idea of the relation in which yɛodar, "to be called," stands to vai, "to be," see the comment. on St John i. 1.)

What St Matthew [iii. 1] leaves unexplained, viz. the object of the zigoya, “preaching," of the Baptist, St Luke explains with more minuteness [iii. 3], inasmuch as he calls it the Búzioμa μετανοίας, 'baptism of repentance." (Comp. Matth. iii. 11, where St John says, Barri(w się merάvorav, “I baptise unto repentance.") The expression srávo, "repentance," here describes the result of the law, in its operation upon the mind. Owing to its unrelenting and exacting form, it awakens in man the knowledge of his infirmity, and the longing for a power that is capable to satisfy it. Hence it is in fact a change of mind, of "vous," taking place in the deepest recesses of human life; but considered in itself, of course, it is something purely negative, which stands in need of something positive in order to complete it, namely the Spirit which came by Christ, and which man receives through the ioris, i.e. faith. To this refers the addition, sis äpson ȧμagtian, "for remission of sins" [St Luke iii. 3, and St Mark i. 4]. The preaching itself of St John was not to effect the pois, "remission," but it was only to prepare for that which was to be accomplished by Christ. Hence it is not improper to complete this sentence by gzovny, “which is to come." (Respecting this comp. the Acts of the Apostles xix. 4, wherein St Paul instructs the disciples of St John as to the meaning of their baptism.)

ἄφεσις,

St Matthew iii. 2. As the motive for the pravo, "to repent," the existence, or the being at hand, of the kingdom of God, is rendered prominent, a kingdom which excludes all those persons who are in their natural and unchanged state of mind. (The perfect yyiz, "has become near, i.e. is at hand," [from yyiw] must be taken in the sense of the present, so that the meaning will be: the kingdom of God is already at hand, viz. in the person of the Messiah who represents it, of whom St John the Baptist says: μέσος ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε, i.e. there stands one among you whom ye know not, John i. 26). Besides, the expression βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, signifying the kingdom of heaven, is only found in St Matthew, (in 2 Tim. iv. 18 is found Baría Tougάvios, i.e. the heavenly kingdom). The more common expression is, βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ Χριστοῦ, i.e. kingdom of God, of Christ,' or simply Banksia, with the completing word o "under

1 The expression βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, “ kingdom of the Son

stood," [Luke xii. 32, and al. freq.] In the Old Testament the expression "kingdom of heaven," or

מַלְכוּת

"kingdom of God," does not occur, for it is only found in Jewish writings of a subsequent period. In the Apocrypha the expression Bacıλɛía Otoũ, “kingdom of God," is to be found, however, in Wisd. x. 10. The idea of the kingdom of God, on the contrary, pervades all the writings of the Old Testament, but it is most developed in the prophets. (Comp. Isa. ii. 1—4; Micah iv. 3 sqq.; Isa. xi. 1 sqq.; Ps. lxxxv. 11, 12; Jer. xxiii. 5 sqq.; xxxi. 31 sqq.; xxxii. 37 sqq.; xxxiii. 14 sqq.; Ezek. xxxiv. 23 sqq.; xxxvii. 24 sqq.) Daniel describes in express terms the expected sanctification of all things, which was regarded by all the prophets as a coming event, as a kingdom of everlasting duration, [Dan. ii. 44; vii. 14, 27] as indeed likewise frequently the Messiah as a king, in which sense David especially is regarded as his prototype [Dan. ix. 25; Ps. ii. 6; Zech. xiv. 9; Ezek. xxxvii. 24.] The fundamental idea of the expected kingdom of God, as foreshadowed in the Old Testament, is no other than that revealed in the New Testament. The idea of a kingdom necessarily implies two distinct ideas, viz. that of a person determining [ruling], and the one of a person dependant [subject]. But in the kingdom of God, the divine will appears as the one absolutely reigning; for, in so far as the Divine will is conceived as being neglected in this sinful world, in the same proportion is the condition of his absolute dominion one of a future period. Hence, the Basia rou so, "kingdom of God," forms a contrast with the βασιλεία τῆς ἁμαρτίας, “kingdom of sin,” or with its representative ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου ταύτου, “ the prince or ruler of this world." The coming of the former kingdom involves the destruction of the latter, and the dominion of the latter restricts the influence of the former. But as the Old Testament, more especially in the prophecies, does not fully develope the ideas put forward, not presenting them to the mind in their continual progression throughout the course of time, and only, as it were, concentrates them into one picture; so it is, in like manner, with regard to the revelations concerning the kingdom of God.

of Man," (Matth. xiii. 41,) is rarely used for Basiλeía rou Xirou, "kingdom of the Christ, or Messiah." In Mark xi. 10, the passage Badiλɛíα To Aaßid, "kingdom of David," occurs because David is regarded as the type of the king Messiah.

The prophetic communications contain living descriptions of it, according to which the dominion of sin appears to be overcome internally and externally, and the dominion of God and of his will appears to be established; but the external and internal are not properly kept separate therein, but are taken in connection, hence it is particularly their subjection the one to the other which is not defined, on the contrary, the great picture of the pure development of life of the creation is drawn at once in a perspective view, whereby those things which are separated by great spaces therein appear as standing close to one another. Whatever is in the germ in the Old Testament, appears in the New Testament freely and fully developed, which thus alone displays in its fulness the fundamental idea included therein. The divine kingdom appears, accordingly, as a kingdom which exists for ever, which is founded on the protevangel in the fallen human race, which is typically represented in the Mosaic theocracy, but which is represented in Christ completed essentially in knowledge, which, ever since his appearance, continues growing secretly in the world of spirits, to obtain a final victory over all-to effect a harmonious amalgamation of external and internal forms of life throughout the kingdom of creation. With closer regard to this development of the idea of the Basinia Tou Os in the writings of the New Testament, there is clearly manifested in the New Testament the separation of the external and internal portion. In the latter relation the Bacía 7. §. appears, according to the view of the New Testament, as one really present, not only in the person of our Redeemer himself, but likewise in those believing in him, who have been transplanted into his element of life. In the internal life and the knowledge of the Spirit, the absolute dominion of the Deity (in faith) appears as being realized. Conceived thus, as the divine kingdom. in the world of the Spirit, it appears, as we find it in St Luke xvii. 21, where the passage is given thus: ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντός ὑμῶν SOT, i.e. the dominion of God is within you, (comp. Rom. xiv. 17). But in external relation, the kingdom of God appears likewise in the New Testament as one yet to come, and to be desired. The element of the Spirit of Christ, which ensures to itself a dominion in the deepest recesses of the internal life, strives after an unconditional dominion over all connected therewith; the extension of the dominion of the godly life in Christ over things external is, however, of a gradual character, and