gelists, the plan here pursued has been to adopt the account
which seemed the fullest, weaving into the Exposition any
details supplied by either of the others.
The comment upon such portions of the Gospel according
to St. John as fall within the scope of the present undertaking
is chiefly condensed from a former work of the Author's
upon that Gospel, long out of print.
The work such as it is, it may not be unnecessary to
observe, was almost completed before the more elaborate
works of Canon Farrar and Dr. Geikie came into the Author's
hands. The same may be said with regard to Bishop Ellicott's
and other recent Commentaries for English readers. The
quotations which will be found in these pages have not been
suggested by those in either of the works referred to. They
are, indeed, in no case second-hand, but of the Author's own
collecting. It is necessary to state this, as curious coin-
cidences of thought and expression are sometimes found in
such cases.
While keeping the work of exposition steadily in view, the
Author hopes he has not failed to make fair and reasonable
application, or to draw, where opportunity offered, some
profitable lesson growing out of the subject; and no opinion,
he trusts, has been advanced which is not in harmony with
historic Christianity, and the judgment of the best Divines
of the Church of England,