n Jonah iii. 5.

or St. Matthew, writing after the resurrection, would doubtless have added some explanation.

Verse 41. The men of Nineveh, &c. The mention of Jonah gave occasion to our Lord to contrast the obduracy of the Jews, with the repentance of the men of Nineveh. They believed the prophet's testimony, though a stranger and alone; and though he wrought no miracle, they repented; whilst the body of the Jewish people, greatly perverted in their judgment, and hardened against the evidence of truth, no doubt by the active opposition and influence of the Pharisees, repented not, although the Messenger sent was greater than Jonas, both in person and office; and the most stupendous miracles had been wrought in their sight; and, finally, though the message was at once a gracious offer of salvation, and a warning against severer judgments than those denounced against Nineveh. The Ninevites, though sinners, were, it seems, conscious that they were so; and the denunciation of divine vengeance, therefore, made at once an effectual appeal to their fears the Jews too were sinners; but "they trusted within themselves that they were righteous."

:

Rise up in judgment, &c.—This alludes to the custom of witnesses rising up from their seats, and standing in court to give their testimony: the men of Nineveh should condemn that generation of Jews, at the general judgment, not as judges, but as witnesses; their obedience to the call of God under inferior religious privi.eges, serving the more strongly to mark

o 1 Kings x. 1

the aggravated guilt of a people among whom the Son of God himself had appeared.

Verse 42. The queen of the south, &c.— She is called the queen of Sheba, 1 Kings x. 1. Sheba is placed by some in Arabia, by others in Ethiopia. Josephus says, that Sheba was the name of the city of Meroe, and that it was thence that the queen here mentioned came. The Abyssinians have for ages, both before and after the Christian era, maintained that this princess was of their country, and that her posterity long reigned there; and many circumstances serve to give a strong probability to their claim, and especially the existence in that country in ancient times, of a form of Judaism, which was in all probability introduced under the authority of some person of rank and influence; and none is more likely than the celebrated queen, who, travelling to so great a distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon, showed herself to be a woman of wisdom and literary taste, and would probably take back with her copies of the sacred books. She is here commended by our Lord for her love of wisdom, of moral wisdom, for in that the philosophy of those ancient times chiefly consisted; and her example condemned the Jews, both because they not only had no desire after true wisdom, but were utterly averse to it; and because she received with docility instruction from the lips of a mere man, who, though great and wise, was inferior to Him whose ministry they proudly and malignantly slighted. That our Lord intimates under the modest

p Luke xi. 24.

phrase πλειον Σολομωνιος, that he was superior in nature to Solomon, as to the dignity of his person, cannot be reasonably doubted; for though the neuter gender be used, there can be no question, but the comparison is of persons, not of things.

Verses 43-45. When the unclean spirit, &c. This parable, founded upon the fact of demoniacal possessions, has been variously interpreted, and, for want of attention to the context, often either misunderstood or allegorized beyond all bounds of sobriety. As it relates to the mysterious influence and habits of a class of supernatural beings, it partakes of the obscurity of the subject; but is, nevertheless, sufficiently obvious in its general import to convey the most solemn instruction. That some unhappy demoniacs were possessed with one evil spirit, others with more, as Mary Magdalene, who had seven, and the man near Gadara, of whom a legion had taken possession, are facts which appear in the gospel history: and that it was not an uncommon case that a man who had been delivered from one demon, might after be possessed by many, is probable; because this is the basis, and constitutes the point, of the parable. This parable, separate from its application to the Jews, which shall presently be noticed, teaches us, 1. That these evil spirits are necessarily wretched: they "seek rest and find none," but carry with them their own hell. 2. That the only alleviation they know is the occupation of their attention by projects of mischief, which yet, as it heightens their

guilt, must ultimately increase their misery. This is strongly represented by the clause, "he walketh through dry places," di avvoршv тояеv, meaning deserts and parts of the wilderness, which, as being without water, were not inhabited. Such solitudes afforded no opportunities for tempting men, and left the wandering, wretched spirit wholly to his own tormenting thoughts; he therefore is pictured as hastening back to the habitations of human society, in quest of objects on which to exercise his malignant power. His first effort is made upon the individual from whom he had been dispossessed; and the heart of this man being fitly compared to a house, empty, swept, and garnished, and thus fitted to receive inhabitants, he taketh others with him, who enter and dwell there. This indicates, 3. That though in some cases possession might be a mere calamity independent of any particular turpitude in the unfortunate subject; yet that such repossessions at least were occasioned by a relapse into sin, a submission to the dominion of bad principles and passions, which had vexed the Holy Spirit and obliged him to depart, and had left the man in a state as prepared to fall again under the power of Satan, as a house empty of an inhabitant, yet swept and garnished or furnished, was fitted to receive occupiers; so that the devil, as one quaintly observes, “takes possession only of ready-furnished lodgings." 4. That the consequence of such a moral relapse was, that the former evil was increased sevenfold, and the last state

derstood, the thing is impossible. There is also a difference between parable and allegory. In allegory, every one of the principal words has, through the whole, two meanings, the literal and the figurative. Whatsoever is advanced should be pertinent, understood either way. It is not so in parable, where the scope is chiefly regarded, and not the words taken severally. That there be a resemblance in the principal incidents, is all that is required. Smaller matters are considered only as a sort of drapery," and ornament. It is not essential that the relation itself should be true history. It may be wholly imagery, though with a natural conformity to the events of real life, and the customs and opinions of the age. "Although," says Dr. Townson, Lord followed the example of other eastern teachers in the use of parables, he did it with a moderation and dignity becoming his character. He never introduces beasts of the field, or trees of the forest, debating and conversing together with the reason and faculties of men; nor does he bring forward emblematical persons, influencing their counsels and actions. All is built upon nature and life, and the reality of things, and composed of circumstances which every one perceived might probably happen. Once only, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the scene is laid beyond this visible world."

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The beauty and perfection of our Lord's parables have been the subject of universal admiration. Even infidels have acknowledged their literary excellence, and the Jewish writers have often imitated them, though clumsily. The manner in which these parables of our Lord sink in passing through the hands of Rabbinical writers affords indeed a strong presumption that he was eminently a teacher sent from God. They are in every respect more than human. Certainly none of the evangelists who wrote his history, and recorded his discourses, could be the author of these exquisite productions, so

fit in their selection of circumstances, expressed with so much brevity and perspicuity, and pointed with so much force to illustrate and apply the truth intended; all of which required a mental power, a universal knowledge, a mastery of the great truths discoursed upon, a calm and piercing wisdom, which they did not possess; and as for the wisest men among the Jews who have attempted that species of composition, the inferiority of composition as well as sentiment is at once discovered by the comparison. On the use of parables by our Lord, it ought also to be observed, that, besides their fitness to awaken attention, and to give life and vigour to instruction, in his hands they were frequently employed for other important reasons. In many cases their meaning required either close study, or explanation from himself; and thus the sincerity of those who professed to be inquiring after truth was put to the test. In others our Lord shrouded those subjects in parables, and dark sayings, which could not be fully unveiled until he had completed his work on earth. They were either of a nature too sacred for his malicious enemies fully to know, or such as his disciples were not yet prepared fully to comprehend; or they depended for their entire illustration upon the events of his death and resurrection. When they were remembered by his disciples after these events had thrown back their light upon his whole character, conduct, and discourses, they evidently afforded the strongest confirmation to their faith, as they do to ours; because we see one design running through the whole course of the mysterious conduct of our Lord whilst on earth, and one uniform body of doctrine, which he came into the world to teach, and to seal by his death.

Verse 4. By the way side, and the fowls came, &c. The way side is the beaten foot-path, which lay through the cornfield. Buckingham, in his Travels in Palestine, has the following passage, which is here worthy of remark: "We ascended