Month: April 2021

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

John Gill

After this—After Christ’s curing the man at Bethesda’s pool, and the vindication of himself for doing it or the Sabbath day, and for asserting his equality with God; near a year after these things: for these were done at the Feast of the Passover, and now it was near another; and what is related here, was after the death of John the Baptist, and when the disciples had returned from preaching in the several cities and towns, where Christ afterwards went, and had given an account of their success; see Mat 14:12-13; Mar 6:30-31; Luk 9:10. Quickly after the Passover was ended, Christ departed from Jerusalem, and went into Galilee, and preached in the several cities and towns in those parts, and wrought many miracles: and after these things, in process of time,

Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee—The same with the lake of Gennesaret (Luk 5:1);

Which is the Sea of Tiberias—And is frequently so called by the Jewish writers, who often make mention of “the Sea of Tiberias”; and by other writers, it is called the lake of Tiberias; Pliny, who calls it the lake of Genesara, says,

“it was sixteen miles long, and six broad, and was surrounded with very pleasant towns; on the east were Julias and Hippo, and on the south Tarichea, by which name some call the lake, and on the west Tiberias, wholesome for the hot waters.”

And these are the waters which the Jews call the hot baths of Tiberias; and from the city of Tiberias built by Herod, and called so in honour of Tiberius Caesar, the sea took its name.

2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

John Gill

And a large crowd was following him—From several cities and towns in Galilee, where he had been preaching and working miracles:

Because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick—So that it was not for the sake of his doctrine, or for the good of their souls, they followed him; but either to gratify their curiosity in seeing his miracles, or to be healed in their bodies, as others had been.

3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

John Gill

Jesus went up on the mountain—In a desert place near Bethsaida (Luk 9:10);

And there he sat down with his disciples—Partly for security from the cruelty of Herod, having just heard of the beheading of John; and partly for privacy, that he might have some conversation alone with his disciples, upon their return from off their journey; as also for the sake of rest and refreshment; and according to the custom of the Jewish doctors, which now prevailed (see Gill on Mat 5:1), he sat with his disciples, in order to teach and instruct them.

4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

John Gill

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand—This was the third Passover, since our Lord’s baptism, and entrance on his public ministry; see Joh 2:13; 5:1. Whether Christ went up to this feast is not certain; some think he did not; but from what is said in Joh 7:1, it looks as if he did: how near it was to the feast, cannot well be said. Thirty days before the feast, they began to talk about it; and especially in the last fifteen days, they made preparations for it, as being at hand; and if there was now so long time to it, there was time enough for Jesus to go to it.

5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”

6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

John Gill

He said this to test him—Or “tempting him,” trying his faith, and not only his, but the rest of the disciples; not as ignorant of it himself, but in order to discover it to him and them, and to prepare them for the following miracle; and that it might appear the more illustrious and marvellous:

For he himself knew what he would do—Christ had determined to work a miracle, and feed the large number of people that were with him, with that small provision they had among them; and being God omniscient, he knew that he was able to do it, and that he was determined to do it, and it would be done; but he was willing first to try the faith of his apostles.

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’

Rashi

Six hundred thousand on foot—He was not particular to mention also the odd number—the remaining three thousand. But Rabbi Moses the Preacher explained that the number 600,000 is exact because only those who went forth from Egypt wept.

Sotah 12b:14

And this is what Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy” (Num 20:13)? The verse indicates that these are the waters that the astrologers of Pharaoh saw and on account of which they erred. And this is what Moses said: “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot [ragli], and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month” (Num 11:21). Moses said to the Jewish people: On account of me, which is an alternative meaning of the word ragli, all of you were saved, as the decree to throw all males into the river was canceled on my account.

22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” NUM 11:21-22

Chullin 27b:8

The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that fish are not subject to slaughter? If we say that it is because it is written: “Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them . . . or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them” (Num 11:22), which indicates that mere gathering suffices for them, that is not a proof.

Rashi

Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered—This is one of those four things which R. Akiba interpreted in a certain way but R. Simeon did not interpret them similarly. Rabbi Akiba says: “Six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said that I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month, and be enough for them?”—all this is to be taken literally. This is similar to the clause, “and he has sufficient means for redeeming it” (Lev 25:26). Which case was worse? This or that when Moses exclaimed, “Hear now, you rebels” (Num 20:10)? Obviously this case here was worse, only because he did not utter his doubt in public, Scripture showed some regard for him and did not punish him. But that of Meribah was in public, therefore Scripture does not show any regard for him. Rabbi Simeon says: “God forbid! This never entered the mind of that righteous man! Would the one about whom it writes, ‘he is trusted in all my house’ (Num 12:7) suggest that the Omnipresent cannot supply sufficient for us? But what he said was this: ‘Six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, “I will give them meat a whole month” ’—and then you want to kill a nation so great as this is?! Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them that they should then be killed, and this eating should be their last (lit., should satisfy them for ever)?! Is this your praise? Do we say to an ass, eat this measure of barley and then we will cut off your head? The Holy One, blessed be he, said to him, ‘If I do not give them, they will say that my hand has waxed short; would it be pleasing to you that the hand of the Lord should appear in their eyes to have waxed short?—Let them and a hundred like them perish but let not my hand appear to them to have waxed short even for a single moment’! ” (Tosefta Sotah 6:4)

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

John Gill

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down”—The Syriac version reads, “all the men”; and the Persic version, “all the people”; men, women, and children: Christ, without reproving his disciples for their unbelief, ordered them directly to place the people upon the ground, and seat them in rows by hundreds and by fifties, in a rank and company, as persons about to take a meal:

Now there was much grass in the place—At the bottom of the mountain; and it was green, as one of the evangelists observes, it being the spring of the year, and was very suitable to sit down upon:

So the men sat down, about five thousand in number—Besides women and children (Mat 14:21), so that there was but one loaf for more than a thousand persons.

11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”

John Gill

When they had eaten their fill—Had not only eaten, but had made a full meal, and were thoroughly satisfied, having eaten as much as they could, or chose to eat:

He told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost”—This he said, partly that the truth, reality, and greatness of the miracle might be clearly discerned; and partly, to teach frugality, that, in the midst of abundance, care be taken that nothing be lost of the good things which God gives; and which may be useful to other persons, or at another time.

13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until tribute comes to him;

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. GEN 49:10

Rashi

The scepter shall not depart from Judah—Even after the house of David ceases to reign. For this refers to the Chiefs of the Exile in Babylon who ruled over the people with a scepter having been appointed by the government (Horayot 11b; Sanhedrin 5a).

Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet—Scholars. These are the princes of the land of Israel (Horayot 11b; Sanhedrin 5a).

Until tribute comes means until the King Messiah will come, whose will be the kingdom (Bereishit Rabbah 99:8). Thus too does Onkelos render it. According to the Midrash Aggadah, “tribute” is the same as a present to him, as it is said: “they bring gifts to him who is to be feared” (Psa 76:12).

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.

John Gill

He bears witness—Fully, freely, and faithfully; withholds nothing, but declares the whole counsel of God; and is deservedly called the faithful witness (Rev 1:5).

To what he has seen and heard—Of the Father, of his mind and will, of his purposes and promises, of his love, grace, and mercy, in the council and covenant of peace, lying in his bosom, and being privy to all his secrets. The phrases express the clear and perfect knowledge Christ has of all truths and doctrines; he having all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in him.

Yet no one receives his testimony—Though it was the testimony of God, which is greater than that of man; yet few, and which were next to none at all, gave any heed or credit to it; few or none among the Jews, or among the disciples of John, or even among those that followed Christ. John, and his disciples, widely differed; they thought that all men came to Christ, and believed in him; and John thought few or none, in comparison of the numbers he could have wished, did: and indeed, no one person can receive the testimony of Christ, and believe in him, unless it be given him from above, by the grace of God: for the natural man receives not divine and spiritual things; see Joh 3:11.

Why, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,

I make the rivers a desert;

their fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst. ISA 50:2

Rashi

Why, when I came to draw near to you, and none of you turns to me?

33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

John Gill

Whoever receives his testimony—For there was here and there one that did, who believed in him as the Messiah; and embraced his gospel, and submitted to his ordinances, and truly and sincerely followed him: and for the encouragement of such, it is said,

Sets his seal to this, that God is true—Faithful in fulfilling the promises he has made concerning the Messiah, and his coming: he firmly believes that God is true to every word of his, and will make good every promise; and this he seals, ratifies, and confirms by his embracing the testimony of Christ; whereas, on the contrary, he that believes not makes God a liar, than which, nothing can be more reproachful to him (1Jn 5:10). The Jews have a saying that “the seal of the blessed God is truth.” The Arabic version renders it, “he is already sealed, because God is true”; and the Ethiopic version, “God sealed him, because he is true”; namely, with his Holy Spirit; see 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30.

34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

John Gill

For he whom God has sent—Still meaning Christ, who was sent in human nature, in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the fulness of time; to be the Savior of the world, of that which was lost, of the chief of sinners; and to preach the glad tidings of the gospel, which is more especially here designed; and for which he was abundantly qualified by the Spirit of God, with which he was anointed.

Utters the words of God—The words which God gave unto him; the doctrines of grace; the word of truth; the word of faith; the word of righteousness; the word of reconciliation; the words of salvation and eternal life; the whole mind and will of God; and whatever he spoke were as true as the oracles of God.

For he he gives the Spirit without measure—As he did to the prophets of the Old Testament, and to the apostles of the New; and to the ordinary ministers of the word, who have gifts differing one from another; to one is given one gift of the Spirit; and to another, another gift, as the Spirit pleaseth; and to everyone is given grace, or gifts of grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Eph 4:7). To which agrees what the Jews say of the Holy Spirit, and his gifts.

“Says R. Joden bar R. Simeon, even the waters which descend from above are not given, but, ‘in measure’—Says R. Acha, even the Holy Spirit, which dwells upon the prophets, does not dwell, ‘in weight.’ ”

But the Lord Jesus has every gift of the Spirit, and the fulness of grace in him: he is anointed with the oil of gladness, with the Holy Spirit above his fellows; and has an immeasurable unction of the Holy One; which, like the precious oil poured on Aaron, descends from him to the members of his body.

35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

Rashi

I am Pharaoh—I have the power to enact a decree upon my kingdom, and I decree that no one should raise his hand, etc.

And without your consent—I.e., without your permission. Another explanation: I shall be king, and without your consent etc. It is exactly similar in meaning to (v. 40) “only as regards the throne.”

Hand or foot—As the Targum renders no man shall raise his hand to gird on a sword or raise his foot to mount a horse.

55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” GEN 41:44, 55

John Gill

When all the land of Egypt was famished—Their old stock and store eaten up, and the inhabitants ready to starve with hunger:

The people cried to Pharaoh for bread—As their common father, and knowing that he had stores of provision laid up in all cities against this time:

Pharaoh said to the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph”—Whom he had appointed over this business of providing and laying up corn against this time, and of distributing it:

What he says to you, do—Give the price for the corn he fixes or requires; for this was the principal thing they had to do with him, to get corn for their money.

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John Gill

Whoever believes in the Son—Who is a proper object of faith and trust; which, if he was not truly and properly God, he would not be: and this is to be understood not of any sort of faith, a temporary, or an historical one; but of that which is the faith of God’s elect, the gift of God, and the operation of his Spirit; by which a man sees the Son, goes to him, ventures and relies upon him, and commits himself to him, and expects life and salvation from him; and who shall not be ashamed and confounded; for such an one

Has eternal life—He has it in Christ his head, in whom he believes; he has a right to it through the justifying righteousness of Christ, and a meetness for it by his grace; he has it in faith and hope; he has the beginning of it in the knowledge of Christ, and communion with him; he has some foretastes of it in his present experience; and he has the earnest and pledge of it in his heart, even the blessed Spirit, who works him up for this selfsame thing:

Whoever does not obey the Son—That does not believe Christ to be the Son of God, or Jesus to be the Messiah; or rejects him as the Saviour; who lives and dies in a state of impenitence and unbelief:

Shall not see life—Eternal life; he shall not enter into it, and enjoy it; he shall die the second death. Very remarkable are the following words of the Jews concerning the Messiah, whom they call the latter Redeemer:

“whosoever believes in him ‘shall’ live; but he that believes not in him shall go to the nations of the world, and they shall kill him.”

But the wrath of God remains on him—As the sentence of wrath, of condemnation, and death, and the curse of the law were pronounced upon him in Adam, as on all mankind, it continues, and will continue, and will never be reversed, but will be executed on him, he not being redeemed from it, as his final unbelief shows; and as he was by nature a child of wrath, as others, he remains such; and as the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, it comes upon the children of disobedience, and remains there; it hangs over their heads, and lights upon them, and they will be filled with a dreadful sense of it to all eternity. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, “shall abide upon him”; so some copies.

Kiss the Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. PSA 2:12

Berakhot 10a:1

Every chapter that was dear to David, he began with “blessed is” and concluded with “blessed is.” He opened with “blessed is,” as it is written: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the dwelling place of scoffers” (Psa 1:1). And he concluded with “blessed,” as it is written at the end of the chapter: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are those who take refuge in him” (Psa 2:12). We see that these two chapters actually constitute a single chapter.

Rashi

Kiss the Son—Arm yourselves with purity of the heart. Some explain נשקו as garnimont in Old French, equipping. (This is from the verb, garnir. Garnimont means to provide, as in Gen 41:40). Menachem (p. 179) interprets it as an expression of desire, as (in Gen 3:16): “Your longing (תשוקתך) shall be for your husband.”

Lest he be angry—Heb. יאנף, lest be angry.

And you perish in the way—Like the matter that is stated (above 1:6): “but the way of the wicked will perish.”

For his wrath is quickly kindled—For in a short moment his wrath will suddenly be kindled against them, and at that time, the praises of all those who take refuge in him will be discerned, blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Sanhedrin 92a:1

The people [leom] curse him [yikkevuhu], but a blessing is on the head of him who provides” (Pro 11:26). And the term leom is referring to nothing other than fetuses, as it is stated: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one leom shall overcome the other leom” (Gen 25:23). And kabbo is referring to nothing other than curse, as it is stated in the statement of Balaam: “How can I curse one who is not cursed [kabbo] by God?” (Num 23:8). And bar is referring to nothing other than the law, as it is stated: “Pay homage to bar, lest he be angry” (Psa 2:12), i.e., observe the law to avoid God’s wrath.

11 And the Lord will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail.

John Gill

And the Lord will guide you continually—With his counsel, by his word, and by his Spirit, and that night and day; as he guided the Israelites through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night: or, “cause you to rest”; from adversity, from persecution; to have spiritual rest in Christ now, and eternal rest hereafter:

And satisfy your desire in scorched places—Or, “in drynesses”; in an exceeding dry time; when in a dry and thirsty land; when thirsting after Christ and his grace, Christ and his righteousness; after more knowledge of him, communion with him, and conformity unto him; after the word and ordinances; after the presence of God in them; and after more spiritual light, knowledge, and experience:

And make your bones strong—With the good report of the gospel (Pro 15:30), that is, quicken, comfort, refresh, and strengthen the soul, and make it fat and flourishing in spiritual things, by means of gospel ordinances. The Targum is,

“and will quicken your body with life everlasting”;

or give rest to your bones, as others:

And you shall be like a watered garden—Like a “garden,” the church of Christ is separated from others, by electing, redeeming, and efficacious grace; and like a “watered” one, watered by the Lord himself, and the dews of his grace, and by the ministry of the word; whereby the plants that are planted in it thrive and flourish, lift up their heads, shoot up and grow, and bring forth fruit:

Like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail—As there is in every believer a well of living water springing up unto everlasting life, not of themselves, but from Christ, and which is very abundant, and never fails; so there is in the church a spring of the living waters of gospel doctrines, and of gospel ordinances; here runs the river of divine love, which makes glad the city of God; here Christ is the fountain of gardens; and here the Spirit and his graces are communicated; all which remain, and never fail; see Psa 87:7; Isa 59:21).

Rashi

In scorched places—Heb. בְּצַחְצָחוֹת, at the time of thirst and drought. So did Jonathan render.

Make . . . strong—Heb. יַחֲלִיף [lit. arm.] Comp. (Num 31:5) “Armed (חֲלוּצֵי) for war.”

In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword. JOB 5:20

John Gill

In famine he will redeem you from death—In a time of extreme want of provisions, God so cares for his own dear people, that they shall not be starved to death by the famine; so in the famine in Egypt, which the Targum takes notice of, in the times of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and the patriarchs, there was food provided for them, so that they and their families were sustained, and perished not for lack of the necessaries of life: God sometimes goes out of his ordinary way, and works wonders for his poor and needy in distress, when they cry to him; see Isa 41:17, 18;

And in war from the power of the sword—Or, “from the hands of the sword”; from swords in hand, when drawn, and men are ready to push with them with all their force; as he delivered and preserved Abraham from the sword of the four kings, when he waged war with them (Gen 14:20); and the Israelites, in the war of Amalek, in the times of Moses (Exo 17:8-13), which the Targum here refers to; and David from the harmful sword of Goliath (1Sa 17:46-47), and others with whom he was concerned in war: and so the Lord covers the heads of his people in the day of battle oftentimes, when multitudes fall on their right hand and on their left.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. JOH 16:13

John Gill

When the Spirit of truth comes—Of this character of the Spirit, see Joh 14:17. His coming, as before, intends more especially his descent on the apostles at Pentecost; though what is here said of him is true of his office, and of his operations on other persons, and at other times:

He will guide you into all the truth—Necessary to be known, useful to men, profitable to the churches, even the whole counsel of God; what relates to worship, the nature, form, and spirituality of it, as well as doctrine. He is as a guide, he goes before, leads the way, removes obstructions, opens the understanding, makes things plain and clear, teaches to profit, and leads in the way men should go, without turning to the right hand or left, which, without such a guide, they would be apt to do. The Jews have a notion of the Holy Spirit being a guide into all wisdom and knowledge.

“R. Phinehas says, the Holy Spirit rested upon Joseph from his youth to the day of his death, and ‘guided him into all wisdom,’ as a shepherd leads his flock, according to Psa 80:2-3”;

For he will not speak on his own authority—As Christ, the Son, spoke not of himself in opposition to the Father, so the Spirit speaks not of himself in opposition either to the Father, or the Son, but in perfect agreement with both; being, as of the same nature and essence, power and glory, so of the same mind, understanding, and will; and as they agreed and wrought jointly and harmoniously, in the works of nature and providence, so in the economy of grace and salvation.

But whatever he hears he will speak—As Christ himself did (Joh 15:15); and they are such things as ear has not heard besides; what were secretly transacted in the council and covenant of peace, and agreed upon by all the three persons; things which concern the salvation of men, the gospel church state, another world, and the glory of all the divine persons:

And he will show you the things that are to come—Which would come to pass after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ; things relating to the state and settlement of the gospel church, the partition wall being broken down, the law of commandments contained in ordinances abolished, and a new face of things appearing in the kingdom and interest of Christ, in consequence of the Spirit being sent forth, and poured down: or this may respect the spirit of prophecy in the apostles, who showed to them many things to come in after ages; as the rise of the man of sin, the great departure from the faith, and decline of the power of godliness in the last days, the calling of the Jews, the destruction of antichrist, the burning of the world, and the making of new heavens and new earth; and, in short, what would be the state of the church of Christ, and religion, in all the several periods of time, quite down to the coming of Christ, when dead saints shall be raised, and living ones changed, as is declared throughout the book of Revelation.

12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in. ISA 58:11-12

John Gill

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt—As the cities in Israel and Judea, which had been long laid waste by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, were rebuilt by those of the Jewish nation, who returned from the captivity of Babylon, to which there is at least an allusion; and as the church of God, the tabernacle of David, which was fallen down, and had lain long in ruins, through corruptions in doctrine and worship, to the times of Christ, when the apostles, who were of the Jews, those wise masterbuilders, were instruments of raising it up again, and repairing its ruins: so, in the latter day, “the ruins of the world,” as the words may be rendered, shall be built by a set of men, that shall be of the church of God, who shall be instruments in his hand of converting many souls, and so of peopling it with Christians; such places as before were desolate, where before there was no preaching of the word, no administration of ordinances, nor any gospel churches:

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations—Either such foundations as have been razed up, and lay so for ages past; or raise up such as shall continue for generations to come. It may allude to the raising the foundations of the city and temple of Jerusalem; but rather refers to the founding of churches in gospel times, which, as it was done in the first times of it by the apostles in the Gentile world, so shall be again in the latter day, which will continue for many ages:

You shall be called the repairer of the breach, and the restorer of streets to dwell in—That is, the church and her builders, that shall be of her, shall be so called; the Jews and Gentiles will be converted in great numbers, and coalesce in the same gospel church state, and so the breach between them will be repaired. Christians of various denominations, who now break off and separate one from another, will be of the same sentiment and judgment in doctrine and discipline; they shall see eye to eye, and cement together, and all breaches will be made up, and there will be no schism in the body; and they shall dwell together in unity, and walk in the same streets of faith and duty, of truth and holiness; and such who will be the happy instruments of all this will have much honour, and be called by these names. The Targum is,

“they shall call you one that confirms the right way, and converts, the ungodly to the law.”

Rashi

מְשׁוֹבֵב is like מֵשִׁיב, restores.

Restorer of streets to dwell in—Heb. מְשׁוֹבֵב. Jonathan renders: restorer of the wicked to the law.

To dwell, to the law, which insures the settlement of the world.

5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”

John Gill

And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight”—He submits what he had to say wholly to the pleasure of the king, and puts it upon his unmerited favour, and not on any desert of his own:

That you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it—The wall of it, and the houses in it; the favour was, that he might have leave to go there, and set about such a work, for which he was so much concerned.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” NEH 2:5, 17

John Gill

Then I said to them—The priests and princes of the Jews:

You see the trouble we are in—Lie open to our enemies, and exposed to their insults:

How Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burnt—(Neh 1:3; 2:3, 13),

Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision—To their neighbours about them, who scoffed at them as a defenceless people and frequently came in upon them, and spoiled and plundered them of their goods and substance.

When God’s people live their lives and fast according to his ways—humbly seeking God and praying for his will to be done, turning away from wickedness, and doing good, especially to the poor and helpless—then he will bring societal transformation. We will experience God’s continual guidance, be satisfied and strengthened, flourish, and be fruitful. What does Isa 58:12 say about God’s promise of restoration and how can we take heart because of this?

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” LUK 3:11

John Gill

And he answered them—By telling them what they should do; and he does not put them upon ceremonial observances, nor severe exercises of religion, nor even the duties of the first table of the law, and others of the second, though necessary to be done; but upon acts of beneficence and kindness, to fellow creatures in distress; and are what may be called love of our neighbour, and which involves the love of God, and so the whole law; for the one cannot be rightly exercised without the other:

Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none—Not both of them, but one of them: a man is not obliged to go naked himself, in order to clothe another; and so the Persic and Ethiopic versions read, “is to give one to him who has not”; that has not a garment to wear. This is not to be understood strictly and literally, that a man is obliged to give one of his tunics, if he has more than one, to a person in want of clothing; it will be sufficient to answer the intent of this exhortation, if he supplies his want another way, by furnishing him with money to buy one: the meaning is, that persons according to their abilities, and of what they can spare, should communicate to those that are in distress: much less is it to be concluded from hence, that it is not lawful for a man to have more tunics than one:

And whoever has food—Or meats,

Is to do likewise—That is, he that has a sufficiency of food, and more than enough for himself and family, let him give it freely and cheerfully to the poor and needy, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased: and when such acts of kindness are done in faith, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God, they are the fruits of grace, and such as are meet for repentance, and show it to be genuine. John instances in these two articles, food and garments, as containing the necessaries of human life, and including every thing, by which one may be serviceable to another.

8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

your righteousness shall go before you;

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

John Gill

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn—Through thick clouds, or the darkness of the night, suddenly, swiftly, irresistibly, and increase more and more, till it is perfect day. This is to be understood best of temporal and spiritual prosperity, especially the latter, which will attend the churches of the Reformation, when a spirit of persecution is laid aside, and a spirit of love commences, which will be in the Philadelphian church state; and it particularly respects the glorious light of the gospel, which will break forth very clearly, and shine out in all the world; and the light of joy, peace, and comfort, which will attend it, in the hearts of the Lord’s people; see Isa 60:1:

And your healing shall spring up speedily—As the herbs and grass out of the earth, by clear shining after rain; by which is meant the healthful and sound state of the church in the latter day, when all divisions shall be healed; contentions and animosities cease; sound doctrine preached; the ordinances administered according to their original institution; true discipline restored; and all the parts of worship performed, according to the rule of the divine word; and so the souls of men, under all these means, be in thriving and flourishing circumstances:

Your righteousness shall go before you—Not the external righteousness of the saints, or works of righteousness done by them; these do not go before them, at least to prepare the way for them into a future state of happiness, but follow after (Rev 14:13), rather the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and so theirs; or Christ their righteousness, the sun of righteousness, that arises upon them with healing in his wings, and from whom they have the health before mentioned; he goes before his people by way of example, as a guide to direct them, and as the forerunner of them, and whose righteousness will introduce them into the heavenly glory. Though perhaps the meaning here is, that their righteousness, in the latter day glory, shall be very manifest, both their righteousness before God, and before men; which will, as it were, visibly walk before them, make way for them, and protect them; see Isa 60:21,

And the glory of the Lord shall be your reward—The glorious power and providence of God, preserving his people; or the glorious Lord himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, the brightness of his Father’s glory, he, as the word may be rendered, “shall gather you”; he gathers his people to himself; he protects and defends them; he takes care of the weak and feeble, and that are straggling behind; and he brings them up, being the reward, and saves them. The phrase denotes a glorious state of the church in the latter day, when the glory of the Lord will be risen on his church, and abide upon it, and upon all that glory there shall be a defence; see Isa 4:5; 60:1.

15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them. MAT 13:15

John Gill

For this people’s heart has grown dull—Or fat, become stupid and sottish, and without understanding; and so incapable of taking in the true sense and meaning of what they saw with their eyes, and heard with their ears; for they had their outward senses of hearing and seeing, and yet their intellectual powers were stupefied.

And with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed—Which is expressive of the blindness and hardness, which were partly brought upon themselves by their own wilfulness and obstinacy, against such clear evidence as arose from the doctrine and miracles of Christ; and partly from the righteous judgment of God, giving them up, for their perverseness, to judicial blindness and obduracy (Joh 12:40); and are in the prophet ascribed to the ministry of the word; that being despised, was in righteous judgment, the savour of death into death, into them; and they under it, as clay, under the influence of the sun, grew harder and harder by it, stopping their ears, and shutting their eyes against it:

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart—Which may be understood either of God’s intention, and view, in giving them up to judicial blindness, and hardness of heart, under such miracles, and such a ministry, as a punishment for their wilful contempt of them; that so they might never have any true sight, hearing, and understanding of these things, and be turned from the evil of their ways, have repentance into life, and remission of sins; which seems to be the sense of the other evangelists (Mar 4:12; Luk 8:10; Joh 12:40), or, as if these people purposely stupefied themselves, stopped their ears, and pulled away the shoulder, and wilfully shut their eyes; fearing they should receive some conviction, light, and knowledge,

And turn—By the power and grace of God:

And I would heal them—Or, as in Mark, “and their sins should be forgiven them”; for healing of diseases, and forgiveness of sins, are, in Scripture language, one and the same thing; and this sense of the phrase here, is justified by the Chaldee paraphrase, which renders it, “and they be forgiven,” or “it be forgiven them,” and by a Jewish commentator on the place; who interprets healing, of the healing of the soul, and adds, “and this is pardon.”

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

you shall cry, and he will say, “Here I am.”

If you take away the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

John Gill

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer—A spirit of grace and supplication will be poured out upon the people of God; they will then pray without a form, and call upon the Lord in sincerity and truth, with faith and fervency; and the Lord will hear and answer them, and plentifully bestow his favours on them, so that they will have no reason to complain, as in Isa 58:3:

You shall cry, and he will say, “Here I am”—He will immediately appear to the help and relief of his people; they shall have his presence with them, to comfort and refresh them, to support and supply them, to protect and defend them:

If you take away the yoke from your midst—Of human inventions, doctrines, rites and ceremonies, as in Isa 58:6:

The pointing of the finger—Pointing at those that could not comply with them, by way of scorn and derision, as puritans, schismatics and persecuting them for it; and so is the same with smiting with the fist of wickedness (Isa 58:4); when this deriding and persecuting spirit is done away, then, and not till then, will the prayers of a people be heard, though under a profession of religion, and under the Protestant name:

And speaking wickedness—Which also must be taken away, or desisted from; even speaking false doctrines, as the Syriac version; or which profits not, as the Vulgate Latin version; profane and vain babblings (2Ti 2:14-15), and threatening words, to such who will not receive them.

10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday. ISA 58:7-10

John Gill

If you pour yourself out for the hungry—Not only deal out your bread, but yourself also, to him; that is, give him food cheerfully, with a good will, expressing a hearty love and affection for him; do it heartily, as to the Lord; let yourself go along with it; and this is true of affectionate ministers of the gospel, who not only impart that, but their own souls also (1Th 2:8):

And satisfy the desire of the afflicted—Distressed for want of food; not only give it food, but to the full; not only just enough to support life, but to satisfaction; or so as to be filled with good things, or however a sufficiency of them:

Then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday—In the midst of darkness of affliction, or desertion, the light of prosperity and joy shall spring up, and a dark night of sorrow and distress become a clear day of peace and comfort; see Psa 112:4; Isa 42:16, at evening time it shall be light (Zec 14:7).

God did not just want his people to turn away from evil; he wanted them to show compassion to the needy and oppressed. Aside from not eating, Scripture shows that fasting is about using one’s time, effort, food, shelter, and resources to serve others. If we obey, then God promises that he will turn our darkness into light. Read Isa 58:8-10. Enumerate his promises for his people.

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke? ISA 58:6

Rashi

Bonds—Heb. חַרְצֻבּוֹת, an expression of tying and binding.

Yoke—Heb. מוֹטָה, perversion of justice.

And to break every yoke—Jonathan renders: And to break every perversion of justice.

At the time this was written, God’s people were oppressing their workers and doing violence against each other. This is why God called his people to repentance—he did not just want them to avoid food, He wanted them to turn away from evil. So far, how have you obeyed the call of God to turn away from wickedness? How is this not about works leading to salvation, but an outflow of our faith in God?

2 you who hate the good and love the evil,

who tear the skin from off my people

and their flesh from off their bones,

Rashi

Who tear the skin—I.e., the skin of the house of Israel, over whom they are heads and officers, as the prophet says: The heads of the house of Jacob and the officers of the house of Israel.

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. JOH 7:7

John Gill

The world cannot hate you—Because they were of the world, belonged to it; they were like into it, and every like loves its like; and they were the world’s own, and therefore instead of being hated, were loved by it; and they walked according to the course of it; and wicked men not only take pleasure in sin, but in them that do it:

But it hates me—Though without a cause; that is, without a just cause, or reason; a cause there was, and it follows:

Because I testify about it that its works are evil—Even those works of it, which were reckoned good works; Christ bore his testimony of these, that they were evil; being done either not according to the command of God, but the traditions of the elders; or not from a right principle, as of faith and love, nor to a right end, as the glory of God; but only to be seen of men: and very severely did he inveigh against the pride, covetousness, hypocrisy, and uncleanness of the scribes and Pharisees: and so he continued to do, and this drew upon him their hatred and ill will.

3 who eat the flesh of my people,

and flay their skin from off them,

and break their bones in pieces

and chop them up like meat in a pot,

like flesh in a cauldron.

Ketubot 47b:10

Rava said: This tanna, in the baraita cited below, maintains that the obligation of a husband to provide his wife’s sustenance applies by law, as it is taught with regard to the verse pertaining to a husband’s obligations toward his wife: “If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food [she’era], her clothing [kesuta], or her marital rights [onata]” (Exo 21:10). “She’era”; this is sustenance, and it likewise states: “Who eat the flesh [she’er] of my people” (Mic 3:3). “Kesuta” is understood in its literal sense as referring to clothing. “Onata”; this is her marital rights, which is stated in the law, and so it says: “If you oppress [te’aneh] my daughters” (Gen 31:50), which indicates that a husband may not deprive his wife of her marital rights.

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the Lord? PSA 14:4

Rashi

Have they no knowledge—Have they no knowledge at the end what had befallen them?

Who eat up my people—The seed of Nebuchadnezzar.

Eat bread—Heb. לחם, lit. bread. They made a feast (as in Dan 5:1) “made a huge feast (לחם).”

And do not call upon the Lord—They neither considered him nor remembered his wondrous and awesome deeds at their feast, and they used his vessels.

Sanhedrin 104b:12

With regard to the verse: “The eaters of my people ate bread, and do not call upon the Lord” (Psa 14:4), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Any Gentile thief who eats the bread of the Jewish people tastes the flavor of bread, and one who does not eat from the bread of the Jewish people does not taste the flavor of bread. Apparently they enjoy only what they steal from the Jewish people. With regard to the people referred to in the phrase “And do not call upon the Lord,” Rav says: These are the judges who are not God-fearing, and Shmuel says: These are schoolteachers who do not perform their job in the name of God.

4 Then they will cry to the Lord,

but he will not answer them;

he will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have made their deeds evil. MIC 3:2-4

Rashi

Then they will cry to the Lord—Then, when that time mentioned above, that “I will surely assemble Jacob,” comes, they will cry to the Lord to do good for them with the will of his people and with the joy of his nation, but he will not answer them.

On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” MAT 7:22

John Gill

On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord”—That is, in the last day, the day of judgment, the great and famous day, fixed by God, unknown to angels and men, which will be terrible to some, and joyful to others; the day in which the faithful ministers of the gospel shall be owned by Christ, and received into the kingdom of heaven: “many,” not of the common people only, but of the preachers of the word, who have filled up the highest station in the church below; not one, or two, or a few of them only, but many of them “will say to me”; to Christ, who will appear then as the judge of quick and dead, to which he is ordained by his Father,

Lord, Lord—Not “my Lord, my Lord,” as the Syriac version reads it; for they will not be able to claim any interest in him, though they will be obliged to own his dominion, power, and authority over them. The word is repeated to show their importunity, sense of danger, the confusion they will be in, the wretched disappointment they will have; and therefore speak as persons amazed and confounded, having expected they would have been the first persons that should be admitted into heaven. Their pleas follow;

Did we not prophesy in your name—This may be understood either of foretelling things to come; which gift wicked men may have, who have never had any experience of the grace of God, as Balaam, and Caiaphas, and others; or rather of preaching the word, which is sometimes called prophesying (Rom 12:6; 1Co 13:9; 14:1-5), and which may be done in the name of Christ, pretending mission and authority from him, and to be preachers of him, and yet be no better than “sounding brass,” or “a tinkling cymbal”; yea, nothing at all as to true grace, or spiritual experience.

And cast out demons in your name—Diabolical possessions were very frequent in the times of Christ; no doubt but they were suffered, that Jesus might have an opportunity of showing his power over Satan, by dispossessing him from the bodies, as well as the souls of men; and of giving proof of his deity, divine sonship and Messiahship: and this power of casting out demons was given to others, not only to the twelve apostles, among whom Judas was, who had the same power with the rest, and to the seventy disciples; but even to some who did not follow him, and his disciples (Mar 9:38), and some did this in the name of Jesus, who do not appear to have any true faith in him, and knowledge of him; as the vagabond Jews, exorcists, and the seven sons of Sceva (Act 19:13-14). An awful consideration it is, that men should be able to cast out demons, and at last be cast to the devil.

And do many mighty works in your name—That is, many miracles; not one, or a few only, but many; such as speaking with tongues, removing mountains, treading on serpents and scorpions, and drinking any deadly thing without hurt, and healing all manner of diseases and sicknesses. Judas, for one, was capable of pleading all these things; he had the gift of preaching, and a call from Christ to it, and yet a castaway; he had the power of casting out devils, and yet could not prevent the devil from entering into him; he could perform miracles, do wonders in Christ’s name, and yet, at last, was the betrayer of him. These pleas and arguments will be of no use to him, nor of any avail to any at the great day. It may be observed, that these men lay the whole stress of their salvation upon what they have done in Christ’s name; and not on Christ himself, in whom there is salvation, and in no other: they say not a syllable of what Christ has done and suffered, but only of what they have done. Indeed, the things they instance in, are the greatest done among men; the gifts they had were the most excellent, excepting the grace of God; the works they did were of an extraordinary nature; whence it follows, that there can be no salvation, nor is it to be expected from men’s works: for if preaching the word, which is attended with so much study, care, and labour, will not be a prevailing argument to admit men into the kingdom of heaven; how can it be thought that ever reading, or hearing, or any other external performance of religion, should bring persons there?

Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 1TI 6:1

7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

John Gill

And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock—Not between the two masters, but between their servants, their upper servants, that had the care of their herds to feed them, and water them; and it is very probable their strife was about pasturage and watering places, the one endeavouring to get them from the other, or to get the best; which is much more likely than what Jarchi suggests, that the herdsmen of Lot were wicked men, and fed their cattle in the fields of others, and the herdsmen of Abram reproved them for their robbery; but they said, the land is given of Abram, and he has no heir, but Lot is his heir, and what robbery is this? And to this sense are the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem:

At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelt then in the land—Which observation is made by Moses to point to a reason why they could not both of them have a sufficiency for their large flocks and herds, because the country was in the possession of others; and though there was to spare, yet not enough for them both. The Canaanites, though it was a general name for the people of the whole land, yet was given to a particular family in it, and was derived from their first founder Canaan, the son of Ham; the Perizzites were another family or tribe of the same nation, who had their name from “a village”; these being Pagans or villagers, living in huts, or houses, or tents scattered up and down in the fields, and were a rough, inhuman, and unsociable sort of people, and therefore it could not be expected that they would oblige them with much pasturage and water for their flocks: and besides, this may be remarked, partly to show the danger that Abram and Lot were in through the dissension of their herdmen, since those people that were so near might take the advantage of their quarrels among themselves, and fall upon them both, and destroy them, and therefore a reconciliation was necessary; and partly to observe the reproach that was like to come upon them, and upon the true religion, for their sakes, should they differ among themselves, which such sort of men would gladly catch at, and improve against them.

8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.” GEN 13:7-8

John Gill

Then Abram said to Lot—Being either an ear witness himself of the contentions of their servants, or having it reported to him by credible persons, he applied himself to Lot, in order to make peace, being a wise and good man; and though he was senior in years, and superior in substance, and higher in the class of relation, and upon all accounts the greatest man, yet he makes the proposal first, and lays a scheme before Lot for their future friendship, and to prevent quarrels, and the mischievous consequences of them:

Let there be no strife between you and me—There had been none yet, but it was very likely there would, if the dissension should go on between their servants; they could not well avoid interesting themselves in it, when it related to their respective properties; and there must be a right and wrong in such cases to be looked into and adjusted, which might occasion a difference between them; and this Abram was desirous of preventing, and therefore bespeaks his kinsman in this loving, affectionate, and condescending language:

And or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen—As he understood there was, and which, if not timely put an end to, might be of bad consequence to them both, especially as to their peace and comfort, giving this excellent reason to enforce his request:

For we are kinsmen—Or “men kinsmen we are”; we are men, let us act like such, the rational and humane part; they were kinsmen being men, so by nature all are kinsmen; by natural relation, Lot being the son of his brother Haran; kinsmen in religion, of the same faith in the one true and living God, and worshipers of him; and therefore on all accounts, by the ties of nature, relation, and religion, they were obliged to seek and cultivate peace and love.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.”

Rashi

Who was confined for he found him at home.

He said, “Let us meet”—Shemaiah was a false prophet who had received a bribe from Sanballat and his colleagues to frighten Nehemiah in order to stop the work.

For they are coming to kill you—For Sanballat and his colleagues will come to kill you.

And they are coming . . . by night—Therefore, he warned him to enter the temple and to close the doors about himself, because the doors of the gates of the city had not been made, as it says at the beginning of the chapter (verse 1): “Although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates.”

11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” NEH 6:10-11

Rashi

Should such a man as I run away—This is a question: Should such a man as I run away to enter the temple?

I will not go in—I will not go in there because of fear of death, and I will not transgress the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be he, that a stranger (a non-priest) may not enter his temple.

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

John Gill

And when he had said this—That is, declared he sent them forth in like manner as his Father sent him:

He breathed on them—In allusion to God’s breathing the breath of life into man, at his creation; or rather, to the Spirit himself, who is the breath of God, and proceeds from him, as from the Father; and who breathes both upon persons in regeneration, and in qualifying for ministerial service, at the instance and influence of Christ: and such an opinion the Jews have of the Spirit of the Messiah, who say that

“the Spirit went from between the wings of the cherubim, ‘and breathed upon him’ by the decree, or order of the word of the Lord.”

And said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”—Meaning not the grace of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, which they had received already; but the gifts of the Spirit, to qualify them for the work he now sent them to do, and which were not now actually bestowed; but this breathing on them, and the words that attended it, were a symbol, pledge, and confirmation, of what they were to receive on the day of Pentecost: hence it appears, that it is the Spirit of God, who, by his gifts and grace, makes and qualifies men to be ministers of the gospel; and our Lord by this action, and these words, gives a very considerable proof of his deity.

23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus and Thomas

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

John Gill

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin—The person here spoken of, is described by his Hebrew name Thomas, and his Greek one the Twin, which both signify a twin; and perhaps he was one. It was common with the Jews to have two names, a Jewish and a Gentile one; by the one they went in the land of Israel, and by the other when without the land; no, they often went by one name in Judea, and by another in Galilee; where Thomas might go by the name of the Twin with the Greeks, that might live with the Jews in some of those parts: he is also said to be “one of the twelve” apostles, which was their number at first, though Judas now was gone off from them, and therefore are sometimes only called the “eleven”; but this having been their complement, it is still retained; but what is observed of him to his disadvantage and discredit is, that he

Was not with them when Jesus came—Beza’s ancient copy reads, “he was not there with them”; and so read the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions; he either had not returned to the rest after their scattering one from another upon the apprehending of Christ; or did not choose to assemble with the rest, for fear of the Jews; or was taken up with some business and affair of life; however, he was not with the rest of the disciples, when they were assembled together, and Jesus appeared among them: as it is of good consequence to attend the assemblies of Christ’s disciples and followers, so it is of bad consequence to neglect or forsake them: it is frequently to good purpose that persons attend them; here God comes and blesses his people, Jesus grants his presence, the graces of the Spirit are increased, and drawn forth into exercise; souls that have lost sight of Christ find him, disconsolate ones are comforted, weak ones strengthened, and hungry ones fed: on the other hand, not to attend is of bad consequence; neglect of assembling together exposes to many snares and temptations; brings on a spiritual leanness; leads to an indifference and lukewarmness: issues in a low degree of grace, and a non-exercise of it, and in a loss of Christ’s presence.

25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. JOB 9:16

Rashi

I would not believe—I would be unable to believe out of my fear for him, for how do I not see him?

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

It will be said on that day,

“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him,

that he might save us.

This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” ISA 25:9

Rashi

It will be said—(Lit., and he shall say, i.e.,) his people (shall say) on that day, “Behold, etc.”

We have waited for him, that he might save us—We were hoping for him, that he might save us.

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

John Gill

Now Jesus did many other signs—Besides these wonderful appearances to his disciples once and again, when the doors were shut about them: and which signs refer not to what was done before, but after his resurrection; and which he did,

In the presence of the disciples—For he appeared to, and conversed with no other but them after his resurrection:

Which are not written in this book—Of John’s gospel; though they may be elsewhere; such as his appearing to the two disciples going to Emmaus, and to the eleven on a mountain in Galilee, and to five hundred brethren at once, which other inspired writers speak of: and many there are which he did; which are not particularly written in this, nor in any other book; for he was seen of his disciples forty days, and showed himself alive, by many infallible proofs; all of which are not recorded.

31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

7 I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

Rashi

I will tell of the decree—Said David, “This is an established decree, and one that I have received to tell this and to make known.”

The Lord said to me through Nathan, Gad, and Samuel.

You are my Son—The head over Israel, who are called “My firstborn son.” And they will endure through you, as is stated concerning Abner (2Sa 3:18): “for the Lord has promised, etc., ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save . . . Israel.’ ” And for their sake, you are before me as a son because they are all dependent upon you.

Today I have for I have enthroned you over them.

Begotten you to be called my son and to be beloved to me as a son for their sake, as it is stated (2Sa 7:14) concerning Solomon: “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” We find further concerning David (Psa 89:27) “He shall call me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ ”

Sukkah 52a:6

The Sages taught: To Messiah the son of David, who is destined to be revealed swiftly in our time, the Holy One, blessed be he, says: Ask of me anything and I will give you whatever you wish, as it is stated: “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Psa 2:7-8). Once the Messiah the son of David saw Messiah the son of Joseph, who was killed, he says to the Holy One, blessed be he: Master of the universe, I ask of you only life; that I will not suffer the same fate. The Holy One, blessed be he, says to him: Life? Even before you stated this request, your father, David, already prophesied about you with regard to this matter precisely, as it is stated: “He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever” (Psa 21:5).

12 Kiss the Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. PSA 2:7, 12

Sanhedrin 92a:1

The people [leom] curse him [yikkevuhu], but a blessing is on the head of him who provides” (Pro 11:26). And the term leom is referring to nothing other than fetuses, as it is stated: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one leom shall overcome the other leom” (Gen 25:23). And kabbo is referring to nothing other than curse, as it is stated in the statement of Balaam: “How can I curse one who is not cursed [kabbo] by God?” (Num 23:8). And bar is referring to nothing other than the law, as it is stated: “Pay homage to bar, lest he be angry” (Psa 2:12), i.e., observe the law to avoid God’s wrath.

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.

John Gill

After this—The resurrection of Christ from the dead, his appearance to Mary Magdalene, and twice to his disciples; once when Thomas was absent, and at another time when he was present:

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples—A third time, as in Joh 21:14 though not to them all; seven are only mentioned, as together, when he appeared to them:

By the Sea of Tiberias—The same with the Sea of Galilee; see Joh 6:1 for after the second appearance of Christ to his disciples, they went from Jerusalem to Galilee, by the order of Christ, who appointed to meet them there (Mat 28:10, 16),

And he showed himself in this way—The manner in which he made his appearance, and the persons to whom, are as follow.

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. MAT 26:32

2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

John Gill

Simon Peter—Who though he had denied his Lord, dearly loved him, and truly believed in him, kept with the rest of his disciples, and was waiting for another interview with him:

Thomas (called the Twin)—Who, though for a while an unbeliever with respect to the resurrection of Christ, was now fully assured of it, and, for the future, was unwilling to lose any opportunity of meeting with his risen Lord.

Nathanael of Cana in Galilee—An Israelite indeed, in whom there was no deceit. Dr. Lightfoot thinks he is the same with Bartholomew, and so one of the eleven. The Syriac version reads it, “Cotne,” and the Persic, Catneh of Galilee; no doubt the same place is meant, where Jesus turned water into wine, of which Nathanael was an inhabitant:

The sons of Zebedee—Who were James, whom Herod killed with the sword, and John, the writer of this gospel:

And two others of his disciples—Who are thought to be Andrew and Philip; which is very likely, since they were both of Bethsaida (Joh 1:44), a city in Galilee, and not far from the Sea of Tiberias. Andrew is particularly mentioned by Nonnus: so that here were seven of them in all; four of them, according to this account, being wanting; who must be James the less, the brother of our Lord, Judas called Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Matthew the tax collector.

21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. MAT 4:21-22

3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. MAT 4:18-20

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

John Gill

Just as day was breaking—The day began to dawn, and light to appear, very early in the morning; for Christ visits his right early, and is a present help to them in their time of trouble.

Jesus stood on the shore—On firm ground, whilst his disciples were beating about in the waves, and toiling to no purpose. So Christ, risen from the dead, is glorified, is in heaven; but not unmindful of his people amidst all their afflictions in this world:

Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus—Though he was so near them that they could hear what he said; but it not being broad daylight they could not distinctly discern him, or their eyes might be held that they could not know him. So Christ is sometimes near his people, and they know it not.

After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. MAR 16:12

5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. PSA 37:3

Rashi

Trust in the Lord and do not say, “If I do not rob and steal,” or “If I give charity to a poor man, how will I sustain myself?”

And do good—Then you will dwell in the land for a long time.

And befriend faithfulness—You will eat and be sustained from the reward of your faithfulness, that you believed in the Holy One, blessed be he, to rely on him and do good.

6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. ACT 2:41

7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his house,

he would be utterly despised. SON 8:7

Rashi

Many waters—The nations.

Many waters cannot quench love—Since he refers to them with an expression of coals, the term “cannot quench” is appropriate for them.

Neither can . . . drown it—Not through force or terror nor even through enticement and seduction.

Floods—Their princes and their kings.

If a man offered for love all his wealth—In exchange for your love.

He would be utterly despised—On all these the Holy One, blessed be he, and his tribunal testify that to this extent the congregation of Israel clings to her beloved.

8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

John Gill

The other disciples came in the boat—The same that they were fishing in, in which they came to Christ as soon as they could, not choosing to expose themselves, as Peter did; nor was it proper that they should leave the ship, and, as it was, might have hands few enough to bring ship and net, so full of fish, safe to shore; and the rather, they did not think fit to do as he did,

Dragging the net full of fish—Towing the net full of fish all along in the water, till they came to land; an emblem of laborious gospel ministers, who being once embarked in the work of the ministry, continue in it to the end, notwithstanding all toil, labour, and difficulties that attend them; and will at last bring the souls with them they have been made useful to, with great satisfaction and joy, to their dear Lord and master.

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.

29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. LUK 12:29-31

10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

John Gill

Jesus said to them—The disciples:

Bring some of the fish that you have just caught—For they might have caught some before, though so few and small, as scarcely to be reckoned any; nor were they bid to bring all they had taken, only some of them, to add to these Christ had prepared for them on land; they being both indeed of a miraculous production, and the effects of his divine power. Christ’s view in ordering to bring some of them, and put to those that lay upon the coals, was partly that they might have enough to make a meal of for them all; and also, that they might have a more perfect knowledge of the miracle done, by seeing the number and largeness of the fish, and by bringing the net full of them to shore unbroken; and may be an emblem of the bringing of souls to Christ by the ministry of the word, thereby adding to those that are already gathered.

11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” LUK 5:6-8

12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. MAR 9:32

30 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

Rashi

Why is it that you ask—We have no fixed name; our names change, all depending upon the service we are commanded to carry out as the errand with which we are charged (Bereishit Rabbah 78:4).

31 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” GEN 32:30-31

13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

John Gill

They gave him a piece of broiled fish—Which was left by them at supper, of which they had been eating; for being fishermen, most of them, this was agreeable food to them.

43 and he took it and ate before them. LUK 24:42-43

14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John Gill

This was now the third time—Or day of Christ’s appearance to his disciples: he appeared to them first on the same day he rose, and then a second time eight days after, or that day a week later, and now at the Sea of Tiberias; for within this compass of time he had made more appearances than three, though to particular persons, and not to such a number of the disciples as at these three times:

That Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he was raised from the dead—And thus, as by the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything is established; so by these three principal appearances of Christ to his disciples, his resurrection from the dead was confirmed.

35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.

13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. MAR 16:12-13

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”

John Gill

As they were talking about these things—While the two disciples, that came from Emmaus, were giving the above relation; just as they had finished it, and had scarcely done speaking:

Jesus himself stood among them—The apostles; who were assembled together in a certain house, the doors being shut for fear of the Jews; and it was on the evening of the same day Christ rose from the dead, and late at night see Joh 20:19; nd without hearing the doors opened, or the sound of the feet of Jesus, and without seeing him come in, and approach unto them, he, in a moment, at once, stood in the middle of them, as if he had immediately rose up out of the earth before them; and so the Persic version renders it, “Jesus rose up out the midst of them”: by his power he opened the and secretly let himself in, and shut them again at once; and by the agility of his body moved so swiftly, that he was not discerned until he was among them, where he stood to be seen, and known by them; whereby he made that good in a corporeal sense, which he had promised in a spiritual sense (Mat 18:20), and was an emblem of his presence in his churches, and with his ministers, to the end of the world.

And said to them, “Peace to you!”—Which was an usual form of salutation among the Jews (see Gill on Joh 20:19). The Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions add, “I am he, fear not”; but this clause is not in the Greek copies.

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;

I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, ISA 57:18

Rashi

I have seen his ways when he humbled himself before me, when troubles befell him.

But I will heal him; I will lead him—Heb. וְאַנְחֵהוּ. I will lead him in the way of healing. Alternatively, וְאַנְחֵהוּ is an expression of rest and tranquility.

Him and his mourners—To those who are troubled over him.

37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 1SA 28:13

Chagigah 4b:9

The Gemara asks: In the case of Samuel, what is it that he feared? As it is written: “And the woman said to Saul, ‘I see a god coming up [olim] out of the earth’ (1Sa 28:13). “Olim,” in the plural form, indicates that there were two of them. One of them was Samuel, but the other, who was he? The Gemara explains that Samuel went and brought Moses with him. He said to Moses: Perhaps, heaven forbid, I was summoned for judgment by God; stand with me and testify on my behalf that there is nothing that you wrote in the law that I did not fulfill.

Rashi

I see a god coming up out of the earth—Two angels, Moses and Samuel, for Samuel feared, “Perhaps I am being summoned for judgement,” and he therefore brought Moses up with him, as it is stated in Chagigah and Taanit.

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

John Gill

And he said to them, “Why are you troubled”—Who had more reason to rejoice, and be glad, as they were when they knew that it was Jesus:

And why do doubts arise in your hearts?—Whether what they saw was Jesus, or an apparition, which gave them a great deal of trouble and uneasiness, and filled them with fright and terror; as it was, and is usual with persons when they fancy they see a spirit, or an apparition; see Mat 14:26.

39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

John Gill

See my hands and my feet—The Evangelist John adds, “and side”; that is, the prints of the nails and spear, in his hands, and feet, and side; and the wounds they made there, and the scars they left behind; by which they might be convinced he was not a spirit, and be assured of the truth of his resurrection, and that in the same numerical body in which he suffered; as well as that it might be observed by them how great was his love to them, to endure what he did for them.

Touch me, and see—Or know by feeling, as well as by sight; so that if the one was not sufficient, the other might confirm; sight might be deceived, but feeling could not: Apollonius Tyaneus, to them that did not know whether he was alive or dead, and who took him for a spirit, proposed himself to be touched, and handled, that they might be convinced:

For a spirit does not have flesh and bones—Nothing but appearance, or air at most; no solid substance to be felt and handled:

As you see that I have—Or may perceive, both by sight and feeling.

40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”

26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.

Avot D’Rabbi Natan 30:4

Rabbi Shimon would say: Such is the punishment for a liar, that even when he speaks the truth, no one listens to him. So we find with the children of Jacob, who deceived their father. In the beginning he believed them, as it says (Gen 37:31), “They took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat,” and then it says (Gen 37:33), “He identified it and said, ‘This is my son’s robe.’ ” But afterward, even when they spoke the truth to him, he did not believe them, as it says (Gen 45:26), (“His heart became numb, for he did not believe them.”) “They told him, and said: Joseph is still alive . . . but he did not believe them.”

Some say that the Holy Spirit that had departed from Jacob now returned to him, as it says (Gen 45:27), “The spirit of their father Jacob was revived.”

Rashi

And they told him, “He is ruler”—And he rules.

And his heart became numb—His heart passed away and went away from believing—his heart did not turn to believe these words. The word וַיָפָג has the same meaning as (Beitzah 14a) “all spices let their taste pass away” in the language of the Mishnah. Similar is (Lam 3:49) “without respite (הֲפֻגוֹת).”

27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

Rashi

All the words of Joseph—As evidence that it was Joseph who was sending this message he had informed them of the religious subject he had been studying with his father at the time when he left him, viz., the section of the heifer that had its neck broken (Deu 21). It is to this that Scripture refers in the words “and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent”—and it does not state “that Pharaoh had sent” (Bereishit Rabbah 94:3).

The spirit of . . . Jacob revived—The glory that had departed from him, rested again upon him (cf. Onkelos).

28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” GEN 45:26-28

Rashi

Enough; Joseph my son is still alive—Much joy and pleasure is still in store for me, since Joseph my son is still alive.

42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

John Gill

They gave him a piece of broiled fish—Which was left by them at supper, of which they had been eating; for being fishermen, most of them, this was agreeable food to them.

43 and he took it and ate before them.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel. GEN 3:15

Rashi

I will put enmity—Your sole intention was that Adam should die by eating it first and that you should then take Eve for yourself (Bereishit Rabbah 20:5), and you came to speak to Eve first only because women are easily influenced and know how to influence their husbands; therefore “I will put enmity.”

He shall bruise your head—Like (Deu 9:21), “And crushed it” which is translated by Onkelos as “I pounded it.”

And you shall bruise his heel—You shall have no height and you shall bruise him on the heel, and even from there you shall kill him. The word תְּשׁוּפֶנוּ is like (Isa 40:24): “He blows (נָשַׁף) on them.” When a serpent comes to bite, it blows with a kind of hissing sound, and since the two words coincide i.e., they sound alike, they are both used here.

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” EXO 4:11

Rashi

Who has made man’s mouth—Who taught you to speak when you were arraigned in judgment before Pharaoh on account of the Egyptian whom you slew?

Who makes him mute—Who made Pharaoh mute so that he could not insist upon the carrying out of his command to kill you? Who made his ministers deaf so that they could not hear when he gave orders concerning you? And who made the executioners blind so that they could not see when you fled from the platform and escaped? (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 10)

Is it not I whose name is the Lord do all this?

46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

I gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting. ISA 50:6

Rashi

I gave my back to those who strike—He said to me, Isaiah, my children are obstinate; my children are bothersome. You may go on the condition that you do not become angry with them. I said to him, On that condition.

47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. GEN 12:3

Rashi

In you . . . shall be blessed—There are many aggadoth, but this is its plain sense: A man says to his son, “May you be like Abraham.” This, too, is the meaning wherever the phrase “shall be blessed with you” occurs in Scripture, and the following example proves this (Gen 48:20): “By you Israel shall pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ ”

48 You are witnesses of these things.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Rashi

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief—Yet it was the will of the Holy One, blessed be he, to crush him and to cause him to repent; therefore, he has put him to grief.

When his soul makes an offering for guilt, etc.—Said the Holy One, blessed be he, “I will see, if his soul will be given and delivered with my holiness to return it to me as an offering for guilt for all that he betrayed me, I will pay him his recompense, and he will see his offspring, etc.” This word אָשָׁם is an expression of ransom that one gives to the one against when he sinned, amende in O.F., to free from faults, similar to the matter mentioned in the episode of the Philistines (1Sa 6:3), “Do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering (אָשָׁם).”

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” MAT 3:17

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Rashi

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall eat and be satisfied, and he would not rob and plunder.

By his knowledge shall the righteous one . . . be accounted righteous—My servant shall judge justly all those who came to litigate before him.

And he shall bear their iniquities—He shall bear, in the manner of all the righteous, as it is said (Num 18:1): “You and your sons shall bear iniquity of the sanctuary.”

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. ISA 53:10-12

Rashi

Therefore—Because he did this, I will divide him an inheritance and a lot in public with the patriarchs.

He poured out his soul to death—Heb. הֶעֱרָה. An expression like (Gen 24:20), “So she . . . emptied (וַתְּעַר) her jar.”

And was numbered with the transgressors—He suffered torments as if he had sinned and transgressed, and this is because of others; he bore the sin of many.

And makes intercession for the transgressors through his sufferings, for good came to the world through him.

Even though Jesus suffered greatly, the good news is he is victorious and his suffering has a purpose. Isaiah declared that the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Through Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice, the will of the Lord came to pass. Those who put their faith in Jesus have been given his righteousness. Jesus is not a mere victim, but a victor! He triumphed over sin and death so that we could live the way God designed us to—in harmonious relationship with him and his creation. Jesus called us the salt and light of the earth (Mat 5:13-14), and his people can make a difference on earth in the way they live. How does knowing that Jesus is victorious give you hope and help you share this hope with others?

13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

John Gill

You are the salt of the earth—This is to be understood of the disciples and apostles of Christ; who might be compared to “salt,” because of the savoury doctrines they preached; as all such are, which are agreeable to the Scriptures, and are of the evangelic kind, which are full of Christ, serve to exalt him, and to magnify the grace of God; and are suitable to the experiences of the saints, and are according to godliness, and tend to promote it: also because of their savoury lives and conversations; whereby they recommended, and gave sanction to the doctrines they preached, were examples to the saints, and checks upon wicked men. These were the salt “of the earth”; that is, of the inhabitants of the earth, not of the land of Judea only, where they first lived and preached, but of the whole world, into which they were afterwards sent to preach the gospel.

But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?—The “taste” here supposed that it may be lost, cannot mean the taste of grace, or true grace itself, which cannot be lost, being an incorruptible seed; but either gifts qualifying men for the ministry, which may cease; or the savoury doctrines of the gospel, which may be departed from; or a seeming savoury conversation, which may be neglected; or that seeming taste, zeal, and affection, with which the gospel is preached, which may be dropped: and particular respect seems to be had to Judas, whom Christ had chosen to the apostleship, and was a devil; and who he knew would lose his usefulness and place, and become an unprofitable wretch, and at last be rejected of God and men; and this case is proposed to them all, in order to engage them to take heed to themselves, their doctrine and ministry. Moreover, this is but a supposition;

If salt—And proves no matter of fact; and the Jews have a saying, that all that season lose their taste, “but salt does not lose its taste.” Should it do so,

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet—Salt is no longer good for anything except to make things savoury, and preserve from putrefacation; and when it has lost its taste, it is of no use, neither to men nor beasts, as some things are when corrupted; nor is it of any use to the land, or dunghill, for it makes barren, and not fruitful: so ministers of the word, when they have dropped the savoury doctrines of the gospel, or have quitted their former seeming savoury and exemplary conversations; as their usefulness is gone, so, generally speaking, it is never retrieved; they are cast out of the churches of Christ, and are treated with contempt by everyone.

You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. LEV 2:13

Berakhot 5a:19

And that is the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The word covenant is used with regard to salt, and the word covenant is used with regard to afflictions. The word covenant is used with regard to salt, as it is written: “The salt of the covenant with your God should not be excluded from your grain offering; with all your sacrifices you shall offer salt” (Lev 2:13). And the word covenant is used with regard to afflictions, as it is written: “These are the words of the covenant” (Deu 28:69). Just as, in the covenant mentioned with regard to salt, the salt sweetens the taste of the meat and renders it edible, so too in the covenant mentioned with regard to suffering, the suffering cleanses a person’s transgressions, purifying him for a more sublime existence.

John Gill

You shall season all your grain offerings with salt—Which makes food savoury, and preserves from putrefaction; denoting the savouriness and acceptableness of Christ as a grain offering to his people, he being savoury food, such as their souls love, as well as to God the Father, who is well pleased with his sacrifice; and also the perpetuity of his sacrifice, which always has the same virtue in it, and of him as a grain offering, who is that grain which endures to everlasting life (Joh 6:27) and also the grave and gracious conversation of those that by faith feed upon him (Mar 9:50; Col 4:6),

You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering—This seems to suggest the reason why salt was used in grain offerings, and in all others, because it was a symbol of the perpetuity of the covenant, which from thence is called a covenant of salt (Num 18:19), namely, the covenant of the priesthood, to which these sacrifices belonged (Num 25:13) hence the Targum of Jonathan,

“because the twenty four gifts of the priests are decreed by the covenant of salt, therefore upon all your offerings you shall offer salt.”

With all your offerings you shall offer salt—Even those that were not to be eaten, as well as those that were; as the burnt offering of the herd, of the flock, and of fowls, and their several parts; all were obliged to be salted that were offered, excepting wine, blood, wood, and incense; hence there was a room in the temple where salt was laid up for this purpose, called “the salt room”; and which was provided by the congregation, and not by a private person; our Lord has reference to this law in Mar 9:49 the Gentiles always made use of salt in their sacrifices.

14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. MAT 5:13-14

John Gill

You are the light of the world—What the luminaries, the sun and moon, are in the heavens, with respect to corporal light, that the apostles were in the world with regard to spiritual light; carrying and spreading the light of the gospel not only in Judea, but all over the world, which was in great darkness of ignorance and error; and through a divine blessing attending their ministry, many were turned from the darkness of Judaism and Gentilism, of sin and infidelity, to the marvellous light of divine grace. The Jews were wont to say, that of the Israelites in general, and particularly of their council, and of their learned doctors, what Christ more truly applies here to his apostles; they observe, that

“on the fourth day it was said, ‘let there be light’: which was done with respect to the Israelites, because they are they, ‘which give light to the world,’ as it is written (Dan 12:3),”

And in another place, say they,

“how beautiful are the great ones of the congregation, and the wise men, who sit in the council! For they are they, ‘that enlighten the world,’ the people of the house of Israel.”

So. R. Meir, R. Akiba his disciple, and R. Judah the prince, are each of them called “the light of the world”; as R. Jochanan ben Zaccai is by his disciples, “the lamp of the world”: and it was usual for the head of a school, or of an university to be styled, “the light of the world”; but this title much better agrees and suits with the persons Christ gives it to, who, no question, had a view to those exalted characters the Jews gave to their celebrated Rabbins.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden—Alluding either to Nazareth, where he was educated, and had lately preached, which was built on an hill, from the brow of which the inhabitants sought to have cast him headlong (Luk 4:29), or to Capernaum, which, on account of its height, is said to be

Exalted to heaven—(Mat 11:23) or to the city of Jerusalem, which was situated on a very considerable eminence. The land of Israel, the Jews say, was higher than all other lands; and the temple at Jerusalem was higher than any other part of the land of Israel. And as a city cannot be hidden which is built on a high place, so neither could, nor ought the doctrines which the apostles were commissioned to preach, be hidden, or concealed from men: they were not to shun to declare the whole counsel of God, nor study to avoid the reproaches and persecutions of men; for they were to be “made a spectacle”; to be set as in a public theatre, to be seen by “the world, angels, and men.”

6 he says:

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

I will make you as a light for the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Rashi

He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be, etc.”—In my eyes, it is too small a gift that you should have this alone, that you be my servant to raise up Jacob and to bring back to me the preserved of Israel, and behold I add more to you, “And I will make you as a light for the nations,” to prophesy concerning the downfall of Babylon, which will be a joy for the whole world.

And the preserved of Israel—Heb. וּנְצוּרֵי. Comp. (Pro 7:10) “With a heart surrounded by evil thoughts (וּנְצֻרַת),” that their heart is surrounded by the inclination of sinful thoughts, like a city besieged by a bulwark of those who besiege it.

9 saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”

to those who are in darkness, “Appear.”

They shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

10 they shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them will lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them. ISA 49:6, 9-10

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

Rashi

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted—Behold he was oppressed by taskmasters and people who exert pressure.

And he was afflicted with verbal taunts, sorparlec in O.F.

Yet he opened not his mouth—He would suffer and remain silent like the lamb that is brought to the slaughter, and like the sheep that before its shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth—This refers to the lamb brought to the slaughter.

But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” MAT 26:63

John Gill

But Jesus remained silent—Knowing it would signify nothing, whatever he should say, they being set upon his death, the time of which was now come; and therefore he quietly submits, and says nothing in his own defence to prevent it. To be silent in a court of judicature, Apollonius Tyanaeus says, is the fourth virtue; this Christ had, and all others.

And the high priest said to him—Though Christ had said nothing, a way of speaking very frequent among the Jews, and in the sacred writings.

I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God—The Christ; the anointed, that David speaks of in Psa 2, and who is there said to be the Son of God (Psa 2:2, 7), to which the high priest seems to have respect; since there is no other passage, in which both these characters meet; and which was understood by the ancient Jews of the Messiah, as is owned by modern ones. Jesus was given out to be the Messiah, and his disciples believed him to be the Son of God, and he had affirmed himself to be so; wherefore the high priest, exerting his priestly power and authority, puts him upon his oath; or at least with an oath made by the living God, charges him to tell the truth, and which when ever any heard the voice of swearing, he was obliged to do (Lev 5:1).

12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.

13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”

14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. MAT 27:12-14

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Rashi

And they made his grave with the wicked—He subjected himself to be buried according to anything the wicked of the heathens (nations mss., K’li Paz) would decree upon him, for they would penalize him in death and the burial of donkeys in the intestines of the dogs.

With the wicked—According to the will of the wicked, he was willing to be buried, and he would not deny the living God.

And with a rich man in his death and to the will of the ruler he subjected himself to all kinds of death that he decreed upon him, because he did not wish to agree to (denial) of the law to commit evil and to rob like all the heathens (nations mss., K’li Paz) among whom he lived.

And there was no deceit in his mouth to accept idolatry (to accept a pagan deity as God Parshandatha).

that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 1CO 15:4

John Gill

That he was buried—That is, according to the Scriptures; for as he died and was raised according to the Scriptures, he was buried according to them; which speak of his being in hell, in “Sheol,” in the grave, and of his making his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death (Psa 16:10; Isa 53:9), and which had their accomplishment through Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, who begged the body of Jesus, wrapped in linen, and laid it in his own new tomb. And besides these Scripture prophecies of his burial, Jonah’s being three days and three nights in the whale’s belly was a type of it, and according to which our Lord himself foretold it (Mat 12:40). Now since this was prophesied of, and typified, and had its actual accomplishment, it was very proper for the apostle to take notice of it, both to confirm the certainty of Christ’s death, and the truth of his resurrection, which his death and burial are mentioned, in order to lead on to, and next follows:

That he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures—That he should rise again from the dead was very plainly hinted or expressed in several prophecies which speak of the rising of his dead body, of its not being left in the grave so long as to see corruption; and which therefore could not be in it more than three days; and of his lifting up his head after he had drank of the brook by the way; of his ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God, which suppose his resurrection (Psa 16:10; 68:18; 110:1, 7; Isa 26:19). And that he should rise again the third day, is not only suggested in Hos 6:2 but was prefigured by the deliverance of Isaac on the third day after Abraham had given him up for dead, from whence he received him, in a figure of Christ’s resurrection; and by Jonah’s deliverance out of the whale’s belly, after he had been in it three days. The Jews take a particular notice of the third day as remarkable for many things they observe, as

“of the third day Abraham lift up his eyes (Gen 22:4), of the third day of the tribes (Gen 42:18), of the third day of the spies (Jos 2:16), of the third day of the giving of the law (Exo 19:16), of the third day of Jonah (Jon 1:17), of the third day of them that came out of the captivity (Ezr 8:15), of the third day of the resurrection of the dead, as it is written (Hos 6:2) ‘after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.’ ”

From which passage, it is clear, that they under stood the prophecy in Hosea of the resurrection of the dead; and it is observable, that among the remarkable third days they take notice of, are the two instances of Isaac’s and Jonah’s deliverances, which were Scripture types of Christ’s resurrection. From which observations they establish this as a maxim, that

“God does not leave the righteous in distress more than three days.”

That Christ did rise again from the dead, in pursuance of those prophecies and types, the apostle afterwards proves by an induction of particular instances of persons who were eyewitnesses of it.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. ISA 53:7, 9-10

Rashi

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief—Yet it was the will of the Holy One, blessed be he, to crush him and to cause him to repent; therefore, he has put him to grief.

When his soul makes an offering for guilt, etc.—Said the Holy One, blessed be he, “I will see, if his soul will be given and delivered with my holiness to return it to me as an offering for guilt for all that he betrayed me, I will pay him his recompense, and he will see his offspring, etc.” This word אָשָׁם is an expression of ransom that one gives to the one against when he sinned, amende in O.F., to free from faults, similar to the matter mentioned in the episode of the Philistines (1Sa 6:3), “Do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering (אָשָׁם).”

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” MAT 3:17

The suffering servant described by Isaiah was pitiful. He was made to endure rejection, affliction, and persecution, even though he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth (Isa 53:9). Jesus endured all this because it was the will of the LORD for him to serve and save humanity. There is no one who has suffered like Jesus, yet his compassion and grace are still available for us. What does Heb 4:15 say about how Jesus, the suffering servant, related to us as human beings?

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. HEB 4:15

John Gill

For we do not have a high priest—That is cruel and unmerciful; the saints have a high priest, but not such an one:

Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses—Such as bodily diseases and wants, persecutions from men, and the temptations of Satan; under all which Christ sympathizes with his people; and which sympathy of his arises from his knowledge and experience of these things, and the share he has had of them, and from that union there is between him and his people: and it is not a bare sympathy, but is attended with his assistance, support, and deliverance; and the consideration of it is of great comfort to the saints:

But one who in every respect has been tempted as we are—Of the temptations of Christ, and of the saints (see Gill on Heb 2:18)

Yet without sin—There was no sin in his nature; though he was encompassed about with infirmities, yet not with sinful infirmities, only sinless ones; nor was there any sin in his temptations; though he was solicited to sin by Satan, yet he could find none in him to work upon; nor could he draw him into the commission of any sin.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

Rashi

Surely he has borne our griefs—Heb. אָכֵן, an expression of “but” in all places. But now we see that this came to him not because of his low state, but that he was chastised with sorrows so that all the nations be atoned for with Israel’s suffering. The griefs that should rightfully have come upon us, he has borne.

Yet we esteemed him—We thought that he was hated by the Omnipresent, but he was not so, but he was pierced for our transgressions and he was crushed for our iniquities.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed. ISA 53:4-5

Rashi

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace—The chastisement due to the peace that we enjoyed, came upon him, for he was chastised so that there be peace for the entire world.

for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. LUK 4:2