MATTHEW 2:7-12
Matthew 2:7-12 |
7. Then Herod, having secretly called the Magii inquired at them carefully at what time the star had appeared 8. And having ordered them to go to Bethlehem, he said, Go,inquire concerning the young child; and, when ye have found him, bring me back information, that I also may come and worship him. 9. But they, having heard the King, departed; and, lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till, having advanced, it stood above the place in which the child was. 10. And, when they had seen the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11. And, entering the house, they found the young child with Mary his mother, and, falling down, they worshipped him: and, having opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12. And, warned by a heavenly intimation through a dream, that they should not return to Herod, they departed, by another way, into their own country. |
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Their presents show whence they came: for there can be no doubt that they brought them as the choicest productions of their country. We are not to understand, that each of them presented his own offering, but that the three offerings, which are mentioned by Matthew, were presented by all of them in common. Almost all the commentators indulge in speculations about those gifts, as denoting the kingdom, priesthood, and burial of Christ. They make
in their hands. The Magi select those three for the produce of which Eastern countries are celebrated; just as Jacob sent into Egypt the choicest and most esteemed productions of the soil.
"Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds,"
(Genesis 43:11.)
Again, in rendering homage, according to the custom of Persia, to him whom they still regarded as an earthly King, they offered the productions of the soil. Our duty is, to adore him in a spiritual manner: for the lawful and reasonable worship which he demands is, that we consecrate first ourselves, and then all that we have, to his service.
1 Like many others of his scriptural allusions, this is not marked by our Author. It approaches very nearly to the language of one of the curses pronounced by Moses on the people of Israel, "If they should not hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God;" -- "thou shalt grope at noon-day as the blind gropeth in darkness," (Deuteronomy 28:15,29.) But it is more likely that he had in his eye a passage from the book of Job. In the opening description of "the devices of the crafty," Herod, who is pronounced by Calvin to have been "a man of no ordinary address, and another Herod, whom our Lord designates that fox, (Luke 13:32,) are so exactly delineated, that it might almost be imagined they had sat for the picture. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night," (Job 5:12-14.) -- Ed.
2 "Car ils considerent et contemplent au conseil de Dieu sa dignite et magnificence royale, laquelle n'apparoissoit point encores;"--"for they consider and contemplate in the purpose of God his royal dignity and splendor, which did not yet appear,"