11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.



Ver. 11. Because that by reason of him] This was it that embittered the Pharisees, as it doth now their successors the Papists. Bellarmine bewrays his grief, and tells us that ever since we proclaimed the pope to be that Antichrist, his kingdom hath not only not increased, but daily more and more decreased. Ab eo tempore quo per vos Papa Antichristus esse coepit, non modo non crevit eius imperium, &c. (De Papa Rom_3:21) And Erasmus being asked by the Elector of Saxony, why Luther was so hated by the Popish clergy? For two great faults that he had committed, said he, for meddling with the pope’s triple crown and the monks’ fat paunches. (Scultet. Annul.)