Lange Commentary - Matthew 4:12 - 4:17

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Lange Commentary - Matthew 4:12 - 4:17


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B. Mat_4:12-17

Contents:—First appearance of Jesus as the light of the world amidst the darkness of the land of Galilee

12      Now, when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, [delivered up,] he de parted into Galilee; 13And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, 15The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond [the] Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat_4:12. Now, when Jesus had heard.—The Evangelist passes over a number of intervening events, viz.: 1. the return of Jesus to Galilee (Joh_1:41, etc.); 2. the marriage in Cana, the journey to Capernaum in company with His relatives and disciples, and that to Jerusalem to the passover (John 2); 3. the stay of Jesus at Jerusalem and in the land of Judæa previous to the imprisonment of John (John 3); 4. the return of Jesus by way of Samaria, and His stay there (Joh_4:1-42).—The event recorded in the text took place at the time referred to in Joh_4:43-46. In the passage before us, Matthew briefly alludes to the stay of Jesus at Nazareth,—the same which is mentioned Luk_4:14 sqq.,—but dilates on it more fully in Mat_13:53. We account for this transposition from the peculiar structure of the Gospel,—the object of the Evangelist being to group events so as to present a continuous narrative. The actual succession of events is more accurately indicated in the Gospel by Luke, although it also contains no mention of the first passover which Jesus attended at Jerusalem, nor of His stay in Judæa and Samaria. From the narrative of Luke we learn that Jesus was even at that time rejected by the people of Nazareth, and that he then uttered the saying, that “a prophet had no honor in his own country.” But, according to John, Jesus spoke these words when returning from Jerusalem to Galilee through Samaria. Commentators have felt a difficulty in explaining the circumstance, that (according to John) Jesus should have been saying that “a prophet had no honor in his own country,” at the very time when He was on His journey to Galilee. It might seem that such a statement would rather imply His departure from Galilee. But the difficulty is removed by recalling to mind the precise geographical arrangements of the country. In Joh_4:43, the Evangelist uses the word Galilee not in the general sense, but as a man familiar with the district would apply the term—a circumstance which may be regarded as an indirect evidence of the truthfulness of his narrative. What he calls Galilee is not the province in question as contradistinguished from Judæa, but the district of Upper Galilee in opposition to Lower Galilee, in which Nazareth was situate. The boundary-line between Upper and Lower Galilee ran due east and west between Nazareth and Cana. In Joh_4:43-44, the Evangelist makes only a passing allusion to the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth, and dwells in preference on the fact, that the Saviour was gladly received by the inhabitants of Galilee proper. From what we have said, it will be clear that the accounts of Matthew and John are not inconsistent, as Meyer imagines; although that commentator is right in maintaining, against Wieseler, that the passage in the text does not refer to the journey to Galilee recorded in Joh_6:1. Finally, we gather from the account in Matthew that the imprisonment of John by Antipas took place some time after the celebration of the first passover which Jesus attended, and after His stay in Judæa.

That John was delivered up, (i.e. into prison).—The ground on which the Baptist was imprisoned is afterwards recorded, on the occasion of his execution (Mat_14:4). Fritzsche supposes that the imprisonment of John induced Jesus to appear in Galilee, lest the people of that country should be deprived of spiritual support; while Meyer regards this event as a motive for His retirement to that province, since “the more remote district of Galilee, although under the rule of Herod Antipas, would naturally attract less attention, and thus afford shelter.” But although Capernaum lay in Upper Galilee, yet, from its proximity to Tiberias—the residence of Herod—and the intercourse between these two places, both situate on the Lake of Galilee, anything which occurred in Capernaum would much more readily attract attention than what took place in Nazareth, which lay out of the way among the mountains. Besides, it was at this very time that Jesus commenced His public ministry, and called disciples around Him. The connection between the imprisonment of John and the appearance of Jesus in “Galilee of the Gentiles,” as well as the cessation of the preparatory baptism which the disciples of Jesus had for a time administered (Joh_4:1-2,) may readily be otherwise explained. The imprisonment of John, and the tame acquiescence of the country in this act, had put an end to the hope of preparing the people for the kingdom of Messiah by Levitical purifications, or legal purity. Now that the attempt at outward purity had been thus rudely stopped, Jesus might, in the consciousness of His own inward and eternal purity, all the more readily commence His work in Galilee of the Gentiles, amidst publicans and sinners, by gathering around Him a circle of disciples.

Mat_4:13. He came and dwelt in Capernaum.— Êáöáñíáïýì , ëְּôַø ðָçåּí , meaning, according to Hesychius, Origen, and Jerome, vicus consolationis, but according to others (Winer, Meyer), the village of Nahum. The town lay on the borders of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth, probably near where the Jordan entered that lake. It was a thriving commercial place, on the road from Damascus to the Mediterranean. Capernaum was inhabited both by Jews and Gentiles; in Jewish writings it is characterized as the residence of heretics and free-thinkers (von Ammon, “Leben Jesu,” p. 359). The contrast between Capernaum, where Jesus dwelt, and Tiberias, the residence of Antipas—a city which the Lord uniformly avoided, but which, after the destruction of Jerusalem, became one of the holy places of the Jews,—is striking. But the prediction of Christ in regard to Capernaum, once so highly favored, has been most signally and literally fulfilled (Mat_11:23). At this moment every trace of the site of Capernaum has disappeared. Wilson and others regard the ruins of Tell Hum (i. e. Nahum) as the ancient site of Capernaum. As the town is not mentioned in the Old Testament, it seems probable that it was built after the return from the Babylonish exile. Josephus (Vita, 72) calls the town Êáöáñíþìç . In another place (De Bello Jud. iii. 10, 8) he assigns the name of Êáöáñíáóýì to a fountain in Galilee. According to Robinson, this fountain is the modern ’Ain et Tin, by the Lake of Gennesareth, near the Khan Minyeh, which he regards as the site of ancient Capernaum. But this opinion is not generally entertained. Comp. the art. Capernaum in the Bibl. Encycls.

Mat_4:14-15. That it might be fulfilled.—In this instance we have the fulfilment of a verbal prophecy, the passages in Isa_8:22; Isa_9:1-2, being strictly Messianic in their primary meaning, although the prophet seems also to have had in view the oppression of the Assyrians, under which at that time Northern Palestine groaned. But, as in every other similar instance, the event recorded in Mat_4:13 did not take place simply on account of this prediction, but on independent grounds. The passage is cited freely from the original Hebrew: “At the first (in ancient times) He brought to shame the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but afterward (in later times) He brought to honor the (despised) way of the sea, beyond Jordan, the circuit (Galilee) of the Gentiles. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” In the quotation as given by Matthew, the despised district is even more pointedly indicated as the land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea (the road by the sea, or the great road of the traffic of the world), the beyond Jordan, (even) Galilee of the Gentiles. In our opinion, the Sea of Galilee was not so important a highway for the traffic of the ancient world as to give to the district around the designation of “the way of the sea,” more especially as the three expressions in the text are not intended to designate three different objects, but one and the same thing viewed under different aspects. In the first clause, Galilee is designated as profane, being the way of the sea for all the world; in the second clause, as extending northward beyond the sources of Jordan, the holy river; finally, in the third clause, as being really a heathen district, largely inhabited by Gentiles. But the expression ãῆ , without the article, may be regarded as the nominative. Before ὁäὸí èáëÜóóçò we must again supply the ãῆ of the former clause,—toward the sea, or the way of the sea. The absolute accusative ὁäüí is a Hebraistic form like ãֶּøֶêְ , and equivalent to the Latin versus (comp. Meyer, p. 111). The expression ðÝñáíôïῦ ’ ÉïñäÜíïõ cannot in this instance mean Peræa, or the country east of Jordan. A reference to that district would be here quite out of place, as the name “Galilee of the Gentiles” is intended again to designate the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. The territory of Naphtali extended northward beyond the source of the Jordan; and from a theocratic point of view, this, and not Peræa, would constitute the ðÝñáíô . I., although that expression was commonly applied to Peræa. Besides, Peræa was not the first scene of Christ’s ministry. Meyer, indeed, maintains that the Evangelist overlooked the historical meaning of the passage in Isaiah, which was only Messianic in a theocratic and political sense, referring to the deliverance of Northern Galilee from the oppression of the Assyrians. But this commentator forgets that Isa_9:1 sqq. is a strictly Messianic prediction, although it rests, of course, on the historical basis of the age of the prophet.

Mat_4:16. The people which sat in darkness.—Apposition to the preceding designation of the locality which was to be illuminated by the light of the Messiah. The darkness of the country is explained by the sad spiritual state of the people. In view of the spiritual condition of the people at the time, the Evangelist modifies the distinction made by Isaiah between those that walk in darkness, who see a great light, and those that dwell or sit in the land of the shadow of death. In the passage as quoted by Matthew, the state of matters has apparently become worse than in the days of Isaiah, and even those who formerly “walked” are now represented as “sitting” in darkness. But the gradation of the original is retained; and we have still the contrast between those who sit in darkness and see a great light, and those who sit in the region and shadow of death, and only become aware of the light because it has sprung up for them. In the Hebrew their passiveness is even more strongly expressed— ðָâַäּ öֲìֵéäֶí , upon them light hath shined. “ ÊáèÞìåíïò sedendi verbum aptum notandæ solitudini inerti,”—(the verb to sit aptly denotes a sluggish solitude).—Bengel. Óêéὰ èáíÜôïõ , öַìְîָåֶú , tenebræ mortis. On the darkness of Sheol, comp. Job_10:21, etc.

Mat_4:17. From that time Jesus began.—Matthew calls attention to the circumstance, that with the settlement of Jesus at Capernaum, in Upper Galilee, a new period in His public ministry began. The êçñýóóåéí of the kingdom of heaven in the strictest sense now commenced, and for this purpose He set apart some of His disciples to be His Apostles. The call, Repent, ìåôáíïåῖôå , has now a higher meaning than when first uttered by John the Baptist (Mat_3:2), and a more full manifestation of His miraculous power proves that the kingdom of heaven is really at hand. Although He does not designate Himself to the people as the Messiah, yet the kingdom of Messiah was appearing. From the manifestation of that kingdom now vouchsafed, the people are to recognise the Prince of Peace in His true and New Testament character. (The assertion of Strauss, that Jesus had not regarded Himself at first as the Messiah, requires no special answer; the suggestion, that Christ gradually changed His original plan, has been discarded even by the writer who proposed it.)

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. As John carried on his public ministry at the extreme boundary of the Holy Land, in the wilderness, so Jesus also appeared first at another extreme limit of the country, in Upper Galilee. Capernaum became His earthly residence. This choice had a twofold advantage. For while He thereby gave a practical denial to the carnal Messianic hopes and expectations of the people of Judæa, He also occupied a field most suitable for His own peculiar activity. There He found the greatest susceptibility for the kingdom, and readiness to receive Him, especially among those retired worshippers of Jehovah who lived by the Lake of Galilee, and particularly among the disciples of John, whom He had already attracted around Him. This residence of the Saviour in Galilee had been predicted, and was a signal fulfilment of the great Messianic prophecy of Isaiah. Lastly, His abode among the fishermen of Galilee was in complete harmony with what His baptism and the victory over the tempter implied; being, in truth, a perfect renunciation of the world in reference to its carnal views concerning the theocracy and the Messiah.

2. But we may also regard this as a manifestation of His Spirit and of His Gospel. Just as He commenced His destruction of the kingdom of darkness, by conquering the power of Satan in his chief temptations, so He commenced the building up of the kingdom of heaven among the most despised portion of His people, the most needy and the most destitute of the means which the synagogue provided for cultivating spiritual life. It was among these that the Saviour first publicly and unreservedly proclaimed the kingdom of heaven.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Complete renunciation of the world on the part of the Lord is followed by His full proclamation of the kingdom of heaven.—When the kingdom of heaven arrives, the symbolical administration of priests is at an end.—When the work of John ceases, that of Christ begins.—The kingdom of God will never want messengers of God who stand in the gap.—If one prophet is imprisoned, a greater one will be sent in his place. If they burn the goose, a swan will arise from its ashes.—Jesus a stranger both at Nazareth, where His youthful years were spent, and at Capernaum, where He appeared after attaining to manhood.—Obscurity of that which is holy in its own home, showing: 1. The corruption of the world; 2. the spiritual glory of the heavenly life.—The light of salvation rising upon dark places: 1. Upon the earth, in opposition to the external heavens; 2. upon Galilee, in opposition to the land of Judæa; 3. upon the Gentile world, in opposition to the Jews; 4. upon the despised Germanic races, in opposition to the ancient Romanic Church.—The land of the shadow of death: 1. The home of sinners; 2. the heart of the sinner.—The difference between those who see a great light, and those upon whom a great light rises. 1. The former look upwards, the latter look downwards. 2. The former descry the star of salvation, the latter only the light which it sheds.—From that time Jesus began. The ancient theocratic institutions of Israel may be said to have been abrogated when John was cast into prison.—The call to repentance, from the commencement to the end of the world, 1. always the same in substance; 2. always different in form.—The kingdom of heaven is as closely at hand as Christ is.—The call: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 1. It contains two things: (a) the kingdom of heaven is at hand; (b) therefore repent. 2. It may be summed up in the expression, “kingdom of heaven;” for, (a) repentance is only the gate to the kingdom of heaven; (b) the kingdom of heaven is the grand object and goal of repentance.—In His humiliation, Christ has manifested His exaltation. 1. Rejected on earth, He opened up His kingdom of heaven. 2. Obscure and unknown by man, He revealed the spiritual world in all its blessedness. 3. Renouncing all, He bestows every blessing.

Starke:—Let us show holy obedience in being ready to change our habitation when the Lord calls.—Many live under the full blaze of the Gospel as if they still sat in the shadow of death.—When the world silences one honored servant of the Lord, God raises up others; the Church shall never be left destitute of them.—Repentance without faith is no repentance (and faith without repentance is no faith).—Agreement subsisting between all pure teachers of the Church (John and Jesus).

Heubner:—It is God’s method to cause light to arise from humble and despised places.—Jesus would not be far distant even from the Gentiles.

Footnotes:

Mat_4:12—[ ðáñåäüèç , Lange: überliefert. Wicl., Tynd., Cranm., Geneva: was taken; the Bishop’s Bible (and the Rom. Cath. Verse of Rheims) correctly: delivered up, with the marginal explanation: “that is, cast into prison,” which the Auth. Vers. received into the text, while it put the translation into the margin, influenced perhaps (as Dr. Conant suggests) by Beza’s version: traditum esse in custodiam, and his note: id est, in carcerem conjectum ease.—P. S.]

Mat_4:12—Galilee proper in the narrower sense of the term.

Mat_4:13.—[Or: Zebulun and Naphtali, after the Hebrew spelling, which is followed by the Auth. Vers. in the Old Test. See the Hebrew concordances.—P. S.]

[The rise of Tiberias, as a Jewish city, is, however, of much later date. For an account of the circumstances connected with its final “Levitical purification,” see Edersheim’s Hist. of the Jewish Nation, p. 488.—The Edinb. Tr.]

[This sentence: “Verbrennen sie die Gans, so kommt der Schwan,” which Dr. Edersheim omitted, is an allus on to an apocryphal prophecy ascribed to the reformer Hus, who was burnt at the stake for heresy, July 6, 1415, by order of the Council of Constance, and is said to have uttered, in his last hour, the words: “ To-day you roast a goose,”—alluding to his name which is the Bohemian word for goose—“but from mine ashes will arise a swan”—the armorial device of Luther—“whom you will not be able to destroy.” This prediction occurs first in the Latin works of Luther (Altenburg ed., vol. v., p. 599, etc.), and seems to have arisen in the age of the Reformation from certain vague and general sayings of Hus concerning the ultimate triumph of his doctrines (comp. Gieseler, Kirchengeschichte, vol. ii., Part IV., p. 417 sq). The sentence has assumed a somewhat proverbial significance, although very rarely used.—P. S.]