tained in the sacred writings, and that in their utmost extent. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, teach men that their obligation is dissolved, shall be called (or, according to the idiom of the original languages, shall be) the least in the kingdom of heaven since the moral precepts of the law are eternal and immutable, whosoever weakens their obligation shall never enter into heaven. But whosoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven whosoever shall himself carefully practise the moral precepts of the law and the prophets, and shall inculcate their universal obligation, shall be highly rewarded. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness, the righteousness which you practise yourselves, and enjoin upon others, shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish doctors of the strictest sect, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven; for, like them, ye will be corrupters of others, and, consequently, monsters of the blackest kind. But because this was a subject of great importance, he mentioned various particulars wherein theirs should 'excel the doctrine and practice of the Jewish teachers.

He began with doctrine, and spake concerning murder, adultery, divorce, perjury, resentment of injuries, and benevolence, shewing them what they were to believe and teach concerning these points. It seems, the doctors gave it as their opinion, that the law, "Thou shalt not kill," prohibited nothing but actual murder committed. with a man's own hand; and, therefore, if he hired another to kill him, or turned a wild beast upon him that slew him, according to them, it was not murder punishable by the law, though they acknowledged it might deserve the judgment of God. The doctrine of his disciples was to be more sublime, exhibiting the intention and spirit of the law, which forbids not the outward act of murder only, but whatever may tempt or prompt a man to commit it; for instance, our being angry with another, our affronting him, and judging evil concerning his spiritual state without good reason: for the limitation added to the first member of the sentence must be understood throughout the whole. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: by causeless anger he exposes himself to a degree of punishment in the life to come, which may fitly be represented by that which the judgment inflicts. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, without a cause, shall be in danger of the council: he who derides and affronts his brother causelessly, is liable to a degree of punishment which may be represented by that which the council used to inflict. But whosoever shall say, thou fool, without a cause; whosoever, judging uncharitably. of his brother, shall call him a wicked wretch and an apostate, without cause, shall be in danger of hell-firc, i. e. by a common figure of speech, "obnoxious to the fire of the valley of Hinnom," obnoxious to a degree of punishment which may fitly be represented by that fire. But because men are very apt to fall into rash anger, and to express their anger by contemptuous speeches and abusive names, fancying that there is no sin in these things, or but little, and that compensation may easily. be made for them by acts of devotion; Jesus declared that atonement was not to be made for these offences by any offerings, how costly soever, and therefore prescribed immediate repentance and reparation as the only remedies of them. He insisted particularly on repa-. ration, assuring us, that unless it be made, God will not accept the worship of such offenders, being infinitely better pleased with repentance than with sacrifices, or external worship of any kind, how specious soever those duties may appear in the eye. of vulgar understandings. Vain, therefore, is their presumption, who fancy they make amends for yet more gross acts of injustice by acts of devotion. Therefore, s

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thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has aught against thee, any just cause of complaint against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar; do not lay aside thoughts of worshipping God because thou art not in a proper state, but prepare thyself for his worship without delay; go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift This exhortation Jesus enforced, from the consideration of what is reckoned prudent in ordinary law-suits. In such cases, wise men always advise the party that has done the wrong, to make up matters with his adversary whilst it is in his power, lest the sentence of a judge, being interposed, fall heavy on him. For the same reason, we, who have offended our brother, ought to make it up with him whilst an opportunity of repentance is allowed us; and that, though our quarrel should have proceeded to the greatest lengths, lest the sentence of the supreme judge overtake us, and put reconciliation out of our power for ever. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time he deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

[Mat. v. 27.] Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. To explain the opinion of the Jewish doctors in this matter, Lightfoot cites, Trip. Targ. in marg. ad Exod. xx. by which it appears, that they were very loose moralists. In opposition to them, therefore, our Lord declared, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Whosoever cherishes unchaste desires and intentions, or, as it is expressed in the tenth precept, whosoever covets his neighbour's wife is really guilty of adultery, though he never should find an opportunity of committing the act with her. For which cause, all such use of our senses as inflames the mind with lust, must be carefully avoided. If thy right eye offend thee, i. e. cause thee to offend, pluck it out and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. There is here an allusion to the practice of surgeons, who, when any member of the body happens to be mortified, cut it off to prevent the sound part from being tainted. The meaning of the passage, stript of the metaphor, is this, Deny thyself, not by amputation of the members, but by the force of a strong resolution of the use of thy senses, though ever so delightful, in all cases, where the use of them ensnares thy soul.

It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. The doctors of the school of Sammai affirmed, that, in the law, concerning divorce, [Deut. xxiv. 1.] the words, some uncleanness, were to be understood of adultery only; whereas, they of the school of Hillel interpreted them of any matter of dislike whatever. Hence the Pharisees asked Jesus, [Mat. xix. 3.] if it was lawful to put away his wife for every cause? From his answer to that question it appears, that the interpretation of the law of divorce given by the school of Hillel, and adopted by the Jews, as we learn from their practice and their writings, represented, in some measure, the meaning of the law. Nevertheless, by multiplying the causes of divorce far beyond the intention of their law-giver, they took occasion, from the law, to give unbounded scope to their lusts. This abuse Jesus thought fit to reform by correcting the law itself. Accordingly, having his eye upon the original institution of marriage in paradise, and upon the laws of that relation then established, he assured his disciples that he who divorces his wife for any of the causes allowed by the doctors, whoredom excepted, layeth her under a strong temptation to commit adultery, unjust divorce being no divorce in the sight of God; and that, since such marriages still

subsisted, he who marrieth the woman unjustly divorced committeth adultery also. But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, (fornication here, as elsewhere, is often used for adultery; in general, it denotes the exercise of all the different species of unlawful lusts ;) causeth her to commit adultery; and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths. As to oaths, the doctors affirmed that they were obligatory, according to the nature of the thing by which a man swears. [Mat. xxiii. 16.] Hence they allowed the use of such oaths in common conversation, as they said were not obligatory, pretending that there was no harm in them, because the law which forbids them to forswear themselves, and enjoined them to perform their vows, meant such solemn oaths only as were of a binding nature. It is this detestable morality which Jesus condemned in the following words, But I say unto you, swear not at all; never swear by an oath, on the supposition that it does not bind you. For all oaths whatever, those by the lowest of the creatures not excepted, are obligatory, in regard, that if these oaths have any meaning at all, they are an appeal to the great Creator, consequently are oaths by him, implying a solemn invocation of his wrath on such of the creatures sworn by, as are capable of God's wrath; and, for the others, the oath implies a solemn imprecation, in case of your swearing falsely, that you may for ever be deprived of all the comfort or advantage you have in, or hope from, these creatures. Swear, therefore, neither by heaven; for it is God's throne; nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. By comparing Mat. xxiii. 16, it appears, that our Lord is here giving a catalogue of eaths, which, in the opinion of the doctors, were not obligatory. His meaning, therefore, is, swear not at all in common conversation, nor on other occasions, unless you have a mind to perform; because every oath being really obligatory, he who, from an opinion that some are not, swears voluntarily, by heaven, by earth, or by Jerusalem, or by his own head, is, without all doubt, guilty of perjury. Much more is he guilty, who, when called thereto by lawful authority, swears with an intention to falsify. But, by no means, does Jesus condemn swearing truly before a magistrate, or upon grave and solemn occasions: because that would have been to prohibit both the method of ending controversies, [Heb. vi. 16.] and an high act of religious worship; [Deut. vi. 13. Isa. Ixv. 16.] an oath being not only a solemn appeal to the divine omniscience, from which nothing can be hid, but a direct acknowledgment of God as the great patron and protector of right, and the avenger of falsehood. let your communication be, yea, yea, nay, nay: maintain such sincerity and truth in all your words as will merit the belief of your acquaintance; so that, in common conversation, to gain yourselves credit, you need do no more than barely assert or deny any matter, without invoking the name of God at all; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil, or, as it may be translated, cometh of the evil one. In common discourse, whatever is more than affirmation or negation ariseth from the temptation of the devil, who prompts men to curse and to swear, that he may lessen in them, and in all who bear them, that awful reverence of the divine Majesty, which is the grand support of society, and the soul of every virtue; and, by this means, lead them, at length, to perjury, even in the most solemn instances, considerations which shew the evil nature of sin in the strongest light.

But

With respect to men's resisting and revenging such injuries as are done thein,.

Jesus assured his disciples, that although, for the preservation of society, Moses had ordained the judges to give eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, if the injured party demanded it; yet the doctors were greatly in the wrong, not only when they enjoined men to insist on retaliation as their duty, but declared lawful, in many cases, for the injured party, at his own hand, to avenge himself, provided, in his revenge, he did not exceed the measure prescribed in the law. Christ's doctrine was, that a good man is so far from revenging private injuries, that oftentimes he does not even resist them, and always forgives them when they happen to be done to him; a generosity which he warmly recommended to his disciples. Ye have heard that it hath been said by the antient doctors, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, ought to be demanded: But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will suc thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. To understand this passage aright we must take notice, that the Jews, under the sanction of the law of retaliation mentioned above, carried their resentments to the utmost length; and, by so doing, maintained infinite quarrels, to the great detriment of social life. This abuse of the law Jesus here condemned, by ordering men, under the gospel dispensation, to proportion their resistance of injuries to their nature and importance. And, to direct them in this manner, he here puts five cases wherein Christian meekness must especially shew itself. 1. When any one assaults our person, in resentment of some affront he imagines we have put upon him. 2. When any one sues us at the law, in order to take our goods from us. 3. When he attacks our natural liberty. 4. When one, who is poor, asks charity. When a neighbour begs the loan of something from us. In all these cases our Lord forbids us to resist. Yet, from the examples which he mentions, it is plain that this forbearance and compliance is required only when we are slightly attacked, but by no means, when the assault is of a capital kind. For it would be unbecoming the wisdom which Jesus shewed in other points, to suppose that he forbids us to defend ourselves against murderers robbers, and oppressors, who would unjustly take away our life, our estate, or our liberty. Neither can it be thought that he commands us to give every idle fellow all he may think fit to ask, whether in charity or in loan. We are only to give what we can spare, and to such persons as, out of real necessity, seek relief from us. Nay, our Lord's own behaviour towards the man who, in presence of the council, smote him on the cheek, gives reason to think he did not mean that, in all cases, his disciples should be passive under the very injuries which he here speaks of. In some circumstances, smiting on the cheek, taking away one's coat, and she compelling of him to go a mile, may be great injuries, and therefore are to be resisted. The first instance was judged so by Jesus himself, in the case mentioned : for, had he forborne to reprove the man who did it, his silence might have been interpreted as proceeding from a conviction of his having done evil, in giving the high-priest the answer for which he was smitten. Wherefore, it appears plain, that the expressions of smiting on the cheek, taking away the coat, &c. are of the same kind with those verse 19, viz. the cutting off the right hand, and plucking out the right cyc. They are all figurative, and denote something less than they literally import.

5.

Admitting this explication as just, our Lord's rule has for its objects small injuries, which he represents by the strong metaphorical expressions of smiting on the cheek, &c. because to men of keen passions, though they be in themselves small injuries, they are difficult to be borne. Under such slight injuries, therefore, our Lord orders his disciples to be passive, rather than resist them to the utmost. Viewed in this light this