"The wilderness of Judaea" (Matt. 3:1)—This district is a mass of rolling and desolate hills situated just to the west of the Dead Sea. David is said to have composed there the sixty-third Psalm, and he well describes this wild and dreary tract of country as "a dry and thirsty land, where no water is" (Ps. 63:1). Among the early Hebrews it was often known as "Jeshimon"—literally "desolation" (cf. I Sam. 23:19).

"O generation of vipers" (Matt. 3:7)—It should be noted that the Greek word "gennemata," which is here rendered "generation," does not properly correspond to our modern use of the term with reference to "the mass of beings living at one period" (Webster's Dictionary). The word means rather "offspring, progeny," or "brood," and indeed "generation" was used in the latter sense in the early seventeenth century when our King James Version was first published. Goodspeed has: "You brood of snakes!" And Weymouth (Fifth Edition) has: "O brood of vipers."

"Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear" (Matt. 3:11)—To bear anyone's shoes, that is, "to bring and take them away; or to fasten them on or take them off," was regarded by the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans as "the business of slaves of the lowest rank" (Meyer: Commentary on Matthew, p. 114). In consequence, the phrase employed by John the Baptist would surely suggest both the deep humanity of the speaker himself and the exaltation of the Messiah, whom he announced.

"Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor" (Matt. 3:12)—Literally, "his winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor." In Palestine the grain is first threshed on the "floor"—a large open space situated on rising ground and in the open air, that the wind may blow away the chaff (see Hos. 13:3). Thereafter the farmer still uses either a winnowing shovel or a winnowing fork (the Biblical "fan") to stir the grain and to separate it from what remains of the chaff.

"He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof" (Isa. 5:2)—The Hebrew verb here rendered "fenced" is found only in this passage; and most scholars now feel that its real meaning is "digged." "Gathered out the stones thereof" is in Hebrew a single word, literally, "stoned-it." Moffatt renders: "He dug it, cleared the stones away."

"Jesus . . . sat by the sea side" (Matt. 13:1)—The context makes it plain that the "sea" here referred to was not the Mediterranean, but simply the Sea of Galilee, alternatively known as "the Sea of Tiberias," which might rather be called a "lake."

"He went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore" (Matt. 13:2)—Many feel that the site of this "sermon from the boat," as it has been called, is a sheltered bay or cove on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and Bethsaida, where the shore, which rises somewhat at this point, forms a natural amphitheater with excellent acoustics. Anyone standing on the shore and reading aloud this thirteenth chapter of Matthew, can readily be heard from any portion of the "amphitheater."

"The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a . . . " (Matt. 13:24)—In his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Dr. A. H. McNeile observes that "the Kingdom is not, strictly speaking, like the man; but his experiences illustrate an aspect of it."

"Tares" (Matt. 13:25)—It is generally supposed that the weed here referred to was the bearded darnel, which is still often to be found among the grain in Palestine, and which grows to the height of wheat or barley. Even now it is the custom not to root up this and similar tall weeds "until the harvest" (verse 30), when they are the more readily distinguished from the real grain, and so can be easily removed. The seed or grain of the darnel is not unlike wheat in appearance, and is reputedly poisonous to human beings. This suggests a further reason for the burning of the tares, referred to in verse 30.

"The sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55:3)—Some authorities prefer to translate "to David" rather than "of David"—the Hebrew permits either rendering—since the word translated "mercies" means rather "lovingkindnesses" (compare Isa. 63:7, etc.), and is often used to describe God's love for His people. The Greek Version had: "ta hosia Dauid"—the holy things of (or "to") David, apparently granted to him as a guarantee of the covenant mentioned in the same verse.

"And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret" (Matt. 14:34)—The American Standard Version provides a more literal translation of the Greek in the words: ". . . they came to the land, unto Gennesaret." Moffatt translates: "On crossing over they came to land at Gennesaret."

"They shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting" (Isa. 60:21)—Moffatt, presupposing a slight change in the text, suggests the translation: "They shall always hold the land, planted there by the Eternal's hand," and continues, "his own work, for his own glory."