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I The Bible

4. EXAMPLES OF EXEGESIS

When was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. Matt. 2:17-18.

It is certain that the prophet was describing the destruction of the tribe of Benjamin as it occurred in his time (Jer. 31:15). He had already predicted the destruction of Judah, to which had been attached half the tribe of Benjamin. He put this mourning in dead Rachel's mouth by way of personification (prosopopoeia), which is very effective in rousing the feelings. Jeremiah did not use rhetoric merely to embellish his speech. He did it because there was no way to correct the stupidity and hard-heartedness of the living, except by calling the dead out of their graves, to weep over the chastisements of God which most people laughed at.

Since the prediction of the prophet had already been fulfilled, Matthew did not take it as a prophecy of what Herod was going to do; rather he meant that with the coming of Christ there was to be a recurrence of the affliction which the Benjamites suffered many centuries before. He wanted to meet an objection which might have troubled and shaken the believers' minds: for how could one hope to be saved by a man because of whom, and at whose very birth, there had been a massacre of infants? It was surely a dark and dreadful omen that the birth of Christ kindled a flaming fire of such fury as we do not meet even in wars of greatest cruelty! But as Jeremiah promises a restoration after the slaughter of the people down to the infants, so Matthew argues that in spite of Herod's wholesale murder, Christ would surely come forth as the Redeemer of the nation. We know that in the same chapter of Jeremiah (31), mourning is followed by tender words of comfort. For immediately after the mournful complaint come the words: " Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, and there is hope at the end," etc. Such then was the likeness between the former calamity suffered by the tribe of Benjamin and this latter one [which occurred under Herod]; and they both were preludes to the restoration of well-being which was soon to follow.

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. Matt. 2:23.

Matthew does not derive " Nazarene" from " Nazareth," as though there were a real and certain and etymological connection between the two words. What we have here is a mere allusion.Nazirmeans holy and devoted to God, and is otherwise derived fromnazar, which means to separate. It is true that the Hebrews called a certain flower (or rather, the insignia of the royal diadem) anazar. But there is no doubt that Matthew used the word as meaningholy. We read nowhere of the Nazarenes as flourishing; but we do read, as in Num. 6:4, that they were consecrated to God as prescribed by law. We are, therefore, to understand Matthew's statement as follows: Although it was fear that drove Joseph to a corner of Galilee, God had a higher purpose; for Nazareth was ordained to be Christ's home, so that he might bear the name of Nazarene which was rightly his.

But it might be asked what prophet gave this name to Christ; for there is in fact no such testimony in Scripture. Some think it is enough to answer that Scripture often calls him holy; but this is a poor solution of the problem. Matthew, as we have seen, emphasizes the word Nazarene, and by it refers to the ancient Nazarenes, who were considered especially holy. He as much as says that the holiness foreshadowed in the Nazarenes, as selected firstfruits before God, was perfected in the person of Christ.

But we must still face the question as to where the prophets gave this name to Christ. Chrysostom,[73]who was unable to unravel the knot, settled the matter by saying that many books of the prophets have perished. But this is a careless answer. For even though the Lord punished his ancient people by depriving them of a part of Scripture, or suppressed those parts which were of lesser importance, nothing has been lost since the coming of Christ. People have been misled on this point by a passage in Josephus,[74]where he says that Ezekiel left behind two books. But Josephus may have been referring to Ezekiel's prophecy of the new Temple and new Kingdom, which is obviously distinct from his former prophecies, and amounts to a new book. In any case, we still have safe and sound all the books which were extant in Matthew's time, and they are preserved in good condition. Therefore, somewhere we should come across his citation from the testimony of the prophets.

I think Bucer's judgment with regard to this matter is the best. He thinks we find the reference we need in Judg. 13:5.[75]This verse has to do with Samson, who is called deliverer in so far as he prefigured Christ; and the salvation which came by his hand and ministry was a shadowy prelude to the fullness of salvation which was exhibited to the world in the Son of God. Anything good said about Samson in Scripture must by right be transferred to Christ. If anyone prefers it that way, Christ is the original exemplar, and Samson is the inferior copy (antitype). We must understand that when Samson was invested with the honors due to the person of the Savior, the titles which adorn that high and truly divine office were intended not for him but for Christ. The fathers had only a taste of that grace of redemption which we who are in Christ have received in full.

It is easy to see why Matthew spoke ofprophetsin the plural: The Book of Judges was composed by a number of prophets. But I think that the reference tothe prophetsin this place has a wider significance. For, the patriarch Joseph, who was called a Nazarene by his brothers, was a temporal savior of the church; he was in many respects a type of Christ, and even his living image (Gen. 49:26, Deut. 33:16). God, therefore, intended that the high dignity conferred upon Joseph should have reappeared in the person of Samson, who therefore received the title Nazarene. In all this, it was God's purpose to provide for the training of the faithful: to fix their hearts upon the Redeemer to come, who was set apart from all men, to be the firstborn among many brothers.

And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. Matt. 27:35.

It is quite certain that it was the custom of the soldiers to divide the spoils of a condemned man among themselves; even though it was perhaps unusual to cast lots for a seamless coat. So, nothing happened to Christ that did not happen to all condemned men. And yet this story deserves utmost attention. The Evangelists present us with a Christ stripped naked of his clothes, to impress upon us that by his nakedness we are covered with riches which adorn us before God. The Son was stripped by God's will, to clothe us with his righteousness and an abundance of all wealth. So it is that whereas before our rags and filth made us unfit for heaven, now we all can appear with God's angels, in his presence, boldly and without fear. Christ himself let the soldiers tear his seamless coat in pieces, like beasts at their prey to enrich us with the riches of his victory.

Moreover, as Matthew says, this happened in fulfillment of David's prophecy,They divided my garments among them(Ps. 22:18). This bitter complaint is a metaphor, and its language is figurative. But as applied to Christ, its meaning is, as we say, literal; for it states a matter of fact. Bygarments, David means his wealth and honor; he means that he had been a prey to his enemies, who had in his own lifetime and under his very eyes despoiled his house of everything he possessed, and gone so far as to ravish his wife. When he writes that his garments were divided by lot, he is using a metaphor to express the cruelty of his enemies.

Since David was an image and foreshadowing of Christ, he was endowed with the Spirit of prophecy, and predicted the sufferings of Christ. We must not forget that when the soldiers robbed Christ of his garment, they did this outrage according to signs and tokens indicated a long time before. When we see this, we are no longer troubled by the scandal Christ's nakedness causes to the carnal mind. We now understand that he suffered everything rightly and properly as the Redeemer, and as prophesied and declared by the Spirit.

. The Knowledge of God; II. The Knowledge of God

[73]John Chrysostom (347-407), the bishop of Constantinople, was a man much after Calvin's heart. He was a powerful preacher who aimed at reform. He practiced " lucidity and brevity" in his voluminous Biblical homilies and commentaries. He was a brave critic of the mighty both in the church and in the state. He made many enemies and ended in exile.

[74]Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37-95?), Jewish antiquarian and historian, has put all subsequent historians of the Bible in his debt. His two books,On the Jewish WarandJewish Antiquities, have been " primary sources" for our knowledge of events, places, parties, etc., having to do with the New Testament. Calvin seems to have had his works before him as he dictated his New Testament Commentaries at home.

[75]Bucer'sIn sacra quatuor evangelia, enarrationes perpetua, 1536, on Matt. 2:23.

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