Luke 9:53

Luk 9:53. Ὅτι, because) It was openly manifest that He was seeking to reach Jerusalem: this the Samaritans regarded with aversion [as being bitter enemies to Jewish ordinances of worship.—V. g.]—πρόσωπον, face) So the LXX. 2Sa 17:11, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου πορευόμενον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν. “Whithersoever the face is turned, thither is directed the ardour of mind which conquers every difficulty.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

did not receive him, because, &c.--The Galileans, in going to the festivals at Jerusalem, usually took the Samaritan route [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.6.1], and yet seem to have met with no such inhospitality. But if they were asked to prepare quarters for the Messiah, in the person of one whose "face was as though He would go to Jerusalem," their national prejudices would be raised at so marked a slight upon their claims. (See on Joh 4:20).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 53. His face was] They saw he was going up to Jerusalem to keep the feast; (it was the feast of tabernacles, Joh 7:2); and knowing him thereby to be a Jew, they would afford nothing for his entertainment; for, in religious matters, the Samaritans and Jews had no dealings: see Joh 4:9. The Samaritans were a kind of mongrel heathens; they feared Jehovah, and served other gods, 2Kg 17:34. They apostatized from the true religion, and persecuted those who were attached to it. See an account of them, Mt 16:1. Those only who have deserted the truth of God, or who are uninfluenced by it, hate them who embrace and act by it. When a man has once decidedly taken the road to heaven, he can have but little credit any longer in the world, 1Jo 3:1.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(53) They did not receive him.—The reason thus given exactly agrees with what has been stated above. It will be remembered that when He had visited Samaria before, it was on His return, not directly from Jerusalem, but from some unknown region of Judæa where He had been baptising (Joh_3:22; Joh_4:3).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

53. they did not receive him] The aorist implies that they at once rejected Him. The Samaritans had shewn themselves heretofore not ill-disposed (Joh_4:39), and St Luke himself delights to record favourable notices of them (Luk_10:33, Luk_17:18). But (i) there was always a recrudescence of hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans at the recurrence of the annual feasts, (ii) Their national jealousy would not allow them to receive a Messiah whose goal was not Gerizim, but Jerusalem, (iii) They would not sanction the passage of a multitude of Jews through their territory, since the Jews frequently (though not always, Jos. Antt. xx. 6, § 1) chose the other route on the East of the Jordan.

as though he would go to Jerusalem] This national hatred between Jews and Samaritans (Joh_4:9) still continues, and at the present day it is mainly due to the fanaticism of the Jews. In our Lord’s day the Jews called the Samaritans ‘Cuthites’ (2Ki_17:24), aliens (2Ki_17:18), ‘that foolish people that dwell in Sichem’ (Sir_1:25-26), and other opprobrious names. They accused them of continuous idolatry (2 Kings 17), and charged them with false fire-signals, and with having polluted the Temple by scattering it with dead men’s bones (Jos. Antt. xx. 6, § I, Luk_18:2, § 2; B.J. 11. 12, § 3). No doubt originally their Monotheism was very hybrid, being mixed up with five heathen religions (2Ki_17:33; 2Ki_17:37); but they had gradually laid aside idolatry, and it was as much a calumny of the ancient Jews to charge them with the worship of Rachel’s amulets (Gen_35:4) as for modern Jews to call them ‘worshippers of the pigeon’ (Frankl. Jews in the East, 11. 334). But the deadly exacerbation between the two nations, which began after the Exile (Ezr_4:1-10; Neh_4:1-16; Neh_4:6), had gone on increasing by perpetual collision since the building of the Temple on Gerizim by the renegade priest Manasseh and Sanballat (Neh_13:28; Jos. Antt. xi. 7, xii. 5, § 5), which was destroyed by John Hyrcanus B.C. 129.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the son of man,.... Meaning himself, in his state of humiliation:

is not come to destroy men's lives; the word "men's" is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions: and both words, "men's lives", are left out in the Arabic version:

but to save them; as they might easily observe, by his casting out devils from the bodies of men, and healing all sorts of diseases: and therefore, though it was agreeably to the legal dispensation, and the times of Elijah, to punish offenders in such a manner, it was not agreeably to the Gospel dispensation, and to the ends of the Messiah's coming into the world: so far in this verse, and the latter part of the former verse, are left out in five ancient copies of Beza's, and in the Ethiopic version, but are in the rest of the Eastern versions, and in other copies, and are rightly retained:

and they went to another village; in Samaria, more civil and courteous, and less prejudiced, and where they got lodging and entertainment.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

Ver. 53. And they did not receive him] Such is the hatred that idolaters bear against all God’s true worshippers. Illam domum in qua inventus fuerit haereticus diruendam decernimus: It was a decree of the Council of Toulouse against the Albigenses.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They did not receive him - Did not entertain him hospitably, or receive him with kindness.

Because his face was ... - Because they ascertained that he was going to Jerusalem. One of the subjects of dispute between the Jews and Samaritans pertained to the proper situation of the temple. The Jews contended that it should be at Jerusalem; the Samaritans, on Mount Gerizim, and accordingly they had built one there. They had probably heard of the miracles of Jesus, and that he claimed to be the Messiah. Perhaps they had hoped that he would decide that “they” were right in regard to the building of the temple. Had he decided the question in that way, they would have received him as the Messiah gladly; but when they saw that he was going among the Jews - that “by going” he would decide in their favor, they resolved to have nothing to do with him, and they rejected him. And from this we may learn:

That people wish all the teachers of religion to fall in with their own views. That if a doctrine does not accord with their selfish desires, they are very apt to reject it. That if a religious teacher or a doctrine favors a rival sect, it is commonly rejected without examination. And, That people, from a regard to their own views and selfishness, often reject the true religion, as the Samaritans did the Son of God, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

53. Did not receive him—As but a single village is mentioned as thus rejecting Jesus, it would seem that his journey was generally pleasant.

Face… would go to Jerusalem—We have described the enmity between the Samaritans and Jews in our note upon Mat_10:5. This religious hate was doubtless more intense at the Feast time, and upon those who were going to Jerusalem rather than to Gerizim. Hence the ordinary route of the Passover caravan was on the eastern side of the Jordan, avoiding Samaria.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. Here the kindly overtures were rejected by the inhabitants of the Samaritan village in question. The reason alleged by them was that this Teacher, who wished to come among them, was on his way up to worship at the rival temple at Jerusalem.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

His face was as though he would go to Jerusalem - It plainly appeared, he was going to worship at the temple, and thereby, in effect, to condemn the Samaritan worship at Mount Gerizim.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

53, 54. They did not receive him. Because he was evidently journeying to Jerusalem. This stirred up their bigotry. They thus not only refused Jesus as a prophet, but violated the sacred duties of hospitality. The refusal to receive a religious teacher was considered a rejection of his claims.

Wilt thou that we command fire? These gentle apostles were filled with wrath at the insult to the Master. Their zeal for the Lord led them into a sanguinary feeling that was sinful. Thus, often, religious zeal has led men to sinful acts and a persecuting spirit. As Elias did? See 2 Kings 1:9–12.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

53. οὐκ ἐδέξαντο αὐτόν. The aorist implies that they at once rejected Him. The Samaritans had shewn themselves heretofore not ill-disposed (Joh 4:39), and St Luke himself delights to record favourable notices of them (Luk 10:33, Luk 17:18). But (i) there was always a recrudescence of hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans at the recurrence of the annual feasts. (ii) Their national jealousy would not allow them to receive a Messiah whose goal was not Gerizim, but Jerusalem. (iii) They would not sanction the passage of a multitude of Jews through their territory, since the Jews frequently (though not always, Jos. Antt. xx. 6, § 1) chose the other route on the East of the Jordan.

τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἦν πορευόμενον. This again is a strange Hebraic form of expression, taken from the LXX[208] 2Sa 17:11.

[208] LXX. Septuagint.

εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ. This national hatred between Jews and Samaritans (Joh 4:9) still continues, and at the present day it is mainly due to the fanaticism of the Jews. In our Lord’s day the Jews called the Samaritans ‘Cuthites’ (2Ki 17:24), aliens (Luk 17:18), ‘that foolish people that dwell in Sichem’ (Sir 50:25-26), and other opprobrious names. They accused them of continuous idolatry (2 Kings 17), and charged them with false fire-signals, and with having polluted the Temple by scattering it with dead men’s bones (Jos. Antt. XX. 6, § 1, XVIII. 2, § 2; B. J. II. 12, § 3). No doubt originally their Monotheism was very hybrid, being mixed up with five heathen religions (2Ki 17:33; 2Ki 19:37); but they had gradually laid aside idolatry, and it was as much a calumny of the ancient Jews to charge them with the worship of Rachel’s amulets (Gen 35:4) as for modern Jews to call them ‘worshippers of the pigeon’ (Frankl. Jews in the East, II. 334). But the deadly exacerbation between the two nations, which began after the Exile (Ezr 4:1-10; Neh 4:1-16; Neh 4:6), had gone on increasing by perpetual collision since the building of the Temple on Gerizim by Sanballat and the renegade priest Manasseh (Neh 13:28; Jos. Antt. XI. 7, XII. 5, § 5), which was destroyed by John Hyrcanus B.C. 129.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

53. οὐκ ἐδέξαντο αὐτόν, ὅτι. The feeling was reciprocal. Some Jews taught that a Samaritan’s bread was as defiling swine’s flesh: comp. Joh 4:9, Joh 4:20. The fact that He was on His way to keep a feast at Jerusalem, thus repudiating the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, increased the animosity of the Samaritans. Jos. Ant. xx. 6, 1; B. J. ii. 12. 3-7; Vita, 52; Wetst; on Joh 4:20.

τὸ πορόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἦν πορευόμενον. Another Hebraism: comp. 2Sa 17:11. Galileans in journeying to Jerusalem often went round by Peræa, in order to avoid the churlishness of the Samaritans: and this our Lord may possibly have done after this attempt to bring Jews and Samaritans together as guests and hosts had failed. The hospitality which He had received at Sychar many months before this (Joh 4:40) would not abolish the prejudices of all Samaritan towns and villages for ever.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.