Song of Solomon 4:7

Son 4:7 Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee.

Ver. 7. Thou art all fair, my love.] Christ, having graciously answered his spouse’s petition with a promise of his gracious presence with her and providence over her, proceeds in her commendation. A perfection of parts he here grants her, though not of degrees, a comparative perfection also in regard of the wicked, whose "spot is not the spot of his children." {Deu 31:5} He calls her his spouse in the next verse. The Hebrew word {a} imports that, being dressed in all her bride attire, she is all fair, and hath perfection of beauty, {Jer 2:32} and is all glorious within and without, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and spotless. {Eph 5:26-27} Fair he called her before, {Son 4:1} but new,

All fair.] And therefore "the fairest among women," a suitable mate for him who is "fairer than all the children of men." {Psa 45:2} Not but that she hath, while here, her infirmities and deformities, as the moon hath her blots and blemishes but these are ut naevi in vultu Veneris; these serve as foils to set off her superexcellent beauty, or rather the superabundant grace of Christ, who "seeth no sin in Jacob"; that is, imputeth none but freely accepteth his own work in his people, and sweetly passeth by whatsoever is amiss in them. Perfection is what they breathe after, and that which is already begun in them; they have the firstfruits of the Spirit, and all their strife is to "attain to the resurrection of the dead"; that is, to that perfection of holiness that accompanieth the state of the resurrection. {Php 3:11}

There is no spot in thee,] i.e., None in mine account none such as the wicked are full of {See Trapp on "Deu 32:5"} - no leopard spots that cannot be washed away with any water. Faults will escape the best man between his fingers: Nimis angusta res est nusquam errare, In many things we offend all. {Jas 3:2} But as David saw nothing in lame Mephibosheth but what was lovely, because he saw in him the features of his friend Jonathan; so God, beholding his offending people in the face of his Son, takes no notice of anything amiss in them. They are, as that tree of paradise, {Gen 3:6} fair to his eye, and pleasant to his palate; or as Absalom, in whom there was no blemish from head to foot, so are they irreprehensible and without blemish before the throne of God. {Rev 14:5}

{a} Calab of Calol, to profit.

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.

Section 4:7–5:1: The king meeting the bride in the evening of the same day, expresses once more his love and admiration in the sweetest and tenderest terms and figures. He calls her now “bride” (spouse, Son 4:8) for the first time, to mark it as the hour of their espousals, and “sister-bride” (spouse, Son 4:9-10, Son 4:12; Son 5:1), to express the likeness of thought and disposition which henceforth unites them. At the same time he invites her to leave for his sake her birthplace and its mountain neighborhood, and live henceforth for him alone.

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

Verse 7. Thou art all fair - there is no spot in thee.] "My beloved, every part of thee is beautiful; thou hast not a single defect."

The description given of the beauties of Daphne, by OVID, Metam. lib. i. ver. 497, has some similarity to the above verses: -

Spectat inornatos collo pendere capillos.

Et, quid si comantur? ait. Videt igne micantes

Sideribus similes oculos; videt oscula, quae non

Est vidisse satis. Laudat digitosque, manusque,

Brachiaque, et nudos media plus parte lacertos.

Si qua latent meliora putat.

Her well-turn'd neck he view'd, (her neck was bare,)

And on her shoulders her disheveled hair.

O, were it comb'd, said he, with what a grace

Would every waving curl become her face!

He view'd her eyes, like heavenly lamps that shone,

He view'd her lips, too sweet to view alone;

Her taper fingers, and her panting breast.

He praises all he sees; and, for the rest,

Believes the beauties yet unseen the best.

DRYDEN.

Jayadeva describes the beauty of Radha in nearly the same imagery: "Thy lips, O thou most beautiful among women, are a bandhujiva flower; the lustre of the madhuca beams upon thy cheek; thine eye outshines the blue lotos; thy nose is a bud of the tila; the cunda blossom yields to thy teeth. Surely thou descendedst from heaven, O slender damsel! attended by a company of youthful goddesses; and all their beauties are collected in thee." See these poems, and the short notes at the end.

The same poet has a parallel thought to that in So 4:5, "Thy two breasts," &c. The companions of Radha thus address her: "Ask those two round hillocks which receive pure dew drops from the garland playing on thy neck, and the buds on whose tops start aloft with the thought of thy beloved."

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

Thee. All must be pure before they enter heaven, as the blessed Virgin [Mary] was on earth, (Worthington) and the Church is still, Ephesians v. 27. (Calmet) --- Before his departure, Christ heaps praises on her.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou art all fair; it is needless to mention the several beauties of all thy parts, for, in one word, thou art wholly beautiful; and it may be said more truly of thee than it was of Absalom, 2Sa 14:25, that from the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head there is no blemish in thee.

There is no spot in thee; which is not to be understood simply and absolutely, as if the people of God were really perfect, and free from all sin; but either,

1. Comparatively, no such spot or blemish as is in wicked men, or as is inconsistent with true grace, of which Moses speaks, Deu 32:5. Or,

2. In regard of God’s gracious acceptation, in which respect he is said not to behold iniquity in Jacob, Num 23:21. God doth not look upon them with a severe eye, as they are in themselves, but in and through Christ, in whom he accepts them as if they were perfect, partly because it is their chief design, desire, and endeavour to be so, and partly because Christ hath undertaken to make them so, Eph 5:25,27, and they shall one day be such.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Thou art all fair — Encouraged by this ardent interruption, the Beloved, in hopeful tone and lively phraseology, declares that she shall escape freely with him, and shall be safe in any and every place, on mountains and among wild beasts. Her declaration of preference, now fixed, if for the moment wavering, gives him the courage and animation belonging to perfect confidence.

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

Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee. The bridegroom speaks. The sweet humility and modesty of the bride kindles his love afresh. He praised the loveliness of her bodily form, and she by her response showed the exceeding loveliness of her soul. It must not be forgotten that, whether borrowed from this book or not, such language is undoubtedly employed in Scripture of the Church, the bride, the Lamb"s wife, who is described as "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing". (Eph_5:27) It should be noticed that the king immediately addresses his love as "bride," and "sister-bride," to show that there is more than admiration of her person in his thoughts. She is his by assimilation and by eternal union, and he invites her to enter fully into the new life which he has prepared for her, as in Psalm 45, "forgetting her own people, and her father"s house." It is not enough that feeling should be stirred, or even that it should take possession of the soul, if it be only feeling; it is required of us that our inner life of emotion should become practical devotedness, "counting all things but loss" for the sake of him we love.

Vers. 7-16. Further conversation.

I THE WORDS OF THE BRIDEGROOM.

1. His entire love for the bride. If the view of ver. 6 indicated above gives the true meaning, the bride has left the bridegroom for a time. In the evening they meet again, and the king again expresses his affection: "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." Such shall the Church be in the eyes of Christ, when he has sanctified and cleansed her with the washing of water by the Word; when she is clothed in the fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints; when he "of God is made unto her Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption". (1Co_1:30) Such shall the saints be in his eyes when they have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" "they are without fault before the throne of God". (Rev_14:5) But it is Christ who has cleansed them. They were stained with many sins, as David was when he cried in the anguish of his deep penitence, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psa_51:7) We have sinned so long and so greatly, we have so often fallen back into sin after imperfect repentance, that to be "whiter than snow" seems a hope altogether too high for us, out of our reach. But we have the sure Word of God. He is able to "present us faultless before the presence of his glory;" he is able to "cleanse us from all unrighteousness;" "the Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world." Indeed it is true that "we are all as an unclean things and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags", (Isa_64:6) but we may have, if we come to Christ in faith, "that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ;" that righteousness which is his, not our own; and yet, if we abide in him, it becomes through his grace our own; for it is given to us, imparted to us, infused into us by the indwelling influences of the Holy Spirit of God. Then we may dare to hope for that spotless righteousness; we may, we must, long for it and strive after it. Not to do so is not humility, but unbelief; not distrust of ourselves, but distrust of God; for we have the sacred word of promise, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

2. His invitation. The Hebrew words are full of life: "With me from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon shalt thou come." The bride is henceforth to be with the bridegroom, with him always: she is to forget her own people and her father"s house. (Psa_45:10, Psa_45:11) She is to come away from her old haunts from Amana, Shenir, and Hermon; for even Hermon in all its grandeur is but a "little hill" in comparison with the spiritual glory of Mount Zion, where God is pleased to dwell. (see Prayer book Version of Psa_42:6) She must come from the lions" dens, from "the violence of Lebanon", (Hab_2:17) to Jerusalem, the foundation of peace. The Church, the bride of Christ, shall be in the eternal blessedness "forever with the Lord." She shall come away from her old habitation, the earth which is filled with violence; (Gen_6:11) away from the raging of the roaring lion, who walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, (1Pe_5:8) to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. And the Christian soul, which looks forward in living hope to the inheritance of the saints in light, must now come with Christ away from other masters, from the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. "To depart and to be with Christ," St. Paul says, (Php_1:23) "is far better much very far better," for such is the full meaning of the emphatic words. Then the soul that hopes to be with Christ in Paradise must be much with Christ now; with him in the daily life of faith, in prayer and praise and frequent communion. He bids us come. "Come unto me," he says, "and I will give you rest." He only can give peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." If we listen to his voice, and come with him away from Lebanon, which, though fair to look upon, with grand and wide-reaching prospects, was yet the haunt of noisome beasts; if we leave the love of the world, with its enticements and its dangers, for the blessed love of Christ, we shall have all that we need for our soul"s peace and safety. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

3. His praises of the bride. He calls her repeatedly, "My sister-bride." His heart is hers; every little thing about her, the very smell of her garments, is dear to him; her love is by much better than wine; her voice is sweet as honey. He dwells now less on graces of person, as in vers. 1-5, than on her looks of affection, the depth and beauty of her love, the music of her voice. These words tell of a great love; but the love of Christ for his Church is beyond the power of language. Solomon left his first love he loved many strange women; but the love of Christ for his Church is "an everlasting love", (Jer_31:3) unchangeable, unutterable. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;" but "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". (Rom_5:8) And because he loved the Church with so great a love, the responsive love of the Church is very dear to him. "He is not ashamed to call us brethren". (Heb_2:11) The voice of the Church lifted up to him in prayer and praise, making melody in the heart unto God, is sweet to the Saviour. He praises the graces of the Church, though those graces come all from him; they are his gift. He praises in the Book of the Revelation the Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia; he sees the beauty of holiness in those afflicted and despised Churches: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich;" "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life;" "They shall know that I have loved thee; Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name". (Rev_2:9, 10 3:9, 12)

4. He compares her to a garden enclosed. She is like a garden shut up, barred against intruders, kept sacred for its master"s use; she is like a spring shut up, a fountain sealed as with the royal signet which none but the king can touch. The garden, or paradise, is full of the choicest fruits, flowers, and spice-bearing plants, the produce of many countries, some of them brought in Solomon"s time by his navy from Arabia or India. The fountain is a well of living waters, fresh as the gushing mountain streams of Lebanon. Solomon praises the bride not only for her beauty and her rare endowments, but also for her purity and faithfulness. The "garden enclosed," the "fountain scaled," remind us of our marriage vow: "Wilt thou... forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?" Such should the wedded pair be each to the other; such was not Solomon. We cannot but think and believe that the bride, innocent and artless as she is described, kept herself pure unto the end. The Church, which is the bride of Christ, should be as a garden enclosed, kept sacred for the one Lord. The garden of Eden was a garden enclosed, but Satan marred its sanctity; he, in the words of Milton, "At one slight bound high overleaped all bound Of hill or highest wall, and sheer within Lights on his feet.... So clomb the first grand thief into God"s fold: So since into his Church lewd hirelings climb.

The Lord has said, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Again he has said, "I am the Door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture." They who are called to minister in the Church of God must ever remember that it is God"s Church, that "he hath purchased it with his own blood"; (Act_20:28) that it should be "a garden enclosed," kept for the Master, tilled and watered for him; that every barren tree should be carefully tended, that it may bring forth fruit before the awful word goeth forth, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The trees in the Lord"s garden differ much from one another. There are pomegranates with their pleasant fruit, henna with its fragrant flowers, spikenard with its costly perfume, frankincense for sacred uses; all manner of sweet spices myrrh and aloes, which tell of the bitter healing cup of sorrow, which point to death and burial. The saints of God differ much from one another. Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, St. Peter, St. John, St. Paul, have each his own place in the garden of the Lord. All bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, but in different forms and degrees; one we call the apostle of love, another the apostle of faith, a third the apostle of hope; "but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will". (1Co_12:11) It is the Lord himself who giveth the Spirit. Mary Magdalene, on the first Easter Day, supposed him to be the gardener; (Joh_20:15) and in a very true sense he is the Gardener of the garden enclosed. And here we may remember that it was in a garden that he suffered that dread agony, when his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That blood taketh away the sins of the world; it waters the garden enclosed with its cleansing stream. And again we are told that "in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus". (Joh_19:41) The Lord suffered in a garden; he has purchased with his own blood the Church to be his own, his garden enclosed. But the Church is also "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;" shut up in a sense, sealed with the Master"s signet, as his own sacred tomb was sealed in the garden of Joseph, but yet (ver. 15) "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." The fountain is sealed, for it is the Lord"s; it hath "this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity". (2Ti_2:19) But its living waters go forth to fertilize the Lord"s garden. The healing waters which the Prophet Ezekiel saw in his vision issued out from under the threshold of the temple; they brought fruitfulness wherever they went "because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary". (Eze_47:1, Eze_47:12) In a true sense the whole world is the Lord"s field: "The field is the world"; (Mat_13:38) and the Church has the Lord"s commandment, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature". (Mar_16:15) The well is the Lord"s; it is sealed with his seal; but the living waters of that sacred well must issue forth, that "the wilderness and the solitary place may be glad for them: that the desert may rejoice and blossom as the rose". (Isa_35:1) And as the Church, the bride of Christ, is for him "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed," so must every Christian soul be wholly his. "We are Christ"s," St. Paul says. "Whether we live or die, we are the Lord"s;" and again, "God, whose I am, and whom I serve". (Act_27:23) Each Christian soul must keep itself as "a garden enclosed" ("barred," or "belted," is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word). We must strive earnestly to keep out earthly passions, earthly ambitions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. We must keep the gate barred against the entrance of the evil one. And we must take heed that the house be not left empty; it must be kept for "a habitation of God through the Spirit". (Eph_2:22) We must strive to keep out worldly cares, coming to God in all our troubles, whether great or small, that so the peace of God, which Passeth all understanding, may keep (guard, protect) our hearts and thoughts through Christ Jesus. The garden must be barred; the peace of God must rule there; (Col_3:15) and it must bring forth fruit, the blessed fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance". (Gal_5:22) The tree that beareth not fruit must be hewn down at last; it cumbereth the ground; "every branch that beareth not fruit is taken away." How carefully, then, we ought, every one of us, to watch for the fruit of the Spirit in our daily life, to see in diligent self-examination whether we are exhibiting these holy graces in our Christian walk and conversation; and if, alas! we find them not, how earnestly we ought to pray, with fervent, untiring supplication for the help of the Holy Spirit of God to work within us, to assist our prayers, to make intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, to lead us nearer to Christ, that we may evermore abide in him, without whom we can bear no fruit, without whom we can do nothing! The garden needs the living water; the saint of God is a fountain sealed. The living water is the Lord"s; it bears his seal. The Lord himself is, in the truest sense, the "Fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness"; (Zec_13:1) with him is "the fountain of life". (Psa_36:9) He leadeth his redeemed to living fountains of waters. (Rev_7:17) But they who have received from him the living water become themselves fountains, as the Lord hath said, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." And again, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". (Joh_4:14 Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38) The saint of God is indeed "a fountain sealed," sealed with the Lord"s seal, dedicated wholly unto him; "a spring shut up" from all other waters save only the living water which the Lord giveth, not "a fountain which sends forth at the same place sweet water and bitter". (Jam_2:11) But he must be "a fountain of gardens" (ver. 15); he that is watered of God must water the thirsty ground. (Pro_11:25) St. Paul, who had received the gift of the Spirit from the Lord, passed on the living waters to Apollos; Apollos watered the garden of the Lord at Corinth. (1Co_3:6) So must all God"s people do. They know in their own hearts more or less of that holy calm and blessedness which the living waters of the indwelling of the Spirit (Joh_7:39) bring to the faithful; they must do their best to extend to others the blessings which they have themselves received; they must pray and labour for the spiritual well being of those nearest to them, within the sphere of their personal influence; they must do their best to help missionary work through the world, resting not till "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea". (Isa_11:9) But each must keep himself as "a fountain sealed" for the Lord and the work of the Lord, that at the last he may be sealed with the seal of the living God, and stand on the Mount Zion among the mystic hundred and forty and four thousand who have the Lamb"s Name and his Father"s Name written in their foreheads. (Rev_7:2, 3 14:1)

II THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE. She accepts the bridegroom"s parable. She is a garden enclosed. She calls upon the winds, north and south, to blow upon the garden, that the fragrance of its spices may flow forth to give pleasure to the bridegroom. The garden is hers; for it is herself, her love. And yet it is the bridegroom"s, for she has given herself, her love, to him; she invites him to come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. So the Church, the bride of Christ, longs for the heavenly Bridegroom; so each Christian soul seeks the Saviour"s presence. The soul that would give itself wholly to the Lord as a garden barred against all other masters, and enclosed for his use, strives ever to please him more and more; she would have her inward life of prayer and meditation and spiritual communion with him to become more and more pleasing to him, more and more fragrant. Therefore she calls for the north wind as well as the south to blow upon the garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. She is willing to submit to the cold blasts of adversity, as well as to be refreshed with the soft breezes of joy and holy gladness. She knows that God will make all things, joy and sorrow alike, to work together for good to them that love him. (Rom_8:28) Therefore she prays only that his will may be done in her, whether by chastisements or by spiritual joy and blessing. She would have the garden bring forth more fruit, even though it must be purged with the pruning knife of affliction. For the garden, though it is herself, her own heart, is yet the Lord"s; for she has given it to the heavenly Bridegroom; therefore she yearns for his irradiating presence, praying him to enter into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

The immaculate soul.

"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." This word has many parallels; cf. "Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you;" "Ye are washed, justified, sanctified;" "Ye are complete in him;" "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," etc. Now, how can all this be? We reply

I THROUGH THE ESTIMATE WHICH LOVE FORMS OF THAT WHICH IT LOVES. (Cf. former homily, on vers. 1-7)

II THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, WHICH "CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN." Christ is our Representative, the second Adam. Our connection with him becomes vitalized when our hearts trust in him. But he, in and by his death his blood made perfect confession of our sins, and in that confession absorbed them (cf. McLeod Campbell on the Atonement). Forgiveness, therefore, follows for all in him; and thus we are cleansed.

III THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST. He is ever acting on our hearts, to lead them along the various stages that will bring us to perfect purity, to complete sanctification. He works in us that deep sense of sin which leads to a genuine repentance. He reveals Christ to us, which leads to a living trust. He inspires us with love to Christ, which leads to the surrender of our will. He prompts us to and aids us in prayer, which perpetuates and deepens every holy purpose. He keeps us in touch with Christ, which bars the entrance of sin to our souls. He makes all the means of grace full of help to our souls. Thus step by step the blessed work is done.

IV THROUGH CHRIST"S GRACIOUS ANTICIPATION OF THE COMPLETED WORK. He looks on us, not as we are, but as we shall be, and predates what has yet to, but certainly shall, be realized.

CONCLUSION. What a motive all this supplies to our earnest striving to come up to our blessed Lord"s ideal! S.C.

"Without spot.

Purity is an element of beauty, and to a mind judging justly is also an element of attractiveness. In the maiden he had brought from her mountain home on the slopes of Lebanon, the royal bridegroom admired a purity like that of the snow that clothes the summit of Hermon. She was meet to be the spouse of the king, who (speaking not only of the absence of any blemish of form or feature, but of the qualities of the mind and heart) exclaimed, as he looked upon her fairness, "There is no spot in thee!

I THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS IN CONTRAST WITH THE SINFULNESS OF THE NATURAL, UNREGENERATE STATE.

II THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS EFFECTED BY THE MEANS OF THE SAVIOUR"S REDEMPTION.

III THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS WROUGHT BY THE CLEANSING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

IV THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH RENDERS HER THE ACCEPTABLE AND SUITABLE SPOUSE OF HER HEAVENLY LORD.

V THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS A WITNESS AND REBUKE TO THE MORAL DEFILEMENT OF A SINFUL WORLD.

VI THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH ON EARTH 1S AN EARNEST AND PREPARATION FOR THE STAINLESSNESS OF THE ETERNAL STATE OF FELICITY THE NUPTIALS OF HEAVEN. T.

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