The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

Reason of the Order.

MARK and LUKE (especially the former,) are sureties for the continuance of this method and series, as it will be apparent to him that looketh into their Text. Only this difficulty lieth in the order of Luke, that he hath laid the calling of the Disciples after the perambulation of Galilee mentioned last, which (as hath been proved and seen) was some space before: For he concludeth his fourth Chapter with these words, And he preached in the Synagogues of Galilce: and he beginneth the fifth with the calling of Peter, and Andrew, James, and John. In which his aim may be conceived to have been not so much to shew the time of these Disciples calling, as to shew with what Disciples he walked through Galilee, when he thus preached thorough it: and intending to shew you the men, he also sheweth the manner of their call.

But Matthews misplacing of this story about the Leper, doth breed some scruple, and hath caused some to conjecture, that the Leper that he speaks of, is not the same with him which is mentioned by the other two: And they are confirmed in this conjecture the ra∣ther, because Matthew seemeth to have brought his Leper to Christ, as he came from the Sermon in the Mount, whereas he in the other Evangelists cometh to him before his Ser∣mon there: for his Text runneth thus, When he was come down from the Mountain, great multitudes followed him, And behold there came a Leper, &c. where the word Behold, seem∣eth to confine and limit the Lepers coming, to Christs descending from the Mountain where he had preached.

But 1. the posture of the Leper in all the three Evangelists is in a manner the same, which argues that all the three do speak of one and the same man; Matthew saith he worshipped Christ, Mark that he kneeled down to him, and Luke that he fell on his face before him: which in the different terms, intend not either a different man or gesture, but al∣together do describe his humble demeanour to our Saviour to the lowest abasement.

2. The words of the Leper are also the same in all the three, If thou wilt thou canst make me clean.

And 3. So are the words of Christ to him, both for the curing of him, I will, Be thou clean, and also for prohibiting him to publish what was done, and enjoyning him to shew himself unto the Priest: by which it is made even undeniable that all the three do speak of the very same Leper.

And as for the word Behold, which is used by Matthew, it pointeth at the thing and not at the time: and we may observe the like use of the words in Matth. 9. 2. where he that will but solidly weigh the time of the stories of the first and second verses, will ea∣sily perceive that that word Behold, is not so precise a pointer out of the stories time: as shall be shewed also in the next Section.

Now the reason why Matthew hath laid this story after the Sermon in the Mount, is to be fetched from the fourth Chapter: where he first having related how Christ began to preach, and how he called his Disciples, he there recordeth how he went about all Galilee preaching the Gospel and healing diseases: and then according to the method in which he had mentioned Christs actions in his perambulation of Galilee, that he first preached, and then healed, he first gives account of the doctrine that he taught, in Chap. 5. & 6. & 7. and then beginneth to mention the miracles that he wrought: whereof this about the Leper he nameth first, as indeed it was the first in that perambulation, that is specified by any of the Evangelists.