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.

SECTION XXII. (Book 22)

St. MARK Chap. I. Vers. 40.

AND there came a Leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt thou canst make me clean. 41. And Iesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will, Be thou clean. 42. And assoon as he had spoken, immediately the Le∣prosie departed from him, and he was cleansed. 43. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away. 44. And saith unto him; See thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way, shew thy self to the Priest, and offer for thy cleansing, those things which Moses com∣manded for a testimony unto them. 45. But he went out and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter: insomuch that Iesus could no more openly enter into the Ci∣ty, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

St. LUKE Chap. V. Vers. 12.

AND it came to pass when he was in a cer∣tain City, behold a man full of Leprosie, who seeing Iesus, fell on his face and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. 13. And he put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will, Be thou clean: And immediately the Leprosie de∣parted from him. 14. And he charged him to tell no man: but go and shew thy self to the Priest, and of∣fer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. 15. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infir∣mities. 16. And he withdrew him∣self into the Wilderness, and prayed.

St. MATTH. Chap. VIII. Vers. 2.

AND behold there came a Leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. 3. And Iesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will, Be thou clean: And immediately his Leprosie was cleansed. 4. And Iesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, shew thy self to the Priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testi∣mony unto them.

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.

Harmony and Explanation.

Luke 5. vers. 12. When he was in a certain City, behold a man full of Leprosie, &c.

THE Talmudists do distinguish between a great City, a walled Town and a Vil∣lage: In the Treatise Megillah (or about reading the book of Esther at the feast of Purim) they have this saying, If the fourteenth day of Adar, prove to light on the se∣cond day of the week, Villages and great Cities read that book on that day, but walled Towns on the day after. Perek. 1.

Now what they mean by great Cities, they explain themselves, in the same Chapter afterward, namely, that was called a great City in which there were ten men to be the Elders of a Synagogue: every place that afforded not so many, was a Village: Into such Cities and even into the Synagogue of such a City a Leper might come: but under these conditions and limitations. Doth he come into the Synagogue, they make him a place apart, ten hand high and four cubits broad, and he comes in first and goes out last: Nagaim per. 13. But into Ci∣ties incompassed with walls, a Leper might not come, Maym. in Biath Mikdash per. 3.

Now such a City was this that is mentioned by the Evangelist: For the Gospel own∣eth only the distinction of Cities and Villages, under the latter name of Villages compre∣hending all Towns unwalled, were they big enough to have Synagogues in them, or were they not: and so it is said in Luke 8. 1. that Christ preached in every City and Village: by Villages understanding those places which had Synagogues in them.

So that it may move a question, how this Leper was admitted into the City, since such were prohibited access unto such places: some conceive he broke through all rules and bounds of modesty and order, and would not be kept out from coming to seek his reco∣very of Christ, who he knew was there: others imagine that Christ went out of the City to him; and such like answers are found out, which are needless to seek further after, since Luke himself hath shewed the mans warrant to come in there, and hath given us an answer to the question, and that is in relating that he was full of Leprosie: and so hath resolved that he was clean and might come in. I know the Phrase is construed generally as if it signified only in opposition to a little Leprosie in the head or the beard only, or the like: but Leprosie was not regarded by a magis and minus, since the least was as un∣clean as the greatest, and did as intirely separate from society; save only it was not so very noysom to the party himself. But the Evangelists expression when he saith, He was full of Leprosie, is only to that sense that these words of Moses are, Lev. 13. 12, 13. If the Leprosie break out abroad in the skin, and the Leprosie cover all the skin of him that hath the Plague, from his head even to his foot wheresoever the Priest looketh: then the Priest shall consider, and behold if the Leprosie have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the Plague, it is all turned white, he is clean.

This man therefore was full of Leprosie, that is, Leprous all over, had been under the censure of the Priest, and pronounced clean, and so was restored again to the society of men, and might come into any of their Cities; but the disease was not yet cured. I have observed elsewhere, that the Priests could not make a Leper whole, they could only pro∣nounce him clean; and that sentence did nothing at all restore him to his health, but only restore him to the Congregation.

Such was the case of this man, the Priest had done for him as much as he could, he had pronounced him clean, but the poor wretch was as Leprous as ever, even scurvy all over, and like enough so to have continued: only the malady was so fully broken out, that the venom was wrought out, and his breath not infectious, and so he was restored to the con∣verse of men again. His case thus stated, and his character of Full of Leprosie thus under∣stood, it exceedingly cleareth the passages of his story afterward: As when he saith, Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean; he meaneth, If thou wilt meddle with this di∣sease which is the Priests peculiar to look unto, thou canst make me clean, for the Priest could only so pronounce me.

And when it is said, Jesus was moved with compassion towards him, it referreth to his visible sad case, who was Scurfie and Scabbed, a woful creature all over, and who had had as much done to him as man could do, and yet was in this case still.

And when he chargeth him to tell no man, but go and shew thy self to the Priest, he doth it because he would put no disgrace upon the Priesthood, but though he had meddled with something of their concernment, and had taken where they had left and done what they could not do, yet would he not vilifie that order and ordinance, but reserve the honour due unto them; and maintain the judging of Leprosie unto them still, accor∣ding to the institution that had assigned it to them. And this was one reason why he in∣joined him silence, because he would not prejudice but maintain the honour of the Priest∣hood. And so his own words do construe it, when he bids him go shew himself unto the the Priest: So also Luke 17. 14. And offer the gift which Moses commanded, this the man had done before, at the pronouncing of him clean, but must do it now again when he is made clean, that there may no derogation accrew to the Priesthood, and the Law about Leprosie, but both of them might have their due honour both from the man and from Christ himself: and this is meant also by the words, for a testimony unto them.

Mark 1. vers. 45. But he went out, and began to publish, &c.

He owned Christ for the Messias, as appeareth both by his words, and by his Gesture. He had seen the tokens of the Messias in him, when he so instantly removed his Leprosie with his word: He had received a most strict charge, to conceal the matter, and get him to the Priest with his offering: but for all this he begins to publish: Mark hath used two special words, to express the charge given him, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, He gave him a threatring c••arge, and sodainly pack•• him away: Christ was so serious in his charge, because he would avoid the suspition of sleighting or undermining the Priesthood about their of∣fice which concerned Lepers, and would withal avoid the danger, which might accrew

unto him upon such a suspition: Now whether the man did not rightly apprehend the depth and strictness of this charge that was laid upon him, or if he did so apprehend it, was transported with blind zeal so as he would publish this great work, though he that had wrought it had commanded him silence: or whether his boundless joy for his happy cure did make him forget himself; certainly he is not excusable, who having received so great a benefit, from such a hand as he himself owned to be divine, yet was so careless to observe that command that he had received also with his healing. It was a rare cure that had been, to heal a Leper, (see 2 King. 5. 7.) and Christ had not healed any till this very time: therefore when this was published abroad, it would not only gather people under other diseases to Christ for their recovery (for they would conclude he could heal any when he could heal this) but it would cause Lepers to break into the City where he was, which was contrary to their Law and custom, and so would breed troubles and con∣fusion, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into the City.

Luke 5. vers. 16. And he withdrew himself into the Wilderness and prayed.

When Christ is amongst men, he is doing them good, and when he is from amongst them, he is conversing with God: And otherwise he could not do, in regard of the ho∣liness of his nature, love to man, and his Union with God. It was but a harsh time of the year for him to betake himself to seek retiredness in the desert, the winter being not yet over, but the zeal of the Lords glory did so eat him up, that in company he preferd that before his safety, and in solitude he preferd that before accommodations: What was the matter and subject of his prayers particularly were boldness to go to define: It is un∣doubted, the general tenour of them was, for the advancement of Gods glory and ga∣thering of his Church, and prospering the work of himself for that end, as he sheweth the subject of all his prayers, John 17. and it is like the present conflux and great con∣course of people unto him was looked upon by him in his prayers as a singular occasion offered, in tendency to those purposes.