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.

THERE were no scruple at all about the series of this story, Mark and Luke have laid it so clear, were it not that Matthew hath brought it in a place so far diffe∣rent from them, that one would think in him, that this cure of the Palsie man was not till Christs return out of the Country of the Gadarens, for he relateth it thus. And, he entred into a ship, and passed over and came into his own City. And behold they brought to him a man sick of the Palsie, &c. As if the bringing of the sick of the Palsie were not till that time of his return, and that it was immediately upon it. But 1. the method of the other two Evangelists, who are far more punctual for order than he is, especially Mark, must state and rank the series of his story. For it may be easily observed by any that considerately will view the true progress of history in the three laid together, that Matthew setteth himself to give relation of the stories themselves, but is not so very pre∣cise in fixing them to their proper time. But Mark and Luke who wrote after him, have reduced those stories of his into the due order and method of time in which they were acted and came to pass: and so do, as it were, set his clock, and tell the time when his stories did occur. 2. We observed at the last Section, upon these words of Matthew,

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him, and behold there came a Leper, &c. that the word Behold doth not tye the two verses together in the same time, but that it singularly and only pointeth at that story to which it is prefixed, con∣cerning the Leper, without looking back to the time of the story in the verse before: Such another behold is this, wherewith the same Evangelist beginneth this story in hand: Not that it tieth the bringing of the Palsick man, to the time of Christs return out of the land of the Gadarens, of which there is mention in the verse before, but it pointeth to the story, before which it is set, looking forward to that, and not backward, to the story in the verse before at all. 3. Now the reason why Matthew hath laid this story so far off, may readily be observed by looking into his Text in this ninth Chapter: He joyneth this story about the Palsick man, and that about Levies or his own calling, and a third about his feast, and a fourth about Jairus coming to Christ, all together: But these were not all of the same time, only the two first were of the same time, and the two latter were also concurrent in time but a great while after. Yet he being minded to dispatch the story of his own call and of his Feast both together, as also the other two Evangelists do, he hath pitched all the stories upon the time of his Feast; His Feast in∣deed was presently upon Christs return from among the Gadarens, and Jairus his coming to him was at the time of that Feast, and so those are laid there in their proper time and order: Now though his Call was a long while before his Feast, yet to dispatch all that story of himself at once, he hath laid his Call also at the same place, and with it hath likewise joyned the story of the Palsick man which was immediately before his Call. Why we have parted the story of his Call and his Feast which all the three Evangelists, that speak of them, have laid together, and why we have referred them to several times, we shall give the reason of it in the order of the next following Section.