- 1
Isa. xxxii. 9, 10. Quoted as usual, from the LXX.: Γυναῖκες πλούσιαι ἀνάστητε, καὶ ἀκούσατε τῆς φωνῆς μου· θυγατέρες ἐν ἐλπίδι εἰσακούσατε λόγους μου. ῾Ημέρας ἐνιαυτοῦ μνείαν ποιήσασθε ἐν ὀδύνῃ μετ᾽ ἐλπίδος.
- 2
Ostenderet.
- 3
Eloquii.
- 4
Pronunciatio.
- 5
Isa. vi. 9.
- 6
Luke viii. 8.
- 7
Luke viii. 18.
- 8
Pronuntiationi.
- 9
Sane: with a touch of irony.
- 10
Luke viii. 18.
- 11
Luke viii. 16.
- 12
Luke viii. 17.
- 13
Matt. xii. 48.
- 14
Rationales. “Quæ voces adhibita ratione sunt interpretandæ.”—Oehler.
- 15
Luke x. 25.
- 16
Luke xx. 20.
- 17
Singular in the original, but (to avoid confusion) here made plural.
- 18
In allusion to Luke vii. 16. See above, chap. xviii.
- 19
Advivit.
- 20
Adgenerantur.
- 21
Constat. [Jarvis, Introd. p. 204 and p. 536.]
- 22
Nunc: i.e., when Christ was told of His mother and brethren.
- 23
“C. Sentius Saturninus, a consular, held this census of the whole empire as principal augur, because Augustus determined to impart the sanction of religion to his institution. The agent through whom Saturninus carried out the census in Judæa was the governor Cyrenius, according to Luke, chap. ii.”—Fr. Junius. Tertullian mentions Sentius Saturninus again in De Pallio, i. Tertullian’s statement in the text has weighed with Sanclemente and others, who suppose that Saturninus was governor of Judæa at the time of our Lord’s birth, which they place in 747 a.u.c. “It is evident, however,” says Wieseler, “that this argument is far from decisive; for the New Testament itself supplies far better aids for determining this question than the discordant ecclesiastical traditions—different fathers giving different dates, which might be appealed to with equal justice; while Tertullian is even inconsistent with himself, since in his treatise Adv. Jud. viii., he gives 751 a.u.c. as the year of our Lord’s birth” (Wieseler’s Chronological Synopsis by Venables, p. 99, note 2). This Sentius Saturninus filled the office of governor of Syria, 744–748. For the elaborate argument of Aug. W. Zumpt, by which he defends St. Luke’s chronology, and goes far to prove that Publius Sulpicius Quirinus (or “Cyrenius”) was actually the governor of Syria at the time of the Lord’s birth, the reader may be referred to a careful abridgment by the translator of Wieseler’s work, pp. 129–135.
- 24
Non simpliciter. St. Mark rather than St. Luke is quoted in this interrogative sentence.
- 25
Ex condicione rationali. See Oehler’s note, just above, on the word “rationales.”
- 26
Abdicavit: Rigalt thinks this is harsh, and reminds us that at the cross the Lord had not cast away his Mother. [Elucidation VI.]
- 27
This is literally from St. Matthew’s narrative, chap. xii. 48.
- 28
In semetipso.
- 29
Matt. x. 37.
- 30
Ceterum.
- 31
i.e., the kindred. [N.B. He includes the Mother!]
- 32
We have translated Oehler’s text of this passage: “Denique nihil magnum, si fidem sanguini, quam non habebat.” For once we venture to differ from that admirable editor (and that although he is supported in his view by Fr. Junius), and prefer the reading of the mss. and the other editions: “Denique nihil magnum, si fidem sanguini, quem non habebat.” To which we would give an ironical turn, usual to Tertullian, “After all, it is not to be wondered at if He preferred faith to flesh and blood, which he did not himself possess!”—in allusion to Marcion’s Docetic opinion of Christ.
