The National tribune., 1896-04-30

Let j represent the Holy of HOLES; 2, the
Holy Place; 3, tho Court of the Women; a..
the Court of the Gentiles; 5. Gate Shushau !;
a. the Beautiful Gate; b. Gate OF Nicanor.
Notice views as to far OIL
O. PERHAPS far of" means goodly distance
from the Holy Of Holes. or possibly from the
Holy Place II" far off" from the Pharisee be
meant. fair in believing the two in op-
posie parts of the same Court. The Publican
ventured only inside the Court of the Women
near the Beautiful Gate. This view supp6ses
the Phariseo was at the other end of the Court
ut Gate Nicanor, 10 wit, 30 cubits of that is
to say. 2i6.2t feet away. A cubit is 1884
(iecimalJ feet. 1921 X I3o ~ 1864 (decimal)
feet.
We do not know whether both were jews.
Only Jews were permitted to enter tho Court
of the Women, which was the common gather
ing place n the Temple Tho Pharisee WAS a
Jew the Publican may not have been He
brew.
b. II the Publican were Gentle he prayed
in the Court Of the Gentiles. But If this be so,
how can it be said the Pharjsce saw him, fact
implied in V. li7 This Publican. We would
not expect such words il il be fact the Phari-
see was in tile ,onrt Of the Women. and the
Publican in the Court of tho Genties. We
may, il we accept the condition of things. sup
pose the Pharsee saw the Publican praying in
the Gentle Court as he tthe Pharisee) passed
through from Gate Shusbsn into the Court Of
the Women.
c. In verse Ii we have " this (outos not exeinos)
Publican"
Would not this lead us to suppose the two
were quite to each other'
Were they two alone in said Court2 IF so,
the expression. this" would be appropriate,
no matter at what part of the Court the Publ
can stood.
Was he the only Publican p1esent2
Drnha hip DLAricaa Ill tl,ic Duhii
cam" he pointed his finger at him. Isa, 50: 9.
The account leads us to suppose the two
prayed in the same Court. Probably, then, it
was the Court OF the Women. In his humility
the Publican hardly presumed to enter the
Conrt SO near to the Holy Place.
One fact is certain. tho Publican was not
far off from God. Ps., 81 IS; lsa., 81 Is.
The Speaker of the Parable.
The context shows ,plainly tho Parable was
uttered by Christ.
]. 1t is evident tho parable is aimed at those
Pharisees who were proud of their piety and
pufied up with seIf-rishteousness. We notice
unto" in verse 9. The orr ginal is pros, and it
is fact pros is often rendered concerning.
81 Vie,cs.
a. A number Of such Pharisees were present.
SO say Bengel, Barnes. DIR. James Strong in Har-
mony.
b. No. SO say Bloomfield Whedon.
Ii wonld seem that Christ wished simply to
teach his Disciples the spirit of true prayer.
and used the Fharisee aud Publican parable
for illustration. We hardly think He would
make such an unfavOrable comparison in the
presence of both Pharisees and Publicans
These. too, were already very enemous toward
each other. aud such language would tend to
create greater nnpleasantness. Christ could
well take advantage of both 10 teach an I'M
poriant lesson to his Disciples.
IL Pharsees alone were present Christ could
do them no good by unfavorably contrasting
them with hated aud outlawed Publicans. If
only Publicans were present then Christ's Ian
guage might seen, 1attery. If both were pres
ent, the paraile would seem unwisely timed.