48.)
In our Lord's conversation at the well (John iv. 29), Christ had
surprised the Samaritan woman with an allusion to a single particular in
her domestic situation, "Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou
now hast is not thy husband." The woman, soon after this, ran back to
the city, and called out to her neighbours, "Come, see a man which told
me all things that ever I did." This exaggeration appears to me very
natural; especially in the hurried state of spirits into which the woman
may be supposed to have been thrown.
The lawyer's subtilty in running a distinction upon the word neighbour,
in the precept, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," was no less
natural than our Saviour's answer was decisive and satisfactory. (Luke
x. 20.) The lawyer of the New Testament, it must be observed, was a
Jewish divine.
The behaviour of Gallio (Acts xviii. 12-17), and of Festus (xxv. 18,
19), have been observed upon already.
The consistency of Saint Paul's character throughout the whole of his
history (viz. the warmth and activity of his zeal, first against, and
then for, Christianity) carries with it very much of the appearance of
truth.
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