27. Curiously enough, the word στρατιι is Hebraised in the same connection
λ# )ψ+ρ+σ) ηλ(µ . See Yalkut on Ps. xlv. (vol. ii. p. 105 a, about the middle).
Glory to God in the highest -
And upon earth peace -
Among men good pleasure!28
28. I have unhesitatingly retained the reading of the textus receptus. The arguments in its
favor are sufficiently set forth by Canon Cook in his 'Revised Version of the First Three
Gospels,' pp. 27, 32.
Only once before had the words of the Angels' hymn fallen upon mortal's ears, when, to
Isaiah's rapt vision, Heaven's high Temple had opened, and the glory of Jehovah swept its
courts, almost breaking down the trembling posts that bore its boundary gates. Now the
same glory enwrapt the shepherds on Bethlehem's plains. Then the Angels' hymn had
heralded the announcement of the Kingdom coming; now that o f the King come. Then it
had been the Tris-Hagion of prophetic anticipation; now that of Evangelic fulfilment.
The hymn had ceased; the light faded out of the sky; and the shepherds were alone. But
the Angelic message remained with them; and the sign, whic h was to guide them to the
Infant Christ, lighted their rapid way up the terraced height to where, at the entering of
Bethlehem, the lamp swinging over the hostelry directed them to the strangers of the
house of David, who had come from Nazareth. Though it seems as if, in the hour of her
utmost need, the Virgin, Mother had not been ministered to by loving hands,29 yet what
had happened in the stable must soon have become known in the Khan. Perhaps friendly
women were still passing to and fro on errands of mercy, when the shepherds reached the
'stable.'30 There they found, perhaps not what they had expected, but as they had been
told. The holy group only consisted of the humble Virgin-Mother, the lowly carpenter of
Nazareth, and the Babe laid in the manger. W hat further passed we know not, save that,
having seen it for themselves, the shepherds told what had been spoken to them about this
Child, to all around 31 - in the 'stable' in the fields, probably also in the Temple, to which
they would bring their flocks, thereby preparing the minds of a Simeon, of an Anna, and
of all them that looked for salvation in Israel.32
29. This appears to me implied in the emphatic statement, that Mary - as I gather, herself
- 'wrapped Him in swaddling clothes' (St. Luke ii. 7, 12). Otherwise the remark would
seem needless and meaningless.
30. It seems difficult to understand how, on Dr. Geikie's theory, the shepherds could have
found the Infant-Saviour, since, manifestly, they could not during that night have roused
every household in Bethlehem, to inquire whether any child had been born among their
guests.
31. The term διαγνωριζω more than to 'make known abroad.' Wahl renders it 'ultro
citroquenarroh;' Schleusner: 'divulgo aliquid ut aliis innotescat, spargo rumorem.'