Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
A certain ruler - There were two officers in the synagogue, chazan ha - ceneseth , the bishop or overseer of the congregation; and rosh ha - ceneseth , the head or ruler of the congregation. The chazan takes the book of the Law, and gives it to the rosh , or ruler; and he appoints who shall read the different sections, etc. Jairus, who is the person intended here, was, in this latter sense, the ruler or governor of one of the synagogues, probably at Capernaum. See Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41.
My daughter is even now dead - Or, my daughter was just now dying; , or, is by this time dead: i.e. as Mr. Wakefield properly observes, She was so ill when I left home that she must be dead by this time. This turn of the expression reconciles the account given here with that in Mark and Luke. Michaelis conjectures that, in the Hebrew original, the words must have stood thus, atah matah , which, without the points, may signify either, She is dead, or She is dying.
To be successful in our applications to God by prayer, four things are requisite; and this ruler teaches us what they are.
First, A man should place himself in the presence of God - he came unto him.
Secondly, He should humble himself sincerely before God - he fell down before him - at his feet. Mark 5:22.
Thirdly, He should lay open his wants with a holy earnestness - he besought him greatly. Mark 5:23.
Fourthly, he should have unbounded confidence in the power and goodness of Christ that his request shall be granted - put thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
He who comes in this way to God, for salvation, is sure to be heard. Imposition of hands was a rite anciently used by the servants of God, through which heavenly influences were conveyed to the bodies and souls of men. This rite is still used in certain Churches; but, as there is no Holy Ghost communicated by it, some suppose it may be as well omitted. But why is this? Is it not because there is an unfaithfulness in the person who lays on hands, or an unfitness in him on whom they are laid? Let the rite be restored to its primitive simplicity, and God will own it as he formerly did. But, however this may be, where is the man or number of men who have authority to abrogate a rite of God' s own appointment? In the appointment of men to the sacred ministry it should never be omitted: even in these degenerate days, it may still serve as a sign of the necessity of the gifts and graces of that Holy Spirit without which no man can fulfill the work of the ministry, or be the instrument of saving the souls of them that hear him. When the inventions of men are put in the place of the ordinances of God, the true Church of Christ is in great danger.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing Matthew 9:18:
Mark 5:23
Luke 8:41
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