At that time Jesus answered and said— Dr. Doddridge reads this, Jesus took occasion to say; and when the words so introduced, says he, are not a reply to any preceding speech, I apprehend the version here given expresses the sense of them with greater exactness. Dr. Heylin renders it, Jesus continuing his discourse, said; and Mr. Pilkington, in his remarks, observes, after the generality of commentators, that this phrase is derived from the Hebrew, which not only signifies to answer, but likewise to utter a sentence, or begin a discourse; and thus the Hebrew word, Job 3:2 is not answered, but spoke or said. We make this observation once for all, and it removes any little objection against the propriety of the writings of the New Testament, because the word answered is sometimes made use of where there is no previous question. Instead of I thank thee, Heylin reads, I praise thee; literally, I confess or acknowledge thee.
Because thou hast hid— God is often said in Scripture to do those things, which he determines to permit, and which he foresees will be in fact the consequences of those circumstances in which his creatures are placed, though their wills are laid under no constraint. See on Exodus 9:34-35. 2 Samuel 12:11-12; 2 Samuel 24:1. 1 Kings 22:22-23. In this sense alone could God be said to hide those things from the learned men of that age, which he revealed so plainly, that honest and well-disposed persons, though children in understanding, might come to the knowledge of them through his grace. See ch. Matthew 10:34-35. It seems they were but a few, and those generally of the lower sort of people, who embraced the doctrine of Christ, and assisted him in erecting his kingdom; circumstances which, in the eyes of common wisdom, were melancholy and mortifying; but our Lord foresaw that, by divine direction, these very circumstances would become the noblest demonstrations of his personal dignity, the clearest proofs of the excellency of his religion, and the most stupendous instances of his power, who, bysuch weak instruments, established his religion in every part of the habitable world, against the policy, power, and malice of devils and men combined to oppose him. Besides, had the great rulers and learned scribes, and nobles, the wits, and geniuses been converted, it must have been prejudicial to the Gospel in several respects, as such converts and teachers might probably have made the Gentiles look upon it as a trick of state: perhaps also they would have mixed it with things foreign to its nature: our Lord, therefore, most wisely made the rejection of the Gospel by the great men of the nation, and the reception of it by persons in lower stations, matter of especial thanksgiving. See Luke 10:21. Babes, νηπιοι, in scripture language, are persons whose faculties are not improved by learning; but who, to that sagacity and understanding which is purely natural, join, through the grace of God, the best dispositions of heart, such as meekness, modesty, honesty, humility, docility, and all the other engaging qualities which are in a carnal sense to be observed in children. This is plain from ch. Matthew 18:3. Babes therefore stand in opposition, not to men of sound judgment and reason, but to proud politicians, and men of learning, who are so full of themselves, that they disdain to receive instructions from others, and who make all their abilities subservient to their advancement in this world. See Macknight, Beausobre and Lenfant, and Stockius.