And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Ver. 9. Tell the vision to no man] Tacitus, we say, is a good historian. Taciturnity and silence, we are sure, is in some cases a great virtue, a high commendation. Consus, the god of counsel, had his temple in Rome, under coverture, saith Servius, ut ostenderet consilium debere esse tectum. There is "a time to be silent," saith Solomon,Ecclesiastes 3:7. Queen Elizabeth's motto was Video, Taceo, I see, and say nothing. A fit motto for a maid, in earth the first, in heaven the second maid, as one poet calleth her. Ministers should know when and to whom and in what order to set forth God's truths; to time a word with a learned tongue, as Isaiah hath it; to set a word upon its wheels, as Solomon; to circumstantiate it so as the people can hear, can bear, as our Saviour did. This is surely a high point of heavenly husbandry. As it is also in all sorts of Christians to be sober in prayer, 1 Peter 4:7, that is, as Bifield saith, to keep God's counsel, not to be proud, or boast of success, or speak of the secret sweetness of God's love, without calling; it is to conceal the familiarity of God in secret.