And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Ver. 6. And love the uppermost rooms] Which is a singular vanity, and yet hath bred greatest contestation in the Church; as between the bishops of Rome and Constantinople, the archbishops of Canterbury and York jostling in parliament for precedence, even unto blows and bloodshed: what doleful effects followed upon the contention between the Lord Protector and his brother in King Edward VI's days, raised by their ambitious wives, who could not agree about place! The apostle's rule is, "in honour to prefer one another," Romans 12:10. And true humility is like true balm, that still in water sinks to the bottom; like the violet, the sweetest but lowest of flowers, which hangs the head downwards, and hides itself with its own leaves.