Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 3].
about the Messiah and the kingdom of God stirred the people
deeply and set them to wondering. {Whether haply he were the
Christ} (\m•pote autos ei• ho Christos\). Optative \ei•\ in
indirect question changed from the indicative in the direct
(Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 1031). John wrought no miracles and was
not in David's line and yet he moved people so mightily that they
began to suspect that he himself (\autos\) was the Messiah. The
Sanhedrin will one day send a formal committee to ask him this
direct question (Joh 1:19).
3:16 {He that is mightier than I} (\ho ischuroteros mou\). Like
Mr 1:7, "the one mightier than I." Ablative case (\mou\) of
comparison. John would not turn aside for the flattery of the
crowd. He was able to take his own measure in comparison with the
Messiah and was loyal to him (see my _John the Loyal_). Compare
Lu 3:16 with Mr 1:7f. and Mt 3:11f. for discussion of
details. Luke has "fire" here after "baptize with the Holy Ghost"
as Mt 3:11, which see. This bold Messianic picture in the
Synoptic Gospels shows that John saw the Messiah's coming as a
judgment upon the world like fire and the fan of the
thrashing-floor, and with unquenchable fire for the chaff (Lu
3:17; Mt 3:12). But he had the spiritual conception also, the
baptism in the Holy Spirit which will characterize the Messiah's
Mission and so will far transcend the water baptism which marked
the ministry of John.
3:18 {Many other exhortations} (\polla men oun kai hetera\).
Literally, many and different things did John \evangelize\,
\euaggelizeto\, to the people. Luke has given a bare sample of
the wonderful messages of the Baptist. Few as his words preserved
are they give a definite and powerful conception of his
preaching.
3:19 {Reproved} (\elegchomenos\). Present passive participle of
\elegch•\, an old verb meaning in Homer to treat with contempt,
then to convict (Mt 18:15), to expose (Eph 5:11), to reprove
as here. The substantive \elegchos\ means proof (Heb 11:1) and
\elegmos\, censure (2Ti 3:16). Josephus (_Ant_. XVIII. V.4)
shows how repulsive this marriage was to Jewish feeling. {Evil
things} (\pon•r•n\). Incorporated into the relative sentence. The
word is from \ponos, pone•\, toil, work, and gives the active
side of evil, possibly with the notion of work itself as evil or
at least an annoyance. The "evil eye" (\ophthalmos pon•ros\ in
Mr 7:22) was a "mischief working eye" (Vincent). In Mt 6:23
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