130 I incline to the old view which identified this feast with the feast of Tabernacles; the time suits well with my chronological scheme. This was “_the_ feast” of the Jews, it caused great stir. Now Josephus tells us, that Herod put John in prison because men came to him in crowds. This was more likely to happen when men were set free from their work by the holiday than at other times. It is true that in ch. vii. 2, John calls the feast of tabernacles by name. But he is there writing his own account, while here he is only recasting, as I believe, what he has received from an eye-witness. This may account for the difference of expression. Some MSS. but not the weightiest, read “_the_ feast,” in John v. 1. If this were received it would go far to settle the point. 131 John i. 43. 132 The historical part of John Chap. 5, vv. 1-18 has the air of an account condensed from materials furnished by another. We are told that Philip was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia. He may therefore have kept up communication with John at Ephesus. 133 John v. 15-18. 134 John xi. 48. 135 John v. 17. 136 Matth. v. 45. 137 John v. 43. 138 Matth. iv. 20. 139 I place this advent of our Lord into Galilee at the end of September A.D. 28, but the evidence is insufficient for a positive opinion. My reasons for supposing that John was not imprisoned till after this feast are as follows. The Synoptists say that after John’s imprisonment our Lord came into Galilee preaching the Kingdom. Now when He returned through Samaria He did _not_ begin to preach the Kingdom, and therefore the advent of Mark i. 14 refers to some other occasion; I believe to a subsequent one. In St John’s Gospel chaps. iv. and v. we hear nothing of “the Kingdom” and no disciples are mentioned as attending our Lord. I think therefore that the events related in these chapters occurred before the advent into Galilee; this is one argument for placing this visit to the feast, where I do. Moreover it is hard to find another place for it. The Synoptical narrative is fairly continuous from the advent (Mark i. 14) up to the journey to the Feast of Tabernacles, and there is in it no mention either of a visit to Jerusalem, which must have occupied several days, or of our Lord’s quitting His disciples. All proceeds consistently if we suppose, as I have done, that John was put in prison at the time of this feast or soon after. But there is one difficulty about this. Our Lord says of the Baptist John v. 35, “He _was_ the lamp that burneth and shineth, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.” The use of the imperfect tense is supposed to show that John was in prison when this was said, but surely if it is to be pressed rigorously it would mean that he was