[1] It seems that eight of the ten elder brothers of Joseph were in on the plot to kill Joseph. As we see in later verses, Reuben and Judah wanted to spare his life.

[2] The smallest pore is a leak wide enough to let in death, and sink thy vessel.

3 The full story behind John the Baptist's imprisonment can be found in Matt. 14:3-12.

[4] Starke, cited in Broadus, Commentary on Matthew, pg. 82.

[5] Many commentators do believe that these disciples did know Jesus before this call to full time service. It seems that John in his Gospel gives an account of the time that Peter and Andrew first met Jesus (see John 2:37-42). This fact, however, does not detract from the commendableness of their immediate response to Jesus' call to full time service.

[6] Broadus, op. cit., pg. 78.

[7] Dietrich, cited in Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, pg. 85.

[8] Ibid., pg. 82.

9 Don't worry. James and John did not leave their father "in the lurch", with no means to continue fishing. On the contrary, their father had employed servants to help with the fishing (see Mark 1:20).

10 All Scripture citations in this study are taken from the King James Version.

[11] Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms, pg. 429.

[12] Morison, cited in Plumer, op. cit., pg. 437.

[13] John Gill, cited in Spurgeon, A Treasury of David, Vol. II, pg. 152.

[14] Plumer, op. cit., pg. 438.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Zephaniah Smyth, The Malignant's Plot. 1647 (cited in Spurgeon, op. cit., pg. 152).