Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of
repentance
Or "meet" for it, such as will show it to be true and genuine:
"and begin not to say within yourselves": in one of Beza's
copies, and in another of Stephens's, it was read, "think not",
as in ( Matthew
3:9 ) . the sense is the same. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic
versions, leave out the phrase, "within yourselves": what they
are forbid to say follows,
we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you, God is
able of
these stones to raise up children unto Abraham;
which need not be thought strange, when the creation of Adam out
of the earth, and the production of such a numerous offspring, as
the Israelites were, from Abraham and Sarah, when past all hope
of children, and are signified by the rock and pit in ( Isaiah 51:1 Isaiah 51:2 ) are
considered; (See Gill on Matthew
3:9).