proud, and thought their way of seeing God was the
only true way. The Sadducees were not so religious. They were richer,
cared less about the law, and did not try so hard to keep it as did the
Pharisees. But they also were proud and haughty, and between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, the common people found few friends, and
many more were willing to tell them how bad they were than to show them
the way to become good. That was one reason why, when Jesus came with
kindness, "the common people heard him gladly."

_Threshing floor_. A flat piece of ground, trodden hard, where the oxen
threshed out the grain by being driven back and forth over it. The "fan"
was a sort of shovel with which the grain was tossed in the air for
winnowing.

_Weddings_ in the East were times of elaborate ceremonials. The weddings
were in the night, and the friends of the groom went with him, bearing
torches, to the house of the bride, then, with the bride and her
friends, all returned to the house of the groom. Here a feast of several
days was held, with singing of songs and much merriment.

_Samaria_ had been partly settled by foreigners, more than seven hundred
years before, but the Jews of Jesus' time still looked down upon the
Samaritans, as not being pure Jews. They would not let them worship in
the temple, and despised them greatly. To be obliged to say that a
Samaritan had done a good deed was not pleasant for a Jew.

_Raca_. "Fool."

_Jot_, jod. The smallest Hebrew letter. _Tittle_. The little points on
the letters like the projections from the top of our d.

_Publican_. A tax-gatherer for the Roman government. No patriotic Jew
would take the office, and so the publicans were much despised; and
indeed they were mostly not the best sort of men.

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_Leprosy_. A loathsome and lingering disease, for which no remedy was
known.

_Sea of Galilee, Luke of Gennesaret, Sea of Tiberias_. Different names
for the beautiful lake east of Galilee. It is pear shaped, about
thirteen miles long and a little less than seven wide.

_Kingdom of God_. Used by the Jews for the great kingdom which they
expected the Prince who should come, the Messiah, to set up; used by
Jesus to mean the rule of God in the hearts of men, which he came to
establish.

_Pennyworth_. About the equivalent of the wages for a day's work.

_Bethesda_. A pool in Jerusalem, fed by an intermittent spring, so that
sometimes the water suddenly rose i