23, 22.a peculiar people, cp. Deut. vii. 6; Exod. xix. 6.
23, 23.chosen into the lot of God, "in sortem Domini computati"; the reference is to the derivation of clericus, of or pertaining to an inheritance, Gr. κλήρικ-ός, from κλήρος, a lot or allotment of land.
On the application of κλήρος to the Christian ministry, see Bp. Lightfoot, Philippians, 245-6, where its probable origin is seen in the use of the word in Acts i. 17, "the lot of this ministry." In the time of Jerome explanations were sought in the use of κλήρος in Deut. xviii. 2, compared with ix. 29 and parallel passages, and 1 Pet. v. 3 was interpreted in this sense. (New English Dict, sub Cleric.)
23, 24.nay, ye are called the very church of God, "immo vos antonomatice ipsa Ecclesia Dei dicimini," antonomatici often wrongly altered to automatici.
24, 2.serving the altar, cp. 1 Cor. ix. 13; Heb. xiii. 10.
24, 5.a little higher than the angels, cp. Heb. ii. 7.
24, 7.thou art a priest, Ps. cx. 4.
24, 9.wherein it is required, cp. 1 Cor. iv. 2.
24, 19.are called of men Rabbi, cp. Matt, xxiii. 7.
24, 21.great lights, cp. Phil. ii. 15.
25, 6.two paths of Phythagoras; the letter Y as emblematic of the broad and narrow paths of vice and virtue.
25, 7.going backwards, cp. Jer. xv. 6.
25, 13.by a most shameful death, Wisdom ii. 20.
25, 14.your friend is put far away, cp. Ps. lxxxviii. 18.
25, 15.Peter swears, cp. Matt. xxvi. 72.
25, 17.Crucify, crucify him, John xix. 6-12.
25, 19.before the judgment seat, cp. 2 Cor. v. 10.
25, 22.the sorrowing Muses, "Camenæ laceræ," cp. Boethius, De Cons. Phil. i. Metr. i.
26, 5.the gates of death, cp. Ps. cvii. 18.
26, 6.the book he has not forgotten is handed to him to be read; this of course refers to the benefit of the clergy—the privilege of exemption from trial by secular court allowed to or claimed by clergymen arraigned for felony; in later times, the privilege