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diff --git a/17265.txt b/17265.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..89fba6d --- /dev/null +++ b/17265.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26870 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Companion to the Bible, by E. P. Barrows + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Companion to the Bible + +Author: E. P. Barrows + +Release Date: December 9, 2005 [EBook #17265] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPANION TO THE BIBLE *** + + + + +Produced by John Hagerson, Juliet Sutherland, David King, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +COMPANION + +TO + +THE BIBLE. + + + +BY REV. E.P. BARROWS, D.D., + +PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE. + + + + +GENERAL PREFACE. + + +The design of the present work, as its title indicates, is to assist in +the study of God's word. The author has had special reference to +teachers of Bible classes and Sabbath-schools; ministers of the gospel +who wish to have ready at hand the results of biblical investigation in +a convenient and condensed form; and, in general, the large body of +intelligent laymen and women in our land who desire to pursue the study +of Scripture in a thorough and systematic way. + +The First Part contains a concise view of the Evidences of Revealed +Religion. Here, since Christianity rests on a basis of historic facts, +special prominence has been given to the historic side of these +evidences; those, namely, which relate to the genuineness, integrity, +authenticity, and inspiration of the several books of the Bible. A brief +view is added of the evidences which are of an internal and experimental +character. + +In the Introductions to the Old and New Testament which follow in the +Second and Third Parts, the general facts are first given; then an +account of the several divisions of each, with their office and mutual +relations, and such a notice of each particular book as will prepare the +reader to study it intelligently and profitably. + +The Fourth Part is devoted to the Principles of Biblical Interpretation. +Here the plan is to consider the Scriptures, first, on the human side, +as addressed to men in human language and according to human modes of +thinking and speaking; then, on the divine side, as containing a true +revelation from God, and differing in this respect from all other +writings. To this twofold view the author attaches great importance. To +the human side belong the ordinary principles of interpretation, which +apply alike to all writings; to the divine side, the question of the +unity of revelation, and the interpretation of types and prophecies. + +In each of the abovenamed divisions the author has endeavored to keep +prominently in view the unity of revelation and the inseparable +connection of all its parts. It is only when we thus contemplate it as a +glorious whole, having beginning, progress, and consummation, that we +can truly understand it. Most of the popular objections to the Old +Testament have their foundation in an isolated and fragmentary way of +viewing its facts and doctrines; and they can be fairly met only by +showing the relation which these hold to the entire plan of redemption. + +The plan of the present work required brevity and condensation. The +constant endeavor has been to state the several facts and principles as +concisely as could be done consistently with a true presentation of them +in an intelligible form. It may be objected that some topics, those +particularly which relate to the Pentateuch, are handled in too cursory +a way. The author feels the difficulty; but to go into details on this +subject would require a volume. He has endeavored to do the best that +was consistent with the general plan of the work. The point of primary +importance to be maintained is the divine authority and inspiration of +the Pentateuch--the whole Pentateuch as it existed in our Saviour's day +and exists now. There are difficult questions connected with both its +form and the interpretation of certain parts of it in respect to which +devout believers may honestly differ. For the discussion of these the +reader must be referred to the works professedly devoted to the subject. + +The present volume is complete in itself; yet it does not exhaust the +circle of topics immediately connected with the study of the Bible. It +is the author's purpose to add another volume on Biblical Geography and +Antiquities, with a brief survey of the historic relations of the +covenant people to the Gentile world. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +A CONCISE VIEW OF THE EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION. + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 1. Christianity rests on a Basis of Historic Facts +inseparably connected from First to Last--2. This Basis to be maintained +against Unbelievers--3. General Plan of Inquiry--Christ's Advent the +Central Point--From this We look forward and backward to the +Beginning--4. Importance of viewing Revelation as a Whole--5. +Fragmentary Method of Objectors--Particular Order of the Parts in this +Investigation + +CHAPTER II. + +GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. 1. Terms defined--Necessity of +knowing the Authors of the Gospels--2. Remarks on their Origin--They +were not written immediately, but successively at Intervals--Earlier +Documents noticed by Luke--3. Manner of Quotation by the Early Church +Fathers--4. _External Evidences_ traced upward from the Close of the +Second Century--Testimony of Irenaeus--Of Tertullian--Of Clement of +Alexandria--Letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne--5. +Comprehensiveness and Force of these Testimonies--Freedom of Judgment in +the Primitive Churches--This shown by the History of the Disputed +Books--6. Public Character and Use of the Gospels--7. Earlier +Testimonies--Justin Martyr--His Designation of the Gospels--They are Our +Canonical Gospels--Explanation of his Variations and Additions--His +References to the Gospel of John--8. Testimony of Papias--9. Epistle to +Diognetus--10. The Apostolic Fathers--Clement of Rome--Ignatius +Polycarp--The So-called Epistle of Barnabas--11. The Ancient Versions +and Muratorian Canon--Syriac Peshito--Old Latin--12. Testimony of the +Heretical Sects--Marcion--Valentinus--Tatian--13. Conclusiveness of the +above External Testimony--14. _Internal Evidences_--Relation of the +First Three Gospels to the Last--They differ in Time--The First Three +written before the Destruction of Jerusalem; the Fourth after that +Event--They differ in Character and Contents--Yet were all alike +received by the Churches--15. Relation of the First Three Gospels to +Each Other--They have Remarkable Agreements and Differences--These and +their General Reception explained by their Genuineness--16. The Gospels +contain no Trace of Later Events--17. Or Later Modes of Thought. 18. +From the Character of the Language + +CHAPTER III. + +UNCORRUPT PRESERVATION OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. 1. What is meant by an +Uncorrupt Text--2. Ancient Materials for Writing--Palimpsests--Uncial +and Cursive Manuscripts--3. The Apostolic Autographs have perished, but +We have their Contents--This shown from the Agreement of +Manuscripts--From the Quotations of the Fathers--From Ancient +Versions--Character of the "Various Readings"--They do not affect the +Substance of the Gospel--4. The Ancient Versions made from a Pure +Text--This shown from the Public Reading of the Gospels from the +Beginning--From the Multiplication of Copies--From the High Value +attached to the Gospels--From the Want of Time for Essential +Corruptions--From the Absence of all Proof of such Corruptions--5. The +Above Remarks apply essentially to the other New Testament Books + +CHAPTER IV. + +AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. 1. General +Remarks--2. Their Authors Sincere and Truthful--3. Competent as Men--4. +And as Witnesses--5. Character of the Works which they record-- +Supernatural Character of our Lord's Miracles--They were very +Numerous and Diversified, and performed openly--6. And in the Presence +of His Enemies--7. The Resurrection of Jesus--Its Vital Importance--8. +The Character of Jesus proves the Truth of the Record--Its Originality +and Symmetry--It unites Tranquillity with Fervor--Wisdom with Freedom +from Guile--Prudence with Boldness--Tenderness with Severity--Humility +with the Loftiest Claims--He is Heavenly-minded without Asceticism--His +Perfect Purity--His Virtues Imitable for All alike--Our Lord's Character +as a Teacher--His Freedom from the Errors of His Age and Nation--His +Religion One for All Men and Ages--This explained by its Divine +Origin--Our Lord's Manner of Teaching--His Divine Mission--Divinity of +His Person--Originality of its Manifestations--God His Father in a +Peculiar Sense--He is the Source of Light and Life--He has Inward +Dominion over the Soul--He dwells in Believers, and they in Him--The +Inference--His Power over the Human Heart--Supernatural Character of the +Gospel--A Word on Objections + +CHAPTER V. + +THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES AND THE ACKNOWLEDGED EPISTLES. 1. These Books a +Natural Sequel to the Gospels--2. _The Acts of the Apostles_--External +Testimonies--3. Internal Evidence--4. Credibility--5. Date of +Composition--6. _The Acknowledged Epistles_--Distinction of Acknowledged +and Disputed Books--7. First Group of Pauline Epistles--Second Group, or +the Pastoral Epistles--Their Date--Their Peculiar Character--8. First +Epistles of Peter and First of John--9. Mutual Relation between the +Gospels and Later Books--10. Argument from Undesigned Coincidences + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE DISPUTED BOOKS. 1. The Question here simply concerning the Extent of +the Canon--2. The Primitive Age One of Free Inquiry--3. Its Diversity of +Judgment no Decisive Argument against a Given Book--4. The Caution of +the Early Churches gives Weight to their Judgment--This Judgment +Negative as well as Positive + +CHAPTER VII. + +INSPIRATION AND THE CANON. General Remarks--1. Rule of Judgment +determined--It is the Writer's Relation to Christ--2. Christ Himself +Infallible--3. _The Apostles_--They held the nearest Relation to +Him--Their Infallibility as Teachers shown--From the Necessity of the +Case--From Christ's Express Promises--From their Own Declarations-- +Summary of the Argument in Respect to the Apostles--4. Inspiration of +the _Apostolic Men_--5. Argument from the Character of the Books of +the New Testament--6. The Inspiration of the Sacred Writers Plenary-- +7. Principles on which the Canon is formed + +CHAPTER VIII. + +INSEPARABLE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. General +Remarks--1. Previous Revelations implied in Christ's Advent--2. In the +Character of the Jewish People--3. Proved from the New Testament-- +Christ's Explicit Declarations--4. The New Testament based on the Facts +of the Old--The Fall of Man--The Abrahamic Covenant, which was +conditioned on Faith alone, and fulfilled in Christ--Christ the End of +the Mosaic Economy--In its Prophetical Order--In its Kingly Office--In +its Priestly Office--5. The New Testament Writers the Interpreters of +the Old + +CHAPTER IX. + +AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH. Meaning of the Term--1. It existed in its +Present Form from Ezra's Day--2. "The Law" ascribed to Moses in the New +Testament--How Much is included in this Term--3. Force of the New +Testament Testimony--4. The Law of Moses at the Restoration--5. Jewish +Tradition that Ezra settled the Canon of the Old Testament--He left the +Pentateuch essentially as he found it--References to the Law in the +Books of Kings and Chronicles--6. The Book of Deuteronomy--Its Mosaic +Authorship Certain--7. The Inference Certain that he wrote the Preceding +Laws--8. This corroborated by their Form--9. By References in the New +Testament--And the Old also--10. Relation of Deuteronomy to the Earlier +Precepts--In Respect to Time--And Design--Change in Moses' Personal +Relation to the People--Peculiarities of Deuteronomy explained from the +Above Considerations--Meaning of "the Words of this Law" in +Deuteronomy--11. Mosaic Authorship of Genesis shown--From Antecedent +Probability--From its Connection with the Following Books--Objections +considered--Supposed Marks of a Later Age--And of Different Authors--12. +Unity of the Pentateuch + +CHAPTER X. + +AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY OF THE PENTATEUCH. 1. Its Historic Truth +assumed in the New Testament--This shown by Examples--2. It was the +Foundation of the Whole Jewish Polity--And could not have been imposed +upon the People by Fraud--Contrast between Mohammed and Moses--3. +Scientific Difficulties connected with the Pentateuch--4. Alleged Moral +Difficulties--Exclusiveness of the Mosaic Economy--Its Restrictions on +Intercourse with Other Nations--5. Its Numerous Ordinances--The Mosaic +Laws required Spiritual Obedience--6. Objections from the Toleration of +Certain Usages--7. Extirpation of the Canaanites--8. The Mosaic Economy +a Blessing to the Whole World + +CHAPTER XI. + +REMAINING BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1. General Remarks--2. The New +Testament assumes their Divine Authority--Historical Books--3. Books not +strictly Historical or Prophetical--4. Prophetical Books--Argument from +Prophecy for the Divine Origin of the Old Testament--5. Christ the +Fulfilment of Prophecy--In his Office as a Prophet--as a King--as a +Priest--6. The Jewish Institutions and History a Perpetual Adumbration +of Christ preparatory to His Advent--7. Remarks on the Canon of the Old +Testament--8. Principle of its Formation--9. Inspiration of the Old +Testament + +CHAPTER XII. + +EVIDENCES INTERNAL AND EXPERIMENTAL. 1. External Evidences Important, +but not Indispensable to True Faith--2. Internal Evidences--View which +the Bible gives of God's Character--3. Code of Morals in the Bible--It +is Spiritual, Reasonable, and Comprehensive--Obedience to It the Sum of +all Goodness--4. All Parts of the Bible in Harmony with Each Other--5. +Power of the Bible over the Conscience--6. Argument from Personal +Experience--7. From the Character of Jesus--8. From General +Experience--The Love of Jesus the Mightiest Principle of +Action--Persecution first winnows, then strengthens the Church--The +Church corrupted and weakened by Worldly Alliances--9. The Gospel gives +an Inward Victory over Sin--It purifies and elevates Society--10. Its +Self-purifying Power--11. The Argument summed up + + * * * * * + +PART II. + +AN INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT. + +FIRST DIVISION--GENERAL INTRODUCTION. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NAMES AND EXTERNAL FORM OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1. Origin and Meaning of +the Word Bible--Jewish Designations of the Old Testament--2. Origin of +the Terms Old and New Testament--Earlier Latin Term--2. The +Unity--Scripture has its Ground in Divine Inspiration--Its Great +Diversity in Respect to Human Composition--4. Classification and +Arrangement of the Old Testament Books--Classification of the Hebrew: of +the Greek Version of the Seventy; of the Latin Vulgate--No One of these +follows entirely the Order of Time--5. Original Mode of Writing called +Continuous--6. Ancient Sections--Open and Closed; Larger Sections called +Parshiyoth and Haphtaroth--7. Chapters and Verses--Caution in Respect to +our Modern Chapters + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND ITS HISTORY. 1. Chaldee Passages in the Hebrew +Scriptures--Divisions of the Hebrew and Cognate Languages--2. The +Assyrian or Square Character not Primitive--Jewish Tradition respecting +its Origin--3. The Hebrew Alphabet and its Character--4. Change in the +Language of the Hebrew Nation--5. Introduction of the Vowel-Points and +Accents--The Question of their Antiquity--6. Jewish Rules for the +Guidance of Copyists--Their Deep Reverence for the Sacred Text--Its +Uncorrupt Transmission to Us--7. Age and Character of Hebrew +Manuscripts--8. Form of Hebrew Manuscripts--the Public in Rolls, the +Private in the Book Form, Poetical Passages, Columns, Pen and Ink +Accompaniments--9. The Samaritan Pentateuch + +CHAPTER XV. + +FORMATION AND HISTORY OF THE HEBREW CANON. I. Meaning of the Word +"Canon"--Gradual Formation of the Hebrew Canon--Its Main Divisions--1. +_The Pentateuch_--2. General Remark on its Hebrew Name--3. The +Pentateuch forms the Nucleus of the Old Testament Canon--It was given by +Divine Authority, committed to the Charge of the Priests, kept by the +Side of the Ark, and to be publicly read at Stated Times--II. _The +Historical Books_--4. The Authors and Exact Date of Many of them +Unknown--Important Historical Documents were deposited in the +Sanctuary--5. The Authors of the Books of Joshua and Judges made Use of +such Documents--6. The Author of the Books of Samuel also--7. Original +Sources for the Books of Kings and Chronicles--8. These Two Works refer +not to Each Other, but to a Larger Collection of Original Documents--9. +Character of these Documents--They were written, in Part at Least, by +Prophets, and they all come to us with the Stamp of Prophetic +Authority.--10. The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther--III. _The +Prophetical Books_--11. The Books enumerated--Paucity of Prophets before +Samuel--Schools of the Prophets established by him--The Prophets a +Distinct Order of Men in the Theocracy from his Day onward--12. The Era +of Written Prophecy--IV. _The Poetical Books_--13. Their General +Character--The Book of Job--14. The Book of Psalms--15. Proverbs, +Ecclesiastes, and Canticles--_Completion of the Canon_--16. Preservation +of the Sacred Books to the Time of Ezra--The Law; the Prophetical Books; +the Psalms and other Canonical Writings--17. The Completion of the Canon +ascribed by the Jews to Ezra and his Coadjutors--This Tradition True for +Substance.--No Psalms written in the Maccabean Age--18. Contents of the +Hebrew Canon--as given by Jesus the Son of Sirach, by Josephus, by +Origen and Eusebius, by Jerome--19. The Apocryphal Books + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. I. _The Greek Version called the +Septuagint_--1. Its Antiquity; its Great Influence on the Language of +the New Testament--2. Jewish Account of its Origin--3. Judgment of +Biblical Scholars on this Account--4. Time occupied in the Completion of +the Work--5. Inequalities of this Version--Its Importance to the +Biblical Student--6. Its Close Connection with the New Testament-- +Quotations from it by New Testament Writers--Their Manner and Spirit-- +7. Hebrew Text from which this Version was made--II. _Other Greek +Versions_--8. The Septuagint originally in High Esteem among the +Jews--Change in their Feelings in Regard to it, and Rise of New +Versions--9. Aquila's Version--10. Theodotion--11. Symniachus--12. +Origen's Labors on the Text of the Septuagint--the Tetrapla and +Hexapla--III. _The Chaldee Targums_--13. General Remarks on these--14. +The Targum of Onkelos--Its General Fidelity and Excellence--Its +Peculiarities--Jewish Tradition respecting Onkelos--15. The Targum of +Jonathan Ben Uzziel--16. Of Pseudo-Jonathan and Jerusalem--17. Other +Targums--The Samaritan Version of the Samaritan Pentateuch--IV. 18. _The +Syriac Peshito_--Its Age and Character + +CHAPTER XVII. + +CRITICISM OF THE SACRED TEXT. 1. The Object to ascertain its Primitive +Form--2. Means at Our Disposal--Ancient Hebrew Manuscripts--Remarks on +their Quality and Age--3. Ancient Versions--4. Primary Printed +Editions--5. Parallel Passages--6. Quotations from the Old Testament in +the New--7. Quotations in the Talmud and by Rabbinical Writers--8. +Critical Conjecture + + +SECOND DIVISION--PARTICULAR INTRODUCTION. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A WHOLE. 1. Province of Particular +Introduction--The Necessity of Understanding the Unity of Divine +Revelation--2. Relation of the Old Testament as a Whole to the System of +Revelation--It is a Preparatory, Introductory to a Final Revelation, of +which the Gospel everywhere avails itself--the Unity of God; Vicarious +Sacrifice; General Principles; Well-developed State of Civilization-- +Connection of the Hebrews with the Great World Powers--Their Dispersion +through the Nations at our Lord's Advent--Relation of the Gospel to +Civilization--3. A Knowledge of the Preparatory Character of the Old +Testament Revelations enables us to judge correctly concerning them-- +Severity of the Mosaic Laws; Their Burdensome Multiplicity; Objection +from their Exclusive Character answered--4. Office of each Division of +the Old Testament Revelations--the Pentateuch; the Historical Books; +the Prophetical Books--Character and Officers of the Hebrew Prophets-- +Era of Written Prophecy--The Poetical Books--5. Each Particular Book +has its Office--6. The Old Testament was a Revelation for the Men of +its Own Age, as well as for those of Future Ages--the Promise made to +Abraham; the Deliverance from Egypt; the Mosaic Law; the Words of the +Prophets; the Psalms of David: the Wisdom of Solomon--7. Value of the +Old Testament Revelations to us--the System of Divine Revelation can +be understood only as a Whole; Constant Reference of the New Testament +to the Old; the Old Testament a Record of God's Dealings with Men; +the Principles embodied in the Theocracy Eternal; the Manifold Wisdom +of God seen only when the Whole System of Revelation is studied + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE PENTATEUCH. I. Its Unity--Its Fivefold Division--1. _Genesis_--2. +Its Hebrew Name--Its Greek Name--3. Its Office--It is the Introductory +Book of the Pentateuch--Its Connection with the Following Books--4. +Divisions of the Book of Genesis--First Part and its Contents; Second +Part and its Contents--5. Its Mosaic Authorship--Supposed Traces of a +Later Hand--6. Difficulties connected with the Pentateuch--Scientific +Difficulties: the Six Days of Creation; the Age of the Antediluvian +Patriarchs; the Unity of the Human Race; the Deluge--Historical +Difficulties: the Two Accounts of the Creation; Cain's Wife-- +Chronological Difficulties: Discrepancies between the Masoretic +Hebrew, the Samaritan Hebrew, and the Septuagint, in Respect to (1) the +Antediluvian Genealogy; (2) the Genealogy from Noah to Abraham--Remarks +on these Discrepancies--II. _Exodus_--7. Hebrew Name of this Book--Its +Unity--Its Two Chief Divisions--Contents of the First Division; of the +Second Division--8. Time of the Sojourn in Egypt--Sojourn in the +Wilderness--III. _Leviticus_--9. Its Character and Contents--10. The +Priestly Office and Sacrifices the Central Part of the Mosaic Law--IV. +_Numbers_--11. Office and Contents of this Book--The Three Epochs of its +History: the Departure from Sinai, the Rebellion of the People upon the +Report of the Twelve Spies, the Second Arrival of Israel at Kadesh with +the Events that followed--V. _Deuteronomy_--12. Its Peculiar Character, +Divisions, and Contents--13. It brings the Whole Pentateuch to a +Suitable Close + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 1 and 2. Their Office to Unfold the History of +God's Dealings with the Covenant People--General Remarks on the +Character of this History--I. _Joshua_--3. Contents of this Book. Its +Immediate Connection with the Pentateuch--Its Two Divisions with their +Contents--4. Its Authorship--5. Its Authenticity and Credibility--The +Miracle of the Arrest of the Sun and Moon in their Course--II. _Judges +and Ruth_--6. Name of this Book--Office of the Judges whose History it +records--Condition of the Hebrew Nation during the Administration of the +Judges--Office of this Book in the General Plan of Redemption--7. +Arrangement of its Materials--its Twofold Introduction; the Body of its +History; its Two Appendixes--8. Its Date and Authorship--9. Uncertainty +of its Chronology--10. The Book of Ruth. Its Place in the History of +Redemption--III. _The Books of Samuel_--11. The Two Books of Samuel +originally One Work--Their Name--12. Their Office in the History of +Redemption--Eventful Character of the Period whose History they +record--Change to the Kingly Form of Government--God's Design in +this--The Kingly Office Typical of Christ--13. Contents of the Books of +Samuel--Introductory Division; Second Division; Third Division--14. +Authorship and Date of their Composition--IV. _The Books of Kings_--15. +They Originally constituted a Single Book--Their Names and Office--Their +Manner of Execution--Their Main Divisions--16. The First Period--17. The +Second Period--18. The Third Period--19. Chronology of the Books of +Kings. Their Date and Authorship--V. _The Books of Chronicles_--20. They +originally constituted One Work--Their Various Names--They constitute an +Independent Work--Their Office different from that of the Books of +Kings--Peculiarities which distinguish them from these Books--Particular +Attention to the Matter of Genealogy; Fullness of Detail in Respect to +the Temple Service; Omission of the History of the Kingdom of Israel; +other Omissions--21. Position of the Chronicles in the Hebrew +Canon--Their Authorship and Date--Their Relation to the Books of +Kings--22. Difficulties connected with these Books--VI. _Ezra and +Nehemiah_--23. General Remarks on these Books--Change in the Relation of +the Hebrews to the Gentile Nations--Gradual Withdrawal of Supernatural +Manifestations--24. While the Theocracy went steadily forward to the +Accomplishment of its End--The Jews reclaimed from Idolatry in +Connection with the Captivity--Establishment of the Synagogue Service +and its Great Influence--25. The Book of Ezra--Its Authorship--Parts +written in Chaldee--Persian Monarchs mentioned by Ezra and Nehemiah--26. +The Book of Nehemiah--Its Contents and Divisions--First Division; Second +Division; Third Division--27. Authorship and Date of the Book--VII. +_Esther_--28. Contents of this Book--Feast of Purim--29. The Ahasuerus +of this Book--Remarks on its History + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE POETICAL BOOKS (INCLUDING ALSO ECCLESIASTES AND CANTICLES). 1. Books +reckoned as Poetical by the Hebrews--Hebrew System of Accentuation--A. +_Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry_--_Its Spirit_--Harmony with the +Spirit of the Theocracy; Vivid Consciousness of God's Presence; +Originality; Freshness and Simplicity of Thought; Variety--Job and +Isaiah. David, Solomon; Diversity of Themes; Oriental Imagery; +Theocratic Imagery--_Form of Hebrew Poetry_--3. Its Rhythm that of +Clauses--Antithetic Parallelism; Synonymous Parallelism; Synthetic +Parallelism--Combinations of the above Forms--Freedom of Hebrew +Poetry--Peculiarities of Diction--_Office of Hebrew Poetry_--4. The +Celebration of God's Interpositions in Behalf of the Covenant People; +Song for the Sanctuary Service; Didactic Poetry; Prophetic Poetry--B. +_The Several Poetical Books_--I. _Job_--1. Survey of its Plan--6. Its +Design to Show the Nature of God's Providential Government over Men--7. +Age to which Job belonged--Age and Authorship of the Book--8. Its +Historic Character--II. _The Book of Psalms_--9. Its Office--Authors of +the Psalms--Date of their Composition--10. External Division of the +Psalms into five Books--First Book; Second Book; Third Book; Fourth +Book; Fifth Book--Subscription appended to the Second Book--Principle of +Arrangement--Attempted Classification of the Psalms--Frequent Quotation +of the Psalms in the New Testament--11. Titles of the Psalms--the +Dedicatory Title; Titles relating to the Character of the Composition to +the Musical Instruments, or the Mode of Musical Performance--These +Titles very Ancient, but not in all Cases Original--III. _The Proverbs +of Solomon_--12. Place of this Book in the System of Divine +Revelation--13. Its Outward Form--First Part; Second Part; Third Part; +Fourth Part--14. Arrangement of the Book in its Present Form--IV. +_Ecclesiastes_--15. Authorship of this Book and its View of Life--16. +Summary of its Contents--V. _The Song of Solomon_--17. Meaning of the +Title. Ancient Jewish and Christian View of this Song--18. It is not a +Drama, but a Series of Descripture Pictures--Its Great Theme--Caution in +Respect to the Spiritual Interpretation of it + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The Greater Prophets. 1. General Remarks on the Prophetical Writings--2. +Different Offices of the Prophets under the Theocracy--Their Office as +Reprovers--3. As Expounders of the Mosaic Law in its Spirituality--4. +And of its End, which was Salvation through the Future Redeemer--They +wrote in the Decline of the Theocracy--Their Promises fulfilled only in +Christ--I. _Isaiah_--5. He is the First in Order, but not the Earliest +of the Prophets--His Private History almost wholly Unknown--Jewish +Tradition Concerning him--Period of his Prophetic Activity--6. Two Great +Divisions of his Prophecies--Plans for Classifying the Contents of the +First Part--Analysis of these Contents--General Character of the Second +Part, and View of its Contents--7. Objections to the Genuineness of the +Last Part of Isaiah and Certain Other Parts--General Principle on which +these Objections are to be met--Previous Preparation for the Revelations +contained in this Part--True Significance of the Promises which it +contains--Form of these Promises--Mention of Cyrus by Name--Objection +from the Character of the Style considered--8. Direct Arguments for the +Genuineness of this Part--External Testimony; Internal Evidences--9. +Genuineness of the Disputed Passages of the First Part--II. +_Jeremiah_--10. Contrast between Isaiah and Jeremiah in Personal +Character and Circumstances--Our Full Knowledge of his Outward Personal +History and Inward Conflicts--11. His Priestly Descent--His Native +Place--Period of his Prophetic Activity--Degeneracy of the +Age--Persecutions to which his Fidelity subjected him--He is more +occupied than Isaiah with the Present--His Mission is emphatically to +unfold the Connection between National Profligacy and National Ruin; yet +he sometimes describes the Glory of the Latter Days--12. The +Chronological Order not always followed in his Prophecies--General +Divisions of them--First Division; Second Division; Appendix--Attempts +to disprove the Genuineness of Certain Parts of Jeremiah--_The Book of +Lamentations_--13. Its Hebrew Name--Its Authorship and the Time of its +Composition--14. Structure of its Poetry--III. _Ezekiel_--15. His +Priestly Descent and Residence--Notices of his Personal History--Period +of his Prophetic Activity--16. Peculiarities of his Style--17. His +Allegoric and Symbolic Representations--General Remarks on the Nature of +Allegories and Symbols--18. The Two Divisions of the Book--Contents of +the First Part; of the Second Part--Prophecies against Foreign +Nations--Promises relating to the Glory of the Latter Days--Ezekiel's +Vision of a New Jerusalem with its Temple--Meaning of this Vision and +Principles according to which it is to be interpreted--IV. _Daniel_--19. +Its Place in the Hebrew Canon--Notices of Daniel's Personal History--20. +Arrangement and Contents of the Book--First Series of Prophecies; Second +Series--Intimate Connection between the Book of Daniel and the +Apocalypse--21. Assaults made upon the Book of Daniel in Respect to its +Genuineness and Credibility--Grounds on which it is received as a Part +of the Sacred Canon--Its Unity; Uniform Tradition of the Jews and its +Reliability; Testimony of Josephus; of the Saviour; Language and Style; +Intimate Acquaintance with the Historical Relations and Manners and +Customs of the Age--22. Insufficiency of the Various Objections urged +against the Book--Chronological and Historical Difficulties; +Difficulties connected with the Identification of Belshazzar and Darius +the Mede; Silence of Jesus the Son of Sirach respecting Daniel; Alleged +Linguistic Difficulties; Commendations bestowed upon Daniel--The Real +Objection to the Book on the Part of its Opponents lies in the +Supernatural Character of the Events which it records--Remarks on this +Objection + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS--1. Jewish Arrangement of these Books--Their +Order in the Masoretic Text and in the Alexandrine Version--2. General +Remarks on their Character I. _Hosea_--3. Period of his Prophecying and +its Character--4. Peculiarly of his Style--Contents of the Book II. +_Joel_--5. Place and Date of his Prophecies--6. Character and Contents +of his Book--III. _Amos_--7. Date of his Prophecies--Notices of his +Person--He was a Jew, not trained in any Prophetical School, and sent to +prophesy against Israel--Character and Contents of his Writings--IV. +_Obadiah_--8. Date and Contents of his Prophecy--V. _Jonah_--9. His +Age--10. Remarks on the History of the Book--11. Authorship and Historic +Truth of the Book--VI. _Micah_--12. His Residence and the Time of his +Prophetic Activity--His Prophecies directed against both Israel and +Judah--13. Divisions of the Book with the Contents of Each--Passages +Common to Micah and Isaiah--General Agreement between the Two +Prophets--VII. _Nahum_--14. His Prophecy directed against Nineveh--Its +Probable Date--15. Contents of the Book--VIII. _Habakkuk_--16. Date of +the Book and its Contents--Remarks on the Ode contained in the Third +Chapter--IX. _Zephaniah_--17. Date and Contents of his Book--X. +_Haggai_--18. Date and Scope of the Book--19. Its Different +Messages--XI. _Zechariah_--20. His Priestly Descent--Date of his +Prophecies--21. The Three Divisions of the Book--First Division; Second +Division; Third Division--22. Remarks on the Character of Zechariah's +Prophecies--XII. _Malachi_--23. Name of this Prophet--Date of his +Prophecies, and Condition of the Jewish People--24 Contents of the Book + +APPENDIX TO PART II. + +THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT--1. The Term _Apocrypha_ and +its Origin--2. Remarks on the Date of the Apocryphal Books--Their +Reception by the Alexandrine Jews--3. History of these Books in the +Christian Church--4. Their Uses--I. _The Two Books of Esdras_--5. Name +of this Book--Its Contents--Its Date--6. The Second Book of Esdras found +only in Versions--Remarks on these Versions--7. Its Contents and +Date--II. _Tobit_--8. Accounts of the Contents of this Book--9. Various +Texts in which this Book is Extant--Its General Scope--III. +_Judith_--10. Contents of the Book--11. Remarks on its Character, Date, +and Design--IV. _Additions to the Book of Esther_--12. Account of +these--V. _The Wisdom of Solomon_--13. Its Divisions and their +Contents--14. Authorship of the Book--Its Merits and Defects--VI. +_Ecclesiasticus_--15. Its Titles and Contents--16. Date of the Book and +of its Translation--VII. _Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah_--17. +Character and Contents of the Book of Baruch--18. Second, or Syriac Book +of Baruch--19. So-called Epistle of Jeremiah--VIII. _Additions to the +Book of Daniel_--20. Enumeration of these--Their Authorship and +Date--IX. _The Prayer of Manasses_--21. Remarks on this Composition--X. +_The Books of the Maccabees_--22. Number of these Books--Remarks on +their Historic Order--Origin of the Name Maccabee--23. First Book--Its +Genuineness and Credibility--Its Authorship and Date--Original +Language--24. Second Book--Its Character and Contents--25. Third +Book--Its Contents and Character--Fourth Book--Its Stoical +Character--Its Contents--Fifth Book--Its Original Language and Contents + + * * * * * + +PART III. + +AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. + +FIRST DIVISION--GENERAL INTRODUCTION. + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +Language of the New Testament--1. God's Providence as seen in the +Languages of the Old and New Testaments--Fitness of the Hebrew for its +Office in History, Poetry, and Prophecy--2. Adaptation of the Greek to +the Wants of the New Testament Writers--3. Providential Preparation for +a Change in the Language of the Inspired Writings--Cessation of the +Hebrew as the Vernacular of the Jews, and Withdrawal of the Spirit of +Prophecy Contemporaneous--4. Introduction of the Greek Language into +Asia and Egypt--Its Use among the Jews, especially in Egypt--Its General +Use in our Lord's Day--5. Character of the New Testament Greek--Its +Basis the Common Hellenic Dialect, with an Hebraic Coloring received +from the Septuagint, and an Aramaic Tinge also--The Writers of the New +Testament Jews using the Language of Greece for the Expression of +Christian Ideas--Technical Terms in the New Testament--6. Adaptation of +the New Testament Greek to its Office + +CHAPTER XXV. + +External Form of the New Testament--1. The Three Main Divisions of the +New Testament Writings: Historical, Epistolary, Prophetical--2. Natural +Order of these Divisions--3. Subdivisions--In the Historic Part--In the +Epistolary Part--Diversity of Arrangement in Manuscripts--4. Arrangement +of the New Testament Writings not Chronological--Importance of Knowing +this--5. Continuous Writing of the Ancient Uncial Manuscripts-- +Stichometrical Mode of Writing--This led gradually to the Present +System of Interpunction Cursive Manuscripts--7. Ancient Divisions in +the Contents of the Sacred Text--Ammonian Sections and Eusebian Canons-- +8. Divisions called Titles--9. Divisions of the Other New Testament +Books--10. Chapters and Verses--Church Lessons--11. Remarks on the above +Divisions--Paragraph Bibles--12. Titles and Subscriptions + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT AND ITS HISTORY--I. _The Manuscript Text_--1 and +2. General Remarks--3. Origin of Various Readings and their +Classification--Substitutions, Insertions, Omissions--Arising from +Inadvertence, or Unskilful Criticism--Wilful Falsifications cannot be +imputed to the Copyists--4. Materials for Textual Criticism--General +Results--5. Notice of some Manuscripts--The Vatican, Sinai, Alexandrine, +Ephraem, Palimpsest, Dublin Palimpsest, Beza or Cambridge (Bilingual), +Purple. Cursive Manuscripts--II. _The Printed Text_--6. Primary Editions +and their Sources--Complutensian Polyglott, Erasmian, Stephens', Beza's, +Elzevir Editions--7. Remarks on the Received Text--III. _Principles of +Textual Criticism_--8. Its End--Sources of Evidence--Greek +Manuscripts--Their varying Value--9. Ancient Versions and their +Value--10. Citations of the Church Fathers--11. Canons of Criticism + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +FORMATION AND HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON--1. General Remarks--2. +Different Periods to be noticed--3. Apostolic Age--4. Age of the +Apostolic Fathers--Remarks on their Quotations--5. Age of +Transition--Events of this Age which awakened the Christian Church to a +Full Consciousness of the Divine Authority of the Apostolic +Writings--Execution of Versions--6. Age of the Early Church +Fathers--They recognized a Canon, though not yet Complete--Canon of the +Syriac Peshito, Muratorian Canon--Canon of the Councils of Laodicea and +Carthage--7. Closing Remarks + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT--I. _Latin Versions_--1. Interest +attaching to these Versions--2. The Ante-Hieronymian or Old Latin +Version--3. Its Canon--Remarks on its Text--Manuscripts containing +it--4. Jerome's Revision of the Old Latin Version--5. Jerome's New +Version of the Old Testament--Books left untranslated--The Vulgate and +its Diversified Character--Remarks on the History of the Vulgate--II. +_Syriac Versions_--6. The Peshito--It comprises the Old and New +Testaments--Its Date--Its Name--7. Character of the Peshito--The +Curetonian Syriac--Its Relation to the Peshito--Its high Critical +Value--8. The Philoxenian Syriac--Its extremely Literal +Character--Hexaplar Syriac--Remarks on these Versions--Jerusalem Syriac +Lectionary--III. _Egyptian and Ethiopic Versions_--Memphitic Version, +Thebaic, Bashmuric--10. Ethiopic Version--IV. _Gothic and other +Versions_--11. Gothic Version of Ulphilas--12. Palimpsest Manuscripts of +this Version--13. Ancient Armenian Version + + +SECOND DIVISION--PARTICULAR INTRODUCTION. + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE HISTORICAL BOOKS--1. The New Testament a Necessary Sequel to the +Old--The Two Testaments interpret Each Other, and can be truly +understood only as an Organic Whole--2. Remarks on the Use Made of the +Old Testament by the Writers of the New--Fundamental Character of the +Gospel Narratives--I. _The Gospel as a Whole_--3. Signification of the +Word "Gospel"--Its Primary and Secondary Application--4. General Remarks +on the Relation of the Gospels to Each Other--5. Agreements of the +Synoptic Gospels--6. Differences--7. Theories of the Origin of these +Three Gospels: That of Mutual Dependence; That of Original Documents; +That of Oral Apostolic Tradition--Remarks on this Tradition--Its +Distinction from Tradition in the Modern Sense--8. No One of the Gospels +gives the Entire History of our Lord, nor always observes the Strict +Chronological Order of Events--Remarks on our Lord's Life before his +Baptism--9. Remarks on the Peculiar Character of the Fourth Gospel--This +and the other Three mutually Supplementary to Each Other--10. Harmonies +of the Gospels--Relative Size of the Gospels--II. _Matthew_--11. +Personal Notices of Matthew--12. Original Language of his Gospel--The +Problem stated--13. Testimony of the Ancients on this Point--14. Various +Hypotheses considered--15. Primary Design of this Gospel to show that +Jesus of Nazareth was the Promised Messiah--16. He is also exhibited as +the Saviour of the World--17. Fulness of Matthew's Record in Respect to +our Lord's Discourses--18. He does not always follow the Exact Order of +Time--19. Place and Date--20. Integrity--Genuineness of the First Two +Chapters--III. _Mark_--21. Personal Notices of Mark--Intimate Relation +of Mark to Peter and Paul--22. Place--Date--Language--23. Design of this +Gospel to exhibit Jesus as the Son of God--He makes the Works of Jesus +more Prominent than his Discourses--24. Characteristics of Mark as a +Historian--25. Closing Passage in Mark's Gospel--IV. _Luke_--26. Notices +of Luke in the New Testament--27. Sources of his Gospel--His Relation to +Paul--28. Date and Place of Writing--29. Universal Aspect of Luke's +Gospel--30. Its Character and Plan--Comparison of the Gospels in Respect +to Peculiar Matter and Concordances--31. Integrity of Luke's Gospel--The +Two Genealogies of Matthew and Luke--V. _John_--32. John's Manner of +indicating himself--33. Personal Notices of him--34. Late Composition of +his Gospel and Place of Writing--35. Peculiarity of this Gospel in +Respect to Subject-Matter--Its Relation to the First Three Gospels--36. +General Design of this Gospel--It is peculiarly the Gospel of Christ's +Person--VI. _Acts of the Apostles_--37. Author of this Book--38. Plan of +the Book--Its First Division; Second Division--Notices of Antioch--39. +Office of this Book--Portraiture of the Apostolic Age of Christianity; +Cursory View of the Inauguration of the Christian Church; Various Steps +by which the Abolition of the Middle Wall of Partition between Jews and +Gentiles was effected--40. Concluding Remarks + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE EPISTLES OF PAUL--1. General Remarks on the Epistles--2. Paul's +Epistles all written in the Prosecution of his Work as the Apostle to +the Gentiles--Nature of this Work--3. Paul's Peculiar Qualifications for +this Work--His Mode of Procedure--Union in him of Firmness and +Flexibility--4. Character of the Apostle's Style--5. Points to be +noticed in the Separate Epistles--Notices of Paul's Labors in the Acts +of the Apostles--6. Present Arrangement of Paul's Epistles and of the +Epistles generally--Chronological Order of Paul's Epistles--Four Groups +of these Epistles--I. _Epistle to the Romans_--7. Date and Place of this +Epistle--8. Composition of the Roman Church--9. Occasion and Design of +the Epistle--Its General Outlines--10. Special Office of this +Epistle--II. _Epistles to the Corinthians_--_First Epistle_--11. Place +and Time of its Composition--12. Notices of the Corinthian +Church--Occasion of the Apostle's Writing--13. General Tone of the +Epistle as contrasted with that to the Galatians--_Second Epistle_--14. +Place and Time of its Composition--15. Its Occasion--Prominence of the +Apostle's Personality in this Epistle and its Ground--Peculiarities of +its Diction--Its Office in the Economy of Revelation--III. _Epistle to +the Galatians_--16. Historical Notice of Galatia--Missionary Visits of +the Apostle to that Province--Date of the Present Epistle and Place of +Composition--17. Occasion and Design--18. Outlines of the Epistle--The +Historic Part, the Argumentative, the Practical--IV. _Epistles to the +Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon_--19. Contemporaneousness of these +Epistles--20. Place and Date--21. Chronological Order of the First +Two--_Epistle to the Colossians_--22. Notices of Colosse and the Church +there--Occasion of this Epistle--Character of the False Teachers at +Colosse--23. Outlines of the Epistle--Its Argumentative Part, its +Practical--The Epistle from Laodicca--_Epistle to the Ephesians_--24. +Notices of Ephesus--Labors of Paul at Ephesus--Occasion of the Present +Epistle--Its General Character--Various Hypotheses respecting it--25. +Its Outlines--Its Argumentative Part, its Practical--_Epistle to +Philemon_--26. Its Occasion and Design--V. _Epistle to the +Philippians_--27. Notices of Philippi and the Formation of the Church +there--28. Occasion of this Epistle--Place and Date of its +Composition--29. Its Character--General View of its Contents--VI. +_Epistles to the Thessalonians_--30. Notices of Thessalonica and the +Apostle's Labors there--_First Epistle to the Thessalonians_--31. Date +and Place of its Composition--32. Its Occasion and Design--Outlines of +the Epistle--_Second Epistle_--33. Place of Writing and Date--Its +Design--Its General Outlines--34. Comparison between the Epistles to the +Thessalonians and that to the Philippians--VII. _The Pastoral +Epistles_--35. The Date of these Epistles and Related Questions--36. +Character of the False Teachers referred to in these Epistles--37. +Genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles--38. Their Office--_First Epistle +to Timothy_--39. Its Date and Place of Composition--Its Occasion and +Design--Its Contents--Scriptural Notices of Timothy--_Epistle to +Titus_--40. Its Agreement with the Preceding Epistle--The Cretan Church +and Titus--_Second Epistle, to Timothy_--41. Its Occasion and Character +in Contrast with the Two Preceding Epistles--Its Office--_Epistle to the +Hebrews_--42. Question of its Authorship--How it was regarded in the +Eastern Church--How in the Western--General Remark--43. Persons +addressed in this Epistle--Time and Place of its Composition--Manner of +Reference to the Levitical Priesthood and Temple Services--44. Central +Theme of this Epistle--Dignity of Christ's Person in Contrast with the +Ancient Prophets, with Angels, and with Moses--Divine Efficacy of his +Priesthood in Contrast with that of the Sons of Aaron--Design of the +Epistle--Its Office in the System of Revelation + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES--1. Origin of the Name "Catholic"--1. _Epistle of +James_--2. Question respecting the Person of James--3. Place of Writing +this Epistle--Persons addressed--4. Question of its Date--5. Its +Genuineness and Canonical Authority--6. Its Practical Character--Alleged +Disagreement between Paul and James without Foundation--II. _Epistles of +Peter_--_First Epistle_--7. Its Canonical Authority always +acknowledged--8. Persons addressed--9. Place of its Composition--Its +Occasion and Date--Traditions respecting Peter--10. Outline of the +Epistle--_Second Epistle_--11. Persons addressed--Time of Writing--12. +Question respecting the Genuineness of this Epistle--External +Testimonies--Internal Evidence--General Result--13. Object of the +Present Epistle--Peculiar Character of the Second Chapter--Its Agreement +with the Epistle of Jude--III. _Epistles of John_--_First Epistle of +John_--14. Its Acknowledged Canonicity--Time and Place of its +Composition--Persons addressed--15. General View of its +Contents--_Second and Third Epistles_--16. Their Common +Authorship--Their Genuineness--17. The Occasion and Office of Each--IV. +_Epistle of Jude_--18. Question respecting Jude's Person--Time of the +Epistle, and Persons addressed--19. Its Canonical Authority--Its Design + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE APOCALYPSE--1. Meaning of the Word "Apocalypse"--Abundance of +External Testimonies to this Book--2. Internal Arguments considered--Use +of the Apostle's Name, Devotional Views, Spirit of the Writer, Style and +Diction--Here must be taken into Account the Difference between this +Book and John's other Writings in Subject-Matter, in the Mode of Divine +Revelation, in the Writer's Mental State and Circumstances; also its +Poetic Diction--General Results--3. Date of the Apocalypse and Place of +Writing--4. Different Schemes of Interpretation--The Generic--The +Historic--5. Symbolic Import of the Numbers in this Book--The number +Seven, Half of Seven, Six; The Number Four, a Third and Fourth Part; the +Number Twelve; the Number Ten--6. Office of the Apocalypse in the System +of Revelation + +APPENDIX TO PART III. + +WRITINGS OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS, WITH SOME NOTICES OF THE APOCRYPHAL +NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS--1. The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers +distinguished from the Proper New Testament Apocrypha--Some Remarks on +the Character of these Writings + +I. _Writings of Clement of Rome_--2. His Epistle to the Romans--Its +Genuineness Character, and Age--3. Its Occasion, with a Notice of its +Contents--4. The so-called Second Epistle of Clement to the +Corinthians--Its Genuineness not admitted--Vague and General Character +of its Contents--5. Notice of some Other Writings falsely ascribed to +Clement--Recognitions of Clement, and the Clementines, with their Plan +and Contents; Constitutions of Clement, and their Contents; Apostolic +Canons + +II. _Epistles of Ignatius_--6. Notices of Ignatius--The Seven Genuine +Epistles that bear his Name--Unsatisfactory State of the Text--Syriac +and Armenian Versions--Enumeration of these Epistles--Their +Character--Strong Ecclesiastical Spirit that pervades them--His Letter +to the Romans--The Undue Desire of Martyrdom which it manifests--His +Letter to Polycarp--7. Spurious Epistles ascribed to Ignatius, and their +Character + +III. _Epistle of Polycarp_--8. Notices of Polycarp--His Epistle to the +Philippians--Its Character and Contents--Time and Occasion of its +Composition + +IV. _Writings of Barnabas and Hermas_--9. Their Doubtful Authority--10. +The So-called Epistle of Barnabas--Tischendorf's Discovery of the +Original Greek Text--The Author and Date of the Work--Notice of its +Contents--Its Fanciful Method of Interpretation--11. The Shepherd of +Hernias--Outward Form of the Work--Its Internal Character--Its Author +and Age + +V. _The Apostle's Creed_--12. In what Sense it belongs to the Apostolic +Fathers--Apostolic Character of its Contents + +VI. _Apocryphal Gospels and Acts--13._ Their Number--Their Worthless +Character in Contrast with that of the Canonical Gospels and Acts + + * * * * * + +PART IV. + +A DISCUSSION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +INTRODUCTORY REMARKS--1. Definition of Certain Terms--Hermeneutics, +Exegesis, Epexegesis--2. The Expositor's Office--Parallel between his +Work and that of the Textual Critic--3. Qualifications of the Biblical +Interpreter--A Supreme Regard for Truth--4. A Sound Judgment with the +Power of Vivid Conception--Office of Each of these Qualities and their +Relation to Each Other--5. Sympathy with Divine Truth--6. Extensive and +Varied Acquirements--The Original Languages of the Bible; Sacred +Geography and Natural History; Biblical Antiquities; Ancient History and +Chronology--7. General Remarks on the above Qualifications--8. The Human +and Divine Side to Biblical Interpretation--The Importance of observing +Both + + +FIRST DIVISION--INTERPRETATION VIEWED ON THE HUMAN SIDE. + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION--1. Signification of the Terms +employed how ascertained, with some Superadded Remarks--2. On +Ascertaining the Sense of Scripture--3. The Scope General and +Special--Its Supreme Importance illustrated--How the Scope is to be +ascertained--The Author's Statements; Inferential Remarks; Historical +Circumstances--Important Help derived from the Repeated and Careful +Perusal of a Work--4. The Context defined and distinguished from the +Scope--Indispensable Necessity of attending to it--This illustrated by +Examples--Question respecting the Limits of the Context--In some Cases +no Context exists--On the Use of Biblical Texts as Mottoes--Various +Applications of the Principle contained in a Given Passage a Legitimate +Mode of Exposition--5. Parallelisms Verbal and Real--Help derived from +the Former--Subdivision of Real Parallelisms into Doctrinal and +Historic--Importance of Doctrinal Parallelisms with Illustrations--Value +of Historic Parallelisms illustrated--Difficulties arising from them, +and the Principle of their Adjustment--Illustration--6. External +Acquirements--Various Illustrations of the Importance of these--7. Sound +Judgment--Office of this Quality illustrated--Inept Interpretations: +Interpretations Contrary to the Nature of the Subject; Necessary +Limitations of an Author's Meaning; Reconciliation of Apparent +Contradictions; Forced and Unnatural Explanations and the Rejection of +Well-established Facts--8. Remarks on the Proper Office of Reason in +Interpretation + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF SCRIPTURE--1. Figurative Language defined and +illustrated--General Remarks respecting it--2. Rules for the +Ascertaining of Figurative Language--Nature of the Subject; Scope, +Context, and Analogy of Scripture--Error of understanding Literal +Language figuratively--Remark on the Interpretation of Prophecy--3. +Different Kinds of Figures--The Trope in its Varieties of Metonymy, +Synecdoche, and Metaphor--Remarks on Comparisons--The Allegory--Its +Definition and Distinction from the Metaphor--Distinction between True +Allegory and the Allegorical Interpretation of History--The Parable--How +distinguished from the Allegory--The Fable--The Symbol--Its Various +Forms--The Proverb--It always embodies a General Truth--Its Various +Forms--Signification of the Word "Myth"--It does not come within the +Sphere of Scriptural Interpretation--4. General Remarks on the +Interpretation of the Figurative Language of Scripture--5. Its Certainty +and Truthfulness--6. Key to the Interpretation of the Allegory-- +Examples: The Vine Transplanted from Egypt, Psa. 80; the two Eagles +and the Cedar Bough, Ezek. 17:3-10; The Song of Solomon; the Two +Allegories of Ezekiel, chaps., 16 and 23-7. The Interpretation of the +Parable--How it differs from that of the Allegory--Point of Primary +Importance--How far the Details are significant--Examples: The Sower, +Matt. 13:3-8, 19-23; the Tares in the Field Matt. 13:24-30, 37-43; the +Ten Virgins, Matt, 25:1-13--Remark respecting the Personages introduced +in Parables with Illustrations--The Unforgiving Servant, Matt. 18: +23-35; the Importunate Friend, Luke 11:5-8; the Unjust Judge, Luke +18:1-8; the Unfaithful Steward, Luke 16:1-9--8. Scriptural Symbols-How +to determine whether they are Real or Seen in Prophetic +Vision--Principles on which they are to be interpreted--Examples--9. +Remarks on the Interpretation of Numerical Symbols + + +SECOND DIVISION--INTERPRETATION VIEWED ON THE DIVINE SIDE. + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +UNITY OF REVELATION--1. Essential Unity between the Old and the New +Testament--2. This Unity one that coexists with Great Diversity-- +Illustrations from the Analogy of God's Works--3. Unity in +Diversity in Respect to the Form of God's Kingdom--4. The Forms of +Public Worship--5. Forms of Religious Labor--6. Spirit of Revelation--7. +Way of Salvation--8. Sternness of the Mosaic Dispensation explained from +its Preparatory Character--9. Inferences from the Unity of +Revelation--9. Each Particular Revelation Perfect in its Measure--10. +The Later Revelations the Exponents of the Earlier; Christ and his +Apostles in a Special Sense the Expositors of the New Testament--11. The +Extent of Meaning in a Given Revelation that which the Holy Spirit +intended--12. The Obscure Declarations of Scripture to be interpreted +from the Clear, with Illustrations--13. Remarks on the Analogy of +Faith--The Term Defined--Rules for its Use + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +SCRIPTURAL TYPES--1. Types distinguished from Analogy--2. And from the +Foreshadowing of Future Events by the Present--3. The Type defined in +its Three Essential Characters + +I. _Historical Types_--4. In Respect to these Two Extremes to be +avoided--Typical History has a Proper Significance of its Own--This +illustrated by Examples: The Kingly Office; the Prophetical Office; +Typical Transactions--Remarks on the Inadequacy of All Types + +II. _Ritual Types_--5. The Sacrifices the Essential Part of the Mosaic +Ritual--What is implied in them--The Sanctuary God's Visible +Dwelling-place where alone they could be offered--6. The Mosaic +Tabernacle described--7. Its General Typical Import--8. Significance of +its Different Parts and Appointments--Preciousness of the Materials; +Gradation in this Respect--9. The Inner Sanctuary with its +Appointments--10. The Outer Sanctuary with its Appointments--11. The +Brazen Altar with its Laver--The Levitical Priests typified Christ--12. +The Levitical Sacrifices typified Christ's Offering of Himself for the +Sins of the World--This shown from Scripture--General Remark respecting +Christ's Propitiatory Sacrifice--13. Characteristics of the Types +Themselves--The Levitical Priests had a Common Human Nature with those +for whom they officiated; were appointed to their Office by God; were +Mediators between God and the People; and Mediators through Propitiatory +Sacrifices--Points of Dissimilarity between the Type and the +Antitype--Remarks on the Central Idea of Priesthood--14. Scriptural Idea +of Sacrifice the Offering of One Life in Behalf of Another-- +Classification of the Levitical Sacrifices with the Ideas +belonging to Each: Sin and Trespass Offerings; Burnt Offerings; +Peace-Offerings--Sacrificial Nature of the Passover--Other Sacrifices of +a Special Character--All Sacrificial Victims to be without Blemish--The +Unbloody Offerings and their Signification--15. Typical Transactions +connected with the Sacrifices and Oblations: The Laying of the Offerer's +Hands on the Head of the Victim; the Waving and Heaving of Offerings; +the Sprinkling of the Victim's Blood; the Burning of the Offering--16. +Typical Meaning of the Tabernacle as a Whole--The Several Points of +Adumbration considered: Adumbration of God's Presence with Men; +Impossibility of approaching God without a Mediator; Adumbration of +Christ's Expiatory Sacrifice and Heavenly Intercession on the Great Day +of Atonement; Burning of the Victim without the Camp--17. Distinctions +between Clean and Unclean--Levitical View of Bodily Infirmities + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY--1. General Remarks + +I. _Prophecies relating to the Near Future_--2. Their Specific +Character--Examples + +II. _Prophecies relating to the Last Days_--3. Meaning of the Term "Last +Days," and its Equivalents--General Character of this Class of +Prophecies--4. Prophecies in which the Order of Events is +indicated--Daniel's Fourth Monarchy; the Great Red Dragon of Revelation, +the Two Beasts that succeeded to his Power, and the Woman riding a +Scarlet-Colored Beast--5. Prophecies which give General Views of the +Future--Examples--6. The Prophets give an Inward View of the Vital +Forces which sustain and extend God's Kingdom--Unity of the Plan of +Redemption; its Continual Progress; Indications of the End towards which +it is tending; the End Itself the Chief Object of Interest--Great Crisis +in the Church's History--Spirit that should actuate the Interpreter of +Prophecy + +III. _Question of Double Sense_--7. The Term defined--8. Examples of +Literal and Typical Sense--Melchizedek's Priesthood; the Rest of +Canaan--9. The Messianic Psalms--Different Principles on which they are +interpreted: Exclusive Application to Christ; Reference to an Ideal +Personage; Christ the Head and his Body the Church; Typical View--10. +The Principle of Progressive Fulfilment + +IV. _Question of Literal and Figurative Meaning_--11. General +Remarks--12. Representative Use in Prophecy of Past Events--13. Of the +Institutions of the Mosaic Economy--14. The Principle of Figurative +Interpretation not to be pressed as Exclusive--15. Question of the +Literal Restoration of the Jews to the Land of Canaan--16. Question of +our Lord's Personal Reign on Earth during the Millennium + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +QUOTATIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE NEW--1. General Remarks on the +Authority of the New Testament Writers--2. Outward Form of their +Quotations--Its very Free Spirit--This illustrated by Example--3. +Contents of the New Testament Quotations--The So-called Principle of +Accommodation; in what Sense True, and in what Sense to be rejected--4. +Quotations by Way of Argument--5. Quotations as Prophecies of Christ and +his Kingdom--Remarks on the Formula: "That it might be fulfilled"--6. +Prophecies referring immediately to Christ--7. Prophecies referring to +Christ under a Type--Closing Remark + + + + +PART I. + +EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION. + + + + +PREFATORY REMARKS. + + +Many thousands of persons have a full and joyous conviction of the truth +of Christianity from their own experience, who yet feel a reasonable +desire to examine the _historic evidence_ by which it is confirmed, if +not for the strengthening of their own faith, yet for the purpose of +silencing gainsayers, and guarding the young against the cavils of +infidelity. It is our duty to give to those who ask us a reason of the +hope that is in us; and although our own personal experience may be to +ourselves a satisfactory ground of assurance, we cannot ask others to +take the gospel on our testimony alone. It is highly desirable that we +understand and be able to set forth with clearness and convincing power +the proofs that this plan of salvation has God for its author. + +Then there is a class of earnest inquirers who find themselves perplexed +with the difficulties which they hear urged against the gospel, and +which they find themselves unable to solve in a satisfactory way. It is +of the highest importance that such persons be met in a candid spirit; +that the immense mass of evidence by which the Christian religion is +sustained be clearly set before them; and that they understand that a +religion thus supported is not to be rejected on the ground that there +are difficulties connected with it which have not yet been +solved--perhaps never can be solved here below. + +Are you, reader, such an earnest inquirer after truth? We present to you +in the following pages a brief summary of the historic evidence by which +the Bible, with the plan of salvation which it reveals, is shown to be +the word of God; and we wish, here at the outset, to suggest to you some +cautions respecting the state of mind with which this great inquiry is +to be pursued. + +First of all, we remind you that, whatever else may be uncertain, you +know that you must soon die, and try for yourself the realities of the +unseen world. The question now before you is, Whether God has spoken +from heaven, and made any revelations concerning that world. If so, they +are more precious than gold; for in the decisive hour of death you will +wish to know not what man, the sinner, has reasoned and conjectured +concerning a future judgment, forgiveness of sin, and the life to come; +but what God, the Judge, has declared. Now the Bible claims to contain +such a message from God. If its claims are valid, it will not flatter +you and speak to you smooth things, but will tell you the truth. And you +must be prepared to receive the truth, though it condemn you. Sooner or +later you must meet the truth face to face: be ready to do so now; you +have no interest in error; falsehood and delusion cannot help you, but +will destroy you. + +Do not come to the examination of this great question with the idea that +you must clear away all mysteries connected with the gospel before you +believe it. The world in which you live is full of mysteries. One would +think that if any thing could be fully comprehended, it must be the acts +of which we are ourselves the authors. By a volition you raise your hand +to your head; but _how_ is the act performed? True, there is in your +body an apparatus of nerves, muscles, joints, and the like; but in what +way does the human will have power over this apparatus? No man can +answer this question: it is wrapped in deep mystery. Why be offended, +then, because the way of salvation revealed in the Bible has like +mysteries--mysteries concerning not your duty, but God's secret and +inscrutable methods of acting? + +And since the question now before you is not one of mere speculation, +but one that concerns your immediate duty, be on your guard against the +seductive influence of sinful passion and sinful habit. There is a deep +and solemn meaning in the words of Jesus: "Every one that doeth evil +hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be +reproved." Corrupt feeling in the heart and corrupt practice in the life +have a terrible power to blind the mind. The man who comes to the +examination of the Bible with a determination to persist in doing what +he knows to be wrong, or in omitting what he knows to be right, will +certainly err from the truth; for he is not in a proper state of mind to +love it and welcome it to his soul. + +Remember also that it is not the grosser passions and forms of vice +alone that darken the understanding and alienate the heart from the +truth. Pride, vanity, ambition, avarice--in a word, the spirit of +self-seeking and self-exaltation in every form--will effectually hinder +the man in whose bosom they bear sway from coming to the knowledge of +the truth; for they will incline him to seek a religion which flatters +him and promises him impunity in sin, and will fatally prejudice him +against a system of doctrines and duties so holy and humbling as that +contained in the Bible. Take, as a comprehensive rule for the +investigation of this weighty question, the words of the Saviour: "If +any man will do his will"--the will of God--"he shall know of the +doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." So far as +you already know the will of God, do it; do it sincerely, earnestly, and +prayerfully, and God will give you more light. He loves the truth, and +sympathizes with all earnest and sincere inquirers after it. He never +leaves to fatal error and delusion any but those who love falsehood +rather than truth, because they have pleasure in unrighteousness. Open +your heart to the light of heaven, and God will shine into it from +above; so that, in the beautiful words of our Saviour, "the whole shall +be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee +light." + + + + +COMPANION TO THE BIBLE. + + * * * * * + +EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION. + + * * * * * + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. + + +I. The Christian religion is not a mere system of ideas, like the +philosophy of Plato or Aristotle. It rests on a _basis of historic +facts_. The great central fact of the gospel is thus expressed by Jesus +himself: "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, +that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting +life," John 3:16; and by the apostle Paul thus: "This is a faithful +saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the +world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 1:15. With the appearance of God's Son in +human nature were connected a series of mighty works, a body of divine +teachings, the appointment of apostles and the establishment of the +visible Christian church; all which are matters of historic record. + +Nor is this all. It is the constant doctrine of Christ and his apostles +that he came in accordance with the scriptures of the Old Testament, and +that his religion is the fulfilment of the types and prophecies therein +contained: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the +prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matt. 5:17. "All +things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in +the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me." Luke 24:44. The facts of +the New Testament connect themselves, therefore, immediately with those +of the Old, so that the whole series constitutes an indivisible whole. +The Bible is, from beginning to end, the record of a supernatural +revelation made by God to men. As such, it embraces not only +supernatural teachings, but supernatural facts also; and the teachings +rest on the facts in such a way that both must stand or fall together. + +II. This basis of supernatural facts, then, must be firmly maintained +against unbelievers whose grand aim is to _destroy the historic +foundation_ of the gospel, at least so far as it contains supernatural +manifestations of God to men. Thus they would rob it of its divine +authority, and reduce it to a mere system of human doctrines, like the +teachings of Socrates or Confucius, which men are at liberty to receive +or reject as they think best. Could they accomplish this, they would be +very willing to eulogize the character of Jesus, and extol the purity +and excellence of his precepts. Indeed, it is the fashion of modern +unbelievers, after doing what lies in their power to make the gospel a +mass of "cunningly-devised fables" of human origin, to expatiate on the +majesty and beauty of the Saviour's character, the excellence of his +moral precepts, and the benign influence of his religion. But the +transcendent glory of our Lord's character is inseparable from his being +what he claimed to be--the Son of God, coming from God to men with +supreme authority; and all the power of his gospel lies in its being +received as a message from God. To make the gospel human, is to +annihilate it, and with it the hope of the world. + +III. When the inquiry is concerning a long series of events intimately +connected together so as to constitute one inseparable whole, two +methods of investigation are open to us. We may look at the train of +events in the order of time from beginning to end; or we may select some +one great event of especial prominence and importance as the _central +point_ of inquiry, and from that position look forward and backward. The +latter of these two methods has some peculiar advantages, and will be +followed in the present brief treatise. We begin with the great central +fact of revelation already referred to, that "the Father sent the Son to +be the Saviour of the world." 1 John 4:14. When this is shown to rest on +a foundation that cannot be shaken, the remainder of the work is +comparatively easy. From the supernatural appearance and works of the +Son of God, as recorded in the four gospels, the supernatural endowment +and works of his apostles, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, and +their authoritative teachings, as contained in their epistles, follow as +a natural and even necessary sequel. Since, moreover, the universal rule +of God's government and works is, "first the blade, then the ear, after +that the full corn in the ear," (Mark 4:28,) it is most reasonable to +suppose that such a full and perfect revelation as that which God has +made to us by his Son, which is certainly "the full corn in the ear," +must have been preceded by exactly such preparatory revelations as we +find recorded in the Old Testament. Now Jesus of Nazareth appeared among +the Jews, the very people that had the scriptures of the Old Testament, +and had been prepared for his advent by the events recorded in them as +no other nation was prepared. He came, too, as he and his apostles ever +taught, to carry out the plan of redemption begun in them. From the +position, then, of Christ's advent, as the grand central fact of +redemption, we look backward and forward with great advantage upon the +whole line of revelation. + +IV. We cannot too earnestly inculcate upon the youthful inquirer the +necessity of thus looking at _revelation as a whole_. Strong as are the +evidences for the truth of the gospel narratives considered separately, +they gain new strength, on the one side, from the mighty revelations +that preceded them and prepared the way for the advent of the Son of +God; and on the other, from the mighty events that followed his advent +in the apostolic age, and have been following ever since in the history +of the Christian church. The divine origin of the Mosaic institutions +can be shown on solid grounds, independently of the New Testament; but +on how much broader and deeper a foundation are they seen to rest, when +we find (as will be shown hereafter, chap. 8) that they were preparatory +to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. As in a burning mass, the heat and +flame of each separate piece of fuel are increased by the surrounding +fire, so in the plan of redemption, each separate revelation receives +new light and glory from the revelations which precede and follow it. It +is only when we view the revelations of the Bible as thus progressing +"from glory to glory," that we can estimate aright the proofs of their +divine origin. If it were even possible to impose upon men as miraculous +a particular event, as, for example, the giving of the Mosaic law on +Sinai, or the stones of the day of Pentecost, the idea that there could +have been imposed on the world a series of such events, extending +through many ages, and yet so connected together as to constitute a +harmonious and consistent whole, is a simple absurdity. There is no +explanation of the unity that pervades the supernatural facts of +revelation, but that of their divine origin. + +V. In strong contrast with this rational way of viewing the facts of +revelation as a grand whole, is the fragmentary method of objectors. A +doubt here, a cavil there, an insinuation yonder; a difficulty with this +statement, an objection to that, a discrepancy here--this is their +favorite way of assailing the gospel. If one chooses to treat the Bible +in this narrow and uncandid way, he will soon plunge himself into the +mire of unbelief. Difficulties and objections should be candidly +considered, and allowed their due weight; but they must not be suffered +to override irrefragable proof, else we shall soon land in universal +skepticism: for difficulties, and some of them too insoluble, can be +urged against the great facts of nature and natural religion, as well as +of revelation. To reject a series of events supported by an overwhelming +weight of evidence, on the ground of unexplained difficulties connected +with them, involves the absurdity of running into a hundred difficulties +for the sake of avoiding five. If we are willing to examine the claims +of revelation as a whole, its divine origin will shine forth upon us +like the sun in the firmament. Our difficulties we can then calmly +reserve for further investigation here, or for solution in the world to +come. + +VI. When we institute an examination concerning the facts of revelation, +the first question is that of the genuineness and uncorrupt preservation +of the books in which they are recorded; the next, that of their +authenticity and credibility. We may then conveniently consider the +question of their inspiration. In accordance with the plan marked out +above, (No. III.,) the gospel narratives will be considered first of +all; then the remaining books of the New Testament. After this will be +shown the inseparable connection between the facts of revelation +recorded in the Old Testament and those of the New; and finally, the +genuineness of the books which constitute the canon of the Old +Testament, with their authenticity and inspiration. The whole treatise +will be closed by a brief view of the internal and experimental +evidences which commend the Bible to the human understanding and +conscience as the word of God. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. + + +I. _Preliminary Remarks._ 1. A book is _genuine_ if written by the man +whose name it bears, or to whom it is ascribed; or when, as in the case +of several books of the Old Testament, the author is unknown, it is +genuine if written in the age and country to which it is ascribed. A +book is _authentic_ which is a record of facts as opposed to what is +false or fictitious; and we call it _credible_ when the record of facts +which it professes to give is worthy of belief. Authenticity and +credibility are, therefore, only different views of the same quality. + + In the case of a book that deals mainly with _principles_, the + question of authorship is of subordinate importance. Thus the + book of Job, with the exception of the brief narratives with + which it opens and closes, and which may belong to any one of + several centuries, is occupied with the question of Divine + providence. It is not necessary that we know what particular man + was its author, or at what precise period he wrote. We only need + reasonable evidence (as will be shown hereafter) that he was a + prophetical man, writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. + But the case of the gospel narratives is wholly different. They + contain a record of the supernatural appearance and works of the + Son of God, on the truth of which rests our faith in the gospel. + So the apostle Paul reasons: "If Christ be not risen, then is + our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." 1 Cor. 15:14. + It is, then, of vital importance that we know the relation which + the authors of these narratives held to Christ. If they were not + _apostles_ or _apostolic men_, that is, associates of the + apostles, laboring with them, enjoying their full confidence, + and in circumstances to obtain their information directly from + them--but, instead of this, wrote after the apostolic age--their + testimony is not worthy of the unlimited faith which the church + in all ages has reposed in it. The question, then, of the + genuineness of the gospel narratives and that of their + authenticity and credibility must stand or fall together. + +2. In respect to the _origin_ of the gospels, as also of the other books +of the New Testament, the following things should be carefully +remembered: + +_First._ There was a period, extending, perhaps, through some years from +the day of Pentecost, when there were no written gospels, their place +being supplied by the living presence and teachings of the apostles and +other disciples of our Lord. + +_Secondly._ When the need of written documents began to be felt, they +were produced, one after another, as occasion suggested them. Thus the +composition of the books of the New Testament extended through a +considerable period of years. + +_Thirdly._ Besides the gospels universally received by the churches, +other narratives of our Lord's life were attempted, as we learn from the +evangelist Luke (1:1); but those never obtained general currency. The +churches everywhere received the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, +and John, because of the clear evidence which they had of their +apostolic origin and trustworthiness; and because, also, these gospels, +though not professing to give a complete account of our Lord's life and +teachings, were nevertheless sufficiently full to answer the end for +which they were composed, being not fragmentary sketches, but orderly +narratives, each of them extending over the whole course of our Lord's +ministry. The other narratives meanwhile gradually passed into oblivion. +The general reception of these four gospels did not, however, come from +any formal concert of action on the part of the churches, (as, for +example, from the authoritative decision of a general council, since no +such thing as a general council of the churches was known till long +after this period;) but simply from the common perception everywhere of +the unimpeachable evidence by which their apostolic authority was +sustained. + + The narratives referred to by Luke were earlier than his gospel. + They were not spurious, nor, so far as we know, unauthentic; but + rather imperfect. They must not be confounded with the + apocryphal gospels of a later age. + +3. In respect to the quotations of Scripture by the early fathers of the +church, it is important to notice their habit of quoting anonymously, +and often in a loose and general way. They frequently cite from memory, +blending together the words of different authors, and sometimes +intermingling with them their own words. In citing the prophecies of the +Old Testament in an argumentative way, they are, as might have been +expected, more exact, particularly when addressing Jews; yet even here +they often content themselves with the scope of the passages referred +to, without being particular as to the exact words. + +With the above preliminary remarks, we proceed to consider the +evidences, external and internal, for the genuineness of the gospel +narratives. + +II. _External Evidences._ 4. Here we need not begin at a later date than +the last quarter of the second century. This is the age of Irenaeus in +Gaul, of Tertullian in North Africa, of Clement of Alexandria in Egypt, +and of some other writers. Their testimony to the apostolic origin and +universal reception of our four canonical gospels is as full as can be +desired. They give the names of the authors, two of them--Matthew and +John--apostles, and the other two--Mark and Luke--companions of apostles +and fellow-laborers with them, always associating Mark with Peter, and +Luke with Paul; they affirm the universal and undisputed reception of +these four gospels from the beginning by all the churches; and deny the +apostolic authority of other pretended gospels. In all this, they give +not their individual opinions, but the common belief of the churches. It +is conceded on all hands that in their day these four gospels were +universally received by the churches as genuine and authoritative +records of our Lord's life and works, to the exclusion of all others. + + _Irenaeus_ was a native of Asia Minor, of Greek descent; but the + seat of his labors was Lyons and Vienne in Gaul, of the former + of which places he became bishop after the martyrdom of + Pothinus, about A.D. 177. He was born about A.D. 140, and + suffered martyrdom under Septimius Severus A.D. 202. In his + youth he was a disciple of Polycarp, who was in turn a disciple + of the apostle John. In a letter to one Florinus, which Eusebius + has preserved, (Hist. Eccl., 5. 20,) he gives, in glowing + language, his recollections of the person and teachings of + Polycarp, and tells with what interest he listened as this man + related his intercourse with the apostle John and the others who + had seen the Lord, "how he recounted their words, and the things + which he had heard from them concerning the Lord, and concerning + his miracles and teaching." And he adds that these things which + Polycarp had received from eye-witnesses he related "all in + agreement with the Scriptures;" that is, obviously, with the + gospel narratives. Pothinus, the predecessor of Irenaeus at + Lyons, was ninety years old at the time of his martyrdom, and + must have been acquainted with many who belonged to the latter + part of the apostolic age. Under such circumstances, it is + inconceivable that Irenaeus, who knew the Christian traditions of + both the East and the West, should not have known the truth + respecting the reception of the gospels by the churches, and the + grounds on which this reception rested, more especially in the + case of the gospel of John. Tischendorf, after mentioning the + relation of Irenaeus to Polycarp the disciple of John, asks, with + reason: "Are we, nevertheless, to cherish the supposition that + Irenaeus never heard a word from Polycarp respecting the gospel + of John, and yet gave it his unconditional confidence--this man + Irenaeus, who in his controversies with heretics, the men of + falsification and apocryphal works, employs against them, before + all other things, the pure Scripture as a holy weapon?" (Essay, + When were Our Gospels Written, p. 8.) The testimony of Irenaeus + is justly regarded as of the most weighty character. The fact + that he gives several fanciful reasons why there should be only + four gospels, (Against Heresies, 3. 11,) does not invalidate his + statement of the fact that the churches had always received + four, and no more. We always distinguish between men's testimony + to facts of which they are competent witnesses, and their + philosophical explanations of these facts. + + _Tertullian_ was born in Carthage about A.D. 160, and died + between A.D. 220 and 240. About A.D. 202 he joined the sect of + the Montanists; but this does not affect his testimony + respecting the origin and universal reception of the four + canonical gospels. His works are very numerous, and in them all + he insists with great earnestness that the gospel narratives, as + also the other apostolic writings, have been received without + corruption, as a sacred inheritance, from the apostolic + churches. His work against Marcion, whom he accuses of employing + a mutilated gospel of Luke, is particularly instructive as + showing how deep and settled was the conviction of the early + Christians that nothing could be a gospel which did not proceed + from apostles or apostolic men; and how watchful they were + against all attempts to mutilate or corrupt the primitive + apostolic records. In defending the true gospel of Luke against + the mutilated form of it employed by Marcion, he says: "I affirm + that not in the apostolic churches alone, but in all which are + joined with them in the bond of fellowship, that gospel of Luke + which we most firmly maintain, has been valid from its first + publication; but Marcion's gospel is unknown to most of them, + and known to none, except to be condemned." This testimony of + Tertullian is very important, as showing his full conviction + that Marcion could not deny the universal reception, from the + beginning, of the genuine gospel of Luke. And a little + afterwards he adds: "The same authority of the apostolic + churches will defend the other gospels also, which we have in + like manner through them, and according to them," (Against + Marcion, 4. 5.) Many more quotations of like purport might be + added. + + _Clement of Alexandria_ was a pupil of Pantaenus, and his + successor as head of the catechetical school at Alexandria in + Egypt. He was of heathen origin, born probably about the middle + of the second century, and died about A.D. 220. He had a + philosophical turn of mind, and after his conversion to + Christianity made extensive researches under various teachers, + as he himself tells us, in Greece, in Italy, in Palestine, and + other parts of the East. At last he met with Pantaenus in Egypt, + whom he preferred to all his other guides, and in whose + instructions he rested. The testimony of Clement to the + universal and undisputed reception by the churches of the four + canonical gospels as the writings of apostles or apostolic men, + agrees with that of Tertullian. And it has the more weight, not + only on account of his wide investigations, but because, also, + it virtually contains the testimony of his several teachers, + some of whom must have known, if not the apostles themselves, + those who had listened to their teachings. + + In connection with the testimony of the above-named writers, we + may consider that of the _churches of Lyons and Vienne_ in Gaul, + in a letter addressed by them to "the churches of Asia and + Phrygia," which Eusebius has preserved for us, (Hist. Eccl., 5. + 1,) and which describes a severe persecution through which they + passed in the reign of Antoninus Verus, about A.D. 177. In this + they say: "So was fulfilled that which was spoken by our Lord, + 'The time shall come in which whosoever killeth you shall think + that he doeth God service.'" In speaking again of a certain + youthful martyr, they first compare him to Zacharias, the father + of John the Baptist, affirming, in the very words of Luke, that + he "had walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the + Lord blameless," (Luke 1:6;) and then go on to describe him as + "having the Comforter in himself, the Spirit, more abundantly + than Zacharias," where they apply to the Holy Spirit a term + peculiar to the apostle John. Here, then, we have indubitable + testimony to the fact that the gospel of John, as well as of + Luke, was known to the churches of Gaul in the west and Asia + Minor in the east in the days of Pothinus, bishop of these + churches, who suffered martyrdom in this persecution. But + Pothinus was ninety years old, so that his knowledge of these + gospels must have reached back to the first quarter of the + second century, when many who had known the apostles were yet + living. + +5. These testimonies, let it be carefully remembered, apply not to one +part of Christendom alone, but to all its different and distant +divisions; and that, too, long before there was any attempt to bring the +judgment of the churches into harmony by means of general councils. The +orthodox churches planted in the different provinces of the Roman +empire, though in substantial harmony with each other, had nevertheless +their minor differences, which were sometimes discussed with much +warmth. In their relation to each other, they were jealous of their +freedom and independence. The history of the so-called _Antilegomena_ +(Disputed Books of the New Testament, chap. 6) shows that the reception +of a writing as apostolic in one division of Christendom, did not insure +its reception elsewhere. Had it been possible that a spurious book +should be imposed as genuine on the churches of one region, it would +certainly have met with opposition in other regions; but our four +canonical gospels were everywhere received without dispute as the +writings of apostles or apostolic men. This fact admits of but one +explanation: the churches had from their first appearance indubitable +evidence of their genuineness. + +6. Let it be further remembered that this testimony relates not to books +of a private character, that might have lain for years hidden in some +corner; but to the _public writings_ of the churches, on which their +faith was founded, of which they all had copies, and which it was the +custom, from the apostolic age, to read in their assemblies along with +the law and the prophets. (Justin Martyr Apol., 1. 67.) Earnestness and +sincerity are traits which will not be denied to the primitive +Christians, and they were certainly not wanting in common discernment. +Let any man show, if he can, how a spurious gospel, suddenly appearing +somewhere after the apostolic days, could have been imposed upon the +churches as genuine, not only where it originated, but everywhere else +in Christendom. The difficulty with which some of the genuine books of +the New Testament gained universal currency sufficiently refutes such an +absurd supposition. + +7. We are now prepared to consider the testimonies of an earlier period. +Here _Justin Martyr_ is a very weighty witness, since he lived so near +the apostolic age, and had every facility for investigating the history +of the gospel narratives. He was born near the beginning of the second +century, and his extant works date from about the middle of the same +century. Before his conversion to Christianity he was a heathen +philosopher earnestly seeking for the truth among the different systems +of the age. Of his undoubtedly genuine works, there remain to us two +Apologies (defences of Christianity) and a Dialogue with Trypho a Jew, +designed to defend the Christian religion against its Jewish opponents. +In these he quotes the gospel of Matthew very abundantly; next in number +are his quotations from Luke. His references to Mark and John are much +fewer, but enough to show his acquaintance with them. He never quotes +the evangelists by name, but designates their writings as "The Memoirs +of the Apostles;" and more fully, "The memoirs which I affirm to have +been composed by his"--our Lord's--"apostles and their followers," +Dialog., ch. 103, "which," he elsewhere says, "are called gospels," +Apol. 1. 66, and in a collective sense, "the gospel," Dialog., ch. 10. +It should be carefully noticed that he speaks in the plural number both +of the apostles who composed the gospels and their followers. This +description applies exactly to our canonical gospels--two written by +apostles, and two by their followers. + + The attempt has been made in modern times to set aside Justin's + testimony, on the alleged ground that he quotes not from our + canonical gospels, but from some other writings. The + groundlessness of this supposition is manifest at first sight. + Justin had visited the three principal churches of Rome, + Alexandria, and Ephesus. It is certain that he knew what gospels + were received by them in his day as authentic, and that these + are the very gospels which he quotes, affirming that they were + the writings of apostles and their followers. Now, that the + gospels which Justin used should have been wholly supplanted by + others in the days of Irenaeus, who was of full age at the time + of Justin's death, is incredible. But Irenaeus, in common with + Clement, Tertullian, and others, quotes our four canonical + gospels as alone possessing apostolic authority, and as having + been always received by the churches. It follows that the + "Memoirs" of Justin must be the same gospels. We cannot conceive + that in this brief period an entire change of gospels should + have been made throughout all the different and distant + provinces of the Roman empire, at a time when concerted action + through general councils was unknown; and that, too, in so + silent a manner that no record of it remains in the history of + the church. The supposition that the gospels known to Justin + were different from those received by Irenaeus ought not to be + entertained without irrefragable proof. But no such proof + exists. "An accurate examination in detail of his citations," + says Semisch, Life of Justin Martyr, 4. 1, "has led to the + result that this title"--the Memoirs of the + Apostles--"designates the canonical gospels--a result in no way + less certain because again called in question in modern days." + + The agreement of his quotations with our present gospels is of + such a character and extent as can be explained only from his + use of them. The variations are mainly due to his habit of + quoting loosely from memory. "Many of these citations," says + Kirchhofer, "agree, word for word, with the gospels; others with + the substance, but with alterations and additions of words, with + transpositions and omissions; others give the thought only in a + general way; others still condense together the contents of + several passages and different sayings, in which case the + historic quotations are yet more free, and blend together, in + part, the accounts of Matthew and Luke. But some quotations are + not found at all in our canonical gospels," (see immediately + below;) "some, on the contrary, occur twice or thrice." + Quellensammlung, p. 89. note. Two or three more important + variations are, perhaps, due to the readings in the manuscripts + employed by Justin, since the later church fathers, who, as we + know, employed the canonical gospels, give the same variations. + Finally, Justin gives a few incidents and sayings not recorded + in our present gospels. As he lived so near the apostolic times + he may well have received these from tradition; but if in any + case he took them from written documents, there is no proof that + he ascribed to such documents apostolic authority. In one + passage, he accurately distinguishes between what he gives from + tradition or other written sources, and what from the apostolic + records. "When Jesus came," he says, "to the river Jordan, where + John was baptizing, as he descended to the water, both was a + fire kindled in the Jordan, and as he ascended from the water, + the apostles of this very Christ of ours have written that the + Holy Spirit as a dove lighted upon him." Dial., ch. 88. + + It has been doubted whether certain references to the _gospel of + John_ can be found in Justin's writings; but it seems plain that + the following is a free quotation from chapter 3:3-5: "For + Christ said, Except ye be born again, ye shall by no means enter + into the kingdom of heaven. But that it is impossible that they + who have once been born should enter into the wombs of those who + bare them is manifest to all." Apol. 1. 61. To affirm that a + passage so peculiar as this was borrowed by both the evangelist + John and Justin from a common tradition, is to substitute a very + improbable for a very natural explanation. Besides, Justin uses + phraseology peculiar to John, repeatedly calling our Saviour + "the Word of God," and "the Word made flesh;" affirming that he + "was in a peculiar sense begotten the only Son of God," "an only + begotten One to the Father of all things, being in a peculiar + sense begotten of him as Word and Power, and afterwards made man + through the Virgin;" and calling him "the good Rock that sends + forth (literally, causes to _bubble forth_--compare John 4:14) + living waters into the hearts of those who through him have + loved the Father of all things, and that gives to all who will + the water of life to drink." These and other references to John + may be seen in Kirchhofer's Quellensammlung, pp. 146, 147. + +8. Another early witness is _Papias_, who was bishop of Hierapolis, in +Phrygia, in the first half of the second century. He wrote "An +Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord," in five books. This work has +perished; but fragments of it, with notices of its contents, are +preserved to us by Eusebius and other writers. As Papias, according to +his own express testimony, gathered his materials, if not from apostles +themselves, yet from their immediate disciples, his statements are +invested with great interest. Of Matthew he says, Eusebius Hist. Eccl., +5. 39, that he "wrote the oracles in the Hebrew dialect, and every one +interpreted them as he could." He speaks of this interpretation by each +one as he could as something past, implying that in his day our present +Greek gospel of Matthew (of the apostolic authority of which there was +never any doubt in the early churches) was in circulation, whether it +was or was not originally composed in Hebrew, a question on which +learned men are not agreed. Of Mark he affirms that, "having become +Peter's interpreter, he wrote down accurately as many things as he +remembered; not recording in order the things that were said or done by +Christ, since he was not a hearer or follower of the Lord, but +afterwards"--after our Lord's ascension--"of Peter, who imparted his +teachings as occasion required, but not as making an orderly narrative +of the Lord's discourses." Hist. Eccl., 3. 39. The fact that Eusebius +gives no statement of Papias respecting the other two gospels is of +little account, since his notices of the authors to whom he refers, and +of their works, are confessedly imperfect. + + Eusebius notices, for example, Hist. Eccl. 4. 14, the fact that + Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians, "has used certain + testimonies from the First Epistle of Peter;" but says nothing + of his many references, in the same letter, to the epistles of + Paul, in some of which he quotes the apostle by name. We have, + nevertheless, through Eusebius, an indirect but valid testimony + from Papias to the authorship of the fourth gospel, resting upon + the admitted identity of the author of this gospel with the + author of the first of the epistles ascribed to John. Speaking + of Papias, Eusebius says: "But the same man used testimonies + from the First Epistle of John." Hist. Eccl., 3. 39, end. The + ascription to John of this epistle, is virtually the ascription + to him of the fourth gospel also. Eusebius speaks of Papias as a + man "of very small mind." The correctness of this judgment is + manifest from the specimens which he gives of his writings; but + it cannot invalidate the evidence we have from the above + passages of the existence, in Papias' day, of the gospels to + which he refers. As to the question whether these were our + present canonical gospels of Matthew and Mark, it is sufficient + to say that neither Eusebius nor any of the church fathers + understood them differently. + +9. A very interesting relic of antiquity is the _Epistle to Diognetus_, +of which the authorship is uncertain. Its date cannot be later than the +age of Justin Martyr, to whom it is ascribed by some. It is, +notwithstanding some erroneous views, a noble defence of Christianity, +in which the author shows his acquaintance with the gospel of John by +the use of terms and phrases peculiar to him. Thus he calls Christ "the +Word," and "the only begotten Son," whom God sent to men. In the words, +"not to take thought about raiment and food," section 9, there is an +apparent reference to Matt. 6:25, 31. + +In addition to the above testimonies might be adduced some fragments of +early Christian writers which have been preserved to us by those of a +later day; but for brevity's sake they are omitted. + +10. Following up the stream of testimony, we come now to that of the +so-called _apostolic fathers_; that is, of men who were disciples of +apostles, and wrote in the age next following them. Holding, as they do, +such a near relation to the apostles, and familiar with the oral +traditions of the apostolic age, we cannot expect to find in them such +frequent and formal references to the books of the New Testament as +characterize the works of later writers. They quote, for the most part, +anonymously, interweaving with their own words those of the sacred +writers. + + One of the earliest among the apostolic fathers is _Clement of + Rome_, who died about A.D. 100. Of the numerous writings + anciently ascribed to him, his First Epistle to the Corinthians + is admitted, upon good evidence, to be genuine. In this we find + words which imply a knowledge of the first three gospels. Citing + evidently from memory, in a loose way, he says: "For thus + he"--the Lord Jesus--"spake, 'Be merciful, that ye may obtain + mercy; forgive, that ye may be forgiven; as ye do, so shall it + be done to you; as ye give, so shall it be given to you; as ye + judge, so shall ye receive judgment; as ye are kind, so shall ye + receive kindness; with what measure ye measure, with that it + shall be measured to you.'" And again: "For he said, 'Woe unto + that man; it were better for him that he had not been born, than + that he should offend one of my elect.'" + + _Ignatius_ was bishop of the church at Antioch, and suffered + martyrdom A.D. 107, or according to some accounts, 116. In his + epistles, which are received as genuine, are manifest quotations + from the gospel of Matthew, and some apparent though not + entirely certain allusions to the gospel of John. + + _Polycarp_, bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of the apostle + John. He suffered martyrdom about the year 166. Of his writings, + only one short epistle, addressed to the Philippians, remains to + us; but this abounds in references to the books of the New + Testament, especially the epistles of Paul. Of quotations from + the gospel of Matthew, the following are examples: "Judge not, + that ye be not judged; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; be + merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; with what measure ye mete, + it shall be measured to you again." "Blessed are the poor in + spirit, and those that suffer persecution for righteousness' + sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "The spirit indeed + is willing, but the flesh is weak." For the gospel of John, + Polycarp's testimony, though indirect, is decisive. In his + letter to the Philippians, he quotes from the First Epistle of + John, "For every one who does not confess that Jesus Christ has + come in the flesh, is antichrist." 1 John 4:3. But that the + gospel of John and this first epistle both proceeded from the + same author, is a conceded fact. + + The recently discovered Sinai Codex, the oldest known codex in + the world, contains the entire _Epistle of Barnabas_ in the + original Greek. In this we find, among other references to the + first three gospels, one to the _written_ gospel of Matthew of + the most decisive character: "Let us be mindful, therefore, lest + perchance we be found as it is written, 'Many are called, but + few are chosen.'" Matt. 20:16; 22:14. The form of quotation, "as + it is written," is employed by the writers of the New Testament + only of citations from Scripture. In these words the writer + places the gospel of Matthew in the same rank as the Scriptures + of the Old Testament. That he was the Barnabas mentioned in the + New Testament as the companion of Paul cannot be maintained; but + the composition of the epistle is assigned, with probability, to + the beginning of the second century, though some place it as + late as its close. + + The testimony of other apocryphal writings of early date might + be adduced, but for the sake of brevity it is here omitted. It + may be seen in the essay of Tischendorf, already referred to. + +11. A different class of witnesses will next be considered--the ancient +Syriac version, the old Latin version, and the Muratorian fragment on +the canon of the New Testament--all of which bear testimony to our +canonical gospels. + + The ancient _Syriac_ version, commonly called the + Peshito--_simple_, that is, expressing simply the meaning of the + original, without allegorical additions and explanations, after + the manner of the Jewish Targums--is admitted by all to be of + very high antiquity. Learned men are agreed that this version + cannot well be referred to a later date than the close of the + second century, and some assign it to the middle of the second + century, at which time the Syrian churches were in a very + flourishing condition, and cannot well be supposed to have been + without a version of the Holy Scriptures. The Peshito contains + all the books of the New Testament, except the Second Epistle of + Peter, the Second and Third Epistles of John, the Epistle of + Jude, and the Apocalypse. It testifies to the existence of our + four gospels, not only when it was made, but at an earlier date; + since we must, in all probability, assume that some considerable + time elapsed after the composition, one by one, of the books of + the New Testament, before they were collected into a volume, as + in this Syriac version. + + Respecting the _Old Latin_ version, (in distinction from + Jerome's revision, commonly called the _Vulgate_, which belongs + to the fourth century,) various opinions have been maintained. + Some have assumed the existence of several independent Latin + versions of the New Testament, or of some of its books; but the + preferable opinion is that there were various recensions, all + having for their foundation a single version, namely, the Old + Latin; which, says Westcott, Canon of the New Testament, ch. 3, + "can be traced back as far as the earliest records of Latin + Christianity. Every circumstance connected with it indicates the + most remote antiquity." It was current in north Africa, at least + soon after the middle of the second century. Though it has not + come down to us in a perfect form, it contains, along with most + of the other books of the New Testament, our four canonical + gospels; and its testimony is of the greatest weight. + + The _Muratorian_ Fragment on the _Canon_ is the name given to a + Latin fragment discovered by the Italian scholar, Muratori, in + the Ambrosian Library at Milan, in a manuscript bearing the + marks of great antiquity. Its date is determined by its + reference to the shepherd of Hermas, which, says the Fragment, + Hermas "wrote very recently in our times, while the bishop Pius, + his brother, occupied the chair of the church at Rome." The + later of the two dates given for the death of Pius is A.D. 157. + The composition of the Fragment must have followed soon + afterwards. Though mutilated at the beginning, as well as the + end, its testimony to the existence of the _four_ canonical + gospels is decisive. In its present form, it opens with the end + of a sentence, the beginning of which is lost. It then goes on + to say, "_The third gospel according to Luke_." After mentioning + various particulars concerning Luke, as that he was a physician + whom Paul had taken with him, that he did not himself see the + Lord in the flesh, etc., it adds, "_The fourth of the gospels, + that of John, of the number of the disciples_," to which it + appends a traditional account of the circumstances of its + composition. With the truth or falsehood of this account we have + at present no concern; the important fact is that this very + ancient canon recognizes the existence of our four canonical + gospels. + +12. The heretical sects of the second century furnish testimony to the +genuineness of our canonical gospels which is of the most weighty and +decisive character. Though some of them rejected certain books of the +New Testament and mutilated others, it was on doctrinal, not on critical +grounds. Had they attempted to disprove on historic grounds the +genuineness of the rejected portions of Scripture, it is certain that +the church fathers, who wrote against them at such length, would have +noticed their arguments. The fact that they did not, is conclusive proof +that no such attempt was made; but from the position which the leaders +of these heretical sects occupied, it is certain that, could the +genuineness of the canonical gospels, or any one of them, have been +denied on historic grounds, the denial would have been made. + + _Marcion_, one of the most distinguished leaders of those who + separated themselves from the orthodox church, came to Rome in + the second quarter of the second century. He separated + Christianity from all connection with Judaism, making the + Jehovah of the Old Testament a different being from the God of + the New Testament. His gospel, called by the ancients the gospel + of Marcion, is admitted to have been a mutilated copy of Luke's + gospel. Of course it became necessary that he should reject the + first two chapters of this gospel, (which alone he received,) + since they contain our Lord's genealogy in the line of Abraham + and David, and should otherwise alter it to suit his views. On + the same grounds, he altered the epistles of Paul also. That + Marcion was not ignorant of the other three gospels, but + rejected them, is plain from the words of Tertullian, who + accuses him, Against Marcion, 4. 3, of attempting "to destroy + the credit of those gospels which are properly such, and are + published under the name of apostles, or also of apostolic men; + that he may invest his own gospel with the confidence which he + withdraws from them." His real ground for rejecting some books + of the New Testament and mutilating others was that _he_ could + judge better of the truth than the writers themselves, whom he + represented to have been misled by the influences of Jewish + prejudices. Accordingly Irenaeus well says of the liberties taken + by Marcion, Against Heresies, 1. 27: "He persuaded his disciples + that he was himself more trustworthy than the apostles who have + delivered to us the gospel; while he gave to them not the + gospel, but a fragment of the gospel." + + A distinguished leader of the Gnostics was _Valentinus_, who + came to Rome about A.D. 140, and continued there till the time + of Anicetus. His testimony and that of his followers is, if + possible, more weighty than even that of Marcion. His method, + according to the testimony of Tertullian, was not to reject and + mutilate the Scriptures, but to pervert their meaning by false + interpretations. Tertullian says, Against Heretics, ch. 38: "For + though Valentinus seems to use the entire instrument, he has + done violence to the truth with a more artful mind than + Marcion." "The entire instrument"--Latin, _integro + instrumento_--includes our four canonical gospels. Clement of + Alexandria and Hippolytus have preserved quotations from + Valentinus in which he refers to the gospels of Matthew, Luke, + and John. See Westcott, Canon of the New Testament, 4. 5. + Respecting the gospel of John in particular, Irenaeus says, + Against Heresies, 3. 11, that "the Valentinians make the most + abundant use of it." Heracleon, whom Origen represents as having + been a familiar friend of Valentinus, wrote a commentary on + John, from which Origen frequently quotes; but if Valentinus and + his followers, in the second quarter of the second century, used + "the entire instrument," they must have found its apostolic + authority established upon a firm foundation before their day. + This carries us back to the age immediately succeeding that of + the apostles, when Polycarp and others who had known them + personally were yet living. The testimony of the Valentinians, + then, is of the most decisive character. + + Another prominent man among the heretical writers was _Tatian_, + a contemporary and pupil of Justin Martyr, who, according to the + testimony of Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Theodoret, composed a + _Diatessaron_, that is, a _four-fold gospel_; which can be + understood only as a harmony of the four gospels which, as has + been shown, were used by Justin; or of such parts of these + gospels as suited his purpose; for Tatian, like Marcion, omitted + all that relates to our Lord's human descent. With this + Diatessaron, Theodoret was well acquainted; for he found among + his churches more than two hundred copies, which he caused to be + removed, and their places supplied by the four canonical + gospels. + + As to other gospels of the second century, which are + occasionally mentioned by later writers, as "The Gospel of + Truth," "The Gospel of Basilides," etc., there is no evidence + that they professed to be connected histories of our Lord's life + and teachings. They were rather, as Norton has shown, + Genuineness of the Gospels, vol. 3, chap. 4, doctrinal works + embodying the views of the sectaries that used them. + +13. We have seen how full and satisfactory is the external evidence for +our four canonical gospels. Considering how scanty are the remains of +Christian writings that have come down to us from the first half of the +same century, we have all the external evidence for that period also +that could be reasonably demanded, and it is met by no rebutting +testimony that rests on historic grounds. The authorship of no ancient +classical work is sustained by a mass of evidence so great and varied, +and the candid mind can rest in it with entire satisfaction. + +III. _Internal Evidences._ 14. Here we may begin with considering the +relation of the first three gospels to the last, in respect to both time +of composition and character. + +And first, with respect to _time_. The first three gospels--frequently +called the _synoptical_ gospels, or the _synoptics_, because from the +general similarity of their plan and materials their contents are +capable of being summed up in a synopsis--record our Lord's prophecy of +the overthrow of Jerusalem. The three records of this prediction wear +throughout the costume of a true prophecy, not of a prophecy written +after the event. They are occupied, almost exclusively, with the various +_signs_ by which the approach of that great catastrophe might be known, +and with admonitions to the disciples to hold themselves in readiness +for it. Matthew, for example, devotes fifty verses to the account of the +prophecy and the admonitions connected with it. Of these, only four, +chap. 24:19-22, describe the calamities of the scene, and that in the +most general terms. Now, upon the supposition that the evangelist wrote +before the event, all this is natural. Our Lord's design in uttering the +prophecy was not to gratify the idle curiosity of the disciples, but to +warn them beforehand in such a way that they might escape the horrors of +the impending catastrophe. He dwelt, therefore, mainly on the signs of +its approach; and with these, as having a chief interest for the +readers, the record of the prediction is mostly occupied. It is +impossible, on the other hand, to conceive that one who wrote years +after the destruction of the city and temple should not have dwelt in +more detail on the bloody scenes connected with their overthrow, and +have given in other ways also a historic coloring to his account. We may +safely say that to write a prophecy after the event in such a form as +that which we have in either of the first three gospels, transcends the +power of any uninspired man; and as to inspired narratives, the +objectors with whom we are now dealing deny them altogether. + +But there are, in the record of this prophecy, some special indications +of the time when the evangelists wrote. According to Matthew, the +disciples asked, ver. 3: "When shall these things"--the destruction of +the buildings of the temple--"be? and what shall be the sign of thy +coming and of the end of the world?" These questions our Lord proceeded +to answer in such a way that the impression on the minds of the hearers +(to be rectified only by the course of future events) must have been +that the overthrow of the temple and city would be connected with his +second coming and the end of the world. "Immediately after the +tribulation of those days," says Matthew, "shall the sun be darkened," +etc. The probable explanation of this peculiar form of the prophecy is +that it does actually include all three events; the fulfilment which it +had in the destruction of the city and temple by the Romans being only +an earnest of a higher fulfilment hereafter. But however this may be, it +is important to notice that the evangelists, in their record of the +prophecy, are evidently unconscious of any discrepancy, real or +apparent, that needs explanation; which could not have been the case had +they written years after the event predicted. "It may be safely held," +says Professor Fisher, Supernatural Origin of Christianity, p. 172, +"that had the evangelist been writing at a later time, some explanation +would have been thrown in to remove the _seeming_ discrepancy between +prophecy and fulfilment." + +It should be further noticed that the evangelists Matthew and Mark, in +reference to "the abomination of desolation" standing in the holy place, +throw in the admonitory words, "Let him that readeth understand." These +are not the Saviour's words, but those of the narrators calling the +attention of believers to a most important sign requiring their +immediate flight to the mountains. Before the overthrow of the city +these words had a weighty office; after its overthrow they would have +been utterly superfluous. Their presence in such a connection is proof +that the record was written before the event to which it refers. + +Admitting the genuineness and authenticity of the book of Acts, (which +will be considered hereafter,) we have a special proof of the early +composition of the gospel according to Luke. The book of Acts ends +abruptly with Paul's two years residence at Rome, which brings us down +to A.D. 65, five years before the destruction of Jerusalem. The only +natural explanation of this fact is that here the composition of the +book of Acts was brought to a close. The date of the gospel which +preceded, Acts 1:1, must therefore be placed still earlier. + +If, now, we examine the gospel of John, we find its internal character +agreeing with the ancient tradition that it was written at Ephesus late +in the apostle's life. That it was composed at a distance from Judea, in +a Gentile region, is manifest from his careful explanation of Jewish +terms and usages, which among his countrymen would have needed no +explanation. No man writing in Judea, or among the Galileans who +habitually attended the national feasts at Jerusalem, would have said, +"And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh," 6:4; "Now the Jews' +feast of tabernacles was at hand," 7:2, etc. The absence of all +reference to the overthrow of the Jewish polity, civil and +ecclesiastical, may be naturally explained upon the supposition that the +apostle wrote some years after that event, when his mind had now become +familiar with the great truth that the Mosaic institutions had forever +passed away to make room for the universal dispensation of Christianity; +and that he wrote, too, among Gentiles for whom the abolition of these +institutions had no special interest. In general style and spirit, +moreover, the gospel of John is closely allied to his first epistle, and +cannot well be separated from it by a great interval of time; but the +epistle undoubtedly belongs to a later period of the apostle's life. + + From the language of John, chap. 5:2, "Now there _is_ at + Jerusalem, by the sheep-gate, a pool, which is called in the + Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, _having_ five porches,"--it has been + argued that, when John wrote, the city must have been still + standing. But Eusebius speaks of the pool as remaining in his + day, and why may not the porches, as useful to the Roman + conquerors, have been preserved, at least for a season? + +We have seen the relation of John's gospel to the other three in respect +to time. It must have been written several years later than the last of +them; perhaps not less than fifteen years. If, now, we look to its +relation in regard to _character_, we must say that it differs from them +as widely as it well could while presenting to our view the same divine +and loving Saviour. Its general plan is different. For reasons not known +to us, the synoptical gospels are mainly occupied with our Lord's +ministry in Galilee. They record only his last journey to Jerusalem, and +the momentous incidents connected with it. John, on the contrary, +notices his visits to Jerusalem year by year. Hence his materials are, +to a great extent, different from theirs; and even where he records the +same events--as, for example, the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and +the last supper--he connects with them long discourses, which the other +evangelists have omitted. Particularly noticeable are our Lord's +oft-repeated discussions with the unbelieving Jews respecting his +Messiahship, and his confidential intercourse with his disciples, in +both of which we have such treasures of divine truth and love. How +strikingly this gospel differs from the others in its general style and +manner every reader feels at once. It bears throughout the impress of +John's individuality, and by this it is immediately connected with the +epistles that bear his name. It should be added that in respect to the +time when our Lord ate the passover with his disciples there is an +apparent disagreement with the other three gospels, which the harmonists +have explained in various ways. + +The essential point of the above comparison is this: Notwithstanding the +striking difference between the later fourth gospel and the earlier +three, it was at once received by all the churches as of apostolic +authority. Now upon the supposition of its genuineness, both its +peculiar character and its undisputed reception everywhere are easily +explained. John, the bosom disciple of our Lord, wrote with the full +consciousness of his apostolic authority and his competency as a witness +of what he had himself seen and heard. He therefore gave his testimony +in his own independent and original way. How far he may have been +influenced in his selection of materials by a purpose to supply what was +wanting in the earlier gospels, according to an old tradition, it is not +necessary here to inquire; it is sufficient to say that, under the +illumination of the Holy Spirit, he marked out that particular plan +which we have in his gospel, and carried it out in his own peculiar +manner, thus opening to the churches new mines, so to speak, of the +inexhaustible fulness of truth and love contained in him in whom +"dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily." And when this original +gospel, so different in its general plan and style from those that +preceded, made its appearance, the apostolic authority of its author +secured its immediate and universal reception by the churches. All this +is very plain and intelligible. + +But upon the supposition that the gospel of John is a spurious +production of the age succeeding that of the apostles, let any one +explain, if he can, how it could have obtained universal and +unquestioned apostolic authority. Its very difference from the earlier +gospels must have provoked inquiry and examination, and these must have +led to its rejection, especially at a time when some who had known the +apostle yet survived; and no one now pretends to assign to it a later +period. + +15. We will next consider the relation of the first three gospels to +each other. Here we have remarkable agreements with remarkable +differences. The general plan of all three is the same. It is manifest +also, at first sight, that there lies at the foundation of each a basis +of common matter--common not in substance alone, but to a great extent +in form also. Equally manifest is it that the three evangelists write +independently of each other. Matthew, for example, did not draw his +materials from Luke; for there is his genealogy of our Lord, and his +full account of the sermon on the mount, not to mention other +particulars. Nor did Luke take his materials from Matthew; for there is +his genealogy also, with large sections of matter peculiar to himself. +Mark has but little matter that is absolutely new; but where he and the +other two evangelists record the same events, if one compares his +narratives with theirs, he finds numerous little incidents peculiar to +this gospel woven into them in a very vivid and graphic manner. They +come in also in the most natural and artless way, as might be expected +from one who, if not himself an eye-witness, received his information +immediately from eye-witnesses. The three writers, moreover, do not +always agree as to the order in which they record events; yet, +notwithstanding the diversities which they exhibit, they were all +received from the first as of equal authority. + +The natural explanation of this is that all three wrote in the apostolic +age, and consequently had access, each of them independently of the +other two, to the most authentic sources of information. These sources +(so far as the evangelists were not themselves eye-witnesses) lay +partly, perhaps, in written documents like those referred to by Luke, +1:1, partly in the unwritten traditions current in the apostolic +churches, and partly in personal inquiry from eye-witnesses, especially, +in the case of Mark and Luke, from apostles themselves. From these +materials each selected as suited his purposes, and the churches +everywhere unhesitatingly received each of the three gospels, +notwithstanding the above-named variations between them, because they +had undoubted evidence of their apostolic authority. We cannot suppose +that after the apostolic age three gospels, bearing to each other the +relation which these do, could have been imposed upon the churches as +all of them equally authentic. We know from the history of Marcion's +gospel how fully alive they were to the character of their sacred +records. On apostolic authority they could receive--to mention a single +example--both Matthew's and Luke's account of our Lord's genealogy; but +it is certain that they would not have received the two on the authority +of men who lived after the apostolic age. + +16. In the gospel narratives are numerous incidental allusions to +passing events without the proper sphere of our Lord's labors, to social +customs, and to the present posture of public affairs, civil and +ecclesiastical. In all these the severest scrutiny has been able to +detect _no trace of a later age_. This is a weighty testimony to the +apostolic origin of the gospels. Had their authors lived in a later age, +the fact must have manifested itself in some of these references. The +most artless writer can allude in a natural and truthful way to present +events, usages, and circumstances; but it transcends the power of the +most skilful author to multiply incidental and minute references to a +past age without betraying the fact that he does not belong to it. + +17. Every age has, also, its peculiar impress of thought and reasoning +in religious, not less than in secular matters. Although the gospel +itself remains always the same, and those who sincerely embrace it have +also substantially the same character from age to age, there is, +nevertheless, continual progress and change in men's apprehension of the +gospel and its institutions, and consequently in their manner of +reasoning concerning them. No man, for example, could write a treatise +on Christianity at the present day without making it manifest that he +did not belong to the first quarter of the present century. The +primitive age of Christianity is no exception to this universal law. +Under the auspices of the apostles it began to move forward, and it +continued to move after their decease. The pastoral epistles of Paul +bear internal marks of having been written in the later period of his +life, because they are adapted to the state of the Christian church and +its institutions that belonged to that, and not to an earlier period. +If, now, we examine the writings of the so-called apostolic +fathers--disciples of the apostles, who wrote after their death--we find +in them circles of thought and reasoning not belonging to the canonical +writings of the New Testament, least of all to the canonical gospels, +though they are evidently derived from hints contained in these +writings, whether rightly or wrongly apprehended. In this respect, the +works of the apostolic fathers are distinguished in a very marked way +from those which bear the names of the apostles themselves or their +associates. + +18. Another decisive argument lies in the _character of the Greek_ +employed by the evangelists, in common with the other writers of the New +Testament. It is the Greek language employed by Jews, (or, in the case +of Luke, if his Jewish origin be doubted--see Col. 4:11, 16--by one who +had received a Jewish training under the influence of the Greek version +of the Old Testament,) and therefore pervaded and colored by Hebrew +idioms. This peculiar form of the Greek language belongs to the +apostolic age, when the teachers and writers of the church were Jews. +After the overthrow of Jerusalem, the dispersion of the Jewish nation, +and the death of the apostles and their associates, it rapidly +disappeared. Thenceforward the writers of the church were of Gentile +origin and training, in accordance with the Saviour's memorable words: +"The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation +bringing forth the fruits thereof." + +These internal proofs, coinciding as they do with a mass of external +evidences so great and varied, place the genuineness of the four +canonical gospels on a foundation that cannot be shaken. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +UNCORRUPT PRESERVATION OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. + + +1. It is necessary, first of all, to define what is meant in the present +connection by the uncorrupt preservation of the gospel narratives. When +a man, whose business it is to examine and compare manuscripts or +editions of a work, speaks of a given text as corrupt, he means one +thing; in a question concerning the truth of the Christian system as +given in the writings of the New Testament, a corrupt text means +something very different. The collator of manuscripts understands by a +corrupt text one that has been marred by the carelessness or bad +judgment of transcribers, whence have arisen so many "various readings," +though these do not change, or essentially obscure the facts and +doctrines of Christianity, as has been most conclusively shown by the +results of modern textual criticism; but in an inquiry whether we have +in our canonical gospels the account of our Lord's life and teachings as +it was originally written by the evangelists in all essential +particulars, we have to do with the question, not of various readings, +such as are incident to all manuscripts, but of essential additions, +alterations, or mutilations--like those, for example, which Marcion +attempted--by which the facts and doctrines themselves are changed or +obscured. It is against the charge of such essential corruptions that we +maintain the integrity of the text in the gospels, as in the other books +of the New Testament. + +2. The most important materials for writing in ancient times were the +paper made of the Egyptian _papyrus_ plant--whence the word _paper_--and +_parchment_, prepared from the skins of animals, the finer kinds of +which are called _vellum_. Both are of high antiquity. The use of the +above-mentioned paper was very common in the apostolic age; and from an +incidental notice in the New Testament, (2 John 12 compared with 3 John +13,) it appears to have been the material employed by the apostles +themselves. But the use of parchment became more common in the following +centuries, while that of papyrus-paper gradually ceased. To this +circumstance we owe, in a great measure, the preservation of our oldest +manuscripts; for the papyrus-paper was of a very perishable nature, and +the manuscripts written upon it that have come down to us from high +antiquity have been kept in specially favorable circumstances, as, for +example, in the ancient Egyptian tombs. With the disuse of papyrus-paper +ceased also the ancient form of the roll. All manuscripts written on +parchment are in the form of books with leaves. From about the eleventh +century, paper made from cotton or linen came into common use. + +The costliness of writing materials gave rise to a peculiar usage. From +the leaves of an ancient work the original writing was erased, more or +less perfectly. They were then employed as the material for another +work, the latter being written over the former. Such manuscripts are +called _palimpsests_--_written again_ after erasure. The original +writing, which is very often the sacred text, can in general be +deciphered, especially by the aid of certain chemical applications. Some +of our most precious manuscripts are of this character. + +The existing manuscripts of the New Testament are of two kinds. _First_, +the _uncial_, that is, those written in capital letters. Here belong all +the most ancient and valuable. The writing is generally in columns, from +two to four to a page; sometimes in a single column. There is no +division of the text into words; the marks of interpunction are few and +simple; and till the seventh century there were no accents, and +breathings only in special cases. _Secondly_, the _cursive_, or those +written in running-hand, with division of the text into words, capitals +only for initial letters, accents, breathings, etc., and often with many +contractions. This is the common form of manuscripts after the tenth +century, the uncial being retained for some ages afterwards only in +books designed for use in the church service. In both the uncial and the +cursive manuscripts, each century has its peculiar style of writing. +From this, as well as from the quality of the materials, expert judges +can determine the age of a given manuscript with a good degree of +accuracy. + + The details pertaining to the form of ancient manuscripts, their + number, character, etc., belong to the department of textual + criticism. The above brief notices are given to prepare the way + for a statement of the evidence that we have the gospel + narratives, as also the other books of the New Testament, + without corruption in the form in which they were originally + written. _See the PLATES at the beginning of this book._ + +3. Of the autograph manuscripts proceeding immediately from the inspired +authors we find no trace after the apostolic age. Here, as elsewhere, +the wisdom of God has carefully guarded the church against a +superstitious veneration for the merely outward instruments of +redemption. We do not need the wood of the true cross that we may have +redemption through the blood of Christ; nor do we need the identical +manuscripts that proceeded from the apostles and their companions, since +we have the contents of these manuscripts handed down to us without +corruption in any essential particular. This appears from various +considerations. + +_First._ Several hundred manuscripts of the gospels, or of portions of +them, (to confine our attention at present to these,) have been +examined, two of them belonging to the fourth century and two, with some +fragments, to the fifth. All these, though written in different +centuries and coming from widely different regions, contain essentially +the same text. In them, not one of the great facts or doctrines of the +gospel history is mutilated or obscured. + +_Secondly._ The quotations of the church fathers from the last part of +the second to the end of the fourth century are so copious, that from +them almost the entire text of our present gospels could be +reconstructed. These quotations agree substantially with each other and +with the text of our existing manuscripts; only that the earlier +fathers, as already noticed, chap. 2. 3, often quote loosely from +memory, blend together different narratives, and interweave with the +words of Scripture their own explanatory remarks. + +_Thirdly._ We have two _versions_ of the New Testament--the Old Latin or +Italic, and the Syriac called Peshito--which learned men are agreed in +placing somewhere in the last half of the second century. The testimony +of these witnesses to the uncorrupt preservation of the sacred text, +from the time when they first appeared to the present, is decisive; for +they also agree essentially with the Greek text of the gospel as we now +possess it. Nor is this all. Davidson affirms of the Old Latin version, +that "the more ancient the Greek manuscripts, the closer is their +agreement with it." And Tischendorf says of the oldest known manuscript +of the Bible--the Greek Sinai Codex, brought by him from the convent of +St. Catharine, Mount Sinai, in 1859--that its agreement, in the New +Testament portion, with the Old Latin version, is remarkable. Through +the joint testimony, then, on the one hand, of the most ancient Greek +manuscripts, especially the Sinai Codex, which is the oldest of them +all; and on the other, of the Old Latin version which belongs to the +last half of the second century, we are carried back to a very ancient +and pure form of the Greek text prevalent before the execution of this +version, that is, about the middle of the second century. Tischendorf +adds arguments to show that the Syriac Peshito version, the text of +which has not come down to us in so pure a state, had for its basis +substantially the same form of text as the Old Latin and the Sinai +Codex. + + The substantial identity of the sacred text, as we now have it, + with that which has existed since about the middle of the second + century, is thus shown to be a matter not of probable + conjecture, but of certain knowledge. Here, then, we have a sure + criterion by which to measure and interpret the complaints which + textual critics, ancient or modern, have made, sometimes in very + strong language, concerning the corruptions that have found + their way into the text of the New Testament. These writers have + reference to what are called "various readings," not to + mutilations and alterations, such as those charged by the + ancients upon Marcion, by which he sought to change the facts + and doctrines of the gospel. That this must be their meaning we + know; for there are the manuscripts by hundreds as witnesses, + all of which, the most corrupt as textual critics would call + them, as well as the purest, give in the gospel narratives the + same facts and doctrines without essential variation. + + Let not the inexperienced inquirer be misled into any wrong + conclusion by the number of "various readings," amounting to + many thousands, which textual criticism has brought to light. + The greater the number of manuscripts collated, the greater will + be the number of these readings; while, at the same time, we are + continually making a nearer approach to the purity of the + primitive text. As a general rule these variations relate to + trifling particulars; as, for example, whether the conjunction + _and_ shall be inserted or omitted; whether _but_ or _for_ is + the true reading; whether this or that order of words giving the + same sense shall have the preference, etc. A few of the + variations are of a more important character. Thus, in John + 1:18, some manuscripts and fathers instead of _only begotten + Son_, read _only begotten God_. But even here we may decide + either way without changing or obscuring the great truths of the + gospel narratives; for these are not dependent on particular + words or phrases, but pervade and vivify the New Testament, as + the vital blood does the body. The same may be said of certain + passages which, on purely critical grounds--that is, the + authority of ancient manuscripts--some have thought doubtful; + as, for example, John 5:4, and the narrative recorded in the + beginning of the eighth chapter of the same gospel. The + insertion or omission of the passages concerning which any + reasonable doubts can be entertained on critical grounds, will + not affect in the least the great truths of the gospel + narratives. + +4. But it may be asked, Was the text from which the Old Latin version +was made, and with which, as we have seen, the oldest manuscripts have a +close agreement, substantially the same as that which proceeded from the +inspired authors? Here we must discard all groundless suppositions, and +adhere strictly to the known facts in the premises. + +The first fact to be noticed is the public reading of the gospels in the +Christian churches, a custom which prevailed from the earliest times. +Justin Martyr, writing before the middle of the second century, says of +the memoirs written by the apostles or their followers and called +gospels (which have been shown to be our canonical gospels, chap. 2:7) +that either these or the writings of the Jewish prophets were read in +the Christian churches on the first day of every week. This is a fact of +the highest importance; for it shows that the witnesses and guardians of +the sacred text were not a few individuals, but the great body of +believers, and that no systematic corruption of their contents could +have taken place without their knowledge and consent, which would never +have been given. + +Intimately connected with the above is a second fact, that of the great +multiplication of copies of the books of the New Testament, especially +of the gospel narratives, since these contain the great facts that lie +at the foundation of the Christian system. Every church would, as a +matter of course, be anxious to possess a copy, and Christians who +possessed the requisite means would furnish themselves with additional +copies for their own private use. If, now, we suppose one or more of +these copies to have been essentially changed, the corruption would not, +as in the case of a printed work, extend to many hundreds of copies. It +would be confined to the manuscript or manuscripts into which it had +been introduced and the copies made therefrom, while the numerous +uncorrupt copies would remain as witnesses of the fraud; for the +supposition of a very early corruption during the apostolic age, before +copies of the gospels had been to any considerable extent multiplied, is +utterly absurd. + +A third fact is the high value attached by the primitive churches to the +gospel narratives, and their consequent zeal for their uncorrupt +preservation. No one will deny to them the qualities of earnestness and +sincerity. To them the gospels were the record of their redemption +through the blood of Christ. For the truths contained in them they +steadfastly endured persecution in every form, and death itself. Could +we even suppose, contrary to evidence, that private transcribers altered +at pleasure their copies of the gospels, it is certain that the churches +would never have allowed their public copies to be tampered with. The +resistance which Marcion met with in his attempt to alter the sacred +text, shows how watchful was their jealousy for its uncorrupt +preservation. + +A still further fact is the want of time for essential corruptions, like +those now under consideration. That such corruptions could have taken +place during the apostolic age, no one will maintain. Equally certain is +it that they could not have happened during the age next succeeding, +while many presbyters and private Christians yet survived who had +listened to the apostles, and knew the history of the gospels written by +them or their companions. But this brings us down into the first part of +the second century. + +Leaving out of view the apostle John, who probably died near the close +of the first century, and assuming the martyrdom of Peter and Paul to +have taken place somewhere between A.D. 64 and 67, we may place the +beginning of the age now under consideration at A.D. 65. Of the numerous +Christians who were then thirty years or less of age many must have +survived till A.D. 110, and even later. Polycarp, a disciple of John, +suffered martyrdom A.D. 167, and doubtless many others of his hearers +survived till the middle of the second century. The time, then, during +which such a corruption as that now under consideration can be supposed +to have taken place is so narrowed down that it amounts to well-nigh +nothing; and it is, moreover, the very time during which Justin Martyr +wrote his Apologies, and Marcion made his unsuccessful attempt to +mutilate the gospel history. + +Finally, no evidence exists that the text of the gospel narratives has +been essentially corrupted. Of Marcion's abortive attempt we have +abundant notices in the writings of the early fathers. Their silence in +respect to other like attempts is conclusive proof that they were never +made. Had we the autographs of the evangelists, we should, with reason, +attach to them a high value; but there is no ground for supposing that +their text would differ in any essential particular from that which we +now possess. They would present to our view the same Saviour and the +same gospel. + +5. What has been said respecting the uncorrupt preservation of the +gospel narratives applies essentially to the other books of the New +Testament; so that in the consideration of them the above arguments will +not need to be repeated. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. + + +1. The genuineness and uncorrupt preservation of our four canonical +gospels having been established, the presumption in favor of their +authenticity and credibility is exceedingly strong. In truth, few can be +found who, admitting their apostolic origin in essentially their present +form, will venture to deny that they contain an authentic and reliable +record of facts. We may dismiss at once the modern theory which converts +the gospels into myths--pure ideas embodied in allegorical narratives +which have no historic foundation. Myths do not turn the world upside +down, as did the preaching of Christ and his apostles. Myths do not +inspire the souls of men and women by thousands and tens of thousands +with heroic zeal and courage, enabling them steadfastly to endure +persecution and death for the truth's sake. It was love towards a +crucified and risen Saviour in deed and in truth, not towards the +mythical idea of such a Saviour, that made the primitive Christians +victorious alike over inward sinful affection and outward persecution. +To every one who reads the gospel narratives in the exercise of his +sober judgment, it is manifest that they are intended to be plain +unvarnished statements of facts. The question is, Are these statements +reliable? Here new arguments can hardly be expected; the old are +abundantly sufficient. Reserving for another place those general +arguments which apply to the gospel system as a whole, let us here +briefly consider the character of the authors and their records; of the +events which they record with the surrounding circumstances; and +especially of Jesus, their great theme. + +2. It is natural to ask, in the first place, Were these men _sincere and +truthful_? Here we need not long delay. Their sincerity, with that of +their contemporaries who received their narratives as true, shines forth +like the sun in the firmament. With reference to them, the Saviour's +argument applies in all its force: "How can Satan cast out Satan?" "If +Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath +an end." The life-long work of the evangelists and their associates was +to cast out of the world all fraud and falsehood. If now they attempted +to do this by the perpetration of a most astounding fraud, we have the +case of Satan casting out Satan. But we need not argue the matter at +length. By what they did and suffered in behalf of their doctrines, as +well as by the artless simplicity of their narratives, they give full +proof of their sincerity and truthfulness. + +3. We next inquire: Were they _competent as men_? that is, were they men +of sober judgment, able correctly to see and record the facts that came +under their observation, and not visionary enthusiasts who mistook +dreams for realities? This question admits of a short and satisfactory +answer. No proof whatever exists that they were visionary men, but +abundant proof to the contrary. Their narratives are calm, +unimpassioned, and straightforward, without expatiation on the greatness +of Christ's character and works and the wickedness of his enemies, as is +the way of all excited enthusiasts. What Paul said to Festus applies in +its full force to them and their writings: "I am not mad, most noble +Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." If any one +will condemn them as visionary, it must be on the sole ground that all +belief in the supernatural is visionary--a position that will be noticed +hereafter. + +4. A further inquiry is, Were these men _competent as witnesses_? that +is, had they the requisite means of knowing the facts which they record? +With regard to the apostles Matthew and John, this matter need not be +argued. With regard to the other two, Luke states very fairly the +position which they occupied: "It seemed good to me also, having had +perfect understanding of all things," ("having accurately traced out all +things," as the original signifies,) "from the very beginning, to write +to thee, in order," etc. Luke had in abundance the means of accurately +tracing out all things relating to our Lord's life and works, for he was +the companion of apostles and others who "from the beginning were +eye-witnesses and ministers of the word;" and from them, according to +his own statement, he drew his information. The same is true of Mark +also. + +5. We come now to consider the _character of the works_ which they +record, and the circumstances in which they were performed. Here it may +be remarked in the outset that it is not necessary to examine in detail +all the miracles recorded in the gospel history. Though they all +proceeded alike from the direct agency of God, they are not all alike +open to human inspection. If upon examination we find the supernatural +origin of many of them raised above all possibility of doubt, it is a +legitimate inference that the rest of them had the same divine origin. +Not to insist then upon the miracles ascribed to our Lord within the +sphere of inanimate nature, such as the conversion of water into wine, +the feeding of many thousands with a few loaves and fishes, and walking +upon the sea, all of which were done in such circumstances that there is +no room for questioning their reality, let us examine some that were +performed upon the persons of men. Palsy, dropsy, withered limbs, +blindness, the want of hearing and speech, leprosy, confirmed +lunacy--all these were as well known in their outward symptoms eighteen +hundred years ago as they are to-day. Persons could not be afflicted +with such maladies in a corner. The neighbors must have known then, as +they do now, the particulars of such cases, and have been +unexceptionable witnesses to their reality. Persons may feign blindness +and other infirmities among strangers, but no man can pass himself off +as palsied, deaf and dumb, blind, (especially blind from birth,) halt, +withered, in his own community. The reality of the maladies then is +beyond all question; and so is also the reality of their instantaneous +removal by the immediate power of the Saviour. Here we must not fail to +take into account the immense number of our Lord's miracles, their +diversified character, and the fact that they were performed everywhere, +as well without as with previous notice, and in the most open and public +manner. Modern pretenders to miraculous power have a select circle of +marvellous feats, the exhibition of which is restricted to particular +places. No one of them would venture to undertake the cure of a man born +blind, or that had a withered limb, or that had been a paralytic for +thirty-eight years. But Jesus of Nazareth went about the cities and +villages of Judea for the space of three years, healing all manner of +disease. With him there was no distinction of easy and difficult, since +to Divine power nothing is hard. With the same word he rebuked a raging +fever, cleansed from leprosy, gave strength to the paralytic, healed the +withered limb, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech +to the dumb, and raised the dead to life. The same voice that said to +the man at Bethesda, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk," said also to +Lazarus, who had lain four days in the grave, "Come forth." + +6. It is with reason that we lay special stress upon the fact that +Christ performed many of his greatest miracles in the presence of his +enemies, who had both the means and the will to institute a searching +investigation concerning them, and who would have denied their reality +had it been in their power to do so. Sad indeed is the record of the +perverse opposition and calumny which our Lord encountered on the part +of the Jewish rulers. But even this has a bright side. It shows us that +the Saviour's miracles could endure the severest scrutiny--that after +every means which power and wealth and patronage and official influence +could command had been used for their disparagement, their divine origin +still shone forth like the unclouded sun at noon-day. If any one doubts +this, let him read attentively the ninth chapter of John's gospel, which +records the investigation instituted by the Jewish rulers respecting the +miracle of healing a man blind from his birth. In no modern court of +justice was a question of fact ever subjected to a severer scrutiny. And +the result was that they could not deny the miracle, but said in their +blind hatred of the Redeemer, "Give God the praise: we know that this +man is a sinner." So when they could not deny that Jesus cast out +devils, they alleged that he did it by the help of Satan; when it was +manifest that he had by a word healed a man that had lain +thirty-and-eight years a helpless paralytic, they blamed him for working +on the Sabbath-day; when Lazarus had been called out of his grave in the +presence of all the people, they said, "What do we? for this man doeth +many miracles." And then they consulted not to disprove these miracles, +but to put both him and Lazarus to death. Thus, in the good providence +of God, we have for the reality of our Lord's miracles the testimony of +his enemies and persecutors. + +7. The _resurrection_ of Jesus is the miracle of miracles, of which we +may say with truth that it comprehends in itself all the other mighty +works recorded in the gospel history. We cannot but notice the +condescending care with which our Lord himself certified to his +disciples its reality. When he had suddenly appeared in the midst of +them, "they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had +seen a spirit." To convince them of the reality of his bodily presence, +he said, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me +and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And +when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet," that +they might see in them the prints of the nails. Finding them still +incredulous, "believing not for joy and wondering," he added another +conclusive proof that he was not a spirit, but a true man: he asked for +meat; "and they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb; +and he took it, and did eat before them." Luke 24:36-43. To the +unbelieving Thomas he offered the further proof which he had demanded: +"Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy +hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing." +The certainty of this great event the evangelist Luke sets forth in his +introduction to the Acts of the Apostles: "To whom also," (to the +apostles,) "he showed himself alive after his passion, by many +infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the +things pertaining to the kingdom of God." The apostle Peter, in his +address to Cornelius and his friends, says: "Him God raised up the third +day, and showed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses +chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after +he rose from the dead." Acts 10:40, 41. The apostle Paul, in his +enumeration of our Lord's appearances to his disciples after his +resurrection, 1 Cor. 5-8, mentions that on one occasion "he was seen of +above five hundred brethren at once; of whom," he says, "the greater +part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep." + +It was not the greatness of the miracle, considered simply by itself, +but its relation to the gospel, that made our Lord's resurrection from +the dead the central fact of the apostles' testimony. It was, so to +speak, the hinge on which the whole work of redemption turned. Our +Lord's expiatory death for the sins of the world and his resurrection +from the dead were both alike parts of one indivisible whole. It was not +his claim to be the promised Messiah alone that was involved in the fact +of his resurrection. His completion, as the Messiah, of the work of +man's redemption was also dependent on that great event. "If Christ be +not risen," says the apostle, "then is our preaching vain, and your +faith is also vain;" and again, "If Christ be not raised, your faith is +vain; ye are yet in your sins." 1 Cor. 15:14, 17. We need not wonder +then that the apostles, in their testimony to the people, insisted so +earnestly on this one great fact in our Lord's history; for by it God +sealed him as the Prince of life. + +8. The _character of Jesus_ of Nazareth, as drawn by the four +evangelists, is the highest possible proof of the authenticity and +credibility of the gospel narratives. Of this it has been justly said, +"The character is possible to be conceived, because it was actualized in +a living example." (Nature and the Supernatural, p. 324.) The +inapproachable excellence of Christ's character places it high above all +human praise. The reverent mind shrinks instinctively from the idea of +attempting to eulogize it, as from something profane and presumptuous. +We do not eulogize the sun shining in his strength, but we put a screen +over our eyes when we would look at him, lest we should be blinded by +the brightness of his beams. So must every man look at Jesus of Nazareth +with reverence and awe, who has any true sense of what is great and +excellent. What is now to be said of this character is not eulogy. It is +part of an argument for the reality of the events recorded in the gospel +history. Here it is important to notice not only the character itself, +but the manner of the portraiture, and its power over the human heart. + +The character of Jesus is perfectly _original_. Nothing like it was ever +conceived of by the loftiest minds of antiquity. Nothing like it has +appeared since his day, in actual life, or even in the conceptions of +the most gifted writers. As there is one sun in the firmament, so there +is one Jesus Christ in the history of the world. His character has a +_human_ and a _divine_ element; and these two interpenetrate each other, +so as to constitute together one indivisible and glorious whole. Jesus +could not be, even in idea, what he is as man, unless he were God also. +And what he is as God, he is as God made flesh, and dwelling as man +among men. It is the _God-man_ which the gospel narratives present to +us. If we consider the qualities which belong to our Saviour as man, we +notice the union in full measure and just proportion of all those +qualities which belong to perfect humanity. In the case of mere men, the +abundant possession of one quality implies almost of necessity +deficiency elsewhere, and consequently one-sidedness of character. Not +so in the case of Jesus. He has all the attributes of a perfect man in +perfect fulness and in perfect harmony with each other. Let us +reverently look at some particulars. + +His character unites the deepest _tranquillity_ with the deepest +_fervor_ of spirit. Our Lord's tranquillity shines forth through the +whole course of his ministry, and manifests itself alike in great things +and small. It is evident to all who read the narratives of the +evangelists that he performed his mighty works as one conscious that +divine power belonged to him of right, and that the exercise of it, even +in its highest forms, was nothing new nor strange. In connection with +his greatest miracles he calmly gave directions, as if they had been +ordinary occurrences. When he had fed many thousands with a few loaves +and fishes, he said, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing +be lost." When he had raised from the dead the daughter of Jairus, "he +commanded that something should be given her to eat." When he had called +out of the grave one who had lain there four days, he directed, "Loose +him and let him go." Even in Gethsemane, when oppressed with agony too +great for human endurance, his self-possession remained as perfect as +his submission to his Father's will. That his serenity never left him +for a moment during the process of his arrest, trial, sentence, and +lingering death on the cross, is a truth which shines forth from the +sacred narrative as his own raiment did on the mount of transfiguration, +"white and glistering." Any attempt to describe it would be but mockery. +And yet this deep composure of spirit is not that of indifference or of +a cold temperament. It is the composure of one in whose bosom burns a +steady and intense flame of zeal for the glory of God and good will +towards men, by which he is borne forward with untiring energy in the +work committed to him from above. It is the composure of a spirit whose +depth of emotion none can measure. + +We notice again the union in our Lord of perfect _wisdom_ with perfect +_freedom from guile_ and double dealing. That his wisdom was never at +fault all must admit. He was surrounded by crafty adversaries, who +contrived all manner of plans to entangle him in his talk. Yet in the +twinkling of an eye he turned their wiles against themselves, and they +found themselves taken in their own net. Meanwhile he always pursued the +straightforward course of sincerity and truth. Not the slightest trace +of deceit or cunning artifice appeared in his ministry from first to +last. + +Closely allied to the above-named qualities are _prudence_ and +_boldness_, both of which met in full measure in our Lord's character. +That he feared no man and shrank from no peril when it was his duty to +encounter it, is too obvious to be insisted on. Yet he never needlessly +encountered opposition and danger. He was never bold for the purpose of +making a show of boldness. When the Jews sought to kill him, he "walked +in Galilee" to avoid their enmity. When his brethren went up to the +feast in Jerusalem, he would not go up with them, but afterwards went +up, "not openly, but as it were in secret." When, at a later day, after +the resurrection of Lazarus, the Jews sought his life, he "walked no +more openly among the Jews; but went thence into a country near to the +wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his +disciples." Not until the time had come that he should die for the sins +of the world did he expose himself to the rage of his enemies; and then +he went boldly into Jerusalem at the head of his disciples. His own +precept, "Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves," he perfectly +exemplified throughout his ministry. + +We cannot but notice once more the union in our Lord's character of the +greatest _tenderness_ with unbending _severity_ whenever the cause of +truth demanded severity. He opened his ministry at Nazareth by reading +from the prophet Isaiah a portraiture of his own character: "The Spirit +of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the +gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to +preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, +to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year +of the Lord." Isa. 61:1, 2. The execution of this mission required a +tender and forbearing spirit, that would not break the bruised reed or +quench the smoking flax; and such was the spirit of his whole ministry. +For the penitent, though publicans and sinners, he had only words of +kindness. Towards the infirmities and mistakes of his sincere disciples +he was wonderfully forbearing. When a strife had arisen among the +apostles which of them should be the greatest, instead of denouncing in +severe terms their foolish ambition, he called to himself a little child +and set him in the midst, and from him gave them a lesson on the duty of +humility. Yet this tender and compassionate Jesus of Nazareth, who took +little children in his arms and blessed them, who stood and cried, "Come +unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you +rest," and who wept at the grave of Lazarus--this same Jesus could say +to Peter when he would deter Him from the path of duty, "Get thee behind +me, Satan!" and could denounce in the presence of all the people the +scribes and Pharisees who sat in Moses' seat. In truth, the most severe +denunciations of hypocrisy and wickedness contained in the New Testament +and the most awful descriptions of the future punishment of the +impenitent fell from our Saviour's lips. In his tenderness there was no +element of weakness. + +Our Lord's perfect _meekness and humility_ need no human comment. They +shine forth with serene brightness through all his words and actions. He +described himself as "meek and lowly in heart," and his life was a +perpetual illustration of these qualities. "When he was reviled, he +reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed +himself to him that judgeth righteously." But the point to be +particularly noticed is the wonderful harmony of this meek and lowly +mind with _claims_ more _lofty_ than were ever conceived of by any man +before him--claims everywhere boldly asserted, and which, as we shall +see hereafter, implied the possession of a divine nature. It is not that +he claimed and exercised power over nature or outward power over men, +even power to raise the dead, that fills us with awe and amazement; but +that he went within the spirit, and offered inward life, light, +strength, peace--in a word, life eternal--to all who would come to him; +and that he asserted, in a way as decisive as it was calm, his absolute +control over the everlasting destinies of all men. When we read the +account of these superhuman claims, we have no feeling that they were +incongruous or extravagant. On the contrary, they seem to us altogether +legitimate and proper. And yet, as has been often remarked, were any +other person to advance a tithe of these pretensions, he would be justly +regarded as a madman. The only possible explanation is, that this meek +and lowly Jesus made good his claim to be the Son of God by what he was +and by what he did. + +Another quality very conspicuous in our Lord's character is his perfect +_elevation above this world_. "Ye are from beneath," said he to the +Jews; "I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world." +It was not in his origin alone, but in his spirit also that he was from +above. As he was from heaven, so was he heavenly in all his affections. +His own precept to his disciples, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures +upon earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," was the law +of his own life. He had no treasures here below but the souls of men; +and these are not earthly, but heavenly treasures. Satan plied him in +vain with the offer of "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of +them." In him "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the +pride of life" could find no place for a single moment. He kept the +world always and perfectly under his feet. Yet this perfect elevation +above the world had in it no tinge of _stoicism_ or _asceticism_. He +made no war upon the genuine passions and affections of human nature, +but simply subjected them all to his higher spiritual nature; in other +words to the law of God. Except temporarily for meditation and prayer, +he never withdrew himself, nor encouraged his disciples to withdraw +themselves from the cares and temptations of an active life, under the +false idea of thus rising to a state of superhuman communion with God. +He did not fast himself systematically, nor enjoin upon his disciples +systematic fastings, but left fastings for special emergencies. In a +word, he ate and drank like other men. His heavenly mind lay not in the +renunciation of God's gifts, but in maintaining his affections +constantly raised above the gifts themselves to the divine Giver. It +took on a human, and therefore an imitable form. + +And what shall we say of our Lord's spotless _purity_ of heart and life? +We cannot eulogize it, for it is above all human praise. But we can +refresh the eyes of our understanding by gazing upon it, as upon a +glorious sun, until we feel its vivifying and transforming power in our +own souls. + +In contemplating the above qualities, it is of the highest importance to +notice that, though they exist in such fulness and perfection, they are +yet human, and therefore imitable. They are not the virtues of an angel +in heaven, or of a king on the throne, or of a philosopher in his +school, or of a monk in his cell; but of a man moving among men in the +sphere of common life, and filling out common life with all the duties +appropriate to it. His example then is available for the imitation of +the lowest not less than the highest. It offers itself to all classes of +men as a model of all that is good in human nature. We may boldly affirm +that such a character as this could never have been conceived of, if it +had not actually existed. + + * * * * * + +If now we look at our Lord's _character as a teacher_, we find it +equally original and wonderful. Writers on the gospel history have with +reason laid great stress on the fact that he stood high above the errors +and prejudices, not only of his own age and nation, but of all ages and +nations. He saw intuitively and perfectly what God is, what man is, and +what are man's relations to God and to his fellow-men; and was therefore +able to establish a religion for men, as men, that needs no change for +any age, or nation, or condition of life. He has sometimes been called a +"Galilean peasant." The phrase sounds unpleasantly in the ears of those +who adore him as their divine Lord and Master. Nevertheless it is in an +important sense true. He was educated among the common people of +Galilee, and had no special human training. It was an age of narrowness +and formalism. The scribes and Pharisees, who sat in Moses' seat, had +covered up the true meaning and spirit of the Old Testament beneath a +mass of human traditions that substituted "mint, and anise, and cummin" +for "the weightier matters of the law." Yet in such an age Jesus came +forth a perfect teacher of divine truth. He swept away at once the +glosses of the Jewish doctors, unfolded to the people the true meaning +of the law and the prophets as preparatory to his coming, and gave to +the world a religion that meets the wants of all classes and conditions +of men in all ages and nations. Considered as the good leaven which +Christ cast into the lump of humanity, the gospel has continual +progress. But considered as the plan of salvation which he revealed, it +cannot have progress, for it is perfect. It needs no amendment or +change, that it may be adapted to our age or any other age. As air and +water and light meet the wants of all men in all ages, so the gospel, +when freed from human additions and received in its original purity, is +all that fallen humanity needs. Here is a great fact to be explained. +The only reasonable explanation is that given by the Saviour himself. +When the Jews marvelled at his teaching, saying, "How knoweth this man +letters, having never learned?" he answered, "My doctrine is not mine, +but his that sent me." Such a religion as that described in the gospels +could not have been conceived of unless it had actually existed; and it +could not have existed without God for its author. Gifted men may be in +advance of their own age; that is, they may see before others what is +the next thing indicated by the present progress of society. But mere +men do not rise at once above all the errors and prejudices by which +they are surrounded into the region of pure light and truth. All the +work that men do is imperfect, and needs emendation by those who come +after them. A religion that remains from age to age as perfectly adapted +to the wants of all men as it was at the beginning, must be from God, +not from man. + +Our Saviour's _manner of teaching_ was also as original as the teaching +itself. He saw through the world of nature and mind at a glance, and it +stood always ready at hand to furnish him with arguments and +illustrations--arguments and illustrations as simple and natural as they +were profound, and by means of which he unfolded the deepest truths in +the plainest and most intelligible forms. Take, for example, the +parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven. They contain within +themselves the whole history of Christ's kingdom in its inward +principle. They unfold views of its steady progress from age to age, as +a growth from an inward vital force, on which the most philosophical +minds especially love to dwell; and yet they are perfectly intelligible +to the most unlettered man. To teach by parables, without any false +analogies, and in a way that interested and instructed alike the learned +and the ignorant, this was a wonderful characteristic of our Lord's +ministry. In this respect no one of his apostles, not even the bosom +disciple, attempted to imitate him. Yet in the great fact that his +teaching was not for a select few, but for the masses of mankind, so +that "the common people heard him gladly," all his servants can and +ought to imitate him. + +Thus far we have considered mainly the human side of our Lord's +character, though through it all his divinity shines forth. Let us now +look more particularly at _his divine mission and character_. On the +fact that his mission was from God we need not dwell. Nicodemus +expressed the judgment of every candid mind when he said, "Rabbi, we +know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these +miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." If there is one truth +which our Lord asserted more frequently than any other, it is that he +came from God: "The works which the Father hath given me to finish, the +same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." +"If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and +came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." + +But Jesus had not only a divine mission, but a _divine person_ also; and +the manner in which he manifested his divinity is, if possible, more +original than any thing else in his history, and bears in itself the +impress of reality. A company of men who should attempt to give a +portraiture of a divine being simply from their own conceptions would +doubtless put into his lips many direct assertions of his deity, and +make his life abound in stupendous miracles. But it is not in any such +crude way that our Saviour's divinity manifests itself in the gospel +narratives. It is true indeed that in the manner of his miracles he +everywhere makes the impression that he performs them by virtue of a +power residing in himself; that while the _commission_ to do them comes +from the Father, the _power_ to do them belongs to his own person. In +this respect the contrast is very sharp between his manner and that of +the prophets before him and the apostles after him. In their case the +power, as well as the commission, was wholly from God, as they were +careful to teach the people: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, +rise up and walk." "Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own +power or holiness we had made this man to walk?" "His name, through +faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know." +"Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." But not to dwell on this, let +us look at some very remarkable ways in which our Saviour manifested his +divine nature. + +He called _God his Father_ in a peculiar and incommunicable sense. He +never said, "Our Father," by which he would have classed himself with +other men, but always, "My Father," showing that thus he stood alone in +his relation to God. As the son has the same nature with the father, and +when acting under his authority, the same prerogatives also; so Jesus, +as the Son of God, claimed the power and right to do whatever his Father +did, and to receive the same honor as his Father: "My Father worketh +hitherto, and I work." This the Jews rightly understood to be an +assertion of equality with the Father; for they "sought the more to kill +him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God +was his own Father, (so the original reads,) making himself equal with +God." To this the Saviour answered: "The Son can do nothing of +himself"--acting in his own name, and without the concurrence of the +Father's will--"but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever +he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the +Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him +greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth +up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he +will. For the Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment +unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the +Father. He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath +sent him." John 5:17-23. Here the Son, though acting under the Father's +commission, claims equality with the Father; for without this he could +neither share all the Father's counsels, nor do all the Father's works, +nor receive from the Father authority to judge all men--an office which +plainly implies omniscience--nor be entitled to the same honor as the +Father. The point to be especially noticed in the present connection is +the originality of the way in which our Lord here asserts his divine +nature. We cannot for a moment suppose that such a way would have +occurred to one who was writing from his own invention. The only +possible explanation of the existence of such a passage in the gospel of +John, (and the same is true of many other passages,) is that it is a +true record of what actually took place in our Lord's history. + +Again: our Lord represents himself as the source of _light and life_ to +all mankind. To the Jews he said: "I am the light of the world: he that +followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of +life." John 8:12. In comparison with what he here claims for himself, +the outward work of opening men's bodily eyes dwindles into nothing. +That was only the seal of his divine mission. But in these and other +like words, he does, as it were, draw aside the veil of his humanity, +and give us a glimpse of the glory of the Godhead that dwells within. So +too he says, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any +man eat of this bread he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will +give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John +6:51. The resurrection of Lazarus, stupendous as that miracle was, does +not fill us with such awe and amazement as the mighty words which he +uttered to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that +believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever +liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die," John 11:25, 26; for in +these words he represents himself as being to the whole human family the +author of all life, natural, spiritual, and eternal. He connects the +particular act of giving life which he is about to perform with the +final resurrection, "when all that are in the graves shall hear his +voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the +resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the +resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29. These utterances, so calm, so +lofty, so original, do not sound like the inventions of man. They wear a +heavenly costume. When we read them, we feel that the only explanation +of their existence in the gospel narrative is the fact that they were +actually uttered by our Lord. + +And the same is true of another kindred class of passages, in which the +Saviour asserts his _inward dominion over the human spirit_. Hear him, +as he stands and proclaims: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are +heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28. "Peace I leave with +you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto +you." John 14:27. The world gives peace at best outwardly, and often +only in empty words; but Jesus has direct access to the inmost fountains +of feeling. He gives peace inwardly and efficaciously. When he turned +into songs of joy the tears of the widow of Nain by raising her son to +life, that was a wonderful instance of his giving peace; but far greater +and more glorious is the work when, by his inward presence in the soul, +he makes it victorious over all "the sufferings of this present time." +This is what he meant when he said to his disciples: "These things have +I spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall +have tribulations; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world." +John 16:33. In his name, apostles raised the dead to life; but no +apostle--no mere man--would have ventured to say, "In me ye shall have +peace." + +These last words naturally lead to the consideration of another very +peculiar form of speech first introduced by our Lord, and passing from +him to the church; that of the _mutual indwelling_ of himself and his +disciples: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit +of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide +in me." John 15:1-7. It is a vital union of the believer's soul with +Jesus, through which he receives from Jesus life and fruitfulness, as +the branch from its union with the vine. Here is an assertion of deity. +The Jews regarded Moses with the highest reverence; but no one of them +ever spoke of abiding in Moses, or having Moses abiding in himself. Had +any Christian disciple represented himself as dwelling in Peter or Paul, +the apostle would have rent his clothes at the blasphemy of the words. + +Other peculiar ways in which our Lord manifested his deity could be +specified, but the above will suffice as examples. Let any candid man +consider all these examples in their connection, each of them so +original and so majestic, so simple and natural, and yet so far removed +from anything that could have occurred to one sitting down to draw from +his own imagination the picture of a divine person; and he will be +convinced that such a record as that contained in our four canonical +gospels was possible only because it is a simple and truthful history of +what Jesus of Nazareth was and did. Plain men can give a straightforward +account of what they have seen or learned from eye-witnesses; but it +transcends the genius of any man to invent such narratives of such a +character. The gospel narratives are marked throughout by artless +simplicity. Each of the writers goes straightforward with his story, +never thinking for a moment of what his own genius is to accomplish, but +intent only on exhibiting his Lord and Master as the Saviour of the +world. The apostle John, in giving the design of his own gospel, gives +that also of the other evangelists: "And many other signs truly did +Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this +book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the +Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through +his name." John 20:30, 31. + +And because this glorious and divine person is a living reality, he +possesses from age to age an undying power over the human heart. Love +towards him is the mightiest principle on earth, both for doing and for +suffering. It makes the soul of which it has taken full possession +invincible. When Jesus of Nazareth is enthroned in the castle of the +human heart, not all the powers of earth and hell can overcome it. See +farther, chap. 12:8. + +9. Since, as we have seen, the gospel narratives are an authentic record +of facts, it follows that in the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth we +have a _supernatural revelation_ from God in the fullest sense of the +words. That his origin was both superhuman and supernatural, the gospels +teach us in the most explicit terms. He says of himself: "I came forth +from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, +and go unto the Father." John 16:28. "And now, O Father, glorify thou me +with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the +world was." John 17:5. That the appearance on earth of One who dwelt +with the Father in glory before the world was, and after the fulfilment +of his mission returned to the Father again, was supernatural, is +self-evident. His person was, as has been shown, divine. He was God +manifest in the flesh; and wherever he went, his supernatural power +displayed itself. The miraculous element is so interwoven into the very +substance of the gospel history, that there is no possibility of setting +it aside, except by rejecting the history itself. It is the fashion with +a certain class of writers, after denying our Lord's divine nature and +explaining away his supernatural works, to be profuse in their eulogies +of his character. If they can first rid themselves of the obligation to +believe on him and obey him as their divine Lord, they are willing to +bestow upon him, as a man like themselves, the highest commendations. +But the attempt is hopeless. What will they do with the fact of his +resurrection from the dead--the most certain as well as the greatest +miracle in his history, and which includes in itself all the rest? Had +Jesus not risen from the dead, as he so often affirmed that he should, +then he would have been what the Jewish rulers called him--a deceiver, +and no Saviour; but since the miracle of his resurrection must be +admitted by all who do not reject the whole gospel history as a fable, +why deny the lesser miracles connected with his history? The assumption +that miracles are impossible can only go with the denial of God's +personality; and this, by whatever name it is called, is atheism. If +there is a personal God, who is before nature, above nature, and the +author of nature in its inmost essence, he can manifest himself within +the sphere of nature in a supernatural way, whenever he chooses to do +so. If God who made us cares for us, and is indeed our Father in heaven, +it is reasonable to suppose that he may reveal himself to us in +supernatural forms, when the end is our deliverance from the bondage of +sin, and our preparation for an eternity of holiness and happiness. To +deny this, would be to make nature the highest end of God--to put the +world of God's intelligent creatures under nature, instead of making +nature their servant and minister. + +10. The objections that have been urged against the gospel history are +of two kinds. The first class relates to its doctrines, as, for example, +that of demoniacal possessions, that of eternal punishment, etc. To +enlarge on this subject would be out of place here. It is sufficient to +say that the only reasonable rule is to argue from the certainty of the +record to the truth of the doctrines in question. He who first assumes +that a certain doctrine cannot be true, and then, on the ground of this +assumption, sets aside a history sustained by overwhelming evidence, +exalts his own finite understanding to be the supreme rule of faith; and +to him an authoritative revelation becomes an impossibility. The second +class of objections relates to alleged contradictions and +inconsistencies between the different writers. The explanation and +reconciliation of these is the work of the harmonist. We need not wait, +however, for the result of his labors, that we may rest confidently on +the truth of the record. These apparent disagreements do not affect a +single doctrine or duty of Christianity. They all relate to incidental +matters, such as the time and order of the events recorded, the +accompanying circumstances, etc. Had we all the missing links of the +evangelical history, we might reconcile all these differences; but +without them, it is not in all cases possible. Nor is it necessary; +since, where different writers record the same transactions, substantial +agreement, with diversity in respect to the details, is everywhere the +characteristic of authentic history. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES AND THE ACKNOWLEDGED EPISTLES. + + +1. The genuineness, uncorrupt preservation, and credibility of the +gospel narratives having been shown to rest on a firm foundation, the +principal part of our work is accomplished, so far as the New Testament +is concerned. We are prepared beforehand to expect some record of the +labors of the apostles, like that contained in the Acts of the Apostles; +and also discussions and instructions relating to the doctrines and +duties of Christianity, such as we find in the apostolic epistles. Our +Saviour established his church only in its fundamental principles and +ordinances. The work of publishing his gospel and organizing churches +among Jews and Gentiles he committed to his apostles. Before his +crucifixion he taught them that the Holy Ghost could not come (that is, +in his special and full influences as the administrator of the new +covenant) till after his departure to the Father: "It is expedient for +you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come +unto you; but if I depart I will send him unto you." John 16:7. "When +the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even +the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify +of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from +the beginning." John 15:26, 27. Now we have, in the Acts of the +Apostles, first an account of the fulfilment by the Saviour of his +promise that he would send the Holy Ghost; then a record how the +apostles, thus qualified, obeyed the Saviour's command to preach the +gospel to Jews and Gentiles--a record not, indeed, complete, but +sufficient to show the manner and spirit in which the work was +performed. Some truths, moreover, of the highest importance the Saviour +gave only in outline, because the time for their full revelation had not +yet come. John 16:12, 13. Such were especially the doctrine of his +atoning sacrifice on Calvary with the connected doctrine of +justification by faith; and the divine purpose to abolish the Mosaic +economy, and with it the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. We have, +partly in the Acts and partly in the epistles, an account of the +unfolding of these great truths by the apostles under the guidance of +the Holy Spirit, and of the commotions and contentions that naturally +accompanied this work. The practical application of the gospel to the +manifold relations of life, domestic, social, and civil, with the +solution of various difficult questions arising therefrom, was another +work necessarily devolved on the apostles, and performed by them with +divine wisdom for the instruction of all coming ages. The book of Acts +and the epistles ascribed to the apostles being such a natural sequel to +the Redeemer's work, as recorded by the four evangelists, a briefer +statement of the evidence for their genuineness and authenticity will be +sufficient. + +I. _The Acts of the Apostles._ 2. According to Chrysostom, First Homily +on Acts, this book was not so abundantly read by the early Christians as +the gospels. The explanation of this comparative neglect is found in the +fact that it is occupied with the doings of the apostles, not of the +Lord himself. Passing by some uncertain allusions to the work in the +writings of the apostolic fathers, the first explicit quotation from it +is contained in the letter heretofore noticed, chap. 2:4, from the +churches of Vienne and Lyons in Gaul, written about A.D. 177, in which +they say: "Moreover they prayed, after the example of Stephen the +perfect martyr, for those who inflicted upon them cruel torments, 'Lord, +lay not this sin to their charge.'" Irenaeus, in the last part of the +second century, Tertullian in the last part of the same century and the +beginning of the third, Clement of Alexandria about the end of the +second century and onwards--all these bear explicit testimony to the +book of Acts, ascribing it to Luke as its author; and from their day +onward the notices of the work are abundant. We may add the concurrent +testimony of the Muratorian canon and the Syriac version, called the +Peshito, which belong to the last quarter of the second century, and the +still earlier testimony of the Old Latin version. In a word, the book is +placed by Eusebius among those that were universally acknowledged by the +churches. + + The rejection of the book by certain heretical sects, as the + Ebionites, Marcionites, Manichaeans, etc., is of no weight, as + their objections rested not on historical, but on doctrinal + grounds. As to the statement of Photius that "some call Clement + of Rome the author, some Barnabas, and some Luke the + evangelist," it is to be remarked that he is giving not his own + judgment, for he expressly ascribes it to Luke, but the + arbitrary opinions of certain persons; and these are + contradicted by the obvious fact that the third gospel, which + proceeded from the same hand as the Acts of the Apostles, was + never ascribed to any other person than Luke. + +3. The _internal testimony_ to Luke's authorship is decisive. The writer +himself, in dedicating it to the same Theophilus, expressly identifies +himself with the author of the third gospel: "The former treatise have I +made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach." +Acts 1:1. Then there is a remarkable agreement in style and diction +between the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, as any one may +learn who peruses them both together in the original Greek. Davidson, +Introduction to the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 8, has collected +forty-seven examples of "terms that occur in both, but nowhere else in +the New Testament." Luke, moreover, as the travelling companion of Paul, +had all needed facilities for composing such a work. With regard to the +latter portion of the book, this is denied by none. His use of the first +person plural, "we endeavored," "the Lord had called us," "we came," +etc.--which first appears, chap. 16:10, and continues, with certain +interruptions, through the remainder of the book--admits of but one +natural and reasonable explanation, namely, that when he thus joins +himself with the apostle he was actually in his company. As it respects +the first part of the book, we notice that he visited Caesarea with +Paul's company, and "tarried there many days," chap. 21:8-10; afterwards +he went up with him to Jerusalem, chap. 21:15. We find him again with +Paul at Caesarea when he sets out for Rome. Chap. 27:1. Now at such +centres as Jerusalem and Caesarea he must have had abundant opportunities +to learn all the facts recorded in the present book which could not be +gathered from Paul's own lips. + +4. For the _credibility_ of this book we have, in general, the same +arguments which apply to the gospel narratives, especially to the gospel +of Luke. Its author is evidently a sincere and earnest man, who goes +straight forward with his narrative; and where he does not write as an +eye-witness, he had, as we have seen, abundant means of ascertaining the +truth concerning the facts which he records. His narrative is, moreover, +corroborated in a very special way, as will be shown hereafter--No. 8, +below--by its many undesigned coincidences with the events alluded to in +the epistle of Paul. To admit the credibility of the gospel of Luke and +to deny that of this work would be altogether inconsistent. In truth, +there is no ground for doubting the credibility of the Acts of the +Apostles other than that which lies in the assumption that no record of +miraculous events can be credible, and this is no ground at all. + + To some modern writers the narrative of the gift of tongues on + the day of Pentecost has seemed to present an insuperable + difficulty. Undoubtedly it is above our comprehension how a man + should suddenly become possessed of the ability to speak in a + language before unknown to him; but why should we doubt God's + power to bestow such a gift? Can any one suppose for a moment + that when our Saviour met with a person deaf and dumb from + birth, he had, for the first time, a case beyond his healing + power? The gospel narrative plainly indicates the contrary. Mark + 7:32-37, upon which passage see Meyer and Alford. + + The account of the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira, chap. + 5:1-11, is not contrary to the spirit of the gospel. They died + by the immediate act of God. His wisdom judged such an example + of severity to be necessary in the beginning of the gospel, as a + solemn warning against hypocrisy and falsehood in his service. + Though the gospel is a system of mercy, it takes, as all admit, + a severe attitude towards those who reject it; why not, then, + towards those who make a hypocritical profession of it? As Nadab + and Abihu were consumed by fire from heaven at the beginning of + the Mosaic economy, so the death of Ananias and his wife came + early in the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, as a testimony to + all future ages of Christ's abhorrence of hypocrisy, and + consequently of the doom which hypocrites will receive from him + at the last day. Matt. 7:21-23. + + The fact that Luke has omitted some events in the history of + Paul, as, for example, his journey into Arabia, which occurred + during the three years that intervened between his conversion + and his first visit to Jerusalem, Acts 9:22-26 compared with + Gal. 1:15-18, is no argument against the credibility of his + narrative. Difficulties that arise simply from a writer's + brevity must not be allowed to set aside satisfactory evidence + of his competency and truthfulness. The historical difficulties + connected with Stephen's address do not concern Luke's + credibility as a historian, and the discussion of them belongs + to the commentator. + +5. The book of Acts closes with a notice that "Paul dwelt two whole +years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, +preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern +the Lord Jesus, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." As it adds +no notice of the issue of his imprisonment, or of what afterwards befell +him, we naturally infer that the book was written at Rome about this +time, that is, about A.D. 63. + +II. _The Acknowledged Epistles_, 6. It is well known that doubts +existed, to a greater or less extent, in the primitive churches before +the fourth century, respecting the apostolic origin and authority of +certain books which now constitute a part of the New Testament canon. +Hence the distinction made by Eusebius between the _acknowledged_ books, +(_homologoumena_) that is, those that were universally received from the +first, and the _disputed_ books, (_antilegomena_,) books respecting +which some entertained doubts. The _acknowledged_ books are, the four +gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the thirteen epistles of Paul which +bear his name at the beginning, the first epistle of Peter, and the +first epistle of John; twenty in all. The _disputed_ books are, the +epistle to the Hebrews, the epistle of James, the second epistle of +Peter, the second and third epistles of John, the epistle of Jude, and +the book of Revelation; seven in all. The gospels and the Acts have been +already considered, and the disputed books are reserved for the +following chapter. Some remarks will here be made on the fifteen +acknowledged epistles. + +7. The epistles of Paul may be conveniently distributed into two groups, +of which the second or smaller contains the three pastoral epistles, and +the former or larger, the remaining ten. Of the apostolic origin of the +larger group little needs to be said. They bear throughout the impress +of genuineness and authenticity. No doubts were ever entertained +concerning them in the ancient churches. There is, indeed, some ground +for suspecting that a few ancient copies of the epistle to the Ephesians +omitted the words _at Ephesus_--more literally _in Ephesus_--chap. 1:1. +But the genuineness of these words is sustained by an overwhelming +weight of evidence, and that Paul was the author of the epistle was +never once doubted by the ancient churches. The arguments of some modern +writers against its apostolic origin have no real weight, as will be +shown hereafter in the introduction to the epistle. + +Respecting the apostolic authorship of the three pastoral epistles, two +to Timothy and one to Titus, there was never any doubt in the ancient +churches. They are supported by the testimony of the Peshito-Syriac +version, of the Muratorian canon, also, (as appears from Jerome's letter +to Marcella and the quotations of the church fathers before him,) of the +Old Latin version; of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and a +multitude of later writers. There are also some allusions to these +epistles in the apostolic fathers, which seem to be decisive. + + Such are the following: "Let us therefore approach to him in + holiness of soul, _lifting up_ to him _holy_ and unpolluted + _hands_." Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, + chap. 29. "But the beginning of all mischief is the love of + money. Knowing, therefore, that _we brought nothing into the + world neither have power to carry any thing out_, let us arm + ourselves with the armor of righteousness." Polycarp, Epistle to + the Philippians, chap. 4. The student may see other supposed + allusions in Kirchhofer, Quellensammlung; Lardner, 2:39; + Davidson's Introduction, 3, p. 101 seq.; Alford's New Testament, + Introduction to the Pastoral Epistles, etc. + +Respecting the _date_ of the pastoral epistles very different opinions +are held. The whole discussion turns on the question whether they were +written _before_ or _after_ Paul's imprisonment at Rome, which is +recorded in the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles; and this again +is connected with the further question whether he underwent a second +imprisonment at Rome, concerning which learned men are not agreed. The +full discussion of this matter belongs to the introduction to the +pastoral epistles. It may be simply remarked, however, that the internal +arguments in favor of a late date are very strong, and that its +assumption accounts for the development of such a state of things at +Ephesus as appears in the two pastoral epistles to Timothy--a state very +different from that which existed when the epistle to the Ephesians was +written, between A.D. 60 and 64, and which makes it necessary to +separate the first epistle to Timothy from that to the Ephesians by a +considerable interval of time. + +The _theme_ of the pastoral epistles is _peculiar_. It is the +affectionate counsel of an aged apostle to two young preachers and +rulers in the church respecting the duties of their office. From the +peculiarity of the subject-matter naturally arises, to some extent, a +peculiarity in the diction of these epistles; yet the style and costume +is throughout that of the apostle Paul. + +8. The testimony of the ancient church to the first epistle of Peter and +the first of John is very ample. Besides that of the Peshito-Syriac +version, and of the church fathers Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of +Alexandria, they have in addition that of Papias and the apostolic +father Polycarp. The first epistle of John is also included in the +Muratorian canon. It scarcely needs, however, any external testimony. +The identity of its author with that of the fourth gospel is so manifest +from its whole tone and style, that it has been always conceded that if +one of these writings came from the pen of the apostle John, the other +did also. + + The testimony of Papias to these two epistles, though indirect, + is conclusive. Eusebius says, Hist. Eccl. 3. 39, "The same + Papias has employed testimonies from the first epistle of John, + and in like manner of Peter." Polycarp says, Epistle to the + Philippians, ch. 7, "For every one who confesseth not that Jesus + Christ is come in the flesh, is anti-Christ," with evident + reference to 1 John 4:3. Eusebius says also, Hist. Eccl. 4. 14, + that in the same epistle to the Philippians Polycarp "has + employed certain testimonies from the first epistle of Peter;" + and when we examine the epistle we find several certain + references to it, among which are the following: "In whom, + though ye see him not, ye believe; and believing, ye rejoice + with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." Chap. 1 compared with + 1 Pet. 1:8. "Believing in him who raised up our Lord Jesus + Christ from the dead, and gave him glory, and a seat at his + right hand." Chap. 2 compared with 1 Pet. 1:21. + +9. The relation of the gospel history to the writings now under +consideration--the book of Acts and the apostolic epistles--is of the +most intimate and weighty character. The truth of the earlier narratives +contained in the gospels implies the truth of these later works; for, as +already remarked, they are the natural sequel of the events there +recorded. On the other hand, the truth of these later writings implies +the truth of the gospel history; for in that history they find their +full explanation, and without it they are, and must ever remain, +inexplicable. All the parts of the New Testament constitute one +inseparable whole, and they all shed light upon each other. Like a chain +of fortresses in war, they mutually command each other. Unless the whole +can be overthrown, no one part can be successfully assailed. But to +overthrow the whole is beyond the power of man; for God has guarded it +on every side by impregnable bulwarks of evidence. + +10. A special argument for the truth of the Scripture history of the +apostle Paul may be drawn from the numerous _undesigned coincidences_ +between the events recorded in the book of Acts and those referred to in +the epistles. This work has been accomplished with great ability and +skill by Paley in his Horae Paulinae, to which the reader is referred. The +argument is very conclusive; for when we consider the "particularity of +St. Paul's epistles, the perpetual recurrence of names of persons and +places, the frequent allusions to the incidents of his private life, and +the circumstances of his condition and history, and the connection and +parallelism of these with the same circumstances in the Acts of the +Apostles, so as to enable us, for the most part, to confront them one +with another," we must be satisfied that the truth of the history can +alone explain such a multitude of coincidences, many of them of a minute +character, and all of them manifestly undesigned. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE DISPUTED BOOKS. + + +The grounds on which each of the disputed books--Antilegomena, chap. 5, +No. 6--is received into the canon of the New Testament, will be +considered in the introduction to these books. In the present chapter +some general suggestions will be made which apply to them as a whole. + +1. This is not a question concerning the _truth of Christianity_, but +concerning the _extent of the canon_; a distinction which is of the +highest importance. Some persons, when they learn that doubts existed in +the early churches, to a greater or less extent, respecting certain +books of the New Testament, are troubled in mind, as if a shade of +uncertainty were thereby cast over the whole collection of books. But +this is a very erroneous view of the matter. The books of the New +Testament, like those of the Old, were written one after another, as +occasion required; and the churches received each of them separately on +the evidence they had of its apostolic origin and authority. At length +collections of these books, that is, _canons_, began to be formed. Such +collections translators would of necessity make, unless they found them +ready at hand. The earliest canons of which we have any knowledge are +contained in the old Latin version, the Syriac version called Peshito, +and the Muratorian canon; each of which represented the prevailing +judgment of the churches in the region where it was formed. As this +judgment differed in the different provinces of Christendom in respect +to the books in question, so also do these canons. The Peshito contains +the epistle to the Hebrews and that of James, but omits the other five +books. The Muratorian canon omits the epistle to the Hebrews, the +epistle of James, and the second epistle of Peter; but contains the +epistle of Jude, the book of Revelation, and apparently also the second +and third of John, though in respect to them its language is obscure and +of doubtful interpretation. The old Latin version, so far as we can +judge from the quotations of the church fathers, agreed in general with +the Muratorian canon. It contained, however, the epistle of James, +(Codex Corbeiensis, _ff_,) and that to the Hebrews; and if, as has been +supposed, this latter was a later addition, it was yet earlier than the +time of Tertullian. See Westcott on the Canon, pp. 282, 283. Now this +diversity of judgment with regard to particular books does not affect in +the least the remaining books of the New Testament, which are sustained +by the authority of all the above-named witnesses, as well as by the +undivided testimony of the ancient churches. Did the New Testament claim +to be the work of _a single author_, the case would be different. We +should then have but _one_ witness; and if certain parts of his +testimony could be successfully assailed, this would throw a measure of +suspicion on the whole. But now we have in the separate books of the New +Testament a _large number_ of witnesses, most of whom are entirely +independent of each other. Doubts respecting the testimony of one do not +affect that of another. We receive the seven books in question as a part +of God's revelation on grounds which we judge adequate, as will be shown +in the introductions to the several books. But if any one feels under +the necessity of suspending his judgment with respect to one or more of +these books, let him follow the teachings of the other books, which are +above all doubt. He will find in them all the truth essential to the +salvation of his soul; and he will then be in a position calmly to +investigate the evidence for the canonical authority of the so-called +disputed books. + +2. The diversity of judgment which prevailed in the early churches in +respect to certain books of the New Testament, is in harmony with all +that we know of their character and spirit. It was an age of free +inquiry. General councils were not then known, nor was there any central +power to impose its decisions on all the churches. In the essential +doctrines of the gospel there was everywhere an agreement, especially in +receiving the writings acknowledged to be apostolic, as the supreme rule +of faith and practice. But this did not exclude differences on minor +points in the different provinces of Christendom; and with respect to +these the churches of each particular region were tenacious then, as +they have been in all ages since, of their peculiar opinions and +practices. It is well known, for example, that the churches of Asia +Minor differed from those of Rome in the last half of the second century +respecting the day on which the Christian festival of the Passover, with +the communion service connected with it, should be celebrated; the +former placing it on the fourteenth of the month Nisan, the latter on +the anniversary of the resurrection Sunday. Nor could the conference +between Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, and Anicetus, bishop +of Rome, about A.D. 162, avail to change the usage of either party, +though it did not at that time break the bond of brotherhood between +them. We need not be surprised therefore to find a like diversity in +different regions respecting certain books of the New Testament. The +unanimous belief of the Eastern and Alexandrine churches ascribed to +Paul the authorship of the epistle to the Hebrews; but in the Western +churches its Pauline authorship was not generally admitted till the +fourth century. The Apocalypse, on the contrary, found most favor with +the Western or Latin churches. It has in its favor the testimony of the +Muratorian canon, which is of Latin origin, and also--as appears from +the citations contained in the commentaries of Primasius--that of the +old Latin version. Other examples see above, No. 1. + +3. Although we cannot account for the universal and undisputed reception +of the acknowledged books by all the churches, except on the assumption +of their genuineness, the non-reception of a given book by some of the +early churches is no conclusive argument against its apostolic origin. +From the influence of circumstances unknown to us, it may have remained +for a considerable period of time in comparative obscurity. We have good +ground for believing that some apostolic writings are utterly lost. To +deny the possibility of this would be to prejudge the wisdom of God. As +the apostles delivered many inspired discourses which it did not please +the Holy Ghost to have recorded, so they may have written letters which +he did not judge needful to make the sacred volume complete. The +question is one of fact, not of theory. The most obvious interpretation +of 1 Cor. 5:9 and Col. 4:16 is that Paul refers in each case to an +epistle which has not come down to us. And if an inspired epistle might +be lost, much more might the knowledge and use of it be restricted for a +time to a narrow circle of churches. When such an epistle--for example, +the second of Peter--began to be more extensively known, the general +reception and use of it would be a slow process, not only from the +difficulty of communication in ancient as compared with modern times, +but also from the slowness with which the churches of one region +received any thing new from those of other regions. + +Then again, if a book were known, there might be in some regions +hesitancy in respect to receiving it, from doubts in regard to its +author, as in the case of the epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse; +or from the peculiarity of its contents also, as in the case of the +latter book. In the influence of causes like the above named, we find a +reasonable explanation of the fact that some books, which the mature +judgment of the churches received into the canon of the New Testament, +did not find at first a universal reception. + +4. In the caution and hesitation of the early churches with respect to +the books in question, we have satisfactory evidence that, in settling +the canon of the New Testament, they acted with great deliberation and +conscientiousness, their rule being that no book should be received +whose apostolic origin could not be established on solid grounds. Did +the early history of the Christian church present no such phenomenon as +that of the distinction between acknowledged and disputed books, we +might naturally infer that all books that professed to have emanated +from the apostles, or to have had their sanction, were received without +discrimination. But now the mature and final judgment of the churches is +entitled to great consideration. This judgment, let it be remembered, +was not affirmative only, but also _negative_. While it admitted to the +canon the seven books now under consideration, it excluded others which +were highly valued and publicly read in many of the churches. On this +ground it is entitled to still higher regard. It is not, however, of +binding authority, for it is not the decision of inspired men. We have a +right to go behind it, and to examine the facts on which it is based, so +far as they can be ascertained from existing documents. But this work +belongs to the introduction to the several books. + + Three books alone "obtained a partial ecclesiastical currency, + through which they were not clearly separated at first from the + disputed writings of the New Testament." Westcott on the Canon, + Appendix B, p. 550. This was on the ground that they were + written, or supposed to be written, by the immediate successors + of the apostles. The oldest known codex of the Bible is the + _Sinaitic_, discovered at mount Sinai by Tischendorf in 1859, + and which belongs to the fourth century. This contains the whole + of the epistle of Barnabas, and the first part of the work + called the Shepherd of Hermas. The Alexandrine codex, belonging + to the fifth century, has appended to it the first epistle of + Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, the genuineness of which is + admitted, and also a portion of the second or apocryphal + epistle, the remainder of it being lost. The explanation is, + that these three books were read in some at least of the + churches when these codices were formed. But they never obtained + any permanent authority as canonical writings, and were excluded + from the New Testament "by every council of the churches, + catholic or schismatic." Tertullian, as quoted by Westcott, p. + 551. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +INSPIRATION AND THE CANON + + +By the word _inspiration_, when used in a theological sense, we +understand such an illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit as +raises a speaker or writer above error, and thus gives to his teachings +a divine authority. If we attempt to investigate the interior nature of +this superhuman influence, its different degrees and modes of operation, +and the relation which the human mind holds to the divine in the case of +those who receive it, we find ourselves involved in many difficulties, +some of which at least are to our finite minds insuperable. But if we +look at it from a practical point of view, restricting our inquiries to +the _end_ proposed by God in inspiration, which is to furnish his church +with an infallible and sufficient rule of faith and practice, we find no +difficulty in understanding the subject so far as our duty and welfare +are concerned. From such a practical position the question of +inspiration will now be discussed; and the inquiry will be, at present, +restricted to the writings of the New Testament. In connection with this +discussion will also be considered the subject of the _canon_, not in +its particular extent, but in the _principle_ upon which it is formed. + +1. It is necessary, first of all, to find a sure _rule_ by which we can +try the claims of a given book to be inspired, and consequently to be +admitted into the canon of the New Testament. It cannot be simply the +writer's own declaration. It will be shown hereafter that, in connection +with other evidence, his testimony concerning himself is of the highest +importance. But the point now is, that no man's inspiration is to be +acknowledged simply on his own word. Nor can we decide simply from the +contents of the book. Very important indeed is the question concerning +the contents of any book which claims to be a revelation from God. Yet +we cannot take the naked ground that a given book is inspired because +its contents are of a given character. This would be virtually to set up +our own reason as the supreme arbiter of divine truth, which is the very +position of rationalism. Nor can we receive a book as inspired on the +so-called authority of the church, whether this mean the authority of a +man who claims to be its infallible head, or the authority of a general +council of the churches. Admitting for a moment the Romish doctrine of +the infallibility of the church, we could know this infallibility not +from the declaration of any man or body of men in the church, but from +Scripture alone. But this is assuming at the outset the infallibility of +Scripture, and therefore its inspiration, which is the very point at +issue. Looking at the question on all sides, we shall find for a given +book of the New Testament no valid test of the writer's inspiration +except _his relation to the Lord Jesus Christ_. This presupposes our +Lord's divine mission and character, and his supreme authority in the +church. It is necessary therefore to begin with the great central fact +of the gospel, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and that +through him God has made to men a revelation of his own character and +will for their salvation. This fact is to be first established according +to the ordinary rules of human evidence, as has been attempted in the +preceding chapters. After that we come naturally to the inspiration of +the record, and can establish it also on a sure foundation. + +2. The great fundamental truth that Jesus is the Son of God, who dwelt +from eternity with the Father, knew all his counsels, and was sent by +him to this fallen world on a mission of love and mercy, being +established on an immovable foundation, we have a sure point of +departure from which to proceed in our inquiries respecting inspiration. +It becomes at once a self-evident proposition--the great axiom of +Christianity, we may call it--that the teaching of Jesus Christ, when he +was on earth, was truth unmixed with error. This he himself asserted in +the most explicit terms: "The Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all +things that himself doeth." John 5:20. "I am the light of the world: he +that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light +of life." John 8:12. "He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world +those things which I have heard of him." John 8:26. "I have not spoken +of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what +I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment +is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father +said unto me, so I speak." John 12:49, 50. Proceeding then from the +position of our Lord's infallibility, let us inquire whether any of his +disciples, and if so, who among them, were divinely qualified to teach, +and consequently to record, without error, the facts and doctrines of +his gospel. There are but two grades of relationship to Christ with +which we can connect such a high endowment: that of _apostles_, and that +of their _companions_ and fellow-laborers. Let us consider each of these +in order. + +3. Early in our Lord's ministry he chose _twelve apostles_, "that they +should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to +have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." Mark 3:14, 15. +In this brief notice we have all the distinguishing marks of an apostle. +He was chosen that he might be with Christ from the beginning, and thus +be to the people an eye-witness of his whole public life. When an +apostle was to be chosen in the place of Judas, Peter laid particular +stress on this qualification: "Wherefore of these men which have +companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among +us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was +taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his +resurrection." Acts 1:21, 22. In the case of Paul alone was this +condition of apostleship wanting; and this want was made up to him by +the special revelation of Jesus Christ. Gal. 1:11, 12. An apostle, +again, was one who received his commission to preach immediately from +the Saviour, a qualification which Paul strenuously asserted in his own +behalf: "Paul an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus +Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead." Gal. 1:1. An +apostle, once more, was one who received directly from Christ the power +of working miracles. This was the _seal_ of his apostleship before the +world. In the three particulars that have been named the apostles held +to Christ the nearest possible relation, and were by this relation +distinguished from all other men. Have we evidence that they were +divinely qualified, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to preach +and record the facts and doctrines of the gospel without error? + +That they must have been thus qualified, we have, in the _first_ place, +a strong presumption from _the necessity of the case_. Though our Lord +finished the work which the Father gave him to do on earth, he did not +finish the revelation of his gospel. On the contrary, he said to his +disciples just before his crucifixion, "I have yet many things to say +unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of +truth is come, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:12, 13. Let us +look at some of these things which were reserved for future revelation. +The purely spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom was not understood by +the apostles till after the day of Pentecost, for we find them asking, +just before his ascension, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the +kingdom to Israel?" a question which he did not answer, but referred +them to the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:6-8. Another of the +things which they could not bear was the abolition, through Christ's +propitiatory sacrifice, of the Mosaic law, and with it, of the middle +wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles. This great truth was +reserved to be revealed practically in the progress of the gospel, as +recorded in the book of Acts, and doctrinally in the epistles of Paul. +Then what a rich unfolding we have in the apostolic epistles of the +meaning of our Lord's death on Calvary, and in connection with this, of +the doctrine of justification by faith--faith not simply in Christ, but +in _Christ crucified_. Faith in Christ's person the disciples had before +his death; but faith in him as crucified for the sins of the world they +could not have till after his resurrection and exaltation to the right +hand of God. The abovenamed truths--not to specify others, as, for +example, what Paul says of the resurrection, 1 Cor., ch. 15; 1. Thess. +4:13-18--enter into the very substance of the gospel. They are, in fact, +integral parts of it. Can we suppose that our Lord began the revelation +of his gospel by his own infallible wisdom, and then left it to be +completed by the fallible wisdom of men? If Augustine and Jerome in the +latter period of the Roman empire, if Anselm and Bernard in the middle +ages, if Luther and Calvin at the era of the Reformation, if Wesley and +Edwards in later days, commit errors, the mischief is comparatively +small; for, upon the supposition that the apostles were qualified by the +Holy Ghost to teach and write without error, we have in their writings +an infallible standard by which to try the doctrines of later uninspired +men. But if the apostles whom Christ himself appointed to finish the +revelation which he had begun, and whom he endowed with miraculous +powers, as the seal of their commission, had been left without a sure +guarantee against error, then there would be no standard of truth to +which the church in later ages could appeal. No man who believes that +Jesus is the Son of God, and that he came into the world to make to men +a perfect revelation of the way of life, can admit such an absurd +supposition. + +In the _second_ place, we have _Christ's express promises_ to his +apostles that they should be divinely qualified for their work through +the gift of the Holy Ghost: "But when they deliver you up, take no +thought"--be not solicitous, as the original signifies--"how or what ye +shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall +speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which +speaketh in you." Matt. 10:19, 20. "But when they shall lead you, and +deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither +do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that +speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." Mark 13:11. +"And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and +powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye +shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye +ought to say." Luke 12:11, 12. "Settle it therefore in your hearts not +to meditate before what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and +wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor +resist." Luke 21:14, 15. The above promises are perfectly explicit; and +although they refer primarily to a particular emergency, in which the +apostles would especially feel their need of divine guidance, they +cover, in their spirit, all other emergencies. We cannot read them +without the conviction that they contain the promise to the apostles of +all needed help and guidance in the work committed to them. If they were +divinely qualified to defend the gospel before their adversaries without +error--"I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries +shall not be able to gainsay nor resist"--so were they also to _record +the facts_ of the gospel, and to unfold in their epistles its doctrines. + +The promises recorded in the gospel of John are more general and +comprehensive in their character. It will be sufficient to adduce two of +them: "These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you. +But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in +my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your +remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:25, 26. "I have +yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit +when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: +for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that +shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify +me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things +that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I that he shall take of +mine, and shall show it unto you." John 16:12-15. In the former of these +passages the special promise is that the Holy Spirit shall bring to the +remembrance of the apostles and unfold to their understanding all +Christ's personal teachings; so that they shall thus have a fuller +apprehension of their meaning than they could while he was yet with +them. The second promise is introduced with the declaration that the +Saviour has yet many things to say to his apostles which they cannot now +bear. Of course these things are reserved for the ministration of the +Spirit, as he immediately proceeds to show: "When he, the Spirit of +truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." The Spirit shall +glorify Christ; for he shall take of the things which are Christ's, and +reveal them to the apostles. And what are the things which are Christ's? +"All that the Father hath;" for the Father has given all things into the +hands of the Son. John 13:3. Among these "all things" are included all +the Father's counsels pertaining to the way of salvation through the +Son. These are given to the Son; and the Holy Ghost shall take of them +and reveal to the church, through the apostles, as much as it is needful +for the church to know. In these remarkable words we have at once a +proof of our Lord's deity, and a sure guarantee to the apostles of +supernatural illumination and guidance in the work committed to +them--all the illumination and guidance which they needed, that they +might be qualified to finish without error the revelation of the gospel +which Christ had begun. + + The question is often asked: Were these promises given to the + apostles alone, or through them to the church at large? The + answer is at hand. They were given _primarily_ and in a _special + sense_ to the apostles; for they had reference to a special work + committed to them, which required for its performance special + divine illumination and guidance. They were also given, in an + important sense, to the church at large; since all believers + enjoy, through the teaching of the apostles, the benefit of + these revelations of the Holy Spirit. They are not, however, + made to all believers personally; but were given, once for all, + through the apostles to the church. The gift of the Holy Spirit + is indeed made to all believers personally: through his + enlightening and sanctifying power they have all needed help and + guidance. But they are not called, as were the apostles, to lay + the foundations of the Christian faith, and have therefore no + promise of new revelations from the Spirit or of elevation above + all error, any more than they have of miraculous gifts. + +We are now prepared to consider, in the _third_ place, the _claims_ +which the apostles themselves made to speak and write with divine +authority. Although their simple word as men could avail nothing, yet +this same word, taken in connection with their known relation to Christ, +with the work committed to them, and with the promises made to them, is +of the most weighty import. It was not indeed their custom to assert +gratuitously their superhuman guidance and authority. Yet when occasions +arose, from the nature of the subject under discussion, or from the +opposition of false teachers, they did so in unambiguous terms. Thus the +apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says, "Now we have received +not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we +might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things +also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which +the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual," 1 +Cor. 2:12, 13: and writing to the Thessalonians concerning the +resurrection, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we +which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent +them which are asleep," etc. 1 Thess. 4:15. And again, in writing to the +Galatians, among whom his apostolic standing had been called in question +by certain Judaizing teachers, he says, "I certify you, brethren, that +the gospel which was preached of me is not after man: for I neither +received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of +Jesus Christ." Gal. 1:11, 12. This language is explicit enough. It could +have been used only by one who was conscious of having been divinely +qualified to teach the gospel without error. Accordingly, in the same +epistle, he opposes his apostolic authority to these false teachers: +"Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised Christ shall +profit you nothing." Gal. 5:2. In the memorable letter of the apostles +and elders to the Gentile churches, Acts 15:23-29, they say, "It seemed +good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than +these necessary things." "To the Holy Ghost and to us" can mean only, to +us under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Besides such explicit +assertions as the above, there is a tone of authority running through +the apostolic writings which can be explained only from their claim to +speak with divine authority. They assert the weightiest truths and make +the weightiest revelations concerning the future, as men who know that +they have a right to be implicitly believed and obeyed. What majesty of +authority, for example, shines through Paul's discussion of the doctrine +of the resurrection, 1 Cor., ch. 15, where he announces truths that lie +wholly beyond the ken of human reason. "Behold," says he, "I show you a +mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," as one +who has perfect assurance that he speaks from God. The same tone of +certainty runs through all the remarks which the apostle John +interweaves into his gospel, as well as through his epistles, and +through the other apostolic writings. + +To sum up in a single sentence what has been said respecting the +apostles: When we consider the strong presumption, arising from the +necessity of the case, that they must have been divinely qualified to +teach and write without error, the explicit promises of Christ that they +should be thus qualified, and their explicit claims under these +promises, we have full evidence that they wrote, as well as spoke, under +the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and consequently that their writings +are of divine authority. + +4. In the second grade of relationship to Christ stand men who, like +Mark and Luke, were not themselves apostles, but were the _companions of +apostles_, and their associates in the work of preaching the gospel. We +are not authorized to place them in the same rank with the apostles. Yet +they had the gift of the Holy Spirit, which was always given in +connection with ordination at the hands of the apostles. If, in addition +to this, their connection with some of the apostles was of such an +intimate nature that we cannot suppose them to have written without +their knowledge and approbation, we have for their writings all the +apostolic authority that is needed. The intimate relation of Luke to the +apostle Paul has been already sufficiently shown. We have good ground +for believing that he was with him when he wrote both the gospel and the +book of Acts. The intimate connection of Mark with the apostle Peter is +shown by the unanimous testimony of the primitive churches, and is +confirmed, moreover, by an examination of the peculiarities of his +gospel. In entire harmony with the position of these two evangelists is +the character of their writings. They never assume the office of +independent teachers, but restrict themselves to a careful record of the +works and words of Christ and his apostles. + +5. A final argument for the inspiration of the books of the New +Testament, whether written by apostles or their companions, may be drawn +from their general character, as contrasted with that of the writings +which remain to us from the age next succeeding that of the apostles. +The more one studies the two classes of writings in connection, the +deeper will be his conviction of the distance by which they are +separated from each other. The descent from the majesty and power of the +apostolic writings to the best of those which belong to the following +age is sudden and very great. Only by a slow process did Christian +literature afterwards rise to a higher position through the leavening +influence of the gospel upon Christian society, and especially upon +Christian education. The contrast now under consideration is +particularly important in our judgment of those books which, like the +second epistle of Peter, are sustained by a less amount of external +evidence. Though we cannot decide on the inspiration of a book simply +from the character of its contents, we may be helped in our judgment by +comparing these, on the one hand, with writings acknowledged to be +apostolic, and on the other, with writings which we know to be of the +following age. + +6. The inspiration of the sacred writers was _plenary_ in the sense that +they received from the Holy Spirit all the illumination and guidance +which they needed to preserve them from error in the work committed to +them. With regard to the degree and mode of this influence in the case +of different books, it is not necessary to raise any abstract questions. +That Paul might make to the Galatians a statement of his visits to +Jerusalem and the discussions connected with them, Galatians, chaps. 1, +2, or might give an account of his conversion before king Agrippa, Acts, +ch. 26, it was not necessary that he should receive the same kind and +measure of divine help as when he unfolded to the Corinthians the +doctrine of the resurrection, 1 Cor., ch. 15. And so in regard to the +other inspired penmen. Whatever assistance each of them needed, he +received. If his judgment needed divine illumination for the selection +of his materials, it was given him. If he needed to be raised above +narrowness and prejudice, or to have the Saviour's instructions unfolded +to his understanding, or to receive new revelations concerning the way +of salvation or the future history of Christ's kingdom--whatever divine +aid was necessary in all these cases, was granted. Thus the books of the +New Testament, being written under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, +become to the Christian church an infallible rule of faith and practice. + + If there be any limitation connected with the inspiration of the + sacred writers, it is one of which the Holy Spirit is himself + the author, and which cannot therefore injuriously affect their + testimony. It did not please God, for example, that the exact + order of time should always be kept in the gospel narratives; + nor that the identical forms of expression employed by the + Saviour on given occasions should always be preserved; nor that + the accompanying circumstances should in all cases be fully + stated; for in all these respects the evangelists frequently + differ among themselves. Had the wisdom of God judged it best, + minute accuracy in these particulars might have been secured. + But the result would probably have been injurious, by leading + men to exalt the letter above the spirit of the gospel. We + should be glad to know with certainty which, if any, of the + different ways that have been proposed for reconciling John's + narrative with those of the other evangelists in respect to the + day of the month on which our Lord ate his last passover with + his disciples, is the true one. It would give us pleasure were + we able to arrange all the incidents connected with our Lord's + resurrection, as recorded by the four evangelists, in the exact + order of their occurrence. Had we a full record of all the + circumstances pertaining to these two transactions, this might + be accomplished. But it would not make any essential addition to + our knowledge of the gospel. We should have, in every jot and + tittle, the same way of salvation that we have now, and the same + duties in respect to it. To all who, on grounds like these, find + difficulty with the doctrine of plenary inspiration, we may say, + in the words of the apostle, "Brethren, be not children in + understanding; howbeit, in malice be ye children, but in + understanding be men." + +7. The _extent of the canon_ is determined by the _extent of +inspiration_. The question to be settled respecting each book of the New +Testament is, Was it written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? or, +which amounts to the same thing, Has it apostolic authority? If it has, +it is to be received; if not, it is to be rejected. There is no middle +ground--no division of the canon into books of primary and of secondary +authority. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +INSEPARABLE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. + + +Although the great central truth of redemption, that "the Father sent +the Son to be the Saviour of the world," and that we have in the New +Testament a true record of this mission, rests, as has been shown, upon +an immovable foundation, we have as yet seen the argument in only half +its strength. Not until we consider the advent of Christ in connection +with the bright train of revelations that preceded and prepared the way +for his coming, do we see it in its full glory, or comprehend the amount +of divine testimony by which it is certified to us. We have already +seen, chap. 5. 1, how the events recorded in the Acts of the Apostles +follow, as a natural sequel, from the truth of the gospel history; how, +if we admit the former, we ought, for very consistency, to admit the +latter also, since the two cling together as inseparable parts of one +great plan. It is now proposed to look backward from the Saviour's +advent to the preceding series of revelations, and show how naturally in +the plan of God they preceded that great event, and how inseparably they +were connected with it as parts of one great whole. + +1. The supernatural mission of Christ furnishes, in and of itself, a +very strong presumption in favor of _previous_ supernatural revelations. +That such a mighty event as this should have burst upon the world +abruptly, without any previous preparation, is contrary to the whole +order of providence as well as of nature, which is, "first the blade, +then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." And since the advent +of Christ was miraculous in the fullest sense of the term, why should +not the way for it have been prepared by miraculous revelations as well +as by providential movements? The natural sun does not emerge suddenly +from the darkness of night: his approach is preceded by the day-star and +the dawn. So were the revelations which God made to men from Adam to +Malachi, with the mighty movements of his providence that accompanied +them, the day-star and the dawn that ushered in upon the world the +glorious sun of righteousness. + +2. We have the great fact that the Jewish people, among whom our Lord +appeared, and from among whom he chose the primitive preachers of the +gospel, possessed a firm and deeply-rooted belief in the unity of God +and his infinite perfections. That such a belief was a necessary +foundation for the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, all of which are +underlaid by that of trinity in unity, is self-evident. Now, this belief +was peculiar to the Jews, as contrasted with other nations; and it was +held, moreover, not simply by a few philosophers and learned men among +them, but by the mass of the people. No other example of a whole nation +receiving and holding firmly this fundamental doctrine of religion +existed then, or had ever existed; and no adequate explanation of this +great fact has ever been given, except that contained in the revelation +of God to this people recorded in the Old Testament. It was not by +chance, but in accordance with the eternal plan of redemption, that the +Messiah appeared where as well as when he did; not in Egypt in the days +of Pharaoh, nor in Nineveh, or Babylon, or Greece, or Rome; but among +the Jewish people, when now "the fulness of time was come." + +3. The impossibility of any attempt to dissever the revelations of the +Old Testament from those of the New appears most clearly when we +consider the _explicit declarations_ of our Saviour, and after him the +apostles, on this point. If we know any thing whatever concerning the +doctrines of our Lord Jesus, we know that he constantly taught his +disciples that he had come in accordance with the prophecies of the Old +Testament. If there were found in his discourses only one or two remote +allusions to these prophecies, there would be more show of reason in the +favorite hypothesis of rationalists, that the disciples misapprehended +their Lord's meaning. But his teachings are so numerous and explicit on +this point that, even aside from the inspiration of the writers, such an +explanation is not to be thought of for a moment. It was with two of +them a matter of personal knowledge that "beginning at Moses and all the +prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things +concerning himself," Luke 24:27; and with all of them that he said, +after his resurrection, in reference to his past teachings: "These are +the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all +things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in +the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me." Luke 24:44. That in +Christ were fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, appears in +every variety of form in the gospel narratives. It constituted, so to +speak, the warp into which the Saviour wove his web of daily +instruction. Now if a single thread, unlike all the rest in substance +and color, had found its way into this warp, we might, perhaps, regard +it as foreign and accidental; but to dissever from our Lord's words all +his references to the prophecies concerning himself in the Old +Testament, would be to take out of the web all the threads of the warp, +and then the web itself would be gone. No unbiased reader ever did, or +ever could gain from the words of Christ and his apostles any other idea +than that Jesus of Nazareth came in accordance with a bright train of +supernatural revelations going before and preparing the way for his +advent. This idea is so incorporated into the very substance of the New +Testament that it must stand or fall with it. + +4. Having contemplated the indivisible nature of revelation from the +position of the New Testament, we are now prepared to go back and look +at it from the platform of the Old Testament. We shall find this thickly +sown with those great principles which underlie the plan of redemption, +and bind it together as one glorious whole. + +_First_ of all, we have in the narrative of Adam's fall and the +consequences thence proceeding to the race, the substratum, so to speak, +on which the plan of redemption is built. From this we learn that +alienation from God and wickedness is not the original condition of the +race. Man was made upright and placed in communion with God. From that +condition he fell, in the manner recorded in the Old Testament; and to +restore him, through Christ, to his primitive state is the work which +the gospel proposes to accomplish. The great historic event of +redemption is that "the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy +the works of the devil;" and these are the very works described in the +narrative now under consideration, namely, the seduction of man from his +allegiance to God, with the misery and death that followed. The +primitive history of man's apostacy contains, then, the very key to the +plan of redemption. So it is plainly regarded by the apostle Paul. He +builds upon it arguments relating not to the outworks of redemption, but +to its inward nature. He makes the universality of man's fallen +condition through the sin of Adam the platform on which is built the +universality of the provisions of salvation through Christ. "As by the +offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by +the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto +justification. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, +so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Rom. 5:18, 19. +"Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. +For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 +Cor. 15:21, 22. How could the original transaction of the fall, through +the wiles of the devil, and the manifestation of God's Son to destroy +the works of the devil, be more indissolubly bound together as parts of +one great whole than in these words of an inspired apostle? + +_Secondly_, the Abrahamic covenant connects itself immediately with the +mission and work of Christ. It was made with Abraham, not for himself +and his posterity alone, but for all mankind: "In thy seed shall all the +nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 22:18. And if the Abrahamic +covenant had respect to the whole human family, the same must be true of +the Mosaic economy in its _ultimate_ design; since this did not abrogate +the covenant made with Abraham, as the apostle Paul expressly shows, +Gal. 3:17, but rather came in as subordinate to it, and with a view of +preparing the way for the accomplishment of its rich provisions of mercy +for "all families of the earth." The Mosaic economy was then a partial +subservient to a universal dispensation. + +The Abrahamic covenant was also purely spiritual in its character, the +condition of its blessings being nothing else than faith. The apostle +Paul urges the fact that this covenant was made with Abraham before his +circumcision, lest any should say that it was conditioned wholly or in +part upon a carnal ordinance: "He received the sign of circumcision, a +seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being +uncircumcised." Rom. 4:11. The seal of circumcision, then, did not make +the covenant valid, for the covenant existed many years before the rite +of circumcision was instituted. Faith was the only condition of +Abraham's justification. "He believed in the Lord, and he counted it to +him for righteousness." Gen. 15:6. + +And if we look at the promise contained in the Abrahamic covenant, "In +thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed," we find it to be +the very substance of the gospel, as the apostle Paul says: "The +Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, +preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all +nations be blessed." Gal. 3:8. The incarnation and work of Christ are, +according to the uniform representation of the New Testament, nothing +else but the carrying out of the covenant made with Abraham, for this +covenant was made for all mankind, was purely spiritual, being +conditioned on faith alone, and its substance is Christ, in whom all +nations are blessed. + +And while God has thus indissolubly linked to the incarnation of his Son +this high transaction with Abraham, we see how he has at the same time +connected it with the first promise made in Eden, and thus with the fall +of man through the subtilty of Satan. The promise in Eden is that the +seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. The promise to +Abraham is that in his seed, which is also the seed of the woman, all +the families of the earth shall be blessed. Now it is by the bruising of +the serpent's head, or, in New Testament language, by destroying the +works of the devil, that Abraham's seed blesses all the families of the +earth. The two promises, then, are in their inmost nature one and the +same, and their fulfilment constitutes the work of Christ. + +_Thirdly_, the end of the Mosaic economy is Christ. Its general scope is +thus briefly summed up by Paul: "The law was our schoolmaster to bring +us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Gal. 3:25. But not +to insist on this, let us contemplate its three great institutions--the +prophetic, the kingly, and the priestly order. + +The mode of communication which God employed on Sinai the people could +not endure, and they besought him, through Moses, that it might be +discontinued: "Speak them with us," they said, "and we will hear: but +let not God speak with us, lest we die." Ex. 20:19. Of this request God +approved, and promised: "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their +brethren like unto thee." Deut. 18:18. The point of special emphasis is, +that the great Prophet here promised, who is Christ, should be _one of +their brethren_, as Moses was. His personal advent was for many ages +delayed; but in the meantime his office was foreshadowed by the +prophetical order in Israel, consisting of men sent by God to address +their brethren. Thus the old dispensation and the new are linked +together by the great fundamental principle--that God should address man +through man--which runs through both. The whole series of Old Testament +prophecies, moreover, point to Christ as their end and fulfilment; "for +the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev. 19:10. + +The kingly office of the Old Testament connects itself with that of +Christ in a special way. Not only did the headship given to David and +his successors over the covenant people of God adumbrate the higher +headship of Christ, but David had from God the promise: "Thine house and +thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall +be established for ever." 2 Sam. 7:16. This promise is fulfilled in +Jesus of Nazareth, "the seed of David according to the flesh," according +to the express declaration of the New Testament: "The Lord God shall +give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over +the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." +Luke 1:32, 33. + +The priestly office, with the blood of the sacrifices connected with it, +prefigured Christ, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the +world." By the stream of sacrificial blood that flowed for so many ages +was set forth that great fundamental truth of redemption, that "without +shedding of blood is no remission." Heb. 9:22. The sacrifices of the +Mosaic law were continually repeated, because "it is not possible that +the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Heb. 10:4. But +when Christ had offered his own blood on Calvary for the sins of the +world, the typical sacrifices of the law ceased for ever, having been +fulfilled in the great Antitype, "in whom we have redemption through his +blood, the forgiveness of sins." Ephes. 1:7. + +5. Since the Old Testament and the New are thus inseparably connected as +parts of one grand system of revelation, of which the end is Christ, it +follows that the later revelations of the New Testament are the true +interpreters of the earlier, which are contained in the Old. This is +only saying that the Holy Ghost is the true and proper expositor of his +own communications to man. From the interpretations of Christ and his +apostles, fairly ascertained, there is no appeal. And they are fairly +ascertained when we have learned in what sense they must have been +understood by their hearers. All expositions of the Old Testament that +set aside, either openly or in a covert way, the supreme authority of +Christ and his apostles, are false, and only lead men away from the +truth as it is in Jesus. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH. + + +The term _Pentateuch_ is composed of the two Greek words, _pente_, +_five_, and _teuchos_, which in later Alexandrine usage signified +_book_. It denotes, therefore, the collection of five books; or, the +five books of the law considered as a whole. + +1. In our inquiries respecting the authorship of the Pentateuch, we +begin with the undisputed fact that it existed in its present form in +the days of Christ and his apostles, and had so existed from the time of +Ezra. When the translators of the Greek version, called the Septuagint, +began their work, about 280 B.C., they found the Pentateuch as we now +have it, and no one pretends that it had undergone any change between +their day and that of Ezra, about 460 B.C. It was universally ascribed +to Moses as its author, and was called in common usage _the law_, or the +_law of Moses_. + +2. That the authorship of the law in its written form is ascribed to +Moses in the New Testament every one knows. "The law was given by +Moses;" "Did not Moses give you the law?" "Had ye believed Moses, ye +would have believed me; for he wrote of me;" "For the hardness of your +heart he," Moses, "wrote you this precept;" "Master, Moses wrote unto +us;" "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" etc. Since now the +whole collection of books was familiarly known to the people as _the +law_, or _the law of Moses_, it is reasonable to infer that our Saviour +and his apostles use these terms in the same comprehensive sense, unless +there is a limitation given in the context. Such a limitation the +apostle Paul makes when he opposes to the Mosaic law the previous +promise to Abraham: "The covenant that was confirmed before of God in +Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot +disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." Gal. 3:17, +and compare the following verses. But in the following chapter Paul +manifestly employs the words _the law_ of the whole Pentateuch, to every +part of which he, in common with the Jewish people, ascribed equal and +divine authority: "Tell me, ye that desire to be under _law_"--under a +system of law, the article being wanting in the original--"do ye not +hear _the law_? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons; the one by +a bond-maid, the other by a free woman," etc., Gal. 4:21, seq., where +the reference is to the narrative recorded in Genesis, as a part of the +law. So also in the following passage: "Moses of old time hath in every +city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every +sabbath-day," Acts 15:21; the term Moses necessarily means the law of +Moses, as comprehending the whole Pentateuch, for it was that which was +read in the synagogues. Compare the words of Luke: "After the reading of +the law and the prophets," Acts 13:15. And in general, when Christ and +his apostles speak of Moses or the law, without any limitation arising +from the context, thus, "The law was given by Moses;" "They have Moses +and the prophets," etc., we are to understand them as referring to the +Pentateuch as a whole, for such was the common usage of the Jewish +people, and such must have been their apprehension of the meaning of the +terms. + +3. But it may be said, Christ and his apostles did not speak as critics, +but only in a popular way. That they did not speak of the Pentateuch as +critics, is certain. They had no occasion for doing so, since no Jew +doubted either its divine authority or its Mosaic authorship. But when +we consider, on the one side, with what unsparing severity our Lord set +aside the traditions of the Pharisees as "the commandments of men," and +on the other, how he and his apostles ascribed equal divine authority to +every part of the Pentateuch, as will be shown in the next chapter, and +how unequivocally they sanctioned the universal belief that Moses was +its author, we must acknowledge that we have the entire authority of the +New Testament for its Mosaic authorship in every essential respect. This +is entirely consistent with the belief that inspired men, like Ezra, and +perhaps also prophetical men of an earlier age, in setting forth revised +copies of the Pentateuch, that is, copies which aimed to give the true +text with as much accuracy as possible, may have added here and there +explanatory clauses for the benefit of the readers of their day. Such +incidental clauses, added by men of God under the guidance of his +Spirit, would not affect in the least the substance of the Pentateuch. +It would still remain in every practical sense the work of Moses, and be +so regarded in the New Testament. + + Whether there are, or are not, in the Pentateuch, such clauses + added by a later hand, and not affecting either its essential + contents or its Mosaic authorship, is an open question to be + determined by impartial criticism. At the present day editors + carefully indicate their explanatory notes; but this was not the + usage of high antiquity. At the close of the book of + Deuteronomy, for example, there is immediately added, without + any explanatory remark, a notice of Moses' death. We are at + liberty to assume, if we have cogent reasons for so doing, that + brief explanatory clauses were sometimes interwoven into the + Mosaic text; as, for example, the remark in Gen. 36:31, which is + repeated in 1 Chron. 1:43, a book ascribed to Ezra; Exod. 16:35, + 36, etc. + +4. Going back now to the days of the _Restoration_ under Zerubbabel and +his associates, about 536 B.C., we find that the very first act of the +restored captives was to set up "the altar of the God of Israel, to +offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the +man of God." The narrative goes on to specify that "they offered +burnt-offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt-offerings morning and +evening. They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and +offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the custom, as +the duty of every day required; and afterwards offered the continual +burnt-offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the +Lord that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a +free-will offering unto the Lord." Ezra 3:1-5. About ninety years +afterwards, upon the completion of the walls of Jerusalem under +Nehemiah, about 445 B.C., we find Ezra the priest--"a ready scribe in +the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given," Ezra 7:6--on +the occasion of the feast of tabernacles bringing forth "the book of the +law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel," and reading in it +"from the morning unto midday, before the men and the women, and those +that could understand." In this work he was assisted by a body of men, +who "caused the people to understand the law;" and the reading was +continued through the seven days of the feast: "day by day, from the +first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God." +Neh. ch. 8. It was not the book of Deuteronomy alone that they read. We +might infer this from the extent of the reading, which was sufficient +for all the preceptive parts of the Pentateuch. But here we are not left +to mere inference. On the second day "they found written in the law +which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel +should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month;" and that they +should "fetch olive-branches, and pine-branches, and myrtle-branches, +and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is +written." Neh. 8:13-17. The precept concerning booths with boughs of +trees occurs in Lev. 23:40-43, a passage which they might naturally +enough reach on the second day. + + Ezra's assistants gave the sense not by labored expositions, but + by interpreting the Hebrew in the Chaldee vernacular of the + people. This would about double the time devoted to a given + section. All that pertained to the structure of the tabernacle + was superseded by the first temple, which served the returned + captives as their model in the erection of the second. We may + well suppose that this was omitted. There would then remain only + four or five chapters in the book of Exodus. Thus the passage in + question would naturally fall on the second day. + +5. Jewish tradition ascribes to Ezra the work of settling the canon of +the Old Testament, and setting forth a corrected edition of the same. +Though some things included in this tradition are fabulous, the part of +it now under consideration is corroborated by all the scriptural +statements concerning him, nor is there any reasonable ground for +doubting its correctness. Be this as it may, it is admitted that from +Ezra's day onward the Pentateuch existed in its present form. We are +sure, therefore, that "the book of the law of Moses," out of which he +read to the people, was the book as we now have it--the whole +Pentateuch, written, according to uniform Jewish usage, on a single +roll. Ezra belonged to the priestly order that had in charge the keeping +of the sacred books, Deut. 31:25, 26, compared with 2 Kings 22:8, and +was moreover "a ready scribe in the law of Moses." His zeal for the +reestablishment of the Mosaic law in its purity shines forth in his +whole history. In his competency and fidelity we have satisfactory +evidence that the law of Moses which he set forth was the very law which +had been handed down from ancient times, and of which we have frequent +notices in the books of Kings and Chronicles. + + It is generally supposed that Ezra himself wrote the books of + Chronicles. They were certainly composed about his time. To + admit, as all do, that in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah the law + of Moses means the Pentateuch as a whole, and to deny that it + has the same meaning in the books of Chronicles, is very + inconsistent. Certainly the book which Ezra set forth was the + book which he found ready at hand, and therefore the book + referred to in the Chronicles, and the Kings also. Any + explanatory additions which he may have made did not affect its + substance. It remains for the objector to show why it was not, + in all essential respects, the book which Hilkiah found in the + temple, 2 Chron. 34:14, and to which David referred in his dying + charge to Solomon, 1 Kings 2:3. + +6. Passing by, for the present, the notices of the law of Moses +contained in the book of Joshua, we come to the testimony of the book of +Deuteronomy. We have seen that the Mosaic authorship of the book, as a +part of the Pentateuch, is everywhere assumed by the writers of the New +Testament. But, in addition to this, they make quotations from it under +the forms, "Moses wrote," "Moses truly said unto the fathers," etc. Mark +10:3-5; Acts 3:22; Rom. 10:19. If we examine the book itself, its own +testimony is equally explicit. In chap. 17:24 Moses directs that when +the Israelites shall appoint a king, "he shall write him a copy of this +law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites." In +the opinion of some, this language refers to the whole law of Moses, +while others would restrict it to the book of Deuteronomy; but all are +agreed that it includes the whole of the latter work, with the exception +of the closing sections. By a comparison of this passage with chaps. +28:58; 31:9, 24-26, the evidence is complete that Moses wrote this law, +and delivered it to the priests, to be laid up by the side of the ark in +the tabernacle. If this testimony needed any corroboration, we should +have it in the character of the work itself. It is the solemn farewell +of the aged lawgiver to the people whose leader he had been for the +space of forty years. In perfect harmony with this are the grandeur and +dignity of its style, its hortatory character, and the exquisite +tenderness and pathos that pervade every part of it. It is every way +worthy of Moses; nor can we conceive of any other Hebrew who was in a +position to write such a book. + +7. The book of Deuteronomy contains a renewal of the covenant which God +made with the children of Israel at Sinai. Chap. 29:10-15. Moses himself +distinguishes between the former and the latter covenant. "These are the +words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the +children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he +made with them in Horeb." Chap. 29:1. With each covenant was connected a +series of laws; those belonging to the latter being mainly, but not +entirely, a repetition of laws given with the first covenant. We have +seen that Moses wrote the second covenant, and all the laws connected +with it. From Exodus, ch. 24, we learn that he wrote also the book of +the first covenant containing, we may reasonably suppose, all of God's +legislation up to that time. The inference is irresistible that he wrote +also the laws that followed in connection with the first covenant. It is +an undeniable fact that these laws underlie the whole constitution of +the Israelitish nation, religious, civil, and social. They cannot, then, +have been the invention of a later age; for no such fraud can be +imposed, or was ever imposed upon a whole people. They are their own +witness also that they were given by the hand of Moses, for they are all +prefaced by the words, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying." When we +consider their fundamental character, their extent, and the number and +minuteness of their details, we cannot for a moment suppose that they +were left unwritten by such a man as Moses, who had all the +qualifications for writing them. Why should not the man who received +them from the Lord have also recorded them--this man educated at the +court of Egypt, and learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, who had +already written "the book of the covenant," and afterwards wrote the +journeyings of the Israelites, Numb. ch. 23, and the book of +Deuteronomy? An express statement from Moses himself is not needed. The +fact is to be understood from the nature of the case, and to call it in +question is gratuitous skepticism. + +8. The form of the Mosaic laws that precede the book of Deuteronomy is +in perfect harmony with the assumption that Moses himself not only +received them, but wrote them. They bear the impress of having been +recorded not continuously, but from time to time, as they were +communicated to him. In this way the historical notices which are woven +into them--the matter of the golden calf, Exodus, ch. 32, the death of +Nadab and Abihu, Leviticus, ch. 10, the blasphemy of Shelomith's son, +Leviticus, ch. 24, and the numerous incidents recorded in the book of +Numbers--all these narratives find a perfectly natural explanation. Some +of these incidents--as, for example, the blasphemy of Shelomith's +son--come in abruptly, without any connection in the context; and their +position can be accounted for only upon the assumption that they were +recorded as they happened. In this peculiar feature of the Mosaic code +before Deuteronomy, we have at once a proof that Moses was the writer, +and that the historical notices connected with it were also recorded by +him. The result at which we arrive is that the whole record from God's +appearance to Moses and his mission to Pharaoh has Moses himself for its +author. The authorship of the preceding part of the Pentateuch will be +considered separately. + +9. The above result in reference to that part of the law which precedes +Deuteronomy, is confirmed by the _testimony of the New Testament_. In +disputing with the Sadducees, our Lord appealed to the writings of +Moses, which they acknowledged: "Now that the dead are raised, even +Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, +and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Luke 20:37. It was by +recording the words of God, as given in Exodus 3:6, that Moses called +the Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The apostle Paul, again, +referring to Lev. 18:5, says: "Moses describeth"--literally, +_writeth_--"the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which +doeth those things shall live by them." Rom. 10:5. Here also belong +certain passages that speak of precepts in "the law of Moses," as Luke +2:22-24, where the reference is to various precepts in Exodus, +Leviticus, and Numbers--Exod. 13:2; 22:29; 34:19; Lev. 12:2, seq.; Numb. +3:13; 8:17; 18:15--John 7:22, 23, where the reference is to Lev. 12:2; +for with the New Testament writers "the law of Moses" means the law +written by Moses. In like manner we find references in the Old Testament +to the books of the law of Moses that precede Deuteronomy--2 Chron. +23:18 compared with Numb. 28:2, seq.; 2 Chron. 24:6 compared with Exod. +30:12, seq.; Ezra 3:2-5 compared with Numb. 28:2, seq., and 29:12, seq.; +Neh. 8:15 compared with Lev. 23:40. + +10. The relation of the book of Deuteronomy to the earlier portions of +the law deserves a careful consideration. And, first, in regard to +_time_. All that portion of the law which precedes the sixteenth chapter +of the book of Numbers was given in the first and second years after the +exodus; consequently thirty-eight years before the composition of the +book of Deuteronomy. The four chapters of Numbers that follow, chaps. +16-19, are generally dated about twenty years later--that is, about +eighteen years before the composition of Deuteronomy. Only the last +seventeen chapters of Numbers, which are mostly occupied with historical +notices, were written in the preceding year. + +Then, as it respects general _design_. At Horeb the entire constitution +of the theocracy was to be established. This part of the law is, +therefore, more formal and circumstantial. It gives minute directions +for the celebration of the passover; for the construction of the +tabernacle and its furniture; for the dress, consecration, duties, and +perquisites of the priesthood and Levitical order; for the entire system +of sacrifices; for the distinction between clean and unclean animals; +for all those duties that were especially of a priestly character, as +judgment in the case of leprosy, and purification from ceremonial +uncleanness; for the order of journeying and encamping in the +wilderness, etc. In a word, it gives more prominence to the forms of the +law, and the duties of those to whom its administration was committed. +Not so on the plains of Moab. The theocracy had then been long in +operation. The details of its service were well understood, and there +was no need of formal and circumstantial repetition. The work of Moses +now was not to give a new law, but to enforce the law of Horeb, with +such subordinate modifications and additions as were required by the new +circumstances of the people, now about to take possession of the +promised land and change their wandering life for fixed abodes. He had +to do, therefore, more prominently not with the administrators of law, +but with the people; and accordingly his precepts assume a hortatory +character, and his style becomes more diffuse and flowing. + +The _personal relation_ of Moses to the people was also greatly changed. +At Horeb he had the great work of his life before him, but now it is +behind him. He is about to leave his beloved Israel, whom he has borne +on his heart and guided by his counsels for forty years. Hence the +inimitable tenderness and pathos that pervade the book of Deuteronomy. + +When now we take into account all these altered circumstances, we have a +full explanation of the peculiarities which mark the book of Deuteronomy +as compared with the preceding books. Were these peculiarities wanting, +we should miss a main proof of its genuineness. Nevertheless the book is +thoroughly Mosaic in its style, and the scholar who reads it in the +original Hebrew can detect peculiar forms of expression belonging only +to the Pentateuch. As to alleged disagreements between some of its +statements and those of the earlier books, it is sufficient to remark +that upon a candid examination they mostly disappear; and even where we +cannot fully explain them, this furnishes no valid ground for denying +the genuineness of either portion of the law. Such seeming discrepancies +are not uncommon when a writer of acknowledged credibility repeats what +he has before written. Compare, for example, the three narratives of the +apostle Paul's conversion which are recorded in the book of Acts. + +The question as to the extent of meaning which should be given in +Deuteronomy to the expressions, "a copy of this law," "the words of this +law," "this book of the law," is one upon which expositors are not +agreed, nor is it essential; since, as we have seen, the Mosaic +authorship of the former part of the law rests upon broader grounds. + + In Deut. 27:3, 8, it seems necessary to understand the + expression, "all the words of this law," which were to be + written upon tables of stone set up on mount Ebal, of the + blessings and curses--ver. 12, 13--contained in this and the + following chapter. But elsewhere, chs. 17:18; 31:9, 24-26, we + must certainly include at least the whole of Deuteronomy. If we + suppose that it was Moses' custom to write out the precepts of + the law with the historical notices pertaining to them in a + continuous roll, which was enlarged from time to time, and that + he added to this roll the book of Deuteronomy, then the words in + question must be understood of the entire body of precepts from + the beginning. But if, as seems to be intimated in Deut. 31:24, + he wrote Deuteronomy in a separate book, ("_in a book_," without + the article,) the words naturally refer to Deuteronomy alone. + This work, as containing a summary of the law--_a second law_, + as the word _Deuteronomy_ signifies--might well be spoken of as + "this law," without any denial of an earlier law; just as the + covenant made with the people at this time is called "this + covenant," ch. 29:14, without any denial of an earlier covenant. + The reverent scholar will be careful not to be wise above what + is written. It might gratify our curiosity to know exactly in + what outward form Moses left the Law with the historical notices + woven into it; whether in one continuous roll, or in several + rolls which were afterwards arranged by some prophet, perhaps + with connecting and explanatory clauses; but it could add + nothing to our knowledge of the way of salvation. In either case + it would be alike the law of Moses and the law which Moses + wrote, invested with full divine authority. + +11. It being established that Moses wrote the whole law with the +historical notices appertaining to it, we naturally infer that he must +have written the book of Genesis also, which is introductory to the law. +For this work he had every qualification, and we know of no other man +that had the like qualifications. On this ground alone the Mosaic +authorship of the book might be reasonably assumed, unless decided +proofs to the contrary could be adduced. But we find, upon examination, +that the book of Genesis is so _connected with the following books_ that +without the knowledge of its contents they cannot be rightly understood. +The very first appearance of God to Moses is introduced by the remark +that he "remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with +Jacob." In addressing Moses he calls the children of Israel "my people," +Exod. 3:6-10; and sends Moses to Pharaoh with the message, "Let my +people go." All this implies a knowledge of the covenant which God made +with Abraham and his seed after him, by virtue of which the Israelites +became his peculiar people. It is not simply as an oppressed people that +God undertakes to deliver them and give them possession of the land of +Canaan, but as _his_ people. Again and again does Moses describe the +promised land as "the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after +them." With the book of Genesis these declarations are plain; but +without it they are unintelligible. The Abrahamic covenant, which is +recorded in the book of Genesis, is not a subordinate, but an essential +part of the history of the Israelites. It underlies the whole plan of +redemption, and upon it the Mosaic economy, as a part of that plan, is +erected. Why should any one suppose that Moses, who recorded the +establishment of this economy with all its details, omitted to record +the great transactions with the patriarchs which lie at its foundation? +There are other references to the book of Genesis in the law of Moses. +The institution of the Sabbath is expressly based on the order of +creation recorded in the first two chapters; and when the people leave +Egypt they carry with them the bones of Joseph, in accordance with the +oath which he had exacted of them. Gen. 50:25, compared with Exod. +13:19. + +To the Mosaic authorship of Genesis it has been objected, that it +contains marks of a _later age_. But these marks, so far as they have +any real existence, belong not to the substance of the book. They are +restricted to a few explanatory notices, which may well have been added +by Ezra or some prophetical man before him, in setting forth a revised +copy of the law. See No. 3, above. The passages which can, with any show +of probability, be referred to a later age, are, taken all together, +very inconsiderable, and they refer only to incidental matters, while +the book, as a whole, bears all the marks of high antiquity. + +To the Mosaic authorship of this book it has been objected again, that +it contains the writings of _different authors_. This is especially +argued from the diversity of usage in respect to the divine name, some +passages employing the word _Elohim_, _God_, others the word _Jehovah_, +or a combination of the two terms. Whatever force there may be in this +argument, the validity of which is denied by many who think that the +inspired writer designedly varied his usage between the general term +_God_ and the special covenant name _Jehovah_, it goes only to show that +Moses may have made use of previously existing documents; a supposition +which we need not hesitate to admit, provided we have cogent reasons for +so doing. Whatever may have been the origin of these documents, they +received through Moses the seal of God's authority, and thus became a +part of his inspired word. + + Several writers have attempted to distinguish throughout the + book of Genesis the parts which they would assign to different + authors; but beyond the first chapters they are not able to + agree among themselves. All attempts to carry the distinction of + different authors into the later books rest on fanciful grounds. + +12. That the Pentateuch, as a whole, proceeded from a single author, is +shown by the unity of plan that pervades the whole work. The book of +Genesis constitutes, as has been shown, a general introduction to the +account which follows of the establishment of the theocracy; and it is +indispensable to the true understanding of it. In the first part of the +book of Exodus we have a special introduction to the giving of the law; +for it records the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, +and their journey to Sinai. The Mosaic institutions presuppose a +sanctuary as their visible material centre. The last part of Exodus, +after the promulgation of the ten commandments and the precepts +connected with them, is accordingly occupied with the construction of +the tabernacle and its furniture, and the dress and consecration of the +priests who ministered there. In Leviticus, the central book of the +Pentateuch, we have the central institution of the Mosaic economy, +namely, the system of sacrifices belonging to the priesthood, and also, +in general, the body of ordinances intrusted to their administration. +The theocracy having been founded at Sinai, it was necessary that +arrangements should be made for the orderly march of the people to the +land of Canaan. With these the book of Numbers opens, and then proceeds +to narrate the various incidents that befell the people in the +wilderness, with a record of their encampments, and also the addition +from time to time of new ordinances. The book of Deuteronomy contains +the grand farewell address of Moses to the Israelites, into which is +woven a summary of the precepts already given which concerned +particularly the people at large, with various modifications and +additions suited to their new circumstances and the new duties about to +be devolved upon them. We see then that the Pentateuch constitutes a +consistent whole. Unity of design, harmony of parts, continual progress +from beginning to end--these are its grand characteristics; and they +prove that it is not a heterogeneous collection of writings put together +without order, but the work of a single master-spirit, writing under +God's immediate direction, according to the uniform testimony of the New +Testament. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AUTHENTICITY AND CREDIBILITY OF THE PENTATEUCH. + + +1. The historic truth of the Pentateuch is everywhere assumed by the +writers of the New Testament in the most absolute and unqualified +manner. They do not simply allude to it and make quotations from it, as +one might do in the case of Homer's poems, but they build upon the facts +which it records arguments of the weightiest character, and pertaining +to the essential doctrines and duties of religion. This is alike true of +the Mosaic _laws_ and of the _narratives_ that precede them or are +interwoven with them. In truth, the writers of the New Testament know no +distinction, as it respects divine authority, between one part of the +Pentateuch and another. They receive the whole as an authentic and +inspired record of God's dealings with men. A few examples, taken mostly +from the book of Genesis, will set this in a clear light. + +In reasoning with the Pharisees on the question of divorce, our Lord +appeals to the primitive record: "Have ye not read that he which made +them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this +cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: +and they twain shall be one flesh? wherefore they are no more twain, but +one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put +asunder." And when, upon this, the Pharisees ask, "Why did Moses then +command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?" Deut. +24:1, he answers in such a way as to recognize both the authority of the +Mosaic legislation and the validity of the ante-Mosaic record: "Moses, +because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your +wives: but from the beginning it was not so." He then proceeds to +enforce the marriage covenant as it was "from the beginning." Matt. +19:3-9, compared with Gen. 2:23, 24. In like manner the apostle Paul +establishes the headship of the man over the woman: "He is the image and +glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not +of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for +the woman, but the woman for the man." 1 Cor. 11:7-9, compared with Gen. +2:18-22. And again: "I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp +authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, +then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in +the transgression." 1 Tim. 2:12-14, compared with Gen. 2:18-22; 3:l-6, +13. So also he argues from the primitive record that, as by one man sin +and death came upon the whole human race, so by Christ Jesus life and +immortality are procured for all. Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21, 22, +compared with Gen. 2:17; 3:19, 22. The story of Cain and Abel, Gen. +4:3-12, is repeatedly referred to by the Saviour and his apostles as a +historic truth: Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:51; Heb. 11:4; 12:24; 1 John 3:12; +Jude 11. So also the narrative of the deluge: Gen. chs. 6-8, compared +with Matt. 14:37-39; Luke 17:26, 27; Heb. 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter +2:5; and of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. ch. 19, compared +with Luke 17:28, 29; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7. It is useless to adduce +further quotations. No man can read the New Testament without the +profound conviction that the authenticity and credibility of the +Pentateuch are attested in every conceivable way by the Saviour and his +apostles. To reject the authority of the former is to deny that of the +latter also. + +2. For the authenticity and credibility of the Pentateuch we have an +independent argument in the fact that it lay at the foundation of the +whole Jewish polity, civil, religious, and social. From the time of +Moses and onward, the Israelitish nation unanimously acknowledged its +divine authority, even when, through the force of sinful passion, they +disobeyed its commands. The whole life of the people was moulded and +shaped by its institutions; so that they became, in a good sense, a +peculiar people, with "laws diverse from all people." They alone, of all +the nations of the earth, held the doctrine of God's unity and +personality, in opposition to all forms of polytheism and pantheism; and +thus they alone were prepared to receive and propagate the peculiar +doctrines of Christianity. Chap. 8, No. 2. If now we admit the truth of +the Mosaic record, all this becomes perfectly plain and intelligible; +but if we deny it, we involve ourselves at once in the grossest +absurdities. How could the Jewish people have been induced to accept +with undoubting faith such a body of laws as that contained in the +Pentateuch--so burdensome in their multiplicity, so opposed to all the +beliefs and practices of the surrounding nations, and imposing such +severe restraints upon their corrupt passions--except upon the clearest +evidence of their divine authority? Such evidence they had in the +stupendous miracles connected with their deliverance from Egypt and the +giving of the law on Sinai. The fact that Moses constantly appeals to +these miracles, as well known to the whole body of the people, is +irrefragable proof of their reality. None but a madman would thus appeal +to miracles which had no existence; and if he did, his appeal would be +met only by derision. Mohammed needed not the help of miracles, for his +appeal was to the sword and to the corrupt passions of the human heart; +and he never attempted to rest his pretended divine mission on the +evidence of miracles. He knew that to do so would be to overthrow at +once his authority as the prophet of God. But the Mosaic economy needed +and received the seal of miracles, to which Moses continually appeals as +to undeniable realities. But if the miracles recorded in the Pentateuch +are real, then it contains a revelation from God, and is entitled to our +unwavering faith. Then too we can explain how, in the providence of God, +the Mosaic institutions prepared the way for the advent of "Him of whom +Moses in the law and the prophets did write." Thus we connect the old +dispensation with the new, and see both together as one whole. + +Other arguments might be adduced; but upon these two great pillars--the +authority, on the one side, of the New Testament, and, on the other, the +fact that the Pentateuch contains the entire body of laws by which the +Jewish nation was moulded and formed, and that its character and history +can be explained only upon the assumption of its truth--on these two +great pillars the authenticity and credibility of the Pentateuch rest, +as upon an immovable basis. + +3. The _difficulties_ connected with the Pentateuch, so far as its +contents are concerned, rest mainly on two grounds, _scientific_ and +_historical_, or _moral_. The nature of the scientific difficulties +forbids their discussion within the restricted limits of the present +work. It may be said, however, generally, that so far as they are real, +they relate not so much to the truth of the Mosaic record, as to the +manner in which certain parts of it should be understood. + + How long, for example, that state of things continued which is + described in Gen. 1:2, or what particular results were produced + by the operation of the divine Spirit there recorded, we do not + know. What extent of meaning should be assigned to the six days + of creation--whether they should be understood literally or in a + symbolical way, like the prophetical days of Daniel and + Revelation--Dan. 7:25; 9:24-27; Rev. 9:15; 11:3, etc.--is a + question on which devout believers have differed ever since the + days of Augustine. See Prof. Tayler Lewis' Six Days of Creation, + ch. 14. But all who receive the Bible as containing a revelation + from God agree in holding the truth of the narrative. So also in + regard to the Deluge and other events involving scientific + questions which are recorded in the book of Genesis. Some of + these questions may perhaps be satisfactorily solved by further + inquiry. Others will probably remain shrouded in mystery till + the consummation of all things. To the class of historical + difficulties belong several chronological questions, as, for + example, that of the duration of the Israelitish residence in + Egypt. It is sufficient to say that however these shall be + settled--if settled at all--they cannot with any reasonable man + affect the divine authority of the Pentateuch which is certified + to us by so many sure proofs. + +4. The difficulties which are urged against the Pentateuch on moral +grounds rest partly on misapprehension, and are partly of such a +character that, when rightly considered, they turn against the objectors +themselves. This will be illustrated by a few examples. + +A common objection to the Mosaic economy is drawn from its +_exclusiveness_. It contains, it is alleged, a religion not for all +mankind, but for a single nation. The answer is at hand. That this +economy may be rightly understood, it must be considered not separately +and independently, but as one part of a great plan. It was, as we have +seen, subordinate to the covenant made with Abraham, which had respect +to "all the families of the earth." Chap. 8, No. 4. It came in +temporarily to prepare the way for the advent of Christ, through whom +the Abrahamic covenant was to be carried into effect. It was a +_partial_, preparatory to a _universal_ dispensation, and looked, +therefore, ultimately to the salvation of the entire race. So far then +as the benevolent design of God is concerned, the objection drawn from +the exclusiveness of the Mosaic economy falls to the ground. It remains +for the objector to show how a universal dispensation, like +Christianity, could have been wisely introduced, without a previous work +of preparation, or how any better plan of preparation could have been +adopted than that contained in the Mosaic economy. + +If the laws of Moses interposed, as they certainly did, many obstacles +to the intercourse of the Israelites with other nations, the design was +not to encourage in them a spirit of national pride and contempt of +other nations, but to preserve them from the contagious influence of the +heathen practices by which they were surrounded. On this ground the +Mosaic laws everywhere rest the restrictions which they impose upon the +Israelites: "Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his +daughter shalt thou take to thy son. For they will turn away thy son +from following me, that they may serve other gods." Deut. 7:3, 4. How +necessary were these restrictions was made manifest by the whole +subsequent history of the people. So far was the Mosaic law from +countenancing hatred towards the _persons_ of foreigners, that it +expressly enjoined kindness: "If a stranger sojourn with thee in your +land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you +shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as +thyself: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Lev. 19:34. + +5. Another ground of objection to the Mosaic law has been the number and +minuteness of its ordinances. That this feature of the theocracy was, +absolutely considered, an imperfection, is boldly asserted in the New +Testament. The apostle Peter calls it "a yoke which neither we nor our +fathers were able to bear." Acts 15:10. Nevertheless the wisdom of God +judged it necessary in the infancy of the nation, that it might thus be +trained, and through it the world, for the future inheritance of the +gospel. It is in this very aspect that the apostle Paul says: "The law +was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified +by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a +schoolmaster." Gal. 3:24, 25. The divine plan was to prescribe minutely +all the institutions of the Mosaic economy, leaving nothing to human +discretion, apparently to prevent the intermixture with them of +heathenish rites and usages; perhaps also that in this body of outward +forms the faith of the Israelites might have a needful resting-place, +until the way should be prepared for the introduction of a simpler and +more spiritual system. + +We must be careful, however, that we do not fall into the error of +supposing that the Mosaic law prescribed a religion of mere outward +forms. On the contrary, it was pervaded throughout by an evangelical +principle. It knew nothing of heartless forms in which the religion of +the heart is wanting. The observance of all its numerous ordinances it +enjoined on the spiritual ground of love, gratitude, and humility. If +any one would understand in what a variety of forms these inward graces +of the soul, which constitute the essence of religion, are inculcated in +the Pentateuch, he has but to read the book of Deuteronomy; there he +will see how the law of Moses aimed to make men religious not in the +letter, but in the spirit; how, in a word, it rested the observance of +the letter on the good foundation of inward devotion to God. The summary +which our Saviour gave of the Mosaic law, and in it of all religion, he +expressed in the very words of the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy +God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, +and with all thy strength," Deut. 6:4, 5; "this is the first and great +commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy +neighbor as thyself." Lev. 19:18. Nor is this love towards our neighbor +restricted to a narrow circle; for it is said of the stranger also +sojourning in Israel, "Thou shalt love him as thyself." Lev. 19:34. + +6. Of one usage which the Mosaic law tolerated, our Saviour himself +gives the true explanation when he says: "Moses, because of the hardness +of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives; but from the +beginning it was not so." Matt. 19:8. This general principle applies +also to polygamy and the modified form of servitude which prevailed +among the Hebrew people. That the Mosaic economy suffered, for the time +being, certain usages not good in themselves, is no valid objection to +it, but rather a proof of the divine wisdom of its author. Though it was +his purpose to root out of human society every organic evil, he would +not attempt it by premature legislation, any more than he would send his +Son into the world until the way was prepared for his advent. + +7. The extirpation of the Canaanitish nations by the sword of the +Israelites was contemplated by the Mosaic economy. The names of these +nations were carefully specified, and they were peremptorily forbidden +to molest other nations; as, for example, the Edomites, Moabites, and +Ammonites. Deut. 2:4, 5, 8, 9, 18, 19. The whole transaction is to be +regarded as a sovereign act of Jehovah, which had in view the +manifestation of his infinite perfections for the advancement of the +cause of truth and righteousness in this fallen world. Though we may not +presume to fathom all the divine counsels, we can yet see how God, by +the manner in which he gave Israel possession of the promised land, +displayed his awful holiness, his almighty power, and his absolute +supremacy over the nations of the earth, not only to the covenant +people, but also to the surrounding heathen world. Had the Canaanites +perished by famine, pestilence, earthquake, or fire from heaven, it +might have remained doubtful to the heathen by whose anger their +destruction had been effected, that of the Canaanitish gods, or of the +God of Israel. But now that God went forth with his people, dividing the +Jordan before them, overthrowing the walls of Jericho, arresting the sun +and the moon in their course, and raining down upon their enemies great +hailstones from heaven, it was manifest to all that the God of Israel +was the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, and that the gods of the +gentile nations were vanity. This was one of the great lessons which the +Theocracy was destined to teach the human family. At the same time the +Israelites, who executed God's vengeance on the Canaanites, were +carefully instructed that it was for their sins that the land spewed out +its inhabitants, and that if they imitated them in their abominations, +they should in like manner perish. + +8. The Mosaic economy was but the scaffolding of the gospel. God took it +down ages ago by the hand of the Romans. It perished amid fire and sword +and blood, but not till it had accomplished the great work for which it +was established. It bequeathed to Christianity, and through Christianity +to "all the families of the earth," a glorious body of truth, which +makes an inseparable part of the plan of redemption, and has thus +blessed the world ever since, and shall continue to bless it to the end +of time. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +REMAINING BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. + + +1. The divine authority of the Pentateuch having been established, it is +not necessary to dwell at length on the historical books which follow. +The events which they record are a natural and necessary sequel to the +establishment of the theocracy, as given in the five books of Moses. The +Pentateuch is occupied mainly with the founding of the theocracy; the +following historical books describe the settlement of the Israelitish +nation under this theocracy in the promised land, and its practical +operation there for the space of a thousand years. There is no history +in the world so full of God's presence and providence. It sets forth +with divine clearness and power, on the one side, God's faithfulness in +the fulfilment of the promises and threatenings contained in the Mosaic +law; and on the other, the perverseness and rebellion of the people, and +their perpetual relapses into idolatry, with the mighty conflict thus +inaugurated between the pure monotheism of the theocracy, and the +polytheism and image-worship of the surrounding heathen nations--a +conflict which lasted through many ages, which enlisted on both sides +the great and mighty men of the world, and which resulted in the +complete triumph of the Mosaic law, at least so far as its outward form +was concerned, thus preparing the way for the advent of that great +Prophet in whom the theocracy had its end and its fulfilment. + +2. How fully the divine authority of these books is recognized by Christ +and his apostles, every reader of the New Testament understands. It is +not necessary to establish this point by the quotation of particular +passages. Though the writers of the _historical_ books which follow the +Pentateuch are for the most part unknown, the books themselves are put +in the New Testament on the same basis as the Pentateuch. To those who +deny Christ, the Mosaic economy, with the history that follows, is a +mystery; for when they read it "the veil is upon their heart." But to +those who receive Christ as the Son of God, and the New Testament as +containing a true record of his heavenly mission, Moses and the +historical books that follow are luminous with divine wisdom and glory, +for they contain the record of the way in which God prepared the world +for the manifestation of his Son Jesus Christ. + +3. The Old Testament contains a body of writings which are not +historical; neither are they prophetical, in the restricted sense of the +term, although some of them contain prophecy. The enumeration of these +books, prominent among which are Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, with an +account of their contents and the place which each of them holds in the +plan of revelation, belongs to the Introduction to the Old Testament. It +is sufficient to say here, that they are precious offshoots of the +Mosaic economy, that they contain rich and varied treasures of divine +truth for the instruction and encouragement of God's people in all ages, +and that they are, as a whole, recognized in the New Testament as part +of God's revelation to men. The book of Psalms, in particular, is +perpetually quoted by the writers of the New Testament as containing +prophecies which had their fulfilment in Jesus of Nazareth. + +4. The prophetical books--according to our classification, the Jews +having a different arrangement--are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, +and the twelve minor prophets. The vast body of prophecies contained in +these books--the prophetical portions of the other books being also +included--may be contemplated in different points of view. + +Many of these prophecies, considered independently of the New Testament, +afford conclusive proof that the Old Testament is the word of God, for +they bear on their front the signet of their divine origin. They contain +predictions of the distant future which lie altogether beyond the range +of human sagacity and foresight. Such is the wonderful prophecy of Moses +respecting the history of the Israelitish people through all coming +ages, Lev. ch. 26; Deut. ch. 28, a prophecy which defies the assaults of +skepticism, and which, taken in connection with our Lord's solemn +declaration, "They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led +away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of +the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," Luke 21:24, +marks both the Old Testament and the New as given by the same omniscient +God, who declares the end from the beginning. Such also are the +predictions of the utter and perpetual desolation of Babylon, uttered +ages beforehand, and which presuppose a divine foresight of the course +of human affairs to the end of time: "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, +the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew +Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be +dwelt in from generation to generation." "I will also make it a +possession for the bittern and pools of water: and I will sweep it with +the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts." Isa. 13:19, 20; +14:23. See also the prophecy of the overthrow of Nineveh, Nahum, chs. 2, +3, and of Tyre: "I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like +the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the +midst of the sea." "I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt +be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more." Ezek. +26:4, 5, 14. On all the above prophecies, and many more that might be +quoted, the descriptions of modern travellers furnish a perfect comment. + +5. But it is preeminently in Christ that the prophecies of the Old +Testament have their fulfilment. As the rays of the sun in a +burning-glass all converge to one bright focus, so all the different +lines of prophecy in the Old Testament centre in the person of Jesus of +Nazareth. Separated from him they have neither unity nor harmony; but +are, like the primitive chaos, "without form and void." But in him +predictions, apparently contradictory to each other, meet with divine +unity and harmony. + +He is a great _Prophet_, like Moses; the Mediator, therefore, of the new +economy, as Moses was of the old, and revealing to the people the whole +will of God. As a Prophet, the Spirit of the Lord rests upon him, "the +spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the +spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." Isa. 11:2. As a Prophet, +he receives from God the tongue of the learned, that he should know how +to speak a word in season to him that is weary. Isa. 50:4. As a Prophet, +"the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been +told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they +consider." Isaiah 52:15. + +He is also a mighty _King_, to whom God has given the heathen for his +inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. He +breaks the nations with a rod of iron; he dashes them in pieces as a +potter's vessel, Psa. 2:8, 9; and yet "he shall not cry, nor lift up, +nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he +not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring +forth judgment unto truth." Isa. 42:2, 3. "All kings shall fall down +before him: all nations shall serve him," Psa. 72:11; and yet "he is +despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with +grief:" "he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before +her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Isa. 53:3, 7. Many +other like contrasts could be added. + +With the kingly he unites the _priestly_ office. Sitting as a king "upon +the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish +it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever," Isa. +9:7, he is yet "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Nor +is his priestly office any thing of subordinate importance, for he is +inducted into it by the solemn oath of Jehovah: "The Lord hath sworn, +and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of +Melchizedek." Psa. 110:4. As a priest he offers up himself "an offering +for sin:" "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our +iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his +stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have +turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the +iniquity of us all." Isa., ch. 53. When we find a key that opens all the +intricate wards of a lock, we know that the key and the lock have one +and the same author, and are parts of one whole. The history of Jesus of +Nazareth is the key which unlocks all the wards of Old Testament +prophecy. With this key Moses and the prophets open to the plainest +reader; without it, they remain closed and hidden from human +apprehension. We know, therefore, that he who sent his Son Jesus Christ +to be the Saviour of the world, sent also his prophets to testify +beforehand of his coming, and of the offices which he bears for our +redemption. + +6. To sum up all in a word, we take the deepest, and therefore the most +scriptural view of the Jewish institutions and history, when we consider +the whole as a perpetual adumbration of Christ--not Christ in his simple +personality, but Christ in his body the church. It is not meant by this +that the Mosaic economy was nothing but type. Apart from all reference +to the salvation of the gospel, it was to the Israelitish people before +the Saviour's advent a present reality meeting a present want. The +deliverance of the people from the bondage of Egypt, their passage +through the Red sea, the cloud which guided them, the manna which fed +them, the water out of the rock which they drank--all these things were +to them a true manifestation of God's presence and favor, aside from +their typical import, the apprehension of which indeed was reserved for +future ages. So also the Mosaic institutions were to them a true body of +laws for the regulation of their commonwealth, and in their judges, +kings, and prophets they had true rulers and teachers. + +But while all this is important to be remembered, it is also true that +the Mosaic economy was thickly sown by God's own hand with the seeds of +higher principles--those very principles which Christ and his apostles +_unfolded out of the law and the prophets_. Thus it constituted a divine +training by which the people were prepared for that spiritual kingdom of +heaven which "in the fulness of time" the Saviour established. "All the +prophets and the law prophesied until John"--not the prophets and the +law in certain separate passages alone, but the prophets and the law as +a whole. They prophesied of Christ, and in Christ their prophecy has its +fulfilment. + +7. The consideration of the _extent of the canon_ of the Old Testament +does not properly belong here. It is sufficient to say that we have no +valid reason for doubting the truth of the Jewish tradition, which +assigns to Ezra and "the great synagogue" the work of setting forth the +Hebrew canon as we now have it. That this tradition is embellished with +fictions must be conceded; but we ought not, on such a ground, to deny +its substantial truth, confirmed as it is by all the scriptural notices +of Ezra's qualifications and labors. It is certain that the canon of the +Jews in Palestine was the same in our Lord's day that it is now. The +Greek version of the Septuagint contains indeed certain apocryphal books +not extant in the Hebrew. These seem to have been in use, more or less, +among the Alexandrine Jews; but there is no evidence that any canonical +authority was ascribed to them, and it is certain that the Jews of +Palestine adhered strictly to the Hebrew canon, which is identical with +our own. + +8. The _principle_ upon which the canon of the Old Testament was formed +is not doubtful. No books were admitted into it but those written by +prophets or prophetical men. As under the New Testament the reception or +rejection of a book as canonical was determined by the writer's relation +to Christ, so was it under the Old by his relation to the theocracy. The +highest relation was held by Moses, its mediator. He accordingly had the +prophetical spirit in the fullest measure: "If there be a prophet among +you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will +speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful +in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even +apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord +shall he behold." Numb. 12:6-8. The next place was held by prophets +expressly called and commissioned by God, some of whom also, as Samuel, +administered the affairs of the theocracy. Finally, there were the pious +rulers whom God placed at the head of the covenant people, and endowed +with the spirit of prophecy, such as David, Solomon, and Ezra. To no +class of men besides those just mentioned do the Jewish rabbins ascribe +the authorship of any book of the Old Testament, and in this respect +their judgment is undoubtedly right. + +9. The _inspiration_ of the books of the Old Testament is everywhere +assumed by our Lord and his apostles; for they argue from them as +possessing divine authority. "What is written in the law?" "What saith +the scripture?" "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the +law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me;" +"This scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost +spake before concerning Judas;" "The scripture cannot be broken"--all +these and other similar forms of expression contain the full testimony +of our Lord and his apostles to the truth elsewhere expressly affirmed +of the Old Testament, that "all scripture is given by inspiration of +God," 2 Tim. 3:16, and that "the prophecy came not in the old time by +the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the +Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21. When the Saviour asks the Pharisees in +reference to Psalm 110, "How then doth David in spirit call him Lord?" +he manifestly does not mean that this particular psalm alone was written +"in spirit," that is, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; but he +ascribes to it the character which belongs to the entire book, in common +with the rest of Scripture, in accordance with the express testimony of +David: "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my +tongue." 2 Sam. 23:2. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +EVIDENCES INTERNAL AND EXPERIMENTAL. + + +1. The external evidences of revealed religion are, in their proper +place and sphere, of the highest importance. Christianity rests not upon +theory, but upon historical facts sustained by an overwhelming mass of +testimony. It is desirable that every Christian, so far as he has +opportunity, should make himself acquainted with this testimony for the +strengthening of his own faith and the refutation of gainsayers. +Nevertheless, many thousands of Christians are fully established in the +faith of the gospel who have but a very limited knowledge of the +historical proofs by which its divine origin is supported. To them the +Bible commends itself as the word of God by its internal character, and +the gospel as God's plan of salvation by their inward experience of its +divine power, and their outward observation of its power over the hearts +and lives of all who truly receive it. This is in accordance with the +general analogy of God's works. We might be assured beforehand that a +system of religion having God for its author, would shine by its own +light, and thus commend itself at once to the human understanding and +conscience, irrespective of all outward testimony to its truth. Although +the internal evidences of Christianity have already been considered to +some extent in connection with those that are outward and historical, it +is desirable in the present closing chapter to offer some suggestions +pertaining to the internal character of the Bible as a whole, and also +to the testimony of Christian experience, individual and general. + +2. To every unperverted mind the Bible commends itself at once as the +word of God by the wonderful view which it gives of his character and +providence. It exhibits one personal God who made and governs the world, +without the least trace of polytheism on the one hand, or pantheism on +the other--the two rocks of error upon which every other system of +religion in the world has made shipwreck. And this great Spirit, +"infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, +holiness, justice, goodness, and truth," is not removed to a distance +from us, but is ever nigh to each one of his creatures. He is our Father +in heaven, who cares for us and can hear and answer our prayers. His +providence extends to all things, great and small. He directs alike the +sparrow's flight, and the rise and fall of empires. To the perfect view +of God's character and government which the pages of the Bible unfold, +no man can add anything, and whoever takes any thing away only mars and +mutilates it. How now shall we explain the great fact that the Hebrew +people, some thousands of years ago, had this true knowledge of God and +his providence, while it was hidden from all other nations? The Bible +gives the only reasonable answer: God himself revealed it to them. + + The superficial view which accounts for the pure monotheism of + the Hebrews from their peculiar national character, is + sufficiently refuted by their history. Notwithstanding the + severe penalties with which the Mosaic code of laws visited + idolatrous practices in every form, the people were perpetually + relapsing into the idolatry of the surrounding nations, and + could be cured of this propensity only by the oft-repeated + judgments of their covenant God. + +3. Next we have the wonderful code of morals contained in the Bible. Of +its perfection, we in Christian lands have but a dim apprehension, +because it is the only system of morals with which we are familiar; but +the moment we compare it with any code outside of Christendom, its +supreme excellence at once appears. + +It is a _spiritual_ code, made for the heart. It proposes to regulate +the inward affections of the soul, and through them the outward life. +Thus it lays the axe at the root of all sin. + +It is a _reasonable_ code, giving to God the first place in the human +heart, and to man only a subordinate place. Its first and great +commandment is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" +its second, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Thus it lays +broad and deep the foundations of a righteous character. If any moral +proposition is self-evident, it is that such a code as this, which +exalts God to the throne of the human soul and humbles man beneath his +feet, is not the offspring of human self-love. If any one would know the +difference between the Bible and a human code of morals, let him read +Cicero's treatise _on Duties_, perhaps the best system of ethics which +pure heathenism ever produced, but from which man's relation to deity is +virtually left out. + +It is a _comprehensive_ code, not insisting upon one or two favorite +virtues, but upon all virtues. Just as the light of the sun is white and +glistering because it contains in itself, in due proportion, all the +different sorts of rays, so the morality of the Bible shines forth, like +the sun, with a pure and dazzling brightness, because it unites in +itself, in just proportion, all the duties which men owe to God and each +other. + +Many who outwardly profess Christianity do not make the precepts of the +Bible their rule of life, or they do so only in a very imperfect way, +and thus scandal is brought upon the name of Christ, whose servants they +profess to be. But it is self-evident that he who _obeys_ the Bible in +sincerity and truth is thus made a thoroughly good man; good in his +inward principles and feelings, and good in his outward life; good in +his relations to God and man; good in prosperity and adversity, in honor +and dishonor, in life and death; a good husband and father, a good +neighbor, a good citizen. If there is ever to be a perfect state of +society on earth, it must come from simple obedience to the precepts of +the Bible, obedience full and universal. No man can conceive of any +thing more glorious and excellent than this. We may boldly challenge the +unbeliever to name a corrupt passion in the heart or a vicious practice +in the life that could remain. Let every man love God with all his heart +and his neighbor as himself, and bolts and bars, prisons and +penitentiaries, would be unnecessary. One might safely journey around +the world unarmed and unattended, for every man would be a friend and +brother. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will +towards men," would reign from pole to pole. The whole earth would be at +rest and be quiet: it would break forth into singing. That such a +glorious result would certainly come from simple obedience to the +precepts of the Bible is undeniable. And can any man persuade himself +that this perfect code of morals comes not from heaven, but from sinful +man? + +4. We have, once more, the wonderful _harmony between the different +parts of the Bible_, written as it was in different and distant ages, +and by men who differed widely from each other in natural character and +education, and lived in very different states of society. In outward +form and institutions the manifestation of God has indeed undergone +great changes; for it has existed successively under the patriarchal, +the Mosaic, and the Christian dispensations. But if we look beneath the +surface to the substance of religion in these different dispensations, +we shall find it always the same. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, +the God of Moses, Samuel, and David, is also the God of our Lord Jesus +Christ. While he changes from time to time the outward ordinances of his +people, he remains himself "the same yesterday and to-day and for ever." +Under the Old Testament, not less than under the New, he is "the Lord, +the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in +goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, +transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." +Exod. 34:6, 7, etc. Under the New Testament, not less than under the +Old, he is to all the despisers of his grace "a consuming fire," Heb. +12:29; and his Son Jesus Christ, whom he sent to save the world, will be +revealed hereafter "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know +not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 +Thess. 1:7, 8. If the New Testament insists on the obedience of the +heart, and not of the outward letter alone, the Old Testament teaches +the same doctrine: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to +hearken than the fat of rams." 1 Sam. 15:22. "Thou desirest not +sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. +The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite +heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Psa. 51:16, 17. "I will praise the +name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This +also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns +and hoofs." Psa. 69:30, 31. "Take thou away from me the noise of thy +songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run +down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." Amos 5:23, 24. If +the Old Testament insists on obedience to all God's commandments as an +indispensable condition of salvation, so does the New: "Whosoever shall +keep the whole law, and offend in one point, he is guilty of all," James +2:10; "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from +thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should +perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Matt. +5:29, etc. The Old Testament, as well as the New, teaches the doctrine +of regeneration and sanctification by the Holy Ghost: "Create in me a +clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me," Psa. 51:10. +"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from +all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new +heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and +I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you +a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to +walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Ezek. +36:25-27. The Old Testament, as well as the New, denounces +self-righteousness in every form, and teaches men that they are saved +not for the merit of their good works, but through God's free mercy: +"Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart dost +thou go in to possess their land," Deut. 9:5; "Not for your sakes do I +this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and +confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel." Ezekiel 36:32. When +the holy men of the Old Testament so often beseech God to hear and +answer their prayers _for his name's sake_, they renounce all claim to +be heard on the ground of their own merit. Faith that works by love and +purifies the heart from sin--this is the substance of the religion +taught in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This wonderful unity of +doctrine and spirit that pervades the books of the Bible from first to +last, finds its natural explanation in the fact that they were all +written "by inspiration of God." + +5. The Bible is distinguished from all other books by its _power over +the human conscience_. The apostle says: "The word of God is quick and +powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the +dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and +is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," Heb. 4:12; and +this declaration is confirmed by the experience of every thoughtful +reader. Whoever studies the pages of the Bible in an earnest spirit, +feels that in them One speaks who has a perfect understanding of his +heart in its inmost workings; one who knows not only what he is, but +also what he ought to be, and who therefore speaks to him with +authority. The young are sometimes advised to study certain authors, +that they may thus gain "a knowledge of men." It cannot be denied that, +within the sphere of this world, the knowledge of men which some of +these writers possess is admirable. But the Bible contains not only all +this knowledge in its most complete and practical form, but also, what +is wanting in the authors referred to, a perfect knowledge of men in +their higher relation to God. With wonderful accuracy does the Bible +describe men's character and conduct as citizens of this world. But here +it does not stop. It regards them as subjects of God's everlasting +government, and thus as citizens of eternity also; and it portrays in +vivid and truthful colors the way in which they harden their hearts, +blind their minds, and stupefy their consciences by their continued +wilful resistance of God's claim to their supreme love and obedience. In +a word, it describes men in their relation to God as well as to their +fellow-men; and every man who reads the description, hears within his +soul the still small voice of conscience saying, "Thou art the man." +Whence this all-comprehensive knowledge of man contained in the Bible? +The answer is: He who made man has described man in his own word with +infallible accuracy; "because he knew all men, and needed not that any +should testify of man; for he knew what was in man." + +6. We come now to the argument from _personal experience_. To receive +Christ in sincerity and truth, is to know that his salvation is from +God. Many thousands have thus a full and joyous conviction of the truth +of Christianity. They were oppressed with a deep consciousness of guilt, +which no tears of sorrow or supposed good works could remove. But they +read in the Holy Scriptures that Jesus is "the Lamb of God which taketh +away the sin of the world." They put their trust in his atoning +sacrifice, and thus obtained peace of conscience, and joyous access in +prayer to God as their Father in heaven. They were earthly in their +affections, and able therefore to render to God's holy and spiritual law +only an obedience of the letter, which they knew would not be +acceptable. But through faith in Christ they have been lifted up to a +holy and blessed communion with God, and thus enabled to render to God's +law an obedience of love "in the spirit and not in the letter." They +were oppressed with a painful sense of the empty and unsatisfying nature +of every thing earthly; but they have found in Christ and his glorious +service an all-sufficient portion. In a word, they are assured that the +gospel is from God, because it meets all their wants as sinners. They +have the same evidence that God made the gospel for the immortal soul, +as that he made bread for the stomach, air for the lungs, and light for +the eyes. The sincere believer has in himself the witness that the +gospel is from heaven, for he is daily experiencing its healing, +strengthening, and purifying power. To tell him that the Bible is a +cunningly devised fable, is like telling a man who daily feeds on "the +finest of the wheat," and is nourished and strengthened by it, that the +field of golden grain which waves before his door is only wormwood and +gall; or that the pure water from the bosom of the earth which daily +quenches his thirst is a deadly poison; or that the blessed air of +heaven which fans his lungs is a pestilential vapor. Not until error +becomes the nutriment of the soul and truth its destruction, can this +argument from personal experience be set aside or gainsaid. + +7. The argument from the _character of Jesus_ has already been +considered at length in chap, 4, No. 8. It is sufficient to repeat here +that the very description of such a character, so gloriously perfect, so +far above all that the greatest minds of antiquity ever conceived, is +itself a proof of its reality. Very plain men may describe what they +have actually seen and heard. But that any man left to himself--and God +would not help in a work of error and delusion--should have conceived of +such a character as that of Jesus of Nazareth, without the reality +before him, is impossible; how much more that four unlettered men should +have consistently carried out the conception in such a life as that +recorded by the four evangelists. + +8. Passing now from individual to _general experience_, we find another +proof of the divine origin of the Bible in the power of the +gospel--which includes in itself the whole word of God--over the human +heart. This is closely connected with the preceding head, since the +Christian's religion takes the shape of personal love towards the +Saviour--love which is awakened in the sinner's soul, as the New +Testament teaches, by the Holy Spirit revealing to him his lost +condition and the character and offices of the Redeemer, whereby he is +drawn into an inward spiritual union with him. This love of Jesus is the +_mightiest principle on earth_ for both doing and suffering. The man of +whose soul it has taken full possession is invincible, not in his own +strength, but in the strength of Him to whom he has given his supreme +confidence and affection. No hardships, privations, or dangers can deter +him from Christ's service; no persecutions can drive him from it. In the +early days of Christianity, at the period of the Reformation, in many +missionary fields in our own time, not only strong men, but tender women +and children, have steadfastly endured shame and suffering in every +form--banishment and the spoiling of their goods, imprisonment, torture, +and death--for Christ's sake. In times of worldly peace and prosperity, +the power of this principle is dimly seen; but were the Christians of +this day required, under penalty of imprisonment, confiscation, and +death, to deny Christ, it would at once manifest itself. Many would +apostatize, because they are believers only in name; but true believers +would remain steadfast, as in the days of old. It is a fact worthy of +special notice, that persecution not only fails to conquer those who +love Jesus, but it fails also to hinder others from embracing his +religion. It has first a winnowing power. It separates from the body of +the faithful those who are Christians only in name. Then the +manifestation of Christian faith and patience by those who remain +steadfast, draws men from the world without to Christ. Hence the maxim, +as true as trite, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." +The Christian religion at the beginning had no worldly advantages, and +it was opposed by all the power of imperial Rome in alliance with the +heathen priesthood. Had it been possible that any combination of men +should crush it, it must have perished at the outset; but it only grew +stronger in the midst of its fierce and powerful enemies. It went +through ten bloody persecutions, "conquering and to conquer," until it +overthrew paganism, and became the established religion of the Roman +empire. Then it was not strengthened by its alliance with the state, but +only corrupted and shorn of its true power. And so it has been ever +since. The gospel has always shown itself mightiest to subdue men to +Christ, when it has been compelled to rely most exclusively on its own +divinely furnished strength. What the apostle said of himself +personally, the gospel which he preached can say with equal truth: "When +I am weak, then am I strong." How shall we account for this fact? The +only reasonable explanation is, that God is the author of the gospel, +and his power is in it, so that it is able to overcome the world without +any help from without. Were it the invention of man, we might reasonably +expect that it would be greatly strengthened by an alliance with the +kings and rulers of the world, instead of being thereby corrupted and +weakened, as we find to be the invariable result. Because God made the +gospel, and not men, when it is left free to work according to his +appointment, it is mighty in its power over the human heart; but the +moment worldly men take it under their patronage, that they may make it +subservient to their worldly ends, they bind it in fetters, and would +kill it, had it not a divine and indestructible life. + +9. We notice, further, that the same love of Jesus which makes men +invincible to the world without, also enables them to _conquer their own +corrupt passions_, and this is the greater victory of the two. It is +easy to declaim on the sins and inconsistencies of visible Christians. +The church of Christ, like every thing administered by men, is +imperfect. Unworthy men find their way into it, making it, as the great +Master foretold, a field in which wheat and tares grow together. +Nevertheless, wherever the gospel is preached in its purity, bright +examples are found of its power to reclaim the vicious, to make the +proud humble, and the earthly-minded heavenly. It draws all who truly +receive it, by a gradual but certain process, into a likeness to Christ, +which is the sum of all goodness. In proportion also as the principles +of the gospel gain ground in any community, they ennoble it, purify it, +and inspire it with the spirit of truth and justice. Very imperfectly is +our country pervaded by this good leaven. Yet it is this, small as is +its measure, which makes the difference between the state of society +here at home and in India or China. Many thousands who do not personally +receive the gospel thus experience its elevating power. They receive at +its hand innumerable precious gifts without understanding or +acknowledging the source from which they come. + +10. As a final argument, may be named the power of the Christian +religion to _purify itself_ from the corruptions introduced into it by +men. It is not alone from the world without that Christ's church has +been assailed. Corrupt men have arisen within her pale who have set +themselves to deny or explain away her essential doctrines, to change +her holy practice, or to crush and overlay her with a load of +superstitious observances. But the gospel cannot be destroyed by inward +any more than by outward enemies. From time to time it asserts its +divine origin and invincible power, by bursting the bands imposed on it +by men, and throwing off their human additions, thus reappearing in its +native purity and strength. So it did on a broad scale at the era of the +Reformation, and so it has often done since in narrower fields. + +10. Let now the candid inquirer ask himself whether a book which gives +such gloriously perfect views of God's character and government; whose +code of morals is so spotlessly pure that simple obedience to it is the +sum of all goodness, and would, if full and universal, make this world a +moral paradise; all whose parts, though written in different and distant +ages by men of such diversified character and training, are in perfect +harmony with each other; which displays such a wonderful knowledge of +man in all his relations to God and his fellow-men, and therefore speaks +with such authority and power to his conscience; which reveals a +religion that satisfies all the wants of those who embrace it, that +makes them victorious alike over outward persecution and inward sinful +passion, and that asserts its invincible power by throwing off from +itself the corrupt additions of men--whether such a book can possibly +have man for its author. Assuredly in character it resembles not sinful +man, but the holy God. It must be from heaven, for it is heavenly in all +its features. + + + + +PART II. + + * * * * * + +INTRODUCTION + +TO + +THE OLD TESTAMENT + + + + +PREFATORY REMARKS. + + * * * * * + +To consider at length all the questions which the spirit of modern +inquiry has raised concerning the books of the Old Testament--their +genuineness, integrity, date, chronology, and credibility; their +relation to science, to profane history, to each other, and to the New +Testament--would far exceed the limits allowed by the plan of the +present work. To the Pentateuch alone, or even a single book of it, as +Genesis or Deuteronomy; to the books of Chronicles; to Isaiah or Daniel, +a whole volume might be devoted without exhausting the subject. In the +present Introduction to the books of the Old Testament, the aim has been +to give the results of biblical research, ancient and modern, with a +concise statement of the lines of argument employed, wherever this could +be done without involving discussions intelligible only to those who are +familiar with the original languages of Scripture and the ancient +versions. For such discussions the biblical student is referred to the +more extended Introductions which abound at the present day. The author +has endeavored, first of all, to direct the reader's attention to the +_unity of Scripture_. "Known unto God are all his works from the +beginning of the world." The plan of Redemption is the very highest of +these works, and it constitutes a gloriously perfect whole, gradually +unfolding itself from age to age. The earliest revelations have +reference to all that follow. The later revelations shed light on the +earlier, and receive light from them in return. It is only when the +Scriptures are thus studied as a whole, that any one part of them can be +truly comprehended. The effort has accordingly been made to show the +relation of the Old Testament, considered as a whole, to the New; then, +the relation of the several great divisions of the Old Testament--the +law, the historical books, the prophets, the poetical books--to each +other, and the place which each holds in the system of revelation; and +finally, the office of each particular book, with such notices of its +authorship, date, general plan, and contents, as will prepare the reader +to study it intelligently and profitably. To all who would have a +thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the _New_ Testament, the +diligent study of the preparatory revelation contained in the _Old_, is +earnestly commended. The present Introduction will be followed by one to +the New Testament on the same general plan. It is hardly necessary to +add that for much of the materials employed, in these two parts, +particularly what relates to ancient manuscripts, the author is +dependent on the statements of those who have had the opportunity of +making original investigations. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +TO + +THE OLD TESTAMENT. + +FIRST DIVISION, GENERAL INTRODUCTION. + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NAMES AND EXTERNAL FORM OF THE OLD TESTAMENT + + +1. The word _Bible_ comes to us from the Greek (_ta biblia, the books_; +that is, emphatically, the sacred canonical books) through the Latin and +Norman French. In the ancient Greek and Latin churches, its use, as a +plural noun applied to the whole collection of sacred books of the Old +and New Testaments, can be traced as far back as the fifth century. In +the English, as in all the modern languages of Europe, it has become a +singular noun, and thus signifies THE BOOK--the one book containing in +itself all the particular books of the sacred canon. + +In very ancient usage, the word _Law_ (Heb. _Torah_) was applied to the +five books of Moses; but there was no general term to denote the whole +collection of inspired writings till after the completion of the canon +of the Old Testament, when they were known in Jewish usage as: _The +Law_, _the Prophets_, and the _Writings_ (see below, No. 5). In +accordance with the same usage, the writers of the New Testament speak +of the "law and the prophets," and more fully, "the law of Moses, and +the prophets, and the psalms," Luke 24:44. And they apply to the +collected writings of the Old Testament, as well as to particular +passages, the term _the Scripture_, that is, _the writings_, thus: "The +Scripture saith," John 7:38, etc. Or they employ the plural number: "Ye +do err, not knowing the Scriptures," Matt. 22:29, etc. Once the epithet +_holy_ is added, 2 Tim. 3:15. + + In 2 Pet. 3:16, the term _Scriptures_ is applied to at least the + epistles of Paul; apparently also to the other canonical + writings of the New Testament then extant. In the usage of + Christian writers, the application of this term to the books of + the New Testament soon became well established; but the above is + the only example of such an application that occurs in the New + Testament itself. + +2. The terms _Old_ and _New Testament_ arose in the following way: God's +dealings with the Israelitish people, under both the patriarchs and +Moses, took the form of a _covenant_; that is, not a mutual agreement as +between two equal parties, but an _arrangement_ or _dispensation_, in +which God himself, as the sovereign Lord, propounded to the chosen +people certain terms, and bound himself, upon condition of the +fulfilment of these terms, to bestow upon them blessings temporal and +spiritual. Now the Greek word _diatheke_, by which the Septuagint +renders the Hebrew word for _covenant_, signifies both _covenant_, in +the general sense above given, and _testament_, as being the final +disposition which a man makes of his worldly estate. The new covenant +introduced by Christ is, in a sense, a _testament_, as being ratified by +his bloody death. Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20. So it is +expressly called in the epistle to the Hebrews, 9:15-17, where the new +covenant, considered in the light of a testament, is contrasted with the +old. It was probably in connection with this view that the _Old Latin_ +version of the Bible (made in the Old Testament not from the original +Hebrew, but from the Greek Septuagint) everywhere rendered the Greek +word _diatheke_ by the Latin _testamentum_. When Jerome undertook the +work of correcting this version, he did not everywhere pursue the same +plan. The books of the Old Testament he rendered in general from the +Hebrew; and here he employed for the Hebrew word denoting _covenant_ the +appropriate Latin words _foedus_ and _pactum_. But in the Psalms, and +the whole New Testament, from deference to established usage, he gave +simply a revision of the Old Latin, leaving the word _testamentum_, by +which that version had rendered the word _diatheke_, _covenant_, +untouched. Hence in Latin usage we have in the New Testament the two +covenants, the old and the new, expressed by the terms _old testament_ +(_vetus testamentum_, _prius_ or _primum testamentum_) and _new +testament_ (_novum testamentum_), and sometimes in immediate contrast +with each other, as in 2 Cor. 3:6, 14; Heb. 9:15-18. The transfer of +these terms from the covenants themselves to the writings which give an +account of them was easy, and soon became established in general usage. +Hence the terms _Old_ and _New Testament_ for the two great divisions of +the Bible. + + Another Latin term for the two great divisions of the Bible was + _instrumentum_, _instrument_, _document_; a term applied to the + documents or body of records relating to the Roman empire, and + very appropriate, therefore, to the records of God's dealings + with men. But as early as the time of Tertullian, about the + close of the second century, the word _testamentum_, + _testament_, was more in use. See Tertullian against Marcion, 4. + 1. A striking example of the superior accuracy of Jerome's + independent version above his simple revision of the old Latin + is the passage Jer. 31:31-33 as compared with the quotation of + the same, Heb. 8:8-10. In the former, where the translation is + made immediately from the Hebrew, we read: "Behold the days + shall come, saith the Lord, that I will make for the house of + Israel and the house of Judah a new _covenant_ (_foedus_): not + according to the _covenant_ (_pactum_) which I made with their + fathers," etc. In the same passage, as quoted in the epistle to + the Hebrews, where we have only a revision of the old Latin, we + read: "Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, that I will + accomplish for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah a + new _testament_ (_testamentum_): not according to the + _testament_ (_testamentum_) which I made for their fathers," + etc. + +3. The _unity_ of the Bible has its ground only in divine inspiration. +So far as human composition is concerned, both parts of it have a great +variety of authors. The writers of the Old Testament, especially, lived +in different, and some of them in very distant ages. They were widely +separated from each other in native character and endowments, in +education, and in their outward circumstances and position in life. It +is of the highest importance that the student of Scripture not only know +these facts, but ponder them long and carefully, till he fully +understands their deep significance. He has been accustomed from +childhood to see all the books of the Bible comprised within the covers +of a single volume. He can hardly divest himself of the idea that their +authors, if not exactly contemporary, must yet somehow have understood +each other's views and plans, and acted in mutual concert. It is only by +long contemplation that he is able to apprehend the true position which +these writers held to each other, separated from each other, as they +often were, by centuries of time, during which great changes took place +in the social and political condition of the Hebrew people. Then, for +the first time, he begins to discern, in the wonderful harmony that +pervades the writings of the Old Testament, taken as a whole, the clear +proofs of a superintending divine Spirit; and learns to refer this +harmony to its true ground, that "holy men of God spake as they were +moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21. + + According to the received chronology, Moses wrote the book of + Deuteronomy about 1451 B.C, and Malachi, the last of the + prophets, wrote about 397 B.C. The difference, then, between the + time of these two authors is 1054 years; or say, in round + numbers, about 1000 years. From Moses to the anointing of David + is, according to the shorter chronology, 388 years; and from + Moses to the composition of the books of Kings, nearly nine + centuries. From Joel to Malachi we must assume a period of about + 400 years, within which space our present prophetical books were + composed. The earlier of the psalms written by David differ in + time from those composed at the close of the captivity by about + 530 years. Let the reader who has been in the habit of passing + from one book of the Bible to another, as if both belonged to + the same age, ponder well the meaning of these figures. They + confirm the arguments already adduced (ch. 12, No. 4) that the + unity of Scripture has its ground not in human concert, but in + the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. + +4. The books of the Old Testament have been differently classified and +arranged. But in no system of distribution has the chronological order +been strictly observed. + +(A.) _The Jewish classification and arrangement_ is as follows. They +first distribute the books of the Old Testament into three great +classes, the _Law_, the _Prophets_, and the _Writings_; that is, the +canonical writings not included in the other two divisions--the +_Hagiographa_ (_holy writings_), as they are commonly designated at the +present day. + +The _Law_ is then subdivided into five books, as we now have them; for +the names of which see the introduction to the Pentateuch. Chap. 19, No. +1. + +With reference to this five-fold division of the Law, the Rabbins call +it _the five-fifths of the Law_, each book being reckoned as one-fifth. +This term answers to the word _Pentateuch_, that is, _the five-fold +book_. Chap. 9, beginning. + +The _second_ great class consists of the so-called _Prophets_. These are +first divided into the _former_ and the _latter_ Prophets. The former +Prophets consist of the historical books: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and +Kings, in the order named. The latter comprise the prophetical books in +the stricter sense of the word, with the exception of Daniel; and these +are subdivided into the _greater_ and the _less_. The greater Prophets +are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The less are the twelve Minor +Prophets from Hosea to Malachi, in the same order as that followed in +our English version. + +The remaining books of the Old Testament constitute the _third_ great +class, under the name of _Writings_, _Hagiographa_; and they are +commonly arranged in the following order: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, +Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, +Nehemiah, Chronicles. These books naturally fall into three groups. +_First_, devotional and didactic--the three so-called poetical books of +Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, which have in Hebrew a stricter rhythm; +_secondly_, the five rolls--Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, +Esther; so called because written on five separate rolls for use in the +synagogue service on the occasion of special festivals; _thirdly_, books +that are chiefly of an historical character--Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and +Chronicles. + + The Talmud arranges the Greater Prophets thus: Jeremiah, + Ezekiel, Isaiah. Of the Hagiographa, various other arrangements, + Masoretic and Talmudic, are given, which it is not necessary + here to specify. + + That the writing of sacred history belonged to the prophetical + office is clear from various scriptural notices. Compare 1 + Chron. 29:29; 2 Chron, 9:29; 12:15; 20:34; 26:22; 32:32, 33:19. + The narrative concerning Sennacherib inserted in the second book + of Kings (18:13-19:37) is manifestly from the pen of Isaiah. The + Rabbins rightly ascribed the composition of the historical as + well as the other books which compose, according to their + division, the _Prophets_, to prophetical men. But the grounds + upon which they separated from these certain books, as, for + example, Daniel, and placed them among the Hagiographa, are not + clear. Some of the rabbins made the distinction to lie in the + _degree of inspiration_, Moses enjoying it in the fullest + measure (Numb. 12:6-8), the authors of the books which are + classed among the prophets having _the Spirit of prophecy_, and + those of the books belonging to the Hagiographa simply _the Holy + Spirit_ (the Holy Spirit, but not in the degree necessary for + prophetic revelation). But this distinction is untenable. Who + had the spirit of prophecy if not Daniel? In the opinion of some + modern scholars, they reckoned to the Prophets only books + written by men who were prophets in the stricter sense of the + term; that is, men trained to the prophetical office, and + exercising it as their profession; while the writings of men + like David, Solomon, and Daniel, who though they had the Spirit + of prophecy, were yet in their office not prophets, but rulers + and statesmen, were assigned to the Hagiographa. But this is + inconsistent with the fact that the book of Ruth (which in + respect to authorship must go with that of Judges) and also the + book of Lamentations are in the Hagiographa. Others, with more + probability, find the main ground of classification in the + character of the writings themselves--the _Law_, as the + foundation of the Theocracy; the _Prophets_, that record the + history of the Theocracy and make prophetic revelations + concerning it; the sacred _Writings_, occupied with the personal + appropriation of the truths of revelation, and as such + exhibiting the religious life of the covenant people in its + inward and outward form. But even here we do not find perfect + consistency. + +(B.) _Classification of the Greek Version of the Seventy._ The ancient +Greek version of the Old Testament, called the _Septuagint_ (Latin +_Septuaginta_, _seventy_), because, according to Jewish tradition, it +was the work of seventy men, interweaves the _apocryphal_ with the +_canonical_ books. Its arrangement is as follows, the apocryphal books +and parts of books being indicated by italic letters. We follow the +edition of Van Ess from the Vatican manuscript, which omits the +apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh: + +1. Genesis. +2. Exodus. +3. Leviticus. +4. Numbers. +5. Deuteronomy. +6. Joshua. +7. Judges. +8. Ruth. +9. 1 Kings (our 1 Samuel). +10. 2 Kings (our 2 Samuel). +11. 3 Kings (our 1 Kings). +12. 4 Kings (our 2 Kings). +13. 1 Chronicles. +14. 2 Chronicles. +15. 1 _Esdras_. +16. 2 Esdras (our Ezra). +17. Nehemiah. +18. _Tobit_. +19. _Judith_. +20. Esther, _with apocryphal additions_. +21. Job. +22. Psalms. +23. Proverbs. +24. Ecclesiastes. +25. Canticles. +26. _Wisdom of Solomon_. +27. _Ecclesiasticus_. +28. Hosea. +29. Amos. +30. Micah. +31. Joel. +32. Obadiah. +33. Jonah. +34. Nahum. +35. Habakkuk. +36. Zephaniah. +37. Haggai. +38. Zechariah. +39. Malachi. +40. Isaiah. +41. Jeremiah. +42. _Baruch_. +43. Lamentations. +44. _Epistle of Jeremiah_. +45. Ezekiel. +46. Daniel, _with apocryphal additions_--_Song of the Three Children in +the Furnace, History of Susannah, Story of Bel and the Dragon_. +47. 1 _Maccabees_. +48. 2 _Maccabees_. +49. 3 _Maccabees_. + +The arrangement of books in the Latin _Vulgate_ agrees with that of the +Septuagint with the following exceptions: the two canonical books of +Ezra and Nehemiah appear together, as in the Septuagint, but under the +titles of 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras. Next follow the two apocryphal books of +Esdras (the latter wanting in the Septuagint), under the titles of 3 +Esdras and 4 Esdras. The Greater Prophets, with Lamentations after +Jeremiah and Daniel after Ezekiel, are inserted before the twelve Minor +Prophets, which last stand in the order followed in our version. +Throwing out of account, therefore, the apocryphal books, the order of +the Vulgate is that followed by our English Bible. + + From the above it is manifest that in neither the Hebrew, the + Greek, nor the Latin arrangement is the _order of time_ strictly + followed. The Hebrew, for example, to say nothing of the Psalms, + which were written in different ages, throws into the + Hagiographa Ruth, Job, Proverbs, etc., which are older than any + of the so-called latter prophets. The Hebrew places the books of + Kings, and the Greek and Latin not only these, but also the + books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, before all the + proper prophetical books, though it is well known that several + of these were much earlier. In the Hebrew arrangement, the three + Greater Prophets precede all the Minor Prophets, though several + of the latter were earlier than Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and even + Isaiah. In the Greek, on the contrary, Isaiah and Jeremiah, as + well as Ezekiel, are placed after even the prophets of the + Restoration. The biblical student should carefully remember + these facts. He must not hastily assume that the books of the + Old Testament stand in the order in which they were written, but + must determine the age of each for itself, according to the best + light that he can obtain. See further in the introductions to + the several books. + +5. In high antiquity, the _continuous mode of writing_, (_scriptio +continua_,) without divisions between the words, was common. We cannot +indeed infer, from the continuous writing of the oldest manuscripts of +the New Testament, that the same method prevailed in the ancient Hebrew +writing; for in very ancient inscriptions and manuscripts, belonging to +different languages, the words are distinguished from each other more or +less completely by points. Yet the neglect of these is common. In most +Greek and Phoenician inscriptions there is no division of words. The +translators of the Septuagint may be reasonably supposed to have +employed the best manuscripts at their command. Yet their version shows +that in these the words were either not separated at all, or only +partially. The complete separation of words by intervening spaces did +not take place till after the introduction of the _Assyrian_, or +_square_ character. Ch. 14, No. 2. With the separation is connected the +use of the so-called _final_ letters, that is, forms of certain letters +employed exclusively at the ends of words. + +6. A very _ancient Jewish division_ of the sacred text is into _open_ +and _closed_ sections. The former, which are the larger of the two, are +so named because in the Hebrew manuscripts, and in some printed +editions, the remainder of the line at their close is left _open_, the +next section beginning with a new line. The _closed_ sections, on the +contrary, are separated from each other only by a space in the middle of +a line--_shut in_ on either hand. The origin of these sections is +obscure. They answer in a general way to our sections and paragraphs, +and are older than the Talmud, which contains several references to +them, belonging at least to the earliest time when the sacred books were +read in public. Davidson, Biblical Criticism, vol. 1, ch. 5. + +Different from these, and later in their origin, are the _larger +sections of the Law_, called _Parshiyoth_ (from the singular _Parashah_, +_section_), which have exclusive reference to the reading of the Law in +the synagogue service. These are fifty-four in number, one for each +Sabbath of the Jewish intercalary year, while on common years two of the +smaller sections are united. Corresponding to these sections of the Law +are sections from the _Prophets_, (the former and latter, according to +the Jewish classification,) called _Haphtaroth_, embracing, however, +only selections from the prophets, and not the whole, as do the sections +of the Law. The Jewish tradition is that this custom was first +introduced during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, (about 167 +B.C.,) because the reading of the Law had been prohibited by him. But +this account of the matter is doubted by many. + + In the Pentateuch, the smaller sections called open and closed + are indicated, the former by the Hebrew letter [Hebrew: P], that + is, P, the initial letter of the word _pethuhah_, _open_; the + latter by the Hebrew letter [Hebrew: S]=S, the first letter of + the word _sethumah_, _closed_. The larger sections, arranged for + the reading of the Law in the synagogues, are indicated by three + [Hebrew: P]'s or three [Hebrew: S]'s, according as they coincide + at their beginning with an open or closed section. In the other + portions of the sacred text these divisions are simply indicated + by the appropriate spaces. But some printed editions do not + observe the distinction between the two in respect to space, so + that the open and closed sections are confounded with each + other. + +7. _Chapters and Verses._ The division of the _poetical_ books and +passages of the Old Testament into separate _lines_, Hebrew, _pesukim_, +(answering in general to our half-verses, sometimes to the third of a +verse,) is very ancient, if not primitive. It is found in the poetical +passages of the Law and the historical books, (Exod., ch. 15; Deut., ch. +32; Judges, ch. 5; 2 Sam. ch. 22,) and belonged originally to the three +books of Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, which alone the Hebrews reckon as +poetical. See below, Ch. 21, No. 1. The division of the whole Old +Testament into _verses_, (likewise called by the Hebrews _pesukim_,) is +also the work of Jewish scholars. It existed in its completeness in the +ninth century, and must have had its origin much earlier in the +necessity that grew out of the public reading and interpretation of the +sacred books in the synagogue service. + +In the Hebrew text the verses are distinguished by two points called +_soph-pasuk_ (:), except in the synagogue rolls, where, according to +ancient usage, this mark of distinction is omitted. + +The present division into _chapters_ is much later, and is the work of +Christian scholars. By some it is ascribed to Stephen Langton, +archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1227; by others to Cardinal Hugo +de St. Cher of the same century. The Jews transferred it from the Latin +Vulgate to the Hebrew text. There are, however, some discrepancies +between the chapters of the Hebrew text and those of the Vulgate and our +English version. + +The division of the sacred text into chapters and verses is +indispensable for convenience of reference. But the student should +remember that these distinctions are wholly of human origin, and +sometimes separate passages closely connected in meaning. The first +verse, for example, of Isaiah, ch. 4, is immediately connected in sense +with the threatenings against "the daughters of Zion" contained in the +close of the preceding chapter In the beginning of ch. 11 of the same +book, the words: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of +Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots," contrast the Branch of +the Messiah with the Assyrian bough, the lopping off of which has just +been foretold; chap. 10:33, 34. The last three verses, again, of Isaiah, +ch. 52, evidently belong to the following chapter. The connections of +the sacred text, therefore, must be determined independently of these +human distinctions. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND ITS HISTORY. + + +1. The original language of the Old Testament is _Hebrew_, with the +exception of certain portions of Ezra and Daniel and a single verse of +Jeremiah, (Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan. 2:4, from the middle of the +verse to end of chap. 7; Jer. 10:11,) which are written in the cognate +_Chaldee_ language. The Hebrew belongs to a stock of related languages +commonly called _Shemitic_, because spoken mainly by the descendants of +Shem. Its main divisions are: (1,) the _Arabic_, having its original +seat in the southeastern part of the Shemitic territory, and of which +the AEthiopic is a branch; (2,) the _Aramaean_ in the north and northeast, +comprising the eastern Aramaean or _Chaldee_, and the western or +_Syriac_; (3,) the _Hebrew_, occupying a middle place between the two. +The _Samaritan_ is essentially Aramaean, but with an intermixture of +Hebrew forms; the _Phoenician_, or _Punic_, on the other hand, is most +closely allied to the Hebrew. All these languages, with the exception of +the AEthiopic, are written from right to left, and exhibit many +peculiarities of orthography and grammatical forms and structure. + +2. The Hebrew characters in present use, called the _Assyrian_, or +_square writing_, are not those originally employed. The earlier form is +undoubtedly represented by the inscriptions on the coins struck by the +Maccabees, of which the letters bear a strong resemblance to the +Samaritan and Phoenician characters. The Jewish tradition is that the +present square character was introduced by Ezra, and that it was of +Assyrian origin. The question of the correctness of this tradition has +been much discussed. Some wholly reject it, and hold that the present +square writing came by a gradual process of change from a more ancient +type. See Davidson's Bib. Crit., vol. I, ch. 3. + +That the present square writing existed in our Saviour's day has been +argued with much force from Matth. 5:18, where the Saviour says: "Till +heaven and earth pass, one jot (_iota_) or one tittle (_keraia_) shall +in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The _iota_ (Hebrew +_yod_) is the letter _i_ or _y_, which in the square writing is the +smallest in the alphabet ([Hebrew: y]), but not in the ancient Hebrew, +Ph[oe]nician, or Samaritan. The _keraia_, _little turn_, is that which +distinguishes one letter from another; as [Hebrew: d], _d_, from +[Hebrew: r], _r_; or [Hebrew: b], _b_, from [Hebrew: k], _k_. See Alford +on Matth. 5:18. (The recent discovery in the Crimea of inscriptions on +the tombs of Caraite Jews, some of them dating back, it is alleged, to +the first century, proves that the Assyrian or square character was then +in use. In these inscriptions the _Yod_ (iota) is represented by a +simple point. See Alexander's Kitto, vol. 3, p. 1173.) + +The _Rabbinic_ is a modification of the Assyrian or square writing, for +the purpose of giving it a more cursive character. + +3. The _Hebrew alphabet_, like all the other Shemitic alphabets--with +the exception of the AEthiopic, which is _syllabic_, the vowels being +indicated by certain modifications in the forms of the consonants--was +originally a skeleton alphabet, an alphabet of consonants, in which, +however, certain letters, called vowel-letters, performed in a measure +the office of vowels. The Shemite did not separate the vowels from the +consonants, and express them, as we do, by separate signs. He rather +conceived of the vowels as inhering in the consonants--as modifications +in the utterance of the consonants, which the reader could make for +himself. Various particulars in respect to the pronunciation of certain +consonants were, in like manner, left to the reader's own knowledge. For +example, the three Hebrew letters, [Hebrew: sh], _sh_; [Hebrew: m], _m_; +[Hebrew: r], _r_, ([Hebrew: shmr], to be read from right to left,) might +be pronounced, _shamar_, _he kept_; _shemor_, _keep thou_; _shomer_, +_keeping_--the reader determining from the connection which of these +forms should be used, just as we decide in English between the different +pronunciations of the word _bow_. As long as the Hebrew remained a +living language, that is, the language of the masses of the people, this +outline alphabet was sufficient for all practical purposes. The modern +Arabs read without difficulty their ordinary books, which omit, in like +manner, the signs for the vowels. The regularity of structure which +belongs to the Shemitic languages generally, makes this omission less +inconvenient for them than a like omission would be for us in our +western tongues. + +4. During the long Babylonish captivity the mass of the Jewish people, +who were born and educated in Babylon and the adjacent regions, adopted +of necessity the language of the country; that is, the Aramaean or +Chaldee language. After the exile, the Hebrew was indeed spoken and +written by the prophets and learned men, but not by the people at large. +In Nehemiah 8:8 we are told that "they read in the book in the law of +God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the +reading." This has been explained by some as meaning simply that they +expounded to them the sense. But the more natural meaning is that they +_interpreted_ to the people the words read from the law. We find, soon +after the captivity at least, the old Hebrew supplanted as a living +language among the people at large by the Aramaean or Chaldee. Why not +date the change from the latter part of the captivity itself? + +It was natural that the prophets and historians, all of whom wrote soon +after the exile, should employ the sacred language of their fathers. +This fact cannot be adduced as a valid argument that the body of the +people continued to speak Hebrew. The incorporation, on the other hand, +of long passages in Chaldee into the books of Daniel and Ezra implies at +least that this language was known to the people at large. As to the +children spoken of in Neh. 13:24, who "could not speak in the Jews' +language, but according to the language of each people"--the people, to +wit, to which their mothers belonged--"the Jews' language" here is +probably the language used by the Jews, as distinguished from that used +by the people of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Keil, Introduction to Old +Testament, Sec. 18. + +5. After the Hebrew had ceased to be the language of the common people, +its traditional pronunciation was carefully preserved for many +successive centuries in the synagogue-reading. It was not till several +centuries after Christ (somewhere between the sixth and the tenth +centuries) that the vowel-signs and other marks of distinction were +added in order to perpetuate, with all possible accuracy, the solemn +traditional pronunciation of the synagogue. This work is ascribed to +learned Jews of Tiberias, called _Masoretes_, from _Masora_, +_tradition_; and the Hebrew text thus furnished by them is called the +_Masoretic_, in distinction from the _unpointed_ text, which latter is, +according to Jewish usage, retained in the synagogue-rolls. From +reverence to the word of God, the _punctuators_ (as these men are also +called) left the primitive text in all cases undisturbed, simply +superadding to it their marks of distinction. After giving with great +minuteness the different _vowel-signs_ and marks (commonly called +_diacritical_) for the varying pronunciation of the consonants, they +superadded a complicated system of _accents_. These serve the threefold +office of guides in _cantillating_ the sacred text (according to ancient +usage in the synagogue-reading); of indicating the _connection in +meaning_ among the words and clauses; and of marking, though with +certain exceptions, the _tone-syllables_ of words. In addition to all +the above, they added a mass of _notes_, partly of a critical and partly +of a grammatical character, relating to various readings, grammatical +forms and connections, modes of orthography, and the like. These are +called collectively the _Masorah_, of which there is a fuller Masorah +called the _greater_ (found only in Rabbinical Bibles), and a briefer, +called the _less_, the main part of which is found in common editions of +the Hebrew Bible. To illustrate the _Masoretic_ as contrasted with the +_unpointed_ text, we give the first verse of Genesis, _first_, in its +simple unpointed form; _secondly_, with the vowel-signs and diacritical +marks for the consonants; _thirdly_, with both these and the accents, +the last being the complete Masoretic text. + +[Hebrew: br'shit br' 'lhim et hshmym vet h'rts] + +[Hebrew: bere'shit bara' 'elohim et hashamayim veet ha'arets] + +[Hebrew: o bere'shit bara' 'elohim et hashamayim veet ha'arets] + +_ha-arets. ve-eth hasshamayim eth elohim bara Bereshith + +the-earth. and-it the heavens them God created In-the-beginning_ + +The round circle above the initial letter in the third line refers to a +marginal _note of the Masorah_ indicating that it is to be written +_large_. + +Respecting the origin and antiquity of the Hebrew points a warm +controversy existed in former times. Some maintained that they were +coeval with the language itself; others that they were first introduced +by Ezra after the Babylonish captivity. But their later +origin--somewhere between the sixth and tenth centuries--is now +generally conceded. It is further agreed that their inventors were able +scholars, thoroughly acquainted as well with the genius and structure of +the language as with the traditional pronunciation of the synagogue; and +that they have given a faithful representation of this pronunciation, as +it existed in their day. Their judgment, therefore, though not invested +with any divine authority, is very valuable. "It represents a tradition, +it is true; but a tradition of the oldest and most important character." +Horne's Introduction, vol. 2, p. 15, edition of 1860. + +6. The deep reverence of the Jews for their sacred books manifests +itself in their numerous rules for the guidance of copyists in the +transcription of the rolls designed for use in the synagogue service. +They extend to every minute particular--the quality of the ink and the +parchment (which latter must always be prepared by a Jew from the skin +of a clean animal, and fastened by strings made from the skins of clean +animals); the number, length, and breadth of the columns; the number of +lines in each column, and the number of words in each line. No word must +be written till the copyist has first inspected it in the example before +him, and pronounced it aloud; before writing the name of God he must +wash his pen; all redundance or defect of letters must be carefully +avoided: prose must not be written as verse, or verse as prose; and when +the copy has been completed, it must be examined for approval or +rejection within thirty days. Superstitious, and even ridiculous, as +these rules are, we have in them a satisfactory assurance of the +fidelity with which the sacred text has been perpetuated. Though their +date may be posterior to the age of the Talmudists (between 200 and 500 +after Christ), the spirit of reverence for the divine word which they +manifest goes far back beyond this age. We see it, free from these later +superstitious observances, in the transactions recorded in the eighth +chapter of Nehemiah, when Ezra opened the book of the law in the sight +of all the people, "and when he opened it, all the people stood up." The +early history of the sacred text is confessedly involved in great +obscurity; but in the profound reverence with which the Jews have ever +regarded it since the captivity, we have satisfactory proof that it has +come down to us, in all essential particulars, as Ezra left it. Of the +primitive text before the days of Ezra and his associates we have but a +few brief notices in the historical books. But in the fidelity and skill +of Ezra, who was "a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God +of Israel had given," as well as in the intelligence and deep +earnestness of the men associated with him, we have a reasonable ground +of assurance that the sacred books which have come down to us through +their hands contain, in all essential particulars, the primitive text in +a pure and uncorrupt form. + +7. As to the _age_ of Hebrew manuscripts, it is to be noticed that not +many have come down to us from an earlier century than the twelfth. In +this respect there is a striking difference between them and the Greek +and Latin manuscripts of the New Testament, a few of which are as old as +the fourth and fifth centuries, and quite a number anterior to the +tenth. The oldest known Hebrew manuscript, on the contrary, is a +Pentateuch roll on leather, now at Odessa, which, if the subscription +stating that it was _corrected_ in the year 580 can be relied on, +belongs to the sixth century. One of De Rossi's manuscripts is supposed +to belong to the eighth century, and there are a few of the ninth and +tenth, and several of the eleventh. Bishop Walton supposes that after +the Masoretic text was fully settled, the Jewish rulers condemned, as +profane and illegitimate, all the older manuscripts not conformed to +this: whence, after a few ages, the rejected copies mostly perished. The +existing Hebrew manuscripts give the Masoretic text with but little +variation from each other. + +Earnest effort has been made to find a reliable ante-Masoretic text, but +to no purpose. The search in China has thus far been fruitless. When Dr. +Buchanan in 1806 brought from India a synagogue-roll which he found +among the Jews of Malabar, high expectations were raised. But it is now +conceded to be a Masoretic roll, probably of European origin. Respecting +the manuscripts of the _Samaritan_ Pentateuch, see below, No. 9. + +(A synagogue-roll has recently been discovered in the Crimea of the date +answering to A.D. 489. See Alexander's Kitto, vol. 3, pp. 1172-5.) + +8. In respect to _form_, Hebrew manuscripts fall into two great +divisions, _public_ and _private_. The public manuscripts consist of +_synagogue-rolls_ carefully written out on parchment, as already +described, without vowel-points or divisions of verses. The Law is +written on a single roll; the sections from the prophets (Haphtaroth, +ch. 12. 6) and the Five Rolls--Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, +Ecclesiastes, Esther (ch. 12. 4)--each on separate rolls. The private +manuscripts are written _with leaves_ in book form--folio, quarto, +octavo, and duodecimo; mostly on parchment, but some of the later on +paper. The poetical passages are generally arranged in hemistichs; the +rest is in columns which vary according to the size of the page. The +text and points were always written separately; the former with a +heavier, the latter with a lighter pen, and generally with different +ink. The square or Assyrian character is employed as a rule, but a few +are written in the rabbinic character. The Chaldee paraphrase (less +frequently some other version) may be added. The margin contains more or +less of the Masorah; sometimes prayers, psalms, rabbinical commentaries, +etc. + +9. There is also a _Samaritan Pentateuch_; that is, a Hebrew Pentateuch +written in the ancient Samaritan characters, and first brought to light +in 1616, respecting the origin of which very different opinions are +held. Some suppose that the Samaritans received it as an inheritance +from the ten tribes; others that it was introduced at the time of the +founding of the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim; others that it was +brought by the Israelitish priest sent to instruct the Samaritans in the +knowledge of God, 2 Kings 17:27, 28. It is agreed among biblical +scholars that its text has been subjected to many alterations which +greatly impair its critical authority. These, however, are not +sufficient to account for its remarkable agreement with the Septuagint +version against the Masoretic text, in numerous readings, some of them +of importance. The explanation of this phenomenon must be the agreement +of the original Samaritan codex with the manuscripts from which the +Alexandrine version was executed. Probably both were of Egyptian origin. +See Alexander's Kitto, art. Samaritan Pentateuch. + +In a brief compend, like the present work, it is not thought necessary +to notice particularly the _printed_ editions of the Hebrew Bible. The +reader will find an account of them in the "Bibliographical List" +appended to the fourth volume of Horne's Introduction, edition of 1860. +The text of Van der Hooght's Hebrew Bible, (Amsterdam and Utrecht, +1705,) which was chiefly based on the earlier text of Athias, +(Amsterdam, 1667,) is generally followed at the present day, and may be +regarded as the received text of the Hebrew Scriptures. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +FORMATION AND HISTORY OF THE HEBREW CANON. + + +1. The Greek word _canon_ (originally a _straight rod or pole_, +_measuring-rod_, then _rule_) denotes that collection of books which the +churches receive as given by inspiration of God, and therefore as +constituting for them a divine rule of faith and practice. To the books +included in it the term _canonical_ is applied. The Canon of the Old +Testament, considered in reference to its constituent parts, was formed +gradually; formed under divine superintendence by a process of growth +extending through many centuries. The history of its formation may be +conveniently considered under the following divisions: (1,) the +_Pentateuch_; (2,) the _historical_ books; (3,) the _prophetical_ books +in the stricter sense of the term; (4,) a somewhat miscellaneous +collection of books which may be designated in a general way as +_poetical_. + + +I. THE PENTATEUCH. + +2. In the name applied to the Pentateuch--"the book of the law," and +more fully, "the book of the law of Moses," "the book of the law of +Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel"--we have from the +beginning the general idea of the canon. A canonical writing is one that +contains a communication from God to men, and has therefore the impress +of divine authority. In its outward form it may be preceptive, +historical, or meditative. But in all these different modes it still +reveals to men God's character, and the duties which he requires of +them. The Hebrews never admitted to the number of their sacred books a +writing that was secular in its character. Even those who deny the +canonical authority of certain parts of the Old Testament acknowledge +that the Jews received these parts because they believed them to be of a +sacred character. + +3. In Deut. 31:9-13, 24-26; 17:18, 19, we read: "And Moses wrote this +law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the +ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. And +Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the +solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, when all +Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he +shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their +hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and +thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they +may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words +of this law: and that their children which have not known anything, may +hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the +land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it:" "and it came to pass, +when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, +until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare +the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, +and put it in the side" (that is, not _within_, but _by the side_. +Compare Josh. 12:9; Ruth 2:14; 1 Sam. 20:25; Psa. 91:7; where the same +word is used in the original) "of the ark of the covenant of the Lord +your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee;" "and it +shall be when he"--the king whom the Israelites in some future age shall +set over themselves--"sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he +shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before +the priests the Levites: and it shall be with him, and he shall read +therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his +God, to keep all the words of this law and the statutes, to do them." +These passages are of the weightiest import; for they teach us how the +_nucleus_ of the canon of the Old Testament was formed, and give us all +the particulars that enter into the idea of a canonical writing. It is +given by God as an authoritative rule of faith and practice; it is +committed to the custody of his people through their recognized +officers, and that for all future time; it is to be published to the +people at large, and diligently studied by the rulers, that they and the +people together may know and do the will of God. It is not necessary to +decide the question how much is included in the words "this book of the +law," Deut. 31:26, whether the whole Pentateuch, or only the book of +Deuteronomy. The arguments to show that the four preceding books came, +in all essential respects, from the pen of Moses have been already given +(Ch. 9, Nos. 7-9), and need not be here repeated. We only add that even +if the reference is to Deuteronomy alone, as some suppose, the rule for +this book would naturally be the rule for all the previous writings. +They also would be laid up by the side of the ark; for it is plain that +the priests and Levites, who had charge of the sanctuary, were made the +keepers of the sacred writings generally. + +As a matter of simple convenience the book of Deuteronomy was written on +a separate roll ("in a book," Deut. 31:24). But if this book, when +finished, was laid up with the earlier portions of the law at the side +of the ark, so as to constitute with them a single collection, and if, +as we may reasonably suppose, Moses, in writing the book of Deuteronomy, +contemplated such a collection of all the parts of the law into one +whole; then, when the law is mentioned, whether in Deuteronomy or in the +later books, we are to understand the whole law, unless there be +something in the context to limit its meaning, as there is, for example, +in Joshua 8:32 compared with Deut. 27:1-8. The command to "read this law +before all Israel in their hearing," "at the end of every seven years, +in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles," +was understood in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah of the whole law, and +not of Deuteronomy alone (Ch. 9, No. 4); and so Josephus plainly +understood it: "But when the multitude is assembled in the holy city at +the septennial sacrifices on the occasion of the feast of tabernacles, +let the high priest, standing on a lofty stage whence he can be plainly +heard, read the laws to all." Antiq. 4.8, 12. "The laws," in the usage +of Josephus, naturally mean the whole collection of laws. + + +II. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. + +4. The history of these is involved in obscurity. In respect to most of +them we know not the authors, nor the exact date of their composition. +There are, however, two notices that shed much light on the general +history of the earlier historical books. In the last chapter of the book +of Joshua, after an account of the renewal of the covenant at Shechem, +it is added: "And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of +God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was +by the sanctuary of the Lord." Josh. 24:26. Again, upon the occasion of +the establishment of the kingdom under Saul, we are told that "Samuel +told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and +laid it up before the Lord." 1 Sam. 10:25. From the first of these +passages we learn that a theocratic man after Moses, who had the spirit +of prophecy, connected his writings (or at least one portion of them) +with the law. This addition by Joshua, though never formally regarded as +a part of the law, virtually belonged to it, since it contained a +renewal of the covenant between God and his people. From the second +passage we learn that the place for other important documents pertaining +to the theocracy was "before the Lord," where the law was deposited. +Hence we infer with much probability that, besides the addition made to +"the book of the law of God," important historical writings, proceeding +from prophetical men, like Joshua and Samuel, were in process of +collection at the sanctuary all the time from Moses to Samuel. + +5. If now we examine the books of Joshua and Judges, we must be +satisfied that the men who compiled them made use of such materials. In +the book of Joshua is recorded, with much detail, the allotment of the +land of Canaan among the several tribes. A document of this nature must +have been written at the time, and by Joshua himself, or under his +immediate direction. The same may be reasonably supposed of other +portions of the book. If then it was put into its present form after the +death of Joshua, as some suppose, the materials must still have been +furnished by him to a great extent. The book of Judges covers a period +of more than three centuries. Who composed it we do not know, but the +materials employed by him must have existed, in part at least, in a +written form. The book of Ruth may be regarded as an appendix to that of +the Judges. + +6. The two books of Samuel (which originally constituted one whole) +bring down the history of the Theocracy from the birth of Samuel to the +close of David's reign--a period of about a century and a half. The +author, therefore, can have been, upon any supposition, only in part +contemporary with the events which he records. Yet if we examine the +biographical sketches of Saul, Samuel, and David contained in these +books, the conviction forces itself upon us that they must have been +written by contemporaries. Their freshness, minute accuracy of detail, +and graphic vividness of style mark them as coming from eye-witnesses, +or from writers who had received their accounts from eye-witnesses. Who +were authors of these original documents we cannot determine. It is +certain that Samuel was one of them. 1 Chron. 29:29. Who composed the +books, again, is a question that we are unable to answer. It was +probably a prophet living not very long after the separation of the +kingdoms of Israel and Judah. From the days of Samuel and onward there +was a flourishing school of the prophets at hand which could furnish, +under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, both the writers of the +original materials and the author of the books in their present form. + +The attempt has been made to set aside the evidence that the writer of +the books of Samuel made use of earlier documents, from the example of +such men as Swift and Defoe, who composed works of fiction with all the +simplicity and circumstantial detail of those who write authentic +history as eye-witnesses. But, unless the design be to class the books +of Samuel with "Gulliver's Travels" and "Robinson Crusoe," the argument +is wholly irrelevant. With Swift and Defoe simplicity and minuteness of +detail were a matter of conscious effort--_a work of art_, for which +they naturally chose the region of fiction; and here they, and other men +of genius, have been eminently successful. Shakespeare has portrayed +_ideal_ scenes in the life of Julius Caesar with more vividness and +circumstantiality than any authentic historian of Caesar's age. But _real +history_, written simply in the interest of truth, never has the graphic +character, artless simplicity, and circumstantiality of detail which +belong to these inimitable narratives, unless the writer be either an +eye-witness, or draw his materials from eye-witnesses. + +7. We come next to the books of Kings and Chronicles, the writers of +which confessedly employed previously existing materials. In the two +books of Kings (which, like the two of Samuel and of Chronicles, +originally constituted one work) reference is made to the following +sources: For the reign of Solomon, "the book of the acts of Solomon" (1 +Kings 11:41); for the kingdom of Judah after the revolt of the twelve +tribes from Rehoboam to Jehoiakim, "the book of the chronicles of the +kings of Judah;" for the kingdom of Israel, "the book of the chronicles +of the kings of Israel." In the books of Chronicles we have: For the +reign of David, "the book" (history) "of Samuel the seer, the book of +Nathan the prophet, and the book of Gad the seer" (1 Chron. 29:29); for +the reign of Solomon, "the book of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of +Ahijah the Shilonite," and "the vision of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam +the son of Nebat" (2 Chron. 9:29); for the reign of Rehoboam, "the book +of Shemaiah the prophet," and "of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies," +that is, in the manner of a genealogical record (2 Chron. 12:15); for +the reign of Abijah, "the story" (commentary) "of the prophet Iddo" (2 +Chron. 13:22); for the reign of Jehoshaphat, "the book of Jehu the son +of Hanani," who is mentioned (rather, _who is inserted_, i.e., as an +author) in the book of the kings of Israel (2 Chron. 20:34); for the +reign of Uzziah, "the prophet Isaiah" (2 Chron. 26:22); for the reign of +Hezekiah in part, "the vision of Isaiah the prophet" (2 Chron. 32:32); +for the reign of Manasseh in part, "the sayings of the seers," or, as +many prefer to render, "the words of Hosai" (2 Chron. 33:18). Besides +the above, reference is made to "the book of the kings of Judah and +Israel," "the book of the kings of Israel and Judah," "the story of the +book of the kings;" "the book of the kings of Israel." These last are +probably only different titles of the same collection of annals, +embracing in its contents the history of _both_ kingdoms; since the +references to the book of the kings of Israel are for the affairs of the +kingdom of Judah (2 Chron. 20:34; 33:18). + +8. With regard to the above _original sources_, it should be carefully +noticed that the references in the books of Kings are not to our present +books of Chronicles, which did not exist when the books of Kings were +written. Chap. 20, No. 21. Neither can the allusions in the books of +Chronicles be restricted to our present books of Kings; for (1) they +refer to matters not recorded in those books--for example, to the wars +of Jotham, 2 Chron. 27:7; (2) they refer to the book of the kings of +Judah and Israel for a _full_ account of the acts of a given monarch +"first and last," while the history of the same monarch in our present +books of Kings refers for _further_ information to the book of the +Chronicles of the kings of Judah. It is plain that both writers had +access to a _larger collection of original documents_, which were in +great part the same. The chief difference in outward form is that, when +the books of Chronicles were written, the annals of the two kingdoms of +Judah and Israel seem to have constituted a single collection, whereas +in the books of Kings they are always mentioned as two separate works. +In making his selections from these annals, each writer proceeded +independently. Hence the remarkable agreements, where both used the same +materials; and the remarkable differences, where one employed documents, +or parts of documents, which the other omitted to use. + +9. As to the _character_ of these original documents, it is plain that a +portion of them were written by prophets. By some the books of the kings +of Israel and Judah so often referred to, have been regarded as simply +the public annals of the two kingdoms written by the official annalists, +the "scribes" or "recorders" so often spoken of. No doubt such annals +existed, and entered largely into the documents in question. But the +right interpretation of 2 Chron. 20:34, shows that, in some cases at +least, the writings of prophets were incorporated into these annals. The +extended history of Elijah and Elisha cannot have been the work of the +public scribes of the kingdom of Israel, but of prophets, writing from +the prophetic point of view. The question, however, is not one of +practical importance, since, whatever may have been the source or +character of the materials employed, the writers of the books now under +consideration, used them at their discretion under the guidance of the +Spirit of God. To us, therefore, they come with the weight of prophetic +authority. The further consideration of the relation between the books +of Kings and Chronicles is reserved for the special introductions to +these books. It may be added here that the probable date of the former +is the first half of the Babylonish captivity; of the latter, the time +of Ezra under the Persian rule. + +10. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah constitute a continuation of the +books of Chronicles, and need not be particularly noticed in the present +connection. For their authorship and date, as also for the book of +Esther, see the particular introductions to these books. + + +III. THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS. + +11. Under the _prophetical books_, in the stricter sense of the word, +may be included the three Greater prophets--Isaiah, Jeremiah, and +Ezekiel--Daniel (though largely historical), and the twelve Minor +prophets. These will all come up hereafter for separate consideration. +At present we view them simply with reference to the growth of the Old +Testament Canon. From the settlement of the Israelities in the land of +Canaan to the time of Samuel, a period of several centuries (according +to the chronology followed by the apostle Paul, Acts 13:20, four hundred +and fifty years), we read of several appearances of the "angel of the +Lord." Judges 2:1; 6:11; 13:3. The notices of prophets during the same +period are only three in number. Judges 4:4; 6:8; 1 Sam. 2:27. But with +Samuel began a new era. He was himself one of the greatest of the +prophets, and he established a school of the prophets over which he +himself presided. 1 Sam. 10:5, 10; 19:20. From his day onward such +schools seem to have flourished as a theocratic institution throughout +the whole period of the kings, though more vigorously at certain times. +1 Kings 18:4; 20:35; 2 Kings 2:3, 5; 4:1, 38, 43; 5:22; 6:1; 9:1. So far +as we have notices of these schools, they were under the instruction of +eminent prophets; and "the sons of the prophets" assembled in them +received such a training as fitted them, so far as human instrumentality +is concerned, for the exercise of the prophetical office, as well as for +being, in a more general sense, the religious instructors of the people. +From these schools came, apparently, most of those whom God called to be +his messengers to the rulers and people, though with exceptions +according to his sovereign wisdom. Amos 1:1; 7:14. We find, accordingly, +that from the days of Samuel and onward the prophets were recognized as +a _distinct order of men_ in the Jewish theocracy, who derived their +authority immediately from God, and spoke by direct inspiration of his +Spirit, as they themselves indicate by the standing formula: "Thus saith +the Lord." + +12. It is a remarkable fact, however, that from Samuel to about the +reign of Uzziah, a period of some three centuries, we have no _books of +prophecy_ written by these men, if we except, perhaps, the book of +Jonah. Their writings seem to have been mainly historical (like the +historical notices incorporated into the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, +Ezekiel, and Daniel); and what remains to us of them is preserved in the +historical books of the Old Testament. See above, Nos. 6 and 7. But +about the time of Uzziah begins a new era, that of _written_ prophecy. +During his reign appeared Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, and probably Jonah, Joel, +and Obadiah. Micah followed immediately afterwards, being contemporary +in part with Isaiah; and then, in succession, the rest of the prophets +whose writings have come down to us. When the theocracy was now on its +decline, waxing old and destined to pass away for ever, they felt +themselves called to _put on record_, for the instruction of all coming +ages, their words of warning and encouragement. Thus arose gradually our +present collection of prophetical books; that of Lamentations included, +which is but an appendix to the writings of Jeremiah. + + +IV. THE POETICAL BOOKS. + +13. These are a precious outgrowth of the theocratic spirit, in which +the elements of _meditation and reflection_ predominate. Concerning the +date and authorship of the book of Job, which stands first in order in +our arrangement, we have no certain information. Learned men vary +between the ante-Mosaic age and that of Solomon. Its theme is divine +providence, as viewed from the position of the Old Testament. See +further in the introduction to this book. + +14. With the call of David to the throne of Israel began a new and +glorious era in the history of public worship, that of "the service of +song in the house of the Lord." 1 Chron. 6:31. As when Moses smote the +rock in the wilderness the water gushed forth in refreshing streams, so +the soul of David, touched by the spirit of inspiration, poured forth a +rich and copious flood of divine song, which has in all ages refreshed +and strengthened God's people in their journey heavenward "through this +dark vale of tears." Nor was the fountain of sacred poetry confined to +him alone. God opened it also in the souls of such men as Asaph, Ethan, +Heman, and the sons of Korah; nor did its flow wholly cease till after +the captivity. The Psalms of David and his coadjutors were from the +first dedicated to the service of the sanctuary; and thus arose our +canonical book of Psalms, although (as will be hereafter shown) it did +not receive its present form and arrangement till the time of Ezra and +Nehemiah. + +15. After David came Solomon in the sphere of practical wisdom. This, +according to the divine record, he received as a special endowment from +God, though doubtless he had in a peculiar measure a natural capacity +for such an endowment. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to him in a dream by +night, and said: "Ask what I shall give thee." Passing by wealth, long +life, and the death of his enemies, the youthful monarch besought God to +give him "an understanding heart," that he might be qualified to judge +the great people committed to his care. The answer was: "Behold, I have +done according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise and an +understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, +neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee." 1 Kings 3:5-12. Thus +divinely qualified, he embodied, in a vast collection of proverbs, his +observations on human life, and the course of human affairs. Our +canonical book of Proverbs is a selection from these, with some +additions at the end from other sources. For notices respecting the +arrangement of these proverbs in their present form, as well as +respecting the books of Ecclesiastes and Canticles, which are also +ascribed to Solomon, the reader may consult the introductions to these +books. + + +V. THE COMPLETION OF THE CANON. + +The subject thus far before us has been _the growth of the materials_ +which constitute our canonical books. The question of their preservation +and final embodiment in their present form remains to be considered. + +16. Respecting the _preservation_ of the sacred books till the time of +Ezra and Nehemiah, our information is very scanty. Each king was +required to have at hand for his own personal use a transcript of the +law of Moses (Deut. 17:18), the original writing being carefully laid up +in the inner sanctuary, where Hilkiah, the high priest, found it in the +reign of Josiah. 2 Kings 22:8. We cannot doubt that such kings as David, +Solomon, Asa, and Hezekiah complied with this law: though after the +disorders connected with the reign of Manasseh and his captivity, the +good king Josiah neglected it. Jehoshaphat, we are expressly told, sent +men to teach in the cities of Judah, who had "the book of the law of the +Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and +taught the people." 2 Chron. 17:7-9. Of course it was a copy, and not +the original autograph, which might not be removed from the sanctuary. +It is a natural supposition that other transcripts of the law were made +under the direction of the high priest, for the use of pious men, +especially pious prophets, princes, and Levites, who needed its +directions for the right discharge of their official duties, though on +this point we can affirm nothing positively. As to the prophetical +books, we know that Jeremiah had access to the writings of Isaiah, for +in repeated instances he borrowed his language. We know again that +Daniel had at hand the prophecies of Jeremiah; for he understood "by +books" (literally "by the books," which may be well understood to mean +that collection of sacred books of which the prophecies of Jeremiah +formed a part) "the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord +came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in +the desolations of Jerusalem." Dan. 9:2. The consecration of the Psalms +of David and his coadjutors to the public service of the sanctuary must +have insured their careful preservation by the Levites who had charge of +the temple music; and, in general, the deep reverence of the Jews for +their sacred writings is to us a reasonable evidence that they preserved +them from loss and mutilation to the captivity, and through that +calamitous period. + +17. To Ezra and his coadjutors, the men of the Great Synagogue, the Jews +ascribe the _completion of the canon_ of the Old Testament. Their +traditions concerning him are embellished with extravagant fictions; yet +we cannot reasonably deny that they are underlaid by a basis of truth. +All the scriptural notices of Ezra attest both his zeal and his ability +as "a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his +statutes to Israel," a man who "had prepared his heart to seek the law +of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and +judgments." Ezra 7:10, 11. The work in which he and his associates were +engaged was the reestablishment of the Theocracy on its old foundation, +the law of Moses, with the ordinances pertaining to the +sanctuary-service afterwards added by David; and that too in the vivid +consciousness of the fact that disobedience to the divine law had +brought upon the nation the calamities of the captivity. In such +circumstances their first solicitude must have been that the people +might have the inspired oracles given to their fathers, and be +thoroughly instructed in them. The work, therefore, which Jewish +tradition ascribes to Ezra and the men of the Great Synagogue was +altogether appropriate to their situation, nor do we know of any man or +body of men afterwards so well qualified for its performance, or upon +whom it would so naturally have devolved. + +That they arranged the inspired volume in substantially its present +form, we have no good reason for doubting. But we should not, perhaps, +be warranted in saying that they brought the canon of the Old Testament +absolutely and formally to a close. Josephus (against Apion 1. 8) +affirms that no book belongs to the sacred writings of his nation "which +are justly believed to be divine," that had its origin after the reign +of Artaxerxes, Xerxes' son (Artaxerxes Longimanus, under whom Ezra led +forth his colony, Ezra, chap. 7); and that on the ground that from this +time onward "the exact succession of the prophets" was wanting. This +declaration of the Jewish historian is in all essential respects worthy +of full credence. We cannot, however, affirm with confidence that all +the later historical books were put by Ezra and his contemporaries into +the exact form in which we now have them. The book of Nehemiah, for +example, contains some genealogical notices (chap. 12:11, 22) which, +according to any fair interpretation, are of a later date. We are at +liberty to suppose that these were afterwards added officially and in +good faith, as matters of public interest; or, as some think, that the +book itself is an arrangement by a later hand of writings left by +Nehemiah, perhaps also by Ezra; so that while its contents belong, in +every essential respect, to them, it received its present form after +their death. Respecting the question when the canon of the Old Testament +received its finishing stroke, a question which the wisdom of God has +left in obscurity, we must speak with diffidence. We know with certainty +that our present Hebrew canon is identical with that collection of +sacred writings to which our Saviour and his apostles constantly +appealed as invested throughout with divine authority, and this is a +firm basis for our faith. + + The attempt has been made, but without success, to show that a + portion of the Psalms belongs to the Maccabean age. The words of + the Psalmist (Psa. 74:8) rendered in our version: "They have + burned up all the synagogues of God in the land," have no + reference to the synagogues of a later age, as is now generally + admitted. The Hebrew word denotes _places of assembly_, and was + never applied by the later Jews to their synagogues. The + Psalmist wrote, moreover, in immediate connection with the + burning of the temple--"they have cast fire into thy sanctuary, + they have defiled by casting down the dwelling-place of thy name + to the ground"--and this fixes the date of the Psalm to the + Chaldean invasion (2 Kings 25:9); for the temple was not burned, + but only profaned, in the days of the Maccabees. By "the + assemblies of God," we are probably to understand the ancient + sacred places, such as Ramah, Bethel, and Gilgal, where the + people were accustomed to meet, though in a somewhat irregular + way, for the worship of God. But whether this interpretation be + correct or not, the words have no reference to the buildings of + a later age called synagogues. + + Some of the apocryphal writings, as, for example, the book of + Wisdom, the book of Ecclesiasticus, the first book of Maccabees, + were highly valued by the ancient Jews. But they were never + received into the Hebrew canon, because their authors lived + _after_ "the exact succession of the prophets," which ended with + Malachi. They knew how to make the just distinction between + books of human wisdom and books written "by inspiration of God." + +18. The earliest notice of the _contents of the Hebrew Canon_ is that +contained in the prologue to the Greek translation of Ecclesiasticus, +where it is described as "the law, the prophets, and the other national +books," "the law, and the prophecies, and the rest of the books," +according to the three-fold division already considered. Chap. 18, No. +4. Josephus, in the passage already referred to (against Apion, 1. 8), +says: "We have not among us innumerable books discordant and contrary to +each other, but only two-and-twenty, containing the history of all time, +which are justly believed to be divine. And of these five belong to +Moses, which contain the laws and the transmission of human genealogy to +the time of his death. This period of time wants but little of three +thousand years" (the longer chronology followed by him). "But from the +death of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes, who was king of the Persians +after Xerxes, the prophets after Moses wrote the history of their times +in thirteen books. The remaining four contain hymns to God and precepts +for human life. From Artaxerxes to our time various books have been +written; but they have not been esteemed worthy of credence like that +given to the books before them, because the exact succession of the +prophets has been wanting." In this list the books of the Old Testament +are artificially arranged to agree with the number _two-and-twenty_, +that of the Hebrew alphabet. The four that contain "hymns to God and +precepts for human life" are, in all probability: Psalms, Proverbs, +Ecclesiastes, Canticles; and the thirteen prophetical books (see below) +are: (1) Joshua, (2) Judges and Ruth, (3) the two books of Samuel, (4) +the two books of Kings, (5) the two books of Chronicles, (6) Ezra and +Nehemiah, (7) Esther, (8) Isaiah, (9) Jeremiah and Lamentations, (10) +Ezekiel, (11) Daniel, (12) the book of the twelve Minor Prophets, (13) +Job. See Oehler in Hertzog's Encyclopaedia, Art. Canon of the Old +Testament. Origen, as quoted by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 6.25), and Jerome +(both of whom drew their information concerning the Hebrew Canon +immediately from Jewish scholars, and may, therefore, be regarded as in +a certain sense the expositors of the above list of Josephus) make +mention of the same number, twenty-two. Origen's list unites Ruth with +Judges, puts together the first and second of Samuel, the first and +second of Kings, the first and second of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah +(under the names of the first and second of Ezra), and Jeremiah and +Lamentations (with the addition of the apocryphal Epistle of +Jeremiah--an inconsistency, or rather oversight, to be explained from +his constant habit of using the Septuagint version). In the present text +of Eusebius, the book of the twelve Minor Prophets is wanting. But this +is simply an old error of the scribe, since it is necessary to complete +the number of twenty-two. Jerome's list (Prologus galeatus) is the same, +only that he gives the contents of the Law, the Prophets, and the +Hagiographa in accordance with the Hebrew arrangement, placing Daniel in +the last class, and adding that whatever is without the number of these +must be placed among the Apocryphal writings. Smith's Dict. of the +Bible, Art. Canon. The catalogue of these two distinguished Christian +scholars--Origen of the Eastern church, and Jerome of the Western, both +of whom drew their information immediately from Hebrew scholars--is +decisive, and we need add nothing further. + +19. The _Apocryphal books_ of the Old Testament were incorporated into +the Alexandrine version called the Septuagint; but they were never +received by the Jews of Palestine as a part of the sacred volume. +Concerning them and their history, see further in the Appendix to this +part. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. + + +In the present chapter only those versions of the Old Testament are +noticed which were made independently of the New. Versions of the whole +Bible, made in the interest of Christianity, are considered in the +following part. + + +I. THE GREEK VERSION CALLED THE SEPTUAGINT. + +1. This is worthy of special notice as the oldest existing version of +the holy Scriptures, or any part of them, in any language; and also as +the version which exerted a very large influence on the language and +style of the New Testament; for it was extensively used in our Lord's +day not only in Egypt, where it originated, and in the Roman provinces +generally, but also in Palestine; and the quotations in the New +Testament are made more commonly from it than from the Hebrew. + +2. The Jewish account of its origin, first noticed briefly by +Aristobulus, a Jew (as quoted by Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius), +then given at great length in a letter which professes to have been +written by one Aristeas, a heathen and a special friend of Ptolemy +Philadelphus, king of Egypt, and the main part of which Josephus has +copied (Antiq. 12. 2), is for substance as follows: Ptolemy Philadelphus +(who reigned from B.C. 285 to 247), at the suggestion of his librarian +Demetrius Phalereus, after having first liberated all the Jewish +captives found in his kingdom, sent an embassy with costly gifts to +Eleazar the high priest at Jerusalem, requesting that he would send him +chosen men, six from each of the twelve tribes, with a copy of the +Jewish law, that it might be interpreted from the Hebrew into the Greek +and laid up in the royal library at Alexandria. Eleazar accordingly sent +the seventy-two elders with a copy of the laws written on parchments in +letters of gold, who were received by the king with high honors, +sumptuously feasted, and afterwards lodged in a palace on an island +(apparently Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria), where they completed +their work in seventy-two days, and were then sent home with munificent +gifts. The story that they were shut up in seventy-two separate cells +(according to another legend two by two in thirty-six cells), where they +had no communication with each other and yet produced as many versions +agreeing with each other word for word, was a later embellishment +designed (as indeed were all the legends respecting the origin of this +version) to exalt its character in the apprehension of the people, and +to gain for it an authority equal to that of the inspired original. + +3. The letter ascribed to Aristeas is now generally admitted to be +spurious. It purports to have been written by a heathen scholar, yet it +bears throughout marks of a Jewish origin. It represents the translators +as Jewish elders sent by the high priest from Jerusalem. Yet the version +is acknowledged to be in the Alexandrine Greek dialect. For these and +other reasons learned men ascribe its authorship to a Jew whose object +was to exalt the merits of the Alexandrine version in the estimation of +his nation. But we are not, for this reason, warranted to pronounce the +whole account a pure fable, as many have done. We may well believe that +the work was executed under the auspices of Ptolemy, and for the purpose +of enriching his library. But we must believe that it was executed by +Jews born in Egypt to whom the Greek language was vernacular, and +probably from manuscripts of Egyptian origin. Thus much is manifest from +the face of the version, that it was made by different men, and with +different degrees of ability and fidelity. + + The name _Septuagint_ (Latin, _Septuaginta_), _seventy_, a round + number for the more exact _seventy-two_, probably arose from + this tradition of the execution of the work by seventy-two + elders in seventy-two days. The story of the parchments sent + from Jerusalem for the use of the translators (with the request + that they might be returned with them) has been rejected on the + ground that the text used by them differs too widely from the + Palestinian text. See further on this subject in No. 5, below. + It has been further affirmed that Demetrius Phalereus did not + belong to the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, but to that of his + father Ptolemy Soter, the son having banished him from court in + the beginning of his reign. For this reason some have proposed + to assign the founding of the Alexandrian library to the father + and not the son. But whatever be our judgment in respect to + Demetrius and his relation to the two Ptolemies, the voice of + history is decisive in favor of the son and not the father, as + the patron of learning. + +4. It has been a question whether the Hebrew Scriptures were translated +at one time, or in successive portions. The tradition above considered +speaks only of _the law_, or, in the plural, _the laws_. These might, +perhaps, be understood as comprehensive terms for the whole Old +Testament, but they probably mean the Pentateuch alone, in which both +the Egyptian king and the Jews of his realm would feel a special +interest. It is probable that the Pentateuch--the _Law_ in the proper +sense of the term--was first translated, and afterwards the remaining +books. But how long a period of time was thus occupied cannot be +determined. Respecting the incorporation into this version of the +apocryphal book, see in the appendix to this Part, No. 2. + + When the translator of the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach + (Ecclesiasticus), says in his prologue, in immediate connection + with his residence and labors in Egypt, that "the law itself and + the prophets, and the rest of the books have no small difference + [as to force] when read in their own tongue," he plainly refers + to the Septuagint version as complete in his day. He visited + Egypt "under Euergetes." But to which of the two monarchs who + bore that title he refers is uncertain. If to the former, it was + between 246-221 B.C.; if to the latter, between 145-116 B.C. + +5. The version varies so much in its different parts that it is not easy +to give its character as a whole. It is agreed among biblical scholars +that the translators of the Pentateuch excelled in ability and fidelity, +according to the well-known judgment of Jerome--"which [the books of +Moses] we also acknowledge to agree more than the others with the +Hebrew." Among the historical books the translations of Samuel and Kings +are the most faulty. Those of the prophets are in general poor, +especially that of Isaiah. That of Daniel was so faulty that the +Christians in later times substituted for it the translation of +Theodotion. See below, No. 10. Among the poetical books that of Proverbs +is the best. As a whole the Septuagint version cannot for a moment enter +into competition with the Hebrew original. Yet, as the most ancient of +versions and one which also represents a text much older than the +Masoretic, its use is indispensable to every scholar who would study the +Old Testament in the original language. + +6. Independently of its critical value, the Septuagint must be regarded +with deep interest from its close connection with the New Testament. In +the days of Christ and his apostles it was known and read throughout the +whole Roman empire by the Hellenists; that is, by those Jews and Jewish +proselytes who had the Greek civilization and spoke the Greek language. +As the Alexandrine Greek, in which this version was made, was itself +pervaded throughout with the Hebrew spirit, and to a great extent also +with Hebrew idioms and forms of thought, so was the language of the New +Testament, in turn, moulded and shaped by the dialect of the Septuagint, +nor can the former be successfully studied except in connection with the +latter. Then again the greatest number of quotations in the New +Testament from the Old is made from the Septuagint. According to Mr. +Greenfield (quoted in Smith's Bible Dict., art. Septuagint) "the number +of direct quotations from the Old Testament in the Gospels, Acts, and +Epistles, may be estimated at three hundred and fifty, of which not more +than fifty materially differ from the seventy. But the indirect verbal +allusions would swell the number to a far greater amount." The +discussion of the principles upon which the writers of the New Testament +quote from the Old belongs to another part of this work. It may be +briefly remarked here that they quote in a free spirit, not in that of +servile adherence to the letter, aiming to give the substance of the +sacred writers' thoughts, rather than an exactly literal rendering of +the original word for word. + + The prophecy of Isaiah, for example (6:9, 10), is six times + quoted in the New Testament, wholly or in part, with very free + variations of language. Matt. 13:14, 15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; + John 12:40; Acts 28: 26, 27; Rom. 11:8. From neither of these + quotations, nor from all of them combined, could we draw a + _critical_ argument respecting either the Hebrew or Greek text + of the passage quoted. Neither can we argue from the exact + agreement of a quotation in the New Testament with the + Septuagint where that differs from the Hebrew, that the Hebrew + text has been corrupted. The New Testament writers are occupied + with the spirit of the passages to which they refer, rather than + with the letter. + +7. The Hebrew _text_ from which the Septuagint version was executed was +unpointed and much older than the Masoretic text. Were the version more +literal and faithful, and had its text come down to us in a purer form +(see below, Chap. 17, No. 2), it would be of great service in settling +the exact text of the original Hebrew. With its present character, and +in the present condition of its text, it is of but comparatively small +value in this respect. Yet its striking agreement with the text of the +Samaritan Pentateuch (Ch. 13, No. 8) is a phenomenon worthy of special +notice. Biblical scholars affirm that the two agree in more than a +thousand places where they differ from the Hebrew. For the probable +explanation of this see above, Ch. 14, No. 9. + + The reader must be on his guard against the error of supposing + that these more than a thousand variations from the Hebrew text + are of such a nature as to affect seriously the system of + doctrines and duties taught in the Pentateuch. They are rather + of a critical and grammatical character, changes which leave the + substance of revelation untouched. See on this point Ch. 3. + There is one striking agreement between the Samaritan text and + that of the Septuagint in which many biblical scholars think + that the true ancient reading has been preserved. It is that of + Gen. 4:8: "And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into + the field. And it came to pass when they were in the field." + etc. + + +II. OTHER GREEK VERSIONS. + +8. In the beginning of Christianity the Septuagint enjoyed, as we have +seen, a high reputation among the Jews; and as a natural consequence, +among the Jewish converts also, as well as the Gentile Christians. To +the great body of Gentile believers it was for the Old Testament the +only source of knowledge, as they were ignorant of the Hebrew original. +They studied it diligently, and used it efficiently against the +unbelieving Jews. Hence there naturally arose in the minds of the latter +a feeling of opposition to this version which became very bitter. They +began to disparage its authority, and to accuse it of misrepresenting +the Hebrew. The next step was to oppose to it another version made by +_Aquila_, which was soon followed by two others, those of _Theodotion_ +and _Symmachus_. + +9. _Aquila_ is represented to have been a Jewish proselyte of Pontus, +and to have lived in the second century. His version was slavishly +literal, following the Hebrew idiom even where it is contrary to that of +the Greek. For this very reason, not withstanding all the barbarisms +thus introduced, the Jews highly valued it, calling it _the Hebrew +verity_. All that remains of it to us is contained in the fragments of +Origen's Hexapla. See below, No. 12. Had we the whole work, its +extremely literal character would give it great value in a critical +point of view, as it would shed much light on the state of the Hebrew +text when it was executed. + +10. _Theodotion_ was, according to Irenaeus, an Ephesian. Jerome calls +him and Symmachus Ebionites, Judaizing heretics, and semi-Christians. He +is supposed to have made his version in the last half of the second +century. According to the testimony of the ancients, it had a close +resemblance in character to the Septuagint. He seems to have had this +version before him, and to have made a free use of it. Of the three +later versions, that of Theodotion was most esteemed by the Christians, +and they substituted his translation of the book of Daniel for that of +the Seventy. + +11. _Symmachus_, called by the church fathers an Ebionite, but by some a +Samaritan, seems to have flourished not far from the close of the second +century. His version was free, aiming to give the sense rather than the +words. His idiom was Hellenistic, and in this respect resembled the +Septuagint, from the author's familiarity with which, indeed, it +probably took its complexion. + +Of other ancient Greek versions discovered by Origen in his Eastern +travels and made by unknown authors it is not necessary to speak. + +12. The text of the Septuagint was never preserved so carefully as that +of the Hebrew, and in the days of Origen it had fallen into great +confusion. To meet the objections of the Jews, as well as to help +believers in their study of the Old Testament, Origen undertook first +the work called the _Tetrapla_ (Greek, _fourfold_), which was followed +by the _Hexapla_ (Greek, _sixfold_). To prepare himself he spent +twenty-eight years, travelling extensively and collecting materials. In +the Tetrapla, the text of the Septuagint (corrected by manuscripts of +itself), and those of Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus were arranged +side by side in _four_ parallel columns. In the Hexapla there were _six_ +columns--(1) the Hebrew in Hebrew characters; (2) the Hebrew expressed +in Greek letters; (3) Aquila; (4) Symmachus; (5) the Septuagint; (6) +Theodotion. See Davidson's Bib. Crit., 1, p. 203; Smith's Bib. Diet., 2, +p. 1202. In some books he used two other Greek versions, and +occasionally even a third, giving in the first case _eight_, in the +second, _nine_ columns. + + "The great work," says Davidson, "consisting of nearly fifty + volumes; on which he had spent the best years of his life, does + not seem to have been transcribed--probably in consequence of + its magnitude and the great expense necessarily attending a + transcript. It lay unused as a whole fifty years after it was + finished, till Eusebius and Pamphilus drew it forth from its + concealment in Tyre, and placed it in the library of the latter + in Caesarea. It is thought to have perished there when Caesarea + was taken and plundered by the Saracens, A.D. 653." Bib. + Criticism, 1, p. 206. Well did Origen merit by his vast + researches and labors the epithet _Adamantinus_ [_Adamantine_] + bestowed on him by the ancients. Fragments of the Hexapla, + consisting of extracts made from it by the ancients, have been + collected and published in two folio volumes by Montfaucon, + Paris, 1713, and reprinted by Bahrdt in two volumes octavo, + Leipzig and Lubeck, 1769, 1770. It is the hope of biblical + scholars that these may be enriched from the Nitrian + manuscripts. See further, Chap. 28, No. 8. + +For the four "Standard Text Editions" of the Septuagint Greek version, +with the principal editions founded on them, the reader may consult the +Bibliographical List appended to the fourth volume of Home's +Introduction, edition of 1860. + + +III. THE CHALDEE TARGUMS. + +13. The Chaldee word _Targum_ means _interpretation_, and is applied to +the translations or paraphrases of the Old Testament in the Chaldee +language. When, after the captivity, the Chaldee had supplanted the +Hebrew as the language of common life, it was natural that the Jews +should desire to have their sacred writings in the language which was to +them vernacular. Thus we account, in a natural way, for the origin of +these Targums, of which there is a considerable number now extant +differing widely in age as well as character. No one of them extends to +the whole Old Testament. + + The question has been raised whether the Targums have for their + authors single individuals, or are the embodiment of traditional + interpretations collected and revised by one or more persons. + Many biblical scholars of the present day incline strongly to + the latter view, which is not in itself improbable. But the + decision of the question, in the case of each Targum, rests not + on theory, but on the character of its contents, as ascertained + by careful examination. + +14. The first place in worth, and probably in time also, belongs to the +_Targum on the Pentateuch_ which bears the name of _Onkelos_. It is a +literal and, upon the whole, an able and faithful version (not +paraphrase) of the Hebrew text, written in good Aramaean, and approaching +in style to the Chaldee parts of Daniel and Ezra. In those passages +which describe God in language borrowed from human attributes +(_anthropomorphic_, _describing God in human forms_, as having eyes, +hands, etc.; _anthropopathic_, _ascribing to God human affections_, as +repenting, grieving, etc.), the author is inclined to use paraphrases; +thus: "And Jehovah smelled a sweet savor" (Gen. 8:21) becomes in this +Targum: "And Jehovah received the sacrifice with favor;" and "Jehovah +went down to see" (Gen. 11:5), "Jehovah revealed himself." So also +strong expressions discreditable to the ancient patriarchs are softened, +as: "Rachel _took_" instead of "Rachel _stole_." Gen. 31:19. In the +poetical passages, moreover, the Targum allows itself more liberty, and +is consequently less satisfactory. + + According to a Jewish tradition, Onkelos was a proselyte and + nephew of the emperor Titus, so that he must have flourished + about the time of the destruction of the second temple. But all + the notices we have of his person are very uncertain. There is + even ground for the suspicion that the above tradition + respecting _Onkelos_ relates, by a confusion of persons, to + _Aquila_ (Chaldee _Akilas_), the author of the Greek version + already considered. In this case the real author of the Targum + is unknown, and we can only say that it should not probably be + assigned to a later date than the close of the second century. + +15. Next in age and value is the _Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel_ on the +_Prophets_; that is, according to the Jewish classification (Chap. 13, +No. 4), Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and +the twelve Minor Prophets. In the historical books, this Targum is in +the main literal; but in the prophets (in the stricter sense of the +term) paraphrastic and allegorical. + + The Jewish tradition represents that Jonathan wrote the + paraphrase of the prophets from the mouth of Haggai, Zechariah, + and Malachi; a mere fable. Who was the real author cannot be + determined with certainty, only that he lived after the + so-called Onkelos. + +16. There are two other Targums on the Pentateuch, one of them commonly +known as the _Targum of the Pseudo-Jonathan_ (because falsely ascribed +to the author of the preceding Targum) and the _Jerusalem Targum_. The +latter is of a fragmentary character; and its agreement with the +corresponding passages of the former is so remarkable that it is +generally considered as consisting of extracts taken from it with free +variations. But according to Davidson (in Alexander's Kitto): "The +Jerusalem Targum formed the basis of that of Jonathan; and its own basis +was that of Onkelos. Jonathan used both his predecessors' paraphrases; +the author of the Jerusalem Targum that of Onkelos alone." The style of +Pseudo-Jonathan is barbarous, abounding in foreign words, with the +introduction of many legends, fables, and ideas of a later age. He is +assigned to the seventh century. Keil, Introduc. to Old Testament, Sec. +189. + +17. The Targums on the Hagiographa are all of late date. There is one on +_Psalms_, _Job_, and _Proverbs_, the last tolerably accurate and free +from legendary and paraphrastic additions; one on the _five +rolls_--Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Canticles; which is +not a translation, but rather a commentary in the Talmudic style; two on +_Esther_, one on _Chronicles_. + +In the present connection, though not belonging properly to the Targums, +may be named the _Samaritan version of the Samaritan Pentateuch_, +printed with the originals in the Paris and London Polyglotts. It is a +literal translation executed in the spirit of the Targum of Onkelos, and +admitting the same class of variations from the letter of the original. + + +IV. THE SYRIAC PESHITO. + +18. This is the oldest version made by Christians from the original +Hebrew. The word _Peshito_ signifies _simple_, indicating that it gives +the simple meaning of the original, without paraphrastic and allegorical +additions. It is upon the whole an able and faithful version. It often +exhibits a resemblance to the Alexandrine version. We may readily +suppose that the translator, though rendering from the original Hebrew, +was familiar with the Septuagint, and that this exerted upon his work a +certain degree of influence. The Peshito was the standard version for +the Syriac Christians, being used alike by all parties; a fact which is +naturally explained by its high antiquity. If it be of the same date as +the New Testament Peshito, it may be placed not far from the close of +the second century. + +The _Old Latin_, and in connection with this, the _Vulgate_ of Jerome, +with some other ancient versions of the Old Testament, will be +considered in connection with the New Testament. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +CRITICISM OF THE SACRED TEXT. + + +1. The only _legitimate criticism_ of the sacred text is that which has +for its object to restore it, as far as possible, to its primitive form. +Had we the autograph of Moses in the exact form in which he deposited it +in the sanctuary (Deut. 31:26), this would be a perfect text; and so of +any other book of the Old Testament. In the absence of the autographs, +which have all perished, we are still able to establish the form of +their text with a reasonable degree of certainty for all purposes of +faith and practice. The means of accomplishing this are now to be +considered. + +2. Here _ancient manuscripts_ hold the first place. It is obvious, +however, that in settling the true reading of a given passage we cannot +look simply to the number of manuscript testimonies. The _quality_ of +the manuscripts must also be taken into account. Here age is of primary +importance. Other things being equal, the oldest are the most worthy of +credence, as being nearest to the original sources. But, in estimating +the testimony of a manuscript, there are other qualities besides age +that must be carefully considered--the care of the transcriber; its +freedom from interpolations by later hands (which can, however, as a +general rule, be easily detected); and especially its independence, that +is, its independence as compared with other manuscripts. We may have a +group of manuscripts whose peculiar readings mark them as having come +from a single source. Properly speaking, their testimony is valid only +for the text of their source. The authority of a single independent +manuscript may be equal in weight to their combined testimony. Then, +again, the character of the different readings must be considered. The +easiest reading--that which most naturally suggests itself to the +scribe--has less presumption in its favor than a more difficult reading; +and that on the simple ground that it is more likely that an easy should +have been substituted for a difficult reading than the reverse. There +are many other points which would need discussion in a work designed for +biblical critics; but for the purposes of this work the above brief +hints are sufficient. + + The Masoretic manuscripts have a great degree of uniformity, and + are all comparatively recent. Chap. 14, No. 7. We have reason to + believe that the Hebrew text which they exhibit has a good + degree of purity. But we cannot consider these manuscripts as so + many independent witnesses. The text of the Samaritan Pentateuch + is independent of the Masoretic text. Could we believe that we + possess it in a tolerably pure form, its critical value would be + very great. But, according to the judgment of the best biblical + scholars, it has been subjected to so many alterations, that its + critical authority is of small account. + +3. Next in order come _ancient versions_, the value of which for +critical purposes depends on their character as literal or free, and +also upon the state of their text as we possess it. Other things being +equal, the authority of a version is manifestly inferior to that of a +manuscript of the original. But a version may have been made from a more +ancient form of the original text than any which we have in existing +manuscripts; and thus it may be indirectly a witness of great value. The +extremely literal version of Aquila (Chap. 16, No. 9) was made in the +second century. Could we recover it, its testimony to the Hebrew text, +as it then existed, would be of great value. The Septuagint version was +made (at least begun) in the third century before Christ. But its free +character diminishes, and the impure state of its text greatly injures +its critical authority. Of the Targums, those of Onkelos and Jonathan +alone are capable of rendering any service in the line of sacred +criticism, and this is not of much account. + +4. We have also _primary-printed editions_ of the Hebrew Bible--those +printed from Hebrew manuscripts, which the reader may see noticed in +Horne's Bibliographical List, Appendix to vol. 4. The critical authority +of these depends on that of the manuscripts used, which were all of the +Masoretic recension. + +5. _Parallel passages_--parallel in a _critical_ and not simply in a +_historical_ respect--are passages which profess not merely to give an +account of the same transaction, but to repeat the same text. Well known +examples are: the song of David recorded in the twenty-second chapter of +the second book of Samuel, and repeated as the eighteenth psalm; the +fourteenth and fifty-third psalms, etc. Such repetitions possess for +every biblical student a high interest. But in the _critical_ use of +them great caution is necessary. It must be ascertained, first of all, +whether they proceed from the same, or from a different writer. In the +latter case they are only historical imitations. If, as in the case of +the above-named passages, they manifestly have the same author, the +inquiry still remains _how_ the differences arose. They may be different +recensions of the same writer (in this case, of David himself), or of +another inspired writer, who thus sought to adapt them more +perfectly--the fifty-third psalm, for example--to the circumstances of +his own day. The gift of inspiration made the later writer, in this +respect, cooerdinate in authority with the earlier. + + _Historical_ parallelism, such as those in the books of + Chronicles, as compared with the earlier historical books, do + not properly belong here. Yet these also sometimes furnish + critical help, especially in respect to names and dates. + +6. The _quotations_ from the Old Testament _in the New_ have for every +believer the highest authority; more, however, in a _hermeneutical_ than +a _critical_ respect. For, as already remarked (Chap. 16, No. 6), the +New Testament writers quote mostly from the Septuagint, and in a very +free way. The whole subject of these quotations will come up hereafter +under the head of Biblical Interpretation. + +7. _Quotations_ from the Old Testament in the _Talmud_ and _later +rabbinical writers_ are another source of sacred criticism. The Talmud, +embodying the ecclesiastical and civil law of the Jews according to +their traditions, consists of two parts, the _Mishna_, or text, +generally referred to the last half of the second century, and the +_Gemara_, or _commentary_ on the Mishna. The Mishna is one; but +connected with this are two Gemaras of later origin; the more copious +_Babylonian_, and the briefer _Jerusalem_ Gemara; whence the distinction +of the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud. Whether because the Hebrew text +was rigidly settled in its present form in the days of the Talmudists, +or because their quotations have been made to agree with the Masorah, an +examination of the Talmud furnishes few various readings that are of any +importance. Most of them relate to trifling particulars. The quotations +of later rabbinical writers are of small account in a critical respect. + +8. It remains to speak of _critical conjecture_. Of this a wise and +reverent scholar will make a very cautious use. He will content himself +with offering to the public his suggestions, without venturing to +incorporate them into the text itself. The recklessness of some modern +critics, who make an abundance of conjectural emendations, and then +embody them in their versions, with only a brief note, deserves severe +condemnation. Had the ancient critics generally adopted this uncritical +method, the sacred text would long ago have fallen into irretrievable +confusion. + + We add an example where critical conjecture is in place, though + it may not venture to alter the established reading. In Psalm + 42, the last clause of verse 6 and the beginning of verse 7, + written continuously without a division of words (Chap. 13, No. + 5), would read thus: + + [Hebrew: ky'od'odnu'sho'tpnyu'lhy'lynpshytshtvhh] + + With the present division of words: + + [Hebrew: ky 'od 'odnu 'sho't pnyu 'lhy 'ly npshy tshtvhh] + + the clauses are to be translated, as in our version: + + _For I shall yet praise him_ [for] _the salvation of his + countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me_. + + Divided as follows (by the transfer of a single letter to the + following word). + + [Hebrew: ky 'od 'odnu 'sho't pny u'lhy 'ly npshy tshtvhh] + + the rendering would be: + + _For I shall yet praise him_, [who is] _the salvation of my + countenance and my God. My soul is cast down within me_. + + Thus the refrain would agree exactly with the two that follow + (ver. 11 and 43:5). Yet this conjecture, however plausible, is + uncertain, since we do not know that the sacred writer sought + exact uniformity in the three refrains. + +9. _General remark_ on the various readings of the sacred text. As a +general rule, the various readings with which textual criticism is +occupied have respect to minor points--for the most part points of a +trivial nature; and even where the variations are of more importance, +they are not of such a character as to obscure, much less change, the +truths of revelation in any essential respect. Biblical critics tell us, +for example, that the Samaritan Pentateuch agrees with the Septuagint +version in more than a thousand places where they differ from the +Masoretic Hebrew text. Chap. 16, No. 7. Yet these three texts all +exhibit the same God, and the same system of doctrines and duties. +Revelation does not lie in letters and syllables and grammatical forms, +but in the deep and pure and strong and broad current of truth "given by +inspiration of God." Reverence for the inspired word makes us anxious to +possess the sacred text in all possible purity. Yet if we cannot attain +to absolute perfection in this respect, we have reasonable assurance +that God, who gave the revelation contained in the Old Testament, has +preserved it to us unchanged in any essential particular. The point on +which most obscurity and uncertainty rests is that of scriptural +chronology; and this is not one that affects Christian faith or +practice. + + + + +SECOND DIVISION: PARTICULAR INTRODUCTION. + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A WHOLE. + + +1. The province of _Particular Introduction_ is to consider the books of +the Bible separately, in respect to their authorship, date, contents, +and the place which each of them holds in the system of divine truth. +Here it is above all things important that we begin with the idea of the +_unity of divine revelation_--that all the parts of the Bible constitute +a gloriously perfect whole, of which God and not man is the author. No +amount of study devoted to a given book or section of the Old Testament, +with all the help that modern scholarship can furnish, will give a true +comprehension of it, until we understand it in its relations to the rest +of Scripture, We cannot, for example, understand the book of Genesis out +of connection with the four books that follow, nor the book of +Deuteronomy separated from the four that precede. Nor can we fully +understand the Pentateuch as a whole except in the light of the +historical and prophetical books which follow; for these unfold the +divine purpose in the establishment of the Theocracy as recorded in the +Pentateuch. The Pentateuch itself gives us only the _constitution_ of +the Theocracy. The books that follow, taken in connection with, the New +Testament, reveal its _office_ in the plan of redemption; and not till +we know this can we be said to have an intelligent comprehension of the +theocratic system. The same is true of every other part of revelation. + + The words of the apostle: "Ever learning, and never able to come + to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7), apply to many + learned commentaries. Their authors have brought to them much + accurate scholarship and research; but they have not seen the + unity of divine truth. They have written mainly in an + antiquarian spirit and interest, regarding the work under + consideration simply as an ancient and venerable record. They + have diligently sought for connections in philology, in + antiquities, and in history. In these respects they have thrown + much light on the sacred text. But they have never once thought + of inquiring what place the book which they have undertaken to + interpret holds in the divine system of revelation--perhaps have + had no faith in such a system. Consequently they cannot unfold + to others that which they do not themselves apprehend. On a + hundred particulars they may give valuable information, but that + which constitutes the very life and substance of the book + remains hidden from their view. + +2. It is necessary that we understand, first of all, the relation of the +Old Testament as a whole to the system of revealed truth. It is a +_preparatory_ revelation introductory to one that is _final_. This the +New Testament teaches in explicit terms. "When the fulness of the time +was come, God sent forth his Son." Gal. 4:4. Christ could not have come +in the days of Enoch before the flood, nor of Abraham after the flood, +because "the fulness of the time" had not yet arrived. Nor was the way +for his advent prepared in the age of Moses, or David, or Isaiah, or +Ezra. The gospel everywhere assumes that when the Saviour appeared, men +had attained to a state of comparative maturity in respect to both the +knowledge of God and the progress of human society. The attentive reader +of the New Testament cannot fail to notice how fully its writers avail +themselves of all the revelations which God had made in the Old +Testament of himself, of the course of his providence, and of his +purposes towards the human family. The _unity of God_, especially, is +assumed as a truth so firmly established in the national faith of the +Jews, that the doctrine of our Lord's deity, and that of the Holy +Spirit, can be taught without the danger of its being misunderstood in a +polytheistic sense--as if the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were +three gods. It is certain that this could not have been done any time +before the Babylonish captivity. The idea of _vicarious sacrifice_, +moreover--that great fundamental idea of the gospel that "without +shedding of blood there is no remission"--the writers of the New +Testament found ready at hand, and in its light they interpreted the +mission of Christ. Upon his very first appearance, John the Baptist, his +forerunner, exclaimed to the assembled multitudes: "Behold the Lamb of +God, which taketh away the sin of the world." To the Jew, with his +training under the Mosaic system of sacrifices, how significant were +these words! Without such a previous training, how meaningless to him +and to the world for which Christ died! Then again the gospel, in strong +contrast with the Mosaic law, deals in _general principles_. Herein it +assumes a comparative maturity of human thought--a capacity to include +many particulars under one general idea. A beautiful illustration of +this is our Lord's summary of social duties; "Therefore all things +whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: +for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12. We may add (what is +indeed implied in the preceding remark) that the gospel required for its +introduction a _well-developed state of civilization_ and culture, as +contrasted with one of rude barbarism. Now the Hebrews were introduced, +in the beginning of their national existence, to the civilization of +Egypt; which, with all its defects, was perhaps as good a type as then +existed in the world. Afterwards they were brought successively into +intimate connection with Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman +civilization; particularly with the last two. This was, moreover, at a +time when their national training under the Mosaic institutions had +given them such maturity of religious character that they were not in +danger of being seduced into the idolatrous worship of these nations. +Dispersed throughout all the provinces of the Roman empire, they still +maintained firmly the religion of their fathers; and their synagogues +everywhere constituted central points for the introduction of the +gospel, and its diffusion through the Gentile world. Such are some of +the many ways in which the world was prepared for the Redeemer's advent. +This is a vast theme, on which volumes could be written. The plan of the +present work will only admit of the above brief hints. + + Our Lord's command is: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the + gospel to every creature." The history of missions shows that + the gospel can be preached with success to the most degraded + tribes--to the Hottentots of South Africa and the cannibals of + the South sea islands, and that this is the only remedy for + their barbarism. But the gospel did not _begin_ among savages, + nor does it have its centres of power and influence among them. + Christ came at the culminating point of ancient civilization and + culture; not that he might conform his gospel to existing + institutions and ideas, but that he might through his gospel + infuse into them (as far as they contained elements of truth) + the purifying and transforming leaven of divine truth. As the + gospel began in the midst of civilization, so does its + introduction among barbarous tribes always bring civilization in + its train. + +3. When we have learned to regard the revelation of which we have a +record in the Old Testament as preparatory to the gospel, we see it in +its true light. This view furnishes both the key to its character and +the answer to the objections commonly urged against it. It is not a +revelation of abstract truths. These would neither have excited the +interest of the people, nor have been apprehended by them. God made +known to the covenant people his character and the duties which he +required of them by a series of _mighty acts_ and a system of _positive +laws_. The Old Testament, is, therefore, in an eminent degree +_documentary_--a record not simply of opinions, but rather of actions +and institutions. Of these actions and institutions we are to judge from +the character of the people and the age in connection with the great end +proposed by God. This end was not the material prosperity of Israel, but +the preparation of the nation for its high office as the medium through +which the gospel should afterwards be given to the world. The people +were rebellious and stiff-necked, and surrounded by polytheism and +idolatry. Their training required severity, and all the severity +employed by God brought forth at last its appropriate fruits. The laws +imposed upon them were stern and burdensome from their multiplicity. But +no one can show that in either of these respects they could have been +wisely modified; for the nation was then in its childhood and pupilage +(Gal. 4:1-3), and needed to be treated accordingly. + +An objection much insisted on by some is the _exclusive_ character of +the Mosaic institutions--a religion, it is alleged, for only one nation, +while all the other nations were left in ignorance. To this a summary +answer can be given. In selecting Israel as his covenant people, God had +in view the salvation of the whole world: "In thee shall all families of +the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3)--such was the tenor of the covenant +from the beginning. His plan was to bring one nation into special +relation to himself, establish in it the true religion, prepare it for +the advent of Christ, and then propagate the gospel from it as a centre +throughout all nations. If men are to be dealt with in a moral way, as +free, responsible subjects of law (and this is the only way in which God +deals with men under a system of either natural or revealed religion), +can the objector propose any better way? He might as well object to the +procedure of a military commander that, instead of spreading his army +over a whole province, he concentrates it on one strong point. Let him +wait patiently, and he will find that in gaining this point the +commander gains the whole country. + +4. Having seen the relation of the Old Testament as a whole to the +system of divine revelation, we are now prepared to consider the place +occupied by its _several divisions_. + +(1.) To prepare the way for our Lord's advent, one nation was to be +selected and trained up under a system of divine laws and +ordinances--the _theocracy_ established under Moses. The _Pentateuch_ +records _the establishment of the theocracy_, with the previous steps +that led to it, and the historical events immediately connected with. +it. Hence the five books of Moses are called emphatically _the Law_; and +as such, their province in the Old Testament is clear and well defined. + +(2.) The end of the Mosaic law being the preparation of the Israelitish +people, and through them the world, for Christ's advent, it was not the +purpose of God that it should be hidden as a dead letter beside the ark +in the inner sanctuary. It was a code for practice, not for theory. It +contained the constitution of the state, civil as well as religious; and +God's almighty power and faithfulness were pledged that it should +accomplish in a thorough way the office assigned to it. The theocracy +must therefore have a _history_; and with the record of this the +_historical books_ are occupied. + +(3.) God did not leave the development of this history to itself. He +watched over it from the beginning, and directed its course, interposing +from time to time, not only in a providential way, but also by direct +revelation. Sometimes, for specific ends, he revealed himself +immediately _to_ particular individuals, as to Gideon, and Manoah and +his wife. But more commonly his revelations were made to the rulers or +people at large _through_ persons selected as the organs of his Spirit; +that is, through _prophets_. The prophet held his commission immediately +from God. Since God is the author, not of confusion, but of order, he +came to the people _under_ the Law, not above it; and his messages were +to be tried by the Law. Deut. 13:1-5. No prophet after Moses enjoyed the +same fulness of access to God which was vouchsafed to him, or received +the same extent of revelation. Numb. 12:6-8; Deut. 34:10-12. +Nevertheless, the prophet came to rulers and people, like Moses, with an +authority derived immediately from God, introducing his messages with +the words: "Thus saith the Lord." In God's name he rebuked the people +for their sins; explained to them the true cause of the calamities that +befell them; recalled them to God's service as ordained in the Law, +unfolding to them at the same time its true nature as consisting in the +spirit, and not in the letter only--1 Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:11-20; 57:15; +66:2; Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 18:31; Hosea 10:12; 14:2; Joel 2:12, 13; Amos 5: +21-24; Micah 6: 6-8--denounced upon them the awful judgments of God as +the punishment of continued disobedience; and promised them the +restoration of his favor upon condition of hearty repentance. In the +decline of the Theocracy, it was the special province of the prophets to +comfort the pious remnant of God's people by unfolding to them the +future glory of Zion--the true "Israel of God," and her dominion over +all the earth. From about the reign of Uzziah and onward, as already +remarked (ch. 15. 12), the prophets began, under the guidance of the +Holy Spirit, to reduce their prophecies to writing, and thus arose the +series of _prophetical books_ that form a prominent part of the Old +Testament canon. Their office is at once recognized by every reader as +distinct from that of either the Pentateuch or the historical books; +although these latter were, as a general rule, written by prophets also. + +(4.) There is a class, more miscellaneous in character, that may be +described in general terms as the _poetical books_, in which the +elements of meditation and reflection predominate. It includes the book +of Job, which has for its theme divine providence, as viewed from the +position of the Old Testament; the book of Psalms, that wonderful +treasury of holy thought and feeling embodied in sacred song for the use +of God's people in all ages; the book of Proverbs, with its +inexhaustible treasures of practical wisdom; the book of Ecclesiastes, +having for its theme the vanity of this world when sought as a +satisfying good; and the book of Canticles, which the church has always +regarded as a mystical song having for its ground-idea, under the Old +Testament, that God is the husband of Zion, and under the New, that the +church is the bride of Christ. How high a place this division of the +canon holds in the system of divine revelation every pious heart feels +instinctively. Without it, the revelation of the Old Testament could not +have been complete for the work assigned to it. + +5. We have seen the relation of the Old Testament as a whole to the +entire system of revelation, and also the place occupied by its several +divisions. It will further appear, as we proceed, that each particular +book in these divisions contributes its share to the perfection of the +whole. + +6. Although the revelation contained in the Old Testament was +preparatory to the fuller revelation of the New, we must guard against +the error of supposing that it had not a proper significance and use for +the men of its own time. "Unto us," says the apostle, "was the gospel +preached, _as well as unto them_." Heb. 4:2. And again: "These all died +in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar +off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that +they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." "And these all, having +obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God +having provided some better tiling for us, _that they without us should +not be made perfect_." Heb. 11:13, 39, 40. They had a part of the truth, +but not its fulness; and the measure of revelation vouchsafed to them +was given for their personal salvation, as well as to prepare the way +for further revelations. The promise made to Abraham--"In thy seed shall +all the nations of the earth be blessed"--was fulfilled in Christ. In +this respect Abraham "received not the promise." Nevertheless, it was a +promise made for his benefit, as well as for that of future ages. Into +the bosom of the patriarch it brought light and joy and salvation. "Your +father Abraham," said Jesus, "rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and +was glad." John 8:56. "He believed in the Lord," says the inspired +record, "and he counted it to him for righteousness." Gen. 15:6. The +deliverance of Israel from Egypt typified the redemption of Christ; and +it was, moreover, one of the grand movements that prepared the way for +his advent. But it was neither all type nor all preparation. To the +covenant people of that day it was a true deliverance; and to the +believing portion of them, a deliverance of soul as well as of body. +"The law," says Paul, "was our school-master to bring us unto Christ, +that we might be justified by faith." Gal. 3:24. But while it had this +preparatory office, it was to the Israelitish nation a true rule of +life; and under it many, through faith, anticipated its end. The +prophets prophesied for the men of their own age, as well as for distant +generations. The sweet psalmist of Israel, while he foreshadowed the +Messiah's reign, sung for the comfort and edification of himself and his +contemporaries; and Solomon gave rules of practical wisdom as valid for +his day as for ours. The revelation of the Old Testament was not +complete, like that which we now possess; but it was sufficient for the +salvation of every sincere inquirer after truth. When the rich man in +hell besought Abraham that Lazarus might be sent to warn his five +brethren on the ground that, if one went to them from the dead they +would repent, Abraham answered: "If they hear not Moses and the +prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." + +7. There is another practical error against which Christians of the +present day need to be warned. It is the idea that the full revelation +of the New Testament supersedes in a great measure the necessity of +studying the previous revelation contained in the Old Testament. Few +will openly avow this, but too many inwardly cherish the delusion in a +vague and undefined form; and it exerts a pernicious influence upon +them, leading them to undervalue and neglect the Old Testament +Scriptures. Even if the idea under consideration were in accordance with +truth, it would still be to every earnest Christian a matter of deep +historical interest to study the way by which God prepared the world for +the full light of the gospel. But it is not true. It rests on a +foundation of error and delusion. For, (1.) The system of divine +revelation constitutes a _whole_, all the parts of which are connected, +from beginning to end, so that no single part can be truly understood +without a knowledge of all the rest. The impenetrable darkness that +rests on some portions of Scripture has its ground in the fact that the +plan of redemption is not yet completed. The mighty disclosures of the +future can alone dissipate this darkness. + + "God is his own interpreter, + And he will make it plain." + +(2.) We know that the writers of the New Testament constantly refer to +the Old for arguments and illustrations. A knowledge of the Old +Testament is necessary, therefore, for a full comprehension of their +meaning. How can the reader, for example, understand the epistles to the +Romans and Galatians, or that to the Hebrews, without a thorough +acquaintance with "Moses and the prophets," to which these epistles have +such constant reference? (3.) The Old Testament is occupied with the +record of God's dealings with men. Such a record must be a perpetual +revelation of God's infinite attributes, and of human character also, +and the course of human society, every part of which is luminous with +instruction. (4.) Although the old theocracy, with its particular laws +and forms of worship, has passed away, yet the _principles_ on which it +rested, which interpenetrated it in every part, and which shone forth +with a clear light throughout its whole history--these principles are +eternal verities, as valid for us as for the ancient patriarchs. Some of +these principles--for example, God's unity, personality, and infinite +perfections; his universal providence; his supremacy over all nations; +the tendency of nations to degeneracy, and the stern judgments employed +by God to reclaim them--are so fully unfolded in the Old Testament that +they needed no repetition in the New. There they became _axioms_ rather +than doctrines. (5.) "The manifold wisdom of God" in adapting his +dealings with men to the different stages of human progress cannot be +seen without a diligent study of the Old Testament as well as the New. +Whoever neglects the former, will want breadth and comprehensiveness of +Christian culture. All profound Christian writers have been well versed +in "the whole instrument of each Testament," as Tertullian calls the two +parts of revelation. Chap. 13, No. 2. + +Modern skepticism begins with disparaging the Old Testament, and ends +with denying the divine authority of both the Old and the New. In this +work it often unites a vast amount of learning in regard to particulars +with principles that are superficial and false. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE PENTATEUCH. + + +1. The _unity of the Pentateuch_ has already been considered (Ch. 9, No. +12), and will appear more fully as we proceed with the examination of +the separate books included in it. Even if we leave out of view the +authority of the New Testament, this unity is too deep and fundamental +to allow of the idea that it is a patchwork of later ages. Under divine +guidance the writer goes steadily forward from beginning to end, and his +work when finished is a symmetrical whole. Even its apparent +incongruities, like the interweaving of historical notices with the +laws, are marks of its genuineness; for they prove that, in those parts +at least, events were recorded as they transpired. Such a blending of +history with revelation does not impair the unity of the work; for it is +a unity which has its ground not in severe logical arrangement and +classification, but in a divine plan historically developed. Whether the +division of the Pentateuch into five books (whence its Greek name +_Pentateuchos_, _fivefold book_) was original, proceeding from the +author himself, or the work of a later age, is a question on which +biblical scholars are not agreed. It is admitted by all that the +division is natural and appropriate. The Hebrew titles of the several +books are taken from prominent words standing at or near the beginning +of each. The Greek names are expressive of their prominent contents; and +these are followed in the Latin Vulgate and in our English version, only +that the name of the fourth book is translated. + + +I. GENESIS. + +2. The Hebrews _name_ this book _Bereshith_, _in the beginning_, from +the first word. Its Greek name _Genesis_ signifies _generation_, +_genealogy_. As the genealogical records with which the book abounds +contain historical notices, and are, in truth, the earliest form of +history, the word is applied to the history of the creation, and of the +ancient patriarchs, as well as to the genealogical lists of their +families. Gen. 2:4; 25:19; 37:2 etc. In the same wide sense is it +applied to the book itself. + +3. Genesis is the _introductory book_ to the Pentateuch, without which +our understanding of the following books would be incomplete. Let us +suppose for a moment that we had not this book. We open the book of +Exodus and read of "the children of Israel which came into Egypt;" that +"Joseph was in Egypt already," and that "there arose up a new king over +Egypt, which knew not Joseph." Who were these children of Israel? we at +once ask; and how did they come to be in Egypt? Who was Joseph? and what +is the meaning of the notice that the new king knew not Joseph? All +these particulars are explained in the book of Genesis, and without them +we must remain in darkness. But the connection of this book with the +following is not simply explanatory; it is _organic_ also, entering into +the very substance of the Pentateuch. We are told (Ex. 2:24, 25) that +God heard the groaning of his people in Egypt, and "God remembered his +covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob; and God looked upon +the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them." The remembrance +of his covenant with their fathers is specified as the ground of his +interposition. Now the covenant made with Abraham, and afterwards +renewed to Isaac and Jacob, was not a mere incidental event in the +history of the patriarchs and their posterity. It constituted the very +essence of God's peculiar relation to Israel; and, as such, it was the +platform on which the whole theocracy was afterwards erected. The nation +received the law at Sinai _in pursuance_ of the original covenant made +with their fathers; and unless we understand the nature of this +covenant, we fail to understand the meaning and end of the law itself. +The very information which we need is contained in Genesis; for from the +twelfth chapter onward this book is occupied with an account of this +covenant, and of God's dealings with the patriarchs in connection with +it. The story of Joseph, which unites such perfect simplicity with such +deep pathos, is not thrown in as a pleasing episode. Its end is to show +how God accomplished his purpose, long before announced to Abraham (ch. +15:13), that the Israelites should be "a stranger in a land not theirs." + +But the Abrahamic covenant itself finds its explanation in the previous +history. For two thousand years God had administered the government of +the world without a visible church. And what was the result? Before the +flood the degeneracy of the human family was universal. God, therefore, +swept them all away, and began anew with Noah and his family. But the +terrible judgment of the deluge was not efficacious to prevent the new +world from following the example of the old. In the days of Abraham the +worship of God had been corrupted through polytheism and idolatry, and +ignorance and wickedness were again universal. The time had manifestly +come for the adoption of a new economy, in which God should, for the +time being, concentrate his special labors upon a single nation but with +ultimate reference to the salvation of the whole world. Thus we have in +the book of Genesis in a certain measure (for we may not presume to +speak of God's counsels as fully apprehended by us) an explanation of +the Abrahamic covenant, and, in this, of the Mosaic economy also. + +4. In accordance with the above view, the book of Genesis falls into two +unequal, but natural divisions. The _first_ part extends through eleven +chapters, and is occupied with the history of _the human family as a +whole_. It is the oldest record in existence, and its contents are +perfectly unique. It describes in brief terms: the order of creation; +the institution of the Sabbath and marriage; the probation to which man +was subjected, with its disastrous result in his fall and expulsion from +Eden; the murder of Abel by Cain, and, in connection with this, the +division of mankind into two families; man's universal degeneracy; the +deluge; the covenant made by God with the earth through Noah, and the +law of murder; the confusion of tongues at Babel, and the consequent +dispersion of the different families of men, a particular account of +which is given by way of anticipation in the tenth chapter. In addition +to these notices there are two genealogical tables; the first from Adam +to Noah (ch. 5), the second from Shem to Abraham (ch. 11). + +The _second_ part comprises the remainder of the book. In this we have +no longer a history of the whole race, but of Abraham's family, with +only incidental notices of the nations into connection with whom Abraham +and his posterity were brought. It opens with an account of the call of +Abraham and the covenant made with him; notices the repeated renewal of +this covenant to Abraham, with the institution of the rite of +circumcision; its subsequent renewal to Isaac and Jacob; and the +exclusion, first of Ishmael and afterwards of Esau, from a share in its +privileges. In immediate connection with the covenant relation into +which God took Abraham and his family, we have the history of the +patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sometimes with much detail, but +always with reference to the peculiar prerogative conferred upon them. +The book closes with an account of the wonderful train of providences by +which Israel was brought into Egypt. + + Though Ishmael and Esau were excluded from the covenant, yet, + apparently in consequence of their near relation to the + patriarchs, genealogical tables are devoted to them; to Ishmael, + ch. 25:12-18; to Esau, the whole of ch. 36. + +5. The _Mosaic authorship_ of Genesis has already been considered; and, +in connection with this, the question whether the Pentateuch, and +especially Genesis, contains any clauses of a later date, Ch. 9, No. 11. +Some, as Hengstenberg and his followers, deny the existence of such +clauses; but others think that a few must be admitted, which were +afterwards added, as needful explanations, by prophetical men. We are at +liberty to decide either way concerning them according to the evidence +before us. On the question whether Moses made use of earlier written +documents, see Ch. 9, No. 11. + + The clauses for which a later date can with any show of reason + be claimed are few in number, and none of them enter essentially + into the texture of the book. They are just such extraneous + remarks as the necessities of a later age required; for example, + Gen. 36:31; Ex. 16:35. On the last of these, Graves, who + considers it "_plainly a passage inserted by a later hand_," + says: "I contend that the insertion of such notes rather + confirms than impeaches the integrity of the original narrative. + If this were a compilation long subsequent to the events it + records" (according to the false assumption of some respecting + the origin of the Pentateuch), "such additions would not have + been plainly distinguishable, as they now are, from the main + substance of the original." On the Pentateuch, Appendix, sec. 1, + No. 13. + +6. The contents of the first part of this book are peculiar. It is not +strange, therefore, that we should encounter _difficulties_ in the +attempt to interpret them. To consider these difficulties in detail +would be to write a commentary on the first eleven chapters. Only some +general remarks can here be offered. Some difficulties are imaginary, +the inventions of special pleading. In these the commentaries of modern +rationalists abound. They are to be set aside by fair interpretation. +But other difficulties are real, and should not be denied or ignored by +the honest expositor. If he can give a valid explanation of them, well +and good; but if not, let him reverently wait for more light, in the +calm assurance that the divine authority of the Pentateuch rests on a +foundation that cannot be shaken. To deny a well-authenticated narrative +of facts on the ground of unexplained difficulties connected with it is +to build on a foundation of error. + + (A.) Of the difficulties connected with the first part of + Genesis some are _scientific_. Such is the narrative of the + creation of the world in six days. Respecting this it has + already been remarked (Ch. 10, No. 3) that with all who believe + in the reality of divine revelation the question is not + respecting the truth of this narrative, but respecting the + interpretation of it. As long ago as the time of Augustine the + question was raised whether these days are to be understood + literally, or symbolically of long periods of time. The latter + was his view, and it is strengthened by the analogy of the + prophetic days of prophecy. + + Another difficulty relates to the age of the antediluvian + patriarchs, which was about tenfold the present term of life for + robust and healthful men. According to the laws of physiology we + must suppose that the period of childhood and youth was + protracted in a corresponding manner; since in man, as in all + the higher animals, the time of physical growth--physical growth + in the widest sense, the process of arriving at physical + maturity--has a fixed relation to the whole term of existence. + After the deluge, in some way not understood by us, the whole + course of human life began to be gradually quickened--to run its + round in a shorter time--till the age of man was at last reduced + to its present measure. All that we can say here is that we do + not know how God accomplished this result. He accomplished it in + a secret and invisible way, as he does so many other of his + operations in nature. On the discrepancy between the Masoretic + Hebrew text, the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and that of + the Septuagint, in respect to the genealogical tables in + Genesis, see below. + + The _unity of the human race_ is everywhere assumed in + Scripture. Some modern scientific men have denied this, but + their arguments for a diversity of origin do not amount to + positive proof. They are theoretic rather than demonstrative, + and the weight of evidence is against them. We must remember, + moreover, that man lives under a supernatural dispensation. The + narrative in the eleventh chapter of Genesis seems to imply that + God interposed miraculously to confound human speech, in + accordance with his plan to scatter men "abroad upon the face of + all the earth." In like manner he may have interposed in a + secret way to intensify the diversity in the different races of + men. It does not appear certain, however, on physiological + grounds, that any miraculous interposition was needed; and we + may leave the question of the manner in which the present + diversity among the children of Adam was produced among the + secret things of which it is not necessary that we should have + an explanation. + + The question of the _universality of the deluge_ is with + believers in revelation one of words only, on which it is hardly + necessary to waste time. The _end_ of the deluge was the + complete destruction of the human race, all but Noah and his + family. This it accomplished, and why need we raise any further + inquiries; as, for example, whether the polar lands, where no + man has ever trod, were submerged also? "All the high hills + under the whole heaven" doubtless included all the high hills + where man lived, and which, therefore, were known to man. + + (B.) Another class of difficulties is _historical_, consisting + in alleged inconsistencies and disagreements between different + parts of the narrative. For the details of these, the reader + must be referred to the commentaries. One or two only can be + noticed as specimens of the whole. It is said that the second + account of the creation (Gen. 2:4-25) is inconsistent with the + first; the order of creation in the first being animals, then + man; in the second, man, then animals. But the answer is + obvious. In the first account, the order of succession in the + several parts of creation is one of the main features. It + distinctly announces that, _after_ God had finished the rest of + his works, he made man in his own image. The second account, on + the other hand, which is introductory to the narrative of man's + sin and expulsion from Eden, takes no notice of the order of + creation in its several parts. In this, man is the _central_ + object, and other things are mentioned incidentally in their + relation to man. The writer has no occasion to speak of trees + good for food till a _home_ is sought for Adam; nor of beasts + and birds till a _companion_ is needed for him. Then each of + these things is mentioned in connection with him. No candid + interpreter can infer from this that the second account means to + give, as the veritable order of creation--man, the garden of + Eden, beasts and birds! + + A difficulty has been alleged, also, in regard to _Cain's wife_. + But this grows simply out of the brevity of the sacred + narrative. The children of Adam must have intermarried, brothers + and sisters. The fact that no daughter is mentioned as born to + Adam before Seth, is no evidence against the birth of daughters + long before. In the fourth chapter no individuals are mentioned + except for special reasons--Cain and Abel, with a genealogical + list of Cain's family to Lamech, because he was the head of one + branch of the human race before the deluge. In the fifth chapter + none are named but _sons in the line of Noah_, with the standing + formula of "sons and daughters" born afterwards. We are not to + infer from this that no sons or daughters were born before; + otherwise we should exclude Cain and Abel themselves. At the + time of the murder of Abel, the two brothers were adult men. + What was their age we cannot tell. It may have been a hundred + years or more; for our first parents were created not infants, + but in the maturity of their powers, and Adam was one hundred + and thirty years old when the next son after Abel's murder was + born. Gen. 4:25. At all events, the interval between Abel's + birth and death must have been long, and we cannot reasonably + suppose that during this period no daughters were born to Adam. + + (C.) The _chronology_ of the book of Genesis involves, as is + well known, some difficult questions. In the genealogical tables + contained in the fifth and eleventh chapters, the texts of the + Masoretic Hebrew (which is followed in our version), + Hebrew-Samaritan, and Septuagint, differ in a remarkable manner. + + (1.) _Antediluvian Genealogy._ According to the Septuagint, no + patriarch has a son before the age of one hundred years. It adds + to the age of each of the five patriarchs that preceded Jared, + and also to the age of Enoch, one hundred years before the birth + of his son, deducting the same from his life afterwards. To the + age of Lamech it adds six years before the birth of Noah, + deducting thirty years afterwards. In respect to the age of + Methuselah when Lamech was born, there is a difference of twenty + years between the Vatican and the Alexandrine manuscripts. The + latter agrees with the Masoretic text: the former gives one + hundred and sixty-seven instead of one hundred and eighty-seven. + Thus the Septuagint makes the period from the creation to the + deluge 2262 years (according to the Vatican manuscript 2242 + years) against the 1656 of our Masoretic text. + + The Samaritan-Hebrew text agrees with the Masoretic for the + first five patriarchs and for Enoch. From the age of Jared it + deducts one hundred years; from that of Methuselah one hundred + and twenty (one hundred according to the Vatican manuscript of + the Septuagint); and from that of Lamech, one hundred and + twenty-nine--three hundred and forty-nine years in all--before + the birth of their respective sons. This places the deluge in + the year of the world 1307. + + (2.) _Genealogy from Noah to Abraham._ Chap. 11. Here the + Samaritan-Hebrew and the Septuagint (which Josephus follows with + some variations) give a much longer period than the Masoretic + text. They both add to the age of each of the six patriarchs + after Shem one hundred years before the birth of his son. To the + age of Nahor the Samaritan-Hebrew adds fifty, and the Septuagint + one hundred and fifty years. The latter also inserts after + Arphaxad a _Cainan_ who was one hundred and thirty years old at + the birth of Salah. + + In respect to the variations in these two genealogical tables + (chaps. 5 and 11) it is to be remarked: (1) that the authority + of the Masoretic text is, on general grounds, higher than that + of the Septuagint or Samaritan Pentateuch; (2) that in the + present case there is reason to suspect systematic change in + these two latter texts; strong external corroboration alone + could warrant us in adopting the longer chronology of the + Septuagint; (3) that any uncertainty which may rest on the + details of numbers in the Pentateuch ought not to affect our + confidence in the Mosaic record as a whole, for here, as it is + well known, there is a peculiar liability to variations. With + these brief remarks we must dismiss this subject. The reader + will find the question of scriptural chronology discussed at + large in the treatises devoted to the subject. For more + compendious views, see in Alexander's Kitto and Smith's + Dictionary of the Bible the articles entitled Chronology. + + +II. EXODUS. + +7. The Hebrew name of this book is: _Ve-elle shemoth_, _Now these_ [are] +_the names_; or more briefly: _Shemoth_, _names_. The word _Exodus_ +(Greek _Exodos_, whence the Latin _Exodus_) signifies _going forth_, +_departure_, namely, of Israel from Egypt. With the book of Exodus +begins the history of Israel _as a nation_. It has perfect unity of plan +and steady progress from beginning to end. The narrative of the golden +calf is no exception; for this records in its true order an interruption +of the divine legislation. The book consists of two parts essentially +connected with each other. The contents of the _first_ part (chaps. +1-18) are briefly the _deliverance_ of the Israelites from Egypt and +their _journey to Sinai_, as preparatory to their national covenant with +God there. More particularly this part contains: (1) an account of the +multiplication of the people in Egypt; their oppression by the +Egyptians; the birth and education of Moses, his abortive attempt to +interpose in behalf of his people, his flight to Midian, and his +residence there forty years (chaps. 1, 2); (2) God's miraculous +appearance to Moses at Horeb under the name JEHOVAH; his mission to +Pharaoh for the release of Israel, in which Aaron his brother was +associated with him; the execution of this mission, in the progress of +which the Egyptians were visited with a succession of plagues, ending in +the death of all the first-born of man and beast in Egypt; the final +expulsion of the people, and in connection with this the establishment +of the feast of the passover and the law respecting the first-born of +man and beast (chaps. 3-13); (3) the journey of the Israelites to the +Red sea under the guidance of a cloudy pillar; their passage through it, +with the overthrow of Pharaoh's host; the miraculous supply of manna and +of water; the fight with Amalek, and Jethro's visit to Moses. + +The _second_ part contains _the establishment of the Mosaic economy with +its tabernacle and priesthood_. At Sinai God enters into a national +covenant with the people, grounded on the preceding Abrahamic covenant; +promulgates in awful majesty the ten commandments, which he afterwards +writes on two tables of stone, and adds a code of civil regulations. +Chaps. 19-23. The covenant is then written and solemnly ratified by the +blood of sacrifices. Chap. 24. After this follows a direction which +contains in itself the whole idea of the sanctuary: "_Let them make me a +sanctuary; that I may dwell among them_." Chap. 25:8. The remainder of +the book is mainly occupied with the structure of the tabernacle and its +furniture, and the establishment of the Levitical priesthood. Directions +are given for the priestly garments, and the mode of inauguration is +prescribed; but the inauguration itself belongs to the following book. +The narrative is interrupted by the sin of the people in the matter of +the golden calf, with the various incidents and precepts connected with +it (chaps. 32-34), and a repetition of the law of the Sabbath is added. +Chap. 31:12-17. The office, then, which the book of Exodus holds in the +Pentateuch is definite and clear. + +8. With regard to the _time of the sojourn_ in Egypt, two opinions are +held among biblical scholars. The words of God to Abraham: "Know of a +surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, +and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years," +"but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again" (Gen. 15:13, +16); and also the statement of Moses: "Now the sojourning of the +children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty +years" (Exod. 12:40), seem to imply that they spent four hundred and +thirty years _in Egypt_ (a round number being put in the former passage +for the more exact specification of the latter). It has been thought, +also, that the vast increase of the people in Egypt--to six hundred +thousand men (Exod. 12:37), which shows that the whole number of souls +was over two millions--required a sojourn of this length. On the other +hand, the apostle Paul speaks of the law as given "four hundred and +thirty years _after_" _the promise to Abraham_. Gal. 3:17. In this he +follows the Jewish chronology, which is also that of the Septuagint and +Samaritan Pentateuch, for they read in Exod. 12:40: "who dwelt in Egypt +and in the land of Canaan." The words, "in the land of Canaan," are +undoubtedly an added gloss; but the question still remains whether they +are not a correct gloss. The genealogy of Levi's family (Exod. 6:16-20) +decidedly favors the interpretation, which divides the period of four +hundred and thirty years between Egypt and the land of Canaan. To make +this table consistent with a sojourn of four hundred and thirty years in +Egypt, it would be necessary to assume, with some, that it is an +_epitome_, not a full list, which does not seem probable. + + Before we can draw any certain argument from the increase of the + people in Egypt, we must know the _basis of calculation_. It + certainly includes not only the seventy male members of Jacob's + family, with their wives and children, but also the families of + their male-servants (circumcised according to the law, Gen. + 17:12, 13, and therefore incorporated with the covenant people). + From the notices contained in Genesis, we learn that the + families of the patriarchs were very numerous. Gen. 14:14; + 26:14; 32:10; 36:6, 7. If Abraham was able to arm three hundred + and eighteen "trained servants born in his own house," how large + an aggregate may we reasonably assume for the servants connected + with Jacob's family, now increased to seventy male souls? We + must not think of Jacob going into Egypt as a humble personage. + He was a rich and prosperous _emir_, with his children and + grandchildren, and a great train of servants. With the special + blessing of God upon his children and all connected with them, + we need find no insuperable difficulty in their increase to the + number mentioned at the exodus. + + Provision was made in a miraculous way for the sustenance of the + Israelites in the wilderness. The question has been raised: How + were their flocks and herds provided for? In answer to this, the + following remarks are in point: (1.) We are not to understand + the word "wilderness" of an absolutely desolate region. It + affords pasturage in patches. Robinson describes Wady Feiran, + northwest of Sinai, as well watered, with gardens of fruit and + palm trees; and he was assured by the Arabs that in rainy + seasons grass springs up over the whole face of the desert. The + whole northeastern part of the wilderness, where the Israelites + seem to have dwelt much of the thirty-eight years, is capable of + cultivation, and is still cultivated by the Arabs in patches. + (2.) The Israelites undoubtedly marched not in a direct line, + but from pasture to pasture, as the modern Arabs do, and + spreading themselves out over the adjacent region. When Moses + besought his father-in-law not to leave him, but to go with him + that he might be to the people instead of eyes (Numb. 10:31), we + may well suppose that he had in view Hobab's knowledge of the + places where water and pasturage were to be found. (3.) There is + decisive evidence that this region was once better watered than + it is now, and more fruitful. The planks of acacia-wood, the + shittim-wood, which were employed in the construction of the + tabernacle, were a cubit and a half in width; that is, in + English measure, something more than two and a half feet. No + acacia-trees of this size are now found in that region. The + cutting away of the primitive forests seems to have been + followed, as elsewhere, by a decrease in the amount of rain. + But, however this may be, we know that, for some reason, this + part of Arabia was once more fertile and populous. In its + northeastern part are extensive ruins of former habitations, and + enclosed fields. The same is true of the region around Beersheba + and south of it. Here Robinson found ruins of former cities, as + Eboda and Elusa. Of the latter place he says: "Once, as we + judged upon the spot, this must have been a city of not less + than twelve or fifteen thousand inhabitants. Now, it is a + perfect field of ruins, a scene of unutterable desolation; + across which the passing stranger can with difficulty find his + way." Vol. 1, p. 197. And of Eboda, farther south: "The large + church marks a numerous Christian population." "But the desert + has resumed its rights; the intrusive hand of cultivation has + been driven back; the race that dwelt here have perished; and + their works now look abroad in loneliness and silence over the + mighty waste." Vol. 1, p. 194. Ritter, the most accomplished of + modern geographers, affirms that from the present number of the + thin and negligent population, we can draw no certain conclusion + respecting the former condition of the country. Erdkunde, vol. + 14, p. 927. + + Of the numerous objections urged by Colenso against the + Pentateuch, and the book of Exodus in particular, many are + imaginary, and vanish upon the fair interpretation of the + passages in question. Others, again, rest on false assumptions + in regard to facts. For the details, the reader is referred to + the works written in reply. + + +III. LEVITICUS. + +9. The Hebrews call this book _Vayyikra_, _and_ [God] _called_. Later +Jewish designations are, _the law of priests_, and _the law of +offerings_. The Latin name _Leviticus_ (from the Greek _Leuitikon_, +_Levitical, pertaining to the Levites_) indicates that its contents +relate to the duties of the Levites, in which body are included all the +priests. The book of Leviticus is immediately connected with that which +precedes, and follows in the most natural order. The tabernacle having +been reared up and its furniture arranged, _the services pertaining to +it_ are next ordained, and in connection with these, various +regulations, most of which come within the sphere of the priestly +office. Hence we have (1) the law for the various offerings, followed by +an account of the anointing of the tabernacle, and the consecration of +Aaron and his sons to the priestly office, with the death of Nadab and +Abihu for offering strange fire before the Lord (chaps. 1-10); (2) +precepts concerning clean and unclean beasts, and cleanness and +uncleanness in men from whatever source, followed by directions for the +annual hallowing of the sanctuary on the great day of atonement, and +also in respect to the place where animals must be slain, and the +disposition to be made of their blood (chaps. 11-17); (3) laws against +sundry crimes, which admitted, in general, of no expiation, but must be +visited with the penalty of the law (chaps. 18-20); (4) various +ordinances pertaining to the purity of the priestly office, the +character of the sacrifices, the yearly festivals, the arrangements for +the sanctuary, etc., with the law for the sabbatical year and the year +of jubilee (chaps. 22-26:2); (5) a wonderful prophetic chapter, +announcing for all coming ages the blessings that should follow +obedience, and the curses which disobedience should bring upon the +people (chap. 26:3-46). There is added, as a sort of appendix, a chapter +concerning vows and tithes. Chap. 27. + +10. The priestly office, with its sacrifices, was the central part of +the Mosaic economy, for it prefigured Christ our great High Priest, with +his all-perfect sacrifice on Calvary for the sins of the world. On this +great theme much remains to be said in another place. It is sufficient +to remark here that the book of Leviticus gives the divine view of +expiation. If the expiations of the Levitical law were typical, the +types were true figures of the great Antitype, which is Jesus Christ, +"the Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of the world." No view of +his death can be true which makes these types empty and unmeaning. + + +IV. NUMBERS. + +11. _Bemidhbar_, _in the wilderness_, is the Hebrew name of this book, +taken from the fifth word in the original. It is also called from the +first word _Vayyedhabber_, _and_ [God] _spake_. The English version, +after the example of the Latin, translates the Greek name _Arithmoi_, +_numbers_, a title derived from the numbering of the people at Sinai, +with which the book opens, and which is repeated on the plains of Moab. +Chap. 26. This book records _the journeyings of the Israelites from +Sinai to the borders of the promised land_, and their sojourn in the +wilderness of Arabia, with the _various incidents_ that befell them, and +the _new ordinances_ that were from time to time added, as occasion +required. It embraces a period of thirty-eight years, and its contents +are necessarily of a very miscellaneous character. The unity of the book +is _chronological_, history and legislation alternating with each other +in the order of time. A full enumeration of the numerous incidents which +it records, and of the new ordinances from time to time enacted, is not +necessary. In the history of these thirty-eight years we notice three +salient points or epochs. _The first_ is that of the _departure from +Sinai_. Of the preparations for this, with the order of the march and +whatever pertained to it, a full account is given. Then follow the +incidents of the journey to the wilderness of Paran, with some +additional laws. Chaps. 1-12. The _second_ epoch is that of the +rebellion of the people upon the report of the twelve spies whom Moses +had sent to search out the land, for which sin the whole generation that +came out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, was rejected and +doomed to perish in the wilderness. Chaps. 13, 14. This was in the +second year of the exodus. Of the events that followed to the +thirty-eighth year of the exodus, we have only a brief notice. With the +exception of the punishment of the Sabbath-breaker, Korah's rebellion +and the history connected with it, and also a few laws (chaps. 15-19), +this period is passed by in silence. The nation was under the divine +rebuke, and could fulfil its part in the plan of God only by dying for +its sins with an unrecorded history. The _third_ epoch begins with the +second arrival of Israel at Kadesh, and this is crowded with great +events--the death of Miriam, the exclusion of Moses and Aaron from the +promised land, with the death of the latter at Mount Hor, the refusal of +Edom to allow a passage through his territory, the wearisome journey of +the people "to compass the land of Edom," with their sins and +sufferings, the conquest of Arad, Sihon, and Og, and thus the arrival of +the people at the plains of Moab opposite Jericho. Chaps. 20-22:1. Then +follows the history of Balaam and his prophecies, the idolatry and +punishment of the people, a second numbering of the people, the +appointment of Joshua as the leader of the people, the conquest of the +Midianites, the division of the region beyond Jordan to the tribes of +Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and a review of the +journeyings of the people. With all this are intermingled various +additional ordinances. + + +V. DEUTERONOMY. + +12. The Jewish name of this book is _Elle haddebharim_, _these are the +words_. The Greek name _Deuteronomion_, whence the Latin _Deuteronomium_ +and the English _Deuteronomy_, signifies _second_ law, or _repetition of +the law_, as it is also called by the later Jews. The book consists of +discourses delivered by Moses to Israel in the plains of Moab over +against Jericho, in the eleventh month of the fortieth year of the +exodus. Deut. 1:1, 3. The peculiar character of this book and its +relation to the preceding books have been already considered in the +first part of the present work (Chap. 9, No. 10), to which the reader is +referred. It is generally divided into three parts. The _first_ is +mainly a recapitulation of the past history of Israel under Moses, with +appropriate warnings and exhortations, followed by a notice of the +appointment of three cities of refuge on the east side of Jordan. Chaps. +1-4. The second discourse begins with a restatement of the law given on +Sinai. Exhortations to hearty obedience follow, which are full of +fatherly love and tenderness. Various precepts of the law are then +added, with some modifications and additions, such as the altered +circumstances of the people required. Chaps. 5-26. In the _third_ part +the blessings and the curses of the law are prominently set forth as +motives to obedience. Chaps. 27-30. The remainder of the book is +occupied with Moses' charge to Joshua, his direction for depositing the +law in the sanctuary by the side of the ark, his song written by divine +direction, his blessing upon the twelve tribes, and the account of his +death and burial on mount Nebo. + +13. As the book of Genesis constitutes a suitable _introduction_ to the +Pentateuch, without which its very existence, as a part of the divine +plan, would be unintelligible, so does the book of Deuteronomy bring it +to a sublime close. From the goodness and faithfulness of God, from his +special favor bestowed upon Israel, from the excellence of his service, +from the glorious rewards of obedience and the terrible penalties of +disobedience, it draws motives for a deep and evangelical obedience--an +obedience of the spirit and not of the letter only. Thus it adds the +corner-stone to the whole system of legislation, completing it on the +side of the motives by which it challenges obedience, and investing it +with radiant glory. The Pentateuch, then, is a whole. The first book is +inseparable from it as an _introduction_; the last as a _close_. The +three intermediate books contain the legislation itself, and in this +each of them has its appropriate province. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. + + +1. In the Pentateuch we have the establishment of the Theocracy, with +the preparatory and accompanying history pertaining to it. The province +of the historical books is to _unfold its practiced working_, and to +show how, under the divine superintendence and guidance, it accomplished +the end for which it was given. They contain, therefore, primarily, a +history of God's dealings with the covenant people under the economy +which he had imposed upon them. They look at the course of human events +on the divine rather than the human side, and in this respect they +differ widely from all other historical writings. Human histories abound +with the endless details of court intrigues, of alliances and wars, of +material civilization and progress, and whatever else pertains to the +welfare of men considered simply as the inhabitants of this world. But +the historical books of the Old Testament, written by prophetical men +illumined by the Holy Spirit, unfold with wonderful clearness the mighty +movements of God's providence, by which the divine plan proposed in the +Mosaic economy was steadily carried forward, alike through outward +prosperity and adversity, towards the fulfilment of its high office. +After a long series of bloody struggles, the Theocracy attained to its +zenith of outward power and splendor under David and Solomon. From that +time onward the power of the Israelitish people declined, till they were +at last deprived of their national independence, and subjected to the +yoke of foreign conquerors. But in both the growth of the national power +under the Theocracy, and its decline, the presence of God and his +supremacy, as well over the covenant people as over the surrounding +nations, were gloriously manifested, and their training for the future +advent of the Messiah was steadily carried forward. Thus we have in +these historical books a wonderful diversity of divine manifestations, +which alike charm and instruct the pious mind. + +2. It has already been shown (Chap. 15, No. 7) that the books of Kings +and Chronicles contain only _selections_ from a large mass of materials. +The same is probably true of the books of Judges and Samuel. The sacred +writers did not propose to give a detailed account of all the events +belonging to the periods over which their histories extended, but only +of those which were specially adapted to manifest God's presence and +guidance in the affairs of the covenant people. The history of some +persons is given very fully; of others with extreme brevity. But we may +say, in general, that this divine history, extending over a period of a +thousand years, is the most condensed in the world, as well as the most +luminous with the divine glory. The student rises from the perusal of it +with such clear views of God's presence and supremacy in the course of +human affairs, as cannot be gained from all the ponderous tomes of +secular history. Each book, moreover, presents some special phase of +God's providential movements, and contains, therefore, its special +lessons of instruction. With few exceptions, the _authors_ of the +historical books are unknown. We only know that they were prophetical +men, who wrote under the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit. + + +I. JOSHUA. + +3. This book records the _conquest of the land of Canaan_ by the +Israelites under Joshua, and its _distribution by lot_ among the tribes +that received their inheritance on the west side of the Jordan. It +connects itself, therefore, immediately with the Pentateuch; for it +shows how God fulfilled his promise to Abraham that he would give to his +posterity the land of Canaan for an inheritance (Gen. 17:8), a promise +often repeated afterwards, and kept constantly in view in the whole +series of Mosaic legislation. The book naturally falls into two parts. +The _first_ twelve chapters contain the history of the conquest itself, +with the movements preparatory thereto. Joshua, who had been previously +designated as the leader of the people (Numb. 27:15-23), receives a +solemn charge to pass over the Jordan and take possession of the +promised land; the people prepare themselves accordingly; two spies are +sent out to take a survey of Jericho; the Israelites pass over the +Jordan dry-shod, its waters having been miraculously divided; they +encamp at Gilgal, and are there subjected to the rite of circumcision. +Chaps. 1-5. Then follows an account of the overthrow of Jericho, the +trespass of Achan with the calamity which it brought upon the people, +the conquest of Ai, the ratification of the law at mount Ebal with the +erection of the stones on which the law was written, the artifice of the +Gibeonites by which they saved their lives, the overthrow of the +combined kings of the Canaanites at Gibeon, and the conquest, first of +the southern and afterwards of the northern kings of Canaan. Chaps. +6-12. + +The _second_ part gives an account of the division of the land by lot +among the several tribes. This work was begun as is described in +chapters 13-17, and after an interruption through the dilatoriness of +the people, for which Joshua rebuked them, was continued and completed +at Shiloh. Chaps. 18, 19. Six cities of refuge were then appointed, +three on each side of the Jordan; forty-eight cities were assigned by +lot to the Levites; and the two and a half tribes that had received +their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan (Numb., chap. 32) were +sent home. Chaps. 20-22. The twenty-third chapter contains Joshua's +charge to the elders of Israel, and the twenty-fourth his final charge +at Shechem to the assembled tribes, on which occasion there was a solemn +renewal of the national covenant. The whole book is brought to a close +by a brief notice of the death of Joshua and Eleazar, and the interment +of the bones of Joseph in Shechem. This brief survey of the contents of +the book reveals at once its unity, its orderly plan, and the place +which it holds in the history of the Theocracy. + +4. The _authorship_ of the book cannot be determined from the title +alone, any more than that of the two books which bear the name of +Samuel. Jewish tradition ascribes it to Joshua himself, except the last +five verses. But it records some transactions which, according to the +most obvious interpretation of them, occurred after Joshua's death. +Among these are the conquest of Hebron (chap. 15:16-19, compared with +Judges 1:12-15), and especially the excursion of the Danites (chap. +19:47), which must be regarded as identical with that described in the +eighteenth chapter of the book of Judges. Unless we assume that this +notice of the Danites is an addition made by a later hand, we must +suppose that the book was written by some unknown prophetical man after +Joshua's death. He may well have been one of the elders who overlived +Joshua, since at the time of his writing Rahab was yet living among the +Israelites. Chap. 6:25. + + The eighteenth chapter of the book of Judges, which records the + invasion of the Danites, is evidently an _appendix_, introduced + by the words: "In those days there was no king in Israel;" and + that this invasion took place not long after the settlement of + the people in Canaan, is manifest from the object proposed by + it. Judges 18:1. At the time of the conquest, Rahab was a young + woman, and may well have survived that event forty years or + more. The only apparent indication of a still later composition + of the book is that found in the reference to the book of + _Jasher_, chap. 10:13. From 2 Sam. 1:18, we learn (according to + the most approved interpretation of the passage) that David's + elegy on the death of Saul and Jonathan was written in the book + of Jasher. But we are not warranted in affirming that this title + was applied to a book of definitely determined contents. It may + have been a collection of national songs, enlarged from age to + age. + + Though Joshua does not appear to have been the author of the + book in its present form, we may well suppose that the writer + employed, in part at least, materials that came from Joshua's + pen. When the land was divided by lot among the several tribes, + the boundaries of each inheritance, with the cities pertaining + to it, must have been carefully described in writing by Joshua + himself, or by persons acting under his direction. It is + probable that these descriptions were copied by the author of + the book of Joshua; and this is sufficient to account for any + diversity of diction that may exist in this part of the book as + compared with the purely historic parts. Nothing in the style + and diction of this book, or in that of the two following books + of Judges and Ruth, indicates that they belong to a later age of + Hebrew literature. Certain peculiarities of expression which + occasionally appear in them may be naturally explained as + provincialisms, or as belonging to the language of conversation + and common life. + +5. The book of Joshua bears every internal mark of _authenticity_ and +_credibility_. The main transaction which it records--the extirpation of +the Canaanites by the immediate help of Jehovah, and the gift of their +country to the Israelites--was contemplated from the very first by the +Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 13:14, 15; 15:18-21; 17:8, etc.), and also by +the entire body of the Mosaic laws. Why God chose to accomplish this by +the sword of his covenant people, has been already sufficiently +considered. Chap. 10, No. 7. The stupendous miracles recorded in the +book of Joshua are in harmony with the entire plan of redemption, the +great and decisive movements of which have been especially marked by +signal manifestations of God's presence and power. The man who denies +the credibility of this book on the ground of these miracles, must, for +consistency's sake, go much farther, and deny altogether the +supernatural manifestations of God recorded in the Bible, including the +mission, miraculous works, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus +Christ himself. + + In chap. 10:12-14 we read that, at the word of Joshua, the sun + stood still and the moon stayed in the midst of heaven about a + whole day, so that "there was no day like that before it or + after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man." Some + have sought to explain the whole passage as a quotation from + "the book of Jasher" expressed in the language of poetic + hyperbole; and they have compared with it such poetic + amplifications as those contained in Psa. 18:7-16; Hab., chap. + 3, etc. But this interpretation is forced and unnatural; and + besides this, there remains the analogous event of which we have + a double record in 2 Kings 20:8-11; Isa. 38: 7, 8, and which is + expressly ascribed to divine power: "Behold, I will bring again + the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun-dial of + Ahaz, ten degrees backward." Here it is manifest that to human + vision the sun, and with it the shadow, went backward ten + degrees. _How_ this was accomplished we need not attempt to + determine. We are not shut up to the supposition that the earth + was turned back on her axis ten degrees, nor that the rays of + the sun were miraculously deflected ten degrees (which would + change his apparent position in the heavens ten degrees), nor to + any other particular hypothesis. If God chose that the sun + should to human vision go backward ten degrees, he could + accomplish it by means inscrutable to us; and so also if he + chose that it should stand still in the midst of heaven about a + whole day. + + +II. JUDGES AND RUTH. + +6. The book of Judges is so called because it is occupied with the +history of the Israelites during the period when they were under the +general administration of _Judges_. These men are not to be confounded +with the ordinary judges under the Theocracy, of the appointment of +which we have an account in Exodus, chap. 18. They were men specially +raised up by God and endowed by him with extraordinary qualifications +for their office, which was general and political rather than municipal. +Many of them were military leaders, called to their work in times of +national calamity. In times of peace they stood at the head of public +affairs, although with regard to some of them it is generally thought +that their jurisdiction extended to only a part of the Israelitish +people. Thus Jephthah and the three succeeding judges seem to have +exercised their office in northeastern Israel, while the scene of +Samson's exploits was southwestern Israel, and he was, in the opinion of +many, contemporary with Eli, who judged Israel at Shiloh. The condition +of the nation during the period of the Judges is described as one in +which "there was no king in Israel." Chap. 18:1; 19:1. There was no +regularly organized central power which could give unity to the +movements of the people. The tribes seem to have acted in a great +measure independently of each other, as in the expedition of the +Danites. Chap. 18. It was only on special occasions, like that of the +sin and punishment of the Benjamites (chaps. 19-21), that there was a +general concert among them. This state of affairs was not favorable to +the development of the military power of the nation, but it was well +suited to the high moral and religious ends which the Theocracy had in +view; for it compelled the people to feel their constant dependence on +God's presence and help for defence against their enemies. Sin, and +oppression by the surrounding nations; repentance, and deliverance by +God's immediate interposition--this is the oft-repeated story of the +book of Judges. All this was in accordance with the promises and +threatenings of the Law, and it illustrated alike the perverseness of +the nation and God's faithfulness in the fulfilment of his covenant. The +incidents recorded in this book are of a peculiarly checkered character, +and many of them are full of romantic interest. In the history of +redemption, the book of Judges has a well-defined place. It unfolds to +our view the operation of the Theocracy in the first stage of the +nation's existence, and under its first outward form of government. + +7. As it respects the _arrangement of materials_, the book of Judges +opens with a two-fold _introduction_, giving, first, a brief notice of +the wars carried on against the Canaanites by certain tribes after +Joshua's death, of the failure of the people to effect a complete +extirpation of the Canaanites, and of the reproof administered to them +by an angel of the Lord (chap. 1-2:5); secondly, a survey of the course +of events during the time of the judges, with especial reference to +God's faithfulness in the fulfilment of his promises and threatenings. +Chap. 2:6-3:6. Then follows the _body of the work_, giving an account of +the _seven servitudes_ to which the people were subjected for their +sins, and of the judges raised up by God for their deliverance, with +some incidental notices, as the history of Abimelech, (chap. 9) and the +quarrel of the men of Ephraim with Jephthah. Chap. 12:1-6. The book +closes with a two-fold _appendix_, recording, first, the conquest of +Laish by the Danites, and in connection with this the story of Micah and +his idolatrous establishment (chaps. 17, 18); secondly, the punishment +of the Benjamites for espousing the cause of the wicked men of Gibeah +(chaps. 19-21). These events are not to be conceived of as subsequent to +those recorded in the body of the book, but as contemporaneous with +them. + +8. The remark: "In those days there was no king in Israel" (chaps. 18:1; +19:1) plainly implies that the _date_ of the book of Judges must be +assigned to a period after the establishment of the kingdom. The +statement, on the other hand, that the children of Benjamin did not +drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem, "but the Jebusites dwell with +the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day" (chap. 1:21), +limits the time of its composition to the period before David's conquest +of the city. 2 Sam. 5:6-9. The author of the book is unknown. Jewish +tradition ascribes it to Samuel. It may well have been written during +his life, and possibly under his supervision, though on this point we +can affirm nothing positively. The writer must have availed himself of +earlier written documents. See Chap. 15, No. 5. + +9. The _chronology_ of the book of Judges is a matter of debate among +biblical scholars. Some contend for a longer period, in accordance with +the reckoning of the apostle Paul, who says that after God had divided +to the people the land of Canaan by lot, "he gave unto them judges about +the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet." +Acts 13:20. Others seek to reduce the period so as to bring it into +harmony with the statement in 1 Kings 6:1, that Solomon began to build +the temple "in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of +Israel were come out of the land of Egypt." + + If we suppose that the oppression of the Israelites by the + Philistines, described in the beginning of the first book of + Samuel, is the same as the forty years' oppression mentioned in + the book of Judges, and that the judgeship of Samson falls + within the same period (Judges 15:20), it is easy to make out + the four hundred and fifty years of the apostle's reckoning. + From the beginning of the first servitude under + Cushan-rishathaim to the close of the last under the + Philistines, we have, reckoning the years of servitude and rest + in succession, and allowing three years for the reign of + Abimelech, three hundred and ninety years. For the remaining + sixty years we have (1) the time from the division of the land + by lot to the death of the elders who overlived Joshua; (2) the + time from the close of the last servitude to the establishment + of the kingdom; and possibly (3) a further period for Shamgar's + judgeship, though it is more probable that this falls within the + eighty years of rest after the oppression of the Moabites. Those + who adopt a shorter chronology, assume that the forty years' + dominion of the Philistines was contemporaneous with the + oppression of the northeastern tribes by the Ammonites and the + period during which Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon judged + Israel; their jurisdiction being, as they suppose, restricted to + the northeastern part of the land. For both the longer and + shorter chronology, there are several variously modified + schemes, the details of which the student can find in works + devoted to the subject of biblical chronology. + +10. The incidents of the _book of Ruth_ belong to the period of the +Judges, so that it may be regarded as in some sort an appendix to the +book of Judges, though probably not written by the same author. It +contains a beautiful sketch of domestic life in the early period of the +Theocracy, written with charming simplicity and graphic vividness. Yet +it is not on this ground alone or chiefly that it has a place in the +sacred canon. It records also the sublime faith of Ruth the Moabitess, +which led her to forsake her own country and kindred to trust under the +wings of the Lord God of Israel (ch. 2:12), and which was rewarded by +her being made the ancestress of David and of the Lord Jesus Christ. +Thus the book connects itself immediately with "the house and lineage of +David," and may be regarded as supplementary to the history of his +family. It was evidently written after David was established on the +throne. Further than this we have no certain knowledge respecting its +date; nor can its author be determined. + + +III. THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL. + +11. The two books of Samuel constituted originally one work. The +division was made by the Greek translators as a matter of convenience, +so as to close the first book with the death of Saul, and begin the +second with David's accession to the throne. This division was followed +by the Vulgate, and was introduced by Daniel Bomberg into the printed +Hebrew text. To the original whole work the name of Samuel was +appropriately given; for he is not only the central personage in the +history which it records to the establishment of the kingdom, but it was +also through him, as the acknowledged prophet of the Theocracy, that +both Saul and David were designated and anointed for the kingly office. +The Greek Septuagint designates these books from their contents, _First +and Second_ of _the Kingdoms_, and the Vulgate, _First and Second of +Kings_. + +12. In the history of the plan of redemption these two books have a +well-defined province. They are occupied with _the establishment_, under +God's direction and guidance, _of the kingly form of government_ in the +Theocracy. All the events recorded before the inauguration of Saul were +preparatory to that event and explanatory of it. Since, moreover, Saul +was afterwards rejected with his family on account of his disobedience, +and David and his family were chosen in his stead, it was in the person +of David that the kingdom was first fully established, and with the +close of his reign the work accordingly ends. The period included in +this history, though comparatively brief, was most eventful. Samuel, +himself one of the greatest of the prophets, established a school of the +prophets, and from his day onward the prophetical order assumed an +importance and permanency in the Theocracy that was before unknown. See +above, Ch. 15, No. 11. The change to the kingly form of government +constituted a new era in the Hebrew commonwealth. Although the motives +which led the people to desire a king were low and unworthy, being +grounded in worldliness and unbelief, yet God, for the accomplishment of +his own purposes, was pleased to grant their request. The adumbration in +the Theocracy of the kingly office of the future Messiah, not less than +of his priestly and prophetical office, was originally contemplated in +its establishment; and now the full time for this had come. While David +and his successors on the throne were true civil and military leaders in +a secular and earthly sense, their headship over God's people also +shadowed forth the higher headship of the long promised Redeemer, the +great Antitype in whom all the types contained in the Mosaic economy +find at once their explanation and their fulfilment. Under David the +Hebrew commonwealth was rescued from the oppression of the surrounding +nations, and speedily attained to its zenith of outward power and +splendor. + +13. The _contents_ of the books of Samuel naturally fall under three +main divisions. The _introductory_ part takes up the history of the +commonwealth under Eli and continues it to the time when the people +demanded of Samuel a king. 1 Sam. chaps. 1-7. This period properly +belongs to that of the judges, but its history is given here because of +its intimate connection with the events that follow. It describes the +birth and education of Samuel; the disorders that prevailed under Eli's +administration, for which God denounced upon his family severe +judgments; the invasion of the land by the Philistines, with the capture +and restoration of the ark; Samuel's administration, and the deliverance +of the people under him from the oppression of the Philistines. The +_second_ part, extending through the remainder of the first book, opens +with an account of the abuses which led the people to desire a king, and +then gives an account of the selection, anointing, and inauguration of +Saul as king of Israel, with a notice of his exploit in delivering the +people of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites. Chaps 8-12. It then gives an +account of his first sin at Gilgal, for which Samuel threatened him with +the loss of his kingdom, and of his victory over the Philistines, with a +general summary of the events of his reign. Chaps. 13, 14. For his +second sin in the matter of the Amalekites Saul is rejected, and David +is anointed by Samuel as his successor; the Spirit of the Lord forsakes +Saul, and an evil spirit from God troubles him; David becomes his +minstrel, is in high favor with him, slays Goliath in the presence of +the two armies of Israel and the Philistines, returns in triumph to the +camp of Saul, marries Michal his daughter, but becomes an object of his +jealousy and hatred because he has supplanted him in the affections of +the people. Chaps. 15-18:9. The remainder of the first book is mainly +occupied with an account of the persecutions to which David was +subjected on the part of Saul, and of the wonderful way in which God +delivered him. It closes with an account of Saul's distress through the +invasion of the Philistines, of his resort in trouble to a woman that +had a familiar spirit, of the terrible message that he received at the +lips of the risen Samuel, of the defeat of the armies of Israel by the +Philistines, and of the death of Saul and his three sons on Mount +Gilboa. The _third_ part occupies the whole of the second book. It +records the reign of David, first at Hebron over the tribe of Judah, +with the accompanying war between the house of Saul and the house of +David, and then, after Ishbosheth's death, over all Israel at Jerusalem. +With the fidelity of truth the sacred historian describes not only +David's many victories over the enemies of Israel, but also his grievous +sin in the matter of Uriah, with the terrible chastisements that it +brought upon him and his kingdom--Amnon's incest, the murder of Amnon by +Absalom, Absalom's rebellion, pollution of his father's concubines, and +death in battle. The closing years of David's reign were saddened also +by David's sin in numbering the people, for which there fell in +pestilence seventy thousand of his subjects. + +14. For the evidence that the author of these books availed himself of +the writings of the prophets contemporary with the events described, see +above, Chap. 15, No. 6. In 1 Chron. 29:29 we read: "Now the acts of +David the king, first and last, behold they are written in the book of +Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book +of Gad the seer." If, as some think, our present books of Samuel were +composed shortly after David's death, the author may well have been one +of the last two of the above-named prophets; but there are some +indications that he lived after the division of the Israelitish people +into the two kingdoms of _Judah_ and _Israel_. + + In 1 Sam. 27:6 we read that Achish gave Ziklag to David; + "wheretofore," adds the sacred historian, "Ziklag pertaineth + unto the kings of Judah unto this day." The only natural + interpretation of these words is that the kings of Judah--not + any particular king of Judah, but the kings of Judah as a + line--are named in contrast with the kings of Israel. In several + other passages, where he is speaking of events that occurred + _before_ the separation of the two kingdoms, he puts Judah and + Israel together. 1 Sam. 11:8; 17:52; 18:16; 2 Sam. 3:10; 24:1. + But this can, perhaps, be explained from the fact that during + the seven years of David's reign at Hebron there was an actual + separation of Judah from the other tribes. It is a remarkable + fact that while the full term of David's reign is given (2 Sam. + 5:4, 5), which implies that the writer lived after its close, no + notice is taken of his death. The reason of this omission cannot + be known. As the first book of Kings opens with an account of + David's last days and death, some have conjectured that it was + designedly omitted from the books of Samuel as superfluous, when + the historical books were arranged in the sacred canon. + + +IV. THE BOOKS OF KINGS. + +15. These two books, like the two of Samuel, originally constituted a +single work. The division was first made by the Greek translators, was +followed by the Vulgate, and was finally admitted by Daniel Bomberg into +the printed Hebrew text. The Greek version of the Seventy and the Latin +version, having called the books of Samuel, the former, First and Second +of the Kingdoms, the latter, First and Second of the Kings, designate +these books as Third and Fourth of the Kingdoms or Kings. Each of the +historical books presents the covenant people under a new aspect, and +imparts new lessons of instruction. In the book of Joshua we see them +taking triumphant possession of the promised land through the mighty +assistance of Jehovah; the book of Judges describes the course of +affairs in the Hebrew commonwealth before the existence of a central +kingly government; in the books of Samuel we learn how such a central +government was established, and how under the reign of David the nation +was raised from the deep degradation of servitude to the summit of +worldly power. But the Theocracy was only a preparatory, and therefore a +temporary form of God's visible earthly kingdom. From the days of David +and Solomon it began to decline in outward power and splendor, and it is +with the history of this decline that the books of Kings are occupied. +In the view which they present of the divine plan they are in perfect +harmony with the preceding books of Samuel; but in respect to the manner +of execution they differ widely. The books of Samuel give the history of +Samuel, Saul, and David, with great fulness of detail, and never refer +the reader to other sources of information. The books of Kings, on the +contrary, give professedly only certain portions of the history of the +people under the successive kings, always adding, at the close of each +monarch's reign after Solomon, that the rest of his acts may be found, +for the kings of Judah, in "the book of the Chronicles of the kings of +Judah;" and, for the kings of Israel, in "the book of the Chronicles of +the kings of Israel." The Chronicles referred to are not our present +books of Chronicles, as has been already shown, Chap. 15, No. 8, but a +larger collection of writings, from which the authors both of the books +of Kings and Chronicles drew materials, in part at least, for their +respective works. The history contained in the books of Kings may be +conveniently divided into three periods--(1) the reign of Solomon over +all Israel; (2) the history of the coexisting kingdoms of Judah and +Israel; (3) the history of the kingdom of Judah after the extinction of +the kingdom of Israel. + +16. The history of the _first_ period opens with the reign of Solomon, +which excelled that of David in outward magnificence, as it did that of +every succeeding king. 1 Kings 3:13. The great event of his reign, +constituting an epoch in the history of the Theocracy, was the _erection +of the temple_ on Mount Moriah, which took the place of the ancient +tabernacle constructed by divine direction in the wilderness. Thus +Solomon added to the public services of the sanctuary an outward +splendor and dignity corresponding with the increased wealth and glory +of the nation. But in the case of his kingdom, as often elsewhere, the +zenith of magnificence came after the zenith of true power. Had his +profuse expenditures ceased with the erection of the temple and his own +house, it would have been well; but the maintenance of such a household +as his, embracing "seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred +concubines," corrupted his religion and that of the nation, burdened the +people with heavy taxes, and thus prepared the way for the division of +his kingdom that followed immediately after his death, as recorded in 1 +Kings 12. + +17. With the division of Solomon's kingdom under his son Rehoboam into +two hostile nations begins the _second_ period of the history. This +division was brought about by God's appointment as a chastisement for +Solomon's sins, and in it the national power received a blow from which +it never recovered. The religious effect also was unspeakably calamitous +so far as the kingdom of the ten tribes was concerned; for Jeroboam, the +first king of Israel, established idolatry _as a matter of state +policy_, thus corrupting the religion of his whole kingdom with a view +to the establishment of his own power, a sin in which he was followed by +every one of his successors. The sacred historian carries forward the +history of these two kingdoms together with wonderful brevity and power. +Sometimes, as in the days of Elijah and Elisha, the history of the ten +tribes assumes the greater prominence, because it furnishes the fuller +illustrations of God's presence and power; but as a general fact it is +kept in subordination to that of Judah. It is a sad record of wicked +dynasties, each established in blood and ending in blood, until the +overthrow of the kingdom by the Assyrians about two hundred and +fifty-four years after its establishment. Meanwhile there was in Judah +an alternation of pious with idolatrous kings, and a corresponding +struggle between the true religion and the idolatry of the surrounding +nations, which the sacred writer also describes briefly but vividly. + +18. It was during the reign of the good king Hezekiah that the +extinction of the kingdom of Israel took place, and the _third_ period +of the history began. Hezekiah's efforts for the restoration of the true +religion were vigorous and for the time successful. But after his death +the nation relapsed again into idolatry and wickedness. The efforts of +Josiah, the only pious monarch that occupied the throne after Hezekiah, +could not avail to stay the progress of national degeneracy, and the +kingdom of Judah was, in its turn, overthrown by the Chaldeans, and the +people carried captive to Babylon. + +19. The _chronology_ of certain parts of the history embraced in the +books of Kings is perplexed and uncertain. But the beginning of the +Babylonish captivity is generally placed B.C. 588, three hundred and +eighty-seven years after the beginning of Rehoboam's reign, and one +hundred and thirty-three years after the extinction of the kingdom of +Israel. Reckoning in the forty years of Solomon's reign, we have for the +period included in the books of Kings to the beginning of the captivity +four hundred and twenty-seven years. To this must be added twenty-six +more years for the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's captivity (2 +Kings 25:27), the last date given by the sacred historian. The _author_ +of the books of Kings is unknown. Jewish tradition ascribes them to +Jeremiah, perhaps on the ground that the last chapter of Jeremiah is +mostly a repetition of 2 Kings from chap. 24:18 to the end of the book. +But Jeremiah and the author of these books may both have made use of +common documents. We only know that the writer lived after the accession +of Evil-merodach to the throne of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27), and during +the full pressure of the Babylonish captivity, since he nowhere gives +any intimation of its approaching close. + + +V. THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES. + +20. These books, which originally constituted a single work, are called +by the Hebrews: _Words of the Days_; that is, _History of the Events of +the Times_, or _Chronicles_, as they were first called by Jerome. The +Greek name _Paraleipomena_, _things omitted_, has its ground in the +false supposition that they were designed to be supplementary to the +books of Kings, whereas they constitute an independent work having its +own plan and end. The author of the books of Kings doubtless looked +forward to the future restoration of his nation; but the time for that +joyous event was yet distant, and he could have no immediate reference +to the wants of the returning exiles. His aim was simply to set forth +the course of events under the Theocracy from Solomon to the captivity +as an illustration of God's faithfulness in the fulfilment of both his +promises and his threatenings. But the author of the books of Chronicles +wrote, as all agree, during the process of the restoration. In addition +to the common aim of all the historical writers, he had a particular +object in view, which was to furnish the restored captives with such +information as would be especially interesting and important to them, +engaged as they were in the reestablishment of the commonwealth. Hence +we may naturally explain the peculiarities of these books as compared +with the books of Kings. + +(1.) The writer gives _particular attention to the matter of genealogy_. +The first nine chapters are occupied with genealogical tables +interspersed with short historical notices, which the author took, for +the most part at least, from documents that have long since perished. To +the returning exiles the lineage of their ancestors must have been a +matter of general interest. A knowledge of the descent of the families +of the different tribes would greatly facilitate the people in regaining +their former inheritances. To the priests and Levites, especially, it +was of the highest importance that they should be able to show their +lineage, since upon this depended their right to minister in holy +things. Ezra 2:61-63. + +(2.) The books of Chronicles are very _full on all that pertains to the +temple service_. The writer devotes, for example, eight chapters to an +account of David's preparations for the erection of the temple, and of +his elaborate arrangements for all the different parts of the service +pertaining to the sanctuary. 1 Chron. chaps. 22-29. He gives a +particular description of the solemn covenant made by the people with +Jehovah under Asa's direction, 2 Chron. 15:1-15; of the reformatory +labors and faith of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. 19, 20; of Hezekiah, 2 Chron. +chaps. 29-31; and he adds to the account of Josiah's efforts against the +idolatrous practices of his day, a notice of his solemn observance of +the passover, 2 Chron. 35:1-19. + +(3.) He _omits_, on the other hand, _the history of the kingdom of +Israel_, giving only a notice of its establishment, and of certain parts +of its history which were connected with that of the kingdom of Judah. +The apparent ground of this is, that the kingdom of the ten tribes +furnished no example which could be available to the people in the work +of reestablishing the commonwealth. It is to be noticed, moreover, that +he passes over in silence the adultery of David with its calamitous +consequences, and the idolatry of Solomon. This is, perhaps, due to the +brevity of the history before the division of the kingdom; for he does +not spare the sins of the pious monarchs that followed. See 2 Chron. +16:7-12; 19:2; 32:25, 31; 35:21, 22. + +21. In the Hebrew canon the books of Chronicles stand last in order. It +is generally agreed that they were written, after the return of the Jews +from the Babylonish captivity, _by Ezra_, who had all the qualifications +for such a work. Whatever use he may have made of the earlier books of +Samuel and Kings, it is plain that these were not his chief sources, for +he records many things not found in them. He and the author of the books +of Kings had access to the same public records, and each of them made +such selections from them as suited his purposes. Hence the matter +contained in the two works agrees in part, and is partly different. See +above, Chap. 15, Nos. 7, 8. + +22. That there are some discrepancies between the books of Samuel and +Kings and the books of Chronicles, arising from errors in transcribing, +is generally admitted. These relate, however, mainly to dates, and do +not affect the general integrity of the works. But most of the +disagreements between the earlier and later histories are only apparent, +arising from their brevity, and from the fact that their authors +frequently select from the same reign different events, the one passing +by in silence what the other records; or that, where they record the +same events, various accompanying circumstances are omitted. + + An example of apparent error in transcription is 2 Sam. 24:13 + compared with 1 Chron. 21:12; the former passage specifying + _seven_ years of famine, the latter _three_ years. For other + examples see 2 Sam. 8:4 compared with 1 Chron. 18:4; 2 Sam. 23:8 + with 1 Chron. 11:11; 1 Kings 4:26 with 2 Chron. 9:25. We are not + to infer, however, that all cases of apparent disagreement + involve error in one or the other of the records. When the + events of a whole campaign, for example, are crowded into single + sentences, it is not surprising that the different narratives + should contain seeming discrepancies which a full knowledge of + the details would enable us to reconcile. The separate + discussion of the difficulties presented by the books of + Chronicles, as compared with the earlier histories, belongs to + the commentator. It is sufficient to remark here, that + independent parallel histories always exhibit, with substantial + agreement, minor diversities which it is sometimes not easy to + harmonize. It has not pleased God that in this respect the + sacred narratives of either the Old or the New Testament should + constitute an exception to the general rule. The parallel + narratives of our Lord's life contain as many and as great + diversities as those of the old Hebrew commonwealth. Though we + may not always be able to show how these are to be brought into + harmony, they constitute no valid objection to the authenticity + of the histories in the one case any more than in the other. + + +VI. EZRA AND NEHEMIAH. + +23. In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which record the most important +events connected with the _restoration of the Hebrew commonwealth_, we +have unfolded to our view a new era in the history of the Theocracy. The +contrast between the relation of the Israelitish people to the heathen +world in the days of Joshua, and of Ezra and Nehemiah is as great as +possible. Under Joshua the people marched, sword in hand, as invincible +conquerors, to the possession of the promised land, while the hearts of +their enemies melted before them. After the captivity they returned in +weakness and fear, by the permission of their heathen rulers and under +their patronage and protection. But in the latter case, not less than in +the former, the Theocracy was steadily advancing under God's guidance +towards the accomplishment of its high end, which was the preparation of +the Jewish people, and through them the world, for the advent of the +promised Messiah. In the beginning of the Mosaic economy, and during the +earlier part of its course, it was altogether appropriate that God +should make stupendous supernatural manifestations of his infinite +perfections and of his supreme power over the nations of the world. Thus +he revealed himself as the only living and true God in the sight of all +men. But as the history of the covenant people went forward, there was a +gradual return to the ordinary providential administration of the divine +government. God's miraculous interventions were never made for mere +display. They always had in view a high religious end. As that end +approached its accomplishment, they were more and more withdrawn, and +soon after the captivity they ceased altogether until the final and +perfect manifestation of God in Christ. From Malachi to Christ was the +last stage of the Theocracy, when, in the language of the New Testament, +it was waxing old and ready to vanish away. Heb. 8:13. It was neither +needful nor proper that its history should be dignified by such displays +of God's miraculous power as marked its earlier periods. + +24. But, although the age of miracles ceased after the Babylonish +captivity, the Theocracy went steadily forward in the accomplishment of +its divine mission. In truth it was now that it secured for the first +time, as a permanent result, the high end proposed by it from the +beginning, that of rescuing a whole nation from idolatrous practices and +making it steadfast in the worship of the true God, at least so far as +the outward life is concerned. By the permanent subjection of the Jewish +people to heathen rulers, their national pride was humbled, and they +were placed in such a relation to heathenism as inclined them to abhor +rather than imitate its rites. The fulfilment of the terrible +threatenings contained in the law of Moses in the complete overthrow, +first of the kingdom of Israel, and afterwards of that of Judah, and +their long and bitter bondage in Babylon, administered to them severe +but salutary lessons of instruction, under the influence of which they +were, by God's blessing, finally reclaimed from idolatrous practices. In +connection with the restoration, the synagogue service was established, +in which the law and the prophets were regularly read and expounded to +the people throughout the land. To this, more than to any other human +instrumentality, was due that steadfastness which the Jewish people ever +afterwards manifested in the worship of the true God. Thus, while the +outward glory of the Theocracy declined, it continued to accomplish the +true spiritual end for which it was established. + +25. The book of _Ezra_ embraces a period of about seventy-nine years, +from the accession of Cyrus to the throne of Persia to the close of +Ezra's administration, or at least to the last transaction under it of +which we have a record. The first six chapters give a brief sketch of +the course of events among the restored captives before Ezra's arrival +at Jerusalem, especially their activity in rebuilding the temple, the +formidable opposition which they encountered from the neighboring +people, and how that opposition was finally overcome. The last four +chapters contain the history of Ezra's administration, the chief event +of which was the putting away by the princes and people of the heathen +wives whom they had married. That Ezra was the author of this book is +generally acknowledged. The first three verses are a repetition, with +some unessential variations, of the last two verses of Chronicles, of +which he is also believed, on good grounds, to have been the author. In +certain passages he speaks of himself in the third person; Ch. 7:1-26; +ch. 10; but there is no reason to deny, on this ground, that he was +their author. Jeremiah changes, in like manner, employing sometimes the +first and sometimes the third person. Certain parts of this book, which +are mainly occupied with public documents respecting the building of the +temple and the orderly arrangement of its services, are written in the +Chaldee language, namely: chaps. 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26. + + In respect to the Persian monarchs mentioned in this and the two + following books, there is not an entire agreement among biblical + scholars. The following table, formed in accordance with the + views that seem to be best supported, will be useful to the + reader. It contains, arranged in three parallel columns, first + the names of the Persian kings in their order of succession, as + given by profane historians; secondly, their scriptural names; + thirdly, the dates of their accession to the throne, according + to the received chronology. + + Cyrus, Cyrus, Ezra 1:1, etc., B.C. 536. + + Cambyses, Ahasuerus, Ezra 4:6, " 529. + + Smerdis,[1] Artaxerxes, Ezra 4:7-23, " 522. + + Darius Hystaspis, Darius, Ezra 4:24-6:15,[2] " 521. + + Xerxes, Ahasuerus, Esther throughout,[3] " 485. + + Artaxerxes Longimanus, Artaxerxes, Ezra 7:1, etc.; Neh. + 2:1, etc. " 464. + + [Footnote 1: He was a usurper who reigned less than a year.] + + [Footnote 2: But in Neh. 12:22, Darius Nothus or Darius + Codomanus must be referred to.] + + [Footnote 3: Some suppose Darius, others Artaxerxes, to have + been the Ahasuerus of Esther.] + +26. The book of _Nehemiah_ continues the history of the Jewish people +after the restoration, beginning with the commission which Nehemiah +received from Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia, in the twentieth +year of his reign (B.C. 446), to go to Jerusalem in the capacity of +Tirshatha, or civil governor, for the purpose of rebuilding the walls of +Jerusalem and setting in order the affairs of the commonwealth. The book +naturally falls into three divisions. The _first_ division contains the +history of his labors in rebuilding the walls of the city and putting an +end to the practice of usury, and of the violent opposition and +intrigues of the surrounding people. Chaps. 1-7:4. To this is appended a +genealogical list, which is the same for substance as that contained in +the second chapter of Ezra. Ch. 7:5-73. + + Upon a comparison of the two catalogues, we find various + differences in respect to names and numbers. The differences of + names may be explained from the fact that it was common for men + to bear different titles, particularly if they were persons of + distinction; as, for example, Daniel and Belteshazzar, + Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar. It is not certain upon what + principle the differences in numbers are to be explained. The + sum total of both catalogues is the same, namely, 42,360; from + which it is plain that the lists are in both cases partial, + since neither of them amounts to this sum. We add the following + suggestion from Grey's Key as quoted by Scott: "The sum of the + numbers, as separately detailed, will correspond, if to the + 29,818 specified by Ezra, we add the 1,765 persons reckoned by + Nehemiah which Ezra has omitted; and, on the other hand, to the + 31,089 enumerated by Nehemiah, add the 494, which is an overplus + in Ezra, not noticed by Nehemiah; both writers including in the + sum total 10,777 of the mixed multitude, not particularized in + the individual detail." + +In the _second_ division we have an account of the solemn public reading +of the law of Moses at the feast of tabernacles, and, in connection with +this, of the renewal of the national covenant with Jehovah through the +signature and seal of the princes, Levites, and priests, in their own +behalf and that of the people. Chaps. 8-10. In this religious and +ecclesiastical transaction, Ezra the priest was the leader; Nehemiah, as +the Tirshatha, or civil governor, simply taking the lead of the princes +in the act of sealing. + +The _third_ division contains, along with some genealogical lists, an +account of the measures taken by Nehemiah and the princes to increase +the number of residents in Jerusalem, of the solemn dedication of the +wall of Jerusalem, and of the rectification of various abuses which had +crept in partly during Nehemiah's absence at the court of Persia. Chaps. +11-13. + + The date of Nehemiah's commission to rebuild the walls of + Jerusalem is important on account of its connection with the + seventy prophetic weeks of Daniel, which are reckoned "from the + going forth of the commandment to restore and to build + Jerusalem." Dan. 9:25. It cannot be considered as exactly + ascertained, but may be placed somewhere from B.C. 454 to B.C. + 446. See the commentators on Dan. 9:24-27. How long Nehemiah's + administration continued after his visit to the court of Persia, + in the twelfth year of his rule, is not known. + +27. The book, as its title testifies, was written by Nehemiah, not +earlier than his return from the court of Persia (ch. 13:6; 5:14); how +much later cannot be known. From the general character of style and +diction which belongs to the second division (chaps. 8-10), as well as +from the absence of Nehemiah's peculiar forms of speech, some have +thought that Ezra, as the chief actor in the reading of the law and +renewal of the national covenant, wrote the account of the transaction, +and that Nehemiah incorporated it into his work. To this supposition +there is no serious objection. We must remember, however, that arguments +based on supposed differences of style cannot amount to much where the +materials from which a conclusion is to be drawn are so scanty. + + The genealogical notice in ch. 12:10, 11, which gives the + lineage of the high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, who is + apparently the high priest described by Josephus as having met + Alexander the Great on his march to Jerusalem, is thought by + many to be an addition made after Nehemiah's death as a matter + of public interest. See above, Chap. 15, No. 17. The same + judgment is passed by some on 1 Chron. 3:19-24. But the + interpretation of this latter passage is very uncertain. + + +VII. ESTHER. + +28. This book, the author of which is unknown, records the wonderful +manner in which the plot of Haman the Agagite to destroy the Jews was +not only overthrown, but turned to their enlargement and honor. It is +remarkable that the author refrains throughout from mentioning the name +of God, although he manifestly designs to represent this deliverance as +effected by his providence, and that too in answer to the fervent +prayers of the Jews in connection with a fast of three days' +continuance. He prefers, as it would seem, to let the facts speak for +themselves. The book closes with an account of the establishment, under +the auspices of Mordecai and Esther, of the feast of Purim, in +commemoration of the deliverance which it records; and we are perhaps +warranted in saying that the immediate occasion of writing the book was +to show the historic origin of that festival--a festival mentioned in +the second book of Maccabees, under the title of _Mordecai's_ day (chap. +15:36), and observed, according to Josephus, by the Jews throughout the +whole world. Antiq., 11, 6. 13. + +29. Among the various opinions respecting the Ahasuerus of this book, +the best sustained is that which identifies him with the celebrated +_Xerxes_ of profane history. With this agrees all that is said of the +splendor and extent of his dominions, extending "from India even unto +Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces" (1:1), and of +his passionate, capricious, and sensual character. + + To us, who are accustomed to a government of law, in which the + rulers are restrained from the exercise of arbitrary power, and + are kept under constant restraint by popular opinion, the + incidents recorded in this book seem very strange. But it gives + a true and faithful portraiture of the course of affairs at the + court of a Persian despot, where the monarch knows no law but + his own arbitrary will, suddenly elevates his favorites to the + highest places of power and trust, as suddenly consigns them to + the hand of the executioner, and gives himself up to the + unbridled indulgence of his passions. The history of Haman's + sudden rise and fall is that of many an oriental courtier since + his day. The Jews, we are told, "slew of their foes seventy and + five thousand." This was a very great slaughter; but we must + remember that it was distributed through all the provinces of + the kingdom. Ch. 9:16. The permission which they had received + was "in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand + for their life; to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all + the power of the people and province that would assault them, + both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a + prey" (ch. 8:11); all which, except the last clause, seems to + have been carried into execution. We are not required to + vindicate the wisdom of this severe decree, or to deny that the + Jews may have used to excess the terrible power thus conferred + upon them. On the side of God's providence, the vengeance that + fell upon the Jews' enemies was righteous; but on the side of + the human instrumentalities employed by him, there may have been + much imperfection, or even folly and wickedness. So it has ever + been in the history of human affairs, and so it is at the + present day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE POETICAL BOOKS (INCLUDING ALSO ECCLESIASTES AND CANTICLES). + + +1. The Hebrews reckon but three books as _poetical_, namely: Job, +Psalms, and Proverbs, which are distinguished from the rest by a +stricter rhythm--the rhythm not of feet, but of _clauses_ (see below, +No. 3)--and a peculiar system of accentuation. It is obvious to every +reader that the poetry of the Old Testament, in the usual sense of the +word, is not restricted to these three books. But they are called +poetical in a special and technical sense. In any natural classification +of the books of the Old Testament, those of Ecclesiastes and Canticles +will fall into the division which contains the books of Job, Psalms, and +Proverbs. + + The Hebrew system of accentuation is very subtle and + complicated, and there is nothing corresponding to it in our + western languages. These so-called accents are quite numerous, + one of them resting, as a general rule, upon each word. Certain + of them are peculiar to the poetical books, and are called + poetical accents. They serve a threefold office. (1.) They guide + the modulated flow of the voice in _cantillation_, thus serving, + in a certain sense, as _musical notes_. Some think that this was + their primary office. (2.) They indicate the _logical relation_ + to each other of the words and clauses, thus performing the + office of marks of _interpunction_. (3.) They rest, with certain + exceptions, on the _tone_ syllable, and thus serve as _accents_ + in our restricted sense of the word. + +In the first division of the present chapter, the _characteristics of +Hebrew poetry_ will be briefly considered in respect to its _spirit_, +its _form_, and its _offices_. Then will follow, in the second division, +a notice of the _contents of the several books_. + + +(A.) CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY. + +2. As it respects the _spirit_ of Hebrew poetry, we notice, first of +all, its perfect _harmony with the spirit of the Theocracy_. It is, in +truth, an outgrowth of the Theocracy in the souls of holy men educated +under its influence and thoroughly imbued with its spirit. The God of +Moses and Aaron is also the God of David, Asaph, and Solomon; of Hosea, +Isaiah, and Habakkuk. In his boldest flights the Hebrew poet always +remains loyal to the institutions of Moses, not in their letter alone, +but much more in their spirit, of which he is the inspired interpreter. +The same Jehovah who thundered from Sinai and spake to the people by +Moses, speaks also by the sweet psalmist of Israel, by the wisdom of +Solomon, and by the whole succession of the prophets. Hence the poetry +of the Hebrews is radiant throughout with the pure monotheism of the +Theocracy. It exhibits God in his infinite perfections, as the Creator +and sovereign Ruler of the world, without a single taint of pantheism or +polytheism, and that in an age when pantheism and polytheism were the +reigning forms of religion without the pale of the covenant people. + +Another distinguishing mark of Hebrew poetry is the _vivid consciousness +of God's presence_ by which it is pervaded. In this respect it runs +entirely parallel with Hebrew history. It has already been remarked (Ch. +20, No. 1) that Hebrew history differs widely from all other historical +writings in its habit of looking at the course of human events from the +Divine side, rather than the human; that while secular history is mainly +occupied with the endless details of human combinations and alliances, +and the progress of material civilization, the historical books of the +Old Testament unfold to us with wonderful clearness God's presence and +power as shaping the course of human events in the interest of his great +plan of redemption. Take, for example, that small section of Hebrew +history comprehended under the title, _Affinity with Ahab_. No Christian +can read it without feelings of holy awe, for it is radiant throughout +with the presence of that righteous God who renders to every man +according to his works, and visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the +children to the third and fourth generation. In it the retributive +justice of God shines forth, like the lightning, from one end of heaven +to the other. Just so is Hebrew poetry also filled with the presence and +glory of God. When the Hebrew bard sweeps his lyre, all nature gives +signs of her Maker's presence. The heavens rejoice before him, the earth +is glad, the sea roars, the mountains and hills break forth into +singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands. He looks on +the earth, and it trembles; he touches the hills, and they smoke. Nor +less conspicuous is his presence in providence and in the human soul. He +is seen in awful majesty high above the tumult of the nations, directing +their movements to the accomplishment of his own infinitely wise +purposes; making the wrath of man to praise him, and restraining the +remainder of it. Meanwhile his presence shines in the believer's soul, +like the sun in his strength, filling it with strength, light, and +gladness. In a word, over the whole domain of Hebrew poesy, whether its +theme be God or nature or human society or the human spirit, is heard +continually the solemn cry of the seraphim: "Holy, holy, holy, is the +Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." + +_Originality_ is another feature of Hebrew poetry. It cannot indeed be +said that this quality belongs to all the Hebrew poets. With such +divinely perfect models as the later writers had before them, models +with which they had been familiar from childhood, it was natural that +they should imitate them. The spirit of inspiration did not prevent +this, for it was not necessary to the ends of revelation that it should +be prevented. Set even among the later poets we have some striking +examples of originality; and Hebrew poetry, taken as a whole, is +original in the fullest sense of the word, borrowing nothing that we +know of from any other nation. Not to anticipate the question of the age +to which the book of Job belongs, and passing by some gems of poetry +contained in the book of Genesis, we may say that the oldest recorded +song of certain date which the world possesses is that of the Israelites +upon their deliverance at the Red sea. Exod., ch. 15. Next in order (to +pass by the poetic effusions of Balaam, and some other fragments, Numb., +chaps. 21-24) come the song which Moses wrote for the children of Israel +just before his death (Deut., ch. 32), and (according to the title, the +genuineness of which there is no valid reason for doubting) "the prayer +of Moses the man of God," contained in the ninetieth psalm. In the +period of the judges we have only the song of Deborah and Barak. The +perfect originality of all these primitive songs is acknowledged by all. +It constitutes indeed one of their chief charms. With "the sweet +psalmist of Israel" began the era of lyric song; with Solomon that of +didactic, and with Hosea, Joel, Isaiah, and their contemporaries, that +of prophetic poetry. The poets to whom, under the illumination of the +Holy Ghost, these different forms of Hebrew poetry owe their origin, are +all distinguished for their originality. So is also the book of Job, +that great didactic song so perfectly unique in its character. + +The wonderful _freshness and simplicity of thought_ in Hebrew poetry is +inseparably connected with its originality. A thought is fresh when it +bursts forth directly from the inner fountain of the soul just as it was +conceived there. But the moment the man pauses to remould it and shape +it to some artificial standard of propriety, it loses its originality +and its freshness together. It is no longer the living, glowing +conception as it existed in his bosom, but rather what he thinks it +ought to have been. In the process of working it over he has killed, if +not its life, at least its power. But the Hebrew poet opens, so to +speak, the floodgates of his heart, and pours forth the stream of his +thoughts and emotions just as they have sprung into being there. Because +he is under the sanctifying and illuminating influence of the divine +Spirit, they are high and holy thoughts. Because they come forth in +their primitive form, they are natural and fresh; and for this reason +the lapse of ages does not diminish their power over the human spirit. + +Intimately connected also with the originality of Hebrew poetry is its +charming _variety_. The Hebrew poets are exceedingly unlike each other +in native character, in training, in surrounding circumstances, and in +the nature of the work laid upon them by the Spirit of inspiration. And +as they all write in a natural and appropriate way, it follows that +their writings must exhibit great diversities. No two writers can well +be more unlike each other than Isaiah and the author of the book of Job. +With Isaiah the central object of thought is always _Zion_, in whose +interest he sees God governing the world, and whose future glory is +revealed to him in prophetic vision. But Zion is not an individual. She +is a divine organization which God has destined to universal victory, +and around which revolve, under his almighty guidance, the great +movements of the heathen nations. The prophet, accordingly, has to do +not so much with particular persons, as with the destiny of society, +which is involved in that of Zion. He describes her present conflicts +and her future triumphs in his own peculiar and gorgeous imagery. But +the problem before the author of the book of Job is _God's providence +towards individuals_, as viewed from the position of the Old Testament +before the fuller revelations of the New. He is occupied with the +destiny of particular persons, rather than of nations or of human +society at large. To the solution of the question of God's justice +towards individual man he directs all his energy, and he discusses this +great theme in a manner as effective as it is original. His imagery is +as forcible as that of Isaiah, but how different, and how powerfully +adapted to his end! A few passages from each of these great poets, set +side by side, will exhibit the contrast between them in a striking +manner. + +JOB. ISAIAH + +THE PROSPERITY OF THE RIGHTEOUS. THE PROSPERITY OF ZION. + +He shall deliver thee in six Violence shall no more be heard in +troubles: yea, in seven there shall thy land, wasting nor destruction +no evil touch thee. In famine he within thy borders, but thou shalt +shall redeem thee from death: and call thy walls Salvation, and thy +in war from the power of the sword. gates Praise. The sun shall be no +Thou shalt be hid from the scourge more thy light by day; neither for +of the tongue: neither shalt thou brightness shall the moon give +be afraid of destruction when it light unto thee; but the Lord shall +cometh. At destruction and famine be unto thee an everlasting light, +thou shalt laugh: neither shalt and thy God thy glory. Thy sun +thou be afraid of the beasts of the shall no more go down; neither +earth. For thou shalt be in league shall thy moon withdraw itself; for +with the stones of the field: and the Lord shall be thine everlasting +the beasts of the field shall be at light, and the days of thy mourning +peace with thee. And thou shalt shall be ended. Thy people also +know that thy tabernacle shall be shall be all righteous: they shall +in peace; and thou shalt visit thy inherit the land forever, the +habitation, and shalt not sin. Thou branch of my planting, the work of +shalt know also that thy seed shall my hands, that I may be glorified. +be great, and thine offspring as A little one shall become a +the grass of the earth. Thou shalt thousand, and a small one a strong +come to thy grave in a full age, nation: I the Lord will hasten it +like as a shock of corn cometh in in his time. Ch. 60:18-22. +in his season. Ch. 5:19-26. + +JOB. ISAIAH. + +THE OVERTHROW OF THE WICKED. THE OVERTHROW OF ZION'S ENEMIES. + +He shall flee from the iron weapon, For he bringeth down them that +and the bow of steel shall strike dwell on high; the lofty city, he +him through. It is drawn, and layeth it low; he layeth it low, +cometh out of the body; yea, the even to the ground; he bringeth it +glittering sword cometh out of his: even to the dust. The foot shall +gall: terrors are upon him. All tread it down, even the feet of the +darkness shall be hid in his secret poor, and the steps of the needy. +places: a fire not blown shall Ch. 26:5, 6. For I will contend +consume him; it shall go ill with with him that contendeth with thee, +him that is left in his tabernacle. and I will save thy children. And +The heaven shall reveal his I will feed them that oppress thee +iniquity; and the earth shall rise with their own flesh; and they +up against him. The increase of shall be drunken with their own +his house shall depart, and his blood, as with sweet wine: and all +goods shall flow away in the day of flesh shall know that I the Lord +his wrath. Ch. 20:24-28. am thy Savious and thy Redeemer, + the mighty one of Jacob. Ch. 49:25, + 26 + +If now we open the book of Psalms, we find ourselves in a new world of +poetry, as different from that of Isaiah as it is from that of the book +of Job. David was anointed by God to be the head and leader of Israel. +As such he had a perpetual outward conflict with powerful, crafty, and +malicious foes, who sought his life and his kingdom. This brought to him +a perpetual inward conflict with doubts and fears. Under the pressure of +this double conflict he penned those wonderful psalms, which are the +embodiment of his whole religious life. And since heart answers to +heart, as face to face in water, they are the embodiment of religious +life in all ages. The songs of David and his illustrious collaborators, +Asaph and the sons of Korah, are emphatically the poetry of religious +experience. As such they can never grow old. They are as fresh to-day as +when they were written. God has given them to his church as a rich +treasury for "the service of song in the house of the Lord," in the +family, and in the closet. If we turn from the book of Psalms to the +book of Proverbs, we have still another type of poetry, unlike any one +of the forms hitherto considered. It is the poetry of _reflection_ on +the course of human life, as seen in the light of God's law and God's +providence. It is, therefore, didactic in the highest sense of the +word--the poetry of practical life. The maxims of heavenly wisdom +embodied in the book of Proverbs will make all who study them, believe +them, and obey them, prosperous in this life and happy in the life to +come. This contrast between the great Hebrew poets might be carried +through the whole galaxy, but the above hints must suffice. + +_Diversity of themes_ often coincides with difference in the character +of the poets. Where the theme is the same, each writer will still pursue +his own peculiar method. If that theme be the vengeance of God on the +wicked, the style will naturally be rugged and abrupt. Yet the +ruggedness and abruptness of David will not be that of Hosea or Nahum. +But where both the theme and the character of the poet differ, there the +diversity of style becomes very striking. To illustrate this, take the +two following passages: + +DAVID. NAHUM + +GOD'S FAVOR TO THE RIGHTEOUS. GOD'S VENGEANCE ON THE WICKED + +The Lord is my shepherd; I shall The mountains quake at him, and +not want. He maketh me to lie the hills mels, and the hearth is +down in green pastures: he leadeth burned at his presence, yea, the +me beside the still waters. He world, and all that dwell therein. +restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in Who can stand before his +the paths of righteousness for his indignation? and who can abide in +name's sake. Yea, though I walk the fierceness of his anger? his +through the valley of the shadow of fury is poured out like fire, and +death, I will fear no evil: for the rocks are thrown down by him. +thou art with me; thy rod and thy The Lord is good, a strong hold in +staff they comfort me. Thou the day of trouble; and he knoweth +preparest a table before me in the them that trust in him. But with +presence of mine enemies: thou an overrunning flood he will make +anointest my head with oil; my cup. an utter end of the place thereof, +runneth over. Surely goodness and and darkness shall pursue his +mercy shall follow me all the days enemies. Nahum 1:5-8 +of my life; and I will dwell in +the house of the Lord for ever. +Psa. 23. + +The passage from Nahum is like a pent-up mountain stream leaping from +precipice to precipice. The psalm is like the same stream escaped to the +plain, and winding its way gently and placidly through green meadows and +shady groves vocal with the songs of birds. This subject might be +pursued to an indefinite extent. Suffice it to say that Hebrew poetry +has the charm of endless variety, always with graceful adaptation to the +nature of the theme. + +The _oriental imagery_ in which Hebrew poetry abounds imparts to it a +peculiar and striking costume. Palestine was, in an emphatic sense, the +Hebrew poet's world. It was the land given by God to his fathers for an +everlasting possession; about which all his warm affections clustered; +with whose peculiar scenery and climate, employments and associations, +all his thoughts and feelings had been blended from childhood. It +followed of necessity that these must all wear an oriental costume. As +soon as he opens his mouth there comes forth a stream of eastern +imagery, very natural and appropriate to him, but much of it very +strange to us of these western regions. To understand the extent of this +characteristic one has only to peruse the Song of Solomon. The bride is +black but comely as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. She +is a dove in the clefts of the rock; her hair is as a flock of goats, +that appear from Mount Gilead; her teeth are like a flock of sheep which +come from the washing; her lips are like a thread of scarlet; her +temples are like a piece of a pomegranate; her stature is like a palm +tree, and her breasts like clusters of grapes--all thoroughly oriental. +So also the bridegroom is like a roe or a young hart leaping upon the +mountains; his eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters; +his cheeks are as a bed of spices; his lips like lilies, dropping +sweet-smelling myrrh, and his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the +cedars. So also if we open the book of Isaiah, we find the Messiah +described as "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land"--a figure +which could not well occur to an Englishman or an American, but was +perfectly natural in the mouth of a Hebrew familiar with the terrible +sun of the Asiatic deserts, where neither tree nor cloud offers a +shelter to the thirsty and fainting traveller. Precisely here lies much +of the obscurity of which the expounders of Hebrew poetry complain. +True, there are other difficulties of a formidable character. The theme +is often vast, stretching into the distant and dimly-revealed future; +the language rugged with abrupt transitions, the historic allusions +obscure, and the meaning of the terms employed doubtful. But aside from +all these considerations the western scholar encounters a perpetual +difficulty in the fact that he is not of oriental birth, and can enter +but imperfectly into the spirit and force of oriental imagery. What +costs him days of laborious investigation would open itself like a flash +of lightning to his apprehension--all except that which remains dark +from the nature of the prophetic themes--could he but have that perfect +apprehension of the language, the historic allusions, the imagery +employed, and the modes of thought, which was possessed by the +contemporaries of the Hebrew poet. + +It remains that we notice in the last place what may be called the +_theocratic imagery_ of the Hebrew poets; that is, imagery borrowed from +the institutions of the Mosaic law. The intense loyalty of the Hebrew +poets to the Mosaic law has already been noticed. They were its +divinely-appointed expositors and defenders, and their whole religious +life was moulded by it. No wonder, then, that their writings abound with +allusions to its rites and usages. The sweet psalmist of Israel will +abide in God's tabernacle for ever, and trust in the covert of his +wings, the literal tabernacle on Zion representing God's spiritual +presence here and his beatific presence hereafter (Psa. 61:4 and +elsewhere); he will have his prayer set forth before God as incense, and +the lifting up of his hands as the evening sacrifice (Psa. 141:2); he +will be purged with hyssop that he may be clean, and washed that he may +be whiter than snow (Psa. 51: 7); he will offer to God the sacrifice of +a broken spirit (Psa. 51:17); the people promise to render to God the +calves of their lips (Hosea 14:2); the vengeance of God upon Edom is +described as "a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land +of Idumea," in which the Lord's sword shall be filled with the blood of +lambs and goats and the fat of the kidneys of rams (Isa. 34: 6); with +allusions to the Levitical sprinklings God promises that he will +sprinkle upon his penitent and restored people clean water that they may +be clean (Ezek. 36: 25); and with allusion to the sacrificial flocks +assembled at Jerusalem on the occasion of her great festivals, that he +will increase them with men like a flock--"as the holy flock, as the +flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be +filled with flocks of men" (Ezek. 36:37, 38). How full the book of +Psalms is of allusions to the solemn songs of the sanctuary with their +accompaniment of psaltery and harp, trumpet and cornet, every reader +understands. This subject might be expanded indefinitely, but the above +hints must suffice. + +3. We come now to the _form_ of Hebrew poetry. This is distinguished +from the classic poetry of Greece and Rome, as well as from all modern +poetry by the absence of metrical feet. Its rhythm is that of _clauses_ +which correspond to each other in a sort of free parallelism, as was +long ago shown by Bishop Lowth in his Prelections on the Sacred Poetry +of the Hebrews, the matter of which has been revised and expanded in +later treatises. Herein, as elsewhere, Hebrew poetry asserts its +originality and independence. Biblical scholars recognize three +fundamental forms of parallelism in Hebrew poetry, which will be briefly +considered, first separately, and then in their combinations. + +The _first_ is the _antithetic_ form, where two parallel members are +contrasted in meaning, a form peculiarly adapted to didactic poetry, and +therefore occurring most abundantly in the book of Proverbs. The +following are examples of it: + + The memory of the just is blessed: + But the name of the wicked shall rot (Prov. 10:7); + +where, in the original Hebrew, each clause consists of three words. In +such an antithetic parallelism the words of one couplet, at least, must +correspond in meaning, as here _memory_ and _name_; while the others are +in contrast--_just_ and _wicked_, _is blessed_ and _shall rot_. +Sometimes the two clauses are to be mutually supplied from each other, +thus: + + A wise son maketh a glad father: + But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother (Prov. 10:1); + +where the reader understands that a wise son is the joy, and a foolish +son the grief of both father and mother. + +The _second_ form is the _synonymous_, where the same general thought is +repeated in two or more clauses. It is found abundantly in the whole +range of Hebrew poetry, but is peculiarly adapted to that which is of a +placid and contemplative character. Sometimes the parallel clauses +simply repeat the same thought in different words; in other cases there +is only a general resemblance. Examples are the following: + + He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: + The Lord shall have them in derision. Psa. 2:4. + + For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous: + With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psa. 5:12. + + Perish the day wherein I was born; + And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. + Job 3:3. + + Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom: + Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Isa. 1:10. + +In the following example we have a _compound_ synonymous couplet: + + Give them according to their deeds, + According to the wickedness of their endeavors: + Give them after the work of their hands, + Render to them their desert. Psa. 28:4 + +Sometimes three or more parallel clauses occur, thus: + + When your fear cometh as desolation, + And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; + When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Prov. 1:27. + + Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; + Who healeth all thy diseases; + Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; + Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; + Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; + Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psa. 103:3-5. + +In the preceding example, synonymous parallelism passes into _simple +enumeration_. So often with a succession of short clauses, or shorter +and longer clauses, where the poetry of the Hebrews assumes the freedom +of prose, thus: + + Who hath woe? + Who hath sorrow? + Who hath contentions? + Who hath babbling? + Who hath wounds without cause? + Who hath redness of eyes? Prov. 23:39. + + A sinful nation; + A people laden with iniquity; + A seed of evil-doers; + Corrupt children: + They have forsaken the Lord; + They have despised the Holy One of Israel; + They have gone away backward. Isa. 1:4. + +The parallel clauses are frequently introduced or followed by a single +clause, thus: + + Blessed is the man + Who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly; + And standeth not in the way of sinners; + And sitteth not in the seat of scorners. Psa. 1:1. + + Hear, O heavens; + Give ear, O earth; + For the Lord hath spoken. Isa. 1:2. + +The _third_ form of parallelism is called _synthetic_ (Greek +_synthesis_, _a putting together_), where one clause is necessary to +complete the sense of the other, as in the following examples: + + Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, + Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Prov. 15:16. + + Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; + But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Prov. 21:2. + + Whoso curseth his father and his mother, + His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Prov. 20:20. + +The connection between the two clauses may be that of comparison, cause, +effect, etc. Sometimes it is not expressed, but simply implied, as in +the following: + + A whip for the horse, + A bridle for the ass, + And a rod for the fool's back. Prov. 26:3. + +The _combinations_ of the above forms in Hebrew poetry are exceedingly +varied and graceful. Here are examples of two _synonymous_ couplets that +are _antithetic_ to each other: + + The ox knoweth his owner, + And the ass his master's crib: + Israel doth not know, + My people doth not consider. Isa. 1:3. + + The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught; + He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. + The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever; + The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Psa. 33:10, 11. + +In the following example, two _synonymous_ couplets constitute together +a _synthetic_ parallelism: + + Because they regard not the works of the Lord, + Nor the operation of his hands, + He shall destroy them, + And not build them up. Psa. 28:5. + +In the following, three _synthetic_ parallelisms make a _synonymous_ +triplet: + + For as the heaven is high above the earth, + So great is his mercy toward them that fear him: + As far as the east is from the west, + So far hath he removed our transgressions from us: + Like as a father pitieth his children, + So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psa. 103:11-13. + +But our limits will not allow us to pursue this subject farther. The +freedom of the Hebrew poet is one of his high prerogatives. He is not a +slave to form, but uses form as it suits his purposes. He blends +together the different kinds of parallelism as he pleases. Often he +breaks through all parallelism to the freedom of prose. But he soon +returns again, because this measured rhythm of clauses is to him the +natural costume of poetic thought, which always seeks to embody itself +in some form of rhythm. + +To the form of Hebrew poetry belongs also its _peculiar diction_. To one +who reads the Hebrew poets in the original, this is a striking +characteristic. He meets with words, and sometimes with grammatical +forms, that do not occur in the prose writers. Many of these peculiar +words are _Aramean_; that is, they are words current in the Aramean +branch of the Shemitic languages. Chap. 14, No. 1. They are to be +regarded as _archaisms_--old words that were once common alike to the +Hebrew and the kindred Aramean, but which have been dropped out of prose +usage in Hebrew. They must not be confounded, as has too often been +done, with _true Aramaisms_, that is, Aramean words and forms borrowed +by later Hebrew writers from their intercourse with those who spoke +Aramean. + +4. As it respects the _office_ of Hebrew poetry, it is throughout +subservient to the interests of revealed religion. This is implied in +what has been already said of the loyalty of the Hebrew poets to the +institutions of the Theocracy. It follows that the poetry of the Bible +is all _sacred_ in its character. It contains no examples of purely +secular poetry except here and there a short passage which comes in as a +part of history; for example, the words of "those that speak in +proverbs," Numb. 21:27-30; perhaps also the lament of David over Saul +and Jonathan. 2 Sam. 1:19-27. It is certain that the song contained in +the forty-fifth psalm and that of the Canticles were received into the +canon solely on the ground that they celebrate the mutual love between +God and the covenant people, considered as his bride; or, in New +Testament language, between Christ and "the bride, the Lamb's wife." + +But sacred poetry has various uses. One of its earliest offices was to +celebrate the praises of God for his interposition in behalf of his +covenant people, as in the song of the Israelites at the Red sea, and +that of Deborah and Barak. But when David was raised to the throne of +Israel, the time had now come for introducing lyric poetry as a +permanent part of the sanctuary service. God accordingly bestowed upon +this monarch the needful inward gifts, and placed him in the appropriate +outward circumstances; when at once there gushed forth from his bosom, +smit by the spirit of inspiration, that noble stream of _lyric song_, +which the congregation of the faithful immediately consecrated to the +public service of the sanctuary, and which, augmented by the +contributions of Asaph, the sons of Korah, and other inspired poets, has +been the rich inheritance of the church ever since. In the book of Job, +sacred poetry occupies itself with the mighty problem of the justice of +God's providential government over men. It is, therefore, essentially +_didactic_ in its character. In the Proverbs of Solomon, it becomes +didactic in the fullest sense; for here it moves in the sphere of +practical life and morals. The book of Ecclesiastes has for its theme +the vanity of this world, considered as a satisfying portion of the +soul; and this it discusses in a poetic form. Finally, the prophets of +the Old Testament exhaust all the wealth of Hebrew poetry in rebuking +the sins of the present time, foretelling the mighty judgments of God +upon the wicked, lamenting the present sorrows of Zion, and portraying +her future glories in connection with the advent of the promised +Messiah. The Hebrew harp--whoever sweeps it, and whether its strains be +jubilant or sad, didactic or emotional, is ever consecrated to God and +the cause of righteousness. + + +(B.) THE SEVERAL POETICAL BOOKS. + +I. JOB. + +5. The design of the book of Job will best appear if we first take a +brief survey of its plan. Job, a man eminent above all others for his +piety and uprightness, is accused by Satan as serving God from mercenary +motives. To show the falsehood of this charge, God permits Satan to take +from the patriarch his property and his children, and afterwards to +smite him with a loathsome and distressing disease. Thus stripped of +every thing that could make life valuable, he still holds fast his +integrity, and returns to his wife, who counsels him to "curse God and +die," the discreet and pious answer: "Shall we receive good at the hand +of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?" His three friends, who have +come to comfort him, amazed and confounded at the greatness of his +calamities, sit down with him in silence for seven days. At last Job +opens his mouth with vehement expressions of grief and impatience, and +curses the day of his birth. The three friends sharply rebuke him, and +in a threefold round of addresses (only that the third time Zophar fails +to speak), enter into an earnest controversy with him assuming the false +ground that the administration of God's government over this world is +strictly _retributive_, so that special calamity comes only as a +punishment for special wickedness, and is therefore itself a proof of +such wickedness. They accordingly exhort him to repent of his sins, and +seek God's forgiveness, as the sure means of removing his present +misfortunes. Conscious of his integrity, Job, with much warmth and +asperity, repels their unjust charges, and refutes their false arguments +by an appeal to facts. The ground he takes is that, by some inscrutable +plan of God, calamity comes alike upon good and bad men. He passionately +beseeches God to show him why he thus deals with him; and, according as +faith or despondency prevails in his soul, he sometimes expresses the +hope that he shall come out of his troubles like gold tried in the fire; +and then, again, the fear that he shall speedily sink down to the grave +under the weight of his sorrows, and nevermore see good. Having put to +silence his three friends by an array of facts to which they can make no +reply, he freely expresses the belief that the hypocrite's end shall be +destruction (chap. 27); shows that the wisdom by which God governs the +world is above man's comprehension, whose true wisdom lies in fearing +and obeying his Maker (chap. 28); contrasts his present calamities with +his former prosperity (chaps. 29, 30); and closes with a solemn +protestation of his integrity (chap. 31). + +Elihu, a young man who has hitherto been a silent witness of the +controversy, now takes up the argument on the ground that trouble is +sent by God upon men as a _discipline_, that by it they may be made +aware of their errors and infirmities; and that, if they make a right +improvement of it, by bearing it with patient submission and looking to +God in penitence and prayer for its removal, it will end in renewed and +higher prosperity. To show the unreasonableness of charging upon God +injustice, he dwells at length upon his infinite majesty and greatness. +The special ground of Job's trial, as given in the first two chapters, +Elihu could not of course understand. But his general position in regard +to human afflictions is right; and it should be carefully noticed that +their issue as described by him in the case of a good man--an +imperfectly good man under a system of grace--is precisely what happens +to Job when he humbles himself before his Maker. + +As Elihu's discourse was drawing towards a close, the signs of God's +approach had already began to manifest themselves (chap. 37). Now he +addresses Job out of the whirlwind, rebuking him for his presumptuous +language, and setting before him His infinite perfections, manifested in +the creation and government of the world, as a sufficient proof that to +arraign His justice at the bar of human reason is folly and presumption. +Job now humbles himself unconditionally before his Maker. Upon this God +publicly justifies him to his three friends, while He condemns them, +declaring that he has spoken of Him the thing which is right (42:8). +This is to be understood as referring not to the _spirit_ manifested by +Job, which God had sharply rebuked, but rather to the _ground_ taken by +him in respect to God's dealings with men. By God's direction the three +friends now offer sacrifices for their folly, which are accepted in +answer to Job's prayer in their behalf, and his former prosperity is +restored to him in double measure. + +6. From the above sketch of the plan of the book its _design_ is +manifest. It unfolds the nature of God's providential government over +men. It is not simply retributive, as the three friends had maintained, +so that the measure of a man's outward sufferings is the measure of his +sins; nor is it simply incomprehensible, so that there can be no +reasoning about it; but it is disciplinary, in such a way that sorrow, +though always the fruit of sin, comes upon good men as well as upon the +wicked, being a fatherly chastisement intended for their benefit, and +which, if properly improved, will in the end conduct them to a higher +degree of holiness, and therefore of true prosperity and happiness. The +three friends were right in maintaining God's justice; but with respect +to the manner of its manifestation their error was fundamental. Job's +view was right, but inadequate. A disciplinary government, administered +over a world in which the wicked and the imperfectly good live together, +must be incomprehensible as it respects the particular distribution of +good and evil. Elihu was right in the main position, but he wanted +authority. The question was settled by God's interposition not _before_ +the human discussion, nor _without_ it, but _after_ it; an interposition +in which the three friends were condemned, Job approved, and the +argument of Elihu left in its full force. + + It has been the fashion with a certain class of critics to + disparage Elihu as a self-conceited young man, and to deny the + authenticity of his discourses. But thus the plan of the book is + fatally broken, as must be evident from the account given of it + above. It was not necessary that Elihu should be named in the + prologue. It is enough that he is described when he takes a part + in the argument. Why he is not named in the closing chapter has + been already indicated. There was nothing in his argument to be + censured. As to the attacks made on other parts of the book as + not authentic, for example, what is said of Behemoth and + Leviathan, they rest on no valid foundation. They are only + judgments of modern critics as to how and what the author of the + book before us ought to have written. The attempt to resolve + into disconnected parts a book so perfect in its plan, and which + has come down to us by the unanimous testimony of antiquity in + its present form, is a most uncritical procedure. + +7. Job plainly belonged to the patriarchal period. This appears from his +longevity. He lived after his trial a hundred and forty years (42:16), +and must have been then considerably advanced in life. This points to a +period as early as that of Abraham. To the same conclusion we are +brought by the fact that no form of idolatry is mentioned in the book, +but only the worship of the heavenly bodies. The simplicity of the +patriarchal age appears, moreover, in all its descriptions. But we need +not from this infer that the book was written in the patriarchal age, +for the author may have received from the past the facts which he +records. The book is written in pure Hebrew, with all the freedom of an +original work, and by one intimately acquainted with both Arabic and +Egyptian scenery. Some have supposed Moses to be the author, but this is +very uncertain. The prevailing opinion of the present day is that it was +written not far from the age of Solomon. + +8. There is no ground for denying that the book of Job has a foundation +of _true history_. He is mentioned by Ezekiel with Noah and Daniel as a +real person. Ezek. 14:14, 20. The apostle James also refers to the happy +issue of his trials as a historic event calculated to encourage God's +suffering children. Jas. 5:11. But we need not suppose that all the +details of the book are historic. The inspired poet takes up the great +facts of Job's history and the great arguments connected with them, and +gives them in his own language; probably also, to a certain extent, +according to his own arrangement. The scene of the first two chapters is +laid in heaven. Undoubtedly they record a real transaction; but it may +be a transaction revealed to the author in an allegorical form, like +Micaiah's vision (1 Kings 22:19-22), that it might be thus made level to +human apprehension. + + +II. THE PSALMS. + +9. We have seen the office of the Book of Job in the system of divine +revelation. Very different, but not less important, is that of the book +of Psalms. It is a collection of sacred lyrics: that is, of poems +expressive of religious feeling and adapted to the public worship of +God. In respect to subjects, the Psalms exhibit a wonderful diversity. +They cover the whole field of religious experience, and furnish to the +churches an inexhaustible treasury of sacred song for all ages. +Seventy-three of the psalms are ascribed to David in their titles, and +the whole book, as referred to in the New Testament, bears his name. Of +the remaining psalms, Asaph is named as the author of twelve; to the +sons of Korah eleven are ascribed; to Solomon two (Psalms 72 and 127); +to Moses one (Psalm 90); to Ethan one (Psalm 89). The remaining fifty +are anonymous. Of these, some appear from their contents to have been +written as late as the era of the captivity and restoration. Some +writers have referred certain psalms to the Maccabean age. But there is +nothing in the contents of these psalms which makes such a reference +necessary, and we have decisive evidence that the Hebrew canon was +closed long before this period. See below, Chap. 22, No. 21. + +10. In regard to the external arrangement of the Psalms, which is +generally ascribed to Ezra, and cannot be earlier than his day, they are +divided in the Hebrew Bible into _five books_, each closing with a +doxology except the last, to which, as well as to the whole collection, +the final psalm serves as a doxology. + +The _first_ book contains Psalms 1-41. Of these forty-one psalms, +thirty-seven bear the name of David. Of the remaining four, the second +and tenth undoubtedly belong to him, and in all probability the first +and thirty-third also. The psalms of this book are remarkable for the +predominance of the name _Jehovah_ over _Elohim_, _God_. + +The _second_ book includes Psalms 42-72. Of these, eighteen bear the +name of David; the first eight (including Psa. 43, which is manifestly +connected with the preceding psalm) are ascribed to the sons of Korah; +one to Asaph (Psa. 50); one to Solomon (Psa. 72); and the remaining +three are without titles. In this book the divine name _Elohim_, _God_, +greatly predominates over the name _Jehovah_. + +The _third_ book includes Psalms 73-89, seventeen in all. Of these, the +first eleven are ascribed to Asaph; four to the sons of Korah; one to +David (Psa. 86); and one to Ethan the Ezrahite (Psa. 89). In the psalms +of Asaph the divine name _Elohim_, _God_, predominates; in the remainder +of the book the name _Jehovah_. + +The _fourth_ book includes Psalms 90-106. Of these seventeen psalms, +only three bear titles; the ninetieth being referred to Moses, the +hundred and first and hundred and third to David. This book is therefore +emphatically one of anonymous psalms, which are for the most part of a +very general character, being evidently arranged with reference to the +service of song in the sanctuary. Throughout this book the divine name +_Jehovah_ prevails; the name _Elohim_, _God_, being rarely used except +in connection with a pronoun or some epithet--_my God_, _God of Jacob_, +etc. + +The _fifth_ book contains the remaining forty-four psalms. Of these, +fifteen are ascribed to David; one to Solomon (Psa. 127); and +twenty-eight are anonymous. In this book also the divine name _Jehovah_ +prevails almost exclusively. + +It is probable that these five books were arranged not simultaneously +but successively, with considerable intervals between some of them. The +subscription appended to the second book: "The prayers of David the son +of Jesse are ended," may possibly be explained, upon this supposition. +It may have been added as a subscription to the first two books, before +the others were arranged for the temple service. + +Although the psalms belonging to the respective books are not classified +upon any strict principle, yet their arrangement is not altogether +fortuitous. We find psalms with the same title grouped together--eleven +psalms of Asaph. (73-83); eight of the sons of Korah (42-49); eight of +David (139-145 separated from his other psalms); three psalms inscribed +_Al-taschith_ (57-59); the fifteen songs of degrees (120-134), etc. Also +we find psalms of similar contents grouped together--Psa. 79, 80; 88, +89; 91-100; 105-107; etc. + +Various attempts have been made to classify the psalms according to +their subjects. But their very richness and variety makes this a very +difficult undertaking. They cover the whole field of religious +experience for both individual believers and the church at large. Many +of them--the so-called _Messianic_ psalms--are prophetic of the +Saviour's offices and work. We need not wonder, therefore, that the +Psalms are quoted in the New Testament oftener than any other book of +the Old Testament, Isaiah not excepted. + +11. Besides the names of the authors, or the occasion of their +composition, many of the psalms bear other inscriptions. Of these the +principal are the following: + +(1.) The _dedicatory title: To the chief musician_, prefixed to +fifty-three psalms, signifies that the psalm is assigned to him, as the +leader of the choir at the tabernacle or temple, to be used in the +public worship of God. The title rendered in our version: _For the sons +of Korah_, is better translated, as in the margin: _Of the sons of +Korah_; that is, written by one of their number. + +(2.) Titles expressing the _character_ of the composition. Here we have, +as the most common and general, _Psalm_, a lyric poem to be sung; +_Song_, a title borne by sixteen psalms, generally in connection with +the word _psalm_, where the rendering should be: _a psalm_, _a song_; +or, _a song_, _a psalm_. All the psalms thus designated except two (Psa. +83, 88) are of a joyous character, that is, songs of praise; _Song of +degrees_, a title the meaning of which is disputed. Many render: _A song +of ascents_, and suppose that the fifteen psalms which bear this title +(120-134) were so called because they were arranged to be sung on the +occasion of the ascent of the people to Jerusalem to keep the yearly +festivals. For other explanations, the reader is referred to the +commentaries. The titles: _Prayer_ (Psa. 17, 90, 102, 142), and _Praise_ +(Psa. 145) need no explanation. Besides these titles, there are several +others left untranslated in our version, as: _Maschil_, _teaching_, that +is, a didactic psalm; _Michtam_ (Psa. 16, 56-60) either a _writing_, +that is, poem, or a _golden psalm_. + +(3.) Titles relating to the _musical_ performance. Of these, the most +common is the much disputed word _Selah_. It is generally agreed that it +signifies a _rest_, either in singing for the purpose of an instrumental +interlude, or an entire rest in the performance. As a general rule, this +title closes a division of a psalm. Of the titles supposed to indicate +either musical instruments or modes of musical performance, the +following are examples: _Neginath_ (Psa. 61), elsewhere _Neginoth_, +_stringed instruments_; _Nehiloth_, probably flutes (Psa. 5); _Gittith_ +(Psa. 8, 81, 84), from the word _Gath_, which denotes a Philistine city, +and also a wine-press. Gittith has been accordingly interpreted to mean +(1) a musical instrument or a melody brought from Gath; (2) a musical +instrument in the form of a winepress, or a melody used in treading the +wine-press; _Shoshannim_, _lilies_ (Psa. 45, 69); _Shushan-eduth_, _lily +of the testimony_ (Psa. 60); _Shoshannim-eduth_, _lilies of the +testimony_ (Psa. 80), either a musical instrument so named from its +shape, or a particular melody, or, as some think, an emblematic term +referring to the contents of the psalm; _Sheminith_, _the eighth_, or +octave, perhaps a musical key (Psa. 6, 12); _Alamoth_, _virgins_, +probably denoting treble voices (Psa. 46); _Al-taschith_, _destroy not_ +(Psa. 57, 58, 59, 75), according to some, the name of an air taken from +a well-known poem; according to others, an indication of the contents of +the psalm. For other titles, occurring but once or twice, the reader +must be referred to the commentaries. + + Whether the titles constitute a part of the psalms; that is, + whether they were prefixed by the writers themselves, is a + question that has been much debated, and answered differently by + different writers. That they are very ancient--so ancient that + the meaning of the terms employed had passed into oblivion when + the Alexandrine version was made--must be admitted. But it would + be too much to affirm that they are a part of the inspired word. + The correctness of some of them is doubtful. If we admit their + general correctness, reserving for critical investigation the + question of the historical validity of particular titles, it is + as far as we need go. + + +III. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. + +12. The _place_ of the book of Proverbs in the system of divine +revelation is obvious at first sight. It contains a complete code of +practical rules for the regulation of life--rules that have a divine +breadth and fulness, and can make men wise not for time alone, but also +for eternity. The principles embodied in them admit of endlessly varied +applications, so that the study of a life cannot exhaust them. The more +they are pondered, and prayed over, and reduced to practice, the more +are their hidden treasures of wisdom brought to light. Solomon lived +himself in the sphere of practical life. He had constantly to deal with +men of all classes, and he knew men and the course of human events most +thoroughly. His maxims are therefore adapted to the actual world, not to +some imaginary state of things; and they contain those broad principles +of action which meet the wants of all men in all circumstances and +conditions of life. Whoever gives himself, in the fear of God, to the +study of these proverbs, and conforms his life to the principles which +they set forth, will be a truly happy and prosperous man. Whoever shapes +his conduct by different principles will be compelled in the end to +acknowledge his folly. To the young, for whose instruction they were +especially intended, they are affectionately commended as their manual +of action. + +13. In respect to _outward form_, the book of Proverbs naturally falls +into four parts. Of these, the first nine chapters, consisting of +earnest and fatherly exhortations addressed to the young in a series of +discourses, of which the parts are more or less connected with each +other, constitute the _first_ part. The title prefixed to this part, +giving both the author's name and the end which he proposes (1:1-6) +refers perhaps to the book considered as a whole. The _second_ part, +introduced by the title: "The proverbs of Solomon," extends to the end +of the twenty-fourth chapter. Of this, the first section (chaps. +10-22:16) consists of proverbs properly so called, each verse +constituting a separate maxim of heavenly wisdom for the regulation of +the heart and life. Between the different verses there is either no +connection, or one of a slight and casual character, consisting +frequently in the common occurrence of the same word. In the remaining +section (chap. 22:17-24:34) the method of exhortation in discourse more +or less connected is resumed. To the _third_ part (chaps. 25-29) is +prefixed the superscription: "These are also the proverbs of Solomon +which the men of Hezekiah copied out." The proverbs of this part are, in +general, expressed in detached maxims, as in the first section of the +second part; but occasionally there is a connection between adjacent +verses. There is also an effort to bring together related proverbs, as +those concerning rulers (25:1-8); concerning fools (26:1-12); concerning +sluggards (26:13-16); concerning busybodies and tale-bearers (chap. +26:17-28). In this part also a number of proverbs are repeated that have +occurred elsewhere. Finally, the _fourth_ part, which may be considered +as a sort of appendix, contains the words of Agur (chap. 30), and of +King Lemuel (chap. 31). + + According to the most natural interpretation of the words + prefixed to chap. 24:23--"these [maxims] also belong to the + wise"--the verses that follow to the end of the chapter contain + also a short appendix of proverbs not belonging to Solomon. + +14. From the above it is manifest that the book of Proverbs was arranged +in its present form as late, at least, as the days of Hezekiah. It +contains not the whole of the three thousand proverbs which Solomon +spake (1 Kings 4:32), but only selections from them, such as the wisdom +of God judged needful for the edification of his people. Whether the +proverbs contained in the first and second parts were arranged in their +present form by Solomon himself or by some other person, we do not know; +but that all the proverbs of the book belong to him as their author, +except those which are expressly ascribed to others, there is no valid +reason for doubting. + + +IV. ECCLESIASTES. + +15. The Hebrew name of this book is _Koheleth_, respecting the meaning +of which there has been much discussion. The Alexandrine rendering of +this word, _Ecclesiastes_, _one who gathers or addresses an assembly_, +and the English rendering, _Preacher_, express for substance its +probable meaning; or rather, since the form of the word is feminine, it +is _Wisdom as a preacher_, Solomon being regarded as her impersonation. +The uniform belief of the ancient church was that Solomon wrote this +book in his old age, when brought to repentance for the idolatrous +practices into which his heathen wives had seduced him. He had +thoroughly tried the world in all its forms of honor, wealth, pleasure, +and the pursuit of wisdom--speculative wisdom--and found it only "vanity +and vexation of spirit," when sought as the supreme good. The conclusion +to which he comes is that in such an empty and unsatisfying world, where +disappointment and trouble cannot be avoided, the cheerful enjoyment of +God's present gifts is the part of wisdom, for thus we make the best of +things as we find them. But this enjoyment must be in the fear of God, +who will bring all our works into judgment; and accompanied, moreover, +by deeds of love and charity, as we have opportunity. He explicitly +asserts a judgment to come; yet his general view of life is that +expressed in the Saviour's words: "The night cometh, when no man can +work;" words which imply that God's earthly service, as well as the +enjoyment of his earthly gifts, will come to a close at death. This view +of the Preacher is not a denial of the future life, as some have wrongly +maintained, but implies rather a less full revelation of it than is +given in the New Testament. + + Many evangelical men, as Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, + interpret the first verse of this book as meaning not that + Solomon was himself the author, or that the writer meant to pass + himself off as Solomon, but simply that he wrote in Solomon's + name, as assuming his character; that monarch being to the + ancient Hebrews the impersonation of wisdom. Their reasons for + this view are chiefly two: _First_, that the state of things + described in the book of Ecclesiastes does not suit Solomon's + age, the picture being too dark and sombre for his reign; + _secondly_, that the language differs widely from that of the + book of Proverbs and of the Canticles. Whether we adopt this + view, or that above given, the _canonical authority_ of the book + of Ecclesiastes remains as a well-established fact. It always + held a place in the Hebrew canon, and existed there in its + present form in the days of Christ and his apostles. + +16. The following summary of the Preacher's argument is condensed from +Scott. He had evidently two objects in view. First, to show where +happiness could not be found; and secondly, where it might. The first +six chapters are principally employed on the former part of the +argument, yet with counsels interspersed tending to show how the vanity, +or at least the vexation of earthly pursuits may be abated. The +remaining six chapters gradually unfold the latter part of the argument, +teaching us how to make the best of things as we find them, how to live +comfortably and usefully in this evil world, and how to derive benefit +from the changing events of life. In respect to outward things, the +sacred writer inculcates a cheerful, liberal, and charitable use of +them, without expecting from them permanent or satisfying delight. He +counsels us to take the transient pleasure which agreeable circumstances +can afford, as far as consists with the fear of God; to be patient under +unavoidable evil; not to aim at impracticable results; to fill up our +allotted station in a peaceable, equitable, and prudent manner; to be +contented, meek, and affectionate; and to do good abundantly as we have +opportunity, in the expectation of a gracious reward. These general +rules are interspersed with warnings and counsels to princes and great +men, and to subjects in respect to their rulers. + + +V. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. + +17. The title of this book: _The Song of songs_, that is, the most +excellent of songs, indicates its application to the heavenly Solomon, +and his spouse the church. So the Jews from the most ancient times have +interpreted it. Looking at this song from the position of the Old +Testament, its ground-idea is: "Thy Maker is thy husband." Identical +with this is the New Testament idea: "The bride, the Lamb's wife." The +germ of this representation exists in the Pentateuch, where idolatry is +regarded as spiritual adultery. Exod. 34:15; Deut. 31:16. We find it +fully developed in the forty-fifth Psalm, which probably belongs to +Solomon's age, and which is expressly quoted in the epistle to the +Hebrews as a description of the Messiah. The same figure occurs in many +passages of the prophets who lived after Solomon's day. Isa. 54:5; 62:5; +Jer. 2:2; 3:14; Hos. 2:16, 19, 20. In the book of Revelation this +imagery is repeated and amplified. + +18. This song is not a dramatic representation, in which the action +steadily advances to the end, but a series of descriptive pictures, the +great theme of which is the separation of the bride from her +beloved--the heavenly Bridegroom--for her sins, and her reunion with him +by repentance. In the spiritual application of its rich and gorgeous +imagery we should confine ourselves to the main scope, rather than dwell +on particulars. Thus the fruitfulness of the church is set forth under +the image of a garden filled with spices and precious fruits. But we are +not to seek for a hidden meaning in each particular spice or fruit--the +saffron, the spikenard, the myrrh, the pomegranate, the apple, the nut; +and the same is true with respect to the descriptions of the bride and +bridegroom with which the book abounds. + +The book has always constituted a part of the Hebrew canon. + + The language of this book is pure and elegant, with all the + freshness and energy of the best age of Hebrew poetry. Its most + striking peculiarity is the uniform use (except once in the + _title_) of the abbreviated form of the relative pronoun as a + prefix--_shekkullam_ for _asher kullam_; _shehammelek_ for + _asher hammelek_, etc.--which is manifestly a _dialectic_ + peculiarity of the living Hebrew adopted by Solomon for the + purpose of giving to his song a unique costume. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE GREATER PROPHETS. + + +1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to +Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and +the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in +which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the +Theocracy; and that the age of _written_ prophecy did not begin till +about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish +division of the _latter_ prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense +of the word--into the _greater_, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, and +Ezekiel, chronologically arranged; and the _less_, or twelve _Minor_ +Prophets, arranged also, in all probability, according to their view of +their order in time, has also been explained. Chap. 13, No. 4. +Respecting the nature of prophecy and the principles upon which it is to +be interpreted, much remains to be said in another place. In the present +connection, a brief account will be given of _the place which the +prophets held in the Theocracy_, followed by a notice, in this and the +following chapter, of the separate books of prophecy belonging to the +Hebrew canon, according to the order in our English version, Daniel +being reckoned with the greater prophets, Lamentations considered as an +appendix to Jeremiah, and the minor prophets arranged by themselves. + +2. The office of the prophets under the Theocracy, which we first +notice, was that of _bold reprovers_. They came to rulers and people +with an immediate commission from God to rebuke them for their sins; and +as the contents of their messages were received from God himself, they +exposed the hypocrisy and wickedness of their times in the pure sunlight +of truth, denouncing upon great and small alike the awful judgments of +Jehovah if they persisted in their impenitence. If we except the +preaching of Christ and his apostles, the history of the world furnishes +no such bright examples of faithful dealing with men's consciences. They +never spare kings and princes from fear of their power and patronage. +They never go round about men's sins, but declare them directly and +faithfully. With what majesty of severity did Samuel reprove Saul, and +Nathan David, and Elijah Ahab, and Elisha Jehoram, and Jehu Jehoshaphat! +And if we open the books of Hebrew prophecy which have come down to us +from distant ages and from a very different civil and social order, we +find them not in the least antiquated, but fresh as yesterday, instinct +with life and power. They are a mirror of terrible brightness in which +we may see reflected our pride, self-sufficiency, vain ostentation, and +worldliness; our avarice, fraud, overreaching artifices, breaches of +trust, bribery, oppression of the weak, and corrupt combinations for the +amassing of filthy lucre; our ambition, slander, falsehood, intrigues, +hypocrisy, and vain pretensions; our luxury, prodigality, sensuality, +and intemperance; our profaneness, Sabbath-breaking, neglect of God's +ordinances and contempt of his written word--a mirror too in which we +can see in the background dark clouds of judgment, big with awful +thunder, such as have already come forth upon our land from the +inexhaustible storehouse of divine justice, and are ready to come forth +again, but over which hangs the rainbow of mercy for all that will +repent and humble themselves before God. + +3. We may next consider the office of the Hebrew prophets as _expounders +of the Mosaic law_--the Mosaic law in its substance, as distinguished +from its outward form. They never undervalued the letter of the law, +since that too was of divine appointment; but they taught men that true +obedience must rise above the letter to its spirit. When Saul excused +himself to Samuel for disobeying God's command on the ground that the +people had spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the +Lord, the prophet indignantly answered: "Hath the Lord as great delight +in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? +Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of +rams." 1 Sam. 15:22. "Bring no more vain oblations," says God to the +Jews whose hands were full of oppression and blood; "incense is an +abomination unto me: the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of +assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. +Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a +trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them." And his direction is: "Wash +you, make you clean: put away the evil of your doings from before mine +eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the +oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:13-17. +"I hate," says God to the covenant people through Amos, "I despise your +feast-days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye +offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept +them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. Take +thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody +of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as +a mighty stream." Amos 5:21-24. "Wherewith," says Micah, "shall I come +before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before +him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be +pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? +shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body +for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and +what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, +and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:6-8. Under the Old Testament, +outward forms of divine service were required, and they are necessary, +to a certain extent, under the New also. But if any man puts his trust +for salvation in these, to the neglect of inward faith, love, and +obedience, he stands condemned at the bar of Moses and the prophets, not +less than at the bar of Christ and his apostles, Under the Mosaic +economy, both the rites of divine service and the succession of the +priesthood were definitively prescribed by God himself, and therefore to +all of binding authority. But the man who placed his religion in these +outward observances, to the neglect of his heart and life, was to God an +object of abhorrence, and the severest judgments were denounced against +him. It cannot be, then, that under the gospel any system of outward +forms, however right and proper in itself, can bring salvation to the +soul, where inward faith, love, and obedience are wanting. + +4. The last and highest office of the prophets was to direct men's +thoughts to _the end of the Mosaic economy_, which was the salvation of +the world through the promised Messiah. The Spirit of Christ that spoke +through them, "testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the +glory that should follow." 1 Pet. 1:11. It does not appear that they +understood the divine purpose to abolish the Mosaic economy, and with it +"the middle wall of partition" between Jews and Gentiles--that great +mystery, the revelation of which was reserved for the days of the +apostles; but they did have glorious visions of the latter days, when +the law should go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from +Jerusalem, to all nations; when the whole world should submit itself to +Jehovah under the administration of the Messiah; and the earth should be +"filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as the waters cover the +sea." Their glowing descriptions of the future enlargement and glory of +Zion have been the stay and solace of God's people in all succeeding +ages. The student of the Bible should not fail to notice that these +bright visions of the future were vouchsafed to the Hebrew prophets, and +through them to the church universal, not when the Theocracy was in the +zenith of its outward power and splendor, as in the days of David and +Solomon, but in the time of its decline and humiliation. The hopes so +ardently cherished by the covenant people of a return of the outward +glory of Solomon's reign were destined to utter and final +disappointment. It was not to feed their national pride, but to prepare +the way for Christ's advent, that God established the Theocracy. Now +that its outward glory was departing, it was suitable that the hopes of +the pious should be turned from the darkness of the present to the +brightness of "the last days" that awaited Zion in the distant future. +When Isaiah began his prophecies, the kingdom of Israel was tottering to +its fall, and before he had finished them it had suffered an utter +overthrow. The invasion of Judah by the allied kings of Israel and +Syria, in the reign of Ahaz, and by Sennacherib king of Assyria, in the +reign of Hezekiah, furnished an occasion for predicting not only the +present deliverance of God's people, but also the future triumph of Zion +over all her enemies, and the extension of her dominion over all the +earth. In his present interpositions in behalf of Zion, God mirrored +forth his purpose to give her a final and universal victory. And so it +was with all the other prophets. With their backs towards the gloom and +distraction of the present, and their faces steadfastly turned towards +the glory of the latter days, they uttered words of promise and comfort +that can have their fulfilment only in Christ's kingdom, which is the +true heir to all the promises made to the ancient Zion. Out of Christ +these promises are vain and delusory. In Christ their fulfilment has +been begun, and shall be completed in the appointed time. Out of Christ +no amount of learning will enable a man to understand the Hebrew +prophets; for the veil is on his face, which can be done away only in +Christ. What if more than eighteen centuries have elapsed since our +Lord's advent, and the domain of his kingdom is yet very limited? In the +divine reckoning, "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a +thousand years as one day." If it took four of these days to prepare the +world for Christ's advent, can we not allow two days and more for the +complete establishment of his kingdom? + +We add a notice of each separate book of the Greater prophets. + + +I. ISAIAH. + +5. According to the Hebrew arrangement already noticed (No. 1, above), +the book of Isaiah, as the first of those belonging to the greater +prophets, stands at the head of the whole collection of prophetical +books; although Hosea, Amos, and Jonah, and in all probability Joel +also, entered upon their prophetical office before him. Micah was +contemporary with him. Of the private history of Isaiah we know almost +nothing, except that he was the son of Amoz (chap. 1:1), and that he was +married and had sons (chap. 8:1-4). The Jewish tradition is that he was +sawn asunder under the reign of Manasseh, to which it has been supposed +that there is a reference in the epistle to the Hebrews (chap. 11:37); +but all such traditions are uncertain. Isaiah prophesied "in the days of +Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." Chap. 1:1. If, with +many, we suppose him to have entered upon his office in the last year of +Uzziah, we have sixty-two years to the close of Hezekiah's reign. He +certainly exercised the prophetical office to the fifteenth year of +Hezekiah's reign, and possibly through the remaining fourteen years. As +the superscription is silent respecting any prophecies uttered in +Manasseh's reign, we are not warranted to extend the period of his +activity beyond that of Hezekiah, although he may have survived him, and +have perished in the way indicated by the Jewish tradition. + +6. The book of Isaiah naturally falls into two great divisions. The +first, after an introductory chapter, contains a great variety of +prophetic messages, delivered on special occasions. Chaps. 2-39. The +second division, comprising the remaining twenty-seven chapters, seems +to have had no special occasion, but to have been written after the +overthrow of Sennacherib's army, probably in the old age of the prophet, +for the comfort and encouragement of God's people in all coming ages. +"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God"--this is its great +theme as expressed in the introductory verse. Of the various plans for +_classifying the contents_ of the first part, all that rest upon the +rationalistic view that the book is a collection of writings belonging +to different authors and ages are false and groundless. Among +evangelical men, who hold the unity of the book and its authorship by +Isaiah, there have been various schemes of classification. It has been +proposed by Drechsler and others to arrange all of Isaiah's prophecies +around two great central events in the history of his times; namely, the +invasion of Judah in the reign of Ahaz by the allied forces of Israel +and Syria (chap. 7), and in Hezekiah's reign by Sennacherib, king of +Assyria (chaps. 36, 37). That these were the two great crises of +Isaiah's age, and that many of his prophecies had reference to them +directly or indirectly, cannot be denied; but to affirm that _all_ his +prophecies, extending over a period of from forty-eight to sixty-two +years, were connected with those two events, either directly or by way +of anticipation beforehand and natural sequence afterwards, is more than +can be established by any probable arguments. We must be careful not to +thrust upon the prophet a systematic arrangement beyond any that ever +existed in his own consciousness. The following brief analysis will be +sufficient for the general reader. + +The title prefixed to the first chapter refers certainly to the first +part, and probably to the whole book. The contents of the first chapter +are well suited to constitute a general introduction to the book, and +there is much ground for the opinion that the prophet prefixed them, as +such an introduction, to the whole collection of prophecies. The four +chapters that follow were evidently written during a period of great +worldly prosperity. They contain visions against Judah and Jerusalem of +a threatening character, but interspersed with glorious promises to the +true Israel. The sixth chapter records a vision which the prophet had of +Jehovah in the temple, with the awful message to the people which he +received from His lips. Many regard this as the prophet's _inauguration_ +to his office, and consequently as the first of his prophecies in order +of time. The four preceding chapters will then naturally fall into the +reign of Jotham. There is no decisive ground, however, for understanding +the words, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (verse 8,) as +containing the original call of Isaiah to the prophetical office. They +may have reference to the special message which he immediately receives; +a message of the most weighty import, and often quoted in the New +Testament. The confession of Isaiah, moreover, that he is "a man of +unclean lips," may be very naturally referred to his previous exercise +of the prophetic office. According to this view, the preceding four +chapters belong to the latter part of Uzziah's reign. + +The series of prophecies that follows (chaps. 7-12) is connected with +the invasion of Judah by the allied kings of Israel and Syria. In this +emergency Ahaz, instead of seeking help from Jehovah, had hired the +Assyrians to defend him against the confederate forces. The prophet +predicts the overrunning of the land by these same Assyrians in whom the +Jews had reposed their confidence; and afterwards the overthrow of the +Assyrians themselves, and the universal establishment of the Messiah's +kingdom, who is foretold under the name of Immanuel. The series closes +with the millennial song of Zion. + +Next we have a series of prophecies relating mainly to the heathen world +(chaps. 13-23), through all of which the prophet keeps prominently in +view the great truth that the nation which will not acknowledge Jehovah +and minister to the welfare of his people must perish. He begins with +Babylon, and passes in order to Philistia, Moab, Syria (with which as a +confederate nation Ephraim is joined), Ethiopia and Egypt (first +separately and then conjointly), Babylon again under the enigmatical +name of "the desert of the sea," Edom, and Arabia. Next follows a +prophecy against "the valley of vision," that is, Jerusalem, to which is +appended one against Shebna. The prophet then passes to Tyre, and so he +brings this series to a close. + +The four chapters that follow (24-27) are general in their character. +They exhibit Jehovah as the avenger and deliverer of his people, who +abases the proud and destroys sinners as well within the pale of Zion as +without in the heathen world, while he exalts his true worshippers to +honor and salvation. + +The next series of prophecies (chaps. 28-35) was apparently delivered in +view of the approaching invasion of the Assyrians, by which the +destruction of the kingdom of Israel was completed, and Judah was +overrun and desolated; but which ended in the overthrow of the invading +army, and the deliverance of Hezekiah and his kingdom. The prophet +denounces, first upon Ephraim and then upon Judah and Jerusalem, God's +heavy judgments for their iniquities, especially for the sin of making +Egypt instead of Jehovah their confidence; foretells the utter and +perpetual desolation of Edom, which here represents all the powers that +array themselves in hostility against God's people; and describes in +glowing language the glory and peace of Zion under the future reign of +the Messiah. + +Next follows the history of Sennacherib's invasion and overthrow; of +Hezekiah's sickness and miraculous recovery, and of his sin in +connection with the mission of Merodach-baladan's servants. Chaps. +36-39. + +In the second part of Isaiah, which includes the last twenty-seven +chapters, the prophet is occupied with the future redemption and glory +of Zion. In the clear light of inspiration, and in accordance with the +explicit prophecy that has just been quoted, he takes his stand in the +future of Babylon's supremacy, and of the captivity of Zion and the +dispersion of her children; and he comforts the true Israel by the +promise of restoration and elevation to a greater than the former glory, +when all nations shall submit themselves to Jehovah, and shall minister +to the peace and welfare of Zion. If we divide these twenty-seven +chapters into three equal sections of nine chapters each, the first and +second close with the words: "There is no peace, saith my God, to the +wicked" (chaps. 48:22; 57:21); while the third ends with a more +extended, threatening against the wicked (chap. 66:24). The prominent +characteristics of these three sections are thus given by Keil: + +"The _first_ of these sections (chaps. 40-48) portrays the relation of +Israel to the heathen nations; and from the redemption of Israel +effected through Cyrus, the servant of God, it unfolds the certain +victory of the Theocracy over the gods and powers of the heathen world. +The _second_ section (chaps. 49-57) exhibits Israel as the seat of +salvation for the world. This it does by carrying out the thought that, +just as Cyrus is to redeem Israel from the Babylonish captivity, so must +the true servant of Jehovah, by his vicarious suffering and death, make +expiation for sin, raise the covenant people to true glory, and make +them, through the establishment of 'the sure mercies of David' (55:3), +the centre of salvation for the whole world. Finally in the _third_ +section (chaps. 58-66), after an exhortation in which the sins of the +people are acknowledged and rebuked (chaps. 58, 59), the prophet +foretells, in a series of majestic images, how the Theocracy shall be +glorified when it shall become, in connection with the creation of a new +heaven and a new earth, the perfected kingdom of God." Introduction to +the Old Testament, Sec. 65. This view of the glorification of the Theocracy +in the latter days is preeminently just, provided only that we do not +understand the Theocracy in a gross literal sense. It is the true +kingdom of God, once embodied in the old Theocracy, but now existing +under the freer forms of Christianity, that is heir to all this glory. + +7. As Isaiah holds the first place among the Hebrew prophets in the +canon, in the extent of his writings, and in the fulness of his +prophecies concerning the Messiah and his kingdom, so has he been first +also in receiving the assaults of those who deny the supernatural +character of revelation. Since the last quarter of the last century +persistent attempts have been made to show that the whole of the second +part (chaps. 40-66) and various sections of the first part, particularly +all those that relate to the overthrow of Babylon, belong not to Isaiah, +but to an unknown prophet who lived about the close of the exile. In +support of this view many arguments have been adduced; but the real +argument which lies at the foundation of the whole is the belief that no +such insight into the future is possible as that which this part of the +book manifests, upon the supposition that Isaiah was himself the author +of it. The denial of the genuineness of the chapters in question began +and has always gone hand in hand with the denial of the reality of +prophetic inspiration. In the view of rationalists prophecy is no +revelation of the future through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It +is only anticipation and shrewd conjecture of the future from the course +of the present. The possibility of prophecy, therefore, is limited by +the possibility of human foresight. Reasoning from this false position, +the critic first assumes that Isaiah cannot have been the author of the +last part of the book which bears his name, and then proceeds to find +arguments against its genuineness. To meet him we must plant our feet +firmly on the great historic truth that God has made to men a +supernatural revelation, of which prophecy in the proper sense of the +word--the revelation of the future by his Spirit--constitutes an +important part. We do indeed find that in the matter of prophecy, as in +all other parts of God's operations, the great law is: "First the blade, +then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." The way for the +fuller revelations is prepared by previous intimations of a more general +character. Precisely so was it in the present case. Moses himself had +more than once predicted the captivity of the covenant people and the +desolation of their land as the punishment of their foreseen apostacy +from God's service, and also the preservation of a remnant and its +restoration upon repentance. Lev., chap. 26; Deut., chaps. 28-32. When +Solomon had dedicated the temple, and his kingdom was at the zenith of +its glory, he received from the mouth of God himself the solemn warning: +"If ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and +will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before +you, but go and serve other gods and worship them; then will I cut off +Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I +have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall +be a proverb and a by-word among all people." 1 Kings 9:6, 7. When the +prophet wrote, these awful threatenings had been fulfilled upon the +kingdom of the ten tribes, and he had been commissioned to announce +their approaching fulfilment upon Judah also, and that in the form of a +captivity in Babylon: "Behold, the days come, that all that is in thy +house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, +shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And +of thy sons which shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall +they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of +Babylon" (39:6, 7). Micah also had foretold, in express terms, both the +Babylonish captivity, and the subsequent delivery of God's people +(4:10). We see, then, what a full preparation had been made for the +revelations vouchsafed to Isaiah in the chapters now under +consideration. They relate not to something new and unheard of, but to a +captivity which he had himself foretold in accordance with the +threatenings of God by former prophets. Under the illumination of the +Holy Spirit he is carried into the future of Zion. In prophetic vision +he sees her land wasted, her temple burned, and her children groaning in +captivity. As the nearest interposition of God in her behalf, he +foretells her liberation by Cyrus, the anointed of the Lord, and her +restoration to the promised land. But this is only the earnest and +pledge of a higher redemption through the Messiah, the true servant of +Jehovah, under whom she shall be glorified with a perpetual salvation, +and her dominion extended over all the earth. To limit the prophet's +vision to the deliverance from Babylon would be to make him a messenger +of glad tidings which mocked the hopes of the covenant people; for this +deliverance did not fulfil the just expectations which his lofty +promises awakened in the bosoms of the pious remnant of Israel. No; it +is in Christ's redemption alone, of which that of Cyrus was only a +shadow, that Zion receives in full measure the glorious promises which +shine forth in this part of Isaiah. + +If now we consider the _form_ of these promises, we find that they bear +throughout the stamp of true prophecy, as distinguished from history. +They have neither the dress of prose history, with its dates and +circumstantial details, such as we find in the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah, nor of historic poetry, like the song of Deborah and Barak; +like the seventy-eighth hundred and fifth, and hundred and sixth psalms. +They are expressed in a series of poetic images, in which, with the +exception of the name of Cyrus, all is general; images, moreover, drawn +for the most part, not from the great events connected with the +conquests of Cyrus, but from the earlier history of Israel. Let any one +read, for example, the forty-sixth and forty-seventh chapters of Isaiah, +and ask himself whether a writer who lived in Cyrus' day could have +described the fall of Babylon without specific allusions to the agencies +by which it was brought to pass. As to the _historic references_ which +some find to the march of the Jewish caravans of returning captives +through the desert that lay between Babylon and Palestine, whoever reads +the passages in question without a previously formed conclusion, must be +satisfied that they are _poetic descriptions_ of the redemption and +restoration of God's people borrowed mainly from the primitive journey +of Israel from Egypt to Canaan through the wilderness of Arabia. God, as +then, goes before his people, opening for them in their extremity +"rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys;" +making "the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of +water." Even Cyrus is mentioned not as the king of Persia, but as a man +raised up from the east to execute God's vengeance on the oppressors of +his people. + + According to Ctesias and Plutarch, the name _Cyrus_ signifies + _sun_. Strabo says that his name, before ascending the throne of + Persia, was _Agradales_. Some are of opinion that the word + _Cyrus_ (Heb. _Koresh_) was an appellation common to the kings + of Persia. We do not need, however, the help of this hypothesis. + God himself explains the ground on which he is mentioned by + name: "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, have + I even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though + thou hast not known me" (45:4). According to Josephus (Antiq. + 11. 1, 2), Cyrus was moved to issue his decree for the + liberation of the Jews by a knowledge of the prophecies of + Isaiah in which he is mentioned by name. With this agree the + terms of the edict: "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all + the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a + house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." Ezra 1:2, compared with + Isa. 44:28. If this view be correct, the mention of Cyrus by + name was a part of God's plan for the restoration of the + covenant people. + + It is not true, as has been asserted, that the prophet follows + Cyrus in the details of his conquests. On the contrary, his + notices of him are few and general. As to the sins of the people + which he rebukes, they may be all naturally referred to the + times of Isaiah, while some of them, as the neglect of the + established sacrifices and oblations (43:23, 24), and the + offering of sacrifices in connection with an impure heart and + life (66:3), presuppose the existence of the temple and altar at + Jerusalem, where alone sacrifices could be lawfully offered. The + sin of seeking heathen alliances (57:9) points also unmistakably + to the same period. Although the prophet is carried forward in + vision to the future of the covenant people, he does not wholly + forget the men of his own generation, but occasionally + administers to them severe rebukes, thus mingling the present + with the future, after the manner of all the prophets. + +The other arguments which have been urged against the genuineness of +this part of Isaiah are only of secondary importance, and can readily be +answered. It is said that the style is more diffuse and flowing than in +the first part. The answer is that this agrees well with both the +altered circumstances of the prophet and the altered character of his +theme. Most of his earlier prophecies were delivered under the pressure +and excitement of public life, when he went before rulers and people +charged with specific messages from Jehovah, and these, too, mostly of a +denunciatory character. But the part now under consideration was written +in the serenity of retirement, with the general purpose of comforting +God's people by a view of the future glory in reserve for them. It is +entirely natural, then, that the style of the first part should be more +concise and abrupt, that of the latter more diffuse and flowing; even if +we do not make allowance for the influence of age. But notwithstanding +this difference between the two parts, both have the same general +costume, and the same peculiar expressions and turns of thought, by +which they are sufficiently marked as the productions of the same pen. +It should be added that the Hebrew of this second part of Isaiah is in +general as pure as that of the first part. The few Chaldaisms which it +exhibits may be explained as belonging to the poetic diction. Such +Chaldaisms exist, moreover, in the earlier books. "Some words, as +_seganim_ (_princes_, 41:25), may be explained by the intercourse of the +Jews with the Assyrians in the days of Isaiah." Davidson's Introduction +to the Old Testament, p. 857. + +8. It has been shown that the arguments against the genuineness of this +part of Isaiah (and by parity of reason against certain sections of the +first part) have their ground in the denial of prophetic inspiration, +and cannot endure the test of sober criticism. The evidence, then, for +the genuineness of these chapters remains in its full force, and it is +of the most weighty character. If we look to _external_ testimony, there +is the undeniable fact that, as far back as we can trace the history of +the book of Isaiah, they have constituted an integral part of it. They +are recognized as such by Josephus (Antiq. 11. 1, 2); by Jesus the son +of Sirach, in the book called Ecclesiasticus (48:24, 25); and always in +the New Testament when quotations are made from them--Matt. 3:3; 8:17; +12:17-21; Luke 3:4; 4:17-19; John 1:23; 12:38-41, where a quotation from +the _last_ part of Isaiah is joined with one from the _first_ part; Acts +8:28-33; Rom. 10:16, 20, 21. That they were appended by fraud and +forgery no one pretends to affirm. The character of this part of the +book, not less than the character of those who had the Jewish canon in +custody, is a sufficient protection against such a supposition. That +they should have been appended through ignorance is inconceivable. How +can the name of so great a prophet have remained unknown? According to +the hypothesis in question, he lived about the close of the Babylonish +captivity. He was contemporary, therefore, with Daniel; with Zerubbabel +also, Jeshua, and the other chiefs of the restoration. Did no one of +these know who was the man that prophesied so abundantly of the work +which they had so much at heart? And did his name indeed escape the +knowledge of the learned scribe Ezra? And if they did not know his name, +why did they append his writings to those of the true Isaiah, thus +tacitly ascribing to him their authorship? Why did they not leave them +without a name, as they did the books of Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, +and Chronicles? That these chapters have always constituted a part of +the book of Isaiah, and been acknowledged as such, is a fact which +admits of but one explanation; that, namely, of their genuineness. The +_Great Unknown_, as he is called, is no other than Isaiah himself, whom +the principles of certain critics do not allow them to acknowledge as +Isaiah. + +The _internal_ evidence for the genuineness of these chapters has +already been partly considered in an incidental way. It is found in the +purity of the Hebrew, which belongs to the age of Isaiah, not of Cyrus; +in the undeniable allusions to the temple sacrifices and oblations as +then existing (43:23, 24), and to the sin of seeking heathen alliances +(57:9); and especially in the fact that a writer living near the close +of the exile must have referred in a more particular and historic way to +the great events connected with Cyrus' conquests. It may be added that +there are in the later prophets some clear allusions to this part of +Isaiah. Jeremiah, who undeniably made use of prophecies contained in the +first part of Isaiah, was acquainted with the second part also. Compare +Jer. 10:3,4, with Isa. 40:19, 20; 41:7; Jer. 31:35, with Isa. 51:15, +where a whole clause is repeated from Isaiah, which agrees in the Hebrew +to every letter; Jer. 50:2, with Isa. 46:1, 2. Compare also Zeph. 2:15, +with Isa. 47:8; Nah. 1:15, with Isa. 52:7. + +9. The arguments urged against the genuineness of certain sections of +the first part of Isaiah are for substance the same as these that have +now been examined, and need not a separate consideration. We come on +solid grounds to the conclusion that Isaiah was the author of the whole +collection of prophecies which bear his name, and that the arrangement +of these prophecies in their present form also proceeded from him. + + +II. JEREMIAH AND THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS. + +10. In passing from Isaiah to Jeremiah, the contrast is as great as it +can well be; and yet it is a contrast necessary to the completeness of +divine revelation, which employs men of all characters and temperaments, +and living in every variety of outward circumstances. Isaiah, like the +apostle John, seems to have lived above his personal relations in the +sphere of divine truth. He never alludes to his private history, except +where the nature of a given narrative requires it. It is not probable +that he was subjected to such an ordeal of persecution as that through +which Jeremiah passed. However this may be, we gain almost no knowledge +of his private life from the book of his prophecies. But Jeremiah, like +the apostle Paul, unfolds to us very fully the history of his inward and +outward life. With his peculiarly tender and sensitive mind it could not +have been otherwise. If he had not woven into his prophecies his own +inner and outer life, he would not have written naturally, and therefore +truthfully. Through this interweaving of biography with revelation, God +has given in the case of Jeremiah, as in that of the great apostle to +the Gentiles, a rich storehouse of truth for the instruction and comfort +of his persecuted and suffering servants in all ages. With the +simplicity of truth, the prophet informs us how the men of Anathoth, his +native place, conspired to take away his life (11:18-23; 12:6); how +Pashur, the son of Immer, smote him and put him in the stocks (20:1-6); +how in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign he was accused before the +princes by the priests and false prophets as a man worthy of death, but +acquitted by them (chap. 26); how afterwards he and Baruch were hidden +by Jehovah (chap 36); how under Zedekiah he was repeatedly imprisoned +(chaps. 32:2; 33:1), and thrust into dungeons (chaps. 37, 38); how upon +the conquest of the city by the Chaldeans he was released from his +fetters and honorably treated (chs. 39:11-14; 40:1-4); and how +afterwards he was forced to go into Egypt with the fugitive Jews (chaps. +42, 43). + +In connection with this external history, we have a vivid portraiture of +his inward conflicts. Most deeply does he sympathize with his countrymen +in the calamities which their sins have brought upon them; yet he is +rewarded only with curses, because he faithfully forewarns them of the +judgments of heaven which are fast approaching, and which can be averted +only by hearty repentance and reformation. "Woe is me, my mother," he +cries out in his anguish, "that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a +man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor +men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me" +(15:10); and like Job he loses all composure under the pressure of his +sorrows, and bitterly curses the day of his birth (20:14-18). Again we +see him in the hands of his persecutors serenely committing himself to +God, and calmly warning them against the guilt of shedding his blood +(26:12-15). In such alternations of impatience and faith we have a true +portraiture of the struggle of grace against the weakness of nature; and +it is this which gives it especial value as a part of revelation, which +never exhibits good men in a fictitious light, but always in the sober +livery of truth. + +11. Jeremiah was of priestly descent (1:1); but that Hilkiah, his +father, was identical with the high priest who found in the temple the +book of the law (2 Kings 22:8), rests upon mere conjecture. Anathoth, +his native place, was in the land of Benjamin, about four miles north of +Jerusalem. He was called to the prophetical office in his youth, and +exercised it in his native land from the thirteenth year of Josiah to +the close of Zedekiah's reign, through a period of about forty-one years +(chap. 1:3); and afterwards in Egypt, whither he was carried by the +rebellious remnant of the people (chaps. 43, 44). His first appearance, +therefore, was about one hundred and thirty-one years after that of +Isaiah, if we reckon from the last year of Uzziah, and some seventy or +more after the close of Isaiah's prophecies. During all this time the +religious and moral condition of the Jewish nation had been steadily +changing for the worse under such kings as Manasseh and Amon; nor could +the zealous efforts of Josiah avail to check the swelling tide of +idolatry and profligacy. Sent by Jehovah in such a degenerate age to +rebuke the wicked rulers and people for their sins, and to forewarn them +of God's impending judgments, he was necessarily subjected to much +persecution. Isaiah had administered stern rebukes to Ahaz and his +people, but he had encouraged them with the hope of successful +resistance to the Assyrian power. But from the Chaldeans, who had +succeeded the Assyrians as the ruling monarchy of the world, Jeremiah +could promise no deliverance. In the name of the Lord he counselled +submission, solemnly assuring the kings and princes of Judah that their +reliance on Egyptian help would end in shame and disappointment +(37:5-10). This brought upon him a load of calumny, insult, and +persecution, which he keenly felt, but bore with fortitude, never +swerving from the path of strict fidelity towards God. The prophecies of +Jeremiah do not contain so many animating visions of the distant future +as are found in Isaiah. He is more occupied with the sins of his own +age, and the heavy judgments of God that impend over his countrymen. His +mission is emphatically to unfold the connection between national +profligacy and national ruin. This he does with a masterly hand, holding +up to the world, in the character and fate, of his countrymen, a mirror +for all time, in which wicked nations may see themselves and the ruin +which awaits them. The whole compass of profane history does not contain +so much clear instruction on this point as is crowded into the few pages +of "the weeping prophet." If the book of God's revelation could not have +been complete without the ecstatic visions of Isaiah, so neither could +it have spared Jeremiah's vivid delineation of a profligate nation +plunging itself into remediless ruin by its iniquities. At times, +however, we find in Jeremiah also joyous anticipations of the good +reserved for God's people in the latter days. He predicted not only the +Babylonish captivity, but its termination at the end of seventy years, +and the perpetual overthrow of Babylon and the Chaldean power (25:12-14; +29:10-14). See also chapters 30-33, where he describes, after the manner +of Isaiah, the glory of the latter days. + + In Jeremiah we have an illustrious example of one whose + reputation after death became as high and lasting, as the + reproach which he endured before death was deep and protracted. + The men of his generation could not appreciate his worth. His + messages they treated with scorn, and him with contumely. + Through a long life of faithful labor it was his lot to endure + reproach and calumny. But neither their unbelief, nor the + burning of the roll of his prophecies by Jehoiakim could hinder + the fulfilment of his words. When the captivity had come, as he + had predicted, and especially when God's promise through him + that it should end after seventy years had been fulfilled, he + was honored as among the greatest of the prophets, and from that + day onward his name became as ointment poured forth. The history + of Jeremiah is also peculiarly encouraging to God's faithful + servants who labor on for years amid difficulties and + discouragements, and see no fruits of their toils. When he died + it seemed as if all his solemn messages had been wasted upon + that ungodly generation. But they were not lost to the Jews who + lived to witness the fulfilment of his predictions in their + captivity. In connection with the labors of Ezekiel and Daniel + they contributed greatly to bring about that change for the + better which took place during the exile. Through them, + moreover, God provided a treasury of instruction and comfort for + his people in all coming ages. How forcible a comment are his + life and labors upon the apostolic declaration made many + centuries afterwards: "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in + due season we shall reap if we faint not." + +12. Of the prophecies of Jeremiah some are without date, and where the +date is given the chronological order is not always observed. In the +fourth year of Jehoiakim the prophet, by God's direction, dictated to +Baruch, and he wrote in a roll of a book all the prophecies which God +had communicated to him from the days of Josiah to that time (36:1-4). +When the king had destroyed this roll, he was directed to prepare +another containing the same prophecies, and "there were added besides +unto them many like words" (36:27-32). Whatever use may have been made +of this manuscript in the compilation of our present book, it is plain +that it has not come down to us in its original form as a constituent +part of Jeremiah's prophecies; since in these, as we now have them, +there is an intermingling of messages before and after the fourth year +of Jehoiakim. We cannot tell the origin of the present order, nor is it +a matter of importance, so far as the instructions to be derived from +Jeremiah's writings are concerned. Following the Hebrew order (see +below) we have the following general divisions: + +(1.) Prophecies addressed to Judah, with which are connected many +notices of Jeremiah's personal history, and at the close of which stands +a message to Baruch. Chaps. 1-45. + +(2.) Prophecies against foreign nations. + +(3.) An appendix taken almost verbatim from 2 Kings 24:18-20 and chap. +25, and which seems to have been added by some later writer, as Ezra +(chap. 52.) + +It is not necessary to consider particularly the attempt made to +disprove the genuineness of certain parts of Jeremiah's prophecies, +since they all rest, not on critical grounds, but on the false principle +that has been already considered--the denial of the reality of prophetic +inspiration. Men who deny that Isaiah could foresee the restoration of +the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, must deny also that Jeremiah +could limit the duration of that captivity to seventy years. But with +those who believe that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the +Holy Ghost," such arguments cannot have weight. It is well known that +Jeremiah, particularly in his prophecies against foreign nations, made +use of earlier prophecies, as those of Isaiah and Obadiah. Compare Isa. +chaps. 15, 16 with Jer. chap. 48; Obadiah with Jer. 49:7-17. + + The Alexandrine version differs unaccountably from the Hebrew + text in its arrangement of the prophecies of Jeremiah. Those + against foreign nations come after chap. 25:13, and also follow + a very different order. Besides this, the Alexandrine exhibits a + number of variations larger and smaller from the Hebrew text. + The explanation of these differences in arrangement and in the + text is a matter of uncertain conjecture. + +13. _The book of Lamentations_ is designated in Hebrew by the opening +word _Echa_, _how_. The unanimous voice of antiquity ascribes it to +Jeremiah, and with this tradition agree its internal character and +style. It was written in view of the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem +by the Chaldeans, by an eye-witness of all the unutterable miseries +connected with that catastrophe. While it laments, in strains of the +deepest anguish, the desolation of Jerusalem with the slaughter and +captivity of its inhabitants, and heaps together images of horror, it +ascribes righteousness to God, and acknowledges the manifold sins of the +rulers and people as the cause of the overwhelming calamities that had +come upon them. We see throughout the feelings of a tender-hearted and +compassionate man, of a sincere patriot, and of a devout worshipper of +Jehovah beautifully blended together. Sad as is the picture, it is to us +who contemplate it in the light of history, not without its lessons of +comfort as well as of warning. It teaches us that in the midnight of +Zion's adversity her covenant God is with her, and that she has an +indestructible life. The prerogative which the Roman bard applied to his +country: "Plunge her in the deep, she comes out the stronger"--this high +prerogative belongs to the true spiritual Jerusalem, which no fire can +destroy, nor floods overwhelm. + +The structure of this book is peculiar. Its five chapters constitute +five poetical compositions, each complete in itself so far as outward +form is concerned, but the whole inwardly bound together as parts of one +great theme. The first and second chapters consist each of twenty-two +verses, arranged in the order of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew +alphabet; that is, the first verse beginning with the first letter, the +second with the second, and so on. Each of the verses, moreover, +contains as a rule _three_ clauses. The third chapter contains sixty-six +short verses of _one_ clause each, the first three beginning with the +first letter of the alphabet, the next three with the second, and so +throughout. In this central chapter, therefore, the alphabetic structure +reaches its culmination. The fourth chapter is like the first and +second, with the exception that the verses generally consist of _two_ +clauses each. The fifth chapter contains twenty-two short verses of +_one_ clause each, like those of the third, but not arranged +alphabetically. + + The more artificial structure of the third chapter marks it at + once as peculiar. In this the prophet, as the representative of + the pious part of the nation, bewails the calamities that have + come upon himself and his country, expresses his firm confidence + in God and his purpose to wait for deliverance in patient + submission to his will, exhorts his countrymen to repentance, + and offers up his fervent prayer to God that he would remember + his suffering people and punish their persecutors. The fifth + chapter is a complaint of Zion in prayer to God in view of the + terrible calamities that have come upon her. The other three + chapters (the first, second, and fourth) are occupied mainly + with a description of these calamities. + + +III. EZEKIEL. + +15. Ezekiel was especially the prophet of the captivity. Daniel, his +contemporary, received in Babylon glorious revelations respecting the +future history of God's kingdom; but he was a statesman, exercising the +prophetical office, like David, only in an incidental way. Ezekiel, on +the contrary, was expressly called and consecrated, like his +predecessors Isaiah and Jeremiah, to the prophetical office. Like +Isaiah, he has given us but few particulars concerning his personal +history. He was the son of Buzi, and of priestly descent (1:3); belonged +to that company of captives of the better class of the people who had +been carried away with Jehoiachin by the king of Babylon when he made +Zedekiah king in his stead (2 Kings 24:8-16); and lived with other +captives at Tell-abib on the Chebar (perhaps the ancient Chaboras, a +branch of the Euphrates), where he had a house and was married (1:1-3; +3:15; 8:1; 24:15-18). That he was held in high honor by his +fellow-captives, as a true prophet of God, is manifest from the manner +in which they assembled at his house to inquire of the Lord through him +(8:1; 14:1; 20:1). Of his personal standing and reputation, as well as +of the character of his hearers, we have an interesting notice in chap. +33:30-32, where instead of "talking against thee" (verse 30) we may +better render, as in the margin of our English version, "talking of +thee:" "Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people are still +talking of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak +one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and +hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they come +unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, +and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth +they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And +lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant +voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but +they do them not." Ezekiel was called to the prophetical office "in the +fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity" (1:2), from which date he +constantly reckons. Jeremiah's activity as a prophet continued not only +through the eleven years of Zedekiah's reign, but for a considerable +period afterwards; so that the two prophets were for some time +contemporary, the one prophesying in Jerusalem and afterwards in Egypt, +the other among the captives in Mesopotamia. The latest date which the +prophecies of Ezekiel furnish is the twenty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's +captivity, about twenty-two years from the time when he was called to +his office. How much longer he prophesied we have no means of +determining. + + The date with which the book of Ezekiel opens is "the thirtieth + year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month," which + was also "the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity" (verse + 2), or five hundred and ninety-five years before Christ. + Reckoning back from this date thirty years, we come to the + eighteenth year of Josiah, when he repaired the temple, and + solemnly renewed the worship of God; and also to the first year + of Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, who made Babylon + independent of the Assyrian monarchy, and thus established a new + era. Some have assumed the former of these two eras as that from + which the prophet reckons; but the latter is more probable. + Writing, as he does, under the Chaldean monarchy, it is natural + that he should give, at the outset, a date by which the + chronology of the whole series of his prophecies may be + determined in reference to Chaldean history. Elsewhere he dates + from Jehoiachin's captivity. + +16. It is not worth while to raise any questions concerning the purity +of Ezekiel's Hebrew, as compared with that of the earlier writers. The +Holy Spirit is not concerned about the classic style of a prophet. He +selects men whose natural qualities, providential training, and +sanctified hearts fit them for the work assigned to them; and under his +inspiration they speak and write in the dialect to which they and their +hearers are accustomed. Ezekiel's style is marked by Chaldaisms, as +might have been expected from the circumstances in which he wrote. At +the same time it is as forcible as it is peculiar, a style every way +adapted to the work laid upon him. He was sent to "a rebellious nation;" +to "impudent children and stiff-hearted," with the charge: "Be not +afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and +thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid +of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a +rebellious house" (2:3, 4, 6). How well he fulfilled his mission his +prophecies show, in which there is a wonderful fire and vehemence, +joined with a wonderful variety of representation and imagery. Proverbs, +parables, riddles, symbolic actions, vivid portraitures of human +wickedness, terrible denunciations of God's approaching judgments, and +glorious visions of future peace and prosperity in reserve for the true +Israel--these are all familiar to him, and are set forth often with an +exuberant fulness of imagery. When summoned by God to judge "the bloody +city" of Jerusalem, ripe for the judgments of heaven, he heaps one upon +another the black crimes of which she is guilty (22:6-12). The +repetitions so remarkably characteristic of his style are those of +energy, not of weakness. They are the repetitions of a battering-ram +that gives blow upon blow till the wall crumbles before it. The same may +be said of his amplifications, as in chaps. 1, 16, 23, 27, etc. He had a +remarkable adaptation to his office; and his influence must have been +very great in bringing about the reformation of the nation which took +place during the captivity. + +17. Ezekiel abounds in allegoric and symbolic representations. These +give to many of his prophecies a dark and mysterious character, and make +them difficult of interpretation. Jerome long ago called the book "an +ocean and labyrinth of the mysteries of God." Nevertheless, the common +reader finds in him much that is plain of apprehension, and full of +weighty instruction. Reserving the general subject of the interpretation +of prophecy for another place, we add here a few words respecting the +nature of allegories and symbols, and the principles upon which they are +to be interpreted. + +An _allegory_ is a narrative of a real event expressed in figurative +language; that is, where one historic transaction is described under the +image of another. Thus in chap. 17:1-10, the two great eagles are +Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh; the highest branch of the cedar is +Jehoiachin; the cropping off and carrying away of this branch is his +removal by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, etc. So also the extended +descriptions of Jerusalem in chap. 16, and of Jerusalem and Samaria in +chap. 23, under the figure of lewd women. For other beautiful examples +of allegory see Judges 9:8-15; Isa. 5:1-6; Psa. 80; Mark 12:1-9. + +In scriptural usage _parables_ are not always distinguished from +allegories. But properly speaking parables are narratives of supposed +incidents--at least of incidents the reality of which is of no +consequence--for the purpose of illustrating important truths; while +allegories are figurative descriptions of actual events. + +A _symbol_ represents some great truth or event of the future under the +form of an action, or some material structure or arrangement. _Prophetic +symbols_ take the form of actions, and are of two kinds: + +First, _actual_, where the prophet himself performs some action before +the eyes of his countrymen; as in chap. 24:18, where Ezekiel, in +obedience to God's command, refrains from all expressions of grief at +the death of his wife; and chap, 37:16, 17, where he joins together two +sticks to represent the reunion of the ten tribes with Judah and +Benjamin. See also Jer. 27:2 compared with 28:10. + +Secondly, _ideal_; that is, seen only in vision; like Ezekiel's prophecy +upon the dry bones, chap. 37:1-10, and his measurements of the New +Jerusalem with its temple, porches, etc. Chaps. 40-48. + +It is often difficult to determine to which of these two classes a given +symbol belongs. Did Jeremiah, for example, actually go to Euphrates to +bury the linen girdle there, or only in prophetic ecstacy? Jer. 13:1-11. +Did Ezekiel perform the acts recorded in chap. 4 in reality or in +vision? The answer to such questions is not of great importance, since +either way the meaning of the symbols and the instructions which they +furnish are the same. + +18. If we divide the book of Ezekiel into two equal parts of twenty-four +chapters each, the _first_ part contains prophecies delivered before the +overthrow of Jerusalem. These are arranged in chronological order. After +an introductory chapter describing the vision of the glory of God which +the prophet had when called to his office, there follows, in the form of +visions, allegories, symbolic actions, and direct addresses, a series of +vivid descriptions of the sins of Jerusalem and the judgments of heaven +that are about to fall upon her. With these are interspersed +denunciations of the false prophets that flatter the people in their +sins, and fervent addresses to his fellow-captives remarkable for their +plainness and evangelical spirit. The _second_ part opens with a series +of prophecies against seven foreign nations, in which the order of time +is not observed--first, short prophecies against the four neighboring +nations, Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia (chap. 25); secondly, a series of +prophecies against Tyre, to which is appended a short prophecy against +Sidon (chaps. 26-28); thirdly, a like series of prophecies against Egypt +(chaps. 29-32). These prophecies were fulfilled through the same +Chaldean power that executed God's righteous vengeance on the covenant +people. As the number _seven_ is made out by separating Sidon from Tyre +to which it properly belonged, it is rightly held to be a symbolic +number, as in the book of Revelation and elsewhere, seven being the +well-known symbol of completeness. With the announcement of the fall of +Jerusalem (33:21) the thunders of God's wrath that had so long rolled +over her die away; and the series of prophecies that follows is mainly +occupied, like the last part of Isaiah, with predictions of the future +glory of Zion, in connection with God's awful judgments upon the wicked +within and without her borders. Of these the last nine chapters contain +a description of the vision which God vouchsafed to the prophet of a new +Jerusalem, with its temple, priests and altars, rising out of the ruins +of the former, of larger extent and in a more glorious form. He sees +the land of Canaan also divided out to the returning captives by lot, as +it was in the days of Joshua, but upon an entirely different plan. + +The general plan of the temple is after the model of Solomon's; yet this +vision is not to be understood as a mere prophecy of the rebuilding of +Solomon's temple with the city in which it stood, and of the +repossession of the land after the Babylonish captivity. Several +particulars in the description make it plain that it was not intended to +be literally understood. See chaps. 42:15-20; 45:1-8; 47:1-12; and the +whole of chap. 48. It is rather a symbolical representation of the +coming deliverance and enlargement of the true spiritual Zion, which is +God's church, the same in all ages. The resettlement of the land of +Canaan, and the rebuilding of the temple and city after the captivity, +were a part indeed, but only a very small part of the "good things to +come" which the vision shadowed forth. Its fulfilment belongs to the +entire history of the church from Ezekiel's day onward, and it will be +completed only in her final triumph over the kingdom of Satan, and her +establishment in permanent peace and holiness. + +As the time had not yet come for the old covenant to pass away, Ezekiel, +who was himself a priest under the law of Moses, saw the future +enlargement of God's kingdom under the forms of this covenant. The New +Jerusalem which God revealed to him had its temple, priests, altar, and +sacrifices. All these were shadows of Christ's perfect priesthood, of +the spiritual temple of which he is the chief corner-stone, and of the +spiritual priesthood of his people. 1 Peter 2:5-9. The literal +priesthood, altar, and sacrifices are for ever done away in Christ's one +perfect offering for the sins of the world on Calvary. Heb. chaps. 9, +10. + +In interpreting the vision before us we should not curiously inquire +after the meaning of every particular chamber and pillar and door, but +rather look to the general meaning of the whole. The angel measures, and +the prophet records all the parts of the building. This signifies, in +general, that God's care extends to all parts of his spiritual temple, +and that he will see that they are in due time made perfect. The New +Jerusalem described by the apostle John has much in common with this. It +is, in truth, a vision of the same spiritual city, "whose builder and +maker is God." But it differs from Ezekiel's vision in two respects. +First, it belongs apparently to the glorified state of the church after +the resurrection; secondly, it has nothing Jewish in it, neither temple +nor altar. These shadows have for ever passed away. + + +IV. DANIEL. + +19. The book of Daniel is assigned in the Hebrew canon to the third +division, called _Hagiographa_. For the supposed grounds of this, see +above, Chap. 13, No. 4. Daniel, like Jeremiah, has interwoven into his +writings so many biographical notices of himself, that we gather from +them a pretty full history of his life. He belonged to the royal family +of Judah, being one of the number "of the king's seed and of the +princes," whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried captive to Babylon in an +invasion not recorded in the books of Kings or Chronicles (1:1-3). Thus +was fulfilled the prophecy recorded in Isa. 39:7. But God graciously +turned this into a rich blessing to the Hebrew nation; for Daniel, +having been educated with his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and +Azariah, "in the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans," and having +"understanding in all visions and dreams," a remarkable proof of which +he gave by relating to Nebuchadnezzar the dream which had gone from him, +with its interpretation, was made "ruler over the whole province of +Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon," +and at his request his three companions were also set over the affairs +of the province of Babylon (chaps. 1, 2). He continued in high honor at +the court of Babylon as a wise and incorruptible statesman, and a +prophet who had the gift of interpreting dreams, till the overthrow of +the Chaldean empire by the Medes and Persians. By Darius the Mede he was +treated with like honor (perhaps in connection with his interpretation +of Belshazzar's dream, chap. 5), being made chief of the three +presidents whom he set over his whole realm, and a plot formed to +destroy him was frustrated through God's miraculous interposition and +turned to the increase of his honor and influence; so that he continued +to prosper "in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the +Persian" (chap. 6). He lived, therefore, to see the release of his +countrymen from their long captivity, though it does not appear that he +himself returned to his native land. Probably he continued in the +service of the Persian court to the day of his death. + +20. The first chapter is introductory to the whole book, giving an +account of the selection and education of Daniel and his three +companions by direction of the king of Babylon. The prophecies that +follow naturally fall into two series. The _first_, occupying chaps. +2-7, is written in Chaldee from the middle of the fourth verse of chap. +2. It unfolds the relation which God's kingdom holds to the heathen +powers as seen (1,) in a twofold vision of the four great monarchies of +the world, in the form first of an image consisting of four parts, and +then of four great beasts rising up out of the sea, the last monarchy +being succeeded by the kingdom of the God of heaven, which shall never +be destroyed (chaps. 2, 7); (2,) in the protection and deliverance of +God's faithful servants from the persecution of heathen kings and +princes (chaps. 3, 6); (3,) in the humbling of heathen monarchs for +their pride, idolatry, and profanation of the sacred vessels belonging +to the sanctuary (chaps. 4, 5). Thus we see that the first three of +these six chapters (2-7) correspond to the last three taken in an +inverse order--the second to the seventh, the third to the sixth, and +the fourth to the fifth. The _second_ series, consisting of the +remaining five chapters, is written in Hebrew. This also exhibits the +conflict between God's kingdom and the heathen world, taking up the +second and third monarchies under the images of a ram and a he-goat. +Chap. 8. There follow some special details relating to the nearer +future, with some very remarkable revelations respecting the time of the +Messiah's advent, the destruction of the holy city by the Romans, the +last great conflict between the kingdom of God and its enemies, and the +final resurrection. + +The intimate connection between the book of Daniel and the Revelation of +John must strike every reader of the holy Scriptures. They mutually +interpret each other, and together constitute one grand system of +prophecy extending down to the end of the world. Both also contain +predictions, the exact interpretation of which is extremely difficult, +perhaps impossible, till the mystery of God shall be finished. + +21. That they who deny the reality of miracles and prophecy should +receive the book of Daniel as genuine and authentic is impossible. To +review the history of the assaults made by them upon it, or of the +volumes written in reply, is foreign to the plan of the present work. A +brief summary only will be given of the grounds on which its claim to a +place in the canon of the Old Testament is vindicated. + +(1.) The _unity_ of the book of Daniel is now conceded. "The two leading +divisions are so related that the one implies the existence of the +other. Both have the same characteristics of manner and style, though a +considerable portion of the book is in Chaldee, and the remainder in +Hebrew." Davidson after Keil and others, Introduction to the Old +Testament, p. 916. This being admitted, the book as a whole claims +Daniel for its author; for in it he often speaks in the first person, +and in the last chapter the book is manifestly ascribed to him (12:4, +9). + +(2.) The uniform tradition of the Jews ascribed the book to Daniel. It +was on this ground that they received it into the canon of the Old +Testament. The objection that they did not class Daniel with the +prophets, but with the Hagiographa (see above, Chap. 13, No. 4) is of no +account. Had the book belonged, as the objectors claim, to the Maccabean +age, it would not have found a place in the Hagiographa any more than in +the prophets. The first book of Maccabees, which contains authentic +history, was never received into the Hebrew canon, because, as the Jews +rightly judged, it was written after the withdrawal of the spirit of +prophecy. Much less would they have received, under the illustrious name +of Daniel, a book written as late as the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, +more than three centuries and a half after Daniel. That they should have +done this through ignorance is inconceivable; that they could have done +it through fraud is a supposition not to be admitted for a moment, for +it is contrary to all that we know of their conscientious care with +regard to the sacred text. + + It may be added that the book of Baruch, which cannot be placed + later than the Maccabean age, and is perhaps earlier, makes + abundant use of the book of Daniel; and that the author of the + first book of Maccabees had this book in the Alexandrine + version, as is plain from the peculiar expressions employed by + him in chap. 1:54--"they built the abomination of desolation + upon the altar." Compare Dan. 9:27 of the Alexandrine version. + +(3.) Josephus relates, Antiq. 11. 8. 5, among the other particulars of +the visit which Alexander the Great made to Jerusalem, that the high +priest Jaddus (Jaddua) showed him the book of Daniel "in which he +signified that a certain one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of +the Persians;" and that this, in connection with other extraordinary +circumstances narrated by Josephus, had the effect of assuaging the +king's wrath which had been excited against the Jewish high priest and +people by their refusal to render him assistance against Darius, and of +disposing him to bestow upon them great favors. Respecting the +authenticity of this narrative there has been much discussion; but there +is no ground for denying its substantial truth. It bears the stamp of +reality, and it accounts, moreover, for the extraordinary privileges +conferred upon the Jews by Alexander, which otherwise remain +inexplicable. + +(4.) _Christ himself recognizes Daniel as a true prophet._ He refers to +the future fulfilment of one of his prophecies as a most important sign +for his disciples: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of +desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place +(whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea +flee into the mountains." Matt. 24:15, 16; Mark 13:14. De Wette says +indeed: "In the nature of the case Christ neither _would_ nor _could_ be +a critical authority." That our Lord did not assume to be a critical +authority in the ordinary sense of the term is evident; for in this very +case he referred to the Alexandrine version, without pausing to notice +its variation from the Hebrew. But our Lord knew whether the book of +Daniel is a collection of real prophecies, or a spurious work composed +several centuries after Daniel, imposing upon the world in Daniel's name +pretended prophecies written after the events. Far be it from any one +who believes in the reality of Christ's supernatural mission thus to +make him set the seal of his divine authority to the work of an +impostor. Heb. 11:33, 34 also refers undeniably to Daniel, chaps. 6 and +3. + +(5.) The _language_ of the book agrees with the age of Daniel. The +writer employs both Hebrew and Chaldee, thus indicating that he lives +during the period of transition from the former to the latter language. +His Chaldee, moreover, like that of Ezra, contains Hebrew forms such as +do not occur in the earliest of the Targums. His Hebrew, on the other +hand, agrees in its general character with that of Ezekiel and Ezra. +Though the Hebrew survived as the language of the learned for some time +after the captivity, we cannot suppose that so late as the age of +Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabees a Jewish author could have +employed either such Hebrew as Daniel uses, or such Chaldee. + +(6.) The author manifests intimate acquaintance with the historical +relations, manners, and customs belonging to Daniel's time. Under this +head writers have specified the custom of giving new names to those +taken into the king's service (1:7); the threat that the houses of the +magi should be made a dunghill (2:5); the different forms of capital +punishment in use among the Chaldeans and Medo-Persians; the dress of +Daniel's companions (3:21); the presence of women at the royal banquet +(5:2), etc. See Davidson's Introduction, p. 920, who sums up the +argument thus: "It is improbable that an author in the Maccabean times +should have been so _uniformly accurate_ in his narrative, without +having been in Babylon itself." + +22. The objections urged against the book of Daniel are not of a nature +to overthrow the mass of evidence in its favor. They may be considered +under the following heads: + +(1.) Various _chronological and historical difficulties_. It is said +that Jewish history knows no expedition of Nebuchadnezzar against +Jerusalem in the _third_ year of Jehoiakim. The answer is that an +expedition which apparently fell about this time is mentioned in 2 Kings +24:1. The actual capture of the city, however, seems not to have taken +place before the _fourth_ year of Jehoiakim; for Jeremiah, in a prophecy +dated in this fourth year, speaks in terms which imply that the +threatened blow had not yet fallen. Jer. 25:9. Perhaps Daniel, chap. +1:1, dates from the beginning of the expedition, so that it fell partly +in the third and partly in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. It was in +connection with this expedition of Nebuchadnezzar that he overthrew the +army of Pharaoh-necho at Carchemish on the Euphrates; for that event +also took place in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jer. 46:2. + + We learn from Berosus, as quoted by Josephus (Antiq. 10. 11. 1), + that when Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in this expedition, and had + already conquered the Egyptians, he received tidings that the + throne of Babylon was made vacant by the death of his father. + Upon this he hastened with his light troops across the desert to + Babylon, leaving the body of his army to return by the ordinary + route. + +It is said again that the dates given in Jer. 25:1 and Dan, 2:1 cannot +be reconciled with each other. In the former of these the _first_ year +of Nebuchadnezzar is the fourth of Jehoiakim, in which year, or at all +events in the preceding year, Daniel with his three companions was taken +captive. Yet after they have been transported to Babylon and received an +education there extending through three years (Dan. 1:5), we find Daniel +interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the _second_ year of his reign. +To this it can be answered in part that in the second book of Kings and +in Jeremiah the years of Nebuchadnezzar are obviously reckoned from the +time when he was placed by his father, who was now old and infirm, at +the head of his army, the title of king being applied to him by way of +anticipation. 2 Kings 24:12; 25:8; Jer. 25:1. In the book of Daniel, on +the contrary, his years are reckoned from his actual accession to the +throne. But even then it is necessary to assume a considerable delay +between his return from his Egyptian expedition and his formal +investiture with the kingdom. + + The grounds of such a delay we can only conjecture. It may have + been connected with the settlement of the affairs of the realm, + which he found, Berosus tells us, administered by the Chaldeans, + the kingdom being kept for him by the chief man among them; or + the statement of Berosus may be wanting in fulness and accuracy. + An argument from our ignorance cannot be urged against the + authenticity of Daniel any more than in its favor. + +As to the acknowledged difficulties connected with the identification of +Belshazzar and Darius the Median (chap. 5), it is sufficient to say that +the notices which we have of the Chaldean monarchy after Nebuchadnezzar +are so fragmentary and contradictory that no valid argument can be drawn +from such difficulties against the authenticity of the book of Daniel. + + An old opinion identifies Belshazzar with Nabonnedus, who was + either a son of Nebuchadnezzar or a grandson--called his son, + Dan. 5:22, in the sense of his descendant. But Rawlinson (as + quoted in Smith's Bible Dictionary) informs us that from + inscriptions deciphered by him it appears that the eldest son of + Nabonnedus was called _Bel-shar-ezer=Belshazzar_. He thinks that + as joint king with his father he may have been governor of + Babylon, when the city was taken by the Medes and Persians, and + have perished in the assault, while, in accordance with the + statements of Berosus, Nabonnedus himself survived. Upon either + of the above suppositions, Darius the Median will be Cyaxares + II., son of Astyages and uncle to Cyrus, who succeeded to the + title of king--"took the kingdom" (Dan 5:31 and chap. 6)--though + the conquest of Babylon was due to Cyrus himself, who not long + afterwards ascended the throne of the united kingdoms of Media + and Persia. Another view makes Belshazzar the same as + Evil-merodach, son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, and + identifies Darius the Median with Astyages. It is not necessary + to decide which, if either of these two views, is correct. + +(2.) An argument has been drawn from the fact that Jesus, the son of +Sirach, does not mention the name of Daniel in the catalogue of his +worthies (chap. 49). Such negative arguments are at best weak, and this +loses all its force from the circumstance that he omits others, as Ezra +and Mordecai (the twelve minor prophets also, since chap. 49:10 is +regarded as spurious). + +(3.) The alleged _linguistic_ difficulties have been reduced, so far as +the date of the book is concerned, to three or four Greek names of +musical instruments; all of which--the instruments and their names--may +naturally enough have been brought from Greece, the home of musical art, +in the way of ordinary commercial intercourse. We are not called upon to +defend the classic purity of Daniel's style. A Hebrew and educated at +the court of Babylon, it was natural that his Chaldee should be colored +with Hebrew forms, and his Hebrew with Chaldaisms. The argument from the +general style of the book is in favor of its genuineness, not against +it. + +(4.) The _commendations_ bestowed upon Daniel are thought to be +inconsistent with his being the author of the book. Some, who admit its +authenticity and its right to a place in the sacred canon, have been led +by this consideration to adopt the opinion that Daniel, though +essentially the author of the book, did not himself put it into its +present form, but that some one of his countrymen put together his +prophecies, prefixing to them introductory notices respecting the +author. So far as the canonical authority of the book is concerned there +are no serious objections to this hypothesis; but we may well ask +whether undue weight is not given to the objection under consideration. +Throughout the whole book these commendatory notices are underlaid by +the idea that Daniel's wisdom is not his own, but is given him by God, +and for purposes connected with the welfare of the covenant people. By +revealing to his servant secrets beyond the ken of all the wise men of +Babylon, he manifests at once his own infinite perfections and the +vanity of the Chaldean gods; and this Daniel records to the glory of the +God of Israel. + +(5.) The real objection to the book lies, as already intimated, in _the +supernatural character of its contents_--in the remarkable miracles and +prophecies which it records. The miracles of this book are of a very +imposing character, especially adapted to strike the minds of the +beholders with awe and wonder. But so are those also recorded in the +beginning of the book of Exodus. In both cases they were alike fitted to +make upon the minds of the heathen, in whose presence they were +performed, the impression of God's power to save and deliver in all +possible circumstances. The prophecies are mostly in the form of dreams +and visions; and they are in wonderful harmony with Daniel's position as +a minister of state at the court of Babylon, and also with the relation +of Judaism to the heathen world. In the providence of God, the history +of his covenant people, and through them of the visible kingdom of +heaven, had become inseparably connected with that of the great +monarchies of the world. How appropriate, then, that God should reveal, +in its grand outlines, the course of these monarchies to the final and +complete establishment of the kingdom of heaven (2:44, 45; 7:26, 27). In +all this we find nothing against the general analogy of prophecy, but +every thing in strict conformity with it. In the seventh chapter there +appears, for the first time, an interpreting angel communicating to the +prophet, _in connected discourse_, the meaning of the vision which he +has just seen. So also in the eighth chapter and onward. Such a mode of +revelation is peculiarly adapted to _the communication of details_, and +in the eleventh chapter these are given to an unparalleled extent. But +this constitutes no ground for denying the reality of the prophecy. +Though the spirit of prophecy does not, as a general rule, give future +events in their succession, this is sometimes done. So it is in God's +announcement to Abraham of the bondage of his posterity (Gen. 15:13-16); +and also in our Lord's prophecy of the overthrow of Jerusalem (Matt., +chap. 24). In this respect it does not become us to prescribe rules for +the wisdom of God. + + We need not pursue this subject any farther. No one of the above + difficulties, nor all combined, can outweigh the evidence we + have for the genuineness and authenticity of the book of Daniel. + On the contrary, the hypothesis that it belongs to so late an + age as that of the Maccabees is beset with difficulties + inconceivably greater. It has for its foundation not sober + criticism, but the denial of the supernatural. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. + + +1. By the Jewish arrangement, which places together the twelve minor +prophets in a single volume, the chronological order of the prophets as +a whole is broken up. The three greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and +Ezekiel, stand in the true order of time. Daniel began to prophesy +before Ezekiel, but continued, many years after him. The Jewish +arrangement of the twelve minor prophets is in a sense chronological; +that is, they put the earlier prophets at the beginning, and the later +at the end of the collection. It does not appear, however, that they +intended to follow the order of time with exactness. If they did, then +in the judgment of many they committed errors. The particulars must be +discussed as the books come up separately for consideration. + + In regard to the first six, the arrangement of the Septuagint + differs from the Masoretic, which is followed in our version, as + follows: + + MASORETIC TEXT. SEPTUAGINT VERSION. + + 1. Hosea. 1. Hosea. + 2. Joel. 2. Amos. + 3. Amos. 3. Micah. + 4. Obadiah. 4. Joel. + 5. Jonah. 5. Obadiah. + 6. Micah. 6. Jonah. + +2. This precious collection contains the earliest as well as the latest +writings of the Hebrew prophets, except such as are embodied in the +historical books; for Hosea, Joel, and Amos, at least, are older than +Isaiah, and the three prophets of the restoration are younger than +Ezekiel and Daniel. The minor prophets exhibit a great diversity of +manner and style--the rugged and sententious, the full and flowing, the +oratorical, and the simple and unadorned. In them are passages attaining +to the sublimity of Isaiah, to the tenderness and pathos of Jeremiah, +and to the vehemence of Ezekiel. Nowhere do we find sin rebuked with +more awful severity, the true meaning of the law more clearly expounded, +or the future glory of Zion more confidently predicted. That some of +these writings are obscure and of difficult interpretation cannot be +denied. This arises partly from the character of the style, as in the +case of Hosea and others; partly from the nature of the themes +discussed, as in Zechariah; partly from our ignorance of the times and +circumstances of the writers. Nevertheless the prayerful student will +find in them a rich treasury of divine truth, which will abundantly +reward the labor bestowed upon it. + + +I. HOSEA. + +3. The prophecies of Hosea were addressed immediately to the kingdom of +the ten tribes, yet so that he did not overlook Judah; for he considered +the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel as constituting together the +covenant people of God. Of his personal history we know nothing except +that he was the son of Beeri, for the transactions of the first three +chapters may be best understood as symbolic acts seen only in vision. +See above, Chap. 22, No. 17. For any thing that appears to the contrary, +he was of Israelitish descent. As it is generally agreed that Isaiah +began to prophesy in the last year of Uzziah's reign, or but a few years +before his death, while Hosea prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam II., +the great-grandson of Jehu (2 Kings 14:23), who died about twenty-six +years before Uzziah, it follows that Hosea, though partly contemporary +with Isaiah, was called to the prophetical work at an earlier period. If +we suppose him to have commenced prophesying two years before the death +of Jeroboam, and then add the twenty-six remaining years of Uzziah's +reign, the sixteen of Jotham, the sixteen of Ahaz, and two of the first +years of Hezekiah, we shall have a period of sixty-two years. To Israel +this was a calamitous period, embracing four usurpations and murders of +the reigning sovereigns, and three invasions of the Assyrians. See the +history in 2 Kings 15:8-31, and 17:1-6. In the last of these Hosea, king +of Israel, became tributary to Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; but he +proved unfaithful to his master, and sought the alliance of So, king of +Egypt. 2 Kings 17:4. For this the Assyrian king besieged him in Samaria, +and after a siege of three years, took him with the city, and put an end +to the kingdom of Israel in the fifth year of Hezekiah, king of Judah. +Hosea seems to have closed his writings when Hoshea was seeking the help +of Egypt, while he had at the same time a covenant with Assyria (12:1), +consequently somewhere early in Hezekiah's reign. + +4. Hosea's style is very concise and sententious, and his diction +impresses even the casual reader as original and peculiar. A remarkable +feature of his book is the constancy with which he sets forth the +relation of Israel to Jehovah under the figure of the marriage-covenant; +thus making unfaithfulness to God, and especially idolatry and +idolatrous alliances, to be spiritual adultery and whoredom. This fact +affords a key to the interpretation of the first three chapters, where +the nature of the transactions requires that we understand them not as +historic events, but as prophetic symbols occurring only in vision. The +remaining eleven chapters contain perhaps a summary of the prophet's +discourses to the people, written by himself near the close of his +ministry. The prophecies of Hosea are repeatedly referred to in the New +Testament as a part of the oracles of God. Matt. 2:15; 9:13; 12:7; Rom. +9:25, 26; and an allusion in 1 Cor. 15:55. The prophet brings his book +to a close with a delightful and refreshing view of the future +prosperity and peace of the true Israel, chap. 14. + + +II. JOEL. + +5. The prophecies of Joel, the son of Pethuel, give no specifications of +place or time. But all the internal indications of the book point to +Judea--probably Jerusalem, with its temple, altar, priesthood, and +solemn assemblies--as the sphere of his labors, and to the date as among +the earliest of those belonging to written prophecy. The coincidences +between Joel and Amos cannot well be regarded as accidental. Compare +Joel 3:16 with Amos 1:2; Joel 3:18 with Amos 9:13; and notice the +striking similarity in the close of the two prophecies. If we may assume +that one of these prophets borrowed expressions from the other, the +priority will naturally be given to Joel, from whose closing address +(3:16) Amos takes the opening words of his prophecies. He must then be +placed as early, at least, as the reign of Uzziah, and perhaps earlier. + + From the fact that Joel does not mention as among the enemies of + Judah the Syrians who invaded Judah in the reign of Joash, the + grandfather of Uzziah, some have placed him as early as the + reign of Joash before this Syrian invasion. There is no ground + for placing him after Uzziah; for his writings contain no + allusion to the Assyrian power, which became so formidable soon + after Uzziah's time. + +6. The writings of Joel bear the full impress of culture in a prophetic +school. His Hebrew is of the purest kind; his style is easy, flowing, +elegant, and adorned with magnificent imagery; and for vividness and +power of description he is not surpassed by any of the prophets. The +immediate occasion of his prophecies is a double plague of drought and +locusts, which has already invaded the land, and whose desolating +progress he describes in poetic strains of matchless elegance and power. +He summons the people of all classes to repentance, and promises, upon +this condition, not only the restoration of the land to its former +fruitfulness, but also the outpouring of God's Spirit upon all flesh, +the triumph of the covenant people over all their foes, and an era of +universal holiness and peace. In this respect he is a model for all the +prophets that come after him. They all with one accord look forward +beyond the calamities of the present time, and the heavier impending +calamities which they are commissioned to foretell in the near future, +to the glory of the latter days, when Zion shall be made triumphant over +all her foes, and the whole earth shall be given her for her +inheritance. The apostle Peter, in his address on the day of Pentecost, +quotes a remarkable prophecy of Joel (2:28-32, compared with Acts +2:16-21). + + The opinion of some commentators, that under the figure of + locusts are represented simply hostile armies, must be regarded + as forced and unnatural. More probable is the opinion of + Henderson and others, that the prophet uses an actual invasion + of the land by locusts as the type of a more formidable invasion + of foreign foes. But there does not seem to be any valid reason + for departing from the simple interpretation above given. + + +III. AMOS. + +7. Amos prophesied "concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of +Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel, two +years before the earthquake" (1:1). The time of this earthquake, which +is simply mentioned by Zechariah (14:5) as occurring in Uzziah's reign, +cannot be determined. We only know that Amos must have prophesied +somewhere during the last part of the reign of Jeroboam II., when he was +contemporary with Uzziah. Amos was thus contemporary with Hosea, and was +a considerable number of years earlier than Isaiah, who began to +prophesy near the close of Uzziah's long reign of fifty-two years. The +very specific date "two years before the earthquake" indicates that his +whole mission to Israel was executed within a single year, perhaps +within a few months. It seems to have been after his return to Judah, +when at least two years had elapsed, that he collected his prophecies +and put them into their present form. + +Amos describes himself as one of "the herdmen of Tekoa," a small town +southeast of Bethlehem on the border of the wilderness of Judah. 2 +Chron. 20:20. It belonged to Judah, whence we infer that Amos was +himself a Jew, a supposition which agrees well with the advice of +Amaziah: "O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and +there eat bread, and prophesy there" (7:12). He speaks of himself as "no +prophet, neither a prophet's son" (7:14); which means that he had not +been trained up for the prophetical office in any school of the +prophets, as were "the sons of the prophets." 1 Kings 20:35; 2 Kings +2:3, etc. God took him from following the herd, and gave him a +commission to prophesy to His people Israel, an office which he executed +at Bethel, where one of the golden calves erected by Jeroboam the son of +Nebat was worshipped (7:10-17 compared with 1 Kings 12:29). In entire +harmony with this historical notice is the character of his prophecies. +His style has not the flowing fulness of Joel, but charms the reader by +its freshness and simplicity. His writings abound in images taken from +rural scenes and employments, some of which are very unique and striking +in their character. See chaps. 2:13; 3:12; 5:19; 6:12; 9:2, 3, 9. He +opens his prophecies by a solemn annunciation of the approaching +judgments of heaven upon the nations bordering on Israel, specifying in +each case the sin which has provoked God's wrath. The storm passes, +without pausing in its course, over Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, +Moab, Judah, till at last it reaches Israel. Here it rests, gathers +blackness, and thunders long and loud. The reign of Jeroboam II was one +of much outward prosperity. 2 Kings 14:25-28. The vices which Amos +rebukes are those which belong to such a period--avarice, violence, +oppression of the poor, perversion of justice, luxury, lewdness--all +these joined with the idolatrous worship established by Jeroboam the son +of Nebat. For such multiplied transgressions God will cause the sun to +go down at noon, and darken the earth in the clear day. Their feasts +shall be turned into mourning, their songs into lamentation, and they +shall go into captivity beyond Damascus. But while all the sinners among +God's people thus perish by the sword, he will remember his true Israel +for good. He will rear up again the fallen tabernacle of David, bring +again the captivity of his people of Israel, and plant them for ever in +their own land in peace and prosperity. Thus do the visions of Amos, +like those of Hosea and Joel, close with a cheering view of the future +glory of Zion. Amos is twice quoted in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts +7:42, 43; 15:16, 17). + + +IV. OBADIAH. + +8. The short prophecy of Obadiah is directed against Edom. The Edomites +were conspicuous for their hatred of the covenant people. See Ezek. +25:12; 35:5-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11, and the parallel prophecy of Jer. +49:7-22. Accordingly they stand here, in respect to both their guilt and +punishment, as the representatives of Zion's enemies in all ages. In +like manner the promised victory of God's people over them shadows forth +the universal triumph of the kingdom of heaven which is reserved for +"the last days." + +Concerning the date of Obadiah's prophecy expositors are not agreed. The +whole question turns upon the interpretation of verses 11-14. That these +contain an historic allusion to the exultation of the Edomites over the +capture and plunder of Jerusalem cannot well be doubted. If this was the +final capture of the city by the Chaldeans, then Obadiah's place will be +after the beginning of the Babylonish captivity. But since no mention is +made of the burning of Jerusalem, some suppose that the prophet refers +to an earlier capture, as that by the Philistines and Arabians under +Jehoram. 2 Chron. 21:16, 17. In favor of this view is urged the fact +that Jeremiah, who was in the habit of using the writings of the earlier +prophets, has much in common with Obadiah. + + That Jeremiah borrowed the language of Obadiah is far more + probable than that both prophets availed themselves of an older + document, as some have conjectured. Since, however, Jerusalem + was taken more than once by the Chaldeans before its final + overthrow (2 Kings chap. 24; Dan. 1:1), Obadiah may have + referred to one of these earlier captures, and yet have written + before Jeremiah penned his prophecy against Edom. + + +V. JONAH. + +9. We learn from 2 Kings 14:25 that Jonah, the son of Amittai, was of +Gath-hepher, which is undoubtedly the same as Gittah-hepher, a town of +the tribe of Zebulun in the northern part of Palestine (Josh. 19:13); +and that he predicted the successes of Jeroboam II. According to the +general analogy of Scripture, prophecies like this, relating to one +particular event, are not separated by any great space of time from +their fulfilment. He belongs, therefore, in all probability, to the days +of Jeroboam II, when Amos also flourished. There is no valid reason for +assigning him, as some do, to an earlier date. + +10. The story of the book of Jonah is too simple to need any analysis. +His act in fleeing from God's presence, when commissioned to go to +Nineveh with a threatening message, is very extraordinary; but such is +the inconsistency and folly of human passion. The conduct of the +mariners when overtaken by a tempest is not wonderful: it is in harmony +with all that we know of ancient habits of thinking and acting. But what +befell Jonah, when cast into the sea, is more than wonderful: it is +miraculous. That there exist in the Mediterranean fish capable of +swallowing a man entire is a well-attested fact. The original Hebrew +mentions only, "a great fish." The Alexandrine version, and after that +the New Testament, use the word _whale_ apparently in the sense of any +great sea monster. But whatever the fish may have been, his preservation +alive in its body for the space of three days, and his subsequent +ejection upon the dry land, can be accounted for only by reference to +the immediate power of God, with whom nothing is impossible. The effect +of his preaching upon the Ninevites was remarkable; but much more so was +his grief at its success, whereby God was moved to spare the city. The +common opinion is that he feared for his reputation as a true prophet; +but a deeper ground of his anger may have been that he rightly +understood the design of his mission to the Ninevites to be that through +repentance they might be saved from impending destruction; while he +regarded them as the enemies of God's people, and unworthy of his mercy. +However this may be, Jonah's mission to the Ninevites foreshadowed God's +purposes of mercy towards the heathen world, and that too at a very +suitable time, when the history of the covenant people, and through them +of God's visible earthly kingdom, was about passing into lasting +connection with that of the great monarchies of the earth. + +11. The authorship of the book of Jonah is not expressly given; but may +be most naturally referred to the prophet himself. The few alleged +Chaldaisims found in it may be explained as belonging to the provincial +dialect of the prophet; since we have but an imperfect knowledge of the +variations which the living Hebrew language admitted in this respect. In +Matt. 12:39-41; Luke 11:29-32 the Saviour refers in explicit terms to +events recorded in this book as being true history; nor can the historic +character of the narrative as a whole be denied except on the ground +that all records of the supernatural are unhistoric. + + +VI. MICAH. + +12. Micah is called the Morasthite, probably because he was a native of +Moresheth-gath, a small town of Judea, which, according to Eusebius and +Jerome, lay in a southwesterly direction from Jerusalem, not far from +Eleutheropolis on the plain, near the border of the Philistine +territory. With this agrees the connection in which it is named +(1:13-15); for Lachish, Mareshah, and Adullam also lay in that +direction. He prophesied "in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, +kings of Judah." His prophetic activity began, therefore, soon after +that of Isaiah, and he was contemporary with him, as well as with Hosea +and Amos. His prophecies related to Samaria, the capital city of the +kingdom of Israel, and to Jerusalem (1:1). We find accordingly +denunciations against Samaria intermingled with his prophecies +concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The people, moreover, are spoken of +under the name of Jacob and Israel where, sometimes at least, as in +chap. 3:9, Judah must be included. It is generally thought that the book +of Micah contains only a summary of his prophecies, prepared perhaps in +the days of Hezekiah. But this is not certain; for the reference in +Jeremiah 26:18 obviously relates only to the particular prophecy quoted +there. + +13. The book is commonly distributed into three sections: chaps. 1 and +2; chaps. 3, 4, and 5; and chaps. 6 and 7. Each of these opens with a +summons to hear God's message, and then proceeds with expostulations and +threatenings, which are succeeded by glorious promises. The second of +these sections, which is the largest and contains the most extended +promises, is addressed more particularly to the rulers of the people. +The style of Micah is bold, vehement, and abrupt. His sudden transitions +sometimes make his writings difficult of interpretation. He abounds in +striking images, taken to a great extent, like those of Amos, from +pastoral and rural life. Micah has one remarkable prophecy common to him +with Isaiah. Chap. 4:1-3 compared with Isaiah 2:2-4. From the connection +of the context the passage in Micah is generally thought to be the +original. Besides this there is a general agreement between the two +prophets in their representations; and especially in the manner in which +they perpetually mingle stern rebukes and threatenings with glorious +promises relating to the Messiah and his kingdom. The remarkable +prophecy concerning the Messiah's birth (chap. 5:2) is quoted with some +variations in Matt. 2:5, 6, and referred to in John 7:42. The Saviour's +words, as recorded in Matt. 10:35, 36; Mark 13:12; Luke 12:53 contain an +obvious reference to Micah 7:6. + + +VII. NAHUM. + +14. Nahum is called "the Elkoshite," probably from Elkosh, a village of +Galilee, which Jerome (Introduction to Nahum) mentions as pointed out to +him by his guide. The tradition which assigns for the place of his birth +and residence the modern Alkush, an Assyrian village on the east side of +the Tigris, a few miles above the site of the ancient Nineveh, rests on +no good foundation. The prophecy of Nahum is directed against Nineveh, +the capital of the Assyrian empire. When the prophet wrote, this city +was still in the height of its power (chap. 1:12; 2:8); oppressing the +nations and purposing the conquest of Judah (chap. 1:9, 11; 3:1, 4). +From chap. 1:12, 13 it appears that the Assyrians had already afflicted +Judah, and laid their yoke upon her. All these particulars point to the +reign of Hezekiah as the probable date of the book. + +15. The first chapter opens with a description of God's awful majesty +and power, which nothing created can withstand. These attributes shall +be directed to the utter and perpetual overthrow of Nineveh and the +salvation of God's afflicted people. The second chapter begins a sublime +description of the process of this destruction by the invasion of +foreign armies. The third continues the account of the desolation of +Nineveh by her foes. For her innumerable sins she shall be brought to +shame before the nations of the earth, and made like populous No, that +is, No-amon, the celebrated metropolis of upper Egypt, also called +Thebes, whose children were dashed in pieces and her great men laid in +chains. The present condition of Nineveh, a mass of uninhabitable ruins, +is a solemn comment upon the closing words of the prophecy; "There is no +healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report +of thee shall clap their hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy +wickedness passed continually?" + + +VIII. HABAKKUK. + +16. Respecting Habakkuk's personal history we have no information. The +apocryphal notices of him are unworthy of credence. From the fifth and +sixth verses of the first chapter it is evident that he prophesied not +long before that series of invasions by the Chaldeans which ended in the +destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people; that is, +somewhere between 640 and 610 years before Christ, so that he was +contemporary with Jeremiah and Zephaniah. The theme of his prophecy is, +first, the overthrow of Judea by the Chaldeans, and then the overthrow +in turn of the Chaldean monarchy, each power in turn for its sins. In +the first chapter he predicts in a dramatic form--that of expostulation +with God on the part of the prophet, and God's answer--the approaching +desolation of the land by the Chaldean armies, whose resistless power he +describes in bold and striking imagery. In the second chapter the +prophet appears standing on his watch to see what answer Jehovah will +give to the expostulation with which the preceding chapter closes. He +receives a comforting message, but one that will try the faith of God's +people by its delay. Verse 3. It is an announcement of the overthrow of +the Chaldean oppressor, carried out in a series of bold and vivid +descriptions in which woe upon woe is pronounced against him for his +rapine, covetousness, iniquitous oppression, and idolatry. The third +chapter is a lyric ode in which the prophet, in view of both the +judgments that God is about to execute on his countrymen through the +Chaldeans (chap. 1), and the promised deliverance from them at a future +period (chap. 2), supplicates and celebrates the future interposition of +Jehovah for the redemption of his people in language borrowed from their +past history. Thus this sublime song is both a prayer for the renewal of +God's wondrous works in the days of old and a prophecy of such a +renewal. The apostle Paul quotes the words of Habakkuk: "The just shall +live by his faith" (2:4), and applies them to all believers (Rom. 1:17). + + The language of chap. 1:5 implies that the desolation of the + land by the Chaldeans would be a _surprising_ event, which could + not have been the case after the victory of Nebuchadnezzar over + the Egyptians and his capture of Jerusalem in the fourth year of + Jehoiakim, B.C. 606. It was also to be in the day of that + generation--"in your days." Consequently we cannot date the + prophecy earlier than B.C. 640, probably not before B.C. 630. + + The dedication of Habakkuk's ode (3:19) "to the chief + musician"--the Hebrew word is the same that so often occurs in + the titles of the Psalms--implies that this ode was to be used + in the solemn worship of God. The added words, "on my stringed + instruments," are most naturally understood of those under his + charge as a leader in the service of song in the sanctuary. + Hence we infer with probability that Habakkuk was a Levite. + + +IX. ZEPHANIAH. + +17. Zephaniah prophesied in the reign of Josiah (1:1), apparently while +his work of reformation was in progress and not yet completed (1:4-6, 8, +9); that is, somewhere between his twelfth and his eighteenth year (2 +Chron. 34:3-13). + +In the first chapter he predicts the utter desolation of Judah, and with +it the destruction of all the patrons of idolatry and the rich and +presumptuous sinners in Jerusalem. In the second chapter he exhorts the +covenant people to repentance in view of the judgments that are coming +upon them (verses 1-3), threatens the surrounding nations--Philistia, +Moab, and Ammon--with desolation (verses 4-11), and denounces the +judgments of God upon the Ethiopians and Assyrians (verses 12-15). In +the third chapter, after a severe rebuke of Jerusalem for her +incorrigible rebellion against God (verses 1-7), he foretells in glowing +language the future purification and enlargement of Zion, and the +destruction of all her enemies (verses 8-20). The style of Zephaniah is +clear and flowing, having a general resemblance to that of Jeremiah. He +has frequent allusions to the earlier prophets. Chap. 1:7 compared with +Isa. 34:6; chap. 2:13-15 compared with Isa. 13:21, 22; 34:13-15; chap. +1:14, 15 with Joel 2:1, 2; chap. 1:13 with Amos 5:11, etc. + + The genealogy of Zephaniah is given through Cushi, Gedaliah, and + Amariah to Hezekiah; for in the original Hebrew the words + Hizkiah and Hezekiah are the same. As it is not usual that the + descent of prophets should be given with such particularity, it + has been assumed, with some probability, that this Hezekiah was + the king of that name; though in this case we should have + expected the addition "king of Judah." The "chemarim," verse 4, + are the idol-priests; that is, priests devoted to idol worship. + In 2 Kings 33:5, where the writer is speaking of the reformation + under Josiah, the word is translated "idolatrous priests;" in + Hosea 10:5 simply "priests," which is its meaning in the Syriac + language. Some have maintained that the invasion of Judah to + which Zephaniah refers was that of the Scythians described by + Herodotus, 1. 105; but this is very improbable. From the fact + that "the king's children" are included in the threatened + visitation--in the Hebrew, "I will visit upon the princes and + the king's children" (1:8)--some have inferred that they must + have been already grown and addicted to idolatrous practices; + consequently that Zephaniah wrote later than the eighteenth year + of Josiah. But, as Keil and others have remarked, the mention of + the king's children may have been added simply to indicate the + universality of the approaching visitation; not to say that the + prophetic vision of Zephaniah may have anticipated the sin and + punishment of these king's children--Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. + + +X. HAGGAI. + +18. Haggai is the first of the three prophets after the captivity, who +are commonly called _Prophets of the Restoration_. His four short +messages to the people were all delivered in the space of three months, +and they all had reference to the rebuilding of the temple. By the +slanderous representations of the Jews' enemies this work had been +interrupted, as we learn from the fourth chapter of Ezra. Meanwhile the +Jews, having yielded to the spirit of unbelief, had lost their zeal for +God's cause and grown cold and indifferent. For this the prophets Haggai +and Zechariah were sent to reprove them, while at the same time they +encouraged them to resume the work, a mission which they successfully +accomplished. Ezra 5:1, 2. + +19. The first message is dated "in the second year of Darius the +king"--Darius Hystaspes, who ascended the throne of Persia B.C. 521--"in +the sixth month, in the first day of the month." Chap. 1:1. In this +message the prophet sharply reproves the people for their indifference +to the cause of God's house and their selfish devotion to their own +private interests, which have brought upon them the divine rebuke. Chap. +1:2-11. The effect of his words in exciting both rulers and people to +renew the work upon the temple is added. Chap. 1:12-15. The second +message "in the one and twentieth day" of the same month is throughout +of an encouraging character. The elders who had seen the first house in +its glory, were despondent in view of the comparative meanness of the +new edifice. Jehovah promises them that "the Desire of all nations" +shall come, that he will fill this house with glory, so that "the glory +of this latter house shall be greater than of the former" (2:1-9). This +promise was fulfilled in a material way in the second temple as renewed +by Herod the Great. But the real reference is to its spiritual glory. It +was honored by the presence of the Son of God, who is the brightness of +the Father's glory. In the third message, "in the four and twentieth day +of the ninth month," the prophet in a sort of parable, rebukes the +people for their heartless formality, which, like the touch of a dead +body, defiles all their offerings and services, yet promises them God's +blessing upon their repentance. Chap. 2:10-19. The last message, which +was delivered on the same day, is wholly occupied with the future. Amid +commotions and overturnings God will destroy the power of the heathen +nations, and make Zerubbabel as a signet. + + The reference is to a seal-ring, and the promise is that God + will preserve Zerubbabel from all the assaults of the wicked. + Zerubbabel was one of the Messiah's ancestors (Matt. 1:12; Luke + 3:27), and since the prophecy reached far beyond his day, the + promise made to him extends to all faithful rulers whom God sets + over his church but can have its perfect fulfilment only in the + Messiah himself, of whom Zerubbabel was a type. + + +XI. ZECHARIAH. + +20. Zechariah, the second and greatest prophet of the Restoration, calls +himself the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo (1:1). But in Ezra the +name of the father is omitted, perhaps as being less known, and he is +called simply the son of Iddo (chaps. 5:1; 6:14), the word son being +used in the general sense of descendant. There is no reason to doubt the +identity of this Iddo with the priest of that name who went up from +Babylon with Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Neh. 12:4); so that Zechariah, like +Jeremiah and Ezekiel, was of priestly descent. He began to prophesy two +months after Haggai (chap. 1:1 compared with Hag. 1:1), and the two +prophets were contemporary, at least for a short time. + +21. The book of Zechariah may be naturally divided, according to its +contents, into three parts. The first six chapters constitute the +_first_ of these parts. After a short introductory message (1:1-6) there +follows a very remarkable series of visions relating to the +reestablishment of the Jews in their own land, and the future +dispensations of God towards them; the whole being closed by a symbolic +prophecy of Christ as both priest and king upon the throne of David. To +the _second_ part belong the prophecies contained in the seventh and +eighth chapters. The occasion of the first of these was a question +proposed to the prophet concerning the observance of a certain fast. He +first rebukes the people for their formality, and then proceeds to +encourage them in the way of duty, adding glorious promises respecting +the future prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem. The remaining six +chapters, constituting the _third_ part, appear to have been written at +a later time. They all relate to the future destinies of the covenant +people, and, through them, of the visible kingdom of God on earth. But +the first three of these chapters are mainly occupied with the nearer +future, yet with glimpses at the final consummation in the latter days. +They are generally understood to predict the conquests of Alexander the +Great (9:1-8), the conflict of the Jews with their enemies in the +Maccabean age (9:13-16), the advent of Christ (9:9), the corrupt and +rapacious character of the Jewish rulers at that era, their rejection of +Christ, and the consequent rejection of the nation by God (chap. 11). +They also contain a prediction of the final reunion and restoration of +"the house of Judah" and "the house of Joseph" (ch. 10). The remaining +three chapters are occupied with the great and decisive conflict of the +last days, which is to usher in the era of millennial glory. + +22. The prophecies of Zechariah, containing as they do a portraiture of +the destiny of God's people to the end of time, and comprehending so +many mighty events which yet await their fulfilment, present to the +interpreter many difficulties, some of which have hitherto been found +insoluble, and will probably remain unsolved till the mystery of God +contained in them shall have been fulfilled. One thing, however, they +clearly reveal to us: that the future triumph of God's kingdom is +certain, and that all the great movements in the history of the nations, +however unpropitious they may seem at the time, are parts of the mighty +plan of divine providence which shall end in making the kingdoms of this +world the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. + + In Matt. 27:9, 10, there is a quotation for substance of the + words of Zechariah 11:13, but they are ascribed to "Jeremiah the + prophet." Of this discrepancy various explanations have been + proposed. Some have suspected an early error in the manuscript + of Matthew's gospel; but of this there is no satisfactory proof. + Others have thought that the part of our present book of + Zechariah which contains the prophecy in question actually + belongs to Jeremiah; but upon this hypothesis it remains a + mystery how it should have been attached to the writings of + Zechariah. + + Upon the ground of diversity of style and other alleged internal + marks, it has been maintained by some biblical scholars that the + whole of the last part of Zechariah belongs to an earlier age; + but the validity of this conclusion is denied by others. To give + even a summary of the opposing arguments would exceed the limits + of the present work. The internal proofs being very nearly + balanced against each other, the fact that these chapters have + always been connected with the writings of Zechariah ought to be + allowed a decisive influence in favor of their genuineness. + + +XII. MALACHI. + +23. In Hebrew Malachi signifies _my messenger_, being the very word +employed in chap. 3:1. Hence some have supposed that this is not the +prophet's name, but a description of his office. Such a supposition, +however, is contrary to scriptural usage, which in every other case +prefixes to each of the prophetical books the author's proper name. +Malachi has not given the date of his prophecies, but it can be +determined with a good degree of certainty from their contents. The +people had been reinstated in the land, the temple rebuilt, and its +regular services reestablished. Yet they were in a depressed condition, +dispirited, and disposed to complain of the severity of God's dealings +towards them. Their ardently cherished expectation of seeing the +Theocracy restored to its former glory was not realized. Instead of +driving their enemies before them sword in hand, as in the days of +Joshua, or reigning triumphantly over them in peace, as in the days of +Solomon, they found themselves a handful of weak colonists under the +dominion of foreigners, and returning to the land of their fathers +solely by their permission. All this was extremely humiliating to their +worldly pride, and a bitter disappointment of their worldly hopes. Hence +they had fallen into a desponding and complaining state of mind. While +rendering to God a service that was not cheerful but grudging, +complaining of its wearisomeness, withholding the tithes required by the +law of Moses, and offering in sacrifice the lame and the blind, they yet +complained that he did not notice and requite these heartless services, +and talked as if he favored the proud and wicked. "Ye have said, It is +vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his +ordinance, and walked mournfully before him? And now we call the proud +happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt +God are even delivered" (3:14, 15). To these sins they had added that of +putting away their Hebrew wives, that they might marry foreign women +(2:10-16). All these circumstances point to the administration of +Nehemiah, probably the latter part of it; for after his visit to Babylon +in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes (Neh. 13:6), he found upon his +return, and has described in the last chapter of his book precisely the +same state of affairs. Malachi is thus the last of all the prophets. + +24. He opens his prophecies by reminding the people of God's great and +distinguishing love towards them and their fathers, which they were so +slow to acknowledge. He then reproves them sharply for the sins above +referred to, and forewarns them that the Lord, of whose delay they +complain, will suddenly come to his temple to sit in judgment there--an +advent which they will not be able to endure; for it will consume the +wicked root and branch, while it brings salvation to the righteous +(3:1-5; 4:1-3). In view of the fact that the revelations of the Old +Testament are now closing, he admonishes the people to remember the law +of Moses, and closes with a promise of the mission of "Elijah the +prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" +(4:5, 6). This promise, with that contained in chap. 3:1, is repeatedly +referred to in the New Testament, and applied to the coming of John the +Baptist as our Lord's forerunner. The opening words of the prophecy, +chap. 1:2, are quoted by the apostle Paul (Rom. 9:13). + + + + +APPENDIX. + +THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. + + +1. The Greek word _Apocrypha_, _hidden_, that is, _hidden_ or _secret_ +books, was early applied by the fathers of the Christian church to +anonymous or spurious books that falsely laid claim to be a part of the +inspired word. By some, as Jerome, the term was extended to all the +books incorporated by the Alexandrine Jews, in their Greek version, into +the proper canon of the Old Testament, a few of which books, though not +inspired, are undoubtedly genuine. Another designation of the books in +question was _ecclesiastical_, books to be read in the churches for +edification, but not as possessing authority in matters of faith. But at +the era of the Reformation, when these books were separated by the +Protestant churches from the true canon, and placed by themselves +between the books of the Old and the New Testament, Jerome's old epithet +_Apocrypha_, or the _Apocryphal books_, was applied to the entire +collection. + +How the term _Apocrypha_, _hidden_, became associated with the idea of +_spurious_ or _anonymous_ is doubtful. According to Augustine, it was +because the origin of these books was not clear to the church fathers. A +later conjecture, expressed by the translators of the English Bible, is +"because they were wont to be read not openly and in common, but as it +were in secret and apart." Still more probable is the opinion that they +were so called from their close relation to the _secret_ books +containing the mysteries--secret doctrines--of certain heretical sects. + +2. The date of several of the apocryphal books is very uncertain; but +none of them can well be placed as early as the beginning of the third +century before Christ. Though some of them were originally written in +Hebrew or Aramean, they have been preserved to us only in Greek or other +versions. None of them were ever admitted into the Hebrew canon. The +ground of their rejection is well stated by Josephus (Against Apion 1, +8), namely, that from the time of Artaxerxes, Xerxes' son (Artaxerxes +Longimanus, under whom Ezra led forth his colony, Ezra 7:1, 8), "the +exact succession of the prophets" was wanting. The Alexandrine Jews, +however, who were very loose in their ideas of the canon, incorporated +them into their version of the Hebrew Scriptures. How far the mass of +the people distinguished between their authority and that of the books +belonging to the Hebrew canon is a question not easily determined. But +Josephus, as we have seen, clearly recognized their true character. +Philo also, as those who have examined the matter inform us, though +acquainted with these books, never cites any one of them as of divine +authority. The judgment of these two men doubtless represents that of +all the better informed among the Alexandrine Jews, as it does that of +the Saviour and his apostles, who never quote them as a part of the +inspired word. + +3. During the first three centuries of the Christian era very few of the +church fathers had any knowledge of Hebrew. The churches received the +Scriptures of the Old Testament through the medium of the Alexandrine +Greek version, which contained the apocryphal books. It is not +surprising, therefore, that the distinction between these and the +canonical books was not clearly maintained, and that we find in the +writings of the church fathers quotations from them even under the name +of "divine scripture." But Jerome, who translated the Old Testament from +the Hebrew, understood perfectly the distinction between the canonical +and the apocryphal books. The canon which he has given agrees with that +of the Palestine Jews. He says (Prologus Galeatus) of the apocryphal +books Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Judith, Tobit, and Maccabees, that the +church reads these "for the edification of the people, not for authority +in establishing church doctrines." The same distinction is made by +Rufinus, the contemporary and antagonist of Jerome. The language of +Augustine was more wavering and uncertain. At the Council of Hippo, A.D. +393, at which he was present, the "ecclesiastical books," as the +apocryphal books are called, were included in the catalogue of sacred +books; and from that day to the time of the Reformation the extent of +the Old Testament canon was regarded as an open question. But the Romish +Council of Trent included the apocryphal books in the canon of the Old +Testament, with the exception of Esdras and the prayer of Manasseh, +pronouncing an anathema on all who should hold a contrary opinion. The +Protestant churches, on the other hand, unanimously adhered to the +Hebrew canon, separating from this the apocryphal books as useful for +reading, but of no authority in matters of faith. + +4. Although the Protestant churches rightly reject the apocryphal books +as not belonging to the inspired word, the knowledge of their contents +is nevertheless a matter of deep interest to the biblical scholar. The +first book of Maccabees is in the main authentic, and it covers an +important crisis of Jewish history. All of the apocryphal books, +moreover, throw much light on the progress of Jewish thought, especially +in the two directions of Grecian culture and a rigid adherence to the +forms of the Mosaic law. Keil divides the apocryphal books into +_historical_, _didactic_, and _prophetic_, but with the remark that this +division cannot be rigidly carried out. In the following brief notice of +the several books the arrangement of the English Bible is followed. + + +I. THE TWO BOOKS OF ESDRAS. + +5. The first two in order of the apocryphal books in the English version +bear the title of _Esdras_, that is, _Ezra_. The Greek Bible has only +the first, which stands sometimes before our canonical book of Ezra, and +sometimes after Nehemiah. In the former case it is called the _first_ +book of Esdras, that is, Ezra; in the latter the _third_, Nehemiah being +reckoned as the continuation of Ezra, and called the _second_ book of +Ezra. It gives the history of the temple and its service from Josiah to +Ezra--its restoration by Josiah, destruction by the Chaldees, rebuilding +and reestablishment through Zerubbabel and Ezra. Its original and +central part is a legend from an unknown source respecting a trial of +wisdom between Zerubbabel and two other young men, made in the presence +of Darius, king of Persia, which resulted in Zerubbabel's favor, and so +pleased the king that he issued letters for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, +and conferred many other favors on the Jews. Chaps. 3, 4. The preceding +and following parts are made up of extracts from 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and +Nehemiah, in which the compiler has made a free use of his biblical +sources, at one time abridging the narrative, at another making +explanatory additions, and again transposing the order of events +contrary to historical truth. Some, as Keil, think that the writer made +use of the Alexandrine version; others, that he drew from the original +Hebrew. His design was to exhibit the liberality of Cyrus and Darius +towards the Jews as a pattern for the heathen rulers of Judea in his own +day. (Keil.) Neither the author nor the date of the book is known, but +it cannot be placed earlier than the second century before Christ. + +6. The _second_ book of Esdras (called also the _fourth_, when the first +is reckoned as the third) is extant in a Latin, an Arabic, and an +Ethiopic version. The Greek original has not thus far been found. The +Arabic and Ethiopic are thought to represent the primitive text more +correctly than the Latin: as they want the two introductory and closing +chapters of the latter, which are generally admitted to be spurious +additions by a later hand; and contain, on the contrary, a long passage +after chap. 7:35, which is not found in the Latin, and is thought to be +genuine. + +7. If we reject the first two and last two chapters of the Latin +version, which do not belong to the original work, the remainder of the +book has entire unity from beginning to end. It consists of a series of +pretended visions vouchsafed to Ezra through the angel Uriel in the +thirtieth year after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldees, while +he mourned over the desolate and distressed condition of the covenant +people with fasting and prayer. Of these visions, the first six, which +are preparatory to the last, pertain mainly to the method of God's +dealing with men, the end of the present age, the introduction of the +coming age, and the glorification of Zion, with the heavy judgments of +God that shall accompany these events. Many of these revelations are +made through the medium of symbols. In the seventh and last revelation, +a voice addresses Ezra out of a bush, as it did Moses of old. Upon his +complaining that the law has been burnt, he is directed to take five +ready scribes, with a promise that the holy writings which are lost +shall be restored to his people. The next day the voice calls to him +again, commanding him to open his mouth and drink the cup which is +offered to him, "full as it were with water, but the color of it was +like fire." Upon this he is filled with the spirit of inspiration, and +dictates to his five scribes in forty days 204 books (according to some +94). Of these the last 70 are secret, to be delivered only "to such as +be wise among the people." The rest are to be published openly, that the +worthy and unworthy may read them. The historic truth underlying this +fabulous revelation seems to be the revision of the canon of the Old +Testament by Ezra and his associates. Chap. 15, No. 17. It is agreed +that this book is the production of a Jew, but the date of its +composition is a disputed point. Some assign it to the first century +after Christ; others to the century preceding our Lord's advent, but +with interpolations that manifestly belong to the Christian era. + + +II. TOBIT. + +8. The book of Tobit contains a narrative of the piety, misfortunes, and +final prosperity of Tobit, an Israelite of the tribe of Naphtali, who +was among the captives brought to Assyria by Enemessar (Shalmaneser) +king of Assyria. With Enemessar he was in favor, became his purveyor, +and was able to deposit ten talents of silver with Gabael at Rages, a +city of Media. But Sennacherib, the successor of Enemessar, persecuted +him, especially for his pious care in burying the bodies of his Jewish +brethren whom that king had slain, and he was obliged to flee with his +wife Anna and his son Tobias, leaving all his goods as plunder to the +Assyrian king. Under Sarchedonus (Esarhaddon) he returned again to his +home, but soon a new misfortune overtook him. As he lay one night by the +wall of his courtyard, being unclean from the burial of a Jew whom his +son had found strangled in the market-place, "the sparrows muted warm +dung" into his eyes, which deprived him of sight. Wishing now to send +his son Tobias for the ten talents of silver deposited with Gabael at +Rages in Media, he directs him to seek a guide for the way; when the +angel Raphael offers himself under the name of Azarias the son of +Ananias the great, one of Tobit's brethren. As the angel and Tobias +journey together, they come one evening to the river Tigris. As the +young man goes down to the river to bathe, a fish assaults him; but by +the angel's direction he seizes him, drags him on shore, and takes for +future use his heart, liver, and gall. On their way to Rages they come +to Ecbatane, a city of Media, where resides Raguel, the cousin of +Tobias, whose only daughter, Sara, has lost seven husbands on the night +of their marriage, through the power of Asmodeus, an evil spirit. Tobias +being her nearest surviving kinsman, marries her according to the law of +Moses. By the angel's direction, upon entering the marriage-chamber, he +lays the heart and liver of the fish upon embers. The evil spirit, at +the smell of the smoke, flees away into the utmost parts of Egypt, where +the angel binds him. The angel goes to Rages and brings the ten talents +and Gabael himself to the wedding feast; the wedded pair return in +safety to Tobit with the silver, and also the half of Raguel's goods, +which Sara receives as her wedding portion. Finally Tobias, by the +angel's direction, anoints his father's eyes with the gall of the fish; +whereupon he recovers his sight, and lives in honor and prosperity to a +good old age. Such is a brief outline of the story, which is told in an +interesting and attractive style. How much historic truth lies at its +foundation, it is impossible to determine. The introduction of the +angelic guide may well be regarded as a mythical embellishment. + +9. The book of Tobit is extant in various texts--Greek, Latin, Syriac, +and Hebrew, the Hebrew forms being all translations from the Greek or +Latin. These texts differ in minor details, but have all sprung directly +or indirectly from one original, which was probably Hebrew or Aramaic, +though some maintain that it was Greek. The book is thoroughly Jewish in +its spirit. The date of its composition is uncertain. The common opinion +of biblical scholars is that it was composed about 250-200 B.C. In its +general scope the book has a resemblance to that of Job. A good man +encounters suffering in the way of piety, but is finally delivered, +lives in prosperity, and dies in a good old age. The portraiture which +it gives of domestic piety is very pleasing, and affords an instructive +insight into the spirit of the age in which it was written. It gives +great prominence to deeds of charity; but the alms on which it insists +so earnestly flow from inward faith and love. In this respect they are +distinguished from the dead works of the late Scribes and Pharisees. + + +III. JUDITH. + +10. This book relates the exploit of Judith, a Jewish widow +distinguished alike for beauty, courage, and devotion to her country. +When Holofernes, one of Nebuchadnezzar's generals, was besieging +Bethulia, a city of Judea, she went over to his camp with her maid in +the character of a deserter, promised to guide him to Jerusalem, and by +her flattery and artful representations so insinuated herself into his +favor that he entertained her with high honor. At last, being left alone +with him at night in his tent, she beheaded him with his own falchion as +he lay asleep and intoxicated, and going forth gave his head to her +maid, who put it in her bag, and they two passed the guards in safety +under the pretext of going out for prayer, as had been their nightly +custom. The head of Holofernes was suspended from the wall of the city, +and when the warriors within sallied forth, the besieging army fled in +consternation. Judith receives as a reward all the stuff of Holofernes, +lives at Bethulia as a widow in high honor, and dies at the age of one +hundred and five. + +11. The historical and geographical contradictions of this book are too +many and grave to allow the supposition that it contains an authentic +narrative of facts. It was manifestly written after the return of the +Jews from the Babylonish captivity and the rebuilding of the city and +temple (chaps. 4:3; 5:18, 19), when the nation was governed, not by a +king, but by a high priest and Sanhedrim. Chap. 4:6, 8; 15:8. Yet it +makes Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned in Babylon long before, king in +Nineveh in the eighth year of his reign, whereas his father had +destroyed Nineveh. The attempts that have been made to reconcile these +and other inconsistencies with true history are forced and unnatural. +Whatever historical truth may lie at the basis of the story, it is so +interwoven with fiction that the two elements cannot be separated from +each other. It was probably written by a Palestinian Jew in Hebrew or +Aramaic somewhere about the second century before Christ. The design of +the book is to excite the people to faith and courage in their severe +conflicts with foreign persecutors; but its morality is of a very +questionable character. Judith, its heroine, while she adheres with +great punctiliousness to the Mosaic ritual, does not scruple to employ +hypocrisy and falsehood that she may prepare the way for assassination, +being evidently persuaded that in the service of the covenant people the +end sanctifies the means. + + +IV. ADDITIONS TO THE BOOK OF ESTHER. + +12. These are printed by themselves in our English version, and +entitled: "The rest of the chapters of the Book of Esther, which are +found neither in the Hebrew, nor in the Chaldee;" but in the Septuagint +and old Latin they are dispersed through the canonical book so as to +form with it a consistent whole. They profess to supply deficiencies in +the canonical Esther--a dream of Mordecai with its interpretation; an +account of the conspiracy of the two eunuchs to destroy Ahasuerus; a +pretended copy of the king's edict for the destruction of the Jews; the +prayer of Mordecai and of Esther in view of this edict; various details +of Esther's visit to the king; and the pretended edict of Artaxerxes +(Ahasuerus) revoking the former edict, and giving the Jews liberty to +destroy all who should assault them--into which the name of God, which +nowhere appears in the genuine book of Esther, is abundantly introduced. +The origin of these legends is unknown. + + +V. THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. + +13. The author of this book personages Solomon, and speaks in his name, +Solomon being to the ancient Jews the representative of all wisdom. Keil +gives the summary of its contents in three divisions, as follows; (1.) +"The book begins with a forcible exhortation to the rulers of the earth +to strive after wisdom as the fountain of righteousness and the guide to +immortality and happiness. With this it connects a warning against the +folly of unbelieving men who rebel against the law, oppress the +righteous, and thus bring upon themselves just punishment, distraction, +and everlasting shame. Chaps. 1-6. (2.) After the example of King +Solomon, who is introduced as speaking, the way to obtain wisdom is next +pointed out, and she is described in her nature as the spirit that +formed and sustains the world, and is the author of all that is good, +true, and great. Chaps. 7-9. (3.) Then follows a long historical +discourse (interrupted in chaps. 13-15 by a copious discussion +concerning the origin and nature of idolatry), in which the blessed +effects of wisdom and the fear of God, and the unhappy consequences that +come from the folly of idolatry are illustrated by the opposite fortunes +of the righteous and the wicked of past ages, especially of the people +of God as contrasted with the idolatrous Canaanites and Egyptians." The +different parts of the book constitute a well connected whole. + +14. The book was originally composed in Greek by an Alexandrine Jew, who +is generally placed by biblical scholars somewhere in the second century +before Christ. Though possessing no canonical authority, it is very +interesting and valuable for the view which it gives of the progress of +Jewish thought in both religion and philosophy. This writer is the first +who expressly identifies the serpent that deceived Eve with the devil: +"Through envy of the devil came death into the world." Chap. 2:24. He +teaches also the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and of a future +judgment. In a passage of great beauty he personifies Wisdom, after the +example of the book of Proverbs, as the worker of all things, and the +teacher and guide, of men. "She is the breath of the power of God, and a +pure efflux from the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled +can find entrance into her. For she is the effulgence of the everlasting +light, and the unspotted mirror of the divine might, and the image of +his goodness. And being but one she can do all things; and remaining in +herself [unchanged] she makes all things new. From age to age entering +into holy souls, she makes them friends of God and prophets." Chap. +7:25-27. But along with this true development of doctrine on the basis +of the Old Testament he holds the unscriptural doctrine of the +preexistence of souls (chap. 8:20), whether borrowed from the +Platonists, or taken from some other source. Some have thought that he +also holds matter to be eternal. But when he speaks of God's almighty +hand as having "created the world out of formless matter" (chap. 11:17), +he may have reference simply to the chaotic state described in Gen. 1:2. + +Jerome left the Latin translation of this book unrevised. The text, +therefore, of our Latin Bibles is that of the "Old Latin" version, as it +existed before his day. + + +VI. ECCLESIASTICUS. + +15. The Greek title of this book is, _The Wisdom of Jesus the son of +Sirach_, or more briefly: _The Wisdom of Sirach_. The Latin title, +_Ecclesiasticus_, that is, _Ecclesiastical_ book, designates it as a +book that was read for edification in the churches, though not included +in the Hebrew canon. We give, mainly from Keil, the summary of its +contents: This copious book is rich in its contents, embracing the whole +domain of practical wisdom, and, what is inseparable from this, the fear +of God. These virtues it describes, commends, and inculcates according +to their origin and nature, their characteristics and results, and their +realization in life, in a rich collection of proverbs, with rules and +counsels for the regulation of life in all its manifold relations. The +whole is after the manner of the Proverbs of Solomon, only with much +greater particularity of details, extending to all the spheres of +religious, civil, and domestic life, and giving rules of conduct for the +regulation of the same. This collection of wise maxims, moral precepts, +and rules of life constitutes a united whole, in which the particular +proverbs, counsels, and warnings are strung together in accordance with +an association of ideas that is often quite loose. Interwoven with these +are a number of connected discussions and prayers. The author closes his +instructions with two extended discourses, in the former of which he +celebrates the works of God in creation (chaps. 42:15-43:33); in the +latter, the praises of the famous men of Scripture from Enoch to Simon +the high priest, the son of Onias (chaps. 44-50). He then adds in the +final chapter a thanksgiving and prayer (chap. 51). This book, like that +of Wisdom, is of great value for the insight which it gives into the +theology and ethics of the Jews at the time of its composition. + +16. It is undoubtedly genuine, having been written in Hebrew by the man +whose name it bears, and translated into Greek in Egypt by his grandson, +as stated in the prologue. But the age of the translator, and +consequently of the author, is a matter of dispute. The last of the +worthies described by him is "Simon, the son of Onias, the high priest." +There were two high priests of this name, both sons of Onias, but the +author's eulogy is applicable only to the former, who flourished about +310-290 B.C. It is a natural inference that Jesus, the son of Sirach, +wrote not many years afterwards. The translator, again, speaks of +himself as coming into Egypt "in the eight and thirtieth year, when +Euergetes was king." Does he mean the eight and thirtieth year of his +_own_ life, or of _Euergetes_' reign? If the latter, then of the two +kings that bore the surname Euergetes the latter only (B.C. 170-117) can +be understood, since the former reigned only twenty-five years. If the +former, as is most probable, then we naturally understand Euergetes I., +who reigned B.C. 217-222, during which period the translation must have +been executed. + +The Greek text, as exhibited in manuscripts, is in a very corrupt and +confused state, with many variations and transpositions. The Latin text +is that of the "Old Latin," which Jerome left, as he did that of the +book of Wisdom, without revision. + + +VII. BARUCH AND THE EPISTLE OF JEREMIAH. + +17. This is the only apocryphal book which assumes the character of +prophecy. It is formed after the model of Jeremiah, and ascribed to +Baruch his friend. But its spuriousness is generally admitted. Besides +historical inaccuracies, such as are not conceivable in the case of +Baruch, the fact that its author employed the Septuagint translation of +Jeremiah and Daniel mark it as of a later date. Keil assigns it to about +the middle of the second century B.C. The book professes to be a letter +written by Baruch in the name of the captive Jews in Babylon to their +brethren at Jerusalem, and consists of two well-marked divisions, the +first of which, extending to chap. 3:8, is, in the opinion of some, a +translation from an original Hebrew document. This part contains, after +an introductory notice, a confession of sin with prayer for deliverance. +The second part begins with an address to the covenant people, in which +they are rebuked for neglecting the teachings of divine wisdom, and +encouraged with the hope of returning prosperity when they shall obey +her voice. Chaps. 3:9-4:8. Zion is then introduced lamenting over the +desolations which God has brought upon her and her children (chap. +4:9-4:29), and afterwards comforting them with the hope of certain +deliverance and enlargement (chaps. 4:30-5:9). It is generally agreed +that the second part was originally written in Greek, and some think +that the same is true of the first part also. + +18. There is another Epistle of Baruch preserved to us in the Syriac, +which is inserted in the London and Paris Polyglotts. It is addressed to +the nine and a half tribes, and "made up of commonplaces of warning, +encouragement, and exhortation." Smith's Bib. Dict., Art. Baruch. + +19. There is a spurious _Epistle of Jeremiah_ which appears in the +Vulgate and our English version as the sixth chapter of Baruch. It is +entitled: "Copy of an epistle which Jeremiah sent to those who were to +be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians to make +announcement to them, as it was commanded him by God." It purports to be +a warning to these captives against the idolatrous practices which they +shall witness in Babylon, and is made up of a long discourse on the +impotence of the idols which the heathen worship, written in a +rhetorical style, in imitation of Jer. 10:1-16. Its author is supposed +to have been a Hellenistic Jew who lived towards the end of the +Maccabean period. + + +VIII. ADDITIONS TO THE BOOK OF DANIEL. + +20. The Greek version of the book of Daniel, besides many departures +from the Hebrew and Chaldee original, contains three large additions. +The first of these is: _The Prayer of Azarias, and the Song of the Three +Children in the Fiery Furnace_, which is appended to the third chapter. +The second is: _The History of Susanna_, who is exhibited as a pattern +of chastity, and was delivered from the machinations of her enemies +through the wisdom of Daniel. This is placed sometimes before the first +chapter of Daniel, and sometimes after chapter 12. The third addition +is: _The Story of Bel and the Dragon_, which stands at the end of the +book, and is falsely ascribed in the Septuagint to the prophet Habakkuk. +Its design is to show the folly of idolatry. According to Keil, these +three pieces were composed in Egypt towards the end of the third, or the +beginning of the second century before Christ. + + +IX. THE PRAYER OF MANASSES. + +21. A genuine prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, existed at the time +when the books of Chronicles were composed. 2 Chron. 33:18, 19. But the +existing prayer of the Apocrypha, though upon the whole beautiful and +appropriate, cannot claim to be a true representative of that prayer. +"The author," says Keil, "was a pious Jew who lived at all events before +Christ, though his age cannot be more accurately determined." + + +X. THE BOOKS OF THE MACCABEES. + +22. These are five in number. The first two passed from the Greek into +the early Latin versions, and thence into the Vulgate and the English +versions, and were received as canonical by the Council of Trent. Two +others are found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint. The fifth exists +only in Arabic. "If the historic order were observed, the so-called +_third_ book would come first, the fourth would be an appendix to the +_second_, which would retain its place, and the _first_ would come last; +but it will be more convenient to examine the books in the order in +which they are found in the MSS., which was probably decided by some +vague tradition of their relative antiquity." Smith's Bible Dict., Art. +Maccabees. The name _Maccabees_ is applied to the family and posterity +of the illustrious Jewish priest Mattathias, who maintained a long and +successful struggle with the Syrian kings, and finally succeeded in +establishing for a period the independence of the Jews. The origin of +the term has been variously explained; but the most common account of it +is, that it comes from a Hebrew word signifying _hammer_, so that the +adjective _Maccabee_ (Greek [Greek: Makkabaios]) will denote _Hammerer_. +According to Josephus (Antiq. 12, 6, 1) Mattathias was descended from +one _Asmonaeus_: Hence the family of the Maccabees are also called +_Asmoneans_. + +23. _The first book of the Maccabees._ This is one of the most important +of all the apocryphal books. It contains a narrative of the long and +bloody struggle of the Jews, under their Maccabean leaders, for the +preservation of their religion, and the deliverance of the nation from +the yoke of their Syrian oppressors. The history bears the internal +marks of authenticity and credibility, being distinguished by simplicity +and candor. It is only when speaking of foreign nations that the writer +falls into some inaccuracies. These do not detract from his +trustworthiness in relating the affairs of his own nation through a +period of forty years of the most eventful character (B.C. 175-135). The +book is pervaded throughout by the Jewish spirit, and must have been +written by a Palestinian Jew. Its date is uncertain, but may probably be +placed somewhere during the government of the high priest John Hyrcanus +(B.C. 135-106). According to the testimony of Origen, the book was +originally written in Hebrew. With this agrees its internal character; +for the Greek version of it contains many Hebraisms, as well as +difficulties which are readily accounted for upon the supposition of a +Hebrew original. + +21. _The second book of Maccabees._ This book opens with two letters +purporting to have been written by the Jews of Palestine to their +brethren in Egypt, in which the former invite the latter to join with +them in the celebration of "the feast of tabernacles in the month +Caslen," that is, the feast of dedication established to commemorate the +purification of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes. +To the latter of these is appended an epitome of the five books of Jason +of Cyrene, containing the history of the Maccabean struggle, beginning +with Heliodorus' attempt to plunder the temple, about B.C. 180, and +ending with the victory of Judas Maccabeus over Nicanor, B.C. 161. Both +of the letters are regarded as spurious. The second of them abounds in +marvellous legends--how, upon the destruction of the first temple, the +sacred fire of the altar was hid in a hollow pit without water; how, at +the close of the captivity, it was found in the form of thick water, +which being by the command of Nehemiah sprinkled on the wood of the +altar and the sacrifices, there was kindled, when the sun shone upon it, +a great fire, so that all men marvelled; how Jeremiah, at God's command, +carried the tabernacle, the ark, and the altar of incense to the +mountain "which Moses ascended and saw the heritage of God," that is, +mount Nebo (Deut. 34:1), and hid them there in a hollow cave, where they +are to remain until the time that God shall gather his people together +again, and be gracious to them. + +The epitome of Jason's history begins some five years earlier than the +history contained in the first book, and covers a period of about +nineteen years; so that it is partly anterior to that history, partly +supplementary, and partly parallel. Alexander's Kitto, Art. Maccabees. +The two books are entirely independent in their sources of information; +and although the second cannot lay claim to the same degree of +trustworthiness as the first, yet the general judgment of biblical +scholars is that it is, in its main facts, authentic. But these are set +forth with embellishments and exaggerations, in which the author +manifests his love for the marvellous. Where the history of the two +books is parallel, it agrees in its general outlines, but the details +are almost always different, and sometimes they present irreconcilable +discrepancies. In its religious aspect this book is very interesting. In +the account of the martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons for their +refusal to eat swine's flesh (chap. 7) the doctrine of the resurrection +is plainly announced: "It is a thing to be desired," says the fourth son +to the king Antiochus, "that one being put to death by men should wait +for the hope of God that he shall be again raised up by him; but for +thee there is no resurrection unto life" (v. 14). Where Jason composed +his work cannot be determined. He cannot have lived long after the +events which he describes, else he would have taken notice of the +important events that followed. The author of the epitome contained in +this book is believed to have been a Hellenistic Jew living in +Palestine, who probably wrote in the first century before Christ. + +25. _The third book of Maccabees._ This book does not belong to the +Maccabean age, but to the earlier time of Ptolemy Philopator (B.C. +221-204). Its title seems to have come simply from the similarity of its +contents. It relates in a pompous and oratorical style how Ptolemy +Philopator, being enraged at his failure to enter the sanctuary at +Jerusalem, determined to wreak his vengeance on the Jews in Egypt, and +assembled them for this purpose in the circus, that they might be +trampled under foot by drunken elephants, but was hindered by the +miraculous interposition of God; whereupon the king liberated the Jews, +prepared for them a sumptuous feast, and gave them permission to take +vengeance on their apostate countrymen. The narrative probably has a +groundwork of truth with legendary embellishments, after the manner of +the later Jews. Its author is believed to have been an Alexandrine Jew, +but his age cannot be determined. It was never admitted into the Romish +canon. + +26. _The fourth book of Maccabees_ opens with a philosophical discussion +respecting the supremacy of devout reason over the passions, which is +then illustrated by the history of the martyrdom of Eleazar and the +mother with her seven sons, an account of which we have in 2 Macc., +chaps. 6 and 7. The author of this book was a Jew imbued with the spirit +of the stoical philosophy. It has been falsely ascribed to Josephus. + +27. _The fifth book of Maccabees_ exists only in Arabic. We draw our +notice of it from Alexander's Kitto, according to which "it contains the +history of the Jews from Heliodorus' attempt to plunder the treasury at +Jerusalem till the time when Herod revelled in the noblest blood of the +Jews;" that is, from 184-86 B.C., thus embracing a period of 98 years. +The book is a compilation made in Hebrew, by a Jew who lived after the +destruction of Jerusalem, from ancient Hebrew memoirs or chronicles, +which were written shortly after the events transpired. In the absence +of the original Hebrew, the Arabic versions of it, printed in the Paris +and London Polyglotts, give the text upon which we must rely. + + + + +PART III. + +INTRODUCTION +TO +THE NEW TESTAMENT. + +FIRST DIVISION, GENERAL INTRODUCTION. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. + + +1. In the _character of the original languages of the Bible_, as in +every thing else pertaining to the plan of redemption, God's hand is to +be reverently acknowledged. It was not by chance, but through the +provident care of Him who sees the end from the beginning, that the +writers of the Old Testament found the Hebrew, and those of the New +Testament the Greek language ready at hand, each of them so singularly +adapted to the high office assigned to it. The stately majesty, the +noble simplicity, and the graphic vividness of the Hebrew fitted it +admirably for the _historical_ portions of the Old Testament, in which, +under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the direct intuition of God's +purposes and of the deep springs of human action superseded the +necessity of philosophical argument and deduction. The historians of the +Old Testament did not pause to argue concerning their statements of +men's motives and God's designs. They saw both with wonderful clearness +of vision; and they found in the simplicity and directness of the Hebrew +syntax, so far removed from all that is involved and complex, a suitable +vehicle for their simple and direct statements of truth. How congenial +the Hebrew language is to _poetic_ composition, as well in its rugged +and sublime forms as in its tender and pathetic strains, every reader of +the Old Testament in the original understands. The soul is not more at +home in the body than is sacred poetry in the language of the covenant +people. As the living spirit of the cherubim animated and directed the +wheels of the chariot in Ezekiel's vision, so does the spirit of +inspired poesy animate and direct the words and sentences of the Hebrew +language: "When the cherubim went, the wheels went by them; and when the +cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same +wheels also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; +and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the +spirit of the living creatures was in them." Ezek. 10:16, 17. The same +characteristics fitted the Hebrew language most perfectly for +_prophetic_ vision, in which the poetic element so largely prevails. + +2. Turning now from the Hebrew of the Old Testament to the Greek of the +New, we have a language very different in its structure; elaborate in +its inflections and syntax, delicate and subtle in its distinctions, +rich in its vocabulary, highly cultivated in every department of +writing, and flexible in an eminent degree; being thus equally adapted +to every variety of style--plain unadorned narrative, impassioned +oratory, poetry of every form, philosophical discussion, and severe +logical reasoning: in a word, a language every way fitted to the wants +of the gospel, which is given not for the infancy of the world but for +its mature age, and which deals not so much with the details of +particulars as with great principles, which require for their full +comprehension the capacity of abstraction and generalization. In the +historical records of the Old Testament, and in its poetic and prophetic +parts, the Hebrew language was altogether at home. But for such +compositions as the epistle to the Romans the Greek offered a more +perfect medium; and here, as everywhere else God's providence took care +that the founders of the Christian church should be furnished in the +most complete manner. + +3. We find, accordingly, that centuries before our Lord's advent, +preparation began to be made in the providence of God for this change in +the language of the inspired writings. One result of the Babylonish +captivity was that Hebrew ceased to be the vernacular of the masses of +the people, and a form of Aramaean took its place. Chap. 14, No. 4. +After the return of the Jews from this same captivity and their +reestablishment in their own land, the spirit of prophecy was also +withdrawn, and the canon of the Old Testament brought to a close. Thus +the cessation of Hebrew as the spoken language of the people, and the +withdrawal of the spirit of prophecy were contemporaneous events. The +canon was locked up in the sacred language, and the _interpreter_ took +the place of the _prophet_. "The providential change of language +suggested a general limit within which the voice of inspiration might be +heard, as the fearful chastisements of the captivity turned men's minds +to the old Scriptures with a devotion unknown before." Westcott's +Introduc. to the Study of the Gospels, chap. 1. + +4. But the conquests of Alexander the Great (B.C. 334-323) brought the +Greek language and the Greek civilization into Asia and Egypt, as a sure +leaven destined to leaven the whole mass. To this influence the Jews +could not remain insensible. It reached even Palestine, where they +naturally clung most tenaciously to the Aramaean language and to the +customs of their fathers. But out of Palestine, where the Jews were +dispersed in immense numbers, it operated more immediately; especially +in Egypt, whose metropolis Alexandria was, after the age of Alexander +its founder, one of the chief seats of Grecian learning. To the Jews of +Alexandria the Greek language was vernacular. By them was executed, as +we have seen, under the patronage of the Egyptian king, the first +version ever made of the Hebrew Scriptures, namely, that called the +Septuagint (Chap. 16, Nos. 1-7), which was begun, if not completed, in +the latter part of the third century before Christ. Though this version +encountered bitter opposition on the part of the unbelieving Jews +_after_ the establishment of the Christian church, in consequence of the +effective use made of it against them by Christian writers, it was +received from its first appearance and onward with general favor. The +Hellenistic Jews--those using the Greek language and conforming +themselves to Grecian civilization--made constant use of it, and the +knowledge of it was very widely diffused beyond the boundaries of Egypt. +In our Saviour's day it was in very general use, as the abundant +quotations from it in the New Testament show; and it must have +contributed largely to the spread of the knowledge of the Greek language +among the Jewish people in and out of Palestine. Though the Roman empire +succeeded to that of the Greeks, the Roman could not supplant the more +polished Greek tongue, with its immense and varied literature. On the +contrary, the Greek language penetrated into Italy, and especially into +Rome, the metropolis of the civilized world, where, in our Saviour's +day, Greek literature was in high repute, and the Greek language was +very generally understood. Thus, in the good providence of God, the +writers of the New Testament, also, found ready at hand a language +singularly adapted to their service. + + Biblical scholars have noticed the significant fact that of the + long list of names in the sixteenth chapter of Romans, the + greater number belongs to the Greek language, not to the Latin. + "The flexibility of the Greek language gained for it in ancient + time a general currency similar to that which French enjoys in + modern Europe; but with this important difference, that Greek + was not only the language of educated men, but also the language + of the masses in the great centres of commerce." Westcott in + Smith's Bible Dict., Art. Hellenist. + +5. Respecting the _character_ of the New Testament Greek there was in +former times much controversy, often accompanied with unnecessary heat +and bitterness. One class of writers seemed to think that the honor of +the New Testament was involved in their ability to show the classic +purity and elegance of its style; as if, forsooth, the Spirit of +inspiration could only address men through the medium of language +conformed to the classic standard of propriety. Another class went to +the opposite extreme, speaking in exaggerated terms of the Hebraisms and +solecisms of the New Testament writers. The truth lies between these +extremes. The style of the New Testament is neither classical nor +barbarous. Its characteristics are strictly conformable to the history +of its origin. (1.) Its basis is not the Greek of Plato and Xenophon, +but the so-called Hellenic or common dialect which arose in the age of +Alexander the Great, when "the previously distinct dialects, spoken by +the various sections of the Hellenic nation, were blended into a popular +spoken language." Winer, Gram, of the New Test., sec. 2. The Alexandrine +Jews doubtless learned it not so much from books as from the daily +intercourse of life, and it probably had its provincial peculiarities in +Alexandria and the adjacent region. (2.) In Jewish usage this common +Greek dialect received an Hebraic coloring from the constant use of the +Septuagint version, which is a literal rendering of the Hebrew +Scriptures into Greek, of course with the retention of many Hebrew +idioms. Only such thorough Greek scholars as Josephus and Philo could +rise above this influence. The New Testament writers manifest its power +in different degrees; for, as it respects Hebraisms, they do not by any +means stand on a common level. (3.) As the Aramaic--the so-called +Syro-Chaldaic--was the language of the mass of the people, the style of +the New Testament writers received a tinge from this also. (4.) More +than all, the style of the New Testament receives a peculiar impress +from the fact that the authors were Jews writing under the full +influence of a Jewish education and a Jewish faith, with the superadded +element of Christianity. It is the phenomenon of the spirit and thoughts +of Jewish Christians embodied in the language of Greece; and this at +once separates the writings of the New Testament by a wide interval from +all purely classic compositions. The apostolic writers imposed on the +Greek language an arduous task, that of expressing ideas foreign to the +conceptions of the most cultivated among the pagan authors; ideas partly +common to the old Jewish and the Christian religions, partly peculiar to +Christianity. This could only be done by giving to existing terms a new +and higher meaning, whereby they assumed a technical character wholly +unknown to the classic writers. + + "Compare particularly the words: _works_ (_to work_, Rom. 4:4), + _faith_, _to believe in Christ_, or _to believe_ absolutely, + _confession_, _righteousness_, _to be justified_, _to be + chosen_, _the called_, _the chosen_, _the saints_ (for + Christians), _edification_ and _to edify_ in a figurative sense, + _apostle_, _to publish the good tidings_ and to _publish_ + absolutely for Christian preaching, the adoption of _baptisma_, + _baptism_, for _Christian baptism_, perhaps _to break bread_ for + the _holy repast_ (the _Agape_ with the communion), _the world_, + _the flesh_, _fleshly_, in the known theological sense," etc. + Winer's Gram, of the New Test., sec. 3. + +6. From all the abovenamed causes the language of the New Testament +received a form differing widely from the classic style, but admirably +adapted to the high office assigned to it. To those who study the New +Testament in the original, the peculiarities of its language offer a +wide and interesting field of inquiry. But for the common reader the +above hints will be sufficient. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +EXTERNAL FORM OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. + + +1. The writings of the New Testament fall into three _main divisions_; +the _historical_, the _epistolary_, and the _prophetical_, the latter +including only the Apocalypse. This distinction is not to be understood +in an absolute sense; since, as every reader knows, there are +prophetical passages in the historical books, and both historical and +prophetical in the epistles; but it gives with accuracy the general +character of each division. In outward form the Apocalypse is +epistolary, being addressed, with the apostolic greeting, to the seven +churches of Asia, and containing messages to each. But its contents, +after the first three chapters, are so wholly prophetical, that it is +entitled to stand by itself in any general division. + +2. The _order_ of these _main divisions_ is natural and appropriate. The +gospel, as was remarked at the outset (Chap. 1, No. 1), is not a mere +system of philosophy or ethics, but rests on a basis of historic facts. +On these its whole system of doctrines and duties is built; so that to +destroy the foundation would be to destroy the superstructure also. It +is suitable, therefore, that the record of the facts should hold the +first place. The apostolic epistles, which unfold the doctrines and +duties involved in the gospel, and make a practical application of them +to all the manifold relations of life, naturally follow the historic +record. The mighty system of prophecies contained in the book of +Revelation, which stretches over the whole future history of the church +to the end of time, forms an appropriate close to the entire collection +of writings. + +3. Equally appropriate is the order of the two _subdivisions_ of the +historic part--first, the four Gospels, containing the history of our +Lord's life; secondly, the Acts of the Apostles. In the general +arrangement of the epistles, the thirteen which bear the name of Paul +stand first in order. The seven so-called catholic epistles occupy the +last place. Intermediate between these two subdivisions stands the +epistle to the Hebrews, which is anonymous, though generally ascribed to +Paul. The epistles which bear the name of Paul fall into two +groups--nine addressed to _Christian churches_, which occupy the first +place; then four to _particular persons_. Of these last, the first +three, being addressed to Timothy and Titus, the apostle's companions in +travel and in the gospel ministry, are appropriately named from their +contents the _pastoral_ epistles. The letter to Philemon, a private +member of the church in Colosse, naturally stands last of all. + + We add from Bleek (Introduc. to New Test., secs. 18 and 254) the + following additional notices: + + The present order of the Gospels is very ancient. Only in some + manuscripts of the Old Latin version, in one Greco-Latin + manuscript (the so-called Codex Bezae or Cambridge Codex), and + in the manuscript of the Gothic version, the two apostles + Matthew and John stand first; then the two companions of + apostles, Luke and Mark, or sometimes Mark and Luke. In the very + ancient Curetonian-Syrian manuscript the order is Matthew, Mark, + John, Luke. + + The Acts of the Apostles stand in some manuscripts after the + Pauline or after the catholic epistles. + + In the oldest Greek manuscripts, and generally in the greatest + number of Greek manuscripts which contain the whole New + Testament, the catholic epistles stand before the Pauline; an + arrangement which some modern editors, as Lachmann and + Tischendorf, have followed. In many manuscripts, the oldest + Greek included, the epistle to the Hebrews stands after 2 + Thessalonians, immediately before the pastoral epistles. Luther + placed together, at the end of his version, the epistles to the + Hebrews, the epistles of James and Jude, and the Apocalypse. But + this arrangement rested on no authority of manuscripts. It was + only an expression of his private judgment respecting their + canonical authority, which he placed below that of the other + books of the New Testament. + +4. We have seen (Chap. 13, No. 4) that in the arrangement of the books +of the Old Testament, the order of time is followed only very partially. +The same is true respecting the order of books in the New Testament, a +fact which the biblical student ought always to bear in mind. If we look +to the several divisions and subdivisions of the New Testament writings, +it is obvious that the arrangement is not chronological. It is generally +admitted that the Gospel according to John was written after the death +of Peter and Paul; consequently, after the Acts of the Apostles (which +were written during the life of Paul, Chap. 5, No. 5), after all the +Pauline epistles, and probably after all the Catholic epistles except +those which are ascribed to John himself. The Acts of the Apostles, +again, are of later date than several of Paul's epistles. Finally, +neither the Pauline nor the catholic epistles are arranged in +chronological order. See below, Chap. 30, No. 6. The intelligent student +of the New Testament will avail himself of all the means at his command +to ascertain the date, proximately at least, of each particular book; +that he may thus connect it with the development of Christianity in the +threefold line of doctrine, practice, and polity. + +5. The present distinction of large letters (capitals) and small did not +come into use before the ninth century. In conformity with ancient +usage, the manuscripts executed before this period are written in large +disconnected letters (the so-called _uncial_), without any marks of +interpunction, or even division of words. This is called the _continuous +writing_ (_scriptio continua_), in which it is left to the reader's +discretion to make the necessary division of words and sentences; as if +the beginning of the Gospel according to John were written thus in Latin +and English: + +_Latin_. _English_. + +INPRINCIPIOERATVERBUMET INTHEBEGINNINGWASTHEWORDAND +VERBUMERATAPUDDEUMETDEUSE THEWORDWASWITHGODANDGODW +RATVERBUMHOCERATINPRINCIPI ASTHEWORDTHESAMEWASINTHEBEGIN +OAPUDDEUMOMNIAPERIPSUMFA NINGWITHGODALLTHINGSBYHIMWEREMA + + Writers before our Saviour's time do indeed speak of signs of + interpunction; but they seem to have been in use only in the + grammatical schools, and with a limited application to certain + doubtful passages in the ancient writers. That they were unknown + in the older manuscripts of the New Testament is evident from + the discussions that arose among the church fathers respecting + the right division of certain passages, in which they never + appeal to the authority of manuscripts, but argue solely from + the nature of the connection. The reader may see a collection of + examples in Hug's Introduction to the New Testament, Sec. 43, where + are also some curious examples of the wrong division of words. + +6. To obviate the inconvenience of this continuous mode of writing, +there was introduced, about the middle of the fifth century, what is +called the _stichometrical_ mode (Greek _stichos_, a _row_ or _line_, +and _metron_, a _measure_). This consisted in arranging in a single line +only so many words as could be read, consistently with the sense, at a +single inspiration. + +The invention of stichometry has been generally ascribed to Euthalius, a +deacon in Alexandria, who, in the year 458, set forth a copy of Paul's +epistles stichometrically arranged; but Tregelles is inclined to the +opinion that he borrowed the system from an earlier writer, Pamphilus +the martyr. However this may be, the original conception doubtless came +from the stichometry of Hebrew poetry. Hug (Sec. 44) and Tregelles (Horne's +Introduct., vol. 4, chap. 4) give an example in Greek from a fragment of +the Pauline epistles. This example (Titus 2:2, 3), when literally +translated into English according to the Greek order of words, reads as +follows: + +THEAGEDMENTOBESOBER +GRAVE +SOBERMINDED +SOUNDINTHEFAITH +INLOVE +INPATIENCE +THEAGEDWOMENLIKEWISE +INBEHAVIORASBECOMESHOLYWOMEN +NOTSLANDERERS +NOTGIVENTOMUCHWINE +TEACHERSOFGOODTHINGS + +Though the design of stichometry was not interpunction according to the +connection of thought, yet it seems to have led to this result. The +expensiveness of this mode of writing, owing to the waste of parchment, +naturally suggested the idea of separating the lines by a simple point, +thus: + +THEAGEDMENTOBESOBER. GRAVE. +SOBERMINDED. SOUNDINTHEFAITH. +INLOVE. INPATIENCE. THEAGED +WOMENLIKEWISE. INBEHAVIORAS +BECOMETHHOLYWOMEN. NOTSLAN +DERERS. NOTGIVENTOMUCHWINE. +TEACHERSOFGOODTHINGS. + +As these divisions were mainly _rhythmical_, and often broke the true +connection of thought, men sought to introduce a more logical system of +interpunction. Thus was laid the foundation of our present system; +which, however, was not perfected till after the invention of the art of +printing. + + In the opinion of some, the use of the dot, at least to some + extent, was earlier than stichometry. From the eighth or ninth + century punctuation in manuscripts became more common and + systematic. In _cursive_ manuscripts--those that employ the + running hand with large and small letters and the separation of + the words, a style of writing that became the common one from + the ninth century and onward--punctuation also prevails, though + not according to any one established system. Tregelles, _ubi + sup_. Various other particulars interesting to those who study + the Greek text in the original, as those relating to the + accents, the smooth and rough breathing, and the iota subscript, + are here omitted. + +7. We come next to consider the _ancient divisions_ made in the +_contents_ of the sacred text. _Chapters_ are very early mentioned, as +by Tertullian and Dionysius of Alexandria. But it is uncertain whether +any thing more is meant than parts or sections of given contents. The +earliest formal division of the four gospels that has come down to us +consists of the _Ammonian sections_ (Greek _kephalaia_, _heads_ or +_chapters_), so named from Ammonius of Alexandria, who, about the middle +of the third century, prepared a harmony of the four gospels--_the +Gospel by four_, as Eusebius calls it. His plan was, to arrange in the +order of Matthew the parallel passages side by side, interpolating those +that were wanting in Matthew. To this end, he divided each of the +gospels into sections the length of which was very various, being wholly +determined by the parallelisms of the other gospels. Of these sections +Matthew contained 355; Mark, 234 (in Wordsworth's Greek Testament, 236 +are given); Luke, 342; John, 231 (in Wordsworth's Greek Testament, 232). +The infelicity of this arrangement was that, with the exception of the +first gospel, the true order of the evangelists was broken up--"The +train of sequence of the three was destroyed in respect to the orderly +course of reading," as Eusebius says (Letter to Carpianus, given in +Wordsworth's Greek Testament). + +To remedy this evil, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, in the following +century connected with these Ammonian sections his _ten canons_. These +are ten tables, arranged according to the order of Matthew, or where +sections are wanting in Matthew, according to the order of the next +evangelist that contains them, in such a way as to show at a glance what +sections of the other evangelists answer to any given section of that +gospel which stands first in order in each canon. + + Numbering the four gospels in order--1, 2, 3, 4--the ten canons + of Eusebius contain as follows: + + I. Sections common to 1, 2, 3, 4. + II. " 1, 2, 3. + III. " 1, 3, 4. + IV. " 1, 2, 4. + V. " 1, 3. + VI. " 1, 2. + VII. " 1, 4. + VIII. " 2, 3. + IX. " 3, 4. + X. Sections peculiar to one. + + A couple of examples will make this matter plain. Turning to + what is now the beginning of the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, + we find (the Greek numerals being exchanged for those in common + use) the sign 131/II that is, the 131st Ammonian section of + Matthew with the second canon of Eusebius. Turning to the table + of the second canon, we find, corresponding to the 131st section + of Matthew, the 36th of Mark and the 76th of Luke, which contain + the parallel passages concerning the sower. Again, connected + with Mark 1:23, is the sign, 14/VIII whence we learn, by + reference to the eighth canon, that the fourteenth section of + Mark answers to the 25th of Luke. By a repetition of the canons + as often as necessary, so as to allow each gospel in turn to + take the lead, Wordsworth has greatly facilitated the work of + comparing parallel passages. + + "The Codex Vaticanus B, contains a distribution into sections + wholly peculiar. Of these, St. Matthew contains 170, St. Mark + 61, etc. The length of these divisions is very unequal; the + _sense_ being the reason of the breaks occurring when they do. + In the gospels, at least, the sections are perhaps the best that + were ever devised; and this system of capitulary division is + probably the earliest of which we have the means of knowing any + thing." Horne's Introduction, vol. 4, chap. 4, revised edition, + 1860. + +8. Different from the Ammonian-Eusebian sections, and later in their +origin, are the divisions of the gospels called _titles_, because each +of them received a title from one of the first or principal subjects +mentioned in it. They are thought to have been connected with the public +reading of the gospels. Of these, Matthew contains 68; Mark, 48; Luke, +83; John, 18. They are, therefore, larger than the Ammonian sections, +and resemble more nearly our modern chapters. + + These _titles_ are called by the Latins _briefs_ (_breves_), and + the tables of their contents _breviaries_ (_breviaria_). They + did not come into common use before the fifth century, and are + commonly annexed to manuscripts along with the Ammonian-Eusebian + sections. But they are the only divisions known to some of the + church fathers, as Euthymius and Theophylact. + +9. The divisions of the other books of the New Testament are thought to +be of later origin. Euthalius introduced into a copy, which he sent to +Athanasius the younger, divisions called chapters. He has sometimes been +considered the author of those in the Acts and catholic epistles; but he +probably took them from an older source. Those in the Pauline epistles +he expressly ascribed to "one of the wisest and most Christ-loving of +our fathers." He also gave headings to the chapters, descriptive of +their contents, but collected from previous sources. The Apocalypse was +divided into twenty-four larger sections and seventy-two smaller--a work +ascribed to Andreas of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Tregelles, in Horne's +Introduction, vol. 4, chap. 4. + +10. Our present division of chapters was made in the thirteenth century, +by Cardinal Hugo, from whom proceeded also that in the Old Testament. It +was first introduced into the Latin copies, and afterwards into the +Greek. Our present division of verses was made by Robert Stephens, in +1551. It was preceded by some earlier divisions, as that of Pagninus, in +which the verses were longer than those of Stephens. + + Distinct from all the above divisions are the _church-lessons_, + made very early, in imitation of the Jewish Haphtaroth, or + sections from the prophets. Chap. 13, No. 6. The beginning of + these seems to have been in special selections for the church + festivals. But the usage was afterwards extended so as to + include selections for all the Sabbaths and feast-days of the + year. Hence from the fifth century and onward the whole New + Testament was no longer publicly read, as in the primitive days + of Christianity, according to the free judgment of those who + conducted the church-services; but these selected sections + (_pericopae_). Collections of these lessons were called by the + general name of _lectionaries_ (lectionaria). Those from the + gospels or Acts and epistles received special names indicative + of their contents. See Bleek, Sec. 265; Horne's Introduction, vol. + 4, chap. 4, end. + +11. From the above brief survey, it is manifest that none of the +external divisions of the sacred text rest on any divine authority. They +are the work of uninspired men, and are to be treated accordingly. For +_convenience of reference_, a division of the Scriptures into chapters +and verses is indispensable; and we may well rest contented with that +which now prevails, though it cannot claim perfection. But in the +_interpretation_ of the inspired word we must go behind human divisions, +carefully inquiring after the true connection of thought, according to +the acknowledged laws of interpretation. To give one example out of +many, we must not infer that the last verse of the eleventh chapter of +the book of Revelation belongs to the _preceding_ and not the +_following_ context, because of its separation from the latter in the +division of chapters; but we must determine its true connection +independently of this division. + + A very good arrangement is that of _Paragraph Bibles_, in which + the distinctions of chapter and verse are thrown into the + margin, the text being broken into longer or shorter sections + according to the true course of thought. Yet this mode of + division also is human, and cannot be infallible. + +12. The _titles_ of the several books of the New Testament did not +proceed immediately from the authors themselves. In form they present +some diversity; for example: _The Gospel according to Matthew_; +_according to Matthew_; _the holy Gospel according to Matthew_, etc., +the shorter and simpler titles being, as a rule, the more ancient. For +substance, however, the different forms are the same. They represent the +ancient church tradition, and are of very high authority. The +_subscriptions_, on the other hand, which stand at the end of the +epistles of Paul, that to the Hebrews included--are confessedly the work +of later copyists. They are of no authority, and are sometimes +manifestly incorrect. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT AND ITS HISTORY. + + +The history of the New Testament text naturally falls into two main +divisions, that of the _manuscript_ text, and that of the _printed_ +text. A few remarks will be added on the _principles of textual +criticism_. _See PLATES at the beginning of this book_. + +[Transcriber's Note: Transcriptions of the Plates are at the end of this +e-book.] + + +I. THE MANUSCRIPT TEXT. + +1. The preservation of the primitive text of the gospels from all +essential corruptions, additions, and mutilations has already been shown +at some length (Part 1, Chap. 3). The same line of argument applies +substantially to the other books of the New Testament. Though the text +of different books varies in respect to purity, there is no ground for +supposing that if we had the autographs of the evangelists and other +sacred writers, they would present to us a gospel differing in any +essential particular from that which we now possess. We should see in +them the same glorious Saviour, and the same holy system of doctrines +and duties. + +2. But it has not pleased God to interpose in a miraculous way for the +purpose of keeping the primitive text in a state of immaculate purity. +He has left it subject to those common influences which produce what are +called _various readings_ in all works that are perpetuated from age to +age by transcription. Compared indeed with any other ancient writings, +the text of the New Testament has immensely the advantage in regard to +uncorruptness of preservation and means of verification. This arises +from the early multiplication of copies, as well as from the high value +attached by the primitive churches to their sacred books, and their +consequent zeal for their uncorrupt preservation. But the same +multiplication of copies which constitutes a sure guarantee against +essential mutilations and corruptions increases also the number of +various readings. Suppose, for example, that of two books equal in size +the second has been, from the first, copied a hundred-fold oftener than +the first. It is plain that, while the means of ascertaining and +verifying the true text of the second will abound, the number of +variations among the different manuscripts will abound also. The greater +the number of copies, the greater will be the number of various +readings, but this will make the true text not more but less uncertain; +for by diligent collation a text may be produced which, though not +absolutely immaculate, is very near to the primitive autograph, and +which can be certainly known to agree with it in every essential +respect. God does not rain down upon men bread and raiment from heaven, +as he could do with infinite ease; but he imposes upon them the +necessity of gaining both by hard labor. "In the sweat of thy face shalt +thou eat bread" is the stern law. God does not miraculously communicate +to the missionary who goes to Syria or India or China a knowledge of the +vernacular in his field of labor; but he must learn it by years of +patient study. And when he begins the work of translating, God does not +keep him in a supernatural way from all errors. He must find out and +correct his errors by the diligent use of the means at his disposal. +Just so it is the will of God that we should have a pure text of the New +Testament--pure in a critical sense--not without hard labor, but by +years of patient toil in the study and collation of the abundant +materials which his good providence has preserved for us. + +3. _Various readings_ have arisen in the manuscripts of the New +Testament, as elsewhere, from the mistakes, and sometimes from the +unskilful corrections of the copyists and those subsequently employed to +compare and correct the copies. They are commonly divided into the three +classes of _substitutions_, _insertions_, and _omissions_. + +_Substitutions_ from similarity of sound would naturally arise among the +vowels when, as was sometimes the case, the copyist wrote from +dictation, being guided by the ear instead of the eye. Most of these, +however, are mere matters of orthography. It is only when they affect +the sense that they come under the head of various readings. Synonymous +words, or those of kindred meaning, are frequently put for one another, +or the order of words is altered; sometimes a different word is made +through inadvertence by the change of a single letter or a couple of +letters; compound words are interchanged with simple; contracted words +are confounded with each other; plainer or more grammatical readings are +substituted for those that are difficult or less grammatical, etc. +Especially are parallel passages in one writer altered, so as to be +brought into conformity with the same in another. + +_Insertions_ are the most frequent mode of variation. The copyist fills +out the text of his author from a parallel passage, inserts marginal +notations in the text, repeats clauses through inadvertence, etc. + + Of amplification from parallel passages many undoubted examples + could be given. A single one must suffice. In Acts 9:5, the + words, _It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks_, have + been added from Acts 26:14. + +The most fruitful source of _omissions_ is the similar termination of +two adjacent words, lines, or sentences, causing the eye of the copyist +to overlook the word, line, or sentence intervening between the two +similar endings. The same error may be caused by the circumstance of two +sentences beginning in the same way. It should be remembered that in the +ancient manuscripts the text was written continuously in uncial--that +is, capital--letters, without any division between the words, which made +it more difficult for the copyist to follow the manuscript before him, +and for both the copyist and collater to discover the errors made in +transcription. + +By far the greatest number of various readings had their origin in +simple inadvertence. Some of them, however, are due to unskilful +criticism; as when the copyist or the corrector sought to bring a +passage in one writer into more exact agreement with the corresponding +passage in another, to supply supposed deficiencies or correct supposed +errors in his copy, or to substitute smoother and more grammatical forms +of expression. Wilful falsifications in the interest of a particular +sect or party cannot with any show of justice be imputed to the men who +have perpetuated to us the text of the New Testament. + +4. The _materials_ for textual criticism are much more abundant in the +case of the New Testament than of the Old. A vast mass of manuscripts +has been collected from different and distant regions, dating from the +fourth century and onward. Of these, part are in the original Greek, +part in ancient versions, or bilingual, that is, containing the original +and a version of it side by side. In addition to these are the +quotations of the early fathers, which are so abundant that a large part +of the New Testament text might be collected from them alone. The +question of the history of the text, as gathered from this rich mass of +materials, is very interesting, but is foreign to the plan of the +present work. To give even a history of the controversies respecting the +proper classification of the manuscripts of the New Testament according +to their characteristic readings would require a volume, and the +question must be regarded as yet unsettled. There are, however, some +general results, a few of the more important of which are here given +from Tregelles (in Horne, vol. 4, chap: 8). + + The variations in the form of the sacred text are not due to any + general recensions or revisions by ecclesiastical authority, but + arose gradually from the causes above considered (No. 3). These + variations exhibit such gradations of text that it is impossible + to draw definite lines of classification, without admitting so + many exceptions as almost to destroy the application of such a + system. + + There is a general difference in characteristic readings between + the more ancient manuscripts, versions, and citations, and the + copies of general circulation in more recent times. This gives + rise to the general line of demarcation between the _more + ancient_ and the _more recent_ texts; each of these two classes, + however, having, in turn, its own points of difference among the + texts belonging to it. + + The more ancient manuscripts, versions, and citations which we + possess range themselves under what we know from their combined + testimony to be the more ancient text. Among the manuscripts and + documents so allied there are such shades of difference and + characteristic peculiarities, that the versions and manuscripts + might be easily contemplated as ramifying into two subclasses. + + The most ancient documents in general are sufficiently + dissimilar to enable us to regard their testimony, when + combined, as cumulative. + +5. Respecting the materials for writing in ancient times--papyrus and +parchment, afterwards paper made from linen or cotton; the form of +manuscripts--the roll with papyrus, and the book-form with leaves when +parchment was used; the use of _palimpsests_; the _uncial_ and _cursive_ +styles of writing; and the means of determining the age of manuscripts, +see in Chap. 3, No. 2. The existing manuscripts have been all numbered +and catalogued. The custom since the time of Wetstein has been to mark +the uncial manuscripts by capital letters, and the cursives by numbers +or small letters. We append a brief notice of a few of the more +celebrated manuscripts. + + There are four very ancient and important manuscripts, all of + which originally contained the entire Greek Bible of the Old and + New Testament, and which belong to a time when the arrangements + of Euthalius, especially his stichometrical mode of writing + (Chap. 25, Nos. 6-9), had either not been introduced or not come + into common use. These are the following: + + (1.) The _Codex Vaticanus_, _Vatican manuscript_, marked by the + letter B, and so called from the Vatican library at Rome to + which it belongs. It is written continuously (without any + division of words) on very fine vellum--one of the marks of high + antiquity--in small but neat uncial letters, very much like + those of the manuscript rolls of Herculaneum, and has three + columns to the page, which is of the quarto size. Originally it + had at the end of particular sections a small empty space of the + breadth of a letter or half a letter, but no ornamental + capitals, marks of punctuation, or accents, though some of these + have been added by later hands. The divisions into sections made + by the empty spaces above named are peculiar to this codex, not + agreeing with those of any other system. Of these Matthew has + 170; Mark, 62 (so says Cardinal Mai, but others say 72 or 61); + Luke, 152; John, 80. Most of the books have also brief titles + and subscriptions. The manuscript contained originally the whole + Bible, the Apocrypha included, as also the epistle of Clement to + the Corinthians. The order of the books in the New Testament, if + entire, would be the same as in the Alexandrine manuscript, the + Catholic epistles preceding the Pauline, and the epistle to the + Hebrews coming in between 2 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy. See + below. At present the Old Testament wants the greater part of + Genesis and a part of the Psalms. In the New Testament the + epistle to Philemon, the three pastoral epistles, the latter + part of the epistle to the Hebrews, and the Apocalypse are + wanting. This manuscript is generally referred to the fourth + century. Its authority is very high, but through the jealousy of + its Roman conservators it has been of late years, for all + practical purposes, inaccessible to biblical scholars. Cardinal + Mai's edition of it in 1858, and the revision of this in 1859, + are unreliable. Tischendorf has published an edition of the New + Testament part of it. _No. (3) PLATE II_. + + (2.) The _Codex Sinaiticus_, _Sinai manuscript_, designated by + Tischendorf, its discoverer, by the Hebrew letter _aleph_ + ([Hebrew: A]). One of the most interesting events of the present + century, in the department of biblical science, is the very + unexpected discovery of a complete manuscript of the New + Testament, belonging, as is generally agreed, to the fourth + century; therefore as old, at least, as the Vatican manuscript, + perhaps older, and of very high authority in biblical criticism. + In a visit to Mount Sinai in 1844, Tischendorf had found at the + convent of St. Catharine on Mount Sinai forty-three beautiful + parchment leaves belonging to a manuscript of the Septuagint not + before known to biblical scholars. In a subsequent visit to the + same convent in February, 1859, it was his high privilege to + find of the same manuscript all the Greek New Testament entire, + part of the Old, the so-called epistle of Barnabas, and part of + the writing called the Shepherd of Hermas, the whole contained + in one hundred and thirty-two thousand columnar lines, written + on three hundred and forty-six leaves. This precious manuscript + Tischendorf managed to obtain for the emperor Alexander of + Russia as the great patron of the Greek church, and it is now at + St. Petersburg. It is written on parchment of a fine quality in + large plain uncial letters, with four columns to a page. It + contains, as is commonly the case with ancient manuscripts, + revisions and so-called corrections by a later hand; but, as it + proceeded from the pen of the original writer, it had neither + ornamented capitals, accents, nor divisions of words or + sentences. The style of writing is plain, and every thing about + it bears the marks of high antiquity. The order of the books is + as follows: (1) the gospels; (2) the epistles of Paul, that to + the Hebrews included, which stands after 2 Thessalonians; (3) + the Acts of the Apostles; (4) the Catholic epistles; (5) the + Apocalypse. It has the Ammonian sections and Eusebian canons, + but whether from the first or a subsequent hand is doubtful. A + splendid edition of this Codex was published at St. Petersburg + in 1862, which seeks to preserve with the greatest possible + accuracy the form of writing, columns, corrections, etc. The + Leipsic edition is adapted to popular use. _See No. (1), PLATE + I_. + + (3.) We will consider next in order the _Codex Alexandrinus_, + _Alexandrine manuscript_, placed first in the list of uncial + manuscripts, and accordingly marked A. It is now in the British + Museum, London. In the year 1628 it was sent as a present to + Charles I., king of England, by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of + Constantinople, by whom it was brought from Alexandria in Egypt, + where Cyrillus had formerly held the same office. Hence the name + Alexandrine. Cyrillus himself, in a notice attached to it, says + that tradition represented a noble Egyptian woman of the fourth + century named Thecla as the writer of it (an Arabic subscription + makes her to have been Thecla the martyr). These external + notices are not so reliable as the internal marks, all of which + show it to be of a great age. Some assign it to the fourth + century, but it is more commonly assigned to the fifth, and + Egypt is generally regarded as the place where it was written. + It is on parchment in uncial letters, without divisions of + words, accents, or breathings, and with only occasional marks of + interpunction--a dot to indicate a division in the sense. The + lines are arranged in two columns, and the sections begin with + large letters, placed a little to the left of the + column--outside the measure of the column. The order of the + books is: (1) the gospels; (2) the Acts of the Apostles; (3) the + Catholic epistles; (4) the epistles of Paul, with that to the + Hebrews between 2 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy; (5) the + Apocalypse. In the gospels, the Ammonian sections with the + Eusebian canons are indicated, and at the top of the pages the + larger sections or _titles_. In the Old Testament it is + defective in part of the Psalms. In the New it wants all of + Matthew as far as chap. 25:6; also from John 6:50 to 8:52; and + from 2 Cor. 4:13 to 12:6. It has appended at the end the genuine + letter of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, and a fragment of + a second spurious letter. To these apocryphal additions we owe + the preservation of the Apocalypse in an entire state. Until the + discovery of the Sinai codex, the Alexandrine exhibited the text + of the New Testament in far the most entire state of all the + uncial manuscripts. _See No. (2), PLATE I_. + + (4) The fourth manuscript of this group is the celebrated + palimpsest called _Codex Ephraemi_, _Ephraem manuscript_, + preserved in the Imperial library of Paris, and marked in the + list of uncials with the letter C. Originally it contained the + whole of the New Testament, and apparently the Old also, + elegantly written on thin vellum, with a single column to a + page. The writing is continuous, without accents or breathings, + and the letters are rather larger than in the Alexandrian + manuscript, the first letter of each section being of larger + size than the rest, and standing, as in that manuscript, a + little to the left of the column. The Ammonian sections stand in + the margin, but without the Eusebian canons. The gospels were + preceded by the list of _titles_, or larger sections, of which + those of Luke and John alone are preserved. The titles and + subscriptions are short and simple. The date of the manuscript + is supposed to be the first half of the fifth century. It has + undergone corrections at the hand of at least two persons, + possibly a third. These can be readily distinguished from the + original writing. The critical authority of this codex is very + high. Tregelles (in Horne, vol. 4, chap. 13) places it next to + the Vatican manuscript. + + A few words on its history. About the thirteenth century, being + regarded as a worn-out and obsolete manuscript, the vellum on + which it was written was taken for a new purpose, that of + receiving the Greek works of Ephraem the Syrian saint, a + celebrated theologian of the old Syrian church, who flourished + in the fourth century. "For this purpose the leaves were taken + promiscuously, without any regard to their proper original + order, and sewed together at hap-hazard, sometimes top end down, + and front side behind, just as if they had been mere blanks, the + sermons of Ephraem being the only matter regarded in the book." + Stowe, Hist. of the Books of the Bible, p. 75. In the latter + part of the seventeenth century, Allix first observed the older + writing under the works of Ephraem. It was very illegible, but a + chemical preparation applied in 1834-5 revivified it to a + certain extent. It has been diligently collated by eminent + scholars, and in 1842 Tischendorf printed an edition of it page + for page and line for line. Of the two hundred and nine leaves + contained in this manuscript, one hundred and forty-five belong + to the New Testament, containing not quite two-thirds of the + sacred text. The order of the books is the same as in the + Alexandrine codex. _See No. (4), PLATE III_. + +Besides the abovenamed four manuscripts, a few others may be briefly +noticed. + + An interesting palimpsest of great critical value is the _Codex + Dublinensis rescriptus_, _Dublin palimpsest manuscript_, in the + library of Trinity College, Dublin, designated by the letter Z. + It contains with other writings thirty-two leaves of the gospel + by Matthew. They were edited, as far as legible, in 1801, by Dr. + John Barrett, Fellow of Trinity College. In 1853 Dr. Tregelles + made a new and thorough examination of the manuscript, and, by + the aid of a chemical process, brought all that exists of the + gospel text to a legible condition. This manuscript is assigned + to the sixth century. Its letters are written in a singularly + bold style, which unites the three qualities of ease, elegance, + and symmetry. + + A celebrated _bilingual_ manuscript (in this case + _Graeco-Latin_, containing the Greek and Latin texts) is the + _Codex Bezae_, _Beza's manuscript_, called also _Codex + Cantabrigiensis_, _Cambridge manuscript_, from the place of its + deposit, which is the public library of the University of + Cambridge, England. It is designated by the letter D, and + contains the four gospels and Acts of the Apostles in Greek and + Latin on opposite pages, stichometrically written. The account + of Theodore Beza, its former possessor, was that he found it + during the French civil wars in 1562, in the monastery of St. + Irenaeus, at Lyons. In 1581 he sent it as a present to the + University of Cambridge. The interest felt in this manuscript + arises in great part from the very peculiar character of its + readings. "The text of this codex," says Bleek (Introduc. to New + Test., sec. 270), "presents much that is peculiar--many + additions and alterations that have even an apocryphal + character, but are yet not uninteresting. Its native country is + the West, and more definitely the south of Gaul." _See No. (5), + PLATE IV_. + + Among the _fragments_ of manuscripts of high antiquity is one + called _Codex purpureus_, _Purple manuscript_. _Four_ leaves of + this are in the Cotton Library in the British Museum, _six_ in + the Vatican, _two_ in the Imperial Library at Vienna. The + manuscript to which they belonged was written in silver letters + (the names of God and Christ in gold) on purple vellum. The + writing is in two columns with large and round letters. It is + referred to the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh + century. + + Many other uncial manuscripts, or fragments of manuscripts, some + of them of great critical value, might be described; but the + above brief notices must suffice. Of those which contain ancient + _versions_, a few of the more important will be noticed in the + following chapter. + + The _cursive_ manuscripts of the Now Testament are numbered by + hundreds. In general their authority is less than that of the + more ancient uncials. But a cursive manuscript may give + indirectly a very ancient text. There are some cursives which, + from their characteristic readings, were manifestly executed + from codices of high antiquity, and are for this reason very + valuable. As such Tregelles specifies those numbered 1 and 33. + For further notices of these, as also of the _lectionaries_, + containing selections for church readings, the reader may + consult the works devoted to biblical criticism. + + +II. THE PRINTED TEXT. + +6. The _primary editions_ of the Greek New Testament, whence is derived +what is called _the received text_ (_Textus receptus_) are the +following: (1) the _Complutensian_; (2) the _Erasmian_; (3) those of +_Robert Stephens_; (4) those of _Beza_ and _Elzevir_. Their authority in +textual criticism depends wholly upon that of the manuscripts from which +their text was formed. As no stream can rise higher than its fountains, +so no printed text can obtain a just weight of influence above that of +its manuscript sources. It becomes, then, a matter of interest to +inquire what was the basis of these early printed editions. + + (1.) The entire New Testament was printed for the first time in + Greek in the fifth volume of the _Complutensian Polyglott_ (so + called from _Complutum_, that is _Alcala_ in Spain, where it was + printed under the patronage of Cardinal Ximenes). It bears the + date of 1514, but was not published until 1522, when Erasmus had + already printed three editions of his Greek Testament. Its + editors professed to have formed their text from manuscripts + sent to them from the papal library at Rome. What these + manuscripts were cannot now be ascertained; but that they were + very ancient and correct, as alleged by these editors, is + contradicted by the character of the text, which agrees with the + modern in opposition to the most ancient manuscripts. + + (2.) At the request of Froben, a celebrated printer and + publisher of Basle, _Erasmus_, who was then in England, where he + had devoted some time to a revised Latin translation of the New + Testament with annotations, went to Basle in 1515, and began the + work of editing a Greek New Testament. "By the beginning of + March, 1516," says Tregelles, "the whole volume, including the + annotations as well as the Greek and Latin texts, was complete; + in less, in fact, than six months from the time that the first + sheet was begun." The design of this haste was to anticipate the + publication of the Complutensian edition. The critical apparatus + in Erasmus' possession was quite slender. It consisted of such + manuscripts as he found at Basle, with the help of the revised + Latin translation already prepared in England and Brabant. For + the Apocalypse he had but one manuscript, and that defective at + the end. In his four subsequent editions--1519, 1522, 1527, + 1535--he made many corrections. In that of 1527 he availed + himself of the Complutensian text. This edition, from which the + fifth and last published during his life differs but slightly, + is the basis of the common text now in use. + + (3.) In 1546, 1549, 1550, appeared the three editions of _Robert + Stephens_, the celebrated Parisian printer. In the first two of + these the text is said to have been formed from the + Complutensian and Erasmian. In the third edition, although he + had the aid of thirteen Greek manuscripts, his text is almost + identical with that of Erasmus' fifth edition. + + (4.) In 1565, _Theodore Beza_ published at Geneva his first + edition of the Greek Testament with his own Latin version, and + also the Vulgate with annotations. Three other editions followed + in 1576, 1582, 1588-9. He had the use of the Codex Bezae above + described, the Codex Claromontanus (an ancient Graeco-Latin + manuscript of the Pauline epistles), the Syriac version then + recently published by Tremellius, with a close Latin + translation, and Stephens' collations. But he is said not to + have made much use of these helps. + + The first of the _Elzevir_ editions, so celebrated for their + typographical beauty, was issued in 1624, its text being mainly + copied from that of Beza. This is the text that has acquired the + name of _Textus receptus_, the _Received Text_, as it was for + more than a century the basis of almost all subsequent editions. + The genealogy of this _Textus receptus_ is thus succinctly given + by Bishop Marsh: "The _Textus receptus_, therefore, or the text + in common use, was copied, with a few exceptions, from the text + of Beza. Beza himself closely followed Stephens; and Stephens + (namely, in his third and chief edition) copied solely from the + fifth edition of Erasmus, except in the Revelation, where he + followed sometimes Erasmus, sometimes the Complutensian edition. + The text, therefore, in daily use, resolves itself at last into + the Complutensian and the Erasmian editions." Divinity Lectures, + part I, p. 111. + +7. It requires but a moderate acquaintance with the history of textual +criticism to understand that the Elzevir text is not only not perfect, +but is more imperfect than that which has been elaborated by the help of +the abundant manuscripts, versions, and citations of the early fathers, +of which modern criticism has availed itself. It is no reproach to the +editors of the primary editions that, with their comparatively scanty +materials, they could not accomplish as much as we can with the rich and +varied means at our disposal. The _essential integrity_ of the received +text, we do indeed thankfully acknowledge and firmly maintain. Our +fathers had presented to them in this text the same divine and glorious +Saviour, the same way of salvation, the same holy system of doctrines +and duties, as we now find in the most carefully revised modern text. +Nevertheless, a true reverence for the inspired word must impel us to +the diligent use of all the means at our command for setting forth a +pure text, that is, a text conformed as nearly as possible to that of +the original autographs. Viewed in this light the modern critical +editions of the New Testament must possess a deep interest for all who +are able to read it in the original tongue. But to discuss the merits of +these would be foreign to the design of the present work. + + Examples of the more important various readings occur in John + 1:18; Acts 20:28; 1 Tim. 3:16. The passage 1 John 5:7, 8, _in + heaven--in earth_, is generally rejected on the testimony of the + manuscripts (see the full discussion in Horne, vol. 4, ch. 36). + Among the passages which are regarded as more or less doubtful + may be mentioned John 5:4; 8:3-11; Acts 8:37. In regard to all + these the biblical scholar must be referred to the critical + commentaries. So also for the questions connected with the text + of Mark 16:9-20, which are of a peculiar character. + + +III. PRINCIPLES OF TEXTUAL CRITICISM. + +8. The end proposed by textual criticism is to restore the sacred text +as nearly as possible to its primitive purity (Chap. 7, No. 1). To this +work the biblical scholar should come in a candid and reverential +spirit, prepared to weigh carefully all the evidence which is accessible +to him, and decide, not as an advocate, but as a judge, in the simple +interest of truth. The three great sources of evidence for the original +text of the New Testament are Greek manuscripts, versions, and the +citations of the fathers. Of these, _Greek manuscripts_ hold the first +place. But all manuscripts are not of equal value. Other things being +equal, the oldest manuscripts have the highest authority. "If the +multiplication of copies of the New Testament had been uniform, it is +evident that the number of later copies preserved from the accidents of +time would have far exceeded that of the earlier, yet no one would have +preferred the fuller testimony of the thirteenth to the scantier +documents of the fourth century. Some changes are necessarily introduced +in the most careful copying, and these are rapidly multiplied." Westcott +in Smith's Bible Dict.; Art. New Test. Yet, as the same writer remarks, +we may have evidence that a recent manuscript has been copied from one +of great antiquity, and thus has preserved to us very ancient readings. +Revisions and corrections by a later hand are to be carefully +distinguished from the primitive writing. Yet these may be valuable, as +testifying to the prevailing reading of the age to which they belong. +The general class or family to which a given manuscript belongs is also +to be taken into the account. In a word, so many elements of judgment +are to be taken into account in determining the relative weight of +authority that belongs to a given manuscript, that the right decision of +the question requires large observation combined with much critical +tact. + +9. _Ancient versions_ are of great value in textual criticism; for some +of them, as the old Latin and Syriac, to which may be added the old +Egyptian versions, are based on a text more ancient than that preserved +to us in any manuscript. In textual criticism, the testimony of a +version is valuable in proportion to its antiquity, its fidelity--not +its elegance or even its correctness of interpretation, but its literal +closeness--and the purity of its text. Versions are liable to all the +corruptions of text incident to Greek manuscripts, and far more liable +to interpolations by explanatory glosses. The difference of idiom, +moreover, frequently prevents such a literal rendering as shall be a +sure indication of the form belonging to the original text. + +10. The _citations_ of the church fathers, which are immensely numerous, +constitute another source of testimony. But less authority belongs in +general to these, because they are often made loosely from memory alone. +Their testimony is chiefly valuable as _corroborative_. "Patristic +citations _alone_ have very little weight; such citations, even when in +accordance with a version, have but little more; but when a citation +_is_ in accordance with some ancient MSS. and translations, it possesses +great corroborative value. It is as _confirming_ a reading known +independently to exist, that citations are of the utmost importance. If +alone, or nearly alone, they may be looked at as mere casual adaptations +of the words of the New Testament." Tregelles in Horne, vol. 4, ch. 34. + +11. The _application_ of the above sources of criticism to the sacred +text demands very extensive research and much sound judgment. "Canons of +criticism," as they are called are valuable in their proper sphere; but, +as Westcott remarks (_ubi supra_), "they are intended only to guide and +not to dispense with the exercise of tact and scholarship. The student +will judge for himself how far they are applicable in every particular +case; and no exhibition of general principles can supersede the +necessity of a careful examination of the characteristics of separate +witnesses, and of groups of witnesses." + +We bring this subject to a close by an enumeration of the last six of +the thirteen rules laid down by Westcott. + +8. "The agreement of ancient MSS., or of MSS. containing an ancient +text, with all the ancient versions and citations marks a certain +reading." + +9. "The disagreement of the most ancient authorities often marks the +existence of a corruption anterior to them." + +10. "The argument from internal evidence is always precarious." This +canon he illustrates by several examples: "If a reading is in accordance +with the general style of the writer, it may be said on the one side +that this fact is in its favor, and on the other that an acute copyist +probably changed the exceptional expression for the more usual one," &c. + +11. "The more difficult reading is preferable to the simpler." This +canon rests on the obvious ground that a copyist would be more apt to +substitute an easy reading for a difficult than the reverse. + +12. "The shorter reading is generally preferable to the longer." Because +of all corruptions of the text, additions from parallel passages, or to +meet its supposed wants, are the most common. + +13. "That reading is preferable which explains the origin of the +others." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +FORMATION AND HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. + + +1. Respecting the canon of the New Testament there are two distinct but +related fields of inquiry. The first has reference to the _origin and +gradual accumulation, of the materials_ which enter into the canon; the +second, to the _collection of these materials_ into a volume or series +of volumes possessing cooerdinate authority with the books of the Old +Testament, and constituting with them the sum of written revelation. The +first of these questions has been already discussed in great measure. In +Chs. 2-4, the genuineness, uncorrupt preservation, authenticity, and +credibility of the four gospels were shown at some length; in Ch. 5 the +same was done in respect to the Acts of the Apostles and the +acknowledged epistles; in Ch. 6 was considered the position of the +disputed books in respect to the canon; and in Ch. 7 the inspiration of +the canon was demonstrated. Connected with these inquiries were some +general notices respecting the date of the several books of the New +Testament; but the fuller consideration of this latter question is +reserved for the second division of the present Part--that of Particular +Introduction. It will be sufficient to state here in a general way that, +if we leave out of account the writings of the Apostle John, the +remaining books of the New Testament were written somewhere between A.D. +45-70 (according to the commonly received opinion, between A.D. 50-70); +while the most probable date of John's writings is A.D. 70-100. The +composition of the books of the New Testament, then, spreads itself over +a period of about half a century. + +2. Turning our attention, now, to the second question, that of the +collection and arrangement of these writings in a volume or series of +volumes cooerdinate in authority with the books of the Old Testament, we +have a succession of periods, not sharply separated from each other, but +each of them possessing, nevertheless, its prominent characteristics in +relation to the canonical writings. + +3. First in order is the _apostolic age_, extending to about A.D. 100, +especially the first half of it when many of the apostles still +survived. This is the period of the _composition_ of the books of the +New Testament, but we have no certain evidence that they were then +collected into a whole. The writings of apostles and apostolic men had +of course the same authority as their spoken word: that is, an authority +that was supreme and decisive, according to the principle laid down by +the Saviour: "He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth +me, receiveth him that sent me." Matt. 10:40. But so long as the +churches had the presence of the apostles they could not feel, as we do +now, the need of an authoritative written rule of faith and practice; +nor is there any proof that the apostles themselves understood in the +beginning of the gospel God's purpose to add, through them, a second +part to the canon of revelation that had been for so many centuries +closed. A considerable number of years elapsed after the ascension +before it was thought necessary to give to the churches under apostolic +sanction a written account of our Lord's life and teachings. The Acts of +the Apostles were not composed till about A.D. 61-63. The apostolic +epistles were for the most part written on special occasions and to meet +special exigencies, the greater number of them not till between A.D. +50-70, those of John still later. The Christians of this age drew their +knowledge of the gospel mainly from the same sources to which Luke +refers in the preface to his gospel; from oral tradition, namely, +received directly or indirectly from them "who from the beginning were +eye-witnesses and ministers of the word." + +4. After the death of the apostles came what may be called the _age of +the apostolic fathers_; men who, like Ignatius, Polycarp, and others +whose names have not come down to us, had been the disciples of the +apostles. Ignatius suffered martyrdom at Rome, A.D. 107 or 116. Polycarp +survived beyond the middle of the second century. The literary remains +of this period are very scanty, the genuine writings of the apostolic +fathers being confined to a few epistles--one of Clement of Rome to the +Corinthians, seven of Ignatius, one of Polycarp to the Philippians, to +which we may add the so-called epistle of Barnabas; since whoever was +the author, it does not date from later than the early part of the +second century. From these writings we gather in general that the +gospels and apostolic epistles were in current use in the churches, but +nothing definite in regard to the collection of these writings into a +whole. + + "With the exception of the epistles of _Jude_, _2 Peter_ and _2, + 3 John_, with which no coincidences occur, and 1, 2 + Thessalonians, Colossians, Titus, and Philemon, with which the + coincidences are very questionable, all the other epistles were + clearly known, and used by them; but still they are not quoted + with the formulas which preface citations from the Old Testament + (The Scripture saith, It is written, &c.), nor is the famous + phrase of Ignatius (To the Philadelphians 5: Betaking myself to + the gospel, as to the flesh of Christ, and to the apostles, as + the eldership of the church) sufficient to prove the existence + of a collection of apostolic records as distinct from the sum of + apostolic teaching. The coincidences with the gospels on the + other hand are numerous and interesting, but such as cannot be + referred to the exclusive use of our present written gospels." + Westcott, in Smith's Bible Dict.; Art. Canon. The reason of + this, as the writer goes on to show, was that "the details of + the life of Christ were still too fresh to be sought for only in + written records." There is, however, one remarkable passage in + the epistle of Barnabas, the _Greek text_ of which has been + recently discovered appended to the Sinaitic manuscript, in + which he says (ch. 4): "Let us take care that we be not found as + it is written, many are called, but few are chosen." This + formula, "as it is written," distinguishes the gospel from which + it is quoted as a part of the inspired word; for it is the + customary formula employed by Christ and his apostles in + accordance with the usage of their age, when they appeal to the + Old Testament as of divine authority; and is never applied to + writings of mere human authority. + +5. Next in order comes what may be called the _period of transition_ +between the age of the apostolic and that of the early church fathers. +The most distinguished writer of this period is Justin Martyr. It is now +generally conceded that the "Memoirs" of which he so often speaks were +our canonical gospels. Chap. 2, No. 7. Besides the abundant use of these +he mentions the Apocalypse by name, and ascribes it expressly to the +apostle John--"a certain man among us named John, one of the apostles of +Christ, prophesied, in the revelation given him, that those who have +believed in our Christ will spend a thousand years in Jerusalem," etc. +Dialogue with Trypho, chap. 81. He has also some apparent allusions to +the Pauline epistles, but how far he possessed and used a collection of +the New Testament writings, we have no means of judging. Towards the +middle of the second century, however, events occurred which had a +powerful influence, not indeed, for establishing the _authority_ of the +apostolic writings (since that existed from the beginning), but for +bringing home to the consciousness of the churches their _supreme +importance_ as an authoritative rule of faith and practice, and also the +necessity of carefully defining their extent as well as their true +interpretation. Heretical teachers arose who sowed in the Christian +church the seeds of gnosticism. Of these some, as Marcion, rejected on +dogmatical grounds a portion of the apostolic writings, and mutilated +those which they retained; others, as Valentinus, sought by fanciful +principles of interpretation to explain away their true meaning. Chap. +2, No. 12. The reaction upon the churches was immediate and effectual. +They set themselves at once to define and defend the true apostolic +writings as well against Marcion's false and mutilated canon, if canon +it may be called, as against the false interpretations of Valentinus, +Heracleon and others. The _occasion_ had now come for the recognition of +a New Testament canon cooerdinate in authority with that of the Old +Testament, and from this time onward we find the idea of such a canon +clearly developed in the writings of the church fathers. What aided +essentially in this work was the execution, about this time, of +_versions_ of the New Testament books, such as the Old Latin and Syriac; +for the authors of these versions must of necessity have brought +together the writings, which, in their judgment, proceeded from the +apostles and their companions. + +6. We find, accordingly, when the _age of the early church fathers_ +opens, about A.D. 170, a clearly recognized canon--sometimes described +in two parts, the _gospels_ and the _apostles_--which is placed on a +level with that of the Old Testament as the inspired word of God, and +cited in common with it as _the Scriptures_, _the divine Scriptures_, +_the Scriptures of the Lord_, etc. Both canons are mentioned together as +_The entire Scriptures both prophetical and evangelical_; _The prophets, +the gospel, and the blessed apostles_; _the law and the prophets, with +the evangelical and apostolical writings_; _the Old and the New +Testament_; _the entire instrument of each Testament_, etc. _Irenaeus_, +against heresies, 2. 46; 5. 20; _Letter to Florinus_ in Eusebius' Hist. +Eccl., 5. 20: _Clement of Alexandria_, Strom., 7, p. 757; _Tertullian_, +against heretics, chap. 30. 36: against Marcion, 4. 6, etc. The canon +was not, however, completed in its present form; for the right of +certain books--the so-called _antilegomena_, chap. 6. 6.--to a place in +it remained for a considerable time an open question, which, in its +application to particular books was answered differently in the East and +the West. See chap. 6. On the other hand, certain writings of the +apostolic fathers (as the so-called epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of +Hermas, the epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians), being read +in certain of the early churches, found their way into some codices of +the New Testament. Chap. 6, No. 4. + + To the latter part of the second century belong two important + canons, that of the Syriac Peshito, and the Muratorian canon. + The former of these represents the judgment of the _Eastern_ + churches; the latter apparently that of the _Western_. + + The canon of the Peshito has, of the seven disputed books, + _Hebrews_ and _James_. It wants the other five, namely, _2 + Peter_, _2, 3 John_, _Jude_, _Revelation_. + + The Muratorian canon is in such an imperfect state that its + testimony on some points is doubtful. It contains _Jude_ and + _Revelation_; perhaps also _2, 3 John_. It wants _Hebrews_, and + _2 Peter_, and it adds the apocryphal book called the + _Apocalypse of Peter_. + + Origen in the third century (as quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., + 6. 25) and Eusebius in the fourth, Hist. Eccl., 3. 25, give each + a review of the New Testament canon with a statement of the + differing judgments as to the disputed books. The details will + come up hereafter in connection with the books in question. + + The Synodical Council of Loadicea, which was probably held + between A.D. 343-381, gives in its 60th canon (the genuineness + of which, however, has been called in question by some) a list + of the books of the Old and New Testaments. That of the New + Testament wants the _Apocalypse_. + + The third Council of Carthage, held A.D. 397, contains all the + books of our present canon. So also the Latin fathers, as + Jerome, Rufinus, etc. But the Syrian churches still adhered to + the canon of the Peshito. + +7. The history of Christian opinion in regard to the canon of the New +Testament, of which a very brief outline has been given, has all the +marks of naturalness and truthfulness. The Biblical student should +carefully remember the two following important considerations: + +(1.) The books of the New Testament were not received as a whole, but +_separately_ upon the evidence that each gave of its apostolic origin. +Doubts in respect to certain books throw no shadow of suspicion upon the +rest, the genuineness and authenticity of which were acknowledged by all +from the beginning. The question, therefore, is not concerning the truth +of revelation, but simply concerning the claims of certain books to be a +part of the record of revelation. However it may be decided in +particular cases, the apostolic authority of the universally +acknowledged books, which constitute the main body of the New Testament, +remains perfectly sure. + +(2.) The early diversities of judgment in respect to certain books +furnish satisfactory evidence of the freedom of thought and discussion +among the primitive Christians, and of the sincerity and earnestness of +their investigations. It was precisely because they would not accept any +book without full evidence of its apostolic authority, that these +diversities of judgment prevailed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. + + +In the present chapter those versions of the Old Testament also that +were made in connection with versions of the New, and in the interest of +Christianity, will be briefly considered. + + +I. LATIN VERSIONS. + +1. A peculiar interest attaches to the early Latin versions. The "_Old +Latin_" translation of the New Testament, in connection with which one +of the Old Testament was executed from the Septuagint, is perhaps the +earliest that exists in any language. The Old Syriac alone can rival it +in antiquity, and if either may claim the precedence, it is probably the +Latin. This version, and afterwards the revision of it by Jerome, was +the grand medium through which the Holy Scriptures were known to the +Western or Latin churches for more than twelve centuries. It has +exercised no small influence on the popular modern versions of +Christendom, and it is the great storehouse of theological terms for +both Catholic and Protestant Christianity. + + The English version of Wiclif (1324-1384) is a literal + translation of the current text of the Latin Vulgate. The + Psalter of the English Prayer Book is taken from Cranmer's Bible + called the "Great English Bible:" and the version of the Psalms + follows the Gallican Psalter, the second of the revisions made + by Jerome from the Old Latin. See below, No. 4. + +2. How early the _ante-Hieronymian_ Latin version (that current before +the days of _Hieronymus_, that is, _Jerome_), was executed is unknown; +but the writings of Tertullian furnish satisfactory proof that it was in +popular use in North Africa (the place where it was made) in the last +quarter of the second century. According to the testimony of the ancient +church fathers, its text existed in a great variety of forms, and the +same variety has come down to us in the old manuscripts that contain it. +Some, indeed, have maintained that several independent versions existed. +But the sum of the evidence from both the early fathers and the +manuscripts goes to show that there was never more than one that could +be called independent. The copies of this were subjected to multiplied +emendations or revisions from the Greek original, till the text had +fallen in the days of Augustine and Jerome into a state of great +confusion. + + The language of Augustine is very strong: "The translators of + the Scriptures from the Hebrew tongue into the Greek can be + numbered, but the Latin interpreters can by no means be + numbered. For whenever, in the first ages of Christianity, any + one had gained possession of a Greek manuscript, and imagined + himself to possess some little skill in the two languages, he + ventured to become an interpreter." De Doct. Christ. 2. 16. + According to the received opinion the so-called _Itala_ + (_Italian_) was not an independent version, but one of these + revisions, apparently made in Italy, and as some think, under + ecclesiastical auspices. This, Augustine recommends as more + faithful and perspicuous than the rest. + +3. The _canon_ of the Old Latin version seems to have wanted, in the New +Testament, Hebrews, James, and 2 Peter. In the Old Testament it followed +the Septuagint. It contained, therefore, the apocryphal books of that +version, to which was also added the second of Esdras. Appendix to Pt. +2, No. 6. The _text_ of this version is known to us from two sources, +quotations and manuscripts. For our knowledge of the Old Testament we +are dependent mainly on the quotations of the early Latin fathers, since +only a few fragments remain in the shape of manuscripts. The same is +true of some parts of the New Testament, particularly the Apocalypse. +But of the gospels as well as other parts of the New Testament, we have +some very ancient manuscripts which are of high value in textual +criticism. The agreement of this version in many characteristic readings +with the oldest known Greek manuscripts has already been noticed. Chap. +3, No. 3. Such agreement is the strongest possible testimony for the +genuineness of the readings in question. Chap. 26, No. 2. + + The _Codex Vercellensis_, belonging to the fourth century, and + said to have been written by Eusebius, bishop of Vercellae (now + Vercelli) in Northern Italy where the manuscript is preserved, + is one of the oldest manuscripts of the sacred text in + existence. The _Codex Veronensis_ at Verona, the Graeco-Latin + _Codex Claromontanus_ in the Imperial Library at Paris, the + _Codex Vindobonensis_ at Vienna, the _Codex Bobbiensis_ at + Turin, and others that might be named, are also very ancient. + Among the codices that contain what is called the _Italic_ + version, is the _Brixianus_ of the sixth century. + +4. About A.D. 388, Jerome at the solicitation of Damasus, bishop of +Rome, undertook the arduous task of _revising_ the Old Latin version by +a comparison with the original Greek text. In this work he proceeded +very cautiously, being well aware of the prejudices which he must +encounter on the part of multitudes who could not discriminate between +the authority of the original Greek text and that of the Latin version +made from it. He began with the four gospels. According to his own +testimony, he selected ancient Greek manuscripts, but such as did not +differ much from the Latin usage; and in the use of these he so +restrained his pen that, when he had corrected those things only which +seemed to change the sense, he suffered the rest to remain as they were. +(Preface to the four gospels addressed to Damasus.) His work of revision +was afterwards extended to the remaining books of the New Testament; a +revision which Tregelles describes as "less complete and uniform than +that of the gospels, and in which many parts seem to have received +hardly any alterations from his hand." In Horne, vol. 4, ch. 23. About +the same time he turned his attention to the Latin version of the Old +Testament, which had been made, not from the original Hebrew, but from +the Greek Septuagint. Of this he first revised the Psalter, but not very +thoroughly; in his own words, "cursorily for the most part." This first +revision is known by the name of the _Roman_ Psalter. A later and more +thorough revision, executed by Jerome at Bethlehem between A.D. 384-391, +is called the _Gallican_ Psalter. There is good reason to believe that +Jerome's revision extended to all the remaining books of the Old +Testament, though we have positive evidence in respect to only a part of +them--Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Chronicles. + + Gregory of Tours is said to have introduced Jerome's second + revision of the Psalter into the public service in France; + whence its name _Gallican_. The Roman Psalter was retained in + Italy till the time of Pius V., who introduced the Gallican + generally. But three churches, one of them that of the Vatican, + continued to use the Roman Psalter. Westcott in Smith's Bible + Dict.; Art. Vulgate. + +5. Jerome was soon convinced of the necessity of undertaking a _new +translation_ of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. To this +arduous task he addressed himself with great earnestness, availing +himself of the help of Jewish scholars to complete his knowledge of the +Hebrew. The whole work occupied his time, with periods of intermission, +from A.D. 385 to A.D. 405. See in Horne, vol. 2, p. 89. He did not +venture, however, to make a new version from the Hebrew of the book of +Psalms, the constant use of which in the church service was a barrier to +the substitution of a new translation. He accordingly retained his +second _revision_ from the Septuagint, which is called the Gallican +Psalter. Of the Apocryphal books he translated only two, Judith and +Tobit. The remaining Apocryphal writings were retained in their old +form. The Latin bible thus in part revised and in part translated by +Jerome (most of the Apocryphal writings being left unrevised) is called +the _Vulgate_, that is _common_ or _current_ version, although this term +belonged, before the days of Jerome, to the Old Latin itself. Its +diversified character is thus briefly indicated by Westcott.--"(1.) +_Unrevised Old Latin_: Wisdom, Eccl., 1, 2 Macc., Baruch. (2.) _Old +Latin revised, from the LXX._: Psalter. (3.) _Jerome's free translation +from the original text_: Judith, Tobit. (4.) _Jerome's translation from +the original_: Old Testament except Psalter. (5.) _Old Latin revised +from Greek MSS._: Gospels. (6.) _Old Latin cursorily revised_: the +remainder of New Testament." In Smith's Bible Dict.; Art. Vulgate. + + It is not necessary to follow the history of the text of the + Vulgate since Jerome's day. Suffice it to say that the + simultaneous use of the Old Latin and Vulgate led to a + corruption of both texts, which has not yet been thoroughly + removed. The present standard text is that called the + _Clementine_, from Pope Clement VIII., under whose auspices the + Vulgate was edited in 1592. This is better than the preceding + _Sixtine_ edition, A.D. 1590, but not by any means the pure text + of Jerome, as it might be recovered, proximately at least, by a + careful collation of ancient manuscripts and quotations. + + The oldest and best manuscript of the Latin Vulgate Old and New + Testaments, is the _Codex Amiatinus_ in the Laurentian Library + at Florence. It belongs to the sixth century, and exhibits the + text of Jerome in a very pure form, carrying us back to about + 120 years from Jerome's death. The _Codex Fuldensis_ is said to + belong to the same century. There are other good manuscripts + more or less complete of the eighth and ninth centuries. + + Many other Latin versions have appeared in modern times, + sometimes in connection with the original text, and sometimes + separately, which it is not necessary to notice in detail. + + +II. SYRIAC VERSIONS. + +6. The ancient Syriac version called the _Peshito_ belongs, in the +judgment of biblical scholars, to the second century. It comprises the +Old Testament as well as the New. The version of the Old Testament was +made from the original Hebrew, and thus has the honor of being the +oldest translation of the Hebrew Scriptures for Christian use, the Old +Latin version having been made from the Septuagint. The version of the +New Testament was made in connection with that of the Old, so that both +together constitute one work. + + Syrian tradition makes extravagant claims in respect to the + antiquity of the Peshito, telling us that it was executed by men + sent to Palestine by the apostle Thaddeus (whom tradition + connects with the founding of the church at Edessa), and by + Abgarus, King of Edessa, a contemporary of the Saviour. The Old + Testament was sometimes referred to a still earlier age--that of + Solomon and Hiram, or that of the captivity of the ten tribes. + Without giving credence to such traditions, we may well believe + that it belongs to the earliest period of the Syrian churches, + and cannot be placed later than the last part of the second + century. Of the term _Peshito_, that is, _simple_, there are + different explanations. The most usual is that it denotes a + simple and literal version, free from glosses and allegorical + interpretations. Tregelles suggests that it was called _simple_ + in contrast with the translation made by Paul of Tela from the + Hexaplar text of Origen (see below, No. 8), which was replete + with _asterisks_ and _obeli_ to mark Origen's revisions, and had + also marginal references. It is agreed that the Old Testament + was translated from the original Hebrew and Chaldee, though the + translators seem to have had before them the Greek version of + the Seventy, and to have consulted it in the progress of their + work + +7. The Peshito is a free, and at the same time, a faithful version of +Scripture, holding the first place among the ancient versions for its +general excellence, while it ranks with the Old Latin in antiquity. Its +authority in both textual criticism and interpretation is deservedly +high. As it regards textual criticism, however, its value is diminished +by the fact that its text has not come down to us in a pure state. It +has suffered in the same way as the text of the Old Latin, though not to +the same extent. + +Among the manuscripts brought from the Nitrian monasteries, and +deposited in the British Museum, is one of great antiquity, containing +large portions of the four gospels in Syriac. Dr. Cureton published in +1858 the text of this manuscript as "Remains of a very ancient Syriac +recension of the four gospels in Syriac, hitherto unknown in Europe," +with an English translation and preface. Its appearance was hailed with +lively interest and has excited warm discussions. The manuscript itself +is assigned to the fifth century, but it presents a text which, in the +judgment of competent scholars, is older than the current text of the +Peshito. Whether it is an older form of the Peshito version, or another +and earlier version of the gospels, is a question that has been +differently answered. It is maintained, on the one hand, that the +Peshito is a revision of the Curetonian text, "replete with readings +unknown in the second century" (Tregelles in Smith's Bible Dict.); on +the other, that it is "an older version than the Peshito; which the +author or authors of the latter consulted throughout." Davidson in +Alexander's Kitto. Its great value for critical purposes must be +acknowledged by all. + + In many characteristic readings it agrees with the oldest + manuscripts and quotations. It has also some erroneous readings + known to be of great antiquity. In a word, the high antiquity of + its text cannot be reasonably questioned. Drs. Cureton and + Tregelles think that the gospel of Matthew may be a translation + from the apostle's Hebrew copy. But this is denied by Davidson + and others. + +8. The _Philoxenian_ Syriac version was executed A.D. 508, under the +auspices of Philoxenus, or Xenaias, bishop of Hierapolis or Mabug in +Syria. Philoxenus belonged to the sect of the Monophysites, and it is +generally thought that the version was made in the interest of that +sect. The translator's name was Polycarp, one of Philoxenus' rural +bishops. With the exception, perhaps, of certain books (see below), the +text of this version has not come down to us in its original form. We +have only a _revision_ of it made A.D. 616 by Thomas of Harkel in a +monastery of Alexandria, whence this version is also called the +_Harclean_ Syriac. The characteristic of this version is its extremely +literal character. It is the translator's aim to represent every Greek +word, even the article, by a corresponding Syriac word, even where the +idiom of the language must thereby be violated. Hence its style is of +necessity barbarous. But this very character of literalness gives to the +Philoxenian version high authority in respect to textual criticism. So +far as it has come down to us in its primitive form, it is, in truth, +equal to the Greek text of its own time. + +About the time that Thomas of Harkel revised the Philoxenian version of +the New Testament, Paul of Tela, another Monophysite, executed what is +called the _Hexaplar Syriac_ version of the Old Testament, because it +was made from the text of Origen's Hexaplar. Chap. 16, No. 12. It +coincides with the Philoxenian version of the New Testament in respect +to its character as well as the time of its appearance, being made on +the principle of following the Greek text word for word as exactly as +possible. Thus the Hexaplar version of the Old, and the Philoxenian +version of the New, constitute together a whole of like character +throughout. + + After the example of Origen, Paul introduced into his version + _asterisks_ and _obeli_; the asterisk (*) to indicate insertions + made in the text on the authority of manuscripts and other + versions; the obelus (/), to mark passages of doubtful + character. Thus it supplies, as far as a version can, the + Hexaplar of Origen, of which only a few fragments remain. + + The Philoxenian version of the New Testament, as revised by + Thomas of Harkel, contains also the same asterisks and obeli. + Critical marks and marginal readings also appear in most of the + manuscripts. This critical apparatus is generally thought to + have proceeded from Thomas himself, in imitation of the Hexaplar + Syriac of the Old Testament; but whether to indicate comparison + with the Peshito, or with the Greek manuscripts employed by + Thomas is not certain. + + There is a version of the Catholic epistles wanting in the + Peshito--2 Pet., 2, 3 John, Jude--existing in two forms, one of + which is thought to be the _unrevised_ Philoxenian text. There + is a codex at Rome containing the four gospels which has also + been supposed to contain the same unrevised text. + + The _Jerusalem Syriac Lectionary_, containing simply lessons + from the four gospels, is a peculiar version known to us from a + single manuscript in the Vatican Library which belongs to the + eleventh century. The version itself is referred by some to the + sixth century, by others to a later date. Its dialect is + barbarous, being a mixture of Chaldee and Syriac, but its + readings are said often to coincide with the oldest and best + authorities. + + +III. EGYPTIAN AND ETHIOPIC VERSIONS. + +9. Formerly but one version was known to exist in the language of the +ancient Egyptians. This, which was made in the dialect of lower Egypt, +was naturally called _Coptic_. When it was discovered that another +version existed in the dialect of upper Egypt, the Arabic term _Sahidic_ +was applied to it. But since the word _Coptic_ is generic, applying to +both dialects alike, it has been proposed to call the former version +_Copto-Memphitic_ or simply _Memphitic_, from Memphis, the ancient +capital of lower Egypt; and the latter _Copto-Thebaic_ or _Thebaic_, +from Thebes, the celebrated capital of ancient upper Egypt. When these +versions were executed cannot be determined with certainty. But they +existed in the fourth century, and probably in the latter part of the +third century. Their high antiquity gives to them great value in textual +criticism. The latter of them, however, exists only in a fragmentary +form. Some fragments of a _third_ version, differing from both the +Memphitic and the Thebaic, have been discovered. To this, the epithet +_Bashmuric_ has been applied, from the Arabian name _Bashmur_, a +district of lower Egypt in the Delta to the East. But Egyptian scholars +doubt whether the term is well applied, as the version is said to have +stronger affinity to the Thebaic than to the Memphitic version. + + The Memphitic and Thebaic versions are said to have contained + the whole Bible, that of the Old Testament being made from the + Septuagint. The whole Memphitic New Testament has been several + times published, but never in such a manner as to meet the wants + of Biblical criticism. Of the Thebaic version only some + fragments have been published. + +10. An _Ethiopic_ version of the whole Bible exists in the ancient +dialect of Axum. That of the Old Testament was made from the Septuagint; +that of the New is a close version of the original Greek. The age to +which it belongs is not known. Many of the readings of its text are said +to show an affinity with the older class of Greek manuscripts, while +others are of a later character. This leads to the suspicion that the +version has undergone revision by the aid of later Greek manuscripts. An +edition of the whole Bible is in process of publication in Germany. + + +IV. THE GOTHIC AND OTHER VERSIONS. + +11. The first information which European scholars had of the existence +of a _Gothic_ version of the New Testament was in the sixteenth century, +when one Morillon copied from a Gothic manuscript in the library of the +Monastery of Werden in Westphalia the Lord's Prayer and some other +parts, which were afterwards published. When the Swedes, in 1648, took +Prague, among the spoils sent to Stockholm was the celebrated _Codex +Argenteus_, _Silver manuscript_, containing a copy of the Gothic gospels +written on purple vellum in silver letters, except the beginnings of the +sections which are in gold. When entire the manuscript is said to have +contained 320 leaves, but when found it had but 188 in quarto size. In +its present state it wants parts of all the gospels. The letters are +deeply furrowed, and beautifully regular. It is thought that this +manuscript was executed for the use of some Gothic king. After various +changes of place, it was finally deposited in the library of the +University of Upsal in Sweden, where it is now preserved enclosed in a +silver case. The Gothic version, of which the Codex Argenteus is a +transcript, was made in the fourth century by Ulphilas, second bishop of +the Goths in Moesia (the so-called Moeso-Goths). The manuscript itself +belongs, it is thought, to the sixth century. + +12. In 1762 a palimpsest was discovered by Knittel at Wolfenbuettel, a +city of the duchy of Brunswick in Germany, containing, as the earlier +writing, part of the epistle to the Romans in Gothic and Latin, the +versions standing side by side. In 1817 the late Cardinal Mai discovered +in the Ambrosian Library at Milan five palimpsests, from which, in +connection with the Wolfenbuettel palimpsest, the Gothic text of the +greater part of the Pauline epistles (that to the Hebrews not included) +has been recovered, as also some fragments of the gospels, and of the +books of Ezra and Nehemiah. All that has been recovered of the Gothic +version was edited in 1835-6 by Gabelentz and Loebe with a Latin +translation, notes, and a Gothic dictionary and grammar. There are +several later editions partly of the Codex Argenteus, and partly of all +the Gothic remains of the Scriptures. Thus this interesting version, +which represents the text of the New Testament in the fourth century as +it was known to Ulphilas, is made available for the purposes of Biblical +criticism. + +13. There is an ancient _Armenian_ version unaccompanied as yet by any +Latin translation; and thus available for critical purposes only through +the help of those who know the language. By means of such help Dr. +Tregelles used it for his critical edition of the New Testament, and he +speaks of its value "as a critical witness as to the general reading of +certain Greek copies existing in the former half of the fifth century." +In Smith's Bible Dict., Art. Armenian Version. + +Other ancient versions, as the Arabic and Slavonic, we pass by; as their +comparatively late date makes them of little importance for critical +studies. The history of modern versions, among which is our own +authorized version, presents a wide and interesting field of inquiry, +but it does not come within the scope of the present work. + + + + +SECOND DIVISION, PARTICULAR INTRODUCTION + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. + + +1. The New Testament, like the Old, is not an abstract system of +doctrines and duties, but a _record of facts_ involving doctrines and +duties of the highest import. This record does not constitute an +independent history, complete in itself, and to be explained in its own +light. It is rather the necessary sequel to the record of the Old +Testament. It interprets the Old Testament, and is itself interpreted by +it. The two constitute together an organic whole, and can be truly +understood only in their mutual connection. To discard the Old Testament +whether formally or in practice, is to throw away the key which unlocks +to us the treasures of the New; for the writers of the New Testament +continually reason out of the Scriptures of the Old. If we cannot truly +comprehend the Old Testament except when we view it as preparatory to +the revelation contained in the New, so neither can we have a full +understanding of the New except as the completion of the revelation +begun in the Old. In a word, we understand revelation aright only in its +unity. + +2. The New Testament _uses_ all the teachings of the Old, but it does +not _repeat_ them all. The unity, personality, and infinite perfections +of God; his universal providence, and his supremacy as well over nations +as individuals; the duties that men owe to God and each other, as +embodied for substance in the ten commandments and expanded in the +teachings of Moses and the prophets; the indissoluble connection, on the +one hand, between righteousness and true prosperity, and on the other, +between sin and ruin--all these great truths are so fully unfolded in +the Old Testament that they need no formal repetition in the New. The +person and office of the Messiah--as that great prophet, like unto +Moses, whom God should raise up for his people in the latter days; as +that mighty king of David's line, who should sit on his throne and in +his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with +justice forever; as that high priest after the order of Melchisedec whom +God should establish forever with a solemn oath--had been prefigured in +the institutions of Moses, in the Psalms, and in the writings of the +prophets. + +Some other important truths not so fully revealed in the Old Testament +but deducible in a legitimate way either from its general scope or from +some brief hints in its teachings, had become firmly established in the +faith of the Jewish people during the long interval that elapsed between +Malachi and Christ. Such particularly were the doctrines of the +resurrection of the dead and of future rewards and punishments. These +truths, also, as well as those more directly and fully taught in the Old +Testament, were assumed by the Saviour and his apostles as a platform +for the peculiar revelations of the gospel, the sum of which is _Jesus +Christ crucified for the salvation of the world_. The four gospels, +then, as containing the history of our Lord's appearance and works, lie +at the foundation of the revelation contained in the New Testament. To +these, then, our attention must first be given; after which the history +of the apostolic labors, as given in the Acts of the Apostles, will +naturally follow. + + +I. THE GOSPELS AS A WHOLE. + +3. The word _gospel_ (Anglo-Saxon, _god_, _good_, and _spell_, _history_ +or _tidings_) answers to the Greek word _euangelion_, _good-tidings_, +whence comes the Latin _evangelium_, with the derived words in use among +us, as _evangelist_, _evangelical_, etc. It properly signifies the _good +message itself_, and it is only by a secondary usage that it is applied +to the _written histories_ of the Saviour's life, as being the +embodiment of this message. The titles prefixed to these gospels from +the beginning; "The Gospel according to Matthew", "The Gospel according +to Mark," etc., indicate that the written record is not itself the +gospel, but rather an account of the gospel _according to_ these +different writers. Christ himself is the author of the gospel. It +existed and was received by many thousands before a line of it was put +upon record on the written page. + +4. The genuineness, uncorrupt preservation, and authenticity of the four +canonical gospels have already been shown at some length. Chaps. 2, 3, +4. In connection with the argument for their genuineness, their natural +division into two parts--the first three, commonly called the synoptical +gospels, and the gospel according to John; the remarkable agreements and +differences of the three synoptical gospels among themselves; and the +remarkable contrast which the fourth gospel presents to all three of the +synoptical gospels, have also been considered simply as _existing +facts_. Chap. 2, Nos. 14 and 15. But when we seek an _explanation_ of +these remarkable phenomena, we enter upon a very difficult problem, one +on which the ingenuity of Biblical scholars has exhausted itself for +several successive generations without reaching thus far a result that +can be regarded as perfectly satisfactory. Almost all conceivable +theories and combinations of theories have been proposed, some of which, +however, are now generally abandoned as untenable, and need not be +considered at large. + +5. Looking at the three synoptical gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we +find a remarkable _agreement_ not only in their general plan, but in +many of their details also. With the exception of our Lord's last +journey to Jerusalem and the history of his passion there, they are +mainly occupied with his ministry in Galilee. The selection of incidents +is also to a great extent the same. "The most remarkable differences lie +in the presence of a long series of events connected with the Galilean +ministry, which are peculiar to St. Matthew and St. Mark (Matt. +14:22-16:12; Mark 6:45-8:26), and a second series of events connected +with the journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-18:14), which is peculiar to +St. Luke." Westcott, Introduct. to the Study of the Gospels, chap. 3. +The coincidences of language, as well as incident, are also remarkable; +and here the general law prevails that these coincidences are more +common, as has been shown by Norton and others, in the recital of the +words of others than in the narrative parts of the gospels, and most +common when our Lord's own words are recited. + +6. But with these remarkable agreements coexist equally remarkable +_differences_. Each writer has his own peculiarities of style, which +appear more distinctly in the original than they can in any version. It +has been noticed also by Biblical scholars that these peculiarities are +more marked in the narrative than in the recitative parts of the gospels +in question. Each writer, moreover, brings in incidents peculiar to +himself, not in the form of patchwork, but as parts of a self consistent +whole. So far is he from exact outward conformity to either of the other +gospels, in respect to arrangement and circumstantial details, that the +diversity between him and them in these particulars, sometimes creates +serious difficulties when we attempt to arrange the three different +narratives in the form of a harmony. + +7. No theory of the origin of these three gospels can be true which does +not explain both their coincidences and their differences. Hence we may +set aside at once the hypothesis of their _mutual dependence_ on each +other--that the later evangelists used the writings of the earlier. By +the different advocates of this theory, each of the three synoptic +gospels has been made in turn the primary record from which the others +drew; but no one of them has been able, upon this hypothesis, to account +for the omissions or insertions of the supposed later evangelists, much +less for the remarkable fact already noticed, that the peculiarities of +each writer appear more fully in the narrative than in the recitative +part of his gospel. The later evangelists may, indeed, have been +acquainted with the writings of the earlier and have consulted them, but +this supposition alone does not explain their peculiar coincidences and +differences. + +Another hypothesis is that of an _original document or documents_, from +which all three are supposed to have drawn. The assumption of a single +original written gospel, as the basis of our first three canonical +gospels, is manifestly untenable. Had a primitive gospel existed of such +compass and authority as to be the common source of our three synoptic +gospels, it is inconceivable that the churches, which carefully +preserved these three gospels, though two of them proceeded not from +apostles themselves but only from their companions, should have allowed +the original gospel so speedily and utterly to perish, that no traces of +it remained in the days of Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of +Alexandria. Besides, this hypothesis, as it was soon seen, does not +explain the peculiar relation of these gospels to each other in respect +to coincidences and differences. Hence various modifications were +proposed--an original Aramaic gospel with various Greek translations, +this original Aramaic gospel variously increased with new matter, etc. +In a word, the form of these assumed original documents was +hypothetically explained from the actual form of our three synoptic +gospels; the very reverse of the true problem, which was to explain, +from some reliable data, the form of the canonical gospels themselves. + +The remaining hypothesis is that of _oral tradition_ emanating from the +apostles themselves, and maintained in its purity during their lives by +their personal presence and teaching. That the gospel existed in this +form alone for some years after the beginning of Christianity is +admitted by all. The apostles were Christ's chosen witnesses of his life +and teachings. From their lips proceeded the tradition which now +constitutes our written gospels. The necessity of embodying this +tradition in the form of permanent records was not felt at the +beginning. But, as the churches were multiplied, oral tradition became +liable to corruption in many ways through the multiplicity of the organs +employed in its transmission. Then the need of written gospels began to +manifest itself, and it was natural that the apostles should look to the +supply of this need either by their own direct agency, or by that of men +writing with their knowledge and approbation. How many years elapsed +before the appearance of the earliest of our canonical gospels, which is +commonly supposed to have been that of Matthew, we have no means of +ascertaining with accuracy. But we may reasonably suppose that the +period was long enough to allow the apostolic tradition of our Lord's +life and teachings to assume a somewhat definite shape in respect to +both matter and outward form. _First_, in respect to _matter_. As their +public instructions could not cover the whole of our Saviour's history +(John 20:30; 21: 25), they naturally selected, under the guidance of the +Holy Spirit, those parts of it which embodied the spirit and meaning of +the whole. Since, moreover, the apostles remained together at Jerusalem +for some time after our Lord's ascension (Acts 8:1; 15:6), it is highly +reasonable to suppose that in a matter of such moment they had a mutual +understanding--an understanding which, while it interfered with the +freedom of no one, secured a general agreement as to the points in our +Lord's history and teachings which should be especially insisted on. +_Secondly_ in respect to _outward form_. While the apostles were +preserved by the illumination of the Holy Spirit from any superstitious +regard to the letter of our Lord's teachings, their reverence for him as +a perfect teacher, whose words were truth unmixed with error, must have +made them anxious to put the oral tradition of his sayings into as +perfect a form as possible; whence the tradition of our Saviour's words +would assume from the first a more fixed form than that of his life +generally. + +It is supposed by many that the writers of the first three gospels drew +each from this common body of oral tradition such materials as suited +his general plan; no one of them proposing to give the whole of our +Lord's history, or even to observe a strict chronological order in the +events recorded by him, any farther than such order was rendered +necessary by their nature and essential connection. In the case of +Matthew, who was one of the twelve apostles, it might be thought that he +wrote simply from his own personal knowledge; but his gospel could not +cover all the ground of our Lord's history as known to him, and we may +well suppose that in the selection of his materials he had regard--not a +servile, but a free regard--to the common oral tradition of the +apostles, which was, in fact, the embodiment of their united wisdom +under the illumination of the Divine Spirit. Each evangelist, as well +Mark and Luke who were not apostles, as Matthew who belonged to the +number of the twelve, wrote independently of the other two. The later +writers may, indeed, have been acquainted with the writings of the +earlier, but a bare inspection of the three gospels shows that there was +no labored effort on the part of one evangelist to adjust his work to +those of the others. Hence arise apparent discrepancies, as in the two +genealogies of our Lord, which it is sometimes hard to explain. But +these very difficulties witness to the independent truthfulness of the +writers. Had they written in concert, or borrowed systematically from +each other, such difficulties would not have existed. + +Although apostolic oral tradition is thus made the main source whence +the writers of these gospels drew their materials, it is not necessary +to affirm or deny their use, in a subordinate way, of written documents. +That such documents existed in the time of Luke we know from his own +words, chap. 1:1. He does not condemn them, but neither does he rely +upon them. His gospel is not derived from them, but from his own +accurate investigations; "It seemed good to me also, having accurately +traced out all things from the beginning" (as the original Greek means), +"to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus." Chap. 1:3. And +if Luke, the companion of Paul, was not dependent for his materials on +any previously existing writings, neither was Mark, the companion of +both Peter and Paul, nor Matthew, who was himself an apostle. Nor can +the incorporation of such writings into the synoptic gospels be shown +with any degree of probability. If it cannot be claimed for this +hypothesis of a primitive apostolic tradition, as the source whence the +writers of the synoptic gospels drew their materials, that it explains +all the phenomena of their mutual relation to each other, it is, +nevertheless, more satisfactory than any other that has been proposed, +and may be regarded as a near approximation to the actual facts in the +case. + + Between the _traditions_ of which the apostle Paul speaks (2 + Thess. 2:15; 3:6; also, according to the original, 1 Cor. 11:2) + received immediately from his mouth or pen, and the pretended + traditions of later days, handed down from century to century + through a succession of uninspired men, the difference is that + between light and darkness, between truth and fiction. We have + in the _writings_ of the New Testament the genuine apostolic + tradition, at first oral, but put into a written form during the + lifetime of the apostles. These traditions are the "gold, + silver, precious stones" of divine truth. All other traditions + are the "wood, hay, stubble" of human origin. In settling the + question respecting the _genuineness_ of the New Testament + writings, we proceed as in the case of any other writings. We + avail ourselves of all the evidence within our reach, external + and internal. We take the testimony of Irenaeus and Tertullian, + and also of Marcion and Valentinus; though none of them were + inspired, and the two latter were heretical. But when we have + once determined what books were written by apostles or apostolic + men, these contain for us the only authoritative _tradition_, as + defined by the apostle: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and + hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word + or our epistle." 2 Thess. 2:15. + +8. In comparing the synoptic gospels with each other and with the fourth +gospel, we must ever bear in mind that no one of them professes to give +a complete history of our Lord's life, or to arrange all the incidents +which he relates in the exact order of time. Under the guidance of the +divine Spirit each one pursues his own course, independently of the +others, here inserting what one or more of the rest have omitted, or +omitting what one or more of them have inserted; and here, again, +bringing in incidents without regard to their exact chronological order, +with some general preface like the following: "at that time," Matt. +12:1; "and he began again," Mark 4:1; "and it came to pass as he was +alone praying," Luke 9:18; "and it came to pass as they went in the +way," Luke 9:57; etc. Thus the wisdom of God has given us, not all the +particulars of our Lord's history, but such a selection from both the +incidents of his public life and his public and private teachings as +best embodies the great facts of the gospel, and the doctrines and +duties connected with them. In the four canonical gospels the church +has, not all of our Lord's history and teachings, but all that the Holy +Ghost judged needful for her establishment and edification to the end of +time. + + Of our Lord's history before his baptism we have only his + genealogy in a twofold form; some notices of his miraculous + conception; an account of his birth and circumcision, with the + visions and prophecies connected with them; a history of his + preservation from Herod's attempt to destroy him; the subsequent + residence of his parents in Nazareth, with a single incident of + his childhood. Luke 2:40-52. All these particulars have, in one + way or another, a bearing on his divine mission and work as the + Son of God. The apocryphal gospels on the contrary, as, for + example, the Gospel of the Infancy, and the Gospel of Nicodemus, + abound in frivolous stories relating to our Lord's infancy and + later life, which have no connection with the great work of + redemption. + +9. The peculiarities of the fourth gospel, as well as its relation to +the three preceding gospels, will come up for consideration hereafter. +At present we only remark that John wrote many years after the +appearance of the synoptic gospels, and that, whatever reference he may +have had to them, his gospel constitutes, in the plan of revelation, a +_true complement_ to the other three. For (1) if we except the narrative +of our Lord's passion, it covers, for the most part, ground not occupied +by them. They give mainly the history of the Saviour's ministry in +Galilee (Luke also, at some length, that of his last journey to +Jerusalem); the scene of much of John's gospel, on the contrary, is +Jerusalem and its near vicinity. (2) John unfolds more fully the nature +of our Lord's person, and his peculiar relation to the Father and to his +church. This he does, more especially, in his prologue (chap. 1:1-18); +in the record of the Saviour's discussions with the Jews (chaps. 3, +5-12); and in that of his discourses addressed in private to the circle +of the apostles, chaps. 13-17. Thus John's gospel is emphatically that +of Christ's _person_, as illustrated by his works and words; while the +three earlier evangelists give rather the gospel of his _public +ministry_, through which his divine person everywhere shines forth. This +deeper view of our Lord's person and office which the gospel of John +unfolds met the wants of the primitive church in a more advanced stage, +when false teachers were already beginning to sow the seeds of those +errors which, in the next generation, brought forth such a rank and +poisonous harvest. The same great characteristics adapt it to the wants +of the church in all ages. Without the fourth gospel she could not be +completely furnished to meet the assaults of error, which, from one +generation to another, makes, with unerring instinct, its main assault +upon the person and office of the Son of God. + +But if the evangelical narrative would not be complete without the +fourth gospel, neither would it be perfect for the use of the church +with this alone. The record of our Lord's life and teachings as given in +the first three gospels is preeminently adapted to popular instruction. +It is precisely such a record as the preachers of the gospel need in +their public ministrations. With it they can use the fourth gospel with +effect; but without it they would want the natural preparation for and +introduction to those deep and spiritual views of Christ's person and +office which the bosom-disciple unfolds. It is not in the three synoptic +gospels, nor in the gospel of John taken separately, that we find the +complete evangelical armor, but in the perfect whole of the four. + +10. Very numerous attempts have been made to construct _harmonies_ of +the four gospels. One plan is to form out of the whole, in what is +supposed to be the true chronological order, a continuous narrative +embracing all the matter of the four, but without repetitions of the +same or similar words. Another plan is to exhibit in chronological +order, the entire text of the four gospels arranged in parallel columns, +so far as two or more of them cover the same ground. The idea is very +imposing, but the realization of it is beset with formidable if not +insurmountable difficulties. It is certain that the evangelists do not +always follow the exact order of time, and it is sometimes impossible to +decide between the different arrangements of events in their records. In +the four narratives of the events connected with the resurrection all +harmonists find themselves baffled. Had we a full account of all the +particulars of that exciting scene, we might undoubtedly assign to the +different parts of each narrative its true place in the order of time. +But with our present means of information this is impossible. Experience +shows that the most profitable way of studying the evangelical narrative +is to take _each gospel as a whole_, but with continual reference to the +parallel parts of the other gospels, so far as they can be ascertained. +In this work a good harmony, like that of Robinson, may render essential +service, though its arrangements must in many cases be regarded only as +_tentative_--essays at obtaining the true order, rather than the certain +determination of it. + + The relative number of _chapters_ in the different gospels does + not give their true relation in respect to _size_. The chapters + are respectively 28, 16, 24, 21; which are to each other in the + proportion of 7, 4, 6, 5 1/4. But estimating according to the + number of pages (in an edition without breaks for the verses), + it will be found that the gospel of Luke holds the first place, + its size being to that of the other gospels nearly as 60 to 57, + 35, 46. The relation of Matthew's gospel to that of Mark, in + respect to the quantity of matter is then nearly that of 8 to 5. + + In the notices of the separate gospels which follow it is not + thought necessary to give an elaborate analysis of their + contents. The aim will be rather to exhibit the prominent + characteristics of each, and its special office in the economy + of divine revelation. + + +II. MATTHEW. + +11. The unanimous testimony of the ancient church is that the first +gospel was written by the _apostle Matthew_, who is also called Levi. +With his call to the apostleship he may have assumed the name of +Matthew, as Saul took that of Paul. He was of Hebrew origin, the son of +Alphaeus, and a tax-gatherer under the Roman government, Matt. 10:3; +Mark 2:14; 3:18; Luke 5:27, 29; 6:15; Acts 1:13. He was evidently a man +of some means (Luke 5:29), and his office must have required for its +proper discharge a knowledge of the Greek as well as of his native +Hebrew; that is, Aramaean, as the word Hebrew means in the New +Testament, when applied to the vernacular of the Palestine Jews. + +12. The question respecting the _original language_ of Matthew's gospel +has been, since the time of Erasmus, a matter of controversy, in which +eminent biblical scholars have been found on different sides. The +problem is to find a solution which shall bring into harmony the +following well-established facts: (1) that, according to the united +testimony of the early church fathers, Matthew originally wrote his +gospel in Hebrew; (2) that our present Greek gospel has all the freedom +of an original work, that it has remarkable coincidences in language +with the second and third gospels, and especially that the citations +from the Old Testament which stand in our Lord's discourses follow as a +rule the Greek version of the Seventy; (3) that all the early writers, +those who testify to the Hebrew original of this gospel included, +receive and use our present Greek gospel as the genuine and +authoritative gospel of Matthew; (4) that the original Hebrew gospel, to +the existence of which there is such abundant testimony, was allowed +utterly to perish, while the Greek form of it alone was preserved and +placed at the head of the canonical books of the New Testament. + +13. The testimony from Papias, in the beginning of the second century, +and onward to the fourth century, has often been quoted and discussed. +It is not necessary to adduce it here at length. It may be found in +Kirchhofer, in the critical commentaries and introductions, and also in +the modern Bible dictionaries. The words of Papias, as preserved to us +by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., 3. 39) are as follows: "Matthew therefore +wrote the oracles in the Hebrew dialect, and every one interpreted them +as he was able." If there were any ground for doubting what Papias meant +by "the oracles," it would be removed by the testimony of the later +writers, as Pantaenus and Origen (in Eusebius' Hist. Eccl., 5. 10; 6. +25), Irenaeus (Against Heresies, 3. 1), Eusebius himself (Hist. Eccl., 3. +24), Epiphanius (Heresies, 29. 9; 30. 3), and others. They who maintain +that Matthew wrote originally in Greek suppose that the early fathers +confounded an apocryphal gospel, the so-called "gospel according to the +Hebrews," with the true gospel of Matthew. Others think, perhaps with +more reason, that the gospel according to the Hebrews was a corrupted +form, or, what amounts to nearly the same thing, a close imitation of +the true Hebrew gospel of Matthew. + + The Ebionites and Nazarenes used each apparently a different + form of a Hebrew gospel which is sometimes called the gospel + according to Matthew, but more properly "the gospel according to + the Hebrews" (once by Jerome "the gospel according to the + apostles"). According to Epiphanius that in use among the + Ebionites was "not entire and full, but corrupted and abridged." + Heresies, 30. 13. Jerome says: "Matthew, who is called Levi, + having become from a publican an apostle, first composed in + Judea, for the sake of those who had believed from among the + circumcision, a gospel of Christ in Hebrew letters and words. + Who was the person that afterwards translated it into Greek is + not certainly known. Moreover, the Hebrew copy itself is at this + day preserved in the library of Caesarea which Pampilus the + Martyr collected with much diligence. The Nazarenes, who live in + Beroca, a city of Syria, and use this volume, gave me the + opportunity of writing it out." De Vir. Illustr., 3. Here he + certainly identifies this gospel, which, as he repeatedly + informs us, he translated, with the true Hebrew gospel of + Matthew. But he afterwards speaks of it more doubtfully, as "the + gospel according to the Hebrews," and more fully as "the gospel + according to the Hebrews, which is written indeed in the Chaldee + and Syriac language, but in Hebrew letters, which the Nazarenes + use to the present day, [being the gospel] according to the + apostles, or, as most think, according to Matthew" (Against the + Pelagians, 3); "the gospel which the Nazarenes and Ebionites + use, which we have lately translated from the Hebrew language + into the Greek, and which is called by most the authentic gospel + of Matthew." Comment. in Matt. 12:13. The most probable + supposition is that Jerome, knowing that Matthew originally + wrote his gospel in Hebrew, hastily assumed at first that the + copy which he obtained from the Nazarenes was this very gospel. + The character of the quotations which he and Epiphanius give + from it forbids the supposition that it was the true Hebrew + gospel of Matthew. It may have been a corrupted form of it, or + an imitation of it. + +14. Of those who, in accordance with ancient testimony, believe that the +original language of Matthew's gospel was Hebrew, some assume that the +apostle himself afterwards gave a Greek version of it. In itself +considered this hypothesis is not improbable. Matthew, writing primarily +for his countrymen in Palestine, might naturally employ the language +which was to them vernacular. But afterwards, when Christianity had +begun to spread through the Roman empire, and it became evident that the +Greek language was the proper medium for believers at large; and when +also, as is not improbable, some of the existing canonical books of the +New Testament had appeared in that language, we might well suppose that, +in view of these circumstances, the apostle himself put his gospel into +the present Greek form. But it is certainly surprising that, in this +case, no one of the ancient fathers should have had any knowledge of the +matter. In view of their ignorance it seems to be the part of modesty as +well as prudence that we also should say with Jerome: "Who was the +person that afterwards translated it into Greek is not known with +certainty." The universal and unhesitating reception of this gospel by +the early Christians in its present Greek form can be explained only +upon the supposition that it came to them with apostolic authority; that +it received this form at the hand, if not of Matthew himself, yet of an +apostle or an apostolic man, that is, a man standing to the apostles in +the same relation as Mark and Luke. + + This supposition will explain the freedom of Matthew's gospel + and its coincidences in language with the gospels of Mark and + Luke. An apostle or apostolic man would give a faithful, but not + a servile version of the original. The oral tradition of our + Lord's life and teachings from which the first three evangelists + drew, as from a common fountain (see above, No. 7), must have + existed in Palestine in a twofold form, Aramaean and Greek. The + translator would naturally avail himself of the Greek + phraseology, so far as the oral tradition coincided with that + embodied in Matthew's gospel. Those who have carefully examined + the subject affirm that the citations from the Old Testament + adduced by Matthew himself in proof of our Lord's Messiahship + are original renderings, with more or less literalness, from the + Hebrew. The citations, on the contrary, embodied in the + discourses of our Lord himself follow, as a rule, the Greek + version of the Seventy; probably because the translator took + these citations as they stood in the oral tradition of these + discourses. + +Meanwhile the original Hebrew form of the gospel, being superseded by +the Greek in all the congregations of believers except those that used +exclusively the vernacular language of Palestine, gradually fell into +disuse. The "gospel according to the Hebrews," noticed above, may have +been a corrupted form of this gospel or an imitation of it. As Marcion +chose the Greek gospel of Luke for the basis of his revision, so the +Ebionites and Nazarenes would naturally use the Hebrew gospel of Matthew +for their purposes. + +15. The gospel of Matthew opens with the words: "The book of the +generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." In +accordance with this announcement, it traces back our Lord's lineage +through David to Abraham, giving, after the manner of the Jews, an +artificial arrangement of the generations from Abraham to Christ in +three sets of fourteen each, chap. 1:17. To effect this, certain kings +of David's line are omitted--between Joram and Ozias (the Uzziah of the +Hebrews), Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah; between Josias and Jechonias, +Eliakim--and David is reckoned twice; once as the last of a set of +fourteen, then as the first of the following fourteen. The thoroughly +Jewish form of this introduction indicates the primary design of +Matthew's gospel, which was to exhibit to his countrymen Jesus of +Nazareth as their _long promised Messiah and king_. To this he has +constant reference in the facts which he relates, and which he connects +with the prophecies of the Old Testament by such forms of quotation as +the following: "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord +by the prophet," chaps. 1:22; 2:15, 23; 13:35; 21:4; 27:35; "that it +might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet," chaps. 4:11; +8:17; 12:17; "then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the +prophet," chap. 2:17; etc. His direct references to the Old Testament in +proof of our Lord's Messiahship are more numerous than those of either +of the other evangelists. Peculiar to him is the expression "the kingdom +of heaven," to signify, in accordance with Rabbinic usage, the kingdom +which the Messiah was to establish in accordance with the prophecies of +the Old Testament; though he takes a spiritual view of its character, +and not the earthly and political view of the Jewish doctors. Another +designation of the same idea, common to him with the other evangelists, +is "the kingdom of God," which also was current among the Rabbins. This +"kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" is also the kingdom of the +Messiah. Chaps. 13:41; 20:21. + +16. But precisely because Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, his +mission is not to the Jews only, but _to all mankind_, in accordance +with the original promise to Abraham: "In thy seed shall all the nations +of the earth be blessed." Gen. 22:18. While he records the fact that our +Lord's personal ministry was restricted to the Jews (chaps. 10:5, 6; +15:24), he also shows from our Lord's own words that the unbelieving +"children of the kingdom"--the Jews as the natural heirs to the +Messiah's kingdom--shall be cast out, and the believing Gentiles +received into it (chaps. 8:11, 12; 21:43); and he brings his gospel to a +close with the great commission: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all +nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and +of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have +commanded you, and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the +world." Chap. 28:19, 20. + +17. A striking characteristic of this gospel is the _fulness and orderly +manner_ with which it records _our Lord's discourses_. Striking examples +of this are the Sermon on the Mount (chaps. 5-7), his awful denunciation +of the Scribes and Pharisees (chap. 23), and the majestic series of +parables (chap. 25). Doubtless, Matthew had by nature a peculiar +endowment for this work, which the Holy Spirit used to preserve for the +church much of our Lord's teachings which would otherwise have been +lost. The narrative part of this gospel, on the other hand, has not the +circumstantial fulness of the following gospel. As already remarked, the +field covered by Matthew's narrative is mainly that of our Lord's +Galilean ministry, with the great events connected with his final visit +to Jerusalem, though he gives indications of repeated visits to that +city. Chap. 23:37-39. + +18. It has been assumed by some that Matthew follows, as a general rule, +the order of time. But others deny this, thinking that his arrangement +is according to subject-matter rather than chronological sequence, +especially in the first part (Alexander's Kitto); and this appears to be +the correct judgment. He follows the exact order of time only when the +nature of the events recorded requires him to do so. + +19. It is universally admitted that Matthew wrote his gospel _in +Palestine_. This fact accounts for the absence of explanatory clauses +relating to Jewish usages, such as are not unfrequent in the gospel of +Mark. As to the interpretation of Hebrew words, as "Immanuel" (chap. +1:23); and the words on the cross (chap. 27:46), that belongs to the +Greek form of the gospel. The _date_ of this gospel is doubtful. +According to the tradition of the ancient church it was written first of +the four gospels. Assuming that it originally appeared in Hebrew, we may +reasonably suppose that a period of some years elapsed before it was put +into its present Greek form. + +20. The _integrity_ of this gospel is unquestionable. In modern times +the genuineness of the first two chapters has been called in question by +various writers, but the insufficiency of their arguments has been shown +by many, among whom may be mentioned Davidson, Introduction to New +Testament, vol. 1, pp. 111-127. In the words of this writer the chapters +in question are found "in all _unmutilated_ Greek MSS., and in all +ancient versions;" "the earliest fathers had them in their copies, and +received them as a part of the gospel;" "the ancient heretics and +opponents of Christianity were acquainted with this portion of the first +gospel;" "the commencement of the first chapter is closely connected +with something preceding;" and "the diction of these two chapters bears +the same impress and character which belong to the remainder of the +gospel, proving that the gospel, as we now have it, proceeded from _one_ +author." + + +III. MARK. + +21. There is no valid ground for doubting the correctness of the ancient +tradition which identifies the author of the second gospel with "John +whose surname was Mark" (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37), who is called simply +John (Acts 13:5, 13), and Marcus or Mark (Acts 15:39; Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. +4:11; perhaps also 1 Peter 5:13). He was _cousin_ to Barnabas (Col. +4:10, not _sister's son_, as in our version), which relationship may +explain Barnabas' earnest defence of him (Acts 15:37-39). His mother +Mary resided in Jerusalem, and it was to her house that Peter resorted +immediately upon his miraculous deliverance from prison (Acts 12:12). +The intimacy of Peter with Mary's family must have brought about an +early acquaintance between the apostle and Mark. Ancient tradition +uniformly affirms a close relation between Peter and Mark, representing +the latter to have been the disciple and _interpreter_ of the former. +See below. + + Papias (in Eusebius' Hist. Eccl. 3. 39) says, upon the authority + of John the Presbyter, "Mark being Peter's interpreter, wrote + down accurately as many things as he remembered; not, indeed, as + giving in order the things which were spoken or done by Christ. + For he was neither a hearer nor a follower of the Lord, but, as + I said, of Peter, who gave his instructions as occasion + required, but not as one who was composing an orderly account of + our Lord's words. Mark, therefore, committed no error when he + thus wrote down certain things as he remembered them. For he was + careful of one thing, to omit nothing of the things which he + heard and to make no false statements concerning them." These + words of Papias are somewhat loose and indefinite. But, when + fairly interpreted, they seem to mean that as Peter taught + according to the necessities of each occasion, not aiming to + give a full history of our Lord in chronological order, so Mark + wrote not all things pertaining to our Lord's life and ministry, + but certain things, those namely that he had learned from + Peter's discourses, without always observing the strict order of + time. We need not press the words "in order" and "certain + things," as if Papias meant to say that Mark's gospel is only a + loose collection of fragments. It is a connected and + self-consistent whole; but it does not profess to give in all + cases the exact chronological order of events, nor to be an + exhaustive account of our Saviour's life and teachings. Eusebius + has preserved for us in his Ecclesiastical History the testimony + of Irenaeus on the same point (Hist. Eccl., 5. 8); also of + Clement of Alexandria (Hist. Eccl., 6.14); and of Origen (Hist. + Eccl., 6. 25). He also gives his own (Hist. Eccl., 2. 5). We + have besides these, the statements of Tertullian (Against + Marcion, 6. 25); and Jerome (Epist. ad Hedib. Quaest., 2). All + these witnesses, though not consistent among themselves in + respect to several minor details, yet agree in respect to the + two great facts, (1) that Mark was the companion of Peter and + had a special relation to him, (2) that he was the author of the + gospel which bears his name. We add from Meyer (Introduction to + Commentary on Mark) the following exposition of the word + _interpreter_ as applied to Mark in his relation to Peter: "No + valid ground of doubt can be alleged against it, provided only + we do not understand the idea contained in the word + _interpreter_ to mean that Peter, not having sufficient mastery + of the Greek, delivered his discourses in Aramaean, and had them + interpreted by Mark into Greek; but rather that the office of a + _secretary_ is indicated, who wrote down the oral communications + of his apostle (whether from dictation, or in the freer exercise + of his own activity) and so became _in the way of writing_ his + interpreter to others." + +Mark's connection with the apostle Paul, though interrupted by the +incident recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (15:37-39), was afterwards +renewed and he restored to the apostle's confidence, as is manifest from +the way in which he notices him. Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11. If, as is +probable (see below, No. 22), Mark wrote between A.D. 60 and 70, his +long intimacy with Peter and Paul qualified him in a special manner for +his work. + +22. Ancient tradition favors the idea that Mark wrote his gospel _in +Rome_. Had he written in Egypt, as Chrysostom thinks, we can hardly +suppose that Clement of Alexandria would have been ignorant of the fact, +as his testimony shows that he was. In respect to _date_, the accounts +of the ancients differ so much among themselves that it is difficult to +arrive at any definite conclusion. We may probably place it between A.D. +64 and 70. The _language_ in which Mark wrote was Greek. This is +attested by the united voice of antiquity. The subscriptions annexed to +some manuscripts of the Old Syriac, and that in the Philoxenian Syriac +version, to the effect that Mark wrote _in Roman_, that is, in Latin, +are of no authority. They are the conjectures of ignorant men, who +inferred from the fact that Mark wrote in Rome that he must have used +the Latin tongue. + + The story of the pretended _Latin autograph_ of Mark's gospel + preserved in the Library of St. Mark at Venice is now exploded. + The manuscript to which this high honor was assigned is part of + the _Codex Forojuliensis_, which gives the text of the _Latin + Vulgate_. The text was edited by Blanchini in the appendix to + his _Evangeliarium Quadruplex_, _Fourfold Gospel_. The gospel of + Mark having been cut out and removed to Venice was exalted to be + the autograph of Mark. See Tregelles in Horne, vol. 4, chap. 23. + The fact that Mark wrote out of Palestine and for Gentile + readers at once accounts for the numerous explanatory clauses by + which his gospel is distinguished from that of Matthew. Examples + are: chaps. 7:3, 4; 12:42; 13:3; 14:12; 15:42; and the frequent + interpretations of Aramaean words: 3:17; 5:41; 7:11, 34; 10:46; + 14:36; 15:34. + +23. The opening words of Matthew's gospel are: "The book of the +generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham," by +which, as already remarked, he indicates his purpose to show that Jesus +of Nazareth is the long promised Messiah of David's line, and the seed +of Abraham, in whom all nations are to be blessed. Mark, on the +contrary, passing by our Lord's genealogy, commences thus: "The +beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." He recognizes +him, indeed as the son of David, and the promised Messiah and king of +Israel. Chaps. 10:47, 48; 11:10; 15:32. But, writing among Gentiles and +for Gentiles, the great fact which he is intent on setting forth is the +person and character of Jesus as the Son of God. Matthew gives special +attention to the Saviour's discourses. With these considerably more than +a third of his gospel is occupied. Mark, on the contrary, devotes +himself mainly to the narrative of our Lord's works. With this is +interwoven a multitude of his sayings; since it was the Saviour's custom +to teach in connection with surrounding incidents. But if we compare the +set discourses of our Lord recorded by Mark with those which Matthew +gives, they will hardly amount to a fifth part in quantity. Between the +narrative parts of Matthew and Mark, on the contrary, there is not a +very great disparity in respect to the space occupied by each. + +24. Though Mark has but little matter that is absolutely new, he yet +handles his materials in an original and independent way, weaving into +the narratives which he gives in common with one or more of the other +evangelists numerous little incidents in the most natural and artless +way. His characteristics as a historian are _graphic vividness_ of +description and _circumstantiality of detail_. If we except some +striking passages of John's gospel, he brings us nearer to our Lord's +person and the scenes described than either of the other evangelists. He +brings before us, as in a picture, not only our Lord's words and works, +but his very looks and gestures. It is he that records as has been often +noticed, how the Saviour "looked round about" him with anger on the +unbelieving multitudes and on Peter (chap. 3:5; 8:33); with complacency +on his disciples (chap. 3:34; 10:27); and with the piercing look of +inquiry (chap. 5:32); how he looked up to heaven and sighed when he +healed one who was deaf and dumb (chap. 7:34); and how he sighed deeply +in spirit at the perverseness of the Pharisees (chap. 8:12). He +sometimes gives us the very words of the Saviour when he performed his +mighty works--_Talitha cumi_ (5:41), _Ephphatha_ (7:34). His narratives +are remarkable for bringing in little incidents which can have come from +none but an eyewitness, but which add wonderfully to the naturalness as +well as the vividness of his descriptions. When the storm arises he is +asleep _on a pillow_ (chap. 4:38); Jairus' daughter arises and walks, +_for she was of the age of twelve years_ (chap. 5:42); the multitudes +that are to be fed sit down _in ranks by hundreds and by fifties_ (chap. +6:40), etc. As examples of vivid description may be named the account of +the demoniac (chap. 5:2-20), and the lunatic. Chap. 9:14-27. It is not +necessary to assume that Mark was himself a disciple of our Lord. If, as +ancient tradition asserts, he was the disciple and interpreter of Peter +he could receive from his lips those circumstantial details with which +his narrative abounds. + +25. The closing passage of this gospel, chap. 16:9-20, is wanting in a +number of important manuscripts, among which are the Vatican and +Sinaitic. The same was the case also in the days of Eusebius and Jerome. +But it was known to Irenaeus, and quoted by him and many others after +him. The reader must be referred to the critical commentaries and +introductions for the discussion of the difficult questions concerning +it. Tregelles, who, in his account of the printed text has given a full +statement of the case, thus expresses his judgment (in Horne, vol. 4, p. +436): "It is _perfectly_ certain that from the second century and +onward, these verses have been known as part of _this gospel_ (whoever +was their _author_)." He thinks that "the _book of Mark himself_ extends +no farther than 'for they were afraid,' chap. 16:8; but that the +remaining twelve verses, by whomsoever written, have a full claim to be +received as an authentic part of the second gospel, and that the full +reception of early testimony on this question does not in the least +involve their rejection as not being a part of canonical Scripture." + + +IV. LUKE. + +26. The unanimous voice of antiquity ascribes the third gospel with the +Acts of the Apostles to _Luke_. He first appears as the travelling +companion of Paul when he leaves Troas for Macedonia (Acts 16:10); for +the use of the first person plural--"we endeavored," "the Lord had +called us," "we came," etc.--which occurs from that point of Paul's +history and onward, with certain interruptions, through the remainder of +the Acts of the Apostles, admits of no other natural and reasonable +explanation. There is good reason to believe that he is identical with +"Luke, the beloved physician," who was with Paul when a prisoner at +Rome. Col. 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Tim. 4:11. From the first of these +passages it has been inferred that he was not a Jew by birth, since he +is apparently distinguished from those "who are of the circumcision," v. +11. + + Tradition represents him to have been by birth a Syrian of + Antioch (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 3. 4; Jerome, Preface to Matt., + and elsewhere), and a Jewish proselyte (Jerome, Quest. on Gen., + chap. 46); and it adds various other legends which are not worth + repeating. + +27. The evangelist himself, in his dedicatory address to Theophilus +(chap. 1:1-4), gives us clear and definite information respecting the +_sources of his gospel_. He does not profess to have been himself an +eye-witness, but has drawn his information from those "who from the +beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word." His +investigations have been accurate and thorough: "having accurately +traced out all things from the beginning" (as the original words mean), +he writes to Theophilus "in order;" that is, in an orderly and connected +way. He proposes to give not some loose fragments, but a connected +narrative; although, as we have seen above (No. 10), his order is not +always that of strict chronological sequence. From the long and intimate +connection of Luke with Paul it is reasonable to suppose that the latter +must have exerted an influence on the composition of this gospel. Luke, +however, did not draw the materials of his narrative from Paul (at least +not principally), but, as he expressly states, from those "who from the +beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word." He did not +write from Paul's dictation, but in a free and independent way; though +there is no reasonable ground for doubting that it was with Paul's +knowledge and approbation. + + The "eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" are those who (1) + were from the beginning eye-witnesses of our Lord's public + ministry; (2) were intrusted with the work of preaching the + word; that is, the apostles and such of their associates as had + companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and + out among them. Acts 1:21. The words of Luke must not be + strained; for he records some incidents of our Lord's history + _before_ his public appearance which could have been learned + only from Mary and her circle. + + The remarkable agreement between Luke's account of the + institution of the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:9, 20), and Paul's (1 + Cor. 11:28-25) has often been noticed. It is most naturally + explained by the supposition that Luke recorded the transaction + in the form in which he had often heard it from the lips of + Paul. But there is nothing in the character of this gospel which + can warrant the supposition that the apostle exercised a formal + supervision over its composition. Such a procedure would be + contrary to the spirit of the apostolic age. The apostle himself + wrote by an amanuensis. But when one of his associates in the + ministry wrote, in whom he had full confidence, he left him to + the free exercise of his judgment under the illumination of the + Holy Spirit. + +28. In respect to the _date_ of this gospel, if we assume that the Acts +of the Apostles were written at Rome about A.D. 63-65 (Chap. 5, No. 5), +it is reasonable to suppose that the gospel, which is dedicated to the +same personage, was composed not very long before, perhaps even during +the two years of Paul's imprisonment at Rome, in which case Rome would +also be the _place_ of its composition. Whether Luke wrote before or +after Mark is a question that has been differently answered, and cannot +be determined with certainty. The proof that all three of the first +evangelists wrote before the destruction of Jerusalem has been already +given. Chap. 3, No. 14. + +29. Though Luke dedicates his gospel to Theophilus (chap, 1:1-4), it is +not to be supposed that it was written for his use alone. He had a more +_general end_ in view, and that is indicated by the form of our Lord's +genealogy as given by him. While Matthew traces the Saviour's lineage +through David to Abraham, in conformity with his design to show that he +is the promised seed of Abraham and king of Israel, Luke traces it back +through David and Abraham to Adam "the son of God." He identifies Jesus +of Nazareth not with the Messiah alone of Abraham's and David's line, +but with man as man. He is the second Adam, and as such the Saviour of +the race. This _universal aspect_ of the gospel, as a gospel not for one +nation but for all mankind, shines forth indeed in all the gospels, but +it appears with wonderful sweetness and power in some of the parables +which are peculiar to Luke, as those of the good Samaritan (chap. +10:30-37), the lost sheep (chap. 15:3-7), the lost pieces of silver +(chap. 15:8-10), the prodigal son (chap. 15:11-32); in all which Jesus +is set forth as the Saviour of suffering humanity. + +30. As it respects the _character and plan_ of Luke's gospel, the +following particulars are to be noticed. In the distribution of matter +between the narration of events and the recital of our Lord's discourses +it holds a position between the first and the second gospel; being less +full in the latter respect than Matthew, but far more full than Mark. In +the narrative part there is an easy and graceful style which charms +every reader. In the introduction of minute incidents he goes beyond +Matthew, though he has not the circumstantial exactness of Mark. The +agreement of Luke's gospel with the two preceding in its general plan is +recognized at once by every reader. Like them it is mainly occupied with +our Lord's Galilean ministry. In regard to the Saviour's infancy he is +more full than Matthew, the matter of the first three chapters being in +a great measure peculiar to him. He omits a long series of events +recorded by the first two evangelists. Matt. 14:22-16:12; Mark +6:45-8:26. On the other hand he introduces (chap. 9:43-18:30) "a +remarkable series of acts and discourses which are grouped together in +connection with the last journey to Jerusalem. Some of the incidents +occur in different connections in the other evangelists; and the whole +section proves, by the absence of historical data and the unity of its +general import, that a moral and not a temporal sequence is the law of +the gospels." Westcott, Introduct. to Gospel, chap. 7. Very much of the +matter in this remarkable section is peculiar to Luke, and contains +passages of wonderful beauty and sweetness which would have been lost to +the church but for the record of this gospel. Among these are the +mission of the seventy, several miracles, some striking lessons of +instruction from passing incidents, and no less than twelve parables: +the good Samaritan, the unfortunate friend, the unclean spirit, the rich +fool, the barren fig-tree, the lost sheep, the lost pieces of silver, +the prodigal son, the unfaithful steward, the rich man and Lazarus, the +unjust judge, the Pharisee and publican. While the attentive reader +perceives the very near relationship of the third gospel to the first +and second, he notices also the fact that it differs from both of them +more than they do from each other. + + "If the total contents of the several gospels be represented by + 100, the following table is obtained: + + Peculiarities. Concordances. + St. Mark,.........................7........................93 + St. Matthew,.....................42........................58 + St. Luke,........................59........................41 + St. John,........................92.........................8 + + "From this it appears that the several gospels bear almost + exactly an inverse relation to one another, St. Mark and St. + John occupying the extreme positions, the proportion of original + passages in one balancing the coincident passages in the other. + If again the extent of all the coincidences be represented by + 100, their proportionate distribution will be: + + St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, . . . . . . . . 53 + St. Matthew, St. Luke, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 + St. Matthew, St. Mark, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 + St. Mark, St. Luke, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 " + + [Westcott, after Stroud and Norton.] + + Of absolutely new matter in Mark a striking example is the + beautiful parable, chap. 4:26-29. The two miracles peculiar to + him (chap. 7:31-37; 8:22-26) are both of a very striking + character, and related with circumstantial minuteness of detail. + Where his narratives coincide with those of the other + evangelists, they are characterized by the addition of details, + which, as already remarked, add much to the vivedness and + graphic power of his descriptions. + +31. The _integrity_ of the third gospel has been recently assailed in +Germany in the way of attempting to show that the gospel of Luke, as we +now have it, is corrupted by interpolations, and that Marcion had it in +its true form. See Chap. 2, No. 12. But the result of a voluminous +discussion is that Marcion's gospel is now acknowledged to have been a +mutilated form of the canonical gospel, in accordance with the testimony +of the ancient fathers. + + On the relation to each other of the two genealogies of our Lord + given by Matthew and Luke respectively, and the different modes + of bringing them into harmony with each other, many volumes have + been written. Two different principles of interpretation are + proposed. According to the _first_, the genealogies of both + Matthew and Luke are those of _Joseph_, the legal father of + Jesus, and the only one that could be known in this relation in + the public registers. The _second_ view is that Matthew gives + the genealogy of _Joseph_, and Luke that of _Mary_, Joseph being + called the son of Heli, in the sense of _son-in-law_; and being + perhaps also legal heir to Heli through Mary in the absence of + brothers. The reader will find statements of these two views, + the former in Smith's Bible Diet., the latter in Alexander's + Kitto, Art. Genealogy of Jesus Christ; also in the commentaries + generally. We only add that though we may not be able to + determine with certainty _what_ is the true solution of the + difficulty, no one can show that such a solution is impossible. + The reverent believer will quietly wait for more light, if it + shall please God to give it; otherwise he will be content to + remain without it. + + +V. JOHN. + +32. Though the writer of the fourth gospel everywhere refrains from +mentioning his own name, he clearly indicates himself as the "bosom +disciple." When he speaks of two disciples that followed Jesus, +afterwards adding that "one of the two" "was Andrew, Simon Peter's +brother" (chap. 1:37, 40); of "one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved" +(chap. 13:23; 21:7, 20); and of "another disciple" in company with Simon +Peter (chap. 18:15, 16; 20:2-8), the only natural explanation of these +circumlocutions is that he refers to himself. Even if we suppose, with +some, that the two closing verses of chapter 21 (the former of which +ascribes this gospel directly to John) are a subscription by another +hand, their authenticity is unquestionable, sustained as it is by the +uniform testimony of antiquity, and by the internal character of the +gospel. + +33. The Scriptural notices of John are few and simple. He was the son of +Zebedee, a fisherman of Bethsaida on the Western shore of the sea of +Galilee not far from Capernaum. Matt. 4:21; Mark 1:19, 20; Luke 5:10, +11. His mother's name was Salome. Matt. 27:56 compared with Mark 15:40. +His parents seem to have been possessed of some property, since Zebedee +had hired servants (Mark 1:20), and Salome was one of the women who +followed Jesus in Galilee, and ministered to him. Mark 15:40, 41. From +the order in which he and his brother James are mentioned--James and +John, except Luke 9:28--he is thought to have been the younger of the +two. Early in our Lord's ministry he was called to be one of his +followers; was one of the three who were admitted to special intimacy +with him, they alone being permitted to witness the raising of Jairus' +daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony of Gethsemane (Matt 17:1; +26:37; Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33; Luke 8:51; 9:28); and of the three was, +though not first in place, first in the Lord's love and confidence--"the +disciple whom Jesus loved," and to whose tender care he committed his +mother as he was about to expire on the cross. By his natural +endowments, as well as by his loving and confidential intercourse with +the Saviour, he was prepared to receive and afterwards to publish to the +world, those deep and spiritual views of Christ's person and office +which so remarkably characterize his gospel. + +So far as we have any notices of John in the Acts of the Apostles and +epistles of Paul, his residence after our Lord's ascension was at +Jerusalem. But, according to the unanimous testimony of antiquity, he +spent the latter part of his life in Ephesus, where he died at a very +advanced age, not far from the close of the first century. The subject +of his banishment to the isle of Patmos will come up in connection with +the Apocalypse. + + There is a mass of traditions respecting the latter years of + this apostle, which are, however, of a very uncertain character. + Among the more striking of these are: his being taken to Rome + during the persecution under Domitian, and there thrown into a + caldron of boiling oil, whence he escaped unhurt; his refusal to + remain under the same roof with the heretic Cerinthus, lest it + should fall upon him and crush him; his successful journey on + horseback into the midst of a band of robbers to reclaim a + fallen member of the church who had become their leader; and + especially, that during the last days of his life, he was + customarily carried into the assembly of the church, where he + simply repeated the words: "Little children, love one another." + +34. The arguments for the _late composition_ of this gospel--after the +destruction of Jerusalem--have already been given. Chap. 2, No. 14. If +we say between A.D. 70 and 100, it will be as near an approximation to +the time as we can make. The _place_, according to Irenaeus (in Eusebius, +Hist. Eccl. 5. 8) was Ephesus, with which statement all that we know of +his later life is in harmony. + +35. From the beginning of our Lord's ministry John was, as we have seen, +admitted to his intimate companionship and friendship. He was not +therefore, dependent on tradition. His gospel is the testimony of what +he had himself seen and heard. Yet it covers only a _part_ of the +Saviour's ministry; and the question remains why, with the exception of +the closing scenes of our Lord's life on earth, that part should be to +so remarkable an extent precisely _what the earlier evangelists have +omitted_. In answer to this question it might be said that those actions +and discourses of our Lord which John selected most clearly exhibit his +person and office as the son of God; and that these were especially, (1) +his encounters with the Jewish rulers at Jerusalem, (2) his private +confidential intercourse with his disciples. Whatever weight we may +allow to this consideration, it cannot be regarded as a full explanation +of the difference between John and the other evangelists in the +selection of materials. With the exception of the miracle of the loaves +and fishes and the incidents connected with it (chap. 6:1-21) his +notices of our Lord's ministry in Galilee relate almost entirely to +incidents and discourses omitted by the other evangelists. It is +altogether probable that, although John did not write his gospel simply +as supplementary to the earlier gospels, he yet had reference to them in +the selection of his materials. His own statement: "Many other signs +truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written +in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is +the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life +through his name" (chap. 20:30, 31), is not inconsistent with such a +supposition. The "many other signs" he may have omitted, in part at +least, because he judged that a sufficient account of them had been +given by the earlier evangelists, of whose writings, when we consider +the time that in all probability intervened between their composition +and that of his gospel, we cannot suppose him to have been ignorant. +Such a reference to these writings does not in any way exclude the +general design which he had, in common with the earlier evangelists, to +show "that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God," through faith in whose +name eternal life is received. + + Ancient tradition represents, in a variety of forms, that John + intended to complete the evangelical history, as given by the + other evangelists, in the way of furnishing additional events + and discourses omitted by them. The citations may be seen in + Davidson's Introduct. to New Test., vol. 1, pp. 320-22. Though + the statements of the fathers on this point cannot be accepted + without qualification, there is no valid ground for denying the + general reference above assumed. + +36. In writing his gospel John had not a polemical, but a _general end_ +in view. It was not his immediate aim to refute the errors and heresies +of his day; but, as he tells us, to show that Jesus is the Christ, the +Son of God, in order that men, through faith in his name, may have +eternal life. Yet, like every wise and practical writer, he must have +had regard to the state of the churches in his day and the forms of +error by which they were assailed. In the latter part of the apostolic +age the seeds of those heresies which in the following century yielded +such a rank and poisonous harvest, had already begun to be sown. Like +all the heresies which have troubled the Christian church to the present +day, they consisted essentially in false views respecting our Saviour's +person and office. The beloved disciple who followed Jesus through the +whole of his ministry and leaned on his bosom at the last supper, has +given us an authentic record of the Redeemer's words and works, in +which, as in a bright untarnished mirror, we see both the divine dignity +of his person and the true nature of his office as the Redeemer of the +world. Such a record was especially adapted to refute the errors of his +day, as it is those of the present day. It is preeminently the gospel of +our Lord's person. It opens with an account of his divine nature and +eternal coexistence with the Father; his general office as the creator +of all things, and the source of light and life to all men and his +special office as "the word made flesh," whom the Father sent for the +salvation of the world, and by whom alone the Father is revealed to men. +Equality with the Father in nature, subordination to the Father in +office, union with human nature in the work of redeeming and judging +men, and in all these perfect union with the Father in counsel and +will--such are the great doctrines that run through our Lord's +discussions with the unbelieving Jews, as recorded by this evangelist. +In the same discussions, but more especially in his private confidential +intercourse with his disciples, he adds deep views of his relation to +the world, as the only revealer of God's truth, the only source of +spiritual life, and the only way of access to the Father; and to +believers, as the true vine, through vital union with which they have +life, nourishment, and fruitfulness. He unfolds also more fully than the +other evangelists the office of the Comforter, whom the Father shall +send to make good to the church the loss of his personal presence. Thus +the gospel of John becomes at once an inexhaustible storehouse of +spiritual food for the nourishment of the believer's own soul, and a +divine armory, whence he may draw polished shafts in his warfare against +error. This last record of our Lord's life and teachings owes its +present form, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, partly to the +peculiar character of the writer, and partly to the lateness of the +period when it was composed. In both these respects we ought devoutly to +recognize the superintending providence of him who sees the end from the +beginning. + + +VI. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. + +37. The author of the Acts of the Apostles is identical with that of the +third gospel, as we learn from the dedication to the same Theophilus. +Chap. 1:1. Both are ascribed to Luke by the unanimous testimony of the +ancient church. The genuineness of this book, its credibility, and the +time of its composition--about A.D. 63-65--have been already shown. +Chap. 5, Nos. 2-5. It remains to consider its _plan_ and its _office_ in +the system of revelation. + +38. In respect to _plan_ this book naturally falls into two main +divisions, the former embracing the first twelve chapters, the latter +the remainder of the work. The _first_ division contains the history of +the apostolic labors after the ascension, _in Jerusalem and from +Jerusalem as a centre_. Here, if we except the events connected with the +martyrdom of Stephen (chs. 6, 7), the conversion of Saul (chap. 9:1-31), +and the Ethiopian eunuch (chap. 8:26-40), _Peter_ everywhere appears as +the chief speaker and actor, being first among the twelve, though +possessing no official authority over them. It is he that proposes the +choice of one to supply the place of Judas, and that is the foremost +speaker on the day of Pentecost, at the gate of the temple, before the +Jewish Sanhedrim, and in the assembly of the church. Chaps. 1:15-22; +2:14-40; 3:4-26; 4:8-12; 5:3-11, 29-32. Associated with him we often +find the apostle John. Chaps. 3:1; 4:13, 19; 8:14. When the Samaritans +are to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter and John are sent to +them from Jerusalem. Chap. 8:14-25. When the gospel is to be carried for +the first time to the Gentiles, Peter is sent by the Holy Ghost to the +house of Cornelius in Cesarea (chap. 10), for which mission he +afterwards vindicates himself before the brethren at Jerusalem. Chap. +11:1-18. Further notices of Peter we have in chaps. 9:32-43; 12:3-19. We +know that the other apostles must have been actively and successfully +employed in prayer and the ministry of the word (chap. 6:4), but it does +not come within the plan of this narrative to give a particular account +of their labors. + +The _second_ division is occupied with the history of _Paul's missionary +labors among the Gentiles, from Antioch as a centre_. He had already +been sent from that city with Barnabas to carry alms to the brethren in +Jerusalem and Judea (chaps. 11:27-30; 12:25), when "the Holy Ghost said, +Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called +them;" and they were sent, with fasting and prayer and the solemn laying +on of hands, on their great mission to the Gentiles. Chap. 13:1-3. +Thenceforward the narrative is occupied with an account of the labors of +Paul among the Gentiles. The fifteenth chapter is no exception; for the +convocation of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem was occasioned by +the missionary labors of Paul, and had especial reference to them. + + Two cities are mentioned in the New Testament which have the + name of _Antioch_--_Antioch_ of _Pisidia_ so-called, though + situated in the southern part of Phrygia near the border of + Pisidia (Acts 13:14; 14:19, 21; 2 Tim. 3:11); and _Antioch_ of + _Syria_, situated on the southern bank of the Orontes about + fifteen miles from its mouth. Acts 11:19-27; 13:1; 14:26; + 15:22-35; 18:22; Gal. 2:11. The latter city was the centre of + Gentile Christianity. It was the metropolis of Syria, the + residence of the Syrian kings, and afterwards the capital of the + Roman provinces in Asia. Here the first Gentile church was + gathered, and the disciples first received the name of + _Christians_. Acts 11:19-26. Hence Barnabas and Saul were sent + to Jerusalem to bear alms (Acts 11:29, 30; 12:25); and + afterwards to consult the apostles and elders at Jerusalem on + the question of imposing the Mosaic law on the Gentile converts. + From this city also the apostle started on his three missionary + journeys, and to it he returned from his first and second + journey. Acts 13:1-3; 14:26; 15:36, 40; 18:22, 23. From the time + that Barnabas first brought the apostle to Antioch (Acts 11:26) + to that of his seizure at Jerusalem and subsequent imprisonment, + most of his time not occupied in missionary journeys was spent + at Antioch. Acts 11:26; 12:25; 14:26-28; 15:30, 35; 18:22, 23. + As _Jerusalem_ was the centre for the apostles of the + circumcision, so was _Antioch_ in Syria for the apostle of the + Gentiles. + +39. This brief survey of the plan of this book gives us also an insight +into its _office_. First of all it gives us a fresh and vivid +portraiture of the apostolic labors and the spirit of the apostolic +church, as pervaded and quickened by the presence of the promised +Comforter. On the side of the apostles, we see a boldness and ardor that +no persecution can check, united with simplicity and godly sincerity. On +the side of the brethren, we see a whole-hearted devotion to the +Saviour, under the mighty impulse of faith and love, which opens their +hearts in liberality and causes them to have all things in common. On +the side of both the apostles and the brethren, we see untiring activity +and patient endurance in the Master's service, such as make the +primitive church a bright illustration of the promise: "Thou shalt be +like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail +not. And they that be of thee shall build the old waste places." Isa. +58:11,12. On the side of the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, on the +contrary, we behold, as ever since, a series of unsuccessful efforts to +hinder the work of God; the very ringleader of the persecutors being +called, in the midst of his heat and fury against Christianity, to be +the "ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." Such an authentic record +of apostolic times is of immense value to the church in all ages. It +gives the true standard of enlightened Christian zeal and activity, and +the true exhibition of what constitutes the real strength and prosperity +of the Christian church. + +The Acts of the Apostles give also a cursory view of the inauguration of +the Christian church, by the descent of the Holy Spirit in his plenary +influences (chap. 2), by the appointment of deacons (chap. 6), and the +ordination of elders, though these last are only mentioned incidentally +(chaps. 14:23; 20:17), the office being understood of itself from the +usages of the Jewish Synagogue. The scantiness of the information which +we have on this matter of church organization is a part of the wisdom of +the Holy Ghost, and is full of instruction to the church in all ages. + +Once more, the Acts of the Apostles give a most interesting and +instructive account of the way in which "the middle wall of partition" +between Jews and Gentiles was gradually broken down. The full import of +the Saviour's last command: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the +gospel to every creature," seems to have been at first but dimly +apprehended by the apostles. For some time their labors were restricted +to their own countrymen. But when, upon the dispersion of the disciples +in the persecution that arose in connection with Stephen's martyrdom, +the gospel had been preached to the Samaritans, the apostles Peter and +John were sent to them, and they in common with the Jews received the +gift of the Holy Spirit. Chap. 8:5-25. This was an intermediate step. +Afterwards Peter was sent among the Gentiles proper, and they also +received the Holy Spirit, to the astonishment of the Jewish brethren who +had accompanied Peter. Chap. 10. The same thing happened also at Antioch +(chap. 11:20), where the true reading is _Hellenas_, _Greeks_, that is, +_Gentiles_, not _Hellenistas_, _Hellenists_. But the work was not yet +finished. It remained that the believing Gentiles should be, by the +solemn and formal judgment of the assembled apostles and elders, +released from the yoke of the Jewish law. Of this we have an account in +the fifteenth chapter. Thus was the demolition of the middle wall of +partition completed. Of the greatness of this work and the formidable +difficulties by which it was beset--difficulties having their ground in +the exclusive spirit of Judaism in connection with the false idea that +the Mosaic law was to remain in force under the Messiah's reign--we who +live so many centuries after its accomplishment can form but a feeble +conception. + +40. Brief and imperfect as is the sketch which Luke has given us, it is +sufficient for the instruction of the churches in subsequent ages. God +deals with them not as with children, to whom the command, "Touch not, +taste not, handle not," must continually be repeated; but as with +full-grown men, who need general principles rather than specific and +minute directions. The facts recorded in the Acts of the Apostles are of +a _representative_ character. They embody the spirit of apostolic times, +and the great principles upon which the cause of Christ must ever be +conducted. Fuller information in respect to details might gratify our +curiosity, but it is not necessary for our edification. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. + + +1. The apostolic epistles are a natural sequence of the office and work +committed by the Saviour to the apostles. They were the primitive +preachers of the gospel, and, under Christ, the founders of the +Christian church. From the necessity of the case they had a general +supervision of all the local churches, and their authority in them was +supreme in matters of both faith and practice. It was to be expected, +therefore, that they should teach by writing, as well as by oral +instruction. It does not appear, however, that epistolary correspondence +entered originally into their plan of labor. Their great Master taught +by word of mouth only, and they followed his example. "We," said the +twelve, "will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry +of the word." Acts 6:4. It was only when circumstances made it +necessary, that some of them took up the pen to write to the churches. +Passing by for the present the disputed question of the time when the +epistle of James was written, and assuming that the conversion of Paul +took place about A.D. 36, we have an interval of at least sixteen years +between this event and the date of his earliest epistles, those to the +Thessalonians, written about A.D. 53. The apostles did not regard +themselves as letter-writers, but as preachers of the word. They took up +the pen only when some special occasion made it necessary. The apostolic +epistles are _incidental_; and for this very reason they are eminently +life-like and practical. In respect to themes, and the manner of +handling them, they present a rich variety. All the great questions of +faith and practice that have agitated the Christian church since the +apostolic age come up for discussion in these letters, not indeed, in +their ever-varying outward forms, but in their great underlying +principles. Thus the providence of God has provided in them a rich +storehouse of truths for the instruction and edification of believers to +the end of time. + +2. Of the twenty-one epistles contained in the New Testament _fourteen_ +belong to Paul (if we include the anonymous letter to the Hebrews), all +written in the prosecution of his great work as the apostle to the +Gentiles. The Saviour's personal ministry was restricted to the Jews, +and so was that of the twelve apostles and the seventy disciples whom he +sent forth before his crucifixion. Matt. 10:5, 6; 15:24; Luke 10:1. But +his last command was: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, +baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the +Holy Ghost." Matt. 28:19. In carrying into execution this command, which +involved such an immense change in the outward form of God's visible +earthly kingdom, it was necessary-- + +(1) That the apostles should insist very earnestly and fully on the +great fundamental doctrine of the gospel, that men have justification +and eternal life, not through the law of Moses, or any other possible +system of works, but _through faith in Jesus Christ_; a doctrine which +cuts up Pharisaism by the roots. + +(2) That, since faith in Christ is the common ground of justification +for Jews and Gentiles, _both were to be admitted upon equal terms_ to +all the rights and privileges of the Christian church; the ancient +prerogative of the Jews above the Gentiles being done away in Christ. + +(3) Still further, that since the Gentiles had justification and +salvation not through the law of Moses, but through faith alone, _the +Mosaic law was not to be imposed upon them_. This was virtually +announcing its abolition, its types and shadows having been fulfilled in +Christ. + +(4) That this removal of "the middle wall of partition" between the Jews +and Gentiles was _in accordance with Moses and the prophets_--not a +change of God's original plan, but only the full accomplishment of it. +Acts 15:15-18; Rom. 3:21, 31; 4:6-25; Gal. 3:6-9. + +We have seen how this great work was begun by the gift of the Holy +Spirit, in connection with the preaching of the gospel, first to the +Samaritans (Acts 8:5-17), and afterwards to the Gentiles (Acts 10; +11:20-26, etc.); and how it was completed, so far as concerns the +_principles_ involved in it, by the solemn decree of the apostles and +the elders (Acts 15:1-29). + +3. But for the _realization_ of these principles in the actual preaching +of the gospel to the Gentile nations, and the establishment of Christian +churches among them which should embrace on equal terms Jews and +Gentiles, a man of very peculiar qualifications was raised up in the +providence of God. Saul of Tarsus was a Jew, brought up in Jerusalem at +the feet of Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in the law and the prophets, +and able therefore to speak with authority concerning the Old Testament +to both Jews and Gentiles. His indomitable energy and fiery zeal, united +with rare practical wisdom, had made him the foremost man in persecuting +the Christians. When the proper time had come Jesus met him on the road +to Damascus with converting power, and all his superior education and +endowments were thenceforth consecrated to the work of preaching the +faith which once he destroyed, especially to the Gentile world. But in +this matter he felt and acted as a Jew. He did not separate himself +abruptly from his countrymen. Cherishing towards them the tenderest +affection, they were everywhere the first objects of his Christian +effort. Into whatever city he went, he first sought the Jewish +synagogue, and there he "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures," Acts +13:14; 14:1; 17:2, 10; 18:4; 19:8. It was only when they persisted in +opposing and blaspheming, that he desisted from further effort among +them and turned to the Gentiles. Acts 13:45-47; 18:6; 19:9. Wherever he +went he encountered the bitterest persecution on the part of his own +countrymen, because of the prominence which he gave to the great +evangelical principles above considered--that men have justification not +wholly or in part through the Mosaic law, but simply through faith in +Christ, and that in him the distinction between Jews and Gentiles is +abolished. Even the believing Jews found it hard to apprehend these +truths in their fullness. In the narrowness of their Jewish prejudices +they were anxious to impose on the Gentile converts the yoke of the +Mosaic law. This, Paul steadfastly resisted, and it is to his defence of +Gentile liberty that we owe, in great measure, those masterly +discussions on the ground of justification, and the unity of Jews and +Gentiles in Christ, which are so prominent in his epistles. Yet with his +uncompromising firmness of principle he united remarkable flexibility in +regard to the means of success. To those who would impose circumcision +on the Gentiles he "gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour." Gal. +2:5. But where no great principle was concerned, he was willing to +circumcise Timothy, out of regard to the feelings of the Jews; thus +becoming, in his own words, "all things to all men." 1 Cor. 9:22. + +4. The peculiar character of the apostle's style is obvious to every +reader. It is in an eminent degree argumentative. He "reasoned with +them," says Luke, "out of the Scriptures." These words describe +accurately the character of both his epistles and his addresses to the +Jews as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. In addressing a Gentile +audience at Athens, he still "reasoned with them;" but it was now from +the inscription on one of their altars, from certain of their own poets, +and from the manifestations in nature of God's power and Godhead. His +reasoning takes occasionally the form of an argument within an argument. +He pauses by the way to expand some thought, and does not return again +to complete in grammatical form the sentence which he had begun; so that +his style sometimes becomes complex and obscure. The versatility of the +apostle's mind, which made him equally at home in discussing subjects +the most varied, appears in his style also. It naturally takes the +complexion of his themes. To understand this one has only to compare the +epistle to the Romans with those to the Corinthians; the epistle to the +Galatians with that to the Ephesians; and all these with the epistles to +the Philippians and Thessalonians. His style may be compared to a clear +window, which shows with fidelity the ever varying forms and scenes that +pass before it. + +5. The commentaries that have been written on the epistles of Paul would +themselves constitute a large library. Our own century has been very +fruitful in them, and some of them are accessible to every reader. For +this reason our notice of the separate epistles may well be brief. Our +aim will be to give the occasion of each, its chronological order in the +series, its connection with the apostle's missionary labors, its scope, +and the office which it accomplishes in the plan of revelation. + + In connection with Paul's epistles the reader should carefully + study the history of his life and labors, as given in the Acts + of the Apostles. From Acts 9:23-26 compared with Gal. 1:16-18, + we learn that the first three years after Paul's conversion were + spent at Damascus and in Arabia. Then he went up to Jerusalem, + but after a short sojourn there was driven away by the + persecution of the Jews, and retired to his native city, Tarsus + in Cilicia. Acts 9:29, 30. After an interval of some time, which + he spent "in the regions of Syria and Cilicia" (Gal. 1:21), + "Barnabas departed to Tarsus, for to seek Saul. And when he had + found him, he brought him unto Antioch." Acts 11:25, 26. This is + supposed to have been about A.D. 43, seven or eight years after + his conversion. + + Here begins his recorded public ministry _in Antioch and from + Antioch as a centre_. See above, Chap. 29, No. 38. It embraces + _three_ great missionary tours (Acts 13:1, etc.; 15:36, etc.; + 18:23, etc.), and _four_ visits to Jerusalem besides that + already noticed. Acts 11:27-30 compared with 12:25; 15:2; 18:22; + 21:15. The last of these ended in his captivity and + imprisonment, first at Cesarea and afterwards at Rome, with an + intervening perilous voyage and shipwreck. Acts chap. 21-28. See + the incidents of Paul's life chronologically arranged in + Davidson's Introduct. to New Test., vol. 2, pp. 110-112, with + the annexed table; in Horne's Introduct., vol. 4, pp. 490-495; + in Conybeare and Howson, vol. 2, Appendix 2; and in the + commentaries of Hackett, Alford, Wordsworth, etc. + +6. As the epistles of Paul stand in the New Testament, they are not +arranged in chronological order. The principle of arrangement seems to +have been, first, those to _churches_, then, those to _individuals_; the +further order being that of _relative size_, with this modification; +that two epistles addressed to the same church should stand together, +and that the last of them, which is always the shorter, should determine +their place in the series. Where the epistles are about equal in size, +it seems to have been the design to arrange them chronologically. The +catholic epistles are arranged upon the same plan. The epistle to the +Hebrews, as being anonymous, now stands after those which bear the name +of Paul. But in many Greek manuscripts it is placed after 2 +Thessalonians, consequently between the epistles addressed to churches +and those to individuals. + + The student of these epistles should carefully note the + chronological order, because, as Wordsworth remarks (Preface to + Commentary on the Epistles), the mutual illustration which the + Acts of the Apostles and the apostolic epistles receive from + each other "is much impaired if the apostolic epistles are not + studied in connection with and in the order of the apostolic + history." The following is the chronological order of the + epistles, as far as it can be ascertained, though (as will + hereafter appear) some uncertainty exists in respect to several + of them: + + 1 Thessalonians . . . about A.D. 53 + 2 Thessalonians . . . about A.D. 53 + Galatians . . . . . . about A.D. 56 or 57 + 1 Corinthians . . . . about A.D. 57 + 2 Corinthians . . . . about A.D. 57 + Romans . . . . . . . about A.D. 58 + Ephesians . . . . . . about A.D. 62 + Colossians . . . . . about A.D. 62 + Philemon . . . . . . about A.D. 62 + Philippians . . . . . about A.D. 63 + Hebrews . . . . . . . uncertain. + 1 Timothy . . . . . . about A.D. 65 + Titus . . . . . . . . about A.D. 65 + 2 Timothy . . . . . . about A.D. 66 + + Arranged according to the order of time the thirteen epistles + which bear the name of Paul naturally fall into _four groups_: + (1) the two epistles to the Thessalonians, written during the + apostle's _second_ missionary journey recorded Acts 15:36-18:22; + (2) the epistles to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Romans, + written during his _third_ missionary journey, Acts 18:23-21:15; + (3) the epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and + Philippians, written during Paul's imprisonment in Rome, Acts + 28:16-31 (some suppose the first three to have been written + during his imprisonment at Cesarea, Acts 23:35-26:32); (4) the + pastoral epistles, the first and third probably written after + his recorded imprisonment in Rome, and the second during a + second imprisonment after the publication of the Acts of the + Apostles, and which ended in his martyrdom A.D. 67 or 68. + +The epistles of Paul will now be considered in the usual order, except +that the three to the Ephesians, Colossians. and Philemon, which are +contemporaneous, will be taken together. + + +I. EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. + +7. The _date_ of the epistle to the Romans, as well as the _place_ where +it was written, can be gathered with much certainty from the epistle +itself, taken in connection with other notices respecting Paul found in +the Acts of the Apostles. He was about to bear alms to his brethren in +Judea from Macedonia and Achaia. Chap. 15:25, 26. He had previously +exhorted the church of Corinth in Achaia to make this very collection, +which he was to receive of them when he came to them through Macedonia. +1 Cor. 16:1-6. That he was also to bring with him a collection from the +Macedonian churches is manifest from 2 Cor. 8:1-4; 9:1-4. He wrote, +moreover, from Corinth; for among the greetings at the close of the +epistle is one from "Gaius mine host" (chap. 16:23), a Corinthian whom +he had baptized (1 Cor. 1:14); he commends to them Phebe, a deaconess of +the church at Cenchrea, the eastern port of Corinth, chap. 16:1; and he +speaks of "the city" where he is as well known (chap. 16:23), which can +be no other than Corinth. Now by comparing Acts 19:21; 20:1-3; 24:17, we +find that he was then on his way to Jerusalem through Macedonia and +Greece, for the last time recorded in the New Testament. The epistle to +the Romans, then, was written from Corinth during the apostle's third +missionary tour and second abode in that city, about A.D. 58. It is the +sixth of his epistles in the order of time, and stands in near +connection with those to the Galatians and Corinthians, which were +apparently written during the previous year. + +8. Concerning the founding of the church at Rome we have no information. +At the date of this epistle Paul had not visited it. Chaps. 1:10-15; +15:23, 24. Of its _composition_, however, we have more certain +knowledge. Founded in the metropolis of the Roman empire, where, as we +know from many notices of ancient writers, many Jews resided, it must +have been of a mixed character, embracing both Jews and Gentiles; with +this agree the contents of the present epistle. That the Gentile element +largely predominated in the church at Rome appears from the general +tenor of the epistle. Chaps. 1:13; 11:13-25, 30, 31; 15:16. That it had +also a Jewish element is plain from the whole of chap 2, and the +precepts in chap. 14. + +9. The _occasion_ of writing seems to have been of a general character. +The apostle had often purposed to visit Rome, but had been as often +hindered. Chap. 1:13. To compensate in part for this failure, he wrote +the present epistle, having, as it appears, an opportunity to send it by +Phebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchrea. Chap. 16:1. The apostle's +_design_, like the occasion of his writing, was general. It was natural +that, in addressing a church which he had long desired to visit, he +should lay himself out to unfold the gospel of Christ in its deep +foundation principles, as a plan of salvation provided for the whole +world, and designed to unite Jews and Gentiles in one harmonious body, +on the common platform of faith in Christ. He first shows that the +Gentiles are under the dominion of sin (chap. 1:18-32), and the Jews +also (chap. 2), so that both alike are shut up to salvation by grace. +Chap. 3. He connects the gospel plan of salvation immediately with the +Old Testament by showing that Abraham, the father of the Israelitish +people, was justified by faith, not by the works of the law or any +outward rite; so that he is the father of all who walk in the steps of +his faith, whether Jews or Gentiles. Chap. 4. He then sets forth the +love of God in Christ, who is the second Adam, sent to restore the race +from the ruin into which it was brought by the sin of the first Adam +(chap. 5); and shows that to fallen sinful men the law cannot give +deliverance from either its condemnatory sentence or the reigning power +of sin, so that its only effect is to work wrath, while the +righteousness which God gives through faith in Christ sets men free from +both the curse of the law and the inward power of sin, thus bringing +them into a blessed state of justification, sanctification, and holy +communion with God here, with the hope of eternal glory hereafter. +Chaps. 6-8. Since the doctrine of the admission of the Gentiles to equal +privileges with the Jews, and the rejection of the unbelieving part of +the Jewish nation, was exceedingly offensive to his countrymen, the +apostle devotes three entire chapters to the discussion of this +momentous theme. Chaps. 9-11. He then proceeds to draw from the whole +subject, as he has unfolded it, such practical exhortations in respect +to daily life and conduct as were adapted to the particular wants of the +Roman Christians--entire consecration of soul and body to God in each +believer's particular sphere (chap. 12); obedience to magistrates (chap. +13:1-7); love and purity (chap. 13:8-14); mutual respect and forbearance +(chaps. 14:1-15:7). He then returns to the great theme with which he +began, that Christ is the common Saviour of Jews and Gentiles, in +connection with which he refers to his office and labors as "the +minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles" (chap. 15:8-21), and closes +with miscellaneous notices and salutations (chaps. 15:22-16:27). + +10. From the above brief survey the special _office_ of the epistle to +the Romans is manifest. In no book of the New Testament is the great +doctrine of justification by faith so fully unfolded. The apostle sets +it in vivid contrast with the Pharisaical idea of justification by the +Mosaic law, and, by parity of reason, of justification by every other +system of legalism; showing that it is only by grace through Christ that +men can be delivered from either the guilt of sin or its reigning power +in the soul, while the effect of the law is only to excite and irritate +men's corrupt passions without the power to subdue them. The place, +therefore, which this epistle holds in the understandings and affections +of believers must be a good measure of their progress in the Christian +life. + + +II. EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS. + +11. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS was written _from Ephesus_, not +far from the time of Pentecost (chap. 16:8); not from Philippi, +according to the subscription appended to it. It was during Paul's +second and last visit to that city, as we learn from his directions +concerning a collection for the saints at Jerusalem, and his promise to +come to the Corinthians through Macedonia (chap. 16:1-5); for when Paul +left Ephesus after his second sojourn there he went by Macedonia and +Achaia (of which province Corinth was the capital) to Jerusalem to bear +alms. Acts 19:21; 20:1-3; 24:17. Paul's second stay in Ephesus, during +which time some think that he made a short visit to Corinth not +mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, which would be the _second_ in +order, that promised in this and the second epistle being the _third_ (2 +Cor. 12:14; 13:1), extended over the space of about three years. Acts +19:1-10; 20:31. From his words (chap. 16:3-8), we gather that the +epistle was written not long before the close of this period. +Chronologists generally place it about A.D. 57. + +12. The _occasion_ of his writing was more specific than when he penned +his epistle to the Romans. Corinth, the renowned capital of the Roman +province Achaia, situated on the isthmus that connects the southern +peninsula of Greece--the ancient Peleponnesus and the modern Morea, and +enjoying the advantage of two ports was alike distinguished for its +wealth and progress in the arts, and for its luxury and dissoluteness of +morals. Here the apostle had labored a year and six months, and gathered +a flourishing church embracing some Jews, but consisting mostly of +Gentiles. Acts 18:1-11; 1 Cor. 12:2. These Gentile converts, having just +emerged from the darkness and corruption of heathenism (chap. 6:9-11), +and living in the midst of a dissolute community (chap. 5:9, 10), did +not wholly escape the contamination of heathenish associations and +heathenish vices. Chaps. 5, 6, 8, 10. Taking a low and worldly view of +the Christian church and the spiritual endowments of its several +members, they were led into party strifes and rivalries. Chaps. 1:11-13; +3:3-7. Certain vain-glorious teachers, moreover, had come in among them +with a great show of worldly wisdom, who disparaged Paul's apostolical +standing, taught the people to despise the simplicity of his teachings, +and sought to supplant him in the confidence and affections of the +Corinthian church. Chaps. 4, 9; 2 Cor. 10-13. In addition to this, +certain disorders and abuses had crept into their public assemblies +(chaps. 11, 12, 14), and some among them denied the doctrine of the +resurrection. Chap. 15. According to the most probable interpretation of +chap. 5:9, the apostle had already written them a letter on some of +these points which has not come down to us, and the Corinthians +themselves had written to the apostle, asking his advice on some points +of a practical character, particularly in respect to the marriage +relation in their present state of trial. Chap. 7:1. The occasion, then, +of writing this epistle, which gives also its _scope_ and _office_, was +to correct the above named errors and abuses, of which he had received +accurate information, and also to answer the inquiries of the +Corinthians in their letter. In this work the apostle employs now sharp +rebuke, now tender expostulation, and now earnest and impassioned +argument. The party strifes among the Corinthians he meets by showing +that Christ himself is the only head of the church, that all gifts are +from him, and are to be used to his glory in the edification of +believers. Chaps. 1:13, 14, 30, 31; 3:5-23. The vain-glorious boasting +of their leaders he exposes by showing the emptiness and impotence of +their pretended wisdom in comparison with the doctrine of Christ +crucified, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God for the +salvation of all that believe, without regard to the distinctions of +worldly rank. Chaps. 1:18-2:16; 3:18-20. The abuses and disorders that +had crept into the church he rebukes with apostolical severity; and in +correcting them, as well as in answering the questions of the +Corinthians, he makes an application of the general principles of the +gospel to the several cases before him which is full of practical +wisdom--the incestuous person (chap. 5:8), companionship with the +vicious (chap. 5:9-13), litigation among brethren (chap. 6:1-8), fleshly +indulgence (chap. 6:9-20), the inquiries of the Christians in respect to +marriage (chap. 7), meats offered to idols and sundry questions +connected with them (chaps. 8, 10), disorders in the public assemblies +(chap. 11), spiritual gifts with a beautiful eulogy on love (chaps. +12-14), the doctrine of the resurrection (chap. 15). He also defends his +apostolical character and standing against his opposers, though by no +means so earnestly and fully as in the following epistle. Chaps. 4, 9. +Thus it comes to pass that the present epistle contains a remarkable +variety of topics, and gives us a fuller and clearer insight into the +practical working of Christianity in the primitive apostolic churches +than that furnished by any other of Paul's epistles, or, indeed, any +other book of the New Testament. The great principles, moreover, which +he lays down in meeting the particular wants of the Corinthian church +remain valid for all time; shedding from age to age a clear and steady +light, by which every tempest-tossed church may, God helping it by his +grace, steer its way into the haven of peace and prosperity. + +13. The reader cannot fail to notice the remarkable contrast between the +tone of this epistle and that to the Galatians, which belongs in the +order of time to the same group. See above, No. 6. The errors of the +Corinthians were not fundamental, like those of the Galatians. They +built upon the true foundation, Jesus Christ; but marred the building by +the introduction of base materials--the "wood, hay, stubble" of human +wisdom, instead of the "gold, silver, precious stones" of the truth as +Paul had taught it. The false teachers among the Galatians, on the +contrary, sought to subvert the very foundations of Christianity by +bringing in a system of legal justification. In writing to the +Galatians, therefore, Paul contends, with apostolic severity, for the +very substance of the gospel, but in addressing the Corinthians, he +seeks only to purify the gospel from the admixture of human additions. + +14. THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS was written not many months +after the first, _from Macedonia_, where the apostle was occupied in +completing a collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, with the +purpose of afterwards proceeding to Corinth that he might receive the +contribution of the Corinthian church also. Chaps. 8:1-4; 9:1-5. Whether +he wrote from Philippi, according to the subscription of the epistle, or +from some other place in Macedonia, cannot be determined. + +15. The _occasion_ of writing was manifestly the report which he had +received from Titus (and as is generally inferred from 1 Cor. 4:17; +16:10, from Timothy also). He had sent Titus to Corinth with the +expectation that he would bring tidings thence to Troas, where he hoped +to find him on his way from Ephesus to Macedonia. But in this he was +disappointed. He therefore hastened from Troas to Macedonia, where he +met Titus and learned from him the effect of his first epistle. Chaps. +2:12, 13; 7:6; 12:18. So far as the main body of the Corinthian +Christians was concerned, this was highly favorable, and for it the +apostle devoutly thanks God (chap. 7:6, 7); commends their prompt +obedience (chap. 7:11); directs them to restore the excommunicated +person (chap. 2:5-10); and discusses very fully the matter of the +collection for the poor Christians at Jerusalem (chaps. 8, 9). But the +very success of his first epistle with the better part of the church had +embittered his enemies, and made them more determined in their +opposition to him. They accused him of levity in changing his original +plan of visiting the Corinthian church on his way to Macedonia (chap. +1:15-17); of uttering threats which he would not dare to execute when +present among them (chap. 10:9-11); of making a gain of them by indirect +means (chap. 12:16-18); and sought in various ways to disparage his +apostolical character and standing. This led him to dwell with great +earnestness on the fullness of his apostolic credentials, the purity of +his apostolic life, and the abundance of his labors and sufferings in +behalf of Christ's cause, always with reference more or less direct to +his enemies. With these personal notices of himself are interwoven +exalted views of the dignity of the ministerial office, and the true +spirit and manner in which its weighty duties are to be performed. See +chaps. 2:14-7:16; chaps. 10-13. The prominence which the apostle is thus +forced to give to his own person and labor constitutes the most +remarkable feature of the present epistle. To the same cause are due the +peculiarities of its diction, and its rapid transitions from one theme +and tone to another. "Consolation and rebuke, gentleness and severity, +earnestness and irony, succeed one another at very short intervals and +without notice." Alford, Introduction to this Epistle. All this came +about by the wisdom of God, who placed his servant in such circumstances +that fidelity to the cause of truth compelled him unwillingly to set +forth in himself the character of a true minister of the gospel in +bright contrast with that of those vain-glorious and selfish men, who +under a show of great worldly wisdom, seek to create parties in the +church of Christ for their own private honor and emolument. The +particular occasion which called forth this epistle soon passed away; +but the epistle itself remains a rich treasure for all believers, +especially for all Christian teachers. + + +III. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. + +16. _Galatia_ is the Greek word answering to the Roman _Gallia_, that +is, _Gaul_. It was one of the central provinces of Asia Minor, and +received its name from the circumstance of its being inhabited by a +people of Gallic origin who came by the way of Byzantium and the +Hellespont in the third century before Christ. Two visits of the apostle +to Galatia are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles; the first, during +his second missionary journey (Acts 16:6); and the second, at the +beginning of his third journey (Acts 18:23). After which of these visits +the present epistle was written is a question that has been much +discussed, and answered in different ways. The most natural +interpretation, however, of chapter 4:13-16 leads to the conclusion that +it was after his _second_ visit. The course of the events seems to have +been as follows: He was suffering from an infirmity of the flesh when he +preached the gospel to the Galatians "_at the first_," that is, upon the +first visit (verse 13). Then they received him "as an angel of God, even +as Jesus Christ," and were filled with holy joy through simple faith in +Christ's name (verses 14, 15). Upon his _second_ visit he found it +necessary to warn them in very plain terms against the seductions of +false teachers, who were seeking to draw them away from the simplicity +of the gospel to faith in a system of works. But after his departure +these false teachers had great success; and the result was that the +affections of the Galatians were alienated from Paul, who was their +spiritual father. In view of this fact he asks (as we may render v. 16, +after Ellicott, in perfect accordance with the idiom of the Greek): "So +then, am I become your enemy, by speaking to you the truth?" that is +because in my recent visit I told you the truth. According to this view +the epistle belongs to the second group, and was written about A.D. 56 +or 57. Farther than this we cannot go in determining the time. The +_place_ is uncertain. It may have been Ephesus, or Corinth, which cities +Paul visited in his third and last missionary journey, but it cannot +have been Rome, as the subscription erroneously gives it. + + The subscriptions are of no authority. That to the present + epistle probably had its ground mainly in chapter 6:17, where + the writer was erroneously supposed to allude to the bodily + sufferings that he endured in connection with his last recorded + imprisonment. + +17. The _occasion_ of this epistle, which gives also its _design_, was +very specific. The Galatian churches had begun well (chap. 5:7); but +soon after Paul's departure Judaizing teachers had drawn them away to +the very form of error noticed in the Acts of the Apostles (chap. 15:1); +"Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved." +They sought to impose on all the Gentile converts circumcision as +essential to salvation. Thus they placed justification on a _legal_ +ground, and made faith in Christ a subordinate matter. This error was +fundamental. Paul therefore attacks it with unsparing severity, with +which, however, he mingles a wonderful tenderness of spirit. His +argument is for substance the same as that in the epistle to the Romans, +only that it takes from necessity a more controversial form, and is +carried out with more warmth and vehemence of expression. It is a divine +model of the way in which fundamental error should be dealt with. + +18. The epistle naturally falls into three divisions. The _first_ is +mainly _historic_. Chaps. 1, 2. The false teachers had disparaged Paul's +apostolical standing, on the ground, apparently, that he was not one of +the original twelve, and had not been called immediately by Christ to +the apostleship, but had received his gospel from men. It would seem +also that they labored to make it appear that Paul's doctrine respecting +circumcision and the Mosaic law was contrary to that of Peter and the +other apostles of the circumcision. Paul accordingly devotes these two +introductory chapters to a vindication of his full apostolic standing. +He shows that his apostleship is "not of man neither by man, but by +Jesus Christ and God the Father" (chap. 1:1); that the gospel which he +preaches he neither received of man, nor was taught by man but by the +revelation of Jesus Christ (verses 11, 12); that, accordingly, upon his +call to the apostleship, he went not up to Jerusalem to receive +instruction from those who were apostles before him, but into Arabia, +whence he returned to Damascus (verses 15-17); that after three years he +made a brief visit of fifteen days to Peter, where he also saw James, +but had no personal acquaintance with the churches in Judea (verses +20-24); that fourteen years afterwards he went up to Jerusalem by +revelation, not to be instructed by the apostles there, but to confer +with them respecting "the gospel of the uncircumcision" which was +committed to him, and that he obtained the full recognition of "James, +Cephas, and John, who were reckoned as pillars" (chap. 2:1-10); and that +afterwards, when Peter was come to Antioch he withstood him to the face +on this very question of circumcision, because, through fear of his +Jewish brethren, he had dissembled and drawn others into dissimulation, +adding also the substance of the rebuke administered by him to Peter, +which contains an argument (drawn in part from Peter's own practice) +against compelling the Gentiles to live as do the Jews (verses 11-21). + +Having thus vindicated his apostolic authority against the false +teachers in Galatia, he proceeds, in the _second_ part of the epistle, +to unfold the great _argument for justification by faith in Christ_. The +Galatians have received the Holy Spirit, with the accompanying +miraculous gifts, not by the works of the law, but by faith in Christ +(chap. 3:1-5); Abraham was justified by faith, as an example for all +future ages (verses 6-9,18); the law cannot bring justification to +sinners, but only condemnation (verses 10-12); from this condemnation +Christ delivers us, and makes us through faith the children of Abraham, +and heirs to all the promises which God made to him (verses 13, 14); the +Abrahamic covenant, conditioned on faith alone, is older than the Mosaic +law and cannot be disannulled by it (verses 15-17); the true office of +the law was to prepare men for the coming of Christ, in whom all +distinction between Jew and Gentile is abolished (verses 19-29); before +Christ the people of God were like a child that has not yet received the +inheritance, but is kept under tutors and governors, but through Christ +they are like the same child arrived at full age, and put in possession +of the inheritance (chap. 4:1-7). The apostle adds (chaps. 4:8-5:12) +various arguments and illustrations, with pointed allusions to the false +teachers who were subverting the simplicity of their faith in Christ; +and he solemnly warns the Galatian Christians that by receiving +circumcision they bind themselves to do the whole law--the whole law as +the ground of their justification. They have left Christ, and thus +fallen away from grace--forsaken a system of grace for one of works, so +that "Christ is become of no effect" to them. Chap. 5:3, 4. + +The _third_ part (chaps. 5:13-6:18) is of a _practical_ character. The +apostle affectionately exhorts the Galatians to use their Christian +liberty in a worthy manner, mortifying fleshly lusts, restoring fallen +brethren in meekness, bearing one another's burdens, and being diligent +in every good work. In bringing the epistle to a close he contrasts the +vain-glory and hypocrisy of these Judaizing false teachers with his +steadfast purpose to glory only in the cross of Christ, in whom "neither +circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new +creature." + + +IV. EPISTLES TO THE COLOSSIANS, EPHESIANS, AND PHILEMON. + +19. These three epistles are contemporaneous, in the sense that they +were written on the same general occasion, and forwarded at the same +time, though some days may have intervened between the composition of +the first and the last of them. They were all written when Paul was a +prisoner (Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20; Col. 4:10; Philemon 1, 9, 10, 23), and +all sent virtually by Tychicus; for Onesimus, a servant whom Paul sent +back to his master, Philemon of Colosse, with a commendatory letter, +went in company with Tychicus. Eph. 6:21, 22; Col. 4:7-9. The epistle to +the Ephesians contains no salutations; but those of the other two, are, +with a single exception, sent from the same persons--Aristarchus, +Marcus, Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. If any further argument for their +contemporaneousness were needed, it could be found in the remarkable +agreement between the contents of the epistles to the Ephesians and +Colossians, extending not only to the thoughts but to the phraseology +also. + +20. It is agreed that these three epistles were written during the +apostle's imprisonment in either _Cesarea_ or _Rome_; but from which of +these two places is a question on which biblical scholars differ, and +which cannot be answered with certainty, though the common opinion has +been that the apostle wrote from Rome. It is not necessary to review the +arguments advanced on the two sides. The reader who wishes to +investigate the matter will find them in commentaries and bible +dictionaries. + +21. Another question is: In what _order_ were the epistles to the +Ephesians and Colossians written? Here we have only indirect +indications, and these not decisive. It is manifest, however, from a +comparison of the two epistles, that the apostle had a more specific +occasion for writing to the Colossians than to the Ephesians. It is +natural, therefore, to suppose that he first penned his letter to the +former church, and very soon afterwards, while his heart was yet warm +with the great theme of that letter--the personal glory and dignity of +Christ, and the union through him of both Jews and Gentiles in one holy +family--he wrote to the Ephesians among whom he had so long labored, +going over the same general course of thought, but with more fulness and +in a less argumentative tone. However this may be, it is certain that +the most convenient order of studying these two closely related epistles +is to begin with that to the Colossians and thence proceed to the other. +We propose to consider them in this order. + +22. EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. Colosse was a city lying in the +southwestern part of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, in the neighborhood of +Laodicea and Hierapolis. Chap. 4:13, 16. Respecting the founding of the +church there we have no information. According to the most natural +interpretation of chap. 2:1, Paul had not visited Colosse in person when +he wrote the present epistle. The _occasion_ of his writing seems to +have been information received by him that false teachers were troubling +the Colossian church. That these men were Jews is plain from chap. 2:16, +20, 21; where the reference is to Jewish ordinances. But their doctrine +was not simple Phariseeism, like that of the false teachers among the +Galatians. They did not seek directly to substitute circumcision and the +Mosaic law for faith in Christ, as the ground of justification. They +seem rather to have been Christian Jews of an ascetic turn of mind, and +imbued with the semi-oriental philosophy of that day, which contained in +itself the seeds of the later Gnostic systems. Having no clear +apprehension of the glory of Christ's person and the fulness of the +salvation which his gospel offers to men, they sought to supplement the +Christian system by their ascetic practices and their speculations +concerning the orders of angels, whom they seem to have regarded as +mediators between God and men. To all this human philosophy the apostle +opposes directly the divine dignity and glory of Christ's person, and +the completeness of the redemption which he has provided for men. + + The _Jewish_ character of these false teachers appears in their + insisting on meats and drinks, holy-days, new moons, and + Sabbaths (chap. 2:16, 20, 21); their _ascetic_ character, in + their doctrine concerning the mortification of the body (chap. + 2:23); their _speculations concerning angels_, in the fact that + they are described as "delighting in humility and the worship of + angels" (chap. 2:18, 23). The apostle apparently refers to a + false humility which, under the pretence that God is too great + to be approached except through the mediation of angels, made + them instead of Christ the way of access to him, thus + disparaging the Redeemer's person and office. + +23. In respect to _plan_, the epistle naturally falls into two parts of +about equal length. The _first_ is _argumentative_. Chaps. 1, 2. After +an introduction, in which the apostle thanks God that the Colossians +have been made partakers of the gospel, commends them for the +fruitfulness of their faith, and assures them of his incessant prayers +in their behalf (chap. 1:1-12), and passes to his great theme, which is +to set forth the divine dignity and glory of Christ's person. He is the +image of the invisible God, existing before all things, and the creator +and upholder of all things, those angelic orders included whom the false +teachers regarded as objects of worship (verses 15-17). He is also the +head of the church, and as such unites under himself all holy beings in +heaven and earth in one happy family (verses 18-22). In him all fulness +dwells, and all believers are complete in him; receiving through him a +spiritual circumcision which brings to them holiness of heart, +forgiveness of sins, and life from the dead (verses 11-13). Christ has +abolished by his death on the cross "the handwriting of ordinances"--the +Mosaic ordinances under the figure of a bond which was before of binding +force, but which he has annulled--so that the former ground of +separation between Jews and Gentiles is done away (2:14). By the same +death on the cross he has "spoiled principalities and powers"--the +powers of darkness, of which Satan is the head--openly triumphing over +them (verse 15). The Colossians, then, have all that they need in +Christ, and the apostle affectionately warns them against being spoiled +through the philosophy of these false teachers, which is a compound of +ignorance, self-conceit, and will-worship, void alike of reality and +power. + +The _second_ part is _practical_. Chaps. 3, 4. The duties on which the +apostle insists come mainly under two general heads. The first is that +of a _heavenly temper of mind_ growing out of their resurrection with +Christ who sits at the right hand of God, and who shall appear again to +receive his disciples to himself, that they also may appear with him in +glory. In view of this animating hope he exhorts the Colossians to put +away all the sins belonging to their former state of heathenism. Chap. +3:1-8. The second is that of _mutual love and harmony_ arising from +their union with each other in Christ, whereby they have been made one +holy body, in which outward distinctions are nothing "but Christ is all +and in all." On this ground they are urged to cultivate all the graces +of the Spirit, the chief of which is love, and faithfully to discharge, +each one in his station, the mutual duty which they owe as husbands and +wives, as parents and children, as masters and servants. Chaps. 3:9-4:1. +They are admonished, moreover, to let the word of Christ dwell in them +richly for their mutual edification (chap. 3:16); to be single-hearted +in their aim to please Christ (verse 17); to be prayerful and vigilant +(chap. 4:2-4); and wise in their intercourse with unbelievers (verses 5, +6). The epistle closes with notices of a personal character intermingled +with salutations (verses 7-18). + + In chap. 4:16 the apostle directs that this epistle be read also + in the church of the Laodiceans, and that the Colossians + likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. What was this epistle + from Laodicea? (1) Some think it was a letter written by the + church of Laodicea to Paul, and forwarded by him to the + Colossians. (2) Others understand it of an epistle of Paul to + the Laodiceans (perhaps forwarded along with the three epistles + now under consideration) and which the Colossians were to obtain + _from_ Laodicea. This is the most probable supposition. On the + attempt to identify this epistle with our canonical epistle to + the Ephesians see below. + + +24. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.--Ephesus, the metropolis of Proconsular +Asia, which comprehended the western provinces of Asia Minor, lay on the +coast of the AEgean sea between Smyrna on the north and Miletus on the +south. In the apostolic age it was a flourishing city, and renowned for +the temple of the heathen goddess Diana. Two visits of the apostle to +Ephesus are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, the latter of which +was prolonged through most of three years. Acts 18:19-21; chaps. 19; +20:31. The _occasion_ of writing this epistle seems to have been of a +very general nature. The apostle was sending a letter by Tychicus to the +Colossians, and embraced the opportunity to write to the Ephesians also. +In entire accordance with this supposition is the _general character_ of +the epistle. The apostle has no particular error to combat, as he had in +the case of the Colossians. He proceeds, therefore, in a placid and +contemplative frame of mind to unfold the great work of Christ's +redemption; and then makes a practical application of it, as in the +epistle to the Colossians, but with more fulness, and with some +important additions. + + It has seemed surprising to many that the apostle should have + written in so general a strain to a church on which he had + bestowed so much labor, and where he had so many personal + friends; particularly that he should have omitted at the close + all salutations. To account for this various hypotheses have + been proposed. The words "_in Ephesus_" are omitted in the Sinai + and Vatican manuscripts, and there is reason for believing that + they were wanting in some other ancient manuscripts not now + extant. See the quotations from Basil the Great, and other + fathers in Alford, Ellicott, Meyer, and other critical + commentators. On this ground some have supposed that the present + epistle was intended to be _encyclical_--an epistle for general + circulation among the churches; others, that it is the + _Laodicean epistle_ referred to in Col. 4:16. But in favor of + the words "in Ephesus" there is an overwhelming weight of + evidence. They are sustained by all the versions and all the + manuscripts except the above. Besides, as every Greek scholar + knows, if these words are omitted, it compels the omission from + the original of the two preceding words which are found in every + manuscript and version--unless, indeed, we adopt the far-fetched + hypothesis that the apostle furnished Tychicus with two or more + copies of the epistle for different churches, leaving a _blank + space_ to be filled as occasion should require; and then it + becomes impossible to explain how the reading "in Ephesus" + should have been so universal in the manuscripts and versions. + There is no occasion for any of this ingenuity. The omission of + these words from single manuscripts is not wonderful. It finds a + parallel, as Alford remarks, in the omission of the words _in + Rome_ (Rom. 1:7) from one manuscript, whether from oversight or + for the purpose of generalizing the reference of its contents. + Nor can any valid objection be drawn from the general character + of the epistle. That depended much on the _occasion_ which + called it forth, which we have seen to have been general, and + the _frame of mind_ in which the apostle wrote. As to the + omission of salutations, we shall find upon examination that the + measure of Paul's personal acquaintance with the churches was + not that of his personal greetings. These abound most of all in + the epistle to the Romans whom he had never visited. Rom. 16. + They are found also in the epistle to the Colossians to whom + Paul was personally a stranger. Col. 4:10-14. On the contrary + they are wanting, except in a general form, in the epistles to + the Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Thessalonians (in 2 + Thessalonians wholly wanting as in this epistle), Titus, and the + first to Timothy. The other objections are founded on + misinterpretation, as when it is inferred from chap, 1:15 that + the author had never seen those to whom he wrote; and from chap, + 3:2 that they had no personal acquaintance with him. But in the + former passage the apostle speaks simply of the good report + which had come to him from the Ephesian church since he left it; + and, in the latter, the words: "if ye have heard" imply no doubt + (compare 1 Peter 2:3), and cannot be fairly adduced to prove + that the writer was personally unknown to his readers. + +25. This epistle, like that to the Colossians, naturally falls into two +divisions of about equal size; the first _argumentative_, the second +_practical_. + +The _argumentative_ part occupies the first two chapters. Full of the +great theme with which the epistle to the Colossians is occupied--the +personal dignity and glory of Christ, the greatness of his salvation, +and especially the union through him of all holy beings in heaven and +earth in one family of God--the apostle begins, immediately after the +apostolic greeting, by pouring out his heart in thanksgiving to God for +his rich mercy, which has made him and his beloved Ephesians partakers +of Christ's redemption, the greatness and glory of which he describes in +glowing terms, bringing in, as he proceeds, the thought with which his +mind is filled, that it is God's purpose to "gather together in one all +things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth." +Chap. 1:10. He then adds a fervent prayer for the growth of the +Ephesians in the knowledge of Christ, whom God has raised above all +principality and power and made head over all things to his body the +church. Returning in the second chapter to the theme with which he +began, he contrasts with the former wretched condition of the Ephesians, +when they had no hope and were without God in the world, their present +blessed state, as fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household +of faith; God having through Christ broken down the middle wall of +partition between Jews and Gentiles, and built them all into a holy +temple upon one common foundation, of which Jesus Christ is the chief +corner stone. In the third chapter he dwells upon the grace of God which +had committed to him, in a special sense, the office of preaching among +the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and adds a rapturous +prayer for the strengthening of the Ephesians through the Spirit in the +inner man, for their establishment in faith and love, and their +illumination in the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that they may +"be filled with all the fulness of God." Then follows a doxology in +which the apostle labors to find words wherewith to express his +conception of the greatness of God's power and grace through Jesus +Christ. + +With the fourth chapter begins the _practical_ part of the epistle. He +begins with an exhortation to unity, the argument for which cannot be +abridged: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in +one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and +Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Chap. +4:4-6. He next speaks of the diversity of gifts among believers, all of +which come from Christ, and have for their end the unity of the church +in faith and knowledge, and thus her stability (verses 7-16). Then +follow earnest admonitions to shun the vices of their former state of +heathenism, and cultivate all the graces of the Spirit. The mutual +relations of life are then taken up, as in the epistle to the +Colossians. Here occurs that grand digression in which the love of +Christ towards his church is compared with that of the husband towards +his wife. Chap. 5:23-32. The closing exhortation, in which the Christian +is compared to a warrior wrestling not with flesh and blood but with the +powers of darkness, and his heavenly panoply is described at length, is +(with the exception of the brief figure, 1 Thess. 5:8) peculiar to this +epistle and is very striking. + +26. EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.--This short epistle is essentially of a private +character. It was sent to Colosse by Onesimus at the same time with the +epistle to the Colossians, of which Tychieus was the bearer. Col. 4:7-9. +The epistle itself plainly indicates its object. It is a plea for +Onesimus, the servant of Philemon, who had left his master and +apparently defrauded him (verse 18), but now returns to him a Christian. +As a model of Christian delicacy and courtesy it has been the admiration +of all ages. + + +V. EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. + +27. The ancient name of Philippi was _Crenides_ (_Fountains_); but +Philip of Macedon fortified the place and called it after his own name. +It lay along the bank of a river on a plain in the eastern border of +Proconsular Macedonia, and was made a colony by Augustus in memory of +his victory gained there over Brutus and Cassius. Compare Acts 16:12. +Its port was Neapolis on the AEgean sea about twelve Roman miles to the +southeast of it. Philippi was the first place in Europe where the gospel +was preached by Paul, who had been summoned across the sea to Macedonia +by a vision. Acts 16:9. This was during his second missionary journey, +about A.D. 53. A record of his labors and sufferings on that occasion is +given in Acts 16:12-40. In his third missionary journey he twice visited +Macedonia, sailing the second time from Philippi, that is, from its port +Neapolis. Acts 20:1, 3-6. + +28. The _occasion_ of this epistle seems to have been the contribution +made by the Philippians to supply the apostle's necessities while a +prisoner in Rome. Chap. 4:10-18. That he was a prisoner is plain from +chap. 1:13, 14, 16. That the _place_ of imprisonment was Rome is +inferred from the general tone of the epistle, which shows that the +apostle was awaiting a decision of his case, in accordance with his +appeal to Caesar, with the confident expectation of a favorable result +(chaps. 1:19-25; 2:23, 24), and especially from the mention of Caesar's +household (chap. 4:22). From chap. 2:23, 24 we infer, moreover, that the +time for a decision of his case was at hand. The date of this epistle, +then, was about A.D. 63. + + The apostle speaks very confidently of a speedy release and + restoration to the work of his apostolic office. Chaps. 1:19, + 25, 26; 2:24. This language is important in connection with the + two closely related questions, that of a second imprisonment at + Rome and that of the date of the pastoral epistles. See below, + No. 35. + +29. The _character_ of this epistle answers well to its occasion. It is +a free outpouring of the apostle's heart towards his beloved +Philippians, who had remembered him in his bonds and sent Epaphroditus +to supply his wants. He bestows upon them no censure, unless the +suggestion to Euodias and Syntyche be regarded as such, but commends +them for their liberality, exhorts them to steadfastness in the +endurance of persecution, and admonishes them to maintain a deportment +which shall be in all things such as becomes the gospel, the several +parts of which he specifies in the course of the epistle, but not in any +very exact order. It is in connection with these admonitions that the +apostle, while insisting on the duty of humility and self-sacrificing +love, brings in that sublime description of the Saviour's original glory +and equality with God, which he laid aside for our redemption, taking +upon himself the form of a servant and submitting to the death of the +cross; for which act of self-abasement he is now exalted to be Lord of +heaven and earth. Chap. 2:5-11. Intermingled with the above named +commendations, exhortations, and counsels, are frequent notices +respecting himself, introduced in the most natural and artless manner, +and unfolding for our edification some of the deepest principles of +Christian character. + +His faith in Christ and love for His cause raise him above the sphere of +human jealousies. He rejoices that Christ is preached, whether of +good-will or of envy, knowing that this shall turn to his salvation +through the prayers of the Philippians and the supply of Christ's +Spirit. Chap. 2:15-19. + +He knows that for himself personally it is better to depart and be with +Christ: but to continue in the flesh is more needful for the +Philippians. He cannot, therefore, choose between life and death. Chap. +1:21-25. How different this from the spirit of some, who think of death +only in connection with their own personal comfort, and how much higher +the type of religion which it reveals! + +So far as outward advantages are concerned, no man can have more +occasion than he to glory in the flesh. But all these he has renounced +and counted loss for Christ. His one ambition is to know Christ, and be +united with him in his death and resurrection. His present attainments +he forgets in his single purpose of pressing towards the goal for the +prize of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. Chap. 3:4-14. + +He warmly commends the Philippians for their liberality, but wishes them +to understand that he does not speak in respect to personal want; for +every where and in all things he has been taught the lesson of +contentment with present circumstances. Chap. 4:10-14. + + +VI. EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. + +30. The original name of Thessalonica was _Therme_, whence the gulf at +the head of which it is situated, was called the Thermaic gulf. The +modern name of the city is _Saloniki_, and of the gulf, the gulf of +Saloniki. In the apostolic age it was a large and wealthy city, and the +metropolis of the second district of Macedonia. At the present day it is +second only to Constantinople in European Turkey. Then as now a large +number of Jews resided in it. In his second missionary tour the apostle, +when driven from Philippi, went through Amphipolis and Apollonia to +Thessalonica. After his usual manner he first resorted to the Jewish +synagogue "and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the +Scriptures." After this a tumult was raised at the instigation of the +unbelieving Jews, and the apostle was sent away by night to Berea. Acts +17:1-10. We cannot affirm that his stay at Thessalonica was limited to +three weeks; yet it was very brief, and for this reason he was anxious +to return again that he might impart further instruction and consolation +to the converts there, who were undergoing a severe ordeal of temptation +through persecution. Chaps. 2:17-3:5. His labors at Thessalonica were +not confined to the Sabbath-day and the Jewish synagogue. He preached +the gospel to the Gentiles also, and his chief success seems to have +been among them. 1 Thess. 1:9; 2:14, 16. + +31. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS was written during the +apostle's _second_ missionary journey, the same journey in which he +first visited Thessalonica. This we gather from the fact that Silvanus +(Silas) was with him (chap. 1:1), for Silas was Paul's travelling +companion only during that journey (Acts 15:40; 16:19, 25, 29; 17:4, 10, +14, 15; 18:5); also from the notice of his being at Athens (chap. 3:1 +compared with Acts 17:15, 16). He did not, however, write from Athens, +as the subscription erroneously states, but from _Corinth_; for it was +at this place that Silas and Timotheus rejoined him, bringing good +tidings from Macedonia respecting the church in Thessalonica. Chap. +3:1-6 compared with Acts 18:1-5. This is, then, _the earliest of Paul's +epistles_, having been written about A.D. 53. + +32. The epistle clearly indicates its _occasion_. In consideration of +the brief time which the apostle had been able to spend at Thessalonica, +and of the severe persecution to which the converts in that city were +exposed, he was very desirous to make them a second visit. But having +been twice frustrated in this purpose, he sent Timothy and Silas to +learn the condition of the Thessalonian church and bring him word +concerning it, which they did while he was at Corinth. Chaps. 2:17-3:6. +The letter is an affectionate outpouring of his heart in view of the +good tidings received through these brethren, into which are interwoven +encouragements, instructions, and admonitions adapted to the +circumstances of the brethren at Thessalonica, with abundant references +to the apostle's own labors there. In the first chapter he commends, +with devout thanksgiving to God, the faith and love and patience of the +Thessalonian Christians. The second and third chapters are mainly +occupied with a notice of his own labors and those of his colleagues at +Thessalonica, of his strong desire to revisit them which he had thus far +been hindered from carrying into execution, and of his joy at the good +tidings brought by Timothy, the whole closed with a fervent prayer in +their behalf. The two remaining chapters contain miscellaneous +instructions suited to the condition of a church that had been recently +gathered in great part from the ranks of heathenism. In the course of +these he corrects an error into which the Thessalonian believers had +fallen from the idea that they who should die before Christ's second +coming might fail of their share in its glory and blessedness. Chap. +4:13-18. In both of the epistles he admonishes the Thessalonians against +the neglect of their proper worldly business, a fault that was +apparently connected with visionary ideas respecting the speedy second +coming of our Lord, and which he rebukes in severe terms. 1 Thess. 4:11; +2 Thess. 3:10-12. + +33. THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS, like the first, is written +in the name of "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus," and seems to have +been sent from _Corinth_ not many months after the first. The apostle's +main _design_ was to correct a pernicious error respecting the time of +our Lord's second advent, which some at Thessalonica seem to have been +strenuously engaged in propagating, and to give them further instruction +respecting this great doctrine and their duty in relation to it. After +the apostolic salutation he expresses his gratitude to God for the +growth of their Christian faith and love, and comforts them under the +pressure of the persecution to which they were subjected with the +assurance of our Lord's second coming in glory to destroy his and their +enemies and give rest to his suffering servants; but proceeds in the +second chapter to show that this day is not yet at hand, and cannot come +till there has first been a great apostacy, the characteristic features +of which he proceeds to give (verses 3-12). The remainder of the epistle +is occupied with commendations and encouragements to perseverence, +mingled with admonitions. The latter have special reference to certain +idle and disorderly members of the church, whom the apostle describes as +"some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy +bodies" (chap. 3:11), and who also set themselves in opposition to his +apostolic authority (verse 14). These disorderly persons seem to have +been the same as those who were engaged in propagating erroneous notions +respecting the time of our Lord's second advent. Their visionary views +on this subject made them self-conceited, talkative, and self-willed, +and led them to neglect the sober duties of daily life. + + The apostle beseeches the Thessalonians not to be soon shaken in + mind, or troubled, "neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by + letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." And he + adds: "Let no man deceive you in any way"--in any of the ways + specified or any other way. Chap. 2:2, 3. There were then + persons at Thessalonica busily occupied in misleading the + Thessalonians: (1) "by spirit," that is, by prophesies which + they professed to have received from the Holy Spirit; (2) "by + word," by oral teaching; (3) "by letter as from us," that is, + purporting to come from the apostle. Or, perhaps, we should + render: "nor by word nor by letter as from us:" that is, neither + by oral teaching nor by written communication alleged to have + come from me. We can well understand how the unwritten words of + the apostle should have been perverted by these false teachers. + The question remains: Did they pervert the meaning of his + language in the first epistle, or did they employ an epistle + forged in his name? The latter has been from ancient times a + common interpretation of this clause, and it is favored by the + words: "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the + token in every epistle: so I write." Chap. 3:17. Yet the + supposition of such a forged epistle is something so improbable + that many are inclined to adopt the former supposition. + + The question respecting "the man of sin" belongs to the + commentator. In a brief introduction like the present, we cannot + enter upon it farther than to say that, though we are not + warranted in affirming that it has its exhaustive fulfilment in + the Papacy, yet its chief embodiment thus far has been in that + corrupt and persecuting power whose character answers so + remarkably to the apostle's description. + +34. The epistles to the churches of Philippi and Thessalonica, both +lying within the bounds of ancient Macedonia, have a remarkable +agreement in their general tone and manner. In both cases we have the +same affectionate outpouring of the apostle's heart towards the brethren +to whom he writes, and the same abundant personal notices respecting +himself and his ministry. Yet they differ precisely as we might suppose +they would in view of the fact that the two to the Thessalonians are the +earliest of Paul's writings, and are separated from that to the +Philippians by an interval of ten eventful years. In writing to the +Thessalonians he gives peculiar prominence to the doctrine of our Lord's +second coming, perhaps because, in the persecutions which they were +undergoing, they especially needed its strengthening and consolatory +influence; perhaps also because in the continual maltreatment which he +had encountered ever since he entered Macedonia--at Philippi (Acts +16:19-40; 1 Thess. 2:2), at Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-10), at Berea (Acts +17:13, 14), at Corinth (Acts 18:6-17)--he was staying his own soul on +the same glorious hope. On the contrary, we find in these earlier +epistles no mention of Judaizing Christians, nor any contrast between +the two opposite systems of justification by faith and by the works of +the Mosaic law, such as appears in his later epistles, that to the +Philippians included. Phil. 3:4-9. His opponents at Thessalonica are not +Judaizing Christians, but unconverted Jews, whose malignant opposition +he describes in strong terms. 1 Thess. 2:15, 16. To the Thessalonians +the apostle speaks of himself; but it is of his ministry, and the manner +in which he has discharged its duties among them. To the Philippians he +also speaks of himself; but then it is from a prison, with a trial for +life or death before him, and the retrospect of a long ministry behind +him. He unfolds, therefore, as is natural, his deep experiences as a +Christian and an apostle of Christ. See above, No. 29. In this contrast +between the earlier and the later epistles we have an evidence of their +genuineness which is all the stronger because of its indirectness. It is +such a mark of truth as no falsifier has power to imitate. + + +VII. THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. + +35. The attempt to find for the pastoral epistles a place in Paul's +ministry as far as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles is beset with +difficulties which amount to impossibilities. + + Among these difficulties are the following: + + (1.) Whoever carefully studies these three epistles in their + connection with each other, and in contrast with the other + Pauline epistles, must be profoundly impressed with the + conviction that they all belong, as it respects style and tone + of thought, to the same period of the apostle's life; and, as it + respects subject-matter, to the same era when the churches were + troubled by the same forms of error. But if we assume that they + were written during that part of Paul's ministry of which Luke + has left us the record, the second to Timothy must be widely + separated from the other two. That was certainly written during + Paul's last imprisonment near the close of his life. But when he + wrote the first to Timothy and that to Titus he was at liberty + and prosecuting his missionary labors in Asia Minor and the + vicinity. It must have been then, upon this assumption, during + his third missionary tour (when Apollos appears for the first + time, Acts 18:24 compared with Titus 3:13), and before his last + recorded journey to Jerusalem, his arrest there, his two years' + imprisonment at Cesarea, his voyage to Rome, and his + imprisonment there for the space of at least two more years. + + (2.) There is no part of Paul's history "between his first visit + to Ephesus and his Roman imprisonment, which satisfies the + historical conditions implied in the statements of any one of + these epistles." Conybeare and Howson, vol. 2, Appendix 1. The + student may see the arguments on one side in Davidson's + Introduction to the New Testament; and on the other in Alford, + and other critical commentators. Reference may also be made to + the biblical dictionaries. + + (3.) Upon the assumption that the first epistle to Timothy, whom + Paul had left in charge of the Ephesian church, was written + _before_ his recorded imprisonments at Cesarea and Rome, it must + be earlier than his farewell address to the elders of Ephesus, + and also his epistle to the Ephesians. But the contents of the + epistle manifestly point to a later period, when the errors in + doctrine and practice which he had predicted (Acts 20:29, 30), + but of which he takes no notice in his epistle to the Ephesians, + had already begun to manifest themselves. The more one compares + with each other these two epistles, the deeper must his + conviction be that the first to Timothy is not the earlier but + the later of the two. + + (4.) The peculiar tone and diction of the pastoral epistles and + the peculiar character of the errors combated in them all + indicate a later period in the apostle's life, and a later stage + in the history of the churches. To place the first and third of + these among those to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Romans, and + the second, among those to Philemon, the Colossians, Ephesians, + and Philippians, must appear forced and unnatural. It is much + easier to assume the lapse of some years. Even then the contrast + between these and the other epistles of Paul in respect to tone + and diction is very striking. But it may be explained partly + from the peculiar theme of the pastoral epistles, partly from + the change which the lapse of time with its manifold experiences + had brought to the apostle's style and diction. + + We assume, therefore, that the apostle was released from the + Roman imprisonment recorded by Luke; and that, not very long + before his second imprisonment which was terminated by his + martyrdom at Rome, he wrote the three epistles now under + consideration. It is well known that this is in accordance with + ancient tradition. See the testimonies in Conybeare and Howson, + chap. 27; in Alford, and in other commentators. + + Against this view is urged the apostle's declaration to the + elders of Ephesus that they should see his face no more; + whereas, according to the present supposition, he visited + Ephesus _again_ after his first imprisonment. As a fair offset + to this may be urged on the other side his equally strong + declaration to the Philippians that his present imprisonment + should have a favorable issue (Phil. 1:25); which was not the + case upon the hypothesis of a single imprisonment at Rome. Such + declarations, where no doctrine or fact of Christianity is + concerned, are not to be taken as revelations of the Spirit. We + know, for example, from Paul's own words, that he changed his + declared purpose respecting a visit to Corinth, for which his + enemies accused him of using lightness. 2 Cor. 1:15-18. + + It is urged again that when Paul wrote the pastoral epistles + Timothy was a _young man_. 1 Tim. 4:12; 2 Tim. 2:22. But + according to ancient ideas one might be called a young man at + any age under thirty-five or even forty years. Paul found + Timothy in his second missionary journey, about A.D. 52. It is + not necessary to assume that he was then more than twenty years + old. At the time of Paul's martyrdom, then, about A.D. 67 or 68, + he may have been, for anything that appears to the contrary, a + young man in the ancient sense of the word. + +36. The false teachers with whom the apostle deals in these epistles are +corrupt in _practice_ as well as in doctrine. 1 Tim. 1:6; 6:5; 2 Tim. +2:16, 17; 3:6, 8; Titus 1:15, 16. They were chiefly Jews (1 Tim. 1:7; +Titus 1:10, 14; 3:9); but not Jews who held to simple Phariseeism, like +the false teachers among the Galatians. They more nearly resembled those +who troubled the Colossians--Jews of a speculative turn of mind, who +sought to bring into Judaism the semi-oriental philosophy of that day. +They were not Gnostics; for Gnosticism was essentially anti-Judaistic, +separating the God of the Jews from the God of Christianity, and placing +the two in antagonism to each other. The speculations of these false +teachers took a direction which was in some respects akin to the +Gnosticism of the second century; but the allegation that they were +themselves Gnostics rests upon the misinterpretation of certain passages +in these epistles, or unwarrantable inferences from them. + +37. The _genuineness_ of these epistles is sustained by the unanimous +testimony of the ancient church. Only in modern times has it been called +in question by certain writers, who rest their arguments wholly on +alleged internal evidence. + + So far as their objections are founded on the assumed early date + of the pastoral epistles--before the close of Paul's + imprisonment at Rome recorded by Luke, on their peculiar tone + and diction, or on the supposed references in them to the + Gnosticism of the second century, they have already been + considered. But it is further alleged: + + (1.) That they reveal a _hierarchical spirit_ foreign to the + character of the apostle Paul. The answer is that no trace of + such a spirit is discernible in them. The churches had from the + first their officers--bishops or elders and deacons; and the + apostle simply gives the necessary directions for the selection + of these, with a few brief hints respecting the line of conduct + to be observed towards them. 1 Tim. 5:1, 17, 19, 22. + + (2.) That the _institution of widows_ (1 Tim. 5:9-16) belongs to + a later age. Respecting the exact position of those who were + enrolled in the class of widows there have been different + opinions. One is that this class consisted of those who were to + receive relief from the funds of the church; another, that they + were matrons set apart for special service in the church, + performing for their own sex duties analogous to those which the + presbyters performed for the church generally. The latter + opinion is the more probable of the two, as it explains the + conditions insisted on by the apostle. But according to either + view there is no difficulty in admitting the existence in + apostolic times of such an arrangement. + +38. In these pastoral epistles we have the affectionate counsels of the +great apostle to the Gentiles, when he was now ripe in years and +Christian experience and about to close his earthly ministry, addressed +to two young men whom the Holy Ghost had made overseers of the churches. +They are a rich storehouse of instruction for all to whom God has +committed the ministry of reconciliation. Let them, as they hope at last +to render up an account of their stewardship with joy and not with +grief, prayerfully study and reduce to daily practice these precepts of +heavenly wisdom given by the Holy Spirit through the pen of "Paul the +aged." + +39. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.--The _time_ of this epistle lies, as +we have seen, beyond the recorded history of the apostle, and before his +second and final imprisonment at Rome, perhaps about A.D. 65 or 66. It +was addressed to Timothy at Ephesus not long after the apostle had left +that city to go into Macedonia (chap. 1:3), but whether from Macedonia +or some other province of the Roman empire cannot be determined. The +_occasion_ we learn from the epistle. Paul had left Timothy in charge of +the Ephesian church, and, being apprehensive of a protracted absence, he +sends him these written instructions relating partly to his own personal +demeanor as a Christian minister, but chiefly to his office as the +overseer of the Ephesian church. In the discharge of this office he is +(1) to withstand and keep down the growing heresies of the day; (2) to +superintend the government of the church in various particulars which +the apostle specifies. + +The _contents_ of the epistle though not arranged in systematic order, +are in harmony with its occasion and design. Into the first chapter, +which is of an introductory character, the apostle, in the free +intercourse of confiding affection, inserts a personal notice of +himself, which breathes the spirit of devout gratitude and deep +humility. He then proceeds to give directions pertaining to the public +worship of God--prayer, the costume of women, and their place in the +public assembly (chap. 2); and to the choice of bishops and deacons +(chap. 3). After a digression in the fourth chapter respecting the +character of the coming apostacy foretold by the Spirit, which is +followed by admonitions to Timothy of a personal character, he proceeds +in the fifth chapter to give directions respecting the appointment and +treatment of elders, of the elder and younger women, and especially of +widows, with personal counsel to Timothy. Then follows an admonition to +servants, a notice of the false teachers, a warning to the rich with +further counsels to Timothy, and an animating glance at the second +coming of our Lord. + + Eunice, the mother of Timothy, was a Jewess distinguished for + her piety, as was also his grandmother Lois. Acts 16:1; 2 Tim. + 1:5. By them he was carefully trained in the knowledge of the + holy Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:15), and had a good reputation among + the brethren when Paul found him at Derbe and Lystra (Acts 16:1, + 2). His father being a Greek, he had never been subjected to the + rite of circumcision. But in consideration of his mixed descent + Paul, to allay the prejudices of his countrymen, "took and + circumcised him," while he would not allow this rite to be + imposed on Titus, who was of unmixed Gentile origin. Timothy was + one of the most trusty and beloved of Paul's fellow-laborers, as + we learn from these and his other epistles, and he naturally + desired the comfort and help of his presence in his final + imprisonment at Rome. 2 Tim. 4:9, 21. His health was feeble (1 + Tim. 5:23), and there are in Paul's epistles some indications + that he was naturally timid and diffident (1 Cor. 16:10, 11; 2 + Tim. 1:7, 8; 2:3). But grace made him faithful to the end. + +40. THE EPISTLE TO TITUS which comes next in chronological order, has a +remarkable agreement with the first to Timothy in both subject-matter +and style. With the exception of what relates to widows and the demeanor +of women in the public assemblies, it contains the same general +precepts, with additional exhortations that young men be sober-minded, +and that the Cretan Christians obey magistrates and be meek and gentle +in their deportment. With these counsels the apostle interweaves, as in +the first epistle to Timothy, exhortations to Titus of a personal +character, and animating notices of God's grace in the gospel and of the +second coming of our Lord. + + Respecting the founding of the Cretan churches we have no + information in the Acts of the Apostles. The only time mentioned + by Luke when Paul touched at Crete was on his voyage to Rome as + a prisoner (Acts 27:8); and then he had neither time nor liberty + for the work of preaching the gospel in that island. Crete + contained many Jews, some of whom were present at Jerusalem on + the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). The apostle's visit to Crete + referred to in this epistle we assume to have taken place + between his first and second imprisonment at Rome. Whether the + churches of the island were then founded for the first time or + had previously existed, it is certain that Paul left them in an + imperfect state of organization. For this reason he requested + Titus to remain, that he might set in order the things that were + wanting, and ordain elders in every city. Chap. 1:5. + + It is remarkable that we have no notice of Titus in the Acts of + the Apostles. From the epistles of Paul we learn that he was his + companion in travel, and intrusted by him at different times + with missions to the churches. He accompanied Paul and Barnabas + to the so-called Council of the Apostles and Elders at + Jerusalem, where, being a Greek, he was exempted from the + necessity of circumcision. Gal. 2:1, 3. For other notices of him + see 2 Cor. 2:13; 7:6, 13, 14; 8:6, 16, 23; 12:18. His stay in + Crete was not to be permanent; for the apostle directs that upon + the arrival from him of Artemas or Tychicus he should rejoin him + at Nicopolis--probably Nicopolis in Epirus. Chap. 3:12. + +41. SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.--The first epistle to Timothy and that to +Titus are in a certain sense official; that is, they are largely +occupied with apostolic counsels and directions to these two men +respecting the administration of the churches which Paul had committed +to their care. The present epistle is of a more private and personal +character. It was written from Rome when Paul was a prisoner there +(chaps. 1:8, 16, 17; 2:9), and expecting soon to seal his testimony with +his blood (chap. 4:6). In his extremity, when fidelity to him could be +shown only at the hazard of life, many of his friends had forsaken him. +Chaps. 1:15; 4:10. He needed the presence and help of Timothy, and wrote +urging him to come speedily, and to bring certain articles which he had +left at Troas. Feeling that his end was near, he improved the occasion +to give Timothy his affectionate apostolic counsel and encouragement. +Hence the present epistle differs strikingly in its preceptive part from +the other two. They contain specific directions for ordaining officers +and managing the affairs of the churches; for in them the apostle writes +to men in charge of specific fields of labor. In the second epistle to +Timothy, on the contrary, the apostle's exhortations are general, for he +is summoning him away from his particular field to give attendance upon +himself at Rome. But all three of the pastoral epistles agree +remarkably, as well in their general style and diction as in their +description of existing errors and false teachers. It is generally +thought that Timothy was at Ephesus; and with this opinion agrees the +salutation to "the household of Onesiphorus," who was at Ephesus. Chap. +4:19 compared with 1:18. The words of chap. 4:12, however, "Tychicus +have I sent to Ephesus," do not favor this supposition. Hence some have +thought that Timothy was not in that city, but only in its vicinity. The +present is undoubtedly the last of Paul's epistles in the order of time. +As such we cannot but peruse it with solemnity, as the closing testimony +of one who has fought the good fight, finished the appointed course, and +kept the faith; and who here instructs all, especially all preachers of +the gospel, how they may do the same. "And thus we possess an epistle +calculated for all ages of the church; and in which while the maxims +cited and encouragements given apply to all Christians, and especially +ministers of Christ, in their duties and difficulties--the affecting +circumstances in which the writer himself is placed carry home to every +heart his earnest and impassioned eloquence." Alford, Introduction to 2 +Timothy. + + +VIII. EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. + +42. In regard to the _authorship_ of this epistle biblical scholars are +not agreed. Each of the thirteen preceding epistles bears the name of +Paul. But the present epistle is without either name or address, and it +omits also at the beginning the apostolic salutation. Thus it commences +in the form of an essay, though it closes in that of an epistle. These +circumstances, in connection with its peculiar style and diction and the +peculiar range of the topics discussed in it, have produced a diversity +of opinion on the question whether Paul was its author, at least its +author in the immediate sense in which he was the author of the +preceding epistles. For the full discussion of the arguments on both +sides the reader must be referred to the commentaries, some of which are +accessible to all. Our limits will only permit us to indicate certain +facts and principles which have a bearing on the authorship of the +epistle and its canonical authority. + +The unanimous belief of the _Eastern_ church, where we must suppose that +it was first received and whence the knowledge of it was spread abroad, +ascribed it to Paul as its author either immediately or virtually; for +some, as Origen (in Eusebius' Hist. Eccl., 6. 14) accounted for its +peculiar diction by the supposition that Paul furnished the thoughts, +while they were reduced to form by the pen of some other person. Another +opinion was that Paul wrote in Hebrew, and that our present canonical +epistle is a translation into Greek (Eusebius' Hist. Eccl., 3. 38; +Clement of Alexandria in Eusebius' Hist. Eccl., 6. 14). In the _Western_ +church Clement of Rome did indeed refer to the epistle as authoritative, +but without naming the author. Yet its Pauline authorship was not +generally admitted, nor was it received as a part of the sacred canon +till the fourth century, when here too the opinion of the Eastern church +was adopted. The Muratorian canon, which represents the belief of the +Western church before the fourth century, omits this epistle. The Syriac +Peshito, on the other hand, inserts it in accordance with its uniform +reception by the Eastern church. This uniformity of belief in the +Eastern church must have had for its starting point the Hebrews to whom +the epistle was sent; and it is a strong argument for the supposition +that it did originally come to them under the sanction of Paul's name +and authority; whether dictated to an amanuensis, as were most of his +epistles, or written with his knowledge and approbation by some inspired +man among his attendants and fellow-laborers who was thoroughly +conversant with his views on the subjects treated of in the epistle. +This is as far as we have any occasion to go, since we know that the +gift of inspiration was not confined to the circle of the apostles. + + As we cannot affirm that _all_ who were associated with the + apostles in the work of the ministry had the gifts needful for + the composition of writings that should be given to the churches + as the authoritative word of God, so neither can we deny to + _some_ the possession of these gifts, as is plain from the + examples of Mark and Luke. When men who stood in the second + grade of relation to Christ--_apostolic men_, as we may + conveniently call them--composed their works, it is not + necessary to assume that they wrote under a formal apostolic + supervision. The "discerning of spirits" is a gift which we must + concede to all of the apostles. If, then, an associate of one of + the apostles had such relations to him and wrote in such + circumstances that we cannot suppose it to have been done + without his knowledge and approbation formal or implied, we have + for his work all needful authority. What further connection the + apostle may have had with it in the way of suggestion or + supervision is a question which we may well leave undetermined. + In judging of this matter we consider first of all the testimony + of the early churches, since they enjoyed the best means of + ascertaining the origin of a writing; and then the character of + the writing itself. Proceeding in this way we come to the full + conviction of _the canonical authority_ of the epistle to the + Hebrews, whether we believe, with many, that Paul was its + immediate author, or, with Origen, that "the ancients not + without reason have handed it down as Paul's; but on the + question who wrote the epistle God only knows the truth." + +43. That the apostle wrote for the instruction of Jewish Christians is +manifest. The uniform tenor of the epistle indicates, moreover, that +they were _Jewish Christians_ without any admixture of a Gentile +element. The salutations at the end further imply that the epistle +addresses not Hebrew Christians in general, but some particular +community of them, which is most naturally to be sought in Palestine, +perhaps in Jerusalem. As to the _time_ of the epistle, the manner in +which it refers to the temple and its services makes it certain that the +author wrote before the overthrow of Jerusalem, that is, before A.D. 70. +The arguments adduced to show that Paul was its author, either +immediately or virtually, carry it back beyond A.D. 67 or 68, when, +according to ancient tradition, the apostle suffered martyrdom. It was +probably written not many years before that event; but a more exact +determination of the time is impossible. According to the most probable +interpretation of chap. 13:24, the epistle was written from Italy. But +that Timothy was not the bearer of it, as the subscription states, is +plain from the preceding verse, in which he conditionally promises to +come with Timothy at a future time. + + The references in the epistle to the Levitical priesthood and + the temple services connected with it are in the _present_ or + perfect _tenses_--"is ordained," "is encompassed," "he ought," + "taketh this honor," "have a commandment to take tithes" + "receive tithes" "_hath given attendance_ at the altar" (chap. + 7:13), "_have become_" (chap. 7:21, 23), "maketh men high + priests," "who serve," "hath made the first old" (the references + in chap. 9:1-5 are to the ancient tabernacle), "_enter_ always + into the first tabernacle" (chap. 9:6), "which he _offers_" + (verse 7), "the Holy Ghost this signifying that the way into the + holiest places _has not yet been made manifest_, while the first + tabernacle _is as yet standing_" (verse 8), "gifts and + sacrifices _are offered_" (verse 9), "sanctifieth," "are by the + law purged," "can never," "standeth." It is to be regretted that + our version has not in all cases observed this distinction of + tenses. + +44. The _central theme_ of this book is the superiority of the Christian +over the Mosaic dispensation considered on the side of its divine +Mediator and High-priest. In unfolding this great theme the writer +dwells on the glory and dignity of Christ's person in contrast with the +ancient prophets, with the angels, and with Moses, all of whom were +connected with the first economy. He then proceeds to exhibit the divine +efficacy of Christ's priesthood. This is the substance, of which the +Levitical priesthood, with its altar, its offerings and all the +temple-services connected with it, was only the shadow. In no book of +the New Testament is our Lord's priestly office set forth with such +fullness and rich variety of illustrations, always with reference to its +divinely appointed type, the Levitical priesthood. This was especially +needful to fortify the Hebrew Christians, who had been educated and +lived under the constant impression of the splendid Mosaic ritual with +its magnificent temple, against the danger of being turned from the +simplicity of the gospel to reliance on the "carnal ordinances" of +Judaism, which would have been virtual apostacy from Christ. This +magnificent epistle constitutes in some sense a solemn requiem to the +old temple service with its altar and priesthood, where the blood of +bulls and goats that can never take away sin had flowed for so many +centuries. This service had accomplished its end in prefiguring Christ +the true "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," and it +was destined soon to pass away forever "with tumult, with shouting, with +the sound of the trumpet"--to pass away forever, that men might give +their undivided faith to Christ, our great High-priest, who ministers +for us in the heavenly tabernacle, presenting there before his Father's +throne his own blood shed on Calvary to make propitiation for the sins +of the world. + +To the argumentative part of this epistle are appended exhortations +(partly, indeed, anticipated in the preceding part) to constancy in the +Christian profession, drawn from the awful doom that awaits apostates, +from the examples of faith furnished by ancient worthies, and especially +from the example of Christ himself and the glorious fellowship to which +his gospel introduces us. To these are added some admonitions of a more +special character. Thus the present epistle performs an office in the +general system of revelation which is supplied by no other book of the +Old or New Testament. To the book of Leviticus it may be said to hold +the relation of substance to shadow, and it is its divinely appointed +expositor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. + + +1. Seven epistles, that of James and the six that follow, are called +_Catholic_, that is, _general_ or _universal_, as not being directed to +any particular church. They were not all, however, addressed originally +to believers generally, but some of them to particular classes of +believers, or even to individuals, as the introductory words show. + + +I. EPISTLE OF JAMES. + +2. The question respecting the _person_ of James who wrote this epistle +is one of great difficulty. That "James the Lord's brother," whom Paul +names as one of the apostles (Gal. 1:19), is identical with the James +mentioned by Luke in Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18, and is the author of the +present epistle, is admitted by most writers, though not by all. That +this James of Gal. 1:19 was the James who is named with Joses, Simon, +and Judas, as one of our Lord's brethren (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3), must +be received as certain. But whether he was identical with "James the son +of Alpheus," who was one of the twelve (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke +6:15; Acts 1:13), is a question which has been much discussed and on +which eminent biblical scholars are found arrayed on opposite sides. The +question turns very much on the interpretation of the words "brother," +and "brethren" and "sisters," in the passages above referred to. If we +take them in their literal sense, as some do, then James the son of +Alpheus and James the Lord's brother are different persons. But others +understand them in the general sense of kindred or cousins, believing +that our Saviour was the only child of Mary. A statement at length of +the arguments and objections that are urged on both sides does not come +within the compass of the present work. Nor is it necessary. The author +of the present epistle is beyond all reasonable doubt the James who gave +the final opinion in the assembly of the apostles and elders at +Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21), whom Paul names with Cephas and John as one +of the "pillars" there (Gal. 2:9), and who elsewhere appears as a man of +commanding influence in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 21:18; Gal. 2:12). +If any one doubts his identity with James the son of Alpheus, who was +one of the twelve, this cannot affect the canonical authority of the +epistle. The position of this James in the church at Jerusalem and his +relation to the apostolic college is such that, even upon the +supposition that he did not belong to the number of the twelve, his +writings must have to us the full weight of apostolic authority. See +above chap. 30, No. 42. + +3. The _place_ where this epistle was written was manifestly Jerusalem, +where James always resided; and the _persons addressed_ are "the twelve +tribes who are in the dispersion" (chap. 1:1); that is, as the nature of +the case and the tenor of the epistle make manifest, that part of them +who had embraced Christianity. There is no allusion in the epistle to +Gentile believers. + + _The dispersion_ is a technical term for the Jews living out of + Palestine among the Gentiles. We need not hesitate to understand + it here literally. The apostle _wrote_ to his Jewish brethren of + the dispersion because he could not visit them and superintend + their affairs as he could those of the Jewish Christians in and + around Jerusalem. Some take the term in a wider sense of the + Jewish Christians scattered abroad in and out of Palestine, but + this is not necessary. + +4. With regard to the _date_ of this epistle also different opinions are +held. Some place it early in the history of the church--earlier, in +fact, than any other of the apostolic epistles--_before_ the origin of +the controversy respecting circumcision and the Mosaic law recorded in +Acts, chap. 15; others quite _late_, not long before the destruction of +Jerusalem by the Romans. The latter view best agrees with the contents +of the epistle. The doctrine of justification by faith, for which Paul +had contended, would naturally be abused precisely in the way here +indicated, by the substitution of a barren speculative faith, for the +true faith that works by love and purifies the heart and life from sin. +The age preceding the destruction of Jerusalem was one of abounding +wickedness, especially in the form of strife and faction. It had been +predicted by our Lord that the effect of this would be to chill the love +of many of his visible followers and withdraw them from his service. In +truth the descriptions of these unworthy members of the Jewish Christian +community which we find in this epistle, in the second of Peter, and in +that of Jude, are but the realization, in most particulars, of the state +of things foretold in the following remarkable words of the Saviour: +"And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and +shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise and shall +deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall +wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be +saved." Matt. 24:10-13. + +5. For the _genuineness_ and _canonical_ authority of the present +epistle we have a very important testimony in the Old Syriac version +(Peshito), which represents the judgment of the Eastern churches where +the epistle was originally circulated. The remaining testimonies prior +to the fourth century are scanty and some of them not very decisive. +They may be all seen in Davidson's Introduction to the New Testament, +and in the critical commentaries generally. + + It cannot be reasonably doubted that the words of Irenaeus, + "Abraham himself, without circumcision and without the + observance of Sabbaths, believed in God, and it was counted to + him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God" + (Against Heresies, 4.30), refer to James 2:23. Origen quotes the + epistle as "current under the name of James," and intimates that + some did not acknowledge its apostolic authority. But he + elsewhere cites it as that of "James the Lord's brother," "the + apostle James," "the apostle," and simply "James." See in + Kirchhofer Quellensamlung, pp. 263, 264. Eusebius reckons the + epistle among the books that were "disputed, but known + nevertheless to many." Hist. Eccl., 3, 25. Elsewhere he says: + "It is regarded as spurious; at least not many of the ancients + have made mention of it." Hist. Eccl., 2. 23. But these words + cannot be regarded as expressing Eusebius' own opinion; for he + himself quotes him as "the holy apostle," and his words as + "Scripture." See in Davidson's Introduction to the New + Testament, vol. 3, p. 336; Kirchhofer Quellensamlung, p. 264. + +In the course of the fourth century the canonical authority of this +epistle was gradually more and more acknowledged, and in the fifth its +reception in the churches of both the East and the West became +universal. + + "This is just what we might expect: a writing little known at + first, obtains a more general circulation, and the knowledge of + the writing and its reception go almost together. The contents + entirely befit the antiquity which the writing claims; no + _evidence_ could be given for rejecting it; it differs in its + whole nature from the foolish and spurious writings put forth in + the name of this James; and thus its gradual reception is to be + accounted for from its having, from early times, been known by + some to be genuine (as shown by the Syraic version), and this + knowledge being afterwards spread more widely." Tregelles in + Horne, vol. 4, chap. 25. Davidson suggests that differences of + opinion and perplexities respecting the number of the persons + called James in the apostolic period, and the relation they bore + to one another, and also the fact that the epistle was addressed + solely to Jewish Christians, may have made its early circulation + comparatively limited. Perhaps we may also add, as he does, its + apparent contrariety to the Pauline doctrine of justification by + faith, but this is by no means certain. + +6. This epistle is eminently practical. If any part of it can be called +argumentative, it is that in which the apostle shows that "faith without +works is dead." Chap. 2:14-26. The sins which he rebukes with such +graphic vividness and power were all preeminently the sins of his +countrymen at that age--hearing God's word without doing it, resting in +an empty faith that does not influence the life, inordinate love of +worldly possessions and a self-confident spirit in the pursuit of them, +wanton revelling in worldly pleasures, partiality towards the rich and +contempt of the poor, defrauding the poor of their wages, ambition to +assume the office of teaching, censoriousness, a lawless and slanderous +tongue, bitter envying and strife, mutual grudging and murmuring, wars +and fightings; all these with an unbelieving and complaining spirit +towards God. But these are not merely Jewish vices. They are deeply +rooted in man's fallen nature, and many a nominal Christian community of +our day may see its own image by looking into the mirror of this +epistle. + +The alleged disagreement between Paul and James is unfounded. Paul's +object is to show that the ground of men's justification is faith in +Christ, and not the merit of their good works. The object of James is to +show that faith without good works, like the body without the spirit, is +dead. Paul argues against dead works; James against dead faith. Here we +have no contradiction, but only two different views of truth that are in +entire harmony with each other, and both of which are essential to true +godliness. + + +II. EPISTLES OF PETER. + +7. The First Epistle of Peter was unanimously received by the primitive +church as the genuine work of the man whose name it bears. Polycarp, in +his epistle to the Philippians, made numerous citations from it. It was +also referred to by Papias, according to the testimony of Eusebius. +Hist. Eccl. 3. 39. Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, +etc. all quote it expressly. It is found in the Syriac Peshito version +which contains but three of the catholic epistles. It is wanting in the +Muratorian canon, but to this circumstance much weight cannot be +attached when we consider how dark and confused is the passage referring +to the catholic epistles. + +8. _The readers_ addressed in the epistle are "the elect sojourners of +the dispersion, of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," all +provinces of Asia Minor. The words "sojourners"--or "strangers" as +rendered in our English version--and "dispersion" are both the +appropriate terms for the Jews living in dispersion. That the apostle, +in an introduction of this kind, should have used the word "sojourners" +in a simply figurative sense, to describe Christians as "pilgrims and +strangers on the earth," is very improbable, especially in immediate +connection with the word "dispersion," which must be understood +literally. We must rather understand the apostle as recognizing in the +Christian churches scattered throughout the world the true "Israel of +God," having for its framework the believing portion of the covenant +people, into which the Gentile Christians had been introduced through +faith, and thus made the children of Abraham. Compare Rom. 4:12-17; Gal. +3:7-9; and especially Rom. 11:17-24. Hence it comes to pass that while +Peter addresses them as the ancient people of God, he yet includes +Gentile Christians in his exhortations, as is manifest from various +passages, especially from chap. 4:3. + +9. According to chap. 5:13 the _place_ from which this epistle was +written was Babylon. No valid reason exists why we should not understand +here the literal Babylon. The old opinion that the apostle used the word +enigmatically to signify Rome is nothing more than a conjecture in +itself improbable. It has been urged not without reason that Peter names +the provinces of Asia Minor in the order which would be natural to one +writing from Babylon; naming Pontus first, which lay nearest to Babylon, +and Asia and Bithynia, which were the most remote, last. The question of +the _date_ of this epistle is connected with that of its _occasion_. +This seems to have been a "fiery trial" of persecution that had already +begun to come upon the Christians of the provinces named in the +introductory address. Chaps. 1:6, 7; 2:12, 19, 20; 3:14, 16, 17; 4:1, +12-19; 5:9, 10. The exact date and character of this persecution cannot +be determined. The majority of commentators assign it to the latter +years of Nero's reign, which ended A.D. 68. The second epistle of Peter +was written not long before the apostle's death, and after the epistles +of Paul had become generally known in Asia Minor. As we cannot +reasonably separate the two epistles by a great space of time (see +below, No. 11), we infer that the first was written after Paul's first +imprisonment in Rome, say somewhere between A.D. 63 and 67. + +10. The general tone of the first epistle is in harmony with its +occasion. The apostle seeks to animate and strengthen his brethren in +view of the "fiery trial" of persecution that had already begun to come +upon them. To this end he sets before them in glowing language the +greatness and glory of the heavenly inheritance in reserve for them, +which was purchased by the precious blood of Christ, and the dignity and +blessedness of suffering for Christ's sake, with the assurance of God's +faithful presence and protection. With these encouragements he +intermingles admonitions suited to their circumstances. He exhorts them +as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts and all the +other vices of their former life in ignorance; to commend their religion +by a holy deportment which shall put to shame the calumnies of their +adversaries; to perform faithfully all the duties of their several +stations in life; to be humble, sober, vigilant, and ready always to +give a reason of their Christian hope; and above all things to have +fervent charity among themselves. The fervent spirit of the great +apostle of the circumcision, chastened and mellowed by age, shines forth +conspicuously in this epistle. The closing chapter, where he addresses +first the elders, then the younger, then the whole body of believers, +charms the reader by the holy tranquillity which pervades it +throughout--a tranquillity deeply grounded in that faith which is "the +substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." + +11. THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER. The _address_ of this epistle is +general (chap. 1:1); yet the reference which it contains to the first +(chap. 3:1) shows that the apostle had in mind primarily the same circle +of churches. The character of this reference--"This second epistle, +beloved, I now write unto you, in which [two epistles] I stir up your +pure minds by way of reminding [you]"--indicates that the second was not +separated from the first by a very great space of _time_, certainly not +many years. The apostle wrote with the conviction that his decease was +near at hand (chap. 1:13-15). There is a tradition, the correctness of +which, however, is doubted by many, that he suffered martyrdom at Rome +under the persecution raised by Nero against the Christians. This would +be about A.D. 67. As to the _place_ from which the epistle was written +we have no information. + +12. The present epistle is one of the _disputed_ books. Chap. 5, No. 7, +and Chap. 6. The question respecting its genuineness may be conveniently +considered under the two heads of _external_ and _internal_ evidence. + + The _external_ testimony to the present epistle is scanty. + Passing by some doubtful references we come first to Origen who + says (in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 6. 25): "But Peter, upon whom is + built the church of Christ, against which the gates of hell + shall not prevail, has left one acknowledged epistle; a second + also, if you will, for it is doubted of." In those of his works + which are extant only in the Latin version of Rufinus, Origen in + a number of passages quotes the present epistle as Scripture. It + has been suspected that these passages were interpolated by + Rufinus, who took many liberties with the text of Origen; but + one of them, which occurs at the beginning of his seventh homily + on Joshua, is so peculiar that we cannot well doubt that Origen + himself was its author. In allusion to the procession of priests + blowing with trumpets when the Israelites compassed the walls of + Jericho (Josh. chap. 6), he compares the writers of the New + Testament to so many sacerdotal trumpeters, assigning to them + trumpets for each book, and mentioning _every book_, as well the + disputed as the acknowledged: "First Matthew in his gospel, gave + a blast with his sacerdotal trumpet. Mark also, Luke, and John, + sounded with their single sacerdotal trumpets. Peter also sounds + aloud with the two trumpets of his epistles; James also, and + Jude. But John adds yet again to blow with the trumpet through + his epistles and Apocalypse; Luke, also, narrating the Acts of + the Apostles. But last of all that man came, who said: 'I think + that God has set forth us apostles last,' and thundering with + the fourteen trumpets of his epistles, overthrew to their + foundations the walls of Jericho, and all the engines of + idolatry and dogmas of philosophers." The "epistles" through + which the apostle John sounds are obviously his three epistles. + The "fourteen trumpets" upon which Paul blows include the + epistle to the Hebrews. In this remarkable passage, then, we + have an _exhaustive list_ of our present canonical books; and + there is no ground for imputing any interpolation to the + translator. It may be said, indeed, that this enumeration of the + books of the New Testament is made in a popular way, and does + not imply Origen's deliberate judgment that they were all of + apostolic authority. If this be granted, it still remains + evident from the form of the passage that _all the books of our + present canon were in current ecclesiastical use_ in Origen's + day, whatever doubts he may have had respecting some of them, + and that they constituted, along with the writings of the Old + Testament, that whole of divine revelation which the Christian + churches employed in assaulting the kingdom of Satan. + + The testimony of Eusebius himself is of the same general import + as that of Origen--that the first epistle of Peter has been + universally acknowledged; but that the one current as the second + has not been received as a part of the New Testament; but yet, + appearing useful to many, has been studied with the other + Scriptures (Hist. Eccl., 3. 3); that among the writings which + are disputed, yet known to many, are the epistles current as + those of James and Jude, and the second epistle of Peter (Hist. + Eccl., 3. 25). + + Jerome says that Peter "wrote two epistles that are called + catholic, of which the second is denied by most persons on + account of its disagreement in style with the first." Scrip. + Eccl., 1. But he himself received the epistle, and explained the + difference in style and character and structure of words by the + assumption that Peter used _different interpreters_ in the + composition of the two epistles (Epist. 120 ad Hedib., chap. + 11); and from his time onward the epistle was generally regarded + as a part of the New Testament. + + The reader who wishes to investigate farther the question of + external testimonies will find them all given in Davidson's + Introduct. to New Test.; and Alford's Commentary, Introduction + to 2 Peter. We simply repeat the remark already made (Chap. 6, + No. 3) that although the universal and undisputed reception of a + book by all the early churches cannot be explained except on the + assumption of its genuineness, its non-reception by some is no + conclusive argument against it. It may have remained (as seems + to have been peculiarly the case with some of the catholic + epistles) for a considerable period in obscurity. When it began + to be more extensively known, the general reception and use of + it would be a slow process both from the difficulty of + communication in ancient as compared with modern times, and + especially from the slowness and hesitancy with which the + churches of one region received anything new that came from + another region. Chap. 2, No. 5. Jerome does indeed mention the + objection from the difference of style between this epistle and + the first of Peter; but it is doubtful whether in this matter he + speaks for the early churches generally. The obscurity in which + the epistle had remained, partly at least because it was not + addressed to the guardianship of any particular church, seems to + have been the chief ground of doubt. + + The _internal_ testimony for and against the genuineness of this + epistle has been discussed at great length by many writers. The + reader will find good summaries of them in the two works above + referred to, also in the critical commentaries generally and the + modern Bible dictionaries. If one would come to true results in + this field of investigation it is important that he begin with + true principles. There are what may be called _staple + peculiarities_, which mark the style of one writer as compared + with that of another--that of John, for example, in contrast + with that of Paul. We cannot conceive of these as being wanting. + But then we must allow to one and the same writer a considerable + range of variation in style and diction, dependent partly on + difference of subject matter, and partly on varying frames of + mind of which no definite account can be given. If one would be + convinced of this, he has only to read side by side the epistle + of Paul to the Romans and his second to the Corinthians. + Reserving now the second chapter of the present epistle for + separate consideration, we do not find in the two remaining + chapters, as compared with the first epistle, any such + fundamental differences of style and diction as can constitute a + just ground for denying the common authorship of the two + epistles. For the particulars, as well as for the examination of + other objections of an internal character, the reader must be + referred to the sources above named. It is certainly remarkable + that Peter should refer to the writings of Paul in such terms as + to class them with the "Scriptures" of the Old Testament. Chap. + 3:16. But, as Alford remarks, this implies not that the canon of + the New Testament had been settled when the present epistle was + written, but only that "there were certain writings by Christian + teachers, which were reckoned on a level with the Old Testament + Scriptures, and called by the same name. And that that was not + the case, even in the traditional lifetime of Peter, it would be + surely unreasonable to deny." We close this part of the + discussion with the following words from the same author: "Our + general conclusion from all that has preceded must be in favor + of the genuineness and canonicity of this second epistle; + acknowledging at the same time, that the subject is not without + considerable difficulty. That difficulty however is lightened + for us by observing that on the one hand, it is common to this + epistle with some others of those called catholic, and several + of the later writings of the New Testament; and on the other, + that no difference can be imagined more markedly distinctive, + than that which separates all those writings from even the + earliest and best of the post-apostolic period. Our epistle is + one of those latter fruits of the great outpouring of the Spirit + on the apostles, which, not being intrusted to the custody of + any one church or individual, required some considerable time to + become generally known; which when known, were suspected, + bearing, as they necessarily did traces of their late origin, + and notes of polemical argument; but of which as apostolic and + inspired writings, there never was, when once they became known, + any general doubt; and which, as the sacred canon became fixed, + acquired, and have since maintained, their due and providential + place among the books of the New Testament." + +13. The _object_ of the present epistle is to warn believers against +being led away with the error of the wicked so as to fall from their own +steadfastness. Chap. 3:17. It contains accordingly extended notices of +the gross errors in doctrine and morals which, as we know from the New +Testament, abounded in the Christian church near the close of the +apostolic period. The second chapter, which is occupied with a vivid +description of the false teachers that had "crept in unawares" (chap. +2:1; Jude 4), is very peculiar in its contents; and its agreement with +the epistle of Jude is of such a character as leads to the inference +that the two writings are somehow connected with each other. It has been +supposed that both writers drew from a common source unknown to us. More +probable is the opinion that one of them had in view the words of the +other. A comparison of the two writings will perhaps lead to the belief +that Jude's was the original, though on this point biblical scholars +differ. It matters not to us whether, under the guidance of the Holy +Spirit, Peter employed, in a free and independent way, the words of +Jude, or Jude those of Peter. Upon either supposition his writing is as +much inspired as if he had written independently. The most prominent +idea of Peter's first epistle is patience and steadfastness in the +endurance of suffering for Christ's sake; that of this second epistle is +caution against the seductions of false teachers. Thus each epistle +fills an important place in the entire economy of revelation. + + +III. EPISTLES OF JOHN. + +14. THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN bears throughout the impress of its +_authorship_. That it was written by the same man who wrote the fourth +gospel is too evident to be reasonably controverted. On this ground +alone its genuineness and authenticity may be regarded as established on +a firm basis. But the external testimonies to its authorship are also +abundant from Polycarp, the disciple of the apostle, and onward. It is +unnecessary to enumerate them. In respect to the _date_ of this epistle +we have no certain knowledge. The common opinion is that it was written +after the gospel, and towards the close of the first century. With this +supposition the contents agree. It contains the affectionate counsel of +an aged apostle to his younger brethren, whom he addresses as his +"little children." He writes, moreover, in "the last time," when, +according to the prediction of our Lord and his apostles, many +antichrists and false prophets are abroad in the world (chaps. 2:18; +4:1-3), and there are some who deny that Jesus Christ is come in the +flesh (chap. 4:2, 3). As to the _place_ of the apostle's writing, if we +follow ancient tradition, which makes Ephesus his home in his old age, +we may well believe that he wrote from that city, and that the epistle +was addressed primarily to the circle of churches which had Ephesus for +a centre. + + Some of the ancients refer to the present epistle as written to + the _Parthians_. But this is a very improbable assumption, and + rests apparently on some mistake. The apostle evidently writes + to those who are under his spiritual care; and these are not the + Parthians, but the Christians of Asia, to whom also the seven + letters of the Apocalypse are addressed. + +15. The epistle has unity throughout, but not the unity of systematic +logical arrangement. Its unity consists rather in the fact that all its +thoughts revolve around one great central truth, _the incarnation of the +Son of God in the person of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the +world_. With this truth he begins, and he affirms it authoritatively, as +one of the primitive apostolic witnesses: "That which we have seen and +heard declare we unto you." Chaps. 1:3; 4:6. He guards it also against +perversion, when he insists upon the reality of our Lord's incarnation: +"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is +of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come +in the flesh, is not of God" (chap. 4:2, 3), words which are with good +reason understood as referring to a very ancient form of error, that of +the _Docet[oe]_, who maintained that the Son of God had not a real, but +only an apparent body. The reception through faith of this great truth, +that the Son of God has come in the flesh for man's salvation, brings us +into blissful union and communion with the Father and the Son, and thus +into the possession of sonship and eternal life. Chaps. 1:3; 3:1, 2; +4:15; 5:1, 13, 20. The rejection of this truth is the rejection of God's +own testimony concerning his Son (chaps. 2:22; 5:9, 10), and thus the +rejection of eternal life; for out of Christ, the Son of God, there is +no life (chap. 5:11, 12). But this reception of Christ is not a matter +of mere theoretic belief. It is a practical coming to the Father and the +Son, and a holy union with them. The proof of such union with God and +Christ is likeness to God and obedience to God's commandments. They who +profess to know God and to be in him, while they walk in darkness and +allow themselves in sin, are liars and the truth is not in them. Chaps. +1:5-7; 2:4-6; 3:5-10, 24; 5:4, 5, 18. The sum of all God's attributes is +love; and the sum of Christian character is love also. Chap. 4:16. But +there can be no true love towards God where there is none towards the +brethren; and such love must manifest itself "not in word, neither in +tongue; but in deed and in truth." Chaps. 3:11-18; 4:7-11, 20, 21; 5:1. +He that loves his brother abides in the light; but he that hates him +abides in darkness and death. Chaps. 2:9-11; 3:14, 15. All believers +have an abiding unction of the Spirit, which enables them to distinguish +between truth and falsehood, and keeps them from the seductions of the +many antichrists that are abroad. Chap. 2:18-27. Such true believers, +whose hearts are filled with love, are raised above fear, and have +confidence in prayer, and may look forward with joyful confidence to the +day of judgment. Chaps. 2:28; 3:18-20; 4:17, 18; 5:14, 15. These +fundamental truths the apostle reiterates in various forms and +connections, intermingling with them various admonitions and promises of +a more particular character. He dwells with especial fulness on the +evidences of discipleship as manifested in the daily spirit and life. +There is perhaps no part of God's word so directly available to the +anxious inquirer who wishes to know what true religion is, and whether +he possesses it. He who, in humble reliance on the illumination of the +divine Spirit, applies to himself this touchstone of Christian +character, will know whether he is of God, or of the world that lies in +wickedness. + +16. SECOND AND THIRD EPISTLES OF JOHN. These two short epistles are so +closely related to each other in style and manner that they have always +been regarded as written by one and the same person. In considering, +therefore, the question of their authorship we take them both together. +Though reckoned by Origen (in Eusebius' Hist. Eccl., 6. 25) and by +Eusebius himself (Hist. Eccl., 3. 25; Demonstratio Evangel. 3. 5) among +the disputed writings, the external testimony to their apostolic +authorship is upon the whole satisfactory, embracing the names of +Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Dionysius of Alexandria, Jerome, etc. +When we take into account the small extent of these epistles it is plain +that no unfavorable inference can be drawn from the silence of +Tertullian and others. Nor is there any internal evidence against them. +That the man who, in his gospel, studiously avoids the mention of his +own name, describing himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and, in +his first epistle, simply classes himself with the other apostles--"that +which _we_ have seen and heard," etc.--should in these epistles, where +some designation of himself was necessary, speak of himself as "the +elder" is not surprising. Compare 1 Peter 5:1. + +17. Concerning the date of these two epistles we know nothing. The +object of the first seems to have been to set before the lady to whom it +was addressed the importance of a discriminating love, which +distinguishes between truth and falsehood, and does not allow itself to +aid and abet error by misplaced kindness towards its teachers. + +In the second the apostle, writing to Gaius, commends to his +hospitality, certain missionary brethren, who were strangers in the +place where this disciple lived. It would seem that the design of these +brethren was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles without charge; that +he had in a former letter, commended them to the church where Gaius +resided; but that Diotrephes had hindered their reception, and +persecuted those who favored them. + +Short as these epistles are, then, each of them contains weighty +instruction--the first, in reference to ill-timed kindness and +liberality towards the teachers of error; the second, concerning the +character and conduct of those who love to have the preeminence, and the +abhorrence in which they ought to be held by all who love the purity and +peace of the churches. + + +IV. EPISTLE OF JUDE. + +18. The writer of this epistle styles himself "the servant of Jesus +Christ, and brother of James." Chap. 1:1. This James is undoubtedly the +same man who held so conspicuous a place in the church at Jerusalem, and +was the author of the epistle which bears his name. Whether Jude was an +apostle, or an apostolic man, like Mark and Luke, depends upon the +question respecting the relation which his brother James held to Christ, +concerning which see the introduction to the epistle of James. In either +case the canonical authority of the epistle holds good. The close +relation between this epistle and the second chapter of Peter's second +epistle has already been noticed. See above, No. 13. It was probably +anterior in time to that epistle, but not separated from it by a great +number of years. If we may infer anything from the abundant use made by +the writer of Jewish history and tradition, the persons addressed are +Jewish Christians. + +19. Eusebius classes this epistle also among the disputed writings +(Hist. Eccl., 2. 23; 3. 25), yet the testimonies to its genuineness are +ample--the Muratorian canon, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, +Jerome, etc. + + It was objected to this epistle in ancient times that the writer + quotes from the apocryphal book of Enoch (verses 14, 15). To + this it may be answered--(1) that, if this be the case, Jude + does not sanction the book of Enoch as a whole, but only this + particular tradition embodied in it; (2) that the writer of the + book of Enoch manifestly made use of a current tradition, and + that, for anything that appears to the contrary, Jude may have + availed himself of the same tradition, independently of the book + of Enoch. That an inspired writer should refer to a traditional + history not recorded in the Old Testament ought not to give + offence. The apostle Paul does the same (2 Tim. 3:8, 9); and + Jude himself in another passage (verse 9). + +20. The _design_ of the epistle Jude himself gives in explicit terms +(verses 3, 4). It is to guard believers against the seductions of false +teachers, corrupt in practice as well as doctrine; whose selfishness, +sensuality, and avarice; whose vain-glorious, abusive, and schismatic +spirit, he describes in vivid language, denouncing upon them at the same +time the awful judgment of God. The apostolic portraiture has not yet +become antiquated in the history of Christ's church. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE APOCALYPSE. + + +1. The word _Apocalypse_ (Greek _Apokalupsis_) signifies _Revelation_, +the title given to the book in our English version as well from its +opening word as from its contents. Of all the writings of the New +Testament that are classed by Eusebius among the disputed books +(_Antilegomena_, chap. 5. 6), the apostolic authorship of this is +sustained by the greatest amount of _external_ evidence; so much so that +Eusebius acknowledges it as doubtful whether it should be classed among +the _acknowledged_ or the _disputed_ books. + + It was known to Papias, to Melito bishop of Sardis, and to + Theophilus of Antioch; is quoted as a part of Scripture by the + churches of Vienne and Lyons in the last quarter of the second + century; and is expressly ascribed to the apostle John by Justin + Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, the + Muratorian canon, Hippolytus, Origen, Jerome, etc. The + testimonies may be seen in Davidson's Introduction to the New + Test., in Alford, and in the other works already frequently + referred to. Eusebius, after giving a list of the _acknowledged_ + books, adds: "After these should be placed, if it be thought + proper, the Revelation of John, concerning which we shall give + the opinions at the proper time." Then, at the end of a list of + the _disputed_ and _rejected_ books he adds: "And moreover, as I + said, the Revelation of John, if it be thought proper, which + some, as I said, reject, but others reckon among the + acknowledged books" (Hist. Eccl., 3. 25); and again, after + mentioning with approbation the account of those who said that + there were at Ephesus two who bore the name of John (John the + _apostle_, and the so-called _presbyter_ John), he adds: "For it + is probable that the second, if any one be not willing to allow + that it was the first, saw the Revelation current under the name + of John" (Hist. Eccl., 3. 39). Those who denied the apostolic + authorship of the book generally referred it to this latter, + John the presbyter. So Dionysius of Alexandria and others. But + for this they adduced no historic proof. Their arguments were + drawn wholly from considerations relating to its internal + character, especially in the case of some, its supposed + millenarian views. Upon any fair principle of judging, we must + concede that the apostolic authorship of this book is sustained + by a mass of ancient testimony not rebutted by any contrary + testimony which rests on a historic basis. + +2. In modern, as in ancient times, the main arguments against the +apostolic authorship of the Apocalypse have been drawn from its +_internal_ character, especially as contrasted with that of the fourth +gospel and the first epistle of John. On this ground the assaults upon +the book have been many and strong, and they have been met with vigorous +resistance. To review the arguments on both sides would exceed our +limits. Many of them, moreover, presuppose a knowledge of the original +languages of both the Old and the New Testament. We can only indicate +some considerations of a general nature. + + (1.) No valid argument against the apostolic authorship of this + book can be drawn from the fact that the writer specifies his + name in the introduction and elsewhere. Chaps. 1:1, 4, 9; 21:2; + 22:8. It may surprise us that the man who studiously avoids + mentioning his name in the fourth gospel, and who describes + himself in his second and third epistles as "the elder," should + here directly introduce his name at the beginning and in the + progress of the book. But for this difference he may have had a + good reason, whether we can discover it or not. The direct + command, addressed to him personally, that he should write down + his visions and send them to the seven churches of Asia would + seem to imply the propriety, if not the necessity, of his + connecting his own name with the record of them. He addressed + the churches immediately and authoritatively in the name of the + risen and glorified Saviour. What more natural and proper than + that he should inform them directly who he was that had received + this heavenly message. + + (2.) The _doctrinal_ views of the Apocalypse afford no argument + against its apostolic authorship. The writer, it is true, moves + to a great extent in a new and peculiar sphere of truth; but + there is nothing in it contradictory to the teachings of John's + gospel and epistles. On the contrary, the great central truths + that relate to Christ's person and office are in perfect harmony + with those teachings. + + (3.) The _spirit_ of the Apocalypse is not contradictory to that + of the gospel and epistles. A writer in Alexander's Kitto says: + "Quiet contemplation has full scope in the evangelist; mildness + and love find utterance in affectionate discourse. But the + spirit of the apocalyptist is stern and revengeful, with cutting + reproofs, calls to repentance, commands and threatenings." The + answer to all this is that, just as the human body has bones and + muscles as well as fluids and soft tissues, so the mediatorial + government of Christ has a stern as well as a mild side; and + that the very nature of the visions contained in the apocalypse + gives prominence to this side. + + (4.) The main objections are based on _diversity of style and + diction_. Notwithstanding all the true points of resemblance in + this respect that have been adduced by various writers, the + difference between the Apocalypse, on the one hand, and the + gospel and epistles of John, on the other, is very striking. But + here we must take into account, first of all, the great + difference in the _subject-matter_, which naturally brings a + corresponding difference of language. Next, the difference in + the _mode of divine communication_. The gospel and epistles were + written under that constant tranquil illumination of the Holy + Spirit which all the apostles enjoyed. The subject-matter of the + Apocalypse was given in direct vision--much of it, moreover, + through the medium of oral address. To one who believes in the + reality of the revelations here recorded it is vain that an + opponent urge the difference in style between the first epistle + of John and the epistles to the seven churches of Asia; since + these latter are expressed in the very words of Christ. + Inseparably connected with the peculiar mode of revelation in + the Apocalypse are the peculiar _mental state and circumstances_ + in which the apostle wrote. He composed the gospel and epistles + in the calmness of tranquil contemplation and reminiscences of + the past. The visions of the Apocalypse he received "in the + Spirit" (chap. 1:10; 4:2); that is, in a state of ecstacy; and, + according to the plain language of the book, he _wrote them down + at the time_, beginning, as we must suppose, with the second + chapter, the introductory chapter and some closing remarks + having been added afterwards. The direction: "What thou seest + write in a book" (chap. 1:11, 19), does not indeed imply that he + should write upon the spot; but that he did so is plainly + indicated elsewhere: "When the seven thunders had uttered their + voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven + saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders + uttered, and write them not" (chap. 10:4). In entire harmony + with this is another passage: "And I heard a voice from heaven + saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the + Lord from henceforth," etc. (chap. 14:13); that is, "Write down + now these words of comfort." The apostle, therefore, wrote down + his visions one after another immediately after they were + received. When he wrote he was not in a state of + unconsciousness, but of mental and spiritual exaltation above + his ordinary condition. To affirm that he could not have + received this series of visions without being deprived of the + capacity to record them at the time, would be to limit the modes + of divine revelation by our ignorance. If we cannot understand + how the apostle could hear "in the Spirit" the voices of the + seven thunders, and immediately prepare to write down their + utterances, we ought, at least, reverently to receive the fact + as stated by him. To expect from one writing in such + circumstances careful attention to the rules of Greek syntax and + the idioms of the Greek language would be absurd. Undoubtedly + Plato in a like situation would have written pure Attic Greek, + because that would have been to him the most natural mode of + writing. But the Galilean fisherman, a Jew by birth and + education, fell back upon the Hebrew idioms with which he was so + familiar. Finally we must remember that, after the analogy of + the Old Testament prophecies, this prophetic book is expressed + in _poetic diction_. It is full of images borrowed from the old + Hebrew prophets, often spiritualized and applied in a higher + sense. Looking to the imagery alone, one may well call this book + a _grand anthology_ of the old Hebrew poets. But the poetic + diction of one and the same writer may differ widely from his + prose style, as we see in the case of Moses, Isaiah, and + Jeremiah. + + If the above considerations do not wholly remove the difficulty + under consideration they greatly relieve it. The apostolic + authorship of the fourth gospel and the first epistle of John is + sustained by a mass of evidence that cannot be set aside. That + the same John also wrote the visions of the Apocalypse is + attested, as we have seen, by the almost unanimous voice of + antiquity. Far greater difficulties are involved in the denial + of the ancient tradition of the church than in the admission of + it. + +3. The _date_ of the Apocalypse has been a matter of much discussion, +the great question being whether it was written before or after the +destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The external testimony strongly +preponderates on the side of a late date; for the great body of this +tradition represents the banishment of the apostle to the isle of Patmos +as having taken place under Domitian who succeeded Titus, and reigned +from A.D. 81 to 96. This supposition also agrees with the fact that the +recipients of our Lord's seven messages (chaps. 2, 3) are the seven +churches of Proconsular Asia, among whom, according to the unanimous +testimony of the primitive church, the apostle spent the latter years of +his life. The hypothesis of an earlier date is but feebly supported by +external testimony. It rests mainly on the alleged reference of the +writer to the overthrow of Jerusalem as an event yet future, and as +being the main subject of the prophesies contained in the book. But this +reference has never been clearly established, and is contradicted by the +general analogy of prophecy, by the contents of the book, and by its +manifest relation to the prophecies of Daniel. A few only of the briefer +prophetic books, as those of Jonah and Nahum, confine themselves to one +particular event lying in the near future. All the more extended among +them, and many of the shorter, look forward undeniably to the distant +future. The book of Daniel can be interpreted only as containing a great +scheme of prophecy stretching forward into the distant future, and with +this the revelation of John has the closest connection. The _place_ +where the revelation was received was the isle of Patmos, one of the +group called Sporades in the AEgean sea off the southwestern corner of +Asia Minor, where the apostle represents himself to have been "for the +word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" (chap. 1:9): that +is, in accordance with ancient tradition, banished to that isle on +account of the gospel. + +4. For the _interpretation_ of this book many and very discordant plans +have been proposed. Setting aside at the outset all those schemes which +do not find in the Apocalypse a view of the conflicts of Christ's people +to the end of time and their final victory over their enemies, there +remain two general principles of interpretation. The first may be called +the _generic_ principle. Those who adopt it inquire only after the +general import of the symbols employed, without attempting any +particular application of them to the history of the church in +connection with that of the world. Thus, the white horse of the first +seal (chap. 6:2) denotes in general the conquests of Christ through his +gospel; the red horse of the second seal (chap 6:4), war and carnage, as +accompanying the progress of the truth; and so on throughout the other +symbols of the book. But when we come to the most important part of the +prophecies, those concerning the two beasts (chap. 13), and that +concerning the woman riding on the scarlet-colored beast (chap. 17), +this principle utterly fails. It cannot be that so many specific and +very peculiar marks mean only persecuting powers in general. They point +with wonderful clearness and precision to that grand combination of the +civil with the ecclesiastical power of which papal Rome has ever been +the chief representative. + +We come, then, for the true key to the Apocalypse, to the other +principle, which may be called the _historic_. This seeks in the history +of the church and of the world for the great events foretold in this +book. It is no valid objection to this principle, that in the attempt to +apply it interpreters find great, and in many cases insuperable +difficulties. The mystery of God is not yet finished. It may be that the +mighty events of the future can alone throw a clear light on the entire +plan of the book. Meanwhile we must wait in reverential expectation, +having in the plain fulfilment of that part of its prophecies which +describes the rise and character of the combined ecclesiastical and +political power which, under the name of Christianity, persecutes the +true servants of Christ, a certain pledge that all the rest will be +accomplished in due season. Expositors are agreed that the predictions +of the book do not run on in chronological order from beginning to end. +Most find in chaps. 6:1-11:18 (with an episode, chaps. 10:1-11:13) one +series relating more to the outward history of the world in its +relations to God's people; while in chap. 12 the writer returns to the +primitive days of Christianity, and gives a more interior and spiritual +view of the conflicts of God's people along the track of ages and their +final triumph, adding at the close various supplementary views of the +same mighty struggle and victory. + +5. On the _symbolic import of the numbers_ in the Apocalypse a few words +may be added. + +_Seven_ is the well known symbol of completeness, and this is the most +prominent number in the book. Thus we have the seven churches of Asia +represented by the seven golden candlesticks, and their seven angels +represented by seven stars (chap. 1:4, 12, 16, 20); the seven lamps of +fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God (chap. +4:5); the seven seals (chap. 5:1); the seven trumpets (chap. 8:2); the +seven thunders (chap. 10:4); the seven last plagues (chap. 15:1); to +which may be added the seven ascriptions of praise--power, riches, +wisdom, strength, honor, glory, blessing (chap. 5:12), blessing, glory, +wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, might (chap. 7:12). Lastly, we have +the seven heads of the persecuting beast in all its various forms. +Chaps. 12:3; 13:1; 17:3. So far as the number seven has its fulfilment +in the history of the world, we are at liberty to suppose that this is +accomplished, in part at least, by the manner in which the wisdom of God +has been pleased to group together the events of prophecy--a grouping +which is always appropriate, but might have been different had the plan +of representation so required. The final judgments which precede the +millennium, for example, which in chaps. 15 and 16 are set forth under +the figure of seven vials full of the wrath of God, might have been, by +another mode of distribution, represented under the number two. Many +think they are thus represented in chap. 14:14-20. Another prophetic +number, occurring in Daniel and the Apocalypse, always as a designation +of time, is the _half of seven_. Thus we have "a time, and times, and +half a time," that is, three years and a half (chap. 12:14); or in +months, "forty and two months" (chaps. 11:2; 13:5); or in days, "a +thousand two hundred and threescore days" (chaps. 11:3; 12:6). Compare +Daniel 7:25. Again, answering to these three years and a half, we have +the three days and a half during which the two witnesses lie dead. Chap. +11:9, 11. The number _six_, moreover, from its peculiar relation to +seven, represents the preparation for the consummation of God's plans. +Hence the sixth seal (chap. 6:12-17), the sixth trumpet (chap. 9:14-21), +and the sixth vial (chap. 16:12-16) are each preeminent in the series to +which they belong. They usher in the awful judgments of Heaven which +destroy the wicked. Here, perhaps, we have the key to the symbolic +import of the number of the beast, 666. While it represents, according +to the principles of Greek numeration, the number of a man, it seems to +indicate that upon him fall all the judgments of the sixth seal, the +sixth trumpet, and the sixth vial. + +_Four_ is the natural symbol for universality. Thus we have the four +living creatures round about the throne (chap. 4:6), perhaps as symbols +of the agencies by which God administers his universal providential +government (chaps. 6:1, 3, 5, 7; 15:7); the four angels standing on the +four corners of the earth and holding the four winds (chap. 7:1); and +the four angels bound in the river Euphrates (chap. 9:14). So also in +the fourfold enumeration, "kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation," +or its equivalent. Chaps. 5:9; 10:11; 11:9; 14:6; 17:15. _A third and a +fourth part_, on the contrary, represent what is partial. Chaps. 6:8; +8:12; 9:18. + +_Twelve_ is the well-known signature of God's people. Compare the twelve +tribes of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New; the +woman with a crown of twelve stars (chap. 12:1); the twelve gates, +twelve angels, twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem, the twelve times +twelve cubits of its wall, and its tree of life that yields twelve +harvests a year (chaps. 21:12, 14; 22:2). We have also the same number +combined with a thousand, the general symbol for a great number. From +each of the twelve tribes of Israel are sealed twelve thousand (chap. +7:4-8), making for the symbolical number of the redeemed twelve times +twelve thousand (chap. 14:1, 3); and the walls of the New Jerusalem are +in every direction twelve thousand furlongs (chap. 21:16). + +_Ten_ is possibly only a symbol of diversity, as in the case of the ten +horns of the beast (chaps. 12:3; 13:1; 17:3); though some take a literal +view of it. + +6. Dark as are many parts of the Apocalypse and difficult of +interpretation, the book as a whole is radiant with the promise to God's +people of a final and complete victory in their conflict with the +kingdom of Satan. Though long delayed, as we mortals reckon time, it +shall come at last with a splendor above the brightness of the sun, and +the earth be lighted from pole to pole with its glory. "Amen. Even so, +come, Lord Jesus"! + + + + +APPENDIX TO PART III. + +WRITINGS OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS, WITH SOME NOTICES OF THE APOCRYPHAL +NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS. + + +1. A wide distinction should be made between the _writings of the +apostolic fathers_ which are acknowledged to be genuine, or the +genuineness of which may be maintained on more or less probable grounds, +and the large mass of spurious works afterwards palmed upon the +Christian world as the productions of apostles or their contemporaries. +The latter constitute properly the _New Testament Apocrypha_, though the +term is sometimes applied in a loose way to both classes of writings. +The writings of the apostolic fathers, though possessing no divine +authority, are valuable as showing the state of the Christian churches +at the time when they were composed in respect to both doctrine and +discipline, as well as the various errors and divisions by which they +were troubled. Their testimonies to the genuineness of the New Testament +have been already considered. Chap. 2, No. 10. Some of the apocryphal +works also, worthless as they are for instruction in the doctrines and +duties of Christianity, throw much light on the religious spirit, +tendencies, and heretical sects of the times to which they belong. +Others of these writings are unutterably absurd and puerile, worthy of +notice only as showing the type of the puerilities current in the age of +their composition. + + +I. WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. + +2. Appended to the Alexandrine manuscript (Chap. 26, No. 5) is an +_epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians_, followed by part of a +so-called second epistle to the same church. The first of these epistles +is acknowledged to be genuine. It was known to the ancient fathers as +the work of Clement of Rome, and highly commended by them. Their +quotations from it agree with the contents of the epistle as we now have +it, nor does it exhibit any marks of a later age; for the author's +reference to the well-known fable of the phoenix as a type of the +resurrection (chap. 25), constitutes no real difficulty. It may prove +that he was credulous, but not that he belonged to a later than the +apostolic age. The ancients represent this Clement to have been +identical with _Clement bishop of Rome_. Whether he was also identical +with the Clement named by the apostle Paul (Phil. 4:3), is a question +that we may well leave undecided. The epistle was written shortly after +some persecution (chap. 1), which Grabe, Hefele, and others suppose to +have been that under Nero; Lardner, Cotelerius, and others, that under +Domitian. Upon the former supposition it was written about A.D. 68--a +supposition apparently favored by the way in which he refers to the +temple and service at Jerusalem as still in existence (chaps. 40, 41); +upon the latter, about A.D. 96 or 97. + +3. The _occasion_ of the epistle, which Clement writes in the name of +the church at Rome, is easily gathered from its contents. As in the days +of Paul, so now, the Corinthian church was troubled by a "wicked and +unholy sedition," fomented by "a few rash and self-willed men," who had +proceeded so far as to thrust out of their ministry some worthy men. +Chap. 44. It would seem, also, from chaps. 24-27 that there were among +them those who denied the doctrine of the resurrection. To restore in +the Corinthian church the spirit of love and unity is the grand scope of +the epistle. The author commends them for their orderly and holy +deportment before their present quarrel arose, traces it to its true +source in the pride gendered by the honor and enlargement granted them +by God, and urges them to lay aside their contentions by every motive +that the gospel offers--the mischiefs that strife occasions, the rules +of their religion, the example of the Saviour and holy men of all ages, +the relation of believers to God, his high value of the spirit of love +and unity, the reward of obedience and punishment of disobedience, etc. +Comparing the church to an army, he insists earnestly on the necessity +of different ranks and orders, and the spirit of obedience. Comparing it +again to the human body, he shows that all the particular members, each +in his place, should conspire together for the preservation of the +whole. + +Clement's style has not the merit of compactness and conciseness. He is, +on the contrary, diffuse and repetitious. But a thoroughly evangelical +spirit pervades the present epistle, and it is, moreover, characterized +by a noble fervor and simplicity. "It evinces the calm dignity and the +practical executive wisdom of the Roman church in her original apostolic +simplicity, without the slightest infusion of hierarchical arrogance." +Schaff, Hist. Christ. Church, vol. 1, p. 460. In its internal character, +as in the time of its composition, it approaches the canonical writings +of the New Testament more nearly than any other remains of antiquity. + +4. The _second_ epistle ascribed to Clement is not mentioned by any of +the fathers before Eusebius, who speaks of it doubtingiy: "But it should +be known that there is said to be also a certain second epistle of +Clement. But it is clear to us that this is not equally known with the +first, for we know that the ancients have not made use of it." Hist. +Eccles. 3. 38. It is generally acknowledged to be spurious, and is, +perhaps, as Hefele suggests, one of the homilies falsely ascribed to +Clement. With this supposition its contents well agree; for it does not +seem to have, like the first, a definite end to accomplish. It opens +with a general exhortation that the Corinthians should think worthily of +Christ in view of the great work which he has wrought in their behalf, +and urges upon them a steadfast confession of him before men, not by +empty words, but by a life of holy obedience. It sets before them the +incompatibility of the service of God and mammon, and dwells with +especial earnestness on the high rewards of eternity in comparison with +the pleasures and pains of the present life; as if the writer had in +mind those who were exposed to the double peril of substituting an empty +profession for the living spirit of obedience, and of apostatizing from +Christ through fear of persecution and martyrdom. + +5. Besides the above, there is a mass of writings current in ancient +days under the name of Clement which are acknowledged by all to be +spurious. Among these are: The _Recognitions of Clement_; The +_Clementines_, or, according to the Greek title, _Clement's Epitome of +Peter's Discourses in Travel_; _Clement's Epitome concerning the Acts +and Discourses of Peter in Travel_--three forms of substantially the +same work. It will be sufficient to give a brief notice of the +Recognitions. The author, apparently a Jew by birth and a philosopher of +the Alexandrine school, has embraced a form of Christianity mixed up +with the dogmas of his philosophy. For the purpose of attacking and +overthrowing the false religious notions of his age, he invents an +ingenious historic plot. Clement, a Roman citizen, who, as appears in +the sequel, has been separated in early life from his father, mother, +and two brothers, whom he supposes to be dead, is introduced as sending +to James, who presides over the church at Jerusalem, with an +accompanying letter, an account of his early education; his acquaintance +with the apostle Peter, who chooses him to be his companion in travel; +Peter's conversations with himself and the rest of the company; his +public addresses and acts; especially his famous encounters with Simon +Magus, whom he overthrows and puts to public shame. In the course of +their journeying they visit a certain island, where they meet with a +poor woman begging alms, who is found, upon the relation of her history, +to be the mother of Clement. Upon farther inquiry it appears that two of +Peter's company, Nicetus and Aquila, are her sons and the brothers of +Clement. Finally, Peter encounters on the sea-shore, whither he had gone +to perform for the newly discovered mother and sons the rite of baptism, +an old man who is found to be the long lost husband and father. From +these _recognitions_ the work receives its title. But this historic plot +is only the occasion of introducing the writer's theological and +philosophical opinions, with especial reference to the prevailing errors +of his day. Any page of the work is sufficient to show that Peter and +Clement had nothing to do with its composition. It cannot be placed +earlier than the close of the second or the beginning of the third +century. Prefixed to these Clementine writings, and having reference to +them, are two spurious epistles, one from Peter to James, president of +the church at Jerusalem, with the proceedings of James consequent upon +the reception of it, and one from Clement to James. These it is not +necessary to notice. + +The so-called _Constitutions of Clement_ in eight books, embracing, as +their name indicates, a system of rules pertaining to church order and +discipline, were certainly not the work of Clement. It is not certain +that they had their origin as a whole in the same age; but the judgment +of learned men is that no part of them is older than the second half of +the third century. The eighty-five so-called _Apostolic Canons_ have +prefixed to them the spurious title: "Ecclesiastical Rules of the Holy +Apostles promulgated by Clement High Priest (Pontifex) of the Church of +Rome." The origin of these canons is uncertain. They first appear as a +collection with the above title in the latter part of the fifth century. +How much older some of them may be cannot be determined with certainty. + + +II. THE EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. + +6. _Ignatius_ was bishop of the church at Antioch, and suffered +martyrdom at Rome by exposure to wild beasts A.D. 107, or according to +some accounts, A.D. 116. Of the _fifteen_ epistles ascribed to him, it +is agreed among biblical scholars that _eight_ are spurious and of later +origin. The remaining seven are generally regarded as genuine, but the +text of these, as of all the rest, is in a very unsatisfactory +condition. There are two Greek recensions, a longer and a shorter, the +latter containing approximately the true text, though not without the +suspicion of interpolations. There is a Syriac version containing but +three of Ignatius' epistles, and these in a much reduced form (which +some are inclined to regard as the only genuine epistles); also an +Armenian version containing thirteen epistles. See further Schaff, Hist. +Chris. Church, vol. 1, pp. 469-471. As the question now stands, we may +with good reason receive as genuine the seven mentioned by Eusebius +(Hist. Eccl. 3. 36) and Jerome (De Viris illust. 16). They were all +written on his last journey to Rome; four from Smyrna, where Polycarp +was the bishop, to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, and Romans; +three after his departure from Smyrna, to the churches of Philadelphia +and Smyrna, and to Polycarp bishop of Smyrna. The native vigor and +energy of Ignatius, as also the depth and sincerity of his piety, shine +forth conspicuously in these letters; but they differ from the epistle +of Clement in the manifestation of an intense ecclesiastical spirit, by +which, indeed, they are marked as belonging to a later era of the +church. If we except the epistle to the Romans, they all abound in +exhortations to render implicit obedience to their spiritual rulers as +to Christ himself. To these precepts he adds exhortations to maintain +unity, and to avoid false doctrines, specifying particularly Judaizing +teachers and such as deny our Lord's proper humanity. + +We cannot read his letter to the Romans, among whom he expected shortly +to lay down his life for Christ's sake, without deep interest. But it is +marred by the manifestation of an undue desire to obtain the crown of +martyrdom, which leads him to protest against any interposition of the +Roman brethren in his behalf. "I beseech you," says he, "show no +unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to be the food of wild +beasts, by means of which I may attain to God. I am the wheat of God, +and am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure +bread of God." Chap. 4. His letter to Polycarp, a fellow bishop, abounds +in precepts for the right discharge of his duties. It is interesting as +showing Ignatius' idea, on the one side, of the office with its high +responsibilities, and, on the other, of the duties which the churches +owe to those who are set over them in the Lord. + +7. There are some spurious epistles ascribed to Ignatius which it is +sufficient simply to name. These are: A letter to one Maria a proselyte +of Cilicia in answer to her request that certain young men might be sent +to her people as their spiritual guides; epistles to the church of +Tarsus, of Antioch, and of Philippi--theological dissertations mostly +made up of texts of Scripture; a letter to Hero a deacon, containing +precepts for the right discharge of his office, and abounding, like +those just named, in quotations from Scripture: two pretended letters of +Ignatius to the apostle John; one to the Virgin Mary, with her reply. + +Finally, there are some fragments of Ignatius' writings preserved to us +in the quotations of the ancients, which it is not necessary to notice. + + +III. THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP. + +8. _Polycarp_ was a disciple of the apostle John, and presided over the +church in Smyrna. He suffered martyrdom about the year 166. Of his +writings only one short epistle remains, addressed by him to the +Philippians soon after the martyrdom of Ignatius, who passed through +Smyrna on his way to Rome. This we gather from the letter itself; for in +this he assumes that Ignatius has already suffered (chap. 9), and yet he +has not heard the particulars concerning his fate and that of his +companions. Chap. 14. This brief epistle is marked by a fervor and +simplicity worthy of an apostolic man. The writer commends the +Philippians for the love manifested by them towards the suffering +servants of Christ, exhorts them to steadfastness, reminds them of +Paul's precepts in his epistle to them, and proceeds to unfold and +inculcate the duties belonging to the officers and several classes of +members in the church. The immediate occasion of the letter seems to +have been his transmission to the Philippians, in compliance with their +request, of Ignatius' epistle to himself, with such others of his +epistles as had come into his hands. Chap. 13. The preservation of the +present epistle is probably due to this its connection with the epistles +of Ignatius forwarded by him to the Philippians. + + +IV. THE WRITINGS OF BARNABAS AND HERMAS. + +9. The writings current under the names of _Barnabas_ and _Hermas_ have +by no means the outward testimony in their favor by which the preceding +epistles of Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp are supported; nor the +inward evidence arising from the consideration of their contents. We +will consider them briefly in the order abovenamed. + +10. Until recently the first part of the _Epistle of Barnabas_ existed +only in a Latin version. But in 1859 Tischendorf discovered at Mount +Sinai the Sinai Codex (Chap. 26, No. 5), which contains the entire +epistle in the original Greek. That the writer was the Barnabas +mentioned in the New Testament as the companion of Paul in preaching the +gospel, cannot be maintained on any firm basis of evidence. As to the +date of its composition learned men differ. Hefele places it between the +years 107 and 120. Apostolic Fathers, Prolegomena, p. 15. + +The writer was apparently a Hellenistic Jew of the Alexandrine school, +and he wrote for the purpose of convincing his brethren, mainly from the +Old Testament, that Jesus is the Messiah, and that in him the rites of +the Mosaic law are done away. His quotations from the Old Testament are +numerous, and his method of interpretation is allegorical and sometimes +very fanciful, as in the following passage, for the right understanding +of which the reader should know that the two Greek letters [Greek: IE], +which stand first in the name [Greek: IESOUS], JESUS, and represent that +name by abbreviation, signify as numerals, the first _ten_, the second, +_eight_; also that the Greek letter [Greek: T] (the sign of the cross) +denotes as a numeral, _three hundred_. "The Scripture says," argues +Barnabas, "that Abraham circumcised of his house _three hundred and +eighteen men_. What was the knowledge communicated to him [in this +fact]? Learn first the meaning of the _eighteen_, then of the _three +hundred_. Now the numeral letters [Greek: I], _ten_, [Greek: E], +_eight_, make _eighteen_. Here you have _Jesus_ (Greek [Greek: IESOUN], +of which the abbreviation is [Greek: IE]). And because the cross, which +lies in the letter [Greek: T], was that which should bring grace, he +says also _three hundred_." Chap. 9. The Rabbinic system of +interpretation in which the writer was educated furnishes an +_explanation_, indeed, of this and other like puerilities, but no +_vindication_ of them. + +11. The _Shepherd of Hermas_, as the work current under the name of +Hermas is called, consists of three books--his Visions, his Commands, +and his Similitudes. The four visions are received through the ministry +of an aged woman, who is the church of Christ. The twelve commands and +ten similitudes are received from one who appears to him "in the habit +of a shepherd, clothed with a white cloak, having his bag upon his back, +and his staff in his hand," whence the title The _Shepherd_ of Hermas. +All these are intended to unfold the truths of Christianity with its +doctrines and duties. The writer has a most luxuriant imagination. In +reading his books, particularly the first and the third, one sometimes +finds himself bewildered in a thicket of images and similitudes, some of +them grotesque and not altogether congruous. Yet the work throws much +light on the religious ideas and tendencies of its age. + +The ancients speak doubtingly of the authority of this work. Origen, +whom Eusebius and Jerome follow, ascribes it to the Hermas mentioned in +the epistle to the Romans (chap. 16:14); though it does not appear that +he had any other ground for this than the identity of the name. The +Muratorian canon names as its author Hermas the brother of Pius bishop +of Rome. According to this, which is the more probable view, the date of +its composition would be about the middle of the second century. + + +V. THE APOSTLES' CREED. + +12. We put this among the remains of the apostolic fathers, not because +there is any doubt as to its containing the substance of the doctrines +taught by the apostles, but because, as is generally admitted, it did +not receive its present form at their hand. "Though not traceable in its +present shape before the third century, and found in the second in +different longer or shorter forms, it is in substance altogether +apostolic, and exhibits an incomparable summary of the leading facts in +the revelation of the triune God from the creation of the world to the +resurrection of the body; and that in a form intelligible to all, and +admirably suited for public worship and catechetical use." Schaff, Hist. +Chris. Church, pp. 121, 122. + + +VI. APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS AND ACTS. + +13. These are very numerous. Under the head of Apocryphal Gospels. +Tischendorf has published twenty-two works; under that of Apocryphal +Acts of the Apostles, thirteen. To the student of church history they +are not without value; for they illustrate the origin of many ancient +traditions and some ritual observances. But if we look to their +intrinsic character, they may be described as a mass of worthless +legends abounding in absurd and puerile stories. The contrast between +the miracles which they relate and the true miracles recorded in the +canonical gospels and Acts is immense, and such as makes the darkness of +these spurious writings more visible. The miracles of the canonical +books have always a worthy occasion, and are connected with the +Saviour's work of redemption. But the pretended miracles of the +apocryphal writings are, as a general rule, wrought on trivial +occasions, with either no end in view but the display of supernatural +power, or with a positively unlawful end, whence it not unfrequently +happens that their impiety rivals their absurdity. Many samples of both +these characters could be given, but the general reader may well remain +ignorant of them. + + + + +PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. + + * * * * * + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. + + +1. The term _Hermeneutics_ (Greek, _hermeneuo_, _to interpret_) is +commonly employed to denote the _principles of scriptural +interpretation_. The Greek word _exegesis_--that is, +_exposition_--denotes the actual _work of interpretation_. Hermeneutics +is, therefore, the _science_ of interpretation; Exegesis, the +_application_ of this science to the word of God. The hermeneutical +writer lays down general principles of interpretation; the exegetical +writer uses these principles in the exposition of Scripture. The terms +_epexegesis_ and _epexegetical_ are used by expositors in a special +sense to denote something explanatory of the immediate context. + +2. The expositor's _office_ is, to ascertain and unfold the true meaning +of the inspired writers, without adding to it, subtracting from it, or +changing it in any way. Here we may draw an instructive parallel between +his work and that of the textual critic. The textual critic aims to +give, not what some one might think the inspired penman should have +written, but what he actually did write. So the true expositor, taking +the very words of Scripture, seeks not to force upon them a meaning in +harmony with his preconceived opinions, but to take from them the very +ideas which the writer intended to express. It is pertinent, therefore, +to consider at the outset the qualifications which belong to the +biblical interpreter. These include high moral and intellectual +qualities, as well as varied and extensive acquirements. + +3. Foremost among the qualities that belong to the interpreter is a +_supreme regard for truth_. A general conviction and acknowledgment of +the duty of truthfulness will not be sufficient to guard him against all +the seductive influences that beset his path. Though he may be a sincere +Christian, he will still be in danger of being misled by the power of +preconceived opinions and party connections. He will need a constant and +vivid apprehension of the sacredness of all truth, more especially of +scriptural truth, which God has revealed for the sanctification and +salvation of men. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." +These words of the Saviour he will do well to ponder night and day, till +they become a part of his spiritual life; and to remember always that, +if such be the divine origin and high office of scriptural truth, God +will not hold guiltless any who tamper with it in the interest of +preconceived human opinions, thus substituting the folly of man for the +wisdom of God. + +4. The interpreter further needs a _sound judgment_, combined with the +power of _vivid conception_. These two qualities are named together, +because they mutually supplement each other. A large part of the Bible +is occupied with description. Here the interpreter needs the power of +conception, that he may bring before his mind a vivid picture of the +scenes described, with the relations of their several parts to each +other. Another large part of the Bible contains the language of poetry +and impassioned feeling. In the interpretation of this, the faculty of +conception is especially necessary, that we may place ourselves as fully +as possible in the circumstances of the writers, and form a true idea of +the emotions which filled their minds and gave form and complexion to +their utterances. Pure cold logic, with the addition of any amount of +human learning, will not enable us to comprehend and expound aright the +forty-second Psalm. By the power of imagination, we must go with the +poet, in his exile from the sanctuary at Jerusalem, across the Jordan to +the land of the Hermonites; must see his distressed and forsaken +condition; must hear the bitter taunts of his enemies; must witness the +inward tempest of his feelings--a continual conflict between nature and +faith--before we can have a true understanding of his words. The same +might be said of innumerable other passages of Scripture. + +But this power of vivid conception, when not held in check by a _sound +judgment_, will lead the expositor of Scripture into the wildest +vagaries of fancy. Disregarding the plainest rules of interpretation, he +will cover up the obvious sense of Scripture with a mass of allegorical +expositions, under color of educing from the words of inspiration a +higher and more edifying meaning. That high natural endowments, united +with varied and solid learning and indefatigable zeal for the gospel, do +not of themselves constitute a safeguard against this error, we learn +from the example of Origen and many others. Not content to let the +simple narratives of Scripture speak for themselves and convey their +proper lessons of instruction, these allegorical expositors force upon +them a higher spiritual sense. In so doing, they unsettle the very +principles by which the spiritual doctrines of Scripture are +established. + +Origen, for example, in commenting on the meeting between Abraham's +servant and Rebecca at the well in Haran, says: "Rebecca came every day +to the wells. Therefore she could be found by Abraham's servant, and +joined in marriage with Isaac." Thus he gives the literal meaning of +this transaction. But he then goes on to show, among other things, that +Rebecca represents the human soul, which Christ wishes to betroth to +himself, while Abraham's servant is "the prophetic word, which unless +you first receive, you cannot be married to Christ." See in Davidson's +Sacred Hermeneutics, pp. 103, 104. + +5. Another indispensable qualification of scriptural interpretation is +_sympathy with divine truth_; in other words, that harmony of spirit +with the truths of revelation which comes from a hearty reception of +them, and a subjection of the whole life, inward and outward, to their +control. "If any man," said our Saviour, "will do his will, he shall +know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of +myself." John 7:17. In these words our Lord proposed to the unbelieving +Jews the true remedy for their ignorance and error respecting his person +and office, which had their ground not in the want of evidence, but in +their perverse and guilty rejection of evidence. Their moral state was +one of habitual rebellion against the truth of God; and they could not, +therefore, have sympathy with the Saviour's doctrine. They hated the +light, and would not come to the light, because their deeds were evil. +John 3:20. What they needed was not more light, but that obedient spirit +which loves the light, and allows it to shine through the soul. The man +who would be a successful interpreter of God's word must begin where the +Saviour directed these Jews to begin. So far as he knows the truth, he +must give it a hearty reception not in theory alone, but in daily +practice. Then he will be prepared to make further progress in the +knowledge of it, and to unfold its heavenly treasures to his fellow-men. +But if he comes to the study of God's word with a heart habitually at +variance with its holy precepts, and an understanding darkened by the +power of sinful affections, no amount of scholarship or critical +sagacity will avail to make him a true expositor of its contents. Having +no sympathy with the great foundation doctrines of the gospel, but +regarding them with positive aversion, he will neither be able to +apprehend them in their true light, nor to explain them aright to his +fellow-men. In the work of interpretation, a good heart--good in the +scriptural sense--is not less important than a clear understanding and +well-furnished mind. + +6. How extensive and varied should be the _acquirements_ of the able +interpreter will be manifest to any one who considers the extent and +variety of the fields of knowledge covered by the Holy Scriptures. + +The _languages_ in which they are written are no longer spoken. The +knowledge of them, like that of all dead languages, is locked up in +books--grammars, lexicons, ancient versions, and various subsidiary +helps--and can be mastered only by severe and protracted study. It is +not indeed necessary that the great body of Christians, or even all +preachers of the gospel, should be able to read the Bible in the +original languages. But it is a principle of Protestantism, the +soundness of which has been confirmed by the experience of centuries, +that there should always be in the churches a body of men able to go +behind the current versions of Scripture to the original tongues from +which these versions were executed. The commentator, at least, must not +take his expositions at second hand; and a healthy tone of feeling in +regard to the sacredness and supreme authority of the inspired word will +always demand that there should be a goodly number of scholars scattered +through the churches who can judge from the primitive sources of the +correctness of his interpretations. + +The Scriptures are crowded with references to the cities, mountains, +plains, deserts, rivers, and seas of Palestine and the surrounding +regions; to their climate, soil, animals, and plants; to their +agricultural products and mineral treasures; to the course of travel and +commerce between the different nations; in a word, to those numerous +particulars which come under the head of _geography_ and _natural +history_. The extended investigations of modern times in these +departments of knowledge have shed a great light over the pages of +inspiration, which no expositor who is worthy of the name will venture +to neglect. + +And if one collect and illustrate the various allusions of Scripture to +the manners and customs of the ancient Hebrews, to their civil +institutions and their religious rites and ceremonies, he will compose a +volume on _biblical antiquities_. + +The connection, moreover, which the covenant people had with the +surrounding nations, especially the great monarchies which successively +held sway over the civilized world--Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Greece, +Rome--requires an extended knowledge of _ancient history_, and, as +inseparably connected with this, of _ancient chronology_. Biblical +chronology constitutes, indeed, a science of itself, embracing some very +perplexed and difficult questions, the solution of which has an +important bearing upon the passages of Scripture to which they have +reference. + +7. We do not affirm that all the above-named qualifications are +necessary to a saving knowledge of God's word. Its great essential +doctrines and precepts are so plain that the unlettered reader, who +brings to the work an honest heart, cannot fail to understand them. In +this respect God has made the vision so plain "that he may run that +readeth it;" and the road to heaven so direct that "the wayfaring men, +though fools, shall not err therein." But the interpreter of Scripture +is expected to unfold the meaning of the difficult passages also, as far +as human investigation will enable him to do so. They are a part of "all +Scripture given by inspiration of God," which the apostle affirms to be +"profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction +in righteousness." He should spare no effort, therefore, to ascertain +their exact sense, and to expound this sense to others with all possible +fidelity and clearness. + +8. There is a _human_ and a _divine_ side to biblical interpretation--a +human side, because the Scriptures address men in human language, and +according to human modes of thinking and speaking; a divine side, +because they contain a true revelation from God to men, and differ in +this respect from all other writings. The neglect of the human side +leads to visionary schemes of interpretation, in which the writer's +fancy is substituted for the sober rules of criticism, and the word of +God accommodated to his preconceived opinions. The rejection, open or +covert, of the divine side, manifests itself in a cold, skeptical +criticism, which denies or explains away all that is supernatural in the +Bible; which, instead of seeking to discover and unfold that unity of +plan and harmony of parts which belong to every work of God, delights +rather in exaggerating the supposed inconsistencies and contradictions +of the sacred writers, and in arraying one part of Scripture against +another; and which, having no faith itself in the Bible as containing a +revelation from God, infuses doubts respecting its divine origin into +the mind of the reader. It is only by keeping steadily in view these two +sides of revelation, which mutually supplement each other, that we can +attain to a true knowledge of the inspired word. + + + + +FIRST DIVISION. + +INTERPRETATION VIEWED ON THE HUMAN SIDE. + + * * * * * + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. + + +1. Since the Bible addresses men in human language, and according to +human modes of thinking and speaking, the interpreter's first work is to +ascertain the _meaning of the terms_ employed. Here he must proceed as +in the case of other writings, seeking by the aid of grammars, lexicons, +cognate languages, ancient versions, ancient interpreters, and whatever +other outward helps are available, to gain a thorough knowledge of the +language employed by the Holy Spirit in his revelations to men. To these +external sources of knowledge he will add all the internal light which +comes from a careful consideration of the context, of the author's known +use of terms, of parallel passages, etc. + +In the case of the New Testament, a knowledge of classical Greek will +not be sufficient. The interpreter must superadd a thorough acquaintance +with the peculiar dialect of the New Testament (Chap. 24, No. 5), and +also the special usages of particular writers. The apostle John, to +adduce a single instance, applies the term _Logos_, _Word_, to the Son +of God. But we cannot argue from this for a like usage by other writers; +as, for example, in the well-known passage: "The word of God is quick +and powerful," etc. Heb. 4:12. + +Usage alone is often insufficient to determine the meaning of a word in +a particular passage; for (1) the term may occur nowhere else, (2) it +may have in current usage two or more different significations. In the +former case, the interpreter must avail himself of all the external +helps above specified, and especially of the light shed upon the meaning +of the term in question by the context. In the latter case, the context +must be his chief guide. The same Greek word, for example, signifies +_stature_ (Luke 19:3) and _age_ (Heb. 11:11). In the interpretation of +Matt. 6:27, where our version reads: "Which of you by taking thought can +add one cubit unto his stature?" the question may naturally enough arise +in which of these two senses the Saviour employed it. Whatever may be +the decision, it must have for its basis not simple usage, which is +ambiguous, but the connection of the word in the context. Many like +examples might be adduced. + +It has been already remarked (Chap. 24, No. 5) that in New Testament +usage many words have a technical and therefore peculiar meaning. We are +not at liberty, however, to determine such technical meanings at random, +or in accordance with any preconceived opinions. It can only be done, as +in the case of all other writings, in accordance with the acknowledged +laws of interpretation. The general result, then, at which we arrive is, +that in determining the meaning of scriptural terms we must be guided by +the same rules which we follow in the interpretation of other writings. + +2. From the signification of particular words we proceed to the +consideration of the _sense_ embodied in the language of the sacred +writers. A knowledge of the words which enter into the composition of a +sentence does not of itself give us a true apprehension of the sense +which the writer seeks to convey. We must know the writer's aim, the +shape and course of his argument, the ideas which he is combating as +well as those which he seeks to establish, the emphatic words of the +sentence, whether he wishes to be understood literally or figuratively, +and various other particulars; all which are to be ascertained by the +same rules which we employ in the interpretation of language generally. + +3. The _scope_ or _design_ of the inspired writer may be _general_ or +_special_; the former being his design in writing the whole work in +question, the latter, his design in particular sections of it. "The +scope," it has been well observed, "is the soul or spirit of a book; +and, that being once ascertained, every argument and every word appears +in its right place, and is perfectly intelligible; but if the scope be +not duly considered, every thing becomes obscure, however clear and +obvious its meaning may really be." Horne's Introduct., vol. 2, p. 265, +edit. of 1860. This language is not too strong. It is by a neglect or +perversion of the scope that the meaning of the inspired writers is +perverted, and they are made to contradict one another. + +The apostle Paul says, for example: "Therefore we conclude that a man is +justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Rom. 3:28. The apostle +James: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by +faith only." James 2:24. If one insists on leaving out of account the +separate and distinct design which each of these two writers had in view +respectively, he can easily bring their words into contradiction. Had +the scope of Paul's argument been to show that faith in Christ +_releases_ men from the obligation of obeying the divine law, and thus +makes good works unnecessary; or had James been laboring to prove that +good works are the _meritorious ground_ of men's forgiveness, then the +doctrines of the two apostles would have been irreconcilably at +variance. But we know that neither of these suppositions is true. Paul +was combating the error of the Pharisees "who trusted in themselves that +they were righteous"--righteous on the ground of "the deeds of the +law"--"and despised others." His aim was to show that men receive +forgiveness and salvation neither wholly nor in part on the ground of +the supposed merit of their good works, but wholly through faith in +Christ; as he elsewhere argues that "if it be by grace, then it is no +more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace." Rom. 11:6. We know +also, from the whole tenor of his writings, that he condemned as +spurious that pretended faith which does not manifest itself in good +works. In this very epistle, where the question is not concerning the +meritorious ground of justification, but concerning that character which +God will accept, the apostle lays down the great principle: "Unto them +that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey +unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon +every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the +Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good; to +the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of +persons with God." Rom. 2:8-11. If now we turn to the epistle of James, +we find that the faith without works which he condemns as dead is one of +mere empty notions--an inoperative belief _about_ Christ instead of that +hearty trust _in_ him which brings the heart and life into subjection to +his authority. In a word, Paul condemns, as dead, works without faith; +James, faith without works. The one rejects dead works (Heb. 9:14); the +other, dead faith. Between these two judgments there is no +contradiction. We have dwelt somewhat at large upon this example of +alleged contradiction for the purpose of full illustration. The same +mode of reasoning might be applied to many other passages, where a +knowledge of the writer's design is essential to the true apprehension +of his meaning. + +Such being the importance of the scope, the question arises: How shall +it be ascertained? Here mechanical rules will be of little avail. The +attentive and judicious reader will be able, in general, to gather it +from the various indications given by the writer himself, or from the +known circumstances in which he wrote, just as in the case of other +writings. + +Sometimes an author directly _states_ his general end, or his design in +writing a particular section of his work. An example of the former kind +is John 20:31: "These things are written that ye might believe that +Jesus is the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through +his name;" of the latter kind, 1 Cor. 7:1: "Now concerning the things +whereof ye wrote unto me," etc.; whence we learn that in this particular +chapter the apostle's design is to answer certain inquiries of the +Corinthian Christians in regard to the relation of marriage. More +commonly the writer's scope is indicated indirectly by various +_inferential remarks_, as in the passage already quoted: "Therefore we +conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," +which is in fact a statement of the apostle's design in the preceding +argument. See Horne's Introduct., vol. 2, pp. 266, 267, where the author +follows Morus, Hermeneutica, 1.2.2. + +Sometimes a clear light is shed upon the design of a writer or speaker +by a knowledge of _historical circumstances_; especially, of his own +position and that of his opponents. The twenty-third chapter of Matthew, +in which the Saviour exposes the wickedness and doctrinal errors of the +scribes and Pharisees, and denounces upon them the judgments of heaven, +cannot be thoroughly understood without a knowledge of the system of +Pharisaism, and the high position of authority and influence which the +Pharisees held; sitting, as they did, in Moses' seat, imposing upon the +people their human traditions in place of God's commandments, +substituting a religion of outward forms for one of inward faith, love, +and obedience, and thus taking away from the people the key of divine +knowledge. It was necessary that the Son of God, to whom the church +belonged, who came to shed his blood for her redemption, and to +establish her in the principles of truth and holiness, should expose +with unsparing severity the wickedness and ignorance of these scribes +and Pharisees, for the instruction of his people in all coming ages. A +knowledge of the same historical circumstances throws a strong light on +the apostle's aim in writing to the Romans and Galatians. Had we fuller +information respecting the false teachers referred to in the epistle to +the Colossians and the pastoral epistles, we should understand more +clearly the apostle's arguments against them. + +But the surest means of ascertaining a writer's scope is the repeated +and careful perusal of his words. The biblical student should early form +the habit of reading over with earnest attention a whole book at a +sitting--the epistle to the Romans, for example, or that to the +Hebrews--without pausing to investigate particular questions; his aim +being to throw himself as fully as possible into the general current of +thought, and to be carried forward by it to the writer's final +conclusions. When he has thus made himself familiar with the scope of +the work as a whole, he will be better prepared for the examination of +the particular difficulties that offer themselves in the course of the +author's argument. + +4. The word _context_ (Latin, _contextus_) signifies literally _a +weaving together_; and is appropriately used, therefore, to denote the +web of a writer's discourse. The scope is the _end_ which a writer +proposes to accomplish: the context gives the _form and manner of its +accomplishment_. With reference to a given passage, the context has been +loosely defined to be that which immediately precedes and follows. More +accurately, it is the series of statements, arguments, and illustrations +connected with the passage whose meaning is sought, including all the +various connections of thought. The sober interpreter, then, must have +constant reference to the context, as well for the signification of +particular terms as for the general sense of the passage under +consideration. To interpret without regard to the context is to +interpret at random; to interpret contrary to the context is to teach +falsehood for truth. + +The necessity of having constant reference to the context for the +determination of the sense, as well as of the particular terms employed, +admits of innumerable illustrations. From these we select a few +examples: + +In Rom. 14:23 the apostle lays down the following maxim: "He that +doubteth is damned [literally, _condemned_] if he eat, because he eateth +not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." The context +relates not to the Lord's supper, but to scruples in respect to the use +of particular kinds of food: "One believeth that he may eat all things; +another who is weak"--over-scrupulous in respect to distinctions of +food--"eateth herbs" (ver. 2). Consequently there is no reference here +to the personal qualifications requisite for partaking of that +ordinance, or to the consequence of eating unworthily. The apostle means +to say that whoever has scruples about the lawfulness of using a +particular article of food is condemned if he eat it, "because he eateth +not of faith." He acts contrary to his persuasion of duty. Thus he +violates, in this particular case, that general law of faith which +requires that in all things we keep a conscience void of offence towards +God and man, subjecting ourselves in loving confidence to Christ's +authority, and doing in all things what we believe to be right in his +sight. + +Again we read in Gal. 5:4 the words: "Ye are fallen from grace." Taken +out of their connection, these words are ambiguous in their application. +But the context makes all plain. The apostle is addressing those who are +inclined to substitute a system of justification by works for the grace +of the gospel: "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you +are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace"--fallen away from +grace, as the original word means. Ye have abandoned the system of grace +revealed in the gospel for one of works. + +The psalmist says: "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when +shall I come and appear before God?" Psa. 42:2. Taken out of their +connection, these words might be understood of his desire to enjoy the +beatific vision of God in heaven. But the context shows that the writer +had in mind God's earthly sanctuary, from which he was banished: "My +tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto +me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul +in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house +of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept +holy-day" (ver. 3, 4). + +Again the psalmist says: "The king's daughter is all glorious within" +(Psa. 45:13); words that have more than once been applied directly to +the inward spiritual beauty of the church, the bride of Christ. This is, +indeed, the idea that we gain from a true interpretation of them. But it +comes not directly, but through a beautiful figure. The primary meaning +of the words is, that the royal bride appearing _within the palace_ in +raiment of wrought gold is all glorious to the beholder's view. +Undoubtedly she represents the church espoused to Christ; dwelling, so +to speak, in his kingly mansion, and gloriously adorned with his +righteousness. Rev. 19:8. + +The question may naturally occur to the reader: Within what limits is +the context to be consulted? The answer must be, that no definite limits +can be prescribed. The entire web of discourse must be carefully +studied, including the more remote as well as the nearer context; for +the inspired writers do not, as a general rule, proceed according to +formal divisions and subdivisions. The train of argument is often +interrupted by parenthetical remarks, particularly in the writings of +the apostle Paul, or it is resumed in an informal way after extended +digressions. The true connection of thought, then, is to be gathered not +so much from our modern notions of what logical accuracy would require, +as from the repeated and careful perusal of the writing in question. In +this way alone can we place ourselves in the author's position, and look +at the subject under discussion from his point of view; that is to say, +in this way alone can we enter into his modes of thinking and reasoning, +and thus qualify ourselves to be the expounders of them to others. + +In some cases no context exists, and none is to be sought. In a large +part of the book of Proverbs, for example, each separate aphorism shines +by its own light. If it have any connection with what precedes or +follows, it is only casual or superficial. In some books, again, like +that of Ecclesiastes, the transitions are rapid, and often difficult to +explain. Here we should be careful not to force upon the author a +logical connection of which he never thought. Systematic arrangement is +good in its place; but the Holy Spirit did not think it needful to +secure it in the case of all who spake as he moved them. + +Some religious teachers are fond of employing scriptural texts simply as +_mottoes_, with little or no regard to their true connection. Thus they +too often adapt them to their use by imparting to them a factitious +sense foreign to their proper scope and meaning. The seeming gain in all +such cases is more than counterbalanced by the loss and danger that +attend the practice. It encourages the habit of interpreting Scripture +in an arbitrary and fanciful way, and thus furnishes the teachers of +error with their most effective weapon. The practice cannot be defended +on any plea of necessity. The plain words of Scripture, legitimately +interpreted according to their proper scope and context, contain a +fulness and comprehensiveness of meaning sufficient for the wants of all +men in all circumstances. That piety alone is robust and healthful which +is fed, not by the fancies and speculations of the preacher who +practically puts his own genius above the word of God, but by the pure +doctrines and precepts of the Bible, unfolded in their true connection +and meaning. + +It is important to remark, however, that when the _general principle_ +contained in a given passage of Scripture has been once fairly +explained, it admits of innumerable applications which are in the +highest sense legitimate and proper. The principle, for example, that +"whatsoever is not of faith is sin," which the apostle Paul announces in +connection with the question of using or abstaining from particular +kinds of food, may be applied to the settlement of cases of conscience +arising in widely different relations and spheres of action. The +preacher's power lies very much in the ability of unfolding to the +understanding and applying to the conscience the general principles +involved in the passage of Scripture which he undertakes to expound. + +5. We may next consider the help to be derived from _parallel passages_. +The ordinary division of parallelisms is into _verbal_ and _real_: +verbal, where the same word or phrase occurs; real, where the same +thought is expressed or the same subject discussed. Verbal parallelisms +often shed much light on the meaning of particular words or phrases, +because what is obscure in one passage is made plain in another by some +explanatory addition. + +An example is the use of the expression _my glory_ (English version, _my +honor_), in Gen. 49:6: "O my soul, come not thou into their secret" +(their secret conclave); "unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou +united." A comparison of the parallel passages, Psa. 7:5; 16:9; 30:12; +57:8; 108:1, leads to the conclusion that in such a connection the +expression is substantially equivalent to _my soul_, the soul being made +in the image of God, and thus the seat of man's glory. By a like process +of comparison, we arrive at the true signification of the phrase, "_the +righteousness of God_," or more fully, "_the righteousness which is of +God by faith_" when used with reference to the way of salvation through +Christ; at the meaning of the Greek terms translated "_propitiation_," +etc. In the same way, as already remarked (No. 1, above), the +interpreter ascertains the different significations in which words are +employed, and determines which of these is appropriate to any given +passage. + +_Real_ parallelisms are subdivided, again, into _doctrinal_ and +_historic_; doctrinal, where the same truth is inculcated; historic, +where the same event or series of events is recorded. The supreme +importance of doctrinal parallelisms will appear most fully when we come +to look at revelation on the divine side, as constituting a grand system +of truth harmonious in all its parts. At present we regard them simply +as among the means of ascertaining the sense of a given passage. +Presuming that every author means to be self-consistent, it is our +custom to place side by side his different statements which relate to +the same subject, that they may mutually explain each other. The same +reasonable method should be pursued with the writings of Isaiah and +Jeremiah in the Old Testament, and of Paul and John in the New. What is +obscure is to be interpreted by what is clear; what is briefly hinted, +by what is more fully expressed. Different writers, moreover, belonging +to the same age, animated by the same spirit, and confessedly governed +by the same general rules of faith and practice, mutually explain each +other. Thus the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Micah, who +belong to the same century, and in a less degree Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and +the other prophets of a later age, shed each a light on the pages of all +the rest. The same is true of all the epistolary writers of the New +Testament, notwithstanding their marked differences of style, and the +different aspects also in which they respectively contemplate Christian +doctrine and duty. + +Our Saviour says of those who claimed to be, before his advent, the +shepherds and leaders of God's spiritual fold: "All that ever came +before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them." +John 10:8. Yet according to this same evangelist he honored Abraham, +Moses, and the prophets, as true leaders and teachers of God's people. +Chaps. 8:39, 40, 56; 5:45-47; 12:38-41. We know, then, that the +Saviour's words must be restricted to such spiritual thieves and robbers +as the scribes and Pharisees of his day, who under the leadership of +Satan (chap. 8:41, 44) climbed up some other way into the fold. + +The apostle Paul says (Rom. 2:7) that God shall render "to them who by +patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and +immortality, eternal life." We know at once, without reference to the +context, that he does not mean, in opposition to the whole tenor of his +epistles, to affirm that men can obtain eternal life by their own +well-doing, without respect to "the righteousness of God, which is by +faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe." But if +we examine the context, this shows that here the apostle is not speaking +of the meritorious ground of justification, but of God's impartial +regard to a righteous character in both Jews and Gentiles. + +_Historical_ parallelisms hold of necessity a prominent place in the +interpretation of both the Old and the New Testament. In the Old +Testament we have the two parallel histories of the Hebrew commonwealth, +first in the books of Samuel and the Kings, then in the books of +Chronicles. In the New, the four gospels are four parallel accounts of +our Lord's life and teachings. Then there are several parallelisms of +less extent; as, for example, Isaiah's account of Sennacherib's war upon +Hezekiah, and Hezekiah's sickness (Isa. chaps. 36-39, compared with 2 +Kings 18:13-20:21, and the briefer notice of 2 Chron. chap. 32); the +three accounts of Paul's conversion (Acts 9:1-22; 22:1-21; 26:1-20); and +other passages which will readily occur to the reader. To the work of +comparing and harmonizing these parallel histories biblical students +have with reason devoted much labor, since they mutually supplement and +illustrate each other in many ways. We understand the books of Samuel +and Kings more fully by comparison with the books of Chronicles, and the +reverse. Each of the four gospels sheds light on the other three. It is +by placing the three accounts of Paul's conversion side by side that we +gain the most perfect knowledge of this event. The numerous coincidences +between the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles, give us a +fuller idea of the apostle's inward life and outward labors than we +could otherwise gain. Without the epistles the biographical notices of +the Acts would be very incomplete; without the narrative of the Acts +many references in the epistles would remain obscure. + +Yet these same historic parallelisms, which are the source of so much +light, are the occasion of difficulties also, which require for their +adjustment a comprehensive view of the spirit of inspiration. In respect +to all essential matters of faith and practice, a divine unity pervades +the Holy Scriptures. But this essential unity does not exclude diversity +of conception and representation. Though all the "holy men of God spake +as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," it pleased the divine Spirit to +leave them free to speak each in accordance with his individual +peculiarities of thought and language. A page from the writings of the +apostle John, taken anywhere at random, can be at once distinguished +from a page of Paul or Luke. In relating the same transaction, two +inspired writers often select different materials, or handle them in a +different way. The narrative of each is truthful, but not exhaustive. It +gives a correct view of the thing related, but not all the particulars +connected with it. The omission from two or more parallel narratives of +concomitant circumstances, or the neglect of exact chronological order, +sometimes makes the work of harmonizing them a very difficult matter. We +feel confident that each separate narrative is correct, and that, had we +all the accompanying circumstances in the true order of time, we could +see _how_ they are consistent with each other; but for want of this +light the exact mode of reconciliation remains doubtful. Such +difficulties are incident to all parallel histories. Had the Holy Spirit +seen good, he could have excluded them from the pages of inspiration; +but herein he chose to deal with us not as children, but rather as men +"of full age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses +exercised to discern both good and evil." It is worthy of special +notice, that where two or more evangelists record the same words of our +Saviour, they are solicitous only about their substance. + +In the three parallel accounts of the storm on the sea of Galilee, the +disciples say according to Matthew (8:25): "Lord save us, we perish;" +according to Mark (4:38): "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" +according to Luke (8:24): "Master, master, we perish." And the Lord +answers according to Matthew (v. 26): "Why are ye fearful, O ye of +little faith?" according to Mark (v. 40): "Why are ye so fearful? how is +it that ye have no faith?" according to Luke (v. 25): "Where is your +faith?" On the variations in the words of the disciples Augustine well +remarks (and the same remarks hold good of our Lord's answer): "The +disciples have one and the same meaning in thus awaking the Lord and +desiring salvation. Nor is it necessary to inquire which of these +addresses, rather than the others, contains the exact words spoken to +him. For whether they uttered one of the three, or other words which no +one of the evangelists has mentioned, which yet have the same force in +respect to the truth of the thought, what matters it?" Harmony of the +Gospels 2.24, quoted by Alford on Matth. 8:25. + +On the relation of the books of Chronicles to those of Kings and the +difficulties connected with them, see Chap. 20, Nos. 21, 22. On the +relation of the four gospels to each other, see Chap. 29, Nos. 4-10. We +cannot here go into particulars. It must suffice to indicate the general +principle by which the harmonist must be guided. + +6. The _external acquirements_ necessary to constitute the +well-furnished expositor of God's word--the "scribe which is instructed +unto the kingdom of heaven"--have been already briefly noticed. Chap. +33, No. 6. Not only are the Scriptures in their original form locked up +in dead languages which the interpreter must thoroughly master, but they +are, so to speak, embedded in ancient history, chronology, and +archaeology. + +Illustrations of this point are so numerous that the only difficulty is +in the selection. The servitude of the Israelites under the Egyptians, +their captivity in Babylon, their deliverance under Cyrus, and their +subsequent history till the time of our Lord's advent, connect +themselves immediately, as all know, with the general history of the +ancient heathen world. But there are many illustrations of a more +special character. The difficulty of the position in which our Lord was +placed by the ensnaring question of the Pharisees and Herodians +respecting the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar, and the divine +wisdom of his answer (Matt. 22:15-22: Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26) +cannot be perfectly understood without a knowledge, on the one hand, of +the political condition and feeling of the Jews as subjected to the +dominion of the Romans, which they thoroughly detested, and of which +dominion the tribute money daily reminded them; and, on the other, of +the hatred which both Pharisees and Herodians bore towards Christ, and +their anxiety to find a pretext for accusing him to the people or before +this same Roman government. + +To apprehend the force of our Lord's argument from the Pentateuch +against the error of the Pharisees: "Have ye not read that which was +spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of +Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the +living" (Matt. 22:31, 32), we must understand the _form_ in which the +Sadducees denied the doctrine of the resurrection. They denied, namely, +the existence of spirits separated from bodies. Acts 23:8. To them, +consequently, the death of the body was the _annihilation_ of the whole +man, which made the very idea of a future resurrection an absurdity. Our +Saviour showed from the writings of Moses, whose authority they +acknowledged, the error of their assumption that the spirit dies with +the body. Thus he demolished the ground on which their denial of a +future resurrection rested. + +The psalmist says of those who hate Zion: "Let them be as the grass upon +the house-tops, which withereth before one plucketh it" (Eng. version, +"before it groweth up"): "wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor +he that bindeth sheaves his bosom." Psa. 129:6, 7. For the illustration +of these words we need a double reference, (1) to the oriental custom of +constructing flat roofs covered with earth, on which grass readily +springs up; (2) to the division of the year into two seasons, the rainy +and the dry, upon the commencement of which latter such grass speedily +withers. Another reference to the same oriental roofs we have in the +words of Solomon: "The contentions of a wife are a continual dropping;" +"a continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are +alike" (chaps. 19:13; 27:15), where we are to understand a continual +_dropping through_ of water from the roof, which makes every thing +within uncomfortable. + +Our Lord's parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13) requires for its +illustration a knowledge of the oriental customs connected with +marriage: the transaction recorded by Luke, where a woman came behind +Jesus as he reclined at the table, washed his feet with her tears, and +wiped them with her hair (Luke 7:37, 38), and the position of John when +at the last supper he leaned on Jesus' bosom (John 13:23, 25), cannot be +made intelligible without a knowledge of the reclining posture in which +meals were then taken: one familiar only with the use of glass or +earthen bottles cannot comprehend the force of our Lord's maxim +respecting the necessity of putting new wine into new bottles (Matt. +9:17), till he is informed that oriental bottles are made of leather. We +might go on multiplying illustrations indefinitely, but the above must +suffice. We may affirm, without fear of contradiction, that the study of +the Holy Scriptures has contributed more than all other causes to the +diffusion among the masses of the community of a knowledge of ancient +history and antiquities. To say that a congregation has a thorough +knowledge of the Bible is equivalent to affirming that it has an +enlarged acquaintance with the ancient world in its spirit as well as in +its outward institutions and forms. + +7. That the interpreter may make a wise and effective use of all the +helps that have been enumerated, he needs especially that sound and +practical judgment which is called in ordinary discourse _good sense_. +Investigations respecting the meaning of terms, inquiries concerning the +scope, reasonings from the context, the comparison of parallel passages, +the use of ancient history, chronology, and archaeology--that any one or +all of these processes combined may lead to valuable results they must +be under the guidance of that sound judgment and practical tact by which +the interpreter is enabled to seize the true meaning of his author and +unfold it with accuracy, or is at least kept from far-fetched and +fanciful expositions where the author's real sense is involved in +obscurity. + +(1.) This quality of sound judgment will preserve the interpreter from +_inept_ expositions for which a plausible reason many be assigned. + +Thus, when the Saviour says to Martha, who "was cumbered about much +serving:" "One thing is needful," these words have been interpreted to +mean _one dish_--not many and elaborate preparations, but a single dish. +A sound judgment rejects at once this interpretation as below the +dignity of the occasion, and not in agreement with what immediately +follows: "Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away +from her." The one thing needful is such a devotion of the soul to +Christ as Mary manifested. So the words: "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest +thou me more than these?" (John 21:15), have been explained to mean: +more than these _fish_, or the employment and furniture of a +fisherman--an ingenious substitution, one must say, of a low and trivial +meaning for the common interpretation: more than these thy +fellow-disciples love me, which accords so perfectly with Peter's former +profession: "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will +I never be offended." Matt. 26:33; Mark 14:29. + +Interpreters who ordinarily manifest sound judgment and skill are +sometimes betrayed into inept expositions through the influence of some +preconceived opinion. The psalmist says, for example (Psa. 17:15): "As +for me, in righteousness shall I behold thy face: I shall be satisfied +upon awaking with thy likeness;" that is, with the contemplation of thy +likeness, with apparent reference to Numb. 12:8: "The likeness of the +Lord shall he behold." This passage is ordinarily interpreted correctly +of the vision of God upon awaking in the world to come. And this view is +sustained by other like passages: "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at +thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psa. 16:11); "Truly +God shall redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for he shall take me," +(Psa. 49:15), where Tholuck well says: "He who took an Enoch and a Moses +to himself, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will also take me to +himself;" "Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel, and afterwards take me to +glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that +I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the +strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Psa. 73:24-26)--words +that are inexplicable except as containing the anticipation of a blessed +immortality with God in heaven; "The wicked is driven away in his +wickedness; but the righteous hath hope in his death" (Prov. 14:32); +etc. But there is a class of interpreters who, having adopted the maxim +that the Old Testament, at least in its earlier writings, contains no +anticipations of a blessed life with God after death, are constrained to +give to the passage in question the frigid meaning: I shall be satisfied +with thy likeness when I awake to-morrow, as if the psalm were intended +to be an evening song or prayer; or, whenever I awake, that is, from +natural sleep. + +(2.) A sound judgment will also keep the biblical scholar from +interpretations that are _contrary to the known nature of the subject_. + +A familiar example is the declaration made by Moses of God's view of +man's wickedness: "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the +earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Gen. 6:6. The robust common +sense of any plain reader will at once adjust the interpretation of +these words to God's known omniscience and immutability; just as he will +the prayer of the psalmist: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try +me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and +lead me in the way everlasting." Psa. 139:23, 24. The immutable God does +nothing which is not in accordance with his eternal counsels. The +omniscient God, to whom all truth is ever present, does not literally +institute a process of searching that he may know what is in man. But in +these and numberless other passages, he condescends to speak according +to human modes of thought and action. + +When it is said, again, that "the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh;" +that "God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem" +(Judg. 9:23); that he sent a lying spirit to deceive Ahab through his +prophets (1 Kings 22:21-23); that he sent Isaiah with the command: "Make +the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their +eyes" (Isa. 6:10); that he made the covenant people to err from his +ways, and hardened their heart from his fear (Isa. 63:17), we +instinctively interpret these and other like passages in harmony with +the fundamental principle announced by the apostle: "Let no man say when +he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted of evil, +neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn +away of his own lust, and enticed." Jas. 1:13, 14. The Scriptures +ascribe every actual event to God in such a sense that it comes into the +plan of his universal providence; but they reject with abhorrence the +idea that he can excite wicked thoughts in men, or prompt them to wicked +deeds. + +When it is said, once more, that men are _drawn_ to Christ (John 6:44), +or _driven_ to worship the heavenly bodies (Deut. 4:19), we understand +at once a drawing and a driving that are in accordance with their free +intelligent and responsible nature. Other illustrations of this +principle will be given in the following chapter, which treats of the +figurative language of Scripture. + +(3.) The same quality of good sense will enable the interpreter to make +those _limitations_ in the language of the sacred writers which are +common in popular discourse. In the language of daily life many +statements are made in general terms that require for their exact +truthfulness various qualifications which the readers or hearers can +readily supply for themselves. Honest men, addressing honest men, are +not in the habit of guarding their words against every possible +misconstruction. It is enough if they speak so that all who will can +understand them. + +It is said, for example (Gen. 41:57), that "all countries (literally, +_all the earth_) came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because the +famine was sore in all the earth." It would be only trifling to ask +whether "all the earth" included the people of Europe and India. The +reader naturally understands all the lands around Egypt, since they only +could come thither for corn. So when it is said in the account of the +deluge that "all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were +covered" (Gen. 7:19), it is straining the sacred writer's words to give +them a rigid geographical application, as if they must needs include the +mountains about the North pole. "All the high hills under the whole +heaven" were those where man dwelt, and which were consequently known to +man. "The Holy Ghost," says John, "was not yet given, because that Jesus +was not yet glorified." John 7:39. Yet David prayed ages before: "Take +not thy Holy Spirit from me" (Psa. 51:11); Isaiah says of ancient Israel +that "they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit" (Isa. 63:10); the +Saviour, long before his glorification, promised the Holy Spirit to all +that should ask for him (Luke 11:13); and it is a fundamental article of +our faith that from Abel to the archangel's trump all holiness is the +fruit of the Spirit. But John's readers, who lived after the plenary +gift of the Holy Spirit from the day of Pentecost and onward, could not +fail to understand him as referring to the gift of the Spirit in that +special sense. The apostle Paul says (1 Tim. 2:4) that God "will have +all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Yet +the same apostle teaches that some will remain in ignorance of the +truth, and thus perish. 2 Thess. 1: 8, 9; 2:11, 12. The reader's good +sense readily reconciles the former with the latter passages. He +understands God's will to have all men saved as the will of _benevolent +desire_; just as God says of ancient Israel (Psa. 81:13). "Oh that my +people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!" but +because they would not do this, he "gave them up to their own heart's +lust, and they walked in their own counsels" (ver. 12). Many like +illustrations might be added. + +(4.) Hence we readily infer the office of a sound judgment in +_reconciling apparent contradictions_, since these arise mainly from the +neglect, in one or both of the passages between which the contradiction +is said to exist, of reasonable qualifications and limitations. + +A striking illustration of this is found in the two accounts of the +creation. Gen. chaps. 1-2:3 and chap. 2:4-25. In the former narrative +the order of time is an essential element. Not so in the latter, where +man is the central object, and the different parts of creation are +mentioned only as the writer has occasion to speak of them in connection +with him. Hence we have in this latter passage the creation of the man +(ver. 7), the planting of the garden for his use with its trees and +rivers (ver. 8-14), the placing of the man in the garden and the law +imposed upon him (ver. 15-17), the defective condition of the man (ver. +18), the notice in connection with this of the creation of beasts and +fowls and their being brought to the man to receive names (ver. 19, 20), +the creation of the woman and the primitive condition of the pair (ver. +21-25). This simple statement of the course of narration sufficiently +refutes the allegation that the second account is inconsistent with the +first. + +In the first account of Paul's conversion it is said that "the men which +journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man." +Acts 9:7. In the second Paul says: "They that were with me saw indeed +the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that +spake to me." Acts 22:9. There is no valid ground for doubting that the +first narrative, as well as the other two, came from the lips of the +apostle himself, and the assumption of any essential contradiction is +unreasonable and unnecessary. In regard to the _light_, it is certain +that Paul saw the _person_ of the Saviour, and was made blind by the +glory of the vision (Acts 9:17, 27; 22:14; 1 Cor. 9:1), while his +companions saw only the light that shone around them, which did not make +them blind. In regard to the _voice_, it is a fair interpretation that +they heard a voice only, but no intelligible words. _How_ this +difference of perception between Paul and his companions in regard to +both the light and the voice was effected we do not know, nor is it +necessary that we should. The first account, again, represents Paul's +companions as having "stood speechless," while in the third the apostle +says: "When we were all fallen to the earth," Acts 26:14. The most +natural explanation here is that the third narrative gives the posture +with accuracy, while the first lays stress only upon the amazement which +fixed them in a motionless attitude. The apparent discrepancies in these +three parallel histories are peculiarly instructive, because they all +proceed from the pen of the same author, and must all have been derived +from the same source. Such circumstantial differences have the stamp of +reality. Instead of throwing any discredit upon the transaction, they +only establish its truth upon a firmer basis. Many like illustrations +might be added. + +(5.) Finally, where the means of reconciling discrepancies are not +apparent, the same quality of a sound judgment will keep us from the two +extremes of _seeking_, on the one hand, _forced and unnatural +explanations_, and, on the other, of _discrediting well-attested +transactions_ on account of these discrepancies. In the scriptural +narratives there are some difficulties (relating mostly to numbers, +dates, and the chronological order of events) which we find ourselves +unable, with our present means of knowledge, to solve in a satisfactory +way. It is the part of sober reason to reserve these difficulties for +further light, not to set aside, in view of them, facts attested by +irrefragable proof. + +Nothing in the evangelic record is more certain, for example, than the +fact of our Lord's resurrection. Yet to harmonize the four accounts +which we have of it in all their details is a work of extreme +difficulty. "Supposing us to be acquainted with every thing said and +done, in its order and exactness, we should doubtless be able to +reconcile, or account for, the present forms of the narratives; but not +having this key to the harmonizing of them, attempts to do so in minute +particulars carry no certainty with them." Alford on Matt. 28:1-10. The +same general principle applies to other difficulties--in the Old +Testament, that respecting the duration of the sojourn in Egypt, and +other chronological questions; in the New, that of the two genealogies +given of our Lord by Matthew and Luke, that of the day when our Lord ate +the passover with his disciples, etc. See further in Chaps. 19, Nos. 6 +and 8; 20, No. 22; 29, Nos. 8-10. + +8. In bringing this chapter to a conclusion, we add a few words on _the +office of reason_ in the interpretation of Scripture. It is admitted by +all that we have certain primitive intuitions which lie at the +foundation of all knowledge. That an immutable obligation, for example, +rests on all men to be truthful, just, benevolent, and grateful, is a +truth which we see by the direct light of conscience. There are certain +moral axioms, also, outside of the direct sphere of conscience, which +shine by their own light. Such is that fundamental truth of theology +thus announced by the apostle John: "God is light, and in him is no +darkness at all" (1 John 1:5); where light and darkness are both taken +in a moral sense, as the context shows; and thus by the apostle James: +"God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man" (Jas. +1:13); and thus, ages before, by Moses: "He is the Rock, his work is +perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without +iniquity, just and right is he" (Deut. 32:4); and still earlier by +Abraham: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25). +We are sure that no declaration of God's word, properly interpreted, +will contradict these necessary and universal convictions. But there are +many weighty truths that lie wholly above the sphere of our direct +intuitions on which the infinite understanding of God is alone competent +to pass an infallible judgment. Such are the following: If it be God's +will to create a race of intelligent beings, what shall be the compass +of their faculties, moral, intellectual, and physical? In what +circumstances and relations shall he place them, to what probation shall +he subject them, and what scope shall he allow to their finite freedom? +If they sin, what plan shall he devise for their redemption, and by what +processes shall he reveal and execute this plan? These, and many other +questions involving man's highest interests, lie above the sphere of +simple intuition. God alone, who looks through eternity at a glance, can +fully comprehend them, for they are all constituent parts of his eternal +plan. That human reason, which cannot see the whole of truth, should +affect to sit in judgment upon them, and to pronounce authoritatively +what God may, and what he may not do, is the height of presumption and +folly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OF SCRIPTURE. + + +1. When the psalmist says: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psa. +84:11), he means that God is to all his creatures the source of life and +blessedness, and their almighty protector; but this meaning he conveys +_under the figure_ of a sun and a shield. When, again, the apostle James +says that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day (Acts +15:21), he signifies the writings of Moses under the figure of his name. +In these examples the figure lies in particular words. But it may be +embodied in a sentence, thus: "It is hard for thee to kick against the +pricks" (Acts 26:14), where Saul's conduct in persecuting Christ's +disciples is represented under the form of an ox kicking against the +ploughman's goad only to make the wounds it inflicts deeper. Figurative +language, then, is that in which _one thing is said under the form or +figure of another thing_. In the case of allegories and parables, it may +take the form, as we shall hereafter see, of continuous discourse. + +A large proportion of the words in all languages, in truth all that +express intellectual and moral ideas, were originally figurative, the +universal law being to represent immaterial by material objects. +Examples are the words _exist_, _existence_, _emotion_, _affliction_, +_anguish_, etc. But in these, and innumerable other words, the primitive +physical meaning has become obsolete, and thus the secondary spiritual +meaning is to us literal. Or, what often happens, while the original +physical signification is retained, a secondary figurative meaning of +the word has become so common that its use hardly recalls the physical +meaning, and it may therefore be regarded as literal; as in the words +_hard_, _harsh_, _rough_, when applied to character. In the first of the +above examples: "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks," the +transfer of the word _hard_ from what is physically hard to what is +painful or difficult, is so common that it can hardly be regarded as +figurative. But the expression that follows is figurative in the fullest +sense of the word. + +Rhetoricians divide figures into two general classes, figures of +_words_, and figures of _thought_, and they give elaborate definitions, +classifications, and rules for their use. The interpreter of Scripture, +however, need not encumber himself with any rhetorical system. The +general rules of interpretation already considered will be, for the most +part, a sufficient guide to the meaning of the rich variety of figures +contained in the Bible, especially in its poetical parts. It is only +necessary to add a few words in reference to the ascertaining of +figurative language; the most prominent classes of figures; and some +principles to be observed in their interpretation. + +2. The question may arise whether a writer is to be understood literally +or figuratively. For the _ascertaining_ of figurative language, a few +simple rules will be, in general, sufficient. + +(1.) Multitudes of cases can be decided at once by considering _the +nature of the subject_. + +Thus, when the apostle calls Jesus Christ a "foundation," and speaks of +building upon this foundation "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, +stubble," adding that "every man's work shall be revealed by fire; and +the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is;" and, further, +that "if any man's work abide" this fire, "he shall receive a reward," +but "if any man's work be burned he shall suffer loss" (1 Cor. 3:11-15), +we know at once, from the nature of the subject, that he speaks +figuratively. He compares the church of God to a temple, of which Jesus +Christ is the foundation, while her teachers and preachers are the +builders. The "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble," +represent primarily the materials with which they build; that is, the +character of their doctrines and precepts, and secondarily, the +character of those whom they bring into the Christian fold. The "fire," +again, is the trial and judgment of the last day. + +The apostle says of the ancient Israelites that "they drank of that +spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ." 1 Cor. +10:4. So also Christ is called to believers "a chief corner-stone, +elect, precious;" but to unbelievers "a stone of stumbling and a rock of +offence" (1 Pet. 2:6-8); "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of +David" (Rev. 5:5); "the Lamb of God" and simply "the Lamb" (John 1:29, +36; Rev. 5:12; 6:1; etc.); "the door of the sheep" (John 10:7, 9); "the +true vine" (John 15:1); and "the living bread which came down from +heaven" (John 6:51). He himself says: "Whoso eateth my flesh and +drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last +day." John 6:54. There is no more ground for understanding the last of +these passages literally than the preceding, that is, there is no ground +whatever. The dogma of the Romish church, which teaches that the +consecrated bread and wine are literally converted into the body and +blood of Jesus, violates alike sound reason and every sound principle of +interpretation. "As the words, 'This is my body,' and 'This is my +blood,' were spoken BEFORE Christ's body was broken upon the cross, and +BEFORE his blood was shed, he could not pronounce them with the +intention that they should be taken and interpreted literally by his +disciples. He could not take his body in his hands, nor offer them his +blood in the cup; for it had not yet been shed." Horne, vol. 2, p. 319. + +(2.) In ascertaining figurative language, the interpreter will naturally +take into account _the scope_, _the context_, and the _general analogy +of scriptural teaching_. If the literal sense, though possible in the +nature of things, is inept or contrary to the general tenor of +Scripture, it must be rejected. + +The prophet Isaiah tells us that, under the future reign of the Messiah, +the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid, +the lion eat straw like the ox, and the child play with impunity on the +hole of the asp. Isa. 11:6-8. It is possible to conceive of this state +of things as effected by a change in the physical nature of all noxious +animals. But the writer immediately adds: "They shall not hurt nor +destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the +knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (ver. 9). Since then +the change is effected by the universal diffusion of "the knowledge of +the Lord," it must be a _moral_ change--a transformation of the +character of wicked men figuratively described as wolves, leopards, +bears, lions, and vipers. The general analogy of prophetic language, +which, as will be hereafter shown, abounds in figurative forms of +representation, strengthens this conclusion. + +By the prophet Haggai, again, God says: "Yet once, it is a little while, +and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry +land." Chap. 2:6. The key to the meaning of these words is given in the +following verse: "And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all +nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the +Lord of hosts." In such a connection, and with such a result, nothing +could be more vapid than to understand this shaking of heaven and earth, +sea and land, in a physical sense. It is the mighty overturnings among +the nations, social, moral, and political, that are here predicted, as +Jehovah says by Ezekiel: "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it +shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it to +him." Chap. 21:27. Compare Isa. 13:13; Jer. 4:24; Ezek. 38:20; Joel +3:16. So when God announces that he "will cause the sun to go down at +noon, and darken the earth in the clear day" (Amos 8:9), we understand +at once that under this figure he forewarns the covenant people of the +sudden approach of great calamity. Compare Deut. 28:29; Job 5:14; Isa. +13:10; Jer. 4:23-28; Ezek. 32:7, 8; Joel 2:31; 3:15; etc. This subject +will be further discussed under the head of the interpretation of +prophecy. + +In the sermon on the mount, the Saviour says: "Whosoever shall smite +thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. 5:39); but +the preceding context gives the _scope_ of this and the other particular +precepts that follow, which is that Christ's followers should "resist +not evil," that is, by rendering evil for evil. It is the spirit of +meekness and forbearance that he inculcates, not a slavish regard to +this and that particular form of manifesting it. So when he says: "Give +to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn +not thou away" (ver. 42), he cannot mean, consistently with the scope of +the passage and his teachings elsewhere, that we should stultify +ourselves by literally giving to every asker and borrower, without +regard to his necessities, real or alleged. He means rather to inculcate +that liberal spirit which never withholds such help as it is able to +give from those who need it. + +When the Saviour says again: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out +and cast it from thee," etc., both the preceding context and the general +tenor of the Scriptures teach us that he means what is expressed by the +apostle in another form: "Mortify, therefore, your members which are +upon the earth." Col. 3:5. To _mortify_ is to _deprive of life_, _make +dead_. We mortify our members which would seduce us into sin, not by +destroying them, but by keeping them in subjection to "the law of the +spirit of life in Christ Jesus." + +(3.) If the interpreter is liable to err by taking figurative language +in a literal sense, so is he also by regarding as figurative what should +be understood literally. A favorite expedient with those who deny the +supernatural character of revelation is to explain the miraculous +transactions recorded in the Bible as _figurative_ or _mythical_. When +David says that in answer to his prayer "the earth shook and trembled, +the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was +wroth;" that God "bowed the heavens also and came down, and darkness was +under his feet;" that "the Lord thundered in the heavens, and the +Highest gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire;" that "he sent out +his arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings and +discomfited them," all acknowledge that the language is to be +figuratively taken. Why then, an objector might ask, not understand the +account of the giving of the law on Sinai amid thunderings and +lightnings as figurative also? The answer of every plain reader would +be--and it is the answer of unsophisticated common sense--that the +former passage occurs in a lyric poem, where such figurative +descriptions are entirely in place; the latter in a plain narrative, +which professes to give throughout historic facts with names and dates; +that no reader, who had not a preconceived opinion to maintain, ever did +or could think of interpreting the passage in Exodus in any other than a +literal way, while every reader understands at once that the poetic +description in the eighteenth psalm is to be taken figuratively. The +attempt has been made to interpret the gospel history as a _myth_--the +embodiment of a system of pure ideas in the garb of history. It is +difficult to refute an assumption which has no foundation to rest upon. +This mythical theory may, nevertheless, be disposed of in a very short +and simple way. The great central truth of the gospel history is the +death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. If any one would know how +the apostle Paul regarded this, let him read the fifteenth chapter of +the first epistle to the Corinthians, where he pledges his veracity as a +witness on its historic reality (ver. 15). If, now, Paul so regarded it, +Luke, his companion in travel and labor, cannot have taken a different +view of it, nor any other of the evangelists. But if the death and +resurrection of Jesus are recorded as true historic events, the whole +mythical theory vanishes at once into thin air. + +(4.) In regard to those prophecies which relate to the distant future, +it may sometimes be difficult to determine whether we are to look for a +literal or a figurative fulfilment of them. But this subject will come +up for consideration in another place. + +3. In regard to the _different kinds of figures_ a few words may be in +place. + +(1.) The term _trope_ (Greek, _tropos_, _a turn_) is applied, in a +general sense, to figures of words and speech of every variety; but, in +stricter usage, to a word or sentence _turned_ from its literal +signification to a figurative sense. Quintilian adds (Inst. Orator. 8. +6. 1) that this must be _with good effect_ (_cum virtute_); that is, it +must add clearness, force, or beauty to the thought. + +The principal varieties of the trope are the _metonymy_ and the +_metaphor_. The _metonymy_ is founded on the _relation_ of one thing to +another. Thus when Abraham says to the rich man: "They have Moses and +the prophets, let them hear them" (Luke 16:29), Moses and the prophets +are put for their writings; that is, the _authors_ for their _works_. "A +soft tongue," says the wise man, "breaketh the bone." Prov. 25:15. Here +the word tongue is put for speech, the _instrument_ for the _thing +effected_, and this metonymy is joined with a metaphor. (See below.) The +_synecdoche_, in which a _part_ is put for the _whole_, as the _sword_ +for _war_, is in its nature essentially a metonymy. Rhetoricians give +elaborate classifications of metonymies, but they are of little value to +the scriptural student, since all are interpreted according to the few +simple principles given in the preceding chapter. + +The _metaphor_ is founded on the _resemblance_ of one thing to another; +as in the examples already given: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" +(Psa. 84:11); "I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman." John +15:1. It may lie not in a single word, but in an entire expression, +thus: "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 26:14); "I +counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be +rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame +of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, +that thou mayest see." Rev. 3:18. The metaphor and metonymy may be +joined, as in the words already quoted: "A soft tongue breaketh the +bone;" or they may blend themselves with each other, as when Nahum says +of the princes of Nineveh: "The sword shall devour thy young lions." +Chap. 2:13. In this last example, as often elsewhere, _personification_, +which is properly a figure of thought, is added, the sword being +represented as a beast of prey. The grand and gorgeous personifications +of Scripture naturally clothe themselves in tropical language of +inimitable beauty and exhaustless variety. "O thou sword of the Lord," +says Jeremiah, "how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself +into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing the +Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore? +There hath he appointed it." Chap. 47:6, 7. The prophet Habakkuk +represents God as coming forth in his glory for the salvation of his +people: "The mountains saw thee," says he, "and they trembled: the +overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and +lifted up his hands on high: the sun and moon stood still in their +habitation." Chap. 3:10, 11. God's promise to his redeemed is: "Ye shall +go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the +hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of +the field shall clap their hands." Isa. 55:12. Metonymies, metaphors, +and sometimes personifications--the books of the New Testament sparkle +with these figures, and they are used always for effect, not empty show. +They are like the flaming bolts of heaven, which rend and burn as well +as shine. "Beware of false prophets," says the Saviour, "which come to +you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall +know them by their fruits: do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of +thistles?" Matt. 7:15, 16. How effectually does he by these metaphors +strip off the mask from false teachers! "If the foot shall say, Because +I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the +body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of +the body; is it therefore not of the body?" 1 Cor. 12:15, 16. Here is +personification without a trope. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, +where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55), here is a majestic +personification in metaphorical form. + +As resemblance lies at the foundation of the metaphor, it may be called +an _abbreviated form of comparison_, the thing with which the comparison +is made being directly predicated of that which is compared. Thus, when +we say: A sluggard is vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes of +those who send him, we have a metaphor, the sluggard being directly +called vinegar and smoke. But if we say: "As vinegar to the teeth, and +as smoke to the eyes, _so is_ the sluggard to them that send him" (Prov. +10:26), we have a comparison, and the language ceases to be tropical. +The metaphor is thus a more vivid form of expression than the +comparison. + +A common mode of comparison in the book of Proverbs is simply to put +together the object compared and the thing or things with which it is +compared, thus: "A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod +for the fool's back" (chap. 26:3); that is, _As_ a whip is appropriate +for, the horse, and a bridle for the ass, _so_ is a rod for the fool's +back. Again, "Where there is no wood the fire goeth out, and where there +is no tale-bearer the strife ceaseth" (Prov. 26:20); "Charcoal to live +coals, and wood to fire; and a man of strife to kindle strife" (Prov. +26: 21); "Silver dross spread over an earthen sherd--burning lips [lips +glowing with professions of love] and a wicked heart" (Prov. 26: 23); in +all which cases our version has supplied particles of comparison. + +(2.) An _allegory_ is the _narrative of a spiritual transaction under +the figure of something lower and earthly_, the lower transaction +representing directly the higher. We have in the eightieth Psalm an +exquisite example of the allegory: "Thou hast brought a vine out of +Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst +room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the +land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it," etc. (ver. 8-16); +where the transfer of the Israelitish people from Egypt to the land of +Canaan, with their subsequent history, is described under the figure of +a vine. + +The metaphor and allegory have this in common, that the foundation of +both is _resemblance_, and in both the lower object is _put directly_ +for the higher. Yet the metaphor cannot be properly called a condensed +allegory, nor the allegory an extended metaphor; for it is essential to +the allegory that it have the form of a narrative, and that it contain +real history--in the case of _prophecy_ it may be _future_ +history--under a figure. Hence it admits of indefinite extension, as in +the "_Pilgrim's Progress_;" and we may add the _Canticles_, which the +Christian church from the earliest times has regarded as an allegory of +which the subject is, in Old Testament language, God and his covenant +people, but, according to the representation of the New Testament, +Christ and his church. + +We must carefully distinguish between _true allegory_ and the +_allegorical_ or _mystical application_ of real history. In the former +case it is not the literal meaning, but the higher sense represented by +it, which constitutes the historic truth. God, for example, never +transferred a vine from Egypt to Palestine, but he did the covenant +people. The story of Sarai and Hagar, on the contrary (Gen., chap. 16), +is true history. The apostle Paul makes an allegorical application of it +to the two covenants, that on Sinai and that in Christ, which is very +beautiful and appropriate; yet the story itself is not allegory, but +plain history. See further, in Chap. 37, No. 4. + +(3.) A _parable_ is the _narrative_ of a supposed event for the purpose +of illustrating a _spiritual truth_ or principle. The office of the +narrative is to embody the principle. It should, therefore, be natural +and probable; but its literal truth is of no consequence. In our Lord's +parable of the unjust steward, for example (Luke 16:1-9), the incidents +of the narrative may or may not have been historically true; but either +way the great principle which it illustrates (ver. 10) remains the same. + +Allegories and parables pass into each other by insensible degrees. Some +of our Lord's so-called parables are rather allegories; as that of the +vineyard let out to husbandmen (Matt. 21:33-41), which is founded on the +beautiful allegory of Isaiah (chap. 5:1-7); so also that of the good +shepherd (John 10:1-18). In their pure form, however, the allegory and +the parable are easily distinguished from each other. In the allegory, +the figure represents directly the higher transaction. Hence the +incidents introduced in the figure--at least all the _main_ +incidents--must have something corresponding to them in the spiritual +transaction which the figure represents. The case of the parable is +different. Here the spiritual truth is not directly described in terms +of the figure, but simply _illustrated_ from it. The incidents and +characters of the story are separable from the general principle which +it inculcates, and are sometimes formally separated by the speaker +himself; as when our Lord says: "The kingdom of heaven _is likened_ unto +a man which sowed good seed in his field," etc. Matt. 13:24. For this +reason they may belong more or less to the mere drapery of the parable, +so that to press them in its interpretation would lead to error instead +of truth. See further below, No. 7. + +(4.) _The fable_ is related to the parable, but it differs from it in +two respects. _First_, it moves in a _worldly sphere_, having to do with +prudential maxims rather than spiritual truth. _Secondly_, it allows, in +harmony with this its lower nature, irrational objects as speakers and +actors, which would be contrary to the dignity of the parable. Our Lord +never employed fables as vehicles of instruction. There are two examples +of them in the Old Testament; neither of them, however, coming from the +lips of prophetical men. The first is that of Jotham: "The trees went +forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the +olive-tree, Reign thou over us," etc. Judg. 9:8-15. The second is that +of Jehoash: "The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was +in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there +passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle." +2 Kings 14:9. + +(5.) A _symbol_ is a _material object_, a _transaction in the material +world_, or sometimes a _number_, to represent some _higher spiritual +truth_. Ritual symbols, like the ark of the covenant, the high-priest's +dress, the sacrifices, and, in general, the whole tabernacle and temple +service, will be considered hereafter under the head of _types_. We +speak of symbols now, only so far as they belong to the human side of +interpretation. We have a beautiful example of a symbolic transaction in +the seventeenth chapter of the book of Numbers, where the princes of +Israel, by God's direction, take twelve rods, write each man his name +upon his rod, and lay them up in the tabernacle before the Lord, +whereupon Aaron's rod "budded, and brought forth buds, and blossomed +blossoms, and yielded almonds;" a symbol that God would make the +priesthood to flourish in his family. + + Scriptural symbols exhibit a wonderful variety. Sometimes they + are seen in _dreams_, as in Jacob's dream of a ladder reaching + to heaven (Gen. 28:12-15); Pharaoh's two dreams of the fat and + lean kine, and the good and thin ears (Gen. 41:1-7); or in + _prophetic vision_, like Jeremiah's vision of a seething pot + with the face towards the north (Jer. 1:13); Ezekiel's vision of + the cherubim (chap. 1); and Amos' vision of a basket of summer + fruit (chap. 8:2). At other times they are actual transactions. + So the false prophet Zedekiah "made him horns of iron: and he + said, Thus saith the Lord, with these shalt thou push the + Syrians till thou have consumed them" (1 Kings 22:11); the true + prophet Jeremiah wore a yoke upon his neck as a sign that God + would subject the nations to Nebuchadnezzar's power, and the + false prophet Hananiah broke it, that he might thus signify the + deliverance of the people from Nebuchadnezzar's rule. Jer. + 27:1-8, compared with 28:10, 11. + +(6.) A _proverb_ is a _short maxim_ relating to practical life. It may +be expressed literally or figuratively, but in either case it must +contain a _general truth_. "A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him; +neither will he go unto the wise" (Prov. 15:12), is a proverb expressed +in plain language. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the +righteous runneth into it, and is safe" (Prov. 18:10), is a proverb +under a beautiful figure. The foolish young men counselled Rehoboam to +say to the Israelites: "My little finger shall be thicker than my +father's loins." 1 Kings 12:10. This is not a proverb, because it +contains only the figurative statement of a particular fact. But if we +change the form, and say: The little finger of a foolish ruler is +thicker than the loins of a wise king, we make it general, and thus it +becomes a proverb. + +The Hebrew word for a proverb (_mashal_) denotes a _similitude_, this +being one of its most common forms. Examples occur in abundance in the +book of Proverbs. We have them in the form of _direct comparison_: "As +in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man" (chap. +27:19); "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious +woman are alike" (chap. 27:15); "Better is a dinner of herbs where love +is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith" (chap. 15:17). We have them +also in the form of _metaphor_: "The contentions of a wife are a +continual dropping" (chap. 19:13); "The lips of knowledge are a precious +jewel" (chap. 20:15). But most frequently the comparison appears in the +form of _contrast_, thus: "A wise son heareth his father's instruction; +but a scorner heareth not rebuke" (chap. 13:1); "A faithful witness will +not lie; but a false witness will utter lies" (chap. 14:5). The +signification of the word _proverb_ is then extended to short +sententious maxims of every form, even where comparison is excluded, +thus: "A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways +of judgment" (chap. 17:23). + +(7.) The word _myth_ (Greek _muthos_) was applied by the Greeks to a +legend or story of early times, then to a _fable_, like those of AEsop. +In modern usage it is defined to be a story in which "there is an +unconscious blending of the deeper meaning with the outward symbol, the +two being separate and separable in the parable." "The mythic narrative +presents itself not merely as the vehicle of the truth, but as itself +being the truth; while in the parable there is a perfect consciousness +in all minds of the distinctness between form and essence, shell and +kernel, the precious vessel and yet more precious wine that it +contains." Trench, Notes on the Parables, chap. 1. A good illustration +of this we have in the tales of Grecian mythology, once received by the +masses of the people as literally true; but which "a later and more +reflective age than that in which the mythus had birth" learned to +regard as only the vehicle of certain ideas respecting deity. The myth, +as thus defined, does not come within the sphere of biblical +interpretation. The historic events recorded in the Old Testament may, +and often do, shadow forth something higher. In that case they are not +myths, but _typical history_. Chap. 37, No. 4. All the scriptural +narratives, on the contrary, which are true, not in their literal +meaning, but in a higher sense, come under the head of allegories, +parables, or symbolic representations. + +4. In the _interpretation_ of figurative language we must be guided, in +general, by the principles considered in the preceding chapter. To lay +down special rules for the interpretation of the rich and endlessly +varied figures which adorn the pages of Holy Writ would be as +impracticable as useless. The history of Biblical exegesis, however, +shows that some general cautions are much needed. + +5. The youthful student of Scripture should be reminded, first of all, +that its figurative language is no less _certain and truthful_ than its +plain and literal declarations. The figures of the Bible are employed +not simply to please the imagination and excite the feelings, but to +teach _eternal verities_. The Lord Jesus, "the faithful and true +Witness," said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall +not pass away." Mark 13:31. Yet there is a class of interpreters who +seem to think that if they can show in any given case that his language +is figurative, its meaning is well nigh divested of all certainty and +reality. Thrice in immediate succession did he solemnly warn his hearers +to cut off an offending hand or foot, and to pluck out an offending eye, +rather than be cast with the whole body into hell, "into the fire that +never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not +quenched." Mark 9:43-48. But, says one of this class of expositors, the +maiming of the body is figurative language, and so is the representation +of the worm that never dies. Undoubtedly the maiming of the body is so; +and how far the unquenchable fire may also be a figure for the dread +reality that awaits the incorrigibly impenitent in the world to come we +pretend not to know. But in the lips of Jesus figures teach truth, not +fiction. The unhappy sinner who despises the grace of the gospel will +find the reality not less terrible than the figures by which Christ has +represented it. The story of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable; but +we cannot on this ground set aside the solemn lessons which it +inculcates. What these lessons are, it requires only candor and faith to +receive. They teach us that God's suffering children go immediately, +upon death, to a state of conscious blessedness; and "the men of the +world, which have their portion in this life," to a place of unmitigated +suffering. Whatever be the comprehension of the word _Hades_ (rendered +in our version by the word _hell_), there is an impassable gulf between +Lazarus in Abraham's bosom and the rich man in torment. The "great gulf +fixed" may be a figure; but it represents an awful reality; and that +reality is, that there is no transition from the one state to the other. + +6. In the _allegory_ the higher spiritual transaction is, as we have +seen, directly represented by the lower. When we know, therefore, what +the allegory represents, we have the key to its interpretation, and all +its incidents fall naturally into place. If the sphere of the allegory +be the outward history of God's people, all its incidents--at least all +its _main_ incidents--ought to have a significance. If its sphere be +that of inward spiritual experience, as in the Song of Solomon, more +latitude must be allowed for the drapery of the story; yet here also the +essential parts will each correspond to something in the higher object +represented. + +An example of pure historic allegory is that of the vine transplanted +from Egypt (Psa. 80), where the higher object, which gives the key to +the meaning, is _God's covenant people_. The casting out of the heathen +(ver. 8), is literally expressed, but in the verses following, the +figure is beautifully carried out. This vine takes deep root and fills +the land; the hills are covered with its shadow, and its boughs are like +the goodly cedar; it sends out its boughs to the sea, and its branches +to the river (ver. 9-11). Here we have one main incident, the _increase_ +of the people in the land of Canaan. Then God breaks down its hedges, so +that every passer-by plucks it; the boar out of the wood wastes it, and +the wild beast of the field devours it (ver. 12, 13). This is another +main incident, the _withdrawal of God's protection_ from his people, and +their oppression by their heathen neighbors. The prayer that follows in +behalf of this vine (ver. 14-16) represents the _love_ which God's +people bear to his church. All these parts of the allegory have their +proper significance. The rest of the imagery--the hills overshadowed by +it, the boughs like the goodly cedar, the wild boar wasting it, etc.--is +but the drapery of the allegory; and an attempt to find a spiritual +meaning for each of these particulars--the boar out of the wood, for +example, and the beast of the field--would but mar its beauty and force. + +We give from Ezekiel (chap. 17:3-10) another example of historic +allegory, in which the essential parts can be readily distinguished from +the luxuriant imagery of the prophet: "A great eagle with great wings, +long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors [Nebuchadnezzar], +came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar [Jehoiachin, +whom Nebuchadnezzar dethroned and carried to Babylon. The cedar of +Lebanon represents the royal family, and Jehoiachin, as the reigning +monarch, its highest branch]: he cropped off the top of his young twigs +[the same as: he took the highest branch of the cedar], and carried it +into a land of traffic [Chaldea]; he set it in a city of merchants +[Babylon]. He took also of the seed of the land [the king's seed, +meaning Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar made king in the place of +Jehoiachin], and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great +waters, and set it as a willow-tree [established Zedekiah on the throne, +and gave him the means of prosperity as his vassal]. And it grew, and +became a spreading vine of low stature [not a lofty cedar, but a low +vine; that is, a tributary king], whose branches turned towards him +[towards Nebuchadnezzar, as dependent upon him], and the roots thereof +were under him [under Nebuchadnezzar, as subject to his power]: so it +became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth twigs. There +was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers +[Pharaoh, king of Egypt]: and behold this vine did bend her roots +towards him [Zedekiah turned away his confidence from Nebuchadnezzar to +Pharaoh], and shot forth her branches towards him, that he might water +it by the furrows of her plantation. It was planted [had been planted by +Nebuchadnezzar] in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring +forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly +vine [fidelity to Nebuchadnezzar would have made Zedekiah prosperous]. +Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God: Shall it prosper? [now that it bends +towards the second eagle] shall he [Nebuchadnezzar] not pull up the +roots thereof, that it wither? It shall wither in all the leaves of her +spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the +roots thereof [the work of plucking it up will be easy, not requiring a +numerous force]. Yea, behold, being planted shall it prosper? shall it +not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? [a new figure to +represent its destruction] it shall wither in the furrows where it +grew." + +There is a class of allegories in the Old Testament which represent the +relation of God to his people under the figure of husband and wife. Such +are the Song of Solomon, and the two remarkable allegories in Ezekiel +(chapters 16 and 23). The luxuriant fulness of imagery in these +allegories does not admit of interpretation in detail. The general scope +only of the images is to be taken into account, since this contains the +essential idea. + +In the free style of the scriptural writers the allegory admits of the +introduction of _literal_ clauses ("_Thou hast cast out the heathen_, +and planted it," Psa. 80:8), and also of _explanatory_ clauses, though +not so readily as the parable. See examples in Isa. 5:7; John 10:9, 11, +14. + +7. The scriptural _parables_ have a rich variety of form, sometimes +approaching to that of the allegory, when the interpretation must be +upon the same general principle. In its pure form, however, the parable +does not, like the allegory, represent directly the higher spiritual +truth, but is simply a narrative to illustrate it. It may be introduced +in the absolute form, like the parable of the barren fig-tree (Luke +13:6-9); or, more commonly, in the shape of a similitude, thus: "The +kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his +field" (Matt. 13:24); "Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or +with what comparison shall we compare it?" Mark 4:30. It may be left +without explanation, but more commonly an explanatory remark is added. +So to the parable of the two sons whom the father asked to work in his +vineyard is added the application: "Verily I say unto you, that the +publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you" (Matt. +21:28-31); and the parable of the Pharisee and publican is both +introduced and followed by an explanatory clause (Luke 18:9-14). All +such clauses are of the highest importance for the interpretation of the +parables to which they are annexed. In the interpretation of a parable, +the first and most important thing is to ascertain the spiritual truth +which it is intended to inculcate. How far a spiritual significance is +to be sought for the particular incidents of parables is a question to +be determined separately for each, according to its nature. + +In the parable of the sower, which our Lord himself interpreted (Matt. +13:3-8, 19-23), all the parts are essential, since the four different +kinds of soil represent four different classes of hearers. So in the +parable of the tares in the field (Matt. 13:24-30, 37-43), the good seed +sown by the owner of the field, the tares sown by his enemy, the +separation, at the time of harvest, of the tares from the wheat, the +burning of the tares, and the gathering of the wheat into the barn, are +all main incidents in its spiritual application. Not so in the parable +of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), of which our Lord himself has given +the scope, and, so far as we can see the only scope: "Watch, therefore, +for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." +If we go farther, and inquire what is the spiritual meaning of the lamps +and oil-vessels, of the equal division of the virgins into five wise and +five foolish, of the request of the foolish virgins that the wise would +give them oil, and the answer of the wise virgins, we run into useless +speculations. All these particulars belong to the drapery of the +parable, and are intended to make the story natural and probable. + +In the pure form of the parable, the personages introduced to illustrate +God's ways of providence and grace do not, as in the allegory, directly +represent God himself. It is not necessary, therefore, that there be in +all cases a correspondence between their character and that of the holy +God. It is sufficient if the words and deeds ascribed to them truly +illustrate the spiritual principle in question. In the parable of the +unforgiving servant (Matt. 18:23-35), his lord "commanded him to be +sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be +made" (ver. 25); and afterwards he "was wroth, and delivered him to the +tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him" (ver. 34). We +need not trouble ourselves about the reasonableness of these acts _on +the part of an earthly lord_. It is sufficient for the end of the +parable that they were in accordance with the usages of the age, and +thus illustrated the great truth which the parable was intended to +enforce: "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye +from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses" +(ver. 35). We have still more forcible illustrations of this principle +in such parables as those of the importunate friend (Luke 11:5-8), the +unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8), and the unfaithful steward (Luke 16:1-9). +The Saviour does not compare God to an indolent friend, who will not +arise to accommodate his neighbor with bread till he is forced to do so +by his importunity; nor to an unjust judge, who fears not God nor +regards men. But he _draws illustrations_ from their conduct of the +efficacy of importunate prayer; adding, at the conclusion of each +parable, its scope: "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; +seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Luke +11:9); "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night +unto him, though he bear long with them?" Luke 18:7. In the parable of +the unfaithful steward, our Lord introduces a fraudulent transaction--a +transaction so manifestly fraudulent that there is no danger of our +thinking that it could have his approbation--that he may thus illustrate +the importance of _prudent provision_ for the future. By allowing each +of his lord's debtors to diminish the amount due from him, he gains +their favor, that in time of need he may be received into their houses. +For the right apprehension of the parable, the words of the eighth verse +are of primary importance: "And the lord [the master of the steward] +commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely" [_prudently_, +as the Greek word means]. Unjust as the steward's conduct was, he could +not but commend it as a prudent transaction for the end which he had in +view. Our Saviour adds: "For the children of this world are in their +generation [more exactly, _towards_ or _in respect to_ their own +generation; that is, in dealing with men of their own sort] wiser than +the children of light." The steward and his lord's debtors were all +"children of this world," and the transaction between them was conducted +upon worldly principles. Our Saviour would have "the children of +light"--God's holy children, who live and act in the sphere of heavenly +light--provident of their everlasting welfare in the use which they make +of this world's goods, as this steward was of his earthly welfare when +he should be put out of his stewardship. He accordingly adds, as the +scope of the parable (ver. 9): "Make to yourselves friends of [by the +right use of] the mammon of unrighteousness [so called as being with +unrighteous men the great object of pursuit, and too commonly sought, +moreover, by unrighteous means]; that when ye fail [are discharged from +your stewardship by death], they may receive you [that is, the friends +whom ye have made by bestowing your earthly riches in deeds of love and +mercy] into everlasting habitations." Our Lord uses the words, "they may +receive you," in allusion to the steward's language: "they may receive +me into their houses." They do not receive us by any right or authority +of their own, for this belongs to Christ alone; but they receive us in +the sense that they bear witness before the throne of Christ to our +deeds of love and mercy, by which is manifested the reality of our +faith, and thus our title, through grace, to everlasting habitations. +Compare the remarkable passage in Matt. 25:34-46, which furnishes a true +key to the present parable. + +8. To determine whether a _symbol_ is a _real transaction or seen only +in vision_, we must consider both its _nature_ and the _context_. When +Ezekiel, at God's command, visits the temple-court, digs in its wall, +and sees the abominations practised there (chap. 8), we know from his +own words (ver. 3) that the whole transaction was "in the visions of +God." So also the remarkable vision of dry bones. Chap. 37:1-14. But the +symbolical action that follows--the joining of two sticks into +one--seems to be represented as real; for the people ask concerning it: +"Wilt thou not tell us what thou meanest by these?" (ver. 18), and the +two sticks are in the prophet's hand "before their eyes" (ver. 20). The +nature of the symbolical transaction recorded in Jer. 32:6-12--the +purchase of Hanameel's field--with the accompanying historical +circumstances, shows that it was real. From the nature of the vision of +the chariot of God, on the contrary, which Ezekiel saw (chap. 1:10), as +well as from the accompanying notices (chaps. 1:1; 8:1-4), we know that +it was represented to the prophet's inner sense, not seen with his +outward eyes. The moral character of the transactions recorded by Hosea +(chaps. 1-3) has led commentators to decide against their literal +occurrence. + +In some cases we must remain in doubt whether the symbolical +transactions are real or seen in vision. How are we to understand, for +example, the transactions recorded in Isa. chap. 20; in Jer. chap. +13:1-11; in Ezek. chap. 4? Concerning such examples expositors will +judge differently; but in either way of understanding them, their +meaning and the instructions which they furnish are the same. + +The subject of symbols will come up again in connection with that of +prophecy. At present we consider simply the general principles upon +which they are to be _interpreted_. Here we are to be guided first of +all by the writer's own explanations. Where these are wanting we must +carefully study the nature of the figures used, and the connections in +which they occur. + +The sacred writers very commonly indicate the meaning of the symbols +which they employ. Thus the prophet Isaiah is directed to loose the +sackcloth from his loins, and put off his shoe from his foot, walking +naked and barefoot. Chap. 20:2. Then follows the explanation of this +symbolical transaction: "Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and +barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia; so +shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the +Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot," etc. (ver. 3, +4). For other examples see the symbol of the girdle (Jer. 13:1-7 +compared with ver. 8-11); of the purchase of Hanameel's field (Jer. +32:6-12 compared with ver. 13-15); of the removal of household stuff +(Ezek. 12:3-7 compared with ver. 8-12); of the plumb-line (Amos 7:7, 8); +of the four horns and four smiths (Zech. 1:18-21); and many other +symbolical transactions which will readily occur to the student of +Scripture. + +But sometimes the symbol is given without an explanation, or with only +an obscure intimation of its meaning. The prophet Amos has a vision of +grasshoppers, and afterwards of a devouring fire, with only a general +intimation that they denote heavy calamities, which the Lord in his pity +will avert in answer to prayer. Amos 7:1-6. Here the nature of the +symbols, in connection with the known situation of the Israelitish +people, shows that they represent the general desolation of the land by +foreign enemies. The prophet Ezekiel adds no interpretation to his +vision of the Lord enthroned in glory upon the firmament above the +chariot with four cherubim and four living wheels full of eyes, in the +midst of which a bright fire glows and lightnings blaze. Chaps. 1, 10. +From a careful study of the nature of this magnificent imagery we may +infer with probability that the cherubim with their wheels, moving every +way with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, denote all the agencies +and instrumentalities by which God administers his government over the +world, which are absolutely at his command, and execute with unerring +certainty all his high purposes. The four faces of the cherubim, +moreover, which answer to the four principal divisions of living beings +among the Hebrews, seem to represent the fulness of their endowments. +The meaning of Ezekiel's vision of a New Jerusalem, with its temple and +altar, comes more properly under the head of prophecy. Some of the +symbols in the book of Zechariah are expounded with beautiful clearness, +as that of the two olive-trees. Chap. 4:1-10. Of others the meaning is +only hinted at in an enigmatical way; so that their interpretation is a +matter of great difficulty and uncertainty. As examples we may refer to +the symbol of the ephah (chap. 5:5-11); of the four chariots coming out +from between two mountains of brass with horses of different colors +(chap. 6:1-9); of the two staves, Beauty and Bands, with which the +prophet in vision is commanded to feed "the flock of the slaughter," and +which he is afterwards to break (chap. 11:4-14). For the details in the +interpretation of these and other difficult symbols the reader must be +referred to the commentaries. Our limits will only allow us to indicate +the general principles upon which the expositor must proceed. + +9. There is a class of scriptural symbols which may be called +_numerical_. Thus _seven_ is the well-known symbol of completeness, +_four_ of universality, _twelve_ of God's people. See Chap. 32, No. 5. +Under this head fall also those passages in which a day is put for a +year, or for an indefinitely long period of time. One of the most +certain examples is Daniel's prophecy of the _seventy weeks_ that were +to precede the death of the Messiah (chap. 9:24-27), for the details of +which the reader is referred to the commentators. Upon the same +principle we must, in all probability, interpret the "time and times and +dividing of time," that is, three and a half years (Dan. 7:25); the +"forty and two months" (Rev. 11:2; 13:5); and the "thousand two hundred +and threescore days" (Rev. 11:3; 12:6). Compare Ezekiel 4:4-8, in which +symbolical transaction a day is expressly put as the symbol of a year. +On the symbolical interpretation of the six days of creation, see in +Chap. 19, No. 6. + + + + +SECOND DIVISION. + +INTERPRETATION VIEWED ON THE DIVINE SIDE + + * * * * * + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE UNITY OF REVELATION. + + +1. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world;" +and therefore they constitute together a self-consistent whole. To +receive the Holy Scriptures as containing a revelation from God is to +acknowledge that they possess an _essential and all-pervading unity_. +Whoever speaks timidly and hesitatingly of the essential harmony between +the Old Testament and the New, either refuses to acknowledge both as +given by inspiration of God, or he apprehends this great fundamental +truth only in a confused and imperfect manner. If God spake by Moses and +the prophets, as well as by Christ and his apostles, it is vain to +allege any contradiction in doctrine or spirit between the former and +the latter. So absolutely certain is it that the Saviour and his +apostles built on the foundation of the Old Testament, that to deny its +divine authority is to deny that of the New Testament also. + +2. But the unity of revelation, like that which pervades all the other +works of God, is a _unity in the midst of diversity_--diversity in its +contemporaneous parts, but especially in its _progress_. Illustrations +without number are at hand. The history of a plant of wheat, from the +time when the kernel is sown in the earth to the harvest, has perfect +unity of plan. But how unlike in outward form are the tender blade, the +green stalk, and the ripened ear! The year constitutes a self-consistent +whole. But can any thing be more dissimilar in form than spring and +autumn? Yet no one thinks of finding a want of harmony between the +fragrant blossoms of the former, and the ripened fruit of the latter. +The path to the harvest lies through the blossoms. Geologists dwell at +great length on the varied conditions through which our planet has +passed, and the wonderfully diversified forms of vegetable and animal +life corresponding to these several conditions. Yet in this endless +diversity of outward form they recognize from first to last a deep +underlying unity of plan. We might, then, reasonably infer beforehand +that if God should make a revelation of himself to men, it would have +not only unity but _diversity of outward form_, especially _diversity of +progress_. The fact that the revelation contained in the Bible has such +diversity is one of the seals of its genuineness. + +3. We may consider this unity in diversity in respect to the _form of +God's kingdom_. From Adam to Abraham God administered the affairs of the +human family as a whole, without any visible organization of a church as +distinct from the world at large. From Abraham to Moses his +church--using the term church in a general sense--existed in a +_patriarchal_ form. With the beginning of the Mosaic dispensation he put +it into the form of a _state_, of which he was the supreme head and +lawgiver, while its earthly rulers exercised under him all the functions +of civil offices, the bearing of the sword included. When Christ came, +he separated the church from the state, and gave it its present +spiritual and universal organization. In all this diversity of outward +form we recognize the progress of one grand self-consistent plan. + +4. We may now go back again to the beginning, and consider the diversity +in the _forms of public worship_--the simple offering of Abel, who +"brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof," the +altars of the patriarchs, the gorgeous ceremonial of the Mosaic economy +with its priesthood and sacrifices, "the service of song in the house of +the Lord" added by David, the synagogue service of later times, and, +finally, the spiritual priesthood of believers under the New Testament, +whose office is "to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by +Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5); and show that through all this variety of +outward form the essence of God's service has ever remained unchanged, +so that the example of primitive believers is a model for our imitation. +Heb. chap. 11. + +5. We may show, again, that the same manifoldness belongs to _the forms +of labor_ devolved on God's servants in different ages. The work +assigned to Noah was not that of Abraham; nor was Abraham's work that of +Moses; nor the work of Moses that of David; nor David's work that of +Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; nor did any one of the Old Testament +believers receive the broad commission: "Go ye into all the world; and +preach the gospel to every creature." They could not receive such a +commission, for the way was not yet prepared. Abraham must sojourn in +the land of promise "as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles +with Isaac and Jacob" (Heb. 11:9); Moses must lead Israel out of Egypt, +and be God's mediator for the law given on Sinai; Joshua must take +possession of the land of promise and David maintain it, sword in hand; +the prophets must foretell the future glories of Christ's kingdom, not +preach it, as did the apostles, to all nations. But in the divine plan +this manifoldness of service constitutes a self-consistent and +harmonious whole. + +6. The same unity in diversity belongs to _the spirit of revelation_. +Failing to apprehend the character of God in its entireness, Marcion +rent the seamless garment of divine perfection into two parts, the one +consisting of _justice_, which he assigned to the "Demiurge" of the Old +Testament, the other of _goodness_, as the attribute of the supreme God +of the New Testament. He did not see that God's character is alike +infinite on both sides; that his justice is a justice of infinite +goodness, and his goodness a goodness of infinite justice. Hence he +arrayed in opposition to each other two caricatures of deity, the one +drawn from the Old Testament, the other from the New; an error in which +he has had too many imitators in modern times. To see the harmony of the +spirit that pervades the Holy Scriptures from beginning to end _in +respect to the Divine character_, we should take a comprehensive instead +of a partial view of their representations. It is true that the Old +Testament describes God as infinite in holiness and inflexibly just. But +it also describes him as "the Lord God, merciful and gracious, +long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for +thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." It is true +that God's covenant under the Old Testament was restricted to a single +nation; but this was, as has been heretofore shown, _preparatory_ to a +universal dispensation of mercy, as when a general seizes one strong +position with a view to the conquest of an entire region. Chap. 18. It +is true, on the other hand, that the New Testament is, in a peculiar +sense, a revelation of God's mercy through Jesus Christ. But it is a +discriminating mercy, through which God's awful holiness and justice +shine with dazzling brightness. It is a mercy shown not at the expense +of justice, but in perfect harmony with it; a mercy sternly restricted, +moreover, to those who comply with the conditions on which it is +offered. The gospel is a plan of salvation, not of condemnation; "for +God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the +world through him might be saved." John 3:17. Yet it brings condemnation +to those who reject it; for the Saviour immediately adds (ver. 18): "He +that believeth on him, is not condemned; but he that believeth not is +condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only +begotten Son of God." It is in the New Testament, not in the Old, that +we find the most awful declarations of God's wrath against the finally +impenitent, some of them proceeding, too, from the lips of the +compassionate Saviour: "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, +with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that +know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who +shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the +Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thess. 1:7, 9); "He that +believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth +on him" (John 3:36); "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, +but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt. 25:46). + +7. The same harmony of spirit pervades both Testaments in respect to +_the way of salvation_. On this momentous question the teachings of the +New Testament are fuller than those of the Old, but never in +contradiction with them. The Old Testament teaches that men are saved, +not from the merit of their good works, but from God's mercy: the New +Testament adds a glorious revelation respecting the _ground_ of this +mercy in Jesus Christ. To exhibit in a clear light the reality of this +harmony, let us take a passage of the New Testament which embodies in +itself the substance of the way of salvation, and compare with it the +declarations of the Old Testament. The following will be appropriate: +"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his +mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the +Holy Ghost." Titus 3:5. + +_Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his +mercy he saved us_. "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose +you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the +fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because he +would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord +brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of +bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Deut. 7:7, 8); "For +thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great" (Psa. +25:11); "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; +according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my +transgressions" (Psa. 51:1); "I do not this for your sakes, O house of +Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the +heathen whither ye went" (Ezek. 36:22); "We do not present our +supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great +mercies" (Dan. 9:18). + +_By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost._ +"Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part +thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be +clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." "Create in me a clean +heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from +thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me" (Psa. 51:6, 7, 10, +11); "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their +hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. +31:33); "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be +clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse +you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put +within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and +I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, +and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, +and do them" (Ezek. 36:25-27). + +8. The stern character of the Mosaic dispensation is freely admitted. As +a preparatory dispensation, severity belonged appropriately to it. "The +law," says Paul, "was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we +might be justified by faith." Gal. 3:24. Its office was to educate the +human conscience to such a point that it should be prepared for the full +revelation of God's mercy in Christ. We may concede the prominence of +God's justice in the Old Testament, and his mercy in the New; but we +must never forget that neither part of divine revelation is complete in +itself. It is only when we view them in their connection with each +other, as parts of one great whole, that we discern in them an +all-pervading unity and harmony of spirit. + +From the unity of revelation some inferences may be drawn of a very +practical character, especially in reference to the interpretation of +the Old Testament. + +9. _Each particular communication from God to man must be, in its place +and measure, perfect._ For it proceeded from the infinite mind of God, +who understood at the beginning the whole plan of redemption, and who, +when he made the first revelation concerning it, knew all that was +afterwards to follow, and said and did, in the most perfect way, what +was proper to be said and done at the time. The revelations of the Holy +Spirit, therefore, admit of a stupendous _development_, but no +rectification or improvement. The very earliest of them contain the +germs of all that is to follow without any admixture of falsehood. There +is a holding back of the full light reserved for future ages, but no +mist of error--nothing which, fairly interpreted, will ever need to be +retracted. For this reason the very earliest of God's communications to +men retain for us, who live in these latter days, their pristine +freshness and power. Take, for example, the great primitive prophecy: "I +will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her +seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. +3:15. We can find no words more pertinent to describe the mighty +conflict now going on between the kingdom of God and that of Satan. What +are they but a condensation into one sentence of the history of +redemption--a flash of light from the third heavens, which discloses at +a glance man's destiny from Eden to the trump of the archangel? And so +is it also with the later prophecies concerning Christ and his kingdom. +What is true of the revelations of the Old Testament holds good of all +its _institutions_. In their place, and with reference to the end which +they proposed to accomplish, they were all perfect; were the best that +could be given under existing circumstances. At the foundation of all +our reasonings concerning the appointments of the Old Testament must lie +the axiom: "As for God his way is perfect." + +10. _The later revelations must he taken as the true exponents of the +earlier._ This is but saying that the Holy Spirit is the true and proper +expositor of his own communications to men. Since, as we have seen, the +first revelations were made in full view of all that was to follow, the +later revelations must be considered not as a mass of foreign and +heterogeneous materials superadded to the original prophecies, but as a +true expansion of the earlier prophecies out of their own proper +substance. For example, the promise made to Abraham: "In thy seed shall +all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18), is not so much a +new promise as a further unfolding of the original one: "It shall bruise +thy head." A further development of the same promise we have in Nathan's +words to David: "Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for +ever before thee, thy throne shall be established for ever;" and in all +the bright train of prophecies in which the glory and universal dominion +of the Messiah's kingdom are foretold down to the day of Gabriel's +announcement to Mary: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of +the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his +father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and +of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:32, 33. + +And since the manifestation of God in the flesh is the culminating point +of revelation, it follows that the Lord Jesus and his apostles, whom he +authoritatively commissioned to unfold the doctrines of the gospel, must +be, in a special sense, the expositors of the Old Testament, from whose +interpretations, when once fairly ascertained, there is no appeal. The +attempt of some to make a distinction between Christ's authority and +that of his apostles is nugatory. As it is certain that our Lord himself +could not have been in error, so it is certain also that he would not +have commanded his apostles to teach all nations concerning himself and +his doctrines, and have further given them, in the possession of +miraculous powers, the broad seal of their commission, only to leave +them subject to the common prejudices and errors of their age. See +further in Chap. 7, Nos. 3, 4. + +11. _The extent of meaning contained in a given revelation must be that +which the Holy Spirit intended._ It is not to be limited, then, by the +apprehension of those to whom it was originally made. Earlier prophecy +is, at least in many cases, framed with a view to the subsequent +development of its meaning. Until such development is made by God +himself, either in the way of further revelations, or indirectly by the +course of his providence, men's apprehension of its meaning, though it +may be true as far as it goes, must yet be inadequate. To cite a single +passage from one of the Old Testament prophecies: "It hath pleased the +Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his +soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his +days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." Isa. +53:10. No one will maintain that the Jews before our Lord's advent (all +carnal prejudices aside) could have had that apprehension of its deep +meaning which it is our privilege to enjoy. This meaning was contained +in the promise from the first, but in an undeveloped form. Accordingly +the prophets themselves "inquired and searched diligently" concerning +the import of their utterances and the time of their fulfilment. 1 Pet. +1:11. They who deny the reality of prophetic inspiration are +necessitated, for consistency's sake, to deny also the principle now +laid down. But if revelation be a true communication from God to men, it +is reasonable to believe that it should have contained from the +beginning the germs of mighty events in the distant future, the +realization of which in history should be, in connection with further +revelations from God, its true expositor. + +12. _The more obscure declarations of Scripture are to be interpreted +from the clearer._ A single passage of God's word occasionally gives us +a glimpse of some great truth nowhere else referred to in Scripture. Of +this we have a remarkable example in what the apostle says of Christ's +delivering up the kingdom to the Father upon the completion of the work +of redemption. 1 Cor. 15:24-28. But no great truth relating to the way +of salvation through Christ is thus taught obscurely and in some single +passage of Scripture. Every such truth pervades the broad current of +revelation, and shines forth from its pages so clearly that no candid +inquirer can fail to apprehend its true meaning. If, then, we find in +the Bible dark and difficult passages, they must, if interpreted at all, +be explained, not in contradiction with what is clearly and fully +taught, but in harmony with it. This is but saying that, instead of +using what is obscure to darken what is clearly revealed, we should, as +far as possible, illustrate that which is dark by that which is clear. + + The Scriptures teach, for example, with abundant clearness, that + Christ is the only foundation on which the church can rest. Isa. + 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11; Ephes. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6. This is, indeed, an + office which plainly requires for its exercise that omnipotence, + and that supreme power in heaven and earth which are expressly + ascribed to him. Matt. 11:27; 28:18; John 5:19-30; 17:2; 1 Cor. + 15; 24-28; Ephes. 1:20-23; Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:15-19; Heb. 1:3. + When, therefore, our Lord says to Peter: "Thou art Peter [that + is, as the word Peter means in the original, _Thou art Rock_], + and upon this rock will I build my church" (Matt. 16:18), to + understand Peter, or any pretended successor of Peter, as a rock + in any other sense than as an eminent instrument in Christ's + hand for the establishment of his church, is absurd and + blasphemous. + + Again: Christ gives to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, + with power to bind and loose (Matt. 16:19), and elsewhere the + same power is conferred upon all the apostles (Matt. 18:18). + That Peter and his associates in the apostleship had the keys of + the kingdom of heaven in any such sense as that in which Christ + has them (Rev. 3:7); that is, that they had authoritative power + to admit their fellow-sinners to heaven, or exclude them from + heaven, is contrary to the whole tenor of the New Testament, + which everywhere represents Christ as the supreme Judge, upon + whose decision depends the everlasting destiny of every child of + Adam. Matt. 7:21, 22; 16:27; 25:31-46; John 17:2; Acts 17:31; 2 + Cor. 5:10. Christ's words concerning the keys may be best + understood of the _special_ authority which he bestowed on the + apostles, as inspired teachers and guides of his primitive + church, to settle all questions respecting her. For eminent + examples of the exercise of this power, see the decisions + concerning Gentile converts, Acts 11:1-18; 15:1-29. In this + sense the gift of the keys ceased with that of inspiration. But + if, as some think, the words may be understood of the _common_ + power conferred by Christ on his churches to regulate their own + affairs, to administer discipline, and to admit or exclude from + their communion, the power continues in this sense in the + visible church, and is valid so far as it is exercised in + accordance with God's word. + + So also must we interpret the words of Christ recorded by the + apostle John: "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, + and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins + ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye + retain, they are retained." Chap. 20:22, 23. The authoritative + forgiveness of sin is a prerogative of God alone, the exercise + of which implies omniscience as well as supreme authority in + heaven and earth. The prerogative of remitting and retaining + men's sins here conferred on the apostles is part of the general + power of binding and loosing already considered. It was + exercised _in the sphere of the visible church on earth_. As it + respects the actual forgiveness of sin and consequent admission + of the soul to communion with God here and eternal life + hereafter, God's ministers can only declare the terms of + salvation as they are set forth in the gospel. + + The same general principle is applicable to the interpretation + of all passages containing "things hard to be understood." The + "unlearned and unstable" wrest them, by taking them out of their + connection and in contradiction to the general tenor of God's + word. But the candid student of Scripture never uses that which + is difficult in revelation to obscure that which is plain. He + seeks, on the contrary, to illumine what is dark by that which + shines with a clear and steady light. + +13. As a fitting close to this part of our subject we add some remarks +on _the analogy of faith_. "We may define it to be that general rule of +doctrine which is deduced, not from two or three parallel passages, but +from the harmony of all parts of Scripture in the fundamental points of +faith and practice." Horne's Introduct., vol. 1. p. 269, edit. 1860. It +is based on two fundamental principles; first, that "all Scripture is +given by inspiration of God," and therefore constitutes a +self-consistent whole, no part of which may be interpreted in +contradiction with the rest; secondly, that the truths to which God's +word gives the greatest prominence, and which it inculcates in the +greatest variety of forms, must be those of primary importance. Thus +understood, the analogy of faith is a sure guide to the meaning of the +inspired volume. He who follows it will diligently and prayerfully study +_the whole word of God_, not certain selected parts of it; since it is +from the whole Bible that we gather the system of divine revelation in +its fulness and just proportions. "If we come to the Scriptures with any +preconceived opinions, and are more desirous to put that sense upon the +text which coincides with our sentiments rather than with the truth, it +then becomes the analogy of _our_ faith rather than that of the whole +system." Horne, _ubi supra_. In this substitution of "the analogy of +_our_ faith" for the analogy of Scripture lies the foundation of +sectarian controversy. + +Again; he who follows the true analogy of faith will not allow a +doctrine which runs through the whole tenor of divine revelation to be +weakened or set aside in the interest of some other scriptural doctrine. + + The Scriptures teach, for example, with great frequency and + clearness that men are saved, not from the merit of their good + works, but solely by God's free grace through faith in Jesus + Christ. They teach also with equal frequency and clearness that + without repentance and obedience to the divine law there is no + salvation. These two deductions are not contradictory, but + supplementary to each other. They present two sides of one and + the same way of salvation. Yet it may happen that a Biblical + student will find himself unable to reconcile in a logical way + two such deductions as the following: "Therefore we conclude + that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" + (Rom. 3:28); "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, + shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the + will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). What then + shall we counsel him to do? Plainly it is his duty, first of + all, to receive and hold _both_ doctrines. _Afterwards_ he may + properly seek to reconcile them with each other in a logical + way; but if he fails to accomplish this task to his + satisfaction, he must not deny one truth, or sink its + importance, in the interest of the other. The same general + principle applies to various other doctrinal difficulties, which + need not be here specified. + +Finally, a true regard to the analogy of faith will make our system of +belief and practice _entire and well proportioned_ in all its parts. +Every declaration of God's word is to be received in a reverent and +obedient spirit. But inasmuch as the Scriptures insist much more +earnestly and fully on some things than on others, it is our wisdom to +follow, in this respect, the leadings of the Holy Spirit. It will be the +aim of the enlightened believer to give to each doctrine and precept of +revelation the place and prominence assigned to it in the Bible. +Especially will he be careful that no obscure or doubtful passage of +Scripture be allowed to contradict the plain teachings of inspiration. + + The practical study of the Bible, that is, the study of it as + "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for + instruction in righteousness," resolves itself in a great + measure into the comparison of Scripture with Scripture, + especially the comparison of _doctrinal parallelisms_. All that + the Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation concerning God's + being and attributes, his providential government over man, the + person and offices of Christ and the way of salvation through + him, and the final destiny of the righteous and the wicked, + should be diligently compared, that from the whole we may gather + a full and well-proportioned system of faith and practice as it + is contained in the pages of inspiration. So far as we fail to + do this our view of divine truth is defective and + disproportioned. The solemn warning in respect to the last book + of revelation applies with equal force to revelation as a whole: + "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him + the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall + take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall + take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy + city, and from the things that are written in this book." Rev. + 22:18, 19. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +SCRIPTURAL TYPES. + + +1. The _material world_ is full of _analogies_ adapted to the +illustration of spiritual things. No teacher ever drew from this +inexhaustible storehouse such a rich variety of examples as our Saviour. +His disciples are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a +city set on a hill. From the ravens which God feeds and the lilies which +God clothes, he teaches the unreasonableness of worldly anxiety. The +kingdom of heaven is like seed sown in different soils, like a field of +wheat and tares growing together, and like seed that springs up and +grows the sower knows not how. Again it is like a net cast into the sea, +like a grain of mustard seed, and like leaven hid in three measures of +meal. When the Saviour opens his lips the whole world of nature stands +ready to furnish him with arguments and illustrations; as well it may, +since the God of nature is also the God of revelation. _The world of +secular activity_ abounds in like analogies, on which another class of +our Lord's parables is based; like that of the vineyard let out to +husbandmen, the servants intrusted with different talents, the ten +virgins, the importunate friend, the unjust judge, the unfaithful +steward, the prodigal son, and others that need not be enumerated. +Analogies like these, however, do not properly constitute _types_. Types +rest on a foundation of analogy, but do not consist in analogy alone. + +2. In the history of God's people, moreover, as well as of the world +which he governs with reference to them, the _present_ is continually +foreshadowing _something higher in the future_. This must be so, because +the train of events in their history constitutes, in the plan of God, +neither a loose and disconnected series nor a confused jumble of +incidents, like a heap of stones thrown together without order or +design, but a well-ordered whole. It is a building, in which the parts +now in progress indicate what is to follow. It is the development of a +plant, in which "the blade" foreshadows "the ear," and the ear, "the +full corn in the ear." The primal murder, when "Cain rose up against +Abel his brother, and slew him," "because his own works were evil and +his brother's righteous," was the inauguration of the great conflict +between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent--the +forerunner of the higher struggle in Egypt between Pharaoh on the side +of the devil, and the covenant people on the side of the seed of the +woman. This struggle in Egypt, again, foreshadowed the still higher +contest between truth and error in the land of Canaan--a contest which +endured through so many centuries, and enlisted on both sides so many +kings and mighty men; and which, in its turn, ushered in the grand +conflict between the kingdom of Christ and that of Satan, a conflict +that began on the day of Pentecost, and is yet in progress. This +continual foreshadowing of the future by the present is essentially of a +typical nature, yet it does not constitute, in and of itself, what we +understand by a type in the ordinary usage of the term. + +3. _A type_ is _a symbol appointed by God to adumbrate something higher +in the future_, which is called the _antitype_. This definition includes +three particulars: (1.) The type must be a _true adumbration_ of the +thing typified, though, from the very nature of the case, the +adumbration must be inadequate--a _shadow only_ of the antitype, and not +its substance. Thus the paschal lamb was a type of Christ, though there +is infinitely more in the antitype than in the type. (2.) The symbol +must be _of divine appointment_, and as such, designed by God to +represent the antitype. We must carefully remember, however, that, from +the very nature of the case, the divine intention cannot be clearly +announced when the type is instituted. The paschal lamb typified "the +Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;" but it was not +till centuries after the institution of the passover that God began to +intimate by the prophets the approaching sacrifice of the great Antitype +(Isa. chap. 53; Zech. 13:7), and the full import of the type was +revealed only when the sacrifice of "Christ our passover" had been +accomplished on Calvary. (3.) Since the type is "a shadow of good things +to come," it follows that the antitype must _belong to the future_. A +pure symbol may belong to the present or the near future. It may +represent something that now exists, or is coming into existence, in +respect to which concealment is not necessary. Hence we find the sacred +writers freely explaining the meaning of the symbols which they employ +(Numb. chap. 17; Josh. 4:1-7; 1 Sam. 7:12; 10:1, and the same symbol of +anointing often elsewhere; 1 Kings 11:29-39; 22:11, where a false +prophet uses a symbol; Isa. chap. 20; Jer. 1:11-14; 13:1-11, and +elsewhere; Ezek. chap. 3, and in many other passages; Amos 7:1-9; 8:1-3; +Zech. 1:8-11, and elsewhere). The true type, on the contrary, reckoned +from the time of its institution, looks forward to the distant future. +The high reality which it foreshadows may be intimated by the prophets +"as in a glass darkly," but the appearance of the antitype can alone +furnish a full explanation of its meaning. + +The types of the Old Testament have been variously classified. We +propose to consider them under the two divisions of _historical_ and +_ritual_ types. + + +I. HISTORICAL TYPES. + +4. The extravagance of a class of Biblical expositors in converting the +Old Testament history into allegory typical of persons and events under +the gospel dispensation has produced a strong reaction, leading some to +deny altogether the existence of historical types. But this is going to +the other extreme of error. No man who acknowledges the writers of the +New Testament to be true expositors of the meaning of the Old can +consistently deny the existence in the Old Testament of such types, for +they interpret portions of its history in a typical way. But it is of +the highest importance that we understand, in respect to such history, +that it has _a true and proper significance_ of its own, without respect +to its typical import. It is not allegory, which has, literally taken, +no substance. It is not mere type, like the rites of the Mosaic law, the +meaning of which is exhausted in their office of foreshadowing the +antitype. It is veritable history, valid for the men of its own day, +fulfilling its office in the plan of God's providence, and containing, +when we look at it simply as history, its own lessons of instruction. We +call it typical history because, following the guidance of the New +Testament writers, we are constrained to regard it as so ordered and +shaped by God's providence as to prefigure something higher in the +Christian dispensation. + +No careful student of the New Testament can for a moment doubt that +David's kingdom typified the kingdom of Christ. There is, indeed, a very +important sense in which David's kingdom was identical with that of +Christ; for its main element was the visible church of God, founded on +the covenant made with Abraham, and therefore in all ages one and +indivisible. Rom. 11:17-24; Gal. 3:14-18; Ephes. 2:20. But we now speak +of David's kingdom in its outward form, which was temporary and typical +of something higher. In this sense it is manifest that God appointed it +to foreshadow that of the Messiah. David's headship adumbrated the +higher headship of the Redeemer; his conflicts with the enemies of God's +people and his final triumph over them, Christ's conflicts and +victories. The same thing was true of Solomon, and in a measure of all +the kings of David's line, so far as they were true to their office as +the divinely appointed leaders of the covenant people. Unless we adopt +this principle, the view which the New Testament takes of a large number +of Psalms--the so-called _Messianic_ psalms--becomes utterly visionary. + +But neither David's kingdom nor his headship over it was mere type. The +nation over which he presided was a historic reality, a true power among +the other nations of the earth. His leadership also, with its conflicts +and triumphs, belongs to true history. It brought to the people of his +own day true deliverance from the power of their enemies; and it +contains, when we study it without reference to its typical character, +true lessons of instruction for all ages. + +The declarations of Scripture in respect to the typical nature of the +_prophetical_ office are not so numerous and decisive as those which +relate to the kingly office. There is, however, a remarkable passage in +the book of Deuteronomy, from which we may legitimately infer that it +was truly typical of Christ. When God had addressed the people directly +from the midst of the cloud and fire on Sinai, unable to endure this +mode of communication between God and man, they besought God that he +would henceforth address them through the ministry of Moses: "Speak thou +with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." +Exod. 20:19. With reference to this request, God said to Moses: "They +have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a +prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words +in his mouth: and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. +And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words +which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." Deut. +18:17-19. The essential points of this promise are, that the promised +prophet shall be like Moses, one whose words shall be invested with +supreme authority; and, especially, that he shall be raised up from +among their brethren, and shall therefore be a man like themselves. The +promise was manifestly intended to meet the wants of the covenant people +_from that day and onward_. Yet the great Prophet in whom it was +fulfilled did not appear till after the lapse of fifteen centuries or +more. But in the mean time the promise was truly fulfilled to God's +people in a _typical_ way through the succession of prophets, who spake +in God's name, and who were men like their brethren to whom they were +sent. In these two essential particulars the prophetical office truly +prefigured Christ, its great Antitype. + +The Old Testament contains not only typical _orders of men_, but +_typical transactions_ also; that is, transactions which, while they had +their own proper significance as a part of the history of God's church, +were yet so ordered by God as to shadow forth with remarkable clearness +and force the higher truths of Christ's kingdom. Such are the +transactions between Melchizedek and Abraham recorded in the fourteenth +chapter of Genesis. Considered simply in itself, Melchizedek's +priesthood belongs to the class of _ritual_ types. But in the record of +his intercourse with Abraham there is an accumulation of historic +circumstances arranged by God's providence to shadow forth the higher +priesthood of Christ. (1.) He united in his person the _kingly and +priestly offices_, as does the Messiah. In the hundred and tenth Psalm +it is, in like manner, a king invested by God with universal +sovereignty, to whom the declaration is made: "The Lord hath sworn, and +will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of +Melchizedek." (2.) In _official dignity_ he was higher than Abraham, and +thus higher than any of Abraham's descendants by natural generation; for +Abraham paid tithes to him, and received from him the priestly blessing +(Gen. 14:19, 20); "And without all contradiction the less is blessed of +the better." Heb. 7:7. (3.) His priesthood _was without limitation_, and +had thus the attribute of _universality_. It was not restricted in its +exercise by nationality, for Abraham was not one of his people. (4.) He +did not belong to a line of priests, who transmitted their office from +father to son. He was, so far as we know from the record, _without +predecessors, and had no successor_ in his priesthood. The author of the +epistle to the Hebrews describes him as one who is "without father, +without mother, without pedigree" (marginal rendering), "having neither +beginning of days nor end of life: but made like unto the Son of God; +abideth a priest continually." Heb. 7:3. In the interpretation of this +difficult passage, we must begin with the axiomatic principle that +Melchizedek was a _human being_. He could not have been, as some have +thought, the Son of God himself; for how could the Son of God be "made +like unto the Son of God?" Nor could he have been an angel; for angels +are not partakers of human nature, and cannot therefore typify him who +came in human nature to deliver those who are "partakers of flesh and +blood." Heb. 2:14-18; 4:15; 5:1, 2. And if he was a proper man, then he +was "without father, without mother, without pedigree," not in an +absolute sense, but with reference to his priesthood. He was a priest +whose genealogy is not mentioned, because his priesthood was not +restricted, like that of the Levitical priests, to any particular line +of descent. He held his priesthood from God, without predecessors or +successors. The words that follow--"having neither beginning of days nor +end of life: but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest +continually"--are more difficult. It is certain, however, that they +cannot be understood absolutely. They are commonly interpreted upon the +same principle as the preceding words; namely, that in omitting from the +inspired record every limitation of Melchizedek's life as well as +descent, it was God's purpose to shadow forth the unlimited nature of +Christ's priesthood; that, in truth, the apostle describes Melchizedek, +the type, in terms which hold good in their full meaning only of Christ +the great Antitype. They who, admitting that Melchizedek was a human +being, find the interpretation unsatisfactory, must leave the apostle's +words shrouded in mystery. + +But whatever obscurity there is in the scriptural notices of +Melchizedek, they abundantly affirm the typical nature of his priesthood +as distinguished from that of the Levitical priests. He was a type of +Christ not simply as a priest, but also in the peculiar character of his +priesthood. He united with his priesthood the kingly office; was +superior in dignity to Abraham himself, and thus to the Levitical +priests; and his priesthood had the attribute of universality. Here, +then, we have an undoubted example of a historic type. + +It is not without reason that the deliverance of the covenant people +from Egypt, their journey through the wilderness of Arabia under God's +guidance, and their final settlement in the land of promise, have been +regarded as typical of the higher redemption, guidance, and salvation +received through Christ. From the earliest ages of the Christian church +this wonderful history has been an inexhaustible storehouse of analogies +for the illustration of Christian experience. In his pilgrimage through +this vale of tears, the believer instinctively turns to it for +instruction and encouragement. The mighty interposition of God when the +Israelites were "yet without strength" in their bondage; their +protection through the blood of the paschal lamb sprinkled on the doors +of their houses when the destroyer passed through Egypt; the opening of +a way through the Red sea when all human means of escape failed them; +the journey through the wilderness; the pillar of cloud by day and of +fire by night to guide, the water from the rock to refresh, the manna +from heaven morning by morning to feed them; God's faithful discipline +in contrast with human unbelief, waywardness, and folly; the final +preparation for the conquest of Canaan and its successful +accomplishment--this whole series of events is wonderfully adapted to +illustrate the course of Christian experience, and who shall say that +God did not order it with a view to this end? We do not resolve it into +mere type. We acknowledge it to be true history, valid to the men of +that age--a true earthly deliverance, guidance, and sustenance in the +wilderness, conducting to the possession of a true earthly inheritance. +But we say that it is a history so ordered by God as to typify the +higher pilgrimage of the believer to the heavenly Canaan. It is +undeniable that the writer to the Hebrews regards the rest of the +covenant people in the land of promise as a type of the rest of heaven. +Heb. 3:7-4:11. And if that part of the history was typical, it is +reasonable to infer that the whole was typical. It belongs to the nature +of a type that it should, on the one hand, come short of the fulness of +meaning that belongs to the antitype, and, on the other, should contain +some things which find no correspondence in that which it adumbrates. +The priesthood of the sons of Aaron, as we shall see, typified Christ's +priesthood, but only inadequately, as a shadow represents the substance; +while sinfulness, which belonged to all the priests of Aaron's line, not +only did not correspond to the character of the Antitype, but was in +contradiction with it. So is it also with the historical types that have +been under consideration. They represent the antitype inadequately, and +only in certain respects. + + * * * * * + +II. RITUAL TYPES. + +5. The _sacrifices_ were the central part of the Jewish ritual. But +sacrifices imply _offerers_, a _personal God_ to whom the offering is +made, and a _priesthood_ through which it is presented. In the primitive +ages of the world, men offered sacrifices in their own behalf and that +of their household in whatever place it was their chance to sojourn. +Gen. 4:4; 8:20; 12:7, 8; 31:54; 33:20; 35:1, 7; 46:1; Job 1:5; 42:8. But +upon the establishment of the Mosaic economy, the priestly office was +restricted to the family of Aaron. Thenceforward all who wished to offer +sacrifices must bring them through the mediation of the priests of +Aaron's line. It belonged to the nature of the Mosaic economy, that God +should have a visible dwelling-place among the Israelites. The +directions for the construction of the tabernacle with its furniture are +introduced by the words: "Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell +among them." Exod. 25:8. The material sanctuary, then, was God's visible +dwelling-place, where he manifested himself to his people, and received +their worship according to the rites of his own appointment; the whole +being, as we shall see, typical of higher realities pertaining to our +redemption through Christ. And as this earthly sanctuary was God's +chosen dwelling-place, it followed, as a necessary consequence, that +after its erection all the sacrifices must be brought to its altar, and +presented there to God through the priesthood of his appointment. + +6. The _Mosaic tabernacle_ was a movable structure very simple in its +plan. Its frame-work on three sides consisted of upright boards, or +rather timbers (for, according to the unanimous representation of the +Jewish rabbins, they were a cubit in thickness), standing side by side, +and kept in position by transverse bars passing through golden rings. +Thus was formed an enclosure ten cubits in height, thirty cubits in +length from east to west, and ten cubits in width; the eastern end, +which constituted the front, having only a vail suspended from five +pillars of shittim-wood. Over this enclosure, and hanging down on either +side, was spread a rich covering formed by coupling together ten +curtains of "fine-twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with +cherubim of cunning work." Over this was another covering, formed from +the union of eleven curtains of goats' hair; and above two other +coverings, the one of rams' skins dyed red, and the other, or outermost, +of badgers' skins. Surrounding the tabernacle was a court one hundred +cubits long and fifty wide, enclosed by curtains of fine-twined linen +supported on pillars five cubits high. The tabernacle itself was divided +by a vail supported on four pillars into two parts; the _inner_ +sanctuary, or "holy of holies," ten cubits every way, and the _outer_, +or "holy place," twenty cubits long by ten in breadth and height. + + In a wider sense the whole movable structure within the court is + called the tabernacle. But in a stricter sense the rich inner + curtain is distinguished in the Mosaic description as the + _tabernacle_, while the curtain of goats' hair is called the + _tent_. Exod. 26:1, 7; 36:8, 14, 19. The true meaning of the + word rendered in our version _badgers_ is uncertain. Some think + that the seal is referred to. + +7. We have seen that the tabernacle was God's visible dwelling-place. +But the palace of a king has its _audience-rooms_, where he receives his +subjects and attends to their petitions. In like manner the Mosaic +tabernacle, and afterwards the temple, had its "holy of holies" and its +"holy place," the former being in a special sense the abode of Israel's +God. The tabernacle, with its furniture, priesthood, and services, is +declared in the New Testament to have been "a shadow of good things to +come." Heb. 10:1, and elsewhere. Unless we understand this its typical +character, we fail to gain any true apprehension of its meaning. + +8. In contemplating the truths which the Mosaic tabernacle shadowed +forth, we begin with the _materials_ used in its construction. Here we +notice two things; their _preciousness_, and the _gradation_ observed in +this respect. + +(1.) Their _preciousness_. All the materials were of the most durable +and costly character--gold, silver, fine-twined linen of blue and purple +and scarlet, acacia-wood (the shittim-wood of our version), brass being +allowed only in the external appointments. This obviously represented +the glory and excellence of God's service, and the corresponding +obligation on the part of the worshippers to give to God the best of all +that they had. + +(2.) The _gradation_ in the preciousness of the materials had reference +to the inner sanctuary, where, as will presently be shown, God dwelt +between the cherubim that overshadowed the mercy-seat. The rule of +gradation was this: the nearer to God's dwelling-place the greater the +glory; and hence, as shadowing forth this glory, the more precious the +materials. The mercy-seat, where God dwelt between the cherubim, was +accordingly of pure gold. All the woodwork pertaining to the tabernacle +and its furniture was overlaid with gold. The inner or proper covering +of the tabernacle, as also the vail that hung before the ark, separating +the holy from the most holy place, was of "fine-twined linen, and blue, +and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim of cunning work." The outer vail, +at the entrance of the outer sanctuary, was of the same materials, but +without the cherubim; while the curtains of the court were made simply +of fine-twined linen, suspended from pillars of shittim-wood not +overlaid with gold. The sockets, again, that supported the timbers of +the tabernacle and the inner row of pillars before the ark were of +silver; but those beneath the outer pillars of the sanctuary, and all +the pillars of the court, were of brass. + +9. Passing to the _appointments_ of the tabernacle, we naturally begin +with the _inner_ sanctuary. Here between the wings of the cherubim that +overshadowed the mercy-seat, or lid of the ark, was the _Shekinah_, or +visible dwelling-place of Jehovah. In the ark beneath the mercy-seat +were placed, by God's direction, the two tables of the law. Exod. 25:16 +compared with 1 Kings 8:9. This was their appropriate place. It shadowed +forth the great truth that God is the fountain of law, and that they who +approach him must come in the spirit of true obedience. + + That God's dwelling-place was between the cherubim we learn from + the original direction for the construction of the ark: "And + thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark + thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there + will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above + the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the + ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in + commandment unto the children of Israel." Exod. 25:21, 22. In + accordance with these words God repeatedly promised that he + would meet with Moses at the mercy-seat (Exod. 30:36; Lev. 16:2; + Numb. 17:4); and after the dedication of the tabernacle and its + altar, it is recorded that "when Moses was gone into the + tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, then he heard + the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy-seat that + was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubim." + Numb. 7:89. Hence Jehovah is described in the Old Testament as + he that dwells between the cherubim. 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 + Kings 19:15; Psa. 80:1; 99:1; Isa. 37:16. + +10. In the _outer_ sanctuary, before the vail that separated it from the +holy of holies, stood, on the south side, the _golden candlestick_, with +its seven lamps burning always before the Lord (Exod. 27:20; 40:24, 25; +Lev. 24:25), and on the north side the _table of show-bread_, with its +twelve loaves renewed every week (Exod. 25:30; 40:22, 23; Lev. 24:5-9). +These typified the light and the life that come from God's presence +through the ordinances of his appointment; and since the end of these +ordinances is Jesus Christ, they shadowed him forth as the light of the +world and the bread of life. John 8:12; 12:46; 6:35-58; and especially +John 1:4. Between the golden candlestick and the table of show-bread, +consequently directly in front of the ark, and separated from it by the +inner vail, was the _golden altar of incense_, on which the priests +burned sweet incense every morning and evening before the Lord (Exod. +30:6-8; 40:26, 27), whereby was shadowed forth Christ's intercession, +through which the prayers of saints are made acceptable to God. + + In the book of Revelation an angel is represented as offering + upon this golden altar much incense with the prayers of all + saints. "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the + prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's + hand." Rev. 8:3, 4. This passage seems to warrant the + interpretation above given to this symbol; not that the ancient + covenant people understood fully its meaning, or that of the + other symbolic rites, but that such was the mind of the Spirit, + to be made manifest in due time. + + There is a view of the Mosaic ceremonial, which makes it simply + a _scenic representation_ of a king's court; in which the + tabernacle represents the royal palace, the incense the homage + rendered to the monarch (compare Dan. 2:46), the sacrifices, + show-bread, and other unbloody offerings the provision made for + his table, the priests his ministering servants, etc.; by which + the whole is reduced to the idea of service rendered to Jehovah + as the national monarch, and all typical representation of the + provision made by God for man's spiritual wants is excluded. + This interpretation of the Mosaic ritual is as superficial as it + is false. In this ritual, service is indeed rendered to God; but + it is a service which typically shadows forth the provision + which God makes for man's wants as a fallen being--light for his + darkened understanding, life for his spiritual nature dead in + trespasses and sins, and reconciliation to God through the blood + of Christ. This is the constant interpretation given in the New + Testament of the "carnal ordinances" of the Old. + +11. In the court before the tabernacle stood the _brazen altar_ with its +_laver_. Here the blood of the sacrifices flowed from age to age--a lamb +every morning and evening, and on the Sabbath day two lambs morning and +evening, besides all the public sacrifices connected with the national +festivals, and the private sacrifices of individuals. The New Testament +teaches us that the _Levitical priests_ who ministered at the Jewish +altar _typified Christ_, our great High Priest. In the one hundred and +tenth psalm, which the Saviour himself quotes as written by David "in +spirit," and as referring to himself (Matt. 22:41-45; Mark 12:35-37) the +Messiah is represented as uniting in himself the kingly and the priestly +office. There is a remarkable symbolical transaction in Zechariah (chap. +6:9-14) which contains the same representation. The prophet is directed, +in the presence of competent witnesses, to "take silver and gold, and +make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua [the Hebrew word +answering to the Greek _Jesus_, which stands in the Septuagint rendering +of this passage] the son of Josedech, the high priest." In his office as +high priest Joshua typifies Christ our great High Priest. By the +symbolical act of crowning Joshua is typified _the kingly office of +Christ as united with the priestly_. Hence the prophet is directed by +God to add: "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man +whose name is the BRANCH" (compare chap. 3:8, and Isa. 11:1; Jer. +23:4-6; 33:15, 16); "and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall +build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the +Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his +throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of +peace shall be between them both." In accordance with these +representations a large part of the epistle to the Hebrews is occupied +with a discussion of our Lord's priestly office, in which, beyond +contradiction, he is exhibited as the great antitype of both Melchizedec +and the Levitical priests. + +12. If the Levitical priests typified Christ, it follows that the +_sacrifices_ which they offered _were also typical of Christ's +sacrifice_ for the sins of the world. So the epistle to the Hebrews +argues: "Every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: +wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer." +Chap. 8:3. The Levitical priests stood "daily ministering, and offering +oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." Chap. +10:11. Their offerings were only _typical of expiation_, and needed +therefore to be continually repeated till the Antitype itself should +appear. But Christ offered his own blood on Calvary, by which he +obtained eternal redemption for us, so that his sacrifice needs no +repetition. He was "once offered to bear the sins of many;" and by this +"one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." +Chaps. 9:11-14, 25, 26; 10:10-14. + +But this doctrine respecting the typical character of the Levitical +sacrifices is not restricted to the epistle to the Hebrews. The New +Testament is full of it. John the Baptist, the Saviour's forerunner, +announced him as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the +world." John 1:29. Whether we render, as in the margin of our version, +"which _beareth_ the sin of the world," or, as in the text, "which +_taketh away_ the sin of the world," the words contain the idea of a +_propitiatory_ sacrifice, or, which amounts to the same thing, an +_expiatory_ sacrifice; since it is by expiating our sin that Christ +propitiates the Father. By bearing the sin of the world Christ expiates +it, and thus takes it away. Thus he is "the propitiation for our sins, +and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John +2:2. + +The Saviour himself announced his purpose to die for his people: "I lay +down my life for the sheep." "Therefore doth my Father love me because I +lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, +but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have +power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." +John 10:15, 17, 18. And lest any should think that he died simply in the +character of a martyr, he elsewhere explains that "the Son of man came +not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a +ransom for many"--more literally, "a ransom instead of many" (Matt. +20:28; Mark 10:45), where the sacrificial and vicarious nature of our +Lord's death is explicitly affirmed. + +But it was after our Lord's resurrection that the sacrificial and +propitiatory character of his death was most fully revealed. We have +seen the view taken of it in the epistle to the Hebrews. With this the +other writers of the New Testament are in harmony. Jesus Christ is the +great sufferer foretold in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, who "was +wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities: the +chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are +healed;" upon whom the Lord "laid the iniquity of us all;" who was +brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers +is dumb, so he opened not his mouth; whose soul God made "an offering +for sin;" who "was numbered with the transgressors," and "bare the sins +of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." 1 Pet. 2:24, 25; +Acts 8:32-35; Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37. He "hath once suffered for sins, +the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Pet. 3:18); +He has redeemed us to God by his blood (Rev. 5:9); has "loved us and +washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Rev. 1:5); and his redeemed +"have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" +(Rev. 7:14). + +To recite all the declarations of the apostle Paul on this great theme +would be a superfluous work. It is not through Christ's example or +teachings, but _through his blood_ that we have "redemption, the +forgiveness of sins." Ephes. 1:7. "Christ hath redeemed us from the +curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13), words which +teach as explicitly as human language can, that Christ has delivered us +from the penalty of the divine law, which is its curse, by bearing the +curse in our behalf. This he did when he was hanged on the tree. His +death on the cross was, then, _vicarious_, a death in our stead; and +_propitiatory_, for in view of it God releases us from the curse of the +law. This is what is meant by a _propitiatory_ sacrifice. Finally, as if +to cut off all ground for the assertion that the efficacy of Christ's +death lies wholly in its moral influence upon the human heart--its +humbling, softening, and winning power--the apostle teaches that God has +set forth Christ Jesus as a propitiation through faith in his blood for +a manifestation of his righteousness, "_that he might be just, and the +justifier of him that believeth in Jesus_." Rom. 3:25, 26. + + Every word of this weighty passage deserves serious + consideration. We give by the side of the English version + another translation, intended to be somewhat more literal: + + Whom God hath set forth _to Whom God hath set forth, a + be_ a propitiation, through propitiation, through faith, + faith in his blood, to declare in his blood, for the + his righteousness for the manifestation of his + passing over [marginal righteousness in respect to + rendering] of sins that are the overlooking of sins that + past, through the forbearance are past, through the + of God. To declare, _I say_, forbearance of God--a + at this time, his manifestation of his + righteousness; that he might righteousness at the present + be just, and the justifier of time; in order that he may be + him which believeth in Jesus. just, and the justifier of him + that believeth in Jesus. + + From these words we learn: (1.) That God has publicly set forth + Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice. The following paraphrase + gives the probable connection of the words of the first clause: + Whom God, by means of his blood, hath set forth as a + propitiation through faith. But if we take the connection as + given in our version, the propitiation is still through Christ's + blood, and is thus a propitiatory or expiatory sacrifice. (2.) + That the appropriation to individual sinners of this + propitiation is conditioned on personal faith. Christ's + propitiatory sacrifice does not, in and of itself, justify any + man; but it provides a _ground_ whereby all may be justified, if + they will believe in Jesus. (3.) That through Christ's + propitiatory sacrifice God makes a public manifestation of his + righteousness in showing mercy to sinners. The phrase, "the + righteousness of God," may mean, in the usage of Paul, the + righteousness--justification--which _he gives_ through faith. + But in connection with the words that follow, "that he might be + just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus," it can + only mean righteousness as an attribute of God, his public + justice, namely, as the lawgiver and governor of the world. (4.) + That Christ's propitiatory sacrifice was necessary in order that + God might show mercy to sinners consistently with the demands of + his justice. For when the apostle says "that God might be just, + and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus," the words + necessarily imply that, without this sacrifice, he could not + have been just in justifying sinners. Christ's propitiation was + not needed to make God more merciful _in his nature_; for in + this respect he is unchangeably "the same yesterday, to-day, and + for ever." But it _opens a way_ by which he may show mercy + consistently with his justice and the sanctity of his law. When + we raise inquiries concerning the interior nature of the + atonement, we meet with deep mysteries, some of which are, + perhaps, above the comprehension of finite human understanding. + But we can comprehend, and believe upon God's testimony, the + great central fact of the gospel, that Christ offered himself to + the Father to bear in human nature the curse of the divine law + in behalf of sinners; and that God accepted this propitiatory + offering as a satisfaction to his justice in such a sense that + he can pardon all who believe in Christ without dishonor to + himself or injury to his moral government. + +13. We have considered Christ as the great Antitype of the Levitical +priests and sacrifices. Let us now go back and consider the +_characteristics belonging to the types themselves_, beginning with the +priesthood. + +(1.) The first point in which the Levitical priests typified Christ was +in their possession of _the same common human nature_ as those in whose +behalf they acted. "For both he that sanctifieth [Christ] and they who +are sanctified [believers] are all of one [one Father, having a common +sonship as members of the same family of Adam]: for which cause he is +not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11); and again: "Forasmuch +then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself +likewise took part of the same" (ver. 14); and still further: "Wherefore +in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren; that he +might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to +God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he +himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are +tempted" (ver. 17, 18; and compare 4:15). Accordingly the priests who +typified Christ were taken from among men, not angels; and "able to have +compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way," being +themselves "compassed with infirmity." Heb. 5:1, 2. + +(2.) The Levitical priests, again, were _appointed to their office by +God_: "And no man taketh this honor upon himself, but he that is called +of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made a +high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day have I +begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for +ever after the order of Melchizedec." Heb. 5:4-6. + +(3.) The Levitical priests, once more, were _mediators between God and +the people_. After the establishment of their priesthood, no Israelite +or sojourner in the land could approach God with sacrifices and +oblations in his own right, and be his own priest. He must come to God +through the priesthood of his appointment--an expressive type of the +great truth announced by Christ; "I am the way, and the truth, and the +life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." John 14:6. + +(4.) Finally, the Levitical priests were not only mediators between God +and men, but _mediators through propitiatory sacrifices_. They were +ordained to "offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." Heb. 5:1; 8:3. +"Wherefore," adds the writer, "it is of necessity that this man [Christ] +have somewhat also to offer." Heb. 8:3. They offered the blood of bulls +and goats, which made expiation only in a typical way; he offered to God +his own blood as a real propitiation for sin. Heb. 7:27; 9:12-28; +10:10-14. + +The points of _dissimilarity_ between the Levitical priests and Christ, +as stated in the epistle to the Hebrews, all serve to illustrate the +superior dignity and efficacy of his priesthood. They were sinful men, +and as such needing to offer sacrifice first for their own sins (chap. +5:3); but he is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and +made higher than the heavens" (chap. 7:26). They were many, "because +they were not suffered to continue, by reason of death:" but he, +"because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." Chap. +7:23, 24. Their offerings could not take away sin. They were only +typical of expiation, and therefore needed to be continually repeated. +But Christ has by his one offering "perfected for ever them that are +sanctified"--perfected them in respect to the expiation of sin, which is +the foundation on which the work of personal sanctification rests. Heb. +10:11, 12. + + Mediatorship between God and man through propitiatory sacrifice + constitutes the central idea of priesthood. The Levitical + priests did indeed make intercession for the people in the + burning of sweet incense (see above, No. 8), and in presenting + to God their unbloody offerings, but all this was done _through + the blood of atonement_. We see, then, how false and mischievous + is the idea that there can be true mediating priests under the + New Testament dispensation. Christ appeared once for all "to put + away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:25-28; 10:10-12), + since which no further sacrifice is needed, or can be lawfully + offered. Christ also opened to all believers through his blood a + new and living way of access to God, through which they can come + boldly to the throne of grace, having no need of human + mediators. Heb. 10:18-22. Believers as a body are "a holy + priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God + by Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 2:5. They present themselves to God "a + living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God." Rom. 12:1. They + "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the + fruit of their lips, giving thanks to his name." Heb. 13:15. + These spiritual sacrifices offered by the body of believers + through Christ, their glorified High Priest, are the only + sacrifices known to the New Testament church. + + Of the high priest's garments, made by divine direction "for + glory and for beauty," we cannot here speak in detail. Suffice + it to say that they represented in general the dignity and + excellence of his office, as the divinely appointed mediator + between God and the covenant people. The golden plate with the + inscription HOLINESS TO THE LORD is its own interpreter. The + twelve names of the tribes of Israel, graven on two precious + stones, and borne on the shoulders of the high priest, six on + each shoulder, and then the same twelve graven on twelve gems, + and borne on his breast as he ministered before the Lord, + beautifully typify Christ our great High Priest, who bears his + people on his shoulders by his almighty power and efficacious + atonement, and on his heart by his everlasting love. + +14. From the typical priests we naturally pass to the consideration of +the _typical sacrifices_ offered by them. Upon Noah's leaving the ark, +God prohibited the eating of blood on the ground that it is the _life_ +of the animal. Gen. 9:4. The reason of this prohibition is unfolded in a +passage of the Mosaic law, which clearly sets forth the nature and +design of bloody offerings: "And whatsoever man there be of the house of +Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any +manner of blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eateth +blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the +flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make +an atonement for your souls: FOR IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN +ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL." Lev. 17:10, 11. Hence the sprinkling of the +sacrificial blood by the priest as a sign of expiation, a rite that will +be more particularly considered hereafter (No. 15). The reason that the +_blood_ makes the atonement is that "the _life_ of the flesh is in the +blood." The scriptural idea, then, of a sacrifice is the offering to God +of one life in behalf of another that has been forfeited by sin--the +life of the innocent beast instead of the life of the guilty offerer. +This general idea of the vicarious and propitiatory nature of sacrifices +comes out with beautiful simplicity and clearness in the book of Job: +"And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job +sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered +burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, _It +may be that my sons have sinned_, and cursed God in their hearts." Chap. +1:5. And again: "My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two +friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my +servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven +rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a +burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I +accept: lest I deal with you after your folly." Chap. 42:7, 8. The +sacrifices of the Mosaic law were of various kinds, implying various +accessory ideas. But underlying them all was the fundamental idea of +_propitiation through blood_. Hence the writer to the Hebrews, when +commenting on the transaction recorded in Exodus, chap. 24:4-8, says: +"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without +shedding of blood is no remission." Heb. 9:22. The only exception was in +the case of the poor man who was "not able to bring two turtle doves or +two young pigeons." He was allowed to "bring for his offering the tenth +part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-offering" (Lev. 5:11), upon the +principle that God "will have mercy and not sacrifice." + +No orderly classification of sacrifices is to be sought without the pale +of the Jewish ceremonial. The burnt-offerings, for example, mentioned in +the book of Job, had the force of proper sin-offerings. Chaps. 1:5; +42:8. The classification in the book of Leviticus is into +burnt-offerings, sin-offerings, trespass-offerings, and peace-offerings. +But they may be most conveniently considered in the order of their +presentation, when two or more of them were offered on the same +occasion, as when Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood, +and the people sanctified in connection with this transaction (Lev. +chaps 8, 9), and in the offerings of the great day of atonement (Lev. +chap. 16). + +Here the _sin-offering_ naturally held the first place; for this, as its +name indicates, was wholly expiatory and propitiatory, bringing the +offerer into a state of forgiveness and divine favor. The sin-offerings +had reference (1) to sin generally, as when Aaron and his sons were +consecrated and the people sanctified, and when, on the annual day of +atonement, expiation was made for the sins of the past year; (2) to +specific offences (Lev. chaps. 4, 5), The exact distinction between the +sin-offering and the _trespass-offering_ is of difficult determination. +Both were alike expiatory, were in fact subdivisions of the same class +of offerings. A comparison of the passages in which trespass-offerings +are prescribed (Lev. 5:1; 6:1-7; Numb. 5:6-8) seems to indicate that +they belonged especially to trespasses for which restitution could be +made. + +Next in the order of sacrifices, though first in dignity, came the +_burnt-offering_, also called _holocaust_ (Heb. _kalil_) that is, _whole +burnt-offering_, the characteristic mark of which was the consuming of +the whole by fire (Lev. chap. 1). It is conceded by all that this was a +_symbol of completeness_; but in what respect is a question that has +been answered in different ways. Some refer the completeness to the +offering itself, as that form of sacrifice which embraces in itself all +others (Rosenmueller on Deut. 33:10); or, as the most perfect offering, +inasmuch as it exhibits the idea of offering in its completeness and +generality, and so concentrates in itself all worship. Baehr, Symbolik, +vol. 2, p. 362. But we cannot separate, in the intention of God, the +completeness of the form from the state of the offerer's mind. The +burnt-offering was indeed, in its outward form, the most perfect of all +sacrifices, for which reason it excluded female victims, as relatively +inferior to the male sex. But because of this its completeness and +generality it signified the _entire self-consecration of the offerer to +God_. Winer and others after Philo. But this, let it be carefully +remembered, was a self-consecration that could be made only _through the +blood of expiation_, to indicate which, the blood of the burnt-offering +was sprinkled by the priest "round about upon the altar;" or, in the +case of a bird, where the quantity was too small to be thus sprinkled, +was "wrung out at the side of the altar." + +The _peace-offering_ (more literally, _offering of renditions_; that is, +offering in which the offerer rendered to God the tribute of praise and +thanksgiving which was his due) was in all its different +subdivisions--thank-offering, votive offering, free-will offering (Lev. +7:11-16)--a _eucharistic_ offering. Hence its _social_ character. After +the sprinkling of the blood, the burning of the prescribed parts on the +altar, and the assignment to the priest of his portion, the offerer and +his friends feasted joyfully before the Lord on the remainder. Lev. +chap. 3 compared with chap. 7:11-18. In the case of monarchs, like David +and Solomon, the whole nation was feasted. 2 Sam. 6:17-19; 1 Kings +8:62-66. Hence the Messiah, as the great King of all nations, is +beautifully represented as paying his peace-offerings to God for the +deliverance granted him from his foes, and as summoning all nations to +the sacrificial feast: "My praise shall be of thee in the great +congregation; I will pay my vows [vows in the form of peace-offerings] +before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they +shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All +the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord," etc. Psa. +22:25-31. The peace-offering naturally followed the burnt-offering, as +that did the sin-offering in the sanctification of the Israelitish +congregation. Lev. 9:15-18. It signified joyful communion with God in +thanksgiving and praise; but this, too, only _through the blood of the +victim_ sprinkled upon the altar as a sign of expiation. Lev. chap. 3. +In these three classes of offerings, then, we have typically set forth, +first, _expiation_ restoring man to God's favor, then _self-consecration_, +then holy _communion_ in thanksgiving and praise--ALL THREE ONLY THROUGH +THE SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, the great Antitype of the Levitical +priests and sacrifices. + +The sacrificial nature of the _passover_ appears in the direction given +at its institution that the blood of the paschal lamb should be +sprinkled on the lintel and two side-posts of the house where it was +eaten as a protection against the destroyer of the first-born (Exod. +12:22, 23); and in the ordinance afterwards established, requiring that +it should be slain at the sanctuary (Deut. 16:1-8), and its blood +sprinkled upon the altar. 2 Chron. 30:16; 35:11. Its character +approached very near to that of the peace-offerings. It was a joyous +festival, commemorative of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian +bondage; and thus typically shadowing forth the higher redemption of +God's people from the bondage of sin. As the blood of the paschal lamb +sprinkled on the doors of the houses protected the inmates from the +destroyer of the first-born, so does the blood of Christ protect all who +through faith receive its expiatory power from the wrath to come. As the +Israelites feasted joyfully on the flesh of the paschal lamb, so does +the church feed by faith on the great antitypal Lamb of God, who is the +true Passover sacrificed for us. 1 Cor. 5:7. + +There were some other sacrifices of a special character, such as those +by which the covenant between God and the people was ratified (Exod. +24:3-8); the ram of consecration, when Aaron and his sons were inducted +into the priesthood (Lev. 8:22-30); the sacrifice and other rites +connected with the cleansing of the leper (Lev. 14:1-32); the sacrifice +of the red heifer from which were prepared the ashes of purification +(Numb. chap. 19); the sacrifice of the heifer in the case of an +uncertain murder (Deut. 21:1-9). Respecting these, it is only necessary +to remark generally that, whatever other ideas were typified by them, +that of expiation through blood was not wanting. + +It was required by the law that all the sacrificial victims should be +without blemish, not only because the offering to God of an imperfect +victim would have been an affront to his majesty (Mal. 1:8, 13, 14), but +especially because a perfect victim could alone typify the Lamb of God, +"without blemish and without spot," who was offered on Calvary as the +propitiation for the sins of the whole world. 1 Pet. 1:19, 20. + +Of the _unbloody offerings_ [_oblations_, called in our version +_meat-offerings_], some were supplementary to the sacrifices, being +necessary to their completeness. Such was the salt which, as a symbol of +purity and friendship, was prescribed for all meat offerings (Lev. +2:13), and seems to have been used with all sacrifices also. Ezek. 43:24 +compared with Mark 9:49. Such, also were the flour, wine, and oil +offered with the daily sacrifice (Exod. 29:40), and in certain other +cases. Lev. 8:26; 9:17; 14:10, etc. Other oblations, like those +prescribed in the second chapter of Leviticus, were presented by +themselves, as expressions of love, gratitude, and devotion to God on +the part of the offerers. After a portion of them, including all the +frankincense, had been burned on the altar, the rest went to Aaron and +his sons as their portion. + +The priests also received specified portions from the peace-offerings of +the people, the trespass-offerings, and the sin-offerings the blood of +which was not carried into the sanctuary. See Lev. chap. 6:24-7:34. + +15. Of the _typical transactions_ connected with the offering of +sacrifices and oblations we notice the following: + +(1.) In all cases the offerer _laid his hands upon the head of the +victim_. The meaning of this act may be inferred from the first mention +of it in the Levitical ceremonial: "And he shall put his hand upon the +head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make +atonement for him." Lev. 1:4. The act in question was, then, the solemn +dedication to Jehovah of the victim for the end proposed. By the laying +on of his hands, he presented it to God as his offering to make +atonement for his soul, and God accepted it as such. From the very +nature of the offering, this act of presentation contained an +acknowledgment of guilt that needed expiation, but there was no formal +transfer of his sins to the victim, as in the case of the scape-goat. +See below, No. 16. + +(2.) The _waving_ and _heaving_ of offerings belonged to the priests +alone. Both were manifestly acts of presentation and dedication to God. +For example, the loaf of bread, cake of oiled bread, and wafer of +unleavened bread employed upon the occasion of Aaron's consecration were +first placed in his hands to be waved before the Lord, and then burned +by Moses on the altar of burnt-offering. Exod. 29:23-25. So also the +breast of the ram of consecration was waved, and the right shoulder +heaved, before they were eaten by Aaron and his sons (Exod. 29:26-28); +the lamb of the leper who had been healed, with the accompanying +oblation, was waved by the priest before the Lord before slaying it. +Lev. 14:12, seq. + +According to the rabbins, the waving consisted of a movement forwards +and backwards. Some think that there was also a lateral motion from +right to left and the reverse. The heaving was a movement upwards and +downwards. The ground of the distinction between these two forms of +presentation to Jehovah is uncertain. We only know that the ceremony of +heaving was restricted to certain cases. Thus the breast of the +peace-offerings was always waved, and the right shoulder heaved, before +they were given to the priests as their portion. Lev. 7:28-34. + +(3.) The _sprinkling of the victim's blood_ was a most weighty part of +the ceremonial, for by this expiation was symbolized. It was accordingly +restricted to the priest, who was the appointed mediator between God and +the people. The sevenfold sprinkling of the blood that was carried into +the sanctuary (Lev. 4:6, 17; 16:14, 19), and in certain other cases +(Lev. 8:11; 14:7, 51) denoted the _completeness_ of the expiation, seven +being the well-known symbol of perfection. Hence the New Testament +beautifully represents believers as purified from sin by the sprinkling +of the blood of Christ, the great Antitype of the Mosaic sacrifices. +Heb. 9:13, 14; 10:22; 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:2. + +Kindred to the rite of sprinkling was the application of the victim's +blood to the horns of the altar and to the person of the offerer. Exod. +29:12, 20; Lev. 4:7, 18, 25, 30; 8:15, 24; 14:14, etc. + +(4.) The _burning_ of the offering, or of certain specified parts of it, +upon the altar, whereby its odor ascended up to heaven, was a natural +expression of dedication to God. Compare Gen. 8:21, Lev. 1:9, etc. + +16. We have seen the typical import of the furniture of the tabernacle +(Nos. 8 and 9 above). That the _tabernacle itself_, considered +generally, had also a typical meaning, is admitted by all who believe in +revelation. But when we come to the consideration of details, we +encounter diversities of interpretation which cannot be here considered. +We notice only the following points: + +(1.) The Mosaic tabernacle was, as we have seen, God's visible earthly +dwelling-place. As such, it shadowed forth his real presence and glory, +first, in the church of the redeemed on earth through Jesus Christ; +secondly, in the glorified church in heaven. Some think that the outer +sanctuary, with its altar of incense, its golden candlestick, and its +table of show-bread, typified God's presence with the church militant, +through her divinely-appointed ordinances; and the inner sanctuary, his +presence with the church triumphant in heaven. + +(2.) Under the Mosaic economy, the people were not admitted to either +sanctuary. They could approach God only through the mediation of the +priests. The priests themselves entered the outer sanctuary daily to +burn incense and perform the other prescribed services; but the high +priest alone was permitted to enter the most holy place once every year +with the blood of the sin-offering. This represented that, under the old +dispensation, the way of access to God on the part of sinners was not +yet made manifest. In respect to the holy of holies, we have the express +statement of inspiration: "But into the second went the high priest +alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, +and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that +the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the +first tabernacle was yet standing." Heb. 9:7, 8. By parity of reason, +the principle holds good in respect to the exclusion of the people from +the outer sanctuary. We are informed, accordingly, that when Christ +cried upon the cross with a loud voice, "It is finished," and gave up +the ghost, "the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the +bottom." Matt. 27:50, 51; Mark 15:37, 38; Luke 23:45, 46. By this was +signified that now the way of access to God was opened through Christ's +blood to all believers; so that they constitute a spiritual priesthood, +having access to God within the vail without the help of any earthly +mediation, that they may there "offer up spiritual sacrifices, +acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Heb. 7:25; 10:19, 20; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; +Rev. 1:6. + +(3.) The typical character of the tabernacle appears very strikingly in +the ceremonies of the great day of atonement. Lev. chap. 16. After the +high-priest had first offered a sin-offering for himself, and sprinkled +its blood in the inner sanctuary upon and before the mercy-seat seven +times, he brought the two goats that had been appointed for the +expiation of the people, one for a sin-offering, the other for a +scape-goat, the office of each being determined by lot. When he had +slain the goat of the sin-offering, he carried its blood into the most +holy place, and sprinkled it also seven times upon and before the +mercy-seat, to "make an atonement for the holy place, because of the +uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their +transgressions in all their sins (ver. 16)." Then it was directed that +the live goat should be brought: "And Aaron shall lay both his hands +upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities +of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their +sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by +the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon +him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited; and he shall let go +the goat in the wilderness." Ver. 21, 22. By this double ceremonial was +signified, first, that Christ should _expiate_ our sins by his own +blood; secondly, that through this expiation he should _bear_ them in +his own person, and thus _remove_ them far away from us. The Jewish high +priest entered year by year through the earthly tabernacle into God's +presence with the blood of the sin-offering, that he might sprinkle it +before the mercy-seat. But Christ, our great High Priest, has entered +"by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands" into +heaven itself, to present his own blood before the throne of God as a +perfect propitiation for our sins. Heb 9:11, 12, 24. + +The striking ceremonial connected with the scape-goat on the great day +of atonement (Lev. chap. 16) is never to be interpreted separately, but +always in connection with the other goat, which was slain as a +sin-offering, and its blood carried within the vail into the most holy +place. The inadequacy of the type made it necessary that _two_ goats +should be used in this _one_ service, one to represent the expiation of +the people's sin through the sprinkling of its blood; the other, the +vicarious bearing and taking away of their sin. Whatever difficulties +are connected with the interpretation of the Hebrew word rendered in our +version "for a scape-goat" (Hebrew, _la-azazel_), the typical meaning of +the transaction is clear, and it has its fulfilment only in Christ, who +has _expiated_, and so _taken away_, the sin of the world. + +(4.) In the case of the more solemn sacrifices--the sin-offerings for +the high-priest and for the congregation (Lev. 4:1-21; chap. 16)--the +expiatory blood was carried into the sanctuary to be presented before +God. But the victim was in all cases slain without the sanctuary; and +when its blood was carried into the sanctuary, its body typically +bearing the curse of the violated law, was burned without the camp. In +correspondence with this, the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that +"Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, +suffered without the gate." Heb. 13:11, 12. He suffered "without the +gate" in a two-fold sense. As a condemned malefactor, he was thrust out +of the holy city, which answered to the ancient Israelitish camp, and +there he expiated on the cross the sin of the world. He also suffered +"without the gate" of the true holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, which +he left that he might tabernacle among men and die for their redemption; +and having accomplished this work, he went "by his own blood" into the +heavenly holy of holies, there to make intercession for us. + +The dignity and sacredness of these solemn sin-offerings made it +necessary that a clean place should be selected for the burning of the +flesh; but inasmuch as they were typically laden with the curse of sin, +they were carried without the precincts of the camp where God dwelt, and +there consumed, where the ashes of all the bloody offerings were poured +out. Lev. 4:11, 12, 21; 16:27. The man, moreover, who performed the +service of burning the sin-offering on the day of atonement, having been +typically defiled by contact with it, was required to wash his clothes +and bathe his flesh in water before coming into the camp. Lev. 16:28. In +the case of the scape-goat, "the wilderness," the "land not inhabited," +answered to the place without the camp where the sin-offering was +burned; and the man that led him away was, in like manner, required to +wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water before reentering the +camp. Lev. 16:26. + +17. The _distinctions between clean and unclean_ in respect to articles +of food and various other particulars, had also a typical meaning. That +the regulations in regard to these matters were promotive of physical +purity and health is undoubtedly true; yet we are not to consider them +as simply a sanitary code. They reached to the inner man. Through these +physical distinctions of clean and unclean God educated the people to an +apprehension of the difference between moral purity and impurity. + +The Levitical view of sickness and every bodily infirmity is deep and +fundamental. All is referred to sin as the primal cause. The sufferer +from leprosy and various other infirmities (Lev. chaps. 12-15) is +regarded not as a sinner above other men (Luke 13:1-5), but yet as +suffering in the character of a sinner. Hence the ceremonial uncleanness +of such persons, and the expiatory offerings required in the case of +those who have been healed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY. + + +1. The scriptural idea of prophecy is widely removed from that of human +foresight and presentiment. It is that of _a revelation made by the Holy +Spirit respecting the future_, always in the interest of God's kingdom. +It is no part of the plan of prophecy to gratify vain curiosity +respecting "the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his +own power." Acts 1:7. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your +God"--this is its key-note. In its form it is carefully adapted to this +great end. Its notices of the future are interwoven with exhortations +and admonitions, encouragements and warnings, promises and threatenings. +These constitute, indeed, the great bulk of the prophetical writings +that have come down to us. The subject of the interpretation of prophecy +may be conveniently considered under the following heads: prophecies +relating to the near future; prophecies relating to the last days; the +question of double sense; the question of literal and figurative +meaning. + + +I. PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE NEAR FUTURE. + +2. The Bible contains many prophecies relating to the comparatively near +future. These are all _specific_ in their character, and have a _single_ +exhaustive fulfilment. Examples are: the prediction to Noah of the +approaching deluge, and to Abraham of the bondage of his posterity in a +strange land; the disclosure through Pharaoh's dreams of the coming +famine in Egypt; Joseph's announcement of the future deliverance of +Israel from Egypt; the token given to Moses that God had sent him: "When +thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon +this mountain" (Exod. 3:12); God's threatened judgments upon the house +of Eli with the accompanying sign (1 Sam. 2:34); the warning that David +received by Urim and Thummim of Saul's approach to destroy him (1 Sam. +23:9-12); the prediction that Josiah should defile Jeroboam's altar at +Bethel with men's bones (1 Kings 13:2); etc. Minute events, in +themselves unimportant, sometimes come within the sphere of prophetic +revelation, but always in connection with and subserviency to important +transactions affecting the interests of God's people. Thus when Samuel +anointed Saul as the future king of Israel, he foretold to him the +incidents of his journey homeward (1 Sam. 10:2-7). But this was in order +that Saul might be assured of Samuel's prophetic office, and +consequently of the divine sanction to the transaction. An event in the +immediate future is frequently predicted as a pledge that some prophecy +of more distant fulfilment shall be accomplished. Thus the death of +Eli's two sons in one day was to be a token of the fulfilment of all the +evils threatened against his house. The same end may be accomplished by +a miraculous sign. 1 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 20:9, 11. Prophecies of the +kind now under consideration are in general very plain and simple, and +their recorded fulfilment is to us a sufficient interpreter of their +meaning. + + +II. PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE LAST DAYS. + +3. In Old Testament usage, "the last days," or "the latter days" ("in +the latter years," Ezek. 38:8) denote not simply the distant future, but +that future as including the kingdom of the Messiah, which extends to +the consummation of all things Gen. 49:1; Numb. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; +31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer 23:20; 30:24; 48:47; 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. +10:14; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 4:1. We are not, however, to conceive of these +"last days" as totally separated from the preceding ages. In the plan of +God the history of the world constitutes a whole, all the parts of which +are closely connected. Hence the prophecies relating to the latter days +include, more or less distinctly, the events which precede them, and +prepare the way for them. In such prophecies we are not to look for +exhaustive details. They give, as a rule, only general views relating to +the conflicts of God's people and their final triumph. Where minute +incidents are introduced (Psa. 22:18; 69:21; Zech. 9:9; 11:13) it is +apparently for the purpose of identifying to future generations the +Messiah as their main subject. See below, No. 9. + + Prophecies relating to the days of the Messiah are introduced in + other more indefinite ways, thus: "Behold the days come" (Jer. + 23:5; 31:31; etc.): "And it shall come to pass afterward" (Joel + 2:28); "In that day" (Isa. 4:2, Jer. 30:8; Ezek. 39:11; Amos + 9:11, and elsewhere); or they are sufficiently indicated by + their contents, as Isa. chaps. 40-66. + +These prophecies naturally fall into two classes: those in which the +_succession of events_ is distinctly indicated, and those which give +only _general views_ of the future, without any clear order of +succession. + +4. To the first and smaller class belong especially certain of Daniel's +prophecies. The four great monarchies, for example, that are to bear +rule over the earth are symbolized first by a great image (Dan. chap. +2), then by four beasts rising out of the sea (Dan. chap. 7). Of these +monarchies the fourth, represented by the legs of iron and feet part of +iron and part of clay (Dan. 2:33), and by the fourth beast with his ten +horns (Dan. 7:7), belongs in part to the latter days of the Messiah. + + The fourth kingdom, represented by the "legs of iron and feet + part of iron and part of clay," is at the beginning "strong as + iron" (chap. 2:40); afterwards it is "partly strong and partly + broken" (ver. 42); it is, moreover, the last great monarchy that + oppresses the world. All these characters point to the Roman + empire, first in its pagan, afterwards in its papal form. From + the nature of the symbol, the prophet sees the _whole_ image + standing till it is smitten in its feet of iron and clay. This + does not mean that the four monarchies are contemporaneous, but + that they constitute one great system of oppression, in which + the power passes successively down from the head to the feet. It + is in its feet that the stone smites it, for it is in this its + last form that the kingdom set up by the God of heaven shall + encounter and destroy it. The toes, part of iron and part of + clay, well represent the kingdoms that grew up out of the old + Roman empire, with an intermixture of the northern nations. + These could never unite into a compact whole, like the original + pagan empire, yet they constituted a continuation of it in a + divided form. + + That the fourth beast again (chap. 7:7-14, 19-28) represents the + same Roman empire appears from the following considerations: + (1.) Both here and in the second chapter a succession of four + great monarchies is represented, of which the first three are + admitted to have been universal. It is altogether reasonable, + therefore, to look for a universal empire in the fourth; but + that empire can be no other than the Roman. (2.) The fourth + beast is represented as the strongest and most terrible of them + all, which cannot apply to any other than the Roman power. (3.) + All its characters agree with those of the Roman empire, and + cannot be made to agree with those of any other power. Those who + understand by the little horn of the fourth beast Antiochus + Epiphanes, must consider the fourth beast as representing the + Syrian monarchy, or perhaps Syria and Egypt. But these belong to + the _third_ beast. They are two of the four divisions into which + his empire was broken, and which have just been represented by + the four heads and four wings of the leopard. (4.) No + persecuting power comes after this beast. Its dominion is + destroyed by that of the Messiah, who takes the kingdom and + holds it for ever. This can apply only to the Roman power as + perpetuated in its papal form in the ten horns, which correspond + to the ten toes of the image. Chap. 2:41-43. All the characters + of the little horn agree with those of the papal power; and + considering the vast influence which this has wielded, and still + wields, over God's church, we should naturally expect that it + would be included in a comprehensive view like this of the + world's history. + + The prophecies of the book of Revelation relative to the great + red dragon--pagan Rome (chap. 12), the two beasts that succeeded + to his seat and power (chap. 13), and (what is identical with + these two beasts) the woman riding upon a scarlet-colored beast + (chap. 17), are so intimately related to the fourth kingdom of + Daniel, that whatever view be taken of this kingdom must apply + to them also. In these prophetic symbols we have again all the + characters of pagan Rome as continued in papal Rome. Chap. 32, + No. 4. To the class of prophecies now under consideration belong + also, according to the most probable principle of + interpretation, those of the seven seals, the seven trumpets + included under the last seal, and the seven vials of the last + trumpet (Rev. 6:1 _seq._); for in these the succession of events + is distinctly marked. + + The _numbers_ of the books of Daniel and Revelation, + particularly the "time and times and dividing of time"--three + years and a half--during which the little horn is to have + dominion (Dan. 7:25), and (what is equivalent to this number) + the "forty-and-two months" during which the Gentiles are to + tread down the holy city (Rev. 11:2), and the beast that + succeeds to the dragon is to have power (Rev. 13:5); or in days, + the thousand two hundred and threescore days of the two + witnesses (Rev. 11:3), and of the woman's sojourn in the + wilderness (Rev. 12:6), have furnished for centuries matter of + curious speculation and computation, upon the assumption that a + day here represents a year (Chap. 35, No. 9); but hitherto + history has not verified the results as to time which the + students of these prophecies have given. The failure of their + computations might have been anticipated. It seems to be the + plan of God to throw such a vail over even exact dates of + prophecy, that their place in a chronological chart of history + cannot be accurately marked out beforehand. Either the time + _from_ which the reckoning is to proceed, or the symbolism of + the dates, or the place which the whole series holds in relation + to other prophecies, is left in obscurity. The experience of + those who have busied themselves with the computation of these + dates teaches, not that we should wholly withdraw ourselves from + inquiries of this kind, but that to pursue them in a confident + and dogmatic spirit, as if we had been admitted to the + council-chamber of heaven, and had there learned the exact day + and hour on which the papal throne must fall, or our Lord + reappear on earth, is a mark, not of wisdom, but of weakness and + folly. + +5. In the _second_ and larger class of prophecies relating to the last +days, the element of time, and especially that of succession in time, is +either wholly wanting, or is indicated in only a vague and general way. + + Examples of this class of prophecies are almost innumerable. A + remarkable specimen is found in the fourth chapter of Isaiah, + viewed in connection with the preceding context. The prophet's + position is that of his own day. He writes at a time when heavy + calamities are impending over his countrymen. With these + calamities he begins: "Behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth + take away from Judah and Jerusalem the stay and the staff, the + whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty + man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the + prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the + honorable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, + and the eloquent orator." Chap. 3:1-3. So he proceeds, in terms + which must apply primarily to the Babylonish captivity, to the + end of the third chapter, which closes with the terrible + denunciation: "Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty + men in war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she, being + desolate, shall sit upon the ground" (ver. 25, 26). To complete + the picture of desolation, it is added in the beginning of the + fourth chapter: "And in that day seven women shall take hold of + one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own + apparel: only let us be called by thy name to take away our + reproach." The obvious meaning of this last threatening is, that + the mass of the men shall perish in war, so that the surviving + women cannot find husbands. Seven of them, therefore, ask of one + man the privilege of being called each his wife, while they + offer to forego all the usual advantages of that relation. Thus + far the prophet proceeds in a strain of threatening. But now, + with the single formula, "in that day," there is a sudden + transition to promise, and promise of such a character that it + must cover the whole future period of the Messiah's kingdom: "In + that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, + and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for + them that are escaped of Israel" (chap. 4:2); and so he goes on + to describe the glory of the latter days, when the Lord, having + "purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the + spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning," "will create + upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her + assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a + flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a + defence" (ver. 4, 5). Here we have, in a certain sense, an + indication of time, but it is wholly indefinite. No date is + given for the fulfilment of the prophecy, nor any exact + chronological order of succession. The prophet began with the + judgments that impended over his countrymen. He ends with the + full glory of the Messiah's reign, without any indication of the + intervening interval of time. + + Another striking example is furnished by the eleventh chapter of + Isaiah in connection with the preceding context. The tenth + chapter of Isaiah contains an account of the Assyrian monarch's + progress through the land of Judea, ending with a figurative + account of his overthrow: "Behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, + shall lop the bough with terror; and the high ones of stature + shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And he + shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon + shall fall by a mighty one" (ver. 33, 34). Immediately upon this + prediction, and with reference to the Assyrian bough and the + thickets of Lebanon--Sennacherib with his host--that have been + hewn down, follows a prophecy of the Messiah's advent: "And + there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a + branch shall grow out of his roots." Chap. 11:1. The prophet + represents these two events, the overthrow of the Assyrian and + the advent of the Messiah, as so connected that the latter + follows as a natural sequel to the former, passing over in + silence the many intervening centuries. He represents, again, + the Messiah's kingdom as one of continuous victorious progress, + till "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as + the waters cover the sea," without pausing to indicate any + intervening period of darkness and depression. + + Still a third pure specimen of this form of prophecy occurs in + the fifty-ninth and sixtieth chapters of Isaiah. The former of + these two chapters is occupied with a description in very dark + lines of the sins of God's covenant people (ver. 1-15), and of + God's interposition in awful majesty to vindicate his own cause + (ver. 16-21). Immediately upon this follows, in the sixtieth + chapter, a vision of the latter-day glory that has no parallel + in the Old Testament for brightness, extending down to the full + establishment of the millennial age. But _when_ shall these + things be? How long shall the present age of iniquity endure? + And when Jehovah appears to save the cause of truth and + righteousness, shall it be by a single interposition or a series + of interpositions? If by the latter, how widely shall they be + separated, and what dark scenes shall intervene? When shall the + promised Redeemer appear, and how long shall his work be in + progress before that blessed consummation contained in the + promise: "Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon + withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, + and the days of thy mourning shall be ended?" On all these + points which involve the element of time the prophecy maintains + a majestic silence. The closing promise indeed is: "I the Lord + will hasten it in his time;" but with the Lord one day is as a + thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The time for + the consummation of God's plan to rescue this apostate world + from the dominion of Satan--how many slowly revolving centuries + may it include, and what fierce and bloody assaults of the + adversary, compelling God's suffering people to cry out: "O + Lord, how long!" + + The whole of the prophecy of Joel belongs to the class now under + consideration. It begins with impending judgments, and closes + with the conflict and triumph of the last times: "Multitudes, + multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is + near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be + darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord + also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; + and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord shall be + the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of + Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in + Zion, my holy mountain; then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there + shall no strangers pass through her any more." Chap. 3:14-17. + + Many more examples might be adduced from the other prophets, but + the above will be sufficient. + +6. But let no one infer, from this absence of dates and of the exact +succession of events, that the view which the prophet gives of the +future is loose and confused. Times and successions belong rather to the +outward machinery of God's providential government. They are, so to +speak, the wheels and bands and shafts which connect the different +movements. But the _perpetual living power_ that dwells in the church is +above all time and succession. In this lies the guarantee of her final +triumph, and with this the prophets are mainly occupied. They take the +deepest view of the progress of God's kingdom, for they unfold to our +view the indestructible divine life and power which animate it +throughout, and which are steadily bearing it onward towards its final +destiny--victory complete and eternal over all the powers of darkness. +If we examine more particularly the manner in which the prophets of the +Old Testament represent the future of the kingdom of heaven, we shall +find that it has its foundation in the _unity_ of the plan of +redemption, the _end_ towards which it is tending, the _indications_ of +that end which are perpetually given in its progress, and the fact that +_the end itself is the chief object of interest_ in prophetic vision. + +(1.) The _unity_ of the plan of redemption lies not in its times and +seasons, but in the higher connections of cause and effect, which, under +God's supernatural presence and agency, bind the whole together +laterally, so to speak, as well as backward and forward. It may be +compared to the unity of a web, in which each thread of the warp extends +from its beginning to its end, and each thread of the woof from one +margin to the other; so that every part of the texture is connected with +every other part without respect to nearness or distance. So in the plan +of redemption, events thousands of years apart and taking place in +regions thousands of miles from each other, are as really connected as +if they belonged to the same year and country. And since they are thus +connected in God's plan, it is natural that prophecy should exhibit them +in this connection, passing over, it may be, many centuries in silence; +for it is the _salient points_ of the church's future history, the great +crises in the process of her development, that the spirit of inspiration +will naturally bring to view. Prophecy relating to the last times is not +a _map_, in which the distance from one point to another, with all the +intervening mountains, rivers, and towns, is accurately marked; but +rather a _prospective view_, which exhibits only the great features of +the region that lies before the traveller. He sees far off in the +horizon the goodly mountains rising one behind another, and bathed in +the pure light of heaven, with no ability to discern, much less to +measure, the intervening valleys and plains. Nay more, mountain ranges +that are widely separated may appear to his eye as one and indivisible. + +(2.) The plan of redemption has not only complete unity, but _continual +progress towards a high end_. It may be compared to a majestic river, +fed by thousands of perennial springs, that cannot stay a moment in its +course towards the ocean. Its path is not always straight, but it is +always onward. Its current is not always rapid and broken, for it is not +always obstructed. Sometimes, like the Arar described by Caesar, it winds +through level plains with a current so gentle and noiseless, that the +eye cannot discern its direction. Then it plunges over some Niagara, +roaring, boiling, and foaming, and shaking the very earth with its +mighty cataracts. But it _has_ all the power in the level meadows that +it _manifests_ on the fearful brink of the precipice. To arrest its +current in one place is as impossible as in the other. Resistance cannot +overcome its strength, but only bring it to view. Let any number of +Titans build up ever so high a wall across the level meadow, and the +stream, every particle of which is pressed forward by an inward force, +will quietly rise above their vain rampart, and then it will begin to +thunder. Since then God's kingdom--this river of God that is full of +water--is continually tending towards a high end, and since every event +of his providence contributes something towards its progress, what +wonder if we find in prophecy events separated by many centuries of time +immediately connected as cause and effect? Does the prophet predict the +overthrow of Sennacherib's army, or the coming desolation of Jerusalem +by the Chaldean armies; he connects these calamities immediately with +the advent of Christ, for this is the end towards which they look. +Desolating judgments prepare the way for the King of glory to appear. +After the storm of thunder and hail there follows a serene light, "as +the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without +clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining +after rain." The mind of the inspired bard hastens onward towards the +glorious _end_ of God's judgments, without pausing to give us, what it +is not necessary that we should know, the chronological distance of that +end. + +(3.) The progress of God's kingdom gives continual _indications of the +end_ towards which it is tending. The first great interposition of God +in behalf of Israel contained in itself a pledge of all needful help for +the future, and thus of a final triumph in the future; for it was a +manifestation of both God's absolute power to save his people, and his +absolute purpose to save them. The full idea embodied in this +interposition is summed up in the closing words of their triumphal song +on the shore of the Red sea: "_The Lord shall reign for ever and ever_." +What was true of this deliverance was true of every subsequent +deliverance. In each of them separately, and in the whole of them +collectively, lay the promise: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of +Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One +of Israel. Behold I will make thee [make thee to be] a new sharp +threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and +beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, +and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter +them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy +One of Israel." Isa. 41:14-16. + +The _chastisements_, moreover, which God inflicted on the covenant +people through the temporary ascendency of their enemies, and in other +ways, gave in like manner indications of a final triumph of the cause of +truth and righteousness. However great their severity, they were always +so ordered that God's people were _never destroyed, but always purified_ +by their power, and thus the way was prepared for their future +enlargement. This purifying tendency the divinely illumined eye of the +Hebrew prophet clearly discerned. What wonder, then, that he should have +constantly connected with present or impending judgments glorious +promises respecting the future. The destruction of Sennacherib's army by +the destroying angel, and afterwards of Jerusalem itself by the Chaldean +armies--the former event so joyous in its outward form, the latter so +sad--these were both alike to the prophet's vision parts of the +preparation through which God was carrying his people for the future +glory and blessedness of the latter days. He accordingly connected both +with bright visions of the future, without pausing to notice the +intervening centuries, respecting the duration of which he had no +commission to speak. + +(4.) _The end itself_ towards which the plan of redemption tends _is the +chief object of interest_ in prophetic representation. To nourish the +faith and hope of the church, to invigorate her in her present struggles +by the assurance of final victory--this, and not the gratification of a +prurient curiosity respecting the exact dates of "times and seasons," is +the main design of prophecy. That it has other subordinate ends need not +be denied. It challenges for itself the attribute of omniscience, and +its fulfilment is, to those who live after it, a proof of the validity +of its claim. But to become absorbed in calculations beforehand +respecting its dates is to elevate the subordinate and circumstantial in +prophecy to the place of the essential. The bright _end_ of the present +conflict with the powers of darkness is what prophetic vision is +continually presenting for our encouragement. To those who love God, +this is the point of chief interest; and accordingly the prophets make +it, not the exact number of years that is to elapse before the final +consummation with the details of their history, the prominent point. +Some great crises in the church's history are indicated so clearly that +they who can discern "the signs of the times" may understand beforehand +that they are near. The general expectation of the Messiah's advent at +the time when he actually appeared had its foundation in a sober +comparison of the prophecies with the existing condition of the covenant +people. The present universal belief among Christians that the time for +the final overthrow of the triple league between Satan, wicked kings, +and wicked priests for the suppression of the gospel is at hand rests, +we doubt not, on the same solid ground. But farther than this we cannot +go. We cannot say that it shall be in such a year of the present +century, or even in the century, in harmony with the true spirit of +prophecy. It is enough for us to know that God "will hasten it in his +time"--that the victory is certain, and that every believer from Abel to +the trump of the archangel shall have his share in it. + + +III. THE QUESTION OF DOUBLE SENSE. + +7. The so-called _double sense_ of Scripture, especially of prophecy, +concerning which there has been so much discussion among biblical +writers, must be distinguished from the double sense of pure allegory, +which all admit. In allegory, the first or literal meaning is only a +cover for the higher spiritual sense, which alone is of importance. That +we may have a true example of double sense, the obvious literal meaning +must have its own proper significance, irrespective of the higher sense +belonging to it, and this higher sense must be intended by the Spirit of +inspiration. The question now to be considered is: Do such examples +occur in Scripture, by whatever term we may choose to designate them? + + To avoid logomachy, arising from the use of the same phrase in + different senses, we prefer the expression _literal_ and + _typical sense_. + +8. If, as has been shown above (chap. 37, No. 4), examples of _historic +types_ are found in the Old Testament, these contain a twofold sense. +The priesthood of Melchizedek and the transactions between him and +Abraham were true historic realities, having their own proper office and +meaning. Yet the word of inspiration teaches us that the circumstances +connected with Melchizedek's priesthood and his meeting with Abraham +were intended by God to shadow forth the higher priesthood of +Melchizedek's great Antitype. He brought forth bread and wine, the very +symbols that should afterwards represent Christ crucified as our +spiritual food and drink, blessed him that had the promises, and +received at his hand tithes of all (Gen. 14:18-20), thus exercising the +prerogatives of one higher than Abraham, and consequently higher than +all his posterity. Heb. 7:4-10. In the intention of the Holy Ghost, the +higher typical meaning lay in this transaction from the beginning, but +it was not revealed to the apprehension of believers till the Christian +dispensation had begun. So also the rest of the covenant people in the +land of Canaan is represented in the New Testament as typical of the +true heavenly rest. Heb. 4:7-11. Other examples might be adduced, but +these will serve as an illustration of the principle now under +consideration. + +9. The most striking examples of a literal covering a typical meaning +are furnished by the so-called _Messianic psalms_, a part of which +describe the victories and universal dominion of a mighty King whom +Jehovah himself establishes on Zion to reign there for ever (Psalms 2, +45, 72, 110, etc.); another part, the deep afflictions of a mighty +Sufferer and his subsequent deliverance, which has for its result the +conversion of all nations to the service of Jehovah. Psalms 22, 40, 69, +109, etc. That such psalms as the second and seventy-second, the +twenty-second, fortieth, and sixty-ninth (not to mention others), have a +true reference to Christ's person and work, cannot be denied without +imputing either error or fraud to the writers of the New Testament. Nay +more, our Lord himself said, after his resurrection: "These are the +words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things +must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the +prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44); whence we +learn that it was our Lord's custom to refer to the psalms as containing +prophecies of himself. If the psalms, when legitimately interpreted, +contain no such prophecies, then, when the writers of the New Testament +quoted them as referring to Christ, they either believed that they were +making a true application of them according to the mind of the Holy +Spirit, or they simply accommodated themselves to what they knew to be +the groundless prejudices of the age. Upon the former supposition they +were in error; upon the latter, they were guilty of fraud. Such is the +dishonor which the modern principles of rationalism put upon the word of +God. In the interpretation of these psalms, then, we must assume as a +fundamental truth that they contain a true reference to Christ. The only +question is, whether they contain a lower reference also. + +(1.) One class of interpreters understand these psalms simply of Christ; +that is, they assume that the writer speaks wholly in the name of +Christ, without reference to himself or any merely human personage. +There are psalms--the hundred and tenth, for example--that may be very +well explained in this way. The opening words of that psalm--"The Lord +said unto my lord"--seem to exclude David as the subject, and it is +difficult to see in what sense David could speak of himself as made by a +divine oath "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (ver. 4). +But in the attempt to carry this principle consistently through all the +Messianic psalms, one meets with serious difficulties. They contain, at +least some of them, historic allusions of a character so marked and +circumstantial that it is hard to believe that the writer had not in +view his own personal situation. In some of them, moreover, the writer +makes confession to God of his sins. Psa. 40:12; 69:5. + + They who apply these psalms exclusively to Christ assume that + these confessions of sin are made in a _vicarious_ way, the + Messiah assuming the character of a sinner because "the Lord + hath laid on him the iniquities of us all." Isa. 53:6. But the + form of these confessions forbids such an interpretation. When + the psalmist says: "Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me;" "O + God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from + thee," we cannot understand such language of any thing else than + personal sinfulness. It is true that the Messiah bore our + iniquities, and that God "made him to be sin for us, who knew no + sin;" but the Saviour nowhere speaks or can speak of "mine + iniquities," "my foolishness," and "my sins." + +(2.) According to another class of interpreters, the subject of these +psalms, particularly of those which describe the Messiah as a sufferer, +is an _ideal personage_, namely, the congregation of the righteous +considered not separately from Christ, but in Christ their head; or, +which amounts to the same thing, Christ considered, not in his simple +personality apart from the church, but Christ with his body the church. +The contents of these psalms are then applied, _according to their +nature_, to Christ alone, to believers alone who are his members, or to +Christ in the fullest sense and believers in a subordinate sense. Much +might be said in favor of this view; yet it labors under the difficulty +already indicated, that one cannot well read the psalms in question, +with their marked historic allusions, without the conviction that the +author had in view--not indirectly, but immediately--his own personal +situation. + +(3.) There remains a third, and perhaps preferable view, which may be +called the _typical view_, maintained, as is well known, by Melanchthon, +Calvin, and many later expositors. This begins with the well-established +principle that David (in a less eminent degree his successors also on +the throne, so far as they were true to their office) was a +divinely-constituted type of the Messiah, not only in his office as the +earthly head of God's kingdom, but in the events of his history also; +that the psalms in question, whether they describe his victorious might +or his deep suffering at the hand of his enemies, had a true historic +origin; that their first and immediate reference was to the writer's own +situation and the events which befell him; but that, under the guidance +of the Holy Spirit, he was carried beyond himself to describe the office +and history of the Messiah; that consequently these psalms have a lower +fulfilment in David the type (the seventy-second in Solomon), and a +higher in Christ the Antitype. + + The second psalm, for example, which describes the vain + conspiracy of the heathen rulers against the Lord's anointed + king, and God's purpose to give him the uttermost ends of the + earth for his possession, may have had its occasion in the + combination of the surrounding heathen nations against David. In + the victorious might with which God endowed him, it had a lower + fulfilment; and this was, so to speak, the first sheaf of the + harvest of victories that was to follow. It was an earnest and + pledge of the complete fulfilment of the psalm in Christ, in + whom alone the promise made to David: "Thine house and thy + kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne + shall be established for ever" (2 Sam. 7:16), could have its + real accomplishment. Luke 1: 32, 33. + + The second class of psalms, of which the twenty-second is a + well-known example, may have had, in like manner, a true + historic origin. When the psalmist began with the exclamation: + "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" he may have had + immediate reference to his own distressed condition. But since + he was the divinely appointed head of the line of kings which + should end in Christ, and was thus in his office a type of + Christ, God had so ordered the circumstances of his history as + to shadow forth in them the sufferings and final triumph of the + Messiah. Writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he was + led, through these circumstances, to say many things which + applied to himself only in a lower and often figurative sense, + but which were appointed to have a complete fulfilment in Christ + his Antitype (Psa. 22:1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 18; 40:6-10; 69:4, + 7-9, 21; 109:1-20), and which point to Christ as the chief + subject of the prophecies. + + How far the psalmist understood this higher reference of his + words is a question difficult to be determined. With regard to + the sixteenth psalm, the apostle Peter tells us that David, + "being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to + him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he + would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this + before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was + not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption" (Acts + 2:30, 31); whence we infer that in penning this psalm David was + conscious of its higher application to Christ. The spirit of the + New Testament quotations from the psalms indicates that he had a + deeper insight into the prophetic meaning of his words than many + modern expositors are willing to admit. But however this may be, + the Spirit of inspiration had in view the fulfilment of these + psalms in Christ; and his intention, clearly revealed to us in + the New Testament, is our rule of interpretation. + +10. Different from the above literal and typical sense, yet closely +related to it in principle, is that of the _progressive fulfilment_ of +prophecy, which has a wide application in the interpretation of those +prophecies which relate to the last days. By the progressive fulfilment +of prophecy is meant, a fulfilment not exhaustively accomplished at one +particular era or crisis in the church's history, but successively from +age to age; a fulfilment repeated, it may be, many times, and ending +only with the final consummation of the Messiah's kingdom. An undeniable +example of such a prophecy is God's message by Isaiah to the covenant +people: "Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; +and see ye indeed, but perceive not," etc, with the threatened +desolation that should follow (chap. 6:9-13). This prophecy had a true +fulfilment in the ancient Jewish people before the Babylonish captivity. +For their blindness of mind and hardness of heart, they were given over +to the power of Nebuchadnezzar, who wasted their land, destroyed their +city and temple, and carried the remnant of the people into captivity. +But the same prophecy had, in both its parts, a more awful fulfilment in +the generation of Jews who rejected and crucified our Lord, and were +destroyed with their city and temple by the armies of Rome (Matt. 13:14, +15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:39-41; Acts 28:25-27; Rom. 11:8); and +its fulfilment is yet in progress. Joel's prophecy of the outpouring of +the Spirit in the last days upon all flesh, with the mighty accompanying +judgments (chap. 2: 28-32), and Amos' prediction of the raising up of +David's fallen tabernacle (chap. 9:11, 12), had both their _initial_ +fulfilment in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost +and the triumphs of the gospel that followed. Acts 2:16-21; 15:16, 17. +But the blessings which they promised were not exhausted in the +apostolic age. The church has had rich instalments of them, but richer +still are reserved for the future of millennial glory. A large part of +the prophecies of the Old Testament indicate in their very structure +that they are not to be understood of particular events, but of the +development of God's kingdom from age to age. The reader may take, as a +single example among many others, the prediction of Isaiah and Micah +concerning the establishment of the Lord's house in the last days in the +top of the mountains, the resort of all nations to it, and the universal +peace that shall follow. Isa. 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4. That particularism +which seeks for the fulfilment of every prophecy in some one specific +event of history must go widely astray in its interpretation of +Scripture. + + +IV. THE QUESTION OF LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE MEANING. + +11. On this question expositors are, as is well known, much divided; one +class adopting, as far as possible, the literal meaning of the prophetic +announcements, the other freely employing the principle of figurative +interpretation. A full discussion of the claims of these two methods of +interpretation, on which so many volumes have been written, would far +exceed the limits of the present work. All that can be done is, to +indicate some well-established principles which may help to guide the +biblical student in the study of prophecy. + +12. We begin by calling attention to the _representative use_ which the +Old Testament prophets make of the events of the _past history of +Israel_; that is, to their habit of representing the future under the +imagery of this history. When Israel journeyed from Egypt to Palestine +through the wilderness of Arabia, God dried up the tongue of the +Egyptian sea before the people, guided them miraculously by the cloudy +pillar, fed them with manna, made streams of water to burst forth from +the rock for their refreshment, and finally divided the waters of the +Jordan to give them a passage into the promised land. This primitive +history of Israel furnishes for the prophets who lived in later ages a +rich treasury of images which it would be absurd to interpret in a +literal way. + + Thus Isaiah, speaking of the future gathering together of the + outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah from the four + corners of the earth (chap. 11:11, 12), says: "And the Lord + shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with + his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river [the + Euphrates], and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make + men go over dry shod" (ver. 15). To suppose that the prophet + foretells a literal repetition of the miracles wrought upon the + Red sea and the Jordan is unnecessary and most improbable. The + meaning is, that God shall remove all obstacles which hinder the + return of his people to their own land, as he originally removed + all obstacles which opposed their entrance into it. This is, + indeed, the very idea of the following verse: "And there shall + be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, + from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came + up out of the land of Egypt." + + Again, the prophet foretells that in the latter day glory "the + Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and + upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining + of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a + defence." Isa. 4:5. Here "the figurative reference is to the + pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire in which the Lord went + before the Israelites in the wilderness, and to the glory which + rested upon the tabernacle." Henderson. God will give to his + church in the latter day that which the pillar of cloud and of + fire signified, his glorious presence and protection. A literal + repetition of the miracle is not to be thought of. + + Once more, God promises to his weary people, on their pilgrimage + to Zion, that "in the wilderness shall waters break out, and + streams in the desert" (Isa. 35:6, and often elsewhere), with + obvious allusion to the miraculous supplies of water furnished + to the Israelites in their journey through the Arabian desert to + the land of Canaan. The water here promised is the water of + life, and not literal fountains in the desert. Upon the same + principle are we to interpret the river that flows out from + under the threshold of the temple, and flows down eastward to + the Dead sea, growing broader and deeper in its course, and + imparting life to everything which comes within its influence. + Ezek. 47:1-12, and compare Psa. 46:4; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8. + +13. The same representative use is made by the prophets of the +_institutions of the Mosaic economy_. One of their offices was, to +foretell the extension of the true religion over all the earth; the +conversion of all nations to the faith of the covenant people, and their +peaceful subjection to Jehovah who reigned in Zion. _In what form_ +should this be done while the theocracy was yet in full force? The +disclosure of God's purpose to abolish this theocracy in the interest of +a simpler and more spiritual dispensation, which should know no +distinction between Jews and Gentiles, would have been a premature act. +It would, so far as we can judge, have led to much error and +misapprehension; and it must have had the effect of disparaging the +existing economy before the world was prepared to receive any thing +better in its place. God, therefore, allowed his prophets to portray the +glories of the latter day, when all nations should come to the knowledge +and obedience of the truth, _under the forms of the Jewish +dispensation_, with its temple, sacrifices, and solemn festivals. + +A striking example is the bright portraiture of two contemporary +prophets: "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain +of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the +mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people [Hebrew +_peoples_, that is, as Isaiah, _all the nations_] shall flow unto it. +And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the +mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will +teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall +go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall +judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they +shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into +pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither +shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his +vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the +mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." Micah 4:1-4, compared with +Isa. 2:2-4. The temple at Jerusalem, with its altar and priesthood, was +the central point of the old theocracy. There all the sacrifices were to +be offered, there was the seat of royal authority, and consequently of +public justice, and thither all the males among the people were required +to repair three times a year at the great national festivals. Deut. +16:16. A Jew could conceive of the conversion of all nations only in the +form of their subjecting themselves to the theocracy, and coming up to +Jerusalem for worship and the administration of justice. Accordingly the +Spirit of prophecy here represents the mountain of the Lord's house as +"established in the top of the mountains," a conspicuous object to all +nations, who resort thither for worship, submit themselves to the +authority of the great king who reigns there, and thus have universal +peace and happiness. To insist on the literal interpretation of these +words is contrary to the general analogy of prophecy. It is an attempt +to bring back the outward sensuous form of the kingdom of heaven which +the gospel dispensation has abolished. + +There is another celebrated passage in Zechariah (14:16-21) which is +intensely Jewish in its costume. After describing the judgments of God +upon the nations that have fought against Jerusalem, the prophet goes on +to say: "And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all +the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to +year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of +tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up, of all the +families of the earth, unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of +hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go +not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, +wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the +feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the +punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of +tabernacles. In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, +HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like +the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah +shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts; and all they that sacrifice +shall come and take of them and seethe therein: and in that day there +shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts." The +prophet's care to include "all the families of the earth" in this +ordinance is very noticeable. Whatever nation refuses to observe it +shall have no rain. But, recollecting that for Egypt this can be no +punishment, he appoints for that country the plague instead of the +absence of rain. Is it so, then, that in the last days all the families +of the earth are to go up year by year to worship at Jerusalem? If so, +they are to _sacrifice_ also; for the prophecy is a homogeneous whole, +of which, if the beginning is to be understood literally, so is the end +also. The reference is to the _peace-offerings_ of the people, on which, +after certain prescribed portions had been burned on the altar, the +offerer feasted with his friends; and a special provision is made for +the multitude of these sacrifices. "Every pot in Judah and Jerusalem," +as well as "the pots in the Lord's house," "shall be holiness unto the +Lord of hosts," that it may be used for boiling the flesh of the +peace-offerings, precisely as we find done in the days of Eli. 1 Sam. +2:13-16. But all sacrifices are done away for ever in Christ. Heb. +10:10-18. This part of the prophecy must clearly be understood +figuratively, and therefore the whole. The future reception of the true +religion by all nations is foretold under the symbols of the Mosaic +economy, with its ritual, its yearly feasts, and its central place of +worship. For this principle of interpretation we have the warrant of the +New Testament. Did the law of Moses prescribe a literal priesthood with +literal sacrifices; believers, under the new dispensation, are a +spiritual priesthood, presenting their bodies as "living sacrifices." +Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 2:5. Did the Mosaic economy have a central metropolis, +a literal Zion, whither all the tribes went up; believers in Christ have +come to the spiritual "Mount Zion" which this shadowed forth, where the +great Antitype of David reigns, that all nations may resort to him, and +he may teach them his laws. + +Upon the same principle, as well as for other very obvious reasons (see +chaps. 42:15-20; 45:1-8; 47:1-12, and the whole of chap. 48), Ezekiel's +minute description of a New Jerusalem, with its territory, its temple, +and its Jewish appointments (chaps. 40-48), is to be understood not +literally but figuratively. This temple has also its Levitical +priesthood, its altar, and its sacrifices (chap. 43:13-27), all which +are done away in Christ. There are other passages kindred to the above +which it is not necessary to consider separately, as they all come under +the same general principle of interpretation. + +14. In the classes of prophecies that have been considered, the +principle of figurative interpretation can be maintained upon solid +grounds. But it would be wrong to press it as of universal and exclusive +application. Where no reasons to the contrary exist, the literal +interpretation, as the most natural and obvious, deserves the +preference. To draw the limits between the literal and the figurative in +prophecy is difficult, and in some cases impossible. In this respect it +has pleased the wisdom of God that a vail should rest on some +unfulfilled predictions which his own hand alone has power to remove. +There are two questions, especially, respecting which interpreters have +long been divided, and will probably continue to be divided, till God +himself shall decide them. The first is that of the _literal +restoration_ of the Jews to the promised land; the second, that of _our +Lord's personal reign on earth_ during the promised age of millennial +glory. To enter upon the full discussion of either would require a +volume. We must dismiss both with some brief hints. + +15. The original promise to Abraham included the grant of the land of +Canaan to him and his seed "for an everlasting possession." Gen. 12:7; +13:15; 15:18; 17:8; 26:3; 28:13. It is expressed in the plainest terms, +the boundaries of the promised territory are defined, and the nations +inhabiting it enumerated (Gen. 15:18-21); in a word, every thing +indicates the literal as the true interpretation. The remarkable words +of the Saviour: "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall +be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden +down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" +(Luke 21:24), have had a literal fulfilment in the awful judgments which +they foretell; and it seems reasonable to believe that the promise +implied in the last clause, "_until the times of the Gentiles be +fulfilled_" shall have a literal fulfilment also in their repossession +of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The wonderful preservation of the Jewish +nation through so many centuries of dispersion points in the same +direction. All these things, taken in connection with the numerous and +very explicit prophecies of their captivity and dispersion for their +sins, and their subsequent restoration upon repentance (Lev. chap. 26; +Deut. chaps, 28-30: 1 Kings 8:46-50; Isa. chaps. 6, 11, 66; Jer. chaps. +30, 31; Ezek. chaps. 36-39; Hosea 1:10, 11; Joel. chap. 3; Amos chap. 9; +Micah 7:8-20; Zeph. 3:8-20), seem to warrant the expectation of a +literal fulfilment hereafter of the promise made to Abraham that his +seed should inherit the land of Canaan for ever. + +16. That Christ will come again in glory to raise the dead, change the +living, and judge all nations, is a fundamental article of the Christian +faith. But the doctrine "that the fleshly and sublunary state is not to +terminate with the coming of Christ, but to be then set up in a new +form; when, with his glorified saints, the Redeemer will reign in person +on the throne of David at Jerusalem for a thousand years, over a world +of men yet in the flesh, eating and drinking, planting and building, +marrying and giving in marriage, under this mysterious sway" (Brown on +the Second Advent, who correctly states the fundamental principle of the +system), cannot lay claim to an irrefragable basis of scriptural +teaching. The arguments relied on by its advocates are drawn in part +from the very passages that have been considered above (Micah 4:1-4; +Zech. 14:16-21). How little support the theory derives from these +passages, when fairly interpreted, we have seen. Nor is it favored by +the references to our Lord's second coming in the gospels and epistles, +for they clearly connect it with the final consummation of all things. + +Our Saviour says: "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the +graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done +good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto +the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29. He plainly represents +these two resurrections as simultaneous; nor is there in the record of +his words any hint of a partial resurrection ages before the reign of +death in this world shall close. The resurrection "_at the last trump_" +to which the apostle Paul refers (1 Cor. chap. 15; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 +Thess. 1:7-10) is universal. It expressly includes all the dead in +Christ and the change of all Christ's living disciples. If nothing is +said of the resurrection of the wicked, it is because the apostle has in +mind only the "resurrection of life," and has no occasion to speak of +the simultaneous "resurrection of damnation" which the Saviour himself +connects with it. This resurrection at the last trump is also the +annihilation of the reign of death; for when it happens, "then shall be +brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in +victory." 1 Cor. 15:54. But "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is +death," and "then cometh the end." 1 Cor. 15:24-26. + +The Saviour teaches, moreover, that his personal presence on earth is +inconsistent with the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. "It is expedient +for you that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not come +unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." John 16:7. It is +expedient, doubtless, because the dispensation of the Spirit is better +adapted to our present state of flesh and blood than his personal +presence could be. This dispensation of the Spirit must, from the nature +of the case, be continued in its full force throughout the millennial +era, when the generations of men will succeed each other as at present. +But the New Testament knows nothing of the dispensation of the Holy +Spirit existing contemporaneously with Christ's personal reign on earth. +Its constant doctrine is that the salvation of men is effected by +_Christ's intercession in heaven_ conjointly with _the gift of the Holy +Spirit on earth_. + +The passage mainly relied upon by the advocates of this theory is the +twentieth chapter of the book of Revelation, which speaks of the first +and second resurrection. But the _first_ resurrection there described +cannot be identical with the resurrection described by Paul at our +Lord's advent. The resurrection described by Paul includes in express +terms _all_ the righteous, whereas this first resurrection of the +Apocalypse is restricted to a certain class, namely, the martyrs and +confessors for Christ's sake (ver. 4), while the rest of the dead live +not till the thousand years are over (ver. 5). Then there is a general +resurrection (ver. 11-15), which, from its very terms, includes _the +righteous and the wicked_; for among the books then opened is "the book +of life." The risen dead are "judged every man according to his works," +and all whose names are not found in the book of life are cast into the +lake of fire. At the same time death and hell (Hades), personified as +two enemies of the human race, are cast into the lake of fire, and thus +"death, the last enemy, is destroyed," and "death is swallowed up in +victory." 1 Cor. 15:26, 54. _This_ is the resurrection which takes place +upon our Lord's advent at the last trump, not a thousand years after his +advent; the resurrection and judgment, when the wicked "shall go away +into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." We +venture not to interpret the meaning of the first resurrection, +believing that it is one of the mysteries which God alone will reveal in +its fulfilment. But whether it should be taken literally or +figuratively, after the analogy of the resurrection of the two witnesses +(chap. 11:11), it does not seem reasonable to build upon this obscure +and difficult passage a doctrine respecting our Lord's pre-millennial +advent and personal reign on earth which is so decidedly at variance +with the general tenor of Scripture. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +QUOTATIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE NEW. + + +1. As it respects inspiration, and consequent infallible authority, the +quotations of the New Testament stand on a level with the rest of the +apostolic writings. The Saviour's promise was: "When he, the Spirit of +truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth;" literally, "into all +the truth," that is, as immediately explained, all the truth pertaining +to the Redeemer's person and work. When, therefore, after the fulfilment +of this promise, Peter and the other apostles expounded to their +brethren the Scriptures of the Old Testament, wherein the Spirit of +Christ "testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory +that should follow," the same "Spirit of Christ" guided them to a true +apprehension of their meaning. If we cannot trust Peter and Paul, whom +Christ himself personally commissioned to preach his gospel, qualified +for this work by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and endowed with +miraculous powers as the seal of their commission--if we cannot trust +these men to interpret the words of the Old Testament, then we cannot +trust the guidance of the Divine Spirit himself. But when we have +admitted, as we must, the authority of the New Testament writers as +interpreters of the Old Testament, a very important question remains to +be considered; and that is the _manner of their quotations_. This +question we propose briefly to examine in respect to both _outward form_ +and _inward contents_. + +2. As it respects _outward form_, we cannot but notice at once the _very +free spirit_ of these quotations. It is manifest that these inspired +penmen are not anxious about the verbal accuracy of the words cited. The +spirit and scope of a passage, which constitute its true life and +meaning, are what they have in view, not the exact number of words +literally translated from Hebrew into Greek. It is well known that a +very large part of their quotations is made from the Greek version of +the seventy, called the Septuagint, which was in common use in their +day. No one pretends that the translators who made the Septuagint were +inspired, or that they always succeeded in hitting the exact meaning of +the Hebrew original. Yet, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the +robust good sense of the New Testament writers went straight forward +without stopping to notice or criticise deviations from the Hebrew, +provided they did not affect the use which they wished to make of the +passages quoted. + +But the New Testament writers do not always conform their quotations to +the Septuagint. They frequently follow the Hebrew wholly or in part +where the Greek version departs from it. Matthew, in particular, follows +the Hebrew in the Messianic quotations. Chap. 29, No. 19. Yet in these +cases also they cite in the same free manner, abridging sometimes the +Hebrew passage quoted, or giving only its general sense. It may be that +thus the wisdom of God intended to bear testimony against the undue +exaltation of the letter of inspiration above its spirit. + +From a list of some two hundred and fifty citations placed side by side +with the original Hebrew passages and the Septuagint version of the same +we select the following as illustrations of the above remarks, each +passage being literally translated. The words in brackets are regarded +by some as not belonging to the true text. + +_Hebrew._ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath +anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek: he hath sent me to bind +up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the +opening of the prison to the bound; to proclaim a year of acceptance to +the Lord. Isa. 61:1,2. + +_Septuagint._ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he hath +anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he hath sent me to heal +the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of +sight to the blind; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Isa. +61:1, 2. + +_New Testament._ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he hath +anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor, he hath sent me [to heal +the broken-hearted,] to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery +of sight to the blind, to send away free the bruised (perhaps from the +Greek of Isa. 58:6); to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke +4:18, 19. + +_Hebrew._ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of +Jerusalem: behold thy king shall come to thee: he is just and endowed +with salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal +of an ass. Zech. 9:9. + +_Septuagint._ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter +of Jerusalem: behold the king cometh to thee, just and exercising +salvation; he is meek, and mounted on an ass and a young colt. Zech. +9:9. + +_New Testament._ Say ye to the daughter of Zion (Isa. 62:11): Behold thy +king cometh to thee, meek, and mounted upon an ass, and upon a colt the +foal of an ass. Matt. 21:5. + +Fear not, O daughter of Zion; behold thy king cometh sitting upon an +ass's colt. John 12:15. + +_Hebrew._ In hearing hear ye, but understand not; and in seeing see ye, +but perceive not. Make fat the heart of this people, and their ears make +heavy, and their eyes cover over: lest they see with their eyes, and +with their ears hear, and with their heart understand, and turn, and one +heal them. Isa. 6:9,10. + +_Septuagint._ In hearing ye shall hear, but understand not; and in +seeing ye shall see, but perceive not. For the heart of this people +became gross, and with their ears they heard heavily, and the eyes they +closed; lest at any time they should see with the eyes, and with the +ears should hear, and with the heart should understand, and should turn, +and I should heal them. Isa. 6;9, 10. + +_New Testament._ In hearing ye shall hear, but understand not; and in +seeing ye shall see, but perceive not. For the heart of this people +became gross, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they +closed; lest at any time they should see with the eyes, and with the +ears should hear, and with the heart should understand, and should turn, +and I should heal them. Matt. 13:14, 15; also Acts 28:26, 27. + +That in seeing they may see and not perceive, and in hearing they may +hear and not understand; lest at any time they should turn, and [their +sins] should be forgiven them. Mark 4:12. + +That in seeing they may not see, and in hearing they may not understand. +Luke 8:10. + +He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they might +not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and be turned, and +I should heal them. John 12:40. + +These quotations of the same passage by different New Testament writers +furnish a remarkable example of their free manner, while the spirit and +scope of the prophet are kept by all. + +In Heb. 10:5 we have a quotation from the Septuagint where it differs +widely from the Hebrew of Psa. 40:7. This reads: "Sacrifice and offering +thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened" (Heb. _bored_ or +_digged_). But the apostle quotes after the Septuagint: "Sacrifice and +offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared for me." The +attempted explanations of this difference are not very satisfactory. It +is to be noticed, however, that the apostle builds no essential part of +his argument upon the clause in question. + +In the long quotation from Jeremiah in Heb. 8:8-12, the clause, "and I +regarded them not" (ver. 9), is perhaps correct for substance; since +many prefer to render the corresponding Hebrew clause not as in our +version--"though I was a husband unto them,"--but, "and I rejected +them." + +When, on the contrary, the spirit and scope of a passage are lost in the +version of the Seventy, the New Testament writers quote directly from +the Hebrew. Examples are the following: + +"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of +Egypt." Hosea 11:1, quoted in Matt. 2:15. Here the Seventy render: "Out +of Egypt I called my children," a variation from the original which +makes the passage inapplicable; since Israel, as God's first-born son +(Exod. 4:22, 23), was the type of Christ, and not the individual +Israelites. + +Again, to the passage Isa. 42:1-4, quoted in Matt. 12:18-21, the +Septuagint gives a wrong turn by the introductory words: "Jacob my son, +I will help him: Israel my chosen, my soul hath accepted him: I have put +my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles," +etc.; whereas the Hebrew speaks not of Jacob and Israel, but of God's +servant: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul +delighteth," etc. Matthew accordingly follows the Hebrew, yet in a very +free manner: "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom +my soul delighteth," etc. + +For other examples see Mal. 3:1, as quoted by Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; +Luke 7:27; Isa. 9:1, 2, as quoted by Matt. 4:15, 16. + +3. Passing now to the consideration of the New Testament citations on +the side of their _inward contents_, the first question, that arises has +respect to the so-called _principle of accommodation_. There is a sense +in which the writers of the New Testament sometimes employ the language +of the Old in the way of accommodation; that is, they use its +phraseology, originally applied in a different connection, simply as +expressing in an apt and forcible manner the thoughts which they wish to +convey. Of this we have a beautiful example in Rom. 10:18, where the +apostle says, in reference to the proclamation of the gospel: "But I +say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the +earth, and their words unto the ends of the world," meaning that what +the psalmist says of the instruction given by the heavens, Psa. 19:1-4, +is true of the preaching of the word; so that none are excusable for +their unbelief. Another striking example is found in the same chapter +(ver. 6-8), where "phraseology originally used by Moses to express the +way of justification contained in the law (Deut. 30:11-14) is adapted to +the gospel as properly descriptive of the salvation propounded in it." +Davidson's Hermeneutics, p. 471. + +But that the Saviour and his apostles used accommodation in the commonly +received sense of the term; that is, that they quoted, in accommodation +to the ideas of their age, passages from the Old Testament as applicable +to the Messiah and his kingdom, which they knew to have no such +application when fairly and legitimately interpreted; that, for example, +they used the hundred and tenth psalm as a prophecy of the Messiah +(Matt. 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Acts 2:34, 35; Heb. +1:13), simply because this was the current interpretation of their +times--this is not to be admitted for a moment. That the Saviour dealt +prudently with the prejudices of his age is admitted; but he did not +build upon them his claim to be the Messiah, nor solemnly appeal to the +authority of Moses and the prophets knowing this to be only a dream of +fanciful interpretation. If Christ and his apostles taught any thing, it +was that he had come in accordance with the prophecies of the Old +Testament, and in fulfilment of these prophecies. Did they indeed, in +all this, only act upon the maxim which Paul rejects with abhorrence as +damnable? "If the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto +his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather (as we +be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do +evil that good may come? whose damnation is just." + +4. The writers of the New Testament often cite the Old by way of +_argument_. Thus the Saviour argues against divorce at the husband's +will "for every cause" by an appeal to the original institution of +marriage (Matt. 19:3-6); and Paul proves that the man is the head of the +woman, and that she owes subjection to him, from the order of creation +and its accompanying circumstances. 1 Cor. 11:8, 9; 1 Tim. 2:11-14. +Respecting this class of quotations, it is only necessary to remark that +the validity of the arguments depends on the historic truth and divine +authority of the passages adduced. The Saviour and his apostles +professedly build their arguments on the record of the Old Testament. If +this is sand--mythical quicksand--their house falls, and their authority +with it. But if the foundation is rock--an inspired record of +facts--their house stands, and with it their character as truthful +teachers. + +5. Far more numerous are the passages which are cited as _prophecies of +Christ and his kingdom_. These are introduced by various formulas: "That +it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet;" +"that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet;" "in +them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias;" "this day is this Scripture +fulfilled in your ears;" "this Scripture must needs have been +fulfilled;" "it is contained in Scripture;" "another Scripture saith;" +"this that is written must yet be accomplished in me," etc. + +The common formula, "that it might be fulfilled," means that the event +recorded took place _in order that_ the purpose of God announced in the +prophecy might be accomplished. The prophecy was not the main thing, but +the purpose of God contained in it. For the accomplishment of this +purpose, and thus of the prophecy which revealed it, God's truth was +pledged. In the same way are to be understood the words of John (chap. +12:39, 40): "Therefore they could not believe because that Esaias saith +again, He hath blinded their eyes," etc. The hinderance to their belief +lay not in the prophecy, but in that which the prophecy announced. + +6. Of the prophecies quoted, some refer _immediately to Christ_. Such +are the following: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right +hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Matt. 22:44, from Psa. +110:1); "The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever +after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 7:21, from Psa. 110:4); "He was +led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his +shearer, so opened he not his mouth," etc. (Acts 8:32, 33, from Isa. +53:7, 8); "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your +brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear," etc. (Acts 3:22, 23; 7:37, +from Deut. 18:15, 18, 19). + +7. Others refer _ultimately to Christ, but under a type_. An undeniable +example is the following: "A bone of him shall not be broken" (John +19:36, from Exod. 12:46; Numb. 9:12); words originally spoken of the +paschal lamb, which was the type of Christ, and now fulfilled in the +great Antitype. Again, we read in Hosea (chap. 11:1): "When Israel was a +child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt;" words which +Matthew quotes as fulfilled in Christ (chap. 2:15). It was the purpose +of God, namely, that the history of Israel, God's first-born son (Exod. +4:22, 23), in his national childhood, should foreshadow that of Jesus, +the only begotten Son of God. + +To the same class belongs apparently the following citation: "What is +man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest +him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him +with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: +thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." Heb. 2:6-8, from +Psa. 8:4-6. It seems impossible to deny that the immediate reference of +the psalm is to man's exalted dignity and high prerogatives as the lord +of this lower world. But, as the writer to the Hebrews argues, the words +have no complete fulfilment in man considered apart from Christ. It is +in the person of Christ alone that the high destiny of human nature +finds its full realization. He is made Lord of all, and "crowned with +glory and honor" for himself and for all his disciples also, who shall +reign with him in glory for ever. We add one more example from Heb. 1:5, +where the writer quotes and applies to Christ the words of Nathan to +David: "I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son." 2 Sam. +7:14. The promise undeniably had immediate respect to Solomon; not to +Solomon, however, in his simple personality, but to Solomon as the first +after David of a line of kings that should end in Christ, in whom alone +it has its true fulfilment. God took Solomon, and in him the whole line +of kings on David's throne, into the relation of sonship, and thus of +heirship. Rom. 8:17; Gal. 4:7. To Solomon, as God's son, the kingdom was +confirmed for ever through Christ; and Solomon's lower sonship, +moreover, adumbrated the higher sonship of the last and greatest of his +sons, to whom the promise was: "He shall be great, and shall be called +the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne +of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for +ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:32, 33. + +To draw the exact line of separation between the two above named classes +of citations is difficult, and in some cases perhaps impossible. Nor is +it necessary, since the essential truth is, that all these prophecies +find their accomplishment in Christ; those of the former class directly, +those of the latter through types of divine appointment. + +The exegesis of the New Testament quotations presents many difficult +questions, relating partly to the true rendering of the original words, +partly to the deviations of the Septuagint from the Hebrew, and the +citations from both the Septuagint and the Hebrew; partly to the +original application of the passages cited and the use made of them in +the New Testament. For the details the student must be referred to the +commentators. All that has been here attempted is a statement of the +general principles that must govern us in interpreting the quotations +from the Old Testament which are found in the New. + + + + +INDEX OF SUBJECTS. + + * * * * * + +N.B. THE FIGURES REFER TO THE PAGES. + + +A. + +Abrahamic covenant, + the ground work of the Pentateuch, 225; + of the gospel, 116, seq. + +Adam, his apostasy the key to the plan of redemption, 115. + +Accentuation, Hebrew system of, 265. + +Acknowledged epistles, 91, seq. + +Accommodation, principle of, 635. + +Acts of the Apostles, + a natural sequel to the Gospels, 87; + external testimonies to the book, 88; + internal evidences, 89; + its credibility, 90; + coincidences with the Pauline epistles, 90; + its plan and divisions, 440; + its offices, 442, seq. + +Ahasuerus, the Xerxes of history, 261. + +Alamoth, 288. + +Alexander the Great, his visit to Jerusalem, 263, 325. + +Alexandria, the Septuagint version made here, 199. + +Alexandrine Jews, their use of the Greek language, 369. + +Alexandrine manuscript, 385. + +Allegorical applications of Scripture, 553. + +Allegories; their interpretation, 558, seq. + +Altar, + of incense, 589; + of burnt-offering, 590. + +Al-taschith, 288. + +Ammonian sections, 375. + +Amos, 336; + book of, 336, seq. + +Analogy of faith, 576, seq. + +Antilegomena, 91, 96, seq. + +Antioch in Pisidia, 442. + +Antioch in Syria, the centre of Paul's missionary labors, 441, 442, 449. + +Apocalypse, + meaning of the term, 503; + its apostolic authorship, 503; + its date, 506; + various schemes of interpretation, 507; + symbolic import of its numbers, 508, seq. + +Apocrypha, meaning of the word, 350. + +Apocryphal books of the Old Testament, 198, 350, seq.; + uncertainty of their dates, 350; + none of them exist in Hebrew or were received into the Hebrew canon, 350; + received by the Alexandrine Jews, 351; + estimation by the early Christians and by Protestants, 351. + +Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, 517. + +Apostolic canons, so-called, 514. + +Apostolic epistles, + a natural sequel to the Gospels, 445; + their occasions and offices, 445, seq. + +Apostolic men, 109; + their writings, 483. + +Apostolic fathers, 511, seq. + +Apostles, + their peculiar office, 103; + their inspiration, 104, seq. + +Apostle's Creed, 517. + +Aquila and his version, 204. + +Aramaean or Aramaic and its branches, 175; + became the language of the Jews after the captivity, 177, 369. + +Ark of the covenant, 588. + +Aristeas' account of the Septuagint version, 199. + +Aristobulus' account of the same, 199. + +Armenian version, 409. + +Artaxerxes, 261; + Artaxerxes Longimanus, 261, 349. + +Assyrian or square character, 172, 175. + +Atonement, great day of, 603. + +Authenticity of the Gospels, 66, seq.; + of the Pentateuch, 120, seq. +See further under the several books. + +Autographs of the sacred writers, their early disappearance, 61, 209. + + +B. + +Babylon, church in, 492. + +Babylonish captivity, 255. + +Barnabas, his relation to Mark, 427. + +Barnabas, so-called Epistle of, 46, 100, 516. + +Baruch, apocryphal book of, 358. + +Bashmuric version, 407. + +Belshazzar, identification of, 327. + +Berosus' account of Nebuchadnezzar, 328. + +Beza's, or the Cambridge manuscript, 387. + +Bible, meaning of the word, 165; + variety of its authors and dates of its books, 168, 372, seq.; + their arrangement, 169, seq., 371, seq.; + different designations of, 165, seq.; + its code of morals, 150, seq.; + harmony of its parts, 152, 154; + its power over the conscience and life, 154. + +Blood, sacrificial, the atonement lay in it, 597; + sprinkling of, 601, 603; + when carried into the sanctuary, 604. + +Books of the New Testament, public reading of, 63. +See further under New Testament and the several books. + +Books of the Old Testament. +See under Bible and Old Testament. + +Branch as a designation of the Messiah, 590. + +Briefs, 377. + +Burning of sacrifices, signification of, 602; + without the camp, 605. + +Burnt-offerings, 598. + + +C. + +Cambyses, 261. + +Canaanites, their extirpation, 140, 244. + +Candlestick, golden, 589. + +Canon, meaning of the word, 183; + its extent, 112. + +Canon of the New Testament, its gradual formation, 394, seq.; + first recognition of a canon, 398; + the books received separately and on full evidence, 399; + completion of the present canon, 398; + important ancient canons, 398. + +Canon of the Old Testament, settled by Ezra, 123, 193, seq.; + principle of its settlement, 147; + Josephus' account of, 197; + Origen's and Jerome's, 197; + canon of the Pentateuch, 183, seq.; + of the historical books, 185, seq.; + of the prophetical and poetic books, 190, seq. + +Canticles, 292. + +Chaldaisms, 307. + +Chaldee language, parts of the Old Testament written in it, 175. +See further under Targums. + +Chapters, origin of, 174, 377. + +Cherubim over the ark, God's dwelling-place, 588. + +Christ, his person and advent the central point of Christianity, 32, 411; + his character verifies itself, 71, seq.; + manner of his teaching, 77, seq.; + manner in which he manifested his deity, 79, seq.; + his infallibility an axiom of Christianity, 102; + preparation for his advent, 114; + union of the kingly and priestly offices in his person, 590; + question of his second advent and personal reign on earth, 629, seq.. + +Christian church, inauguration of, 443. + +Christianity, its historic basis, 31, 410. + +Chronicles, books of, originally one 255,; + meaning of the name, 255; + their characteristics, 256; + their place in the Hebrew canon, 257; + difficulties connected with them, 257, seq.. + +Chronology, of the Old Testament, 230; + of the book of Judges, 247; + of the books of Kings, 255; + of the book of Ezra, 260. + +Church lessons, 378. + +Clean and unclean, Mosaic distinctions of, 605. + +Clement of Alexandria, 40. +See further under various New Testament books. + +Clement of Rome, + first epistle of, 100, 511, seq.; + its occasion, scope, and style, 512; + its reference to the Epistle to the Hebrews, 483; + second Epistle of, not genuine, 512; + so-called Clementines, or Recognitions of Clement, 513; + so-called Constitutions of Clement, and apostolic canons, 514. + +Codex Vaticanus, 384; + Sinaiticus, 385; + Alexandrinus, 385, seq.; + Ephraemi, 386; + Dublinensis, 387; + Bezae, 387; + Purpureus, 388. +See further on pages 402, 404. + +Colosse and church of the Colossians, 463. + +Colossians, epistle to the, + its relation to the epistle to the Ephesians, 461; + its occasion, scope, and plan, 464. + +Comparisons, 552. + +Context, definition of, 531; + its importance, 531. + +Continuous writing, 172, 373. + +Contradictions, apparent, reconciliation of, 543. + +Coptic version, 407. + +Corinth and the Corinthian church, 454. + +Corinthians, first epistle to the, + date and place of writing, 453: + occasion and scope, 454; + contents, 455; + contrast with the epistle to the Galatians, 456. + +Corinthians, second epistle to the, + date and place of writing, 456; + occasion, contents, and peculiar character, 457. + +Cornelius, 441. + +Councils, general, their later introduction, 41, 97. + +Council of Laodicea, its canon, 399. + +Credibility of the gospels. See gospel narratives. + +Crete and the Cretan churches, 480. + +Criticism of the sacred text, + its office, 209; + of the Old Testament text, its sources, manuscripts, 209; + ancient versions, 210; + primary editions, 210; + parallel passages, 211; + quotations in the New Testament, 211, 632, seq.; + criticism of the New Testament text, its state, 380, seq.; + various readings, 381; + materials for correction, 383; + manuscripts, 384, seq.; + primary editions, 388; + the received text, 389, seq.; + principles of textual criticism, 391, seq. + +Cursive manuscripts, 60, 375, 388. + +Cyrus, signification of the name, 306 + his decree for liberating the Jews, 306 + + +D. + +Damasus, his agency with respect to the vulgate, 402. + +Daniel, 322. + +Daniel, book of, + its place in the Jewish canon, 322; + arrangement and contents, 323; + genuineness, 324, seq.; + unity, 324; + testimonies to it, Josephus, 325; + the Saviour, 325, seq.; + its language, 326, 329; + difficulties connected with its chronology and history, 327; + its supernatural contents, 330. + +Daniel, apocryphal additions to, 359. + +Danites, their conquest of Laish, 243, 245. + +Darius Hystaspes, 261, 345. + +Darius the Median, 328. + +David, 249, seq.; + typical character of his kingdom and office, 582. + +Deluge, 229. + +Demetrius Phalerens, his agency in the Septuagint version, 201. + +Deuteronomy, book of, + meaning of the name, 238; + its authorship, 124, seq.; + its relation to the earlier parts of the law, 127; + design, 128; + peculiar character, 129; + contents, 238, seq. + +Diatesseron of Tatian, 50. + +Difficulties, + treatment of, 34, 85; + of the Mosaic economy, 138, 571; + of the book of Genesis, 229, seq. + +Diognetus, epistle to, 45. + +Disputed books. See Antilegomena. + +Double sense, + question of, 618, seq.; + in the historic types, 618; + in the Messianic Psalms, 619. + +Dublin manuscript, 387. + + +E. + +Ebionites, their gospel, 422. + +Ecclesiastes, book of, 290, seq. + +Ecclesiasticus, apocryphal book of, 357. + +Elihu, 283. + +Egypt, the sojourn in, 233. + +Eleazar, martyrdom of, 361. + +Enoch, apocryphal book of, 501. + +Ephesus and the Ephesian church, 465, 479. + +Ephesians, Epistle to the, 462, 465, seq.; + its relation to the epistle to the Colossians, 462; + occasion and general character, 466; + address and authorship, 466; + contents and divisions, 467, seq. + +Ephraem manuscript, 386. + +Epistles, + apostolic, 445; + Pauline, 446. +See further under the several epistles. + +Esdras, apocryphal books of, 352. + +Esther, book of, 263. + +Esther, apocryphal additions to, 355. + +Ethiopian version, 408. + +Eusebius, account of the New Testament canon, 398. +See further under the various New Testament books. + +Eusebian canons, 376. + +Euthalius and stichometry, 374. + +Evidences of Christianity, internal and experimental, 149, seq. +For the historic see gospel narratives, Pentateuch, etc. + +Exodus, + meaning of the word, 232; + unity, divisions, and contents of the book, 232; + time of the sojourn in Egypt, 233. + +Exegesis defined, 521. + +Expositions, + inept, 540; + incompatible, 541; + forced, 544. + +Expositor, + his office, 521; + qualifications, 522, seq. + +Ezekiel, 316, seq. + +Ezekiel, book of, 320, seq. + +Ezra, + his work in the restoration, 258; + in settling the Hebrew canon, 123, 147. + +Ezra, book of, 258; + its chronology, 260. + + +F. + +Fables, distinguished from parables, 554. + +Figurative language, 546; + its ascertainment, 547, seq.; + its interpretation, 557, seq. + +Figures, different kinds of, 550, seq. + + +G. + +Galatia and the Galatian church, 458. + +Galatians, Epistle to the, + date and place of writing, 458; + occasion and scope, 459; + contents and divisions, 460, seq. + +Genesis, book of, + meaning of the word, 224; + its relation to the following books, 130; + authorship, 132, 227; + introductory office, 225; + divisions, 226, seq.; + contents and difficulties, 227, seq. + +Gentiles, their reception of the gospel, and introduction to the church, +443, 447. + +Genuineness. See under the several divisions and books of the Bible. + +Gittith, 287. + +Gnosticism, 477. + +Gospel, meaning and different uses of the word, 411. + +Gospel of the Ebionites, 422. + +Gospels, + relation to each other, 417; + chronology, 419; + relative size of, 420. + +Gospels, synoptical, 50; + their earlier composition, 51; + their agreements, 412; + differences, 413; + theories of their origin, that of mutual dependence, 413; + of an original document, 413; + of apostolic tradition, 414, seq.; + their incomplete character, 417; + relation to the fourth gospel, 419. + +Gospels, the several. See under the head of each. + +Gospel narratives, + their genuineness, 36, seq.; + written successively at intervals, 37; + earlier histories of our Lord, 37; + external evidences considered, 38, seq.; + internal, 50, seq.; + their uncorrupt preservation, 59, seq.; + their authenticity and credibility, character of the writers, 67, seq.; + of the works recorded, 68; + certainty of our Lord's resurrection, 70; + the character of Jesus verifies itself, 71, seq.; + supernatural character of the facts recorded in the gospels, 84; + objections considered, 85. + +Gospel harmonies, 419. + +Gothic version, 408. + +Greek of the New Testament, its peculiar character, 57, 368 + its adaptation to the wants of the New Testament writers, 366; + its introduction into Asia and Egypt, 367. + + +H. + +Habakkuk, book of, 342. + +Haggai, book of, 345. + +Hagiographa, 169; + Targums on the, 208. + +Haman, 263. + +Haphtaroth, 173. + +Harmony between the Old and New Testament, + in spirit, 568, seq.; + in doctrine, 570. + +Harmonies of the gospels, 419, 537. + +Heave-offerings, 601. + +Hebrew alphabet, 176; + vowel points and accents, 178. + +Hebrew commonwealth, + its establishment under Joshua, 241; + its condition under the Judges, 245; + the Kings, 249, 253; + at the restoration, 256, 258, 261. + +Hebrew language, 175, 366; + its disuse after the captivity, 177, 367; + succeeded by the Aramaean, 367. + +Hebrew text, + Jewish divisions of, 173; + manuscripts, 189. + +Hebrews, Epistle to the, 482; + question of its authorship, 482; + date, and persons addressed, 484; + its central theme, 485. + +Hellenistic Jews, 368. + +Hermas, Shepherd of, 100, 517. + +Hermeneutics defined, 521. + +Heretics, their testimony to the gospels, 48, seq. + +Hexapla of Origen, 205. + +Hexaplar, Syriac version, 406. + +Historical books of the Old Testament, 240, seq.; + of the New Testament, 410, seq. + +Historical types, 581, seq. + +Holocausts, or burnt-offerings, 598. + +Homologoumena, 91. + +Hosea, book of, 333. + +Hugo, Cardinal, divides the Bible into chapters, 174, 377. + + +I. + +Ignatius and his testimony, 46; + his epistles, 514. + +Infidelity, its fragmentary method of argument, 34. + +Inspiration of the New Testament, + the term defined, 101, + tests of, 102, seq.; + in what sense plenary, question of its limitation, 111; + inspiration of the Old Testament books, 134, 142, 148, 195, seq., 215, + etc. + +Interpretation, + its human and divine sides, 526; + of figurative language, 527, seq. + +Interpreter, + his office, 521; + qualifications, 522, seq. + +Irenaeus and his testimony, 39. See further under the several books. + +Isaiah, his age and prophetical activity, 299. + +Isaiah, book of, + its two main parts, 299; + contents and divisions of the first part, 299, seq.; + the second part, 302; + its genuineness, 303, seq.; + its form that of true prophecy, 305. + + +J. + +James the apostle, and James the Lord's brother, question respecting, 487. + +James, Epistle of, + its author, date, and place of writing, 488; + genuineness and reception into the canon, 489, seq.; + practical character, 490; + alleged disagreement with the Pauline doctrine of justification, 491. + +Jasher, book of, 243. + +Jason, his five books, 360. + +Jeremiah, sketch of his life, 310. + +Jeremiah, book of, 309, seq.; + general character of his prophecies, 312; + their arrangement, 313; + arrangement of the Alexandrine version, 314. + +Jeremiah, apocryphal epistle of, 358. + +Jeroboam, his sinful policy and its results, 254. + +Jerome, + his account of the Old Testament canon, 197; + of the New Testament canon, 399; + revision of the Latin Bible, 400, seq. +See further under the several books of the New Testament. + +Jerusalem, the first centre of Christianity, 440. + +Jerusalem Targum, 207. + +Jesus. See Christ. + +Jews, + their preparation for Christ's advent, 114; + their institutions typical of Christ as well as preparatory, 146. + +Job, book of, + its plan, 280; + design, 282; + age of Job and of the book, 283; + question of its authorship, 283; + its historic character, 284. + +Joel, book of, 334. + +John the apostle, notices of, 436, seq. + +John's gospel, + its later composition, 53; 437; + sources, 438; + peculiarity in respect to matter, 438, seq.; + general scope and special office, 418, 439. + +John's epistles, + the first epistle, 93, 497, seq.; + the second and third, 500. + +John the Presbyter, 503. + +Jonah, book of, 338. + +Jonathan, Targum of, 207. + +Josephus, + his account of the Old Testament canon, 195, 197; + testimony to the book of Daniel, 325; + account of the feast of Purim, 263. + +Joshua, book of, + its office and contents, 241; + age and authorship, 243; + authenticity and credibility, 244. + +Joshua the high-priest, as a type of Christ, 590. + +Judaizing teachers, 448; + in Galatia, 459; + among the Colossians, 463; + of the Pastoral Epistles, 477. + +Jude, Epistle of, 501, seq. + +Judges of the Old Testament, their character and office, 245. + +Judges, book of, 245, seq.; + its chronology, 247. + + +K. + +Kephalaia, 375. + +Keys of the kingdom of heaven, 575. + +Kingdom of Israel, + its establishment, 249; + division, 254; + extinction of the kingdom of the ten tribes, 254. + +Kingdom of Judah, + its origin, 254; + its extinction, 255. + +Kingly office, typical of Christ, 118, 249, 582. + +Kings, books of, + originally one, 252, + their contents and office, 252; + chronology, 255. + + +L. + +Lamentations of Jeremiah, 314; + peculiar structure of the book, 315. + +Laodiceans, epistle to the, 465. + +Last days, meaning of the term, 608; + prophecies concerning, 611, seq. + +Law. See Pentateuch. + +Lectionaries, 378. + +Leviticus, book of, + meaning of the word, 235; + its contents, 235, seq. + +Limitations in the interpretation of languages, 542. + +Luke the Evangelist, + his origin and relation to Paul, 431; + his sources of information, 432; + his identity with the author of the Acts of the Apostles, 440. + +Luke's gospel, + its date, 432; + plan and character, 433; + peculiar matter, 434; + its integrity, 435; + its genealogy of our Lord, 433, 435. + +Lyons and Vienne, letter of the churches of, 40, 88, 503. + + +M. + +Maccabees, family of, 359; + origin of the name, 360. + +Maccabees, apocryphal books of, 360, seq. + +Malachi, book of, 348. + +Manasses, apocryphal prayer of, 359. + +Manuscripts, ancient mode of writing, 60, 172, 373, 382. + +Manuscripts of the Old Testament, + their age and form, 180; + synagogue rolls, 181. + +Manuscripts of the New Testament, + their early multiplication, 64; + noted manuscripts, Vatican, 384; + Sinai, 385; + Alexandrine, 385, seq.; + Ephraem, 386, + Dublin palimpsest, 387; + Beza's, 387, seq.; + purple, 388; + cursive manuscripts, 388. + +Manuscripts of the old Latin, 402; + of the vulgate, 404. + +Manuscript of the Gothic version called the Silver manuscript, 408. + +Marcion and his gospel, 49, 435. + +Mark the Evangelist, + notices of, 427; + his relation to Peter and Paul, 427, seq.; + in what sense he was Peter's interpreter, 428. + +Mark's gospel, + place, time of writing, and language, 428; + its design, 429; + its peculiarities, 430; + question respecting its closing passage, 430, seq. + +Maschil, 287. + +Masora and Masoretic text, 178, seq. + +Mattathias, 359. + +Matthew the Evangelist, 420. + +Matthew's gospel, + its original language, 421; + present Greek form, 422; + primary design, 424; + characteristics, 425; + chronology, 426; + place and time of writing, 426; + integrity, 426; + its genealogy of our Lord, 424, 435. + +Meat-offerings, 600. + +Melchizedek, his person and typical character, 583. + +Memphitic version, 407. + +Messiah. See Christ. + +Messianic Psalms, different principles of interpretation, + that of exclusive reference to Christ, 620; + that of an ideal personage, 620, seq.; + the typical view, 621. + +Metaphor, 551. + +Metonymy, 551. + +Micah, book of, 340. + +Michtam, 287. + +Mosaic economy, + Christ its end, 118; + its preparatory character, 138; + objections to it considered, 138, 571; + its spirit was love, 139, seq. + +Mottoes, remarks respecting, 533 + +Muratorian canon, 48, 89, 93, 398, etc. + +Myths, remarks concerning, 556, 560. + + +N. + +Nahum, Prophecy of, 341. + +Nathan's writings, 251. + +Nazarenes, their gospel, 422. + +Nebuchadnezzar, his expeditions to Judea, 327. + +Neginah and Neginoth, 287. + +Nehemiah, his work in the restoration, 261. + +Nehemiah, book of, 261, seq. + +Nehiloth, 287. + +New Jerusalem of Ezekiel's vision, 321, 627. + +Nineveh. See Nahum. + +Nitrian desert, Syriac manuscripts from, 405. + +Numbers, book of, 237. + +Numbers, symbolical, 508, 564, 610. + + +O. + +Obadiah, Prophecy of, 338. + +Oblations, or unbloody offerings, 600. + +Old Latin. See versions, Latin. + +Onkelos, Targum of, 206. + +Origen, + his account of the Old Testament canon, 197; + of the New Testament canon, 398; + his Hexapla, 205. +See further under the several New Testament books. + + +P. + +Paley's Horae Paulinae, 94. + +Palimpsests, 60, 384; + examples of, 386. + +Pantaenus, 40. + +Papias, 44. See also under the several books of the New Testament. + +Papyrus, 59; rolls of, 384. + +Parables, 553; + their interpretation, 560, seq. + +Paragraph Bibles, 378. + +Parallelisms, 211, 534; + real and verbal, 534; + doctrinal and historic, 535, seq. + +Parallelisms, poetic, 274, seq. + +Parchments, 59, seq. + +Parshiyoth, 173. + +Particular Introduction, its province 214. + +Passover, its sacrificial and typical character, 599. + +Pastoral epistles, 92; + their place in Paul's history, 475, seq.; + character of the false teachers described in them, 477; + their genuineness and peculial tone, 478 + +Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, + and his peculiar qualifications, 447; + his style, 448; + three missionary journeys, 449. + +Pauline epistles, 446; + commentaries on them, 449; + their connection with Paul's history contained in the Acts, 449; + principle of their arrangement, and groups into which they fall, 450. + +Pentateuch, + meaning of the term, 120; + its admitted existence from Ezra's time, 120; + its authorship, 120, seq.; + relation of Deuteronomy to the preceding books, 126, 239; + of Genesis to the following, 130, 225; unity of its plan, 132, 224; + its authenticity, 134, seq.; + the Jewish polity presupposes it, 135; + difficulties connected with it, 137, seq.; + its preparatory office, 141; + constitutes a Jewish division of the Old Testament, 169. + +Personal reign of Christ, question concerning the, 629, seq. + +Personification, 551. + +Peshito. See Syriac versions. + +Peter, + his leadership among the apostles, 441; + in what sense a rock, 575. + +Peter, first epistle of, 491. + +Peter, second epistle of, 493; + question of its genuineness, 494, seq.; + its design, 497. + +Philemon, Epistle to, 469. + +Philoxenian. See Syriac versions. + +Philippi and the Philippian church, 469. + +Philippians, Epistle to the, + date, occasion, and place of writing, 469; + contents and peculiar character, 470. + +Phoenician language, 175. + +Plan of redemption, + its unity and progress, 614; + its foreshadowings, 616; + its end, 617. + +Poetry, Hebrew, + its characteristics, 266, seq.; + its outward form, 274, seq.; + its diction, 278; + its offices, 279. + +Poetical books, so-called Hebrew, 169, 265. + +Polycarp, 46. + +Polycarp, epistle of, 515. + +Pothinus, 40. + +Priesthood of our Lord, 485. + +Priesthood, Levitical, + typical of Christ, 119, 236; + + points of agreement specified, a common human nature, appointment by + God, mediatorship between God and the people through propitiatory + sacrifice, 594, seq.; + points of disagreement incident to the type, 595, seq.; + central idea of priesthood, 596. + +Priesthood of Melchizedek, 583, seq. + +Priestly garments, 596. + +Prophecy, + interpretation of, 607, seq.; + its progressive fulfilment, 622; + question of its literal and figurative meaning, 624, seq.; + its representative use of Old Testament history and institutions, 624. + +Prophecies, + specific, 607; + generic, 608; + with the succession of events, 609; + without it, 611; + their inward view of God's kingdom, 613, seq. + +Prophetical books and their office, 143, seq. + +Prophetical office, typical of Christ, 118, 582. + +Prophets, Hebrew, their office and character, 294, seq. + +Prophets, + as a Jewish division of the Old Testament canon, 169; + greater prophets, 169, 294; + less or minor, 169, 332; + Masoretic and Septuagint arrangement of, 332. + +Proverbs, 555. + +Proverbs, book of, + its office, 288; + outward form and divisions, 289; + arrangement in its present form, 290. + +Psalms, book of, + its character and office, 284; + fivefold division, 285, seq.; + titles, 286, seq; + Messianic psalms, 619. + +Psalms, alleged Maccabean, 196. + +Psalters, Gallican and Roman, 400, 403. + +Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum of, 207. + +Ptolemy Philadelphus, his agency in respect to the Septuagint version, 199. + +Punic language, 175. + +Purple manuscript, 388. + +Purim, feast of, 263. + + +Q. + +Quotations of the early fathers, 37. + +Quotations from the Old Testament in the New, + their use in sacred criticism, 211; + authority, 632; + outward form, 633; + free spirit, 635; + principle of accommodation considered, 635; + quotations for argument, 637; + of Old Testament prophecies referring to Christ--directly, 638; + in a typical way, 638. +See further under Septuagint. + +Quotations from the Old Testament in the Talmud and Rabbinic writers, + 211, seq. + + +R. + +Rabbinic writers, 211, seq. + +Rabbinic mode of writing, 176. + +Reason, its office in interpretation, 544. + +Restoration of the Jews, question concerning the, 628. + +Resurrection of Jesus, 70. + +Resurrection, first and second, 630. + +Revelation, + its unity, 33, 566, 568; + diversity, 566, seq.; + each particular revelation perfect in its place, 571; + the later revelations interpret the earlier, 572. + +Revelation, book of. See Apocalypse. + +Ritual types, 585, seq. + +Romans and Roman church, 451. + +Romans, Epistle to the, + its date and place of writing, 451; + occasion and contents, 452; + office, 453. + +Ruth, book of, 248; + supplementary to the history of David's family. 248. + + +S. + +Sacrifices, + typical of Christ, 591, seq.; + their essential character, 597, seq.; + Mosaic classification of them, sin-offerings and trespass-offerings, 598; + burnt-offerings, 598; + peace-offerings, 599; + sacrificial victims, 600. + +Sahidic version, 407. + +Salome, 436. + +Samaritans, + their language, 175; + their Pentateuch and its version, 181, 208. + +Samuel, he establishes the school of the prophets and the kingly office, + 249. + +Samuel, books of, + their original unity, 248; + contents, office, and divisions, 249, seq.; + age and sources, 251. + +Sanctuary, Mosaic, + its general idea, 585; + structure, divisions, and furniture, 586, seq.; + typical character, 587, seq. + +Saul, 250. + +Scape-goat, 603. + +Scope, + defined, 528; + its primary importance, 529; + how ascertained, 530. + +Scriptio continua, 172, 373. + +Sense, distinguished from signification, 528. + +Sense of Scripture, + its extent, 573; + the clearer statements of Scripture interpret the more obscure, 574. + +Selah, 287. + +Septuagint, Greek version of, + its antiquity, 199; + Jewish account of its origin, 199, seq.; + character and critical value, 201; + influence on the New Testament language, 202; + Hebrew text from which it was made, 203; + history of its text, 205; Origen's Hexapla, 205; + Jewish estimates of it, 203, 368; + quotations from it in the New Testament, 633, seq. + +Septuagint arrangement of the Old Testament books, 171. + +Seventy. See Septuagint. + +Shalmaneser, 334. + +Sheminith, 288. + +Shemitic languages, 175. + +Shoshannim, Shushan, and Shushaneduth, 287, seq. + +Show-bread, 589. + +Signification of words, 527. + +Sinai manuscript, 385. + +Sirach, Jesus son of. See Ecclesiasticus. + +Six days of creation, 137, 228. + +Smerdis, 261. + +So, 334. + +Sojourn in the wilderness, its typical import, 584. + +Solomon, + his temple, 253; + his splendor and profuse expenditures, 253. + +Solomon, Song of, 292, seq. + +Songs of degrees, 287. + +Sprinkling of the sacrificial blood, 601, 603. + +Stevens, Robert, author of the modern division of verses in the New + Testament, 377. + +Subscriptions to the New Testament books, 379. + +Symbols, 319, 554; + numerical, 508, 564, 610; + distinguished from types, 555; + real and seen in visions, 562, seq. + +Symmachus, his version, 204. + +Synagogue, the great, 194. + +Synagogue rolls, 179. + +Synagogues, Jewish, as places of preaching, 447. + +Synoptical gospels. See Gospels. + +Syriac language, 175. + +Syriac versions. See Versions. + +Syro-chaldaic, 369. + + +T. + +Tabernacle, Mosaic, 585, seq.; + its typical character, 602, seq. + +Targum of Onkelos, 206; + of Jonathan, 207; + of Pseudo-Jonathan, 207; + Jerusalem Targum, 207; + Targums on the Hagiographa, 208. + +Tatian and his Diatessaron, 50. + +Temple of Solomon, 253. + +Tent, Mosaic, as distinguished from the tabernacle, 587. + +Testament, + various ancient designations of, 165; + origin and meaning of the term, 166. + +Testament, Old, + its inseparable connection with the New, 113, seq.; + its inspiration, 134, 142, 148, 195, seq.; + various arrangements of its books, 168, seq.; + Old Testament text, Jewish divisions of, 173; + modern, 173, seq.; + original languages, 175; + criticism of its text, 209; + preparatory character of its revelations, 215; + office of its several divisions, 218; + its significance to the covenant people, 220; + to the Christian church, 222. + +Testament, New, + the natural sequel to the Old, 113, seq.; + and its interpreter, 119; + its language, 365, seq.; + main divisions of its books and their order, 371; + subdivisions, of the historic part, 371; + of the epistolary, 372; + various arrangements of the gospels, 372; + arrangement of the epistles, 373; + titles and subscriptions, 378; + New Testament text, its essential integrity, 65, 390; + uncial and cursive modes of writing, 373; + continuous writing, 373; + stichometry, 374; + ancient divisions of the text, 375, seq.; + modern, 377, seq.; + criticism of the text, 380; + the manuscript text, 380, seq.; + various readings, 381, seq.; + manuscripts, 384; + the printed text, 388; + primary editions, 388, seq.; + remarks on the received text, 390. + +Tertullian, 39. See also under the several New Testament books. + +Thebaic version, 407. + +Theocracy, + its establishment under Moses, 232; + Christ its end, 118; + and typified by it, 146; + alleged objections to it, 138, seq.; + its preparatory character and practical working, 141, seq.; + its condition at the restoration, 259. + +Theodotion's version, 204. + +Thessalonica and the Thessalonian church, 471. + +Thessalonians, first epistle to the, 472; + its early date, occasion, and contents, 472, seq. + +Thessalonians, second epistle to the, + date, design, and contents, 473; + question respecting our Lord's second advent, 474; + epistles to the Thessalonians and Philippians contrasted, 474, seq. + +Timothy, notices of, 479. + +Timothy, first epistle to, time of writing, occasion, and contents, 479. + +Timothy, second epistle to, + its peculiar tone and character, 481; + its late date, 482. + +Titus, notices of, 480. + +Titus, epistle to, 480. + +Tobit, apocryphal book of, 353. + +Tradition, different senses of, 417. + +Tropes, 550, seq. + +Types, + distinguished from analogies and from simple foreshadowings, 579; + their essential character, 580; + different kinds of types, historical, 581, seq., 618; + ritual, 585, seq. + +Typical orders of men, 581, seq.; + typical historic transactions, 583; + typical ritual acts, laying on of the offerer's hands, waving and + heaving, sprinkling of the sacrificial blood, and burning on the + altar, 601, seq.; + burning of incense, 589; + ceremonies connected with the great day of atonement, 603; + with the scape-goat, 604. + + +U. + +Uncial manuscripts, 60, 373, 384. + +Uncleanness, Levitical, 606. + + +V. + +Vail of the tabernacle, 586, seq. + +Vail of the temple, rending of the, 603. + +Valentinus, 49. + +Various readings of the gospels, 63; + of the New Testament text generally, 380; + examples of the more important, 390. + +Verses, of the Old Testament, 173; + of the New Testament, 377. + +Version, Armenian, 409; + English of Wiclif, 400; + Ethiopic, 408; + Gothic, 409; +Septuagint, see under this title. + +Versions, Latin, + the old Latin, 47, 62, 89, 400; + age, place of execution, and variety of text, 400; + its canon, 401; + made in the Old Testament from the Septuagint: the vulgate, + its arrangement of the Old Testament books, 171; + in the New Testament a revision of the old Latin, 402; + in the Old Testament mostly a new translation, 403; + its diversified character, 403; + history of its text, 404; + manuscripts of it, 404. + +Versions, Syriac: + the Peshito version of the New Testament, 47, 62, 89; + of the Old Testament, 208; + its canon, 398; + made in the Old Testament from the original Hebrew, 404; + its age and character, 404, seq.; + the Cureton Syriac, 405; + the Philoxenian, 406; + the Hexapla, 406, seq.; + the Jerusalem Syriac Lectionary, 407. + +Versions, ancient, + their testimony to the genuineness of the gospels, 47; + and to their integrity, 62; + their use in sacred criticism, 210, 392. + +Vulgate. See Versions, Latin. + + +W. + +Wave-offerings, 601. + +Whale, 339. + +Wilderness, sojourn in the, 234. + +Wisdom, apocryphal book of, 356. + +Wisdom of the son of Sirach. See Ecclesiasticus. + +Writing, + ancient mode of, 172, seq.; + materials for, 59, 179, 384. + + +X. + +Xerxes, 261, 263. + + +Z. + +Zebedee, 436. + +Zechariah, Prophecies of, 346, seq.; + question respecting the last part of, 348; + Matthew's quotation from Zechariah, 348. + +Zephaniah, Prophecies of, 344. + + + + +INDEX OF TEXTS. + + +N.B. Texts not specified in this Index will be found on the pages of the +general references, prefixed to the lists from the several books. + +GENESIS. PAGE. + +Ch. 1, seq................225-231 + 1:1--2:3..................543 + 1:2..................137, 357 + 2:4.......................225 + 2:4-25...............230, 543 + 2:23, 24..................135 + 3:15.................572, 573 + 3:19,22...................135 + 4:3-12....................135 + 4:4..................567, 585 + 4:8.......................203 + 6:6.......................541 +Chs. 6-8......................135 + 7:19.................229, 542 + 8:20......................585 + 8:21.................206, 602 + 9:4.......................597 + 11:5......................206 + 11:8......................229 + 12:3.................117, 218 + 12:7......................628 + 12:7, 8...................585 + 13:14, 15.................244 + 13:15.....................628 + 14:14.....................234 + 14:18-20.............583, 618 + 15:6.................117, 221 + 15:13.....................226 + 15:13, 16............233, 331 + 15:18-21.............244, 628 +Ch. 16........................553 + 17:8............241, 244, 628 + 17:12, 13.................234 + 18:25.....................545 +Ch. 19........................135 + 22:18...........116, 425, 573 + 25:12-18..................227 + 25:19.....................225 + 26:3......................628 + 26:14.....................234 + 28:12-15..................555 + 28:13.....................628 + 31:19.....................207 + 31:54.....................585 + 32:10.....................234 + 33:20.....................585 + 35:1,7....................585 +Ch. 36........................227 + 36:6,7....................234 + 36:31................122, 228 + 37:2......................225 + 41:1-7....................555 + 41:57.....................542 + 46:1......................585 + 49:1......................608 + 49:6......................534 + 50:25.....................131 + +EXODUS. + +Ch. 1, seq................232-235 + 1:1, 5, 8.................225 + 2:24,25...................225 + 3:6.......................127 + 3:6-10....................130 + 3:12......................607 + 4:22, 23.............635, 638 + 6:16-20...................233 + 12:22, 23.................599 + 12:37, 40.................233 +Ch. 12:46.....................638 + 13:2......................127 + 13:19.....................131 +Ch. 15...................174, 268 + 15:18.....................616 + 16:35, 36............122, 228 + 20:19................118, 583 + 22:29.....................127 + 24:3-8..........125, 598, 600 + 25:8.................233, 586 + 25:16, 21, 22.............588 + 25:30.....................589 +Ch. 26...................586, 588 + 26:1, 7...................587 + 27:20.....................589 +Ch. 28........................596 + 29:12,20..................602 + 29:23-28..................601 + 29:40.....................600 + 30:6-8....................589 + 30:12, seq................127 + 30:36.....................588 + 31:12-17..................233 +Ch. 32........................126 + 34:6, seq.................152 + 34:15.....................292 + 34:19.....................127 + 36:8, 14,19...............587 + 40:22-27..................589 + + +LEVITICUS. + +Ch. 1, seq...............235, 236 +Ch. 1.........................598 +Chs. 1-10.....................236 + 1:4.......................601 + 1:9.......................602 + 2:12......................127 + 2:13......................600 +Chs. 3-9..................598-605 +Ch. 10........................126 + 12:2, seq.................127 +Chs.12-16.................598-605 + 17:10, 11.................597 + 18:5......................127 + 19:8, 34.............139, 140 + 23:40-43........123, 127, 185 +Ch. 24........................126 + 24:5-9, 25................589 +Ch. 26..............144, 304, 629 + + +NUMBERS. PAGE. + +Ch. 1, seq...............237, 238 + 3:13......................237 + 5:6-8.....................598 + 7:89......................589 + 8:17......................127 + 9:12......................638 + 12:6-8..........148, 170, 219 + 12:8......................540 +Ch. 17........................581 + 17:4......................588 + 18:15.....................127 +Ch. 19........................600 +Chs.21-24.....................268 + 21:27-30..................279 +Ch. 23........................126 + 24:14.....................608 + 27:15-23..................242 + 28:2, seq.................127 + 29:12, seq................127 +Ch. 32........................242 + + +DEUTERONOMY. + +Ch. 1, seq...............238, 239 + 1:1, 43...................238 + 2:4, 5, 8, 9, 18, 19......140 + 4:19......................541 + 4:30......................608 + 6:4, 5....................140 + 7:3, 4....................138 + 7:7, 8....................570 + 9:5.......................153 + 13:1-5....................219 + 16:1-8....................600 + 16:16.....................626 + 17:18.....................193 + 17:24.....................125 + 18:17-19.............583, 638 + 18:18...........118, 129, 184 + 21:1-9....................600 + 24:1......................134 +Chs.27-32...........238, 304, 629 + 27:1-8, 12, 13.......129, 185 +Ch. 28........................144 + 28:29.....................549 + 28:58.....................125 + 29:1, 10-15...............125 + 29:14.....................129 + 30:11-14..................636 + 31:9,24-26.124,125,129,184,185 +Ch. 31:9-13...................184 + 31:16.....................292 + 31:26.....................209 + 31:29.....................608 +Ch. 32...................174, 268 + 32:4......................545 + 33:10.....................598 + 34:1......................360 + + +JOSHUA. + +Ch. 1, seq...............241, 244 + 4:1-7.....................581 + 6:12......................242 + 6:25......................243 + 8:32......................185 + 10:12-14..................244 + 12:9......................184 + 15:16-19..................243 + 19:13.....................338 + 19:47.....................243 + 24:26.....................186 + +JUDGES. + +Ch. 1, seq................245-247 + 1:12-15...................243 + 1:21......................247 + 2:1.......................190 + 4:4.......................190 +Ch. 5.........................174 + 6:8, 11...................190 + 9:8-15....................319 + 9:23......................541 + 10:13.....................243 + 13:3......................190 + 15:20.....................247 + 18:1......................243 + + +RUTH. + + 2:12......................248 + 2:14......................184 + + +1 SAMUEL. + +Ch. 1, seq................248-250 + 2:13-16...................627 + 2:27......................190 + 2:34......................608 + 4:4.......................589 + 7:12......................581 + 10:1......................581 + 10:2-7....................608 + 10:5, 10..................190 + 10:25.....................186 +Ch. 11:8......................252 + 15:22...........153, 219, 296 + 17:52.....................252 + 18:16.....................252 + 19:20.....................190 + 20:25 ....................184 + 23:9-12...................608 + 27:6......................251 + + +2 SAMUEL. + +Ch. 1, seq...............251, 252 + 1:18......................243 + 1:19-27...................279 + 3:10......................252 + 5:6-9.....................247 + 6:2.......................589 + 6:17-19...................599 + 7:14......................639 + 7:16.................119, 621 + 8:4.......................257 +Ch. 22........................174 + 23:2......................148 + 23:8......................258 + 24:1......................252 + 24:13.....................257 + + +1 KINGS. + +Ch. 1, seq................252-254 + 2:3.......................124 + 3:5-12....................193 + 3:13......................253 + 4:26......................258 + 4:32......................290 + 6:1.......................247 + 8:9.......................588 + 8:46-50...................629 + 8:62-66...................599 + 9:6, 7....................304 + 11:29-39..................581 + 11:41.....................188 + 12:10.....................555 + 12:29.....................337 + 13:2, 3...................608 + 18:4......................190 + 20:35................190, 337 + 22:11................555, 581 + 22:19-23.............284, 541 + + +2 KINGS. + +Ch. 1, seq...............254, 255 + 2:3, seq.............190, 337 + 14:9......................554 + 14:23.....................333 + 14:25.....................338 + 14:25-28..................337 + 15:8-31...................334 + 17:1-6....................334 + 17:27, 28.................181 + 18:13-19:37...............170 + 18:13-20:21...............536 + 19:15.....................589 + 20:8-11..............244, 608 + 22:8............124, 193, 311 + 23:5......................344 +Ch. 24........................338 + 24:1......................327 + 24:12.....................328 + 24:18-20..................314 + 25:8......................328 + 25:9......................196 + 25:27.....................255 + + +1 CHRONICLES. + +Ch. 1, seq................256-258 + 1:43......................122 + 3:19-24...................263 + 6:31......................192 + 11:11.....................258 + 18:4......................258 + 21:12.....................257 + 29:29......170, 187, 188, 251 + + +2 CHRONICLES. + +Ch. 1, seq................256-258 + 9:25......................258 + 9:29.................170, 188 + 12:15................170, 188 + 13:22.....................188 + 15:1, seq.................256 + 16:7-12...................257 + 17:7-9....................193 + 19:2......................257 + 20:20.....................336 + 20:34...........170, 188, 189 + 21:16, 17.................338 + 23:18.....................127 + 24:6......................127 + 26:22................170, 188 + 27:7......................189 + 30:16.....................600 +Ch. 32........................536 +Ch. 32:25, 31.................257 + 32:32................170, 188 + 33:18, 19.......170, 188, 359 + 34:14.....................124 + 35:11.....................600 + + +EZRA. + + 1:1, seq.............260, 261 + 2:61-63...................256 + 3:1-5................122, 127 + 4:8-6:18.............175, 260 + 5:1, 2...............345, 346 + 6:14......................346 + 7:1, 8....................350 + 7:6..................123, 180 + 7:10, 11..................194 + + +NEHEMIAH. + + 1:1, seq.............261, 262 +Ch. 8.........................123 + 8:5.......................180 + 8:13-17.........123, 127, 185 + 12:4......................346 + 12:11, 22............195, 263 + 13:6.................262, 349 + 13:24.....................177 + + +ESTHER. + + 1:1, seq.............261, 263 + 8:2.......................264 + 9:16......................264 + + +JOB. + +Ch. 1, seq................280-283 + 1:5.............585, 597, 598 + 2:10......................280 + 3:3.......................276 + 5:14......................549 + 5:19-26...................270 + 20:24-28..................270 + 42:8............585, 597, 598 + + +PSALMS. + +Ps. 1, seq................284-288 +Ps. 2....................619, 621 + 2:4.......................275 + 2:8, 9....................145 + 5:12......................276 + 7:5.......................534 + 8:4-6.....................638 +Ps. 16........................622 + 16:9......................534 + 16:11.....................540 + 17:15.....................540 +Ps. 13: 1-16.............244, 549 + 19:1-4....................636 +Ps. 22........................619 + 22:1, 7, 8, 14-16, 18.....622 + 22:18.....................609 +Ps. 23........................272 + 25:11.....................570 + 28:4......................276 + 28:5......................278 + 30:12.....................534 +Ps. 40........................619 + 40:6-10...................622 + 40:7......................635 + 40:12.....................620 + 42:2-4....................532 +Ps. 45...................292, 619 + 45:13.....................532 + 46:4......................625 + 49:15.....................540 +Ps. 50........................285 + 51:1, 6, 7, 10, 11...570, 571 + 51:7, 17..................274 + 51:10, 16, 17.............153 + 51:11.....................542 + 57:8......................534 + 61:4......................274 +Ps. 69........................619 + 69:4, 7-9, 21.............622 + 69:5......................620 + 69:30, 31.................153 +Ps. 72..............284, 285, 619 + 72:11.....................145 + 72:20.....................286 + 73:24-26..................540 + 74:8......................196 +Ps. 80..............319, 553, 558 + 80:1......................589 + 80:8.................558, 560 + 80:8-16..............553, 558 + 81:12, 13............542, 543 + 84:11................546, 551 + 90, title............268, 287 + 91:7......................184 + 99:1......................589 + 103:3-5...................276 + 103:11-13.................278 + 108:1.....................534 +Ps. 109.......................619 +Ps. 109:1-20..................622 +Ps. 110.............590, 619, 636 + 110:1................620, 638 + 110:4..145, 148, 573, 620, 638 + 129:6, 7..................539 + 139:23, 24................541 + 141:2.....................274 + + +PROVERBS. + +Ch. 1, seq...............289, 290 + 1:27......................276 + 10:1, 7...................275 + 10:26.....................552 + 13:1......................556 + 14:5......................556 + 14:32.....................540 + 15:12.....................555 + 15:16.....................277 + 15:17.....................556 + 17:23.....................556 + 18:10.....................555 + 19:13.....................539 + 20:15.....................556 + 20:20.....................277 + 21:2......................277 + 23:39.....................276 + 24:23.....................290 + 25:15.....................551 + 26:3.................277, 552 + 26:1-28...................289 + 26:20, 21, 23.............552 + 27:15................539, 556 + 27:19.....................556 + + +ECCLESIASTES. + +Ch. 1, seq................290-292 + + +CANTICLES. + +Ch. 1, seq...............292, 293 + 1:5; 2:8, 9, 14; 4:1-3; + 5:12, 13, 15; 7:7.........273 + + +ISAIAH. + +Ch. 1, seq................299-303 + 1:2-4.....................277 + 1:10......................276 + 1:11-20..............219, 296 + 2:2.......................608 + 2:2-4...........341, 623, 626 + 3:1-3, 25, 26.............611 + 4:1..................174, 611 + 4:2.......................609 +Ch. 4:2-5.....................612 + 4:5.......................624 + 4:10......................305 + 5:1-6.....................319 + 5:7.......................560 +Ch. 6.........................629 + 6:5.......................301 + 6:8.......................300 + 6:9-13..........203, 623, 634 + 6:10......................541 + 8:1-4.....................299 + 9:1, 2....................635 + 9:7.......................145 + 10:33, 34............174, 612 +Ch. 11........................629 + 11:1............174, 590, 612 + 11:2......................145 + 11:6-9...............548, 612 + 11:11, 12, 15, 16.........624 + 13:10.....................549 + 13:13.....................548 + 13:19, 20.................144 + 13:21, 22.................344 + 14:23.....................144 +Chs.15, 16....................314 +Ch. 20...................563, 581 + 20:2-4....................563 + 28:16.....................575 + 32:2......................273 + 34:6, 13-15..........274, 344 + 35:6......................625 + 35:8......................526 +Chs.36-39................302, 536 + 37:16.....................589 + 38:7, 8...................244 + 39:6, 7..............305, 322 +Chs. 40-66...............302, 609 + 40:1.................299, 607 + 40:19, 20.................309 + 41:7......................309 + 41:14-16..................616 + 41:18.....................306 + 41:25.....................307 + 42:1-4...............145, 635 + 43:23, 24............307, 309 + 44:28; 45:4...............306 + 46:1, 2; 47:8.............309 + 48:22.....................302 +Ch. 49:25, 26.................270 + 50:4......................145 + 51:15; 52:7...............309 + 52:13-15.............145, 174 +Ch. 53..............146, 580, 592 + 53:3-7....................145 + 53:6......................620 + 53:7, 8...................638 + 53:10.....................574 + 54:5......................292 + 55:3......................303 + 55:12.....................552 + 57:9......................309 + 57:15.....................219 + 57:21.....................302 + 58:6......................634 + 58:11, 12.................442 +Chs. 59, 60...................612 + 60:18-22.............270, 613 + 61:1,2................74, 633 + 62:5......................292 + 62:11.....................634 + 63:10.....................542 + 63:17.....................541 +Ch. 66........................629 + 66:2......................219 + 66:3......................307 + 66:24.....................302 + + +JEREMIAH. + +Ch. 1, seq................310-314 + 1:1, 3....................311 + 1:11-14...................581 + 1:13-.....................555 + 2:2; 3:14.................292 + 4:23-28..............548, 549 + 10:3, 4...................309 + 10:1-16...................359 + 10:11.....................175 + 11:18-23; 12:6............310 + 13:1-11.........320, 563, 581 + 15:10.....................311 + 20:1-6, 14-18........310, 311 + 23:4-6....................590 + 23:5, 20.............608, 609 + 25:1, 9..............327, 328 + 25:12-14..................312 + 25:13.....................314 + 26:12-15..................311 +Ch. 26:18.....................340 + 27:2; 28:10...............319 + 27:1-8; 28:10, 11.........555 + 29:10-14..................312 +Chs. 30, 31...................629 + 30:8; 21:31...............609 + 30:24.....................608 + 31:31-33.............167, 571 + 31:35.....................309 + 32:2; 33:1................310 + 32:6-15...................563 + 33:15, 16.................590 + 36:1-4, 27-32.............313 + 37:5-10...................312 + 39:11-14-40:1-4...........310 + 46:2......................327 + 47:6, 7...................551 + 48:47; 49:39..............608 + 49:7-22..............314, 338 + 50:2......................309 + + +LAMENTATIONS. + +Ch. 1, seq................314-316 + + +EZEKIEL. + +Ch. 1, seq................316-322 +Ch. 1..........318, 555, 563, 564 + 1:1-3; 2:3, 4, 6; 3:15...316-318 +Ch. 3.........................581 +Ch. 4....................320, 563 + 4:4-8.....................565 + 8:1.......................316 + 8:1-4................562, 563 +Ch. 10...................563, 564 + 12:3-12...................563 + 14:1......................316 + 14:14, 20.................284 +Ch. 16..............318, 319, 560 + 17:1-10..............319, 559 + 18:31.....................219 + 20:1......................316 + 21:27.....................548 + 22:6-12...................318 +Ch. 23..............318, 319, 560 + 24:15-18.............316, 319 + 25:12.....................338 + 26:4, 5, 14...............144 + 32:7, 8...................549 + 33:21.....................320 +Ch. 33:30-32..................316 + 35:5-15...................338 +Chs. 36-39....................629 + 36:22.....................570 + 36:25-27.............152, 571 + 36:25. 37, 38.............274 + 36:32.....................154 + 37:1-14..............319, 562 + 37:16-20.............319, 563 + 38:8, 16..................608 + 38:20.....................548 + 39:11.....................609 +Chs. 40-48...............319, 627 + 42:15-20; 43:13-27...321, 627 + 43:24.....................600 + 45:1-8...............321, 627 + 47:1-12.........321, 625, 627 +Ch. 48...................321, 627 + + +DANIEL. + +Ch. 1, seq................322-324 + 1:1.......................338 + 1:5.......................328 + 1:7.......................326 + 2:1-5.....................338 + 2:4-7:28..................175 + 2:33, 40-45.....330, 609, 610 + 2:46......................589 +Ch. 3....................323, 326 + 3:21......................327 +Ch. 5....................323, 328 + 5:2.......................327 + 5:22, 31.............328, 329 +Ch. 6...............323, 326, 329 + 7:7-28..........330, 609, 610 + 7:25............509, 565, 610 + 9:2.......................194 + 9:18......................570 + 9:24-27.........137, 262, 565 + 9:27......................325 + 10:14.....................608 + + +HOSEA. + +Chs. 1-3......................563 + 1:10,11...................629 + 2:16, 19, 20..............292 + 3:5.......................608 + 10:12.....................219 + 11:1.................635, 638 + 12:1......................334 +Ch. 14........................334 + 14:2.................219, 274 + +JOEL. + + 2:1, 2....................344 + 2:12, 13..................219 + 2:28......................609 + 2:28-32..............336, 623 + 2:31......................549 +Ch. 3.........................629 + 3:14-17...................613 + 3:15, 16........335, 548, 549 + 3:18.................335, 625 + 3:19......................338 + + +AMOS. + +Ch. 1, seq...............336, 337 + 1:1..................191, 336 + 1:2.......................335 + 1:11......................338 + 5:11......................344 + 5:21-24.........153, 219, 296 + 7:1-9................564, 581 + 7:14.................191, 336 + 8:1-3.....................581 + 8:2.......................555 + 8:9.......................548 +Ch. 9.........................629 + 9:11......................609 + 9:11, 12..................623 + 9:13......................335 + + +OBADIAH.......................338 + + +JONAH. + +Ch. 1, seq................338-340 + + +MICAH. + +Ch. 1, seq...............340, 341 + 4:1.......................608 + 4:1-4...........623, 626, 629 + 6:6-8................219, 296 + 7:8-20....................629 + + +NAHUM. + +Ch. 1, seq...............341, 342 + 1:5-8.....................272 + 1:15......................309 +Chs.2, 3......................144 + 2:13......................551 + + +HABAKKUK. + +Ch. 1, seq...............342, 343 + 2:2.......................526 +Ch. 3.........................244 + 3:10, 11..................551 + + +ZEPHANIAH. + +Ch. 1, seq................343-345 + 2:15......................309 + + +HAGGAI. + +Ch. 1, seq...............345, 346 + 2:6, 7....................518 + + +ZECHARIAH. + +Ch. 1, seq................346-348 + 1:8-11....................581 + 1:18-21...................564 + 3:8.......................590 + 3:8-20....................629 + 4:1-10; 5:5-11; 6:1-9; + 11:4-14...................564 + 6:9-14....................590 + 9:9.............347, 609, 634 + 11:13................348, 609 + 13:7......................581 + 14:5......................336 + 14:8......................625 + 14:16-21.............626, 629 + + +MALACHI. + +Ch. 1, seq...............348, 349 + 1:8, 13, 14...............600 + 3:1.............348, 349, 635 + + +1 ESDRAS......................352 + +2 ESDRAS.................352, 353 + 7:3.......................353 + +TOBIT....................353, 354 + 2:10......................353 + +JUDITH...................354, 355 + 4:3.......................355 + 4:6,8; 5:18, 19; 15:8.....353 + +WISDOM OF SOLOMON. +Ch. 1, seq...............356, 357 + +ECCLESIASTICUS...........357, 558 + 48:24, 25.................308 + 49:1, seq.................329 + +BAKUCH, AND EPISTLE OF JEREMIAH..358, 359 + +BOOKS OF THE MACCABEES....359-362 + +1 Mac 1:54....................325 +2 Mac 7:14....................361 + +MATTHEW. PAGE. + +Ch. 1, seq...............420, 426 + 1:12......................346 + 1:17, 22..................424 + 1:23......................426 + 2:5, 6....................341 + 2:15............334, 635, 638 + 2:17......................424 + 3:3.......................308 + 4:14......................424 + 4:15, 16..................635 + 4:21......................436 + 5:17.......................31 + 5:29, seq.................153 + 6:19, 20...................76 + 6:25, 31...................45 + 6:27......................528 + 7:12......................216 + 7:15, 16..................552 + 7:21-23..........91, 575, 577 + 8:11, 12..................425 + 8:17......................308 + 8:25, 26..................537 + 9:13......................334 + 9:17......................539 + 10:3.................420, 487 + 10:5, 6..............425, 446 + 10:16......................74 + 10:19, 20.................105 + 10:35, 36.................341 + 10:40.....................395 + 11:10.....................635 + 11:13.....................147 + 11:27.....................575 + 11:28-30...............75, 82 + 12:1......................417 + 12:7......................334 + 12:13.....................422 + 12:17.....................424 + 12:17-21.............308, 635 + 12:39-41..................340 + 13:3-8, 19-23.............560 + 13:14, 15.......203, 623, 634 + 13:24.....................554 + 13:24-30, 37-43...........561 + 13:35.....................424 + 14:22-16:12..........412, 434 + 14:37-39..................135 + 15:24................425, 446 +Ch. 16:18, 19, 27.............575 + 17:1......................436 + 18:18.....................575 + 18:23-35..................501 + 19:3-9...............135, 637 + 20:16......................47 + 20:21.....................425 + 20:28.....................592 + 21:4......................421 + 21:5......................631 + 21:28-31..................560 + 21:33-41..................554 + 21:43.....................425 + 22:14......................47 + 22:15-22, 31, 32..........538 + 22:29.....................166 + 22:37-40..................151 + 22:41-46..................590 + 22:44.....................638 + 23:35.....................135 + 23:37-39..................425 +Ch. 24........................331 + 24:3, 19-22, 29............51 + 24:10-13..................489 + 24:15, 16.................326 + 25:1-13..............539, 561 + 25:34-46.............562, 575 + 25:46.....................570 + 26:26-28.............166, 548 + 26:33.....................540 + 26:37.....................436 + 27:9, 10..................348 + 27:35.....................424 + 27:46.....................426 + 27:50, 51.................603 + 27:56.....................436 + 28:1-10...................544 + 28:18.....................575 + 28:19, 20............425, 446 + + +MARK. + +Ch. 1, seq................427-431 + 1:2.......................635 + 1:19, 20..................436 + 2:14......................420 + 3:5, 34...................430 + 3:14, 15..................103 + 3:17......................429 + 3:18.................420, 487 +Ch. 3:23, 26...................67 + 4:1................... ...417 + 4:12............203, 623, 634 + 4:28..................33, 580 + 4:30......................560 + 4:26-29...................435 + 4:38, 40.............430, 537 + 5:2-20, 32, 42............430 + 5:37......................436 + 5:41, 42.............429, 430 + 5:43.......................73 + 6:40......................430 + 6:45-8:26............412, 434 + 7:3, 4, 11, 34............429 + 7:32-37...................435 + 7:34......................430 + 8:12, 33..................430 + 8:22-26...................435 + 9:2.......................436 + 9:14-27...................430 + 9:43-48...................557 + 9:49......................600 + 10:3-5....................124 + 10:5......................120 + 10:27.....................430 + 10:45.....................592 + 10:46-49..................429 + 11:10.....................429 + 12:1-9....................319 + 12:13-17..................528 + 12:35-37.............590, 636 + 12:42.....................429 + 13:3......................429 + 13:11.....................106 + 13:12.....................341 + 13:14.....................326 + 13:31.....................557 + 14:12, 36.................429 + 14:24.....................166 + 14:29.....................540 + 14:33.....................436 + 15:28.....................592 + 15:32, 34, 42.............429 + 15:37, 38.................603 + 15:40, 41.................436 + 16:8......................431 + 16:9-20..............391, 431 + 16:15................217, 568 + + +LUKE. PAGE + +Ch. 1, seq................431-436 + 1:1....................37, 56 + 1:1-4................431, 433 + 1:3...................68, 416 + 1:6........................40 + 1:32, 33...119, 573, 621, 639 + 2:14......................152 + 2:22-24...................127 + 2:40-52...................418 + 3:4.......................308 + 3:27......................346 + 3:38......................433 + 4:17-19..............308, 634 + 5:10, 11..................436 + 5:27, 29..................420 + 6:15.................420, 487 + 7:27......................635 + 7:37, 38..................539 + 8:10............203, 623, 634 + 8:24, 25..................537 + 8:51......................436 + 9:18, 57..................417 + 9:43-18:30......412, 434, 436 + 10:1......................446 + 10:26.....................120 + 10:30-37..................433 + 10:40-42..................540 + 11:5-9....................561 + 11:29-32..................340 + 11:51.....................135 + 12:11, 12.................106 + 12:53.....................341 + 13:1-5....................606 + 13:6-9....................560 +Ch. 15........................433 + 16:1-9..........553, 561, 562 + 16:10.....................554 + 16:19-31..................558 + 16:20.....................551 + 16:31.....................222 + 17:26-29..................135 + 18:1-8....................561 + 18:9-14...................560 + 19:3......................528 + 20:20-26..................538 + 20:37.....................127 + 20:41-44..................636 + 21:14, 15.................106 +Ch. 21:24................144, 628 + 22:9, 20..................432 + 22:20.....................166 + 22:37.....................592 + 23:45,46..................603 + 24:27.....................115 + 24:37-43...................70 + 24:44..32, 115, 148, 165, 619 + +JOHN. +Ch. 1, seq................436-444 + 1:1-18....................418 + 1:4.......................589 + 1:17......................120 + 1:18......................390 + 1:23......................308 + 1:29.155, 236, 485, 547, 580, 591 + 1:36......................547 + 1:37, 40..................436 +Chs.3, 5-12...................418 + 3:2........................79 + 3:3-5......................43 + 3:16.......................31 + 3:17, 18..................569 + 3:20......................524 + 3:36......................570 + 4:14.......................44 + 5:2........................53 + 5:4.......................390 + 5:17-23....................81 + 5:20......................103 + 5:28, 29..............82, 629 + 5:36.......................79 + 5:45-47...................535 + 5:46......................120 + 6:1-21....................438 + 6:4........................53 + 6:12.......................73 + 6:44......................541 + 6:51,54...................547 + 7:1-10.....................74 + 7:2........................53 + 7:15, 16...................78 + 7:17......................523 + 7:19......................120 + 7:22, 23..................127 + 7:38......................166 + 7:39......................542 + 7:42......................341 + +JOHN PAGE. + +Ch. 8:3-11....................390 + 8:12.............81, 103, 589 + 8:23.......................76 + 8:26......................103 + 8:39-41, 44, 56...........535 + 8:42.......................79 + 8:56......................221 + 9:4.......................291 + 9:24.......................70 + 10:1-18...................554 + 10:7, 9...................547 + 10:8......................535 + 10:9, 11, 14..............560 + 10:15, 17, 18.............592 + 11:25, 26..................82 + 11:44......................73 + 11:47......................70 + 12:15.....................634 + 12:38-41........308, 535, 623 + 12:40................203, 634 + 12:46.....................589 + 12:49, 50.................103 +Chs.13-17.....................418 + 13:3......................107 + 13:23, 25............436, 539 + 14:6......................595 + 14:25, 26.................106 + 14:27......................82 + 15:1.................547, 551 + 15:1-7.....................83 + 15:26, 27..................87 + 16:2.......................40 + 16:7..................87, 630 + 16:12, 13.............88, 104 + 16:12-15..................106 + 16:28......................84 + 16:33......................82 + 17:2......................575 + 17:5.......................84 + 18:15, 16.................436 + 19:36.....................638 + 20:2-8....................436 + 20:22, 23.................576 + 20:27......................70 + 20:30, 31...84, 415, 438, 530 + 21:7, 20..................436 + 21:15.....................540 + 21:25.....................415 + +ACTS. PAGE. + +Ch. 1, seq................440-444 + 1:1...............52, 89, 440 + 1:3........................71 + 1:6-8................104, 607 + 1:13.................420, 487 + 1:15-22...................441 + 1:21, 22.............103, 432 + 2:11......................480 + 2:14-40...................441 + 2:16-21..............336, 623 + 2:30, 31..................622 + 2:34, 35..................636 + 3:1, 4-26.................411 + 3:6, 12, 16................80 + 3:22......................124 + 3:22, 23..................638 + 4:8-13, 19................441 + 5:1-11.....................90 + 5:3-11, 29-32.............441 + 6:4..................441, 445 + 7:37......................638 + 7:42, 43..................337 + 8:1.......................415 + 8:5-25..........441, 443, 447 + 8:32, 33..................638 + 8:26-40..............441, 592 + 8:28-33...................308 + 8:37......................391 + 9:1-22....................536 + 9:1-31, 32-43.............441 + 9:7, 17, 27...............543 + 9:22-26, 29, 30.......91, 449 +Ch. 10..............441, 443, 447 + 10:40, 41..................71 + 11:1-18..............441, 575 + 11:19-26.............442, 447 + 11:20.....................443 + 11:25-30........441, 442, 449 + 12:3-19...................441 + 12:12, 25.................427 + 12:17.....................487 + 12:25...........441, 442, 449 + 13:1, seq.......441, 442, 449 + 13:5, 13..................427 + 13:14.................442,447 + 13:15.....................121 + 13:20................190, 247 + 13:45-47..................447 +Ch. 14:1......................447 + 14:19-28.............442, 443 +Ch. 15........................488 + 15:1......................450 + 15:1-29...................447 + 15:2......................449 + 15:6......................415 + 15:10.....................139 + 15:13-21.............487, 488 + 15:15-18..................446 + 15:16, 17.................337 + 15:18.....................566 + 15:21................121, 546 + 15:22-35..................442 + 15:23-29..................108 + 15:36-18:22..........449, 450 + 15:37-39.............427, 428 + 15:40.....................472 + 16:1, 2..............479, 480 + 16:6......................458 + 16:9, 12-40...............469 + 16:10.................89, 431 + 16:19, 25, 29.............472 + 16:19-40..................475 + 17:1-10, 14-16.......471, 472 + 17:2, 10.............447, 448 + 17:5-10, 13, 14, 31.......475 + 18:1-11...................454 + 18:4, 6...................447 + 18:5......................472 + 18:6-17...................475 + 18:19-21..................465 + 18:22, 23............442, 449 + 18:23-21:15.....449, 450, 458 + 18:24.....................476 + 19:1-20:31................465 + 19:1-10, 21..........451, 454 + 19:8, 9...................447 + 20:1-3...............451, 454 + 20:1-6....................469 + 20:17.....................443 + 20:28.....................290 + 20:29, 30.................476 + 20:31.....................454 +Chs.21-28.....................449 + 21:8-10, 15...........90, 449 + 21:18................487, 488 + 22:1-21....................536 +Ch. 22:9, 14..................543 + 23:8......................538 + 23:35-26:32...............450 + 24:17................451, 454 + 26:1-26...............111,536 + 26:14...........543, 546, 551 + 27:1.......................90 + 27:8......................480 + 28:16-31..................450 + 28:26, 27.......203, 623, 634 + 28:30, 31..................91 + + +ROMANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................451-458 + 1:10-15...................451 + 1:7.......................466 + 1:13, 18-32...............452 + 1:10-15...................451 + 1:17......................343 + 2:7.......................535 + 2:8-11....................529 + 3:7, 8....................637 + 3:21, 31..................446 + 3:22......................535 + 3:25,26...................593 + 3:28............529, 530, 577 + 4:4.......................370 + 4:6-25....................446 + 4:11......................117 + 4:12-17...................492 + 5:12-24..............116, 135 + 8:17......................639 + 9:13......................349 + 9:25, 26..................334 + 10:5......................127 + 10:6, 8, 18...............636 + 10:16, 20, 21.............308 + 10:19.....................124 + 11:6......................529 + 11:8.................203, 623 + 11:13-25, 30, 31..452, 492, 582 + 12:1.................596, 627 + 14:2, 23..................531 + 15:8-21...................453 + 15:16.....................452 + 15:22-16:27...............453 +Ch. 16........................466 + 16:1......................451 + 16:14.....................510 + + +1 CORINTHIANS PAGE. + +Ch. 1, seq................453-456 + 1:11-14, 31..........454, 455 + 1:14......................451 + 1:18--2:16................455 + 2:12, 13..................108 + 3:3-23...............454, 455 + 3:11......................575 + 3:11-15...................547 + 4:17......................457 + 5:7..................581, 600 + 5:9...................99, 455 + 7:1..................455, 530 + 9:22......................448 + 10:4......................547 + 11:2......................417 + 11:7-9...............135, 637 + 11:23-25..................432 + 12:15, 16.................552 +Ch. 15.........105, 109, 111, 629 + 15:5-18, 14, 17............71 + 15:14......................36 + 15:15.....................550 + 15:21, 22............116, 135 + 15:24-28........574, 575, 630 + 15:26, 54............630, 631 + 15:51.....................109 + 15:55................334, 552 + 16:1-6, 23...........451, 454 + 16:3-8....................454 + 16:10, 11............457, 480 + + +2 CORINTHIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................456-458 + 1:15-17..............457, 477 + 2:13......................481 + 3:6, 14...................167 + 5:10......................575 + 7:6, 7, 13, 14.......457, 481 + 8:1-4................451, 455 + 8:6, 16, 23...............481 + 9:1-5................451, 456 + 10:10-13..................454 + 12:10.....................157 + 12:14.....................454 + 12:18.....................481 + 13:1......................454 + + +GALATIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................458-461 +Chs. 1, 2................111, 449 + +GALATIANS. + +Ch. 1:1..................104, 460 + 1:11,12.........103, 108, 460 + 1:15-18...............91, 460 + 1:16, 21..................449 + 1:19......................487 + 2:1-3.....................481 + 2:5.......................448 + 2:9,12....................488 + 2:11......................442 + 3:6-9,18........446, 461, 492 + 3:8, 17..............117, 233 + 3:10-29...................461 + 3:13......................592 + 3:14-18...................582 + 3:15......................572 + 3:24,25....118, 130, 221, 571 + 4:1-3.....................217 + 4:4.......................215 + 4:7.......................639 + 4:8-6:18..................461 + 4:13-16..............458, 459 + 4:21, seq.................121 + 5:2.......................108 + 5:3,4.....................461 + 5:4.......................532 + 5:7.......................459 + 6:6.......................313 + 6:17......................459 + +EPHESIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................463-469 + 1:1........................92 + 1:7.......................592 + 1:10......................467 + 1:20-23...................575 + 2:20.................575, 582 + 3:1;4:1...................462 + 5:23-32...................468 + 6:20-22...................462 + + +PHILIPPIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................469-471 + 1:25......................477 + 2:9-11....................575 + 4:3.......................512 + + +COLOSSIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................463-465 + 1:10......................467 + 1:15-19...................575 + 3:5.......................549 + 4:10,13,16................462 + 4:11..................57, 431 + 4:14......................431 + 4:16.............99, 465, 466 + 4:18......................469 + + +1 THESSALONIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq...............471, 472 + 1:7,8.....................152 + 2:2,15,16.................475 + 4:11......................473 + 4:13-18.........105, 473, 629 + 4:15......................108 + 5:8.......................468 + +2 THESSALONIANS. + +Ch. 1, seq................473-475 + 1:7-10..........542, 569, 629 + 2:2,3.....................474 + 2:11, 12..................542 + 2:15......................417 + +1 TIMOTHY. + +Ch. 1, seq................476-480 + 2:4.......................542 + 2:11-14.............135, 637 + 3:16.................390, 526 + +2 TIMOTHY. + +Ch. 1, seq......476-478, 481, 482 + 3:6, 8....................477 + 3:7.......................214 + 3:8, 9....................501 + 3:11......................442 + 3:15......................166 + 3:16.................148, 577 + 4:9, 21...................480 + 4:11............427, 428, 431 + +TITUS. + +Ch. 1, seq...............480, 481 + 1:10, 14-16...............477 + 2:2, 3....................374 + 3:5.......................570 + 3:9.......................477 + 3:13......................476 + +PHILEMON. + + Ver.l, 9, 10, 23..........462 + 18........................469 + 24........................431 + +HEBREWS. PAGE. + +Ch. 1, seq................482-486 + 1:3.......................575 +Ch. 1:5.......................639 + 1:13......................636 + 2:6-8.....................638 + 2:11, 14, 17, 18.....594, 595 + 2:14-18...................584 + 3:7-4:11..................585 + 4:2.......................220 + 4:7-11................ ...619 + 4:12.................154, 527 + 4:15.................584, 595 + 5:1-6................484, 595 + 7:3.......................584 + 7:5, 8, 13, 21, 23, 28....484 + 7:4-10....................618 + 7:7.......................583 + 7:23, 24, 26..............596 + 7:25......................603 + 7:27......................595 + 8:3.............484, 591, 595 + 8:5, 13...................484 + 8:8-10....................167 + 8:9.......................635 +Chs. 9, 10....................321 + 9:1-9, 13, 22.............484 + 9:7, 8....................603 + 9:11-14, 25-28.......591, 596 + 9:12-28...................595 + 9:13, 14..................602 + 9:14......................529 + 9:15-17..............166, 167 + 9:22.................119, 598 + 10:1............485, 581, 587 + 10:5......................635 + 10:10-22...485, 591, 596, 627 + 10:19, 20, 22........602, 603 +Ch. 11........................568 + 11:4, 7...................135 + 11:9......................568 + 11:11.....................528 + 11:13, 39, 40.............221 + 11:33, 34.................326 + 11:37.....................299 + 12:24................135, 602 + 12:29.....................152 + 13:11, 12.................605 + 13:15.....................596 + 13:24.....................484 + +JAMES. + +Ch. 1, seq................487-491 + 1:13, 14.............541, 545 + 2:10......................153 + 2:14-26...................490 + 2:24......................529 + 5:11......................284 + +1 PETER. + +Ch. 1, seq................491-493 + 1:1, 2....................602 + 1:6, 7....................492 + 1:8, 21....................94 + 1:11.................297, 574 + 1:19, 20..................600 + 2:3.......................467 + 2:5-9..321, 568, 596, 603, 627 + 2:6, 8...............547, 575 + 2:23.......................75 + 2:24, 25..................592 + 3:18......................592 + 3:20......................135 + 5:1.......................500 + 5:13......................427 + +2 PETER. + +Ch. 1, seq................493-497 + 1:21.................148, 168 + 2:1.......................497 + 2:5, 6....................135 + 3:16.................166, 496 + +1 JOHN. + +Ch. 1, seq................497-499 + 1:5.......................545 + 2:2.......................591 + 3:8.......................116 + 3:12......................135 + 4:3....................46, 94 + 4:14.......................33 + 5:7, 8....................390 + +2 AND 3 JOHN. + +Ver. 1, seq..............500, 501 +2 John 12; 3 John 13...........60 + +JUDE. + +Ver. 1, seq..............501, 502 + 4.........................497 + 7, 11.....................135 + +REVELATION. + +Ch. 1, seq................503-510 + 1:5.......................592 + 3:7.......................575 + 3:18......................551 + 5:5, 12...................547 + 5:9..................510, 592 + 6:1..................547, 610 + 7:14......................592 + 8:3, 4....................589 + 9:15......................137 + 11:2, 3....137, 509, 565, 610 + 11:11................509, 631 + 12:6............509, 565, 610 + 13:5.................509, 565 + 19:8......................532 + 19:10.....................118 + 20:4, 5, 11-15............630 + 21:9......................292 + 22:18, 19.................578 + + + + +FAC-SIMILES + +OF + +ANCIENT NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS, + +TO ILLUSTRATE CHAPTER XXVI., PAGE 380. + + +Most of the following specimens of ancient manuscripts are taken from +Scrivener's Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. No. (1) +is from Tischendorf s Novum Testamentum Graece ex Sinaitico Codice; Nos. +(2) and (11) from Smith's Dictionary of the Bible; and No. (5) from +Horne's Introduction, Vol. IV. + +No. (1). PLATE I. SINAI CODEX, Century IV. Heb. 12:27-29. Notice the +occasional use of very small letters. In line 3 the article [Greek: taen] +is inserted by correction in its proper place, while it is left standing +where it should not at the beginning of line 2. + +No. (2). PLATE I. ALEXANDRINE CODEX, Century V. Jno. 1:1-5. In the +margin stands the first Ammonian section (A), and under it the tenth +Eusebian canon (I). + +No. (3). PLATE II. VATICAN CODEX, Century IV. Psa. 1:1, 2 and part of +verse 3; called by Scrivener "a tolerable _fac-simile_." + +No. (4). PLATE III. CODEX EPHRAEMI, _palimpsest_ of Century V. 1 Tim. +3:16, and end of verse 15. The heavier upper writing in two columns +(cursive) is a translation from Ephraem the Syrian. The paler underneath +is the Greek text. + +No. (5). PLATE IV. CODEX BEZAE, Century VI. Matt. 5:1-3. From the _type_ +cast for Kipling's edition, which give a good idea of the manuscript. It +is _bilingual_, the Greek and Latin stichometrically written and on +opposite pages. In the present specimen the Latin is placed below the +Greek. On the left margin of the Greek are the Ammonian sections. + +No. (6). PLATE II. CODEX PURPUREUS, Century VI. Part of Jno. 15:20. In +the margin the Ammonian section 139 ([Greek: RATh]), and under it the +third Eusebian canon ([Greek: G]). + +No. (7). PLATE II. CODEX LAUDIANUS, Century VI. Part of Acts 20:28. +Bilingual and stichometrically written, the Latin on the left and the +Greek on the right. + +No. (8). PLATE III. CODEX MONACENSIS, Century X. Luke 7: end of verse 25 +and beginning of verse 26. + +No. (9). PLATE III. CODEX BASILENSIS (cursive), Century X. Matt. 15:1, +and part of verse 2. + +No. (10). PLATE V. CODEX RUBER (cursive, in bright red ink), Century X. +2 Cor. 1:4, with end of verse 3, and beginning of verse 5. + +No. (11). PLATE V. Part of Luke 20:9, 10, from a fragmentary Palimpsest +of century VI., brought in 1847 from the Nitrian desert, and now in the +British Museum, add. 17,211. It is covered by Syrian writing of Century +IX. or X. + +[Illustration: PLATE I. (l). SINAI CODEX. (2). ALEXANDRINE CODEX.] + +[Illustration: PLATE II. (3). VATICAN CODEX. (6). CODEX PURPUREUS.] + +[Illustration: PLATE III. (4). CODEX EPHRAEMI. (7). CODEX LAUDIANUS. +(8). CODEX MONACENSIS. (9). CODEX BASILENSIS.] + +[Illustration: PLATE IV. (5). CODEX BEZAE.] + +[Illustration: PLATE V. (10). CODEX RUBER. (11). A PALIMPSEST FROM THE +NITRIAN DESERT.] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Companion to the Bible, by E. P. Barrows + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPANION TO THE BIBLE *** + +***** This file should be named 17265.txt or 17265.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/6/17265/ + +Produced by John Hagerson, Juliet Sutherland, David King, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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