are directed chiefly against the Scribes and Pharisees, considered as teachers, whose doctrine was far from breathing the same spirit with his, and whose chief object was, not like that of the good shepherd, to feed and to protect the flock, but, like that of the robber, or of the wolf, to devour them. I shall only add, before I conclude this note, that the interpretation here given suits the words that follow, as well as those that precede. Thus, 66 7. I am the door. S. All who enter in another manner are "thieves and robbers. 9. All who enter by me, shall be safe." How common was this method with our Lord, to enforce his sentiments by affirmations and negations thus connected! 14, 15. I both know my own, and am known by them (even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father); and I give my life for the sheep. Ch. vi. 57. N. Diss. XII. P. IV. § 3. 16. I have other sheep besides, which are not of this fold. This is spoken of the Gentiles, who were afterwards to be received into his church on the same footing with the Jews. 18. No one forceth it from me, δεις απ' aigh AUTHY εμά. E. T. No man taketh it from me. This can hardly be said with propriety, since he suffered by the hands of others. The Eng. verb take, does not express the full import of the Greek alpew. In this place it is evidently our Lord's intention to inform his hearers, that his enemies could not, by violence, take his life, if he did not voluntarily put himself in their power. 22. The feast of the dedication, va synama. It might be rendered, more literally, the feast of the renovation. But the other name has obtained the sanction of use. This festival was instituted by Judas Maccabæus, 1 Mac. iv. 59. in memory of their pulling down the altar of burnt offerings, which had been profaned by the Pagans, and building a new one, dedicated to the true God. 2 It being winter, xeμav ny. This festival began on the twentyfifth of the month Casleu, and was kept for eight days. It fell about the middle of our December. ye the works which I 25. I said to 66 believed not, but you, "do in my father's name, testify of me," TV ÙμV 8 TISEVETE" τα έργα ά εγω ποίω εν τω ονοματι το πατρος με, ταυτα μαρτυρεί περί E. T. I told you, and ye believed not; the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. The words are capable of being rendered either way; but there is this difference: rendered in the one way, they are conformable to fact, as appears from this very Gospel-" I said to you, the works "which I do," &c. That he had said this, we learn from ch. v. 36. In the other way rendered, the words "I told you," can refer only to what they asked him to tell them, to wit, whether he were the Messiah or not. Now, it does not appear from this, or from any other Gospel, that he had ever told them this in express terms, as they wanted him to do. It may be proper to observe, that the Vul. is here, in respect of the sense, agreeable to the version I have given; but, in respect of the expression, plainly points out a different reading. Loquor vobis, et non creditis, opera quæ ego facio in nomine patris mei, hæc testimonium perhibent de me. In conformity to this the Cam. MS. alone, reads λαλω for είπον. 8 TIGEVETE® 8 yag ESE EX TAY 26, 27. Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. My sheep, as I told you, obey my voice. προβατων των εμών, καθώς είπον ύμιν. Τα προβατα τα εμα της φωνής με axɣel. E. T. Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice. This case is similar to the former: xxws v uv is joined, by our translators, to the preceding words; I join them to those which follow. My reason is the same as in the foregoing instance. The words which precede, had not, as far as we are informed, been expressly used by our Lord; the subsequent words had. On the common Gr. there is no change made but in the pointing. Indeed, the clause zados EITOR Úμw, which has occasioned the question, is wanting in several MSS. as well as in the Vul. Cop. Arm. and Sax. versions. To recur to the authority of later interpreters and critics, would, in so plain a case, be quite unnecessary. 29. My Father, who gave them me is greater than all, ¡ *«της με ός δέδωκε μοι μείζων παντων εςι. Vul. Pater meus, quod dedit mihi, majus omnibus est. There is nothing in the Gr. MSS. which can confer the least probability on this version of the La. interpreter. Two or three MSS. have for os. The Al, reads Mov for May. The Cop. and Sax. versions agree with the Vul. 30. I and the Father are one, εγω και ὁ πατὴς ἐν εσμεν. The word is not is, one person, but iv, one thing, or the same thing. It might have been so rendered here; but the expression is too homely, in the opinion of some excellent critics, to suit the dignity of the subject. The greater part of foreign interpreters have thought otherwise. Vul. Er. Zu. Cas. Be. Ego et pater unum sumus. Lu. Ich und der vater sind eins. Dio. Io e il padre siamo una istessa cosa. L. Cl. Mon pere et moi sommes une seule chose. P. R. Si. and Sa. Une meme chose. What is distinguished in the original, we ought, if possible, to distinguish. Yet no Eng. translator known to me has, in this, chosen to desert the common translation. 34. Is it not written in your law? Here we find the book of Psalms, whence the passage quoted is taken, included under the name law, which is sometimes used for the whole Scriptures of the O. T. 35. To whom the word of God was addressed, gos os o roges το Θεος εγενετο. It has been observed justly, that the words may be rendered, against whom the word of God was pointed. What gives countenance to this interpretation, is, that God, in the place quoted (Ps. Ixxxii. 6.), is severely rebuking and threatening wicked judges and magistrates. On the whole, however, I prefer the version here given. 2 And if the language of Scripture is unexceptionable-xa & Suvata, Zvonvain reaḍn.-E. T. And the Scripture cannot be broken. I do not know a meaning which, by any of the received laws of interpretation, we can affix to this expression, Scripture cannot be broken. Yet it is impossible for one who attends to our Lord's argument, as it runs in the original, to entertain a doubt about the clause which answers to it in the Gr. Our Lord defends what he had said from the charge of blasphemy, by showing its conformity to the style of Scripture in less urgent cases: insomuch that, if the propriety of Scripture language be admitted, the propriety of his must be admitted also. This is one of those instances wherein, though it is very easy for the translator to discover the meaning, it is very difficult to express it in words which shall appear to correspond to those of his author. In such cases, a little circumlocution has always been allowed. 36. Whom the Father hath consecrated his Apostle to the world, ἐν ὁ πατηρ ήγίασε και απέςειλεν εις τον κόσμον. ¿ E. T. Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world. That άyızLev, in Scripture, often denotes to consecrate, to set apart to any religious or important purpose, has been shown, Diss. VI. P. IV. § 9-13. It is evident, that it is only in this sense applica. ble here. There are two words which Jesus chiefly uses for expressing his mission. One is, w, the other as; the former a more familiar, the latter a more solemn, term. It is from the latter that the name Apostle is derived. Our Lord, in my opinion, has often an allusion to this title, when it does not appear in the E. T. because both words are promiscuously rendered send. And though here the word send does but feebly express the import of the original; for it may be said of every man, that God hath sent him into the world; I do not deny that, in most cases, both words are properly so rendered, and that the purport of the sentence is justly conveyed. In a few, however, where there seems to be an allusion to the title 5201, by which he had distinguished the twelve, it may be allowable to change the term for the sake of preserving the allusion. Thus, ch. xvii. 18. when our Lord, in an address to God, represents the mission of his Apostles by him, as analogous to that which he had him. self received from his heavenly Father, he uses these emphatical words: Καθώς εμε απέτειλας εις τον κόσμον, κάγω απέτειλα αυτες εις του κόσμου. I have, for the sake of exhibiting the analogy with like energy, rendered the words in this manner: as thou hast made me thy Apostle to the world, I have made them my Apos tles to the world. Jesus is accordingly called, Heb. iii. 1. the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. He is the Apostle of God; they were the Apostles of Christ. Hence appears more strongly the propriety of what he said, L. x. 16.: He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. Thus making them, in respect of their mission as teachers, stand in the same relation to him, in which he, as Heaven's interpreter, stood to God. In like manner, in the verse under examination, as the word ya evidently means consecrated, or set apart for a sacred office, ce » amesudev is, by a common idiom, used for ήγιασε τα αποτελλεσθαι ; or, which is the same, ἡγιασεν είναι απο τόλου. 2 For calling himself his son, or HTOY, VI TY O:8. E. T. Because I said, I am the Son of God. Let it be observed, that our Lord's word here is , not. It is not, therefore, so definite as the common version makes it. At the same time, the want of the article in Gr. (as I have elsewhere observed) does not render the words so expressly indefinite, as, in our language, the indefinite article would render them, if the expression were translated a Son of God. For the sake, therefore, of avoiding an error on either side, I have chosen this oblique manner of expressing the sentiment. Mt. xxvii. 54. N. 39. They attempted again—¿1⁄2г. The Vul. has no word answering to wax, which is also omitted by the Cam. and a few other MSS. CHAPTER XI. 4. Will not prove fatal, 82 151 %ę Javatov. E. T. Is not unto death. That the former way of rendering gives the full import of the Gr. expression, as used here, cannot be questioned. It, at the same time, preserves the ambiguity. 10. Because there is no light, iTI TO DWG 8X ESIV EV AUTW. E. T. Because there is no light in him. Knatchbull has very properly observed, that the pronoun avra, here, manifestly refers to the noun μ8, in the end of the preceding verse; and should, therefore, be rendered in it. Common sense, as well as the rules of construction, require this interpretation. His stumbling in the night, is occasioned by the want of that which prevents his stumbling in the day. In it, however, is better omitted in Eng. where it would encumber, rather than enlighten, the expression, of itself sufficiently clear. "I am the au. 25. I am the resurrection and the life; that is, thor of the resurrection and of the life'-a very common trope in Scripture of the effect for the efficient. In this way, God is called our salvation, to denote our Saviour; and Jesus Christ is said, 1 Cor. i. 30. to be made of God unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that is, the source of these blessings. |