or idea, which such word has not of itself. This augment Another very important rule in the construction of the Greek is of two kinds: "the one affects the dignity of the word article is the following, which was first completely illustrated by itself; the other, the extent and weight of its signification. the late eminently learned Granville Sharp; though it appears not In the former case the word receives a sort of honour or to have been unknown to former critics and commentators.1 dishonour from popular usage.' Of this kind of augment it would be irrelevant to treat in this place. The second class number, and case, are connected by the copulative xai (and), "When two or more personal nouns of the same gender, of words comprises those which receive an accession or if the first has the definitive article, and the second, third, &c. augmentation in the extent or force of meaning. These con- have not, they both relate to the same person." stitute what may with propriety be called EMPHATIC WORDS. Emphasis, therefore, may be thus defined :-An accession or augment to the ordinary signification of a word, either as to the extent or force of its meaning. This rule Mr. S. has illustrated by the eight following examples: 1. Ο Θες και πατηρ Κυρίου ἡμων. 2 Cor. i. 3. These examples are properly rendered, in the authorized translation, and according to the preceding rule: 1. The God and Father of our Lord. Thus, when the Jews speak of Moses, they simply term him the Prophet. In like manner, the ancient Greeks called Demosthenes the Orator; Plato, the Philosopher; Homer, the Poet, by way of eminence. These respective appellations are emphatic. The title of the Prophet, given by the Jews to Moses, signifies that he was the first of the Jewish prophets, and of such distinguished dignity, that there arose no subsequent prophet in In the Kingdom of Christ and of God. Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, and conversed mouth to mouth. (Deut. xxxiv. 10. Num. xii. 8.)1 3. Εν τη βασιλεία του Χριςου και Θεού. Eph. v. 5. Common Version. Corrected Version. In the Kingdom of Christ, even of God. 4. Κατα χαριν του Θεού ήμων και Κυρίου Ιησου Χριςου. 2 Τhess. i. 12. Common Version. According to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 5. Ενώπιον του Θεού και Κυρίου Corrected Version. According to the grace of Jesus Ιησού Χριςου. 1 Τim. v. 21. Corrected Version. Before Jesus Christ, the God and Lord; or, our God and Lord. (For the definitive Article has sometimes the porer of a possessive Pronoun.) Emphases are either verbal, that is, such as occur in words both separately and together, or real, that is, such as appear in the magnitude and sublimity of the thing described by words. The propriety of this division has been contested by Huet, Ernesti, and some others, who affirm that emphases subsist in words only, and not in things, and that in things grandeur and sublimity alone are to be found. On this classification, however, there is a difference of opinion; and Longinus himself, who has placed emphases among the sources of the sublime, seems to have admitted that they exist also in things. In the first instance, unquestionably, The glorious appearing of the great The glorious appearing of our great they are to be sought in words, sometimes in particles, and also in the Greek article; and when their force is fully 7. Εν δικαιοσύνη του Θεού ήμων και apprehended, they enable us to enter into the peculiar ele-Through the righteousness of God, Through the righteousness of Jesus gances and beauties of the sacred style. A few examples illustrative of this remark must suffice. II. VERBAL EMPHASES. 1. Emphases of the Greek article. In Matt. xxvi. 28. our Saviour having instituted the sacrament of the Lord's supper, after giving the cup to his disciples, adds,-"For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Almost every syllable of the original Greek, especially the articles, is singularly emphatic. It runs thus:- Touro yap is! To xinx μou, TO TS καινης διαθήκης, Το περί πολλών εκχυνόμενον εις άφεσιν ἁμαρτίων. The fol lowing literal translation and paraphrase do not exceed its meaning "For this is [represents] THAT blood of mine, which was pointed out by all the sacrifices under the Jewish law, and particularly by the shedding and sprinkling of the blood of the paschal lamb; THAT BLOOD of the sacrifice slain for the ratification of the new covenant; THE blood ready to be poured out for the multitudes, the whole Gentile world as well as the Jews, for the taking away of sins; sin, whether original or actual, in all its power and guilt, in all its energy and pollution, In Matt. xvi. 16. the following sentence occurs:-sis O Xpisos O vins TOYS TOY TOS, "Thou art THE Christ, THE SON OF THE living God." In this passage, also, every word is highly emphatic, agreeably to a rule of the Greek language, which is observed both by the sacred writers, as well as by the most elegant profane authors, viz. that when the article is placed before a noun, it denotes a certain and definite object; but when it is omitted, it in general indicates any person or thing indefinitely. The apostle did not say, "Thou art Christ, Son of God," without the article: but, "Thou art THE Christ, the Messiah, THE SON," that very Son, thus positively asserting his belief of that fundamental article of the Christian religion, the divinity and office of the Redeemer of the world-"Of the living God, or of God THE living one." Similar instances occur in John i. 21. O рons & σv; "art thou THAT Prophet" whom the Jewish nation have so long and so anxiously expected, and who had been promised by Moses (Deut. xviii. 15. 18.)? and also in John x. 11. Εγω ειμί. Ο ποιμην. Ο καλος, I am THAT good Shep herd, or the shepherd, THAT good one, of whom Isaiah (xl. 11.) and Ezekiel (xxxiv. 23.) respectively prophesied. has met with able refutations; and Kuinöel, whose commentary on the historical books of the New Testament (noticed in another part of this work) was composed principally for Germans, has given abstracts of these refutations. For a refutation of the neologian hypothesis that the first three chapters of the book of Genesis are a philosophical mythos or fable, see Vol. II. p. 205. 1 Ernesti, Inst. Interp. Nov. Test. pp. 40, 41. Mr. Terrot's translation of Ernesti, vol. i. p. 52. Mori Hermeneut. Nov. Test. Acroases, tom. i. pp. 323, 324. Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, p. 27. Ernesti (Inst. Interp. Nov. Test. p. 41.) and after him Bauer (Herm. Sacra, p. 232.) and Morus (Hermeneut. Nov. Test. Acroases, tom. i. pp. 323-326.) have distinguished emphases into temporary and perma nent. The former is that which is given to a word at a certain time and place, and arises from the feelings of the party speaking, or from the importance of the subject requiring that the word used should be under stood with some addition to its usual force. The latter or permanent emphases are those, in which a word receives from custom a greater signi. fication than it has of itself, and which it retains in particular modes of speaking. The knowledge of both these is to be derived from a consideration of the context and subject-matter. But the examples adduced in defence of this definition concur to make it a distinction without a difference, when compared with the ordinary classification of emphases into verbal and real, which we have accordingly retained. Dr. A. Clarke's Discourse on the Eucharist, pp. 61, 62, 6. Επιφάνειαν της δόξης του μεγάλου Θεού και σωτήρος ήμων Ιησου Common Version. Corrected Version. God and Saviour Jesus Christ. σωτήρος Ιησού Χριςου. 2 Pet. i. 1. Corrected Version. and of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Common Version. And denying the only Lord God, and And denying our only Master, God The above rule and examples are further confirmed by the researches of Bishop Middleton; and altogether furnish a most striking body of evidence in behalf of the divinity of our Saviour. The fundamental and most important doctrine of the Christian faith does not indeed depend upon the niceties of grammatical construction; but when these are eagerly seized by those who deny the divinity of the Son of God, in order to support their interpretation, we are amply justified in combating them with the same weapons. On this account the reader will be gratified by the addition of a few examples, both from classic authors, as well which Mr. Sharp's rule is completely exemplified. They are as from two or three of the fathers of the Christian church, in selected from Mr. Boyd's supplementary researches on the Greek article, annexed to Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary on Eph. vi. and on the Epistle to Titus. (Polycarp, Epist. ad Philipp.) Αγαπην του Χρισού, του Θεου ημων.—The love of Christ our God. (Ignatius, Epist. ad Romanos.) Tov KTISKY, Xu Anμroupyov.-The Creator and Maker. (Irenæus adv. Hæres. lib. iv. p. 48. edit. Oxon. 1702.) Του κορυφαιότατου παρ' ύμων και πρώτου των ποιητων, Ομήρου. Homer the most distinguished among you, and first of the poets. (Justin Martyr, Cohortatio ad Græcos.) Ο Αρχισρατηγος και Ποιμήν των κατ' ουρανον, ὦ πάντα πείθονται.-The great Ruler and Shepherd of them in heaven, whom all things obey. (Methodius.) Αμφι τον αναρχον και ανωλεθρον Βασιλέα.-Around the King, without beginning and immortal. (Ibid.) Venema, in an admirable dissertation on the true reading of Acts xx. 28. has adverted to it (see the passage in the British Critic (N. S.), vol. xi. p. 612.); and also Mr. De Gols, in his valuable, though now neglected, Vindica, tion of the Worship of Jesus Christ. (London, 1726. 8vo.) p. 37. Sharp on the Greek Article, pp. xxxix. xl. 1-56. Iva Toy Bσtia &Spriρy αUTO x Пт.-That he may venerate the King and Maker of all. Methodius. A μovxas worμny Inσous, xx xxxv, xx vvutios.-Jesus, our leader, and shepherd, and governor, and bridegroom. (Ibid.) Τον Θεον μονον αρνείσθε, τον δεσπότην και δημιουργον του παντος. Ye deny the only God, the Lord and Creator of all. (Chrysostom. Orat. de non anathem. vivis aut defunctis.) Εν ήμερα επιφανείας και αποκαλύψεως του μεγαλου Θεού και Αρχιποιμένος v, Intou Xp.gov.-In the day of the appearing and revelation of Jesus Christ, the Great God and Chief Shepherd of us. (Gregor. Nazianzen. Orat. 4. adv. Julian. in fine.) 2. Emphasis of other Words. John i. 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, 10 v, literally tabernacled among us. The verb σκηνόω (iron σκηνη) signi fies to erect a booth, tabernacle, or temporary residence, and not a permanent habitation or dwelling place: it was therefore fitly applied to the human nature of Christ; which, like the ancient Jewish tabernacle, was to be only for a temporary residence of the Eternal Divinity. Matt. ix. 36. When Jesus saw the multitudes, he had compassion on them,-Eλy xvi (from xyzvov, a bowel); the ancients generally, and the Jews in particular, accounting the bowels to be the seat of sympathy and the tender passions, applied the organ to the sense. The proper meaning, therefore, of this phrase is, that our Lord was moved with the deepest sympathy and commiseration for the neglected Jews. Heb. iv. 13. All things are naked and opened, TTXoμva, to the eyes of him with whom we have to account. The emphasis is here derived from the manner in which sacrifices were anciently performed. 3. Emphatic Adverbs. [i] Sometimes ADVERBS OF TIME are emphatic; and a careful notation of the time indicated by them will materially illustrate the force and meaning of the sacred writings. Thus, in Mal. iii. 16. we read, THEN they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another, &c. The word THEN is here peculiarly emphatic, and refers to the time when the last of the prophets wrote, and when many bold infi dels and impious persons were found among the Jews, who spake "stout words" against God, and vindicated them. They considered all the time spent by them in his service as lost; they attended his "ordinances" with many expressions of self-denial and humiliation, but they derived no benefit from them; and they concluded that those haughty rebels who cast off all religion, and tempted God by their presumptuous wickedness, were the most prosperous and happy persons. (v. 13-15.) THEN, viz. at this season of open wickedness, there was a remnant of pious Jews, who "spake often one to another," met together from time to time that they might confer on religious subjects, aniniate each other to their duty, and consult how to check the progress of impiety. Of these persons, and their pious designs and discourses, we are told that Jehovah took especial notice; and that "a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.” [ii] A knowledge of historical circumstances, however, is requisite, lest we ascribe the emphasis to a wrong source; as in Acts ix. 31. THEN had the churches rest (pavy, literally, peace or prosperity). The cause of this peace has by some commentators been ascribed to the conversion of Saul, who had previously "made havoc of the church:" but this is not likely, as he could not be a cause of universal persecution and distress, whatever activity and virulence he might have shown during the time of his enmity to the Christian church. Besides, his own persecution (as the context shows) proves that the opposition to the Gospel continued with considerable virulence three years after his conversion. If we advert to the political circumstances of the Jewish nation at that time, we shall find the true cause of this rest. The emperor Caligula had ordered his statue to be erected in the temple at Jerusalem; and, in pursuance of his mandate, Petronius, the president of Syria, was on his march with an army for that purpose. Filled with consternation, the Jews met him in vast multitudes in the vicinity of Ptolemais or Acre, and ultimately prevailed on him to abandon his design. It was this persecution of the Jews by the Romans that the sacred writer had in view, which diverted the Jews from persecuting the Christians; and "THEN had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria," the terror occasioned by the imperial decree having spread itself throughout those regions.2 III. REAL EMPHASES. The knowledge of these can only be derived from an acquaintance with the manners, customs, &c. of ancient nations, which are noticed by writers on biblical antiquities and by commentators, so far as they are necessary to illustrate the sacred writings. Two or three instances of these also will suffice to explain their nature. 1. Rom. xi. 17. In this verse we have a very beautiful illustration taken from the ingrafting of trees; an art with which we find St. Paul was well acquainted. The point to be explained was, the union of the Gentiles with the Jews under the Gospel dispensation. The Jews were the olive tree; the grafts were both Gentiles and Jews; and the act of ingrafting was, the initiation of both into the Christian religion. The Jews are informed that olive branches may with greater ease be ingrafted into their own original stock, which is more natural and congenial to them. The Gentiles are again reminded, that, if the natural branches were not spared because of their unfruitfulness, much less would they be spared who were aliens to the Jewish stock, if they should prove unfruitful. 2. The prize, pov, mentioned in 1 Cor. ix. 24., is the crown awarded to the victor in the olympic games; whence **Spa, rendered beguile you of your reward (Col. ii. 18.), means to deprive any one of a reward or prize, either by partial judgment or in any way impeding him in nis Christian course. In 1 Cor. ix. 24. the apostle illustrates the necessity of being in earnest in the Christian race, by a beautiful allusion to the Kuinöel in loc. who has given illustrations from classical writers, and also from the Apocrypha. Dr. Lardner has collected and given at length various passages from Josephus (De Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 10. and Ant. Jud. lib. xviii. c. 9.) and Philo (De Legat. ad Caium. 1024.), which confirm the above statement. See his Credibility, book i. ch. ii. § 12. games of the heathen. As the racers and wrestlers in those games fitted 4. Eph. v. 27. That it (the church of Christ) should be holy and WITHOUT BLEMISH, μμos, i. e. so pure and spotless, so free from all censure, that even Momus himself (the fictitious deity of mirth and ridicule) could find nothing to carp at or ridicule. IV. GENERAL RULES FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF EMPHASES. A consideration of the affections by which the sacred authors were animated, when they committed their inspired communications to writing, as well as the scope and context of the passage under consideration, together with the nature of its subject, will always enable us to ascertain the true emphasis of words: but, as ingenious and fanciful minds are apt to discover them where they do not actually exist, it may not be irrelevant to offer a few leading hints respecting the particular investigation of emphases, selected from the great mass of observations, which have been collected by eminent biblical critics. 1. No emphases are to be sought in refined explanations of passages, or from etymology, both of them uncertain guides at the best; and which are too often carried to extremes by men of lively imaginations. Neither will prepositions always enlarge or give additional force to the meaning of a word, particularly in the Greek language. We may instance in 1 Cor. xiii. 6., where we read that true charity rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth (ru xaps) in the truth. Some comthe passage rejoiceth jointly (with true believers) in the truth. But in this mmentators have conceived that this word is emphatic, and have rendered instance, as Schleusner has remarked from Hesychius, the Greek com pound verb means no more than the simple verb za implies, viz. to he delighted or to rejoice in a thing. Our authorized version therefore fully expresses the apostle's meaning. But in Heb. xii. 2. the preposition is highly emphatic, and demands particular attention, in order to appretend the full force and beauty of the passage, which is wholly agonisticol, i e. Having in the first verse exhorted allusive to the ancient footraces. Christians to divest themselves of every incumbrance, and to run wrh patience their Christian course, St. Paul adds (v. 2.), Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. The original word here rendered looking (pv), literally means to look off FROM every other object to some particular object placed full in view; as the reward destined to the victor in the olympic footrace was placed immediately in view of the candidates. It is impossible to express the full import of this passage without the aid of a paraphrase. The whole clause may be thus rendered-Wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of itnesses, who (like the spectators at the ancient olympic race) surround us on every side in a vast innumerable assembly, the spectators of our trial, let us lay aside every incumbering weight, and especially the sin, which in present circumstances has the greatest advantage (against us], or the well circum stanced sin, that which has every thing in its favour, time, place, and opportunity, more particularly, a disposition to relinquish or dissemble our profession of the Gospel for fear of sufferings; and let us run with pa tience and perseverance the race which is set before us, resolutely persisting in it, however long and painful it may be: Looking off from every object that would interrupt us in cur career, and fixing our eyes upon (or to) Jesus, the author (or leader) and finisher of our faith; who called us out to this strenuous yet glorious enterprise; who animates us by his example, and supports us by his grace, until the season arrive, when he will bestow upon us the promised crown. 2. Further: Emphases are not to be sought in versions; which, however excellent they may in general be, are yet liable to error; consequently the derivation of emphases from them may lead us not merely to extravagant, but even to false expositions of Scripture. One instance will suffice to illustrate this remark. In Col. ii. 6. according to the authorized English version, we read thus, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. From this rendering of the Greek text many persons have laid much stress on the words as and so (which last is not to be found in the original), and have deduced a variety of inferences in him; as ye received him in a spirit of humility, so walk ye in him, &c. from them, viz. as ye received Jesus Christ in a spirit of faith, so walk ye Now all these inferences, though proper enough in themselves, are de rived from false emphases, and are contrary to the apostle's meaning, who intended to say no such thing. His meaning, as Dr. Macknight has well This word occurs in Josephus precisely in the very same meaning as it is used by the apostle. The Jewish historian, relating the aggressions of the Jews which led to the war with the Romans, says, among other things, that those who officiated in the temple-service rejected the sacri fice for Cæsar and the Roman people. "And when many of the highpriests and principal men besought them not to omit the sacrifice, which it was customary for them to offer for their princes, they would not be prevailed upon. These relied much upon their number, for the most flourishing part of the innovators assisted them," APOPONTE 915 TOP Exp, “having the chief regard to Eleazar, the governor of the tem pie;" looking TO HIM EXCLUSIVELY, by whom they had been instigated to those offensive measures. De Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. xvii. §2. See Braunius, Krebsins, Kypke, Ernesti, and also Drs. Doddridge, Macknight, and A. Clarke on Heb. xii. 1, 2. by whom every emphatic word in these two verses is particularly illustrated. on account of the simplicity of the Hebrew language, which has few or no adjectives. A similar mode of expression obtains in the New Testament. Thus, in Eph. v. 8. we read, Ye were sometimes DARKNESS, XOTOS: in the parallel place, in iv. 18. the metonymy is thus expressed being DARKENED, SOXOTIOμAVO, in the understanding; or, as it is rendered in our authorized version, having the understanding darkened. Numerous examples, in Chap. II. Sect. II. § 4. 3. No emphases are to be sought merely in the plural number which the abstract is put for the concrete, will be found, infra, Book II. of words. We must be cautious, also, that we do not deduce emphasis merely from the use of the plural number; supposing that, where the plural is put instead of the singular, it necessarily denotes emphases. Thus oupavo and cupave simply mean heaven; yet Origen, following the trifling dis tinctions of some Jewish writers, has attempted to distinguish between them, and has announced the existence of several heavens each above the other. 5. As every language abounds with idioms, or expressions peculiar to itself, which cannot be rendered verbatim into another language without violating its native purity, we should be careful not to look for emphases in such expressions.3 "In the sacred books, and especially in the Hebraisms of the New Testament, we must take care not to seek for and recognise emphasis, 4. No emphases are to be sought in words where the abstract merely in the idiom, which is so very dissimilar to ours. Many persons, is put for the concrete. In the Old Testament the abstract is very frequently put for the concrete; that is, substantives are necessarily put in the place of adjectives, though acquainted with Hebrew, have often made this mistake; but nothing is more fallacious. In the oriental languages many things appear hyperbolical (if you translate them literally, that is, merely by the aid of common lexicons and etymology) which are not in reality hyperbolical." CHAPTER II. ON THE SUBSIDIARY MEANS FOR ASCERTAINING THE SENSE OF SCRIPTURE. WORDS being the arbitrary signs of things, the meaning of hem depends upon the usus loquendi, or the custom of expressing certain things by certain words. It is surprising that any attempts should have been made to find the sense of words in a dead language, by means different in their nature from those which we employ in order to find the sense of words in a living language. The meaning of a word must always be a simple matter of fact; and, of course, it is always to be established by appropriate and adequate testimony. The original languages of Scripture being to us dead languages, the usus loquendi in them is to be ascertained by the testimony of those who lived at the time when these languages were flourishing and in common use, and who well understood them. This testimony is either direct or indirect. where it is undubitable its evidence is abundantly sufficient. This testimony may be drawn from three sources, viz. I. From the definitions of words; II. From examples. and the nature of the subject; and, III. From parallel passages. I. With regard to DEFINITIONS, nothing more is necessary than to take good care that the definition be well understood; and to consider how much weight the character of the writer who defines may properly give to it. Professor Morus has collected various examples of definitions from profane writers, both Greek and Latin, which it is not necessary to adduce in this place: but the following definitions of certain words occurring in the New Testament are of importance for the right understanding of the sacred wrirtes. DIRECT TESTIMONY is to be obtained, in the first place, from 1. In Heb. v. 14. St. Paul says that he writes To TEX, to those writers to whom the language, which is to be investi- the perfect; and he there, with almost logical precision, defines gated by us, was vernacular, either from the same authors the perfect to be those who by reason of use have their senses whom we interpret, or from their contemporaries; next from exercised to discern both good and evil; that is, those who by ancient versions made by persons to whom the language was long custom and conversation in the sacred writings have so not vernacular, but who lived while it was a spoken lan-exercised and improved their faculties, that they can discern beguage, and by individuals who were acquainted with it; tween good and bad, true and false doctrines. In the whole of thirdly from Scholiasts and Glossographers; fourthly, from that passage, therefore, we are to understand who are the perfect, those who, though foreigners, had learned the language in question. Where direct testimony fails, recourse must be had to INDIRECT TESTIMONY; under which head we may include the Context, Subject-matter, Scope, Analogy of Languages, Analogy of Doctrine, Jewish Authors, the Greek Fathers, Historical Circumstances, and Commentators. Some of these various aids are peculiar to the Old Testament, and others to the New Testament: to avoid unnecessary repetition, it is proposed to discuss them in the order pursued in the following Sections. SECTION I. agreeably to St. Paul's definition. 2. If we are at a loss to understand, in the style of the same apostle, what he means by the body of Christ; we may learn from Eph. i. 23., where it is defined by the church: thus,... the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. it said to be the substance of things hoped for and the evidence 3. Heb. xi. 1. contains a definition of faith; which is there of things not seen. II. EXAMPLES and the NATURE OF THE SUBJECT also show us the usus loquendi and force of words; but in order to judge correctly, and to make proper distinctions, a good understanding and considerable practice are highly necessary. 1. By Examples is meant, that the writer who uses a parti DIRECT TESTIMONIES FOR ASCERTAINING THE USUS LOQUENDI.cular word, though he does not directly define it, yet gives in 1. THE TESTIMONY OF CONTEMPORARY WRITERS. THE most important aid is afforded by those writers to whom the language to be investigated was vernacular; and 1 See Drs. Macknight and A. Clarke on Col. ii. 6. On the Hebraisms, or Hebrew Idioms peculiar to the Sacred Writings, see pp. 196-198. of the present volume. 3 Bauer, Herm. Sacr. pp. 231-240. Ernesti Instit. Interp. Nov. Test. pp. 40-45. Mori Acroases in Ernesti, tom. i. pp. 321-336. Aug. Pfeiffer, Herm. Sacr. c. vi. § 16-23. (Op. tom. pp. 649-651.) Wetstein, Libelli ad Crisin et Interp. Nov. Test. pp. 120-139. Viser, Herm. Sacr. Nov. Test. pars iii. pp. 263-277. Bishop Marsh's Lectures, lect. xv. pp. 43-49. Prof. Gerard has collected numerous valuable observations on the topics discussed in this and the two preceding sections, in his Institutes of Biblical Criticism, pp. 293-369. particularly in sect. iii. (pp. 300-314.) on the signification of words. J. B. Carpzovii Primæ Lineæ Herin. Sacræ, pp. 23. 40-45. The subject of emphasis is copiously treated by Langius in his Hermeneuticæ Sacra, pp. 64-96.; by Rambach, in his Institutiones Hermeneu ticæ Sacræ, lib. if. c. 8. pp. 317-362.; by Jahn, in his Enchiridion Herm. Generalis, pp. 127-135.; by Chladenius, in his Institutiones Exegeticæ, pp. 310-322.; and by J. E. Pfeiffer, in his Institutiones Herm. Sacr. pp. 534-569. Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, pp. 83-87. Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, p. 87. * Bauer, Hermeneut. Sacra, pp. 77-79. Mori Acroases Hermeneuticæ, tom. i. pp. 75-77. Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, pp. 34, 35. VOL. I. 2 T some one or more passages an example of what it means by exhibiting its qualities or showing the operation of it. Thus, very frequent occurrence in the New Testament, we must examine what (1.) In order to explain the word dixiv, righteousness, which is of examples of righteousness are added in each passage. the world, at first without an explanation: but afterwards we have an the religion and philosophy of the Jews and Gentiles which preceded the example of the meaning of it in Gal. iv. 9., where the expression is used of Christian dispensation, and includes the idea of incompleteness and imperfection. (2.) In Gal. iv. 3. St. Paul uses the term TO TOU XOμou, elements of 2. The Nature of the subject, in innumerable instances, helps to define which meaning of a word the writer attaches to it, in any particular passage. For instance, zapis, in our version usually rendered grace, denotes pardon of sin, divine benevolence, divine aid, temporal blessings, &c. mined from the nature of the subject. Which of these senses it bears in any particular passage is to be deter. III. In order to ascertain the usus loquendi, and to investigate the meaning of a passage, recourse is in the next place Stuart's Elements of Interpretation, p. 35. Morus, tom. i. p. 79. to be had to the COMPARISON OF SIMILAR OF PARALLEL PASSAGES;| and as much caution is requisite in the application of this hermeneutic aid, it becomes necessary to institute a particular inquiry into its nature, and the most beneficial mode of employing it in the interpretation of the Bible. 1. When, in any ordinary composition, a passage occurs of doubtful meaning with respect to the sentiment or doctrine it conveys, the obvious course of proceeding is, to examine what the author himself has in other parts of his work delivered upon the same subject; to weigh well the force of any particular expressions he is accustomed to use; and to inquire what there might be in the occasion or circumstances under which he wrote, tending to throw further light upon the immediate object he had in view. This is only to render common justice to the writer; it is necessary both for the discovery of his real meaning, and to secure him against any wanton charge of error or inconsistency. Now, if this may justly be required in any ordinary work of uninspired composition, how much more indispensable must it be when we sit in judgment upon the sacred volume; in which (if we acknowledge its divine original) it is impossible even to imagine a failure either in judgment or in integrity." "God has been pleased, in sundry portions and in divers manners, to speak unto us in his word; but in all the books of Scripture we may trace an admirable unity of design, an intimate connection of parts, and a complete harmony of doctrines. In some instances the same truths are conveyed nearly in the same modes of expression; in other instances the same sentiments are clothed with beautiful varieties of language. While we are interested in discovering some of the indications of mental diversity among the sacred writers, we clearly perceive that the whole volume of revelation is distinguished by a certain characteristic style and phraseology altogether its own, and which, for simplicity, dignity, energy, and fulness, must be allowed to have no parallel. Now, if there be in the various parts of Scripture such important coincidences of sentiment, of language, and of idiom, it is evident that we proceed on just and rational principles, in comparing together passages that have some degree of resemblance, and in applying those, the meaning of which is clear, to the illustration of such as are involved in some degree of obscurity."2 The passages, which thus have some degree of resemblance, are termed PARALLEL PASSAGES; and the comparison of them is a most important help for interpreting such parts of Scripture as may appear to us obscure or uncertain; for, on almost every subject, there will be found a multitude of phrases, which, when diligently collated, will afford mutual illustration and support to each other; the truth which is more obscurely intimated in one place being expressed with greater precision in others. Thus, a part of the attributes or circumstances, relating to both persons and things, is stated in one text or passage, and part in another; so that it is only by searching out several passages, and connecting them together, that we can obtain a just apprehension of them. More particularly, the types of the Old Testament must be compared with their antitypes in the New (as Num. xxi. 9. with John iii. 14.); predictions must be compared with the history of their accomplishment (as Isa. liii. the latter part of v. 12. with Mark xv. 27, 28. and Luke xxii. 37. and the former part of Isa. liii. 12. with Matt. xxvii. 57. Mark xv. 43. Luke xxiii. 50.), and the portion of Scripture, in which any point is specifically treated, ought to be chiefly attended to in the com-. parison, as Genesis ch. i. on the creation, Romans ch. iii.— v. on the doctrine of justification, &c. &c.3 1 Bp. Vanmildert's Lectures, p. 190. 2 Rev. H. F. Burder's Sermon on the Duty and Means of ascertaining the Sense of Scripture, pp. 17, 18. 3 On the importance and benefit of consulting parallel passages, Bishop Horsley has several fine observations in his comment on Psal. xcvii. The whole passage is too long to extract, but the following sentences are so appropriate to the subject of this section, that the author deems any apology for their insertion unnecessary, "It should," says his lordship, "be a rule with every one, who would read the Holy Scriptures with advan tage and improvement, to compare every text which may seem either important for the doctrine it may contain, or remarkable for the turn of the expression, with the parallel passages in other parts of Holy Writ; that is, with the passages in which the subject-matter is the same, the sense equivalent, or the turn of the expression similar. These parallel passages are easily found by the marginal references in Bibles of the larger form."......"It is incredible to any one, who has not in some degree made the experiment, what a proficiency may be made in that knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation, by studying the Scriptures in this manner, without any other commentary or exposition than what the different parts of the sacred volume mutually furnish for each other. I will not scruple to assert that the most ILLITERATE CHRISTIAN, if he can but read his English Bible, and will take the pains to read it in this manner, The foundation of the parallelisms occurring in the Sacred Writings is the perpetual harmony of Scripture itself; which, though composed by various writers, yet proceeding from one and the same infallible source, cannot but agree in words as well as in things. Parallelisms are either near or remote; in the former case the parallel passages are sought from the same writer, in the latter from different writers. They are further termed adequate, when they affect the whole subject proposed in the text; and inadequate, when they affect it only in part; but the most usual division of the analogy of Scripture, or parallelisms, is into verbal, or parallelisms of words, and real, or parallelisms of things. 2. A Verbal Parallelism or Analogy is that in which, on comparing two or more places together, the same words and phrases, the same mode of argument, the same method of construction, and the same rhetorical figures, are respectively to be found. Of this description are the following instances: (1.) Parallel words and phrases.-Thus, when the prophet Jeremiah, speaking of the human heart, says, that it is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. xvii. 9.), in order to understand the full import of the original word there rendered desperately, we must compare Jer. xv. 18. and Micah i. 9. where the same word occurs, and is rendered desperate or incurable. From which two passages it is obvious that the prophet's meaning was, that the deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart of man are so great that they cannot be healed or removed by any human art. Compare also Isa. xl. 11. and Ezek. xxxiv. 23. with John x. 11. 14, 15. Heb. xiii. 20. and 1 Pet. ii. 25. and v. 4. (2.) Parallel modes of arguing.-Thus the apostles, Paul, James, and Peter, respectively suppport their exhortations to patience by the example of Jesus Christ. Compare Heb. xii. 2, 3. James v. 10, 11. and 1 Pet. ii. 21. On the contrary, dissuasives from sin are more strongly set forth in the Old and New Testaments, by urging that sinful courses were the way of the heathen nations. Compare Lev. xviii. 24. Jer. x. 2. and Matt. vi. 32. (3.) Of Parallel constructions and figures we have examples ín Řom. viii. 3. 2 Cor. v. 21. and Heb. x. 6. in which passages respectively the Greek word aura, there translated sin, means sacrifices or offerings for sin, agreeably to the idiom of the Hebrew language, in which the same word elliptically signifies both sin and sin-offering, which the Septua gint version invariably renders by apare in upwards of one hundred places. Dr. Whitby, on 2 Cor. v. 21., has pointed out a few instances; but Dr. A. Clarke (on the same text) has enumerated all the passages, which are, in fact, so many additional examples of verbal parallelisms. To this class some biblical critics refer those passages in which the same sentence is expressed not precisely in the same words, but in similar words, more full as well as more perspicuous, and concerning the force and meaning of which there can be no doubt. Such are the parallelisms of the sacred poets; which, from the light they throw on the poetical books of the Scriptures, demand a distinct consideration. Verbal Parallelisms are of great importance for ascertain ing the meaning of words that rarely occur in the Bible, as well as of those which express peculiar doctrines or terms of religion, as faith, repentance, new creature, &c., likewise in explaining doubtful passages, and also the Hebraisms appear. ing in the New Testament. 3. A Real Parallelism or Analogy is, where the same thing or subject is treated of, either designedly or incidentally, in the same words, or in others which are more clear, copious, and full, and concerning whose force and meaning there can be no doubt. In comparing two passages, however, we must will not only attain all that practical knowledge which is necessary to kis salvation; but, by God's blessing, he will become learned in every thing relating to his religion in such degree, that he will not be liable to be misled either by the refined arguments or by the false assertions of those tho endeavour to ingraft their own opinions upon the oracles of God. He may safely be ignorant of all philosophy, except what is to be learned from the sacred books; which indeed contain the highest philosophy adapted to the lowest apprehension. He may safely remain ignorant of all history, except so much of the history of the first ages of the Jewish and of the Christian church, as is to be gathered from the canonical books of the Old and New Testament. Let him study these in the manner I recommend, and let him never cease to pray for the ILLUMINATION OF THAT SPIRIT by which these books were dictated; and the whole compass of abstruse philosophy, and recondite history, shall furnish no argument with which the perverse will of man shall be able to shake this LEARNED CHRISTIAN'S faith. The Bible, thus studied, will indeed prove to be what we Protestants esteem it-a cer tain and sufficient rule of faith and practice, a helmet of salvation, which alone may quench the fiery darts of the wicked."-Sermons on the Resur rection, &c. pp. 221-228. ascertain whether the same thing is really expressed more | fully as well as more clearly, and also without any ambiguity whatever, otherwise little or no assistance can be obtained for illustrating obscure places. Real parallelisms are twofold-historical, and didactic or doctrinal. (1.) An Historical Parallelism of things is, where the same thing or event is related: it is of great and constant use in order to understand aright the Four Gospels, in which the same things are for the most part related more fully by one evangelist than by the others, according to the design with which the Gospels were respectively written. Thus the account of our Saviour's stilling the tempest in the sea of Gennesareth is more copiously related by Saint Mark (iv. 36-41.) and Saint Luke (vii. 22-25.) than it is by Saint Matthew. (viii. 24. 26.) By comparing the several narratives of the evangelists together, harmonies are constructed from their separate histories. In like manner, the historical books of the Old Testament are mutually illustrated by comparing together the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. For instance, many passages in the book of Genesis are parallel to 1 Chron. i.—ix.; many parts of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers are parallel to the book of Deuteronomy; the books of Samuel and Kings, to the two books of Chronicles; and, lastly, 2 Kings xviii. 13-37. and 2 Chron. xxxii. are parallel with Isa. xxxvi. Dr. Lightfoot and Mr. Townsend have compiled very valuable harmonies of the Old Testament, in which the historical and prophetical passages are interwoven in the order of time, of which an account is given in the BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX to the second Volume, PART I. CHAP. II. SECT. I. (2.) A Didactic or Doctrinal Parallelism of things is, where the same thing is taught: this species of parallel is of the greatest importance for comprehending the doctrines inculcated in the Bible, which we should otherwise be liable to mistake or grossly pervert. aside all outward teaching; but their meaning is, either that ye need not various parts of this epistle, or that ye need not that any one should teach the teaching of any of those antichrists and false teachers mentioned in you how to judge of those deceivers and their doctrines. 4. Besides verbal and real parallelisms, there is a third species partaking of the nature of both, and which is of equal importance for understanding the Scriptures: this has been termed a parallelism of members: it consists chiefly in a certain equality, resemblance, or parallelism, between the members of each period; so that in two lines, or members of the same period, things shall answer to things, and words to words, as if fitted to each other by a kind of rule or measure. The nature of this kind of parallelism, which is the grand characteristic of the poetical style of the Hebrews, being fully considered in a subsequent chapter, a few examples of its utility as a hermeneutical aid will only be necessary in this place. In the poetical parts of the Old Testament, it sometimes I will make mine arrows drunk with blood; We have examples of it in all those Psalms which occur twice in the book That is, reducing the stanza to a simple quatrain In like manner, in the New Testament, the same thing is taught nearly in the same words, as in the Epistle of Jude compared with 2 Pet. ch. ii. Frequently also the same doctrine is explained inore fully in one place, which had been more concisely stated in another: such, for instance, are the superseding of the Mosaic dispensation by that of the Gospel, and all those passages which are parallel as to the thing or subject discussed though different in words; so that, by comparing them, the scope of the doctrine inculcated will readily be collected. On the other hand, where the same subject or doctrine is delivered with more brevity, all the various passages must be diligently collated, and the doctrine elicited from them. Of this description are the numerous predictions, &c. relative to the future happiness of mankind, connected with the removal of the Jewish economy, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian religion. But the use of this parallelism will more fully appear from one or two instances. Let us then compare Gal. vi. 15. with Gal. v. 6. 1 Cor. vii. 19. 2 Cor. v. 17. and Rom. ii. 28, 29. In the former passage we read, In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision, but a new creature, or rather [there is] a new creation. In Gal. v. 6. the apostle had briefly delivered the same doctrine in the following terms: In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by love.-1 Cor. vii. 19. Circumcision is nothing, nor uncircumcision, but the keeping of the commandments of God.—2 Cor. v. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, or more correctly, [there is] a new creation: old things have passed away; behold! all things are become new.-Rom.ii. 28, 29. He is not a Jew that is one outwardly, i. e. he is not a genuine member of the church of God who has only an out. ward profession: neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, a true member of the church of God, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. From these passages it is evident that what Saint Paul, in Gal. vi. 15. terms a new creature, or creation, he in Gal. v. 6. denominates faith that worketh by love; and in 1 Cor. vii. 19. keeping the commandments of God. From this collation of passages, then, we perceive, that what the apostle intends by a new creature or new creation, is the entire conversion of the heart from sin to God: and as creation is the proper work of an All-wise and Almighty Being, so this total change of heart, soul, and life, which takes place under the ministra tion of the Gospel, is effected by the power and grace of God, and is evidenced by that faith and obedience which are indispensably necessary to all Christians in order to salvation! Again: in 2 Cor. i. 21. God is said to have anointed us: the parallel passage, where this expression is so explained as to give an idea of the thing intended, is 1 John ii. 20., where true Christians are said to have an unction from the Holy One, and to know all things; and in v. 27. the same anointing is said to teach all things. Now, if the effect of this unction be that we should know all things, the anointing will be whatever brings know ledge to us, and therefore teaching. From this comparison of passages, therefore, we learn that by unction and anointing is intended the Holy Spirit, whose office is to teach all things, and to guide us into all truth (John xiv. 26. and xvi. 13.); and whose gifts and graces are diffused throughout the church of Christ, and imparted to every living member of it. For his assistances are equally necessary to all, to the learned as well as the unlearned, to teachers as well as to hearers: he it is that enlightens our minds, purifies our hearts, and inclines our wills, not only beginning but carrying on and perfecting a new and spiritual life in our souls. The expression in v. 20. and ye know all things, is not to be understood in the largest sense, but must be limited to those things which are necessary to salvation. These every true Christian not only knows speculatively-that is, he not only has a notion of them in his mind-but he has also a practical and experimental knowledge and taste of them, which is productive of holy obedience. This inestimable gift was purchased by the sufferings and death of Christ, who is here styled the Holy One. The words in v. 27. and ye need not that any man should teach you, cannot be intended to set 1 Mori Acroases Hermeneuticæ, tom. i. p. 95. See also Macknight and Scott on the texts above cited. Again, I will make mine arrows drunk with blood: From without the sword shall destroy; The suckling, with the man of gray hairs. "The youths and virgins," says Bishop Jebb, let out of doors by the vigour and buoyancy natural at their time of life, fall victims to the sword in the streets of the city: while infancy and old age, confined by helplessness and decrepitude to the inner chambers of the house, perish there by fear before the sword can reach them." Mr. Green, in his "Poetical Parts of the Old Testament translated," observes that there is a similar hyperbaton in Isa. xxxiv. 6. And Dr. Hales reduces to a similar form that remarkable prophecy, Gen. xlix. 10. : The sceptre shall not depart from Judah; Until Shiloh shall come; And [until] to him a congregation of peoples. "That is, according to Dr. Hales, the sceptre, or civil government, shall not depart, till the coming or birth of Shiloh; and the scribe, or expounder of the law, intimating ecclesiastical regimen, shall not depart, or cease, until there shall be formed a congregation of people, a church of Christian worshippers from various nations; the former branch of this prophecy was fulfilled, when Augustus made his enrolment preparatory to the census throughout Judæa and Galilee; thereby degrading Judæa to a Roman province: the latter branch was fulfilled at the sacking of Jerusalem by Titus; when the temple was destroyed, and the Jewish ritual abolished."3 By the application of this parallelism of members, Bishop Jebb has thrown considerable light upon a difficult passage in the eighty-fourth psalm, which he considers as an intro verted parallelism : Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee: Psal. lxxxiv. 5-7. "The first and sixth lines are here considered, at once, as constructively parallel, and as affording a continuous sense: the intermediate four lines may be accounted parenthetical; the second, constructively parallel with the fifth; and the third with the fourth. The first line seems to contain the character of a confirmed proficient in religion,―his strength is in God; the 2 See Book II. Chap. II. infra. * Jebb's Sacred Literature, pp. 30, 31. |