Nov. 18. 91. Imprimatur Gabr. Quadring Procan Io. Beaumont Io. Mountagu Io. Spencer AN ENQUIRY INTO Four Remarkable TEXTS OF THE New Testament Which contain Some DIFFICULTY in them WITH A Probable Resolution Of them By Iohn Edwards B. D. sometime Fellow of S t Iohns College in Cambridge 1 Cor. 13. 9. We know in part and we prophesie in part CAMBRIDGE Printed by I. Hayes Printer to the University for W. Graves Bookseller there 1692. The TEXTS Enquired into and Resolved are S. Matth. II. 23. He shall be called a Nazarene 1 Corinth XI 14. Doth not even Nature it self teach you that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him 1 Corinth XV. 29. Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all Why are they then baptized for the dead 1 S. Peter III. 19 20. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison who sometime were disobedient c. THE PREFACE THat there are Obscurities and Difficulties in Holy Writ is acknowledged by all persons that are conversant in this Sacred Volume And truly if we consider things aright we shall find that this is not unworthy either of God or of his Holy Word Not of God himself who endited the Sacred Scriptures for he hath most Wisely ordered that there should be some things Obscure and Mysterious in them to create a becoming Reverence and to let us know that these Writings are not penned after an ordinary manner These Clouds and Darkness are suitable to the Majesty of Heaven they are proper to beget in us Humility and Mean Thoughts of our selves to convince us of the Shallowness of our intellects to shew us how Short-sighted we are to give check to our Presumption to quash our towring Conceits of our knowledge to supersede our Vain Boasting to repel our Vaunting Pride and Insolence They are serviceable also to rebuke our Sloth and Negligence to provoke our Care and Study and to excite our utmost Diligence Thus it hath pleased God to exercise the Understandings of men and to make trial of their Industry by these Difficult passages which occurre in Scripture If all places were easy this Book would be liable to Contempt and there would be no room left for our Diligent Search and Enquiry But now at every reading of it we still find something to employ our understandings â—â—resh and to improve 〈◊〉 most iâ—quisitive faculties Here our minds may be perpetually busied here is enough to entertain our greatest leisure and most earnest study Here are many Mysteries to be unfolded many Depths to be fathomed many Abstrusities both in the things and in the words that convey the notice of them to our minds to be discovered so that to the Greatest Student and most Ambitious Enquirer that will happen which the Son of Sirach saith in another case When a man hath done then he beginneth Here are not only Foords and Shallows which we may easily wade through but here are unpassable Depths and Abysses It hath seemed good to the Wise Governor of the world that there should be in the Holy Scripture Some things hard to be unâ—derstood as S t Peter particularly pronounceth of S Pauls Epistles that â—ereby the Excellency of these Sacred Writings might appear that by this means it might be seen of what Vniversal use they are far those places which are plain and clear are fitted to ordinary capacities and those other portions which are deep and intricate are the proper entertainment of the Learned and thus the Whole Book is calculated for the general benefit of all S t Chrysostom â—ath summ'd it up thus very briefly All passages in Scripture are not plain and perspicuous lest we should be Lazy nor are all obscure lest we should Despond This Excellent Tempering of the Sacred Writ is a high commendation of it and is no other then the Wise Contrivance of Heavâ—n And as this Obscurity of some parts of Scripture is not unworthy of God himself so neither is it any disparagement to his Sacred Word For we must know that this Difficulty happens from the very nature of the things themselves which are here recorded It cannot be otherwise but that some portions of Scripture must be dark and obscure and consequently must labour under Different and Contrary Expositions because they were written so long ago and contain in them so many Old Customs and Usages so many Relations concerning Different People so many and various Idioms of Tongues such divâ—rsity of Antient Expressions Laws and Manners of all Nations in the world It is unreasonable to expect that we should exactly understand all these It is not to be wondred at that these occasion Doâ—bts Difficulties Mistakes And it is certain that the being ignorant of some of these is no blemish either to the Sacred Writings or to the persons who read and study theâ— Suppose I do not know what the house of Asuppim is 1 Chron. 26. 15. or what kind of trees the Almug or Algum-trees are 1 Kings 10. 12. 1 Chron. 20. 8. or who are meant by the Gammadim Ezek. 27. 11. What though I am not so well skill'd in the Iewish Modes and Fashions as to tell what kind of Womens-Ornament the houses of the soul are in Isai. 3. 20. or what particular Idols or Pagan Deities Gad and Meni are Isai. 65. 11. or which of the Heathen Gods is meant by Chiun or Remphan Amos 5. 26. Acts 7. 43. Some of the Learnedest Expositors and Criticks have confessed their ignorance as to these plaâ—es of Scripture particularly upon the last of them our Profound Antiquary hath these despairing words For my part I perceive my blindness to be such that I can see nothing at all and to the same purpose this Admirable Person speaks concerning several other passages in Scripture as of Nishroc Nergal and other Idols mentioned there the origine and meaning of which Names are hid from us Many other Reasons might be alledged of the real or seeming Difficulty of some places namely the Sublimity of the Matter the Ambiguity and Different Significations of the Words the Inadvertency of Expositors and sometimes their unskilfulness and oftentimes their Willful Designing to pervert the words in order to the maintaining some opinions or practises which they adhere to But no man of a sedate mind and reason can think that the Scriptures themselves are disparaged by these Difficulties and Mistakes for they are not arguments of the Scriptures Imperfection but of Man's Besides these Obscurities which are accompanied with the various ways of rendring some Expressions and determining the Sense are no proof of the Imperfection of this Holy Book because in matters of Faith and Manners which are the Main things we are concerned in and for which the Bible was chiefly writ these Writings are plain and intelligible All Necessary and Fundamental Points of Religion are set down here in such expressions as are suitable to the
discharged my task this I am sure of that I have not wilfully made any false steps I have been very fair and have used no violence upon the words as it is the too common practice of Criticks They are people that rack their Fanciâ—s and the Texts together they stretch and serue the words they â—eaze and worry they torment and most unmercifully force and drag a Text to their side You may observe it an arrant Critick is a Resolate sort of man generally he is very Earnest in his work though in never so light a matter and pusheth it on to the â—tmost extremity I could mention several Professors of Critisism who are guilty of this miscarriage who make it their business to force their may You shall see them set downbefore a Text and raise their Batteries against it and play their Cannon and Mortars upon it If this will not do they come with greater force and make a fresh assault with stronger Detachments from Poets Orators Historians Philosophers c. and fall on with greater fury thinking by this means to bring it to a Parly and then a Surrender or rather by their furious attacks we may guess they intend no other thing then to take it by Storm And truly in this Imaginary Romantick Adventure they think they have done it they perswade themselves they have taken possession of the Fort and so the Campaigne is at an end and there is a period to their doughty attempts But I hate these Viâ—olent courses this besieging of a Chapter and Verse this investing of a Place of Scripture I abhor the common practice of raâ—aging and preying upon the Bible I do not like the Bombarding of Scripture I approve not of the Storming of a Text and taking it by force It is a very unchristian and unbecoming employment to extort a sense from any place of Holy Writ and by little Critical arts and fetches to bring over the words to a compliance with us i. e. to the meaning which we design Indeed this however it may be represented as a Mighty Work is easily done by the aides of a Ready Invention a Luxuriant Pen and a shew of some Reason and Argument espeoially if these be back'd with a strong Desire of venting some New Notion in the world But then I do not think that the man believes the thing himself after all his flippant Rhetorick and strained Logick which methinks should make him very uneasie and much dissatisfied for how can one offer that to others to be believed which he gives no credit to himself For my part I love first to satisfie my self about any Point before I design to expose it to others judgments and this I have done in the Present Vndertaking otherwise I should think I had dealt very uncivilly to say no worse with the world I have offer'd that upon These Texts which I conceived to be most Credible which I found to have the warranty of Reason or some Good Probability I am not conscious of any unhandsome and unjust dealing with the words which I have made the subject of my Discourses I have not set any of the Texts upon the Rack I have not put them to the Torture to confess what they never intended I have let them speak freely and unconstrainedly and then you may expect no other then Truth and Realities If Others have different conceptions concerning these places of Scripture I am not offended in the least I have offered the Reasons of my assertions let them shew theirs and then perhaps there will be no disagreement However my purpose is to be Friendly and Peaceable and I desire to treat all Writers with a due respect and deference though I cannot comply with them in every thing that they assert To conclude let all our Enquiries and Disputes about these Scripture Difficulties be unfeignedly designed and refer'd to the Glory of the Supreme Eternal Being to the advancement of our knowledge in the Inspired Writings to the enlightning our minds in the True Religion to the edification of the Church and the advantage of the Christian world The first TEXT Enquired into viz. S. Matthew II. 23. He shall be called a Nazarene THOUGH the Practical part of Christian Theology be infinitely more noble more excellent more usefull then either the mere Speculative or Polemical parts of it though the Easiest and Plainest matters of our Religion be of the greatest importance to us and consequently though those places of Holy Scripture which are most Intelligible and Practical and contain in them the necessary duties relating to Faith and Manners be our chiefest concern yet it is certain that the other parts of this Holy Book even those which are Obscure and Controverted are not unworthy of our thoughts and studies Yea These carrying some Difficulty with them may on that very account justly call for our more serious disquisitions and challenge our more intent enquiries Questionlesse the explaining the Difficult passages of Holy Writ is not only a very Entertaining and Delightfull undertaking but such a one as will prove extremely Advantageous to the Christian Church if it be performed aright By this means we shall first be brought to admire and adore and then to apprehend the profound Mysteries of the Bible we shall learn by degrees to fathom its Vast Depths we shall be invited to search yet Farther into its hidden Treasures and so at last to arrive to Greater and Larger Measures of that Divine Knowledge which next unto the Practise of Religion is the most worthy accomplishment of a Christian mâ—ns life For these reasons I will attempt to make an Enquiry into and then to offer the Resolution of some Obscure and Difficult Texts which we meet with in the Writings of the New Testament I Begin first with this Notable passage in the Evangelist S Matthew with which he closeth his second Chapter He shall be called a Nazarene There were two ways of interpreting this of old First Tertullian and Ensebius and some other Ancient Fathers thought it was an allusion to the Nazarites a Religious and separate rank of persons among the Iews spoken of in the Old Testament And more particularly S t Ierom on the place tells us that a Nazarine heâ—e is to be interpreted a Holy person and that it is mentioned through out all the Writings of the Old Testament that the Messias our Lord Christ was to be such and consequently that it might well and truly be said that the Prophets foretold concerning him that he should be called a Nazarene i. e. a Holy Nazarite The second way of interpreting these words among the Antients was this that they have reference to those places where Christ is called Netzer a Branch as in Isai. 11. 1. 60. 21. yea S t Ierom himself who seem'd to have fixed on the former way of Interpretation is enclined to think that this Prophecy was taken out of the first verse of the Eleventh chapter of Isaiah and
capacities of the most simple and vulgar God hath graciously condescended to the infirmities of the meanest and most unlearned by speaking to them in these Writings after the manner of Men and by propounding the greatest Mysteries in a Familiar stile and way The Scripture so far as it relates to our belief and Practice is very easie and plain yea much plainer then the Glosses and Comments upon it oftentimes are In a word most of the places of Scripture call not for an Interpreter but a Practiser As for other passages which are Obscure and Intricate but which are very few in respect of those that are plain they were designed as hath been already suggested to employ our more inquisitive and elaborate thoughts and to whet our industry in the studying of this Holy Volume that at last when we have the happiness of retrieving the lost sense of the words and restoring them to their genuine meaning we may the more prize our acquest which hath cost us some pains Or if after all our attempts we cannot reach the true meaning we have reason to entertain reverend thoughts of those Difficult Texts of Scripture and to perswade ourselves that they are worthy of the Divine Enditer though our weak minds cannot comprehend them If Humane Authors delight to darken their writings sometimes and it is accounted no blemish surely we may conclude that the Mysteries of the Sacred and Inspired Stile are rather an inhansment then a diminution of its Excellency Shall we not think it fit to deal as fairly with the Sacred Code â—s Socrates did with Heraclitus's writings that is not only pronounce so much as we understand of them to be Excellent and Admirable but believe also that what we do not understand is so too It is certainly an undeniable truth that neither the Wisdom of God nor the Credit of this Inspired Book are empaired by any Difficulties we find in it Therefore when the men of the Roman perswasion make use of these Hard places in the Bible to disparage and discredit it and to render the Scriptures useless as to the common people questionless they take a wrong course first they complain that these Writings are Obscure and then they make them more so by locking them up from the sight of the people whereas they should rather expose them to light and indeavoâ—r to remove the obscurity by expounding them This is that which I have done in this Critical Essay which I here venture into the world of which it may be expected I should give some brief Account therefore take it thus In my first Attempt viz. on those words He shall be called a Nazarene I reject but not without shewing my Reasons the most generally received Interpretations and offer another namely that by a Nazarene is meant one of the city Nazareth an Inhabitant of that place and by the Prophets that foretold this I understand some Inspired persons who predicted that our Saviour should dwell and converse at Nazareth and this their Prediction was delivered from one to another till it came to S t Matthew who here sets it down in writing Therefore let it not startle the Reader that I say in my Discourse on these words There was such a Report or Tradition in this Evangelist's days for though this is but a Conjecture yet it is a very Probable one I shewing that the Apostles S t Paul and S t Jude made use of the like Reports and Traditions and inserted them into their Writings Wherefore it is not unlikely that the Evangelist here refers to a Tradition which was at that time concerning Christ's being a Nazarene i. e. that he should be one of the city Nazareth But because this is only Probable I advance farther and prove that this was not only spoken by some Uncertain and Unknown Prophets and so conveyed to the Iews but that it was likewise foretold by those very Prophets who were the Penmen of the Holy Scripture and accordingly I proceed to prove that these Writers directly predicted Christ's being related to the place called Nazareth and his having his denomination thence for he was brought up there Luke 4. 16. and therefore it is called his Country 23 v. and lastly I make it evident that this was actually fulfilled and accomplished in the plain and obvious meaning of the words viz. that he was called a Nazarene i e. One of Nazareth he was reproached for being an Inhabitant of that place and that not only by the Gentiles but by the very Jews for the Galilaeans of whom the people of Nazareth were a part were of Pagan extraction as the Samaritans were they were both of them looked upon by the grand body of the Jews as no Jews properly a kind of barbarous people in comparison of themselves and other inhabitants of Judea In my Exposition of the Second Text which is this Doth not nature it â—elf teach you that if a man hath long hair it is a shame to him I take the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the largest extent i. e. I consider the former as it signifies Custom and the Law of Natural Reason and the Distinction of the Sexes and the latter as it denotes both the Length and the Decking of the hair and accordingly I make it my business first to prove that if a Man either indulgeth an Immoderate Length of hair or is sollicitous about the Composing and Adorning of it he acts contrary to the Custom of the soberest part of mankind whether they be Jews Egyptians Arabians Grecians Romans c. all whose practise in tâ—is case I have represented from those Authors who treat of the manners of those people If it shall be objected that there was a Different and Contrary Custom as to these things I grant it and yet this is no prejudice to what I maintain for the Apostle without doubt means the Custom and Vsage of the better and wiser part of mankind and not of the worst Then in the next place I demonstrate this to be disagreeable to the laws and rules of Reason which I explain in several Particulars Afterwards I shew it to be against the established Law of the Sexes whereby one of them is distinguished from the other So that taking the words in this Latitude the meaning of the Apostle in them is this That a Christian man should not do things repugnant to any of these three Rules viz. Laudable Custom Reason and the Law which is proper to each Sex and that he that wears his hair of an Immoderate Length or after the guise of Women offends against all these Rules If any one object against the Latitude of this Exposition I answer that I take this for an allowed Verity that when we meet with words in any place of Scripture which have different senses and those senses are not inconsistent with one another we may lawfully take them all into the meaning of the Text and that is it which I