leade a man euen contrarie to his ovvne knovvledge to falsifie Gods holy vvord 42 Yea Beza saith further to this purpose much more against his skill in the Greeke tonge if he had any at all that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the preposition cannot beare this sense For vvhich or in respect vvhereof and therfore he trāslateth the Greeke into Latin thus Exauditus est ex metu he vvas heard from feare not for feare or for his reuerence and because from feare is a hard speache and darke that seemeth to be the cause vvhy our English trāslators say In that vvhich he feared far from Beza in vvord but aggreably in sense Flac. Illyric 43 But for this matter vve send them to Flaccus Illyricus a captaine Lutherane vvho disputeth this very point against the Caluinistes and teacheth them that nothing is more common then that signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For profe vvhereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vve also referre thē to these places of the holy Scripture Mat. 13. Luc. 22. and 24. Act. 12. Psal 87. And Machab. 5 21. vvhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvith a genitiue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvith an accusatiue signifie al one vvhich Beza denyeth Gentle Reader beare vvith these tedious grammatications fitter to be handled in Latin but necessarie in this case also good for them that vnderstand for the rest an occasion to aske of thē that haue skill in the Greeke tonge vvhether vve accuse our aduersaries iustly or no of false translating the holy Scriptures 44 And vve beseeche them to giue vs a good reason why they professing to folow precisely the Greeke do not obserue trevvly the Greeke points in such place as concerneth this present controuersie for the place in the Apocalypse which they alleage of our Sauiour Christs suffering frō the beginning thereby to inferre that the iust men of the old Testament might enter heauen then c. 13 8. as vvel as after his real and actual death according to the Greeke points saith thus Al that dvvel vpon the earth shal vvorship him the beast vvhose names haue not been vvritten in the booke of life of the Lambe slame from the beginning of the vvorld Vvhere it is euident that the Greeke text saith not the lambe slaine from the beginning but that the names of those Antichristian Idolaters vvere not vvritten in Gods eternal booke of predestination from the beginning as it is also most plaine vvithout al ambiguitie in the 17 Chapter v. 8. If in a place of no controuersie they had not been curious in points of the Greeke they might haue great reason sometime to alter the same 45 But if in points of controuersie betvvene vs they vvil say diuers pointing is of no importance they knovv the contrarie by the example of auncient heretikes vvhich vsed this meane also to serue their false heretical purpose If they say our vulgar latine text pointeth it so let them professe before God and their conscience that they do it of reuerence to the said auncient latin text or because it is indifferent not for any other cause for this one place vve vvill admit their ansvver CHAP. VIII Heretical translation concerning IVSTIFICATION ABOVT the article of iustification as it hath many branches their etrours therein be manifold so are their English translations accordingly many vvaies false and heretical First against iustification by good vvorkes and by keeping the commaundements they suppresse the very name of iustification in al such places vvhere the vvord signifieth the commaundements or the Lavv of God vvhich is both in the old and nevv Testament most common and vsual namely in the bookes of Moyses in the Psalme 118. that beginneth thus Beati immaculati in the Psalme 147. v. 19. 1 Mac. 1. v. 51. and c. 2. v. 21. Luc. 1. v. 6. Ro. 2. v. 26. In al vvhich places and the like vvhere the Greeke signifieth iustices iustifications most exactly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according as our vulgar Latin translateth iustitias and iustificationes there the English translations say ioyntly and vvith one consent ordināces or statutes For example Ro. 2. If the vncircumcision keepe the ORDINANCES of the Lavv 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shal it not be counted for circumcision And Luc. 1 6. They vvere both righteous before God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvalking in al the commaundements and ORDINANCES of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blamelesse Vvhy translate you it ordināces and auoid the terme iustifications is it because you vvould folovv the Greeke I beseeche you is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be iustified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iustifications or iustices In the old Testament you might perhaps pretend that you folovv the Hebrue vvvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therfore there you translate statutes or ordinances But euen there also are not the Seuentie Greeke interpreters sufficient to teach you the signification of the Hebrue vvord vvho alvvaies interprete it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in English iustifications 2 But be it that you may cōtroule them in the Hebrue vvhich none but fooles vvil graunt vnto you in the nevv Testament vvhat pretense haue you do you there also translate the Hebrue vvord or rather the Greeke the Greeke vndoubtedly you should translate what reason then can you haue vvhy you doe not none other surely then that vvhich Beza giueth for him self saying that he reiected the vvord iustificatiōs notvvithstanding it expressed the Greeke vvord for vvord notvvithstanding the Seuentie Greeke interpreters vsed it to signifie the vvhole Lavv and in Latin it be commonly translated iustificationes notvvithstanding al this Annot. in 1 Luc. for this only cause saith he did I reiecte it to auoid the cauillatiōs that might be made by this vvord against iustification by faith As if he should say This vvord truely translated according to the Greeke might minister great occasion to proue by so many places of Scripture that mans iustification is not by faith only but also by keeping the lavv and obseruing the commaundements vvhich therfore are called according to the Greeke and Latin iustifications because they concurre to iustification and make a man iust as by S. Lukes vvordes also is vvel signified vvhich haue this allusion that they vvere both iust because they walked in al the iustifications of our Lord. Vvhich they of purpose suppresse by other vvordes 3 And hereof also it riseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that vvhen he cānot possibly auoid the vvord in his trāslation as Apoc. 19 8. Bissinum enim iustificationes sunt sanctorum The silke is the iustifications of Sainctes there he helpeth the matter with this commentarie That iustifications Beza Annot. in Apoc. 19. are those good vvorkes vvhich be the testimonies of a liuely faith But our English translatours haue an other vvay to auoid the vvord euen in their trāslatiō For they say here the righteousnes of Saincts because
othervvise then al antiquitie hath done shal better appeare in their dealing about our B. Lady vvhose honour they haue sought so many vvaies to diminish deface that the defense and maintenance thereof against the Heretikes of our time is grovven to a great booke learnedly vvritten by the great Clerke and Iesuite father Canisius entitled Mariana 4 Concerning our purpose vvhat vvas euer more common and is novv more general and vsual in al Christian Countries then in the Aue Marie to say Gratia plena ful of grace in so much that in the first English Bible it hath continued so still and euery childe in our Countrie vvas taught so to say till the Aue Marie vvas banished altogether and not suffered to be said neither in Latin nor English Vvhat auncient father of the Latin Church hath not alvvaies so read and expounded Vvhat Church in al the vvest hath not euer so sung and said Onely our nevv Translators haue found a nevv kinde of speache translating thus Haile thou that art freely beloued Bib. 1579. and 1577. and Haile thou that art in high fauour Vvhy this and that or any other thing rather then Haile ful of grace S. Iohn Baptist vvas ful of the holy Ghost euen from his birth Luc. 1. v. 15. S. Steuen vvas ful of grace Act. 7. v. 8. as the Scripture recordeth of them both vvhy may not then our Lady much more be called ful of grace Ambr. li. 2 in 1 Luc. vvho as S. Ambrose saith onely obteined the grace vvhich no other vvomen deserued to be replenished vvith the author of grace 5 They vvil say the Greeke vvord doth not so signifie doth it not I make them selues vvitnesses of the contrarie and their owne translation in other places shal confute them vvhere they translate an other vvord of the self same nature and forme and in al respectes like to this Luc. 16. v. 20 ful of sores If 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be ful of sores vvhy is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ful of grace Let any Grecian of them al make me a difference in the nature and significancie of these tvvo vvordes Againe if vlcerosus as Beza translateth be ful of sores vvhy is not gratiosa as Erasmus translateth ful of grace or vvhy doth Beza maruel that Erasmus translated gratiosa vvhen him self trāslateth the like vvord vlcerosus Al vvhich adiectiues in osus you knovv signifie fulnes as periculosus aerumnosus Yet vvhat a sturre doth Beza keepe here in his Annotatiōs to make the Greeke vvord signifie freely beloued 6 But hath it in deede any such signification tell vs you that professe this great skill of the tongues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhat syllable is there in this vvord that soundeth to that signification Comment in Eph. 1. S. Chrysostom and the Greeke Doctors that should best knovv the nature of this Greeke word say that it signifieth to make gratious acceptable and beloued and beautiful and amiable and so to be desired as vvhen the Psalme saith Psal 44. The king shal desire thy beautie Beza him self saith that it is vvord for vvord gratificata made grateful and yet he expoundeth it accepted before God and translateth it freely beloued because he vvill haue no singular grace or goodnes or vertue resident in our B. Lady but al by imputation acceptation vvhereof I haue spoken before S. Athan. de S. Deip. S. Athanasius a Greeke Doctor saith that she had this title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the Holy Ghost descended into the Virgin filling her vvith al graces and vertues and I beseeche the reader to see his vvordes vvhich are many moe concerning this fulnes of grace and al spiritual giftes S. Hierom that knevv the Greeke vvord as vvel as the Protestants Ep. 140 in expos Psal 44. readeth Gratia plena and findeth no fault vvith this interpretation but saith plainely she vvas so saluted ful of grace because she conceiued him in vvhom al fulnes of the deitie dvvelt corporally 7 Novv let the English Bezites come vvith their nevv terme freely beloued and controule these and al other auncient fathers both Greeke and Latin and teache them a nevv signification of the Greeke vvord vvhich they knevv not before Iohn Keltridge preacher of the vvord in London in his sermons vvithin the toure printed fo 14. Let Iohn Keltridge one of their great preachers in London come and tel vs that the Septuaginta and the best translations in Greeke haue no such vvordes as vve vse in the Aue Marie but that the vvord vvhich the Septuaginta vse is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Grosse ignorance singular pride in many of the nevv cleargie Vvho euer heard such a ieast that the preacher of the vvord of God in London so he is called in the title of his booke and preacher before the Iesuites and Seminaries in the tovver So he called the Priests of the Seminarie as if one vvold cal a monke a Monasterie or a nonne a nonry vvhich is next degree to the disputers there vvhose sermons be solemnely printed and dedicated to one of the Queenes Councel vvho seemeth to be such a Grecian that he confuteth the vulgar Latin translation by the signification of the Greeke vvorde and in other places of his booke alleageth the Greeke text Pag. 37. of the 2 part that this man for al this referreth vs to the Septuaginta either as authors of S. Lukes Gospel vvhich is to ridiculous or as translators thereof as though S. Luke had vvritten in Hebrue yea as though the vvhole nevv Testament had been vvritten in Hebrue for so no doubt he presupposed and that the Septuaginta had translated it into Greeke as they did the old vvho vvere dead three hundred yeres before S. Lukes Gospel and the nevv Testament vvas vvritten 8 Al this is such a pitiful ieast as vvere incredible if his printed booke did not giue testimonie Pitiful I say because the simple people count such their preachers ioly fellowes great Clerkes because they can talke of the Greeke of the Hebrue text as this man doth also concerning the Hebrue letter Tau Fol. 11. parte 2. vvhether it had in old time the forme of a crosse or no euen as vvisely and as skilfully as he did before of the Septuaginta and the Greeke vvord in S. Lukes Gospel Vvhose incredible follie and ignorance in the tongues perhaps I vvould neuer haue mentioned because I thinke the rest are sorie and ashamed of him but that he boasteth of that vvhereof he hath no skil and that the people may take him for a very paterne and example of many other like boasters and braggers among them and that vvhen they heare one talke lustely of the Hebrue and Greeke and cite the text in the said tongues they may alvvaies remember Iohn keltridge their preacher and say to them selues vvhat if this fellovv also be like Iohn keltridge 9 But to procede these
A DISCOVERIE OF THE MANIFOLD CORRVPTIONS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTVRES BY THE Heretikes of our daies specially the English Sectaries and of their foule dealing herein by partial false translations to the aduantage of their heâ—â—sies in their English Bibles vsed and authorised since the time of Schisme By GREGORY MARTIN one of the readers of Diuinitie in the ENGLISH COLLEGE OF RHEMES 2 Cor. 2. Non sumus sicut plurimi adulterantes verbum Dei sed ex sinceritate sed sicut ex Deo coram Deo in Christo loquimur That is VVe are not as very many adulterating the word of God but of sinceritie as of God before God in Christ vve speake Printed at RHEMES By Iohn Fogny 1582. THE PREFACE CONTEINING FIVE SVNDRIE ABVSES OR CORRVPTIONS OF HOLY Scriptures common to al Heretikes agreing specially to these of our time vvith many other necessarie aduertisements to the reader Heretikes fiue vvaies specially abuse the Scriptures AS it hath been alvvaies the fashioÌ„ of Heretikes to preteÌ„d Scriptures for shevv of their cause so hath it been also their custom and propertie to abuse the said Scriptures many vvaies in fauour of their errours 1 Denying certaine bookes or partes of bookes 1 One vvay is to deny vvhole bookes thereof or partes of bookes vvhen they are euidently against them So did for example Ebion al S. Paules epistles Manicheus the Actes of the Apostles Alogiani S. Iohns Gospel Marcion many peeces of S. Lukes Gospel and so did both these and other heretikes in other bookes denying and allovving vvhat they list as is euident by S. Ireneus S. Epiphanius S. Augustine and al antiquitie 2 Doubting of their authoritie and calling them into questioÌ„ 2 An other vvay is to call into question at the least and make some doubt of the authoritie of certaine bookes of holy Scriptures thereby to diminish their credite so did Manicheus affirme of the vvhole nevv Testament that it vvas not vvritten by the Apostles peculiarly of S. Matthevves Gospel that it was some other maÌ„s vnder his name and therfore not of such credite but that it might in some part be refused so did MarcioÌ„ the AriaÌ„s deny the epistle to the Hebrues to be S. Paules Epiphan li. 2. haer 69 Euseb li. 4. hist c. 27. Alogiani the Apocalypse to be S. Iohns the EuaÌ„gelist Epiph. August in haer Alogianorum 3 Voluntarie expositions according to euery ones fansie or heresie 3 An other way is to expound the Scriptures after their ovvne priuate conceite and phantasie not according to the approued sense of the holy auncient fathers and Catholike Church so did Theodorus Mopsuestites Act. Synod 5. affirme of al the bookes of the Prophets and of the Psalmes that they spake not euidently of Christ but that the auncient fathers did voluntarily dravv those sayings vnto Christ vvhich vvere spoken of other matters so did al heretikes that vvould seeme to grouÌ„d their heresies vpon Scriptures to auouch them by Scriptures expounded according to their ovvne sense and imagination 4 Changing some vvordes or senteÌ„ces of the very original text Tertul. cont Marcio li. 1. in princ 4 An other vvay is to alter the very original text of the holy Scripture by adding taking away or changing it here and there for their purpose so did the Arians in sundrie places and the NestoriaÌ„s in the first epistle of S. Iohn and especially Marcion vvho was therfore called Mus Ponticus the mouse of Pontus because he had gnavven as it vvere certaine places vvith his corruptions whereof some are said to remaine in the Greeke text vntil this day Tertull. li. 5. 5 False and heretical translation 5 An other way is to make false translations of the Scriptures for the maintenance of errour and heresie so did the Arians as S. Hierom noteth in 26. Esa read and translate Prouerb 8. Dominus creauit me in initio viarum suarum that is The Lord created me in the beginning of his vvaies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 possedit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so to make Christ the vvisedom of God a more creature S. Augustin also li. 5. Cont. Iulian. c. 2. noteth it as the interpretation of some Pelagian Gen. 3. Fecerunt sibi vesti menta for perizómata or campestria that is They made them selues garments whereas the vvord of the Scripture is breeches or aprons proper peculiar to couer the secrete partes Againe the self same Heretikes did reade falsely Ro. 5. Aug. ep 89. lib. 1. de pec mer. ca 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Regnauit mors ab Adam vsque ad Moysen etiaÌ„ in eos qui peccaueruÌ„t in similitudineÌ„ praeuaricationis Adae that is Death reigned from Adam to Moyses euen on them that sinned after the similitude of the preuarication of Adam to maintaine their heresie against original sinne that none vvere infected therewith or subiect to death damnatioÌ„ but by sinning actually as Adam did Thus did the old Heretikes 6 what these of our daies is it credible that being so vvel vvarned by the condemnation and detestation of them they also vvould be as mad and as impious as those Heretikes gentle Reader be alvvaies like Heretikes and hovvsoeuer they differ in opinions or names yet in this point they agree to abuse the Scriptures for their purpose by al meanes possibly I vvil but touche foure points of the fiue before mentioned because my purpose is to stay vpon the last only and to discipher their corrupt translations That the Protestants and Caluinistes vse the foresaid fiue meanes of defacing the Scriptures But if I vvould stand vpon the other also vvere it not easy to shevv the maner of their proceding against the Scriptures to haue been thus to deny some vvhole bookes and parts of bookes to call other some into question to expound the rest at their pleasure to picke quarels to the very original and Canonical text to fester and infect the vvhole body of the Bible vvith cankred translations 7 Did not Luther deny S. Iames epistle and so contemne it that he called it an epistle of stravv not vvorthie of an Apostolical spirit must I proue this to M. Vvhitakers vvho vvould neuer haue * Cont. rat Edm. Camp pag. 11. denied it so vehemently in the superlatiue degree for shame if he had not thought it more shame to graunt it I neede not goe far for the matter Aske M. Fulke Retent pag. 32. dist of the Rocke p. 307. Luther in nouo Test Germa in Pref. Iacob and he vvil flatly confesse it vvas so Aske Caluin in arg ep Iacobi aske Flaccus Illyricus in argum ep Iacobi and you shal perceiue it is very true I vvil not send you to the Catholike Germans and others both of his ovvne time and after that vvrote against him in the question of iustification among vvhom not one omitteth this being a thing so famous and infamous to the confusion of
the Septuaginta as false because it differeth froÌ„ the Hebrue Their perplexitie in defending both the hebrue text of the old Testament and Greeke text of the new Vvhich being reiected therevpon it folovveth againe that wheresoeuer those places so disagreing from the Hebrue are cited by Christ or the Euangelistes Apostles there also they must be reiected because they disagree from the Hebrue and so yet againe it folovveth that the Greeke text of the nevv Testament is not true because it is not according to the Hebrue verÃtie and consequently the wordes of our Sauiour and vvritings of hÃs Apostles must be reformed to say the lest because they speake according to the Septuaginta and not according to the Hebrue 21 Al which must needes folow if this be a good consequeÌ„ce I finde it not in Moyses nor in the Hebrue therfore I strooke it out as Beza doth and saith concerning the foresaid vvordes Qui fuit Cainan This consequence therfore let vs see hovv they vvil iustifie and vvithal let them tel vs vvhether they vvil discredite the nevv Testament because of the Septuaginta or credite the Septuaginta because of the nevv TestameÌ„t or hovv they caÌ„ credite one discredite the other vvhere both agree consent together or vvhether they vvil discredite both for credite of the Hebrue or rather whether there be not some other way to reconcile both Hebrue and Greeke better then Bezas impudent presumption Vvhich if they vvil not mainteine let them flatly confesse that he did vvickedly and not as they doe defend euery vvord and deede of their Maisters be it neuer so heinous or salue it at the least Hovv the fathers reconcile the said Hebrue and Greeke 22 Alas hovv far are these men from the modestie of the auncient fathers vvho seeke al other meanes to resolue difficulties rather then to doe violence to the sacred Scripture and vvhen they finde no vvay Li. 18. de Ciuit c. 43. 2 Lib. de Doct. Chr. c. 15. they leaue it to God S. Augustine concerning the difference of the Hebrue and the Greeke saith often to this effect that it pleased the holy Ghost to vtter by the one that vvhich he vvould not vtter by the other And S. Ambrose thus Hexam li. 3. cap. 6. Vve haue found many things not idly added of the 70 Greeke interpreters S. Hierom though an earnest patrone of the Hebrue not vvithout cause In Prooem li. Paralip being at that time perhaps the Hebrue veritie in deede yet giueth many reasons for the differences of the Septuaginta and concerning the foresaid places of S. Luke he doth giue a reason thereof CoÌ„ment in 28. Esa and in quaestion Hebrai both for the 70 and for the Euangelist that folovved them neither doubting of the truth thereof nor controuling them by the authoritie of Moyses as Beza speaketh that is by the Hebrue Others say concerning Cainan that Moyses might leaue him out in the Genealogie of Sem by the instinct of the same Spirit Mat. c. 1. that S. Matthevv left out three kings in the genealogie of our Sauiour Vvhere if a man vvould controule the Euangelist by the Hebrue of the old Testament that is read in the bookes of the kings he should be as vvise and as honest a man as Beza Praef. in Act. Apost Lastly Venerable Bede thinketh it sufficient in this very difficultie of Cainan to maruel at it reuerently rather then to searche it dangerously And thus far of picking quarels to the original text and their good vvil to alter and change it as they list if they might be suffered The 5. abuse of Scriptures Corrupt translation vvhich is the argumeÌ„t and purpose of this booke 23 Vvhich also may be proued by al their false translatÃons being the principal point I meane to speake of most euidently For as novv they translate falsely to their purpose because they can not alter the text so vvould they if it vvere possible haue the text agreable to their translation For example he that translateth ordinances vvhen it is in the original Greeke text iustifications and traditions he vvould rather that it vvere ordinances also in the Greeke but because he cannot bring that about he doth at the least vvhat he can to make the ignorant beleeue it is so by so translating it 24 And this of al other is the most fine and subtil treacherie against the Scriptures to deceiue the ignorant readers vvithal 2 Cor. 4. vvhich S. Paul calleth the secrete things of dishonestie and adulterating of the vvord of God as it vvere mingling vvater vvith vvine like false vinteners vvhen they giue them for Gods vvord vnder the name of Gods word their ovvne vvordes and not Gods forged and framed altered and changed according to differences of times and varietie of nevv opinions and diuersitie of humors and spirits diuersely and differently one Heretike not only correcting his fellovv euery day The Heretikes dissension about their translations but one egrely refuting and resolâ—ing an other * Dial. cont Melancth Lind. dubit pag. 84 96.98 Bucer and the Osiandrians and c See Zuingl resp 1. and Confess Tigurinorum Sacramentaries against Luther for false translations Luther against Munster Beza against Castaleo Castaleo against Beza Caluin against Seruetus Illyricus both against Caluin and Beza The Puritanes coÌ„troule the grosser Caluinistes of our Countrie yea the later translations of the self same Heretikes controule the former excedingly not only of ouersights but of vvilful falsifications as it is notorious in the * ibid. pag. 83.97 later editions of Luther and Beza and in our English Bibles set forth in diuers yeres from Tindal their first translatour vntil this day The nevv Test of the yere 1580. yea vvhich is more the English traÌ„slatours of Bezas nevv Testament controule him and his translation vvhich they protest to folovv * Luc. 3 36. being afraid sometime and ashamed to expresse in English his false translations in the Latin 25 But in this Catalogue of dissentions falsifiers and disagreing translatours Act. 1 14 2 23. Act. 3 21. I vvil not greatly rippe vp old faultes neither abrode nor at home I leaue Luthers false translations into the German tongue The GermaÌ„ Frenche and English corruptions of the nevv Testament to the credite of Staphylus Apolog. part 2. and Emserus praef Annot. in no. Test Luth. and other German vvriters of his ovvne time that savv them and readde them and reckened the nuÌ„ber of them in the nevv TestameÌ„t only about * See Lind. Dubit p. 84 85 c. 1400 heretical corruptions I leaue Caluins and Bezas frenche corruptions to so many vvorthie men as * Vigor and the rest haue noted them in their freÌ„che bookes against the said heretikes Tindals and his companions corruptioÌ„s in their first English bible to our learned couÌ„triemen of that age namely to the right Reuerend Father and Confessor Bishop Tonstal
he began to reade and translate the former Scriptures accordingly thus Haue not vve povver to leade about a SISTER A WIFE as the rest of the Apostles and Labour that you may make sure your vocation and election leauing out the other vvordes by good vvorkes And so doe both the Caluinists abrode and our English Protestants at home reade and translate at this day because they hold the self same heresies 37 So doe they in infinite places alter the old text vvhich pleased them vvell before they vvere Heretickes and they doe it vvith brasen faces and plaine protestation hauing no shame nor remorse at al in fleeing from that which all antiquitie with one consent allovved and embraced vntil their vnhappie daies Vvhich though it be an euident cōdemnation of their nouelties in the sight of any reasonable man that hath any grace yet as I began to admonish thee gentle Reader vve vvil not charge them for altering the auncient approued Latin translation because they pretend to folovv the Hebrue and Greeke and our purpose is not here to proue that they should not folovv the Hebrue and Greeke that now is before the auncient approued Latin text which is done breifely already in the preface to the nevv Testament Vve charge them not vvith forsaking the Greeke copies that agree vvith the aunciēt approued Latin text though this be a signe of their incredible partialitie 38 Neither vvil vve burden them for not folovving the vulgar Latin text vvhen the same agreeth with most auncient Greeke copies vvhich notvvithstāding is great partialitie in them must needes be of an heretical vvilful humor that amōg the Greeke copies them selues they reiect that vvhich most agreeth vvith the vulgar Latin text in places of controuersies Yet vvil vve not I say neither in this case lay falshod and corruption to their charge because they pretend to translate the common Greeke text of the nevv Testament that is one certaine copie but here at the least let them shevv their fidelitie that they be true and exacte translatours for here onely shal they be examined and called to account Vve charge them for forsaking false translating their ovvne Hebrue and Greeke text 39 And if they folovv sincerely their Greeke and Hebrue text vvhich they professe to folovv and which they esteeme the only authentical text so far vve accuse them not of heretical corruption but if it shal be euidētly proued that they shrinke from the same also and translate an other thing and that vvilfully and of ful intention to countenance their false religion and wicked opinions making the Scriptures to speake as they list then vve trust the indifferēt reader for his ovvne soules sake vvil easily see and conclude that they haue no feare of God no reuerence of the Scriptures no conscience to deceiue their readers He vvil perceiue that the Scriptures make against them vvhich they so peruert and corrupt for their purpose that neither the Hebrue nor Greeke text is for them vvhich they dare not translate truely and sincerely that their cause is naught which needeth such foul shiftes that they must needes knovv al this and therfore doe vvilfully against their conscience consequently are obstinate Heretikes 40 And the more to vnderstand their miserie vvretchednes before vve enter to examine their trāslations marke gather of al that vvhich I haue said in this preface their manifold flightes iumpes from one shift to an other hovv Catholike writers haue pursued and chased them folovved them and driuen them euen to this extreme refuge and seely couert of false translation vvhere also they must of necessitie yeld or deuise some nevv euasion which vve can not yet imagin The diuers shiftes and flightes that the Protestants are driuen vnto by the Catholikes as it vvere the iumpes and turnings of an hare before the boundes 41 First we are vvont to make this offer as we thinke most reasonable and indifferent that forasmuch as the Scriptures are diuersely expounded of vs and of them they neither be tied to our interpretation nor vve to theirs but to put it to the arbitrement and iudgement of the auncient fathers of general Councels of vniuersal custom of times and places in the Catholike Church No say they vve wil be our ovvne iudges and interpreters or folow Luther if we be Lutherans Caluin if we be Caluinistes and so forth 42 This being of it self a shameles shift vnles it be better coloured the next is to say that the Scriptures are easie and plaine sufficient of them selues to determine euery matter and therfore they wil be tried by the Scriptures only we are cōtent because they wil needes haue it so and vve alleage vnto them the bookes of Toble Ecclesiasticus Machabees No say they we admit none of these for Scripture Vvhy so are they not approued Canonical by the same authoritie of the Church of auncient Councels and fathers that the other bookes are No matter say they Luther admitteth them not Caluin doth not allovv them 43 Vvel let vs goe forvvard in their ovvne daunce You allow at the least the Ievves Canonical bookes of the old Testament that is al that are extant in the Hebrue Bible and al of the new Testament vvithout exception Yea that we doe In these bookes then wil you be tried by the vulgar auncient Latin Bible only vsed in al the vvest Church aboue a thousand yeres No. Vvil you be tried by the Greeke Bible of the Septuaginta interpreters so renovvmed and authorised in our Sauiours ovvne speaches in the Euangelistes and Apostles writings in the whole Greeke Church euermore No. How then wil you be tried They ansvver Only by the Hebrue Bible that now is and as novv it is pointed with vovvels Vvil you so and do you thinke that only the true authentical Hebrue which the holy Ghost did first put into the pennes of those sacred writers Vve do thinke it say they and esteeme it the only authentical and true Scripture of the old Testament 44 Vve aske them againe what say you then to that place of the psalme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where in the Hebrue it is thus As a lion my handes and my feete for that which in truth should be thus They digged or pearced my handes and my feete being an euident prophecie of Christs nailing to the Crosse There in deede say they we folow not the Hebrue but the Greeke text Sometime then you folow the Greeke and not the Hebrue only And what if the same Greeke text make for the Catholikes as in these places for example I haue inclined my hart to keepe thy iustifications for revvard and Redeeme thy sinnes vvith almes might we not obtaine here the like fauour at your hands for the Greeke text specially when the Hebrue doth not disagree No say they nor in no other place vvhere the Greeke is neuer so plaine if the Hebrue word at the least may be any otherwise
interpreted and draw on to an other signification 45 Vve replie againe and say vnto them vvhy Is not the credite of those Septuaginta interpreters vvho them selues vvere Ievves and best learned in their owne tongue and as S. Augustine often and other auncient fathers say vvere inspired vvith the holy Ghost in translating the Hebrue bible into Greeke Is not their credite I say in determining and defining the signification of the Hebrue vvord far greater then yours No. Is not the authoritie of al the auncient fathers both Greeke and Latin that folovved them equiualent in this case to your iudgement No say they but because vve finde some ambiguitie in the Hebrue we wil take the aduantage and we wil determine and limite it to our purpose 46 A gaine vve condescend to their vvilfulnes and say vvhat if the Hebrue be not ambiguous but so plaine certaine to signifie onething Psal 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it can not be plainer As Thou shalt not leaue my soule in Hel vvhich proueth for vs that Christ in soule descended into Hel. Is not the one Hebrue vvord as proper for soule as anima in Latin the other as proper and vsual for Hel as Infeunus in Latin Here then at the least vvil you yeld No say they not here neither for Beza telleth vs that the Hebrue vvord vvhich commonly and vsually signifieth soule yet for a purpose of a man vvil straine it may signifie not only body but also carcas and so he translate that But Beza say vve being admonished by his frendes corrected it in his later edition Yea say they he was content to change his translation but not his opinion concerning the Hebrue word as himself protesteth 47 Vvel then doth it like you to reade thus according to Bezas translation Thou shalt not leaue my carcas in the graue No we are content to alter the word carcas which is not a seemely word for our Sauiours body and yet we are loth to say soule but if we might we vvould say rather life person as appeareth in the margent of our Bibles but as for the Hebrue word that signifieth Hel though the Greeke and Latin Bible through out the Greeke and Latin fathers in al their writinges as occasion serueth do so reade it and vnderstand it yet wil we neuer so translate it but for Hel we vvil say graue in al such places of Scripture as might inferre Limbus patrum if we should translate Hel. These are their shiftes and turninges and windinges in the old Testament 48 In the new Testament we aske them wil you be tried by the auncient Latin translation which is the text of the fathers and the whole Church No but we appeale to the Greeke Vvhat Greeke say we for there be sundrie copies and the best of them as Beza confesseth agree with the said auncient Latin for example in S. Peters wordes 2 Pet. ca. 1. Labour that by good vvorkes you may make sure your vocation and election doth this Greeke copie please you No say they we appeale to that Greeke copie which hath not those wordes by good workes for othervvise we should graunt the merite and efficacie of good workes tovvard saluation and generally to tel you at once by what Greeke we wil be tried we like best the vulgar Greeke text of the new Testament which is most common and in euery mans handes 49 Vvel say we if you wil needes haue it so take your pleasure in choosing your text and if you wil stand to it graunt vs that Peter was cheefe among the Apostles because your ovvne Greeke text saith The first Peter No saith Beza Mat. 10. we vvil graunt you no such thing for these wordes were added to the Greeke text by one that fauoured Peters primacie Is it so then you wil not stand to this Greeke text neither Not in this place saith Beza 50 Let vs see an other place You must graunt vs say we by this Greeke text that Christs very bloud which was shed for vs is really in the chalice because S. Luke saith so in the Greeke text No saith Beza those Greeke wordes came out of the margent into the text therfore I trāslate not according to them but according to that which I thinke the truer Greeke text although I finde it in no copies in the world and this his doing * See chap. 1. nu 37. chap. 17. nu 11. is mainteined iustified by our English Protestants in their writinges of late 51 Vvel yet say we there are places in the same Greeke text as plaine for vs as these novv cited where you can not say it came out of the margent or 2 Thess 2. it was added falsely to the text As Stand and hold fast the traditions c. by this text we require that you graunt vs traditions deliuered by word of mouth as wel as the vvritten word that is the Scriptures No say they we knovv the Greeke word signifieth tradition as plaine as possibly but here and in the like places we rather translate it ordinances instructions and what els soeuer Nay Sirs say vve you can not so ansvver the matter for in other places you translate it duely and truely tradition and vvhy more in one place then in an other They are ashamed to tel vvhy but they must tel and shame both them selues and the Diuel if euer they thinke it good to ansvver this treatise as also why they changed congregation which vvas alvvaies in their first translation into Church in their later translations did not change likevvise ordinances into traditions Elders into Priests 52 The cause is that the name of Church was at the first odious vnto them because of the Catholike Church which stoode against them but afterward this name grevve into more fauour vvith them because of their English Church so at length called and termed but their hatred of Priests and traditions continueth still as it first began and therfore their translation also remaineth as before suppressing the names both of the one and of the other But of al these their dealings they shal be told in their seueral chapters and places 53 To conclude as I began concerning their shiftes and iumpes and vvindinges and turninges euery way from one thing to an other til they are driuen to the extreme refuge of palpable corruptions and false translations consider vvith me in this one case only of traditions as may be likevvise considered in al other controuersies that the auncient fathers councels antiquitie vniuersalitie custom of the vvhole Church allovv traditions the canonical Scriptures haue them the Latin text hath them the Greeke text hath them only their translations haue them not Likevvise in the old Testament the approued latin text hath such and such speaches that make for vs the renovvmed Greeke text hath it the Hebrue text hath it only their translations haue it not These are the translations vvhich vve cal heretical and vvilful and vvhich shal be examined discussed in this booke THE
that Arch heretike 8 To let this passe Tobie Ecclesiasticus the Machabees are they not most certainely reiected and yet they vvere allovved and receiued for Canonical by the same authoritie that S. Iames epistle vvas This epistle the Caluinists are content to admit because * CoÌ„c Carth. 3 can 47. so it pleased Caluin those bookes they reiect because so also it pleased him And vvhy did it so please Caluin vnder pretence forsooth that they vvereonce doubted of and not taken for Canonical but is that the true cause in deede Hovv do they then * Argum. in ep Iac. receiue S. Iames epistle as Canonical hauing been before doubted of also yea as * Vvhitak p. 10. ibid. they say reiected 9 Marke gentle Reader for thy soules sake and thou shalt finde that heresie and only heresie is the cause of their denying these bookes so far that against the orders and Hierarchies and particular patronages of Angels one of them vvriteth thus in the name of the rest ibid. p. 17. M Whitak by these vvordes coÌ„demneth their ovvne Seruice booke which appointeâ—h these bookes of Tobie Ecclesiasticus to be readde for holy Scripture as the other Do they readde in their Churches Apocryphal and superstitious bookes for holy Scripture or is he a Puritane that thus disgraceth their order of daily Seruice Vve passe not for that Raphael of Tobie neither do vve acknovvledge those seuen Angels vvhich he speaketh of al this is far from Canonical Scriptures that the same Raphael recordeth and sauoureth I vvot not vvhat superstition Against free vvil thus I litle care for the place of Ecclesiasticus neither vvil I beleeue free vvil though he affirme an hundred times That before men is life and death And against praier for the dead and intercession of Saincts thus As for the booke of the Machabees I do care lesse for it then for the other Iudas dreame coÌ„cerning Onias I let passe as a dreame This is their reuerence of the Scriptures vvhich haue vniuersally been reuerenced for Canonical in the Church of God aboue 1100 yeres Conc. Carth. 3. and particularly of many fathers long before August de doct Christ lib. 2 ca. 8. 10 As for partes of bookes do they not reiect certaine peeces of Daniel and of Hester because they are not in the Hebrue vvhich reason S. Augustine reiecteth or because they vvere once doubted of by certaine of the fathers by vvhich reason some part of S. Marke and S. Lukes Gospel might novv also be called in controuersie specially if it be true vvhich M. Vvhitakers by a figuratiue speache more then insinuateth That he can not see by vvhat right that vvhich once vvas not in credite pag. 10. should by time vvinne authoritie Forgetting him self by by and in the very next lines admitting S. Iames epistle though before doubted of for Canonical Scriptures M. Vvhitak booke vnles they receiue it but of their courtesie and so may refuse it vvhen it shal please them vvhich must needes be gathered of his vvordes as also many other notorious absurdities contradictions and dumme blaÌ„ckes Vvhich only to note were to confute M. whitakers by him self being the Ansvverer for both Vniuersities 11 For the second point vvhich is not the grosse denial of bookes but yet calling of them in question mouing scruples about them diminishing their authoritie and credite I vvil goe no further then to S. Paules epistle to the Hebrues In the argument Bib. an 1579. vvhich I vvil not aske vvhy they doubt of or rather thinke it not to be S. Paules for they vvil tel me because it vvas once in doubt not considering that it vvas in like maner doubted vvhether it vvere Canonical yet they vvil not novv deny but it is Canonical but I must aske them and request them to make a reasonable ansvver vvhy in their English Bible of the yere 1579 and 1580 they presume to leaue out S. Paules name out of the very title of the said epistle vvhich name is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greeke and in Bezas Latin translation both vvhich they professe to folovv See the title of the new Test an 1580. Doth not the title tel them that it is S. Paules vvhy seeke they further or vvhy do they change the title striking out S. Paules name if they meant to deale simply and sincerely and vvhat an heretical peeuishnes is this because Beza telleth them of one obscure Greeke copie that hath not Paules name and onely one that they vvil rather folovv it then al other copies both Greeke and Latin I report me to al indifferent men of common sense vvhether they do it not to diminish the credite of the epistle 12 I knovv very vvel that the authoritie of Canonical Scripture standeth not vpon the certaintie of the author but yet to be Paules or not Paules Apostolical or not Apostolical maketh great difference of credite and estimation For vvhat made S. Iames epistle doubted of sometime or the secoÌ„d of S. Peter and the rest but that they vvere not thought to be the epistles of those Apostles This Luther savv very vvel vvhen he denied S. Iames epistle to be same 's the Apostles vvriting If titles of bookes be of no importaÌ„ce then leaue out Matthevv Marke Luke and Iohn leaue out Paul in his other epistles also and you shal much pleasure the Manichees and other old Heretikes and if the titles make no difference vrge no more the title of the Apocalypse S. Iohn the Diuines as though it vvere not S. Iohns the Euangelistes and you shal much displeasure some Heretikes novv a daies breefely most certaine it is and they knovv it best by their ovvne vsual doings that it is a principal vvay to the discredite of any booke to deny it to be that authors vnder vvhose name it hath been receiued 13 But I come to the third point of voluÌ„tarie expositions of the Scripture that is vvhen euery man expouÌ„deth according to his errour Heresie This needeth no proofe for vve see it vvith our eies Looke vpon the Caluinists and Puritanes at home the Lutherans Zuinglians and Caluinists abrode read their bookes vvritten vehemently one sect against an other are not their expositions of one and the same Scripture as diuerse and contrarie as their opinions differ one from an other Let the example at home be their controuersie about the distinction of Ecclesiastical degrees Arch-bishop Bishop and minister the example abrode their diuers imaginations phantasies vpon these most sacred vvordes Hoc est corpus meum 14 And if you vvil yet haue a further demonstration this one may suffice for al. They reiect Councels and Fathers and the Catholike Churches interpretation vnles it be agreable to Gods vvord and vvhether it be agreable or no that Luther shal iudge for the Lutherans Caluin for the Caluinists Cartvvright for the Puritanes and an other for the Brethren of loue breefely * Vvhitak pa. 17. 120.
of purpose against our altars and in fauour of their communion table See chap. 17. numb 15.16 12 If at the beginning of their heresie vvhen sacred images vvere broken in peeces altars digged dovvne the Catholike Churches authoritie defaced Bib. in king Edvv. time printed againe 1562. the king made supreme head then their translation vvas made accordingly and if aftervvard vvhen these errours vvere vvel established in the realme and had taken roote in the peoples hartes al vvas altered and changed in their later translations and novv they could not finde that in the Greeke vvhich vvas in the former translation vvhat vvas it at the first but vvilful corruption to serue the time that then vvas See chap. 3.5 chap. 17. nu 15. chap. 15. nu 22. 13 If at the first reuolt vvhen none were noted for Heretikes and Schismatikes but them selues they did not once put the names of Schisme or Heresie in the Bible but in steede thereof diuision and secte in so much that for an Heretike they said an author of Sectes Bib. 1562. Tit. 3. vvhat may vve iudge of it but as of vvilful corruption See chap. 4. numb 3. 14 If they trāslate so absurdly at the first that them selues are driuen to change it for shame it must needes be at the first vvilful corruption for example vvhen it vvas in the first Temple and in the later Altar in the first alvvaies Congregation in the later alvvaies Church in the first To the king as cheefe head in the later To the king as hauing preeminence So did Beza first translate carcas and afterward soule Which alteration in al these places is so great that it could not be negligence at the first or ignorance but a plaine heretical intention See chap. 17. numb 15. chap. 5. nu 4.5 chap. 15. numb 22. chap. 7. nu 2. 15 If they vvil not stand to al their translations but flee to that namely vvhich novv is readde in their churches if that vvhich is novv read in their churches differ in the pointes aforesaid from that that was readde in their churches in king Edvvards time if from both these they flee to the Geneua Bible and from that againe to the other aforesaid vvhat shal vve iudge of the one or the other but that al is voluntarie and as they list See chap. 3. numb 10.11.12 cha 10. numb 12. 16 If they gladly vse these wordes in il part vvhere they are not in the original text Procession shrines deuotions excommunicate images and auoid these vvordes vvhich are in the original Hymnes grace mysterie Sacrament Church altar Priests Catholike traditions iustifications is it not plaine that they doe it of purpose to disgrace or suppresse the said things and speaches vsed in the Catholike Church See chap. 21. numb 5. seq chap. 12. numb 3. 17 If in a case that maketh for them they straine the very original signification of the vvord and in a case that maketh against them they neglect it altogether vvhat is this but vvilful and of purpose See chap. 7. nu 36. 18 If in vvordes of ambiguous and diuers signification they vvil haue it signifie here or there as it pleaseth them and that so vehemently that here it must needes so signifie and there it must not and both this and that to one end and in fauour of one and the same opinion Beza in 1. Cor. 7. v. 1. 9. v. 5. vvhat is this but vvilful translation So doth Beza vrge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie vvife and not to signifie vvife both against virginitie and chastitie of Priests and the English Bible translateth accordingly Bib. an 1579 See chap. 15. nu 11.12 19 If the Puritanes and grosser Caluinistes disagree about the translations one part preferring the Geneua English Bible the other the Bible read in their Church and if the Lutherans condemne the Zuinglians Caluinistes translations and contrarivvise and if al Sectaries reproue eche an others translation Vvhat doth it argue but that the translations differ according to their diuers opinions See their bookes vvritten one against an other Luc. 3. v. 36. Act. 1. v. 14. c. 2. v. 23. c. 3. v. 21. c. 26. v. 20. 2 Thes 2. v. 15. c. 5. v. 6. 20 If the English Geneua Bibles thē selues dare not folovv their Maister Beza vvhom they professe to translate because in their opinion he goeth vvide and that in places of controuersie hovv vvilful vvas he in so translating See chap. 12. numb 6.8 cha 13. numb 1. 21 If for the most part they reprehend the old vulgar translation and appeale to the Greeke and yet in places of controuersie sometime for their more aduantage as they thinke they leaue the Greeke and folovv our Latin translation vvhat is it els but voluntarie and partial translation See chap. 2. nu 8. chap. 6. nu 10.21 chap. 7. nu 39. chap. 10. nu 6. 22 If othervvise they auoid this vvord iustificationes Peza Luc. 1. Ro. 2. Apoc. 19.8 altogether yet trāslate it When they can not choose but vvith a cōmētarie * Beza in c. 19. Apoc. v. 8. that it signifieth good vvorkes that are testimonies of a liuely faith doth not this heretical commentarie shevv their heretical meaning vvhen they auoid the vvord altogether See chap. 8. nu 1.2.3 23 Vvhen by adding to the text at their pleasure they make the Apostle say Ro. 5. v. 18. No. Test an 1580. Bib. 1579. that by Adams offence sinne came on al men but that by Christs iustice the benefite only abounded tovvard al men not that iustice came on al vvhereas the Apostle maketh the case alike vvithout any such diuers additions to vvit * Ro. 5. v. 18. that vve are truely made iust by Christ as by Adam vve are made sinners is not this most vvilful corruption for their heresie of imputatiue and phantastical iustice See chap. 11. nu 1. 24 But if in this case of iustification vvhen the question is vvhether only faith iustifie vve say no hauing the expresse vvordes of S Iames they say yea hauing no expresse scripture for it if in this case they vvil adde only to the very text is it not most horrible and diuelish corruption So did Luther * Ia. 2. v. 24. Ro. 3. v. 28. Luth. tom 2. fol. 405. edit Witteb an 1551. Whitak pag. 198. vvhom our English Protestants honour as their father and in this heresie of only faith are his ovvne children See chap. 12. Their ignorance of the Greeke and Hebrue tongue or their false wilful translation thereof against their knowledge 25 If these that account them selues the great Grecians Hebricians of the vvorld vvil so translate for the aduantage of their cause as though they had no skil in the vvorld and as though they knevv neither the signification of vvordes nor proprietie of phrases in the said languages is it not to be esteemed shamlesse corruption 26 I vvil not speake of the
place Let death come vpon them and let them go dovvne into Hel aliue Thus far S. Hierom. 19 By vvhich differences of death and Hel vvhereof vve must often aduertise the Reader are meant tvvo things death and the going dovvne of the soule into some receptacle of Hel in that state of the old Testament at vvhat time the holy Scriptures vsed this phrase so often Novv these impudent trāslators in al these places translate it graue Bib. 1579. of purpose to confound it and death together to make it but one thing vvhich S. Hierom shevveth to be different in the very same sense that vve haue declared 20 But alas is it the very nature of the Hebrue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Infernus Greeke or Latin that forceth them so much to English it graue rather then Hell vve appeale to all Hebricians Grecians and Latinists in the vvorld first if a man would aske vvhat is Hebrue or Greeke or Latin for Hel vvhether they vvould not ansvver these three vvordes as the very proper wordes to signifie it euen as Panis signifieth bread secondly if a man vvould aske vvhat is Hebrue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sepulchrum or Greeke or Latin for a graue vvhether they vvould ansvver these vvordes and not three other vvhich they knovv are as proper vvordes for graue as lac is for milke 21 Yea note consider diligently vvhat vve vvill say let them shevv me out of al the Bible one place vvhere it is certaine agreed among all that it must needes signifie graue let them shevv me in any one such place that the holy Scripture vseth any of those former three vvordes for graue As vvhen Abraham bought a place of burial vvhether he bought Infernum Gen. c. 49. or vvhen it is said the kings of Israel vvere buried in the monuments or sepulchres of their fathers vvhether it say in infernit patrum suorum So that not onely Diuines by this obseruation but Grammatians also and children may easily see that the proper and children may easily see that the proper and natural signification of the said vvordes is in English Hel and not graue Annot. in Act. 2 25.27 in 1 Cor. 15 55. 22 And therfore Beza doth strangely abvse his Reader more then in one place saying that the Hebrue word doth properly signifie graue being deduced of a verbe that signifieth to craue or aske because it craueth alvvaies nevv coarses as though the graue craued moe then Hel doth Bib. 1579. Prouer. 1 12.3 15.16 or vvallovved moe or vvere more hardly satisfied and filled then Hel for in al such places they translate graue And in one such place they say Prou. 27 30. The graue and destruction can neuer be full Vvhereas them selues a litle before translate the very same vvordes cap. 15 11. Hel and destruction and therfore it might haue pleased them to haue said also Hel and destruction can neuer be full Bib. 1562. 1577. Prouerb 1. 1 Pet. 5. as their pevv-follovves doe in their translation againe Vve shal svvalovv them vp like Hel. The Diuel vve reade goeth about continually like a roaring lion seeking vvhom he may deuoure Vvho is called in the Apocalypse Abaddon Apoc. 9 11. that is destruction and so very aptly Hel and destruction are ioyned together and are truely said neuer to be filled Vvhat madnesse and impudencie is it then for Beza to vvrite thus Beza before alleaged Vvho is ignorant that by the Hebrue word rather is signified agraue for that it seemeth after a sort to craue alvvaies nevv carcasses 23 And againe concerning our Sauiour Christes descending into Hel and deliuering the fathers from thence it is maruel saith Beza Annot. in 2 Act. v. 24. that the most part of the auncient fathers vvere in this errour vvhereas vvith the Hebrues the vvord SHEOL signifieth nothing els but GRAVS Before he pleaded vpon the etymologie or nature of the vvord novv also he pleadeth vpon the authoritie of the Hebrues them selues If he vvere not knovven to be very impudent and obstinate vve vvould easily mistrust his skil in the Hebrue saying that among the Hebrues the vvord signifieth nothing els but graue nihil aliud 24 I vvould gladly knovv vvhat are those Hebrues doth not the Hebrue text of the holy Scripture best tell vs the vse of this vvord Do not them selues translate it Hel very often do not the Septuaginta alvvaies If any Hebrue in the vvorld vvere asked hovv he vvould turne these vvordes into Hebrue Similes estis sepulchris de albatis you are like to vvhited graues And Sepulchrum eius apud vos est His graue is among you vvould any Hebrue I say translate it by this Hebrue vvord vvhich Beza saith among the Hebrues signifieth nothing els but graue Sheolim Sheol Aske your Hebrue Readers in this case and see vvhat they vvill ansvver 25 Vvhat are those Hebrues then The Protestants in interpretation of Scriptures folovv the late Ievves rather then the aūciēt fathers Apostolical church that Beza speaketh of forsooth certaine Ievves or later Rabbines vvhich as they do falsely interprete al the holy Scriptures against our Sauiour Christ in other pointes of our beleefe as against his Incarnatiō Death Resurrection so do they also falsely interprete the holy Scriptures against his descending into Hel vvhich those Ievvish Rabbines deny because they looke for an other Messias that shal not die at all and consequently shal not after his death go dovvne into Hel and deliuer the fathers expecting his cōming as our Sauiour Christ did and therfore those Ievvish Rabbines hold as the Heretikes doe that the fathers of the old Testament vvere in heauen before our Sauiour Christs Incarnatiō these Rabbines are they vvhich also peruert the Hebrue vvord to the signification of graue in such places of the holy Scriptures as speake either of our Sauiour Christes descending into Hel or of the fathers going dovvne into Hel euen in like maner as they peruert other Hebrue vvordes of the holy Scripture as namely alma to signifie a yong vvoman Esa 7. not a virgin against our Sauiours birth of the B. Virgin Marie 26 And if these later Rabbines be the Hebrues that Beza meaneth and vvhich these gay English trāslatours folow vve lament that they ioyne them selues vvith such cōpanions being the svvorne enemies of our Sauiour Christ Surely the Christian Hebrues in Rome and els vvhere vvhich of great Rabbines are become zealous doctors of Christianitie and therfore honour euery mysterie and article of our Christian faith concerning our Sauiour Christ they dispute as vehemently against those other Rabbines as we doe against the Heretikes and among other things they tell them that Soul said 1 Reg. 28. Raise me vp Samuël and that the vvoman said I see gods ascending out of the earth An old man is ascended or come vp and that Samuël said Vvhy hast thou disquieted me that I should
be raised vp and To morovv thou and thy sonnes shal be vvith me And the booke of Ecclesiasticus saith Eccl. 46.23 that Samuël died and aftervvard lifted vp his voice out of the earth c. Al vvhich the holy Scripture would neuer haue thus expressed vvhether it vvere Samuël in deede or not if Saul and the Ievves then had beleeued that their Prophets and Patriarches had been in heauen aboue And as for the Hebrue vvord they make it as euery boy among the Ievves doth vvell knovv as proper a vvord for Hel as panis is for bread and as vnproper for a graue though so it may be vsed by a figure of speache as Cymba Charontis is Latin for death 27 But vvhat speake I of these do not the greatest and most auncient Rabbines so to cal them the Septuaginta alvvaies translate the Hebrue vvord by the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Geneb li. 3. de Trin. vvhich is proprely hel do not the Talmudistes and Chaldee paraphrases and Rabbi Salomon Iarhi handling these places of the Psalmes He vvil deliuer my soule from the hand of Sheol interpret it by Gehinum that is Gehenna hel and yet the Caluinistes bring this place for an example that it signifieth graue likevvise vpon this place Let al sinners be turned into SHEOL the foresaid Rabbines interpret it by Gehinum hel In so much that in the Prouerbes and in Iob it is ioyned vvith Abaddō Prouerb 15. Iob. 26. Vvhere Rabbi Leui according to the opinion of the Hebrues expoundeth Sheol to be the lovvest region of the vvorld a deepe place opposite to heauen vvhereof it is vvritten If I descended into Hel thou art present so doth Rabbi Abraham expound the same vvord in chap. 2. Ionae 28 This being the opinion and interpretation of the Hebrues See the skil or the honestie of Beza saying that Sheol vvith the Hebrues signifieth nothing but graue Wheras in deede to speake skilfully vprightly and not contentiously it may signifie graue sometime secondarily but Hel principally and proprely as is manifest for that there is no other vvord so often vsed and so familiar in the Scriptures to signifie Hel as this and for that the Septuaginta doe alvvaies interprete it by the Greeke vvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 29 The vvhich Greeke vvord is so notorious and peculiar for Hel that the Pagans vse it also for Pluto vvhom they feined to be god of hel and not god of graues and if they vvould stand vvith vs in this point vve might beate them with their ovvne kinde of reasoning out of Poëres profane vvriters and out of all lexicons Vnles they vvill tel vs contrarie to their custom that vve Christians must attend the Ecclesiastical vse of this vvord in the Bible and in Christian vvriters Annot. in Act. 2 27. and that in them it signifieth graue For so Beza seemeth to say that the Greeke Interpreters of the Bible translated the Hebrue vvord aforesaid by this Greeke vvord as signifying a darke place vvhereas the Greeke Poëtes vsed it for that vvhich the Latines called Inferos that is Hel. Vvhich ambiguitie saith he of the vvord made many erre affirming Christes descending into Hel. So vvas LIMBVS builded vvherevnto aftervvard Purgatorie vvas laid 30 I see Beza his vvylines very vvell in this point for here the man hath vttered al his hart and the vvhole mysterie of his craftie meaning of this corrupt translation that to auoide these three things Christs descending into Hel Limbus patrum and Purgatorie he and his companions vvrest the foresaid vvordes of the holy Scriptures to the signification of graue But let the indifferēt christian reader onely consider Beza his ovvne vvordes in this place point by point 31 First he saith that the Greeke Poëtes vvere vvont to vse the Greeke vvord for Hel secondly that they vvhich interpreted the Bible out of Hebrue into Greeke vsed the very same vvord for that Hebrue vvord vvhereof vve haue novv disputed thirdly that the aūcient fathers for of them he speaketh ibid. v. 24. as a litle before he expresseth vnderstood the said Greeke vvord for Hel and thereby grevve to those errours as he impudently affirmeth of Christes descending into Hel of the place in Hel vvhere the father 's rested expecting the comming of our Sauiour c. Vvhereby the Reader doth easily see that both the profane and also the Ecclesiastical vse of the vvord is for Hel and not for graue Infernus inferi 32 And for the Latin vvord it is the like case for al the vvorld if a man vvill aske but his childe that cōmeth from the Grammar vvhat is Infernus he vvil say Hel and not graue vvhat is Latin for graue He vvil ansvver Sepulchrum or monumentum but neuer Infernus vnles one of these Caluinisticall Translatours taught him so to deceiue his father 33 Novv then to dravv to a conclusion of this their corruption also in their English translation vvhereas the Hebrue and Greeke and Latin vvordes do most properly and vsually signifie Hel and both Greeke and Latin interpreters precisely in euery place vse for the Hebrue vvord that one Greeke vvord and that one Latin vvord vvhich by al custom of speaking vvriting signifie Hel c If they obiect vnto vs some Catholikes that translate it Sepulchrum as they doe it is a fault in them also but so far lesse then in the Protestāts as chaūce medley is in respect of vvilful mur it had been the part of sincere and true meaning translatours to 07 haue translated it also in English alvvaies by the vvord Hel and aftervvard to haue disputed of the meaning thereof vvhether and vvhen it is to be taken for Hel or graue or lake or death or any such thing as in one place they haue done it very exactly and indifferently namely vvhen Ionas saith c. 2. v. 2. out of the vvhales belly Out of the belly of Hel cried I and thou beardest my voice so al translate it and vvell vvhatsoeuer it signifie in this place They thinke that Hel here signifieth nothing els but the vvhales belly and the affliction of Ionas and so the vvord may signifie by a Metaphorical speach as vvhen vve say in English It is a Hel to liue thus and * See their marginal annot Ionae 2 2. Bib. 1577. therfore no doubt they did here translate it so to insinuate that in other places it might as vvel signifie graue as here the vvhales belly 34 But then they should haue translated it also Hel in other places as they did in this and aftervvard haue interpreted it graue in their commentaries and not presumptuously to straiten and limite the vvord of the holy Ghost to their priuate sense and interpretation to preiudice the auncient and learned holy fathers vvhich looke far more deepely and spiritually into this prophecie then to Ionas or the vvhale * Mat. 12. our Sauiour him self also applying it to his ovvne person