or Historical and you 'l presently find that the way oâ— Expression in them is different from what the Authors of themselves would have used If they had been left to their own Genius they would have delivered things in another Method and Manner than you see them in The Stile of them therefore shews the Author In short had the Scriptures been written in the common way of other Writers this would have disparaged them and we should have had no reason to think that they were Divinely inspired which is the thing I am now proving Nay I will adjoin this that the very Words and Phrases of Scripture were dictated by the Spirit the very particular Expressions and Modes of Speech were under the particular Guidance and Direction of the Holy Ghost I know there are many of a contrary Judgment among whom the worthy Writer whom I last quoted is not the least confident and positively asserts that the Stile and Language of Scripture were not dictated by the Holy Ghost but the Matter only The Words saith he were left to the Writers themselves who as Men of Sense could express their Minds in fit Terms And to prove that the Words were not dictated by the Spirit he urgeth this that Christ and his Apostles quote Places out of the Old Testament as they are translated by the Seventy which is not verbatim Now saith he they would have cited the Passages in the very original Phrases and Words if these had been from Divine Inspiration It is evident therefore that they are not because the Apostles use other Words and Terms far different from those in the Hebrew But this is no valid Argument if you rightly consider it for though the Apostles thought fit for some Reasons which I shall have occasion afterwards to offer to you to make use of the Septuagint Version which is but a Paraphrase in many places on the Original Text yet it doth not follow hence that the very Words of the Original were not dictated by the Holy Ghost Neither our Saviour nor the Evangelists and Apostles do hereby declare that the Hebrew Text was not inspired and that even as to the Phrase and Words but all that we gather from their using of the Greek Translation is this that they found it convenient at that time for Reasons which shall afterwards be alledged to quote some Places as they are rendred by those Translators and not exactly according to the Original This doth not necessarily imply much less prove that the Penmen of the Old Testament were not assisted by the Spirit in the very Words which they used But the contrary is grounded on very good Reason for these Sacred Writings being of a more excellent and transcendent Nature than all others in the World besides it was meet that they should surpass them all in This viz. the Divinity of the very Stile If you grant not this you acknowledg these Writings in one respect at least and that no inconsiderable one to be no better than the common Writings of other Men which certainly cannot but be look'd upon as a great vilifying of the Bible Christ promised his Disciples that when they should be brought before Governours and Kings for his Sake it should be given them what they should speak for as he adds it is not they that speak but the Spirit of their Father that speaketh in them Mat. 10. 19 20. And is it not most reasonable to think that the same Spirit taught the Writers of the Old and New Testament what they should speak and commit to writing and gave them Words to that purpose Especially if you consider that this was a Book which was to last to all Generations in the Church anâ— was designed for the use of the Faithful and for the confuting of their Adversaries to the World'â— End and accordingly was to be produced upon all Occasions and therefore was to be of an extraordinary Composure and every Word and Syllable was to be from God and the Direction of his Holy Spirit St. Peter assures us that the Writerâ— of the Old Testament spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost their Speaking and consequently their Writing because this was according to that was by the special Motion and Influence of the Infallible Spirit therefore their very Words for those are necessarily included in speaking were dictated and directed by the same Spirit And the other Great Apostle tells us indefinitely and absolutely and without any restriction that 〈◊〉 Scripture is given by Inspiration of God Now if 〈◊〉 the Scripture be by Divine Inspiration it follows that the very Words of it are for the Words and Expressions and manner of Speech are a part of the Scripture wherefore if we grant that the Whole is by Inspiration we must necessarily grant likewise that the Parts of it are for the Parts constitute the Whole We have reason therefore to assert that every Word in Scripture is endited by God and that every Letter and Syllable of it is exact and that there is nothing wanting nothing superfluous no Fault nor Blemish in the Stile and Phraseology of it I cannot but here take notice of the fond Presumption of some of the Iewiâ—â— Rabbies and Masorites who alter some Words and Expressions in Scripture and put others into their place They forsooth in a more modest way as they pretend read instead of Vrine in 2 Kings 18. 27. Isa. 36. 12. the Water of the Feet instead of Shagal they read Shacab in all Texts for Gnapholim Deut. 28. 27. 1 Sam. 5. 6. they read Techorim so in other places where they think some Words are obscene they substitute others in their room These Men would be more modest than the Scripture and more chaste than the Holy Ghost and yet they herein contradict themselves for some of them have said the Hebrew Tongue is called Holy because it hath nothing obscence in it nothing of that nature can be utter'd and express'd in it This we are certain of that there cannot be better and fitter Words than what the Scripture hath for the Spirit endited them all and therefore the Practice of the conceited Rabbies is to be exploded There is not one Iota or the least Apex in Scripture which is put there to no purpose And the same Father as truly saith in another place It speaks nothing in vain nothing by chance And the reason is because All of it Words no less than Matter is dictated and delivered from above by an unerring Spirit Yet I speak not this as if the Sacred Writers of the Bible were so tied up by the Spirit that they cannot or do not make use of their own natural or acquired Skill Though the Words be dictated by the Spirit yet the Penmen might write and speak according to the Improvements they had made in Speech I do not by what I have said exclude the peculiar Eloquence or Strain of the Writers or their using the Helps of their Education
foretold concerning Xerxes that by his Strength through his Riches he should stir up all against the Realm of Greece ver 2. which we read was punctually fulfilled for he entred Greece with an Army that consisted of a Million of Men. And what is said concerning Alexander the Great viz. that his Kingdom should be broken and divided towards the four Winds of Heaven and not to his Posterity c. ver 4. we know was really accomplish'd The rest of the Chapter is a Prophetical History of the Exploits of those several lesser Kings among whom the Grecian Monarchy after Alexander's Death was divided especially of Antiochus the Great and of Antiochus Epiphanes Here as in the former Chapters you may see many things foretold a long time before they were fulfill'd which is a certain and undeniable Argument of the Prophetick Spirit in the Scriptures We might proceed to the Predictions and Prophecies of the New Testament which we see also are performed in great measure Here was foretold the wonderful Propagation of the Gospel the Rejection of it by the Jews the Receiving of it by the Gentiles the Destruction of Ierusalem and all the Calamities of that Nation These Predictions we know are accomplished Besides in the Writings of the New Testament we read that Christ foretold many things concerning himself and his Followers as the Scandal which his Disciples especially Peter would give Mat. 26. 31. Peter's triple Denial of him Luke 22. 31. and yet at the same time he foretold that it should not be accompanied with a final falling away ver 32. He foretold that he should be betrayed and that he should be mock'd and scourg'd and at last crucisied and that the third Day he should rise again Mat. 20. 17 18 19. And as he predicted his own Death the Place Time and Kind of it with the time of his Resurrection and I might have added also of his Ascension and of his sending the Holy Ghost so he did the same as to the manner of Peter's Death and he foretold Iohn the Evangelist's long Life He told his Disciples what should befal them after his Departure what Calamities and Sufferings they should meet with for their professing the Gospel and owning his Cause He acquainted them that the Gospel should be preach'd throughout the whole World that Scandals and Heresies should come into the Church that many should apostatize from the Faith and desert Christianity Mat. 24. And the Evangelists and Apostles as well as our Saviour from that Spirit of Prophecy which was in them foretold sundry things which we see since are fulfilled In their Writings are Predictions concerning the Calling of the Gentiles the Conversion of the Jews the State of the Christian Church the Rise of Antichrist his Character his Progress and his dreadful Downfal a great part of which is already fulfill'd Much of the Fate of the World which they foretold God hath brought to pass which gives us assurance that the rest will be accomplish'd in due time Yea there are at this day Prophecies fulfill'd every hour as that of the Blessed Virgin in her Magnificat From henceforth all Generations shall call me Blessed Luke 1. 48. The Memory of this holy Woman is daily celebrated in the Christian Church and her Name is blessed throughout all the Assemblies of the Saints They with one accord rejoice that of her was born the Holy JESUS who is Blessed for evermore And so likewise what Simeon and Anna foretold of Christ are every day accomplished some part of their Prophecies is at this very instant made good That is another Prophecy which is now fulfilling 2 Tim. 3. 1. In the last Days perillous Times shall come for c. with several others that might be named the Accomplishment of which no unprejudiced Man and of common Ingenuity will refuse to acknowledg Now this wonderful Prophetick Spirit in Scripture is a strong Argument that these Writings were inspired by God and that the Matter of them is Divine For the foreknowing or foretelling of things to come is one Character of the True God as you read in Isa. 41. 22 23. From thence it is evident that none can predict them unless he be immediately enlightned and taugh◠of God The certain and infallible Knowledg of future Contingences which depend on free Causes is from Him alone Wherefore when we see as in our present Case that things were expresly foretold several hundreds of Years before they came to pass and when we see that the Events exactly answer'd to the Predictions we cannot but acknowledg that these Predictions were from God and could not be from any else If it be objected That other Writings beside◠the Bible have Predictions in them and that Men of Skill and Sagacity do sometimes foretel Futurities yea that those who have the least Converse with God those who deal with Evil Spirits have predicted things to come and therefore this Argument is of no force I answer first It is true that Natural Skill especially improved by Art by Reason and Philosophy and the knowledg of the Laws of Nature will give Men Insight into some Futurities For God hath impress'd a particular Quality on Natural Bodies and they keep a constant Course He hath fixed a way for his Creatures to act in and they never go out of it of themselves The Operations and Effects of Fire and Water of Gravity and Levity in Bodies the Motion of the Sun and Moon and the Eclipses of either and the several Aspects of the Heavens may certainly be foretold for they continually and unerringly keep their Progress unless God pleaseth sometimes to cross their usual Course as when the Waters of the Red-Sea stood up on a heap whilst the Israelites passed over The Fire in Nebuchadnezzar's Furnace was restrain'd from doing any harm to those that were cast into it the Sun stood still in Ioshua's time and was retrograde in King 〈◊〉 And so there are monstrous and mishapen Creatures born into the World which deviate from the common Procedure of Nature But supposing that God suffers his Creatures to act according to the Laws of Nature it is easy to make a Judgment of them and to foretel what shall happen But the things we are speaking of and which are foretold in the Holy Writings are of another kind they are not fixed and determined by Nature and therefore 't is not in Man's power to predict their Events Again Physicians have their Prognosticks whereby they foretel what will become of the Patient whether the Disease will be hardly cured or easily or not at all But because these Prognosticks are founded on a great many Symptoms and these are uncertain and dubious it follows that those are so likewise though 't is certain an experienc'd Artist will see very far here Then as to future Occurrences in Bodies Politick a wise Man may by careful Observation and Remarks on the Affairs of the World gain some Insight into these by being long
following words The Lord knoweth them that are his And Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity See further in Dr. Hammond Next I will mention that of the Apostle Heb. 12. 1. The Sin which doth so easily beset us So we translate it and so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth but it hath three other Significations and according to them may be differently rendred S. Chrysostom gives the senâ—e thus the Sin which may easily â—e avoided for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the word comes hath such a Signification and then the meaning is that not only the great and heavy Sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the weight but lighter and lesser Sins must be declined must be carefully avoided There is another Signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. That Sin which hath fair Arguments and Pretences for it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is applied when there are no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no favourable Circumstances no plausible Reasons and Arguments to commend a thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then signifies that which hath Goodly Circumstances and Arguments to recommend it Such have some Sins especially as those that are accompanied with much Profit or Pleasure against these therefore the Apostle exhorts us here to arm our selves he would have us in a more especial manner to beware of those Vices which are so Tempting There is yet another rendring of the words according to Theophylact for he observes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Periculum Discrimen and indeed the Stoicks generally use the word in this sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is according to Hesychius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies Affliction Necessity Trouble And the Fathers sometimes use it thus in their Writings So that the Apostle adviseth us here to shun those Sins especially which bring us into great Dangers and Difficulties those that are accompanied even with bodily Calamities and Judgments as some kinds of Sins generally are Those Vices that are thus circumstantiated are to be avoided with singular Caution But I confess I do not think this to be the meaning here for the Adverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 join'd with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather shews that the Circumstances are good And of the other three Interpretations I look upon the first to be the best because it is according to the clearest and most obvious sense of the Greek word and withal it agrees with the Mind of the Apostle in the whole Verse where taking his Metaphor from the Olympick Races he exhorts the Jewish Converts to run with Patience the Race that was set before them and in order to that to lay aside every Weight or Incumbrance as the Racers were wont to do and the Sin which did so easily beset them compass them about hinder and retard them in their Christian Course as Long or Heavy Garments are an hindrance to those that run for any observing Eye may see that he continues the Metaphor Thus you see words have Different Senses and so may be translated differently and hence the true Meaning is difficultly to be reach'd sometimes I will mention one Instance more which is to be found both in the Old and New Testament There we often read of the Spirit no word is more usual with the Sacred Writers than this and it is as true that no word hath more Various Significations whence sometimes doth arise no small Difficulty in interpreting some of those places where this word occurreth Suffer me then to give a full and ample Account of the Different Significations of it that it may not administer occasion of Obscurity in the Stile of Scripture First The word Spirit is applied to God and particularly to the Third Person in the Undivided Trinity who is Emphatically call'd the Spirit in the Old Testament as in Gen. 1. 2. Gen. 6. 3. and in almost iunumerable other places and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost by way of Eminency in the New Testament Mat. 3. 16. Iohn 1. 32. Rom. 8. 14 c. Secondly It signifies the Gifts Graces Fruits Effects and Operations of the Holy Spirit as 1. Any Signal Qualities or Endowments whatsoever any Skill or Ability to do things well and laudably Thus Bezaliel was filled with the Spirit of God Exod. 31. 3 5. to work in all manner of Workmanship And Gifts of any sort are call'd the Spirit in other places 2. The Saving Graces of the Holy Spirit as in Iude ver 19. having not the Spirit and in several other places 3. The Power of the Spirit to accomplish some very great and extraordinary thing thus Caleb had another Spirit Num. 14. 24. i. e. he had Power to effect those things which he could not do before Ioshuah was a Man in whom was the Spirit Num. 27. 18. Thus the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord are said in Scripture to come upon to fall upon to be poured out to be put upon Persons that is they had an unusual and extraordinary Power to do this or that To be moved and to be led by the Spirit are in the same Signification viz. to be enabled to enterprize and atchieve some Wonderful Thing 4. Those Extraordinary and Miraculous Gifts which were conferr'd on the Apostles and other Christians in the Infancy of the Gospel as Healing all manner of Diseases Speaking strange Languages These are express'd by this Word in 1 Cor. 14. 12. Ye are zealous of Spirits i. e. Spiritual Gifts the Extraordinary Vouchsafements of the Spirit whereby they were able to do things above Humane Power Hence you read of Speaking in the Spirit Praying with the Spirit and Singing with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14. 14 15. And in the same Chapter there is mention of the Spirits of the Prophets ver 32. i. e. the Gifts of Prophecy which they were indued with and enabled to exert in the Publick Congregation Before Christ's Ascension these Gifts were not bestow'd in a very large and liberal manner and that is the meaning of Iohn 7. 39. the Holy Ghost was not yet given And even after our Saviour's Ascension the Ephesian Christians had not heard whether there was any Holy Ghost Acts 19. 2. that is they knew nothing of these Extraordinary Gifts bestow'd on some in the Church Wherefore we read there that by the Imposition of St. Paul's Hands the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spake with Tongues and prophesied ver 6. This latter Clause explains the former letting us see that by the Holy Ghost is here meant the Miraculous Endowments of the Spirit such as speaking with strange Tongues and Prophesying in an unusual manner Of these chiefly the Apostle is to be understood in 1 Thess. 5. 19. Quench not the Spirit 5. Extraordinary Revelations and Discoveries whether under the Old or New Testament are express'd by this Word Thus 't is said there is a Spirit in Man Job 32. 8. which is explain'd
41. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit John 3. 6. The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh Gal. 5. 7. This is the frequent Acception of the Word in the New Testament Yea 9. Not only the Holy and Godly Nature the Renewed Disposition and Temper but even that which is Unholy and Ungodly the Old and Unregenerate Principle of Man is also known by this Name The Spirit saith St. Iames that dwelleth in us lusteth to Envy ch 4. 5. where by Spirit is meant the Sensual and Carnal Part of Man And so before we took notice of the Spirit of Slumber of Whoredoms and the like Thus much of the word Spirit as it hath reference to the Soul of Man and its Faculties Only I will add this that this Word applied either to the good or evil Operations of the Mind signifies to us the Reality and Efficacy of them and represents their great Vehemency for they proceed from the Spirit of Man which is vigorous and active Though this Word likewise may refer to the Original and Source of these Actions for there is in Men a Double Spirit a Good and an Evil one the Spirit of the World and the Spirit which is of God 1 Cor. 2. 12. Hence in the Stile of Scripture good and evil Actions are frequently attributed to some Spirit for they are Results either of the Good or Evil one that inhabits in them Eighthly Angels both good and bad are signified by this Word First the Good ones Heb. 1. 7. He maketh his Angels Spirits which is taken from Psal. 104. 4. Are they not all ministring Spirits Heb. 1. 14. Secondly the Evil ones who in the Old Testament are call'd Evil Spirits and Lying Spirits and in the New Testament Vnclean Foul Familiar Spirits Spirits of Divination Rejoice not saith our Saviour that the Spirits i. e. the Devils as appears from ver 17. are subject unto you Luke 10. 20. The Spirit that worketh in the Children of Disobedience Eph. 2. 2. is no other than Satan I question not but that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Eph. 6. 12. are no other than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spirits of Wickedness which are said to be in high or Heavenly Places because these Wicked Spirits are so hardy as to encounter often with the Good Angels they labour to wrest the Souls of the Faithful out of their Hands whilst they are conducting them through the Ethereal Regions to the Mansions of Glory in the highest Heavens And if they have the Confidence to grapple with those Blessed Spirits certainly they will not fail to assault Us weak and sinful Creatures Wherefore as the Apostle adjoins in this Place we must take unto us the whole Armour of God that we may be able to wrestle against these spiritual Wickednesses or rather wicked Spirits So in Rev. 16. 14. Spirits of Devils are as much as Devilish Spirits or Evil Angels Ninthly The same Word is used to express an Apparition or Seeming Shape of a Body without real Corporeity as in Luke 24. 37. They supposed they had seen a Spirit They had a Notion of a Spirit 's appearing though as a Spiâ—it it was impossible to be seen of it self for being void of Matter and Quantity it could not be the Object of the Bodily Senses which true Account of a Real Spirit our Saviour gives them in these Words A Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones ver 39. i. e. it hath nothing Corporeal belonging to its Nature and Essence Which brings me to the next the Tenth Acception of the Word and that is this it signifies a Spiritual Immaterial Substance wholly devoid of all Matter John 4. 24. God is a Spirit i. e. he is a Substance in which there is nothing of Body or Quantity he is an Intelligent and Thinking Being which high Privilege and Excellency no Material thing is capable of Lastly A Breath a Wind a Blast are synonimous with Spirit in the Holy Stile as in Eccles. 11. 5. Thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit i. e. of the Wind as is evident from the former Verse where the word Ruach is so â—endred And in Ezek. 37. 9. the four Spirits or Winds are the same and so the word is used twice more in that Verse Thus 't is in the New Testament in Iohn 3. 8. The Wind bloweth where it listeth The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is generally translated Spirit in the New Testament is here translated Wind and that very rightly according to the Interpretation of several of the Antient Fathers Particularly the Air the Wind or Breath which is drawn in and sent forth by the Lungs hath this Denomination Thus in Iob 34. 14. Spirit and Breath are the same And those Words in Iohn 19. 30. He gave up the Ghost or Spirit are expressed thus in another Evangelist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he expired he yielded up his Breath Luke 23. 46. To this refers 2. Thess. 2. 8. Whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit i. e. the Breath of his Mouth which is the same with Isa. 11. 4. With the Breath of his Mouth shall he stay the Wicked To conclude the three Words in the three Learned Languages for Spirit signify Wind or Breath and that in the first and original Sense of them This alone is the Proper Signification of the Word but as for all the other Acceptions of it before-mentioned they are secondary and improrper The word Spirit is improperly applied to the Person and to the Gifts or Graces of the Holy Ghost it is improperly attributed to the Souls of Men and their Faculties and Operations it is improperly spoken of Angels or Devils or of any of those other things â—fore-named except the last But these are the Different Acceptions of the Word in the Sacred Writings according to that Observation which I have made of it at several times and perhaps there are some Other Denotations of this Word which I have not taken notice of I instanced in This whereas I might have instanced in many more to let you see how Large and Extensive the Meaning of some Words in Scripture is and thereby to give you some Account of the Difficulty and Perplexity of the Holy Stile in some Places which yet you see we may render very intelligible and plain by a diligent Enquiry into and Comparing those Places where these dubious Words occur But still to give you a farther Account of the Different Acceptions of Terms I could sufficiently prosecute this tho I confin'd my self to the Hebrew Words of the Old Testament It would most fully appear that the same words in this Holy Volume signify Different things I shall only propound the several Particulars and leave them to be distinctly applied upon occasion by those that have leisure to do it It is well known that Vau is a Conjunction Copulative but it is of other Use in several Places which indeed is common to it
same Person was the Author of Vocal Musick it being so natural and usual to join this with the other These Inspired Writings are the first that teâ—â— us on what Occasions these several forts of Muâ—â—â— were used of old as namely first in a Religious Way Harmony both Vocal and Instrumental was primitively consecrated to God as we learn from Exod. 15. where 't is said that they not only sang unto the Lord v. 1. and that Alternately for Miriam ansâ—ored them viz. the Persons that â—ung before she repeated their Song â— 21. which sâ—ews the Antiquity of that Alternate way of Singing but they made use of Timbrels v. 20. And afterwards in David's Reign it more solemnly became a Religious Exercise he so often making use of it in his own personal and private Devotions For he was not only an Excellent Poet and compos'd psalms and Hymns which by the by shews that Poetry is an Accomplishment worthy of a Prince yea of a Saint but he plaid with great Skill on Musical Instruments Hence he mentions his Harp and other Instruments often in his Book of Psalms And it appears from what we read in 1 Sam. 16. 19. that he was initiated into this Art betimes and was very Eminent in it when he was a Young Man otherwise he would not have been sent for to Court But he not only made and plai'd his Psalms but he sung them and was so famous for it that he is by way of Eminency stiled the Sweet Psalmist or Singer of Israel Nor was Musick his own Entertainment only but it was by him constituted a part of the Publick Worship He being Poetical and Musical endited Hymns and his skilful Musitians set them to grave and serious Tunes and then they were devoted to the Church and do still remain Patterns of Devotion and so shall to all Ages To the Religious Use of Musick both of Voice and Instrument those words in Psal. 68. 25. refer The Singers Sharim the Princes or Chief Masters of Singing â—ent before the Nogenim the players on Instruments follow'd after amongst them or in the middle of them according to the Hebrew viz. between the Singing-men and Players were the Damsels playing with Timbrels So that both Sexes were wont to join in consort at the joyful bringing forth and procession of the Ark which are here meant and called the goings of God in the Sanctuary v. 24. To this belongs Sam. 6. 5. David and all the House of Israel play'd before the Lord on all manner of Instruments viz. at the removal of the Ark. And those Musical Instruments are particularly and distinctly mention'd in the next Words Harps Psalteries Timbrels Cornets Cymbals Afterwards in Solomon's time when the Temple was erected and Singing-men and diverse Orders and Degrees of Musicians were appointed some being Masters others Scholars and Candidates as we may inform our selves from 1 Chron. 15. 22. 25. 7. Neâ— 12. 46. Musick was a considerable Part of Divine Service And there was not only Singing of Psalms but playing upon Instruments of which some were Neginoth such as yielded a Sound by touch or stroak others were Nechiloth Wind-Instruments This was the pompous Service of the Jewish Church this was the Temple-Musick which began not as Dr. Lightfoot thinks till the pouring out of the Drink-Offering when the Cup of Salvation as the Psalmist calls it went about And here also it might be observ'd that the Religious and Prophetick Raptures of holy Men were attended with and promoted by Musick thus a company of Prophets came down from the high Place where they had been worshipping with a psaltery and a Tabret and a Pipe and Harp before them 1 Sam. 10. 5. praising God with Songs which the Holy Spirit dictated to them Thus the famous Prophet Elisha call'd for a Minstrel and when the Minstrel play'd the Hand of the Lord came upon him 2 Kings 3. 15. i. e. he was stirr'd up thereby to undertake and accomplish great things for the Glory of God of which you read in the ensuing Verses It is no wonder therefore that Musick was thought to be Divine that it was as Plato faith of it the Invention 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And though he spoke this of the Egyptian Musick yet all the Learned know that the Pagan Writers commonly call that Egyptian which is Hebrew for they were wont to take the Iews for Natives of Egypt and then it is not to be doubted that the Sacred Use and Improvement of Musick among the Iews was referr'd to by this Philosopher Thus Musick was first dedicated to Religion and Divine Worship But we read that upon other Occasions also it was made use of viz. at all solemn times of Rejoicing Hence Laban complimented Iacob after this Manner that if he had known of his Intentions of going away from him he would have sent him away with Mirth and with Songs with Tabret and with Harp Gen. 31. 27. It seems this was the Antient Entertainment at their Farewels And the same was used at all great Festivals the Harp and the Viol the Tabret and Pipe as well as Wine are in their Feasts Isa. 5. 12. They chaunt to the sound of the Viol Am. 6. 5. And therefore to express the Cessation of these Feasts it is said the Mirth of Tabrets ceaseth the Ioy of the Harp ceaseth Isa. 24. 8. Yea at the most Innocent Festivals this was not thought unlawful as may be gather'd from Luk. 15. 25. where at the solemn Eating and Drinking which were occasion'd by the prodigal Son's return there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Consort of many Voices and Instruments as the Word properly imports This as multitudes of Authors acquaint us was the general Usage among the old Greeks and Romans And what if I should â—ay that this is meant by Homer's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whence perhaps the Word Anthems for Musick was onâ— of the constant Attendants at their Feasts This likewise was the manner of expressing their Mirth at Tidings of Victory and the Triumphal Return of Generals and Captains thus Iephthah's Daughter came out to meet him with Timbrels Judg. 11. 34. When David and Saul returned from the Slaughter of the Philistines the Women came out of all Cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet them with Tabrets with Ioy and with Instruments of Musicâ— 1 Sam. 18. 6. And 't is added in the next Verse The Women answered one another as they plaid which is another Instance of Alternate Singing This was the Custom at the Coronation of Kings 2 Chron. 23. 13. All the People of the Land rejoiced and â—ounded with Trumpets also the Singers with Instruments of Musick And at all other Seasons of Mirth this was the wonted Diversion and Entertainment Yea it was used on special Occasions to expel Melancholy and to free Men of their Distempers both of Body and Mind otherwise they would not have sought out a Man that was a cunning Player on
numbred among the Books of Canonical Scripture And thus we have argued from the Tradition and the Testimony of the Church And if this be done as it ought to be done it is valid for the Truth of the Copies the Canonicalness of the Books and the like are not decidable by Scripture it self but in the Way that all other Controversies of that nature are As you would prove any other Book to be Authentick so you must prove the Bible to be viz. by sufficient and able Testimony There is the same reason to believe the Sacred History that there is to believe any other Historical Writings that are extant Nay the Testimonies on behalf of the Holy Scriptureâ— are more pregnant than any that are brought for other Writings Besides all that can be said for the Sacred Volume of the Bible which is wont to be said for other Writings I have shewed you that there are some things peculiar to this above aâ—â— others The main thing we have insisted upon is this that the Books of the Old and New Testament have been faithfully conveyed to us and that they are vouched by the constant and universal Tradition both of the Jewish and Christian Church and that these Books and no others are of the Canon of Scripture for to be of the Canon of Scripture is no other than to be owned by the Universal Church for Divinely Inspired Writings The Church witnesseth and confirmeth the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures for she received them as Divine and she delivers them to us as such Yet I do not say that the Church's Testifying these Books to be the Holy Scriptures gives an Absolute and Entire Authority to them A Clerk in the Parliament or any other Court writes down and testiâ—ies that such an Act or Decree or Order was pass'd by the King Magistrate or People and he witnesses that he hath faithfully kept these by him and that they are the very same that at such a time were made by the foresaid Authority but the Authority of this Act Decree or Order rests not in the Clerk but wholly in the King Magistrate or People So the Church recordeth and keepeth the Sacred Writings of the Bible and bears witness that they have been faithfully preserved and that they are the Genuine Writings of those Persons whose Names are presixed to them bâ—t the Divine Authority of the Scriptures depends not on the Church but on the Books and Authors themselves namely their being Inspired And indeed this Authority of the Scriptures cannot depend on the Church because the Church itself depends on the Scriptures These must be proved before the Church can pretend to be any such thing as a Church We cannot know the Church but by the Scriptures therefore the Scriptures must be known before the Church It follows then that the Papists are very unreasonable and absurd in making the Ultimate Resolution of Faith to be into the Testimony and Authority of the Church This we disown as a great Falsity but yet it is rational to hold that the Church's Testimony is one good Argument and Proof of the Truth of the Sacred Scripture according to that known Saying of St. Augustine I should not believe the Gospel if the Authority of the Church did not move me Not that he founds the Gospel i. e. the Doctrine of Christianity and the Truth of it on the Testimony of the Church as the Papists are wont to infer from these Words and frequently quote them to this purpose No the Father's meaning is this that by the Testimony and Consent of the Church he believed the Book of the Gospel to be verily that Book which was written by the Evangelists This is the Sense of the Place as is plain from the Scope of it for he speaks there of the Copies or Writings not the Doctrine contained in them The good Father relies on this that so great a number of knowing and honest Persons as the Church was made up of did assert the Evangelical Writings to be the Writings of such as were really inspired by the Holy Ghost and that they were true and genuine and not corrupted And the whole Body of Sacred Scripture is attested by the same universal Suffrage of the Church i. e. the unanimous Consent of the Apostles and of the First Christians and of those that immediately succeeded them several of which laid down their Lives to vindicate the Truth of these Writings This is the External Testimony given to the Holy Scriptures It is the general Perswasion and Attestation of the Antient Church that these are the Scriptures of Truth that they were penn'd by holy Prophets and Apostles immediately directed by the Spirit who therefore could not err It was usual heretofore among the Pagan Lawgivers to attribute their Laws to some Deity tho they were of their own Invention intending thereby to conciliate Reverence to them and to commend them to the People But here is no such Cheat put upon us God himself is really the Author of the Holy Scriptures these Sacred Laws come immediately from Him they are of Divine Inspiration There is no doubt to be made of the Divinity of the Scriptures and consequently there is assurance of the Infallibility of them CHAP. III. The Authority of the Bible manifested from the Testimonies of Enemies and Strangers especially of Pagans These confirm what the Old Testament saith concerning the Creation the Production of Adam and Eve their Fall with the several Circumstances of it Enoch's Translation the Longevity of the Patriarchs the Giants in those Times the Universal Flood the building of the Tower of Babel I Have propounded some of the chief Arguments which may induce us to believe the Truth and Certainty of the holy Writings of the Old and New Testament I will now choose out another for the sake chiefly of the Learned and Curious which I purpose to inlarge upon yea to make the Subject of my whole ensuing Discourse I consider then that we have in this Matter not only the Testimony of Friends but of Enemies and Strangers and it is a Maxim in the Civil Law and vouched by all Men of Reason that the Testimony of an Enemy is most considerable The Iewish and Christian Church as I have shewed already give their Testimony to the Scriptures but besides these Witnesses there are Others there is the Attestation of Foreigners and Adversaries These fully testify the Truth of what is delivered in the Holy Bible we have the Approbation of Heathen Writers to conâ—irm many of the things related in the Old Testament and both Professed Heathens and Iews for we must now look upon these latter as profess'd Enemies when we are to speak of the Christian Concern attest sundry things of the New Testament and vouch the Truth and Authority of them Here then I will distinctly proceed and first begin with the Old Testament and let you see in several Particulars that even the Pagan World gives Testimony to this Sacred Volume
it were easy to prove All which it is likely had its first Rise from the Old Testament and the Practice of the Antients recorded there Is it not reasonable to think that the Cities of Refuge among some Pagan Nations whither Offenders fled for Protection had their Origine from those so expresly mentioned in Numb 35. 13 14 15. Hence we read that Cadmus when he built Thebes founded a Place for all sorts of Criminals to repair to and Romulus at the building of Rome erected a Sanctuary for Offenders to fly to Further I could observe that the New-Moons were celebrated by the Athenians and other Grecians Concerning the first Plutarch is very positive and as to the rest that Proverbial Saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in use among them shews that they solemnly observ'd the first Day of the Month. The Romans likewise had the same Custom as is manifest from that of Ovid Vendicat Ausonias Iunonis cura Calendas And these New-Moon Festivals are referr'd to by Horace more than once as you may see in Turâ—â—bus All which is of Hebrew Extraction I could take notice that the Latin Iubilare and Iubilatio which are found in Varro and other old Romans which signify great Rejoicing and Shouting for Joy are from the old Jewish Law of Iubilee a Time of exceeding Gladness being the Year when Servants and Debtors were restored to their Liberty and Possessions which occasioned great Rejoicing And I could propound more Instances yet to prove that several Customs among the Heathens were extracted from the Holy Scriptures and that Heathen Worshippers shaped New Strange and Profane Rites and Ways of Worship out of the Passages they â—ead or heard of there and that most of the Heathen Usages are corrupt Imitations of the Jews I will add to the several Particulars this one more which though I will not confidently pronounce was borrowed from the Jews yet I propose it as a thing very probable It is this that the Hieroglyphicks of the Egyptians were in imitation of that People for they were brought up under Shadows Types and Symbols dark Representations and mystical Rites which might give occasion to the Egyptians to teach Religion and Morality by Hieroglyphick Figures I am not positive here nor would I be any where else unless I had good Grounds to go on because I am not altogether certain that the Hieroglyphick Learning began after Moses But there is great probability that it did and consequently that it was derived from what they observ'd among the Jews This is the Perswasion of the Inquisitive Kircher who without â—â—y hesitation averreth that the Symbolical and Hieroglyphick Learning was imbibed from the Hebrews Nay to go yet farther now we are come thus far there are those who conjecture that a great part of the Antient Gentile Philosophy was collected from the Holy Book of Scripture Among the antient Persians the Mosaick Religion might be â—iscovered in many Instances which might be given of their Principles and an Ingenious French Author hath lately proved that their Zoroastres was the same with Moses And as for the Pythagâ—rick and Platonick Philosophy which consists much in Figures and Numbers in Dark and Symbolical Precepts it is evident that it was made up out of the Sacred Hebrew Writings The Platonists Books concerning God the Genii the Spirits and Souls of Men though stuff'd with many Errors and Superstitions discover a great Resemblance and Affinity with those things which the Bible delivers about the Nature of God Angels and Humane Souls Eusebius particularly insists on this and derives the Platonick Doctrines from the Scriptures Hence both he and Clement of Alexandria take notice of what Numenius the Pythagorean Philosopher said of Plato namely that he was the Greek Moses And indeed most of the antient Sages and Philosophers were obscure and mystick in their Stile and way of delivering their Notions as the Sacred Writers are observ'd to be very often Hence it is said by the antient Father whom I last quoted That the way of Philosophizing among those Pagans was after the manner of the Hebrews that is Aenigmatical But as to the Matter as well as Stile the chiefest of the old Greek Poets and Philosophers as Orpheus Homer Hesiod Thales Anaxagoras Parmenides Empedocles Democritus Socrates besides Pythagoras and Plato before named agree with Moses We may say of them all as an Historian saith of the first of them after he had set down several Particulars of sound Philosophy in his Poems They have pronounced many things concerning God and Man which are consonant to that Truth which we who are taught by the Holy Writings profess This may give light to what an Egyptian Priest told Solon Yoâ— Grecians saith he are but of yesterday and know nothing of the Rise and Antiquity of Arts there is not one of you that is Old and there is no Learning among you that is Antient. His meaning was that all their Knowledg was borrowed and that the Sacred Mosaick Philosophy and Theology were the oldest of all From this the Heathens took theirs though sometimes they express it in different Terms Thus we have gone through the Moâ—aick Records and in many Instances shew'd the Derivation of Gentile Philosophy Principles Praâ—tices and Usages from those Sacred Writings and consequently we have evinced the Truth and Antiquity of these Records Before I leave this Head of my Discourse I will here add the Testimony of Pagan and Profane Authors concerning this great Law-giver Moses the first Penman of Holy Scripture which is still in prosecution of what I undertook to shew that the Writings of the Old Testament and with them their Authors and Penmen are attested by Profane Writers It appears first from what these have said that there was such a Person and that he was what his Writings represent him to be This is he that is called by Orpheus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alluding to his Name Mosheh Exod. 2. 10. which was given him because he was drawn out of the Water He is celebrated by Alexander Polyhistor Philochorus Thallus Appion cited by Iustin Martyr by Manethon and Numenius alledged by Origen and Eusebius by Lysimachus and Molon quoted by Iosephus by Chalcidius Sanchoniathon Iustin Pliny in Porphyrius Moses is placed by Dioâ—orus the Sicilian in the Front of his famous Law-givers only a little disguised under the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is there said to have received his Laws from Mercury And why from Mercury Perhaps because some Chronologers acquaint us that the Great Mercurius stiled Trismegistus the antientest Philosopher among the Egyptians was either contemporary with Moses or is thought to have lived about his time But St. Augustine tells us in his Noted Book de Civitate Dei that this 〈◊〉 was Nephew to another Mâ—râ—urius whose 〈◊〉 was Atlas the famous Astrologer and he it was belike that flourished in Moses's time Whâ—â—â—â— if I
to King Ptolomee by the foresaid Demetrius a very serious Man and it was assigned as a Reason why the Contents of these Sacred Writings which were so Divine and Admirable were but rarely mention'd by the Historians and Poets These Examples had struck a terrour into some of them having heard how some Prophaners of these Holy Things were Animadverted upon by a Divine Hand they were afraid to Record any passages in the Old Testament Therefore some of them chose rather to disguise the Sacred Stories and to stuff them with Fabulous Narrations that they might scarcely be known to have been borrowed from that Holy Book Lastly the Devil hath a design in all this Tertâ—lian's Words are remarkable when he had said that the Things which are contrary to Truth i. e. the Heathen Fables Rites and Usages are made out of the Truth i. e. the Holy Scriptures he further adds that this Imitating of the Truth is wrought by the Spirits of Error that is the Devils who affect sometimes to Ape God and what he doth This is most apparent that they are a Mimical fort of Creatures and shew themselves sometimes diligent Emulators of the most Holy Pâ—rsons and Things Their great Subtilty and Craft are to be discern'd here for when they brought the Hebreâ— Rites and Ceremonies of Gods own appointment into the 〈◊〉 Worship and Service they did this to Prophane them and â—o make them contemptible and ridiculous They did it that those Divine and Sacred Things might be despised and that they might be turn'd into Superstition and Idolatry So likewise they cunningly mixed something of sacred Truth with Fables that thereby they might make the things that are True to be suspected Satban is desirous to pervert and even erase the whole Sacred Scripture and Antient Truth but because he sees he cannot effect this he therefore contrives how he may disguise the Scripture-Stories he sets the Poets to work to make them into Fables and thinks by that means to take off our Esteem of those Inspired Writings and to diminish that Credit which we ought to give to those Sacred Truths He pushed on those Grecian Wits to obscure and deface the Old Names in Scripture that the Original of them might not be known He out of direct malice moved those fanciful Men to invent Fables to defame the Primitive Stories to blemish the Sacred History to obscure and pervert the Truth The Poets turning the Scriptures into Fabulous Narrations was the way to invalidate the Testimony of them and to make them seem a meer Poetick Fiction a Dream a Fansie that hath no real bottom It is no wonder then that the Devil imped their Fancies and assisted their Inventions and help'd them to change the Truth into a Lie that thereby he might rob God and the Scripture of their Honour This I say might be a device of that Evil Spirit as he hath Devices and Wiles of all sorts to elude the Authority of Sacred History and to take away the Credit of Divine Truth Again as that Crasty Spirit designs by this means to disparage yea to null the Truth so he thinks hereby to gain assent to Falshood and to promote the greatest Impiety imaginable for when Truth is mixed with Falshood he hopes that this latter will be entertain'd for the sake of the former And when Lewd and Vitious Practices are founded in those that are Innocent and Religious he expects that these should justifie those Perhaps when he added the Sacred Ceremonies of the Iews to the prophane Worship of the Gentiles he thought thereby to take away the difference between them and to render them alike so that Men should not be able to distinguish between a True and False way of Worship Thirdly the Devil's Design in introducing several Sacred rites and Customs into the practice of the Heathens was to conciliate to himself a greater Authority and Esteem a greater Glory and Repute among them He commends those things to the Pagans which were Religiously used and even by God's own People and prescrib'd by God himself this he doth to inveigle the Pagan World and to bring them to Admire and Worship him Wherefore an Answer may easily be return'd to that Objection of a late Learned Writer What advantage can the Devil have by his imitating the Divine Worship He ever Acts for some end that may be prositable to himself but how can this prove so seeing it would be more advantageous to him to institute a Worship and Ceremonies that are Diametnically contrary to those in the Divine Law that by those as by so many proper and peculiar Characters his Herd might be distinguished from the Flock of the Shepherd of Israel The Answer I say to this is very easie and obvious for there can be nothing more Advantageous to that Evil Spirit than his emulating of Divine Worship and appointing Ceremonies suitable to it for by this means his Kingdom is most sensibly advanced and that with the greatest Artifice and Craft imaginable because this Vile Fiend is Adored even whilst the Divine Worship of the True God seems to be earried on It was the Subtilty of this Great Mimick to approach as near to God and True Religion as he could to make use of those things which by God's own express Command were used in his Worship This is a cunning way of gaining Proselytes and increasing the number of his Worshippers Thus he Acts for some End and that a very Profitable one too certainly much more Profitable to him than if he had Instituted Proper and Peculiar Ceremonies of Worship for these would too palpably have distinguish'd his Herd from the True Flock whereas those bring them into a kind of Rivalty with it Besides this fond Emulation in the Devil is a gratifying of his first Proud Inclination and aspiring to be like God He is still Ambitious of Divine Honour otherwise certainly he would not have desired to be Worship'd by the Son of God himself And he would be Worshipp'd in the same way that God is with the same Signs and Badges of Adoration Hence most of those Sacred Rites enjoyned by God himself and made use of in his Worship by the Iewish Church were transferred by Sathan to his Idolatrous and Impious Worship This is the effect of his Haughty Spirit which thirsteth after Divine Honour even such as is given to the only True God Thus I have amply shew'd you how it came to pass that the Rites and Practices and the greatest Truths contained in the Holy Scripture were corrupted disguised misapplied and abused by the Pagans I have given you the Reasons and Arguments which may convince you of this and render you an account of the manner of it CHAP. IX The Author's Assertions Confirmed by the ample Suffrage of the Ancients and Moderns Consectaries drawn from the whole viz. That we cannot with any shew of Reason admit of the Opinion of those who hold that the Jews borrow'd all or most of
mystical Sense of Christ who was the true Melchisedek that is King of Righteousness and King of â—eace This mystical Interpretation of that historical Passage is vouched by the inspired Penman who wrote the Epiâ—tle to the Hebrews Again it is written viz. in Gen. 16 21. that Abraham had two Sons the one by a Bond-maid the other by a Free-woman This is the Letter or History Now observe the figurative Interpretation of it which things saith the Apostle are an Allegory for these are the two Covenants that is these two Mothers Hagar and Sarah denote the two Covenants the Law and the Gospel the one from the Mount Sinai which gendreth to Bondage which is Hagar for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia that is the Law was given on Mount Sinai and brings Servitude and strict Observances with it this is represented by Hagar for the Name of Hagar signifies the Mount where the Law was given and answereth to Jerusalem that now is that is the present State of the Jews The Hagarens i. e. the Arabians and all that spring from Ismael as Historians tell us no less than the Apostle intimates here are bound by their own Laws to be circumcised and observe therein the Mosaical Law like the Iews and so they like Hagar their Mother are in a servile Condition still are in Bondage with their Children But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all that is Sarah which denotes the State of the Gospel that new City which Christ brought with him from Heaven of which all Christians are free Denizens is a free Woman and signifies that we Christians Gentiles as well as Jews for she is the Mother of us all are free from all Moses's Rites and are justified without them Gal. 4. 22 24 25 26. Thus it appears from the Apostle that besides the historical Sense there is a higher and nobler in the Old Teâ—tament and particularly in that Place of Genesis where the two Mothers Sarah and Hagar and the two Sons Isaac and Ishmael were designed to signify the different State of those in the Church of God they respect the Law and the Gospel the Mosaical and Christian Dispenâ—ation There was this besides the bare historical Sense From the same Divine Writer we learn that the Pillar of the Cloud the passing through the red Sea the Mannah the Drink out of the Rock and the Rock it self which you read of in Exodus had a spiritual meaning and therefore some of these especially are expresly called spiritual they did eat the same spiritual Meat and drink the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them and that Rock was Christ. 1 Cor. 1 c. 1 2 3 4. Hence it is evident that this historical Part of the Book of Exodus is likewise symbolical and capable of a spiritual Construction though still the Truth and Reality of the History remain entire So what we read in Numb 22. 9. viz. that Moses made a Serpent of Brass and put it upon a Pole that if any Man bitten with a Serpent beheld it he might live i. e. be cured of the venemous Biting hath a secondary meaning in it as our Saviour himself interprets it namely that the Son of Man should be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3. 14 15. The lifting up of the brazen Serpent upon a Pole in the Wilderness signified the lifting up of Christ upon the Cross for the healing and saving of all that look up to him with an Eye of Faith Thus when we read that God swore in Numb 14. 28. that the murmuring and unbelieving lsraelites should not enter into Canaan which the Psalmist calls their Rest Psal. 95. 11. the primary historical Sense is well known but besides this there is a secondary or spiritual one which our Apostle hath acquainted us with in Heb. 4. 1 c. Whence you may gather that in the History of the Israelites entring into the Promised Land and of the greatest Part of them that came out of Egypt being shut out there is a secondary meaning included viz. that Believers shall possess the Heavenly Canaan they shall enter into their everlasting Rest that Rest which remains to the People of God but Unbelievers shall come short not only of the Promise whicâ— is left of entring into this Rest but the Rest it self Thus you will find that Place in Numbers interpreted by the inâ—allible Apostle Again this mystical or secondary Sense is observable in those Places in the Mosaick Law which speak of the Rites and Services and Levitical Priesthood which the Jews were under as you may infer from three Chapters together in the Epistle to the Hebrews where the Apostle applies those things in a higher Sense viz. to Christ himself and his offering himself upon the Cross than ever was intended by the Letter But this double Sense of Scripture is no where more remarkable than in the Book of Psalms The 22d Psalm though primarily it be meant of David when he was in great Distress and forsaken of God yet secondarily i. e. mystically it is to be understood of our Blessed Savioâ—r when he was in his Passion and hung upon the Cross and accordingly you will find the first Words of it applied by himself Mattâ— 27. 46. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And other Passages of this Psalm the 8th 16th 18th Verses are taken notice of by the Evangelist as fulfilled at that time Matth. 27. 35 43. Now it is certain they could not be fulfilled unless they had been meant in this mysterious Sense of Christ. The latter Part of the 16tâ— Psalm is spoken in David's Person and is without doâ—bt in the first and immediate Sense of it to be understood of him and of his Hopes of rising after Death to an endless Life But it is as clear from Acts 2. 25 c. that it was spoken of Christ the Son of David and who was typified by that holy King and Prophet for St. Peter saith there in his Sermon to the Jews David speaketh concerning him I foresaâ— the Lord always before my Face for he is on my right Hand that I should not be moved Therefore did my Heart rejoice and my Tongue was glad Moreover also my Flesh shall rest in Hope Because thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life c. Which are the four last Verses of that Psalm before-named and you may see in the following Words of this Chapter what the mystical Interpretation of them is according to that Apostle who had the Spirit to direct him to the utmost meaning of those Words Part of the 68th Psalm though it be David's Thanksgiving for the present Mercies he received yet undoubtedly it is a Prophetick Praising of God for the glorious Ascension of
of both in their Stile may be observed in this That the Outward and Inward Man which St. Paul mentions are no strange Language among some of the Classick Authors for you read of Salus interioris hominis in one of Plautus's Comedies where interior homo is the Soul or Life the better part of Man in which sense the Apostle useth it The very Phrase of a perfect Man in Epâ— 4. 13. is made use of by the great Moral Philosopher Epictetus who opposeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Perfect Man i. e. a Man of ripe Years to a Youth a Man of Growth and Maturity in Morals to one that is but a Novice or Beginner in them Only whereas the Philosopher applies it to Morality St. Paul doth it to Christianity The same Apostle calls the Body a Vessel 1 Thess. 4. 4. Let every one know how to possess his Vessel i. e. his Body in Sanctification and Honour And so it is call'd by the great Roman Philosopher and Orator The Body saith he is as 't were the Vessel of the Soul or some such Receptacle of that noble part of Man And Antoninus in a very disparaging manner stiles it the worser sort of Vessel which is an Expression not unlike to that of another Apostle who calls a Woman the weaker Vessel or Instrument for the word signifies both an Utensil very infirm and frail in comparison of the other Sex which is generally strong and robust St. Paul calls his Body a Tabernacle and so doth St. Peter stile his and when St. Iohn applies the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to our Saviour telling us that he came and pitch'd his Tent with us for a time the meaning is that he assumed a Body and dwelt here on Earth in it which is the very Language of the Antient Grecians who call'd the Body of Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Tent a Tabernacle Yea the whole Man is express'd and described by St. Paul in a Tripartite Division after the same manner that he is by the Gentile Philosophers This Apostle represents him as consisting of three main Parts Spirit Soul and Body 1 Thess. 5. 23. which very Distribution is to be found in Antoninus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in another place he divides Man after the same way but in words that approach nearer to those of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and explains it thus to the Body belong the External Senses to the Soul the Affections and Passions to the Mind or Spirit the Judgment and refined Thoughts and Reason And in other Pagan Writings especially those of Plato and his Followers the same Division of Man is observed and is exactly that of St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is All that a Man is And as this and other inspired Writers frequently use the word Flesh to signify the depraved Nature of Man so it hath the same Interpretation in the Incomparable Antoninus where you will find that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the corrupt part of Man the Carnal and Sensual Inclinations that part of the Soul which struggles with Reason and on all occasions makes head against it I could here in several Particulars shew that Porphyrius comes very near to the Holy Stile in many words which he uses And it might be cleared by several Quotations out of Hierocles that he imitates the Phraseology of the Scripture especially of the New Testament Are not the Similitudes especially those that are plain and homely which we meet with in the Bible found in the best Antient Writers The crackling of Thorns under a Pot is made use of by Solomon to set forth a Short and Fading Pleasure tho it be accompanied with some Noise and Stir And the very same is used by Virgil Magno veluti cùm flamina sonore Virgea suggeritur costis undantis aheni Homer the great Soul of Poetry tells us in Commendation of Nestor's Speech that it was sweeter than Honey by which plain wording he sets forth that Old Counsellor's Fluent and Elegant Language his Excellent and Charming Art of delivering his Advice and Counsel Which is the very Similitude that the Psalmist the most Divine Poet makes use of to express the Ravishing Sweetness of God's Law It is saith he sweeter than Honey and the Honey-Comb Psal. 19. 10. and the same he repeats in Psal. 119. 103. His Royal Son makes use of the same homely Comparison Pleasant Words saith he are as a Honey-Comb Prov. 16. 24. And in his Admirable and Transcendent Poem he disdains not this familiar Stile where he brings in the Sacred Bridegroom speaking thus to his Spouse Thy Lips drop as an Honey-Combe Cant. 4. 11. And in this Book of the Canticles it might be particularly made good that the Description of the Beauty of the Bride and the rest of the Amorous Passages and Expressions to set forth the Soft Passion are such as you find in Authors that treat of that Subject as Homer Musaeus Pindar Theocritus Virgil Horace Ovid Ausonius Claudian and others that have spoken of Love and Beauty That plain and Country Simile used by our Blessed Master As a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings is expresly in Euripides one of the delicatest Poets that Greece afforded and who gave the liveliest Characters of Things and in this very manner of speaking he is followed by Seneca the Tragedian Certainly this was a very apposite Similitude the Hen being as the Arabians stile her Mater Congregationis the kind Mother that gathers her young ones together that by her loving Voice expresses her Affection and Care to her tender Brood and invites them to a safe Refuge and Shelter in time of Danger In brief any Man that is conversant in Homer Virgil and other Antient Authors of greatest Note and Repute may observe that the Penmen of the Bible use the same Similitudes which those Writers frequently do they have the same plain trite and vulgar Comparisons which are in them As for the other Passages Phrases and Modes of speaking in the Holy Scripture which resemble those that we find in other Authors they are innumerable Grotius that Unparallell'd Critick in his Annotations on the Bible shews every-where almost the Correspondence of Scripture-Phrase with the Profane Stile he hath by a vast Collection let us see how the Sacred Dialect agrees with the Phrase of the Best Writers Out of all sorts of Authors whatsoever he proves the Scripture-Stile to be Proper and Elegant which no Man before him hath done so well and so largely He compares all along as he goeth the Holy Stile with that of Herodotus Plato Demosihenes Thucydides Xenophon Isocrates Gallen and others who are the best and most elegant Hellenists â—ea he shews that the Wittiest Writers among the Greeks as Sophocles Aristophanes Euripides Lucian have the very same Phrases and Expressions which we read in
calls the Life of Man the Pilgrimage or Sojourning of a Stranger gives it also the Denomination of a Warfare Arrianus very excellently descants on this Aphorism that every Man's Life is a kind of Militia and that we are with all Diligence and Faithfulness to discharge the Office of Souldiers the chief Part of which is to do all that our Commander bids us Another famous Moralist adorns this Subject with noble Reflections upon it Reckon upon this saith he that God is our Commander and Chief Captain that this Life is a Military Expedition that every Man is to be an Armed Souldier c. Seneca hath the same Conceptions of Humane Life and once and again resembles it to the State of War and the Exploits of Martial Men. As soon as we come into the World we open the Campagne and in a short time after we draw into a Line of Battle and we are continually making use of our Ammunition and Artillery till at length Death raises the Camp and discharges us from our Warfare Several Passages might be produced out of other Pagan Writers who frequently fall into this Comparison and use this Excellent Metaphor and very finely illustrate it but what I have said is sufficient to shew what I aim at viz. that there are the same Phrases and Expressions in the Holy Scriptures that there are in other Authors This I will further make good in another Excellent Notion and Maxim viz. that Good and Vertuous Men are Free but that all Vitious Persons are Slaves The Stile of Scripture runs this way not only in the Old Testament where David desires to be upheld by the free Spirit of God i. e. by such a Divine and Generous Principle as would make him act with the greatest Freedom in the ways of Religion and where Sinners and Ungodly Men are stiled Prisoners and Captives once and again as in Zech. 9. 11. Isa. 42. 6 7. ch 49. 8 9. ch 61. 1. Nor is it to be doubted whether these Places speak of such Persons seeing our Saviour himself alledges one of them which is of the same Nature with the rest to this Purpose and tells us it is his Office to proclaim Liberty to these Captives Luke 4. 18. i. e. to offer Pardon to Sinners But in the New Testament also and there chiefly this is the Language of the Holy Ghost the Freedom that accompanies Holiness and the Servitude of Sin are expresly declared in those Words of Christ The Truth shall make you free John 8. 32. Whosoever committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin ver 34. If the Son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed ver 36. The whole sixth Chapter to the Romans treats of this very thing the Service of Sin and the Freedom from it by Christ. The Servants of Sin mentioned here by St. Paul are the same with the Spirits in Prison whom St. Peter speaks of as I have proved in another Place and have shewed the Inconsistency of other Interpretations Whilst Men continue in their Sins and addict themselves to their Vices their Spirits their Souls are deservedly said to be in Prison their Persons are in Custody they live in Durance and Thraldom they are continually in Bonds and Chains they are fetter'd Slaves and Vassals They may perhaps flatter themselves and vaunt of Freedom but they are Prisoners still they promise Liberty but are themselves Servants of Corruption Whereas on the contrary True Religion enstates Men in a real and substantial Freedom Christianity is the perfect Law of Liberty Where the Spirit of the Lord is where Evangelical Sanctity is there is Liberty In short no Man that loves to be vicious and lives in the practice of Sin can be said to be a Free-man for he is wholly at the command of his Lusts There is not a greater Slave in Algiers or Tripoli than such an one This not only the Sacred Scriptures but Heathen Writers inculcate Tully defends that Maxim Quòd omnes sapientes liberi stulti servi and enlarges on it most admirably This Zeno and all the Stoicks maintain'd as we learn from Laertius and Isocrates more than once in his Orations to Demonicus and Nicocles speaks thus So doth Epictetus who expresly asserts that Vice and Immorality are the greatest Drudgery and Slavery So doth Arrianus who tells us that he is a Freeman who lives as he willeth i. e. who makes the Rational Dictates of his Will the Rule of his Life which none but a Good Man doth Horace's admirable Character of a Free-man is worth the consulting Quisnam igitur Liber Sapiens sibique imperiosus Quem neque pauperies neque mors neque vincula terrent Responsare cupidinibus contemnere honores Fortis in seipso totus teres atque rotundus And more he hath to the same purpose which acquaints us what Apprehensions the Moralists had of Freedom Free-men saith Euripides are very rare in the World for there is scarcely a Man to be found who is not a Slave to his Wealth or Fortune or some other thing A Man that extremely loves his Money is a Golden Slave in Socrates's Language That is the worst kind of Servitude saith Boethius when the Souls of Men are given up to Vice and are faln from the possession of their own Reason There is no Man saith Seneca can be said to be Free that is a Slave to his corporeal and sensual Part. You see saith he in another Place what a base and pernicious Slavery that Man hath brought himself into who suffers unlawful Pleasures and Sorrows those unconstant and impotent Mistresses to domineer over him by turns Thus 't is the Stile of the Pagan as well as Inspired Writers that Goodness is the true Freedom and that Vice is real Bondage and Slavery So that Other Notion that Good Men are only Wise and that Sinners are Fools is the Language both of Scripture and Profane Writers Moses assures the Israelites that to keep and do God's Commandments is their Wisdom and Understanding Deut. 4. 6. with which is parallel Iob 28. 28. The Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil is Understanding But on the contrary he that is destitute of the true and saving Knowledg and Fear of God is a Fool in the Stile of Holy Writ The Fool hath said in his Heart There is no God And the following Words acquaint us that this Fool is one of a Vicious and Corrupt Life This their Way is their Folly saith the same Pious King And his Royal Son had learn'd to speak the same Language whence in the Book of Proverbs Wicked Men and Fools are Synonymous they are such Fools as make a mock of Sin So in the New Testament the Man that studied nothing but his Unlawful Gain and Pleasure is pronounc'd a Fool by Him who throughly understood the right Measures of Wisdom and Folly This is
Ornaments of the Soul Nay whatever Apparel is light and vain and any ways administers to Lust or Pride or Wantonness is wholly to be laid aside as sinful and unlawful In the same Chapter of the forenamed Epistle to Timothy you read that Adam was not deceived but the Woman ver 14. We know that Adam was deceived but yet in a Comparative way of speaking he was not that is his Deception was not so gross and inexcusable as that of the Woman It is said of the faithful Patriarchs that they received not the Promise Heb. 11. 39. i. e. in comparison of what we have since received They received it not in the full extent else you cannot make sense of the following words God â—aving provided c. In the foresaid Chapter of St. Peter 't is said Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the Filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God ver 21. This not seems to be Exclusive and Negative and thence some have made use of this Text to null the sacred Ordinance of Baptism which in Contempt they call Water-Baptism But they err not knowing the Scriptures and particularly not attending to the sense of this place where not is no Absolute Negative but a Comparative Not the putting away the Filth of the Flesh i. e. not the Outward Baptism simply and only or not that in Comparison of the other viz. the Inward washing and purifying by the Spirit And many other places it is impossible to understand aright unless you make use of this Observation which I have here exemplified namely that a Comparison is commonly in Scripture express'd by an Antithesis or which is all one that a Negative is put for a Comparative In the next place I might observe to you that an Hendyadis is very usual in Scripture that is two things are put severally to signify but one as Let the Lights be in the Firmament for Signs and for Seasons Gen. 1. 14. i. e. as some Expositors think tho I am not satisfied about it Let them be for Signs of the Seasons And they who read Psal. 17. 13 14. thus Deliver my Soul from the Wicked by thy Sword from Men by thy Hand tell us here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sword and the Hand for a Sword handled or drawn as if the Psalmist called upon God here to be his Champion and to deliver him by fighting for him That in Mat. 3. 11. is of the nature of an Hendyadis for â—aptizing with the Holy Ghost and with Fire is the same with baptizing with the Holy Ghost who is as Fire and so here One thing is express'd as if it were Two Some think there is the same Figure in Iohn 3. 5. Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Water and the Spirit i. e. say they the Spirit that is like Water cleansing and purifying the Soul But I conceive it may be doubted whether this and the former way of speaking be the same for if Water in this place signifies Baptâ—sm as the Antients interpreted it then 't is not the same thing with the Spirit but distinct from it and consequently here are not two things put for one But doubtless there are in Mat. 24. 31. He shall send his Angels with a Trumpet and a great Sound i. e. with a Trumpet that hath a great Sound that makes a great Noise or as our Translators render it with a great Sound of a Trumpet To this way of speaking may be referr'd Iohn 11. 33. He groan'd in the Spirit and was troubled i. e. he groan'd in his troubled Spirit And of this kind is Acts 14. 13. The Priest of Jupiter brought Oxen and Garlands i. e. Oxen crown'd with Garlands as was usual when they sacrificed to Iupiter One thing is here intended tho 't is express'd by two To this Figure appertains Acts 15. 28. It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us that is to us directed moved and guided by the Holy Ghost I doubt not but an Hendyadis gives the best account of 1 Cor. 2. 4. My preaching was in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power i. e. of the Spirit who was Powerful and enabled me in an extraordinary manner to demonstrate the Truth of the Gospel and to convince Gainsayers and who also enabled me to work Miracles for the confirming of what I preached This is the same with Rom. 15. 19. the Power of the Spirit of God by which as he there tells us mighty Signs and Wonders were effected The like mode of Speech is observable in the Apostle's words in 1 Thess. 1. 5. Our Gospel came unto you in Power and in the Holy Ghost i. e. the Holy Ghost shew'd himself Powerful in the Apostles Preaching and Miracles Lastly under this Head may be rank'd Col. 2. 8. Philosophy and vain Deceit that is Philosophy which is both vain and deceitful To proceed a Prolepsis is another usual Figure in Scripture especially in the Old Testament Such is that in Gen. 4. 16. Cain went and dwelt in the Land of Nod where it seems to be implied that Nod was the Name of that place which he went to and that it was named so before he went to it whereas it is most probable that that Place was not call'd by that Name at that time for it had its Name of Nod given to it from Cain's going thither who was a Vagabond So there is a plain Prolepsis or Anticipation in Gen. 14. 7. They smote all the Country of the Amalekites tho at that time there were no Amalekites and therefore the Country could not be named from them In 1 Sam. 4. 1. it is said Israel pitched beside Eben-ezer but there was no place of that Name then for you will find it given afterwards Those words in Gen. 29. 20. Iacob served seven Years for Rachel are spoken Proleptically not as if he did not marry Rachel before the seven Years were expired We read in Gen. 35. 19. and ch 48. v. 7. that Rachel was buried in Bethlchem but it is well known that that was not the Name of the Place till after Moses So Hebron and some other Names of Cities are mention'd in the Pentateuch and yet the Names were not given till after Moses's Death In Ios. 4. 19. the Israelites are said to encamp in Gilgal but that place is called so by Anticipation for it had that Name afterwards ch 5. v. 9. And other Instances there are of this nature in the Book of Ioshuah the Names of several places mentioned in it are of a later Date than Ioshuah's time The Jews conjecture is very probable that Ezra after the Captivity when he collected the several parts of the Bible and set them in order left out some of the antient Names of Places and inserted some modern ones that is he added the Names of Places which were unknown and not used in the days of
Mercy and Goodness of God a firm and unshaken Dependance on the Merits of our Redeemer and Saviour This is that Hardned Shield wherewith we keep off and beat back all the furious Insults of the Evil Spirit that Implacable Enemy whom we are to encounter with in our Spiritual Warfare His Temptations are here call'd Darts with allusion still to the antiet way of â—ighting which was with Darts and Arrows And they are call'd fiery Darts with reference perhaps to the Heat which those Weapons acquired by their swift flying or they may be said to be fiery because they are sent in an Hostile manner the word being as 't were appropriated to Fighting as among the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both fax or taeda and pugna and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both ardens and pugnax and among the Latins ardere is particularly applied to War and Battel as in Virgil Ardet in arma magis Instant ardentes Tyrii And besides these Darts these Suggestions when they are very fierce and raging do as 't were inflame the Heart and Conscience they set the distracted Soul on fire But by Faith the Christian Soldier is able to quench them as the Apostle excellently phraseth it by a vigorous exerting of this Grace he defeats the malicious Attempts of Satan he stifles all his hellish Darts alluding to the known use of the Shield which was to repel the Arrows shot by the Enemy And these were sometimes Poisoned and thereby became hot and inflaming to which some have thought the Apostle here might have glanced when he speaks of fiery Darts This is certain that a Shield is for Defence and such is our Faith whereby we defend our selves from the inslamed Darts of the Wicked which he flings at us with the utmost Indignation and Fury We quench we extinguish we utterly frustrate all his Assaults by a firm Trust and Reliance on our Blessed Jesus who baffled him himself and will effectually teach us by the guidance of his Spirit to do the like This is our Victory that overcometh the Devil as well as the World even our Faith 5. We are to take the Helmet of Salvation i. e. as St. Paul himself explains it the Hope of Salvation the certain Expectation of the Everlasting Reward in another World which is brought to light by the Gospel of Christ Jesus The Christian Souldier is unspeakably animated by this he hath the Triumph in his Eye this makes him sight with undaunted Valour and Resolution He is safe whilst he is cover'd with this Helmet nothing can hurt him whiles he is inspired with this Victorious Hope Having this Armour of Defence he deâ—ies his insulting Adversaries he fears not their Blows he shrinks not at the Batteries of his fiercest Enemies This also seems to be borrow'd from Isai. 59. 17. He put on an Helmet of Salvation on his Head 6. The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God is another part of the Christian Panoply which every Spiritual Souldier ought to be appointed with This is the two-edged Sword spoken of in Heb. 4. 12. and Rev. 1. 16. This our great Captain dexterously made use of when the Infernal Spirit assaulted him Mat. 4. 4 7 10. And the same Weapon was brandish'd and managed by the whole Army of Martyrs and Confessors by all the Servants of Christ in the several Ages of the Church By this they have done great Execution and put their Spiritual Enemies to flight They have in their most pressing Straits repair'd to the Holy Scriptures and thence furnish'd themselves with those Divine Consolations and applied those Sacred Promises whereby they soon vanquish'd their Ghostly Assailants And this is that Weapon which we must all of us in our Holy War learn to wield but let us be careful to make use of it faithfully and sincerely remembring that the first Piece of Armour and This last must be joined together for the Warlike Girdle or Belt is in order to wearing the Sword which is to hang at it The last Weapon the Apostle mentions is Prayer Praying always with all Prayer c. We must fight on our Knees we must constantly invoke the Divine Aid and with importunate Cries solicite the Eternal Father that he would teach our Hands to War and our Fingers to Fight These are the Spiritual Weapons which are called here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The whole Armour because 't is fitted for every part of the Christian Combatant He is here armed at all Points he is provided with Military Accoutrements for all Assaults And you may observe that the Spiritual Armour answers to the Bodily one that is it is both Defensive and Offensive Our Weapons are both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as defend and preserve our selves and also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such whereby we beat off the Enemy both which are express'd in those two Military words Standing and Withstanding ver 13. The first sort are the Girdle of Truth the Breast-plate of Righteousness the Shoe of the Preparation of the Gospel the Shield of Faith and the Helmet of Salvation of the Second sort are the Sword of the Spirit and Prayer which two likewise are both for Defence and Offence not only to guard our selves but to oppose our Enemies This is the Panoply of the Gospel the whole Armour of God which the Apostle here commends and which I have briefly descanted upon in prosecution of what I propounded viz. to give you some account of the Metaphorical Terms in Scripture In other places the Olympick Games and Prizes administer to the Apostle very Religious and Devout Metaphors those Grecian Combates being made use of by him to set forth the Laborious Life and Undertakings of a Christian. I will in farther pursuit of this part of my Discourse concerning the Stile of Scripture let you see what Excellent and Divine things are comprized under those Agonistick Phrases We must know then that the Olympick Games were of very great Antiquity being instituted as it is said by Hercules and restored by Iphitus who at the same time began the Accompt of the Olympiads that famous Epoche of the Greeks which commenced A. M. 3173. in the time of Vzziah King of Iudah They had their Name from Olympia a City of Achaia near to Elis on the Plains whereof these Exercises were celebrated and they were in honour of Iupiter Olympius And there were Sports of the like Nature in other parts of Greece as those that were call'd the Isthmian because they were begun in the Corinthian Isthmus and as the Olympick Plays were dedicated to Iupiter so these were in honour of Melicerta others say of Palaemon The like Exercises in other adjacent Towns of Greece were call'd Pythian in memory of Apollo Pythius and others Nemaean call'd so from the Nemaâ—an Wood near which they were and these were in honour of Archemorus the Son of Lycurgus But all these were in imitation of the Olympick as being the Antientest
Hunter before the Lord where saith One the Name of the Lord is added to heighten the sense as is frequent in the Hebrew Stile But two things I here urge to enervate this Interpretation First It is not the bare Name of God or Lord that is here added as in other Texts The exact rendring of Lipni Iehovah which are the words here is ad facies ad conspectum Domini and is well translated before the Lord which signifies the bold and impudent Usurpation and Tyranny of this first Monarch This hardned Oppressor had no regard either to God or Man yea he committed his Violences and Ravages in defiance of the Great Lord and Soveraign of the World this is to be a Hunter a Persecutor a Tyrant before the Lord and so you see it is not that Hebraism we are now to treat of Secondly There was no need of that way of Speech here for the Greatning and Heightning of the sense were before express'd by the term Gibbor mighty wherefore there was no occasion to add the Name of God as a mark of Intension If you observe the Instances which I shall afterward produce you will find that God's Name is used when there was no word to express Greatness or Eminency in the preceding words For these Reasons I expunge this first Text out of the Number of the Instances which ought to be mention'd here And after the same rate I must deal with that other Prov. 20. 27. The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord where the last word is asserted by a late Learned Critick to be added in which he follows Drusius in his Hebrew Proverbs as an Auxesis that is only to augment the sense and therefore he saith the Candle of the Lord is no more than a most Excellent Candle or Light But if we consider the words aright we shall not find such an Hebraism in them The Text is easie and plain without any thing of this Nature for the Wise Man here acquaints us that the Spirit of Man his Nobler and Divine part the Intellect especially that Bright and Glorious Faculty was given to him by God on purpose to be a Light and Guide to him to make him capable of enquiring into and attaining a knowledge of the Profoundest Truths the most remote and recondite Mysteries either in Nature or Religion that is meant here by searching all the inward Parts of the Belly Thus the Sagacious Mind of Man is the Candle or Lamp of the Lord the word Lord here signifying to us the Author and Giver of this Noble Faculty And therefore I something wonder at what this Learned Writer adds in the same place viz. That our English Translation the Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord is an odd Expression and somewhat difficult surely to make a good sense of whereas the same Expression is used in the Scripture in other places and bears a very good sense as you have heard Some have thought that Musical Instruments of God 1 Chron. 16. 42. and Instruments of Musick of the Lord 2 Chron. 7. 6. denote the Loudness or Excellency of the Temple-Musick but this Fancy arose from their not attending to the true Reason which is given in the latter of these places where after Instruments of Musick of the Lord is immediately added which David the King had made to Praise the Lord therefore they were so call'd Nor can I be perswaded that a Man of God which we often read of imports only an Excellent Man as some have suggested but it speaks his more particular and peculiar Relation to God as a Prophet I come now to offer some Examples where the Hebrew way of Speaking by mentioning God to signify the Greatness or Excellency of a thing is very apparent and unquestionable as Gen. 30. 8. Wrestlings of God according to the Hebrew i. e. great strong and vehement Wrestlings 1 Sam. 14. 15. a Trembling of God which we rightly translate a very great Trembling 1 Sam. 10. 5. the Hill of God Psal. 36. 6. the Mountains of God i. e. the great Hills and Mountains Cedars of God Psal. 80. 10. rendred goodly the Trees of the Lord Psal. 104. 16. i. e. exceeding great or high Trees To which Texts that are generally acknowledg'd to bear this sense I will presume to add another viz. Psal. 65. 9. the River of God i. e. a Vast Great River And what is that The Clouds or Rain which are poured down upon the Earth in great abundance For if you read that part of the Psalm you 'll see it speaks of the great Blessing of Rain Thou visitest the Earth and waterest it thou greatly enrichest it with the River of God c. to the end of the Psalm This Vast Mass of Waters is according to the Hebrews stiled a River of God it is as 't were a Great Excellent River flowing down from Heaven Though I do not exclude the other sense contain'd in it that 't is from God and that 't is a singular Argument and Token of God's Care and Providence Cant. 8. 6. is a place little taken notice of the Flame of the Lord i. e. as we truly translate it a most Vehement Flame So the Voice of God Ezek. 1. 24. 10. 5. that is a very loud and terrible Voice The Breath of God Job 37. 10. i. e. a Vehement sharp Wind. And it is not unlikely that Isa. 59. 19. is to be understood thus Ruach Iehovah not as we translate it the Spirit of the Lord but the Wind of the Lord i. e. a great tempestuous Wind. I gather this to be the meaning from what went before when the Enemy shall come in like a Floud then saith the Prophet the Almighty Power of God like some Great and Vehement Wind shall drive it back shall put it to flight as we see great Waters and Floods are oftentimes beat back as well as violently thrust forward by mighty Winds Another place which hath not been observed is Iob 15. 11. Are the Consolations of God small with thee which are Eliphaz's words wherewith he reproves Iob for undervaluing the Consolatory Arguments which had been offer'd to him by himself and his other Friends and these Topicks of Comfort were not mean and ordinary but of a very peculiar Nature Iob's Fault is aggravated from this that he despised and slighted so Great Comforts when they were tender'd to him and Great they were as you read in the 9th and 10th Verses because they were offer'd by Persons of great Vnderstanding Age and Experience And the Antithesis which is here doth shew this to be the sense of the place Are these Great Consolations saith he Small with thee Dost thou look for Greater and Stronger Arguments to support and cheer thee than these are I am of opinion therefore that Tanchumoth El the Consolations of God are the same with Great Consolations Jon. 3. 3. is a known Text where it is said Nineâ—eh was an Exceeding great City Hebr.
Grammar and no Shadow of Soloecising when this Divine Writer saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One of our own Annotators hath pick'd up this false Notion concerning the Stile of Scripture viz. that it is not reconcileable with Grammatical Syntax in some Places two especially he takes notice of Eph. 4. 2. Col. 3. 16. In the former he observes that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek whereas it should have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Nominative being put instead of the Accusative But by this Worthy Annotator's leave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may yea and certainly doth refer to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the former Verse and so it is but inserting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then the Grammar is salved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I beseech you that you forbear one another And if you say it should have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the former Verse it is easily answered that the Apostle might express himself in the way of a Subjunctive as well as an Infinitive seeing it could be done by either of them as this Learned Critick cannot but acknowledg In the latter Place alledged by this Learned Man he takes notice that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is misplaced instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Nominative for a Dative Case which is a great Flaw in Grammar But this is soon taken off by referring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that Verse as the Doctor doth but to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Verse just before for to these it hath reference and not to that and so the Grammatical Concord is very â—ood and sound In several other Places where there have been the like Objections made you will find the Sense rendred intire by the industrious Pen of that Learned Knight Sir Norton Knatchbull Though to speak freely and impartially he sometimes represents the Stile of the New Testament more perplex'd and disturb'd that I can believe it to be and though he fancies Trajections in some Places where there are none yet to the perpetual Honour of this Worthy Gentleman it must be said that he hath discovered several Trajections or Transpositions Parentheses Transitions Ellipses and Changes of Numbers and Persons with other Enallages which were scarcely taken notice of before he hath rectified some Comma's and Stops he hath set the Words and Periods right he hath cleared the Syntax and Grammatical Construction mended the Sense in several Places removed the Difficulties shew'd the Propriety and Emphasis of the Words discovered the Coherence of the Texts In short he hath cleared the New Testament of Soloecisms and particularly the Writings of the Great Apostle St. Paul So that though Tarsus the Apostle's Birth-place was in the same Province with and a Neighbour to Solae the Country of those that corrupted their Language whence came Soloecisms yet it appears that there is no such thing in the Apostle's Stile But suppose these Texts above named could not have been reconciled to the exact Laws of Grammar yet one would think the Transcribers might better have been blamed than the Writers themselves the Greek Copy should have been found fault with rather than the Holy Ghost the Mistake might have been imputed to the Amanuenses and not to the Apostles I must profess to you plainly that it is bordering upon Blasphemy to say that the Holy Spirit from whom was the Gift of Tongues dictate Barbarisms and Soloecisms in these Sacred Writings which were immediately inspired by him Again suppose or rather grant that some Periods of the New Testament are not exactly adjusted to Grammar-Rules yet this will not justify the Language of those Men who charge this Book with Soloecisms and Barbarisms for they will be unwilling to grant that there are such things as these in Homer and Virgil and such approved Authors Or if they will grant that there are such then they have no Reason at all to find fault with the like in Holy Scripture And this is that which I maintain and which no knowing Person can deny that the same things which some call Soloecisms and Undue Syntax in the New Testament are to be found in the most Noted and Celebrated Authors among the Greeks and Latins Criticks have taken notice of several of these in Homer and Pindar especially among the Greek Poets and in Herodotus and Thucydides among the best Historians that have writ in that Language and in Demosthenes among the Noted Orators These do not always observe Grammatick Laws they lay them aside sometimes and speak Irregularly as one of the Greatest Criticks of this last Age hath acknowledged Profane Writers have Soloecistical Phrases Botches Fillings up Repetitions Lucian long since observed that Epithets are not always used by Poets because they are fit and convenient and sutable to the purpose but to help out the Matter to fill up the Gapings to prop up the Ruines of a Verse And both Plutarch and Eustathius who were morâ— serious Men than the other have taken notice of this in Good Authors Sometimes the Poet is at a stand and his Muse is restive thus Virgil hath Broken and Half-verses which the Criticks excuse by saying that he had not time to finish his Book or that he did it on purpose to stop his Readers in the Career that they might stay and consider the thing he is speaking of This Account they give of his Blanks and Chasms But Homer suffers not his Muse to make a halt but then which is as bad he fills up his Verses with such Expletives as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and besides these lesser Particles he useth entire Words and Phrases in many Places only to supply his Verse We have nothing of this sort in the Sacred Writings nothing that is really superfluous But there are some Words indeed that are look'd upon as Redundant and not absolutely Necessary especially in the Old Testament which is Poâ—tical in many places The Lord rained Brimstone and Fire from the Lord Gen. 19. 24. where the last Words from the Lord seem to be redundant So it is in 2 Tim. 1. 18. The Lord grant unto him that be may find Mercy of the Lord in that Day Thus in Psal. 90. 10. The Days of our Years are threescore Years and ten We may look upon the first Word as an Expletive for the Divine Poet means this only that the ordinary Term of our Life extends to seventy Years So that the word Days might have been left out The same Pleonasm you read in 2 Sam. 19. 34. How many Days are the Years of my Life for so it is according to the Hebrew and it is the Hebrew way of speaking and therefore cannot be blamed Yea to speak strictly there is nothing redundant in the Stile of Scripture All those Words which seem to be Expletives are Significant and
in the next Clause by the Inspiration of the Almighty So David in Spirit Mat. 22. 43. is David Inspired I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh Acts 2. 17. taken from Ioel 2. 28. i. e. I will bestow the Gift of Prophecy and Revealing of Mysteries upon them for of This it is principally understood as you may learn from the following words Your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesy and ver 18. On my Servants and on my Hand-maids I will pour out of my Spirit and they shall prophesy So in Rev. 1. 10. I was in the Spirit is as much as if he had said I had great Revelations imparted to me Thirdly The Dispensation and Preaching of the Gospel especially as it is opposed to the Law and as it contains the more hidden Mysteries of Christianity in it is stiled the Spirit Thus the Evangelical Preachers are call'd Ministers not of the Letter but Spirit 2 Cor. 3 6. i. e. not of the Law but of the Gospel not of mere Externals of Religion but of the Inward and Hidden Secrets of it Fourthly The Spiritual meaning of what Christ speaketh is call'd by this Name as in Iohn 6. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing the Words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life As if he had said you must not understand me in a gross and carnal sense when I tell you that you must eat my Flesh and drink my Blood ver 53 54. My meaning is not that you should turn Canibals and feed upon Man's Flesh. No this Eating and Drinking which I have spoken of to you are to be interpreted in a Spiritual Sense and in no other My Words have an Abstruse and Mystical meaning I am Spiritually to be Eaten and Drunk that is by a Lively Faith only It is the Spirit that quickeneth that enliveneth that which is comprehended in the Spiritual import of my Words is the thing that is most Active and Powerful in Religion and in the Lives of Men. Fifthly By Spirit is meant the Person that is Inspired 1 Iohn 4. 2. Every Spirit that confesseth that Iesus is come in the Flesh is of God Nay Sixthly He that pretends to the Spirit but really is not inspired by the Holy Ghost is thus called as in the next Verse Every Spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the Flesh is not of God and in the first Verse of that Chapter Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits i. e. Teachers that pretend to the Spirit and Inspiration who are call'd False Prophets in the same place and Seducing Spirits 1 Tim. 4. 1. Therefore discerning of Spirits 1 Cor. 12. 10. was that Gift in the Church whereby they knew who were truly Inspired and who not who were True and who False Prophets And as the Persons pretending to immediate Discoveries from the Spirit are thus stiled so the â—eigned Discoveries or Revelations themselves which they boast of are called Spirit 2 Thess. 2. 2. Seventhly The word Spirit in Scripture is meant of the Soul of Man and its different Functions Operations Dispositions Inclinations and in short the whole Frame and State of it 1. I say that Distinct Part of Man which is call'd his Soul hath the Denomination of Spirit and that very justly because it is a Spiritual or Immaterial Being Into thy Hands I commit my Spirit saith the Psalmist Psal. 31. 5. i. e. I trust thee with my Soul It is call'd the Spirit of a Man Prov. 18. 14. ch 20. 27. Eccles. 3. 21. This is the Spirit that shall return to God Eccles. 12. 7. Wherefore this was the Language of our dying Saviour Into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Luke 23. 46. and of that expiring Martyr Acts 7. 59. Lord Iesus receive my Spirit The Souls of the Saints are stiled the Spirits of just Men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. and those of the Wicked the Spirits in Prison 1 Pet. 3. 19. And hither is to be referr'd that of St. Iames ch 2. 26. the Body without the Spirit i. e. without the Soul is dead 2. The Vital Principle which is the immediate Operation of the Soul is termed the Spirit the Spirit of Life Gen. 7. 22. especially the more Active and Vigorous Operation of the Soul and Body is so called Iosh. 5. 1. Nor was there Spirit in them Whence you read of the reviving and coming again of the Spirit Gen. 45. 27. Judg. 15. 19. and of the Spirits being refreshed 2 Cor. 7. 13. and giving Spirit i. e. Life to the Image of the Beast Rev. 13. 15. 3. The Vnderstanding is often call'd the Spirit and the Spirit of the Mind and when you read of Soul and Spirit this latter generally denoteth the Intellectual and Rational Part of Man and the more exalted and refined Operations of it as it respects Religion Luke 1. 47. 1 Thess. 5. 23. Heb. 4. 12. 4. That Function of the Rational Soul which is called Conscience hath this Name A wounded Spirit who can bear Prov. 18. 14. The Spirit i. e. the Third Person in the Sacred Trinity beareth witness with our Spirit that is with our Consciences Rom. 8. 16. 5. The Will and Affections are commonly set forth by this Expression Thus you read of ruling the Spirit Prov. 16. 32. that is subduing and well-ordering Those Faculties of the Mind especially You read of a New Spirit Ezek. 11. 19. ch 18. 31. of a contrite and broken Spirit Psal. 34. 18. Psal. 51. 17. a right Spirit Psal. 51. 10. which are principally meant of the Will the Passions and Desires of the Soul And another Spirit Numb 14. 24. may be understood in this Sense as well as in that above-mention'd In the New Testament our Saviour pronounceth those Blessed that are poor in Spirit Matth. 5. 3. He tells us that we must worship the Father in Spirit John 4. 23. St. Paul professeth that he served God with his Spirit Rom. 1. 9. and exhorts us all to be servent in Spirit Rom. 12. 11. In all which Places the word Spirit signifies either the Will or the Hearty Affections of the Soul or both of them 6. In a more general way it signifies the Nature and Temper of a Man Ye know not of what Spirit ye are Luke 9. 55. And this Large and General Acception of the Word is very usual in the Holy Stile 7. More particularly and especially it denotes an Effectual and Operative Inclination Power and Ability to some particular Good or Evil Whence you read of the Spirit of Knowledg Vnderstanding Wisdom of Meekness of Fear and on the contrary of the Spirit of Slumber of Whoredoms of Antichrist and of a perverse Spirit 8. The Rational and Regenerate Part of Man is emphatically stiled the Spirit and is opposed to the Flesh which is the Sensual and Unregenerate Part of Man The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak Matth. 26.
Men of the greatest Learning Wit and Judgment A Scheme of the following Discourse briefly propounded The Holy Scriptures are the perfect Rule of Faith They are the best Conduct of our Lives and Actions They are the only Ground of solid Consolation Joy and Happiness This Perfection of Scripture is opposed by many of the Rabbins An Account of their Cabala and Oral Law The Papists by preferring their Traditions before the Scriptures and by indeavouring to keep these latter in an unknown Tongue deny the Perfection of them So do Familists Quakers and all Enthusiasts IT may be observed that the Minds of Men have been differently disposed as to the choice of the Authors they would read and their Esteem and Value of them have been as various It hath been usual for Persons to express a particular Kindness for one Writer above another Thus Homer of old was excessively magnified by those famous Warriors Agesilaus and Alexander the Great The former read him continually at home and in the Camp and whenever he had any time to spare for Reading The latter could not sleep without his Iliads under his Pillow Scipio â—irnamed the African had a great Opinion of Xenophon's Institution of Cyrus and was always consulting it and valued it at a high rate So among Christians St. Cyprian was a great Admirer of Tertullian and when he had a mind to read him his usual Saying was Give me my Master Charles the Great was hugely taken with St. Augustine de Civitate Dei and had it constantly read to him yea even at Supper King Alphonsus in all his Expeditions and at all other times carried Iulius Caesar's Commentaries others say Livy's History with him Theodore Gaza gave his Vote for Plutarch's Works and was so pleased with them that he protested if he could have but one Man's Writings he would certainly choose His before all others Thomas Aquinas was no less in love with St. Chrysostom on St. Matthew and expressed his high Esteem of him by saying he preferr'd him before the goodly City of Paris Charles the V th gave a greater Deference to Comines than to any other Writer and perpetually conversed with him Scaliger would rather be the Author of the ninth Ode of Horace than be Emperor of Germany And to come down yet lower Grotius gives Cujacius the Prefâ—rence to all the other Commâ—ntators on the Imperial Laws Salmasius admired no Divine so much as Calvin and particularly preferred his Institutions And the Reverend Mr. B. Oley tells us if he were to be conâ—ined to one Author he would choose Dr. Iackson's Works Thus have Mens Sentiments and Esteems been various about Books â—ome preferring one Writer and some another according as their Genius or Studies led them â—ut when we mention the Bible i. e. the Book of Books we are certain there is no Comparison between This and any others whatsoever This Sacred Volume is emphatically and by way of Eminence call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if other Books in respect of This deserv'd not the Name For in what other Writings can we deâ—cry thoâ—e Excellencies which we find in This None of them can equal it in Antiquity for the first Penman of the Sacred Scripture who relates the Origine of the World and whose Writings contain the Acts and Monuments of the Patriarchs hath the start of all Philosophers Poets and Historians and is abâ—olutely the Antientest Writer extant in the World No Writings are equal to these of the Bible if we mention only the stock of Humane Learning contain'd in them Here Linguists and Philologists may find that which is to be found no where else Here Râ—etoricians and Orators may be entertained with a more loâ—ty Eloquence with a choicer Composure of Words and with greater Variety of Stile than any other Writers can afford them Here is a Book where more is understood than expressed where Words are few but the Sense is full and redundant No Books equal This in Authority because 〈◊〉 is the Word of God himself and dictated by an unerring Spirit It excâ—ls all other Writings in the Excellency of its Matter which is the Highest Noblest and Worthiest and of the Greatest Concern to Mankind Lastly to name no more at present that I may not anticipate what is intended in the following Discourse the Scriptures transcend all other Writings in their Power and Efficacy This Word of God is pure enlightning the Eyes irradiating Mens Minds with Supernatural Truth affecting their Hearts and Consciences subduing the Refracotriness of their Wills transforming their Lives and changing them into other Persons Thence it is that all Men of well-disposed Souls find a plain Differene between their reading This and other Books When they read those it is true they are something affected and pleased the Stile or the Matter give them some Satisfaction but if they read them often and confine themselves to them their former Pleasure and Satisfaction abate and the Authors seem not to be so entertaining and acceptable as they were before and at length they become burdensom and nauseous and hence it is that some Writers grow out of fashion and other New ones are called for But it is far otherwise with this Holy Book the Affection and Pleasure which you feel in the reading it are lasting and durable because this Blessed Word sinks down into the Center of the Soul and is always present with it Though you lay this Book aside and afterwards take it up and do so again and again yea never so often you will not â—ind it grow worse but much better i. e. it will yield you greater Delight and Satisfaction and the oftner you converse with it the more you will discern the Worth of it yea the more pleasing will the very Words and Syllables of these Divine Writings be to you For what the Great Critick observes of Homer's Poem that there is a certain kind of Peculiar Easiness and Sliding in his Verse which are not to be found in any other Poets is eminently true of the Holy Scriptures if compared with other Authors there is a peculiar Sweetness a matchless Softness and Pleasantness in the Stile of these Holy Books the Words as well as the Matter are Winning and Ravishing and all pure and sanctified Minds have a clear Perception of this yea the clearer because they so frequently converse with these Inspired Writers We may then on this Account as well as on others challenge the World to shew us where there is any Book like this where there is any Author comparable to it In all Humane Writers there is something wanting something imperfect but in this Sacred Volume there are all things and every thing here is compleat To the Holy Scriptures therefore all other Writings must vail to this Best of Books they must all submit and acknowledg their Meanness and Inferiority Hence it was that the Wisest and Best Men as we may observe did always extol the Scriptures I adore the Plenitude
Cyrus Curtius's Alexander Plinty's Trajan are rather Ingenious Portraictures and Images of Worthy Princes than Real Characters of them They represent rather what they should be than what they are They imitate some Limners who study not to draw the Face exactly like that of the Person they are to pourtray so they make it Fair they think it is enough But the Sacred Writers have not done so they have no ways flattered or misrepresented the Originals they drew They have set them before us in their proper Features native Lineaments and genuine Colours What we read of the Worthies mention'd in the Bible is Certainly True and Real Matter of Fact Such was their Incomparable Spirit that they did braver and greater Actions than Others ever thought of witness the matchless Valour Fortitude and Conduct of Ioshua Iephthah Gideon yea of those Masculine Women Deborah and Iael witness all the Other Eminent Instances of Heroick Undertakings in the Sacred Records witness those Exact Paterns those Accurate Examples of the rest of the Vertues which we read of these And to illustrate and set off these there are added very Signal and Memorable Examples of all sorts of Vices as of Cain's Persidious Murdering his Brother Laban's Fraud and Ingratitude Esau's unruly Appetite Reuben and Iudah's Incest Pharaoh's impious Obstinacy Abimelech's unnatural Cruelty to his Brethren Dinah's wanton gadding Amnon's Rape Achitophel's evil Policy Shimei's Railing Haman's revengeful Pride Rabshakeh's Blasphemy Belshazzar's sacrilegious Debauchery Potiphar's Wife is an Example of the Impudence and Outragiousness of Lust when it is repulsed Eli is an Instance of Fond Indulgence to his Children Absalom Achitophel Sheba and Zimri of Treason and Rebellion Samson and Solomon of an Vndue Love of Women And in the New Testament the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees the Treachery of Iudas the Timorous Compliance of Pilate the Malice of the Jews against our Saviour the Apostacy of Demas the Ambition of Diotrephes are notorious And innumerable other Examples there are of all manner of Immorality and Wickedness And with these are mixed the most Signal Instances of the Punishment of Vice and the Reward of Vertue Here are abundant Proofs of God's Extreme Severity and Vengeance against profligate Offenders and here are as frequent Tokens and Assurances of the Divine Love and Kindness towards those that lead a holy and religious Life Here are set before us the most Conspicuous Acts of God's Providence in reference both to Bad Men and Good that by the former we may be discouraged yea deterred from continuing in the ways of Vice and that by the latter we may be incouraged yea as 't were bribed to be Vertuous and Good Here we may observe and admire God's Wonderful Care of his Servants in all Ages of the World and here we may take notice of the Variety of those Evils and Miseries which he inflicteth on those who wilfully decline his Service and give themselves up to their Lusts. There are no where such Eminent Examples of this Nature to be found as these which we meet with in the Sacred Volume of the Bible No other Writings can produce such Remarkable Discoveries of God's Will towards Men and of his Dealings with them Wherefore These must needs be the Best Conduct of our Lives and Actions the Best Reformers of our Ways and Manners Which is the Meaning of the Psalmist in Psaâ— 1 19. 9. Wherewith shall a young Man cleanse his way By taking heed thereto according to thy Word i. e. by making the Holy Scripture his Rule and by adjusting all his Actions to it If the Youthful and Passionate Sinner may be reclaimed and reformed by attending to God's Word and that only the Pentateuch or the Laws of Moses for this was all the Inspired Scripture extant at that time which we certainly know of then we cannot despair of the Success and happy Influence of the whole Body of the Scriptures upon Others It will throughly change and amend their Lives by making a full Discovery to them of all their Lusts and evil Affections by representing Sin to them in its own native Desormity and by setting before them the Beauties and Excellencies of a Religious Life by being a Faithful Monitor and Guide to them whenever they undertake any thing by shewing them the true Boundaries of Good and Evil and by directing them how to accomplish the one and to avoid the other The Sum of all is that these Inspired Writings acquaint us with the Whole Will of God whether it refers to our Belief or to our Practice and consequently that not only our Faith but our Manners are to be regulated by this Holy Book Especially by the Principles and Laws of the New Testament they will more conspicuously be exalted and all Righteousness and Godliness more visibly promoted in our Lives For here is the most Perfect and Consummate Exemplar of Holiness in the Evangelical Writings the Blessed Iesus still speaks and lives In these you may hear what he said and see what he did and know how you are to conform your Lives according to His. Whence you have Reason to infer that as these Writings are the Compleat Canon of our Faith so they are the Adequate Rule of our Actions Nay although we should suppose some Mistakes in them by the Fault of Transcribers which yet no Man can certainly prove nay it is not by any means to be allowed and therefore it is the most culpable thing in Sir N. Knatchbull that he is several times finding Faults in the Transcribers of the New Testament which if we once grant we bid farewel to the Certainty of Scripture But if we should I say suppose some Slips in the Copying out of the Books yet still they retain the same Character because those supposed Mistakes are not of Moment and belong not to Faith or Manners Neither do the Obscurity or Difficulty of Scripture hinder it from being our Rule because all the Matters in it which relate to our Salvation are clear and easy For when I say it is an Adequate Rule of Faith and Manners the Meaning is that it is so as to such Matters of Faith and Manners as are Necessary to be believed and practised by us Now nothing is Necessary but what is absolutely requisite to our Salvation This then is the thing which we maintain that the Scriptures contain in them either in express Terms or by just Consequence all things to be asserted and done by us in order to our being Saved The Reason of which is evident namely because the End for which the Scriptures were written was this to direct us how to be Saved This is the grand Design of it and therefore there must be in it all things that are requisite to this great End and Design Which is expressed thus in the Words of Our Church Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that
the Favour of God to us to prepare us for Heaven and to increase the Happiness of it Thus the Scriptures reconcile our Minds to those Disappointments Dangers and Calamities which are our Allotment in this World thus they allay the evil Spirit of Discontent they effectually cast out and vanquish those Legions of Impatient and Tumultuous Thoughts which are the frequent Attendants of Adversity They assure us that these Afflictive Dealings of Heaven towards us are intended for our real Advantage that they are the greatest Kindness and Favour that can be shew'd us that they are undeniable Tokens of Divine Love and in brief that Good Men are happier in their worst Circumstances than others are or can be in their greatest worldly Felicities Upon these rational Grounds the Holy Scriptures become the most effectual Anodynes to take away or at least to mitigate all our Pains and Sorrows They successfully remove all those Murmurings and Discontents which russle and imbroil the Soul they quash and defeat all those troublesome Passions which embarass and plague the Mind By the help of these Divine Instructions which the Holy Writ affords us we are enabled to encounter the greatest Evils with courage and bravery to receive the Shock to weather the Storm to bear all the Insolencies and Insults of our Enemies to break through all Difficulties to have Peace within though we find none without to keep a Sabbath in our own Breasts to entertain our selves with the Serenades of a Good Conscience This is the Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures and no Writings in the World can bless us with them but these And indeed this necessarily follows from those foregoing Assertions viz that Scripture is a Perfect Rule of Faith and also of Manners As it is the former it is a sure Basis for us to rest upon we know whom we have believed and so we are fixed and determined which doth effectually contribute towards our Peace and Solace As it is the latter also we cannot but receive Comfort from it because being a Certain and Unerring Guide in all our Actions it must needs administer great Satisfaction and Joy to us through our whole Lives when we consider that we have a Stable Rule to walk by and that we cannot do amiss if we follow that but especially when we reflect on our Manners and see that they are adjusted to this Canon and that we have in Simplicity and godly Sincerity had our Conversation in the World This will be our Rejoicing and Exultation Again the Scripture yields an inconceivable Joy by prescribing the Best Means for attaining Peace and Unity which are Comfortable Blessings of this Life by allowing us all Innocent and Harmless Delights such as will neither destroy the Peace of our Souls nor impair the Health of our Bodies by throughly convincing us that Christianity in it self is most Satisfactory to our Minds and is made to convey Joy and Peace into our Hearts by teaching us Contentedness in all Conditions by assuring us that Christianity provides for our greatest and most Important Wants and supplies our most Urgent Necessities and therefore we ought to acquiesce in it and solace our selves with it Thus it administers the most Chearing Cordials and so it doth by directing us to the Worthiest Ends by setting before us the Strongest Motives the most Powerful Perswasives to our Duty whereby we are enabled not only to undertake it but to discharge it with Chearfulness and Delight by propounding and presenting to us the Best Rewards viz. Forgiveness of our Sins Assurance of God's Love and Eternal Life and Blessedness For as a Great Man saith No Book in the World but this shews a Man the Adequate End of his Being his Supreme Good his Happiness nor directs the Means of acquiring it The Bible is the Great Instrument as it was emphatically call'd by the Fathers of our Salvation and Happiness By these Writings we hold our Everlasting Inheritance And these are the Great Deeds and Evidences whereby we prove our Title to it In a word as these sustain and support us in all Conditions of our Life and give us a happy Prospect of a better State so they render Death welcom and joyful to us they enable us by virtue of those Sacred Truths contained in them to expire our last Breath with Peace and Tranquillity On all which Accounts we must acknowledg them to be the greatest Support and Relief of our Souls yea the Only Source of Comfort and Content Thus if you consider the Holy Scriptures as they dictate the Best Principles as they beget in us the greatest Holiness and Purity and as they are the Solace of our Lives we must be forced to acknowledg their Incomparable Excellency These three Particulars wherein I have endeavoured to display the Perfection of Scripture are to be found together in Psal. 19. 7 8. where These Properties are ascribed to the Law of God namely that it enlightens the Eyes and so is a Director of our Faith that it converts the Soul and so is a Reformer of the Manners and that it rejoiceth the Heart and so is the Fountain of True Comfort You find all these in conjunction in that other remarkable Place 2 Tim. 3. 16. All Scripture whereby we may understand not only the Old Testament but part of the New viz. St. Matthew's Gospel which was extant when Timothy to whom the Apostle here speaks was a child V. 15. is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness It is not to be doubted that Doctrine refers to the Understanding and Belief and Reproof and Instruction in Righteousness to the Will and Manners and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rectifying restoring setting all streight again as the World imports includes in it that Comforting and Chearing which I spoke of These are the Main Contents of the Holy Scripture First it is a Body and System of the Best and most Consistent Notions it regulates the Apprehensions and presents us with True Conceptions of things Here is nothing delivered that thwarts our rectified Understandings or is a Contradiction to the most refined Faculties of our Minds Moreover it most successfully conducts us into the Ways of Piety and a Holy Life The Design of it is to perfect humane Nature to exalt Men to the highest Pitch their Condition is capable of both by Moral and Revealed Truth the latter of which none but the Blessed Redeemer was able to communicate to bring them to the Noblest improvement and Exaltation of Vertue which they can possibly arrive to on this side of Heaven In brief to make us act not only as Rational but as Divine Creatures yea even to render us like God Himself And lastly it not only inspires us with Excellent Principles and promotes the Practice of Holiness but administers the greatest Matter of Joy imaginable This raises our Spirits and fills our Souls with Delight and Pleasure this
Church's Hands by the Prophets and Apostles shall by her be deliver'd over to her Children to the World's End which way of Transmission is the great Prop of our Religion Besides the Apostle enjoins the Thessalonians to hold fast the Traditions which they had been taught whether by Word or his Epistle for he had used two ways of delivering the Truth to them namely Preaching and Writing and other Apostles committed the chief and necessary Heads of their Doctrine to Writing So that the Traditions meant here are the Revealed Truths of the Gospel delivered by the Apostles and Evangelists and are no other than what Christ deliver'd to them according to that of St. Paul I delivered to you that which also I received whence they have the Name of Traditions i. e. they are Evangelical Doctrines delivered to us from those that were taught them by Christ. And whether they were imparted by Word or by Epistle by Preaching or Writing they are the same the same as to substance the otherwise there may be some difference But that which we condemn and that most justly the Papists for is this that they magnify and rely upon Traditions which have no affinity with the Doctrine of Christ and the Apostles yea which contradict it in many things and yet they equalize these with the Word of God and sometimes prefer them and the Authority of the Church before that of the Sacred Writings of the Old and New Testament Thus One saith The Church sometimes doth things contrary to the Scriptures sometimes besides them therefore the Church is the Rule and Standard of the things that are delivered in the Scriptures and therefore we believe the Church though she acts counter to the formal Decisions of the Scriptures And an other Famous Doctor gives it for good Divinity that the Decrees and Determinations of a Council are binding though they be not confirmed by any probable Testimony of Scripture nay though they be beyond and above the Determination of Scripture Thus the Holy Writings of the Bible are most impiously disparaged and vilisied by the Pontificians Whereas there is nothing defective or redundant nothing wanting or superfluous in these Writings they assert in the open face of the World that they are short and imperfect and therefore have need of being supplied by Traditions which in some things are of greater Value and Authority than they Again that the Church of Rome oppugneth or rather denieth the Perfection of the Scriptures might be evinced from their constant care and endeavour to keep them in an Vnknown Tongue It is true they have translated them But 1. There was a kind of necessity of doing it the Protestants having turned them into so many Tongues By this means they were compelled as it werâ— to let some of their people see what the Bible was in their own Language But 2. It is so corruptly translated that it is made to patronize several of their Superstitious Follies and Errors And yet 3. They dare not commit these Translations to common View Although in all Countries where People were converted to Christianity in elder times the Scripture was turned into their Language and every one was permitted yea exhorted to read it as is proved by many Writers the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet particularly yet the Church of Rome denieth the common People the Use of it as a thing hurtful and pernicious The Bible as some Bad Book is tolerated to be read with great Caution and Restriction in some Countries only and by some Persons It is like the Sibyls Prophecies of old among the Romans not to be look'd into without the permission and Authority of the Senate none can read it without a Licence from their Superiours so dangerous a thing is the Bible From this Practice the People generally imbibe a strong Prejudice against the Scriptures and believe they cannot be good for them because the Pope and their Pastors tell them they are not Wherefore as one who was once of the Communion of the Church of â—ome hath well observed As soon as ever any Man imbraces Popery he presently throws the Bible out of his Hands as altogether useless to say no worse Which unreasonable and wicked Behaviour of theirs was one great Reason or Motive as he professeth of his returning to the Church of England again For what Considerate Man can think That to be a True Church which teacheth its Members to slight and reject the Word of God which is the Source of all Divine Truth and without which we can neither believe nor practise aright we can neither have Comfort here nor arrive to Happiness hereafter This indeed is not only to null â—â—e Perfection of Scripture but to abolish the whole Body of Scripture it self A third sort of Persons that are Opposers of the Perfection of Scripture are Enthusiasts and such who act out of a truly Fanatick Principle Such were the Familists heretofore whose Pretences to the Spirit were so high that they excluded and renounced the Letter of Scripture which according to their Stile was a dark Lanthorn a liveless Carcass a Book shut up and seal'd with seven Seals the Scabbard not the Sword of the Spirit or if it be a Sword it is the Sword of Antichrist wherewith he kills Christ. This was the impious Jargon of these High-flown Men who made no other Use of the Bible than to Allegorize it and to turn it all into Mystery These have been followed by Others of a like Fanatick Spirit who have made it a great part of their Religion to despise and reproach the Sacred Writ A late Enthusiast or rather one that pretends to be such but designs the Overthrow of all Religion tells the World that the Bible is founded in Imagination that God's Revelations in Scripture are ever according to the Fancy of the Prophets or other Persons he spoke to and that all the Phrases and Speeches all the Discoveries and Manifestations yea all the Historical Passages in the Old and New Testament are adapted to these The Quaker comes next and refuseth to own the Scripture to be the Word of God and the Perfect Rule by which we are to direct our Lives It is a great Error and Falsity saith one of the most considerable Persons of that Perswasion that the Scriptures are a filled up Canon and the only Rule of Faith and Obedience in all things and that no more Scriptures are to be writ or given forth from the Spirit of the Lord. With whom agrees another of as great Repute among that Tribe I see no Necessity saith he of believing that the Canon of Scripture is filled up And again The Scriptures saith he are not to be esteemed the Principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledg nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners but they are only a Secondary Rule subordinate to the Spirit And accordingly he adds That the inward Inspirations and Revelations which Men
Great Man that he was learned in all the Wisdom of the Egyptians Acts 7. 22. which comprehends not only Arithmetick Geometry Astronomy all Parts of Mathematicks Physicks of all which there are several remarkable Strictures in the Pentateuch but Moral Philosophy with which his Books are every-where fraught Solomon also was a most profound Philosopher as those Words in 1 Kings 4. 29 c amply testify God gave Solomon Wisdom and Vnderstanding exceeding much His Wisdom excell'd the Wisdom of all the Children of the East-Country and all the Wisdom of Egypt He spake of Trees from the Cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even to the Hyssop that springeth out of the Wall he spake also of Bâ—asts and of Fowl and of creeping things and of Fishes And as Iosephus adds after the same manner he discours'd of All Terestrial Things for he was ignorant of no natural Things he pass'd by none of them unexamin'd but philosophized concerning every one of them and fully discuss'd the Properties and Nature of them Thus he was certainly the Greatest Natural Historian that ever was and his Book of Proverbs and that which is entituled Ecclesiastes abundantly inform us what skill he had in Ethicks Oeconomicks Politicks so that we may justly stile him an Vniversal Philosopher Iob's skill in the choicest Parts of Physicks is evident from his excellent Discourses and Disquisitions concerning Thunder the Clouds the Sea Chap. 26. concerning Minerals and other Fossiles and Fountains Chap. 28. concerning Rain Vapours Snow Hail and other Meteors Chap. 37. 38. And several sorts of Animals both wild and tame with their chiefest Properties and Qualities are discours'd of in Chapters 39 40 41. And here I must insert this that the Knowledg and Study of the Bible are absolutely necessary in order to the Study of Natural Philosophy It is a very good Thought of an Ingenious Man The Doctrine of the Scriptures saith he is to be well imbiâ—ed before young Men be enter'd into Natural Philosophy because Matter being a thing that all our Senses are constantly conversant with it is so apt to possess the Mind and exclude all other Beings but it self that Prejudice grounded on such Principles often leaves no room for the admittance of Spirits or the allowing any such things as immaterial Beings in the nature of things Which shews the necesâ—ity of our conversing with the Inspired Writings wheâ— we have abundant Proofs of the Existence and Operation of those Invisible Agents No Book â— so fully and demonstratively convince us of their Being and Power as the Holy Scriptures And the grand Reason in my Opinion why so many reject the Notion of Spirits and run into wild and extravagant Notions which are the Consequent of it is because they are unacquainted with and which is more dislike this Book which is the Basis of aâ—â— Natural Philosophy in that we have here an irrefragable Demonstration of those Incorporeal Beings Whence it follows that no Man can be a Good Naturalist if he be a Stranger to the Holâ— Writings much more if he slights and vilifiâ—â— them We shall perpetually fluctuate without an Adherence to these Infallible Records The Cartesian and indeed the whole Corpuscularian Philosophy depraves Mens Minds unless it be temper'd by these Nay I may say the Study of Nature abstract from them will lead us into Scepticism and Atheism for many Substantial Notions as well as Phaenomena are utterly unaccountable without Help from this Book But this rectifies our Apprehensions and gives us a true Account of the State of Things and of the Government of the World which is managed chiefly by Spiritual and Immaterial Substances This salves the most surprizing Difficulties by acquainting us with the Spring of the Generality of those Motions and Transactions which are observable in Natural Bodies In short this will season and qualify our Speculations concerning Nature and all its Operations for when the Operations and Results of Matter are defective here we are taught to have Recourse to a Higher Principle Thus the Bible lays a Foundation for our Study of Philosophy and is it self the Best Body of Philosophy I mean on the foresaid Account because it assures us of the Existence of Spirits by whose Influence so many Works of Nature and those of the greatest Importance in the World are effected This was known of old by the Name of the Barbarick Philosophy and 't is frequently call'd so by Clement of Alexandria and both he and Eusebius and some Modern Writers have shew'd that the Grecian Philosophy was derived from this Which indeed was the Confession of some Considerable Men among the Pagans whence Diogenes Laertius tells us this was their Saying Philosophy had its Original from the Barbarians i. e. the Hebrews which is as much as to say that all the true Notions about God and Providence and the Souls of Men and other great Doctrines in Philosophy are taken from the Jewish Writings the Sacred and Inspired Scriptures In the next Place the Antiquity of Medicks Chirurgery Anatomy Embalming is likewise discover'd here For Ioseph commanded the physicians to embalm his Father and the physicians embalmed Israel Gen. 50. 2. The Word here repeated is Rophim and it is the proper Hebrew Word for Men skill'd in Medicks and there is no other Wherefore Vatablus and some others are mistaken who fancy this Place is not meant of Physicians properly so called because this Term is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Septuagint and because they are bid to embalm Jacob. Whence they infer that they were not Physicians in the Sense that we use the Word in at this day viz. for such as take care of sick and diseased Persons and endeavour by their Skill and Art to restore them to Health but that they were only Embalmers that is that their sole Office and Employment was to take care of the dead Bodies and to preserve them from putrifying But this Misapprehension had its Rise from this that they judged of Physicians and their Employments according to what they see now according to the Practice of these Days which no Man of due Coâ—sideration and unprejudiced Judgment ought to do For of old the Physician was both Chirurgeon and Embalmer yea even in Hippocrates's time the Work of the Physician and Chirurgion was not different but the very same In Antienter times much more these Professions were united and were the Employment of the same Person It is no wonder therefore that Embalming was annex'd to it and constantly went along with it for the Chirurgion or Physician call him which you will or both was the Man that had Skill to dissect Bodies in order to their Pollincture He knew what Parts to take out and how being acquainted with the Situation of the Vessels for Anatomy was first of all practised among the Egyptians as we may gather from Pliny and others who attest that the Egyptian Kings used it to find out the Cause and
come to pass without the Divine Permission Grant and Superintendence This is that which is more especially aimed at in this Book we are taught here not to quarrel with our Maker not to find fault with Heaven This doth not become us in the least it is rather the Deportment of a Chinoise Priest who hath so much Power over his Gods that he is suffer'd to beat and whip them when they don't act as he thinks as he would have them We have likewise the Wretched State of Wicked Men and Hypocrites most graphically set forth in these Dialogues We have God's Infinite Justice and Unfearchable Wisdom fully asserted and vindicated We have the Mighty Power of God in some of his Creatures described by Himself in a Stile befitting his Majesty In the Close of all we have the happy Period of Innocence and Integrity The End of them is Peace God oftentimes rewards good and upright Men in this Life with a great Plenty of outward Blessings and Favours he is pleased to recompense them abundantly for all their past Calamities by doubling upon them all those Mercies which he before deprived them of God blessed the latter End of Job more than his Beginning He gave him twice as much as he had before All Blessings flow in now upon him in abundance first God accepts him and then he is caressed by his Kindred and Friends by his Bretbren and Sisters and Acquaintance he is presented with Gifts his Stock of Cattle wherein the chief Wealth of those Countries consisted is increas'd and he is blessed with a desirable Number of Children the Sons wise and the Daughters fair Finally after all the Storms were blown over he lived an hundred and forty Years in Peace and Plenty in his Country now Arabia the Happy he enjoy'd the Confluence of all kinds of Good Things relating both to himself and his Relations and at length died in a good old Age full of Days and full of the Blessings of the Almighty To conclude this Antient Book is infinitely worthy of the Studies of the Curious and Philosophical of the Lovers of Learning and Antiquity of those that value the Primitive Tongues Arts and Customs for here is an Excellent Mixture of all these which cannot but be a grateful Entertainment to Inquisitive Spirits Wherefore a Learned Gentleman of great and subtile Observation hath left us this Censure on the Book of Iob Whoever considers the Subject and Stile of it will hardly think it was written in an Age or Country that wanted either Books or Learning The Psalms are the next Poetick Book and they bear the Name of David the Chief Author of them Some indeed of the Antients held that he was the sole Author but they can scarcely be credited in that because the Title of the 90th Psalm and others tells us that they were composed by Moses Some of them it is thought were made by Asaph Heman Ethan Ieduthun who were in David's time but others think these were not Sacred Poets but only skilful Musicians or Masters of the Quire and did not endite these Psalms which bear their Names but only set them to Tunes and sung them Though a Modern Writer is of the Opinion that Heman and Ethan liv'd in the time of the Egyptian Bondage and penn'd the 88th and 89th Psalms on that occasion in the former condoling their present Distress in the latter prophesying of Deliverance The 92d Psalm was made by Adam saith the Targum and the Hebrew Doctors generally agree to it It is evident and scarcely denied by any that the 137th Psalm was writ in the time of the Jews Captivity in Babylon and therefore could not be made by David and other Psalms seem to be made after their Return the Authors of which are not known And some it is likely were endited by Solomen as the 45th which is a Song of Loves as the Title acquaints us and is of the same Strain with his other Nuptial Song inserted by it self into the Holy Scriptures It may be concluded then that the Book of Psalms is not the Issue of One Inspired Brain only but yet that the Greatest Part of it was endited and written by David who had an excellent Gift of Poetry and Psalmody of composing making and singing of Pious Songs Such are these Psalms which excepting a few of them were the Work of this Holy Man and therefore they are deservedly called David's Psalms the Denomination being taken from the greater Part. They are divided into five Lesser Books which you may know thus where you find a Psalm ending with Amen as the 41st 72d 89th 106th and the last Psalm there is the Period of the Book and another begins By this you may understand that Passage in Psal. 72. v. ult The Prayers of David the Son of Jesse are ended i. e. here is an End of the Second Book of David's Psalms the rest that follow are other Collections of them Of these some are Alphabetical i. e. composed according to the Order of the Hebrew Letters such is the 119th Psalm and is stiled by the Masora the Great Alphabet the eight first Verses beginning with the first Hebrew Letter the succeeding eight with the second and so throughout the whole Number of the Hebrew Letters and such are the 25th 34th 37th 111th 112th 145th all written in Alphabetic Order the Holy Ghost even inspiring the Psalmist's Fancy in this Particular It is likely the Acrosticks 〈◊〉 antient way of Wit used by one of the Sibylls and others of old the Initial Letters of which Verses made up certain Words were partly in imitation of this Some are stiled Psalms of Degrees or Ascents as those fifteen which immediately follow the 119th Psalm either because the Voice was lifted up more than ordinarily when they were sâ—ng or because of the Advantage of the Ground or Place where they were sung viz. the Steps in Solomon's Temple which were fifteen and which those who were appointed to sing these Psalms were wont to ascend Other Psalms are known by their Peculiar Titles as Maschil i. e. Psalms of Instruction Michtam i. e. Golden Psalms call'd so it is probable because of the Precious Matter couched in them And several other Distinctive Titles there are which are not so well understood as that of Psal. 22. Aâ—ieleth ha shachar which in the Margin is rendred the Hind of the Morning perhaps referring to our Saviour of whom this Psalm speaks who is call'd a Hind or young Hart Cant. 2. 9 17. Others interpret it the Strength of the Morning but they know not how to apply it Otherâ— the Morning-Star some the Instrument of Musâ—ck on which this Psalm and others were plaid And the like Obscure Words as Shiggaion Gittith Ieduthun Altashith Shushan eduth are prefix'd to many of these Sacred Hymns There is the Word Selah oftenâ— used sevenâ—y times at least in these Divine Poems but 't is not easy to assign the
as the Original if we will be exact in rendring it expresses it And if we interpret this Proverb in this Sense it Exactly comports with the next Verse They lay wait for their own Blood they lurk privily for their own Life Those that thus design Mischief against innocent Persons bring Ruine upon themselves and are frequently taken in that Net which they spread for others This seems to be the most Genuine Exposition of the Words but every one is left to his Liberty to choose any other Interpretation which is agreeable to the Context and opposes no other Text of Holy Scripture Which of all these Senses was at first design'd by the Holy Ghost we cannot certainly tell It may be in such Places as these of which there is a considerable Number in this Book there is a Latitude and questionless it is best it â—â—ould be so that we may with the greater Freedom search into and descant upon these Sacred Writings that we may understand the full Extent of these Excellent Moral Observations and Remarkable Sayings of this Wise King which for the most part are short and concise and therehy sometimes become somewhat difficult But if 〈◊〉 Imâ—eratoria brevital as Tacitus calls it was commendable no wise Man surely will dislike it in Solomon especially when such Divine and Admirable Truths are couched in it His next Book is entituled Ecclesiastes for the LXX by whom the worâ—â— Kabal is generally rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do accordingly render Kobeleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is probable he penn'd it when 〈◊〉 was Old and had pass'd the several Stages of Vanity It is an open Disowning of his former Folies and Extravagancies it is the Royal Preacher's Recantation-Sermon wherein he tenders himself a Publick Penitentiary Which is the Meaning as One thinks of that Title of this Book in the Hebrew Kohelâ—th or the Gathering Soul because iâ— this Book he recollects himself and gathers and râ—duceth others that wander after Vanity To this end he makes a clear and ample Discovery of the Vanity of all things under the Sun i. e. in this Life or in the whole World a Phrase peculiar to Solomon and in this Book only where it is often used Here the Wise Man convinceth us from his own Experience that none of the Acquists of this World are able to satisfy the Immortal Spirit of Man that the greatest Wit and Learning the most exquisite Pleasures and Sensual Enjoyments the vastest Confluence of Wealth and Riches and the highest Seat of Honour even the Royal Throne it self are insufficient to make a Man Happy and consequently that our Happiness must be â—ought for some where else Here we are taught that notwithstanding this World is Changeable and â—â—bieâ—t to Vanity though at one time or other all things come alike to all in it yet the Steady and Unâ—rring Providence of God rules all Affairs and Events here below and in the Conclusion of all God will bring every Work into Iudgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Here are â—articular Directions given us how we are to discharge our Duty first with reference to our selves viz. that we ought very strictly to observe the Laws of Sobriety and Temperance and to live iâ— a Thankful Use of the good things of this World and to be Content with our Portion and Allotment in this Life and to banish all Covetous Desires and Projects As we must go to the House of Mourning i. e. be very retired and solemn very â—â—â—lous and composed and banish all superfluous Mirth and Gaiety so we must eat our Bread with Ioy i. e. live in a comfortable Fruition of these earthly Blessings and delight in these Enjoyments so far as they are lawful and innocent Our Duty to Others is here also briefly prescribed us viz. that we ought to pay a Profound Respect to Good Kings and to keep their Commandments yea that our very Thoughts towards them ought to he Reverent Then as to those who are of an Equal Level with us or inferiour to us that we shew our selves Just and Righteous to them in all our Converse and Dealings and that when we see any of them reduced to Poverty and Straits that we extend our Charity to them that we cast our Bread upon these Waters that we relieve their Wants and Necessities Lastly we are instructed in our Duty to God we are taught to approach him with â—everence and Devotion to keep our Feet when we go to his House to pay our Vows to him to remember him our Creator and Preserver to fear him and keep his Commandments and we are assured that this is the whole of Man his whole Duty and his whole Concern The Canticles or Solomon's Song is another Piece of Hebrew Poetry which he writ when he was Young and in an Amorous Vein and yet breathing most Divine and Heavenly Amours If you take it according to the Letter only it is King Solomon's Epithalamium or Wedding-Song of the same Nature with the 45th Psalm which is a Song on his Nuptials with the King of Egypt 's Daughter but in a Spiritual Sense it sets forth the Glory of Christ and his Kingdom and the Duty and Privileges of the Church which is there called the King's Daughter Such is this Dramatick Poem wherein are brought in the Bridegroom and Bride and the Friends of both alternately speaking but we must not be so gross in our Apprehensions as to conceive this to be barely a Marriage-Song as Castellio groundlesly fancieth and therefore deems it to be Scripture not of the same Stamp with the rest Besides the Literal Import of the Words in this Love-Song there is a Mystical Sense couched in them Carnal Love is here made to administer to Religion the Flesh is subservient to the Spirit and therefore by reason of this Mystery in this Love-Poem the Iews were not permitted to read it till they were of Maturity of Years If we take this Mystical Weddingâ— Song in the highest Meaning of it it is an Allegorical Description of the Spiritual Marriage and Communion between Christ and the Church it iâ— a Representation of the Mystical Nuptials of thâ— Lord Christ Jesus and Believers Their Mutuâ—â— Affections and Loves are deciphered by the Soâ— Passions and Amours of Solomon and his Royal Spouse This though the Name of God be not in it makes it a most Divine Poem and highly worthy of our most serious Perusal and Study For here we see the Gospel anticipated and the most Glorious Subject of the New Testament betimes inserted into the Old Object But is it not a great Disparagement to this and the other before-mentioned Books of Solomon that â—e was a Reprobate and finally rejected by God Are we not discouraged from receiving these Writings as Canonical Scripture when we know that the Author of them was a Damned Person For what can He be else who towards his latter end revolted from the True Religion
Close of it when Christ shall come to Judgment Thus I have attempted to evince the Perfection of Scripture by enumerating all the Books of both TESTAMENTS and giving you a brief Account of them These Excellent and Incomparable Books are the True Pandects indeed the Books that comprehend all that treat of every thing that is necessary They are the most Valuable Collection of Writings under Heaven they are of all the Books in the World the most worthy of all Acceptation because they are our Infallible Rule and Surest Guide to Wisdom Holiness and Blessedness to the Attainment of the most Desirable Things here and of the most Eligible hereafter If this and all that I have said before do not prove them to be Compleats and Perfect I despair of ever telling you what will CHAP. XI None of the Books of the Holy Scripture are lost Not the Book of the Covenant Nor the Book of the Wars of the Lord Nor the Book of Iasher Nor the Acts of Vzziah An Account of the Book of Samuel the Seer the Book of Nathan the Prophet the Book of Gad the Seer the Book of Iddo the Books of Shemaiah Iehu c. What is to be thought concerning the Books of Solomon mention'd Kings 4. 32. 33. Objections drawn from Jam. 4. 5. from Luke 11. 49. from Acts 20. 35. from Judev. 14. from 1 Cor. 5. 9. from Col. 4. 16. fully satisfied Other Objections from 1 Cor. 7. 6 12 25 2 Cor. 8. 8. 11. 17. particularly answer'd But tho this be a clear and demonstated Truth yet it is question'd and doubted of by some Wherefore the Fourth General Undertaking which I propounded was this to clear the Point of those Objections which are wont to be brought against it and to shew that notwithstanding these the Prefection of Scripture is unshaken First Some tell us that there is a considerable Number of Books mention'd or quoted in Scripture as the Books of the Covenant the Book of the Wars of the Lord the Book of Iasher c. which seem to have been once a Part of this Holy Volume but now are lost Among the Fathers St. Chrysostom who is followed by Theophilact is of this Opinion Bellarmine and several of the Papists hold it Yea some Protestants acknowledg as much Calvin and Musculus and our Whitaker encline this way And Drusius is very angry with any Man that denies that there any Books of Holy Scripture missing Now if this be true there is ground to complain of a Defect and Imperfection in the Sacred Writings by reason of the loss of these Books That therefore which I am to undertake here is to shew that there are no Books mentioned in Scripture as belonging to it but what are now to be found in it and are really a Part of it and consequently that the Holy Writings are not Defective that the Body of Sacred Scripture is not Maimed and Imperfect First As to the Book of the Covenant mention'd in Exod. 24. 7. which some fancy is lost it is not any distinct Book from the Body of the Iewish Laws If we impartially weigh the Place we shall find that it is no other than a Collection or Volume of those several Injunctions and Institutions which we read in the foregoing Chapters viz. 20 21 22 23. which God delivered to Moses on the Mount It is the very same with the Book of the Law Deâ—t 31. 9. That which hath caused a different Perswasion in some is this that these Laws are call'd a Book but I shall make it evident afterwards that this Appellation is of a great latitude and is applied to any sort of Writing by the Hebrews Secondly As for the Book of the Wars of the Lord Numb 21. 14. which is thought to be now wanting the Answer given by some is that this was an Apocrypbal Author and so cannot be said to belong to the Holy Scriptures and consequently the loss of this Book doth not argue the Imperfection of the Bible But tho this way of Solution be tolerable when made use of as to some Other Books hereafter mentioned yet I think there is no need at all of using it here because it is not unlikely according to the Judgment of our Learned English Rabâ—i that Moses refers here to himself and a Book of his own composing for we read that upon the Discomfiture of Amalek God commanded Moses to write it for a Memorial in a Book Exod. 17. 14. and as it follows to rehearse it in the Ears of Joshua So that it may seem to have been some Book of Directions written by Moses for Ioshua's managing of the Wars after him Thus this Learned Writer makes this Book only to be of private use and dictated by an Ordinary not a Divine Spirit wherefore it cannot be one of the Books of the Bible And if this be true then though it be lost yet no Canonical Scripture is lost hereby But from what I shall propound I think it will be found reasonable to believe that the Book in this Place mention'd is one of the received Books of the Old Testament i. e. it is the Book of Iudges which deservedly hath the Name of the Book of the Wars of the Lord because it recounts those Warlike Enterprizes which those Heroâ—ck Spirits stirr'd up by God in an extraordinary Manner were famous for Or Milchamoth Iehovah the Wars of the Lord are as much as the Great Wonderful and Renowned Wars for perhaps the Name of God is used here as in several other Place to augment the Sense and to express the Greatness and Excellency of the Thing fought by the Valiant Iews To any one that consults the Text together with the 26th v. of that Chapter it will plainly appear that this Passage particularly refers to the 11th Chapter of Iudges v. 15 16 17. But if you ask how Moses who was dead long before could write this I answer though he undoubtedly writ the Book of Numbers as well as the rest of the Pentateuch yet some few Passages in this and the other Books may reasonably be supposed to be inserted afterwards by some other Inspired Persons as I have had Occasion to advertise before Ezra it is likely revising this Book added this of what God did in the Red Sea and at the Brooks of Arnon And to give yet more ample Satisfaction to this Scruple I desire it may be observed that though we translate the Text thus It is said in the Book of the Wars c. yet in the Original the Verb is in the future Tense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diceture it shall be said and so we may look upon it as a Prophecy of Moses He here foretels that afterwards it shall be commemorated how God fought for his People When there shall be at solemn Times a Rehearsal of the Jewish Wars then this Passage shall be call'd to mind and made mention of And then we must look upon these two Verses not as cited
Ghost saw to be most profitable and necessary for the Church That one would think should content us So as to his Songs which were a thousand and five as we read in the fore-mentioned Place there is but One of them that hath arrived at our Hands and was thought worthy to be inserted into the Sacred Writings unless we reckon the Forty fifth Psalm to be a Song of his This then adds to the Excellency of these Writings of Solomon which we have that they are Choice Pieces selected even by the Holy Ghost who was the Prime Author of them This surely may satisfy us that the Books or Writings of this Wise Prince which were most Excellent and which were dictated by the Spirit are transmitted to us and are Part of the Bible Thus there is nothing lost that belongs to the Canonical Scripture of the Old Testament And whereas it is Objected that some Places are quoted in the New Testament as taken out of the Old and yet are not to be found there as Mat. 2. 23. Iames 4. 5. Iude v. 14. I answer as to the first that from those Words That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets He shall be called a Nazarene no Man can gather that some of the Canonical Books of Scripture are missing because if you take the Prophets here for Prophetick Men who spoke only and did not write then there were no Books of theirs to be lost Or if by Prophets you understand the Penmen of the Bible it may be shew'd that what they foretold is still extant in their Writings For though those individual Words He shall be call'd a Nazarene are not found among the Prophecies of the Old Testament yet the Purport and Sense of them are there and the Places to which they have reference are very obvious as I have shewed in that particular Interpretation of the Words which I have offered to the Publick in my Enquiry into some Remarkable Texts of the New Testament Thence I hope it will appear that the Objectors have no ground for what they alledg and also that the Iews Cavil against this Place of St. Matthew where they say he quotes a Text out of the Prophets which is not to be found in any of them is void of all Reason Another Place which is wont to be mention'd on this Occasion is Iam. 4. 5. Do you think that the Sâ—ripture saith in vain The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to Envy Which Words are no where to be found in Scripture therefore say they some Part of the Holy Writings is lost And Sir N. Knatchbull seems to say that this is Passage taken out of the Writings of the Prophets which â—re missing at this Day In answer to this some say that Gen. 6. 3. is the Place of Scripture here referr'd to but after they have taken a great dealâ—of Pains to make this out their labour is in vain for surely no Man of free and unprejudiced Thoughts will be perswaded that those Wordâ— My Spirit shall not always strive with Man are of the same Import with these The Spirit that dwelleâ—â— in us lusteth to Envy This Exposition is built upon a mistaken Notion of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contendet which our Translators truly rendâ—â— shall strive some fancying that it is to be derivâ—â— from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sheath and then forsooth the Soul or Spirit is a Sword Lowis Chappel and some Others as groundlesly make these Words an Interrogation Doth the Spirit that dwelleth in us lust to Envy and think they refer to Numb 11. 29. Enviest thou for my sake The Question say they is a Negâ—tion and is as much as if it had been said Doth the Scripture and the Holy Spirit teach you to contend to be envious and quarrelsom No. But this likewise is forced and strained and an impartial Eye cannot possibly see any Affinity between the two Places of Scripture besides that there is one Interrogation to introduce another which confounds the Stile The plain and unforced Answer is this that St. Iames doth not here quote any Particular Place of Scripture as if there were such express Words in the Old Testament as are here set down by him He only tells us what is generally deliver'd in Scripture viz. that Man's Nature is depraved and corrupted that it is enclined to Envy as well as to other Lusts and Unlawful Affections Or If any â—ne Particular Place be referr'd to more than another it is probable it is that of Gen. 6. 5. or ch 8. v. 21. where we are told that the Imaginations or the Purposes and Desires of Mens Hearts are evil from their Youth yea they are only evil and that contiâ—ually The Words then are not to be understood of the Divine Spirit but of that Corrupt Spirit which is in Men not the Spirit which is of God â—â—t the Spirit of the World as the Apostle Paul distinguisheth 1 Cor. 2. 12. This Spirit lusteth to Envy and prompts Men to all other Vices And 〈◊〉 for the next Words He giveth more Grace they refer not to the Spirit here spoken of but to God who though he be not named in this Verse is twice in the immediately foregoing one He giveth 〈◊〉 Grace he according to his good Pleasure restrains Mens Lusts and envious Desires and teâ—cheth them Humility Submission and all other Divine Vertues Or according to a late Worthy Critick it i. e. the Scripture giveth more Grace for that it saith c. In this Holy Book there are Examples of some Persons in whom this Spirit of Envy was restrained When the Apostle then here saith Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain c. we must not wonder that those very Words are not found in any Part of the Old Testament for the Apostle only speaks here of what may be deduced from these Sacred Writings or what is said in them to the same purpose though in other Words There are many Places of Scripture which speak of the Lusts of that corrupt Spirit which is in us whereby we are stirr'd up to Envy and Strife From several Texts we may gather that Man's Nature is prone to these and the like Passions This I take to be the true Account of the Words In the same manner we are to understand Luâ—â— 11. 49. Therefore said the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles c. There is no partâ—cular Text that hath these Words but there are several Prophecies to this Purpose So Ephes. 5. 14. He saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give the Light is not meanâ—â— of any such particular and individual Words 〈◊〉 of the Spirit 's speaking in the Gospel to that Effect though I know Dr. Hammond and others refer i◠〈◊〉 Isa. 60. 1. and some Interpreters to Isa. 51. 9. 〈◊〉 you will not find these or such Words in either of those Places That Passage in
was not the Design of the Evangelists to quote the very Words but they thought fit to use a Latitude and to express the Text of the Old Testament not in exact Terms but as to the Meaning and Import of it So in the quoting that Text Mic. 5. 2. Thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel the Evangelist doth it not verbatim but sets it down thus Mat. 2. 6. Thon Bethlehem in the Land of Judah art not the least among the Princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a Governour that shall rule my People Israel Here are six or seven Words that are not in the Hebrew neither are they in the Seventy's Version Yea there is a Negative put in the Place of an Aâ—â—irmative for whereas the Prophet saith though thou be little the Evangelist saith thou art not little or not least which shews that he minds the Sense and Scope of the Place not the very Words for though Bethlehem was little consider'd in it self as being a small Town yet it was not little on another Account mention'd by the Prophet viz. it s having the Honour of being the Birth-place of our Lord. Or if this inserting of a Negative may be solved another way as some have thought and as I have shew'd in another Place yet still it is evident that the Evangelist doth not recite the very Words of Micah but changeth Ephratah for the Land of Judah and thousands for Princes and iâ— other Words and Particles varies both from the LXX and the Original And in many other Texts I might shew you that the Writers of the New Testament do not tie themselves up to the very Words of the Old Testament but choose rather to paraphrase or give the Meaning in other Expressions Thus we see the Translation of the LXX though it be often yet is not always followed in the New Testament Likewise although the Apostles in these Writings were immediately directed by the Holy Ghost yet they confined not themselves to the express Words of the Spirit in the Original Hebrew and we see that though not â—lways yet often they followed the Septuagint because it was generally received and they thought it not fit to vary from the Translation which was used in the Church and we see likewise that when they vary from this Translation it is no certain Argument that they did not allow and approve of it for they intended not an Exact Translation themselves but a Paraphrase and a rendring the Sense rather than the Words The Result then of all is this that we ought to have that Respect and Esteem for the LXX's Version which it deserveth to which purpose the Judicious Examiner of it before mention'd is to be consulted who shews how necessary it is for all Divines to be acquainted with it we ought not to extol it as some extravagantly have done above the Hebrew nor to depress and vilify it as others have done as if it were of no Worth or Authority We ought thus to behave our selves we must not wholly reject it because most of its Faults and Mistakes proceed from the mere mistaking of Vowâ—ls or Consonants from the Ambiguity of Words from the Liberty which they take of Paraphrasing and from the Neglect of Transcribers But on the other hand we ought not wholly to embrace this Translation because it hath fallen into ill Hands and hath met with some designing Men it is probable who have endeavour'd to deprave and corrupt it yea and have actually done it in some Places We are concerned therefore to read it with Candour and Caution with the former yea the Oldest Greek Translation of the Bible that is because it hath been used by the Sacred Penmen of the New Testameâ—t because it may be made use of by us for the better understanding and clearing the Sense of the Hebrew and to other very good Purposes and because the disagreement between it and the Hebrew may as to the Main admit of a Reconciliation as I have partly shew'd and you may further see in the Learned Critical Historian With the latter also i. e. with Caution we must consult this Version because we know it hath justly merited the Censure of the Learned not only of St. Ierom the best Hebrician of all the Fathers but of a great Number of other Observing and Inquisitive Writers who find that this Translation doth frequently and sometimes very grosly dissent from the Hebrew and for that Cause reprehend it with great Seriousness For this they all agree upon that where the Greek Version of the 70 is not conformable to the Hebrew either in Words or Sense as in diverse Places it is not it is perverted and corrupted and where it is so we must impeach This and not the Hebrew of Error and Imperfection That Assertion of the Younger Vossius viz. that the 70 Interpreters had the Authentick Copy of the Hebrew Bible and translated exactly by that but that the Hebrew Bible which we now have is corrupted is justly to be exploded as not only Bold but Pernicious wherein he extreamly gratiâ—ies the Romanists who contend that the Hebrew Text is depraved that they may defend the Authority of the Vulgar Latin But those that are not led by Prejudice discern that this is meer Design and that the Business of those Men is to defend the Authority of their Church by what Artifices they can Wherefore they give no heed to them and particularly in this present Matter they despise their fond applauding of the Septuagint and their groundless Cavils against the Hebrew Text and notwithstanding their impertinent Suggestions find reason to adhere to this unshaken Truth that the Hebrew Text only is void of all Faults Errors Mistakes Blemishes Defects Depravations and that it is this we must ultimately rely upon Wherefore where there is a Difference between the Version of the 70 Seniours and the Hebrew That is to give place to This and not This to That And lastly which is the rational Conclusion from all that hath been said there is no Proof of the Scripture's Imperfection from this Disagreement between the Hebrew and the Greek Next I will speak of the Latin Versions of the Bible which even in St. Augustin's Time were so many that they could not be numbred as he saith himself All the Latin Translations of the Old Testament before Ierom were made out of the LXX's Version and not out of the Hebrew Original for generally the Fathers before Ierom used and adhered to the Greek Version But he attaining to great Skill in the Hebrew contented not himself with these Second-hand Versions but undertook and finish'd a Translation of his own wherein he followed the Hebrew Original The Chiefest Latin Versions were these three 1. that which was call'd Itala by St. Augustin by St. Ierom Vulgata and by Gregory Vetus This
are to understand their Stomachs and whole Bodies and by nourishing them is meant feeding and pampering of them The Apostle rebukes the Gluttony and Intemperance of the Voluptuous Men of that Age who made every Day a Day of Slaughter a Day of Feasting and Revelling I could parallel this with a Passage in the Old Testament where leb hath the same ambiguous Signification with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comfort ye your Hearts Gen. 18. 5. which is spoken of Abraham's entertaining the Angels and refers to the Morsel of Bread there mention'd for so he was pleas'd to call his Generous Provision which he made for his Guests Stay saith he support sustain for so the word sagnad signifies your Stomachs and thereby refresh and comfort your Hearts with this Entertainment So the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in an equivocal Sense by Homer on the like occasion for speaking of Mercury's being entertain'd by Calypso he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He supp'd and stay'd his Heart or his Stomach with Meat Thence Bread is call'd Mishgnan fulcrum sustentaculum Iâ—a 3. 1. a Stay a Staff And among the Old Hebrews Segnudah i. e. fulcimentum was a Dinner and so Food among us is known by the vulgar Name of Sustenance I hope that from all these things which I have alledged the Critical Notion which I offer'd is made very plain and obvious And in several other Instances I could make it good that there are those Peculiar Graces of Speech in the Sacred Writings which the most Exquisite Translations cannot fully reach I will particularly instance in one sort which are usually call'd Paranomasia's i. e. Elegant Allusions and Cadences of Words Thus there is a clear Allusion to Iapheth's Name in Gen. 9. 27. Iapht lejepheth There are no less than three of these in one Verse Gen. 11. 3. Nilbenah lebenim nisrephah lisrephah hachemar lachomer In Gen. 49. there are several of these Verbal Allusions as Iehudah joduka v. 8. Dan jadin v. 16. Gad gedud jegudennu v. 19. which are plain References to the Names of Iudah Dan and Gad. There is a Paranomasia in the word Chamor Judg. 15. 16. which signifies both an Ass and a Heap but this is quite lost in our Translation Heaps upon Heaps with the Iaw-bone of an Ass. The Mount of Olives is in way of Contempt call'd the Mount of Corruption Mashchith 2 Kings 23. 13. alluding to Mishchah anointing for which the Oil of Olives was serviceable In Psal. 39. 11. the Pâ—almist alludes to the Names of Adam and Abel when he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All Adam is Abel or every Man is Vanity And Selah is here added to denote the Emphatick Elegancy of this Passage And again Psal. 144. 4. Adam is like Abel We render the Hebrew right enough Man is like Vanity but then the Nominal Allusion is not express'd There is a great Number of Paranomasia's in Isaiah as in ch 1. v. 23. Sare sorerim the Princes are rebellious Ch. 5. v. 7. he looked for Mishphat Iudgment but behold Mishpah Oppression for Tzedekah Righteousness but behold Tzegnakah a Cry Four of these pleasant Cadences you meet with together in ch 24. v. 3 4. Hibbok tibbok hibboz tibboz dibber dabar oblab noblah Ch. 32. v. 7. Chelai chelav the Instruments of the Churl Some observe the Likeness of Sound in the Hebrew Words for Bridegroom and decketh himself and for Bride and Iewels ch 61. v. 10. We may observe in Ier. 6. 1. a plain Allusion to the word Tekoah in the Word preceding it A remarkable Cadence is to be taken notice of in Mic. 1. 14. the Houses of Aczib the Name of a Place shall be Aczab a Lie and the Learned Dr. Pocock observes that the Prophet in the next Verses hath Allusions to the Names of those other Cities Mareshah and Adullam in what he there saith of them The like you find in Zeph. 2. 4. where the Destruction of Gaza and Ekron is foretold but there are no Footsteps of it in the Translation The last Place I will mention in the Old Testament is Zech. 9. 3. Tyre built her self a strong-hold Tzor built her self Matzor This way of speaking is used also in the New Testament by our Saviour and his Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Wind bloweth where it listeth so is every one that is born 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Spirit John 3. 8. The same Word signifying Wind and Spirit Christ takes occasion thence to speak after this Allusive Manner which no Translation can express So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 16. 18. cannot be discern'd in the English Translation St. Paul hath several Verbal Likenesses in his Epistles as 1 Cor. 0. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 5. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philein v. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Thess. 3. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Henry Stephens hath express'd by the like Paranomasy in Latin â—iâ—il agentes sed curiosè satagentes And several others of this kind there are in this Apostle's Writings which are more commonly taken notice of and therefore I omit them Grotius and some others think there are Allusions to the Names of the Seven Asiatick Churches in the things that are said of them in the Epistles to them Rev. 2d and 3d Chapters but perhaps that is too fanciful This we are certain of that this Mode of Speech was not unusual among the Oriental Writers and so 't is no wonder that it occurs sometimes in the Holy Scripture Even among some of the best Roman Authors this is no unfrequent thing thus Verres the Avaritious and Extorting Pretor of Sicily is by Tully call'd Verrens Sweep-all And many such Verbal Iests this Grave Pleader hath in his Orations and other Parts of his Writings which shews it was thought to be a Pulchritude in their Stile So Martial plaid upon the idle Mariners Non nautas puto sed vos Argonautas Horace begins his Epistle to one Albius a Patron of his thus Albi nostrorum sermonum candide judex Alluding in that Epithet to his Name and he hath several other of these Charientisms Which we cannot but sometimes observe likewise in other Antient Writers of good Account But that which I remark at present is that even the Sacred and Inspired Stile disdains not this manner of speaking which none are capable of taking notice of but those that have some Knowledg of the Original Languages in which the Sacred Text is writ And in several other Particulars it were easy to shew the Gracefulness of the Holy Stile and that singular Turn and Peculiar Air in the Original which cannot be express'd in the Translation There are many Words Phrases and Sentences which must lose a great deal of their native Weight and Spirit by being done into another Language Therefore on this as well as on the other Accounts before-named we must be very Considerate and Attentive when we read this Divine Book Thirdly There must
be great Moral and Religious Qualifications likewise for this is the Book of God and therefore we must come to it with agreeable Inclinations Wills and Affections Men complain that there is a great Contention about the interpreting of Scripture and Different Parties can't agree whence they proceed to blame the Obscurity and Uncertainty of the Scripture it self But herein these Persons themselves are very blameable for this Disagreement in the interpreting of Sacred Writ arises not wholly from the Obscurity of it nor doth it proceed from the Uncertainty of it as some would suggest but from Mens Depraved Minds and Passions Wherefore our main Care ought to be 1st To free our selves from all Wilful Prejudice and Perverseness which have been the first and original Causes of misunderstanding the Scriptures Thus the Infernal Spirit when he tempted our Saviour most perversly quoted Psal. 91. 11. and misapplied it to his purpose And from him Hereticks and Seducers have learnt to cite and make use of Scripture to evil Designs viz. to uphold some Error or Vice What an Antient Writer of the Church saith of one sort of Heretical Teachers that they interpret the Sense of the Holy Writ according to their own Pleasure is true of them all their constant Practice is to strain and distort these Sacred Writings to construe them according to their own Fancies and to make them like an Echo speak what they please Their great Work in consulting and turning over this Volume is to find something they may misinterpret for their own Ends. Their Affection to a particular Cause makes them believe and assert any thing though never so improbable and then they alledg Scripture to back it though it be wholly foreign to the purpose These Persons are of the Number of those Depravers of Truth who as One of the Antient Fathers gives us their Character do not accommodate their Minds to the Scripture but pervert and draw the Mind of the Scripture to their own Wills This glossing and expounding of the Bible according to Mens corrupt Fancies is as M. Luther hath expressed it like straining Milk through a Colesack it blackens and deâ—iles the pure Word of God it depraves and falsifies the Mind of the Spirit Those Men are to be abhorr'd that submit not their Thoughts and Conceptions to this Sacred Standard who compel the Scripture to serve their Private Opinions who make no conscience of putting a Text upon the Rack to make it speak what it intended not of miserably torturing it that they may force it to confess what it never meant These Persons should be reminded how great a Sin it is to distort and deprave the Holy Writ and designedly to draw it to another Sense than it naturally bears And the Penalty is as grievous as the Crime for as the Apostle St. Peter informs us this Generation of Men wrest the Scripture unto their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. Wherefore let none presume to be guilty in this Nature and dare to follow their own sinister Imagiâ—ations in the interpreting of the Inspired Writings but let them attend to that Advice of a Pious and Learned Author We should be more willing to take a Sense from Scripture than to bring one to it Let us strive to know the naked and pure Meaning of the Spirit and in order to that read the Bible with an Unprejudiced and Sincere Mind which is an Excellent Interpreter Whereas 't is a certain Truth that Perverse Minds will pervert the Scriptures 2dly We ought to read these Divine Writings with great Modesty and Humility Let it not trouble us that some Parts of them are not level to our Understandings And where we cannot solve some things let us not arrogantly pretend to do it It is no Disgrace to confess our Ignorance here I can assure you this hath been done by the Learnedest Heads There is a Learned Ignorance as St. Augustin terms it and we need not be ashamed to be Masters of it These four things mention'd in Eccles 12. 6. I understand not saith Castellio I scarcely understand the thousandth Part of this Book saith he concerning the Apocalypse And 't is frequent with this Learned Man to say I know not the Meaning of this Place That Man is impudently rash who dares profess that he understands one single Book of the Bible in all its Parts saith Luther I own it that I am so blind that I cannot see any thing at all in that dark Place of Scripture Amos 5. 26. saith the Great Selden But the contrary Temper and Spirit have swell'd some with proud Conceits of their understanding some Passages of this Book when they have no true Apprehension of them in the least and accordingly they have endeavour'd in a supercilious manner to impose their crude Sense upon others not craving but commanding Assent to what they have propounded These bold Men forget what the Wise King saith It is the Glory of God to conceal a Matter to speak sometimes in so dark and hidden a manner that there is need of great searching studying and enquiring into the things that are said and yet at last they remain abstruse and unintelligible It hath pleased God the Wise Governour of the World that the Scripture should have Difficulties and Obscurities in it that there should be some things hard to be understood But as Socrates said of Heraclitus's Writings What he understood of them was very good and so he believed that to be which he understood not the like may we with more Reason pronounce concerning the Sacred Scriptures The Matters which we have Knowledg of which are the main Body and Substance of the Book are Excellent and Divine and so there is Reason to conclude that those Parts of it which are hidden from us are of the same Nature There is no occasion to find fault with the Sovereign Wisdom of God but it is our apparent Duty to lay aside Pride and to exercise Humility which will capacitate us to understand even those Great Mysteries and Abstrusities when we have with much Diligence and frequent Study search'd into them 3dly We must think our selves concern'd to purge our Hearts and Lives from all Deâ—ilements of Vice For 't is certain that a quick Brain a subtile Head and a nimble Wit are not so much required to the understanding of Divine Truth as an Honest Mind and a Religious Practice To Men of polluted Consciences and profane Manners the Scriptures seem dark and mysterious but to those of sanctified Minds and holy Lives they are as to the most part plain and clear These Qualifications render them as bright as a Sun-beam What the Turks are said to write on the back-side of the Alcoran Let none touch this Book but he that is pure may with great Reason and Justice be written on the Holy Book of Scripture and that only for a Pure Life is the best Commentator on these Writings A wonderful measure of
Knowledg and Insight into these Divine Truths which are here contain'd is the Effect of observing and practising the Holy Precepts of this Book This then we ought to urge upon our selves to come to the reading of Scripture with defecate and purged Minds with Love to what it dictates and with Obedience to it This should be our principal Care to live well and to walk according to this Excellent Rule All our Religion and the whole Conduct of our Actions in this World depend upon the Scriptures therefore let us be directed and govern'd by the Infallible Maxims Precepts Promises and Threatnings of this Book We see Men live by Custom by the Dictates of Others or by their Own Opinions which oftentimes prove erroneous and lead them into unwarrantable Practices But they would not be thus misguided if they consulted These Lively Oracles of God this sure Word of Prophecy if they regulated their Actions by this Exact Canon And hereby we are certain to improve our Knowledg in this Holy Book for by living according to it we shall the better understand it by minding the Practical Contents of it we shall have a full Discovery of its Principles and Doctrines Lastly That we may attain to a right understanding of the Sense of Scripture that we may have a due Perception of the Meaning of what is deliver'd here let us most earnestly invoke the Divine Aid and Assistance He that reads this Book without Prayer can never expect to be bless'd with a compleat Knowledg of it For it is the sole Work of the Divine Spirit to illuminate our Minds effectually There is required the special Help of this Heavenly Instructor to direct us into Truth wherefore he is call'd the Spirit of Truth and the Vnction from the Holy One whereby we know all things The same Spirit that endited these Holy Writings must enlighten our Minds to understand them Which I find thus expressed in the Words of our Church The Revelation of the Holy Ghost inspireth the true meaning of the Scripture into us in truth we cannot without it attain true Saving-knowledg And a Learned and Pious Son of our Mother gives his Suffrage in these Words Wicked Men however learned do not know the Scriptures because they feel them not and because they are not understood but with the same Spirit that writ them Seeing then a Spiritual Illumination is requisite in order to the comprehending of Scripture-Truths we ought with great Fervour and Zeal to request it we ought with a singular Devotion to repair to this Infallible Teacher and with mighty Importunity beseech him to open our Eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of the Divine Law and to conduct our Reasons aright in our Enquiry into this Sacred Volume And He that commands us to implore his Help will certainly vouchsafe it to all sincere and devout Supplicants The Eyes of our Understanding shall be irradiated with a Celestial Beam and we shall feel an internal Operation of the Spirit on our Hearts communicating Light and Wisdom By the Assistance of this Blessed Guide we shall not miscarry in our Searches and Endeavours This Divine Book shall be laid open to us and we shall have its Mysteries and Depths disclosed to us so far as is convenient for us and no rational Man ought to desire any more Yea as it is with some of those that have studied for the Phâ—losophick Elixar though they attain not to it yet in their impetuous Search after it they find out many Excellent Things admirably useful for Mankind which are a Recompence of their Labours so though we may fall short of some Grand Secrets which are treasured up in this Inspired Volume yet we shall not faâ—l of some Choice Discoveries that will make us amends for our most laborious Enquiries We shall mightily improve our Knowledg and we shall likewise be under the special Benediction of Heaven The Rabbins tell us that when R. Ionathan writ his Targum on the Bible if at any time the least Fly lit upon his Paper it was presently consumed with Fire from Heaven But though this be Romantick and after the rate of the Rabbins yet it is a sober Trutlâ— that God will protect us in reading and studying the Holy Scriptures Whilest we are thus employed nothing shall disturb or hurt us the Divine Arm will defend and prosper us and we shall peruse this Book with that happy Success which we pray'd for In short by continual conversing with this Book which is the only one that hath no Errata's we shall know how to correct all the Failures of our Notions and of our Lives we shall enrich our Minds with a Stock of Excellent Principles and we shall be throughly furnish'd unto all good Works we shall be conducted to the highest Improvements of Knowledg and Sanctity in this Life and to the most Conâ—â—mmate Happiness in another FINIS Books written by the Reverend Mr. John Edwards AN Enquiry into several 〈◊〉 Texts of the Old and New Testament which contain some Difficulty in them with a Probable Resolution of them In two Volumes in 8â— A Discourse concerning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament Vol. I. with a Continued Illustration of several Difficult Texts throughout the whole Work A Discourse conâ—â—rning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament Vol. II. wherein the Author 's former Undertaking is further prosecuted viz. An Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts which contain some Difficulty in them A Discoeurs concerning the Authority Stile and Perfection of the Books of the Old and New Testament Vol. III. treating of the Excellency and Perfection of the Holy Scriptures and illustrating several difficult Texts occurring in this Undertaking All sold by Ionathan Robinson Iohn Taylor and Iohn Wyat. * Plataic †Panegyr Plataic ‡ Plataic * Orat. 2. ad Nicocl †Panegyr Orat. ‖ Orat. ad Philip. ‡ Panegyr ad Philip. Epist. ad Philip. Epist. ad Mitylen * Panegyr Orat. †Plataic Orat. 1. ‖ Orat. ad Philip. * Panegyr Orat. Plataic Orat. bis †Olynth 1. ‖ Philip. 1. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. in Protrept †Gen. 9. 27. * Deut. 28. 49 c. †1 Kings 13. 2. * Antiqu. 1. 11. c. 1. †Dr. Jackson * Dan. 2. †Temporum conscius totius Mundi Polyhistor Epist. ad Paulin. * Ver. 2. †Ver. 20. ‖ Ver. 5. * Ibid. * John 21. 18. †Ver. 22. * Earum rerum quae foâ—â—uitae putantur praedictio atque praesentio De Divinat l. 1. * Lib. 3. c. 8. * Colloqu Mensal * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. cont Celâ— l. 6. * Lib. 1. †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isid. Pelus Ep. l. 5. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just. Mart. Dialog cum Tryph. †Arnob. lib. 1. ‖ Sozom. l. 1. c. 11. ‖‖ Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 2.
of it Anah's Invention of Mules Writers borrow from one another The Bible only is the Book that is beholden to no other Here is the Antientest Learning in the World and that of all Kinds 'T is common with Authors to contradict themselves and one another they are uncertain lubricous and fabuâ—ous But the Divine Writers alone are certain and infallible How strange and improbable soever some of the Contents of this Holy Book may seem to be they justly command our firm Assent to them p. 263 CHAP. VII A particular Distribution of the several Books of the Old Testament Genesis the first of them together with the four following ones being written by Moses his ample Character or Panegyrick is attempted wherein there is a full Account of his Birth Education Flight from Court retired Life his Return to Egypt his conducting of the Israelites thence his immediate Converse with God in the Mount his delivering the Law his Divine Eloquence his Humility and Meekness his Sufferings his Miracles and his particular Fitness to write these Books A Summary of the several Heads contain'd in Genesis to which is added a brief but distinct View of the Six Days Works wherein is explained the Mosaick Draught of the Origine of all things and at the same time the bold Hypotheses of a late Writer designed to confront the First Chapter of the Bible are exposed and refuted The Contents of the Book of Exodus to which is adjoined a short Comment on the Ten Plagues of Egypt A Rehearsal of the remarkable Particulars treated of in Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy That Moses was the Pen-man and Author of the Pentateuch notwithstanding what some have lately objected against it p. 305 CHAP. VIII A short Survey of the Books of Joshua Judges Ruth which is a Supplement to the History of the Iudges Samuel the Kings Chronicles Ezra which is a Continuation of the Chronicles Nehemiah Esther The Author Stile Composure Matter of the Book of Job discuss'd An Enquiry into the Penmen Subjects Kinds Titles Poetick Meter and Rhythm of the Psalms p. 350 CHAP. IX The Book of Proverbs why so call'd The transcendent Excellency of these Divine and Inspired Aphorisms Some Instances of the Different Application of the Similitudes used by this Author The Book of Ecclesiastes why so entituled The Admirable Subject of it succinctly displayed The particular Nature of the Canticle or Mystical Song of Solomon briefly set forth It is evinc'd from very cogent Arguments that Solomon died in the Favour of God and was saved The Books of the Four Great Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah with his Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel are described So are those of the Twelve Lesser Prophets Hosea c. p. 379 CHAP. X. An Account of the Writings of the Four Evangelists the peculiar Time Order Stile Design of their Gospels The Acts of the Apostles shew'd to be an Incomparable History of the Primitive Church The Epistles of St. Paul particularly delineated He is proved to be the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews An Enquiry into the Nature of this Apostle's Stile and manner of Writing The excellent Matter and Design of the Epistles of St. James St. Peter St. John St. Jude An Historical Series or Order is not observ'd in the Book of the Revelation p. 415 CHAP. XI None of the Books of the Holy Scripture are lost Not the Book of the Covenant Nor the Book of the Wars of the Lord Nor the Book of Iasher Nor the Acts of Vzziah An Account of the Book of Samuel the Seer the Book of Nathan the Prophet the Book of Gad the Seer the Book of Iddo the Books of Shemaiah Iehu c. What is to be thought concerning the Books of Solomon mention'd 1 Kings 4. 32 33. Objections drawn from Jam. 4. 5. from Luke 11. 49. from Acts 20. 35. from Jude v. 14. from 1 Cor. 5. 9. from Col. 4. 16. fully satisfied Other Objections from 1 Cor. 7. 6 12 25. 2 Cor. 8. 8. 11. 17. particularly answer'd p. 451 CHAP. XII A short View of the Eastern Translations of the Old Testament especially of the Targums The several Greek Translations more especially that of the LXX Jewish Elders The impartial History of them and their Version Some immoderately extol it others as excessively inveigh against it The true Grounds of the Difference between the Hebrew Text and the Greek Translation of the Septuagint assigned viz. One Hebrew Vowel is put for another One Consonant for another Sometimes both Vowels and Consonants are mistaken The Difference of the Signification of some Hebrew Words is another Cause sometimes the Sense rather than the Word it self is attended to Some Faults are to be attributed to the Transcribers Some because the LXX are Paraphrasts rather than Translators they take the liberty to insert Words and Passages of their own The Greek Version hath been designedly corrupted in several Places Why the Apostles in their Sermons and Writings made use of this Version though it was faulty Sometimes the Sacred Writers keep close to the Hebrew Text and take no notice of the Seventy's Translation of the Words At other times in their Quotations they confine themselves to neither but use a Latitude The Greek Version is to be read with Candour and Caution and must always give way to the Hebrew Original The chief Latin Translations of the Bible especially the Vulgar examined Modern Latin Translations and lastly our own English one consider'd p. 477 CHAP. XIII Our English Translation shew'd to be faulty and defective in some Places of the Old Testament But more largely and fully this is performed in the several Books of the New Testament where abundant Instances are produced of this Defect and particular Emendations are all along offer'd in order to the rendring our Translation more exact and compleat The Date of the Division of the Bible into Chapters and Verses p. 532 CHAP. XIV The Reader is invited to the Study of the Bible as he values the Repute of a Scholar and a Learned Man That he may successfully study this Holy Book he must be furnish'd with Tongues Arts History c. It is necessary that he be very Inquisitive and Diligent in searching into the Mind and Design of the Sacred Writers In examining the Coherence of the Words In Comparing Places together In observing and discovering the peculiar Grace and Elegancy and sometimes the Verbal Allusions and Cadences of the Holy Scripture of which several Instances are given He must also be Morally qualified to read this Book i. e. he ought to banish all Prejudice He must be Modest and Humble He must endeavour to free himself from the Love of all Vice He must with great Earnestness implore the Assistance of the Holy Spirit p. 532 OF THE EXCELLENCY PERFECTION OF THE Holy Scriptures CHAP. I. The different Esteem and Sentiment of Persons concerning the Authors they make choice of to read No Writings can equal the Bible It hath been highly valuâ—d in all Ages by