or their conforming to the Dialect of their Countrey for these are consistent with That Isaiah being a Courtier and a Person of Quality hath a neat and elegant Stile and yet so as he knows how to vary it according to the Matter he treats of But generally he is Lofty and Eloquent his Stile being raised by his Education which was sutable to his Noble Extraction for he was of the Blood Royal. Ieremiah and Amos being used to the Countrey are mean and homely in their Language the latter especially discovers his Condition and way of Life in his low and rural Strain So in the New Testament St. Luke who had improved himself by Art and Study is very observant of the Greek Elegancy and avoids all improper and exotick Terms in his Gospel and in the Acts. Indeed the Stile of the Sacred Penmen is very different and that Difference is an Excellency in this Book of God But that which I say is this the Writers leave not off their peculiar Stile though they were moved by the Spirit As this furnished them with new Expressions so it let them make use of their own usual ones but immediately directed and assisted them in the applying of them So that at the same time when they used their Natural Stile they were Divinely help'd to make it â—erviceable to that purpose which the Holy Ghost intended Hence I conclude that the Stile and Words and Composure of the Sacred Writings are such as ought to be reckoned Divine For this is one difference between this Book and others that every thing of it is Divine And therefore those Persons who dream of Solecisâ—â— in Holy Scripture are the greatest Solecisers themselves but especially those who assert there are Mistakes and literal Falsities in the Holy Book are utterly to be condemned Such is Episcopius who dares affirm That the Spirit left the Writers of the Holy Scripture to their own humane Frailty in delivering such things as belonged to Circumstances of a Fact Their Knowledg and Memory were deficient and fallible The Spirit did not tell St. Iohn how many Furlongs Christ's Disciples went chap. 6. 19. The same is to be asserted he saith as to some Names and other Circumstances of Time and Place which are not of the substance of the thing And before this you are told by â—â—o others that the Pen-men of Scripture 〈◊〉 in some light things not that they would falâ—â—ty but that they might forget some Passages Melchior Canus is of the opinion that there are some considerable Slips in Scripture from the weakness of the Evangelists and Apostles Memories Yea among the antient Fathers there was one who more grosly held that the Writers of the New Testament sometimes abused the Testimonies of the Prophets of the Old Testament and that they applied them to their present purpose although they were nothing to it Thus St. Paul he saith quoteth the Old Testament in his Epistles to the Romans Galatians and Ephesians only to serve his turn and to confute the Jews his Adversaries Read saith he these Epistles wherein the Apostle is wholly on the Polemick part and you will see how prudently and dissemblingly he acts in those Texts which he citeth out of the Old Testament And at other times this bold Man is not afraid to say that some of the Matters and Things in Scripture are set down wrong This is no less than Profane and Blasphemous Doctrine wherefore that Father is to be read with great Caution in such places as these We on the contrary assert that God was not only the Author of the Matter and Contents of Holy Writ but also of the Words and Expressions yea even when those Writers express their Sense in their own Terms i. e. according to the Way and Dialect which they were Masters of and which was most familiar to them even then they were immediately assisted 〈◊〉 the Spirit Which was absolutely necessary that this Book might have no Errors and Failings in it of any kind but that it might transcend all other Writings whatsoever If you do not hold this you make no considerable difference between the Holy Scriptures and other Writings Therefore I am thorowly convinced that this is a Truth and ought to be maintained viz. that the Holy Spirit endited the very Stile of Scripture that even this was by the immediate Inspiration of Heaven To the Manner of its writing I may well annex its Harmony and thence also prove it to be Divine Though there are several seeming Repugnancies of which I shall treat afterwards in a Discourse of the Stile of Scripture and endeavour to clear them up to the Satisfaction of every sober and considerate Person yet it cannot but be acknowledged that all the Parts of this Book do entirely agree and are consistent with one another This in other Books which are composed and written by one Author is not so admirable tho in those Pieces we oftentimes meet with very palpable Disagreements and Contradictions but here we are able to remember that notwithstanding these Books were written by different Persons and those many in number and disagreeing in Quality and extremely distant as to Time and Place yet their Writings contradict not one another but there is an excellent Harmony in all their Parts there is a perfect Concord and Consent among them all such as is not to be found in any other Authors in the World though of the same Sect and Party Excellently to this purpose a very Wise and Judicious Man thus speaks When several Men in several Ages not brought up under the same Education write it is not possible to find Unity in their Tenents or Positions because their Spirits Judgments and Fancies are different but where so many several Authors speaking and writing at several times agree not only in Matters Dogmatical of sublime and difficult Natures but also in Predictions of future and contingent Events whereof it is impossible for humane Understanding to make a Discovery without a superiour Discovery made to it I must needs conclude one and the same Divine Spirit declared the same Truths to these several Men. And as to the seeming Contrarieties of some Places of Scripture this should not at all trouble us for this is rather an Argument of the Truth and Authority of it it is a sign the Writers did not combine together to cheat and delude us If they had designed any such thing we should not have met with any Difficult and seemingly Repugnant Places in these Writings But seeing we do so this among other things may confirm us in this Belief that the Scriptures were not contrived by Men who had a design to impose upon us for if they had had such a Design they would have so ordered it that not the least appearance of Contradiction and Difference should have been found But truly there is no necessity of proceeding thus in this Discourse for to an unprejudiced and industrious Enquirer there is
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
nothing in Scripture that looks like Inconsistent and Contradictory Upon a diligent Search we shall discern a mutual Correspondence in the Stile Matter and Design of these Writings we shall find a happy Concurrence of Circumstances and an admirable Consistency in the Doctrines and Discourses in so much that we shall be forced to acknowledg that upon this single Consideration it is reasonable to believe that these Writings were endited by the Holy Spirit This Harmony then of the Scriptures I may justly reckon among the Inward Notes of the Truth of Scripture because it is adjoined to the Matter of it which is of the very Intrinsick Nature of it What Iustinian professes and promises concerning his Digests in his Preface to them that there is nothing Clashing and Contradictory in them but that they are all of a piece is true only of the Sacred Laws of the Evangelical Pandects which contain in them nothing Dissonant and Repugnant The Old and New Testament the Prophets and Apostles are consonant to themselves and to one another which is a great Argument of the Truth of them There is nothing in one Place of Scripture opposite to the true Meaning which the Holy Ghost hath revealed and asserted in another The Contents of the whole Book whether you look into the Doctrinal or Historical Part of it have nothing contradictory in them All the Authors of it agree in their Testimonies and assert the same thing and consent among themselves It is the Nature of Lies and Forgeries that they hang not together as Lactantius on the like Occasion hath observed Especially if you search very inquisitively and narrowly into them you will perceive that they are thin and slight and may easily be seen through But the Contents of these Writings have been diligently inquired into and with great Care and Industry examined by all sorts of Persons and yet they are found to be every ways Consistent with themselves and the Testimony of the Writers is known to be Concurrent and Agreeing All wise and curious Observers must needs grant that there is no Book under Heaven that parallels the Scriptures as to this Which shews that they are more than Humane Writings yea that they were Divinely inspired and dictated And this I take to be the Sense of St. Peter who assures us that no Prophecy of the Scripture is of private Interpretation He speaks of the first Rise of those Prophecies which are in Scripture they are from God they are not of private Interpretation they are not from Man's Invention they are not of his own Brain and Fancy but they are to be esteem'd to be as they are Divine and Heavenly Oracles Thus the Word of God is Witness to it self and stands in need of no others The Scripture is sufficiently proved by what is in it and is to be believed for its own sake Which made an antient Writer say We have compleat Demonstrations out of the Scriptures themselves and accordingly we are demonstratively assured by Faith concerning the Truth of the things therein delivered Which cannot be said of any humane Writings in the World for they carry no such Native Marks with them But the very Inward Notes of the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures create in us a certain and unshaken Belief They may be known from all other Writings whatsoever by the Excellent Transcendent and Divine Matter contained in them and by the peculiar Manner of delivering and publishing it These I call Internal Proofs because they are taken from the Books themselves because they are something that we find there These assure us that they were written not by Man but by God There is yet another Internal Testimony I call it so because it is within Vs though not in the Scriptures As I have shewed you that the Holy Spirit speaks in the Scriptures and bears Testimony to the Truth of them so now I add that this Spirit speaks in Vs and works in our Hearts a Perswasion that the Scriptures are the Word of God By this Spirit we are enabled to discern the Voice of the same Spirit and of Christ in those Writings This witnessing Power of the Spirit in the Souls of Believers is asserted in Acts 5. 32. 15. 7 8. and in 1 Iohn 5. 6. From these Places it is clear that there is an Illumination of the Spirit joining with our Consciences and Perswasions and this Spirit powerfully convinces all Believers of the Truth of the Scriptures This Testimony follows immediately on our setting before us the Inward Excellencies of the Scripture as I have represented them for God makes use of those Evidences and Arguments to beget a Belief in us of the Divine Authority of Scripture The Spirit enlightens and convinces Mens Minds by those Means but more especially he urges these Evidences on the Hearts of the Religious and Faithful and thereby brings them to a firm Perswasion of the Scriptures being the Word of God This is no Enthusiasm because it is discovered to us by proper Means and Instruments whereas that is without any and is generally accompanied with the despising of them But the Evidences and Notes in the Scripture are the Reasons and Motives of our Belief only the Holy Spirit comes and prepares and sanctifies our Minds and illuminates our Consciences and causes those Arguments and Motives to make Impression upon us and effectually to prevail with us and to silence all Objections to the contrary Thus the Truth of Scripture is attested by the Holy Spirit witnessing in us But when I say the Testimony of the Spirit is a Proof of the Truth of the Scripture I must adjoin this that this Proof serves only for those that have this Spirit it may establish them but it cannot convince others No other Man can be brought to be perswaded of the Truth of those Sacred Writings by the Spirit 's convincing me of the Truth of them Besides this Proof is not in all that really believe the Truth of these Books some may be convinced of the Truth of them without this but where this is it is most Powerful and Convictive and surpasses all other degreâ— of Perswasion whatsoever There is no such câ—tain knowledg of the Truth of these Holy Wâ— tings as by the Testimony of the Sacred Spirit 〈◊〉 the Hearts of Men produced there in a ration â— way and in such a manner as is most sutable 〈◊〉 our Faculties CHAP. II. External Proofs of the Truth of the Holy Scriptureâ— Viz. the wonderful Preservation of them and Vniversal Tradition Which latter is defended against the Objections of those that talk of a New Character wherein the Old Testament is written Thâ— Iewish Masoreth attests the Authority of these Writings The Hebrew Text is not corrupted The Points or Vowels were coexistent with the Letters F. Simon 's Notion of Abbreviating the Historicâ—â— Books of the Old Testament rejected The New Tement vouched by the unanimous Suffrage of the Primitive Church The
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
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
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
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.
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
diving into some future Transactions which depend wholly on Natural Agents In the next place those Spirits have had long Experience of things and are thereby grown very sagacious and cunning and on that account are able to guess of things that are to come for by observing what hath a long time happened in such and such Circumstances they may not unsuccessfully sometimes conjecture what will be for the future Moreover those Nimble Intelligences travelling up and down the World ranging and flying about and visiting the remotest Regions of the Earth and that with unspeakable Expedition must needs inform themselves concerning the diverse Occurrences abroad and make very great Discoveries as to what shall be afterwards from the Consults and Actions which they behold in the World The Devil appearing in Samuel's Shape told King Saul he should be with him the day following for he might partly know the Event of the Battel by what he knew concerning the Enemies Strength and the Anger of God against that forsaken Prince c. Diodorus the Sicilian relates that the Chaldean Priests foretold the Death of Alexander the Great and the dividing of the Empire among his Captains which they might venture to do and it seems their Prediction succeeded by the Information they had from those Daemons they convers'd with who 't is likely not only saw the debauched Life of that King but the great Mischief which it did to his Body and from thence the probability of his being dispatched by a violent Fever of which we read he died and they were not ignorant of the Ambition and Contentions of his Captains nay perhaps they were conscious to some Cabals which promoted those Events and then 't is not to be wondred that they could foretel them But there was another way too of foreknowing these things for they might be found predicted in Daniel's Prophecies of which we have spoken which the Chaldean Priests had without doubt some knowledg of There they found it written in express words chap. 8. 8. The great Horn which as the preceding Verses will inform you is meant of Alexander the Great was broken i. e. in plain terms he died and for it came up four notable ones i. e. his four chief Commanders succeeded him in the Empire And this you will find repeated almost in the same words in chap. 11. 4. that there might be no mistake about the Prophecy But truly I am enclined to think that there is yet another Account to be given of this Passage in Diodorus for as I shall hereafter make it more evident there are a great many References in the Pagan Historians to what is recorded in the Old Testament though they are generally done with some Obscurity or Mistake And I take this to be of that nature for the Historian refers here not only to the Book of Daniel which questionless was very famous in those days and particularly to those Prophetick Words before cited but to Daniel himself He was that Chaldean Priest for though he was an Hebrew by Birth yet Chaldea was the Country he lived in and he was in high esteem with the Chaldean Kings But when the Historian speaks in the Plural of Chaldean Priests it is a pardonable Oversight and such as is frequent in Writers And he calls them Priests because among the Chaldeans their Priests were the most knowing Men and the Magi and these were Terms convertible sometimes Or to call Daniel a Priest instead of a Prophet is a Mistake both easy and excusable wherefore notwithstanding this small Slip there is reason to believe that the Historian refers to the Prophet Daniel who once and again in very intelligible though Prophetick Terms foretels the Death of that Great Monarch and the Division of his Kingdoms amongst his Captains I might add likewise that Evil Spirits are considerable Actors in the Affairs on Earth and therefore 't is no wonder that they are able to foretel what they themselves are designing to bring to pass They could easily inform Spurina of Iulius Caesar's Fate when they had been present at the Consults of the Senate and were Instigators to take away his Life St. Austin speaks of one that knew and could tell the Thoughts of Men as when one thought of a Verse in Virgil or the like But Luther said well the Devil had before possessed his Thoughts with that Verse and then it was not difficult to foretel what he did himself Thus you see how far and in what manner Devils and wicked Men by their Means may foreknow Futurities But now if we consider the things foretold in the Old and New Testament we cannot apply any thing of all this to them for the foreknowing that K. Iosias Cyrus and Alexander should appear in the World so many Years afterwards the predicting of the Succession of the three Great Monarchies for one of them was past the erecting of the Kingdom of Christ the wonderful Propagation of the Gospel the Conversion of Jews and Gentiles and the like could not possibly be from the sagacious Insight into the Nature of things which the Evil Spirits may attain to nor from their Observation and Experience which are only of things past or present nor from any Acquaintance with the Affairs of the World as being Actors in them for some of these Events which we have mentioned out of the Sacred Writings had no dependance on Common and Natural Causes and therefore could not be penetrated into by the most subtile Enquirers into Nature as we suppose Evil Angels to be and besides they were at so vast a distance in respect of Time that it is impossible to imagine that these Spiritual Agents could have any Part then to act in them No Man of Sense can prevail with himself to credit any such thing but on the contrary he must be forc'd to acknowledg that it is wholly against the Nature of those Events to be foreseen and discover'd by any Diabolick Skill so long a time before they actually happened Wherefore I conclude that the foreknowing and consequently the foretelling of them was by parâ—icular Revelation from God He was pleased by â—ecret Inspiration to inform his Servants and to give them a discovery of those things which no â—reated Understanding could discern Lastly This may suffice in answer to those who suppose that some Persons who converse with Diabolick Spirits may have some Foresight of future Contingencies this I say may suffice that the Case we speak of is far different here can be nothing of the Devil because these Prophecies and all the other Writings to the Old and New Testament tend to the promoting of Holiness and Godliness and the destroying the Works of the Devil Their main Design is to weaken and even demolish Satan's Kingdom and to set up that of Christ Jesus both in the Consciences and Lives of Men. It is ridiculous therefore to say that these Prophecies are from the Devil No Man of ordinary Sâ—nsâ— can digest such a
Proposition it is impossible it should gain the Assent of any intelligent and sober Person When we consider the Nature of these Prophecies and what they aim at we must needs own them to be from Him to whom all Future Things are Present and who is the Cause as well as the Foreseer of them And therefore when we observe that the things which the Writers of Holy Scripture have delivered are actually come to pass we may with reason conclude that their Writings are not Forgeries but on the contrary that the Penmen of them were Inspired Persons that they had the Gift of Prophecy which is an infallible Testimony of their Authority These things being thus foretold so long before and being exactly verified since it undeniably follows that the Books which contain these Predictions and are founded on them are True and Certain These Predictions coming from God are an aâ— red Proof that these Writings were endited him they being so great a part of them Thiâ— that which an antient Father long since deliverâ— The foretelling of future things saith he 〈◊〉 Characteristick Note of the Divine Authority 〈◊〉 the Scriptures for this is a thing that is aboâ—â— humane Nature and the Powers of it and 〈◊〉 only â—e effected by the Virtue of the Divine â—â—â—rit We may rely upon it as an impregnaâ— Maxim that the Spirit of Prophecy and the Fâ— filling of Prophecies are a Divine Proof of 〈◊〉 Truth of the Scriptures and are a sufficient Grouâ— to us of believing them to be the Word of Goâ— Thus from the Matter of the Holy Scriptures 〈◊〉 have undeniable Evidence of the Authority aâ— Truth of them Again the Manner of these Writings is anotheâ— Proof of the Divine Authority of them Theâ— are not writ as others are wont to be the Penmeâ— of these Sacred Books do not speak after the raâ—â—â— of other Writers How admirable is the Simplâ— city and Ingenuity of these Men all along Theâ— do not hide their own or others Failings yea eveâ— when they are very gross and scandalous thuâ— Moses recorded not only Noah's Drunkenness and Lot's Incest but his own rash Anger and Unbelieâ— and David registers in the 51st Psalm his own Murder and Adultery Ieremiah relates his own unbecoming Fears Discontents and Murmurings chap. 20. 7 8 14. The Writers of the New Testament conceal not the Infirmities and Defects 〈◊〉 the gross Miscarriages of themselves and of â—heir Brethren as their cowardly leaving of Christ 〈◊〉 his Passion Iohn's falling at the Feet of an Anâ—el to worship him Thomas his Infidelity Iohn â—nd Iames the Sons of Zebedee their unseasonaâ—le Ambition Peter's denying of Christ even with â—erjury This free and plain dealing of the Wriâ—ers of the Old and New Testament shews that â—hey are not the Writings of Men. A Man may â—ee that there is no worldly and sinister Design â—â—rried on in them but that the Glory of God is â—holly intended by their impartial discovery of â—he Truth Which was long since taken notice of â—y Arnobius in answer to that Cavil of the Pagans hat the History of the Gospel was writ by poor 〈◊〉 People and in a simple Manner Therefore â—aith he it is the more to be credited because they write so indifferently and impartially and out of Simplicity This Impartiality and Sincerity of theirs are an irrefragable Argument of the Truth of their Writings And here also you will find an excellent and admirable Composition of Simplicity and Majesty together Though the Strain be High and Lofty yet you may observe that at the same time it is Humble and Condescending To which purpose a Learned Father saith well The Language of Divine Wisdom in the Scripture is Low but the Sense is Sublime and Heavenly whereas on the contrary the Phrase of Heathen Writers is Splendid but the things couched in them are Poor and Mean The Scripture-Writers make it not their work to set off and commend thâ— Writings by being Elaborate and Exact Hâ— are no set Discourses no pointed Arguments 〈◊〉 affected Strains of Logick The Writers 〈◊〉 the Bible saith another antient Father did 〈◊〉 make their Writings in a way of Demonstration these unquestionable Witnesses of the Truth being above all Demonstration Nor shall yâ—â— find here that the Writers strain for Eleganciâ— and florid Expressions as other Authors are wonâ— here is no quaint and curious Method no formâ— Transitions no courting of the Readers no unnecessary Pageantry of Rhetorick to gain Admiration and Attention Especially the Stile of the Evangelists and Apostles is not tumid and affected but plain and simple and scorns the Ornamenâ— and Embellishments of Fancy for as an oâ— Christian said rightly Truth needs no Fucus anâ— Artifice and therefore the Sense not Words are minded in Scripture All good Men ought to be pleased with this Simplicity and Plainness of the Holy Stile of which there is a memorable Instance in an Ecclesiastical Historian who tells us that Spiridion a notable Confessor for the Christian Faith reproved one Tryphilius an Eloquent Man and converted by him to Christianity some time before because speaking one time in the famous Council of Nice he did instead of those Wordâ— of Christ Tolle grabatum tuum say Tolle lectum tuum humilem he reproved him I say and that very sharply for disdaining to use the word which the Scripture it self useth It is true the Words of Scripture seem sometimes to be common and rude and altogether ungraceful sometimes I say for I shall shew afterwards that Scripture is not destitute of its Graces of Speech but that seeming Commonness and Rudeness are great Tokens of the peculiar Excellency of the Stile of Scripture Gregory the Great excusing the Plainness and Rudeness of his Stile in his Comments on Iob professeth that he thought it unworthy of and unbecoming the Heavenly Oracles to restrain them to the nice Rules of Grammar Surely the Writers of the Bible might say so with more reason it became them not to stand upon those Niceties and Formalities of Speech which are so frequent in other Authors for it is fitting there should be a difference between Humane Writings and Divine I agree with a late Ingenious Author who declares that it fits not the Majesty of God whose Book this is to observe the humane Laws of Method and Niceness of Art Inspired Writings must not be like those of Men. The singular Grace of these is that they are not Artificial and Studied but Simple Plain and Careless and that their whole Frame and Contexture are not such as ours An artificial Method is below the Majesty of that Spirit which dictated them This would debase the Scriptures and equal them with the Writings of Men. Wherefore the oftner I look into that Sacred Volume and the more I observe it the more I am convinced that the Pens of the Writers were wholly directed by a Divine Hand For take any of the Books either Doctrinal
Alah nor Chi Alon nor Chi gnolam but Chi Elohim or Chi El take which you please that is referr'd to here by the Poet for these are the very words used in Scripture and we read that one of them especially is the express form of Swearing among the Hebrews Which is the thing I alledged this passage for viz. To let you see how Pagan Writers have frequent references to the Book of God and particularly the Name of the True God and to the Customs and Usages there spoken of and thereby do in some measure give testimony to the Truth and Reality of those Writings I would offer to the Learned another Notion in prosecution of the Subject I have been so long upon I am of the Opinion that from The frequent mention of Horns in the Old Testament the Heathens borrow'd the like expression and apply'd it in that very sense in which 't is used in those Holy Writings The Hebrew Keren whence the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latin Cornu and the German and English Horn signifies Might Strength Fortitude as also Ioy Safety Prosperity whence you read of the Horn of Salvation 2 Sam. 22. 3. Psal. 18. 2. and the exalting lifting up and setting 〈◊〉 the Horn 1 Sam. 2. 1. Ps. 75. 4 10. Ps. 89. 17. Ps. 112. 9. Lam. 2. 17. Zach. 1. 21. On the contrary cutting off the Horn signifies debasing degrading a mournful unsafe afflicted Condition 〈◊〉 is clear from Ps. 75 10. Ier. 48. 25. Lam. 2. 3. And defiling the Horn is of the same import 〈◊〉 16. 5. From the signification of the Verb Kuran we may be partly confirmed in this sense of the Noun Keren for 't is said of Moses's Face that it shone Ex. 34. 29. it was very Bright and Glorious The vulgar Latin renders it it was Horn'd and thence was said before Moses is â—sually Pictured with Horns But we must unâ—â—rstand it spoken Metaphorically viz. of those â—ays or Beams of Light which darted from his face and which were as 't were Horns of Light So in Hab. 3. 4. by Horns is meant Brightness or Light and it is so expresly interpreted in that rerse The Radiency the Splendour of Moses's Face was very great and is rightly called by the Apostle the Glory of his Countenance 2 Cor. 3. 7. So that hence we may gather that the word imports Outward Glory And as this word Keren signifies more generally Power Grandeur Ourward Glory and Prosperity so it more particularly denotes Kingly Power Soveraign Dominiou and Empire the Greatness and Splendor of Crowned Heads Whence by the way I propound it as probable that from the Eastern words Karan and Keren are derived the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominus Imperator and the Latin Corona Thus Horn is applied in 1 Sam. 2. 10. He shall give strength unto his King and exalt the Horn of his Annointed And in the Psalms you will find that this word hath particular reference to David as King Ps. 89. 24. 91. 10. So in Ps. 132. 17. 't is spoken of him as the Lord 's Annointed and 't is joyn'd with a Crown in the next verse In the Book of Daniel this Language is very common in the 7th and 8th Chapters a Horn and Horns signifie Princely Dominion and the Persons that exercis'd it and in the latter of these Chapters those two Horn'd Beasts a Ram and a Goat are Representatives of Kings and Kingdoms It is in express words said in two places Horns are Kings Dan. 7. 24. 8. 7. Now from this particular stile and idiom of the Ancient Holy Book of the Scriptures the Heathen Writers learnt to speak after the same manner Not only in a general way was the word Horn used by some of their Authors to express Vigour Spirit Strength and Power but more especially and signally they makâ— use of it to signifie Supream Power and Dignity such as that of their Gods and of their Kings Thus Corniger was the Epithet of Iupiter Hammon and we may inform our selves from several Writers that he was commonly pictured with Horns which had its rise I conceive from the like representation of Great Ones in the Old Testament as you have heard I know other Reasons are alledg'd as that of Servius who thinks this Iupiter had that Title and was represented Horned because of his Winding Oracles because his Answers had as many crooked Turnings as a Ram's Horn. Macrobius and some others tell us that this Hammon was no other than the Sun whose Beams are Cornute whose Rays are in the fashion of Horns If the Moon had been meant then I confess the Epithet of Horned had been very Natural But I don't think that the Metaphorical Horns of the Sun which are its Rays were thought of here by the Antients Wherefore I look upon these as mean and trifling Reasons But the true occasion if I mistake not of their describing Iupiter Hammon with Horns and of representing other Gods as Pan and Bacchus after the same manner was this that they complied with the Stile of the Sacred Writings as was an usual thing with them which set forth Great Power Magnificence and Glory especially Kingly Power and Greatness by the expression of Horns This suited well with their Gods who were Great Folks and generally Deified Kings We read that a Ram and a Goat are Symbols of Regal Strength in the Prophetick Writings in imitation of which it is probable Iupiter Hammon was worshipp'd in Afsrick in the shape of an Image which had partly the proportions of a Ram and partly of a Goat And from the same Original viz. the Holy Scriptures it was that Antiently the Pagan Kings and Monarchs were represented and stiled Horned as we may satisfie our selves from several Authors It is well known that Alexander the Great was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bicornis of which some give this Reason because say they of the amplitude of his Empire which was extended to both the extream Horns of the World East and West Others say he would have been thought to be the Son of Iupiter Hammon who was Cornute and accordingly they drew Alexander so And there are other Reasons assign'd by Authors why this Great Conquerour had the denomination of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but they seem to be far fetch'd and not to give us the true and genuine account of it which I take to be this viz. That this Title was derived to the Gentiles from the frequent Language and Phraseology of the Old Testament which expresses Kingly Power by Horns and more especially from the Prophecy of Daniel where the Grecian Monarchy is deseribed by a He Goat an Horn'd Animal and the first King of that third Monarchy viz. Alexander the Great is signified by Keren Chazuth a Notable Horn Dan. 8. 5. a Great and Visible Horn as the Hebrew word properly signifies And again he is call'd in the same Chapter the Great Horn v. 21. All Interpreters agree in
this that Alexander the Great is meant here although they differ in expounding other parts of the Chapter Hence this Mighty Monarch would in his Pictures and Coins be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 represented as Horn'd yea his choice Horse which he most prized is known by this Character And from this Great Man his Successors learnt to stamp their Coine with Horned Images and Impressions Hence â—lexander is called Dulcarnain in the Alcoran by Mabomet which is equivalent to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that I suppose to be the meaning of that Eastern word And 'till some others give a better Interpretation of Chaucer's at Dulkernoon I presume to say it signifies as much as to be in a â—aze to be at ones wits end to be dilemma'd to be push'd at on one side and the other as 't were with a double Horn. So much for that Name given to that Great Monarch of which many Writers have disputed and I have made bold to put in among the rest and to offer my apprehensions concerning that Epithet I refer it to the Old Testament which was not unknown to some of the wisest of the Gentiles who thence borrow'd many Words and Phrases and more Customs and Practices Hence Horns came to be significatâ—ve of Kingly Greatness and Power Hence it was a Custom among the Persians to wear a Rams Head of Gold for a Diadem Hence Attila King of Hunns was pourtray'd with Horns as is to be seen in Ancient Medals And that Horns were a Badge of Regality and Dominion is clear from what we read in Valerius Maximus viz. That when on a sudden Horns were seen to appear on the head of Genitius Cippus as he was going out at the door the Response was that he should be King if he return'd into the City I have now almost finish'd my Task I mean so far as it respects the Old Testament Let me only add this after all That many things in Homer Euripides Sophocles Theognis c. may not only be reduced to but seem to be borrow'd from David's Psalms Solomon's Proverbs the Book of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus which are but an imitation of these and other parts both of the Canonical and Apocriphal Writings This hath been partly shew'd by some of late but might be carried on much further I do not think every Saying that is like another in Scripture was taken thence That of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. 9. which he takes from Isai. 64. 4. Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the Heart of Man is very like that passage in Empedocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but no Man can think there was any reference to it I do not say that Lucretus's Cedit item retro de terrâ quod fuit ante In terras Et quod missum est Aetheris oris c. was copied out of Solomon Eccles. 12. 7. Toen shall the dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it I know many Sentences may happen to be alike yea the same in Sacred and Prophane Writers The Moral Subject they Treat upon might afford the like matter and words sometimes but in comparing the Hagiographa and those Writings you will find that that there is more than this the Genius of the Stile is the same the manner of Expression the forms of Speech the particular Phrases and proverbial Sayings which had their first rise among the Hebrews are the very same This is excellently shewed by the Learned Hugh Grotius in his Annotations and it plainly discovers whence the Pagan Writers had those things Some of the Prophane Poets borrow'd their strain of Love-Songs and Epithalamiums from Solomon's Canticle Especially Theocritus as Sanctius hath observed from whom the rest learnt that way of Verse hath not a few passages in his Idyllia expresly taken out of that Sacred Song And in that Dialogue of Plato which he entitles Symposium or his Eroticks there are several things which you would guess are allusions to Solomon's Love-Dialogue or Epithalamium And to heap up several particulars together it was said by Solon in his Discourse with Craâ—sus as both Herodotus and Diogenes Laertius report that the Term of Mans Life is threescore years and ten as if he had had it from the Pen of the Holy Psalmist Psal. 90. 10. The Acclamation or Shout which was used among the Heathens in War when there was an occasion of Joy and Thanksgiving was 〈◊〉 which you may eaâ—ily conceive was a corruption of Allelujah Some Chapters and Psalms of the Old Testament are disposed in an Alphabetical Order which gave rise to that sort of Verses call'd Acrosticks Such are the Arguments of Plautus's Comedies and the Elogium of Christ in one of the Sibylls which you will find also in Tully This piece of Wit and Fancy was borrowed from the Holy Writings which were Endicted by the Sacred Spirit And here when I am speaking of the Pagans borrowing from the Hebrews I might even observe to you that the very Greek Alpbabet is taken from them which the Grecians themselves in part confess for they say they had their Letters from the phaniâ—ians who were near Neighbours to the Hebrews and who indeed are usually mistaken for these I will add in the last place that the Old Testament hath left some remains of it in most remoto Countries of the World as China India America as our Modern Travellers will inform us In all these parts there are evident and apparent footsteps of the History of the Bible Mastinius in his History of China acquaints us that the Chineses have Records concerning the Vniversal Flood and that there are among that People several Memorials of the Old Patriarchs and accordingly one hath given us a brief account out of him of Cain Enoch and Noah That in India the footsteps of Mosaick Doctrine remain among the Brachmans is proved by Huetius The highest Mountain of Zeilan an Isle in the East-Indies is call'd by the Inhabitants Adam's Top and there is Adam's Cave where he lamented himself after his Fall The Ceremony of putting their Hands under one another's Thighs when they solemnly Swear to one another of which we read in Gen. 24. 2. 47. 29. is observ'd among some of the Indians at this day The Americans saith â—â—osta have Traditions of the Deluge and make mention of it in their Discourses And Huetius â—â—eweth that several Rites and Laws of Moses are observed by them The Antient Patriarchs left behind them remembrances of their Actions even in these places their Memory is still preserv'd and retained in many Names Customs and Practices that are among them The Name Ioseph is often found there and Hallelujah is used in their Songs as Hornius observes The People of Peru report that all their Earth was overwhelm'd with waters and lay cover'd with them a long time that
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
of the putting Iohn the Baptist to death whom he hugely extols telling us that he was an excellent Man and stirred up the Jews to piety and vertue holiness and purity both of Body and Soul and that Herod caused him to be killed because he feared his Authority would hurt him and occasion a defection among the People He also relates how this Herod cast off his own Wife and took Herodias who was his Brother's Wife This Author makes honourable mention of St. Iames whom he calls the Brother of Iesus Christ and relates his Martyrdom and declares that the taking away his Life was so flagitious a Sin that it was in revenge of that that the Iews were destroy'd their Temple and City burnt and all other Evils befel that Nation He fully agrees with St. Luke in mentioning Herod's Speech to the People and their impious Flattery and the immediate Iudgment of God upon this Wicked Man by whose command that holy Apostle was put to death It is true Iosephus saith not that he was eaten up of Worms but this is included in that he saith he was seized with a sudden pain and disease and died in great torment of his Bowels which without doubt were gnaw'd and devour'd by those Worms St. Luke specifieth Because this Writer relates that Herod the Great the Infant-slayer was infested and plagued with noisom Vermin in his Body therefore some say he is guilty of a great mistake here and speaks that of this Herod which St. suke faith of the other viz. Herod Agrippa But I do not see any reason for this imputation of Guilt because Herod the Great as well as the other Herod might dye of that filthy disease though it is not mention'd by St. Matthew or the other Evangelists Wherefore we have no reason to think this Historian was mistaken and disagrees with the holy Writers As to the main you will find him concurring with them not only in this but in other matters recorded by them and consequently you will find him attesting the verity of the History of the Gospel and you will conclude that he is a very substantial Witness for the Christian Religion Having produced these Testimonies concerning St. Iohn and St. Iames I might add somewhat relating to St. Paul That Insurrection mention'd in Acts 21. 38. where you read that the Tribune of the People said to St. Paul Art not thou that Egyptian who before these days didst raise a Tumult and leadest into the Wilderness four thousand Men That Insurrection I say is the same with that taken notice of by Iosephus more than once which was begun by an Egyptian who pretending to be a Prophet gathered together great numbers of Iews the attempt and issue of which are recorded by this Historian and so it is a Confirmation of what St. Luke here records with reference to St. Paul I will here add also a Pagan Testimony concerning this Apostle viz. concerning his being caught up to the third Heaven mention'd by himself in 2 Cor. 12. 2. This is referr'd to in one of Lucian's Dialogues where one Triphon professeth himself to be Paul's Disciple and would make Critias such a one and convert him to the Christian Faith Paul is there described thus That Bald-pate that Hawk-nos'd Galilean who mounts up through the Skies into the third Heaven and thence fetcheth those goodly Notions which he preacheth to the World He is called a Galilâ—an because that was the common name of a Christian and he is said to be Bald as that holy Man is reported to have been when he was old His Hawk-nose alludes to his high flight and mounting up into the Air like a Hawk when he ascended to Heaven And this ascending into the third Heaven is a plain Description of him because none of the Apostles or other Christians ever did so but he And what is added next that he learnt there all his fine and goodly Notions it may refer to what that Apostle saith in the same place that he heard unspeakable words which it is not possible for any Man to utter I could observe that in the same Dialogue this Author bears testimony to the Faith receiv'd and professed by the Christians whilst there he scoâ—â—ingly brings in a Catechumen asking this question By whom would you have me swear toâ— you And then his Instructor answers thus By that God who reigneth on high who is Great Immortal Celestial by the Son of the Father by the Spirit proceeding from the Father One of three and Three of one Thus from this Pagan Scoffer who could laugh and speak truth together we are informed that the Doctrin of the Blessed Trinity which the New-Testament so expresly declares was profess'd by the Primitive Christians To this I might add the Inscription on the Athenian Altar taken notice of by St. Paul and which wants not the Testimony of Prophane Writers This is mentioned by Pausanias in his Atticks and hinted at by Lucian in his Philopatris Thucydides saith there were no less than twelve Altars erected in the Market-place in Athens with this Inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Philostraius makes mention of the same Laertius takes notice of the nameless Altars at Athens and particularly of one erected To the unknown and strange God To proceed some have produc'd a Letter of Seneca Nero's Tutor to St. Paul with St. Paul's Answer to it This is mentioned by Ierom who reckons Seneca in the Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers because of this Epistle to the Apostle and St. Augustin also takes notice of it But I am not so fond as to take in all sorts of Testimonies without any distinction but I rather look upon those Epistles as Spurious the stile plainly shewing that one of them at least that to Seneca is so But because this Seneca was a grave and serious Philosopher and was against the Superstitions of the Romans and was far better than the Pagans of that time hence some thought he was a Christian and was so perswaded to be by St. Paul and then it was easily believed that they conversed together and had Correspondence by Letters Concerning St. Peter likewise I will only leave this and submit it to the censure of the Readers his encountring that Arch-Sorcerer Simon of Samaria who is spoken of in Acts 8. and his dismounting him by his Prayers from his Charioâ— though they are not mention'd in the infallible Records of the New-Testament yet are registred by Clemens the Roman Arnobius and Epiphanius For it seems this Magician would needs be flying in the Air and by such artifices bring credit to his false Doctrins but St. Peter by the extraordinary assistance of the Spirit and the Efficacy of his ardent Addresses to Heaven baffled this soaring Magician and brought him down from his heighths and laid him prostrate and dead on the Ground Which very thing I conceive is attested by Suetonius in whose Writings
the uppermost parts of the Foundation which they could conveniently come at and then tear up the Ground with a Plough for as it was a Custom among the Romans to make use of the Plough when they laid the Foundations of a City so they dug up the Ground in the like manner when they destroy'd it The Iews themselves Record this we find both in the Talmudick Chronicles and in R. Maâ—monides as Dr. Lightfoot assures us that Ierusalem was ploughed up after the Destruction of it At which time there was a literal accompliâ—hment of that Prophecy of Micaâ— c. 3. v. 12. Sion shall be ploughed as a Field Afterwards in Adrian's Reign the Iews rebelling under the Conduct of Barchocâ—ab as hath been said the Emperor caused all the remaining footsteps of the City and Temple to be defaced and demolish'd and commanded the three Towers which by Titus's Order were left standing to be pull'd down and then strewed the City with Salt Nay the very name of the City was extinguished for Adrian after this total Desolation causing the City to be built anew but much more contracted than before call'd it by his own name Aelia and here he set up the Heathen Worship and in deâ—iance and abhorrence of Iudaism erected the Image of a Sow over one of the greatest Gates of the City And after this when Iulian out of that hatred and malice which he bore to the Christians and their Religion set the Iews on work to rebuild the Temple at Ierusalem lo a terrible Earthquake spoilt all and those Stones of the Foundation which lay unmoved before were now thrown out of their places Then were those words of Christ in the beginning of this Chapter exactly fulfill'd There shall not be left here one Stone upon another that shall not be thrown down v. 2. Lastly I will add this that this direful and tragical end of the holy City was usher'd in with several strange Spectacles and Signs according to our Saviour's Prediction not only in this Chapter v. 29. but in Mark 13. 24. Luke 21. 25. And even these are particularly mentioned and described by Iewish and Pagan Authors Ierusalem was compassed with Armies in the Sky as well as with those below Of these strange Sights the chief Roman Historian speaketh saying There were Armies seen in the Air encountring one another that their Weapons were exceeding bright and glistering and that the Temple seem'd to be all of a Light by the continual flashings of the Clouds And he proceeds to enumerate other prodigious Accidents which were the preâ—ages of Ierusalems Destruction Thus the Twenty-fourth of St. Matthew and the other parallel Chapter in St. Luke which treat of the forerunners of Ierusalems Destruction and the Destruction it self may be particularly made good out of mere Heathen Writers who knew nothing of Christ's Predictions concerning it But not only of these but of all the other strange Apparitions Voices and portentous Events Iosephus gives us a particular Account in an intire Chapter on this Subject There you will find that the Prognosticks of Ierusalems Destruction the Signs and Tokens in Heaven or Earth which the Evangelists speak of are faithfully Recorded by that Jewish Historian I have yet another Evidence to exhibit and that is concerning Christ's Followers and Servants in the Age next after him whence it will appear from the Relation given by a professed Heathen what the Christians were And by a fair and rational Deduction we may gather what manner of Persons they were at the very first and consequently that the Evangelical History represents them aright Pliny the younger Writing to Trajan gives an account of the Religion and Practise of these Persons for he being Proconsul of Bithynia in that Emperors time and appointed by him to inspect the carriage of the Christians he was careful to inform himself of that matter thereby to gratifie his Master who had employ'd him Accordingly he tells how strangely that Religion increased and gathered strength every day in that Province and that not only great Cities but Towns and Villages were filled with the Professors of it and in proportion to this that the Pagan Worship daily decreased He testifies how resolute and constant they were in their Profession for he saith he had some Persons before him under Examination who were accused of being Followers of Christ but he presently found them to be no Christians because they were so ready upon his Suggestion to adore the Emperors Image and even to curse Christ himself Which was a sufficient Evidence to him he saith that they were not Christians indeed for he had been imformed he tells the Emperor that Persons of that Character could not possibly be forced to any thing of that nature but that they were immoveable and unshaken in their Religion Lastly he gives some account from their own Mouths and Confessions of their way of Religion and how devoutly they served God and that they worship'd Christ as such Then there is also Trajan's Rescript to Pliny concerning the Christians wherein he expresses it to be his pleasure that these Persons should no longer be under the Inquisition i. e. they shall not be sought for to be punished notwithstanding their stedfastness and Pervicaciousness as Pliny had represented it in their Religion for he was satisfied of their good moral Qualities and that they were neither perjur'd Persons nor Sacrilegious nor Adulterers nor Homicides nor Malefactors of any sort This Character and Account which were given at the beginning of the Second Century by the Emperor himself and by Pliny who had certain knowledge of the Christians may create a Perswasion in us that they were at first the same holy and Innocent Persons and that their Religion wonderfully increased and flourish'd and that all the Severities which were used towards them were not able either to stifle them or their Religion and consequently may assure us that the History of the New-Testament rightly and truly describes them and gives a faithful Account of Christianity and the Author of it After this ample Testimony it would be needless to insist on what Arrianus and Galen and several other credible Writers have deliver'd concerning the manisold Sufferings of the first Christians and that invincible Patience Resolution and Constancy wherewith they underwent them After all that hath been said I will conclude with the Testimony of that Arch Infidel Mahomet who hath these express words in the Alcoran The Spirit of God hath given Testimony to Christ the Son of Mary a Divine Soul was put into him He is the Messenger of the Spirit and the Word of God His Doctrin is perfect c. And again the Gospel is called the Light and Confirmation of the Testament and the right way to fear God And moreover he brings in God speaking and declaring thus that he had sent Christ the Son of Mary and that he had given the Gospel to no other end but
reason no Man can rationally think that such Notable Concomitants of our Saviour's Nativity as the General Taxing and the Appearing of the Star could be recorded by this Historian And as for Tacitus who is the other Celebrated Historian there is as little reason to expect any of these notorious Matters in his Writings because he goes not back so far as Augustus His Annals begin with Tiberius and continue to the death of Nero and his Books of History begin where his Annals left off and go on to the end of Titus Vespasian's Expedition against the Iews and there have their Period L. Florus is but an Abbreviator of Livy and therefore we can look for nothing there So Velleius Paterculus though he goes something farther is an Epitomizer a Scantling of an Historian As for Iustin who flourished in the Emperor Antoninus Pius's time he was but an Epitomizer of Trogus Pompeius and goes no farther than he went therefore we cannot expect any thing of him concerning the Christian Affairs Thus you see what are the boundaries of these Chief Historians and what you may look for or rather not look for from them and also you have the Reasons given you why but few things which have reference to the History of the Gospel are found recorded in Pagan Writers But all that could be rationally look'd for is recorded as I have shew'd you by the best Historians among the Pagans These are the several Considerations which I undertook to offer and I question not but that they will fully satisfie the Scruples and Objections before started and abundantly clear up this Truth to us that we have sufficient Testimony from Pagan and Iewish Writers concerning the Gospel-History This Proposition is evident that the New-Testament is confirmed by Prophane Writers that the Evangelical Records are attested by the authority even of those who were without These have transmitted to us many of those things which are registred by the holy Evangelists The Memoirs of these things are in Prophane Story in the Writings of those that opposed the Christian Religion Thus I have finish'd what I attempted that is I have proved the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures from the suffrage and attestation of Strangers I have let you see that the Confession of our Adversaries agrees with that of our best Friends We appeal to the Iews and to the Gentile-World even these bear witness to the Sacred Writings And their witness cannot be rejected by any reasonable Person because a Testimony is least to be suspected when it comes from an Enemy yea because such a Testimony is reputed firm and solid because it is worthy to be believed bâ—cause it is most valid for the Commendation and Establishment of the Truth This then rendâ—rs the Books of the Old and New-Testament worthy of all Acceptation viz. that they are vouched by Profesâ— d Adversaries And this is that which I have been urging in this Discourse viz. that Iews and Pagans testifie the same things which the Inspired Writers deliver A great part of the memorable Passages set down in these Sacred Writings are left on Record in those others This is a mighty Confirmation of the Truth of these holy Books this is a clear Evidence that they are not forged and supposititious but that the Matters contain'd in them are real and certain that they give a just and faithful Account of the things they treat of in brief that they are the Word of Truth and endited by the Spirit of Truth And thus much in pursuance of the First General Head concerning the Holy Scriptures viz. the Truth and Authority of them FINIS ADDENDA Refer this to Page 261. Line 15. THe English Iay from the Hebrew Ajaâ— pica cornix To abash is taken from the Hebrew â—ush puduit And from the Greek we borrow many words with the omission of a Letter or two in the beginning as Licourice for Glicourice from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Emonies vulgarly so call'd for Anemonies from the Flower 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence the Latin Anemone Sciatica for Ischiatica ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hip or Huckle-bone Scaroticks among Physicians for Escharoticks Scar from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 crusta cauterio in carne facta Sol from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rice from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oryza Star from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Box from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maurâ—s a Moor from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 obscurus Tanâ—ie from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To gaze from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 admiror stupeo Gay from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elegans and perhaps Trull from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laena And I have taken notice of several Words from the Latin with the first Letter or more cut off in the beginning as Uncle from avunculus qu. avuncle Tills as they are call'd in some Countries from Lentils Lenticula Story from History Historia Bishop qu. Pischop from Episcopus Spain from Hispania Sparagus for Asparagus A Plaister from Emplastrum Stum from mustum Dropsy from Hydrops Gypsy for Egypsy of Latin original Pouch for Capouch a Cowl or Hood whence the Capuchin Friars have their Name from Caputium a Hood worn on the Head Picked i. e. sharp at the end qu. spiked from Spica an Ear of Corn Or if it comes from a Pike then that seems to come from Spiculum a Pike or Spear and that is from Spica it is likely Sides men corruptly for Assisting-men it being their Office to Assist the Church-Wardens unless you will rather understand by them Testes Synodales Synods-Men who were anciently joined with the Church-Wardens There are other English Words derived after the same manner from the English Saxon and French Thus Poppy with the p left out in the beginning and middle seems to give the denomination to Opium which is now a Word that may pass for English and signifies the Juice of Poppy as if Popium were the Word Sterling for Easterling Bour or Bowr from Arbour Spittle or Spital for Hospital Valis for Avail Vantage for Advantage Say for Essay Grees Stairs for Degrees Cantle in Heraldry quasi Scantling Prentice vulgarly for Apprentice Stover for Cattle from the French Estover Squire for Esquire à Gall. Esâ—uyer Quiry or Querry for Equerry a Place a Stable where Race-Horses are set To Ply for Employ Instead of Sacristan we corruptly say Sexton For God be with you we say Good By For Koningstable or Kingstable we say Constable the Officer that is appointed and establish'd by the King or to conserve the King's Peace We vulgarly a say Spice for a Specimen Hogo for Haut-goust Carfax for Quatre voix the place were Four Ways meet in Oxford Some have thought that Elphs and Goblins with which they frighted Children heretofore are derived from the famed and so â—alked of Feud between the Guelphs and Guibilines Saragosa in Spain is most corruptly pronounced for Caesar Augusta The Emperor of the Abyssines is called Prestor-Iohn
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 God whereas the Prophet who speaks this intimates in the whole Chapter afterwards that the Church shall flourish and that it shall be impossible for its Enemies to do it harm So that in Nah. 3. 14. Draw thee Waters for the Siege fortify thy strong Holds is said in way of Derision to Niniveh whose unavoidable Ruine is foretold in that Chapter And besides many such Sarcasms in the Old Teâ—â—ament there are several in the New as that of our Blessed Lord to his drowzy Disciples Sleep on â—ow and take your Rest Matth. 26. 45. This is a downright Irony because Christ here intends a different thing nay contrary to what he saith His meaning is not that they should sleep when both he and they were in so great Danger but his Intention rather was that they should watch and pray as you read ver 41. By this way of speaking he corrects them for their unseasonable Drowsiness that they could not watch at such a time as that when he had just before foretold them that he was to be betrayed That is another clear Text Full well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fairly as Sir Nort. Knatchbull renders it ye reject the Commandment of God saith our Saviour to the Pharisees Mark 7. 9. Ye do very well and laudably in preferring the Traditions and Constitutions of Men before the express Commands of God This is a commendable piece of Religion indeed Is it not Do you think that this will be acceptable to God There is another Passage of our Saviour which seems to me to be perfectly Ironical though Commentators generally carry the Sense another way But now saith Christ he that hath a Purse let him take it and likewise his Scrip and be that hath no Sword let him sell his Garment and buy one Luke 22. 36. Which is thought by Expositors to be a plain and direct Exhortation to the Apostles to furnish themselves with Money Provision and Swords But this cannot be meant here because 1. Christ had declared against Fighting for he tells Pilate Iohn 18. 36. that if his Kingdom were of this World then would his Servants i. e. his Apostles and Disciples fight that he should not be delivered to the Iews Swords then were to no purpose 2. When they brought two Swords to him his Answer is observable It is enough If he had meant real Swords he would not have said that two of them were enough for those could serve but two Men They should all of them be appointed with that sort of Weapons and have stood on their Guard When therefore he saith It is enough he doth as good as say I do not mean Carnal Weapons You mistake me as you have often done and dream of a Temporal Kingdom of the Messias 3. It is evident that Christ meant not Swords in the usual Signification of the Word because afterwards he sharply blamed Peter for making use of this Weapon Matth. 26. 52. It appears that he had no Commission from our Saviour to draw his Sword I cannot therefore subscribe to those who interpret these Words of our Lord in the direct and obvious Sense But if we understand them to be spoken â—ronically they are very intelligible and are consistent with what Christ saith at other times And let no Man wonder that our Blessed Master uses this sort of Stile here for I have shewed you before in two undeniable Instances that he made use of it yea even when he was approaching to Death as when he said to his Apostles Sleep on and take your Rest. And so he speaks after the same manner here upbraiding his Apostles who he knew were afraid of Suffering and had so often been talking of Christ's Kingdom on Earth and of the Prosperous Times that were to accompany it He now in a Sarcastick way chastises their fond and groundless Conceit and bids them go and buy Swords and lay in Provisions If you are for a Temporal Reign saith he then sight for it You are specially well skill'd in your Weapons without doubt you are excellent Sword-men This I take to be the Sense of the Words and truly a Man might gather it from that one Passage before mentioned It is enough said our Saviour to them when they brought him a couple of Swords This it self is an Ironick Quip it is as if he had said This is brave Armour indeed Now you are well appointed surely You are like to defend me and your selves against all that come against us Two Swords amongst you all are a very great Armory This plainly shews what our Saviour's meaning was when he bid them buy Swords he handsomly check'd them for their Cowardice and Fear of Suffering But yet I will not deny that something more may be included and comprized in these Words he bids them make the best Provision they can against the Calamitous Times that were coming he exhorts them to be provided with Spiritual Weapons Faith and Patience and thâ— Sword of the Spirit yea with the Whole Armour of God This higher and spiritual meaning may be contained in what Christ here uttereth But if you take the Words as they sound and in the more direct and literal Tendency of them I do not see that they can be interpreted in a better way than I have offered And as our Blessed Saviour himself so the Apostle St. Paul sometimes uses this Figure which I am now speaking of I am enclined to think that those Words in Acts 23. 5. I wist not that he was the High Priest are to be taken in this Sense He makes use of an Irony and is to be understood as if he had said Is this the High Priest Alas I did not know that this was that Reverend Gentleman I should have shewed my self more civil to him if I had been acquainted that this was that Worshipful Man that Gay Pontiff to whom you pay so great Veneration But who would take this Person to be the High Priest the Great Leading Officer of the Church who is to be an Example of Mildness and Gentleness to all Men His furious way of speaking and acting towards me doth not discover him to be one of that High Character and Order He doth not shew himself to be a Spiritual Man Surely this cannot be He This Behaviour speaks him to be another Person So it is spoken in a jtering way Nor is this Sense of the Words as â—â—me may think too light and jocular for the Apostle though he was before the Sanhedrim the most Grave and Solemn Council of that Nation For in several of the Instances before mentioned we see this way of speaking hath been made use of before very Great and Venerable Persons and in Causes that were exceeding Serious and Weighty And whereas the Apostle immediately adds For it is written Thou shalt not speak Evil of the Ruler of thy People which may make it seem incredible that St. Paul spoke in a Sarcastick way which is speaking one thing and meaning another
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.
great to God A Land of Darkness of the Lord Jer. 2. 31. is as much as a Land of very great and signal Darkness for Maphel is here compounded with Iah to express the Superlative Degree of Darkness So in the words Erâ—l Isa. 33. 7. Praevalidus Ariel Leo fortis 2 Sam. 23. 20. El the Name of God is added to inhanse the Signification So Iacob was Sirnamed Israel i. e. a Prince of God which is equivalent with a Great Prince one that mightily prevail'd even with God himself Hither perhaps may be reduced the Sons of God Gen. 6. 2. Great Men of high Stature the Giants mention'd ver 4. but call'd here the Sons of God according to the Idiom of the Hebrews who set forth the Greatness and Largeness as also the transcendent Worth and Excellency of Persons and Things by joining the Name of God to them To this way of speaking I refer Tardemah Iehovah 1 Sam. 26. 12. english'd by our Translators a deep Sleep from the Lord but according to the Hebrew it is a Sleep of the Lord i. e. a Great Sleep Sopor vehemens as Arius Montanus renders it a Profound Sleep out of which a Person is not easily awaked Therefore a deep Sleep or a very deep Sleep will be sufficient without adding from or of the Lord. To this also may be referr'd lechem abirim Psal. 78. 25. the Bread or Food of Angels i. e. Excellent Food for what is Excellent is said to be Angelical as well as Divine And indeed these are the same here for Abirim is of the same import with Elohim and as the Name of God is used to augment the sense Whence the Pagan Writers have borrow'd this manner of Speaking as when by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Food of the Gods they in a Proverbial way mean very Choice and Exquisite Dainties and by Deorum coenae they express a very Sumptuous and Delicate Entertainment Virgil and other Poets yea Cicero sometimes by the Epithet of Divine understand that which is Eminent Remarkable Excellent Bordering on which is the use of the word Sacred sometimes whereby that which is Great is express'd Sacra anchora is the greater and consequently the stronger and safer Anchor the last and only hope of the Ship and Mariners And some Criticks have thought that Sacra fames is the same with ingens insatiabilis for those things which are Great are said to be Sacred and to be of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among the Greeks are sometimes magna So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morbus sonticus is a Vehement Disease of greater Malignity than ordinary but more signally 't is applied to the Epilepsy Plutarch mentions an Old Physician who call'd his Choice Sovereign Medicines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in Galen there is Iupiter's Trochisk They give these Names to their Medicaments to shew the Excellency of them for all Great and Excellent things were by the Antients counted Holy and sometimes they put the Name of God upon them So among the later Physicians and Botanists you may observe that they make use of the Name of God of Christ of the Apostles and Saints to set forth some things which they have a great Esteem of They mention the most Sacred things to extol and magnify their Simples and their Medical Applications All this seems to be derived from the antient Stile of the Hebrews by whom that which is Greatest in its kind is call'd Divine and accordingly as R. D. Kimchi notes in his Comment on 1 Sam. 16. the Sacred Scripture when it would magnify a thing joins with it God's Name But it is endless to insist on the Old Testament and therefore I will confine my self to the New and briefly shew you that this part of the Bible though written in Greek abounds with Hebraisms and yet here still I shall have occasion to refer to the Writings of the Old Testament all along The Reason why the Evangelists and Apostles writ in Greek was because this was the Tongue generally used by all sorts of Nations but you will find that they accommodated it to the guise of the Hebrew Tongue that is they retained many of the Hebrew Idioms and made use of them in the Greek Language Thus to be called and to be are the same among the Hebrews and this latter is frequently in the Old Testament express'd by the former Accordingly these are oftentimes expressive one of another in the New Testament as in Mat. 5. 9. they shall be called the Children of God and ver 19. he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven 1 Joh. 3. 1. that we should be call'd the Sons of God To be called here and in other places is really to be and it is so express'd according to the Hebrew way of speaking There is the like signification of the word arise as in 2 Sam. 11. 20. if the King's Wrath arise Esth. 4. 14. Enlargement and Deliverance shall arise to the Iews Prov. 24. 22. their Calamity shall rise suddenly In all which places the word arise signifies no other than actual Being or Existing according to the Hebrew Idiom And thence it is used so in the New Testament as in Luke 24. 38. Why do Thoughts arise in your Hearts i. e. why are they there Mat. 24. 24. There shall arise false Christs i. e. there shall actually be at that time such Persons according to my Prediction So to be found is among the Hebrews of the same import with the forementioned Expressions and accordingly in the Old Testament one is put for the other as in 1 Sam. 25. 28. Evil hath not been found in thee 2 Chron. 19. 3. Good things are found in thee Isa. 51. 3. Ioy and Gladness shall be found therein Dan. 5. 12. An Excellent Spirit was found in Daniel In these and other Texts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inventus est are as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fuit As in the Writings of the Jewish Doctors you may observe that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ens In imitation of this Hebraism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used for sum or existo in the New Testament as in Luke 17. 18. There are not found that returned to give Glory to God save this Stranger Acts 5. 39. Lest haply ye be found to fight against God 1 Cor. 4. 2. that a Man be found Faithful Phil. 2. 2. being found in fashion as a Man Heb. 11. 5. Enoch was not found which is the same with Enoch was not as is evident from comparing this place with Gen. 5. 24. to which it refers That of St. Peter 1 Ep. 2. 22. Neither was Guile found in his Mouth is taken from Isa. 53. 9. Neither was there any Deceit or Guile in his Mouth From whence it appears that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
which is of the like Signification with a Vessel of Choice for what is desired is chosen Thus in a few Instances I have shewed that the Evangelical Writers do Hebraize and in many more I might have done the same For tho the New Testament hath not so many Hebraisms as is imagined by some Criticks yet it is not to be doubted that Christ and his Apostles used them very frequently It is evident that a great part of the Phrases of the New Testament are according to the Hebrew Propriety yea sometimes they agree more especially with the Rabinical and Talmudick way of Writing as Ludovicus Capellus and others have endeavoured to demonstrate Thus the Pillar and Ground of Truth 1 Tim. 3. 15. is the Title by which the Great Sanhedrim of the Jews was ordinarily stiled saith Dr Lighfoot Raca which is used Matth. 5. 22. as a Word of Reproach is common among the Talmudick Doctors for their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with the Syriac 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies a vain empty Fellow Christ follows the Language of the Rabbins and Talmudâ—sts when he uses the Word Heaven for God as in Matth. 21. 25. he ask'd the Jews whether Iohn's Baptism was from Heaven i. e. from God or of Men. I have sinned against Heaven i. e. God saith the Prodigal Son to his Father Luke 15. 18. This was the Stile of the Eastern People and of the Jews particularly as you find in Dan. 4. 23. 1 Macc. 3. 18. And this was the usual Language of their Rabbins they used Shamajim instead of God And in other Instances it might be shewed that the Sense of several Places in the New Testament is manifested and illustrated by the Knowledg of the Hebrew Phrase and Stile For which Reason it was necessary to say something of this Matter having undertaken to discourse of the Stile of Scripture We must remember that there are frequent Hebraisms in these Greek Writings the Authors themselves being Hebrews and they likewise making use of the Stile of the Old Testament and fetching thence several Expressions which are purely Hebrew Thus they must needs retain the Hebrew Idiom and way of Speaking and thus the Old Testament and New agree the better and the former gives constant Light towards the understanding of the latter 6thly Though there is a Great Variety of Words and Phrases in the New Testament and though this Part of the Bible was not written in Attick but Hebrew Greek yet this is to be asserted that there are no Soloecisms in it I add this here because some of old and others of late have unadvisedly suggested the contrary and have been so hardy and presumptuous as to aver that the Sacred Scripture especially the New Testament abounds with Soloecisms This is particularly said of St. Paul's Epistles by an Antient Father whose Unhappiness it was to speak several things too daringly and presumptuously That Cilician Currier saith he for so he calls St. Paul that sorry Tradesman was skill'd only in Hebrew which was as it were his Mother-Tongue to him and therefore hath many Soloecisms and Barbarisms in Greek And the same Author in another Place speaks to the like purpose and taxeth this Apostle for want of Grammar and Syntax Among the Moderns you 'l find Erasmus charging not only St. Paul but the rest of the Apostles with this Defect in their Writings There are many Soloecisms saith he in their Stile by reason of the frequent Hebraisms which are used by them And those worthy Reformers Luther and Calvin were not afraid to talk after this rate The former after his bold manner imputes false Grammar to the Evangelists and Apostles as you may see in his Writings And the latter expresly avoucheth that the Greek of the New Testament is Defective and particularly he holds that St. Peter writ false Greek as in 1 Epist. ch 3. v. 20. where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Dative for a Genitive Case And he fastens this Grammatical Soloecism on him merely to evade the Doctrine of Purgatory which cannot but greatly scandalize the Papists when they shall consider that this Great Reformer is not ashamed to disparage and vilify the Scriptures that he may thereby evade a Popish Doctrine yea this must needs be offensive to all others likewise who cannot but see that there was not the least Reason for his fancying the Change of one Case for another in this Place for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exactly answers to and agrees with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been the Word here it had indeed been false Greek but now 't is impossible for Calvin or any Man else to make it such Beza follows his Master and outdoth him for he every where finds fault with the Greek of the New Testament and holds that the Stile is disturb'd and corrupted yea that there are frequent Soloecisms in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 12. 40. should have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he saith and therefore he condemns it for naughty Grammar Whereas any unprejudiced Man may see that there is only an ordinary Ellipsis in the Words the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is understood as it is in several other Texts But the unsufferable Boldness of this Writer is partly founded on that Perswasion of his that the Spirit did not dictate Words to the Prophets and Apostles but only the Matter which I have shew'd before in another Discourse to be an incredible Assertion Castellio though of a different Judgment in other things from Calvin and Beza agrees with them in this that there are several Ungrammatical Passages in the Apostles Writings Upon Rev. 1. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he noteth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a Soloecism saith he but such do often occur in St. Paul Cannot this Author be content with the Credit and Reputation of having turned the Bible into neat Latin unless he condemns the Apostles for their false Greek And where I pray is this false Greek Not in this Place which he mentions and conâ—equently it is not reasonable to believe that it is in any other In this Place any impartial Eye may see that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Relative for another which is a common thing among Writers I could shew him forty Places in the Best Greek Authors where the like Change is made And that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is frequently left out in the most Approved Writers among the Grecians cannot be denied by any Man that hath had any Acquaintance with them yea 't is often left out in the New Testament and no fault is found with the Stile where it is so Why therefore should we think it a strange thing that it is omitted in this Place Here is Good
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
sufficiently dispatch'd it I hope I have let you see that those are no impartial Judges of Scripture-Stile who cry out of its Barbarisms but the Truth is they betray both their Ignorance and Irreligion at once in giving such a Judgment of it their Ignorance in that they shew themselves unacquainted with the Best Authors who are not always wont to bind themselves to the strict Observation of Grammatical Rules To this purpose the Learned Henry Stephens's Animadversions and Appendix at the End of his Thesaurus Gr. L. are worthy of the Perusal of all Curious Persons that would be fully acquainted with the Genius of the Attick Phrase and Idiom and the reading of these will abundantly satisfy them that the New Testament is like other Greek Writers and that the most Classick Greek Authors speak in the same strain that this doth This Accomplish'd Critick shews that there are pure Atticisms sometimes in these Holy Writings and particularly that an Ellipsis which is so frequent in them is a common Atticism in the best Grecians If those who raise Objections against the Stile of the New Testament would converse with These they might see that those Passages which seem not so proper or elegant in Scripture and that whatever looks like Soloecisms and favours of Rudeness or Defect of Language in these Holy Writings may be parallelled with what they meet with in the most Applauded Authors Their Irreligion likewise is discovered in this that nothing pleaseth them in the Holy Book and that what is not thought Improper or Rude in other Writings is accounted such in These yea that what are Soloecisms in a Sacred Writer are look'd upon as Atticisms and Elegancies in a Profane One. Having hitherto been in pursuance of this that the Holy Scripture hath many things in it according to the Strain of Other Writers I am to pass to the next Proposition CHAP. VII The Scripture-Stile hath some things in it that are not in common with Other Writers but are proper and peculiar to it self The LXX's Greek Version and the New Testament have words that are not extant in any other Authors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 14. 3. was coin'd by the Evangelist It s true Signification enquired into Inward Goodness or Righteousness is express'd by Terms which are unknown to other Writers Instances of several other Peculiar ways of Speaking Some Profane Authors differ from the rest as to the use of some particular Words and Phrases Ecclesiastical Writers have Words proper to themselves The Difficulty of Scripture proceeds partly from the Different Acception of Words which we meet with there Many Instances in the Old and New Testament The various Significations of the Word Spirit enumerated and reduc'd to distinct Heads The Author confines himself to the Hebrew Verbs of the Old Testament and shews how Different the Senses of the same words are and endeavours to remove the Ambiguity of them in the several Texts which he cites and to determine the Sense which is Proper to those particular Places The like he attempts in those Texts where Hebrew Nouns of a different meaning occur THE Third Proposition is That the Scripture-Stile hath some things in it that are not in common with Other Writers but are Proper and Peculiar to it self For though it is true some Other Authors have words proper to themselves which are not found in others thus in Pindar Plato Isocrates Homer Aristophanes Hippocrates c. there are some particular Words and Phrases peculiar to them alone yet the Bible hath Words and Expressions which are not to be met with in any of these nor in any other Writers The Original Hebrew hath greater choice of Words than any Book extant in that Language it is the most Copious Vocabulary that is in the World and all Hebrew Writers of note borrow from this The Septuagint have words peculiar to themselves as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is proper to them and was made on purpose to answer to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Writers of the New Testament took it from them They also made the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cant. 4. 9. to express the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ex. 2. 5. is of their coining and the Apostle thought fit to use it Tit. 2. 14. And some have thought the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it signifies Sleep or Slumber Isa. 29. 10. was made by them as if it were from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This word is also used by the Apostle Rom. 11. 8. The New Testament in Greek hath words never heard of before as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Lord's Prayer a word which was first used by the Evangelists And St. Luke's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Angels Salutation of the Virgin Mary Luk. 1. 28. is a new Greek word which the Evangelist himself made as some have thought but that is a Mistake because the Apocryphal Writer had used it before Eccles. 18. 17. Yet this is not to be denied that the word is no where to be found in any other Greek Author i. e. any Prophane one but St. Paul useth it viz. the Active 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though not the Passive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Eph. 1. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Passive Voice have a peculiar Signification in Mat. 5. 24. Rom. 5. 10. 1 Câ—r 11. 7. 2. Cor. 5. 20. which is in no other Writer saith Grotius upon Mat. 5. 24. That likewise in Mark 14. 3. and Iohn 12. 3. is scarcely used by any Writer whatsoever and therefore the Grammarians and Criticks know not well how to assign the meaning of it some deriving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the word there used and joined with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so it denotes that Ointment to have been faithfully prepared and compounded for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to this Etymology is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 true pure not adulterated approved it being rightly and faithfully made This is according to the Syriac Version and 't is approved of by St. Ierom and Theophylact Others think 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put here for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vulgar Latin having it Spicata and so it is translated Spikenard by us Beza and Camerarius are of this Opinion and think the Ointment had this Name because it was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spicis nardi that is of the choicest part of Nard A third fort among whom Casaubon is Chief tell us that it is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 potabilis à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so signifies such a Liquid Ointment as might be drank And lastly some have thought that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if it were call'd so from a place viz Opis a City not far from Babylon whence
the best Nard came This is Hartungus's Notion but then the word should have been Opick not Opistick Thus the Etymology of the Word hath been disputed but we are certain of the Thing the Nard it self or rather the Ointment which was made of it which was very Precious and in great Esteem of old It was made of several Ingredients as we learn from Pliny and other Writers viz. the sweet Cane or Rush Costum Amomum Myrrh Balsam and other Simples When this Precious Compound this Excellent Aromatic which was very Costly and used only by Rich and Wealthy Persons was made up as it should be it was then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—ides sincerely and faithfully prepared it had all its Ingredients it was of the best sort This seems to be the most elegible Derivation of the Word but so far as we know it was of the Evangelist's making for there is no such Greek Word in any other Authors And as the New Testament hath its peculiar words so you may observe it hath a peculiar way of using some words which yet are common in other Writers Thus Inward Holiness or Inherent Righteousness are express'd by such terms as These which have no such Signification in any other Writers Circumcision Col. 2. 11. Crucifying Rom. 6. 6. Gal. 6. 14. Mortifying Rom. 8. 13. Col. 3. 5. Dying Rom. 6. 2 8. Col. 3. 3. Resurrection Eph. 2. 6. Eph. 5. 14. Col. 2. 12. Regeneration or being born again John 3. 3. Tit. 3. 5. 1 Pet. 1. 23. Renovation Rom. 12. 2. Eph. 4. 23. the New Man and New Creature 2. Cor. 5. 17. Gal. 6. 15. Eph. 4. 24. Washing John 13. 8. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Rev. 7. 14. The way of using and applying these words is proper to the New Testament There are other peculiar ways of speaking in this part of the Bible which are altogether unknown to other Writers as the Engraffed Word Jam. 1. 21. Children of Light and of the Day Luk. 16. 8. Eph. 5. 8. 1 Thess 5. 5. the Sword of the Spirit Eph. 6. 17. the Savour of Death 2 Cor. 2. 16. the Body of Sin Rom 6. 6. the Body of Death Rom. 7. 24. the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8. 2. a Law in the Members Rom. 7. 23. Who over met in any other Author with these Expressions Conscience of an Idol 1 Cor. 8. 7. the Earnest of the Spirit 2 Cor. 5. 5. the Vnction of the Spirit 1 Joh. 2. 20 27. Circumâ—ision of the Heart and of the Letter Rom. 2. 29. a Iew outwardly and a Iew inwardly in the same Verse Who ever read of the foolishness of God and the weakness of God 1 Cor. 1. 25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Phrase proper to Scripture and so are these to mortify the Members on Earth Col. 3. 5. to put off the Old Man and put on the New Man Eph. 4. 22. to sow to the Flesh to reap of the Flesh to sow to the Spirit to reap of the Spirit Gal. 5. 8. to walk after the Flesh Rom. 8. 1 4. Who ever spoke after the following rate to eat and drink Damnation to himself 1 Cor. 11. 29. to be justified by Faith Rom. 3. 28. Gal. 2. 16. to be clothed upon with an House from Heaven 2 Cor. 5. 2 And what strange and unheard-of Expressions are those to be baptized or washed with Fire Mat. 3. 2. to be salted with Fire Mark 9. 49 Thus the Sacred Penmen of Scripture differ from all others in their Stile And yet herein also they agree with them for even some of those Writers differ from the rest as to the use of some particular Words and Phrases Some of them take a word or more in a sense that it is not taken in by any Others There are words in Homer that are not in Aristophanes and some in Lycophron that are not in either of these and there are some in these three which are not found in any other Writer whatsoever Plato as 't is observ'd of him useth words in a way different from other Authors as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Simplex and in other places for Pulcher and sometimes for Parvus And as the same word is used by him to denote several things so he uses different words in the same sense and meaning as his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and others Nay he brings in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the same Author observes to express contrary things sometimes There are some Ecclesiastick words for they may be thus differenc'd from others because they have a peculiar Interpretation as they are used by Ecclesiastical Writers as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Synaxis which among Christian Writers signify either the Sacred Meetings and Assemblies of the Faithful or the Lord's Supper and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Temple among the same Writers and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath the same Signification sometimes but they have no such sense in other Authors So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a Towel or Napkin is used in some of the Greek Fathers to denote the express Image or likeness of a Person And from other Examples it might be made good that the Profane and Ecclesiastick use of a word are far different There are Thousands of words otherwise taken in the Greek Fathers than in Classick Writers and you in vain look for the meaning of them in Hesychius Phavorinus Suidas in Scapula Constantine or Stephens Yea the words themselves which occur in Ecclesiastick Writers are not to be found in Profane ones many of them are omitted in Lexicons Onomasticks Etymologicks and Glossaries And shall not the Inspired Wriâ—ers have the same liberty viz. to use peculiar Words and Phrases of their own or to use Words in a singular meaning and proper to themselves If a Catachreâ—is the Abuse of Words be reckon'd by the Greek Orators an Embellishment of Speech certainly we must account it no Disparagement but rather an Ornament to the Language when the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures alters the use of some Words He may make use of what Words he pleaseth He that bestow'd the Gift of Tongues knows how to apply them Hence in these Writings you meet with some New words and Singular ways of Expression as I have let you see in some Instances and many more I might have added wherein the peculiar Phraseology of this Sacred Book is observable The very Words in the Holy Stile are precious Antiquaries and Criticks spend much time in mere Phrases but they never employ it so well as when they are searching into These There are several Other things might be noted as to the Peculiar Stile and Idiom of the New Testament but this shall suffice at present As I have â—hew'd before that the Stile of Scripture is like that of Other Writers so you see it is not inconsistent with what I have now asserted that the Holy Stile is not like that of Others
that is the Scripture hath Words and Phrases proper to it self it hath some things extraordinary and which are unusual with the rest of Authors But I will insist no longer on this here because I may have occasion in my next Discourse viz. concerning the Excellency and Perfection of Scripture to suggest several things which will discover the Peculiar Straiâ— of the Bible The Fourth â—â—oposiâ—â—on is That there are somâ— things Obscure and Difficult in the Stile of Scripture I will give you an account of this in these following Particulars 1. Obscurity and Difficulty may arise from the Different Signification of the same words in Scripture 2. From the Contrariety of the same words as to their Signification 3. From Other Causes relating to the Matter it self spoken of and the Time c. Under which Heads I intend to prosecute that Design which I formerly was upon viz. An Enquiry into several Remarkable Texts of the Holy Scripture which contain some Difficulty in them I shall have occasion here to discover the Grounds of that Difficulty and to shew how it may be removed And when the Sentiments of others are not satisfactory I will make bold to interpose my own Judgment First Sometimes in Scripture there are Words of Different Signification whence it comes to pass that it is very hard to understand those places where these words are And it is impossible to satisfy our selves about the meaning of them in the Texts where we find them unless we take pains to examine the particular Congruity of one Sense rather than another to that particular Thing or Person to which it is applied Yea sometimes when we meet with such a Doubtful Word we shall find it reasonable to make use of both the Senses of it that is to propound them both and to leave it free to Persons to make choice of which they please I will give some Instances of this as that in Gen. 39. 1. Captain of the Guard which may as rightly be translated according to Iosephus Antiq. l. 2. c. 3. Chief of the Cooks for the LXX render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Hebrew Tabbach the Plural whereof is here used is a Cook 1 Sam. 8. 13. Ch. 9. 23 24. and is so translated The truth is the genuine rendring of Tabbach is Mactator a Slayer and so is applicable either to a Cook or a Soldier The double sense of the Word occasions some doubt about the Translation but it is of no moment at all for we are not to be concern'd whether Potiphar was Pharaoâ—'s Head-Cook which without doubt was an Honourable Place or the Captain of his Guard or Army as the Vulgar Latin gives it So in Gen. 41. 43. they cried before him Abrek the word Abrek may be differently rendred viz. either according to Aben-Ezra Aquila the Vulgar Latin and our own English Translation bow the Knee deriving it from barak genu flexit or according to Solomon Iarchi and the Paraphrases of Onkelos and Ionathan Father of the King for Rek in the Aramaean Tongue is â—ex and thence perhaps this Latin word or according to the Ierusalem Targum Father of the King and tender in Years or according to Symmachus tender Father from Ab Pater and Rech tener sen delicatue because Ioseph was as to his Prudence a Father as to his Age a Tender Youth Thus this word being of a dubious Signification according to the different Etymologies it hath may be diversly translated and every one is at liberty to choose which of these Senses he most approvâ—s of I cannot see how the Doubtfulness of such words as this can be wholly taken away and consequently the Scripture as to such words must remain Dubious and Obsâ—ure that is as to the particular and close import of them But 't is sufficient that we have the general sense of them as here though we are ignorant of the right and only Derivation of the word Abrâ—â—h and after all the foremention'd Surmises it is most probable as hath been said before that 't is an Egyptian word yet this we are certain of that it was a word of Acclamation and Honour that the People used toward Ioseph and 't is not requisite to know any more in order to the understanding of the Place It is thus in the New Testament it is said of Iudas that he went and hanged himself Mat. 27. 5. So we translate it indeed and very well but the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of a more general import signifying that he was strangl'd or choak'd which may be done either by a String which is properly Hanging or by Excessive Grief which stifled his Spirits and accordingly we may render the Word either of these ways viz. Actively he hanged himself i. e. he ended his Life with a Halter or Passively he was Choaked namely by a sudden stopping of his Breath and Suffocation of his Spirits through Melancholy and Grief Either of these Senses may be admitted yea both of them as I have shew'd in another place Wherefore the best rendring of the words is I conceive this Judas strangled himself or was strangled because this takes in both It is said of the Pharisees Mark 7. 3. Except they wash their Hands oft they eat not where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is translated oft hath different Significations and accordingly may be rendred diversly First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the Fist or Hand closed and so here is meant their way of Washing their Hands by thrusting the Fist into the Palm of the Hand Secondly The Greek word signifies also the Elbow and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as much as up to the Elbow and denotes another particualar way of Washing among the Conceited Pharisees by letting the Water drop from their Hands being held up to the very Elbows Thirdly The word may be rendred diligently or according to the Syriack accurately and so signifies to us that great Care and Exactness they used in their Ceremonious Washings Lastly Our Translators according to another acception of the word and following the Vulgar Latin render it oft Any of these four ways the word may be taken and the Dubiousness of it should not in the least trouble us because we understand the grand thing contain'd in the words viz. That the Jews but especially the Pharisees were very superstitiously addicted to their Washings and placed the greatest part of their Religion in that and the like External Observances I could instance in 2 Tim. 2. 19. The Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal c. which Text may admit of this Translation also The Covenant of God standeth sure having this Inscription for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not only a Foundation but a Covenant or Instrument of Contract and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies an Inscription as well as a Seal There were two Parts of the Covenant I will be your God and ye shall be my People So here in the
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
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.
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
As it is with the Hebrew Verbs so it is with the Nouns there are many of them that have different Senses and those such as have no Agreement or Affinity one with another which oftentimes occasions Diversity of Readings in those Places where they are found Not but that the Hebrew Tongue is copious as is evident from that Variety of Names which is for one thing There are seven Words for Gold as St. Ierom long since observed Zahab Phez or Paz or Ophaz Charutz Kethem Ophir Baser Segor though some think that Kethem is the more general Name and the rest are several kinds of Gold There are six Words to express Giants as Nephilim from falling or falling on Emim because they are Terrible Gibborim from their Strength Anakim Zamzummim Rephaim There are as many Words to signify a Lion as Buxtorf reckons them up distinctly with the Places of Scripture where they occur Yea Mercer adds a seventh A Son in Hebrew is Ben Nin Manon Bar though indeed this last be rather a Chaldee or Syriac Word Anger hath these Denominations Aph Charon Zagnaph Chagnas Sleep is either Tarmedah or Shenah or Tenumah Three Words there are for the Sun as Cheres Shemeth Chammah and as many for the Earth Eretz Tebel Adamah A Virgin is called Almah or Gnalma◠Naarah Bethulah To fear is expressed by three Verbs viz. Gur Iare Pachad The same Hill is call'd Horeb and Sinai and Zion and Hermon are two Names of another Hill but of these afterwards Thus the Hebrew Tongue hath many Synonimous Words But that which is more usual and remarkable and which we are concern'd to observe at present is that one Name or Word serves for Different things which often renders the Interpretation doubtful Thus Iob 4. 18. we read thus his Angels he charged with Folly but it may as well be read be put Light into his Angels and so Tremellius and the Gallick Version have it for Toholah which is the Word here used and comes from a Hebrew Verb which sometimes signifies to shine denotes both Light and Folly And accordingly Expositors to whom I refer the Reader labour to defend either of these Senses But so far as I can discern the Meaning of this Place the Hebrew Word hath a third Signification which seems to be peculiarly designed here For this Noun is derived from Halal the primitive and known Signification of which is laudare gloriari and so Tohalah is as much as Tehillah laus gloriatio Accordingly I render the foresaid Clause thus Nec in Angelis suis ponet laudem seu gloriationem for the Vau in this Place as in several others which I have hinted before is Disjunctive and is the same with nec And you see the Words run this way i. e. in the Negative He putteth no Trust in his Servants nor doth he put Praise or Boasting in his Angels i. e. those Glorious Spirits who now inhabit the Celestial Regions for I do not think as some do that the Fallen Angels are here spoken of even these in comparison of God who is infinitely pure and perfect are blame-worthy and guilty So that this rendring of the Words amounts to the Sense of the English Version but I do not see any Reason to translate the Hebrew word Folly for the Verb from whence it comes directs us not to it and we have Instance of it in Scripture It is well known that the Noun Dabar signifies both a Thing or Action and a Word and for that reason the rendring of it in Scripture is sometimes uncertain The like may be observed of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek Testament which is applicable to Actions as well as Words in imitation of the use of the word Dabar But both in the Old and New Testament the Matter spoken of will direct us sufficiently unto the peculiar Acception of the Word Shephattaim are either the Lots and Portions of a Man's Life and especially his ill Lot and Misfortune or the Word signifies those Pots some say those Ranges which are used about the Fire and are covered over with Dust and Smoke Accordingly Psal. 68. 13. may be translated thus Though ye have lain in those evil Lots i. e. though you have been in great Distress or thus Though ye have lain among the Pots or Ranges which amounts to the same Sense with the former and expresseth the Distressed Condition of the Persons spoken of The word Belial which is often used is of a double Signification for some derive it form Boli non and Guol jugum and then it denotes one without a Yoke that is impatient of Discipline one that casts off all Laws and Restraints Others deduce it from Beli non and Iagnal profuit so that it should regularly be Belijagnal but the middle Letter being struck out it is Belial which way of Contraction is not unusual as we see in the word Hosanna corruptly from Hosignanna so Path is a Contraction of Pathah frangere Rab of Rabab multiplicari El of Ejal potentia Iordan of Ieordan as some think from Ieor a River and Dan a City because this River had its Rise about that Place and there are almost innumerable Instances of this Abbreviating of Words both in the Bible and other Hebrew Authors If we thus shorten the word Belial it is equivalent to Inutilis homo nequam nullius frugls but both this and the former Derivation of the Word acquaint us that it is well applied in the Scripture to very Lewd and Profligate Persons yea even to the Internal Spirit himself Marphe in Prov. 14. 30. may be derived either from Rapha sanare or Raphah lenem esse and accordingly is both sanitas and lenitas and so that Text may be read a sound Heart a Healthful Constitution or a mild Heart a placid and sedate Temper is the Life of the Flesh is a Procurer of long Life to a Man Both the Senses are coincident Netseach signifies Victory and Eternity as the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also doth and therefore Isa. 25. 8. admits of this double Version He will swallow up Death in Victory he will conquer and bafflle its Force or in Eternity i. e. Death shall be absorp'd destroy'd for ever The Sense is alike The Signification of Bochal is probatio and munitio thence Eben bochal Isa. 28. 16. may be rendred a tried Stone or Stone of Trial or else a Stone of Fortification Migreshoth may denote either Suburbs as the word in the singular Number Migrash often doth in Scripture or Waves and therefore in Ezek. 27. 28. we cannot certainly tell which Word to render it by nor is it material whether we do or no. Whether Hamon Ezek. 7. 11. should be translated a Tumult or a Multitude is not to be decided because if the Word comes from Hamah tumultuatus est then the former Version is the genuine one but if from Haman multiplicavit then the latter Whether Chajil Ezek. 37. 10. is to be translated an Army
which an Inspired Writer hath given of it telling us that Cain was of that wicked one viz. Satan and therefore slew his Brother because his own Works were Evil and his Brother 's Righteous 1 John 3. 12. The grand Aggravations of his Murder were that he kill'd his Own Brother and that he kill'd him because he was Good and Righteous Now we may reasonably think that this Guilty Wretch when he came to entertain serious Thoughts and to reflect on his Execrable Paricide grew very Black and Melancholick Though God reprieved this Malefactor as to his Life yet he severely animadverted upon him by that Terror and distraction of Mind by that Horror of Conscience which he inflicted on him He had Pashur's Doom of Magor Missabib i. e. Fear round about Jer. 20. 3. but especially as it follows there he was a Terror to himself That this hath been the Fate of Murderers is evident from such Instances as these Herod who commanded Iohn Baptist to be beheaded was afterwards miserably tormented with the thoughts of it and fancied that Holy Man was risen from the Dead and was alive again Mark 6. 16. Tacitus tells us of the Emperour Tiberius who was a Man of Blood and under whom our Blessed Lord was crucified that he was so troubled and haunted that neither his great Fortunes nor the Retirement which he sometimes made trial of could silence those Tortures which he felt in his Breast Nero that Bloody Villain after he had put to Death his Cousin German his Mother his Wife his Tutour knew not what to do with himself he was affrighted with Specters beaten by Furies and burning Torches were flung at him especially he was molested and plagued with the Apparition of his Mother's Ghost whom he had inhumanely and unnaturally murder'd Theodorick the King of Gothes was constantly haunted after the Murder of Symmachus and Boethius and so ended his days in that torment of Mind Charles the Ninth of France as a faithful Historian acquaints us after the Parisian Massacre was a continual Terror to himself though he used all Arts to divert his Thoughts and when he awakned in the Nights labour'd to chase away his Affrightments by Musick which he constantly call'd for These are some of the Transcripts which History affords us of that First Murderer's inward Terrors and Disquietudes Mine Iniquity saith he is greater than can be forgiven ver 13. for so the words may be rendred the Guilt of that Horrid Crime which I have committed is unpardonable I utterly despair of the Divine Mercy And this Despair was not only his Sin but his Punishment wherefore some read it My Punishment is greater than I can bear So that he anticipated the Miseries of the Damned of whom he was the first of Humane Kind and was in Hell while he was here on Earth Now it was that Dreadful Mormo's and Phantoms possess'd his restless Brain and he encreas'd his Terrors by Imagination He was afraid of his own Father and Mother and of his Female-self and his disorder'd Fancy represented many more Persons to him for a Troubled Conscience fears where no Fear is it fears Men where there are none in being Whence such Language as this is very accountable Every one that finds me shall slay me This is a satisfactory Answer upon Supposal for I proceed only on that here that there were no more Men in the World at that time than are expresly mention'd in Genesis A Disturbed Mind hath a Creating Power and can make more Inhabitants on the Earth than God hath made Thirdly Supposing still that the Number of Men was not greater than it is represented in the Sacred Records yet this Speech of Cain is very accountable for we may understand it of People that were not yet born but to come afterwards Observe therefore that 't is spoken in the Future Tense It shall come to pass that every onâ— that findeth me shall slay me Cain being reprieved and suffer'd to wander up and down and consequently to live some Years afterwards it may be rational to think that he refers in these words to what should be in those days When Mankind shall be propagated and the World be peopled thâ—n I shall go in fear of my Life then every one that finds me will slay me And unto this the nexâ— words may have relation Whosoever slayeth Câ—in Vengeance shall be taken of him sevenfold And moreover The Lord set a mark upon Cain lest any finding him should kill him ver 15. Lest in after-times any one hearing of this bloody and cursed Fact of his should be excited to revenge it on his own Head there was a Mark set upon this Vile Wanderer to distinguish him from the rest of Mankind but what it was we know not though the Jews have many idle and foolish Conjectures about it And a Penalty was threatned to be inflicted on the Person who should dare to kill him he was to be punish'd seven-fold ver 15. or in the seventh Generation as Munster and some others interpret it which implies that Cain was to be a Long-liver to continue seven i. e. many Generations So that we may look on these Words as having reference to the Times that were to come and not to the present Season wherein they were spoke It shall come to pass saith he that in future time when the World is increased every one who finds me shall be greedy to take away my Life because I most inhumanely bereaved my Brother of his Thus there is no Contradiction or Inconsistency in the words when 't is said Every one that findeth me c. But in the fourth and last place it might be answer'd if what I have said already be not satisfactory that this word Kol every one hath not reference to Men but to Beasts Every one is every Wild Beast He was afraid saith Iosephus lest while he wandred up and down in the Earth which was part of his Punishment he should fall among some Beasts and be slain by them God bids him not fear any such thing for he would set such a Mark on him that the very Irrational Animals should be capable of knowing and discerning it Every one is not necessarily to be understood of Men or Women but may be meant of the Brutes which were then upon Earth and might be Executioners of the Divine Vengeance on him who was so savage and brutish It will be very hard for any Man to disprove this and therefore it is sufficient to take off and null the Cavil of the Objectors But I confess I rather think it is spoken not of this sort of Creatures but of those Inhabitants of the Earth that were Intelligent Thus you see there is no Absurdity or Inconsistency in those words which Cain utter'd and which are set down by the Sacred Historian whether you understand them of the then instant time or of that which was afterwards Some Men of Profane and Atheistical Spirits and who
and so the meaning of those words the high Places were not removed may have reference only to these latter and shew that he had not expell'd Idolatry out of every part of the Kingdom The short is this Good King took away very many he removed most of the high Places but not all Where now is the Contradiction But in the New Testament perhaps they will bâ— more successful They are pleas'd to make or find there a great number of contrarieties as in Mat. 27. 9. this Evangelist quotes Ieremiah the Prophet yet it was not Ieremiah but Zechary that spoke the words which are there quoted Some have answer'd this by saying here is a Mistake of the Transcribers they have writ Ieremiah instead of Zechariah But this is not to be allowed seeing there is no need of flying to such a sorry Refuge as this A Learned Critick of our own tells us that it is an oversight in the Evangelist it is a slip of his Memory but this is much worse than the former and if we should once admit any such thing the Truth and Authority of the Bible as I have shew'd in a Former Discourse are endanger'd But one of these three Answers may remove the difficulty 1. Grotius on the place salves it thus many of the Old Prophets Sayings were not written down but preserv'd in Memory and deliver'd down to those that came afterwards of which he gives some Instances so that it is probable Zechary makes use of one of these Sayings and Oracles of Ierâ—my but when our Saviour quotes this Passage he mentions the first Author of it viz. the Prophet Ieremy The short is though the words are in Zechary yet he had them from Ieremy that is there was a Tradition it is likely that they were his Which is consirmed by that Saying of the Jews that the Spirit of the Prophet Jeremy rested on Zechary For this reason those words of Zechary may be said to be spoken by Jeremy the Prophet 2. Those words are jointly to be found in Ieremy ad Zechary but the former speaks only of buying the Field Ier. 32. 9. the latter makes mention of the Price Zech. 11. 12. But neither are these the very words which are in Zechary's Prophecy but are recited with some considerable alteration as is not unusual in Scripture as you shall hear afterwards If then the Substance of the words be taken out of both the Prophets the Evangelist might quote one of them only without any Error and Mistake and particularly Ieremy might be named as the more known and eminent Prophet 3. Dr. Lightfoot reconciles it another way asserting that there is no Mistake of Transcribers here but that Ieremy was the Name first used in this place by St. Matthew and yet Zecharias is not excluded but intended This he makes good from the ordering and ranging of the Books of Scripture in use among the Jews in which this Learned Author was well skill'd Ieremiaâ— had the first Place among the Prophets and he is mention'd above all the rest because he stood first in the Volume of the Prophets Therefore when St. Matthew produced a Text of Zechary under the name of Ieremy he cites the Words out of the Volume of the Prophets under his Name who stood first in that Volume that is the Prophet Ieremiah Any of these Answers may satisfy a Man whose Mind is not tainted with Prejudice against the Sacred Writings Those Words of St. Stephen Acts 7. 15. Iacob went down into Egypt and died he and our Fathers and were carried over into Sichem and laid in the Sepulcher that Abraham bought for a Sum of Money of the Sons of Emmor the Father of Sichem seem to have a double Repugnancy in them to what is recorded in the History of Moses for first we read there that not Iacob but Ioseph was carried to Sichem And secondly that Abraham bought the Sepulcher not of the sons of Emmor but of Ephron the Hittite Gen. 23. 17. ch 49. 30. This latter is the greater Difficulty and seems to be most inextricable because 't is so positively express'd that Abraham purchased the Field of Ephron the Son of Zoar and that Iacob bought the Field of the Children of Emmor Gen. 32. 19. Iosh. 24. 32. How therefore can it be said in the Acts that Abraham bought the Field for a Sepulcher of the Children of Emmor Grotius takes away this Repugnancy by bidding us write Ephron for Emmor but this way of answering the Scripture-Difficulties is not to be tolerated as I have suggested already on the like occasion Besides this Alteration will not be sufficient to take away the Difficulty because Ephron was not the Father of Sichem which is here added A late Sagacious Critick tells us that those of whom St. Stephen here speaks viz. the Patriarchs were part of them buried in Sichem and part of them in the Field that was Ephron's They were carried over into Sichem i. e. saith he our Fathers not Iacob were carried thither And the Sense of the next Words he thinks he salves by a Parenthesis thus and laid in the Sepulcher which Abraham had bought for a Sum of Money of the Sons of Emmor the Father of Sichem So that this Place doth not say the Fathers were laid in the Sepulcher which was bought by Abraham of the Sons of Emmor no for that contradicts the Sacred History which assures us that he bought it of Ephron the Hittite but only they were laid in the Sepulcher of the Sons of Emmor So Sir Norton Knatchbull This doth in part satisfy the Scruple but in my Judgment the best and shortest Solution of it is that which I have before suggested and abundantly proved that 't is usual for Persons in Scripture to have two Names So here Abraham bought a Field for a Burial-place of Ephron the Son of Zohar Gen. 23. 8 9. and yet he bought it of the Son 〈◊〉 Sons of Emmor for this Zohar and Emmor were the same Man only with two different Names which he was called by as was very common among the Hebrews This is a plain and easy resolving of the Doubt And if there seems to be any Repugnancy as to the Places of Burial Sichem and Hebron I offer this that the Bodies of the Patriarchs might be translated from the first Place where they were deposited to another i. e. they might be entomb'd at Sichem the Sepulcher of the Sons of Emmor and afterwards be carried to Hebron and laid in a Sepulcher there If we admit of this then Moses's History concerning their Burial might refer to one Place and St. Stephen's to another Those Places also may seem to be Contradictory If I bear witness of my self my witness is not true John 5. 31. and though I bear Record of my self yet my Record is true ch 8. 14. But the Resolution is easy Christ's Testimony concerning himself was not true i. e. valid in the Opinion of the Cavilling Jews to whom he spake because
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
Infallible This is that more sure Word of Prophecy which St. Peter preferreth before Eye-Witnesses and Voices from Heaven 2 Pet. 1. 16 c. Yea though an Angel from Heaven should preach any other Doctrine than what the Apostles preach'd and afterwards committed to Writing St. Paul pronounceth him accursed Gal. 1. 8. These Infallible Records these undoubted Oracles of the Holy Ghost in Scripture are the standing Rule of Belief to all christians even to the End of the World On this they may rely with Confidence as on an Unerring Guide for it is not like other Books which are made by Men and therefore are not void of Errors and Mistakes but the Author of it is God who is Truth it self and can neither deceive nor be deceived Thus the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament are the Compleat and Absolute Rule of our Belief and of all Supernatural Truth 2. They are the Perfect Rule of Life and Manners they contain all things to be Done as well as to be Believed Here is the Decalogue the Sum of all our Duty towards God and Man and the Necessary Precepts of Life comprised in it are often repeated enlarged upon and explained through the whole Sacred Book To these are added the Evangelical Duties of Self-denial Mortification Poverty of Spirit Purity of Heart Brotherly Love Heavenly-Mindedness Circumspect Walking Redeeming the Time Abstaining from all appearance of Evil Giving no Offence to any and many others of the like Nature The Writings of the Gospel forbid us to be Carnal Sensual and Earthly and call upon us to converse with Spiritual and Celestial Objects to to set our Affections on things Above and to work our Minds to such a Temper that we may desire to depart out of this Body and to be with Christ which is far better than groveling here below And Christianity promotes this Heavenly-mindedness by giving us a Power over Our selves by restoring us to a Government of our Bodily Appetites and Passions so that the Soul thereby becomes Pure and Defecate purged from all mundane Dross and Filth fitted for Heavenly Joys and therefore most earnestly breathes and longs after them Here we learn that Christianity is repugnant in all things to Satan's Kingdom and designedly promotes the Kingdom of God it bids us not seek our selves and aim chiefly at worldly Respects but it enjoineth us to Humble and Debase our selves and to Glorify God in all to advance his Honour in the World and next to that to look after the Salvation of our own and others immortal Souls These are the Noble and Worthy Designs of Christianity and the Laws of it their Business is to take us off from those low and mean Projects which Men of the World carry on and to set the Soul of Man in a right Posture and to fix it on right Ends. The Christian Precepts reach to the Hearts of Men they restrain the secret Thoughts and inward Motions of the Mind they curb the inordinate Desires and Wishes they temper the Affections and Passions especially they forbid Revenge Malice Hatred and they direct us to love God and to bear Love to all Men for his Sake The Christian Laws give Rules for our Words and Speeches and will not allow them to be Idle and Vain much less Prophane and Impious but they command our Discourse to be always with Grace season'd with Salt to favour of Goodness and Piety and to be for the Edifying of those we converse with The Commandments of the Gospel do also govern the Outward Actions of our Lives and bid us be Holy in all manner of Conversation They enjoin Chastity and Continence Temperance and Sobriety they forbid Lust and Luxury Pride and Sensuality They teach Courtesy Affability Meekness Candour Gentleness towards our Brethren They bid us be Kind and Charitable to all and even to love our Enemies Christianity is a Religion that is exactly Just and gives the strictest Rules of dealing Honestly and Uprightly with our Neighbours Even Morality which is the very Foundation and Ground-work of All Religions is most Illustrious here Christianity hath the Impress of Reason Civility and all Acceptable Qualities It forbids nothing that is Fitting and Decorous it countenances all that is Manly and Generous it is agreeable to the Law of Nature and the Reason of Mankind In these Sacred Writings the Duty of Christians is set down not only as they are Single but as they stand in relation to others and as they are Members of the Community There are Peculiar Lessons for Persons in every Condition for Husbands and Wives for Masters and Servants for Parents and Children for Superiours Equals and Inferiours They are all provided here with Instructions and Directions proper to that State they are in They are very Remarkable Words which a Reverend Divine of our Church uttered Would Men apply their Minds saith he to study Scripture and observe their own and others Course of Life Experience would teach them that there is no Estate on Earth nor humane Business in Christendom this Day on foot but have a Ruled Cafe in Scripture for their Issue and Success This is a Great Truth and is no mean Demonstration of the Excellency of these Holy Writings which I am speaking of Here are also the most Notable Instances of all those Vertues and Graces which adorn the Life of Man Here is the Example of Abel's sincere and acceptable Devotion of Enoch's walking with God of Noah's untainted Faithfulness amidst the Temptations of the corrupt World of Abraham's Faith and Self-denial when he offered his only Son on the Altar of Ioseph's Resolved Chastity when he once and again resisted the lustful Solicitations of his Mistress Here is the Example of Moses's Publick Spirit who desired his Name might be blotted out of the Book of Life rather than that Nation should perish Here you read of Aaron's submissive Silence of Reuben's fraternal Commiseration of Rohab's Seasonable Wisdom which was the Effect of her Faith in concealing the Spies that were search'd for Here we may observe Phineas's Active Zeal Eli's Entire Submission to the Divine Pleasure Iob's Invincible Patience Iosiah's Early Piety his and Iehosaphat's Care to reform the Church Ionathan's entire Friendship Manasses and Peter's Repentance Iohn Baptist's Austerity the Centurion's Faith Stephen's Charity to his Enemies at his Death Briefly here is commemorated the Religious and Holy Demeanour of all Ranks and Degrees of Persons whether in Prosperity or Adversity whether in Youth Manhood or Old Age or in whatsoever Condition of Life they were placed Where can we find such glorious Atchievements as the Sacred History recounts unto us Where are there such Perfect Paterns of Vertue Where do you meet with such Noble Acts as some of the Holy Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles are celebrated for The Great Heroes spoken of in the Writings of the Pagans are generally but Ideas of Vertue and a kind of Harmless Romances to preach Goodness to Men. Virgil's Aeneas Xenophon's
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
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
wonderful Efficacy of the Holy Spirit in those Days the Rejection of the Unbelieving Jews the utter Destruction of their City Temple and whole Nation by the Romans for their rejecting and crucifying the Messias and other particular things belonging to the times of the Gospel which none of the Lesser Prophets speak of but this Malachi is the last of these Prophets yea of all the Prophets of that Dispensation After him ceased Vision and Prophecy in Israel until Christ's appearing when Zachary Simeon Mary Elizabeth Anna were illuminated with the Prophetick Spirit He prophesied about 300 Years before our Saviour's time reproving the Jews for their Ungrateful and Wicked Living after their Return from Babylon particularly he chargeth them with Rebellion Sacrilege Adultery Profaneness Infidelity but especially he reprehends the Priests for being Careless and Scandalous in their Ministry which one thing was sufficient to give Authority to others to be Vicious At the same time he forgets not to take notice of and incourage the Pious Remnâ—nt in that corrupted Age who feared the Lord and thought upon his Name whose Godly Converse and Associating with one another in that debauched time he assures them were registred in a Book of Remembrance by God himself This Prophet who had pointed before at the Messias to be exhibited for he expresly â—aith He shall suddenly come to his Temple now shuts up his Prophecy and indeed all the Prophecies of the Old Testament with an Exhortation to remember the Law i. e. to live according to its holy Rules and Injunctions and with a Promise of the Coming of the Lord who was to be usher'd in by Elijah the Prophet i. e. by Iohn the Baptist who came in the Spirit and Power of Elias Luke 1. 17. And so this Close of the Old Testament refers to the New to which I now hasten CHAP. X. An Account of the Writings of the Four Evangelists the peculiar Time Order Stile Design of their Gospels The Act 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 NEXT follow the Sacred Books of the New Testament the Evangelical Novels the New Laws of Christianity the True Authenticks which present us with the actual Discoveries of the Glorious Light of the Gospel and of the Blessed Author of it These were writ in Greek for the same Reason that Ioseph the Jew chose to write his Books not in his own Language but in this because as he saith himself in his Preface to the Iewish War he would have them read and understood by Greeks and Romans and all Persons So Aelian was a Roman yet writ his Books of Animals and Various History c. in Greek because this was the Universal Language at that time These Writings of the New Testament are either Histories or Epistles The Histories are the Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles As for the former the Writings of the Four Evangelists there were none of them extant whilest Christ was on Earth for till his being taken up to Heaven which was the Consummation of all he had before done and suffer'd they could not make the Evangelical History perfect But afterwards some of the Apostles and Disciples resolving according to their Master's Order to go and preach in foreign Regions and to disperse the Christian Religion over all the World put forth the History of the Gospel in Writing before they went about this great Work St. Matthew was the first Inspired Person that committed the Evangelical Transactions to Writing which he did about eight Years after Christ's Passion A. D. 42. He alone of all the Evangelists say St. Ierom Eusebius St. Augustine Chrysostom and most of the Antient Writers of the Church wrote his Gospel first in Hebrew which partly appears from this that some of the Hebrew Words are explained by the Person who translated it into Greek who it is probable was St. Matthew himself as the Antients generally agree and so the Hebrew and Greek Copies are both of them the Originals Then St. Mark and St. Luke writ their Gospels the one about ten tho others say twenty the other about twenty some say thirty Years after our Saviour's Death and there are some that invert the Order and give the Priority to St. Luke But all agree that St. Iohn was the last of the Evangelists and wrote towards the latter end of the first Century But as for the Punctual Time when the Evangelists put forth the Gospels it is doubtful and I do not find any certain ground whereoâ— we may â—ix a satisfactory resolution of the Doubtâ—punc This may be observ'd that St. Matthew and St. Iohn were Eye-witnesses of what they wrote 〈◊〉 St. Mark and St. Luke had what they wrote from the relation of others Particularly St. Mark who was St. Peter's Companion composed his Gospel by his Order and Direction and with his especial Approbation saith Eusebius Again it is to be observ'd that tho every Evangelist relates nothing but the Truth yet no one of them relates the Whole Truth concerning Christ's Life and Actions Tho the Substance of the Gospel be contain'd in every one of these Writers yet some Particulars are found in one that do not occur in another which makes it necessary to consult them all and to compare them together As for St. Matthew and St. Mark we may take notice that they do not always observe the Order of Time and the true Sâ—ries of the Matter especially the former of these is not curious in this particular But as for thâ— other two Evangelists they are very punctual and inviolably observe the Order of things as they happen'd excepting only that Parenthesis for such it is in Luke 3. 19 20. concerning Herod Of all the Evangelists St. Luke is the fullest and gives the compleatest mosâ— circumstantial and orderly Relation of things which he himself takes notice of in his Preface to his Gospel in those Words to Theophilus It seâ—med good to me having had perfect Vnderstanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order And yet though his Gospel be ample and more methodical in the Narrative or History than the rest yet he is but brief in relating things that our Saviour did till the last Year of his Preaching St. Matthew having been full in them and in some other things he hath need of a supply from the rest of the Evangelists and more especially from St. Iohn whose Gospel from the Beginning of the 14th Chapter to the End of the 17th contains those Excellent Discourses of our Saviour before his Passion which were wholly
omitted by the other Evangelists Besides that this Evangelist in the Entrance into his Gospel is more Sublime and Soaring than the rest and for that Reason is represented by an Eagle asserting the Divinity of Christ against the bold Hereticks of that time who openly confronted that Doctrine And in other Places of his Writings he hath a Peculiar Strain and Excellency which Luther expresses thus after his plain way Every Word in John weigheth two Tuns Concerning the Evangelists I may note this that though they do not all of them set down the very individual Words that Christ or others spake for we see that sometimes one represents them in Terms different from the rest yet those that do not so deliver always the Sense of what was said and even that was dictated by the Holy Spirit which is sufficient And concerning St. Iohn particularly I remark this that seeing he was the last of all the Evangelists i. e. he wrote his Gospel last it is rational upon that Account to interpret the other Evangelists by him namely where any Doubt or Controversy arises for he having perused the other Evangelists and observ'd what Exceptions unbelieving Men had made against any Passages in their Writings it is not to be doubted but that he expresses himself with greater Plainness and Perspicuity where those Matters are concern'd This the intelligent and observant Reader will find to be true if he consults the respective Places It is endless to give a Particular and Distinct Survey of every one of the Evangelists Writings This only can be said here in pursuance of our grand Undertaking that these Books are the Choicest History that ever were committed to Writing because they contain the Birth the Life the Actions the Doctrine the Miracles the Sufferings the Death the Resurrection the Ascension of our Lord IESVS Christ our most Compassionate Saviour and Redeemer All of which are the most Stupendous and Amazing as well as the most Necessary Matters to be known in the whole World If this brief and summary Account of the Gospels be not sufficient to recommend them to our Studies and Meditations and to beget in us the utmost Esteem of them nothing more largely said will ever be able to do it To the Historical Part of the New Testament belong the Acts of the Apostles wherein there is an Account given of what all the Apostles were concern'd in viz. their choosing Matthias into Iudas's room their Meeting together on the Day of Pentâ—cost at which time they were all inspired by the Holy Ghost according to Christ's Promise visibly descending upon them their Determinations in the Council held at Ierusalem with their Letters which they sent to the Churches abroad and several other things in which the Apostles were jointly interested This Book contains also the History of the first Founding of the Christian Church of its happy Progress and Success especially among the Gentiles of the Opposition and Persecution it encountred with of the Undaunted Courage of the Apostles of the Course of their Ministry of their Disputations Conferences Apologies Prayers Sermons Worship Discipline Church-Government Miracles Here we are informed what were the Vsages of the first Apostolical Ages In a word here we may find the Primitive Church and Religion All which are plain Evidences of the singular Usefulness Worth and Excellency of this Book But it is chiefly confined to the Acts and Atchievements of those most Eminent Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and especially and most largely here are related the Conversion Travels Preaching and Sufferings of the latter of these for St. â—uke being St. Paul's Companion all along and well acquainted with whatever he did and whatsoever happen'd to him gives us the fullest Narrative of this Apostle The whole Book is a History of about forty Years namely from Christ's Ascensionâ— to the second Year of St. Paul's Imprisonment at Rome The New Testament consists likewise of several Epistles of the Apostles which are Pious Discourses occasionally written more fully to explain and apply the Holy Doctrine which they had delivered to confute some growing Errors to compose Differences and Schisms to reform Abuses and Corruptions to stir up the Christians to Holiness and to incourage them against Persecutions For the Apostles having converted several Nations to the Faith when they could not visit them in Person wrote to them and so supplied their Presence by these Epistles To begin with St. Paul's Epistles they were written either to Whole Churches viz. of Believing Gentiles i. e. the greatest Part of them were such tho some of Iewish Race might be mix'd among them as the Epistles to the Romans Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians or of Believing Iews wholly as the Epistle to the Hebrews Or they were written to Particular Persons as the Epistles to Timothy Titus Philemon The Epistle to the Romans is made up of several Profound Discourses on such Subjects as these the Prerogatives of the Iews their Rejection notwithstanding those Prerogatives the Wonderful Dispensation of God towards the Gentiles the Nature of the Law Justification by Faith alone Election and Free Grace the Conflict between the Flesh and Spirit Christian Liberty Scandal the Use of Indifferent Things c. But the chief thing which he designs in this Epistle is to shew that neither the Gentiles by the Law of Nature nor the Iews by that of Moses could attain to Righteousness and Justification and consequently Salvation but that these are to be obtained only by Faith in Christ Jesus for whose Merits alone we are accounted righteous in the Sight of God And then to shew that this Faith is not separated from Good Works he addeth Exhortations to the Practice of Holiness Obedience of Life and a Religious Conversation So that this Epistle is both Doctrinal and Practical it directs us in our Notions and in our Manners It decides some of the greatest Controversies and withal it informs us about the most indispensable Offices of Christianity The next Epistles are to the Church of Corinth the chief City of Peloponneâ—us which is now call'd the Morea And Cenchrea which you read of Rom. 16. 1. Acts 19. 18. was the Station of Ships for this maritime City but was a distinct Town from it To the Converted Inhabitants of this great Metropolis famed for its Wealth and therefore sirnamed the Rich as Thucydides saith â—ea to all the Saints in Achaia the Apostle here writes His first Epistle to them is against the Unsound Perswasions and Vicious Practices which he observ'd among them at that time His Design was to reform them as to their Schisms and Dissensions their Idolatrous Communion their Unseemly Habits their Confusions and Disorders in their Assemblies their Prophaning the Lord's Supper their Toleration of Incest and the like scandalous Behaviour Besides there are other considerable Matters which he treats of as Marriage Divorce Virginity eating of Meats sacrificed to Idols Christian Liberty going to Law before Heathens
constant Profession of it without wavering and to a Holy Life and Conversation sutable to so excellent â— Doctrine he with great Industry endeavours to convince them of the Danger of Apostacy he confirms them in the Christian Doctrine amidst all the Persecutions and Difficulties they labour'd under And lastly he is solicitous to prevent their revolting by setting before them the most Eminent Examples of Faith and Patience These are the Momentous Themes which are observable in this Epistle I know some have doubted whether this Incomparable Epistle be St. Paul's and others have absolutely denied that it is his yet still allowing that it was written by some Inspired Person and belongs to the Canon of Holy Scripture The Learned Grotius endeavours to prove that St. Luke wrote it But for my Part I have no Inclination to believe that any other Person than St. Paul penn'd this Epistle for this is most clear from that one Place 2 Pet. 3. 16. Even as our beloved Brother Paul also according to the Wisdom given unto him hath written unto you St. Peter here speaks to the Iews for to them this Epistle as well as the former was written as appears from the Title of it To the Strangers scatter'd throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia i. e. the Iews dispersed up and down the World who by St. iames are call'd the twelve Tribes which are scatter'd abroad These tho they neither lived in Palestine nor used the Hebrew Tongue but lived among the Greeks and spoke that Language generally and used the Greek Bible viz. the Translation of the Septuagint in their Synagogues and were commonly known by the Name of Hellenists and consequently were not Hebrews or Iews in the strictest and properest Sense yet because they were of Iewish Parentage and professed or had once professed the Iewish Religion they were still call'd Iews or Hebrews and accordingly have that Denomination here So that St. Paul here and St. Peter and St. Iames write their Epistles to the same Persons that is to the Converted Iews that were dispersed abroad especially in Greece and which is the Argument I make use of at present St. Peter particularly takes notice of St. Paul's Writing to these Dispersed Jews But how doth it appear that he writ to them Thus all the Epistles of this Apostle which we have mentioned before excepting this which we are now speaking of were written either to the Churches of believing Gentiles or to some Particular Persons as hath been noted already whence it follows that seeing he wrote to the Iews or Hebrews as St. Peter testifies he was the Author of this remaining Epistle which is inscribed to them We are certain that St. Paul writ to the Iews because St. Peter tells us so that is he tellâ— us that St. Paul wrote to those to whom he wrote but St. Peter wrote to the Iews or Hebrews both his Epistles therefore St. Paul wrote to them likewise and this Epistle to the Hebrews which we now have must be that very Epistle because thâ—râ— is no other of his to them besides it Wherefore it is an undeniable Consequence that the Epistle to the Hebrews was writ by St. Paul and by none else which was the thing to be proved Again I might further add that what the Apostle Peter saith concerning St. Paul's Epistles or concerning the Matters contain'd in them for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may refer rather to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. that there are in them some things hard to be understood doth agree well to the Sublime Matter of the Epistle to the Hebrews wherein so many Prophecies Types Allegories and Mysteries are treated of and applied so that it may probably be inferr'd hence that this Epistle is referr'd to in particular and consequently that St. Paul was the Author of it To corrobate this we may subjoin the unanimous Testimony of the Greek Fathers who generally attribute this Epistle to St. Paul With whom agree the Schoolmen and all the Writers of the Church of Rome but Erasmus and Cajetan and Ludovicus Vives assert the same Most of the Lutherans are of this Opinion though herein they dissent from their Master Luther and the Reformed Churches as distinct from the Lutherans are of the same Perswasion though Calvin be of another Mind which shews that there are very Cogent Reasons for this Opinion otherwise these Parties would not dissent from their Masters It may be added that Our English Church in the Title calls it the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews As for the Reason of the Omission of his Name in the Beginning of this Epistle which is not to be observ'd in his Others perhaps it was as Clement of Alexandria Athanasius Chrysostom Theophilact conjecture because his Name was odious to most of the Iews he having been once a Iews but afterwards abandon'd that Religion wherefore he advisedly left out his Name that it might not prejudice what he writ and that the Epistle might not be thrown away for the Author's sake But whether this was the Reason why his Name is not inserted as in the rest of his Epistles I am not able to determine only I am sufficiently convinced from what St. Peter saith that this Epistle was writ by St. Paul that single Testimony is Proof enough Here I might take occasion having hitherto given you a brief Account of the Excellent Matter of this Apostle's Writings which are so great a Part of the New Testament to speak something concerning his Stile or rather to add to what I have already said of it in another Place under this Proposition There are no Solaecisms in the Holy Writings This I am the more willing to do because some have look'd upon this Apostle as a Man of no Eloquence yea scarcely of any Grammar and Consistency of Sense which Imputation would argue a great Defect and Imperfection in Scripture and therefore I am obliged to take notice of it It is true there are several things which render his Stile somewhat dark and perplexed in sundry Places He brings in Objections sometimes but doth not intimate that the Words are spoken in that way as in Rom. 3. 5 6 7. and other Places which makes the Sense difficult to those that do not carefully examine the Context In the 4th Chapter of that Epistle ver 1. a Negative is left out viz. the Answer to the preceding Question which should have been thus No he hath not found And in ver 8. the Note of Parenthesis is omitted as 't is in several other Places Further 't is observable that the Apostle hath sometimes references to Words and Things which he had mention'd before but which he seem'd to have quite laid aside in his Discourse Thus he turns back again in 2 Cor. 3. 17. and refers to what was said before in ver 6. for those Words in the latter Place The Lord is that Spirit refer to the former
one where he speaks of the Spirit i. e. the Gospel and Spiritual Dispensation in contradistinction to the Letter i. e. the Dispensation of the Law The Words then I interpret thus The Lord Christ is that Spirit he is the Blessed Author and Instituter of that Evangelical and Spiritual Oeconomy which we are now under and which brings true Liberty with it as he adds Many Expositors labour to tack this Text to the immediately foregoing one but to little purpose for they thereby make the Sense harsh and distorted there being nothing there to which this Passage refers But by reducing these Words to the 6th Verse as 't is not unusual with this Writer to allude to some certain Expression aâ— a considerable Distance the Sense of the Place becomes very easy and intelligible viz. that Christ Jesus our Blessed Lord is clearly exhibited in the Gospel and gives Life and Spirit with this Evangelical Administration Again it is true St. Paul's Stile is very full and running over sometimes his Pen is frequently in a Career and is not easily stopped All that he saith from the first Verse of the first Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians till you come to the fifteenth Verse is but one single Period And in some other Places he spins out his Subject into a Thread of almost the same Length From this Fulness of Matter it proceeds that he makes so many Excursions in his Writings which seem sometimes to Persons who take no notice of his sudden Transitions to be very Incoherent Thus when he was proving the Dignity of Christ's Priesthood he undertakes to shew that he was a Priest after the Order of Melchisedec of whom saith he we have many things to say Heb. 5. 11. but yet he saith nothing of him till the seventh Chapter the Remainder of the fifth Chapter and the whole sixth being spent in a long Digression But you may observe a far longer in his Epistle to the Romans chap. 3. v. 1 2. What Advantage hath the Iew oâ— what Profit is there in Circumcision Much every way chiefly because that unto them were committed the Oracles of God Where you see he begins to reckon up the Advantages and Privileges of the Iews and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I conceive should not be translated chiefly but first and yet here he names but One of them for an Objection which he undertakes to answer and enlarge upon takes him off for many Chapters together and he returns not again till ch 9. v. 4. where he enumerates the rest of the Privileges And several other Instances might be assigned of his launching out into Discourses which seem to be foreign to his purpose which render his Stile somewhat abrupt and his Sense intricate He had begun a Comparison Rom. 5. 12. As by one Man Sin entred c. but then he strikes in with a Parenthesis in the next Verse which hinders him from finishing what he began till the 18th Verse Even so by the Righteousness of one c. Nay rather he forsakes the Comparison and riseth above it finding the Grace in Christ Iesus rise higher than the Condemnation that came by Adam Whereas he began with an as and should have followed it with a so he turns this into a much more v. 15 17. and then at last comes about to compleat the Comparison as he had first begun it v. 18. There is a plain Parenthesis from the 1st Verse to the 7th in the first Chapter to the Romans There is another somewhat longer in 1 Cor. 11. which begins at v. 23. and lasts to the 33d So in the Epistle to the Ephesians ch 3. when he had said For this Cause I Paul the Prisoner of Iesus Christ for you Gentiles V. 1. he presently runs into a Parenthesis which continues till the 14th Verse where he leaves off his Digression and proceeds For this Cause c. Thus the Redundancy of his Matter and Sense makes him interrupt himself and lard his Discourse with frequent Digressions and divert his Reader oftentimes from the present Subject he is upon But notwithstanding this no Man that is Master of any Eloquence himself or understands the Laws of it in others can â—asten any such thing as Illiterate Blunt Vnfashion'd Language upon the Apostle It is true he terms himself rude in Speech 2 Cor. 11. 6. whence One gathers that he was but a Bad Speaker for we cannot think saith he that he told a Lie out of Humility But I reply we cannot only think but we must know that the Apostle debaseth himself here out of Christian Modesty as when he stiles himself the least of the Apostles 1 Cor. 15. 9. yea less thâ—n the least of all Saints Eph. 3. 8. Will any one say that he tells a Lie here though he was the Greatest Apostle and one of the Greatest of Saints Besides he might not unjustly stile himself rude in Speech in this respect that he so frequently treats of Difficult and Abstruse Points which are not easily express'd but are and must be clothed in such Language as is harsh uncouth and unusual When he discourses of Predestination of Faith of Iustification of the Last Times of the Son of Perdition of the Day of Vengeance on the Enemies of Christianity of the Time of the Coming of our Lord yea St. Peter tells us in that in all his Epistles there are some things hard to be understood it is no wonder that his Speech is obscure and that he seems to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Mysterious and Profound Subjects which he insists upon and which cannot be spoken out plainly cause him to be thought such His Rudeness of Speech may be understood as the Foolishness of Preaching i. e. that it seemed such to some Persons though it was not reallyâ— so in it self But though the Great Apostle was pleas'd to diminish himself and to speak meanly of his way of Writing and Discourse and tho his Adversaries or Pretended Friends were wont to viliâ—y his manner of Speaking yet let not us conceal or disguise his Excellent Gift of expressing himself in his Writings He was certainly a Great Master of Language and Discourse and indeed we could reasonably expect no other from his Education which furnish'd him with all sorts of Learning for as he was born at Tarsus so it is likely he was brought up in the same Place which was then an Academy and thence sent to Ierusalem where he sat at the Feet of Gamaliel so that he was Master both of Heathen and Iewish Learning It is a Mistake of some Learned Writers of very great Note that St. Paul's Writings are full of Solaecisms he being an Hebrew and understanding little Greek This I say is a Mistake for he was a Grâ—cian by Birth for Cilicia was in Greece and we read that the Inhabitants of Tarsus his Birth-place did strive to equal the Athenians in the Study of Good Letters and Humane Learning We may then
Guidance of the Holy Spirit and not of my own Head Thus what I advise and direct you to is from the Lord i. e. from the Holy Ghost though not from the Lord in that other Sense as if he had given any particular and express Command concerning it So the Force of the Objection is quite taken of And at the same time also the Distinction of Evangelical Counsels and Precepts which is so much talk'd of and madâ— use of by the Romanists appears to be frivolus anâ— impertinent The third Quotation is to be interpreted in thâ— same Manner He here speaks concerning Singlâ— Persons such as were never married and he acquaints them as before what Authority his Doctrine concerning these hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have not a Commandment of the Lord i. e. I have no express Word of our Saviour concerning Virgins as there was concerning the Divorce of Married Persons of whom I spake v. 10. for our Lord had positively determin'd what was to be done in that Case Mat. 5. 32. 19. 9. Luk. 16 18. Therefore there not I but the Lord himself was properly said to command But here no Absolutâ— Precept of our Lord can be alledg'd he hath no where peremptorily commanded to marry or not to marry And the more particular things relating to a Single Life spoken of here by the Apostle are not so much as mention'd by him Yet saith he I give my Iudgment as one that hath obtained Mercy of the Lord to be faithful i. e. in an immediate and extraordinary Manner I have obtained this Favour to deliver faithfully what is dictated to me in this Affair though there be no express Word of our Lord about it I am Divinely taught what to say the Holy Spirit suggests to me what Counsel to give And therefore with respect to this and whatever he said before he concludes in the last Verse of this Chapter that he hath the Spirit of God And when he saith he thinks so it doth not denote in the least the Uncertainty of the thing but the Humility of the Apostle We are not then to imagine as several Commentators and of good Note too do that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Iudgment is meant the Apostle's â—â—â—vate Opinion and Sentiment in contradistinction to 〈◊〉 Dictateâ— of the Holy Ghost but according to 〈◊〉 plain Interpretation which I have given we â—ave reason to believe that both in this and his other Epistles he writes all by Divine Inspiration Then as to the next Place where the Apostle â—â—ith he speaks not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by command this way of Expression is somewhat of the same Nature with the first which is evident from the Subjectâ—matter he treats of and the particular Application of this Expression For in this Chapter his Business is to excite the Corinthians effectually to a Charitable Contribution for the distressed Christiâ—â—s at Ierusalem and he requests that they would be very Liberal and abound in this Excellent and Noble Work which yet he saith he doth not speak to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a commanding Way but â—e leaves them to their Liberty He would have their Charity to be free and therefore doth not command them It is of the same Strain with Philem. 8 9. Though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin that which is convenient yet for Love's Sake I â—â—â—ber beseech But this beseeching them and this professing that he leaves them to their Freedom is from the Lord and from Divine Inspiration Which ought necessarily to be added to clear this and the other Texts for I do not find that Commentators have fully interpreted and explain'd these Places Only they tell us that the Apostle doth not command the things to be done but leaves them at Liberty whereby they intimate that what he saith is from himself it is his Private Opinion But we must not harbour any such Thoughts because if all Scripture be endited by the Holy Ghost as certainly it is then we san't admit of any such thing here as meer Private Opinion The last Place alledged is I speak not after the Lord. Which some would interpret according to the foregoing Sâ—nse of the Apostle in those Places I have spoken of but they hugely mistake the Text and miserably distort the Apostle's Meaning Therefore my Apprehension of the Words is this that as in several other Places so here he speakâ— Ironically The false Apostles the deceitful Workers saith he whom some of you have such a Kindness for exceedingly boast of their great Performances among you I think I had best to do so too for that it is the way to gain your good Opinion of me I can brag and glory of my Atchievements as much as any of them yea much more Therefore as a Fool receive me that I may boast my self a little Seeing that many glory after the Flesh I will glory also For ye suffer Fools gladly seeing ye your selves are Wise. You and your new Teachers are Masters of great Wisdom without doubt and it cannot but be a very laudable Thing to imitate you especially in your Boasting and Vaunting And yet when I am forced to commend my self and vindicate my Actions that which I speak thus I speak it not after the Lord no by no means I can neither say nor do any thing that is wise or good I am in the Esteem of some of you a Fool and a confident Talker as he immediately adds This seems to be the clear Import of the Words and it is not the only time that St. Paul hath addressed himself to the Corinthians in an Ironick Stile as I have shew'd in another Place Thus I hope it is manifest that the Objectors have no Advantage from this Place of Scripture And from all that hath been said it is clear that the Sacred Writings are of Divine Inspiration and therein excel all other Writings whatsoever 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 â—mmoderately 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
was Lechem Segnorim barly Bread as it is in some Copies In Judg. 7. 11. they mistook the Word Chamushim armed Men and read it Chamishim and accordingly rendred it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fifty Men. The Hebrew Word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad oculum meum in 2 Sam. 16. 12. but the 70 read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thence rendred it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In 2 Kings 2. 24. they mistook hu for ho and thereupon inserted a strange unintelligible Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into their Translation in that Place They likewise read some Places in the Psalms with false Vowels and by reason of that Mistake interpreted Ve el Deus as if it had been Ve al non Psal. 7. 17. and Sam possuit as if it had been Shâ—â— nomen Psal. 40. 5. and Middeber à peste as if it had been Middabar à verbo Psal. 91. 3. So in Psal. 22. 29. it is plain that they read it Napshi instead of Naphsho and consequently render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They overlook'd a Vowel in Psal. 2. 9. for the Word is Terognem thou shalt break them but they thought it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt feed them and so translated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their mistaking of Vowels may be seen in their translating of Isa. 6. 10. which they do thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heart of this People was made fat for they read it Hoshman in the Conjugation Hophal whereas it should have been Hashmen in the Imperative of Hiphil According to the Original we render Isa. 7. 20. a Razour that is hired but the LXX render it that is made drunk whence it is plain that they thought the Hebrew Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here used came from the Verb Shakar inâ—briâ—vit whereas it is derived from Sakar mercede conduxit They read the Letter Shin with a dexter Point whereas it should have been read with a sinister In Isa. 9. 8. it is evident that they mistook the Points in the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verbum and read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pestis mors and so instead of the Lord sent a Wâ—rd into Jacob the reading according to them is the Lord sent Death into Jacob 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They translate Isa. 24. 23. thus the Brick shall be melted and the Wall shall fall whereas according to the Hebrew 'tis thus the Moon shall be confounded and the Sun ashamed and the Reason of this strange and palpable varying from the Original is this as St. Ierom hath observ'd because the Septuagint read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Brick instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Moon and they mistook 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Wall for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sun Again in Isa. 56. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they read it ragnim mali instead of rognim Pastores The Seventy Interpreters render a Clause in Ier. 3. 2. thus as a Crow in the Wilderness c. which proceeds hence that the Hebrew Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Crow hath the same radical Letters that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gnarabi hath which signifies an Arabian but the Mistake was in the Vowels In Ier. 46. 17. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibi they read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nomen and accordingly render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in igne for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faetor and so render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amos 4. 10. They translate Zech. 11. 17. thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 supposing the Hebrew Word to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pastores not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pastor In Mal. 2. 3. Zerang Seed is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Shoulder for no other Reason than this that Zeroang was mistaken for Zerang And in many other Places the Seventy Interpreters mistook the Hebrew Words by not observing the Particular Punctations of them which is one Cause of the Difference between the Greek Version and the Hebrew Text. The not attending to this hath made some and those of no mean Note imagine that the Hebrew Copies which we now have vary in many things from the Antient ones which the Seventy used when they translated the Bible A very groundless Imagination certainly for it is most evident that this Difference between the Seventy and the Hebrew proceeds not from the Corruption of this latter but from the Mistake and Oversight of the former Any Man that is willing to see what is before his Eyes may plainly discern that in all these Instances before-mention'd one Word is taken for another because the Pointing was wrong This must needs be otherwise those Greek Words which the LXX use would not so exactly answer to the Hebrew Words which we say they mistook for the true Original ones 2. The Difference sometimes proceeds from mistaking one Consonant for another as in Gen. 6. 3. although jadon be from dun contendere and therefore we rightly render that Place my Spirit shall not always strive or contend yet the Septuagint derive it from dur habitare permanere and so translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Affinity of the Letter â— and â— occasion'd this Mistake the Transcribers of the Copies which the Septuagint used having it is likely put one Letter for another they being so like in Shape Thus in many of our English Bibles instead of the word Bands Isa. 28. 22. we find it printed Hands h and b being like one another Ierom observes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Seventy's Translation of bene Dedan Ezek. 27. 15. for they read it Redan not Dedan mistaking Resh for Daleth because those Letters are of a resembling Figure So in other Places the Likeness of these two Letters is the Occasion of the LXX's wrong interpreting of Words thus in Iob 32. 19. they thought the Word was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and accordingly render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faber aerarius the singular for the plural whereas the Word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noviâ— In Isa. 16. 4. the Hebrew Word Sad a Destroyer is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the Word was Sar in the Seventy's Copy And as Resh is taken for Daâ—th so this is sometimes taken for that as in Gen. 22. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behind is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they thought the Word was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one In Gen. 49. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 asinus is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which could proceed from no other Cause but this that they supposed the Word to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desiderabile How could they render Charash fabri in Exod. 35. 35. by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they had not believ'd the Original to be Chadash which is of Affinity with
express it by the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sanare because reviving or healing the Stones in this Place are synonymous In 2 King 20. 7. Hos. 6. 2. the same Hebrew Verb is express'd by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Gen. 47. 25. Prov. 15. 27. Ezek. 33. 12. and other Places by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they being Words of the like import with Chajah Dibre hajamim Esth. 2. 23. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not amiss but the Sense not the Words is attended to In Prov. 11. 8. Mitsadah angustia is according to the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Venatio Persecutio which is a Word of the like tho not the very same Import In the Close of Esth. 10. 3. the Hebrew Noun is Zarang semen but the Greek Word here used is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is of the same Signification in this Place for to speak Peace to all his Seed or to all his Nation which were of the same Seed and Race are the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Word that the Seventy make use of in Iob 6. 4. but Ruach is the Original yet any observing Man cannot but discern the Congruity of the Greek Word for the Blood is the Vehicle of the Spirits and besides to drink up the Blood is an Elegant way of Expression The Hebrew Word Keren a Horn Job 16. 15. is not unâ—itly translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strength the Sense being minded and not the Word The Drops of Water Job 36. 27. are explain'd by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Drops of Rain Keren happuk Job 42. 14. is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 referring to the Greek Fable of Amalthea's Horn which signifies all manner of Good things and so comprehends in it the meaning of that Name given to one of Iob's Daughters And in several other Places in this Book the Hebrew Terms are explain'd rather than translated Bagnal Canaph Prov. 1. 7. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bagnal Aph ch 22. v. 24. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bagnal Nephesh ch 23. v. 2. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all which Versions are Exegetical So is that in Eccl. 10. 20. Bagnal Hakephanim Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iathad a Nail Isa. 22. 23. is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ruler but the Sense is preserved for that Promise that Eliakim should be a Nail fastned in a sure Place imports his being advanced to Shebna's Office or Place of Rule as the foregoing Verses as well as those that follow plainly shew The Daughter of Tarshish Isa. 23. 10. is Carthage according to the Seventy because they thought this Place was meant by those Words They render Dibre Haberith Jer. 34. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas it should be the Words of the Coveâ—ant according to the Original but who sees not that it amounts to the same What according to the Hebrew is the Mountain of the Lord Mic. 4. 2. is the House of the Lord according to the Septuagint but these two differ not in the Sense because the Temple the House of God was built on Mount Sion The Word Derek a Way Jer. 23. 22. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 1 Kings 22. 52. it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ezek. 20. 30. it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 2 Chron. 13. 22. 27. 7. it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Iob 34. 21. 36. 23. it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Prov. 31. 3. it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in all these Places the true meaning of the Hebrew Word is maintain'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 1 Chron. 2. 20. Ieâ— 16. 14. Ezek. 2. 3. 35. 5. 37. 21. 43. 7. is rendred by the Greek Translators 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in all these Texts you 'l find the Sense of the Hebrew Word kept up So Iehovah Tsebaoth is rendred in above fifty Places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but instead of it we read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Sam. 15. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 17. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Numb 3. 16. So Lashon which exactly speaking is the Tongue is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iob 15. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa. 54. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esth. 8. 9. In accuracy and propriety of Translation Shaphah is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the general Signification of the Word is preserv'd when the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ezek. 24. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 11. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prov. 16. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ezek. 36. 3. are used I could add several hundreds more of the like Nature but I will at present mention only a few Instances out of the Book of Psalms That is a very remarkable one Psal. 2. 12. where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apprehendite disciplinam is the rendring of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 osculamini filium the LXX not intending here barely to Translate but taking the Liberty to render the Sense not the Exact Words of the Original When Heathen Kings and Governours are admonished to kiss the Son i. e. to submit to the Government of Christ the Meaning is that they should accept of his Doctrine and Discipline and live and act according to these But others solve this Translation by telling us that the word Bar had heretofore different Significations and denoted both a Son and Discipline If this could be made good it belongs to the Fourth Particular where we spoke of the Diversity of Significations which some Hebrew Words have Again in Psal. 18. 2. 31. 3. they intended not an exact Version but rather chose to give the Sense of the word Selang a Rock when they express'd it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the former Place and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the latter In Psal. 19. 4. their Line Cavvam is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Sound or Voice because it amounts to the same Sense and Intention of the Psalmist unless you will say they read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and then it is to be reduced to one of the former Particulars The word Machol Dancing is not improperly rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 30. 11. because it is of the very same Import In Psal. 40. 6. the Sense of the Seventy is the same with that of the Hebrew Text although the Translation be not Word for Word Mine Ears hast thou â—pened saith the Hebrew a Body hast thou prepared me say the LXX Here is one meaning though the Words differ Christ is here introduced speaking of his Incarnation when God the Father gave him a Body and prepared and fitted it for the Cross where it was to be nailed as the Ear of that Servant who loved his Master and would not depart from his Family was fastned for a time to the Door-post Exod. 21. 6. Deut. 15.
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
be exact in our Translation we must assign Plural Nouns a Plural Signification This I think no Man will deny In Mat. 5. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred thus till all be fulfilled but the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the Verse before which we render to fulfil therefore it is requisite in my Opinion that there should be another English Word for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that two different Words being placed so near together may not be translated alike Let that Clause therefore be english'd thus till all â—e done or tilâ— all come to pass In ch 5. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may very properly be rendred the Sanhedrim both because that particular Council or Court of the Seventy two is meant and because that Word is the Corruption of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In v. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be translated is of Evil not cometh of Evil. In Mat. 8. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. which we translate let the Dead bury their Dead is better turn'd into our Language thus leave or suffer or permit the Dead to c. for so the Imperative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Person to whom Christ speaks are clearly and distinctly denoted suffer thou the Dead to bury their Dead thou who art one of my Disciples and hast other Work to do In ch 11. v. 27. 't is improper to say no Man knoweth the Son but the Father as if the Father were included in Man but indeed the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is more general and should be translated none or not any one The right Translation of Mat. 13. 21. is not when Tribulation or Persecution ariseth but it should be thus when there is Tribulation or Persecution or when Tribulation or Persecution happen but the former of these viz. is best answers to the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Mat. 14. 6 danced before them should be danced in the midst according to the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and you will find that thus it is translated in Acts 4. 7. In Mat. 14. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred it is an Apparition rather than it is a Spirit for though a Spectrum or Angel good or bad appearing be vulgarly call'd a Spirit and was so call'd of old as is evident from Luke 24. 37 39. yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being two distinct Words we ought not to render them alike The Translators were sensible of this when they exchanged the word Spirit for Phantasm in the Margent but I conceive the word Apparition is to be preferred before that because it is more in use and more intelligible He walked on the Water saith our Translation Mat. 14. 29. but in the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Waters and therefore they mistake the singular for the plural I offer it to Consideration whether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 15. 9. may not be rendred thus teaching Doctrines which are the Commandments of Men or by inserting of and whichâ— seems to be implied in this Place thus teaching the Doctrines and Commandments of Men Commandments seems to be put after Doctrines by way of Apposition In ver 22. instead of those Coasts we read the same Coasts and for cried saying unto him we read cried unto him saying which are both of them disagreeing with the Greek In the last Verse of this Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might be englished he went into a Ship rather than he took Ship for though this latter Phrase be the vulgar way of speaking yet the former is more agreeable to the Original Mat. 16. 4. there shall no Sign be given unto it varies from the Greek according to which it should be a Sign shall not be given unto it Not and no are two different Parts of Speech In the same Chapter ver 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to be rendred be it far from thee but â—e favourable to thy self In v. 23. we read he turned and said but 't is in the Greek he turning said In v. 27. there is a double Fault for instead of he shall render 't is said he shall reward and according to his Works in the Plural is put for according to his Work or his Doing in ch 17. v. 12. the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. they acknowledg'd him not which is more than they knew him not according to our Translation In ch 18. v. 10. the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be rendred see as it is in some other Places and not take heed In the same Chapter v. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should not be translated to a certain King but to a Man that was a King See Luke 24. 19. In v. 28. the same Servant should be that Servant for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In ch 19. v. 11. the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all do not receive whereas according to our Translation it is all Men cannot receive In ch 20. v. 2. grant that they may sit is not the right englishing of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but say that they shall sit is In ch 21. v. 33. he hedged it round about should be rather thus he set a Hedg about it for in the Greek there is both a Verb and a Substantive viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are not express'd in our Translation In ch 22. v. 9. we render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the high Ways but this doth not express the two Greek Words which may be englished thus the by-goings out of the Ways or the thorow-Passages of the Ways for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath both Significations That is a palpable Error of our Translation in ch 23. v. 13. ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men whereas it should be before Men or in the Sight of Men for that is the known Signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In ver 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to strain a Gnat not to strain at a Gnat. The Iews were wont to strain all their Wine lest any little insects should be mingled with it that they might not swallow any such Unclean Animals as Gnats or the like To this our Saviour alludes here he reminds them of their superstitious separating or straining the least Insects from the Liquor which they drank and therefore our present Translation is amiss In Mat. 24. 34 35. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word in both Verses and seeing it is rendred pass away in the latter Verse it should not be bare passing in the former as if the word were not the very same The plural is put instead of the singular in ch 26. v. 44. saying the same Words but in the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Likewife our English Translation is not exact in v. 73. thy Speech bewrayeth thee but the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 maketh thee manifest I know these two are
use was drawn up in haste whereby some Matters that should have been united are severed and vice versâ The 1st Verse of the 4th Chapter to the Colossians should have been joined to the third Chapter and the Division of the Verses in many other Places ought to be corrected and altered as Sir N. Knatchbull hath in several Instances shew'd We may take Iunius and Tremellius for an Example who have alter'd the Chapters sometimes in the Latin and it might be as convenient to imitate them both in the Old and New Testament in English Nor will this Changing or any other Alteration which I have before suggested be any Argument at all of the Imperfection of Scripture This remains entire in it self and is not in the least changed And the â—esign of my present Enterprize was to assert this and to evince the Perfection of the Original Text and to let us see that all Translations must be regulated by that No Version of the Bible is so absolutely Authentick that we ought to adhere to that and no other The Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New are the only Standard and all must be examined and tried altered and amended by this It is granted there is some Variation in the Copies but the Diligent and Unprejudiced may find out what is Genuine Some have fancied that the carelessness of Transcribers hath caused some Literal Faults but then they acknowledg that none of them are Material and Considerable they relate not to Faith and Good Manners This is the very Confession of Spinoza who hath spoken so ill of the Bible This I can certainly affirm saith he that I have not found any fault or variety of readings about the moral Documents which may render them obscure and dubious Wherefore our Assertion still remains impregnable and unshaken that the Sacred Volume of the Scriptures is Compleat and Perfect and hath all things in it which can speak it a most Consummate Work 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 IT remains that I conclude with a serious Address and Invitation to the Reader to admire and value this Book which is so transcendently Excellent and Compleat to prize it above all others whatsoever constantly to read peruse and study these Holy Writings The Laws of that Vile Impostor Mahomet are stiled the Alcoran from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 legit as much as to say the Book is to be read And shall we not think that that Sacred Volume which contains the Laws of our Heavenly Master and Infallible Teacher deserves that Respect from us For this reason the Hebrews call the Holy Scripture Mikra i. e. lectionem because it is to be read by all because this Divine Book is to be universally perused revolved and searched into We are not forbid to be acquainted with Other Authors such as may conduce to uâ—eful Knowledg whether secular or religious especially such as may be someways helpful towards the understanding of the Scriptures But there is a great Number of Writers that are trifling vain and useless others are dangerous and pernicious Meddle with neither of these or if you have lay them out of your Hands forthwith and take up the Bible the only Book that is Worthy of your most serious perusal Behold here the Book of God! There are no Writings any where like these none can afford any thing comparable to them It may be observed that the Holy Spirit hath made use of divers Sorts of Persons in the penning of this Volume Moses bred up in the Schools of the Egyptians Daniel one of the chief of the Wise Men and Princes of the Persian Court David and Solomon Kings Ieremy and Ezekiel Priests Amos a Herdsman in the New Testament Matthew a Converted Publican Paul broâ—ght up at the Feet of Gamaliel the rest of the Evangelists and Apostles Fithermen and Tradesmen that hence Persons of all Ranks and Degrees may be admonish'd to converse with these Sacred Writings that they may think themselves concern'd in these Messages deliver'd by different Embassadors I have sometimes observed that some Men of no contemptible Learning and Reading and who are acquainted with store of Good Authors have no regard for this Excellent Book and never think themselves obliged to look into it But this argues a great defect of Judgment to say no worse now for even in the Point of Scholarship they cannot be without the Knowledg of the Bible So far as they are Ignorant of this they are deficient in Learning for as I have demonstrated this Book is fraught with all Humane Learning and gives Instructions concerning the choicest Arts and Sciences Upon which account it is of such universal use tâ—at no sort of Persons can be ignorant of it without great Inconvenience and Damage He is no Antiquary that is not skill'd in these Writings which are of the greatest Antiquity He is no Historian that is not acquainted with the Important Transactions of this Book He is no Statesman or Politician who hath not insight into the Excellent Maxims and Laws which are found here He is no right Natural Philosopher who is not acquainted with the Origin and Make of this Mundane System as they are represented in the Mosaick Physiology in the first Chapter of Genesis He is no Accomplish'd Grammarian Critick or Rhetorician who is ignorant of that Philological Learning which these Writings afford And chiefly he is no Good Man or Christian who is a Stranger to those Admirable Rule which are here laid down Wherefore it is the concern of all Persons to converse with the Scriptures and to apply themselves with great diligence to the reading of them and that daily and frequently Let this Holy Book be seldom out of your Hands Though you have often perused it yet continue to do so still for you will thereby receive infinite Advantage There is ever something gain'd by a fresh and repeated reading of it Some new Matter is discover'd or the old is illustrated and confirm'd We either know more or know better than we did before That our Reading of the Holy Scriptures may be of this Nature and that we may study and
us not be hasty and giddy but diligently compare the Scripture with it self for there are certain Texts and Passages of the Bible that are allied to and symbolize with one another The observing of this will be of great Advantage to us Thus Gen. 49. may be explain'd out of Deut. 32. The Blessings and Prophecies of Iacob concerning the Tribes receive Light hence and also from the particular Histories in Ioshua and Iudges concerning the Actions of the several Tribes This ought to be remembred that Obscure and Difficult Places of Scripture are to be explain'd by those that are Clear and Easy We must interpret those that are Uncertain by Texts that are undoubtedly certain and plain So as for those that are Brief and Contracted the best way is to expound them by those that are Large and Full. The Beatitudes in Luke 6. are the same but epitomized with those in Matth. 5. and therefore there is good reason to explain the former by the latter That Text of Isaiah ch 6. v. 9. Hear ye indeed but understand not c. is contracted in Mark 4. 12. Luke 8. 10. Iobn 12. 40. but it is at large in Mat. 13. 14 15. and accordingly thence the Sense appears best And whilest we are expounding one Place by another we must not forget to search diligently into all the Circumstances of either and to consider distinctly by whom of what particular thing to whom at what time on what occasion they were spoken If we be thus Industrious and Attentive we shall be effectually directed to the right meaning of the Texts and we shall find none of those Contradictions which Unthinking and Careless Readers through want of Collation of Texts imagine to be in Scripture 4. This Inquisâ—tiveness and Observation will lead us to a discovery of the singular Elegancy and Beauty of the Sacred Stile There are peculiar Forms and Modes of Speech in several Nations proper to them and 't is very hard to rendeâ— them in another Tongue or if you attempt it the Elegancy vanisheth Thus there is a particular Excellency and Lustre in the Phrase and manner of Expression which the Holy Ghost useth in this Book it is such that it sometimes rises above the strain of the most Eloquent Orators of Greece or Rome But this cannot be taken notice of by the generality of Readers because it is impossible to discern it unless with great sedulity they search into the Words themselves and by being acquainted with the Original come to perceive the peculiar Grace of the Words and Phrases Thus in the Greek of the New Testament there is in many Places a most Remarkable Choice of Words and a Wonderful Accommodating them to the Matter spoken of Many Words in this Language are so full and comprehensive that they cannot be express'd in English We do not reach the pregnancy of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 6. 3. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 1. 10. for in these Words is included not only deceiving but self-deceit or deceiving and imposing upon a Man 's own Mind Yea the latter Word which is barely rendred Deceivers may import the deceiving of the Minds or Souls of others Our Translators are forced to use two Words to render that single one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iam. 5. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Pet. 4. 15. is translated by a Poriphrasis six Words in English for one in Greek but indeed this is a Compound or Double Word There is more in the Original Luke 21. 34. than can be express'd in the Translation We render it thus Take heed lest your Hearts be overcharged But there is a Marvellous Elegancy in the Greek which ordinary Readers cannot perceive For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an equivocal Word and signifies not only the Soul and its Faculties but that noble Visous of the Heart well known by that Name and also that Part of the Body which is the receptacle of Meat and Drink viz. the Stomach This is a Criticism not unworthy the taking notice of and it much inhanses the Sense of our Saviour's Excellent Caveat here That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath this latter Signification sometimes is evident from the Name of that Distemper which Physicians give to the Pain in the upper Oriâ—ice of the Stomach which being near to the Heart affects that whence the Distemper is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is vulgarly call'd Heart-burning which is indeed a Distemper of the upper Mouth of the Stomach and should rather be call'd Stomach-burning which is when this part of the Body is pained and disordered by reason of some sharp and noxious Humour The Stomach and the Heart affecting one another by Consent the former hath been call'd by the Greek Word which is given to the latter Thus Galen testifies that the old Physicians used the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this Sense and accordingly the Cardiac Distemper was that of the Stomach The affinity of these Words might also be shew'd in the Latin Stomachus and the English Stomach which denote sometimes that Great Spirit and Stubborness which â—ave their Seat in the Heart But it most manifestly appears as I have shewâ—d in that Language wherein the New Testament is written and St. Luke who was a Greek Physician and well skill'd in the Terms of the Art did particularly refer to this and notably uses a Word that signisies both the Stomach and Heart properly so call'd because this fitly agrees to what our Saviour saith that they should not be overcharg'd with Surfeiting and Drunkenness wherein the Stomach is mainly concern'd nor with the Cares of this Life wherein the Heart and Affections are most interested Wherefore a Word that imports both is very elegant A parallel Place is that Acts 14. 17. filling our Hearts with Food and Gladness where 't is plain that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an equivocal Term and signifies something else besides Hearts for if there were not this Ambiguity in the Word filling their Hearts with Food would be a very odd and unaccountable Expression But the Translators could not use both Senses therefore they set down one and left the other to be understood But the Doubtful Word according to the Subject matter may be applied both ways that is their Stomachs were replenished with Food and their Hearts as that signifies the Soul and its Affections with Gladness And further to corroborate this Criticism and to shew the peculiar Excellency and Pregnancy of the Scripture-Stile the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is appropriated to the Stomach in Iam. 5. 5. Ye have nourish'd your Hearts as in a Day of Slaughter for here by a Day of Slaughter as all Expositors of any Note grant is meant a Day of Feasting because on Great Festivals many Beasts were kill'd for Sacrifice and a great part of them were eaten by the Sacrificers and their Friends Prov. 7. 14. Isa. 22. 13. And consequently by Hearts we
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
have studied to impair the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scriptures and particularly of Moses's Writings have exposed this Place as disagreeing with the rest of the Sacred Story concerning the first Rise and Propagation of the World But this is a very shallow and vain Attempt and grounded chiefly on Prejudice and Ill-will against the Inspired Volume of Scripture I have made it clear that there is no Absurdity or any thing that looks like it in the words above-mentioned and I defy that Man who pretends to give any Satisfactory Answer to the Particulars which I have offered in defence of them Again 't is said That none save Caleb and Joshua should come into the Land of Canaan Numb 14. 30. and yet we read that Eleazar and others entred into that Land Ios. 14. 1. Chap. 22. 13. This is objected by some as a Passage in Scripture derogatory to the Truth of it But if we will read the Holy Book with the same Candour and Ingenuity wherewith we read other Authors we shall not be offended at this or the like Passages For nothing is more common in the most serious and considerate Writers than to speak things by way of Restriction and Limitation as those words are spoken and yet to leave them to be understood with some Latitude which shall afterwards be express'd and explain'd when they speak of the same Matter So here we read that none but Caleb and Ioshua entred into the Land of Promise this being spoken of the Chief Leaders that had that Privilege and Honour but then if we consult other places where this thing is more particularly related we shall find that a Larger meaning was not excluded We cannot think that the Tribe of Levi were denied entrance into that blessed Land because 't is evident from the History that they murmured not and 't is as evident that 't was threatned to the Murmurers only that they should not see the Land which God swore unto their Fathers Numb 14. 22 23. therefore Eleazar and Phineas being Priests are excepted Again it cannot be meant of those that at that time were gone to spy the Land of Canaan for they were none of the Murmurers and therefore that Threatning before cited doth not reach them and consequently those words are consistent with what we read in other places relating to this matter But That in 1 Sam. 16. 22 23. is cried out against as an unanswerable Repugnancy to Chap. 17. 55. for in the former we are told that David came to Court and stood before King Saul i. e. waited continually upon him and play'd upon the Hart before him and was greatly beloved of him and became his Aymour-bearer and yet in the latter we read that Saul did not know David but ask'd who he was Whose Son is this Youth These seem to be very repugnant to one another but there is really no such thing all is clear and obvious for in Chap. 17. 15. it is said David went and returned from Saul to feed his Father's Sheep at Bethlehem He stay'd not long at Court either because he liked not that manner of Life or because Saul was weary of him David then having been absent from Saul a considerable time and following a Country-Life and now appearing perhaps in his Shepherd's Weeds it is no wonder that Saul did not well know him This I think is sufficient of it self and clears the Text of all Contradiction though I know there are other Solutions used by the Learned as that of our English Rabbi Saul saith he asked whose Son David was not that he was ignorant who he was but he only enquired who that was that had such a Son The question is not of David's Person but Parentage So Lightfoot Others are more Curious in their Objections as thus Whereas the Diameter in respect of the Circumference is as seven to two and twenty this is not observ'd in 2 Chron. 4. 2. speaking of the brazen Laver and by consequence the Geometry of Scripture is faulty In answer to these men who are such Well-willers to the Mathematicks I say first That the Proportion of a Diameter to its Circle is not exactly as seven to two and twenty therefore these Gentlemen are not exact themselves Secondly I say this that the Scripture oftentimes speaks after the Vulgar manner as I have shew'd elsewhere and it is likely it doth so here and then we must not expect Accuracy of Words or Things The Bible was not calculated for them only that can square a Circle or that understand all the Mysteries of Algebra Thirdly If this doth not satisfy I answer that the Circumference of the brazen Sea was not exactly Round but it may be towards an Oval Figure which makes some alteration as to the Proportion of the Diameter It was ten Cubits from brim to brim and a Line of thirty Cubits did compass it round about saith the Text but if it had been quite orbicular the Circumference must have been one and thirty Cubits Or perhaps in this place as in several others a round Number is express'd and the remainder being so small and inconsiderable is omitted But further 't is Objected that this Molten Sea or Laver is said to contain 2000 Baths 1 Kings 7. 26. but in 1 Chron. 4. 5. we read that it received and held 3000 Baths therefore some infer that one of these places is faulty and ought to be corrected I answer there is no need of it because both these are consistent The Laver was of that vast dimension that it could hold 3000 Baths of Water but it generally and usually contain'd but 2000. In a Synagogue of the Jews at Amsterdam there is one of these Lavers and thence we may solve the seeming difficulty they fill it up to the Neck but not higher but if they would fill it higher it would contain much more The Neck is large and of another figure and is capable of receiving a third part more Another Place which they alledg cannot they will tell you be answer'd any of these ways for it plainly Contradicts another place of Scripture It is said of Asa 2 Chron. 14. 5. he took away the high Places but in 1 Kings 15. 14. it is expresly recorded that the high Places were not removed by him I answer first there were two sorts of high Places namely some where they worship'd Idols and False Gods others where they worship'd the True God The former were taken away as is intimated to us when 't is said he took away the high Places and Images i. e. the high Places where those Images were adored but the latter were not taken away the Reformation which he had set on foot had not gone so far Besides 't is observable that he took away the high Places out of all the Cities of Judah which signifies to us that he removed them out of all the Chief Places of his Kingdom though he had not time to effect it in some other less considerable places
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
Strengthens and supports us under our heaviest Crosses and makes our Life Happy whatever befals us All which are undeniable Arguments of the Perfection of Scripture whence we are enabled to Believe aright to Live well and to Rejoice Thus these Holy Writings were endited that we might be Perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works And thus Scripture must needs be Perfect because its Design is to make us so But I am sensible that several Devout and Practical Writers have enlarged on this Subject and therefore I will say no more of it because my present Discourse is designed to be chiefly Critical Let it suffice that I have briefly asserted the Perfection of the Holy Scriptures as to the three foremention'd Particulars and that I have shew'd that this Perfection is not communicable to any Other Writings under Heaven Such is the Peculiar Excellency of the Bible Wherefore it behoveth us to take notice and beware of those Men who oppose or rather deny this Excellency and Perfection First the Circumcised Doctors shew themselves great Oppugners of it whilst they excessively magnify their Traditions and even prefer them before the Sacred Text. We must know then that the Jews talk much of their Cabala or as that Word signifies the Received Doctrine among them which was propagated by Oral Tradition and Continual Succession This their Cabala is twofold First that which deals in Mysterious Criticisms and Curiosities about Words and Letters to which belongs the Masoreth which as I have shew'd in another Discourse is serviceable for the Preservation of the Bible Secondly that which by them is call'd the Oral Law or the Law delivered from one to another as an Exposition on the Written Law It may not be impertinent to give the Reader a short Account of this Oral Law which they so much boast of This was either before Moses and was the Doctrine of the Patriarchs propagated by Word of Mouth before the Law was committed to Writing it consisted of the Seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah of the Apothegms Sentences and Paradoxes of the Wise Men in the first Ages or it was in and after Moses's time who is reckon'd the Great Author of the Cabala because he deliver'd it viva voce to the Jews say the Rabbins at the same time that he gave them the Decalogue and the Other Written Laws This Torah gnal peh as they stile it this Oral Law is the Exposition of those Written Laws and is meant they say in Deut. 4. 14. The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you Statutes and Iudgments And for this they alledg Deut. 12. 21. which they tell us refers to some Special Command of God about Killing and seeing we read no such Special Command about it in the Written Law it is reasonable to conclude that it is to be understood of the Oral one that must be the Sense of those Words there As I have commanded thee That Moses received this Law on Mount Sinai Rabbi Bechai proves by the same Token that he knew by this Law how long time he was upon that Mount for when God taught him the Written Law then he knew it was Day because he could not write in the Dark but when God gave him the Oral Law he knew then that it was Night A most profound Answer to the Difficulty how Moses could tell that he was 40 Days and Nights on the Mount Well God they say delivered this Law to Moses Moses delivered it to Ioshua Ioshua to the Seventy Elders they to Ezra who some say committed it to writing for he was the Chiefest Cabalist next to Moses but the Books which he composed of this Matter were lost and so it went on after the old way again viz. by Tradition and came to the Prophets of whom Zechary and Malachi were the last and from them the Great Sanhedrim had it and at last it was made into a Book that it might not be lost by reason of the Dispersion of the Jews He that compiled this Volume or Book was Rabbi Iudah who for the singular Holiness of his Life was call'd Hakkadosh the Saint He flourish'd in the Days of the Emperor Antoninus Pius about a hundred and twenty Years after our Saviour's Passion The Title which he gave to it was Mishnah i. e. the Repetition of the Divine Law or a Larger Explication of it given immediately to Moses by God and by Tradition derived to the Jews This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Iterated or Second Law is divided by him into six general Sedarim i. e. so many Heads or Subjects of which it treats and every Sedar is divided into Books every Book into Chapters or Pirka's About a hundred Years after this famous Rabbi had reduced the Traditions of the Jews into one Volume the Learned Doctors began to comment upon it and first the Ierusalem Talmud call'd so because 't was made for the Jews that lived in Iudea especially in Ierusalem was finish'd by R. Iochanan about A. D. 240. The Comment which he and the other Rabbies made on the Mishnah is call'd the Gemara the Supplemental Exposition of that Volume of Jewish Traditions Next the Babylonick Talmud was put forth by the Learned Jews at Babylon who gathered their Traditions into a more Compleat and Exact Body as they thought for the Benefit of their Country-men in those Parts of the World It was compiled by Rabbi Ase and his Companions about A. D. 500. and consisteth as the former Talmud of the Mishnaioth and the Gemara the one is the Text the other is the Comment or the Decisions of the Doctors on the Book of the Mishnah So then the Oral Law which the Jews so much boast of and set so high a Value upon is contain'd in the Two Talmuds which are made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara The Mishnah is that which R. Iudah compiled the Gemara's are the Work of R. Iochanan and Ase and other Rabbies and both are a Compleat Body of the Civil and Canon Law of the Jews Whoso nameth the Talmuds nameth all Iudaism saith Lightfoot These as he adds are the Jews Council of Trent they are the last and fullest Determinations which they have about all their Religious Opinions Rites and Usages Thus I have exhibited a brief Account of the whole Talmudick System wherein the Oral Law is comprized explained and descanted upon And it is not to be denied that there may be a very excellent Use made of this Collection of Jewish Traditions it may be serviceable in sundry Instances to expound the Mosaick Law to acquaint us with the Jewish Antiquities to illustrate several Places in the Old Testament yea to interpret many Passages in the New which have reference to the received Practices and Usages of the Jews But the Iews who are the Persons whom I am now blaming make very ill Use of it because they immoderately extol these Traditions calling them Torah shebegnal Peh their Infallible Oracle and esteeming the