Selected quad for the lemma: word_n
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A53085
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The best acquaintance and highest honour of Christians, or, A discourse of acquaintance with God by Matthew Newcomen.
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Newcomen, Matthew, 1610?-1669.
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1668
(1668)
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Wing N905; ESTC R32164
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42,574
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130
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THE Best Acquaintance AND HIGHEST HONOUR OF CHRISTIANS OR A DISCOURSE of Acquaintance with GOD. By Matthew Newcomen Minister of the Gospel Job 22.21 Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace John 8.16 I am not alone but I and the Father which hath sent me 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithful by whom ye are called unto the fellowship of his Son Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 John 1.3 And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his Son Christ Jesus James 2.23 Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God Psal 149.10 This honour have all his Saints John 1◠1◠Henceforth I call you not servants but I 〈◊〉 called you friends London Printed in the Year 1668. THE Best Acquaintance AND Highest Honour OF CHRISTIANS Job 22. vers 21. Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee CHAP. I. The opening of the words and of the nature of the great duty of acquainting our selves with God THe words are the words of Eliphaz one of Job's three friends and as it should seem the chiefest of the three either for age or dignity or wisdom for the other two give him the priority in speaking He having in the beginning of the Chapter given Job a bitter pill to chew upon in vers 5 6 7. that he might not leave the mind of Job exulcerated towards the latter end of his discourse attempers his speech to a milder and sweeter strain giving him first counsel vers 21 22. then promising him comfort vers 23. to the end In this 21. v. we have two things Officium Beneficium A work to be done or a duty to be performed by Job and indeed by every one And that in these words Acquaint now thy self with him 2. A benefit to be obtained by the performance of this duty and that is peace and good Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace so shall good come unto thee Acquaint The word translated acquaint is diversly rendred by Interpreters The Chaldee paraphrase renders it Learn of him The Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be thou hard or stout meaning patient in bearing Affliction The Vulgar Latine Acquiesce ei Munster Conveniat tibi cum eo The Syriack and Arabick Coaequa te ei The Tigurine Accommoda te illi Coccejus Fac periculum Pagnine and Junius Assuesce te illi The French Accointe-toy An old English translation reads it Reconcile thy self unto him Our Translation reads it Acquaint thy self with him Making choice of a word that takes in both the Chaldees disce ab eo And the vulgars Acquisce and the Tigurine Accommoda te illi And Munsters Conveniat tibi cum eo And the old English Reconcile thy self to him As we shall see afterwards God willing * The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath as many other words in the Hebrew various significations and some of them seemingly contrary to others as Prodesse Increpare arguere assuescere thesaurizare recondere nocere depauperare periclitari significatione Rabbinis consuerâ Pagnin The septuagint render it sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kircher Marius de Calasio observes four principal acceptations of the word in Scripture 1. Prodesse or utilem esse 2. Thesaurizare 3. Calefacere 4. Depauperare to which he adds a fifth of the Rabbins and Chaldees which is periculum facere or periclitari And this great difference of significations which this word is capable of is the reason why there is so great variety in the translation of this Text. The word in the Original translated acquaint is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used in that Conjugation Hiphil but in two places besides this in all the Scripture The one is Numb 22.30 where Balaams ass saith to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nunquid assuescendo assuetus sum Was I ever wont to do thus The other is Psal 139.2 where the Psalmist saith Thou art acqainted with all my wayes In the Original it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our singing Psalms according to the Emphasis of the Original well render And by familiar custom art acquainted with my wayes Acquaint thy self now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is an expletive particle and signifies as much as nunc ideo quaeso and accordingly some here read Acquaint now thy self Others acquaint therefore thy self Others acquaint I pray thee thy self It is a particle that implies seriousness in him that speaks and weight and moment in the thing that is spoken of Acquaint now thy self with him that is with God The Almighty spoken of before v. 17. and again v. 23. Acquaint thy self with him and be at peace that is thou shalt be at peace for so as the learned Mercer observes it is usual with the Hebrews to put the Imperative mood for the Future tense Thou shalt be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee Good that is all kind of good Temporal Spiritual and Eternal as is exemplified afterwards in the following verses to the end of the Chapter That which from the words thus opened commends it self to our observation is this That the great concernment of every man is to acquaint himself with God I say The great concernment of every man that which every man should make his greatest study and business and look upon himself as most concerned in is to acquaint himself with God I shall immediately fall upon the opening of the Nature of this acquainting our selves with God in these three particulars that are necessarily included in it First This acquainting our selves with God implies a true and right knowledge of God For you will all readily conclude it is impossible for a man to have acquaintance with a person whom he hath never had any knowledge of If a man should come to one of us and name to us a man that lives at Rome or Constantinople or the Indies and ask us if we be acquainted with such a man we would presently say we do not so much as know him therefore how should we have any acquaintance with him Ignorance of God you know is rendred as a reason of mens being estranged from God Ephes 4.18 therefore they that would have acquaintance with God must labour to know God This David exacts of his son Solomon And thou Solomon my son 1 Chron. 28.9 know thou the God of thy Fathers c. Now there is a threefold knowledge of God A knowledge by the ear A knowledge by the eye And a knowledge by the taste Or if you will A knowledge of notion or speculation A knowledge of faith And a knowledge of experience And all this necessary to our acquaintance with God First There is a knowledge